Over And Through And In Everything

Diversitas autem praepositionem in quibus dicitur: 'Unus Deus, et Pater omnium, qui super omnes et per omnes and in omnibus,' diversam intelligentiam sapit. Super omnes enim est Pater, quia auctor est omnium. Per omnes Filius, quia cuncta transcurrit, vaditque per omnia. In omnibus Spiritus sanctus, quia nihil absque eo est. Nec vero putandum, unum Deum, et Patrem omnium esse communiter, ut scilicet ad irrationabilia jumenta, nomen Patris possit aptari; sed quomodo si in decem hominibus, quinque filiis, et quinque servis, pariter diceremus: horum decem, unus est dominus, et unus et pater: non utique omnium patrem, nec dominum omnium vocaremus: sic et in eo quod ait: Unus Deus et Pater omnium, aliorum Pater, aliorum Deus accipiendum est. Tale quid de creaturis, et de Deo etiam Zeno cum suis Stoicis suspicatur. Quem secutus Virgilius ait:     Deum namque ire per omnes     Terrasque tractusque maris, etc  Et:     Principio coelum ac terras, camposque liquentes,     Lucentemque globum lunae, Titaniaque astra,     Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus     Mens agit molem, et magno se corpore miscet. Quidam hoc quod est scriptum: Super omnes, et per omnes, et in omnibus, ad Patrem, et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum sic aestimant esse referendum, ut super omnia Pater sit, quia auctor est omnium: per omnes, Filius, quia per Filium creata sunt omnia: in omnibus, Spiritus sanctus, ipse enim cedentibus datur, et templum sumus Spirtus sancti: et Pater et Filius habitant in nobis. Sanctus Hieronymus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber II, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 26.496d-497b

The differences in the passage in which it is said, 'One God and Father of all, who is over everything and through everything and in everything,' 1 permits a diversity of understanding. 'Over everything' is the Father, because He is the creator of everything. 'Through everything' is the Son, because He passes through everything and goes out through everything. 'In everything' is the Holy Spirit, because nothing is without Him. Nor should it be thought that one God and Father pertains to everything in general, as with irrational beasts the name of father is able to be applied, but it is as if with ten men, five are sons, and five servants, regarding them both we might say: 'Of these ten, one is the lord and one is the father,' not calling him the father of all of them, nor the lord of all of them, so even when it says, 'One God and Father of all,' the Father of some things and the God of other things is to be understood. For concerning creatures, so Zeno and the Stoics thought, and Virgil followed them, saying,     'For God passes through everything,     Lands and tracts of sea....' 2 And:     'In the beginning heaven and earth, dewy fields     And she shining globe of the moon, and the mighty stars,     The Spirit within nurtured, and all infused with art     The mind moved matter, and mixed itself with the great mass.' 3 For certainly that which is written: 'Over everything and through everything and in everything.' we judge to be referring to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that the Father is 'over everything' because He is the creator of everything, and the Son is through everything because through the Son all things are created, 4 and the Holy Spirit is 'in everything' because He is given to the faithful, and we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Father and the Son dwell in us. Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book 2, Chap 4 1 Ephes 4.6 2 Virg, Georg 4. 221-222 3 Virg  Aen, 6. 724-727 4 Jn 1.10

Baptism And Trinity

Atque ut haec omnia Divinitate agi plenius perfectiusque propheta dignosceret, in specie columbae sanctus se Spiritus videri dedit, et in voce sermonis Pater audiri: ait enim: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in qui mihi complacui. Videte et intendite, fratres, quantum gratiae de divina dignatione mortalitas consequatur: nam ut sacratissima redemptionis nostrae mysteria confirmentur et ut manifestius aeterna nobis Trinitas revelaretur, baptizatur Filius in Jordanae. Spiritus sanctificat sacramentum, Pater aperit veritatem. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis,Homilia XXIX, De Baptismo Christi Source: Migne PL 57.290c-291a

And all these things were done that the Prophet might more fully and perfectly discern the Divinity, the Holy Spirit being given to him to see in the form of a dove, and the hearing of the sound of the speech of the Father, when He said, 'This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.' 1 See and understand, brothers, how much mortality may achieve by grace concerning the Divine greatness; for so that the most holy mysteries of our redemption might be confirmed, and so that more manifestly might the Trinity be revealed to us, the Son is baptised in the Jordan, the Spirit sanctifies, the Father reveals the truth. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 29, On The Baptism Of Christ 1. Mt 3.17, Mk 1.11, Lk 3.22

Judges And Apostles

Historia Judicum non parva mysteriorum indicat sacramenta. Primum, quod est Josue succedunt Judices, sicut et post Christum succedunt Apostoli, et Ecclesiarum rectores ad gubernandos et regendos fideles, quos ipse ad spem aeternae repromissionis perducit. Per omnia autem in hoc volumine delicta Judaici populi, et servitutes, clamor quoque eorum, et miserationes Dei describuntur. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Librum Judicum, Cap I Source: Migne PL 83.379c

The history of the Judges does not speak of a trivial sacred matter of the mysteries. First, Joshua being succeeded by the Judges is as the succession of the Apostles after Christ, they becoming faithful leaders of the Churches for guidance and rule, those whom He led to the hope of the eternal promise. So all through this book is described the errors of the people, their falling into servitude and their crying out, and the mercy of God. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On The Book of Judges, Chap 1

Books And The Spirit

Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἔδωκέ τι γραπτὸν ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλ᾿ ἀντὶ γραμμάτων τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπηγγείλατο δώσειν χάριν· Ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἀναμνήσει, φησὶ, πάντα. καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τοῦτο πολὺ ἄμεινον ἦν, ἄκουσον διὰ τοῦ προφήτου τί φησι· Διαθήσομαι ὑμῖν διαθήκην καινὴν, διδοὺς νόμους μου εἰς διάνοιαν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας γράψω αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἔσονται πάντες διδακτοὶ Θεοῦ. Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δὲ ταύτην ἐνδεικνύμενος τὴν ὑπεροχὴν, ἔλεγεν εἰληφέναι νόμον, οὐκἐν πλαξὶ λιθίναις, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν πλαξὶ καρδίας σαρκίναις. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦ χρόνου προϊόντος ἐξώκειλαν, οἱ μὲν δογμάτων ἕνεκεν, οἱ δὲ βίου καὶ τρόπων, ἐδέησε πάλιν τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν γραμμάτων ὑπομνήσεως. Ἐννόησον οὖν ἡλίκον ἐστὶ κακὸν, τοὺς οὕτως ὀφείλοντας ζῇν καθαρῶς, ὡς μηδὲ δεῖσθαι γραμμάτων, ἀλλ᾿ ἀντὶ βιβλίων παρέχειν τὰς καρδίας τῷ Πνεύματι, ἐπειδὴ τὴν τιμὴν ἀπωλέσαμεν ἐκείνην, καὶ κατέστημεν εἰς τὴν τούτων χρείαν, μηδὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ πάλιν κεχρῆσθαι φαρμάκῳ εἰς δέον. Εἰ γὰρ ἔγκλημα τὸ γραμμάτων δεηθῆναι, καὶ μὴ τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπισπάσασθαι χάριν, σκόπησον ἡλίκη κατηγορία, τὸ μηδὲ μετὰ τὴν βοήθειαν ταύτην ἐθέλειν κερδαίνειν, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην κείμενα τὰ γράμματα περιορᾷν, καὶ μείζονα ἐπισπᾶσθαι τὴν κόλασιν.   Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὑπομηνμα Εἰς ᾍγιον Ματθαιον Τον Εὐαγγελιστην, Ὁμιλια Α' Source: Migne PG 57 13-15

Nor did God give to the Apostles anything in writing, but instead of written words He promised that He would give the grace of the Spirit, for He says 'For that one will remind you of all things.' 1 And that you learn that this was much better, hear what He says through the Prophet: 'I will make a new covenant with you, putting my laws into their minds, and in their hearts I will write them,' and, 'they shall all be taught by God.' 2 And Paul, exhibiting this superiority, said that they had received a law 'not on tablets of stone, but in the fleshy tablets of the heart.' 3 But since in time some came to ruin, some on account of doctrines, some on account of life and conduct, there was need again for the written word for remembrance. Consider, then, how great an evil it is for us, who should live so purely as not even to need written words, but instead of books yield up our hearts to the Spirit, since we have lost that honour, and stand in need of these compositions, to fail again to make use of this second remedy. For if it be culpable to have need of written words and not to have drawn down on oneself the grace of the Spirit, let it be seen how grave is the blame of not profiting even after this assistance, but treating what is written as a thing vainly cast down, for so is greater punishment brought on oneself. Saint John Chrysostom, from the First Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 1 Jn 14.26 2 Jer 31. 31,33 3 2 Cor 3.3

Youth And The Spirit

O Domine Deus, non scio loqui, quia iuvenis sum. Et dixit Dominus ad me: Noli dicere: puer sum: quoniam ad omnia quæ mittam te ibis, et universa quæcumque mandavero tibi loqueris. Ablacio est impedimenti, et continet tria: redargucionem, redargucionis racionem, et impedimenti ablacionem. Dicit egro: Noli dicere quia puer sum, ac si dicat: quia licet etate puer sim, spiritui meo obediens puer non es. Sapienciam enim antiquorum transfundit in ipsum. Docebit vos omnia et suggeret... Unde sense dixerunt: Sedes inter nos, et iudica nobis, quia tibi Deus contulit honorem senectutis. Hoc ergo modo dicit: Noli dicere quia puer sum. Ex ore infancium et lactencium. Hoc significatum est in pueris hebreorum qui sesnsu maturiores vicerunt, quibus malicia impraes extiterunt. Detur parvulis astucia, adolescentibus vero sciencia et intellectus. Tamen quia puer est a puritate dictus, spiritui divino magis est aptis. Ecce ego et pueri mei quos mihi dedit Dominus. Cum autem dicit: Noli, voluntas affirmata manet, et est sensus: Velis non dicere: quia puer sum. Puer enim esse non potest, quem Deus sua sapiencia imbuit: Dabo vobis os et sapienciam cui non poterunt resistere annos adversarii vestri. Quoniam ad omnia, scilicet negocia, que mittam te, ad que negocia mitti virorum est et perfectorum. Ibis secundum obediencie mandata, propter quod dicit: Occuramus omnes in virum perfectum in mensuram etatis plenitudinis Christi. Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos, interrogabo te et responde. Ergo noli dicere: quia puer sum; puerorum enim in negociis Dei non est occupari. Et universa quecumque mandavero: ad que exigitur memoriam tenacem, intellectum perspicacem et racionem ordinatricem et eloquenciam habere efficacem. Loqueris ad eos ordinate, unicuique quod sibi competit discrete proponens. Loqueris verba mea ad eos. Stillabat super eos eloquium meum. Spiritus enim infusus et sapiencia in corde est, et facilitas eloquencie in ore. Non poterat resistere sapiencie et Spiritui qui loquebatur. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Super Jeremiam Source: here

'O Lord God, I do not know how to speak because I am but a youth.' And the Lord said to me: 'Do not say 'I am a boy,' for to all whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak.' .. 1 The impediment is removed, and this consists of three things: refutation, reason for refutation and the removal of the impediment. He said, then: Do not say 'because I am a boy' as if he said, 'by my years I am young,' for being obedient to my spirit you are not a boy. 'I shall teach you all things and remind you...' 2 Whence the elders said 'Sit among us and judge with us, because to you God has brought the honour of old age.' 3 Thus in a way He says, 'Do not say I am a boy.' 'From the mouths of infants and weanlings.' 4 This is the meaning of John regarding the children of the Hebrews, 5 who triumphed over their elders with sense, to whom they were unequal in wickedness. 'Let shrewdness be given to the little ones, knowledge to youths and understanding.' 6 However because boy 'puer' is from purity 'puritate', the Divine spirit is more fitting for them. 'Behold, I and my children which the Lord has given me.' 7 When he says 'Do not' the affirmative will remains, and this is the meaning: You wish not to speak 'because I am a boy' but you are not able to be a youth when the spirit of God has filled you: 'I shall give into your mouth wisdom and your enemies will not be able to resist your years.' 8 Because in everything, and certainly in this matter on which I send you, it is a matter on which to send men and those who are mature. You shall go obediently according to my command, on account of which it is said: 'We shall all come to the perfect man according to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ.' 9 And: 'Gird your lions, man, for I will question you and you will answer.' 10 Therefore do not say, 'because I am a boy' for there is nothing immature in this business of God. 'And whatever I shall command you,' by which he is urged to have a tenacious memory, a clear understanding, ordered reason, and effective speech. You shall speak to them in orderly fashion, explaining carefully to whoever enquiries of you. 'You shall speak my words to them.' 11 'You shall shower over them my speech.' 12 For infused with the spirit and with wisdom in the heart, the ability of eloquence is in the mouth. 'But they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke' 13 Saint Albert The Great, On Jeremiah 1Jer 1.6-7 2 Jn 14.26 3 Dan 13.50 4 Ps 8.3 5 cf Jn 12.13 but actually Mt 21.15 6 Prov 1.4 7 Isaiah 8.18 8 Lk 21.15 9 Ephes 4.13 10 Job 38.2 11 Ezek 2.7 12 Job 29.22 13 Acts 6.10

A Spirit Of Renewal

Ἦλθόν ποτέ τινες τῶν ἀδελφῶν πειράσαι αὐτόν· ὅτι οὐκ ἥφιε τὸν λογισμὸν αὐτοῦ ῥεμβασθῆναι, οὐδὲ ἐλάλε πρᾶγμα τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου· καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι ἔβρεξεν ἐπ' ἕτος πολλὰ, καὶ ἔπιον οἱ φοίνικες, καὶ ἐκβαλλουσι λευκάδας, καὶ εὑρίσκουσιν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ἐργόχειρον αὐτῶν. Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἰωάννης· Οὕτως ἐστὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· ὅταν καταβῇ εἰς τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀνανεοῦνται, καὶ ἐκβάλλουσι λευκάδας ἐν τῷ φοβῳ τοῦ θεοῦ.  Ἀποφθεγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65 208

Some brethren came one day to test Father John, that he not allow his mind to wander, nor speak of the things of this world, and they said to him, 'We give thanks to God that it has rained much this year and the palm trees have drunk, and they have put forth their leaves, and the brothers have found work for their hands.' Father John said to them, 'So it is with the Holy Spirit. When he descends into the hearts of men they are renewed and they put forth leaves in awe of God.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Love And Possessions

Et habebant omnia communia. Si charitas Dei diffunditur in cordibus nostris, mox profecto generat et proximi dilectionem. Unde propter geminum charitas ardorem, his Spiritus sanctus legitur apostolis datus. Magnum est fraterni amoris indicium, omnia communia possidere; nihil proprium habentes. Sanctus Beda, Super Acta Apostolorum Expositio, Caput II Source:  Migne PL 92 950d-51a

'And they had everything in common.' 1 If the love of God is diffused within our hearts, soon it gives birth to love of our neighbour. Whence on account of this double love, it is said that the Holy Spirit is given to the Apostles. It is a great sign of fraternal love to possess everything in common, claiming nothing as one's own. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Acts of The Apostles, Chap 2 1 Acts 4.32

Fire And Spirit

Dic mihi, quanta continet ignis in se? iv, id est, urit, illuminat, calelfacit et sanctificat. Sanctificare autem proprie in sua natura non habet, licet figurant Spiritus sancti teneat, qui urit vitia, calefacit frigidam animam, sanctificat peccatorem, illuminat cor, unde tenebras ignorantiae fugat. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, De Veteri et Novo Testamento Quaestiones, Quaestio XXVII Source: Migne PL 83.204b-c

Tell me, what does fire contain in itself? Four things, that is, it burns, it illuminates, it warms and it sanctifies. That it sanctifies it does not have in its own nature, but does so as a figure of the Holy Spirit, who is the One who burns out vices, warms the cold soul, sanctifies the sinner, illuminates the heart, from whence the darkness of ignorance flies. Saint Isidore of Seville, Questions on the Old and New Testaments, Question 27

The One Church

Περὶ τῆς νοητῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ, τουτέστι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, γέγραπται τό· Ἧς ἡ μετοχὴ αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. Πάντες γὰρ οἱ πιστεύοντες, ἔν σῶμα, καὶ ἔν πνευμα, μία πόλις τῷ τρόπῳ ὑπάρχοντες, συνερχόμενοι ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, ἐν τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς εἰρήνης, καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης, ὁμοθυμαδὸν μετέχομεν τῶν χαρισμάτων τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΝΗ' Σαβουριῳ Κομητι Source: Migne PG 79.177d

Concerning the celestial Jerusalem, that is, the Church, it is written, 'being one in fellowship.' 1 For all the faithful, in one body, and one spirit, and one city, are gathered as one, in a bond of peace and of charity, with one soul participating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 258 To Count Saburius 1 Ps 121.3

The Spirit's Dwelling

Habitat Deus in santis suis secundum promissionem qua dixerat: Habitabo in illis. Quod vero Dominus Jesus dicit in Evangelio: Manete in me et ego in vobis, probat hoc Paulus dicens: An nescitis quia Jesus Christus est in vobis? Hoc autem totum in Spiritus habitatione adimpletur, sicut memorat Joannes: Ex hoc, inquit, scimus quia in nobis, quia de Spiritu suo dedit nobis. Similiter et Paulis: Nescitis quia templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis? Et iterum dicit: Glorificate et portate Deum in corpore vestro. Quem Deum? utique Spiritum sanctum, cujus templum esse videmur. Victor Vitensis, Historia Persecutionis Africae Provinciae, Liber III, Professio Fidei Catholicorum Episcoporum Hunerico Regi Oblata Source: Migne PL 58.230a-b

God dwells in his holy ones according to the promise which He spoke: 'I shall dwell among them.' 1 Which the Lord Jesus in the Gospel spoke: 'Remain in me and I am in you.' 2 Which Paul approves saying, 'Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you?' 3 All which is fulfilled in the dwelling of Spirit, as John remembers, saying, 'From this we know that He is in us, because of the Holy Spirit He has given to us.' 4 And similarly Paul says, 'Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?' 5 And again he says, 'Glorify and bear God in your body.' 6 Which God? Even the Holy Spirit, the temple of whom we appear to be. Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province, Book 3, from the Profession of Faith of the Catholic Bishops to King Huneric 1 2 Cor 6.16 2 Jn 14.4 3 2 Cor 13.5 4 1 Jn 4.13 5 1 Cor 3.16 6 1 Cor 6.20

The Spirit And The Sword

Non veni pacem mittere, sed gladium. Gladium utique verbi Dei, de quo Paulus apostulus: Et gladium, inquit, Spiritus, quod est verbum Dei. Quia Deus Spiritus est. Hic est autem gladius, qui procedit de ore Dei, utraque parte acutus. Et bene ex utraque parte acutus. quia aeque perimit peccatores et impios, ut moriantur prius peccato, et deinceps melius vivant Deo: aeque etiam hoc gladio verbi feriuntur qui nolunt converti et agere poenitentiam; ut mortui Deo, male vivant perempti suppliciis aeternis. Hic est gladius, quo accingi incarnatus a Patre jubetur: Accingere, inquit, gladio tuo super femur tuum, potentissime. Quo nimirum gladio, dum sibi sponsam ducit, venit debellare sibique prostenere omnes adversarios suos. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber IV, Cap X Source: Migne PL 120.431a-b

'I do not come to bring peace but a sword.' 1   The sword is the word of God, concerning which the Apostle Paul says: 'And the sword is the spirit, which is the word of God.' 2 Because God is a spirit. 3 This is the sword which proceeds from the mouth of God, sharp on both edges. 4 And well it is that it is sharp on both edges, because equally it slays sinners and the impious, that they might die before sin and then better live to God. Indeed with this sword of the word in like manner they are struck who are unwilling to convert and make penance, lest dead to God, they live wickedly, condemned to eternal punishment. This is the sword with which to be girt the incarnate from the Father is commanded; it says: 'Gird your sword on your thigh, most powerful one.' 5 Certainly by which sword, while He conducts the bride to himself, He comes to make war and to prostrate all His enemies before Him. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chap 10 1 Mt 10.34 2 Ephes 6.17 3 Jn 4.24 4 Apoc 1.16 5 Ps 44.4

The Spirit's Rebuke

Ex cuius ore Spiritus Sanctus cunctis mundi potestatibus intonuit, denuntiando primo regi apud Hebraeos dumtaxat Sauli pro eo, quod quaedam de mandatis Domini non compleverat, dicens: Stulte egisti nec custodisti mandata Domini Dei tui, quae praecepit tibi. Quod si non fecisses, iam nunc pararet Deus regnum tuum super Israhel in sempiternum: sed nequaquam regnum tuum ultra consurget. Quid ergo simile huius temporis sceleribus?  Adulteriumne vel parricidium fecit ? Nullo modo. Sed iussionis ex parte mutationem, quia, ut bene quidam nostrum ait, non agitur de qualitate peccati, sed de transgressione mandati. Itemquc illum obiecta, velut putabat, purgantem et apologias, ut generi humano moris est, sagaciter hoc modo adnectentem: Immo audivi vocem Domini et ambulavi in via, per quam misit me, tali animadversione multavit. Numquid vult, inquit, Dominus holocausta aut victimas et non potius, ut oboediatur voci Domini? Melior est enim oboedientia quam victimas, et audire magis quam offerre adipem arietum, quoniam sicut peccatum ariolandi est repugnare et quasi scelus idolatriae nolle adquiescere. Pro eo ergo, quod abiecisti sermonem Domini, abiecit et te, ne sis rex. Et post pauca : Scidit, inquit, Deus regnum Israhel a te hodie et dedit illud proximo tuo meliori te. Porro triumphator in Israhel non parcet et paenitudine non flectetur, necque enim homo est, ut agat paenitentiam; subauditur: super duris malorum praecordiis. Notandum ergo est, quod dixit scelus idolatriae esse nolle Deo adquiescere. Non sibi scelerati isti, dum non gentium diis perspicue litant, subplaudant, siquidem conculcantes porcorum more pretiosissimas Christi margaritas, idolatrae. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source:  Migne PL 69.355b-d

From the mouth of Samuel the Holy Spirit thundered out to all the powers of the world, when he denounced Saul, the first king of the Hebrews, because he had not fulfilled certain commands of the Lord, saying, 'You have acted foolishly, you have not kept the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded you, which if you had done God would now establish your kingdom over Israel forever; but your kingdom shall arise no further.' 1 How is there likeness to the crimes of this age? Did he commit adultery or murder? Not at all. But there was a partial change of the command, because, as a certain one of ours has well said, 'It is not a matter of the kind of sin but the transgression of a command.' 2 And he being so charged, cleansed himself, so he thought, and wove together defences, as is the custom with men, in the following plausible manner: 'Truly I have heard the voice of the Lord and walked in the way by which He sent me;' 3 And the Prophet punished him with this censure: 'Does the Lord want,' he says, 'burnt offerings or victims, and not rather obedience to the voice of the Lord? For better is obedience than victims, and  hearing more than to offer the fat of rams, because resistance is as the sin of witchcraft, and refusal as the crime of idolatry. Therefore, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being king.' 4 And a little after : 'God has torn away from you today,' he says, 'the kingdom of Israel and given it to your neighbour, one better than you. Truly the Victor in Israel will not spare and by penitence will He not be bent; for He is not a man, that He should repent,' 5 that is to say, because of the hard hearts of the wicked. We must, therefore, observe that he says that the crime of idolatry is the refusal to obey God. Let not those wicked ones applaud themselves, when they do not offer sacrifice to the gods of the Gentiles, since by treading under foot, like swine, the most precious pearls of Christ, they are idolaters. Saint Gildas The Wise, from On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 1 Kings 13.13-14 2  Source unknown 3 1 Kings 15.20 4 1 Kings 15.22-23,26 5 1 Kings 15.28-29

Pleasing Others

Et non nobismetipsis placere.  Hoc est, non quod nobis prosit et placeat vindicare, sed et quod fratri; quia invicem curam nostri agere debemus. Unusquisque proximo suo placeat in bono ad aedificationem Nunc personam suam discrevit; hos enim commonet, ut charitati studentes proximis placeant ad id, quod est utile. Haec est aedificatio, sicut alibi ait: Ego, inquit, per omnia omnibus placebo. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Caput XV Source: Migne PL 17.172 a-b

And not to please ourselves...' 1 That is, not to demand what profits and pleases us, but that which is beneficial to our brother, because our care should be for one another. Each one pleasing his neighbour in goodness for edification...2 Now exhibiting his own person, he reminds them that with a love that wishes to please their neighbors they do what is useful. That is, they do what edifies, and so elsewhere he says, 'In everything to all I shall be pleasing.' 3 Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul To The Romans, Chapter 15 1 Rom 15.1  2 Rom 15.2 3 1 Cor 10.33

Speaking The Word Of God

Si quis loquitur quasi sermones Dei...   Timens videlicet, ne praeter voluntatem Dei, vel praeter quod in Scripturis sanctis evidenter praecipitur, vel dicat aliquid vel imperet, et inveniatur tanquam falsus testis Dei, aut sacrilegus, vel introducens aliquid alienum a doctrina Domini, vel certe subrelinquens et praeteriens aliquid eorum quae Deo placita sunt, cum ipse manifestissime praedictoribus veritatis de his quos ad vitam imbuerint praecipiat, dicens: Docentes eos servare omnia quaecunque mandavi vobis. Et ea enim quae ipse mandavit, nos alia, et haec non ex parte, sed omnia suis auditoribus observanda tradere. Sancta Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Petri, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 93.63a-b

If someone should speak as if the words of God... 1 Fearing certainly, lest someone either speaks or commands outside the will of God, or outside what is evidently commanded in Sacred Scripture, and it is revealed as a false testimony of God, either sacrilegious or introducing some strange thing into the teaching of the Lord, or obscuring or omitting something of it which is pleasing to God, when He, the Truth, has most manifestly taught preachers that they should instill these things for the sake of life, saying, 'Teaching them to guard all these things which I have commanded you.' 2 And the things which He has commanded, we must be sure to give to others who hear, all of it and not just a part. Saint Bede, Commentary on the First Letter of Peter, Chap 4 1 1 Pet 4.11 2 Mt 28.20

Crowds And Teachings

Et locutus est eis multa in parabolis. Multa quidem, sed non omnia. Si enim dixisset omnia in parabolis, absque emolumentio turbae recessissent. Turba autem non unius est scientiaae, sed diversa in singulis voluntas. Propterea eisdem loquitur multis in parabolis, ut juxta varias voluntates suas, diversas reciperent disciplinas. Hinc perspicua miscet obscuris, ut per ea quae planius intelliguntur provocentur ad eorum notitiam quae obscura sunt, ut avidius requirant, et intelligant clarius. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber VII Source: Migne PL 120.484c

'And he spoke to them many things in parables.' 1   Many things, certainly, but not everything. For if everything were in parables, on account of a lack of reward, the crowds would have dispersed. However the crowd is not a thing of uniform knowledge, but there is diversity among their inclinations. On account of which He spoke to them in many parables, that according to their various states they might receive the various teachings. Hence He mixes evident things with obscure things, that by those things which they clearly understand they be called to the awareness of those things which are obscure, that the more keenly seeking them, they may more clearly understand. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, from the Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 7 1 Mt 13.3