Hope, Mercy And Eternity

Speravi in misericordia Dei mei in aeternum et in saeculum saeculi. Spes in misericordia Dei in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi est. Non enim ipsa illa justitiae opera sufficient ad perfectae beatitudinis meritum, nisi misericordia Dei etiam in hac justitiae voluntate humanarum demutationum et motuum vitia non reputet. Hinc illud Prophetae dictum est: Melior est misericordia tua super vitam: quia qumavis probabilis per justitiae operationem vita justorum sit, tamen per misericordiam Dei plus meriti consequetur. Ex hac enim vita in vitam proficit aeternam: et operationem justitiae in tantum misericordia Dei muneratur, ut miserans justitiae voluntatem, aeternitatis quoque suae justum quemque tribuat esse participem. Idcirco in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi misericordiae spes est: sed confessio tantum in saeculo, non etiam in saeculum saeculi. non enim confessio peccatorum nisi in hujus saeculi tempore est: dum voluntati suae unusquisque permissus est, et per vitae licentiam habet confessionis arbitrium. Decedentes namque de vita simul et de jure decedimus voluntatis. Tunc enim ex merito praeteritae voluntatis lex jam constituta, aut quietis aut poenae excedentium ex corpore suscipit voluntatem. Cujus temporis non jam liberam, sed necessariam voluntatem ostendit Propheta, cum dicit: Non est mihi in diebus illis voluntas. Cessante enim voluntatis liberate, etiam voluntatis, si qua erit, cessabit effectus. Transire namque ad Abraham volens dives, chao medio non sinitur: cum tamen per libertatem voluntatis in Abrahae sinibus esse potuisset. Interclusa est ergo libertas voluntatis, quia confessio nulla est mortuis, secundum id quod dictum est: In inferno autem quis confitebitur tibi? Sperans ergo Propheta misericordiam in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi, confitetur tantum in saeculo: temporaria confessionis officia saeculi tempore gerens, spem vero aeternam saeculorum aeternitate protendens. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus Super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum  LI Source: Migne PL 9.322b-323c

I have hoped in the mercy of my God into eternity and into the age of the ages. 1 The hope in the mercy of God is in time and eternity. For it is not that the works of righteousness are sufficient for the reward of perfect blessedness unless the mercy of God is in this choice of righteousness, not reckoning the faults of human caprice and perversion. Whence that Prophet has said. 'Better is your mercy than life.' 2 For though it is probable that by the work of righteousness there is life for the righteous, yet by the mercy of God a greater reward follows. For from this life into the life eternal it advances, and the work of righteousness is rewarded only by the mercy of God, that being merciful in the choice of righteousness, He also grants to the righteous man that he be a participent in His eternity. Therefore in time and in eternity there is the hope for mercy, but confession is only in time, and not eternity. For there is no confession of sinners unless in the time of this world, while it is allowed that each work his will, and in the freedom of life he has the choice of confession. For cut off from life instantly he is cut off from the right of choosing. For then from the merit of this past choice the law is thus established that it makes choice either for the peace or the punishment of those who have gone out from the body. And that such time is not for the free but the necessary will, the Prophet shows when he says: 'In those days there is no freedom for me.' 3 For with the freedom of the will ending, even the effect of choice, what might be, ceases. That rich man wished to pass over to Abraham, but was not permitted by the chasm between; 4 into which lap, however, he had been able to come by free will. Blocked then is the freedom of will, because the dead do not confess him, according to which it has been said: 'In hell who shall confess you?' 5 Thus the Prophet, hoping for mercy in time and in eternity, confesses only in time, the office of temporal confession being done in the time of the world, hope however reaches into the endless age of eternity. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 51 1 Ps 51.10 2 Ps 62.4 3 Eccles 12.1 Septuagint 4 Lk 16.26 5 Ps 6.6