Encouraging Peter

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

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

The King And The Cellar

Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua... Secundum allegoraim autem Ecclesia a Christo per gratiam in sacram Scripturam tracta dicit: Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua. Cellaria, in quibus varii potus servantur, sunt libri sacrae Scripturae, de quibus variae sententiae sitientibs justitia propinantur. Cum enim lectio de Joseph legitur, quasi poculum contra adulterium porrigitur; cum vero Judith Scriptura recitatur, quasi castitatis propinatur. In haec cellaria Christus sponsam introduxit, quando sensum ei aperuit, ut intelligeret Scripturas. Christus autem proprie rex dicitur secundum carnem, qua humano generi a Patre praeficiutr, ut scriptum est: Ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo. Et item ad Pilatum: Tu dicis: Quia rex sum ego. Item: Data est mihi omnis potestas in caelo et in terra. Et iterum: Ipse est qui constitutus est a Dei judex vivorum et mortuorum. Hic solus potest introducere in Scripturam, qui solus potuit septem signacula libri solvere, quae erant ejus incarnatio, nativitas, passio, inferni spoliatio, resurrectio, ascensio, futurum judicium. Honorius Augustodunensis, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, Caput I Source: Migne PL 172.366d-367a

The King brought me into his cellar.. 1 According to the allegorical sense, 'the king brought me into his cellar,' speaks of the Church that has been drawn into Sacred Scripture by the grace of Christ. The cellar, in which various drinks are kept, are the books of Sacred Scripture and by the drinking of the various passages those who drink are brought closer to righteousness. For when they read of Joseph, it is as they take a drink against adultery, and when Judith is recited it is as if they are brought near to chastity. Into this cellar Christ has brought the bride when He opens her mind so that she might understand the Scriptures. And Christ is called king according to the flesh since He has been set over the human race by the Father, and thus it is written: 'I have established a king for them.' 2 And again to Pilate: 'You say that I am a king.' 3 Again, 'All power is given to me in heaven and earth.' 4 And again: 'He has been established by God as the judge of the living and the dead.' 5 He alone brings us into the Scriptures, He alone is the one who is able to unseal the seven seals of the book, 6 which were His Incarnation, His Nativity, His Passion, His Despoiling of Hell, His Resurrection, His Ascension, and Final Judgement. Honorius of Autun, Commentary on The Song of Songs, Chapter 1 1 Song 1.2 2 Ps 2.6 3 Jn 18.37 4 Mt 28.18 5 Acts 10.42 6 Apoc 5

Scattering And Gathering Stones

Tempus spargendi lapides et tempus saltandi... Miror, quomodo vir disertus rem ridiculam in hoc loco dixerit: De destructione, inquiens, et aedificatione domorum Salomonis sermo est, quod homines nunc destruant, nunc aedificent: alii congregent lapides ad aedificia construenda, alii uae exstructa sunt, destruant, secundum illud Hoatianum: Diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis. Aestuat, et vitae disconvenit ordine toto. Hoc utrum recte, an perperam dixerit, lectoris arbitrio derelinquo. Nos prioris explanationis sequamur ordinem: Tempus saragendorum et congregandorum lapidum esse dicentes, juxta illud quod in Evangelio scriptum est: Potens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae. Quod tempus fuerit gentilis populi dispergendi, et tempus rursum in Ecclesiam congregandi. Legi in quodam libro, juxta Septuaginta tamen Interpretes, qui dixerunt: Tempus mittendi lapides, et tempus colligendi, severitatem Legis antiquae, Evangelli gratia temperatam. Lex quippe rigida, inbenigna, non parcens, peccantem interficit. Evangelii gratia miseretur, et ad poenitentiam provocat. Et hoc esse tempus mittendorum lapidum, sive congregandorum, quod lapides mittantur in Lege, colligantur in Evangelio. Hoc uturm vere ne ne dictum sit, suo imputetur auctori. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput III Source: Migne PL 23.1035c-1036b

A time of scattering stones, and a time of gathering stones... 1 I wonder how an educated man can have said of this passage that it speaks of the destruction and building of Solomon's temple, which men now destroyed and now built up, some gathering stones for the construction of the building and others destroying what had been built, as in the lines of Horace: He cast down, he built, he changes the square into a circle. He sweats, and is discontent with the whole order of life. 2 Whether he said this rightly or wrongly, I leave to the will of the reader to determine. We shall follow the arrangement of the previous expositions by saying that the time of the scattering and the gathering of stones is in accordance with that which is written in the Gospel: 'God can raise up sons of Abraham from these stones.' 3 Since there was a time when the peoples of the Gentiles were scattered and again a time when there were gathered into the Church. I have read in a certain book which follows the translation of the Septuagint and has here, 'a time for casting stones and a time for gathering,' that this is about the tempering of the old Law by the grace of the Gospel. Because the Law rigidly and unkindly and unsparingly kills sin, and the grace of the Gospel is merciful and calls to penance, this is the time of casting stones and gathering them, because stones are cast in the Law and gathered up in the Gospel. Now whether this which is said is true or not I leave to the author. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 1 Eccles 3.5 2 Horace Epis 1.1.99-100 3 Mt 3.9

Reckoning The Slain

Tunc Herodes videns quod illusus esset a Magis, iratus est valde. Et mittens occidit omnes pueros qui erant in Bethlehem, et in omnibus finibus ejus, a bimatu et infra, secundum tempus quod exquisierat a Magis. Omnes igitur occidit, ut unus non effugeret. Sed quanti eorum essent,non facile repritur, etsi quorumdam traditio habeat juxta Apocalypsin Joannis centum quadraginta quator millia fuisse. Nam ibidem e omni tribu duodecim millia leguntur ascripti; hic vero ex Bethlehem atque ejus finibus omnes perhibentur occisi. Rursus alii asseverant per viginti locorum spati duo millia infantum occisos fuisse, ita ut in singulis locis centum perempti essent. Quod nos non astruimus. Quia quod in Scripturis sanctis non legimus, melius ignorare quam temere definire credimus. Hoc tantum ad praesens fatemur, quod Deum non lateant cui omnia vivunt, qui pro domino mortis dispendium subierunt. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber I, Caput II Source: Migne PL 120.142b

Then Herod seeing how he was deceived by the Magi was greatly angered, and he ordered all the young boys who were in Bethlehem to be killed, and in all the surrounding region, from two years and under, according to the time he had learnt from the Magi. 1 Therefore he killed them all, that not one might escape. But it is not easy to reckon how many there were, even if it is the custom of some to hold that according to the Apocalypse of John they were one hundred and forty four thousand. For there they read that it is written that from every tribe there were twelve thousand. But here it is said that all those from Bethlehem and all the surrounding region were killed. 2 Again others assert that in twenty places two thousand children were killed, so that in each place a hundred were slain. We cannot confirm this, because we think that it is better to confess ignorance of what is not told in the Holy Scriptures than to make bold statements. For the present this alone we will say, that they are not unknown to God, with whom they all live, all who have undergone the sentence of death for the Lord. 3 Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Mt 2.16 2 Apoc 7.5

Thrones And Kingdoms

Et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David patris ejus Et si quempiam movet, quomodo hic sedere dicatur super solium et regnum David, cum ipse David non sederit rex super solium et regnum illius coelestis Jerusalem, neque Christus super hanc terrenam Jersusalem rex sedisse legatur; praesertim cum ipse dicat Pilato: Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo: quia si de oc mundo esset, utique ministri mei decertarent ne traderer Judaeis. Dicimus ergo hanc civitatem Jerusalem, illius figuram coelestis habuisse, et hoc regnum illius schema gessisse. Ac per hoc in eo regno illud jam inerat per figuram, sicut in isto terreno illud coeleste quodammodo fuisse videtur per umbram. Sed umbram jam exinanita cernitur, ut lux vera succederet; et figura tunc viguit, ut veritas interea celaretur, donec plenitudo temporlis veniret. Et ideo sane recte dicimus Christum super solium David sedisse, quia in solio David jam regnam Christi inerat per figuram, super quod eumdem David tunc sedisse, nemo qui recte sapit ambigit. In quod profecto Christus regnum veniens carnem de semine ipsius suscepit, evacuavit futurorum umbras, et sedit super claritatem lucis quae tunc intus in regno latebat; ac per hoc civitas illa non eget sole vel luna, quia lucerna quae diu repromittebatur de semine David, jam in ea lucet; et lux illa ipse est Agnus, diu in figura pro populo immolatus. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber I, Caput I Source: Migne PL 120.69b-d

And the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David. 1 If anyone is troubled at how it could be said that he sits on the throne and kingdom of David, when David himself shall not sit as king on the throne and kingdom of that heavenly Jerusalem, nor did Christ sit as king over this terrestrial Jerusalem, and certainly He says to Pilate: 'My kingdom is not of this world, because if it were of this world, then my servants would fight lest I be given over to the Jews,' 2 we say then that this city of Jerusalem is a figure of the heavenly one, 3 and this kingdom is a form of the other, and through it one kingdom can be understood as the other, through a figure, as in this world the heavenly one appears as a shadow. But the shadow is now seen without detail, so that when the true light comes, then the figure becomes apparent, while the truth is yet hidden until the fulness of time shall come. Therefore quite rightly do we say that Christ sat on the throne of David, because by the throne of David the kingdom on Christ is given as a figure, upon which throne David once did sit, which no one who thinks rightly doubts. Into which kingdom coming Christ took up flesh from his seed, and dispelled the shadows of the future, and He sits amid the brightness of light which then was hidden in the kingdom, and because of this that city will have no moon or sun, because its lamp, which was promised through the seed of David, now shines in it, and that light is the Lamb Himself, which in a figure was sacrificed for the people. 4 Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 1, Chapter 1 1 Lk 1.32 2 Jn 18.36 3 Apoc 21.2 4 Apoc 22.5

From Of Old

Mνήσθητε νόμου Μωυσῆ τοῦ δούλου μου καθότι ἐνετειλάμην αὐτῷ ἐν Χωρηβ πρὸς πάντα τὸν Ισραηλ προστάγματα καὶ δικαιώματα Ἀναπείθι πάλιν ἐννοεῐν τοὺς ἐντευξομένους τοῖς τοῦ προφήτου λόγοις ὅτι μὴ καινὸν ἤ ἀσύνθες τὸ ἐπὶ Χρσιτῷ γέγονε κήρυγμα, μήτε μὴν μόναις ταῖς Μαλαχίου φωναῖς προαπηγγελμένον· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἄνθωέν τε καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἐκ πρώτων, ἴνα οὕτως εἴπωμεν, χρόνων, καθ' οὔς κέκληται πρὸς θεογνωσίαν ὁ Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτε τοὺς ἐν Χωρὴβ κεκρσμᾡδηκε νόμος. Καταβέβηκε μὲν γὰρ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἐν εἱδευ πυρὸς ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ Σινᾶ, ἔφαίνοντο δὲ καπνοὶ μὲν, καὶ φλόγες ὑψοῦ τε διάττουσαι, καὶ πολὺ τοῖς θεωμένοις ἐμποιοῦσαι τὸ δεῖμα. Σκότος δὲ ἦν, καὶ γνόφος, καὶ θύελλα, καὶ φωνὴ τῆς σάλπιγγος, ἠχούσῃς μέγα. Τότε δὴ, τότε περίφοβοι γεγονότες υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ προσῇεσαν λέγοντες τῳ μεσίτῃ καὶ παιδαγωγῷ, Μωσῆς οὕτος ἤν· Λάλει σὺ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, καὶ μὴ λαλείτω πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα μὴ ἀποθάνωμεν. Καὶ δὴ πρὸς ταῦτα Θεὸς· Ὄρθῶς, φησὶ, πάντα ὅσα ἐλάλησαν. Προφήτην αὐτοῖς ἀναστήσω ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῶν ὥσπερ σὲ, καὶ θήσω τοὺς λόςους μου εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ λαλήσει αὐτοῖς κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐντέλωμαι αὐτῷ. Ὀρᾷς ὅπως ἐκ μακρῶν τῶν ἄνεθεν χρόνων προανεφώνει Χριστὸν τὸ Γράμμα τὸ ἱερόν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὰς εἰ δὴ βοῦλοιτό τις τὰς τοῦ νὁμου βασανίζειν σκιὰς, Χριστὸν εὑρήσει γραφόμενον, καὶ τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῷ μυστήριον. Καὶ γοῦν ἔφασκεν Ἰουδαίοις· Εἰ ἐπιστεύετε Μωσῇ, ἐπιστεύετε ἄν ἐμοί· περὶ ἐμοῦ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψε. Πλήρωμα γὰρ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν ὁ Χριστός. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τὸν Προφήτην Μαλαχίαν, Κεφαλ Δ’ Source: Migne PG 72.364c-d

Remember the law of Moses, my servant, as I instructed him on Horeb for all of Israel, with precepts and judgements. 1 Again he exhorts those attendant to the words of the prophet that there is not a new or unprecedented preaching being made about Christ, nor was it foretold by Malachi alone, but from of old and, we might say, from the earliest times, when Israel was called to the knowledge of God, it was hidden in the law on Horeb. For the God of all things came down in the form of fire on Sinai, and amid smoke, and flames flashing on high, and the sight of such things was a cause of grave terror. And there was darkness and blackness and storms and the loud blasting of a trumpet, and then the sons of Israel who were struck with fright came to the mediator and instructor, that is, Moses, and said, 'Speak for us, and let not God speak to us, lest we perish.' Concerning which God said, 'Everything they have said is well spoken. I shall raise up from them a prophet from among their brothers, just like you, and I shall place my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them everything which I have commanded him.' 2 Do you now see how from the oldest times Christ was foretold by Holy Scripture? For if someone wishes to examine these things of the law, he shall grasp that Christ and His mystery is written in them. Thus He Himself says to the Jews, 'If you believed in Moses, you would believe in me, for he wrote of me.' 3 For Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Prophet Malachi, Chapter 4 1 Malachi 4.4 2 Exod 20.19, Deut 18.17-18 3 Jn 5.46

Death's Defeat

Neutra igitur vel ad instans in statu permanet conditionis, quo vocatur ad esse, sed vitium originis redit ad non esse, eum incipit esse, ut mirabiliter et miserabiliter non prius inchoet esse quam non esse; venire quam redire; ascendere quam descendere, nec incipiat miserabiliter anima prius vitam dare quam mortem dare, ut sit et caro mortificans, a quo vivificatur, et anima vivificans, a quo mortificatur. Hic occurrunt lugubres illae nuptiae septem virae et toties homicidae filiae Raguelis, quam Tobis filius Tobia sine periculo ducere protuit, qui daemone fortiorem angelum comitem, imo ducem, habuit Tobias et Tobias, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns: Adam et Adam, primus et secundus, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns, homo et hominis filius. Sed de homine vel filio hominis aliquando secundum carnem, aliquando secundum animam, aliquando secundum utrumque sermo conficitur. Nunc ergo hic Tobias animam significat filii hominis, Sara vero communiter carnem hominis, angelus autem dux et comes Tobiae Dominum Dei Verbum, quam animae quam semel suscepit, sapienter ducatum praestitit, fideliter comitatum, fortiter auxilium, prudenter consilium. Septem vero viri morti magis quam mulieri conjugati, universas, praeter Christi animam, quae non prius carni quam morti unitae sunt, propter carnem tamen morti unitae, et propter mortem a carne separatae. Daemon suffocans, naturalis illa originalisque concupiscentia datur intelligi: quae de domo Raguelis et cubiculo Sarae, nisi fortior supervenerit, minime ejicitur. Superveniente itaque fortiore Verbi virtute fortis ejicitur, fugatur, ligatur, vasa ejus, id est naturalia, quae captiva tenebantur, diripiuntur. Ducitur captiva captivitas, thalamus purgatur; liberatur domus, Sara sine periculo ducitur, pater miratur, mysterium agnoscit, angelo gratias agit, epulas parat, vicina invitat. Plena sunt haec mysteriis, redundant sacramentis. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo VII, In Dominica Infra Octavas Epiphaniae I Source: Migne PL 194.1714d-1715c

Therefore not for an instant does either the soul or the body remain in its state which it is called to be, but Original Sin returns to non-being, even as it begins, so that mysteriously and wretchedly there is no beginning to be without not being, no coming without going, no rising without falling, nor does, most miserably, the soul give life but it gives death, so that the flesh brings death from what gives it life, and the soul gives life from what brings death. Here there is a reminder of those woeful marriages of the seven murdered husbands of the daughter of Raguel, and how Tobit's son Tobias was able to take her in marriage without danger, since Tobias had an angel as a companion, and indeed guide, who was stronger than the demon. 1 These two, father and son, old and young, blind and seeing, are both Adam, the First Adam and the Second Adam, 2 father and son, old and new, man and the Son of Man. When we speak of the Son of Man, sometimes it refers to the flesh, sometimes to the soul, sometimes to both. Here with us now Tobias signifies the soul of the Son of Man, but Sara means the flesh of man in general, and the Angel, the guide and companion of Tobias, is the Lord, the Word Of God, which as soon as He takes up a soul, is the wise guide, the loyal companion, the strong helper, the prudent counsellor. As for the seven husbands who were joined to death rather than a wife, they are all souls, apart from Christ's, which as soon as they are united to the flesh are bound to death, and because of the flesh are joined with death and because of death are separated from the flesh. The choking demon is to be understood as the concupiscence natural to our fallen nature, that lurks in Raguel’s house and Sara's bed chamber unless someone stronger should come. 3 Therefore with yet stronger virtue the strong one is cast out and driven off, and bound, and the vessels of our nature which he held captive are stripped from him. 'Captivity is led captive,' 4 the marriage chamber is cleansed, the house is freed. Sara's marriage without peril amazes her father, and he recognizes the mystery and thanks the angel, and he prepares a banquet and invites the neighbours. All this abounds with mysteries and overflows with secrets! Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 7 On The Sunday Within the Epiphany Octave 1 Tobit 3.7-8, 6.14 2 1 Cor 15.45-47 3 Lk 11.22 4 Ephes 4.8

Parts Of Speech

Tria sunt in sermone Dei: elementa, exordia et completiones. in elementis expressio vocis sed intelligentia non est: in exordio sermonis intelligentia est, sed perfecta non est; in completione sermonis, perfecta intelligentia est. Figurae Veteris Testamenti elementa fuerunt sermonis Dei. Praecepta Decalogi exordium fuerunt sermonis Dei. Praecepta novi Testamenti completio sunt sermonis Dei. Prohbitio procinae carnis elementum fuit sermonis Dei. Prohibitio moechiae carnalis, exordium; prohibitio spiritulais moechiae, completio. In Veteri Testamento iterum quando dictum est: Carnem cum sanguine non comedetis, elementum fuit; quando dictum est: Non occides, exordium; quando dictum est: Si quis irascitur fratri suo sine causa, reus erit judicio, completio. In Veteri Testamento vox fuit, in Novo intellectus, in vita aeterna, res. In Veteri Testamento via fuit, in Novo veritas, in aeternitate, vita. Unde dicitur: Ego sum via, veritas et vita. Idem enim et ibi via fuit, et hic veritas est, et illic vita erit. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit CLX, De tribus quae sunt in sermone Dei Source: Migne PL 177.558a-b

There are three parts of the speech of God, elements, beginnings, perfections. In the elements is the expression of speech but there is no understanding. In the beginning is the understanding of speech but there is no perfection of it. In the completion of speech understanding is perfected. The figures of the Old Testament are the elements of the speech of God. The commandments of the Decalogue are the beginning of the speech of God. The teachings of the New Testament are the perfection of the word of God. The prohibition of pig flesh was the element of the word of God, the prohibition of carnal adultery the beginning, the prohibition of spiritual adultery the perfection. Again in the Old Testament when it was said 'You shall not eat flesh with blood,' 1 this was the element, when it was said: 'You shall not kill' 2 this was the beginning, when it was said, 'If someone is angry with a brother without reason, he shall be guilty of judgement,' 3 this is the perfection. In the Old Testament was the voice, in the New Testament is the understanding, in eternal life shall be the thing itself. In the Old Testament was the way, in the New the truth, in eternity, the life. Whence it is said: 'I am the way and the truth and the life.' 4 For there He was the way and here He is the truth and there He shall be the life. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 160, On the three parts of the speech of God 1 Genes 9.4 2 Exod 20.13 3 Mt 5.22 4 Jn 14.6

Seeing Within

Sacri eloquii mysticos sensus Propheta per aspirationem sancti Spiritus prudenter intelligens, dicit: Mirabilia testimonia tua, ideo scrutata est ea anima mea. Qui rursus ait: Revela oculos meos, et considerabo mirabilia de lege tua. Qui enim necdum occulta de apertis intelligit, oculos velatos habet. Qui vero jam intelligit, revelatis oculis mirabilia de lege Dei considerat, quia, spiritaliter litterae verba discutiens, quae interius magnitudo lateat pensat. An non est mirabile quando aliud auribus sonat, atque aliud exit ad intelligentiam quod non sonabat? Cui ergo verbum sacri eloquii nisi lapidi simile dixerim, in quo ignis latet? Qui manu quidem frigidus tenetur, sed, percussus ferro, per scintillas micat, atque hoc emittit ignem qui post ardeat, quod prius manus frigidum tenebat. Sic etenim, sic verba sunt sacri eloquii, quae quidem per narrationem litterae frigida tenentur; sed si quis haec, aspirante Domino, intento intellectu pulsaverit, de mysticis ejus sensibus ignem producit, ut in eis verbis post animus spiritaliter ardeat, quae prius per litteram ipse quoque frigidus audiebat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Secundus, Homilia X Source: Migne PL 76.1058a-c

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the prophet wisely understands the spiritual sense of sacred speech, saying, 'Your testimonies are wondrous, therefore my soul has studied them.' He who says again: 'Open my eyes, and I shall consider the wonders of your law.' 1 For he who does not yet understand hidden things as things revealed, he has his eyes veiled. But he who understands with eyes opened considers the wonders of God's law, because spiritually shattering the literal words, he ponders the greatness hidden within. Is it not to be wondered at that when something resounds in the ear, yet something escapes understanding which is not heard? To what then might I say the word of holy speech is like but a stone in which fire is hidden? It is cold when it is held in the hand but when it is struck with iron, it flashes with sparks, and that which emits the fire is afterward warm, which before was so cold to the touch. So indeed are the words of sacred speech, which by the literal narration are felt to be cold, but if someone, by the inspiration of the Lord, shall strike them with zealous understanding, he shall produce the fire of spiritual understanding, so that after, because of these words, the soul is spirtually aflame, that which before by the letter listened in coldness. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 10 1 Ps 118.129, 18

The Sabbath And Freedom

Τὸ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ εἰρημένον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἁπλοῦν, ἀλλ' ἔχει τινὰ διπλόην τοῖς· παχέσι κεκαλυμμένην, τοῖς δὲ λεπτοῖς γεγυμνωμένην. Ἡ ἡμέρα, φησὶν, ἡ ἐβδόμη, κλητὴ ἁγία ἔσται ὑμῖν. Πᾶν ἔργον λατρευτὸν οὐ ποιήσετε ἐν αὐτῇ, πλὴν ὅσα ποιηθήσεται πάσῃ ψυχῇ. Λατρείαν ἐνταῦθα τὴν δουλείαν καλεῖ. Οὐδὲν οὖν, φησὶ τῶν δουλοπρεπῶν, καὶ οἰονεὶ ἀνδραποδιζόντων ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν σχολῆς, ἐργάσεσθε ἐν Σαββάτῳ, ὃ καταφορτίζει ὑμᾶς βάρει ἁμαρτημάτων· ἀνέσεως γὰρ καὶ ἀφέσεώς ἐστιν ἡ ἡμέρα· κὰι οὐ χρὴ συνδέσμοις κακῶν τὸ ἀξίωμα αὐτῆς ἐνυβρίζεσθαι· τὸ δὲ, ὅσα ποιηθήσεται πάσῃ ψυχῇ, χρῆναι ἐργάζεσθαι, ὅσα τῇ ψυχῇ φέρει τὸ κέρδος, ταῦτα πληροῦν ἐνομοθέτησεν, εὐχὴν, προσευχὴν, ἡσυχίαν, νουθεσίαν, εὐποιίαν, σωφροσύνην, ἐγκράρειαν, ἀλήθειαν, ἀγνείαν, καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ὑπὸ πόδας εἴρηται, ἅπερ εἰς τὸν ἔσθω διαβαίνοντα ἄνθρωπον, τῶν ἔξω ἐλευθεροῖ σκανδάλων καὶ περιστάσεων, ἐκνικῶντος τοῦ κρείττονος Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΟΑ´ Ἡλιωνι Μοναχῳ Source: Migne PG 78.232a-b

That which is spoken of in the Law does not have a single meaning but a twofold one, and the more weighty part is hidden and the lighter is obvious. It says, 'You shall call the seventh day holy and you shall do no servile work on it.' 1 that is, as much as it shall touch any part of the soul. The servile here is what is slavish. Let there be nothing, then, befitting slavishness. And judge this to be whatever enslaves you apart from leisure for God, putting you to work on the Sabbath, burdening you with the weight of sin. For it is a day of leisure and of freedom, and one must not insult the dignity of it by being bound up in evils, but it commands that one should attend to whatever benefits the whole soul completely, that is, preaching, contemplation, exhortation, good deeds, modesty, continence, truth, chastity, and whatever is said below, which things passing into the inner man delivers him from scandals and trials, since what is better prevails. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 71, to Helion the Monk 1 Levit 23.3

Making The Face Firm

Fili hominis, obfirma faciem tuam super filias populi tui quae prophetant de corde suo... Primum de eo quod dicitur: Obfirma faciem tuam, requirendum. Deinde si Dominus dederit, investigare debemus filias populi prophetantes de corde suo, et facientes ea, in quibus eas Dei sermo corripiat. Et quod sit alia facies praeter hanc corporis nostri faciem, licet ex multis manifestum sit, attamen et ex his, quae Apostolus memorat, indicatur: Nos vero omnes revelata facie gloriam Domini speculantes, in eamdem imaginem transformamur a gloria in gloriam, quasi a Domini spiritu. Hanc faciem corporalem omnes homines habemus revelatam, nisi forte calamitatibus et angustiis premimur. Vultus autem ille, de quo sermo Apostoli est, in multis tectus est, et in paucis revelatus. Qui enim fiduciam habet in vita immaculata, in sensu sano, in fide vera, iste tantummodo non habet confessionis, fraudulentiae, peccatique velamen; sed propter puram conscientiam, revelata facie gloriam Domini contemplatur. Procul autem absit a nobis, ut velatam habeamus hanc faciem. Haec pauca de facie, ut possimus intelligere quid sit, quod sequitur: Obfirma faciem tuam super filias populi tui. Ista facies, id est, principale ( ἡγεμονικὸν) cordis nostri, nisi obfirmata fuerit super eo, quod intelligendum est, ut quomodo videt, sic annuntiet gentibus, illud quod aspicitur, non videtur. Impossibile quippe est, ut aliquis sine obfirmatione vultus, vagus, fluctuabundus, circumlatus omni vento doctrinae, videat quod debet, videat ut debet. Oportet enim volentem intelligere habere faciem, in eo quod intelligere nititur, obfirmatam: ob hanc semper causam prophetaturis primum jubetur, ut faciem suam obfirment; ut nostram autem et nos possimus obfirmare faciem in Evangelio, in Lege, in Prophetis, in apostolis, obfirma eam super Christo, et non super saeculi negotiis. Sed cum in mundialibus curis anima nostra versetur, cum semper ardeat habendi fame, non obfirmamus faciem nostram super ea, quae imperavit Deus, sed super ea, quae Dei sunt adversa praeceptis. Quis, putas, in nobis immundus est ob obfirmationem faciei super his, quae interdicta sunt? Quis in tantum sollicitus et cautus, ut diebus ac noctibus in ea obfirmet cordis sui faciem, quae jubentur? Nunc quoque si intellecturi fuimus praesentem scripturam quomodo prophetae dicatur: Obfirma faciem tuam super filias populi tui, ut videat ea quae dicturus est, debemus obfirmare intelligentiam, plenum in intentatione cordis habere tractatum, quod sit hoc, quod significetur, ut tandem ratione superati, recedamus a littera. Ac secundum communem quidem intellectum, videntur quaedam filiae populi prophetantes hoc quod sequitur admisisse peccatum. Assumentes cervicalia consuebant; consuentes non ponebant ea sub capite, sed sub cubito audientium, et velaminibus quibusdam tegebant capita universae aetatis. Haec sunt, quae prophetantibus filiabus populi reputantur quasi magna peccata. Quis autem potest in verbo consistens dicere, quia si quis cervicalia consuat, et consuta sub cubito ponat alterius, delinquat, et a Deo corripiatur? Quis potest asserere, quia si quis velamina faciat ad tegendum caput universae aetatis, impie agat? Invitis nobis ab ipsa Scriptura necessitas imponitur, ut ab apicibus litterae recedentes, verbum, et sapientiam, et voluntatem ejus requiramus ad aperienda peccata, quae clausa sunt, ad illuminanda quae caligant, ut possimus a maledicto extranei fieri, omni cubito manuum, sive manus. Qui in victu corporis occupati sunt, et ne per somnium quidem spirituales videre delicias, quas nos habere vult sermo divinus dicens: Delectare in Domino, et dabit tibi petitiones cordis tui; qui non noverunt voluntatem beatorum, de qua scribitur: Torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos: requirunt quasi amatores luxuriae, et non amatores Dei, semper in corporalibus esse deliciis. Signum autem mihi videtur voluptatis carneae, sub cubito manuum cervical assutum. Quia enim in tempore discumbendi ad beneficia corporalia videmur uti consutis quibusdam, et acu pictis sub cubito manuum nostrarum, forsitan sermo divinus per istius modi figuram et argumentum eos culpat magistros, qui per vaniloquentiam, et beatas quasque repromissiones, multitudinem audientium libidini, vitiis, voluptatique permittunt. Debet enim Dei verbum, et Deus homo ea proferre, quae saluti sunt audienti, quae illum hortentur ad continentiam, ad conversationem sanorum actuum, ad cuncta, quae homo studiosus laborum, et non libidinum, debet incumbere, ut possit ea consequi, quae a Deo sunt repromissa. Cum ergo aliquis aptus moribus populi, ut placeat eis, quibus aures pruriunt, loquitur quae gratanter accipiant, loquitur quae vicina sunt voluptati, talis magister consuit cervicalia sub omni cubito manus. Sequitur hoc peccatum habentem, ut faciat etiam amictus ad velandum caput omnis aetatis. Cujus autem rei figura sit etiam velamen, cautius consideremus. Qui fiduciam habet, et vere vir est, velamen non habet super caput suum, sed intecto capite orat Dominum, intecto capite prophetat: per signum corporalis rei etiam spiritalem latenter ostendens, ut quomodo non habet velamen super caput carnis suae, ita non habeat velamen super principale cordis sui. Si quis vero confusionis velamen gerit, et peccati, iste quasi muliebria velamina habet super caput suum. Itaque cum aliquis docuerit ea, quae aurem populi mulceant, et strepitum potius laudatorum, quam gemitum moveant, si blandus inimicus palpaverit potius quam secuerit vulnera, talis homo amictus contexit in capite. Cum autem in luxuriosam orationem dicentis se sermo fuderit, et in lascivum persultaverit eloquium, contexit velamen super caput omnis aetatis; non modo puerorum et juvenum, verum et senum. Quomodo enim faciat signa et portenta ad decipiendos, si fieri potest, etiam electos falsus Christus, et falsus propheta: similiter et hi, qui ad voluptatem meditata deportant, et ista semper inquirunt, quae delectent potius audientes, quam convertant a vitiis, faciunt velamina super caput non modo puerorum et juvenum, sed, si fieri potest, senum quoque et patrum, intantum ut etiam eos decipiant, qui juxta laborem animae in spiritali aetate et senio processerunt Origenes, Homila Tertia Ezekial, Interprete Hieronymo Source Migne PG 13.687c-690a

Make firm your face over the daughters of your people who prophesy from their own hearts... 1 First we shall look into that which is said, 'Make firm your face,' and then, if the Lord allows, we shall investigate the daughters of the people who prophesy from their own hearts, and do things for which the word of the Lord corrects them. Now what the other faces might be apart for this bodily face we possess has been made manifest in many places, but from these, let what the Apostle mentions be declared: 'But we all with uncovered face looking on the glory of the Lord, being transformed into that image, from glory to glory, as by the spirit of the Lord.' 2 This bodily face which all of us men have is uncovered, unless perhaps because of calamity and distress we hide it away, but the face of which the Apostle speaks is hidden in many ways and is rarely revealed. For he who has confidence in the immaculate way, in good sense, in true faith, he alone does not wear the veil of guilt and deceit and sin, but because of a pure conscience he contemplates the glory of the Lord with the face uncovered. May it be far from us that we should have this face covered. And with these things briefly said about the face, so we may understand what follows: 'Make firm your face over the daughters of your people.' The face, then, that is the ruling part of the heart, which unless it has been been made firm about what should be understood, it does not appear how it may see what it should that it might announce it to the people. For it is impossible that someone who does not have a firm face, but a wandering one that shifts about, and is tossed about by the winds of teaching, 3 shall see what he should and shall see as he should. It is necessary to understand the will as the face, which is made firm by the struggle to understand, because of which, for the cause of prophesying, it is always first commanded that the face be made firm. And so even we can make our face firm, in the Gospel and the Law and the Prophets and in the Apostles, making it firm concerning Christ, and not about worldly affairs. For when our soul is turned to worldly cares, when it is always burning with a hunger for things there, we do not make our face firm in what God has commanded, but for those things which are inimical to His teaching. Do you not think that he who has been made unclean among us is he who strengthens his face over those things which are prohibited? And who is the man so intently concerned and prudent over those things which are commanded, so that day and night he makes firm the face of his heart concerning those things? Now also, if we are to understand this present passage of Scripture, how it was said to the prophet: 'Make firm your face over the daughters of your people,' we should make firm our understanding, so that it might look on the things which are to be said, having the intent of our heart fully taut about what this may be and what it means, so that with elevated reason, we pass beyond the letter. According to a certain sort of common understanding, these daughters of the people who prophesy appear to be those who have permitted sin. They embroider the cushions, and do not place them under the head but beneath the arm of the hearer, and they cover the head with a covering that endures. 4 These things, which the prophesying daughters of the people did, are reputed to be weighty sins. But who is able to speak a word about what they are? Because if someone embroiders a cushion, and places it beneath the arm of someone else, should they be corrected by God? And will insist that because someone makes a covering to cover the head for all time, he acts wickedly? Even to those who are unwilling among us, this Scripture imposes the necessity of withdrawing from the sense of the letter to seek its word and wisdom and will for the uncovering of sins which are hidden, and the illumination of what is obscure, so that we can remove ourselves from the exterior curse of every arm or hand. Those who have been seized by the conquest of the body, and in a dream do not look on spiritual joys, which the Divine word wishes us to have, saying, 'Delight in the Lord, and He shall give to you the petition of your heart,' they who do not know the wish of those who are blessed, when it is written: 'A torrent of your joy you shall give them to drink,' 5 they seek as lovers of luxury, and not lovers of God, since they always have their pleasures in the body. Now to place the cushion beneath the arm seems to me to be a sign of carnal pleasure. For when for a time we recline for the sake of corporeal goods, we appear as having something embroidered and decorated with the needle beneath the arm, so perhaps the Divine word by the manner of this figure and argument reproves those teachers who through vain eloquence and certain pleasing promises, permit a multitude of lusts and vices and pleasures to those who listen to them. For it is of the word of God and the God man to offer those things which save to those who hear, which exhort them to continence and to their conversation to a sound life, and to everything which belongs to a studious man of labour, and not of lust, whence the things that are required are those that lead to what has been promised by God. When, then, someone is aware of the ways of people, and so that he might gratify them who have vile ears he speaks what may please them, that is, he speaks of things which lead to pleasure, such a teacher embroiders the cushion to be placed under the arm. It then says that with this sin there is also made a covering that veils the head forever. Let us carefully consider what this veil could be a figure of. He who has faith, and truly is a man, he has no veil upon his head, but with his head uncovered he prays to the Lord, and with his head uncovered he makes prophecy. By the corporeal sign the hidden spiritual thing of the matter is revealed, so that he who does not have a veil upon the head is he who does not have a veil upon the principle part of his heart. If, however, someone bears the veil of confusion, and sin, he is as one who has a woman's veil upon his head. Thus when someone teaches things which softly caress the ears of the people, and he incites a clamour of praise rather than groans, and he strokes rather than cauterises wounds, such a man weaves a covering for the head. And when with luxurious rhetoric he pours out his speech and he makes his eloquence dance about in pleasure, he weaves an enduring veil for the head, and not only for boys and youths, but truly even for the old. For as the false Christ and the false prophet shall make signs and portents for deceiving, if it were possible, even the elect, 6 so likewise these have meditated to carry off with pleasure, and so always seeking what delights those who listen, rather than what turns them from evil, they make a veil for the head, and not only for boys and youths, but even, if it is possible, for the old, even for fathers, inasmuch as they can deceive those who because of the labour of the soul have advanced in spiritual age and seniority. Origen, from the Third Homily on Ezekiel, translated by Jerome 1 Ezek 13.17 2 2 Cor 3.18 3 Ephes 4.14 4 Ezek 3.18 5 Ps 36.4, Ps 35.9 6 Mt 24.24

Resurrection And Transformation

Ἓν μὲν δὴ τοῦτο διὰ τῶν προοιμίων ἡμᾶς παιδευσάτω ὁ λόγος, τὸ μηκέτι ἀνθρώπους εἶναι τοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ ἄδυτα τῶν τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου μυστηρίων εἰσαγομένους ἀλλὰ μεταποιηθῆναι τῇ φύσει διὰ τῆς τοῦ Kυρίου μαθητείας πρὸς τὸ θειότερον, καθὼς μαρτυρεῖ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς ὁ λόγος, ὅτι κρείττους ἦσαν ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον, οὓς διέκρινεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ γενομένη πρὸς αὐτοὺς παρὰ τοῦ Kυρίου διαστολή, ὅτε φησί· Τίνα με λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι; Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; ἀληθῶς γὰρ ὁ διὰτῶν τοιούτων ῥημάτων, ὧν ἡ πρόχειρος ἔμφασις τὰς σαρκώδεις ἡδυπαθείαςἐνδείκνυται, μὴ κατολισθαίνων εἰς τὴν ῥυπῶσαν διάνοιαν ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴντῶν θείων φιλοσοφίαν, ἐπὶ τὰς καθαρὰς ἐννοίας διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων τούτωνχειραγωγούμενος δείκνυσι τὸ μηκέτι ἄνθρωπος εἶναι μηδὲ σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματισυμμεμιγμένην τὴν φύσιν ἔχειν,ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐλπιζομένην ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τῶν ἁγίων ζωὴν ἐπιδείκνυται ἰσάγγελος διὰ τῆς ἀπαθείας γενόμενος, ὡς γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τὸ μὲν σῶμα μεταστοιχειωθὲν πρὸς τὸ ἄφθαρτον τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου συμπλέκεται, τὰ δὲ νῦν διὰ σαρκὸς ἡμῖν ἐνοχλοῦντα πάθη τοῖς σώμασιν ἐκείνοις οὐ συνανίσταται ἀλλά τις εἰρηνικὴ κατάστασις τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν διαδέξεται, μηκέτι τοῦ φρονήματος τῆς σαρκὸς πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν στασιάζοντος μηδὲ διὰ τοῦ ἐμφυλίου πολέμου τῶν ἐμπαθῶν κινημάτων ἀντιστρατευομένου τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοὸς καὶ ὥσπερ αἰχμάλωτόν τινα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ προσάγοντος τὴν ἡττηθεῖσαν ψυχήν, ἀλλὰ πάντων τῶν τοιούτων καθαρεύσει τότε ἡ φύσις καὶ ἓν δι' ἀμφοτέρων ἔσται τὸ φρόνημα, τῆς σαρκός φημι καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, πάσης σωματικῆς διαθέσεως ἐξαφανισθείσης ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως, οὕτω παρακελεύεται καὶ διὰ τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου ὁ λόγος τοῖς ἐπαΐουσι, κἂν ἐν σαρκὶ ζῶμεν, μηδ' ἐν τοῖς νοήμασι πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐπιστρέφεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πρὸς μόνην τὴν ψυχὴν βλέπειν καὶ τὰς ἀγαπητικὰς τῶν ῥημάτων ἐμφάσεις καθαράς τε καὶ ἀμολύντους ἀνατιθέναι τῷ ὑπερέχοντι πάντα νοῦν ἀγαθῷ, ὃ μόνον ἐστὶν ὡς ἀληθῶς γλυκύ τε καὶ ἐπιθυμητὸν καὶ ἐράσμιον. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία Α´ Source: Migne PG 44.776d-777b

By these introductory remarks let the Word teach us this one thing, that it is no longer men who are being led to the shrine of the mysteries of the Song of Songs, but by the teaching of the Lord they have been changed in nature into something more Divine, just as the Word bears witness to the disciples that they were superior to the condition of men, they who were judged to be different from men by the Lord's distinction when He said, 'Who do men say I am? And who do you say I am?' 1 For truly he who is not led by such words whose overt meaning refers to corporeal pleasures to slip down into a vile sense but rather to the philosophy of divine things and to pure thoughts, he shows that he is no longer a man and that his nature is no longer mingled with flesh and blood, 2 but by impassibility having become equal to the angels, he shows the life to be hoped for in the resurrection of the holy, for as after the resurrection the body which is transformed into incorruption is joined to the soul of man, so the things which now trouble us through the flesh do not rise up with those bodies, but our lives will exhibit a certain peaceful state, because the thought of the flesh will no longer exert itself treacherously against the soul, nor will it attack the law of the mind with civil war by the movements of the passions and lead away the defeated soul as a captive of sin, but then in every way our nature shall be purified, and both parts shall be of one mind, the flesh, I mean, and the spirit, by the removal of every corporeal inclination from our nature. So with this book the Word exhorts those who attend, that even if we live in the flesh, we should not turn our thoughts toward it, but we should look to the soul alone and dedicate the meaning of the words in purity and cleanliness to the good, to Him who passes all understanding, 3 who alone is truly sweet and desirable and loveable. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 1 1 Mt 16.13–15 2 Mt 16.7 3 cf Phil 4.7

Blessing And Increase

Και εὐλόγησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Νῶε, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτου, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Αὐξάνεσθε και πληθύνεσθε, καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν. Ὁ Νῶε πῶς ηὕξησε, kαὶ ἐπλήθυνε, μῄπω γεννήσας μετὰ κατακλυσμόν; μήποτe οὖν οὐ δεῖ σωματικῶς ἀκούειν τὸ, Αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε. Εἰ δε ἐνθάδε οὐ σωματικῶς διὰ τὸν Νῶε, δῆλον, ὅτι κατὰ βούλημα τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νόμου καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ οὕτως. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Την Γενεσιν, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 12.105d

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and He said to them, 'Grow and multiply and fill the earth.' 1 How did Noah 'grow and multiply' when he did not sire children after the flood? One should not then consider this 'grow and multiply,' to be a material matter. And if here with Noah this should not be understood materially, then it is clear that it must be understood according to the sense of the spiritual law, just as in the beginning. 2 Origen, On Genesis, Fragment 1 Gen 9.1 2 Gen 1.27-28

Parable And Prophecy

Διὰ πολλὰς τοίνυν αἰτίας ἐπικρύπτονται τὸν νοῦν αἱ γραφαί, πρῶτον μὲν ἵνα ζητητικοὶ ὑπάρχωμεν καὶ προσαγρυπνῶμεν ἀεὶ τῇ τῶν σωτηρίων λόγων εὑρέσει, ἔπειτα ὅτι μηδὲ τοῖς ἅπασι προσῆκον ἦν νοεῖν, ὡς μὴ βλαβεῖεν ἑτέρως ἐκδεξάμενοι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος σωτηρίως εἰρημένα. Διὸ δὴ τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῖς τε ἐκ πίστεως εἰς γνῶσιν ἐγκρίτοις τηρούμενα τὰ ἅγια τῶν προφητειῶν μυστήρια ταῖς παραβολαῖς ἐγκαλύπτεται· παραβολικὸς γὰρ ὁ χαρακτὴρ ὑπάρχει τῶν γραφῶν, διότι καὶ ὁ Kύριος, οὐκ ὢν κοσμικός, ὡς κοσμικὸς εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἦλθεν· καὶ γὰρ ἐφόρεσεν τὴν πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἔμελλέν τε τὸν σύντροφον τοῦ κόσμου ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τὰ νοητὰ καὶ κύρια διὰ τῆς γνώσεως ἀνάγειν ἐκ κόσμου εἰς κόσμον. Διὸ καὶ μεταφορικῇ κέχρηται τῇ γραφῇ· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ παραβολή, λόγος ἀπό τινος οὐ κυρίου μέν, ἐμφεροῦς δὲ τῷ κυρίῳ ἐπὶ τἀληθὲς καὶ κύριον ἄγων τὸν συνιέντα, ἤ, ὥς τινές φασι, λέξις δι´ ἑτέρων τὰ κυρίως λεγόμενα μετ´ ἐνεργείας παριστάνουσα. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἡ οἰκονομία πᾶσα ἡ περὶ τὸν Kύριον προφητευθεῖσα παραβολὴ ὡς ἀληθῶς φαίνεται τοῖς μὴ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐγνωκόσιν, ὅταν τις τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ τὰ πάντα πεποιηκότος σάρκα ἀνειληφότα καὶ ἐν μήτρᾳ παρθένου κυοφορηθέντα, καθὸ γεγέννηται τὸ αἰσθητὸν αὐτοῦ σαρκίον, ἀκολούθως δέ, καθὸ γέγονεν τοῦτο, πεπονθότα καὶ ἀνεσταμένον ὃ μὲν λέγῃ, οἳ δὲ ἀκούωσιν, Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον, Ἕλλησι δὲ μωρίαν, ὥς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος. Διανοιχθεῖσαι δὲ αἱ γραφαὶ καὶ τοῖς ὦτα ἔχουσιν ἐμφήνασαι τὸ ἀληθὲς αὐτὸ ἐκεῖνο, ὃ πέπονθεν ἡ σάρξ, ἣν ἀνείληφεν ὁ Kύριος, Δύναμιν θεοῦ καὶ σοφίαν καταγγέλλουσιν. Ἐπὶ πᾶσί τε τὸ παραβολικὸν εἶδος τῆς γραφῆς, ἀρχαιότατον ὄν, ὡς παρεστήσαμεν, εἰκότως παρὰ τοῖς προφήταις μάλιστα ἐπλεόνασεν, ἵνα δὴ καὶ τοὺς φιλοσόφους τοὺς παρ´ Ἕλλησι καὶ τοὺς παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις βαρβάροις σοφοὺς ἠγνοηκέναι τὸ ἅγιον ἐπιδείξῃ πνεῦμα τὴν ἐσομένην τοῦ Kυρίου παρουσίαν καὶ τὴν ὑπ´ αὐτοῦ παραδοθησομένην μυστικὴν διδασκαλίαν. Εἰκότως ἄρα κηρύσσουσα ἡ προφητεία τὸν κύριον, ὡς μὴ παρὰ τὰς τῶν πολλῶν ὑπολήψεις λέγουσα βλασφημεῖν τισι δοκοίη, ἐσχημάτισε τὰ σημαινόμενα φωναῖς ταῖς καὶ ἐπὶ ἑτέρας ἐννοίας ἄγειν δυναμέναις. Αὐτίκα οἱ προφῆται πάντες οἱ προθεσπίσαντες τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Kυρίου καὶ σὺν αὐτῇ τὰ ἅγια μυστήρια ἐδιώχθησαν, ἐφονεύθησαν, καθάπερ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Kύριος διασαφήσας αὐτῶν τὰς γραφὰς καὶ οἱ τούτου γνώριμοι οἱ κηρύξαντες τὸν λόγον ὡσαύτως μετ´ αὐτὸν τὸ ζῆν παρεβάλοντο. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἐν τῷ Κηρύγματι περὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων λέγων φησίν· Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀναπτύξαντες τὰς βίβλους ἃς εἴχομεν τῶν προφητῶν, ἃ μὲν διὰ παραβολῶν, ἃ δὲ δι´ αἰνιγμάτων, ἃ δὲ αὐθεντικῶς καὶ αὐτολεξεὶ τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ὀνομαζόντων, εὕρομεν καὶ τὴν παρουσίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς κολάσεις πάσας ὅσας ἐποίησαν αὐτῷ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ τὴν ἔγερσιν καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάληψιν πρὸ τοῦ Ἱεροσόλυμα κτισθῆναι, καθὼς ἐγέγραπτο ταῦτα πάντα, ἃ ἔδει αὐτὸν παθεῖν καὶ μετ´ αὐτὸν ἃ ἔσται. Ταῦτα οὖν ἐπιγνόντες ἐπιστεύσαμεν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τῶν γεγραμμένων εἰς αὐτόν. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Ϛ’, Κεφ' ΙΕ’ Source: Migne PG 9.349b-352c

For many reasons, then, the Scriptures hide the sense. First, that we may become seekers and always be vigilant for the discovery of the words of salvation. Then because it was not suitable for all to understand, so that they might not be harmed by receiving in a different way the things spoken for salvation by the Holy Spirit. Whence it is for chosen men, picked out for knowledge because of their faith, that the holy mysteries of the prophecies are kept veiled in the parables; for the style of the Scriptures is parabolic. So indeed the Lord, who was not of the world, came to men as one who was of the world. For He bore all virtue to lead man, nurtured by the world, from one world to another by the things of the intellect and to the principle truths by knowledge. Whence also He also made use of metaphorical description; for the parable is such a thing, an account of something which is not the principal subject but similar to the principal subject, and it leads him who understands it to what is the true and principal thing. Or, as some say, it is a mode of speech presenting with vigour, by means of other things, what is the principal subject. And now also the whole economy which made prophecy of the Lord indeed appears as a parable to those who do not know the truth, when someone speaks and they hear that the Son of God, the Son of Him who made everything, assumed flesh, and was conceived in the Virgin's womb, as far as His material flesh was produced, and subsequently, as happened, suffered and rose again. It is 'a stumbling-block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks,' as the Apostle says. 1 But when the Scriptures are opened up, they declare the truth 'to those who have ears,' 2 proclaiming that the suffering endured by the flesh which the Lord assumed is 'the power and wisdom of God.' 3 Finally, since the parabolic style of Scripture is of the greatest antiquity, as we have argued, it abounded most, as is to be expected, in the prophets, so that the Holy Spirit might reveal that the philosophers of the Greeks and the wise men of the Barbarians were ignorant of the future coming of the Lord and of the spiritual teaching that He was going to give. Fittingly then, the prophecy that proclaimed the Lord, so that it might not seem to some to blaspheme while speaking what was beyond the ideas of many, fashioned its speech in ways which were able to lead to different ideas. Now all the prophets who foretold the Lord's coming and the holy mysteries that would come with it, were persecuted and slain, as even the Lord Himself, He who, in explaining the Scriptures, used parables, as likewise did His disciples who preached the word like Him after His passing from life. Whence also Peter, in his Preaching, speaking of the Apostles, says: 'But we, unrolling the books of the prophets which we have, who name Jesus Christ in parables and enigmas, and expressly and in its own words, find His advent and death and cross, and all the rest of the torments the Jews inflicted on Him, and His resurrection and ascension to heaven prior to the establishment of Jerusalem. 4 As it is written, 'All these things it befitted Him to suffer, and what shall be after Him.' 5 Recognising these things, then, we believed in God because of what is written about Him.' Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book 6, Chapter 15 1 1 Cor 1.23 2 Mt 11.15 etc 3 1 Cor 1.24 4 Likely the New Jerusalem, cf Apoc 21.2 5 Source Unknown

Figures And Futures

Non dubium autem est, omnia quae in patres aut per patres nostros gesta sunt, futuri formam in his quae gesta sunt praetulisse. Et idipsum ita esse, hic quoque psalmorum liber testis est. Namque cum in septuagesimo et septimo psalmo omnia ea quae in Aegypto atque in deserto et in caeteris deinceps locis gesta essent recenserentur, ea ipsa parabolica esse ita demonstrata sunt: Attendite populus meus in legem meam, inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei. Aperiam in parabolis os meum, loquar propositiones ab initio. Per id enim quod et parabolae et propositiones sunt, rerum futurarum effectibus comparantur. Apostolus quoque docet, ea ipsa quae gesta sunt, in praefigurationem gesta esse, dicens: Quia lex umbram habet futurorum bonorum, et omnia in praeformationem acciderunt his: scripta sunt autem propter nos, in quos fines saeculorum devenerunt. Gesta igitur ipsa in exemplum, et scripta in doctrinam sunt. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXXXVI Source: Migne PL 9.777c-778a

But there is no doubt that everything done to or through our fathers were brought to pass as a figure of what is to come. And that this is the case, the book of the Psalms also bears witness. For when in the seventy seventh Psalm everything which was done in Egypt and in the desert is reviewed, they are revealed to be parabolic. 'Attend, my people, to my law, incline your ear to the words of my mouth. I shall open my mouth in parables, I shall speak propositions from the beginning.' 1 For through this, in parables and in propositions, the performance of future things is prepared. The Apostle also teaches that these things which happened were done as a prefiguration, saying, 'Because the law is a shadow of future goods,' 2 and 'Everything happened to them as a prefiguration, and they are written for our sake, upon whom the ends of the ages has come.' 3 Therefore the deeds were for example, and they were written for teaching. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 136 1 Ps 77.1-2 2 Heb 10.1, Colos 2.17 3 1 Cor 10.11

Questions And Parables

Et cum esset singularis, interrogaverunt eum hi qui cum eo erant duodecim, parabolam. Et dicebat eis: Vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni Dei: illis autem qui foris sunt, in parabolis omnia fiunt: Ut videntes videant et non videant, et audientes audiant et non intelligant, ne quando convertantur, et dimittantur eis peccata. Et cum esset singularis, a turbis sequestratus, interrogaverunt eum plus ei familiares, hi qui cum eo erant, caeteris familiarius, duodecim, Apostoli, de quibus dicitur: Vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni Dei, caeteris autem in parabolis: ut exponeret parabolam. Hic agitur de parabolae interpretatione. Dividitur autem in tres partes: in quarum prima causam dicit de parabolae propositione: in. secunda, dat increpationem de discipulorum caecitate: in tertia, tangit de parabolae compendiosa interpretatione. De primo dicit: Et dicebat eis, causam dans parabolicae praedicationis. Vobis datum est, per me, multa spiritualia documenta quae feci vobis, nosse, per spiritum, mysterium, hoc est, secretum intellectum, regni Dei, hoc est, praedicationis justitiae divinae: per quam et in coelo et in terra regnat Deus. Illis autem, idiotis, qui foris sunt, extra mysticum intellectum, et doctrinas spirituales non recipiunt quibus ad iidem sunt introducti, in parabolis datum est praedicari divina: quia spiritualia intelligere non possunt, nisi in corporalium rerum similitudinibus. Ego, fratres, non potui vobis loqui quasi spiritualibus, sed quasi carnalibus: tamquam parvulis in Christo, lac vobis potum dedi, non escam, nondum enim poteratis: sed nec nunc quidem potestis. Omnia fiunt, spiritualia, in parabolis: quia et tabernaculum, et templum, et omnia vasa, et festa, et gesta, et sacra legis parabolice proposita sunt, ut spiritualia intelligantur in ipsis. Ut videntes, in figuris parabolarum, coelestia videant involuta. Propter quod etiam velum expansum est ante sancta sanctorum. Et non videant spiritualia nuda et exposita: quia sic ea intelligere non possunt. Et ideo praecipitur, ut Levitae portantes utensilia tabernaculi prius involvant ea, ne a rudi populo videantur: quia talis rudis populus quod non intelligit lacerat dente canino, et non ut sanctum veneratur. Nolite dare sanctum canibus: neque mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos. Et audientes, in parabolis involuta, audiant,  et sicut magna venerentur: et non intelligant involuta, quia intelligere talia non possunt. Et melius est eis involuta ut magna venerari, quam evoluta despicere. Unde cum evoluta et expressa Hiram videret dona Salomonis magna quidem. et praecipua, tamen non valens capere doni pretiositatem, despexit, dicens: Haeccine sunt civitates quas dedisti mihi, frater? Et appellavit eas Terram Chabul: et ea in quibus fideles habitabant amici Dei, fecit gentilis erroris habitationes: et ad gentilem transtulit ritum ea in quibus ipse fidem Dei discere potuisset, si paulatim parabolarum intellectum per spiritum investigasset. Haec enim oppida sunt symbola in quibus fideles idiotae habitant, sacra involuta venerantes, quae dum incaute idiotis exposita proponuntur, non valentes capere virtutem eorum, haeretici efficiuntur. Nequando convertantur. Hoc de duris intelligitur, qui ex parabolis proficere nolunt: sicut Judaei, carnali sensui adhaerentes. Et dimittantur eis peccata, caecitatis. Et adducitur auctoritas de prophetia Isaiae: Excaeca cor populi hujus , et aures ejus aggrava, et oculos ejus claude: ne forte videat oculis suis, et auribus suis audiat, et corde suo intelligat, et convertatur, et sanem eum. Et ait illis: Nescitis parabolam hanc? et quomodo omnes parabolas cognoscetis? Secundum est, in quo increpat ruditatem cordis eorum. Nescitis parabolam hanc? Ac si dicat: Hoc est mirum post tot documenta suscepta, post tot miracula visa, post tot testimonia adhibita. Adhuc et vos sine intellectu estis? Cum deberetis magistri esse propter tempus, rursus indigetis ut vos doceamini quae sint elementa exordii sermonum Dei: et facti estis quibus lacte opus sit, et non solido cibo. Ei quomodo omnes parabolas cognoscetis? cum istam quae facilior est inter alias, et seipsam offert ad interpretationem, non intelligitis. Vos enim magistri esse debetis aliorum: et ideo capaciori sensu, perfectiora intelligere deberetis. Tu es magister in Israel, et haec ignoras? Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput IV Source: Here p42

And when He was alone, the twelve who were with Him questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them: 'To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables, so that seeing they may see and not see, and hearing they may hear and not hear, lest they be converted and their sins are forgiven them. 1 'And when He was alone,' withdrawn from the crowd, 'they questioned him,' those more familiar with Him, 'those who were with him,' more familiar than others, 'the twelve' the Apostles, concerning whom it is then said 'To you is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but for the others it is in parables,' so that He might explain 'the parable' Here the intrepretation of the parable is performed. It is divided into three parts, the first of which concerns the proposition of the parable, in the second the blindness of the disciples is reproved, in the third he touches on the profit of understanding the parable. Concerning the first it is said, 'And He said to them,' giving the reason for the telling of the parable. 'It is given to you,' through me, the many spiritual teaching which I have made for you, 'to know,' through the spirit, 'the mystery' that is, the hidden understanding, 'of the kingdom of God,' that is, of the preaching of Divine righteousness, through which God reigns in heaven and on earth. 'For to those,' the foolish, 'who are outside,' outside the spiritual understanding, and they do not receive the spiritual teaching by which they are introduced to the same, 'in parables,' is the preaching of Divine things because they are not able to understand spiritual things, unless they are given under the likeness of material things. 'I, brothers, have not spoken to you as spiritual men, but as men of flesh, as children in Christ, I have given the drink of milk to you, not solid food, because you were not yet capable, and you are still not yet capable.' 2 'Everything,' spiritual things, 'is in parables' since the tabernacle and the temple and every vessel and feast and deed and sacred law was proposed as a parable, that they understand the spiritual things in them. 'That seeing,' in the figures of the parables, heavenly things, 'they see' obscurely. On account of which the veil was spread before the holy of holies. 'And they do not see,' spiritual things openly and plainly, because they are not able to understand these things. Therefore it is commanded that the Levites who bear the vessels to the tarbernacle should cover them lest they be seen by an ignorant people, 3 for what an ignorant people do not understand they will tear with the fangs of the dog, not venerating it as something holy. 'Do not give holy things to dogs, do not cast your pearls before swine.' 4 'And hearing,' those things hidden in parables, 'they hear,' even as revering great things, 'and they do not understand,' the hidden things, because they are not able to understand such things. And better it is for them to venerate great things as hidden, than to despise things revealed. Whence when Hiram looked on the revealed and openly great gifts of Solomon, and especially as he was not able to grasp the value of them, he scorned them, saying, 'Are these the cities you are giving me, brother? And he called that land Chabul.' 5 And these in which the faithful friends of God dwell, he made into the dwellings of the gentile error, and he brought in the gentile rite, even there where he was able to learn the faith of God, if little by little he had investigated the understanding of parables through the spirit. For these towns are symbols in which the foolish faithful dwell, venerating sacred things in obscurity, which when they are incautiously explained to the simple, they cannot grasp the power of them and they become heretics. 'Lest they be converted.' This is understood as referring to their hardness, of those who do not wish to profit from the parables, as the Jews, who clung to the carnal senses. 'And their sins be forgiven them,' of blindness. And the authority is derived from the prophet Isaiah: 'This people is blind of heart, and its ears are heavy, and its eyes closed, lest perhaps they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and they turn and I heal them.' 6 'And He said to them, do you not understand this parable? How shall you understand all the parables?' In the second part He reproves the coarseness of their hearts. 'You do not understand this parable?' As if he said: 'This is indeed a wonder, after all the teaching you have received, after all the miracles you have seen, after all the testimony you have been given. 'Are you yet without understanding?' 'You who according to your age should be teachers are again so lacking that you must be taught the elements of the opening of the speech of God. You have become so that milk is needful instead of solid food.' 7 'How shall you understand all the parables?' When this one is easier than the others and offers itself to understanding, yet you do not understand. For you should be teachers of others and therefore have a more capable mind for the understanding of better things. 'You are a teacher of Israel and you do not know these things?' 8 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 4 1 Mk 4.10-12 2 1 Cor 3.1-2 3 Numb 4.12 4 Mt 7.6 5 3 Kings 9.10-14 6 Isaiah 6.10 7 Mt 15.16, Heb 5.12 8 Jn 3.10

Wisdom And Meaning

Simile est regnum coelorum homini patrifamilias qui exiit primo mane conducere operarios in vineam suam ... Vere, dilectissimi, multiformis est, cum sit tamen simplicissima Dei sapientia, et cum sit uniformiter una, multipliciter tamen multiplex invenitur. Pertransibunt, inquit prophet, plurimi, et multiplex erit scientia. Ipsa nimirum est, quae jure dicitur fons hortorum, et puteus aquarum viventium; fons ob inexhaustam jugitatem; puteus ob incomprehensibilem profunditatem. Et hoc aquarum viventium, id est sensuum semper scatentium. Unde eadem parabolem, vel etiam quae evidens videtur Scriptura, ab aliis et aliis aliter atque aliter recte exponitur ac disseritur, neque tamen ab ullis funditus exhauritur, quasi totum quod inde dici potest sic dixerit prior, ut praeter hoc quid dicat, nequeat invenire posterior. Quidquid enim dici de aliqua re sapienter ac veraciter potest aliquo modo, totum in aeterna sapientia et veritate simul et semper omnimodis ab aeterno est. Quare cum per aliquem loquitur Spiritus, qui profunda Dei non investigando, sed continendo scrutatur, de quo dictum est: Qui continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis, omnia quidem, quae voce illa aliquatenus veraciter ac utiliter dici possunt, simul sentit, intelligit, intendit, eo per quem loquitur, quandoque ab ipso intellectu vacuo, quandoque uno sensu contento, nonnunquam pluribus simul illustrato, nunquam tamen omnibus repleto. Unde possibile factu saepe est, in eadem Scriptura dissentientes vel diversa sentientes, Spiritui sancto posse optime convenire, vel consentre, dum a fide veritatis, et aedificatione charitatis, ac subversione cupiditatis, quibus omnis oculus Scripturae sanctae invigilat, constiterit non dissentire. Nam et unusquilibiet de eodem aliter atque aliter, alias atque alias, nec tamen alio atque alio spiritu sentit, dum utrobique, ut dictum est, veritati charitatique consentit. Neque enim veritas asserenda est contra charitatem: aut charitas tenenda est contra veritatem. Haec ideo quasi in praefatiuncula paucis perstrinximus, ne cum secus ac alias audistis, aut penes alios legistis, aliqua nos audere noveritis, quispiam suspicetur, vel vetera nos prorsus ignorare, vel agnita temnere, vel novis propriisque inaniter gaudere. Attendenda magis ubique diligenti auditori erit ratio dicti ex causa dicendi. Non enim sancti Evangelii lectiones tam suscepimus exponere, quam accepta abinde occasione ad aedificationem fratrum, et nostram, aliquid pro tempore, loco, et personis dicere, quem non sinitis vobiscum silere. Hortatur tamen Apostolus, ne ullam Dei gratiam in vacuum accipiamus, imo et David, ne ipsam animam, dicens: Qui non accepit in vanum animan suam, id est intellectum rationalem. Apud Evangelium quoque omne talentum duplicatum reposcitur. Filius etiam promissionis et paternos puteos coluit, ac sibi novos effodit. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XVI Source: Migne PL 194.1741a-1742a

The kingdom of heaven is like a rich man who went out at dawn to hire workers for his vineyard... 1 The wisdom of God, most beloved, is indeed multifaceted and yet most simple, and is found to be both uniformly one and yet manifold. The prophet says, 'Many will pass through and knowledge will be multiplied.' 2 Wisdom is indeed rightly said to be 'a fountain amid gardens, and a well of living waters.' 3 A fountain because it always flows, a well because of its inconceivable depth. And this well of living waters is ever bubbling up with meaning. Whence this parable seems to be a straightforward piece of Scripture, but it is rightly expounded and commented on by different authors in different ways, and yet none of them exhaust its depths so that all that is possible to say of it was said before, because of which no one at a later time is able to say anything more. Whatever may be said of anything in wisdom and truth, whatever form it has, at once in every possible way, is wholly contained in eternal truth and wisdom and exists from eternity. When the Spirit speaks through someone, he is not investigating the deep things of God but scrutinizing what is contained, 4 concerning which it is said, 'He who contains everything has the knowledge of the voice,' 5 everything which with that voice it is possible to speak in truth and usefully, He knows, understands, intends. Now sometimes the one through whom He speaks has no understanding at all, and sometimes he grasps one meaning, and sometimes he is enlightened by many meanings at the same time, but no one is filled with all the meaning. Whence it is often possible that the same passage of Scripture with contrasting or differing meanings may truly be ascribed to the Holy Spirit and find agreement there, while there is no dispute with the true faith and the edification of love and the overthrow of lust, over which whole the eye of Scripture watches. For anyone who treats the same piece in different ways at different times, not however understanding it in a different spirit, conforms to truth and love. For truth never makes claims against love and love never holds out against truth. We have made this little introduction so that if you have heard differently, or read differently, you are aware that in whatever is taken up, I do not venture to scorn those of old, or disdain what is known, or foolishly rejoice in my own novelties. Rather it is for the diligent listener to attend to the meaning of what is said and the cause of saying it. For we do not so much take all readings from the Gospel to expound them, but to make use of the occasion for the edification of brothers, and ourselves, speaking according to the time, the place and the persons, you who will not allow us to be silent. The Apostle exhorts us not to receive the grace of God in vain, 6 and David speaks similarly of our own souls when he says: 'He who does not receive his soul in vain.' 7 Also in the Gospel there is the demand for talents to be doubled. 8 And the son of the promise guarded the wells of his father and dug new ones for himself. 9 Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 16 1 Mt 20.1 2 Dan 12.4 3 Song 4.15 4 1 Cor 2.10 5 Wis 1.7 6 2 Cor 6.1 7 Ps 24.4 8 Mt 25.20 9 Genes 26.18

The Beauty Within

Μέλαινά εἰμι καὶ καλή, θυγατέρες Ἰερουσαλήμ... Τῆς ἱερᾶς τοῦ μαρτυρίου σκηνῆς οὐχ ὁμότιμον ἦν τῷ ἔνδοθεν κεκρυμμένῳ κάλλει τὸ ἐκτὸς προφαινόμενον· αὐλαῖαι μὲν γὰρ ἐκ λινῶν ὑφασμάτων καὶ αἱ διὰ τῶν τριχῶν τῶν αἰγῶν δέρρεις καὶ αἱ τῶν ἐρυθρῶν δερμάτων περιβολαὶ τὸν ἔξωθεν τῆς σκηνῆς κόσμον ἐπλήρουν καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν μέγα καὶ τίμιον τοῖς τὰ ἐκτὸς ὁρῶσι παρὰ ταῦτα φαινόμενον, ἔσωθεν δὲ χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ καὶ τοῖς τιμίοις τῶν λίθων πᾶσα ἡ τοῦ μαρτυρίου σκηνὴ κατελάμπετο· οἱ στῦλοι, αἱ βάσεις, αἱ κεφαλίδες, τὸ θυμιατήριον, τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ἡ κιβωτός, ἡ λυχνία, τὸ ἱλαστήριον, οἱ λουτῆρες, τὰ τῶν εἰσόδων καταπετάσματα, οἷς τὸ κάλλος ἐκ παντὸς εἴδους τῆς εὐχροούσης βαφῆς συνεκίρνατο, νῆμα χρύσεον ὑακίνθῳ καὶ πορφύρᾳ καὶ βύσσῳ καὶ κόκκῳ διά τινος τεχνικῆς λεπτουργίας εὐκόσμως συνυφαινόμενον, σύγκρατον ἐκ πάντων, καθάπερ ἐν ἴριδος αὐγαῖς ἀποστίλβειν ἐποίει τὴν αὐγὴν τοῦ ὑφάσματος. Πρὸς ὅ τι δὲ βλέπων ἐντεῦθεν προοιμιάζομαι, πρόδηλον ὑμῖν πάντως ἐκ τῶν ῥηθησομένων γενήσεται. Πάλιν πρόκειται ἡμῖν τὸ Ἆισμα τῶν Ἀισμάτων εἰς πᾶσαν φιλοσοφίας τε καὶ θεογνωσίας ὑφήγησιν. Aὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀληθινὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου σκηνή, ἧς προκαλύμματα μὲν καὶ δέρρεις καὶ ἡ τῆς αὐλαίας περιβολὴ ἐρωτικοί τινες γίνονται λόγοι καὶ ῥήματα τὴν πρὸς τὸ ποθούμενον σχέσιν ἐμφαίνοντα καὶ κάλλους ὑπογραφὴ καὶ μνήμη σωματικῶν μελῶν, τῶν τε προφαινομένων ἐν τῷ προσώπῳ καὶ τῶν ὑποκεκρυμμένων τῇ τῆς ἐσθῆτος περιβολῇ. Tὰ δὲ ἐντὸς πολύφωτός τίς ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς λυχνία καὶ κιβωτὸς μυστηρίων πλήρης. Kαὶ τὸ τῆς εὐωδίας θυμιατήριον καὶ τὸ καθάρσιον τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τὸ πάγχρυσον ἐκεῖνο τῆς εὐσεβείας θυσιαστήριον, τό τε τῶν καταπετασμάτων κάλλος, τὸ διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν εὐχροίας εὐσχημόνως ἐξυφαινόμενον, καὶ οἱ ἀκλινεῖς τῶν λογισμῶν στῦλοι καὶ αἱ ἀμετάθετοι τῶν δογμάτων βάσεις, τό τε τῶν κεφαλίδων κάλλος, δι' ὧν ἡ περὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἑρμηνεύεται χάρις καὶ οἱ τῶν ψυχῶν λουτῆρες καὶ πάντα ὅσα πρὸς τὴν οὐρανίαν τε καὶ ἀσώματον πολιτείαν βλέπει, ἃ δι' αἰνιγμάτων ὁ νόμος διακελεύεται, ἐν τοῖς ὑποκεκρυμμένοις τῇ λέξει νοήμασιν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, εἰ μόνον ἐπιτηδείους πρὸς τὴν εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἴσοδον ἑαυτοὺς δι' ἐπιμελείας ποιήσαιμεν τῷ λουτῆρι τοῦ λόγου πάντα ῥύπον αἰσχρᾶς ἐννοίας ἀποκλυσάμενοι, μήποτε θιγόντες παρὰ τὸ παράγγελμα τοῦ νόμου θνησιμαίου νοήματος ἤ τινος τῶν ἀκαθάρτων ἐνθυμίων ἁψάμενοι ἀθέατοι τῶν ἐντὸς τῆς σκηνῆς θαυμάτων ἀποκλεισθῶμεν. Oὐ γὰρ παραδέχεται τῶν τοιούτων τὴν εἴσοδον ὁ τοῦ πνεύματος νόμος, ἐὰν μή τις πλύνῃ τὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως ἑαυτοῦ ἱμάτιον κατὰ τὸ Μωϋσέως παράγγελμα ὁ νεκρᾶς τινος καὶ βδελυκτῆς ἐννοίας ἁψάμενος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία β' Source: Migne PG 44.787b-789a

I am dark but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem... 1 The holy tabernacle of witness was not beautiful because of its outward appearance, but because of what was hidden within. Certainly there were curtains made from linen, and with the leathery pelts of goats and rough hides all these made up the outer covering of the tabernacle, but it was not great and precious in appearance because of these things which were able to be seen externally. For it was the interior of the tabernacle of witness that glittered all around with silver and gold and precious stones. There were the columns, the pedestals, the thurible, the altar, the ark, the lamp-stand, the mercy seat, the washing basins, and the veils and curtains of the entrance whose beauty was a mix of many tinctures of colours, and threads of gold, and of blue, and of purple and of scarlet, all woven and threaded together, and by this weaving its splendour was made equal to the glory of the rainbow. 2 With which vision I begin, so that those things which I will say here may be plainly manifest to us. Again the Song of songs sets before us an exposition of the universal philosophy, and the knowledge of God. This is the true tabernacle of witness. Certainly the exterior coverings, the curtains and drapes on the outside, are the desiring thoughts and words that reveal an inclination for what is wished, but a description of beauty, making mention of bodily members, touches on both what is openly seen and what is hidden beneath the covering of clothes. For the things that are within are a person of many lights, as the true lamp-stand, and the ark, full of mysteries. And then the thurible with its sweet odour purifies from sin, and also the golden and pious mercy seat, and the beauty of the veils is woven elegantly with the pleasing complexion of the virtues, and the firm and immobile columns are reason, and the pedestals are dogmas which are not able to be shifted, and by the beauty of the capitals is understood the grace of the soul's governing part, and the basins are for the washing of souls. Indeed here, wherever one looks, is the heavenly and incorporeal maintenance of life, which the law commands in mystery , and which can be found in the meanings which are hidden in these words, if only we have care to prepare ourselves to enter into the holy of holies, by the washing off in the cleansing waters of reason all the filth of shameful thoughts, lest if, because of the touching of some moribund idea or vile thought prohibited by the command of the law, we are excluded, and as blind men are rendered unable to contemplate the wonders which are within the tabernacle. The spiritual law does not permit entrance to anyone who touches a dead or vile thought, unless, as Moses commands, he has washed clean the vestment of his conscience. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 2 1 Song 1.5 2 Exodus 25-