The Silver Trumpets

Fac tibi duas tubas argenteas ductiles... Quarum varietate vocum populus congregatur ad praelium praeparatum, et in festivitate cantetur. Hae tubae argenteae sunt Petrus et Paulus, qui sunt argentei nitore eloquii, ductiles super incudem cordis Spiritus sancti malleo fabricatam. His ad Ecclesiam nos populi circumcisionis et gentium congregamur, contra hostes vitiorum et daemonum dimicare, et eos superare docemur, ac discimus bene vivendo, mores componendo, et in via mandatorum currendo, qualiter Deo hostias laudis et jubilationis immolemus, gratum Deo festum celebrantes. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber III, Tit LXIX, De duabis tubis argenteis et earum usu ad Petrum et Paulum applicatis Source: Migne PL 177.676d-677a

Make for yourself two trumpets of beaten silver... 1 Which with different voices call the people to gather for preparation for battle and to sing at feasts. These silver trumpets are Peter and Paul, whose eloquence is of the brightness of silver, shaped on the anvil of the heart, fashioned with the hammer of the Holy Spirit. By these the people of the circumcision and of the Gentiles are gathered to the Church to struggle against the opposing forces of the vices and demons, and we are taught how to overcome them, and we learn how to live well, ordering our conduct, and running in the way of the commandments, and in this sacrificing to God sacrifices of praise and joy, celebrating the joyous feast of God. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 3, Chap 69, On the two silver trumpets and their use applied to Peter and Paul 1 Numb 10.2

Peter And Paul

Apostilici natalis gaudio, fratres carissimi, Petri et Pauli, quorum hodie beatissimis passionibus jucundamur, laetior per universum mundum Christi exsultat Eccleisa; quae licet omnium se sanctorum martyrio certa sit adornari; quandoquidem videt de hoc saeculo ipsos fidei patres et magistros martyrum triumphasse. Quid enim insignius Petro, qui in carne positus, mensuram carnis egressus, Christum Jesum, vivi Dei Filium verum confitetur, et quod omnium adhuc mortalium pectus latebat, prima Petri lingua novo est sermone confessa. Quid, fratres mei, magnificentius Petro, qui tantae confessionis merito, cum corruptibili adhuc esset in corpore, et nec dum ipse ascendisset in coelum, regnum illi coeleste et claudere et aperire permissum est? Quid sublimius ejus fide qui, gradiente Domino super aquas, humanae conditionis oblitus, viam sibi in fluctibus dari et poposcit et meruit; tantaque mentis ejus confidentia fuit, ut crederet se posse per fidem quod sciebat homini impossibile per naturam? Nam quia postea mergebatur, ut mihi videtur, necessarium fuit, ne tanti sublimitate miraculi in perniciem forte sui aequata Christo carnis fragilitas superbiret. Fuerit certe infirmitatis corporeae, quod paulo post timuit; quis tamen ambigat inimitabilis fidei fuisse, quod eum descendentem de navi, tremula, et inconcussa humanis gressibus maris unda sustinuit? Sed jam veniamus ad beatissimum Paulum; cujus tanta est nihilominus plenitudo fidei, ut peculiarem quodammodo eum sibi ducem ad illuminanda gentium corda cunctorum praescius Salvator eligeret. Erat enim tam praecipuus in doctrina, animi virtute tam potens, innocentia et integritate tam sanctus, ut uno eodemque tempore hinc eum sacerdotes ac principes Judaeorum per aemulationem legis antiquae, data in Christianos persequendi auctoritate, dirigerent; hinc illum ad Ecclesiae solatium atque omnium credentium firmamentum Christus vocaret e coelo; cujus ab hoc sunt a Domino caecati oculi, ut, suscepta gratia veritatis, coelesti acie et lumine clariore fulgerent; pariterque adverteret Christiani nominis princeps futurus Christum, quem persequebatur, caecandi illuminandique habere virtutem. Ut autem praeteream caetera quae eum universo orbi mirabilem faciunt, unum illud, quod ad omnes ejus sufficit laudes, quis valeat aestimare quantae sit gloriae, quod cum inter homines ageret, speciali quadam Divinitatis gratia, et paradisus illi penetrabilis, et coelum pervium fuit? Quid ergo, fratres, hoc doctore perfectius, qui in coelo didicit quod in terris doceret? Quid hoc teste veracius, cui elevato super coelos oculis videre et approbare concessum est quod postmodum promitteret credituris? Haec sunt igitur apostolorum Petri et Pauli stupenda merita; per haec incedentes miracula apostolatum suum Domino ac Deo nostro effusione devoti sanguinis consecrarunt. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia LXIX, De eodem natali Sanctorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli II Source: Migne PL 57.397a-398b

I rejoice in the feast day of Peter and Paul, my dearest brothers, whose most blessed passions we celebrate today, and through the whole world the Church of Christ more joyfully exults, she who is permitted to adorn herself with the martyrdoms of all the saints, whenever she sees those fathers and teachers' martyrdom to have triumphed in this world. And indeed more notably with Peter, who placed in the flesh, yet going beyond the measure of the body, confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the true Son of the living God, and because the understanding of that was still hidden from all things mortal, Peter's tongue was the first to announce it with novel speech. 1 What, my brothers, is more magnificent than Peter, who merited so great a confession, that when he was still in the corruptible body, and had not yet ascended to heaven, yet it was given to him to close and open the kingdom of heaven? 2 What is more sublime than his faith, which walking to the Lord on the waters, forgetful of the human condition, asked and was worthy to receive a way for himself on the waves? And how great the confidence of his soul, that he believed it was possible for him to do this through faith, which he knew was impossible for the nature of man? And that later he sank, it seems to me, was necessary, for lest by the sublimity of such a miracle he be puffed up ruinously, he was reduced to the fragility of his flesh by Christ. For certainly there was corporeal infirmity there, because after a little while he became afraid, and he who was of peerless faith hesitated, and descending from the boat he trembled; shall the sea's untrodden waves support human steps? 3 But now let us come to the blessed Paul, who had no less greatness in the plenitude of faith, whence the provident Saviour chose him for the special role of illuminating the hearts of all the Gentiles. He who was so advanced in teaching, and so powerful in the strength of his soul, and so holy in innocence and integrity, that at one and the same time, the priests and leaders of the Jews, through zeal for the old law, directed him, giving him authority for the persecution of Christians,  and from this, to the consolation of the Church and the confirmation of all the faithful, Christ called him from heaven, he whose eyes were by this blinded by the Lord, so that, receiving the grace of truth, the light of heaven might shine sharper and brighter. And so the future prince turned to the Christ of the Christian name, of whom he was a persecutor, to have his blindness enlightened with virtue. 4 But passing over other things which were done to the world's wonder, one thing I will touch on which suffices for all his praise: who can judge the greatness of his glory, that while he lived among men, by a certain special grace of the Divinity, there was made present to him the sanctuary of paradise and the way to heaven? 3 What then, brothers, is more perfect than this teacher who in heaven learnt and in the world taught? What is more true than this witness, who with eyes lifted up over the heavens saw and approved what was given and after promised to the faithful? These, therefore, are the wonderous merits of the Apostles Peter and Paul, who advancing with these miracles, consecrated their apostolate in an effusion of devout blood to their Lord and God. Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 69, On The Feast Day Of The Holy Apostles Peter And Paul 1 Mt 16.15 2 Mt 16.19 3 Mt 14.25-31 4 Acts 9.1-22 5 2 Cor 12.1-4

Sweetness And The Stone

Si tamen gustatis, quoniam dulcis est Dominus. Hoc, inquit, pacto dimissa atque emendata cordis vestri malitia et spurcitia, vitalem Christi alimoniam concupiscite, si divinae dulcedinis quanta sit multitudo sapitis. Nam qui nihil de superna suavitate animo gustat, non est mirum si hunc terrestribus illecebris sordidare non evitat. Bene autem Psalmista gustare admonet quam dulcis sit Dominus, quia sunt nonnulli qui de Deo sentiunt, non quod dulce interius sapiat, sed quod excussum exterius sonet. Qui etsi secreta quaedam intelligendo percipiunt, eorum dulcedinem experiri non possunt. Et si noverunt quomodo sunt, ignorant, ut dixi, quomodo sapiunt. Et quoniam in ipso psalmo de quo hunc versiculum assumpsit, praemissum est: Accedite ad illum et illuminamini, recte beatus Petrus subdidit, dicens: Ad quem accedentes lapidem vivum, etc. Et hoc de lapide testimonium sumit ex psalmo, ubi scriptum est: Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli. Quod ne quis Judaico sensu putaret de materiali lapide a propheta cantatum, qui in aedificatione terrenae cujuslibet domus contra hominum dispositionem divino judicio imponeretur, consulte addidit vivum: Ad quem accedentes, inquiens, lapidem vivum, ut de Christo dictum significet. Qui recte lapis appellatus est, qui in carne veniens, ad aedificationem sanctae Ecclesiae, quo hanc confirmaret, sese inserere dignatus est. Vivus autem qui dicere potuit: Ego sum via, veritas et vita. Qui ab hominibus reprobatus est, cum dicerent: Non habemus regem nisi Caesarem. A Deo autem electus, cum ait ipse: Ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo, et caetera. Et honorificatus, quando post mortem crucis Deus illum exaltavit, et donavit illi nomen quod est super omne nomen, et caetera. Sancta Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Petri, Caput II Source: Migne PL 93.47c-48b

But if you taste that the Lord is sweet...1 In this way, he says, with a heart rid and cleansed of your evils and defilements, desire the life giving food of Christ, if you will taste the how sweet is the abundance of the Divine sweetness. For if someone tastes nothing of the supernal sweetness in his soul, it is not to be wondered if he cannot avoid being defiled by the snares of the world. And well does the Psalmist exhort that the Lord is sweet, 2 because there are some who think on God, but it tastes not the sweetness within, but only touches and sounds the exterior. They who even if they grasp at hidden things with some understanding, are not able to experience the sweetness of them. And if they do know something of them, they are ignorant, as I have said, of how they taste. And because in this Psalm from which the line is taken, it is preceded by: 'Come to him and be illuminated,' 3 rightly the blessed Peter adds: ...to which living stone coming... Concerning this stone, He takes up the testimony of the Psalm, where it is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected has been made the cornerstone.' 4 Which lest someone think in a Jewish sense that the prophet sings of material stone, so that it was imposed by Divine judgement against the wish of man during the terrestial construction of some house, wisely he adds 'living,'  saying,'To which living stone coming,' that signifies he spoke of Christ. He who rightly is called a stone, He who came in the flesh for the building of the holy Church, by which He strengthens it, Himself being worthy to be set there. The living one who is able to say: 'I am the way, the truth and the life.' 6 He who was reproved by men when they said: 'We have no king but Caesar.' 6 But is chosen by God when he says, 'I am estabnlished a king by Him,' and the rest. 7 And worthy of honour, when after death on the cross, God exalted Him, and gave to Him the name which is above all other names. 8 Saint Bede, Commentary on the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 2 1 1 Pet 2.3 2 Ps 33.9 3 Ps 33.6 4 Ps 117.22 5 Jn 14.6 6 Jn 19.15 7 Psal 2.6 8 Philip 2.9

Peter's Error

Καὶ προσλαβόμενος αὐτὸν Πέτρος, ἤρχατο ἐπιτιμᾷν αὐτῷ, λέγων· Ἴλεώς σοι, Κύριε, οὐ μὴ ἔσται σοι τοῦτο. Ὅ μὲν ἀπεκαλύφθη, ὁ Πέτρος ὀρθῶς ὡμολόγησεν, ὃ δὲ οὐκ ἀπεκαλύφθη, ἐσφάλη· ἵνα μάθων ὅτι χωρὶς Θεοῦ οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνο ἐφθέγξατο τὸ μέγα. Μὴ θέλων οὖν παθεῖν τὸν Χριστὸν ὁ Πέτρος, καὶ ἀγνοῶν τὸ τῆς ἀναστὰσεωη μυστήριον· Ἴλεώς σοι, Κύριε, οὐ μὴ ἔσται σοι τοῦτο φησίν. Ὁ δὲ στραφεὶς εἴπε τῷ Πέτρῳ· Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ, σκάνδαλόν μου εἴ, ὅτι οὐ φρονεῖς τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ὅτε μὲν ὀρθὰ ἐλάλει ὁ Πέτρος, μακαρίζει αὐτὸν ὁ Χριστὸς, ὅτε δὲ ἀλόγως ἐδειλίασε, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελε παθεῖν αὐτὸν, ἐπέπληξεν, εἰπων· Ὕπαγε οὖν ὀπισω μου, Σατανᾶ. Σατανᾶς δὲ, ἀντικείμενος λέγεται. Ὕπαγε οὖν ὀπισω μου, τουτέστι, μὴ ἀνθίστασο, ἀλλ' ἀκολούθει τῷ θελήματί μου. Καλεῖ δὲ οὕτως τὸν Πέτρον, ἐπεὶ καὶ τῷ Σατανᾷ ἀθέλητον ἦν τὸ παθεῖν τὸν Χριστόν· φησιν οὖν ὅτι, Συ μὲν ἀνθρωπίνῳ λογισμῷ δοκεῖς τὸ πάθος ἀπρεπές μοι εἶναι· οὐ νοεῖς δὲ ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τούτου σωτηρίαν ἐργάζεται, καί ὅτι τοῦτο ἐμοὶ πρέπει μάλιστα. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατά Ματθαίον Εὐαγγέλιον, Κεφ' Ιϛ' Source: Migne PG 123.321b-c

And seizing Him Peter began to berate him, saying. 'May this never happen to you, Lord.' 1 That which was revealed, Peter rightly confessed, 2 but he erred in what was not revealed, that we might know that without God no speech can be great. Therefore Peter did not want Christ to suffer, and ignorant of the mystery of the resurrection said, 'May this never happen to you, Lord.' And turning to Him, He said to Peter: 'Get behind me Satan, you are a scandal to me, because you do not know the things of God but the things of men.' When Peter spoke rightly, the Lord blessed him, 2 but when he was confused by fear and unwilling that He should suffer, He rebuked him, saying: 'Get behind me, Satan.' And he is named Satan as an adversary. Therefore 'Get behind me,' means 'do not obstruct me, but follow my will.' So he spoke to Peter, because even Satan was displeased by the suffering of Christ. Therefore He says: 'According to human reasoning my passion appears shameful to you, but you do not understand that God works salvation through this, so that this befits me very much.' Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 16 1 Mt 16.22 2 Mt 16.16-17

Peter On The Waters

Respondens autem Petrus, dixit: Domine, si tu es, jube me ad te venire super aquas. Respondens autem Petrus dixit, etc. Aliud est sacramentum de Petro per se, et alia figura. Eadem enim res multoties diversis figuris exprimitur. Eamdem ergo personam gerit hic Petrus, quam et navicula superius, personam videlicet laborantis Ecclesiae. Dicit ergo Ecclesia: Si tu es ille verus liberator, sicut revera es, jube me venire ad te, optat enim Ecclesia semper venire ad Dominum: addit super aquas, quasi dicat: Fac me ad exemplum tuum mundi superare pressuras. Optanti venire dicit: Veni, quia semper affert auxilium omni petenti. Et descendens, etc. Qui putat non esse corpus Dominicum verum, quia super aquas incessit, respondeat quomodo ambulaverit Petrus, quem verum hominem esse negare non possunt. Mystice navicula quae superius significabat Ecclesiam, designat humanum auxilium, quia navis est hominis instrumentum ad gentes transfretandas. Descendit Petrus de navicula, cum Ecclesia postposito omni humano auxilio, humiliando se ad Deum solum refugit, et per hoc datur ei calcare tribulationes hujus mundi, ut veniat ad Jesum, id est, sit ei conformis. Videns autem ventum validum, timuit. Ecce Petrus ad litteram ne superbiret, quasi aequalis Domino, immisit ei Dominus ventum, qui eum terreat, et humanam fragilitatem recognoscere faciat. Permittitur timere et mergi, ut gratius sit auxilium post timorem. Sicut etiam permittit Ecclesiam titubare in persecutione, ut ei infirmitatem suam ostendat, et vehementius ipse ab ea invocetur. Cui clamanti, extendit manum auxilii, et de tribulatione increpat dicens: Modicae fidei. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput XIV Source: Migne PL 162.1385a-c

Peter answered, saying, 'Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the waters...' 1 'Peter answered, saying..' On the one hand this is a mystery about Peter himself, on the other a figure. For the same thing is expressed many times with varying figures. Therefore here Peter bears the same person as the boat previously, that is, he has the person of the labouring Church. Therefore the Church says: 'If you are the true liberator, as you are true, order me to come to you,' for the Church always desires to come to the Lord. It continues: 'on the waters.' As if he said, 'Make me your example for the overcoming of the pressures of the world.' He says to the one who desires to come, 'Come,' because He always brings help to all those who seek. 'And coming down...' He who thinks the Lord did not have a real body because He walked on the waters, let him say how Peter walked, whom no one denies was a real man. Mystically the boat which previously signified the Church, indicated human assitance, because a boat is an instrument of man for passing over to other people. Peter descends from the boat when the Church sets aside all human help and in humility flees to God alone, and through this it is given to it to walk over the tribulations of this world, that it come to Jesus, that is, that it conform itself to Him. 'But seeing the wind he feared...' Behold Peter, for lest he become proud, as if he were some equal of the Lord, The Lord sends a wind upon him, which troubles him and makes him aware of human fragility. He is permitted to fear and to sink, so that aid shall have more thanks after fear. So the Lord allows the Church to be troubled by persecution, so that He might show its weakness to it, and that it might cry out more loudly because of it. To which one who calls, He extends the hand of help, and concerning tribulation He cries out saying, 'Of little faith.' Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 14 1 Mt 14.28

Peter's Calling

Et præteriens secus mare Galilaeae, vidit Simonem, et Andream fratrem ejus, mittentes retia in mare, erant enim piscatores, et dixit eis Jesus: Venite post me, et faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum. Et protinus relictis retibus, secuti sunt eum. Mittentes retia in mare. Et tangit actum, et usum, et rationem usus. Notatur autem quod lucris intendebant: mittentes retia in mare, sine quorum usu vitam agere non poterant. Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis, beatus es et bene tibi erit. In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane tuo, et subiungit laboris istius rationem. Erant enim piscatores... Hoc est, usu piscationis viventes: patres enim veteris testamenti pastores fuerunt ovium, sicut dicitur. Patres autem novi testamenti piscatores piscium fuerunt. Mittam eis piscatores multos et piscabuntur eos. Duc in altum et laxate retia vestra in capturam. Et dixit eis Iesus: venite post me et faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum. Et protinus relictis retibus, securi sunt eum. Hic tangitur vocatio: et subiungitur simplex obedientia discipulorum. Vocatio autem ponitur et subiungitur ad quid vocantur: vocatio est ad veniendum, et modum dicit cum addit 'post me' dicit igitur Venite... Relinquendo vestra et vestros. Nunc sequimur te in toto corde nostro et timemus te. Qui fugistis gladium venite ad me et nolite stare. Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis. Post me... Neque ad dexteram neque ad sinistram declinando. Sequamini vestigia eius. Hoc enim perfectum est: et in hoc sequuntur idoneitatem, ut sint vicarii in postestae, si sint successores et suscitatores Christi. Faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum. Ecce ad quid vocantur. Homines enim submersi in concupiscentiis mundi, capiuntur et trahuntur ad litus stabilitatis, sagena praedicationis. Facies homines quasi pisces maris. Simile est regnum caelorum sagenae missae in mare et ex omni genere piscium congreganti. Et protinus... Hic tangitur obedientia velox, et simplex, et perfecta: velox, in hoc quod dicit protinus simplex, in hoc quod dicit relictis retibus, perfecta, in hoc quod dicit secuti sunt eum. De primo, Vidisti hominem velocem in opere suo: coram regibus stabit. Sed contra: Nolite peregrinari in fervore qui ad tentationem vobis fit. Respondeo quod non peregrinabantur in fervore: cum iam ante habuerit notitiam et experientiam per alias vocationes: sicut paulo ante diximus. Relictis... Ut sine impedimento sequerentur. Non enim camelus transit per foramen acus, nisi deposito gibbo. Et licet census hic relictus parvus fit, tamen affectus attendendus est qui maior est in paupere quam in divite: eo quod pluribus indigens plura concupiscit: unde Ecce nos reliquimus omnia. Qui est in agro non revertatur tollere aliquid de domo sua. Secuti sunt eum. Hoc est perfectum, ut dicit Hieronymus, et quod fecit eos veros discipulos Christi. Vestigia eius secutus est pes meus. Sequar autem si quo modo comprehendam in quo et comprehensus sum. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput I Source: Here p13-14

And as He passed along the sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Simon’s brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, 'Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 1 Casting their nets into the sea... This touches on the act, the use, and the reason of it. Let it be noted what they look to for gain, the casting of their nets into the sea, without which they were not able to live. 'Because you shall eat the labours of your hands, you are blessed and it will go well with you.' 'In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread.' 2 And he adds the reason for this: For they were fishermen... That is, they live by fishing. The fathers of the Old Testament were shepherds, as it is said, 3 but the fathers of the New Testament were fishermen. 'I shall send to them many fishermen and they will fish for them.' 'Go out to the deep and lower your nets for a catch.' 4 And Jesus said to them, 'Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. This touches on the calling. And then he adds the simple obedience of the disciples. So the calling is given and what they are called is added. The calling is to come and he speaks of the way when he adds, 'After me.' Therefore He says: 'Come...' By leaving your things and your own. 'Now we follow you with all our hearts and we are in awe of you.' 'You who would escape the sword, come to me and do not linger.' 'Come to me all of you who labour and are burdened.' 5 After me... Neither declining to the right or the left. 'Follow in His footsteps.' 6 For this is to be perfect. And in this following comes capability, so that they might be His representatives in power, if they are to be successors and revivers for Christ. I shall make you fishers of men... See to what they are called. For men are submerged in the desires of the world, and they are drawn and dragged out to the firm shore by the nets of preaching. 'You make men like fish in the sea.' 'The kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea that gathers up every sort of fish.' 7 And immediately... This touches on swift and simple and perfect obedience. Simple when it is said 'immediately' and swift when it is said 'leaving their nets,' and pefect when it is said 'they followed Him.' Concerning the first: 'You have seen a man quick to his work, he shall stand in the presence of kings.' But against this: 'Do not reckon as something strange the heat which is a trial to you.' 8 I answer that they do not reckon it strange when already before they had knowledge and experience through other callings, as we said a little earlier. Leaving their nets... That they might follow without impediment. For a camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle unless it loses its hump. And it is possible to think what is left here is little, however the affection must be attended to, which is greater in the poor than in the rich, because the more poor so the more the desire. Whence 'Behold, we have left everything.' 'He who is in the field let him not turn back to take up anything from his house.' 9 They followed Him. This is perfection, as Jerome says, and what makes them true disciples of Christ. 'My feet have followed His path.' 'And I shall follow, if in some way I might grasp Him who has grasped me.' 10 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 1 1 Mark 1.16-18 2 Ps 127.2, Gen 3.19 3 Gen 47.3 4 Jerem 16.16, Lk 5.4 5 Dan 3.41, Jerem 51.50, Mt 11.28 6 1 Pet 2.21 7 Habac 1.14, Mt 13.47 8 Prov 22.29, 1 Pet 4.12 9 Mt 19.24-27, Mt 24.18 10 Job 23.11, Philip 3.12

John's Coming

In diebus illis venit Joannes Baptista praedicens... Sol appropians ad processum, antequem appareat, mittit radios suos, et facit albescere orientem, ut procedens aurora adventum diei demonstret. Sic Dominus natus in mundo, antequam appareat, Spiritus sui fulgore transmisso illuminavit Joannem, ut praecedens ille adventum Salvatoris annuntiet: ne forte subito veniens, et dicens se esse Filium Dei, propter ipsam magnam atque terribilem indicationem rei ipsius, magis se incredibiliorem ostenderet. Si enim Joannes praedicavit persona cognitus, genere dignitosus, erat enim fiilius Zachariae sacerdotis, et conversatione mirabilis, tamen infideles Judaei non acquieverunt credere Christo per illum: quanto magis non erant credituri, si nulla ante eum denuntiatio praecessisset? Nam quantumvis fuerit persona laubabilis, in sua causa non potest esse testis idoneus. Venit Joannes quasi magni regis praeparator fidelis. Qualis rex, talis et nuntius regis: natus ex gratia, non ex natura. Sicut Christi conceptionem ante angelus nuntiavit, sic et istius. Sicut illius nomen, antequam conciperetur, auditum est, sic et istius. Sicut illius potestas, antequam nasceretur, ostensa est: sic et istius virtus, anteuqam nasceretur, manifestata est. Haec fuit inter illos differentia: quia Christo concepto, fidelis mater confessa est gratiam Dei, dicens: Ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Joanne autem concepto, incredulus pater obmutuit: quia Joanne nato, lex de caetero fuerat tacitura; Christo autem nascente postmodum, gratia fuerat loquutura. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia Tertia Source: Migne PG 56.646-647

In those days John came preaching... 1 When the sun nears its rising, before it appears, it sends forth its rays, and it lightens the east, and so the preceding dawn demonstrates the coming of the day. Thus for the Lord's birth in the world, before He appeared, the Spirit, with its light sent forth, illuminated John, so that coming before he might proclaim the advent of the Saviour, lest perhaps with Him suddenly coming, and saying that He was the Son of God, on account of the great and awesome revelation of such a thing, it appear to be more inconceivable. For if John preached as a person well known, and from a distinguished family, for he was the son of Zachariah the priest, and with wondrous conduct, and yet he did not convince the unfaithful of Judah to believe in Christ through him, how much more disbelief would there have been if no proclamation had preceded Him? For however great he was as a praiseworthy person, he was not an able witness in his own cause. John came as a faithful preparer of a great king. And as the king, so the messenger of the king, born from grace, not from nature. As the conception of Christ was announced beforehand, so was his. As His name was heard before His conception, so was his. As His power was shown before He was born, so was his made manifest before he was born. This was the difference among them, that at Christ’s conception, the faithful mother confessed the grace of God, saying: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.' 2 but at John's conception, an incredulous father was made mute, since with the birth of John the law became silenced for anything else, and after the birth of Christ, grace was to speak. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 3 1 Mt 8.5-6 2 Lk 1.38

John And The Nativity

Hic est enim de quo dictum est per Isaiam prophetam dicentem, Vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas ejus. Idem vero Joannes secundum alium evangelistam requisitus quis esset, respondit: Ego vox clamantis in deserto. Qui ideo vox a propheta vocatus est, quia verbum praeibat. Vox ergo inter duo verba solet fieri, hoc est animae incorporale et oris corporale. Sic et Joannes venit inter nativitatem Christi divinam, de qua dicitur: In principio erat Verbum, et humanam, de qua ita scribitur: Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Qui etiam in deserto clamat, quia derelictae et destitutae Judaeae solatium redemptionis annuntiat. Quid autem clamaret aperit, cum subditur: Parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas ejus. Omnis qui fidem rectam et bona opera praedicat, quid aliud quam venienti Dominio ad corda audientium viam parat, ut hanc vis gratiae penetret, et lumen veritatis illustret, ut rectas Deo semitas faciat, dum mundas in animo cogitationes per sermon bonae praedicationis format. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber I Source: Migne PL 107.767c-d

For this is the one concerning whom it is spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'A voice crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.' 1 And then the same John, according to another Evangelist, being asked who he was, answers: 'I am a voice crying out in the wilderness.' 2 He who thus was called a voice as a prophet, because he came before the Word. Therefore 'voice' is accustomed to found shared between two words, that is between the incorporeal of the soul and the corporeal of the mouth. So John comes between the Divine nativity of Christ, about which it is said 'In the beginning was the Word,' 3 and the human birth, about which it is written: 'And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.' 4 And he cries out in the wilderness because he announces the consolation of redemption for the forsaken and lost Jews. And what he cries out is revealed when it says after: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.' Everyone who preaches on correct faith and good works, does so that he might prepare a way in the hearts of those who hear for the coming of the Lord, so that the power of grace might penetrate, and the light of truth shine. So he makes the straight paths to God, while he fashions clean thoughts in the soul by the speech of good preaching. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 1 1 Mt 3.3, Isaiah 40.3 2 Jn 1.23 3 Jn 1.1 4 Jn 1.14

Light And Light

Quaest. III. Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Non erat ille lux. CONTRA : Ad Ephesios quinto: Eratis aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino: ergo omnes boni sunt lux. Respondet Glossa, quod est lux illuminans et lux illuminata. loannes et alii Sancti non sunt lux illuminans, sed lux illuminata a prima luce. Sed contra hoc est Matthaei quinto: Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus; et ad Philippenses secundo: Inter quos lucetis sicut luminaria in mundo. Respondeo: Est lux illuminans effective et dispositive. Lux illuminans effective est lux per essentiam, sic solus Deus est lux illuminans; dispositive est lux per participationem, et sic Sancti, qui illuminant verbo et exemplo. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput I Source: Here, p451

Question 3: Concerning what was said about John the Baptist: 'He was not the light.' 1 Against which, in the fifth chapter of Ephesians: 'You were once in darkness, but now are light in the Lord.' 2 Therefore all good people are light. The gloss replies that there is an illuminating light and an illuminated light. John and the other saints are not the illuminating light but the light illuminated by the first light. But against this in the fifth chapter of Matthew: 'Let your light shine before men,' 3 and in the the second chapter of Philippians: 'Among whom you shine like luminaries in the world.' 4 I reply that illuminating light is so effectively and dispositively. The illuminating light is effectively so by being light in its essence, so that God alone is illuminating light. Light is dispositively so by participation, and so it is with the saints, who illuminate with word and example. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 1 1 Jn 1.8 2 Ephes 5.8 3 Mt 5.16 4 Phil 2.15

A Hard Diet

Αἱ ἀκρίδες, αἷς Ἰωάννης ἐτρέφετο, αὐ ζῶα εἰσιν ὧς τινες οἴονται ἀμαθῶς, κανθάροις ἀπεοικότα. Μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλ' ἀκρέμονες βοτανῶν ἢ φυτῶν. Οὔτε δὲ πόα τίς ἐστι πάλιν τὸ μέλι ἄγριον. Ἀλλὰ μέλι ὄρειον ὑπὸ μελισσῶν ἀγρίων γινόμενον, πικρότατον ὄν, καὶ πάσῃ γεύσει πολέμιον. Δι' ὦν τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν κάκωσιν ἐπεδείκνυτο Ἰωάννης, οὐκ ἐνδείᾳ μόνῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τραχύτητι πὰσαν ὅρεξιν πικραίνων τοῦ σώματος. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΛΒ' Τιμοθεῳ Ἀναγωστῃ Source: Migne PG 78.269c

The locusts which John fed on are not creatures somewhat like beetles, as some unlearned folk think. May it not be, but grass or plants from the heights. Nor again is wild honey a herb. But it is honey of the mountains made by wild bees, and it is most bitter and inimical to everyone's taste. By which things John wondrously shows how he afflicted himself, not only by not eating, but by treating roughly and with bitterness the desires of the body Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 132, To Timotheus the Lector

The Desert And The Temple of God

Eremum ergo recte incircumscriptum Dei nostri templum dixerim; etenim quem certum est habitare in silentio, credendum est gaudere secreto. Saepius se illic videndum sanctis suis praebuit et conciliante loco congressum non est aspernatus humanum; in deserto quippe Moyses glorificato vulta Deum conspicit, in deserto Helias vultum pavens, ne Deum conspiciat, obvolvit; et quamvis omnia ipse tamquam sua revisitet neque uspiam desit, tamen, ut aestimare licet peculiarius visitationem dignatur eremi et caeli secretum. Sanctus Eucherius Lugdunensis, De Laude Eremi Source: Migne PL 50.702d-703a

Therefore I would rightly say that the boundless temple of our God is the desert. Indeed as it is certain one dwells there in silence, so it must be believed that there one rejoices in secret. More often it must be seen there that He provides for His holy ones and that they are gathered together in a place where there is no opposition of men. In the desert Moses with glorified face saw God, in the desert Elijah was struck with fear and covered his face, lest he look on God. 1 And so though the Lord may visit every single place and there is nowhere where He is absent, it is permissible to think that He especially dignifies the desert with His visitations and with the mysteries of heaven. Saint Eucherius of Lyon, In Praise of the Desert 1 Exod 34.29-35, 3 Kings 19.13

Hands And Help

Et cum imposuisset eis manus, abiit inde. Imponit ergo Dominus parvulis manus, quando humilibus auxilii sui gratiam tribuit, et secundum voluntatem suam dirigit ut in omnibus suis possint obsequi praeceptis. Unde et ad eum per Psalmistam dicitur: Tenuisti manum dextram meam, et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et reliqua. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Lib VI Cap XIX Source: Migne PL 107.1019d

And when He had placed His hands on them, He went away from there. 1 The Lord places His hands on the little ones, when He gives the grace of His help to the humble, and according to His will directs them so that they are able to follow His commands in everything. Whence even tof Him it is said through the Psalmist: 'You took my right hand, and according to your will you led me.' 2 Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 6, Chap 19 1 Mt 19.15 2 Ps 72.24

Sons And The Father

Ut sitis filii Patris vestri... In quo enim alio cognoscetur quia filli summus Dei, nisi fuerimus similes Deo? Filii enim carnales frequenter similantur carnalibus patribus, in facie, aut in loquela, aut in risu, aut in aliquo corporis signo: filii autem spirituales in sanctitate. Et illi quidem etsi similes fuerint, laudem nullam merentur, et si dissimiles, nullam vituperationem, quia non est in potestate hominis qualem accipiat corporis qualitatem. Filii autem Dei, siquidem similes fuerint, laudandi sunt: si autem dissimiles, nimis vituperandi, quia in potestate unius ujusque est mensura faciendae justitiae. Si diligits eos, qui vos diligunt, quam mercedem habebitis? Qui amicos diligit, propter se diligit, non propter Deum, et ideo nullam habet mercedem: delectat enim eum ipsa dilectio. Qui autem inimicum suum diligit, non propter se diligit, sed propter Deum: ideo magnam habet mercedem, quia contradicit motibus suis. Ubi enim labour seminatur, illic metitiur fructus. Estote ergo perfecti, sicut et Pater vester perfectus est. Qui diligit amicum, peccatum quidem non facit, justitiam autem non operatur. Dimidium enim bonum est, hominem discedere a malo, et non sequi bonum: perfectum est autem, ut non solum fugiat malum, sed etiam faciat bonum. Ideo dicit, Perfecti estote, ut et amicos diligatis propter peccatum vitandum, et inimicos propter justitiam habendam: quoniam illud de poena liberat, hoc autem ducit in gloriam: nec enim est perfecta Dei imago, quae non per opera similat Deum. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XIII Source: Migne PG 56.703

That you may be sons of your Father... 1 For in what else shall it be known that we are sons of God unless we shall be like God? Carnal sons are often similar to carnal fathers, in face, in speech, in the way they smile, or in some other feature of the body, but spiritual sons are alike in holiness. And even if the former are similar, it merits no praise, and if they are dissimilar it earns no reproof, because it is not in the power of a man to take up some corporeal quality. But the sons of God, as much as they are similar so they are praiseworthy, and if they are dissimilar so they deserve to be blamed, because it is in the power of each one by the measure of righteous deeds. If you love those who love you, what reward shall you have? He who loves his friends, loves them for himself, and therefore he has no reward, for he delights in that affection. But he who loves his enemy, does not love for himself, but for God, and therefore he has a great reward, because he disputes his own inclinations. Where there is toil, there the fruit is reaped. Be perfect as your Father is perfect. He who loves a friend certainly does not commit a sin, but he does not work righteousness. It is only half a good to cut a man off from evil, and not to follow it with what is good. But he is perfect who not only flees sin, but even does good. Therefore He says, 'Be perfect'  so that you might love friends on account of the avoidance of sin, and love enemies for the possession of righteousness, since the former delivers from punishment and the latter leads to glory. There is no perfect image of God which is not made like God through deeds. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 13 1 Mt 5.48

Honouring The Father

Doctrina mea non est mea. Nota, qualiter docet nos vitare arrogantiam, qui, cum exhibuerit nobis in se ipso sapientiam, potentiam et iustitiam, attribuit tamen Patri omnium istorum honorem. Patri attribuit honorem sapientiae; unde hic: Mea doctrina non est mea, sed eius qui misit me, Patris; et infra octavo: Sicut docuit me Pater, haec loquor. Patri attribuit honorem potentiae; unde loannis quinto: Non potest Filius a se quidquam facere, nisi quod viderit Patrem facientem; et infra octavo: A me ipso facio nihil. Patri attrrbuit honorem iustitiae; unde loannis quinto: Non possum ego a me ipso facere quidquam, sed sicut audio, iudico. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput VII, Collatio XXXII Source: Here, p572

My teaching is not mine... 1 Note how He teaches us to avoid arrogance, He who when He showed to us the wisdom and power and righteousness in Himself, yet attributed all their honour to the Father. To the Father He attributed the honour of wisdom when He says here, 'My teaching is not mine but His who sent me.' That is, the Father's. And in chapter eight, 'As the Father taught me, so I speak.' 2 To the Father He attributes the honour of power when in the fifth chapter He says: 'The Son has not in Himself the power to do anything, unless He has seen the Father doing it.' 3 And in the eighth chapter: 'By myself I can do nothing.' 4 To the Father He attributes the honour of righteousness, when in the fifth chapter He says: 'I am not able to do anything from myself, but as I hear, I judge.' 5 Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 7 1 Jn 7.16 2 Jn 8.28 3 Jn 5.19 4 Jn 8.28 5 Jn 5.30

The Father And Perfection

Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut Pater vester coelestis perfectus est. Ecce ad quod culmen Christus suos provehit, et quam perfectos eos esse debere in charitate denuntiat. Unde, si volumus esse filii, perfectionem sectemur charitatis, quia praecepta custodiendo erimus filii, non natura quidem, sed gratia, per quam in nostro positum videtur arbitrio ut filii maneamus. Ad quod fortassis dicat aliquis: Quomodo mortalis nostrum quispiam tam perfectus poterit esse, sicuti Deus Pater perfectus est, praesertim cum nunquam in eodem statu subsistat? Interea, quisquis hoc requirit, sciat quod non aliud est similem Deo Patri fieri, quam per charitatem, quae diffussa est in cordibus nostris, eamdem similitudinem, in qua creatus est primus homo, ad melius reparari. Quod nemo fidelium negat; nam ad imaginem et similitudinem totius Trinitatis factus est. Idcirco quid mirum si renovatur admodum, ut sit perfectus, sicut Deus perfectus esse dicitur, cui et olim perfectio imaginis ac similitduinis attributa fuit? Sed quia subtilius hanc similitudinem perfectionis quidem requirentes, nescio quam caliginem impederunt, saltem ne ad quod facti sunt remearent**, libeat paulo latius initimare etiam quid philosophi de hoc loquendi genere senserunt. Nam omne quod simile est, per quod quisque alteri similis efficitur, duobus modis consideratur; aut quadam habitudine formarum, aut natura rerum. His quidem duabus partibus omnis similitduo contemplatur. Age nunc quam harum elegeris partem, in qua per similitudinem Dei Patris perfectionem habere queas. Si autem secundum habitudinem formarum pefectus esse elegeris, scias quod in eo nulla habitudo est, nisi quod ipse est; ipse enim illa forma est ex qua omnia formantur. Si vero juxta naturam te similitudinem perfectionis habere dixeris, occurrit illico, quod non alia natura est. Ac per hoc erigendus est interior homo noster, ut quod ille habet per essentiam, nos incipiamus habere per adoptionis gratiam. Ut, sicut relative ad nos ille per adoptionem, qua nos adoptavit sibi filios, Pater noster dicitur, ita et nos per eamdem similitudinem qua sumus filii adoptionis, relative in illa perfecti maneamus. Alioquin quomodo is perfectus dicitur, qui nunquam factus, nunquam initium aut consummationem habere creditur? Perfectus autem Deus, non proprio verbo, sed sicut multis in locis pro nostra infirmitate dicitur, ut per hoc integere Deus bonus et summus praedicetur. Homo vero non esse realiter, sed per gratiam perfectus invenitur; qui si Deo comparatur, quid in eo perfectum erit? Nemo bonus, nisi solus Deus. Quod si nemo bonus, quis nostrum in bonitate perfectus erit? Unde constant quod haec similitudo non pro toto, sed pro parte accipitur. Si autem homo in toto per Deo, vel similis foret, utique Deus esset. Nunc autem quia iuxta quantitatem vel qualitatem deitatis, nihil ei par aut simile esse potest, restat ut pro parte capacitatis suae homo aut angelus perfectus esse dicatur. Non tamen aliunde quam ex ipsa imagine vel similitudine Dei, ad quam factur legitur. Tanto enim perfectior quisque, quanto similior erit. Similis autem vel perfectus, non ex proprietate sui, sed ex gratia diviniae largitatis, et virtutum integritate. Ut, quod Deus habet per naturam, homo incipiat habere per adoptionem, ex participatione bonitatis Dei. Ac per hoc recte quisque perfectus, sicut Deus Pater dicitur, dum integritatem virtutum, et adoptionis donum, quantum per gratiam asseuqi potest, participat. Ut, sicut ille ex sese perfectus dicitur in natura deitatis, ita nos ex eo perfecti dicamur pro parte, in gratia sanctae adoptionis. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib III Cap V Source: Migne PL 120.266a-267b

Therefore be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. 1 Behold, to what height Christ lifts up His own, even announcing that they should be perfect in love. Whence, if we wish to be sons, we should pursue the perfection of love, because in the keeping of His commandments we are sons, not indeed by nature, but by grace, which with it placed in our wills let us remain sons. To which someone will perhaps say: 'How can any of us mortal creatures be perfect, even as God the Father is perfect, when certainly it is not possible that a man may ever exist in that same state?' Why, he who asks this, let him know that to become like God the Father, is nothing but through love, which is diffused in our hearts, to better restore that same image in which the first man was created. Which none of the faithful deny, for as an image and likeness of the whole Trinity he was made. Therefore why is it such a wonder if a man should be renewed so, in order that he might be perfect, as God is said to be perfect, to whom it is attributed that he was once the perfect image and likeness? 2 But because some need more exactitude regarding this likeness of perfection, though I know not what darkness impedes them from going back to what they were made, it is possible to hint a little more broadly about what the wise think about this of which we speak. For everything which is similar, being made so by being similar to another, should be considered so in two ways, either by the appearance of forms, or by the nature of things. By these two all likeness is observed. So now choose one of these by which you will be able to have a likeness to the perfection of God the Father. If you choose to be perfect according to the appearance of form, know that there is no appearance but only what He Himself is, for He is that form from which all things are formed. If however you said that you will choose the likeness of perfection according to nature, it happens there that there is no other nature. And by this our interior man is raised up, so that what God has in essence we begin to have through the adoption of grace. And as He is related to us by adoption, since He has adopted us as His sons and He is called our Father, so we through that same likeness by which we are sons of adoption shall remain in that relation of perfection. Besides how is He named perfect who was never made and is thought to have neither beginning nor end? For God is perfect not in a particular sense, but as it is said in many places for our infirmity, that through this shall be preached the wholly good and flawless God. Man however is not truly perfect, but it is found that he is perfected through grace; for when compared to God, what is perfect in man? 'No one is good but God alone.' 3 And if none of us are good, which one of us shall be perfect in goodness? Whence it holds this likeness is not total, but it is understood as something partial. For if man were totally equal to God, or totally similar, so he would be God. But now because nothing in man is similar according to the quantity or quality of the Deity, what remains is that in a part, according to his capacity, a man or an angel is said to be perfect. But not in any other way than the image or likeness of God, to which it is said man was made. Whoever shall be more perfect, shall be more similar. But this similarity or perfection is not from ourselves, but from the largess of Divine grace, and the wholeness of virtue. Thus what God has by nature, man begins to have by adoption, from participation in the godness of God. Rightly because of this is anyone perfect, as God the Father is said to be, while as much as by grace he is able to attain to it, he participates in the wholeness of virtue and the gift of adoption. Thus, as He in Himself because of the nature of the Deity is said to be perfect, thus we shall be said to be perfect partially, in the grace of holy adoption. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 3, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.48 2 Gen 1.27 3 Mk 10.18

Bad Fathers

Ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri; probaverunt me, et viderunt opera mea. Ubi, sicut superius dixit, significat in deserto; illic enim fragilitas humana Deum tentavit; sed statim virtus Divinitatis apparuit, quando esca venit ex aere, potus ex lapide. Sed petra produxit aquas; corda vero infidelium duruerunt in lapideam siccitatem. Sed quae dementia est adhuc sequi pravitates illorum in quibus tam vehementer cognoscitur vindicatum? Nam cum dicit, patres vestri, et eos quoque significat obstinatos, quia illum unusquisque habet patrem quem cognoscitur imitari, sicut Iudaeis in Evangelio ipse Dominus dicit: Vos ex patre diabolo estis. Sequitur, probaverunt me, et viderunt opera mea. Probaverunt utique, quando manna esurientibus pluit, quando illis coturnicum tributa est multitudo, quando irriguae aquae de saxorum siccitate fluxerunt. Nam quod addidit, et viderunt opera mea, infidelitas eorum arguitur, qui carnalibus oculis intuiti sunt, quod cordis lumine minime crediderunt; et ideo viderunt dixit, non, crediderunt. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XCIV Source: Migne PL 70.674d-675

'When your fathers tested me, they tried me and they saw my deeds.' 1 'When,' as said above, is in the desert, for there human fragility tested God, and immediately the power of God appeared, when it sent food from the air, water from stone. But though the rock produced water, the hearts of the faithless remained as dry as stone. And what madness is it to still follow their depravities for which there is known to be such vehement punishment? For when it says here, 'your fathers' it also signifies those who are obstinate, because each of us has a father whom he is known to imitate, as the Lord Himself said to the Jews in the Gospel: 'You are from your father the devil.' 2 It follows, 'They tried me and they saw my deeds.' So they tried Him and He rained down manna for eating, and a multitude of quails were given to them, and water flowed forth from stone to wet the dust. For when is added, 'and they saw my deeds,' their unfaithfulness is reproved, which saw with carnal eyes, because they could not believe with the light of the heart. And therefore it says 'they saw' and not 'they believed.' Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 94 1 Ps 94.8 2 Jn 8.44

Knowledge And The Tree

Et scire justitiam et virtutem tuam, radix est immortalitatis. Radix, id est arboris spiritualis, id est vitae iusti qui est sicut lignum plantatum secus decursus aquarum etc. Radix est fides, ut hic dicitur. Pes, humilitas, sicut e contrario pes impiorum est superbia, secundum illud Psalmi: Non veniat mihi pes superbiae. Stipes, in altum se erigens, est spes; ad Colossenses tertio: Quae sursum sunt quaerite. Humor interior et viriditas huius arboris est gratiainternae devotionis; lob octavo: Nunquid potest virere scirpus absque humore? Calor dirigens est virtus caritatis; Lucae duodecimo: Ignem veni mittere in terram etc. Exterior irrigatio, doctrina spiritualis; unde Sapientia dicit Ecclesiastici vigesimo quarto: Rigabo hortum plantationum mearum. Rami, multiplicatio bonae operationis; Ezechielis trigesimo sexto: Montes Israel, ramos vestros expandite. Flores , mores honestae conversationis ; unde Canticorum secundo: Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra. Folia, verba discretae locutionis, secundum illud Psalmi: Et folium eius non defluet. Fructus, merces aeternae retributionis; supra tertio: Bonorum laborum gloriosus est fructus. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Librum Sapientiae, Caput XV Source: Here, 411d-412a

And to know your righteousness and virtue is the root of immortality... 1 'The root,' that is, of the spiritual tree, that is, of the life of the righteous man, who is like 'a tree planted beside flowing waters,' etc, 2 and the root is faith, as it says here. The base of the tree is humility, just as, on the contrary, the foot of the impious is pride, according to the Psalm: 'May the foot of the proud not be mine.' 3 The trunk is what rises up to the heights, which is hope. In the third chapter of Colossians: 'Seek the things which are above.' 4 The interior sap and greeness of this tree is the grace of internal devotion. In the eighth chapter of Job: 'Can a reed live without moisture?' 5 The heat which fuels growth is the power of love. In the twelfth chapter of Luke: 'I have come to place fire on the earth.' 6 Exterior watering is spiritual teaching, whence Wisdom says in the twenty fourth chapter of Ecclesiasticus: 'I shall water the garden of my plantings.' 7 The branches are the multiplication of good works. In the thirty six chapter of Ezekiel: 'Mountains of Israel, put forth your branches.' 8 Blossom is the way of upright living, whence in the second chapter of the Song of Songs: 'The blossom appears in our land.' 9 Leaves are the words of wise speech, according to the Psalm: 'And its leaves shall not wither.' 10 The fruit is the giving of the eternal reward, concerning which above in the third chapter it says: 'Glorious is the fruit of good works.' 11 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On Wisdom, Chapter 15 1 Wisdom 6.24 2 Ps 1.3 3 Ps 35.12 4 Col 3.1 5 Job 8.11 6 Lk 12.49 7 Sirach 24.42 8 Ezek 36.8 9 Song 2.12 10 Ps 1.3 11 Wisdom 3.15

Feasts And Fruits

Καταβήτω ὁ ἀδελφιδός μου εἰς κῆπον αὐτοῦ καὶ φαγέτω καρπὸν ἀκροδρύων αὐτοῦ. Ὦ πεπαρρησιασμένης φωνῆς. Ὦ φιλοτίμου τε καὶ μεγαλοδώρου ψυχῆς πᾶσαν ὑπερβολὴν μεγαλοφροσύνης νικώσης. Tίνα δεξιοῦται πρὸς εὐωχίαν τοῖς ἰδίοις καρποῖς; Tίνι παρασκευάζει διὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἀγαθῶν τὴν πανδαισίαν; Tίνα καλεῖ πρὸς τὴν τῶν παρεσκευασμένων ἑστίασιν; Tὸν ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα, τὸν διδόντα τοῖς πᾶσι τροφὴν ἐν εὐκαιρίᾳ, τὸν ἀνοίγοντα τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πληροῦντα πᾶν ζῷον εὐδοκίας, τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνοντα καὶ ζωὴν διδόντα τῷ κόσμῳ, τὸν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσι τὴν ζωὴν ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας πηγῆς ἐπιρρέοντα· τούτῳ ἡ νύμφη προτίθησι τράπεζαν. Kῆπος δέ ἐστιν ἡ τράπεζα ὁ διὰ τῶν ἐμψύχων δένδρων πεφυτευμένος, ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ δένδρα, εἴπερ δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς, οἱ τροφὴν αὐτῷ προτιθέντες τὴν τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν σωτηρίαν οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ τὴν ἡμετέραν εὐωχουμένου ζωὴν ὅτι Ἐμὸν βρῶμά ἐστιν, ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου. Δῆλος δὲ ὁ σκοπὸς τοῦ θείου θελήματος, Ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. Αὕτη οὖν ἐστιν ἡ ἑτοιμασθεῖσα βρῶσις αὐτῷ τὸ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς. Kαρπὸς δὲ ἡμῶν ἡ προαίρεσις γίνεται ἡ τῷ δρεπομένῳ ἡμᾶς θεῷ δι’ ἑαυτῆς ὡς διά τινος ἀκρεμόνος τὴν ψυχὴν ἐγχειρίζουσα. Χρὴ δὲ διὰ τούτων ἰδεῖν ὅτι πρότερον ἡ νύμφη τῷ καρπῷ τοῦ μήλου καταγλυκαίνεται εἰποῦσα· Καὶ ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ γλυκὺς ἐν τῷ λάρυγγί μου· καὶ τότε καρπὸς καὶ αὐτὴ γίνεται ὡραῖός τε καὶ γλυκάζων καὶ τῷ γεωργῷ πρὸς εὐφροσύνην προκείμενος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία Ι’ Source: Migne PG 44.985b-d

Let my beloved come down into his garden, and let him eat the fruit of his fruit trees. 1 Such freedom of speech. Such a generous and munificent soul that has triumphed over all proud extravagance. Whom does she welcome to a feast of her own fruits? For whom has she prepared a banquet of her own good things? Whom does she call to the meal that has been made ready? Him from whom and through whom and in whom are all things, 1 who gives to everything its food at the appropriate time and fills every living thing to satisfaction with the opening of His hand, 3 who comes down as the bread from heaven and gives life to the world, 4 who from his own spring pours life into every being. For Him the Bride lays her table. And the table is a garden planted with the trees of souls, and we are the trees, if indeed we are, who place before Him the food that is the salvation of our souls, because the one who feasts on our life says, 'My food is to do the will of my Father.' 5 And manifest is the aim of the Divine will, He who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. 6 This, then, is the food made ready for Him, our salvation. And our fruit is our choosing to be plucked by God, through which, as from a branch, the soul is taken in hand. And concerning these things, one should note that previously the Bride is filled with sweetness by the fruit of the apple tree, with her saying: 'And his fruit is sweet in my throat.' 7 And that is when she herself becomes a fruit at once beautiful and sweet and available for the joy of the farmer. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 10 1 Song 4.16 2 Rom 11.6 3 Ps 144.15-16 4 Jn 6.33 5 Jn 4.34 6 1 Tim 2.4 7 Song 2.3

Between Two Tables

Unum tamen dico, ut occasionem vobis dedisse videar, et caetera quoque similiter advertatis. Nonne velut inter duas mensas positi, epulantes hinc inde spectamus jejuni? Sic sumus omnino, sic sumus. Unde ergo sic positis risus, unde jocus, unde levitas, unde superbia, unde extollentia oculorum? An forte non agnoscimus mensas, non consideramus epulas, delicias non videmus? Hinc mihi sunt, quos video deliciose viventes in omnibus bonis sensibilis hujus mundi, inde contemplor alios, quibus disposuit Christus regnum, ut edant et bibant super mensam ejus in regno Patris sui. Utrobique video similes mei homines, fratres meos; et, heu me! ad neutram licet extendere manum. Ab utraque mensa prohibeor: ab hac quidem professionis, ab illa corporis vinculo; ut nec ad inferiorem audeam, nec ad superiorem accedere possim. Quid inter haec restat, nisi comedere panem doloris, ut sint mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte, si quis forte coelestium convivarum misericordia motus, in os latrantis sub mensa catelli vel exigua aliqua deliciarum illarum fragmenta demittat? Nam inferior quidem consideratio, qua nobis ipsis compatimur, eorum respectu, quos novimus deliciose viventes in hoc saeculo, infirmae adhuc animae est, nec omnino talis mihi placet affectio in anima spirituali. Longius enim positus est a judicio veritatis, qui beatificat quos velut miserrimos lugere debuerat, qui peccant et non agunt poenitentiam: et se miserum reputat non sane consensu judicii, sed affectionis sensu, quod non sit sicut illi, qui id magis optare debuerant, ut omnes essent sicut ipse. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Diversis, Sermo XXXIX, In labore messis: De duabus mensis, seu de superiori et inferiori irriguo. Source: Migne PL 183.646a-646c

I will say one thing to you however, so that I shall appear to have given you an example , and other things likewise I will advert to. Is it not that we are as placed between two tables, seeing feasting here and fasting there? So we are indeed, so we are. And being so placed how can there be smiles, laughter, levity, pride and a raising up of the eyes? But perhaps we do not know the tables, we do not look on those who feast, we do not see the joys? Here to me they are who I see living happily on all the material goods of this world, and there I contemplate others, to whom Christ has given the kingdom, that they eat and drink at His table in the kingdom of His Father. 1 And on both sides I see men like me, my brothers, and alas for me, for I cannot stretch my hand to either side. I am forbidden both tables, the former because of my vows, the latter because of the chains of the body, and so I do not dare seek the lower, nor can I draw near the higher. And what is it to be between these two tables, unless to eat the bread of grief, so that my tears are my bread night and day, 2 though perhaps someone among the heavenly feasters, moved by compassion, might drop down beneath the table some small crumb of their joys into the whining mouth of a pup? For certainly that lower consideration, that we suffer with them, in their sight, whom we know are living pleasurably in this world, is yet for the weak soul, and such affection does not please my spiritual soul. For he is placed far from the judgement of truth who deems them blessed who he should weep over as most wretched, they who sin and do not become pentinent, and he does not deem himself wretched with an accurate judgement but by a sense of affection, because he should not be as they are, they who rather should desire what is greater, that all should be like him. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Various Sermons, from Sermon 39, On the labour of the harvest: Of the two tables and concerning the supplying of the higher and lower 1 Lk 22.29 2 Ps 41.4

Feasting And Fasting

Cum autem quadem die filii et filiae ejus comederent et biberent vinum... Opportunissimum tentationis tempus elegit, cum scilicet filios Job comedentes et bibentes invenit. Adhuc, inquit escae eorum erant in ore ipsorum, et ira Dei ascendit super eos. Quia commessationes sine peccato vix esse possunt, comessationibus libenter se ingerit inimicus: orationem vero et jejunium semper odit, quia genus est etiam daemoniorum, quod non nisi oratione et jejunio expellitur. Et notandum quod non cibum sumere, sed in cibo delectari peccatum est. Quandoque enim aliquis non minus gulosus est in vilissimis cibis quam alius in epulis delicatis. Legitur Jonathas peccasse in gusto mellis, Esau in edulio lentis, Sodomitae in saturitate panis. Ergo, teste Hieromymo, non cibus, sed appetitus in culpa est. Considerantur autem in cibo sumendo tria, tempus, modus, et qualitas. Tempus, ut non praeveniatur hora; modus, ut summatur cibus cum moderatione inculpata; qualitas, ut non sint cibi nimium exquisiti, aut nimium sumptuosi. Comedere post saturitatem est superfluum, ante esuriem otiosum, in esurie licitum, post esuriem meritorium. Certe non credo in homine incolumi jejuniam alicujus esse meriti, quod esuries non praecedit. Jejunare, et jejunio non affligi, non habet vim, aut meritum jejunandi. Si instant apostolorum vigiliae, aut alia tempora, quae necessitatem jejunandi indicant, praecedenti die implemus et ingurgitamus nos varietatibus ferculorum, atque in fraudem futuri jejunii tantum nostris ventribus inculcamus, quo sufficienter possit sustentari tridouo sobrius dispensator. Non est hoc, dicit Dominus per prophetam, jejunium quod elegi. Sunt enim jejunia, quae reprobavit Deus, et sunt jejunia, quae elegit. Jejunant alia propter naturae impotentiam, alii propter avaritiam, alii ad apparentiam, aliis ad vitam aeternam, alii ad corporis sanitatem. Jejunat aegrotus ut convaleseat, hypocrita ut appareat, fastiditus ut appetat, avarus ut parcat. In omnibus intentio tua operi tuo nomen imponit. In omnibus discretio servanda est, auriga virtutum et operum, atque cogitationum optima moderatrix. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source: Migne PL 207.808a-809a

When, on a certain day, his sons and daughters ate and drank wine... 1 The devil choses the most opportune time for temptation, when he finds the sons of Job eating and drinking. 'While yet the food was in their mouths, the anger of God rose up over them,' it says. Because there can scarcely be revelry without sin, and among revellers the enemy eagerly comes. It is prayer and fasting he hates, because there is a class of demons that only prayer and fasting can expel. 2 And it should be noted that the sin is not in partaking of food but for the pleasure of it. And a man may be no less gluttonous with the cheapest bread than with any choice delicacy of a banquet. We read that Jonathan sinned by tasting honey, Esau for a bowl of lentils, the Sodomites by an abundance of bread. 3 Therefore, by the testimony of Jerome, it is not the bread but the desire that is the fault. 4 Let the taking of food be considered in three ways, by time, manner and quality. By time, that it is not brought before the hour, in manner, that one partakes of food with faultless modesty, by quality, that one's food is not excessively exquiste, nor too luxurious. To eat beyond satiety is unnecessary, before one is hungry pointless. In hunger there is permission, after hunger merit. Certainly I do not believe that an untroubled man gains any merit in fasting, because hunger does not precede it. To fast and have no struggle in fasting, has no value, nor merit. If the Vigil of the Apostles draws near, or some other time, which declares the need for fasting, if on the day before we fill ourselves and gobble down a variety of dishes, and in deceit make the coming fast, then it is only our stomachs we impress, in which the more sensible arranger is prefectly able to endure the three days. 'This is not the fast that I have chosen,' says the Lord. 5 For there are fasts which God abhors and fasts that He approves. Some fast because of an infirmity of nature, some because of avarice, some for the sake of appearance, others for eternal life, others for the body's health. The sick man fasts that he might become well, the hypocrite for appearance's sake, the picky fellow for his appetite, the miser that he might save money. In everything your intention stamps the name on your work. In everything prudence must be guarded, for moderation is the best chariot of virtue and works, and also thoughts. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.13 2 Mt 17.20 3 1 King 14.24-46, Gen 25.29-34, Ezek 16.49 4 Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.11 5 Isaiah 58.5-11

Prudent Feasting

Et dixit ad eam Holofernes: Bibe inde et accumbe in jucunditate, quoniam gratiam invenisti coram me. Et dixit Judith: Bibam, Domine, quoniam magnificata est anima mea hodie prae omnibus diebus meis. Et accepit et manducavit, et bibit coram ipso omnia quae paraverat illi ancilla ejus. Nota quod Judith apud Holofernem conversans, non coinquinata est cibis vel potu gentilium, sed ea manducavit et bibit quae sibi praeparaverat ancilla ejus: quia Ecclesia inter gentes habitans nullo modo polluitur idololatria aut superstitione gentilitatis, sed his utitur quae victui suo judicat esse condigna, quae devotio fidelium per obedientiam et exercitium boni operis sibi praeparat. De quo cibo ipsa Veritas in Evangelio ait: Operamini cibum, non qui perit, sed qui permanet in vitam aeternam. Et alibi discipulis rogantibus eum, ut manducaret, respondit. Ego cibum habeo manducare, quem vos nescitis; meus enim cibus est ut faciam voluntatem ejus qui misit me et perficiam opus ejus. Rabanus Maurus, Expositio in Librum Judith, Caput XII Source: Migne PL 109.572a-b

And Holofernes said to her, 'Drink and recline as you will, because you have found favour before me.' Judith said, 'I shall drink, lord, because my soul is exalted today above all my days.' And she took and ate and drank before him all that her handmaid had provided for her. 1 Note that while Judith conversed with Holofernes she was not defiled by the food and drink of Gentiles, but she ate and drank what was prepared for her by her handmaid, because the Church dwelling among the nations is in no way is polluted by pagan idolatry or superstition, but it makes use of what victuals it judges to be most appropriate, which the devotion of the faithful through obedience and exertion in good works prepares for her. Concerning this food the Truth says in the Gospel: 'Do not work for the bread which perishes but that which remains in eternal life.' And in another place He replies to His disciples who were asking Him to eat, 'I have my own food to eat, which you do not know. For my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to fulfill His work.' 2 Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On Judith, Chap 12 1 Judith 12.17-19 2 Jn 6.27, Jn 4.32-34

Foolish Feasting

Baltassar rex fecit grande convivium optimatibus suis mille: et unusquisque secundum suam bibebat ætatem. Præcepit ergo jam temulentus ut afferrentur vasa aurea et argentea, quæ asportaverat Nabuchodonosor pater ejus de templo, quod fuit in Ierusalem, ut biberent in eis rex, et optimates ejus, uxoresque ejus, et concubinæ. Bibebant vinum, et laudabant deos suos aureos, et argenteos, et aereos, ferreos, ligneosque et lapideos. Quanta stultitia! in aureis vasis bibentes, deos ligneos laudabant et lapideos. Quamdiu vasa fuerunt in idolio Babylonis, non est iratus Dominus: videbantur enim rem Dei secundum pravam quidem opinionem, tamen divino cultui consecrasse: postquam autem humanis usibus divina contaminant, statim poena sequitur post sacrilegium. Laudant autem deos suos, insultantes Deo Judaeorum; quod illis victoriam tribuentibus, bibebant in vasis ejus. Juxta tropologiam, hoc dicendum est: quod omnes haeretici, et doctrina contraria veritati, quae assumit verba prophetarum; et testimoniis divinae Scripturae abutitur ad sensum suum; et dat bibere his quos decipit, et cum quibus fornicata est: tollat vasa templi Dei, et inebrietur in eis: et non Deum cujus vasa sunt, sed deos laudet aureos et argenteos, et aeneos, et ferreos, ligneosque et lapideos. Aurei mihi videntur hi qui saeculari ratione compositi sunt. Argentei, qui habent eloquii venustatem, et rhetorica arte constructi sunt. Qui autem inferunt fabulas poetarum, et vetustis utuntur traditionibus, habentes inter se multam vel elegantiae vel stultitiae differentiam, isti vocantur aenei et ferrei. Qui autem penitus inepta proponunt, lignei appellantur et lapidei. Quos omnes in duas partes Deuteronomium dividit, scribens: Maledictus qui facit sculptile, et conflatile, opus manuum artificis, et ponit illud in abscondito. Abscondunt enim omnes haeretici, et operiunt mendaciorum suorum dogmata, ut sagittent in obscuro rectos corde. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Daniel, Caput V Source: Migne PL 25.519b-d

King Baltassar made a great feast for a thousand of his best men, and each one drank according to his rank. Then being drunk, he commanded that the vessels of gold and silver which had been taken by his father Nebuchadnezzar from the temple of Jerusalem be brought so that the king might drink from them, and his best men, and his wives and concubines. They drank wine and praised their gods of gold and silver and iron and wood and stone. 1 How great their foolishess, drinking from gold vessels and praising their gods of wood and stone. While the vases were in the idol temple of Babylon, the Lord was not angered, for according to depraved opinion they seemed to be something belonging to God, and still consecrated to the Divine cult, but after they had defiled Divine things with human use, punishment immediately followed sacrilege. Then praising their gods, they insulted the God of the Jews, because with victory given to them, they drank from His vessels. According to the tropological understanding this must be said: that all heretics, and all teaching that opposes truth, which takes up the words of the prophets and twists the Divine testimonies of Scripture to their own sense, and gives this to drink to those whom they deceive, and fornicates with them, this is to take the vessels from the temple of God and use them for drunkeness. And they do not praise God whose vessels they are, but gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood and stone. The golden ones seem to me to be those put together by the reasoning of the world, the silver ones are those who have the charms of eloquence and are fashioned by the art of rhetoric. But they who bring forth the fables of poets and make use of ancient traditions, they have among themselves a great difference, for they do this either skilfully or poorly, and these are called the gods of bronze and iron. But those who propose things utterly ineptly, these are the gods of wood and stone. Whom all Deuteronomy divides into two parts, saying: 'Cursed is he who makes a statue and molten thing, the work of an artisan's hands, and he sets it somewhere in secret.' 2 For all heretics are hidden away, and they veil the teachings of their lies, that they might shoot from concealment at the righteous in heart. 3 Saint Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 5 1 Dan 5.1-4 2 Deut 27.15 3 Ps 10.3