Giving Offence

Scio me offensurum esse quamplurimos, qui generalem de vitiis disputationem, in suam referunt contumelian; et dum mihi irascuntur, suam indicant conscientiam: multoque peius de se, quam de me judicant. Ego enim neminem nominabo: nec veteris Comoediae licentia certas personas eligam atque perstringam. Prudentis viri est, ac prudentium feminarum, dissimulare, imo emendare quod in se intelligunt, et indignari sibi magis quam mihi; nec in monitorem maledicta congerere. Qui etsi iisdem teneatur criminibus, certe in eo melior est, quod sua ei mala non placent. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola CXXV Ad Rusticum Monachum Source: Migne PL 22.1074-1075

I know that I shall anger many with my general criticism of their vices, and they will claim it as an insult against themselves, but while they are angry at me they show their conscience, that it is much worse than mine whom they judge. For I shall not name anyone, nor copy the licence of the old comedy which identified certain individuals and berated them. Prudent men and women will hide or rather correct what they understand to be at fault in them, and they will be more angry at themselves than with me, nor will they heap up curses on the one who warns them. For he, although he may be held to have the same faults, is certainly better in this, that what is evil in him does not please him. Saint Jerome, from Letter 125, to Rusticus the Monk

Declining Judgment

Et non intres in judicium cum servo tuo: quia non justificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis vivens. Quid enim sepi est, si judicare nos secundum se Deus velit, si ad comparationem sui vitae nostrae innocentiam postulabit. Justificari autem in conspectu Dei quis viventium potest? Cui ira, cui dolor, cui cupiditas, cui ignoratio, cui oblivio, cui caus, cui necessitas vel per naturam corporis, vel per motum animae semper fluctuantis admixta sit: cui et quotidie gravissimus hostis immineat, diabolus videlicet animae viri fidelis insidians, eamque ad interitum persequens? Hanc enim esse causam docet, qua nemo vivens justificari in conspectu Dei possit. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXLII Source: Migne PL 9 839

And do not enter into judgement with your servant, because no one living shall be justified in your sight. 1 How can there be hope, if God wishes to judge us according to Himself, if by the measure of innocence He enquires into our lives? Who among the living will be justified in the sight of God? Of whom is anger, and offence, and cupidity and ignorance and forgetfulness and error, and who in either the necessities of the body or the tribulations of the soul is ever caught up in fluctuations, and whom every day the most fearful enemy threatens. On account of this he teaches that no one living can be justified in the sight of God. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 142 1 Ps 142.2

Confidence And Despair

Οὔτε θαῥῥεῖν ἀναγκαῖον ἐπὶ τῳ πλήθει τῶν ἀνδραγαθημάτων, οὔτ' ἀπογινώσκειν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐπταισμένοις. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Φαρισαϊος θαῥῥήσας ἐπ' ἐργασίᾳ χρηστῇ, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀρετῆς κατηνέχθη τοῦ ὕψους, καὶ ὁ τελώνης μὴ ἀπογνοὺς τοσοῦτον ἀνωρθώθη, ὡς καὶ τὸν ἐνάρετον Φαρισαϊον ὑπερνῆναι τῇ ψήφω τοῦ κρείττονος Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΛ' Ζεφψριανῳ Source: Migne PG 79.168b

Do not be confident in the abundance of your good deeds among men, nor let the soul despair because of errors. For the Pharisee who was confident in his good works fell from the height of virtue, and the tax collector who did not despair in so much was raised up, even to be lifted above the virtuous Pharisee in the judgement of who was better. 1 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 230, To Zephyrianus 1 Lk 18. 9-14

Snares in the Church

Qui enim vitae pessimae est, non facile homines ad falsum dogma sollicitat, nec potest per umbram sanctitatis audientium decipere simplicatatem. Qui vero sermoe perversus, et disciplinis saluti contrarius, mores autem compositos et ornatos habet, nihil facit aliud, nisi accipit indumenta varia instituti boni, et conversationis quietae, et circumbat ea idolis suis, ut magis decipiat audientes. Idcirco sollicitie caveamus haeriticos, qui conversationis optimae sunt, quorum forte vitam non tam Deus quam diabolus instruxit. Nam quomodo quasdam illecebras escarum aucupes proponunt, ut facilius aves capiant per oblectamentum gulae, sic, ut audacius dicam, est quaedam castititas diaboli, id est decipula humnae animae, ut per isiusmdoi castitatem, et mansuetudinem, et justitiam possit facilius capere, et falsis sermonibus irretire. Diversis diabolus pugnat insidiis, ut miserum perdat hominem, et bonam malis tribuit vitam ad decipiendos videntes, et malam bonis inurit conscientiam. Mihi ipsi qui in Ecclesiam ex mea conversatione confundat. Et ideo plus hi qui sunt in medio oppugnatur ab inimico, ut per ruinam unius hominis quae celari non potest, omnibus scandalum fiat, et impediatur fides per conversationem pessimam clericorum. Omnia, ut diximus, diabolus operatur, et ea quae videntur esse bona, nec sunt, et ea quae per naturam suam mala sunt; omnia adversum humanam commentatur animam. Unde qui curam habet vitae suae, neque mansuetudine haereticorum capitur, ad consentiendum doctrinae eorum, neque meis delictis qui videor in Ecclesia praedicare, scandalizabitur, sed ipsum dogma considerans et pertractans Ecclesiae fidem, a me quidem aversabitur, doctrinam vero suscipiet secundum praeceptum Domini, qui ait: 'Super cathedram Moysi sederunt scribae et Pharisae, Omnia quaecunque vobis dicunt, audite, et facite, juxta opera autem illorum nolite facere; dicunt quippe, et non faciunt.' Iste sermo de me est, qui bona doceo, et contraria gero, et sum sedens super cathedram Mousi quasi Scriba et Pharisaeus. Praeceptum tibi est, o popule, si non habueris accusationem doctinae pessimae, et alienorum ab Ecclesia dogmatum, conspexeris vero mean culpabilem vitam, atque peccata, ut non habeas justa dicentis vitam tuam instituere, sed ea facere quae loquor. Nullum imitemur, et si volumus imitari quempiam, propositus est nobis ad imitandum Christus Jesus. Descripti sunt actus apostolorum, et prophetarum gesta de sacris boluminibus agnoscimus; illud exemplar firmum est, illud propositum solidum, quod qui sequi cupit, securus ingreditur. Si vero quaerimus nobis culpabiles ad aemulandum, ut cum dicamus, ille docet, et his quae docet facit ipse contraria, adversum praeceptum Domini facimus, qui mandavit doctrinas magistrorum magis considerari debere quam vitas. Haec dicimus de eo quo scriptum est : Acceptisti vestem versicolorem, et operuisti illa,' id est vasa glorificaitonis, quae in idola commutasti. Origenis, Homiliae in Ezechielem, Homilia VII

He who exhibits a wretched life does not easily attract men to false teaching, nor does he who has the mere pretense of sanctity deceive an innocent audience. But he who is perverse in speech and opposed to the discipline of salvation adorns himself with well arranged conduct and does nothing unless with the varied coverings of good acts and tranquil ways he surrounds himself, as with idols, all that he might successfully deceive his hearers. Therefore let us beware of heretics whose ways are of the best, who perhaps in such a life are taught by the devil rather than by God. For just as those who catch birds lay out enticing foods that they more easily seize them by the pleasures of taste, so, if I may be so bold to say, there is a purity of the devil for the snaring of the human soul, that through this purity and meekness and righteousness, he can more easily capture one in the net of false doctrine. The devil uses various tricks to attack and ruin wretched man, giving to evil a good manner of life to deceive the onlooker and branding a bad conscience on the good. He even sows confusion by me in the Church so that those in it are assaulted by the enemy, and so that through the errors of one man, which cannot be hidden, many may be scandalised and the faith obstructed by the poor behaviour of clerics. Everything, as we have said, the devil does, that things which are in their nature evil appear to be good, as he considers all the ways to oppose the human soul. Whence he who has care for his own life is not seized by the pleasantness of heretics to agree with their teaching, and neither do my errors, which I seem to display in the Church, scandalise, but he considers the dogma, and exerts himself in the faith of the Church, and recoiling from me takes up the teaching, according to the precept of the Lord who says: 'The scribes and Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses, so practice and observe whatever they tell you but not what they do, for they preach, but they do not practice'. 1 This teaching is for you, O people, if you are not stained with the teaching of the wretched and the precepts of those separated from the Church, you who have seen my flawed life and sins, that you not have your life instructed by that as righteousness, but you do  those things which I preach. Let us imitate none, if we would imitate, than that which is proposed for us for imitation by Jesus Christ. We know that the acts of the Apostles and the doings of the Prophets are given to us in Holy Scripture; and there is a sure model, an unwavering guide, which he who desires, may enter upon securely. But if we seek to emulate those who are faulty, that when we say 'He teaches so,' and these things which he teaches we do the opposite, against the teaching of the Lord we act, He who has commanded us that we should consider more the teaching of the teachers than their lives. And concerning this it is written: 'You received a multicolored vestment and you have obscured it.' that is, a vase of glory, which you have fashioned into an idol. 2 Origen, Homilies On Ezekiel, from Homily 7 1 cf Mt 23. 2-3 2 cf Ez 16.18, 17

Avoiding Snares

Multi enim laquei quacumque progredimur. Laquei in corpore, laquei in Lege, laquei in pinnis templorum, in crepidinibus pariteum tenduntur a diabolo. Laquei in philosophis, laquei in cupiditatibus; oculus enim meretricis laqueus est peccatoris: laqueus in pecunia, laqueus in religione, laqueus in studio castitatis. Exiguis enim momentis mens inclinatur humana, et huc atque illuc per versutias suadentis frequenter impellitur. Videt aliquem diabolus religiosum virum, Deo venerabiliter deferentem, et quod sacrosanctum est aestimantem, nullius capacem injuriae; in ipsa eum religione supplantat, ut faciat non credere quod Dei Filius vere hanc nostram susceperit carnem, hoc nostrum corpus, hanc nostrorum membrorum fragilitatem; cum utique passio corporis fuerit, divinitas exsors injuriae manserit. Ita de religione fit culpa; omnis enim qui negat Jesum Christum in carne venisse, de Deo non est. Videt integrum et illibatae castimoniae virum, suadet ut nuptias damnet; quo ejiciatur ab ecclesia, et studio castitatis a casto corpore separetur. Audivit alius quia Unus Deus ... ex quo omnia, adorat, atque veneratur. Insidiatur ei diabolus, claudit aures ne audiat, quia Unus Deus per quem omnia: ita nimia pietate impium esse compellit; ut dum Patrem a Filio separat, Patrem Filiumque confundat, et personam unam putet esse, non potestatem. Itaque dum mensuram fidei nescit, perfidiae incurrit aerumnam. Quomodo igitur hos laqueos evitabimus; ut possimus et nos dicere: Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est de laqueo venantium: laqueus contritus est, et nos liberati sumus? Non dicit: Ego contrivi laquem: non ausus est hoc dicere,  David sed: Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini; ut ostenderet unde laqueus solveretur. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber IV

Many are the snares which we pass through. Snares of the body, of the Law, of the parapet of the temple, of the foundation of the walls, set by the devil. Snares in philosophy, snares in desires, for the eye of the harlot is a trap for the sinner, a snare in money, a snare in piety, a snare in zeal for chastity. For every moment the mind of man shifts, and from one thing to another by cunning persuasion he is often driven. Sometimes the devil sees the religious man, one who thinks respectfully of God, one who judges Him to be inviolable and having no capacity for injury, and in his faith he trips him, that he makes him doubt that the Son of God truly took up our flesh, our body, our fragile members, and undergoing the passions of the body the Divine part remained uninjured. So from faith he makes fault, for everyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not of God. 1 Then he sees the upright and immovable man of chastity and he persuades him to condemn marriage, by which he is cast out of the Church and by zeal for chastity he is separated from the chaste body. Another hears that there is one God from whom are all things, and he adores and venerates, and the devil laying in wait blocks his ears lest he then hear that there is one God through whom is all things, 2 and thus by excessive piety to impiety he is driven, for separating the Father from the Son, the Father and the Son he confuses, and he thinks there is but one person, not power. Thus while he does not grasp the measure of faith, he runs into the wretchedness of treachery. How then shall we avoid these snares, that we can say, 'Our soul like a sparrow was seized from the trap of the hunter; He broke the trap and freed us?  3 He does not say, 'I broke the trap,' he does not dare say this, but David says, 'Our help is in the name of the Lord,' 4 that he show how the trap may be destroyed. Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 7  1 2 Jn 7  2 1 Cor 8.6  3 Ps 123.7  4 Ps 123.8

Philosophy and Peace

Philosophi saeculi solent amorem veterem amore novo, quasi clavum clavo expellere. Quod et Assuero regi septem principes fecere Persarum, ut Vasthi reginae desiderium, aliarum puellarum amore compescerent. Illi vitium vitio, peccatumque peccato medicantur, nos amore virtutum, vitia superemus. Declina, ait, a malo, et fac bonum. Quare pacem, et persequere eam. Nisi oderimus malum, bonum amare non possumus. Quin potius faciendum est bonum, ut declinemus a malo. Pax querenda, ut bella fugiamus. Nec sufficit eam quaerere, nisi inventam fugientemque omni studio persequamur, quae exsuperat omnem sensum: in qua habitatio Dei est, dicente Propheta: Et factus est in pace locus ejus Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistula CXXV, Ad Rusticum Monachum

The world's philosophers are accustomed drive out an old love with a new one, as one nail another. So it was with the seven princes of Persia and king Assuerus, for they suppressed his desire for the queen Vashti by the love of other ladies. 1 They cured one fault by another fault and one sin by another sin; but we should overcome faults by the love of the virtues. 'Depart from evil,' it is said, 'and do good; seek peace and pursue it.' 2 For if we do not hate evil we are not able to love good. Or rather we must do good if we are to depart from evil. We must seek peace that we avoid war. And it does not suffice to seek it, unless when we have found it and when it flees from us we pursue it with all our strength, that which 'passes all understanding,' 3 in which is the habitation of God, for as the Psalmist says, 'In peace is His habitation.' 4 St Jerome, from Letter 125, To Rusticus the Monk 1 Esther 2:1-4 2 Ps 36.37 3 Philip 4:7 4 Ps 75.2

Raising Thoughts

Μέμνησο τοῦ σοφωτάτου Παύλου γεγραφότος περὶ Χριστοῦ·  Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Υἱὸν πέμψας ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας, κατέκρινε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ, ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα.  Τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ, ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρ τίας ἀπεστάλθαι λέγειν τὸν Υἱόν;  Ἐμφωλεύει μὲν τοῖς μέλεσι τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νόμος, καὶ τῶν ἐμφύτων ἐπιθυμιῶν τὸ ἔκτοπον κίνημα·  ὁ δέ γε τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἁγίαν εἶχε τὴν σάρκα καὶ πάναγνον ἀληθῶς·  καὶ ἐν ὁμοιώσει μὲν τῆς ἡμετέρας σαρκὸς, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ κατ' αὐτήν·  ἀπήλλακτο γὰρ εἰς ἄπαν τῶν ἐμπεφυκότων τοῖς ἡμετέροις σώμασι μολυσμῶν, κινήματος καὶ ῥοπῆς τῆς ἡμᾶς ἀποφερούσης ἐφ' ἃ μὴ θέμις.  Ἀλλ' αὕτη μὲν ἡ αἰτία τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος σαρκώσεως.  Καὶ ἐσπαργάνωσεν αὐτόν. Ὅταν ἴδῃς βρέφος ἐσπαργανωμένον, μὴ μέχρι μόνης τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ τὴν σεαυτοῦ διάνοιαν στήσῃς, ἀλλ' ἀναπήδησον εἰς θεωρίαν τῆς θεοπρεποῦς δόξης αὐτοῦ·  ἀνάβηθι τὸν οὐρανόν· οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτάτω θεωρήσεις ὑψώμασι, τὴν ὑπερτάτην ἔχοντα δόξαν, ὄψει καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου· ἀκούσῃ τῶν Σεραφὶμ ὑμνολογούντων αὐτὸν, πλήρη τε εἶναι λεγόντων τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ.  Γέγονε δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· δόξα γὰρ Θεοῦ περιήστραψε τοὺς ποιμένας·  καὶ πλῆθος ἦν στρατιᾶς οὐρανίου δοξολογούντων Χριστόν. Πλεῖστοι μὲν γὰρ ἐγεννήθησαν κατὰ καιροὺς ἅγιοι προφῆται, ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ἐκείνων ἐδοξολογήθη πώποτε διὰ φωνῆς ἀγγέλων· ἄνθρωποι γὰρ ἦσαν καὶ ἐν μέτροις τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκέται Θεοῦ γνήσιοι. Χριστὸς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως· Θεὸς γάρ ἐστι καὶ Κύριος καὶ προφητῶν ἁγίων ἀποστολεὺς, καὶ ὡς ὁ Ψάλλων φησὶ, Τίς ἐν  νεφέλαις ἰσωθήσεται τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ τίς ὁμοιωθήσεται ἐν υἱοῖς Θεοῦ;  Ἡμῖν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ὑπὸ ζυγὰ καὶ φυσικὴν δουλείαν, ἐν χάριτος τάξει προσνενέμηται παρ' αὐτοῦ τὸ τῆς υἱότητος ὄνομα·  Χριστὸς δ' ἐστὶν ἡ ἀλήθεια, τουτέστιν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς κατὰ φύσιν Υἱὸς, καὶ ὅτε γέγονε σάρξ· μεμένηκε γὰρ ὂ ἦν, καίτοι προσλαβὼν ὃ οὐκ ἦν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λούκαν Εὐάγγελιον, Κεφ. Β'

Remember what the very wise Paul has written concerning Christ. 'For as to the powerlessness of the law, in which it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and because of sin, has condemned the sin in the flesh, that the justice of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.' 1 What, then, is this, that the Son was sent 'in the likeness of sinful flesh? Why that the law of sin lies hidden in our fleshly members, together with the disordered movements of innate desires, but when the Word of God became man he had flesh all holy, so that being in the likeness of our flesh, He was not according to it, for He was completely free from the natural flaws of our bodies and from that inclination which turns us away us to what is not lawful. This then is the nature of the Savior's incarnation in which he swaddles himself. When, therefore, you see the child wrapped in swaddling cloth, do not hold your thought solely upon His birth according to the flesh, but rise up to contemplation of His Divine glory, ascend to heaven, for so will you see Him in highest exaltation, possessed of supernal glory, you will see Him 'sat upon a throne high and lifted up,' 2 you will hear the Seraphim praising Him, and saying that heaven and earth are full of His glory. And even upon earth this has come to be, for the glory of God shone upon the shepherds, and there was a multitude of the heavenly armies telling of Christ's glory. For many holy prophets have been born from time to time, but never had any one of them been glorified by the voice of angels, for they were men, and they were according to the same measure as ourselves, true servants of God. But it was not so with Christ, for God He is and Lord, and the Sender of the holy Prophets, and, as the Psalmist says, 'Who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord, and who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?' 3 For to those under the yoke and who are by nature servants in grace have the title of sonship bestowed by Him, but Christ is the true Son, that is, He is the Son of God the Father by nature, even when become flesh, for He remained what He was though He took upon Himself that which He had not been. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 2 1 Rom 8. 3-4 2. Is 6.1  3 Ps 88.7

Glory and Mercy

Ἐλεήμων ἀνὴρ μακροθυμεῖ τὸ δὲ καύχημα αὐτοῦ ἐπέρχεται παρανόμοις. Εἰ ὁ καυχώμενος ὀρθῶς, ἐν Κυρίῳ καυχᾶται, ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἡμῶν σοφία ἐστὶν, ὁ καυχώμενος ὀρθῶς, ἐν σοφίᾳ καυχᾶται· τὸ καύχημα τοίνυν τοῦ μακροθύμου καὶ ἐλεήμονος, ἐστὶν ἡ σοφία καὶ ἡ γνῶσις αὐτοῦ· ἐπέρχεται δὲ τοῖς παρανόμοις ἀπαλλάττων αὐτοὺς κακίας, νῦν μὲν ἐνδεχομένως, ἐν δὲ τῳ μέλλοντε αἰῶνι ἀναγκαίως. Ὠριγένης, Εκλογαι Εἰς Παροιμίας

The glory of the merciful and patient man is to pass over wrongs. 1 If a man would glory rightly let him glory in the Lord, 2 and our Lord is wisdom, so he who glories let him glory in wisdom; the glory then of the one patient and merciful is his wisdom and knowledge; and he overlooks faults to deliver from evil; now this is possible, and in the future age it is necessary. Origen, On Proverbs, Fragments 1 Prov 19.11 2 Jer 9.23, 1 Cor 1.31

Perpetual Forgiveness

Quaerenti deinde Petro, an peccanti in se fatri septies remitteret, respondit: Non usque septies sed usque septuagiessepties. Omni modo ad similitudinem nos humilitatis ac bonitatis suae instruit, et molliendis ac frangendis turbidorum motuum nostrorum aculeis, placabilitatis suae confirmat exemplo: quippe peccatorum omnium veniam per fidem tribuens. Neque enim naturae nostrae vitia indulgentiam merebantur. Ergo venia omnis ex eo est: cum etiam ea quae in se sint peccata, post reditum confessionis indulgeat. Solvenda quidem per Cain poena in septuplum constituta est: sed peccatum illud in hominem est; in Abel enim fratrem peccatum usque ad necem fuerat. Sed in Lamech supplicum usque ad septuagies et septies est constitutum; et in eo, quantum existimamus, constituta in auctores dominicae passionis et poena. Sed Dominus per confessionem credentium hujus criminis veniam largitur, id est, per baptismi munus obtrectatoribus ac persecutoribus gratiam salutis indulgeat: quanto magis portere ostendit sine modo ac numero veniam a nobis esse reddendam, nec cogitandum quotiens remittamus; sed ut irasci his qui in nos peccant, quotiens irascendi necessitas exstiterit, desinamus? Quae utique veniae assiduitas docet, nullum omnino penes nos irae tempus esse oportere: quando omnium omnino peccaminum veniam Deus nobis suo potius munere, quam nostro merito largiatur. Neque enim fas est, nos ex praescripto legis, dandae veniae numero concludi, cum per Evangelii gratiam sine modo nobis a Deo fuerit indulta. Quin etiam ad perfectae bonitatis affectum comparationis posuit exemplum, in qua servo unde redderet non habenti, omne Dominus debitum relaxavit: conservoque suo servus ille exiguum quod sibi debebatur extorquens, per hoc voluntatis suae vitium donum munificentiae Domini et liberalitatis amisit. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Caput XVIII

Next when Peter asks whether he should forgive his brother if he sins seven times, He responds, 'Not only seven times but even seventy seven times.' 1 He instructs us to be in every way a likeness of His humility and kindness and to a softening and breaking of the barbs of our wild motions, and He confirms His own placability with example, since through faith is given forgiveness for every sin. It is not the faults of our nature that deserve indulgence. Thus every forgiveness is from Him, when even those things which are in themselves sins, are given pardon after confession. The sevenfold punishment which was established through Cain must be resolved, but that is sin against man, the sin of the murder of his brother Abel. But against Lamech the penalty of seventy seven times was established, and by that we may judge how much punishment would be given to the authors of the passion of the Lord. But the Lord through the confession of the faithful grants pardon for crime, that is, through baptism he gives the grace of salvation to detractors and persecutors. He therefore shows how much more fitting it is for us to offer forgiveness without measure and number, not thinking of how many times we forgive. We should not be angry at those who sin against us, for how many times have we restrained ourselves from being a  cause of anger? Which teaches diligence in forgiveness, that at no time should we be angry, when God grants forgiveness to our faults by his own gift rather than for our merits. Nor is it right, as if by prescription of law, to give a limit to the number of times we should forgive when the grace without measure of the Gospel  has come to us by the favour of God. And in that He has even given us a comparative example of the idea of perfect goodness, in that passage where, the servant having no means to repay, the master forgave all his debt, and yet that same servant extorted from a fellow servant a pittance, and by that vice of his own will he lost the gift of his master's munificence and liberality. 2 Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 18 1 Mt 18 21-22 2 Mt 18 23-35

The Errors of a Bishop

Τί θαυμάζεις, ὅτι δι' ἑνος ἁμαρτίαν ὅλη μαστίζεται; ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ Δαβὶδ γενόμενον, ἕγνως. Ὅταν γὰρ ἕπὶ τῇ εὐθηνίᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων ὁ ἔξαρχος ὑπερηφανεύηται, εἰς ἀθυμίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ κατάκρισιν τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐλαττοῦται, οὐκ ἀδίκως παιδευόμενον, ἀλλ' ἐκάστου τὰ ἐπίχειρα τῆς οἰκείας πράξεως παραλαμβάνοντες, καὶ τῆς θείας μακροθυμίας ἀποτυγχάνοντς, διὰ τὰς τοῦ ἄρχοντος ψήφους. Μὴ τοίνυν ἐπισυνηγόρει ταῖς Εὐσεβίου τοῦ, ὡς οἴεται, ἐπισκόπου φαυλότησιν, εἰ δι' ἐκεῖνον καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον λειτουργῶν, καὶ ἡ πόλις οἰκητόρων χηρεύει. Οἱ γὰρ ἀκρίτως τὸν ἀνάξιον προβαλλόμενοι δίκαιοι εἰσι, καὶ τοὺς πόνους τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν φαγεῖν, ἀρετὴν ἀτιμάσαντες, καὶ κακίαν οὕτω προφανῆ προστησάμενοι. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΛΘ', Θεοδοσιῳ Μοναζοντι

Why are you amazed that for one sin a whole city is punished? Certainly you know of David. For when on account of great wealth and a flourishing state he grew proud, to sickness and condemnation those beneath him were reduced. They were not admonished for iniquity, for truly each one receives the rewards of his own actions, but because of the census of a ruler.1 And the faults of your bishop, let it be thought, do not benefit you, on account of which the ministry of the altar and the city lacks inhabitants. For those who dare without judgement to select unworthy men shall eat the fruit of their labours of which they are worthy. He who is contemptuous of virtue shall choose even obvious evils. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 39, To Theodosis the Monk 1 2 Kings 24, 13

Remembering Faults

Restat itaque, frater charissime. ut inter ea quae operante Deo exterius facis, semper te interius subtiliter judices, ac subtiliter intelligas et temetipsum qui sis, et quanta sit in eadem gente gratia, pro cujus conversione etiam faciendorum signorum deus percepisti. Et si quando te Creatori nostro seu per linguam, sive per opera reminisceris deliquise, semper haec ad memoriam revoces, ut surgentem corda gloria memoria reatus premat. Et quidquid de faciendis signis acceperis vel accepisti hac non tibi, sed illis deputes donata pro quorem salute collata sunt. Occurit autem menti ista cogitanti quid de uno famulo actum sit, etiam egregie electo. Certe Moyses dum Dei populum ex Aegypto educeret, mira, sicut tua fraternitas novit, signa in Aegypto operatus est. In Sina monte quadraginta diebus et noctibus jejunans, legis tabulas accepit, inter coruscos et tonituros, per timescente omni populo, omnipotentis Dei servitio solus familiari etiam collocutione conjunctus est; Rubrum mare aperuit; in itinere ducem habuit nubis columnam; esurienti populo manna de coelo deposuit; carnes desiderantibus usque ad sitentatem nimiam in eremo per miraculum minstravit. Sed cum jam sitis tempore ad petram ventum fuisset, diffusus est, seque de eadem aquam educere posse dubitavit, quam jubente Domino largis utique fluentis aperuit. Quanta autem post haec per triginta et octo annos in deserto miracula fecerit quis enummerare, quis investigare valeat. Quoties res dubia animum pulsasset, recurrens ad tabernaculum, secreto Dominum requirebat, atque de ea protinus, Deo loquente, docebatur. Iratum populo Dominum placabat saue preces intervetione; surgentes in superbia atque in discordia dissidentes dehiscentis terrae hiatibus absorbebat, victoriis premebat hostes, signa monstrabat civibus. Sed cum jam ad repromissionis terram ventum fuisset, vocatus in montem est; et quam culpam ante annos triginta et octo, ut dixi, fecerat audivit quia de educenda aqua dubitavit. Et propter hoc quia terram repromissions intrare non posset agnovit. Qua in re considerandum nobis est quam timendum sit omnipotentis Dei judicium, qui per illum famulum suum tot signa faciebat cujus culpam tam longo tempore adhuc servabat in cogitatione. Igitur, frater charissime, si et illum agnoscimus post signa pro culpa mortuum, quem ab omnipotente Deo novimus praecipue electum, quanto nos debemus metu contremiscere, qui necdum adhuc novimus si electi sumus?  Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Registri Epistolarum, Liber XI, Epistola XXVIII, Ad Augustinum Anglorum Episcopum

So it remains, dearest brother, that among the things which by the operation of God you do outwardly, you should carefully judge yourself within, and carefully understand both what you are yourself and how great is the grace among the people for whom the conversion of which God has given the gift of doing signs. And if at any time you should recall having offended our Creator, whether it be in tongue or deed, always be mindful of these things, so that the rising glory of the heart may be suppressed by memory of guilt. And whatever for the doing of signs you may receive or have received, it is not for yourself, but as gifts for the salvation of others that they have been given to you. Indeed it comes to mind, while I think on these things, what happened with one of the servants of God, even one eminently chosen. Certainly Moses, when he led the people of God out of Egypt, as you know, worked signs in Egypt. Fasting forty days and nights on Mount Sina, he received the tables of the law, among lightning and thunder, and while all the people trembled he alone was associated with the service of Almighty God, even entering into conversation with Him. He opened the Red Sea; on the journey he had a pillar of a cloud as leader; to a hungry people he gave manna from heaven; flesh to those who desired it he supplied beyond satiation in the desert by a miracle. But when in a time of thirst they had come to the rock, he was distrustful, he doubted being able to draw water from it, that which at the Lord's command he then opened into copious streams. But how many miracles after these he did during thirty eight years in the desert who can enumerate or seek out? As many times as a doubtful matter struck his soul, he had recourse to the tabernacle, and sought out the Lord in secret, and, God speaking, he was immediately taught. The anger of the Lord against the people he appeased by the intervention of his own prayers; those who rose in pride and dissented in discord he consumed in gulfs of a gaping earth; he crushed enemies with victories, and showed signs to his people. But when the promised land had been reached, he was called to the mountain and a fault which he had committed thirty eight years before, one which I have spoken of, when he doubted about drawing water from the rock, he heard. And on account of this he was told that he could not enter the promised land. So we must consider and fear the judgment of Almighty God, who made so many signs through that servant, yet whose fault was kept in remembrance for so long. Therefore, dearest brother, if we find that he after many signs perished for a fault, he whom we know to have been especially chosen by Almighty God, with what fear should we tremble, who do not yet know whether we are chosen? Saint Gregory the Great, Registry of Letters, Book 11, Letter 28, To Augustine Bishop of the English

Three Ways to Avoid Faults

Tunc beatus Chaeremon: Tria sunt, inquit, quae faciunt homines a vitiis temperare, id est, aut metus gehennae, sive praesentium legum, aut spes atque desiderium regni coelorum, aut affectus boni ipsius amorque virtutum. Nam timor ita mali contagium legitur exsecrari: Timor Domini odit malitiam. Spes etiam, vitiorum omnium excludit incursum: 'Non' enim 'delinquent omnes qui sperant in eum.' Amor quoque ruinam non metuit peccatorum, quia 'Charitas operit multitudinem peccatorum.' Et idcirco beatus Apostolus omnem salutis summam istarum trium virtutum consummatione concludens: 'Nunc,' inquit, 'manent fides, spes, charitas: tria haec.' Fides namque est, quae futuri judicii ac suppliciorum metu vitiorum facit contagia declinari; spes, quae mentem nostram de praesentibus avocans, universas corporis voluptates coelestium praemiorum exspectaione contemnit; charitas, quae nos ad amorem Christi et spiritalium virtutum fructum mentis ardore succendens, quidquid illis contrarium est, toto facit odio detestari. Quae tria, licet ad unum finem tendere videantur, provocant enim nos a rebus illicitis abstinere, magnis tamen excellentiae suae gradibus ab invicem disparantur. Duo namque superiro proprie hominum sunt eorum qui ad profectum tendentes, necdum affectum concepere virtutum. Tertium specialiter Dei est, et eorum qui in sese imaginem Dei ac similitudinem receperunt. Ille namque solus ea quae bona sunt, nullo metu, nulla remunerationis gratia provocante, sed solo bonitatis affectu operatur.  Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Col XI, Cap VI.

Then the blessed Chaeremon said, 'There are three things which enable men to suppress their faults: either the fear of hell or of present laws; or the hope and desire of the kingdom of heaven; or an affection for goodness itself and love of virtue. For one reads that the fear of evil loathes contamination: 'The fear of the Lord hates evil.' Hope also excludes the intrusions of all faults: 'All who hope in Him shall not fail.' Love also does not fear the ruin of sins, for: 'Love covers a multitude of sins.' And therefore the blessed Apostle encloses the whole sum of salvation in the attainment of these three virtues, saying 'Now abide faith, hope, love, these three.' For faith is that which makes us avoid the infections of faults from fear of future judgment and punishment; hope is that which calls away our mind from present things, and spurns all corporeal pleasures by the expectation of heavenly rewards; love is that which  inflames us with desire of heart for the love of Christ and the spiritual fruit of the virtues, and makes us hate with a perfect hatred whatever is opposed to these. These three things, although they all seem to aim at one end, for they exhort us to abstain from illicit things, yet they differ from each other greatly in the degrees of their excellence. For the first two are fitting for men who in their aim at improvement have not yet acquired an affection for virtue. The third belongs specially to God and to those who have received into themselves the image and likeness of God. For that one alone, with no fear, with no expectation of reward, but simply from the love of goodness, does the things that are good. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 11, Ch 6.

Judith's Final Victory

Nam cum manu solum Holophernem vicisset, consilio omnem hostium vicit exercitum. Suspenso enim Holophernnis capite, quod virorum non potuit excogitari consilio, suorum erexit animos, hostium fregit: suos pudore excitans, hostes quoque terrore percellens, eoque caesi sunt et fugati. Ita unius viduae temperantia atque sobrietas non solam naturam suam vicit, sed quod est amplius, fecit viros etiam fortiores. Nec his tamen elata successibus, cui utique gaudere et exsultare licebat jure victoriae, viduitatis reliquit officium: sed contemptis omnibus qui ejus nuptiae ambiebant, vestem jucunditatis deposuit, viduitatis resumpsit: nec triumphorum suorum amavit ornatus, illos existimans esse meliores quibus vitia corporis, quam quibus hostium arma vincuntur. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Viduis, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 16.247a-b

For with the hand she conquered Holofernes alone, by prudence she conquered a whole army of enemies. The head of Holofernes hung up, a deed the wisdom of men had been unable to plan, she raised up the souls of her own and crushed those of the enemy. Rousing her own by modesty, she struck terror into the enemy so that they fled and were slain. Thus the temperance and sobriety of one widow not only triumphed over her own nature, but, moreover, even made men more brave. However, she was not elated by these achievements, though indeed she had the right of rejoicing and exulting in her victory, that she would give up her state of widowhood; but rather scorning all who aspired to wed her, she laid aside her garments of joy and resumed those of widowhood, not loving the adornments of her own triumphs, but judging those things to be better which conquer the faults of the body rather than the arms of an enemy. Saint Ambrose of Milan, On Widows, Chapter 7

Asking For A Fight

Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ποιμὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Ἰωάννου τοῦ κολοβοῦ, ὅτι παρεκάλεσε τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἥρθη τὰ πάθη ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, καὶ γέγονεν ἀμέριμνος. Καὶ ἀπελθὼν, εἶπέ τινι γέροντι· Ὁρῶ ἐμαυτὸν ἀναπαυόμενον, καὶ μηδένα πόλεμον ἔχοντα. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Ὕπαγε, παρακάλεσον τὸν Θεὸν, ὤστε τὸν πόλεμόν σοι ἐλθεϊν, καὶ ᾔν εῖχες πρότερον συντριβὴν καὶ ταπείνωσιν· διὰ γὰρ τῶν πολέμων προκόπτει ἡ ψυχή. Παρεκάλεσεν οὖν, καὶ ἐλθόντος τοῦ πολέμου, οὐκ ἔτι εὔξατο ἀρθῆναι αὐτὸν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἔλεγε· Δός μοι, Κύριε, ὑπομονὴν ὲν τοὶς πολέμοις.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Poemen said of Father John the Short that he had called on God and that He took from him all trouble and established him in peace. And John went out and spoke to a certain elder saying, ' I look on myself as one unperturbed and as one having no conflict.' The elder said to him, ' Go and pray to God that conflict come to you even as you had it before and with it tribulation and humiliation, for battles improve the soul. Call out then and when the conflict has come do not pray to be delivered from it but say, ' Give to me, Lord, strength in battle.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Receiving Praise

Ἐλεγε πάλιν, ὅτι ἐπαινούμενον, δεῖ λογίζεσθαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐννοείν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἄξιος τῶν λεγομένων.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Jacob said that on being praised one should take thought of one's faults and think that one is not worth being spoken of. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Presence of Good and Evil

In qua etiam illud quod malum dicitur, bene ordinatum et loco suo positum, eminentius commendat bona, ut magis placeant et laudabiliora sint dum comparantur malis. Neque enim Deus omnipotens quod etiam infideles fatentur: Rerum cui summa potestas cum summe bonus sit, ullo modo sineret mali esse aliquid in operibus suis nisi usque adeo esset omnipotens et bonus ut bene faceret et de malo. Quid est autem aliud quod malum dicitur, nisi privatio boni? Nam sicut corporibus animalium nihil est aliud morbis et vulneribus affici quam sanitate privari, neque enim id agitur cum adhibetur curatio, ut mala ista quae inerant, id est morbi ac vulnera, recedant hinc et alibi sint, sed utique ut non sint; non enim ulla substantia, sed carnalis substantiae vitium est vulnus aut morbus, cum caro sit ipsa substantia, profecto aliquod bonum cui accidunt ista mala, id est privationes eius boni quod dicitur sanitas; ita et animorum quaecumque sunt vitia, naturalium sunt privationes bonorum: quae cum sanantur non aliquo transferuntur, sed ea quae ibi erant, nusquam erunt, quando in illa sanitate non erunt.  Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, Enchiridion de Fide, Spe et Charitate

Even that which is called evil, when it is ordered and put in its own place, increases our admiration of the good; for we take joy in and esteem the good more when we compare it with the evil. Almighty God, who, as even infidels acknowledge, has supreme power over all things, being Himself supremely powerful, would never permit evil among His works, if He were not so omnipotent and good that He can bring good even out of evil. For what is that which we call evil but the absence of good? In the bodies of animals, disease and wounds are nothing but the absence of health; for when a cure is effected, that does not mean that the evils which were present, namely the diseases and wounds, go away and dwell elsewhere, but rather they cease to exist, for the wound or disease is not a substance but a defect in corporeal substance, the flesh itself being a substance, and therefore something good, of which those evils, that is, the privations of the good which is called health, are accidents, so the defects of souls are nothing but privations of natural good. When they are cured the faults are not transferred elsewhere, for they cannot exist when they cease to exist in the healthy. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Enchiridion

The Great Work Of Man

Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾰς ᾽Αντώνιος τῷ ἀββᾷ Ποιμενι, ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μεγάλη ἐργασια τοῦ ἀνθρωπου, ἴνα τὸ σφάλμα ἑαυτοῦ ἐπάνω ἑαυτοῦ βαλῃ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ, και προσδοκήσῃ πειρασμον ἓως ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.77

Father Anthony said to Father Poemen, 'This is the great work of man, that he takes his faults on himself in the presence of God and expects trials until the last breath.' Sayings of the Fathers, Palladius of Galatia