Its End Is Burning

Γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῆς ἐρχόμενον πολλάκις ὑετόν, καὶ τίκτουσα βοτάνην εὔθετον ἐκείνοις δι' οὓς καὶ γεωργεῖται, μεταλαμβάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ: ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀδόκιμος καὶ κατάρας ἐγγύς, ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν Ἥ γε μὴν ῥᾴθυμος ψυχὴ παρεικάζοιτο ἂν εἰκότως γῇ πονηρᾷ καὶ ἀλμάδι, δεχομένῃ μὲν πολλάκις παρὰ τῶν γηπονεῖν εἰωθότων τὰς τῶν σπερμάτων καταβολὰς, τικτούσῃ δὲ τὸ σύμπαν οὐδεν. Εἰς ποῖον δὲ αὐτῇ τέλος ἡ ῥᾳθυμία ἐκβήσεται, ἂπρακτον ἀποφηνάσῃ τὴν δοθεῐσαν αὐτῇ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεὰν, διδάξει λέγων ὀ Παῦλος, ὅτι Τὸ τέλος αὐτῆς εἰς καυσιν. Βούλει καὶ διὰ πραγμάτων τὸ εἰρημένον ἰδεῖν ἀληθές; Γέηονε ποτὲ γῆ καρποφόρος ὀ Ἰσραήλ, ἄμπελος εὐκληματοῦσα, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Ταύτῃ γεγόνασιν ἐν τάξει νεφῶν οἱ μακάροι προφῆται, καὶ θείοις αὐτὴν κατάρδοντες λόγοις, ὠφελεῖν ἐσπούδαλζον, ἀλλ' ἐποίησεν ἀκάνθας, ἀγρία γέγονε καὶ ὑλομανής. Δέδοται τοίνυν εἰς καῦσιν, τουτέστιν, ἠχρεώθη παντελῶς, καὶ τῷ πυρὶ τετραμίευται. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας,Εἰς τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολὴν, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 74.976a-b

For the earth that drinks in the rain which comes often on it and brings forth herbs fitting for them by whom it is tilled receives a blessing from God, but that which brings forth thorns and briars is reprobate and near a curse, and its end is in burning. 1 The idle soul is rightly compared to an evil and marshy land which when it receives the seeds thrown by the farmer yet frequently germinates nothing. What sort of end this idleness will have, given by God for its unfruitfulness, Paul teaches, saying, 'Its end is in burning.' He wishes to say that the truth is known through deeds. It is written that Israel was a fertile land and thick with vines. 2 Here clouds of blessed prophets arose who watered it with Divine words, zealous to help, yet it produced only thorns and appeared bitter and wild. Therefore it was given to burning, that is, what uselessly springs up is reserved for fire. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Letter to Hebrews, Fragment 1 Heb 6.7-8 2 Hosea 10.1

When Human Thoughts Perish

Exiet spirtus ejus et revertetur in terram suam; in illa die peribunt omnes cogitiationes eorum. Hic spiritum animam debemus accipere, sicut ait in Evangelio: Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum. Egressa itaque anima de claustro corprois sui, in terram remeat caro defluens, unde sumpsit initium. Ideo enim addidit, suam, ut significaret inde fuisse procreatam, sicut legitur in Genesi: Fecit Deus hominem de limo terrae. Mortis igitur tempore pereunt humanae cogitationes, quae se in diversos ambitus semper extendunt: modo possessionibus studentes, modo divitias congregantes, modo honores magnopere perquirendo. Sed haec omnia dispereunt, quando earum rerum vota frustrantur; sicut divitem in Evangelio legimus increpatum: Stulte, hac nocte auferetur a te anima tua: quae autem praeparasti cujus erunt? Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXLV Source: Migne PL 70.1029c

His spirit shall go out and return to his earth, on that day all their thoughts shall perish. 1 Here we should understand the spirit as the soul, as it is said in the Gospel, 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.' 2 Thus with the soul having gone out from the enclosure of its body, the dissolving flesh returns to the earth, from whence it was taken in the beginning. And therefore he adds 'his' to signify whence it was fashioned, as is read in Genesis, 'God made man from the mud of the earth.' 3 Therefore at the time of death human thoughts perish, which stretch out to various things around a man, in one way to a desire for possessions, in another for the gathering of riches, in another for the acquisition of great honours. But all these things dissipate when the longing for these things is frustrated, as we read the rich man was admonished in the Gospel, 'Fool, your soul shall be taken from you this night, and who shall now have all you have stored up?' 4 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 145 1 Ps 145.4 2 Lk 23.40 3 Gen 2.7 4 Lk 12.20

The Lazy Man

Quis est ille piger, de quod dicit: Propter frigus piger arare noluit, mendiabit ergo aestate, et non dabitur? Quid? Si piger tempore frigoris arare noluerit, nunquid, aestatis tempore, qui sibi aliquid tribuat invenire non poterit Saepe namque pigri, et frigoris et aestatis tempore inveniunt qui sibi tribuant eleemosynam fideles: sed piger in hoc loco illum significat qui propter desidiam et hujus mundi adversitatem, quae per frigus designatur, in Dei servitio negligit laborare, et idcirco in futuro die judicii mendicabit, quia non habebit opera bona pro quibus mereatur accipere beatitudinem, quoniam quidquid seminaverit homo, hoc et metet Honorius Augustodunensis, Quaestiones Et Ad Easdem Responsiones In Duos Salomonis Libros, In Proverbia, Caput XX Source: Migne PL 172.321c-d

Who is the lazy man, concerning whom it is said, 'The lazy man will not plough because it is cold, therefore he shall beg in summer and nothing shall be given to him.' 1 What? If the lazy man will not plough when it is cold, shall it be that he shall find no one to give him anything in the time of heat? Lazy men in the time of cold and in the time of heat often find faithful folk who will give alms to them, but the lazy man in this passage signifies him who because of sloth and the opposition of the world, which is designated as cold, neglects to labour in the service of God, and therefore he shall beg on the future day of judgment, because he shall not have any good works through which he might merit beatitude, because whatever a man sows, he reaps. 2 Honorius of Autun, Questions and Answers on Two Books of Solomon, On Proverbs, Chapter 20 1 Prov 20.4 2 Galat 6.8

Fear And Longing

Γεένῃς φόβος καὶ παραδείσου πόθος παρέχουσι τὴν τῶν θλιβερῶν ὑπομενήν· καὶ τοῦτο, οὐκ ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ γινώσκοντος τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς ἡμῶν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: Migne PG 65.949b

The fear of Gehenna and the longing for Paradise bestows endurance in trials, and this is not our own work, but it is from Him who knows our thoughts. 1 Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works 1 Ps 138.1-5

Giving Drink

Δίδοτε μέθην τοῖς ἐν λύπαις καὶ οἶνον πίνειν τοῖς ἐν ὀδύναις Νῦν λύπην εἶπε τὸν πόνον. Οἱ οὖν διὰ Θεὸν κοπιῶντες καὶ ὀδυνώμενοι, ἐπ᾽ ἂν μεθυσθῶσι τῆς πρὸς τοῦ οἴκου Κυρίου πιότητος, τῶν ὀδυνῶν ἐπιλανθάνονται. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' ΛA’ Source: Migne PG 39.1635a

Give strong drink to those who grieve and wine to those who groan. 1 Now he speaks of grief for toil. Those, then, who labour and groan for God, they shall be inebriated by the abundance of the house of God and they shall forget all their groaning. 2 Didymus the Blind, Commentary On Proverbs, Chapter 31 1 Prov 31.6 2 Ps 35.9, Apoc 21.4

Present And Future

VERANUS: Quare dicit: Tempus flendi et tempus ridendi, tempus plangendi et tempus saltandi? Quis enim ignorat, quia alio tempore flemus, alio autem ridemus? aut quid profuit dicere, tempus saltandi? Nunquid forsitan ostendere voluit, quia oportet nos saltationum exercere ludicra? SALONIUS. Absit; nihil oportet nos scurriliter agere: sed tempus flendi est in vita praesenti; tempus ridendi in vita futura. Qui ergo in praesenti vita, quotidianis fletibus et lacrymis se purgare studuerit, in vita futura ridebit, id est gaudebit. Similiter tempus plangendi est vita praesens; tempus saltandi est vita beata. In motu namque saltationis, homo suae mentis gaudium et animi demonstrat affectum. Qui ergo in hac vita plangendo studet abolere peccata, in futura vita saltabit, id est laetabitur et exsultabit in gloria aeternae felicitatis. Salonius Viennensis, Expositio Mystica in Ecclesiasten Source: Migne PL 53.999c-d

Veranus: Why is it said, 'A time of weeping and a time of laughter, a time of groaning and a time of leaping about?'  1 Who does not know there is one time in which we weep and another in which we laugh? Or what does it profit to say, 'A time of leaping about?' Does he perhaps wish to show that we should exercise ourselves in jumping around in games? Salonius: Let it not be. There is no need for us to act foolishly. The time of weeping is this present life, the time of laughter is the future life. Therefore he who in the present life is intent on weeping every day and cleansing himself with tears, he shall laugh in the future life, that is, he shall rejoice. 2 Likewise the time of groaning is the present life and the time of leaping is the blessed life, because this motion of leaping is the joy of the mind of a man and represents the emotion of the soul. Thus he who in this life is intent on groaning in order to be rid of sin shall leap about in the future life, that is, he shall rejoice and exult in the glory of eternal happiness. Salonius of Geneva, A Spiritual Exposition of Ecclesiastes 1 Eccl 3.4 2 Lk 6.21

Remembering The Dead

Non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum, et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter operient: moritur doctus similiter ut indoctus. Quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Non erit memoria sapientis ut stulti. CONTRA: 1. Proverbiorum decimo: Memoria iusti cum laudibus, et nomen impiorum putrescet. 2. Item, Ecclesiastici trigesimo nono: Non recedet memoria eius, et nomen eius requiretur etc. Respondeo: ad hoc dicunt quidam, quod ipse loquitur in persona carnalis, unde falsum dicit simpliciter, sed verum secundum carnalium aestimationem. Sed hoc non plene solvit, quia debet carnalium positionem non asserere, sed potius infirmare. Propterea dicendum , quod est loqui de memoria sapientis et stulti aut quantum ad Deum , aut quantum ad homines. Si loquamur quantum ad Deum, memoria utique est boni sapientis , qui studet sapientiae ad gloriam Dei; sed quantum ad homines tam bonorum quam malorum transit memoria, ut in pluribus, quia homines pauca recolunt. Si autem de malo sapiente et vano, non est memoria, nec quantum ad Deum nec quantum ad homines, immo nomen eius transit ut nomen stulti; et ideo stultum est propter famam nominis in sapientia laborare. Ecclesiastes autem loquitur de sapiente vano, qui oculum habet ad terrena , et loquitur de memoria humana, non divina. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput II Source: Here, p26

There shall be no remembrance of the wise man or the fool alike, for future times will cover all things in forgetfulness, alike the learned and the unlearned die. 1 It must be asked why it says here, 'There shall be no remembrance of the wise man or the fool.' Against this, in the tenth chapter of Proverbs, 'The righteous man shall be remembered with praise and the name of the wicked shall rot.' 2 And in the same way, in the thirty ninth chapter Of Ecclesiasticus, 'The memory of him will not fade, and his name will be sought.' 3 I answer that some say about this that he speaks as a worldly person, whence universally it is said falsely but it is true according to worldly judgement. But this does not resolve the matter fully, because one should not just state the worldly position but rather refute it. On account of which it must be said that one may speak of the memory of the wise man and the fool according to God and according to men. If we should speak of how it is according to God, then there is remembrance of him who is good and wise, who is zealous in wisdom for the glory of God, but as it pertains to man the remembrance of both the good and the wicked does pass away, for so it is with many of them since men remember few things. But if there is no memory of the evil and vain wise man according to God and men, so indeed his name passes away just like the name of the fool, and therefore it is foolish to labour in wisdom to make one's name famous. Here, then, Ecclesiastes, speaks of vain wisdom which has its eye on worldly things and he speaks of human memory and not the Divine. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2 1 Eccles 2.16 2 Prov 10.7 3 Sirach 39.13

Saints And Feasts

Festivitatem hodiernam Sanctorum omnium cum omni devotione dignum est celebrari. Nimirum si magna videtur, et est, beati Petri solemnitas, seu beati Stephani, aut cujuslibet caeterorum; quanta ista est, quae non unius tantum est, sed universorum? Verum non ignoratis, fratres, saecularibus id moris esse, ut diebus festis festiva sibi convivia parent: et quanto fuerit solemnitas clarior, tanto splendidius epulentur. Quid ergo? nonne et his qui convertuntur ad cor, cordis deliciae sunt quaerendae, et spiritualibus spiritualia comparanda? Propterea jam paratum est convivium nostrum, fratres, jam cocta sunt omnia, et epulandi tempus advenit. Dignum est enim ut prius anima satietur, quod haec portio sine dubitatione, et sine comparatione sit potior: praesertim cum Sanctorum solemnitates manifestum sit ad animas magis, quam ad corpora pertinere; et quae animarum sunt, animae plus acceptent, quippe naturali quadam eis cognatione conjunctae. Quibus propterea quoque sancti isti compatiuntur amplius, propterea magis desiderant animarum bona, et plus earum refectionibus delectantur, quoniam et ipsi similes nobis fuere passibiles; et ipsi peregrinationis hujus et exsilii miserabilis deploravere molestias; et ipsi grave hujus corporis onus, et tumultus saeculi, et tentationes experti sunt inimici. Nihil itaque dubium, quin gratior eis sit et multo acceptabilior illa festivitas, qua intenditur epulis animarum, quam sit ea, quae celebratur a saecularibus, curam carnis perficientibus in desideriis voluptatum. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Sanctis, In Festo Omnium Sanctorum, Qui Habitat, Sermo I Source: Migne PL 183.453b-d

Today's feast of all the saints is worthy to be celebrated with complete devotion. Certainly if the feast of Saint Peter, and Saint Stephen, and all the others seem great, as they are, how great is this one, which is not only of one saint but of all of them? Truly, brothers, you are not ignorant that according to worldly custom banquets are prepared on feast days, and as much more great this brighter solemnity, so more great should the feasting be. What then? Is it not to those who are converted in their hearts that the delights of the heart should be sought and that the spiritual should prepare spiritual things? Therefore a feast has been prepared for us, brothers, now everything has been cooked and the time of the banquet has come. Without doubt and without comparison it is right that before the soul is sated that its portion should be greater, certainly when the solemnity of the saints has been revealed to pertain more to the soul than to the body and the things of the soul should be accepted by souls, since there is a natural joining of understanding between them. Because of this these saints are also more compassionate, since they more desire the goods of the soul and delight in their refreshment, for like us they were passible, and they deplored the troubles of this journey and wretched exile, and the grave weight of the body, and the tumults of the times, and the testing trials of the enemy. Thus there is no doubt that those festivals are more welcome and acceptable to them which are intended for the feasting of souls than those which are celebrated in the world, where the care of the flesh is perfected in the desires of the will. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons For The Saints, On The Feast Of All Saints, from Sermon 1

At The Devil's Table

Ἐὰν καθίσῃς δειπνεῖν ἐπὶ τραπέζης δυναστῶν νοητῶς νόει τὰ παρατιθέμενά σοι, καὶ ἐπίβαλλε τὴν χεῖρά σου εἰδὼς ὅτι τοιαῦτά σε δεῖ παρασκευάσαι Δυνάστην ἐνταῦθα τὸν διάβολόν φησιν· τράπεζαι δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰσι ψευδομαρτυρίαι, λοιδορίαι, καταλαλιαὶ, συμβουλίαι κακαὶ, ἐπιθυμίαι αἰσχραὶ, καὶ πᾶν ὅτι οῦν σατανικὸν ἐπιτήδευμα· ταῦτα δὲ παρατιθέμενά σοι ὐπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ, νοητῶς νόει, καὶ ἐπίβαλε τὴν διάνοιάν σου, ὃ ἐστιν ἡ χειρ· εἰδὼς ὅτι τοιαῦτά σε δεῖ παρασκευάσαι, οἷα καὶ συμπαρεστάναι σοι ὀφείλουσιν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ Κυρίου, ὅτε ἀπονέμει ἐκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ· εἰ δὲ ἀπληστότερος εἴ, καὶ ὀρέγῃ τῶν ὑψηλῶν καὶ πλειόνων καὶ μειζόνων, ἂτινά εἰσι θεῖα καὶ Θεοῦ, μὴ ἐπιθύμει τῶν τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐδεσμάτων· ταῦτα γὰρ ἔχεται ζωῆς προσκαίρυ, ὅ ἐστι ψευδοῦς· δεῖ δὲ τὴν θείαν Φραφὴν νοητῶς νοεῖσθαι καὶ πνευματικῶς· ἠ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν αἰσθητὴ γνῶσις, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφαλή ΚΓ’ Source: Migne PG 17.221c

If you sit to dine at the table of a powerful man consider well the things which are set before you, and stretch out your hand knowing what things are appropriate for you to take. 1 The powerful man here is the devil and his table is false speech and abuse and detraction and wicked plots and shameful desires and everything that is a Satanic work. All these things are set before you by the wicked one, and you must reach out with your mind, which here he calls the hand, knowing what is appropriate to you, which on the day of the Lord will be reckoned to you when He rewards everyone according to their works. 2 Because if you are not satisfied here, and you desire high things, and many of them, and great things, those things which are heavenly and Divine, yet even so beware lest you are snared in his wicked bonds, for to enjoy the things of this brief life is a lie. It is necessary to understand Scripture according to the intellect and the spirit, for what is told under a material account is not true. Origen, On Proverbs, Chapter 23 1 Prov 23.1 2 Rom 2.6

Killing Demons

Et occidit reges fortes, quoniam in saeculum miseridoria ejus. Reges fortes occidit, quando a nobis expellit daemonia, varia immissione grassautia quorum voluntas nequam tunc extinguitur, si fidelium animae ab eorum potestate tollantur. Occide, Domine, fortes reges, ut liberes servos humiles: eripe tibi devotos, ne ille nefandissimus eos sibi faciat esse subjectos. Sehon regem Amorrhaeorum, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Ista quidem in superiore psalmo iam videntur exposita, quae non pigebit repetere, quando ea sancta auctoritas ad salutem nostram probatur iterasse. Sehon quidem interpretatus est tentatio colorum, aliter vero arbor infructuosa; Amorrhaeus exacerbationem; quae omnia videntur ad diabolum pertinere; ipse est enim arbor infructuosa, ipse exacerbatio. Sed haec in nobis Dominus occidit, quando nos ad instituta sua morum sanctitate perduxerit. Et Og regem Basan, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Og interpretatur coacervans, Basan confusio. Qui enim coacervat peccata nostra, absolute diabolus est. Ipse etiam recte dicitur confusio, quoniam et sequaces suos confundit, et ipse de Domini iudicio confusus abscedit. Verum haec et talia Domini virtute interfecta iacent, quando nos eripere a tam pessima obnoxietate dignatur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXXXV Source: Migne PL 70.972c-973a

He slew great kings, for His mercy is forever. 1 He kills great kings when He expels demons from us, when their wicked will is extinguished, if the souls of the faithful are drawn from their power. Kill, O Lord, strong kings, so that you free your humble servants. Seize to yourself the devout, lest he who is most wicked makes them subject to him. Sehon king of the Amorites, because His mercy is forever. This seems to have been explained in a previous Psalm, but it does not displease us to repeat it, when this sacred authority is proven to repeat things for our salvation. Sehon is interpreted as the 'trial of appearances', otherwise a 'fruitless tree.' The Amorites are 'exasperation,' which everywhere seems to pertain to the devil, for he is the author of fruitlessness, and he is exasperation. But the Lord kills these things in us when He leads us to be established in the holiness of His ways. And Og king of Bashan, because His mercy is forever. Og is interpretated as 'heaping up', and Basan 'confusion.' For he who heaps up our sins is certainly the devil. Indeed he is rightly called confusion because he confounds with his plots and his confusion cuts us off from the judgement of the Lord. Truly these and such things slain by the great virtue of the Lord are cast down when it is fitting that He seizes us from such wretched servitude. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 135 1 Ps 135.19

Suffering And Salvation

Quam ob causam et haec patior sed non confundor... Praedicans Dei donum, diabolum patitur inimicum; ut pressuras ei exsuscitet, quia populum de faucibus ejus eruit. Sed non confundor. In hoc securus, quia pro tribulationibus magna promissa merces est, non confunditur, sed gloriatur in pressuris. Scio enim cui credidi, et certus sum quia potens est depositum meum custodire in illa die. Hoc est quod dicit, qua spe et fiducia magnificentiae Salvatoris securus est; quia quod commendat illi, in tuto est. Quid autem illi commendat, nisi salutem suam? Ut hoc pro illo patiens, salutem inveniat penes illum, cum coeperit judicare; ut puniens infideles, istum dignum aeterna vita pronuntiet. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Timotheum Secundam, Caput I Source: Migne PL 17.487c

For which reason I also suffer these things, but I am not dismayed... 1 Preaching the gift of God, he suffers the hostility of the devil, who is roused to oppress him who plucks people from his jaws. 'But I am not dismayed.' In this I am secure, that a great reward has been promised for tribulations. I am not dismayed, but I glory amidst trials. 'For I know Him in whom I have believed, and I am certain that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him on that day.' 1 This is what he says, that he is secure in hope and confidence in the magnificence of the Saviour, because what he commits to Him is safe. And what does He commit to him but his own salvation? So that suffering for Him he finds salvation with Him, when He begins to judge, so that while the faithless are punished, he is proclaimed worthy of eternal life. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To Timothy, Chapter 1 1 2 Tim 1.12

The Seed And The Path

Et dum seminat, aliud cecidit circa viam, et venerunt volucres, et comederunt illud. In Evangelio Lucae ita de hoc semine scriptum est: Aliud cecidit secus viam, et conculcatum est, et volucres coeli comederunt illud. Quaecunque ergo Dominus in hac parabola eхроnere dignatus est, pia fide suscipienda sunt. Quae vero tacita nostrae intelligentiae dereliquit, aeque pia intentione perquirenda ac perstringenda sunt breviter. Semen quod circa viam cecidit, duplici laesura disperiit, ut ab itinerantibus scilicet conculcatum, eta volucribus raptum. Via ergo est mens assiduo malarum cogitationum meatu trita atque arefacta, ne verbi semen accipere ac germinare sufficiat; atque ideo quidquid boni seminis vicinia talis viae contigerit, perit, quia improbo pessimae cogitationis transitu conculcatum a daemonibus rapitur. Qui recte volucres cœli, sive quia caelestis spiritalisque sunt naturae, sive quia per aera volitant, appellantur. Sanctus Beda, In Marci Evangelium Expositio, Liber I, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 92.167d-168a

And while he sowed, some seed fell around the path and the birds came and ate it. 1 In the Gospel of Luke it is written about the seed, 'Some fell beside the path and it was trodden on and the birds of heaven ate it.' 2 Whatever, then, the Lord in this parable thought worthy to set forth must be received with pious faith. But the unspoken things that escape our understanding, with pious application must be briefly sought and touched upon. The seed that falls around the path is destroyed in two ways, that is, by being crushed by travellers and by being seized by birds. The path, then, is the mind continually fixed in wicked thoughts which grinds down and dries up with guilt, and is not capable of receiving the seed of the Word and germinating. Therefore when good seed falls near such a path, it is crushed by the passing of vile thoughts and seized by demons, who are rightly called birds of heaven, either because they have the nature of heavenly spirits, or because they fly through the air. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 2 1 Mk 5.14-15 2 Lk 8.5

When The Wicked Prosper

Surgentes testes iniqui quae ignorabam interrogabant me. Omnes iniqui qui temporalia bona aeternis praeferunt, cum in hac vita prosperantur, quasi in testimonium contra electos surgunt, quia dum ipsa sua felicitate de visibilibus non loquendo, sed prosperando, testimonnium perhibent, judicium bonorum, quod de aeternis, et invisibilibus bonis dat, convincere student. Unde recte quae ignorabam, inquit, interrogabant me. Mali enim bonos de praesenti felicitate interrogant, quia, cum eis dulcis sit, mirantur, quod illi se ad appetitum ejus non inclinant, Sed qui haec non dulcis, sed amara bonis est, quidquid de ejus laude in medium proferunt, hoc boni per experientiam non cognoscunt. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber II, Tit XLIII Quod temporalis malorum prosperitas, electis testimonium est aeternae felicitatis Source: Migne PL 177.609a

'Evil witnesses rose up and questioned me about things I did not know.' 1 All the wicked who prefer temporal goods to eternal ones, when they prosper in this life, they rise up as a testament against the elect, because while they do not speak of their happiness amid visible things, yet in their prospering they give testimony of it, and they strive to convince with this judgement of good things against eternal and unseen goods. Hence it is rightly said they questioned him about things he did not know. The wicked question the good about present happiness, because while there is sweetness to them in it they wonder why the good do not incline to their desires. But to the good these things are not sweet but bitter, and likewise whatever praise of it is brought before them, for the good through experience know nothing of it. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 2, Chapter 43, That the temporal prosperity of the wicked is a witness to the elect of eternal happiness. 1 Ps 34.11

Purchasing Glory

Quomodo intelligendum est quod ait: Malum est, malum est, dicit omnis emptor, et cum recesserit, tunc gloriabitur? Secundum litteram, solet emptor vituperare quod emere desiderat, et dicere: Malum est. malum est; verumtamen si bene emerit, cum recesserit gloriabitur. Spiritualiter autem quomodo intelligitur? Ille veraciter est emptor, qui sibi aeterna in coelis praemia comparare desiderat. Ipse nimirum emere studet terrenis coelestia, caducis mansura, temporalibus aeterna. Talis ergo emptor quidquid patitur in praesenti malum esse dicit, quia malum esse intelligit. Attamen quia omnia adversa pro Deo patienter sustinet, cum secesserit de mundo, tunc gloriabitur, quia perveniet ad beatitudinem. Honorius Augustodunensis, Quaestiones Et Ad Easdem Responsiones In Duos Salomonis Libros, In Proverbia, Caput XX Source: Migne PL 172.322b

How should it be understood when it is said, 'Its bad, it's bad,' says every buyer, and when they go away then they glory? 1 According to the letter, a buyer is accustomed to deprecate what he desires to buy and say, 'It's bad, it's bad.' However if he buys well, when he goes away he glories. How is this to be understood spiritually? He is a true buyer who desires to acquire eternal riches for himself in heaven. He is keen to buy heavenly things over worldly things, mansions over ruins, eternal things over temporal things. Therefore such a buyer says it is bad because whatever he suffers in the present he understands it to be an evil. However because he patiently endures every adversity for God, when he goes from the world, then he glories, because he comes to beatitude. Honorius of Autun, Questions and Answers on Two Books of Solomon, On Proverbs, Chapter 20 1 Prov 20.14

Making Rich And Poor

...et mercatores terrae de virtute deliciarum ejus divites facti sunt... Divites peccatis dici eos qui pro abundantia temporali suas infelici mercatu animas commutant. Nam nimietas luxuriae pauperes potius quam divitis facit Sanctus Beda, Explanatio Apocalyspsis, Liber III, Caput XVIII Source: Migne PL 93.185c

...and the merchants of the earth made rich by the power of her delicacies... 1 It speaks of those rich in sin, those who barter their souls away in a wretched market for temporal wealth, for excessive luxury makes men poor rather than rich. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Apocalypse, Book 3, Chapter 18 1 Apoc 18.3