A Deacon Chastised

Samuel quondam lugebat Saulem, quia poenituerat Dominum, quod unxisset eum regem super Israel: et Paulus Corinthos, in quibus audiebatur fornicatio, et talis fornicatio, quae ne inter gentes quidem, voce flebili commonebat, dicens,' Ne cum rursus venero, humiliet me Deus apud vos, et lugeam multos ex his qui ante peccaverunt, et non egerunt poenitentiam super immunditiis, quas gesserunt in impudicitia et fornicatione.' Si hoc Propheta et Apostolus nulla ipsi labe maculati, clementi in cunctos mente faciebant, quanto magis ego ipse peccator, in te debeo facere peccatorem, qui non vis erigi post ruinam, nec oculos ad coelum levas; sed prodacta Patris substantia, porcorum siliquis delectaris, et superbiae praerupta conscendens, praeceps laberis in profundum? Deum ventrem vis habere pro Christo: servis libidini, gloriaris in carne et confusione tua, et quasi pinguis hostia in mortem propriam saginaris, imitarisque eorum vitam, quorum tormenta non metuis: ignorans, quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te hortetur. Secundum autem duritiam tuam et cor impoenitens, thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae. An idcirco induratur justa Pharaonem cor tuum, quia non statim percuteris, et differeris ad poenam diu? Et ille dilatus est, et decem plagas non quasi ab irato Deo, sed quasi a patre commonente sustinuit, donec in perversum acta poentitentia, populum quem dimiserat, per deserta sequeretur, et ingredi auderet maria; per quae vel sola doceri potuit, timori habendum eum, cui etiam elementa servirent. Dixerat et ille, 'Non novi Dominum, neque dimitto Israel.' Quem tu imitans loqueris: 'Visio quam hic videt, in dies longos est, et in tempora longa iste prophetat. Propter quod dicit idem Propheta: Haec dicit Adonai Dominus: Non prolongabunter amplius omnes sermones mei, quoscumque loquar; quia loquar verbum, et faciam. Santus David de impiis et de scelestis dicit, quorum tu pars non modica, sed princeps es, quod saeculi felicitate fruerentur et dicerent: Quomodo cognovi Deus, et is est scientia in excelso? Ecce ipsi peccatores et abundantes in saeculo obtinuerunt divitias: pene lapso pede et fluctuanti vestigo causabatur, dicens: 'Ergo sine causa justificavi cor meum, et lavi inter innocentes manus meas. Praemiserat enim, Quia aemulatus sum super iniqua agentes, pacem peccatorum videns: quia non est respectus morti eorum, et solida plaga in flagella eorum. In laboribus hominum non sunt, et cum hominibus non flegellabuntur. Propterea tenuit eos superbia, circumdati sunt inqiuitate et impietate sua. Egredietur sicut ex adipe iniquitas eorum: transierunt in affectum cordis. Cogitaverunt, et locuti sunt mala, iniquitatem in excelso locuti sunt. Posuerunt in coelum os summ et lingua eorum pertansiit super terram. Nonne tibi videtus de te omnis iste Psalmus esse compositus? Vegeto quippe es corpore, et novus Antichristi Apostolus, cum in una notus fueris civitate, transgrederis ad aliam. Non indiges sumptibus; non plaga forti percuteris; et cum hominibus, qui non sunt, ut tu, velut irrationabilia jumenta, corripi non mereris. Propterea elatus es in superbiam, et vestimentum tuum est facta luxuria, et quasi ex arvina pungui et quodam adipe eructans verba mortifera, non te respicis esse moriturum, nec umquam post expletam libidinem, poenitentia remorderis. Transisti in affectum cordis, et ne tibi solus videaris errasse, simulas nefanda de servis Dei, nesciens quod iniquitatem in altum loquaris, et ponas in coelum os tuum. Nec mirum si a te qualescumque servi Dei blasphementur, cum patremfamilias Beelzebub vocaverint patres tui. Non est discipulus supra magistrum, nec servus supra dominum suum. Si illi in viridi ligno tanta fecerunt, tu in me, arido ligno, quid facturus es? Tale quid in Malachia plebs scandalizata credentium, de corde tuo loquitur: 'Dixerunt, vanus est qui servit Deo. Et quid plus? Quia custodivimus mandata ejus, et quoniam ivimus supplicantes ante faciem Domini omnipotentis. Et nunc nos beatos dicimus alienos. Reaedificantur omnes qui faciunt iniqua. Adversati sunt Deo, et slavi facti sunt. Quibus postea diem judicii Dominus comminatur, et quid inter justum et injustum futurum sit, multo ante praenuntians, ait: Et contvertimini: et videbitis quid sit inter justum et injustum: inter servientem Domino, et non servientem. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola CXLVII, Ad Sabinianum Diaconum

Samuel once lamented for Saul because the Lord repented that he had anointed him to be king over Israel, 1 and Paul did so also for the Corinthians when he heard that there was fornication among them and such fornication as was not found among the Gentiles, 2 and with tearful voice he appealed to them saying: 'Lest, when I come again, God will humble me among you and I shall lament many who have sinned and have not made penance for the uncleanness they bear on account of immodesty and fornication.' 3 If an Apostle or Prophet, not themselves with fault stained, could act with mercy toward all, how much more should I, a sinner, act toward you, a sinner, who after ruin does not wish to rise, nor do you  lift your eyes to heaven, but having wasted the substance of the Father you delight in the swill of pigs, 4 and climbing the precipice of pride you fall headlong into the deep? You have your belly for God instead of Christ; you are a slave to lust; you glory in flesh and in your confusion; 5  like a plump sacrificial victim you fatten yourself up for death, and you imitate the lives of those who fear not the torments, because you are ignorant that the goodness of God is calling you to repentance. 'But on account of your hardness and the impenitence of your heart you heap up for yourself wrath for the day of wrath.' 6 Or is it that your heart is hardened just as the Pharaoh's was, because you are not presently struck but your punishment is delayed? He was given time and the ten plagues were not as from an angry God but as a warning from a father, that he repent of perverse deeds, but when he let the people go and then pursued them through the desert and he dared enter the sea , by that alone was he able to be taught that He should be feared whom even the elements serve. He had said: 'I know not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.' 7 He whom you imitate when you say: 'The vision that he sees is formany days far off, and he prophesies about times that are to be.' 8 Yet then the same Prophet says: 'Thus says the Lord God, My words be will not be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be.' 9 The Holy David too says of the godless, of which you are not a slight but prime example, that they rejoice in the happiness of this age and say: 'How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the sinners who prospering in the world have gained their wealth.' 10 Then almost losing his footing and staggering in the way he makes complaint, saying 'Therefore in vain I have cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence.' 11 For he had previously said: 'I envied those acted iniquitously seeing the peace of sinners. For they have no care for death, but firm is the blow of their whip. They do not labour like other men, with whom they are not flogged. Therefore pride has them; they are surrounded by iniquity and impiety. Their evil stands out like fatness: they have passed into the desires of their hearts. They think and speak evil , they speak evil against the High. They have placed their mouths in heaven and their tongues trail along the earth.' 12 Does not this whole Psalm seem to you to be written about yourself? Certainly your body is in good health, and like a new apostle of the Antichrist when you are noted in one city, you pass to another. 13 You do not lack for money, no strong blow assails you, neither are you troubled as other men are who are not like you, mere brute beasts. Therefore you are lifted up into pride, and lust is made your garment, and as from a fat and bloated carcass you belch forth fatal words, not considering that you must die, nor being troubled by any repentance when you have satisfied your lust. You have passed into the desires of your heart; and, lest you seem to be alone in your errors, you create scandals about God's servants, not knowing that it is against the High that you are speaking iniquity and placing your mouth in the heavens. It is no wonder that God's servants are blasphemed by you, when the fathers of those like you called the master of the house Beelzebub. 'The disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his lord.' 14  If they did such things to the green tree, what will you do with me, the dry? 15 In like manner the offended believers in Malachi spoke of your heart, 'They said it is vain to serve God. What do we gain having kept his commandments and having come as supplicants before the Lord Almighty? And now we call strangers blessed. All those who do wickedness are raised up. They who oppose God have been saved.' 16 The Lord threatens them with a later day of judgment, and announcing beforehand the distinction that shall then be made between the righteous and the unrighteous, He says: 'Return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him who does not serve.' Saint Jerome, Letter 147, To The Deacon Sabinianus 1 1 Kings 16 2 1 Cor 5:1 3 2 Cor 12:21 4 Lk 15  5 Philipp 3:19 6 Rom 2:4-5 7 Exod 5:2 8 Ez 12:27-28 9 Ez 12.28 10 Ps 72, 11-12  11 Ps 72, 13  12 Ps 72 3- 9 13 Mt 10:23  14 Mt 10:24-25  15 Luke 23:31  16 Malach 3.14-15 LXX  17 Malach 3.18