Bad Sacrifices, Bad Prayers

Si offeratis caecum ad immolandum, nonne malum est? Et si offeratis claudum et languidum, nonne malum est? offer illud duci tuo, si placuerit ei, aut si susceperit faciem tuam, dicit Dominus exercitum. LXX: Quia si offeratis caecum in sacrificium, nonne malum est? Et si offeratis claudum et languidum, nonne malum est? offer illud duci tuo, si susceperit te, si acceperit faciem tuam, dicit Dominus omnipotens.  De diversitate victimarum, et quae vel offerri debeant, vel non offerri, in Levitico plenius discimus. Reversi itaque de Babylone sacerdotes et Levitae, janitores atque cantores, et Nathinnaei servique Salomonis, quorum Ezras scribit katalogon, illicitas Deo victimas offerebant, caecas videlicet et claudas, ac varia debilitate confectas; hoc est enim quod dicit languidum, uno cuncta sermone comprehendens. Si istius modi, inquit, duci tuo offeres munera, nonne respueret? nonne sibi factam putaret injuriam? et hoc audetis offerre Deo, quod dare hominibus non audetis? Longum est nunc omnium victimarum aperire mysteria: de his tantum loquar quae praesenti capitulo continentur. Caeca est animae victima, quae non illustratur Christi lumine, nec habet oculum de Evangelio contuentem. Clauda est rogantis oratio, quae duplici mente accedit ad precandum, et audit eum populo Judaeorum: 'Usquequo claudicatis utroque pede? Et languida, et omni infirmitate cooperta, quae non habet Christi Dei virtutem, Deique sapientiam. Istius modi preces, quae sine lumine veritatis sunt, et non habent sapientiae firma vestigia, et debilitatibus variis contabescunt, si offerantur Ecclesiarum principi, aut cuilibet erudite sapientique doctori, nonne repudiabuntur, et in contumeliam ejus recident, qui talia est ausus offerre?  Sanctus Hieronymous,Commentarium In Malachiam Prophetam

If you offer something blind for sacrifice, is it not an evil? And if you offer something lame and weak, is it not an evil? Offer that to your leader, if it would be pleasing to him, or if he would lift up your face, says the Lord of Hosts. The Septuagint has: Because if you offer something blind as sacrifice, is it not an evil? And is you offer something lame and weak, is it not an evil? Offer that to your leader, if he would take you up, if he would lift up your face, says the Lord Almighty. 1 Concerning the diversity of victims, and what should be offered and not offered we learn much in Leviticus. 2 Coming back from Babylon the priests and levites, the doorkeepers and singers, and the Nathinaeans 3 and servants of Solomon, whom Ezra catalogues, 4 offered illicit things to God, that is, things blind and lame and oppressed by many infirmities, 5 for this what is meant by weak, one word containing everything. If such things, he says, you offer, as your best, will it not be spurned? Will he not think it a harmful deed? And this you offer to God which you would not dare offer to man? A long thing it is to reveal the mystery of every victim, so I shall speak now only of things here mentioned. Blind is the victim of the soul which is not enlightened with the light of Christ, which does not have its eye cleansed by the Gospel. 6 Lame is the prayer of the petitioner which comes forth from a duplicitous mind, and he hears with the people of the Jews, 'How long will you hobble with both feet lame?' 7 And weak is that which is overwhelmed with every infirmity, that which does not have the virtue of the Divine Christ and the wisdom of God. The prayers of these, which do not have the light of truth, and lack the firm way of wisdom, and are withered by various debilities, if they are offered by the leaders of the Churches, or by whatever learned and wise teacher, will they not be rejected and thrown back to the disgrace of those who dare offer such things? Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Malachi  1 Mal 1.8  2 Lev 21, 22  3 Ezra 8.20  4 Ezra 2.70  5 1ez 2  6 Mt 6.22  7 3 Kings 18.21

Turning Weeping Into Joy

Ἤκουσε Κύριος, καὶ ἠλέησέ με· Κύριος ἐγένήθη βοηθός μου. Μετὰ τὸ διηγήσασθαι τίνα ἧν ἂ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκέκραξεν, εὐθὺς αἰσθόμενος τῆς ἀντιλήψεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, παρομῶν ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὁμοίων αἴτησιν, Ἤκουσε, φησὶ, Κὺριος, καὶ ἠλέησέ με· Κύριος ἐγένήθη βοηθός μου. Εὐχώμεθα οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς, καὶ κράζωμεν τὴν πνευματικὴν βοὴν, αἰτούμενοι τὰ μεγάλα, μὴ ἀντιποιούμενοι τῆς σαρκὸς, Οἱ γὰρ ἐν σαρκὶ ὄντες, Θεῷ ἀρέσαι ού δύνανται, ἵνα καὶ ἡμῶν ἐπακούσῃ ὁ Κύριος, ἐλεήσας ἡμῶν τὸ ἀσθενὲς, καὶ της θείας βοηθείας ἀπολαύσαντες καὶ ἡμεῖς εἴπωμεν· Ἔστρεψας τὸν κοπετόν μου εἰς χαρὰν ἐμοι. Οὐ τῇ τυχούσῃ ψυχῇ ἡ ἀπὸ Θεοῦ χαρὰ ἐγγίνεται, ἀλλ' εἴ τις πολλὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀπεκλαύσατο, ἰσχυροϊς ὀδυρμοϊς καὶ θρήνοις διηνεκέσιν, ὡς ἐπὶ τεθνεῶτι ἑαυτῷ κοπετὸν ἐποιήσατο, τοῦ τοιούτου ὁ κοπετὸς εἰς χαρὰν στρέφεται. Ὅτι δέ ἐστιν ἐπαινετῶς κόψασθαι, δηλοῦσιν οἱ ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καθήμενοι παῖδες, οἱ λέγοντες· Ἐθρηνήσαμεν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐκ έκόψασθε· ηὐλήσαμεν ὐμῖν, καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ αὐλὸς ὄργανον μουσικὸν πνεύματι συνεργῷ πρὸς τὴν μελῳδίαν χρώμενον. Διόπερ οἶμαο πάντα ἅγιον προφήτην αὐλὸν τροπικῶς ὀνομάζεσθαι διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος κίνησιν. Διόπερ, φησὶν, ηὐλήσαμεν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε. Οἱ γὰρ προφητικοὶ λόγοι προτρέπονται ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν εὔρύθμον τῆς ἁγίας προφητείας ἐνέργειαν, ἤτις εἴρηται ὄρχησις. Ἀλλὰ καὶ θρηνοῦιν ἡμῖν οἱ προφῆται, εἰς κοπετὸν ἡμᾶς προκαλούμενοι, ἵνα, εἰς συναίσθησιν ἐλθόντες ἐκ τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων ἐπὶ τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτήμασι, καταπενθήσωμεν ἡμῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν, ἐν κόποις καὶ μόχθοις τὴν σάρκα ἡμῶν καταπιέσαντες. Τῷ τοιούτῳ τοίνυν περιῥῥήγνυται μὲν τὸ μενθικὸν ἕνδυμα, ὅ καταπενθῶν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἁναρτίαν περιεβάλετο. Περιτίθεται δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ χιτὼν τῆς εὐφροσύνης, καὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον τοῦ σωτηρίου, τὰ φαιδρὰ ταῦτα καὶ γαμικὰ ἐνδύματα, οἶς ὁ κεκοσμημένος ἐκ τοῦ νυμφῶνος οὐκ ἐκβληθήσεται. Διέῥῥηξας τὸν σάκκον μου, καὶ περιέζωσας με εὐφροσύνην. Συνεργὸς εἰς μετάνοιαν ὁ σάκκος, ταπεινώσεως ὑπάρχων σύμβολον· Πάλαι γὰρ ἂν ἐν σάκκῳ, φησὶ, καὶ σποδῷ καθήμενοι μετενόησαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ Απόστολος ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα μεταμορφοῦται ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν, τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ χάριν ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου ἰδίαν λέγει δόξα. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΚΘ' Ψαλμον

The Lord heard and He was merciful to me; the Lord was my help. 1 After telling of things he had cried out to the Lord, immediately sensing the help of God, he exhorts us to do the same. 'The Lord heard,' he said,' and He was merciful to me; and the Lord was my help.' Let us pray then that we cry out with spiritual clamour, seeking not base things, nor caring for the flesh, for those who are in the flesh are not able to be pleasing to God, 2 that God hear us, having mercy on our weakness, and that with gift of divine help we might say, 'You have turned my weeping into joy.'  3 The joy of God does not inhere in just any soul but if a man lament his sin vehemently with groans and with heavy sighs, as if he himself we mourning himself dead, this is the grief which is turned into joy. And that it is even praiseworthy grief,  the children sitting in the marketplace show, saying, ' We lamented to you and you did not weep, we sang with flutes and you did not dance.' 4 The musical instrument of the flute is made to work with breath for the production of melody, and therefore I think that every holy prophecy is the playing of the flute through the movement of the Holy Spirit and that when it says that we played to you and you did not dance, we have the prophetic words exhorting us to motion pleasing to sacred prophecy. And for our sake the prophets lamented, exhorting us to our own grief, that through prophetic words we become conscious of our sins, that we weep our deaths, laboring and groaning in the castigation of the flesh. And from such men is the mourning garb cut off, that which in grief for his sin he had put on. Then he is surrounded with a tunic of joy and a cloak of salvation and the splendid garb of the wedding guest, which if he does not wear will have him expelled from the nuptial chambers. 5 'You cut off my sackcloth and surrounded me with joy.' 6 The sackcloth is help to penance, and a sign of humility. For he says 'Sitting in sackcloth and ash they made penance' 7 And then the Apostle says: With face revealed, to the same image transformed, from glory into glory 8,' the grace given to him by the Lord he names glory. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 29 1 Ps 29.11 2 Rom 8.8 3 Ps 29.12  4 Lk 7.32 5 Mt 22.11-13 6 Ps 29.12 7 Lk 10.13 8 2 Cor 3.18

Praying Without Ceasing

Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις δυνάμεως πεπληρωμένους νομίζω τοὺς λόγους τῆς τῶν ἁγίων εὐχῆς, μάλιστα ὅτε προσευχόμενοι, πνεύματι προσεύχονται καὶ τῷ νοὶ, φωτὶ ἀνατέλλοντι ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ εὐχομένου διανοίας καὶ προϊόνται ἐκ στόματος αὐτοῦ, ὑπεκλύειν δυνάμει Θεοῦ τὸν ἐνιέμενον νουητὸν ἰὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ τῶν ἀμελούντων τοῦ εὔχεσθαι, καὶ τὸ, Ἀδιαλείπτωη προσεύχεσθω, ἀκολούθως ταῖς τοῦ Ἰυσοῦ προτροπαῖς εἰρημένον παρὰ τῷ Παυλῳ μὴ φυλαττόντων. Ὡωπερ γὰρ βέλος ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ εὐχομένου ψυχῆς τῇ γνώσει καὶ τῷ λόγῳ ἢ τῇ πίστει πρόεισι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου, τιτρῶσκον ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει καὶ καταλύσει τὰ ἐχθρὰ τῷ Θεῷ πνεύματα, τοῖς τῆς ἁμαρτίας δεσμοῖς περιβαλεῖν ἡμᾶς θέλοντα. Ἀδιαλείπτως δὲ προσεύχεται, καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἢ τῶν ἐντολῶν τῶν ἐπιτελουμένων εἰς εὐχῆς ἀναλαμβανομένων μέρος, ὁ συνάπτων τοῖς δέουσιν ἔργοις τὴν εὐχὴν, καὶ τῇ εὐχῇ τὰς πρεπούσας πράξεις· οὕτω γὰρ μόνως τὸ, ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε, ἐκδέξασθαι δυνάμεθα ὡς δυνατὸν ὂν εἰρημένον, εἰ πάντα τὸν βίον τοῦ ἁγιου μίαν συναπτομένην μεγάλην εἴποιμεν εὐχήν· ἧς εὐχῆς μέρος ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ συνήθως ὀνονμαζομένη εὐχὴ, οὐκ ἔλλατον τοῦ τρίς ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐπιτελεῖσθαι ὀφεἰλουσιν ὅπερ δῆλοὶ ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὸν Δανιὴλ, τηλικούτου ἑπηρτημένου αὐτῷ κινδύνου, εὐχόμενον, τρὶς τῆς ἡμέρας. Καὶ ὁ Πέτρος δὲ ἀναβαίνων εἰς τὸ δῶμα τὴν ἕκτην προσεύξασθαι, ὅτε καὶ ὥρα τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καθιέμενον σκεῦος τέτρασιν ἀρχαῖς καθιέμενον,' παρίστησι τὴν μέσην τῶν τριῶν εύχὴν τὴν πρὸ αὐτοῦ καὶ παρὰ τοῦ Δαυὶδ λεγομένην· Τὸ πρωεϊσακούσῃ τῆς προσευχῆς μου· τὸ πρωϊ παραστήσομαι σοι καὶ ἐπόψομαι· καὶ τῆς τελευταίας δηλουμένης διὰ τοῦ· Ἔπαρσις τῶν χειρῶν μου Θυσία ἐσμερινή. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὸν τῆς νυκτὸς καιρὸν χωρις ταύτης τῆς εὐχῆς καθηκόντως διανύσομεν, τοῦ μὲν Δαυὶδ λεγοντος· ' Μεσονύκτιον ἐξεγειρόμην τοῦ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι σοι ἐπὶ τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου· τοῦ δε Παύλου, ὡς ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων εἴρηται, κατὰ τὸ μεσονύκτιον ἄμα τῷ Σίλᾳ ἐν Φιλίπποις προσευχομένου καὶ ὑμνοῦντος τὸν Θεὸν, ὥστε ἐπακροάσθαι αὐτων καὶ τοὺς δεσμίους. Ὠριγένης, Περὶ Εὐχὴς

And I think that the words of the prayer of the saints to be full of power, especially when praying they pray with the spirit and understanding, with a light rising from the mind of he who prays and proceeding from his mouth to gradually weaken by the power of God the mental venom injected by the adverse powers into the leading faculty of those who are careless for prayer and who fail to keep that saying of Paul's, 'Pray without ceasing.' 1' in accordance with the exhortations of Jesus. For it is like a shaft from the suppliant's soul, sped by knowledge and reason or by faith, that goes forth from the saint and wounds to ruin and dissolution the spiritual enemies of God who are eager to cast around us the bonds of sin. And who he prays without ceasing, since deeds of virtue or of the commandments is also a constituent part of prayer, combines prayer with right actions, and befitting deeds with prayer. For the when it is said 'pray without ceasing' it can only be accepted as something possible by us if we may speak of the whole life of a saint as being one great continuous prayer. Of such a prayer what is customarily named prayer is a part, and should be performed no less than three times a day, as is clear from Daniel who, despite the great danger that threatened him, prayed three times daily. 2 And Peter when he goes up to the housetop about the sixth hour to pray, on that occasion when he saw the vessel which descended from heaven let down by four corners, presents to us the middle prayer of the three 3 The first is spoken of by David: 'In the morning shall you hear my prayer; in the morning will I present myself to you and keep watch.' 4 The last is indicated in the words: 'the lifting up of my hands in evening sacrifice.' 5 But we shall not end this matter correctly without attending to the prayer of the night, of which David  says 'In the middle of the night I rose to make acknowledgment to you for your righteous judgments' 6 and of Paul it is said in the Acts of the Apostles that 'around midnight' 7 with Silas in Phillipi he prayed and offered songs to God, which was heard by the others in bondage there.  Origen, On Prayer 1 Thes 5.17 2 Dan 6.13  3 Acts 10.9-11  4 Ps 5.4  5 Ps 140.2  6 Ps 118.62  7 Acts 16.25

An Enlargement of Heart

Cum invocarem, exaudivit me Deus iustitiae meae: cum invocarem, exaudivit me Deus, inquit, a quo est iustitia mea. In tribulatione dilatasti mihi: ab angustiis tristitiae, in latitudinem gaudiorum me duxisti; tribulatio enim et angustia in omnem animam hominis operantis malum. Qui autem dicit: Gaudemus in tribulationibus, scientes quoniam tribulatio patientiam operatur, usque ad illud ubi ait: Quoniam caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis, non habet cordis angustias, quamvis extrinsecus a persequentibus ingerantur. Mutatio autem personae, quod a tertia, ubi ait, exaudivit, statim transiit ad secundam, ubi ait, dilatasti mihi, si non varietatis ac suavitatis causa facta est, mirum cur primum tamquam indicare voluit hominibus exauditum se esse, et postea compellare exauditorem suum. Nisi forte cum indicasset quemadmodum exauditus sit in ipsa dilatatione cordis, maluit cum Deo loqui; ut etiam hoc modo ostenderet quid sit corde dilatari, id est, iam cordi habere infusum Deum, cum quo intrinsecus colloquatur. Quod in persona eius qui credens in Christum illuminatus est, recte accipitur. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Enarratio in Psalmum IV

'When I called, the God of my righteousness heard me'  1 When I called, God heard me, he says, from whom is my righteousness. 'In tribulation You have enlarged me.' From the narrow ways of sorrow into the broad ways of joy You have led me. For, 'tribulation and narrowness is on every soul of man who is a worker of evil.' 2 But he who says, 'We rejoice in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience;' up to that place where he says, 'Because the love of God is spread about in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given to us,' 3 has no narrowness of heart, although from without persecutors heap up trouble upon him. There is a change of person here, from the third person, where he says, 'He heard,' he passes at once to the second person, where he says, 'You have enlarged me,' which if it be not done for the sake of variety and style, makes one wonder why he first wishes to tell men that he had been heard, and afterwards address Him who heard him. Unless perhaps when he had declared how he was heard, in this enlargement of heart, he preferred to speak with God, that even in this way he might show what it is to be enlarged in heart, that is, to have God already infused in the heart, with Whom he might speak to within. Which is rightly to be understood as the person of him who, believing in Christ, has been enlightened. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms, Psalm 4 1 Ps 4.1 2 Rom 2.9   3 Rom 5.3-5

The Place Of Prayer

Clauso quoque cubiculi ostio jubemur orare, atque in omni loco precem fundere edocemur: et sanctorum oratio inter feras, caceres, flammas, et de profoundo maris ac bestiae ventre suscepta est. Ergo non occulta domus, sed cordis nostri cubiculum ingredi, et clauso mentis nostrae secreto orare ad Deum, non multiloquio, sed conscientia admonemur, quia dictorum verbis opus omne praecellat. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap V

We are commanded to pray with the door of the inner room closed, 1 and yet we are also taught that prayer has been made in every place, for the prayers of holy men has been made amid wild animals, in prison, in flames, and even in the depths of the sea and the belly of the monster. Therefore this inner room is not a hidden place in the house but an entry into the the inner room of our heart, and so in the closed privacy of our mind we pray to God, and not in many words, but we are admonished to do so with understanding, because every deed excels the words of speech. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 6.6

Prayer and Thanksgiving

Εύλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήκουσε τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Κύριος βοηθός μου καὶ ὑπερασπιστής μου· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἤλπισεν ἡ καρδία μοι καὶ ἐβοηθήθην. Καὶ ἀνέθαλεν ἡ σάρξ μου, καὶ ἐκ θελήματος μου ἐξομολογήσομαι αύτῷ.   Ὁ ἀψευδὴς Θεὸς, πιστούμενος ἑαυτοῦ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις, δι' ὦν ἐπήγγελται λέγων· Ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου ἐρῶ· Ἰδοὺ πὰρειμι· ὡς ἐγγυς ἐστὼς τῶν καθαρῶς αὐτὸν ἐπικαλουμένων, καὶ ὡς οὐ πόῥῥω τυγχάνων τοῦ τὰ πραχθέντα δεηθέντος, ἑπήκοον ἑαυτὸν παρέσνε ταῖς προλεχθείσαις ἰκετηρίαις. Εἶθ ὥσπερ σημεῖον δίδωσι διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος τῇ τοῦ δεηθέντος ψυχῇ, περὶ τοῦ εἰσηκοῦσθαι αὐτήν. Ἡ δὲ, συναισθομένη, μεταβάλλει μὲν τὰς ἱκετηρίους φωνὰς εἰς εὐχαριστίαν, ἐγνωκέναι δὲ ὁμολογεῖ τὴν γενομένην αὐτῇ εὐεργεσίαν· διό φησιν· Εύλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήκουσε τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Κύριος βοηθός μου καὶ ὑπερασπιστής μου· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἤλπισεν ἡ καρδία μοι καὶ ἐβοηθήθην. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους. ψαλμος ΚΖ'

Blessed is God, who heard the voice of my prayer. The Lord is my helper and protector, in Him my heart hoped and I was helped. My flesh reflourished and from my own will I confess it to you. 1  God is no deceiver, He is faithful to His promises, by which he has given promise, saying, 'Even while you are speaking I will say to you, Behold,  I am beside you.' 2 For near He is to everyone who calls with a pure heart and not far may He be from those who take to prayer, He himself listening that He be beside those who will call on Him in prayer. And then by sign given, through the prophetic spirit of the praying soul, he who prays knows that he is heard. And by this understanding the voice of the supplicant turns to thanks. As he says: Blessed is God, who heard the voice of my prayer. The Lord is my helper and protector, in Him my heart hoped and I was helped. Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 27 1 Ps 27.1 2 Is 58.9

Praying For All

Orandum autem praecipue et pro populo doceris, hoc est, pro toto corpore, pro membris omnibus matris tuae, in quo mutuae charitatis est insigne. Si enim pro te roges tantum, solus pro te rogabis. Et si pro se tantum singuli orent, minor peccatoris quam intercedentis est gratia. Nunc autem quia singuli orant pro omnibus, etiam omnes orant pro singulis. Ergo ut concludamus, si pro te roges tantum, solus, ut diximus, pro te rogabis. Si autem pro omnibus roges, omnes pro te rogabunt. Siquidem et tu in omnibus es. Ita magna remuneratio est, ut orationibus singulorum acquirantur singulis totius plebis suffragia. In quo arrogantia nulla, sed humilitas major est, et fructus uberior. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Cain et Abel, Liber I, Caput IX

You are especially taught that you must pray for the people, 1 that is, for everybody, for all members of your mother, in which is a sign of mutual love. For if for yourself alone you make request, only for yourself you ask. And if for himself alone everyone were to ask, he would become less of a sinner than an intercessor for favors. Now indeed because each pray for all, everyone prays for each one. Therefore we may judge that if you pray only for yourself, you alone pray for yourself. If, however, you pray for everyone, everyone shall pray for you. For truly you are in that everyone. Thus by the prayers of each, each one of the whole people acquires a great reward. In this there is no presumption, but great humility and more abundant fruit. Saint Ambrose, Cain and Abel, Book 1, Chap 9 1 1 Tim 2.1

Prayer and Direction

Εἰ δὲ ἡ φωνὴ καὶ ἡ λεξις τῆς νοήσεως χάριν δέδονται ἡμϊν, πῶς οὐχὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ νοῦ ἐπακούει ὁ Θεὸς, ὅπου γε ἥδη ψυχὴ ψυχῆς, καὶ νοῦς νοὸς ἐπαῖει; Ὅθεν τὰς πολυφώνους γλώσσας οὐκ ἀναμένει ὁ Θεὸς, καθάπερ οἱ παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ἑρμηνεῖς, ἀλλ' ἀπαξαπλῶς ἀπάντων γνωρίζει τὰς νοήσεις· καὶ ὅπερ ἡμῖν ἡ φωνὴ συμαίνει, τοῦτο τῷ Θεῷ ἡ ἔννοια ἡμῶν λαλεῖ, ἥν καὶ πρὸ τῆς δημιουργίας εἰς νόησιν ἤξουσαν ἠπίστατο. Ἔξεστιν οὖν μηδὲ φωνῇ τὴν εὐχὴν παραπέμπειν, συντείνοντα, μόνον δ' ἔνδοθεν τὸ πνευματικὸν πᾶν εἰς φωνὴν τὴν νοητὴν, κατὰ τὴν ἀπερίσπαστον πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιστροφήν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ γενεθλίου ἡμέρας εἰκὼν ἡ ἀνατολὴ, κὰκεῖθεν τὸ φῶς αὔξεται ἐκ σκότους λάμψαν τὸ πρῶτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοϊς ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ καλινδουμένοις ἀνέτειλε γνώσεως ἀληθείας ἡμέρα κατὰ λόγον τοῦ ἡλίου, πρὸς τὴν ἑωθινὴν ἀνατολὴν αἱ εὐχαί. Ὅθεν καὶ τὰ παλαίτατα τῶν ἱερῶν πρὸς δύσιν ἔβλεπεν· ἵνα οἱ ἀπαντιπρόσωπον τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἱστάμενοι πρὸς ἀνατολὴν τρέπεσθαι διδάσκωνται. Κατευθυνθήτω ἡ προσευχή μου ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου· ἔπαρσις τῶν χειρῶν μου θυσια ἑσπερινὴ, οἱ Ψαλμοὶ λέγουσι. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λόγος Ἑβδομος, Κεφ Ζ'

If voice and expression for the sake of understanding are given us, how can God not hear the soul itself, and the mind, since assuredly soul hears soul, and mind, mind? Whence God does not wait for loquacious tongues, as interpreters among men do, but He has knowledge of the thoughts of all, and what the voice intimates to us our thought speaks to God, which even before creation He knew would come into our mind. Prayer, then, may be sent forth without the voice, by focusing the whole spiritual nature within on the voice of the mind for undisturbed turning towards God. And since the dawn is an image of the day of birth, and from there the light which has shone at first from the darkness grows, there has also dawned on those wallowing in ignorance a day of the knowledge of truth, for by reason of the sun, prayers are made looking towards the dawn in the east. Whence also the most ancient temples' entrances looked towards the west, that people might be taught to turn to the east when facing the images. 'Let my prayer be directed before You as incense, the uplifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice,' say the Psalms. 1 Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 7, Ch 7 1 Ps 140.2

The Voice That Cries Out

Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi: id est, non corporis voce, quae cum strepitu verberati aeris promitur; sed voce cordis, quae hominibus silet, Deo autem sicut clamor sonat. Qua voce Susanna exaudita est: et de qua voce ipse Dominus praecipit, ut in cubiculis clausis, id est, in secretis cordis sine strepitu oretur. Nec facile quisquam dixerit hac voce minus orari, si nullus verborum sonus reddatur ex corpore; quoniam et silentes cum in cordibus oramus, si alienae ab affectu orantis cogitationes intercurrant, nondum dici potest: Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi. Neque hoc recte dicitur, nisi cum sola anima, nihil carnis nihilque carnalium intentionum in oratione attrahens, loquitur Domino, ubi solus audit; clamor autem etiam iste dicitur, propter vim ipsius intentionis.  Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Enarratio in Psalmum III

'With my voice I have cried out to the Lord', 1  that is, not with the voice of the body, which is sent forth with the sound of the reverberation of the air, but with the voice of the heart, which is silent to men, but to God sounds like a cry. By this voice Susanna was heard, and with this voice the Lord Himself commanded that in closed closets, 2 that is, in the hidden places of the heart, without noise, one should pray. Nor would anyone easily say one prays less with this voice, if no sound of words is emitted from the body, because even when in silence we pray within the heart, if by unwanted disposition the thoughts of the one praying are troubled, it cannot yet be said, 'With my voice I have cried out to the Lord.' Nor is this said rightly, save when the soul alone, taking to itself nothing of the flesh, and nothing of the intent of the flesh, in prayer speaks to God, where He only hears. But even this is called a cry because of the strength of its intention. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms, Psalm 3

1 Ps 3:4
2 Mt 6:6
3 Ps 3.5 
4 Dan 2.45 

Seeking in Prayer

Μόνην ζήτει ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ σου τὴν δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν, τουτέστι τὴν ἀρετὴν, καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα προστεθήσεταί σοι. Δίκαιον, μὴ μόνον περὶ οἰκείας καθάρσεως προσεύχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ παντὸς τοῦ ὁμοφύλου, ἵνα ἀγγελικὸν μιμήσῃ τρόπον.  ̔́Ορα ἐὰν ὰληθῶς Θεῷ̈ παρέστηκας ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ σου, ἢ ἐπαίνῳ ἀνθρώπων ἡττᾶσαι, καὶ τούτων θηρᾷν ἐπείγῃ, ὥσπερ ἐπικαλύμματι κεκρημένος τῇ παρατάσει τῆς προσευχῃς.  Εἴτε μετὰ ἀδελφῶν προσεύχῃ, εἴτε κατὰ μόνας, ἀγώνισαι, μὴ ἔθει, ἀλλὰ αἰσθήσει προσεύχεσθαι. Αἴσθησις ἐστὶ προσευχῆς σύννοια μετ' εὐλαβείας, καὶ κατανύξεως, καὶ ὀδύνης ψυχῆς ἐν εξαγορεύσει πταισμάτων μετὰ στεναγμῶν ἀφώνων.   ̓Εὰν περιβλέπηται ὁ νοῦς σου ἀκμὴν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς προσευχῆς, οὐδέπω ὡς μοναχὸς προσεύχεται, ἀλλ' ἔτι κοσμικός ἐστι, τὴν ἔξωθεν σκηνὴν καλλωπίζων. Εὐάγριος ὁ Ποντικός, Περι Προσευχῆς

In your prayer seek only righteousness and the kingdom, that is, virtue and knowledge, and everything else will be given to you. 1 It is right to pray not only for your own purification, but also for all your own kin, so as to imitate the angelic way. See if you truly stand before God in your prayer, or whether you have lost yourself to human praise and eagerly hunt for it, hiding behind the veil of prayer 2. Whether you pray with  brothers or alone, struggle to pray not in the customary way, but with perception. Perception in prayer is concentration, with reverence and compunction and distress of soul, in admission of  faults amid silent groans. If the mind is  looking around during the time of prayer, it is not yet praying as a monk, but it is still worldly, decorating the exterior tabernacle 3. Evagrius Ponticus, On Prayer 1 Mt 6:33 2 cf. Mt 23:5  3 cf. Mt 23:27

Crooked Hearts

Si direxerit ad eum cor suum, spiritum illius et flatum ad se trahet.  Curva hominum corda, cum vult, ad se erigendo, dirigit. Curvum cor est cum ima appetit, dirigitur cum ad superna sublevatur. Si ergo homo cor suum ad Dominum dirigit, spiritum et flatum illius Dominus ad se trahit. Spiritum videlicet pro internis cogitationibus, flatum vero qui per corpus trahitur,  pro externis actionibus ponit. Deo ergo spiritum hominis et flatum a se trahere est ad conversionem sui desiderii et interiora nostra et exteriora commutare, ut nihil iam menti exterius libeat, nihil caro inferius, vel si appetit, adipisci conetur; sed omne quod homo est ad eum videlicet a quo est et interius desiderando ferveat, et exterius se edomando constringat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber XXIV, Cap XXI

If he has directed his heart towards Him, He will draw to Himself his spirit, and his breath. 1 The hearts of men are crooked when, as he wishes, stirred by self, it is directed. The heart is crooked when it desires things below. When it is directed to things above it is lifted up. If a man therefore direct his heart to the Lord, the Lord draws to Himself his spirit and his breath. Spirit here means inward thoughts, but breath, which is drawn through the body, is external actions. For God, then, to draw the spirit and breath of man to Himself, is for Him to change our own desires, both within and without, to turn towards Him, that nothing without may any longer please the mind, and that the flesh, even if it wishes, may not try to lay hold of any inferior object, but that the whole man may be inflamed by internal desire for Him from whom it is, and may be by greater control bound to Him. Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 24, Chapter 21 1 Job 34.14

Keeping Watch

Sed sciendum nobis est quia saepe, dum aliis rebus intendimus, fit ut alias negligamus; et ubi negligimus, ibi procul dubio oculum non habemus. Nam Pharisaeus ille qui ascenderat in templum orare, testante Evangelio, quid dixit agnovimus. Ait enim: Deus, gratias ago tibi. Recte autem gratias Deo agebat, a quo acceperat bona quae fecerat. Qui etiam subjungit: Quia non sum sicut caeteri hominum, raptores, injusti, adulteri, velut etiam hic Publicanus; jejuno bis in Sabbato, decimas do omnium quae possideo. Ecce ad exhibendam abstinentiam, ad impendendam misericordiam, ad referendas Deo gratias oculum Pharisaeus habuerat, sed ad humilitatis custodiam oculum non habebat. Et quid prodest quod contra hostium insidias pene tota civitas caute custoditur, si unum foramen apertum relinquitur, unde ab hostibus intretur? Quid ergo prodest custodia quae pene ubique circumponitur, quando inimicis tota civitas per neglectum loci unius aperitur? Pharisaeus autem qui jejunium exhibuit, decimas dedit, Deo gratias retulit, quasi pene per circuitum in suae civitatis custodia vigilavit. Sed quia unum in se foramen superbiae non attendit, ibi hostem pertulit, ubi per negligentiam oculum clausit. Quia ergo sanctorum mentes undique se circumspicientes invigilant, atque in omni suo opere pavoris et sollicitudinis oculum circumducunt, ne aut prava agant, aut recta quae praecepta sunt non agant, aut bonis actibus expletis, in suis cogitationibus intumescant, et tanto gravius offendant quanto justi videntur foris et occultius peccant, recte dicitur: Totum corpus eorum plenum oculis in circuitu. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia VII

But it should be known to us that often while we intend one thing we neglect another, and where we neglect there we do not have our eye. For that Pharisee who ascended to the temple to pray, we know what he said by Gospel's witness. He said, 'God, I give thanks to you.'  1 Rightly indeed did he give thanks to God from whom he received the goods he did. Then he said 'I am not like other men, thieves, unjust, adulterers, like even this tax collector, twice I fast on the Sabbath, I give tenth of all I possess.' Behold, an exhibition of abstinence and a presentation of mercy, to which the Pharisee had an eye to give thanks to God, but he did not attend to the guarding of humility. How does it benefit to carefully guard a city against all the assaults of the enemy, if one door overlooked is left open, through which the enemy may enter? How does it benefit to place a guard almost everywhere when all the city is open to the enemy because of one place neglected? The Pharisee displayed his fasting, he gave his tenth, he returned thanks to God, he watched almost the whole circuit of the city. But because there was one opening of pride to which he did not attend, there the enemy came in, there where the eye was closed by negligence. Therefore the minds of the saints keep watch everywhere, and in every work of theirs fear and care keeps the eye watchful, lest they act wickedly, or they do not act in accordance with right laws, or having done good deeds they become puffed up with their own thoughts, and so much more gravely they offend who seem righteous and are blind to their sins. Well it is said, 'Their bodies, all around, were full of eyes.' 2 Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 7 1 Lk 18.11 2 Ezek 1.18

War And Peace

'Tempus belli et tempus pacis' Quandiu in praesenti saeculo sumus, tempus est belli: cum autem migraverimus de hoc saeculo, pacis tempus adveniet. In pace enim locus est Dei, et civitas nostra Jerusalem, de pace sortita est vocabulum. Nemo ergo se nunc putet esse securum: in tempore belli accingendum est, et arma tractanda, ut victores quondam requiescamus in pace. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

'A time of war and a time of peace.'1 While we are in the present world, it is a time of war. When we leave this world, there comes the time of peace. Peaceful is the place of God, and our city of Jerusalem, which is named peace chosen. 2 None therefore should think himself secure now. In time of war one must wear armor, and take up weapons, so that victors we may rest in peace.   Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 3.8  2. Ps 75.3

Strength and Peace

Κύριος ἰσχὺν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ δώσει· Κύριος εὐλογήσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν εἰρήνῃ.  Ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ λαοῦ ἀφελεῖ Κύριος ἰσχύον τα καὶ ἰσχύουσαν, τῷ δὲ δικαιοπραγοῦντι δίδωσιν ἰσχύν. Διότι 'Τώ ἔχοντι παντὶ δοθήσεται.' Ἐνδυναμωθεὶς δὲ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐνέργειαν, ἄξιος γίνεται τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐλογίας. Ἔοικε δὲ τελειοτάτη των εὐλογιῶν εἶναι ἡ ἐιρήνη, εὐστάθεια τις οὖσα τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ· ὥστε τὸν εἰρηνικὸν ἄνδρα ἐν τῷ κατεστάλθαι τὰ ἥθη χαρακτηρίζεσθαι· τὸν δὲ πολεμούμενον ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν μήπω τῆς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ εἰρήνης μετεσχηκέναι, ἥν ὁ Κύριος ἔδωκε τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς, ἥτις, ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν, φρουρήσει τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀξίων. Ταύτην καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἐπεύχεται ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις, λέγων· ' Κάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη.' Γένοιτο οὖν ἡμῖν καλῶς ἀγωνισαμένοις, καὶ τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς κατατρεψαμένοις, ὅ ἐστιν ἔχθρα εἰς Θεὸν, ἐν γαληνιώσει καὶ ἀκύμονι καταστάσει τῆς ψυχῆς γενομένης, εἰρήνης ἡμᾶς υἱοὺς χρηματίζειν, καὶ τῆς εὐλογίας τοῦ Θεοῦ μετασχεῖν ἐν εἰρήνῃ. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΚΗ' Ψαλμον

The Lord shall give strength to his people, the Lord shall bless his people in peace. 1  From a sinful people the Lord takes away strength and firmness, 2 and He gives strength to the doers of righteousness. For to everyone who has it shall be given 3 That one has contributed to the perfection of good works makes one worthy of blessings from God. And that which seems to be the most perfect blessing is peace, a firmness of the leading faculty, the mind, and so the character of the peaceful man is a tranquility of behaviour and manners, against whom are opposed by their passions those who do not participate in the peace of God, which peace the Lord gave to his disciples when he supplied them with every understanding,4 watching over the souls of those worthy. This the Apostle understands saying, Grace to you and peace multiplied. 5 So after contending well, having routed carnal affection, which is inimical to God, having established the soul in tranquility and quiet, we are called sons of peace, 6 and in peace we are made participants of the blessing of God. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 28 1 Ps 28.11  2 cf Isa 3.1  3 Mt 25.29  4 Philipp 4.7  5 1 Pet 1.2   6 cf Mt 5.9

Blessings And Suffering

Beati inquit cum vos persequuntur, et exprobrant et dicunt omne malum adversum vos propter justitiam, mentientes: Gaudete et exsultare, quoniam merces vestra copiosa est in coelis: Sic enim persecuti sunt prophetas qui fuerunt ante vos Perfecta virtus est, fratres, post totius justitiae ministrationes, propter vertitatem opprobria ab hominibus sustinere, affligi cruciatibus, morte denique affici, nec terreri, proposito nobis exemplo Prophetarum, qui diversis modis propter justitiam lacerati, passionum Christi conformes et praemii esse meruerunt. Hic gradus celsior est, in quo Christum Paulus aspiciens dicebat: 'Unum autem, quae quidem retro sunt obliviscens, ad ea quae in primo sunt me extendens, sector ad bravium supernae vocationis Dei in Christo Jesu'  Et adhuc apertius ad Timotheum: Certamen, inquit, bonum certavi, cursum consummavi ' Quasi qui omnes gradus ascenderat, addidit: Fidem servavi: In reliquo reposita est mihi corona justitiae.' Vere enim universo cursu completo hoc supererat, ut per tribulationes et passiones gaudens Paulus, ad gradum sublimiorem martyrii perveniret. Digne ergo Dominus servis suis suadet: 'Gaudete,' inquiens, ' et exsultate, quia merces vestra copiosa est in caelis'; et crescere per incrementa persecutionum evidenter ostendit. Ostensi sunt, fratres, octo gradus Evangelici, exstucti ex lapidibus, ut dixeram, pertiosis. Ostensa est illa scala Jacobi, cujus cacumen de terra pertingebat ad coelum, ac per eam ingressus, sine fine in conspectu Domini laetus astabit, laudaturus Dominum cum sanctis angelis in aeternum. Sanctus Chromatius Aquileiensis, Sermo De Octo Beatitudinibus

'Blessed are you' He said 'when they persecute you and revile you and speak every evil against you on account of righteousness, telling lies: Rejoice and be happy, because your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.' 1 Perfect is the virtue, brothers, after the service of the whole of righteousness, that on account of truth suffers the opprobrium of men, is afflicted with tortures, and finally on which death is imposed, nor is there fear, with the example of the Prophets given to us, who were grieved with many things on account of righteousness, conforming to the sufferings of Christ and meriting reward. This is the more heavenly step, in which Paul sees Christ, saying, 'One thing, forgetting what is left behind and to those things before me straining, pursuing the goal, the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus.' 2 And then openly he says to Timothy. 'I have fought the good fight, I have run the race.' 3 As one who has climbed up all the steps, he adds, 'I have kept the faith and there awaits for me a crown of righteousness.'  4 Truly with the whole course completed this one has overcome, through tribulations and suffering Paul rejoices, having come to the higher step of martyrdom. Worthily then the Lord exhorts his servants, saying ' Rejoice, and be happy your wealth is great in heaven.' and he openly shows that it grows as persecution increases. Revealed, brothers, are the eight steps of the Gospel, built from precious stones, so to say. The ladder of Jacob is revealed,  which stretches from earth to heaven, 4 and by it there is entry, that without end one may stand joyful in the presence of the Lord, praising the Lord with the holy angels in eternity.   Saint Chromatius of Aquileia, On the Eight Beatitudes   1 Mt 5.11 -12  2 Phillip 3.13 - 14  3 2 Tim 4.7  4 2 Tim 4.8  5 Gen 26.12

Righteousness and Men

'Attendite,' inquit, 'ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus ut videamini ab eis: alioquin mercedem non habetis apud Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est.' Et quomodo quod fit hominibus coram hominibus non fit? Patentis justitiae latet sensus, publici operis quod secretum? Qui potest celare radios solis justitiae poterit occultare fulgorem. Justitia lux rerum consiliis non velatur obscuris. Justitia cum sibi facto claret, omnes illustrat exemplo. Et quid est quod eam Dominus coram hominibus fieri non vult, per quam statum capiunt res humanae? Et ubi est illud: 'Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona, et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est?' Quomodo justitiam vult celare, cujus opera vult sic elucere? Fratres, hic praeceptio coelestis vult jactantiam tollere, auferre pompam, vanitatem demere, submovere inanem gloriam: sic justitiam vult celare. Justitia quae per se sibi abundat ad gloriam, spectaculum populi, vulgi laudes, favores hominum, mundi gloriam non requirit: a Deo genita spectat; in oculis agit divinis; supernis virtutibus mixta semper a Deo solo, ut glorificetur, exspectat. Sed haec est justitia, quae ex Deo est; illa vero justitia quae est hypocrisis, justitia non est: mentitur oculis, fallit aspectum, videntibus illudit, decipit audientes, seducit turbas, trahit populos, famam vendit, emit clamorem, fit saeculo, Deo non fit, mercedem rapit praesentem, praemium non quaerit in futuro. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo IX

'Take care,' He said, 'lest your righteousness be done in the presence of men that you be seen by them, lest a reward you shall not have from your Father who is in heaven.'  1 And how may it be done among men and not in the presence of men be done? Where hides the sense of open righteousness, what is the secret of public deeds? Who is able to hide the rays of the sun of righteousness he could conceal lightening. Righteousness, the light of things, should not be veiled with obscure counsel. Righteousness done blazes forth, enlightening all things by its example. And now why does the Lord not want it done in the presence of men, by which doing men witness it? And is it not said, 'So let your light shine among men, that they see your good works and they glorify your Father who is in heaven?'  2 How does he wish to conceal righteousness , the work of which he wishes to shine forth? Brothers, with heavenly teaching he wishes to take away boasting, to carry away pomp, to be rid of vanity, to drive off vainglory. So he wishes to conceal that righteousness. The righteousness that in itself is rich in glory has no need of being seen by the people, it does not need the praise of crowds, the pleasure of men, the delight of the world; let it see that it is born of God, that in the eyes of the Divine it is done, that amid the higher powers it hopes that it be glorified always by God alone. This is the righteousness which is from God. That righteousness which is hypocrisy is not righteousness, it lies to the eyes, wears a false appearance, plays tricks by appearance, deceives listeners, seduces mobs, drags away peoples, sells renown, buys clamour, acts for the age and not for God, seizes on present reward, and does not seek it in the future. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 9 1. Mt 6.1 2 Mt 5.16

The End of Righteousness

Cavete facere iustitiam vestram coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis. Numquid hoc voluit dicere, ut quaecumque bona facimus, abscondamus ab oculis hominum, et timeamus videri? Si times spectatores, non habebis imitatores: debes ergo videri. Sed non ad hoc debes facere ut videaris. Non ibi debet esse finis gaudii tui, non ibi terminus laetitiae tuae, ut putes te totum fructum consecutum esse boni operis tui, cum visus fueris atque laudatus. Nihil est hoc. Contemne te cum laudaris: ille in te laudetur, qui per te operatur. Noli ergo ad laudem tuam operari quod bonum agis, sed ad laudem illius a quo habes ut bonum agas. Abs te habes male agere, a Deo habes bene agere. Contra perversi homines videte quam praeposteri sint. Quod faciunt bene, volunt sibi tribuere: si male faciunt, Deum volunt accusare. Converte hoc distortum nescio quid et praeposterum, faciens illud quodammodo capite deorsum: quod susum, faciens iusum: quod deorsum, faciens sursum. Iusum vis facere Deum, et te susum? Praecipitaris, non elevaris: ille enim semper sursum est. Quid ergo? tu bene, et Deus male? Imo hoc dic, si vis verius dicere: Ego male, ille bene; et quod ego bene, ab illo bene: nam a me quidquid ago male. Ista confessio firmat cor, et facit dilectionis fundamentum. Nam si opera nostra abscondere debemus bona, ne videantur ab hominibus; ubi est illa sententia Domini in eo sermone quem habuit in monte? Ubi hoc dixit, ibi et illud paulo ante dixit: Luceant opera vestra bona coram hominibus. Et non ibi cessavit, non ibi finem fecit; sed addidit: Et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est. Et Apostolus quid ait? Eram autem ignotus facie Ecclesiis Iudaeae, quae in Christo sunt: tantum autem audientes erant quia qui nos aliquando persequebatur, nunc evangelizat fidem quam aliquando vastabat; et in me magnificabant Deum. Videte quemadmodum et ipse, quia sic innotuit, finem non posuerit in laudem suam, sed in laudem Dei. Et quantum ad ipsum pertinet, vastator Ecclesiae, persecutor invidus, malignus, ipse confitetur, non nos conviciamur. Amat Paulus dici a nobis peccata sua, ut glorificetur ille qui talem morbum sanavit. Magnitudinem enim vulneris manus medici secuit, et sanavit. Vox illa de coelo prostravit persecutorem, et erexit praedicatorem; occidit Saulum, et vivificavit Paulum. Saul enim persecutor erat sancti viri 6; inde nomen habebat iste quando persequebatur Christianos: postea de Saulo factus est Paulus. Quid est Paulus? Modicus. Ergo quando Saulus, superbus, elatus: quando Paulus, humilis, modicus. Ideo sic loquimur, Paulo post videbo te, id est, post modicum. Audi quia modicus factus est: Ego enim sum minimus Apostolorum; et: Mihi minimo omnium sanctorum, dicit alio loco. Sic erat inter Apostolos tamquam fimbria vestimenti: sed tetigit Ecclesia Gentium tamquam fluxum patiens, et sanata est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, In Epistolam Ioannis Ad Parthos Tractatus Decem, Tractatus VIII

'Take care that you do not your righteousness before men, that you be seen by them.' 1 Did He wish to say this, that whatever good things we do, we should hide them from the eyes of men and fear to be seen? If you fear spectators you will not have imitators; you should therefore be seen. But you must not do it to the end you may be seen. Not there should be the end of your joy, not there the goal of your happiness, that you should think to have obtained the whole fruit of your good work when you are seen and praised. It is nothing. Despise yourself when you are praised, let Him be praised in you who works through you. Therefore do not work the good you do for your own praise, but to the praise of Him from whom you are able to do good. From your self you have the ability to do evil, from God you can do well. On the other hand, look at perverse men, how preposterous they are. What they do well, they delight to ascribe to themselves; if they do badly they delight to accuse God. Turn around this distorted and preposterous thing, which puts the thing, as one may say, head downward, which makes that lowest which is highest, and that which is downwards makes upward. Do you want to make God the lowest and yourself the highest? You fall headlong, you do not lift yourself up, for He is always above. What then? You do well, and God does badly? Rather say this, if you would speak more truly, I do badly, He does well, and what I do well from Him I do well, for from myself whatever I do is bad. This confession strengthens the heart, and makes a foundation for love. For if we should hide our good works lest they be seen by men, what becomes of that sentence of the Lord in the sermon which He gave on the mount? Where He said this, there He also said a little before, 'Let your good works shine before men.' 2 And He did not stop there, He did not there make an end there, but added, 'And glorify your Father which is in Heaven.' And what does the Apostle say? 'And I was unknown by face to the Churches of Judea which were in Christ, for they heard only that he who once persecuted now preaches the faith which once he destroyed. And in me they glorified God.'  3 And see how he, becaming well known, did not turn it to his own praise but to the praise of God. And as regards him as a devastator of the Church, an envious persecutor, a man malignant, it is he himself who confesses this, not we that reproach him for it. Paul loves to have his sins spoken of by us, that He may be glorified who healed such a disease. For the greatness of the wound the hand of the physician cut and healed. That voice from heaven prostrated a persecutor and raised up a preacher, slew Saul and gave life to Paul. For as Saul was the persecutor of a holy man, so this man had his name when he persecuted the Christians. 4 Afterward Saul became Paul. What does Paul mean? In Latin little. Therefore when he was Saul he was proud, lifted up; when he was Paul, he was humble, little. Thus we say, I will see you ' paulo post,' that is, after a little while. Hear that he was made little: 'For I am the least of the Apostles,' 5 and, 'To me the least of all saints,' 6 he says in another place. So was he among the Apostles as the hem of the garment, but the Church of the Gentiles touched it, like she who suffered a flow of blood, and was healed. 7 Saint Augustine of Hippo,Ten Tractates on the Epislte of John to the Parthians, Tractate 8 1 Mat 6:1 2 Mt 5:16  3 Gal 1:22-24 4 1 Sam 19 5 1Cor 15.9 6 Eph 3.8 7 Mt 9:20-22

Achieving Humility

Εἰ γὰρ Παῦλος οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνθη καὶ τέκνον καλέσαι, καὶ σπλάγχνον, καὶ ἀδελφὸν, καὶ ἀγαπητὸν, πῶς ἂν ἡμεῖς ἐπαισχυνθῶμεν; Καὶ τί λέγω, Παῦλος; ὁ Παύλου Δεσπότης οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται τοὺς ἡμετέρους δούλους ἀδελφοὺς αὑτοῦ καλεῖν, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπαισχυνούμεθα; Ὅρα, πῶς ἡμᾶς τιμᾷ· ἀδελφοὺς ἑαυτοῦ καλεῖ τοὺς ἡμετέρους δούλους, καὶ φίλους, καὶ συγκληρονόμους. Ἰδοὺ ποῦ κατέβη. Τί οὖν ποιήσαντες ἡμεῖς, τὸ πᾶν ἠνυκότες ἐσόμεθα; Οὐδὲν ὅλως δυνησόμεθα, ἀλλ' ὅπου δ' ἂν ταπεινοφροσύνης ἔλθωμεν, τὸ πλέον αὐτῆς ὑπολέλειπται. Σκόπει γάρ· Ὅπερ ἂν ποιήσῃς σὺ, περὶ τὸν ὁμόδουλον ποιεῖς, ὁ δὲ σὸυ δεσπότης περὶ τοὺς σοὺς δούλους πεποίηκεν. Ἄκουσον, καὶ φρίξον· Μηδέποτε ἐπαρθῇς ἐπὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ. Τάχα γελᾶτε τὸ λεχθὲν, εἰ ταπεινοφροσύνη ἐπαίρει· ἀλλὰ μὴ θαυμάσητε· ἐπαίρει, ὅταν μὴ γνησία ᾖ. Πῶς καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ; Ὅταν διὰ τὸ ἀποδέξασθαι ἀνθρώπους γένηται, καὶ οὐχὶ Θεὸν, ὅταν πρὸς τὸ ἐπαινεῖσθαι καὶ μεγαλοφρονεῖν· καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο διαβολικόν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ πολλοὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ κενοδοξεῖν κενοδοξοῦσιν· οὕτω καὶ διὰ τὸ ταπεινοῦσθαι ἐπαίρονται διὰ τὸ μέγα φρονεῖν. Εἰ μνημονεύει τῆς παραγγελίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς λεγούσης· Ὅταν πάντα ποιήσητε, λέγετε, ὅτι Ἀχρεῖοι δοῦλοί ἐσμεν· καὶ πάλιν τοῦ Διδασκάλου τῆς οἰκουμένης λέγοντος· Ἐγὼ ἐμαυτὸν οὐ λογίζομαι κατειληφέναι. Ὁ πείσας ἑαυτὸν, ὅτι οὐδὲν μέγα κατώρθωσεν, ὅσα ἂν ποιήσῃ, οὗτος μόνος ταπεινοφρονεῖν δύναται, ὁ μὴ πρὸς τὸ τέλος ἥκειν νομίζων. Πολλοὶ ἀπὸ ταπεινοφροσύνης ἐπήρθησαν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ ἡμεῖς τοῦτο πάθωμεν. Ἐποίησάς τι ταπεινόν; μὴ φρονήσῃς μέγα, ἐπεὶ τὸ πᾶν ἀπώλεσας. Τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ Φαρισαῖος· ἐπήρθη, ἐπειδὴ ἐδίδου τοῖς πένησι τὰς δεκάτας, καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἀπώλεσεν. Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ τελώνης οὕτως. Ἄκουε Παύλου πάλιν λέγοντος· Οὐδὲν ἐμαυτῷ σύνοιδα, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τούτῳ δεδικαίωμαι. Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπῆρεν αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ παντοίως συνέστελλε καὶ ἐταπείνου, καὶ ταῦτα εἰς τὴν ἄκραν κορυφὴν ἀνεληλυθώς; Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὑπομηνα Ἐις Την Προς Φιλημονα Ἐπιστολην, Ὀμιλια Β'

For if Paul was not ashamed to call a slave his son, his heart, his brother, his beloved, surely we ought not to be ashamed. And why do I say Paul? The Master of Paul is not ashamed to call our servants His brethren; and are we ashamed? See how He honors us. He calls our servants His own brethren, and friends, and fellow heirs. See how far he has descended. What, then, having done, shall we have accomplished our whole duty? We are not able to do it, but to whatever point of humility we have come, the greater part of it is left behind. For see that whatever you do, you do to a fellow servant, but your Master has done it to your servants. Hear and shudder! Never be exulted on account of humility! Perhaps you laugh at the expression, as if humility could puff up? But do not wonder, it does puff up when it is not genuine. How and in what way? When it is done to gain the favor of men, and not of God, when it is done for praised and pride, and this is diabolical. As many by not being vainglorious are vainglorious, so by humbling themselves they are elated by thinking highly of themselves. For instance, a brother has come, or even a servant, and you have received him, you have washed his feet, and immediately you think highly of yourself. 'I have done,' you say, 'what no other has done. I have achieved humility!' How then may one continue in humility? If one remembers the command of Christ, which says, 'When you shall have done all things, say, We are unprofitable servants.' 1 And again the teacher of the world, says, 'I count not myself to have apprehended.' 2 He who has persuaded himself that he has done no great thing, however much he may have done, he alone is able to be humble, he who does not think that he has achieved perfection. Many are elated on account of their humility, but let not us be so affected. Have you done something humble? Think not highly of it, otherwise all will be lost. Such was the Pharisee, he was puffed up because he gave his tenth to the poor, and so he lost it all. 3 But not so the publican. Hear Paul again saying, 'I know nothing by myself, but I am not by that justified.' 4 Do you see that he does not exalt himself, but by every means abases and humbles himself, and that when he had arrived at the very summit? Saint John Chrysostom, Second Homily on Philemon 1 Lk 17:10 2 Philip 3:13   3 Lk 18:12  4 1 Cor 4:4