Faith And Seeing

Fides argentum est? aurum est? nummus est? pecus est? terra est? caelum est? Nihil horum est, et tamen est aliquid. Non tantum aliquid, sed et magnum aliquid. Interim non loquor de fide illa superiore, qua fidelis vocaris, accedens ad mensam Domini Dei tui, respondens ex fide ad verba fidei. Interim hanc si movero paulisper, de illa fide loquar, quae vulgo etiam fides dicitur, non quam magnam tibi imperat Dominus tuus sed quam tu exigis a servo tuo. Ipsam dico, quia et ipsam imperat tibi Dominus tuus, ne cuiquam fraudem facias, fidem serves in negotio, fidem serves uxori in lecto. Et hanc tibi fidem imperat Dominus tuus. Quid est fides ista? Certe non eam vides. Si non vides, quare quando tibi frangitur clamas? Clamore tuo convinco quod videas. Dicebas: Quomodo aurum Deo praepono? Aurum video, Deum non video. Ecce aurum vides, fidem non vides. An quod verius est, fidem vides. Sed quando exigis, vides illam; quando de te exigitur, non vis eam videre? Apertis oculis cordis clamas: Redde fidem quam promisisti. Clausis oculis cordis clamas: Nihil tibi promisi. In utroque oculos aperi. Inique, noli fidem, sed ipsam iniquitatem perde. Quod exigis redde. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXI, De eo quod scriptum in Psalmo LXIII, Iocundabitur iustus in Domino et sperabit in Eo et laudabuntur omnes recti corde Source: Migne PL 38.144-5

Is faith silver? Is it gold? Is it money? Is it cattle? Is it land? Is it sky? It is none of these things, and yet it is something. Not only something, but something great. For the moment I am not speaking of that higher faith, because of which you are called faithful, as you come near the table of the Lord your God, and answer from faith to the words of faith. This I put to the side for a moment and speak of that kind of faith which is also called common, not the great faith which your Lord enjoins on you, but the faith you demand from your servant. And this kind I say your Lord enjoins on you, not to cheat anyone, to keep faith in your business dealings, to keep faith with your wife in your bed. This faith too your Lord enjoins on you. What is this faith? Certainly you do not see it. If you do not see it, why do you make such a fuss when it's broken with you? By your fuss I convince you that you do see it. You were saying, 'How is it that I prefer gold to God? I see gold, I do not see God.' Now here you see gold and you don't see faith, or to be more truthful, you do see faith. When you demand it, you see it. When it is demanded of you, you say you do not see it? With the eyes of your mind open, you cry out, 'Keep faith as you promised.' With the eyes of your mind closed you cry out, 'I promised you nothing.' Open your eyes in both cases. Wretched one, cast out your wickedness not your faith. Return what you demand. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 21, On what is written in the sixty third Psalm, 'The righteous man shall rejoice in the Lord, and he shall hope in Him, and all the upright of heart will be praised.' 1 1 Ps 63.11

A Little Faith

Putatis autem, charissimi, nihil dicere etiam illum qui dicit, Intelliam, ut credam? Quid enim nunc agimus, nisi ut credant, non qui non credunt, sed qui adhuc parum credunt. Nam si nullo modo credidissent, hic non essent. Fides eos adduxit, ut audiant. Fides eos fecit praesentes verbo Dei, sed ipsa fides quae germinavit irriganda est, nutrienda est, roboranda est. Hoc est quod agimus. Ego, inquit, plantavi, Apollo rigavit, sed Deus incrementum dedit. Itaque neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat, sed qui incrementum dat Deus 16. Loquendo, hortando, docendo, suadendo plantare possumus et rigare, non autem incrementum dare. Noverat autem ille cum quo loquebatur, qui fidei suae germinanti et adhuc tenerae et adhuc infirmae et ex magna parte titubanti, non tamen nullae fidei, sed alicui fidei adiutorem orabat, cui dicebat: Credo Domine Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XLIII, De eo quod scriptum in Isaia: Nisi credideritis, non intellegetis Source: Migne PL 38.257

Do you think, most beloved, that he says nothing who says 'Let me understand that I may believe'? What are we doing now unless helping belief, not of those who do not believe, but those who believe a little? If they did not believe at all they would not be here. Faith brought them that they might hear. Faith set them in the presence of the word of God. But this faith which has germinated needs to be watered and nourished and strengthened. This is what we do. 'I planted,' he says, 'Apollo watered, but it is God who gives the growth.' 1 By speaking, exhorting, teaching, and persuading we can plant and water, but we do not give the growth. A man knew with whom He spoke, he had a faith that was germinating, and yet was still tender and still weak, and for a great part hesitant, but it was not an absence of faith, rather he asked for help for his faith, he who said, 'I believe, O Lord.' 2 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 43, On What Is Written In Isaiah, 'Unless you believe, you will not understand.' 3 1 1 Cor 3.6-7 2 Mk 9.23 3 Isaiah 7.9

The Gain Of Forgiving

Dic mihi, cum ignoscis de corde, quid perdis? Cum ignoscis ei qui peccat in te, quid minus habebis in corde tuo? Inde enim dimittis, sed nihil amittis. Immo vero unda quaedam caritatis ibat in corde tuo, et tamquam de vena interiore manabat: tenes odium contra fratrem, obturasti fontem. Non solum ergo nihil perdis, cum ignoscis; sed abundantius irrigaris. Caritas non angustatur. Ponis ibi lapidem offensionis, et tu tibi facis angustias. Vindicabo me, ulciscar me, ego illi ostendam, ego faciam: aestuas, laboras, cui licet ignoscendo esse securum, securum vivere, securum orare. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo CCCLII, De Utilitate agendae poenitentiae Source: Migne PL 39.1557

Tell me, when you forgive from your heart, what do you lose? When you forgive him who sins against you, what will you have less of in your heart? From there you forgive, but you lose nothing. On the contrary a certain flood of love passes through your heart, as if welling up from an inner spring. If you cling to hatred against a brother, you have blocked up the spring. So when you forgive you not only lose nothing, but you are watered more abundantly. Love is not to be limited. If you place a stone of offence there, you block yourself up. 'I'll be vindicated, I'll have my revenge, I'll show him, I'll do it.' You're agitated, you're exhausting yourself, you who by forgiveness could be without a care, who could live without a care, who could pray without a care. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 352, On The Usefulness of Penance

Scandal And Wealth

Quod Dominus dicit, Qui autem scandalizaverit unum de pusillis istis, id est, ex humilibus, quales vult esse discipulos suos, non obtemperando, vel etiam contraveniendo, sicut de Alexandro aerario Apostolus dicit: expedit ei ut mola asinaria suspendatur collo ejus, et praecipetur in profundum maris: id est, congruit ei cupiditas rerum temporalium, cui stuli et caeci colligantur, eum devinctum pondere suo deducat ad interitum. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestiones in Evangelium Secundum Matthaeum, Liber Primus, XXIV Source: Migne PL 35.1327-8

When the Lord says, 'He who shall scandalise one of these little ones,' 1 that is, one of the humble, which He wishes his disciples to be, not by compulsion or indeed by opposition, as the Apostle says of Alexander the coppersmith, 2 'it will be better for him that the millstone of the donkey be hung around his neck and he be cast into the depth of the sea,' 3 that is, it befits that the desire for temporal things, to which the foolish and blind are bound and crushed by its weight, leads to ruin. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 1, 24 1 Mt 18.6 2 2 Tim. 4.14

Foreseeing Sins And Penance

Quaeris enim, Quare dixerit Dominus, nimirum praescius futurorum, Elegi David secundum cor meum; cum talia tantaque ipse homo commiserit. Quod quidem, si de ipso David, qui reprobato Saüle et exstincto fuit rex Israël, dictum intelligamus; magis quia Deus praescius futurorum est, praevidit in eo tantam pietatem tamque veracem poenitentiam, ut esset in eorum numero de quibus ipse dicit: Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata. Beatus vir, cui non imputavit Dominus peccatum. Cum ergo praesciret eum Deus peccaturum, et peccata sua pia humilitate et sincera poenitentia deleturum, cur non diceret, Inveni David secundum cor meum; cui non erat imputaturus peccatum tam multa bona facienti, et cum tanta pietate viventi, et ipsa pietate pro peccatis suis sacrificium contriti spiritus offerenti? Propter haec omnia verissime dictum est, Inveni David secundum cor meum. Quia licet secundum cor Dei non esset, quod ille peccavit; tamen secundum cor Dei fuit, quod pro peccatis suis congrua poenitentia satisfecit. Hoc solum ergo in illo secundum cor Dei non fuit, quod illi Deus non imputavit. Hoc itaque ablato, id est non imputato, quid remansit, nisi unde verissime diceretur, Inveni David secundum cor meum? Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Ad Dulcitium De Octo Quaestionibus Source: Migne PL 40.168

You ask why the Lord, who certainly can foresee the future, said, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart,' 1 when he would go on to commit such enormities. Because we should understand that which was said of David, who with Saul rejected and dead was king of Israel, was said more because the Lord who foresees the future foresaw in him such great piety and such true penitence that he was of the number of those of whom it is said, 'Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.' 2 Therefore when the Lord foresaw him sinning and then his sins being wiped away with pious humility and sincere penitence, why should He not have said, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart,' that man to whom sin shall not be imputed so much as many good works, and who living with such great piety, with that same piety offered the sacrifice of a contrite spirit for his sins? 3 On account of this everything was spoken most truly with, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart.' He was according to the heart of the Lord not because he sinned, but he was according to the heart of God in that he offered the satisfaction of appropriate penance for his sins. Sin alone, therefore, was not in him according to the heart of God, and thus God did not impute it to him. Thus with sin washed away, that is, not to be imputed, what remained unless what was said most truly, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart?' Saint Augustine of Hippo, Concerning Eight Questions, To Dulcitius 1 1 Kings 13.14, Acts 13.22 2 Ps 31.1-2 3 Ps 50.19

Differing Annunciations

Venit angelus Gabriel ad Zachariam, non ad Elisabeth uxorem eius, matrem Ioannis: venit, inquam, angelus Gabriel ad Zachariam, non ad Elisabeth. Quare? Quia Ioannes per Zachariam futurus erat in Elisabeth. Ergo angelus annuntians venturum Ioannem nascendo, non venit ad exceptorium ventris, sed ad fontem seminis. Nuntiavit amborum futurum filium, sed patri nuntiavit. Venturus enim erat Ioannes de connubio masculi et feminae. Ecce iterum ipse Gabriel venit ad Mariam, non ad Ioseph: unde erat caro illa coeptura, unde erat initium habitura, ad ipsam angelus venit. Patri autem sacerdoti Zachariae quomodo angelus futurum filium praenuntiavit? Noli, inquit, timere, Zacharia, exaudita est oratio tua. Quid enim, fratres mei, sacerdos ille ideo intraverat in sancta sanctorum, ut filios precaretur a Domino: Absit. Dicit aliquis: Unde hoc probas? non enim indicavit Zacharias quid rogaverit. Unum est quod breviter dico: Si petisset filium, crederet annuntiatum. Angelus dicit quod ei filius nasceretur, ille non credit? certe hoc rogaverat? Quis rogat sine spe? aut quis non credit in spe? Si non speras, quare petis? si speras, quare non credis? Quid ergo? Exaudita est, inquit, oratio tua: nam ecce concipiet Elisabeth, et pariet tibi filium. Quare? Quia exaudita est oratio tua. Si diceret Zacharias, Quare? hoc rogavi? Utique angelus nec falleretur, nec falleret, quando dicebat? Exaudita est oratio tua: nam ecce paritura est uxor tua. Sed quare hoc dictum est? Quia ille pro populo sacrificabat: sacerdos pro populo sacrificabat, populus Christum exspectabat; Ioannes Christum annuntiabat. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo CCXCI, In Natali Ioannis Baptistae Source: Migne PL 38.253-254

The angel Gabriel came to Zachariah and not to his wife Elizabeth. The angel Gabriel came, I say, to Zachariah and not to Elizabeth. Why? Because John was to be conceived in Elizabeth by Zachariah. Therefore the angel who was to announce the coming birth of John did not come to one who bore the receptacle of the womb but to the source of the seed. He announced the coming of the son of both of them, but he announced it to the father, that John was to come from the coupling of male and female. Behold, again Gabriel comes, and to Mary and not to Joseph, whence he begins with that flesh which was the beginning of His habitation, her to whom the angel came. How did the angel announce the future son to the father and priest Zachariah? 'Do not fear, Zachariah, your prayer has been heard.' 1 Did, then, my brothers, that priest enter into the holy of holies to pray that he might receive a son by the Lord? May it not be. But someone might say, 'How is it that you assert this?' For it does not tell us what Zachariah had asked. I shall speak briefly. If he had sought a son, he would have believed the angel. But did not the angel say to him that a son would be born to him and he did not believe it? Can there be any certainty that he asked? Who asks without hope? Or who hopes and does not believe? If you do not hope, how is it that you seek? If you hope, how is it you do not believe? What then? 'Your prayer has been heard,' the angel says, 'for behold Elizabeth shall conceive and give birth to a son for you.' Why? 'Because your prayer has been heard.' If Zachariah had asked, 'What? Did I ask for this?' What would the angel say who did not lie, nor would lie? 'Your prayer is heard,' because, behold, your wife shall give birth. But why was this said? Because he had sacrificed for the people. He, the priest, had sacrificed for the people, the people who hoped for Christ, and John was to announce Christ. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 291, On the Birth of Saint John the Baptist 1 Lk 1.13

Resurrection And Ascension

Secundum quod Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis, nutritus crevit. Passus, mortuus et resuscitatus accepit hereditatem regnum caelorum. In ipso homine accepit resurrectionem et vitam aeternam. In ipso homine accepit. In Verbo autem non accepit, quia incommutabiliter manet ab aeterno in aeternum. Quia ergo accepit resurrectionem et vitam aeternam caro illa, quae resurrexit et vivificata ascendit in caelum, hoc nobis promissum est. Ipsam hereditatem exspectamus, vitam aeternam. Adhuc enim non totum corpus accepit, quia caput in caelo est, membra adhuc in terra sunt. Nec caput solum accepturum est hereditatem, et corpus relinquetur. Totus Christus accepturus est hereditatem, totus secundum hominem, id est, caput et corpus. Membra ergo Christi sumus, speremus hereditatem. Quia cum ista omnia transierint, hoc bonum accepturi sumus quod non transibit, et hoc malum evasuri quod non transibit. Aeterna sunt enim utraque. Non enim aliquid non aeternum promisit suis, et aliquid temporale minatus est impiis. Quomodo vitam beatitudinem, regnum, hereditatem sempiternam sine fine promisit sanctis, sic ignem aeternum minatus est impiis. Si quod promisit nondum amamus, saltim quod minatus est timeamus. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXII, De Psalmo LXVII Source: Migne PL 38.154-155

Inasmuch as 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,' 1 He was nourished and grew. Having suffered, died and risen again, He received as His inheritance the kingdom of heaven. It was as man that He received resurrection and eternal life. As a man he received it. But as the Word He did not receive it, because the Word abides unchangingly forever. Therefore because it was that flesh that received the resurrection and eternal life, rising again and ascending into heaven revivified, this is also promised to us. We are waiting for that same inheritance of eternal life. The whole body has not yet received it because the head is in heaven and the members yet remain on earth. But it is not that the head is going to receive the inheritance alone and abandon the body. The whole Christ shall receive the inheritance, the whole as man, that is, both the head and the body. Thus we who are members of Christ should hope for the inheritance. Because when all this has passed away we will receive that good which will not pass away and avoid that evil which will not pass away. Both are eternal. He did not promise something eternal to His own and threaten the wicked with something temporal. Just as He promised those who are holy the blessed life and the kingdom as an eternal inheritance without end, so He threatened the wicked with eternal fire. If we do not yet love what He promised, let us at least fear what He threatened. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 22, On Psalm 67 1 Jn 1.14

Faith And Works

Cui respondeo ex libro meo, qui inscribitur de fide et operibus, ubi de hac re ita locutus sum: Iacobus autem tam vehementer infestus est eis qui sapiunt fidem sine operibus ualere ad salutem, ut illos etiam daemonibus comparet dicens, Tu credis, quoniam unus est Deus; bene facis, et daemones credunt et contremiscunt. Quid verius, brevius, uehementius dici potuit? Cum et in euangelio legamus hoc dixisse daemonia, cum Christum filium Dei confiterentur et ab illo corriperentur, quod in Petri confessione laudatum est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Ad Dulcitium De Octo Quaestionibus Source: Migne PL 40.149

To which question I responded in my book entitled Of Faith And Works, where concerning this matter I said: James was so vehemently hostile to those who thought faith without works profited for salvation, that he compared them to demons, saying, 'You believe that God is one? You have done well, for the demons believe and tremble.' 1 How more truly, more concisely, more vehemently, could he have expressed it? And then in the Gospel we read that it says that the demons were chastised by Christ when they confessed Him to be the Son of God, 2 for which confession Peter was worthy of praise. 3 Saint Augustine of Hippo, Concerning Eight Questions, To Dulcitius 1 Jam 2.19 2 Mt 8.28-32 3 Mt 16.16-17

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

Deliverance From Evil

Et quandocumque dicis Deo: Libera me Domine ab homine malo, hoc enim modo cantavimus, scio enim quo gemitu dicas: Libera me Domine ab homine malo. Quis enim in isto saeculo non patitur aliquem hominem malum? Quando ergo hoc dicis Deo: Libera me Domine ab homine malo, sicut totis praecordiis dicis, sic intentis oculis te, prius attende. Libera me Domine ab homine malo. Fac respondisse tibi Deum: A quo? Dicturus es a Gaio, a Lucio, a nescio quo quem pateris. Et respondet tibi: De te mihi nihil dicis? Si ab homine malo libero te, prius es liberandus a te ipso. Te ipsum pateris malum, noli te ipsum pati malum. Videamus si invenit quid tibi faciat alter malus. Quid tibi faciat malus? Tu noli esse malus. Non tibi dominetur avaritia tua, non te calcet concupiscentia tua, non te trituret ira tua. Isti hostes interiores tui qui sunt? Tu ipse. Non tibi aliquid faciant. Videamus quid tibi facit vicinus malus, patronus malus, potens malus. Videamus quid tibi facit. Iustum te inveniat, fidelem te inveniat, christianum te inveniat: quid tibi facturus est? Quod Stephano Iudaei fecerunt. Faciendo malum miserunt ad bonum. Ergo quando oras ut liberet te Deus ab homine malo, attende te. Noli tibi parcere. Te a te liberet. Quomodo a te te liberat? Dimittendo peccata, donando merita, dando tibi vires pugnandi adversus concupiscentias tuas, inspirando virtutem, donando menti tuae caelestem delectationem qua omnis terrena delectatio superetur. Haec tibi cum praestat Deus, liberat te a te, et securus exspectas in huius saeculi malis tamen transituris, cum eis bonis venturum Dominum tuum quae transire non possunt. Satis sint vobis. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XLII, De eo quod scriptum in Isaia, Quo mihi multitudinem sacrificiorum vestrorum? Et in Psalmo CXXXIX, Libera me, Domine, ab homine malo Source: Migne PL 38.253-254

Whenever you say to God, 'Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man,' 1 which is what we have just sung, I indeed know with what passion you say, 'Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man.' For who in this world does not suffer a wicked man? Therefore when you say this to God, 'Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man,' as you say it with all your heart, first look on yourself with intent eyes. 'Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man.' Let us say God answers: 'From which one?' You're going to say, 'From Gaius, or Lucius,' or some other man you are suffering. Then he will reply to you, 'Are you not going to say anything to me about yourself? If I am to deliver you from the wicked man, first you must be delivered from yourself. You suffer your wicked self and should not wish to suffer your wicked self.' Let us see if He finds something that a wicked man can do to you. What can a wicked man do to you? You should not want to be wicked. Do not let avarice have command over you, don't let your lusts trample on you, don't let your anger whip you. Who are these inner enemies of yours? You are. Do not let them do anything to you. Let us see what a wicked neighbour can do to you, or a wicked master, a wicked man in power. Let us see what he can do to you. He shall find you are righteous, he shall find you are faithful, he shall find you are a Christian; what can he do to you? What did they do to Stephen? Doing evil they sent him on to the good. Therefore, when you pray for God to deliver you from the wicked man, look to yourself. Do not spare yourself. He shall deliver you from yourself. How shall He deliver you from yourself? By the forgiveness of sins, and the giving of merits, by giving strength to fight against your lusts and by inspiring you with virtue, and by giving your mind heavenly delights that exceed all the delights of the world. When God grants you this, He delivers you from yourself, and in the midst of the evils of the world which will pass away, you can wait securely for the coming of your Lord with those goods which cannot pass away. Let them be enough for you. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 42 On The Scriptures, Concerning what is written in Isaiah, 'What to me are the multitude of your sacrifices? 2 And in Psalm 139, 'Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man.' 1 Ps 139.2 2 Isaiah 1.11

Free Will And Making

Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Quare enim addidit: Et non ipsi nos, cum sufficeret dicere: ipse fecit nos? nisi quia illam facturam voluit admonere, ubi dicunt homines: Ipsi fecimus nos, id est, "ut iusti essemus, iustos nos libera voluntate fecimus". Quando conditi sumus, arbitrium liberum accepimus. Ut ergo iusti simus, libero id arbitrio agimus. Quid adhuc Deum invocamus ut iustos nos faciat, quod habemus in potestate ut nos iustos ipsi faciamus? Audite, audite: Et iustos ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Creatus est primus homo in natura sine culpa, in natura sine vitio. Creatus est rectus, non se fecit rectum. Quid se autem ipse fecerit, notum est: cadens a manu figuli fractum est. Regebat enim eum ipse qui fecerat. Voluit deserere a quo factus erat. Permisit Deus, tamquam dicens: Deserat me et inveniat se, et miseria sua probet quia nihil potest sine me. Hoc modo ergo ostendere voluit Deus homini quid valeat liberum arbitrium sine Deo. O malum liberum arbitrium sine Deo! Experti sumus quid valet sine Deo. Ideo miseri facti sumus, quia sine Deo quid valeat experti sumus. Experti ergo tandem aliquando, noverimus, et venite adoremus eum, et prosternamur ei. Venite adoremus, et prosternamur illi, et fleamus coram Domino qui nos fecit. Ut perditos nos per nos, reficiat nos qui fecit nos. Ecce bonus factus est homo, et per liberum arbitrium factus est malus homo. Quando facturus est bonum hominem malus homo per liberum arbitrium deserens Deum? Servare se non potuit bonus bonum, et facturus est se malus bonum? Cum esset bonus, non se servavit bonum, et cum sit malus dicit: "Facio me bonum"! Quid facis malus, qui peristi bonus, nisi te reficiat qui permanet bonus? Ipse ergo fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Nos autem populus eius et oves pascuae eius. Ecce fecit nos homines populum suum qui nos fecit. Non enim creati homines iam populus eius eramus. Videte Fratres mei, et de ipsis psalmi verbis attendite unde dixerit: Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Hinc dixit: Fecit nos, et non ipsi nos, ut simus populus eius et oves pascuae eius. Ipse fecit nos. Nam et pagani nascuntur et omnes impii, omnes adversarii Ecclesiae eius. Ut nascerentur, ipse fecit eos. Non enim alius deus creavit eos. Qui de paganis nascuntur, ab ipso facti sunt, ab ipso creati sunt. Et non sunt populus eius nec oves pascuae eius. Communis est omnibus natura, non gratia. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXVI, De Verbis Psalmi XCIV, Venite adoremus, et prosternamur illi, et fleamus coram Domino qui nos fecit. Source: Migne PL 38.172

'He made us and not we ourselves.' 1 But why should he add 'and not we ourselves,' when it would have been enough to say, 'He made us?' Why indeed, but because he wanted to warn against that fiction when men say 'We made ourselves,' that is, 'we are righteous, we have made ourselves righteous by our free will. When we were created we received free will, therefore we may be righteous by the work of our free will. Why should we go on calling on God to make us righteous when we have it in our power to make ourselves righteous?' Listen, listen: even He made us righteous and not we ourselves. The first man was created with a blameless nature, in a nature without fault. He was created upright, he did not make himself upright. What he did make himself is known, for falling from the potter's hand he was broken. He who made him was guiding him, and the man chose to forsake the one by whom he was made. God permitted it, as though saying, 'Let him forsake me and find himself, and let his wretchedness prove to him that he can do nothing without me.' 2 Therefore in this way God wished to show man the worth of free will without God. O what an evil free will is without God! We have experienced what it is worth without God. Therefore we have been made wretched, because we have experienced what it is worth without God. Therefore, having experienced it, let us at last, at some time, know it, and, come, let us adore Him and bow down before Him. 'Come, let us adore and down before Him, and weep before the Lord who made us.' 3 Thus we who have ruined ourselves may be remade by Him who made us. Behold, man was made good and then by free will he was made evil. When shall the wicked man make the good man, he who with his free will forsakes God? When he was good he could not keep himself good, and becoming evil shall he make himself good? 'I shall make myself good!' What can you, the evil man make, who when he was good made a ruin, unless He remakes you who remains good? Therefore He made us and we did not make ourselves. But we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Behold, He who made us men is He who made us His own people. We were not already His people when created as men. See, my brothers and look to the very words of the Psalm, why he said. 'He made us and not we ourselves.' He says, 'He made us and not we ourselves,' so that we might be His people and the sheep of His pasture. 'He made us.' For even pagans are born, and all the godless, and all the enemies of His Church. That they might be born He made them. No other god created them. Those who are born of pagans were made by Him, by Him they were created. And they are not His people, nor the sheep of His pasture. Nature is common to all, but grace is not. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 26 On The Scriptures, On the words of Psalm 94, 'Come let us adore and bow down before Him, and let us weep before the Lord who made us' 1 Ps 99.3 2 cf Jn 15.5 3 Ps 94.6 4 Ps 94.7

Anger And The Enemy

Positis genibus clamavit dicens: ne statuas illis hoc peccatcum. Ira vide quid noceat. Agnosce inimicam tuam: agnosce cum qua pugnas in theatro pectoris tui. Angustum theatrum; sed Deus spectat: ibi doma inimicam tuam. Vis videre quam sit ista vera tua inimica? Modo ostendo. Oraturus es Deum: ventura est hora ut dicas: Pater noster, qui es in coelis. Venturus es ad illum versum: Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Quid sequitur? Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Ibi illa inimica stat contra te. Sepit viam orationis tuae: murum erigit, et non est qua transeas. Bene totum dixisti: Pater noster. Cucurrit: Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Et quid postea? Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. En ipsa adversaria contradicit; nec ante velum, sed intus: in ipso secretario cordis tui, ibi tibi clamat, contradicit. Qualis inimica, fratres, quae contradicit? Sicut et nos dimittimus. Non permittitur ut saevias contra inimicum tuum: in istam saevias. Melior est qui vincit iram, quam qui capit civitatem, Scriptura dicit. Quod dixi modo, scriptum est: Melior est qui vincit iram, quam qui capit civitatem. Numquid non bellator imperator quando venit ad aliquos hostes, et invenit civitatem munitam, armatis instructam, optimam, adversantem sibi, si illam ceperit, si illam vicerit, si illam everterit, triumphos quaerit? Sicut autem narrat Scriptura: Melior est qui vincit iram, quam qui capit civitatem. In manu tua est. Non potes illam interimere, potes illam reprimere. Si fortis es, iram vince: et civitati parce. Video vos attentos, scio quam bene accepistis. Deus adsit certaminibus vestris, ut prosit vobis quod tanti Martyris agonem spectastis; ut quomodo vincentem vidistis et vincenti favistis, sic et vos in corde vestro vincatis. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo CCCXV, In Solemnitate Stephani Martyris Source: Migne PL 38.1431

On his knees he cried out saying, 'Do not hold this sin against them..' 1 See how anger may harm. Know your enemy, know what you fight in the arena of your breast, It is an arena of strife, but God looks on, there subdue your enemy. You wish to see how this may be your true enemy? There is a way of showing it. When you pray to God, there shall come a time when you say: 'Our Father, who art in heaven.' Then you will come to that line: 'Forgive us our trespasses.' What follows? 'As we forgive those who trespass against us.' There that enemy stands against you. He encircles the path of your prayer. He raises up a wall and there is no way for you to go on. Well you have said, 'Our Father.' It follows, 'Forgive us our trespasses.' And after? 'As we forgive those who trespass against us.' Behold, your enemy disputes with you, not publicly but within, in that secret place of your heart, there he cries out against you, there he disputes with you. What is this enemy that disputes so, brothers? 'As we forgive.' It is not permitted for you to act savagely against an enemy, but against savagery you should be fierce. 'Better is he who conquers anger, than he who takes a city,' Scripture says. 2 What I have just said has been written: 'Better is he who conquers anger, than he who take a city.' Is it not that when an Emperor at war comes against some enemies, and he finds a city defended, and guarded with armed men, and well supplied, and set against him, if he shall take it, if he shall conquer it, if he shall overthrow it, he seeks out how to gain the victory? So Scripture speaks to us: 'Better is he who conquers anger, than he who takes a city.' It is in your hand. You are not able to destroy it, but you can overcome it. If you are strong, overcome anger, and spare a city. I see you are attentive. I know how well you understand. God stands near you in your trials, so that what you have seen of the trial of such a great martyr may be of benefit to you, that as you have seen him conquer, even you choose to conquer, and so in your hearts be victorious. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 315, On The Feast Of Saint Stephen 1 Acts 7.60 2 Prov 16.32

Miracles And The Incarnation

Mirum non esse debet a Deo factum miraculum: mirum enim esset si homo fecisset. Magis gaudere quam mirari debemus, quia Dominus noster et salvator Iesus Christus homo factus est, quam quod divina inter homines Deus fecit. Plus est enim ad salutem nostram quod factus est propter homines, quam quod fecit inter homines: et plus est quod vitia sanavit animarum, quam quod sanavit languores corporum moriturorum. Sed quia ipsa anima non eum noverat a quo sananda erat, et oculos habebat in carne unde facta corporalia videret, nondum habebat sanos in corde, unde Deum latentem cognosceret; fecit quod videre poterat, ut sanaretur unde videre non poterat Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, In Evangelium Ionannis, Tractatus XVII Source: Migne PL 35.1527

It should not be a matter of wonder that God performed a miracle, for the wonder would be if man had done it. We should rejoice more than wonder that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was made man than that God performed Divine works among men. It is of greater importance for our salvation that He was made for men, than what He did among men. It is more important that He healed the faults of souls, than that He healed the infirmities of mortal bodies. But as the soul did not know Him who was to heal it, and had the eyes of flesh by which it saw corporeal deeds and not yet the healthy eyes of the heart with which it could recognise the hidden God, so He did what the soul was able to see, so that being healed it would see what it could not. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Tractate 17 On The Gospel of St John

Lives And Lengths

Dicit aliquis: Cur ergo psalmus dixit: Psallam Deo meo quamdiu vivo, et non dixit: Psallam Deo meo semper? Ubi enim dicitur: Quamdiu vivo, quasi finis significatur, sed si non intellegatur. Si putas de hac vita dictum, quamdiu vivo, discute vitam istam utrum hic sit diu. Quantumcumque hic vixeris, diu non est. Quomodo est diu, quod te non satiat? Dicit puer diu vixisse hominem, quem videt senem. Sed cum pervenerit quo ille pervenit, tunc videt quam non fuerit diu. Prorsus sic volat aetas, ita in se momenta transcurrunt, ut videamus nudius tertius fuisse nos pueros, heri iuvenes, hodie senes. Ubi ergo putas de hac vita esse dictum, quamdiu vivo, psallam Deo meo, ideo quia dixit quamdiu vivo, ibi verax intellectus est de hac vita non esse dictum, quia dixit quamdiu. Numquam enim diceret veritas quamdiu de ista vita, ubi nihil est diu. Potuerunt hoc videre sapientes huius mundi, et non hoc possunt videre christiani? Quidam sapientum mundi, eloquentissimus homo dixit: Quid enim hoc ipsum diu, in quo est aliquid extremum? Omnino negavit diu, esse, quod ad finem quandocumque potuerit pervenire. Prorsus quandocumque, non quousque tu vixisti, si forte ad senectutem ultimam pervenisti. Unius enim hominis vita, praesertim hoc tempore, vapor est ad modicum apparens. Hoc, quod dixi, Scriptura dixit. Exultantibus hominibus, et per superbiam multa pollentibus, et an continuo moriantur nescientibus, Scriptura divina dixit, et eos ita superbientes et in vanis fidentes suae transitoriae fragilitatis admonuit. Quae est enim, inquit, vita vestra? Vapor est ad modicum apparens, deinceps exterminabitur. Qui ergo se erigit in elatione, confidit in vapore; extollitur in honore, et perit cum vapore. Reprimenda est ergo superbia, et quanta possumus intentione calcanda. Et intellegendum nos in hac terra mortaliter vivere, et cogitandum esse de fine ubi non erit finis. Non enim si tu, ut dicere coeperam quicumque senuisti, valde extolleris, si putas te diu vixisse qui aliquando finiturus es, sed ipse Adam si adhuc viveret, et non modo, sed in fine saeculi moreretur, nihil haberet diu, in quo aliquid esset extremum. Et verissime dictum est, et prudenter intellectum est, et verum esse non tantum praedicatur, sed etiam ab auditoribus agnoscitur. Referamus animum ad psalmum quem cantavimus, et inveniamus quia ille non diceret: Psallam Deo meo, quandiu vivo, nisi de illa vita ubi diu est. Si enim in ista vita ideo nihil diu, quia est aliquid extremum, non ad istam vitam desiderandam vocamur, quando christiani efficimur. Non enim propterea christiani efficimur, ut bene nobis sit in hac vita. Si enim propterea putaverimus nos fieri christianos, ut hic nobis bene sit secundum vitam istam temporalem, secundum felicitatem volaticam et vapoream valde erramus, et nutabunt pedes nostri Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermones Inediti, Sermo 33a, De versu Psalmi CXLV: Laudabo Dominum in vita mea, psallam Deo meo quamdiu vivo Source: Migne PL 46.918-919

Someone says, 'Why does the Psalm say, 'I shall sing to my God as long as I live?' 1 and it does not say, 'I shall sing to my God always?' for where it is said, 'As long as I live,' it is as if an end is signified.' But that is only if it is misunderstood. If you think this life was spoken of with 'as long as I live,' consider how long this life is. However long you have lived here, it is not long at all. How can that be long which does not satisfy you? A boy who sees an old man says he is a man who has lived a long time. But when he comes to where that man is then he will see that it is not long at all. Indeed, how a life flies by, how the moments run into one another, so that it seems it was just two days ago we were boys, and only yesterday we were young men, and today we are old men. When, then, you think it was spoken of this life when it was said 'as long as I live, I shall sing to my God,' then because he said 'as long as I live,' so the true understanding does not concern this life, because he said 'as long as.' For never would the truth say 'as long as' about this life, when it is hardly anything at all to live. The wise of this world are able to see this, and do Christians not see it? A certain wise one of the world, the most eloquent man, said, 'What is this 'as long', in which there is some limit?' 2 Here he denies 'long' can come to an end at any time. Certainly it will, at some time or other, whatever length of time you have lived here, if perhaps you come to extreme old age. For the life of a man, especially at this time, is a mist appearing for a little while. 3 Scripture says what I say. While men exult, and through pride would do much, ignorant that they might perish in a moment, Scripture says it. Even so it has admonished men in their pride and vanity about their transitory fragility. What is it, then, your life? It is a mist appearing for a little while, and then it disappears. Therefore he who raises himself up in elation, he puts his trust in a mist, and he who is exalted by honours, he perishes with the mist. Thus is pride reproved, and thus with firm intention we are able to trample it under foot. We should understand that we live mortally on this earth, and we should think of that end where there is no end. For it is not only that you, as I said, who have aged, who exalt yourself, should think while living that you shall at some time come to an end, but even Adam himself should, if yet he lived, and not only that, but at the end of the world died, for even then he would have nothing 'long', since he had some limit. It truly has been spoken, and wisely it has been understood, when there is not only the preaching of the truth but also the understanding of those who hear. Let us turn our minds back to the Psalm we have sung, and we shall find that he would not have said 'I will sing to my God as long as I live,' unless he had meant that life where 'long' really is. For if there is nothing 'long' in this life because there is always some limit, then we are not called to desire this life when we become Christians. We did not become Christians that it go well for us in this life. If that is why we thought we became Christians, so that things would go well for us in this temporal life, which is a fleeting happiness like a mist, we are very gravely in error, and our feet will stumble. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Unpublished Sermons, from Sermon 33, On the verse of Psalm 145, 'I shall praise the Lord in my life, I shall sing to my God while I live.' 1 Ps 145.2 2 Cicero, Orat pro M Marcello 28 3 Jam 4.15

The Scattered And The Shepherd

In omnem montem, et in omnem collem, et in omnem faciem terrae dispersae sunt. Quid est: In omnem faciem terrae dispersae sunt? Omnia terrena sectantes, ea quae in faciem terrae lucent, ipsa amant, ipsa diligunt. Nolunt mori, ut abscondatur vita eorum in Christo. Super omnem faciem terrae, dilectione terrenorum, et quia errantes oves sunt per totam faciem terrae. Non omnes haeretici per totam faciem terrae, sed tamen haeretici per totam faciem terrae. Alii hic, alii ibi, nusquam tamen desunt. Ipsi se non norunt: alia secta in Africa, alia haeresis in Oriente, alia in Aegypto, alia in Mesopotamia, verbi gratia. Diversis locis sunt diversae: sed ea una mater superbia omnes peperit sicut una mater nostra catholica omnes christianos fideles toto orbe diffusos. Non ergo mirum, si superbia parit discissionem, caritas unitatem. Tamen ipsa catholica mater, ipse pastor in ea ubique quaerit errantes, confortat infirmos, curat languidos, alligat confractos, alios ab istis, alios ab illis non se invicem scientibus. Sed tamen illa omnes novit, quia cum omnibus fusa est. Verbi gratia, est in Africa pars Donati, Eunomiani non sunt in Africa, sed cum parte Donati est hic Catholica. Sunt in Oriente Eunomiani, ibi autem non est pars Donati, sed cum Eunomianis ibi est Catholica. Illa sic est tamquam vitis, crescendo ubique diffusa; illi sic sunt tamquam sarmenta inutilia, agricolae falce praecisa merito sterilitatis suae, ut vitis putaretur, non ut amputaretur. Sarmenta ergo illa ubi praecisa sunt, ibi remanserunt. Vitis autem crescens per omnia, et sarmenta sua novit quae in illa manserunt, et iuxta se quae de illa praecisa sunt. Inde tamen revocat errantes, quia et de ramis fractis dicit Apostolus: Potens est enim Deus iterum inserere illos. Sive dicas oves errantes a grege, sive dicas ligna praecisa de vite, nec ad revocandas oves, nec rursus ad inserenda ligna minus idoneus est Deus, quia ille summus pastor, ille verus agricola. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Ovibus, Sermo XLVI, De Pastoribus In Ezekial XXXIV Source: Migne PL 38.280-1

'They were scattered over every mountain and over every hill, and over the whole face of the earth.' 1 What is this, that they were scattered over the whole face of the earth? It is the pursuit of all the earthly things that shine on the face of the earth, and the loving of them and the cherishing of them. They do not want to die so that their life may be hidden with Christ. Over every land of the world, because of their love of earthly things, they are sheep straying all over the face of the earth. Not every type of heretic is to be found all over the face of the earth, and yet heretics are to be found all over the face of the earth. Some here, others there, nowhere is spared. They do not know each other. For example one heresy is in Africa, another in the East, another in Egypt, another in Mesopotamia. Different ones in different places, but one mother, pride, gave birth to them all, just as our one Catholic mother bore all the faithful Christians spread out through the whole world. And it is not to be wondered that pride gives birth to division, and charity to unity. Yet this Catholic mother, this shepherd in her, everywhere seeks those who stray, she strengthens the weak, cares for the sick, binds up the broken, some from this group, others from that group, those who do not know each other. But she knows them all because she is poured out among all of them. There is the party of Donatus in Africa, for example, but there are no Eunomians in Africa, and yet there with the party of Donatus is the Catholic Church. There are the Eunomians is the east, but no party of Donatus there, yet the Catholic Church is there with the Eunomians. It is like a vine which has spread everywhere by growing, but they are like useless twigs cut off by the farmer's sickle because of their sterility, so that the vine be pruned, but not cut down altogether. So where those twigs have been cut off, there they have remained. But the vine that grows everywhere knows both its branches that have remained with it and those that have been cut off. But it calls back those who stray, because concerning broken branches the Apostle says, 'For God has the power to graft them in again.' 2 Whether you call them sheep straying from the flock, or you call them branches cut from the vine, God does not lack the capability of calling back the sheep and grafting in the branches again, because He is the chief shepherd, he is the true farmer. 3 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 46, On The Shepherds in Ezekial 34 1 Ezek 34.6 2 Rom 11.23 3 Jn 15.1

The Earth Of The Meek

Beati mites, quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram Hieronymus: Non terram Judaeae, nec terram istius mundi, nec terra maledictam spinas et tribulos afferentem, quam crudelissimus quisque et bellator magis possidet, sed terram quam Psalmista desiderat, dicens: Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium. Hujuscemodi possessor, et post victorim triumphator etiam in quadragesimo quarto psalmo describitur: Et intente, prospere procede, et regna propter veritatem, et mansuetudinem, et justitiam. Nemo enim terram istam per mansuetudinem, sed per superbiam possidet. Augustinus: Significat enim quamdam soliditatem et stabilitatem haereditatis perpetuae, ubi anima per bonum affectum, tanquam loco suo requiescit, sicut corpus in terra; et inde cibo suo alitur, sicut corpus ex terra: ipsa est requies et vita sanctorum. Mites autem sunt qui cedunt improbitatibus, et non resistunt malo, sed vincunt in bono malum. Rixentur ergo immites, et dimicent pro terrenis et temporalibus rebus: Beati autem mites quoniam ipsi haereditate possidebunt terram, de qua evelli non possint.  Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber II, Cap V Source: Migne PL 107.795b-d

Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. 1 Jerome: 2 This is not the earth of Judea, not the earth of this world, not the cursed earth that bears thorns and thistles, 3 which the most cruel warmonger delights to possess, but the land which the Psalmist desires, saying, 'I believe I will see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.' 4 This possessor triumphant after victory is described in the fourty fourth Psalm: 'And look, and go forth prosperously and reign on account of truth and meekness and righteousness.' 5 For none possess this earth because of meekness but because of pride. Augustine: 6 This signifies a certain firmness and stability of the perpetual inheritance, where the soul though its good disposition rests as in its own place, just as the body rests on the earth, and it is nourished from there with its own food, as the body is from the earth. This is the rest and life of the saints. But the meek are those here who give way to wickedness and do not resist the evil man, 7 but overcome evil with good. 8 Let those, then, who are not meek dispute and fight for earthly and temporal things, but 'blessed are the meek,' for by inheritance they shall possess the earth, from which they will not be able to be uprooted. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 5 1 Mt 5.4 2 Jerome Com Mat, chap 5 3 Gen 3.18 4 Ps 26.13 5 Ps 44.5 6 Augustine, Our Lord’s Sermon On the Mount 2 7 Mt 5.39 8 Rom 12.21

Judgement And Endurance

Et vos, inquit, oves meae, haec dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego iudico inter ovem et ovem, et arietes et hircos. Quid hic faciunt hirci in grege Dei? In eisdem pascuis, in eisdem fontibus, et hirci tamen sinistrae destinati dextris miscentur, et prius tolerantur qui separabuntur. Et hic exercetur ovium patientia ad similitudinem patientiae Dei. Separatio enim ab illo erit, aliorum ad sinistram aliorum ad dexteram. Nunc autem ipse tacet, tu vis loqui. Sed unde dico: Tu vis loqui? Unde ipse tacet. A vindicta iudicii, non a verbo correptionis. Ipse nondum separat, tu vis separare. Ipse mixta tolerat, qui seminavit. Si ante ventilationem frumentum vis esse purgatum, tuo vento, pessime ventilaberis. Licuerit servis dicere: Vis, imus, et colligimus ea? Stomachati enim sunt, videndo zizania, et doluerunt segeti bonae permixta zizania. Et dixerunt: Nonne bonum semen seminasti? Unde ergo apparuerunt zizania? Ille rationem reddidit unde apparuerunt; non tamen permisit ut ante tempus evellerentur. Quamvis et ipsi servi stomachati adversus zizania, consilium tamen et praeceptum a domino expetiverunt. Displicebant illa inter segetem, sed videbant servi, quia si vel in ipsis zizaniis evellendis aliquid sua sponte facerent, ipsi zizaniis numerarentur. A Domino expectaverunt praeceptum, iussionem regis sui quaesierunt: Vis, imus, et colligimus ea? Et ille: Non. Et reddidit inde causam: Ne forte, cum vultis colligere zizania, eradicetis simul et triticum. Sedavit ab indignatione, nec reliquit in dolore. Grave enim videbatur servis esse zizania inter frumentum, et vere grave erat. Sed alia est conditio agri, alia quies horrei. Tolera, ad hoc enim natus es. Tolera, quia forte toleratus es. Si semper bonus fuisti, habeto misericordiam; si aliquando malus fuisti, noli perdere memoriam. Et quis est semper bonus? Facilius, si te Deus diligenter discutiat, inveniet te etiam nunc malum, quam tu te semper bonum. Ergo toleranda sunt zizania haec inter frumentum, hirci inter arietes, hoedi inter oves. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Ovibus, Sermo XLVII, In Ezechiel cap XXXIV, ab illis verbis, Et vos oves meae... Source: Migne PL 38.298

'And you, my sheep,' thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, and rams and he-goats.' 1 What are he-goats doing here among the flock of God? Though destined for the left hand, in the same fields the he-goats are mixing with those of the right hand, and first they are tolerated who shall be separated. And this is to exercise the sheep in patience in the likeness of God's patience. The separation shall be performed by Him, some to the left and some to the right. But now He is silent, and you wish to speak. But what do I say you wish to speak about? What He is keeping quiet about. About the sentence of judgment, not about a word of correction. He is not yet separating, you wish to do so. He who sowed is tolerating the mixing. If before winnowing time you wish the grain purged, and with your own wind, you will suffer a worse winnowing. It was permitted that the servants say, 'Do you want us to go and gather them?' 2 They were troubled when they saw the weeds, and aggrieved at the weeds mixed with the good crop. And they said, 'Did you not sow good seed? Then from where did the weeds come?' He gave the reason why they appeared, but even so He did not permit the weeds to be pulled up before the time. And though those servants were vexed at the weeds, they sought the counsel and command of their lord. They were displeased by the weeds in the crop, but they saw that if they acted according to their own wish to pull up the weeds, they would be reckoned among the weeds. They waited for the commands of their Lord, they sought their king's decree, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?' And He said, 'No.' And he gave the reason: 'Lest perhaps when you wish to gather up the weeds, you also uproot the wheat at the same time.' He soothed  indignation, and did not leave them in their upset. It troubled the servants that there were weeds among wheat, and indeed it was troubling. But the state of the field is one thing, the quietness of the barn is another. Endure it, because for that you were born. Endure, because perhaps you have been endured. If you have always been good, be merciful. If you were once bad, don't forget it. And who is always good? It will be easier if God lovingly disciplines you when He finds you bad now, than for you to be good always. So we have to endure these weeds among the corn, the he-goats among the rams, the goats among the sheep. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 47, On The Sheep, On Ezekiel Chapter 34, on the words, 'And you my sheep...' 1 Ezek 34.17 2 Mt 13.28

Wealth And The World

Praecipe ergo, inquit, divitibus huius mundi. Non adderet: huius mundi, nisi quia sunt divites et non huius mundi. Qui sunt divites non huius mundi? Quorum princeps et caput est ille de quo dictum est: Pauper pro nobis factus est, cum dives esset. Sed si ille solus, quid profuit? Vide quod sequitur: Ut illius paupertate vos ditaremini. Puto quia paupertas Christi non nobis attulit pecuniam sed iustitiam. Paupertas autem illius unde? Quia mortalis effectus est. Ergo divitiae verae immortalitas. Ibi enim vera copia, ubi nulla indigentia. Quia ergo nos immortales fieri non possemus, nisi pro nobis Christus mortalis esset effectus, ideo pauper factus est, cum dives esset. Et non ait: Pauper factus est, cum dives fuisset, sed: Pauper factus est, cum dives esset. Paupertatem assumpsit et divitias non amisit. Intus dives, foris pauper. Latens Deus in divitiis, apparens homo in paupertate. Vide divitias eius: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Quid ditius eo per quem facta sunt omnia? Aurum habere dives potest, creare non potest. Cum itaque istae eius divitiae commendatae essent, vide paupertatem eius: Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Hac eius sumus paupertate ditati, quia in sanguine eius qui manavit de carne eius, quod Verbum caro factum est ut habitaret in nobis, conscissus est saccus peccatorum nostrorum. Per sanguinem illum abiecimus pannos iniquitatis, ut indueremur stola immortalitatis. Omnes ergo divites boni fideles. Nemo se contemnat, pauper in cella, dives in conscientia. Dives quippe in conscientia securior dormit in terra, quam auro dives in purpura. Ibi non excitat sollicitudo maligna, compuncto corde de scelere. Serva divitias in corde tuo, quas tibi contulit paupertas Domini tui. Immo ipsum adhibe tibi custodem. Ne pereat de corde quod dedit, servet ipso qui dedit. Omnes ergo divites boni fideles, sed non divites huius mundi. Denique divitias suas nec ipsi sentiunt; sentient postea. Vivit radix, sed hiemis tempore etiam viridis arbor aridae similis est. Tempore quippe hiemis et arbor quae aret, et arbor quae viget, utraque nuda est honore foliorum, utraque vacua honore frugum. Veniet aestas et discernet arbores. Viva radix folia producit, impletur fructibus; arida inanis aestate sicut hieme remanebit. Itaque illi horreum praeparatur, huic securis adhibetur, ut amputata in ignem mittatur. Sic aestas nostra, Christi est adventus. Hiems nostra, Christi occultatio; aestas nostra, Christi revelatio. Denique arboribus bonis et fidelibus hanc allocutionem praebet Apostolus: Mortui enim estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo. Certe mortui, sed mortui specie, vivi in radice. Attende autem venturum tempus aestatis, quomodo sequatur et dicat: Cum autem Christus apparuerit, vita vestra, tunc et vos cum ipso apparebitis in gloria. Hi sunt divites, sed non huius mundi. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXXVI, De eo quod scriptum est in Proverbiis Salomonis, 'Sunt qui se divites affectant, nihil habentes; et sunt qui se humiliant, cum sint divites. Redemptio animae viri divitiae ejus: pauper autem non suffert minas.' Source: Migne PL 38.215-216

Therefore he says, 'Command the rich of this world.' 1 He would not add 'of this world' unless there were rich people who are not of this world. Who are the rich who are not of this world? Those whose prince and head He is of whom it is said, 'He became poor for us, when He was rich.' But if He did that alone, how did it profit? Look to what follows: 'that you be enriched by His poverty.' 2 I think that Christ's poverty did not bring us money but righteousness. But where did His poverty come from? Because He became mortal. Therefore true riches are immortality. That is true plenty, where there is no want. Thus because we could not become immortal unless Christ had been made mortal for us, therefore He became poor, when He was rich. It does not say, 'He became poor when He had been rich,' but He became poor, when He was rich.' He took up poverty and did not lose wealth. Rich within, poor without. Unseen as God in His wealth, appearing as a man in His poverty. Observe His riches: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In the beginning He was with God. All things were made through Him.' 3 What could be richer than He through whom all things were made? A rich man can possess gold, but he cannot create it. Now having proclaimed His wealth, observe His poverty: 'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' 4 It is by this poverty of His that we have been enriched, because by His blood which flowed from His flesh, which flesh the Word became in order to dwell among us, the sack of our sins was torn up. Through that blood we have cast off the rags of iniquity, that we might clothe ourselves in the robes of immortality. Therefore every good and faithful man is rich. Let no one poor in property, but rich in conscience, despise themselves. Those who are rich in conscience sleep more easily on the earth than those who are rich in gold do wrapped in purple. No guilty anxiety troubles them, no conscience is pricked by crimes. Guard in your heart the riches which the poverty of your Lord has brought you. Indeed, invite Him to guard them. Let Him who gave protect, lest what has been given to you disappear from your heart. Therefore every good and faithful man is rich, but they are not the rich of this world. Moreover not even they themselves are aware of their riches, but they will know them afterward. The root is alive, but in winter even the green tree is similar to the withered one. In winter both the tree that is withered and the tree that is alive are stripped bare of the dignity of foliage, and both lack the glory of fruit. But summer will come and tell the difference between the trees. The living root produces leaves and fills with fruit; the withered tree will remain as empty in summer as in winter. For the first a storeroom is prepared, to the latter an axe is applied, and when it has been cut down it is thrown in the fire. 5 So our summer is the coming of Christ. Our winter is when Christ is hidden, our summer when He is revealed. Finally it is to good and faithful trees that the Apostle offers this consolation: 'For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.' Certainly dead, but dead in appearance, alive in the root. Now look to the approaching time of summer, as he goes on to say, 'But when Christ, your life, appears, then you too will appear with Him in glory.' 6 These are the rich, but they are not of this world. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 36, On what is written in the Proverbs of Solomon: 'There are some who pretend to be rich and have nothing, and there are some who humble themselves when they are rich. The redemption of a man's soul is his wealth, but the poor man does not suffer warnings.' 7 1 Tim 6.17 2 2 Cor 8.9 3 Jn 1.1-3 4 Jn 1.14 5 Mt 3.10, Lk 3.9, Jn 15.6 6 Colos 3.1-4 7 Prov 13.7-8

The Serpent And The Woman

Non autem inimicitiae ponuntur inter ipsum et virum, sed inter ipsum et mulierem. Numquid quia viros non decipit et tentat? Sed manifestum est quod decipit. An quia ipsum Adam non decepit, sed mulierem eius? Sed numquid propterea non est inimicus eius, ad quem pervenit per mulierem suam illa deceptio, maxime quia de futuro iam dicitur: Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem? Si autem quod non deinceps decepit Adam, nec ipsam Evam deinceps decepit. Quare ergo ita dicitur, nisi quia hic manifeste ostenditur non posse nos a diabolo tentari, nisi per illam animalem partem, quae quasi mulieris imaginem vel exemplum in uno ipso homine ostendit, de qua superius iam multa diximus? Quod autem etiam inter semen diaboli, et semen mulieris ponuntur inimicitiae, significatur semine diaboli perversa suggestio; semine autem mulieris, fructus boni operis, quo perversae suggestioni resistit. Et ideo observat ipse plantam mulieris, ut si quando in illicita labitur delectatio, tunc illam capiat: et illa observat caput eius, ut eum in ipso initio malae suasionis excludat. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Genesi Contra Manichaeos, Liber Secundus, Caput XVIII Source: Migne PL 34.210

But hostility was not set between the serpent and the man but between it and the woman. 1 Is it that he does not deceive and tempt men? It is manifest that he does deceive them. But he did not deceive Adam though he did deceive his woman? But is he not his enemy to whom deception came through his woman, especially because concerning the future it is now said: 'I shall place hostility between you and the woman?' But if he did not deceive Adam, then he did not deceive Eve. Why therefore is it said, unless that it manifestly shows that it is not possible for us to be tempted but through our animal parts, which is shown by the image or example of the woman to the one man, concerning which we have spoken much above? Because that hostility which is placed between the seed of the devil and the seed of the woman shows that the seed of the devil is perverse suggestion, but the seed of the woman is the fruit of good works, which resists perverse suggestion. And therefore he observes the heel of the woman, that if there is any time delight falls into forbidden things, then it seizes her, and she observes its head, that she stop him at the beginning of his wicked persuasion. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Genesis Against the Manichees, Book 2, Chap 18 1 Genes 3.15

Belief And Judgement

Non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum, ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. Ergo quantum in medico est, sanare venit aegrotum. Ipse se interimit, qui praecepta medici observare non vult. Venit Salvator ad mundum: quare Salvator dictus est mundi, nisi ut salvet mundum, non ut iudicet mundum? Salvari non vis ab ipso; ex te iudicaberis. Et quid dicam, iudicaberis? Vide quid ait: Qui credit in eum, non iudicatur; qui autem non credit: quid dicturum speras nisi, iudicatur? iam, inquit, iudicatus est. Nondum apparuit iudicium, sed iam factum est iudicium. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius: novit qui permaneant ad coronam, qui permaneant ad flammam; novit in area sua triticum, novit paleam; novit segetem, novit zizania. Iam iudicatus est qui non credit. Quare iudicatus? Quia non credidit in nomine unigeniti Filii Dei. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, In Evangelium Ionannis, Tractatus XII Source: Migne PL 35.1490

God did not send His Son into the world, that He judge the world, but that He save the world through Him. 1 Therefore as much as He is a physician, He comes to heal the sick. He kills himself who does not wish to observe the teachings of the physician. The Saviour comes into the world. Why is he called the Saviour of the world unless He shall save the world and not condemn it? You who do not wish to be saved by Him, you shall be condemned by Him. And why do I say you shall be condemned? See what is said: 'He who believes in Him shall not be condemned. He who does not believe...' what do you expect shall be said, unless, '...he is condemned.' 2 Now, he says, he has been condemned. The judgement does not yet appear, but now the judgement is made. For the Lord knows who are His. 3 He knows who shall go to the crown, and who to the flame. He knows who are His wheat in the field and who are the straw. He knows the crop and He knows the weed. Now he has been condemned who does not believe. Why judged so? 'Because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God.' Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Tractate 12 On The Gospel of St John 1 Jam 1.13-15 2 Jn 3.18 3 2 Tim 2.19