Migne Reading Room
PL 65 · cols. 324–338
Fulgentius of Ruspe, Letters
Letter III
EPISTOLA III.
LETTER III.
AD PROBAM.
TO PROBA.
De Virginitate atque Humilitate.
On Virginity and Humility.
CAPUT PRIMUM. Congratulatio de spiritalis vitae instituto. Servitus Christi bona, noxia libertas peccati. — 1. Spiritali desiderio atque instituto tuo, sancta famula Dei Proba, quantum congratuler atque congaudeam, vellem competenter verbis exprimere, si pari modo cogitationem locutio posset aequare. Neque enim parvi propositi debet indicium aestimari, quod, cum te constet, illo in te operante a quo est omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum (Jac. I, 17), spiritalibus virtutibus praeditam, arbitraris te tanquam expertem, de virtutibus admonendam. Hoc itaque studium, quo me, sancto fratre nostro, Tuto scilicet Dei servo, scriptis frequentibus insistente, vehementer instigas ut tibi exhibeam sermonem de virginitate atque humilitate aliquid continentem, in Deo, in quo laudanda est anima tua, multum laudo, sed quantum laudare debeo, laudare non valeo; et quantum me huic desiderio digne laudando imparem cerno, tanto magis in te Deum, seu dura negatione, sive diuturna dilatione offendere timeo. Quippe Christus offenditur, si quando debita servitus membris ipsius denegatur; cum non ob aliud ipse voluerit male quondam liberos a peccati servitio liberare, nisi ut nos doceret invicem libera caritate servire: quos enim compressos invenit jugo servilis ac pessimae libertatis, sublevavit dono liberalis atque optimae servitutis. Illius denique (al. inquam) noxiae libertatis, in qua magis libet peccato servire quam Deo, apostolico nobis intimatam tenemus sermone laetitiam (forte notitiam); dicit namque: Cum enim servi essetis peccati, liberi fuistis justitiae. Et adjiciens ait: Quem ergo fructum habuistis tunc in quibus nunc erubescitis? Nam finis illorum mors est (Rom. VI, 20, 21). Illam quoque servitutem, quam liberati accepimus, ut liberatori Deo liberaliter serviremus, in subsequentibus ejusdem doctrinae sermonibus invenimus, cum dicit: Nunc autem liberati a peccato, servi autem facti Deo, habetis fructum vestrum in sanctificationem, finem vero vitam aeternam (Ibid., 22). Ecce quo ducit ac perducit haec sancta servitus, in qua verae libertatis est munus: ad vitam scilicet aeternam, in qua semper vivitur, semperque regnatur, in qua nemo tamen hominum vivet, nisi qui mortificatur huic mundo; in qua nemo regnabit, nisi qui humilis perseverat in Deo. Illam namque vita huic mortificationi promittitur, et illa celsitudo huic humilitati servatur: ipsi humilitati, quam scilicet efficaciter alacriterque sectaris, et in qua sanctam virginitatem, Deo custodiente, custodis, me quoque devote libenterque servire compellis.
CHAPTER I. Congratulation on the undertaking of the spiritual life. The service of Christ is good, the freedom of sin harmful. — 1. How much I rejoice with you and share your gladness over your spiritual desire and undertaking, holy handmaid of God Proba, I should like to express fittingly in words, if speech could equal thought in like measure. For it ought not to be reckoned the sign of a small purpose that, though it is clear that you are endowed with spiritual virtues through the working in you of Him from whom is every best gift and every perfect gift (Jas. 1:17), you think that you must be admonished about the virtues as though you had none. This zeal, then, by which, while our holy brother Tutus, the servant of God, presses me with frequent letters, you urge me vehemently to set before you a discourse containing something on virginity and humility, I praise greatly in God, in whom your soul is to be praised; but as much as I ought to praise it, I am not able to praise it; and the more I see myself unequal to praising this desire worthily, the more I fear to offend God in you, whether by a harsh refusal or by long delay. For Christ is offended whenever due service is denied to His members; since He willed to set free from the slavery of sin those who were once wickedly free for no other reason than to teach us to serve one another in free charity: for those whom He found weighed down by the yoke of a servile and most evil freedom, He lifted up by the gift of a liberal and most excellent service. Of that harmful freedom (another reading: I say), in which it pleases one rather to serve sin than God, we hold the gladness (perhaps: the knowledge) made known to us in the apostle's discourse; for he says: For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free of justice. And adding, he says: What fruit, then, did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death (Rom. 6:20–21). That service also, which we received when set free, that we might serve God our liberator liberally, we find in the following words of the same teaching, when he says: But now, set free from sin and made slaves of God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting (Rom. 6:22). See where this holy service leads and brings us, in which is the gift of true freedom: namely to life everlasting, in which one lives for ever and reigns for ever, in which nevertheless no man will live except one who is mortified to this world; in which no one will reign except one who perseveres humble in God. For that life is promised to this mortification, and that loftiness is kept for this humility: to that very humility which you pursue effectively and eagerly, and in which you guard holy virginity, God guarding it, you compel me also to serve devotedly and willingly.
Editors' notes and page, col. 324
Footnotes
(f) ‹anchor: doceret invicem› · call in col 324
Basil. ut nos doceret nobis invicem. Ms. Corb. non habet nobis. Colon. et Ant., ut nos doceret nos invicem.
The Basel [edition]: "that he might teach us [to serve] one another" with nobis. The Corbie manuscript does not have nobis. The Cologne and Antwerp [editions]: "that he might teach us, us [to serve] one another" [with nos].
(printed under page 167)
(g) ‹anchor: in sanctificationem› · call in col 324
Mss. Corb. et Victor., in sanctificationem, juxta textum Graecum εἰς ἁγιασμόν. Editi, in sanctificatione.
The Corbie and Saint-Victor manuscripts: "unto sanctification", in line with the Greek text, eis hagiasmon. The printed editions: "in sanctification".
(printed under page 167)
(h) ‹anchor: alacriterque sectaris› · call in col 324
Editi, efficaciter sectaris. Ms. Corb., efficaciter alacriterque sectaris.
The printed editions: "you pursue effectively". The Corbie manuscript: "you pursue effectively and eagerly".
(printed under page 167)
Page
- running head: [S. FULGENT]II EPISCOPI RUSPENSIS. 324
- marginal letters: A ‹EPISTOLA III.›; B ‹Dei servo, scriptis frequentibus insistente›; C ‹tam tenemus sermone laetitiam›; D ‹nemo regnabit, nisi qui humilis perseverat›
- old-edition numerals: 163 before ‹CAPUT PRIMUM›; 164 after ‹virginitatem,›
CAP. II. Servire invicem debent membra Christi per caritatem. — 2. Et ego quidem, sancta filia, in quantum me caritas Dei, quae diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis (Rom. V, 5), tam delectabiliter quam liberaliter servire Christi membris instigat, volo quod injunxisti competenter implere, sciens illum vere Christo servire, qui per illam caritatem Christi membris servit, per quam, ut ejusdem Christi membrum fieret, prior pro eo Christus ipse servivit. Propter quod Apostolus, ut ad libertatem perveniamus aeternam, servitutem liberam invicem Christi membris imperat exhibendam, dicens: Vos enim in libertatem vocati estis, fratres: tantum, ne libertatem in occasionem carnis detis, sed per caritatem servite invicem (Gal. V, 13).
CHAPTER II. The members of Christ ought to serve one another through charity. — 2. And I indeed, holy daughter, in so far as the charity of God, which is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5), urges me to serve the members of Christ as delightfully as liberally, wish to fulfil fittingly what you have enjoined, knowing that he truly serves Christ who serves the members of Christ through that charity through which, that he might become a member of the same Christ, Christ Himself first served for him. For which reason the Apostle, that we may come to everlasting freedom, commands that a free service be shown by the members of Christ to one another, saying: For you have been called to freedom, brethren: only do not make freedom an occasion for the flesh, but through charity serve one another (Gal. 5:13).
3. Quanto magis igitur reddere quod exigis hujus servitutis praecepto compellor, tanto magis virium mearum consideratione deterreor. Est enim talis utriusque virtutis copula, de qua mihi est aliquid, in quantum Deus donaverit, disputandum, ut in praesenti vita ipsa sit omnium perfectio culmenque virtutum: quia nec in corpore est aliquid integritate melius, nec in anima est aliquid fideli humilitate sublimius. Est mihi tamen confidentia divinae opitulationis, in eo quod adjuvor orationibus vestris. Ob hoc enim Deus sancti desiderii fervorem filiis filiabusque suis inspirat, ut cum a conservis suis spiritale debitum flagitant, ipsi quoque pro eis orare Dominum non quiescant, atque ita mutuae caritatis officio sic debitum quod sibi debetur exigant, ut debitoribus quod exigunt reddant.
3. The more, then, I am compelled by the precept of this service to render what you demand, the more I am deterred by the consideration of my own strength. For such is the union of both virtues, about which I must discourse somewhat, so far as God shall grant, that in the present life it is the perfection and summit of all the virtues: for neither in the body is anything better than integrity, nor in the soul is anything loftier than faithful humility. Yet I have confidence in the divine help, in that I am helped by your prayers. For this is why God breathes into His sons and daughters the fervour of holy desire: that when they demand a spiritual debt from their fellow servants, they themselves also do not cease to pray to the Lord for them, and so by the office of mutual charity they exact the debt owed to them in such a way that they render to their debtors what they exact.
4. Nemo est enim fidelium qui sic sibi caritatem flagitet reddi, ut ipse non illam suo debeat reddere debitori. Quae licet in diversis donationibus, secundum gratiam quae data est nobis, differentibus diverso reddi videatur effectu, in adjutorio tamen mutuae orationis omnes facit unius debiti participes, in qua facit singulos omnibus debitores. Vide qualiter ille qui se debitorem sapientibus et insipientibus profitetur, debitum orationis et cunctis reddat, et ab omnibus exigat. Romanis ait, reddens hoc debitum: Testis enim mihi est Deus, cui servio in spiritu meo, in Evangelio Filii ejus, quod sine intermissione memoriam vestri facio semper in orationibus meis (Rom. I, 9). Sed hujus debiti, cujus est devotus redditor, vide quam sit avarus exactor. Iisdem denuo ait: Obsecro igitur vos, fratres, per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, et per caritatem Spiritus, ut adjuvetis me in orationibus pro me ad Dominum (Rom. XV, 30).
4. For there is no one of the faithful who demands that charity be rendered to him in such a way that he does not himself owe it to his own debtor. And although, among the diverse gifts that differ according to the grace that has been given to us, it seems to be rendered with diverse effect, yet in the help of mutual prayer it makes all sharers in one debt, in which it makes each a debtor to all. See how he who professes himself a debtor to the wise and the unwise both renders the debt of prayer to all and exacts it from all. To the Romans he says, rendering this debt: For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make remembrance of you always in my prayers (Rom. 1:9). But see how greedy an exactor he is of this debt, of which he is a devoted payer. To the same he says again: I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the charity of the Spirit, that you help me in your prayers for me to the Lord (Rom. 15:30).
CAP. III. Sufficientia nostra ex Deo est. A Deo est velle et perficere. — 5. In hoc debito quod exigitis a nobis et redditis nobis, adjuvari me non dubito, ut Deus, qui operatur in suis et velle et perficere pro bona voluntate, ipse donet quod digne cogitem, digne dicam. In bonis enim cogitationibus non sumus idonei cogitare aliquid a nobis, quasi ex nobis, sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est (II Cor. III, 5). Et ob hoc non deficimus indigentia, quia gratuito munere ab illo sufficientia nostra est, in quo indigentia ulla non
CHAPTER III. Our sufficiency is from God. To will and to accomplish is from God. — 5. In this debt which you exact from us and render to us, I do not doubt that I am helped, so that God, who works in His own both to will and to accomplish for [His] good will, may Himself grant that I think worthily and speak worthily. For in good thoughts we are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Cor. 3:5). And for this reason we do not fail through want, because our sufficiency is by free gift from Him in whom there is no want
Editors' notes and page, col. 325
Page
- running head: 325 EPISTOLA II[I …] (rest of the running head beyond the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAP. II. Servire invicem debent›; B ‹3. Quanto magis igitur reddere›; C ‹4. Nemo est enim fidelium›; D ‹igitur vos, fratres, per Dominum nostrum›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the top third of the column (Cap. II and §2, and the opening lines of §3) is very soft; read with care, the opening parenthesis of "(Rom. V, 5)" not clearly visible. Column ends mid-sentence ("ulla non"), continued in 326.
est, qui sicut bonorum nostrorum non eget, sic semper abundat ut donet, nec donando fit indigus, qui hoc donat quo semper est plenus; nec est quod illi a nobis afferatur (al. †offeratur) pro †talione cogitationis aut operis placitum munus, quod ipse non fuerit gratuita benignitate largitus. Idcirco autem gratuita semper est Dei sancta largitio, quia bonorum meritorum nulla unquam praecedit †exactio; quia etsi quod est bonum cujuslibet hominis meritum, ab ipso est utique a quo est omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum (Jac. I, 17); quod nec habere potest homo, nisi ab ipso fuerit datum, nec perseveranter habere, nisi fuerit ipso custode servatum. Ab ipso igitur posco reddi hujus debiti facultatem, a quo reddendi accepi voluntatem. Neque enim vel reddere aliquatenus vellem, nisi misericors ipse donaret ut vellem. Si quid itaque in hoc opere dixero quod placeat et sufficiat, vel, si non sufficiat, saltem placeat sancto desiderio tuo, non est meae indigentiae, sed divinae sufficientiae. Si quid vero forsitan ita dixero, ut nec sufficere tuo sancto possit desiderio, nec placere, non est sufficientiae divinae, sed indigentiae meae. Proinde Christiana caritas utrobique operis sui partes exhibeat, ut et sufficientiam Dei humiliter agnoscat, et indigentiae servili patienter ignoscat.
is, who, just as He has no need of our goods, so always abounds that He may give, and does not become needy by giving, since He gives that of which He is always full; nor is there any pleasing gift of thought or work brought to Him by us (another reading: offered) in return which He Himself has not first bestowed by His free kindness. And the holy bounty of God is always free for this reason, that no claim of good merits ever goes before it; for even what is the good merit of any man is surely from Him from whom is every best gift and every perfect gift (Jas. 1:17); which a man can neither have unless it has been given by Him, nor have perseveringly unless it has been kept with Him as guardian. From Him, therefore, I ask that the means of paying this debt be given, from whom I received the will to pay it. For I would not wish to pay it in any degree, unless He in His mercy granted me to wish it. If, then, I say anything in this work that pleases and suffices, or, if it does not suffice, at least pleases your holy desire, it is not of my want but of the divine sufficiency. But if perhaps I say anything in such a way that it can neither suffice your holy desire nor please it, it is not of the divine sufficiency but of my want. Therefore let Christian charity show its part of the work on both sides, so that it humbly acknowledges the sufficiency of God and patiently pardons the want of the servant.
CAP. IV. Virginis filius virginitatis auctor et sponsus. Virgo quasi virago. — 6. Virginem sacram te sibi munere gratuito fecit, qui omnia quaecunque voluit fecit (Psal. CXIII, 11) a quo ideo gratia nullis praecedentibus meritis datur, ut illi semper gratiarum actio pura cordis humilitate reddatur. Hic est autem unigenitus Dei Filius, unigenitus etiam Virginis filius, unus omnium sacrarum virginum sponsus, sanctae virginitatis fructus, decus et munus; quem corporaliter sancta virginitas peperit; cui spiritaliter sancta virginitas nubit; a quo sancta virginitas fecundatur, ut perseveret intacta; a quo decoratur, ut permaneat pulchra; a quo coronatur, ut regnet perenniter gloriosa.
CHAPTER IV. The Son of the Virgin is the author and bridegroom of virginity. Virgo as it were virago. — 6. He made you a sacred virgin for Himself by a free gift, He who has done all things whatsoever He willed (Ps. 113:11), by whom grace is given with no merits going before for this reason, that thanksgiving may always be rendered to Him in pure humility of heart. And this is the only-begotten Son of God, the only-begotten son also of the Virgin, the one bridegroom of all sacred virgins, the fruit, the glory and the gift of holy virginity; whom holy virginity bore in the body; to whom holy virginity is wedded in the spirit; by whom holy virginity is made fruitful, that it may persevere untouched; by whom it is adorned, that it may remain beautiful; by whom it is crowned, that it may reign glorious for ever.
7. Quapropter bonum depositum custodi (I Tim. VI, 20), et meritum tanti boni, quod ut haberes Deus dedit, et ut Deo voveres ipse fecit, ex nominis ipsius significatione perpende: tam magnum quippe Deus voluit esse bonum virginitatis, ut illud non aliunde, sed ex vocabulo dignaretur nominare virtutis. Virginis itaque si quis velit diligenter considerare vocabulum, ex virtutis inveniet nomine derivatum: virgo enim dicitur, quasi virago: viriginem vero Scriptura sancta non ob aliud vocatam dicit, nisi quia de viro sumpta est. Hoc autem a sancto Hieronymo secundum Hebraicam proprietatem libri Geneseos docet expressa translatio, in qua sic habetur: Immisit ergo Dominus Deus soporem in Adam: cumque obdormisset, tulit unam de costis ejus, et replevit carnem pro ea, et aedificavit Dominus Deus costam quam tulerat de Adam in mulierem, et adduxit eam ad Adam; dixitque Adam: Hoc nunc os ex ossibus meis, et caro de carne mea. Haec vocabitur Virago, quoniam de viro sumpta est (Genes. II, 21, 22).
7. Therefore guard the good deposit (1 Tim. 6:20), and weigh the merit of so great a good, which God gave you to have, and Himself caused you to vow to God, from the meaning of its very name: for God willed the good of virginity to be so great that He deigned to name it from no other source than from the word for virtue. If anyone, then, wishes to consider carefully the word for virgin, he will find it derived from the name of virtue: for virgo is so called as it were virago: and Holy Scripture says that the virago was so called for no other reason than that she was taken from man. And this is taught by the translation made by Saint Jerome according to the Hebrew idiom of the book of Genesis, in which it is read thus: So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he had fallen asleep, He took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh in its place, and the Lord God built the rib which He had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam; and Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Virago, because she was taken from man (Gen. 2:21–22).
Editors' notes and page, col. 326
Page
- running head: [EP]ISTOLA III. 326
- marginal letters: A ‹est, qui sicut bonorum nostrorum›; B ‹dere aliquatenus vellem›; C ‹cordis humilitate reddatur›; D ‹lum, ex virtutis inveniet nomine›
- old-edition numerals: 165 after ‹eget, sic›
- other: the upper third of this column (to "nisi misericors ipse donaret ut vellem") is badly blurred in the scan and was read with difficulty; † offeratur (the variant word is hardly legible), † talione (the letters read "tatione" or "talione"), † exactio (uncertain word). A fresh read of these lines at higher resolution is advised. "viriginem" as it appears in the type; the sense requires viraginem. The Genesis citation prints verses 21, 22, though the quotation runs into verse 23.
CAP. V. Virago a viro, vir a virtute dicitur. Ecclesia et virgo et vir ab Apostolo dicitur. A Christo Christiana Ecclesia, sicut a viro virgo dicitur. Ecclesia sancta dicitur mater, virgo et sponsa. — 8. Itaque cum viraginis nomen ex nomine viri descenderit, quis dubitet quod vir a virtute vocatus sit? Et quia, sicut Paulus docet, illa omnia in figura facta sunt nostri (I Cor. X, 6), profecto in illa virgine quae ex viri fiebat costa, futura jam tunc praefigurabatur Ecclesia, quae vere de viro sumpta, et de quo sumpta illi conjuncta, inde habet in veritate virtutem, unde habet verum viraginis nomen. Propter quod hanc viraginem, id est virginem, quae de viro sumpta est, non solum virginis, sed etiam viri nomine Paulus non dubitat appellare; dicit enim fidelibus: Despondi enim vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo (II Cor. XI, 2). Christus est quippe vir de quo haec virgo sumpta est. Ipsis denuo fidelibus idem apostolus dicit: Donec occurramus omnes in unitatem fidei et agnitionis Filii Dei, in virum perfectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi (Ephes. IV, 13). Per sanctum quoque David, tam viris quam mulieribus in commune spiritalis hujuscemodi promulgatur hortatio: Viriliter agite, et confortetur cor vestrum, omnes qui speratis in Domino (Psal. XXX, 25).
CHAPTER V. Virago is so called from vir, vir from virtus. The Church is called by the Apostle both virgin and man. The Christian Church is named from Christ, as the virago from the man. The holy Church is called mother, virgin and bride. — 8. Since, then, the name virago has come down from the name vir, who would doubt that vir has been named from virtus? And since, as Paul teaches, all those things were done in figure of us (1 Cor. 10:6), surely in that virgin who was made from the man's rib the Church to come was even then prefigured, which, truly taken from the man and joined to Him from whom she was taken, has virtue in truth from the same source from which she has the true name of virago. For which reason Paul does not hesitate to call this virago, that is, the virgin who was taken from the man, not only by the name of virgin but also by the name of man; for he says to the faithful: For I have espoused you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2). For Christ is the man from whom this virgin was taken. To the same faithful the same apostle says again: Until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Through holy David, too, a spiritual exhortation of this kind is proclaimed to men and women in common: Act manfully, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord (Ps. 30:25).
9. Typice itaque a viro ducitur (al. dicitur) virginis vocabulum, quemadmodum (al. quia) nomen a Christo ducitur (al. dicitur (Christianum: Christus enim Dei virtus est et Dei sapientia, ex quo est Ecclesia, quae virgo in fide et caritate persistens, et sapientiam possidet et virtutem; ideo nec seductione decipitur, nec violentia vincitur, quia internae virginitatis integritate fulcitur. Huic virgini Esaias dicit: Quoniam complacuit Domino in te, et terra tua inhabitabitur. Habitabit enim juvenis cum virgine, et habitabunt in te filii tui (Esa. LXII, 4, 5). Et ut ostenderet non alium esse juvenem quam sponsum, nec aliam esse virginem quam sponsam, sponsum autem et sponsam Christum et Ecclesiam, secutus adjunxit: Et gaudebit sponsus super sponsam; Et gaudebit super te Deus tuus. Haec virgo mater est cui dicitur: Habitabunt in te filii tui; et haec mater virgo est de qua dicitur: Habitabit enim juvenis cum virgine. Haec virgo sponsa est de qua dicitur: Et gaudebit sponsus super sponsam. Haec igitur Ecclesia una et vera catholica sponsa est, quia inhaeret Christo; mater est, quia fecundatur a Christo; virgo est, quia incorrupta perseverat in Christo. Hujus sponsae nec fecunditate virginitas corrumpitur, nec virginitate fecunditas impeditur. Tale namque istius est viri virginisque connubium, ut idcirco ab hoc viro fecundetur haec virgo, quia in hoc connubio nulla unquam potest esse corruptio, et tanta in hac matre virginitatis perseverat integritas, ut nisi virgo semper esset, mater esse non posset. Istius matris ac virginis nomen novum ita praenuntiat Esaias: Et vocabitur tibi nomen novum, quod os Domini nominavit (Ibid., 2). Ergo quia Christus virtus est, sicut Ecclesia vocabulum virginis
9. In a figure, then, the word for virgin is drawn (another reading: said) from vir, just as (another reading: because) the name Christian is drawn (another reading: said) from Christ: for Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, from whom is the Church, which, persisting as a virgin in faith and charity, possesses both wisdom and virtue; therefore she is neither deceived by seduction nor overcome by violence, because she is upheld by the integrity of inward virginity. To this virgin Isaiah says: For the Lord has been well pleased in you, and your land shall be inhabited. For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, and your sons shall dwell in you (Isa. 62:4–5). And to show that the young man is none other than the bridegroom, nor the virgin other than the bride, and that the bridegroom and bride are Christ and the Church, he added next: And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride; And your God shall rejoice over you. This virgin is the mother to whom it is said: Your sons shall dwell in you; and this mother is the virgin of whom it is said: For the young man shall dwell with the virgin. This virgin is the bride of whom it is said: And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride. This Church, then, the one and true catholic Church, is bride, because she cleaves to Christ; mother, because she is made fruitful by Christ; virgin, because she perseveres uncorrupted in Christ. In this bride neither is virginity corrupted by fruitfulness, nor is fruitfulness hindered by virginity. For such is the marriage of this man and virgin that this virgin is made fruitful by this man precisely because in this marriage there can never be any corruption, and so great an integrity of virginity perseveres in this mother that, unless she were always a virgin, she could not be a mother. The new name of this mother and virgin Isaiah foretells thus: And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord has named (Isa. 62:2). Therefore, since Christ is virtue, just as the Church [takes] the word for virgin
Editors' notes and page, col. 327
Page
- running head: 327 S. FULGENTII EPISCOP[I …] (rest of the running head beyond the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAP. V. Virago a viro›; B ‹uni viro virginem castam exhibere›; C ‹pientiam possidet et virtutem›; D ‹quia fecundatur a Christo›
- old-edition numerals: 166 after ‹in veritate›
a virtute sumpsit, sic a Christo Christianum nomen accepit.
from virtue, so it has received the name Christian from Christ.
CAP. VI. Major gratia donationis in virginibus quam in aliis. Spadonibus melior locus in muro promittitur. — 10. Quae cum in diversis membris suis habeat donationes, secundum gratiam quae data est ei, differentes, majorem tamen gratiam donationis in illis membris accepit, in quibus ita spiritaliter virgo dicitur, ut etiam corporeae virginitatis integritate potiatur. Nam in caeteris fidelibus membris, quae in Deum secundum fidei catholicae regulam recte credunt, et pudicitiam conjugalem vidualemve custodiunt; quae scilicet nec actualis sunt fornicationis colluvione respersa, et ab omni stupro manent infidelitatis immunia, spiritali tantum virginitate potitur Ecclesia; in his vero membris, in quibus sic fidem custodit rectam, ut etiam carnem ab omni concubitu reservet intactam, quanto pleniorem habet virginitatem, tanto plenius et perfectius ejusdem virginitatis possidet nomen: in illa quippe, nihil minus habet ad vitam; in hac autem, amplius aliquid acquirit ad gloriam, quia sicut Paulus ait: Alia est gloria solis, et alia gloria lunae, et alia gloria stellarum; stella enim a stella differt in gloria; sic et resurrectio mortuorum. Denique sub spadonum nomine (quos etiam in Evangelio propter regnum coelorum se ipsos castrasse Salvator affirmat) meliorem locum in domo sua et in muro suo Dominus per Esaiam virginibus repromittit. Sic enim scriptum est: Haec dicit Dominus spadonibus: Quicunque custodierint praecepta mea, et elegerint quae ego volo, et amplectentur testamentum meum, dabo illis in domo mea et in muro meo locum nominatum meliorum filiorum et filiarum; nomen electum dabo illis, et non deficiet (Esa. LVI, 4, 5). In Apocalypsi quoque beati Joannis, illi sunt qui sequuntur Agnum quocunque ierit (Apoc. XIV, 4), qui virgines permanserunt.
CHAPTER VI. A greater grace of gift in virgins than in others. A better place in the wall is promised to eunuchs. — 10. Though she has in her various members gifts differing according to the grace that has been given her, yet she has received a greater grace of gift in those members in which she is so called virgin in the spirit that she possesses also the integrity of bodily virginity. For in the other faithful members, which believe rightly in God according to the rule of the catholic faith and keep conjugal or widowed chastity, which, that is, are neither stained with the filth of actual fornication and remain free of every defilement of unbelief, the Church possesses spiritual virginity only; but in those members in which she so keeps the right faith as to preserve the flesh also untouched by any intercourse, the fuller the virginity she has, the more fully and perfectly she possesses the name of that same virginity: for in the former she has nothing less for life; in the latter she acquires something more for glory, because, as Paul says: One is the glory of the sun, and another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory; so also is the resurrection of the dead. Indeed, under the name of eunuchs (whom the Saviour also affirms in the Gospel to have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven) the Lord through Isaiah promises virgins a better place in His house and in His wall. For thus it is written: Thus says the Lord to the eunuchs: Whoever keep My precepts, and choose what I will, and embrace My covenant, I will give them in My house and in My wall a named place, better than sons and daughters; I will give them a chosen name, and it shall not fail (Isa. 56:4–5). In the Apocalypse of blessed John too, they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14:4) are those who have remained virgins.
CAP. VII. Melior virginitas mentis et corporis, quam alia dona. — 11. Claret itaque inter caeteras Ecclesiae donationes, illic praecipuum munus spiritalis esse carismatis, ubi virtus ipsa integritatis perfecto meretur vocabulo censeri virtutis. Quamvis enim sit prophetia secundum rationem fidei, sive ministerium in ministrando, sive qui docet in doctrina, qui exhortatur in exhortando, qui tribuit in simplicitate, qui praeest in sollicitudine, qui miseretur in hilaritate (Rom. XII, 6, 7), haec dona diversa propriis inveniuntur appellari nominibus. Integritas autem carnis Deo fideliter consecrata, et in cordis virginitate, Deo adjuvante ac protegente, servata, idcirco proprie virginitas dicitur, ut ibi perfectio verae virtutis inesse monstretur.
CHAPTER VII. Virginity of mind and body is better than other gifts. — 11. It is clear, then, that among the other gifts of the Church the chief gift of spiritual charism is there where the very virtue of integrity deserves to be reckoned by the perfect word for virtue. For though there is prophecy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry in ministering, or he who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhorting, he who gives in simplicity, he who presides in solicitude, he who shows mercy in cheerfulness (Rom. 12:6–7), these diverse gifts are found to be called by their own names. But integrity of the flesh faithfully consecrated to God, and kept in virginity of heart with God helping and protecting, is properly called virginity for this reason, that the perfection of true virtue may be shown to be present there.
11. Melior est igitur caeteris actualibus donis intemerata sanctitas virginalis, quae divini gratia muneris a virtute videtur originem vocabuli trahere, ut ex ipso nomine semper se admoneri cognoscat, ea quae virtutis sunt debere servare. Unde non immerito Doctor gentium, ac Vas electionis caelibem conjugalemque
11. Better, then, than the other active gifts is undefiled virginal holiness, which by the grace of the divine gift is seen to draw the origin of its name from virtue, so that it may know itself always admonished by its very name that it ought to keep the things that belong to virtue. Hence not without reason the Teacher of the Gentiles and Vessel of election [distinguishes] the celibate and the married
Editors' notes and page, col. 328
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: non immerito Doctor gentium› · call in col 328
Absunt haec verba Doctor gentium ac a ms. Corb.
These words, "Teacher of the Gentiles, and", are absent from the Corbie manuscript.
(printed under page 169)
Page
- running head: [S. FULGENT]II EPISCOPI RUSPENSIS 328
- marginal letters: A ‹a virtute sumpsit›; B ‹his vero membris, in quibus›; C ‹gerint quae ego volo›; D ‹6, 7), haec dona diversa›
- old-edition numerals: 167 after ‹virginitatis›
vitam tali definitione discernit, ut istam sollicitam quae Dei sunt in sanctificatione corporis et spiritus Deo placere; illam vero mundanis cogitationibus deditam, placendi viro studium gestare confirmet. Qui sine uxore est, inquiens, sollicitus est quae Dei sunt, quomodo placeat Deo. Qui autem cum uxore est, sollicitus est quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est. Et mulier innupta et virgo cogitat quae sunt Domini, ut sit sancta corpore et spiritu; quae autem nupta est, cogitat quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat viro (I Cor. VII, 32, 33, 34).
life by such a definition, affirming that the one, solicitous for the things of God, pleases God in sanctification of body and spirit, while the other, given to worldly thoughts, bears the desire of pleasing her husband. He who is without a wife, he says, is solicitous for the things that are God's, how he may please God. But he who is with a wife is solicitous for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinks of the things that are the Lord's, that she may be holy in body and in spirit; but she who is married thinks of the things that are of the world, how she may please her husband (1 Cor. 7:32–34).
CAP. VIII. Conjugatis quoque ascribitur sanctitas, sed major virginibus. — 13. Verumtamen hoc Apostolus dicens, non sic ascripsit virginibus sanctitatem corporis et spiritus, ut illam vel conjugatis demeret, vel viduis abnegaret: praecipue qui superiori loco ejusdem Epistolae fidelium corpora membra Christi et templum appellet Spiritus sancti; dicit enim: Nescitis quia corpora vestra membra Christi sunt (I Cor. VI, 15)? Et paulo post, An nescitis quia membra vestra templum est Spiritus sancti, qui in vobis est, quem habetis a Deo, et non estis vestri? Empti enim estis pretio magno. Glorificate igitur, et portate Deum in corpore vestro (Ibid., 19). Et ut se conjugatis quoque scribere demonstraret, continuo subjunxit: De quibus autem scripsistis: Bonum est homini mulierem non tangere; propter fornicationes autem unusquisque suam uxorem habeat, et unaquaeque suum virum habeat (I Cor. VII, 1, 2). In Epistola quoque ad Ephesios conjugatis utique loquebatur, quibus dicebat: Viri, diligite uxores vestras, sicut et Christus dilexit Ecclesiam (Ephes. V, 26). Et paulo post, Qui suam uxorem diligit, seipsum diligit. Nemo enim unquam carnem suam odio habuit; sed nutrit et fovet eam, sicut et Christus Ecclesiam, quia membra sumus corporis ejus de carne ejus, et de ossibus ejus (Ibid., 29, 30). Petrus quoque apostolus conjugatas fideles, sanctas non ambigit appellare, dicens: Sic enim aliquando mulieres sanctae, sperantes in Deo, ornabant se, subjectae viris suis: sicut Sara obsequebatur Abrahae, dominum eum vocans (I Petr. III, 5, 6). Non ergo apostolus Paulus a sanctificatione corporis et spiritus fideles conjugatas separat, sed hoc eas cogitare dicit, ubi earum cogitationem amplius teneri cognoscit. Quis enim nesciat sanctarum virginum cogitationem magis ad spiritalia recurrere, et sanctarum conjugatarum cogitationem magis conjugali necessitati servire?
CHAPTER VIII. Holiness is ascribed to the married also, but a greater to virgins. — 13. Nevertheless the Apostle, in saying this, did not so ascribe holiness of body and spirit to virgins as either to take it away from the married or deny it to widows: especially since in an earlier place of the same Epistle he calls the bodies of the faithful members of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit; for he says: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15)? And a little after: Or do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a great price. Glorify, therefore, and bear God in your body (1 Cor. 6:19). And to show that he was writing to the married as well, he added at once: Now concerning the things of which you wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman; but because of fornications let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband (1 Cor. 7:1–2). In the Epistle to the Ephesians too he was certainly speaking to the married, when he said to them: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church (Eph. 5:26). And a little after: He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh; but he nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ also does the Church, because we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5:29–30). The apostle Peter too does not hesitate to call faithful married women holy, saying: For so in former times the holy women, hoping in God, adorned themselves, being subject to their husbands: as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord (1 Pet. 3:5–6). The apostle Paul, then, does not separate faithful married women from sanctification of body and spirit, but says that they think of that by which he knows their thought to be more held. For who does not know that the thought of holy virgins runs back more to spiritual things, and the thought of holy married women serves more the conjugal necessity?
CAP. IX. Nuptiae non sunt peccatum, sed donum Dei. Multiplex inter virginitatem et connubium comparatio. — 14. Scimus ergo nuptias non esse peccatum, sed Dei opus et Dei donum: quas ipse Dominus connexuit fidei vinculo, gratificavit benedictionis dono, multiplicavit propagationis augmento. Novimus honorabile connubium in omnibus, et thorum immaculatum (Hebr. XIII, 4); novimus a Deo, non conjugia,
CHAPTER IX. Marriage is not a sin, but a gift of God. A manifold comparison between virginity and marriage. — 14. We know, then, that marriage is not a sin, but the work of God and the gift of God: which the Lord Himself has bound with the bond of faith, graced with the gift of blessing, multiplied with the increase of offspring. We know that marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled (Heb. 13:4); we know that by God, not marriages,
Editors' notes and page, col. 329
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot images› · call in col 329
Sic habent mss. Corb. et Basil.; at Colon. et Ant., in sanctificationem.
So the Corbie manuscript and the Basel [edition] have it; but the Cologne and Antwerp [editions] have "unto sanctification".
(printed under page 170)
(b) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot images› · call in col 329
Abest igitur a ms. Corb., Colon. et Ant., legitur in Basil. et Graeco textu Apostoli.
Igitur, "therefore", is absent from the Corbie manuscript and the Cologne and Antwerp [editions]; it is read in the Basel [edition] and in the Greek text of the Apostle.
(printed under page 170)
Page
- running head: 329 EPISTOLA I[II …] (rest of the running head beyond the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹galemque vitam tali definitione›; B ‹vel viduis abnegaret›; C ‹dilexit Ecclesiam›; D ‹ctarum conjugatarum cogitationem›
- old-edition numerals: 168 after ‹non estis vestri?›
sed fornicationes et adulteria judicanda: Fornicatores enim et adulteros judicabit Deus (Ibid.). Fatemur enim a Deo esse nuptiarum fidem, conjugum castitatem, naturae fecunditatem; sed quia unusquisque proprium habet donum a Deo, alius quidem sic, alius autem sic (I Cor. VII, 7), nos quoque sic utriusque doni gradum discernimus, ut utrumque donum a Deo tribui fidelibus non negemus. Non igitur inferius donum Dei devocamus in culpam, cum potioris doni praeferimus gratiam; nec cum primum pudicitiae donum praeponimus, secundum tertiumve damnamus; nec in eo quod integritatis virginalis agnoscimus culmen, pudicitiae conjugalis asserimus crimen; neque sic virginitatem frumentis ascribimus, ut conjugium inter zizania (al. zizaniam) deputemus. Non est conjugium nocturni seminis fructus, quia hoc in agro dominico non sator invidus superseminavit (Matth. XIII, 25), sed Dominus bonus instituit.
but fornications and adulteries are to be judged: for God will judge fornicators and adulterers (Heb. 13:4). For we confess that the fidelity of marriage, the chastity of spouses, the fruitfulness of nature are from God; but since each one has his own gift from God, one in this way, another in that (1 Cor. 7:7), we too so distinguish the rank of each gift as not to deny that both gifts are bestowed on the faithful by God. We do not, then, summon the lower gift of God to the charge of fault when we prefer the grace of the higher gift; nor, when we set the first gift of chastity before the others, do we condemn the second or third; nor, in acknowledging the summit of virginal integrity, do we assert that conjugal chastity is a crime; nor do we so ascribe virginity to the wheat as to reckon marriage among the cockle (another reading: the cockle, singular). Marriage is not the fruit of the nocturnal seed, because it was not the envious sower who sowed it over in the Lord's field (Matt. 13:25), but the good Lord instituted it.
15. Verumtamen utriusque rei congrua discretione momenta pensantes, tantum dicimus a sanctis nuptiis, ubi nubunt qui se continere non possunt, sanctam virginitatem merito potiore distare, quantum distant a bonis meliora, ab humilibus celsa, a terrenis coelestia, a beatis beatiora, a sanctis sanctiora, a mundis mundiora, a mortali connubio immortale connubium, a carne spiritus, ab infirmitate virtus, a fetu transiturae prolis permansuri germinis fructus; a tribulatione securitas, a perturbatione tranquillitas, a bono quod est cum angustia momentaneum melius quod est cum laetitia sempiternum.
15. Nevertheless, weighing the importance of each thing with fitting discernment, we say that holy virginity stands apart by a higher merit from holy marriage, where those marry who cannot contain themselves, as far as better things stand apart from good, lofty from lowly, heavenly from earthly, more blessed from blessed, holier from holy, purer from pure, an immortal marriage from a mortal marriage, spirit from flesh, strength from weakness, the fruit of an abiding seed from the birth of passing offspring; security from tribulation, tranquillity from disturbance, the better thing that is everlasting with joy from the good thing that is momentary with distress.
CAP. X. Virginitas longe superior connubio carnali. Infortunia conjugii circa prolem corporalem. Bona virginitatis circa prolem spiritalem. — 16. Nec dubitamus dicere, tantum a sancta virginitate carnis et spiritus fidelium conjugatorum (licet a Deo concessum) infirmae mortalisque carnis hujus distare concubitum, quantum similitudo pecorum ab imitatione discernitur angelorum. In uno quippe, ad terram spiritus terrena carnis voluptate deprimitur; in altero autem, terrena caro coelesti delectatione spiritus ad coelestia sublevatur. Ad placendum quippe carnali conjugio, saepe mundana mentem cura sollicitat: ad placendum vero spiritali connubio, mens, dulcedini coelestis cogitationis intenta, corpus suum spiritali pinguescens delectatione castigat.
CHAPTER X. Virginity is far above carnal marriage. The misfortunes of marriage concerning bodily offspring. The goods of virginity concerning spiritual offspring. — 16. Nor do we hesitate to say that the intercourse of faithful married people in this weak and mortal flesh (although granted by God) stands as far apart from holy virginity of flesh and spirit as the likeness of beasts is distinguished from the imitation of angels. For in the one the spirit is pressed down to the earth by the earthly pleasure of the flesh; but in the other the earthly flesh is lifted up to heavenly things by the heavenly delight of the spirit. For in order to please in carnal marriage, worldly care often troubles the mind: but in order to please in spiritual marriage, the mind, intent on the sweetness of heavenly thought and growing rich in spiritual delight, chastises its own body.
17. In opere corporalium nuptiarum virginitas carnis amittitur, ut ad carnis fecunditatem veniatur. Ubi tamen nonnunquam sic incertae spei fructu fraudatur humana delectatio, ut quae virgo esse destitit, mater esse non possit, et sterilitatis obstaculo coercita, nec in corpore queat reparare quod perdidit, nec ex corpore valeat habere quod cupit. Plerumque (quod est gravius) graviore dolore fetus carnis perdit, quos gravi dolore suscepit; et ad hoc pariens pericula gemitusque tolerat, ut amittens quos cum
17. In the act of bodily marriage the virginity of the flesh is lost, so that the fruitfulness of the flesh may be reached. Yet there human delight is sometimes so cheated of the fruit of its uncertain hope that she who has ceased to be a virgin cannot be a mother, and, held back by the barrier of barrenness, can neither restore in the body what she has lost nor obtain from the body what she desires. Very often (which is more grievous) she loses with greater grief the offspring of the flesh whom she received with grievous pain; and in giving birth she endures dangers and groans to this end, that losing those whom with
Editors' notes and page, col. 330
Footnotes
(c) ‹anchor: a fetu transiturae prolis› · call in col 330
Editi, transitittae prolis. Ms. Corb., transiturae.
The printed editions: "of transient offspring" [transitittae as printed]. The Corbie manuscript: transiturae, "of offspring that will pass away".
(printed under page 170)
Page
- running head: [E]PISTOLA III. 330
- marginal letters: A ‹sed fornicationes et adulteria›; B ‹est conjugium nocturni seminis›; C ‹CAP. X. Virginitas longe superior›; D ‹17. In opere corporalium›
- old-edition numerals: 169 before ‹CAP. X.›
gemitu pepererat, deterius gemat. In copula vero matrimonii spiritalis, cum sponso Christo sic conjugatur anima, ut etiam caro servetur intacta. Quanto magis virginalis integritas viget, tanto magis immortalis fecunditas pollet. Sic enim ibi non est mortalis fructus ex corpore, ut immortalis fetus non desit ex corde, ibi maritalis accessus non vitiat corpus, quia Christi spiritalia amplexus et animam servat et corpus. In tali connubio nullus effectus aestuanti cupiditati conceditur, quia sanctae caritatis fervor refrigerio spiritali nutritur. O angelicae imitationis non humana in hominibus virtus! O ineffabile superni sempiternique muneris decus! quod qui accipiunt, hoc meditantur in carne mortali, quod sunt in immortalitate sumpturi: eligunt enim bonam partem, quae non auferetur ab eis (Luc. X, 42), sed perficietur in eis. Quod enim ab eis nunc inviolatum servatur in opere, hoc eis gloria immortalitatis cumulatum reddetur in munere.
she had borne with groaning, she groans the worse. But in the union of spiritual matrimony the soul is so joined to Christ the bridegroom that the flesh also is kept untouched. The more virginal integrity flourishes, the more immortal fruitfulness prevails. For there, while there is no mortal fruit from the body, immortal offspring is not lacking from the heart; there the approach of the husband does not violate the body, because the spiritual embrace of Christ preserves both soul and body. In such a marriage no fulfilment is granted to burning desire, because the fervour of holy charity is nourished by spiritual refreshment. O virtue of angelic imitation, not human, in human beings! O ineffable glory of the heavenly and everlasting gift! Those who receive it meditate in mortal flesh on what they are to take up in immortality: for they choose the good part, which shall not be taken away from them (Luke 10:42), but shall be perfected in them. For what is now kept inviolate by them in deed will be rendered to them, heaped up by the glory of immortality, as a gift.
CAP. XI. Virginitas sic ambulet, ut nec declinet ad dexteram, nec ad sinistram. Via sinistra voluptas carnis. Via dextera superba jactatio virtutum. — 18. Quocirca, quae non est saeculi virgo, sed Christi, sicut non debet monilibus, ita debet virtutibus adornari. Ornatus autem virginis est, virginitatis bonum non minus mente quam carne servare: ut scilicet semetipsam tanto munere condignam semper exhibeat, et sic veritatis teneat viam, ut non divertat ad dexteram vel sinistram. Sinistram quippe obsidet carnalium turba vitiorum, dexteram tenet spiritalium jactatio superba virtutum. Illa carnem publicis delectamentis oblectare contendit, haec menti laudem propriae virtutis immurmurare non desinit. Illa namque blandiens virgini persuadere conatur ut, tantum carnis integritate servata, quidquid pertinet ad delicias ciborum, nitorem vestium, fomenta balnearum, stramentorum mollitiem, unguentorum lenitatem, jocorum hilaritatem, sub specie vitandae infirmitatis, et custodiendae corporeae sospitatis, virgo diligat, appetat, teneat; et quasi molliori clivo devexum latioris viae monstrat gradienti descensum, qua non conscendat ad coelum, sed devolvatur in tartarum: insinuat vitandum itineris angusti laborem, ne perveniatur ad requiem.
CHAPTER XI. Let virginity so walk that it turns aside neither to the right nor to the left. The way on the left is the pleasure of the flesh. The way on the right is the proud boasting of virtues. — 18. Therefore she who is a virgin not of the world but of Christ ought to be adorned not with necklaces but with virtues. And the adornment of a virgin is to keep the good of virginity no less in mind than in flesh: that is, that she should always show herself worthy of so great a gift, and so hold the way of truth as not to turn aside to the right or to the left. For the left is beset by the throng of carnal vices; the right is held by the proud boasting of spiritual virtues. The one strives to delight the flesh with public pleasures; the other does not cease to murmur into the mind the praise of its own virtue. For the one, flattering the virgin, tries to persuade her that, provided only the integrity of the flesh is kept, whatever belongs to delicacies of food, elegance of clothing, the comforts of baths, softness of bedding, smoothness of ointments, merriment of jests, the virgin may love, seek and hold, under the pretext of avoiding weakness and guarding bodily health; and, as by a gentler slope, it shows the walker the downhill descent of the broader way, by which she would not climb up to heaven but roll down into hell: it suggests that the labour of the narrow road be avoided, so that rest may not be reached.
19. Ast alia quanto occultius, tanto periculosius parat virgini praecipitium, dum callide collaudat ascensum. Etenim si teneatur in cibis abstinentia, vestis non sit nitida sed despecta, buxeum pallorem rubore sublato corpori jejunia generent, candorem carnis lavandi contemptus obfuscet, lasso corpori somnus stratis durioribus detur, cutis lenitas despectis asperetur unguentis, contractior vultus risui semper obsistat et joco, haec omnia non divino adjutorio deputat, sed viribus humanae possibilitatis assignat.
19. But the other prepares a fall for the virgin the more dangerously the more hiddenly, while it cunningly praises her ascent. For if abstinence in food is kept, if her clothing is not elegant but mean, if fasts produce in the body a boxwood pallor with the colour taken away, if contempt of washing darkens the whiteness of the flesh, if sleep is given to the weary body on harder beds, if the smoothness of the skin is roughened by ointments despised, if a more restrained face always resists laughter and jest, all these it attributes not to the divine help but assigns to the powers of human capability.
Editors' notes and page, col. 331
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot images› · call in col 331
Ms. Corb., ibi mortalis accessus.
The Corbie manuscript: "there [is] mortal access".
(printed under page 171)
(b) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot images› · call in col 331
[Ms.] Vict., quod sunt immortalitate [print faint; siglum and reading uncertain].
The Saint-Victor manuscript: "that they are in immortality" [faint; uncertain].
(printed under page 171)
(c) ‹anchor: stramentorum mollitiem› · call in col 331
Haec verba stramentorum mollitiem adduntur in ms. Corb.
These words, "the softness of bedding", are added in the Corbie manuscript.
(printed under page 171)
(d) ‹anchor: unguentorum lenitatem› · call in col 331
Editi Colon. et Antuerp., somnorum; at Basil., somniorum lenitatem. Ms. Corb., unguentorum lenitatem; et quidem melius, quia inferius dicitur, cutis lenitas despectis asperetur unguentis.
The Cologne and Antwerp editions: "of sleep"; but the Basel: "the gentleness of dreams". The Corbie manuscript: "the smoothness of ointments" — and indeed better, because it is said further on, "let the smoothness of the skin be roughened by spurning ointments".
(printed under page 171)
Page
- running head: 331 S. FULGENTII EPISCOP[I …] (rest of the running head beyond the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹gemitu pepererat, deterius gemat›; B ‹tur in eis. Quod enim ab eis›; C ‹tis oblectare contendit›; D ‹ascensum. Etenim si teneatur›
- old-edition numerals: 170 after ‹et quasi›
CAP. XII. Delicias carnis virgo Christi fugere debet. — 20. Proinde ad exteriorem virginitatem interioremque servandam sollicita debet virgo semper excubare cautela. Delicias carnis et oblectamenta corporis, quae sibi non tam necessitas exigit quam voluptas, omnino sacra virgo refugiat. Spiritalis enim virginum sponsus non quaerit in virgine carnem deliciis accuratam, sed jejuniis castigatam. Hoc Doctor gentium cum se facere dicit, nobis quoque insinuat faciendum, Castigo, inquiens, corpus meum, et servituti subjicio (I Cor. IX, 27). Et rursus: In vigiliis multis, in fame et siti, in jejuniis multis (II Cor. XI, 27). De vidua vero dicit: Quae autem in deliciis est, vivens mortua est (I Tim. V, 6). Non quaerat ergo Christi virgo carnis delicias, quas nec viduae videt esse concessas. In saturitate cibi vivens Sodoma (Gen. XIX, 24 et seq.), cibus ignis effici meruit; et Niniviticus populus (Jonae III, 5) divinum furorem, cunctorum jam cervicibus imminentem, jejunio lacrymisque submovit. Igitur si visibilis cupiditas vincatur in corpore, inimica invisibilis potestas non dominatur in corde. Illam feliciter vincimus, si fortiter cum ista certemus: et de illa triumphus acquiritur cum ista calcatur.
CHAPTER XII. The virgin of Christ ought to flee the delights of the flesh. — 20. Therefore, for the keeping of outward and inward virginity, the virgin ought always to keep watch with anxious caution. Let the sacred virgin altogether flee the delights of the flesh and the pleasures of the body, which not so much necessity as pleasure demands for itself. For the spiritual bridegroom of virgins does not seek in a virgin flesh tended with delicacies, but chastised with fasts. When the Teacher of the Gentiles says that he does this, he suggests to us also that it is to be done: I chastise my body, he says, and bring it into subjection (1 Cor. 9:27). And again: In many watchings, in hunger and thirst, in many fastings (2 Cor. 11:27). And of the widow he says: But she who lives in delights is dead while she lives (1 Tim. 5:6). Let the virgin of Christ, then, not seek the delights of the flesh, which she sees are not granted even to widows. Sodom, living in fullness of bread (Gen. 19:24 ff.), deserved to be made food for fire; and the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5) turned away by fasting and tears the divine wrath that already hung over the necks of all. If, then, visible desire is overcome in the body, the invisible hostile power does not rule in the heart. We conquer that one happily if we fight bravely with this one: and the triumph over that one is gained when this one is trodden underfoot.
CAP. XIII. Temperies jejuniorum. — 21. Porro jejuniis sic est adhibenda temperies, ut corpus nostrum nec saturitas excitet, nec inedia immoderata debilitet. Talis igitur tantaque virginis jejunium refectio subsequatur, ut nec suavitate corpus illiciat, nec saturitate succendat. Suavitate quippe minuitur eleemosyna pauperum, saturitate corpus efficitur bellicosum. Illic fratribus debitum invaditur, hic hosti auxilium subrogatur. Volentibus enim nobis concupiscentiam gulae diversis oblectare pigmentis, quod egenus accipere debuit, voluptas insumit. Proinde jejunium nec debilitas praeripiat, nec saturitas tollat. Utraque enim nostris adversariis militat: quia una utilitatem jejunii praecedentis adimit, altera facultati jejunii subsequentis obsistit. Saturitas facit ut inaniter jejunemus, debilitas facit ne jejunare possimus.
CHAPTER XIII. The moderation of fasts. — 21. Moreover, such moderation is to be applied to fasts that neither fullness excites our body nor immoderate want of food weakens it. Let the virgin's fast, then, be followed by a refreshment of such a kind and measure that it neither entices the body with sweetness nor inflames it with fullness. For by sweetness the alms of the poor is lessened; by fullness the body is made warlike. In the one case what is owed to the brethren is seized; in the other help is supplied to the enemy. For when we wish to delight the craving of the gullet with various spiced dishes, pleasure consumes what the needy man ought to have received. Therefore let neither weakness snatch away the fast nor fullness take it away. For each fights for our adversaries: because the one takes away the profit of the preceding fast, the other stands in the way of the capacity for the following fast. Fullness makes us fast in vain; weakness makes us unable to fast.
CAP. XIV. Virginum vestes quales. — 22. Vestis quoque talis sit sacrae virginis, quae testis existat intimae castitatis. Nihil nitoris in habitu exterioris hominis quaeritur, ne interioris hominis habitus (al. habitu) sordidetur. Virgo quae ornatum corporeae vestis affectat, animam suam virtutum splendore despoliat; nec habet castitatem veram, quae intuentibus parat illecebram; nec fidem servat Christo, quae populo quaerit magis placere quam sponso. Consequenter autem necesse est ut quae humano conspectui concupiscentiam seminat, in divino conspectu iracundiam metat. Qui enim seminat in carne sua, de carne metet corruptionem. Qui vero seminat
CHAPTER XIV. Of what kind the clothing of virgins should be. — 22. Let the clothing of the sacred virgin also be such as to stand as a witness of inmost chastity. No elegance is sought in the attire of the outward man, lest the attire of the inward man (another reading: by attire) be soiled. A virgin who aims at the adornment of bodily clothing strips her soul of the splendour of the virtues; nor does she have true chastity who prepares an enticement for those who look at her; nor does she keep faith with Christ who seeks to please the people more than the bridegroom. And it follows necessarily that she who sows desire in human sight reaps wrath in the divine sight. For he who sows in his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows
Editors' notes and page, col. 332
Footnotes
(e) ‹anchor: nec debilitas praeripiat› · call in col 332
Basil., praecipitet.
The Basel [edition]: praecipitet, "cast down".
(printed under page 171)
(f) ‹anchor: ornatum corporeae vestis› · call in col 332
Basil., corporis, veste.
The Basel [edition]: corporis, veste, "of the body, with a garment".
(printed under page 171)
Page
- running head: [S. FULGENT]II EPISCOPI RUSPENSIS 332
- marginal letters: A ‹CAP. XII. Delicias carnis virgo›; B ‹det esse concessas. In saturitate›; C ‹eleemosyna pauperum›; D ‹habitu) sordidetur›
- old-edition numerals: 171 after ‹seminat,›
in spiritu, de spiritu metet vitam aeternam (Galat. VI, 8).
in the spirit, from the spirit shall reap life eternal (Gal. 6:8).
23. Verum de his atque horum similibus quae ad curam pertinent carnis, et animam faciunt sub virginitatis nomine in concupiscentiis dormitare, illae potius admonendae sunt virgines quae deliciosae, quae vagae, quae jocis sunt deditae.
23. But about these things, and things like them, which belong to the care of the flesh and make the soul fall asleep in its desires under the name of virginity, it is rather those virgins who must be admonished who are given to luxury, to wandering about, and to jests.
CAP. XV. — Nobis autem nunc ad spiritalem virginem loquentibus, de illis est laqueis evitandis aliquid memorandum, quos (ut ita dicam) non in terrenis rebus, sed in ipsis coelestibus adversarius tendit; nec a via manifesta seducit errore, sed, sicut ait propheta: In via hac qua ambulabam absconderunt laqueos mihi (Ps. CXLI, 4) ubi bene ambulantes perspicit in operibus bonis, ibi vehementius et periculosius, sub colore simulatae pacis, occultis repugnat insidiis; et non valens virginitatem carnis in carne perdere, virginitatem spiritus conatur auferre.
CHAPTER XV. — But since we are now speaking to a spiritual virgin, something must be said about avoiding those snares which the adversary sets (if I may put it so) not among earthly things but among the heavenly things themselves; nor does he lead astray from the open road by error, but, as the prophet says: In this way in which I was walking they hid snares for me (Ps. 141:4); where he sees people walking well in good works, there he fights back more vehemently and more dangerously with hidden ambushes, under the colour of a feigned peace; and, unable to destroy the virginity of the flesh in the flesh, he tries to take away the virginity of the spirit.
24. Propter quod non est Christi virginibus negligentius intuendum quantum cordis virginitas carnis virginitati praeponderet. Haec enim si a fidelibus conjugatis ac viduis in fide, quae per dilectionem operatur, etiam sine virginitate corporea, in hac vita fuerit custodita, in futuro nec carnis virginitate privabitur, et regni coelestis beatitudine perfruetur; corporalis vero virginitas, etiam Deo dicata, si virginitatem non servaverit cordis, nihil proderit in corpore custodita, si spiritalis castitas fuerit in mente corrupta.
24. For this reason Christ's virgins must not consider too carelessly how far virginity of heart outweighs virginity of the flesh. For if the former has been kept in this life by faithful married people and widows, in the faith which works through love, even without bodily virginity, in the future it will not be deprived even of the virginity of the flesh, and it will enjoy the blessedness of the heavenly kingdom; but bodily virginity, even when dedicated to God, if it has not preserved virginity of heart, will profit nothing by being kept in the body, if spiritual chastity has been corrupted in the mind.
25. Diabolus utramque oppugnat virginitatem: carnis, per homines; mentis, per seipsum. Callidi hostis varia tentatio contra virgines. — Utramque diabolus persequitur, utramque callidis consiliis insectatur. Sed virginitatem carnis per hominem nititur praeripere, cordis vero virginitatem per seipsum conatur auferre. Nam plerumque ad hoc carnis virginitatem, quae inferior est, non impugnat, ut illius quae potior est fundamenta subfodiat; et tanquam diversis machinis, sic innumeris utitur argumentis; et cum certamini manifesto cedit, ad hoc se victum demonstrat, ut vincat; ad hoc fugam simulat, ut persequentem missis post tergum sagitis occidat. Defende te a talibus: evidentibus quippe vitiis provocat, dum virginitatem corporis impugnat in quibus si palam superetur, illico superbiam perniciosissime jaculatur: et vitiorum auctor in eo quod vincere non potest vitiis suis, vinci virtutibus alienis, armis quibus eliditur surgit, et virtute qua dejicitur dejicit. Laudat qua se perspicit superari virtutem, ut victus possit captivare vincentem: injicit enim cordis jactantiam, ut graviori lapsu de alto possit dejicere, si quos in humilibus videt gradu firmiore pugnare. Nam (verbi gratia) cum gulae delectamenta porrigit, si suscipiatur, fomitem libidinis subministrat; si respuatur, jactantiam de abstinentia seminat. Insinuat dilectionem pecuniae: si tenuerit
25. The devil attacks both virginities: that of the flesh through men, that of the mind through himself. The varied temptation of the cunning enemy against virgins. — The devil pursues both, he hunts both with cunning designs. But the virginity of the flesh he strives to snatch away through a man, while the virginity of the heart he tries to take away through himself. For often he does not attack the virginity of the flesh, which is the lesser, precisely so that he may undermine the foundations of the one which is the greater; and as with different siege engines, so he uses countless devices; and when he yields in open combat, he shows himself beaten in order to conquer; he feigns flight in order to kill his pursuer with arrows shot behind his back. Defend yourself against such things: for he provokes with open vices while he attacks the virginity of the body, and if he is plainly overcome in these, he at once hurls pride most ruinously: and the author of vices, in that he cannot conquer by his own vices, rises to be conquered by another's virtues, by the weapons with which he is struck down, and casts down by the virtue by which he is cast down. He praises the virtue by which he sees himself overcome, so that, though beaten, he may take the victor captive: for he plants boasting in the heart, so that he may cast down from on high by a heavier fall any whom he sees fighting with firmer step in lowly things. For (to give an example) when he offers the delights of gluttony, if they are accepted, he supplies fuel for lust; if they are refused, he sows boasting about abstinence. He insinuates love of money: if it has held
Editors' notes and page, col. 333
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot images› · call in col 333
Colon., qui vero seminat de spiritu.
The Cologne [edition]: "but he who sows from the spirit".
(printed under page 172)
(b) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot images› · call in col 333
Ms. Corb., laqueum.
The Corbie manuscript: laqueum, "a snare".
(printed under page 172)
(c) ‹anchor: Defende te a talibus› · call in col 333
Desunt haec in editis; leguntur in ms. Corb.
These words are wanting in the printed editions; they are read in the Corbie manuscript.
(printed under page 172)
(d) ‹anchor: Insinuat dilectionem pecuniae› · call in col 333
Ms. Corb., delectationem pecuniae.
The Corbie manuscript: "delight in money" [for "love of money"].
(printed under page 172)
Page
- running head: 333 EPISTOLA [rest of the head cut off at the image edge]
- marginal letters: A minat in spiritu; B simulatae pacis; C carnis, per homines; D niciosissime jaculatur
- old-edition numerals: (none)
assensum, avaritiae gladio animam confodit †incautam; si autem fuerit repulsus, insidias quas per tenacitatem tendere non potuit, per liberalitatem †saevissimus tendit, et in opere misericordiae facit cor superbum pullulare, ut eo quod egenti largitur, magna sibi habere merita videatur. In multis haec facit, et maxime sic impugnare spiritales Dei famulos et famulas assuevit, ut si quis rebus noxiis mortiferisque non vincitur, vitalibus remediis occidatur. Bonis operatur mala, salubribus noxia, justis injusta, et commodis praestat incommoda. Hoc in seipso primum operatus est, qui non ex conditione habuit originem criminis, sed ex elatione virtutis veritatem in injustitia detinere voluit et, per injustitiam lapsus, in veritate non stetit. Quomodo enim stare potuit, cui pro superbia restitit ille qui †nunquam cadit? Initium enim omnis peccati superbia (Eccli. X, 15); Propter quod Deus superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam (Jac. IV, 6).
assent, he stabs the unwary soul with the sword of avarice; but if he has been repulsed, the snares which he could not set through tight-fistedness he sets most savagely through liberality, and in the work of mercy he makes the heart sprout into pride, so that by what it bestows on the needy it seems to itself to have great merits. He does this in many, and he is especially accustomed to attack God's spiritual servants, men and women, in this way, so that anyone who is not overcome by harmful and deadly things may be killed by life-giving remedies. He works evil by good things, harm by wholesome things, injustice by just things, and supplies disadvantages by advantages. This he first worked in himself, who did not have the origin of his crime from his creation, but from being lifted up by his excellence chose to hold the truth in injustice and, having fallen through injustice, did not stand in the truth. For how could he stand, whom, for his pride, He resisted Who never falls? For pride is the beginning of all sin (Sir. 10:15); For which reason God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6).
CAP. XVI. Superbia initium omnis peccati. †Hypocritae superbi mente. — 26. Haec autem superbia ideo initium omnis peccati dicitur, ut omne peccatum de ipsa tanquam de radice pullulare monstretur: quae multiplici modo miseris inferens mortem, publico certamine carnales dejicit; spiritales vero, si quos invenerit, occultiore conflictu prosternit. Quis enim nesciat fornicarios, idolis servientes, adulteros molles, masculorum concubitores, fures, avaros, ebriosos (al. ebrios), maledicos, rapaces, superbas adversus Deum cervices erigere, et nequissimis operibus magis diabolo militare? Sunt alii quos in conspectu hominum superbia tanquam suos demonstrat hostes, et intrinsecus habet nequissimos milites. Ab his iniquitas callide geritur, ut humanis obtutibus justitia fallaciter ostendatur. Hos Dominus noster sic increpat: Vos estis qui justificatis vos coram hominibus; Deus autem novit corda vestra. Quos ut superbos evidenter ostenderet, secutus adjunxit: Quia quod hominibus altum est, abominatio est ante Dominum (Luc. XVI, 15).
CHAPTER XVI. Pride the beginning of all sin. Hypocrites proud in mind. — 26. Now this pride is called the beginning of all sin for this reason, that every sin may be shown to sprout from it as from a root: bringing death on the wretched in manifold ways, it casts down the carnal in open contest; but the spiritual, if it finds any, it lays low in a more hidden conflict. For who does not know that fornicators, those who serve idols, adulterers, the effeminate, those who lie with males, thieves, the greedy, drunkards (another reading: the drunk), slanderers, robbers, raise proud necks against God and serve as soldiers rather for the devil by most wicked works? There are others whom pride shows in the sight of men as its enemies, while inwardly it has them as its most wicked soldiers. By these iniquity is cunningly carried on, so that justice is deceitfully displayed to human eyes. Our Lord rebukes these thus: You are those who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts. And to show them plainly as proud, He added next: For what is lofty to men is an abomination before the Lord (Luke 16:15).
27. Ad eos etiam qui sub Christiana professione vivunt, et Christi praecepta manifeste peccando contemnunt, sic ipse Christus loquitur: Quid autem vocatis me, Domine, Domine, et non facitis quae dico (Luc. VI, 6)? Tales gentium quoque Doctor his verbis objurgat: Confitentur se nosse Deum, factis autem negant; cum sint abominati, et incredibiles, et ad omne opus bonum reprobi (Tit. I, 16). Sed et beatus Jacobus dicit: Quid proderit, fratres mei, si fidem quis dicat se habere, opera autem non habeat? Nunquid poterit fides salvare eum (Jac. II, 14)? Humilitas ergo, quam docuit Christus dicens: Disce te a me quia mitis sum et humilis corde (Matth. XI, 29), non in sola consistit fide, sed in fide simul et opere. Nam scriptum est quia Et daemones credunt et contremiscunt (Jac. II, 19); qui tamen ideo humiles non sunt. Unde etiam apostolus Paulus asserit: Quia sapientia
27. To those also who live under the Christian profession and openly despise Christ's precepts by sinning, Christ Himself speaks thus: But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say (Luke 6:46)? Such people the Teacher of the gentiles also rebukes in these words: They profess that they know God, but in their deeds they deny Him; since they are abominable, and unbelieving, and reprobate for every good work (Titus 1:16). And blessed James too says: What will it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Will faith be able to save him (Jas. 2:14)? Humility, then, which Christ taught when He said: Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matt. 11:29), does not consist in faith alone, but in faith and work together. For it is written that The demons also believe and tremble (Jas. 2:19); yet they are not humble for that. Hence also the apostle Paul declares: That the wisdom
Editors' notes and page, col. 334
Footnotes
(e) ‹anchor: not visible in the page-foot images› · call in col 334
Ms. Corb., in injustitia. Ms. Vict., in injustitiam. Editi autem, per injustitiam.
The Corbie manuscript: "in injustice". The Saint-Victor manuscript: "into injustice". The printed editions, however: "through injustice".
(printed under page 172)
(f) ‹anchor: Nunquid poterit› · call in col 334
Ms. Corb., nunquid poterit. Editi potest.
The Corbie manuscript: "will [faith] be able?" The printed editions: potest, "can".
(printed under page 172)
Page
- running head: EPISTOLA III. 334
- marginal letters: A assensum, avaritiae; B potuit, cui pro superbia; C pectu hominum; D tem negant
- old-edition numerals: 172 after habere
carnis inimica est Deo: legi enim Dei non subjicitur; nec enim potest (Rom. VIII, 7); quae sapientia secundum Jacobi sententiam, non est desursum descendens sed terrena, animalis, diabolica (Jac. III, 15).
of the flesh is hostile to God: for it is not subject to the law of God; nor indeed can it be (Rom. 8:7); which wisdom, according to the saying of James, is not descending from above but earthly, animal, devilish (Jas. 3:15).
CAP. XVII. Duplex superbia. Parabola Christi de Pharisaeo et Publicano. — 28. Manifesta igitur superbia deprehenditur, cum manifeste peccatur; at cum fuco justitiae iniquitas tegitur, illa superbiae pestilentia venenosius serpit, illa periculosius irrepit, cum ab his qui justitiae studium gerunt, vel aliorum vita tanquam indigna despicitur, vel in operibus bonis aliquid humanis virbus assignatur. Illa denique superbia, qua caeteri ab his qui sibi justi videntur velut peccatores despiciuntur, in Pharisaeo condemnatur, sicut etiam sanctus evangelista testatur, dicens: Dixit autem et ad quosdam qui in se confidebant tanquam justi, et aspernabantur caeteros, parabolam istam. Duo homines ascenderunt in templum ut orarent, unus Charisaeus, et alter Publicanus. Charisaeus stans, haec apud se orabat: Deus, gratias ago tibi, quia non sum sicut caeteri hominum, rapaces, injusti, adulteri, sicut etiam hic Publicanus: jejuno bis in sabbato, decimas de omnium quae possideo. Publicanus autem a longe stans, nolebat oculos ad coelum levare, sed percutiebat pectus suum, dicens: Deus, propitius esto mihi peccatori. Dico vobis: descendit hic justificatus in domum suam ab illo; quia omnis qui se exaltat humiliabitur, et qui se humiliat exaltabitur (Luc. XVIII, 9-14). In conspectu judicis misericordis et justi non est accepta superba jactatio bonorum operum, sed humilis confessio peccatorum. Illi etiam qui virtutem bonae voluntatis aut bonae operationis suis nituntur superbe viribus assignare, ab Apostolo taliter denotantur: Quia ignorantes Dei justitiam, et suam quaerentes statuere justitiae Dei non sunt subjecti (Rom. X, 3). In sua igitur injustitia profecto deficit, qui justitiae Dei superba colla non subjicit.
CHAPTER XVII. Twofold pride. Christ's parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. — 28. Open pride, then, is detected when one sins openly; but when iniquity is covered with the paint of justice, that plague of pride creeps in more venomously, steals in more dangerously, when those who are zealous for justice either despise the life of others as unworthy, or ascribe something in good works to human powers. That pride, in short, by which the rest are despised as sinners by those who seem just to themselves, is condemned in the Pharisee, as the holy evangelist also bears witness, saying: And He also told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves as just and despised the rest. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a Publican. The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus within himself: God, I give Thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, as also this Publican: I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. But the Publican, standing afar off, would not raise his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner. I say to you: this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:9–14). In the sight of the merciful and just Judge, the proud boasting of good works is not accepted, but the humble confession of sins. Those also who proudly strive to ascribe to their own powers the virtue of a good will or of good working are marked out by the Apostle thus: For, not knowing the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not been subject to the justice of God (Rom. 10:3). He therefore surely fails in his own injustice who does not bow his proud neck to the justice of God.
29. In his itaque quatuor superbiae generibus, quibus diabolus velut quadrigis vehitur, et ad gehennam miserorum quibus insidet mortifero casu raptatur duobus animas opprimit, quas in carne jacentes perspicit, aliis duobus animas dejicit, quas de carne volare cognoscit. Istas captivat delectatione vitiorum, illas circumvenit elatione virtutum; illarum sic virginitatem praeripit, ut se fornicari non dubitent; istas sic constuprat et maculat, ut se conculcari non aestiment.
29. Among these four kinds of pride, then, on which the devil rides as on a four-horse chariot, and is swept to Gehenna in the deadly fall of the wretched on whom he sits, with two he crushes the souls he sees lying in the flesh, with the other two he casts down the souls he knows to be flying up from the flesh. The former he takes captive by the delight of vices, the latter he entraps by the elation of virtues; of the one he snatches away virginity so that they do not doubt that they are committing fornication; the others he so defiles and stains that they do not think themselves trampled underfoot.
CAP. XVIII. Virgo superba, Christi sponsa non est. — 30. Proinde, ut integra permaneat Deo dicata virginitas, sicut custoditur integritas corporis, multo amplius custodienda est humilitas cordis. Si qua enim vere virgo est Christi, non potest Christo nisi cordis humilitate conjungi. Filii Dei thalamus elatas non recipit, et humilis sponsus a connubio suo superbas expellit. Sit igitur studium tuum, sicut decet virginem sacram, sectari justitiam, pietatem, fidem, caritatem, patientiam, mansuetudinem; non tamen ut
CHAPTER XVIII. A proud virgin is not the bride of Christ. — 30. Therefore, so that virginity dedicated to God may remain intact, just as the integrity of the body is guarded, much more must humility of heart be guarded. For if any woman is truly a virgin of Christ, she cannot be joined to Christ except by humility of heart. The bridal chamber of the Son of God does not receive the haughty, and the humble Bridegroom drives proud women from His marriage. Let your endeavour, then, as befits a consecrated virgin, be to pursue justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness; yet not so that
Editors' notes and page, col. 335
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: In sua igitur injustitia› · call in col 335
Ms. Corb., In sua igitur justitia.
The Corbie manuscript: "In his own justice, then".
(printed under page 173)
Page
- running head: 335 S. FULGENTII EPISCOPI
- marginal letters: A carnis inimica est; B tur, dicens; C qui virtutem bonae; D aestiment
- old-edition numerals: 173 after superbia
consideratione tui quaslibet Christianas, etiam in inferiori positas professione, despicias, aut te in bonis operibus, praesumptione propriae virtutis extollas. Quidquid enim spiritalium donorum plus habueris quam habent aliae, non parva est jactura virtutis, si in ipsa principali virtute, quae est humilitas, non alias antecellis, cum non nescias scriptum: Quanto magnus es, humilia te in omnibus, et coram Deo invenies gratiam (Eccli. III, 20.)
in considering yourself you despise any Christian women, even those placed in a lower profession, or exalt yourself in good works by presumption on your own virtue. For whatever more of spiritual gifts you may have than others have, it is no small loss of virtue if in the chief virtue itself, which is humility, you do not surpass the others, since you are not unaware that it is written: The greater you are, humble yourself in all things, and you will find grace before God (Sir. 3:20).
CAP. XIX. Christus et Dominus et sponsus est virginum, ideo et humilitatem exigit, et integritatem. — 30 bis. Attende igitur in te sponsi tui amorem, considera Domini pietatem. Pius est Dominus, qui te sibi fecit ancillam; speciosus sponsus, qui te castificavit in sponsam. Idem tamen, quia verus est Dominus, et sponsus est verus, utriusque potestatis partes exsequitur. Exigit ab ancilla humilem servitutem, in sponsa quaerit integram castitatem. Servi ergo Domino cum timore, et exsulta sponso cum tremore. Nam quia Dominus est, territat; et quia sponsus est, zelat. Timens igitur custodi Domini terrentis imperium, et tremens dilige sponsi zelantis affectum. In ancilla Domini nihil suum praedio reperiat, in sponsa Christi nihil suum adulter agnoscat. Sicut in corpore virginis non dominatur libido, sic in corde virginis nulla dominetur elatio. Cum timore et tremore tuam salutem operare. Deus est enim qui operatur in te, et velle, et perficere, pro bona voluntate (Philip. II, 12, 13).
CHAPTER XIX. Christ is both Lord and Bridegroom of virgins, and therefore He requires both humility and integrity. — 30 bis. Consider, then, the love of your Bridegroom towards you; consider the kindness of the Lord. Kind is the Lord, Who has made you His handmaid; beautiful the Bridegroom, Who has made you chaste to be His bride. Yet the same, because He is true Lord and is true Bridegroom, carries out the part of each authority. He requires humble service from the handmaid; in the bride He seeks entire chastity. Serve the Lord, then, with fear, and rejoice in the Bridegroom with trembling. For because He is Lord, He inspires terror; and because He is Bridegroom, He is jealous. Fearing, then, keep the command of the Lord Who inspires terror, and trembling, love the affection of the Bridegroom Who is jealous. Let the robber find nothing of his own in the handmaid of the Lord; let the adulterer recognize nothing of his own in the bride of Christ. As lust does not rule in the virgin's body, so let no elation rule in the virgin's heart. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God Who works in you both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will (Phil. 2:12–13).
31. Quotiens cogitas de perfectione virtutum, noli considerare quid aliae minus habeant quam tu habes sed quid te minus habeas quam habere jam debes; nec ideo te putes virtutibus perfectam, si quamlibet aliam videas criminibus deditam; nec propterea tibi aliquid velocitatis assignes, si quaslibet, aut retro redeuntes, aut segniter videas ambulantes. Neque enim idcirco sanos oculos habere pronuntiandus est lippus, quia videtur caecus a lumine penitus alienus nec ideo sanus dicendus est, qui gravi jacet vulnere semivivus, si alius graviore vulnere reperiatur occisus; nec sibi debet tanquam victor vindicare gloriam, quisquis, licet ab hoste non sit occisus, tenetur tamen ab hoste captivus.
31. Whenever you think about the perfection of the virtues, do not consider what other women have less than you have, but what you have less than you ought by now to have; nor think yourself perfect in virtues because you see some other woman given to crimes; nor ascribe to yourself any speed because you see certain women either going backwards or walking sluggishly. For a man with bleary eyes is not to be pronounced to have sound eyes because a blind man is seen to be wholly cut off from the light; nor is he to be called sound who lies half-alive with a grave wound, if another is found slain by a graver wound; nor ought anyone to claim glory for himself as victor who, though he has not been slain by the enemy, is nevertheless held captive by the enemy.
CAP. XX. Non aliis, sed sibi ipsi debet se homo comparare Adjutorium divinae gratiae semper poscendum. — 32. Noli ergo aliis te comparare, sed tibi. Audi Apostolum hoc facientem, et ut hoc faciamus salubriter admonentem. Ad Corinthios quippe scribens, dicit: Non enim audemus inserere aut comparare nos quibusdam qui seipsos commendant, sed ipsi in nobis nosmetipsos metientes, et comparantes nosmetipsos nobis (II Cor. X, 12). Sibi ergo semetipsam comparet virgo Christi, et ut ad perfectam perveniat sanitatem, non debet de aliorum sibi periculo graviore blandiri, sed de sua curet infirmitate tristari: de qua ille tristabatur jugiter qui dicebat: Tota die contristatus ingrediebar, quoniam anima mea impleta est
CHAPTER XX. A man ought to compare himself not with others but with himself. The help of divine grace must always be asked for. — 32. Do not, then, compare yourself with others, but with yourself. Hear the Apostle doing this, and wholesomely admonishing us to do it. For writing to the Corinthians he says: For we do not dare to number or compare ourselves with certain people who commend themselves, but we measure ourselves within ourselves, and compare ourselves with ourselves (2 Cor. 10:12). Let the virgin of Christ, then, compare herself with herself, and in order to reach perfect health she ought not to flatter herself on the graver danger of others, but take care to grieve over her own infirmity: over which he grieved continually who said: All the day I went about saddened, for my soul is filled
Editors' notes and page, col. 336
Footnotes
(b) ‹anchor: non debet› · call in col 336
Editi, Si ergo semetipsam comparet virgo Christi, ut ad perfectam perveniat sanitatem, non debet, etc. Ms. Corb., Sibi ergo... et ut.
The printed editions: "If, then, the virgin of Christ compares herself, so as to reach perfect health, she ought not", etc. The Corbie manuscript: "To herself, then ... and so that".
(printed under page 173)
Page
- running head: EPISCOPI RUSPENSIS 336
- marginal letters: A consideratione tui; B sponsus est verus; C sed quid te minus; D Apostolum hoc facientem
- old-edition numerals: 174 after igitur
illusionibus, et non est sanitas in carne mea (Psal. XXXVII, 7, 8) Et ut ostenderet huic tristitiae humilitatem debere conjungi, statim secutus adjunxit: Incurvatus sum, et humiliatus sum nimis. Et ut desiderio sanitatis hoc a se fieri perdoceret, adjunxit, Rugiebam a gemitu cordis mei; et: Ante te est omne desiderium meum, et gemitus meus a te non est absconditus (Ibid., 10). Iste autem, qui hoc dicebat, fatetur se aliquando tanquam de virtute sanitatis elatum, et in eo se periculum gravissimae infirmitatis expertum; dicit enim in alio psalmo: Ego dixi in abundantia mea, Non movebor in aeternum (Psal. XXIX, 7). Et quia hoc dicens adjutorio divinae gratiae fuerat desertus, et in sua defecerat infirmitate turbatus, sequitur dicens: Domine, in bona voluntate tua praestitisti decori meo virtutem; avertisti faciem tuam a me, et factus sum conturbatus (Ibid., 8). Et ut ostenderet adjutorium divinae gratiae, quamvis jam habitum, humiliter esse sine intermissione poscendum, hoc quoque subnectit: Ad te, Domine, clamabo, et ad Deum meum deprecabor (Ibid., 9). — CAP. XXI. — Nemo autem deprecatur et rogat, qui non aliquid se cognoscit minus habere, aut quod habet, sua tantum potest virtute servare.
with illusions, and there is no health in my flesh (Ps. 37:7–8). And to show that humility ought to be joined to this sadness, he added immediately after: I am bowed down and humbled exceedingly. And to teach thoroughly that he did this from desire of health, he added: I roared with the groaning of my heart; and: Before Thee is all my desire, and my groaning is not hidden from Thee (Ps. 37:10). Yet he who said this confesses that he was once lifted up, as it were, over the strength of his health, and in it experienced the danger of a most grievous infirmity; for he says in another psalm: I said in my abundance, I shall not be moved for ever (Ps. 29:7). And because in saying this he had been deserted by the help of divine grace, and had failed, troubled in his own infirmity, he goes on to say: Lord, in Thy good will Thou didst give strength to my beauty; Thou didst turn away Thy face from me, and I became troubled (Ps. 29:8). And to show that the help of divine grace, though already possessed, must be asked for humbly and without ceasing, he adds this too: To Thee, Lord, I will cry, and to my God I will make supplication (Ps. 29:9). — CHAPTER XXI. — But no one makes supplication and asks who does not recognize that he has something less, or who can keep what he has by his own strength alone.
33. Quisquis igitur et beneficium rogat, et adjutorium flagitat, necesse est ut et evidentiam suae imbecillitatis et egestatis agnoscat; et ideo egestas nostra dari sibi quod non habet poscit, imbecillitas nostra custodiri sibi postulat quod accepit. Egestas audit: Quid enim habes quod non accepisti (I Cor. IV, 7). ? Et: Non potest homo accipere quidquam, nisi datum fuerit ei de coelo (Joan. III, 27). Imbecillitas audit: Revela ad Dominum viam tuam, et spera in eum, et ipse faciet (Psal. XXXVI, 5); audit etiam ab ipsa virtute: Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. XV, 5); audit a propheta: Nisi Deus custodierit civitatem, in vanum vigilant qui custodiunt eam (Psal. CXXXVI, 1). Dicat ergo egestas illi qui propter nos pauper factus est, cum esset dives, ut illius paupertate nos divites essemus (II Cor. VIII, 9); dicat, Da mihi intellectum, ut discam mandata tua (Psal. CXVIII, 73); dicat etiam imbecillitas illi qui pro nobis crucifixus est ex infirmitate, sed vivit ex virtute Dei (II Cor. XIII, 4); et qui sic infirmatus est propter peccata nostra, ut semper ipse sit Dei virtus, et Dei sapientia; dicat: Custodi me, Domine, ut pupillam oculi; sub umbra alarum tuarum protege me, a facie impiorum qui me afflixerunt (Psal. XVI, 9).
33. Whoever, then, both asks a favour and begs for help must necessarily also recognize the evidence of his own weakness and need; and so our need asks that what it does not have be given to it, our weakness demands that what it has received be guarded for it. Need hears: For what do you have that you have not received (1 Cor. 4:7)? And: A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given him from heaven (John 3:27). Weakness hears: Reveal your way to the Lord, and hope in Him, and He will do it (Ps. 36:5); it hears also from Strength itself: Without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5); it hears from the prophet: Unless God guards the city, they watch in vain who guard it (Ps. 126:1; Migne misprints CXXXVI). Let need, then, say to Him Who for our sake became poor, though He was rich, that by His poverty we might be rich (2 Cor. 8:9); let it say: Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments (Ps. 118:73); let weakness also say to Him Who for us was crucified out of weakness, but lives by the power of God (2 Cor. 13:4), and Who was so made weak for our sins that He Himself is ever the power of God and the wisdom of God; let it say: Guard me, Lord, as the apple of the eye; under the shadow of Thy wings protect me, from the face of the wicked who have afflicted me (Ps. 16:8–9).
CAP. XXII. Sancti quoque in hac vita animae habent afflictiones, propter incidentes cogitationes. — 34. Graviter hic affliguntur animae omnium jam justificatorum, et ex fide viventium, imo solae animae intelligunt in qua sint afflictione positae, quibus se infundit lumen verum, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. Vident enim quia licet sint gratiae dono ab operum malorum contagione liberae, teneantur tamen cogitationum varietate captivae. Quis enim gloriabitur castum se habere cor? aut
CHAPTER XXII. The souls of the saints too have afflictions in this life, because of thoughts that befall them. — 34. Here the souls of all who are already justified and live by faith are grievously afflicted; indeed, only those souls understand in what affliction they are placed into which the true light pours itself, which enlightens every man coming into this world. For they see that, although by the gift of grace they are free from the contagion of evil works, they are nevertheless held captive by the shifting variety of their thoughts. For who will boast that he has a chaste heart? or
Editors' notes and page, col. 337
Page
- running head: 337 EPISTOLA [rest of the head cut off at the image edge]
- marginal letters: A illusionibus; B stitisti decori meo; C quam, nisi datum; D umbra alarum tuarum
- old-edition numerals: 175 after nostra (imbecillitas nostra 175 custodiri)
quis gloriabitur mundum se esse a peccatis (Prov. XX, 9)? Attendamus qualis quantusque justus dixerit: In multis enim offendimus omnes (Jac. †III, 2); et ille qui dixit: Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est (I Joan. I, 8); ille etiam qui condelectabatur legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem, videbat autem aliam legem in membris suis repugnantem legi mentis suae, et captivantem eum in lege peccati, quae erat in membris ejus, donec eum suae infelicitatis conscium de corpore mortis hujus liberaret gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum (Rom. VII, 22, 23 seq.).
who will boast that he is clean from sins (Prov. 20:9)? Let us consider what manner of just man, and how great, said: For in many things we all offend (Jas. 3:2); and he who said: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8); he also who delighted in the law of God according to the inner man, but saw another law in his members fighting against the law of his mind, and making him captive in the law of sin which was in his members, until the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord should free him, conscious of his unhappiness, from the body of this death (Rom. 7:22–23 ff.).
35. Ab hac ergo lege peccati, quae est in membris nostris, non virtus cujuslibet hominis fortis, non industria sapientis, sed sola liberat gratia Salvatoris, quae non nisi humilibus gratis datur: Deus enim superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam (Jac. IV, 6). Verumtamen haec gratia, sicut non nisi humilibus datur, sic humilis homo esse non potest, nisi detur. Datur enim ut humiles esse incipiant, et datur ut humiles esse non desinant. Gratia igitur Dei facit ut et humiles simus, et humiles perseverare possimus. Qui enim potuit quod non habuimus dare, ipse potest quod accepimus custodire.
35. From this law of sin, then, which is in our members, it is not the strength of any strong man, not the diligence of the wise, but the grace of the Saviour alone that sets free, which is given freely to none but the humble: For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6). Yet this grace, just as it is given only to the humble, so a man cannot be humble unless it is given. For it is given so that they may begin to be humble, and it is given so that they may not cease to be humble. The grace of God, therefore, brings it about both that we are humble and that we are able to persevere as humble. For He Who was able to give what we did not have is Himself able to guard what we have received.
CAP. XXIII. Praecepta pro sanctis virginibus ex Scripturis deducta. — 36. Proinde, ut in te se sit vera humilitas, quae virginitatis est interna virginitas, non ignoras quanta sacrae virgini debeat paupertas spiritus inesse, ut regnum coelorum mereatur accipere; quanta mansuetudo, ut illam possideat viventium terram in qua se David bona Domini visurum plena credulitate confidit (Ps. XXVI, 13) Quanta etiam cautione virgini luctuosa sit praesentis saeculi laetitia fugienda, cui semper in hac vita praestolanti sponsi coelestis adventum magis sit ex desiderio spiritali lugendum, ut adipiscatur intimum certumque solatium. Quantam quoque virgo Christi debeat esuriem sitimque justitiae perpeti, ut plena mereatur aeternae dulcedinis satietate laetari; qualibus etiam sit induenda visceribus misericordiae, ut in conspectu Dei misericordiam valeat invenire; mundandique cordis quantum debeat inesse sacrae virgini studium, ut illum videre mereatur felicibus oculis sponsum, speciosum forma prae filiis hominum (Psal. XLIV, 3), ad quem carnis virginitas non potest pervenire, nisi humili corde fulciatur virtute virginitatis internae. Quantam etiam pacificae quietis virgo Christi possidere virtutem debeat, ut desideriorum carnalium bella spiritalibus armis induta compescat. Talibus te sponsus tuus uti fruique monilibus cupit, qui te sibi fide despondit, spe firmavit, caritate conjunxit.
CHAPTER XXIII. Precepts for holy virgins drawn from the Scriptures. — 36. Therefore, so that there may be in you true humility, which is the inner virginity of virginity, you are not unaware how great a poverty of spirit ought to be in a consecrated virgin, that she may deserve to receive the kingdom of heaven; how great a meekness, that she may possess that land of the living in which David trusts with full belief that he will see the good things of the Lord (Ps. 26:13). With how much caution, too, the joy of the present world, which brings mourning, must be shunned by the virgin, who, ever awaiting in this life the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom, ought rather to mourn out of spiritual desire, that she may obtain an inward and certain consolation. How great a hunger and thirst for justice the virgin of Christ ought to endure, that she may deserve to rejoice in the full satiety of eternal sweetness; with what bowels of mercy, too, she must be clothed, that she may be able to find mercy in the sight of God; and how much zeal for cleansing the heart ought to be in a consecrated virgin, that she may deserve to see with happy eyes that Bridegroom, beautiful in form above the sons of men (Ps. 44:3), to Whom virginity of the flesh cannot attain unless it is supported in a humble heart by the strength of inner virginity. How great a strength of peaceable quiet, too, the virgin of Christ ought to possess, that, clothed in spiritual arms, she may restrain the wars of carnal desires. Your Bridegroom desires you to wear and enjoy such jewels, He Who betrothed you to Himself by faith, confirmed you by hope, and joined you to Himself by charity.
CAP. XXIV. Omne opus bonum gratia Dei in nobis praevenit. Dives virginum sponsus. Quomodo servanda virginitas. Conclusio. — 37. Neque vero fidei veritate carnisque integritate spiritaliter tali sponso nupsisses, si non eum, contempta vanitate saeculi, dilexisses; nec tamen eum fuisses aliquatenus dilectura.
CHAPTER XXIV. The grace of God goes before every good work in us. The rich Bridegroom of virgins. How virginity is to be kept. Conclusion. — 37. Nor indeed would you have been spiritually wedded to such a Bridegroom by the truth of faith and the integrity of the flesh, had you not loved Him, despising the vanity of the world; and yet you would not in any degree have loved Him,
Editors' notes and page, col. 338
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: possideat viventium terram› · call in col 338
Ms. Corb., ut illam possidere debeat viventium terra.
The Corbie manuscript: "that she ought to possess that [land] of the living" [terra as printed; the note runs across the full page width].
(printed under page 174)
Page
- running head: EPISTOLA III. 338
- marginal letters: A quis gloriabitur; B lustria sapientis; C quanta mansuetudo; D humili corde
- old-edition numerals: 176 after mereatur