The Betrayal And The Kiss

Jesus autem dixit ei: Juda, osculo Filium hominis tradis? Filium, inquit, hominis tradis, quia caro, non divinitas, comprehenditur. Illud tamen plus confutat ingratum, quod eum tradiderit, qui cum esset Dei Filius proper nos tamen Filius hominis esse voluit. Et quasi dicat: Propter te suscepi, ingrate, quod tradis. Interrgative sane pronuntiandum puto, quasi amantis affectu corripiat proditorem. Juda, osculo Filium hominis tradis? hoc est, amoris pignre vulnus infligis, et charitatis officio sanguinem fundis, et pacis instrumento mortem irrogas, servus Dominum, discipulus prodis magistrum, electus auctorem. Sanctus Beda, In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber VI, Caput XXII Source: Migne PL 92.604b

And Jesus said to him, 'Judas, you betray the Son of man with a kiss?' 1 'You betray the Son of man,' He says, because the flesh is understood but not the Divinity. That, however, confutes the thankless one even more, because he would betray Him who as the Son of God yet wished to be a Son of man because of us. As if He said, 'Because of you I took up what you betray, O thankless one.' And this, I think, must be said interrogatively, as He corrects the traitor with the emotion of love. 'Judas, do you betray the Son of a man with a kiss?' That is, with the pledge of love you inflict a wound, and with the duty of charity you shed blood, and with the instrument of peace you impose death. A servant betrays his master, a pupil his teacher, a chosen one his Creator. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Book 6, Chapter 22 1 Lk 22.48

One Spirit Or Another

Ερωτ ΛΗ’ Πῶς νοητέον τὸ, Πνεῦμα πονηρὸν παρὰ Κυρίον ἔπνιγε τὸν Σαούλ; Τοῦ θείου Πνευματος ἀποστάντος, χώραν ἔλαβε τὸ παμπόνηρον πνεῦμα. Διδασκόμεθα δὲ ἐντεῦθεν μετὰ τοῦ Δαβὶδ βοᾷν· Τὸ Πνεῦμά σου τὸ ἅγιον μὴ ἀντανέλῃς ἀπ' ἐμου. Οὕτω τῆς ἀποστολικῆς χάριοτς τὸν Ἰούδαν καταλιπούσης, εἰσελήλυθεν εἰς αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Πρωτην Τῶν Βασιλειων Source: Migne PG 80.564d

Question 38 How should it be understood that 'An evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul' 1 When the divine Spirit has withdrawn, the wicked spirit takes its place. Which we are taught when David cries out: 'Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.' 2 Likewise the devil entered into Judas when the Apostolic grace left him. 3 Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On The First Book Of Kings 1 1 Kings 16.14 2 Ps 50.11 3 Jn 13.27

Calling Judas To Repent

Et edentibus illis dixit: Amen dico vobis, quia, etc. Ex magnitudine misericordiae suae voluit Dominus proditorem discipulum ad poenitentiam multis modis revocare, occultis videlicet notationibus, minis, sacramento unitatis, exemplo humilitatis. Occultis notationibus hoc modo: Cum Judas putaret conscientiam suam Deum latere, ostendit Christus eam manifestam esse, tamen non nominando discipulum, ne impudentiorem faceret manifeste redargutum; dum tangit crimen, ad poenitentiam invitat. Silet nomen, ne impudentior fiat. Minis revocat, cum ait: Vae illi per quem Filius hominis tradetur, etc. Sacramento unitatis, cum corpus suum ei tradit; exemplo humilitatis, cum ei pedes abluit. Et contristati sunt, etc. Certum est quia undecim discipuli non erant sibi conscii, sed tamen plus credunt magistro quam sibi. Timentes ergo fragilitatem suam, ne in eis esset voluntas futura proditionis, interrogant illum cui omnia patent futura, dicentes: Nunquid ego sum, Domine? etc. Qui intingit mecum, etc. Dum perseverat proditor in malo, manifestius arguit, et tamen nomen proprie non designat. Judas caeteris contristatis, et retrahentibus manum, temeritate et impudentia qua proditurus erat, illam manum cum Magistro misit in paropside, ut audacia bonam conscientiam mentiretur. Matthaeus dicit in paropsiae. Marcus in catino. Paropsis est vas escarum quadrangulatum a paribus assibus, id est aequis lateribus dictum. Catinum vero vas fictile apertum, ad immittendum liquorem, et potuit fieri ut in mensa vas fictile a quadrangulis contineretur. Sequitur: Filius quidem hominis vadit, sicut scriptum est de illo. Vae autem homini illi per quem, etc. Nec primo nec secundo correctus a proditione pedem retrahit, sed patientia Domini impudentiam suam nutrit et iram Dei thesaurizat sibi. Poena igitur praedicitur sibi, ut quem pudor non vinceret, corrigant denuntiata supplicia. Sed et hodie et in sempiternum, vae homini illi, qui ad mensam Domini malignus accedit, qui praecordis aliquo scelere imbutus, pollutis sacrosanctis mysteriis participari non metuit. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput XXVI Source: Migne PL 162.1469a-1469d

And as they ate, He said to them, 'Amen I say to you that... 1 Because of the greatness of His mercy the Lord wished to call to repentance the disciple who was to betray Him, and this by many ways, by subtle intimation, by threats, by the sacrament of unity, and the example of humility. By subtle intimation in this way: when Judas thought his conscience was hidden from God, Christ showed it was open to Him, not however by naming the disciple, lest He make his denial more shameless. While the evil touched him He invited him to repentance. He named him silently, lest he become more shameless. And He called him by threats when He said: 'Alas to the man through whom the Son of man shall be betrayed...' By the sacrament of unity, when He gave His body to him. And by the example of humility when He washed his feet. And they were aggrieved... It is certain that eleven of the disciples did not feel guilt about themselves, yet they trusted in their teacher more than themselves. Thus fearing their fragility, lest the will of the future betrayer might be found in them, they questioned Him to whom all future things are revealed, saying: 'Is it I, Lord?' 'He who has dipped...' When the traitor persevered in evil, He openly confronted him, and yet He did not pronounce his name. Judas, aggrieved with the others, likewise withdrew his hand, with the temerity and insolence by which he was to commit betrayal, that hand he had sent into the teacher's dish so that he might boldly lie of a good conscience. Mark speaks of a 'paropsis' here, Mark of a 'catinus'. The 'paropsis' is said to be a square eating dish, with equal sides. The 'catinus' is an open earthenware bowl, into which liquid is poured, and it is possible that the earthenware bowl was placed on the square dish on the table. It shall go with the Son of Man as it is written of Him, but woe to that man through whom... Neither the first or the second correction had stayed the feet of the traitor, but the patience of the Lord fed his insolence and heaped up the anger of God. He thus foretold punishment for him, that the pronouncements of punishments might correct him whom shame could not overcome. And even today and forever woe to that man who comes in wickedness to the table of the Lord, whose heart is imbued with some crime, for his pollution does not merit that he should partake of the holy mysteries. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 26 1 Mt 26.11

Sins Of The Fathers

Videamus nunc et quod sequitur, quomodo reddit dicuntur peccata patrum in filios, in tertiam et quartam progeniem. In hoc enim sermone solent nos haeretici suggilare, quod non sit boni Dei sermo, qui pro peccatis alterius alium plecti dicat. Sed secundum ipsorum rationem, qui Deum legis mandantem haec licet non bonum, justum tamen dicunt, ne ipsi quidem possunt ostendere, quomodo secundum sensum suum justitiae suae convenire videatur, si alius alio peccante puniatur. Superest igitur ut Dominum deprecemur, ut ostendat nobis quomodo praecepta haec justo bonoque conveniant Deo. Saepe jam diximus, quod Scripturae divina non omnia ad exteriorem hominem, sed perplura ad interiorem loquuntur. Interior igitur homo noster aut Deum dicitur habere patrem, si secundum Deum vivit, et quae Dei sunt agit; aut diabolum, si in peccatis sit, et voluntates illius gerat: sicut evidenter in Evangeliis Salvator ostendit, cum dicit: Vos de patre diabolo estis, et desideria patris vestri facere vultis. Ille homicida fuit ab initio, et in veritate non stetit. Sicut ergo semen Dei in nobis dicitur manere, cum verbum Dei servantes in nobis non peccamus, ut Joannes dicit: Qui autem ex Deo est, non peccat, quia semen Dei manet in eo; ita etiam cum a diabolo ad peccandum suademur, semen ejus suscipimus. Cum vero opere etiam implemus, tunc iam et genuit nos. Nascimur enim ei filii per peccatum. Verum quia peccantes vix fere accidit ut sine adjutore peccemus, sed aut ministros peccati, aut adjutores peccemus, verbi causa, si adulterium quis molitur, non potest hoc solus admittere, sed necesse est etiam adulteram consortem fieri sociamque peccati; tunc praetera etsi non plures, esse tamen necesse est aliquem vel aliquam in ministeriis ad societatem peccati, qui omnes velut unus ex altero secundum persuasionis ordinem generati ex patre diabolo noxiae nativitatis progeniem ducunt. Et ut ad ea quae scripta sunt veniamus, Dominus majestatis Jesus Christus Salvator noster crucifixus est. Hujus piaculi auctor et pater sceleris sine dubio diabolus est. Sic enim scriptum est: Cum autem introisset diabolus in cor Judae Iscariotis, ut traderet eum. Pater ergo peccati diabolus est. Iste in hoc scelere primum filium generat Judam, sed solus hoc Judas implere non poterat. Quid ergo scriptum est? Abiit, inquit, Judas ad Scribas et Pharisaeos, et ad Pontifices, dicens eis: Quid mihi datis, et ego vobis eum tradam? Nascitur ergo ex Juda generatio tertia et quarta peccati. Et hunc ordinem deprehendere poteris etiam in singulus quibusque peccatis. Nunc ergo videamus secundum hanc quam diximus progeniem, quomodo Deus peccata patrum reddat in filios, et in tertiam et in quartam progeniem, et in ipsos non reddat patres. Nihil enim de patribus dixit Deus. Diabolus ergo qui peccandi jam modum excessit, sicut propheta dicit, quemadmodum vestimentum in sanguine concretum, non erit mundum, ita et ipse non erit mundus in hoc saeculo, neque corripitur pro peccato neque flagellatur: omnia namque ei servata sunt in futurum. Unde et ipse sciens sibi illud statutum esse tempus poenarum dicebat ad salvatorem: Quare venisti ante tempus torquere nos? Dum ergo stat hic mundus, peccata sua non recipit diabolus, qui est peccantium pater. Redduntur autem peccata in filios, id est in eos quos genuit per peccatum. Etenim homines in carne positi corripiuntur a Domino, verberantur, flagellantur. Non enim vult Dominus mortem peccatoris, sed ut revertantur, et vivat. Et propterea benignus et misericors Dominus reddit peccata patrum in filios, ut quondam patres, id est diabolus et angeli eius, caeterique principes mundi hujus et rectores tenebrarum harum, et ipsi enim efficiuntur patres peccati, sicut et diabolus, quoniam, inquam, patres indigni sunt qui in hoc saeculo corripiantur, sed in futuro recipient quae merentur, filii eorum, id est, quos peccare persuaserint, et qui nihilominus per ipsos asciti fuerunt ad consortium societatemque peccati, hic recipiant quae gesserunt, ut purgatiores ad futurum saeculum pergant et ultra diabolo socii non efficiantur in poena. Quia ergo misericors est Dominus, et omnes homines vult salvos fieri, propterea dicit: Visitabo in virga ferrea facinora eorum, et in flagellis peccata eorum. Misericordiam autem meam non auferam ab eis. Origenes, In Exodo, Homilia VIII Source: Migne PG 12.358d-359

Let us see now what follows, how the sins of the father are said to be returned to the sons, even to the third and fourth generation. 1 With this passage heretics are accustomed to insult us, that it cannot be the word of a good God who says that for the sins of one he punishes another. For according to their reasoning, with God commanding what is not good, they who yet call Him just are not able to demonstrate how, according to their mind, it seems to befit justice that a man is punished for the sin of another. It remains, then, for us to pray to the Lord, that He show to us how this teaching can befit a good and just God. Often we have said that the divine things of Scripture are not all spoken to the exterior man but far more to the interior man. Therefore the interior man is said to have God for his father if he lives according to God, and he does the things of God, or he has the devil for a father if he is in sin, and he performs his will, as is openly shown in the Gospel of the Saviour, when He says, 'You are from your father the devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and he did not stand in the truth.' 2 So the seed of God is said to remain in us, when attending to the word of God in us we do not sin, as John says, 'He who is from God, does not sin, because the seed of God abides in him.' 3 Thus when the devil persuades us to sin, we receive his seed. When however we fulfil his work, then he gives birth to us. We are born as his sons through sin. Truly because it scarcely happens that we sin without a helper, we require either servants or associates in sin. For the sake of example, when a man commits adultery, it is not possible he does it alone, but it is necessary he has a companion and associate for the sin, and then even if it is not many, yet it is necessary there is someone to serve as associate in sin, who all one from the other, according to the order of persuasion, lead to the generation from the father the devil of the offspring of a vile nativity. And that to these things written we may come, our Lord Jesus Christ and Saviour was crucified. The author of this sin and crime was undoubtedly the devil. For so it is written, 'Then the devil entered into the heart of Judas Iscariot, that he betray Him.' 4 The devil, then, is the father of sin. He by that crime generated his first son Judas, Judas alone was not able to do this. What, then, is written? 'Judas went out,' it is said, 'to the Scribes and Pharisees and to the High Priests, saying to them: 'What will you give me that I hand him over to you?' 5 Thus there is born from Judas the third and fourth generation of sin. And this order you can grasp in each sin. Now, therefore, let us see according to the offspring we have spoken about, how God returns the sins of the fathers to the sons, even to the third and fourth generation, and He does not return it to the fathers themselves. For God says nothing about the fathers. The devil, therefore, has already excelled on the way of sin, as the prophet says, 'as a vestment hardened with blood, he shall not be clean,' 6 so he shall not be clean in this world, he shall not be corrected nor whipped, for everything is reserved for him in the future. Whence even he, aware of the situation regarding the time of punishment, says to the Saviour: 'Why do you come before the time to torment us?' 7 While, then, this world exists, the devil does not receive his sins, he who is the father of sinners. But the sins are returned to the sons, that is, to those he birthed through sin. Indeed men in the flesh are corrected by the Lord, they receive blows, they are whipped. For the Lord does not wish the death of sinners, but that they turn and live. 8 On account of this the kind and merciful Lord returns the sins of the fathers to the sons, because the one-time fathers, that is, the devil and his angels, and the other princes of this world, and the powers of this darkness, 9 (for even they are made fathers of sin, just like the devil,) because, I say, the fathers are unworthy of correction in this world but in the future shall receive what they deserve, their sons, that is, those they have persuaded to sin, and those others who were associated with them as companions and associates of sin, here they receive what they have done, that purified they may go forward to the future age and not be made associates of the devil in punishment. Because, therefore, the Lord is merciful, and He wishes to save all men, 10 so He says: 'I shall visit their crimes with an iron rod and their sins with whips. For my mercy shall not be taken from them.' 11 Origen, On Exodus, from Homily 8 1 Exod 20.5 2 Jn 3.44 3 1 Jn 3.9 4 Jn 13.2 5 Mt 26.14-15 6 Isaiah 9.5 7 Mt 8.29 8 Ezek 33.11 9 Ephes 6.12 10 Tim 2.4 11 Ps 89.32

Day And Night

Dies diei eructat verbum, et nox nocti indicat scientiam. Dies diei eructabat verbum, quando Dominus loquebatur apostolis. Ipse enim divina claritate irradians, corde purissimis verba coelestis luminis intimabat. Eructabat enim verbum, cum de imis penetralibus sermones in sanctorum notitiam perducebat. Nox autem nocti indicabat scientiam, quando Judas Christum Judaeis prodidit ac tradidit occidendum. Indicare enim pertinet ad proditionem. Tale enim inter se fecerant constitutum, ut illum tenerent, quem fuissset sceleratissimus osculatus. O nefandissimum proditorem, et juste a beatorum societate discretum! Per osculum causam fecit venire interitus, per quod humani generis declaratur affectus. Nam quod diem diei et notem nocti comparavit, argumentum est quod dicitur a pari; sicut et in quadragesimo primo psalmo dicturus est: Abyssus absyssum invocat, in voce cataractarum tuarum. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XVIII Source: Migne PL 70.138c-d

Day to day pours forth speech, night to night hands over knowledge. 1 Day to day poured forth speech, when the Lord spoke to His Apostles. For He, blazing with Divine brightness, with purest light infused heavenly words in the heart. For He pours forth the word when with speech concerning the inmost things He leads into the knowledge of holy things. Night however, handed over knowledge to night when Judas betrayed Him to the Jews and handed Him over to death. 2 For 'to hand over' pertains to treachery. O most wicked traitor, and rightly cut off from the society of the blessed! By a kiss he caused murder to come forth, by that through which the human race declares affection. For that he compares 'day to day' and 'night to night' is the argument which argues from similar propositions, as in the forty fourth Psalm it is said: 'Abyss invokes abyss, in the voice of your cataracts.' 3 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 18 1 Ps 18.2 2 Mt 26.43 3 Ps 41.8

Betrayal And Salvation

Dicit Apostolus, quod oporteat haereses esse. Oportet autem, non haereticis quod sunt esse, sed catholicis sustinere quod non sunt. Sicut de Juda traditore suo Dominus dixit, quod bonum fuerat homini illi non nasci. Inde enim ait illi, quia suum nasci illi malum erat qui tradidit, nobis bonum, ad quos salus ex traditione pervenit. Sancti Aviti Viennensis, Ex Libris contra Arianos Source: Migne PL 59.307b

The Apostle says, 'It is necessary that there be heresies.' 1 For it is necessary not that there are heretics, but that Catholics endure what they are not. So the Lord said of the betrayer Judas that it were better that he had not been born. 2 And He says this to him because his birth was evil to him who did betray, but to us a good, to whom salvation came from betrayal. Saint Avitus of Vienne, Fragment from Books against The Arians 1 1 Cor 11.19 2 Mt 26.21

Ways Of Betrayal

Exinde quaerabat opportunitatem ut eum traderet eis. Hunc locum manifestius Lucas evangelista disseruit dicens: Et quaerebat opportunitatem ut traderet illum sine turbis. Hoc enim fuit opportunitas Judae quam quaerebat, ut traderet magistrum, quod fuit timor sacerdotum ne tumultus fieret in populo. Ipsum ergo meditabantur simul venditor et emptores, ne impediretur fraudulentia factio eorum per impetum populi, ne per vim eriperetur Jesus de manibus eorum. Multi ergo hodie Judae scelus, quod Dominum ac magistrum Deumque suum pecunia vendiderit, velut immane et nefarium exhorrent, nec tamen cavent. Nam cum pro muneribus falum contra quemlibet testimonium dicunt, profecto quia veritatem pro pecunia negant, Deum pecunia vendunt. Ipse enim dixit: Ego sum veritas. Cum societetam fraternitatis aliqua discordiae peste commaculant, Deum produnt, quia Deus charitas est. Qui ergo charitatis et veritatis jura spernunt, Deum utique, qui est charitas et veritas, produnt: maxime cum non infirmitate vel ignorantia peccant, sed in similitudine Judae quaerunt opportunitatem qualiter arbitris absentibus mendacio veritatem, virtutem, crimine mutent. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber VIII Source: Migne PL 107.1102d-1103a

From then he sought an opportunity to betray Him to them... 1 This passage the Evangelist Luke gives more openly, saying: 'And he sought an opportunity to betray Him apart from the crowds.' 2 For this was the opportunity that Judas sought, so that he might betray his teacher, because the priests feared there would be a tumult among the people. Therefore seller and buyer were thinking on the same things, that their deceit not be impededed by the obstacle of the people, and they be unable to seize Jesus by the strength of their own hands. And the crime of Judas happens often today, because to sell the Lord and Teacher and God for money is a monstrous wickedness which men should abhor, yet they will not be admonished. For when they tell lies about anyone for gifts, without doubt they deny the truth for money, and so they sell God for money. For He Himself said: 'I am the truth.' 3 When someone defiles the harmony of a brotherhood with the pest of discord, he betrays God, because God is love. 4 Therefore they who spurn the law of love and truth, they betray God, who is love and truth, especially when it is not because of weakness or ignorance that they sin, but as a likeness of Judas they seek an opportunity, that in the absence of judges they might change truth for a lie, virtue for wickedness. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 8 1 Mt 26.16 2 Lk 22.6 3 Jn 14.6 4 1 Jn 4.16

Considering Commands

Iterum quaestio: Sciebat praevaricaturum Deus Adam mandata sua, an nesciebat? Si nesciebat, non est ista divinae potestatis assertio: si autem sciebat, et nihilominus sciens negligenda mandavit, non est Dei aliquid superfluum praecipere. Superfluum autem praecepit protoplasto illi Adae, quod cum noverat minime servaturum: nihil autem Deus superfluum facit; ergo non est Scriptura ex Deo. Hoc enim objiciunt, qui Vetus non recipiunt Testamentum, et has interserunt quaestiones. Verum hi sua sententia et opinione vincendi sunt. Cum enim novi Testamenti non refutant fidem, exemplo sunt arguendi, ut vetus credant: quoniam cum sibi divina praecepta et facta conveniant, unius auctoris Testamentum utrumque liquet esse credendum. Discant igitur non superfluum, non injustum etiam praevaricaturo praescriptum esse mandatum. Nam et ipse Dominus Jesus elegit Judam, quem proditorem sciebat. Quem si per imprudentiam electum putant, divinae derogant potestati. Sed hoc aestimare non possunt, cum Scriptura dicat: Quia sciebat Jesus quis eum proditurus esset. Conticescant igitur repugnatores isti veteris Testamenti. Sed quoniam etiam gentilibus, si forte istud objecerint, respondendum videtur, qui exemplum non recipiunt, rationem exigunt; accipiant etiam ipsi qua ratione Dei Filius vel praevaricaturo mandaverit, vel elegerit proditurum. Venerat Dominus Jesus omnes salvos facere peccatores, etiam circa impios ostendere suam debuit voluntatem. Et ideo nec proditurum debuit praeterire; ut adverterent omnes, quod in electione etiam proditoris sui servandorum omnium insigne praetendit, nec in eo laesus est vel Adam, quia mandatum accepit, vel Judas, quia electus est. Non enim necessitatem Deus vel illi praevaricationis, vel huic proditionis imposuit, quia uterque si quod acceperat, custodisset, a peccato abstinere potuisset. Denique nec Judaeos omnes credituros sciebat, et tamen ait: Non veni nisi ad oves perditas domus Israel. Ergo non in mandante culpa est, sed in praevaricante peccatum est. Et quod in Deo fuit, ostendit omnibus quod omnes voluit liberare. Nec tamen dico quia praevaricationem nesciebat futuram, immo quia sciebat assero: sed non ideo pereuntis proditoris invidiam in se debuit derivare, ut ascriberetur Deo, quod uterque sit lapsus. Nunc autem uterque redarguitur, atque reconvincitur; quia et ille mandatum ne laberetur accepit, et hic etiam in apostolatus munus adscitus est, ut vel beneficio Dei revocaretur a proditionis affectu; simul ut dum alii revincuntur, prodesset omnibus. Non enim consisteret peccatum, si interdictio non fuisset. Non consistente autem peccato, non solum malitia, sed etiam virtus fortasse non esset: quae nisi aliqua malitiae fuissent semina, vel subsistere vel eminere non posset. Quid est enim peccatum, nisi praevaricatio legis divinae, et coelestium inobedientia praeceptorum? Non enim auribus corporis de mandatis coelestibus judicamus: sed cum esset Dei verbum, opiniones quaedam nobis boni et mali pullularunt; dum id quod malum est, naturaliter intelligimus esse vitandum, et id quod bonum est naturaliter nobis intelligimus esse praeceptum. In eo igitur vocem Domini videmur audire, quod alia interdicat, alia praecipiat. Et ideo si quis non obedierit illis quae semel a Deo praecepta credimus, poenae obnoxius aestimatur. Dei autem praeceptum non quasi in tabulis lapideis atramento legimus inscriptum, sed cordibus nostris tenemus impressum spiritu Dei vivi. Ergo opinio nostra ipsa sibi legem facit. Si enim gentes quae legem non habent, naturaliter ea quae legis sunt, faciunt; ejusmodi legem non habentes ipsi sibi sunt lex, qui ostendunt opus legis scriptum in cordibus suis. Opinio igitur humana sibi tamquam Dei lex est. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 14.291d-293a

Again a question: 'Did God know that Adam would disobey His commands, or did He not know? If He did not know, it is a detraction from Divine power; if He knew, and nevertheless commanded which He knew would be disregarded, it is not Godlike to give an unnecessary order. It was superfluous to issue a command to the first created Adam which He knew would not be observed. But God does nothing superfluous, therefore, this Scripture is not from God.' Now they who do not accept the Old Testament give this as an objection and so they propose these questions. Truly these are to be condemned from their own thought and opinion. When they do not withold trust in the New Testament, they must be convinced by example that they should believe the Old, because when they see His commands and His deeds harmonise, it is clear that they must believe that both Testaments are the work of one Author. Let them learn, then, that a command to one who will disobey is not something unjust or superfluous. The Lord Himself chose Judas, whom He knew would betray Him. Which if they think that he was chosen unwisely, they diminish the power of God. But they cannot judge so, since Scripture says: 'For Jesus knew who it was who would betray Him.' 1 Those who are hostile to the Old Testament should therefore be silent. But because it apears that the Gentiles, if they should object to this also must have their reply, they who will not admit example but demand reason, let them understand for what reason the Son of God either commanded one who would disobey or chose a betrayer. The Lord Jesus came to save all sinners; 2 even for the impious He had to show care, and therefore it was not that he should have passed over a traitor, that all might see that in the choice of traitor was a sign of His service of all; no injury was done to Adam because he received a command, nor Judas, because he was chosen. God did not impose it as a necessity that one disobey him and the other become a traitor, because both, if they had guarded what they received, were able to avoid sin. Then He knew that not all the Jews would believe, yet He still said: 'I have not come but to the lost sheep of Israel.' 3  Therefore there is no fault in commanding, but the sin is in the one who disobeys. God's intent was this: He showed to everyone that He wished everyone to be free. I do not say, however, that He did not know of the future disobedience to come. Rather, I assert that He did know, but that He should not therefore be reproved for the envy of a betrayer going to destruction, so that the cause of the fall of both is ascribed to God. For now both are convicted, and condemned, because the former received a command not to fall, and the latter was enrolled among the Apostles, that he, by the kindness of God, might be recalled from his intention to betray, and that at that time when the others were overthrown he might be a help to all. There would not be any sin if there were no prohibition. Without the existence of sin there would not only be no wickedness but, perhaps, not even virtue, which unless their were seeds of wickedness, there would be no falling short or preeminence. What indeed is sin, if not disregard of Divine law and disobedience to heavenly commands? Not by the ear of the body do we judge heavenly commands, but only with the Word of God can we bring forth opinions on good and evil, so that naturally we understand what should be avoided is evil and what is naturally good for us to be a command. In this, then, we seem to hear the voice of the Lord, that some things are forbidden and other things commanded. And therefore if someone does not obey those things which are believed to have been once commanded by God, he is considered to be liable to punishment. The commands of God we do not read as if they were recorded in ink on a tablet of stone, but they are impressed in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God. 4 Thus in our own thought we conceive a law. 'If the Gentiles who have no law do by nature what the law prescribes, those having no law of this kind are a law to themselves. They show the work of the law written in their hearts.' 5 Therefore human opinion to itself is as the Law of God. Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, Chapter 8 1 Jn 6.65 2 Lk 19.10 3 Prov 5.15 4 2 Cor 3.3 5 Rom 2.14-15

Unworthy Of Communion

Post quae Judas proditor indicatur, sine quo pascha accepto calice et fracto pane conficitur: dignus enim aeternorum sacramentorum communione non fuerat. Nam discessisse statim hinc intelligitur, quod cum turbis reversus ostenditur. Neque sane bibere cum Domino poterat, qui non erat bibiturus in regno: cum universos, tunc bibentes ex vitis istius fructu, bibituros secum postea polliceretur. Hymnoque ducto, in montem reversi sunt. Consummatis scilicet universis divinorum mysteriorum virtutibus, gaudio et exsultione communi in coelestem gloriam efferuntur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap XXX Source: Migne PL 9  1065b-c

After which Judas is shown as the traitor, without whom the Passover is completed with the receiving of the cup and the breaking of bread; indeed he was not worthy to partake of the communion of the eternal sacraments. For it is understood that he had immediately left because he was to return with a mob. Certainly he was not able to drink with the Lord because he was not going to drink the cup in the kingdom. The Lord promised that all who were then drinking from the fruit of the vine would drink with Him thereafter. 'When they had sung a hymn they returned to the mount' 2 that is, once everything was fulfilled by the power of the Divine mysteries, they went out joyfully, rejoicing together in heavenly glory. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 30 1 Mt 26.30

The Sign Of The Kiss

Qui autem tradidit eum, dedit eis signum, dicens: Quencumque osculatus fuero, ipse est tenete eum. Et confestim accedens ad Iesum dixit: Ave Rabbi. Et osculatus est eum. Dixitque illi Iesus: Amice, ad quid venisti? Hic ponitur traditoris signum: et tanguntur duo. Determinatio videlicet signi per verbum: et exhibitio per opus. De primo dicit Cum diabolus misisset in cor, ut traderet eum Judas Simonis filius Iscariothis. Et nota studium malitiae, et dolum. Studium in hoc quod signum dedit: dolum in hoc, quod non aperte videretur eum persequi, sed ex confidentia familiaritatis accedere ad osculum amoris. Homo apostata, vir inutilis, graditur ore perverso, annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur, prano corde machinatur malo. Fraudulenti vasa pessima sunt. Ipse enim cogitationes concinnavit ad perdendos mites in sermone mendacii, cum loqueretur pauper iudicium. Sed quaeritur. Quare signum dabat de eo, qui omnibus continuo fuit manifestus? Et ad hoc Hierony, quod putabat signa, quae feceret Salvator, magicis esse facta artibus. Et quia in monte audierat tranfiguratum, timebat ne aliam faciem sibi sumeret, et sic evaderet manus capientium, si palam ut persecutor accessisset suae proditioni congruum, sed homicido valde inconsonum. Posuerunt signa sua, signa. Cuius adventus erit secundum operationem erroris insignis mendacibus. Sicut agnus a lupo osculatur. Meliora sunt vulnera amici, quam fradulenta odientis oscula. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium in Mattheum,Caput XXVI Source: Here

He who betrayed Him, gave them a sign, saying: 'Him who I shall kiss, seize him.' And quickly coming to Jesus he said: 'Hail, Rabbi.' And he kissed him. And Jesus said to Him, 'Friend, why do you come?' 1 Here the sign of the traitor is given, and it touches on two things. The meaning of the sign by the word, and the exhibition by the work. Concerning the first it says: 'When the devil entered into his heart, that Judas Simon son of Iscariot betray Him.' 2 And note the desire for evil and the cunning. The desire is given in the sign, the cunning in this, that he did not openly appear to persecute Him, but on the strength of friendship he approached for the kiss of peace. 'A godless man, a worthless man going about with vile speech, winking with his eyes, stamping down with the foot, speaking with his finger.' 3 'The worst vessels are deceitful; he arranges his thoughts for the destruction of the meek with lying words, when the poor man asks for judgement.' 4 But let it be asked: why did he give a sign which was manifest to everyone? Concerning this Jerome says that he thought the signs which the Saviour had done were performed by magic arts. And because he heard of the Transfiguration on the mount, he feared lest He take on another face and so escape the hands that would seize Him, if he approached as as open persecutor, so he gave to them a sign befitting a traitor, but inappropriate for a murderer. 'They have set up their signs for signs.' 5 'His coming will be according to the work of error, with deceitful wonders.' 6 So a lamb is kissed by a wolf. 'Better the wounds of a friend than the deceitful kisses of an enemy.' 7 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 26 1 Mt 26.48-49 2 Jn 13.27 3 Prov 6.12-14 4 Isaiah 32.7 5 Ps 73.4 6 2 Thes 2.9 7 Prov 27.6

Peter And Judas, House Builders

Ἑτέρα η' Ἄνθρωπός τις ᾠκοδόμησε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν.  Τίς ὁ ἄνθρωπος; Ὁ ἅγιος Πέτρος· πέτρα, ὁ Χριστός· οἰκία, ἡ πίστις· ἄνεμος ὁ διάβολος. Ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον οἰκοδομήσας Ἰούδας· ἄμμος γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἀκαρπία. Ψευδο Ἀθανάσιος, Πησεις Και Ἐρμηνειαι Παραβολων Του Ἅγιον Εὔαγγελιου Source: Migne PG 28.712c-713a

Question 8 A certain man built his house on a rock...1 Who is the man? Saint Peter. The rock is Christ. The house is faith. The wind is the devil. And the one who built his house on the sand is Judas, for the sand gives no fruit. Pseudo-Athanasius, Words And Interpretations of the Holy Gospel 1 Mt 7.24

Choosing Suffering

Ὁ δὲ Ἰἠσοῦς εἶπειν αὐτῷ· Ἑταὶρε, ἐφ' ᾧ πάρει; Τότε προσελθόντει, ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ ἐκράτησαν αὐτόν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα τὸ συμβὰν οὐχὶ πάντη τε καὶ πάντως θελητὸν ἧν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ' οὖν τῆς πάντων ἕνεκα σωτηρίας καὶ ζωῆς, ἐκούσιον ἐποιήσατο τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ πάθος, Ἥδει τὰ ἐντεῦθεν ἐσόμενα κατορθώματα, καὶ ὅτι τὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν ἀνακαινεῖ, καὶ αἵματι τῷ οἰκείῳ κατακτήσεται τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐποιήσατο θελητὸν, καίτοι ἀβούλητον ὅν τὸ παθεῖν, τίς ἂν νοοῖτο λοιπὸν ἡ πρόφασις τοῦ προσεύχεσθαι καὶ λέγειν αὐτὸν, Πατερ, εὶ δυνατὸν, παρελθέτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο; Καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα. Θέα δὲ πῶς ἀνεθέλητον μὲν τῷ Σωτῆρι τὸ πάθος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ πάντη τε καὶ πάντως ὑπομεῖναι ἐχρῆν διὰ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ παθεῖν ἀγαθὰ, θελητὸν ἐποιήσατο δι' ἡμᾶς. Οὐ γὰρ ἠπείλσε τῷ προδότῃ τὸ παντὸς ἐπέκεινα διελᾶσαι κακοῦ, καὶ ὅτι κρεῖττον ἧν αὐτῷ τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἂν ὅλωη κολάσεως ἄξιον ἡγήσατό ποτε τῶν ἰδίων θελημάτων τὸν ὑπουργὸν, εἴπερ ἧν αὐτῷ θελητὸν τὸ παθεῖν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Migne PG 72. 456

And Jesus said, 'Friend, why do you come?' And then they drew near and put their hands on Him and held Him. 1 For even if it was not at all according to His will that these things come to be, yet on account of the salvation and life of all, He made the choice for the suffering of the cross. For certainly He knew that from that would come victory and it would bring about the renewal of the nature of man, his own blood given to God the Father. And yet if He had made the passion His choice, although averse, why was it that He prayed, saying, 'Father if possible, take this cup from me,' 2 and the rest after that? Observe how the passion was not wished for by the Saviour, but because He should suffer all that by suffering good come to all, so He made His choice for us. For after this decision He does not cry out against the traitor on account of him commiting the gravest crime, nor does He now say 'Better if this man had not been born,' 3 for he is not now to be censured with the threat of punishment when he acts according to the determination of His will, since He had chosen to suffer. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 26.50 2 Mt 26.42 3 Mt 26.24

The Devil Would Be Nothing

Diabolus nihil esset, si essent sollicitores homines et cautiores. Aut quid in homine umquam praevaluit ille virtute, nisi arte, mendacio, insidiis, fraude, dolo, nequitia, vitiorum ministerio, furore criminum? Ille voluntates hominum semper explorat, et bonas quidem voluntates refugit; malis autem voluntatibus obsecundat, ut sit minister scelerum, criminum leno, parasitus ipse vitiorum. Et quia potestate non potest, dominatur turpissimus mentibus turpissima servitute. Sic mendacio decepit Evam, sic cupiditate laqueavit Judam. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CV

The devil would be nothing, if men were more careful and cautious. When did he ever have such strength to prevail over a man expect by cleverness, or lies, or treachery, or fraud, or deception, or malice, or use of the vices, or by the madness of sins? He always examines the wills of men, and flies from the good will, but he cleaves to bad wills, that he be a servant of wickedness, a procurer of sins, a parasite of vices. And since alone he is powerless, he rules over the most despicable minds in the most despicable slavery. So he deceived Eve with a lie  and snared Judas with greed. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 105

The Dead, The Living, and The Unborn

Et laudavi ego mortuos, qui jam mortui sunt, super viventes quicumque ipsi vivunt usque nunc. Et melior super hos duos qui nondum natus est, qui nondum vidit opus malum, quod factum est sub sole. Ad comparitionem miseriarum, quae in hoc saeculo mortales premunt, feliciores judicavi mortuos, quam viventes, secundum illud Job de inferis disputantis: 'Ibi requieverunt lassi corpore, cum his qui vincti fuerant, jam securi, non audientes vocem exactoris  Melior autem est his duobus, vivente videlicet et defuncto, qui necdum natus est. Alius enim adhuc mala patitur, alius quasi de naufrasgio nudus evasit. Porro qui necdum natus est, in eo felicior est, quod necdum mala mundi expertus est. Hoc autem dicit, non quod qui necdum natus est, ante sit quam nascatur, et in eo felicior sit, quia necdum corpore praegravatus est: sed quod melius sit omnino non esse, nec sensum habere substantiae, quam infeliciter vel esse, vel vivere. Quomodo et de Juda Dominus loquitur, futura ejus tormenta significans: Melius erat non nasci homini illi  quod melius ei fuerit omnino non esse, quam aeternos cruciatus perpeti. Alii vero hunc locum ita intelligunt: Meliores esse dicentes eos, qui mortui sunt, ab his qui vivunt, licet ante fuerint peccatores. Viventes enim adhuc esse in praelio, et quasi clausos corporis ergastulo retentari; qui vero mortem obierint, jam esse securos, et peccare desisse. Sicut et Joannes, quo major non fuit in natis mulierum , minor est eo, qui minimus est in regno coelorum, et corporis onere liberatus, nescit cum Apostolo dicere: Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit, de corpore mortis hujus  Meliorem autem his duobus esse eum, qui necdum natus est, nec vidit mala, quibus in mundo homines deprimuntur.  Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

'And I praised the dead, who had already died, over the living who now were living. And better than these two those who have not yet been born, who have not yet seen the evil that is done beneath the sun.' 1  By a comparison of miseries, which presses on the mortal men of this age, happier he judges the dead than living, according to which Job argues concerning those deceased: There rest the weary bodies, with those who were conquered, now safe, not hearing the voice of the exactor.' 2 Better than these two, the living and the dead, is he who has not been born. For the one suffers evils now and the other is as one who has escaped naked from a shipwreck. However, he who has not yet been born, in this is happier, that he has not yet experience of the evils of the world. He says not that he who is not yet born before he is born in that is happier, because the body does not yet weigh down, but better it is not to be, not to have sense of things, than to be unhappy or to live so. And the Lord said to Judas signifying his future punishment, 'Better it were that that man had not been born' 3 that better it were to him not to have been than to undergo the eternal torments. But others understand this passage in this manner: better are those who are dead than those who live, if it were that before they were sinners. For they live now in struggle, and as locked up in the prison of the body, but those who have met with death, they are already secure and have ceased to sin. So even John, compared to whom no one greater was born of woman,4 is less than him, he who is least of all those who are in the kingdom of heaven, and from the burden of the body freed, who does not know with the Apostle to say, 'A wretched man I am, who will free me from this body of death?'  5 Yet better than these is he who is not yet born, nor has seen the evils by which men in the world are oppressed. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 4. 2-3 2 Job 3. 17-18 3 Mat 26.24 4 Mat 11.11 5 Rom 7.14

Warned from Communion

Φασι σέ τινες πάντα μὲν ἀπηγορευμένα, τινὰ δὲ πράττειν καὶ ἄθεσμα, τοϊς δὲ Θείοις μυστηρίοις τὰς χεῖρας προτείνειν συνεχῶς, καὶ μετέχειν τολμηρῶς τῶν ἀψαύστων σοι. Καὶ μοι λίαν ἐπῆλθε θαυμάσαι σου τὴν ἀναίδειαν, ὅτι ταῖς τῶν δαιμόνων τραπέζαις εἰς κόρον κοινωνῶν, καὶ τραπέζης Κυρίοι μετέχειν οὐ φοβῇ. Ἅρα οὖν μή τίς σε βρόχος καταλάβῃ, ὡς τὸν Ἰούδαν ἐπὶ τῇ προπετείᾳ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπογνόντα, καὶ τὴν προδοσίαν ἐνεργοῦντα, καὶ τὴν κοινωνίαν ἀπαιτοῦντα. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΟ' Χαιρημονι

It is said that you do everything prohibited and unlawful and yet you are content to stretch forth hands for the Divine mysteries and dare partake of that which is forbidden to you. Such utter shamelessness strikes me with amazement, that taking your fill at the table of demons, you also do not fear to partake of the table of the Lord. See then lest you are caught in a snare, as Judas was, he whose recklessness drove him to despair, he who acted treacherously, he who demanded communion. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 170, To Chairemon

Lamenting Judas

Σήμερον, ἀγαπητοὶ, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς παρεδόθη·  τῇ γὰρ ἐπιούσῃ ἑσπέρᾳ ταύτῃ, λαβόντες αὐτὸν, ἀπῆλθον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι.  Ἀλλὰ μὴ γένῃ κατηφὴς, ἀκούσας ὅτι Ἰησοῦς παρεδόθη· μᾶλλον δὲ γενοῦ κατηφὴς, καὶ κλαῦσον πικρῶς, ἀλλὰ μὴ ὑπὲρ τοῦ παραδοθέντος Ἰησοῦ, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τοῦ προδότου Ἰούδα.  Ὁ μὲν γὰρ παραδοθεὶς τὴν οἰκουμένην ἔσωσεν, ὁ δὲ προδοὺς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἀπώλεσε· καὶ ὁ μὲν προδοθεὶς ἐν δεξιᾷ κάθηται τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὁ δὲ παραδοὺς ἐν ᾅδου νῦν ἐστι, τὴν ἀπαραίτητον ἀναμένων κόλασιν.  Διὰ τοῦτον οὖν κλαῦσον καὶ στέναξον, διὰ τοῦτον πένθησον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ Δεσπότης ἡμῶν διὰ τοῦτον ἐδάκρυσεν. Ἰδὼν γὰρ αὐτὸν, φησὶν, ἐταράχθη καὶ εἶπεν·  Εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με. Ὢ πόση εὐσπλαγχνία τοῦ Δεσπότου. ὁ προδοθεὶς ὑπὲρ τοῦ προδόντος ἀλγεῖ.  Ἰδὼν γὰρ αὐτὸν, ἐταράχθη, φησὶ, καὶ εἶπεν·  Εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με. Τίνος ἕνεκεν ἠθύμησεν;  Ὁμοῦ καὶ τὴν φιλοστοργίαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιδεικνύμενος, καὶ διδάσκων ἡμᾶς, ὅτι οὐ τὸν πάσχοντα κακῶς, ἀλλὰ τὸν ποιοῦντα κακῶς, τοῦτον θρηνεῖν πανταχοῦ δίκαιον.  Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκείνου χεῖρον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐκεῖνο μὲν οὐ κακὸν, τὸ κακῶς παθεῖν, κακὸν δὲ τὸ ποιῆσαι κακῶς.  Τὸ μὲν γὰρ κακῶς παθεῖν, τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν προξενεῖ, τὸ δὲ κακῶς ποιῆσαι αἴτιον ἡμῖν τῆς γεέννης καὶ τῆς κολάσεως γίνεται.  Μακάριοι γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Την Προδοσιαν Του Ἱουδα

Today, beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed, for it was on this approaching evening that the Jews seizing him, took Him away. But do not be dejected hearing that Jesus was betrayed, but rather be dejected and weep bitterly, not over the betrayed Jesus, but over the traitor Judas. For He who was betrayed saved the whole world, while he who betrayed lost his soul. And He who was betrayed is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, and he who betrayed is now in hell, awaiting the inevitable punishment. So weep and groan for this, mourn for this, since even our Master wept for this. For beholding him, Jesus was troubled and said: 'One of you shall betray Me' 1. Oh, how great is our Master’s compassion! He who was betrayed grieved for him who betrayed. For beholding him, Jesus was troubled and said: 'One of you shall betray Me.' Why was He disheartened? Both to show His tender love and to teach us that to mourn, not for the one suffering evil, but for the one doing evil, is most righteous. The latter is worse than the former, or rather, to suffer evil is not evil, but to do evil is evil. For while suffering evil gains the Kingdom of Heaven, doing evil is the cause of  Gehenna and punishment for us. 'For Blessed,' says the Lord, 'are they who are persecuted on account of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.' 2 Saint John Chrysostom, On The Betrayal of Judas  1 John 13:21 2 Matt 5:10

Foreseeing Betrayal

Οὐκ ἐπειδὴ προεῖπεν ὁ Κύριος, ὠ Θαυμάσιε, τὴν τοῦ Ἱούδα προαίρεσιν, ἐκεῖνος πρὸς  τὴν προδοσίαν ὠλίσθησεν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ὤδινε τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ὁ ἀλιτήριος, ὁρῶν τα κρύφια τῆς καρδίας κινήματα, τὰ μέλλοντα ὡς παρόντα προέφηνε. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΝϚ', Νειλῳ

It's not, excellent fellow, that because the Lord foretold the treachery of Judas, that he fell to betraying him, but because that wicked man had conceived betrayal, and seeing the hidden movements of the heart, 1 He spoke of future things as things present. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 56, to Neilos 1 cf Mt 9.4, Ps 43.22

Times and Seasons

Quam accurate Sancta Scriptura facta describat. Intueri libet quomodo sacra eloquia in exordiis narrationum qualitates exprimant, terminosque causarum. Aliquando namque a positione loci, aliquando a positione corporis, aliquando a qualitate aeris, aliquando a qualitate temporis signant, quid de ventura actione subjiciant. A positione quippe locorum Divina Scriptura exprimit subsequentium merita finesque causarum, sicut de Israel dicit quia verba Dei in monte audire non potuit, sed praecepta in campestribus accepit: subsequentem nimirum infirmitatem populi indicans, qui ascendere ad summa non valuit, sed semetipsum in infimis neglecte vivendo laxavit. A positione corporis futura denuntiat, sicut in apostolorum Actibus Stephanus Jesum, qui a dextris virtutis Dei sedet, stantem se vidisse manifestat. Stare quippe adjuvantis est. Et recte stare cernitur, qui in bello certaminis opitulatur. A qualitate aeris res subsequens demonstratur, sicut evangelista, cum praedicante Domino, nullos tunc ex Judaea credituros diceret, praemisit dicens: Hiems autem erat. Scriptum namque est: Quoniam abundabit iniquitas, refrigescet charitas multorum. Idcirco ergo hiemis curavit tempus exprimere, ut inesse auditorum cordibus malitiae frigus indicaret. Hinc est quod de negaturo Petro praemittitur: Quia frigus erat, et stans ad prunas calefaciebat se. Jam namque intus a charitatis calore torpuerat, et ad amorem praesentis vitae, quasi ad persecutorum prunas infirmitate aestuante recalebat. A qualitate quoque temporis finis exprimitur actionis, sicut non rediturus ad veniam, ad traditionis perfidiam nocte Judas exiisse perhibetur, cum egrediente illo, ab evangelista dicitur: Erat autem nox. Hinc enim et iniquo diviti dicitur: Hac nocte repetent animam tuam abs te. Anima quippe, quae ad tenebras ducitur, non in die repeti, sed in nocte memoratur. Hinc est quod Salomon, qui sapientiam non perseveraturus accepit, in somnis hanc et nocte accepisse describitur. Hinc est quod angeli ad Abraham meridie veniunt; punituri autem Sodomam, ad eam vespere venisse memorantur. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber II

How carefully Sacred Scripture describes incidents. One should look closely at how the sacred eloquence in the beginning of its narrations details the qualities and limits of the issues. For at one time by location, at another by the position of the body, at another by the quality of the air, at another by the the time, it foreshadows what is to come. So then by location Divine Scripture sets forth the merits and ends of the events to follow, as where it says of Israel that they were not able to hear the words of God on the mountain but received the commandments on the plain, doubtless indicating the subsequent weakness of the people who could not ascend to the heights but who enervated themselves by careless living in lowest things. By the posture of the body it announces the future, as where in the Acts of the Apostles Stephen discloses that he saw Jesus who is placed at the right hand of the Power of God, in a standing posture,1 for standing is the posture of one in the act of rendering aid, and rightly is He discerned standing who gives aid in the struggle of the battle.  By the quality of the air the subsequent event is shown, as when the Evangelist said that none out of Judea were at that time to prove believers in our Lord's teaching, he prefaced it by saying, 'And it was winter.' For it is written, 'Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold.'  Therefore he took care to remark that it was the winter season in order to indicate that the frost of wickedness was in the hearts of the hearers. Thus it is that it is said before Peter denied the Lord that it was cold and Peter stood warming himself at the coals, for now inwardly the warmth of charity lessened but the love of this present life was warming, as though his weakness were heated by the coals of the persecutors. By the time also is the end of the act is set forth, as is said of Judas, who was never to be restored by pardon, that he went out at night to the treachery of his betrayal, where on his exit, the Evangelist says: 'And it was night.' And again it is declared to the iniquitous rich man: 'This night your soul be taken from you.' The soul which is taken to darkness is not demanded in the day but in the night.  Hence it is that Solomon, who received wisdom but was not to retain it, is said to have received it in dreams and in the night.  Hence it is that the Angels come to Abraham at midday, but when the go to punish Sodom they are recorded to have arrived at evening. Saint Gregory the Great, Commentary on Job, Book II  1 Acts 7.55

A Chastisement Of Clergy

Sacerdotes habet Britannia sed insipienties; quamplurimos ministros, sed imprudentes; clericos, sed raptores subdolos; pastores, ut dicuntur, sed occisioni animarum lupos paratos; quippe non commoda plebi providentes, sed proprii plenitudinem ventris quaerentes: ecclesiae domus habentes, sed turpis lucri gratia eas adeuntes; populos docentes, sed praebendo pessima exampla, vitia malosque mores; raro sacrificantes, et nunquam puro corde inter altaria stantes; plebem ob peccata non corripientes, nimirum eadem agentes; praecepta Christi spernentes, et suas libidines modis omnibus implere curantes; sedem Petri apsotoli immundis pedibus usurpantes, sed merito cupiditatis in Judae traditoris pestilentem cathedram decidentes; veritatem pro inimico odientes, et mendaciis ac si charissimis fratribus faventes; justos inopes immanes quasi angues torvis vultibus conspicantes, et sceleratos divites absque ullo verecundiae respectu sicut coelestes angelos venerantes; egenis eleemosynam esse dandam summis e labiis praedicentes, sed ipsi vel obolum non dantes; nefanda populi scelera tacentes, et euas injurias quasi Christo irrogatas amplificantes; religiosam forte matrem seu soroes domo pellentes, et externas veluti secretiori ministerio familiares indecenter levantes, vel potius, ut vera dicam, licet inepta non tam mihi quam talia agentibus, humiliantes; ecclesiasticos post haec gradus propensius quam regna coelorum ambientes, et tyrannico ritu acceptos defendentes, nec tamen legitimis moribus illustrantes; ad praecepta sanctorum, si aliquando duntaxat audierient quae ab illis saepissime audienda erant, oscitantes ac stupidos, et ad ludicra et ineptas saecularium hominum fabulas, ac si iter viae quae mortis pandunt, strenuos et intentos. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source:Migne PL 69 367-368

Britain has priests, but they are fools; very many ministers, but they are ignorant; clerics, but they are deceitful thieves; pastors, as they are called, but they are rather wolves ready for the killing of souls since they do not look to the good of the people but seek the fullness of their own stomachs; they have the houses of the church, but they enter them for the sake of base gain; they teach the people but they present to them the worst examples, vices, and evil conduct; they rarely sacrifice and then never with pure hearts do they stand among the altars; they do not rebuke the people for their sins, for they do the very same things; they disregard the precepts of Christ and are in a rush to indulge every one of their own desires; they usurp with unclean feet the seat of the apostle Peter but on account of their covetousness they tumble into the pestilent chair of the traitor Judas; they hate truth as an enemy and they favour lies as their most beloved brothers; they look on the righteous, the poor and the powerless with savage countenances, as if they were pitiless serpents, and they reverence villainous rich men, without any hint of shame, as if such men were heavenly angels; they preach with outward lips that alms are to be given to the needy but they themselves do not give a penny; they are silent about the crimes of the people and shout loudly about their own injuries as if they were done to Christ; they drive out of house a religious mother, perhaps, or sisters, and as if it were some secret office they indecently welcome others, or rather, to speak truly, not of myself but of those who do such things, they degrade themselves by such deeds; after these things they are ambitious for ecclesiastical dignities rather than for the kingdom of heaven; they protect in tyrannical fashion what office they have gained, not however adorning such with rightful conduct; they yawn and are unmoved by the precepts of the saints, if indeed they have at some time heard what they should hear most often, but to the ludicrous and foolish fables of worldly men, as if such things were the way of life which lead to death, they are eager and intent.  Saint Gildas the Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain,

The Cainites

Caiani propterea sic appellati quoniam Cain honorant dicentes eum fortissimae esse virtutis. Simul et Iudam traditorem divinum aliquid putant, et scelus eius beneficium deputant, asserentes eum praescisse quantum esset generi humano Christi passio profutura, et occidendum Iudaeis propterea tradidisse. Illos etiam qui schisma facientes in primo populo Dei terra dehiscente perierunt et Sodomitas colere perhibentur. Blasphemant legem et Deum legis auctorem, carnisque resurrectionem negant. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De Haeresibus ad Quodvultdeum Source: Migne PL 42.29

The Cainities are so named because they honour Cain saying that he was the strongest in virtue. Likewise they think the traitor Judas divine and consider his crime a benefit, asserting that he was as much foretold for the human race as was the passion of Christ, and that this is why he handed Jesus over to the Jews. They hold to the reverence of those who first made division among the people of God, those for whom the earth opened and they were destroyed, 1 and they also revere the Sodomites. They speak evil of the Law and God the author of the Law and they deny the resurrection of the flesh. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Heresies, To Quodvultdeus 1 Num 16.1-40