Prayer And Reading

Lectiones oratione praevenimus, quia rogare debemus Dominum messis ut mittat operarios in messem, et aperiat cor nostrum in lege sua et in praeceptis, ne semen verbi quo audituri sumus, aut volucres comedant, aut spinae suffocat, aut duritae petrae frustrate radice supplantet. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber VII, Tit XVI, De Horis Canonicis, De Oratione ante Lectiones Source: Migne PL 177.874d

We come to the readings with a prayer because we should ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to the harvest, 1 even that He might open our heart to His law and commandments, lest the seed of the word that we are about to hear either be devoured by birds, or choked by thorns, or have its vainly reaching roots blocked by hard stones. 2 Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 7, Chapter 16, On The Canonical Hours, On Prayer before the Readings 1 Mt 9.38 2 Mt 13.3-9

Care And Correction

Quod si emendare neglegis cum videas emendandum, adversus caritatem facis: si autem tibi emendandus propterea non videtur, quia putas eum recte ista sensisse; adversus veritatem sapis. Et ideo ille melior, qui emendari est paratior, si non defuerit emendator, quam tu, si vel sciens irridenter contemnis errantem, vel nesciens pariter sectaris errorem. Omnia itaque in eisdem libris ad te scriptis et tibi traditis sobrie vigilanterque considera, et plura quam ego invenies fortasse culpanda. Et quaecumque ibi sunt approbanda atque laudanda, si quid in eis revera forsitan ignorabas, atque isto disserente didicisti, evidenter profitere quid illud sit; ut de hoc te gratias egisse, non de his quae illic improbanda tam multa sunt, omnes noverint, qui vel recitante illo tecum simul audierunt, vel eosdem postea libros legerunt: ne in eius ornato eloquio tamquam in pretioso poculo te invitante, etsi non bibente, venenum bibant, si tu quid inde biberis, et quid non biberis nesciunt, et propter laudem tuam omnia illic bibenda salubriter arbitrantur. Quamvis et audire, et legere, et quae dicta sunt haurire memoria, quid est nisi bibere? Sed praedixit Dominus de fidelibus suis, quod et si mortiferum quid biberint, non eis nocebit. Ac per hoc qui cum iudicio legunt, et secundum regulam fidei approbanda approbant, et improbant improbanda; etiamsi commendant memoriae quae improbanda dicuntur, nulla venenata sententiarum pravitate laeduntur. Haec me Gravitatem et Religionem tuam, sive mutua, sive praevia caritate monuisse vel commonuisse minime poenitebit, Domino miserante, quomodolibet accipias, quod tibi praerogandum putavi. Agam vero ei uberes gratias, de cuius misericordia saluberrimum est fidere, si ab his pravitatibus et erroribus, quos ex libris huius hominis ostendere his litteris potui, alienam atque integram fidem tuam, vel invenerit epistola ista, vel fecerit. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Anima et eius Origine, Liber II, Caput XXIII Source: Migne PL 44.510

If you neglect to correct another when you see something that requires amendment, you act in opposition to love, but if it does not appear to you that another requires correction because you think that he is right in his understanding, you are wise against the truth. And thus he is a better man than you who is prepared to be corrected if a corrector is not lacking, if either aware that he errs you scorn him in derision, or being ignorant you also follow after the error. Therefore with sobriety and vigilance consider everything in the books another addressed and sent to you, and you will perhaps find more things there that are flawed than I have. And as for whatever is approvable and praiseworthy, if perhaps by his instruction you have learnt something in them that you did not know, openly declare what it is, so that all may know it was for this you thanked him and it was not for the many things which are worthy of reproof, things which many heard spoken at the time, or later read in the same books, lest because of his ornate style it be as if they drink poison from a precious goblet which you offer to them, even if you do not partake, those who do not know if you have tasted it or not, but because of your good character judge that they shall be drinking for the good of their health. Hearing and reading and drawing things once said from the memory, what are they but drinking? But the Lord foretold to his faithful ones that even if they drank something fatal it would not harm them. 1 Because of this, they who read with discernment and according to the rule of faith give their approval to what is approvable and disapprove of what is not, and even if they commit to memory what is not approved, they suffer no harm from the depraved poison of such things. That I have given your earnest and pious self warning and counsel because of our mutual and long standing love, which I have thought to be my first duty to you, by the Lord's mercy I shall not regret however you should receive it. But I shall give abundant thanks to Him in whose mercy it is most salutary to trust, if from these depravities and errors which I have been able to show in this man's books, this letter finds your faith far distant and unharmed by them, or it makes it so. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On the Soul and its Origin Book 2, Chapter 23 1 Mk 16.18

Difficulties Of Understanding

Arduum enim et difficillimum homini est, per se ipsum vel per saeculi doctores rationem praeceptorum coelestium consequi: nec naturae nostrae recipit infirmitas, divinis institutis, nisi per ejus gratiam qui haec ipsa dederit, erudiri. Namque qui simpliciter ea quae inter manus sibi inciderint legunt, existimant nihil differentiae in verbis, nihil in nominibus, nihil in rebus existere. Sed si istud communis colloquii sermo non patitur, ut sub diversis rerum nuncupationibus non diversa significata esse intelligantur; numquid Dei eloquia tam imperita, tam confusa esse credimus, ut? aut inopia verborum quibus uterentur laboraverint, aut distinctionum genera nescierint? Plures enim cum audient legem, justificationem, praecepta, testimonia, judicia, quae omnia Moyses sub diversa uniuscujusque generis virtute disposuit, unum atque isdem esse existimant: ignorantes aliud legem, aliud justificationem, aliud praeceptum, aliud testimonium, aliud esse judicium: quae multum a se differre et discrepare, testis nobis octavus decimus psalmus, quo continetur proprietas uniuscujusque et nuncupationis et generis. Lex, enim, Domini immaculata, convertens animas. Testimonium Domini fidele, erudiens parvulos. Justitiae Domini rectae, laetificatnes corda. Praeceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculos. Timor Domini sanctus, permanens in saeculum saeculi. Judicia Domini vera, justificata in ipsum. Sunt ergo distantiae in singulis quibusque rebus: et prudentis atque intelligentis viri est, in his quae scripta sunt discernere, ubi lex, ubi praeceptum, ubi testimonium, ubi justificationes, ubi judicia constituta sint: ne illa quae sermo propheticus mirabili uniuscujusque rei proprietate distinxit, ea ignorantiae nostrae infirmitas indocata imperitiae opinione confundat. Itaque per litteras singulas haec omnia maximus et ultra caerteros copiosissimus psalmus iste discrevit: ut per haec verborum elementa, credenti et vivendi et erudiendi in Dominum doctrinae ratio et distinctio doceretur Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum XVIII Source: Migne PL 9.501c-502b

It is arduous and most difficult for a man to grasp the understanding of the heavenly commandments by himself or by the use of secular teachers, for the weakness of our nature is not receptive to the instruction of the Divine institutes, unless through the grace of Him who gave them. For they who simply read these things which fall into their hands, they judge there to be no difference in words, nothing in names, nothing in things. But if common speech allows that in different ways of speaking different meanings can be understood, shall we think that the words of God are so very inept and confused, that either they were labouring in the employment of a poverty of words, or they did not know types of distinction? But many when they hear a law, a justification, a precept, a testimony, a judgement, all which Moses arranged skillfully under different and specific classes, they judge them to be one and the same, ignorant that a law is one thing, a justification another, a precept another, a testimony another, and a judgement another. Which great difference and separation the eighteenth Psalm gives witness to, in which is contained each one's special character, pronouncement and class. It says: 'The Law of the Lord is flawless, converting souls. The testimony of the Lord is faithful educating little ones. The justifications of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The teaching of the Lord enlightens, illuminating the eye. The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring forever. The judgements of the Lord are true, justified in Him. ' 1 Therefore each one differs in its function, and it is for the prudent and sensible man to discern in what is written what is set down as a law, a precept, a testimony, a justification, a judgement, lest the wondrous prophetic word which has distinguished each one with its own special character is confounded by the weakness of our ignorance in the uneducated opinion of inexperience. Thus with each letter, this Psalm most rich even beyond the others, has distinguished all of these, and through the elements of the words, the reason and distinction of the teaching of the Lord is was taught for believing and living and learning. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 18 1 Ps 18.8-10

Advancing In Understanding

Quapropter si vobis cura est ad spiritalis scientiae lumen, non inanis iactantiae vitio, sed emundationis gratia pervenire, illius primum beatitudinis cupiditate flammamini, de qua dictum est: Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt; ut etiam ad illam de qua angelus ad Danielem ait pervenire possitis: Qui autem docti fuerint, fulgebunt sicut splendor firmamenti; et qui ad iustitiam erudiunt multos, quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates; et in alio propheta: Illuminate vobis lumen scientiae dum tempus est. Tenentes itaque illam quam habere vos sentio diligentiam lectionis, omni studio festinate actualem, id est, ethicam, quam primum ad integrum comprehendere disciplinam Absque hac namque illa quam diximus theoretica puritas non potest apprehendi, quam hi tantum, qui non aliorum docentium verbis, sed propriorum actuum virtute perfecti sunt, post multa operum ac laborum stipendia, iam quasi in praemio consequuntur. Non enim a meditatione legis intelligentiam, sed de fructu operis acquirentes, cum Psalmographo canunt: A mandatis tuis intellexi. Et excoctis passionibus universis, fiducialiter dicunt: Psallam et intelligam in via immaculata. Ille enim psallens intelligit quae canuntur, qui in via immaculata gressu puri cordis innititur. Et idcirco si scientiae spiritali sacrum in corde vestro vultis tabernaculum praeparare, ab omnium vos vitiorum contagione purgate, et curis saeculi praesentis exuite. Impossibile namque est animam quae mundanis vel tenuiter distentionibus occupatur, donum scientiae promereri, vel generatricem spiritualium sensuum, aut tenacem sacrarum lectionum fieri. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio XIV, De Spirituli Scientia, Caput IX, Quod de actuali scientia proficiatur ad spiritalem Source: Migne PL 49.965b-966b

Whence if you have care to come to the light of spiritual knowledge, but not for the fault of empty boasting, but for the sake of being cleansed, first be inflamed with the desire for that blessedness concerning which it was said: 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,' 1 so that you might even achieve what the angel said to Daniel: 'But they who are learned shall shine as the splendor of the firmament, and they who instruct many to righteousness as stars forever and ever.' 2 And in another prophet: 'Enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge while there is time.' 3 And so keeping to that diligence in reading which I know that you have, hasten with all eagerness to gain first a comprehensive grasp of practical, that is, ethical, discipline. For without this that theoretical purity which we have spoken of cannot be obtained, which only those who are perfected acquire as reward, and not by the words of others who teach, but by the virtue of their own actions, and after much expenditure of effort and toil. For gaining knowledge not from meditation on the law but from the fruit of their own labour, they sing with the Psalmist: 'By your commandments I have understood.' 4 And having overcome all the passions, they confidently say: 'I will sing, and I will understand in the immaculate way.' 5 For as he sings, he understands what he sings who in the immaculate way is striving with the step of a pure heart. And therefore if you wish to prepare in your heart a holy tabernacle of spiritual knowledge, purge yourself from the infection of all sins and strip off the cares of the present world. For it is impossible for the soul which is occupied even lightly with worldly concerns to merit the gift of knowledge, or to become  a spiritual interpreter, or to be diligent in the reading of holy things. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 14, On Spiritual Knowledge, Chapter 9, How one advances from practical knowledge to spiritual knowledge 1 Mt 5.8 2 Dan 12.3 3 Hosea 10.12 4 Ps 118.104 5 Ps 100.2

Entering Fields

Si intraveris segetem proximi tui franges spicas et manu conteres; falce autem non metes.... Hoc est evelles sententias manu intelligentiae, conteres granum ab arista, spiritum secernens a littera. Falce autem non metes, quod est facile et subito librum transcurrre. Sufficit paucos manipulos per dies colligere. Sunt qui falce metunt, qui totum subito librum legentes nihil intelligunt. Ingressus vineam proximi tui, id est Scriptuam Dei tui, comedas uvas, id est sententias quantum tibi placuerit; foras autem non efferas tecum, quia non est dandum sanctum canibus neque ponendae margaritae ante porcos. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber III, Tit LVI Source: Migne PL 177.672b-c

And if you enter your neighbours corn field, you may pluck the ears and rub them in the hand, but you shall not reap with the sickle...1 That is, you shall pluck the meaning with the hand of understanding, rubbing the seed from the ear, discerning the spirit from the letter. But you shall not reap with the sickle which easily and quickly passes through the book. It is enough to collect a few handfuls through the day. For they reap with the sickle, who swiftly reading a whole book understand nothing. 'Passing into the vineyard of your neighbour,' that is the Scripture of your God, 'you may eat the grapes,' that is, the meaning as much as it is pleasing to you, 'but you may not cut with the sickle,' 2 because holy things must not be given to dogs, nor should pearls be cast down before pigs. 3 Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 3, Chap 56 1 Deut 23.25 2 Deut 23.24 3 Mt 7.6

Wealth And Scripture

Ἀκούω σε ταῖς θείαις Βίβλοις ἐμμελετᾷν, καὶ ταῖς αὐτῶν κεχρῆσθαι μαρτυρίαις ἀρμοδίως πρὸς ἄπαντας, εἶναι δὲ πελονέκτην, καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐπιμαινόμενον βίοις. Καὶ πάνυ μοι θαυμάζειν ἐπέρχεται, ὅτι σε ὁ θεῖος ἔρως οὐκ ἕτρωσεν ἐκ τῆς συνεχοῦς ἀναγνώσεως, μεταβολὴν τῆς προθέσεως ἐργασάμενος, ὁ μὴ μόνον τῶν ἀλλοτρίων κωλύων ἐρᾷν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ προσόντα σκορπίζειν νουθετῶν. Ἥ τοίνυν ἀναγινώσκων ἐπίγνωθι, ἤ μὴ ἐπίγνώσκων ἀνάγνωθι. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΚΖ' Φαρισμανιῳ Εὐνουχῳ του Παλατιου Source: Migne PG 78.200b

I hear that you are well exercised in the Divine Scriptures and would put their testimonies to use fitly in all things, and yet you are avaricious and madly desire the goods of others. It amazes me that it has happened that by your extensive reading the Divine has not lovingly wounded you and effected a change in your wishes, not only prohibiting lust for what belongs to others, but even admonishing you to distribute what is yours. Either then understand what you read, or lacking understanding read. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 27, To Pharismanius A Eunuch Of The Palace

Reading And Prayer

Oportet vos et assiduitatem habere legendi, et instantiam orandi, quia vita viri justi lectione instruitur, ornatur, et assiduitate lectionis munitur homo a peccato, juxta illum qui dicebat: In corde meo abscondi eloquia tua, ut non peccem tibi. Haec sunt enim arma, lectio videlicet et oratio, quibus diabolus expugnatur: haec sunt instrumenta quibus aeterna beatitudo acquiritur: his armis vitia comprimuntur: his alimentis virtutes nutriuntur. Theodulfus Aurelianensis, Capitula ad Presbyteros Parochiae Suae, Capitula II Source:Migne PL 105.193a-b

It is necessary that you should be assiduous in your reading, and zealous in your prayers, for the life of the righteous man is instructed by reading, and so adorned, and by diligent reading a man is protected from sin, according to which it was said: 'In my heart I placed your word, that I not sin against you.' 1 For these are all arms, reading and prayer, that expel the devil. By these instruments eternal life is acquired. By these arms vices are crushed down. These are the foodstuffs which nourish the virtues. Theodulf of Orleans, Chapters For His Local Priests, Chapter 2 1 Ps 118.11

Reading And Doing

Τῆς Γραφῆς τὰ ῥήματα διὰ πράξεων ἀναγίνωσκε· καὶ μὴ πλατυλόγει ἐπὶ ψιλοῖς τοῖς νοήμασι εἰκῆ φυσιούμενος. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.916c

The words of Scripture are read through deeds, lest we babble mindlessly, seeming to be constituted of empty thoughts. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Actions Against Acedia

Εἰ δὲ τὴν ἀκηδίαν θέλεις νικῆσαι, κάμνε τί ποτε μικρὸν ἐργόχειρον, καὶ ἀναγίνωσκε, καὶ προσεύχου πυκνῶς μετ' ἐλπίδος βεβαίας τῶν καλῶν· ἐννόει τούς τε ψυχοῥῥαγοῦντας, καὶ τὴν βίαν καὶ τὸν πνιγνὸν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, πῶς ἀνηλεῶς τιμωροῦνται καὶ βασανίζονται, καὶ οὕτω τοῦ πάθους ἔξεις ἀνάπαυσιν. Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Δαμασκηνός, Περι Των Ὀκτώ Τῆς Πονηρίας Πνευμάτων Source: Migne PG 95 82c

If you wish to conquer acedia, weary yourself for a time with manual labour, and read, and pray frequently with confident hope of attaining goods, for so are souls torn from the power and suffocation of sins, by which they are bent and twisted without mercy; thus you will have respite from your troubles. Saint John of Damascus, from On The Eight Wicked Spirits

Reading And Doing

Divinarum Scripturarum ardor erat incredibilis, semperque cantabat: In corde meo abscondi eloquia tua, ut non peccem tibi. Et illud de perfecto viro; Et in lege Domini voluntas ejus, et in lege eius meditabitur die et nocte. Meditationem legis non in replicando quae scripta sint, ut Judaeorum existiment Pharisaei; sed in opere intelligens, juxta illud Apostolicum: Sive comeditis, sive bibitis, sive quid agitis; omnia in gloriam Domini facientes. Et Prophetae verba dicentes: A mandatis tuis intellexi, ut postquam mandata complesset, tunc se sciret mereri intelligentiam Scripturarum. Quod et alibi legimus: Quia coepit Jesus facere et docere. Erubescit enim quamvis praeclara doctrina, quam propria reprehendit conscientia; frustaque ejus lingua praedicat paupertatem, et docet eleemosynas, qui Croesi divitiis tumet; vilique opertus pallio, pugnat contra tineas vestium sericarum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistula CXXVII, Ad Principiam Virginem Source:  Migne PL 22 1089

Marcella's zeal for the Divine Scriptures was incredible. She was for ever singing, 'Your words have I stored away in my heart that I might not sin against you,' 1 as well as the words which describe the perfect man: 'His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.' 2 This meditation in the law she understood not as a review of the written words, as among the Jews the Pharisees think, but of action according to that saying of the Apostle, 'Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.' 3 She remembered also the Prophet's words, 'By your commandments I have gained understanding,' 4 and felt sure that only when she had fulfilled these would she be worthy to understand the Scriptures. In this sense we read elsewhere that 'Jesus began both to do and teach.' 5 For the greatest teaching blushes when one's own conscience rebukes one, and it is in vain that a man's tongue preach poverty or teach almsgiving if he rolls in the riches of Croesus and if, in spite of a threadbare cloak, he has silken robes at home to protect from the moth. St Jerome, from Letter 127, To The Nun Principia 1 Ps 118.11 2 Ps 1.2 3 1 Cor 10.31 4 Ps 118.104 5 Acts 1.1

A Reader Questioned

Ἡδέως ἂν ἐροίμην σε Γραφικῶς τὸν Αἰθίοπα τὴν γνώμην· Ἆρα γε γίνώσκεις ἂ ἀναγινώσκεις; Ὥς τινες γάρ φασι, ρήμάτων μνημονεύεις τινῶν τοῦ θεοπνεύστον Πατρὸς ἡμῶν Βασιλείου, οὗ τῶν πραγμάτων κατ' οὐδὲν μνημονεύεις. Εἰ δὲ ἀληθὴς εἶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐραστὴς, ἔογοις τοὺς ἐκείνου λόγους ἐπίδειξαι, δι' ὦν τὰ ἤθη κανόνι φιλοσοφίας ἐῥῥύθμισεν. Εἰ γὰρ τὴν κατὰ μεθυόντων τοῦ ἀνδρὸς μετεχειρίσω πυκτίδα, σαυτὸν εὑρήσεις ἐκεῖ, τὸν μυρίον ἐσμὸν τῶν αἰσχυνῶν ὑπομένοντα. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, ΞΑ' Ζωσιμῳ Source:  Migne PG 78. 221, 224

Cheerfully I might inquire of you who have an Ethiopian mind, 'Do you understand what you read?' 1 For some say that you remember some of the words of our divinely inspired father Basil but have no mind to practice the deeds. If truly you would be a lover of that man, then show his words in deeds, by whom was composed a wisdom loving rule for the direction of life. For if the writings of the man opposed to the drunkenness of men you merely hold in your hands you shall find there but myriad reasons for the tribulations of disgrace. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 61, To Zosimus 1 Act 8.27

The Rise of a Scholar

Velut lampade quamdam divina luce fulgentem Didymum Dominus accednit. De cujus vita, atque institutis, quoniam ad Ecclesiae gloriam Dei munere concessus creditur, licet in transcursu, necessario tamen commemoranda nobis pauca videntur. Is namque in parva aetate, cum adhuc etiam prima litterarum ignoraret elementa, luminibus orbatus, majore desiderio scientiae veri luminis inflammatur: nec desperationem cupita adipiscedni passus est, cum audisset scriptum in Evangelio: Quod apud homines impossiblie est, possibile est apud Deum.  Hac igitur  divina  pollicitatione confisus indesinenter Dominum deprecabatur, non ut oculorum carnalium visum, sed ut illuminationem cordis acciperet. Miscebat tamen precibus studi ac laborem, et juges continuatasque vigilas, non ad legendum, sed ad audiendum adhibebat, ut quod aliis visus, hoc illi conferret auditus. Cum vero post lucubrationis laborem, somnus, ut fieri solet, legentibus advenisset, Didymus silentium illud non ad quietem, vel otium datum ducens, tanquam animal ruminans cibum, quem ceperat, ex integro revocabat, et ea quae dudum, percurrentibus aliis, ex librorum lectione cognoverat, memoria et animo retexebat, ut non tam audisse quae lecta fuerant, quam descripsisse ea mentis suae paginis videretur. Ita brevi, Deo docente, in tantam divinarum humanarumque rerum eruditionem ac scientiam venit, ut scholae ecclesiasticae, doctor exsisteret, Athanasio episcopo, caeterisque sapientibus in Ecclesia viris Dei admodum probatus. Rufinus Aquileiensis, Historia Ecclesiasticae, Lib II, Cap VII

The Lord kindled Didymus as a lamp shining with Divine light. Of his life and character, since it is believed that he was given by God for the glory of the Church, it seems necessary to us make brief mention. When he was of few years, while he was yet ignorant of the elements of letters, he was deprived of light, yet he was inflamed by a greater desire for the true light of knowledge, nor was he afflicted with despair of gaining what he desired, since he had heard that it was written in the Gospel, 'What is impossible for men is possible for God.' 1 Trusting in this Divine promise, he prayed to the Lord unceasingly, not that he might receive sight in his physical eyes, but that he might have illumination of heart. He combined labour with prayers and study and took to the toil of continuous vigils, not for reading but listening, that what sight gave to others hearing might give to him. But when after their work as usual sleep had come over the readers, Didymus, deeming that silence was given neither for rest nor idleness, like a clean animal chewing the cud, 2 what he had taken in, he would recall entire, and these things which others had raced through in their reading of books, in his mind and memory he would turn over and over, so that he seemed not so much to have heard what was read as to have written it out on the pages of his mind. Thus in a short time, with God teaching, he arrived at such erudition of Divine and human things that he became a teacher of the ecclesiastical school, having won the approval of bishop Athanasius and other wise men in the church of God. Rufinus of Aquileia, Ecclesiastical History, Book 2, Chap 7 1 Lk 18.27 2 Lev 11.3

Bad Books

Τίς σε οὐ κωμῳδήσει; τίς σε οὐκ ἐλεήσει, ἐν γαλήνῃ φιλοσοφίας τῶν τοῦ Κυρίου μαθητῶν καθεζόμενον, καὶ θόρυβον καὶ βρασμὸν Ἑλληνικῶν  συγγραφέων καὶ ποιητῶν ἐφελκόμενον; Τί γὰρ, εἰπε μοι, παρ' ἐκείνοις τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς προτισμότερον; Τί δὲ οὐ ψεύδους γέμει καὶ γέλωτος, ὦν ἐκεινοι σπουδάζουσιν; Οὐχ αἱ θεότητες ἐκ παθῶν; Οὐχ αἱ ανδρεῖαι ὑπὲρ παθῶν; Οὐχ οἱ ἀγῶνες ὑπὲρ παθῶν; Φεῦγε τοίνυν καὶ τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν τῆς αἰσχρότητος. Δεινῶς γὰρ οἶδεν ἀναστομοῦν τοὺς τῶν τραυμάτων συνουλώσαντας μώλωπας· μήποτε ὑποστρεψῃ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πονηρίας σφοδρότερον, καὶ χείρονά σοι τὴν ἥτταν τῆς προτέρας ἀγνοίας ἤ ῥᾳθυμίας ἐργάσηται. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΞΓ' Θαλελαιῳ Μονακῳ Source: Migne PG 78.224c

Who will not mark you as a comic figure? Who will not have you as a subject of tragedy, you who may sit in the peace of a disciple of the philosophy of Christ, yet you drag yourself off into the clamour and tumults of pagan tales and poetry? Why, tell me, do you prefer them to our works? Because there is no deceit and laughter on which they are so keen? Do Divine things come from depraved passions? Does fortitude over passion? Do struggles over passion? Since fearfully over the open wound the hard scab has already formed, flee your shameful reading, lest with greater vehemence the wicked spirit bear down on you, and on account of your prior ignorance and neglect, you be set to work on something worse and more wicked. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 63, To Thalelaios the Monk

Some Peculiar Births

Εἰπὲ τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ τῷ πρὸς σὲ διενεχθέντι περὶ τῆς θείας σαρκώσεως, καὶ λέγοντι, ὅτι ἀδύνατόν ἐστι φύσει ἀνθρωπείᾳ δίχα συνουσίας καὶ σπέρματος τεκεῖν· ὅτι οὐδὲν ξένον, εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ἀγνοεῖς, μετὰ πάντων τῶν τοῦ νόμου μυστηρίων καὶ δογμάτων. Ὁ γὰρ εὐθέως τὰ προοίμια τοῦ νόμου καταμαθεῖν μὴ δυνηθεὶς, ἐπίδηλα ὅντα καὶ σαπῆ, πῶς δύνασαι εἰς τὸν ἀπόκρυφον αὐτοῦ διιδεῖν, ἢ διακύψαι βυθόν; Γεγραπται γὰρ, ὁτι ' Ἐπέβαλεν ὁ Θεὸς ἔκστασιν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καὶ ὕπνωσε, καὶ ἔλαβε μίαν τῶν πλευρῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνεπλήρωσε σάρκα ἀντ' αὐτῆς· καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε τὴν πλευρὰν ἥν ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ. Ἰδοὺ οὖν ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἡ γυην ἐκ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, καὶ ἀμφότεροι τῆς συνουσίας χωρίς. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐπώφειλεν ἡ γυνή χρέος τῷ ἀνδρὶ, ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς αὐτοῦ δίχα σπορᾶς ὑποστᾶσα, τοῦτο ἀπέτισε καὶ μήτηρ τοῦ Κυρίου, αὐτὸν δίχα σπέρματος ἀποδοῦσα σεσαρκωμένον. Οὐκ ἔστιν οὖν τῇ φύσει ἀδύνατον· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν πρωτοπλάστων ἤδη γεγένητο, ἐπὶ τῆς Δεσποτικῆς οἰκονομίας τετέλεστο· ἐι καὶ τὰ παράδοξα τῷ τόκῳ τούτῳ ὠφείλετο· ἀναγίνωσκε οὖν, ἵνα γινώσκῃς. Εἰ δὲ γινώσκειν οὐ βούλει, μὴ ἀναγίνωσκε, ἵνα μὴ καταγινώσκῃ ὡς ἀγνοῶν ἅ ἀναγινώσκεις. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΜΑ', Ἀδαμαντιῳ

Say to the Hebrew who is in dispute with you concerning the Divine incarnation, who says that it is impossible in human nature that seed come to birth lacking sexual union, that it is not strange at all if this is considered with every other mystery and teaching of the law. For who studying the opening parts of the law is not instantly able, it being clear and open, to gaze on that revealed and look into the depths? For it is written: 'God placed Adam in a trance and with him sleeping he took one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh, and He worked on the rib he took from Adam.' 1 Behold then we have man from earth, and woman from man, and both lacking union. Since then the woman was to be an aid to man, from his rib she was made, a different type of generation, and so it was with the mother of the Lord that by another type of generation flesh was formed. It is not impossible in nature, but as was the fashioning of the first ones, so it was in the manner of the Lord. And if these births should still be amazing, read then that you might know, and if you are unwilling to read, so you shall not understand being ignorant of things to be read. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 141,  to Adamantios 1 Gen 2.21

Progress in Reading

Quantum legentes progredimur, tantum nobis sacramentorum cumulus augetur. Et ut si quis exiguo vectus navigio ingrediatur mare, donec terrae vicinus est, minus metuit: cum vero paulatim in altum fuerit progressus, et undis intumescentibus, vel in excelsum attolli coeperit, vel eisdem dehiscentibus in ima deduco; ibi vero mentem pavor ingens et formido percutit, quod exiguam ratem tam immensis fluctibus credidit: ita etiam nos pati videmur, qui exigui meritis et ingenio tenues, inire tam vastum mysteriorum pelagus audemus. Sed si, orentibus vobis, Dominus dignetur Spirtus sui Sancti auram nobis prosperam dare, secundo verbi cursu portum salutis intrabimus. Origenes, In Genesim, Homilia IX,  Interprete Rufino Aquileiense

The more we progress in reading, the greater grows the collection of sacred mysteries for us. And it is as if someone should enter upon the sea in a little boat, who as long as he is near land is untroubled, but, when he has advanced little by little into the deep and has begun either to be lifted up to the heights by swelling waves, or by the same waves' gaping led down to the depths, there indeed grave terror and dread strikes his mind because he has entrusted so small a craft to such immense waves, and so thus we seem to suffer, who, with small merits and slight ability, dare to enter so vast a sea of mysteries, But if, by your prayers, the Lord should see fit to give us a favorable breeze of his Holy Spirit, with a favorable course we shall enter the port of salvation of the Word. Origen, On Genesis, Homily 9, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia.

A Book Collector Chastised

Βίβλους ἐκτήσω πλείστας, ὡς ἔμαθον, καὶ οἰήσει πλουτεῖς, ἀγνοῶν τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν, ταυτὸν τοιῶν τοῖς τὸν σῖτον κατέχουσι, καὶ τοὺς σῆτας τρέφουσι. Καὶ αὐταὶ μὲν γὰρ σντῶν μητέρες καὶ τροφοὶ, ὅταν δέδενται, γίνονται. Ἣ κέχρησο τοίνυν τῷ κτήματι, ἢ μὴ βλάπτε τὴν παίδευσιν, πολλὴν κἀνταῦθα κωμῳδίαν συνάγων, βιβλιοφόρος ἢ βιβλιοτάφος, καὶ σητοτρόφος καλούμενος· καὶ ἐπὶ Θεοῦ κατηγορίαν ἀθροίζων, ὡς μέγα τάλαντον ὠφελείας ἀποκρυψάμενος, ὅ ἄλλοις μὲν ἐπιστεύθη, καὶ σοφῶς ἐπειργάσθη, παρὰ σοῦ δὲ ἰταμῶς κατωρύχθη. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΚΖ', Σιμπλικιῳ

I have learned that you have procured for yourself many books and you think yourself enriched ignorant of the reading of them, like those who hoard food and the worms eat it, for books are the mothers and nurses of worms when shut up. Make use, then, of what you have acquired, lest you hinder learning, much comedy there gathering, being called 'book devourer,' 'book tomb', 'worm feeder', and in the presence of God amassing condemnation, as one who hides the great talent of gain, which others receiving wisely put to work, but by you was precipitately buried. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1 Letter 127, to Simplicius

Flesh and Blood

Non est humano aut saeculi sensu in Dei rebus loquendum, neque per violentam atque imprudentem praedictionem; coelestium dictorum sanitati, alienae atque impiae intelligentiae extorquenda perversitas est. Quae scripta sunt legamus, et quae legerimus intelligamus: et tum perfectae fidei officio fungemur. De naturali enim in nobis Christi veritate quae dicimus, nisi ab eo didicimus, stulte atque impie dicimus. Ipse enim ait, Caro mea vere est esca, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Qui edit carnem meam et bibet sanguinem meum, in me manet, et ego in eo. De veritate carnis et sanguinis non relictus est ambigendi locus. Nunc enim et ipsius Domini professione, et fide nostra vere caro est, et vere sanguis est. Et haec accepta atque hausta id efficiunt, ut et nos in Christo, et Christus in nobis sit. Anne hoc veritas non est? Contingat plane his verum non esse, qui Christum Jesum verum esse Deum denegant. Est ergo in nobis ipse per carnem, et summus in eo: dum secum hoc, quod nos sumus, in Deo est. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, De Trinitate, Liber VIII

Not in a human or worldly sense must we speak of  the things of God, nor must violent and unwise preaching extort from the soundness of celestial words perversites of impious understanding. Let us read what has been written, let us understand what we have read, and so let us fulfill the office of perfect faith. For concerning what we say of the reality of Christ's nature within us, unless we have been taught by Him, we speak foolishly and impiously. For He says, 'My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.'1 Concerning the truth of the flesh and blood there is no room for ambiguity. For now from both the declaration of the Lord Himself and our own faith, it is true flesh and true blood. And these, eaten and drunk, make it so that both we are in Christ and Christ in us. Is not this true? Certainly it may strike them not to be  true who deny that Christ Jesus is truly God. He therefore Himself is in us through the flesh and we in Him, while together with Him our own selves are in God. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, On The Trinity, Book 8 1 Jn 6.56

Educating A Girl

Fiant ei litterae vel buxae, vel eburneae, et suis nominibus appellentur. Ludat in eis, ut et lusus ejus eruditio sit. Et non solum ordinem teneat litterarum, et memoria nominum in canticum transeat; sed ipse inter se crebro ordo turbetur, et mediis ultima, primis media misceantur, ut eas non sono tantum, sed et visu noverit: cum vero ceperit trementi manu stylum in cera ducere, vel alterius superposita manu teneri regantur articuli, vel in tabella sculpantur elementa, ut per eosdem sulcos inclusa margnibus trahuntur vestigia, et foras non queant evagari. Sylabbas jungat ad praemium: et quibus illa aetas delectari potest, munusculis invitetur. Habeat et in discendo socias, quibus invideat: quarum laudibus mordeatur.  Non est objurganda, si tardior sit, sed laudibus excitandum ingenium, ut et vicisse gaudeat, et victa doleat. Cavendum in primis, ne oderit studia, ne amaritudo eorum praecepta in infantia, ultra rudes annos transeat. Ipsa nomina, per quae consuescit paulatim verba contexere, non sint fortuita, sed certa, et coacevata de industria, Prophetarum videlicet atque Apostolorum, et omnis ab Adam Patriarcharum series, de Matthaeo Lucaque descendat, ut dum aliud agit, futurae memoriae praeparetur. Magister probae aetatis et vitae, eruditionisque est eligendus, nec puto erubescet vir doctus id facere in propinqua, vel in nobili virgine, quod Aristotles fecit in Philippi filio, ut ipse librariorum utilitate initia traderet litterarum. Non sunt contenenda quasi parva, sine quibus magna constare non possunt. Ipse elementorum sonus, et prima institutio praeceptorum, aliter de erudito, aliter de rustico ore profertur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola CVII, Ad Laetam Source: Migne PL 22 871-872

Let there be letters of boxwood or ivory, each called by its proper name. Let her play with these, so that even in her play there may be learning. And not only make her grasp the right order of the letters and see that she forms their names into a rhyme, but constantly disarrange their order and put the last letters in the middle and the middle ones at the beginning that she may know them all by sight as well as by sound. Moreover, so soon as she begins to use the style upon the wax, and her hand is still faltering, either guide her soft fingers by laying your hand upon hers, or else have simple copies cut upon a tablet; so that her efforts confined within these limits may keep to the lines traced out for her and not stray outside of these. Offer prizes for good spelling and draw her onward with little gifts such as children of her age delight in. And let her have companions in her lessons to excite emulation in her, that she may be stimulated when she sees them praised. You must not scold her if she is slow to learn but must employ praise to excite her mind, so that she may be glad when she excels others and sorry when she is excelled by them. Above all you must take care not to make her lessons distasteful to her lest a dislike for them conceived in childhood may continue into her maturer years. The very words which she tries bit by bit to put together and to pronounce ought not to be chance ones, but names specially fixed upon and heaped together for the purpose, those for example of the Prophets or the Apostles or the list of Patriarchs from Adam downwards as it is given by Matthew and Luke. In this way while her tongue will be well-trained, her memory will be likewise developed. Again, you must choose for her a master of approved years, life, and learning. A man of culture will not, I think, blush to do for a kinswoman or a highborn virgin what Aristotle did for Phillip's son when, descending to the level of an usher, he consented to teach him his letters. Things must not be despised as of small account in the absence of which great results cannot be achieved. The very rudiments and first beginnings of knowledge sound differently in the mouth of an educated man and of an uneducated. Saint Jerome, from Letter 107, To Laeta

Be Prepared

Quotidie operemur bonum, dum tempus habemus; ne nos tenebrae comprehendant, nec imparatos illa metuenda dies inveniat. Tu vero pastorali pietate ac sacerdotali auctoritate, non solum meam suscitare litteris socordiam studeas, sed etiam omnibus te audientibus pia paternitate, ut vigilent, praedicare non cesses. Si lingua sacerdotalis clavis est coelestis regni, decet ut guttur illius tuba sit aeterni Regis, dicente propheta: Clama, ne cesses; exalta sicut tuba vocem tuam. Quis se parat ad bellum, si praeco in castris non clamat? Quis hostibus succinctus in armis obsistit introitum, si speculator in celso turris fastigio dormit? Quis gregem a luporum rabie defendit, si pastor in silvestribus luxuriae dumis latitat? Quis florentis ruris pascua gregi demonstrat, si ductor vagabundis per foveas vestigiis errat? Alcuinus, Epistola LXX, Ad Speratum Episcopum. Source: Migne PL 100.242b

Let us do good every day while we have time; let not the darkness comprehend us, let us not be found unprepared on that fearful day. Truly you with your pastoral piety and priestly authority should not only study my letters at your leisure but even with pious paternity cease not to preach to every one who will hear that they should be vigilant. If the tongue of a priest is the key to the kingdom of heaven, it befits that his throat might be a trumpet of the eternal king, with the prophet saying, 'Cry out, do not cease; raise up your voice like a trumpet.' 1 Who is prepared for battle if the herald in the camp does not call them? Who will be girded to resist the entry of the enemy if the watcher in the high tower sleeps? Who defends the flock against the ravening wolves if the shepherd is skulking in the thorn bushes of the woods? Who shows to the flock the fields of flowers, if their leader has gone off with wandering feet toward the pit? Alcuin of York, from Letter 70, To the Bishop Speratus 1 Isaiah 58.1

God and Anger

Nonnullos audivimus hunc animae perniciosum morbum ita excusare tentantes, ut eum detestabiliore interpretatione Scripturarum extenuare gestirent, dicentes non esse noxium, si delinquentibus fratribus irascamur; siquidem, inquiunt, ipse Deus contra eos qui eum, vel scire nolunt, vel scientes contemnunt, furere atque irasci dicatur, ut ibi: Et iratus est furore Dominus in populum suum; vel cum orat Propheta, dicens: Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me; non intelligentes quod dum hominibus occasionem pestiferi vitii volunt concedere, immensitati divinae ac fonti totius puritatis injuriam carnalis passionis admisceant. Si enim haec cum dicuntur de Deo, carnali et pingui secundum litteram significatione percipienda sunt; ergo et dormit, cum dicitur, Exsurge, quare obdormis, Domine? De quo alibi dicitu, Ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet, qui custodit Israel; et stat, ac sedet, cum dicit, Coelum mihi est sedes, terra autem scabellum pedum meorum, qui metitur coelum palmo, et terram pugillo concludit; et crapulatur a vino, cum dicitur, Et exsurrexit sicut dormiens Dominus potens crapulatus a vino qui solus habet immortalitatem, et lucem habitat inaccessibilem; ut praetermittam ignorationem, et oblivionem, quae de ipso legimus in Scripturis sanctis frequenter inserta, deinde lineamenta membrorum, quae tamquam de homine figurali et composito describuntur, capillis scilicet, capite et naribus, oculis ac facie, manibus ac branchiss, digitis, utero pedibusque; quae omnia secundum vilem litterae sonum si voluerimus admittere, Deum lineamentis membrorum et corporea figura compositum, quod dictu quoque nefas est, quodque absit a nobis, necesse est aestimari.  Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, De Coenobiorum Institutis, Lib VIII

We have heard some attempting to excuse anger, that most pernicious disease of the soul, by striving to extenuate it by a detestable interpretation of Scripture, saying that it is not a wrong if we are angry with erring brothers, since, they say, God Himself is said to rage and to be angry with those who are unwilling to know Him, or with those who knowing Him spurn Him, as here: 'And the Lord was angered with a fury against His own people',1 or where the Prophet prays, saying, 'O Lord, rebuke me not in your fury, nor in your anger chasten me.'2 But they do not understand that while they want to grant to men an occasion for a most pestilent vice, they are mixing in with the Divine Depth and Font of all Purity a fault of human passion. If indeed when these things are said of God they are to be grasped literally with a carnal and brutish signification, then also God sleeps, for it is said, 'Rise up, why do you sleep, O Lord?'3  And yet it is said elsewhere of Him: 'Behold he will neither slumber nor sleep who guards Israel.' 4 And He also stands and sits, since He says, ' Heaven is my seat, and earth the footstool for my feet'5  He indeed who 'Measures out the heaven with his hand, and holds the earth in his fist.'6  And He is 'drunk with wine'7 for it is said, 'The Lord awoke like a sleeper, a mighty man drunk with wine' 7 He indeed who 'alone has immortality and dwells in inaccessible light',8 which is to pass over the ignorance and the forgetfulness of which we often read in passages of Holy Scripture, and also the outline of His limbs which are spoken of as arranged and ordered like those of a man, that is, with hair, head, nostrils, eyes, face, hands, arms, fingers, belly and feet; for if we wish to admit all this according to the base literal sense it is necessary to think of God with the outline of limbs and composed of a bodily form, which indeed is wicked just to speak of and may such a thought  be far from us. Saint John Cassian, Institutes of the Coenobia, Book 8 1 Ps 105. 40  2 Ps 6.2  3 Ps 43.23 4 Ps 120.4 5 Is 66.1  6 Is 40.12  7 Ps 77.65  7 Ps 77.65 8 1 Tim 6.16