Praise And Humility

In omnibus ergo in quibus adulationum nimietas etiam terminos hominis competentes excessit illud Davidicum recordaveris documentum, in quo ille venena adulationum devitans ait: Corripiet me iustus in misericordia et arguet me, oleum vero peccatoris non impinguat caput meum. Oleum namque peccatoris adulatio est, quae leni quadam et suavi unctione caput interioris hominis, quod est cor, quasi ungendo dinitidat. Melius ergo sibi esse dixit propheta David ab homine iusto argui vel moneri quam a quovis adulatore laudari. Recte autem adulatorem peccatoris nomine denotavit, cuius id maximum ante oculos Dei et detestabile est peccatum, aliud corde tenere, aliud ore proferre. De talibus enim et in alio Psalmo dicit: Mollierunt sermones suos super oleum, et ipsi sunt iacula. De iusto autem dicit: Loquitatur veritatem in corde suo et non egit dolum in lingua sua. Ut autem in his rebus quaevis hominum subtilitas, nullo umquam laudationis titillamento, credulitatem mentis tuae attrahat in consensu, ad ipsius domini nostri Iesu Christi evangelica illa gesta convertere, et invenies illum dominantium Dominum magnum nobis dedisse inter humanas laudes sanctae humilitatis exemplum. Hanc ergo excole, hanc magistram habeto, hanc tibi inter laudationum illecebras arbitram pone. Haec tibi si volueris dicit quota portio ex his quae homines adlaudando tribuunt, vel quanto tempore tua sit. Haec te non permittit placidis auribus audire quae ficta sunt. Sanctus Martinus Bracarensis, Exhortatio Humilitatis, III Source: Migne PL 72.39d-40b

In everything, then, in which there is excessive adulation exceeding even the limits that are set for men, you should remember that composition of David, in which he speaks of avoiding adulation like poison: 'May the righteous man correct me in his mercy and dispute with me, let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head.' 1 Adulation is the oil of the sinner, which is like some light and sweet unction on the head of the interior man, that is, the heart. Better for himself, then, David says, that the righteous man should dispute with him and admonish him, rather than that he should be praised by an adulator. And rightly is the adulator denoted by the name of sinner, for before the eyes of God it is a grave and revolting sin, that is, to have something in the heart and to bring something else out of the mouth. Concerning this it says in another Psalm: 'Their words were softer than oil, and they were blades.' 2 But he says of the righteous man: 'He speaks truth in his heart and does not work deceit with his tongue.' 3 And so that it might be that these things which are most subtle among men, even the pleasure of adulation, shall never draw the belief of your mind to consent, turn to the deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel and you will find that the Lord of lords 4 has given us a great example amid human praise. This, then, honour. Have this for a teacher. Set this beside you as a judge amid the allurements of praise. Have this, if you should choose, he says, for your portion among the things that men praise, and indeed for as long as you shall live. This shall not permit you to hear with eager ears those things which are lies. Saint Martin of Braga, Exhortation to Humility, 3 1 Ps 140.5 2 Ps 54.22 3 Ps 14.3 4 Apoc 19.16

Praise And John The Baptist

Verbum Salomonis est: Laudent te labia proximi tui, et non tua. Si laus expetenda est, non expetenda a se ipso, sed ab ore proximi. Gloriosior tamen est laus procedens de ore Altissimi: Non enim qui se commendat, ille probatus est, sed quem Deus commendat. Si linguis loquamur hominum et angelorum, non poterimus explicare ad plenum Joannis merita, atque in Joanne Christi praeconia. Laus Joannis celebris est in Evangelio, quia, ubicunque occurit mentio de Joanne, commendatur a Christo. Non ergo mendicat laudis humanae suffragia, qui laudatur a Deo, qui dicere potest, In Domino laudabitur anima mea. Commendat Noe Dominus dicens: Vidi te justum coram me. Commendat Abraham faciens ei promissionis benedictionis in futuris generationis. De beato etiam Job loquens ad Satan, magnificat eum quod non sit similis in terra: Vir simplex et rectus et timens Dominum. De Moyse etiam dicit: Si quis fuerit inter vos propheta, loquar ei in visione vel per sominum. At non talis servus meus Moyses, qui in omni domo mea fidelissimus est. Ore ad os loquar ei. David quoque cum ipse dicit: Deus laudem meam ne tacueris; laudatur a Domino dicente: Inveni virum secundum cor meum. Testimonio Dei magni fuerunt isti, et multi alii. Sed ejusdem testimonio: Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Baptista. Illi laudem et praeconiorum congragaverunt divitias, iste supergressus est universos; cujus nativitas per Gabrielem archangelum annuntiata est, sicut et nativitas Christi, cujus nomen vocatum est ab angelo, priusquam in utero conciperetur; intra Sancta sanctorum praenuntiatur, in utero sanctifiatur, ut dicere possit: Ab infantia crevit mecum sanctitas, et ab utero matris meae egressa est mecum. Fuit itaque factus antequam natus, et ideo processu temporis plus quam sanctus. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXVII, In Festo Sancti Joannis Baptistae Source: Migne PL 207.641a-b

The word of Solomon is 'Let your neighbour's lips praise you and not your own.' 1 If praise must be sought, let it not be sought from oneself but from the mouth of a neighbour. Yet more glorious is the praise if it comes forth from the mouth of the Most High. 'It is not he who commends himself who has been approved, but him whom God commends.' 2 If we were to speak with the tongues of men and angels we would not be able to explain the full merit of John but in John being a forerunner of Christ. The praise of John is celebrated in the Gospel, because everywhere there is mention of John he is commended by Christ. Therefore he does not beg for the judgements of human praise who is able to say, 'My soul shall have its praise in the Lord.' 3 The Lord commended Noah saying, 'I have seen you righteous before me.' He commended Abraham with the promise of his blessing in future generations. Speaking of the blessed Job to Satan, He magnifies him with, 'There is no one like him on the earth. A man simple and upright and fearing the Lord.' Concerning Moses He says, 'If there is a prophet among you, I shall speak to him in visions and through dreams, but I do not do so with my servant Moses, who of all my house is the most faithful. I speak to him face to face.' Also David when he says, 'O God, be not silent in my praise,' is praised by the Lord when He says, 'I have found a man according to my heart.' 4 Such was the testimony of God for these great ones, and for many others. But John's testimony is, 'Among those born of women there has not risen up one greater than John the Baptist.' 5 His praise gathers up the wealth of the forerunners and surpasses them all, whose birth was announced by the archangel Gabriel, as was the birth of Christ, and whose name was declared by an angel before he had been conceived in the womb. 6 Within the holy of holies he was foretold, in the womb he was sanctified, so that it is possible to say, 'From my infancy holiness was created with me, and from my going forth from my mother's womb is it with me.' 7 Thus he was before birth, and thus with the advance of time he is more holy. Peter of Blois, from Sermon 27, On The Feast of John The Baptist 1 Prov 27.2 2 2 Cor 10.18 3 Ps 33.3 4 Gen 7.1, Gen 22.18, Job 2.3, Num 12.6, Ps 108.2, Acts 13.22 5 Mt 11.1 6 Lk 1.9-17 7 Job 31.18

Seeing The Face

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

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

Going Before, Following Behind

Qui praecedebant, et qui sequebantur, clamabant dicentes: Hosanna filio David, benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Turbae quae exierant cum eo de Jericho, et viderant mirabilia quae ostendit eis, caecos illuminatos, et Lazarum resurgentem, valde permoti miraculis, et sanitatibus quas praestitit eis, exsultando se forte transfundunt in laudes, ut impleatur ad litteram, quod per prophetam jam supra dixisse meminimus, Gaude valde, filia Sion, jubila, filia Jerusalem; quoniam non sine magna cordis exsultatione populus, et qui praeibat, et qui sequebatur, forte talia clamabat. Nam in his uterque populus intelligitur, qui et ante Evangelium, et post in Christum crediderunt; ipsi namque sunt qui et praecedunt et sequuntur. Omnes tamen unum dicunt, neque aliud qui praecedunt, et aliud qui sequuntur: sed omnes simul clamabant consona voce. Humanam quidem Christi dispensationem laudantes, et divinam praedicabant, in eo quod praedicabant, Hosanna filio David, benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Non enim aliter nisi Deus esset, in nomine Domini venire potuisset. Sed quia Deus homo factus est, mirabiliter restitutionem ejus praedicant, in illa coelesti Jerusalem sancta; in eo quod dicitur Hosanna in excelsis. Quem sane versum turba de psalmo centesimo septimo decimo assumit, qui manifeste de Christo prophetatur, et in synagogis Judaeorum celeberrime ac crebo legabatur: unde et illi populo notior erat. Et ideo assumunt eosdem versus, quibus ostendatur, quod ille, qui tam ibi, quam et alibi, repromittebatur de genere David venturus, jam venerit salvaturus Israel. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber IX, Caput XXI Source: Migne PL 120.704b-d

Those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, 'Hosannah to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' 1 The crowd that went out with Him from Jericho and saw the miracles He performed before them, giving light to the blind, and raising Lazarus, being greatly moved by the miracles and the healing He performed in their presence, and likely exulting in themselves, poured forth praise, as it might be fulfilled to the letter what we recall was said through the prophet, 'Rejoice greatly, daughter of Sion, be joyful daughter of Jerusalem,' 2 because it is not without great exultation that the people who went before and followed behind would cry out such things. And by both these groups one should understand those who believed before and after the Gospel, whence they were going before and they were following. They all said one thing, it was not that those before said one thing and those behind said another, but all at the same time cried out with one voice. Certainly praising the human dispensation of Christ, and proclaiming the Divinity, since they were crying out, 'Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' For He was not able to come in the name of the Lord unless He was God. But because God was made man, they wonderfully declare his restitution in the holy heavenly Jerusalem, since it is said, 'Hosanna in the highest.' Which verse the crowd takes from the one hundred and seventeenth Psalm, which openly prophesies Christ, and was often and repeatedly read in the synagogues of the Jews, whence it was well known to the people. Therefore they took up those verses by which it is shown that He there, as elsewhere, was the one promised, who was to come from the seed of David, and had now come for the salvation of Israel. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 9, Chapter 21 1 Mt 21.9 2 Zech 9.9

The Praise Of Angels

Dominus noster atque Salvator nascitur in Bethlehem, et multitudo coelestis exceritus laudat Deum et dicit: Gloria in excelsis Deo, et super terram pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Haec autem loquitur multitudo coelestis exercitus, quia jam defecert praebere hominibus auxilium et videbat se opus quod sibi creditum fuerat, implere non posse absque eo qui vere salvare poterat, et praesules quoque ipsos juvare, ut homines salvarentur. Quomodo igitur scriptum est in Evangelio, quod quidam remis sulcantes mare adversus contrarios ventos jam fessi erant, et viginti quinque, sive triginta stadiis laborantes, portum tenere non poterant, et postea Dominus supervenit, et quiescere fecit fluctus tumentes, navemque cujus hinc inde latera tundebantur, ab imminenti discrimine liberavit: sic intellige quoniam et angeli volebant quidem hominibus praebere auxilium, et eis ab aegrotationibus suis tribuere sanitatem, quia omnes sunt apparitores spiritus in ministerium missi propter eos qui consecuti sunt salutem: qui quantum in suis viribus erat, adjuvabant homines. Videbant autem multo inferiorem suam esse medicinam, quam illorum cura poscebat. Porro ut de exemplo possis intelligere quod dicimus, vide mihi urbem in qua aegrotent plurimi, et medicorum frequens adhibeatur manus: sint diversa vulnera, quotidie in emortuam carnem serpens putredo penetret: et tamen medici qui adhibiti sunt ad curandum, nequeant alia ultra invenire medicamina, et artis suae scientia magnitudinem mali vincere; cum haec in talibus nacti sint, eveniat aliquis archiater qui habeat summam in arte notitiam, et illi qui prius sanare nequiverant cernentes magistri manu putredines cessare vulnerum, non invideant, non livore crucientur, sed in laudes erumpant archiatri, et praedicent Deum qui et sibi et aegrotantibus tantae scientiae hominem miserit. In hanc ergo similitudinem et multitudo exercitus angelorum audita est dicens: Gloria in excelsis Deo, et super terram pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis. Origenes, Homiliae in Lucam, Homilia XIII, Interprete Sancto Hieronymo Source: Migne PG 13.1830c-1831a

Our Lord and Saviour is born in Bethlehem and a multitude of the heavenly host praises God and says: 'Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will.' 1 And the multitude of the heavenly host says this because it has wearied itself in giving help to men, and it saw that the labour which it believed to be its own cannot be completed without Him who truly can save, even Him who is also the master who helps them so that men might be saved. Recall how is it written in the Gospel that certain men plying the oars were wearied in their struggle against contrary winds, and they laboured for twenty five or thirty stades and were not able to reach port, and later the Lord intervened and quietened the churning waves of the sea that were beating at the sides of the boat, and freed them from their pressing plight. 2 So understand that the angels wished to help men and bring them from sickness to health, because 'they are all ministering spirits sent to minister to them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation,' 3 as much as it is in them to help men. But they saw how inferior their own medicine is for what the cure requires. Perhaps by an example you shall be able to understand what I am saying. Imagine a city in which there are many sick people and the hands of physicians are frequently employed. There are many wounds and every day the worm enters into dying bodies, and however much the physicians exert themselves in healing they can do no more than their art allows them and as their knowledge can prevail over the evil, and when into such a situation the chief physician comes, he who knows everything about the art, when they see the hand of the master close up the festering wounds of those who they were not able to heal before, they are not envious, they are not distressed by it, but they burst out in praise of the chief physician and tell of God who has sent a man of such great knowledge to them and the sick. In this way, then, hear the host of angels saying, 'Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will.' Origen, Homilies on Luke, from Homily 13, Translated by Saint Jerome 1 Lk 2.13-14 2 Jn 6.19-21 3 Heb 1.14

Errors Of Praise And Blessings

...ὅτι ἐπαινεῖται ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ ἀδικῶν ἐνευλογεῖτα... Καὶ μάλιστα οἱ θείου πλούτου καὶ σοφίας στερούμενοι, και μὴ ἀκριβεῖς ὄντες περὶ τὰ δόψματα τῆς εὐσεβείας. Οὗτοι γὰρ τοῖς τῆς σοφῆς προνοίας προσκόπτουσιν κρίμασιν, ἐπαινοῦντες τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ἐφ' οἷς ἐπιθυμεῖ· φανεροῦ ὄντος ὡς οὐ τῶν αἱρετῶν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἡδέων καὶ ἐμπαθῶν ὀρέγεται ὁ ἁμαρτωλός. Πρὸς τούτοις, ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ σφάλματος εὐλογίαν ἠγοῦνται τοὺς πλοῦτον καὶ δόξαν ἀνθρωπίνην καὶ πρόσκαιρον ἔχοντας, φάσκοντες τούς ἀδικοῦντας πρὸς Θεοῦ εὐλογεῖσθαι· ἔδει δὲ τοπάσαι ὡς ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐλογία δίδοται δικαίοις. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος Θ´ Source: Migne PG 39.1200d-1201a

...For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul and the unrighteous man is blessed... 1 And especially by those lacking the wealth and wisdom of God, who do not hold accurately to the holy teachings. For they err in the judgements of wise providence who praise the sinner in his desire, when it is not his choice, but the sinner is driven by pleasure and passion. And these, by the same error, deem temporal wealth and human glory a blessing, whence they call the unrighteous man blessed by God, since they must admit that the blessings of God are given to the righteous. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.24

Dismissing The Crowd

Et dimittentes turbam... Dimittunt turbam, qui popularem auram et vulgum deserunt incerto semper judicio pervagantem: neque addicti rumoribus humanis a virtutis itinere retardantur, sed se bono conscientiae stabiles et securi laudum et derogationum mendaces fluctus, Christo comitante, pertranseunt. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XXI, De Sedata Maris Tempestate Source: Migne PL 52.379a-b

And dismissing the crowd... 1 They dismiss the crowd who keep away from the popular breeze and the wandering mob that is always unstable in its judgement, nor are they delayed on the way of virtue by being bound to human rumours, but stable and secure in good conscience, with Christ accompanying them, they pass through the deceitful waves of praise and detraction. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 21, On The Calming of the Storm at Sea 1 Mk 4.36

Treasure Of Earth And Heaven

Nolite thesaurizare vobis thesauros, etc. Dixi quia neque eleemosynam, neque orationem, neque jejunium, propter laudem hominum faciatis vel terrenam. Et quid dicerem per singula? Jubeo ut nihil propter temporalia velitis facere. Et hoc est: Nolite thesaurizare, id est, congregare et facere thesauros vestros in terra, id est in terrenis, Ubi aerugo et tinea demolitur, et fures effodiunt et furantur. Tria ponit secundum tres diversitates divitiarum. Metalla aerugine, vestes a tinea demoliuntur. Sunt alia quae neque aeruginem nec tineam timent, sicut lapides pretiosi, et ideo ponit generale detrimentum, scilicet fures, qui omnes divitias rapere possunt. Potest etiam prohibitio non solum de pecunia, sed etiam de omnibus terrenis intelligi. Quisquis enim amorem suum in aliqua terrena applicat, in terra thesaurizat, et si aliquid sicut gulam vel libidinem, vel aliquid terrenum diligit, vel si bonum mala intentione faciat, iste thesaurum in terra ponit, et illa aerugo et tinea demolitur. Aerugo obfuscat, et comedit et videtur. Tinea vero comedit, sed non videtur. Aerugo igitur significat carnalia peccata quae videntur. Tinea spiritualia animae, quae non videntur, sicut est ira, invidia, fures, daemones. Aerugo comedit thesaurum temporalium et tinea, dum ex amore gulae, vel inanis gloriae, rubigo luxuriae nascitur, et dormitionis, et aliarum voluptatum, quae illum gulae amorem obfuscant, et dum ex inani gloria nascitur, invidiae tinea, et timor et cura quae consumunt illam gloriam. Si autem, ut diximus, propter laudem faciunt bona, illa fures, id est daemones, auferunt. Probat quod neque jejunium, neque eleemosyna sub hypocrisi facta aliquid proficiant. In coelo vero nulla sunt istorum. Ubi enim est thesaurus, etc. Ideo non debes in terra thesaurizare, sed in coelo: quia quidquid est quod potissimum est illi servis, in illa cor tuum infigis, id est, intentionem tuam. Si cor est in coelo, mundum est, quia munda sunt coelestia. Si autem in terra volutatur, quomodo mundum est? quoniam sordescit res dignior, dum inferiori miscetur, sicut aurum argento. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 162.1310b-1311a

Do not heap up treasure for yourself... 1 I have said that you should not give alms, nor pray, nor fast, for the sake of the praise of men, or for the world. 2 And what do I say through each one of these? I command that you do not do anything for the sake of temporal things. And this is: 'Do not heap up treasure,' that is, do not gather and establish your treasure on earth, that is in worldly things 'Where rust and moths devour, and thieves dig in and steal.' Three things, then, He lays down according to the three differences of wealth. Metal is devoured by rust, clothes by moths. And there are other things which fear neither rust or moth, like precious stones, and therefore He sets down a general loss, that is, thieves, who are able to seize on any sort of wealth. It is possible to understand that this prohibition touches not only on coins but even all the things of the world. Whoever, then, directs his love to something of the earth, he heaps up treasure on the earth, and if he delights in something like gluttony or lust, or some worldly thing, or if he shall do good with evil intent, he places his treasure on the earth, and rust and moths devour it. Rust obscures and devours and is apparent. But moths when they devour, they are not seen. Thus the rust signifies the carnal sins which are overt, the moth the spiritual things of the soul which do not appear, as anger and envy, thieves and demons. Rust devours the treasure of temporal things, while the moth is born from the love of gluttony, or vainglory, with the blight of luxury, and sloth, and other pleasures, which obscure that same love of gluttony, and when the moth of envy is born from vainglory, so is fear and care which consumes that glory, But if, as we have said, good deeds are done on account of praise, the thieves, that is, the demons, steal them away. He affirms that neither fasting nor alms giving shall profit in hypocrisy. In heaven there are none of these things. 'Where your treasure is...' 3 Therefore you should not heap up treasure on the earth but in heaven, because you should guard whatever is greater and fix your heart on it, that is, your will. If the heart is in heaven, it is clean because heavenly things are pure, but if it rolls about in the world, how is it clean? That which is more valuable makes the inferior thing it is mixed with unworthy, as gold with silver. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 6 1 Mt 6.19 2 Mt 6.1-18 3 Mt 6.21

The Trumpet's Peril

Noli tuba canere ante te, sicut hypocritae faciunt. Si enim post se esset, quod videlicet tentaret, et non praecederet, humana haec esset tentatio, sed quando praecedit, diabolica est elatio. Ephraim pascit ventu, et sequitur aestum tota die: mendacium, et vastitatem multiplicat. Ventum enim pascere est auras laudis per dona muneris provocare, et gloriam illam aestu humanae laudis fit ire. Et sic multiplicantur adulantium mendacia, et vastantur bona in aeternum, si non esset laus humana, valitura Bene cane, frequenta canitcum: ut memoria tui fit. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium in Mattheum, Caput VI Source: Here, p113

Do not blow your trumpet before you, as hypocrites do. 1 If it was behind him, which certainly would be a trial, and it did not go before him, it would be a human temptation, but when it goes before it is a diabolic elation. 'Ephraim pastures the winds, and follows the blazing heat all day, he multiplies falsehood and ruin.' 2 To pasture the winds is to demand the breath of praise by the giving of gifts, and that glory is to go about in the heat of human praise. And so the lies of adulators are multiplied, and goods in eternity are laid waste, which if there were not human praise would be confirmed. 'Sing well, sing many a song, so that you might be remembered.' 3 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 6 1 Mt 6.2 2 Hosea 12.1 3 Isaiah 23.16

The Testimony Of Death

Illud quoque egregium, quod ait Scriptura: Ante mortem non laudaveris quemquam. Unusquisque enim in novissimis suis cognoscitur, et in filiis suis aestimatur, si bene filios suos instituit, et disciplinis competentibus erudivit. Siquidem ad negligentiam patris refertur dissolutio filiorum. Tum quia unusquisque, quandiu vivit, obnoxius est lapsui, nec senectus immunis a crimine; ideo legis quia Abraham mortuus est in senectute bona, eo quod in bonitate propositi sui permansit. Mors igitur vitae est testimonium. Nam si laudari ante gubernator non potest, quam in portum navem deduxerit, quomodo laudabis hominem, priusquam in stationem mortis successerit? Et ipse sui est gubernator, et ipse vitae hujus jactatur profundo, quandiu in salo isto, tandiu inter naufragia. Dux ipse nisi confecto praelio non sumit lauream, nec miles arma deponit, nec stipendii mercedem adipiscitur, nisi hoste superato. Mors igitur stipendiorum plenitudo, summa mercedis, gratia missionis est. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 14.556b-c

That is also excellent which Scripture says: 'You shall not praise any man before his death.' 1 Any man is known by his last days, and he is judged by his offspring, if he has raised good sons, and educated them sufficiently in studies. Indeed wayward children are referred to the negligence of the father. So as anyone while he lives is liable to fall, nor is an old man immune from error,  thus you read that 'Abraham died in good old age.' 2 by which it is asserted that he remained in a good state. Death, therefore, is a testimony of life. For if it is not possible to praise a pilot before he leads the ship into port, how will you praise a man before he has arrived at the resting place of death? He is the pilot of his own life cast out on the deep, where there will be plain sailing and where there will be shipwrecks. A general, unless he is victorious in battle, does not receive laurels, nor does a soldier put down his arms or obtain the reward of his pay until the enemy is conquered. Therefore death is the fullness of pay, the consummation of reward, the joy of discharge after service. Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, Chapter 8 1 Sirach 11.28 2 Gen 25.8

Dining With The Devil

Ἐὰν καθίσῃς δειπνεῖν ἐπὶ τραπέζης δυναστῶν νοητῶς νόει τὰ παρατιθέμενά σοι καὶ ἐπίβαλλε τὴν χεῖρά σου εἰδὼς ὅτι τοιαῦτά σε δεῖ παρασκευάσαι. Eἰ δὲ ἀπληστότερος εἶ μὴ ἐπιθύμει τῶν ἐδεσμάτων αὐτοῦ ταῦτα γὰρ ἔχεται ζωῆς ψευδοῦς Εἰσάγει δὲ παρ' ἑαυτῷ τὸν βάσκανον διάβολον, καὶ τρώγει τὸν ψωμὸν αὑτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ, ὁ μετὰ κενοδοξίας, ἢ ἀνθρωπαρεσκείας ποιῶν τι τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ἀπέχει τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ διάβολος φανεροῖ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ ἐπαίνου τοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἀνθρωπάρεσκον λοιμανῆται καὶ ἀποστερήσῃ τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας Source: Migne PG 39.1640b

If you sit to dine at table with the powerful, know well what is set before you, and stretch out your hand knowing what it is that you are allowed to take. Do not greedily desire their food, for with these things comes the lie of life. 1 He introduces himself eating with the devil, and he partakes of his morsels with him who does good works for vainglory or to please men, for such men have their rewards. 2 Indeed the devil openly proposes such things to men, that ruined by the praises of men in the pleasing of men, he might strip them of eternal goods. Didymus the Blind, On Proverbs 1 Prov 23.1 2 Mt 6.1-6

The Gates

Kαὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν πύλαι ᾅδου εἴρηνται, ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς ὁ προφήτης εὐχαριστεῖ λέγων· ὁ ὑψῶν με ἐκ τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου, ὅπως ἂν ἐξαγγείλω πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις σου ἐν ταῖς πύλαις τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιών. Kαὶ ἐκ τούτου δὲ μανθάνομεν ὅτι μήποτε οὐχ οἷόν τέ ἐστιν πάσας δυνηθῆναι ἐξαγγεῖλαι τὰς αἰνέσεις τινὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, μὴ ὑψωθέντα «ἐκ τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου καὶ γενόμενον παρὰ ταῖς πύλαις Σιών. Πύλαι δὲ Σιὼν ἐναντίως νοηθεῖεν ταῖς πύλαις τοῦ θανάτου, ὡς εἶναι πύλην μὲν θανάτου τὴν ἀκολασίαν πύλην δὲ Σιὼν τὴν σωφροσύνην, καὶ οὕτω θανάτου μὲν τὴν ἀδικίαν Σιὼν δὲ τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ἥντινα δεικνὺς ὁ προφήτης φησίν· αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ Kυρίου, δίκαιοι εἰσελεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ. Kαὶ πάλιν τὴν μὲν δειλίαν θανάτου πύλην τὴν δὲ ἀνδρείαν Σιών, καὶ ἀφροσύνην μὲν θανάτου τὴν δὲ ἐναντίαν αὐτῇ φρόνησιν τῆς Σιών. Πάσαις δὲ ταῖς πύλαις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως μία ἐναντία ἐστὶ πύλη ἡ τῆς ἀψευδοῦς γνώσεως. Ἐπίστησον δὲ εἰ δύνασαι διὰ τὸ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ λέγειν ἑκάστην ἐξουσίαν καὶ κοσμοκράτορα τοῦ σκότους τούτου καὶ πνευματικὸν τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις πύλην εἶναι ᾅδου καὶ πύλην θανάτου. Πύλαι οὖν ᾅδου λέγοιντο καὶ αἱ ἀρχαὶ καὶ ἐξουσίαι, πρὸς ἃς ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πύλαι δὲ δικαιοσύνης τὰ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα. ὥσπερ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν κρειττόνων πολλαὶ προλέγονται πύλαι καὶ μετὰ τὰς πολλὰς μία ἐν τῷ ἀνοίξατέ μοι πύλας δικαιοσύνης· εἰσελθὼν ἐν αὐταῖς ἐξομολογήσομαι τῷ Kυρίῳ, καὶ αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ Kυρίου, δίκαιοι εἰσελεύσον ται ἐν αὐτῇ, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐναντίων πολλαὶ μὲν πύλαι ᾅδου καὶ θανάτου, ἑκάστη ἐξουσία, ὑπὲρ πάσας δὲ ταύτας αὐτὸς ὁ πονηρὸς. Kαὶ προσέχωμέν γε ἐφ' ἑκάστης ἁμαρτίας ὡς εἰς πύλην ᾅδου τινὰ κατα βαίνοντες, εἰ ἁμαρτάνομεν· ἀλλὰ ὑψούμενοι ἐκ τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανά του ἐξαγγείλωμεν πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις τοῦ Kυρίου ἐν ταῖς πύλαις τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιών. Oἷον ἐν μιᾷ πύλῃ τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιών, τῇ καλουμένῃ σωφροσύνῃ, ἐξαγγελοῦμεν ἀπὸ σωφροσύνης τὰς αἰνέσεις τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἄλλῃ, τῇ καλουμένῃ δικαιοσύνῃ, ἀπὸ δι καιοσύνης τὰς αἰνέσεις τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἐν πᾶσιν οἷς γινόμεθα ἐπαινετοῖς, ἐν τούτοις γινόμεθα ἔν τινι πύλῃ τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιών, κατ' ἐκείνην ἐξαγγέλλοντες αἴνεσίν τινα τοῦ θεοῦ. Ὠριγένης, Κατὰ Ματθαιον Ἐξηγητικων, Τομος ΙΒ' Source: Migne PG 13.1008b-1012b

On this rock that I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 1 Here, then, the gates of Hell are spoken of, and in the Psalms the prophet gives thanks saying, 'He who lifts me up from the gates of death, so that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion.' 2 And from this we learn that it is never possible for anyone to declare the praises of God unless lifted up from the gates of death and brought to the gates of Zion. The gates of Zion may be thought as opposed to the gates of death, so that there is one gate of death, dissoluteness, but a gate of Zion, temperance; and thus a gate of death, unrighteousness, but a gate of Zion, righteousness, which the prophet shows, saying, 'This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter into it.' 3 And again there is cowardice, a gate of death, but courage, of Zion; and lack of prudence, of death, but its opposite, prudence, of Zion. But to all the gates of the 'knowledge which is falsely so called' 4 one gate is opposed, the gate of faultless knowledge. But consider whether, because of the saying, 'our wrestling is not against flesh and blood,' 5 one might say that each power and world-ruler of this darkness, and the 'spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places' 5 is a gate of Hell and a gate of death. Let, then, the principalities and powers, with which our wrestling is, be called gates of Hell, but the 'ministering spirits' 6 the gates of righteousness. But as in the case of better things, many gates are spoken of first, and then after the many one, in the passage, 'Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will enter into them, and will make confession to the Lord,' 7 and then 'this is the gate of the Lord, by it the righteous shall enter,' 3 so it is with the gates which are opposed, that many are the gates of Hell and death, each one a power, but over all these is the wicked one himself. And let us take care for each sin, as if by sinning we were descending into some gate of death, but when we are lifted up from the gates of death, let us declare all the praises of the Lord in the gates of the daughter of Zion. As, for example, in one gate of the daughter of Zion which is called temperance we will declare by our temperance the praises of God, and in another which is called righteousness, by our righteousness we will declare the praises of God, and generally in all things which are praiseworthy and with which we are occupied we are at some gate of the daughter of Zion declaring at each gate some praise of God. Origen, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Book 12 1 Mt 16.18 2 Ps 9.15 3Ps 117.20 4 1 Tim 6.20 5 Ephes 6.12 6 Heb 1.14 7 Ps 117.19

Testing A Monk

Ἐπῃνέθη τις μοναχὸς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πρὸς τὸν ἀββᾶν Ἀντώνιον. Ὁ δὲ παραβαλόντα αὐτὸν ἐπείρασεν, εἰ φέρει ἀτιμίαν· καὶ εὐρὼν ὅτι οὐ βαστάζει, εἴπεν αὐτῷ· Ἒοικας κώμῃ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν κεκαλλωπισμένῃ, τὰ δὲ ὅπισθεν ὑπὸ λῃστῶν συλουμένῃ. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.80c

A certain monk was praised to Anthony by the brothers. When the monk came to him, he tested him, to see if he would endure insults, and finding that he would not, he said to him, 'You seem like a village that is fair without, but within it has been plundered by bandits.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Oil And Praise

Etenim ecce istae virgines stultae, quae non portaverunt oleum secum, abstinentia sua qua virgines appellantur, et bonis operibus suis, quando lampades ferre videntur, hominibus volunt placere. Et si hominibus volunt placere, et ideo omnia ista laudabilia faciunt, oleum secum non portant. Tu ergo tecum porta, intus porta, ubi videt Deus: ibi porta testimonium conscientiae tuae. Qui autem ambulat ad testimonium alienum, oleum non portat secum. Si ideo abstines ab illicitis, et facis bona opera, ut ab hominibus lauderis; non est intus oleum. Denique cum coeperint homines non laudare, deficiunt lampades. Intendat itaque Caritas vestra. Antequam dormirent illae virgines, non est dictum quia exstinguebantur lampades illarum. Sapientium lampades ardebant de oleo interno, de conscientiae securitate, de interiore gloria, de intima caritate. Ardebant tamen et illarum fatuarum. Quare tunc ardebant? Quia non deerant laudes hominum. Postea vero quam surrexerunt, id est, in resurrectione a mortuis, coeperunt aptare lampades suas, id est praeparare Deo operum suorum reddere rationem. Et quia tunc nemo est qui laudet, omnis homo causae suae vacat, nemo est tunc qui non de se cogitet: non ergo erant qui oleum venderent; coeperunt deficere lampades, et converterunt se fatuae ad quinque prudentes: Date nobis de oleo vestro, quia lampades nostrae exstinguuntur. Hoc quaerebant quod consueverant, id est, alieno oleo lucere, ad alienas laudes ambulare. Date nobis de oleo vestro, quia lampades nostrae exstinguuntur. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis,Sermo XCIII, De Verbis Evangelii 'Simile Erit Regnum Coelorum Decem Virginibus' Source: Migne PL 38.577-578

For, behold, those foolish virgins, who brought no oil with them, 1 by that abstinence of theirs whereby they are called virgins, and by their good works, when they seem to carry lamps, wish to please men. And if they wish to please men, and because of that do all these laudable works, they do not carry oil with them. You, then, carry it with you, carry it within where God sees, there carry the testimony of your conscience. For he who walks for the testimony of another, does not carry oil with him. If you abstain from things unlawful and do good works to be praised by men, there is no oil within. And so when men begin to cease their praise, the lamps fail. Let your love be attentive. Before those virgins slept, it was not said that their lamps were extinguished. The lamps of the wise ones burned with an inward oil, with the assurance of a good conscience, with an inner glory, with an inmost charity. And yet the lamps of the foolish ones also burned. Why did they burn at that time? Because then there was no lack of men's praise. But after that they arose, that is, in the resurrection from the dead, and they began to trim their lamps, that is, they began to prepare to give an account of their works to God. And because then there is no one to praise, with every man attending to his own cause, because then there is no one who is not thinking of himself, therefore there were was no one to sell them oil, so their lamps began to fail, and the foolish ones took themselves to the five wise ones, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' They sought for what they had been accustomed to seek, that is, to shine with the oil of others, to walk after the praises of others. 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 93, On the Words of the Gospel: 'The Kingdom of Heaven Shall Be Like Ten Virgins' 1 Mt 25.1-12

Correction And Mercy

Corripiet me justus in misericodia, et increpabit me; oleum autem peccatoris non impinguet caput meum. Postulate lignuae custodia, et ciminum excusatione damnata, venit ad secundam sectionem, in qua vir sanctus increpationes eligit justorum, quam blandimenta peccantium. Sed quae sit correctio justi braviter intimavit, dicendo, in misericordia: quonaim vir sanctus non in ira corripit, sed per dilectionem increpator accedit. Nam etsi vultum irati ostendit, cor tamen placati semper assumit; sicut monet Apostolus: Fratres, si praeoccupatus fuerit homo in aliquo delicto, vos qui spirituales estis, instruite hujusmodi in spiritu lenitatis, considerans teipsum, ne et tu tenteris. Quapropter haec consuetudo bonorum est, ut malint se a bonis corripi, quam sceleratorum adulatione praedicari; sicut scriptum est: meliora sunt vulnera amici quam voluntaria oscula inimici. Sequitur, oleum autem peccatoris non impinguet caput meum. Oleum et in bono et in malo plerumque ponitur. In bono, ut est illud Evangelii: Tu autem cum jejunas, unge caput tuum oleo, et faciem tuam lava: et in quadragesimo quarto psalmo: Propterea unxit Deus Deus tuus oleo laetitiae prae consortibus tuis. Est enim oleum in bonam partem causa splendoris, pabulum luminis, praestans nitorem pariter et salutem. In malam vero partem, sicut hic ponitur: oleum peccatoris est dilectio simulata verborum, quae adulationibus et blandimentis nostris mentes velut olei pinguedo leniter ingrediens, rigorem veritatis emollit, et ad noxias cogitationes amoris ficti potius ostentatione perducit; sicut in alio pslamo dictum est: Mollierunt sermones suous super oleum, et ipsi sunt jacula. Et Salomon ait: Verba adulatorum mollia, novissima autem eorum perveniunt in intima ventris. Quapropter illa monita semper eligenda sunt, quae non ad dilectionem saeculi trahunt, sed ad praecepta nos Divinitatis invitant. Potest autem et illud evangelicum de decem virginibus hic decenter aptari, quod quinque virges, quae actus suos probatissimos Domino dedicaverunt, et conscientias lucidas conservantes charitatis oleo refertae, semetipsas tanquam lampades ardentissimas Domini conspectibus obtulerunt. Istae, sicut hic dicit, merito credendae sunt a justis hominibus fuisse correctae, et misericordiae studio nihilominus esse reprehensae. Reliquae vero alie quinque virgines, quae adulantium vocibus infelici sorte crediderunt, caput earum factum est in sua deceptione pinguissimum et ideo exstinctis lampadibus non sunt receptae; quoniam tetram vitam ante Dominum veri luminis non decebat offerri. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXL Source: Migne PG 70.1001c-1002b

Let the righteous man shall correct me in mercy and chastise me, but let not the oil of the sinner swell my head. 1 Having requested custody of the tongue, and condemning excuse for wickedness, he comes to the second part, in which the holy man chooses the chastisement of the righteous over the blandishments of sinners. And what might be the correction of the righteous he briefly intimates, saying, 'in mercy', because the holy man does not correct in anger but he is a chastiser on account of love. For even if his face displays anger, he always adopts a heart that is conciliatory. As the Apostle warns: 'Brothers, if you come upon a man in some sin, you who are spiritual instruct him in a like spirit of clemency, considering yourself, lest even you be tempted.' 2 Whence this is the custom of good men, that they prefer to be corrected by the good than to hear the praise of evildoers. As it is written: 'Better the wounds of a friend than the eager kisses of an enemy.' 3 It then follows: 'But let not the oil of the sinner touch my head.' Oil is often used in a good and bad sense. In a good way, as in the Gospel: 'You, however, when you fast, anoint your head with oil, and wash your face.' 4 And in the forty fourth Psalm: 'Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness before your fellows.' 5 For oil in a good sense is a cause of splendor and a fuel of light, giving brightness along with health. However in a bad sense, so it is used here: 'the oil of the sinner,' which is the false love of words that with adulation and blandishment enter our minds gently like an anointing of oil, softening the rigour of truth and leading to wicked thoughts of counterfeit love rather its showing. As it says in another Psalm: 'Their words were softer than oil and they were blades.' 6 And Solomon says: 'Soft are the words of adulators and they reach into the very depths of the body.' 7 Whence the warning always to choose things which draw not to the love of the world but call us to the commands of the Divinity. And it is possible to fittingly apply the Gospel parable of the ten virgins here, 8 because five virgins, who were dedicated with their most admirable deeds to the Lord, having brought bright consciences guarding the oil of love, offered themselves as shining lamps in the sight of the Lord. These, as it says here, rightly entrusted themselves to correction by the righteous, and with the application of mercy were in no way reprehensible. However the other five virgins, who had unhappily trusted the voices of adulators, their heads were made most swollen in their own deception, and therefore with their unlit lamps they were not received, because it is not right to offer a darkened life before the Lord of true light. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 140 1 Ps 140.6 2 Galat 6.1 3 Prov 27.6 4 Mt 6.17 5 Ps 44.8 6 Ps 54.22 7 Prov 18.8 8 Mt 25.1-12

Honour And Priests

Rogamus autem vos, fratres, ut cognoscatis eos, qui laborant in vobis, et praesunt vobis in Domino, et monent vos; ut illis summam honorem habeatis in charitate propter opera ipsorum: pacem habete inter vos. Hoc est, quod dicit in alia epistola presbyteres duplici honore honorandos, qui laborant in verbo doctrinae. Potest enim pigere eum, qui inopiam patitur, exercitium facere, quod prosit audientibus. Quid enim prodest honorem sine fructu habere: aut quid magnum est efferre ei carnali, qui tribuit spiritalia? Sicut enim divitiae negligentiam pariunt salutis, ita egestas dum saturari quaerit, a justitia declinat. Hinc Solomon nec nimis divitem se petit fieri; nec egestuosum. Hoc ipsum tamen in charitate fieri debere; ut honorificentia sacerdotis non de timore magis sit, sed de amore; ut etiam illi proficiat, qui facit. Res enim quae sponte non fit, ad effectum non pervenit; quamvis enim ad praesens proficiat sumenti, nihil tamen proderit in futuro danti. Et quia dissensio multa generat mala, pacificos eos esse hortatur. Ambrosiaster, Commentaria in Epistolam Ad Thessalonicenses Primam Caput V Source: Migne PL 17.452a-b

'We ask you, brothers, that you acknowledge those who labour among you and lead you in the Lord and warn you, that you give them all honor in love on account of their works, having peace among you.' 1  That is, which he says in another letter, 2 that priests have a double share of honor, they who labour in the word of teaching. For it is possible that he who suffers poverty is impeded in exerting himself for the improvement of his hearers. How indeed does it profit to have honour without fruit? Or why is it so important to give material things to him who has given spiritual things? Because as wealth gives birth to carelessness for salvation, so seeking to fulfill needs in poverty leads to a decline from righteousness. Whence Solomon does not seek to be rich, nor to be destitute. 3 But this should be done in love, that the honour given to a priest is not from fear, but from love, which indeed profits him who does it. For that which is not of one's own will does not achieve its end, although indeed in the present it may profit in gain, but in the future such giving will profit not at all. And because much dissention produces evils, he exhorts them to the love of peace. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On Saint Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians, Chapter 5 1 Thes 5.12-13 2 1 Tim 5.17 3 Prov 30.8

Guarding Against Vainglory

Εἰ δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς κενοδοξίας καὶ τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπαίνου δεινῶς τυραννῇ, ὀφείλεις μηδὲν πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐργασίαν σου ποιεῖν ἐν κρυπτῷ, μηδενὸς ἄλλου εἰδότος, ἢ του Θεοῦ μόνου· καὶ μὴ ἀγάπα τοὺς ἐπαίνους, μηδὲ τὰς τιμὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, μηδὲ τὰ καλὰ ἱμάτια, μηδὲ τὴν προτίμησιν, καὶ τὴν πρωτοκαθεδρίαν· μάλλον δὲ ἀγάπα ἵνα σε ψέγωσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ κατηγορῶσι καὶ ἀτιμάζωσι ψευδόμενοι· καὶ ἔχε ἑαυτὸν παντὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἁμαρτωλότερον. Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Δαμασκηνός, Περι Των Ὀκτώ Τῆς Πονηρίας Πνευμάτων Source: Migne PG 95 82c-d

If glorying in vanities and the praises of men rules heavily over you, never should you do anything before men, but let all the works that you do be done in secret, known to no one but God alone; 1 and guarding against love of the praises and honours of men, refuse fine vestments, first portions and first seats, but rather love that men insult you, and accuse and dishonour you by their lies, and hold yourself as the most sinful of sinners. Saint John of Damascus, On The Eight Wicked Spirits 1 cf Mt 6.1-6

Driving From The Way Of Truth

Tota die exprobrabant mihi inimici mei, et qui laudabant me, adversum me jurabant.  Ore laudabant et corde insidias praeparabant. Laudabant, ut deciperent; praedicabant, ut subverterent: et hoc a diabolo, qui si publicis peccatis servum Christi subvertere non poterit, opprobriis et reprehensionibus circumhabitantium a via veritas eum deterrere nititur. Sunt plurimi bona facere erubescentes, ne dissimiles sint multitudini mala facientium. Alcuinus, Expositio In Psalmos Poenitentiales Source: Migne PL 100.589a

All day long my enemy cursed me, and they who praised me, they swore against me. 1 With their mouths they praised and in their hearts they prepared snares. They praised that they might deceive; they spoke that they might overthrow. And this is from the devil, who if he cannot overthrow a servant of Christ with public sins, surrounds him with shame and reproof, striving to deter him from the way of truth. There are indeed many who blush to do good things, lest they be unlike the multitude who do evil. Alcuin of York, Commentary On The Penitential Psalms 1 Ps 101.9

Food And Labour

Ἤδεται ὁ ἡμέτερος Κύριος Σωτὴρ καὶ Χριστὸς τοῖς ἐπαινετοῖς ἔργοις ἡμῶν καθεκάστην ἡμέραν, καὶ νύκτα τρεφόμενος. Βρῶμα γὰρ ἔχω φαγεῖν, ἔλεγε τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, ὅπερ ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐπιστασθε νῦν, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα γνώσεσθε, τῆς τῶν Σαμαρειτῶν πόλεως τῶν τότε πιστευσάντων, καὶ τῆς τῶν μετὰ τοῦτο μυρίων ἐθνῶν χριστιανισάντων σωτηρίαν τὴν ἐδωδὴν προαινιττόμενος τοῖς οἰκείοις φοιτηταῖς, Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἠσαῗας προανεφώνει περὶ Χριστοῦ, ὅτιπερ βούτυρον καὶ μέλι φάγεται. Ὁ ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν τὸν Ἀδὰμ πλαστουργήσας, ὕστερον δὲ ὡς παιδίον, καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὀφωεὶς Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ γῆς, καὶ πάντων ὁρατῶν, Διὰ βουτύρου καὶ μέλιτος το τρόφιμον τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ, καὶ προσηνὲς ὑπεμφαίνων τῆς τῶν Χριστιανῶν καλλίστης ἐργασίας. Ἐαν καλὰ πράττῃς ἔργα, καὶ μιμῇ τὸ πρᾶον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἔθρεψας αὐτὸν βουτύρῳ καὶ μέλιτι· ἐὰν δὲ ὀργίλος μένῃ, καὶ φαύλων ἐργάτης πράξεων, λέξει εὐλόγως καὶ περὶ σοῦ Ἰησοῦς, ὅτι Ἔδωκεν οὗτος εἰς τὸ βρῶμα μου χολὴν, καὶ εἰς τὴν δίψαν μου ἐπότισέ με ὄξος. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΝ' ΣΝΑ' Τευκρῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 79.176a-b

Our Lord Saviour and Christ takes joy in the labours of our praise on which He feeds night and day. 'For I have food for eating, He says to the Apostles, which you now do not know of now,' 1 and after would be known, in the city of the Samaritans when those among them believed, 2 and after them the endless number of peoples, who were given the name of Christ, foretelling the bread of salvation of our support. Indeed Isaiah gives prophecy concerning Christ, 'Butter and honey he shall eat,' 3 He who before this fashioned Adam and after as a little infant and man was seen, Jesus Christ, God of heaven and of earth, and all things visible. Butter and honey is the nourishment of the soul, and indicates nothing but the sweet and meek good works of Christians. Thus if you do good works and emulate the meekness of Christ, you shall feed Him with butter and honey; but if you are bloated with anger and turned to depraved deeds, not without reason did Christ speak of you, saying, 'They gave me gall for my bread, and for my drink they poured out vinegar. ' 4 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letters 250 and 251, to Teucer the Deacon 1 Jn 4.32 2 Jn 4.39-42 3 Isai 8.15 4 Ps 68.22

Humility And Wisdom

Εἶδον ἰδιώτας ἔργῳ τεπεινοφρονήσαντας καὶ ἐγένοντο τῶν σοφῶν σοφώτεροι. Ἕτερος ἰδιώτης ἀκούσας ἐκείνου ἐπαιρομένου, τὴν ταπείνωσιν οὐκ ἐμιμήσατο· ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆ ἰδιωτείᾳ κενοδοξῶν, ὑπερηφάνειαν προσελάβετο. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ  Source: Migne PG 65 915a

I saw simple men humbled by work and they became more wise than the wise. Another simple man hearing them praised did not imitate their humility but took vain delight in his simpleness and by pride he was cast down. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.