Chastity And Humility

Unde huius muneris magnitudo, ad quod capessendum pro nostris viribus hortati sumus, quanto est excellentius atque divinius, tanto magis admonet sollecitudinem nostram, non solum de gloriosissima castitate, verum etiam de tutissima humilitate aliquid loqui. Cum ergo perpetuae continentiae professores se coniugatis comparantes secundum Scripturas compererint eos infra esse et opere et mercede et voto et praemio, statim veniat in mentem quod scriptum est: Quanto magnus es, tanto humila te in omnibus, et coram Deo invenies gratiam. Mensura humilitatis cuique ex mensura ipsius magnitudinis data est: cui est periculosa superbia, quae amplius amplioribus insidiatur. Hanc sequitur invidentia, tamquam filia pedissequa; eam quippe superbia continuo parit, nec umquam est sine tali prole atque comite. Quibus duobus malis, hoc est superbia et invidentia, diabolus est, itaque contra superbiam, matrem invidentiae, maxime militat universa disciplina christiana. Haec enim docet humilitatem, qua et adquirat et custodiat caritatem. De qua cum dictum esset: Caritas non aemulatur, velut si causam quaereremus, unde fiat, ut non aemuletur, continuo subdidit: Non inflatur, tamquam diceret: Ideo non habet invidentiam, quia nec superbiam. Doctor itaque humilitatis Christus primo semetipsum exinanivit formam servi accipiens, in similitudine hominum factus et habitu inventus ut homo; humilavit semetipsum, factus oboediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. Sanctus Augustinus Hippoensis, De Sancta Virginitate Source: Migne PL 40.412-413

Whence because of the greatness of this service, to which undertaking we have exhorted according to our strength, as the more excellent and more divine it is, so the more does it admonish us to say something not only concerning most glorious chastity, but also concerning most secure humility. When, then, those who make profession of perpetual chastity, comparing themselves with married persons, shall discover that, according to the Scriptures, the others are below both in work and wages, both in vow and reward, let it immediately come to mind what is written: 'By how much you are great, by so much be humble in all things, and you shall find favor before God.' 1 The measure of humility for each has been given from the measure of greatness itself, to which pride is full of peril, which lays in greater ambush against the greater. From it follows envy, as a daughter in her train, since pride straightway gives birth to her, nor is she ever without such a child and companion. By which two evils, that is, pride and envy, is the devil, and therefore it is against pride, the mother of envy, that the whole Christian discipline chiefly wars. For this teaches humility, by which love is acquired and kept. Concerning which has been said: 'Charity envies not;' and as though we were asking the reason how it might be that it envies not, he straightway added, 'It is not puffed up;' 2 as though he had said that it has no envy because it has no pride. Therefore the teacher of humility, Christ, first 'emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, made obedient even to death, even the death of the Cross.' 3 Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Virginity 1 Sirach 3.18 2 1 Cor 13.4 3 Phil 2.7-8

Being Done With Pride

Cum omni humilitate et mansuetudine, cum patientia. Qui terram et cinerem esse se novit, et post paululum in pulverem dissolvendum, numquam superbia elevabitur. Et qui Dei aeternitate perspecta, breve et pene ad puncti instar humanae vitae spatium cogitarit, ante oculos suos semper habebit interitum, et erit humilis atque dejectus. Corruptibile enim corpus aggravat animam, et terrenum hoc tabernaculum, sensum opprimit multa curantem. Propter quod cum omni humilitate dicamus: Domine non exaltatum cor ceum, neque elati sunt oculi mei. Omnis autem humilitas, non tam in sermone, quam in mente est, ut humiles non esse conscientia, noverit, numquam nos vel scire, vel intelligere, vel esse aliquid aestimemus. Mansuetudo quoque illa est, quae nulla passione turbatur: et specialiter ira et furore non rumpitur. Quam qui habuerit, beatitudinem, quae Domini voce promissa est, consequetur: ut possideat terram, id est, imperet corpori suo, domineturque subjecto; et haec sit ejus prima haereditas, in carne non carnaliter vivere. Sanctus Hieronymus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber II, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 26.493c-494a

With all humility and meekness, and with patience. 1 He who knows himself to be earth and ashes, and that after a brief time that he must be resolved into dust, shall never be elevated by pride. And he who thinks of how the span of human life appears as a mere point in the sight of Divine eternity, having his death always before his eyes, he shall be humble and lowly. 'For the corruptible body burdens the soul and this terrestrial tabernacle weighs down the mind with many troubles.' 2 On account of which in all humility we say: 'Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes lifted up.' 3 For nothing of humility is to be found in a mere word, but it is in the mind, that being humble we are conscious that we know should never think ourselves or understand ourselves or reckon ourselves something. And this is meekness, not to be troubled by any passion, especially the bursting forth of wrath and rage. He who has it is blessed and from it follows what the voice of the Lord has promised: that he shall possess the earth, 4 that is, he shall command his body, and ruling over it, subject it. And this is his primary inheritance, that in the flesh he does not live in the flesh. 5 Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book 2, Chap 4 1 Ephes 4.2 2 Wisd 9.15 3 Ps 130.1 4 Mt 5.4 5 Rom 8.9

The Evil Of Pride

Nullum est igitur vitium aliud quod ita omnes virtutes exhauriat, cunctaque justitia et sanctitate hominem spoliet ac denudet, ut superbiae malum tamquam generalis quidam ac pestifer morbus, non unum membrum partemve ejus debilitare contentus, sed solidum corpus lethali corrumpit exitio, et in virtutum jam fastigio collecatos gravissima ruina dejicere ac trucidare conatur. Omne namque vitium suis est terminis et fine contentum; et licet contristet alias quoque virtutes, contra unam tamen principaliter tendit, eamque specialiter opprimit et impugnat. Et ut hoc ipsum quod diximus clarius possit intelligi, gastrimargia, id est, appetitus ventris, seu concupiscentia gulae, temperantiae rigorem corrumpit; castitatem libido conteminat; ira patientiam vastat; ut nonnumquam uni quis deditus vitio aliis virtutibus non penitus destituatur, sed illa tantum virtute truncata, quae e diverso aemulo sibi vitio repugnante succumbit, reliquas possit vel ex parte retinere: haec vero cum infelicem possederit mentem, ut quidam saevissimus tyrannus, sublissima capta arce virtutum, universam funditus civitatem diruit atque subvertit. Excelsa quondam sanctitatis moenia vitiorum solo coaequans atque permiscens, nullam deinceps imaginem libertatis animae sibi subditae superesse concedit. Quandoque ceperit ditiorem, tanto graviore servitutis jugo subditam universis virtutum facultatibus crudelissima depraedatione nudabit. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, De Coenobiorum Institutis, Lib XII, Caput III, De Spiritu Superbiae Source: Migne PL 49.424a-426a

There is, therefore, no other vice which is so destructive of all virtues, and robs and strips a man of all righteousness and holiness, as the evil of pride, which like some pestilential disease attacks the whole man, and, not content to make infirm one part or one limb only, it corrupts the entire body with its deadly ruin, and those now lifted up to the height of the virtues it tries to cast down into the most grievous ruin. For every other vice is happy within its own bounds and limits, and though it troubles other virtues also, yet it is principally directed against one alone, and specifically attacks and fights against that. And that this which we have said be more clearly understood: gluttony, the appetites of the belly and the pleasures of taste, destroys the rigor of temperance; lust defiles purity; anger lays waste to patience; so that sometimes a man who has surrendered to one of the vices is not utterly destitute of the other virtues, but deprived of that one virtue which succumbs to the oppossing and rival vice, he can in part retain what remains, but pride, when it takes possession of some unhappy soul, like some most savage tyrant, when the lofty citadel of the virtues is seized, demolishes and overturns the whole city to its foundations. Levelling the once high walls of sanctity with the vices and confusing them together, it thereafter permits no image of freedom to survive in the subject soul. And as it was richer, so the yoke of servitude will be heavier, by which, with the most cruel depredations, it will strip the one subdued of all its powers of virtue. Saint John Cassian, The Institutes of the Coenobia, Book 12, Chap 3, On The Spirit of Pride

Humility and Pride in Speaking

Et quia omnes qui in Deo vivimus organa veritatis sumus, ut saepe per alium mihi, saepe vero aliis loquatur per me; sic nobis boni verbi inesse auctoritas debet, ut et is qui praeest dicat recta libere, et is qui subest inferre bona humiliter non recuset. Bonum enim quod majori a minore dicitur tunc vere bonum est, si humiliter dicatur. Nam si rectitudo sentiendi humilitatem loquendi perdiderit, radicem sensus in ramo linguae vitiavit. Quod videlicet vitium jam non ex ramo, sed ex radice est, quia nisi cor intumesceret, lingua minime superbiret. Inesse ergo ad loquendum priori humilis auctoritas, inesse autem minori libera humilitas debet. Sed saepe in hominibus ipse loquendi ordo confunditur, sicut et longe superius diximus. Nam aliquando quis per tumorem elationis loquitur, et loqui se per auctoritatem libertatis existimat; et aliquando alius per stultum timorem tacet, et tacere se per humilitatem putat. Ille locum sui regiminis attendens, non metitur sensum tumoris; iste, locum suae subjectionis considerans, timet dicere bona quae sentit, et ignorat quantum charitati reus efficitur tacendo. Sic vero sub auctoritate superbia, et humanus timor sub humilitate se palliat, ut saepe nec ille valeat considerare quid Deo, nec iste quid debeat proximo. Nam ille dum eos qui sibi subjecti sunt conspicit, et ei cui omnes subjacent non intendit, in elatione attollitur, et de elatione sua velut de auctoritate gloriatur. Iste vero nonnunquam dum timet ne majoris gratiam amittat, atque per hoc aliquid temporalis damni sustineat, recta quae intelligit occultat, atque apud se tacitus ipsum timorem quo constringitur humilitatem nominat. Sed eum cui nil vult dicere, tacendo in cogitatione dijudicat; fitque ut unde se humilem existimat, inde gravius sit superbus. Discernenda ergo semper sunt libertas et superbia, humilitas et timor, ne aut timor humilitatem, aut superbia se libertatem fingat. Ezechiel itaque quia non solum populo, sed etiam senioribus loqui mittebatur, ne incautum timorem humilitatem crederet, ut timere non debeat admonetur, dum dicitur: Ne timeas eos. Ac ne forte derogationis eorum verba pertimescat, adjungitur: Neque sermones eorum metuas. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IX Source: Migne PL 76.875a-b

And because all us who live in God are instruments of truth, as often truth may be spoken by another to me, so often by me to others, so the authority of good words should inhere in us, so that even as he who is preeminent should freely speak what is right, so a man is not excused from expressing good things on account of humility. For as it is good that the greater are spoken to by the less, so then truly good it is if it is humbly spoken. For if rectitude has denied speech by a feeling of humility, so the root of this feeling has corrupted the branch of the tongue. Certainly the fault is not in the branch but in the root, because unless the heart swells, the tongue can hardly be proud. It is for us then to speak with the authority of prior humilty, and yet to be free of the humility of inferiors. But often among men this order of speaking is confused, as we have spoken of at length before. For sometimes someone through a swelling of elation speaks, and he is judged to have spoken for reason of liberty; and sometimes by foolish fear a man is silent, and he thinks himself silent on account of his humility. Attend to the state of each, one does not fear because of his swelling, and the other considers himself so abject that he fears to say the good he knows, and he is ignorant of how much his silence makes him guilty in respect of charity. So truly humility fades away both beneath the authority of pride and human fear, so that a man is not able to consider what he owes to God or to his neighbour. For the one while he looks upon those those who are subject to him, does not care to attend to any one of them, and in elation he is carried away, and he glories in his elation as authority. The other while he is in fear, will never risk losing the favour of the greater man, and that he might not suffer some temporal loss, he conceals what he understands as right, and he names the fear which constrains him humility. But being silent, yet in his mind he judges him to whom who wishes to say nothing, and so what he claims to be humility is most weighty pride. Let us always discern, then, between freedom and pride, humility and fear, lest either fear be twisted to humility or pride to candour. So Ezekiel was sent to speak not only to the people, but even to the elders, and lest he think hesitant fear to be humility, and that he not fear to admonish,it was said, 'Do not fear them.' And lest perhaps he be afraid of their derogatory words, it is added: 'Nor fear their words.' 1 Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 9 1 Ezek 2.6

A Humble Woman

ὧν ἦν Νικαρέτη ἡ Βιθυνὴ, τῶν παρὰ Νικομηδεῦσιν εὐπατριδῶν ἐπισήμου γένους, ἐπὶ ἀϊδίῳ παρθενίᾳ καὶ ἀρετῇ βίου εὐδοκιμοῦσα. Ἀτυφοτάτην δὲ ὧν ἴσμεν σπουδαίων γυναικῶν ταύτην ἔγνων, ἤθει τε καὶ λόγῳ καὶ διαίτῃ τεταγμένην, καὶ τὰ θεῖα μέχρι θανάτου τῶν βιωτικῶν προτιμῶσαν: ἀνδρείᾳ τε καὶ φρονήσει πρὸς περιπετείας δυσχερῶν πραγμάτων ἀντισχεῖν ἱκανήν: ὡς μήτε πολλῆς πατρῴας περιουσιας ἀδίκως ἀφαιρεθεῖσαν ἀγανακτεῖν, ἐν ὀλίγοις τε περιλειφθεῖσιν, ὑπὸ ἀρίστης οἰκονομίας, καίπερ εἰς γῆρας προελθοῦσαν, τὰ ἐπιτήδεια σὺν τοῖς οἰκείοις ἔχειν, καὶ ἄλλοις ἀφθόνως χορηγεῖν.Ὑπὸ φιλανθρώπου δὲ προθυμίας φιλόκαλος οὖσα, καὶ παντοδαπὰ παρεσκεύαζε φάρμακα εἰς πτωχῶν νοσούντων χρείαν: οἷς δὴ πολλοῖς τῶν γνωρίμων πολλάκις ἐπήρκεσε μηδὲν ἀποναμένοις τῶν συνήθων ἰατρῶν. Σὺν θείᾳ γάρ τινι ῥοπῇ, ἅπερ ἐπεχείρει εἰς χρηστὸν ἀπέβαινε τέλος: καὶ συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν, τῶν καθ̓ ἡμᾶς σπουδαίων γυναικῶν ἑτέραν οὐκ ἔγνων, εἰς τοσοῦτον ἤθους τε καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς ἐπιδοῦσαν. Ἀλλ̓ ἡ μὲν, καίπερ τοιάδε οὖσα, τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐλάνθανεν: ὑπὸ μετριότητος γὰρ τρόπων, καὶ φιλοσοφίας, ἀεὶ λανθάνειν ἐπετήδευεν: ὡς μήτε εἰς ἀξίωμα διακόνου σπουδάσαι προελθεῖν, μήτε προτρεπομένου πολλάκις Ἰωάννου ἑλέσθαι ποτὲ παρθένων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἡγεῖσθαι. Ἑρμείος Σωζομενός, Ἐκκλησιαστίκη Ἱστορία, Τομ Η' Κεφ ΚΓ' Source: Migne PG 67.1576a-c

Nikarete of Bithynia, of a noted family of the nobility near Nicomedia, was celebrated on account of her perpetual virginity and the virtue of her life. She was the most modest of all the zealous women that we have ever known, and was well ordered in speech and in behavior, and until death she preferred the service of God to all worldly considerations. With courage and prudence she was able to bear the sudden reversals of adverse affairs; thus when she was unjustly stripped of much of her abundant patrimony she did not display any indignation, but with finest economy, although advanced in age, she supplied the needs of her household, and without complaint ministered to others. As a woman who loved a charitable spirit, she prepared a variety of remedies for the needs of the poor who were sick, by which she frequently succeeded in curing patients who had received no benefit from the knowledge of the customary physicians. Then with a devout strength which assisted her in reaching the best results, she departed. And, to speak briefly, we have never known a devoted woman endowed with such manners, dignity, and every other virtue. But although she was so, she concealed much, for by the modesty of her ways and love of wisdom she always desired to be unnoticed, so that, thinking herself unworthy, she did not seek the office of deaconess, nor of instructress of the virgins consecrated to the service of the Church, although it was frequently urged by John Chrysostom. Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, Book 8, Chapter 23

Humility And The Law

Vide humilitatem meam et eripe me: quia legem tuam non sum oblitus Multa quidem nobis atque magna sanctus propheta fidei confessionisque suae toto in psalmo proposuit exempla: per quae formam in se ipso caeteris credendi, agendi, intelligendi, ignorandi, sperandi, precandique constituit, evangelicum virum perfecta legis observatione consummans. Et quamquam omnia, quae vel divinae voluntati placita, vel humanae spei proposita sunt, aut agat aut testetur aut speret; meminit tamen in quo observantiae genere mandatorum omnium caput ac summa consistat; scitque quid a Domino suo, etiam ab ipsis, quibus committendae claves coelorum erant, Apostilis quaereretur. Namque cum inter se opinionibus ac studiis dissidenerent, sibique singuli principatum humana contentione praesumerent, dum praestantiorem se caeteris unusquisque esse aut optat aut poscit; Dominus meriti hujus ac nominis praemium unde petendum esset ostendens, ait: Qui vult esse ex vobis major, fiat omnium minimus: omnis enim qui se humiliaverit exaltabitur, et qui se exaltaverit humiliabitur. In humiliatate scilicet docuit omnia fidei nomina et praemia contineri. Utilissimum itaque est, obedienties divinis praeceptis omnem intra se ipsos homanae insolentiae ac petulantiae inanitatem fractam protritamque cohibere, seseque, Dei et magnificentia et miseratione reputata, intra humilitatis modestiam continere. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXVIII Source: Migne PL 9.632a-b

Look on my humility and deliver me, because I have not forgotten your law. 1 Many great things the holy prophet by faith and confession throughout this Psalm gives to us as examples, through which, by the pattern of himself believing, doing, understanding, forgiving, hoping, and praying, he establishes in others, and so improves the evangelical man in the perfect observation of the Law. And though everything which either pleases the Divine will, or is proposed of human hope, he may do, or bear witness to, or desire, however he also remembers what in the general observation of the commandments is the head and summit of everything,; he knows what he should seek from his Lord, even as those to whom were committed the keys of heaven, the Apostles. For when among themselves there was a difference of opinions and wishes, in each contention they presumed a single human principle, which stood forth as more excellent than the rest regarding what they should wish and request, and the Lord spoke of the merit of this and revealed the reward that should be sought, saying: 'He who wishes to be great among you, let him be the least of all.' 2 'Everyone who humiliates himself will be exalted, and he who exalts himself shall be humbled.' 3 He openly taught that in humility is found every glory of faith and reward. And thus obedience to the Divine precepts is most profitable, for it breaks and grinds down the inanity of human insolence and petulance, and in itself reflects the magnifence and mercy of God, which the modesty of humility contains. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.153 2. Lk 22.26 3 Mt 22.12

Humility And Exaltation

Humiliatus sum usquequaque, Domine, vivifica me secundum verbum tuum. Didicit humilitatem, quam Christus docuit, qui mitis est et humilis corde. Ideo nunc deprecatur, ut sicut ille post humilitatem formae servilis exaltatus est in gloriam Dei Patris, ita et iste ab hac humilitate corporea in vitam transferatur aeternam. Alcuinus, Expositio In Psalmos Poenitentiales Source: Migne PL 100.611b

I am humbled utterly, O Lord, enliven me according to your word. 1 He has learned humility, as Christ taught, He who is meek and humble in heart. Therefore now he prays that as He after humiliation in the form of a servant was exalted to the glory of God the Father, so from this humble body he be transported to eternal life. Alcuin of York, Commentary On The Penitential Psalms 1. Ps 118. 107

The Example of Humility

Ταπεινοφρονούντων γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός οὐκ ἐπαιρομένων ἐπὶ τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ. Τὸ σκῆπτρον τῆς μεγαλωσύνης τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, καίπερ δυνάμενος, ἀλλὰ ταπεινοφρονῶν, καθὼς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐλάλησεν· φησὶν γάρ· Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσεν τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ ὁ βραχίων Κυρίου τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη; ἀνηγγείλαμεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, ὡς παιδίον, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ· οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ εἶδος οὐδὲ δόξα, καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τὸ εἰδος τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ πόνῳ καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν, ὅτι ἀπέστραπται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη· οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ἀδυνᾶται, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πληγῇ καὶ ἐν κακώσει· αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν. παιδεία εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπ’ αὐτόν· τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. Πάντες ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν, ἄνθρωπος τῇ ὁδῳ αὐτοῦ ἐπλανήθη· καὶ Κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τὸ κεκακῶσθαι οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα. Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείραντος ἄφωνος, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. Ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη. Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ. Ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἥκει εἰς θάνατον. Δώσω τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀντὶ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. Kαὶ Κύριος βούλεται καθαρίσαι αὐτὸν τῆς πληγῆς. Ἐὰν δῶτε περὶ ἁμαρτίας, ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν ὄψεται σπέρμα μακρόβιον. Καὶ Κύριος βούλεται ἀφελεῖν ἀπὸ του πόνου τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, δεῖξαι αὐτῷ φῶς καὶ πλάσαι τῇ συνέσει, δίκαιον εὖ δουλεύοντα πολλοῖς. Καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν αὐτὸς ἀνοίσει. Διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς κληρονομήσει πολλλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν μεριεῖ σκῦλα· ἀνθ’ ὧν παρεδόθη εἰς θάνατον ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνόμοις ἐλογίσθη. Καὶ αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν παρεδόθη. Καὶ´πάλιν αὐτός φησιν· Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐξουθένημα λαοῦ. Πάντες οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με. Ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησαν κεφαλήν· Ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ῥυσάσθω αὐτόν, σωσάτω αὐτόν, ὅτι θέλει αὐτόν. Ὁρᾶτε, ἄνδρες ἀγαπητοί, τίς ὁ ὑπογραμμὸς ὁ δεδομένος ἡμῖν· εἰ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος οὕτως ἐταπεινοφρόνησεν, τί ποιήσωμεν ἡμεῖς οἱ ὑπό τὸν ζυγὸν τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ δι’ αὐτοῦ ελθόντες; Μιμηταὶ γενώμεθα κἀκείνων, οἵτινες ἐν δέρμασιν αἰγείοις καὶ μηλωταῖς περιεπάτησαν κηρύσσοντες τὴν ἔλευσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ· λέγομεν δὲ Ἠλίαν καὶ Ἑλισαιέ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ἰεζεκιήλ, τοὺς προφήτας· πρὸς τούτοις καὶ τοὺς μεμαρτυρημένους. Ἐμαρτυρήθη μεγάλως Ἀβραὰμ καί φίλος προσηγορεύθη τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ λέγει ἀτενίζων εἰς τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ ταπεινοφρονῶν· Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδός. ἔτι δὲ καὶ περὶ Ἰὼβ οὕτως γέγραπται· Ἰὼβ δὲ ἦν δίκαιος καὶ ἄμεμπτος, ἀληθινός, θεοσεβής, ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ. Ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ κατηγορεῖ λέγων· Οὐδεὶς καθαρὸς ἀπὸ ῥύπου, οὐδ’ ἂν μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ. Μωϋσῆς πιστὰς ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἰκῳ αὐτοῦ ἐκλήθη, καὶ διὰ τῆς ὑπηρεσίας αὑτοῦ ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς Αἴγυπτον διὰ τῶν μαστίγων καὶ τῶν αἰκισμάτων αὐτῶν· ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνος δοξασθεὶς μεγάλως οὐκ ἐμεγαλορημόνησεν, ἀλλ’ εἶπεν ἐκ τῆς βάτου χρηματισμοῦ αὐτῷ διδομένου· Τίς εἰμι ἐγώ, ὅτι με πέμπεις; Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι ἰσχνὀφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσος. καὶ πάλιν λέγει· Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι ἀτμὶς ἀπὸ κύθρας. Ἅγιος Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Ἐπιστολή πρὸς Κορινθίους, Κεφ ΙϚ'-ΙΖ' Source: Migne PG 1.240a-244b

For Christ is of those who are humble minded, and not of those who lift themselves up over His flock. The sceptre of the greatness of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, although powerful, was humble, as the Holy Spirit spoke regarding Him; for He says: 'O Lord, who has believed what we have heard, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have announced it in His presence: As a child, as a root in thirsty ground, without glory, so we saw Him, and He had no form nor beauty; but His form was without eminence, lacking in comparison with the form of men; He is a man of blows and suffering, bearing with weakness: for His face was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed; He bears our iniquities and our faults, and we judged that He was the cause of His suffering and blows and affliction; but He was wounded for our sins, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was on Him, and by His blows we were healed. All of us, like sheep, went astray; each man wandered in his own way; and the Lord gave Him up for our sins, and in the midst of sufferings He does not open His mouth. As a sheep to the slaughter He was brought, and as a lamb dumb before the shearer, so He does not open His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people He was brought to death. And I will give the wicked for His tomb and the rich for His death, because He did no wrong, nor was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify him with stripes. If you make an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to shape Him with understanding, the Just One who ministers well to many; and He Himself shall bear their sins. By this He shall inherit many and divide the spoil of the strong, because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and for their sins He was delivered.'' 1 And again He says, 'I am a worm, and no man; a reproach to men, and despised by the people. All who see me have derided me. They have spoken with their lips, they have shaken their heads, saying: He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delights in Him.' 2 You see, beloved, what the example is that has been given to us; for if the Lord so humbled Himself, what shall we do who have come under the yoke of His grace through Him? Let us be imitators of those who went about in the skins of goats and sheep 3 proclaiming the coming of Christ; I speak of Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel, the Prophets, with those others who gave the same witness. Abraham was especially honoured, and was called the friend of God, and he, regarding the glory of God, humbly declared, 'I am but earth and ash.' 4 And then it is written of Job: 'Job was a righteous man, blameless, truthful, and God-fearing, keeping himself from all evil.' 5 But he accused himself, saying, 'No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but a day.' 6 Moses was called faithful in all God's house, and by use of him God punished Egypt with plagues and tribulations, yet he, so greatly honoured, did not speak proudly, but when the Divine oracle came to him out of the bush, he said, 'Who am I, that you send me? I am a man of feeble voice and a slow tongue.' 7 And again he said, 'I am but as the smoke of a pot.' Saint Clement of Rome, from the Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 16-17 1 Isaiah 53. 1-12 2 Ps 21.7-9 3 Heb 11.37 4 Gen 18.27 5 Job 1.1 6  Job 14.4-5 7 Exodus 4.10

Humility And Words

Ταπεινοπρόνει μᾶλλον, καὶ μὴ ταπεινολόγει, ἵνα μὴ ἐγγύθεν ἔχῃς τῶν ῥημάτων κατηγορίαν τὰ πράγματα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ πράγματα διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων δεικνύς, ἔργα τοὺς λόγους ἔχων, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῖς ἔργοις ἀνατρέπων τοὺς λόγους. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΤΜΒ' Σελευκῳ Source: Migne PG 78.377d-380a

Be humble in your soul rather than humble in your speech, lest you come near to having conduct that refutes words, but rather by conduct let words be proved; having conduct for speech, do not overthrow words with conduct. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 342, To Seleucus

Study And Deeds

Φρυάττῃ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναγνώσει τῶν Γραφῶν, καὶ μεγαλαυχεῖς φυσώμενος ἐπὶ ταῖς θεωρίαις, ἀντὶ καρπῶν ψιλὰ τὰ φύλλα κατέχειν τερπόμενος, καὶ μυκτηρίζεις τοὺς γνῶσιν μὴ ἔχοντας. Τοῦτο δ' ἂν καὶ σκηνικοὶ πολλάκις ποιῆσαι δυνήσονται. Ἀλλ' ἔργοις μᾶλλον εὐαρέστοις τῷ Θεῷ τὴν σαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ὡραϊσαι καὶ κοσμῆσαι θέλησον· Οὐαὶ γὰρ, φησὶ, γραμματεῦσι καὶ θαρισαίοις ὑποκρινομένοις τὴν μάθησιν τῶν μακαρίων λόγων, ὅτι λέγουσι τὰ χρηστὰ, καὶ οὐ ποιοῦσιν αὐτά. Πρότερον τοίνυν πρᾶξον, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο δίδασκε. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΠΓ' Εὐγενιῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 79.120b

You vaunt on account of your study of Scripture, and exult because of your insights, delighting therefore to have the bare leaves rather than the fruit, and you sneer at those who lack such knowledge. But even actors can often do this. You should wish to bedeck and adorn your soul with deeds pleasing to God. 'Alas to you,' He says, 'Scribes and Pharisees, who make a lie of the words of the Divine teaching; for they speak of good things and do not do them.' 1 First do, and then teach. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 83, To Eugenius the Deacon 1 Mt 23.3

Wolves And Sheep

Si quis lupum cooperiat pelle ovina, quomodo cognoscas illum, nisi aut per vocem, aut per actum? Ovis inclinata deorsum balat, lupus in aera convertit caput suum contra caelum, et sic ululat. Qui ergo secundum Deum vocem humilitatis et confessionis emittit, ovis est: qui vero adversus veritatem turpiter blasphemiis ululat contra Deum, lupus est: sicut dicit propheta de illis: Iniquitatem in excelso loquuti sunt, posuerunt in coelum os suum. Ovis herbas manducat, lupus carnibus delectatur. Quem videris ergo de pratis Scripturarum herbas floridas justitiae colligentem, ovis est: quem videris autem in sanguine persequutionis gaudentem, lupus est. Adhuc autem considera an virtutes, quas facit, utiles sint an inutiles. Utiles sunt, quae mirabiliter fiunt, et ad salutem proficiunt: utputa infirmos sanare, et alia hujusmodi, quae fecit Christus. Vacuae autem sunt, quae admirationem quidem faciunt videntibus, utilitatem autem afferunt nullam: utputa volare per aerem, sicut et Dominum diabolus hortabatur: statuas facere ambulare: aut commisceri flammae, et non comburi: et alia qualia Simon fecit. Nam plena opera ex Deo sunt, quia et ipse est plenus; vacua autem ex diabolo, sicut et ipse est vacuus et vanus. Nam quia quaedam mirabilia fiunt ex Deo, quaedem autem ex diabolo, demonstrat Nicodemus. Non enim dixit, Nemo facit signa, nisi sit Deus cum illo: sed, Nemo fecit haec signa, quae tu facis, nisi sit Deus cum illo. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XIX Source: Migne PG 56.739

If someone covers the wolf with the fleece of a sheep 1 how will we know it, unless by the voice, or the deed? The sheep bleats with its head down, the wolf turns its head to the sky and howls against heaven. Therefore, he who gives forth the voice of humility and confession to God, he is a sheep, but he who against the truth, with foul blasphemy, howls against God, he is a wolf, as the Prophet says of them: 'They spoke iniquity against the High, and they placed their mouths in heaven.' 2 The sheep eats grass, the wolf delights in flesh. Therefore he whom you see gathering the flowery grasses of righteousness from the meadows of Scripture is a sheep, but he whom you see delighting in persecution, he is a wolf. And then consider their powers, whether they be useful or useless. They are useful when they are wonders and profit for salvation, as healing the sick and the other things which Christ did. They are empty when they are done for the admiration of onlookers and they have no usefulness for anything, as flying through the air, just as the Devil demanded of Christ, 3 and making statues walk, and standing in flames and not being burnt, and those other things that Simon did. 4 For full works are from God, because He is fullness, and empty ones are from the devil, as even he is empty and vain. And that certain wonders are from God, and others from the devil, Nicodemus demonstrates. For he did not say, 'No one makes signs unless he is from God.' but 'No one makes these signs, which you do, unless God is with him.' 5 Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 19 1 Mt 7.15 2 Ps 72.8-9 3 Mt 4.5-6 4 Acts 8.9-11 5 Jn 3.2

A Treatment Of Thieves

Ἤν τις μέγας ἡσυχαστὴς ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῆς Ἀθλίβεως· καὶ ἤλθον ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ λῃσταί· καὶ ἔκραχεν ὁ γέρων· καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ γείτονες αὐτοῦ ἐπίασαν τοὺς λῃστὰς, καὶ ἔπεμψεν αὐτοὺς τῷ ἡγεμόνε, καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς φυλακήν. Καὶ ἐλυπήθηαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ, λέγοντες, ὅτι Δι' ἡμᾶς παρεδόθησαν. Καὶ ἀναστάντες ἀπῆλθον πρὸς τὸν ἀββᾶν Ποιμένα, καὶ ἀνήγγειλαν αὐτῷ τὸ πρᾶγμα. Καὶ ἔγραψε πρὸς τὸν γέροντα, λέγων· Ἐννόησον τὴν πρώτην προδοσίαν πόθεν γέγονε, καὶ τότε βλέπεις τὴν δευτέραν. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ προεδόθης πρότερον ἐκ τῶν ἔσωθεν, οὐκ ἂν τὴν δευτέραν προδοσίαν ἐποίησας. Ἀκούσας δὲ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τοοῦ ἀββᾶ Ποιμένος, ἧν δὲ ὀνομαστὸς εἰς ὅλην τὴν χώραν, καὶ μὴ ἐξερχόμενος ἐκ τοῦ κελλίου αὐτου, ἀναστὰς ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἐξέβαλε τοὺς λῃστας ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς, καὶ δημοσίᾳ ἠλευθέρωσεν αὐτούς. Ἄποφθέγματα των Αγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Ελενουπόλεως Source: Migne PG 65.344a-b

There was a great hermit dedicated to silence in the mountain of Athlibeos. Some thieves came upon him and the old man cried out. The neighbours, hearing him, seized the thieves and sent them to the magistrate, and he threw them into prison. The brothers were grieved by this and said, 'Because of us they have been put in prison.' They rose up and went to Father Poemen and told him about it. He wrote to the hermit saying, 'Think on the first betrayal and where it comes from and then see the second. If you had not first failed within, you would not have committed the second betrayal.' On hearing the letter of Father Poemen read, though the hermit was renowned in all the district for not coming out of his cell, he arose, went to the city, took the thieves out of prison and liberated them in public. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Mercy And Neighbours

Ὥωπερ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ πρόβατα βόσκειν καὶ λύκους· οὕτως ἀδυνατον ἐλέους τυχεῖν τὸν δολοποιοῦντα τὸν πλησίον. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.922a

As sheep and wolves do not feed together, so it is impossible to find mercy in one who mistreats a neighbour. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Treatment Of Neighbours

Οὐδὲ ἐποίησε τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ κακόν. Τίνα λέγει τὸν πλησίον ὁ λόγος, οὐδεὶς ἀμφιβάλλει τῶν ἀκουσάντων τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου πρὸς τὸν ἐρωτήσαντα· Καὶ τίς ἐστί μου πλησίον; Ὧ ὁ Κύριος εἶπε τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ καταβαίνοντος εἰς Ἱεριχώ· ὃν καὶ ἠρώτησε· Τίς τούτων δοκεῖ σοι γεγονέναι πλησίον; Κἀκεῖνος ἀπεκρίνατο, Ὁ ποιήσας τὸ ἔλεος μετ' αὐτοῦ. Ἐδίδαξε γὰρ διὰ τού των πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἡγεῖσθαι πλησίον. ∆υσκατόρθωτον δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, καὶ πολλῆς δεόμενον ἐπιμελείας, μήτε μικρῷ τινι, μήτε μείζονι καταβλάπτειν τὸν πλησίον· μὴ ἐν ῥήματι βλάψαι· μὴ ἀποστερῆ σαί τι τῶν καθηκόντων· μὴ βουληθῆναι αὐτῷ πο νηρόν· μὴ βασκανίᾳ χρήσασθαι πρὸς τὰς εὐπρα γίας τῶν πέλας. Καὶ ὀνειδισμὸν οὐκ ἔλαβεν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἔγγιστα αὐτοῦ. Ἀμφίβολος ἡ λέξις· πότερον αὐτὸς ἄξια τοῦ ὀνειδίζεσθαι παρὰ τῶν ἔγγιστα οὐκ ἐποίησε, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔλαβε παρ' αὐτῶν ὀνειδισμὸν, ἢ οὐδένα τῶν ἔγγιστα αὐτὸς ὠνείδισε, τῶν ἐν ἀνθρωπίνοις πταίσμασι γενομένων, ἢ ἐν πηρώμασι σωματικοῖς, ἢ ἄλλοις τισὶν ὑστερήμασι τῆς σαρκὸς εὑρισκομένων. Οὔτε γὰρ τὸν ἁμαρτάνοντα ὀνειδιστέον κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· Μὴ ὀνείδιζε ἄνθρωπον ἀποστρέφοντα ἀπὸ ἁμαρτίας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔγνωμέν ποτε ἐπ' ὠφελείᾳ τῶν πλημμελούντων τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν παρειλημμένον, τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὴν Τιμόθεον ὑποθήκαις ἔλεγχον μὲν καὶ παράκλησιν καὶ ἐπιτίμησιν ἐπιτρέψαντος, οὐδαμοῦ δὲ τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν, ὡς ἐναντίον, παρα λαβόντος. Καὶ ἔοικεν ὁ μὲν ἔλεγχος τέλος ἔχειν τὴν διόρθωσιν τοῦ ἁμαρτάνοντος, ὁ δὲ ὀνειδισμὸς ἐπὶ ἀσχημοσύνῃ τοῦ ἐπταικότος γίνεσθαι. Πενίαν δὲ, ἢ δυσγένειαν, ἢ ἀμάθειαν, ἢ σώματος ἀῤῥωστίαν ὀνει δίζειν πάντη ἄλογον, καὶ ἀλλότριον τοῦ σπουδαίου. Ἃ γὰρ οὐκ ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἡμῖν συμβαίνει, ταῦτα ἀκούσια· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς ἀκουσίοις ἐλαττώμασιν ἐλεεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ καθυβρίζεσθαι τοὺς ἀτυχοῦντας προσῆκεν. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΙΔ' Ψαλμον Source: Migne PG 29.257a-260a

He who has done no evil to his neighbour.1 Which neighbour this passage speaks about, let there be no doubt among those who have heard the Gospel where it is asked: 'And who is my neighbour?' 2 To him the Lord tells the parable of the man who came down from Jerusalem to Jericho, whom then he asked: 'And which of them seems to have been a neighbour?' And he answered: 'He who was merciful to him.' He thus teaches here with these words that every man should be thought a neighbour. But this is difficult to observe, and it requires great diligence, lest either in little things or great a neighbour is harmed, that we not offend with speech, nor lay hands on his goods, nor desire harm to him, nor envy the joy and prosperity of a neighbour. 'And he does not allow disgrace regarding his neighbour.' 1 There is ambiguity in this passage, whether he shall have done nothing, by which he does not deserve to receive the reproof of his neighbour, because he did not treat him shamefully, or he did not hold his neighbours in disgrace when they had fallen into human fault, or when afflicted with mutilated parts of the body, or with some other defect of the flesh. For he who has sinned should not be disgraced, as it is written: 'Do not shame a man for turning away from sin.' 3 We do not know anyone in error who has been usefully dealt with by shaming. The Apostle in his letters to his disciple Timothy allows reproach and exhortation and denunciation, but he does not allow shaming, as something which turns something adverse to its contrary. 4 And it seems reproach has the aim of the correction of the sinner, but disgrace to bring about the confusion of the one who has fallen. But to make poverty, or low birth, or ignorance, or infirmity of the body, a matter of disgrace is absurd, and by that to treat a man as an outcast. For that which befalls us beyond our will, these things are not voluntary, and those things unwilled which diminish one should move us to mercy not abuse. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 14 1 Ps 14.3 2 Lk 10.29 3 Sirach 8.6 4 2 Tim 4.2,13

Thanks And Teaching

Gratias autem Deo, quod fuistis servi peccati; obedistis autem ex corde in eam formam doctrinae, in qua traditi estis. Perfectis hic loquitur pro quibus etiam in capite hujus epistolae gratias egit Dei suo, quia fides eorum nuntiabatur in universo mundo. Agit autem gratias, non quia servi fuerunt peccati, sed quia servi facti justitiae, consuetudinis necessitatem, et indignam peccati abjecerunt servitutem, quia insolitum et difficule est mutare affectum, et sicut saecularis sapientia dicit, membra cohaerentia absque sanguinis damno separari, impossibile est. Obedistis autem in eam formam in quam traditi estis. Ecce mutatus affectus: et pro quo vere debetur gratiarum actio. Videtur hic aliquibus Apostolum non sentire unum esse, doctrinam, et formam doctrinae sed minus aliquid significare formam doctrinae quam ipsam doctrinam, ut forma doctinae sit quod hic videmnus per speculum et in aenigmate; doctinae vero, videre facie ad faciem. Vel forma doctrinae est consummata et bene formata doctrina justitiae. Alli aliter: proponunt enim tres formas in doctina fidei; rationalem, spiritualem, intellectualem. Rationalis est in sacramentis et moribus, apta illis hominibus, quibus Dominus dicit in parabolis annuntiandum regnum Dei. Spiritualis est in lectionis studio et meditationis, et majorum doctrina, conveniens eis quibus Dominus dicit: Vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni Dei. Intellectualis est in amoris illuminati affectu, quae propria est mundorum cordium, quae Deum videre merentur. Rationalis exigit voluntariam obedientiam, et activam perfectionem, spiritualis sobrium sensum, et humilem contemplationem: intellectualis pacificam et familiarem experientiam. De sursum enim veniens hic intellectus non formatur a ratione, sed ipse sibi conformat rationem, non ut eum capiat, sed ut illuminata ab eo, aliquando in eum consentiat. De prima ergo doctinae forma dicit hic Apostolus, in quam illi traditi sunt qi obedientur semetipsos in eam tradiderunt. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos Source: Migne PG 180.609b-610a

Thanks be to God, that you who were slaves to sin, have become obedient from the heart in that form of teaching to which you were given. 1 Here he speaks to those perfect, for whom he gave thanks to God at the begining of his letter, because their faith has been proclaimed in the whole world. 2 And he gives thanks not that there were once slaves of sin, but because they have been made servants of righteousness, they who had been cast down into a necessity of habit and into disgraceful servitude, which state it is rare and difficult to change, and as the wisdom of the world says, it is impossible to separate joined members without the loss of blood. 'You have become obedient in that way of teaching to which you were given.' Behold, the disposition is changed, and for that truly there should be thanksgiving. It seems here that to some the Apostle's 'teaching' and 'form of teaching', are not one, but 'form of teaching' signifies something less than teaching itself, so that the 'form of teaching' may be what we see here though a mirror in mystery, and then 'teaching' is face to face. 3 Or the form of teaching is the perfection and well formed teaching of righteousness. Others say otherwise; they propose there are three forms in the teaching of faith: rational, spiritual, intellectual. The rational is in the sacraments and way of life, fitting for those men to whom the Lord spoke in the parables proclaiming the kingdom of God. And the spiritual is in the pursuit of reading and meditation, and this greater teaching is fitting for those to whom the Lord said: 'To you is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom.' 4 The intellectual is the illumination of love, which is the possession of the pure of heart, they who merit to see God. 5 So of the rational is voluntary obedience, and perfection of activity. Of the spiritual is is a sober mind and humble contemplation. Of the intellectual is peace and experience of what is familiar. For that intellect coming from above is not shaped by reason, but it shapes reason to itself; reason does not grasp it, but it is illuminated by it when it finds something agreeable in it. Concerning the first teaching, then, the Apostle speaks here, in which they are given who obediently give themselves to it. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Romans 1 Rom 6.17 2 Rom 1.8 3 1 Cor 13.12 4 Lk 8.10 5 Mt 5.8

Growth And Benefit

Σπόρος οὐκ αὐξηθήσεται δίχα γῆς καὶ ὕδατος· καὶ οὑκ ὠφεληθήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐκτὸς ἑκουσίων πόνων καὶ θείας ἀντιλήψεως. Οὐκ ἔστιν χωρὶς νέφους ἐπιχυθῆναι βροχὴν, οὐδὲ χωρὶς συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς εὐαρεστῆσαι Θεῷ Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: MignePG 65.940b

A seed will not grow without earth and water, and a man will not profit without voluntary labour and the assistance of God. Without clouds there is no rain, without a good conscience there is no pleasing God. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works

Admiring The Clouds

Quid autem nos in vita sanctorum de nostra admiratione dicimus, cum ipsi quoque antiqui patres praedicatorum sanctae Ecclesiae vitam considerantes, valde admirati sunt? An non eorum vitam Psalmista admiratus est, cum dicebat: Mihi autem nimis honorati sunt amici tui, Deus, nimis confortatus est principatus eorum? Quod de quibus ejus amicis dicat Evangelium interroga, in quo Veritas praedicatoribus dicit: Vos amici mei estis. Isaias quoque eorum vitam intuens, ait: Qui sunt isti qui ut nubes volant, et quasi columbae ad fenestras suas? Recte autem praedicatores sancti nubes appellati sunt, quia verbis pluunt, miraculis coruscant. Qui volare quoque ut nubes dicuntur, quia et in terra viventes extra terram fuerunt per omne quod egerunt. Unde et per quamdam nubem dicitur: In carne enim ambulantes non secundum carnem militamus? Priores enim patres conjugiis utebantur, filios procreabant, substantias possidebant, curis rei familiaris intendebant. Istos autem per prophetiae jam spiritum praevidentes substantias deserere, conjugia non appetere, filios non procreare, nil in terra quaerere, nihil possidere, non eos per terram velut homines ambulantes, sed ut nubes volantes nominant. Volant etenim, quia mente ea quae sunt coelestia contemplantur. Qui terram quasi non tangunt, quia in ipsa nil appetunt. Qui et ad fenestras suas quasi columbae sunt, quia per mansuetudinis suae spiritum in hoc mundo per oculos nil concupiscunt. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber II, Homilia VI Source: Migne PL 76.1006c-d

But why do we speak of our own admiration for the life of the holy, when the fathers of old also, considering the life of the holy church, are extremely admiring? Is it not that the Psalmist has admired their life when he says, 'To me they have been excessively honoured, your friends, O God, greatly strengthened is their pre-eminence' 1 Concerning which friends, look to the Gospel in which the Truth says to His preachers: 'You are my friends.' 2 Isaiah also looks on their life, when he says: 'Who are these who are like clouds that fly, and as doves at their windows?' 3 And rightly are the preachers named holy clouds, because they give forth a rain of words and they flash with miracles. And they are also said to fly like clouds because though living on the earth, they were beyond the earth by everything they did. Whence as a certain cloud it is said: 'Walking in the flesh, but not fighting according to the flesh.' 4 The fathers of old made use of marriage, they sired sons, they possessed property, they looked to the cares of their family. But the later ones, through the spirit of prophecy, are foreseen as those who neglect possessions, who have no desire for marriage, who do not sire sons, who seek nothing in the earth, who claim nothing, who do not walk as men do on the earth, but are referred to as flying clouds. And indeed they fly, because with their minds they contemplate heavenly things. And they are as those who do not touch the earth, because they have no care for anything in it. And they are even as doves at their windows, because by the spirit of their meekness through their eyes they desire nothing in the world. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 6 1 Ps 138.17 2 Jn 15.14 3 Isaiah 60.8 4 2 Cor 10.3

War Of Flesh And Spirit

Ἐν σαρκὶ γὰρ περιπατοῦντες, οὐ κατὰ σὰρκα στρατευόμεθα.... Τὸ προκείμενον νόησιν ἔχει τοῦ ἐν ἑτέρᾳ ἐπιστολῇ γραφομένου ἔχοντος οὕτως· ἐπὶ γῆς περιπατοῦντες ἐν οὐρανῷ ἔχομεν τὸ πολίτευμα· καὶ γὰρ ταὐτὸν εἴη τὸ κατὰ σάρκα καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς περιπατεῖν, καὶ τὸ μὴ κατὰ σάρκα στρατεύεσθαι τοῦ τὸ πολίτευμα ἔχειν ἐν οὐρανῷ. κατὰ σάρκα δὲ στρατεύεσθαι λέγει οὐ πάντως τοὺς εἰς πόλεμον παρεσκευασμένους, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοὺς σαρκίνους καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πεπραμένους ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, οἷοι ἦσαν περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας. οἱ τούτους ὑπεραναβεβηκότες ὡς τὸ φρόνημα καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκὸς πάλιν κατὰ πνεῦμα στρατεύονται τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων Χριστῷ. διὸ ἵνα ἀρέσωσι τῷ στρατεύσαντι, οὐκ ἐμπλέκονται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις, τοῦτ' ἔστι τοῖς ὑλικοῖς. ἀμέλει γοῦν ἃ φέρουσιν ὅπλα οὐκ αἰσθητὰ καὶ σωματικά ἀσθενῆ γὰρ ταῦτα ἀλλὰ δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ εἰσιν. καθαιροῦσι γοῦν οἱ χρώμενοι τούτοις τὰς ὀχυρότητας τῶν ἀπατηλῶν λόγων πάνυ σοφιστικῶς κατεσκευασμένων πρὸς τῶν ἑτεροδόξων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ὄντα ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις ὑψώματα κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπαιρόμενα· οἱ γὰρ ἀντιταττόμενοι τῇ γνώσει τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀσεβῆ καὶ ἄθεα δόγματα παρεισάγοντες, τῇ δεινότητι τῶν λόγων φρούρια ὀχυρὰ οἰκοδομοῦντες, ἔνδον αὐτῶν χωροῦντες ἡγοῦνται εἶναι ἀκατα μάχητοι. Πρὸς τούτοις ἃ διδασκαλικῶς δῆθεν σὺν φαινομένῃ ἀποδείξει προφέρουσι μάταιον ὕψος ἔχοντα, ψευδεῖ νοήσει ἐπαίρεται ὡς ἀνωτέρω χωροῦντα τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς γνώμης ὀνομαζομένης γνώσεως θεοῦ. Αὐτὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἀξίοις παρέχει. Ἕνεκα γοῦν τοῦ καθαιρῆσαι τὰ προειρημένα ὑψώματα καὶ ὀχυρώματα, ἐνδυσάμενοι τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ πνεῦμα, τῷ εἰρημένῳ τρόπῳ στρατευόμεθα. Διαλύομεν γοῦν τοὺς σοφιστικοὺς αὐτῶν λόγους, καὶ τὰ δόγματα διελέγχομεν. Ἀμέλει γοῦν πᾶν νόημα τῶν ἠπατημένων κεκρατημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπατεώνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνατραφὲν ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ ἐκείνων αἰχμαλωτίζοντες φέρομεν πρὸς τὸ ὑπακοῦσαι τῷ Χριστῷ.Δυνατὸν ἐκλαβεῖν καὶ οὕτως· πᾶν νόημα τὸ ὅπως ποτὲ ἔν τινι διδασκαλίᾳ φερόμενον ἀνάγκῃ καὶ βίᾳ μετοικίζοντες πρὸς τὸ πεῖσαι ὑπακοῦσαι τῷ Χριστῷ φέρομεν. Oὕτω γὰρ τὸ Ἀθήνησιν ἀνακείμενον βωμῷ ἐπίγραμμα, ἐμφαῖνον πολλῶν θεῶν νόημα, ἑλκύσας ὁ ταῦτα γράφων μετήνεγκεν εἰς τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν, φήσας· ὃν οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε, τοῦτον ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν. Ἀγνοούμενον δὲ πλῆθος θεῶν ἐδήλου τὸ ἐπίγραμμα. Ὅταν οὖν πᾶν νόημα αἰχμαλωτισθῇ εἰς ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ τηνικάδε ἑτοίμως ἕξομεν κατὰ πάσης παρακοῆς ἐπαγαγεῖν ἐκδίκησιν, ὥσπερ οἱ αἰχμαλώτους λαβόντες ἐν τῷ νενικηκέναι ἔθνος τι θαρραλέοι γίνονται εἰς τὸ ὑποσκάψαι τὴν χώραν ἐκείνων. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Τὴν Δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους Source: Migne PG 39.1717c-1720c

For walking in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh...1 These words bear the same meaning which is found in another letter: 'Walking on earth, we have our place in heaven.' 2 Certainly it is according to the flesh that one walks on the earth, and yet it not according to the flesh one fights when one has one's place in heaven. For to fight according to the flesh, he says, by no means refers to men who triumph in war here, for carnal men by this are conquered by sin, concerning which it was said, 'My spirit shall not remain in these men, for they are flesh.' 3 Those who are lifted up over these things, that is, over the desires and works of the flesh, they on the contrary are the ones who fight according to the Spirit, that they rule over all things with Christ. Therefore, so that they might please their general, they are not bound up in the affairs of the world, that is material things. 4 And the arms they bear are not material things or corporeal, for such things are weak, but their strength is from God. They, then, who make use of these kind of arms, they destroy the citadels of deceitful speech, which the heterodox raise up with great sophistical art, and even the heights of their orations against the wisdom of God, by which they accliam themselves, they blow apart; for they who set up impious and godless teaching against the true knowledge, with their eloquence build up fortresses with strong walls, within which they enclose themselves, and they seem to themselves be unconquerable. But with their teachings of mere apparent proofs they vainly claim the heights, and only in a deluded mind is their place is elevated as something superior to the understanding of the Church, which is called the knowledge of God. For He gives this only to those who are worthy. Therefore for the overthrow of the aforementioned high places and citadels, there is the endowment of the arms of God according to the spirit, and instruction in the way we war. Thus let us shatter the cleverness of their speeches and thus let us refute their teachings. Let us have no care for any thought set beneath the yoke of error by these deceivers, but even those raised captive in their places, let us transfer to the service of Christ. Thus it is possible to understand it: that it is most necessary that every thought expressed in whatever teaching we bring by power to be persuaded to obedience to Christ. So indeed that inscription on the Athenean altar, which proclaimed an understanding of many gods, the author of this letter brings to the one true God, saying: 'Him whom, therefore, you worship as unknown, I announce to you.' 5 And certainly by the name of 'unknown' he speaks of the inscription regarding many gods. When, therefore, all understanding shall have been made captive in obedience to Christ, then we shall be prepared to punish any contumacy, just as one who makes a people captive, may confidently walk about their ravaged country. Didymus the Blind, On The Second Letter of Paul to The Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 1.3 2 Philip 3.20 3 Gen 6.3 4 2 Tim 2.4 5 Acts 17.23

Gideon's Place

Sed primo illud quod ex Epistola quae ad Hebraeos est, commemoravi, inter illos laudabiles viros qui ibidem recoluntur, non solum est Jephte, verum etiam Gedeon, de quo similiter Scriptura dicit, Spiritus Domini confortavit Gedeon: et tamen ejus factum, quod de illo auro praedae operatus est ephud, et fornicatus est post illud omnis Israel, et factum est domui Gedeon in scandalum, non solum laudare non possumus; verum etiam quia Scriptura hic apertissime judicavit, reprobare minime dubitamus: nec tamen ex hoc ulla fit injuria Spiritui Domini, qui cum confortavit, ut hostes populi ejus tanta facilitate superaret. Cur ergo inter illos commemoratur, qui per fidem vicerunt regna, operantes justitiam; nisi quia sancta Scriptura, quorum fidem atque justitiam veraciter laudat, non hinc impeditur eorum etiam peccata, si qua novit, et oportere judicat, notare veraciter? Nam et in eo quod idem Gedeon signum petens, sicut ipse locutus est, tentavit in vellere, nescio utrum non fuerit transgressus praeceptum quod scriptum est, Non tentabis Dominum Deum tuum: verumtamen etiam in ejus tentatione Dominus quod praenuntiare volebat ostendit; in compluto scilicet vellere et area tota circumquaque sicca, figurare primum populum Israel, ubi erant sancti cum gratia coelesti, tanquam pluvia spirituali; et postea compluta area sicco vellere, figurare Ecclesiam toto orbe diffusam, habentem non in vellere tanquam in velamine, sed in aperto coelestem gratiam, illo priore populo velut ab ejusdem gratiae rore aliento atque siccato. Nec tamen frustra inter fideles et operantes justitiam, propter bonam fidelemque vitam, in qua eum credendum est esse defunctum, tale in Epistola ad Hebraeos meruit testimonium. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestionum In Heptateuchum, Liber VII Source: Migne PL 34.813-814

But first, that which is in the letter to the Hebrews, that I have mentioned, among those who are recounted as praiseworthy men, not only is Jephtah found but even Gideon, 1 concerning whom Scripture similarly says that the Spirit of the Lord strengthened Gideon, 2 and yet one of his deeds was the making of the gold ephod from spoil, which caused all Israel to fornicate after it and made the house of Gideon a scandal, 3 which we are not only not able to praise, but since Scripture openly condemns it, we must without doubt reprove. Not, however, that this is any injury to the Spirit of the Lord, who when He strengthened gave triumph with such ease to the hosts of his people. Why, then, is he among those who are recalled, who through faith conquered kingdoms, and worked righteousness, unless that Holy Scripture, the faith and justice of whom truly it praises, is not at all impeded by their errors, when that which it knows, and judges necessary, it note truly? For even in the act of that same Gideon seeking a sign, as it is said, he made trial with a fleece, I do not know whether it were not a transgression of that command written: 'You shall not test the Lord your God.' 4 But the Lord in his testing showed what He wished to be foretold. That is, the wetting of the fleece with the whole area around it dry, is a figure of the first people Israel, when they were holy with the grace of heaven, as with spiritual water; and then the later wetting of the dry area around the fleece, is a figure of the Church spread throughout the whole world, having not heaven's grace in the fleece, as a covering, but in the open, and with the former people by the same grace bedewed as the foreign dryness. 5 Not, then, among the faithful and workers of righteousness, on account of good faith and life, in which believing in Him he died, did such a man vainly merit testimony in the Letter to The Hebrews. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on The Heptateuch, Book 7 1 Hebrews 11.32 2 Judges 6.23 3 Judges 8.27 4 Deut 6.16 5 Judges 6.36-40

Divine Assistance

Ερώτησις ΙϚ' Τί δήποτε τοὺς κυνὶ παραπλησίως πεποκότας μόνους ἐκέλευσε παρατάξασθαι; Δεδήλωκε τὴν αἰτίαν αὐτὸς ὁ Δεσπότης Θεός· Πολὺς γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ ὄχλος ὁ μετὰ σοῦ, ὥστε παραδοῦναι με τὴν Μαδιὰμ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτῶν, μήποτε καυχήσηται Ἰσραὴλ ἐπ' ἐμὲ, λέγων· Ἡ χείρ μου ἔσωσέ με. Τῶν πλείστων τοίνυν ἀπολυθέντων, τοὺς ὑπολειφθέντας τῷ ποταμῷ προσαχθῆναι προσέταξεν, εἴτα τῶν πλειόνων εἰς γόνυ κλιθέντων, καὶ πεπωκότων συντόμως· τῶν δὲ τριακοσίων τοῦτο μὲν δι' ὅκνον οὐ πεποιηκότων, τῇ δὲ χειρὶ τὸ νᾶμα προσενεγκόντων τῷ στόματι, τούτους μόνους ἐκέλευσεν, ὡ ἀργοὺς καὶ νωθεῖς, κατὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων ὁρμῆσαι· ἵνα γένηται δήλη πᾶσιν ἡ θεία ῥοπή. Οὔτω καὶ διὰ δώδεκα ἁλιέων καὶ τελωνῶν, καὶ σκυτοτόμου ἑνὸς, τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων κατέλυσε φάλαγγα, καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν φύσιν διέσωσε. Τούτο χάριν ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαῗας τούτοις ἐκεῖνα παρέβαλλεν, καὶ ἔφη· Τὴν γὰρ ῥάβδον τῶν ἀπειθούντων διεσκέδασε Κύροις, ὡς τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἐπὶ Μαδιάμ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα γυμνοῖς ἐχρήσατο στρατιώταις, τῇ μὲν λαιᾷ φέρουσι κεκρυμμένας ἐν ἀμφορεῦσι λαμπάδας· τῇ δεξιᾷ δὲ τὰς σάλπιγγας· οὕτω τοὺς ἵεροὺς ἀποστόους γυμνοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀπέστειλε, φέροντας τὴν λαμπάδα τῶν θαυμάτων, καὶ τὴν σάλπιγγα τῶν κηρυγμάτων. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τους Κριτάς Source: Migne PG 80.504a-b

Question 16 Why were those who acted like dogs alone sent into battle? The Lord God Himself revealed the reason: 'There are too many men with you that I give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel glory against me, saying, 'My own hand has liberated me.' 1 Then, with the greater part dismissed, He commanded that those who remained should be led to the river, from which the majority, those who swiftly bent the knee to drink, He sent away, and the thirty who through hestiation did not do this, who brought water to the mouth with the hand, these alone, unready and sluggish, He commanded go forth against the enemy, that the Divine aid be apparent to all. 2 Indeed in this way, by the twelve fishermen and tax collectors, and a shoe maker, He scattered the army of demons and saved human nature. Whence the Prophet Isaiah, arranging both together, says: 'The Lord scattered the staff of the faithless as on the day of Midianites.' 3 For as He once used unarmed soldiers, bearing in their left arms torches hid in urns, and in the right trumpets, 4 so He sent out the holy Apostles unarmed into the world, bearing the light of miracles, and the trumpet of preaching. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Judges 1 Judges 7.2 2 Judges 7.4-6 3 Isaiah 9.4 4 Judges 7.8

The Limitations Of Miracles

Non fuit, inquis, ordo eiusmodi necessarius, quia statim se et Filium et Missum et Dei Christum rebus ipsis esset probaturus per documenta virtutum. At ego negabo solam hanc illi speciem ad testimonium competisse, quam et ipse postmodum exauctoravit, siquidem edicens multos venturos et signa facturos et virtutes magnas edituros, aversionem etiam electorum, nec ideo tamen admittendos, temerariam signorum et virtutum fidem ostendit, ut etiam apud pseudochristos facillimarum. Aut quale est si inde se voluit probari et intellegi et recipi, ex virtutibus dico, unde ceteros noluit aeque et ipsos tam subito venturos quam a nullo auctore praedicatos? Si quia prior eis venit et prior virtutum documenta signavit, idcirco, quasi locum in balneis, ita fidem occupavit, posteris quibusque praeripuit, vide ne et ipse in condicione posteriorum deprehendatur, posterior inventus creatore ante iam cognito, et proinde virtutes ante operato, et non aliter praefato non esse aliis credendum, post eum scilicet. Igitur si priorem venisse et priorem de posteris pronuntiasse hoc fidem excludet, praedamnatus erit et ipse iam ab eo quo posterior est agnitus, et solius erit auctoritas creatoris hoc in posteros constituendi, qui nullo posterior esse potuit. Iam nunc, cum probaturus sim creatorem easdem virtutes, quas solas ad fidem Christo tuo vindicas, interdum per famulos suos retro edidisse, interdum per Christum suum edendas destinasse, possum et ex hoc merito praescribere tanto magis Christum non ex solis virtutibus credendum fuisse quanto illum non alterius quam creatoris interpretari potuissent, ut respondentes virtutibus creatoris et editis per famulos suos et in Christum suum repromissis. Quamquam, et si alia documenta invenirentur in tuo Christo, nova scilicet, facilius crederemus etiam nova eiusdem esse cuius et vetera, quam cuius tantummodo nova, egentia experimentis fidei victricis vetustatis, ut sic quoque praedicatus venire debuerit tam praedicationibus propriis exstruentibus ei fidem quam et virtutibus, praesertim adversus Christum creatoris venturum et signis et prophetiis propriis munitum, ut aemulus Christi per omnes diversitatum species reluceret. Sed quomodo a deo nunquam praedicato Christus eius praedicaretur? Hoc est ergo quod exigit nec Deum nec Christum tuum credi, quia et Deus ignotus esse non debuit, et Christus agnosci per Deum debuit. Tertullianus, Adversus Marcionem, Liber III, Caput III Source: Migne PL 2.323c-325a

An arrangement of prior prophecy, you say, was not necessary, because He was instantly able to prove Himself the Son, and He Who Was Sent, and the Christ of God, with His deeds, by means of the witness of His miracles. But I shall deny that evidence of this sort alone was sufficient testimony of Him when He Himself later dismissed its authority, since He, declaring that many would come and show great signs and wonders, so as to turn aside the very elect, and yet were not to be received, 1 showed the rashness of belief in signs and wonders, which were so easy to perform even by false christs. Else how is it, if He wished to be approved and understood and received on account of such wonders, that He forbade the recognition of others like that, whose coming was to be quite sudden and unannounced by any authority? If, because He came before them, and was before them in displaying signs, and therefore, just as the firstcomers have the first place in the baths, He had first right to faith, and so seized it from all who came after, be careful lest even He be caught in the condition of the latecomer, being found to be after the Creator, who had already been made known, and who had already worked miracles like Him, and just like Him had forewarned that others not be believed, who should come after Him. If, therefore, to have come first and to have first uttered this warning is the limit of faith, He will Himself have to be condemned, because He was later in being acknowledged, and authority to prescribe such a rule about latecomers will belong to the Creator alone, who could have been after none. And now, when I am about to prove that the Creator displayed the same miracles, which you claim as solely enough for faith in your Christ, sometimes by His servants before, and in other cases reserved for His Christ to show, I may from this with merit maintain that there was so much the greater reason why Christ should not be believed in simply on account of His miracles, inasmuch as these would have shown Him to belong to none other than the Creator, because they answer to the miracles of the Creator, both as performed by His servants and reserved for His Christ. And, then, even if some other proofs should be found in your Christ, that is, novelties, we would be more readily inclinced to believe that even they belong to the same one as the old ones, rather than to him who has nothing but new proofs which have not the witness of antiquity which wins faith, so that even here he should have come announced as much by prophecies of his own for the building up of faith in him, as by miracles, especially against the Creator's Christ who was to come fortified by signs and prophets of His own, that he might shine forth as a rival of Christ in every way. But how was his Christ to be foretold by a God who never predicted? This, therefore, must obtain: that neither your God nor your Christ are to be believed, because God should not have been unknown and Christ should have been made known through God. Tertullian, Against Marcion Book 3, Chapter 3 1 Mk 13.21-22

A Woman's Healing

Et cum venisset Jesus in domum Petri, vidit socrum ejus jacentem, et reliqua. Ad hoc ergo venerat ut videret febricitantem, et ideo mox cum venisset, vidit eam ac sanavit. Causa namque adventus ejus jacentis infirmitas, et non edenti necessitas fuit; quia in domo qua misera febris hominem laniabat, non cura prandii ac laetitiae, sed lacyrmarum erat effusio. Mira omnipotentis Dei dispensatio, qui etiam non quaerentes se quaerit, et non valentes ad se venire, ad eos clementer venit; quia si non ille ad nos prior venissset, nunquam ad eum redire potuissemus. Sed bene, postuqam descendit, haec mulier tetio loco curata legitur, quambis alii evangelistae alio in loco eam commemoraverint. Nihil enim interest ad historiae veritatem quis quo loco ponat, sive quod ex ordine interserit, sive quod postea factum ante praeoccupaverit; dum tamen invicem non adversentur, quod numquam reperies. Multum vero ad mysticam semper proficit intelligentiam, ut eo loco ab unoquoque, Spiritu sancto docente, singula ponantur, ut et veritas pateat operis, et doctrina spiritalis uberius appareat ex circumstantia lectionis. Nam, ut dixi, leprosus ille universum designat humanum genus, id est lepta originalis delicti coinquinatum: puer centurionis gentilitatem solam, morbo idololatriae, quasi paralysi, dissolutam, et ab omni compagine vitae pene emortuam. Quibus curatis, clementissimum erat ut mulier, quae fuerat auctor morborum et mortis, post virum curaretur et ipsa. Utrumque enim sexum Dominus curaturus advenerat. Sed prior curari debuit qui prior creatus est, tum demum et alla ab opifice nec praetermitti. Unde et Sciptura: Tenuit, inquit, manum, et dimisit eam febris. Quid putas? Nunquid verbo non potuit eam curare, quia tenuit manum ejus? Vel cur leprosum tangit, et curat verbo; hujus vero tenet manum, et continuo discedit febris? Illum ergo tangit, quod lex vetuerat, ut se supra legem ostenderet, de quo satis jam diximus. Hujus vero tenuit manum, quam mulier contra mandatum extenderat ad arborem, de qua noxium arboris gustum sumeret. Propterea ergo ratio fuit ejus tenere manum, ut vitam resumeret; quia Adam de manu mulieris acceperat mortem. Sic omnia Salvatoris concinunt opera. Justum quippe erat ut quod manus praesumentis admiserat, manus repararet auctoris, et indulgentiam reciperet quae cunctis intulerat mortem. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber V, Cap VIII Source: Migne PL 120.353c-354b

And when Jesus came into the house of Peter, He saw his mother in law cast down...1 For this, therefore, He came, that He see one fevered, and therefore as soon as He had come, He saw her and healed her. The reason for His coming was the weakness of her cast down and not because of some need for eating, because when in the house a fever had laid low a wretched invididual there was no care for feasting and joy but for a pouring out of tears. Wonderous dispensation of God, who sought out those not seeking and who came to those languishing, coming to them in mercy, because if He had not come to us before, never would we have been able to return to Him. And well it is said that after He descended, He cured this woman in third place, although the other evangelists remember her in another place. 2 For it is of no weight to the truth of history who is placed where, or in what order set, or recalled, or if that which is later is considered before, while none of them oppose the other, which you will never find. However, it is always of much cause of profit to the spiritual understanding, that in that place, by whichever one, with the Holy Spirit teaching, each thing is placed, that the truth of the work is revealed and the spiritual teaching more fruitfully appear from the circumstances of the passage. For, as I have said, the leper signified the whole human race, that is, the leper was soiled with original sin, and the centurion's boy indicated the Gentiles alone, who with the sickness of idolatry, as one paralysed and incapable, was mortified from every activity of life. Which curing, He most merciful, after curing man, cured woman, she who was the creator of disease and death. For the Lord came to cure both sexes. But it was right that He cure him who was created first, and then that the Creator pass on to her. Whence Scripture says: 'He held her hand and rid her of the fever.' What do you think? Was He not able to cure her with a word, because He held her hand? Or why did He touch the leper and cure with a word, but He held her hand and immediately the fever fled? He touched him that the old law wither away, that He show Himself over the law, concerning which we have spoken of enough before. And then He held the hand of woman, who against command had reached for the tree, from which she received the ruinous taste of the tree. Thus it was reasonable that He hold her hand, that life be restored, because Adam received death from the hand of the woman. So all the works of the Lord harmonise. Certainly it was right that the hand of the Creator restore the hand which had presumptively reached out, and so she receive forgiveness for bringing death to all. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 5, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.14 2 Mk 1.30, Lk 4.38