Blessed Reverence

Μακάριοι πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Κύριον. Οὐ τὸν ἐκ γένους ᾽Αβραὰμ , οὐδὲ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ προφητικὸς ἐμακάρισε λόγος , ἀλλὰ τὸν τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ κοσμούμενον. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μακάριος Πέτρος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι λέγει· Ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας καταλαμβάνομαι , ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι προσωπολήπτης ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ ἔθνει ὁ φοβούμενος αὐτὸν, καὶ έργαζόμενος δικαιοσύνην, δεκτὸς αὐτῷ ἐστιν. Ὑπέδειξε δὲ ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος καὶ τοῦ θείου φόβου τὸν χαρακτῆρα . Επήγαγε γάρ· Οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ. Οὐ πᾶς γὰρ ὁ λέγων μοι , Κύριε , Κύριε , εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν · ἀλλ' ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Ιδιον τοίνυν τῶν φοβουμένων τὸν Κύριον, τὸ μὴ βαίνειν ἔξω τῶν θείων ὁδῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐταῖς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πορείαν διηνεκώς. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΡKZ’ Source: Migne PG 80.1893c-d

Blessed are all those who revere the Lord. 1 Not him who derives his family from Abraham, or from the seed of Israel, but the prophetic word asserts that he is blessed who is adorned with Divine reverence. And the blessed Peter says this in Acts: 'In truth understand that God has no respect for persons, but among every people they are acceptable who revere Him and act righteously.' 2 And the prophetic word also shows here the character of Divine reverence when it adds: 'Those who walk in His ways.' 'For not all who say to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.' 3 Therefore it is characteristic of those who revere the Lord never to walk apart from the Divine ways, but to make their way in them without interruption. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 127 1 Ps 127.1 2 Acts 10.34-35 3 Mt 7.21

Resurrection And Ascension

Secundum quod Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis, nutritus crevit. Passus, mortuus et resuscitatus accepit hereditatem regnum caelorum. In ipso homine accepit resurrectionem et vitam aeternam. In ipso homine accepit. In Verbo autem non accepit, quia incommutabiliter manet ab aeterno in aeternum. Quia ergo accepit resurrectionem et vitam aeternam caro illa, quae resurrexit et vivificata ascendit in caelum, hoc nobis promissum est. Ipsam hereditatem exspectamus, vitam aeternam. Adhuc enim non totum corpus accepit, quia caput in caelo est, membra adhuc in terra sunt. Nec caput solum accepturum est hereditatem, et corpus relinquetur. Totus Christus accepturus est hereditatem, totus secundum hominem, id est, caput et corpus. Membra ergo Christi sumus, speremus hereditatem. Quia cum ista omnia transierint, hoc bonum accepturi sumus quod non transibit, et hoc malum evasuri quod non transibit. Aeterna sunt enim utraque. Non enim aliquid non aeternum promisit suis, et aliquid temporale minatus est impiis. Quomodo vitam beatitudinem, regnum, hereditatem sempiternam sine fine promisit sanctis, sic ignem aeternum minatus est impiis. Si quod promisit nondum amamus, saltim quod minatus est timeamus. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXII, De Psalmo LXVII Source: Migne PL 38.154-155

Inasmuch as 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,' 1 He was nourished and grew. Having suffered, died and risen again, He received as His inheritance the kingdom of heaven. It was as man that He received resurrection and eternal life. As a man he received it. But as the Word He did not receive it, because the Word abides unchangingly forever. Therefore because it was that flesh that received the resurrection and eternal life, rising again and ascending into heaven revivified, this is also promised to us. We are waiting for that same inheritance of eternal life. The whole body has not yet received it because the head is in heaven and the members yet remain on earth. But it is not that the head is going to receive the inheritance alone and abandon the body. The whole Christ shall receive the inheritance, the whole as man, that is, both the head and the body. Thus we who are members of Christ should hope for the inheritance. Because when all this has passed away we will receive that good which will not pass away and avoid that evil which will not pass away. Both are eternal. He did not promise something eternal to His own and threaten the wicked with something temporal. Just as He promised those who are holy the blessed life and the kingdom as an eternal inheritance without end, so He threatened the wicked with eternal fire. If we do not yet love what He promised, let us at least fear what He threatened. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 22, On Psalm 67 1 Jn 1.14

Fear And Prayer

Et factum est in diebus Achaz filii Joathan regis Juda,ascendit Rasim rex Syriae et Phacee filius Romeliae rex Isreal ad Jerusalem, expugnare eam, et non potuerant eam debellare. Et annuntiatum est in domo David a dicentibus: Consensit Syria cum Ephraim, et expavit anima ejus, et anima plebis ejus, sicut in sylva arbor, cum a vento commovetur. Et dixit Dominus ad Isaiam: Exi in obviam Achaz, tu, et qui relictus est Jasub filius tuus, ad piscinam superioris viae villae fullonis: et dices ei: Vide ut quiescas, et noli timere, neque anima languescat a duobus titionibus fumigantibus istis. Cum enim ira furoris mei facta fuerit, iterum sanabo: quoniam filius Aram et filius Romeliae, qui cogitaverunt cogitationem pessimam, dicentes: Ascendamus in Judaeam, et colloquentes eis, convertamus eos ad nos, et regem statuemus eis filium Thabeel. Haec dicit Adonai Dominus Sabaoth: Non manebit cogitatio ista, neque sic fiet Forsitan sic confortatus Achaz cum genuiseet filium, vocavit nomen ejus Ezechias. Ezechias autem interpretatur, confortavit Dominus. Vere completa est in Ezechia confortatio Domini, cui animus exstitit sanctus super omnes reges, qui fuerunt ante eum. Nam inter caetera bona, quae merito praestitit ei Deus, cum misisset ad eum Sennacherib, rex Assyriorum, Rapsacem principem militiae suae, et libellum plenum improperiis et blasphemiis contra Deum, sicut exponit Isaias propheta: Ezechias accepit libellum illum, et ingressus in templum apparuit ante Dominum, et oravit, et confestim missus est ad eum Isaias propheta, annuntians ei protectionem Dei, et confortans eum, et exiit ad preces Ezechiae angelus a facie Domini, et percussit in castris Assyriorum centum octoginta quinque millia virorum. Qualia autem fuerint verba Rapsacis, vel qualis oratio Ezechiae, vel qualis confortatio Isaiae, lege in Isaia, et profer causam excitationis in populo. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia I Source: Migne PG 56.626

And in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, came to Jerusalem to fight against it, and they were not able to conquer it. When the house of David was told, 'Syria is allied with Ephraim,' his heart and the heart of his people trembled with fear like a tree of the forest shaken by the wind. And the Lord said to Isaiah: 'Go out and meet with Ahaz, you and Shearjashub your son, at the pool on the road to fuller's house, and say to him, 'Listen and be quiet and do not fear. Do not let your heart grow faint because of these two smouldering stumps. For when the anger of my wrath comes, again I shall heal, because the son of Aram and the son of Remaliah, who have thought the worst thought, saying, 'Let us go up to Jerusalem and speak with them, let us turn them to us and we shall set up the son of Tabal as king for them.' Thus says the Lord God of Hosts, 'This thought shall not prevail, nor will it come to be.' 1 Perhaps it was because Ahaz was so strengthened when he sired his son that he called his name Hezekiah, for the name Hezekiah is translated as 'the Lord has strengthened.' And truly the strengthening of the Lord was fulfilled in Hezekiah, in him who possessed a soul that was holy beyond all the other kings who came before him. For among the other goods with which God rightly gifted him, when Sennacherib the king of Assyria sent forward that man Rapasca, the general of his army, and he had a little book full of insults and blasphemies against God, as Isaiah the prophet tells us, Hezekiah received that book, and went into the temple and stood before the Lord, and he prayed, and immediately the Prophet Isaiah was sent to him, announcing to him the protection of God, and strengthening him, and at the prayers of Hezekiah an angel was sent out from the face of the Lord, and he struck down one hundred and eighty five thousand in the camps of the Assyrians. Such were the words of Rapasca, and such the prayer of Hezekiah, or such was the strength with Isaiah, of the law in Isaiah, and it brought joy to the people. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 1 1 Isaiah 7.1-7 2 Isaiah 36-37

Fear And Offence

Verba eorum ne timeas, et vultus eorum ne formides, quia domus exasperans est. Ideo boni timendi sunt ne offendantur, ne forte per eos ille provocetur ad iram, qui eorum corda semper inhabitat. Nam, sicut superius dictum est, si malos offendimus, timere minime debemus, quoniam illis nostra actio displicet, quibus nec justitia creatoris placet. Quid ergo timendum est, si nobis ingrati sunt, qui Deo amabiles non sunt? Unde recte nunc dicitur: Verba eorum ne timeas, et vultus eorum ne formides, quia domus exasperans est. Ac si aperte diceretur: Timendi essent, nisi me in suis actibus exasperarent. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IX Source: Migne PL 76.881c

Do not fear their words and do not be dismayed by their faces, because theirs is a house that provokes. 1 That is, the good are fearful lest they offend and lest perhaps they provoke the wrath of Him who is always dwelling in their hearts. For as we have said previously, we should not fear if we offend the wicked, since what we do displeases those who are not pleased with the righteousness of the Creator. Why, then, should there be fear if we are not liked by those who are not loveable before God? Whence rightly it is said: 'Do not fear their words, and do not be dismayed by their faces, because theirs is a house that provokes.' As if it were plainly said: 'Rather let them fear lest they provoke me with their behaviour.' Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 9 1 Ezek 2.6

Forewarning and Improvement

Ἐτοίμασεν ἐν κρίσει τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν διακαιοσύνῃ· κρινεῖ λαοὺς εν εὐθύτητι. Προτρέπει τὰ προκείμενα ἀναχωρῆσαι μὲν κακίας καὶ δυσσεβείας, προσελθεῖν δὲ ἀρετῇ καὶ εὐσεβείᾳ. Τίς γὰρ νοῦν ἔχων, πιστεύσας τοῖς οὕτως εἰρημένοις, οὐ φοβηθήσεται μὴ ὑποπέσῃ τῷ κρίνοντι ἐν δυκαιοσύνῃ καὶ εὐθύττι, διὰ πράξεις ψεκτὰς καὶ φρόνημα ἀσεβές; Οὕτω γὰρ κρίνοντος αὐτοῦ, ἀναπόδραστον τὸ κρῖμα ἔσται. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος Θ’ Source: Migne PG 39.1192c

He has prepared His throne for judgement, and He shall judge the orb of the earth fairly, He shall judge the people rightly. 1 He gives warning of these things so that we might turn from wickedness and impiety and seek the virtues. For he who is reasonable, if he believes in these things, shall he not fear that he might fall into a just and righteous hand for judgement of his vile deeds and wicked thoughts? For when He judges, the judgement will be inescapable. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.8

The Two Gates Of Death

Qui cupiditate peccant sumant David exemplum, ut resurgent. Qui timore peccant sumant Petrum exemplum, ut resurgent. Uterque cecidit, et uterque resurrexit, quia Christus utrumque respexit, alterum per se, alterum per prophetam suum. Istae sunt duae portae mortis: cupiditas et timor; quae si cui clauduntur, non erit quo mundus ingrediatur. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit CXXXIII, De mortis duabus portis Source: Migne PL 177.549d-550a

They who sin because of desire may take up David as an example, so that they may rise. They who sin because of fear may take up Peter as an example, that they may rise. For both fell, and both rose, because Christ looked upon both, one through himself, another through his prophecy. 1 Desire and fear, these are the two gates of death, and to whom they are closed the world shall not find a way to enter. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 133, On The Two Gates Of Death 1 Lk 22.61-62, 2 Kings 11-12

Fear And Hope

Ab auditu malo non timebit, paratum est cor ejus sperare in Domino... Illum auditum malum dicit, quem audituri sunt impii: Ite in ignem aeternum, et reliqua. Malus enim illis videtur qui justa serveritate plectendi sunt: quia fas dicit non est, nisi justum Domini semper esse judicum. Et ne solum beatos putares poenas noxias non timere, sequitur, paratum cor ejus sperare in Domino, ut promissa ipsius percipiant, qui saeculi illecebras ejus juvamine calcaverunt; quibus ipse dicturus est: Venite benediti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est ab origine mundi. Cor autem positum est pro rectae mentis affectu, quod sine aliqua cunctatione promissa novit expetere. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXI Source: Migne PL 70.806d

He shall not fear the hearing of evil, his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord... 1 He speaks of that hearing of evil that the wicked will hear: 'Go into eternal fire,' 2 and the rest. For it seems evil to them that they are struck with just severity, because one does not speak rightly unless that the judgement of the Lord is always just. And lest you might think that the blessed lack only that fear of woeful punishments, he continues: 'his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord,' that receiving His promises, with His help, they crush down worldly snares, to whom He shall then say, 'Come blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.' 3 For the heart established in the disposition of a right mind knows how to have hope in the promises without any hesitation. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 111 1 Ps 111.7 2 Mt 25.41 3 Mt 25.34

Numerous Fears

Sed libera nos a malo... Liberari enim a malo, est a saeculo nequam nunquam illici, sed expediri a desiderio hujus mundi, qui praesentia bona ostendens, invisibilia deridens, homines ad se attrahit. Haec omnia non possumus facere, nisi per spiritum timoris. Audiamus enim Deum gehennam minantem, et per hoc exterriti, mundo renuntiabimus, et Deo servire cum dilectione incipiemus. Nota quod timores quatuor sunt, duo terreni, et duo divini. Unus est, quando homines timemus, ne nobis nostra auferant, et ideo peccamus; vel quotiescunque propter aliquem timorem peccamus, ne viles simus, ne derideamur; sicut quando sectatores efficimur, quod prohibet Dominus, dicens: Nolite timere eos, qui corpus occidunt, et iste vocatur humanus timor. Est et alius timor, qui vocatur servilis, quando poenam timemus, et ideo non peccamus, et tamem voluntatem peccandi non amittimus. Sic Judaei pro sola formidine a malo abstinebant, nec aliquam dilectionem in bono faciendo habebant, nec Deum diligebant. Hi duo timores nihil faciunt ad salutem, sed nocent. Sunt alii duo. Unus est, quando Deum timemus, propter gehennam, et ideo a malo abstinemus, sed tamen cum dilectione boni est, et sine voluntate peccandi, et ita Deum diligere incipimus. Hunc timorem jubet Dominus, cum dicit: Potius timete illum qui habet potestatem corpus et animam mittere in gehennam ignis. De hoc timore dicitur, Initium sapientiae timor Domini. Tunc enim Deum timemus, quum eum per timorem diligimus. Tunc tantum poenam timemus, cum Deum non diligimus, et tamen a malo propter poenam abstinemus. Iste tertius timor est imperfectorum, et tamen salvandorum, quamvis non habeant perfectam charitatem. Perfecta enim charitas foras mittit hunc timorem tertium. Qui enim habet perfectam charitatem, etiamsi nullam poenam esse sciret, tamen Deo solum ex dilectione serviret, et eum offendere timeret. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1284d-1285b

But free us from evil... 1 To be freed from evil is never to be able to be charmed by the evil world, but to be delivered from the desire of this world, that which to attract men to itself sets forth present goods and derides invisible ones. And we cannot do any of this unless through a spirit of fear. For let us hear God threatening hell, and terrified by this we renounce the world and we begin to serve God with love. Observe that there are four types of fear, two of the world, and two Divine. One is when we fear men, lest they take something that is ours from us, and therefore we sin, or as many times as we sin on account of a fear of seeming to be vile or ridiculous, as when we become sectarians, which fear the Lord prohibits, saying, 'Do not fear those who can kill the body,' 2 and this is to name a human fear. And there is another fear which is called servile, when we fear punishment, and because of this we do not sin, and yet we do not rid ourselves of the wish to sin. So the Jews abstained from evil because of fear alone, and they had no love in the doing of good, nor loved God. These two fears profit not at all for salvation, but they are harmful. There are two others. One is when we fear God on account of hell and therefore we abstain from evil, but when this is done with a good love and without the desire to sin, even in this we begin to love God. The Lord commands this fear when He says, 'Rather fear Him who has the power to cast the body and the soul into the fire of hell.' 2 Concerning this fear it is said: 'The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord,' 3 For then we fear the Lord whom through fear we love. Then we fear only punishment when we do not love God and we only abstain from wickedness because of punishment. This is the third fear and it belongs to the imperfect, and yet it is of those who will be saved, although they do not have perfect love. Perfect love casts out this third fear. 4 He who has perfect love, even if he knows there is no punishment, yet he serves God from love alone, and fears to offend Him. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 6.13 2 Mt 10.28 3 Sirach 1.14 4 1 Jn 4.18

Help And Fear

Kύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθός οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος... Ἔτι διδάσκεται ὁ Χρσιτοῠ λαὸς προσδοκᾷν μὲν ἐπιβουλὰς ἀνθρώπων, μὴ πτήσσειν δὲ αὐτὰς, μηδ' ἀγωνιᾷν, ἀλλὰ λέγειν· Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, καὶ τὰ ἐξῆς. Τοὺς δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐχθροὺς γενομένους τῷ λαῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἤ διὰ τὴν εὐσεβῆ γνῶσιν, καὶ τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτείαν. Ἐχροὺς δὲ λεκτέον ἀνθρώπους αἰσθητούς τε καὶ νοητοὺς, ἀσεβεῖς τε καὶ δαίμονας πονηρούς. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΡΙΖ´ Source: Migne PG 39.1157a

The Lord is my helper, I shall not fear what a man may do to me. 1 The people of Christ are taught to expect the plots of men, and that they should not be frightened of them, or incline to despair, but say, 'The Lord is my helper,' and the rest. For no other reason is there hostility to the people of God but because of their pious knowledge and fellowship with God. And one should call men enemies who in their senses and in their thoughts are impious and wicked demons. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 117 1 Ps 117.6

The Sea Within

Quis conclusit ostiis mare? Quid est mare, nisi cor nostrum furore turbidum, rixis amarum, elatione superbiae tumidum, fraude malitiae obscurum? Quod mare quantum saeviat, attendit quisquis, in se occultas cogitationum tentationes intelligit. Ecce enim iam perversa relinquimus, iam desideriis rectis inhaeremus, iam prava opera foris abscindimus; sed tamen latenter intus ea cum qua huc venimus vitae veteris procella fatigamur, quam nisi respectu iudicii et aeterni pavore tormenti immensi timoris claustra constringerent, cuncta in nobis penitus superaedificati operis fundamenta corruissent. Si enim quod per suggestionem saevit intrinsecus, per deliberationem foras erumperet, vitae nostrae fabrica funditus eversa iacuisset. In iniquitate namque concepti, et in delicto editi, per insitae corruptionis molestias pugnam nobiscum huc deferimus, quam cum labore vincamus. Unde et recte de hoc mari dicitur: Quando erumpebat, quasi de vulva procedens. Vulva enim pravae cogitationis adolescentia est. De qua per Moysen Dominus dicit: Sensus enim et cogitatio humani cordis prona est in malum ab adolescentia sua. Corruptionis namque malum, quod unusquisque nostrum ab ortu desideriorum carnalium sumpsit, in provectu aetatis exercet; et nisi hoc citius divinae formidinis manus reprimat, omne conditae naturae bonum repente culpa in profundum vorat. Nemo igitur sibi cogitationum suarum victoriam tribuat, cum Veritas dicat: Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat, quasi de vulva procedens? Quia nisi ab ipso cogitationis primordio cordis fluctus gratia divina retineret, tentationum procellis mare saeviens terram procul dubio humanae mentis obruisset, ut salsis fluctibus perfusa aresceret, id est perniciosis carnis voluptatibus delectata deperiret. Solus ergo Dominus ostiis mare concludit, qui pravis motibus cordis claustra inspiratae formidinis obiicit. Quia vero ea quae cernimus sequi prohibemur, quia a corporearum rerum delectatione retundimur, libet etiam ad invisibilia oculos mentis attollere, atque haec ipsa quae sequi praecipimur videre. Sed quid agimus? Infirmis illa obtutibus necdum patent. Ecce ad eorum amorem vocamur, sed tamen a visione restringimur, quia et si quando aliquid furtim parumque aspicimus, sub incerto nimis adhuc visu caligamus. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber XXVIII, Caput XIX Source: Migne PL 76.474b-475a

Who shut up the sea with doors? 1 What is this sea, except our heart, troubled by fury, bitter with strife, bloated with the elation of pride, darkened by the deceit of evil? Anyone may observe how mightily this sea rages, who understands the hidden temptations of thoughts in himself. For behold, we are now abandoning our perversities, we are now cleaving to correct desires, we are now cutting off our exterior wicked works, but we are yet secretly wearied within by the storms of our old life with which we have lived so far, and unless the barriers of endless fear were curbing it with care for judgment and fear of eternal torment, all the foundations of the work which has been raised up in us would have utterly fallen into ruin. If that which rages within by suggestion were to burst out in resolution, the whole fabric of our life would be utterly overthrown. For being conceived in iniquity and in sin brought forth, 2 we bring with us here a struggle with the strife of innate corruptions, which we must conquer with toil. Whence it is rightly said of this sea, 'When it was breaking forth, as if coming out from the womb.' 1 Youth is the womb of depraved thought, concerning which the Lord says, 'The mind and thought of the human heart is inclined to evil from its youth.' 3 For the evil of corruption which each one of us takes up from the springing up of carnal desires, exerts itself with the advance of age, and unless the hand of Divine disapproval quickly restrains it, sin swiftly swallows down into the depths all the good of created nature. No one, therefore, should attribute victory over his thoughts to himself, since the Truth says, 'Who shut up the sea with doors, when it was breaking forth, as if coming out from the womb?' 1 For unless from the beginning of our thoughts Divine grace had restrained the waves of our heart, the sea raging with the storms of temptations would doubtless have overwhelmed the land of the human mind, so that, washed by the salt waves, it would have become barren, that is, it would have perished amid the delights of the ruinous pleasures of the flesh. Therefore the Lord alone shuts up the sea with doors, He who sets in opposition to the evil motions of our hearts the barriers of inspired fear. And because we are prohibited from following those things which we see, because we are turned from the enjoyment of bodily things, so it is possible for us to raise the eyes of our mind even to invisible things, and see those very things we are commanded to follow. But what do we do? Such things are not yet open to our feeble sight. Behold we are called to love them, and yet we are restrained from the sight of them, because even if sometime we see them by stealth and partially, we are yet in the darkness of our most uncertain sight. Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 28, Chapter 19 1 Job 38.8 2 Ps 50.7 3 Gen 8.21

Fear And Death

Primam mortem scilicet corporis, debet peccator timere ob ablationem omnium delectabilium, et ob eternitatem omnium mediarum, et ob multitudinem penarum, et ob desperationem remediorum et suffragiorum post hanc vitam, Iob xxvii: Dives cum dormierit nihil secum aufert, aperiet oculos suos et nihil inveniet, ubi Gregorius sufficienter de hoc Marolaium xviii. Exemplificans de divite epulone sepulto in inferno Luce xvi. et Luce xii de stulto proponente dilatare horrea sua. Cui dictum est, hac nocte repetent animam tuam, que autem parasti cuius erunt. Sapienta v: Quid vobis profuit superbia, et ad pene exaggerationem predicta erunt, et evenient impio tempore quo non estimat, Iob xxxiiii: Subito morientur et media nocte et cetera. Et de hoc Gregoris Moralium xxv: Quod subitum est quod ante non cogitatur, et ideo dicuntur mori subito quia non procogitant, vere ergo mors peccatorum pessima et ideo timenda, Ecclesiastici xliii: O mors quam amara est memoria tua homini iniusto, unde ad maiorem pene aggravationem quibusdam impiis antequam exeant de vita ostendit Deus penas infernales, prout ait Beda De gestis angelorum de quidam insolente, qui cum infirmaretur monuit eum rex Sandereus vel Geuredus ut confiteretur, qui respondit quod tunc non faceret ne sodales ei insultarent, sed cum surgeret ab infirmitate aggravante hoc faceret. Iterato visitavit enim rex, cui ait ille: quod tunc nulla fuit utilitas eum visitare, eo quod duo iuvenes pulci intraverunt, quorum unus portabat librum in quo scripta erant bona que feci, sed pauca postea intravit exercitus malignorum spirituum quorum maior protulit librum horrende visionis, enormis magnitudinis, et ponderis importabilis in iuvenes, quid vos hic, iste noster est, quibus illi, verum est, ducite eum in tumulum damnationis, duo quoque percutiant unus in caput alius in pedes, et cum ad se pervenient ictus moritur, et portatus a demonibus in infernum protrehatur, et sic factum est. Non pro se vidit cui ista non pro fuere, sed pro aliis qui differunt penitere, ait Beda. Ibidem etiam narrat de quodam fabro vivente ignobiliter, et sustentabatur in monasterio a fratribus propter operum necessitatem, serviebat quoque ebrietati, et aliis magisque nocte residere in officina sua consuevit quam ad psallendum ire, qui infirmatus et ad extrema perductus vocavit fratres eisque narravit videre se inferos aprtos, et Sathanam in profundum dimersum cum Caypha et ceteris qui Christum occiderunt, sibi quod locum preparatum iuxta, et cum hortaretur ad penitentiam, ait desperans quod non erat ei locis mutandi vitam, ex quo vidit iudicium suum iam esse impletum, et sine viatico obiit extraque monasterium sepultus est, nec aliquis pro eo oravit hec vidit ut desparata salute miserabilius periret, sicut beatus Stephanus vidit celos apetos ut letius ascenderet. Omni ergo impio est timenda mors prima, et multo etiam magis alle mortes, quia mors carnis non est nisi umbra mortis prout ait Gregorius Moralium xi. super illud Iob xiii producat in lucem umbram mortis. Et somnus est ut ait idem Moralium xii. super Iob xiiii: Nec consurget de somno suo, mors enim peccati sive anime per peccatum magis timenda est quod mors corporis, quia mors anime est cum eam deserit Deus, mors corporis cum ipsum deserit anima, ait Augustinus xiii. De civitate dei capitulo primo: Quanto ergo melior Deus anima tanto peius deseria Deo quam ab anima. Ideo sancti sustinuerunt mortem corporis ut vitarent peccatum prout ait Susanna Danielis xiii: Melius est mihi absque opere incidere in manus vestras quam peccare in conspectu Dei. Johannes Gallensis, Communiloquium sive Summa Collationum, Pars Sexta, Distinctio secunda, Capitulum secundum, Pars Secunda Source: here, p232

The sinner should fear the first death, which is obviously of the body, because of the loss of every delight, and the eternity of being amid a multitude of punishments, and the hopelessness of any remedy and support after this life. 'The rich man when he sleeps takes nothing with him, he opens his eyes and he finds nothing,' 1 which Gregory sufficiently speaks of in the eighteenth book of the Moralia. 2 This is exemplified by the feasting rich man who was buried for hell in the sixteenth chapter of Luke, 3 and in the twelfth chapter concerning the foolish man who proposed to expand his barns, to whom it was said, 'This night your soul is demanded of you; and these things you prepare, who are they for?' 4 In the fifth chapter of Wisdom: 'How did your pride profit you?' 5 Such great gain foretold and in time there comes upon the impious man what he does not expect. 'Suddenly they perish in the middle of the night', 6 And Gregory says in the twenty fifth book of the Moralia: 'That which is sudden is not thought of before and therefore they say that to die suddenly is because it is unforeseen, truly therefore the death of the sinner is the worst,' 7 and so must be feared. Ecclesiasticus chapter forty three: 'O death, how bitter the thought of you to the unrighteous man,' 8 whence it is gravely troublesome to impious folk before they pass away from this life if God should reveal infernal punishment. Which Bede relates in his history of the English, concerning a certain insolent fellow who when he sickened was warned by the king Sandereus or Geuredus that he should confess, 9 and he answered that he would not, lest the warriors mock him, but that when he had recovered from his grave infirmity he would do so. Again the king came to him, and the man said to him that now there was no point in him visiting because two fair youths had come in, one who was carrying a book in which was written all the good things he had done, but a little after, there came in a host of wicked spirits, the greatest of whom brought before them a book hideous to see, of much larger size, and they pressed on the youths most terribly, saying 'Why are you here? This man is ours.' To which they said, 'It is true. Lead him off to the heap of the damned. And also one of two of you strike him on the head and the other on the feet. And when the blow of death comes to him, he shall be borne off by the demons and taken to hell.' And so it was. This man did not see what was to come for his own sake, but for others who defer penitence, says Bede. In the same place he tells the story of a certain smith who lived shamefully, being supported by the brothers of a monastery for his needful works, who was also a slave of drunkenness and was much more accustomed to spend his time with others in his workshop than to go and sing Psalms. Now when he sickened and was reaching his last hours, he called the brothers and told them that he had seen hell opened, and Satan sunk in the depths of it, along with Caiaphas and the others who killed Christ, and that a place had been prepared for him next to them. Then when he was exhorted to penance, he said despairingly that he had no scope to change his own life, and so he saw his own judgement fulfilled, and he died without viaticum and was buried outside the monastery, lest someone pray for him who saw that he must perish wretchedly despairing of his salvation. 10 So saint Stephen saw the heavens opened so that he would ascend joyfully. 11 Thus every wicked man must fear the first death, yet the other deaths are more fearful, because the death of the flesh is nothing but the shadow of death, as Gregory says in the eleventh book of the Moralia on the twelfth chapter of Job 'He brings into light the shadow of death.' 12 And a sleep is the same, he says in the twelfth book of the Moralia on the fourteenth chapter of Job, 'He shall not rise from his sleep,' 13 for the death of the soul by sin should be feared more than the death of the body, since the death of the soul is when it is abandoned by God, and the death of the body is when it is abandoned by the soul, as Augustine says in the thirteenth book On The City of God, in the first chapter: 'By how much better God is to the soul, so much worse is the loss of God from the soul.' 14 Therefore the saints endure the death of the body that they might avoid sin, as Susanna says in the thirteenth chapter of Daniel: 'Better for me to do nothing and fall into your hands than sin in the sight of the Lord.' 15 John of Wales, The Communiloquium, The Sixth Part, Second Distinction, Second Chapter, of The Second Part 1 Job 27.19 2 Gregory Moral 18.28-29 3 Lk 16.22 4 Lk 12.16 5 Wisdom 5.8 6 Job 34.20 7 Greg Moral, Ps 33.22 8 Sirach 41.1 9 Actually Coenred of Mercia, Bede Eccl His 5.13 10 Bede Eccl His 5.14 11 Acts 7.55 12 Greg Moral 11.26, Job 12.22 13 Greg Moral 12.10, Job 14.12 14 Aug Civ De 13.2 15 Dan 13.23

Possessions And Fear

Metuis ne patrimonium tuum forte deficiat si operari ex eo largiter coeperis, et nescis, miser, quia, dum times ne res familiaris deficiat, vita ipsa et salus deficit; et, dum ne quid de rebus tuis minuatur attendis, non respicis quod ipse minuaris, amator magis mammonae quam animae tuae; ut, dum times ne pro te patrimonium tuum perdas, ipse pro patrimonio tuo pereas. Et ideo bene Apostolus clamat et dicit: Nihil intulimus in hunc mundum, verum nec auferre quid possumus. Habentes itaque exhibitionem et tegumentum, his contenti simus. Qui autem volunt divites fieri, incidunt in tentationem et in muscipulam et desideria multa et nocentia, quae mergunt hominem in perditionem et in interitum. Radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas: quam quidam appetentes naufragaverunt a fide, et inseruerunt se doloribus multis. Sanctus Cyprianus, De Opere et Eleemosynis Source: Migne PL 4.609b

You fear lest perhaps your estate shall fail if you begin to give plentifully from it, and yet you do not know, unhappy man, that while you fear lest your family property shall fail, your life and salvation are failing, and while you fret over your possessions diminishing, you do not see yourself diminishing, since you are a lover of mammon more than your own soul, and while you fear least your estate be ruined, you are being ruined for the sake of your estate. Therefore the Apostle rightly cries out and says: 'We have brought nothing into this world, nor indeed can we carry anything out of it. Therefore, having food and clothing, let us be content. For those who will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many harmful desires, which drown a man in ruin and in destruction. Cupidity is the root of all evil, which some desiring have made a shipwreck of the faith, and cast themselves into many sorrows.' 1 Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise On Works And Alms. 1 1 Tim 6.7-10

Wisdom And Fear

Ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος θεοῦ σύνεσις δὲ ἀγαθὴ πᾶσι τοῖς ποιοῦσιν αὐτήν εὐσέβεια δὲ εἰς θεὸν ἀρχὴ αἰσθήσεως σοφίαν δὲ καὶ παιδείαν ἀσεβεῖς ἐξουθενήσουσιν. Οἱ κτώμενοι κακίαν, τῷ κακοὶ εἶναι ἐξουδενοῦσι σοφίαν· καὶ μὴ ἔχοντες φόβον τὸν ποιοῦντα ἀρχὴν αἰσθήσεως, ἀναισθητοῦσι καὶ ἐξουδενοῦσι σοφίαν· πῶς; τῷ μὴ πράττειιν μηδὲ μετιέναι· πᾶς γὰρ ὁ τὰ φαῦλα πράττων, μυσεῖ τὸ φῶς· ἀλλ' οὐ παρὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν ἀτιμάζεται, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ἐκείνων ἄγνοιαν· ἀλλ' οἱ εὐσεβεῖς αἱροῦνται τὴν παιδείαν, ἵνα τὴν ψυχὴν καθαρθέντες, εἰσδέχωνται τὴν εἰς κακότεχνον ψυχὴν μὴ εἰισουσαν σοφίαν· οἱ δὲ μὴ ἔχοντες φόβον Θεοῦ, τὸν ποιοῦντα ἀρχὴν αἰσθήσεως, ἀναισθητοῦσι σοφίας καὶ παιδείας, καὶ ἐξουθενοῦσιν ἀμφότερα· ὡς οἱ τὴν Παλαιὰν μὴ δεχόμενοι, καὶ τὸν Δημιουργὸν ὡς ὠμὸν διαβάλλοντες. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφ A´ Source: Migne PG 17.196a

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God and a good understanding is for all who do it, and piety is the beginning of understanding, but the impious scorn wisdom and discipline. 1 Those who are wicked, being wicked, scorn wisdom, and do not have the fear which makes the beginning of knowledge, therefore they are fools and contemptuous of wisdom. How? They neither do, nor do they understand. For everyone who does evil hates the light. 2 But not on account of its true nature is it scorned by them, but because of their ignorance. Pious men, however, embrace discipline, so that with a clean soul they may receive wisdom, which does not enter into a wicked soul. 3 And those who do not have the fear of God, who attempt the beginning of understanding, they do not understand either wisdom or discipline but they scorn both, like those who do not accept the Old Testament, and accuse the Creator of stupidity. 4 Origen, On Proverbs, Chap 1 1 Prov 1.7 2 Jn 3.20 3 Wisdom 1.4 4 Gnostics

Anger And Fear

Vae vobis a dracone! Immanis est bestia, flatu igneo quidquid attigerit, necat; non modo bestias terrae, sed et volucres coeli. Haud alium ego draconem hunc, quam spiritum iracundiae reor. Quantos etiam sublimis ut videbatur vitae, flatu hujus draconis misere satis adustos, turpiter in ejus os ingemimus cecidisse? Quam melius sibi ipsis irasci potuerant ne peccarent? Nimirum affectio naturalis ira hominum est; sed abutentibus bono naturae gravis perditio est, et miseranda pernicies. Occupemus illam, fratres, in quibus expedit, ne forte ad inutilla illicitaque prorumpat. Sic nimirum solet amorem amor expungere, solet timor timore depelli. Nolite timere eos qui corpus occidunt, ait Dominus, animae autem non habent quid faciant: et confestim, Ostendam autem, ait, vobis quem timeatis. Timete autem eum qui potestatem habet corpus et animam mittere in gehennam. Ita dico vobis, hunc timete. Ac si manifestius dicat: Hunc timete, ne illos timeatis. Repleat vos spiritus timoris Domini, et timor alienus locum non habebit in vobis. Et ego vobis dico, non autem ego, sed Veritas; non ego, sed Dominus: Nolite irasci eis qui transitoria vobis auferunt, qui convicia inferunt, qui ingerunt forte supplicia, et praeter haec faciunt nihil. Ostendam autem vobis cui debeatis irasci. Irascimini ei quae sola vobis nocere potest, sola facere ut omnia illa non prosint. Vultis scire quaenam illa sit? Iniquitas propria. Ita dico vobis, huic irascimini. Nulla enim nocebit adversitas, si nulla dominetur iniquitas. Qui perfecte huic irascitur, caeteris non movetur, magis et amplectitur ea. Ego, inquit, in flagella paratus sum. Sit damnum, sit convicium, sit laesio corporalis; paratus sum, et non sum turbatus: quoniam dolor meus in conspectu meo semper. Quidni exteriora omnia parvi pendam in hujus aestimatione doloris? Filius, inquit, uteri mei persequitur me, et convicianti servulo indignabor? Cor meum dereliquit me, dereliquit me virtus mea, et lumen oculorum meorum: et damna temporalia plangam, aut incommoda corporalia reputabo? Hinc nimirum non modo mansuetudo oritur, cui draconis flatus non noceat; sed etiam magnanimitas, quam rugitus leonis non terreat. Adversarius vester tanquam leo rugiens, ait Petrus. Gratias magno illi Leoni de tribu Juda: rugire iste potest, ferire non potest. Rugiat quantum vult: tantum non fugiat ovis Christi. Quanta minitatur! quanta exaggerat! quanta intentat! Non simus bestiae, ut nos prosternat vacuus ille rugitus. Sic enim perhibent qui talia curiosius vestigaveruut, ad rugitum leonis nullam bestiam stare posse, ne eam quidem quae adversus ictum ejus tota animositate repugnat: et plerumque superat ferientem, quae non sustinet rugientem. Vere bestia, vere rationis expers, qui tam pusillanimis est, ut solo timore cedat, qui sola futuri exaggeratione laboris victus, ante conflictum, non telo, sed tuba prosternitur. Nondum restitistis usque ad sanguinem, ait strenuus ille dux, qui leonis hujus noverat vanum esse rugitum. Et alius quidam: Resistite, inquit, diabolo, et fugiet a vobis. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Diversis, Sermon XIII, De versu duodecimo, In manibus portabunt te, etc Source: Migne PL 183.237b-238d

Woe to you because of the dragon. Perilous is the beast which kills whatever it touches with the breath of fire, not only the beasts of the earth, but even the birds of heaven. I speak of no other dragon than the spirit of anger. How many who seemed so great in life, having been scorched by the breath of the dragon to wretchedness, have fallen in foulness into his roaring mouth? And how better are they who are angry with themselves lest they sin? Indeed anger is a natural emotion of man, but for the laying waste of a good nature it is a grave peril and a most wretched danger. Let us occupy ourselves, brothers, with things which befit, lest perhaps it drives us to what is worthless and criminal. So indeed love drives out love, and fear casts out fear. 'Do not fear those who kill the body,' says the Lord, 'and can do nothing to the soul,' and immediately He continues: 'I shall show you what you should fear. Fear him who has the power to cast the body and the soul into hell. Thus I say to you: Fear this.' 1 As if more openly He had said: 'Fear this, do not fear them.' Let the spirit of the fear of the Lord fill you and no other fear shall find a place in you.' And I say to you, yet not I, but the Truth, not I but the Lord: Do not be angry at those who bring transient things against you, who bring forth abuse, who bring strong torments before you, and beyond these things can do nothing. I will show you what you should be angry at. Be angry alone at him who alone is able to harm you, he who alone is able to make nothing profit. You want to know who this is? It is your own wickedness. Thus be angry, direct your anger at him. No adversity shall harm you if no wickedness rules over you. He who perfectly hates this one, is not troubled by others, no, he even embraces them. 'I am', he says, 'prepared for the whip.' If suffering loss, if abused, if wounded in the body, I am prepared, I am not troubled, 'because my grief is in my sight always.' 2 Shall I not now weigh every exterior things as little against the judgement of this grief? 'My son seeks my life,' he says, 'and shall I be indignant because of the abuse of this servant?' 3 My heart melts within me, my strength melts away and also the light of my eyes, and shall I bewail temporal troubles, or be troubled by bodily discomforts? And he who is not harmed by the breath of the dragon, from him not only does meekness arise, but even magnanimity from him whom the roaring of the lion does not terrify. 'Your adversary is like a roaring lion,' Peter says. 4 Thanks to that great lion of of the tribe of Judah, this one can roar but it is not able to carry one away. Let him roar as much as he wants, only let the sheep of Christ not flee. How many threats! How great they are! How they are directed! Let us not be beasts, so that we are overthrown by empty roars. So they regard it who with greater curiosity investigate such things, that the roar of the lion which no beast is able to withstand is not able to strike one adverse blow for all his hostility, for generally he who can strike, does not delay by roaring. Truly a beast, utterly lacking reason, is he who is so cowardly that fear alone makes him fall, who is conquered by the mere thought of future trial, who before conflict is prostrated not by a spear but a mob.'You have not yet resisted even to bloodshed.' 5 says that enduring king, who knew the roars of the lion to be in vain. And another says: 'Resist the devil and he shall fly from you.' 6 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons Concerning Various Things, from Sermon 13, On the line 'In their hands they shall carry you.' 7 1 Lk 12.4-5 2 Ps 27.18 3 2 King 16.11 4 1 Pet 5.8 5 Heb 12.4 6 Jam 4.7 7 Ps 90.12

Sons And Fathers

Si quis igitur ad perfectionem tendit, de illo primo timoris gradu, quem proprie diximus esse servilem, de quo dicitur: Cum omnia feceritis, dicite, quia servi inutiles sumus, ad altiorem spei tramitem gradu proficiente conscendet, qui iam non servo, sed mercenario comparatur, quia mercedem retributionis exspectat, et quasi de peccatorum absolutione et poenali timore securus, ac bonorum sibi operum conscius, licet placiti praemium videatur expetere, tamen ad affectum illum filii qui de paternae indulgentiae liberalitate confidens, omnia quae patris sunt sua esse non ambigit, pervenire non potuit. Ad quem etiam ille prodigus, qui cum substantia patris etiam filii nomen amiserat, aspirare non audet, dicens: Iam non sum dignus vocari filius tuus; fac me sicut unum de mercenariis tuis. Post illas enim porcorum siliquas, quarum ei satietas negabatur, id est, vitiorum sordidos cibos, qui in semetipsum reversus, et salutari timore compunctus, immunditiam porcorum horrere iam coeperat, ac dirae famis supplicia formidabat, velut iam servus effectus, etiam mercenarii statum de mercede iam cogitans, concupiscit ac dicit: Quanti mercenarii in domo patris mei abundant panibus, et ego hic fame pereo! Revertar ergo ad patrem meum, et dicam illi: Pater, peccavi in coelum et coram te, iam non sum dignus vocari filius tuus; fac me sicut unum de mercenariis tuis. Sed ad istam humilis poenitentiae vocem in occursum eius pater prosiliens, maiore quam emissa fuerat pietate suscepit, eumque non contentus minora concedere, utroque gradu sine dilatione transcurso, pristinae filiorum restituit dignitati. Festinandum proinde nobis etiam est, ut ad tertium filiorum gradum, qui omnia quae patris sunt sua esse credunt, per indissolubilem charitatis gratiam conscendentes, coelestis illius Patris imaginem ac similitudinem recipere mereamur, et ad imitationem veri illius Filii proclamare possimus: Omnia quae habet pater, mea sunt. Quod etiam de nobis beatus Apostolus profitetur, dicens: Omnia vestra sunt, sive Paulus, sive Apollo, sive Cephas, sive mundus, sive vita, sive mors, sive praesentia, sive futura, omnia vestra sunt. Ad quam similitudinem etiam Salvatoris praecepta nos provocant: et vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester coelestis perfectus est. In illis enim nonnumquam solet interrumpi bonitatis affectus, cum aliquo vel tepore, vel laetitia, vel oblectatione vigor animi relaxatus, aut metum ad praesens gehennae, aut desiderium subtrahit futurorum. Et est quidem in illis gradus cuiusdam profectus imbuens nos, ut dum vel poenarum metu, vel praemiorum spe incipimus vitia declinare, ad charitatis gradum transire possimus, quia Timor, inquit, non est in charitate, sed perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem, quoniam timor poenam habet. Qui autem timet, non est perfectus in charitate. Nos ergo diligamus, quia Deus prior dilexit nos. Non ergo aliter ad illam veram perfectionem conscendere poterimus, nisi quemadmodum nullius alterius nisi nostrae salutis gratia prior nos ille dilexit, ita eum nos quoque nullius alterius rei nisi sui tantum amoris dilexerimus obtentu. Quamobrem nobis studendum est, ut de hoc timore ad spem, de spe ad charitatem Dei, vel ipsarum virtutum amorem, perfecto mentis conscendamus ardore, ut transmigrantes in affectum boni ipsius, immobiliter, quantum humanae possibile est naturae, quod bonum est, retentemus. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio XI, De Perfectione, Caput VII-VIII Source: Migne PL 49.853a-855

Therefore if someone aims at perfection, from that first step of fear, which we rightly termed servile, concerning which it is said: 'When you have done all things say: we are useless servants,' 1 he should rise by advancing a step to the higher way of hope, which is compared not to a slave but to a hireling, because it looks to the payment of reward, even as if it were free from the absolution of sins and fear of punishment and conscious of its own good works, but though it seems to look for the promised reward, yet it cannot come to that son's love, who, trusting in his father's forgiveness and liberality, has no doubt that all which the father has is his. To which indeed that prodigal one, who had lost along with the inheritance from his father even the name of son, did not venture to aspire, when he said: 'I am no more worthy to be called your son, treat me as one of your hired men.' For after those husks of the swine, the satisfaction of which was denied to him, that is, the vile food of vice, as he came to himself and was struck by a salutary fear, he already began to loathe the uncleanness of the swine, and to dread the torments of gnawing hunger, and as if already made a servant, thinking of the condition of a hireling and about the remuneration, with desire for it, he says: 'How many hired servants in the house of my father abound with bread and I perish here from hunger! Thus I will return to my father and say to him, 'Father I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son, treat me as one of your hired men.' But the father who ran to meet him received this voice of humble penitence with greater affection than that piety with which it was spoken, and was not content to allow him lesser things, but hurrying through the two steps without delay restored him to his original dignity of sonship. 2 Whence we also should make haste to that third step of sonship, which believes that all that the father has is his own, rising by means of the indissoluble grace of love, being accounted worthy to receive the image and likeness of our heavenly Father, and able to say after the likeness of the true son: 'All that the Father has is mine.' 3 Which also the blessed Apostle declares of us, saying: 'All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours.' 4 And to this likeness the commands of our Saviour also summon us: 'Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.' 5 For sometimes in these persons the love of goodness is interrupted, when the vigour of the soul is relaxed by some coldness or joy or delight, and so for a time is drawn away from either the fear of hell, or the desire of things to come. And there is certainly in these things a step leading us to an advance, when from fear of punishment, or from hope of reward, we begin to avoid sin and are able to pass on to the step of love, for it is said: 'Fear is not in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. For he who fears is not perfected in love. Let us love, then, because God first loved us.' 6 So we can only ascend to that true perfection when, as He first loved us for the sake of nothing but our salvation, we also have loved Him for the sake of nothing but His own love alone. Whence we must have zeal to rise with perfect ardor of mind from this fear to hope, and from hope to the love of God, and the love of the virtues themselves, that as we pass on to the love of the good itself, we may, as far as it is possible for human nature, keep firm hold of what is good. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, from Conference 11, On Perfection, Chap 7-8 1 Lk 17.10 2 Lk 15.11-23 3 Jn 16.15 4 1 Cor 3.22 5 Mt 5.48 6 1 Jn 4.18-19

Little Faith

Et dixit eis Iesus: Quid timidi estis, modicae fidei? Hic ponitur efficax auxilium Domini Salvatoris. Dicuntur in eo tria, quorum primum est discipulorum increpatio, secundum ventorum et maris sedatio, tertium autem transquillitatis perfectio. De primo dicit. Primo increpat discipulos propter pravitatem fidei, quam parvam habebant, credendo loco propinquiori melius salvari, et vigilantem maioris potentiae esse Dominum, quam corporaliter dormientem, et hoc est, quod dicit, Quid timidi estis? Q.d. Salvatorem et salutem vobiscum habentes quid timetis? non est causa in hoc: nisi quia estis. Noli timere: quia non confunderis, neque erubesces. Non turbetur cor vestrum, neque formidet. Quid timidi estis: nondum habetis fidem? Ubi est fides vestra? Modicae fidei, quare dubitasti? Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium in Mattheum, Caput VIII Source: Here

Jesus said to them: 'Why do you fear, men of little faith?' 1 Here the efficious help of the Lord our Saviour is given. Three things are said about it, of which the first is the crying out of the disciples, second the calming of the winds and sea, third the achievement of tranquillity. Of the first He speaks. He first chides the disciples for the poor state of their faith, that they had little of it, to believe that they were in a place nearer salvation and that the Lord's vigilance was a power surpassing corporeal sleep, and this is why He said, 'Why do you fear?' Having the Saviour and salvation, why do you fear? There is no cause for it, unless you are. 'Do not fear, because you shall not be confounded, nor shall you blush.' 2 'Let your hearts not be troubled, nor fear.' 3 'Why do you fear, not yet having faith?' 4 'Where is your faith?' 5 'Men of little faith, why do you doubt?' 6 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.26 2 Isaiah 54.4 3 Jn 14.1 4 Mk 4.40 5 Lk 8.25 6 Mt 14.31

Teaching Fear

Δεῦτε, τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου· φόβον Κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. Ἐνδιαθέτου διδασκάλου φωνὴ, προσκαλουμένου εἰς μάθησιν διὰ πατρικῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας. Καὶ γὰρ τέκνον ἐστὶ πνευματικὸν τοῦ διδασκάλου ὁ μαθητής. Ὁ γὰρ παρά τινος τὴν μόρφωσιν τῆς εὐσεβείας δεχόμενος, οὗτος οἰονεὶ διαπλάττεται παρ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς σύστασιν ἄγεται, ὥσπερ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς κυοφορούσης τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ διαμορφούμενα βρέφη. Ὅθεν καὶ Παῦλος ὅλην τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τῶν Γαλατῶν, ἐκ τῶν προτέρων διαπεσοῦσαν μαθημάτων, καὶ οἰονεὶ ἀμβλωθεῐσαν, πάλιν ἀναλαμβάνων, καὶ μορφῶν ἄνωθεν ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸν Χριστὸν, τέκνα ἔλεγε· καὶ ἐπειδὴ μετ' ὀδύνης καὶ θλίψεως ἐποιεῖτο τῶν ἐσφαλμένων τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν, ὠδίνειν ἔλεγε τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ  τὴν ἐπὶ τοῐς ἀποπεσοῦσι λύπην. Τεκνία μου, οὒς πάλιν ὠδίνω, ἄχρις οὖ μορφωθῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν. Δεῦτε οὖν, τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου. Τί ποτε ἄρα διδάσκειν μέλλει ὁ πνευματικὸς ἡμῶν πατήρ; Φόβον, φησὶ Κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. Ἐπειδὴ ἄνω προσέταξε φοβεῖσθαι τον Κύριον, καὶ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ φόβου κέρδος ὑπέδειξεν, εἰπὼν, Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὑστέρημα τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτὸν· νῦν καὶ διδασκαλίαν τινὰ τοῦ θείου φόβου ἡμῖν παραδίδωσι. Τὸ μεν γὰρ, ὅτι χρὴ ὑγιαίνειν, παντός ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, καὶ τοῦ ἰδιώτου· τὸ δὲ, πῶς χρὴ κτήσασθαι τὴν ὑγείαν, τοῦτο ἴδιον ἤδη τοῦ τὴν ἰατρικὴν τέχνην ἐπισταμένου. Οὐ πᾶς φόβος ἀγαθόν ἐστι καὶ σωτήριον, ἀλλ' ἔστι τις καὶ ἐχθρὸς φόβος, ὄν ἀπεύχεται ὁ Προφήτης ἐγγενέσθαι αὐτοῦ τῇ ψυχῇ, λέγων· Ἀπὸ φόβου ἐχθροῦ ἐξελοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν μου. Ἐχθρὸς γὰρ φόβος ὁ θανάτου ἡμῖν δειλίαν ἐμποιῶν, ὁ προσώπων ὑπεροχὰς καταπτήσσειν ἡμᾶς ἀναπείθων. Πῶς γὰρ ὁ ταῦτα φοβούμενος δυνήσεται ἐν καιρῷ μαρτυρίου μέχρι θανάτου πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀντικαταστῆναι, καὶ ἀποδοῦναι τῷ Κυρίῳ τὴν ὀφειλὴν, τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανόντι καὶ ἐγερθέντι; Καὶ ὁ ὑπὸ δαιμόνων εὐπτόητος τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἔχει φόβον ἐν ἑαυτῷ. Καὶ ὅλως, ὁ τοιοῦτος φόβος ἀπιστίας ἔοικεν ἔγγονον εἶναι πάθος. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ πιστεύων ἰσχυρὸν αὐτῷ παρεῖναι τὸν βοηθὸν φοβεῖται ἀπὸ τινος τῶν ἐπιχειρούντων αὐτὸν ἐκταράσσειν. Φόβος δὲ ὁ σωτήριος, καὶ φόβος ἁγιασμοῦ ποιητικὸς, φόβος ὁ κατ' ἐπιτήδευσιν, καὶ οὐχὶ κατὰ πάθος ἐγγινόμενος τῇ ψυχῇ, ποιός ἐστι βούλει διηγήσωμαι; Ὅταν μέλλῃς ἐπὶ τινα ὁρμᾷν ἁμαρτίαν, ἐννόησόν μοι ἐκεῖνο τὸ φρικτὸν καὶ ἀνύποιστον τοῦ Χριστοῦ δικαστήριον, ἐν ᾦ προκαθέζεται μὲν ἐπὶ θρόνου τινὸς ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμέμουσα τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἔνδοξον· παράγεσθαι δὲ μέλλομεν καθ' ἕνα εἰς ἐξέτασιν τῶν βεβιωμένων ἡμῖν. Εἶτα τῷ πολλὰ πονηρὰ πεποιηκότι κατὰ τὸν βίον φοβεροί τινες καὶ κατηφεῖς παρίστανται ἄγελλοι, πῦρ βλέποντες, πῦρ ἀναπνέοντεσ, διὰ τὴν πικρίαν τῆς προαιρέσεως, νυκτὶ ἐοικότες τὰ πρόσωπα, διὰ τὸ κατηφὲς καὶ μισάνθρωπον. Εἶτα βάραθρον βαθὺ, καὶ σκότος ἀδιεξόδευτον, καὶ πῦρ ἀλαμπές· ἐν τῷ σκότει τὴν μὲν καυστικὴν δύναμιν ἔχον, τὸ δὲ φέγγος ἀφηρημένον. Εἶτα σκωλήκων γένος ἰοβόλον καὶ σαρκοφάγον, ἀπλήστως ἐσθίον, καὶ μηδέποτε κορεννύμενον, ἀφορήτους ὀδύνας ἐμποιοῠν τῇ καταβρώσει. Εἶτα τὴν πασῶν χαλεπωτάτην κόλασιν, τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν ἐκεῖνον καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην τὴν αἰώνιον. Ταῦτα φοβοῦ· καὶ τούτῳ τῳ φόβῳ παιδευόμενος, οἰονεὶ χαλινῷ τινι ἀνάκοπτε τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς  πρὸς τὰ φαῦλα ἐπιθυμίας. Τοῦτο τὸν φόβον τοῦ Κυρίου διδάσκειν ἡμὰς ὁ πατὴρ ἐπηγγείλατο· οὐχ ἁπλῶς διδάσκειν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ προαιρουμένους· οὐ τοὺς μακρὰν ἀποπεσόντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς δι' ἐπιθυμίαν τοῦ σωθῆναι προστρέχοντας· οὐ τοὺς ξένους τῶν Διαθηκῶν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ βαπτίσματος τῆς υἱπθεσίας οἰκειουμένους τῷ λόγῳ. Διὰ τοῦτο, φησὶ, δεῦτε· τουτέεστι, διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐγγίσατέ μοι, τέκνα, υἱοὶ φωτὸς γενέσθαι διὰ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας καταξιωθέντες. Ἀκούσατε, οἱ ἔχοντες τὰ ὧτα τῆς καρδίας ἀνεῳγμένα· Φόβον Κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον Ψαλμον ΛΓ' Source: Migne PG 29.370a-372c

'Come, O sons, and hear me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.' 1 This is the voice of the benevolent teacher who with a father's compassion calls to learning. For the pupil is the spiritual child of the teacher. Because he who receives a form of piety from someone, he is shaped by him and joined to him in union, as even in pregnancy infants are formed. Whence Paul named all the church of the Galatians sons, they who had fallen from their prior learning, as if he was restoring what had erred, fashioning them anew in Christ, and with grief and anguish he restored those who had strayed, in a spirit of travailing, saying of himself, because of grief conceived for those who had fallen: 'My little ones, whom again I groan for, until Christ be formed in you.' 2 'Come, O sons, and hear me.' And what does our spiritual father wish to teach us? 'I will teach you the fear of the Lord,' he says. He has exhorted the fear of the Lord, and he has revealed the profit of it in these words, 'Because there is no lack for those who fear him.' 3 So now he gives to us a teaching of Divine fear. For indeed all would say that health is needful, even a simple fellow, but how it is that health is created is the knowledge of him who knows medicine. For not every fear is good and beneficial; there is indeed that fear which the Prophet prays against coming to his soul, saying: 'From the fear of the enemy seize my soul.' 4 The fear of the enemy creates in us the fear of death, which impels us to cower before a powerful person. And how is he who fears this able to resist sin unto death in the time of martyrdom, and pay the debt to the Lord who died for us and was risen? And he who is easily terrified by demons has in himself the fear of the enemy. And truly this fear makes him seem as one born from disbelief in suffering. For not believing that any power will come to his aid, he is gripped by the fear of those who try to terrify him. Do you wish me to tell of the fear which belongs to salvation, the fear which confers sanctity, the fear which is not born by the approach of suffering to the soul but of a wish to endure? When in the future you are driven to some sin, think of the terrible and intolerable tribunal of Christ, where presides that judge on His high and sublime throne, whom truly every creature on account of sight of His glory stand trembling, for this truly is the future to which each one of us will come and undergo examination of all we have done in this life. Then beside him who in this life has done many evils will sit hideous and looming angels, with fire blazing from their eyes, and breathing fire, on account of the bitterness of their hatred, with faces like night, on account of their darkness and hatred of men. Then comes the uttermost depth of impenetrable darkness, which lacks the splendour of fire, yet has a certain burning in its darkness, though lacking all light, where there are certain predatory and flesh eating worms, who are insatiably hungry and never satisfied, who come to feed with intolerable bites, and finally there is the heaviest of all torments: eternal disgrace and shame. This fear of the Lord that father promises to teach us, not indiscriminately teaching, but teaching it to those who wish to listen to him, not to those who have fallen far, but those who on account of the desire of salvation are attentive, not to those who are outside the testament, but those who by the baptism of the word of adoption are joined to him. Thus, he says, 'come', that is, by good works come near to me, sons, worthily clothed, who through regeneration have become sons of light. Hear, you who have the ears of the heart open: 'I will teach you the fear of the Lord.' Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 33 1 Ps 33.12 2 Galat 4.19 3 Ps 33.10 4 Ps 63.2

Good And Bad Fear

Ibi timuerunt ubi non fuit timor... Sed qui Deum non invocant, et illud impietati suae addunt, ut timeant non timenda, illic enim trepidarunt, ubi non erat timor, saxa, metalla, robora, ignem, aquam, aethera, reges mortuos atque morituros, vel caetera religionum superstitiosa commenta venerantes: et hoc ipse impio inanium metu, contemptuque necessarii timoris ex comparatione condemnandi: cum non tam oblivisci timorem Dei impium sit, quam impietate praecellat, timori ejus metum inanium praetulisse. Docuit autem Dominus, solum in nobis metum eorum quae vere timenda sunt oportere esse, cum dicit: Nolite timere eos qui possunt corpus occidere, animam autem non possunt occidere. Timete autem magis eum, qui potest et animam et corpus perdere in gehenna. Impius ergo timor est, cum quae non timenda sunt timentur, et quae timenda sunt non timentur. Et plerumque nos tamquam pro debita officii religione pie adulari regibus existimamus, quia in corpus nostrum sit his aliquid potestatis: quibus nihil ultra de nobis licet, quam latroni, quam febri, quam incendio, quam naufragio, quam ruinae. His enim casibus corporum pro summa potestate desaeviunt: et propter brevem dolorem libertatem Ecclesiae, spei nostrae fiduciam, confessionem Dei addicimus, punitorem perditoremque in igne judicii et corporis et animae nostrae Deum non timentes, et aeternis divinae ultionis poenis momentanae atque abolenda supplica praeferentes; dum placere nos ipsis, et in eorum gratia permanere famulatu impio gloriamur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LII Source: Migne PL 9.332b-333a

They feared where there was no fear... 1 But they who do not call on God, even add that to their impiety, in their fearing what should not be feared, by which they were fearful, where there was no fear, of stone, metal, wood, fire, water, air, dead kings and those who are going to die, or they are in awe at some other fiction of religous superstition, and by this impious fear of empty things and contempt for the needful fear, by this comparison, they are condemned, for it is not so impious to forget the fear of God that it is not exceeded by that which has fear of empty things. The Lord taught that we should fear only that which is truly needful to fear, when He said: 'Do not fear those who kill the body and cannot kill the soul. Fear more him who is able to put the soul and body into hell.' 2 Impious, then, is the fear which fears what should not be feared, and does not fear what should be feared. But we, for the most part, as if by some obligation of religion, incline to adulate rulers, because they have power against our bodies, beyond which nothing is allowed them, just like a thief and sickness and fire and shipwreck and ruin. For with these matters of the body they rage from the height of power, and we because of brief suffering sacrifice the liberty of the Church, the confidence of our faith, and the confession of God, fearing not the punisher and traitor in the fire of judgement, nor the God of our body and soul, but preferring to the punishments of eternal divine justice relief from momentary tortures, while we please them, and in their favour remain, glorying in impious service. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 52 1 Ps 52.62 2 Mt 10.28

Fear And Prayer

In quacumque die invocavero te, exaudi me. Nullum diem justus quisque sine metu transigit: neque anxia semper erga se fides securi temporis otium recipit. Scit omnes dies plenos insidiarum sibi esse, diablolo atque angelis ejus excidium sibi semper molientibus. Scit diem illam Domini occultam, insperatam, et modo nocturni furis repentiam futuram. Ut igitur se in quacumque die invocantem exaudiat, deprecatur. Nec diffidit propheta quid in quacumque die exauditus obtineat. Sequitur enim: Multiplicabis me in anima mea in virtute tua. Per multam scilicet Dei curam multiplicabitur ipse in animae virtute: ne quid in se tribulationibus, ne quid terroribus pateat; sed cum tentationes ingruent, cum metus incidet, omnia multiplicata animae virtute tolerentur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXXXVII Source: Migne PL 9.789a-b

On whatever day I shall call on you, hear me. 1 No righteous man passes any day without fear, nor does he, ever anxious about his faith, receive the rest of secure times. He knows every day is full of snares for him, and that the devil and his angels are ever striving to ruin him. He knows that day of the Lord is hidden, unexpected, and suddenly what is to come will come like a thief in the night. 2 Therefore he prays that God hear him in whatever day he calls on Him. The prophet does not doubt that on the day he is heard he shall prevail. For it follows: 'You shall increase your virtue in my soul.' 1 By the great care of God virtue is increased in the soul, lest in his tribulations, lest among terrors, a man be exposed. But when trials threaten, when fears befall, with every virtue increased in his soul, he endures. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 137 1 Ps 137.3 2 1 Thes 5.2

Love And Change

Attendat enim Caritas vestra, ut dicam vel quod Dominus suggerit. Accepit legem populus Iudaeorum. Ista in decalogo non observavit. Et quicumque obtemperabat, timore obtemperabat poenae, non amore iustitiae. Portabat psalterium, non cantabat. Cantanti enim voluptas, timenti onus est. Ideo vetus homo aut non facit, aut timore facit, non amore sanctitatis, non delectatione castitatis, non temperantia caritatis, sed timore. Vetus enim homo est, et vetus homo canticum vetus potest cantare, non novum. Ut autem cantet canticum novum, sit novus homo. Quomodo autem possit esse novus homo, audi, non me, sed Apostolum dicentem: Exuite vos veterem hominem, et induite novum. Et ne quis putaret, cum dixit: Exuite vos veterem hominem et induite novum: aliquid ponendum esse et aliquid accipiendum cum de mutando praeciperet homine, subiecit et ait: Quapropter deponentes mendacium, loquimini veritatem. Hoc est quod ait: Exuite veterem hominem et induite novum. Hoc dixit: Mutate mores. Sacculum diligebatis, Deum diligite. Nugatoria iniquitatis, temporales voluptates diligebatis, proximum diligite. Si dilectione facitis, canticum novum cantatis. Si timore facitis, facitis tamen, portatis quidem psalterium, sed nondum cantatis. Si autem nec facitis, proicitis ipsum psalterium. Melius est vel portare, quam proicere. Sed rursus, melius cum voluptate cantare, quam cum onere portare. Nec pervenit ad canticum novum, nisi iam cum voluptate cantans. Nam qui portat cum timore, adhuc in vetere est. Et quid est quod dico, Fratres, attendite. Non concordavit cum adversario suo, qui cum timore adhuc facit. Timet enim ne veniat Deus, et damnet illum. Nam nondum delectat castitas, nondum illum delectat iustitia, sed iudicium Dei formidans, a factis temperat. Non concupiscentiam ipsam damnat, quae saevit in eo. Nondum illum delectat quod bonum est. Nondum ibi habet suavitatem ut cantet canticum novum, sed de vetustate poenas timet. Nondum concordavit cum adversario. Tales enim homines plerumque supplantantur tali cogitatione, ut dicant sibi: 'Si fieri posset, non nobis minaretur Deus, non talia per Prophetas suos diceret quae homines deterrent, sed veniret dare omnibus indulgentiam ignoscere omnibus, postea veniret, neminem mitteret in gehennas'. Iam quia iniquus est, iniquum vult Deum. Vult te Deus facere similem sui, et conaris tu Deum facere similem tui. Placeat tibi ergo Deus qualis est, non qualem illum esse vis. Perversus enim es, et talem vis Deum qualis es, non qualis est. Si autem placeat tibi qualis est, corrigeris, et diriges in eam regulam cor tuum, a qua nunc alienus distortus es. Placeat tibi Deus qualis est, ama qualis est. Non te ipse amat qualis es, sed odit te qualis es. Ideo tui miseretur, quia odit te qualis es, ut faciat te qualis nondum es. Faciat te, dixi, qualis nondum es. Nam illud tibi non promittit quia faciet te qualis est. Nam eris qualis est, sed ad quemdam modum, id est, imitator Dei velut imago, sed non qualis imago est Filius. Nam etiam imagines in hominibus diversae sunt. Filius hominis habet imaginem patris sui, et hoc est quod pater eius, quia homo est sicut pater eius. In speculo autem imago tua non hoc est quod tu. Aliter est enim imago tua in filio, aliter in speculo. In filio est imago tua secundum aequalitatem substantiae, in speculo autem quantum longe est a substantia! Et tamen est quaedam imago tua, quamvis non talis qualis in filio tuo secundum substantiam. Sic in creatura, non hoc est imago Dei, quod est in Filio qui hoc est quod Pater, id est, Deus Verbum Dei per quod facta sunt omnia. Recipe ergo similitudinem Dei, quam per mala facta amisisti. Sicut enim in nummo imago imperatoris aliter est et aliter in filio, nam imago et imago est, sed aliter impressa est in nummo; aliter habetur in filio, aliter in solido aureo imago imperatoris, sic et tu nummus Dei es, ex hoc melior quia cum intellectu et cum quadam vita nummus Dei es ut scias etiam cuius imaginem geras et ad cuius imaginem factus sis, nam nummus nescit se habere imaginem regis. Ergo ut dicere coeperam odit te Deus qualis es, sed amat te talem qualem te esse vult, et ideo ille te ut muteris hortatur. Concorda cum illo, et incipe primo bene velle et odisse te qualis es. Hoc sit tibi initium concordiae cum sermone Dei, ut incipias primo tu odisse te qualis es. Cum coeperis et tu odisse te talem qualis es, sicut te talem odit Deus, incipis iam ipsum diligere Deum qualis est. Sanctus Augustinus Hippoensis, Sermones de Scripturis, Sermon IX, Cap VII-VIII Source: Migne PL 38.81-82

Let your charity attend that I might speak what the Lord suggests to me. The Jewish people received the law. They did not observe those things in the decalogue. And any who did comply did so out of fear of punishment, not out of love of righteousness. They were carrying the harp, they were not singing. In singing there is joy, fear is a burden. Thus the old man either does not do it, or does it out of fear, not out of love of holiness, not out of delight in chastity, not out of temperate charity, but out of fear. He is the old man and the old man can sing the old song but not the new one. That he might sing the new song, he must be the new man. How one can become the new man, listen not to me, but to the Apostle saying, 'Put off the old man and put on the new.' 1 And lest anyone should think when he says 'Put off the old man and put on the new' that something must be laid aside and something taken up when he gives instructions about changing the man,  he says after: 'Therefore putting aside the lie, speak the truth.' 2 This is what he says by: 'Put off the old man and put on the new.' He says: Change your ways. You loved the world, now love God. You loved the worthless things of wickedness and fleeting pleasures, now love your neighbour. If you act from love, you are singing a new song. If you act from fear, but do it, you are indeed carrying the harp, but you are not yet singing. But if you do not do it, you are throwing away the harp. It is better to carry it than throw it away, but it is better again to sing with joy than to bear something as a burden. And one does not achieve the new song unless one is singing it in joy. If you are carrying the harp in fear, you are still in the old song. And to what I say, attend, brothers. Anyone who is still doing it out of fear has not come to an agreement with his adversary. 3 He fears lest God come and condemn him. He does not yet delight in chastity, he does not yet delight in righteousness, but it is because he dreads God's judgement that he refrains from such deeds. He does not condemn the  lust that seethes within him. He does not yet take delight in what is good. He does not yet have the sweetness that sings the new song, but because of old habits he fears punishments. He has not yet made an agreement with the adversary. Such men are often tripped up by thoughts like this, so that they say to themselves, 'If it were possible to do this, God would not be threatening us, he would not say all those things through the Prophets to worry people, but he would have come to be indulgent to everybody and pardon everybody, and after he came he would not send anyone to hell.' Now because he is unjust he wants to make God unjust. God wants to make you like Him, and you are trying to make God like you. Be satisfied with God as He is, not as you would like Him to be. You are perverse, and you want God to be like you, not as He is. But if you are satisfied with Him as He is, then you will be set right and you will align your heart along that rule from which you are now twisted away. Be satisfied with God as He is, love Him as He is. He does not love you as you are, He hates you as you are. So He pities you, because He hates you as you are and wants to make you as you are not yet. Let Him make you, I have said, that which you are not yet. For He did not promise you to make you what He is. You shall be as He is in a certain way, that is, you shall be an imitator of God like an image, but not the kind of image that the Son is. There are different sorts of images even among men. A man’s son bears the image of his father, and is what his father is because he is a man like his father. But your image in a mirror is not what you are. Your image is in your son in one way, in a different way in a mirror. Your image is in your son by way of equality of nature, but in the mirror how far it is from your nature! And even so, it is a kind of image of you, though not as in your son which is according to nature. So the image of God in the creature is not what it is in the Son who is what the Father is, that is, God the Word of God, through whom all things were made. 4 Receive, then, the likeness of God, which you lost through evil deeds. It is as the emperor's image is in a coin in a different way from the way it is in his son; for there is an image and an image, one impressed in one way on a coin and one in another way in a son. The emperor's image is different in his son and on a gold solidus. So you are as God's coin, and a better one in that you are God's coin with intelligence and a certain life, so you can know whose image you bear and to whose image you were made; a coin does not know it carries the king's image. Therefore, as I was saying, God hates you as you are but He loves you as He wants you to be, and that is why He exhorts you to change. Come to an agreement with Him, and begin with a good will and hate yourself as you are. Let this be the beginning of your agreement with the word of God, that you begin by first of all hating yourself as you are. When even you have begun to hate yourself as you are, just as God hates such a thing, then you are already beginning to love God as He is. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 9, Chaps 7-8 1 Ephes 4.22-24 2 Ephes 4.25 3 Mt 5.25 4 Jn 1.3