Losing The Light

Auferetur ab impiis lux sua. Neque enim eos nunc Dei lumen illustrat, qui iniquitatis suae malitiam fidei nomine palliant. Nam dum iuxta praedicationem fidei vivere negligunt, et tamen eamdem fidem specie tenus venerantur, honorem vitae praesentis ex nomine religionis quaerunt, hocque eis ex fide lucet, quod eos fides coram hominibus refovet. Sunt vero nonnulli, qui aeterna quae audiunt veraciter credunt, et tamen eidem quam tenent fidei male vivendo contradicunt. Habent hi quoque in tenebris lucem suam, quia dum perversa agunt, et tamen de Deo recta sentiunt, ne tenebrescant funditus, ex quadam parte fulgore luminis illustrantur. Qui dum plus terrena quam coelestia, plus quae vident quam quae audiunt, diligunt, pulsante persecutionis articulo, quod rectum credere videbantur amittunt. Quod illo maxime tempore multiplicius agitur, quando, surgente ipso iniquorum capite, in sanctam Ecclesiam persecutione ultima, liberis suis viribus eius fortitudo grassatur. Ibi tunc cor uniuscuiusque ostenditur, ubi quidquid in occultis latebat aperitur; et qui nunc ore sunt pii, et corde sunt impii, publicata malitia corruunt, et lucem fidei quam specie tenus tenuerant perdunt. Sed inter haec necesse est ut unusquisque nostrum ad cordis sui secretum redeat, et actionis suae damna pertimescat, ne, exigentibus meritis, per districtam iustitiam iudiciorum Dei in talium hominum numerum incurrat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber XXIX, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 76.484a-c

From the wicked their light shall be taken away. 1 For the light of God does not now shine on those who veil the malice of their iniquity with the name of faith. For while they neglect to live according to the preaching of faith, and yet in appearance reverence that same faith, they seek the honour of this present life under the name of religion, and this that is drawn from faith shines on them, since the faith endears them in the sight of men. But there are some who truly believe the eternal truths which they hear and yet by living wickedly contradict these same things they hold of the faith. They also have their light in darkness, for while they act perversely and yet think rightly about God, they are partially illuminated by brightness, lest they be sunk in darkness. And these while they love the things of earth more than those of heaven, and those that they see more than those they hear, when the time of persecution strikes them, they are seen to lose that right belief, which certainly shall be much more the case at the time of the last persecution when the head of the wicked himself rises against Holy Church, and with his boldness attacks it with unrestrained strength. Then the heart of each one shall be laid open, and whatever lays concealed shall be exposed, and they who are now holy in words and unholy in heart shall fall with their wickedness made public and lose the light of faith which they seemed to possess. And amidst all of this it is necessary for each of us to return to the secret place of his heart, and to fear the condemnation of his deeds, lest he fall as his merits demand by the strict justice of the judgments of God into the number of such men. Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 29, Chapter 7 1 Job 38.15

Glory And Suffering

Si igitur, ut dicere coeperam, hodierna processio simul et passio considerentur, ibi plane videtur Jesus sublimis et gloriosus, hic humilis et aerumnosus. In processione namque cogitatur in honore regis; in passione spectatur in poena latronis. Ibi circumdant eum gloria et honor; hic non est ei species neque decor. Ibi gaudium hominum et gloria plebis; hic opprobrium hominum et abjectio plebis. Ibi acclamatur ei: Hosanna filio David benedictus qui venit rex Israel; hic inclamatur reus mortis; subsannaturque quod e fecerit regem Israel,Ibi cum ramis palmarum ei occurritur; hic alapis palmarum in faciem caeditur, et arundine percutitur caput. Ibi praeconiis sublimatur; hic saturatur opprobriis. Ibi certatim ei via sternitur vestimentis alienis; hic exuitur propriis.Ibi tanquam rex justus et salvator suscipitur in Jerusalem; hic tanquam reus et seductor damnatus ejicitur de Jerusalem. Ibi in asino stipatus obsequiis; hic pendet in ligno crucis caesus flagellis, confossus plagis, et desertus a suis. Ecce plus quam Job hic, cui tam repente, tam vehementer omnia semel in contrarium Deus vertit. Sufferentiam Job audistis, finem Domini vidistis, ait Jacobus apostolus. Ac si diceret: Sufferentia Job fuit usque a reditum substantiae; sufferentia Domini usque ad exitum vitae. Job quidem patienter damna sustinuit, sed mox in terra sua duplicia suscepit; Christus ut erat repletus miseriis, et inebriatus amaritudinibus, e mundo migravit. Itaque plus quam Job hic, qui de summa, ut putabatur, repente semelque dejectus felicitate, in extrema atque gavissima finem sortitus est calamitate. Et haec, inquit, passus sum absque iniqutiate manus meae, cum habarem mundas ad Deum preces, etiam pro crucifixoribus, ut eis ignosceret. Guerricus Ignaciensis, In Dominica Palmarum, Sermo III, De Duplici specie qua Christus proponitur spectandus Source: Migne PL 185.135a-d

If, then, as I had begun to say, today's procession and the Passion should be considered together, it seems that first Jesus is sublime and glorious and then humble and wretched. For in the procession He is reckoned to have the honour of a king, in the Passion is seen the punishment of a criminal. First He is surrounded by glory and honour, then He has no beauty or allure. First is the joy of men and the glory of the people, then the disgrace of men and shame of the people. First they acclaim him with, 'Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes, the king of Israel,' then the guilt of death cries forth and He is mocked that He would make Himself the king of Israel. First He was met with palm branches, then with palms He is struck in the face and cut with reeds. First He is proclaimed by heralds, then He is showered with insults. First others cover the way with vestments Him, then His garments are stripped from Him. First He is received into Jerusalem as a righteous king and saviour, then He is condemned as a criminal and a corruptor and cast out of Jerusalem. First He is set on a donkey by servants, then He hangs on a wooden cross, scourged with the whip, bruised with blows, forsaken by His own. Behold, there is more here than Job, who God so suddenly and so forcibly overthrew God. You have heard of the suffering of Job, you seen the end of the Lord, as James says. 1 As if someone were to say, 'Job suffered until his substance was restored, and the suffering of the Lord was even to the loss of life. Job patiently endured his losses, but soon on the earth received twofold, Christ was filled with misery, and wracked with bitterness, and departed the world.' Thus there is more than Job here, who from the heights, as was thought, was suddenly cast down from happiness and set in ruin until the final and burdensome end. 'And these things,' Job says, 'I have suffered without wickedness on my hands, when I have offered pure prayers to God,' 2 indeed for those who tormented him, so that he might forgive them. Guerric of Igny, from the Second Sermon on Palm Sunday, On The Two Appearances by which Christ is set forth to be seen 1 James 5.11 2 Job 16.18

Removing Mountains

Ὁ παλαιῶν ὄρη καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν ὁ καταστρέφων αὐτὰ ὀργῇ Οἶδα καὶ ἄλλα ὅρη, Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας, Ἥρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου εἰς τὰ ὅρη. Χριστὸς παλαιοῖ τὴν πρώτην Διαθήκην, καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν Ἰουδαῐοι, πρὸς οὔς εἴρηται· Εἰ ἐπιστεύετε Μωϋσῇ ἐπιστεύετε ἄν ἐμοί. Ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ κατέστρεψε τὰ μέχρι γράμματος ὅρη τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὸ ἁγίασμα· ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἀμαυροῐ τῇ ἐαυτοῦ λαμπρότητι, καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας. Βαβαί! Οἴα λέγει ἄνθρωπος νοῶν καὶ ἐλκωμενος, ὂστρακον ἔχων, καὶ τὸν ἰχῶρα ξέων, ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ κοπρίας καθεζόμενος. Ὁ παλαιῶν ὄρη καὶ οὐκ οἴδασι. Τίνες οὔν εἰσιν οἱ λόγοι, ἴδωεμν· καὶ περὶ ποίων ὁρεων παλαιουμένων, καὶ ὑπὸ τίνων, Καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν. ᾜλθε Ἰησοῦς ὁ καταστρέφων τὴν κατὰ τὸ γράμμα ἐκδοχὴν, καὶ τοὺς ταύτῃ μετὰ τὴν χάριν ἐμμένοντας, περὶ ὦν φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Ἔφθασε δὲ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἡ ὀργή· τὰ πεπαλαιωμένα κατεστράφη, πεπαλαίωται τὰ τοῦ γράμματος, ἀνακεκαίνωται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος, καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος. Παράδοξον ὁ Ἰησοῦς πεποίηκεν ελθὼν, τοὺς αὐτοὺς προφήτας καὶ πεπαλαίωκε, καὶ ἀνεκαίνισεν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 39.1141d-1444a

He who in anger removes the mountains, and they do not know it. 1 Know that there are other mountains, Moses and the prophets, 'I lifted up my eyes to the mountains,' 1 Christ set aside the previous Testament and the Jews did not notice, to whom it was said, 'If you believed in Moses, you would believe in me.' 3 According to the letter He overturns the mount of Jerusalem and the sanctuary, He who obscures the sun and the stars with his own splendour. Behold, a man who is sick and covered in ulcers and scraping his skin with a potsherd while sitting on a dung heap says such things. 'He who removes the mountains and they do not know it.' Let us see, then, what these words might mean about the removal of the mountains, concerning which it is said, 'And they did not know.' Jesus came who was expected according to the letter, and He cast down those who after grace preserved in the letter, concerning whom the Apostle says, 'But anger came upon them.' 4 for old things are set aside, which to the letter pertains to being removed, with a renewal of the things of the spirit, so that we may serve in a renewed spirit, and not in the old letter. With His coming Christ admirably and against all expectation did this, and by His renewal He made the prophets old. Didymus the Blind, On Job, Fragment 1 Job 9.5 2 Ps 120.1 3 Jn 5.46 4 1 Thes 2.16

Seeing The Face

Verumtamen iusti confitebuntur nomini tuo, et habitabunt recti cum vultu tuo. Designatur hoc debere fieri inter quaslibet temporis graves amarasque pressuras. Tunc enim magna virtus est laudare Dominum, quando se istius saeculi blandimenta subducunt. Bonus enim fuit Iob, cum Dominum dives colebat, sed quanto melior, dum eum sub multiplici afflictione laudabat! Tunc ergo amplius desideremus gratias agere, quando nos tentator conatur affligere. Facilius enim inimicus discedit, cum viderit excedere non posse quos deprimit. Nam vide quid sequitur, quia cum vultu eius habitare non desinunt, qui recti sunt. Visio infastidibilis atque perpetua illum semper videre, a quo se solet omnis rationabilis creatura reficere, sicut et in quintodecimo psalmo iam dictum est: Adimplebis me laetitia cum vultu tuo. Ille enim vultus praemiorum omnium munus est, nec potest esse cuiusquam bonitatis indignus, qui illum meruerit habere conspectum. Sed cum legatur: Nemo Deum vidit unquam, istud ad illud tempus referendum est, quando beati Dominum non per speculum, sed, ut ait Apostolus, facie ad faciem contuentur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXXXIX Source: Migne PL 70.998c-d

Certainly they will rejoice in your name and the righteous will dwell with your face. 1 This speaks of those who have endured amid the heavy and bitter pressures of the time. For indeed it is a great virtue to praise the Lord when the allures of this world would corrupt, as Job was good when as a rich man he revered the Lord, but it was much better that he praised Him while he was suffering many afflictions. Therefore we should have greater desire to give thanks when the tempter tries to afflict us. For the enemy swiftly flees when he sees he cannot cast down those he presses on. Then see what follows, that those who are righteous shall not cease to dwell with His face. They shall always see an inexhaustible and endless vision of Him, in which every rational creature finds its rest, as it has already been said in the fifteenth Psalm, 'In joy you shall embrace me with your face.' 2 For that face is the greatest of all rewards, and it is not possible that anyone unworthy of this good shall merit to see it. But when we read: 'No one has seen the face of God,' 3 then what we have here in this Psalm must refer to that time when the blessed do not look on the Lord 'in a mirror' but, as the Apostle says, 'face to face'. 4 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 139 1 Ps 139.14 2 Ps 15.11 3 Jn 1.18 4 1 Cor 13.12

Trials And Victory

Dixitque Dominus ad eum: Numquid considerasti servum meum Job, quod non sit ei similis in terra, homo simplex et rectus, ac timens Deum, et recedens a malo? A commendatione justi incipit: Non enim qui se ipsum commendat, ille probatus est, sed quem Deus commendat; illasque virtutes ei proponit, quas amplius habebat exosas, ut inimicum vehementius torqueat et provocet ad tentandum. Vult enim Dominus servos suos fortiter tentari, ut faciat etiam cum tentatione proventum. Gaudet princeps militiae, si militem suum cum forti adversario strenue pugnantem aspexerit. Exsultat Christus cum martyrem suum videt nunc flagellari, nunc extendi in eculeo, nunc ferreis laniari unguibus, nunc sagittis exponi, nunc membris truncari, nunc ignibus superponi. Stat martyr afflictus quidem, sed invictus, vidensque sanguinem suum ex diversis partibus corporis ebullire, non sua, sed Redemptoris vulnera attendit. Inter anxietates ergo acerrimas tripudians et triumphans, dolores corporis lacerati non sentit, quia peregrinatur a corpore. Non facit hoc stupor, sed amor; non deest dolor, sed pro Christo contemnitur. Sic Dominus et possessiones, et personam servi sui Job malitiae tentarois exponit, ita per interiora et exteriora afflictus, munitus tamen a Domino a dextris et a sinistris, et cresceat in gratiam, et proficiat ad coronam Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source: Migne PL 207.805d-806a

And the Lord said to Satan: 'Have you not considered my servant Job, that there is no one like him on the earth, a simple and upright man, who fears God and avoids evil?' 1 He begins with a commendation of the righteous man, 'For it is not he who commends himself who is approved, but him whom God commends.' 2 And He proposes those virtues to him, which the more he has, so the more vehemently he provokes the tempter to put him to the test. And indeed the Lord wishes that His servants be put to strong trials so that 'even in trial there is advance.' 3 A leader of soldiers rejoices if one of his own men fights bravely against the enemy, and Christ exults when He sees His martyr now whipped, now stretched on the rack, now with his sides pierced with iron nails, now having fire put upon him. Certainly the martyr is afflicted, but he is unconquered, he sees his own blood flow out of various parts of his body, but he does not think of his own wounds but of Christ's. Therefore exultant and triumphant amid bitter pains, he does not feel the sufferings of his torn body, but he wanders far from the body. And the cause of this is not some doltish insensitivity, but love. He is not free of pain, but he scorns it for Christ. So the Lord exposed the possessions and person of Job to the evils of the tempter, so that afflicted within and without, yet walled by the Lord to the right and to the left, he might grow in grace and advance to the crown. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.8 2 2 Cor 10.18 3 1 Cor 10.13

Virtue And Love

Et posui vectem et ostia, et dixi: Hucusque venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos. Quid enim moraliter per ostia, nisi virtutes; quid per vectem, nisi robur charitatis accipimus? Haec itaque ostia, scilicet operationum virtutes, mare saeviens dissipat, nisi eas ex occulto mentis opposita charitas astringat. Facile autem omne virtutum bonum tentatione cordis irruente destruitur, nisi ab intimis fixa charitate solidetur. Unde et Paulus in suis praedicationibus dum quaedam virtutum ostia mari tentationis opponeret, illico eisdem ostiis quasi robur vectis adiunxit, dicens: Super omnia autem haec charitatem habentes, quod est vinculum perfectionis. Perfectionis enim vinculum charitas dicitur, quia omne bonum quod agitur nimirum per illam ne pereat ligatur. A tentatore namque citius quodlibet opus evellitur, si solutum a vinculo charitatis invenitur; si autem mens Dei ac proximi dilectione constringitur, cum tentationum motus quaelibet ei iniusta suggesserint, obicem se illis ipsa dilectio opponit, et pravae suasionis undas virtutum ostiis ac vecte intimi amoris frangit. Quia ergo Dominus per inspiratae charitatis fortitudinem nascentia in corde vitia reprimit, insurgentis maris impetum per obserata claustra compescit. Ira fortasse in occulto exasperat; sed ne quies superna perdatur, perturbationi mentis officium linguae subtrahitur, ne usque ad vocem exeat, quod in sinu cordis tumultuosum sonat. Luxuria in occultis cogitationibus accenditur; sed ne supernam munditiam mens amittat, conceptae immunditiae ea quae famulari poterant membra castigat, ne usque ad corruptionem corporis exhalet fetor cordis. Avaritia stimulat; sed ne coelesti regno mens careat, intra claustra se parcimoniae contenta propriis ligat, ne in pravo se opere dilatet, et usque ad exteriores actus internae concupiscentiae aestus exsudet. Superbia inflat; sed ne veram celsitudinem amittat, considerando quisque quia pulvis est ab altitudine se conceptae elationis humiliat, certans nimirum ne quod in suggestione cogitationis tolerat in exercitationem operis erumpat. Bene ergo dicitur: Posui vectem et ostia, et dixi: Hucusque venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos, quia dum electus quisque et tentatur vitiis, et tamen facere male suggesta renititur, quasi mare clausum tenetur. Quod etsi intus tumultuosis cogitationum fluctibus mentem percutit, statuta tamen bene vivendi littora non excedit. Quod mare quidem in tumore se erigit, sed dum fixa deliberatione cordis illiditur, fractum redit. Beatus igitur Iob ne sibi tribuat quod contra procellas cordis fortiter stat, voce divina audiat: Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat, quasi de vulva procedens, et caetera. Ac si ei aperte diceretur: Incassum te exterius in bonis operibus pensas, si non me interius, qui in te tentationis undas compesco, consideras. Ut enim tu fluctus ferre possis in opere, meae virtutis est, qui fluctus frango tentationis in corde. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber XXVIII, Caput XXII Source: Migne PL 75.476a-478a

And I have set a bar and doors, and said, 'Only to here shall you come, and you shall not go any further, here you will break your swelling waves.' 1 What shall we understand morally by the doors but the virtues, and what by a bar but the strength of love? That is, these doors are the working of the virtues which the wild sea rends asunder unless the charity of the mind, secretly set against them, binds them together. For all the goodness of the virtues is easily destroyed by a temptation of the heart rushing upon them unless it is kept firmly rooted within by love. Whence in his preaching Paul was also opposing certain doors of virtues to the sea of temptation, and he immediately added to them, as it were, the strength of a bar, saying, 'But above all these things having love, which is the bond of perfection.' 2 Love is called the bond of perfection because every good deed which is done is doubtless fastened by it so that it does not perish. For any work is speedily plucked up by the tempter if it is found to lack the bond of love. But if a mind is constrained by the love of God and of neighbour, when the motions of temptations have suggested to it any wicked thoughts, this very love opposes itself to their advance, and by the gates of the virtues and the bar of inmost love breaks the waves of sinful persuasion. Because, then, by the strength of inspired love the Lord restrains the sins which spring up in the heart, so He checks the onset of the rising sea by setting against it barred doors. It may happen that anger exasperates within, but that heavenly peace may not be lost the aid of the tongue is not lent to the agitation of the mind, whence that which sounds tumultuously in the recesses of the heart does not vent itself in words. Lust is kindled in the secret thoughts, but that it lose not its heavenly purity, the mind chastens those limbs which could help to augment the uncleanness conceived within, lest the filthiness of the heart should be exhaled to the corruption of the body. Avarice besets, but that it might not lose not the kingdom of heaven, the mind, contented with its own lot, confines itself within the bounds of parsimony, lest it should break out in wicked deeds, and lest the heat of inward desire should ooze forth into outward acts. Pride puffs up a man, but that he might not lose his true dignity, he brings himself down from the loftiness of his conceived pride by considering that he is dust, doubtless striving so that what he endures by the prompting of thought may not burst forth into outward acts. Well, then, it is said, 'I have set a bar and doors, and to here you shall come, and you shall not go any further, here you shall break your swelling waves,' because when any of the elect are assaulted by sin, yet there is a refusal to act upon evil suggestions, and thus the sea, as it were, is kept within bounds. And though it lashes the mind within with the tumultuous waves of thoughts, yet it does not pass over the appointed bounds of living well. Indeed this sea swells up, but when it dashes against the firm determination of the heart, it is broken and withdraws. Therefore the blessed Job, so that he might not ascribe his standing firmly against the storms of his heart to himself, hears the Divine voice; 'Who shut up the sea with doors, when it was breaking forth as if proceeding from the womb?' and the rest, 3 as if it were plainly said to him, 'In vain you think well of yourself because of exterior good deeds, if you do not consider me within who still the waves of temptation in you. For that you can withstand the waves is by my strength who break the waves of temptation in the heart.' Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 28, Chapter 22 1 Job 38.10-11 2 Colos 3.14 3 Job 38.8

Feasting And Fasting

Cum autem quadem die filii et filiae ejus comederent et biberent vinum... Opportunissimum tentationis tempus elegit, cum scilicet filios Job comedentes et bibentes invenit. Adhuc, inquit escae eorum erant in ore ipsorum, et ira Dei ascendit super eos. Quia commessationes sine peccato vix esse possunt, comessationibus libenter se ingerit inimicus: orationem vero et jejunium semper odit, quia genus est etiam daemoniorum, quod non nisi oratione et jejunio expellitur. Et notandum quod non cibum sumere, sed in cibo delectari peccatum est. Quandoque enim aliquis non minus gulosus est in vilissimis cibis quam alius in epulis delicatis. Legitur Jonathas peccasse in gusto mellis, Esau in edulio lentis, Sodomitae in saturitate panis. Ergo, teste Hieromymo, non cibus, sed appetitus in culpa est. Considerantur autem in cibo sumendo tria, tempus, modus, et qualitas. Tempus, ut non praeveniatur hora; modus, ut summatur cibus cum moderatione inculpata; qualitas, ut non sint cibi nimium exquisiti, aut nimium sumptuosi. Comedere post saturitatem est superfluum, ante esuriem otiosum, in esurie licitum, post esuriem meritorium. Certe non credo in homine incolumi jejuniam alicujus esse meriti, quod esuries non praecedit. Jejunare, et jejunio non affligi, non habet vim, aut meritum jejunandi. Si instant apostolorum vigiliae, aut alia tempora, quae necessitatem jejunandi indicant, praecedenti die implemus et ingurgitamus nos varietatibus ferculorum, atque in fraudem futuri jejunii tantum nostris ventribus inculcamus, quo sufficienter possit sustentari tridouo sobrius dispensator. Non est hoc, dicit Dominus per prophetam, jejunium quod elegi. Sunt enim jejunia, quae reprobavit Deus, et sunt jejunia, quae elegit. Jejunant alia propter naturae impotentiam, alii propter avaritiam, alii ad apparentiam, aliis ad vitam aeternam, alii ad corporis sanitatem. Jejunat aegrotus ut convaleseat, hypocrita ut appareat, fastiditus ut appetat, avarus ut parcat. In omnibus intentio tua operi tuo nomen imponit. In omnibus discretio servanda est, auriga virtutum et operum, atque cogitationum optima moderatrix. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source: Migne PL 207.808a-809a

When, on a certain day, his sons and daughters ate and drank wine... 1 The devil choses the most opportune time for temptation, when he finds the sons of Job eating and drinking. 'While yet the food was in their mouths, the anger of God rose up over them,' it says. Because there can scarcely be revelry without sin, and among revellers the enemy eagerly comes. It is prayer and fasting he hates, because there is a class of demons that only prayer and fasting can expel. 2 And it should be noted that the sin is not in partaking of food but for the pleasure of it. And a man may be no less gluttonous with the cheapest bread than with any choice delicacy of a banquet. We read that Jonathan sinned by tasting honey, Esau for a bowl of lentils, the Sodomites by an abundance of bread. 3 Therefore, by the testimony of Jerome, it is not the bread but the desire that is the fault. 4 Let the taking of food be considered in three ways, by time, manner and quality. By time, that it is not brought before the hour, in manner, that one partakes of food with faultless modesty, by quality, that one's food is not excessively exquiste, nor too luxurious. To eat beyond satiety is unnecessary, before one is hungry pointless. In hunger there is permission, after hunger merit. Certainly I do not believe that an untroubled man gains any merit in fasting, because hunger does not precede it. To fast and have no struggle in fasting, has no value, nor merit. If the Vigil of the Apostles draws near, or some other time, which declares the need for fasting, if on the day before we fill ourselves and gobble down a variety of dishes, and in deceit make the coming fast, then it is only our stomachs we impress, in which the more sensible arranger is prefectly able to endure the three days. 'This is not the fast that I have chosen,' says the Lord. 5 For there are fasts which God abhors and fasts that He approves. Some fast because of an infirmity of nature, some because of avarice, some for the sake of appearance, others for eternal life, others for the body's health. The sick man fasts that he might become well, the hypocrite for appearance's sake, the picky fellow for his appetite, the miser that he might save money. In everything your intention stamps the name on your work. In everything prudence must be guarded, for moderation is the best chariot of virtue and works, and also thoughts. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.13 2 Mt 17.20 3 1 King 14.24-46, Gen 25.29-34, Ezek 16.49 4 Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.11 5 Isaiah 58.5-11

A Protected Soul

Dicit ergo Dominus: Ecce in manu tua est, verumtamen animam ejus serva. Licet Job esset una ovium, de quibus Dominus dicit, nullus eas de manu mea eruet: eum tamen in manu adversarii ponit, sed positum non relinquit. Suum ergo militem deserit, quem deserendo custodit. Eum deserit, ut tentetur; eum vero custodit, ne tentatione vincatur, Ecce, inquit, in manu tua est, verumtamen animam ejus serva, id est, serva, ne in animam illius aliquid attentare praesumas. Quum multae sint tribulationes justorum, per multas tribulationes oportet ingredi regnum Dei. Torquentur corpora Sanctorum, sed animae non turbantur. Concutitur laterna lucens, nec lucerna extinguitur: trituratur palea, nec laeditur granura. Thesaurus, quera portamus in vase fictili, fracto vase non perditur. Posito itaque corpore Job in manu hostili, et tormentis exposito, anima conservatur indemnis. Justorum autem animae in manu Dei sunt, et non tangit illos tormentum malitiae. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput II Source: Migne PL 207.817a-b

The Lord says: Behold, he is in your hand, but his soul is protected. 1 It is possible that Job is one of the sheep about whom the Lord says: 'None of these shall be lost from my hand,' 2 but though He has placed him in the hand of the enemy, He has not forsaken him who is so placed. Therefore He gives up His soldier,  yet in abandonment He guards him. He gives him up so that He is tested, but He protects him lest trial conquer him. 'Behold,' He says, 'he is in your hand, but his soul is protected,' that is, it is protected so that you do not presume to try some assault on his soul. Many are the tribulations of the righteous, through which many tribulations it is necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven. 3 The bodies of the saints are tormented, but their souls are not thrown into confusion. The shining lantern is shaken but the light is not extinguished. The chaff is threshed but the grain is not destroyed. The treasure which we carry in the earthen vessel does not perish with the vessel. 4 Thus with his body placed in the hand of the enemy and exposed to torments, the soul is preserved unharmed. 'The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God and the torment of wickedness does not touch them.' 5 Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 2 1 Job 2.6 2 Hosea 2.10 Vulg, Jn 10.28 3 Ps 33.20, Acts 14.21 4 2 Cor 4.7 5 Wisd 3.1

Fathers And Harmony

Et ibant filii ejus, et faciebant convivia, etc. Quum pro divisione haereditariae sortis frequenter soleat esse zelus et aemulatio inter fratres; patet prudentia Job, qui sic vitam instituerat filiorum, ut se mutua caritate diligerent, et sese ad amica convivia per vicissitudines invitarent. Bonum siquidem est et jucundum, habitare fratres in unum. Quia quanto gratior est in conspectu Dei et hominum amor fraternus, tanto enormius est, si inter eos dissensiones et schismata nutriantur. Propter hoc dicit apostolus: Obsecro vos fratres, per nomen Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut idipsum sentiatis, et non sint in vobis schismata. Erat itaque plena concordia inter filios et filias ad patrem, ut secundum apostolum servarent invicem unitatem spiritus in vinculo pacis. Si enim a patre filii dissentirent, jam non esset inter eos caritas, quia non observarent patri debitam caritatem. Avelle a Sole Solis radium, et non lucet: praecide rivum a fonte, et arescit : abscinde ramum ab arbore, et siccatur; et membrum a corpore, et putrescit. Separa filium a devotione paterna, et jam non est illius, sed frater et collega illorum, quibus dicitur: Vos ex patre diabolo estis. In principio Isaiae legitur: Filios enutrivi et exaltavi: ipsi autem spreverunt me. Ultimum autem verbum ejusdem prophetae est: Vermis eorum non morietur, et ignis eorum non extinguetur. In veteri testamento praecipiebatur Agnus Paschalis comedi in una domo, ut in habitantibus consonantia morum et affectuum notaretur identitas, sicut scriptum est: Qui inhabitare facit unius moris in domo. Idipsum itaque beato Job ad aliarum virtutum cumulum accedebat, quod filios suos nutrierat in amore, et vagos adolescentiae motus sub censura cohibuerat disciplinae. Heli enim, licet in aliis justus esset, ideo visus est reprobatus a Domino, sellaque in qua sedebat eversa, collo fracto, cecidit, quia filios non correxit. Dilexisti, dicit ei Dominus, magis filios tuos quam me. Periit igitur, quia circa filiorum correctionem negligens fuit. Uxor etiam ejus abortiendo mortua est, et filii ejus Ophni et Phinees sunt occisi. Caveant patres spirituales, qui in cathedris sedent, ne ob negligentiam ipsorum sui filli occidantur, ne destruatur Ecclesia, ne in ipsorum confusionem et perniciem cathedrae subvertantur. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source: Migne PL 207.801b-802a

And his sons would hold feasts... 1 Among whom, because of the division of inheritance by which there is frequently accustomed to be jealously and envy among brothers, the prudence of Job is made manifest, who so established the life of his sons, that they love one another with mutual love, and through vicissitudes invite one another to friendly feasts. 'How good and joyful it is for brothers to dwell in unity.' 2 Because as much as the fraternal love of men is pleasing in the sight of God, so much more the worse it is if dissensions and divisions are nourished among them. On account of which the Apostle says: 'I beg you brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you agree, so that there are no schisms among you.' 3 Thus there was complete harmony among the sons and daughters for the father, so that according to the Apostle they serve one another in a spirit of unity and in the bond of peace. 4 For if sons are in dispute with the father, there is no love among them, because they do not observe the wanted love of the father. Take the rays from the sun, and it does not shine. Cut off the river from the spring and it dries up. Cut the branch from the tree and it withers, the limb from the body and it rots. Separate a son from paternal devotion, and now he is not his, but a brother and associate of them to whom it is said: 'You are of your father the devil.' 5 In the beginning of Isaiah it reads: 'Sons I nourished and lifted up, but they spurned me.' At the end the words of the same prophet say: 'Their worm will not die, and their fire shall not be quenched.' 6 In the Old Testament it was commanded that the Paschal Lamb should be eaten in one house, that in the harmonious conduct of the dwellers might be noted the same affection, as it has been written: 'He who makes to dwell of one mind in the house.' 7 Therefore the height of virtues approached the blessed Job through others, because he nourished his sons in love, and restrained the unstable variances of youth beneath the censure of discipline. But Eli, who was righteous among other men, was seen to be reproved by the Lord and the seat in which he sat was overturned, and his neck was broken, because he did not correct his sons. 'You have loved your sons more than me,' the Lord said to him. Therefore he perished because he neglected to correct his sons. Indeed his wife died in giving birth, and his sons Ophni and Phinehas were slain. 8 Let spiritual fathers beware, who sit in their seats, lest because of negligence they slay their own sons, lest they destroy the Church, lest in their disorder and wickedness their seats are overthrown. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.4 2 Ps 132.1 3 1 Cor 1.10 4 Ephes 4.3 5 Jn 8.44 6 Isaiah 1.2, 66.24 7 Ps 67.7 8 1 Kings 1-4

Sins And Fathers

Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris, et cum reddiderit, tunc sciet. Scriptum novimus: Qui reddis peccata patrum in filios ac nepotes, in tertiam et quartam generationem. Et rursum scriptum est: Quid est quod inter vos parabolam vertitis in proverbium istud in terra Israel, dicentes: Patres comederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt? Vivo ego, dicit Dominus Deus, si erit vobis ultra parabola haec in proverbium in Israel. Ecce omnes animae, meae sunt; ut anima patris, ita et anima filii, mea est. Anima quae peccaverit, ipsa morietur. In utraque igitur hac sententia dum dissimilis sensus invenitur, auditoris animus ut discretionis viam subtiliter requirat instruitur. Peccatum quippe originale a parentibus trahimus; et nisi per gratiam baptismatis solvamur, etiam parentum peccata portamus: quia unum adhuc videlicet cum illis sumus. Reddit ergo peccata parentum in filios, dum pro culpa parentis, ex originali peccato anima polluitur prolis. Et rursum non reddit parentum peccata in filios: quia cum ab originali culpa per baptismum liberamur, iam non parentum culpas, sed quas ipsi committimus, habemus. Quod tamen intelligi etiam aliter potest: quia quisquis pravi parentis iniquitatem imitatur, etiam ex eius delicto constringitur. Quisquis autem parentis iniquitatem non imitatur, nequaquam delicto illius gravatur. Unde fit, ut iniquus filius iniqui patris non solum sua quae addidit, sed etiam patris peccata persolvat; cum vitiis patris, quibus iratum Dominum non ignorat, etiam suam adhuc malitiam adiungere non formidat. Et iustum est, ut qui sub districto iudice vias parentis iniqui non timet imitari, cogatur in vita praesenti etiam culpas parentis iniqui persolvere. Unde et illic dictum est: Anima patris mea est, et anima filii mea est. Anima quae peccaverit, ipsa morietur: quia in carne nonnunquam filii etiam ex patris peccato perimuntur. Deleto autem originali peccato, ex parentum nequitia in anima non tenentur. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber XV, Caput LI Source: Migne PL 75.1110b-1111a

God shall store up the grief of the father for his sons. And when He repays, then he shall know it. 1 We know that it is written, 'He who visits the sins of the fathers upon the sons, and upon the sons of the sons, to the third and fourth generation.' 2 And again it is written, 'Why is it that among you that you turn a parable into a proverb in the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?' As I live, says the Lord, you shall not have this for a proverb any more in Israel. Behold all souls, they are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.' 3 Thus in both these sentences, while a dissimilar meaning is found, the mind of the hearer is instructed that it should carefully search out the way of discernment. Since we derive original sin from our parents, unless we are freed from it by the grace of Baptism, we bear the sins of our parents with us, seeing that we are obviously still one with them. Thus 'He visits the sins of the fathers to the sons,' when because of the guilt of the parent, the soul of the offspring is defiled with original sin. But again He does not 'return the sins of the fathers to the sons,' because when we are freed from original guilt by Baptism, we no longer are in possession of the sins of our fathers, but only those which we have committed ourselves. And this may be understood in yet another way: that anybody who imitates the wickedness of a depraved father is also bound up in his sin. But whoever does not imitate the wickedness of a father, is not burdened with his sin. Whence it happens that the wicked son of a wicked father not only adds to his own sins but even pays for the sins of the father, which he is not ignorant that the Lord has been vexed by and yet he does not fear to add to wickedness. And it is right that he who is beneath the gaze of the judge and who does not fear to imitate the ways of a wicked parent, is compelled to pay in this present life for the evils of a parent. Whence it is said: 'The soul of the father is mine, and the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die,' because by the sin of the father sons are sometimes destroyed in the flesh. But with original sin removed, they are not bound in the soul by the wickedness of the parents. Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 15, Chap 51 1 Job 21.19 2 Exod 34.7 3 Ezek 18.2-4

Perseverance In Good

Sic faciebat Job cunctis diebus. In quo perseverantia boni operis designatur. Perseverantia hoc praerogativae habet, quia cum omnes virtutes currant ad bravium, sola perseverantia coronatur: multum siquidem valet deprecatio justi assidua: quod in oratione Moysi manifestissime liquet. Dum enim oraret, dum manus erigeret, vincebat populus Dei: dum autem dimittebat manus, aut ab oratione cessabat, Amalech praevalebat. Ideoque Job cunctis diebus offerebat holocausta pro filiis, quia se in quotidianis conviviis peccandi materia ingerebat, oportebatque continuum esse remedium, ubi continua erat occasio et pronitas ad peccandum. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source: Migne PL 207.804c

So Job acted through all his days. 1 In which is signified perseverance in a good work. Perseverance has this prerogative, that while all virtues race to the prize, perseverance alone is crowned. The persistent prayer of a righteous man benefits greatly, 2 which is made most manifest in the prayer of Moses. For while he prayed, while he raised his hands, the people of God conquered, when he lowered his hands, or ceased in his prayer, Amelech prevailed. 3  Therefore Job offered sacrifice every day for his sons, because as they heaped up the material of sin in daily feasting, so the remedy was continually necessary where there was continual occasion and propensity to sin. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.5 2 Jam 5.16 3 Exod 17.11

Resting In Peace

Ἐν δὲ ἀναπαύσει ᾅδου ἐκοιμήθησαν. Ἐν δὲ ἀναπαύσει οὐκ οὐρανοῦ, ἀλλ' ᾅδου ἐκοιμήθησαν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ εὐχόμεθα οὐκ ἐν ἀναπαύσει ᾅδου κοιμηθῆναι, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀναπαύσει Θεοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τοῖς ἁγίοις μετὰ Χριστοῦ βασιλεύοντος ἡμῶν. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 17.80b

They rest in hell in peace. 1 But not in the peace of heaven, for they rest in hell. We pray that we not be at peace resting in hell, but in the peace of God, in the heavens with the saints and with Christ our king. Origen, On Job, Fragment 1 Job 13.13

A Fire That Does Not Burn

Κατέδεται αὐτὸν πῦρ ἄκαυστον... Μυστήριον τι μανθάνομεν περὶ τῆς κολάσεως τῆς ἀποκείμένης, ἵνα φυλασσώμεθα αὐτὴν παθεῖν. Πῦρ εἶπεν ἄkαυστον κατέδεσθαι τὸν ἀσεβῆ· τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ· τὸ παρ' ἡμῖν ὑλκὸν οὐκ ἔστιν ἄκαυστον πῦρ· βλεπόμενον γὰρ αὐτό. Ἐκεῖϝο δὲ ἀόρατόν ἐστι τὸ πῦρ, τὸ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἐρχόμενον, ὃ ἔνδον αὐτοὺς καίει. Νοητόν ἐστι καὶ κολάζον. Ἐὰν θέλῃς εἰκόνα παραλαβεῖν ἐκείνου τοῦ πυρὸς, νόει μοι τὸν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν πυρέσσοντα, καὶ ὐπὸ πυρὸς φλεγόμενον. Οὐχ εὑρήσεις ὄψει τὸ πῦρ ἐν αὐτῷ, ὑπόκειται δὲ, καὶ ἐκκαίει αὐτοῦ τὰ σπλάψχνα. Οὕτως ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων πυρέττων τις ἐkkαίεται. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 17.76a-b

A fire that does not burn shall consume him... 1 Here we learn about a mystery of punishment which awaits, so that we might guard ourselves against suffering it. He speaks of the fire that does not burn which shall devour the impious man. Here fire is a material thing to us, and it is not a fire that does not burn, for so we observe it. But that fire which is immaterial enters into the sinful, and it blazes up within them. This punishment is intellectual. If you wish to have an image of that fire, think of a man who is gravely afflicted with a fever, blazing up with a fire. You shall not find an observable fire in him, however it is within, and it sets his insides on fire. Likewise because of his sins a man is set on fire as if by a fever. Origen, On Job, Fragment 1 Job 20.26

Job And The Resurrection

Ἐὰν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος καταβῇ εἰς ᾅδην οὐκέτι μὴ ἀναβῇ, οὐd' οὐ μὴ ἐπιστρέψῃ ἔτι εἰς τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον οὐδὲ μὴ ἐπιγνῷ αὐτὸν ἔτι ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ. Τινὲς δέ φασιν, ὅτι οὐ παραινούμενος τὴν ἀνάστασιν, τοῦτο λέγει· ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπίκηρον δεικνύς· ἔπειτα, ὅτι ὁ ἅπαξ ἀποθανὼν, εἰς τόνδε τὸν φθαρτὸν βίον οὐχ ὑποστρέψει, οὐδὲ τὰ συνήθη πράττων ἐπιγνωσθήσεται· ὥστε τῷ. Οὐκέτι οὐ μὴ ἀναβῇ ἐξ ᾅδου, συναπτέον τὸ, Εἰς τὸν ἴδιον οἴκον οὐκ ἐπιστρέψῇ· ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι Ἀναβιώσεται μὲν, οὐ μὴν εἰς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ οἴκον ἐπιστρέψει. Ἀλλ' αὕτη μὲν ἡ ἑρμηνεία πιθανὴ, ἀληθεστέρα δὲ ἡ προτέρα, ὅτι ἠγνόει τὰ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ὁ δίκαιος· ὅθεν καὶ πλέον ἐστὶ θαυμαστὸς, ὅτι μηδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐλπίζων, οὕτω τὴν ἄκραν ἀρετὴν κατώρθωσεν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 39.1140b

For if a man goes down to hell, he shall not rise again, nor shall he return anymore to his own house, nor shall he know where his place is. 1 Some say that Job spoke like this because he does not admit the resurrection. First he reveals the fragility of men and then that once a man has died he does not return to this corruptible life, nor to his customary occupations. The words, 'He does not rise from hell,' must be connected with 'he does not return to his own house,' as if he had said, 'Certainly he may revive, but he does not return to his own house.' This is a possible interpretation, yet the former may be more true, that the righteous Job was ignorant of the resurrection of the dead and therefore he is more worthy of admiration that, not even hoping for such a thing, he showed such virtue in everything. Didymus the Blind, On Job, Fragment 1 Job 7.9-10

Suffering For Heaven

Dominus autem benedixit novissimis Job... Ex magna nimirum divinae gratiae dispensatione praecessit afflictio, ut post moerorem gaudium, post naufragium portus, post laborem requies, dulcedo post amaritudinem, post persecutiones prosperitas gratius arriderent. Porro ideo super dorsum justi, qui positus est inter malleum et incudem, de permissione divina fabricant peccatores, ut post dies malos, quibus afflictus et humiliatus est, plenior laetitia subsequatur, sicut propheta dicit: Laetati sumus pro diebus quibus nos humiliasti, annis quibus vidimus mala. Juxta Sapientis verbum: Ante ruinam exaltatur cor: et e contrario gloriam praecedit humilitas. Humilitas enim via est ad exaltationem, dolor ad gaudium, persecutio ad felicitatem, ad risum gemitus, mors ad vitam. Flagellat itaque Dominus suos, ne flagellentur in posterum: et temporaliter eos punit, ne aeternaliter puniantur. Legitur in Libro Regum, quia quum Salomon aedificaret templum Domini, lapides omnes extra tunsi fuerunt, ut in aedificatione templi sine sonitu mallei ponerentur. Sancti enim per flagella tunduntur temporaliter, ut in aedificio coelestis Jerusalem, quae aedificatur ut civitas sine flagello disciplinae, sine poenitentiae gemitu caritatis glutino uniantur. In alia siquidem vita inter ardores sempiternos non est locus veniam promerendi, quia in inferno nulla est redemptio; nec homini in peccatis mortuo relinquitur hostia pro peccato. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput XLII Source:  Migne PL 207.823b-d

The Lord blessed the final days of Job... 1 By the great dispensation of Divine grace affliction comes first, that after grieving there is joy, after shipwreck the haven, after labour rest, after bitterness sweetness, and that after persecution prosperity might shine more pleasantly. Thus it is that with Divine permission sinners labour over the back of the righteous man, who is placed as between the hammer and the anvil, that after evil days, by which he is afflicted and humbled, greater joy shall follow. As the prophet says: 'We rejoiced over the days you humiliated us, the years in which we saw evil.' 2 And according to the word of Wisdom it is said that the heart is exalted before ruin, and on the contrary humility comes before glory. 3 For the way of humility leads to exaltation, grief to joy, persecution to happiness, groans to laughter, death to life. In this way the Lord whips his own, lest they be whipped later. For a time He punishes them, lest they be punished eternally. It is written in the book of Kings that when Solomon built the temple of the Lord every stone was worked on outside, that in the building of the temple, they might be placed together without the sound of the hammer. 4 So the holy are worked on for a time by blows so that in the building of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is built up like a city, 5 there is unity in the bond of charity without the whip of discipline and without the groans of penitence. Indeed in the other life among eternal flames there is no place for the earning of forgiveness, because in hell there is no salvation, nor for a man dead in his sins is there left any space for a sacrifice for sin. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 42 1 Job 42.12 2 Ps 89.15 3 Prov 16.18 4 3 Kings 6.7 5 Ps 121.3

The Devil's Going Out

Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ διάβολος παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου. Κατὰ δὲ τινας, εἰ μὴ ἔξω γέγονε τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ διάβολος, οὐκ ἂν ἐνήργησε τὰ κατὰ τοῦ Ἰώβ. Κυρίολεκτεῖται δὲ ἐπὶ τούτου μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ τοῦ Καϊν το· Ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ προσώπου Κυρίου· ὅ δηλοῖ τὸ ἀφάνταστον τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶναι αὐτόν. Οὗτος γὰρ ἀεὶ τῶν ἔξω τυγχάνει, εἰ καὶ προσποιητῶς ἦλθε μετὰ τῶν παραστατῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 39.1124d

And the devil went out from before the Lord. 1 And according to some, if the devil had not gone out from God he would have done nothing against Job. And concerning the devil it is spoken more correctly than Cain: 'He went out from the face of God.' 2 which makes clear that the sight of God was nothing to him. For he is always excluded, even if he comes feigning to be as those who stand in the presence of God. Didymus the Blind, On Job, Fragment 1 Job 1.12 2 Gen 4.16

Acquiring Nobility

Καὶ ἦν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος εὐγενής, τῶν ἀφ' ἡλίου ἀνατολῶν. Πρὸς μὲν οὖν τὸ ῥητὸν, εὐγενὴς τοῦ ἀφ' ἡλίου ἀνατολῶν, λέγεται, διὰ τὴν κατὰ σάρκὰ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ οἰκειότητα· πρὸς δὲ ἀναγωγὴν, οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ φωτὸς, καὶ τέκνα Θεοῦ δι' ἔργων φωτεινῶν χρηματίζονται, οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀφ' ἡλίου ἀνατολῶν. Ὁ γὰρ δίκαιος εὐγένειαν κτᾶται, οὐκ ἀπ' ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τοῦ φωτὸς τοῦ ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης, καταλαμπομενην. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 39.1120c-d

And that man was of good birth among those who live in the direction of the rising sun. 1 According to the letter he was well born among those who live in the direction of the rising sun, because according to the flesh he was of the house of Abraham. According to the analogical sense the sons of light and the children of God, who are made so by the works of light, are named as those who dwell in the direction of the rising sun. For the righteous man does not acquire nobility from men but from the light of the sun of righteousness. Didymus the Blind, On Job, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.3

Sheep And Imitators

Μένουσι δὲ ὥσπερ πρόβατα αἰώνα. Ποῖος νοῦς ἐστι τοῦ· μενοῦσιν ὡς πρόβατα αἰώνια; Περι ὦν φησιν ὁ Χριστός· Τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς ἀκούουσι, καὶ ἐγὼ ζωὴν αἰώνιον δίδωμι αὐτοῦς, καὶ τὰ ἐξῆς· ταῦτα ἐστι τὰ αἰώνια πρόβατα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μῖμοί εἰσον οἱ ἑτερόδοξοι, καὶ ἐθέλουσι μιμεῖσθαι τῆν ποίμνην τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐπισκόπους ἑαυτοῖς χειροτονοῦντες, πρεσβυτέρους, διακόνους, διδασκάλους, λαὸν, κατηχουμένους, μιμούμενοι τα αἰώνια πρόβατα, πληροῦσι τό Μένουσι, δὲ ὡς πρόβατα αἰώνια. Οὐκ εἰσὶ δὲ πρόβατα αἰώνια, ἀλλὰ μένουσιν ὡς πρόβατα αἰώνια. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ Source: Migne PG 17.77c-d

There are like sheep eternal... 1 What does it mean: they are as sheep eternal? They are those concerning whom Christ said: 'My sheep hear my voice, and I shall give to them eternal life.' 2 They are the eternal sheep. But because there are the heterodox who are mimics, who wish to imitate the flock of Christ, who ordain for themselves bishops and priests and deacons and teachers, and the people, and catechumens, they are the imitators of the eternal sheep, so it is said that they are 'like' sheep eternal. For they are not the eternal sheep but they are like the eternal sheep. Origen, On Job, Fragment 1 Job 21.11 2 Jn 10.27-28

Trouble And Thanks

Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit... Job mel miscet absynthio; persecutioni gratiam et benedictionem, ut in gratiarum actione persecutionis amaritudo dulcescat: nec tantum fiat potus cum lacrymis in mensura, sed afflictionis absynthio, et melle gratiarum nectar acceptabile condiatur. Potasti nos, dicit propheta, vino compunctionis, sive tribulationis: sed huic vino Job de torrente voluptatis apponit: et quasi utatur verbis apostoli dicentis: Libenter gloriabor in infirmitatibus meis. Et: Quando infirmor, tunc fortior sum. Firmat animum suum ad omnium malorum tolerantiam, et de suis angustiis gloriatur. Legitur quod Aod filius Gera, ambidexter utraque manu pugnabat, cujus expressam similitudinem Job gerit, quia non minus sinistra pugnabat, quam dextra: fortis in prosperis, fortior in adversis. Talis erat Apostolus, sciens abundare, et penuriam pati, glorians in infirmitatibus suis, incedens medius per infamiam et bonam famam, per gloriam et ignobilitatem, adversa sine murmuratione sustinens, et faciens in omnibus de necessitate virtutem. Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source: Migne PL 207.812c-813b

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away... 1 Job mixes honey with wormwood, thanks and blessing with persecution, that by thanksgiving he might sweeten the bitterness of blows. Not only is there that cup measured out with tears, 2 but with the wormwood of affliction and with the honey of thanks an acceptable nectar may be made. 'You have given us,' the Prophet says, 'the wine of compunction to drink,' or 'of tribulation,' 3 but to this wine Job has added a flood of delight; and this is in harmony with the words of the Apostle: 'Happily I glory in my infirmities.' And: 'When I am weak, then I am strong.' 4 He strengthens his soul for the endurance of all evils, and he glories in his own limitations. It is written that Aod, the son of Gera, fought with both hands, 5 and Job bears a certain likeness to him, because he fought no less on his left as on his right, strong in prosperity, stronger in adversity. So also was the Apostle, knowing how to live in abundance and how to suffer poverty, 6 glorying in his infirmities, walking the middle path amid abuse and praise, 7 through glory and disgrace, enduring opposition without murmuring, and from necessity making virtue in everything. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.21 2 Ps 76.6 3 Ps 59.5 4 2 Cor 12.5,10 5 Judges 3.15-30 6 Phillip 4.11-12 7 2 Cor 6. 3-10

Church And Deeds

Sicut servus desiderat umbram, et sicut mercenarius praestolatur finem operis sui, sic et ego habui menses vacuos, et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi. Quae tamen sententia si ad vocem sanctae Ecclesiae ducitur, intellectus eius paulo subtilius indagatur. Ipsa quippe vacuos menses habet, quae in infirmis suis membris terrenas actiones absque vitae praemio defluentes sustinet. Ipsa noctes laboriosas enumerat, quae in membris fortibus multiplices tribulationes portat. In hac etenim vita quaedam laboriosa sunt, quaedam vacua, quaedam vero vacua simul et laboriosa. Amore quippe conditoris praesentis vitae tribulationibus exerceri laboriosum quidem est, sed vacuum non est. Amore autem saeculi voluptatibus solvi vacuum quidem est, sed non laboriosum. Amore vero eiusdem saeculi adversa aliqua perpeti et vacuum simul est et laboriosum, quia et ex adversitate mens afficitur, et remunerationis praemio non repletur. In his itaque sancta Ecclesia qui in ea iam positi adhuc voluptatibus defluunt, et proinde fructu boni operis non ditantur, menses vacuos ducit, quia vitae tempora sine retributionis munere expendit. In his vero qui, aeternis desideriis dediti mundi huius adversa patiuntur, laboriosas noctes enumerat, quia tribulationum tenebras quasi in caligine vitae praesentis portat. In his autem qui et transeuntem mundum diligunt, et tamen eius contrarietate fatigantur, simul menses vacuos et noctes laboriosas tolerat, quia eorum vitam et retributio subsequens nulla remunerat, et praesens tribulatio angustat. Recte autem nequaquam dies, sed in eis menses vacuos habere se perhibet. Mensium quippe nomine dierum collectio et summa signatur. Per diem ergo unaquaeque actio exprimitur, per menses autem actionum finis innuitur. Et saepe cum in hoc mundo aliquid agimus, intenta spei alacritate suspensi, hoc ipsum quod agimus vacuum non putamus; sed postquam ad actionum terminum pervenimus, non obtinentes quae appetimus, laborasse nos in vacuum dolemus. Non solum igitur dies, sed et menses vacuos ducimus, cum nos in terrenis actionibus sine fructu laborasse, non ex actionum principio, sed fine pensamus. Cum enim labores nostros adversitas sequitur, quasi vitae nostrae vacui menses arguuntur, quia ex completione actionum agnoscitur quam frustra in actionibus sudabatur. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber VIII, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 75.811a-d

As a servant desires the shade and as an hireling hopes for the end of his work, so I have had months of emptiness and I have numbered for myself wearisome nights. 1 Now if this sentence is understood as the voice of the Holy Church, its meaning may be pursued with a little more subtlety. For she herself has 'months of emptiness,' who in her weak members bears worldly actions which flow away to nothing, lacking the reward of life. She 'numbers to herself wearisome nights,' who in her strong members bears manifold afflictions. For in this life there are some things that are hard and some that are empty, and some that are both hard and empty at the same time. For from love of the Creator to undergo the afflictions of the present life is indeed hard, but not empty. To be undone in pleasures by the love of the world is indeed empty, but not hard. But to suffer any adversity amid the love of the world is at the same time both empty and hard, because the soul is afflicted by adversity and not refreshed with the compensation of reward. And so in those who are now placed in the Holy Church and undone amid pleasures, and who are thus not enriched with the fruit of good works, she passes 'months of emptiness,' because she passes periods of life without the gift of the reward. But in those who, being devoted to everlasting longings, endure the adversities of this world, 'she numbers herself wearisome nights,' because she, as it were in the gloom of the present life, undergoes the darkness of tribulation. But in those who love this transitory world and yet are wearied with its opposition, she bears at the same time 'days of emptiness,' and 'wearisome nights,' because no recompense comes after to reward their lives and present affliction oppresses them. But it is right she is presented as not having 'days' but 'months of emptiness' in these. For by the name of months the sum and total of days is signified. By 'day' therefore, each deed is expressed, but by 'months,' the end of the deeds is implied. And often when we act in this world, being swiftly lifted up by the intent of our hope, we do not think that that which we do is empty, but later when we come to the end of our deeds, not obtaining what we desired, we are aggrieved that we have laboured in vain. Thus we spend not only 'days', but even 'months of emptiness,' when in the beginning of our actions we do not think that we have been labouring in worldly deeds without fruit, but only at the end. For when trouble follows upon our deeds, it is as if the months of emptiness of our life condemn us, because it is only in the consummation of our actions that we understand how vainly we have exerted ourselves in our deeds. Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 8, Chap 8 1 Job 7.2-3