Evil And Darkness

Si autem oculus tuus nequem fuerit, totum corpus tuum tenebrosum erit. Quae sunt in nobis tenebrae? Sensus carnales, malevoli et iniqui, qui semper desiderant quae sunt tenebrarum, et non lucis. In quo enim alio delectatur carnis natura, nisi in avaritia, in libidine, in superbia, in deliciis, caeterisque malis, quae ad tenebrosam mortem deducunt? Et qui intelligit quid est, quod Caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, ille intelligit quia tenebrae sunt carnis natura. Qui ergo oculum habet mundum, id est, mentem spiritualem, caelestia semper aspicientem, corpus suum servat lucidum, id est, sine peccato. Si enim caro desiderat ea quae diximus mala, secundum suam naturam homo habens mentem lucidam, et spem ad Deum, justitiae consideratione dijudicat eam, et divini timoris virtute repercutit eam: et sic quamvis nolentem, tamen servat eam lucidam, id est, sine peccato. Intellexisti ergo, quomodo qui oculum habet simplicem, corpus suum lucidum habet: qui autem oculum, id est mentem habet aut malignitate aliqua tenebrosam, aut divitiarum concupiscentia turbulentam, tenebrosum possidet corpus? Nam quae res faciunt mentem hominis spiritualem esse mundum, ipsae res ex diverso faciunt carnalem et sordidam. Quomodo fit munda mens illius, qui facit eleemosynas, et spem habet in caelo, spes autem in Deum facit mentem spiritualem et mundam: sic qui divitias congregat cum peccato, spem suam ponit in terra: qui autem spem habet in terra, illius mens carnalis est et immunda. Illius ergo tota caro in tenebris est, id est, in peccatis. Quomodo? Quando enim caro secundum suam naturam, sicut diximus, concupiscit perversa, homo spem habens in terra, et mentem concupiscentiis turbulentam, non ei contradicit, nec justitiae consideratione dijudicat, nec judicii futuri virtute repercutit: quia nec videt cum sit caecus, nec intelligit esse malum quod malum est, et si vult, non potest, quia spem non habet nisi in saeculo. Scimus autem quia spes nobis praestat virtutem, ut carnalibus concupiscentiis resistamus: qui autem spem non habet in caelo, virtutem non habet resistere concupiscentiis suis, et ideo fit caro illius tota tenebrosa. Et ut brevius et manifestius exponamus: anima priusquam peccet, divino auxilio confortata, regina et domina est corporis sui, et quasi libera et regina sedet in throno cordis sui, et gubernat corpus suum quasi palatium suum, nec potest illam vincere caro. Si autem gravibus se peccatis obligaverit, tunc divino auxilio destituta, et in potestate spirituum immundorum redacta, fit debilis et infirma, ut non jam sit domina corporis sui, sed ancilla magis: et jam non caro animae subjecta est, sed anima carni, nec quod vult anima, caro facit, sed quod caro coegerit, hoc anima facit. Intellexisti ergo, quomodo qui oculum mentis sordidum habet, totum corpus illius tenebrosum est? Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XV Source: Migne PG 56.721

If your eye is wicked, your whole body will be full of darkness. 1 What is the darkness in us? The carnal senses, malevolent and wicked, which always desire the things of darkness and not the light. In what else does the carnal nature delight but in avarice and lust and pride and pleasures, and other evils, which lead to the darkness of death? And he understood what this is, he who said, 'The flesh desires against the spirit.' 2 He understood that the carnal nature is a darkness. Therefore he who has a clean eye, that is, a spiritual mind, he always looks to heavenly things, and he makes his body full of light, that is, without sin. For if the flesh desires the things which we have said are evil, according to its nature the man who has a mind of light, and hope in God, he judges the flesh with the consideration of righteousness, and he strikes it with the power of Divine fear, and so although it is unwilling, he makes it serve the light, that is, without sin. Have you understood, then, that he who has an innocent eye has a body full of light, but he whose eye, that is, the mind, is dark with any wickedness, even the troubling desire for wealth, he possesses a body of darkness? For there are things which make the mind of a man clean and spiritual, and there are different things which make it carnal and foul. He makes the mind clean who gives alms, and he who has hope in heaven and hope in God makes the mind spiritual and clean, but he who gathers wealth with sin, he puts his hope in the world, and he who has his hope in he world has a mind that is carnal and unclean. Therefore all the flesh is in darkness, that is, in sin. How? When flesh, as we have said, according to its nature desires perverse things, a man has hope in the world and the mind is troubled with desires, and he does not dispute with it, nor give thought to the consideration of righteousness, nor is he shaken by the power of future judgement, because he is blind and does not see such things, nor does he understand something to be evil which is evil, and if he wishes to he is not able, because he has no hope unless in the world. And we know that hope bestows strength on us, so that we can resist carnal desires, but he who has no hope in heaven, he has no strength to resist his own desires, and therefore his flesh is full of darkness. And that we might expound this briefly and more manifestly, before a soul sins, it is strengthened with Divine help, and it is a queen and mistress of its own body, and as a free woman and queen it sits on the throne of its heart and rules its body as its palace, and the flesh is unable to overthrow it, but if it binds itself with weighty sins, then destitute of the divine help, it is dragged off into the power of unclean spirits and made weak and infirm, so that it is no longer the mistress of its own body but rather a slave woman, for now the flesh is not subject to the soul but the soul to the flesh, and it is not what the soul wishes that will direct the flesh, but the soul will do what the flesh desires. Do you understand, then, how it is that he who has the eye of his mind soiled is the one who has his whole body full of darkness? Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 15 1 Mt 6.23 2 Galat 5.7

Judgement And Salvation

Οὔτε ἡ ἀρετὴ, οὔτε ἡ κακία μένει αμετάπτωτος, καὶ ἀκίνητος, ἐπειδὴ ἐθελότρεπτόν ἐστι ἀνθρώπινον γένος. Ὂνπερ τοίνυν ὑπολαμβάνεις τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἀμελέστατον εἶναι, ὅνπερ νομίζεις ἁμαρτωλὸν ὑπο ἄρχειν, οὐκ οἶδας, μήποτε καθ' ἑαυτὸν στενάξας, καὶ μεταβαλλόμενος ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον, παρὰ Θεῷ σώζεται. Σὺ δὲ ἀγονῶν εὐτελίζεις πολλάκις τὸν τοιοῦτον, καὶ λοιδορεῖς , καὶ πικρῶς κατακρίνεις τὸν ὑπὲρ σὲ σωζόμενον ἄνθρωπον. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Δεύτερον, ΡΚΔ' Εὑλυσιῳ Μοναχῳ Source: Migne PG 79.253b

Since the human race is changeable neither virtue nor wickedness remain constant and unchanging. He, then, whom you reckon to be the most negligent brother and whom you judge to be a sinner, you do not know that  sometimes he groans over himself and is changing into something better, being saved by God. And being ignorant you often think such a man is worthless and you abuse and bitterly scorn him who is being saved over you. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 2, Letter 124 to Eulysios the Monk

Good And Bad Glory

Quid gloriatur in malitia, potens iniquitate tota die? Querela prophetae est, gloriari eum in iniquitate tota die, qui in malitia potens est. Et haec quidem gloria inquitatis arguitur. Caeterum est gloria et expetenda et confitenda, et affectu quodam exsultantis gaudii eloquenda: quod utrumque sub iisdem dictis alius propheta demonstrat, dicens: Non glorietur sapiens in sapientia sua, neque fortis in fortitudine sua, neque dives in divitiis suis: sed qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur. Vetitis enim primum improbabilis gloriae causis, causam rursum gloriae competentis ostendit. Quo exemplo beatus Apostolus scit, in nullo sibi, nisi in uno tantum esse gloriandum, cum ait: Mihi autem absit gloriari, nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi, per quem mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo. Non ergo gloria istiusmodi, sed gloria iniquitatis offendit; et ejus iniquitatis, quae die tota sit. Diem pro aetate vel tempore hominis nuncupari solere meminimus, cum dicitur: Diem hominis non concupivi: vel rursum cum Abraham diem Domini desideravit: vel cum Apostolus Satanae tradit in interitum carnis, ut spiritus salvus sit in die Domini , non hunc diem ortu solis occasuque finitum, sed diem constituti temporis vel aetatis ostendens. Potens ergo in malitia, gloriatur in iniquitate tota die. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LI Source: Migne PL 9.311b-312a

Why glory in wickedness, you who are powerful in iniquity the whole day? 1 The prophet complains against the one who glories in wickedness the whole day, he who is powerful in evil, and he disputes this glory of wickedness. There is a glory that should be sought and that should be delighted in and which should be proclaimed with a certain exultant joy, which both things another prophet shows with his words when he says, 'Let the wise man not glory in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches, but he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.' 2 Having prohibited the shameful causes of glorying, he then revels the fitting cause of glory, which example the blessed Apostle knows, that is, that one should not glory in oneself but in one alone, hence he says, 'Let it not be me for to glory, unless in the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord, through which the world has have been crucified to the me, and I to the world.' 3 It is not glorying in this way that offends, but glorying in iniquity, and his iniquity which is for the whole day, which day we should be aware is given for an age, or for the time of a man, as when it is said, 'I have not desired the day of man,' or again when Abraham desired the day of the Lord, or when the Apostle handed over to Satan for the ruin of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord. 4 It is not this finite day of the sun's rising and setting, but the day that indicates a time or age. Therefore the one powerful in wickedness glories in iniquity the whole day Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 51 1 Ps 51.3 2 Jerem 9.23-24 3 Galat 6.14 4 Jerem 17.16, Jn 8.56, 1 Cor 5.5

Sheep And Wolves

In illo tempore dixit Jesus discipulis suis: Ecce ego mitto vos sicut oves in medio luporum. Sed hoc videamus, quare istos quidem dixit quasi oves, illos autem non quasi lupos, sed lupos. Si enim istos propter solam causam mansuetudinis oves dixisset, quoniam natura quide homines erant, mansuetudine autem oves, utique et illos quasi lupos dixisset: quoniam et illi, etsi crudelitate quasi lupi erant, tamen natura similiter homines erant. Puto ergo ista ratione istos quidem quasi oves dictos, illos autem quasi lupos, sed ad plenum lupos: quoniam homo Dei, quamvis fuerit bonus, tamen semper habet in se aliqud mali secundum carnem, quasi homo: et ovis quidem dicitur, propter quod bonus: quasi ovis autem, qua non ad plenum bonus. Qui autem Deum non cognoscit, nihil in se boni potest habere, propterea lupus dicitur, non quasi lupus, quia nihil boni habet in se, quia in se non cognoscit Deum. Causa est ista, quia omnes homines secundum carnis naturam mali sumus: et dicit Apostolus, Natura sumus filii irae: sed per timorem Dei efficimur boni. Quamvis autem per timorem Dei efficimur boni, tamen semper aliquid naturalis mali remanet in natura hominum. Ergo si natura carnalis compellit fieri malum, timor Dei ex parte retinet eum a malo. Hominem non cognoscentem Deum, aut cognoscentem quidem, sed non timentem, natura compellit facere malum, et timor Dei non retinet a malo, et ideo non potest esse in illis aliquid boni, nisi forte propter homines, quando ipsum non est bonum, sed malum, quod est propter Deum. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXIV Source: Migne PG 56.756-7

In that time Jesus said to His disciples, 'Behold, I send you out like sheep in the midst of wolves.' 1 Let us consider this, why the former are like sheep and the latter are not like wolves, but simply wolves. For if because of the sole reason of meekness He called them sheep, since they yet had the nature of men but the meekness of sheep, so he would have said the latter were like wolves, because even they, even if they were as cruel as wolves, yet likewise had the nature of men. I think, then, that this is the reason why the former are like sheep and the latter are not like wolves but fully wolves, because the man of God, although he is good, yet always has in himself a certain evil according to the flesh as a man, and he is called a sheep on account of what is good, but he is like a sheep because he is not fully good. He who does not know God is not able to have anything good in him, because of which he is called a wolf and not like a wolf, because he has no good in him, since in himself he does not know God. This is the reason why we are all evil men according to the nature of the flesh, as the Apostle says, 'By nature we are sons of wrath, but through the fear of God we are made good.' 2 But though we are made good through the fear of God, yet there always remains some evil in the nature of men. Therefore if the carnal nature compels one to evil, the fear of God restrains one from evil. A man who does not know God, or who knows something but does not fear Him, is by nature driven to evil, and the fear of God does not restrain him, and therefore it is not possible that there is any good in him, unless according to men, for he is not good but evil according to God. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 24 1 Mt 5.44 2 Ephes 2.3

Scripture And Life

Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφὰς, ὅτι ὑμεῖς δοκεῖτε ἐν αὐταῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχειν· καὶ ἐκεῖναί εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ, καὶ οὐ θέλετε έλθεῖν πρὸς με, ἴνα ζωὴν ἔχητε . Δόξαν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ λαμβάνω, ἀλλ᾽ ἔγνωκα ὑμᾶς , ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. Εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι, Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέστιν, αἱ Γραφαὶ αἱ περὶ ἐμοῦ μαρτυροῦσαι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ὑμῖν. Διδάσχων οὖν πῶς δυνήσονται σχεῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, φησίν· Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφάς· ἐν αὐταῖς γὰρ δοκεῖτε ὑμεῖς ζωὴν ἔχειν. Ὄρα δὲ πῶς οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἔχετε ζωὴν, ἀλλ᾽, Ὅτι δοκεῖτε· δοκεῖτε δὲ εἰπε, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐδὲν κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἐκεῖθεν έκαρποῦντο, ἀπὸ τῆς ἀναγνώσεως μόνης σώζεσθαι προσδοκῶντες, πίστεως μὴ προσούσης. Ἐκεῖναι μὲν γάρ εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ· ἀλλ' ὑμεῖς οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν πρός με, ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχητε. Ὥστε κἀντεῦθεν μανθάνωμεν, ὡς ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἦσαν κακοί. Οὐκ εἶπε γὰρ , ὅτι Οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι Οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν. ᾿Ακουέτωσαν Μανιχαῖοι, ὅτι οὐ φύσει τὸ κακὸν, ἀλλὰ προαιρέσει συνίσταται. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀνέμνησεν αὐτοὺς τῆς Ἰωάννου μαρτυρίας, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τῆς δια τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, διὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτῶν μόνον ταῦτα ποιῶν· εἰκὸς δὲ ἦν πολλοὺς ὑποπτεύειν, ὅτι δόξης ἔρωτι ταῦτα λέγει· διὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι Δόξαν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ λαμβάνω· τουτέστι, Δόξης οὐ δέομαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ φύσιν ἔχω τοιαύτην, ὥστε δεῖ σθαι τῆς παρὰ ἀνθρώπων δόξης. Ὑμεῖς δὲ διώκετέ με προφασιζόμενοι, ὅτι δι' ἀγάπην Θεοῦ τοῦτο ποιεῖτε. ᾿Αλλ' οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔστι. Ἔγνωκα γὰρ ὑμᾶς , ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· κἂν ἄνω καὶ κάτω τοῦτο προβάλλοισθε, τὸ διὰ τὸ διώκειν με. Εἰκότως οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ εἶχον, ἐπεὶ ἐδίωκον τὴν αὐτο αγάπην, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰκότως καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἶχον μένοντα ἐν αὐτοῖς· τὸν γὰρ Λόγον καὶ Θεὸν παρῃτοῦντο . Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ιὠαννὴν, Κεφαλὴ E' Source: Migne PG 123.1280a-c

You study the Scriptures because you think you will find eternal life in them, and they bear witness to me, and you do not wish to come to me that you might have life. I do not receive glory from men, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 1 He said to them, that is, the word of God said, that the Scriptures which testify about me, they are not in you. Then teaching how one is able to have the word of God, He says, 'You study the Scriptures because you think you will find eternal life in them.' Note how He does not say 'You have eternal life,' but 'you think' showing that they do not gather according to truth there who hope to be saved from reading alone, not coming near to faith. For 'they bear witness to me, and you do not wish to come to me, so that you might have life.' Hence we learn from this that they were wicked. For He does not say, 'You are not able to come,' but 'You do not wish to come,' Let the Manicheans hear that nothing is evil by nature, but it is established in the will. Then having borne witness to John and the Father, and the works He had performed for their salvation, He says that they scorned many of them, as if they were done for the love of glory. Therefore He says, 'I do not receive glory from men,' that is, 'I do not lack it, but nor do I have a nature which values human glory. But you persecute me, saying that is on account of the love of God that you do this, but it is not so. I know that you do not have the love of God in you, even if you boast of it, because you persecute me because of God.' Rightly, then, it is said that the Jews do not have the love of God, since they persecute that same love which is the Son of God. Hence rightly are they said not to have the word of God abiding in them, for they rejected the Word and God. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 5 1 Jn 5.39-42

Sorrow And Joy

Nescio quid dicam vel quid loquar amplius de defunctis filiorum Dei, quos gladius supra modum dure tetigit. Scriptum est enim: Flete cum flentibus, et iterum: Si dolet unum membrum condoleant omnia membra. Quapropter ecclesia plorat et plangit filios et filias suas quas adhuc gladius nondum interfecit, sed prolongati et exportati in longa terrarum, ubi peccatum manifeste graviter impudenter abundat, ibi venundati ingenui homines, Christiani in servitute redacti sunt, praesertim indignissimorum pessimorum apostatarumque Pictorum. Idcirco cum tristitia et maerore vociferabo: O speciosissimi atque amantissimi fratres et filii quos in Christo genui enumerare nequeo, quid faciam vobis? Non sum dignus Deo neque hominibus subvenire. Praevaluit iniquitas iniquorum super nos. Quasi extranei facti sumus. Forte non credunt unum baptismum percepimus vel unum Deum patrem habemus. Indignum est illis Hiberionaci sumus. Sicut ait: Nonne unum Deum habetis? Quid dereliquistis unusquisque proximum suum? Idcirco doleo pro vobis, doleo, carissimi mihi; sed iterum gaudeo intra meipsum: non gratis laboravi vel peregrinatio mea in vacuum non fuit. Et contigit scelus tam horrendum ineffabile, Deo gratias, creduli baptizati, de saeculo recessistis ad paradisum. Cerno vos: migrare coepistis ubi nox non erit neque luctus neque mors amplius, sed exultabitis sicut vituli ex vinculis resoluti et conculcabitis iniquos et erunt cinis sub pedibus vestris. Vos ergo regnabitis cum apostolis et prophetis atque martyribus. Aeterna regna capietis, sicut ipse testatur inquit: Venient ab oriente et occidente et recumbent cum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum. Foris canes et venefici et homicidae, et: Mendacibus periuris pars eorum in stagnum ignis aeterni. Non inmerito ait Apostolus: Ubi iustus uix salvus erit, peccator et impius transgressor legis ubi se recognoscet? Unde enim Coroticus cum suis sceleratissimis, rebellatores Christi, ubi se videbunt, qui mulierculas baptizatas praemia distribuunt ob miserum regnum temporale, quod utique in momento transeat? Sicut nubes vel fumus, qui utique vento dispergitur, ita peccatores fraudulenti a facie Domini peribunt. Sanctus Patricius, Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum Source: Migne PL 53.817a-518b

I do not know what to say, or how to say more about the deaths of the children God, whom the sword has touched so cruelly. As it is written, 'Weep with those who weep,' and again, 'If one member suffers pain, let all the members suffer.' 1 For which reason the Church mourns and weeps for its sons and daughters whom the sword has not yet slain, but who have been taken away and exported far across the earth, where direst sin openly abounds without shame, and where freeborn men have been sold and Christians reduced to slavery, and certainly among the lowest and worst of the apostate Picts. Therefore I cry out in sorrow and grief, 'O my fairest and most beloved brothers and sisters whom I begot without number in Christ, what am I to do for you? I am not worthy to help God or men. The wickedness of the wicked has prevailed over us. We have been made as if we were complete outsiders. Perhaps they not believe we have received one and the same Baptism, or that we have one God as a father. For them it is a disgrace that we are from Ireland. As it says, 'Do you not have one God? Why have you each abandoned your neighbour?' 2 Therefore I grieve for you, I grieve for my dearest ones, but again I rejoice within myself, that I have not worked without thanks, 3 and my wanderings were not in vain. An unspeakably horrifying crime has occurred, but, thanks to God, you who are baptised believers have withdrawn from this world to paradise. I see you, you have begun to travel to where there is no night any longer, nor sorrow, nor death, rather you leap for joy, like calves set free from chains, and you tread down the wicked, and they will be like ashes beneath your feet. 4 Therefore you will reign with Apostles and Prophets and Martyrs. You will take possession of an eternal kingdom, as He testifies in these words, 'They will come from the east and from the west, and they will recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heaven.' 'Left outside are dogs and sorcerers and murderers,' and 'With the lying perjurers their lot is in a lake of eternal fire.' It is not without reason that the Apostle says: 'When the righteous man shall hardly be saved, how will it be with the sinner and the impious transgressor of the law?' 5 So where will Coroticus and his lawless rebels against Christ find themselves, those who divide up baptised women as rewards, for a miserable temporal kingdom which will pass away in a moment. Just as clouds or smoke are blown away by the wind, that is how deceitful sinners will perish from the face of the Lord. Saint Patrick, Apostle of the Irish, from The Letter to Coroticus 1 Rom 12.15, 1 Cor 12.26 2 Malachi 2.20 3 Ps Phil 2.16 4 Apoc 21.4, Malachi 4.2-3 5 Mt 8.11, Apoc 22.15, 1 Pet 4.18

Hating The Light

Qui male agit odit lucem... Nota, quod lucem odiunt tria genera hominum, scilicet pigri; lob vigesimo quarto: Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini , nescierunt vias eius nec reversi sunt per semitas eius. Infirmi; primi Regum tertio exemplum de Heli, qui non poterat videre lucernam, donec exstingueretur. Malefici; unde hic, loannis tertio: Omnis, qui male agit odit lucem. Odit piger lucem, quia ipsum excitat; infirmus, quia cruciat; maleficus, quia ipsum manifestat. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput IV, Collatio XIV Source: Here, p554

He who does evil hates the light...1 Note that there are three types of men who hate the light. Firstly the unwilling, in the twenty fourth chapter of Job, 'They were rebels against the light, they did not acknowledge His ways, nor did they return on His paths.' 2 Secondly the weak, as in the third chapter of the first book of Kings, with the example of Eli, who was not able to see the light, and then it was extinguished. 3 Finally there are those who do evil, whence it says in the third chapter of John, 'All who do evil hate the light.' 4 The unwilling man hates the light because it makes demands of him, the weak man because it troubles him, the evil doer because it exposes him. Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 4 1 Job 8.11 2 Job 24.13 3 1 Kings 3.2-3 4 Jn 3.20

The Poor Of Spirit

Beati pauperes spiritu: quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum. Pauper spiritu est humilis corde: id est, pauperem spiritum habens, qui non maga sapit de se. Sicut ex diverso dives spiritu intelligitur magna de se sapiens, et superbus, qui non implet mandatum Christi dicentis: Nisi conversi facti fueritis sicut puer iste, non intrabitis in regnum coelorum. Qui enim jam conversus factus est sicut puer, ille est et pauper spiritu. Et qui pauper est spiritu, ille conversus factus est sicut puer. Et secundum testimonium quidem Christi,et Apostoli, Plentiudo legis dilectio est; tamen nutrix dilectionis humilitas est, et totius mali odii mater superbia. Ergo totius boni initium humilitas est, et totius mali superbia. Denique et perditionis initium a superbia coepit per diabolum, initiumque salutis ab humilitate per Christum: propterea convenienter et ominum beatituduinem humilitarem fecit initium. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia IX Source: Migne PG 56.680

Blessed are the poor of spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 1 Poverty of spirit is a humble heart, 2 that is, he who is poor of spirit does not think great things about himself. So on the contrary he is rich in spirit who thinks great things about himself and he is proud and does not fulfil the commandment of Christ which says, 'Unless you turn and become as this child you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.' 3 For he who has turned is like a child who is poor in spirit, and he who is poor in spirit has turned and become as a child. And according to the testimony of Christ and the Apostle, 'Love is the fullness of the law,' 4 but humility is the nurse of love, and pride is the mother of every hateful evil. Therefore humility is the beginning of every good, and pride of every evil. Finally the beginning of damnation begins by pride through the devil, and the beginning of salvation by humility through Christ. Hence it was fitting that He made humility the beginning of all the beatitudes. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 9 1 Mt 5.3 2 Lk 6.20 3 Mt 18.5 4 Rom 13.10

Sin And Repentance

Μὴ ἀφῇς ἀνεξάλειπτον ἁμαρτίαν, κἂν βραχυτάτη τυγχάνῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὕστερον ἐπὶ μεῖζον κακὸν κατασύρῃ σε. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.921a-b

Do not dismiss a sin that is unrepented, for though things may go well for a little while, it will not be long before it drags you down into greater evil. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Refusing To Confess

Quomodo dicis, Non sum polluta, post Baalim non abii? Vide vias tuas in convalle. Sive valle, quae Hebraice dicitur ge, et a LXX interpretatur πολυάνδριον, quod sermone nostro dicit potest, sepulcrum multitudinis. Frustra, inquit, non vis confiteri sclerea sua, et jactas munditiam, quae idololatriae polluta es sordibus; et impudenter negas te coluisse idolum Baalim. Respice convallem filiorum Ennon, quae Siloe fontibus irrigatur, et ibi cernes delubrum Baal, quem relicto Dei, venerata es. Quodque additur: Scito quid feceris, clausos oculos aperit denegantis, ut cernat quod erubescit aspicere. Juxta tropologiam, impudentiam frontis eorum qui nolunt sua vitia confiteri, operibus arguamus. Hujuscemdoi enim homines non ambulant in arcta et in angusta via, quae ducit ad vitam: sed in lata et spatiosa, per quam ingrediuntur plurimi, quae ducit ad mortem. Unde et significanter πολυάνδριον nominata est. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Prophetam, Liber I, Caput II Source Migne PL 24.720d-721a

How do you say, 'I am not polluted. I have not gone off after the Baals?' Look at your ways in the valley. 1 The word valley or vale in Hebrew is 'Ge,' and was rendered by the Septuagint as 'polyandrion,' which one can say in our tongue is 'tomb of many' It is in vain, it says, that you refuse to confess your evil deeds and you boast that you are clean, even though you are polluted with the filth of idolatry and shamelessly you deny that you have worshipped the idol of the Baals. Look at the valley of the sons of Hinnom which the springs of Siloam water, and there you will see the shrine of Baal, whom you have venerated, forsaking God. And what is added, 'know what you have done,' opens the closed eyes of him who denies it, so that he will see what he blushes to look on. According to the tropological sense, let us dispute the deeds of those with proud faces, who refuse to admit their vices, for such men will not walk on the straight and narrow path that leads to life, but on the wide and spacious path that leads to death, through which many enter. 2  Whence the name of 'polyandrion,' that is, 'tomb of many' is given. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Jerem 2.23 2 Mt 7.13-14

Creating The Devil

ΕΡΩΤ ΛϚ’ Διὰ τί δὲ τὸν διάβολον ἐποίησεν, εἰδὼς τοιοῦτον ἐσόμενον; Ο Θεὸς πᾶσαν τῶν ἀσωμάτων τὴν φύσιν έδημιούργησε, λογικὴν αὐτὴν καὶ ἀθάνατον ἀποφήνας· τοῦ λογικοῦ δὲ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον ἴδιον. Τούτων δὲ οἱ μὲν τὴν περὶ τὸν ποιητὴν ἐφύλαξαν εὔνοιαν, οἱ δὲ εἰς πονηρίαν ἀπέκλιναν. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔστιν εὑρεῖν. Οἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσι τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐρασταὶ, οἱ δὲ τῆς κακίας εργάται. Εἰ τοίνυν μέμφεταί τις τῇ τῶν πονηρῶν δημιουργίᾳ, ἀποστερεῖ ἄρα τῶν τῆς νίκης βραβείων τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀθλητάς. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐν τῇ αἱρέσει τῆς γνώμης εἶχον τὸν πόθον τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀλλὰ ἐμπεφυκὸς τὸ ἄτρεπτον, ἔλαθον ἂν οἱ ἀξιόνικοι τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγωνισταί· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν αἵρεσιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων, ἔχει ἡ γνώμη, δικαίως καὶ οὗτοι τυγχάνουσι τῶν νικηφόρων στεφάνων, κἀκεῖνοι δίκας τιννύουσιν ὑπὲρ ὧν κατὰ γνώμην ἐξήμαρτον. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.132b-c

Question 36 Why did God create the devil when He knew what would come to be? God created the whole incorporeal nature, making it rational and immortal, and it is the special property of rationality that it has free will. So it was that some of them cleaved to the benevolence of God and others fell into wickedness, which it is possible to observe even among men, for some are lovers of virtue and others exert themselves in wickedness. If, then, someone is troubled by the creation of wicked things, he deprives the athlete of virtue of the rewards of victory, for if in the choices of the will they had no desire for virtue, but their nature was fixed for it, they would be utterly ignorant of the excellence of the holy athlete, but when the will has the choice of good and evil, some rightly gain the crown of victory, and those who do not choose such things suffer punishment. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis

Killings In Bethlehem

Τότε Ἡρώδης ἰδὼν, ὅτι ενεπαίχθη ὑπὸ τῶν Μάγων... Ὥσπερ τῷ Φαραὼ ἐνέπαιξεν ὁ Θεὸς διὰ Μωϋσέως, οὕτω καὶ τῷ Ἡρώδῃ διὰ τῶνΜάγων· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄμφω, καὶ Ἡρώδης καὶ Φαραὼ, παιδοκτόνοι. Ὁ μὲν Φαραὼ τὰ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ Ἑβραίων ἄῤῥενα φονεύων, ὁ δὲ Ἡρώδης, τὰ τῶν ἐν Βηθλεέμ. Ἐθυμώθη λίαν, καὶ ἀποστείλας ἀνεῖλε πάντας τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἐν Βηθλεέμ. Τὴν κατὰ τῶν Μάγων ὀργὴν, κατὰ τῶν οὐδὲν ἀδικησάντων, ἐνδείκνυται . Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν συνεχωρήθησαν' οἱ παῖδες σφαγῆναι; Ἵνα δειχθῇ τοῦ Ἡρώδου ἡ κακία· ἀλλ᾽ ἴσως ἐρεῖς μοι· Καὶ τὶ τοῦτο; ἵνα δειχθῇ ἡ ἐκείνου κακία, διὰ τοῦτο ἠδικήθησαν οἱ παῖδες; ῎Ακουε τοίνυν, ὅτι οὐκ ἠδικήθησαν, ἀλλὰ στεφάνων ἠξιώθησαν. Πᾶς γὰρ ὁ·κακόν τι πάσχων ἐνταῦθα, ἢ εἰς ἁμαρτημάτων διάλυσιν πάσχει , ἢ εἰς στεφάνων προσθήκην· ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ οὗτοι οἱ παῖδες, μειζόνως στεφανωθήσονται. Καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς, ἀπὸ διετοῦς καὶ κατωτέρω, κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ὂν ἠκρίβωσε παρὰ τῶν Μάγων. Τότε ἐπληρώθη τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ Ἱερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου, λέγοντος, Ἴνα μή τις νομίσῃ, ὅτι ἄκοvτος τοῦ Θεοῦ γέγονεν ἡ τῶν νηπίων ἀναίρεσις, δείκνυσιν ὅτι καὶ προεγίνωσκε καὶ προείπεν. Φωνὴ ἐν Ῥαμᾷ ἡκούσθη. Ἡ Ῥαμά, τόπος ἦν τῆς Παλαιστίνης ὑψηλός. Τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ ὄνομα, ὑψηλήν· ἔλαχε δὲ εἰς κλῆρον τῇ φυλῇ τοῦ Βενιαμίν, ὃς ἦν τῆς Ῥαχὴλ υἱός· ἡ δὲ Ῥαχὴλ, ἐv τῇ Βηθλεὲμ ἐτάφη. Λέγει τοίνυν τὴν Βηθλεὲμ ὁ προφήτης , Ῥαχήλ, διότι ἐν αὐτῇ ἐτάφη ἐκείνη· τὸν δὲ κλαυθμὸν καὶ τὸν θρῆνον, ἀκουσθῆναι ἐν τῇ ὑψηλῇ. Ἄκουε τοίνυν τοῦ προφήτου· θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμὸς, καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολύς· Ραχήλ κλαίουσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς, τουτέστιν, ἡ Βηθλεέμ, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελε παρακληθῆναι , ὅτι οὐκ εἰσίν. Ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ οὐκ εἰσὶν, ἐπεὶ ἀἱ ψυχαὶ, ἀθάνατοι. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ B' Source: Migne PG 123.169a-c

Then Herod, perceiving that he had been tricked by the Magi... 1 As Pharoah was outwitted by God through Moses, so Herod was through the Magi, since both Herod and the Pharoah were murderers of children. Pharaoh killed the first born boys of the Hebrews in Egypt 2 and Herod the those of Bethlehem. 'He was exceedingly angry and commanded that all the male boys in Bethlehem should be slain.' He reveals his anger against the Magi who offended in nothing. But why were the boys allowed to be killed? So that the wickedness of Herod might be shown. But perhaps you will say to me, 'Why in this way? Can his wickedness not be exposed but that little boys must suffer violence?' Hear then, that it was to win crowns they there were afflicted. All who suffer some injury here, either suffer that sin might be cleansed, or that a crown might be gained, and so even these boys were crowned. 'And to all the borders, from two years and under, according to the time that had been reckoned by the Magi. Then were fulfilled the words of Jeremiah the prophet, who said... Lest anyone think that the killing of the little ones was done without God's knowledge, he shows it was foreknown and predicted. A cry in Rhama was heard... 3 Rhama was a high place in Palestine, and the name signifies a high place, and it was part of the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, who was a son of Rachel, and Rachel was buried in Bethlehem. 4 Therefore the prophet speaks of Bethlehem and Rachel because Rachel was buried there, and weeping and groaning was heard in the heights. Hear, then, the prophet, 'Lamentation and tears and much weeping. Rachel weeping for her children,' that is, of Bethlehem, 'and she was unwilling to be consoled, because they are no more.' 3 They are no more in this world, because their souls are immortal. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 2 1 Mt 2.16 2 Exod 1.8-22 3 Jerem 31.15 4 Genes 35.17-20

Commandments And Evil

VERANUS. Quid est quod ait: Qui custodit praeceptum Dei, non experietur quidquam mali|? Quomodo nihil mali experietur qui praecepta Dei custodit, cum sancti viri qui praecepta Dei custodierunt, multa perpessi sint in hoc saeculo? SALONIUS. Verum est, quia qui praecepta Dei custodit, id est omne quod iussit et praecepit Deus non experietur quidquam mali in futuro, hoc est nullum malum patietur, nullum malum sustinebit in die iudicii. Quamvis enim aliqua mala patiatur in hac vita, levia sunt et transitoria; in futura autem vita nihil mali patietur qui pervenerit ad aeternae beatitudinis gloriam. Salonius Viennensis, Expositio Mystica in Ecclesiasten Source: Migne PL 53.1006c

Veranus: Why is it said, 'He who keeps the commandments of God shall not experience any evil?'  1 How does he experience no evil who keeps the commandments of God when holy men who have kept the commandments of God have suffered many things in this world? Salonius: It is true, because he who keeps the commandments of God, that is, everything that God has ordered and commanded, shall not experience any evil in the future, he shall not suffer any evil nor endure any evil on the day of judgement. For although he must suffer evils in this life, they are light and transitory, and in the future life he shall not suffer any evil who comes to the glory of eternal beatitude. Salonius of Geneva, A Spiritual Exposition of Ecclesiastes 1 Eccl 8.5

Delivering From Evil

Sed libera nos a malo, amen. Qua impetrata, contra omnia quae diabolus et mundus operantur securi stamus et tuti Sed hoc in praesenti fit, quantum divinum examen nobis utile esse prospexerit. Unde dicit Apostolus: Fidelis est Deus, qui non patitur vos tentari supra id quod potestis, sed facit cum tentatione proventum, ut possitis sustinere. Orandum est enim ut non solum non inducamur in malum quo caremus, quod sexto loco petimus, sed ab illo etiam liberemur, quo jam inducti sumus. Quod cum factum fuerit, nihil remanebit formidolosum, nec omnino metuenda erit ulla tentatio. Quod tamen in hac vita, et quandiu istam mortalitatem circumferimus, ubi serpentina persuasione inducti sumus, non sperandum posse fieri, sed tamen aliquando futurum sperandum est. Opportuno autem tempore perficietur beatitudo, quae in hac vita inchoata est, et cui capessendae atque obtinendae aliquando nunc omnis conatus impenditur.  Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber V, Caput XIII Source: Migne PL 107.821a-b

But deliver us from evil. Amen 1 Which is sought against all the works of the devil and the world, so that we may stand securely and in safety. And this is done in the present as much as the Divine examination is useful for us, hence the Apostle says, 'God is faithful and shall not suffer you to be tried beyond your strength, but with the coming of temptation He acts so that you will be able to endure.' 2 And one must pray that we are not only not led into the temptation we lack, as we sought in the sixth passage of this prayer, but that we are delivered from what we have been led into. When that is accomplished nothing shall be formidable, nor shall there be any trial to be feared. In this life, however, while we will carry around this mortality, where the serpent's persuasion has led us, we should not think it to be possible, but rather one should hope for it at some future time. For then is the right time for the perfection of blessedness, which in this life is just beginning, and that we are all now exhorted to try to seize and obtain sometime.  Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 5, Chapter 13 1 Mt 6.13 2 1 Cor 10.13

Weights And Balances

Statera dolosa abominatio est apud Deum... Statera dolosa, non tantum in mensuratione pecuniae, sed et in judicaria discretion tenetur; qui enim aliter causam pauperi,aliter causam potentis,aliter sodalis, aliter audit ignoti, statera utique librat iniqua. Sed et is qui sua bene gesat meliora quam proximorum, suaque errata judicat leviora, trutina ponderat dolosa. Necnon et ille qui onera importabilia imponit in humeros hominum, ipse autem uno digito non vult ea tangere. Ille etiam qui bona in publico, et mala agit in occulto, pro iniquitate librae dolosae abominabitur a Domino. At qui sinceriter agit in omnibus, qui causam et causam aequa lance discernit, is nimirum justi judicis voluntati et actioni congruit. Sanctus Beda, Super Parabolas Salomonis, Caput XI Source: Migne PL 91.971b-c

A deceitful balance is an abomination before the Lord... 1 A deceitful balance is not only found in the measuring of money but it even holds in the discretion of judgement, for he who hears the cause of the poor man in one way and the cause of a powerful man in another, and the cause of a friend in one way and that of a stranger in another, he weighs wickedly. But even the one who judges his own deeds as better than his neighbours and his own errors as lighter weighs in a deceitful balance. And also he who imposes insupportable burdens on the shoulders of men and with a finger will not move them. 2 And then he who does good deeds in public and wicked ones unseen, because of the wickedness of a deceitful balance shall be abominated by the Lord. But he who acts honestly in everything, he who discerns between cause and cause with a fair weighing, he certainly harmonises a justly judging will with action. Saint Bede, Commentary On Proverbs, Chapter 11 1 Prov 11.1 2 Mt 23.4

On Not Returning Evil for Evil

Ἠρώτησεν αὐτὸν ἄλλος ἀδελφὸς, λέγων· Τί ἐστι, Μή ἀποδώσεις κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ; Λέγει αὐτῷ γέρων· Τὸ πάθος τοῦτο τέσσαρας ἔχει τρόπους· πρῶτον ἀπὸ καρδίας, δεύτερον ἀπὸ ὄψεως, τρίτον γλώσσης, τέταρτόν έστι, τὸ μὴ ποιῆσαι κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ. Ἐὰν δύνασαι καθαρίσαι τὴν καρδίαν σου, οὐκ ἔρχεται εἰς τὴν ὄψιν· ἐὰν δὲ ἔλθῃ εἰς τὴν ὄψιν, φυλάττου τὸ μὴ λαλεῖν· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ λαλήσῃς, ταχὺ κόψον τοῦ μὴ μοιῆσαι κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ. Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.332a-b

Another brother questioned Father Poimen, saying, 'What is it not to return evil for evil?' 1 The elder said, 'This passion has four stages, first from the heart, second from appearance, third from the tongue, fourth from the act of not returning evil for evil. If you can keep your heart pure it will not come to appearance, if it comes to appearance, guard against speaking, if you speak, quickly stop yourself less you return evil for evil.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia 1 1 Thess. 5.15

Desire, Hope And Ruin

Tελευτήσαντος ἀνδρὸς δικαίου οὐκ ὄλλυται ἐλπίς τὸ δὲ καύχημα τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὄλλυται. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι οὐ τὸ ἐπιθυμεῖν πονηρὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοιῶσδε ἐπιθυμεῖν, πονηρόν; Τῶν δὲ ἀσεδῶν kαὶ ἐλπίδες πονηραί’ πᾶν γὰρ ὃ ἐλπίσει, ἀπὠλεια. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' IA’ Source: Migne PG 39.1633b

The death of the righteous man does not destroy hope, but the pride of the godless is ruined. 1 Do you see that it is not desire that is wicked, but the type of desire? And the hope of the godless is wicked, for everything they hope for is ruinous. Didymus the Blind, Commentary On Proverbs, Chapter 11 1 Prov 11.7 LXX

On The Pinnacle of The Temple

Et stauit eum supra pinnaculum templi... Cogitavit enim apud se: si miserit se per aerem, scio quoniam est Filius Dei: sine dubio enim mittet se, ut cognoscatur quod est; si autem non potuerit se mittere, scio quoniam homo est. Sicut ergo concupiscentia vanae gloriae ipse ruit de caelo: nam cum esset angelus, volens se ostendere Deum, perdidit et illud quod erat, dum voluit apparere quod non erat: sic putavit et Christum concupiscentia vanae gloriae ferri. Nam sicut difficile aliquem suspicatur mlaum, qui ipse est bonus: sic difficile aliquem suspicatur bonum, qui ipse est malus. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia V Source: Migne PG 56.666

And he set Him on the pinnacle of the temple... 1 The devil thought to himself: If he bears himself up in the air I will know he is the son of God, for without doubt by bearing himself so it will be known what he is, and if he is not able to bear himself up, I will know he is a man. As, therefore, because of a desire for vainglory he fell from heaven when he was an angel, and wishing to show himself God he destroyed what he was, in wishing to appear as what he was not, so he thought Christ bore the desire for vainglory. For as it is difficult for a good man to suspect evil, so it is difficult for an evil man to suspect good. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 5 1 Mt 4.5

Calling Out

Ad Dominum, cum tribularer, clamavi, et exaudivit me... Tribulatio est haec vita, ex qua, qui humiliter ad Deum clamant, sicut Publicanus qui ait: Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori, exaudiuntur. Sed videamus quid iste poentients clamet: Domine, libera a labiis inquius, et a lingua dolosa... Labia iniqua sunt, quae nos suggerendo ad iniquitatem sollicitare nituntur, lingua dolosa est, quae nos avertere vult de via justitiae. Illa nos ad peccandum suggerunt; ista nos a benefaciendo retrahit. Sed consideremus, quid nobis ad has preces respondeat Dominus. Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponatur tibi ad linguam dolosam? Ecce quid tibi dabitur ad respondendum linguae dolosae, quae solet, non consulendo tibi, sed subvertendo te, dicere: Non potes saeculum dimittere, non potes tam arctam viam et tam angustam portam ingredi. Sagittae potentis acutae cum carbonibus desolatoriis. Id est, quid in Evangelio dicitur: Apud homines hoc impossibile est, apud Deum omnia possibilia sunt. Sagittae potentis verba Dei sunt, quae transfigunt corda nostra ad contemnendum saeculum, et ad amandum Deum: ex quibus sagittis amor excitatur, non interitus comparatur. Cum carbonibus desolatoriis, id est vastatoriis. Sed si parum est verbis sagittare, sufficiat exemplis demonstrate. Qui fuerunt peccatis nigri et frigidi, iterum charitate Dei accensi vestaverunt et destruxerunt opera diaboli in cordibus suis, ut praepararent habitationem Deo in semetipsis, et post multa peccata multum dilexerunt Deum: ideo multum dimittetur eis. Heu me! quia incolatus meus prolongatus est, habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar, multum incola fuit anima mea. Ecce iste a lingua dolosa liberatus, verbo Dei sagittatus, exemplis multorum robortus, quid proficiat, quove ascendere quaerat, videamus. Heu me! inquit, quod incoltus meus prolongatus est! Vox dolentis et miseriam plangentis, quod diu peregrinatione hujus mortalitatis incolatus ejus prolongetur. Incola vero est qui terram alienam colit. Unde iste se plangit, et ad patriam suspirans redire, addidit: Habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar. Cedar tenebrae interpretantur. Significat autem peccatores, inter quos in hoc saeculo justi peregrinantur, necdum extremo judicii ventilabro area, id est Ecclesia, purgata et segregate: unde iste desiderans ascendere ait: Multum incola fuit anima mea. Corpus locis, et anima affectibus peregrinatur. Unde iste sagitta charitatis vulneratus toto desiderio ad coelestem anhelat patriam. Alcuinus, Expositio in Psalmos Graduales, Psalmus CXIX Source: Migne PL 100.619c-621a

I called out to the Lord when I was troubled and He heard me... 1 This life is tribulation, because of which those who humbly cry out to God, like that tax collector who said: 'May God be propitious to me a sinner,' 2 are heard. But let us see what this penitent one calls out: O Lord, free me from the lips of the wicked, and the evil tongue... Lips are wicked that strive to attract us to wickedness by suggestion. The tongue is evil that wishes to lead us from the way of righteousness. The former counsels us to sin, the latter to turn ourselves from good works. But let us consider what the Lord shall reply to us with these petitions. What shall be given to you, or what appointed for the wicked tongue? Observe what shall be given to you in response to the wicked tongue, the custom of which is not to edify you but to pervert you, saying: 'You cannot cast off the world, you cannot walk on a way so narrow and so difficult.' 3 The sharp arrows of the mighty one, with coals that lay waste. That is, what is said in the Gospel, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' 4 The arrows of the mighty one are the words of God that pierce our heart for the spurning of the world, and to love God, which arrows rouse love and should not be compared to those that kill. 'With coals that lay waste,' that is, those who ruin. And that words are indeed arrows let it be enough to demonstrate with examples. They who were dark and chilled are clothed with the blazing love of God and they destroy the works of the devil in their hearts, so that they might prepare a dwelling for God in themselves, and after a long time of many sins, love God, and therefore much is forgiven them. 5 Alas for me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar, my soul has long been a sojourner. Behold the man who has been freed from the evil tongue, by the archery of the word of God, and who has been strengthened by the examples of many. And how this is to the advantage of one who seeks to ascend, let us see. 'Alas for me,' he says, 'that my sojourning is prolonged!' This is the voice of one who is sorrowful and crying out in misery because his sojourning in the wandering of his mortality is prolonged. He sojourns who dwells in a foreign land. Whence he sighs for himself, and longing to be returned to his fatherland, he adds: 'I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar.' Cedar may be understood as darkness and it signifies sinners, among whom the righteous wander in the world, for the winnowing fan of final judgement has not yet sifted and separated the threshing floor which is the Church. 6 Whence this one who desires to ascend then says, 'My soul has long been a sojourner.' The body wanders in space, the soul in passions. Therefore this one who has been wounded by the arrow of love gasps with all his desire for the heavenly fatherland. Alcuin of York, Commentary on the Gradual Psalms, from Psalm 119 1 Ps 119.1 2 Lk 18.13 3 Mt 7.13-14 4 Mt 19.26 5 Lk 7.47 6 Lk 3.17

The Lamp And Good Deeds

Lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus. Si oculus tuus fuerit simplex, totum corpus tuum lucidum erit. Si autem oculus tuus fuerit nequam, totum corpus tuum tenebrosum erit. Si ergo lumen, quod in te est, tenebræ sunt: ipsae tenebræ quantae erunt? Lucerna, etc. Superius insinuavit, quod nulla bona mala intentione debent fieri, et hoc in proximo ubi dixit: Ubi est thesaurus tuus, ibi est cor tuum. Quod ita probatur. Ideo pura intentione omnia debetis facere, quia oculus tuus, id est, bona intentio, est lucerna, id est illuminatio corporis tui, id est congeriei bonarum actionum. Si enim oculus tuus, etc. Determinat quomodo oculus est lucerna, scilicet si simplex est intentio, id est pura, non duplex, id est partim propter temporalia, partim propter coelestia, totum corpus lucidum est, id est, tota actio erit bona. Non tamen intelligendum est de malis, si bona intentione fiant, quod, ideo bona sint. Nullum enim per se malum bonum potest esse, etiamsi bona intentione fiat. Furtum enim facere, ut darem pauperibus, non esset bonum. Sed quaedam sunt quae indifferentia existunt, quae possunt flecti ad bona per intentionem, et ad mala. Sicut levare lapidem ut ponam in aedificio templi, et levare lapidem ut feriam hominem, et si dum bonum facio bona intentione, malum tamen inde contingat alicui, non est imputandum mihi pro peccato, sicut si dum levo lapidem in aedificium ecclesiae, lapis super hominem caderet et eum interficeret. Sed bona, si mala intentione fiant, mala sunt: sicut si jejuno propter laudem. Unde sequitur. Si oculus, id est, intentio, est nequam, id est, prava, et totum corpus, id est, tota actio est mala. Si ergo, etc. Et quandoquidem propter malam intentionem bona fiunt mala, ergo mala, per se facta mala intentione quanta erunt? Et hoc est: Ergo si lumen, id est intentio quae debet esse lumen operum, quod in te est, id est, in tua manu, tenebrae sunt, id est, prava et mala per se mala intentione facta, tenebrae quantae erunt, postquam malae intentioni unitae erunt? Vel aliter: Lumen est intentio dicta, quia nota est illi qui intendit. Exitus vero rei, quia incertus est, tenebrae dicitur. Ille enim qui intendit, licet cognoscat quid intendat, nescit tamen quid de facto eveniat, sive bonum sive malum. Ut cum alicui aliquid do vel ago, nescio utrum bono cedat illi an malo. Dicit ergo: Si intentio qua facis quae tibi nota est, appetitu temporalium sordidatur, quanto magis ipsum factum, cujus exitus dubius est? Quod etsi bene cedat alicui, quod non bona intentione facis, nihil tibi prodest, quia quomodo feceris tibi imputatur, non quomodo illi evenit. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 162.1311a-1311d

The eye is the lamp of the whole body. If your eye is clear, the whole of your body will be lit up. But if your eye is wicked, your whole body will be in darkness. If, therefore, the light which is in you is darkness, how great shall the darkness be? 1 'The lamp...' Previously He has said that no good should be done with evil intent, 2 and just before this passage He said, 'Where is your treasure, there is your heart.' 3 Which thus is demonstrated. Therefore you should do everything with pure intent, because your eye, that is, your intent, is the lamp, that is, the illumination of your body, that is, for the acquirement of good acts. 'If your eye...' He determines how the eye is a lamp, that is, if it is simple in intent, pure, not twofold, that is, if it does not have a part for temporal things, and a part for heavenly things, then the whole body is light, that is, all action will be good. Regarding evil it must not be thought that if things are done with good intent, that therefore they are good. For no evil can be good even if it is done with good intent. To become a thief so that you may give to the poor is not a good. But those things which are indifferent, these may be turned to good by intention, or to evil. Just as I may lift up a stone and place it in the building of a temple, and then lift up a stone to cast it at a man. And if I do good with good intent, but evil touches it, sin must not be imputed to me, just as if I were to raise up a stone for the building of a church, but the stone falls on a man and kills him. Yet if goods are done with evil intent they are evils, as if I fast for the sake of praise. Whence it follows, 'If your eye,' that is your intent, 'is wicked,' that is, depraved, 'the whole body', that is the total action, is evil. 'If, therefore...' And whenever on account of evil intent we make goods evil, then how greater are the evils which are done with evil intent? And this is: 'Therefore if the light,' that is your intent, which should be the light of works, 'which is in you,' that is, in your hand, 'is darkness,' that is, depraved and evil, made so by evil intent, 'how great shall the darkness be?' after, when it is united with the evil intent? Or otherwise, the light is spoken for intent because it is known to him who intends, but the outcome of the thing, because it is uncertain, is called darkness. For to him who intends it is possible to know what he intends, however he does not know how the matter will fall out, whether it will be good or bad. Then when I give something to someone or do something to someone, I do not know whether it will turn out good or bad for him. Therefore, He says, if the intention by which you act, which is known to you, is defiled with temporal desire, how much more what is done, of which the outcome is doubtful? Because even if it falls out well for someone, because you did not act with good intent, it profits you not at all, because how you acted is imputed to you, not how things turned out. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 6 1 Mt 6.22 2 Mt 6.1-18 3 Mt 6.21