The Ways Of Peter And Paul

Christus Saulum in Paulm, Cepham convertit in Petru: nam de ipsis quondoque propheta praedixerat: Et vocabit servos suos nomine alio. Tu es, inquit, Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam. Petra siquidem erat Christus, suumque nomen communicat Petro, ut Petrus petra sit: nam sicut petra sitienti populo aqua in deserto profluxit, ita et a Petro aliis in fide arescentibus salutiferae fidei confessio emanavit. Chrisit ascensurus in coelum Petro suas oves pascendas agnosque commisit; atque post parvae naviculae regimen, eidem gubernaculum magnae navis, id est, totius Ecclesiae magisterium mancipavit. Petro tanquam optimo dispensatori claves domus suae tradidit. Justitia Petri tantam judicandi judicium potestatem, ut de ejus arbitrio coeleste judicium pendeat; nec a Petri sententia etiam angelus appellare praesumat Interrogatus a Domino Petrus quem eum dicerent homines: brevi confessionis compendio divinae majestatis arcanum declarat in Christo. Non revelabit tibi hoc, Petre, caro et sanguis: care enim et sanguis non possidebunt regnum Dei, sed Spiritus Dei Patris, qui in coelis est. Mirabilis piscator, qui olim profunda aequoris scrutabatur, inscrutabile sacramentum deitatis in Christo fideleter confitetur. Interrogante Domino: Petre, amas me? Petrus trinam negationem negotionis confessione delevit. Cum Christus de sacramento suae carnis et sanguinis loqueretur, quidam abierunt retro: multi enim cum Christo ambulant, donec ad edendum carnem ejus et sanguinem veniatur. Quaerente Domino nunquid reliqui vellent abire, Petrus tanquam petra fidei, et publicae veritatis assertor respondens pro omnibus: Domine, inquit, ad quem ibimus? verba vitae aeternae habes. Ac si diceret: Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo quod procedit ex ore Dei. Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua super mel ori meo. Quid mihi est in coelo, Domine, et a te volui super terram? Coelum et terrae, aer et mare obediunt Petro: Simonem enim Magum, ab aere praecipitat, Tabitham de terra suscitat, super aquas ambulat, Anaiam et Saphiram tanquam Dominus vitae et mortis viventes mortificat: coleum vero potestative claudit et reserat. Audivimus de Petro, vultis audire de Paulo. Audivimus de viro hoc quanta mala fecerit in Jerusalem,qui non solum per Jerosolymam, sed per totam Judeam insania ferebatur ,ut Christi membra laniert in terris. Verumtamen spirans minarum et caedis in discipulos Domini, a Domino in discipulum adoptatur, toto pectore virus exhalans, et blasphemando nomen Domini, de vase blasphemiae factus est vas electionis ut nomen Domini portaret coram regibus. Ubi ergo abundavit delictum, superabundavit et gratia: ideoque mutatus in alterum virum dicebat. Fidelis sermo, et omni acceptione dignus, quoniam venit Dominus Jesus salvos facere peccatores, quorum primus ego sum. Paulus dum adhuc conversaretur in trra, rptus in tetriu caelum, in schola sanctae Trinitatis didicit quod ei aliis communicae non licuit. Si ergo nobis aperuit quae mens humana non potest comprehendere, quanta sunt ea quae nobis prohibitus est aperire? Quia Paulum schola coelestis instuxerat, ei tanquam idoneo doctori Dominus magisterium ecclesiasticae instructionis injunxit. Quod Elymam percussit, quod Eutychum morti abstulit, quod fame, quod nuditatem, quod sitim, quod omnia fere humane conditionis pericula pro Christo sustinuit, et caetera quae in Actis apostolorum leguntur Paulo cedunt ad cumulum gloriae et honoris. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXVIII, De SS. Petro et Paulo Source: Migne PL 207.644b-645c

Christ changed Saul to Paul, and Cephas to Peter, as a prophet once foretold, 'And He shall call His servants by another name.' 1 'You are Peter,' He says, 'and on this rock I shall build my Church.' 2 Certainly, 'the stone was Christ,' 3 and His name He communicated to Peter, so that Peter might be a rock, for as water flowed for a thirsty people in a desert, so from Peter there shoots forth to others a salutary confession of faith. Christ, who was about to rise into heaven, committed the feeding of His sheep and lambs to Peter, 4 and after the steering of little boats, gave to him the piloting of a great ship, that is the headship of the whole Church. He gave the keys of His house to Peter as the best of stewards. The righteousness of Peter has such great power of discernment for judging that on his will the heavenly judgement depends, nor would an angel presume to appeal against the sentence of Peter. Asked by the Lord whom men said He was, Peter with a brief confession of the secret of the Divine majesty declared Him to be Christ. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, Peter, for flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God, 5 but it was the Spirit of God the Father who is in heaven. Wondrous fisherman, who once scrutinised the depths of the sea, now faithfully confesses the inscrutable mystery of the Godhead in Christ. Asked by the Lord, 'Do you love me?' Peter wiped away the three denials with three confessions. When Christ spoke of the mystery of His flesh and blood, some turned back, for many had walked with Christ until it came to the eating of His flesh and blood, and when the Lord asked if the rest of them wished to go away, Peter as the rock of faith and the witness of open truth answered for everybody, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.' As if he said, 'Not on bread alone does a man live but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' 6 'How sweet in my throat your words, surpassing honey in my mouth.' 'What is there for me in heaven, O Lord, and what have I wished for from you on the earth?' 7 Heaven and earth, air and sea obeyed Peter, for he cast down Simon Magus from the air, and he lifted up Tabitha from the earth, and he walked on water, and he slew Ananias and Sapphira, as the lord of life and death, who has the power to close heaven and to open it. 8 We have heard of Peter, now hear of Paul. We have heard that this man did much evil in Jerusalem, and not only in Jerusalem, but that through all Judea he was borne about by a madness, so that he might wound the members of Christ on earth. However, breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, he was taken up as a disciple by the Lord. 9 Retching forth venom from his breast and blaspheming the name of the Lord, from a vessel of blasphemy he was made into a vase of election of the Lord, so that he might bear the name of the Lord before kings. 'Thus where wickedness abounded so grace abounded more,' 10 and changed into another man he said, 'The word is faithful and worthy of all reception, because the Lord Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am the first.' 11 Paul while yet living on earth was caught up to the third heaven 12 and in the school of the Holy Trinity learned what he was not permitted to speak of to others. If therefore he revealed to us what the human mind is not able to grasp, how greater are those things which were prohibited to be revealed to us? Because the Lord instructed Paul in the heavenly school, to him alone did He enjoin the teaching office of a capable doctor of the Church. He struck Elymas, he brought back Eutychus from the dead, hunger, nakedness, thirst, and everything that is perilous to the human condition he endured for Christ, 13 and the rest of the things which are told in the Acts of the Apostle which befell Paul for sake of the height of glory and honour. Peter of Blois, from Sermon 28, On The Feast of the Saints Peter and Paul 1 Isaiah 65.16 2 Mt 16.16 3 1 Cor 10.4 4 Jn 21.15-17 5 1 Cor 15.50 6 Jn 6.68, Mt 4.4 7 Ps 118.103, Ps 72.25 8 Acts 8.9-24, Acts 9.36-41, Acts 5.1-11 9 Acts 8.1-20 10 Rom 5.20 11 1 Tim 1.15 12 2 Cor 12.2-5| 13 Acts 13.6-12, Acts 20.9-11, 1 Cor 4.11

Encouraging Peter

Et ait ad Simonem Jesus: Noli timere: ex hoc jam homines eris capiens. Ecce hic ponitur instructio, propter quam tota introducitur historia. Adhuc enim carnales erant Apostoli : et oportuit quod ex corporalibus quae noverunl et quorum usum habuerunt, paulatim ad intellectum spiritualium deducerentur. El hoc bene significatur in Canticis, vii, ubi dicitur, Dixi: Ascendam in palmam et apprehendam fructus ejus. Qui enim ascendit, primo inferiora apprehendit, quibus ad altius nititur: et postea media, et sic per omnia media venit ad alta: et tandem stat exaltatus in palmam, et decerpit dulcedinis fructum. Et sic est de carnalibus ad spiritualia ascendere. Primo corporalia per similitudines spiritulia referre, et sic continuo studere quousque spiritualia per seipsa possit accipere. Ista est scala Jacob quae in una parte stat in terra, et in cacumine tangit coelum. Noli timere. Tria hic dicuntur : confortatio, et instructio, et confortationis et instructionis plenus et intentus effectus. De confortatione dicit: Noli timere, tuam scilicet parvitatem, quia ego tc faciam magnum : tuam indignitatem, quia te faciam dignum : tuam infirmitatcm, quia ego te faciam potentissimum : tuam rusticitatem, quia ego te faciam eruditum et doctum in omni scientia et sapientia spiritus. De primo horum, I Reg ii: Suscitat de pulvere egenum, et de stercore elevat pauperem, ut sedeat cum principibus, et soliurn glorise teneat. II Reg vii: Feci tibi nomen grande, juxta nomen magnorum qui sunt in terra. De secundo, Apocal v: Fecisti nos Deo nostro regnum, et sacerdotes. Et ita dignos, II ad Corinth: Idoneos nos fecit ministros Novi Testamenti, non littera, sed spiritu. De tertio, Matth. xvi: Tibi dabo claves regni caelorum .... et portse inferni non preevalebunt adversus eam, scilicet Ecclesiam. De quarto, Matth. x: Non vos estis qui loquimini, sed Spiritus Patris veslri qui loquitur in vobis. Eccli xv: Cibabit illum pane vitse et intellcctus, et aqua sapientiae salutaris potabit illum. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Lucam, Caput V Source: Here p369-70

And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid, because of this you shall be a fisher of men.' 1 Observe that here He gives the teaching for which the whole episode has been introduced. The Apostles were yet carnal and it was necessary that from carnal things which they knew and made use of they should gradually be led to the understanding of spiritual things. And this is well signified in the seventh chapter of the Song of Songs, where it is said, 'I said, I shall ascend the palm and I shall seize its fruit.' 2 For he who ascends first understands lesser things and by these he strives to higher things, and so after middling things, even passing through all middling things, he comes to the highest things, reaching the height of the palm and seizing the sweetest fruit. This is to ascend from carnal things to spiritual things. First corporeal things refer to spiritual things by likeness, and then with continual zeal those things which are spiritual in themselves can be received. And this is the ladder of Jacob, one part of which stood on the earth, and the top of it touched heaven. 3 'Do not be afraid.' Three things are said here, about strengthening and instruction, and the full and intended effect of strengthening and instruction. Concerning strengthening He says, 'Do not be afraid,' that is, of your littleness, because I will make it great, nor of your unworthiness, for I shall make you worthy, nor of your weakness for I shall make you most powerful, nor your rusticity for I shall make you learned and educated in all knowledge and the wisdom of the spirit. Concerning the first of these, in the second chapter of the first book of Kings: 'He takes up the needy man from the dust, and He lifts up the poor man from the dung heap, that he might sit with princes and hold the throne of glory.' In the seventh chapter of the second book of Kings, 'I have made your name great, like the name of the great ones who are on the earth.' 4 Concerning the second, in the fifth chapter of the Apocalypse: 'You have made us for our God a kingdom and priests.' And therefore worthy. In the second letter to the Corinthians, 'He has made us capable ministers of the New Testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit.' 5 Concerning the third in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, 'I shall give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven...and the gates of heaven shall not prevail against it.' 6 That is, the Church. Concerning the fourth. 'It is not you who speak but the spirit of your Father who speaks in you.' In the fifteenth chapter Ecclesiasticus, 'He shall feed him with bread and wine and understanding, and give him to drink of the waters of wisdom's salvation.' 7 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 5 1 Lk 5.10 2 Song 7.8 3 Genes 28.12 4 1 King 2.8, 2 King 7.9 5 Apoc 5.10, 2 Cor 3.6 6 Mt 16.18-19 7 Mt 10.20, Sirach 15.3

Spiritual Sacrifices

Et ipsi tamquam lapides vivi superaedificamini, domus spiritualis, sacerdotium sanctum, offerre spirituales hostias, acceptabiles Deo per Jesum Christum Spirituales autem hostias opera nostra, eleemosynas et preces dicit, ad distinctionem carnalium in lege victimarum. Quod autem in conclusione dicit, per Jesum Christum, ad cuncta quae praemiserat pertintet, quia per ipsius gratiam et superaedificamur in illo per architectos sapientes, hoc est ministros Novi Testamenti, et domus spirituales efficimur per Spiritum ejus, contra pluvias, ventos, fulmina tentationum muniti. Et sacaerdotio sancto participare, et boni aliqui acceptabile Deo gerere, non nisi per ipsum valemus. Sicut enim palmites non possunt ferre fructum a semetipsis, nisi permanserint in vite; sic vos nisi in me manseritis Sancta Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Petri, Caput II Source: Migne PL 93.49c-d

Be as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 He speaks of these spiritual sacrifices as our works, almsgiving and prayers, in distinction to the carnal sacrifices of the law. That he concludes with 'through Jesus Christ,' pertains to everything that he has mentioned, because through His grace we are built up and in Him through wise architects, that is, the servants of the New Testament, we made into spiritual houses through His Spirit, walled against the trials of rain and winds and floods. 2 And we cannot participate in the sacred priesthood and bring good things acceptable to God unless through Him. For as branches are not able to bear fruit from themselves unless they remain on the vine, so you unless you remain in me. 3 Saint Bede, Commentary on the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 2 1 1 Pet 2.5 2 Mt 7.24-25 3 Jn 15.1-5

Blessed Reverence

Μακάριοι πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Κύριον. Οὐ τὸν ἐκ γένους ᾽Αβραὰμ , οὐδὲ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ προφητικὸς ἐμακάρισε λόγος , ἀλλὰ τὸν τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ κοσμούμενον. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μακάριος Πέτρος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι λέγει· Ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας καταλαμβάνομαι , ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι προσωπολήπτης ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ ἔθνει ὁ φοβούμενος αὐτὸν, καὶ έργαζόμενος δικαιοσύνην, δεκτὸς αὐτῷ ἐστιν. Ὑπέδειξε δὲ ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος καὶ τοῦ θείου φόβου τὸν χαρακτῆρα . Επήγαγε γάρ· Οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ. Οὐ πᾶς γὰρ ὁ λέγων μοι , Κύριε , Κύριε , εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν · ἀλλ' ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Ιδιον τοίνυν τῶν φοβουμένων τὸν Κύριον, τὸ μὴ βαίνειν ἔξω τῶν θείων ὁδῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐταῖς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πορείαν διηνεκώς. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΡKZ’ Source: Migne PG 80.1893c-d

Blessed are those who revere the Lord. 1 Not him who derives his family from Abraham, or from the seed of Israel, but the prophetic word asserts that he is blessed who is adorned with Divine reverence. And the blessed Peter says this in Acts: 'In truth understand that God has no respect for persons, but among every people they are acceptable who revere Him and act righteously.' 2 And the prophetic word also shows here the character of Divine reverence when it adds: 'Those who walk in His ways.' 'For not all who say to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.' 3 Therefore it is characteristic of those who revere the Lord never to walk apart from the Divine ways, but to make their way in them without interruption. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 127 1 Ps 127.1 2 Acts 10.34-35 3 Mt 7.21

Ruth And The Church

Videamus nunc et Ruth. Habet enim ista typum Ecclesiae. Primum, quod alienigena est ex populo gentili, quae, relicta patria, et omnibus quae illic erant, vadit in terram Isreal. Et, cum prohiberet eam socrus sua pergere secum, perseverabat, dicens: Quocunque perexeris, pergam; populus tuus, populus meus, et Deus tuus, Deus meus; quae te moriente terra susceperit, in ea moriar. Quae vox sine dubio typum in illa fuisse Ecclesiae manifestat. Sic enim Ecclesia ex gentibus ad Dominum convocata, relicta patria sua, quod est idololatria, et omissa universa conversatione terrena, profitetur Dominum Deum suum esse, in quem sancti crediderunt, et illuc se ituram, ubi caro Christi post passionem ascendit, et ob ejus nomen in hoc saeculo pati usque ad mortem, et cum sanctorum populo, patriarchis scilicet, et prophetis consociandam; de quorum societate, quod sanctis ex stirpe Abrahae venientibus consociaretur, Moyses in Cantico ostendit, dicens: Laetamini, gentes, cum plebe ejus, id est, qui ex gentibu istis credituri, cum illis qui primi electi sunt aeterna laetitia exulstate. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, De Ruth Source:Migne PL 83.390c-391a

Let us now consider Ruth. She is a type of the Church. First, because she is foreign born from the Gentile people, she who, abandoning her homeland, and everything there, goes to the land of Israel, and when her mother in law prohibits her from journeying with her, she perseveres, saying, 'Wherever you shall go, I shall go, and your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my god, and the earth that shall receive you when you die, there I shall die.' 1 Which voice undoubtedly manifests a type of the Church. For so the Church, being gathered to the Lord from the Gentiles, abandoned its homeland, which was idolatry, and setting aside every way of worldly living, confessed the Lord her own God, in whom the holy had believed, and from there set out to where the flesh of Christ ascended after the passion, even to suffer death in this world because of His name, and to be joined with a holy people, that is, the patriarchs and the prophets, concerning which society, that it was to be an association with the holy ones from the seed of Abraham, Moses in his song shows, saying, 'Rejoice, nations, with His people,' 2 that is, that those who from the Gentiles were going to believe, should exult with eternal joy with those who were the first to be chosen Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Ruth 1 Ruth 1.16-17 2 Deut 32.43

Praise And John The Baptist

Verbum Salomonis est: Laudent te labia proximi tui, et non tua. Si laus expetenda est, non expetenda a se ipso, sed ab ore proximi. Gloriosior tamen est laus procedens de ore Altissimi: Non enim qui se commendat, ille probatus est, sed quem Deus commendat. Si linguis loquamur hominum et angelorum, non poterimus explicare ad plenum Joannis merita, atque in Joanne Christi praeconia. Laus Joannis celebris est in Evangelio, quia, ubicunque occurit mentio de Joanne, commendatur a Christo. Non ergo mendicat laudis humanae suffragia, qui laudatur a Deo, qui dicere potest, In Domino laudabitur anima mea. Commendat Noe Dominus dicens: Vidi te justum coram me. Commendat Abraham faciens ei promissionis benedictionis in futuris generationis. De beato etiam Job loquens ad Satan, magnificat eum quod non sit similis in terra: Vir simplex et rectus et timens Dominum. De Moyse etiam dicit: Si quis fuerit inter vos propheta, loquar ei in visione vel per sominum. At non talis servus meus Moyses, qui in omni domo mea fidelissimus est. Ore ad os loquar ei. David quoque cum ipse dicit: Deus laudem meam ne tacueris; laudatur a Domino dicente: Inveni virum secundum cor meum. Testimonio Dei magni fuerunt isti, et multi alii. Sed ejusdem testimonio: Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Baptista. Illi laudem et praeconiorum congragaverunt divitias, iste supergressus est universos; cujus nativitas per Gabrielem archangelum annuntiata est, sicut et nativitas Christi, cujus nomen vocatum est ab angelo, priusquam in utero conciperetur; intra Sancta sanctorum praenuntiatur, in utero sanctifiatur, ut dicere possit: Ab infantia crevit mecum sanctitas, et ab utero matris meae egressa est mecum. Fuit itaque factus antequam natus, et ideo processu temporis plus quam sanctus. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXVII, In Festo Sancti Joannis Baptistae Source: Migne PL 207.641a-b

The word of Solomon is 'Let your neighbour's lips praise you and not your own.' 1 If praise must be sought, let it not be sought from oneself but from the mouth of a neighbour. Yet more glorious is the praise if it comes forth from the mouth of the Most High. 'It is not he who commends himself who has been approved, but him whom God commends.' 2 If we were to speak with the tongues of men and angels we would not be able to explain the full merit of John but in John being a forerunner of Christ. The praise of John is celebrated in the Gospel, because everywhere there is mention of John he is commended by Christ. Therefore he does not beg for the judgements of human praise who is able to say, 'My soul shall have its praise in the Lord.' 3 The Lord commended Noah saying, 'I have seen you righteous before me.' He commended Abraham with the promise of his blessing in future generations. Speaking of the blessed Job to Satan, He magnifies him with, 'There is no one like him on the earth. A man simple and upright and fearing the Lord.' Concerning Moses He says, 'If there is a prophet among you, I shall speak to him in visions and through dreams, but I do not do so with my servant Moses, who of all my house is the most faithful. I speak to him face to face.' Also David when he says, 'O God, be not silent in my praise,' is praised by the Lord when He says, 'I have found a man according to my heart.' 4 Such was the testimony of God for these great ones, and for many others. But John's testimony is, 'Among those born of women there has not risen up one greater than John the Baptist.' 5 His praise gathers up the wealth of the forerunners and surpasses them all, whose birth was announced by the archangel Gabriel, as was the birth of Christ, and whose name was declared by an angel before he had been conceived in the womb. 6 Within the holy of holies he was foretold, in the womb he was sanctified, so that it is possible to say, 'From my infancy holiness was created with me, and from my going forth from my mother's womb is it with me.' 7 Thus he was before birth, and thus with the advance of time he is more holy. Peter of Blois, from Sermon 27, On The Feast of John The Baptist 1 Prov 27.2 2 2 Cor 10.18 3 Ps 33.3 4 Gen 7.1, Gen 22.18, Job 2.3, Num 12.6, Ps 108.2, Acts 13.22 5 Mt 11.1 6 Lk 1.9-17 7 Job 31.18

Differing Annunciations

Venit angelus Gabriel ad Zachariam, non ad Elisabeth uxorem eius, matrem Ioannis: venit, inquam, angelus Gabriel ad Zachariam, non ad Elisabeth. Quare? Quia Ioannes per Zachariam futurus erat in Elisabeth. Ergo angelus annuntians venturum Ioannem nascendo, non venit ad exceptorium ventris, sed ad fontem seminis. Nuntiavit amborum futurum filium, sed patri nuntiavit. Venturus enim erat Ioannes de connubio masculi et feminae. Ecce iterum ipse Gabriel venit ad Mariam, non ad Ioseph: unde erat caro illa coeptura, unde erat initium habitura, ad ipsam angelus venit. Patri autem sacerdoti Zachariae quomodo angelus futurum filium praenuntiavit? Noli, inquit, timere, Zacharia, exaudita est oratio tua. Quid enim, fratres mei, sacerdos ille ideo intraverat in sancta sanctorum, ut filios precaretur a Domino: Absit. Dicit aliquis: Unde hoc probas? non enim indicavit Zacharias quid rogaverit. Unum est quod breviter dico: Si petisset filium, crederet annuntiatum. Angelus dicit quod ei filius nasceretur, ille non credit? certe hoc rogaverat? Quis rogat sine spe? aut quis non credit in spe? Si non speras, quare petis? si speras, quare non credis? Quid ergo? Exaudita est, inquit, oratio tua: nam ecce concipiet Elisabeth, et pariet tibi filium. Quare? Quia exaudita est oratio tua. Si diceret Zacharias, Quare? hoc rogavi? Utique angelus nec falleretur, nec falleret, quando dicebat? Exaudita est oratio tua: nam ecce paritura est uxor tua. Sed quare hoc dictum est? Quia ille pro populo sacrificabat: sacerdos pro populo sacrificabat, populus Christum exspectabat; Ioannes Christum annuntiabat. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo CCXCI, In Natali Ioannis Baptistae Source: Migne PL 38.253-254

The angel Gabriel came to Zachariah and not to his wife Elizabeth. The angel Gabriel came, I say, to Zachariah and not to Elizabeth. Why? Because John was to be conceived in Elizabeth by Zachariah. Therefore the angel who was to announce the coming birth of John did not come to one who bore the receptacle of the womb but to the source of the seed. He announced the coming of the son of both of them, but he announced it to the father, that John was to come from the coupling of male and female. Behold, again Gabriel comes, and to Mary and not to Joseph, whence he begins with that flesh which was the beginning of His habitation, her to whom the angel came. How did the angel announce the future son to the father and priest Zachariah? 'Do not fear, Zachariah, your prayer has been heard.' 1 Did, then, my brothers, that priest enter into the holy of holies to pray that he might receive a son by the Lord? May it not be. But someone might say, 'How is it that you assert this?' For it does not tell us what Zachariah had asked. I shall speak briefly. If he had sought a son, he would have believed the angel. But did not the angel say to him that a son would be born to him and he did not believe it? Can there be any certainty that he asked? Who asks without hope? Or who hopes and does not believe? If you do not hope, how is it that you seek? If you hope, how is it you do not believe? What then? 'Your prayer has been heard,' the angel says, 'for behold Elizabeth shall conceive and give birth to a son for you.' Why? 'Because your prayer has been heard.' If Zachariah had asked, 'What? Did I ask for this?' What would the angel say who did not lie, nor would lie? 'Your prayer is heard,' because, behold, your wife shall give birth. But why was this said? Because he had sacrificed for the people. He, the priest, had sacrificed for the people, the people who hoped for Christ, and John was to announce Christ. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 291, On the Birth of Saint John the Baptist 1 Lk 1.13

The Ruin Of The Unworthy

Οὕτως εἶπεν Kύριος ἐπὶ Αχιαδ καὶ ἐπὶ Σεδεκιαν ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοὺς εἰς χεῖρας βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος καὶ πατάξει αὐτοὺς καi ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν. Τοιαῦτα πείσεται πᾶς πράσσων πρεσδύτεέρος ὑπὸ βασιλέως Βαδυλῶνος. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἀναξίως τις μεταλαμθάνων Εὐχαριστίαν εἰς χρῖμα λήψεται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ χαθεζόμενος ἐν πρεσδυτερίῳ συνειδότι μεμιασμένῳ, kαὶ τὸ Χριστοῦ μολύνων συνέδριον; Τίς γὰρ αὐτῷ συγχαθήμενος εὐλαδὴς λέγειν τολμήσει τὸ, Οὐχ ἐκάθισα μετὰ συνεδρίου ματαιότητος, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.580a

Thus the Lord says to Achab and Sedecias, who have prophesied falsely in my name, I shall give you into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall punish them before your eyes. 1 All who do such things will suffer by the king of Babylon, For if someone who is unworthy takes up the Eucharist and thereby takes up his condemnation, 2 how much more shall he who sits in the counsel of elders with a wicked conscience defiles the gathering of Christ? For if there is someone who is pious sitting with him, shall he dare say, 'I have not sat in the counsel of vanity,' and what follows? 3 Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 29.21 2 1 Cor 11.29 3 Ps 25.4

Various Hungers

Mακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται Ὥσπερ δέ κατά την αίσθητήν ταύτην την τροφήν ἔχομεν, ού των αύτών πάντες έφίενται, αλλά μερίζεται πολλάκις πρὸς τά εἴδη τών ἐδωδίμων ή τῶν μετ εχόντων ἐπιθυμία, καὶ ό μέν τις έπιτέρπεται τοϊς γλυκαίνουσιν, άλλος πρὸς τά ὁριμύσσοντά τε καὶ θερμαίνοντα την ὁρμήν ἔχει· ἕτερος δέ τοϊς άλμώδεσι, καὶ άλλος τοις παραστύφουσιν ήδεται' συμβαίνει δέ πολλάκις μή κατά τδ λυσιτελοΰν έγγίνεσθαι την ὁρμήν έκάστῳ της βρώσεως, κατά γάρ τινα κράσεως ἰδιότητα πρός τι πάθος έπιῥῥεπῶς τις ἒχων, τρέφει τήν νόσον τῇ τών κατ' άλλήλων βρωμάτων ποιότητι· εί δέ πρὸς τά ώφελοΰντα τήν ὁρμήν σχοίη, πάντως έν ύγιεία βιώσεται, τής τροφής αύτώ συντηρούσης τήν εύεξίαν· ούτως καὶ έπ'ι τής ψυχής τροφής ού πάντων πρὸς τὸ αύτὸ ῥέπουσιν αί έπιθυμίαι. Οί μέν γάρ δόξης, ἢ πλούτου, ἢ τίνος κοσμικής περιφανείας ὸρέγονται, άλλοις περὶ τήν τράπεζαν άσχολδς έστιν ή ὀρεξις, ἕτεροι τδν φθoνον, ὥς τινα δηλητηριώδη τροφήν προθύμως άναλαμβάνουσιν είσΐν δέ τίνες οίς τo τή φύσει καλὸν έν ὀρέξει γίνεται. Φύσει δέ καλὸν άεὶ καὶ πάσι τοΰτό έστιν, μή άλλου τινὸς ἒνεκέν έστιν αίρετὸν, άλλ' αύτὸ δι' έαυτὸ ἐπιθυμητὸν, άεὶ ώσαύτως ἔχον, καὶ οὐδέποτε άμβλυνόμενον κόρῳ. Διά τούτο μακαρίζει δ Λδγος ού τοί'ς άπλώς πεινώντας, άλλ' οΐ; πρδς τήν άληθή δικαιοσύνην ή έπιθυμία τήν ῥoπήν ἔχει. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τους Μακαρισμους, Logos Δ' Source: Migne PG 44.1233a-c

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled 1 But as it is with material food that not all desire the same thing, but there is often difference in appetite for the types of food eaten, and some delight in sweet things, and others in sharp and hot things, and others in salty foodstuffs, and others have pleasure in bitterness, and often it happens that it is not for utility and comfort that the appetite for food is found in a man, for if someone with his own temperament inclines to something harmful, he will nourish himself by his predilection on the wrong kinds of food, but then if he begins to desire those things which benefit, by the nourishment of what preserves he will live with an inclination to health, so in the same way it happens with the nourishment of the soul, that not everyone's desire turns and inclines to the same thing. For some desire glory, some wealth, others worldly splendour, and others have the appetite fixed on the things of the table, and others take up the poison of envy for their food, but then there are not a few who desire that which is good and noble. And what is good in its nature is always good for everyone, and it is not desirable for the sake of something else but in itself, and it is always the same and satiety can never suppress it nor dull it. Therefore the Word holds them blessed who not only hunger but who do so with a propensity and inclination for true righteousness. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Beatitudes, from the Fourth Oration 1 Mt 5.7

Bread And Healing

Καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἀναστὰς, ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὰ μεθόρια Τύρου καὶ Σιδῶνος, καὶ εἰσελθὼν εἰς οἰκίαν, οὐδένα ἤθελε γνῶναι. Καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνήθη λαθεῖν.᾿Ακούσασα γὰρ γυνὴ περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἧς εἶχε τὸ θυγάτριον αὐτῆς πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον, ἐλθοῦσα προσέπεσε πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, ἦν δὲ ἡ γυνὴ Ἑλληνίς Συροφοίνισσα τῷ γένει, καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτὸν ἵνα τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐκβάλῃ ἐκ τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῇ · ῎Αφες πρῶτον χορτασθῆναι τὰ τέκνα· οὐ γὰρ καλόν ἐστι λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων, καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις. Ἡ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη , καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ναὶ, Κύριε· καὶ γὰρ τὰ κυνάρια ὑποκάτω τῆς τραπέζης ἐσθίει ἀπὸ τῶν ψιχίων τῶν παιδίων. Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ· Διὰ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον, ὕπαγε, ἐξελήλυθε τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐκ τῆς θυγατρός σου. Καὶ ἀπελθοῦσα εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς, εὗρε-τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐξεληλυθὸς, καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα βεβλημένην ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης. Μεθὸ περὶ τῶν βρωμάτων εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ εἶδεν ἀπειθοῦντας τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, μεταβαίνει ἐπὶ τὰ τῶν ἐθνικῶν ὄρια. Απιστησάντων γὰρ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἡ σωτηρία τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἔμελλε γενέσθαι. Αὐτὸς μέντοι προηγουμένως σπουδάζει λαθεῖν, ἵνα μὴ ἔχωσιν ὕστερον αἰτιᾶσθαι αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὡς εἰς τὰ ἀκάθαρτα ἔθνη προσδραμόντα. Οὐ μέντοι ἠδυνήθη λαθεῖν· οὐ γὰρ ἐνεδέχετο αὐτὸν λαθεῖν, καὶ μὴ παρά τινος γνωσθῆναι. Ἡ οὖν γυνὴ ἀκούσασα περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐπιδείκνυται πίστιν θερμήν. Διὰ τοῦτο οὖν καὶ ὁ Κύριος οὐκ εὐθέως ὑπακούει. ἀλλ' ἀναβάλλεται τὴν δωρεάν, ἵνα δείξη τὴν τῆς γυναικὸς ἐπίμονον πίστιν, καὶ ὅτι καίτοι ἀποπεμπομένη, προσκαρτερεῖ, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς μὰθωμεν μὴ ἀποπηδᾷν εὐθὺς ὅταν εὐξάμενοι μὴ αὐτίκα τυγχάνωμεν, ἀλλὰ προσκαρτερῶμεν ἄχρις ἂν λάβωμεν . Κυνάρια δὲ ὀνομάζει τοὺς ἐθνικοὺς , ὡς μιαροὺς δοκοῦντας τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις · ἄρτον δὲ, τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, ἣν τοῖς παιδίοις, ἤτοι τοῖς Εβραίοις, ἀφώρισεν ὁ Θεός· τὰς γὰρ εὐεργεσίας τοῖς Ἑβραίοις ἀπέστειλε. Φησὶν οὖν ὁ Κύριος, ὅτι , Οὐ δεῖ τοὺς ἐθνικοὺς μετασχεῖν τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἢ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἀφώρισται· ἐπεὶ δὲ συνετῶς ἀπεκρίθη ἡ γυνὴ καὶ πιστῶς, ἔτυχε τῆς ἐπιθυμίας. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ Iουδαῖοι , φησὶ, τὸν ἄρτον ἔχουσι, τουτέστι, σὲ ὁλόκρηρον, τὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταβάντα, καὶ τὰς σὰς εὐεργεσίας· ἐγὼ δὲ ψιχία αἱτῶ, τουτέστι, μερικὴν εὐεργεσίαν. Ὅρα δὲ καὶ τὸν Κύριον , πῶς οὐκ εἶπεν ὅτι , Ἡ δύναμίς μου ἔσωσέ σε. ᾿Αλλὰ τί φησι'; Διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, τουτέστι , διὰ τὴν πίστιν σου, ὕπαγε, ἐκαθαρίσθη γὰρ ἡ θυγάτηρ σου. Μάνθανε οὖν καὶ σὺ ἐντεῦθεν ἐπωφελὲς μάθημα. Καὶ γὰρ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν ὅταν ἁμαρτάνῃ, γυνή ἐστι, τουτέστιν, ἀσθενὴς ψυχή · Φοινίκισσα δὲ, ὡς τὴν φοινικὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ αἱματώδη καὶ φονεύτριαν ἔχουσα. Θυγατέρα δὲ έχει ἡ τοιαύτη ψυχή, τὴν πονηρὰν πρᾶξιν, ἥτις ἔχει δαιμόνιον. Αἱ γὰρ πονηραὶ πράξεις, δαιμόνων εἰσίν· ἁμαρτωλοὶ οὖν ὄντες, καὶ κυνάρια ὀνομαζόμεθα, ἀκαθαρσίας γέμοντα· διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ ἀξιοί ἐσμεν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἤτοι μεταλαβεῖν τῶν ἀχράντων μυστηρίων· ἐὰν μέντοι ἐπιγνῶμεν ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης, καὶ ὅτι κυνάριά ἐσμεν ὁμολογήσωμεν, καὶ ἐξαγορεύσωμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, τότε ἰαθήσεται ἡ θυγάτηρ, τους ἐστιν, ἡ πρᾶξις ἡ δαιμονιώδης. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατά Μάρκον, Κεφαλη Z’ Source: Migne PG 123.564b-565b

And rising from there He went to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and coming into a house, He wished that no one should know it. But He could not be hidden. For a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard of Him and came in and fell down at his feet, and she was a Gentile, born a Syrophenician. And she asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, 'Allow the children to be filled first. It is not good to take the bread of the children and cast it to the dogs.' She answered and said to him, 'Yes, Lord, for the whelps also eat the crumbs under the table of the children.' He said to her, 'For what you have said, go, the devil is gone out of your daughter.' And when she had come into her house, she found the girl lying upon the bed and the devil gone out of her. 1 After the Lord had spoken of the bread, and He saw the Jews incredulous, He passed over into the lands of the Gentiles. For with the Jews incredulous, future salvation was for the Gentiles. And He first endeavoured to hide Himself, so that later the Jews would not be able to accuse Him of running off to an unclean people. But he was not able to hide, for it was not possible that He should be unrecognised by everyone. Therefore a woman heard about Him, and she showed the eagerness of her faith, and because of this the Lord did not immediately attend to her but He delayed the giving of the gift, that the firmness of the woman's faith might be shown, which although it was tested, persevered, so that even we might learn to be resilient when we pray, and if we do not instantly receive what we pray for, by perseverance obtain it. Then He names the Gentiles dogs, as things seeming to be unclean to the Jews. But the bread is good, which God has set aside for the children, that is, the Hebrews. The benefaction of the Jews is not to be removed. Therefore the Lord says that the Gentiles are not to be participant in the benefaction which has been prepared for the Jews. But because the woman replies wisely and faithfully, what she desires is done. For the Jews, she says, have bread, that is, the whole of you, who came down from heaven, and your blessing, but I seek only a crumb, that is, just a particular benefaction. And see that then the Lord does not say, 'My power has saved you,' but what does He say? Because of your words, that is, your faith, go, your daughter is cured. Learn, then, even you, this useful teaching. Indeed any one of us, when we sin, are this woman, that is, a weak soul, and Phoenician, which is to be stained and bloody and encrusted with sin, and such a soul has a daughter, some evil work, which has a demon, for an evil work is a demonic thing. Thus when we are sinners we are named dogs, being full of uncleanliness, on account of which we are not worthy to receive the bread of God, that is, to communicate in the immaculate mysteries. But if through humility we know ourselves and we confess we are dogs, and we narrate our sins, then our daughter is healed, that is, our demonic deed. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Mark, Chapter 7 1 Mk 7.24-30

Giving Food

Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi... Credo in his scapulis geminam Dei promissionem intelligendam, vitae scilicet ejus quae nunc est, pariter et futurae. Si enim solum promitteret regnum, et in itinere deesset viaticum, omnino conquererentur homines, et responderent: Magnum quidem est quod promittitur, sed perveniendi illuc nulla facultas datur. Propterea qui post hoc saeculum vitam promisit aeternam, ipse dandum etiam in hoc saeculo centuplum providentissima pietate promisit. Quid jam excusationis habes, o homo? Profecto obstructum est os loquentium iniqua. Quid plus afferet inimicus ad tentandum, nisi quia longa futura est vita tua? Et si grandis tibi restat via, cur hoc timeas, cui fortis cibus datur, ne deficere possis in via? Eliae utique cibus allatus est ab angelo, quo nullus in humana consuetudine vilior invenitur, scilicet panis et aqua: tanta tamen in eo fortitudo collata est, ut quadraginta diebus ambulans non fatigaretur nec esuriret . Vis tibi hunc cibum ab Angelis ministrari? Mirum valde, si non vis. Quod si cibum hunc desideras, et angelica ministeria non superba, sed humili magis ambitione requiris; audi quomodo scriptum sit de Domino, quia tentante diabolo, et suadente ut de lapidibus faceret panem, restitit, et dixit: Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei. Deinde tentationibus superatis, et tentatore fugato, accesserunt angeli, et ministrabant ei. Et tu ergo, si vis habere ministerium angelorum, fuge consolationes saeculi et tentationibus resiste diaboli. Renuat consolari anima tua in aliis, si vis in Dei memoria delectari. Cum esuris, currere suadet ad panem: at tu potius audi dicentem, Non in solo pane vivit homo. Cur enim tanta varietate distraheris, ut modo cibum, modo potum, modo vestem aut lectum, nisi pro sola corporis necessaria sustentatione requiras, qui in uno, id est in verbo Dei, potes haec omnia invenire? Manna enim est, omnem saporem habens, et odoris delectationem; requies est vera et sincera, suavis et salubris, jucunda et sancta. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Psalmo Qui Habitat..., Sermo IV. De versu quarto, Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi, etc. Source: Migne PL 183.193d-194b

His shoulders shall shelter you...1 I believe that these two shoulders of God are the understanding of the promise of God, this life which now is, together with the future. For if He only gave the promise of the kingdom and did not give sustenance on the way, all men would be overcome and they would answer, 'Certainly what is promised is great, but the ability to come there is not given.' Therefore He who promises eternal life after this age, He must give in this world one hundred fold what He promises with most provident piety. 2 Now what excuse do you have, O man? Undoubtedly the wicked mouth is blocked from speaking. What more shall the enemy bring as a trial unless that your life has a long duration? And if what remains to you of your way is great, why should you fear this, to whom strong food is given lest you perish on the way? Elijah, to whom no one in a human manner has been found more wretched, was brought food, that is, bread and water, by an angel, and such great strength was diffused in him that he walked forty days and was not wearied nor did he hunger. 3 Do you wish to have this food administered to you by angels? It would be a great wonder if you did not. But for this food you desire and the angelic attendance pride is not wanted but rather an ambition for humility. Hear how it is written about the Lord that when he was tested by the devil, and was being persuaded to make bread from stones, He resisted and said, 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.' Then the tempter, overcome in his trials, fled and angels came and ministered to Him. 4 Therefore, if you would have the ministry of angels, flee the comforts of the world and resist the temptations of the devil. If you wish to delight in the thought of God, refuse to have your soul comforted by other things. When you hunger you are driven to seek bread, but it is better for you to hear it said: 'Man does not live on bread alone.' Why are you mislead into such a great variety of things, at one time foodstuffs, at another drink, at another clothing or sleeping, unless you are in need of the one necessary sustenance of the body, in which one thing, that is, the word of God, you can find all of these things. It is the manna, having every aroma, and the scent of delight, it is true and sincere rest, sweet and salutary, joyful and holy. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons For The Year, On The Psalm 'He who dwells...' from Sermon 4, On the fourth verse, 'His shoulders shall shelter you...' 1 Ps 90.4 2 Mt 19.29 3 3 Kings 19.5-8 4 Mt 4.3-11

The Soul's Sustenence

Hoc igitur verum et summum bonum, si illo concupiscibili suo et delectabili anima gustaverit, et duabus his hauserit affectionibus, excludens dolorem et formidinem, incredibiliter exaestuat. Osculata enim Verbum Dei, modum non capit, nec expletur, dicens: Suavis es, Domine, et in jucunditate tua doce me justificationes tuas. Osculata Dei Verbum, concupiscit super omnem decorem, diligit super omnem laetitiam, delectatur super omnia aromata, cupit frequenter videre, saepe intendere, cupit attrahi, ut sequi possit. Unguentum, inquit, exinanitum est nomen tuum; propterea te diligimus adolescentulae, propterea certamus, sed comprehendere te non possumus. Attrahe nos, ut possimus currere, ut odore unguentorum tuorum accipiamus virtutem sequendi. Festinat etiam interna mysteria videre, ipsam requiem Verbi, ipsam boni illius summi habitationem, et lucem ejus, et claritatem. In illo sinu ac recessu patrio festinat audire sermones ejus; et cum audierit, super omnem suavitatem accipit. Doceat te Propheta, qui gustavit, et ait: Quam dulcia faucibus meis verba tua, super mel et favum ori meo. Quid enim aliud desiderat anima, quae semel suavitatem Verbi gustaverit, quae semel claritatem ejus viderit? Moyses in monte positus quadraginta diebus Legem accipiens, cibum corporis non requirebat : Elias ad illam festinans requiem, rogabat ut acciperetur a se anima sua: Petrus aspiciens et ipse in monte Dominicae resurrectionis gloriam, nolebat descendere, dicens: Domine, bonum est nos hic esse. Quanta igitur illa divinae substantiae gloria, quanta Verbi bona, in quae concupiscunt et angeli prospicere! Anima igitur quae illud videt, corpus hoc non requirit, minimamque sibi familiaritatem cum eo esse debere intelligit, renuntiat saeculo, abducit se a vinculis carnis, exuit omnibus voluptatum istarum nexibus. Denique Stephanus Jesum videbat, et lapidari non formidabat; immo cum lapidaretur, non pro se, sed pro illis a quibus perimebatur, rogabat. Paulus quoque raptus usque ad tertium coelum, cum corpore esset, an sine corpore, nesciebat: raptus, inquam, in paradisum, usum proprii jam non sentiebat corporis; et audiens verba Dei, quomodo ad corporis infirmitates descenderet, erubescebat. Itaque sciens quid vidisset in paradiso, vel quid audisset, clamabat dicens: Quid adhuc velut videntes de hoc mundo decernitis? Ne tetigeritis, ne attaminaveritis, ne gustaveritis quae sunt omnia ad corruptelam ipso usu. Volebat enim nos in figura esse istius mundi, non in possessione atque usu; ut ita utamur hoc mundo tamquam non utamur, tamquam praetereuntes, non tamquam residentes: ambulantes tamquam in imagine saeculi, non in cupiditate, ut velocissima disputatione ipsam imaginem hujus mundi transeamus. Denique ipse fide ambulans, non specie, peregrinabatur a corpore, aderat Domino; et cum esset in terris, non in terrenis, sed in coelestibus conversabatur. Ergo anima nostra, quae Deo vult appropinquare, elevet se a corpore, semper illi summo adhaereat, illi bono quod est divinum, quod est semper, et quod erat ab initio, et quod erat apud Deum, hoc est, Dei Verbum. Ipsum est illud divinum, in quo vivimus, et sumus, et movemur. Ipsum est quod erat in principio, ipsum est quod est. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXIX, Irenaeo Source: Migne PL 16.1056d-1058b

Therefore if the soul with its faculties of desire and pleasure has tasted the true and greatest good and has by the means of these two affections drunk it in, untouched by sorrow and fear, it is wonderfully kindled. For having kissed the Word of God, it knows no measure and yet feels no satiety, saying. 'You are sweet, O Lord, amid your joy teach me your justifications.' 1 Having kissed the Word of God, it desires Him above all beauty, it loves Him above all joy, it delights in Him above all scents, it desires to see Him often, to look on Him often, and to be drawn to Him that it might follow. 'Your name,' she says, 'is as ointment poured out, because of which we maidens love you, and we strive but we cannot grasp you. Draw us out that we may run, that by the fragrance of your ointments we may be given the strength to follow.' 2 Indeed the soul hurries to see internal mysteries, to the rest of the Word, to the very dwelling of that greatest Good, His light and brightness. Into that paternal lap it hurries to hear His words, and when it has heard, it receives them as something sweeter than all things. Let the Prophet teach you, he who tasted and said, 'How sweet are your words in my throat, far beyond honey and the comb in my mouth.' 3 For when it has once tasted the sweetness of the Word and seen His brightness, what else shall the soul desire ? When Moses received the Law he remained forty days on the mount and required no food for his body. Elijah, hastening to this rest, prayed that his soul might be taken away. Peter, looking on the glory of the Lord’s resurrection on the mount, did not wish to descend, saying, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here.' How great then is the glory of the Divine substance, how great the goods of the Word on which even the angels desire to look? 4 Therefore the soul which beholds this greatest good does not need the body, and it understands that it should have as little familiarity with it as possible. It renounces the world, withdraws itself from the chains of the flesh, and removes itself from all the bonds of earthly pleasures. Thus Stephen beheld Jesus and did not fear to be stoned. Indeed while he was being stoned, he did not pray for himself but for those who were killing him. Paul also, when caught up to the third heaven, did not know if he was in or out of the body. 5 Caught up, I say, into Paradise, he no longer knew the use of his own body, and then hearing the words of God he blushed to descend again to the infirmities of it. And thus knowing what he had seen in Paradise and what he had heard, he cried out saying, 'Why do you yet judge as though looking on the world? Touch not, taste not, handle not, for all are corrupted in the using.' 6 He wants us to have this world as a figure, not for use or possession, but that we make use of the world as though we did not, as passers by and not dwellers, walking as if in an image of the world, not in the desire for it, so that we may pass over the image of this world as quickly as possible. So he walked, by faith and not by sight, 7 travelling from the body and drawing near to the Lord, and on the earth he did not associate with earthly things but heavenly things. Therefore let our soul, which wishes to draw near God, lift itself from the body, and ever adhere to that greatest height, which is Divine, which is everlasting, which was from the beginning, and which was with God, that is, the Word of God. This is the Divine One, 'in whom we live and are and move.' That which was in the beginning, is that which is. 8 Saint Ambrose, from Letter 29, to Irenaeus 1 Ps 118.68 2 Song 1.2 3 Ps 118.103 4 Exod 34.28, 1 Kings 19.4, Mt 17.4, 1 Pet. 1.12 5 Acts 7.55, 2 Cor 12. 2 6 Col 2.20–22 7 2 Cor 5.8 8 Jn 1.1, Acts 17.28, Exod 3.14

Knowing God

Confiteor tibi, Domine, Pater caeli et terrae, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis... Qui sunt sapientes? Antiqui philosophi, et oratores, qui naturali sapientia literarum exercitatione exacuminati, de Dei natura quaerere contendebant, non Deum invenire desiderantes, sed altissima disserere cupientes, victi sunt ingenio, defecerunt sermone: in ultimo nihil se amplius invenire potuisse confessi sunt, nisi quia Deus incognoscibilis est. Et ut quid ergo tantum laborasti, si ignorans es, postquam requisisti, quemadmodum fueras, antequem quaereres? Sicut enim qui innavigabilem oceanum navigare se usurpat, dum non potest eum transire, necesse est, ut per eadem viam revertatur, unde ingressus est: sic et illi ab ignorantia coeperunt, et in ignorantia finierunt. O homo sapiens, magis autem insipiens! Deus invisibilis est, et quis potest videre,nisi ipse se videat? Serva ergo mandata Dei, sanctifica cor tuum, ita ut inhabitet Deus in te, et videas Deum. Magis autem non vides, sed Deus, qui est in te, videt te. Deus incomprehensibilis est. Quis enim potest comprehendere eum, nisi ipse se comprehendat? Serva ergo mandata Dei, sanctifica cor tuum, ita ut Deus habitet in te, et quotidie magis ac magis invenies Deum. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXVIII Source: Migne PG 56.776

I confess to you Lord, Father of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to little ones... 1 Who are the wise? The ancient philosophers and orators who with their natural wisdom exerted themselves in the exercise of letters and disputed in the enquiry of the nature of God, not wishing to find God but desiring to speak cleverly of high things, who were by their own minds overthrown, and cast down in their words, for in the end they confessed they were not able to find out anything more than that God was unknowable. And why, therefore, did you labour so greatly, if being ignorant, after you had ceased, you were as you were before you sought? For like a man who has thrust himself forward to navigate the unnavigable ocean which he is not able to cross, and he must return on the same way he went out, so it is that those who have begun from ignorance shall end in ignorance. O wise man, how much more unwise! God cannot be seen, and who can see Him unless He shall see Himself? Therefore keep the commandments of God, sanctify your heart, so that God may dwell in you, and you will see God, or rather you will not see but God who is in you shall see for you. God is unknowable and who is able to know him unless Him who knows Himself? Therefore keep the commandments of God, sanctify your heart, so that God might dwell in you and with every day that passes you will find God more and more. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 28 1 Mt 11.25

The Knowledge Of The Father And The Son

De die autem illa et hora nemo scit neque angeli in coelo, neque Filius, nisi Pater solus. Sed quaerendum est quare ille dicat Filium nescire ista, et solum Patrem scire, cum ipse dicat: Omnia tradita sunt a Patre meo, et item: Omnia quae habet Pater mea sunt, et illud: Ego et Pater unum sumus. Si enim ipse et Pater unum sunt, quomodo nescit Filius quod scit Pater? Sed ut locus iste sobrie intelligatur videndum est quod sit scire, vel quod nescire. Scire Dei est approbare, unde ait Moysi: Novi te ex nomine, id est approbavit. Aliter scire Dei est alios scientes facere, unde Moyses dixit filiis Israel: Tentat vos Dominus Deus vester ut sciat si diligitis eum, quod non ita accipiendum est quasi ait aliquid quod Deus nesciat; sed sciat dicit, id est scire vos faciat quantum in ejus dilectione profeceritis, quod aliter cognosci non poterat, nisi tentationibus probaretur. Si ergo scire Dei est approbare, nescire illius reprobare est, unde in fine saeculi dicturus est impiis: Nescio vos, id est in doctrina et disciplina mea non vos invenio, non vos approbo. Rursus si scire Dei est alios scientes facere, nescire illius est alios utiliter nescientes facere. Et ideo beatus Marcus dicit Filium nescire, quia ipse utiliter facit alios nescire diem judicii, quod non prodest illis scire; si enim homo diem judicii, vel diem mortis cognosceret, aliud tempus deputaret volupataibus, et aliud poenitentiae; voluit quippe Dominus diem judicii omnibus esse occultum, quatenus semper sit suspectus; voluit esse ignotum, ut omnes sint parati et pervigiles. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Homilia I Source: Migne PL 131.870b-d

Regarding that day and hour no one knows, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 1 But it must be asked why He says the the Son does not know this and the Father alone knows, when He says: 'Everything has been given to me by the Father,' and 'Everything which the Father has is mine,' and 'The Father and I are one.' 2 For if He and the Father are one, how does the Son not know what the Father knows? But that this line may be understood correctly it is necessary to look into what 'to know' and  what 'not to know' means. God's knowing is approval, whence He says to Moses 'I know you by name,' 3 that is, I approve of you. Along with this God's knowing is to make others know, whence Moses said to the sons of Israel: 'The Lord your God is testing you that He might know if you love Him.' 4 Which must not be understood as if he speaks of something that God does not understand, but saying 'He might know' is a making you know how much you have advanced in the love of Him, which otherwise would not be known, for such a thing is proved by trials. If then God's knowing is approval, His not knowing is reproval, whence at the end of the world it is said to the wicked: 'I do not know you,' 5 that is, 'I do not find you in my teaching and discipline. I do not approve of you.' Again if God's knowing is to make others know, His not knowing is the useful making of the not knowing of others. And therefore the blessed Mark says the Son does not know, because He usefully makes others not know the day of judgement, for that would be of no benefit to them. If a man knew the day of judgement or the day of his death, he could give a part of his time to indulgence, and another part to penitence. But since the Lord wishes that the day of judgement should be hidden to all, to that extent it must always be expected. Thus He wished it to be unknown so that everyone would be prepared and watchful. Remigius of Auxerre, from Homily 1 1 Mt 24.36 2 Mt 11.27, Lk 10.22, Jn 16.15, Jn 10.30 3 Exod 33.12 4 Deut 13.3 5 Mt 25.12, Lk 13.25

The Trinity And Virtue

Perfectio namque hujus vitae non alia est quam per fidem, spem et charitatem, perfecte quae retro sunt oblivisci, et in ea extendi quae ante sunt. Nam et Apostolus hoc dicit: Quotquot, inquit, perfecti sumus, hoc sapiamus. Quicunque ergo vere quaerunt Deum Trinitatem, trium virtutum harum affectent in semetipsis habere trinitatem, et conformare se studeant ad earum disciplinam. Conscientia earum paradisus voluptatis est, pollens affluentia gratiarum, et castis sanctarum deliciis virtutum; ubi homo incola paradisi ipsius cum Deo conversatur; et saepe eum videt, semper ab eo videtur, saepe cum eo loquitur. Tres autem cardinales istae virtutes ubi sunt, ad aliquam similudinem Trinitatis Dei sic sibi invicem connexae sunt et conjunctae, ut sint singulae in omnibus, et omnes in singulis; ut quod, et quantum, et quomodo, quid credit; hoc etiam, et tantum, et eo modo speret et amet: sic etiam speret, quod credit et amat; et amet, quod credit et sperat. Fides enim nomen virtutis est, et magnae et eximiae virtutis. Sed fides quae spem et charitatem non habet, virtus est. Sic enim et daemones credunt, et homines, qui sicut daemones credunt, nisi quod pejores esse videntur ipsis daemonibus homines quidam, in eo quod homines nec timent, ubi daemones contremiscunt. Certamque esse fidem oportet, ut certa sit spes, certa charitatis. Sicut enim recte credi non potest sine spe, nec sperari nisi praecedente fide, sic nec alterius formae spes esse potest quam fides. Creditum quipper bonum suum spei format appetitum, cum credita bonitas crediti dat fiduciam sperandi. Ad similitudinem ergo summae Trinitatis sicut fides spem gignit, sic charitatis ab utroque, hoc est a fide et spe procedit, cum non potest non amari quod creditur et speratur; et eodem utique modo amari, quo creditur et speratur. Sicut enim ibi tres personae coaeternae sibi sunt et consubstantiales, ita et hic fides, spes, charitas, non tempore alia prior, alia posterior est, quantum ad virtutis substantiam quodammmodo consubstantiales licet videantur habere secundum formam differentis affectius, quasi differentias quasdam personales. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Speculum Fidei Source: Migne PG 180.367b-368a

The perfection of this life is nothing other than by faith, hope and charity, the things behind being completely forgotten in reaching for those things ahead. For as the Apostle says, 'However many of us are perfect, this we shall know. ' 1 Whoever, then, seeks the Divine Trinity desires to have in himself this trinity of virtues, and he is eager to conform himself to their discipline. The awareness of them is the paradise of joys, strong with the abundance of grace and with the chaste delights of the holy virtues, where man placed in paradise dwelt with God, and often he sees Him, and he is always seen by Him, and he often speaks to Him. Now as the three cardinal virtues have a certain similitude to the divine Trinity, so it is that they are in themselves connected and joined, each one being in all, and all in each, so that as much and how someone believes, with this and only with this, is the way he hopes and loves. For faith is the name of a virtue, and it is a great and wonderful virtue, but the faith which does not have hope and charity is no virtue. As demons believe, so even men who are like demons believe, unless they seem to be worse than demons and thus are men who have no fear, whereas demons tremble. 1 It is necessary that faith be certain, that hope be certain, and love be certain. For as one cannot believe rightly without hope, nor can one hope unless faith precedes, and so there is no other way for there to be hope but with faith. Certainly a believed good forms the appetite of hope, for the good that is believed gives confidence to hope in the believing. In the likeness, then, of the Holy Trinity faith begets hope, and love comes from both, that is, it proceeds from faith and hope, since it is impossible not to love what we believe in and hope for, whence in the same way one loves what is believed in and is hoped for. So as there are three coeternal and consubstantial persons, so it is with faith and hope and charity, one is not earlier or later in time, but as much as the substance of the virtue is consubstantial yet they have a difference of form, just as it is with the differences of the Divine persons. William of St Thierry, The Mirror of Faith 1 1 Cor 13.13, Phil 3.13-15 2 James 2.19

The Trinity And Plato

Πορφύριος γάρ φησι, Πλάτωνος ἐκτιθέμενος δόξαν, ἄχρι τριῶν ὑποστάσεων τὴν τοῦ θείου προελθεῖν οὐσίαν, εἶναι δὲ τὸν μὲν ἀνωτάτω θεὸν τἀγαθόν, μετ' αὐτὸν δὲ καὶ δεύτερον τὸν δημιουργόν, τρίτον δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου ψυχήν· ἄχρι γὰρ ψυχῆς τὴν θειότητα προελθεῖν. Ἰδοὺ δὴ σαφῶς ἐν τούτοις ἄχρι τριῶν ὑποστάσεων τὴν τοῦ θείου προελθεῖν οὐσίαν ἰσχυρίζεται· εἷς μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός, κατευρύνεται δὲ ὥσπερ ἡ περὶ αὐτοῦ γνῶσις εἰς ἁγίαν τε καὶ ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα, εἴς τε Πατέρα φημὶ καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ὃ καὶ ψυχὴν τοῦ κόσμου φησὶν ὁ Πλάτων· ζωοποιεῖ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ πρόεισιν ἐκ ζῶντος Πατρὸς δι' Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν. Ἀληθεύει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός· Τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ ζωοποιοῦν. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς Πορφύριος περὶ Πλάτωνος· ∆ιὸ ἐν ἀπορρήτοις περὶ τούτων αἰνιττόμενός φησι· Περὶ τὸν βασιλέα πάντα ἐστί, καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα πάντα, καὶ ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον πάντων καλῶν, δεύτερον δὲ περὶ τὰ δεύτερα, καὶ τρίτον περὶ τὰ τρίτα. Ὡς γὰρ πάντων μὲν περὶ τοὺς τρεῖς ὄντων θεούς, ἀλλ' ἤδη πρώτως μὲν περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα, δευτέρως δὲ περὶ τὸν ἀπ' ἐκείνου θεόν, καὶ τρίτως περὶ τὸν ἀπὸ τούτου. ∆εδήλωκε δὲ ἐμφαίνων καὶ τὴν ἐξ ἀλλήλων ὑπόστασιν, ἀρχομένην ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τὴν ὑπόβασιν καὶ ὕφεσιν τῶν μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον, διὰ τοῦ πρώτως καὶ δευτέρως καὶ τρίτως εἰπεῖν, καὶ ὅτι ἐξ ἑνὸς τὰ πάντα καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ σῴζεται. Τεθεώρηκε μὲν οὖν οὐχ ὑγιῶς εἰσάπαν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τὰ Ἀρείου πεφρονηκόσιν ἐν ἴσῳ, διαιρεῖ καὶ ὑφίστησιν, ὑποκαθημένας τε ἀλλήλαις τὰς ὑποστάσεις εἰσφέρει, καὶ τρεῖς οἴεται θεοὺς εἶναι διῃρημένως τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα. Πλὴν οὐκ ἠγνόηκεν ὁλοτρόπως τὸ ἀληθές, οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι κἂν ὑγιῶς ἔφη τε καὶ πεφρόνηκεν, ἐξήνεγκε δὲ καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ δόξης τὸ ἀρτίως ἔχον, εἰ μὴ τάχα που τὴν Ἀνύτου καὶ Μελήτου γραφὴν ἐδεδίει καὶ τὸ Σωκράτους κώνειον. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Προς Τα Του Ἐν Ἀθεοις Ιὀυλιανου, Λογος B' Source: Migne PG 76.556a

Expounding an opinion of Plato, Porphyry says, 'The divine substance extends even to three persons, the highest and best God, and after Him there is a second maker, and the third is the soul of the universe, for divinity extends even to soul.' And behold in these things it is manifest that he contends that the three Divine hypostases proceed from the Divine substance, since certainly the God of all things is one, but extended, according to his own understanding, into the holy and consubstantial Trinity, into the Father, I say, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, whom Plato calls the soul of the world, for the Spirit gives life and proceeds from the living Father through the Son, and 'in Him we live and move and have our being.' 1 For our truthful Lord, Jesus Christ, says 'The Spirit is He who gives life,' 2 And again the same Porphyry says of Plato: 'Where secretly intimating these things and speaking obscurely and in a mystery, he says: 'To the king everything is related, and all things are caused by him, and he is the cause of all beautiful things, and related to the second are second things, and third things are related to the third, 3 so that everything exists in relation to three gods, but firstly to the king of all things, and secondly to the god from him, and thirdly to the one who is from that one.' He declares here what the hypostases have from themselves, and that it begins from the king, and there is a declension and descent of things after the first, through the first and the second and the third, he says, for everything is from one, and through him they are preserved. Certainly not everything was seen correctly here, for thinking of these things in the same way of Arius, he divides and imposes inferiority, and he introduces subordination among those subsisting, and he thinks the holy and consubstantial Trinity is three distinct gods. But I think Plato was not ignorant of the whole truth, and would have thought of it and spoken of it rightly, and also published the real and genuine truths about God publicly and openly, but he perhaps feared the accusations of Anytus and Melitus and the hemlock of Socrates. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian, Book 2 1 Acts 17.28 2 Jn 6.63 3 Plato Letter 2 312e

The Good One

Et ecce unus accedens, ait illi: Magister bone, quid boni faciam ut habeam vitam æternam? Qui dixit ei: Quid me dicis bonum? Nemo bonus nisi unus Deus. Arguta responsio: non quod non esset bonus ipse, cum esset Filius Dei, et ipse Deus. Sed ita Judaeos revocat per istum, ut intelligant et ipsum Deum, cum sit ipse Deus, boni Dei Filius, et nihil aliud quam bonus Deus. Quia bonus Deus Pater, bonus Deus Filius, bonus Deus et Spiritus Sanctus. Et non tres dii, sed unus bonus Deus. Ac per hoc non dixit, nemo bonus nisi solus Pater, sed nemo bonus , nisi solus Deus; et quod istae tres personae non sunt nisi unus Deus. Verumtamen Judaicus populus unius Dei habens cognitionem, nec Filium Dei, nec Deum trinum in personis, unquam intelligere voluit. Hac ratione Christus laudem sibi oblatam ab eo repulit, quia non quasi Deum bonum veneratus est, sed quasi hominem, bonum eum dicebat. Unde quantum ad Judaeos spectat, qui unum Deum coeli colebant, et Christum Dei Filium non cognoscebant, nemo erat bonus nisi unus Deus. Apud fideles autem sicut unus Deus Pater est bonus, sic et Unigenitus Deus bonus, atque Spiritus sanctus unus Deus bonus, non tres siquidem boni, sed unus Deus bonus, sanctus et justus, et omnia illa quae de Deo essentialiter dicuntur. Idcirco non a deitatis se natura exclusit, sed ipsam naturam bonam Dei utique laudavit. Bonitas ergo in natura est, et non in vitio mendacii; quia omnis homo mendax. Natura vero Dei ipse Filius est, quia ex Deo Patre natus est, et hoc est quod Pater. Et ideo quod ille non credebat adolescens, Christus adjunxit, ut se Dei Filium, non solum bonum ex parte Magistrum, verum etiam Dominum bonum crederet ex toto. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib IX, Cap XIX Source: Migne PL 120.659a-d

And behold a man came to Him and said, 'Good teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life? He said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.' 1 A wise answer, and not because He is not God, when He is the Son of God and He is God. But He speaks to the Jews through this, that they might understand that He is God when He is God, the Son of the good God and nothing else than the good God. Because God the Father is good, and God the Son is good, and God the Holy Spirit is good, and there are not three gods, but the good God is one. And here He did not say, 'No one is good but the Father alone,' but 'No one is good but God alone.'  And there are not three persons unless they are one God. However though the Jewish people had the knowledge of the one God, they were never willing to understand the Son of God, nor the persons of the triune God. For this reason Christ rejects the praise that is offered by the man, because when he called Him good he did not honour Him as the good God but as a man. Whence that no one was good unless the one God very much refers to the the Jews who worshipped the one God of heaven and did not know Christ the Son of God. But with the faithful, just as the one God the Father is good, so even the Only Begotten is good, and the Holy Spirit is the one good God, not as if there are three gods, but it is the one God who is good, holy and righteous, and everything which it is proper to say about God. Therefore He did not exclude Himself from the nature of the Deity here but He praised that same good nature of God. Therefore goodness is in His nature, and not in the defect of a lie, because 'every man is a liar.' 2 But the nature of God is the Son, because He is born from God the Father, and this is what the Father is. Therefore what the young man did not believe, Christ added, that He is the Son of God, so that he should not think Him good by the office of teaching only, but that he should deem Him the good Lord in full. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 9, Chapter 19 1 Mt 19.16-17 2 Ps 115.11

Waiting For Joy

Sed quando ad hoc perveniemus? Quando adimplebis me, Domine, laetitia cum vultu tuo? Gaudemus in te, quoniam visitasti nos oriens ex alto; iterum gaudemus, exspectantes beatam spem in adventu secundo. Sed quando veniet plenitudo laetitiae, non de memoria, sed de praesentia; de exhibitione, non de exspectatione? Modestia vestra, ait Apostolus, nota sit omnibus hominibus; Dominus prope est. Dignum est enim ut modestia nostra nota sit, sicut Domini Dei nostri modestia cunctis innotuit. Quid enim magis incongruum, quam ut immoderate agat homo, conscius propriae infirmitatis, quandoquidem apparuit inter homines modestus Dominus majestatis? Discite, inquit, a me quia mitis sum et humilis corde, ut possit etiam modestia vestra innotescere caeteris. Jam quod sequitur, Dominus prope est, de dextera debet intelligi. Nam de sinistra ipse loquitur: Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi. Prope est Dominus, fratres mei, nihil solliciti sitis: in proximo est, et citius apparebit. Nolite deficere, nolite lassari: quaerite eum dum inveniri potest, invocate eum dum prope est. Prope est Dominus his qui tribulato sunt corde: prope est exspectantibus eum, exspectantibus eum in veritate. Denique vis nosse quam prope est? Audi sponsam de sponso canentem: Quoniam ecce stat post parietem. Parietem istum, corpus tuum intellige, quod obstaculum impedit, ut eum qui prope est, nondum valeas intueri. Propterea Paulus ipse dissolvi cupit, et cum Christo esse, et exclamans miserabilius: Infelix, inquit, ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? Sic et propheta in Psalmo: Educ, inquit, de carcere animam meam, ad confitendum nomini tuo. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Vigilia Nativitatis Domini, Sermo IV Source: Migne PL 183.105a-c

But when shall we come to this. 'When shall you fill me, O Lord, with the joy of your face?' 1 We rejoice in you, because you have visited us, rising from the height, and again we rejoice because in blessed hope we wait for your second coming. But when shall come that fullness of joy that is not in the memory but present, that is revealed and not expected? The Apostle says, 'May your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is near.' 2 For our modesty merits to be made known, as the modesty of our Lord God was made known to everyone. What indeed is more incongruous than a man should act immoderately, conscious of his own infirmity, when the majestic Lord appeared modest among men? 'Learn from me,' he said, 'because I am meek and humble in heart.' 3 So may your modesty be known to all others. And know what follows, 'The Lord is near,' should be understood as the right hand. For concerning the left hand it is said, 'Behold I am with you every day until the end of the age.' 4 The Lord is near, my brothers, and you should not fret. He is near and very soon He will appear. Do not grow weary, do not slacken, seek Him while he can be found, call on Him while He is near. 'The Lord is near to those who are troubled in their hearts,' 5 He is near to those who wait for Him, to those who hope for Him in truth. Do you wish to know how near He is? Hear the bride singing to the bridegroom: 'Behold, he stands behind the wall.' 6 This wall is to be understood as your body because it is an obstacle which prevents you from being able to see Him who is near. Because of which Paul desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ. 7 and cries out most miserably, 'I am an unhappy man, who shall free me from this body of death?' And the prophet in the Psalm says, 'Lead my soul from prison, to take joy in your name.' 8 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons For The Year, On the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord, from Sermon 4 1 Ps 15.10 2 Phil 4.5 3 Mt 11.29 4 Mt 28.20 5 Ps 33.19 6 Song 2.9 7 Phil 1.23 8 Rom 7.24, Ps 141.8

The Word And Men

Sermo Domini vivus est et multiplex, quia loquitur per homines, loquitur et per se: per homines multos, per se unum. Videamus magnum sacramentum. Verbum Dei humana carne vestitum semel visibile apparuit: quotidie idipsum, iterata voce, conditum ad nos venit. Humanitatem Christi mali non solum videre, sed etiam occidere potuerunt. Quotidie sermonem Dei mali audiunt et contemnunt. Quemadmodum autem illi non occidissent, si cognovissent; ita isti nequaquam verba Dei audita contemnerent, si virtutem eorum interno sapore gustarent. Sermo Dei vivus est, quia in eo vita est et cor vivificat. Quod foris est transit, quod intus mutabilitatem non recipit. Vivus est ergo, quia non mutatur; efficax, quia non deficit. Non fallitur judicio promissio ejus, oblivione non moritur, nec intentione mutatur. Operatio ejus difficultate non vincitur, judicium ambiguitate non fallitur. Veraciter permittit, fortiter facit, subtiliter discernit. Vivus est ut credas; efficax ut speres. Penetrabliis in judiciis; vivus in praeceptis et prohibitionibus: efficax in promissis et comminationibus.  Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber VI, Tit XVII De Verbi Dei efficacia Source: Migne PL 177.820b-821a

The word of the Lord is living and manifold since it is spoken through men and through Himself, through many man and through Himself alone. Let us consider this great mystery. The word of God appeared visible, vested in human flesh, and every day by the repeated voice He becomes established in us. The wicked not only saw the humanity of Christ, but they were even able to kill it, just as every day the wicked hear the word of God and scorn it. But as they would not have killed Him if they had known Him, so men would never scorn the words of God they hear if they tasted the power of their inner flavour. The word of God is living, because in Him is life and by Him the heart is brought to life. What is outside passes away, what is within does not change. It is living, therefore, because it does not change, effective, because it does not fail. Its promise does not deceive judgement, nor does it perish in forgetfulness, nor does its meaning alter. Its work is not undone by difficulty, nor is its teaching obscured by ambiguity. It enters in truthfully, acts powerfully, judges with discernment. It is living so that you might believe, effective so that you might hope. It is penetrating for judging, alive for commanding and prohibiting, effective in promises and in warning. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 6, from Chapter 7, On The Effective Word of God