Day And Night, Men And Beasts

De die ista, dilectissimi,quae mane tertia, sexta, nona, undecima, et vespera, in evangelica parabola distinguitur ad laborem laborisque mercedem, quod heri diximus, nequaquam hodie permutamus, videlicet conversionem ad Deum sensu et affectu diem accipi, sicut aversionem noctem, qua nemo potest operari. Sunt enim in hominibus sensus et appetitus, secundum quos animalia dicuntur, nec a bestiis ulla per hos eminentia secernuntur: quibus tamen si supponitur ratio, ut utrique principetur, existent quidem simul sensu et affectu animalia, ac mente rationali, mortalitateque poenali, homines necessario post peccatum, ac pro peccato morituri: qui ante peccatum, et sine peccato poterant non mori. In quibus ergo sensus vel affectus rationem nondum sequitur, sed reluctatur, et ut, proh pudor, in nonnullis obtingit, ipsa contra ipsam ratione abutitur: hi nimirum, quamlibet astuti, callidi, sensati, gratiosi, placidive, nondum homines sunt: aut si ob rationem dicendi homines asseruntur, utique quia capite deorsum gradiuntur, non tam homines quam de hominibus monstra esse convincuntur. Os, inquit poeta, homini sublime dedit.  In talibus, dilectissimi, aliquando reluctatur quidem, sed tamen superatur, ac trahitur captiva, quae sola est ratio. Vae enim soli, quia si ceciderit, non est qui sublevet eum. Aliquando vero sponte enervis, effracta, et evirata sequitur, succumbuit, a omni spurcitiae libenter se contradit. Primi ergo mali, secundi pessimi: utrique noctis et tenbrarum filii, sed alii noctem suam amant, alii diem desiderant, alii nihil habentes hominis, alii parum, alii soluti, alii vincti. Utrique in tenebris sunt, in tenebris ambulant, bestiis silvae, id est carnalibus passionibus, ac saecularibus desideriis: et catulis leonum, id est spiritualibus nequitiis in coelestibus nocturna praeda effecti, sicut scriptum est: Posuisti tenebras, et facta est nox, in ipsa pertransibunt omnes bestiae silvae, catuli leonum, etc. Dum igitur ad seipsum advertitur homo, sive ad suum sensum, sive ad viluntatem, sive etiam ad rationem, licet eo usque profecerit, ut jumentum exuens, hominem induat: utique nec noctem evadit, nec in diem vadit. Ad meipsum, ait Videns, contrubata est anima mea: propterae memor coepit esse Dei tanquam diei. Deus enim totus lux est, et in eo solo tenebrae non sunt ulla. Nam sancti angeli etsi in ipso mane inveniant, in se tamen vespere offendunt: quibus verpere sui, et mane Dei, perficitur dies unus, seu primus. In se ergo solus Deus diem invenit: qui dum menti rationali praeveniente gratia illucere incipit, ei mane facit; et inter tenbras ac lcuem dividit. Est itaque spiritualis diei antelucanam mane gratia, quae rationem praevenit, et a se ad Deum convertit; ac de tenebris ignorantiae, vel ut dictum est, impotentiae, seu etiam malitiae, in die sapientiae, virtutis ac justitiae, id est Christi Domini, inducit. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XVII, In Septuagesima II Source: Migne PL 194.1745b-1746a

Concerning that day which the parable divides into the morning, and the third hour and the sixth hour and the ninth hour and the eleventh hour and the evening, for labour and the reward of labour, 1 which we spoke of yesterday, we shall not dismiss today, that is, turning to God with the mind and with the heart will still be understood as the day and turning away as the night 'in which no one is able to work.' 2 Men possess sense and appetite, according to which they are said to be animals, and by which they cannot be distinguished from beasts, but if reason is added so that it rules both, with animal senses and appetite existing at the same time with the rational mind, then with the penalty of death men perish after sin and because of sin, who before sin and without sin did not die. 3 In those, then, who possess sense and appetite, yet who do not follow reason but rather fight against it, as, alas, happens in many, reason is used against itself. These sort, however clever they are, however learned, however sensible, however charming or gentle, are not human, or if by a habit of speech they are called men, yet because they walk with their heads thrust down, so they are convicted of being men who are monsters among men. 'Man was given a face for the heights,' as a poet says. 4 In such folk, dearest brothers, forsaken reason is dragged off to captivity, for though they may sometimes struggle yet they are overthrown. 'Alas for the man who is alone, because if he falls there is no one to lift him up.' 5 Then sometimes reason is so enervated, daunted, and unmanned, that of its own accord it follows, succumbs to, and happily gives itself to any sort of vileness. The former sort are wicked, the latter worse, and both are children of the night and of the darkness. The latter love the night and the former desire the day. The latter have nothing human about them, the former retain a little. The former wear loose bonds, the latter are utterly conquered. But both are in darkness, and 'in darkness they walk,' 6 beasts of the wood, that is, they walk in the carnal passions and in worldly desires, and are made the prey of the whelps of the lion, that is, of 'the wicked spirits of the heavens.' 7 As it is written, 'You have placed the darkness and night falls, in which pass all the beasts of the wood, the whelps of lions.' 8 When, therefore, a man turns to himself, or even to reason, so that he might improve himself by stripping off the animal and putting on the man, he neither escapes the night nor does he come to the light of the day. 'My soul has troubled me,' he says looking about himself, and because of this he begins to think of God as of the day. 'For God is all light and there is no darkness at all in Him.' 9 For even if the holy angels find the morning in Him, yet in themselves they stumble in the evening, which evening of theirs and the morning of God make one day, the first day. 10 Therefore God alone has the day in Himself, and when He begins to shine grace into rational minds, He creates the morning and separates the light from the darkness. 11 Thus grace is the dawn of the spiritual day, which not only precedes reason but turns it from itself to God and leads it from the darkness of ignorance or, as has been said, of impenitence, and even of wickedness, into the daylight of wisdom, and virtue, and righteousness, that is, into the day of Christ our Lord. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 17, The Second Sermon for Septuagesima 1 Mt 20.1-16 2 Jn 9.4 3 Rom 8.10 4 Ovid Meta 1.84 5 Eccl 4.10 6 Ps 81.5 7 Ephes 6.12 8 Ps 103.20-21 9 Ps 41.7, 1 Jn 1.5 10 Gen 1.5 11 Gen 1.4

Monkey Thoughts

Fabula dicit omnes bestias fetus suos Jovi probandos praesentasse, inter quas simia deformem natum trahens, risu omnium castigari non potuit quin suum caeteris anteferret. Ingenitum si quidem est omni animanti amare quod genuit. De corde sensus nascitur, et amant corda fetus suos adeo ut saepe animus perversus in conspectu summae veritatis tortuosum et pravum, et risu omnium dignum sensum suum commendare non erubescat. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit III, Apologue probans omne cor pronum esse ad commendationem sui et suorum Source: Migne PL 177.481c

A fable tells that all the beasts brought their young to be approved by Jove, and among them was a monkey leading her ugly child, and the laughter of all of them was not able to correct her from putting her own young before all others. It is a property of every living thing to love what it has produced. The feeling is born from the heart and hearts love their young, and so it is that often a mind that is corrupted in the sight of perfect truth, and twisted and depraved, even amid the laughter of everyone, does not blush to commend the value of its own thoughts. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chap 3, A fable proving that every heart is inclined to the commendation of itself and what it produces

Death Of Men And Beasts

Quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Nihil habet homo amplius iumento, et quod aequa est utriusque conditio. Quod istud sit falsum , videtur 1. Genesis secundo dicitur: Adae non inveniebatur adiutor similis ei , ergo nullum iumentum est homini simile: ergo habet aliquid amplius iumento. 2. Item, certum est, quod homo deliberat de futuris et praeterita discernit et conceptiones suas exprimit; hoc autem non iumentum: ergo etc. 3. Praeterea, homo domat iumenta, sed nullum iumentum hominem: ergo homo aliquid plus habet iumento. Quod autem non habeat, videtur: quia nascitur, vivit et moritur et in terram vadit, sicut et iumentum. Respondeo: quidam dicunt, quod hoc dicit in persona carnalis, qui nihil credit habere hominem plus iumento. Aliter dici potest, quod in propria persona loquatur; et verum dicit secundum suum intellectum. Intendit enim ipse ostendere incertitudinem remunerationis animae per similitudinem ad iumentum. Illam autem similitudinem ponit et intellegit quantum ad visibilia, quae possunt sensu discerni; et per hoc non concludit similitudinem de spiritualibus, sed dubitationem; unde dicit: Quis novit etc. Dicendum est igitur, quod secundum veritatem homo habet ultra bestias rationem, communicat autem in corruptibilitate, vita et respiratione; et quia ratio non est quid sensibile, sed intelligibile; et ipse de sensibilibus loquitur: ideo nulla est in hoc omnino instantia. II. Dubitatur de hoc quod dicit: Quis scit, utrumspiritus filiorum Adam ascendat sursum? Quod autem sic, videtur: 1. Primo per corporis dispositionem , cuius dispositio et organizatio attenditur secundum congruentiamad sursum. Si igitur 'os homini sublime dedit caelumque tueri', et respicit sursum: ergo spiritus fertur sursum. 2. Item, omnes naturaliter appetunt beatitudinem; sed, constans est, nullum beatum esse posse in miseriis , maxime cui mors cedit invite: ergo si non potest habere beatitudinem in hac vita, natus esthabere post hanc vitam spiritum separatum: ergo etc. 3. Praeterea, intellectus noster est impermixtus, unde omnia intelligit, ergo non dependet a corpore quantum ad actum, ergo multo minus quantum ad esse: ergo corpore descendente, possibile est , ascendere spiritum. 4. Item, per rationem ipsius Ecclesiastae: quia, si aliqui habent bona, et aliqui mala; et videmus, quod in praesenti mala bonis et bona malis contingunt:si ergo necesse est unum rectorem ponere,necesse est aliud tempus et remunerationem ponere, in quo impium et iustum iudicet Deus.. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Cap III Source: Here, p 36

One must enquire into this which he says: 'A man has nothing more than a beast, and both their states are alike... 1 This seems to be false. 1 In the second chapter of Genesis: 'Adam did not find a helper like himself.' 2 Therefore there is no animal like man, and so he has something more than a beast. 2 Likewise it is certain that man deliberates concerning the future and considers the past, and expresses his ideas, but no animal does this. 3 Besides, man tames beasts but no beast tames man, therefore man has something more than a beast. And yet it seems he does not: 'Because he is born, he lives, and he dies, and into the earth he goes, like a beast.' 3 I respond: some say that this is spoken in the person of worldly man, one who thinks that man has nothing beyond a beast. But it is possible to say that he does speak in his own person, and what is true according to his own understanding. For his intention is to show the uncertainty of the reward of the soul by this likening to an animal. Thus he sets forth the likeness and understands it as much as it pertains to visible things, which the senses are able to discern, and because of this he does not consider a likeness to spiritual things, but there is doubt, whence he says: 'Who knows...?' Therefore it must be said that according to truth man has reason beyond the beasts, but he shares their corruptibility, life, and breath, and because the mind is not a sensible thing but an intelligible thing and he speaks only of sensible things, thus there is nothing truly of great force here. He then expresses doubt when he says, 'Who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam ascends above?' 4 But so it seems. 1 First according to the disposition of the body concerning which disposition and arrangement is it fit from things above. If therefore, 'The face of man is given to look on heaven,' 5 and to gaze at high things, therefore the spirit is carried above. 2 Likewise everyone naturally desires happiness, but it is certain that no one is able to be happy in wretchedness, especially one on whom death unwillingly falls, therefore if he cannot have happiness in this life, he is born to have it after this life, when the spirit is separated. 3 Besides, our intellect is unmixed, whence it may understand everything, 6 and it does not depend on the body for its operation, and therefore much less for its existence. So when the body descends, it is possible that the spirit ascends. 4 Likewise by reason of this same Ecclesiastes, because if some have goods and some have evils, and we see that in the present evils come to good people and goods to evil people, 7 if therefore it is necessary to appoint at corrector, it is necessary that at some time a reward is given, in which 'God shall judge the wicked and the righteous.' 8 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 1 Eccl 3.19 2 Gen 2.20 3 Eccl 3.20 4 Eccl 3.21 5 Ovid Metamorph 1.83-86 6 Arist De Anima 3.4 7 Eccle 8.14 8 Eccl 3.17

Freeing From The Snare

Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium... Ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium. Ergone bestiae sumus nos? Bestiae prorsus. Homo enim cum in honore esset, non intellexit: comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis. Bestiae profecto sunt homines, oves errantes non habentes pastorem. Quid superbis, o homo? quid te sciolum jactas? Vide quia bestia factus es, cui venandae laquei praeparantur. Sed qui sunt venatores isti? Venatores utique pessimi et nequissimi, callidissimi et crudelissimi. Venatores, qui cornu non sonant, ut non audiantur, sed sagittant in occultis immaculatum. Ipsi rectores sunt tenebrarum harum, astutissimi nequitia et versutia diabolicae fraudis: ita ut sicut est ante venatorem bestia, sic ad eorum comparationem sit quilibet astutissimus hominum, praeter eos duntaxat, qui cum Apostolo non ignorant cogitationes eorum, quibus in Dei sapientia datum est fraudes deprehendere malignorum. Obsecro vos, novellae plantationes Dei, vos qui nondum exercitatos habetis sensus ad discretionem boni et mali, nolite sequi cordis vestri judicium, nolite abundare in sensu vestro; ne vos, tanquam rudes adhuc, versutus ille venator decipiat. Nam silvestribus illis et omnino bestialibus bestiis, saeculares homines loquor, apertos satis expandit laqueos, utpote quos facile capiendos esse non dubitat. Vobis autem, qui tanquam prudentiores cervi serpentes necatis, et desideratis ad fontem vivum, subtiliores occultat laqueos, et callidiora fraudis suae argumenta conquirit. Unde, obsecro vos, humiliamini sub potenti manu Dei pastoris vestri, et acquiescite eorum consiliis, qui melius norunt venatoris illius versutias, edocti diuturno longi temporis exercitio, et crebris experimentis, tam in se, quam in multis. Sed ecce quia jam venatores et bestias novimus; quisnam sit laqueus iste quaerendum est. Nolo ego adinvenire ex me, nec dubium aliquid tradere vobis. Ostendat nobis Apostolus laqueum istum: ipse enim venatorum illorum non ignorat cogitationes. Dic nobis, inquam, beate Paule, quis sit laqueus iste diaboli, a quo se liberatam fidelis anima congratulatur. Qui volunt, inquit, divites fieri in hoc saeculo, incidunt in tentationes, et in laqueum diaboli. Ergone laqueus diaboli, divitiae sunt hujus saeculi? Heu quam paucos invenimus, qui ab hoc laqueo liberari exsultent! quam multos, qui dolent quod parum sibi videntur irretiti; et adhuc quantum possunt, ipsi se involvere et intricare laborant! Vos qui reliquistis omnia, et secuti estis non habentem ubi caput suum reclinaret, Filium hominis, exsultate, et dicite: Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium. Confitemini illi toto corde, tota anima, tota virtute, et ex ipsis medullis cordis gratias ei agite, dicentes: Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Psalmum XC, Sermo III, De versu tertio, Deus meus, sperabo in eum. Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium, et a verbo aspero Source: Migne PL 183.190c-191c

Because He freed me for the snare of the hunters... 1 He freed me from the snare of the hunters. Are we then beasts? Indeed we are. 'When a man is in honour, he does not understand, he is like the mindless beasts and he has been made like them.' 2 Truly men are beasts, wandering sheep who do not have a shepherd. 3 Why so proud, O man? Why vaunt your knowledge? See that you are made a beast, for whom the hunting trap has been prepared. But who are these hunters? Hunters are the worst, and the most wicked, the most cunning and the most cruel. Hunters who do not blow a horn, and that so that they are not heard, but from hidden places they shoot shafts at the immaculate. 4 They are the rulers of this darkness, 5 most clever in evil and most capable in the deceits of the devil. Thus as there are beasts before the hunter, they may be compared to very cunning men, if we may except those who, at least, with the Apostle, are not ignorant of their plots, 6 who by the wisdom of God that has been given them grasp the deceits of the wicked. I beseech you, new plantings of God, you who have not yet exerted yourself in the understanding of the discretion of good and evil, do not follow the judgements of your hearts, do not abound in your own minds, lest you, as creatures who are yet untrained, are seized by the cunning hunter. For in those woods with the feral beasts, I speak of worldly men, he openly sets down his traps, for they are undoubtedly easily caught, but for you, who are as the watchful stag which stamps on the serpent, desiring the fount of living waters, he hides more subtle traps, and he overthrows with the delusions of his clever arguments. Whence I beg you, be humble beneath the powerful hand of God your shepherd, and cleave to the council of those who better know the tricks of the hunter, being taught by the long time of daily exertions, and frequent trials, more in them than in the many. Now that you know the hunters and the beasts, it must be asked what the trap is. I do not wish to bring this forth from myself, nor do I doubt I have something to give you. Let Paul the Apostle reveal this trap, for he was not ignorant of the plots of the hunters. Say to us, Paul, what is this trap of the devil, from which the faithful soul that is freed will give thanks. He says: 'He who wishes to be rich in this world, he falls into temptations, and into the trap of the devil.' 7 Is this, then, not the trap of the devil, the wealth of this world? Alas, how few do we find who would exult to be liberated from this snare. How many who grieve to see themselves entangled only a little there. And then how many there are who strive to catch and fix themselves there. You who have left everything, and having followed have no place to rest your head, 8 praise the Son of Man and say 'Because He freed me from the snare of the hunters.' Confess to Him with your whole heart and with all your soul and all your strength, 9 and from the depths of your heart give thanks to Him, saying, 'Because He freed me from the snare of the hunters.' Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Year, On Psalm 90, from The Third Sermon, On the third verse, 'My God, I shall hope in him, because He frees me from the trap of the hunter and the bitter word...' 1 Ps 90.3 2 Ps 48.13 3 Mk 6.34 4 Ps 10.4 5 Ephes 6.12 6 2 Cor 2.11 7 Tim 6.9 8 Lk 9.58 9 Mk 12.30, Deut 6.4-7

The Worst And The Middle

Nec illud otiosum quod primo dixit, quia memor fuit Dominus Noe, deinde bestiarum, postea jumentorum, hoc est, cur non ea animantia quae mitiora sunt, post hominem nominavit, sed ferociora. In quo videtur illa esse ratio, ut ea quae ferociora erant, utriusque partis vicinitate mansuescerent. Quod videtur etiam in illo versu poetico declarari: κακοὺς δ' ἐς μέσσον ἔλασσεν. Hinc enim etiam poeta usurpavit, ut dispositionem dimicaturi ita ordinaret exercitus; quo inferiores collocaret in medio, quo magis hinc inde a fortioribus juvarentur, et dimicationem utriusque partis assumerent. In his scriptis series manifestatur. Altiore autem sensu certum est quod justus in medio habet non in parte cogitationes cordis sui: et quoad carpit hanc vitam, habeat necesse est in corpore tamquam in illa arca bestias graves. Nulla enim mens est, nulla anima, quae non recipiat etiam malarum motus agrestes cogitationum. Itaque insipientis anima ferinos acuit motus, atque adolet venena serpentum: sapientis autem vigor mitigat et coercet. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 14.387c-388a

Not without purpose was it said that He first remembered Noah, and then beasts, and finally cattle, 1 that is, there is a reason why he did not name the more peaceful animals after man, but the fiercer ones. The reason seems to be this: that those which were fiercer were mollified by the presence of the others on both sides. Which indeed is seen in the verse of the poet that declares: 'but the worst he drove into the middle.' 2 Hence indeed the poet presents it, that the disposition of an army to fight is ordered so that the worst are gathered in the middle, and this so that they may be better helped by the stronger, with both sides lifting them up in battle. With these words the order is made clear. But there certainly is a higher meaning, because the righteous man does not have his thoughts in the middle part of his heart, as long as he holds to this life where it is necessary in this body, as in the ark, to have burdensome beasts. There is no mind, no soul, which does not receive the wild motions of wicked thoughts. The soul of the unwise man is provoked by fierce motions, and the venom of the serpents burns, but the power of the wise man soothes and restrains. Saint Ambrose, On Noah and the Ark, Chap 16 1 Gen. 8.1 2 Homer Iliad 4.299

The Rams

Ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κύρίῳ, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κύρίῳ υἱοὺς κριῶν. Ὁ κριὸς τοίνυν ἡγεμονικόν ἐστι ζῶον, καθηγούμενον τῶν προβάτων ἐπί τε νομὰς τροφίμους καὶ ἀναπαύσεις ὑδάτων, καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ σηκνοὺς καὶ ἐπαύλεις. Τοιοῦτοι δέ τινες καὶ οἱ τῆς ποίμνης τοῦ Χριστοῦ προεστῶτες· προάγοντες μὲν ἐπὶ τὰς εὐανθεῖς καὶ εὐώδεις τῆς πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας τροφὰς, καὶ ὕδατι ζῶντι τῇ ἐπιχορηγίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἄρδοντες καὶ ὑψοῦντες καὶ πρὸς καρποφορίαν ἐκτρέφοντες· ὁδηγοῦντες δὲ πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπι βουλευόντων ἀσφάλειαν. Τούτων οὖν τοὺς υἱοὺς παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσάγεσθα βούλεται τῷ Κυρίῳ ὁ λόγος. Εἰ δὲ κριοὶ οἱ προηγούμενοι τῶν λοιπῶν, υἱοὶ ἂν τούτων εἶεν οἱ πρὸς τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν βίον διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀγὰθῶν ἔργων σπουδῆς ἐκ τῆς διδασκαλίας τῶν προεστώτων μεμορφωμένοι. Ἐνέγκατε οὖν, τῷ Κύρίῳ, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κύρίῳ υἱοὺς κριῶν. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον Ψαλμον ΚΗ´ Source: Migne PG 29.283a-b

Bring to the Lord, sons of God, bring to the Lord sons of the rams. 1 The ram is the leader of the others, he goes before the sheep to the pasture of the field, and to the refreshment of the waters, and again he goes back home and to the fold. Such are the foremost of the flock of Christ, who lead it to fair flowers, to the sweet scented nourishment of spiritual teaching, and bountifully bestowed with the Holy Spirit they water with the water of life, and they raise up, and they nourish to the yielding of fruit, and leading to rest, they bring to safety against those who plot against them. Therefore the sons of these, by the sons of God, he wishes to be brought to the Lord. Because if the rams are leaders of others, the sons are those who have been fashioned to the virtuous life through desire for good works by the teaching of the foremost among them. Bring, then, to the Lord, sons of God, bring to the Lord, the sons of the rams. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 28 1 Ps 28.1

Sheep And Shepherd

Christus prius ovis fuit, postea pastor factus est. Ovis animal est mansuetum et mundam. In mansuetudine humilitas, in munditia castias significatur. Humilitas duplex est: prima, qua praesse non appetas; secunda qua subesse diligas. Multi enim sunt, qui praesse nolunt, fugientes laborem, non honorem; qui tamen subesse dedignantur, qui, quando in praecepto obedientiae murmurant, quasi ad passionem ducti, recalcitrant. Hi profecto oves non sunt nec imitatores illius, qui sicut ovis ad occisionem ductus est et non aperuit os suum. Similiter castitas duplex est. Alia foris per munditiam corporis, alia intus per munditiam cordis. Munditia A præpararentur ut, dum vinum novum funderetur in corporis est abstinere a malo opere; munditia cordis, sincerum esse a mala delectatione. Qui ergo munditiam et mansuetudinem habet, ovis est. Et qui ovis bona est, sic tandem pastor fieri potest, qui prius in sua subjectione didicit, quomodo aliis præesse possit. Quidam enim sunt pastores, quidam mercenarii, quidam lupi. Pastores sunt qui oves diligunt; mercenarii, qui lanam et lac accipiunt; lupi, qui carnes comedunt. Pastores custodiunt in prosperitate, et defendunt in adversitate. Mercenarii custodiunt in prosperitate, sed non defendunt in adversitate. Lupi non custodiunt in prosperitate, et occidunt in adversitate. Pastores salutem quærunt, mercenarii lucrum appetunt. Lupi, peccati materiam vel licentiam ovibus dantes, occidunt. Primi sunt diligentes, secundi negligentes, tertii pestilentes. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Titulus CI Source: Migne PL 177.532d-533b

First Christ was a sheep, after He was the shepherd. A sheep is animal that is meek and clean. In meekness is humility, cleanliness signifies chastity. Humility is twofold: first, there is no desire to lead, secondly a love of following. Many there are who not wishing to lead, flee labour, but not honour, however they who scorn to follow, revolt when they murmur against the command of obedience, as if led to suffering. Certainly they are not sheep, nor imitators of Him, who 'was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and did not open His mouth.' 1 Similarly chastity is twofold. Some have an exterior cleanliness of the body, others an interior cleanliness of the heart. Cleanliness of body is a withdrawal from evil works, cleanliness of heart is to be pure of pleasure in evil. Therefore he who has cleanliness and meekness, is a sheep. And he who is a good sheep, he will be able to become a good shepherd, he who first has learnt in subjection, shall be able to lead others. Now they are certain men who are shepherds, and certain ones who are hirelings, and certain ones who are wolves. 2 The shepherds are those who love the sheep, hirelings are those who work for wool and milk, wolves devour the flesh. Shepherds watch over in prosperity and defend in adversity. Hirelings watch over in prosperity but do not defend in adversity. Wolves do not watch over in prosperity and they kill in adversity. Shepherds seek salvation, hirelings desire profit. Wolves, in the supplying of the ways and permissions of sin to the sheep, kill them. The first are lovers, the second negligent, the third are a bane. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 101 1 Isaiah 53.7 2 Jn 10.11-13

Shepherd And Sheep

Et proprias oves vocat nominatim... Tangitur hic boni pastoris officium, quod est triplex: vocare, educere et dirigere; nominatim vocat cognoscendo; educit ad pascua instruendo; sed ante eas vadit bonum exemplum praebendo. Hoc convenit pastori Christo per excellentiam, aliis per imitationem. Unde primo dicit: Et proprias oves vocat nominatim, scilicet Christus; secundae ad Timotheum secundo: Novit Dominus, qui sunt eius, et de eius imitatione; Proverbiorum duodecimo: Novit justus animas iumentorum suorum. Et educit eas, ad pascua, scilicet Christus; Ezechielis trigesimo quarto: Educam eos de populis et congregabo eos de terris et inducam in terram suam, quae scilicet erat lacte manans. Sic et imitator Christi, ut Moyses et Aaron; Psalmus: Deduxisti sicut oves populum tuum in manu Moysi et Aaron. Et cum proprias oves emiserit, ante eas vadit... Bonum exemplum ostendendo praeit, ut Christus; Michaeae secundo: Ascendit pandes iter ante eos. Unde dixit infra decimo tertio: Exemplum dedi vobis, ut quemadmodum ego feci vobis, ita et vos faciatis. Sic et imitator Christi; unde primae ad Corinthios undecimo: Imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi. Sed pauci sunt tales; unde Isaiae vigesimo quarto: Erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos. Hoc triplex boni pastoris officum magnum habet effectum in ovibus, qui scilicet est ovium directio per imitationem; propter quod dicit: Oves illum sequuntur, scilicet verum pastorem. Oves sunt simplices et humiles, de quibus dicit Hugo: Humilitas ovis est, ut praeesse non appetas et subesse diligas. Multi fugientes laborem volunt praeesse, subesse dedignantur; isti non sunt oves, quia non sequuntur. Ideo oves sequuntur, quia sciunt vocem eius, esse scilicet vocem consolationis, secundum illud Matthaei undecimo: Venite ad me omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos. Bonus pastor ad reficiendum vocat. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput X Source: Here, p383-5

And He calls his own sheep by name... 1 Here the office of the good shepherd is touched upon, which is threefold, to call, to lead, and to direct. He calls by name from knowledge, and he leads to pasture by instruction, but before them he goes with the giving of good example. This is fitting to Christ the shepherd by excellence, to others by imitation. Whence He first says: 'And He calls His own sheep by name,' so Christ. In the second chapter of the second letter to Timothy: 'The Lord knows those who are His.' 2 And concerning the imitation of Him, in the twelfth chapter of Proverbs: 'The righteous man knows the lives of his own beasts.' 3 And 'He leads them', to pasture, so Christ. In the thirty fourth chapter of Ezekiel: 'I shall draw them from the nations and I shall gather them from the earth and I shall lead them into their own land, ' 4 which was flowing with milk. So the imitator of Christ, as Moses and Aaron in the Psalm: 'You led your people like sheep in the hand of Moses and Aaron.' 5 And when He has brought out his own sheep, He goes before them...6 He goes before with the showing of good example, as Christ. In the second chapter of Micah: 'He shall go up and open the way before them.' 7 Whence He says here in the thirteenth chapter: 'I have given you the example, that as I have done to you, so you do.' 8 So even the imitator of Christ, whence in first Corinthians, the eleventh chapter: 'Be imitators of me, as I of Christ.' 9 But few are like that. Whence Isaiah in the twenty fourth chapter: 'As the people, so the priest.' 10 This threefold office of the shepherd has great influence on the sheep, that is, he who directs the sheep through imitation, because of which He says: 'The sheep follow Him,' 8 as He is the true shepherd. Sheep are simple and humble, concerning which Hugo says: 'Sheep are humble, that they do not desire to take the lead but to be led. Many in flight from labour wish to be in charge, and are ashamed to follow.' 11 These are not sheep, because they do not follow. Therefore the sheep follow, because 'they know His voice.' That is, the voice that comforts. According to the the eleventh chapter of Matthew: 'Come to me all you who labour and are burdened, and I shall refresh you.' 12 The good shepherd calls to refreshment. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 10 1 Jn 10.3 2 2 Tim 2.19 3 Prov 12.10 4 Ezek 34.13 5 Ps 70.21 6 Jn 10.4 7 Micah 2.13 8 Jn 13.15 9 1 Cor 11.1 10 Isai 24.2 11 Hugo Miscel Liber I Tit 101 12 Mt 11.28

Foxes And Birds

Et accedens unus scriba, ait illi: Magister, sequar te, quocumque ieris. Et dicit ei Iesus, vulpes foveas habent, et volucres caeli nidos... Hic manifestatur occulte dolus istius: et tangit duo: simulatoris duplicitam, et Christi simplicitatem. Duplicitatem autem simulatoris tangit dupliciter in astutia dolosa, et superbia praesumptuosa. Astutam enim dolosam percutit, cum dicit. Est enim hoc animal dolosum et infidiosum et venatiuum et in laribulis habitatiuum. Ex quibus proprietatibus istum percutit, qui dolose tentavit Christum. Sagitta vulnerans lingua eorum, dolum locuta est, et insidiabatur gratiae. Sedet in insidiis cum divitibus in occultis, vi interficiat innocentem. Et volebat per gratiam acceptam a Christo venati sicut Simon. Pecunia tua fit tecum in perditionem. Qui volunt divites fieri, incidunt in tentationem, et in laqueum diaboli. Volebat autem per scientiam, quam disceret a Christo, foveas astutiarum facere, in quibus habitans, homines deciperet, et ex eis lucta ageret, sicut faciunt, qui iura et leges aequissumas, et divinae iustitiae congruas propter cavillationes causarum addiscunt. Foderunt ante faciem meam foveam et inciderunt in eam. Vae qui profundi estis corde, ut a Domino abscondetis consilium, quorum sunt in tenebris opera, et dicunt: Quis nos videt, et quis novit nos? Perversa est ista vestra cogitatio, quasi si lutum contra figulum cogitet, et dicat opus factori: non fecisti me, et figmenti dicat figulo: non intelligis. His proprietatibus dicitur vulpes voluipes quia cito pedem voluit de astutia in astutiara. Propter montem Sion quia disperiit, vulpes habitaverunt in eo. Partes vulpium erunt. Capite nobis vulpes pravulas, quae demoliuntur vineas. Praesumptuosam autem superbiam and fastum cordis (quo per gratiam magisterii ab ipso Christo acceptam nitebatur in altis dignitatibus nidum ponere) percutit, cum dicit voluceres caeli nodios. Hae enim volant ambitione, caelum petunt altitudinis honore et nidificant, quiescere volentes in excellente dignitatis praelatione, habentes ad hoc pennas scientiae, et simulatae virtutis pietatem. In avibus caeli ludunt. Iste sunt aves descenderunt super sacrificium Abrahae. Quia totum Ecclesiae oblatum sacrificium, tales hodie devorant: et quomodo Patriarcha modo non abigit eas sicut fecit, hoc est, Pater patrum. Propter simile huiusmodi factum, quo daemones excellere cupiebant, dicuntur daemones aves. Volucres caeli comederunt, quod de semine cecidit iuxta viam. Sed una est consolatio, quam dicit Abdias, Si exaltatus fueris ut aqulia, et inter sidera posueris nidum tuum: inde detraham te, dicit Dominus. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium in Mattheum, Caput VIII Source: Here, p196

And a certain scribe approached Him and said, 'Master, I will follow you wherever you shall go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have their holes and the birds of heaven their nests...' 1 Here is made manifest the hidden cunning of this fellow, and it touches on two things, the duplicity of the dissembler and the simplicity of Christ, for it touches on the duplicity of the dissembler in the cleverness of cunning and the pride of presumption. And Christ reproves the cleverness of cunning when He says it. For the fox is an animal which is cunning and trustless and a hunter and a dweller in holes. Which qualities he reproves, in the one who with cunning tests Christ. 'Their tongues wound like the arrow, their speech is a snare, and their gratitude a lie.' 2 'He sits in hidden lairs with the rich, with strength he slays the innocent.' 3 And he wished to receive grace from Christ by hunting for it like Simon. 'Your money perish with you in damnation.' 4 'He who wishes to be rich falls into the temptations and snares of the devil.' 5 For he wished with knowledge, which has cut him off from Christ, to make holes with his acuity, in which dwelling, he might deceive men and work deceits against them, producing sorrow, as they do who introduce cavils against the most fair statutes and laws, and things befitting Divine justice. 'They have dug a pit before my face and they fall into it.' 6 'Alas you who have deep hearts, who hide counsel from the Lord, whose deeds are in darkness, and who say: 'Who shall see us and who shall have knowledge of us?' Your thought is perverse, as if mud plotted against the pot, and the work of the maker should say to him, 'You did not make me,' or the thing formed say to the shaper, 'You do not understand. ' 7 Concerning these qualities he speaks of the fox, because with swift foot he delights to add cunning to cunning. 'Because He has ruined Mount Sion, the foxes have taken up their dwelling in it.' 8 'The parts of the foxes shall be theirs.' 9 'Seize for us the little foxes which ruin the vines.' 10 And when He speaks of the birds of the sky He reproves presumptuous pride and haughtiness of heart, which through the grace of teaching, from Christ himself, he was endeavouring to receive, that he might place his nest in the worthy heights. For these fly with ambition, seeking heaven in the heights of honour, and to build a nest there, wishing to rest in the excellence of the dignity of a prelate, having for this the wings of knowledge and the pretence of pious virtue. 'They sport with the birds of the air,' 11 These are the birds which swooped down on the sacrifice of Abraham. 12 Because today such men devour every sacrificial offering of the Church, and it does not drive them off as the Patriarch did, that is, the father of fathers. On account of which likeness, by which demons desire to excel, demons are called birds. 'The birds of heaven ate the seed which fell beside the way.' 13 But there is one consolation, of which Obadiah speaks: 'If you shall be lifted up like the eagle and place your nest amid the stars, from there I shall drag you down,' says the Lord. 14 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.20 2 Jerem 9.8 3 Ps 9.29 4 Acts 8.20 5 1 Tim.6.9 6 Ps 56.7 7 Isai 29.15-16 8 Lamen 5.18 9 Ps 62.11 10 Song 2.15 11 Baruch 3.17 12 Gen 15.11 13 Mt 13.4 14 Obad 1.4

Tears Of Men, Pleasures of Beasts

Εἰ δέ τις καὶ τὰς περὶ τὸ σῶμα συμφορὰς ἀναλογίζοιτο, τὰς τῇ φύσει ἡμῶν συμπεπλεγμένας τε καὶ συστρεφομένας, τὰς ποικίλας λέγω καὶ πολυτρόπους τῶν νοσημάτων ἰδέας, ὧν πάντων τὸ κατ' ἀρχὰς ἀπείρατον ἦν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, πολὺ μᾶλλον πλεονάσει τὸ δάκρυον, ἐκ παραλλήλου θεωρῶν ἀντὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὰ λυπηρὰ, καὶ ἀντιπαρατιθεὶς τὰ κακὰ τοῖς βελτίοσιν.Τοῦτο οὖν ἔοικεν ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ διδάσκειν ὁ μακαρίζων τὸ πένθος, τὸ πρὸς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἀγαθὸν τὴν ψυχὴν βλέπειν, μηδὲ τῇ παρούσῃ ἀπάτῃ τοῦ βίου καταβαπτίζεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν οὔτε ἀδακρυτὶ ζῇν τὸν ἐπεσκεμμένον δι' ἀκριβείας τὰ πράγματα, οὔτε ἐν λυπηροῖς εἶναι νομίζειν τὸν ταῖς βιωτικαῖς ἡδοναῖς ἐμβαθύνοντα· καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀλόγων τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν· οἷς ἐλεεινὴ μὲν ἡ τῆς φύσεώς ἐστι κατασκευή· (τί γὰρ ἐλεεινότερον τῆς τοῦ λόγου στερήσεως;) αἴσθησις δὲ τῆς συμφορᾶς αὐτοῖς οὐδε μία, ἀλλὰ κατά τινα ἡδονὴν κἀκείνοις ἡ ζωὴ διεξάγεται· καὶ ὁ ἵππος γαυριᾷ, καὶ ὁ ταῦρος κονίζεται· καὶ ὁ σὺς φρίσσει τὴν λοφιάν· καὶ οἱ σκύλακες παίζουσι, καὶ διασκιρτῶσιν οἱ μόσχοι, καὶ ἕκαστον τῶν ζώων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν διά τινων τεκμηρίων τὴν ἡδονὴν ἐνδεικνύμενον, οἷς εἴ τις κατανόησις ἦν τῆς τοῦ λόγου χάριτος, οὐκ ἂν τὸν κωφὸν αὐτῶν καὶ ταλαίπωρον βίον ἐν ἡδονῇ διετίθεντο. Οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἷς οὐδεμία τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐστι γνῶσις, ὧν ἡ φύσις ἡμῶν ἀπεστέρηται, τούτοις καθ' ἡδονὴν ἡ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς διαγωγή. Ἀκολουθεῖ δὲ τῷ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἥδεσθαι, τὸ μὴ ζητεῖν τὰ βελτίω. Ὁ δὲ μὴ ζητῶν, οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τὸ μόνοις ζητοῦσι παραγενόμενον. Οὐκοῦν διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Λόγος μακαρίζει τὸ πένθος, οὐ δι' ἑαυτὸ κρίνων εἶναι μακάριον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου παραγενόμενον. Δείκνυσι δὲ τοῦ λόγου ἡ συζυγία, ὅτι τῆς πρὸς τὴν παράκλη σινἀναφορᾶς τὸ πενθεῖν αὐτοῖς ἐστι μακάριον. Μακάριοι γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ πενθοῦντες καὶ οὐκ ἔστησεν ἐν τούτῳ τὸν λόγον, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκεν, Ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τους Μακαρισμους, Logos Γ', Μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται Source: Migne PG 44.1228c-1229a

If someone were to consider the state of the flesh, the things which buffet and bind our nature, the various, I say, and manifold types of sickness, concerning which all, man had no experience of at the beginning, he would pour forth abundant tears, while instead of goods he thought on such grieveous things, setting evils against things which are better. This then seems difficult to teach, that he who weeps is blessed, which is the soul looking on the true good, and not sunk in the delusion of present life, for it is not possible that one might live without tears, if one carefully considers the matter, or not think him wrapped up in griefs and bitterness who plunges into the pleasures of this life, which one can see in beasts and animals that lack reason, who because of the miserable constitution of their nature -for what is more wretched that to be deprived of reason?- have no awareness of their state, but in a certain pleasure pass their lives. The horse exults, the bull stamps up the dust, the boar raises up its bristles, pups play, cattle cavort, and in each animal it is possible to see certain signs of pleasure, in which pleasure, if they had in some way the gift of knowing by reason, they would not pass a foolish and wretched life. Which is the state of men who have no knowledge of their goods, of those which our nature has been deprived, and so because of this they pass the present life in pleasure. It follows, then, that those who enjoy present things are not able to desire and seek what is better. For he who does not seek, does not find that which is obtained only by those who do seek. This, then, is the reason why the Word says that he who weeps is blessed, not that he judges that weeping blessed in itself, but because of that which comes from it. The arrangement of the speech shows, by its relation to consolation, how weeping may be a blessing to men. 'Blessed,' he says, ' those who weep,' and He does not stop and end the statement there, but He adds, 'because they shall be consoled.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Beatitudes, from the Third Oration, on 'Blessed are they who weep for they shall be comforted.'

Caring For Beasts And Men

Ὁ μὲν ἐλεήμων ἀνὴρ μακροθυμεῖ, ἐν παντί τε μεριμνῶντι ἔνεστι σοφία· ἐμπεσεῖται γὰρ μέριμνα ἀνδρὶ νοήμονι, φροντιστής τε ὢν ζωὴν ζητήσει· καὶ ὁ ζητῶν τὸν θεὸν εὑρήσει γνῶσιν μετὰ δικαιοσύνης, οἱ δὲ ὀρθῶς ζητήσαντες αὐτὸν εἰρήνην εὗρον. Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ καὶ Πυθαγόρας τὸ ἥμερον τὸ περὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα παρὰ τοῦ νόμου εἰληφέναι. Αὐτίκα τῶν γεννωμένων κατά τε τὰς ποίμνας κατά τε τὰ αἰπόλια καὶ βουκόλια τῆς παραχρῆμα ἀπολαύσεως, μηδὲ ἐπὶ προφάσει θυσιῶν λαμβάνοντας, ἀπέχεσθαι διηγόρευσεν, ἐκγόνων τε ἕνεκα καὶ μητέρων, εἰς ἡμερότητα τὸν ἄνθρωπον κάτωθεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἀνατρέφων. Χάρισαι γοῦν, φησί, τῇ μητρὶ τὸ ἔκγονον κἂν ἑπτὰ τὰς πρώτας ἡμέρας. Εἰ γὰρ μηδὲν ἀναιτίως γίνεται, γάλα δὲ ἐπομβρεῖται ταῖς τετοκυίαις εἰς διατροφὴν τῶν ἐκγόνων, ὁ ἀποσπῶν τῆς τοῦ γάλακτος οἰκονομίας τὸ τεχθὲν ἀτιμάζει τὴν φύσιν. Δυσωπείσθωσαν οὖν Ἕλληνες καὶ εἴ τις ἕτερός ἐστι τοῦ νόμου κατατρέχων, εἰ ὃ μὲν καὶ ἐπ´ ἀλόγων ζῴων χρηστεύεται, οἳ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκτιθέασιν ἔκγονα, καίτοι μακρόθεν καὶ προφητικῶς ἀνακόπτοντος αὐτῶν τὴν ἀγριότητα τοῦ νόμου διὰ τῆς προειρημένης ἐντολῆς. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν ἀλόγων τὰ ἔκγονα διαζεύγνυσθαι τῆς τεκούσης πρὸ τῆς γαλακτουχίας ἀπαγορεύει, πολὺ πλέον ἐπ´ ἀνθρώπων τὴν ὠμὴν καὶ ἀτιθάσευτον προθεραπεύει γνώμην, ἵν´ εἰ καὶ τῆς φύσεως, μαθήσεως γοῦν μὴ καταφρονῶσιν. Ἐρίφων μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀρνῶν ἐμφορεῖσθαι ἐπιτέτραπται, καί τις ἴσως ἀπολογία τῷ διαζεύξαντι τῆς τεκούσης τὸ ἔκγονον· ἡ δὲ τοῦ παιδίου ἔκθεσις τίνα τὴν αἰτίαν ἔχει; ἐχρῆν γὰρ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν γῆμαι τῷ μηδὲ παιδοποιεῖσθαι γλιχομένῳ ἢ δι´ ἡδονῆς ἀκρασίαν παιδοκτόνον γεγονέναι. Πάλιν αὖ ὁ χρηστὸς νόμος ἀπαγορεύει ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ συγκαταθύειν ἔκγονον καὶ μητέρα. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι, εἰ καί τις ἔγκυος καταδικασθείη τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, οὐ πρότερον ἐῶσιν ὑποσχεῖν τὴν τιμωρίαν πρὶν ἢ ἐκτεκεῖν. Ἄντικρυς γοῦν καὶ ὅσα τῶν ζῴων κυοφορεῖ, ὁ νόμος οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει ἄχρις ἂν ἀποτέκῃ σφαγιάζεσθαι, μακρόθεν ἐπισχὼν τὴν εὐχέρειαν τῶν εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἀδικούντων. Οὕτως ἄχρι καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ἀπέτεινεν, ἵνα ἐν τοῖς ἀνομογενέσιν ἀσκήσαντες πολλῇ τινι περιουσίᾳ φιλανθρωπίας ἐν τοῖς ὁμογενέσι χρησώμεθα. Οἳ δὲ καὶ περιλακτίζοντες τὰς γαστέρας πρὸ τῆς ἀποτέξεως ζῴων τινῶν, ἵνα δὴ γάλακτι ἀνακεκραμένην σάρκα θοινάζωνται, τάφον τῶν κυοφορουμένων τὴν εἰς γένεσιν κτισθεῖσαν μήτραν πεποιήκασι, διαρρήδην τοῦ νομοθέτου κελεύοντος, Ἀλλ´ οὐδὲ ἑψήσεις ἄρνα ἐν γάλακτι μητρὸς αὐτοῦ· μὴ γὰρ γινέσθω ἡ τοῦ ζῶντος τροφὴ ἥδυσμα τοῦ ἀναιρεθέντος ζῴου, φησίν ἡ σάρξ, μηδὲ τὸ τῆς ζωῆς αἴτιον συνεργὸν τῇ τοῦ σώματος καταναλώσει γινέσθω. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Β' Κεφ' ΙΗ' Source: Migne PG 8.1033a-35b

'The merciful man is long-suffering, in every one who has care there is wisdom. For to the thoughtful man care will come, and, given to thought, he will seek life, and he who seeks God shall find knowledge with righteousness, and they who have sought Him rightly have found peace.' 1 And it seems to me that Pythagoras took his gentleness for irrational creatures from the Law. For example, he prohibited the immediate use of the young of sheep and goats and cattle at the instant of their birth, not permitting it even for the sake of sacrifice, both on account of the offspring and the mothers, thus by use of irrational creatures educating man to gentleness for what is inferior. 'Allow, then,' he says, 'the offspring to be with the mother for the first seven days.' For if nothing happens without a cause, and at birth milk is for the sustenance of the offspring, he that removes that which has been born for the supply of milk, dishonours nature. Let the Greeks, then, be ashamed, and whoever else disputes the Law, since it is kind to irrational creatures. And moreover they expose even the offspring of men, though long ago and prophetically the Law thrust back their savagery in the above-mentioned commandment. For if it prohibits the offspring of irrational creatures to be taken from the mother before suckling, much more in the case of men does it set down beforehand a remedy for brutishness and savagery of disposition, so that even if they scorn nature, they might not do teaching. For they are permitted to make use of kids and lambs, and perhaps there might be some reason for removing the offspring from the mother, but what cause is there for the exposure of a child? For the man who dislikes siring children has no right to marry in the first place, he who then by eagerness for pleasure becomes a child killer. Again, the kindly law prohibits the slaying of the offspring and the mother together on the same day. Thence also the Romans, if some pregnant woman were condemned to death, do not allow her to suffer the punishment until she gives birth. The Law too expressly prohibits the killing of animals who are pregnant until they have given birth, at a remove restraining the inclination of man to do wrong to man. Thus it extended its clemency to irrational creatures, that from the exercise of kindness for creatures of different species, we might practice it with much greater abundance for those of the same species. Those also who kick the bellies of certain animals before birth that they might feast on flesh mixed with milk, make a grave of the womb that was created for the birth of the child, even though the Law expressly commands, 'But neither shall you boil a lamb in the milk of its mother.' 2 For it should not be that the nourishment of the living animal should become relish for that which has been deprived of life, and that which is the cause of life should not be an assistant in the consumption of the body. Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book 2, Chapter 18 1 Prov 9.11,14.23,17.12 2 Deut 14.21

Beasts And Discipline

Ἐν κημῷ καὶ χαλινῷ τὰς σιαγόνας αὐτῶν ἄγξει, καθάπερ κτηνῶν, ὁ Θεὸς, τῶν ἀποφευγόντων σε, ὁ Δαυϊδ κιθαρίζων ἐβόα. Ὥωπερ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἵππον καὶ ἄκοντα χαλινῷ δαμάζομεν, οὐ μισοῦντες, ἀλλ; εὔτακτον αὐτῷ τὸν δρόμον καθιστῶντες, καὶ τον ἄτακτον αὐτοῦ τῇ τάχει περιστέλλοντες, καὶ τὸ ἄκοσμον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπαίδευτον πήδημα, εἰς εὔτακτον ὁδὸν μεταῥῥυθμίζοντες, οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς ἐὰν ἴδῃ ψυχὴν πωλευομένην ὦδε κἀκεῖσε, ἄγει αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸ εὐπρεπέστερον, καὶ μὴ θέλουσαν. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΛΒ, Γενεθλιῳ Source: Migne PG 79.140a

With bit and bridle bind their jaws, like beasts, O God, those who turn away from you, David cries out with the lyre. 1 For as we rule an unwilling horse with a bridle, not because of hatred, but so that we might establish order for its course, curbing disordered motion with order and transforming what is ugly and foolish to a well ordered way, so God, if He sees a soul wandering about here and there, directs it to something more decent, even if it is unwilling. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 132, To Genethlios 1 Ps 31.9

A Beast Before You

Kτηνώδης ἐγενόμην παρὰ σοί, καὶ ἐγὼ διὰ παντὸς μετὰ σοῦ... ̓Οὐκ ἁπλῶς δὲ, Κτηνώδης, εἶπεν, ἐγενήθην, ἀλλα παρὰ σοι. Ὡς γὰρ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα τῆς σοφίας καὶ Θεὸν της γνώσεως πᾶν ἀγνοεῖ γενητὸν, καὶ Μωῦσης γὰρ ἰδῶν τὸν Θεὸν ἔφη· Ἐγὼ ἄλογός εἰμι ἰκανὸς πρὸ χθὲς καὶ τρίτης ἀφ' οὖ ἦρξας λαλεῖν τῷ θεραποντί σου ἰσχνόφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσος ἐγώ εἰμι, οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν λογίωτατος, ἀλλ' ἀφ' οὗ ἦρξας λαλεῖν τῷ θεράποντί σου. Πρὶν γὰρ ἀκοῦσαι θείας φωνῆς δοκεῖ τις λόγοις ὀξύς τε καὶ μεγαλόφωνος εἶναι. Καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ἔλεγε πρὸς τὸν Κτίστην· Ἐπεὶ ἠρξάμην λαλεῖν πρὸς τὸν Κύριον, ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδὸς, ὅπερ ἠγνόει πρὶν λαλῆσαι Θεῷ. Τοιοῦτος καὶ ὁ κτηνώδης παρ' αὐτῷ, μὴ γιγνώσκων ὀμοίως τὸ προνοοῦντι Θεῷ. Διαπαντὸς δὲ μετ' αὐτοῦ, ὁ διαπαντὸς κατορθῶν ἀρετὴν καὶ πᾶσαν εὐσέβειαν ἄνευ τινὸς περὶ ταύτης ἀνωμαλίας ἐν διαλείμμασιν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΟΒ' Source: Migne PG 39.1470c-d

I am made a beast before you, and I am always with you. 1 He does not say only, 'I am made a beast,' but also, 'before you.' For before the Father of wisdom and the God of knowledge every created thing is ignorant. Moses beholding God says, 'I am not eloquent, either before or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am clumsy of speech and tongue.' 2 Not absolutely does this most eloquent man speak, but 'since you have spoken to your servant,' For before he heard the Divine voice he judged himself to be skilled and celebrated in eloquence. Abraham also said to the Creator: 'Since I have begun to speak to my Lord, I am but earth and ash.' 3 which he did not know before he spoke to God. Such is the beast before Him, not having understanding like the providence of God. 'I am always with you.' He is always with Him who guards virtue and all piety, without any alteration in persistence in this. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 72 1 Ps 72.23 2 Exod 4.10 3 Genes 18.17

The Sixth Day

Post haec sexta die produxit terra animam vivam, quando caro nostra, abstinens ab operibus mortuis, viva virtutum germina parturit, secundum genus scilicet suum, id est, vitam imitando sanctorum, sicut Apostolus ait: Imitatores mei estote. Secundum nostrum quippe genus vivimus, quando in opere bono sanctos viros, quasi proximos, imitamur. Deinde produxit terra bestias, homines in potentia rerum, sive ferocitate superbiae. Similiter et pecora; fideles in simplicitate vitae viventes; serpentes quoque innoxios, sanctos videlicet viros, astutiae vivacitate bonum a malo discernentes, et in quantum fas est, reptando scrutantes terrena, per quae intelligant sempiterna, non illos venenosos qui se in hujus mundi cupiditatibus terrenis collocant. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput I Source: Migne PL 83.211c

After this, on the sixth day, the earth produced the living soul, which is when our flesh, withdrawing from the works of death, bears the living seed of the virtues, according to its type, 1 that is, life in imitation of the saints, as the Apostle said: 'Be imitators of me.' 2 Certainly we live according to our type when we imitate holy men by good works, like neighbours. Then the earth produced beasts, men powerful in the world, or wild with pride. Likewise cattle, who are the faithful living a simple life. Also serpents that are not venomous, who are holy men, who, possessing acute minds, are able to discern between good and evil, and in much as it is right, crawl around looking about at the things of the earth, through which eternal things are understood, and not as those venomous ones who amid the desires of this world gather to themselves the things of the world. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chapter 1 1 Gen 1.24 2 1 Cor 11.1

The Evil Of Man

Attendite vobis ab hominibus: tradent enim vos in conciliis, et in synagogis suis flagellabunt vos, et ante reges et praesides stabilis in testimonium illis, et gentibus. Ita dixit, Attendite vobis ab hominibus, quasi a quibusdam pessimis malis, et super omnia mala malis. Nam si non quasi homines accusans dixisset, sufficeret illi dicere, Attendite vobis, tradent enim vos. Nunc autem addidit, Attendite vobis ab hominibus: ostendere volens, quia prae omnibus malis homo est pessimum malum. Nam si bestiis comparare volueris eum, pejorem invenies eum. Bestia enim, quamvis sit crudelis, tamen quia est irrationabilis, declinabitur ab homine crudelitas ejus.Homo autem crudelis cum sit, et rationabilis, non facile evadetur crudelitas ejus. Si comparaveris hominem serpenti, perjorem invenies hominem: quoniam serpens, etsi malitiam habet, tamen hominis timorem habet. Ideo, si quem absconse potuerit, mordet: si autem non potuerit, fugit. Homo autem et malitiam habet serpentis, et timorem non habet sicut serpens. Ideo quamdiu non habet tempus, latet sicut serpens, si autem invenerit, irruit sicut bestia. Adhuc autem anguis, siquidem irritata fuerit, saevit, si autem irritata non fuerit, in silentio transit. Homo autem et non irritatus insanit, et magis super illos insanit a quibus non fuerit irritatus. Et ut breviter dicam, unaqueaque bestia unum habet et proprium malum; homo autem omnia habet in se. Denique homo malus pejor est quam ipse diabolus. Diabolus enim si videat justum, non est ausus ad eum accedere: homo autem malus, quamvis hominem sanctum viderit, non solum illum non timet, sed adhuc magis contemnit. Non enim diabolus homini praestat virtutem, sed homo diabolo. Arma enim diaboli est malus homo. Sicut enim homo sine armis non potest aliquid facere contra hostem, sic diabolus etiam sine homine non valet aliquid contra sanctos. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXIV Source: Migne PG 56.738

Keep yourselves from men, for they shall hand you over to courts, and they shall whip you in their assemblies, and before kings and governors you shall give witness, even before the Gentiles. 1 Thus He said, 'Keep yourself from men,' as from a certain type of the worst evils, an evil over every evil. For if He had not spoken to accuse men, it would have sufficed for Him to say, 'Keep yourselves, lest they hand you over.' But here He adds, 'Keep yourselves from men,' wishing to show that man is the worst evil before all other evils. For if you would compare him to the beasts, you would find him worse. For a beast, although cruel, yet because it is irrational, lacks the cruelty of man. A man when he is cruel, because he is rational, is not easy to avoid in his cruelty. If you would compare man to the serpent, you would find him worse, because the serpent, even if wicked, yet is fearful of man. Therefore if it is unseen, it bites, but if it is not able to hide, he flees. But man has the wickedness of the serpent, yet lacks the fear of the serpent. Therefore while he does not have the opportunity, he hides like the serpent, and if discovered rages like a beast. But the snake, if provoked shall be savage, but if not provoked, it shall pass by in silence. But a man even when not provoked is maddened, and more than anything rages against those who have not provoked him. And to speak briefly, any beast has its one proper evil, but man has all of them dwelling in him. Finally man is worse than the devil himself. For the devil sees the righteous man, and he does not dare come near him. But the wicked man, when he sees a holy man, he not only lacks fear, but he despises him all the more. The devil does not give power to a man, but man gives it to the devil. The wicked man is the weapon of the devil. As a man without arms is not able to accomplish anything against his enemy, so the devil without a man can accomplish nothing against the saints. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 24 1 Mt 10.17

The Stag And The Heights

Qui perfecit pedes meos tanquam cervi, et super excelsa statuit me. Frequenter hoc animal in Scripturis divinis in bono ponitur, ut est illud: Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum: ibi, quia nimium sitiunt; hic, quia velociter currunt. Norunt enim saltibus spinosa transcendere, et loca periculose hiantia transilire, sicut ille delicta saeculi humanam salutem pungentia, et foveas profundissimas peccatorum sanctis gressibus transmeavit. Et intende quemadmodum in comparatione cervorum permaneat, qui quando plana fugiunt, montium celsa conscendunt. Significat autem se super omnem creaturarum eminentiam constitutum, sicut dicit Apostolus: Et donavit illi nomen quod est super omne nomen, ut in nomine Iesu omne genu flectatur coelestium, terrestrium et infernorum. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XVII Source: Migne PG 70.133a-b

He who perfected my feet like the stag, and set me on the heights. 1 Frequently in the Divine Scriptures this animal is used for good, as in: 'Like the stag desires the founts of waters.' 2 There because they thirst excessively, here because they run swiftly. For they know how to pass over thorns with leaps and over perilous gulfs with bounds, as He with holy feet passed over the faults of the world which rend human salvation and the deep pits of sinners. And see how the comparison with stags remains, when they flee over the plains and climb up into the high mountains. This signifies an establishment in eminence over all other creatures, as the Apostle says: 'And He gave to Him the name which is above other names, that in the name of Jesus every knee of heaven would bow, and of earth and of hell.' 3 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 36 1 Ps 17.35 2 Ps 41.2 3 Philip 2.9-10

Animals And Passions

Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ Θεία Γραφὴ πρὸς τὰ πάθη τὰ ἐνοχλοῦντα οὕτω και τάς τῶν ἀλόγων προσηγορίας, πολλαχοῦ δὲ καὶ τῶν θηρέων τοῖς λόγῳ τετιμημένοις ἐπιτίθησι· ποτὲ μὲν κύνας καλοῦσα διὰ τὸ ἀναίσχυτον καὶ ἰταμόν· Κύνες γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐνεοὶ, οὐ δυνάμενοι ὑλακτεῖν· ποτὲ δὲ ἵππους διὰ τὸ λάγνον· Ἵπποι γὰρ θηλυμανεῖς ἐγένοντο, ἔκαστος ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον χρεμετίζοντες· ποτὲ δὲ ὄνους, διὰ τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην καὶ τὴν ἂνοιαν· Παρασυνεβλήθη γὰρ, φησὶ, τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοὴτοις, καὶ ὡμοιώθη αὐτοῖς· ποτὲ δὲ λέοντας καὶ παρδάλεις, διὰ τὸ ἁρπακτικὸν καὶ πλεονεκτικόν· ποτὲ δὲ ἀσπίδας, διὰ τὸ δολερόν· Ἰὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν· ποτὲ δὲ ὄφεις καὶ ἔχεις, διὰ τὸν ἰὸν καὶ τὴν πονηρίαν, καθὼς καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης ἐβόα, λέγων· Ὄφεις, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς; καὶ ἕτερα δὲ κατάλληλα τοῖς πάθεσιν ὀνόματα ἐπάγει, ἵνα κἂν οὕτως αἰδεσθέντες ὀψέ ποτε πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν εὐγένειαν ἐπανέλθωσι, καὶ σπείσωνται πρὸς τὸ ὁμογενὲς, καὶ τοὺς τοὐ Θεοῦ νόμους προτιμοτέρους ἡγήσωνται τῶν οἰκείων παθῶν, οἴς διὰ ῥᾳθυμίαν ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδεδώκασιν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Την Γενεσιν, Ὁμιλια ΙΒ' Source: Migne PG 53.102

Because of this Scripture refers to the various passions that trouble as irrational things, often as beasts which oppress those honoured with reason, sometimes naming them dogs for shamelessness and recklessness: 'Dumb dogs,' it says, 'unable to bark;' 1 sometimes horses for lust: 'They have become like horses mad for females, each one neighing after the wife of his neighbour,' 2 sometimes donkeys for senselessness and stupidity: 'Man is like the irrational beasts, and he is made like them;' 3 sometimes lions and leopards for their grasping and overreaching appetites, and sometimes asps because of deceit: 'The poison of asps,' it says, 'is beneath their lips;' 4 sometimes the serpent and viper, because of their venom and malignancy, as the blessed John cried out, saying: 'Serpents, brood of vipers, who showed you to flee from the coming wrath?' 5 And other names are given to describe different passions, so that men might be ashamed at last and return to their good birth and make treaty with their origin, and make choice for the laws of God against the occupations of the passions, by which they so carelessly cast themselves down. Saint John Chrysostom, On Genesis, from the Twelfth Homily 1 Isaiah 56.10 2 Jerem 5.8 3 Ps 48.13 4 Ps 139.4 5 Mt 3.7

The Camel And The Rich Man

Dicit in Evangelio Dominus Jesus Christus: Amen dico vobis, facilius est transire camelum per foramen acus, quam divitem intrare in regnum coelorum. Quae sententia vereor ne forte vobis conveniat, qui divitias saeculi hujus aut habetis aut quaertis. Sicut enim cameli animal, quod est tortuosum atque deforme, perversitas ipsa corporis per angustissimam acus cavernam praeterite non patitur: ita et divites oneratos avaritia, et cupiditate foedatos, ipsa vitae deformitas per arctam viam regni minime introire permittit. Ait enim idem Dominus: Arcta et angusta via est quae ducit ad vitam. Igitur in camelo difficultatem introitus praestat habitudo membrorum, In divite autem impedimentum magnitudo efficit peccatorum. Gibbus enim quidam est animae, turpe quod cogitate vel facere, ac mentis quaedam tortuosa deformitas, immundis rebus semper intendere, et ab Ecclesiae sancto limine curis saecularibus avocari. Unde mihi videtur hanc deformitatem corporis propheta spiritualiter elocutus, foeditatem morum potius indicasse, cum dicit: non sic glorietur gibberosus, sicut rectus. Quasi diceret: non ita glorietur peccator vitiorum suorum pravitate distortus, sicut gloriatur iustus conscientiae bonae simplicitate directus. Quamvis enim, o peccator, proceritate corporis gaudeas, quamvis scapularum tuarum aequalitate laeteris, anima tamen tua tuorum pravitate deformis est. Recte ergo camelo comparatus est dives. Siquidem illum a transitu acus corporis crassitudo revocat, hunc ab ingressu Ecclesiae patrimonii sollicitudo detentat. Et sicut illum parvum foramen non capit oneratum mole membrorum, ita et hunc introitus sanctus non suscipit gravatum cumulo delictorum. Uterque habet propriam sarcinam suam: ille oneratus est carnibus, iste peccatis; et sicut ille inhabilis est angustissimae acus cavernae, ita et hic inconveniens est beatissimo Dei regno; nisi quod camelum corpore incompositum natura, hunc autem pravum voluntas efficit. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia CXVII, De Camelo Source: Migne PL 57.525c-528b

The Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel: 'Truly I say to you that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.' 1 Which passage causes me to fear lest perhaps it befit you, who either hold or seek the riches of this world. As the camel is an animal which is twisted and deformed, which distortion of the body does not allow it to go through the hole of the needle, so the rich man is burdened by avarice, and defiled by lust for wealth, which deformity of life does not allow him in any way to come into the kingdom by the narrow way. For the Lord says, 'Narrow and hard the way which leads to life.' 2 Therefore in the camel the difficulty of entry is given by the disposition of the members, and with the rich man the greatness of the impediment is the gravity of sins. Humped indeed is that soul which thinks and acts viley, and by the twisted deformity of the mind is always attentive to foul things, and from the theshold of the Church is called away to worldly cares. Whence it seems to me that this deformity of body which the Prophet spiritually spoke on, was rather to indicate the foulness of conduct, when he said: 'It is not glorious to be humped but straight.' As if he had said: 'Let not the twisted sinner glory in the perversity of his vices, as the straight righteous man glories in the simplicity of a good conscience. For although, O sinner, you rejoice in the greatness of the body, although you take joy in the squareness of your shoulders, yet your soul is deformed by depravity.' Rightly, therefore, the rich man is compared to the camel. For just as the latter is prevented from passing through the eye of the needle by the greatness of its body, so the former by his cares is denied entry to the inheritance of the Church. And as the little eye is not gained by the latter's members burdened with weight, so even the former shall not receive entry into sanctitude on account of the heaped weight of his crimes. For both have their own burdens, the latter is burdened with flesh, the former with sin; and as the latter cannot fit through the most narrow aperture of the needle, so even the former is unfit for the most blessed kingdom of heaven. As the camel is made clumsy by the nature of its body, so the rich man is depraved by his will. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 117, On The Camel 1 Mt 19.24 2 Mt 7.14

Turning The Mind To God

Felix ergo qui per abstersionem continuam phantasmatum et imaginum, ac per introversionem et inibi per sursum ductionem mentis in Deum, tandem aliquando obliviscitur phantasmatum quodammodo, ac per hoc consequentes operatur interius nudo ac simplici ac puro intellectu et affectu circa objectum simplicissimum Deum. Omnia igitur phantasmata, species, imagines, ac formas rerum omnium citra Deum a mente rejicias, ut in solo nudo intellectu et affectu ac voluntate tuum pendeat exercitium circa Deum intra te. Nempe finis omnium exercitiorum hic est, scilicet intendere et quiescere in Domino Deo intra te per purissimum intellectum, et devotissimum affectum sine phantasmatibus et implicationibus. Hujusmodi autem exercitium non fit in organis carneis, et sensibus exterioribus, sed per quod quis homo est: homo vero quis est intellectu et affectu. Et idcirco quamdiu homo cum phantasmatibus et sensibus ludit, et eis insistit, videtur nondum exisse motus et limites bestialitatis suae, hoc est, illius quod cum bestiis habet commune. Quia illae per phantasmata et per tales sensitivas seu sensibiles species cognoscunt et afficiuntur, et non aliter, eo quod altiorem vim animae non habeant. Secus est de homine, secundum intellectum et affectum et liberum arbitrium, ad Dei imaginem et similitudinem creato, quibus debet Deo immediate, pure et nude imprimi, et uniri, firmiterque inhaerere. Quamobrem diabolus diligentissime et maxime conatur impedire illud exercitium, quantum potest, ex quo est quodammodo praeambulum et initium vitae aeternae, invidens super hoc homini. Idcirco nititur semper mentem hominis alienare a Domino Deo, nunc per istas, nunc per illas tentationes seu passiones, nunc sollicitudine superflua et cura indiscreta, nunc turbatione et conversatione dissoluta, curiositateque irrationabili: nunc per studia librorum subtilium, colloquia aliena, rumores et novitatem: nunc per aspera, nunc per contraria, etc. Quae tamen etsi nonnumquam levia et tamquam nulla videantur peccata, tamen magna sunt impedimenta hujus sancti exercitii et operis. Et ideo, etiamsi utilia et necessaria visa fuerint, sive magna sive parva, ut noxia et perniciosa illico sunt rejicienda penitus, et a sensibus propellenda. Summopere igitur necessarium est, ut audita, visa, facta, et dicta, et caetera similia sine phantasmatibus, imaginibus et occupationibus recipiantur, nec etiam ex consequenti vel antea vel tunc super hoc phantasmata et implicationes formentur et nutriantur. Et ita quando phantasmata non venit ad memoriam et mentem, tunc non impedit hominem, sive in oratione, meditatione, et psalmodia, sive in alia quacumque operatione et exercitatione spirituali, nec rursum iterato occurret ei. Et sic expedite secureque te totum, etiam plene omnia et singula committe infallibili et certissimae divinae providentiae cum silentio et quiete, et ipse pugnabit pro te: et melius, honestius ac dulcius liberabit te et consolabitur, quam si tu semper die noctuque de hoc continue phantasiareris, et vana vagaque ac captiva mente fatue sic et sic, hinc et inde discurreres errabundus, necnon mente et corpore deficiens tempus perderes, et vires stulte ac irrationabiliter consumeres. Cuncta ergo et singula, undecumque et qualitercumque occurrentia ortum habeant, sic accipe cum taciturnitate et tranquillitate aequanimiter, quemadmodum de manu paternae divinaeque providentiae tibi venirent. Nuda igitur te a phantasmatibus omnibus rerum corporearum, juxta tui status et professionis exigentiam, ut nuda mente et sincere inhaereas ei cui te multipliciter et totaliter devovisti, ut nihil quodammodo possibile sit medii inter animam tuam et ipsum, ut pure fixeque fluere possis a vulneribus humanitatis in lumen suae divinitatis. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, De Adhaerendo Deo Source: here

Happy, therefore, is he who by continual removal of appearances and images, by turning within, and by the leading the mind above to God, eventually is rid of every thing of the imagination, and by this consequently works within, nakedly and simply, and with a pure intellect and intent, on the simplest of all objects, God. So cast out from the mind all appearances, objects, images and shapes of all things other than God, so that, with just naked understanding, intent and will, your exertions will be concerned with God Himself within you. For this is the end of all such exercises, that is, to turn the mind to and rest in the Lord God within you with a completely pure understanding and a completely devoted will, without appearances and entanglements. This sort of exercise is not performed by the fleshly organs nor by the exterior senses, but by that by which one is man; for a man is  understanding and will. Therefore, while a man yet plays with images and the senses, and is attached to them, he appears as one who has not yet come out from the impulses and limitations of his animality, that is, what he has in common with the beasts. For these know and are moved by sense impressions and sensible images, and not otherwise, since they do not possess the higher powers of the soul. But with man, created in the image and likeness of God, it is by understanding, will, and free choice, that he should be directly, purely and nakedly impressed and united with God, and firmly adhere to Him. For this reason the Devil most diligently and strenuously tries to hinder this practice, as much as he can, being envious of this in man, for it is a sort of prelude and beginning of eternal life. So he is always striving to estrange man's mind from the Lord God, now by one sort of temptations or passions, and now by another sort, now by superfluous worries and trifling cares, now by disturbing and dissolute conversation and mindless curiosity, now by the study of subtle books, irrelevant discussion, rumours and novelties, now by difficulties, now by opposition, etc. Which things though they may seem trivial enough and not sinful, yet they are a great impediment to this holy exercise and work. Therefore, even if they seem to be useful and necessary, whether great or small, they should be completely rejected as harmful and dangerous, and driven out of the senses. Above all, therefore, it is necessary that things heard, seen, done and said, and other similar things, should be received without apperances,  imagination, and preoccupation, and one should not let past or future associations, implications or constructs of the imagination form and feed. For when appearances do not come to the memory and mind, a man is not hindered, whether in prayer, meditation, or reciting psalms, or in whatever other practice or spiritual exercise, nor will they recur again. So without delay commit yourself confidently and wholly, each and every thing, to the unfailing and most reliable Divine providence, in silence and peace, and He will fight for you; and better, He will more fully and sweetly liberate you and comfort you , more than if you were to be imagining it it all the time, day and night, and you were wandering around frantically here and there with the vain and confused thoughts of your mind in bondage, nor will you exhaust your mind and body, wasting your time, and stupidly and irrationally consuming your strength. So accept everything, separately and in general, wherever it comes from and whatever origin it has, in the silence and peace of an undisturbed mind, as coming to you from a father’s hand and His Divine Providence. So strip yourself  of the images of all physical things, according to your state and profession, so that you can adhere to Him with a bare and honest mind, as you have vowed to do many times and utterly, that nothing whatever be able to come between your soul and Him, so that you are able to flow purely and immoveably from the wounds of His humanity into the light of His Divinity. Saint Albert The Great, On Cleaving to God