Teaching Fear

Δεῦτε, τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου· φόβον Κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. Ἐνδιαθέτου διδασκάλου φωνὴ, προσκαλουμένου εἰς μάθησιν διὰ πατρικῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας. Καὶ γὰρ τέκνον ἐστὶ πνευματικὸν τοῦ διδασκάλου ὁ μαθητής. Ὁ γὰρ παρά τινος τὴν μόρφωσιν τῆς εὐσεβείας δεχόμενος, οὗτος οἰονεὶ διαπλάττεται παρ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς σύστασιν ἄγεται, ὥσπερ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς κυοφορούσης τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ διαμορφούμενα βρέφη. Ὅθεν καὶ Παῦλος ὅλην τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τῶν Γαλατῶν, ἐκ τῶν προτέρων διαπεσοῦσαν μαθημάτων, καὶ οἰονεὶ ἀμβλωθεῐσαν, πάλιν ἀναλαμβάνων, καὶ μορφῶν ἄνωθεν ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸν Χριστὸν, τέκνα ἔλεγε· καὶ ἐπειδὴ μετ' ὀδύνης καὶ θλίψεως ἐποιεῖτο τῶν ἐσφαλμένων τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν, ὠδίνειν ἔλεγε τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ  τὴν ἐπὶ τοῐς ἀποπεσοῦσι λύπην. Τεκνία μου, οὒς πάλιν ὠδίνω, ἄχρις οὖ μορφωθῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν. Δεῦτε οὖν, τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου. Τί ποτε ἄρα διδάσκειν μέλλει ὁ πνευματικὸς ἡμῶν πατήρ; Φόβον, φησὶ Κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. Ἐπειδὴ ἄνω προσέταξε φοβεῖσθαι τον Κύριον, καὶ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ φόβου κέρδος ὑπέδειξεν, εἰπὼν, Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὑστέρημα τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτὸν· νῦν καὶ διδασκαλίαν τινὰ τοῦ θείου φόβου ἡμῖν παραδίδωσι. Τὸ μεν γὰρ, ὅτι χρὴ ὑγιαίνειν, παντός ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, καὶ τοῦ ἰδιώτου· τὸ δὲ, πῶς χρὴ κτήσασθαι τὴν ὑγείαν, τοῦτο ἴδιον ἤδη τοῦ τὴν ἰατρικὴν τέχνην ἐπισταμένου. Οὐ πᾶς φόβος ἀγαθόν ἐστι καὶ σωτήριον, ἀλλ' ἔστι τις καὶ ἐχθρὸς φόβος, ὄν ἀπεύχεται ὁ Προφήτης ἐγγενέσθαι αὐτοῦ τῇ ψυχῇ, λέγων· Ἀπὸ φόβου ἐχθροῦ ἐξελοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν μου. Ἐχθρὸς γὰρ φόβος ὁ θανάτου ἡμῖν δειλίαν ἐμποιῶν, ὁ προσώπων ὑπεροχὰς καταπτήσσειν ἡμᾶς ἀναπείθων. Πῶς γὰρ ὁ ταῦτα φοβούμενος δυνήσεται ἐν καιρῷ μαρτυρίου μέχρι θανάτου πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀντικαταστῆναι, καὶ ἀποδοῦναι τῷ Κυρίῳ τὴν ὀφειλὴν, τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανόντι καὶ ἐγερθέντι; Καὶ ὁ ὑπὸ δαιμόνων εὐπτόητος τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἔχει φόβον ἐν ἑαυτῷ. Καὶ ὅλως, ὁ τοιοῦτος φόβος ἀπιστίας ἔοικεν ἔγγονον εἶναι πάθος. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ πιστεύων ἰσχυρὸν αὐτῷ παρεῖναι τὸν βοηθὸν φοβεῖται ἀπὸ τινος τῶν ἐπιχειρούντων αὐτὸν ἐκταράσσειν. Φόβος δὲ ὁ σωτήριος, καὶ φόβος ἁγιασμοῦ ποιητικὸς, φόβος ὁ κατ' ἐπιτήδευσιν, καὶ οὐχὶ κατὰ πάθος ἐγγινόμενος τῇ ψυχῇ, ποιός ἐστι βούλει διηγήσωμαι; Ὅταν μέλλῃς ἐπὶ τινα ὁρμᾷν ἁμαρτίαν, ἐννόησόν μοι ἐκεῖνο τὸ φρικτὸν καὶ ἀνύποιστον τοῦ Χριστοῦ δικαστήριον, ἐν ᾦ προκαθέζεται μὲν ἐπὶ θρόνου τινὸς ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμέμουσα τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἔνδοξον· παράγεσθαι δὲ μέλλομεν καθ' ἕνα εἰς ἐξέτασιν τῶν βεβιωμένων ἡμῖν. Εἶτα τῷ πολλὰ πονηρὰ πεποιηκότι κατὰ τὸν βίον φοβεροί τινες καὶ κατηφεῖς παρίστανται ἄγελλοι, πῦρ βλέποντες, πῦρ ἀναπνέοντεσ, διὰ τὴν πικρίαν τῆς προαιρέσεως, νυκτὶ ἐοικότες τὰ πρόσωπα, διὰ τὸ κατηφὲς καὶ μισάνθρωπον. Εἶτα βάραθρον βαθὺ, καὶ σκότος ἀδιεξόδευτον, καὶ πῦρ ἀλαμπές· ἐν τῷ σκότει τὴν μὲν καυστικὴν δύναμιν ἔχον, τὸ δὲ φέγγος ἀφηρημένον. Εἶτα σκωλήκων γένος ἰοβόλον καὶ σαρκοφάγον, ἀπλήστως ἐσθίον, καὶ μηδέποτε κορεννύμενον, ἀφορήτους ὀδύνας ἐμποιοῠν τῇ καταβρώσει. Εἶτα τὴν πασῶν χαλεπωτάτην κόλασιν, τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν ἐκεῖνον καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην τὴν αἰώνιον. Ταῦτα φοβοῦ· καὶ τούτῳ τῳ φόβῳ παιδευόμενος, οἰονεὶ χαλινῷ τινι ἀνάκοπτε τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς  πρὸς τὰ φαῦλα ἐπιθυμίας. Τοῦτο τὸν φόβον τοῦ Κυρίου διδάσκειν ἡμὰς ὁ πατὴρ ἐπηγγείλατο· οὐχ ἁπλῶς διδάσκειν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ προαιρουμένους· οὐ τοὺς μακρὰν ἀποπεσόντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς δι' ἐπιθυμίαν τοῦ σωθῆναι προστρέχοντας· οὐ τοὺς ξένους τῶν Διαθηκῶν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ βαπτίσματος τῆς υἱπθεσίας οἰκειουμένους τῷ λόγῳ. Διὰ τοῦτο, φησὶ, δεῦτε· τουτέεστι, διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐγγίσατέ μοι, τέκνα, υἱοὶ φωτὸς γενέσθαι διὰ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας καταξιωθέντες. Ἀκούσατε, οἱ ἔχοντες τὰ ὧτα τῆς καρδίας ἀνεῳγμένα· Φόβον Κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον Ψαλμον ΛΓ' Source: Migne PG 29.370a-372c

'Come, O sons, and hear me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.' 1 This is the voice of the benevolent teacher who with a father's compassion calls to learning. For the pupil is the spiritual child of the teacher. Because he who receives a form of piety from someone, he is shaped by him and joined to him in union, as even in pregnancy infants are formed. Whence Paul named all the church of the Galatians sons, they who had fallen from their prior learning, as if he was restoring what had erred, fashioning them anew in Christ, and with grief and anguish he restored those who had strayed, in a spirit of travailing, saying of himself, because of grief conceived for those who had fallen: 'My little ones, whom again I groan for, until Christ be formed in you.' 2 'Come, O sons, and hear me.' And what does our spiritual father wish to teach us? 'I will teach you the fear of the Lord,' he says. He has exhorted the fear of the Lord, and he has revealed the profit of it in these words, 'Because there is no lack for those who fear him.' 3 So now he gives to us a teaching of Divine fear. For indeed all would say that health is needful, even a simple fellow, but how it is that health is created is the knowledge of him who knows medicine. For not every fear is good and beneficial; there is indeed that fear which the Prophet prays against coming to his soul, saying: 'From the fear of the enemy seize my soul.' 4 The fear of the enemy creates in us the fear of death, which impels us to cower before a powerful person. And how is he who fears this able to resist sin unto death in the time of martyrdom, and pay the debt to the Lord who died for us and was risen? And he who is easily terrified by demons has in himself the fear of the enemy. And truly this fear makes him seem as one born from disbelief in suffering. For not believing that any power will come to his aid, he is gripped by the fear of those who try to terrify him. Do you wish me to tell of the fear which belongs to salvation, the fear which confers sanctity, the fear which is not born by the approach of suffering to the soul but of a wish to endure? When in the future you are driven to some sin, think of the terrible and intolerable tribunal of Christ, where presides that judge on His high and sublime throne, whom truly every creature on account of sight of His glory stand trembling, for this truly is the future to which each one of us will come and undergo examination of all we have done in this life. Then beside him who in this life has done many evils will sit hideous and looming angels, with fire blazing from their eyes, and breathing fire, on account of the bitterness of their hatred, with faces like night, on account of their darkness and hatred of men. Then comes the uttermost depth of impenetrable darkness, which lacks the splendour of fire, yet has a certain burning in its darkness, though lacking all light, where there are certain predatory and flesh eating worms, who are insatiably hungry and never satisfied, who come to feed with intolerable bites, and finally there is the heaviest of all torments: eternal disgrace and shame. This fear of the Lord that father promises to teach us, not indiscriminately teaching, but teaching it to those who wish to listen to him, not to those who have fallen far, but those who on account of the desire of salvation are attentive, not to those who are outside the testament, but those who by the baptism of the word of adoption are joined to him. Thus, he says, 'come', that is, by good works come near to me, sons, worthily clothed, who through regeneration have become sons of light. Hear, you who have the ears of the heart open: 'I will teach you the fear of the Lord.' Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 33 1 Ps 33.12 2 Galat 4.19 3 Ps 33.10 4 Ps 63.2

Good And Bad Fear

Ibi timuerunt ubi non fuit timor... Sed qui Deum non invocant, et illud impietati suae addunt, ut timeant non timenda, illic enim trepidarunt, ubi non erat timor, saxa, metalla, robora, ignem, aquam, aethera, reges mortuos atque morituros, vel caetera religionum superstitiosa commenta venerantes: et hoc ipse impio inanium metu, contemptuque necessarii timoris ex comparatione condemnandi: cum non tam oblivisci timorem Dei impium sit, quam impietate praecellat, timori ejus metum inanium praetulisse. Docuit autem Dominus, solum in nobis metum eorum quae vere timenda sunt oportere esse, cum dicit: Nolite timere eos qui possunt corpus occidere, animam autem non possunt occidere. Timete autem magis eum, qui potest et animam et corpus perdere in gehenna. Impius ergo timor est, cum quae non timenda sunt timentur, et quae timenda sunt non timentur. Et plerumque nos tamquam pro debita officii religione pie adulari regibus existimamus, quia in corpus nostrum sit his aliquid potestatis: quibus nihil ultra de nobis licet, quam latroni, quam febri, quam incendio, quam naufragio, quam ruinae. His enim casibus corporum pro summa potestate desaeviunt: et propter brevem dolorem libertatem Ecclesiae, spei nostrae fiduciam, confessionem Dei addicimus, punitorem perditoremque in igne judicii et corporis et animae nostrae Deum non timentes, et aeternis divinae ultionis poenis momentanae atque abolenda supplica praeferentes; dum placere nos ipsis, et in eorum gratia permanere famulatu impio gloriamur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LII Source: Migne PL 9.332b-333a

They feared where there was no fear... 1 But they who do not call on God, even add that to their impiety, in their fearing what should not be feared, by which they were fearful, where there was no fear, of stone, metal, wood, fire, water, air, dead kings and those who are going to die, or they are in awe at some other fiction of religous superstition, and by this impious fear of empty things and contempt for the needful fear, by this comparison, they are condemned, for it is not so impious to forget the fear of God that it is not exceeded by that which has fear of empty things. The Lord taught that we should fear only that which is truly needful to fear, when He said: 'Do not fear those who kill the body and cannot kill the soul. Fear more him who is able to put the soul and body into hell.' 2 Impious, then, is the fear which fears what should not be feared, and does not fear what should be feared. But we, for the most part, as if by some obligation of religion, incline to adulate rulers, because they have power against our bodies, beyond which nothing is allowed them, just like a thief and sickness and fire and shipwreck and ruin. For with these matters of the body they rage from the height of power, and we because of brief suffering sacrifice the liberty of the Church, the confidence of our faith, and the confession of God, fearing not the punisher and traitor in the fire of judgement, nor the God of our body and soul, but preferring to the punishments of eternal divine justice relief from momentary tortures, while we please them, and in their favour remain, glorying in impious service. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 52 1 Ps 52.62 2 Mt 10.28

The Fall Of Angels

Magister: Putasne bonos angelos similiter potuisse peccare, antequam mali caderent? Discipulus: Puto; sed ratione comprehendere vellem. Magister: Hoc certum habes quia si non potuerunt peccare, non potestate sed necessitate servaverunt iustitiam. Quare non magis meruerunt gratiam a Deo, quia steterunt, aliis cadentibus, quam quia servaverunt rationalitatem, quam perdere nequiverunt. Sed nec iusti recte, si bene consideres, dicerentur. Discipulus: Sic monstrat ratio. Magister: Illi ergo qui ceciderunt, si non peccassent cum possent, tanto meliores essent quam isti, quanto et vere essent iusti et gratiam a Deo mererentur. Unde sequitur quia aut electi homines maiores et meliores erunt angelis bonis, aut reprobi angeli perfecte non restaurabuntur, quoniam non tales erunt homines, qui pro illis assumentur, quales illi futuri erant. Discipulus: Haec duo penitus neganda existimo. Magister: Potuerunt igitur boni angeli peccare, ante casum malorum nec aliter, quam sicut ostensum est de illis qui peccaverunt. Discipulus: Aliter esse posse non video. Magister: Illi itaque angeli, qui magis voluerunt iustitiam quam habebant, quam illud plus quod non habebant, bonum quod quasi propter iustitiam, quantum ad voluntatem pertinuit, perdiderunt; iustitia retribuente, acceperunt et de illo, quod habebant, in vera securitate permanserunt. Quapropter adeo sunt provecti, ut sint adepti quidquid potuerunt velle; nec iam videant quid plus velle possint: et propter hoc peccare nequeunt. Illi vero angeli qui maluerunt illud plus, quod nondum Deus illis dare volebat, quam stare in iustitia, in qua facti erant, eadem iustitia iudicante, et illud propter quod illam contempserunt nequaquam obtinuerunt; et quod tenebant bonum amiserunt. Sic ergo distincti sunt angeli, ut adhaerentes iustitiae nullum velle bonum possint, quo non gaudeant; et deserentes illam, nullum velle queant, quo non careant. Discipulus: Nihil pulchrius, aut iustius hac distinctione. Sed si posses dicere, vellem audire cuiusmodi commodum illud fuit, quod et boni angeli iuste volendo sic profecerunt, et mali iniuste concupiscendo sic defecerunt. Magister: Quid illud fuerit non video; sed quidquid fuerit, sufficit scire quia fuit aliquid, ad quod crescere potuerunt; quod non acceperunt, quando creati sunt, ut ad aliud suo merito proficerent. Sanctus Anselmus Cantuariensis, De Casu Diaboli, Caput V-VI Source: Migne PL 158.334a-335a

Teacher: Do you think that the good angels were likewise able to sin before the fall of the evil? Pupil: I think so, but I wish to understand it rationally. Teacher: You are certain that if they were unable to sin, they maintained righteousness not by their own power but by necessity. Whence they would have no more merited grace from God because they had stood while the others fell, than because they preserved rationality, which they were unable to lose. But they would not rightly be called just, if you carefully consider the matter. Pupil: So reason shows. Teacher: Therefore they who fell, if they had not sinned when they were able to do so, then they would have been so much better than the good ones as much as they were truly righteous and merited grace from God. Thus it follows that the men who are elect would be better and greater than the good angels, or else the number of reprobate angels would not be perfectly restored, because the men who would assume their places would not be such as they would have become. Pupil: Both alternatives must be completely denied. Teacher: Therefore the good angels were able to sin before the fall of the evil ones, as was shown about the angels who did sin. Pupil: I do not see how it can be otherwise. Teacher: Thus those angels who preferred the righteousness which they did have to something more which they did not have, a good which as on account of righteousness, as much as it pertained to the will, they lost, received it through the reward of righteousness because of the good which they had and in which they remained truly secure. Whence they were promoted to that which they obtained whatever they were able to will, and they saw no more they could want, and on account of this they were not able to sin. But those angels who preferred that more which God do not yet wish to give them than standing in the righteousness in which they had been created, by the judgement of this righteousness did not obtain that because of which they scorned righteousness, and they lost the good they had possessed. So the angels were separated, so that those who adherered to righteousness are not able to will any good in which they do not delight, and those who deserted justice are able to will no good of which they are not deprived. Pupil: Nothing is more fair or just than this distinction. But, if you are able to say, I would like to hear what sort of benefit it was which the good angels thus gained by justly not willing, and which the evil angels by desiring unjustly thus lost. Teacher: I do not know what it was; but whatever it was, it is enough to know that it was something toward which they were able to grow, and which they did not receive when they were created, so that they might obtain it by their own merit. Saint Anselm of Canterbury, On The Fall Of The Devil, Chap 5-6

Satan In Heaven

Quadam autem die quum venissent Filii Dei, ut assisterent coram Domino, adfuit inter eos etiam et Satan. Multae sunt curiae, et aliquis Satan semper invenitur in singulis. Est autem, qui est accusator fratrum, et bonorum depravator, occultus omnium adversarius, et quasi anguis inter anguillas, legationes frequentius injunguntur, et forte quod sibi ascribitur ad gloriam, Dei judicio ei imponitur ad laborem. Mittuntur quandoque a Domino boni Angeli, missi in ministerium propter eos, qui haereditatem capiunt salutis. Mittuntur etiam mali angeli ad vexationem malorum, ut fiant, sicut Propheta dicit, immissiones per angelos malos. Mittuntur et ad probationem bonorum, ad virtutis exercitium, ad augmentum gratiae in eis, et ad gloriae incrementum. Qua vero fronte, qua audacia praesumit ille filius superbiae, ille angelus apostata inter Dei filios apparere? Sed quia per superbiam cecidit, superbiendo ascendit. Superbia, inquit, eorum qui te oderunt, ascendit semper. Superbia enim natione coelestis est, in coelo concepit dolorem, et peperit iniquitatem, atque illuc libentius tendit, unde cecidit. Ideo nec apparet Satan inter angelos Dei, ut videat vultum ejus, in quem angeli concupiscunt, cujus faciem angeli semper vident, quia homo Deum non videbit, et vivet. Ablatus est peccator, ne videat gloriam Dei, apparet ergo Satan coram Domino, ut videatur ab eo, quem videre non potest: sicut caecus, qui in radio solis est, et beneficio solis non utitur, et hoc solum videre permittitur, quod sibi reputat ad tormentum; torquetur enim invidia, immoritur angelorum felicitati, et prosperitati fidelium intabescit, juxta illud: Peccator videbit et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet et tabescet. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source:  Migne PL 207.804d-805c

On a certain day the sons of God had come to stand before the Lord, and Satan was among them. 1 Many are the courts, and there is always some Satan to be found in each one. He who is the accusor of brothers, a depraver of good men, a hidden adversary of all, even like a snake among eels, most frequently joining himself with messangers, and perhaps he ascribes this to himself as some honour, that which by the judgement of God is a toil imposed on him. Whenever good angels are sent forth from the Lord, they are sent to the service of those who seek the inheritance of salvation. But evil angels are sent for the vexation of the wicked, which occur, as the Prophet says, 'through his wicked angels.' 2 And they are sent out for the proving of good men, for the exercise of virtue, for the growth of grace in them, and for an increase of glory. However with what shamelessness, with what audacity, did that son of pride, that apostate angel, presume to appear among the sons of God? Because he fell on account of pride, so in pride he rises. 'The pride of those who hate you,' it is said, 'ever rises up.' 3 Pride in the world is heavenly, in heaven it conceives sorrow and gives birth to iniquity, 4 and thus tends to willfulness, for which reason he fell. Therefore Satan does not appear among the angels of God so that he might see the face of God, on which the angels look, that face on which the angels always look, 5 because a man shall not see God and live. The sinner is cast out lest he see the glory of God; therefore Satan appears before the Lord that he might be seen by Him whom he is not able to see, as a blind man who has gains nothing from the radiance and blessing of the sun. And this alone he is permitted to see: that which he reckons to be a torment, for it is torture on account of envy for him to tarry among the joy of the angels, and the flourishing of the faithful makes him wither, on account of which it says: 'The sinner shall see and be angered, and he shall grind his teeth and wither.' 6 Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter I 1 Job 2.1 2 Ps 77.49 3 Ps 73.23 4 Ps 7.15 5 Mt 18.10 6 Ps 111.10

Belief And Demons

Omnis qui credit quoniam Jesus est Christus, ex Deo natus est. Et omnis qui diligit eum qui genuit, diligit et eum qui natus est ex eo. Nam et daemones credunt, et contremiscunt, sicut dicit Scriptura. Quid potuerunt plus credere daemones, quam ut dicerent: Scimus qui sis, Filius Dei? Quod dixerunt daemones, hoc dixit et Petrus. Cum Dominus quaereret quis esset, et quem illum dicerent homines, responderunt illi discipuli: Alii dicunt te Ioannem Baptistam, alii Eliam, alii Ieremiam, aut unum ex Prophetis. Et ille: Vos autem quem me esse dicitis? Respondit Petrus et ait: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Et audivit a Domino: Beatus es, Simon Bar Iona, quia non revelavit tibi caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui est in coelis. Videte quae laudes prosequantur hanc fidem: Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam. Quid est, super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam? Super hanc fidem, super id quod dictum est: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Super hanc petram, inquit, fundabo Ecclesiam meam. Magna laus! Ergo dicit Petrus. Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi: dicunt et daemones: Scimus qui sis, Filius Dei, sanctus Dei. Hoc Petrus, hoc et daemones: eadem verba, non idem animus. Et unde constat quia hoc Petrus cum dilectione dicebat? Quia fides christiani cum dilectione est; daemonis autem sine dilectione. Quomodo sine dilectione? Hoc dicebat Petrus, ut Christum amplecteretur: hoc dicebam daemones, ut Christus ab eis recederet. Nam antequam dicerent: Scimus qui sis; tu es Filius Dei: Quid nobis et tibi est, dixerunt? Quid venisti ante tempus perdere nos? Aliud est ergo confiteri Christum, ut teneas Christum, aliud confiteri Christum, ut repellas a te Christum. Ergo videtis quia quomodo hic dicit: Qui credit, propria quaedam fides est; non quomodo cum multis. Itaque, fratres, nemo haereticorum dicat vobis: Et nos credimus. Ideo enim de daemonibus exemplum proposui, ne gaudeatis ad verba credentium, sed exploretis facta viventium. Videamus ergo quid est credere in Christum; quid, credere quia Iesus ipse est Christus. Sequitur: Omnis qui credit quod Iesus sit Christus, ex Deo natus est. Sed quid est credere illud? Et omnis qui diligit qui genuit eum, diligit eum qui genitus est ab ipso. Statim fidei coniunxit dilectionem; quia sine dilectione fides inanis est. Cum dilectione fides christiani, sine dilectione fides daemonis: qui autem non credunt, peiores sunt quam daemones, et tardiores quam daemones. Nescio quis non vult credere in Christum; adhuc nec daemones imitatur. Sanctus Augustinus Hippoensis, In Epistolam Iohannis Tractatus X Source: Migne PL 35.2054-2055

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And every one who loves Him who begot Him, also loves Him who is begotten of Him. 1 For 'even the demons believe and tremble,' 2 as Scripture says. How were the devils able to believe more than they should say, 'We know who you are, the Son of God?' What the demons said, Peter also said. When the Lord asked them who He was, and whom did men say He was, the disciples replied to Him, 'Some say that you are John the Baptist, some Elias, some Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' And He: 'But who do you say I am?' And Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' 3 And he heard from the Lord: 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven.' See what praises follow this faith. 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.' What is: 'Upon this rock I will build my Church?' Upon this faith, upon this which has been said: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' 'Upon this rock,' He says, 'I will build my Church.' Great praise! So Peter says, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,' and the demons also say, 'We know who you are, the Son of God, the Holy One of God.' Peter said this, so did demons. The words are the same, but not the heart. And how is it clear that Peter said this with love? Because a Christian's faith has love, but a demon's is loveless. How is it loveless? Peter said this that he might embrace Christ, the demons said it that Christ might begone from them. For before they said, 'We know who you are, the Son of God,' they said, 'What have we to do with you? Why have you come to destroy us before the time?' 4 It is one thing to confess Christ so that you may embrace Christ, another thing to confess Christ that you may drive Christ from you. See, then, that in the sense he says here, 'Whoever believes,' it is a faith of one's own, not somehow with many. Therefore, brothers, let none of the heretics say to you, 'We also believe.' For I have given you an example from demons that you should not rejoice in the words of believing, but that you seek out the deeds of the living. Let us see, then, what it is to believe in Christ. He proceeds: 'Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.' But what is it to believe that? 'And every one that loves Him who begot Him, also loves Him who is begotten of Him.' To faith he has instantly joined love, because faith without love is worthless. With love it is the faith of the Christian; loveless it is the faith of a demon. But they who do not believe are worse than demons, and they are more stupid than devils. Some fellow will not believe Christ: he is not yet even an equal of demons. Saint Augustine Of Hippo, On The Epsitle of John, Tractate 10 1 1 Jn 5.1 2 Jam 2.19 3 Mt 16.13-18 4 Mt 8.29

Fear And Prayer

In quacumque die invocavero te, exaudi me. Nullum diem justus quisque sine metu transigit: neque anxia semper erga se fides securi temporis otium recipit. Scit omnes dies plenos insidiarum sibi esse, diablolo atque angelis ejus excidium sibi semper molientibus. Scit diem illam Domini occultam, insperatam, et modo nocturni furis repentiam futuram. Ut igitur se in quacumque die invocantem exaudiat, deprecatur. Nec diffidit propheta quid in quacumque die exauditus obtineat. Sequitur enim: Multiplicabis me in anima mea in virtute tua. Per multam scilicet Dei curam multiplicabitur ipse in animae virtute: ne quid in se tribulationibus, ne quid terroribus pateat; sed cum tentationes ingruent, cum metus incidet, omnia multiplicata animae virtute tolerentur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXXXVII Source: Migne PL 9.789a-b

On whatever day I shall call on you, hear me. 1 No righteous man passes any day without fear, nor does he, ever anxious about his faith, receive the rest of secure times. He knows every day is full of snares for him, and that the devil and his angels are ever striving to ruin him. He knows that day of the Lord is hidden, unexpected, and suddenly what is to come will come like a thief in the night. 2 Therefore he prays that God hear him in whatever day he calls on Him. The prophet does not doubt that on the day he is heard he shall prevail. For it follows: 'You shall increase your virtue in my soul.' 1 By the great care of God virtue is increased in the soul, lest in his tribulations, lest among terrors, a man be exposed. But when trials threaten, when fears befall, with every virtue increased in his soul, he endures. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 137 1 Ps 137.3 2 1 Thes 5.2

The Meek And The Mild

Diriget mites in judicio, docebit mansuetos vias suas. Id est animo pladicos ad promissam facit beatitudinem pervenire. Directus quippe dicitur qui de curvo rectus efficitur. Dicendo autem mites, excludit superbos et elatos; sicut in Evangelio dicit: Beati mites, quia ipsi possidebunt terram. Mansuetos utique, non superbos, qui contra jugum lene et onus leve noxia sibi liberate recalcitrant; sed illos docebit qui sine murmuratione faciunt quae jussa cognoscant. Inter mansuetos enim et mites haec videntur esse distantia: mites sunt qui nulla furoris accensione turbantur, sed in lenitate animi jugiter perservetant; mansueti autem dicuntur, quasi manu consueti, hoc est tolerantes injurias, non reddentes malum pro malo. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XXIV Source: Migne PG 70.179b-c

He shall direct the meek in judgement, He shall teach the mild His ways. 1 That is, He shall bring to His promise of beatitude those who are peaceful in their souls. And he says 'direct' because from being crooked they have been made straight. Then saying 'the meek' he excludes the proud and puffed up, as He says in the Gospel: 'Blessed are the meek, because they shall possess the earth.' 2 Certainly the mild are not the proud who cast off the light yoke and burden 3 for freedom for themselves from injury, but He teaches those who without murmuring do what they know He has commanded. There seems to be this difference between the meek and the mild: the meek are those who are not troubled by any flaming up of anger, but in gentleness of soul they persevere under the yoke; those who are mild are accustomed to the hand, that is, they endure injury, and do not return evil for evil. 4 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 24 1 Ps 24.8 2 Mt 5.4 3 Mt 11.30 4 Mt 5.39

Judgement And Wickedness

Ἔστιν ἔλεγχος κατὰ κακίαν, καὶ δι' αμυναν· καὶ ἔστιν ἕτερος κατὰ φόβον Θεοῦ καὶ ἀλήθειαν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.909d

There is a censure which is wicked and vindictive, and there is another which is according to the fear of God and truth Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Changing Judgement

Si praedixit Danihel sententiam Dei quae non potest immutari quomodo hortatur ad eleemosynas et misericordiam pauperum, ut Dei sententia commutetur? Facile solvitur Ezechiae regis exemplo, quem Esaias dixerat esse moriturum et Nenivitarum; adhuc tres dies et Nenive subvertetur; et tamen ad preces Ezechiae et Nenivitarum Dei sententia commutata est, non vanitate judicii, sed eroum conversione. Petrus Archidiaconus  Liber De Diversis Quaestiunculis, Questiones In Danielem  Source: Migne PL 96.1350b

If Daniel foretold the sentence of God, which cannot be changed, 1 how is it that the king is exhorted to be merciful and have pity on the poor, so that the sentence of God be changed? This is easily resolved by the example of King Hezekiah, whom Isaiah said was going to die, 2 and of the Ninevites, that in three days Nineveh would be overthrown, 3 for yet by the prayers of Hezekiah and the Ninevites the sentence of God was changed, and not because of a vain judgement but by their conversion. Peter of Pisa, The Book of Diverse Questions, Questions On Daniel 1 Dan 4.24-27 2 Isaiah 38.1 3 Jonah 3.4

Remembering Sins

Caeterum quod paulo ante dixisti, te etiam de industria praeteritorum peccatorum memoriam retractare, hoc fieri penitus non oportet, quinimmo etiamsi violenter irrepserit, protinus extrudatur. Multum namque retrahit mentem a contemplatione puritatis, eius praecipue qui in solitudine commoratur, implicans eam sordibus mundi huius, et praefocans fetore vitiorum. Dum enim recolis ea quae secundum principem saeculi sive per ignorantiam sive per lasciviam commisisti, ut concedam tibi quod in hac cogitatione posito oblectatio nulla subrepat, certe antiquae putredinis vel sola contagio necesse est ut tetro mentem fetore corrumpat, et spiritalem virtutum fragrantiam, id est, suavitatem boni odoris excludat. Cum ergo praeteritorum memoria vitiorum pulsaverit sensum, ita ab ea resiliendum est, sicut refugit vir honestus et gravis, si impudicae ac procacis feminae in publico aut colloquiis aut amplexibus appetatur. Qui utique nisi se a contactu eius festinus abstraxerit, et vel brevissimam moram inhonestae confabulationis admiserit, etiamsi consensum impudendae respuat voluptatis, infamiae tamen ac reprehensionis notam cunctorum praetereuntium iudicio non evadet. Ita igitur etiam nos oportet cum fuerimus in huiusmodi cogitationes pestifera recordatione deducti, raptim ab earum contemplatione discedere, et implere illud quod a Salomone praecipitur: Sed exili inquit, noli demorari in loco eius, neque intendas oculo tuo in eam; ne videntes nos angeli immundis ac turpibus cogitationibus involutos, non possint de nobis praetereuntes dicere: Benedictio Domini super vos, benediximus vobis in nomine Domini. Impossibile namque est mentem bonis cogitationibus immorari, cum principale cordis ad turpes atque terrenos intuitus fuerit devolutum. Vera est enim illa Salomonis sententia: Oculi tui cum viderint alienam, os tuum tunc loquetur prava, et iacebis tamquam in corde maris, et sicut gubernator in magna tempestate; dices autem: Ferierunt me, sed non dolui; et deluserunt me, ego autem nescivi. Derelictis autem non solum turpibus, sed etiam terrenis cogitationibus universis, erigenda est semper ad coelestia nostrae mentis intentio, secundum Salvatoris nostri sententiam. Ubi enim ego sum, inquit, illic et minister meus erit. Solet enim frequenter accidere ut dum vel suos vel aliorum lapsus imperitorum quispiam miserantis retractat affectu, ipse etiam subtilissimi teli voluptario perstringatur assensu; et initium sub specie pietatis exortum, obsceno ac noxio fine concludit. Sunt enim viae quae videntur hominibus rectae, novissima autem earum venient in profundum inferni. Quapropter studendum est nobis ut virtutum potius appetitu et desiderio regni coelorum, quam noxiis vitiorum recordationibus, nosmetipsos ad compunctionem laudabilem provocemus, quia necesse est tamdiu quempiam pestilentissimis cloacae fetoribus praefocari, quamdiu supra eam stare vel coenum eius voluerit commovere Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collatio XX, Caput IX, De Poenitentiae Fine Et Satisfactione Source: Migne PL 49.1165b-1167d

But with regard to that which you said a little earlier, that it is a care of yours to bring to mind memories of past sins, this should certainly not be done if it violently forces its way into you, which rather must be expelled instantly. For it greatly draws away the soul from the contemplation of purity, and especially in one who dwells in solitude, as it entangles him in the stains of this world and suffocates him with stench of vices. For while you recall those things which you did through ignorance or wantonness in accordance with the prince of this world, though I allow you that while in these thoughts no delight creeps in, yet surely the mere touch of the old filthiness is sure to corrupt your soul with its foul stench and to shut out the spiritual fragrance of the virtues, that is, the sweetness of a good odour. When, then, the recollection of past sins comes to your mind, you must recoil from it, just as an honest and upright man flees if he is sought out in public by a shameless and wanton woman either for words or embraces, for unless he quickly withdraws himself from her contact, if he allows her to linger for the briefest time with vile talk, even if he spurns to consent to her shameful pleasures, yet he shall not avoid the mark of disgraceful reproof in the judgement of all who pass by. Therefore, if we by remembrance have been led to similar thoughts, we should instantly cease contemplation of them, and to fulfill what is commanded by Solomon: 'But go forth, be unwilling to linger in her place, nor turn your eyes upon her,' 1 lest the angels see us embroiled in filthy and vile thoughts, and they not be able to say to us as they pass by: 'The blessing of the Lord be upon you, we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.' 2 For it is impossible for the mind to dwell in good thoughts when the main part of the heart is rolling among foul and and earthly considerations. True is the saying of Solomon: 'When your eye shall look on a strange woman, then your mouth will speak wickedly, and you shall lie as in the heart of the sea, and you shall be like a pilot in a great storm, yet you will say: They have beaten me, but I do not grieve; and they mocked me and I did not know it.' 3 For we should not only forsake foul thoughts but all earthly ones and always elevate the desire of our soul to heavenly things, in accordance with the saying of the Saviour: 'Where I am, there shall be my servant.' 4 Indeed it often happens that while someone is bringing to mind his own falls, or those of other inept folk out of some sort of pity, he is grazed by a most subtle blade to assent to the pleasure, and what began beneath the appearance of piety, terminates in an obscene and filthy end. 'For there are ways which appear right to men, but the ends of them shall come to the depths of hell.' 5 For which reason we must rather strive with a desire for virtue and longing for the kingdom of heaven, rather than with a noxious recollection of sin, so that we call ourselves to laudable compunction. Because a man is certain to be suffocated by the pestilential stench of the sewer if he chooses to stand over it or to stir up its filth Saint John Cassian, The Conferences, Conference 20, Chapter 9, On The End of Penitence and Satisfaction 1 Prov 9.18 2 Ps 128.8 3 Prov 23.33-35 4 Jn 12.26 5 Prov 16.25

Sins And Forgiveness

Plerique criminum suorum absolutione laetantur. Si emendaturi sunt, recte: si perseveraturi in eis, stulte; quia longe illis plus damnatio profuisset, ne incrementa facerent peccatorum. De quo sublimis est sententia Apostoli dicentis, quod non solum ii qui flagitiosa agunt, sed etiam qui ea approbant, digni morte sunt: sed et illos qui talia condemnant in aliis qualia ipsi agunt, inexcusabiles haberi, ut et sua damnatos sententia. Cum enim alios condemnant, se ipsos condemnant. Nec sibi eos blandiri oportere, quia poenarum ad tempus immunes videntur, et exsortes reatus; cum graviores poenas intra se luant, et sibi rei sint, qui aliis non videntur; atque in se intorqueant graviorem conscientiae sententiam, cum de aliorum peccatis judicant. Sed noli, inquit, o homo, divinae bonitatis et patientiae thesauros contemnere; bonitas enim Dei ad poenitentiam te provocat, ad correctionem invitat: duritia autem tua, qua in erroris pertinacia perseveras, futuri judicii auget severitatem, ut dignam retributionem tuorum accipias delictorum. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Cap VII Source: Migne PL 14.554b-c

Most rejoice in the forgiveness of their sins. If we are improved by it, rightly, if we persevere in them, stupidly, because the longer one is in them the greater the damnation. Concerning which is the meaning of the Apostle when he admirably says: Not only those who do vile things, but even those who approve them, are worthy of death. But even those who condemn such things in others, which same things they do, have no excuse, and by what they do they are damned. For when they condemn others, they condemn themselves. 1 Nor should a man be beguiled by them because he sees them untouched by punishment for a time and the guilty exempt, for they will suffer heavier punishments, and guilty in themselves, something which does not appear to others, they are now corrupted by a burdened conscience when they judge the sins of others. Do not, he says, O man, despise the treasury of Divine kindness and patience, for the kindness of God calls you to penance and bids you to come to correction. 2 Your hardness, when you persevere in the stubbornness of your sin, increases the severity of the future judgement, when you shall receive a worthy reward for your evils. Saint Ambrose, On The Good of Death, Chap 7 1 Rom 1.32-2.1 2 Rom 2.4

Kindness And Penitence

Ignoras quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Bonitas Dei inaestimabiles divitiae sunt, quia sicut solem suum oriri facit, sic etiam caetera bona sua diffundere non cessat super bonos et malos. Patientia vero Dei est in eos qui contemnunt, longanimitas in eos qui infirmitate potius quam proposito delinquunt. Perseverantibus quippe peccatoribus in nequitia, perservat Deus in patientia, per pauca in hoc saeculo puniens, ne divina providentia non esse credatur, multa extremo examini reservans, ut futurum judicium commendetur. Animus vero male sibi conscius jam totus datus in poenam, cum nullam sibi poenam videtur pati, credit quia non judicet Deus, Ipse est sensus reprobus, ipsa est caecitas et obduratio cordis; ipsae sunt interiores tenebrae, quibus ab interiori luce Dei peccator secludatur; non autem penitus quandia in hac vita est. Sunt enim tenebrae exteriores, quae magis ad diem judicii pertinere intelliguntur, ut penitus extra Deum sit qui corrigi non vult, dum tempus habet. Penitus autem esse extra Deum, quid est, nisi esse in summa caecitate? Siquidem Deus habitat lucem inaccessibilem, quo ingrediuntur quibus dicitur: Intra in gaudium Domini tui. Ignoras, inquit, quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Hoc, quandiu tempus est misericordiae. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber I Source: Migne PG 180.629a-b

Do you not know that kindness of God is that it lead you to penitence? 1 The kindness of God is inestimable wealth, because as He makes His sun rise, so indeed without cease He pours out all His goods on the good and the wicked. The patience of God, however, is for those who scorn Him, His long suffering over those who stray in weakness rather than by intent. Certainly with those sinners who persevere in wickedness, God perseveres in patience, striking them with little things in this world, lest Divine Providence be doubted, and reserving most for the final examination, that future when judgement shall be given. However the soul wickedly conscious of itself now, that it is utterly given over to punishment, when it seems to itself to suffer no punishment, so thinks that God will not judge it. This is the understanding of the reprobate, it is blindness and hardness of heart, it is the interior darkness, by which the sinner is shut out from the light of God within, not however utterly while in this life. For there is the exterior darkness, which is better understood to be the day of judgement, so that without God within is the man who does not wish to be corrected while he has the time. And to be without God, what is it, but the depths of blindness? Since God dwells in inaccessible light, 2 into which they enter to whom it is said: 'Enter into the joy of your Lord.' 3 Do you not know, he says, that the kindness of God is to lead you to penitence? And this while there is still time for mercy. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Romans, Book 5 1 Rom 2.4 2 1 Tim 6.16 3 Mt 25.34

The Meanings Of Many

Οὐ γὰρ ἐσμεν, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ, καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οὐ προσεκτέον τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἑτεροδόχων λεγουσι ὅτι οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἐν Χριστῷ διδάσκοντες κατεναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἑτέρου παρὰ τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ Σωτῆρας τουτέστιν, Ἐναντία αὐτῷ φθεγγόμεθα. Πολλοὺς δὲ λέγει τοὺς ἀπαντῶτας διὰ τὸ χυδαῖον· καὶ γὰρ αὐτῇ ἡ φωνὴ, λέγω δε οἱ πολλοὶ, ὀμώνυνος οὖσα, σημαίνει πλείονα· λέγεται γὰρ ποτε ἀντὶ τοῦ, τινές· ὡς ὅταν ὁ Κύριος λέγῃ· Πολλοὶ ἐρουσί μοι ἐν ἐκεὶνῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀντὶ τῶν πρὸς ὀλίγους διαστελλομένων, ὡς ἐν τῷ· Πολλοὶ μὲν κλητοὶ, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί. Δηλοῖ ἡ λέξεις καὶ τοὺς πάντας, ὡς ἐν τῷ Ὥσπερ γὰρ διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τοῦ ἐνὸς ἁμαρτωλου κατεστάθησαν οἱ πολλοί, Πάντες γὰρ ἄνθρωποι, παρακούσαντος τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν εἰσίν. Δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς χυδαίους, ὡς ἐν τῷ προκειμένῳ καὶ τῷ Μὴ πολλοὶ δισάσκαλοι γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί. Σημαίνει δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὅπως ποτὲ πλείονας ὄντας, καὶ ἀπερ ἐν τῷ Πολλοὶ ἐπανίστανται ἐπ' ἐμέ· καὶ Πολλοὶ λέγουσι τῇ ψυχῇ μου. Ἐν τῇ ἐκκειμένῃ φωνῇ τῇ, Οὐκ ἐσμεν, ὥς τινες, καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέετιν ἐξυδαροῦντες αὐτὸν διὰ ψυχρολογίας καὶ μωρᾶς ἐξηγήσεως· ἀλλ' ὡς ἐξ εἰλικρινείας ἀδόλως καὶ καθαρῶς αὐτὸν προσφερόμεθα. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Τὴν Δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους Source: Migne PG 39.1692c-1693a

We are not like many who adulterate the word of God. 1 One must not give heed to those heterodox types who say they teach as Apostles in Christ, and speak of another God apart from the Father of the Saviour, that is, who speak in opposition to us. When he says 'many' he means deceivers, on account of the abundance of them among all. Now this word, that is, 'many' may be used for 'most', but here it is said in place of 'some'. As when the Lord said, 'Many shall say to me on that day...' 2 For, of course, it distinguishes from 'few', as in:' 'Many are called, few are chosen.' 3 But indeed this word may signify all, as when: 'So through the disobedience of one, many were made sinners.' 4 Since all men on account of the disobedience of one man became guilty of sin. And then it signifies an abundance in some passages, such as: 'Let not many of you be teachers, brothers.' 5 And it signifies a multitude as in: 'Many rise up against me,' and 'Many say to my soul.' 6 Now in the passage above he says, 'We are not as 'some' who adulterate the word of God, that is, mixing in the water of their rigid and senseless interpretation, but in honesty and without cunning, we speak it purely to you.' Didymus the Blind, On The Second Letter of Paul to The Corinthians, Fragment 1.2 Cor 2.17 2 Mt 7.22 3 Mt 20.6 4 Rom 5.19 5 Jam 3.1 6 Ps 3.2-3

Worthy Of Glory

Quare habentes hanc administrationem, prout misericordiam consecuti sumus, non deficiamus... Tantam spem dicit habere, administrationis hujus, ut non deficiat in pressuris, confortatus fide promissionum. Unde superius dixit: Multa fidcucia utamur, fidentes enim in his, quae promissa sunt, quidquid adversum acciderit, tolerant. Quod non humanis meritis deputat, sed misericordiae Dei, quae hominem primo abluit, deinde justificat, adoptans Filium Deo; ut donet eum gloria simili gloriae Filii proprii Dei. Sed renuntiamus occultis dedecoris... Ut illius gloria dignus sit homo, omnia turpia et polluta, quae fieri et cogitari possunt, amovenda docet; ut non solum de opere, sed et de cogitatione pellantur. Invitantis verba sunt; sub sua enim et suorum persona ad meliorem vitam hortatur, propter supradicta vitia, quae in his saepe reprehendit. Possunt et haec occulta dedecoris esse, quae pravo sensu ad praedicandum meditantur ut fallant; unde subjecit: Non ambulantes in astutia, neque adulterantes verbum Dei... Ad dedecus enim et deformationem ejus proficit, qui subdola mente confingit doctrinam, ad decipiendum corda simplicium; turpis enim invenietur in die judicii Dei. Nam astutia malae mentis, ut id quod sibi libitum est, expleat, verba Dei adulterat, ut sensum invertat. Adulterare est autem verum sensum per falsum velle excludere. Sed in manifestatione veritatis commendantes nosmetipsos ad omnem conscientiam hominum coram Deo. Hoc dicit, quia in praedicatone evangelica nulli se fecit suspectum, addens amplius, cum dicit coram Deo; ut hoc ipsum non solum hominibus manifestum probet; sed etiam Deo, cui nihil occultum est. Testimonium ergo Dei implorat, ut vel sibi credatur, quia ita praedicat, sicut datum est ab Auctore: et Deus hoc modo testis est, dum dat signa et prodigia fieri per manus ejus. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Secundum, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 17.288d-289

Whence having this ministry by mercy, we do not lose heart.' 1 Such hope he says he has in his ministry that he does not wither under its burdens, but is fortified by trust in the promises. Whence above he said: 'We are very confident' 2 confident in those things which were promised, that whatever adversity befalls, he endures. Whence he reckons it not a matter of human merit, but of the mercy of God, that which first cleanses a man, then justifies, adopting him as a son of God, so that he might give him glory similar to the only Son of God. But let us renounce all shameful hidden things... That man be worthy of that glory, he teaches that all that is vile and unclean, which they can do and think, should be cast off, that such things be banished not only from the deed but from the mind. And with words of invitation he exhorts them in their person and ways to a better life, on account of the aforementioned vices, which he often reproves in them. And these shameful hidden things can be that which in a depraved mind mediates deception in preaching, whence it continues: Not walking in cleverness, nor adulterating the word of God... For to shame he advances with his deformity, who with a cunning mind fashions teaching in order to deceive the simple hearted. Indeed he will be found repulsive on the day of the judgement of God. For the cleverness of the wicked mind, which does what pleases itself, he explains, adulterates the words of God, so that the meaning is perverted. For to adulterate is to remove the true sense for the false. But in the manifestation of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of every man before God. He says this because in the preaching of the Gospel he has made himself suspect to none, further adding, when he says, 'before God' that this is not only proved openly before men, but even before God, to whom nothing is hidden. Therefore he implores the witness of God, that he be trusted, because he preaches that which was given to him by God, and God is in this way his witness, when he gives signs and makes wonders by his own hands. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 4 1 2 Cor 4.1 2 2 Cor 3.12

Pure Speech

Eloquia Domini, eloquia casta... Utriusque Testamenti doctrinam insimul comprehendit. Tunc casta sunt, si a bonis praedicatoribus incorruptibiliter et sine corruptione praedicentur. Tunc erit istud: si quando praedicant non parentum provocati amore, non potentum timore, non propter dona praesentia, non pro honore vano. Aliter: Qui nec audent addere aliquid amplius, nec minuere tam in veteri quam in novo Testamento, sed fideliter praedicant. Argentum igne examinatum... Hoc est, Spiritu Sancto probatum. Non illi eloquia divina probant: sed Spiritus Sanctus illos illuminat, qui ipsa praedicant: sicut in Isaia ille angelus, quando accepti calculum ab altari, et tetigit labia ejus, dicens: Ecce tetigi hoc labia tu, et auferetur iniquitas tua, et peccatum tuum mundabitur. Per argentum, vetus Testamentum: per aurum, novum. Sic est littera et spiritalis intellectus, quasi ex argento producatur aurum. Probatum terrae... Hoc est, Ecclesia. Illa eloquia divina probata sunt per Spiritum Sanctum, quem accepti Ecclesia. Aliter: Probatum terrae, id est, Christus Dominus, qui venit in humanitate illa pro parte carnis, quam ex Maria accepit, quasi terram Dominus suscepit. Purgatum septuplum. Septem dona quae in Christo fuerunt: non ut ille purificatetur, sed qui ipsa dona accepturi erant, purificarentur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Breviarum In Psalmos, Psalmus XI Source Migne PL 26.848a-c

The speech of the Lord is chaste speech...1 Here he includes the teaching of both Testaments. Then they are chaste, if by good preachers they are preached incorruptibly and without defilement. So it will be if when they preach they are not beholden to love of parents, nor fear of the powerful, nor do they do so for present rewards, nor for vain honours. Also: They do not dare to add anything more, nor do they suppress anything in the Old or New Testaments, but they preach faithfully. Silver proved by fire... That is, proved by the Holy Spirit. They do not prove the Divine speech, but the Holy Spirit enlightens those who preach such things, as in Isaiah when the angel took a burning coal from the altar and touched his lips, saying: 'Behold, I have touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is cleansed.' 2 The Old Testament is silver, gold the New. So is the letter and the spiritual understanding, as gold brought from silver. Proved by the earth... That is, the Church. Those Divine words proved by the Holy Spirit which the Church receives. Also: Proved by the earth, that is, The Lord Christ, who became man by partaking of the flesh, which he received from Mary, is as the Lord taking up the earth. Purified seven times. The seven gifts which were in Christ: not that He was purified, but those who were going to receive His gifts, they were purified. Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 11 1 Ps 11.6 2 Isaiah 6.6-7

A Gift Of Knowledge

Ἀποστραφεὶς ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς σοφιστὰς, καὶ τέκτονας τῶν λόγων τῶν μεματαιωμένων, καὶ παντὸς ψεύδους, καὶ πλάνης ἀνάπλεων, σκυτοτόμοις τισὶ, καὶ ἁλιεῦσι τὸ οἰκεῖον σωτηριῶδες, καὶ ὑπέρλαμπρον τῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐνεχείρισε κήρυγμα. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΘ' Θυρσῳ Σκρηνιαριῳ Source: Migne PG 79.160c

God is averse to sophists and the fashioners of vain speeches, and every lie and deception of ensnarers, He who gave to leather workers and fishermen His salvation and most splendid piety and the preaching of righteousness. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 209 to Thyrsus The Scriniarius

A Problem Of Knowledge

Ὅτι ἐν πλήθει σοφίας πλῆθος γνώσεως καὶ ὁ προστιθεὶς γνῶσιν προσθήσει ἄλγημα. Ἐφυσιώθην μάτην καὶ προσέθηκα σοφίαν, οὐχ ἣνἔδωκεν ὁ θεός, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἧς φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου τούτου μωρία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ἐστιν. Σολομὼν γὰρ καὶ ταύτην ἐπεπαίδευτο ὑπὲρ τὴν φρόνησιν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν ἀρχαίων. Δείκνυσιν οὖν ταύτης τὸ μάταιον, ὡς δηλοῖ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· καὶ ἡ καρδία μου εἶδε πολλά, σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν, παραβολὰς καὶ ἐπιστήμην ἔγνων· σοφίαν δὲ καὶ γνῶσιν οὐ τὴν ἀληθῆ, ἀλλ' ἥτις κατὰ Παῦλον φυσιοῖ. Εἶπε δέ, καθὰ γέγραπται, καὶ τρισχιλίας παραβολάς, ἀλλ' οὐ τὰς ἐν πνεύματι, ἀλλ' οἷαι τῇ κοινῇ πολιτείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἁρμόττουσιν, οἷον περὶ ζῴων ἢ φαρμάκων. Διὸ καὶ ἀποσκώπτων ἐπήγαγεν· ἔγνων ὅτι καί γε τοῦτό ἐστι προαίρεσις πνεύματος. Πλῆθος δὲ γνώσεως, οὐ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, ἀλλ' ὅπερ ὁ ἄρχων ἐνεργεῖ τούτου τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ ἐπιπέμπει σκελίσαι τὰς ψυχάς, πολυπραγμονεῖν οὐρανοῦ μέτρα, γῆς θέσιν, θαλάσσης πέρατα. Ἀλλ' ὁ προστιθεὶς τούτων γνῶσιν προστίθησιν ἄλγημα. Ἐρευνῶσι γὰρ τὰ τούτων βαθύτερα· τίς ἡ χρεία τοῦ τὸ πῦρ ἄνω χωρεῖν, τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ κάτω; Καὶ μαθόντες ὅτι τὸ μὲν ὡς κοῦφον, τὸ δὲ ὡς βαρύ, προστιθέασιν ἄλγημα· καὶ διὰ τί μὴ ἀνάπαλιν; Διονύσιος Αλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην, Κεφ Α' Source: Migne PG 10.1578c-1580b

For in multitude of wisdom is a multitude of knowledge, and he who adds to knowledge adds to sorrow. 1 I was vainly puffed up and added to wisdom, not that which God has given, but that concerning which Paul says, 'The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.' 2 For in this Solomon also had learning surpassing prudence beyond all the ancients. So he shows the vanity of it, as is clear in what follows: 'And my heart knew many things, wisdom and knowledge and parables, and the understanding of the those who know.' 3 But this was not true wisdom or knowledge, but that which, according to Paul, puffs up. 4 But he spoke, as it is written, even three thousand parables, 5 but not of the spiritual kind, only such as suit the common organisation of men, as things about animals or medicines. Which considered leads to: 'I knew that this also is the spirit's choice.' 3 But this multitude of knowledge is not of the Holy Spirit but that which the prince of this world fashions and which he lets loose to wither souls, with much labouring about the measures of heaven, the position of earth, the bounds of the sea. But he adds: 'He who adds to knowledge adds to sorrow.' For they enquire into things deeper than these, as: what is the need for fire to go upward and water to go downward? And when they have learned that it is because one is light and the other heavy, they add to sorrow; for the question still remains: why might it not be the reverse? Dionysius of Alexandria, On Ecclesiastes, Chap 1 1 Eccles 1.18 2 1 Cor 3.19 3 Eccles 1.17 4 1 Cor 8.1 5 3 Kings 4.32

Thinking Of Divinity

Τί τοῦτο ἔπαθον, ὦ φίλοι καὶ μύσται καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας συνερασταί; ἔτρεχον μὲν ὡς θεὸν καταληψόμενος, καὶ οὕτως ἀνῆλθον ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος, καὶ τὴν νεφέλην διέσχον, εἴσω γενόμενος ἀπὸ τῆς ὕλης καὶ τῶν ὑλικῶν, καὶ εἰς ἐμαυτὸν ὡς οἷόν τε συστραφείς. ἐπεὶ δὲ προσέβλεψα, μόλις εἶδον θεοῦ τὰ ὀπίσθια· καὶ τοῦτο τῇ πέτρᾳ σκεπασθείς, τῷ σαρκωθέντι δι' ἡμᾶς θεῷ Λόγῳ· καὶ μικρὸν διακύψας, οὐ τὴν πρώτην τε καὶ ἀκήρατον φύσιν, καὶ ἑαυτῇ, λέγω δὴ τῇ τριάδι, γινωσκομένην, καὶ ὅση τοῦ πρώτου καταπετάσματος εἴσω μένει καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν χερουβὶμ συγκαλύπτεται, ἀλλ' ὅση τελευταία καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς φθάνουσα. Ἡ δέ ἐστιν, ὅσα ἐμὲ γινώσκειν, ἡ ἐν τοῖς κτίσμασι καὶ τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ προβεβλημένοις καὶ διοικουμένοις μεγαλειότης, ἤ, ὡς ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ ὀνομάζει, μεγαλοπρέπεια. Tαῦτα γὰρ θεοῦ τὰ ὀπίσθια, ὅσα μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἐκείνου γνωρίσματα, ὥσπερ αἱ καθ' ὑδάτων ἡλίου σκιαὶ καὶ εἰκόνες ταῖς σαθραῖς ὄψεσι παρα δεικνῦσαι τὸν ἥλιον, ἐπεὶ μὴ αὐτὸν προσβλέπειν οἶόν τε, τῷ ἀκραιφνεῖ τοῦ φωτὸς νικῶντα τὴν αἴσθησιν. οὕτως οὖν θεολογήσεις, κἂν ᾖς Μωυσῆς καὶ Φαραὼ θεός, κἂν μέχρι τρίτου κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον οὐρανοῦ φθάσῃς, καὶ ἀκούσῃς ἄρρητα ῥήματα· κἂν ὑπὲρ ἐκεῖνον γένῃ, ἀγγελικῆς τινὸς ἢ ἀρχαγγελικῆς στάσεώς τε καὶ τάξεως ἠξιωμένος. Kἂν γὰρ οὐράνιον ἅπαν, κἂν ὑπερουράνιόν τι, καὶ πολὺ τὴν φύσιν ὑψηλότερον ἡμῶν ᾖ, καὶ ἐγγυτέρω θεοῦ, πλέον ἀπέχει θεοῦ καὶ τῆς τελείας καταλήψεως, ἢ ὅσον ἡμῶν ὑπεραίρει τοῦ συνθέτου καὶ ταπεινοῦ καὶ κάτω βρίθοντος κράματος. Ἀρκτέον οὖν οὕτω πάλιν. θεὸν νοῆσαι μὲν χαλεπόν· φράσαι δὲ ἀδύνατον, ὥς τις τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι θεολόγων ἐφιλοσόφησεν, οὐκ ἀτέχνως ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ἵνα καὶ κατειληφέναι δόξῃ τῷ χαλεπὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ διαφύγῃ τῷ ἀνεκφράστῳ τὸν ἔλεγχον. Ἀλλὰ φράσαι μὲν ἀδύνατον, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος, νοῆσαι δὲ ἀδυνατώτερον. Tὸ μὲν γὰρ νοηθὲν τάχα ἂν λόγος δηλώσειεν, εἰ καὶ μὴ μετρίως, ἀλλ' ἀμυδρῶς γε, τῷ μὴ πάντῃ τὰ ὦτα διεφθαρμένῳ καὶ νωθρῷ τὴν διάνοιαν. τὸ δὲ τοσοῦτον πρᾶγμα τῇ διανοίᾳ περιλαβεῖν πάντως ἀδύνατον καὶ ἀμήχανον, μὴ ὅτι τοῖς καταβεβλακευμένοις καὶ κάτω νεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς λίαν ὑψηλοῖς τε καὶ φιλοθέοις, καὶ ὁμοίως πάσῃ γεννητῇ φύσει, καὶ οἷς ὁ ζόφος οὗτος ἐπιπροσθεῖ καὶ τὸ παχὺ τοῦτο σαρκίον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀληθοῦς κατανόησιν. Oὐκ οἶδα δέ, εἰ μὴ καὶ ταῖς ἀνωτέρω καὶ νοεραῖς φύσεσιν, αἳ διὰ τὸ πλησίον εἶναι θεοῦ, kαὶ ὅλῳ τῷ φωτὶ καταλάμπεσθαι, τυχὸν ἂν καὶ τρανοῖντο, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντῃ, ἀλλ' ἡμῶν γε τελεώτερόν τε καὶ ἐκτυπώτερον, καὶ ἄλλων ἄλλαι πλεῖον ἢ ἔλαττον, κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς τάξεως. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λογός ΚΗ', Περὶ θεολογίας, Source: Migne PG 35.29a-32a

What is this that has happened, O friends and initiates and fellow lovers of the truth? I was running so that I might take hold of God, and thus I went up into the Mount, and I drew back the cloud, and I went in away from matter and material things, and as much as I could I withdrew into myself. And then, when I looked, I hardly saw even the back parts of God, 1 and this when sheltered by the Rock, the Divine Word made flesh for us. And peering a little more, I saw not the First and unmixed Nature, known to Itself, to the Trinity, I say, not that which dwells within the first veil and is concealed by the Cherubim, but only that nature which at last reaches even to us. Which is, as far as I can learn, that which is found among the created things He has produced and governed, the Majesty, or as the holy David names it, the Glory. 2 For these are the back parts of God, which He leaves behind Him as declarations of Himself, like the shadows and reflection of the sun in the water which show the sun to our weak eyes, since we cannot look at it, because by His pure light our sense is overwhelmed. Thus theologise, even if you be a Moses and a god to Pharaoh, even if you be caught up like Paul to the third heaven, and have heard unspeakable words, 3 even if you be raised above them both and exalted to angelic or archangelic place and rank. For though a thing be all heavenly, or above heaven, and far higher in nature than us and nearer to God, yet it is more distant from God and His perfect comprehension than it is lifted above our compound and humble and downward dragging mixture. Let us then begin again. It is difficult to think of God, but to speak of Him an impossibility, as one of the Greek theologians philosophised, and not ineptly, as it seems to me, who says that having lain hold it is difficult to tell, 4 yet we may fly censure for being unable to speak. For, so I say, it is impossible to tell, and to conceive Him even more impossible. For that which is conceived can perhaps be made manifest in speech, if within limits, only obscurely, to those all who have not lost their ears, and are not dull in understanding. But to perfectly comprehend such greatness is impossible and impracticable, not only to those who are negligent and of inferior capability, but even to those exceedingly exalted and who love God, and likewise with every created nature, since the gloom here and the heaviness of the flesh obscures the understanding of the truth. I do not know if it is so with higher and more intellectual natures, which by being nearer to God, and being lit with all His light, may perhaps see clearly, and if not the whole, yet more perfectly and distinctly than us, some more, and some less, in accordance with their rank. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, from Oration 28, On Theology 1 Exod 33.23 2 Ps 8.2 3 Exod 7.2, 2 Cor 12.2 4 Plato Timeaus 28c

With The Whole Heart

Et diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde... Hic tangit ex quanto est diligendus. Cor autem quia principium est affectionum et motuum, ponitur pro voluntate, ut ex tota voluntate dulcitur diligatur: ita quod nihil voluntatem ab eius dilectione possit illicere et abstrahere. Pone me sicut signaculum super cor tuum. Praebe fili cor tuum mihi. Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo. Cor etiam secundum Augustinum est principium conceptionum et cogitationum: et sic ex toto corde diligitur, quando toto intellectu diligitur ut nullo errore decipiatur: quia ipse ut lumen intellectus in diligendo habetur. Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte. Primo modo diligitur dulcedo bonitatis, et secundo lux vertiatis. Anima hominis intellectus est: quia dicit Philosophus quod homo est solus intellectus. Et hoc modo ex tota anima diligere, est ex intellectu absque omni obnubilatione phantasmatum diligere. Sapientiam amavi, et exquisivi mihi eam sponsam accipere: et amator factus sum formae illius, quae pulchra est absque nubilo. Candor est enim lucis aeternae. et speculum sine macula Dei maiestatis, et imago bonitatis illius. Haec est pulchra dilectio. Ego mater pulchrae dilectionis. Dicit tamen Augustinus quod anima ponitur hic pro animo. Ut sit sensus hoc est, ex toto animo, hoc est, voluntate sine contrarietate: quia tota voluntas et animus sic extenditur ad ipsum, quando nihil habetur in voluntate sibi contrarium. Hoc est interior homo de quo dicitur. Condelector legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem. Sic ergo sapienter diligitur Deus. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput XII Source: Volumen 9, p148 pdf394

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart... 1 This touches on how much God should be loved. The heart, because it is the principle of affection and emotions, is given here for the will, so that with the whole will He is to be loved sweetly, so that nothing is able to entice or draw away the will from love of Him . 'Place me as a seal upon your heart.' 2 'Give, O son, your heart to me.' 3 'I confess,to you, O Lord, in my whole heart.' 4 Now the heart according to Augustine is the principle of concepts and thoughts, and so He is loved with all the heart when He is loved with the whole understanding, that is, it is not decieved by any error, because in the loving of Him, He is possessed as the light of the understanding. 'Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep in death.' 5 First He is loved for the sweetness of His benevolence, and secondly as the light of truth. The soul of man is his understanding, because the Philospher says that man alone is rational. 6 And in this way there is the love from the whole soul, that it is a love from an understanding without any obfuscation of appearances. 'I have loved wisdom, and I sought her for myself to have as a bride. And I have become a lover of her form which is beautiful without fault.' 7 'Pure is the eternal light, and a mirror without spot of the majesty of God, and an image of His benelovence. ' 8 This is the love which is beautiful. 'I am a mother of beautiful love.' 9 However Augustine says that the soul is used here for desire. So that the sense then is 'with all desire,' that is, from the will without opposition, because the whole will and desire is reaching out to Him when it has nothing in the will that opposes it. And this is that interior man concerning which it says: 'I delight in the law of God according to the interior man.' 10 So God is loved wisely. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 12 1 Mk 12.30 2 Song 8.6 3 Prov 23.26 4 Ps 9.2 5 Ps 12.4 6 Aristotle 7 Wisd 8.2 8 Wisd 7.26 9 Sirach 24.24 Vulgate 10 Rom 7.22

Caring For The World

Quaestio De fine libri Ecclesiastes Primo de fine. Dicitur enim, quid finis libri est contemptus mundi. Quod autem sic sit determinatus, 1 Probatur per illud quod dicitur Iacobi quarto: Amicitia huius mundi inimica est Deo; sed omne, quod Deo est inimicum, bonum est contemnere. 2 Item, primae Ioannis secundo: Nolite diligere mundum, neque ea quae in mundo sunt. Sed contra: 1 Laus operis redundat in artificem, ergo et contemptus operis redundat in eundem, ergo qui contemnit mundum contemnit Deum, aut igitur iste mundus non est factus a Dei, aut non est contemnendus. 2 Item, Proverbiorum decimo sexto: Universa propter semetipsum operatus est Dominus, ergo ordinantur ad Deum; sed quod ordinatur in finem non est contemnendum, sed accipiendum et amandum, ergo mundus iste, et ea quae sunt in eo, sunt amanda. Respondeo: dicendum, quod, sicut vult Augustus et Hugo, mundus iste est quasi quidam anulus datus a sponso ipsi animae; sponsa autem dupliciter potest diligere anulum a sponso sibi collatum, amore scilicet casto et adulterino. Amor castus est, quo diligit anulum in memoriam sponsi et propter amorem sponsi; adulterinus, quo diligit anulum plus quam sponsum; et hoc non potest sponsus non habere pro malo. Sicut enim duplex est amor, ita duplex odium vel contemptus, quia quoties dicitur unum oppositorum, et reliquum. Contemptus anuli, quasi sit parvum et vile donum, redundat in sponsum; sed contemptus anuli, quasi nihil reputetur comparatione amoris sponsi, iste est ad gloriam sponsi: et de hoc contemptu dicitur Cantici ultimo: Si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suae pro dilectione, quasi nihil despiciet eam. De hoc contemptu est hic sermo; et sic patent obiecta. Sanctus Boneventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Prooemium Source: Here

Question on the purpose of Ecclesiastes. Firstly concerning the purpose. It is said that the purpose of the book is contempt for the world. Which so may be determined: 1. It is confirmed by that which is said in the fourth chapter of James: 'Friendship with this world is enmity with God.' 1 So it is good to scorn everything which is inimical to God. 2 Likewise it is said in the second chapter of the First Letter of John: 'Do not love the world, no anything which is in the world.' 2 On the contrary: 1 The praise of the work redounds to the maker, and thus contempt for the work redounds to the same, therefore he who has contempt for the world, has contempt God; or this world was not made by God, or it is not to be contemned. 2 Likewise in the sixteenth chapter of Proverbs it says: 'The Lord has made everything for its purpose.' 3 Therefore everything is ordered by God, but that which is so ordered to a purpose must not be condemned, but it must be received and loved, therefore this world, and the things which are in it, must be loved. I respond: it must be said that, as Augustine and Hugh have it, 4 this world is like a ring given from the bridegroom to the soul, and the bride is able to love the ring given by the bridegroom in two ways, that is, with a chaste or with an adulterous love. The chaste love is that which loves the ring in memory of the bridegroom and on account of love of the bridegroom, the adulterous is that which loves the ring more than the bridgegroom, and this the bridgegroom cannot tolerate on account of evil. Then as twofold is the love, so is hatred or contempt, because every day , as it is said, one of the opposites... 5 The contempt for the ring which judges it to be a petty and vile gift, is a contempt which redounds to the bridegroom, but the contempt of the ring, so that it is reputed as nothing in comparison to the love of the bridegroom, is to the glory of the bridegroom. And concerning this contempt it is said in the last chapter of the Song of Songs: 'If a man should give me all the property of his house for love, it would be scorned as nothing.' 6 This is the meaning of contempt here, and so the objections are resolved. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Introduction 1 Jam 4.4 2 1 Jn 2.15 3 Prov 16.4 4 Hugh of St Victor Com Eccl 5 Arist. V. Ethic. 1 6 Song 8.7

Youth And Pleasure

Τὴν λοιμικὴν συνδιαγωγὴν τῶν φιληδόνων σου νεωτέρων ἀποστρέφου, καὶ φεῦγε πάσῃ δυνάμει· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῷ ἔργῳ, καὶ ταῖς μεμολυσμέναις ὁμιλίαις, τὰς ψυχὰς διαφθείρει τῶν ἀγαπώντων αὐτούς. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΜΕ' Λικιννιῳ Νεωτερῳ Source: Migne PG 79.104b

Turn from the pestilential habit of your youth giving itself to pleasures, and flee it with all your strength, for both in the deed and in the association with those inclined the souls of lovers are ruined. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 45, to the youth Licinnius

Gaining And Losing Peace

Quisquis autem se per negotiorum saecularium exercitia delectabiliter fundit, holocasti sui medullas cum visceribus subtrahit, et solam victimae pellem Deo, quae offerri prohibetur, adolere contendit; qui vero suave Deo sacrificium offerre desiderat, recessus petat, interiora sectetur, animam suam integram, illibatamque in propria virginitate custodiat; nec discurrendo per lupanaria saeculi immundis corruptoribus, prostibuli more substernat. Ut ergo interni sponsi conspectui placeat, non oculos suos stibio cum Jezabele depingat, id est, non se fucis pompae saecuaris obducat, sed cum Judith myrto optimo sua membra perungat: omnes videlicet mentis suae sensus immortalis unguine castitatis oblineat, ne in mortem per incontinentiam corruens, in fetore luxuriae computrescat. In conclavi igitur sanctae Ecclesiae anima se pudica concludat, sicque in aeterni Regis thalamo jugiter requiescat. Non carnalium propinquorum, non complicium quorumlibet requirat affectus, sed solius veri Sponsi delectetur amplexibus. Neque enim sine causa scriptum est: Audi, filia, et, vide, et inclina aurem tuam, et obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui, quoniam concupivit Rex speciem tuam. In hujus igitur Sponsi cubiculo anima sancta ab omni saecularis strepitus turbine dormitat, super hoc suae virginitatis auctore casti amoris facibus inardescat; cantans nimirum, et dicens: Introduxit me Rex in cellaria sua, exsultabimus, et laetabimur in te. Et iterum: Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commorabitur. Si vero cujuslibit occasionis articulus accidat, ut egrediendi necessitas imminere videatur, non mox ad vagadum se leviter proruat, non colloquio consanguinitatis aggliscat, non ad saeculi vanitatem fixus mundo animus incalescat, sed morose ac graviter inter se deliberet, dicens: Exspoliavi me tunica mea, quomodo induar illam? Lavi pedes meos, quomodo inquinabo illos. Si igitur singularis ille Sponsus hoc desiderium animae sanctae inesse perspexerit, quia procul dubio princeps pacis, liberam sibi spiritualis otii requiem tribuit, et omnes emergentium causarum fluctus placida circa illam tranquillitate componit. Hic est enim quod in Canticis canticorum dicit: Adjuro vos, filiae Jerusalem, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare, faciatis dilectam, donec ipsa velit. Quo contra menti reprobae, negotiisque saecularibus inhianti, sub Babylonis specie per prophetam dicitur: Descende, sede in pulvere, virgo filia Babylonis, sede in terra, non est solium filiae Chaldaeorum. Hoc enim loco humana mens, virgo, non incorrupta, ut arbitror, dicitur, sed infecunda. Et quia Babylon filia vocatur, quae in eo quod nequaquam bona opera germinat, dum nullo ordine rectae vitae componitur, quasi confusione matre generatur. Sin autem virgo non infecunda dicitur, sed incorrupta, postquam statum salutis perdidit, ad confusionis suae cumulum appellatur quod fuit. Cui apte per increpationem dicitur divina voce: Descende. In alto quippe humanus animus stat, quando supernis retributionibus inhiat. Sed ab hoc statu descendit, cum turpiter victus sese defluentibus mundi desideriis subjicit. Cui bene mox additur: Sede in pulvere. Descendens enim in pulvere residet, quia coelestia deserens, terrenis cogitationibus asperus in infimis vilescit. Sanctus Peter Damianus, De Contemptu Saeculi,Caput XXII-XXIII Source: Migne PL 145.274d-276a

Whoever, therefore, pours himself happily into the exertions of worldly affairs, takes away the fat of the sacrifice along with the entrails, and he strives to burn the pelt of the victim for God, which it is prohibited to offer. 1 He, however, who wishes to offer a sweet sacrifice, let him seek within, let him pursue interior things, and let him guard the wholeness and integrity of his soul with his own chastity, lest running through the brothels of the world with its foul corrupters, he is prostated by whorish ways. That, therefore, he may be pleasing in the sight of the eternal bridegroom, let him not paint his eyes with the kohl of Jezebel, that is, let him not mark himself with the dyes of worldly pomp, 2 but with the best mytle berries let him anoint himself, 3 and let him smear the understanding of his mind with the oil of immortal chastity, lest he race into death by incontinence and rot in the filth of luxury. Thus in the inner chamber of the holy church let the soul shut itself by modesty, and so it shall rest in the inner room of the eternal king. Let love delight not in seeking a nearness of the flesh, or any other embroilment, but only in the embraces of the true spouse. For not without reason is it written: 'Hear, daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and the house of your father, because the king desires your beauty.' 4 In the bed chamber of her bridegroom the holy soul sleeps from all the troubles of worldly disturbances, on account of the author of her virginity she flares up with torches of chaste love, certainly singing and saying: 'The king brought me into his chambers; we shall exalt, we shall delight in you.' 5 And again: 'A pouch of myrhh is my beloved to me, hung between my breasts.' 6 If, however, some occasion befalls, when it seems necessary that she must go out, she will not instantly rush forth to easy wandering, nor will she delight in talk with her kin, nor with mind fixed in the world shall will she be warmed by some worldly vanity, but glumly and heavily she will deliberate, saying: 'I have taken off my garment, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I soil them?' 7 If therefore, that singular Spouse has seen this desire within the holy soul, since He is the prince of peace, He gives the noble rest of spiritual leisure, and He makes all the waves arising from their causes still in tranquility around the soul. Here indeed is that which is said in the Song of Songs: 'I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not, nor awake love until it please.' 8 By which against the reprobate mind, which longs for worldly affairs, he speaks through the prophet under the appearance of Babylon: 'Come down, sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the earth, there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans.' 9 In this place it calls the human mind a virgin not because it is incorrupt, I judge, but infertile. And because Babylon is understood as confusion, rightly is the mind of the daughter of Babylon called infertile in which no good works are produced, for it is not established in any good order of life, which causes confusion to the mother. But if it does not say virgin for infertility, but she is incorrupted, after the ruin of her state of salvation, on account of the heap of her confusion, she is called what she was. To whom appropriately with a cry the Divine voice says: 'Go down.' For in the height the human soul stands when it desires heavenly rewards. But it goes down from this state when it is viley overwhelmed by the floods of worldly desires. To whom well it continues: 'Sit in the dust.' Going down, then, she sits in the dust, because forsaking the heavens, by worldly thoughts, bitter to the core, she is made vile. Saint Peter Damian, On Contempt For The World, Chapter 22-23 1 Levit 1 2 4 Kings 9.30 3 Judith 10.3 4 Ps 44.10-11 5 Song 1.4 6 Song 1.13 7 Song 5.3 8 Song 2.7 9 Isaiah 47.1