High Hopes

Fratres, hoc sapere, ex fide vivere est, nec alius ex sententia dicere potest: Quoniam tu es, Domine, spes mea, nisi cui intus sit persuasum a Spiritu, ut quemadmodum monet propheta, jactet cogitatum suum in Domino, sciens quod enutriendus sit ab eo, juxta illud quoque Petri apostoli: Omnem sollicitudinem vestram projicientes in eum: ipsi enim cura est de vobis. Utquid enim, si haec sapimus, utquid cunctamur abjicere omnino spes miseras, vanas, inutiles, seductorias; et huic uni tam solidae, tam perfectae, tam beatae spei, tota devotione animi, toto fervore spiritus inhaerere? Si quid illi impossibile, si quid vel difficile est, quaere aliud in quo speres. Sed verbo omnia potest. Quid facilius dictu? Attamen hujusmodi dictum intelligas volo. Si decreverit salvare nos, continuo liberabimur; si vivificare placuerit, vita in voluntate ejus est; si praemia aeterna largiri, licet ei quod vult facere. An vero de facilitate jam non dubitas, sed ipsa tibi est suspecta voluntas? Plane et voluntatis testimonia credibilia facta sunt nimis. Majorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, quam ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis. Denique quando in se speranti desit illa majestas, quae tam studiose monet in se sperari? Plane non derelinquit sperantes in se. Adjuvabit eos, ait, et liberabit eos, et eruet eos a peccatoribus, et salvabit eos. Quare? quibus meritis? Audi quod sequitur: Quia speraverunt in eo. Dulcis causa, attamen efficax, attamen irrefragabilis. Nimirum haec justitia, sed quae ex fide est, non ex lege. De quacunque tribulatione, inquit, clamaverint ad me, exaudiam eos. Ecce numera tribulationes. Secundum multitudinem earum consolationes ejus laetificabunt animam tuam: dummodo ad aliam non convertaris; dummodo clames ad eum; dummodo speres in eum; nec humile aliquid vel terrenum, sed altissimum ponas refugium tuum. Quis speravit in eo, et confusus est? Facilius est coelum et terram transire, quam verbum ejus evacuari. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De tempore, Sermo IX, De versu nono, Quoniam tu es, Domine, spes mea; altissimum posuisti refugium tuum Source: Migne PL 183.219b-d

Brothers, know this, it is by faith that one lives, and with this understanding, unless a man has been moved by the Spirit within him, no one is able to say, 'Because you, Lord, are my hope,' 1 as likewise the prophet admonishes: 'Cast your thought on the Lord, knowing that you shall be nourished by Him,' 2 because of which the Apostle says: 'Casting all your care on Him, for He has care for you.' 3 And, then, if we know this, why do we delay to cast down our weary, vain, useless and deceitful hopes, and cleave to this which is so secure, so perfect, so blessed a hope, with all devotion of the soul, with all fervour of spirit? If something is impossible for Him, or something is difficult, why hope for something in Him? But with a word He can do everything. What is easier than to speak? And yet I wish you to understand what is said. If He determines to save us, immediately we are delivered; if it pleases Him to give us new life, life is in His will; if to bestow the eternal reward, He may do what He wishes to do. But might it be that you do not doubt because it is easy but rather because you suspect His will? Clearly the testimonies of what He wants are not doubtful. 'Greater love has no man than to lay his life down for his friends.' 4 Finally when shall that majesty fail those who hope in Him, that which so keenly exhorts us to hope in Him? Plainly because He does not abandon those who hope in him. 'He shall help them,' it says, 'and He shall free them and deliver them from sinners and save them.' 5 Why? For what merits? Hear what follows: 'Because they hoped in Him.' Sweet cause, yet effective, yet inviolable. Certainly this is justice, because what is from faith is not from the law. 'In whatever tribulation they shall call to me,' He says, 'I shall hear them.' Behold the number of tribulations. According to their multitude His consolation shall give joy to your soul, as long as you do not turn to another, as along as you cry out to Him, as long as you hope in Him, not setting your hope in anything base or worldly, but only in His most high sanctuary. Who has hoped in Him and been confounded? 6 It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than His word to be made vain. 7 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons On Various Things, from Sermon 9, On the verse: 'Because you are my hope, O Lord, you have set forth your most high refuge' 1 1 Ps 90.9 2 Ps 54.23 3 1 Pet 5.7 4 Jn 15.13 1 Ps 90.9 2 Ps 54.23 3 1 Pet 5.7 4 Jn 15.13 5 Ps 36.40 6 Sirach 2.10 7 Lk 16.17

Doubt And Temptation

Qui enim haesitat, similis est fluctui maris qui a vento movetur et circumfertur Qui mordente se conscientia peccati haesitat de perceptione praemiorum coelestium, facile ad impulsum tentationum statum fidei deserit, qua in tranquillitate Deo servire videbatur, et ad libitum hostis invisibilis, quasi ad flatum venti, per diversos vitiorum raptatur errores. Sanctus Beda, Super Divi Jacobi Epistolam, Caput I Source: Migne PL 93.12b

He who doubts is like a wave of the sea which is driven and tossed around by the wind... 1 He who is bitten by consciousness of sin so that he doubts that he shall obtain heavenly rewards, he easily forsakes the state of faith by any blow of temptation, which state in peace he seemed to guard for God, and then at the pleasure of the invisible enemy, as a wave by the wind, he is driven through the various errors of the vices. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Letter of Saint James, Chapter 1 1 James 1.6

Little Faith

Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus, aut quid bibemus, aut quo operiemur? Haec omina, inquit, gentes inquirunt... Ac per hoc quid amplius habet a gentili, cujus adhuc infidelitas dum sollicitat animum, hujus vitae curis fatigat. Qui ergo de istis tantum confisus est a Domino, saltem modicam habet fidem: qui autem adhuc de his sollicitus est, infidelis censetur. Unde rara et paucorum est perfecta fides. Et ideo dubitanti adhuc Petro, post Domini jussionem, recte dicitur: Modicae fidei quare dubitasti? Quicunque ergo dubitat in aliquo praeceptorum Dei, vel minus ex eo confidit, quam promisit potens Deus, modicus est fide. Hinc quoque Jacobus: Qui indiget sapientia, postulet eam ex fide, nihil haesitans; quia qui haesitat similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur. Quod si in divinis haesitare Christiano non convenit, in humanis et caducis post promissa quomodo fidelis dubitare poterit? Quid igitur fugis, Christiane? Quanto magis in promissis Dei haesitaveris, tanto minus invenies pro quibus sollicitus desudas. Et si, bonitate Dei etiam dubius acceperis quod sollicite quaesisti, non tua sollicitudo id fecit inefficax, sed Dei largitas, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib IV Cap VI Source: Migne PL 120.311d-312b

Do not therefore be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat, or drink, or wear?' All these things, He said, the Gentiles seek... 1 And because of this the more a man is as the Gentiles, while unfaithfulness yet troubles the soul, he shall be wearied with the cares of life. Therefore he who has confidence in the Lord concerning these things alone, he has little faith, and he who yet is anxious for these things, he is reckoned faithless. Whence perfect faith is rare and of few. And therefore to the yet doubtful Peter, after the exhortation of the Lord, rightly it was said, 'Man of little faith, why did you doubt?' 2 Whoever, then, doubts some commandment of God, or lacks confidence in Him, what Almighty God promises, he is of little faith. Whence James also says: 'He who lacks wisdom, let him ask from faith, doubting in nothing, because he who hesitates is like a wave of the sea tossed about by the wind.' 3 If it is not fitting for a Christian to doubt in Divine things, how after the promises shall it be possible for the faithful man to doubt in human and fallen things? Why, then, do you flee, O Christian? The more you doubt the promises of God, the more you shall find yourself trembling over what you fret over. And if from the goodness of God, you, who are a doubter, receive what you have anxiously sought, it was not your worry that did this, but it was from the largess of God, who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked. 4 Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chap 6 1 Mt 6.32 2 Mt 14.31 3 James 1.5 4 Mt 5.45

Faith And Sin

Magna ista quaestio: Omnis qui peccat, non vidit eum, neque cognovit eum. Non est mirum. Non eum vidimus, sed visuri sumus; non eum cognovimus, sed cognituri sumus: credimus in eum quem non cognovimus. An forte ex fide cognovimus, et specie nondum cognovimus? Sed in fide et vidimus et cognovimus. Si enim nondum videt fides, quare dicimur illuminati? Est illuminatio per fidem, est illuminatio per speciem. Modo cum peregrinamur, per fidem ambulamus, non per speciem. Ergo et iustitia nostra per fidem est, non per speciem. Erit perfecta nostra iustitia, cum videbimus per speciem. Modo non relinquamus eam iustitiam quae est ex fide, quoniam iustus ex fide vivit, sicut ait Apostolus. Omnis qui manet in ipso, non peccat. Nam omnis qui peccat, non vidit eum, neque cognovit eum. Non credit iste qui peccat: si autem credit, quantum ad fidem eius pertinet, non peccat. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, In Epistolam Ioannis ad Parthos Tractatus Decem, Tractatus IV Source: Migne PL 35.2010

This is a great question: 'All who sin have not seen Him, nor known Him.' 1 Which is no marvel. We have not seen Him, but we are to see; we have not known Him, but are to know; we believe in Him whom we have not known. Or perhaps it is that by faith we have known, and by sight we have not yet known? But in faith we have both seen and known, for if faith does not yet see, why are we said to have been enlightened? There is an enlightening by faith, and an enlightening by sight. While we are on pilgrimage, 'we walk by faith, not by sight.' 2 Therefore also our righteousness is by faith and not by sight. Our righteousness shall be perfect, when we shall see by sight. Meanwhile, let us not relinquish that righteousness which is of faith, since the righeous man lives by faith, 3 as the Apostle says. 'Whoever abides in Him, does not sin.' 1 For, 'whoever sins, has not seen Him, nor known Him.' He who does not believe, he sins; but if a man believes, so far as pertains to his faith, he does not sin. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from the Fourth Tractate on the First Letter of John 1 1 Jn 2.18 2 2 Cor 5.7 3 Rom 1.17

Knowledge And Faith

Ὁ μὴ γινώσκων τὴν ἀλήθειαν, οὔτε ἀληθῶς πιστεύειν δύναται. Ἡ γὰρ γνῶσις κατὰ φύσιν προηγεῖται τῆς πίστεως. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.920a

He who does not know the truth cannot truly have faith, for according to nature knowledge precedes faith. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

The Gates

Ἀνοίξατε μοι πύλας διακαιοσύνης εἰσελθών ἐν αὐταῖς ἐξομολογήσομαι τῷ Κυρίῳ· αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ Κυρίου, δίκαιοι εἰσελεύσονατι ἐν αὐτῇ. Ἐξομολογήσομαι σοι, ὅτι ἐπήκουσάς μου, καὶ ἐγένου μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν γενικὸν ὀνομα πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ προγράγεται, κατ' εἶδιος δὲ λοιπὸν διαιρῶν, τις εἴποι ἀναλόγως τὸ Ἀνοίξατε μοι πύλας διακαιοσύνης, καὶ πύλας φρονὴσεως, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν κατὰ Θεὸν πράξων. Ἐπειδὰν διὰ πασῶν παρέλθῃ τῶν πυλῶν, λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὸ τέλος τῶν, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, ἐνδοτάτω ἁγίων ἐλθὼν, οὐκέτι πολλὰς, ἀλλὰ μίαν ὄψεται πύλαην τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου, δι' ἧς πάντες εἰσελεύσονται οἱ δίκαιοι. Εἴποι δ' ἂν τις ταύτην τὴν ὑστάτην καὶ τελευταίαν, ἧς ἐπέκεινα οὐκέτι οἶόν τε εἶναι προσελθεῖν. Ὑστάτη δὲ πύλη τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ θεωρία ἂν εἴη αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὸ Μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὄψονται. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΡΙΖ´ Source: Migne PG 23.1362d-1363a

Open to me the gates of righteousness, going through them I shall confess to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall go in through it. I shall confess to you, that you heard me, and are made my salvation. 1 In general, then, the name of righteousness is written for all the virtues, so that when they are separated into their parts, someone may rightly say that 'Open to me the gates of righteousness,' is the gates of prudence and the rest of the other works according to God. After he has passed through all these gates, coming into the innermost place of the holy, someone may say, 'I see now not many, but the one gate of the Lord, through which all the righteous shall enter.' But someone might say, 'This is the last and final gate beyond which one might not go. The last gate of the Lord is the contemplation of Him,' according to which, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' 2 Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 117 1 Ps 117.19-21 2 Mt 5.8

Entering Through The Door

Qui non intrat per ostium. Quia sicut per ostium intratur in domum, ita per principia cujuslibet veritatis intratur in scientiam veritatis illius, et per principia fidei intratur in scientiam fidei, quae est de credibilibus : sicut sunt articuli fidei. Si ostium est, compingamus illud tabulis cedrinis, hoc est, principiis imputribilis veritatis, quae numquam excidunt: quia cedrus est imputribilis. Ideo praecepit Dominus, Sument de sanguine ejus, scilicet agni, et ponent super utrumque postem, et in superliminaribus domorum in quibus comedent illum. Quia principia fidei sunt de passione, et superliminaria sunt de deitate: quia fere omnia principia fidei sunt, per quae vere intratur in Christianam religionem, vel de passione, vel de deitate Christi. Scribes ea, scilicet mandata, in limine et ostiis domus tuae. Quia observatio mandatorum nulla est quae non principiis fidei confirmatur.. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium in Joannem, Caput X Source: Here, p185

He who does not enter through the door... 1 Because as a house is entered through the door, so through the principles of the truth one enters into the knowledge of the truth, and through the principles of faith one enters into the knowledge of the faith, which concerns things to be believed, which are the articles of the faith. 'If a door, let us fashion there boards of cedar', 2 that is, the principles of incorruptible truth, which never decay, because cedar is incorruptible. Therefore the Lord commands: 'Let them take up the blood,' that is of the lamb, 'and place it on both doorposts and on the lintels of the house in which they eat.' 3 Because the principles of the faith concern the Passion, and the lintels Godhood, since almost all the principles of the faith, though which one enters into the Christian religion, are either of the Passion or of the Deity of Christ. 'Write these things,' that is the commandments, 'on the threshold and the doors of your house.' 4 There is no keeping of the commandments which the principles of the faith do not confirm. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St John, Chapter 10 1 Jn 10.10 2 Song 8.9 3 Exod 12.7 4 Deut 6.9

Bartholomew's Saying

Οὕτω γοῦν ὁ θεῖος Βαρθολομαῖός φησι, καὶ πολλὴν τὴν θεολογίαν εἶναι καὶ ἐλαχίστην· καὶ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον πλατὺ καὶ μέγα, και αὖθις συντετμημένον. Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης, Περὶ Μυστικῆς Θεολογίας, Κεφάλαιον Α' Source: Migne PG 3.999b

The blessed Bartholomew says that theology is both vast and small, and that the Gospel is great and broad, and again concise. Dionysius The Aeropagite, Mystical Theology, Chapter 1

Casting Off The Skin

Inter prudentias ejus illa nos spiritualiter erudit et informat; quia, cum sibi videt imminere tempora senectutis, inter angustissimos lapides ingrediens ibi deponit vetestae pellis exuvias. Sed et nos si volumus veterem hominem deponere cum actibus suis, oportet nos ingredi angustias poenitentiae, angustias viae illius quae ducit ad vitam, et sic induere novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est. Sane illic benedictus apostolus, cujus hodie memoria in benedictione est, pellem vetustatis, pellem mortis deposuit; ut pellem gloriae et jucunditatis indueret. Pellem, inquit, pro pelle, et omnia quae habet homo, dabit pro anima sua. Dat homo pellem mortificationis pro pelle glorificationis. Pellem hanc deponemus, cum corruptibile hoc induet incorruptionem, et mortale hoc immortalitatem. Aliamque pellem sumemus, cum Christus reformabit corpus humilitatis nostrae configuratum corpori claritatis suae, et superinduar ego pelle nova, et in pelle mea videbo Deum Salvatorem meum. Juxta verbum Jeremiae, hodie deponit Aethiops pellem suam, et pardus varietates suas. Erat pellis quam hodie deponit Apostlous pellis mortalitatis, et ideo Aethiopis; hodie, apostole Dei, renovatur ut aquila juventas tua. De hac pelle dicit Job: Numquid implebis sagenas pelle ejus, et gurgustium piscium capite illius? Haec est pellis caprina, quae ponitur in lectulo David, ut innocens manus persecutoris evadat. Hodie, Domine, conscidisti saccum apostoli, et circumdedisti eum laetitia. Vetus Adam incidit in latrones, qui spoliaverunt eum tunica innocentiae et gloriae; hanc hodie fortiter recuperat miles et athleta Christi fortissimus. O malitia daemonum! O crudelitas hominum! O virtus Dei! O constantia martyrum, ubi erat cor apostoli, quando has angustias tolerabat? Certe in Christo, in cruce Christi et in doloribus ejus. Memoriam passionis Christi ipsum propriae passionis immemorem faciebat. Si quaereretur ab eo utrum pellem suam, utrum carnem suam diligeret, responderet: Diligo; nemo carnem suam odio habuit, sed magis diligo Christum quam me ipsum. Si modo spolior, Christus me superinduet; pondusque hoc tribulationis meae immensum gloriae pondus operabitur in me. Scio cui credidi, et certus sum, non mentietur quia Veritas est. Sed pro Christo patior, et conregnabo, et pro brevi, et transitoria tribulatione coronam immarcescibilem, et interminabilem jucunditatem, et exsultationem securus exspecto. Quam nobis praestare dignetur, per meritabeati Bartholomaei, Jesus Christus, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXXVII,De Sancto Bartholomaeo Source: Migne PL 207.671c-672c

The prudence of the snake spiritually teaches and informs us, because when he sees himself nearing the time of old age, he goes among close set stones and there casts off the strips of his old skin. And we, if we wish to put off the old man with his acts, 1 we should enter into the narrows of penitence, those narrow ways which lead to life, and so endow ourselves with the new man, who is created according to God. Certainly the holy Apostle whom we hold in blessed memory today, cast off the old skin, the skin of death, that he might put on the skin of glory and of happiness. 'Skin for skin,' it says, 'and everything which the man has, he shall give for his soul.' 2 A man gives the skin of mortification for the skin of glorification. We put this skin off when this corruption is endowed with incorruptibility, and this mortality for immortality. 3 We shall take up another skin when Christ refashions the body of our humility into conformance with the body of His brightness, and I shall be superendowed with a new skin, and in my new skin I shall see God my Saviour. According to the word of Jeremiah, today the Ethiopian puts off his skin, and the leopard his spots. 4 The skin which the Apostle put off this day was the skin of mortality, and therefore the Ethiopian. Today the Apostle of God is renewed as the eagle's youth. 5 Concerning this skin Job says: 'Will you fill nets with his skin and the cabins of fishes with his head?' 6 This is the skin of the goat which is placed on the bed of David, that an innocent man might escape the hands of his persecutors. 7 Today, Lord, you tore off the covering of the Apostle, and you surrounded him with joy. The old Adam fell among thieves, who despoiled him of the tunic of innocence and glory, today a stronger solider recovers, a most sturdy athlete of Christ. O wickedness of demons! O cruelty of men! O power of God! O constancy of martyrdom, where was the heart of the Apostle when he suffered these torments? Certainly in Christ, on the cross of Christ and with His sorrows. Mindful of the passion of Christ he made his own passion unforgettable. If it should be asked of him whether he loved his own skin or his own flesh, he would answer: 'I love. No man hates his own flesh, 8 but I love Christ more than what is mine. If I am stripped, Christ endows me, and the burden of my tribulation shall work for me an immense weight of glory. I know Him whom I have believed in, and I am certain, because He does not lie who is the truth. I suffer for Christ and I shall reign with Him, and for a little while, with a temporary trial, I am secure in the hope of an incorruptible crown, and endless joy and exaltation.' Which may we be worthy to be given, through the merits of the blessed Bartholomew. Peter of Blois, from Sermon 37, On Saint Bartholomew 1 Ephes 4.22 2 Job 2.4 3 1 Cor 15.53 4 Jerem 13.23 5 Ps 102.5 6 Job 40.26 7 1 Kings 19.9-16 8 Ephes 5.29

Directing Ways

Κύριε ὁδήγησόν με ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου, ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου κατεύθυνον ἐνώπιόν σου τὴν ὁδόν μου. Ἔνια τῶν ἀντιγράφων, ἐνώπιόν >μου τὴν ὁδόν σου, ἔχει· ἐκάτερα δὲ τῆς εὐσενοῦς ἔχεται διανοίας. Εἴτε γὰρ ἡ ἡμετέρα ὁδὸς κατεθυνθείη ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, πλάνης οὐ ληψόμεθα πεῖραν· εἴτε ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁδὸς ἐνώπιον ἡμῶν κατευθυνθείη, αὐτὴν ὁδεύσομεν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν προθύμως δραμούμεθα. Αἰτεῖ τοίνυν ἡ κληρονομοῦσα ὁδηγηθῆναι μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνης, κατευθυνθῆναι δὲ αὐτῇ τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ ἐξευμαρισθῆναι, ἵνα ῥᾳδίως ὁδεύῃ. Ταύτην ὁ Συμμαχος τὴν διάνοιαν τέθεικεν· ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ, κατεύθυνον, ὁμάλισον εἴρηκεν. Ἀκούμεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ Ἠσαῗου·Ἕσται τὰ σκολιὰ εἰς εὐθεῖαν, καὶ ἡ τραχεῖα εἰς ὁδοὺς λείας. Καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ δὲ ψαλμῷ ὁ μακάριος ἔφη Δαβίδ· Παρὰ Κυρίου τὰ διαβήματα ἁνθρώπου κατευθύνεται, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ θελήσει σφόδρα. Ταπεινοφροσύνης δὲ μεστὰ τῆς κληρονομούσης τὰ ῥήματα. Οὐ γὰρ αἰτεῖ διὰ τὴν ἑαυτῆς δικαιοσύνην κατευθυνθῆναι αὐτῇ τὴν ὁδὸν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τούς ἐχθροὺς τοὺς δυσεβείᾳ συζῶντας, τοὺς ἀδίκως αὐτῇ πολεμοῦντας. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός Ε´ Source: Migne PG 80.897c-900a

'Lord, lead me in your righteousness. Because of my enemies direct my way into your sight.' 1 Certain translations have 'direct your way into my sight.' But both retain a pious meaning. For either our way is directed into the sight of God, and we do not wander away, or the way of the Lord is directed before us, and we walk in it, and to it we swiftly run. Thus the inheritor 2 seeks that he be led by the righteousness of God and that his way be directed to Him, and that it be made smooth, that he might walk on it easily. Symmachus translates it with this sense, since for 'direct' he has 'make level'. We hear Christ through the prophet Isaiah saying, 'The crooked shall be made right and the rough ways smooth.' 3 The blessed David says in another Psalm: 'The steps of a man shall be directed by the Lord and his way shall delight exceedingly.' 4 However the words of the inheritor are full of humility, for he does not ask that his way be directed because of his own righteousness, but in truth because of the impiety of his accustomed enemies, who are warring against him unjustly. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 5 1 Ps 5.1 2 Ps 5.1 3 Isaiah 40.4 4 Ps 36.23

Crowns And Garlands

Qui tamen et viri caput est et feminae facies, vir ecclesiae Christus Iesus, quale, oro te, sertum pro utroque sexu subiit? Ex spinis, opinor, et tribulis, in figuram delictorum quae nobis protulit terra carnis, abstulit autem virtus crucis, omnem aculeum mortis in dominici capitis tolerantia obtundens, certe praeter figuram: contumelia in promptu est, et dedecoratio et turpitudo et his implexa saevitia. Quae tunc Domini tempora et foedaverunt et lancinaverunt, uti tu nunc laurea et myrto et olea et inlustriore quaque fronde et, quod magis usui est, centenariis quoque rosis de horto Midae lectis et utrisque liliis et omnibus violis coroneris, etiam gemmis forsitan et auro, ut et illam Christi coronam aemuleris, quae postea ei obvenit? Atquin et favos post fella gustauit, nec ante rex gloriae a caelestibus salutatus est quam rex Iudaeorum proscriptus in cruce, minoratus primo a patre modico quid citra angelos, et ita gloria et honore coronatus. Si ob haec caput ei tuum debes, tale, si forte, ei repende, quale suum pro tuo obtulit, aut nec floribus coroneris si spinis non potes, quia floribus non potes. Serva Deo rem suam intaminatam. Ille eam, si volet, coronabit. Immo et vult, denique invitat : Qui vicerit, inquit, dabo ei coronam vitae. Esto et tu fidelis ad mortem, decerta et tu bonum agonem, cuius coronam et apostolus repositam sibi merito confidit. Accipit et angelus victoriae coronam, procedens in candido equo ut uinceret; at alius iridis ambitu ornatur caelesti prasio. Sedent et presbyteri coronati, eodemque auro et ipse filius hominis super nubem micat. Si tales imagines in visione, quales veritates in repraesentatione? Illas aspice, illas adora. Quid caput strophiolo aut dracontario damnas, diademati destinatum? Nam reges nos Deo et Patri suo fecit Christus Iesus. Quid tibi cum flore morituro? Habes florem ex virga Iesse, super quem tota divini Spiritus gratia requievit, florem incorruptum, immarcescibilem, sempiternum. Tertullianus, De Corona Militis, Caput XIV-XV Source: Migne PL 2.97b-102a

But what sort of garland,I ask, did He who is the head of the man and the glory of the woman, 1 Jesus Christ, the husband of the Church, submit to for both sexes? Of thorns, I think, and thistles, a figure of the sins which the earth of the flesh brought forth for us, but which the power of the cross removed, every sting of death blunted by its endurance by the head of our Lord. Certainly besides the figure there is eager insolence, and dishonour, and infamy, and with these the ferocity involved in the cruel things which then disfigured and lacerated the temples of the Lord, and is that so that you may now be crowned with laurel and myrtle and olive, and any celebrated branch, and, of much more use, with a hundred roses too, culled from the garden of Midas, and with both kinds of lily and every sort of violet, perhaps also with gems and gold, so as even to rival that crown of Christ which afterwards He obtained? But He tasted the honey after the gall, and He was not greeted as the King of Glory by the heavens until He had been condemned to the cross as the King of the Jews, having first been made by the Father a little less than the angels for a time, and so crowned with glory and honour. If for these things you owe your own head to Him, repay it if you can, such as He presented His for yours, or do not be crowned with flowers at all, if you cannot be with thorns, because you will not be with flowers. Keep for God His own property untainted, for He will crown it if He chooses. And indeed He does choose and He calls us to it. To him who conquers He says, 'I will give him a crown of life.' You also be faithful to death, 2 you also fight the good fight, whose crown the Apostle was rightly confident had been laid up for him. 3 The angel receives a crown of victory, who goes forth on a white horse, conquering and to conquer, and another is adorned with an encircling rainbow, a celestial meadow. The elders sit crowned with the same gold, and the Son of Man Himself flashes out above the clouds. 4 If such are the appearances in the vision, of what sort will be the realities represented? Look at those crowns, inhale those odours. Why condemn the head destined for a diadem to a little chaplet or a twisted headband? For Jesus Christ has made us kings to God and His Father. What to you is the flower which is to die? You have a flower from the shoot of Jesse, upon which the grace of the Divine Spirit in all its fullness rested, a flower undefiled, unfading, everlasting. Tertullian, On The Crown, Chap 14-15 1 2 Tim 4.8 2 Apoc 2.10 3 2 Tim 4.7-8 4 Apoc 6.2, 10.1, 4.4, 14.14

The Staff Of Power

Ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐξαποστελεῖ Κύριος ἐκ Σιὼν, καὶ κατακυρίευε ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. Ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐν τούτοις ἡγοῦμαι τὸν εὐαγελλικὸν λόγον εἰρῆσθαι. Ἐπιστησον δὲ μήποτε καθ' ἕτερον τρόπον ῥάβδος δυνάμεως εἴρηται ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ ψαλμῳ κεκλημένη ῥάβδος σιδηρᾶ. Ὁ μὲν οὖν εὐαγγελικὸς λόγος, ὁ τῆη τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν δυνάμεως, καὶ τῆς κατ' αὐτὸν οἰκονομίας ἀπαγγελτικὸς, ἡ παιδευτικὴ καὶ σωτήριος εἴη ἂν ῥάβδος· ἡ δὲ κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ πολεμίων τῆς αὐτοῦ Ἐκκλησίας καθαιρετικὴ λεγομένη σιδηρᾶ, δι' ἧς ὡς σκεύη κεραμέως συντρίψειν λέγεται τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτου. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ Χριστὸς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ ἐν μέσαις ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς μέσοις ἔθνεσι μεταξὺ τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων συνεστήσατο, ἀναγκαίως λέλεκται ὅτι Ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐξαποστελεῖ Κύριος ἐκ Σιὼν, καὶ κατακυριεύσῃς ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΡΘ' Source: Migne PG 23.1341c

The Lord sends forth a staff of power from Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 1 I judge this staff of power is spoken of the evangelical word. But let it be considered that perhaps according to another understanding this staff of power is spoken of as what was called a rod of iron in the second Psalm. 1 Thus the evangelical word, which declares the virtue and dispensation of our Saviour, is the staff of teaching and salvation, but that which casts down and destroys His enemies and the foes of the Church, that is the rod of iron, of which it is said that it shall shatter his enemies like an earthen pot. Because, then, Christ has established His Churches in the midst of cities and nations among enemies and foes, so it was necessary to say. 'The Lord sends forth a staff of power from Sion, that you rule in the midst of your enemies.' Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 109 1 Ps 109.3 2 Ps 2.9

Conquest In War

Dominus conterens bella, Dominus nomen est illi qui posuit castra sua in medio populi sui ut eriperet nos de manu omnium inimicorum nostrorum. Redempter noster, de quo in Psalmo scriptum est: Dominus fortis, Dominus potens in praelio, ipse per sanguinem crucis suae contrivit saevitiam diaboli, et mundum subjecit suae ditioni, qui resurgens a mortuis ad discipulos suos ait: Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo et in terra. Euntes docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti, docentes eos observare omnia, quaecunque mandavi vobis. Et ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus, usque ad consummationem saeculo. Castra ergo sua in medio populi sui posuit, cum Ecclesiam suam in medio nationum constituit, in qua semper manens quotidie electos suos de manibus inimicorum liberat, sed in fine mundi perfectam liberationem eis praestabit, quando absorbetur id quod mortale est a vita, et ipsa novissima destruetur mors; quando sancti fulgebunt, sicut sol in regno Patris eorum, et interitum omnium hostium suorum, cum capite suo ipsi videntes ridebunt et dicent: Ecce homo, qui non posuit Deum adjutorem sibi, sed speravit in multitudine divitiarum suarum, et praevaluit in vanitate sua. Ego autem sicut oliva fructifera in domo Dei speravi in misericordia ejus in aeternum, et in saeculum saeculi confitebor illi. Rabanus Maurus, Expositio in Librum Judith, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 109.582c-583a

The Lord conquers in war, the Lord is His name, He who has placed His camp in the midst of His people, that He might seize us from the hand of all our enemies. 1 Our Redeemer, concerning whom it is written in the Psalm: 'The Lord is strong, the Lord is powerful in war,' 2 crushed down the savagery of the devil by the power of the cross and subjected the world to his Deity, He who rising from the dead said to His disciples, 'All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Go out and teach all the peoples, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything which I have commanded you. And behold I am with you every day, even to the consummation of the world.' 3 Therefore He placed His camp in the midst of His people when He established His Church in the midst of the nations, in which He is always, every day, freeing his chosen ones from the hands of enemies, but at the end of the world He will give them a perfect liberation, when that which is mortal is stripped from life, and the final death is destroyed, 4 when the saints shine as the sun in the kingdom of the father, and all their enemies are ruined, when with their own heads they look and laugh and say: 'Behold the man, who did not have God as a helper, but hoped in his own riches, and prevailed in is vanity. But I am like a fruitful olive in the house of the Lord, I hoped in His mercy forever, and I shall confess Him to eternity.' 5 Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On Judith, Chap 16 1 Judith 16.3-4 2 Ps 23.8 3 Mt 28.18-20 4 1 Cor 15.53-54 5 Ps 51.8-11

Encircled And Besieged

Περιεκύκλωσάν με μόσχοι πολλοί, ταῦροι πίονες περιέσχον με... ̓Μόσχοι δ' ἄν εἴεν καὶ αἱ περὶ τὰ γήϊνα καὶ σωματικὰ ἐνεργοῦσαι πονηραὶ δυνάμεις γεωπόνον γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον, αἱ δὲ ψευδοδοξίας προϊστάμεναι δι' ἀπατηλῶν λόγων καὶ σοφισμάτων κερατίζουσαι ταῦροι τυγχάνουσιν πίονες ὄντες διὰ τὸ δῆθεν πολυμαθὲς καὶ κεκομψευμένον τῆς φράσεως. Δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ τοὺς ̓Ιουδαίους κατὰ νόμον βουθυτοῦντας ἐξ ὤν ἐπιτηδεύουσιν μόσχους ὠνομασμένους περικυκλοῦν ἐχθρικῶς τὸν Kύριον· Πόντιος δὲ Πιλᾶτος καὶ εἰ τινες ἄλλοι ἐν ὑπεροχῇ ταῦροι κερατισταὶ ὑπάρχοντες, περιέχειν σπουδάζουσιν αὐτόν. Λέγοι δ' ἄν ταῦτα ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ περὶ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἰδὼν ἀνθρώπους χαμαιπεταῖς καὶ γῆν ἐργαζομένους πολεμικῶς περικυκλοῦντας αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα, τὸ ̓Εκύκλωσάν με μόσχοι πολλοί. Tοὺς δὲ αρχοντας, τούτου τοῦ αἰῶνος σοφίαν ἐπαγγελλομένους, ἑωρακὼς περιθέοντας αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἐρεῖ· Ταῦροι πίονες περιέσχον με. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος KA´ Source: Migne PG 39.1280b-c

Many young bulls encircled me, mighty bulls besieged me... 1 The young bulls seem to be wicked powers that drive to worldly and corporeal cares, for this animal is a labourer on the earth, but those who glory in lies through deceitful words and sophisms, which are their tossing horns, they are the bulls who are mighty because of learning and eloquent words. Also it is possible to say that the Jews according to the law are sacrificial bulls, and among these they appear to be named the young bulls who are aggressively surrounding the Lord, but Pontius Pilate, and not a few others, greater in the rank of dignity, are therefore the horn bearing bulls, who are keen to beleaguer Him. And then the Savior may say these things about the body of His Church, when He sees base men and the earth becoming hostile and encircling His body: 'Many young bulls encircled me,' and when He sees those professed as leaders in the world's wisdom surrounding His body, He says, 'Mighty bulls besieged me.' Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 21 1 Ps 21.12

Patience And Reward

Ὁ ἡμέτερος διδάσκαλος Παῠλος παραγγέλλει, παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ. Κοινὸν μὲν τὸ παράγγελμα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐπαγγέλλει τοῖς ἁγιωσύνην ἀσκοῦσιν. Ἡ παρθένος τὴν μὲν φύσιν ἐστὶν ὁμοία ταῖς ἄλλαις γυναιξὶ, τῇ δὲ προθέσει τὴν φὺσιν ὑπερβᾶσα. Καὶ τῷ ἁγίῷ ἀγίως προσελθεῖν θελήσασα, εἰ μὲν κατορθῖ ἐνταῦθα, θαῦμα μέγα ἀπηνέγκατο· εἰ δὲ προθεμένη οὐκ ἐτελείωσιν, ἐξαίσιον τὸ τοιοῦτον πτῶμα γεγένηται· καὶ γὰρ χαλεπώτερον ἐστιν ἀπὸ ὑψηλοτέρων πεσεῖν, ἤ ἀπὸ τῶν χαμαὶ καταπίπτειν. Καὶ ὅσῳ μεγάλα ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία, τοσούτῳ χείρων ἡ πτῶσις. Ἡ γὰρ ἐπαγγελία ὑπερβαίνει τὴν φήσιν, καὶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν αὐτὴν ἀναφέρει, καὶ μετὰ ἀγγέλων χοερεύειν αὐτὴν κατασκευάζει. Ἐντεῦθεν ἥδη τῇ πολιτείᾳ, ὥς φησι καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ τῷ ἀξιώματι τούτῳ μαρτυρων, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τῶν νεκρῶν ὁ βίος ἐστὶ, φησὶν, ἡ προσδοκία τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Καὶ πάλιν λέγει, ὅτι Οἱ καταξιωθέντες τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμισκονται. Ὅ τοίνυν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν ταῖς ἐπαγγελίαις ἀπόκειται, τοῦτο προλαβοῦσα ἥ τινων προαίρεσις, ἔχει καὶ κέκτηται. Οἱ γὰρ ἅγιοι, οἵτινες τὸν λογισμὸν ἔχουσιν ἀνατεταμένον πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐσθίοντες ἐκ τῆς οὐρανίου τροφῆς, ἠγήσαντο ὡς φυλακὴν τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον, καὶ τὰ σώματα αὐτῶν εἰς μαρτυρίαν παραδεδώκασι, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ψυχὴν τετηρήκασιν ἁγνὴν, ἵνα ὁ Θεὸς οἰκήσῃ ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ὑπέμενον δὲ, ὥσπερ ὁ Κύριος ἡμων λέγει, ὅτι Ὁ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος, οὕτος σωθησεται· καὶ καθάπερ ὁ Ψαλμῳδός φησιν· Ἐκοπίασεν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τέλος· ὅσοι γὰρ δίκαιοι τὴν ἐλπιδα αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἔχουσιν, ἀνάπαυσιν σαρκικὴν οὐκ ἐσχήκασι, χωρίζουσαν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' ἔμενον ἐν κόποις, μὴ δειλιῶντες, οὔτε μὴν διστάζοντες περὶ τῶν θείθν ἐπαγγελιῶν· ἀλλ' ὑποδεχόμενοι τὰς θλίψεις ἐλαφρῶς, μηνμονεύουσι τοῦ διὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου λέγοντος· Καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγην τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ὑμῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς προσεδέξασθε. καὶ μαρτυρεῖ καὶ περὶ τῶν μὴ προσδεξαμένων τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἤθελον ἀναστρέψαντες πάλιν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς οὐρανίοις· ἡμᾶς δὲ οὐ δεῖ εἶναι ἐν τοῖς κοσμικοῖς, ἀλλὰ μεταβῆναι εἰς τὸ συνεῖναι τῷ Θεῷ. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Περὶ Ὑπομονης Source: Migne PG 26.1297a-c

Our teacher Paul exhorts the preparation of our bodies as a living sacrifice pleasing to God. 1 Certainly it is a general command, but more is promised to those exert themselves in holiness. A virgin has a similar nature to other women but with her vow she transcends that nature. And wishing to come to the holy of holies, if she is well presented, a great wonder has been brought, but if she has not perfected what she has proposed, woeful is the calamity, because as the greater the promise, so much the worse the fall. For the promise exceeds nature and lifts it into the heavens and makes it dwell among the angelic choirs. And from there with that way of life, as the Saviour says, it gives witness of its great dignity, for life after the resurrection of the dead is the hope of men. And again He says that those who are worthy of the resurrection amid future goods, neither marry nor are given in marriage. 2 Then with the promise being reserved in the kingdom of heaven, yet some by their own choice run ahead and here have and possess it. For the holy, having fixed their minds on God, even feasting on the heavenly bread, having treated this world as a prison, have handed over their own bodies to martyrdom, they who had guarded their own souls in chastity, so that God might dwell with them. They had patience, and as the Lord said, 'He who has patience to the end, he shall be saved.' 3 and likewise the Psalmist says, 'He laboured for eternity, and he shall live at the end.' 4 For as much as men place their hope in God, and do not cling to carnal contentment, which separates them from God, but endure in their labours, fearing nothing, and not doubting the Divine promises, but readily accepting hardship, they recall that which was said by the Apostle: 'And you accepted the seizure of your goods with joy.' 5 And this also bears witness to those who do not receive redemption, who are unwilling to have their way of life in the heavens. But we should not be in the world, but passing on, that we may be with God. Saint Athanasius, From a Sermon On Patience 1 Rom 12.1 2 Mt 22.30 3 Mk 13.13 4 Ps 48.9-10 5 Heb 10.34