The Mustard Seed

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

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

Inside And Outside

Et exiit, inquit, Moyses ad populum, et locutus et ad eum verba Domini. Donec verba Domini audit Moyses et ab ipso docetur, intus est, et in interioribus consistit atque in intimis secretis habetur. Ubi vero turbis loquitur et populis, ministrat ei qui intus non potest stare, exire dicitur foras. Quid ergo formae talis continet sermo? Quod omnis doctor, et magister Ecclesiae si de profundioribus mysteriis aliquid moveat, is arcanum quid et reconditum de Dei sapientia proferat inter perfectos, donec in profundis sensibus versatur, intus esse, et in interioribus consistere dicendus est. Cum vero loquitur ad turbas, et ea profet quae sufficiant iis qui foris sunt, quae potest vulgus audire, foras dicitur exisse, et loqui ad populum verba Domini. Hoc video et Paulum fecisse, et intus quidem fuisse, cum diceret: Sapientiam autem loquimur inter perfectos, sapientiam autem non hujus mundi, neque principum hujus mundi, qui destruentur. Sed loquimur Dei sapientiam in mysterio absconditam quam nemo principum hujus mundi cognovit. Vides quomodo intus est, et interna atque arcana divinae sapientiae penetrat Paulus, cum haec loquitur. Cum autem procedit ad populum, audi quid loquitur: Omni sermo malus de ore vestro non procedat; et: Qui furabatur, jam non furetur; et: Unusquisque vir uxorem suam habeat; et: Unusquisque proximum suum sicut seipsum diligat; et: Unaquaeque mulier virum suum habeat. Haec et si qua hujusmodi sunt, Paulus secundum Moysis formam foras exiens, ad populum loquitur. Origen, In Numeros, Homilia VI, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 12.607b-c

And Moses went out to the people and he spoke the words of the Lord to them. 1 While Moses hears the words of the Lord and is taught by Him he is inside, and he is firmly fixed in things most profound and he takes hold of the deepest and innermost secrets, but when he speaks to the crowd and ministers to those who were not able to be inside he is said to go outside. What, then, is to be found in such words? That every teacher and instructor of the Church, if he is imbued with the profound mysteries, should be within setting forth the secret and hidden mysteries of God to the perfect, until the deepest understanding is achieved, which is said to be established in the deepest things. When however he speaks to the crowd he should offer to them what is fitting for those who are outside, that which it is possible for the multitude to hear, and then he is said to be outside. I see Paul did this, he who certainly was inside when he said, 'But we speak wisdom among the perfect, not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of the world who shall be ruined, but we speak a hidden wisdom of God in mystery which none of the princes of the world have known.' 2 See how he is inside, and that he grasps the inmost secrets of Divine wisdom when he says these things. But when he goes out to the people, hear what he says: 'Let no evil speech come out of your mouth,' and 'He who has stolen let him stop stealing.' and 'Let each man have his own wife,' and 'Let everyone love his neighbour as himself,' and 'Let every woman have her own husband.' 3 Paul speaks these things and things like them in the manner of Moses going outside. Origen, On Numbers, from the Sixth Homily, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Numb 11.24 2 1 Cor 2.6 3 Ephes 4.29, 4.28, 1 Cor 7.2, Ephes 5.33, 1 Cor 7.2

Age And Ability

Et factum est in tricesimo anno, in quarto mense, in quinta mensis. Hoc autem quod dicitur, quia tricesimo anno spiritum prophetiae acceperit, indicat aliquid nobis considerandum, videlicet quia juxta rationis usum doctrinae sermo non suppetit nisi in aetate perfecta. Unde et ipse Dominus anno duodecimo aetatis suae in medio doctorum in templo sedens, non docens, sed interrogans voluit inveniri. Ut enim non auderent homines in infirma aetate praedicare, ille anno duodecimo aetatis suae interrogare homines est dignatus in terra, qui per divinitatem suam semper angelos docet in coelo. Quia enim ipse est Dei sapientia, de ipso angeli videndo vivunt hoc quod beatitudine aeterna satiantur. Quod Moyses quoque sub allegoriae mysterio admonet, dicens: Non arabis in primogenito bovis. Primogenitum enim bovis accipimus in infirma aetate primi nostri temporis bonam operationem. In qua tamen arandum non est, quia cum prima sunt adolescentiae vel juventutis nostrae tempora, nobis adhuc a praedicatione cessandum est, ut vomer linguae nostrae proscindere non audeat terram cordis alieni. Quoadusque etenim infirmi sumus, continere nos intra nosmetipsos debemus, ne dum tenera bona citius ostendimus, amittamus, quia et arbusta plantata si prius in terra radicata non fuerint, manu tacta citius arescunt; at si semel radicem fixerint, manus tangit, et tamen nil officit; venti impellunt, nec tamen impellentes laedunt. Et constructi parietes si impellantur, eruuntur, nisi a suo prius fuerint humore siccati. Mens itaque quousque ab humore pravitatis suae perfecte non fuerit exsiccata, alienae linguae manu tangi non debet, ne priusquam plene percipiat, perdat soliditatem suam, ne impulsa ruat, ne velut arbustum sine radicibus, dum plus quam tolerare valet concutitur, arescat. Ad exemplum ergo non sunt ostendenda nisi quae firma sunt. Prius etenim convalescere debet mens, atque ad utilitatem proximorum postmodum demonstrari, cum jam nec per laudem elevata corruat, nec per vituperationem percussa contabescat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia II Source: Migne PL 76.796b-797a

And it happened in my thirtieth year, on the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month.... 1 This which is said, that the prophet received the spirit in his thirtieth year, indicates something which we must consider, that is, according to the use of reason one should not take up the word of teaching until a mature age. Hence even the Lord Himself at twelve years of age, sitting in the midst of the teachers in the temple, did not teach, but questioned, wishing to discover. 2 Thus that men should not venture to preach at a young age it was fitting for Him at twelve years of age to question men on earth, He who through His Divinity is always teaching the angels in heaven, because He is the wisdom of God, whom the angels seeing live by and are satiated with eternal beatitude. And Moses also admonishes this in the mystery of allegory, saying, 'You shall not yoke a bull in its first year to the plough.' 3 For we understand that the first year of the bull is the good work of the immature age of our early years, in which however there is no ploughing, because in the first years of our immaturity, or our youth, there must be no preaching from us, whence the ploughsnare of our tongues does not cut into the earth of a foreign heart. For as long as we are immature, we should contain ourselves within ourselves, lest while we swiftly expose tender goods, we lose them, because even plants planted in the earth, if they have not yet rooted, may be damaged by the mere brush of a hand, but once the roots are firm, the hand which brushes them does no harm, and even gusts of wind do not injure them. And when walls are built, if first the moisture in them is not dried up, they fall at a blow. Thus when the mind is not perfectly dry of the moisture of defects, it should not be touched by the hand of a foreign tongue, lest before it fully understands, it destroys its solidity, and lest struck it falls, as plants which are not rooted wither when struck by more than they can bear. With this example, then, things should not be exposed if they are not firm. First the mind must gain strength and then later its utility for others will be revealed, but now it must not fall by praise's elevation, nor wither because of the blows of scorn. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 2 1 Ezek 1.1 2 Lk 2.46 3 Deut 15.19

The Wisdom Of Words

Non in sapientia verbi, ut non evacuetur crux Christi. Quia praedicatio christiana non indiget pompa et cultu sermonis, ideoque piscatores homines imperiti electi sunt, qui evangelizarent; ut doctrinae veritas ipsa se commendaret, teste virtute; ne hominum versutia et calliditate humanae sapientiae acceptabilis videretur, non veritate, sicut disciplinae ab hominibus inventae, in quibus non ratio, non virtus, sed verborum quaeritur compositio: ac per hoc gloriam suam quaerit, qui fidem Christi verbis exornare vult. Obscurat enim illam splendore verborum, ut non illa, sed ipse laudetur; sicut et pseudoapostoli, ne stulti viderentur prudentibus mundi, in sapientia hominum Christum praedicabant duplici genere; ut eloquentiae studerent, et ea quae mundus in nobis stulta judicat, evitarent: ut neque incarnatum Dei Filium, et de Virgine natum docerent, neque carnis futuram resurrectionem; quia mundi istud sapientia et ratio stultum judicat: ac per hoc Apostolus non se in sapientia hominum dicit Christum praedicare; ne evacuetur, inquit, crux Christi; quia qui in sapientia hominis Christum annuntiat, negat veritatem praedicationis. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Primam, Caput V Source: Migne PL 17.188a-c

Not in the wisdom of words, that the cross of Christ not be emptied. 1 Because Christian preaching does not need the pomp and the cult of oratory, and therefore simple fishermen were chosen to evangelise, so that the teaching of truth might commend itself by the witness of power, lest human cunning and the cleverness of human wisdom seem to make it acceptable, not the truth, as it is in the disciplines of men in which there is no reason nor virtue but the arrangement of words is sought and through this a man who wishes to adorn the faith of Christ with words seeks his own glory. For the splendour of words obscures it, so that the speaker and not it is praised, and so it is with false apostles, who lest they seem fools according to the world's wisdom preach Christ with the wisdom of men in two ways, so that zealous for eloquence they avoid the things which the world judges foolish among us, and so they teach neither the incarnation of the Son of God, nor the Virgin birth, nor the future resurrection of the flesh, because the wisdom and reason of the world judges these things to be foolish. Because of which the Apostle says that he does not preach Christ with the wisdom of men, lest the cross of Christ be emptied, because he who announces Christ with the wisdom of men denies the truth of the preaching. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 5 1 1 Cor 1.17

Evangelical Advice

Et quicumque non receperint vos, exeuntes de civitate illa, etiam pulverem de pedibus vestris excutite in testimonium supra illos. Qualis debeat esse qui evangelizat regnum Dei, praeceptis evangelicis designatur; ut sine virga, sine pera, sine calceamento, sine pane, sine pecunia hoc est, subsidii saecularis adminicula non requirens, fideique deditus sit, et quanto minus appetat temporalia, tanto magis speret ea sibi posse suppetere. Quae possunt qui volunt ad eum derivare tractatum; ut spiritalem tantummodo locus iste formare videatur corporis exuisse, non solum potestate rejecta, contemptisque divitiis, sed etiam carnis ipsius illecebris abdicatis. Quibus primo ominim datur pacis atque constantiae generale mandatum; ut pacem fecerant, constantiam servent, hospitalis necessitudinis jura custodiant; alienum a praedictore regni coelestis astruens cursitare per domos, et inviolabilis hospitii jura mutare. Sed ut hospitii gratia deferenda censetur: ita etiam si non recipiantur, excutiendum pulverem, et egrediendum de civitate mandatur. Quo non medicoris boni remuneratio docetur hospitii, ut non solum pacem tribuamus hospitibus: verum etiam si qua eos terrenae obumbrant delicta levitatis, receptis apostolicae praedicationis vestigiis, auferantur.  Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VI Source: Migne PL 15.1685a-b

And whoever does not receive you, go out from that city and shake off even the dust from your feet in testimony against them 1 He who evangelises for the kingdom of God should be like this, which the evangelical precepts counsel, without staff, without bag, without shoes, without bread, without money, 2 that is, not needing the support of any worldly prop, but dedicated to the faith, so that the less he desires temporal things the more he hopes that they might be supplied to him. Which they can by those who wish to learn a lesson from him, which is that the only state that is spiritual seems to be when the body has been cast off, and not only by the rejection of power and contempt for wealth, but even with the dismissal of care for one's own flesh. For this, first of all, is a commandment of peace and general steadfastness is given, that they should be peaceful and serve faithfully and guard the law of needful hospitality. A preacher of the kingdom of heaven should not be rushing around houses, and perverting the inviolable law of hospitality. But let it be reckoned that thanks should be given by the hosts, so that if they are not received, so they are ordered that they must shake off the dust and leave the city. By this it is taught that no paltry reward is given to those who are hospitable, and that we do not bestow peace alone on those who are hospitable, but even if they are shadowed by small worldly faults, such things are borne away by the reception of the Apostolic preaching.  Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 6 1 Lk 9.5 2 Lk 9.3

The Gathering

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

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

Two Sorts Of Listeners

Exiit, qui seminat... Est igitur auditorum verb quadripartita differentia. Alii cor habentes conculcatum ac induratum, praedicationem aure foris audiunt, sed hanc in corde non recipiunt: quibus secus viam, non in via credulitatis vel obedientiae verba cadunt. Non enim omnium fides, nec omnes obediunt Evangelio. Inter aurem enim et cor daemon volitans, quod per unam aurem intrat, per alteram extrahit, ne ad cor descendat. Cum enim praedicator assurgit, ut foris loquatur, assurgit diabolus, ut intus obloquatur, aut falsum esse suggerens, aut pervertens quod dicitur, aut dimicans a quo dicitur, aut somno, aut aliis cogitationibus aggravans illum, cui dicitur. Alii facilitatem obedientiae habentes, sed virtute carentes constantiae, ut filii Ephream intendentes arcum, convertuntur in die belli, cito compuncti, citius arefacti, temporales et leves, non habentes altam radicem charitatis: tempore pacis credunt, tempore tentationis recedunt, dum nil intus prurit, coelibs: dum nil foris saevit, fortes: si nemo molescat, mansueti: si cuncta succedunt, devoti: quibus illud convenit: Confitebitur tibi, cum benefeceris ei. Vere filii Adam, ut qualis pater, tales illi: qui coneousque stetit, donec leviter pulsatus ruit. Sicut primi nimis duri, sic hi nimis molles: illi obstinati, hi pusillanimes; illi non recipiunt verbum, hi non retinent. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XVIII In Festum Omnium Sanctorum II Source: Migne PL 194.1751b-c

A sower went out to sow... 1 There are four types among those who hear. There are those with hearts which have been trodden down and made hard, and preaching reaches their outer ear but it is not received into the heart. The seed has fallen beside the path, because the words do not fall onto the way of belief and obedience. The faith is not for everyone, nor do all obey the Gospel. 2 A demon flits about between their ears and hearts, and what enters through one ear it drives out through the the other. When a preacher rises to speak exteriorly, the devil rises up within to speak against him, suggesting what is false, or perverting what is said, or disputing the preacher's good character, or distracting with sleep or other thoughts. Others are able to obey, but they lack the virtue of perseverance, so that they are like the sons of Ephraim bending the bow who are overturned on the day of battle. 3 They are quick to compunction and quicker to relapse. Transient and light, they do not have the taproot of love. 4 In times of peace they are faithful, but in trials they fall. When desire does not trouble them, they are chaste, when no one challenges them they are brave, and if no one irritates them they are peaceable. If all goes well, they are devout, and it was well said of them, 'He will confess you when you bless him.' 5 They are the true sons of Adam, for they are just like that father who stood firm until a light blow toppled him. As the first kind of hearer is too hard, the latter is too soft. As the first kind is obstinate, the latter is weak. The first kind do not receive the Word and the second kind do not keep hold of it. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon Eighteen, A Second on the Feast of All Saints  1 Lk 8.5 2 2 Thes 3.2, Rom 10.16 3 Ps 77.9 4 1 Cor 13.7 5 Ps 48.19

Suffering And Salvation

Quam ob causam et haec patior sed non confundor... Praedicans Dei donum, diabolum patitur inimicum; ut pressuras ei exsuscitet, quia populum de faucibus ejus eruit. Sed non confundor. In hoc securus, quia pro tribulationibus magna promissa merces est, non confunditur, sed gloriatur in pressuris. Scio enim cui credidi, et certus sum quia potens est depositum meum custodire in illa die. Hoc est quod dicit, qua spe et fiducia magnificentiae Salvatoris securus est; quia quod commendat illi, in tuto est. Quid autem illi commendat, nisi salutem suam? Ut hoc pro illo patiens, salutem inveniat penes illum, cum coeperit judicare; ut puniens infideles, istum dignum aeterna vita pronuntiet. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Timotheum Secundam, Caput I Source: Migne PL 17.487c

For which reason I also suffer these things, but I am not dismayed... 1 Preaching the gift of God, he suffers the hostility of the devil, who is roused to oppress him who plucks people from his jaws. 'But I am not dismayed.' In this I am secure, that a great reward has been promised for tribulations. I am not dismayed, but I glory amidst trials. 'For I know Him in whom I have believed, and I am certain that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him on that day.' 1 This is what he says, that he is secure in hope and confidence in the magnificence of the Saviour, because what he commits to Him is safe. And what does He commit to him but his own salvation? So that suffering for Him he finds salvation with Him, when He begins to judge, so that while the faithless are punished, he is proclaimed worthy of eternal life. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To Timothy, Chapter 1 1 2 Tim 1.12

Winged Creatures

..et quattuor animalia singula eorum habebant alas senas.... Testimonia sunt Veteris Testamenti librorum. Ideo viginti et quatuor totidem faciunt, quot sunt seniores super tribunalia sedentes. Sed sicut animal volare non potest nisi pennas habeat, sic, nec praedicatio Novi Testamenti fidem habeat, nisi habeat per Veteris Testamenti praenuntiata testimonia, per quae tollitur a terra et volat. Semper enim, quod ante dictum est, et postea factum invenitur, illud fidem facit indubitabilem. Rursum et ales si non haereant animalibus, vitam unde trahant, non habent. Nisi enim quae praedixerunt prophetae, in Christo essent consummata, inanis erat praedicatio eorum. Haec est tenet Ecclesia catholica quae et antea predicata, et postea consummata sunt. Et volat quippe et merito tollitur a terra vivum animal. Haereticis autem qui testimonio prophetico non utuntur, adsunt et eis animalia, sed non volant, quia sunt terrena. Judaeis autem qui non accipiunt Novi Testamenti praedicationem, adsunt alae, sed non volant, id est inanem vaticinationem hominibus afferunt, facta dictis non conferentes. Victorinus Petavionensis, Scoli in Apocalypsin Beati Joannis, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 5.325c-326a

...and the four creatures each had six wings...' 1 These are the testimonies of the books of the Old Testament. Thus the twenty four wings in total make as many as there are elders sitting upon the thrones. But as an animal cannot fly unless it has wings, so the announcement of the New Testament gains no faith unless it has the foretold testimonies of the Old Testament, by which it is lifted from the earth and flies. For it is always that which has been told before and is later found to have happened that produces an undoubting faith. Again, if the wings are not attached to the living creatures, they do not have that from which they may draw life. For unless what the prophets foretold had been consummated in Christ, their preaching was vain. The Catholic Church holds those things which were both predicted before and afterwards accomplished. And it flies because rightly the living animal is lifted up from the earth. And there are living creatures for heretics who do not make use of the prophetic testimony, but they do not fly, because they are of the earth. And there are wings for the Jews who do not receive the proclamation of the New Testament, but they cannot fly, that is, they bear a vain prophesying to men, not bringing facts into accord with words. Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of St John, Chapter 4 1 Apoc 4.8

Angels Ascending and Descending

Et dormiens vidit scalam subnixam, innitentem coelo, et angelos Dei ascendentes et descendentes. Porro scala Christus est, qui dixit: Ego sum via. Per hanc ascendunt, et descendunt angeli, in quibus significati sunt evangelistae, et praedicatores Christi. Ascendentes utique, cum ad intelligendam ejus supereminentissimam divinitatem excedunt universam creaturam, ut eum inveniant in principio verbum, Deum apud Deum, per quem facta sunt omnia. Descendentes autem, ut eum inveniant factum ex muliere, factum sub lege, ut eos qui sub lege erant redimeret. In illa enim scala a terra usque in coelum, a carne usque ad spiritum, carnales proficiendo, velut ascendendo, spirituales fiunt; ad quos lacte nutriendos etiam ipsi spirituales descendunt quodammodo, cum eis non possunt loqui, quasi spiritualibus, sed quasi carnalibus. Ipse est sursum in capite suo; ipse deorsum in corpore suo, quod est Ecclesia. Ipsum ergo scalam intelligimus, quia ipse dixit: Ego sum via. Ad ipsum ergo ascenditur, ut in excelsis intelligatur. Et ad ipsum descenditur, ut in membris suis parvulus nutriatur. Et per illum se erigunt, ut eum sublimiter spectent. Per ipsum etiam se humiliant, ut eum sublimiter ac temperanter annuntient. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput XXIV Source: Migne PL 83.258a-d

And sleeping he saw a ladder set on the earth, and the top of it touched heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending. 1 The ladder is Christ who said, 'I am the way,' 2 By this angels ascend and descend, in which are signified the evangelists and the preachers of Christ. They ascend when they bring every creature to the understanding of His supereminent Divinity, so that they find Him to be the Word in the Beginning, God with God, through whom all things were made. 3 And they descend so that they find Him born of a woman, under the law, so that He might redeem those who were under the law. 4 For in that ladder stretching from earth to heaven is the advance from the flesh to the spirit, when a carnal people advance on its ascent and becomes spiritual, and the spiritual descent is to those who are nourished on milk, when they cannot be spoken to as spiritual people but only as carnal people. 5 He is above as the head and He is below as the body, which is the Church. 6 We understand Him, then, as the ladder, because He said, 'I am the way.' And therefore to Him there is ascent in the understanding of high things. And in Him there is descent so that in His members the little one is nourished. And through Him they rise so that they look on Him sublimely, and indeed through Him they are lowered so that they preach sublimely and temperately. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chapter 24 1 Gen 28.12 2 Jn 14.16 3 Jn 1.1-3 4 Gal 4.4-5 5 1 Cor 3.2 6 Colos 1.18

Healing And Preaching

Συγκαλεσάμενος δὲ τοὺς δώδεκα μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς δύναμιν καὶ ἐξουσίαν... Διὰ ταῦτα ἐνθέοις δυνάμεσι τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς ὁ Κύριος ὥπλιζεν, ὡς ἂν ἐν πρώτοις τὰ δαιμονικὰ στίφη καὶ τὰς ἐχθρὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πολεμικὰς παρατάξεις καθαιροῖεν· ἔπειτα νόσων καὶ παντοίων παθῶν θεραπεύοιεν τοὺς καταπονουμένους· γνωρίσματα δὴ τῆς κηρυττομένης βασιλείας παρέχων ὁρᾷν ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις. Ἐχρῆν γὰρ, παράδοξον κήρυγμα καταγγέλλοντας, ξένων καὶ νέων ἀγαθῶν ἐναργῆ σημεῖα παρέχειν τοῖς μαθητευομένοις. Ἦσαν δ' οὖν ἀληθῶς Θεοῦ βασιλείας δείγματα αἱ τεράστιαι δυνάμεις, τά τε θαύματα καὶ σωτήριοι ψυχῶν καὶ σωμάτων θεραπεῖαι· ὅτι ἅπας λόγος, ἔργων ἔρημος, οὔποτ' ἂν ἰσχύσῃ πεῖσμα βέβαιον ἐμποιῆσαι τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις. Διὸ ταῖς δι' ἔργων ἐπιτελουμέναις πράξεσι πίστιν ἐναργῆ παρεῖχον τῷ κηρύγματι. Εἰ γοῦν ψιλοῖς ῥηματίοις καὶ φωναῖς εἰκῆ προφερομέναις Θεοῦ βασιλείαν εἰς πάντας ἐβόων, κατάλυσίν τε τῶν πατριῶν θεῶν, τίς ἂν αὐτοῖς παρέσχε τὸν νοῦν; τίνα δ' ἂν ἔπεισαν Θεὸν εἶναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν καταγγέλλοντες, μηδεμίαν δὲ πίστιν τῇ μαρτυρίᾳ προσάγοντες; Διὸ πάντα λόγον θεϊκαῖς προλαμβάνων πράξεσιν ὁ Σωτὴρ, πρῶτα μὲν ἀνεπιτηδεύτους τὸν τρόπον, λόγων τε καὶ σοφίας θνητῆς ἀπείρους τοὺς αὐτοῦ μαθητὰς ἐπὶ κατορθώσει τῆς ὅλης οἰκουμένης προεχειρίζετο· κἄπειτα ἁλιευτὰς ψυχῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ποιήσειν προφήσας αὐτοὺς, ποιητὴς αὐτὸς ἐγίνετο τῆς ἐπαγγελίας· ὅθεν παραδόξων θαυμάτων ἐργάτας αὐτοὺς ἀπειργάζετο, ἄγκιστρα ταῦτα ψυχῶν σωτήρια παραδιδοὺς αὐτοῖς, ὡςἂν δι' αὐτῶν σαγηνεύοιεν καὶ ἀνέλκοιεν ἐκ τοῦ τῆς κακίας βυθοῦ τὸ θνητὸν γένος, πνεύματα πονηρὰ φυγαδεύοντες, καὶ πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ μαλακίαν ἰώμενοι ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπιταγῆς τῆς αὐτοῦ· οὔπω γὰρ ἦν Πνεῦμα δεδομένον. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν Ἐπαγγελιον, Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 24.544a

And He called together His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority...1 For this the Lord armed His disciples with heavenly power, that they might overcome the initial opposition of the devil and the hostility of men and bitter adversaries, since in curing sickness and all sorts of disorders they would offer proof in the sight of all men to the preaching of the kingdom of heaven. For it was necessary that those who were to declare an unexpected teaching should exhibit these strange new goods with signs. Therefore there were demonstrations of the kingdom of God, wonderous prodigies and miracles, and the accomplishment of the curing of souls and bodies by the Saviour. For the word is vain without deeds and it is not otherwise possible to convince listeners with any firm persuasion. Because of this works were accomplished for the gaining of firm faith in preaching. If, then, they had ventured to go out with words and voices alone to tell of the kingdom of God to everyone, with the abolishment of ancestral gods, who would have turned their minds to them? Who would have been persuaded by the declaration that Jesus was God if they have given no witness for such faith? Therefore the Saviour anticipates every word with Divine works, and from simple ways of living, lacking eloquence and worldly wisdom, He recruits His disciples for the correction of the whole world. And He had foretold that He would make them fishermen of human souls, with the author Himself as the promise of it, whence He made them workers of prodigious miracles, supplying them with salutary hooks for souls, so that they might catch and drag them out of the deep abyss of iniquity of the mortal race, in driving out evil spirits and in healing with a nod sickness and disorders, for they were not yet given the Holy Spirit. Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary On the Gospel of Saint Luke, Fragment 1 Lk 9.1

Hay And Grass

Qui producit in montibus fenum et herbam servituti hominum. Hoc quoque spiritualiter accipiendum est. Montes significant viros sanctos, in quibus Dominus fenum herbamque producit, unde simpliciores in Ecclesia catholica tanquam simplicia jumenta pascantur. Fenum perinet ad praedicationes robustas, herba ad monita molliora. Fenum siquidem fuit, qunado dixit Apostolus: Volo omnes homines esse sicut meipsum. Herba: Qui se non continet, nubat. Et iterum, Volo adolescentulas viduas nubere. Et rursus, Lac vobis potum dedi, non escam. Ista enim minora praecepta herbis merito comparantur. Nam quod dicit, servituti hominum, significat usui humano deputata. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXLVII Source: Migne PL 70.1037a

He who brings forth hay in the mountains and grass for the service of men. 1 Thus must also be understood spiritually. The mountains signify holy men in which the Lord brings forth hay and grass, whence the more simple in the Catholic Church are fed like simple animals. Hay pertains to robust preaching, grass to softer admonishments. There was hay when the Apostle said, 'I wish all men to be as I am.' 1 Grass with, 'He who cannot be continent. let him marry.' And again, 'I wish that all young widows marry.' And again, 'I gave you milk to drink, not solid food.' 2 These lesser precepts may rightly be compared to grass. That it is said, 'for the service of men' signifies that it has been established for the benefit of men. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 147 1 Ps 147.8 2 1 Cor 7.7, 1 Cor 7.9, 1 Tim 5.14, 1 Cor 3.2

Separated For The Gospel

Segregatus in evangelium Dei. Εὐαγγέλιον, bonum nuntium interpretatur, quo peccatores ad indulgentiam convocantur. Apostolus autem quo modo in Judaismo locum doctoris habebat, ut pote Pharisaeus, ita a Judaismi praedicatione separatum se dicit in evangelium Dei, ut a lege dissimulans Christum praedicaret. Aliter: Segregatus, hoc est, a grege apostolico separatus, ut gentibus praedicaret. Sicut in Actibus apostolorum Spiritus sanctus dicit: Segregate mihi Saulum et Barnabam, in opus ad quod elegi eos. Segregatus dicitur in evangelium Dei, sicut alibi ipse de se dicit: Cum autem placuit Deo, qui me segregavit de utero matris meae, ut revelaret Filium suum in me: ex quo intelligimus, quod justi separentur a ventre. Ergo et Paulus quidem segregatus in Evangelium dicitur, segregatus a ventre matris suae. Causas in eo et merita quibus in hoc segregari debuerit, vidit ille quem non latet mens: praevidit enim quod abundantius quam caeteri omnes laboraturus esset in evangelio, quod in siti, et in fame, et in frigore, et in nuditate, in periculis latronum, in periculis fluminum, in periculis maris praedicaturus esset evangelium Christi. In evangelium Dei. Unum atque idem est dicere, et evangelium Dei, evangelium Christi, quod ipse Dominus dicit: Ego et Pater unum sumus. Et iterum dicit ad Patrem: Omnia mea tua sunt, et tua mea. Ergo evangelium Patris, evangelium Filii est. Sedulius Scotus, Collectanea in omnes B. Pauli epistolas, In Epistolam ad Romanos, Caput Primam Source: Migne PL 103.12a-c

Separated for the Gospel of God... 1 Euaggelion is translated as good news, by which sinners are called to forgiveness. The Apostle held the position of teacher in Judaism, while a Pharisee, and thus he says that he was separated from the preaching of Judaism for the Gospel of God, so that detached from the law he might preach for Christ. Otherwise, he was separated from the flock of the Apostles so that he might preach to the Gentiles. As in the Acts of the Apostles when the Holy Spirit says, 'Set apart for me Saul and Barnabas, I have chosen them for a work.' 2 It is said, then, he was separated for the Gospel of God and also elsewhere he says of himself, 'When it was pleasing to God, he separated me from the womb of my mother, so that He might reveal His Son in me.' 3 From which we understand that the righteous are separated from the womb. Therefore Paul is said to be separated for the Gospel by being separated from the womb of his mother. The reasons and merits by which he deserved to be separated for this, He sees whom nothing escapes, for He foresees that he would labour more abundantly then any other in the the Gospel, so that in thirst and in hunger, and in cold and in nakedness, and in peril of bandits and in peril of rivers and of seas, he would preach the Gospel of Christ. 4 'For the Gospel of God.' One and the same thing is it to say the Gospel of God and the Gospel of Christ, since the Lord says, 'I am the Father are one.' And again He says to the Father, 'Everything mine is yours and yours is mine.' 5 Therefore the Gospel of the Father is the Gospel of the Son. Sedulius Scotus, Commentary On The Letters of Saint Paul, On the Letter to the Romans, Chapter 1 1 Rom 1.1 2 Acts 13.2 3 Galat 1.15-16 4 2 Cor 11.27 5 Jn 10.30, 17.10

Sending Out

Et misit illos praedicare regnum Dei, et sanare infirmos. Tangit suae legationis auctoritatem, et finem. Auctoritatem in hoc quod dicit: Et misit illos. Misit enim illos ut in eis sua auctoritas honoraretur, ut sua voluntas per eos omnibus exponeretur, ut fides per eos praedicaretur, et ut omnes non credentes per eos de infidelitate convincerentur. De primo quidem horum dicitur, Matth. x: Qui recipit vos, me recipit. Et, Luc. x: Qui vos spernit, me spernit. Et hoc etiam intelligendum est de apostolicis legatis. Sed non sunt apostolici legati, qui in auctoritate et vita et verbo non veniunt Apostolorum, qui in veritate non habent gratiam curandi, sed potius daemone pessimo impletur, et infirmatur omne cui manus imponunt. De secundo dicitur, II ad Corinth. v: Pro Christo legatione fungimur, tamquam Deo exhortante per nos. Obsecramus pro Christo, reconciliamini Deo. De tertio, Marc. xvi, 15 : Euntes in mundum universum, prgedicate Evangelium omni creaturse, Psal. xviii: Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei. Et sequitur: In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum. Ad Roman. x: Fides ex auditu, auditus autem per verbum Christi. Et supra: Quomodo praedicabunt nisi mittantur? De quarto, Psal. cxlix: Exaltationes Dei in gutture eorum, et gladii ancipites in manibus eorum. Exaltationes in faucibus, sunt gratiarum actiones de credentibus. Gladii autem in manibus, sunt testimoniorum condemnationes contra non credentes. Marc. xvi: Qui vero non crediderit, condemnabitur . Finem autem legationis subjungit, dicens: Praedicare regnum Dei. Tangit autem duos fines: primum quidem veritatis, alterum autem virtutis tam in spiritu quam in corpore. Finis veritatis est regni Dei praedicatio. Finis virtutis est infirmorum sanatio. In primo horum notantur duo: veritatis scilicet propositio, et veritatis ratio. Propositio importatur cum dicit: Praedicare. Praedicatur enim, ut dicit Chrysostomus, cujus ratio probans ipsum non habetur: sed cum sit super intellectum, et sit de indemonstrabilibus, oportet quod supermundanis probetur miraculis. Est enim praedicare quoddam prophetare, vel prophetias exponere. Prophetiae autem omnes innituntur revelationi. Revelatio autem non habet causam per quam possit doceri, sive demonstrari. II ad Timoth. iv: Praedica verbum, insta opportune, imporlune. Marc. xvi: Praedicate Evangelium omni creaturse. Isa. lxi: Misit me ut prsedicarem captivis indulgentiam, et clausis apertionem. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Lucam, Caput IX Source: Here p609

And He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 1 This touches on the authority of those sent and the end. Authority in this which is said, 'And He sent them out.' For He sends them out so that in them shall be the honour of His authority, that His will through them should be set forth before everyone, that the faith through them be preached and that all who do not believe shall be convicted of faithlessness. Concerning the first of these it is said in the tenth chapter of Mathew, 'He who receives you, receives me.' And in the tenth chapter of Luke, 'He who rejects you, rejects me.' 2 And this must be understood of the Apostles who were sent out. For they are not Apostles sent out who in authority and life and word do not come as Apostles, who in truth do not have the grace of curing but rather are possessed by the worst of demons and they make everyone they lay their hands on sick. Concerning the second, it is said in the fifth chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians, 'We are the ambassadors of Christ, with God exhorting you through us. We entreat you in Christ, be reconciled to God. ' 3 Concerning the third, in the sixteenth chapter of Mark, 'Going out into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature.' In the eighteenth Psalm 'The heavens announce the glory of God,' and it follows, 'In every land the cry goes forth.' In the tenth chapter of Romans, 'Faith is by hearing and hearing is through Christ's word.' And a little before, 'And how shall they preach unless they are sent out?' 4 Concerning the fourth, in the one hundred and forty ninth Psalm, 'In their throats the exaltations of God and two edged swords in their hands.' The exaltations in their throats are the thanksgiving of the faithful. The swords in their hands are the testaments of condemnations against those who do not believe. In the sixteenth chapter of Mark, 'But he who shall not believe, he shall be condemned.' 5 And the end of their sending out follows: 'To preach the kingdom of God.' And this touches on two ends, the first of truth, and the other of virtue that it is as much in the spirit as in the body. The end of truth is the preaching of the kingdom of God, the end of virtue is the healing of the sick. In the first of these two things should be noted the proposition of truth and the reason of truth. The proposition is set forth when He says, 'Preach.' For it is preached, says Chrysostom, when reason approves what it did not have. But when it is beyond understanding and indemonstrable is it necessary that what is beyond the world be proved with miracles. For to preach is a sort of prophecy, and prophecy is a kind of setting forth, and all prophecy depends on revelation, but revelation does not have a cause by which it can be taught or demonstrated. In the fourth chapter of the second letter of Timothy, 'Preach the word, in season and out of season.' In the sixteenth chapter of Mark, 'Preach the Gospel to every creature.' In the sixty first chapter of Isaiah, 'He sent me that I might preach forgiveness to captives and open the eyes of the blind.' 6 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 9 1 Lk 9.2 2 Mt 10.40, Lk 10.16 3 2 Cor 5.20 4 Mk 16.15, Ps 18.1,5, Rom 10.17 5 Psalm 149.6, Mk 16.16 6 2 Tim 4.2, Mk 16.15, Isaiah 61.1

The Ruin Of The Impious

Ἐπετίμησας ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἀπώλετο ὁ ἀσεβής· τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐξήλειψας εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. Οὐ γὰρ ἠνέσχου, φησὶν, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον περιϊδεῖν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν φύσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ πικροῦ τυράννου δουλουμένην κακῶς, ἀλλ' οἷόν τις δικαστὴς, ἐπὶ θρόνου τινὸς ὑψηλοῦ καὶ φοβεροῦ βήματος καθίσας, τοιαύτην αὐτῷ τιμωρίαν ἐπ ήνεγκας, ὥστε λήθῃ παντελεῖ τούτου παραδοθῆναι τὴν μνήμην. Τὸ δέ γε, Ἐπετίμησας ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἀπ ώλετο ὁ ἀσεβὴς, ταύτην ἔχει τὴν διάνοιαν· ∆ιὰ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ τῶν μετ' ἐκείνους τῆς ἀλη θείας κηρύκων, προσήνεγκες τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὰ θεῖα δόγματα· ἐκείνων δὲ δεξαμένων, καὶ τῆς πλάνης ἀπαλλαγέντων, ἀπώλετο ὁ ἀσεβὴς, τοὺς ἀπατωμέ νους καὶ προσκυνοῦντας οὐκ ἔχων. Οὕτω Βαρνά βας καὶ Παῦλος θῦσαι πειραθεῖσι Λυκάοσιν ἐπετί μησαν βοῶντες· Τί ποιεῖτε, ἄνδρες; καὶ ἡμεῖς ὁμοιοπαθεῖς ἐσμεν ὑμῖν ἄνθρωποι, ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ματαίων πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑμᾶς ἐπιστρέφοντες. Οὕτω Γαλάταις ὁ μακάριος ἐπετίμησε Παῦλος· Ὦ ἀνόητοι Γαλάται, τίς ὑμᾶς ἐβάσκανεν, οἷς κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς προεγράφη ἐσταυρωμέ νος; Οὕτω Κορινθίοις· Ὅλως ἀκούεται ἐν ὑμῖν πορνεία, καὶ τοιαύτη πορνεία, οἵα οὐδ' ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὀνομάζεται. Ἐπετίμησε τοίνυν ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἀπώλετο ὁ ἀσεβὴς, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐξήλειψεν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ἐσβέσθησαν γὰρ παν τελῶς τῆς ἀσεβείας αἱ τελεταὶ, καὶ λήθῃ παντελεῖ παρεδόθησαν, ὡς μηδένα τῶν νῦν ἀνθρώπων εἰδέ ναι τὰ τῆς ἀσεβείας μυστήρια. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός Θ’ Source: Migne PG 80.924a-b

The nations cried out, and the wicked perished, their name you have destroyed forever, for all the ages. 1 For you do no tolerate for long that human nature should be despised and reduced by that bitter tyrant to slavery, but as a judge upon his high throne in a fearful tribunal you imposed such a punishment on him so that his memory would be lost in forgetfulness forever. But these words, 'The nations cried out and the wicked perished,' has this meaning, that through the holy Apostles, and the proclaimers of truth who came after them, you brought the Divine teachings to the nations, who when they received them were freed from error, and so wickedness perished, no longer having any persuasive adulators. So Paul and Barnabas cried out loudly to the Lycaones who were about to offer sacrifice to them, 'O men, what are you doing? We are but mortal, just like you men. Be done with these vain offerings to God.' 2 So even Paul cries out to the Galatians, 'O foolish Galatians, who has enthralled you, before the eyes of whom Jesus Christ was openly crucified? And to the Corinthians, 'What fornication is heard among you, that is not even named among the Gentiles.' 3 Therefore the nations cried out, and the wicked perished, and their name was destroyed forever, for all the ages. For all their impious rites came to an end and were sunk in oblivion, so that none among men now know the mysteries of their impieties. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.6 2 Acts 14.14 3 Galat 3.1, 1 Cor 5.1

Labour And Chains

Memor esto Christum Jesum resurrexisse a mortuis ex semine David secundum Evangelium meum, in quo laboro usque ad vincula, quasi latro, sed verbum Dei non alligatum. Quoniam multi futuri erant filii diaboli, qui Filium Dei incarnatum negarent; idcirco hoc memorat, quoniam fallaciter sub nomine apostolorum hoc asseverate nituntur. Subjecit, secundum Evangelium meum, ut excluderet malae mentis falsa colloquia; non enim plus haereticis credendum est de apostolis, quam his ipsis de praedicatione sua testantibus, quam praedictionem cum labore se agere queritur. Pressuris enim tribulabatur et carceribus, eo quod tam Judaeos quam gentiles offenderet, sicut illis videbatur, incredibilia praedicando; iratos enim habebat Judaeos propter Legem, quam cessare docebat: gentiles autem inimicos sibi faciebat, quia unum Deum praedicabat in Christo. Unde quasi latronem hunc tractabant, alligantes, claudentes si posset tacere, nescientes quia verbum Dei alligari non poterat. Denique saepe clausus non dispendium fecit, sed lucrum; neque enim defuit, cui praedicaret in carcere, ut quos libere invitare ad fidem non posset, in vinculis positus pasceret Dei verbo. Ambrosiaster, Commentaria in Epistolam ad Timotheum Secundam, Caput II Source: Migne PL 17.489b

Remember Jesus Christ, resurrected from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my Gospel at which I labour, even to the wearing of chains like a criminal, but the word of God has not been bound. 1 Because there shall be many sons of the devil who deny the incarnation of the Son of God, therefore he reminds him of this which they deceitfully struggle to assert under the name of Apostles. He adds 'according to my Gospel' to exclude the false speech of wicked minds, for heretic apostles should not be trusted more than the testimony of his own preaching, by which preaching with labour he seeks to prove himself. Indeed he suffered persecution and imprisonment because just as he offended Jews, so he offended Gentiles, by preaching, as it seemed to them, unbelievable things. He angered Jews because of the Law which he taught was ended, and he made enemies of Gentiles because he preached one God in Christ. Whence they treated him as a criminal, putting him in chains, as if by shutting him up they might silence him, not knowing that the word of God cannot be fettered. Finally by his frequent imprisonment, he did not suffer loss, but profited, for in prison there was no lack of men to preach to, so that those he was not able to call to faith when free, he fed with the word of God when placed in chains. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To Timothy, Chapter 2 1 2 Tim 2.8-9

Grace And Apostleship

Per quem accepimus gratiam et apostolatum... Per quem, sicut reconciliatorem pro peccais nostris, accepimus gratiam, id est ipsorum remissionem peccatorum, per quem, sicut per sapientiam in contemptum praesentium, sapit nobis gratia futurorum. Per quem, inquit, accepimus gratiam et apostolatum: gratiam ad laborum patientiam, apostolatem ad praedictionis auctoritatem, gratiam in persuadendo ea quae persuadenda sunt, apostolatu in coercendo eos qui coercendi sunt. Ad obediendum fidei in omnibus gentibus. Tantam etenim gratiam in hujusmodi apostoli adepti sunt, ut gentes quae erant alienae a testamento Dei and conversatione Israel, non solum in suscipiendo fidem praedictoribus crederent, sed etiam novum vitae modum et religiosae conversationis ordinem pro nominis Christi reverentia suscipere obedirent. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber I, Caput I Source: Migne PG 180.551c-d

Through whom we have received grace and apostleship... 1 'Through whom,' as reconciliation for our sins, 'we have received grace,' that is, for forgiveness of sins. And 'through whom,' as through the wisdom that is contempt of present things he knows the grace of future things for us. Thus 'through whom,' he says, 'we have received grace and apostleship,' grace for patience in toil, and apostleship for authority in preaching, and grace for persuading those things that must be persuaded, and apostleship for ordering those who need to be ordered. 'For the obedience of faith among all peoples.' So great is the grace that this Apostle has received that the peoples who were far estranged from the testament of God and the ways of Israel not only have believed in the taking up of the faith by preaching, but are obedient in the adoption of a new way of life and the rule of religious conduct out of reverence for the name of Christ. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 1, Chapter 1 1 Rom 1.5

The Word And Men

Sermo Domini vivus est et multiplex, quia loquitur per homines, loquitur et per se: per homines multos, per se unum. Videamus magnum sacramentum. Verbum Dei humana carne vestitum semel visibile apparuit: quotidie idipsum, iterata voce, conditum ad nos venit. Humanitatem Christi mali non solum videre, sed etiam occidere potuerunt. Quotidie sermonem Dei mali audiunt et contemnunt. Quemadmodum autem illi non occidissent, si cognovissent; ita isti nequaquam verba Dei audita contemnerent, si virtutem eorum interno sapore gustarent. Sermo Dei vivus est, quia in eo vita est et cor vivificat. Quod foris est transit, quod intus mutabilitatem non recipit. Vivus est ergo, quia non mutatur; efficax, quia non deficit. Non fallitur judicio promissio ejus, oblivione non moritur, nec intentione mutatur. Operatio ejus difficultate non vincitur, judicium ambiguitate non fallitur. Veraciter permittit, fortiter facit, subtiliter discernit. Vivus est ut credas; efficax ut speres. Penetrabliis in judiciis; vivus in praeceptis et prohibitionibus: efficax in promissis et comminationibus.  Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber VI, Tit XVII De Verbi Dei efficacia Source: Migne PL 177.820b-821a

The word of the Lord is living and manifold since it is spoken through men and through Himself, through many man and through Himself alone. Let us consider this great mystery. The word of God appeared visible, vested in human flesh, and every day by the repeated voice He becomes established in us. The wicked not only saw the humanity of Christ, but they were even able to kill it, just as every day the wicked hear the word of God and scorn it. But as they would not have killed Him if they had known Him, so men would never scorn the words of God they hear if they tasted the power of their inner flavour. The word of God is living, because in Him is life and by Him the heart is brought to life. What is outside passes away, what is within does not change. It is living, therefore, because it does not change, effective, because it does not fail. Its promise does not deceive judgement, nor does it perish in forgetfulness, nor does its meaning alter. Its work is not undone by difficulty, nor is its teaching obscured by ambiguity. It enters in truthfully, acts powerfully, judges with discernment. It is living so that you might believe, effective so that you might hope. It is penetrating for judging, alive for commanding and prohibiting, effective in promises and in warning. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 6, from Chapter 7, On The Effective Word of God

A Great Commotion

Bene autem subditur: Et audivi post me vocem commotionis magnae. Propheta, sancto Spiritu repletus, quasi transacta narrat, quae facienda praevidet, quia et in praedestinatione jam facta sunt, quae adhuc in opere sequuntur. Unde et in translatione veteri per Isaiam dicitur: Qui fecit quae futura sunt. Quid est ergo quod post se propheta vocem audivit commotionis magnae, nisi quod post sermonem praedicationis, qui fit ad corda peccantium, lamenta poenitentium sequuntur? Perversi etenim quique dum prava agunt, et a justis recta non audiunt, nesciunt quam sint gravia quae committunt, atque ex ipsa sua ignorantia, in suo stupore securi sunt; et jacentes in culpis, quasi molliter quiescunt, sicut de quodam peccatore et securo populo dicitur: Requievit in faecibus suis, quia securus jacuit in peccatis. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia X Source: Migne PL 76.896c-897a

Well it is added, 'And I heard the sound of a great commotion behind me. 1 The prophet, filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks of things having happened which he foresees shall be, because in predestination things are already done that are to follow from the deed. Whence in an old translation of Isaiah it is said: 'He who made the things that will be.' 2 What, then, is the sound of a great commotion that the prophet hears behind himself, unless what happens after the act of preaching, which strikes the hearts of sinners so that the lamentations of penance follow? They who do not hear the right things of the righteous while they do vile things are perverse, and they do not know how grave are the things that they do, and because of their own ignorance they are confident in their foolishness and they exult in faults, as if they were happily at peace. So it was said of a certain sinner and a people who felt secure, 'He rested in his own filth,' 3 because as one confident he exulted in his sins. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 10 1 Ezek 3.12 2 Isaiah 45.11 translation from the Septuagint 3 Jerem 48.11

Crying Out

Sciote quoniam magnificavit Dominus sanctunm suum; Dominus exaudiet me cum clamavero ad eum. Permanet in increpatione salutari, ut ad verae religionis affectum, corda dementium explosa pravitate convertat: pronuntians illis veritatis arcanum, ut incarnationem sanctum venerabiliter suscipere non recusent. Sanctum suum, dicit Dominum Christum; sicut et alibi de seipsa Veritas profitetur: Custodi animam meam, quoniam sanctus sum. Adjecit: Dominus exaudiet me cum clamavero ad eum. Merito se exaudiri confidebat, quoniam Dominum sanctum magnificandum populis praedicabat. Cum clamavero, dicit, id est, cum bonis operibus divinitati supplicavero. Ipse enim clamor est qui tacitus ad Deum pervenit, et exaudiri facit eos qui bonis operibus constanter insistunt. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalm IV Source: Migne PL 49a-b

Know that the Lord has magnified His holy one; the Lord will hear me when I cry out to Him. 1 He persists in crying out for salvation, that he might convert to the love of the true religion the hearts driven off by depravity, announcing to them the secret of the truth, so that they might not refuse to receive the incarnation of the holy one reverently. 'His holy one,' speaks of the Lord Christ, as elsewhere the Truth says about Himself, 'Guard my soul because I am holy.' 2 He then adds, 'The Lord will hear me when I cry out to Him.' He is rightly confident that he will be heard, because he has preached that the holy Lord should be magnified by the people. 'When I cry out,' he says, that is, when I supplicate the Deity with good works. For this is the cry which comes silently to the Lord and He hears those who constantly cry out with good works. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 4 1 Ps 4.3 2 Ps 85.2