Setting Aside And Fulfilling

Qui ergo solverit unum de mandatis isitis minimis... Postquam se dixit non velle solvere legem, sed omnia ese complenda, dat sententiam supera solutores et adimpletores. Solutores dicuntur, qui non volunt facere, quod moralia praecepta jubent, et qui figuras legis male interpretantur vel promissione, et negant in eis esse significatum, ut Judaei. Horum duae sunt differentiae. Alii solvunt, et alios solvere docent. Alii solvunt et non docent. Illi qui solvunt et docent, perjores sunt. Iterum adimpletores sunt diversi, quia alii faciunt, et non docent, qui sibi et non aliis proficiunt. Alii qui faciunt et docent, qui sibi et aliis proficiunt, et isti maximi sunt. Est quoddam tertium genus, qui nec adimpletores debent dici, qui docent et non faciunt, qui aliis et non sibi proficiunt, qui minimi sunt. Hic autem dat sententiam super prejores solutores, qui solvunt et docent, et super maximos adimpletores, qui faciunt et docent. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1293c-d

Therefore he who sets aside the least of these commandments.... 1 After He said He did not wish to set aside the law, but to fulfill everything, He gives judgement over those who set aside and those who fulfill. They are called those who set aside because they do not wish to do what the moral precepts command, and they understand the figures of the law badly, and the promises, and they deny there is meaning in them, as the Jews. Of these there are two sorts. One sets aside and teaches others to do so. The other sets aside and does not teach it. Those who set aside and teach are worse. Again there is a difference in those who fulfill, because some do it and do not teach it and they profit themselves and not others, and others do it and teach it and so profit themselves and others, and these are the greatest. There is also a certain sort of third type, who should not be called fulfillers, because they teach it and they do not do it, and so they profit others but not themselves, and they are the least. But here He gives judgement on the worst of those who set aside, who set aside and teach it, and on the greatest of the fulfillers, who do it and teach it. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.19

Prayer And Receiving

Tunc accesserunt discipuli ad Jesum secreto, et dixerunt: Quare nos non potuimus ejicere illum? Hoc est quod alibi dicit: Quaecunque in nomine meo petieritis credentes, accipietis. Et ideo quotiescunque petentes non accipimus, non Salvatoris nostri est impossibilitas, sed cupla deprecantium, dum aut male petunt, aut non cum integra fide petunt. Nam curato lunatico tunc accesserunt secreto more suo, ut interrogarent eum, et instruerenur secrtius, quasi domestici. Quibus cum respondisset, quod propter incredulitatem eorum factum esset, docet et erudit eos quantam debeant habere fidem, et quid agendum sit in hoc opere cum fide. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber VIII, Caput XVII Source: Migne PL 120.595b-c

Then the disciples came to Jesus secretly, and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?' 1 In another place He says, 'Whatever you shall ask for in my name, believing, you shall receive.' 2 And therefore as many times as we do not receive what we ask for, it is not that it is impossible for our Saviour, but it is the fault of our praying, when we either ask badly or we do not ask in firm faith. When the lunatic had been cured they then came to Jesus in a secret manner so that they might question Him and be taught in secret, like servants. And He replied to them that it was on account of their lack of belief that it was so, and He teaches and instructs how much faith they should have, and how it must be done with faith. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 8, Chapter 17 1 Mt 17.18 2 Mt 21.22

Sitting And Teaching

Videns autem Jesus turbas, ascendit in montem... Ut vitaret eas, quia coram eis tam alta non erant praedicanda. In his ergo docet quod praedicator debet dicere juxta capacitatem audientium. Et cum sedisset, accesserunt ad eum discipuli ejus. Ideo sedit, ut doceret se esse magistrum. Magistrorum enim et docentium est sedere. Accedunt discipuli, ut vicinius audiant quae adimplenda properant. Et aperiens os suum. Per hoc quod dicit aperiens, significat quod non pauca sed multa, non humilia sed profunda, quasi thesaurum aperiens, dicturus erat. Allegoria. Christus ascendit in montem, id est, in Ecclesiam, ut impleretur quod dictum erat per David: Ego autem constitutus rex ab eo super Sion montem. Quod significat ibi Sion, hic et mons iste. Sedere, est humiliari per humanitatem assumptam. Aliter non doceret nos, nisi formam nostram assumendo sederet, id est, se nobis inclinaret, et via sessione ejus humilitatis, potuerunt ei discipuli accedere, quia quandiu erat in throno majestatis suae, non poterant eum homines comprehendere. Unde dicitur: In mundo erat, et mundus eum non cognovit. Et qui prius nobis erat locutus in prophetis, in Filio suo locutus est, et proprium os Filius nobis modo aperuit. Alia lex data est in terrore, quia fumus et turbae et procellae fuerunt circa montem. In datione vero Novi Testamenti nihil horum, sed totum in tranquillitate fuit factum, ut doceret hanc legem non timore, sed amore complendam esse. Alia lex scripta in lapididus, ista in cordibus. Aliter enim Novum a Veteri Testamentio non distaret. Unde Apostolus: Multo melioris Testamenti mediator est. Et per prophetam ait Dominus: Hoc Testamentum quod disponam domui Israel, post dies illos, dando leges meas in mentes eorum, et in corde eorum superscribam eas etc. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1283b-1284a

And seeing the crowds Jesus went up the mountain... 1 That He might avoid them, because in their presence high things should not be preached. With this, then, He teaches that the preacher should speak according to the capability of the hearers. And when He sat, His disciples came to Him. Therefore He sits that He may teach, He who is the teacher, for it is of teachers and instructors to sit. And the disciples came that they might listen closely to what should be swiftly fulfilled. And He opened His mouth. This opening signifies that the things to be said were not few but many, and not common but profound, as with the opening of a treasury. Allegorically Christ went up the mountain, that is, into the Church that He might fulfill what was written through David, 'I have been established as a king by Him over mount Sion.' 2 And what Sion signifies is this mount. To sit is to be humble through the assumption of humanity. And He could not teach us unless He sat in the form He had taken up, that is, when He inclined Himself to us, and by the way of the sitting of His humility the disciples were able to draw near Him, because while He was enthroned in His majesty, no man was able to grasp Him. Hence it is said, 'In the world He was, and the world did not know Him.' 3 And He who previously spoke to us through the prophets, now spoke in His Son, and the Son opened His own mouth to us. Another law was given in fear because there was smoke and turmoil and storms around the mountain, 4 but in the giving of the New Testament there was none of these things, but all was done peacefully, so that He might teach that this law was not to be fulfilled through fear but love. Another law was written in stone, this law in the heart. But He did not separate the New and Old Testaments, hence the Apostle says, 'He is the mediator of the much better Testament.' 4 And through the prophet the Lord says, 'This testament which I shall give to the house of Israel after those days shall be a giving of my laws into their minds, and I will inscribe it in their hearts.' 5 Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.1 2 Ps 2.6 3 Jn 1.10 4 Exod 19.16-18 5 Heb 5.8 6 Heb 8.10, Jerem 31.33

The Promise Of The Transfiguration

Sunt quidam de hic stantibus qui non gustabunt mortem donec videant Filium hominis venientem in regno suo. Sermo itaque et promissio omnipotentis Dei, omni est repleta gaudio et consolatione in spe futurorum, eo quo sperare poterant omnes, qui prius promiserat universis de futuro; dum hic lici paucis, se firmat ostensurum, venientem in regno suo, antequam de proximo mortem gustarent. Et hoc quidem quia in ea claritate se tansformavit in monte coram discipulis, quos secum assumpsit, in qua venturum se promiserat in gloria Patris cum angelis suis. Et notandum quia regnum Christi, in quo venturus erat, ut eum viderent venientem in regno suo, ipse est gloria Patris; quia sicut regnum Christi, Patris est regnum: ita et gloria Patris Christi est gloria, quae ostenda est in monte, licet paucis, ut et ipsi qui viderant et caeteri qui audierant, illis repromissa se vidisse demum narrantibus, firmarentur ad fidem de filio hominis, quia visus est in gloria, quod ipse esset verus Filius Dei qui et filius hominis. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber VIII, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 120.575a-b

There are some standing here who shall not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. 1 This speech and promise of almighty God is full of all joy and comfort and hope for the future, because all are able to hope in what He promised for everyone in the future, while here it is given to a few whom He strengthens by showing them His coming in His kingdom before they taste death. And this is because He transfigured Himself in that brightness on the mount before His disciples who He took up with Him, in which He promised His coming in the glory of the Father and His angels. And it must be noted that the kingdom of Christ in which He shall come, so that they shall see Him coming in His kingdom, is the glory of the Father, because the kingdom of Christ is as the kingdom of the Father and thus the glory of the Father is the glory of the Son, which was shown on the mount to a few, so that they who saw and others who heard, who were told by those who saw what was promised, would be strengthened in faith concerning the Son of Man, because He was seen in His glory, that He is the Son of God who is the Son of Man. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 8, Chapter 16 1 Mt 16.28

The Way Of The Reed

...calamum a vento moveri? Calamus est vacuus, et nullam habet virtutem: et ideo qualisvis ventus flaverit super eum, huc et illuc flectit illum. Sic et homo carnalis et saecularis in quo fidei nulla est medulla, et virtus veritatis non invenitur in eo, qualiscumque tentatio venerit super eum, curvat eum. Nam Deus volens ostendere Job, in quibus hominibus diabolus requiescit, introducit draconem in figura diaboli, et cum multa dixisset de eo, inter caetera ait: Secus calamum et papyrum requiescit. Calamus enim est vacuus, papyrus autem nimium levis, et mollis. Sic omnis homo carnalis, vacuus in fide, et levis in sensu, et mollis in passionibus, calamus est et papyrus. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXVII Source: Migne PG 56.773

...a reed shaken by the wind?' 1 A reed is hollow and has no strength, and therefore whatever wind blows upon it bends it this way and that. So it is with a carnal and worldly man in whom there is no core of faith and in whom the power of truth is not found, so that whatever temptation comes upon him it bends him down. For God wishing to show Job in which men the devil dwelt, introduced the dragon as a figure for the devil, and having said much about him, among other things He said, 'He dwells amid the reeds and the papyri.' 2 A reed is hollow and papyrus is extremely light and soft. So every carnal man is empty of faith, and he is light in his mind, and he is soft amid passions, and so he is a reed and papyrus. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 27 1 Mt 11.7 2 Job 40.16 Vulgate, Job 40.21 LXX

The Narrow Gate

Intrate per angustam portam... Quasi dicat: Dura videntur vobis quae praecipio et angusta sed per hanc duritiam et angustiam intrandum es vobis ad vitam, et vere per angustam portam, quia non per latam viam, per latam enim viam intratur ad mortem, et hoc est quod dicit. Porta vero quae ducit ad vitam, non solum est angusta, sed etiam arcta quia per labores et jejunia panditur. Considerandum est quod competenter de utraque via locutus est. Per latam multi ambulant, angustam pauci inveniunt, latam non quaeramus, nec investigatione opus est, sponte se offert erranti in via; angustam vero nec omnes inveniunt, nec qui inveniunt, statim ingrediuntur per eam. Multi enim, inventa veritatis via, capti saeculi voluptatibus, de medio itinere revertuntur. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 162.1316a-b

Enter through the narrow gate... 1 As if He said, 'It seems to you that what I command is hard but through this difficulty and narrowness you must go to enter into life, and truly through the narrow gate, because it is not through the wide way, for going along the wide way one enters into death,' which is what He says. But the gate that leads to life is not only narrow but even difficult because it is opened by toil and fasting. One must consider what has been said of both ways. Many walk on the wide way, and few find the narrow way. We do not seek the wide way, there is no toil to discover it, because it is immediately offered to those who wander on the way, but not all find the narrow gate, nor do those who find it immediately enter through it. For many who have found the true way are seized by the pleasures of the world and in the middle of going along it they turn back. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 7 1 Mt 7.13

Reasons For Refusal

Omnis enim qui petit, accipit: et qui quaerit, invenit: et pulsanti aperietur. Unde cuicunque non datur quod petit, absque dubio non recte petit, neque quaerit, neque recte pulsat ante januam pietatis. Omnia enim quaecunque petimus aut quaerimus, et ad quod pulsamus, sicut dixi, non nisi unum, et propter unum esse debet, quia non nisi unum est necessarium. Hinc quoque David ait: Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabitem in domo Domini omnibus diebus vitae meae. Alioquin quomodo negabit petentibus se, qui primum se non petentibus sponte obtulit? Aut quomodo quaerentes eum non invenient, qui etiam non quaerentibus se ut invenirent praestitit? Vel quomodo pulsantibus non aperiet ad se, qui quotidie clamat nobis: Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso; utique de ostio nostri pectoris dicens: Si quis aperuerit , introibo ad eum, et caenobo cum illo? Patet igitur quoties non accipimus quod non recete petimus, et cum non invenimus quod non bene quaesivimus, et dum pulsantibus non aperitur: quia non recte pulsamus Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber IV, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 120.319c-d

Everyone who asks shall receive, and he who seeks shall find, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. 1 So to whom what is asked is not given, then without doubt he does not ask correctly, nor does he seek or knock before the door of piety rightly. For whatever we ask for, or seek, and for what we knock, as said, should be nothing but one thing and on account of one thing, because only one thing is necessary. 2 Hence David also says in the Psalm, 'I asked for one thing from the Lord, this I will seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.' 3 Besides, how shall He refuse Himself to those who ask, He who first of His own will gave Himself for those who did not seek Him? Or how shall those who seek Him not find Him who even to those who do not seek Him set himself forth so that they might find Him? Or how shall He not open Himself to those who knock, who cries out every day, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock,' so that standing at the door of our hearts, He says, 'If someone shall open, I shall enter into him, and I shall feast with him?' 4 It it obvious, then, that we do not receive because do not ask rightly, and when we do not find it is because we have not sought rightly, and while we knock and it is not opened, it is because we do not knock correctly. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chapter 7 1 Mt 7.8 2 Lk 10.42 3 Ps 26.4 4 Rev 3.20

The Mustard Seed

῎Αλλην παραβολὴν παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς λέγων· Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν κόκκῳ σινάπεως, ὃν λαβὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔσπειρεν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, αὐτοῦ· ὁ μικρότερον μὲν ἐστιν πάντων τῶν σπερμάτων. Ὅταν δὲ αὐξηθῇ , μεῖζον πάντων τῶν λαχάνων ἐστὶ, καὶ γίνεται δένδρον, ὥστε ἐλθεῖν τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατασκηνοῦν ἐν τοῖς κλάδοις αὐτοῦ. Κόκκος σινάπεως, τὸ κήρυγμα καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι· ὀλίγοι γὰρ δοκοῦντες οὗτοι, τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην περιέλαβον· ὥστε τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ εὐρανοῦ, τουτέστι, τοὺς κούφην καὶ πτερωτὴν πρὸς τὰ ἄνω ἔχοντας γνώμην, ἀναπαύεσθαι ἐν αὐτοῖς. Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν ἔσο κόκκος σινάπεως, μικρὸς μὲν τὸ φαινόμενον, οὐ γὰρ δεῖ θεατρίζειν τὴν ἀρετὴν, θερμὸς δὲ καὶ ζηλωτὴς καὶ δριμὺς καὶ ἐλεγκτικός· οὕτω γὰρ γενήσῃ μείζων τῶν λαχάνων, τουτέστι, τῶν ἀσθενῶν καὶ οὐ τελείων, τέλειος αὐτὸς ὡν , ὥστε καὶ τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, τουτέστι, τοὺς ἀγγέλους, ἐν σοὶ ἀναπαύεσθαι ἀγγελικὴν ζῶντι ζωήν. Χαίρουσι γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι ἐπὶ τοῖς δικαίοις. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ IΓ' Source: Migne PG 123.235c

He told them another parable, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is life a mustard seed, which when a man takes it and sows it in his field, is certainly the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is the largest among the herbs, and it becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and nest in its branches.' 1 The mustard seed is preaching and the Apostles, for these seem to be small things, and yet they have come to occupy the whole world, and thus as the birds of heaven, the light and winged ones who have their minds in the heavens, find their rest in them. And you should also be a mustard seed, which certainly seems small, for it is not necessary to boast about virtue, or to be fervid and zealous and bitter in reproof. So you will be great among the other herbs, that is, perfect among the weak and the flawed, so that the birds of heaven, that is, the angels, shall dwell in you who live an angelic life, for they rejoice in those who are righteous. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 13 1 Mt 13.31-32

Grief And Joy

Cui autem simile existimabo generationem istam? Similes sunt pueris sedentibus in foro, etc. Tantus est Joannes, sed vos nec ei, nec mihi voluistis credere, et ideo, cui vos similes aestimabo? Per generationem accipit communiter et Judaeos, et se etiam cum Joanne, quia aliter non diceret: Similis est pueris, etc., cum non solum Judaei, sed ipse etiam Joannes et Jesus pueris comparentur. Pueri dicunt sociis in ludo: Vos non estis socii nostri, quia quando cecinimus modo in ludo, vos non saltavistis, et quando ploravimus in ludo, vos noluistis nobiscum plorare. Similiter sunt duo status in sanctis, luctus pro peccatis, gaudium pro Redemptione nostra, quae utraque prophetaverunt antiqui prophetae. Alius enim dicit: Convertimini in toto corde vestro, etc. David vero ad gaudium nos invitat, cum ait: Haec est dies quam fecit Dominus, exsultate et laetate in ea. Similiter Christus et Joannes nos invitaverunt, alius ad lucem, sicut Joannes, qui jejunavit, et ad poenitentiam invitavit. Alius ad gaudium, sicut Christus qui in signum aeternae refectionis non jejunabat cum apostolis, sed comedebat, et ad gaudium nostrae redemptionis invitabat, quasi dicat: Ego, et sequaces mei apostoli et prophetae cecinimus in foro, id est in Jerusalem, ubi omnes conveniebant, id est gaudium vestrae redemptionis praedicavimus, et vos, qui eratis nobis coaequales, quia de eadem gente et promissione, noluistis saltare, id est mente et corpore, de redemptione vestra congaudere. Joannes et alii prophetae lamentaverunt, id est ad luctum poenitentiae invitaverunt, et vos noluistis cum eis plangere. Imo vocastis Joannem daemoniacum, qui tantum potest jejunare, me autem voracem, qui in signum vestri gaudii, et aeternae refectionis manduco. Sed ego, quidquid vos dicatis, qui sum sapientia Patris, justificor a filiis meis, id est juste agere dicor ab apostolis. Vel sapientia justificatur a filiis suis, id est ab operibus suis, id est opera quae ipse facit et generat, ostendunt sapientiam justam esse. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput XI Source: Migne PL 162.1352b-1352d

To what shall I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplace... 1 John is great, yet you do not believe in him nor in me, and therefore to what shall I liken you? By 'generation' the Jews are commonly understood, and even Himself and John, because otherwise He would have said, 'It is similar to children,' when not only the Jews but even John and Jesus are being compared to children. Children are saying to their peers in play, 'You are not our friends, because when we sing to you in play you do not dance, and when we lament in play you do not weep with us.' Likewise there are two states among the holy, sorrow for sin and joy for our redemption, which both the prophets of old made prophecy about. For one says, 'Convert in your whole hearts.' But David invites us to joy, when he says, 'This is the day that the Lord made, exult and delight in it.' 2 Similarly Christ and John invite us, one to sorrow, like John, who fasts and invites us to penance, and the other to joy, as Christ, who as a sign of eternal refreshment does not fast with the Apostles but eats, and invites us to the joy of our redemption, as if He said, 'I and my followers the Apostles and the prophets sang to you in the marketplace, that is, in Jerusalem, when all were gathered together, that is, we proclaimed the joy of your redemption, and you, who were our peers, because we are of the same people and promise, did not wish to dance, that is, in the mind and body, in joy at your redemption. John and other prophets lamented, that is, they invited you to the sorrow of penance, and you did not want to weep with them. Then you call John a demoniac, who is a great faster, and me a glutton who eat as a sign of your joy and eternal refreshment. But whatever you say, I, who am the wisdom of the Father, am justified by my sons, that is, I am spoken of by the Apostles through righteous conduct . Or 'Wisdom is justified by her sons,' that is, from their works, that is, the works performed and brought forth show wisdom to be righteous. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 11 1 Mt 11.16 2 Joel 2.12, Ps 117.24

Leading Into Temptation

Et ne nos inducas in tentationem... Non quod Dominus dux et magister veritatis, qui via est credentibus, quempiam in laqueum tentationis inducat; sed abhorrens qui suis negligent parere disciplinis, cum eos deserit et permittit ire quocunque ducuntur illecti, tum utique inducere eo perhibetur. Fit ergo iste loquendi modus in Scripturis divinis frequentissime, per id quod sinit aut praestat fieri, ut ipse facere dicatur. Habes quoque in bono quod Spiritus sanctus postulet pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus, dum nos postulare facit; habes et in malo, dum dicit: Et ego indurabo cor Pharaonis, cum eum indurari permisit. Atque propheta: Indurasti, Domine, cor nostum, indurasti ne iremus post te. Non quod pius Dominus aliquem aut inducet in laquem tentationis, aut induet, ne verbum disciplinae queat suscipere: sed quia, dum judici suo vero et justo nos deserit, quasi inducere in sacris litteris figuratur, et dum nos sinit infidelitate cordis interius congelescere, quasi indurare dicitur, quia non resolvit ad calorem amoris, quis novit frigescere ab illo, quis sedem suam ad Aquilonem posuit. Unde sponsa in Canticis: Surge, Aqulio, et veni, Auster, perfla hortum, ut flant aromata illius. Alioquin, nisi animus divino fuerit adjutus suffragio, cito flante vento tentatinis ad ruinam impellitur. Hinc est quod petimus: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, id est, ab eo qui male tentat ne sinas nos induci. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber IV, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 120.296c-297a

And lead us not into temptation... 1 Not that the Lord, the guide and teacher of truth, who is the way for the faithful, leads into any sort of snare of temptation, but He abhors those who neglect to attend to His teachings, and when He has forsaken them He allows them to go into whatever snare they will be led into, and so He is held to lead them. This is frequently a way of speaking in Scripture that what is allowed, or given, is as if He did it. As a good example you have the Holy Spirit asking for us with inexpressible groaning, when He makes us entreat so, and in an evil manner you have it when He says, 'And I shall harden the heart of Pharoah,' when He permits it to be hardened, and when the prophet says, 'You harden our hearts, Lord, you hardened them, lest we should go after you.' 2 It is not that the pious Lord leads anyone into a trap of temptation, or imposes so that a man is not able to receive the word of His teaching, but the case is that while His true and just judgement is scorned, so there is a 'leading' according to the figure of the sacred writings, and while He allows the heart to freeze with unfaithfulness within, so it is said that He hardens it, because He does not set free the fire of love, knowing it is frozen by another, he who sets his seat to the north. 3 Whence the bride says in the Song of Songs, 'Rise up, north wind, and come, south wind, blow through the garden, that all its scents may arise.' 4 Besides, unless the soul is aided with the Divine assistance, the gusting wind of temptation shall drive it into ruin. Hence this is what we ask with, 'And lead us not into temptation,' that He does not allow us to be led away by the one who tempts wickedly. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chapter 4 1 Mt 6.13 2 Rom 8.26, Exod 4.21, Isaiah 63.17 3 Isaiah 14.13 4 Song 4.16

Bread And The Word

Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei. Ubi non quasi Deus sua utitur potestate, sed quasi homo, ut homo disceret admodum pugnare Scipturarum potitur auctoritate. Et docet quod altera pars coeli sit, atque altera terrae. Idcirco non in solo pane, per quem non nisi exterior homo in commune cum pecoribus vivit, sed in omni verbo per quos interius angelis coaequaretur. Omne quippe verbum Deus charitas jure accipitur, in qua legis et prophetarum omnia pendent verba, sine qua nemo in Deo unquam vel cum Deo vivit. Quod bene Paulus insinuat: Et si quod est aliud mandatum, inquiens, in hoc verbo instauratur. Diliges proximum tuum tanquam teipsum. Ac si diceret, etiam est cibus alius quo pascatur interior homo, habeat aliquis charitatem, et omnibus abundavit bonis, quia fruitur illo verbo ad quod concurrunt universa. Nam in Christo Jesu Deus et homo erat; quisquis illo utitur verbo, charitate pascitur Dei et hominis, quia omnes in Christo diligit et veneratur ut membra Christi; et qui necdum sunt in Christo, curat ut ad eum perveniant, et compleantur omnia membra Christi. Alioquin si habeat omnia rerum verba, et compleat etiam reliqua quasi virtutum opera, factus est omnium reus, si non vixerit hoc omni verbo. Est autem hoc verbum generale omnium verborum, in quo pendent omnia verba, non qualiacunque, sed quae procedunt de ore Dei. Caeterum verba haereticorum et poetarum ac philosophorum, extra hoc verbum sunt, quia non sunt in charitate, neque Christo fruuntur, Patris videlicet Verbo, et ideo quae in Christo sunt omnino diligere nequeunt. Huic sane verbo Moyses intentus panem desiderare non potuit, illoque pastus Elias famem prolixioris inediae omnino non sensit. Non enim qui hoc verbo vescitur panem terrenum, deliciis angelorum satiatus, inquirit. Sed et omnia Scripturarum sanctarum verba, cujuscunque enuntientur officio, sic quasi ex ore Dei sumantur, quia non ejus sunt a quo ex ministerio debite narrantur, sed Dei ex cujus ore procedunt. Quod si quidpiam doctor aliud voluerit interserere, quam quod in hoc omni verbo invenitur, quia non ex ore Dei profertur, neque ex charitate subsistit, tanquam venenum, tanquam virus lethiferum respuatur. Quandoquidem non humanis divina ministrantur officiis, sed inimica, sed fraudulenta diabolicis suggeruntur officiis. Et notandum quod ait: Non in solo pane vivit homo. Ex quo datur indicium quia non deitas, sed homo tentatur, ita ut quomodo praemisi, tota haec tentatio exterius facta credatur. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber III, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 120.192b-193a

A man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. 1 Where He uses His power as a man, not as God, so that man might learn how a man might fight by the authority of the Scriptures. He teaches that there is one part which is heaven and another of earth. Therefore it is not on bread alone, on which the exterior man alone lives, in the manner of beasts, but on every word by which the interior is made equal to angels. Certainly every word is rightly received as 'God is love,' on which all the words of the Law and the Prophets hang, 2 and without which no one lives in God or with God. Which Paul well suggests, saying, 'And as for any other commandment, with these words it is summed up, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' 3 As if He had said, even if there is some other bread on which the interior man may feed, let a man have love, and he has abounded with every good, because he enjoys that Word to which everything hastens. Because in Christ Jesus was God and man, whoever makes use of that word is fed with the love of God and man, for all in Christ love and revere as members of Christ, and those who are not yet in Christ, have care that they might come to Him and complete the members of Christ. Besides if someone has every word and he fulfills all the rest as works of virtue, he is made guilty of all if he has not lived with these words for all. 4 For these words are the general word of all words, from which hangs all words, and it is not just any word, but what comes forth from the mouth of God. There are other words of heretics and poets and philosophers which are outside these words, because they are not spoken in love, nor are they fruitful in Christ, He who is the Word of the Father, and therefore they cannot love at all what is in Christ. Certainly, being intent on this Moses had no desire for bread, and when Elijah was fed on them he did not feel the starvation of a long famine. For he who feeds on this word does not seek the bread of the earth, but he is satiated with the delights of angels. And whoever has the duty of proclaiming all the words of Scripture, he takes them as from the mouth of God, for he should not tell them as if they were something of his own work, but as proceeding from the mouth of God. So if some teacher should wish to insert something other than what is found in these words, then because it does not proceed from the mouth of God, nor is it founded on love, so it is a poison and it is spat forth as a fatal venom. Whenever men do not minister to human affairs with Divine things, but with things that are harmful and deceitful, so they are brought under the devil's service. And it must be noted that He says, 'Man does not live on bread alone,' by which a sign is given that it is not Godhood that is tested here but man, so that, as we have said, this whole trial should be thought to be a matter of the exterior. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 3, Chapter 4 1 Mt 4.4 2 1 Jn 4.8, Mt 22.40 3 Rom 13.9 4 James 2.10

Peace And Wisdom

Beati pacifici, quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur. Postquam omnes supradictas virtutes habet homo, nihil aliud restat, nisi ut Deum, qui est vera pax, praemium habeat. Deus in tanta pace, quod neque in personis est dissensio aliqua, sed perfecta concordia, neque in seipso variatur, quamvis res, in quibus est, variantur. Suos vero similes sibi faciet, quia erunt incorruptibiles, et impassibiles, et incommutabiles, et ita sunt concordes, quod de bonis aliorum gaudebunt, tanquam de suis. Septimo loco ponitur, quia in sabbato vero, requiei dabitur illa pax transactis septem aetatibus, quam Adam nondum habebat, sed quam transferendus in coelum completa obedientia accepturus erat. Haec est pax illa, de qua Apostolus dicit: Et pax Dei, quae exsuperat omnem sensum. Haec est illa, de qua Christus dicit: Pacem meam do vobis, pacem relinquo vobis. Illic do, hic relinquo, quia illa pax non potest haberi, nisi in futuro, sed tamen aliquae reliquiae dantur in praesenti, quod potest videri in illis, qui ita habent sedatos illicitos motus corporis, quod nullum civile bellum patiuntur in se, sed habet anima requiem suam in hac vita, nec etiam conturbari posset quolibet modo, vel quantumcunque verberentur, sed in se quieti sunt, et alios reconciliare laborant. Unde dicitur: Pax multa diligentibus legem tuam, non tamen perfecta. Illa perfecta pax et spiritus sapientiae non differunt. Aliud est intelligentia, aliud sapientia. Intelligentia est quando res investigatur et discutitur. Sapientia est quando non investigamus, sed jam sapientes sumus, et in ipso bono sapientiae delectamur. Haec eadem est illa pax, quando Deum scrutari non laborabimus, sed in eo tamen cognito delectabimur, et tunc erimus filii Dei, quia similes ei efficiemur. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1288b-d

Blessed are the peacemakers, because they shall be called sons of God. 1 After a man has all the virtues spoken of above, nothing else remains but that he shall have God as his reward, He who is true peace. God is such great peace, because there is no dissension at all among the Persons but perfect harmony, nor is there are variation in Him, although the things in which He is may vary. And He makes those who are His own similar to Himself, because they shall be incorruptible and impassible and unchangeable and thus harmonious, for they will rejoice in the goods of others as their own. This beatitude is placed in the seventh place because on the true sabbath that peace shall be given that surpasses the seven ages, which Adam did not yet have, but which he shall receive when in perfect obedience he shall be transported into heaven. This is the peace of which the Apostle says, 'And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.' This is the peace of which Christ says, 'My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you.' 2 From there I give it, and here I leave it, because it is only possible to have that peace in the future, and yet a remnant of it is given in the present, which it is possible to observe in those who are tranquil amid the shameful motions of the body because they suffer no internal strife in themselves, but the soul has its rest in this life, and it is not possible to trouble it in any way, and as much as they are struck, yet they remain quiet in themselves, and they labour to reconcile others. Hence it is said, 'Much peace to the lovers of your law,' 3 though it is not that perfect peace. That perfect peace and the spirit of wisdom do not differ. Intelligence is one thing, wisdom is another. Intelligence is when we we investigate something and study it. Wisdom is when we do not investigate but now we are wise and we delight in the good of wisdom. This is that same peace that is not in labouring to know God but rather we shall delight in that knowledge, and then we shall be sons of God, because we shall be made like Him. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.9 2 Phil 4.7, Jn 14.27 3 Ps 118.165

The Setting Sun

Vespere autem facto, obtulerunt ei multos daemonia habentes... Solis occubitus passionem mortemque designat illius qui dixit: Quandiu in mundo sum, lux sum mundi, et sole occidente plures daemoniaci quam ante, et plures sanantur aegroti, et qui temporaliter vivens in carne, paucos Judaeorum docuit, calcato mortis regno, omnibus per orbem gentibus fidei dona transmisit, cujus ministris tanquam vitae lucisque praeconibus Psalmista dicit: Iter facite ei qui ascendit super occasum. Ascendit super occasum, quando in passione occubuit; majorem resurgendo suam gloriam manifestavit. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 162.1323a

And when it was evening, they brought to Him many who had demons... 1 With the sun's setting His passion and death is signified, He who said, 'While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.' 2 And with the sun's death there are more demoniacs than before and more who are healed of their sicknesses, for He who while He was living temporally in the flesh taught a few of the Jews, having crushed down the kingdom of death, then sent forth through the world the gift of faith to all peoples, He whose servants are as preachers of life and light, as the Psalmist says, 'You make a way for Him who ascends over the setting sun.' 3 He ascends over the setting sun, when having set in His passion He manifests His greater glory in His rising. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.16 2 Jn 8.12 3 Ps 67.5

Weeping the World

Beati qui lugent. Quamvis fidelis res mundi abdicavit, quamvis de injuriis non doluit, tamen in multa incidit aliquando, et ideo necessariae sunt lacrymae quae semper abluant, quia semper peccamus, et in miseriis hujus mundi nos esse videmus. Dolemus etiam de peccatis proximorum. Duo sunt genera compunctionis, quando pro miseriis hujus mundi et peccatis nostris gemimus, et pro desiderio coelestium. Unde filia Caleph petivit a parte irriguum superius et irriguum inferius, quia anima petit compunctionem a Deo, et pro peccatis, et pro desiderio patriae coelestis. Luctum autem pro miseriis hujus vitae et desiderio supernae patriae, non habet nisi solus pauper et mitis, qui mundum non diligit, sed miserum se recognoscit, et ideo coelum concupiscit. His lugentibus pro suis et aliorum peccatis convenit postulare: Debita nostra nobis dimitte, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Haec virtus quae mundi miseriam sentit, et a coelesti patria discernit, descendit a spiritu scientiae. Scientia enim de terrenis est, ut sciamus quae sit ista habitatio terrena, quam gravis, quam misera. Quod autem cogitamus de coelesti patria, hoc ideo fit, ut per comparationem miseriam hujus vitae intelligamus. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1286a-c

Blessed are those who weep... 1 Although the faithful man has forsaken the things of the world, although he has not been grieved because of injuries, however from time to time and in many things he falls, and therefore cleansing tears are always necessary, because we always sin, and we see ourselves among the wretched things of this world, and then we also grieve for the sins of our neighbours. There are two types of compunction, one when we groan for the wretchedness of this world and for our sins, and one in our desire for heavenly things. Hence the daughter of Caleb sought a part of both the higher land and the lower land, 2 because the soul seeks forgiveness from God both because of sin and with a desire for the heavenly fatherland. A man does not groan over the miseries of this life and with the desire for the supernal fatherland unless he is poor and meek, unless he is one who does not love the world but recognises his own wretchedness, and therefore desires heaven. With this groaning over himself, it also befits him to petition for the sins of others, 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' 3 This virtue which feels the wretchedness of the world is learned from the heavenly fatherland and descends from the spirit of knowledge. For it is a knowledge of worldly things, so that we might know the things of this terrestrial dwelling, which are burdensome and which are wretched, and because we think of the heavenly fatherland, so it is that compared to it we understand the wretchedness of this life. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.5 2 Jud 1.12-15 3 Mt 6.12

Prayer And The Inner Room

Tu autem cum orabis, intra in cubiculum... Cubiculum autem dicit secretius mentis arcanum, ubi nemo videre potest quid sit in illo, nisi spiritus hominis qui est in eo. De hoc quippe cubili David monendo canit: Quae dicitis, inquit, in cordibus vestris, et in cubilibus vestris compungimini; videtur enim aliquid secretius per ea velle significari, dum quae corde promimus, quasi introrsus prius compungi jubemur. Ad hujus ergo cubilis ostium pulsat sapientia Patris ita dicens: Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso. Quod sane ostium ei per fidem aperitur, de quo in Canticis sponsa loquitur: Pessulum ostii mei aperui dilecto meo. Pulsat itaque Christus ad ostium, quoties per aspirationem boni operis mentem afficit, cujus profecto vox, quam saepe blandientis affectu ingeminat, ita dicens: Aperi mihi, soror mea, amica mea, columba mea, immaculata mea, quae nisi pulsanti aperuerit, vacua introrsus in se redit. Quid enim prodest orare in eo cubiculo mentis, ubi nec Pater, nec Filius, nec Spiritus sanctus venientes adhuc recepti sunt, neque mansionem apud eum fecere? Quapropter quisquis infra cubiculum cordis Deum, ut jussum est, vult orare, prius per fidem ostium pulsanti aperiat, et deosculetur eum per charitatem, atque intra cubiculum genitricis suae, ubi doceatur ab eo, devotus indicat. Alioquin quid prodest orare ubi non esse velis quem oras? Quod si fide jam tenes quem diligis ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota virtute tua, recte intras cubiculum mentis, ubi Deus Trinitas per fidem colitur, per charitatem amplectitur, per spem quoque profundius solidatur. Tale quippe templum jam sacrum est, sicut ait Apostolus: Templum Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos. Quid igitur prodest introire, orandi gratia, quo nullus est religionis locus? Idcirco, quia gratis venit Christus pulsans ad ostium, suscipiatur, et per charitatem interius tacita conscientia amplectatur Deus Trinitas: tum utique, sicut praecipitur, claudatur ostium, et oretur Deus Pater. Oretur autem non strepitu verborum tantum, sed fide ac spe et charitate intus quod quaerimus impetretur. Haec est, inquam, vera religio Christianitatis, non ut ultra coelos aut infra abyssum, vel circa fines terrarum quaerendo Deum animus se diffundat, sed intus quem diligit fide teneat, et eisdem virtutibus quibus eum colit attentius exoret. Sic itaque decet adorare eum, qui nec loco clauditur, nec fine terminatur. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber IV, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 120.275b-276a

But you, when you pray, go into an inner room... 1 He speaks of the inner room as the secret place of the heart, where no one can see what is there unless the spirit of a man that is in him. 2 Certainly concerning this David exhorts when he says, 'What you say in your hearts, struggle with in your inner rooms.' 3 for it seems there is something more secret he wishes to signify with this, that while we bring forth things from the heart, we are first commanded to struggle. And therefore the wisdom of God the Father knocks at this door, saying, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' 4 Which door is opened through faith, concerning which the bride says in the Song of Songs, 'I opened the bolts of my door to my beloved.' 5 Therefore Christ knocks at the door as many times as we fix the mind in hope of good works, the voice of whom often encourages with love, saying, 'Open to me, my sister, my friend, my dove, my flawless one.' 6 which unless she shall open to him who knocks she will remain within empty in herself. For what does it profit to pray in the secret place of the mind, when there is no Father, no Son, no Holy Spirit coming and received, nor a resting place made for them? 7 Therefore whoever wishes to pray to God within the inner room of his heart, he first in faith opens the door to Him who knocks, and he embraces Him in love, even within the inner room of her who bore him, 8 where he may be taught by Him, he devoutly indicates. Besides what does it profit to pray when you have not care for the one to whom you pray? Only if in faith you hold to Him you love with your whole heart, and your whole soul and your whole strength, do you rightly enter into the inner room of your mind where God the trinity is worshipped in faith, and embraced in love, and in hope made more firm. Such then is the holy temple about which the Apostle speaks, saying, 'Because you are a holy temple of God.' 9 How could it profit to enter for the sake of prayer into a place where there is no religion? Therefore, because Christ comes knocking at the door, let Him be received, and in the love of a silent conscience within let God the Trinity be embraced. In this way, as commanded, there is prayer to God the Father. For one does not pray to Him with the sound of words only, but within in faith and hope and charity, which we are bidden to seek. This, I say, is the true Christian religion. It is not beyond the sky, or deep within the abyss, or somewhere at the ends of the world that the soul must scatter itself in the search for God, but within let it hold to Him whom it loves, and with the same efforts which it worships let it attentively pray. Thus it befits to adore Him, whom no place encloses, nor limitation constrains. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chapter 6 1 Mt 6.6 2 1 Cor 2.11 3 Ps 4.5 4 Apoc 3.20 5 Song 5.6 6 Song 5.2 7 Jn 14.23 8 Song 3.4 9 1 Cor 3.17

Temptations

Unde Christus post baptismum permisit se tentari, non ante, ut tentationes baptizatis doceret immitti. Diabolus enim ante baptismum, dum eos suos esse putat, non eos ita acriter aggreditur. Filii Israel post maris transitum, id est baptismum, morantur in deserto, donec venirent ad terram promissionis, nec est dignus aliquis comedere manna, id est corpus Domini, nisi in deserto moretur, id est nisi tumultus hujus saeculi et concupiscentias, si non corpore, saltem mente deserat. Et quia tunc imminent tentationes, accingantur ad pugnam. Vide ergo ordinem: Tria sunt genera tentationum, quae dicitur tentatio oculorum, in superbia vitae. Omnia autem alia mala ex his proveniunt, sive ira, sive invidia, sive contentio, sive odium, sive homicidium, sive furtum, sive alia genera. Ex gula, luxuria, dormitionis delectatio, et voluptates aliae. De concupiscentia carnis sunt divitiae, honores, et similia. Concupiscentia est exteriorum. Superbia vitae, est vana gloria de bonis operibus. Naturaliter autem prius tentat diabolus in concupiscentia carnis, quae est homini vicinior et quasi naturalis. Postea in exterioribus. Concupiscentia vero carnis solet incipere a gula, quia satur venter luxuriam appetit, et caeteras voluptates. Et ideo debet fidelis prius gulam domare, quae est porta et initium caeterarum voluptatum; et quia contra gulam primitus insurgit, a jejunio, quod est fraenum gulae, incipit. Et cum jejunasset quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus... Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 162.1270c-1271a

Christ allowed Himself to be tempted after baptism, 1 and not before, so that He might teach the dismissal of temptations. Before baptism the devil does not assail so bitterly because he judges men to be his own. The sons of Israel, after they crossed the sea, which is baptism, dwelt in the desert until they came to the promised land, nor was anyone worthy to eat manna, that is, the body of the Lord, unless they were in the desert, that is, unless they had withdrawn from the tumults and desires of this world, and if not in the body then in the mind, and because trials threatened them then, so were they girded up to fight. See, then, the order of the temptations in the desert, that there are three types of temptation, which is to say the temptation of the eyes in the pride of life. For every other evil comes forth from these, whether it is anger or envy or contention or hate, or murder, or theft, or any other type. From gluttony comes luxury, and delight in idleness, and other pleasures. From the desire of the flesh comes riches, honours and similar things. Desire is for exterior things. The pride of life is vainglory in good works. And naturally the devil first tempts with the desire of the flesh, which is closer to man according to his nature. Later he turns to exterior things. The desire of the flesh is accustomed to begin with gluttony because the stomach demands pampering and other pleasures. Therefore the faithful man should first rule over gluttony, which is the gate and beginning of the other pleasures, and so because he first rises up against gluttony he begins with fasting which is the withering of gluttony. 'And when He had fasted forty days and nights...' 2 Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 4 1 Mt 4.1 2 Mt 4.2

Fasting And The Devil

Καὶ προσελθών αὐτῷ ὁ πειράζων, εἶπεν· Εἰ Υἰὸς εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ , εἰπὲ ἵνα οἱ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται. Ἤκουσε τῆς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φωνῆς ὁ λῃστής. Πάλιν εἶδὲν αὐτὸν πεινῶντα, καὶ ἀμφέβαλλε λοιπὸν, πῶς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ πεινᾷ· διὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν πειράζει αὐτὸν, ἵνα μάθῃ. Κολακεύει δὲ αὐτὸν, νομίζων ὑποκλέψαι, ἐν τῷ λέγειν· Εἰ Υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ. 'Αλλ' ἐρωτᾷς· Καὶ τί ἁμάρτημα ἦν τὸ ποιῆσαι τοῦς λίθους ἄρτους; ῎Ἄκουε οὖν, ὅτι τὸ ἀκούειν τοῦ διαβόλου κατά τι, ἁμάρτημά ἐστιν. ῎Αλλως τε ἴδε· οὐκ εἶπεν, ἕνα ὁ λίθος οἱ τος γένηται ἄρτος, ἀλλ᾽ Οἱ λίθοι, θέλων ῥίψαι τὸν Χριστὸν εἰς περιττότητα. Τῷ γὰρ πεινῶντι εἷς ἄρτος ἀρκεῖ πάντως· διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Χριστὸς οὐκ ἤκουσεν αὐτοῦ. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ Δ' Source: Migne PG 123.180c-d

And coming near Him, he tempted Him saying, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.' 1 This criminal heard the heavenly voice, 2 and then he saw Him hunger, and he doubted that the son of God would hunger, and therefore he tested Him that he might learn. And he flattered himself in thinking to trick him by saying, 'If you are the son of God.' But if you ask what is sinful in turning stones into bread, hear that to listen to the devil in anything is a sin. Then see that he did not say, 'Turn this stone into bread,' but 'stones,' wishing to encourage Christ to superfluity, for one loaf is enough for a hungry man. Because of this Christ did not listen to him. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 4 1 Mt 4.3 2 Mt 3.16-17

The Gathering

Et congregatae sunt, ad eum turbae multae, ita ut naviculam ascendens sederet: et omnis turba stabat in littore Turba multa ad Dominum docentem congregata, significat frequentiam populorum, praedicantibus apostolis, ad Christum confluentium. Quod ascendens navim, sedebat in mari, significat quod Christus per fidem ascensurus erat in mentes gentilium, et Ecclesiam collecturus in mari, id est in medio nationum contradicentium, in qua Ecclesia dicitur sedere, hoc est regnare et dominari. Turba vero quae stabat in littore, quae neque in mari, neque in navi erat, gerit figuram recipientium verbum Dei, et jam fide a mari, id est a reprobis separatorum, sed necdum per gratiam baptismatis in Ecclesia intromissorum. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput XIII Source: Migne PL 162.1369b

And great crowds gathered to Him, so that He went up into a boat and sat, and all the multitude stood on the shore. 1 Many crowds were gathered for the teaching of the Lord, which signifies the many peoples sent flowing to Christ by the preaching of the Apostles. That He got up into the boat and was sat in the sea signifies that by faith Christ was to rise up in the minds of the Gentiles and the Church was to be gathered in the midst of the sea, that is, in the midst of dissentient peoples, in which the Church is said to sit, which is to rule and reign. But the crowd that stood on the shore, who were neither in the sea nor in the boat, these bear the figure of those who receive the word of God and by faith have been drawn out of the waters, that is, from among the wicked, but they have not yet entered into the Church through the grace of baptism. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 13 1 Mt 13.2

Successful And Unsuccessful Baptisms

Baptizatus autem Jesus, confestim ascendit de aqua... Puto autem factum Christi ad mysterium pertinere omnium qui post modum fuerant baptizandi: ideo dixit, Confestim, et non dixit, Egressus est, sed Ascendit; quia omnes, qui digne secundum omnia membra justitiae formati e consummati baptizantur in Christo, confestim de aqua ascendunt: id est, proficiunt ad virtutes, et ad dignatem elevantur caelestem. Qui enim ingressi fuerant in aqua carnales et filii Adam peccatoris, confestim de aqua ascendunt spirituales filii Dei facti. Et ne mihi dicas, quia multi quales fuerant ante baptismum, tales permanent post baptismum, etiam qui non in poenitentia baptizantur, nec toto corde poenitent se illose fuisse quod fuerant, sed retento peccandi proposito baptizantur, ideo non proficiunt confestim de aqua. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia IV Source: Migne PG 56.658

And Jesus being baptized, instantly rose up out of the water... 1 I think this deed of Christ pertains to the mystery of everyone after they have been baptised, therefore it says, 'instantly,' and not, 'came out,' but 'rose up,' because everyone who has been baptized in Christ worthily, with every member formed and perfected in righteousness, instantly rises up out of the water, that is, they advance to the virtues, and they are lifted up to a state of heavenly dignity. For those who have gone into the waters as carnal men and sons of Adam the sinner, instantly rise up from the waters as spiritual sons of God. And lest anyone say to me that after baptism many are just like they were before baptism, this is the case with those who were baptised in impenitence, who were not penitent in their hearts as they should have been, but they were baptised while retaining some attachment to sin, therefore it did not profit them to instantly rise up out of the water. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 4 1 Mt 3.16

The Spirit And The Dove

Καὶ εἶδε τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ καταβαῖνον ὡσει περιστερὰν... Ὡσεὶ περιστερὰν δὲ, διὰ τὸ ἄκακὸν καὶ πρᾶον· καὶ ὅτι καθαρώτατόν ἐστιν ἡ περιστερά, καὶ ἔνθα δυσωδία ἐστὶν, οὐ παραμένει οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Νῶς, περιστερὰ ἤγγειλε τὴν λύσιν τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ, κάρφος ἐλαίας φέρουσα· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, δηλοῖ λύσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν. Ἐκεῖ κάρφος ἐλαίας, ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἔλεος Θεοῦ. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς , ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα· τουτέστιν, Ἐν ᾧ ἀναπαύομαι, ἐν ᾧ ἀρέσκομαι. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ Γ' Source: Migne PG 123.179a

And He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove... 1 As a dove, on account of innocence and meekness, and because a dove is most pure and does not come to rest where there is any uncleanliness, so was the Holy Spirit. And as it is said that it was a dove that announced to Noah that the flood was passing away by the bearing of an olive branch, 1 so even here the Holy Spirit manifests Himself for the passing away of sins. And that olive branch is the mercy of God. 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.' That is, in whom I rest, in whom is my joy. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 3 1 Mt 3.16 2 Genes 8.10-11