Forgiveness And The Devil

Prae omnibus itaque, nobis est firma credulitate retinendum, misericordem et justum esse Dominum Deum nostrum. Hinc enim facile potest inquirentibus apparere, qualibus peccata Deus dimittat, ubi dimittat, quando dimittat. Quibus cognitis, nec pravam quisquam retineat de Deo sententiam, nec conversionem suam negligat, nec a catholica Ecclesia discedat; aut si quis discessit, celeriter revertatur; nec de tempore sibi velit insulsa cogitatione blandiri, si ad Deum in hac vita quisquam converti nolens, et usque ad mortem iniquitatibus serviens, post hanc vitam se credat adepturum remissionem peccatorum, quando jam praejudicatus tempore tribulationis divinae non peccatum possit vitare conversus, sed supplicii maneat aeternitate damnandus. Multis enim multiplicibusque fraudibus viam coelestis itineris diabolus claudere nititur et celare, cujus hoc est incessabile studium, ut ad cruciatus sui societatem miserorum turbam, quantumcunque potuerit, vel trahat illectam, vel cogat invitam. Nonnullos quippe facit, abjecta consideratione divinae justitiae, solam Dei misericordiam cogitare; ut conversionem suam negligant, existimantes se, etiamsi usque in finem criminosam duxerint vitam, remissionis beneficio potituros esse. Alios autem cogit aut illicit, Ecclesiae catholicae gremio derelicto, ad haereses vel schismata depravati cordis caecitate transire. Quorum animos deceptione falsae promissionis illaqueat, ut vel putent se recto fulciri dogmate, vel sperent sibi pro sola cordis credulitate futurum remissionis beneficium, etiamsi ficto animo, pro temporis vel commoditate vel metu, mortifero haereticorum consortio usque ad mortem teneantur innexi; minus considerantes illam Salvatoris nostri sententiam dicentis: Qui me confessus fuerit coram hominibus, confitebor et ego eum coram Patre meo, qui in coelis est; et qui me negaverit coram hominibus, negabo et ego eum coram Patre meo, qui in coelis est. Et alio loco: Qui me erubuerit, et sermones meos, hunc Filius hominis erubescet, cum venerit in majestate sua, et Patris, et sanctorum angelorum. Plerisque vero humani generis inimicus ad hoc peccatorum suorum recordationem molitur ingerere, ut vel obduratis desperationem remissionis injiciat, et eos remedio conversionis excludat. Haec autem omnia non ob aliud fraudulenta semper agit obtectus fallacia, nisi ut opportunitatem temporis adimat, qua conversis potest donari remissio; ac sic, quantum ad ejus attinet malignitatem, si fieri possit, nemo perveniat ad salutem. Deum namque misericordem justumque esse cognoscit, nec ignorat quod peccatorum remissionem sola de Deo possit elicere cordis vera conversio. Scit etiam quod non alibi quam in solo gremio Catholicae Matris dimitti possint peccata conversis; nec eum latet in praesenti tantum saeculo remissionem omnium peccatorum conversis posse concedi. Sanctus Fulgentius Ruspensis, De Remissione Peccatorum, Liber I, Caput VI Source: Migne 65.531c-532c

Before everything, therefore, let us maintain a firm belief in the mercy and righteousness of the Lord God. Hence it shall easily appear to those who enquire what sort of sins God forgives and where He forgives and when He forgives. By which knowledge, let no one have a depraved understanding regarding God, nor neglect his conversion, nor cut himself off from the Catholic Church, or if he has cut himself off, let him return quickly, not wishing to be charmed by a foolish thought that if someone will not in this life convert to God, but will even maintain his wickedness to death, that after this life he might believe it is possible there shall obtain forgiveness of sins, when already he is forejudged for the time of Divine tribulation, when it is not possible to cast off sin, but he must remain damned to eternal punishment. With many varied deceits he devil strives to close off to us and hide from us the way to heaven, and that with a relentless zeal, so that to his own mob of wretches for punishment he may gain as many as he can, either leading astray those wandering or forcing those unwilling. Certainly not a few he makes think of the mercy of God alone and nothing of divine justice, so that they neglect their conversion, reckoning that even if to the very end they lead a wicked life it is possible to receive the gift of forgiveness. Others he drives or tricks into abandoning the flock of the Catholic Church so that in the blindness of their depraved hearts they pass over to heresy or schism. He snares such souls with the deceit of a false promise, even that the deceived soul may associate with ruinous heretics for a time in either contentment or fear, and even be bound to them to death, with no consideration that our Saviour says, 'He who shall confess me before men, I shall confess before my Father who is in heaven, and he who shall deny me before men, I shall deny before my Father who is in heaven.' 1 And in another place, 'He who shall be ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will shame him when he comes in his glory and the Father's and the holy angels.' 2 More often however the enemy of the human race inclines men to a remembrance of their sins, so that they are cast down into a stubborn despair of forgiveness, and so he excludes them from the remedy of conversion. And all this deceit he works with subtle lies for no other reason but to take way the opportunity in which it is possible that the converted may obtain forgiveness, and so as much as it befits his wickedness, if it were possible, no one should come to salvation. For he knows God to be merciful and just, and nor is he ignorant that the forgiveness of sins from God is not possible unless with a heart that is truly converted. Indeed he knows that there is nowhere else but in the flock of the Catholic Church that it is possible that the converted will have forgiveness of sins, nor is it hidden to him in the present time that it is possible for the converted to obtain forgiveness of every sin. Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, On the Forgiveness of Sins, Book 1, Chapter 6 1 Mt 10.32 2 Lk 9.26

Mercy And Forgiveness

Clamat Deus misericordiam volo. Qui quod vult Deus, Deo negat, a Deo sibi quod desiderat,vult negari. Misericordiam volo. Homo, petit Deus; sed tibi, non sibi. Misericordiam volo. Humanam misericordiam petit ut largiatur divinam. Est in coelis misericordia, ad quam per terrenas misericordias pervenitur. Domine, inquit, in coelo misericordia tua. Dicturus causam in judicio Dei, patronam tibi misericordiam, per quam liberari possis, assume. Qui de patrocinio misericordiae certus est, de venia sit securus, de absolutione non dubitet. Misericordia non solum causam praevenit, anticipat cognitorem, sed etiam sententiam revocat, absolvit addictos. Quod Ninivitae probant, quos jam sententiae subjectos, poenae traditos, ad victimam stantes, morti deditos, misericordia sic rapuit, sic tenuit, sic praevenit, ut maluerit Deus deduci sententiam, ne misericordiae quid negaret. Stabat quidem et tunc pro causa jejunium, aspergebat cineres, sternebat cilicium, dabat gemitus, fundebat lacrymas: et quod non poterat excusare verbis, luctibus temperabat, sed non valuit mutare sententiam, nisi perorans misericordia subvenisset. Misericordia et peccatores liberat, et restituit sanctos: quia nisi affuisset misericordia, etiam David cum adulterat, amiserat prophetiam; et Petrus cum negat, apostolici ordinis perdiderat principatum; et Paulus cum blasphemat, remanserat persecutor. Fatetur hoc Paulus cum dicit: Qui primus blasphemus fui, et persecutor, et injuriosus: sed misericordiam consecutus sum. Fratres, per misericordias pauperum misericordiam comparemus, ut possimus esse a poena liberi, de salute securi. Beati, inquit, misericordes: quia ipsi misericordiam consequentur. Gratis misericordiam sperat ibi, qui hic non fecerit misericordiam. Qui facit misericordiam, currit ad praemium; qui non facit misericordiam, decurrit ad poenam. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo VIII, De Jejunio et Eleemosyma Source: Migne PL 52.210c-211c

God proclaims: 'I desire mercy.' 1 Whoever denies God what God wants, wants God to deny him what he desires. 'I desire mercy.' O man, God asks not for Himself but for you. 'I desire mercy.' God asks for human mercy so that he may bestow Divine mercy. The mercy that is in heaven is what is attained by mercy on the earth. 'Lord,' it is said, 'Your mercy is in heaven.' 2 When you are to plead your case before the judgment of God, take mercy, through which you can be freed, as your advocate. Whoever is certain about having mercy as an advocate is assured of pardon, and need not doubt about forgiveness. Mercy not only preempts the proceedings and anticipates the judge, but it can even overturn the verdict and release those who have been condemned. The Ninevites bear witness to this, they who were already subjected to judgment, sentenced to punishment, prepared for execution, handed over to death, but mercy seized them, took hold of them, and protected them, so that God preferred that the sentence be overturned rather than mercy be denied. 3 Certainly fasting was also of help to their case, it sprinkled the ashes, it spread the sackcloth, it gave groans, it brought forth tears, and what it could not excuse with words it tempered with sorrow, but it would not have been able to change the sentence, unless mercy had come to help with its pleading. Mercy both frees sinners and restores saints, because unless mercy had been present when David committed adultery he would have lost the gift of prophecy, 4 and when Peter made his denial he would have lost the primacy of the order of Apostles, 5 and when Paul committed blasphemy, he would have remained a persecutor. Paul confesses this when he says, 'I who was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man, but I have obtained mercy.' 6 Brothers, through acts of mercy to the poor let us obtain mercy, so that we can be free of punishment and certain of salvation. 'Blessed are the merciful,' it is said, 'for they will obtain mercy.' 7 In vain he hopes for mercy there who has done nothing merciful here. He who does something merciful runs to the reward, he who does not rushes down to punishment. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 8, On Fasting And Mercy 1 Hosea 6.6 2 Ps 53.6 3 Jonah 3.5-10 4 2 Kings 11.4 5 Mt 26.68–75 6 1 Tim 1.13 7 Mt 5.7

A Judge Counselled

Vides igitur quid auctoritas tribuat, quid suadeat misericordia. Excusationem habebis, feceris: laudem, si non feceris. Sed si non potueris facere; nec tamen nocentes atterere squalore carceris, sed absolvere, plus quasi sacardos probabo. Potest enim fieri ut causa cognita, recipiatur ad senientiam reus, qui postea aut indulgeniiam sibi petat, aut certe sine gravi severitate, quod quidam ait, habitet in carcere. Scio tamen plerosque gentilium gloriari solitos, quod incruentam de administratione provinciali securim revexerrint Si hoc gentiles, quid Christiani debent? Ad omnia tamen accipe responsum Salvatoris. Nam cum adulteram reperissent obtulerunt eam Salvatori, captantes ut si absolveret eam, videretur legem solvere, qui dixerat: Non veni legem solvere, sed adimplere: si damnaret, videretur adversus finem venisse propositi sui. Hoc igitur praevidens Dominus Jesus, inclinato capite, scribebat in terra. Quid scribebat, nisi illud propheticum: Terra, terra scribe hos viros abdicatos; quod de Jechonia descriptum est in Hieremia prophetam? Cum Judaei interpellant, in terra scribuntur nomina Judaeorum: cum adeunt Christiani, non scribuntur in terra fidelium nomina, sed in coelo. In terra autem scribuntur abdicati a patre proprio, qui patrem tentant, et contumelias irrogant auctori salutis. Cum interpellant Judaei, inciinat caput Jesus; et quia non habet ubi reclinet caput suum, iterum erigit, quasi dicturus sententiam, et ait : Qui sine peccato est, prior lapidet eam. Et iterum inclinato capite, scribebat in terra. Audientes illi exire coeperunt singuli, incipentes a senioribus: vel quod ipsi plura haberent crimina, qui diu vixerant: vel quia priores vim intellexerunt sententia, quasi prudentiores, et coeperunt sua magis peccata deflere, qui alieni criminis venerant accusatores. Recedentibus ergo illis, remansit solus Jesus, et elevans caput ad mulierem, ait: Ubi sunt, qui te accusabant? Nemo te lapidavit? Et illa respondit: Nemo. Dicit ei Jesus: Nec ego te damnabo. Vade et vide amodo ne pecces. Non damnat, quasi redemptio; corrigit , ita: quasi vita: quasi fons, abluit. Et quia quando se inclinat Jesus, ideo inclinat, ut jacentes elevet: ideo ait remissio peccatorum: Nec ego te damnabo. Habes quod sequaris; potest enim fieri, ut ille criminosus possit habere spem correctionis: si sine baptismo est, ut possit accipere remissionem: si baptizatus, ut poenitentiam gerat, et corpus suum pro Christo offerat. Quantae sunt ad salutem viae. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXV, Studio Source: Migne PL 16.1040b-1042a

See, then, that He who gives you power would persuade you to be merciful. You will be excused if you do it, praised if you do not. But if you are not able to do it, if you are unwilling to afflict the perpetrator with the squalor of a prison, I, a priest, shall approve of you far more. For it may well be that when the cause is set forth the guilty man may be reserved for judgment, who later may ask pardon for himself, or certainly may suffer what is called a less severe stay in prison. Even pagans, I know, are accustomed to boast that they have brought back the axes from their provincial government unstained with blood. And if pagans do this what should Christians to do? In all these matters receive the answer of the Saviour. The Jews brought an adulteress they had caught to the Saviour, so that they might seize on Him if He were to forgive her, because by doing that He would appear to flout the law, He who had said, 'I do not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it,' and if He were to condemn her, He might seem to act against the purpose of His coming. Therefore the Lord Jesus, foreseeing this, inclined His head and wrote upon the earth. What did He write but that word of the prophet, 'O Earth, Earth, write these men deposed,' which was told of Jeconiah in the prophet Jeremiah. 1 When the Jews interrupt Him, their names are written in the earth, when the Christians draw near, the names of the faithful are not written on the earth but in heaven. For they are written on the earth as cast off by their Father, they who tempt their Father, and heap insult on the author of salvation. When the Jews interrupt Him, Jesus inclines His head, but not having anywhere to lay His head, 1 He raises it again, and as if about to give sentence, says, 'Let him that is without sin cast the first stone at her.' And again He inclined His head and wrote upon the ground. When they heard this they began to go out one by one beginning with the oldest, either because those who had lived the longest had committed the most sins, or because, being wiser, they were the first to understand His meaning, and so they began to lament their own sins who had come as the accusers of the evil of another. When they departed Jesus was left alone, and lifting up His head, He said to the woman, 'Woman, where are those who accused you? Has no man cast a stone at you?' She said, 'No one.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.' He does not condemn because He is the Redemption, He corrects as the Life, He cleanses as the Fountain. For when Jesus bends down, He does so that He may raise up those who have fallen. Therefore the absolver of sins says, 'Neither do I condemn you.' You have here what you should follow, for it may be that there is hope of amendment for this guilty man, and if he is not baptised, that he may receive remission, and if he has been baptised that he may do penance and offer up his body for Christ. See how many ways there are to salvation. Saint Ambrose, from Letter 25, to Studius 1 Jn 8.3-, Mt 5.17, Jerem 22.29 2 Mt 8.20

Lifting up The Eyes

Videamus quid iste ascensor in domo Dei stans, et in quartum fiduciae gradum perveniens dixit Ad te levavi oculos meos, qui habitas in caelo. Levemus oculos nostros a terrenis ad coelestia, a nobis ad Dominum; displiceamus nobis, ut placeamus Deo, qui habitat in coelo, hoc est, in unitate sanctorum. Sicut spiritaliter oculos levare, ita spiritaliter coelum intelligere debemus. Ubi habitat Deus, ibi oculi cordis nostri in charitate levandi sunt. Ecce sicut oculi servorum in manibus dominorum suorum, et sicut oculi ancillae in manibus dominae suae, ita oculi nostri ad Dominum Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri. Cum ergo audis Christum, leva oculos tuos ad Dominum Deum tuum, cum audis Dominum, leva oculos tuos ad sapientiam et Dei virtutem. Leva oculos tuos ad dominum tuum, quia servus et ancilla es: servus, quia populus es; ancilla, quia Ecclesia es. Sed ipsa ancilla sponsa facta est. Unus loquitur et omnes in uno loquuntur, quia omnes unum sunt in Christo: unus populus, una Ecclesia, unus grex ad unum pastorem pertinens. Donec misereatur nostri, id est, donec ab hujus vitae tribulationibus, et ab hujus vitae molestiis liberet nos, et in aeterna patria constituat, quos hic per tentationes varias erudire non desinit. Et quid iste clamet audiamus. Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri, quia multum repleti sumus despectione. Miserere nostri, ut fidem rectam teneamus; miserere nostri, ut opera fidei convenientia perficiamus. Quia multum repleti sumus descpectione, id est, hujus saeculi tentationibus. Et repleta est anima nostra opprobium abunadantibus et despectio superbis. Et qui sunt qui opprobrium nobis faciunt, consequentur exponit: opprobium abuntantibus; et despectio superbis, qui in divitiis suis despiciunt pauperes Chrisit, de quibus dicitur: Beati pauperes, quoniam ipsoroum est regnum caelorum Alcuinus, Expositio in Psalmos Graduales, Psalmus CXXII Source: Migne PL 100.624a-d

Let us see what this one who ascends to stand in the house of the Lord, who comes to stand on the fourth step of faith, says. To you who dwell in heaven I lifted up my eyes. 1 Let us lift up our eyes from worldly things to heavenly things, from ourselves to the Lord. Let us be displeasing to ourselves that we may be pleasing to God, 'who dwells in heaven,' that is, in the unity of the saints. As we should understand this lifting up of the eyes spiritually, so we should understand heaven. Where God dwells, there the eyes of our hearts should be lifted up in love. Behold, like the eyes of servants on the hands of their masters, and like the eyes of a handmaid on the hands of her mistress, so our eyes to you, O Lord, until you are merciful to us. Therefore when you hear 'Christ,' lift your eyes up to your Lord, and when you hear 'Lord,' lift your eyes up to the wisdom and virtue of God. 2 Lift up your eyes to your master, because you are a servant and a handmaid, a servant in that you are a people, and a handmaid because you are the Church. But that handmaid has been made the bride. One and all is said in the one spoken, because all are one in Christ, one people, one Church, and one flock of one shepherd. 3 'Until you are merciful to us.' That is, until we are freed from the tribulations of this life, and from its troubles and established in the heavenly fatherland, there shall be no cessation of learning through various trials. And then let us hear what he cries out, 'Be merciful to us, O Lord, be merciful, because we are greatly filled with contempt.' Be merciful to us, that we might hold to the right faith. Be merciful to us that we may rightly perfect the works of faith. 'Because we are greatly filled with contempt.' That is, with worldly trials. 'And our souls are full with the reproach of those who prosper, and the contempt of the proud.' And who they are who find us reproachful he then explains, 'the reproach of those who prosper and the contempt of the proud,' who are those who with their wealth scorn the poor of Christ, concerning which it is said, 'Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 4 Alcuin of York, Commentary on the Gradual Psalms, from Psalm 122 1 Ps 122.1 2 1 Cor 1.24 3 Jn 10.16 4 Mt 5.3

Paul And Mercy

Merito, fratres, apostolis sanctis attribuit mater Ecclesia, quod in Sapientiae libris legitur: Hi sunt viri misericordiae, quorum justitiae oblivionem non acceperunt: cum semine eorum permanent bona. Sunt enim hi plane viri misericordiae, sive quia misericordiam consecuti, sive quia misericordia pleni, seu quia misericorditer a Deo nobis donati sunt. Vide quam misericordiam consecuti sunt. Paulum interroga de se ipso, vel magis sponte confitentem ausculta. Qui fui blasphemus, et persecutor, et iniquus; sed misericordiam consecutus sum. Quis enim non audivit quanta mala fecerit sanctis in Jerusalem? nec solum in Jerusalem, sed et per totam Judaeam insaniae ferebatur habenis, ut Christi membra laniaret in terris. Denique hac furia vectus ibat, sed praeventus a gratia est. Ibat spirans minarum et caedis in discipulos Domini, et discipulus Domini factus est, cui ostenderetur quanta eum oporteret pro nomine ipsius pati. Ibat dirum toto corpore virus exhalans, et subito in electionis vas mutatus est, ut jam cor illius eructaret verbum bonum, verbum pium, et diceret: Domine, quid me vis facere? Haec utique, haec mutatio dexterae Excelsi. Merito proinde loquebatur: Fidelis sermo et omni acceptione dignus, quoniam Dominus Jesus venit peccatores salvos facere quorum primus ego sum. Hoc ergo apud beatum Paulum fiduciae et consolationis accipite, fratres, ut ad Dominum jam conversos non nimis cruciet praeteritorum, conscientia delictorum; sed tantum humiliet vos, sicut et ipsum. Ego sum, inquit, minimus apostolorum, qui non sum dignus vocari apostolus, quia persecutus sum Ecclesiam Dei. Ita et nos humiliemur sub potenti manu Dei, et fiduciam habeamus, 994 quia et nos misericordiam consecuti sumus, abluti sumus, sanctificati sumus. Et hoc quidem omnibus nobis quoniam omnes peccavimus, et egemus hac gloria Dei. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Sanctis, Sermones de Sanctis, In Festo SS Petriet Pauli Apostolorum, Sermo III, De lectione libri Sapientiae: Hi sunt viri misericordiae. Source: Migne PL 183.412c-413a

Rightly brothers, the holy mother Church has attributed to the holy Apostles what is said in the book of Wisdom, 'These men are merciful, their righteousness shall not be forgotten, with their seed good things will persist.' 1 They are indeed men of mercy, either because mercy followed them, or they were full of mercy, or they were given to us by the mercy of God. And observe how mercy followed them. Paul, questioning himself, or rather of his own accord making an open confession, says, 'I who was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and wicked, but the mercy of God followed me.' 2 Who has not heard of the evil he did to the saints in Jerusalem? And not only in Jerusalem but throughout the whole of Judea, he who was carried about by a madness to wound the members of Christ on earth. Finally his fury was borne away, but grace came first. He was breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, and he was made a disciple of the Lord, to whom it was shown how much it is necessary to suffer for His name. He went about exhaling a dire poison from his body, and suddenly he was changed into a vessel of election, so that now 'my heart sent forth a good word,' a pious word, and he said, 'Lord, what do you want of me?' 3 This was the changing of the right hand of the Most High. Rightly therefore he said, 'The faithful word, worthy of all reception, because the Lord Jesus came to save sinners, of which I am the first.' 4 Therefore, brothers, receive this confidence and consolation along with Paul, that converted to the Lord, the things that have gone before should not torment, nor should consciousness of crimes, but let it humble you as it did him. 'I am,' he said, 'the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.' 5 Therefore let us place ourselves humbly under the powerful hand of God, and let us be confident that mercy has followed even us, that we are washed, and that we are sanctified. And this applies to all of us, because we have all sinned, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. 6 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Saints, On The Feast Of Saints Peter and Paul, from Sermon 3, Concerning the passage from the Book of Wisdom, 'These are merciful men...' 1 Sirach 44.10-11 2 Tim 1.13 3 Ps 44.2, Acts 9.1-20 4 1 Tim 1.15 5 1 Cor 15.9 6 Rom 3.23

Mercy And Salvation

Et in misericordia tua disperdes inimicos meos. Et perdes omnes inimicos qui persequuntur animam meam: quoniam servus tuus sum ego. Habuit quidem, ut diximus, hoc justitia verecundiae, ut quidquid illud sibi beatitudinis sperat, id pro magnificentia Dei potius, quia Deo beata et aeterna et bona tribuere sit dignum, quam pro merito suo postulet. Sed tamen praeferens honorem et misericordiam Dei: merendi quoque id per se non exclusit officium. Nam cum vivificandus sit, vivificandus tamen est in aequitate; quia aequum sit vitam retribui stipendiis sanctitatis. Et cum per misericordiam Dei educto eo de tribulatione disperdendi sint ejus inimici, jam non est misericordia indiscreti confusique judicii; cum quae a tribulatione educit, eadem disperdat inimicos: quia ex meritorum diversitate, vel in poenam, vel in misericordiam judicium temperatur. Non leves autem sibi esse inimicos Propheta demonstrat, sed eos qui etiam animam persequantur: non quod cum corpore possit occidi, sed quod ita diabolicis infestationibus fatigetur, et sub injectorum sibi vitiorum incendiis aduratur, ut a Domino mereatur occidi. Verum ut etiam inimici sui pereant, quamquam ad id potissimum et nomen et misericordia Dei est; tamen cum etiam ea causa est, quod servus Dei est, cujus animam persequantur: et liberalitas ex parte Dei admiscetur, et meritum ex parte hominis; atque ad Domini misericordiam, servi quoque et fides et nomen adjungitur: ut misericordia Dei quamquam omnibus prompta sit, his tamen qui servi ejus sunt intelligatur assistere, per eum et in eo qui ait: Ego sum vobiscum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXLII Source: Migne PL 9.842c-843a

And in your mercy you scatter my enemies. You destroy all the enemies who persecute my soul, because I am your servant. 1 He has, as we have said, the righteousness of the humble, so that whatever blessing he hopes for himself, because it befits God to give blessed and eternal goods, he asks for it from the magnificence of God rather than on account of his own merit. But even though he gives precedence to the honour and mercy of God, he does not exclude the office of merit for himself. For when a man is worthy of being given life, he is revived on account of righteousness, since the rewards of sanctity are given to a righteous life. And when by the scattering of enemies the mercy of God leads him from tribulation, it is not the mercy of some sort of vague and obscure judgement that leads from tribulation with the scattering of enemies, but the judgement is fashioned by a mixture of merit, fault, and mercy. Then the Prophet shows that his enemies are not light things, but those who persecute the soul. Not that which can kill the body, but that which will wear down with devilish infestations, and burn with the fires of injected vices, which merits death from the Lord. 2 Truly so that his enemies shall perish, although this is a matter for the most powerful name and mercy of God, yet with it is the cause that he whose soul is persecuted is a servant of God, and thus the largess on the part of God shall be mixed with merit on the part of man, and thus the faith and name of the servant is joined to the mercy of God, so that the mercy of God is understood to be ready to help all who may be understood to be His servant, through Him and in Him who said: 'I am with you every day until the end of the ages.' 3 Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 142 1 Ps 142.12 2 Mt 10.28 3 Mt 28.20

Sinners And The Righteous

Et videntes Pharisaei dixerunt discipulis ejus, quare cum publicanis et peccatoribus manducat magister vester? Duplici errore tenentur Pharisaei: Cum magistro veritatis de susceptione peccatorum detrahant, arbitrantes se esse justos, qui a justitia longe erant, et eos criminantur injustos, qui resipiscendo a peccatis non parum justitiae appropinquabant. Errabant ergo Pharisaei, qui nec aliena nec sua noverant corda, sed Deus qui novit occulta cordis, eos quos jam poenitentes susceperat, amplius in fide confortat, et illos quos adhuc superbos tolerat et impios, ad humilitatis ac pietatis gratiam provocat. Nam Jesus audiens et pravas eorum cogitationes attendens ait: Non est opus valentibus medico, sed male habentibus. Tangit hic Scribas et Pharisaeos, qui justos putantes se, consortia aliorum declinabant. Seipsum vero medicum dicit, qui miro medicandi genere propter iniquitates nostras vulneratus est, ut vulnus peccatorum nostrorum sanaret: sanos quidem appellans eos, qui suam volentes statuere justitiam, justitiae Dei non sunt subjecti. Male habentes vocat eos, qui suae fragilitatis conscientia devicti, nec per legem videntes se justificari, poenitendo submittunt se gratiae. Euntes autem, discite quid est, misericordiam volo, et non sacrificium. Pharisaeis de falsa justitia tumidis, dat consilium correctionis. Faciebant saepe sacrificia in templo, ut justi apparerent coram populo, sed non exercebant opera misericordiae, ubi comprobatur vera justitia. Si enim vere justi essent, peccatoribus condescenderent, et de salute illorum, sicut de sua laborarent, quasi dicat: Vos aestimatis vos esse justos, sed euntes ad prophetas, discite, quid est vera justitia, discite quod ait Dominus per Prophetam. Ait enim: Misericordiam volo, et non sacrificium, tamen non despicit Deus sacrificium, sed sacrificium sine misericordia. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput IX Source: Migne PL 162.1330d-1331b

And seeing this the Pharisees said to His disciples, 'Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?' 1 Two errors have taken hold of the Pharisees. When they denigrated the master of truth for receiving sinners, they judged themselves to be righteous, they who were far from righteousness, and then they denounced those unrighteous ones who were looking to their sins and were not far from approaching righteousness. Therefore the Pharisees erred, neither caring to renew their own hearts or the hearts of others. But God 'who knows the secret things of the heart,' 2 received those who were becoming penitent, that He might fortify their faith, and yet tolerating those proud and wicked ones, He called them to humility and the grace of the piety. For hearing them and discerning their depraved thoughts, Jesus says,  'They who are healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do.' He refers here to the Scribes and Pharisees, who thinking themselves righteous, refused to associate with others. He speaks of Himself as the physician who as a sort of wondrous medicine was wounded for our evils so that He might heal our sins. Certainly He calls them healthy who are pleased to stand in their own righteousness and not be subject to the righteousness of God. And He calls them sick who are cast down by the awareness of their own weakness, and seeing that they are not justified by the law, submit themselves to the grace of penance. Go and learn what this means: 'I wish for mercy and not sacrifice.' 3 To the Pharisees who were puffed up with false righteousness He gives counsel for correction. They would often make sacrifices in the temple so that they might appear righteous before the people, but they did not exert themselves in the works of mercy whereby true righteousness is proved. For if they were truly righteous, they would have cared for sinners and for their salvation, just as they laboured for themselves, whence it is as if He says: 'You who judge yourselves to be righteous, go to the prophets and learn what true righteousness is. Attend to what the Lord said through the prophet: 'I wish for mercy and not sacrifice.' Not that God despises sacrifice, but rather sacrifice without mercy. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 9 1 Mt 9.11 2 Ps 43.22 3 Hosea 6.6

The Entombed Soul

Nunquid enarrabit aliquis in sepulcro misericordiam tuam? Hoc negative legendum est, ut illud posuit intelligi, quia vivi homines et fideles misericordiam ejus narrare consuerunt. Sepulchrum enim significat infidelium mentes, de quibus supra dictum est: Sepulcrum patens est gutter eorum. Et meriot sepulcrum dicitur, ubi anima peccatis mortua continetur; id est, illos vult intelligi qui non sunt Domino credituri; quia nullus eis misericordia Domini videtur narrasse, quam non voluerunt devota mente percipere. Illic enim provenisse dicimus actum, ubi aliquem audiens praestat effectum. Tale est et istud quod sequitur, aut veritatem tuum in perditione; quia nemo putatur veritatem dixisse, quem videtur neligens praeterire. Perditio quippe juste vocata est, ubi veritas non admittitur, sed sola obstinatio custoditur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus LXXXVII Source: Migne PL 70.626a-b

Shall someone in a tomb tell of your mercy? 1 This should be spoken negatively, as he set it down to be understood, because it is living and faithful men who are accustomed to speak of His mercy. The tomb signifies the minds of the faithless, concerning which it has been said, 'Their throat is an open tomb.' 2 And when sin encloses the soul it is rightly called a tomb. That is, he wishes them to be understood as those who will not believe in the Lord because none of them are seen to have spoken of the mercy of the Lord, that which they were not willing to receive with a devout mind. For so we say a word has had an effect when he who hears responds to it. Such is what follows, 'Or your truth in ruin.' Because no one is thought to have spoken the truth who appears to have negligently passed it by. It is rightly called ruin when the truth is not admitted but the only thing clung to is obstinacy. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 87 1 Ps 87.12 2 Ps 5.11

Sin And Patience

Aut divitias bonitatis ejus, et sustentationis, et patientiae contemnis? Ignoras quonaim benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Divitias bonitatis Dei ille agnoscere potest,qui considerat quanta in terris mala quotidie homines gerunt, et quomodo pene omnes declinantes, et simul inutiles facti, latam et spatiosam perditionis ambulant viam, angusto vitae itinere neglecto, et tamen his omnibus Deum productentem solem suum quotidie, et pluvias ministrantem, et qui considerat quanti quotidie in Deum blasphemant, et in coelum extendunt linguas suas. Jam quid de fraudibus, de vi, de scelere, de sacrilegiis et piaculis dicam? Quibus tamen omnibus in hoc loco illi videntur in scelere praeferri, qui alios judicantes,ipsi commitunt quae in caeteris puniunt. Si quis ergo hanc bonitatem Dei et sustentationem ejus, et patientiam contemnit, ignorat quod per haec ad poenitentiam provocatur. Sustentatio vero a patientia hoc videtur differre, quod qui infirmitate magis, quam proposito delinquunt,sustentari dicuntur: qui vero pertinaci mente velut exsultant in delictis suis, ferri patienter dicendi sunt. Sed sicut omnia in mensura fecit Deus,et pondere, et numero,ita etiam patientiae ejus certa mensura est: quam mesuram credendum est esse consumatam vel ab his qui diluvio perierunt vel ab his qui in Sodomis colelesti igne vastati sunt. Unde et de Amorrhaeis dicitur: Nondum enim repleta sunt peccata Amorrhaeorum usque nunc. Fert ergo Deus patienter, et exspectat uniuscujusque poenitentiam. Sed non nos dissolvat hoc, et tardos ad conversionem faciat,quia rursus patientiae ejus et sustentationis certa mensura est. Origenes, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Romanos, Liber II, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 14.874b-875a

Or do you scorn the riches of His kindness and endurance and patience? Are you ignorant that the kindness of God is to lead you to penance? 1 He is able to recognise the riches of the kindness of God who considers how much evil in the world men do every day, and how everyone goes astray and at the same time do worthless things, walking in the way of ruin that is wide and easy and neglecting the narrow way of life, and yet for all these God brings forth His sun every day and serves them with rain. 2 And consider how many blaspheme God everyday and thrust out their tongues to heaven. 3 What then shall I say of lies and violence and crimes and sacrilege and shameful acts? By all which things they also appear bearing wrong, who condemn others and then do what they punish in others. If, then, someone should scorn the kindness and endurance and patience of God, he neglects that which calls him to penance. Now endurance seems to differ from patience in this way: endurance pertains to him who wanders from what is wished because of weakness, but patience is a bearing with one who exults in his wickedness because of an obstinate mind. But as God takes the measure of all things, and weighs them, and reckons them, 4 so His patience has a certain measure, which measure must be thought to have been filled up either with those who perished in the flood, or with those who were consumed by heavenly fire in Sodom. Whence it is said of the Amorites: 'Not yet even now are the sins of the Amorites filled up.' 5 Therefore God is patient and hopes for the penance of everyone. But this should not cause us to relax and make us tardy for conversion, because His patience and endurance has a certain measure. Origen, from the Commentary on the Letter of Paul to the Romans, Book 2, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Rom 2.4 2 Mt 7.13-14, 5.45 3 Ps 72.9 4 Wisd 11.21 5 Gen 15.16

Judgement And Compassion

Videns autem Pharisaeus, qui vocaverat eum, ait intra se, dicens, Hic si esset propheta, sciret utique quae et qualis esset mulier quae tangit eum, quia peccatrix est. Ecce Pharisaeus veraciter apud se superbus, fallaciter justus, aegram reprehendit de aegritudine, medicum de subventione, qui ipse quoque de elationis vulnere aegrotabat, et ignorabat. Unde necesse semper est ut cum peccatores quosque coaspicimus,nosmetipsos prius in illorum calamitate defleamus. Quia fortasse in similibus aut lapsi sumus, aut labi possumus, lapsi non sumus. Et si censura magisterii debet semper virtute disciplinae vitia persequi, oportet tamen ut sollicite discernamus, quia districtionem debemus vitiis, compassionem naturae. Sanctus Beda, In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber III, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 92.424d-425a

The Pharisee who had invited Him, seeing this, said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of woman she is who has touched him, for she is a sinner.' 1 Note that the Pharisee, truly proud in himself and falsely righteous, in sickness denounces sickness, and the physician for his aid, and in his elation he sickens from a wound of which he is ignorant. Whence it is always necessary that when we look upon sinners we should first lament ourselves in their ruin. Because perhaps we have fallen into similar things, or we may have fallen if we have not. And if it should be that the censure of a teacher should drive out faults with the virtue of discipline, yet it is necessary that we judge with care, for it is with a compassionate nature that we should draw from vice. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 3, Chapter 7 1 Lk 7.39

Mercy And Sin

Septem ego in me video misericordias Domini, quas et vos ipsi, credo, facile invenietis in vobis. Prima est, quod a multis peccatis adhuc in saeculo positum custodivit me; prima quidem, inquam, non inter omnes quas mihi impendit, sed prima inter has septem. Quis enim non videat quod sicut in multa cecidi, sic et in alia cecidissem peccata, nisi Omnipotentis pietas me conservasset? Fateor et fatebor, nisi quia Dominus adjuvit me, paulo minus cecidisset in omne peccatum anima mea. Et haec quanta dignatio pietatis, quod ingratum et parvipendentem sic gratia conservabat, quod in multis contrarium et contemnentem nihilominus ab aliis benignissime protegebat? At secunda miseratio tua super me, Domine, quonam poterit explicari sermone, quam benigna, quam liberalis, quamque gratuita fuerit? Ego peccabam, et tu dissimulabas; non continebam a sceleribus, et tu a verberibus abstinebas. Prolongabam ego multo tempore iniquitatem meam; et tu, Domine, pietatem tuam. Sed quid prodesset exspectatio, nisi sequeretur poenitudo? Cumulus esset damnationis, dicente Domino: Haec fecisti, et tacui. Tertia proinde miseratio fuit, quod visitavit cor meum et immutavit, ut amara fierent quae male dulcia prius erant: et qui laetabar cum male facerem, et exsultabam in rebus pessimis, inciperem demum recogitare ei annos meos in amaritudine animae meae. Et nunc, Domine, commovisti terram cordis mei, et conturbasti eam; sana contritiones ejus, quia commota est. Multi enim poenitentia ducti sunt, sed infructuosa; quoniam ipsa quoque eorum poenitentia reprobata est, sicut et prior culpa. Itaque et haec miseratio quarta fuit, quod poenitentem misericorditer suscepisti, ut in eorum numero invenirer, de quibus Psalmista: Beati, inquit, quorum remissae sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata Sequitur misericordia quinta, per quam mihi continendi deinceps, et emendatius vivendi praestitisti virtutem, ne recidivum paterer, et esset novissimus error pejor priore. Omnino enim manifeste tuae est, Domine Deus, et non humanae virtutis, susceptum semel peccati jugum a cervicibus suis excutere; quoniam omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati, nec est jam liberari nisi in manu forti. Jam vero postquam in his quinque miserationibus a malo liberaveris, ut fiat quod scriptum est: Declina a malo, et fac bonum: in duabus aliis bona largiris. Hae autem duae sunt: gratia promerendi, qua videlicet manus bonae conversationis indulges; et spes obtinendi, qua donas homini indigno et peccatori de tua toties experta bonitate usque ad coelestia speranda praesumere. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, Dominica VI Post Pentecosten, Sermo II, De Septem Misericordiis Source: Migne PL 183.340c-341c

I see the seven mercies of the Lord in myself, which even you, I think, might easily find in yourself. The first is that He has protected me from many sins, though placed in the world. The first, I speak of, not the first of all those which rest on me, but the first among the seven. Who does not see that as in many things I have fallen, so into others things I may have fallen if the piety of the Almighty have not protected me? I confess and shall confess, that unless the Lord had helped me, it is certain that my soul would have fallen into every sin. And how great is the value of piety when grace preserves even the thankless and careless, because though in many things I was contrary and worthy of condemnation, nevertheless from yet others He protected me? And your second mercy over me, O Lord, is it possible to explain in a word, how kind, how generous, how charitable you were? I was sinning, and you ignored it, I did not restrain myself from wrongs, and you withheld your blows from me. I lingered for a long time in my wickedness, and you, O Lord, persisted in your piety. But how would have hope been of any good at all, if penitence did not follow? It would have culminated in damnation, with the Lord saying, 'You did this, and I was silent...' 1 Now His third mercy was that He visited my heart and changed it, so that things that were wickedly sweet to it before became bitter to it, and likewise with those things that delighted it when it did evil, even when it exulted in the vilest things. And at last I began to think on it, my years, in the bitterness of my soul. And then, O Lord, you moved the earth of my heart and you troubled it, healing its wounds in its distress. Much penance was performed but fruitlessly, because the penace was as defective as the earlier faults. Thus there was even a fourth mercy, that you nevertheless mercifully received my penances, so that in a number of them I found what the Psalmist spoke of when he said: 'Blessed those whose sins are forgiven, and those whose sins are hidden.' 2 The fifth mercy followed, through which I finally become continent, and you emended my life with the addition of virtue, lest I fall again, and the last error be worse than the first. Certainly it is manifestly your power, Lord God, and no human power, that with the yoke of sin lifted from the neck, it is then cut off, because all who commit sin are the slaves of sin, 3 and there is no liberation but by a strong hand. Then, however, after we had been freed from evil by these five mercies, that it might be as was written: 'Decline from evil, and do good,' 4 two other goods you bestow, and these are the two, grace by merit which your hand grants to the one who lives well, and hope of gaining more, which you give to the unworthy man, and to the sinner, that because of all your acknowledged benevolence he presumes to hope for heaven. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Season, The Sixth Sunday After Pentecost, from Sermon 2, On the Seven Mercies 1 Ps 99.21 2 Ps 31.1 3 Jn 8.34 4 Ps 33.15

Judgement And Mercy

Ἴσθι, θαυμάσιε, ὡς ἡ κρίσις ἀνέλεος τῷ μὴ ποιήσαντι ἔλεος, οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων μόνον δωρεῶν, ὦν αὐτὸς τοὺς πτωχοὺς ἀποστερεῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων, ὦν ἐκουσίως τὴν μετάδοσιν ποιεῖσθαι χρεωστεῖς. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΥϟΒ’ Ευσεβιῳ Ἐπισποκῳ Source: Migne PG 78.449c

Know, excellent fellow, that as there will be a judgement without mercy for those who are not merciful, 1 so not only with the gifts of others do you deprive the poor of what is theirs, but truly even with your own goods, which of your own will you should share with others. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 492, To Eusebius the Bishop 1 James 2.13

Mercy And Justice

Beati misericordes, quoniam ipsi misericordiam consequentur... Quia per solam justitiam nullus ad alta ascendere potest, nisi iter faciat nobis Deus, plus quam justum sit, per misericordiam suam; ideo misericordia Dei acquirenda est, quae suppleat quod nostra justitia non potest adipisci. Quomodo autem illa acquiri possit, dat consilium cum dicit: Estote misericordes, quia pater vester misericors est. Ecce via qua ad misericordiam Dei pervenitur, si misericordes efficimur. Oportet ergo misericordiam addere justitiae, ut non solum faciamus proximo quod justum est, sed etiam plus quam justum. Misericordiam habet duas partes, dare et dimittere. Unde dicitur: Date et dabitur vobis, dimittite et dimittetur vobis. Hae duae virtutes ita conjunctae sunt, ut altera ab altera contemperari debeat. Justitia sine misericordia crudelitas est; misericordia sine justitia dissolutio est. Rebelles corrigere ex justitia; poenitentibus condonare debemus ex misericordia. Sed quia alii plus quam alii exercentur in justitia quam in misericordia; alii plus in misericordia, quam in justitia: ideo isti dicuntur beati propter misericordiam, illi propter justitiam, cum tamen non dissocientur. Haec misericordia postulatur, cum dicitur: Fiat voluntas tua in nobis, scilicet ut misericordes simus, ut aliis condonemus. Nam haec est voluntas Dei, haec descendit ex spiritu consilii. Hoc enim est consilium, quod nobis datur, si misericordiam Dei adipisci volumus, misericordiam aliis faciamus. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1287b-d

Blessed are the merciful because they shall receive mercy... 1 Because no one is able to rise up to the heights by justice alone, unless God makes a way for us with more than what is just, through His mercy. Therefore the mercy of God must be acquired, which supplements what our justice is not able to obtain. And He gives counsel about how one can acquire it when He says: 'Be merciful, as your Father in heaven is merciful.' 2 Behold the way by which we come to the mercy of God, if we are merciful. One must, then, add mercy to justice, that not only do we act justily to our neighbour, but we are even more than just. Mercy has two parts, to give and to forgive. Whence it is said: 'Give and it shall be given to you. Forgive and you shall be forgiven.' 3 So it is that these two virtues are joined, even that the one by the other should be moderated. Justice without mercy becomes cruelty, mercy without justice is laxity. The rebellious are corrected by justice, by mercy we should forgive the penitent. But because some more than others exert themselves in justice more than mercy, and others in mercy more than justice, therefore the latter are blessed on account of mercy, the former on account of justice, when however they should not be separated. This mercy is requested, when it is said, 'May your will be in us,' 4 that is, so that we may be merciful, so that we may forgive others. For this is the will of God, this comes down from spiritual counsel. And this is the counsel which is given to us, that if we wish to obtain mercy, we should be merciful to others. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.7 2 Lk 6.36 3 Lk 6.37-38 4 cf Mt 6.10

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

Mercy And Truth

Puto et vias Domini vultis audire. Multum praesumere videor, si me illas promisero ostensurum. Legitur autem de ipso, quoniam docebit nos vias suas. Cui enim alteri crederetur? Docuit itaque vias suas, cum aperuit labia prophetae, ut diceret: Universae viae Domini, misericordia et veritas. Ita ad singulos, ita ad omnes communiter venit; in misericordia scilicet et veritate. Ubi enim multa jam fuerit de miseratione praesumptio, sed oblivio veritatis; non continuo ibi Deus. Sed neque ubi terror multus ex recordatione veritatis, nulla autem de memoria misericordiae consolatio. Nam neque veritatem tenet, qui misericordiam, ubi vere est, non agnoscit: nec vera esse sine veritate misericordia potest. Itaque ubi misericordia et veritas obviaverunt sibi, sese etiam justitia et pax osculantur; nec is abesse potest, cujus in pace factus est locus. Quanta audivimus et cognovimus (siquidem patres nostri annuntiaverunt nobis) super hac copula tam felici misericordiae et veritatis! Misericordia tua et veritas tua susceperunt me, ait Propheta, et alio loco, Misericordia, inquit, tua ante oculos meos est, et complacui in veritate tua. Sed et Dominus ipse de eo: Veritas mea et misericordia mea cum ipso. Sanctus Bernardus Claraevallensis, Sermo XI in Psalmo XC, De versu undecimo, Quoniam angelis suis mandavit de te ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis. Source: Migne PL 183.228b-d

I think you wish to hear of the ways of the Lord. I would seem to presume much if I were to promise to show them myself. But it is written concerning Him, that 'He shall teach us His ways.' 1 To whom else shall it be credited? Thus He taught His ways when he opened the mouths of the prophets, so that it was said: 'All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth.' 2 As to each one, so to all in common He comes, that is, in mercy and truth. For where there is now much presumption of mercy but forgetfulness of truth, there is no abidance of God. And neither is there where there is much terror from the remembrance of truth but no comfort from the memory of mercy. For he does not hold to truth who does not know where mercy truly is. Nor is there true mercy without truth. Thus when mercy and truth have met together, justice and peace do indeed kiss. Nor can the former have been absent when by it the place of peace is made. How much we have heard and known, since our fathers announced it to us, 3 about this joyous bond of mercy and truth. 'Your mercy and truth has taken me up,' 4 says the Prophet, and in another place, 'Your mercy is before my eyes, and I have been pleasing in your truth.' 5 And the Lord says concerning such a man: 'My truth and my mercy are with him.' 6 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, from Sermon 11 on Psalm 90, On the eleventh verse, 'Because He commanded His angels to guard you in all your ways.' 7 1 Ps 24.9, Micah 4.2 2 Ps 24.10 3 Ps 77.3 4 Ps 39.12 5 Ps 25.3 6 Ps 88.25 7 Ps 90.11

Correction And Mercy

Corripiet me justus in misericordia, et increpabit me. Est enim misericordiae modus: et miserandi adhibenda justitia est. Dolor quidem potest esse erga eos, quorum crimina gravia sunt; sed misericordiae locus nullus est. Misericordia enim se ad veniam de Deo orandum his quae sunt gesta deflectit: caeterum veniam praestare illicitis, non est misericordiam praestare, sed justitiam misericordiae non tenere. Quam rationem diligentissime apostolus Joannes retinuit, dicens: Si quis scit fratrem suum delinquere, sed non ad mortem; petat, et dabit illi Deus vitam. Est enim peccatum ad mortem, sed non pro eo dico. Quod autem justus in misericordia corripere atque arguere eum qui lapsus sit debeat, beatus Paulus docet, dicens: Fratres, et si praeventus fuerit homo in aliquo delicto, vos qui estis spiritales, consummate eum in spiritu lenitatis. Sed ne ipse quidem rationis justae misericordiae immemor fuit: praeventum enim in delicto, non voluntate delinquentem, consummari per arguitionem jubet. Atque ideo propheta cum ait: Corripiet me justus in misericordia, et increpabit me; et fidei suae, et humanae infirmitatis memor, corripiendum se in his ait, quae justae misericordiae arguitione sunt digna. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXL Source: Migne PL 9.828b-829a

'May the righteous man correct me mercifully, and cry out against me.' 1 For it is the way of mercy that justice be administered mercifully. Wrath is certainly possible against those whose crimes are grave, but there mercy has no place. For mercy inclines itself to forgiveness from God, praying for those things which have been done. Besides to give forgiveness for crimes is not to show mercy, but it is of mercy not to hold to strict justice. Which reason carefully holding to the Apostle John says, 'If someone knows of a brother who has erred, but not to death, ask, and God shall give him life. For there is a sin to death, and of this I do not speak.' 2 Thus the righteous man should correct with mercy and dispute with the one who has fallen, as Paul teaches, saying: 'Brothers, if a man comes before you in some fault, you who are spiritual should improve him in a spirit of gentleness' 3 But he was not forgetful of the reason for righteous mercy, for a man has come in fault, and not wishing for error, he commands it to end with exhortation. And therefore the prophet when he says, 'May the righteous man correct me mercifully and cry out against me,' mindful of his own faith and of human infirmity, says that he should be chastised for things which are worthy of the reproof of righteous mercy. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 140 1 Ps 140.5 2 1 Jn 5.16 3 Galat 6.1

Entering The House

Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐν τῷ πλήθει τοῦ ἐλέους σου εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου· προσκυνήσω πρὸς ναὸν ἅγιόν σου ἐν φόβῳ σου... Τῶν πονηρευομένων καὶ παρανόμων οὐ παροικούντων σοι, οὐδὲ διαμενόντων ὑπὸ τὴν θεωρίαν σου, ἐγὼ ἐλέῳ τῷ σῷ εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ εἰπεῖν δυνήσομαι· Τὸ πρωῒ παραστήσομαί σοι, καὶ ἐπόψει με. Καὶ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ ἐλέῳ τῷ σῷ εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου, σὺν εὐλαβείᾳ πολλῇ ὀνομα ζομένῃ φόβῳ σου προσκυνήσω σοι πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, ἐλθὼν πρὸς τὸν ἅγιόν σου ναόν. Ναὸς δὲ καὶ οἶκος Θεοῦ ἡ ἁγία καὶ ἐνάρετος κατάστασις, ἣν οἱ ἔχοντες μετὰ παῤῥησίας φασίν. Χριστὸς δὲ ὡς υἱὸς ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον αὑτοῦ, οὗ οἶκός ἐσμεν ἡμεῖς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ προσφωνοῦσιν ἑτέροις πιστοῖς γράφοντες· Ναὸς ἅγιός ἐστε, καὶ τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματός ἐστιν, οὗ ἔχετε ὑπὸ Θεοῦ. Πῶς γὰρ οὐκ οἶκος καὶ ναὸς Θεοῦ ὁ τηρῶν τὸν Ἰησοῦ λόγον, πρὸς ὃν ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ μονὴν ποιοῦνται; Δυνατὸν καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν γνώμην καὶ διδασκαλίαν οἶκον Κυρίου φάναι καὶ ναὸν αὐτοῦ. Δηλοῦται τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν γραφομένων Τιμοθέῳ· Ἵνα εἰδῇς πῶς δεῖ σε ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου ἀναστρέφεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἐκκλησία Θεοῦ ζῶντος. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμοὺς, Ψαλμός E' Source: Migne PG 12.1169c-1172a

For in the abundance of your mercy I shall enter into your house. I shall adore in your holy temple, in awe of you... 1 Since the wicked and inquitious do not dwell with you, nor do they remain in your sight, it is in your mercy that I shall enter into your house. For thus I shall be able to say: 'In the dawn I shall stand with you and you shall see me.' 2 Because I shall not enter into your house but by your mercy, and then with that great piety that is called 'awe of you,' I shall adore in spirit and truth, having entered into your holy temple. And the temple of God is holiness and the endowment of virtue, which he who has may speak with confidence. But Christ as the Son comes to the house and we are His house. So other faithful folk are told in the epistle: 'You are a holy temple and your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, which you have from God.' 3 For how is he not the house and temple of God, who keeps the word of Jesus and with whom the Father and the Son make their dwelling? 4 And then it is possible to call the law of the Church and its teaching the house of the Lord and His temple. This is made manifest from what is written to Timothy: 'That you know how you should conduct yourself in the Church of the living God.' 5 Origen, Selecta On the Psalms, from Psalm 5 1 Ps 5.8-9 2 Ps 5.5-6 3 1 Cor 6.19 4 Jn 14.23 5 2 Tim 3.15

Mercy And Salvation

Qui eduxit Israel per medium eorum, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Per medium Aegyptiorum deducit Israel, quando sanctos suos a conversatione liberat pessimorum, et a mundi istius habitione teterrima in lucem suae veritatis adducit. Qui excussit Pharaonem et exercitum eius in mare Rubrum, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Diabolum cum ministris suis in fontem salutis excutit, quando eos a nobis potentiae suae virtute removerit. Excutit autem dixit, tanquam pulverem proiicit, ut de hac celeritate et virtutem divinitatis ostenderet, et illos terrenas sordes esse monstraret. Qui transduxit populum suum per desertum, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Per desertum nos traiicit, quando per hoc saeculum transire facit illaesos; soli enim evadunt qui mundi istius mala pertranseunt. Caeterum qui in istis haeserit, ad praemia divina non pervenit. Desertus enim ideo dicitur mundus, quia divina electione privatus. Et merito sic vocatur, quia ad se venientem non recepit Auctorem. Qui eduxit aquam de petra rupis, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Educit aquam de petra rupis, quando sterilia corda mortalium salutares rivulos fecerit proferre lacrymarum; ut qui sunt propria siccitate steriles, reddantur divina largitate manabiles. De petra rupis ad auxesim positum est, quoniam non parva, sed ingentia et dura saxa sunt, quae in magnitudinem rupis eriguntur. Qui percussit reges magnos, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Percutit reges magnos, quando in corde nostro impia desideria coelestis miserator exstinxerit. Tunc enim nos vivimus, dum illa moriuntur; et contraria sorte necesse est nos occumbere, si contingat illa superare. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXXXV Source: Migne PL 70.971c-972c

He who led Israel from the midst of them, because His mercy is forever. 1 He leads Israel from the midst of the Egyptians when He liberates His holy ones from assocation with the worst of folk, and leads them from the wretched dwelling of this earth into the light of His truth. He who overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red sea, because His mercy is forever. 2 He overthrows the devil with his ministers in the fount of salvation, when they are removed from us by the power of His virtue. For it says He strikes them just as dust is driven off, and with the swiftness of it and the power of His Divinity, they are shown to be earthly filth. He who guided His people through the desert, because His mercy is forever. 3 He guides us through the desert when He makes us pass unharmed through this world, for only they escape who pass through the evils of this world. And he who cleaves to such things, he does not come to the Divine reward. Therefore the world is called a waste because it lacks Divine election. And rightly it is so called, because it did not receive its Creator when He came to it. He who drew water from the rock, because His mercy is forever. 4 He draws water for the rock, who makes salutary rivers of tears flow from sterile mortal hearts, so that they who in themselves are utterly dry, produce running waters by the Divine largess. And this rock is given as a help, because it is not a little thing, but a great and hard stone, in the greatness of which the waters flow. He who struck great kings, because His mercy is forever. 5 He strikes great kings, when in our hearts the Merciful one of heaven extinguishes wicked desires. For then we live when they die, and contrariwise it is necessary that we die if they prevail. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 135 1 Ps 135.11 2 Ps 135.13 3 Ps 135.16 4 Ps 135.16 LXX 5 Ps 135.17

Mercy And Rejoicing

Τὸν δὲ ἐλπίζοντα ἐπὶ Κύριον ἔλεος κυκλώσει. Ἄπαντες γὰρ ἄνθρωποι, εἰ καὶ τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς καλλωπίζονται κατορθώμασι, τῆς θείας προσδέονται χάριτος· διὸ δὴ καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος βοᾷ· Χάριτί ἐστε σεσωμένοι διὰ τῆς πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν· Θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον. Εὐφράνθητε ἐπὶ Κύριον, καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, δικαιοι, καὶ καυχᾰσθε, πάντες οἱ εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν ἐπὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις κατορθώμασιν ἀγαλλέσθω, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ μέγα φρονείτω, καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν θυμηδίαν καρπούσθω. Καὶ τοῦτο τοῖς ἀποστολικοῖς ἔοικε ῥητοῖς, Ὁ καυχώμενος ἐν Κυρίῳ καυχάσθαω. Καὶ Ὁ δοκῶν ἐστάναι, βλεπέτω μὴ πέσῃ. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πνεύματι πραότητος παιδεύειν παρεγγυᾷ· Σκοπῶν, φησὶ, σεαυτὸν, μὴ καὶ σὺ πειρασθῇς. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΛΑ´ Source: Migne PG 80.1092c-1093a

Mercy shall surround the one who hopes in the Lord 1 For all men, if they are adorned with the correct deeds of virtue are in receipt of Divine grace. So the blessed Apostle cries out: 'By grace you are saved through faith, and not from yourselves, for it is the gift of God.' 2 Rejoice in the Lord and exalt, you righteous ones, and glory, all you with good hearts. Therefore let no one rejoice in correct deeds, but let a man exalt in God and there seize his joy. And the Apostolic words agree with this: 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.' 3 And: 'He who stands, let him look that he does not fall.' 4 Therefore he teaches us to correct with a spirit of lenity, saying, 'Consider yourself, lest even you be tempted.' 5 Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 31 1 Ps 31.10 2 Ephes 2.8 3 2 Cor 10.17 4 1 Cor 10.12 5 Galat 6.1

Warned From Communion

Emersit enim, fratres dilectissimi, novum genus cladis; et, quasi parum persecutionis procella saevierit, accessit ad cumulum sub misericordiae titulo malum fallens et blanda pernicies. Contra Evangelii vigorem, contra Domini ac Dei legem temeritate quorumdam laxatur incautis communicatio, irrita et falsa pax, periculosa dantibus et nihil accipientibus profutura. Non quaerunt sanitatis patientiam, nec veram de satisfactione medicinam. Poenitentia de pectoribus excussa est, gravissimi extremique delicti memoria sublata est. Operiuntur morientium vulnera, et plaga lethalis altis et profundis visceribus infixa, dissimulato dolore, contegitur. A diaboli aris revertentes, ad sanctum Domini sordidis et infectis nidore manibus accedunt. Mortiferos idolorum cibos adhuc pene ructantes, exhalantibus etiam nunc scelus suum faucibus et contagia funesta redolentibus, Domini corpus invadunt, quando occurrat Scriptura divina, et clamet et dicat: Omnis mundus manducabit carnem, et anima quaecumque manducaverit ex carne sacrificii salutaris quod est Domini, et immunditia ipsius super ipsum est, peribit anima illa de populo suo. Apostolus item testetur et dicat: Non potestis calicem Domini bibere et calicem daemoniorum, non potestis mensae Domini communicare et mensae daemoniorum. Idem contumacibus et pervicacibus comminatur et denuntiat dicens: Quicumque ederit panem aut biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. Sanctus Cyprianus, Liber De Lapsis Source: Migne PL 4.478a-479a

Moreover, beloved brethren, a new type of devastation has arisen, and as if the storm of persecution had raged too little there has been added to the heap, under the name of mercy, a duplicitous evil and an alluring ruin. In opposition to the vigour of the Gospel, in opposition to the law of the Lord and God, by the temerity of some, communion is relaxed to reckless folk, which is a vain and false peace, dangerous to those who grant it and giving nothing for the future to those who receive it. They do not seek patience for health, nor the true medicine of satisfaction. Penitence is driven out of their hearts and the memory of their very grave and extreme sin is borne away. The wounds of the dying are covered up, and the deadly blow planted in the deep and furthest entrails is concealed by a dissimulated sorrow. Returning from the altars of the devil, with hands filthy and reeking with a stench, they draw near to the holy place of the Lord. Yet almost belching forth the fatal idol-meats, and even with mouths breathing forth their crime and stinking of the mortal contact, they rush toward the body of the Lord, though sacred Scripture runs against them, and cries out and says, 'Everyone who is clean shall eat of the flesh, and whichever soul eats of the flesh of the saving sacrifice, which is the Lord's, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.' 1 The Apostle also gives witness and says, 'You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of devils.' 2 He threatens and denounces the insolent and stubborn, saying, 'He who eats the bread and drinks from the cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.' 3 Saint Cyprian of Carthage, On The Lapsed 1 Levit 7.20 2 1 Cor 10.21 3 1 Cor 11.27