State super vias et videte et interrogate de semitis antiquis quae sit via bona et ambulate in ea et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris

29 Jan 2015

Prayer and Study

Ex his possumus colligere: quod lectio sine meditatione arida est; meditatio sine lectione, erronea; oratio sine meditatione est tepida; meditatio sine oratione, infructuosa; oratio cum devotione contemplationis acquisitva; contemplationis adeptio sine oratione, aut rara, aut miraculosa. Deus, cuius potentiae non est numerus vel terminus, et cuius misercordia super omnia opera eius, quandoque ex lapidibus suscitat filios Abrahae, dum duros et nolentes acquiescere cogit ut velint: et ita quasi prodigus, ut vulgo dici solet, bovem cornu trahit, quando non vocatus se infundit. Quod etsi quandoque aliquibus legimus contigisse, ut Paulo et quibusdam aliis, non tamen ideo debemus nos, quasi Deum tentando, divina praesumere, sed facere quod ad nos pertinet: legere scilicet et meditari in lege Dei; orare ipsum ut adiuvet infirmitatem nostram et videat imperfectum nostrum: quod ipse docet nos facere, dicens, Petite, et accipietis; quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate et aperietur vobis.

Guigo II, Scala Claustralium, Cap XII
From these things we are able to gather that reading without contemplation is arid; that contemplation without reading is erroneous; that prayer without contemplation is tepid; that contemplation without prayer is unfruitful. Prayer with devotion attains to contemplation; to attain contemplation without prayer is either rare or a miracle. God, whose power is without measure or end, and whose mercy is above all his works, just as he might raise sons to Abraham from stones, 1 so he can incline the stubborn and unwilling to eagerness in this; and indeed, as is commonly said, he drags away a bull by the horns, that is, it is a marvel when he inspires someone without being called upon. Yet if we read that this may happen to anyone, such as to St Paul and certain others, we should not however, testing God, presume on his Divinity, but we should do what we should: read and meditate on the law of God, pray that he help our infirmity, and that he look upon our imperfection.  He himself teaches us how, saying , 'Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.' 2

Guigo II, The Ladder of the Monks, Ch. 12

1 Mt 3.9 
2 Mt 7.7

28 Jan 2015

Fish And Men

Τροφὴ δὲ ἰχθύσιν ἄλλοις ἄλλη κατὰ γένος διωρισμένη. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἰλύϊ τρέφονται, οἱ δὲ τοίς φυκίοις· ἄλλοι ταίς βοτάναις ταίς ἐντρεφομέναις τᾥ ὔδατι ἀρκοῦνται. Ἀλληλοφάγοι δὲ τῶν ἰχθύων οἱ πλείστοι, καὶ ὁ μικρότερος παρ’ ἐκείνοις βρῶμά ἐστι τοῦ μείζονος. Κάν ποτε συμβῇ τὸν τοῦ ἐλάττονος κρατήσαντα ἑτέρου γενέσθαι θήραμα, ὑπὸ τὴν μίαν ἄγονται γαστέρα τοῦ τελευταίου. Τί οὖν ἡμείς οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἄλλο τι ποιοῦμεν ἐν τῇ καταδυναστείᾳ τῶν ὑποδεεστέρων; τί διαφέρει τοῦ τελευταίου ἰχθύος ὁ τῇ λαιμάργῳ φιλοπλουτίᾳ τοϊς ἀπληρώτοις τῆς πλεονεξίας αὐτοῦ κόλποις ἐναποκρύπτων τοὺς ἀσθενεὶς; Ἐκείνος εἶχε τὰ τοῦ πένητος σὺ τοῦτον λαβὼν μέρος ἐποιήσω τῆς περιουσίας σεαυτοῦ. Ἀδίκων ἀδικώτερος ἀνεφάνης, καὶ πλεονεκτικώτερος πλεονέκτου. Ὅρα μὴ τὸ αὐτό σε πέρας τῶν ἰχθύων ἐκδέξηται, ἄγκιστρόν τοι, ἢ κύρτος, ἢ δίκτυον. Πάντως γὰρ καὶ ἡμείς πολλὰ τῶν ἀδίκων διεξελθόντες, τὴν τελευταίαν τιμωρίαν οὐκ ἀποδρασόμεθα.

Ἅγιος Βασιλειος Καισαρείας, Εις Την ῾Εξαημερον, Ὁμιλὶα Z'

Source: Migne PG 29.152c-153a
The food of fish differs according to species. Some feed on sediment; others on sea weed; others prefer the herbs that grow in water. But most of them devour each other, and the smaller is food for the larger. And when one which has possessed itself of a fish weaker than itself becomes a prey to another, the conqueror and the conquered are both swallowed up in the one belly of the last. And we men, do we act otherwise when we oppress inferiors? What difference between the last fish and he who, driven by love of wealth, devours the weak in the folds of his overreaching avarice? That man took the goods of the poor; you caught him and made him a part of your abundance. More unrighteous than the unrighteous you show yourself, and more greedy than the greedy. Look to the end lest you be exhibited as a fish, by hook, by trap, or by net. For surely we too, having accomplished many deeds of the wicked, shall not escape a final punishment.

Saint Basil of Caesarea, Hexameron, from Homily 7

27 Jan 2015

Antichrist, Devil, Satan

Πάς γὰρ ὃς ἂν μὴ ὁμολογῇ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθέναι, ἀντιχριστός ἐστιν· καὶ ὃς ἂν μὴ ὁμολογῇ τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστιν· καὶ ὃς ἂν μεθοδεύῃ τὰ λόγια τοῦ κυρίου πρὸς τὰς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας καί λεγῃ μήτε ἀνάστασιν μήτε κρίσιν, οὖτος πρωτότοκός ἐστι τοῦ σατανᾶ. διὸ ἀπολιπόντες τὴν ματαιότητα τῶν πολλῶν καὶ τὰς ψευδοδιδασκαλίας ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡμῖν παραδοθέντα λόγον ἐπιστρέψωμεν, νήφοντες πρὸς τὰς εὐχὰς καὶ προσκαρτεροῦντες νηστείας, δεήσεσιν αἰτούμενοι τὸν παντεπόπτην θεὸν μὴ εἰσενεγκειν ἡμας εἰς πειρασμόν.

Ἅγιος Πολύκαρπος Σμύρνης, Πρὸς Φιλιππήσιους Έπιστολή

Source: Migne PG 5.1012b
Everyone who does not confess Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is Antichrist; he who does not confess the witness of the cross is of the Devil; and he who perverts the words of the Lord to suit his own desires and says there is neither resurrection nor judgement, this man is the first born of Satan. So being done with these inanities of the mob, these false teachings, let us turn back to the word given to us in the beginning, sober in prayer and strong in fasting, asking the all seeing God not to lead us into temptation.

Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, Letter to the Phillipians.

26 Jan 2015

Some Dangers Of Asceticism


Novi apud te, et apud matrem tuam, superbiam, per quam diabolus cecidit, penitus locum non habere. Unde ad te super ea scribere superfluum sit. Stultissimum quippe est docere, quod noverit ille quem doceas. Sed ne hoc ipsum tibi jactantiam generet, quod saeculi jactantiam contempsisti; ne cogitatio tacita subrepat, ut quia in auratis vestibus placere desisti, placere coneris in sordidis: et si quandum in conventum fratrum veneris vel sororum, humilies sedeas, scabello te causeris indignam. Vocem ex industria, quasi confecta jejuniis, non tenues; et deficientis imitata gressum, humeri innitaris alterius. Sunt quippe nonnullae extrerminantes facies suas, ut appareant hominibus jejunantes: quae statim ut aliquem viderint, ingemiscunt, demittunt supercilium, et operta facie, vix unum oculum, liberant ad videndum. Vestis pulla, cingulam saccum, et sordidis manibus pedibusque, venter solus, quia videri non potest, aestuat cibo. His quotidie Psalmus ille canitur: Dominus dissipabit ossa hominum sibi placentium. 

Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola XXII, Ad Eustochium, Paulae Filiam

Source: Migne PL 22 413
I know that neither to you nor your mother may be attributed pride, that which through which the devil fell. It would be superfluous to write to you upon it; for it is most stupid to teach someone something he knows. But do not become boastful now that you have despised the boastfulness of the age. Do not harbor the secret thought that having ceased to court attention in golden garments you may do so in poor attire. If you come into a gathering of brothers or sisters, do not sit in too low a place or announce that you are unworthy of a footstool. Do not roughen your voice as if exhausted by fasting, nor mimic the gait of one who is faint while leaning on another's shoulder. Some women indeed disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to fast, and as soon as you catch sight of any one of them they groan, they cast their eyes down, they cover their faces, but for one eye, of course, which must be kept free to peep around. Plain attire they have, a girdle of sackcloth, unwashed hands and feet; the stomach alone, that which one cannot see, is rich with food. Of these the psalm is sung daily: 'The Lord will scatter the bones of those who please themselves.'1

St Jerome, from Letter 22, To Eustochium daughter of Paula

1 Ps 52.6

25 Jan 2015

Old Age

Ipsa est vere senectus illa venerabilis, quae non canis, sed meritis albescit; ea est enim reverenda canities, quae est canities animae, in canis cogitationibus et operibus effulgens. Quae est enim vere aetas senectutis, nisi vita immaculata, quae non deibus aut mensibus, sed saeculis propagatur, cujus sine fine est diuturnitas, sine debilitate longaevitas? Quo enim diuturnior, eo fortior: et quo diutius eam vitam vixerit, eo fortius in virum perfectum excrescit.

Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistola XVI, Anysio Fratri

Source: Migne PL 16.960c
That old age is truly venerable which whitens not with gray hairs but in good deeds; for those white hairs are reverent which are the white hairs of the soul, shining with bright thoughts and words. For what is true old age, but an unspotted life, which lasts not for days or months but for ages, whose continuance is without end, whose length is without frailty? Indeed the longer it lasts, so the stronger it is; the longer such a life is lived the more vigorously does it grow into a perfect man.

Saint Ambrose, from Letter 16, to his brother Anysius

22 Jan 2015

Salvation And The Weak


Παρέβαλον ἀδελφοὶ τῷ ἀββᾷ Ἀντωνίῳ, καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Εἰπὲ ἡμῖν λογον, πῶς σωθῶμεν; Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· Ἠκούσατε τὴν Γραφήν; καλῶς ὑμῖν ἔχει. Οἱ δὲ εἶπον· Καὶ παρὰ σοῦ θέλομεν ἀκοῦσαι, Πάτερ. Εἶπε δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· Λέγει τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον· Ἐάν τίς σε ῥαπίσῃ εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, στρέψον αὐτῷ και τὴν ἄλλην. Λέγουσιν αυτῷ· Οὐ δυνάμεθα τοῦτο ποιῆσαι. Λέγει αὐτοίς ὁ γέρων· Εἰ μὴ δύνασθε στρέψαι και τὴν ἄλλην, κὰν τὴν μίαν ὑπομείνατε. Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Οὐδὲ τοῦτο δυνάμεθα. Λέγει ὁ γέρων· Εἰ οὐδὲ δύνασθε, μή δότε ἀνθ' οὖ ἐλάβετε. Καὶ εἶπον· Οὐδὲ τοῦτο δυνάμεθα. Λέγει οὖν ὁ γέρων τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ· Ποιησον αὐτοῖς μικρὰν ἀθήραν· ἀσθενοῦσι γάρ. Εἰ τοῦτο οὐ δυνάσθε, κὰκεῖνο οὐ θέλετε, τί ὑμῖν ποιήσω; Εὐχῶν χρεία.  

᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Some brothers came to Father Anthony and said to him, ' Speak a word to us; how shall we be saved?' The elder said to them, ' You have heard the Scriptures? Hold well to them.' They said, ' We wish to hear something from you, Father.' And the elder said to them, 'Read the Gospel: If someone strike you on the right cheek, turn the other to him.'1 They said to him, ' We cannot do that.' The elder said to them, ' If you are not able to turn the other cheek, at least suffer one blow.' They said to him, ' Nor can we do that.' The elder said, ' If you cannot do that, at least do not return what has been inflicted.' And they said, ' We cannot do that.' The elder said to a disciple of his, ' Make them a little soup, for they are very frail.' Then he said to them,' If you cannot do these things nor do you wish to, what can I do for you? You are in need of prayer.'

Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia 

1 Mt 5.39

21 Jan 2015

Receiving Praise


Ἐλεγε πάλιν, ὅτι ἐπαινούμενον, δεῖ λογίζεσθαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐννοείν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἄξιος τῶν λεγομένων. 

᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Jacob said that on being praised one should take thought of one's faults and think that one is not worth being spoken of.

Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

20 Jan 2015

A Synod Reports To A Pope

Delectissimo papae Silvestro Marinus, Afraecius, Natalis, Theodorus, Proterius, Vocius, Verus, Probatius, Caecilianus, Faustinus, Surgentius, Gregorius, Reticius, Ambitausus, Termatius, Merocles, Pardus, Adelfius, Hibernius, Fortunatus, Aristasius, Lampadius, Vitalis, Maternus, Liberius, Gregorius, Crescens, Avitianus, Dafaus, Orientalis, Quintasius, Victor, Epictetus, in Domino aeternam salutem. 

Communi copulas charitatis et unitate matris Ecclesiae catholicae vinculo inhaerentes, ad Arelatensium civitatem piissimi imperatoris voluntate adducti, inde te, gloriosissime papa, commerita reverentia salutamus. Ubi graves ac perniciosos legi nostrae atque traditioni effrenataeque mentis homines pertulimus, quos et Dei nostri praesens auctoritas, et traditio ac regula veritatis ita respuit, ut nulla in illis au dicendi ratio subsisteret, aut accusandi modus ullus aut probatio conveniret. Ideo judice Deo et matre Ecclesia, quae suos novit et comprobat, aut damnati sunt, aut repulsi. Et utinam, frater dilectissime, ad hoc tantum spectaculum interesse tanti fecisses: profecto credimus quia eos severior fuisset sententia prolate, et, te pariter nobiscum judicate, coetus noster majore laetitia exultasset. Sed quoniam recedere a partibus illis minime potuisti, in quibus et Apostoli quoque sedent, et cruor ipsorum sine intermissione Dei gloriam testatur. 

Synodi Arelatensis ad Silvestrum Papam
To the beloved Pope Silvester, from Marinus, Afraecius, Natalis, Theodorus, Proterius, Vocius, Verus, Probatius, Caecilianus, Faustinus, Surgentius, Gregorius, Reticius, Ambitausus, Termatius, Merocles, Pardus, Adelfius, Hibernius, Fortunatus, Aristasius, Lampadius, Vitalis, Maternus, Liberius, Gregorius, Crescens, Avitianus, Dafaus, Orientalis, Quintasius, Victor, Epictetus, eternal greetings in the Lord.

Remaining in the common bond of charity and the unifying chain of the Catholic Church our mother, summoned to the city of Arles by the the will of the most pious Emperor, from there with befitting reverence we greet you, most glorious Pope. We have suffered the grave and pernicious injury to our law and tradition from men of undisciplined minds, the Donatists, men repulsive to the present authority of God and to the tradition and rule of truth, men who had neither any reason for speech in them nor any proper manner of accusation of proof. Thus by the judgement of God and Mother Church, she who knows and approves her own, they have either been condemned or expelled. That, most beloved brother, you had deemed such a spectacle as this worthy of your presence! Indeed we believe that a more harsh sentence would have been passed on them if you had judged together with us, and indeed we would have rejoiced. But you were not able to leave that place where the Apostles sit daily, those whose blood without cessation testifies to the glory of God.

Synod of Arles to Pope Silvester

19 Jan 2015

Spreading The Faith


Adde quod ante resurrectionem Christi, notus tantum in Judaea erat Deus: in Israel magnum nomen eius. Et ipsi qui noverant cum, tamen ad inferos trahebantur. Ubi tunc totius orbis homines, ab India usque ad Britanniam, a rigida Septentrionis plaga, usque ad fervores Atlantici Oceani, tam innumerabiles populi, et tantarum gentium multitudines? Quam variae linguis, habitu tam vestis, et armis. Piscium ritu ac locustarum et velut muscae et culices conterebantur: absque notitia etenim Creatoris sui, omnis homo pecus est, Nunc vero passionem Christi, et resurrectionem eius, cunctarem gentium et voces et litterae sonant. Taceo Hebraeis, Graecis, et Latinis, quas nationes fidei suae in Crucis titulo Dominus dedicavit. Immortalem animam et Pythagoras somniavit, Democritus non credidit, in consolationem damnationis suae Socrates disputavit in carcere, Indus, Persa, Gothus, Aegyptius philosophantur. Bessorum ferita, et pellitorum turba populorum, qui mortuorum quondam inferiis homines immolabant, stridorem summ in dulce Crucis fregerunt melos, et totius mundi una vox Christus est. 

Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola LX, Ad Heliodorum


Source: Migne PL 22 591-592
Moreover, before the resurrection of Christ only in Judah was God known, only in Israel was His name great. And even they who knew Him were dragged down to hell. Where in those days were the men of the globe from India to Britain, from the freezing blasts of the North to the warmth of the Atlantic ocean? Where were the innumerable peoples of the world, where those multitudes 'So unlike in tongue, in style of dress and arms' ?1 Like fishes and locusts, like flies and gnats they were crushed. For apart from knowledge of his Creator every man is but a beast. Now, in truth, the voices and letters of all nations proclaim the passion and the resurrection of Christ. I am silent about the Jews, the Greeks, and the Latins, peoples the Lord dedicated to His faith in the title written on the Cross. Pythagoras dreamed of the immortality of the soul, Democritus would not credit it, Socrates disputed over it in prison to console himself for his condemnation, but now the Indian, Persian, Goth and Egyptian philosophise. Even the wild Bessians and crowds of skinclad savages who once sacrificed men in honour of the dead have broken out of their howling into the sweet music of the Cross, and Christ is the one voice of all the world.

St Jerome, from Letter 60, To Heliodorus

1 Virgil, Aeneid, 8.723

Saint Joseph And The Apostles

Post quae, mortuo Herode, Joseph per Angelum monetur, ut in Judeam cum puero et matre ipsius redeat. Et revertens cum Archelaum Herodis filium regnare audisset, timuit eo venire; et per angelum monetur, ut in Galilaeam transeat, et in regionis eius civitate Nazareth inhabitet. Reverti ergo ad Iudaeam monetur: et reversus timor. Et rursum visu admonitus, transire ad regionem gentium iubetur. Sed aut timere eum qui admonitus sit non oportuit, aut per angelum deferri admonitio mox mutanda non debuit. Verum typica ratio servata est. Joseph enim aposotolorum habet speciem, quibus Christus circumfurendus est creditus. Hi tamquam Herode mortuo, id est, populo eius in passione Domini deperdito, Judaeis praedicare sunt iussi; missi enim erant ad oves perditas domus Israel: sed manente haereditarian infidelitatis dominatu metuunt et recedunt. Admoniti per visum, sancti scilicet Spiritus donum in gentibus contemplantes, ad eas transferunt Christum, Judaeam missum, sed vitam et salutem gentium nuncupatum. 

Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Ad In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius

After which, with the death of Herod, Joseph was warned by an angel that he should return to Judea with his son and his mother. And going back he heard that Archelaus the son of Herod was reigning and he feared to come there, and he was warned by an angel that he should pass into Galilee and dwell in Nazareth a city of that region. 1 Thus he was warned to return to Judea and then he feared to go back; and again in an admonitory vision he was ordered to pass over to a region of the gentiles. But either to fear what has been admonished is not appropriate, nor it is that an angel should so quickly change his counsel. By reason of type truth shall be served. Joseph has the likeness of an Apostle, those the itinerant Christ chose. These with Herod dead, that is, his people lost until the passion of the Lord, were commanded to preach to the Jews, they were sent out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; but then they feared and fled the domination of an unfaithful inheritance. Warned in a vision, the gift of the Spirit had the saints contemplate the Gentiles, that they bring Christ to them; sent to the Jews but now preaching life and salvation to the nations.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew

 
1 Mt 2. 19-23

17 Jan 2015

A Dangerous Situation, A Dangerous Wife



Novimus et alium ea tempestate nomine Saturum: qui, cum lucidum esset membrum Ecclesiae Christi, et privatatem Arianorum libertate catholica frequenter argueret (fuit hic procurator domus Hunerici), convenitur, accusante Marivado quodam diacono, quem Hunericus infaustus singulariter honorabat, ut fieret Saturus Arianus. Promittuntur honores et divitiae multae si faceret, praeparantur supplica dira si nollet: hac optione proposita, ut is regalibus iussibus non obediret, primo facta discussione, et ante amissa domo vel substantia, distractis omnibus mancipiis ac fiilis, uxor eius, ipso praesente, camelario in conjugium traderetur. Quod ille plenus Deo magis ut velociter proveniret, impios provocabat. Ob quam causam uxor eius inducias visa est ab his qui exsequebantur, nesciente marito, petisse. Accedit ad maritum alia Eva consilio magistrata serpentis. Sed ille Adam non fuit, qui illecebrosa bitae arboris poma contingeret: quia non indigens, sed Saturus vocabatur, saturatus ab ubertate domus Dei, et torrente deliciarum eius potatus. Advenit mulier ad locum ubi maritus singularis orabat, conscissis vestibus, crineque soluto, secum comitantibus, filiis, unamque infantulum, quae tunc lactabatur manibus gestans; quam nescientis projiciens ad pedes mariti, etiam ipsa suis genua complectitur uluis, sibilans vociferatione draconis: Miserere mei, dulcissime, simul et tui; miserere communibus liberis, quos conspicis ipse. Non subjaceant conditioni servili, quos claros prosapia eddidit generis nostri. Non subjiciar ego indigno et turpi conjugio vivente marito, quae mihi semper inter coaevas plaudebam de Saturo meo. Cognoscit Deus quia invitus facturus es hoc, quod forte voluntarie aliquanti fecerunt. Cui ille Job sancti voce respondit: Tamquam una ex insipientibus mulieribus loqueris. Formidarem, mulier, si sola esset hujus vitae amara dulcedo. Artificio, conjux, diaboli ministras. Si diligeres maritum, nunquam ad secundam mortem attraheres proprium virum. Detrahant filios, separent uxorem, auferant substantia; mei Domini ego, securus de promissis, verba tenebo: Si quis non dimiserit uxorem, filios, agros, aut domum, meus non poterit esse discipulus. Quid ulta? Discedente muliere cum filiis refutata, confortatur Saturus ad coronam, discutitur, interdicitur ei prodeundi accessus. Totum ei tulerent, stolam tamen baptismatis auferre ei non potuerunt. 

Victor Vitensis, Historia Persecutionis Africae Provinciae, Lib II




We shall note another in this storm, one by the name of Saturus, he who was a shining member of the Church of Christ and also a procurator of the house of King Hunericus. He frequently disputed against the depravity of the Arians and for the liberty of Catholics, and so it came about that by the information of a certain deacon Marivadus, whom Hunericus had singularly honoured, that it was determined to make Saturus an Arian. They promised him honours and great wealth if he would do so, and they threatened dire punishments if he refused. But this man remained disobedient to the orders of the king, and so it was first proposed, before taking his house or goods, to bring out his dependents and sons and his wife bound and led by a camel driver before him. That man, full of God, told them to do it quickly, and thus further provoked those impious, and because of this his wife was induced, without the knowledge of the husband, to seek to lead him astray. She approached her husband like another Eve schooled by the counsel of the serpent. But he was no Adam that he would touch the alluring apple of the tree; because not 'Needy' but 'Saturus' he was named, being saturated with the abundance of the house of God and its overflow was his drink. The wife came to the place where the remarkable husband prayed and tearing her clothing and pulling her hair, with her retinue of children, including an infant who was then feeding in her arms, falling at the feet of the husband, embracing his knees and crying out, she hissed these serpentine words: 'Have mercy on me, sweet one, and on yours; have mercy on our children whom you see here. Do not subject them to a servile condition, these glories our lineage has brought forth. May I not be reduced to poverty and disgrace by my living spouse whom always I would praise among his contemporaries. God knows that you are unwilling to do what is asked, yet no small number have done what you yet refuse.' To this our Job with sacred voice replied, ' You speak like one of the foolish women. I fear only, wife, the bitter sweetness of the life they offer. With cunning, woman, you serve the devil. If you love your husband, do not drag him to the second death. Let them drag away sons, seize a wife and carry off property; I am confident in the promises of my Lord and I hold to his words: If a man will not give up his wife, children, lands or house, he is not able to be my disciple.' What more? Learning that the wife and children had been refuted, that Saturus had laid hold upon the crown, they brought him to nothing, and prohibited anyone from assisting him. Everything he had was taken away but for his baptismal garment, for that they were not able to strip from him.

Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province, Book 2

12 Jan 2015

Alms and Actors

Cum ergo facis eleemosynam, inquit, noli tuba canere ante te, sicut hypocritae faciunt in sinagogis et in vicis, ut glorificentur ab hominibus. Noli, inquit, sic velle innotescere ut hypocritae. Manifestum est autem hypocritas non quod oculis praetendunt hominum, id etiam corde gestare. Sunt enim hypocritae simulatores tamquam pronuntiatores personarum alienarum sicut in theatricis fabulis. Non enim qui agit partes Agamemnonis in tragoedia, verbi gratia, sive alicuius alterius ad historiam vel fabulam quae agitur pertinentis, vere ipse est, sed simulat eum et hypocrita dicitur. Sic in Ecclesia vel in omni vita humana quisquis se vult videri quod non est, hypocrita est. Simulat enim iustum, non exhibet, quia totum fructum in laude hominum ponit quam possunt etiam simulantes percipere, dum fallunt eos quibus videntur boni ab eisque laudantur. Sed tales ab inspectore cordis Deo mercedem non accipiunt nisi fallaciae supplicium. Ab hominibus autem perceperunt, inquit, mercedem suam. Rectissimeque his dicetur: Recedite a me operarii dolosi; nomen enim meum habuistis, sed opera mea non fecistis. Illi ergo perceperunt mercedem suam qui non ob aliud eleemosynam faciunt nisi ut glorificentur ab hominibus; non si glorificentur ab hominibus, sed si ideo faciant ut glorificentur. 

De Sermone Domini in Monte, Liber Secundus, Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis
Therefore, when you give alms, says He, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Do not, says He, wish to become known like hypocrites. Indeed it is manifest that it is not what hypocrites hold before the eyes of men that they have in their heart. For hypocrites are pretenders, as it were proclaimers of other persons, just as in the plays of the theatre. For he who acts the part of Agamemnon in tragedy, for instance, or who acts any other person of history or fable, is not really his true self, but imitates another, and is called a hypocrite. So in the Church, or in any area of human life, whoever wishes to be seen as what he is not is a hypocrite. For he pretends to be a just man, but does not show himself, and this because he places his whole reward in the praise of men, which even pretenders may receive while they deceive those to whom they seem good, and are praised by them. But such men do not receive a reward from God, the Searcher of the heart, unless it be punishment for deceit. From men, however, says He, they have received their reward. And most righteously will it be said to them, Depart from me, you workers of fraud; you had my name, but you did not do my works. Thus they have received their reward, who give alms that they may have glory among men; not if they have glory among men, but if they act that they may be so glorified.

On the Sermon on the Mount, Book 2, Saint Augustine of Hippo

10 Jan 2015

Breaking the Chains

Abrumpatur illa interminabilis saecularium negotiorum catena, et ille de necessitatibus multis unus per totam vitam labor. Disrumpamus inanium curarum vincula, quorum succedentibus sibi nexibus implicatis, in quibus semer occuptio nostra quasi incipit. Removeantur illae tam vacuae quam cohaerentes sibi causae, in quibus, quoad vivitur, studium mortalium, dum subinde negotiis inchoatur, numquam finitur. Quarum rerum infatigabilis intentio iam brevem et aretam per se vitam, hanc etiam arctissimam reddidit. Per quae etiam nunc vana guadia, nunc acerbi morores, nunc anxia vota, nunc suspecti metus veniunt. Abjiciantur postremo illa omnia, quae praesentem hanc vitam faciunt brevem occupationi, longam dolori. Repudiemus mundi parum fidi vitam utrobique suspectam, apud quam perinde alta atque humilia parum tuta sunt. Obteruntur humilitate depressa, nutani celsa fastigio. Pone quem volueris statum, non apud infima istic, non apud summa requiescitur: gravem turbinis sortem utraque conditio non effugit. Subjacet contumeliae minor, major invidiae. 

Epistola Paraenetica ad Valerianum Cognatum, de Contemptu Mundi, Sanctus Eucherius Lugdonensis
Tear off those wearisome chains of secular employments, that one toil of dealing with many exigencies through the whole of life. Break apart those chains of inane cares, in whose successive knots one is entangled, and in every one of which travail is ever renewed. Cast away that succession of vain causes in which, as long as one lives in the discipline of mortality, cares never end. These things are indefatigable and make this short and arid life more constrained. Through them now empty joy, now bitter distress, now anxious vows, now looming fear. Let all those things be thrown aside which make this brief life in respect of their employment but long pain. Let us reject the world and have little faith in it, in which the low and the high have little security. Humble things are trodden down further, and the high totter toward their fall. Choose what state you will: neither in the lowest or the highest is there rest; both conditions have their weighty share of troubles from which one may not flee. The little man is subject to contempt, the great man to envy.

Epistle of Exhortation to his Kinsman Valerian, On the Contempt of the World, Saint Eucherius of Lyon

9 Jan 2015

Pondering the Consequences


Ἄλλοτε ὁ αὐτὸς ἀββᾶς Ζήνων περιπατῶν ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνη, καὶ κοπιάσας, ἐγγὺς σικυηλάτου ἐκάθισε φαγεῖν, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ λογισμός· Ἀρον ἑαυτῷ ἐν σικύδιν, καὶ φάγε. Τί γάρ ἐστιν; Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεις εἶπε τῷ λογισμῷ· Οἱ κλέπται εἰς κόλασιν ὑπάγουσι. Δοκίμασον οὖν ἑαυτὸν ἐντεῦθεν, εἰ δύνασαι τὴν κύλασιν ὑπενεγκεῖν. Καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔστη εἰς τὸ καῦμα πέντε ἡμέρας, καὶ τηγανιας ἑαυτὸν, εἶπεν· Οὐ δύνασαι την κόλασιν ὑπενεγκεῖν. Καὶ λέγει τῷ λογισμῷ· Εἰ οὐ δύνασαι, μὴ κλέπτε καὶ τρῶγε. 

᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

One time father Zeno was passing through Palestine and he became weary and he sat down next to a cumber field to eat, for a thought came to him, saying, 'Take and eat. What does it matter?' But he said in reply to this thought, 'Thieves receive punishment. Do you then try yourself, if you can endure chastisement.' And he rose and stood in the hot sun for five days, and exhausted by it, he said, ' You will not endure chastisement.' And so he said to his soul, 'You are unable, do not steal and eat.'

Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

5 Jan 2015

Translating a Heretic

Timotheus, exstincto ab Alexandrinis Proterio epsicopo, tumultuante adhuc plebe aut voluit, aut passus est se ab uno episcopo in locum occisi episcopum fieri. Et ne contra legem factus merito abjiceretur, ad gratiam plebis, quae Proterium exosum habuerat, omnes quibus ille communicaverat, Nestorianos esse pronuntiat: et maculam conscientiae, temeritate abluendam praesumens, scripsit ad Leonem imperatorem libellum valde suasorium, quem pravo sensu Patrum testimoniis in tantum roborare conatus est, ut ad decipiendum imperatorem, et suam haeresin constituendam, pene Leonem, urbis Romae pontificem et Chalcedonensem synodum, ac totos Occidentales episcopos aliorum adminiculo Nestorianos ostenderet. Sed, favente Deo, a Chalcedonensi concilio hostis Ecclesiae arguitur et confutatur. Vivere adhuc in exsilio iam haeresiarcha dicitur et habetur. Hunc ipsum libellum noscendi gratia ego, rogatus fratribus, in Latinum transtuli, et cavendum praetitulavi. 

Gennadius Massiliensis, Liber De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis
Timotheus, the previous bishop Proterius having been slain by the Alexandrians, in response to the tumults of the people, willingly or under duress, allowed himself to be made bishop by a single bishop in place of the one who had been killed. And lest he who had been appointed contrary to the law should be deservedly deposed at the will of the people who had hated Proterius, he pronounced all those who had communicated with him to be Nestorians, and boldly presuming to wash out the stain on his conscience, he wrote a very persuasive book to the Emperor Leo, which he tried to fortify by testimonies of the Fathers, used in a perverted sense, for the sake of deceiving the Emperor and establishing his heresy, that Leo, pontiff of Rome, and the synod of Chalcedon, and all the Western bishops were little less than Nestorians. But by the grace of God, the enemy of the church was denounced and refuted at the Council of Chalcedon. He is said to be living in exile, still an heresiarch, and it is likely so. This book of his for learning's sake, by request of the brethren, I translated into Latin and prefixed a warning.

Gennadius of Massilia, Book of Ecclesiastical Writers