Clergy And Scandal

Vos autem recessistis de via, et scandalizastis plurmos in lege: irritum fecistis pactum Levi, dicit Dominus exercituum. Propter quod et ego dedi vos contemptibiles, et humiles omnibus populis, sicut non servastis vias meas, et accepistis faciem in lege. LXX: Vos autem declinastis de via mea, et infirmos fecistis multos in lege, corrupistis testamentum Levi, dicit Dominus omnipotens. Et ego dedi vos contemptibils, et dissolutos in omnes gentes, pro eo quod non custodistis vias meas, sed accipiebatis personas in lege. Haec ad Christi non pertinere personam, nec ad eos qui illius cultui dedicati sunt, etiamsi ego taceam prudens lector intelligit. Et est sensus: Ego vos volui facere quae priori capitulo continentur, et de quibus per Moysen in Deuteronomio sum locutus: Date Levi doctrinam ejus, et veritatem viro justo, et reliqua: vos autem recessistis de via recta, sive declinastis, dicente me: Non declines neque ad dextram, neque ad sinistram; et infirmos fecistis multos in lege, sive scandalizastis, ut Aquila et Symmachus verterunt. Declinare ad dextram, est abstinere a cibis quos Deus creavit ad utendum: condemnare nuptias, et in illuud incurrere, quod in alio loco scriptum est: Ne sis justus multum. Ad sinistram divertere, est cum quis luxuriae se tradit et libini, et scandalizat nultos in lege: cui melius est, ut mola asinaria ligetur circa collum, et in mare praecipitetur, quam scandalizet unum de minimis. Infirmos autem faciunt multos, qui cum credentes in Christo fidei robur acceperint, infirmari eos faciunt neligentia conversationis suae, quibus rectissime dicitur: Irritum fecistis pactum Levi, pactum vitae et pacis, et caetera, quae pertinere ad officium diximus sacerdotis. Quam ob causam, et ego, inquit, dedi vos contemnerent, et pro honore et gloria, quasi dejectos humilesque calcarent: Sicut non servastis vias meas, et accepistis faciem in lege. Inter omnia peccata Levi, sive eorum qui ex Levi sunt, sacerdotum Dei, illud et ultimum et maximum ponitur, quare accipiant faciem in lege, ut non causas, sed personas considerint, justumque pauperem despicientes, iniquos divites suscipiant et honorent. As quos in octogesimo primo psalmo dicitur: Usquequo judicatis iniquitatem, et facies peccatorum sumitis? Et Paulus ad Galatas: Deus, inquit, personam hominis non accipit. Pleniusque apostolus Jacobus hoc peccatum arguit, atque condemnat. Quidquid autem priori populo dicitur, etiam nobis dictum putemus ut cautiores recedamus a vitiis, et faciem non suscipiamus in lege, nec qui sumus cultores Dei, veritati mendacium praeferamus. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarium In Malachiam Prophetam, Cap II Source: Migne PL 25.1557c-1558b

For you have withdrawn from the way and you have scandalised many in the Law, you have voided the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. On account of which I have made you despised, and abased you before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, and you shown partiality in the Law. The Septuagint reads: You have fallen from my way, and you have made many weak in the Law, and you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says The Lord Almighty. And I have given you over to contempt and undone you among all the peoples, because you did not guard my ways, but you showed partiality in the Law. 1 These things do not pertain to the person of Christ, nor to those who are dedicated to His reverence, which even if I were silent the sensible reader would understand. Now this is the meaning: I wished to make you as the previous chapter told, and concerning which I spoke through Moses in Deuteronomy: 'Give to Levi his teaching and truth to the righteous man.' 2 As for the rest, 'you have withdrawn from the way, or fallen away,' though I say: 'Do not decline to the right or to the left.' 3 And you have made many weak in the law, or 'you have scandalised them', as Aquila and Symmachus translate it. To decline to the right is to reject foods which God has created for us, and to condemn marriage, and to rush into that concerning which it is said in another place: 'Do not be righteous overmuch.' 4 To stray to the left is when someone gives himself to luxury and lust, and scandalises many in the Law, for which it is better that the millstone were hung about his neck and he were cast into the sea, than he scandalise one of the little ones. 5 For they make many weak who, when they beleived in Christ and received strength in the faith, were then made weak by the negligence of their way of life, to whom it is rightly said: 'You have voided the covenant of Levi.' 'The covenant of life and peace,' and the rest, 6 which we have said pertains to the duties of the priest. Because of which, he says, I have given you over to contempt and abased you before all the peoples, that they scorn you, and in place of glory and honour they trample on you as men wretched and reviled. 'Because you have not kept my ways, and you have shown partiality in the Law.' Among all the sins of Levi, that one is placed as last and greatest, because showing partiality in the Law, they judge not cases but persons, and despising the righteous poor man they receive and honour iniquitous rich men. To whom it is said in the eighty first Psalm: 'How long will you judge for iniquity, and give honour to sinners?' 7 And Paul says to the Galatians: 'God is no respecter of persons.' 8 And more than all the Apostle James accuses this sin and condemns it. 9 For whatever has been said to the people before, we should think said to us, that being more prudent we keep away from vices, and do not show partiality in the Law, lest we who revere God prefer a lie to truth. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on The Prophet Malachi , Chapter 2 1 Malac 2.8-9 2 Deut 33.8 Sept 3 Deut 5.32 4 Eccles 7.17 5 Mt 18.6, Mk 9.42, Lk 17.1-2 6 Malac 2.5 7 Ps 88.2 8 Galat 2.6 9 James 21.13

Errors Of Speech

Ne dederis os tuum ut peccare facias carnem tuam... Hic tertio prohibet locutionem erroneam, et dehortatur locutionis errorem, et deinde subdit rationem, et post manifestat erroris radicem. Locutionis errorem dehoratatur dicens: Ne dederis os tuum, ut peccare facias carnem tuam, id est, non loquaris erroneam locutionem, ex qua praecipiteris in peccatis. Et exprimit, de qua locutione intelligit, subdicens: Neque dicas coram Angelo: non est providentia, id est, non dicas, neque in secreto neque in occulto, quia in occulto audiunt Angeli, qui sunt ad custodiam deputati, unde infra decimo: In cogatione tua regi ne detrahas, et in secreto cubili tuo ne malexdixeris diviti, quia aves caeli portabunt vocem tuam. Et subditur ratio exhortationis: Ne forte iratus Dominus dissipet opera tua, id est, reddat inutilia; iratus, non per animi commotionem, sed per culpae rigidam punitionem. Sic iratus est super sermones Rabascis et omnia opera regum Assyriorum per Angelum nocte destruxit; Isaiae trigesimo septimo: Si quo modo audiat Domnis Deus verba Rabascis, quem misit rex Assyriorum ad blasphemandum Deum viventem; Proverbiorum vigesimo: Dissipat impios rex sapiens etc. Et subditur huius locutionis origo: quia non oritur a recta ratione, sed a somniorum illusione; propter quod dicit: Ubi multa sunt somnia , plurimae sunt vanitates, quia somnium vantias; Isaiae vigesimo nono: Somniat esuriens et comedit, et postea, cum expergefactus fuerit, vacua est anima eius. Et sermones innumeri, hi sequuntur ad somnia, quia nihil certum ex eis potest sciri; quia Ecclesiastici trigesimo quarto: Divinatio erroris et auguria mendacia et somnia malefacinetium vanitas est. Et ideo de talibus non est curandum, sed de Deo, unde subdit: Tu vero time Deum, quia ipse solus est, qui potest nos perdere et salvare, non somnia, non auguria; Lucae duodecimo: Ostendam vobis, quem timeatis: timete eum qui postquam occiderit, habet potestatem mittere in gehennam. Sanctus Boneventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput V Source: Here, p43

'Do not give your mouth over that you make your flesh sin...' 1 Here he gives a threefold warning against erroneous speech; he dissuades from the errors of speech, and then he gives the reason, and after that reveals the root of the error. He dissuades from the errors of speech saying: 'Do not give your mouth over that you make your flesh sin.' That is, do not speak erroneous speech by which you rush into sin. And he expresses what he understands concerning this speech, saying: 'Lest you say before an angel: It was not foreseen.' That is, do not speak so, even as a secret or unobserved, because angels hear in secret, they who are appointed to guard, whence it says below in the tenth chapter: 'In your thoughts do not abuse the king, and in the seclusion of your room do not curse the Divine, because the birds of heaven will carry off your voice.' 2 And after that he gives the reason: 'Lest perhaps the Lord be angered and scatter all your works.' That is, He render them useless. And this angering is not a troubling of the soul, but a needful punishment of fault. So He was angered by the words of Rabshakeh, and by an angel in the night He destroyed all the works of the king of Assyria. Chapter thirty seven of Isaiah says: 'If somehow the Lord God hears the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria sent to blaspheme the living God.' 3 The twentieth chapter of Proverbs says: 'The wise king scatters the impious.' 4 And after he gives the cause of such speech: because it does not arise from right reason but from the illusion of dreams. On account of which he says: 'Where there are many dreams they are many vanities,' 5 because a dream is a vanity. In the twenty ninth chapter of Isaiah it reads: 'Hungry he dreams that he eats and afterward, when he has woken, his soul is empty.' 6 And innumerable words lead to dreams, because nothing certain is able to be known from them, as Ecclesiasticus says in the thirty fourth chapter: 'Divination is error, and augury a lie, and the dreams of evildoers a vanity.' 7 And therefore one must not care for such things, but only for God, whence it is said below: 'You, however, fear God.' 8 Because He alone is able to destroy and save, not dreams, not augury. In the twelfth chapter of Luke it says: 'I shall show you whom you should fear: fear Him who after He was killed, has the power to place you in hell.' 9 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5 1 Eccles 5.5 2 Eccles 10.20 3 Isaiah 37.4 4 Prov 20.26 5 Eccles 5.6 6 Isaiah 29.8 7 Sirach 34.5 8 Eccles 29.8 9 Lk 12.5

Speech And The Heart

Vana locuti sunt unusquisque ad proximum suum: labia dolosa in corde, et corde locuti sunt mala. Vana, falsa significat, juxta illud quod superius dixit, diminutae sunt veritates a filiis hominum, quando contra Dominum Christum testimonia quaerebant, et semetipsos pravis susurrationibus excitabant. Proximos autem significat, non tam cognatione generis quam sceleris participatione sociates. Nam quod dicit, in corde, et corde: quoties volumus dolosus exprimere, duplicia eorum corda declaramus; sicut Jacobus dicit: Vir duplex animo inconstants est in omnibus viis suis. Quando autem simplices cupimus indicare, unum cor in eis esse testamur, sicut in Actibus Apostolorum legitur: Multitudinis autem credentium erat cor unum et anima una. Sic et bilingues dicimus, qui in una sentenita minime perserverant. Et respice praedictas res, qualis fuerit secuta sententia: Locuti sunt mala. Necesse est enim ut mala loquerentur, qui duplicia corda gestabant. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XI Source: Migne PG 70.97b-c

Each one has spoken vanities to his neighbour; deceitful lips in the heart, and in the heart they have spoken evil. 1 By 'vanities' he signifies lies, according to which it is said above, 'Truth has diminished among the sons of men,' 2 as when they sought witness against the Lord Christ and they were stirred up by depraved whispering. By neighbours he means not so much those related by kinship, but rather associates in crime. For which he says 'in the heart' twice, for often when we wish to express cunning, we declare that such men are double-hearted, as James says: 'A double-minded man, inconstant in all his ways.' 3 But when we wish to indicate simplicity, we give witness to one heart in many, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: 'The multitude of the believers were of one heart and soul.' 4 So we name a man two-tongued who does not hold to one meaning. And considering what has been said, so it follows: 'They have spoken evil.' Indeed they must speak evil who bear a double heart. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 11 1 Ps 11.2 2 Ps 11.1 3 James 1.8 4 Acts 4.32

Alms And The Soul

Quid illis dixit: Facite eleemosynam, et ecce omnia munda sunt vobis? Quid est: Facite eleemosynam? Facite misericordiam. Quid est, Facite misericordiam? Si intellegis, a te incipe. Quomodo enim es misericors alteri, si crudelis sis tibi? Date eleemosynam, et omnia munda sunt vobis. Facite veram eleemosynam. Quid est eleemosyna? Misericordia. Audi Scripturam: Miserere animae tuae placens Deo. Fac eleemosynam, miserere animae tuae placens Deo. Mendicat ante te anima tua, redi ad conscientiam tuam. Quicumque male vivis, quicumque infideliter vivis, redi ad conscientiam tuam: et ibi invenis mendicantem animam tuam, invenis egentem, invenis pauperem, invenis aerumnosam, invenis forte nec egentem, sed egestate obmutescentem. Nam si mendicat, esurit iustitiam. Quando inveneris talem animam tuam, intus in corde tuo sunt illa, fac prius eleemosynam, da illi panem. Quem panem? Si Pharisaeus interrogaret, diceret illi Dominus: Fac eleemosynam cum anima tua. Hoc enim illi dixit; sed ille non intellexit, quando enarravit illis eleemosynas quas faciebant, et putabant latere Christum; et ait illis: Novi quia facitis; decimatis mentam et anethum, cuminum et rutam: sed ego alias eleemosynas loquor: contemnitis iudicium et caritatem. In iudicio et caritate fac eleemosynam cum anima tua. Quid est in iudicio? Respice, et inveni; displice tibi, pronuntia in te. Et quid est caritas? Dilige Dominum Deum in toto corde tuo, et tota anima tua, et tota mente tua; dilige proximum tuum tamquam te ipsum; et fecisti misericordiam prius cum anima tua, in conscientia tua. Hanc autem eleemosynam si praetermittis, da quod vis, dona quantum vis; retrahe de fructibus tuis, non decimas, sed dimidias; novem partes da, et unam tibi dimitte: nihil facis, quando tecum non facis, et tecum pauper es. Anima tua vescatur, ne fame pereat. Da illi panem. Quem panem, inquit? Ipse tecum loquitur. Tu si audires, et intellegeres, et crederes Domino, ipse tibi diceret: Ego sum panis vivus, qui descendi de coelo. Nonne istum panem primum dares animae tuae, et faceres cum illa eleemosynam? Si ergo credis, debes facere, ut prius pascas animam tuam. Crede in Christum; et mundabuntur quae intus sunt, et quae foris sunt munda erunt. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis,Sermo CVI, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 38.626-627

Why did He say to them, 'Give alms and behold all things are clean to you?' 1 What is, 'Give alms?' Be merciful. What is, 'Be merciful?' If you understand, begin with yourself. For how can you be merciful to another, if you are cruel to yourself? 'Give alms, and all things are clean to you.' Give true alms. What alms? Mercy. Hear Scripture; 'Be merciful to your own soul, pleasing God.' 2 Give alms, be merciful to your own soul, pleasing God. Your soul begs before you, return to your conscience. Whoever lives wickedly, whoever lives faithlessly, return to your conscience, and there you will find your soul in beggary, you will find it needy, you find it poor, you find it in sorrowful. Or perhaps you do not find it needy, but made dumb by its need. For if it begs, it hungers after righteousness. 3 When you find your soul in such a state, that is, in your heart, first give alms, give it bread. What bread? If the Pharisee had asked, the Lord would have said to him: 'Give alms to your own soul.' For He did say this to him, but he did not understand it, when He enumerated to them the alms which they did give, and which they thought were unknown to Christ, and He says to them, 'I know what you do, you give a tithe of mint and anise, cummin and rue, but I speak of other alms. You scorn judgement and charity.' 4 In judgement and charity give alms to your soul. What is 'in judgement?' Look back and discover; be displeased with yourself, pronounce against yourself. And what is charity? 'Love the Lord God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; love your neighbour as yourself,' 5 and you have been merciful first to your own soul, in your conscience. For if you neglect alms, give what you will, as much as you will, reserve from your goods not a tenth, but a half, give nine parts, and leave only one for yourself, you do nothing when you do not give to yourself, and you are poor in yourself. Let your soul feed, lest it perish by famine. Give it bread. What bread, do you say? He Himself speaks to you. If you would hear, and understand, and believe the Lord, He would say to you: 'I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven.' 6 Would you not first give this Bread to your soul, and so give alms to it? If then you believe, you should do so, that you may first feed your soul. Believe in Christ, and what is within shall be cleansed, and what is without shall be clean also. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 106, Chap 4 1 Lk 11.41 2 Sirach 30.24 3 cf Mt 5.6 4 Lk 11.42 5 Mt 22.37 6 Jn 6.41

The Camel And The Rich Man

Dicit in Evangelio Dominus Jesus Christus: Amen dico vobis, facilius est transire camelum per foramen acus, quam divitem intrare in regnum coelorum. Quae sententia vereor ne forte vobis conveniat, qui divitias saeculi hujus aut habetis aut quaertis. Sicut enim cameli animal, quod est tortuosum atque deforme, perversitas ipsa corporis per angustissimam acus cavernam praeterite non patitur: ita et divites oneratos avaritia, et cupiditate foedatos, ipsa vitae deformitas per arctam viam regni minime introire permittit. Ait enim idem Dominus: Arcta et angusta via est quae ducit ad vitam. Igitur in camelo difficultatem introitus praestat habitudo membrorum, In divite autem impedimentum magnitudo efficit peccatorum. Gibbus enim quidam est animae, turpe quod cogitate vel facere, ac mentis quaedam tortuosa deformitas, immundis rebus semper intendere, et ab Ecclesiae sancto limine curis saecularibus avocari. Unde mihi videtur hanc deformitatem corporis propheta spiritualiter elocutus, foeditatem morum potius indicasse, cum dicit: non sic glorietur gibberosus, sicut rectus. Quasi diceret: non ita glorietur peccator vitiorum suorum pravitate distortus, sicut gloriatur iustus conscientiae bonae simplicitate directus. Quamvis enim, o peccator, proceritate corporis gaudeas, quamvis scapularum tuarum aequalitate laeteris, anima tamen tua tuorum pravitate deformis est. Recte ergo camelo comparatus est dives. Siquidem illum a transitu acus corporis crassitudo revocat, hunc ab ingressu Ecclesiae patrimonii sollicitudo detentat. Et sicut illum parvum foramen non capit oneratum mole membrorum, ita et hunc introitus sanctus non suscipit gravatum cumulo delictorum. Uterque habet propriam sarcinam suam: ille oneratus est carnibus, iste peccatis; et sicut ille inhabilis est angustissimae acus cavernae, ita et hic inconveniens est beatissimo Dei regno; nisi quod camelum corpore incompositum natura, hunc autem pravum voluntas efficit. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia CXVII, De Camelo Source: Migne PL 57.525c-528b

The Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel: 'Truly I say to you that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.' 1 Which passage causes me to fear lest perhaps it befit you, who either hold or seek the riches of this world. As the camel is an animal which is twisted and deformed, which distortion of the body does not allow it to go through the hole of the needle, so the rich man is burdened by avarice, and defiled by lust for wealth, which deformity of life does not allow him in any way to come into the kingdom by the narrow way. For the Lord says, 'Narrow and hard the way which leads to life.' 2 Therefore in the camel the difficulty of entry is given by the disposition of the members, and with the rich man the greatness of the impediment is the gravity of sins. Humped indeed is that soul which thinks and acts viley, and by the twisted deformity of the mind is always attentive to foul things, and from the theshold of the Church is called away to worldly cares. Whence it seems to me that this deformity of body which the Prophet spiritually spoke on, was rather to indicate the foulness of conduct, when he said: 'It is not glorious to be humped but straight.' As if he had said: 'Let not the twisted sinner glory in the perversity of his vices, as the straight righteous man glories in the simplicity of a good conscience. For although, O sinner, you rejoice in the greatness of the body, although you take joy in the squareness of your shoulders, yet your soul is deformed by depravity.' Rightly, therefore, the rich man is compared to the camel. For just as the latter is prevented from passing through the eye of the needle by the greatness of its body, so the former by his cares is denied entry to the inheritance of the Church. And as the little eye is not gained by the latter's members burdened with weight, so even the former shall not receive entry into sanctitude on account of the heaped weight of his crimes. For both have their own burdens, the latter is burdened with flesh, the former with sin; and as the latter cannot fit through the most narrow aperture of the needle, so even the former is unfit for the most blessed kingdom of heaven. As the camel is made clumsy by the nature of its body, so the rich man is depraved by his will. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 117, On The Camel 1 Mt 19.24 2 Mt 7.14

Healing And Sacrifice

Volo, mundare. Et praecepit ei, ut et offerret munera, secundum quod praeceperat Moses. Quae illa? Per turturum, aut duos pullos columbarum. Omnis enim justitia in his est duobus: in abstinentia rerum malarum, et in opere rerum bonarum. Per turturem ergo jubet populum, ab infidelitate mundatum, sanctitatem offerre Deo in abstinentia rerum malarum: quoniam castitas spiritualis animae abstinentia est malorum, ut non coeat cum spiritu alieno, nec inspirationis ejus suscipiat semen, ne generat opera simila spiritui malo. Per columbam autem omne opus significat bonum, nascens ex caritate: quoniam caritas omne opus generat bonum. Qui ergo proximum summ diligit sicut se, nullum bonum subducit proximo suo, sicut nec sibi. Cum ergo has duas justitias impleverit quis, ab omni malo se abstinens, quod est castitatis, et omne bonum faciens, quod est caritatis, manifestus efficitur ille talis, quia ab infidelitatis lepra mundatus est, Sic enim populus emundatus, et talia sacrifica offerens Deo, factus est in testimoniam contra incredulos sacerdotes, qui gloriantes in litera legis, repulerunt auctorem legis, purificantem populum a peccatis, quem lex purificare non potuit. Et si tu complexus fueris verbum Dei cordis affectu, et tuam nihilominus animam attingit verbum, quoniam diligentes se diligit, sicut dicit in Proverbiis Salomon, et ab omni te infidelitatis lepra mundat. Cum autem te emundaverit, praecipit tibi, ut sacerdotibus te ostendas mundatum, castigans teipsum ab omni coninquinatione operis mali, et expandens caritatem tuam ad omnes per opera bona, ut per haec sacrificia a sacerdotibus cognoscaris, quia mundatus es, cum viderint te non facientem alteri quod pati non vis, sed adhuc et facientem omnibus quae tibi vis fieri. Si autem harum justitiarum sacrifica non obtuleris Deo, manifestus es omnibus, quia non es mundates, sed adhuc in priore infidelitate manes leprosus. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XX Source: Migne PG 56.750

I will, be clean. 1 And He commands him to offer gifts as Moses commanded. What are they? A pair of turtledoves, or two young doves. 2 All righteousness is in these two things: in abstinence from evils and in good works. A pair of turtledoves, therefore, he commands the people, cleansed from unfaithfulness, to offer in purity to God in the abstinence from evils things, because spiritual chastity is the abstinence of the soul from evils, that it not associate with a foreign spirit, nor receive the seed of its inspiration, lest it produce works similar to the evil spirit. By the dove is signified every good work which is born from love, because love produces every good work. Therefore he who loves his neighbour as himself, 3 brings no good to his neighbour that he does not to himself. When, then, someone fulfills these two types of righteousness, he abstains from every evil, which is chastity, and does every good, which is love, and it is manifest He does this, since he is cleansed from the leprosy of unfaithfulness. So indeed a people cleansed offer such sacrifices to God, which are witness against the unbelieving priests, who glorying in the letter of the Law, have rejected the author of the Law, a people purified from sin, whom the Law was not able to purify. And if you are embraced by the word of God in the depths of your heart, and the word touches your soul, because He loves the lovers of Him, as Soloman says in Proverbs, 4 He cleanses you from every leprosy of unfaithfulness. And when He has cleansed you, He commands you that you show your gifts to the priest, that by these sacrifices you are recognised by the priests that you have been cleansed, that is, when they see you not doing to another what you do not wish done to yourself, and doing to all what you do wish done to yourself. For if you do not bring these sacrifices of righteousness to God, you make manifest to all that you have not been cleansed, but that you yet remain a leper in unfaithfulness. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 20 1 Mt 11.28 2 Lev 14.22 3 Mt 22.37, Lev 19.18 4 Prov 8.17

Grace And Understanding

Arduum enim et difficullimum homini est, per se ipsum vel per saeculi doctores rationem praeceptorum coelestium consequi: nec naturae nostrae recipit infirmitas, divinis institutis, nisi per ejus gratiam qui haec ipsa dederit, erudiri. Namque qui simpliciter ea quae inter manus sibi inciderint legunt, existimant nihil differentiae in verbis, nihil in nominibus, nihil in rebus existere. Sed si istud communis colloquii sermon non patitur, ut sub diversis rerum nuncupationibus non diversa significata esse intelligantur; numquid Dei eloquia tam impertia, tam confusa esse credimus, ut aut inopia verborum quibus uterentur laboraverint? aut distinctionionum genera nescierint? Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXVIII Source: Migne PL 9.501 b-c

Arduous and most difficult it is for a man to grasp the sense of the heavenly commandments by himself, or by worldly teachers, for the weakness of our nature does not receive the Divine teachings, unless by the grace of Him who gave them. Those who read the things which happen to fall into their hands in a simple way do not discern the difference in words, nor in names, nor in things. But if this speech is not suffered to be but as common conversation, there is no understanding that under different ways of expressing things there are diverse meanings. Is it that we should think the words of God are so simple, so disordered, that they have toiled amid the poverty of words used? Or that they did not know the ways of discrimination? Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 118

Fools And Flesh

Sic stultis estis, ut cum Spiritu coeperitis, nunc carne consummemini? Si sanctum spiritum acceperant Galatae, quomodo stulti erant? Verum statim soluitur, coepisse quidem eos spiritum, sed cum carne consummarentur, spiritum ab eis fuisse sublatum. Unde sine causa passi sunt tanta quae passi sunt. Quod ne sibi post peccatum eveniret, David precatur, dicens: Spiritum Sanctum tuum ne auferas a me. Diligenter attendite quod qui Scripturas iuxta litteram sequitur, consummari carne dicatur. Quamobrem illud quod ad Corinthios scriptum est: in carne viventes, non iuxta carnem militamus, melius sic intelligi potest, ut hi militare dicantur in carne, qui vetus Testamentum humiliter edisserunt. Qui vero sequuntur intelligentiam spiritualem, sint quidem in carne, quia eamdem habeant litteram quam Iudaei, sed non iuxta carnem militent, a carne ad spiritum transcendentes. Quando videritis eum qui primum credit ex Gentibus, et ad Christi aratrum mittit manum, praevio aliquo doctore prudente, sic per Legis iter ad Evangelium pergere, ut omnia illa quae ibi scripta sunt, de sabbato, de azymis, de circumcisione, de victimis, digne Deo intelligat, et deinceps post Evangelii lectionem a Iudaeo aliquo aut Iudaeorum socio persuaderi, ut umbras et allegoriae nubila derelinquens, sic Scripturas interpretetur, ut scriptae sunt: de hoc potestis dicere: sic stultus es, ut cum Spiritu coeperis, nunc carne consummeris? Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber I Cap III Source: Migne PL 26.350a-c

Are you such fools, that having begun in the spirit, you now make an end in the flesh? 1 If the Galatians received the Holy Spirit, how were they fools? Truly this may be quickly resolved, for he had established them in the Spirit, but when they would end in the flesh, the Spirit went from them. Whence without reason they had endured so much. Which lest it happen to him after sin David prayed, saying: 'Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.' 2 Carefully attend that he says that he who follows the Scriptures according to the letter ends in the flesh. As he wrote to the Corinthians: 'Living in the flesh we do not strive according to the flesh, 3 by which one is better able to understand that they are said to fight in the flesh who basely expound the Old Testament. However, they who follow the spiritual understanding, though they are in the flesh, though they have the same letter as the Jews, do not fight according to the flesh, but pass from the flesh to the spirit. If you were to see one who first believed from the nations and put his hand to the plough of Christ, 4 being led by a certain prudent teaching, advancing through the way of the Law to the Gospel, so that all things which are written there, concerning the sabbath, and the unleavened bread, and circumcision, and sacrifices, he might understand in a manner worthy of God, and then later, after reading the Gospel, he is persuaded by some Jew, or an associate of the Jews, so that forsaking the shadows and clouds of allegories, he understands the Scriptures in a literal manner, concerning him would you not be able to say: 'Are you such a fool, that when you have begun in the Spirit, now you end in the flesh?' Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 1, Chap 3 1 Galat 4.32 2 Ps 50.13 3 2 Cor 10.3 4 Lk 9.26

Preaching And Revival

Eductus somne, cecidit de tertio coenaculo deorsum... Inter verba praedicationis occurrit occasio curationis, ut dulcedine miraculi et doctrinae sermo firmetur, et vigiliarum labor arceatur, et memoria magistri jam discessuri arctius mentibus infigatur. Tria vero coenacula in quorum supremo Paulus disputat, fides, spes, et charitas, sunt. Major autum his charitas. Quam si quis per ignaviam deseruerit, et inter Apostoli voces dormitare non timuerit, jam inter mortuos computabitur. Cum enim in uno offenderit, factus est omnium reus. Ad quem cum descendisset Paulus, incubuit super eum... Quod descendit, incumbit, complectitur, hoc est quod ipse dicit: Filioli mei, quos iterum parturio, donec formetur Christus in vobis. Operosior enim est resuscitatio eorum qui per negligentiam, quam qui per infirmitatem peccant. Et haec per Eutychum, illa per Tabitham quam Petrus suscitavit, experimitur. Et ideo illa in diebus infirmata moritur, hic media nocte cadit et moritur. Illa post mortem lota in coenaculo ponitur, hic tertio coenaculo delapsus deorsum mortuus lugetur. Iste praesente et docente, illa absente magistro. Ad hunc Paulus descendit, ad illam Petrus suscitaturus ascendit. Illa mox viso Petro resedit, hic nocte media defunctus tandem mane resurgit, et justitiae sole afflante, redivivus adducitur. Sanctus Beda,Super acta Apostolorum Expositio, Caput XX Source: Migne PL 92.985a-c

Having fallen asleep, he fell down from the third storey... 1 Here among the words of preaching there occurs an occasion for healing, that the sweetness of a miracle fortify the speech of teaching and watch over the labour of vigils, and the memory of the teacher soon to depart be more firmly fixed in the mind. The third storey at which height Paul disputed, are faith, hope and charity, and the greatest of these is charity. 2 Which if someone forsakes by negligence, and does not fear to slumber among the Apostolic voices, he is already to be reckoned among the dead. For when he offends in one thing, he is made guilty in all. 3 And when Paul had gone down to him, he bent over him... 4 He descends, he bends over, he embraces, and this is as he said: 'My children, whom again I carry in the womb until Christ is fashioned in you.' 5 For more laborious is the resuscitation of those who sin by negligence rather than by weakness. And the former is expressed by Eutychius, the latter by that Tabitha whom Peter revived. 6 Thus she died by weakness in the day, he fell and died in the middle of the night. She after death was washed and placed in the upper room, he fallen from the third storey was mourned as one who had died. He was present amid teaching, she had the teacher absent. Paul went down to revive him, Peter went up to her. She quickly sat up at the sight of Peter, he who perished in the middle of the night eventually rose in the morning, and with the sun of righteousness blazing, was led away alive. Saint Bede, from the Commentary on the Acts of The Apostles, Chap 20 1 Acts 20.9 2 1 Cor 13.13 3 Jam 2.10 4 Acts 20.10 5 Galat 4.19 6 Acts 9.36-41

Teaching, Baptism And Good Works

Euntes ergo docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patis, et Filii et Spiritus sancti, docentes eos servare omnia quaecunque mandavi vobis. Rectissimus autem ordo praedicandi, et modernis quoque praedicatoribus Ecclesiae diligentissime sectandus, ut primo quidem doceatur auditor, deinde fidei sacramentis imbuatur, deinde ad servanda Dei mandata ex tempore liberius instituatur. Quia non potest fieri ut corpus baptismi recipiat sacramentum, nisi ante anima fidei susceperit veritatem. Cum neque indoctus quisque et ignarus Christianae fidei potest ejusdem sacramentis ablui, neque lavacro baptismi a peccatis emundari sufficit, si non post baptisma studeant quisque bonis operibus insistere. Prius ergo docere gentes, id est, scientia veritatis instituere, ac sic baptizare praecipit. quia, et sine fide impossibile est placere Deo; et nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu sancto, non potest introire in regnum Dei. Ad extremum vero subjungit, Docentes eos servare omnia quaecunque mandavi vobis. Ac ne putemus levia esse quae jussa sunt, et pauca addidit: Omnia quaecunque mandavi vobis, ut quicunque crediderint, qui in Trinitate uerunt baptizati, omnia faciant quae praecepta sunt: quia sicut corpus sine spiritu mortuum est, ita et fides sine operibus mortua est. Quanta autem merces piae conversationis, quale pignuis futurae beatitudinis. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber VII Source: Migne PL 107.1152d- 1153c

'Go, therefore, and teach all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you.' 1 Most correctly here is the order of preaching given, which today's preachers of the Church should also diligently follow, that first the hearer should be taught, and then let him be imbued with the sacrament, then from that time he will be better established for the keeping of the commandments of God. Because it is not possible that a body receive the sacrament of baptism unless first the soul has taken up the truth of the faith. When it is not possible that anyone uneducated and ignorant of the Christian faith can be cleansed with that sacrament, nor shall the washing of baptism suffice to cleanse from sin, so after such a baptism no one will not be eager to set about good works. First, then, He commands the teaching of people, that is the imbuing with the knowledge of truth, and then baptism, because 'without faith it is impossible to please God.' 2 and 'Unless someone is reborn in water and the Holy Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God.' 3 Finally He adds: 'Teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you.' And lest we think these be light things which have been commanded, he adds the few words: 'All that I have commanded you' that whoever believes, who is baptised in the Trinity, should do all that is commanded, because as the body without the spirit is dead, so 'faith without works is dead.' 4 As much as is the wealth of pious living, so is the guarantee of future blessedness. 5 Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 7 1 Mt 1.2 2 Heb 11.6 3 Jn 3.5 4 Jam 2.17 5 cf the whole to Bede Hom III In Feria Sexta Inter Octavam Paschae PL 94.146.b-c

Possessions And Preaching

Nolite possidere aurum, neque argentum, neque pecuniam in zonis vestris. Non peram in via, neque duas tunicas, neque calceamenta, neque virgam. Haec itaque praecepta non solum apostolorum sunt, verum omnium eorum quibus praedicatio sancti Evangelii credita est, licet a multis corrumpantur. Quae tamen nisi recte intelligantur, non modo errare impellunt quoslibet incautos, verum dissonantiam inter sanctos evangelistas facere videntur. Unde primum cum gratis jubeat dare, superflua videtur auri argentique et pecuniarum interdictio. Praesertim cum et Judas ex commissu Domini loculos habuerit unde sibi emerent quae necessaria videbantur. Et alibi discipuli ierunt in civitatem emere sibi escas. Quo profecto patet Dominum necessaria non interdixisse, sed superfluo resecasse. Hinc quoque signanter ait: Nolite possidere aurum, neque argentum, neque pecuniam. Quoniam aliud est necessaria victus et vestimenti ad horam habere, aliud vero, longa sollicitudine quaesita, timide aut cupide possidere. Verumtamen, ut arbitror, non invidiosus thesaurus, neque sumptuosus, auri argentique, et aeris in zonis tantum haberi, sed docet quod praedicatorum in Domino tanta debeat fore fiducia, ut praesentis vitae sumptus, quamvis, non praevideant hos sibi deesse omnino non diffidat. Idcirco satis provide divitias detruncat, qui propemodum etiam necessaria praesentis vitae amputare festinat, ut ibi sit cor nostrum quo thesaurus esse probatur. Et ne forte viderentur apostoli magis lucri gratia praedicare, quam salutis humanae, omnia subtrahit quae possent esse scandali, et necessaria concedit ex Evangelio, quatenus eorum nemo de crastino cogitare videretur. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib VI Cap X Source: Migne PL 120.412a-d

Have no gold, nor silver, nor money in your pouches. Have no purse on the way, nor two tunics, nor shoes, nor a staff. 1 These commandments are not only for the Apostles, but truly for all who are entrusted with the preaching of the holy Gospel, lest they be corrupted by many things. Which, however, should be rightly understood, lest those who are incautious err in any way thinking there is some discord among the Evangelists. Whence when He first commands to give without payment, appears the prohibition of the superfluities of gold and silver and money. Certainly Judas was commissioned by the Lord to hold the purse by which he bought things that seemed to be needed. 2 And elsewhere the disciples went into the city to buy food. 3 Which openly shows that the Lord did not prohibit necessary things but rather that one should reject superfluous things. Which he indicates saying: 'Have no gold, nor silver, nor any money.' Because it is one thing to need necessities and have clothing for the moment, but another to have sought with great care, and to possess with fear or desire. However, so I judge it, it is not only that one should have neither envy producing treasure, nor excessive gold and silver and bronze in one's pouch, but that He teaches that the trust of the preacher should be in the Lord alone, that having taken up the things of this present life, they do not look to lack of them for themselves, and so they do not lack confidence. Therefore, it is  enough that He cuts off this looking for wealth, who near enough hurries to cast off the nesssities of the present life, so that it is proved that where the heart is there is the treasure. 4 And lest perhaps the Apostles seem to preach more for the sake of money than for the salvation of men, He takes away everything that might be a cause of scandal, allowing only necessities for the Gospel, as much as none of them seems to think about tomorrow. 5 Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 6, Chapter 10 1 Mt 10.9 2 Jn 13.29 3 Jn 4.8 4 Mt 6.21 5 Mt 6.34

An Exhortation To Preaching

Pio Patri et prudenti magistro, nobisque cum omni amore amplectendo Theodulfo archiepiscopo, humilis levita Alcuinus salutem. Solent ex abundanti charitatis fonte verba fluere dulcudinius, quia quoddam refrigerium est aestuantis in amore cordis sermonibus ostendere, quod mente maxime tenetur. Unde ego privatae charitatis instinctu condictum amicitiae jus pietatis inuitu renovare cupiens, his litterulis vestrae sanctitati fidem meam in memoriam revocare volui, ne thesaurus memoriae longa oblivionis rubigine vilescat: maxime quia filius noster Candidius, vester fidelis famulus, plurima bonitatis insignia nobis de vestrae beatitudinis nomine narrare solet; vel quam libera voce in conventu publico veritatis testimonia pertulisset; vel quam honestis moribus inter majores minoresque personas tuae beatitudinis foret conversatio. Etiam quam pia et religiosa sedulitate ecclesiastica coleres officia; vel qualiter impias disceptationes odio haberes; quoniam omnia certissimum est Deo placare; et Sancti Spiritus gratiam tuo pectori abundanter influere demonstrant, et illam tuo corde ardescere flammam, quam ipsa Veritas testatur se mittere in terram, ut arderet, quoniam nullis poterit fluminibus extingui. Gaudens gaudebo de augmento honoris vestri et de sigillo sacerdotalis dignitatis, quod apostolica vobis superaddidit auctoritas; sed sciens scito quod hujus honoris claritas praedicationis poscit instantiam. Pallium sacerdotale diadema est. Sicut regium diadema fulgor gemmarum ornat, ita fiducia praedicationis pallii ornare debet honorem. In hoc enim honorem suum habet, si portitor veritatis praedicator existit. Memor esto sacerdotalis dignitatis linguam coelestis esse clavem imperii, et clarissimam castrorum Christi tubam; quapropter ne sileas, ne taceas, ne formides loqui, habens ubique operis tui itinerisque Christum socium et adjutorem. Nec enim fas est tam clari luminis, tam affluentis sapientiae lucernam sub modio abscondi, sed in honorem largitoris omnibus splendescere lumine veritatis, qui domum Dei ingrediuntur; quia messis quidem multa est, operarii autem pauci. Sed quo rariores, eo instantiores qui sunt esse necesse est. Exalta, ait Propheta, sicut tuba vocem tuam. Aliusque: Sit guttur tuum sicut aquila tuba super domum Dei. Multi occupant terram, sed quaerenti Christo fructum non afferent. Tua vero, vir venerande, sanctitas honoret ministerium tuum; praedica opportune, importune, et ut trapezeta sapiens multiplica pecuniam Domini, ut denaria mercede dignus efficiaris. Alcuinus, Epistola CXLVII, Ad Theodulfum Archiepiscopum Source: Migne PL 100.391b-393a

To the pious father and prudent teacher, with all our love embracing, Theodulf the archbishop, Alcuin, a humble priest, greetings. Words are accustomed to flow more sweetly from the abundant fount of charity, because there is a certain refreshment shown in the blazing words of a loving heart which is most firmly fixed in the mind. Whence I, by a kindling of private charity, desiring to renew the established right of pious friendship, with these words wished to recall to memory my faith to your holiness, lest the treasury of memory by blight of long forgetfulness be defiled, especially because our son Candidius, your faithful attendant, is accustomed to tell to us of the great fame of your kindness regarding the name of your holiness, or rather with free voice in public assembly he has brought forth the testimony of truth, or rather with frank behavour before the great and lesser he has revered your holiness. Indeed because with pious and sedulous you have adorned the ecclesiastical offices, and likewise you have reviled impious disputants, which all things are certainly most pleasing to God, and display most abundantly the grace of the Holy Spirit in your breast, which flame burning in your heart, the Truth Himself gives witness He has placed on the earth, 1 which flares up because no river is able to quench it. Rejoicing, then, I take joy concerning the increase of your honour and the seal of the priestly dignity, which the Apostolic authority has added to you; but knowing that, let it be known that with the glory of this honour is demanded a greater intensity of preaching. The priestly pallium is a diadem, and as the diadem of kingdoms is adorned by the brightness of gems, so confidence in preaching should adorn the honour of the pallium. And in this is its honour, if the preacher stands with a greater portion of the truth. Keep in mind that the tongue of the priestly dignity is the key of the heavenly kingdom and the most precious trump of the camps of Christ, whence do not be silent, do not hold your tongue, do not fear to speak, but everywhere in your works and ways have Christ your friend and helper. For it is not right that a bright light, a lamp of splendid wisdom, should be hidden beneath a bushel, but in a place of honour the light of truth illuminates more fully all who enter the house of God. 2 Because the harvest is plenty but the workers few, 3 as they are more rare, so it is needful that there be more present. 'Lift up,' says the Prophet, 'your voice like a trumpet.' 4 And another: 'May your throat be as the eagle, a trumpet over the house of God.' 5 Many dwell on the earth, but in the seeking of Christ they bear no fruit. But may your holiness, venerable fellow, honour your ministry. Preach in season and out of season, 6 and as you know how to multiply the money tables of the Lord, so you shall be worthy to receive a rich reward. 7 Alcuin of York, from Letter 147 to the Archbishop Theodulf 1.Lk 12.49 2 Mt 5.15 3 Mt 9.37 4 Isai 58.1 5 Hosea 8.1 6 2 Tim 4.2 7 Mt 25.14-30, Lk 19.11-27

Hospitality And Reward

Admonendi sunt ut hospitalitatem diligant, et nulli hospitium praebere detrectent, et si cui forte hospitium praestiterint, nullam ab eo mercedem accipiant, nisi forte ille, qui a te recipitur, sponte sua aliquid det. Dicendumque illis qualiter multi per hospitalitatis officium Deo placuerunt, dicente Apostolo, Per hanc enim placuerunt quidam Deo, angelis hospitio susceptis. Et iterum, Hospitales sine murmatione. Et ipse Dominus ad judicium dicturus est, Hospes eram, et collegistis me. Sciant sane quicunque hospitalitatem amant, Christum se in hospitibus recipere. Nam ille modus hospitalitatis non solum inhumanus, sed etiam crudelis est, quo nunquam hospes in domum ante recipitur, nisi prius dandi hospitii merces compensetur, et quod Dominus agere jussit pro perceptione regni coelestis, pro acquisitione terrenarum rerum agatur. Theodulfus Aurelianensis, Capitula ad Presbyteros Parochiae Suae, Capitula XXV Source:Migne PL 105.199a-b

Let them love the admonishment that they should be hospitable, and let them not refuse to give hospitality to anyone, and when they do give hospitality let them not accept any money for it, unless perhaps it is that someone who received it from you, of his own will, suddenly give something. It must be told to them how it is that by the duty of hospitality many have been pleasing to God, with the Apostle saying, 'By this some have pleased God, hospitably receiving angels.' 1 And again, 'Be hospitable without grumbling.' 2 And the Lord Himself spoke concerning judgement: 'I was a stranger and you took me in.' 3 Let them know that whoever loves hospitality receives Christ among his guests. And that in the matter of hospitality he is not only unkind, but cruel, who never in his house receives a guest unless he is compensated by a handing over of money, and what the Lord commanded to be done for the reception of the kingdom of heaven, is done for the gaining of the things of the world. Theodulf of Orleans, Chapters For His Local Priests, Chapter 25 1 Heb 13.2 2 1 Pet 4.9 3 Mt 25.35

Hope And Grace

Et omnis qui habet spem hanc in eo, sanctificat se... Multi se dicunt spem habere vitae coelestis in Christo, sed hanc confessionem negligenter vivendo evacuant. Manifestum autem de se indicium spei supernae exhibet, qui bonis operam dare actibus studet, certus quia non aliter ad similitudinem Dei quis in futuro perveniet, nisi sanctitatem in praesenti se sanctificando, id est, abnegando impietatem et saecularia desideria, sobrie autem et juste et pie vivendo imitetur. Sic autem divinae sanctitatis munditiam pro nostrae capacitatis mensura jubemur imitari, sicut divinae similitdunis gloriam pro nostra, id est, creaturae mensura sperare praecipimur. Neque autem Pelagianum dogma juvare credendum est, quod dicitur de homine Sanctificat se, quasi aliquis sine divino auxilio per liberum arbitrium possit se santificare. Sed qui habet spem in Domino sanctificare se quantum potest ipse nitendo, et ejus per omnia gratiam flagitando, qui ait: Sine me nihil potestis facere eique dicendo: Adjutor meus esto, ne derelinquas me. Sanctus Beda, In I Epistolam Sancti Joannis Source: Migne PL 93.99d-100a

And any one who has hope in Him, he sanctifies himself... 1 Many say that they have hope in the heavenly life in Christ, but by their negligent life they make this statement vain. He clearly exhibits the mark of heavenly hope in himself, who is zealous to give himself to work in good deeds, because certainly not otherwise will he come to the image of God in the future, unless he sanctifies himself with holiness in the present, that is, cutting himself off from impiety and worldly desires, let him imitate with a life of sobriety and righteousness and piety. As we are commanded to imitate the wealth of Divine sanctity according to the measure of our capacity, so is the glory of the Divine likeness for us, that is, we are taught to hope according to the measure of the creature. And it must not be thought to lend aid to the teaching of the Pelagians when it says concerning man, 'he sanctifies himself', as if someone without Divine help, by his own will, could sanctify himself. But he who hopes in the Lord sanctifies himself as much as he exerts himself, inflamed in everything by His grace, He who said: 'Without me you can do nothing,' 2 and to whom it was said: 'Be my helper, do not forsake me.' 3 Saint Bede, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John 1 1 Jn 3.3 2 Jn 15.5 3 Ps 26.9

Daily Prayer And Grace

Post hic dicimus: Sanctificetur Nomen tuum. Non quod optemus Deo ut sanctificitur orationibus nostris, sed quod petamus ab eo ut nomen ejus sanctificetur in nobis. Ceterum a quo Deus sanctificetur, qui ipse sanctificat? Sed quia ipse dixit: Sancti estote, quoniam et ego sanctus sum, id petimus et rogamus, ut qui in baptismo sanctificati sumus, in eo quod esse coepimus perseveremus, et hoc quotidie deprecamur. Opus est enim nobis quotidiana sanctificatione, ut qui quotidie delinquimus, delicta nostra sanctificatione assidua repurgemus. Quae autem sit sanctificatio quae nobis de Dei dignatione confertur, Apostolus praedicat dicens: Neque fornicarii neque idolis servientes; neque adulteri, neque molles, neque masculorum a appetiores, neque fures, neque fraudatores, neque ebriosi, neque maledici, neque raptores regnum Dei. Et haec quidem fuistis, sed abluti estis, sed justificati estis, sed sanctificati estis in nomine Domini Jesu Christi, et in spiritu Dei nostri. Sanctificatos nos dicit in nomine Domini Jesu Christi et in spiritu Dei nostri. Haec sanctificatio ut in nobis permaneat oramus: et quia Dominus et judex noster sanato a se et justificato comminatur * jam non delinquere, ne quid deterius fiat, hanc orationibus precem facimus hoc diebus ac noctibus postulamus, ut sanctificatio et vivicatio quae de Dei gratia sumitur, ipsius protectione servetur Sanctus Cyprianus, De Oratione Dominica Source: Migne PL 4.526c-527b

After this we say, 'Hallowed be Your name.' 1 Not that we wish that God might be sanctified by our prayers, but we ask Him that His name may be sanctified in us. For by whom is God sanctified, since He Himself sanctifies? But because He says, 'Be holy, even as I am holy,' 2 we ask and entreat that we who in baptism were sanctified may persevere in that which we have begun to be, and this we pray for every day. For we need daily sanctification, that we who daily fall away may wash away our sins by continual sanctification. And what the sanctification is which is conferred upon us by the condescension of God, the Apostle declares, saying: 'Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor those who lay with men, nor thieves, nor deceivers, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such indeed were you, but you are washed, but you are justified, but you are sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.' 3 He says that we are sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. We pray that this sanctification may remain in us, and because our Lord and our Judge warns the man who was healed and revived by Him to sin no more lest something worse befall him, we make this petition in our prayers day and night, that the sanctification and renewel which is received from the grace of God may be preserved by His protection. Saint Cyprian of Carthage, On The Lord's Prayer 1 Mt 6.9 2 Lev 20.7 1 Cor 6.9-11

Life And The Flesh

Qui enim in carne sunt, Deo placere non possunt. Qui in carne confidunt, qui concupiscentias suas sequuntur, qui in eis habitant, qui earum voluptatibus oblectantur, qui in earum delectationibus beatam felicemque vitam constituunt, ipsi enim in carne sunt, Deo placere non possunt. Non enim intelligendum est, qui sunt in carne, quasi qui in ista carne vivunt, in qua multi viventes Deo placere meruerunt, qui in carne non fuerunt quamvis in carne vixerint. Portabant carnem, non portabantur a carne. Unde et subditur: Vos autem in carne non estis. Populo Dei dicit, Ecclesiae Dei dicit, Romanis scripsit; sed universae Ecclesiae dixit. Tritico dixit, non paleae; massae latenti, non stipulae apparenti. Unusquisque in corde suo cognoscat si ad eum pertineat. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber V Source: Migne PG 180.629a-b

Those who live in the flesh cannot please God. 1 Those who trust in the flesh, who follow its desires, who dwell in them, who are delighted by its pleasures, who establish the blessed and happy life in its joys, they are in the flesh and cannot please God. It must not be thought that those who are in the flesh are as those who live in this flesh, in which many living have merited to please God, those who lived in the flesh as not in the flesh. They carried the flesh, they were not carried about by it. Whence he writes after this: 'For you are not in the flesh.' 2 He speaks to the people of God, He speaks to the Church of God. He wrote to the Romans, but he spoke to the universal Church. He spoke to wheat, not to chaff; to him hidden in the ear, not to the overt straw. Every man in his heart knows if this refers to him. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Romans, Book 5 1 Rom 8.8 2 Rom 8.9

Reaping The Harvest

Et cum produxerit ex se fructum statim mittit falcem, quoniam adest messis. Et cum produxerit ex se fructum et sufficientem: et tangit tempus collectionis agricolae seminantis ergo hoc est, hunc fructum in horrea coeli Deo congregat. Qui metit, mercedem accipit, et congregat fructum in vitam aeternam. Sua autem diligentia Praedicator, et Praelatus debent Deo tales fructus congregate: et non sibi lucra quaerere ex ipsis. Triticum congregate in horreum meum. Triticum congregabit ad horreum suum, paleas autem comburet igni inextinguibili. Mittit igitur falcem quia praecidit fructum a laude et lucro hominis, et reponit Deo in horreum. Sic enim fecit Filius incrementa Sancto Patri assignans. Cum tradiderit regnum Deo et Patri, tunc tempore maturi fructus, ut totum Deo attributatur et referuetur: et hoc sit, vel in fine mundi, vel in fine mortis cuiulibet hominis. Mitte falcem tuam et mete, quia venit hora ut metatur, quoniam aruit messis terrae. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput IV Source: Volumen 9, pdf p333

And when the grain is ripe at once he applies the sickle, because the harvest has come. 1 When the grain is ripe and enough, and the time of collection has come, so the farmer who sowed the seed gathers its produce into the heavenly storehouse for God. 'He who reaps, he receives his wage, and he gathers the fruit for eternal life.' 2 For the preacher and the prelate by his own diligence should gather such fruit for God, and not seek profit from it for themselves. 'Gather the wheat into my storehouse.' 3 'He shall gather the wheat into His storehouse, but the chaff He shall burn with unquenchable fire.' 4 So he puts in the sickle because he cuts off the fruit from the praise and profit of man, and he places it in the storehouse for God. So the Son has made increase for the Holy Father. 'When He shall give the kingdom to God and the Father.' 5 Then when the crop is ripe, that all be attributed and referred to God. And this is done at the end of the world, or at the end of any man's life. 'Put in your sickle and reap, because the hour of reaping has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.' 6 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 4 1 Mk 10.42-45 2 Jn 4.36 3 Mt 13.30 4 Lk 3.17 5 1 Cor 15.24 6 Apoc 14.15

The Labourers

Venite ad me omnes, qui laboratis, et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos. Id est, repausabo. Et vide quomodo dicit, Quia laboratis? Quis est qui laborat? Qui festinat adimplere justitiam, et non praevalet. Qui autem non vult facere justitiam, ille non laborat sub pondere legis. Utputa, si ante te videris aliquem ponderis fascem: siquidem contendisti eum tollere super te, et non potes, laboras: si autem nec tentas, nullum sentis laborem de pondere. Ergo non illos vocabat Christus ad se, qui omnino non concupiscebant facere justitiam, sed qui festinbant, et qui laborabunt, et praevalere non poterant. Adhuc etiam sermonibus istis etiam Christianos peccatorum pondere praegravatos ad requiem poenitentiae vocat. Putas quod peccatores istius mundi non laborant? Vere enim majores labores et sollicitudienes habent, quam servi Dei, dicente propheta: Contritio et infelicitas in viis eorum, et viam pacis non cognoverunt. Item ex persona peccatorum poenitentiam agentium dicit Salomon: Ergo erravimus a via veritas, et lumen justitiae non luxit nobis, et sol non ortus est nobis: lassati sumus in iniquitatis via et perditionis, ambulavimus solitudines desertas, difficiles autem vias Domini ignoravimus. Quid nobis profuit superbia nostra, aut quid divitiarum jactatio contulit nobis? Transierunt omnia illa tamquam umbra. Ergo laborant multum, et conteruntur in saeculo, sed laborem non sentiunt: spiritus enim qui seducit eos, ipse delectat in malo. Sicut enim qui susipiunt jugum Christi, Christus eos delectat in spiritu, ne fatigentur in bonis operibus: sic et qui jugum suscipiunt diaboli, diabolus eos delectat et decipit, ne discedant a malo impii usque ad mortem suam. Ideo dicit Christus: Jugum enim meum sauve est est onus meum leve. Nam etsi corpore non gravantur peccatores, nec laborant, animae tamen eorum gravatae sunt et laborant, dicente propheta de onere peccatorum: Quoniam iniquitates meae superposuerunt caput meum , sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXVIII Source: Migne PG 56.779-780

Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I shall give you rest. 1 That is, I shall give you peace. And consider how He says it is because you labour. Who is it that labours? He who hurries to fulfill righteousness and does not achieve it. For he who does wish to be righteous, he does not labour under the weight of the Law. As if you saw someone burdened by a bundle and demanded he place it on you and you were not able to bear it, so you would labour. For if you do not try, you do not know the labour of bearing the weight. Therefore Christ does not call them to Himself who have no desire at all to be righteous, but those who hurry to it, and who labour and are not able to attain to it. Yet even with these words he calls Christians to the rest of penance from the grave weight of their sins. Do you think that sinners do not labour in this world? Truly they have greater labours and cares than the servants of God, as the Prophet says: 'Afflicted and unhappy in their ways, they did not know the way of peace.' 2 And in the person of sinners making penance Solomon says: 'So we strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness did not shine on us, and the sun did not rise on us, and we were wearied in the way of our iniquity and ruin; we walked with fruitless cares, and we disregarded the hard ways of the Lord. What has our pride profited us? Or what has the boast of our wealth brought us? All these things pass away like a shadow.' 3 Therefore they labour much, and are crushed down to dust in the world, but they are not aware of their labour, for the spirit who seduces them, he delights in evil. For as those who take up the yoke of Christ, Christ loves in the spirit, that they not weary in good works, so those who take up the yoke of the devil, the devil loves and deceives them, lest before death the impious depart from evil. Therefore Christ says: 'My yoke is easy and my burden light.' 4 For even if sinners are not burdened in their bodies, nor do they labour, yet their souls are weighed down and they labour, with the Prophet saying about the burden of sinners: 'Because my iniquities have been heaped on my head, like a heavy burden weighing down on me.' 5 Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 28 1 Mt 11.28 2 Ps 13.3 3 Wis 5.6-9 4 Mt 11.30 5 Ps 37.5

The Mustard Seed

Audistis hodie, fratres, quemadmodum grano sinapis tota regni coelestis comparata est magnitudo. Et quid est quod potestatem tantam, sic parva, sic minima immo minimorum minima similitudo concludit? Sic enim ait Dominus: Cui simile est regnum Dei? Et cui simile aestimabo illud? Cum dicit: Cui simile, quasi quaerentis indicat et producit affectum. Et ille solus Verbum, scientiae fons, dicendi flumen, qui omnium corda rigat, sensus aperit, ingenium dilatat, in invenienda similitudine nunc laborat? Sed quid invenerit audiamus. Simile est, inquit, regnum coelorum grano sinapis. Quaerens in coelo et in terra, nil invenit nisi granum sinapis, in quo potentiam totam supernae dominationis includat; et illud regnum singularitate potens, aeternitate felix, divinitate fulgens, diffusum toto coelo, tota terra dilatatum, in grani sinapis coarctat et concludit angustias. Simile est regnum coelorum grano sinapis. Spes ista est credentium tota? Exspectatio ista est fidelium summa? Ista est felicitas virginum longis continentiae laboribus comparata? Ista est gloria martyrum totius effusione sanguinis conquisita? Hoc est quod nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit? hoc est quod ineffabili sacramento diligentibus Deum promittit Apostolus esse praeparatum? Fratres, non facile Dominicis moveamur in dictis; nam si infirmum Dei, fortius est hominibus; et stultum Dei sapientius est hominibus, hoc minimum Dei tota magnitudine mundi magnificentius invenitur; si modo hoc granum sinapis nos sic nostris seminemus in mentibus, ut intelligentiae magnam nobis in arborem crescat, et sensus altitudine tota levetur ad coelum, ac totos scientiarum diffundatur in ramos atque ita ora nostra ferventia vivido fructus sui sapore succendat, et ita igne seminis sui toto nobis ardeat, et flammetur in pectore, atque nostrae ignorantiae totum nobis auferat sua degustatione fastidium. Simile est regnum coelorum grano sinapis, quod acceptum homo misit in hortum suum, et crevit, et factum est in arborem magnam, et volucres coeli requieverunt in ramis eius. Grani sinapis, sicut dicit, instar est regnum Dei, quod de supernis affertur verbo, suscipitur auditu, fide seritur, credulitate radicatur, spe crescit, confessione diffunditur, virtute tenditur, et dilatatur in ramos, ad quos vocat aves coeli, id est, spirituales sensus, atque in ipsis eas quieta suscipit mansione. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XCVIII, De Parabola Grani Sinapis Source: Migne PL 52.474b-475b

You have heard today, brothers, that the whole greatness of the kingdom of heaven has been compared to a mustard seed. And how is it that such power is contained within something so small, so little, indeed is in the likeness of the littlest of little things? For the Lord says: 'To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? To what shall I compare it?' 1 When He says, 'To what shall I liken,' it shows Him as one who is as if seeking and producing an effect. And does that only Word, the fount of knowledge, the river of eloquence, who waters all hearts and opens all minds and expands all intellects, now toil in the finding of a likeness? Let us hear what He finds. 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed,' He says. Seeking in the heavens and the earth He finds nothing but a mustard seed in which the total power of the supernal realm might be encompassed, and that kingdom of singular power, that happiness in eternity, the Divine light, which brightens all the heavens, and stretches out across the whole earth, he narrows and closes up in the constricted space of a mustard seed? 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.' This is the whole hope of believers? This is the consummation of the expectation of faithful? This is to be compared to the happiness of virgins after their long labours of contentince? This has been found to match the whole glory of the martyrs who poured out their blood? This is 'What the eye has not seen, and the ear not heard, nor has it arisen to the heart of a man?' 2 This is that ineffable mystery which is prepared for the lovers of God according to the promise of the Apostle? Brothers, let us not be so easily bewildered by the words of the Lord. 'For if the weakness of God is stronger than men, and the foolishness of God is wiser than men,' 3 this least thing of God is found to be more magnificent than the whole greatness of the world, if in this way we sow in our minds this mustard seed, so that a great tree of understanding grow up in us, and the whole height of the mind rise up to heaven, and in all the branches knowledge be diffused, so that our eager mouth is set alight with the lively taste of its fruit, and the fire of its seed burn all through us and flame up in the heart, and all the weakness of ignorance be driven out by its taste. 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man received and placed in his garden and it grew and it became a great tree and the birds of heaven rested on its branches.' The mustard seed, as He says, is an image of the kingdom of God, which is brought by the Word from the heights, and is received by hearing, and is planted by faith, and is rooted by belief, and it grows by hope, and it spreads by confession, and it stretches forth with virtue, and it expands its branches, to which it calls the birds of heaven, that is, the spiritual senses, which he receives in himself wit his place of peace. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 98, On The Parable Of The Mustard Seed 1 Lk 13.18 2 1 Cor 2.9 3 1 Cor 1.25

The Leaf And The Word

Et folium ejus non decidet Id est sermo ipsius nullo casu a veritate discedit, sed tanquam in arbore palmae folia manentia sunt, ita et ista infixa veritati certis promissionibus perserverant, sicut in Evangelio legitur: Caelum et terra transibunt, verba autem mea non praeteribunt. Et intuere Domini verba foliis arboris comparata, quia sicut illa fructus tegunt, sic promissiones suas et ista custodiunt. Hae sunt aquae spirituales, haec folia salutaria, de quibus in Apocalypsi beatus Joannes dicit: Et ostendit mihi flumen aquae vivae splendidum, tanquam crystallum, exiens de throne Dei et Agni; in medio plateae ejus, et ex utraque parte fluminis, arborem vitae, quae facti fructum duodecies, singulis mensibus reddens fructum suum, et folia arboris illius sunt ad sanitatem genitum deputata. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus I Source: Migne PG 70.31b-c

And its leaf does not fall... 1 That is, His word does not in any way fall from the truth, but as the leaves of the palm tree remain, so these rooted in the firm promises of truth perservere, as it is said in the Gospel: 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' 2 And see that the words of the Lord are compared to the leaves of a tree, because as they cover the fruit, so even they guard His promises. These are the spiritual waters and these are the leaves of salvation concerning which the blessed John says in the Apocalypse: 'And he showed to me the glittering river of the waters of life, like crystal, coming forth from the throne of God and the lamb, and in the midst of the way, on both sides of the river, the tree of life, bearing its fruit twelvefold, and giving its yield monthly, and the leaves of the tree give health to all the peoples.' 3 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 1 1 Ps 1.5 2 Mt 24.15 3 Apoc 22.1-2

Planting Trees

Feci mihi hortos et pomaria: plantavi in illis lignum omne fructiferum. In domo divitis non solum aurea vasa sunt et argentea, sed et lignea et fictilia. Fiunt igitur et horti propter imbecilliores quosque et infirmos. Nam qui infirmus est, oleribus vescitur. Plantantur arbores, non omnes fructiferae, ut in Latinis codicibus habemus; sed omnes fructus, hoc est, diversarum frugum atque pomorum, quia diversae sunt gratiae in Ecclesia: et alius est oculus, alius manus, alius pes, et, quae verecundiora nosta sunt, bis majorem honorem circumdamus. Inter quas frugiferas arbores aestimo tenere primatum lignum vitae, quod est sapientia. Nisi enim in medio illa plantetur, ligna caetera siccabuntur. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Cap I Source: Migne PL 23.1026b-c

I made for myself gardens and orchards. I planted in them every tree bearing fruit 1 In the house of the rich man there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but even of wood and earth. 2 Therefore there are gardens for the feeble and for the infirm. For he who is weak feeds on vegetables. 3 And trees are planted there, not all of which are fruitbearing, as the Latin books have it, but there is every fruit, 4 that is, there are different fruits and yields, which are the different graces in the Church; and one is the eye, another the hand, another the foot, and that which are our less honourable parts, we invest with a double honour. 5 Among the trees that bear fruit, I think that first place is held by the tree of life, which is wisdom. For unless that is planted in the midst of them, the other trees wither. 6 Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chap 1 1 Eccles 2.5 2 2 Tim 2.20 3 Rom 14.2 4 Hebrew Reading 5 1 Cor 12.23 6 Gen 2.9