Vain Adornment

Cum vestieris te coccino, et cum ornata fueris monili aureo, et pinxeris stibio oculos tuos, frustra componeris: contempserunt te amatores tui: animam tuam quaerent. Sub figura mulieris adulterae loquitur: cum semel offenderis Deum, et quasi virum tuum reliqueris Creatorem, frustra ornamenta perquiris. Contempserunt te daemones amatores tui, et nequaquam stupri immunditiam, sed animae tuae quaerent interitum. Hoc idem intelligendum spiritualiter contra eos, qui conjugales affectus et verae fidei pudicitiam perdiderunt. Si te, inquit, vestieris coccino, id est, sanguinis Christi assumpseris fidem: si monili ornaveris aureo, id est, meditationem habueris sensus et intelligentiae spiritualis: et pinxeris oculos tuos stibio, id est, habueris studium mysteriorum et Dei secreta noscendi, frustra componeris. Haec enim etiam tuis amatoribus praepararas; et idcirco lectus angustus utrumque capere non potest, nec recipit ornamenta Deus, quibus amatoribus tuis ante placuisti. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Propheta, Liber IV Cap XXX Source Migne PL 24.740a-b

When you dressed yourself in scarlet and you adorned yourself with a gold necklace and you painted your eyes with kohl, vainly you beautified yourself. Your lovers despise you, they seek your soul.1 By the figure of an adulterous woman it says: when you have offended God, and, as if He were your husband, you have abandoned your Creator, it is in vain for you to seek ornamentation. Your demon lovers despise you, they do not seek the filth of your shame but the ruin of your soul. This should also be understood spiritually as against those who have ruined the marital affection and the chastity of pure faith. He says: 'If you dress in scarlet, that is, you have accepted the faith of the blood of Christ, if you adorn yourself with a necklace of gold, that is, you have contemplated the spiritual sense and understanding, and if you enlarge your eyes with kohl, that is, you have a zeal for the mysteries and for the secrets of God, yet vainly you beautify yourself. For you have also prepared these things for your lovers and your narrow bed is not able to hold both them and God, and God will not accept your ornaments with which you previously pleased your lovers. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 4, Chapter 30 1 Jerem 4.30

A Trackless Place

Pauci facti sunt, et vexati sunt a tribulatione malorum et dolore. Et effusa est contentio super principes eorum: et seduxerunt eos vana eorum, et seduxit eos in invio, et non in via. In his duobus versibus illos describit qui haeretica pravitate decepti, Ecclesiam Domini derelinquunt; de quibus Ioannes Apostolus dicit: A nobis exierunt, sed non erant ex nobis; nam si essent ex nobis, mansissent utique nobiscum. Isti ergo pauci sunt, quamvis multi sibi esse videantur; nam ad illam universalem Ecclesiam comparati, omnimodis probantur exigui. Hi vexati sunt a tribulatione malorum et dolore; vexati utique, quando eos diabolicae insidiae perculerunt. Necesse est enim hos dolor et tribulatio subsequatur, qui auctorem salutis reliquisse noscuntur. Sequitur, et effusa est contentio super principes eorum. Breviter sacerdotes haereticorum designati atque notati sunt, a quibus merito dicitur effusa contentio; quia non salutari doctrina, sed tantum mortifera loquacitate contendunt; quippe qui Scripturas divinas locis aliquibus suscipiunt, et pro parte maxima derelinquunt. Hi quoniam sua vanitate seducti sunt, per invia labuntur erroris: quippe qui viam salutis deserunt, et tortuosis semitis immorantur. Audiant ergo ubi ambulant, et quo possint pervenire cognoscant. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CVI Source: Migne PG 70.775d-776a

They were made few, and they were vexed by the tribulations of evil and sorrow. And contention was poured out on their princes, and their vanities seduced them, and He seduced them into a trackless place and not in the way. 1 In these two verses he describes those who are deceived by the depravity of heretics and led to abandon the Lord's Church. The Apostle John says of them: 'They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us they would have remained with us.' 2 Though they regard themselves as many, they are in truth few, for when compared with the universal Church their numbers are found to be very small. They were 'vexed by the tribulations of evil and sorrow;' that is, they were particularly afflicted because they were snared by the wiles of the devil. Inevitably those known to have abandoned the author of salvation are attended by trouble and sorrow. Next comes: 'And contention was poured out on their princes.' The priests of the heretics are briefly indicated and censured here, and it is rightly said that contention is poured out, because they do not exert themselves in the teaching which brings salvation, but merely in the loquacity which brings death, since they receive the Divine Scriptures in some passages, but for the most part they abandon them. Since they have been led away by their own vanity, they slip down into trackless errors, for they abandon the road of salvation, and perish on crooked paths. So let them attend to where there are walking, and let them be aware of where they are going. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 106 1 Ps 106.37-38 2 1 Jn 2.19

Debt And Payment

Duo, inquit, debitores erant cuidam feneratori, unus debebat deanrios quingentos, et alius quinquaginta. Non habentibus illis unde redderent, donavit utrisque; quis ergo eum amplius diligit? Respondens Simon dixit: Aestimo quod is cui plus donavit. Et Dominus, recte judicasti. Audistis quemadmodum coelestis creditor totum debitum charitate compensat et ad incrementum totius fenoris amoris solius exigit et requirit usuram. Plectendus debitor, qui dilectione sola suam negligit redimere cautionem. Vis scire, homo, quid Deo debeas? Quod factus es, Dei creditum est; quod es rationis capax, Dei fenus est; quod discretionem mali bonive possides, accepisti; et quod vivendi normam acceperis per chirographum legis, stipulanti Deo spopondisse te non potes diffiteri. Sed dum te per vitia carnis in lutum instar suis demergis, et quadrupedum more vivens qua praeditus es ratione privaris, et in gurgite criminum boni malive perdita discretione confundis, et divinae legis substantiam dissipas, mundana voluptate captivus, factus es gloriosi fenoris debitor luctuosus, cui deficientibus virtutum lucris criminum multiplicatur usura. Sed licet in hac re cecideris, licet fueris in ista devolutus, vide ne desperes: homo, remansit tibi unde piissimo satisfacias creditori. Absolvi vis? Ama. Charitas cooperiet multitudinem peccatorum. Negationis crimine quid peius? et tamen Petrus amore solo valuit hoc delere, probante Domino, cum dicit: Petre, amas me? Inter omnia Dei praecepta amor obtinet principatum. Diliges, inquit, Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota mente tua, et ex tota virtute tua. Ama ergo, homo, Deum, et ama totus, ut possis omnia sine labore vincere et delere peccata. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XCIV Source: Migne PL 52.465c-466b

'There were two debtors of a certain creditor, one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Neither had the means to repay and he forgave them both. Who then did he love the most?' Simon answering, said, 'I think the one he forgave the most.' And the Lord said, 'You have judged rightly.' 1 You have heard how the heavenly creditor receives payment of the whole debt by charity and as the addition to all that has been lent exacts and demands for interest love alone. The debtor is punishable who neglects to repay his debt when it is love alone. Do you wish to know, O man, what you owe to God? That you are is credit from God, that you are capable of reason is a loan of God, that you possess the judgement to distinguish between good and evil is what you have received, and that you have undertaken to live by the rule of the bond which God has drawn up, you are not able to deny. But while you wallow in the mud of the vices of the flesh and live in the manner of a beast on all fours, you are deprived of the reason you were given. In the flood of your crimes, with judgement destroyed, you confuse good and evil, and you squander the substance of the Divine law. Snared by worldly pleasures, you are made a woeful debtor of a glorious loan, and to one who is profitless in the virtues the interest of sins is multiplied. And yet although you have fallen in this, although you have come crashing down, see that you do not despair. O man, you still may give satisfaction to your most pious creditor. Do you wish to be forgiven? Love. 'Charity covers a multitude of sins.' 2 What is worse than the sin of denial? And yet Peter by love alone was able to expunge this, with the Lord's approval, who says: 'Peter, do you love me?' 3 Of all the commands of God love has first place. 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 4 So love God, O man, and love Him totally, that you might be able to overcome everything without toil and wipe out sins. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 94 1 Lk 7.41-43 2 1 Pet 4.8 3 Jn 21.15-17 4. Mt 12.30, Deut 6.5

Love And Change

Attendat enim Caritas vestra, ut dicam vel quod Dominus suggerit. Accepit legem populus Iudaeorum. Ista in decalogo non observavit. Et quicumque obtemperabat, timore obtemperabat poenae, non amore iustitiae. Portabat psalterium, non cantabat. Cantanti enim voluptas, timenti onus est. Ideo vetus homo aut non facit, aut timore facit, non amore sanctitatis, non delectatione castitatis, non temperantia caritatis, sed timore. Vetus enim homo est, et vetus homo canticum vetus potest cantare, non novum. Ut autem cantet canticum novum, sit novus homo. Quomodo autem possit esse novus homo, audi, non me, sed Apostolum dicentem: Exuite vos veterem hominem, et induite novum. Et ne quis putaret, cum dixit: Exuite vos veterem hominem et induite novum: aliquid ponendum esse et aliquid accipiendum cum de mutando praeciperet homine, subiecit et ait: Quapropter deponentes mendacium, loquimini veritatem. Hoc est quod ait: Exuite veterem hominem et induite novum. Hoc dixit: Mutate mores. Sacculum diligebatis, Deum diligite. Nugatoria iniquitatis, temporales voluptates diligebatis, proximum diligite. Si dilectione facitis, canticum novum cantatis. Si timore facitis, facitis tamen, portatis quidem psalterium, sed nondum cantatis. Si autem nec facitis, proicitis ipsum psalterium. Melius est vel portare, quam proicere. Sed rursus, melius cum voluptate cantare, quam cum onere portare. Nec pervenit ad canticum novum, nisi iam cum voluptate cantans. Nam qui portat cum timore, adhuc in vetere est. Et quid est quod dico, Fratres, attendite. Non concordavit cum adversario suo, qui cum timore adhuc facit. Timet enim ne veniat Deus, et damnet illum. Nam nondum delectat castitas, nondum illum delectat iustitia, sed iudicium Dei formidans, a factis temperat. Non concupiscentiam ipsam damnat, quae saevit in eo. Nondum illum delectat quod bonum est. Nondum ibi habet suavitatem ut cantet canticum novum, sed de vetustate poenas timet. Nondum concordavit cum adversario. Tales enim homines plerumque supplantantur tali cogitatione, ut dicant sibi: 'Si fieri posset, non nobis minaretur Deus, non talia per Prophetas suos diceret quae homines deterrent, sed veniret dare omnibus indulgentiam ignoscere omnibus, postea veniret, neminem mitteret in gehennas'. Iam quia iniquus est, iniquum vult Deum. Vult te Deus facere similem sui, et conaris tu Deum facere similem tui. Placeat tibi ergo Deus qualis est, non qualem illum esse vis. Perversus enim es, et talem vis Deum qualis es, non qualis est. Si autem placeat tibi qualis est, corrigeris, et diriges in eam regulam cor tuum, a qua nunc alienus distortus es. Placeat tibi Deus qualis est, ama qualis est. Non te ipse amat qualis es, sed odit te qualis es. Ideo tui miseretur, quia odit te qualis es, ut faciat te qualis nondum es. Faciat te, dixi, qualis nondum es. Nam illud tibi non promittit quia faciet te qualis est. Nam eris qualis est, sed ad quemdam modum, id est, imitator Dei velut imago, sed non qualis imago est Filius. Nam etiam imagines in hominibus diversae sunt. Filius hominis habet imaginem patris sui, et hoc est quod pater eius, quia homo est sicut pater eius. In speculo autem imago tua non hoc est quod tu. Aliter est enim imago tua in filio, aliter in speculo. In filio est imago tua secundum aequalitatem substantiae, in speculo autem quantum longe est a substantia! Et tamen est quaedam imago tua, quamvis non talis qualis in filio tuo secundum substantiam. Sic in creatura, non hoc est imago Dei, quod est in Filio qui hoc est quod Pater, id est, Deus Verbum Dei per quod facta sunt omnia. Recipe ergo similitudinem Dei, quam per mala facta amisisti. Sicut enim in nummo imago imperatoris aliter est et aliter in filio, nam imago et imago est, sed aliter impressa est in nummo; aliter habetur in filio, aliter in solido aureo imago imperatoris, sic et tu nummus Dei es, ex hoc melior quia cum intellectu et cum quadam vita nummus Dei es ut scias etiam cuius imaginem geras et ad cuius imaginem factus sis, nam nummus nescit se habere imaginem regis. Ergo ut dicere coeperam odit te Deus qualis es, sed amat te talem qualem te esse vult, et ideo ille te ut muteris hortatur. Concorda cum illo, et incipe primo bene velle et odisse te qualis es. Hoc sit tibi initium concordiae cum sermone Dei, ut incipias primo tu odisse te qualis es. Cum coeperis et tu odisse te talem qualis es, sicut te talem odit Deus, incipis iam ipsum diligere Deum qualis est. Sanctus Augustinus Hippoensis, Sermones de Scripturis, Sermon IX, Cap VII-VIII Source: Migne PL 38.81-82

Let your charity attend that I might speak what the Lord suggests to me. The Jewish people received the law. They did not observe those things in the decalogue. And any who did comply did so out of fear of punishment, not out of love of righteousness. They were carrying the harp, they were not singing. In singing there is joy, fear is a burden. Thus the old man either does not do it, or does it out of fear, not out of love of holiness, not out of delight in chastity, not out of temperate charity, but out of fear. He is the old man and the old man can sing the old song but not the new one. That he might sing the new song, he must be the new man. How one can become the new man, listen not to me, but to the Apostle saying, 'Put off the old man and put on the new.' 1 And lest anyone should think when he says 'Put off the old man and put on the new' that something must be laid aside and something taken up when he gives instructions about changing the man,  he says after: 'Therefore putting aside the lie, speak the truth.' 2 This is what he says by: 'Put off the old man and put on the new.' He says: Change your ways. You loved the world, now love God. You loved the worthless things of wickedness and fleeting pleasures, now love your neighbour. If you act from love, you are singing a new song. If you act from fear, but do it, you are indeed carrying the harp, but you are not yet singing. But if you do not do it, you are throwing away the harp. It is better to carry it than throw it away, but it is better again to sing with joy than to bear something as a burden. And one does not achieve the new song unless one is singing it in joy. If you are carrying the harp in fear, you are still in the old song. And to what I say, attend, brothers. Anyone who is still doing it out of fear has not come to an agreement with his adversary. 3 He fears lest God come and condemn him. He does not yet delight in chastity, he does not yet delight in righteousness, but it is because he dreads God's judgement that he refrains from such deeds. He does not condemn the  lust that seethes within him. He does not yet take delight in what is good. He does not yet have the sweetness that sings the new song, but because of old habits he fears punishments. He has not yet made an agreement with the adversary. Such men are often tripped up by thoughts like this, so that they say to themselves, 'If it were possible to do this, God would not be threatening us, he would not say all those things through the Prophets to worry people, but he would have come to be indulgent to everybody and pardon everybody, and after he came he would not send anyone to hell.' Now because he is unjust he wants to make God unjust. God wants to make you like Him, and you are trying to make God like you. Be satisfied with God as He is, not as you would like Him to be. You are perverse, and you want God to be like you, not as He is. But if you are satisfied with Him as He is, then you will be set right and you will align your heart along that rule from which you are now twisted away. Be satisfied with God as He is, love Him as He is. He does not love you as you are, He hates you as you are. So He pities you, because He hates you as you are and wants to make you as you are not yet. Let Him make you, I have said, that which you are not yet. For He did not promise you to make you what He is. You shall be as He is in a certain way, that is, you shall be an imitator of God like an image, but not the kind of image that the Son is. There are different sorts of images even among men. A man’s son bears the image of his father, and is what his father is because he is a man like his father. But your image in a mirror is not what you are. Your image is in your son in one way, in a different way in a mirror. Your image is in your son by way of equality of nature, but in the mirror how far it is from your nature! And even so, it is a kind of image of you, though not as in your son which is according to nature. So the image of God in the creature is not what it is in the Son who is what the Father is, that is, God the Word of God, through whom all things were made. 4 Receive, then, the likeness of God, which you lost through evil deeds. It is as the emperor's image is in a coin in a different way from the way it is in his son; for there is an image and an image, one impressed in one way on a coin and one in another way in a son. The emperor's image is different in his son and on a gold solidus. So you are as God's coin, and a better one in that you are God's coin with intelligence and a certain life, so you can know whose image you bear and to whose image you were made; a coin does not know it carries the king's image. Therefore, as I was saying, God hates you as you are but He loves you as He wants you to be, and that is why He exhorts you to change. Come to an agreement with Him, and begin with a good will and hate yourself as you are. Let this be the beginning of your agreement with the word of God, that you begin by first of all hating yourself as you are. When even you have begun to hate yourself as you are, just as God hates such a thing, then you are already beginning to love God as He is. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 9, Chaps 7-8 1 Ephes 4.22-24 2 Ephes 4.25 3 Mt 5.25 4 Jn 1.3

Offering Gifts

Quomodo si, inquit, inferant filii Israel munus in vase mundo in domum Domini; legimus in Apostlo, in domo magna non solum argentea vel aurea, sed etiam lignea vasa et fictilia reperiri. Quae in ipsa graduum diversitate omnia possunt esse usui, etiamsi non sunt aequalia dignitati. Cuilibet distantiae nitor opus est. Potest in fictilibus vasculis, dummodo munditia non deesit, divinae domui munus offerri, si vas ex eadem massa fictum, quia peccando ceciderat in contumeliam, poenitendo redeat ad honorem. Habemus enim thesaurum istum in vasis fictilibus. Haec ergo vascula, ut dixi, poenitentium teneant compunctionem. Porro lignea legitimam conjugatorum praeferant simplicitatem: cruore martyris aurea rubeant; virginitatis radio argentea perlucescant. Vasorum talium capacitas est, quod rationabilis naturae conditi sumus. In haec modo provideat de suo quisque quod offerat: pro qualitate munerum fit pretiositas vasculorum. Istis credo vasculis Heliseus quondam liquorem olei vivacis infudit, quod cum flueret irriguum, non e fluxit impletum. Sancti Aviti Viennensis, Ex sermone die 3 Rogationum Source: Migne PL 59.320b-d

He says that the sons of Israel will bring in gifts in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord, 1 and we read in the Apostle: 'In a great house there are not only vessels of silver and gold but even of wood and earth.' 2 With which difference of grades all can put to use, even if they are not of equal worth. And what may be those differences I will strive to explain. It is possible that in an earthern vessel, provided that beauty is not lacking, gifts may be brought to the Divine house, if that vessel which is from that earthen substance made because it has fallen into sin into dishonour, by penance returns to honour. 'For we have this treasure in eathern vessels.' 3 So there are, as I have said, these vessels which hold the compunction of the penitent. Then the wood bears the simple lawfulness of those who are married, the golden ones shine with the blood of martyrs, the silver gleam with the brightness of virginity. The capacity of such vessels is the state of our rational nature. In this way let a man see what he offers from himself, what sort of worthiness of gift is in the vases. Into these vessels, I think, Elisha once poured the living oil, which when it flowed filled them, and when the vessel was full it stopped flowing. 4 Saint Avitus of Vienne, from a Sermon on the Third day of Rogation 1 Isaiah 66.20 2 2 Tim 2.20 3 2 Cor 4.7 4 4 Kings 4.1-7

Freedom And Grace

Caput VI Objectio: Quod liberum arbitrium in homine nihil sit: sed sive ad bonum, sive ad malum, praedestination Dei in hominibus operetur. Responsio: Liberum arbitrium nihil esse, vel non esse, perperam dicitur: sed ante illuminationem fidei in tenebris illud et in umbra mortis agere, non recte negatur. Quoniam priusquam a dominatione diaboli per Dei gratiam liberetur, in illo profundo jacet, in quod se sua libertate demersit. Amat ergo languores suos, et pro sanitate habet, quod aegrotare se nescit, donec prima haec medela conferatur aegroto, ut incipiat nosse quod langueat, et possit opem medici desiderare qua surgat. Iustificatus itaque homo, id est, ex impio pius factus, nullo praecedente bono merito accipit donum, quo dono acquirat et meritum: ut quod in illo inchoatum est per gratiam Christi, etiam per industriam liberi augeatur arbitrii; nunquam remoto adiutorio Dei, sine quo nec proficere, nec permanere in bono quisquam potest. Praedestinationem autem Dei sive ad bonum, sive ad malum, in hominibus operari, ineptissime dicitur, ut ad utrumque homines quaedam necessitas videatur impellere: cum in bonis voluntas sit intelligenda de gratia, in malis autem voluntas intelligenda sine gratia. Sanctus Prosperus Aquitanus, Pro Augustino Responsiones ad Capitula Calumiatum Gallorum, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 51.160c-161b

Chapter 6 Objection: There is no freedom of will in a man, either to good or evil, the predestination of God working in men. That the freedom of the will is nothing, or is not, is said wrongly; but rather it is not right to deny that before the enlightenment of faith it acts in the darkness and shadow of death. Because before it is liberated from the domination of the devil by the will of God, it lies in the depths, in which it has drowned itself with its own liberty. Therefore it loves its feebleness, and for its health it has the ignorance of its sickness, until first this remedy is brought to the sick one, by which it begins to know that it is infirm, and it is able to desire the work of the physician that it might rise. Thus a man is justified, that is, when he is made pious from impiety, when with no merit of preceding good he receives the gift, by which gift he may acquire merit, so that what is in him immature, by the grace of Christ and also by the freedom of his will grows, though never apart from the help of God, without which it is neither possible to advance or remain in goodness. It is said, then,most poorly that the predestination of God in man works either to good or to evil, for in either case it seems to impose a certain necessity on man, when his choice of good should be understood to be from grace and his choice of evils without grace. Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, Answers For Augustine Against the Chapters of the Fault Finding Gauls, Chapter 6

Moonstruck

Et ipsi videtis, fratres, quod mea non cessat humilitas omni circa vos sollicitudine laborare, et ad frugem bonam vos tota festinatione convertere: sed quanto plus laboro vobiscum, tanto amplius confundor in vobis. Cum enim video tot commonitionibus meis nullum vos habere profectum, labor meus jam non gratulationi est, sed rubori. Dicit Apostolis: Quis plantavit vineam, et de fructru ejus non edit? Quis pascit gregem, et de lacte gregis non percipit? Ecce ego pasco gregem Christi, et gregis fructum extorquere non valeo; pasco gregem Domini, et nulla ex eo religiositatis alimenta percipio. Nulla enim me fidei ejus dulcedo laetifcat; sed quidquid ex eo profluit asperum et amarum est; tunc enim pastor Christiani gregis lacte reficitur, quando bonorum operum ejus candore laetatur. Quis enim, fratres, in vobis, non graviter ferat (non tamen de omnibus dico, sunt enim inter vos quos ad religionis cultum debeatis habere exemplo,) quis, inquam, non moleste ferat, sic vos esse vestrae salutis immemores, ut etiam coelo teste peccetis? Nam cum ante dies plerosque de vestrae avaritiae cupiditate pulsaverim, ipse die circa vesperum tanta vociferatio populi exstitit, ut irreligiositas ejus penetraret ad coelum. Quod cum requirerem quid sibi clamor hic velit? dixerunt mihi quod laboranti lunae vestra vociferatio subveniret, et defectum ejus suis clamoribus adjuvaret. Risi equidem, et miratus sum vanitatem, quod quasi devotii Christiani Deo ferebatis auxilium. Clamabatis enim ne, tacentibus vobis, perderet elementum: tanquam infirmus enim et imbecillis, nisi vestris adjuvaretur vocibus, non posset luminaria delendere quae creavit; bene igitur facitis, qui Divinitati exhibetis solatium, ut vobis juvantibus possit coelum regere. Sed si vultis hoc plenius facere, cunctis et totis noctibus pervigilare debetis: nam quoties putatis, vobis dormientibus, luna vim passa est; et tamen de coelo non corruit? Aut numquid semper circa vesperum defectum patitur, non aliquando et circa lucem laborat? Sed apud vos vespertinis tantum horis laborare consuevit, quando copiosa coena venter distenditur, quando majoribus poculis caput movetur. Tunc igitur apud vos laborat luna, quando laborat et vinum, tunc, inquam, apud vos turbatur carminibus globus lunae, quando calicibus turbantur et oculi. Quomodo igitur, ebrius, videre potes circa lunam quid agatur in coelo, qui circa te non vides quod agatur in terra? Hoc est plane, quod ait Salomon dicens: Stultus ut luna mutatur. Mutaris enim, sicut luna, dum stultus et insipiens ad motum ejus, qui Christianus fueras, incipis esse sacrilegus. Sacrilegium enim Creatori committitur, dum imbecillitas ascribitur creaturae. Mutaris ergo, sicut luna, ut qui paulo ante fidei devotione fulgebas, postea perfidiae infirmitate deficias; mutaris, sicut luna, dum cerebrum tuum ita exinanitur sapientia, sicut lunae obscuritas; te vero teterrimae tenebrae mentis invadunt. Atque utinam, o stulte, sicut luna muteris! Illa enim cito ad plenitudinem suam redit; tu ad sapientiam nec sero converteris; illa velociter colligit quod amiserat lumen, tu nec tarde fidem recipis quam negasti gravior ergo tua quam lunae mutatio est; luna defectum luminis patitur, tu salutis. Quam bene scriptum est de sapiente: Et permanebit cum sole; permanet enim sapiens cum sole, cum constantia fidei permanet cum Salvatore. Sed dicet aliquis: Luna igitur non laborat? Laborat plane, negare non possumus; sed laborat cum caeteris creaturis, sicut Apostolus dicit: Quia omnis creatura ingemiscit, et parturit usque adhuc; et infra: Quoniam et ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis, et reliqua. Liberabitur, inquit, a servitute; vides ergo, quoniam luna non laborat carminibus, sed laborat obsequiis; non laborat periculis, sed laborat serviat. Vanitati enim creatura subjecta est non sponte, et reliqua. Ergo luna a statu suo non sponte mutatur, te de sensu tuo sponte mutaris; illa in diminutionem sui conditione deducitur, tu in detrimentum tui voluntate pertraheris. Nolo igitur, frater, ita sis, sicut luna, cum deficit; sed esto, sicut quando est plena atque perfecta; scriptum est enim de justo: Sicut luna in aeternum, et testis in coelo fidelis. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia C, De defectione lunae I Source: Migne PL 57.483c-486c

And you see, brothers, that my humility does not cease to have care for you in everything, even that you would turn to good fruit with all haste; but the more I labour for you, the more I am confounded by you. When I see that none of you are improved by my admonishments, my labour has no thanks but only blushes. The Apostle says: 'Who plants the vine and does not eat of its fruit? Who pastures the flock and does not drink of its milk?' 1 Behold, I pasture a flock of Christ and I am not able to partake of the fruit. I pasture the flock of the Lord, and I acquire from it no sustenance of piety. For nothing pleases me in the sweetness of its faith, but whatever from it is produced is sharp and bitter. Then indeed the shepherd of the Christian flock is refreshed by milk when he rejoices in the splendour of good works. Who among you, brothers, is not burdened? I do not speak of everyone, for they are some of you who give witness to the reverence of religion which you should have. Who, I say, is not troubled, so that you are forgetful of your salvation, so even with witness of heaven you sin? For a few days before I was intending to chide you for avarious desires, in the evening, there was such a clamour from the people, that its impiety reached even to heaven. And what happened when I sought what this noise might be? They said to me that your crying out came about because of the diminishing of the moon, and that with your cries you sought to bring aid to its lessening. Well, I laughed, and I wondered at your vanity, that as devout Christians you would give aid to God. You cried out lest because of your silence  that element perish. He is so weak and foolish that unless your cries aid, He is not able to preserve the luminary which He created. You do well, then, you who exhibit such concern for the Deity, that by your help He is able to rule heaven. But if you wish to do this fully, every night and through the whole night you should keep watch, for think how many times, while you sleep, the moon loses its strength, and yet from heaven it does not fall? Or is it that it is always around evening that it suffers its diminuation and its light never fades at any other time? But with you only the evening hours befit, when your bellies are swollen with heavy meals, when your heads spin after many drinks. Then you fall into decline like the moon, when you bend over cups. Then, I say, you spin about with songs for the sphere of the moon, when your eyes spin about on account of drinking. How, being drunk, are you able to see that moon is changed in heaven when you are not able to see what is happening around you on the earth? This is plain, what Solomon says: 'A fool changes like the moon.' 2 Thus you are changed, like the moon, when you are moved to stupidity and foolishness by its changes. You who were Christians begin to be sacrilegious. For he commits sacrifledge against the Creator while he ascribes foolishness to that which is created. You are changed, then, like the moon, so that he who a little while ago shone with the devotion of faith, diminishes into the treachery of faithlessness. You are changed like the moon when your heads having been emptied of wisdom are as the darkening of the moon, you who are possessed by the monstrous darkness of your minds. And that it might be, O fool, that you changed like the moon! She quickly returns to fullness, you, however, do not come back to your senses in the evening. She quickly gathers up the light she has lost, you are slow to regain the faith which you have denied. Worse, then, is your change than the moon's. The moon is afflicted with the loss of its light, you lose salvation. How well it has been written concerning wisdom: 'And she will remain with the sun.' 3 For wisdom remains with the sun when the constancy of faith remains with the Saviour. But let someone say: 'Does the moon, then, not diminish?' Certainly it does, I do not deny it, but it suffers with other created things, as the Apostle says: 'Because all creation groans and would birth even yet.' And after this: 'For creation will be liberated from the servitude of corruption.' and the rest. It shall be liberated, he says, from servitude. Thus you see that the moon does not diminish because it is need of songs, but in service; it does not decline on account of some danger, but as its duty. 'For creation is subject to vanity not of its own will etc' 4 Thus the moon does not change state on its own accord, as you change from a sensible state. She is lead to the lessening of her condition, you by your own will drag yourself off to worse. I do not want you to be, brothers, like the moon when she diminishes. But be as when she is full and perfect, as it is written of the righteous man: 'Like the moon in eternity, and a faithful witness in heaven.' 5 Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 100, On an Eclipse of the Moon 1 Mt 19.24 2 Sirach 27.11 3 Ps 71.5 4 Rom 8.22,21,20 5 Ps 88.38

Wonder And Belief

Et factum est, cum consummasset Jesus verba haec, admirabantur turbae super doctina ejus. Placatus rationabiliter intellectus hominis laudem generat: victus autem, admirationem. Quicquid autem digne laudare non possumus, hoc admiramur. Admiratio tamen eorum magis ad Christi gloriam pertinebat, quam ad fidem ipsorum. Non enim ideo mirabantur, quasi credentes in Christum essent, non mirarentur, sed potius crederent. Nam omne dictum aut factum illud movet admirationem, quod superat facientis aut dicentis personam. Utputa, autem magnum sit, quod Deus dicit aut facit, tamen minus est quam Dei potentia. Ideo quicquid a Deo factum aut dictum audimus, non admiremur, quia omnia minora quam Dei potentia. Tamen audiebat populus cum silentio et gravitate, et admirans proficiebat in verbis ipsius: quia admiratio, etsi ipsa non est ex fide, tamen invitatio est ad fidem. Nam qui admiratur de verbis doctinae, quamvis adhuc non credat, tamen jam in ipso limine credulitatis consistit, ut credat. Turbae erant quae mirabantur, id est, populus vulgaris. Non erant illic Pharisaei, aut principes populi, aut sacerdotes, qui solent non discendi studio audire, sed contradicendi, non ut aliquid salutis acquirant, sed ut aliquid calumniae inveniant. Et ideo simpliciter audiebat populus simplex. Si autem aliqui eorum affuissent, sine dubio silentium et gravitatem populi, sicut consueti fuerant, contradictionibus suis conturbassent: qui ubi major scientia, illic malitia fortior. Qui enim festinaverit esse prior, difficle contentus erat esse secundus. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XX Source: Migne PG 56.746

And when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching. 1 When the understanding of man is pleased by reason it gives praise, but when it is overcome it is amazed. For whatever we are not capable of worthily praising, we are amazed at. Their wonder, however, pertained more to the glory of Christ than to their faith. For they did not wonder as believers in Christ, since believers do not wonder but believe. Everything said or done that moves to wonder is because it surpasses the one doing or speaking. So though it may be great what God says or does, it is not less than the power of God. Therefore, whatever is done by God, or we hear said, we do not wonder at, because everything is less than the power of God. However, the people hearing in silence and sincerity, were profited by their wonder at His words, because wonder, even if it does not come from faith, yet is an invitation to faith. For he who is amazed at the words of teaching, although he does not yet believe, yet by that is set on the threshold of believing, so that he may believe. The crowds were amazed, that is, the common people were. They were not Pharisees, or rulers of the people, or priests, who are not accustomed to hear with an eagerness to learn, but to dispute, and that not that they grasp something of salvation, but that they find something to claim as fault. Therefore, the simple people who were listening in simplicity, as they were accustomed, would have been confused by such disputations, because where there is more knowledge, there is greater evil. He who hastens to be first, has difficulty in being content to be second. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 20 1 Mt 7.28

Hope, Good Works And Love

Quae est autem voluntas Patris, nisi quod aut Martha, aut faciebat soror ipsius Maria? Nil quippe nobis aliud praecipitur, nisi ut aut ministremus Christo in membris ipsius, aut assideamus Christo in contemplanda voluntate ipsius. Inde aliquid si negleximus, suspiremus, plangamus, pectora nostra tundamus, poenitentiam agamus, frequens ministerium Domini aut repetamus, aut vacantes orationibus et desideriis coelestibus, a pedibus benigni Jesus nullatenus divellamur, donec ad illud unum, quod solum est necessarium, perveniamus, hoc est eundum, qui nobis solus sufficit, Dominum. Dicis econtra, sic enim est consuetudo dicta humana: Licet non tanta quanta debeo faciam bona, facio aliqua; et perfecte in Deum credens, spero quae Dominus suis fidelibus praecepit speranda. O utinam haec duo fiderem re, fratres, habere! Certus profecto de tua essem salute, videlicet ut in Deum perfecte crederes, et illa tantummodo, quae praecepit speranda, sperares. Dicit vero Psalmista: Spera in Domino. Respondes, spero. Fac bonitam sed dicit ille. Si ergo speras in Domino, suggero: Fac bonitatem, et non inaniter speras, promitto. Dicente enim Jacobo: Quid prodest, fratres, si fidem quis habeat, opera vero non habeat? Nunquid poterit sola fides salvare eum? Una sola audiri ita potest sententia. Si perfecte credis in Deum, et aliud non speras, quam quod ille te sperare praecepit, videlicet si opera habes bona; consequenter de remuneratione, si ita tamen perseveraveris, non est tibi opus dubitare perpetua. Quae sunt autem bona opera, nisi illa quae ex charitate prodecunt: quam solam si non habes, nec in fide, dico tibi, confidas; nec quod suis promisit Dominus fidelibus, speres. Fides, enim, si non habeat opera, mortua est in semetipsa. Et: Spes non confundit, quia charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum Sanctum, qui datus est nobis. Si ergo charitatem in corde non habes, spem inutiliter habes. Ratherius Veronensis Sermo XI, De Maria et Martha Source:Migne PL 136.754b-755a

For what is the will of the Father unless that which either Martha or her sister Mary did? 1 Certainly nothing is commanded us, unless that we either serve Christ in His members, or seek Him in the contemplation of His will. Whence if we neglect something, let us sigh, let us weep, let us strike our hearts, let us make penitence, ever seeking to turn back to the service of the Lord, or turning to prayer and heavenly desires, that we never be torn from the feet of the kindly Jesus, while we approach that one and only thing necessary, the same Lord who alone suffices for us. You may say against this, for such is the custom of human speech: It not being possible that I do very much in the making of good works, I do something, even perfectly believing in God and hoping for those things which the Lord commanded His faithful ones to hope for. O, that I could believe you to have these two things, brothers. Certainly I would have you advance to salvation, that you believe perfectly in God, and that you hope only for that which He commands should be hoped for. Truly the Psalmist says: 'Hope in the Lord.' You reply: 'I hope.' But then he says: 'Do good.' 2 If, therefore, you would hope in the Lord, I counsel you: do good, and you will not hope in vain, I promise. For James says: 'What does it benefit, brothers, if a man have faith and yet he have not works? Shall his faith alone save him?' 3 One can hear only one intention here. If you believe perfectly in God, and you do not hope for anything but what He commanded should be hoped for, and if you have good works, from which the reward comes, if indeed you perservere, you should not doubt the eternal reward. For what are good works, unless they come forth from love, which if alone you do not have, neither in faith, I say, should you be confident, nor should you hope in the things the Lord promised His faithful ones. 'For faith, if it have not works, is dead.' 4 And: 'Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is diffused in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.' 5 If, then, you have no love in your heart, your hope is vain. Ratherius Of Verona, from Sermon 11, On Mary And Martha 1 Lk 10.38-42 2 Ps 36.3 3 Jam 2.14 4 Jam 2.17 5 Rom 5.5

Sowing And Reaping

Et seminaverunt agros, et plantaverunt vineas; et fecerunt fructum nativitatis. Et benedixit eos, et multiplicati sunt nimis, et iumenta eorum non sunt minorata. Seminant agros et plantant vineas qui corpora sua mundatis sentibus peccatorum coelesti institutione purificant; ut fructus illos inveniant, qui Domino placere noscuntur. Felix labor, proventus mirabilis, sic operari ut Redemptor gentium placatus possit agnosci. Ager enim dictus est ab agendo, quod ibi diversa victus causa peragantur. Addidit, et fecerunt fructum nativitatis, et benedixit eos, et multiplicati sunt nimis. Fructus a fruendo dicitur; et ideo qui fructum spiritualem faciunt, benedictione Domini perfruuntur: quos vero infecundos esse contigerit, absciduntur; sicut Evangelii illa ficulnea, quae luxuriantibus foliis sterilis videbatur in pomis. Multiplicati sunt autem, quando fideles benedicti sanctas operas intulerunt, et gloriosiores facti sunt per Dei gratiam fecunditate meritorum. Sequitur, et iumenta eorum non sunt minorata. Iumenta simplices homines debemus accipere, fidei quidem probitate pollentes, sed nulla disertitudine gloriosos, meliores vita quam lingua: plurimum valentes, non sermone, sed corde, qualem Paulum legimus simplicem qui daemonibus imperavit. Tales ergo non sunt minores facti, qui magnam videntur Domini gratiam consecuti. Sic ista hominum duo genera habere sanctam testatur Ecclesiam. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CVI Source: Migne PG 70.775c-d

And they sowed fields and planted vines and they made the fruit of nativity. And He blessed them, and they were multiplied exceedingly, and their cattle suffered no decrease. 1 They sow fields and plant vines who cleanse their bodies of the worldly experience of sins by means of heavenly instruction. As a result they attain the fruits known to be pleasing to the Lord. It is a joyful toil and wonderful harvest if our work enables us to come to know the favour of the Redeemer of the Gentiles. 'Ager', field, receives its name from 'agere' to act, because different activities which are carried out in the fields obtain a livelihood. It is added: 'And they made the fruit of nativity, and He blessed them and they were multiplied exceedingly.' 'Fructus', fruit, receives its name from 'frui', to enjoy, and so those who produce spiritual fruit enjoy the Lord's blessing, while those who are sterile are lopped off like the fig tree in the Gospel which was found to have abundant foliage but to be barren of fruit. 2 'They were multiplied' when the blessed faithful brought forth their holy activites, and through God's grace achieved greater glory by the fertility of their merits. It follows: 'And their cattle suffered no decrease.' We must interpret cattle as the simple people who are healthy in proven faith but lack fame in eloquence, better, then, at living than speaking. They are very strong in heart but not in speech, like the simple Paul who we read gave commands to demons. 3 Such men suffered no decrease but are seen to have won great favour with the Lord. So the Psalmist bears witness that the holy Church contains these two kinds of people. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 106 1 Ps 106.37-38 2 Mt 21.18-19 3 Acts 16.16-18

Work And Leisure

Ὁ νόμος ἓξ ἡμέρας τυπικῶς ἐργάζεσθαι, τῇ δὲ ἑβδόμῃ σχολάζειν παρακελεύεται· διότι ψυχῆς ἔργον ἐστὶν ἡ διὰ χρημάτων εὐποιία· σχολὴ δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ κατάπαυσις, τὸ πωλῆναι πάντα, καὶ δοῦναι πτωχοῖς κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου· καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀκτημοσύνης καταπαύσαντα τῇ νοερᾷ σχολάζειν ἐλπίδι. Εἰς ταύτην τὴν κατάπαυσιν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἡμῶν μετὰ σπουδῆς προτρέπεται λέγων· Σπουδάσωμεν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν κατάπαυσιν. Ταῦτα δὲ εἰρήκαμεν, οὐκ ἀποκλείοντες τὰ μέλλοντα, οὖτε ὧδε τὴν καθολικὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν εἶναι ὁρίσαντες· ἀλλ' ὅτι χρὴ πρῶτον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἔχειν τὴν χάριν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐνεργοῦσαν, καὶ οὔτω κατ' ἀναλογίαν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. Τοῦτο φανεροποιῶν ὁ Κύριος, ἔλεγεν· Ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστι. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν· Ἔστι πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις· καὶ πάλιν· Οὕτως τρέχετε, ἵνα καταλάβητε· καὶ πάλιν· Δοκιμάζετε ἑαυτοὺς εἴ ἐστε ἐν τῇ πίστει· εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ὅτι Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν; εἰ μήτι ἂρα ἀδόκιμοί ἐστε. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: MignePG 65.952a-b

The law commands as a type that six days are for work and the seventh for leisure, 1 because the work of the soul is the making of goods, and its leisure and rest is to sell everything and to give it to the poor, according to the word of the Lord, 2 and so by a restful poverty in the mind it has leisure for hope. To this rest Paul calls all of us with zeal, saying: 'Let us make haste to enter into that rest.' 3 And we say this not to the exclusion of the future, nor to the limitation of the fullness of reward here, but that one must first have the grace of the Holy Spirit working in the heart, and according to that measure one enters into the kingdom of heaven. This the Lord made clear when he said, 'The kingdom of heaven is within you.' 4 And the Apostle said: 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for.' 5 And again: 'So run that you might seize.' 6 And again: 'Examine yourselves, if you stand in the faith. For how do you not know if Christ is in you, unless perhaps you are condemned?' 7 Saint Mark The Ascetic, from On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works 1 Exod 34.21 2 Mt 19.21 3 Heb 4.11 4 Lk 17.21 5 Heb 11.1 6 1 Cor 9.24 7 2 Cor 13.5

Loving God

Amat ergo jam Deum, sed propter se interim adhuc, non propter ipsum. Est tamen quaedam prudentia scire quid ex te, quid ex Dei adjutorio possis, et ipsi servare te infensum, qui te tibi servat illaesum. At si frequens ingruerit tribulatio, ob quam et frequens ad Deum conversio fiat, et a Deo aeque frequens liberatio consequatur nonne, etsi fuerit ferreum pectus, vel cor lapideum toties liberati, emolliri necesse est ad gratiam liberantis, quatenus Deum homo diligat, non propter se tantum, sed et propter ipsum? Ex occasione quippe frequentium necessitatum crebris necesse est interpellationibus Deum ab homine frequentari, frequentando gustari, gustando probari quam suavis est Dominus. Ita fit ut ad diligendum pure Deum plus jam ipsius gustata alliciat suavitas, quam urgeat nostra necessitas; ita ut exemplo Samaritanorum, dicentium mulieri quae adesse Dominum nuntiaverat, Jam non propter tuam loquelam credimus; ipsi enim audivimus, et scimus quia ipse est vere Salvator mundi; ita, inquam, et nos illorum exemplo carnem nostram alloquentes, dicamus merito: Jam non propter tuam necessitatem Deum diligimus; ipsi enim gustavimus et scimus quoniam suavis est Dominus. Est enim carnis quaedam loquela necessitas, et beneficia quae experiendo probat, gestiendo renuntiat. Itaque sic affecto, jam de diligendo proximo implere mandatum, non erit difficile. Amat quippe veraciter Deum, ac per hoc quae Dei sunt. Amat caste, et casto non gravatur obedire mandato, castificans magis cor suum, ut scriptum est, in obedientia charitatis. Amat juste, et mandatum justum libenter amplectitur. Amor iste merito gratus, quia gratuitus. Castus est, quia non impenditur verbo, neque lingua, sed opere et veritate. Justus est, quoniam qualis suscipitur, talis et redditur. Qui enim sic amat, haud secus profecto, quam amatus est, amat; quaerens et ipse vicissim, non quae sua sunt, sed quae Jesu Christi, quemadmodum ille nostra, vel potius nos, et non sua quaesivit. Sic amat qui dicit: Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus. Qui Domino confitetur, non quoniam sibi bonus est, sed quoniam bonus est; hic vere diligit Deum propter Deum, et non propter seipsum. Non sic amat de quo dicitur: Confitebitur tibi cum benefeceris ei. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Liber De Diligendo Deo, Caput IX Source: Migne PL 182.989c-990b

So then now man loves God, but not yet for God’s sake, but for his own. There is, however, a certain prudence to know what you can do by yourself and what by God’s help, and by that to have guard against the enemy, that keeps you unharmed. But when tribulations frequently assail, because of which a man frequently turns to God and by the benevolence of God is frequently liberated, is it not that even a heart as hard as iron, or as cold as marble, must be softened by the goodness of such a liberator, so that he would love God not only for himself, but because He is God? For the reason of frequent and pressing necessities a man often calls on God; and by often tasting, the tasting proves how sweet the Lord is. 1 Thus it is that a man is drawn to a pure love of God by the tasting of His sweetness, more than by the urging of necessities; as the Samaritans bear witness who said to the woman who announced she had encountered the Lord: 'Now we do not believe on account of your words, for we have heard Him ourselves and we know that He is truly the Savior of the world.' 2 And, I say, by their example, proclaiming our own carnality, we should rightly say, 'Now we love God not because of our necessity, for we have tasted and known how sweet the Lord is.' The necessities of the flesh have a certain way of speaking, approving the benefits they have experienced, in happiness declaring them. So with this affection, now it shall not be difficult to fulfill the commandment regarding the love of one's neighbour, since he who loves God correctly loves that which is His. Such love is chaste, and being chaste is not burdened by obedience to the commandment that exhorts us to make the heart chaste, as it is written, in the obedience of charity. 3 He who loves rightly, freely embraces the righteous command. This love is rightly grateful, because it is joyful. It is chaste, because it is not found in words, nor on the tongue, but in deed and truth. 4 Righteous it is, because what it has received it returns. He who loves in this way cares not for his own advantage, but as he has been loved, he loves, seeking not what is his own but what is Jesus Christ's, just as He did not seek His own things but ours, or rather us. So he loves who says: 'Confess the Lord because He is good.' 5 He who takes joy in the Lord not because of some good done to him, but because He is good, He truly loves God for His own sake, and not for himself. So he does not love concerning whom it says: 'He shall confess you when you do good to him.' 6 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God, Chapter 9 1 Ps. 33.8 2 Jn 4.42 3 1 Pet 1.22 4 1 Jn 3.18 5 Ps. 117.1 6 Ps. 48.18

Freedom And The Way

Religio Christiani nominis in qua vocati sumus, liberi arbitrii suscepit officium, ad quam si quis invitus venerit, oneri onus addit, et exutis antiqua lege corporibus, desperatae vitae pondus imponit. Inde est quod multos porta mortis recipit, quia perituris semper vitae difficultas occurrit. Necessarium itaque ut quia ad libertatis viam pervenit, si quid in se est infidelitatis, resecet, et coeleste testimonium studio voluntariae servitutis accumulet: ne homo tantis Deo beneficiis obnoxious, in parvis officiis inveniatur ingratus. A negligentibus et imperitis servitium Deo debitum forte judicetur onerosum, ex hoc quod nullum tempus vacationis excipiat. Omnem hominem Deus, non solum ad libertatem vocavit, sed etiam in summa rerum dignitate constituit. Ipse autem sibi servitium indicit, qui invitus servit. Nam si voluntati servitium accommodes, non te famulum Dei invenies esse, sed filium. Nam ita dicit propheta voce Domini: Ego ero vobis in patrem, et vos eritis mihi in filios et filias, dicit Dominus omnipotens. Sanctus Valerianus Cemeliensis, Homilia III, De Arcta et Angusta Via Source: Migne PL 52.700c-701a

The religion by the name of Christian into which we have been called, receives the service of a free will, whence if someone comes to it unwillingly, he adds a burden on a burden, and on a body stripped of ancient law he imposes the weight of a despairing life. That is why the gate of death receives so many, 1 for the difficulty of living always press on those soon to die. Consequently, if a man is coming to the way of freedom, he must prune away any remnant of unfaithfulness that may be in him and store up heavenly merit by giving a willing service to God. Otherwise the man who is obligated to God for such great benefits may find himself ungrateful even in regard to small duties. The negligent and inexperienced will perhaps judge the service due to God to be burdensome because there can never be a period of vacation from his service. God has not merely called every man to freedom; He has also given him the highest dignity of His creatures. But the man who gives a reluctant service brings a state of slavery upon himself. For if you should make your service a willing one, you would find yourself to be not God's servant, but His son. That is what the Prophet tells us by the Lord's own words: 'I will be a Father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord almighty.' 2 Saint Valerian of Cimelium, from Homily 3, On The Narrow and Difficult Way 1 Mt 7.13-14 2 Jerem 31.9, 2 Cor 6.18

Three Refuges

Tria refugia Domini habebant, id est, in monte, in deserto, et in mari. Exemplum nobis ad altiorem justitiam ascendere tamquam in monte; contemplativa sectari, tanquam in deserto; fugere, tanquam in mare. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, De Veteri et Novo Testamento Quaestiones, Quaestio XXXVI Source: Migne PL 83.206b

The Lord had three refuges, that is, on the mountain, in the desert, and on the sea. This is an example to us to ascend to the height of righteousness, as to the mountain; to follow the contemplative life as, in the desert; to flee, as on the sea. Saint Isidore of Seville, Questions on the Old and New Testaments, from Question 36

God And Blessings

Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν καὶ θεὸς πάσης παρακλήσεως... Εὐλογητὸν τὸν θεόν φασιν οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι, οὐ τῷ εὐλογίαν δεδέχθαι ἀλλὰ τῷ παρέχειν αὐτήν· ὡς γὰρ ἅγιος καὶ ἀγαθὸς μόνος αὐτός, ἁγιάζων καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ποιῶν, καὶ οὐ γινόμενος ταῦτα ἅπερ ἑτέρους ποιεῖ, οὕτω μόνος εὐλογητός ἐστιν, εὐλογίαν παρέχων ἀλλ' οὐ δεχόμενος. οὗτος ὁ εὐλογητὸς θεὸς θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ ὑπάρχει, θεὸς μὲν διὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν, πατὴρ δὲ διὰ τὸ λόγον καὶ μονογενῆ υἱὸν ὑπάρχειν. Πατὴρ οἰκτιρμῶν ἐστι κατ' οὐσίαν, πηγὴ αὐτῶν τυγχάνων· οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἀναλήψεως ἀρετῆς εὑρίσκεται τοιοῦτος οἷοί εἰσιν οἱ γινόμενοι οἰκτίρμονες. ὡς ὁ πατὴρ οὐράνιος, οἰκτίρμων ἐστίν· ὁ γὰρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν πατὴρ μεταδίδουσι τοῖς σπεύδουσι μιμεῖσθαι αὐτόν, οὐκ εἶναι ἀλλὰ γίνεσθαι οἰκτίρμοσιν. πρὸς τούτοις καὶ πάσης παρακλήσεως, ἐμπαθείας καὶ χάριτος ὢν θεός. αὕτη ἐστὶν ἐν ᾗ καὶ δι' ἧς παρακαλοῦνται πάντες οἱ ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας μᾶλλον δὲ εὐσεβείας θλιβόμενοι· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θλιβομένους ὄντας αὐτῶν ὑποδεεστέρους διδάξουσι παρακαλεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν θλιβόντων. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Τὴν Δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους Source: Migne PG 39.1681c-1683a

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father, the God who gives all consolation. 1 Sacred Scripture names God blessed, not as if He receives a blessing, but because He gives it. As indeed He alone is holy and good, because He makes holy and He makes good, nor does He do such a thing as to make a thing unlike; thus alone He is blessed, giving blessings and not receiving. This blessed God is God and Father of Lord Jesus; certainly His God on account of His humanity and His Father in as much as He is the Word and only begotten Son. The essence of the Father is mercy, insofar as He is the fount of it, for they are near to election, who are so by mercies bestowed. As the Father is heavenly, so He is merciful, and the Father of mercies He is to those who strive to imitate him, and as He gives, so they are not essentially but are made merciful. For these every consolation and compassion and grace is of God, in which and through which He consoles everyone who for truth, that is, piety, is afflicted. For then others afflicted, weaker than themselves, they shall teach to have consolation in their tribulations. Didymus the Blind, On The Second Letter of Paul to The Corinthians, Fragment 1. 2 Cor 1.3

Life And Death

Ita et vos existimate vos quidem mortuos esse peccato; viventes autem Deo. Graecus habet λογίζεσθε, id est non existimate, sed cogitate quod sensui et fidei certitudini magis congruere videtur. Semper quippe cogitare, et prae oculis habere debemus, quid in baptismo juravimus et statuimus, mortem scilicet peccato, vitam autem Deo. Nam et quod addidit: In Christo Jesus Domino nostro, reddenti voti modus est. Unum enim est, ac si dicat: Viventes Deo in sapientia, in pace, in justitia, in sanctificatione; quae omnia Christus est. In his ergo vivere, hoc est vivere in Christo Jesus Domino nostro. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos Source: Migne PG 180.607a-b

That you reckon yourselves dead to sin, living to God 1 The Greek has 'logizesthe', that is, not reckon, but 'think' which seems to have more certitude than feeling and faith. So we should always think and have before the eyes that in baptism we have taken a vow and stand on it, clearly that we are dead to sin and alive to God. For indeed that which he adds: 'In Our Lord Jesus Christ,' is the way of fulfilling the vow. For it is one, as if it he said: 'Living in wisdom, in peace, in righteousness, in holiness,' which all are Christ. In these things, therefore, we live, that is, we live in Our Lord Jesus Christ. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Romans 1 Rom 6.11

Assumption And Incarnation

In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et in haereditate Domini morabor... De hodierna solemnitate, id est, beatae semper Virginis Assumptione, quid proprie dici queat, difficule invenitur. Patrum namque inclusi limitibus, quos praetergredi probitum est, nihil aliud definire audemus, nisi quod hodierna die, sive cum corpore, sive sine corpore, nescio, Deus scit, non ad tempus rapta, nec ad tertium tantum coelum, si plures sunt coeli; sed ad pepetuam et felicem mansionem, ad summum coelorum coelum assumpta sit. Assumpta quidem ab eo qui de ea carnem susmpsit in terris, cui soli eam subordinaret in coelis. Post ipsum etenim ventris sui fructum sic eam credimus ordinatam in coelis, et locatam, vel si nondum adhuc surrexit, locandam, ut proxime post illius dilectam animam, et ipsius anima disponatur ad sapientiam; et post illius corpus, ipsius quoque corpus ad gloriam. Ipsa ergo jure in generationibus justorum prima residet: quae primogenitum omnium proprie generavit. Ipse quippe primogenitus est in multis fratribus, qui cum esset natura unicus, gratia conciliavit sibi plures, qui cum eo sunt unus. Dedit, enim, potestatem filios Dei fieri, his qui recipiunt eum. O amabilis et admirabilis potestas! O si liceret, et potis esset pauper et ignobilis, locupletem et generosam sibi pro voluntate eligere genitorem; quis non curreret, quis non festinaret ad reges et principes hominum? Et quidam filii Dei fieri possunt, quotquot volunt. Et quare hoc, rogo, nisi quia Filius Dei, fieri pauperis filius voluit, ut sua pauperate multos ditaret? Sed et hoc quis faceret Filius Regis et divitis, ut gratis semetipsum exinaniret; et fieret ipse propter alios filius egeni et ignobilis? Factus autem egenus, quomodo posset alios ditare? Factus ignobilis, quomodo nobilitare? Manens igitur nobilis nollet descendere, factus ignobilis non posset sublimare. Dei vero charitas incomparabilis, et postestas inaestimabilis, quasi et hoc sicut voluit, potuit. Sicut enim, quod stultum est Dei, et quod infirmum est Dei, fortius est hominibus; sic quod egenum est Dei, locupletius est hominibus; et quod ignobile est Dei, nobilius est hominibus. Factus igitur filius pauperis, multos fecit filios divitis; factus filius ancillae, multos fecit filios nobilis; factus denique hominis filius, multos Dei filios. Multos igitur conciliavit sibi, ut dictum est, sua charitate, et potestate unicus, qui cum carnali generatione in seipsis sint plures, divina tamen regenratione cum ipso sunt unus. Unus enim totus ac solus Christi caput et corpus: unus autem is unius Dei in coelis, et unius matris in terris; et multi filii, et unus filius. Sicut namque caput ac membra, unus filius, et plures filii, sic Maria et Ecclesia una mater, et plures; una virgo, et plures. Utraque mater, utraque virgo; utraque de eodem Spiritu sine libidine concipit; utraque Deo Patri sine peccato prolem fundit. Illa absque omni peccato corpori caput peperit; ista in omnium peccatorum remissione capiti corpus edidit. Utraque Christi mater, sed neutra sine altera totum parit. Unde in Scripturis divinitus inspiratis, quod de virgine matre Ecclesia universaliter, hoc de virgine Maria singulariter; et quod de virgine matre Maria specialiter, id de Vigrine matre Ecclesia generaliter jure intelligitur, et cum de alterutra sermo texitur, fere premistim et indifferenter de utraque sententia intelligitur. Unaquaeque etiam fidelis anima, Verbi Dei sponsa, Christi mater, filia, et soror, virgo et fecunda suapte ratione intelligitur. Dicitur ergo universaliter pro Ecclesia, et specialiter pro Maria, singulariter quoque pro fideli anima, ab ipsa Dei sapientia, quod Patris est Verbum. Issac Stellae Sermo LI, In Assumptione Beatae Mariae Source: Migne PL 194.1862a-1863b

In all things I sought rest, and in the inheritance of the Lord I shall dwell... 1 On this solemnity today, that is, on the Assumption of the Blessed virgin Mary, what one is able to say that is fitting, is difficult to discover. For enclosed by the limits set by the Fathers, beyond which to go is prohibited, we do not dare at all to speak, unless that this day, whether in the body, or without the body, God knows, is not a matter of temporary rapture, or of the third heaven only, if there be many heavens, 2 but of assumption to the eternal and blessed mansion in the highest heaven of the heavens. Certainly the Assumption is by Him who from her took up flesh on the earth, Him to whom alone she shall be subordinate in heaven. For after, we believe, that same fruit of her womb established her in heaven, and placed her so, and if not immediately arising to be placed, then near enough after her beloved soul, and His soul, were disposed so in His wisdom, and after her body, as His body in glory. She, therefore, rightly resides in first place among the generations of the righteous, she who gave birth to the first born of all. He is certainly first born of many brothers, He who with his singular nature, by grace conciliated many, who with Him are one. For 'He gave power to be sons of God to those who received Him.' 3 O loveable and admirable power! O, if it were possible and you were able to to choose at your own preference for yourself to be of a poor and ignoble, or of a rich and honourable parent, who would not run, who would not make haste, to the kings and princes of men? And yet they are able to become sons of God, as many who wish it. And why, I ask, unless because the son of God chose to be the son of a poor woman and to enrich many with His poverty? And He who has done this, a son of a king and one who is rich, freely emptied Himself, that he make Himself, for others, poor and ignorable? Made poor, how is he able to make others rich? Made ignoble how does He ennoble? Because if He had remained noble and had been unwilling to descend, He would not have been able to lift up the ignoble. But the incomparable love of God and His inestimable power, did wish this and did do it. So indeed the foolishness of God and the weakness of God is stronger than men, so the poverty of God is more rich than men, and the ignobility of God is more noble than men. 4 So He was made a son of a poor woman, and He made many sons of one who is rich. He was made the son of handmaid, and He made many sons of one who is noble. Finally being made the Son of Man he made many the sons of God. Thus He conciliated many to Himself, as said, with His love, and singular power; those who many in themselves by the generation of the flesh, He with divine regeneration made one with Him. For one and whole and singular is the head and body of Christ; one of the one God of heaven, and of one mother on earth; many sons and yet one Son. Head and members are one Son, and many sons, and so Mary and the Church are one Mother, and many, one Virgin and many. There is both mother and virgin, for both by the Holy Spirt conceive without lust, and both without sin bring forth the child of God the Father. Mary without sin bore the head of the body, The Church by the forgiveness of sins brings forth the body of the head. Both are the mother of Christ, but neither without the other bears at all. Whence in the divinely inspired Scriptures what is said about the virgin mother Church universally is said of the Virgin Mary singularly; and what specifically is understood of the Virgin Mary is rightly undersood of the virgin mother Church wholly, and when the words may refer to one or the other, the meaning is understood to refer to both. And indeed whatever soul is faithful is understood with reason as the bride of the Word Of God, the mother of Christ, as daughter, and sister, virgin and fruitful. What is said, therefore, universally of the Church, specifically of Mary, is singularly also of a faithful soul, by the wisdom of God, which is the Word of the Father. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 51, On The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1 Sirach 24.11 2 2 Cor 12.2 3 Jn 1.12 4 1 Cor 1.25

Drawing Near To God

Εἶπε πάλιν· Ὅσον ἐγγιζει ἄνθρωπος τῷ Θεῷ, τοσοῦτον ἁμαρτωλὸν ἑαυτὸν βλέπει. Ἡσαῗας γὰρ ὁ προφήτης ἰδὼν τὸν Θεὸν, τάλαν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον ἔλεγεν ἑαυτόν. Ἀποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.289c

Again Father Matoes said: 'The more a man draws near to God, the more he sees himself to be a sinner. Isiaah the Prophet beholding God, names himself a wretch and defiled.' 1 Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia 1 Isaiah 6.5