Error And Recovery

Κάλλιστον μὲν τὸ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν, καὶ πρὸς Θεὸν ἔχον ἐγγύτητα· καλὸν δὲ καὶ τὸν ἁμαρτόντα γνωσιμαχῆσαι, καὶ ταχέως ἐξαναστῆναι τοῦ πτώματος. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τοῦ προτέρου, ὡς ἀδυνάτου πάντως διήμαρτες, τοῦ δευτέρου, ὡς δυνατοῦ καὶ ῥᾳδίου ἐπιμελήθητι, μήποτέ σε ἡ τύραννος αἰχμαλωτεύσῃ ἀπόγνωσις. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΤΠΑ’ Μαρτινιανῳ Source: Migne PG 78.397b

Most beautiful it is not to sin and to cleave closely to God, and it is also beautiful to recognise that one has sinned and quickly rise up from one's fall. Since, then, you formerly went far beyond your strength, now have care for what your strength may actually accomplish, and never despair in the tyrant's captivity. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 381, to Martinianus

Adversity And Wisdom

Quid est quod dicit: Calumnia conturbat sapientem, et perdit robur cordis ejus? Qui enim vere sapiens est, nulla turbatur calumnia, nec dejicitur adversitate. Sapiens in hoc loco non ille intelligens est qui perfectus et consummatus est in sapientia, sed qui jam coepit abere sapientiam, et tamen non est perfectus. Talem sapientiam calumnia hominum sive adversitas aliqua facile conturbat, et perdit vigorem ac fortiudinem animae illius quia, cum patienter non sustinet adversa, vexatur impatientia. Honorius Augustodunensis, Quaestiones Et Ad Easdem Responsiones In Duos Salomonis Libros, In Ecclesiasten, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 172.341c

Why is it that he says, 'Calumny troubles a wise man and drains the strength of his heart'? 1 Since he who is truly wise is not troubled by calumny, nor is he dejected by adversity. The wise man in this passage should not be understood as one who is perfect and flawless in wisdom, but as he who has just begun to acquire wisdom and is not yet perfect. Such wisdom is easily troubled by the calumny of men and adversity, and it drains the vigour and fortitude of that soul, because when the soul cannot patiently endure adverse things, it is distressed with impatience. Honorius of Autun, Questions and Answers on Two Books of Solomon, On Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7 1 Eccl 7.8

Peace And Peacemakers

Μακάροι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοὶ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ κληθήσονται. Οὐ μόνον οἱ εἰρηνεύοντες αὐτοὶ πρὸς πάντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἑτέρους στασιάζοντας καταλλάσσοντες. Εἰρηνοποιοὶ δὲ εἰσι καὶ οἱ διὰ διδασκαλίας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιστρέφοντες. Υἱοὶ δὲ Θεοῦ οἱ τοιοῦτοι. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ μονογενὴ; κατήλλαξεν ἡμᾶς τῷ Θεῷ. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ E' Source: Migne PG 123.189a

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 1 Not only those who are at peace with everyone, but also those who reconcile those who are hostile. Indeed peacemakers are those who convert enemies to the teaching of God. They are such sons of God. For even the Only Begotten reconciled us with God. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.9

Correcting Correction

Si ad me tantum epistolam scribis, ut me commoneas, et emendatum velis, ne caeteris scandalum facias, et aliis furentibus, jugulentur alii: cur libros contra me scribis ad alios, et legendos per satellites tuos toto orbe dispergis? Ubi est syllogismus tuus, quo me irretire conaris, et loqueris? Quem in hoc, magister optime, emendare cupiebas? si illos, ad quos scribis, nihil deliquerant; si me quem arguis, non ad me scripseras. Et ego tuis respondebo tibi sermonibus: Quem emendare cupiebas, magister indocte? eosne, qui non peccaverant? an me, ad quem non scripseras? Brutos putas esse lectores, et omnes non intelligere prudentiam tuam, immo malitiam, qua et serpens prudentior fuit cunctis bestiis in paradiso: ut a me secretam admonitionem flagites, quem publica accusatione persequeris; et non te pudet accusationem tuam Apologiam vocare? Quererisque cur opponam clypeum pugioni tuo, et tibi quasi religiosulus et sanctulus personam humilitatis imponis et dicis: Si erraveram, quare scribis aliis, et non meipsum redarguis? Hoc ipsum in te retorquebo: Quidquid enim me non fecisse causaris, quare non ipse fecisti? Velut si quis pugnis aliquem calcibusque collidens, si resistere voluerit, dicat ei: Nonne tibi praeceptum est: Qui te percusserit in maxillam, praebe illi et alteram? Quid enim, bone vir, tibi praeceptum est, ut me verberes; oculum mihi effodias; et si paululum me commovero, Evangelii mihi praecepta cantabis. Vis scire totas argutiarum tuarum strophas, et vulpecularum insidias, quae habitant in parietinis, de quibus Ezechiel loquitur: Quasi vulpes in deserto Prophetae tui, Israel? Ausculta quid feceris. Ita me in tua Praefatione laudasti, ut objicerentur mihi laudes tuae, et nisi me alienum a tanto laudatore dixissem, haereticus judicarer. Postquam repuli crimina, id est laudes tuas, et absque invidia tui nominis, respondi criminibus, non criminatori: atque ut me catholicum a te infamatus probarem, invectus sum in haereticos; irasceris, furis, et luculentissimos libros contra me cudis: quos quum legendos et cantandos omnibus tradidisses, certatim ad me de Italia, et urbe Roma, atque Dalmatia scripta venerunt, quibus me laudator pristinus ornasses praeconiis. Sanctus Hieronymus, Apologia Adversus Libros Rufini, Liber Tertius Source: Migne PL 23.462d-463c

If it is true that to me alone you write a letter so that you might admonish me, and, because you wish that I alone should be corrected and you do not want to scandalise others so that some will be enraged and some struck down, then why do you write books against me and send them to others, and indeed through your associates scatter them far and wide for the whole world to read? Where is your dilemma, with which you try to entangle me? 'Whom, best teacher, did you desire to correct with this correction? If it was those to whom you wrote, they did not err; if it was me whom you accuse, you did not write to me.' I will even reply to you in your own words: 'Whom did you wish to correct, unlearned master? Those who had done no wrong? Or me to whom you did not write?' Do you think your readers such brutes that none of them are capable of understanding your cleverness, or rather your wickedness, by which the serpent was more clever than all the beasts in paradise, 1 in insisting that my admonishment of you should be private, while you pursue a public accusation, and you do not even blush to call your accusation 'An Apology?' Then you complain that I oppose a shield to your dagger, and with much religiosity and sanctimoniousness you sport the mask of humility, and say: 'If I had erred, why did you write to others, and not refute me?' I will retort to you on this very point. What you complain I did not do, why did you not do yourself? It is as if a man is assaulting another with kicks and fists, and if the other should dare to resist, he will say to him: 'Do you not know the teaching, 'If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other one to him'? 2 What is this teaching to you, good fellow, but that when you would deal me a blow and strike out my eye, if I rouse myself a little, you sing to me the teachings of the Gospel. Do you wish to know all the windings of your cunning, and the plots of the foxes who dwell among the ruins, concerning which Ezekiel says, 'Like foxes in the desert are your prophets, O Israel.' 3 Listen to what you have done. You lauded me in your preface in such a way that your praises are made a ground of accusation against me, and if I had not said that I was stranger to such an admirer, I would have been judged a heretic. After I repelled your charges, that is, your praise, and that without ill will to you personally, for I addressed the accusations and not the accuser, and having inveighed against heretics to show that I was Catholic, though I was defamed by you, you became angry and were maddened, and you threw together the most magnificent works against me, which works when you had handed them over for everyone to read and announce, then writings came to me from Italy and Rome and Dalmatia, in which you, my old adulator, had adorned me with public acclaim. Saint Jerome, from the Apology Against The Books Of Rufinus, Book 3 1 Gen 3.1 2 Mt 5.39 3 Ezek 13.4

Troubled And Shaken

Turbati sunt, et commoti sunt sicut ebrius, et omnis sapientia eorum devortata est. De ipsis adhuc dicit de quibus superius ait, anima eorum in malis tabescebat. Turbati sunt, ad confusionem pertinet sensus; commoti sunt, ad iras protinus evomendas. Quapropter talium sapientiam dicit esse deglutitam, quia sapientia non potest nisi apud quietos et imperturbatos animos inveniri. Sapientia eorum bene de illis dicitur qui sibi ante videbantur esse doctores: sed eam constat esse deglutitam, quae perturbatis mentibus non praevalet apparere. His igitur exemplis monentur sacerdotes, ut Domino supplicent; quatenus cor eorum in humilitate consolidet, ne diabolicis tentationibus ventilentur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CVI Source: Migne PL 70.773b-c

They were troubled and shaken like a drunkard, and all their wisdom was devoured. 1 He still speaks of those of whom he said before: 'Their souls withered in wickedness.' That 'they were troubled,' pertains to confusion, and that they were shaken and immediately moved refers to anger. For which reason the wisdom of such men, he says, was gobbled up, because wisdom can be found only in quiet and untroubled souls. And it is well said that it is 'their wisdom,' for this is spoken of those who had seemed so learned to themselves, but since it is obvious that wisdom does not stand firm in troubled souls it befits them to be devoured. With these examples he warns priests to supplicate the Lord, that their hearts be set fast in humility, lest they be winnowed and thrown about by the trials of the devil. 2 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 116 1 Ps 116.27 2 cf Lk 22.31-32

The Defects Of Anger

Ὁργὴ πὰθος ἐστι μανιῶδες, καὶ τοὺς ἔχοντας γνῶσιν ἐξίστησιν εὐχερῶς, θηριοῖ τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ πᾶσαν συντυχίαν ἐκκλίνειν ποιεῖ. Ἄνεμος σφοδρὸς οὐ κινήσει πύρψον, καὶ ψυχὴν ἀόργητον οὐ συναρπάζει θυμός. Ὕδωρ κειεῖται ὑπὸ βίας ἀνέμων, καὶ θυμώδης ταράσσεται ὑπὸ λογισμῶν ἀσυνέτων. Μοναχὸς ὀργίλος εἶδέ τινα, καὶ τοὺς ὀδόντας παρέθηξεν. Ὀμίχλης ἀνάδοσις παχύνει ἀόρα, καὶ θυμοῦ κίνησις διάνοιαν ὀργίλου. Ἐσκότισεν ἥλιον ὑποδραμὼν νέφος, καὶ νοῦν λογισμὸς μνησικακίας. Λέων ἐν χωγρεῖῳ ὤν κινεῖ τοὺς στρόφιγγας συνεχῶς, καὶ θυμώδς ἐν κέλλῃ λογισμοὺς ὀργῆς. Τερπνὴ θεωρία, γαληῶσα θάλασσα, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστι τερπνοτερα εἰρηνικoς κᾶταστάσεως· γληνώσῃ γὰρ θαλάσσῃ ἐγκολυμβῶσι δελφίνες, εἰρηνικῇ δὲ καταστάει ἐννήχεται νοήματα θεοπρεπῆ. Μακρόθυμος μοναχὸς, ἠσυχάζουσα πηγὴ, καὶ πᾶσι παρέχουσα προσηνὲς ποτὸν, διάνοια δὲ ὀργίλου διὰ παντὸς τετάρακται καὶ οὐκ ἐπιδώσει τῷ διψῶτι ὕδωρ, κἂν ἐπιδώσῃ, τεθολωμένον, καὶ ἄχρηστον, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὶ θυμώδους τεταραγμένοι καὶ ὕφαιμοι, καὶ τῆς ταρασσομένες καρδίας ἄγγελοι. Πρόσωπον δὲ μακροθύμου ὀρθὰ κατεσταλμένον, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὶ προσηνεῖς κάτω βλέποντες. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Περὶ Των Οκτώ Πνευμάτων Της Πονηρίας, Κεφαλ. Θ’, Περὶ ὀργῆς Source: Migne PG 79.1153c-d

Anger is a maddening passion, and it easily estranges the minds of those who are knowledgeable and makes their souls feral so that they refuse all company. A strong wind will not shake a tower, and anger will not carry off a meek soul. Water is disturbed by violent winds, and the angry man by foolish thoughts. An angry monk is as a solitary bee of the forest, he sees someone and he grinds his teeth. Spreading cloud makes the air heavy and the coming of anger weighs down the soul of the irascible man. As the sun is obscured by clouds running beneath it, so is the mind that is mindful of injuries. A lion is continually turning about in his lair, likewise the angry thoughts of a man in his cell. The sight of a tranquil sea is delightful, but nothing is more delightful than a man at peace. Dolphins swim in calm seas, and the thoughts of a peaceful soul swim amid the grace of God. The long suffering monk is a quiet fountain that offers sweet waters to everyone, but the mind that is deeply troubled by anger does not offer water to the thirsty, nor shall it give any, but it spoils its sustenance and offers what is polluted. Eyes disturbed by anger are bloodshot and the voice that comes from the heart is confused, but the face of the long suffering man is rightly composed and his gentle eyes look upon all things kindly. Saint Nilus of Sinai, On the Eight Spiritual Faults, Chapter 9, On Anger

Two Cities

Cognovit autem Cain uxorem suam, et concepit, et peperit Henoch, et aedificavit Cain civitatem Quid ergo sibi per figuram vult, quod impiorum progenies civitatem in ipsa mundi origine construxit? Nisi quod noveris impios in hac vita esse fundatos, sanctos vero hospites esse et peregrinos. Unde et Abel tanquam peregrinus in terris, id est, populus Christianus non condidit civitatem. Superna enim est sanctorum civitas, quamvis hic pariat cives, in quibus peregrinatur, donec regni ejus tempus adveniat. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 83.227a

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Henoch, and Cain built a city. 1 What, then, does he wish to convey with this figure, that the offspring of the wicked built a city at the beginning of this world? What but that you understand that the wicked are established in this life and the holy are as guests and passers by. Whence Abel also was a wanderer on the earth, that is, the Christian people have not founded a city here. For the city of the holy is above, 2 although it brings forth citizens here, among whom it wanders about, until the time of its kingdom shall come. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chapter 6 1 Gen 4.17 2 Heb 12.22-24, Apoc 21.2-4

Cain's Grief

ΕΡΩΤ ΚΜΑ’ Εἰ ἐλυπήθη Κάϊν μὴ δεχθέντων τῶν παρ' αὐτοῦ προσενεχθέντων, δῆλον ὅτι μετεμελήθη· τῶν γὰρ μεταμελουμένων ἡ λύπη. Ἠνίασεν αὐτὸν οὐχ ἡ αὐτοῦ πλημμέλεια, ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ εὐπραξία. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας ᾐνίξατο· ἔφη δὲ οὕτως, Καὶ ὀργίλον τῷ Κάϊν σφόδρα, καὶ ἔπεσε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Κάϊν, Εἰς τί τὸ ὀργίλον σοι. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.143b

Question 41 If Cain grieved because his offerings were not accepted, therefore he was penitent, for penitence is sorrowful. He was not anguished because of his own fault, but because of the good of his brother. To this Aquila alludes when he translates it in this way: 'And Cain was gravely angered, and he cast down his face. And the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry?' 1 Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis 1 Gen 4.5-6

Gifts And Offerings

Respexit Dominus ad Abel et ad munera eius... Sed quaeri potest quare Deus respexit ad munera Abel, ad Cain vero munera non respexit? Nunquid enim plus placet peculiaris hostia quam sacrificium Deo de fructibus? Sed sciendum quia Deus plus mentes offerentium, quam id quod offerebatur, attendit, et ideo respexit, id est, acceptum habuit et placuit illi munus ejus. Potest et aliud dici, quia avaritia detestatus est in labore Cain. Sunt enim quidam qui plus justo desudant in laborando, non tantum ut habeant sufficientiam, sed ut superflua quaeque et minus necessari congregent. Hunc laborem superfluum vidit Deus in Cain et ideo ad munus ejus non respexit. Ars vero pastoralis simplex est et innocua, quam post Abel sancti Patres habuisse leguntur. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 131.68d-69a

The Lord looked on Abel and his gift... 1 But one may ask: why did God look on the gifts of Abel but not on the gifts of Cain? Shall it be that the offering of one's own animals is more pleasing to God than a sacrifice of fruits? But it must be understood that God looks more on the mind of those who offer, than what is offered, and therefore He looked on, that is, he accepted and was pleased, by his gift. It is possible to say something else, that the avarice that was in the labour of Cain was detested. For there are some who toil more in their labour than the righteous man, so that they might not only have what is sufficient, but that they even gather to themselves what is superfluous and quite unneeded. God sees this superfluous labour in Cain and therefore He does not look on his gift. The art of the shepherd is simple and harmless, which one reads that the holy patriarchs possessed after Abel. Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chapter 4 1 Gen 4.4

Stopping The Flood

Nunc consideremus quid sit quod ait Scriptura divina: Clausi sunt fontes aquarum, et cataractae coeli. Nec obscurum arbitror. His enim causis minuitur diluvium quibus crevit. Erupti erant fontes aquarum, apertae fuerant cataractae coeli, ut undique influentibus aquis terra inundaretur. Debuerant claudi ea ex quibus diluvii origo manavit, ut ejus inciperet esse defectus. Hoc littera sonat. Subtilior autem interpretatio exprimit, eo quod diluvium animae vitio mentis et luxuriae corporalis influxerat, ut malitia passioni, passio malitiae misceretur: ingrediente medico Dei Verbo ad visitationem animae quae diutina aegritudine laborabat disceptationum improbitate, et passionum acerbitate, prius debuerunt causae aegritudinis amputari. Principium enim medicinae est causas languoris incidere; ne diutius ea quae nocent, ad incrementum aegritudinis ministrentur. Quod nos etiam lex docet; cum enim steterit lepra, ut jam non diffundatur, tunc ait mundam esse leprae stationem quamdam et mansionem. Quidquid enim praeter naturam movetur immundum est. Haec igitur est animae sanitas, haec salubritas mentis, ut affluentia cesset erroris, sistatur culpa, ne serpat. Cessante incentivo culpae atque delicti salus tuta est, atque innoffensus vigor animae se refundit. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XVII Source: Migne PL 14.388c-389a

Now let us consider what it may mean when Holy Scripture says: 'The founts of the waters were closed up, and the waterfalls of heaven.' 1 I do not think that this is obscure. With these causes with which He created the flood He brought it to an end. For when the founts of the waters erupted and the waterfalls of heaven were opened, then from every direction the earth with inundated with flowing water. Thus with these closed, from which the flood originated, it should dry up, and thus it began to subside. This the letter tells us. The more subtle understanding tells that the flood has poured vices into the soul and lusts into the body, so that wickedness mixes with passion and passion with wickedness, and with the coming of the physician of the Word of God to visit the soul, which has laboured in its long sickness amid the disruptions of evil and the bitterness of the passions, first the causes of the sickness should be cut off. For the beginning of medicine is the discovery of the causes of the illness, lest those things which harm afflict for a longer time with the increase of the ailment. Which the Law teaches us, for the leper was made to wait and when the sickness had not spread, then the leper was said to be clean in himself and his house likewise. 2 For whatever occurs beyond nature is unclean. This, therefore, is the health of the soul and the well being of the mind, that its flood of errors cease and its defect be fixed, lest it become worse. The cessation of the cause of fault and evil is perfect salvation, and the restoration of the unharmed vigour of the soul. Saint Ambrose, On Noah and the Ark, from Chapter 17 1 Gen. 8.2 2 Lev 13.5-6

Ruling The Waters

Σὺ δεσπόζεις τοῦ κράτους τῆς θαλάσσης τὸν δὲ σάλον τῶν κυμάτων αὐτῆς σὺ καταπραΰνεις... Τοῦ δεσπόζειν σὺν τῇ λοιπῇ κτίσει καὶ τῆς θαλάττης, πίστις τὸ λέγεσθαι ἐν Ἰωνᾷ· Ἐξήγεισε Κύριος κλύδωνα ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ· καὶ πάλιν· Θελήσει αὐτοῦ ἔστη ἡ θάλασσα ἐκ τοῦ σάλου αὐτῆς. Ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ Ἰησοῦς ἐπετίμησεν, δεικνὺς ὡς ἔστιν Υἱος τοῦ, Δεσπότου τοῦ κράτους αὐτῆς. Εἰ δὲ τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον ἡ θάλασσα δηλοῖ, κράτος αὐτῆς ὁ Πονηρὸς, ἐν ᾧ ὁ κόσμος ὅλος κεῖται, τουτέστιν ἡ θνητὴ καὶ ἐπίκαιρος πολιτεία. Ὤν ἐκνευρίσας ὁ Κύριος, δέδωκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίω, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ, καταπραῦων τὰς ἀστάτους ὁρμὰς, κύματα καλουμένας αὐτῆς. Ὡς ἂν καὶ βάσιμος τοῖς ἐπιβαίνουσι γένηται· ὦν ὁ Πέτρος εἰκών. Οὑδεὶς γὰρ χωρὶς Ἰησοῦ πατεῖν δύναται τοῦ βίου τὴν θάλατταν, τὰς τούτου νικῶν ἡδυπαθείας τε καὶ μερίμνας, ἀλλ' οὖν συμβαδίζοντος. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Περιπατῶν ὡς ἐπ' ἐδάφους ἐπὶ θαλάσσης, πρὸς ὄν εἴρηται· Ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἡ ὁδός σου, καὶ αἱ τρίβοι σου ἐν ὕδασι πολλοῖς. Τρίψαντος ἐν τῷ βίῷ τά τε πάθη καὶ τὰς μερίμνας, ὦν ἐπιβαίνειν ἔνεστι τοῖς ἴχνεσιν ἐπακολουθοῦντας αὐτοῦ. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΠΕ’ Source: Migne PG 39.1488d-1489b

You have power over the might of the waters, and you calm the tumult of its waves... 1 That He rules over the sea just as He does the rest of creation, the faith of Jonah tells, saying, 'The Lord raised a storm in the sea,' and again, 'He willed that the sea become still from its raging.' 2 And Jesus commanded it, showing Himself to be the Son, He who has power over the sea. 3 Which if the sea stands for the life of men, yet His power is not something like the devil's, 4 to whom all the world is captive, that is, to the domination of mortality and transience, but opposing him the Lord gave power to His disciples to tread down serpents and scorpions, and over all his power, 5 restraining the assailing surging ones of his flood, who are called the waves of the sea. For which reason one can find a way through their assaults, of which an image is Peter, for it was not by his own strength apart from Jesus that he was able to tread on the sea of life, triumphing over the pleasurable passions and the troubles of the world, but it was possible because he was an associate of Jesus. 6 For He Himself walked on the sea as if on the earth, of whom it was said: 'In the sea is your way, and your path in the many waters.' 7 He trod down all the passions and cares in life, and so may you by following in His footsteps. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 88 1 Ps 88.10 2 Jonah 1.4, 1.15 3 Mt 8.24-27 4 1 Jn 5.19 5 Lk 10.19 6 Mt 14.24-31 7 Ps 76.20

Grace And Water And Life

Flumina de ventre eius fluent aquae vivae. Nota, quod gratia Dei dicitur aqua viva, quia vitam tribuit, vitam custodit, ad vitam perducit. Vitam tribuit; Ezechielis quadragesimo septimo: Omnia, ad quae pervenerit torrens, vivent. Vitam custodit; Numerorum vigesimo: Aperi vobis thesaurum tuum, fontem aquae vivae, ut satiati, cesset murmuratio eorum. Ad vitam perducit; loannis quarto: Fiet in eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput VII, Collatio XXXII Source: Here, p573

Rivers of living water shall flow out of his breast. 1 Note that it is the grace of God that is called living water, because it gives life, and it protects life, and it leads to life. It gives life in the forty seventh chapter of Ezekiel: 'Everything shall live where the river shall go.' 2 It protects life in the twentieth chapter of Numbers: 'Open your treasure, the fount of living waters, that being satisfied, their murmuring is silenced.' 3 It leads to life in the fourth chapter of John: 'It will become in him a fount of water leaping up to eternal life.' 4 Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 7 1 Jn 7.38 2 Ezek 47.9 3 Numb 20.6 4 Jn 4.14

Water And Trees

Plantaverat autem Dominus Deus paradisum voluptatis a principio, in quo posuit hominem quem formaverat. Produxitque Dominus Deus de humo omne lignum pulchrum visu, et ad vescendum suave... Ergo paradisus est plurima ligna habens, sed ligna fructifera, ligna plena succi atque virtutis, de quibus est: Exultabunt omnia ligna silvarum; ligna semper florentia viriditate meritorum, sicut illud lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum, cujus folium non defluet; quia totus in eo fructus exuberat. Hic ergo paradisus est. Locus autem ejus in quo est plantatus, voluptas dicitur. Unde et sanctus David ait: Ex torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos. Legisti enim: Quia fons procedit ex Eden, qui rigat paradisum. Haec igitur sanctorum ligna, quae plantata sunt in paradiso, quasi profluvio quodam torrentis spiritus irrigantur. De quo etiam alibi ait: Fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei. Est autem civitas illa quae sursum est Hierusalem libera, in qua diversa sanctorum merita pullularunt. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput I Source: Migne PL 14.276a-b

And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning, in which He placed the man whom He had made. And from the ground the Lord God brought forth all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat... 1 Therefore paradise has many trees, but they are fruit bearing trees, trees full of vigour and virtue, concerning which it is said, 'Every tree of the wood shall exult.' 2 They are trees that are always flourishing with the bloom of merits, just like that tree which has been planted by the flowing waters, whose leaf does not fall, 3 because its every fruit comes forth in abundance. Here, then, is paradise. And this place which he planted is named 'delight,' whence the holy David says: 'From the stream of your delight you give them drink.' 4 And you read that a fount comes out of Eden which waters paradise. 5 These, then, are the trees of holy people, who have been planted in paradise, which are, as it were, watered by the flood of the rushing Spirit. Concerning which it is said elsewhere, 'The current of the river gives joy to the city of God.' 6 And that city is the free Jerusalem on high, 7 in which the various merits of the holy spring forth. Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, Chapter 1 1 Gen 1.8-9 2 Ps 95.12 3 Ps 1.3 4 Ps 35.9 5 Gen 2.10 6 Ps 45.5 7 Galat 4.26

The Fountain Of The Gardens

Fons hortorum, malorum puteus aquarum viventium, quae fluunt impetu de Libano. Ostendit fructus, modo ponit unde ipse hortus habeat irrigationem, quasi diceret: In horto est fons, id est baptismus, vel divina sapientia: fons dico hortorum irrigans hortum ex Judaeis et hortum ex gentibus, et non talis fons qui possit cito evacuari, sed qui sit puteus, id est altus et profundus, quia quanto magis inquirit divina sapientia, tanto profundior invenitur. Profunda sunt ea quae, in baptismo significantur; puteus dico aquarum ex quo fluunt aquae, fluunt quidem ex divina sapientia aquae, quae lavant et mundas reddunt animas. Fluunt quoque ex baptismo aquae, id est dona Spiritus sancti, quae in baptismo recipiuntur. Aquarum dico viventium, id est animas vivificantium; quae currunt ad correctionem inferiorum de Libano, id est de majoribus et de perfectis qui sunt candidati in virtutibus. Fluunt dico et non parce, sed abundanter et impetuose. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes in Cantica canticorum, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 162.1209d-1210a

The fountain of the gardens, a well of living waters, which flow strongly from Mount Lebanon. 1 He shows the fruit, by the way of setting down how the garden is watered, as if he said, in the garden there is a fountain, that is, baptism, or Divine wisdom, a fount, I say, that waters the garden of gardens, the garden of the Jews and the garden of the Gentiles, and it is not a fountain that can be swiftly exhausted, but it is a well, that is, it is deep and rich, because the more that one seeks with Divine wisdom the more deeply one finds. Deep are the things which are signified by baptism, the well that I speak of, from which flow the water of waters, that flow from Divine wisdom, and they cleanse and fashion clean souls. The waters also flow from baptism, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are received in baptism. I speak of the living waters, that is, those which give life to the soul, which rush down from Mount Lebanon for the correction of lower things, that is, from greater things and from perfect things, which are resplendent with virtue. They flow, I say, and do not dry up, but they run abundantly and swiftly. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Song of Songs, Chapter 4 1 Song 4.15

Baptism And Penitence

Tunc exibat ad eum Hierosolyma et omnis Judaea et omnis regio circa Jordanem, et baptizabantur confitentes peccata sua. Ubi notandum quod ideo confitentur peccata sua, ut digni efficiantur baptismi gratia, secundum quod audierant, poenitantiam agite, appropinquavit enim regnum coelorum. Unde apparet, nullum recte poenitere posse, nisi primum confitaetur peccata sua, et prioris vitae errores damnaverit, ita efficiatur idoneus percipiendae gratiae, et tum demum divinis mysteriorum sacramentis in Christi corpore consecretur. Praeterea ex eo quod Apostolus ait: Quia sine poenitentia dona et vocatio, non incongrue legentibus quaestio generatur. Quia nimirum si sine poenitentia sunt dona mysterii, et nobis in baptismo condonatur remissio peccatorum, videtur non recte ad eum currentibus poenitentia velut indigna praedicari. Sed poenitentiae modus triplex accipitur, dum aliud sit errores vitiorum, et universa diaboli opera per poenitentia abrenuntiando ante ablutionem fontis penitus condemnaeri, aliud post fontem remissionis labi in peccatum, et per poenitentiam iterum renovari. Nec non et illud quod quotidie sancti a talibus purgantur delictis, sine quibus nostra humana mortalitas, aut vix, aut certe minime potest vivere. Quorum prior poenitentiae modus ideo praedicatur, ut homo qui Deum auctorem suum, declinando post ea quae vana sunt, contempserat, et per reatum irae filius factus erat, tandem in semetipsum rediens, pristinos vitae errores rudimento fidei funditus condemnaret. Non enim erat fas duobus dominis servire, imo proprio veniente rectum erat, ut quod infauste tenuerat primum, relinqueret, et puniret in se quidquid in eo male vivebat, quatenus per hoc divinae gratiae capax esset. Verumtamen haec ut ageret non sua libertas, eo quod esset servituti addictus, sed vocantis gratia fuit; quae gratia non solum reis peccata gratis indulsit, sed etiam facultatem agendi quae monebat, dedit; ac deinde meritum, quo perciperet quisque quae promissa sunt, plenius condonavit. Et ideo jure clamat Apostolus: Quod sine poenitentia sunt dona et vocatio, praesertim quod cuncta gratis donantur, in tantum ut etiam ipsa poenitentia Dei donum recte dicatur. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber II Caput III Source: Migne PL 120.154d-155c

Then they came out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and from every region around the Jordan, and they were baptized confessing their sins...' 1 Where one should note that it is by confessing their sins that they are made worthy of the grace of baptism, according to what they heard, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Whence it appears that no one is able to be truly penitent, unless he first confesses his sins and deplores the errors of his earlier life, so that he is made capable of receiving effective grace and by the Divine sacraments of the mysteries consecrated into the body of Christ. And yet the Apostle says: 'Without penitence there are gifts and calling.' 2 which does not without reason question what we have read. Because, indeed, if there are gifts of the mysteries without penitence and in baptism we receive forgiveness for sins, it does not seem right that John said to those who made haste to penitence that they were unworthy. 3 But penitence is understood in three ways: some by penitence renounce and condemn the errors of vices and the works of the devil before the washing at the font; others do so after baptism, so that they receive forgiveness for falling into sin, and again are renewed by penance. Nor is there a day that the holy do not need to be purged from fault, without which we can scarcely, or certainly to a very little extent, live in our human mortality. Of the first way of penitence, therefore, it is declared that the man who has scorned God his creator, later falling into things which are vain, by guilt has been made a son of anger 4 until returning to himself and established on the foundation of faith he deplores the old errors of life. For the service of two masters was not right, but rather with the coming of his true master who had ruled, he should relinquish what he had wretchedly held to and punish in himself whatever he lived with in wickedness, as much as he was able to according to the Divine grace in him. Yet such things were not done by man's own freedom since he was bound in a state of servitude, but by the grace of calling, which grace not only freely dismissed the sins of the guilty, but even admonished as to what should be done. And then there is merit, by which a man seizing on the things promised, makes a full offering. And therefore rightly the Apostle cries out: 'Without penitence there are gifts and calling.' Certainly because everything is given by grace, so that even penitence before God is rightly named a gift. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 2 Chapter 3 1 Mt 3.5-6 2 Rom 9.29 3 Mt 3.7 4 Ephes 2.3

Baptism And Damnation

Οὗ τὸ πτύο ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἐὰν βαπτισθῆτε ὑπ' ἐκείνου, εἶτα ἁμαρτάνητε, συγχωρήσαι ὑμῖν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πτύον ἔχει, τουτέστι, κρίσιν καὶ ἐξέτασιν. Καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἀλωά αὐτοῦ. Τουτέστι, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἤτις πολλοὺς μὲν ἔχει βεβαπτισμένους, ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ ἄλωνι πᾶν τὸ γεώργιον· ἀλλ' ἐν τούτοις, οἱ μέν εἰσιν ἄχυρα, ὁσοι κοῦφοί εἰσι καὶ τοῖς μνεύμασι τῆς πονηρίας κινούμενοι· οἱ δὲ, σῖτος, ὅσοι καὶ ἑτέρος ὠφελοῦσι, καὶ τρέφουσι διὰ διδασκαλίας καὶ πράξεως. Καὶ συνάξει τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην αὐτοῦ· τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβάστῳ. Ἄσβεστόν ἐστι τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο· ὥστε φλυαρεῖ ὁ Ὠριγένης, λέγων ὅτι ἔσται τέλος τῆς κολάσεως. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ Γ' Source: Migne PG 123.165a-c

He who has the winnowing fan in His hand... 1 Do not think that if you are baptised by him and then you sin that He will gather you up. But He has the winnowing fan, that is, judgement and interrogation. And He will cleanse His floor... That is, the Church, which has many who are baptised, and as on every threshing floor in the country, there are some who are chaff, who being light are stirred up by spirits of wickedness, and some are wheat, who are of benefit to others, whom they feed with teaching and conduct. And He will gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. The fire is unquenchable, which reveals Origen as a babbler, who says that there shall be an end to punishment. 2 Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 3 1 Mt 3.12 2 cf De Principiis 2.10.5

Baptism And The Trinity

Ἔοικάς μοι βούλεσθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ πείθεσθαι, καὶ τὰς Γραφὰς ἐρευνᾷν. Ἀνάγκη τοίνυν καὶ ἀποκρίνεσθαι πρὸς τὰς πεύσεις σου. Οὕτος ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ἐξ οὐρανῶν βαπτιζομνένῳ τῷ Υἱῷ ἐπεβόησεν, ἵνα καὶ τὸν γνήσιον δείξῃ καὶ φυσικὸν Υἱὸν, μεταξὺ τῶν θέσει καὶ ἀξίᾳ χρητματιζόντων υἱῶν ἀμφιβαλλόμενον, καὶ τὴν θείαν καὶ προσκυνητὴν τῆς θεότητος Τριάδα φανέρώσῃ, ἐν ἰδίαις ὑποστάσεσι γνωριζομένην· καὶ Μοντανῷ καὶ Σαβελλίῳ ἀποκλείσῃ τὴν κακόνουν ἀσέβειαν. Τοῡ γὰρ Υἱοῦ βαπτιζομένου ὁ Πατὴρ ἐμαρτύρησε, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καταπτὰν ὁμοούσιον ἑαυτῷ καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ ὑπεδείκνυ τὸν βαπτιζόμενον Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΞΖ’ Τιμοθεῳ Ἀναγηωστῃ Source: Migne PG 78.228a

It seems to me you are scrutinising the Scriptures in order to be persuaded about something regarding the Lord. Thus concerning this about which you enquire it is necessary for me to reply. 'This is my beloved Son,' 1 says God the Father from heaven with a loud voice, giving witness to His Son and showing that He is the true and natural Son among those who are called sons through adoption and dignity, 2 and this also declares the holy and worshipful Trinity of Divinity, with each one being known as their own person, which is denied to the depraved impiety of Montanus and Sabellius. For with the Father bearing witness to the baptised Son, and the Holy Spirit coming down, this reveals that the one baptised is of the same substance as the Father. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 67, to Timotheus the Lector 1 Mt 3.17 2 Jn 1.12, Rom 8.15, Galat 4.7, Ephes 1.5

Other Baptisms

Et forte si quis existimet sibi in Sacramento baptismi perfectam illam innocentiae, et coelesti vita dignam redditam puritatem; Joannem Baptistam dixisse recolat, Ego quidem baptizo vos in aqua poenitentiae; qui autem post me venit, fortior me est: ipse vos baptizabit Spiritu sancto, et igni: ipsum autem Dominum baptizatum a Johanne cum adhuc esset in corpore meminerit locutum, Adhuc habeo alio baptismo baptizari. Est ergo, quantum licet existimare, perfectae illius emundatio puritatis etiam post baptismi aquas reposita: quae nos sancti Spiritus sanctificet adventu, quae judicii igni nos decoquat, quae per mortis injuriam a labe morticinae et societate purgabit, quae martyrii passione devota ac fideli sanguine abluet. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXVIII Source: Migne PL 9.519a-b

And if perhaps someone judges himself to have a perfection of innocence and a purity worthy of the heavenly life by baptism, let him recall what John the Baptist said, 'I baptise you with water for repentance, but he who comes after me is greater than me, who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.' 1 And the Lord Himself, having been baptised by John, when yet He was in the body, recalled what was spoken, 'I yet have another baptism to baptise.' 2 It is therefore eminently possible to think that a cleansing for perfect purity awaits after the waters of baptism, when we are sanctified by the coming of the Holy Spirit, who with the fire of judgement refines us so that we are purged of the wound of death and association with the fatal fall, which the passion of the martyr washes clean with devout and faithful blood. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 118 1 Mt 3.11 2 Lk 12.50

Baptism And The Spirit

Et descendit Spiritus sanctus corporali specie sicut columba in ipsum. Bene corporali specie, quia in natura dvinitatis a mortablibus videri non potuit. Bene sicut columba, quia spiritus disciplinae effugiet fictum, nec habitabit in corpore subdito peccatis. Et quia ad exemplum Simonis in felle amaritudinis, et iniquitatis obligatione perdurant, sortem in eo partemque habere nullatenus possunt. Unde cum mundi crimina quondam in figuram baptismi diluvio purgerentur, non corvi, sed columbae ore delatus olivae ramus pacem saeculo redditam nuntiavit. Mystice docens solis eis qui in cordis simplicitate baptizati sunt, unctionem sancti Spiritus adfuturam. Nemo enim putet Dominum post baptisma primum Spiritus sancti gratia perunctum, aut aliquem divinae naturae per tempora gessisse perfectum, sed noverit potius a primo conceptus humani tempore quem verum hominem, eumdem et Deum existere verum. Adventu autem columbae demonstratum, quod in corpore eius, id est Ecclesia, praecipue baptizati accipiunt Spiritum sanctum. Sanctus Beda, In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber I, Caput III Source: Migne PL 92.358d-359a

And the Holy Spirit in the corporeal form of a dove came down upon Him. 1 And rightly in corporeal form, because He could not be seen in His Divine nature by mortals. And rightly as a dove because the spirit shall flee the lie of discipline and shall not dwell in a body conquered by sin. 2 And because, according to the example of Simon, 3 they who are fixed in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of wickedness, are not able to have a share or part in Him. Whence when once the crimes of the world were cleansed by the flood as a figure of baptism, it was not the crow but the dove that returned with the branch of olive in its beak to announce that peace had returned to the world, 4 which spiritually teaches that only those who have been baptized in simplicity of heart receive the unction of the Holy Spirit. Let no one think that it was after baptism that the Lord was first anointed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, or that a certain perfection of the Divine nature had happened through time, but let it be understood that from the first time of His human conception that He exists as true man and true God. Thus the coming of the dove demonstrated that in His body, that is, the Church, it is especially those who have been baptised who receive the Holy Spirit. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 1, Chapter 3 1 Lk 3.22 2 Wisd 1.5 3 Acts 8.16-24 4 Gen 8.6-11

Questions About Baptism

Et ego nesciebam eum, sed ut manifestetur in Israël, propterea veni ego in aqua baptizans. Et testimonium perhibuit Joannes, dicens: Quia vidi Spiritum descendentem quasi columbam de cælo, et mansit super eum. Sed dubitatio est hic: Cum minoris sit ire ad maiorem, non e converso; videtur, quod loannes debuit ire ad Christum. Item, cum in Christo nulla fuerit macula; et baptismus significet ablutionem a sorde: ergo falsum significavit in ipso: ergo si veritas Christi non recipit falsitatem, non debuit baptizari a loanne. Respondeo: Dicendum, quod aliquid debito vel congruo modo fit , aut quia necessitatis, aut quia supererogations. Quod minor vadat ad maiorem, hoc est debitum necessitatis; unde dixit loannes Domino: Ego a te debeo baptizari. Quod vero maior vadat ad minorem, hoc est perfectionis et supererogationis. Sic Dominus venit ad loannem; unde ipse dixit loanni: Sic decet nos implere omnem iustitiam, Matthaei tertio. Quod ergo venit, fuit condescensionis et in commendationem humiitatis. Quod quaeritur: quare voluit baptizari? Respondeo: Dicendum, quod sicut verbo significativo aliquid dicitur de capite ratione membrorum, sic actu exercito aliquid signifleatur in capite pro membris. Unde baptismus ille nullam significabat ablulionem interiorem in Christo, sed solum in membris. Ratio autem, quare Chiistus voiuit baptizari, fuil tripler: ut daret exemplum humilitatis; ut vim regenerativam conferret aquis; ut per baptismum loannis manifestaret se universis. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput I Source: Here, p250

'And I did not know Him, but that He may be made manifest in Israel, therefore I have come baptising with water.' And John gave testimony, saying: 'I saw the Spirit coming down, as a dove from heaven, and it remained upon Him.' 1 But there is a doubt here, in that the greater goes to the less and not the opposite, for it seems that John should go to Christ. Similarly, when there was no fault in Christ, and baptism signifies a cleansing from soiling, therefore it signifies falsely about Him, and as the truth of Christ receives no falsity, then he should not have been baptised by John. I answer that it must be said that something may be done as a matter of debt or because it is fitting, either because of necessity or as a matter of supererogation. That the less goes to the greater is a debt of necessity, whence John said to the Lord, 'I should be baptised by you.' However, because the greater goes to the less, this is a matter of perfection and supererogation. So the Lord comes to John and says to him, 'So it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,' in the third chapter of Matthew. 2 Therefore that He came was a matter of condescension and a commendation of humility. Because it is asked, 'Why did He wish to be baptised?' I answer that it must be said that as the word signifies something about the rational head of the members, so the external act signifies something about the head for the members. Whence that baptism did not signify anything about the cleansing of the interior in Christ, but only about the members. Thus the reason why Christ was baptised was threefold, that He give an example of humility, that He confer on the waters the power of regeneration, and that by the baptism of John He manifest Himself to all. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 1 1 Jn 1.31-32 2 Mt 3.14-15

Reasons For Baptism

Tunc venit Jesus a Galilaean Jordanem... Ecce quo venit. In baculo meo transivi Jordanem istum: et nunc cum duabus turmis regrediar. Quo pulchrior es ? descende, etc. Quanto magnus es, humilia te in omnibus. ...ad Joannem... In quo est gratia. Hic est ecclesiae minister : non haereticus, vel schismaticus, in quo nulla est gratia, quam in forma, ritu et intentione Ecclesiae conferat sacramentum. Omnis homo simili sui sociabitur. ...ut baptizaretur ab eo. Ecce propter quid. Et ideo nihil recepit Christus in aqua baptismatis, sed contulit aquae vim regenerativam, sicut dictum est. Hujus tamen et aliae causae assignantur in Glossa: ut scilicet baptisma Joannis approbaret: ut homo omnem justitiam impleret, et legis humilitatem: et ut aquas sanctificatas per columbam, in lavacro ostenderet: et ut nemo quantumlibet sanctus a baptismo excusatus esset, si baptismi gratiam superfluam sibi judicaret. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Mattheum, Caput III Source: Here p321

'Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan...' 1 Behold where He comes. 'With my staff I passed over this part of the Jordan, and now with two companies I return.' 'To whom are you more beautiful? Go down...' 'The greater you are, so be humble in all things.' 2 '...to John...' In whom there is grace. He is a minister of the Church, not a heretic, or a schismatic, in which there is no grace, but in the form and rite and intention of the Church he confers the sacrament. 'Every man will associate with him who is similar to himself.' 3 '...That He be baptised by him.' Behold the reason why. Even that Christ receives nothing from the waters of baptism, but He brings the power of regeneration to the waters, as has been said. However in the gloss other causes are assigned, that is, so that He might approve the baptism of John, so that man may be filled with all righteousness and the humility of the law, so that in cleansing He might show that the waters are sanctified by the dove, and that no one, however holy they may be, shall be excused baptism, even if he should judge the grace of baptism superfluous. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 3 1 Mt 3.13 2 Gen 32.10, Ezek 32.19, Sirach 3.20 3 Sirach 13.20

Stones And Sons

Illis enim qui de Abraham gloriabantur dicit: Et ne incipiatis dicere vobismetipsis, patrem habemus Abraham. Et de gentibus rursum loquitur: Dico enim vobis, quia potest Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae. De quibus lapidibus? Non utque lapides irrationabiles corporeosque monstrabat, sed homines insensibiles et quondam duros, qui quia lapides et ligna adorabunt, impletum est illud quod in psalmo cantabatur: Similis illis fiant qui faciunt ea, et omnes qui confidunt eis. Vere qui faciunt idola, et confidunt in eis, similes sunt diis suis, absque sensu, sine ulla ratione, in lapides lignaque conversi sunt. Cum enim tantum videant creaturarum ordinem, decorem, officium, tantam mundi pulchritudinem, nolunt de creaturis intelligere Creatorem, neque considerant tantae dispensationis aliquam providentiam, aliquem esse rectorem, sed sunt caeci, his tantum oculis mundum videntes, quibus irrationabilia jumenta et bestiae vident. Non enim animadvertunt in his quae vident ratione regi, aliquam inesse rationem. Haec propterea, quia Joannes dixerat: Potest Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae. Et nos igitur obsecreumus Deum, ut si quando fuimus lapides, vertamur in filios Abrahae pro his filiis qui ejecti sunt, et repromissonem adoptionemque suo vitio perdiderunt. Unum testimonium adhuc de lapidibus ponam. Siquidem in cantico Exodi scribitur: Vertantur in lapides, donec pertranseat populus tuus, Domine, donec transeat populus tuus iste quem possedisti. Rogatur itaque Deus, ut paulisper convertantur in lapides; hoc enim Graecs sermo significantius sonat, λιθούσθωσαν, donec pertranseat populus Judaeorum. Haud dubium quin postquam illi transierint, gentes lapideae esse cessabunt, et pro duro corde recipient humanam in Christo rationabilemque naturam. Cui est gloria et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Origenes, Homiliae in Lucam, Homilia XXII, Interprete Sancto Hieronymo Source: Migne PG 13.1858d-1856c

To those who gloried in Abraham John says: 'Do not begin to say yourselves, we have Abraham for a father.' And again about the Gentiles he says, 'I say to you that God can raise up sons of Abraham from these stones.' 1 From what stones? He does not mean irrational material stones but senseless and hard hearted men who adore stones and wood, which fulfills what was sung in the Psalm: 'They who make them are made like them, and so are all who trust in them.' 2 Truly those who make idols and trust in them are made like their gods, without sense, without any reason, they are turned into stone and wood. For when they see only the forms of created things, and the fairness of them, and the usefulness of them, and the beauty of the world, they care not to understand the creator through creatures, nor do they consider any providence in such a great dispensation, or any maker, but they are blind, with their eyes seeing only the world, by which they see like mindless cattle and beasts. Nor are they admonished by these things they see to be ruled by reason, and to be in possession of some reason. Because regarding these things John said, 'God can raise up sons of Abraham from these stones,'  therefore let us entreat God that if we have been stones, that we are turned into sons of Abraham, in place of those sons who have been cast out and in their sin and have died to the promise of adoption. One testimony I shall set forth about stones. In the song in Exodus it is written: 'Let them be turned into stones, until your people pass by, O Lord, until your people pass by, whom you have taken up.' 3 Thus God is asked that they be turned into stone for a little while, (and here the Greek word 'lithousthosan,' that is, let them be petrified, is more meaningful,) until the people of the Jews passes by. Without doubt after they have passed by the Gentiles shall cease to be stone, and receive for a hard heart a human one 4 in Christ, and a rational nature, to whom be glory and power forever. Amen. Origen, Homilies on Luke, from Homily 22, Translated by Saint Jerome 1 Lk 3.8 2 Ps 115.8 3 Exod 15.16 4 Ezek 36.26

Hating Life

Et odivi vitam, quia malum super me opus quod factum est sub sole, quia omnia vanitas et pastio venti Si mundus in maligno positus est, et in tabernaculo isto Apostolus ingemiscit dicens, Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore morti hujus, recte odio habe omne quod sub sole factum est. Ad comparationem quippe paradisi et illius vitae beatitudinem, in qua spiritualibus pomis et virtutum deliciis fruebamur: nunc quasi in ergastulo et carcere sumus et valle lacrymarum, in sudor vultus nostri comedentes panem Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput II Source: Migne PL 23.1031b

And I hated life, because what was done beneath the sun weighed on me as an evil, since it was all a vanity and a feeding of the wind. 1 If 'the world is in wickedness set,' 2 and the Apostle groans in this tabernacle, saying, 'I am a wretched man, who shall free me from this body of death,' 3 rightly he has hate for everything that is done beneath the sun. Certainly compared to paradise and the blessed life, in which we shall feast on spiritual fruits and the delights of the virtues, we are now as if in a workhouse and a prison and in a valley of tears, and in the sweat of our faces we eat our bread. 4 Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2 1 Eccl 2.17 Vetus Latina 2 1 Jn 5.1 3 Rom 7.24 4 Gen 3.19

Free Will And Making

Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Quare enim addidit: Et non ipsi nos, cum sufficeret dicere: ipse fecit nos? nisi quia illam facturam voluit admonere, ubi dicunt homines: Ipsi fecimus nos, id est, "ut iusti essemus, iustos nos libera voluntate fecimus". Quando conditi sumus, arbitrium liberum accepimus. Ut ergo iusti simus, libero id arbitrio agimus. Quid adhuc Deum invocamus ut iustos nos faciat, quod habemus in potestate ut nos iustos ipsi faciamus? Audite, audite: Et iustos ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Creatus est primus homo in natura sine culpa, in natura sine vitio. Creatus est rectus, non se fecit rectum. Quid se autem ipse fecerit, notum est: cadens a manu figuli fractum est. Regebat enim eum ipse qui fecerat. Voluit deserere a quo factus erat. Permisit Deus, tamquam dicens: Deserat me et inveniat se, et miseria sua probet quia nihil potest sine me. Hoc modo ergo ostendere voluit Deus homini quid valeat liberum arbitrium sine Deo. O malum liberum arbitrium sine Deo! Experti sumus quid valet sine Deo. Ideo miseri facti sumus, quia sine Deo quid valeat experti sumus. Experti ergo tandem aliquando, noverimus, et venite adoremus eum, et prosternamur ei. Venite adoremus, et prosternamur illi, et fleamus coram Domino qui nos fecit. Ut perditos nos per nos, reficiat nos qui fecit nos. Ecce bonus factus est homo, et per liberum arbitrium factus est malus homo. Quando facturus est bonum hominem malus homo per liberum arbitrium deserens Deum? Servare se non potuit bonus bonum, et facturus est se malus bonum? Cum esset bonus, non se servavit bonum, et cum sit malus dicit: "Facio me bonum"! Quid facis malus, qui peristi bonus, nisi te reficiat qui permanet bonus? Ipse ergo fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Nos autem populus eius et oves pascuae eius. Ecce fecit nos homines populum suum qui nos fecit. Non enim creati homines iam populus eius eramus. Videte Fratres mei, et de ipsis psalmi verbis attendite unde dixerit: Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Hinc dixit: Fecit nos, et non ipsi nos, ut simus populus eius et oves pascuae eius. Ipse fecit nos. Nam et pagani nascuntur et omnes impii, omnes adversarii Ecclesiae eius. Ut nascerentur, ipse fecit eos. Non enim alius deus creavit eos. Qui de paganis nascuntur, ab ipso facti sunt, ab ipso creati sunt. Et non sunt populus eius nec oves pascuae eius. Communis est omnibus natura, non gratia. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXVI, De Verbis Psalmi XCIV, Venite adoremus, et prosternamur illi, et fleamus coram Domino qui nos fecit. Source: Migne PL 38.172

'He made us and not we ourselves.' 1 But why should he add 'and not we ourselves,' when it would have been enough to say, 'He made us?' Why indeed, but because he wanted to warn against that fiction when men say 'We made ourselves,' that is, 'we are righteous, we have made ourselves righteous by our free will. When we were created we received free will, therefore we may be righteous by the work of our free will. Why should we go on calling on God to make us righteous when we have it in our power to make ourselves righteous?' Listen, listen: even He made us righteous and not we ourselves. The first man was created with a blameless nature, in a nature without fault. He was created upright, he did not make himself upright. What he did make himself is known, for falling from the potter's hand he was broken. He who made him was guiding him, and the man chose to forsake the one by whom he was made. God permitted it, as though saying, 'Let him forsake me and find himself, and let his wretchedness prove to him that he can do nothing without me.' 2 Therefore in this way God wished to show man the worth of free will without God. O what an evil free will is without God! We have experienced what it is worth without God. Therefore we have been made wretched, because we have experienced what it is worth without God. Therefore, having experienced it, let us at last, at some time, know it, and, come, let us adore Him and bow down before Him. 'Come, let us adore and down before Him, and weep before the Lord who made us.' 3 Thus we who have ruined ourselves may be remade by Him who made us. Behold, man was made good and then by free will he was made evil. When shall the wicked man make the good man, he who with his free will forsakes God? When he was good he could not keep himself good, and becoming evil shall he make himself good? 'I shall make myself good!' What can you, the evil man make, who when he was good made a ruin, unless He remakes you who remains good? Therefore He made us and we did not make ourselves. But we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Behold, He who made us men is He who made us His own people. We were not already His people when created as men. See, my brothers and look to the very words of the Psalm, why he said. 'He made us and not we ourselves.' He says, 'He made us and not we ourselves,' so that we might be His people and the sheep of His pasture. 'He made us.' For even pagans are born, and all the godless, and all the enemies of His Church. That they might be born He made them. No other god created them. Those who are born of pagans were made by Him, by Him they were created. And they are not His people, nor the sheep of His pasture. Nature is common to all, but grace is not. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 26 On The Scriptures, On the words of Psalm 94, 'Come let us adore and bow down before Him, and let us weep before the Lord who made us' 1 Ps 99.3 2 cf Jn 15.5 3 Ps 94.6 4 Ps 94.7

Kings And Heaven

Et venimus, inquiunt, adorare eum. Adorare, quem Deum stella famulante intelligunt. Alioquin Herodem, quem regio cultu renitentem cernebant, primum debuerant adorare. Sed quia divinitus agebantur, ut latentem Deum in cunis, vl inter praesepia vagientem, ad adorandum requirerent, hunc nec regem intendunt, nec eum veneratur, nec aliquid eum esse computant. Quo sane inspirationis affectu et illud gestum dixerim, quod Octavianus Augustus, eo tempore quo totum sibi subditum atque subjectum persenserat orbem, atque populus universus in concione, quod supra memini, dominum eum totius terra voluerit acclamare, nequaquam passus est: sed legibus hoc prohibuit, quod nullus unquam regem ante fecisse legitur. Hinc profecto patet quia vis divina, quae istos devotionis intus agebat affectu, ipsa hunc cohibuit principem, ne sibi applauderet indebite, quod potentatu alterius totus terrarum orbis sub monarchia Romani imperii subdebatur. Sed corybanta Herodes, audiens alium quam se Judaeorum regem requirere, turbatus dicitur, et omnis Hirosolyma cum illo. Moliebatur enim, cum esset alienigena ignobilis genere, legitimus Judeorum rex videri. Unde et omnes codices, teste Josepho, quibus Judaeorum genealogia texebatur, igne cremaverat, ne notarent eum, reticendo, ignobilem, et prosapiae ordinem tribus Judae clarissimum commendarent. Aestimans se itaque nobilem videri posse, si nullis sacrae Scripturae fascibus premeretur. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber II, Caput II Source: Migne PL 120.130c-131a

'And we have come,' they said, 'to adore him.' 1 To adore Him whom they understand to be God by the guidance of the star. Yet Herod, who they noted to be the celebrated one of that land, they should have first adored. But because they were moved by heaven, so they sought to adore the hidden God in the cradle, and crying out in a manager, whence they do not deem Herod to be a king, nor do they venerate him, nor do they reckon him to be anything. Which affection of inspiration and act I would say that Emperor Octavian felt deeply in himself, who in that age had subdued and subjected the whole world, for with all the people gathered together, as I mentioned before, when they wished to acclaim him as the lord of all the earth, he would not allow it, but he made laws to prohibit it, which it is not recorded that any king did before. 2 Whence undoubtedly it is manifest that some Divine power worked on the interior affection of these men, and restrained the prince, lest he celebrate himself unduly, since it was another potentate who subdued the whole orb of the earth beneath the monarchy of the Roman empire. But the maddened Herod, hearing that they sought someone else and not him as the king of the Jews, is said to be troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. For being born of foreign ignoble stock, he yet strove to appear as the rightful king of the Jews. Whence Joseph testifies that he had every book in which the Jews set down their genealogies burnt with fire, lest they judge him, though silently, as ignoble, and commend the most famous line of the lineage of the tribe of Judah. Thus he is only able to think that he appears noble if he is not oppressed by any of the books of Holy Scripture Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 2, Chapter 2 1 Mt 2.2 2 122c

The King And The Star

Kαὶ πέμψας αὐτοὺς εἰς Βηθλέεμ εἶπεν, πορευθέντες ἐξετάσατε ἀκριβῶς περὶ τοῦ παιδίου Οὐκ εἶπε περὶ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀλλὰ περὶ τοῦ παιδίου· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα ἀνέχεται· ὅθεν δεικνύει ὅτι μαίνεται κατ' αὐτοῦ. Ἐπὰν δὲ εὕρητε ἀπαγγείλατέ μοι, ὅπως κἀγὼ ἐλθὼν προσκυνήσω αὐτῷ. Oἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπορεύθησαν. Ἂδολι γὰρ ὄντες αὐτοὶ, ἐνόμιζον κάκεῖνον ἀδόλως λέγειν. Kαὶ ἰδοὺ ὁ ἀστὴρ ὃν εἶδον ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ προῆγεν αὐτοὺς... Ἀπεκρύβη πρὸς μικρὸν ὁ αστὴρ οἰκονομικῶς, ἵνα ἐρωτήσωσιν αὐτοὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ ταραχθῇ ὁ Ἠρώδης, καὶ οὕτω περιφανεστέρα γένηται ἡ ἀλήθεια. Ἐξελθοῦσαι δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ, πάλιν ἑφάνη, χειραγωγῶν αὐτούς. Ὅθεν δῆλον ὅτι θεία δύναμις ἤν ὁ ἀστήρ. Ἕως ἐλθὼν ἐστάθη ἐπάνω οὗ ἦν τὸ παιδίον. Καὶ τοῦτο ξένον. Κατέβη γὰρ ὁ ἀστὴρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕψους, καὶ προσγειστερος γενόμενος, ἔδειξεν αὐτοῖς τὸν τόπον. Εἰ γὰρ ἐξ ὕψους αὐτοῖς ἐφαίνετο, πῶς ἂν ἔμελλον ἰδικῶς γνωρίσαι τὸν τόπον ἔνθα ἤν ὁ Χριστός; Οἱ γὰρ ἀστέρες πολὺν τόπον περιλαμβάνουσιν. Ὅθεν καὶ σὺ ἐπάνω τῆς σῆς οἰκίας βλέπεις τὴν σελήνην τυχὸν, κὰγὼ δοκῶ ταύτην ἀνωτέρω εἷναι τῆς ἐμῆς οἰκίας μόνης. Καὶ πάντες ἁπλῶς, δοκοῦσιν ἔκαστος ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ μόνου ἴστασθαι τὴν σελήνην ἢ ἄλλον ἀστέρα. Κὰκεῖνος οὖν ὁ ἀστὴρ οὐκ ἂν ἔδειξε τὸν Χριστὸν, εἰ μὴ συγκατέβη, καὶ μονοουχὶ ἐπάνω τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ παιδίου ἔστη. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ B' Source: Migne PG 123.165a-c

And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and carefully enquire about the child.' 1 He did not say 'about the king,' for he was not able suffer the name, but 'about the child,' showing how greatly he was maddened against Him. 'And when you find him, announce it to me, so that even I may go and adore him.' And having heard the king they went off. They who were without cunning, thought he spoke without cunning. And behold the star which they had seen in the east, went before them... It was hidden for a little while by a singular dispensation, so that they would question the Jews and trouble Herod, and thus the truth was made more manifest. Then when they left Jerusalem, again it appeared and led them. Whence it is manifest that the star was a Divine work. ...until it came and stood over the place where the child was. And this is unique. For the star descended from its height and came nearer the earth, and showed a place to them. If it had shown from its height, how could they have been certain of the place where Christ was? They knew much of the ways of the stars. Whence you may perhaps see the moon over your house, and I will see the same moon over my house, and that moon and the other stars appear to stand only over the house of each one of us. Whence that star would not have shown Christ unless it came down, and all but on the head of the child. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 2 1 Mt 2.8

A Strange Star

Τὸ ἐν τῇ θείᾳ πτυκτῇ περὶ τοῦ ἀστέρος φερόμενον, Ἐλθὼν ἔστη ἐπάνω οὗ ἦν τὸ παιδίον, ἐμφανέστερον ὑποδείξει σοι, οὐ τὴν συνήθη τῶν ἄστρων πορείαν ποιησάμενον τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν τοῦ θείου τόκου ἀστέρα, οὐδε γὰρ ἡ τοῦ ὕψους διάστασις, εὐχερῆ, ἐποίει τοῦ ζητουμένου τὴν εὕρεσινὶ, ἀλλ' ἑτέραν τινὰ καινοτέραν ἐκείνης, ὡς δακτύλῳ τῷ ἐξηλλαγμένῳ δρόμῳ μηνύουσαν, τό τε ἅγιον ἄντρον, καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ Κυριοφόρον καὶ σεβάσμιον φάτνην. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΤΟΖ' Ὀλυμπιῳ Κομητι Source: Migne PG 78.396c

That which is set forth in the Divine book, 'Coming, it stopped above the place the child was,' 1 shows most openly to you that this which bore the message of the joyful birth had not the usual and customary way of the stars, for it did not maintain its height, but so that what was sought was able to be found, with a truly new and unusual course, as if a finger, it pointed out that cave and the Lord bearing and venerable manager which was in it. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 378, to Count Olympius 1 Mt 2.9

Understandings Of Man

Tribus modis hominem Scriptura appellat: Per naturam, ut Faciamus hominem; per culpam, ut Vos sicut homines moriemini; per infirmitatem, ut Maledictus qui confidit in homine. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber VI, Tit LXXVI De triplici hominis acceptione Source: Migne PL 177.848b

There are three ways in which Scripture names man. According to nature, as with 'Let us make man.' 1 According to fault, as 'You shall die like men.' 2 According to weakness, as 'Cursed is he who puts his trust in man.' 3 Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 6, Chapter 76, On The Threefold Understanding of Man 1 Gen 1.26 2 Ps 81.7 3 Jerem 17.5