Detraction And Leprosy

Sicut Apostolus dicit , Haec omina in figura contingebant illis , scripta sunt autem propter commonitionem nostram: quaero quid commonitionis accipiamus ex eo quod lectum est nobis , quia detraxerunt Aaron et Maria de Moyse, et propter hoc correpti sunt, Maria vero etiam leprosa efficitur. Tanta autem fuit cura correptionis hujus, ut dum Maria septimanæ tempus expleret in lepra, populus Dei non ageret iter ad terram repromissionis , ne tabernaculum testimonii moveretur. Primo interim moneor, et utiliter ac necessario moneor ex hoc facto ne detraham fratri, ne male loquar de proximo meo, ne aperiam os meum ad derogandum non solum sanctis, sed et quibuslibet proximis meis. Vides quanta ex hoc indignatio Dei fuerit, quanta vindicta processerit. Denique adversum peccatum istud simili indignatione etiam in Psalmis Deum commoveri videmus, et dicere: Sedens adversus fratrem tuum detrahebas, et adversus filium matris tuae ponebas scandalum. Similiter autem et in alio psalmo ex persona justi scientis hoc Deo quam maxime displicere dicitur: Detrahentem occulte adversus proximum suum persequebar. Ex iis igitur omnibus divinae Scripturae sermonibus, velut gladiis quibusdam utrinque acutis, obtrectandi fratribus , et derogandi sanctis vitium resecemus. Lepra enim consequitur derogantes et cacologos, id est, maleloquos . Post haec autem a moralibus ad intelligentiam mysticam transeamus . Quamvis et in superiore tractatu pauca jam dicta sint, tamen quæ defuisse videntur, addemus. Videamus ergo quis est qui derogat Moysi , quis de eo male loquitur. Non solum Judaei, sed et hæretici, qui non recipiunt legem et prophetas , etiam ipsi detrahunt de Moyse. Denique solent ei etiam crimen impingere, dicentes , quia homicida fuit Moyses, interfecit enim Aegyptium: et alia multa, vel in ipsum, vel in prophetas blasphemo ore concinnant. Isti ergo quia detrahunt Moysi, habent lepram in anima sua et sunt in homine interiore leprosi, et ideo habentur extra castra Ecclesiae Dei. Sive ergo haeretici sint qui derogant Moysi, sive de Ecclesia sint qui detrahunt fratribus, et male loquuntur de proximis suis, omnes qui hoc vitio aguntur, dubitandum non est quin leprosi sint in anima sua. Et Maria quidem interveniente Aaron pontifice septima die curatur: nos vero si obtrectationis vitio inciderimus in animae lepram, usque ad finem septimanae mundi, id est, usque ad resurrectionis tempus leprosi in anima permanebimus, et immundi: nisi dum paenitendi tempus est, corrigamur, et conversi ad Dominum Jesum, ac supplicantes ei per paenitentiam purgemur ab immunditia leprae nostrae. Origen, In Numeros, Homilia VII, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 12.611c-612c

Since as the Apostle says, All these things happened as a figure, and are written as a warning to us,' 1 I ask what warning we are to receive from what has been read to us, that Aaron and Mary spoke against Moses and because of this they were corrected, and Mary was afflicted with leprosy. 1 So great was the weight of this correction that Mary spent seven days in leprosy and the people of God did not continue their journey to the promised land, nor did they move the tabernacle of the covenant. Firstly I am warned by this deed, and most usefully and necessarily am I warned, not to disparage a brother, nor to speak evil of my neighbour, nor to open my mouth in derogation of any of my neighbours, and not only those who are holy. See how great the indignation of God was, and how great a punishment befell. And there is similar indignation in the Psalms against this sin when we see God moved to say, 'You sat and spoke against your brother, and against the son of your mother you set scandal. 3 Then likewise in another Psalm, speaking in the person of a righteous man who knows how greatly it displeases God, he said, 'I fell upon him who was speaking against his neighbour.' 4 From all these words of Divine Scripture, which are as a sword that is sharp on both sides, let us consider the vice of disparaging a brother and speaking derogatively of holy men. For leprosy consequently befalls those who disparage and are cacological, that is, who are speakers of evil. After these things let us pass from the mortal to the spiritual understanding. Although in a previous homily a little has been said about this, yet we shall add what seems to be lacking. Let us consider, then, who it is who disparages Moses, and who speaks evil concerning him. They are not only Jews but even heretics, those who reject the law and the prophets, and so disparage Moses. For they are accustomed to impute crimes to him, saying that Moses was a murderer and a killer among the Egyptians, and with many other accusations, against him or against other prophets, they speak blasphemy with their mouths. These, then, who speak against Moses, they have leprosy in their souls and their inner man is leprous, and therefore they are set outside the assembly of God. Therefore they are heretics who disparage Moses, or denigrate the church to their brothers, and speak ill of their neighbours, and it must not be doubted that all who engage in this vice have leprosy in their soul. And certainly after the passage of seven days Mary was cured by the high priest Aaron. However if we fall into the leprosy of the soul by the vice of detraction, even to the seventh age of the world, that is, even to the time of resurrection, we will continue with leprosy in our soul and be unclean, unless there is a period of penance and we are corrected and we are turned back to the Lord Jesus, and by prayers to Him we are cleansed through penance from the blight of our leprosy. Origen, On Numbers, from the Seventh Homily, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 1 Cor 10.11 2 Numb 12 3 Ps 49.20 4 Ps 100.5