Apostles And Tradition

Traditionem itaque Apostolorum in toto mundo manifestatam, in omni Ecclesia adest perspicere omnibus qui vera velint videre, et habemus annumerare eos qui ab Apostolis instituti sunt Episcopi in ecclesiis, et successiones eorum usque ad nos, qui nihil tale docuerunt, neque cognoverunt, quale ab his deliratur. Etenim si recondita mysteria scissent Apostoli, quae seorsim et latenter ab reliquis perfectos docebant, his vel maxime traderent ea quibus etiam ipsas ecclesias committebant. Valde enim perfectos et irreprehensibiles in omnibus eos volebant esse, quos et successores relinquebant, suum ipsorum locum magisterii tradentes: quibus emendate agentibus fieret magna utilitas, lapsis autem summa calamitas. Sed quoniam valde longum est, in hoc tali volumine omnium ecclesiarum enumerare successiones, maximae, et antiquissimae, et omnibus cognitae, a gloriosissimis duobus apostolis Petro et Paulo Romae fundatae et constitutae ecclesiae, eam quam habet ab Apostolis traditionem, et annuntiatam hominibus fidem, per successiones Episcoporum pervenientem usque ad nos indicantes, confundimus omnes eos, qui quoquo modo, vel per sibiplacentiam malam, vel vanam gloriam, vel per caecitatem et malam sententiam, praeterquam oportet colligunt. Ad hanc enim ecclesiam propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiam, hoc est, eos qui sunt undique fideles, in qua semper ab his, qui sunt undique, conservata est ea quae est ab Apostolis traditio. Sanctus Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus Haereses, Liber III, Caput III Source: Migne PG 7.848a-849a

The tradition of the Apostles manifested throughout the whole world is within the power of everyone in every Church to contemplate clearly who may wish to see the truth, and we are in a position to reckon up those who were instituted bishops in the Churches by the Apostle and the succession of these men to our own times, who neither taught nor did they know anything of what these men rave about. If the Apostles had known hidden mysteries which they taught to the perfect apart from the rest, they would have certainly delivered these things to those whom they were committing the Churches. For they wished these men should be perfect and blameless in everything, these whom they were leaving behind as successors, and to whom they were handing over their own place of headship, which if such men acted well it would be a great boon, but if they fell the greatest calamity. But because it would be a very lengthy exercise in such a volume as this to enumerate the successions of all the Churches, we point at the very great and very ancient and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, which has its tradition from the Apostles, and the faith preached to men which comes down to us by the successions of the Apostles, to confute all those, who in whatever way, by evil self pleasing, or vainglory, or blind and wicked opinion, gather together. For with this Church, because of its preeminent authority, it is necessary that every church should agree, that is, with those who are faithful in every way, by which in these who are faithful in every way has been preserved the tradition that is from the Apostles. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 3

Thanks And The Romans

Primum quidem gratis ago Deo meo per Jesum Christum pro omnibus vobis... Quoniam ad quosdam scribens Apostlus, dicit pro omnibus se gratias agere, sicut et nunc ad Romanos; ad alios vero scribens gratias quidem agit, sed no addit pro omnibus; observans invenies quod ubi dicit pro omnibus se gratias agere, culpas aliquas graves aut probra in eos non exaggerat; ubi autem notat aliquos vel arguit, non addit ad gratiarum actionem, quod pro omnibus gratias agat, sicut et ad Corinthos vel ad Colossenses. Ad Galatas vero omnino nec ponit gratiarum actionem, quod eos miratur tam cito transferri ab eo qui vocavit eos, in aliud Evangelium. Origenes, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Romanos, Liber Primus, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 14.853b

First I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you...1 Since in writing to them the Apostle says that he gives thanks 'for all', as he now does here with the Romans, and in writing to others he gives thanks, but does not add 'for all,' observe that you will find that where he says he gives thanks 'for all,' he does not hold any fault or disgrace among them. And when he notes something or disputes it, he does not add to his giving of thanks that he gives thanks 'for all,' as with the Corinthians or the Colossians. 2 And then with the Galatians he does not make mention of giving thanks at all, but rather he wonders that they have so quickly turned away from the one who called them to another Gospel. 3 Origen, from the Commentary on the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, Book 1, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia 1 Rom 1.8 2 1 Cor 1.4, Colos 1.3 3 Galat 1.6

The Church Of Rome

Vultis scire, o Paula et Eustochium, quomodo Apostolus unamquamque provinciam suis proprietatibus denotarit? Usque hodie eadem vel virtutum vestigia permanent, vel errorum. Romanae plebis laudatur fides. Ubi alibi tanto studio et frequentia, ad Ecclesias et ad Martyrum sepulcra concurritur? ubi sic ad similitudinem coelestis tonitrui Amen reboat, et vacua idolorum templa quatiuntur? Non quod aliam habeant Romani fidem, nisi hanc quam omnes Christi Ecclesiae: sed quod devotio in eis major sit, et simplicitas ad credendum. Rursum facilitatis et superbiae arguuntur. Facilitatis, ut ibi: Rogo vos, fratres, ut observetis eos qui dissensiones et offendicula, praeter doctrinam quam vos didicistis, faciunt; et declinate ab illis: hujusmodi enim Christo Domino non serviunt, sed suo ventri; et per dulces sermones et benedictiones seducunt corda innocentium. Vestra enim obedientia in omnem locum pervulgata est. Gaudeo igitur in vobis: et volo vos sapientes esse in bono, et simplices in malo. Superbiae vero: Noli altum sapere, sed time. Et: Nolo vos ignorare, fratres, mysterium hoc, ut non sitis ipsi vobis sapientes. Et in sequentibus: Dico enim per gratiam quae data est mihi, omnibus qui sunt inter vos: non plus sapere quam oportet sapere; sed sapere ad sobrietatem. Et apertius: Gaudere cum gaudentibus, flere cum flentibus. Idipsum invicem sentientes. Non alta sapientes; sed humilibus consentientes. Nolite esse prudentes apud vosmetipsos. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber II Source: Migne PL 26.355b-356a

Do you wish to know, O Paula and Eustochium how the Apostle describes each province according to its own characteristic? Even until today remain the same traces of virtues, or errors. The faith of the Roman people is praised. 1 Where else do they hurry to the Churches and tombs of the Martyrs with such zeal and so often? Where else does Amen resound like a thunderclap in the sky, and where else are the empty temples of idols shaken? Not that the Romans have a different faith to that which all Christ's Churches have, but their devotion is greater and also their simplicity in belief. Yet they are rebuked for their pliability and pride. For pliability, where Paul says: 'I ask you, brothers, that you watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstructions contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them; such folk do not serve the Lord Christ but their own appetites. By charming talk and flattery they seduce the hearts of the innocent. Your obedience is known everywhere. Therefore I rejoice over you and wish you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.' 2 And for pride where he says: 'Do not have high minds, but fear.' 3 And: 'I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be wise to yourselves.' And later on: 'By the grace which has been given to me, I say to every one of you: do not know more than you should know, think soberly.' 4 And more openly: 'Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise to yourselves.' 5 Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 2 1 Rom 1.8 2 Rom 16.17-19 3 Rom 2.20, 25 4 Rom 12.3 5 Rom 12.15-16

Considering The Wretched

Aiunt igitur a Deo omnia praetermitti, quia nec coerceat malos nec tueatur bonos, et ideo in hoc saeculo deteriorem admodum statum esse meliorum; bonos quippe esse in paupertate, malos in abundantia; bonos in infirmitate, malos in fortitudine; bonos semper in luctu, malos semper in gaudio, bonos in miseria et abjectione, malos in prosperitate et dignitate. Primum igitur ab iis qui hoc ita esse vel dolent vel accusant, illud requiro, de sanctis hoc, id est, de veris ac fidelibus Christianis, an de falsis et impostoribus doleant. Si de falsis; superfluus dolor, qui malos doleat non beatos esse; cum utique quicumque mali sunt, successu rerum deteriores fiant, gaudentes sibi nequitiae studium bene cedere; et ideo vel ob hoc ipsum miserrimi esse debent ut mali esse desistant, vindicantes improbissimus quaestionibus nomen religionis, et praeferentes ad sordidissimas negotiationes titulum sanctitatis: quorum scilicet nequitiis si miseriae comparentur, minus sunt miseri quam merentur: quai in quibuslibet miseriis constituti, non sunt tamen tam miseri quam sunt mali. Nequaquam ergo pro his dolendum quod non sunt divites ac beati; multo autem pro sanctis minus: quia quamlibet videantur ignorantibus esse miseri, non possunt tamen esse aliud quam beati. Superfluum autem est ut eos quispiam vel infirmitate vel paupertate vel aliis istiusmodi rebus existimet esse miseros, quibus se illi confidunt esse felices. Nemo enim aliorum sensu miser est, sed suo. Et ideo non possunt cujusquam falso judicio esse miseri, qui sunt vere sua conscientia beati. Nulli enim, ut opinor, beatiores sunt quam qui ex sententia sua atque ex voto agunt. Humiles sunt religiosi, hoc volunt: pauperes sunt, pauperie delectantur: sine ambitone sunt, ambitum respuunt, inhonori sunt, honorem fugiunt, lugent lugere gestiunt, infirmitate laetantur. Cum enim, inquit Apostolus, infirmor, tunc potens sum. Nec immeriot sic arbitratur, ad quem Deus ipse sic loquitur: Sufficit tibi gratia mea: nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur. Nequaquam ergo nobis dolenda est haec afflictio infirmitatum, quam intelligimus matrem esse virtutum. Itaque quidquid illud fuerit, quicumque vere religiosi sunt, beati esse dicendi sunt: quia inter quamlibet dura, quamlibet aspera, nulli beatiores sunt quam qui hoc sunt quod volunt. Soleant quamvis esse nonulli ui turpia atque obscena sectantes, etsi juxta opinionem suum beati sunt, quia adipiscuntur quod volunt; re tamen ipsa beati non sunt, quia quod volunt, nolle debuerant. Religiosi autem hunc cunctis beatiores sunt, quia et habent quae volant, et meliora quam quae habent omnino habere non possunt. Labor itaque, et jejunium, et paupertas, et humilitas, et infirmitas non omnibus sunt onerosa tolerantibus, sed tolerare nolentibus. Sive enim gravia haec, sive levia, animus tolerantis facit. Nam sicut nihil est tam leve quod ei non grave sit qui invitus facit, sic nihil est tam grave quod non ei qui id libenter exsequitur, leve esse videatur. Nisi forte antiquis illis priscae virtutis viris, Fabiis, Fabriciis, Cincinnatis, grave fuisse existimamus quod pauperes erant, qui divites esse nolebant; cum omnia scilicet studia, omnes conatus suos ad communia emolumenta conferrent, et crescentes reipublicae vires privata paupertate ditarent. Numquid parcam illam tunc agrestemque vitam cum gemitu et dolore tolerabant, cum viles ac rusticos cibos ante ipsos quibus coxerant focos sumerent, eosque ipsos capere nisi ad vesperam non liceret? Numquid aegre ferebant quod avara ac divite conscientia auri talenta non premerent, cum etiam argenti usum legibus coercerent? Numquid illecebrae et cupiditatis poenam putabant quod distenta aureis nummis marsupia non haberent, cum patricium hominem, quod usque ad decem argenti libras dives esse voluisset, indignum curia judicarent? Non despiciebant tunc, puto, pauperes cultus, cum vestem hirtam ac brevem sumerent, cum ab aratro arcesserentur ad fasces, et illustrandi habitu consulari, illis fortasse ipsis quas assumpturi erant imperialibus togis madidum sudore pulverem detergerent. Itaque tunc illi pauperes magistratus opulentam rempublicam habebant; nunc autem dives potestas pauperem facit esse rempublicam. Et quae, rogo, insania est, aut quae caecitas, ut egestuosa et mendicante republica divitias posse cedant stare privatas? Tales ergo tunc veteres Romani erant; et sic illi tunc contemnebant divitias, nescientes Deum sicut nunc spernunt sequentes Dominum. Slavian De Gubernatione Dei Source:  Migne PL 53.30c-33b

They say, then, that everything is neglected by God, since He neither restrains the wicked nor protects the good, and therefore in this world the state of better men is much worse, certainly with the good in poverty and the wicked in abundance, the good weak and the wicked strong, the good ever in grief and the wicked always joyful, the good in misery and abjection and the wicked prosperous and honoured. Firstly I wish to ask this of those who lament or denounce these things: do they grieve for the saints, that is, the true and faithful Christians, or for the false impostors? If for the false, needless is the grief that bewails the unhappiness of the wicked, since all evil folk are made worse by success in their affairs, who rejoice at some fortunate outcome of their iniquity; yet they should be the most wretched in order that they may cease to be wicked, that they stop vindicating their evil advances under the name of religion and giving the title of sanctity to their most sordid deeds; indeed, if one were to compare their crimes with the misfortunes of sinners they would be shown to be less wretched than they deserve, for in whatever misfortunes they are placed they are not so wretched as they are wicked. Thus one must never grieve because they are not rich and happy, and much less so for the saints, for however wretched they may seem to be to those who are ignorant, they are not able to be anything else but happy. Indeed it is superfluous to think them wretched because of sickness, or poverty, or some similar thing, in which they confess themselves happy. No one is wretched because of the opinion of another, but only in his own mind. And therefore they are not able to be wretched by the incorrect judgement of another who are in their own consciences truly happy. For none, I think, are happier than those who live and act according to their own resolution and vows. The religious are lowly and they choose to be so; they are poor and they delight in poverty; they lack ambition, reviling ambition; they are without honour, fleeing honour; they weep and exult in weeping; they rejoice in weakness. 'For when,' says the Apostle,' I am weak, I am strong.' 1 And not without reason is it so judged by him to whom God Himself said: 'Let my grace suffice for you; virtue is perfected in weakness.' 2 Never then should this affliction of weakness be a cause of sorrow to us, for we understand it to be the mother of the virtues. Therefore, whatever may have befallen, those who are truly religious should be called happy, since amid any hardships or difficulties none are happier than those who are what they wish. Although it is usual that a few pursue things vile and obscene, even if according to their own opinion they are happy when they gain what they wish, yet in truth they are not happy, because what they want they should not. And in this the religious are happier than all others, because they have what they wish and indeed cannot have anything better than they have. So toil, fasting, poverty, humility and infirmity are not burdens to all who bear them, but to those who are unwilling to bear them. Whether something is heavy or light the mind of the one who bears it makes it so. For just as no task is so light that it is not a burden to the one who performs it unwillingly, so none is so heavy that to the one who it does it glady it does not seem light. Unless perhaps to those ancient men of old virtue, the Fabii, Fabricii and Cincinnati, we think that it was a burden that they were poor who did not wish to be rich, when all their cares, all their efforts, were for the common good, and by their private poverty they enriched the growth of the state. Was it, then, with groans and grief that they bore that lean and rustic life, when they ate cheap country foods before the very fire on which they had cooked it, and did not permit themselves to take of it it until evening? Was it that they bore it ill that they were not driven to talents of gold by an avarious and grasping mind, when their laws restricted the use even of silver? Was it that they thought it a punishment according to enticing desire that they did not have purses stuffed with gold, when they judged a patrician unworthy of the senate because he had wished to increase his wealth to the sum of ten pounds? Then, I think, they did not despise the way of the poor who wore only one short and shaggy garment, who from the plow were summoned to the fasces, and, about to be made illustrious in consular robes, perhaps wiped off the dusty mositure of sweat with the imperial togas that they were about to put on. Then the magistrates were poor, but the nation rich; now the wealth of those in power makes the state poor. And what madness is it, I ask, or what blindness, to think that amid the poverty and beggary of the state private fortunes will stand fast? Such, then, were the ancient Romans; so they in their day scorned riches, not knowing God, just as now the followers of the Lord scorn them. Salvian, On The Providence of God 1 1 2 Cor 12.10 2 2 Cor 12.9

A Woman Against Heretics

Haeretica in his provinciis exorta tempestas, cuncta turbavit; et in tantam rabiem concitata est, ut nec sibi, nec ullu bonorum parceret. Et quasi  parum esset, hic universa movisse, navem plenam blasphemiarum Romano intulit portui. Invenitque protinus patella operculum, et Romanae fidei purissimum fontem, lutosam coeno permiscuere vestigia. Nec mirum si in plateis, et in foro rerum venalium, fictus ariolus stultorum verberet nates, et obtorio fuste dentes mordentium quatiat: cum venenata spuracque doctrina Romae invenerit quos induceret. Tunc librorum περὶ ἄρχώ infamis interpretatio: tunc discipulus ὄλβιος, vere nominis sui, si in talem magistrum non impegisset. Tunc nostrorum διάλυτες contradictio, et Pharisaeorum turbata est schola. Tunc sancta Marcella, quae diu se cohibuerat, ne per aemulationem quippiam facere videretur, postquam sensit fidem apostolico ore laudatem in plerisque violari, ita ut sacerdotes quoque, et nonnullos monacharum, maximque saeculi homines, in assensum sui traheret; ac simplicitati illuderet Episcopi, qui de suo ingenio caeteros aestimabat, publice restitit: malens Deo placere, quam hominibus. Laudat Salvator in Evangelio villicum iniquitatis, quod contra dominum quidem fraudelenter, attamen pro se prudenter fecerit. Cernentes haeretici de parva scintilla maxima incendia concitari; et suppositam dudum flammam jam ad culmina pervenisse; nec posse latere, quod multos deceperat, petunt, et impetrant ecclesiasticas  epistolas: ut communicantes Ecclesiae discessisse viderentur. Non multum tempus in medio, succedit in pontificatum vir insignis Anastasius qui dum Roma habere non meruit, ne orbis caput sub tali episcopo truncaretur. Imo idcirco raptus atque translatus est, ne semel latam sententiam, precibus suis flectere conaretur: dicente Domine ad Jeremiam: Ne oraveris pro populo isto, neque depreceris in bonum. Quia si jejunaverint, non exaudiam preces eorum. Et si holocausta et victimas obtulerint, non siscipiam eos. In gladio enim et fame, et pestilentia ego consumam eos. Dicas, quid haec ad laudem Marcellae? damnationis haereticorum haec fuit principium: dum adducit testes, qui prius ab eis eruditi, et postea ab haeretico fuerant errore correpti: dum ostendit multitudinem deceptorum, dum impia περὶ ἀρχῶν ingerit volumina, quae emendata manu scorpii monstrabantur: dum acciti frequentibus litteris haeretici, ut se defenderent, venire non sunt ausi: tantaque vis conscientiae fuit, ut magis absentes damnari, quam praesentes coragui maluerint. Hujus tam gloriosae victoriae origo Marcella est, tuque caput horum et causa bonorum, scis me vera narrare Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistula CXXVII, Ad Principiam Virginem Source: Migne PL 22 1092-3

There arose in these provinces a storm of heresy which threw everything into confusion, 1 and so great was the fury whipped up that it spared neither itself nor any good. And as if it were too little to have troubled everything here, it brought into the port of Rome a ship full of blasphemies. The dish soon found itself a cover, and the pure fount of the Roman faith was mixed with the mud of filthy feet 2. No wonder if in the streets and market places a lying soothsayer can strike fools from behind, or, taking up his staff, shatter the teeth of those who mock him, when such venomous and foul teaching found in Rome those whom it could persuade. Then came the infamous translation of Origen's 'On First Principles,' then that 'fortunate' disciple, 3 who would have been true to his name had he not dashed himself against such a teacher. Then our destructive refutation which confounded the school of the Pharisees. Then the blessed Marcella, who had restrained herself for a long while lest she should appear to act out of envy, after she understood that the faith of Rome, once praised by the mouth of an Apostle, 4 was likely to be violated, that the heresy was not only drawing in many priests and monks and a great number of men of the world to give assent, but it even tricked the bishop who judged others by his own guilelessness, 5 publicly resisted it, preferring to please God rather than men. In the Gospel the Saviour praises the unjust steward because, although indeed he defrauded his master, he acted prudently for himself. 6 The heretics seeing how a little spark had kindled such a conflagration, 7 and that the flames lit secretly by them a little while ago had already reached the rooves, and they were no longer able to hide that they deceived many, asked for and indeed demanded letters from the Church, so that it appear they had been in communion with the Church. Not long after that celebrated man Anastasius succeeded to the pontificate, who Rome was not worthy to have for long, lest the head of the world be struck off under such a bishop. So he was quickly seized and taken away, lest the sentence once passed he try to avert with prayers, with the Lord saying to Jeremiah: 'Pray not for this people, nor implore their good. Because if they fast I will not hear their prayers. And if they offer holocausts and victims, I will not accept them. For I will consume them by the sword and by famine and by pestilence.' 8 You will say, what has this to do with the praise of Marcella? She was the origin of the condemnation of the heretics. She introduced the witnesses first taught by them and then dragged off into their heretical teaching. She revealed the multitude of deceivers, bringing forward the impious books of 'On First Principles', which had been 'improved' by the hand of the scorpion. Finally she it was who summoned the heretics in frequent letters to defend themselves, but they did not dare come, for they were so troubled in their conscience that they prefered to be condemned by absence than face their accusers. The fount of this glorious victory was Marcella and you know that I speak the truth about the source of these goods. St Jerome, from Letter 127, To The Nun Principia 1 Origenism 2 Ezek 34.18 3 Rufinus Tyrannus translator of Origen 4 Rom 1.8 5 Pope Siricius 6 Lk 16.8 7 James 3.5 8 Jerem 14.11-12

The Benefits Of Discipline

Cypriano papae presbyteri et diaconi Romae consistentes salutem.  Quamquam bene sibi conscius animus, et evangelicae disciplinae vigore subnixus et verus in decretis coelestibus testis effectus, soleat solo Deo judice esse contentus, nec alterius aut laudes petere aut accusationes pertimescere, tamen geminata sunt laude condigni qui, cum conscientiam sciant Deo soli debere se judici, actus tamen suos desiderant etiam ab ipsis suis fratribus comprobari. Quod te, frater Cypriane, facere non mirum est, qui, pro tua verecundia et ingenita industria consiliorum tuorum, nos non tam judices voluisti quam participes inveniri, ut in tuis rebus gestis laudem tecum, dum illas probamus, inveniremus, et tuorum consiliorum bonorum cohaeredes, quia et affirmatores, esse possimus. Idem omnes credimur operati, in quo deprehendimur eadem omnes censurae et disciplinae consensione sociati. Quid enim magis aut in pace tam aptum aut in bello persecutionis tam necessarium quam debitam severitatem divini vigoris tenere? quam qui remiserit, instabili rerum cursu erret semper necesse est, et huc atque illuc variis et incertis negotiorum tempestatibus dissipetur, et, quasi extorto de manibus consiliorum gubernaculo, navim ecclesiasticae salutis illidat in scopulos; ut appareat non aliter saluti ecclesiasticae consuli posse nisi si qui et contra ipsam faciunt, quasi quidam adversi fluctus repellantur, et disciplinae ipsius semper custodita ratio quasi salutare aliquod gubernaculum in tempestate servetur. Nec hoc nobis nunc nuper consilium cogitatum est, nec haec apud nos adversus improbos modo supervenerunt repentina subsidia; sed antiqua haec apud nos severitas, antiqua fides, disciplina legitur antiqua: quoniam nec tantas de nobis laudes Apostolus protulisset dicendo, Quia fides vestra praedicatur in toto mundo, nisi jam exinde vigor iste radices fidei de temporibus illis mutuatus fuisset; quarum laudum et gloriae degenerem fuisse maximum crimen est. Minus est enim dedecoris numquam ad praeconium laudis accesssisse, quam de fastigio laudis ruisse, minus est criminis honoratum bono testimonio non fuisse, quam honorem bonorum testimoniorum perdidisse. Minus est sine praedicatione virtutum ignobilem sine laude jacuisse, quam exhaeredem fidei factum laudes proprias perdidisse. Ea enim quae in alicujus gloriam proferuntur, nisi anxio et sollicito labore serventur, in invidiam maximi criminis intumescent. Sanctus Cyprianus, Epistola XXXI, Cleri Romani ad Cyprianum Source: Migne PL 3.307b-309b

To Father Cyprian, from the presbyters and deacons established at Rome, greeting.  Although a soul conscious of itself, and relying on the vigour of evangelical discipline, and made a true witness in the heavenly decrees, is accustomed to be content with God alone for its judge, and neither seeks the praises nor fears the accusations of any other, yet they are worthy of double praise, who, knowing that they owe their conscience to God alone as the judge, yet desire that their actions should be approved also by their brethren. That you do this is no wonder, brother Cyprian, you who, with your modesty and inborn industry, have wished that we should be found not so much judges as partakers of your counsels, so that we might find praise with you in your deeds while we approve them, and might be able to be fellow heirs with you in your good counsels, because we affirm them. In like manner we are all thought to have laboured in that in which we are all regarded as allied in the same agreement of censure and discipline. For what more is there either in peace so suitable, or in a war of persecution so necessary, than to maintain the due severity of the Divine rigour? Which he who rejects, will of necessity wander in the unsteady course of affairs and be thrown about here and there by the various and uncertain storms of things, and as if the rudder of counsel were wrenched from his hands, he will drive the ship of the Church's safety onto the rocks, so that it appears that the Church's security can not otherwise be provided for unless any who are adverse waves are repelled, and by attending to the eternally guarded rule of discipline itself as to the rudder of safety in a storm. Nor is it now but lately that this counsel has been considered by us, nor have these sudden aids against the wicked recently come to us, but this is read of among us as the ancient severity, the ancient faith, the ancient discipline, since the Apostle would not have brought forth such praise about us, saying, 'that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world,' 1 unless already from there the vigour had borrowed the roots of faith from those times, from which praise and glory to decline is a very grave crime. For it is less shameful never to have attained to having one's praise announced than to have fallen from the pinnacle of praise; it is a smaller crime not to have been honoured with good testimony than to have lost the honour of good testimonies; it is lesser thing to have lain without the announcement of virtues, ignoble without praise, than, disinherited of the faith, to have lost one's proper praises. For those things which are brought forth to the glory of any one, unless maintained by anxious and careful labour, swell up into the odium of the gravest crime. Saint Cyprian of Carthage, from Letter 31, The Roman Clergy To Cyprian 1 Rom 1.8

A Lady's Marriages

Interea neque hoc silendum arbitror quod mihi personarum gravium atque fidelium est relatione compertum. Gothorum namque temporibus Galla hujus urbis nobilissima puella Symmachi consulis ac patricii filia, intra adolescentiae tempora marito tradita, in unius anni spatio ejus est morte viduata. Quam dum, fervente mundi copia, ad iterandum thalamum et opes et aetas vocarent, elegit magis spiritalibus nuptiis copulari Deo, in quibus a luctu incipitur, sed ad gaudia aeterna pervenitur, quam carnalibus nuptiis subjici, quae a laetitia semper incipiunt, et ad finem cum luctu tendunt. Huic autem cum valde ignea conspersio corporis inesset, coeperunt medici dicere, quia nisi ad amplexus viriles rediret, calore nimio contra naturam barbas esset habitura, quod ita quoque post factum est. Sed sancta mulier nihil exterioris deformitatis timuit, quae interioris sponsi speciem amavit, nec verita est si hoc in illa foedaretur, quod a coelesti sponso in ea non amaretur. Mox ergo ut ejus maritus defunctus est, abjecto saeculari habitu, ad omnipotentis Dei servitium sese apud beati Petri apostoli ecclesiam monasterio tradidit, ibique multis annis simplicitati cordis atque orationi dedita, larga indigentibus eleemosynarum opera impendit. Cumque omnipotens Deus perennem jam mercedem reddere ejus laboribus decrevisset, cancri ulcere in mamilla percussa est. Nocturno autem tempore ante lectum ejus duo candelabra lucere consueverant, quia videlicet amica lucis, non solum spiritales, sed etiam corporales tenebras odio habebat. Quae dum nocte quadam ex hac eadem jaceret infirmitate fatigata, vidit beatum Petrum apostolum inter utraque candelabra ante suum lectum consistentem; nec perterrita timuit, sed ex amore sumens audaciam exsultavit, eique dixit: Quid est, Domine mi, dimissa sunt mihi peccata mea? Cui ille benignissimi ut est vultus, inclinato capite annuit, dicens: Dimissa; veni. Sed quia quamdam sanctimonialem feminam in eodem monasterio prae caeteris diligebat, illico Galla subjunxit: Rogo ut soror Benedicta mecum veniat. Cui ille respondit: Non, sed illa talis veniat tecum; haec vero quam petis, die erit trigesimo secutura. His itaque expletis, visio apostoli assistentis et colloquentis ei ablata est. At illa protinus cunctae congregationis accivit Matrem, eique quid viderit, quidve audierit, indicavit. Tertio autem die cum ea quae jussa fuerat sorore defuncta est; illa vero quam ipsa poposcerat die est trigesimo subsecuta. Quod factum nunc usque in eodem monasterio manet memorabile, sicque hoc a praecedentibus Matribus traditum narrare illic solent subtiliter juniores quae nunc sunt sanctimoniales virgines, ac si illo in tempore huic tam grandi miraculo et ipsae adfuissent. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi Liber IV, Caput XIII

Nor do I judge that I should be silent concerning that which I learned from the report of persons who are solemn and trustworthy. In the time of the Goths, a most noble young lady named Galla, daughter to Symmachus the Consul, during her adolescence was given in marriage, and in the space of a year death made her a widow. Yet though she did not lack for world's wealth and her riches and young years cried out for a second marriage, she chose rather to be joined to God in spiritual marriage, which begins in mourning but arrives at everlasting joy, than to become again subject to carnal matrimony, which always begins with delights and comes to its end in sorrow. Now since this lady had an extremely warm state of body, the physicians said that unless she took a husband again, on account of her heat, contrary to nature, she would grow a beard, and so it happened. But the holy woman feared not at all outward deformity, since inwardly she loved the beauty of her spouse; nor did she care if anything of her became foul, which her celestial spouse did not love. Therefore soon after the death of her husband, casting off her secular habit, she gave herself to the service of Almighty God at the monastery by the church of the blessed Apostle Saint Peter, where for many years she lived in simplicity of heart and prayer and gave alms plentifully to the needy. When almighty God determined to gave to her an everlasting reward for her labours, she was struck by a cancerous growth in one of her breasts. In the night she was accustomed to have two candles burning before her bed, for being a friend of the light, she hated not only spiritual but also corporal darkness. One night, lying afflicted with her infirmity, she saw Saint Peter standing between the two candlesticks before her bed, and not being afraid at all, but rather love giving her boldness, she said to him: 'How is it with me, my Lord? Are my sins forgiven me?' To whom he who had most kindly countenance inclined a little his head and said: 'They are forgiven; come.' But because there was a consecrated lady in the monastery whom she loved more than the rest, she said, 'I ask that sister Benedicta come with me.' To which he replied, 'No, but another will come with you, and the one whom you wish shall follow after thirty days.' And having said this, the vision of the Apostle standing near and his speech was taken from her. Immediately she called for the mother of the congregation and told her what she had seen and heard, and the third day following both she and the other nun died, and then thirty days later the one whom she had asked for also followed. The memory of this is kept until today in that monastery, so that the consecrated women who now live there, having it handed down to them by their predecessors, are accustomed to tell every detail of it, as if they had been there at that time when the great miracle occurred. Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Book 4, Chap 13

Guarding the Faith

Domine victori Theodosio et triumphatori, semper Augusto filio, Galla Placidia, piissima et florens, perpetua Augusta et mater. Dum in ipso ingressu civitatis antiquae hanc curam habuissemus ut cultum beatissimo Petro apostolo redderemus, in ipso adorando altari martyris reverendissimus Leo episcopus, paullum se post orationem retinens, propter catholicam fidem apud nos deflevit, ipsum similiter summum apostolorum, quem nuper adieramus, testem objiciens, episcoporum multitduine circumseptus, quos ex innumerabilibus civitatibus Italiae pro principatu proprii loci seu dignitate collegit; et veribus permiscens lacrymas, ad communionem sui fletus nostros quoque gemitus provocavit. Non enim modicum detrimentum est ex his quae gesta sunt, ut fides, quae tantis temporibus regulariter custodia est a sacratissimo patre nostro Constantino, qui primus imperio splenduit Christianus, nuper turbata sit ad arbitrium unius hominis, qui in synodo Ephesinae civitatis odium et contentiones potius exercuisse narratur, militum praesentia et metu appetens Constantinopolitanae civitatis episcopum Flavianum, eo quod libellum ad apostolicam sedem miserit, et ad omnes episcopos harum partium, per eos qui directi fuerant in concilio a reverandissimo episcopo Romae, qui secundum definitiones Nicaeni concilii consueti sunt interesse, domine sacratissime fili, venerabilis imperator. Hac itaque gratia, tua mansuetudo tantis turbis resistens, veritatem fidei catholicae religionis immaculatam servari praecipiat: ut secundum formam et definitionem apostolicae sedis, quam etiam nos tamquam praecellentem similiter veneramur, in statu sacerdotii illaeso manente per omnia Flaviano, ad concilii et apostolicae sedis judicium transmittatur, in qua primus ille, qui coelestes claves dignus fuit accipere, principatum episcopatus ordinavit; quando scilicet decet nos huic maximae civitati, quae domina omnium est terrarum, in omnibus reverentiam conservare. Diligentius autem etiam in hoc providete, ne quod priscis temporibus nostra generatio custodivit, sub nos imminui videatur, et per praesens exemplum schismata generentur inter episcopos et sanctas Ecclesias. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Epistola LVI, Galla Placidia ad Theodosium

To the Lord Theodosius, victor and conqueror, an ever august son, Galla Placidia, most pious and prosperous, perpetual Augusta and mother.  When having arrived in the ancient city, and having had care to pay our devotion to the most blessed Apostle Peter, at the martyr's very altar, the most reverend Bishop Leo waiting behind a little after the service lamented over the Catholic Faith to us, and bringing forth as witness the chief of the Apostles himself, whom we had just approached, and surrounded by a multitude of bishops whom he had brought together from numerous cities of Italy by the eminence and dignity of his position, mixing tears with his words, he called on us to blend our moans with his weeping. For no slight harm has come from things done by which the Faith, so long guarded since the days of our most holy father Constantine, who was the first in supreme power to shine forth as a Christian, has been recently disturbed by the will of one man, who in the synod held at Ephesus 1 is said to have rather stirred up hate and contention, distressing by the presence and fear of soldiers Flavianus, the bishop of Constantinople, because he had sent an appeal to the Apostolic See, and to all the bishops of these parts by  those who had been sent to the Synod by the most reverend Bishop of Rome, who in accordance to the Canons of the Council of Nicaea have been accustomed attend in such a manner, most sacred Lord and Son and venerable Emperor. Because of this we pray your clemency to resist such disturbances, and to command that the immaculate truth of the Catholic Faith be preserved without spot, that according to the standard and decision of the Apostolic See, which we likewise revere as preeminent, Flavianus may remain uninjured in his priestly office, and the affair be referred to the Synod of the Apostolic See, which he who was worthy to receive the heavenly keys first arranged to have the greatest power; when certainly it becomes us to preserve the honour of this great city, which is the mistress of all the earth. Indeed let us be most diligent to provide for this, lest what in former times our people protected seem by us to be harmed, and that by present example schisms not be caused among bishops and holy churches. Pope Leo the Great, Letter 56, Galla Placidia to Theodosius 1 The Latrocinium of Ephesus

The Instruction and Benefit of Fasting

Quotidiano enim, dilectissimi, experimento probatur satietate carnis aciem mentis obtundi, et ciborum nimietate vigorem cordis hebetari, ita ut delectatio edendi etiam corporum contraria sit saluti, nisi ratio temperantiae obsistat illecebrae, et quod futurum est oneri, subtrahat voluptati. Quamvis enim sine anima nihil caro desideret, et inde accipiat sensus unde sumit et motus; ejusdem tamen est animae, quaedam subditae sibi negare substantiae, et interiori judicio, ab inconvenientibus exteriora frenare, ut a corporeis cupiditatibus saepius libera, in aula mentis possit divinae vacare sapientiae, ubi omni strepitu terrenarum silente curarum, in meditationibus sanctis, et in deliciis laetetur aeternis. Quod etsi in hac vita difficile est continuari, potest tamen frequenter assumi, ut saepius ac diutius spiritalibus potius quam carnalibus occupemur; et cum melioribus curis majores impendimus moras, ad incorruptibiles divitias, etiam temporales transeant actiones. Hujus observantiae utilitas, dilectissimi, in ecclesiasticis praecipue est constituta jejuniis, quae ex doctrina sancti Spiritus ita per totius anni circulum distributa sunt, ut lex abstinentiae omnibus sit ascripta temporibus. Siquidem jejunium vernum in Quadragesima, aestivum in Pentecoste, autumnale in mense septimo, hiemale autem in hoc qui est decimus celebramus, intelligentes divinis nihil vacuum esse praeceptis, et verbo Dei ad eruditionem nostram omnia elementa servire; dum per ipsius mundi cardines, quasi per quatuor Evangelia, incessabiliter discimus quod et praedicemus et agamus. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XIX

Indeed, beloved, by daily experience it is proved that the mind's edge is blunted by indulgence of the flesh and the heart's vigour is dulled by excess of food, so that the delights of eating are actually opposed to the health of the body unless reasonable temperance resists enticement and prospect of future burdens draws us from pleasure. Although without the soul the flesh desires nothing, and from whence it receives its sense so it receives its motions, yet it is of the same soul to deny certain things to the matter which is subject to it and by interior judgment to restrain the exterior from things inconvenient, that it may be more often liberated from bodily desires and in the palace of the mind have leisure for Divine wisdom, where, all clamor of earthly cares being silent, it may rejoice in sacred meditations and eternal delights. And even though in this life it is is difficult to maintain, yet one can frequently take up the task again, that we may more often and for longer be occupied with spiritual rather than bodily cares, and that by devoting ever greater time to higher cares even our temporal actions may pass to incorruptible riches. So this useful observance, dearly beloved, is especially established for the fasts of the Church, which, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, are distributed over the whole course of the year that the law of abstinence may be present at all times. Thus it is we practise the spring fast in Lent, the summer fast at Pentecost, the autumn fast in the seventh month, and the winter fast in the tenth month, knowing that there is nothing lacking in the Divine commands and that to our instruction all the elements serve the Word of God, while on the very hinges on which the world turns, as if on the four Gospels, we learn unceasingly what to preach and to do. Saint Leo the Great, Sermon 19

Criticising Critics

O invidia primum mordax tui! O Satanae calliditas semper sancta persequens! Nullae aliae Romanae urbi fabulam praebuerunt, nisi Paula et Melanium, quae contemptis facultatibus, pignoribusque desertis, crucem Domini quasi quoddam pietatis levavere vexillum. Si balneas peterent, unguenta eligerent, divitias et viduitatem haberent materiam luxuriae et libertatis, dominae vocarentur, et sanctae. Nunc in sacco et cinere formosae volunt videri, et in gehennam ignis cum jejuniis, et pedore descendere: videlicet non eis licet applaudente populo perire cum turbis. Si gentiles hanc etiam carperent, si Judaei haberent solatium non placendi eis, quibus displicet Christus. Nunc vero, pro nefas! homines Christiani, praetermissa domorum suorum cura, et proprii oculi trahe neglecta, in alieno oculo festucam quaerunt. Lacerant santum propositum, et remedium poenae suae arbitrantur, si nemo sit sanctus: si omnibus detrahatur: si turba sit pereuntium: si multitudo peccantium. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola XLV Ad Asellam Source: Migne PL 22 481-2

O envy, biter first of yourself! O cunning of Satan, that always persecutes the holy! No other Roman lady was exposed to gossip but only Paula and Melanium, who, despising possessions and deserting families, lifted the Lord's cross as a standard of piety. If they had attended the baths, chosen perfumes, and used their wealth and status as widows to luxuriate and be independent, they would have been acclaimed as ladies of high rank and saints. But now since in sackcloth and ashes they wish to appear beautiful, they with their fasting and their dirt will tumble into the Gehenna of fire, for certainly it could not be that they would perish with the crowd whom the people applaud. If it were Gentiles snapping at them, if it were Jews they had not cared to please, well, so these too Christ displeased. But, in truth and for shame, it is Christians who overlook care for their own households and neglecting the beams in their own eyes look for motes in the eyes of others. They tear apart the holy way and so judge that they have found a remedy for their own punishment if no one is holy, if they can detract from every one, if they can show that the many perish and sinners are the multitude. Saint Jerome, from Letter 45, To Asella

An Improvement In Prayers

In eisdem quoque Homiliis rem narrasse me recolo, quam Speciosus compresbyter meus, qui hanc noverat, me narrante attestatus est. Eo namque tempore quo monasterium petii, anus quaedam Redempta nomine, in sanctimoniali habitu constituta in urbe hac juxta beatae Mariae semper virginis ecclesiam manebat. Haec illius Herundinis discipula fuerat, quae magnis virtutibus pollens, super Praenestinos montes vitam eremiticam duxisse ferebatur. Huic autem Redemptae duae in eodem habitu discipulae aderant, una nomine Romula, et altera, quae nunc adhuc superest, quam quidem facie scio, sed nomine nescio. Tres itaque hae in uno habitaculo commanentes, morum quidem divitiis plenam, sed tamen rebus pauperem vitam ducebant. Haec autem quam praefatus sum Romula aliam quam praedixi condiscipulam suam magnis vitae meritis anteibat. Erat quippe mirae patientiae, summae obedientiae, custos oris sui ad silentium, studiosa valde ad continuae orationis usum. Sed quia plerumque hi, quos jam homines perfectos aestimant, adhuc in oculis summi opificis aliquid imperfectionis habent, sicut saepe imperiti homines necdum perfecte sculpta sigilla conspicimus, et jam quasi perfecta laudamus, quae tamen adhuc artifex considerat et limat, laudari jam audit, et tamen ea tundere meliorando non desinit; haec quam praediximus Romula ea quam Graeco vocabulo medici paralysin vocant molestia corporali percussa est, multisque annis in lectulo decubans, pene omni jacebat membrorum officio destituta, nec tamen haec eadem ejus mentem ad impatientiam flagella perduxerant. Nam ipsa ei detrimenta membrorum facta fuerant incrementa virtutum, quia tanto sollicitius ad usum orationis excreverat, quanto et aliud quodlibet agere nequaquam valebat.  Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Dialogorum Libri IV, Libri IV, Cap XV

In the same homilies I also recollect a certain thing that was told me, to which narrative Speciosus, my fellow-Priest, would attest. In the time when I sought the monastic life there was a certain old woman named Redempta established in the holy garb, dwelling in this city near the church of the Blessed Mary Ever Virgin. She was a disciple of that Hirundina who was renowned for her great virtues, and who led a hermit's life in the mountains of Praeneste.This Redempta herself had two disciples who wore the same dress as she had adopted, the one named Romula, but the name of the other, she who has survived to our own day and who I know by sight, I can not tell. These three, then, lived together in a little house, replete with the riches of virtues but leading a poor life in worldly things. Of the disciples just spoken of Romula far surpassed the other in merit of life. She was possessed of admirable endurance, perfectly obedient, a guardian of her mouth for the sake of silence, and one who with great diligence employed herself in continual prayer. But as many things are judged by men to be perfect yet in the eyes of the consummate artisan have some imperfection, as often we unskilful folk see fine seals and praise them as perfect yet a true artist having looked at the same would note flaws, and, though hearing it praised, would not hesitate to lay hands on it and improve it, so the aforesaid Romula was struck down by an affliction of the body which the physicians call by the Greek word of paralysis, and for many years she lay on her bed, being cast down in such a manner that she was deprived almost of the use of all her limbs, yet this scourge did not drive her to impatience, for the damage done to her limbs was to the benefit of her virtues, because the more she was rendered incapable of acting in other things, the more she was able to exert herself in prayer. Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Bk 4, Chap 15

Roman Penance

Καὶ ἐν ταὶς κατὰ Δύσιν Ἐκκλησίαις φυλάττεται, και μάλιστα ἐν τῇ Ρωμαίων. Ἐνθάδε γὰρ ἔκδηλός ὀστιν ὁ τόπος τῶν ἐν μετανοίᾳ ὄντων· ἐστᾶσι δὲ κατηφεὶς, καὶ οἰονει πενθοῦντες. Ἤδη δὲ πληρωθείσης τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ λειτουργίας, μὴ μετασχοντες ὦν μύσταις θέμις, σὺν οἰμωγῇ καὶ ὀδυρμῷ πρηνεὶς ἐπὶ γῆς ῥίπτουσι σφᾶς. Ἀντιπρόσωπος δὲ δεδακρυμένος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος προσδραμὼν, ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους πίπτει· σὺν ὀλολυγῇ καὶ τὸ πᾶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πλῆθος δακρύων ἐμπίπλαται. Τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο δὲ, πρῶτος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐξανίσταται, καὶ τοὺς κειμένους ἀνίστησι· καὶ ἧ προσῆκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμαρτηκότων μεταμελουμένων εὐξάμενος, ἀποπέμπει. Και ἑαυτὸν δ' ἑκοντὶ ταλαιπωρούμενος ἕκαστος, ἢ νηστείαις, ἢ ἀλουσίαις, ἢ ἐδεσμάτων ἀποχῇ, ἢ ἑτέροις οἶς προστέτακται, περιμένει τὸν χρόνον, εἰς ὅσον αὐτῷ τέταχεν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος. Τῇ δὲ προθεσμίᾳ, ὥσπερ τι ὅφλημα διαλύσας τήν τιμωρίαν, τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀνίεται, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ εκκλησιάζει. Ταδε μὲν ἀρχῆθεν οἱ Ῥωμαίων ἱερείς ἄχρι καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς φυλάττουσιν.   Ἑρμείος Σωζομενός, Ἐκκλησιαστίκη Ἱστορία, Τομ Ζ´ Κεφ ΙϚ´

Penance is observed by the Western churches, and especially at Rome, for there there is a conspicuous place for those penitent, where they stand downcast and silent, lamenting in their minds, until the divine service is over, for it is not lawful for them to participate in the mysteries, then with cries and wailing they cast themselves prostrate on the ground. Facing them, having wept, the bishop conducts the ceremony, and falls to the floor in like manner; and all the church overflows with weeping and groaning. After this the bishop rises first, and raises up those laying down, and he offers up prayer on behalf of the repentant sinners present, and so dismisses them. Each of the penitents voluntarily humbles himself, by fasting, or not washing, or by abstaining from meats, or by other prescribed means, for a certain time determined by the bishop. When the period is over, he is relieved of the debt of his sin, and he attends church with the people. These things from the beginning the Roman priests have carefully observed until our times. Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, Book VII, Chapter 16

Learning And Darkness

Dum essem Romae puer, et liberalibus studiis erudirer, solebam cum caeteris ejusdem aetatis et propositi, diebus Dominicis sepulcra apostolorum et martyrum circuire; crebroque cryptas ingredi, quae in terrarum profunda defossae, ex utraque parte ingredientium per parietes habent corpora sepultorum, et ita obscura sunt omnia, ut propemodum illud propheticum compleatur: 'Descendant ad infernum viventes' : et raro desuper lumen admissum, horrorem temperet tenebrarum, ut non tam fenestram, quam foramen demissi luminis putes: rursumque pedetentim acceditur, et caeca nocte circumdatis illud Virgilianum proponitur: 'Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent.' Hoc mihi dictum sit, ut prudens lector intelligat, quam habeam sententiam super explanatione templi Dei in Ezechiel, de quo scriptum est: Nubes et caligo sub pedibus ejus. Et rursum: Tenebrae latibulum ejus: Unde et Moyses nubem ingressus est et caliginem, ut posset Domini mysteria contemplari, quae populus longe positus, et deorsum manens, videre non poterat, Denique post quadraginta dies, vultum Moysi vulgus ignobile, caligantibus oculis, non videbat, quia glorificata erat, sive ut Hebraico continetur, cornuta facies Moysi. Ita et mihi legenti descriptionem templi mystici (quod Judaei secundum litteram in adventu Christi sui, quem nos esse Antichristum comprobamnus, putant aedificandum, et nos ad Christi referimus Ecclesiam, et quotidie in sanctis ejus aedifacari cernimus) accidit, ubicumque oculus cordis aperitur, et me aliquid videre aestimavero et tenere sponsum, et gaudens dixero: Inveni quem quaesivit anima mea, tenebo eum, et non dimmitam eum; rursum me deserit sermo divinus, fugitque sponsus e manibus, et clauduntur oculi caecitate, ita ut cogar dicere: O profundum divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! quam inscrustabilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae illius! Et quod alibi scriptum est: Judicia Domini abyssus multa. Et: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine, Domine exaudi vocem meam. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentarium in Ezechielem Prophetam, Lib XII, Cap XL Source: Migne PL 25.375a-d

When I was a boy at Rome learning the liberal arts, with others of the same age and inclination, on the days of the Lord, I used to wander around the tombs of the Apostles and Martyrs; and I would enter the narrow crypts which were dug deep in the earth, with both walls holding the bodies of the dead, and everything was so dark that it was as the Psalmist's words were almost fulfilled, 'Let them go down alive into Hell.' 1 Very infrequently light was admitted from above, tempering the horror of the darkness, not passing through windows but filtering down from shafts. But again, as one cautiously moved on, blinding night surrounded, so that as Vergil revealed: 'Everywhere horror and the silence itself terrified.' 2 This said, may the prudent reader understand, that I had a sense of the explanation of the temple of God in Ezekiel, of which it is written, ' Clouds and darkness beneath his feet.' 3 And again, 'Darkness is His dwelling' place' 4 Whence even Moses entered into the cloud and darkness that he contemplate the mystery of God, the being people placed far off, remaining behind him, unable to see, and then after forty days the common folk with darkened eyes could not see the face of Moses because it was glorified, or as the Hebrew has it, the face of Moses was horned. It occurred to me on reading of the mysterious temple (which according to the writing of the Jews they think will be built on the advent of their own Christ which we would prove Antichrist, and we have it that it refers to the Church of Christ and daily we observe the building up his saints) that whenever the eye of the heart is open and I judge to have seen something and to grasp the bridegroom and rejoice saying, ' I have discovered what my soul sought, I shall cleave to it, and I shall not lose it,' 5 the Divine word again deserts me, and the bridegroom flees from my hands and my eyes are enclosed in darkness, so that I am forced to say, ' O deep riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How inscrutable his judgements and inaccessible his ways.' 6 And elsewhere it is written, 'The judgements of God are a great abyss.' 7 And, 'From the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. O Lord, listen to my voice.' 8 Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Ezekiel, Bk 12, Ch 40 1 Ps 54.16 2 Virg, Aen 2.755 3 Ps 17.10 4 Ps 17.12 5 Song 3.4 6 Rom 11.13 7 Ps 35.7 8 Ps 129.1

Caring For The Sick

Quin potius omnem censum, quem habere poterat (erat autem amplissimus, et respondens generi eius) dilapidavit, ac vendidit: et in pecuniam congregatum, usibus pauperum praeparavit; et prima omnium νοσοκομεῖον instituit, in quo aegrotantes colligeret de plateis, et consumpta languoribus atque inedia miserorum membra foveret. Describam ego nunc diversas hominum calamitates, truncas nares, effossos oculos, semiustos pedes, luridas manus, tumentes alvos, exile femur, crura turgentia, et de exesis ac putridis carnibus vermiculos bullientes? Quoties morbo regio, et pedore confectos humeris suis ipsa portavit? quoties lavit purulentam vulnerum saniem quam alius aspicere non valebat? Praebebat cibos propria manu, et spirans cadaver sorbitiunculis irrigabat. Scio multos divites et religiosos ob stomachi angustiam exercere hujusmodi misericoridam per aliena minsteria, et clementes esse pecunia, non manu. Quos equidem non reprobo, et teneritudinem animi nequaquam interpretor infidelitatem: sed sicut imbecillitati stomachi veniam tribuo, sic perfectae mentis ardorem in coelum laudibus fero. Magna fides ista contemnit. Scio quid in Lazaro dives purpuratus aliquando non fecerit, quali superba mens retributione damnata sit. Ille quem despicimus, quem videre non possumus, ad cujus intuitum nobis vomitus erumpit, nostri simili est, de eodem nobiscum formatus est luto, iisdem compactus elementis. Quidquid patitur, et nos pati possumus. Vulnera ejus existimemus propria; et omnis animi in alterum duritia, clementi in nosmetipsos cogitatione frangetur. 'Non mihi si linguae centum sint, oraque centum, ferra vox, omnia morborum percurre nomina possim.' quae Fabiola in tanta miserorum refrigria commutavit, ut multi pauperum sani languentibus inviderent. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola LXXVII, Ad Oceanum Source: Migne PL 22.694

Indeed Fabiola broke up and sold all that she could of her estate (which certainly was most substantial and appropriate to her station), and turning it into money she made it available to the poor. She was the first to establish a house of the sick, into which she might gather the diseased out of the streets, and where she could care for those devoured by illnesses and the emaciated limbs of the wretched. Shall I now recount the various calamities of men? Split noses, eyes put out, feet burnt, leprous hands, swollen bellies, withered bones, bloated legs, and worms writhing in putrid flesh? How many times did she carry on her own shoulders persons infected or those covered with filth? How many times did she wash pus from wounds which others would not have the strength to look at? She gave food with her own hand and moistened breathing corpses with drops of liquid. I know of many wealthy and religious folk who troubled by a churning stomach perform this work of mercy by the ministry of others, whose pity is coin not work of their own hands. I do not reprove them and I would not interpret softness as infidelity, but as I give pardon to a weak stomach, so I praise to the skies the zeal of a perfect mind. Great faith scorns such things. I know what the rich man clothed in purple did not do for Lazarus and the retribution by which a proud mind was damned. 1 He whom we despise, he whom we cannot look at, he whom the mere thought of brings on nausea, is like ourselves, fashioned from the same clay, formed out of the same elements. Whatever he suffers, we too may suffer. Let us consider his wounds to be our own, and so all hardness of heart will be shattered by the thought of the pity we would have for ourselves. As Virgil says, 'Not if there were given to me a hundred tongues and a hundred mouths, and an iron voice, could I tell the names of all the diseases.' 2 Those ailments which Fabiola assuaged in shivering wretches, so that many of the healthy envied the sicknesses of the poor. Saint Jerome, from Letter 77, To Oceanus 1 Lk 1. 19-31 2 Aeneid 6.625

Monasticism Comes To Rome

Nulla eo tempore nobilium feminarum noverat Romae propositum Monachorum, nec audebat propter rei novitatem, ignominiosum, ut tunc putabatur, et vile in populis nomen assumere. Haec ab Alexandrinis Sacerdotibus, Papaque Athanasio, et postea Petro, qui persecutionem Arianae haereseos declinantes, quasi ad tutissimum communionis suae portum Romam confugerant, vitam beati Antonii adhuc tunc viventis, monasteriorumque in Thebaide, Pachomii, et virginum ac viduarum didicit disciplinam. Nec erubuit profiteri, quod Christo placere cognoverat. Hanc multos post annos imitata est Sophronia, et alia: quibus rectissime illud Ennianum aptari potest: Utinam ne in nemore Pelio. Huius amicitiis fruita est Paula venerabilis. In huius cubiculo nutrita Eustochium, virginitatis decus: ut facilis aestimatio sit, qualis magistra, ubi tales disciulae. Rideat forsan infidelis lector, me in muliercularum laudibus immorari, qui, si recordetur sanctas feminas, comites Domini Salvatoris, quae ministrabant ei de sua substantia, et tres Marias stantes ante crucem, Mariamque proprie Magdalenen, quae ob sedulitatem et ardorem fidei, turritae nomen accepit, et prima ante Apostolos, Christum videre meruit resurgentem, se potius superbiae, quam nos condemnabit ineptiarum: qui virtutes non sexo, sed animo iudicamus; contemptaeque nobilitas ac divitiarum maiorem gloriam ducimus.  Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistula CXXVII, Ad Principiam Source: Migne PL 22 1089-1090

No noble lady at Rome in that time had made profession of the monastic life, or had dared on account of how peculiar and disgraceful it then seemed, even vile, to take up such a name among the people. From some priests of Alexandria, and from the bishop Athanasius, and then from Peter, who was fleeing the persecution of the Arian heretics, all seeking for refuge in Rome as the safest haven in which they could find communion, from these Marcella learned of the life of the blessed Antony, then still alive, and of the monasteries of Pachomius in the Thebaid, and of the discipline laid down for virgins and for widows. Nor did she blush to profess a life which she had learned pleased Christ. Many years after her example there was Sophronia and others, of whom it may be well said by Ennius: 'Would that never in Pelion's woods came the axes...' 1 Paula was the fruit of her venerable friendship, and it was in Marcella's cell that Eustochium, glory of virgins, was nourished. Thus it is easy to judge the quality of the mistress by such pupils. The faithless reader may perhaps laugh for my lingering on the praises of women, but let him remember the holy women who were companions of our Lord and Saviour and ministered to Him of their substance, and how the three Marys stood before the cross and especially how Magdalen, because of the ardor of her faith receiving the name of the tower, was the first, before all the Apostles, to merit seeing the risen Christ, and thus he will convict himself of pride rather than condemn me for ineptitude. By soul and not by sex we judge virtue, and by contempt of nobility and riches we rate glory. St Jerome, from Letter 127, To Principia 1 Ennius, Medea, fragment