Prayer And Kneeling

Ad preces genua flectantur, aut prae infirmitate dorsum et caput inclinentur. Id Publicanus observans auditur; id negligens Pharisaeus despicitur. Rogo et admoneo vos, fratres charissimi, ut quotiescumque juxta altare a clericis oratur, aut oratio diacono clamante indicitur, non solum corda, sed etiam corpora fideliter inclinetis. Nam dum frequenter, sicut oportet, et diligenter attendo, diacono clamante, Flectamus genua; maximam partem velut columnas erectas stare conspicio: quod Christianis dum in ecclesia oratur, omnino nec licet, nec expedit, non enim propter nos, sed propter vos diaconus clamat. Et ideo quia ad vos specialiter vox illa, vel maxime ad negligentes dirigitur, justum est ut a vobis fideliter impleatur. Sit ergo vox illa obedientibus in remedium; quia inobedientibus erit in testimonium, propter illud quod scriptum est, Maledictus qui facit opus Dei negligenter. Sed et illud timendum est, fratres, quod Apostolus dixit, et omnimodis observandum, Instate orationi vigilantes in ea et iterum, Sine intermissione orate, in omnibus gratias agite. Et Dominus, Vigilate, inquit, et orate, ne intretis in tentationem; et iterum, Oportet semper orare et non deficere. Et ideo qui pro aliqua infirmitate non potest genua flectere vel dorsum curvare, vel caput non pigeat inclinare; considerans per hanc humilitatem Publicanum illum Dei misericordiam consecutum, qui ad coelum oculos levare non audebat, sed inclinato in terram capite pectus tundebat, et peccata intus inclusa quasi judex severissimus verberabat: et ideo meruit ut de eo Dominus dicere dignaretur, Descendit hic Publicanus justificatus in domum suam magis quam ille Pharisaeus: quia omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur; et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur. Exemplum etiam ipsius Pharisaei considerandum est et timendum; ne pro eo quod stans oraverit, ideo non meruerit exaudiri. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, Sermo CCLXXXVI, Ut genua flectantur in oratione, et de verbis otiosis vitandis. Source: Migne PL 39.2285

Let the knees be bent in prayer, or if one is infirm let the back and head incline. Attend to what the tax collector observed and deplore the negligent Pharisee. I beg and I admonish you, dearest brothers, that whenever there is prayer at the altar by the priests, or prayer is declared by the voice of the deacon, that you faithfully incline not only your hearts, but even your bodies. For while frequently, as is necessary, I diligently attend to the voice of the deacon, saying, 'Let us kneel,' I see that a  very great part stand erect like columns, which is not permitted to Christians while they are in Church and there is prayer, nor does it benefit, for it is not because of us, but because of you that the deacon speaks. Therefore because that voice is specifically directed to you and especially to the negligent among you, it is right that it is faithfully fulfilled by you. Let that voice be obeyed as a remedy because disobedience shall be a witness on account of which it was written, 'He is cursed who negligently performs the work of God.' 1  But even this must be feared, brothers, as the Apostle said, and in all ways observed, 'Hold fast in prayer and be watchful,' and again, 'Pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything.' And the Lord says, 'Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.' And again, 'It is necessary to pray always and not to grow weary.' 2 And therefore he who is unable to kneel because of some infirmity, let him incline the back or the head, thinking of the humility of the tax collector and the mercy of God that followed, he who did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven but bent his head to earth and struck his chest, and denounced the sins within like a most strict judge, and therefore was deserving of what the Lord said of him, 'The tax collector went down to his own house more justified than the Pharisee, because everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.' 3 Think on the example of the Pharisee and fear, that because he stood and prayed he did not merit to be heard. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 286, That the knees should be bent in prayer 1 Jerem 48.10 2 Colos 4.2, 1 Thes 5.17-18, Mt 26.41, Lk 18.1 3 Lk 18.14

Arrows And Paul

Sagittae tuae acutae, potentissimae... Verba cor transfigentia, amorem excitantia. Unde dicitur in Canticis canticorum: Quia vulnerata caritate ego sum. Dicit enim vulneratam se esse caritate, id est, amare se dicit, aestuare se dicit, suspirare sponso, unde accepit sagittam verbi. Sagittae tuae acutae, potentissimae: et transfigentes, et efficientes: acutae, potentissimae. Populi sub te cadent. Qui ceciderunt? Qui percussi sunt, et ceciderunt. Populos videmus subditos Christo, cadentes non videmus. Exponit ubi cadunt: in corde. Ibi se erigebant adversus Christum, ibi cadunt ante Christum. Blasphemabat Saulus Christum, erectus erat: supplicat Christo, cecidit, prostratus est: occisus est inimicus Christi, ut vivat discipulus Christi. De coelo emissa sagitta, corde percussus est Saulus, nondum Paulus, adhuc Saulus, adhuc erectus, nondum prostratus: accepit sagittam, cecidit in corde. Non enim quod prostratus est in facie, ibi cecidit, sed ubi ait: Domine, quid me iubes facere? Modo ibas ad Christianos alligandos et perducendos ad poenam; et modo dicis Christo: Quid me iubes facere? O sagittam acutam, potentissimam, qua accepta cecidit Saulus ut esset Paulus! Ut ille, ita et populi. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Enarrationes In Psalmos, Psalm XLIV Source: Migne PL 38.503

Your arrows are sharp and most powerful...1 These are words that pierce the heart, exciting love. Hence it is said in the Song of Songs, 'Because I am wounded with love.' 2 For she says of herself that she is wounded with love, that is, she speaks of her loving, and of being inflamed with sighing for the Bridegroom, from whom she received the arrow of the Word. 'Your arrows are sharp and most powerful.' They are piercing and effective, sharp and most powerful. 'The peoples shall fall under you.' Who have fallen? They who were wounded have also fallen. We see the nations subdued to Christ, but we do not see them fall. He explains where they fall, that is, in the heart. It was there they lifted themselves up against Christ, it is there that they fall down before Christ. Saul blasphemed Christ, then he was lifted up. He prays to Christ, he falls, he is prostrate. The enemy of Christ is slain so that the disciple of Christ may live. By an arrow launched from heaven Saul was stuck in the heart, he who was not yet Paul, but still Saul. When he was still lifted up and still not yet prostrate, he is wounded in the heart. He received the arrow, he fell in his heart. For though he fell prostrate on his face, it was not there that he fell down in his heart, but it was where he said aloud, 'Lord, what do you command me do?' 3 You were just about to bind Christians and lead them off to punishment, and now you say to Christ, 'What do you command me to do?' O sharp and most powerful arrow by whose stroke Saul fell so they he might become Paul. As with him, so with the peoples.  Saint Augustine of Hippo, Expositions On The Psalms, Psalm 44 1 Ps 44.6 2 Song 2.5, 5.8 3 Acts 9.6

Food And Feasting

Procul dubio singula, quae exhibentur diversis sensibus nostris, singulos sensus delectant. Neque enim vel sonus delectat aspectum, vel color auditum. Cordi autem nostro Dominus et lux est et vox est et odor est et cibus est. Et ideo omnia est, quia nihil horum est. Et ideo nihil est horum, quia horum omnium creator est. Est lumen cordi nostro, cui dicimus: In lumine tuo videbimus lumen. Est sonus cordi nostro cui dicimus: Auditui meo dabis exsultationem et laetitiam. Est odor cordi nostro, de quo dicitur: Christi bonus odor sumus. Si autem cibum quaeritis, quia ieiunastis: Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt iustitiam. De ipso autem Domino Iesu Christo dictum est, quia factus est nobis iustitia et sapientia. Ecce epulae praeparatae sunt. Iustitia Christus est, nusquam deest; non a coquis praeparatur nobis, nec de transmarinis partibus veluti poma peregrina a negotiatoribus apportatur. Cibus est quem sentit omnis qui sanas fauces habet interioris hominis. Cibus est qui se ipsum commendans ait: Ego sum panis vivus, qui de caelo descendi. Cibus est qui reficit nec deficit; cibus est qui cum sumitur non consumitur; cibus est qui esurientes satiat et integer manet. Cum hinc ad mensas vestras discesseritis, nihil tale manducabitis. Quia ergo ad istas epulas convenistis, bene comedite. Sed cum abieritis, bene digerite. Bene enim manducat et male digerit, qui audit verbum Dei et non facit. Non enim ducit utilem succum, sed crudum ructat indigestione fastidium. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXVIIIa, De verisculo Psalmi CIV, Laetetur cor quarentium Dominum Source: Migne PL 38.183

Without doubt each thing that is exhibited to our senses gives its specific pleasure to a sense, for it is not that sound delights sight or colour hearing. But for our hearts the Lord is light and the voice and the fragrance and the food. And He is all these things because He is none of them, and He is none of them because He is the creator of them all. He is the light for our hearts, to whom we say, 'In your light we shall see light,' and He is the sound for our hearts, to whom we say, 'To my hearing you will give exultation and joy,' and he is a fragrance to our hearts, concerning which it is said, 'We are the good fragrance of Christ.' 1 If you seek food because you have been fasting, 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.' 2 And it was said of the Lord Jesus Christ that He has been made justice and wisdom for us. 3 Behold, a feast has been prepared. Christ is justice and there is no lack of Him anywhere. He is not prepared for us by cooks, nor is He brought over the sea by merchants like exotic fruits. He is a food which appeals to everyone who has an inner man that is healthy. He is the food which recommends itself, saying, 'I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.' 4 He is the food which restores and does not perish. He is the food which is taken up and it does not disappear. He is the food that fills the hungry and remains whole. When you depart to your own tables, you will eat nothing like that. Because, then, you have come together for this feast, eat well. But when you go away digest well. For you eat well and digest badly if you hear the word of God and do not do it. If it does not lead to useful deeds, in utter aversion you vomit it out. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 28a, On the line of the hundredth and fourth Psalm, 'Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice' 1 Ps 36.9, Ps 51.8, 2 Cor 2.15 2 Mt 5.6 3 1 Cor 1.30 4 Jn 6.51

Warning The Prosperous

Similiter ammonendi sunt homines existentes in prosperitate ne extollantur et existentes in adversitate ne terreantur desperando de adversitate. Illi enim qui prosperantur pro voluntate non se offerant, nec in ea presumptuose, nec sustinentes adversa despiciant et mutabilitatem sive labilitatem eius iugiter considerent. Et de eorum ammonitione Gregorius ii pastoralis capitulo xvii. Unde et proverbiorum i: Prosperitas stultorum perdet eos. Augustinus epistola lxxxii: Mundus est periculosior blandus quam molestus. Iob v: Vidi stultum firma radice et maledixi pulcritudini eius. Ibi Gregorius moralium vi: Quasi per amena prata ad carcerem vadit qui per presentis vite prospera ad interitum currit. Iob xviii: Preciptiabit eum consilium suum. Ibi moralium xvi: Prosperitas gressus obligat ut vix ad bona redite possint. Unde Augustinus epistola v: Nichil infelicius felictate peccantium qua penalis nutritur iniquitas et mala voluntas velut hostis interior roboratur. Et sequitur: Si Deus pollere permittat iniquos in prosperitate, tunc indignatur gravius, et si hic impunita dimmitat, tunc punit investius. Ubi inducit illud poete: Luxuriant animi rebus plerumque secundis. De hoc Seneca multum libro de providentia ubi ait: Nichil infelicius eo cui nunquam accidit aliquid adversi quia male iudicaverunt dii de ipso. Et ponit exempla de ipsis qui adversa sustinuerunt sicut de regulo qui quanto plus tormenta sustinuit, tanto plus glorie obtinuit, et quanto plus glorie habuit, tanto uberius et virilius advesa toleravit. Solatium enim magnis viris fruit dura pro honestis tolerare. Et de hoc idem Seneca epistola viii: Munera fortune sunt insidie, et espitola lxxx: Segetum ubertas nimia sternit, rami onere franguntur, ad maritatem non provenit nimia fecunditas. Idem illis evenitur quos nimia felicitas corrumpit. De huiusmodi autem mutabilitate Gregorius iii registrum ante finem bene ubi ait: Dum omnia in hoc mundo mutabilitatis ordo corrumpat, nec elevari prosperis, nec frangi debemus adversis ut humilitati discamus quicquid delinquimus et exaltati adversitatis memoriuam quasi humilitatis anchoram in mente teneamus. Nichil est stabile in hac vita sed ut viator modo per plana modo per ardua pergat, nec est ira sed gracia per quam discimus ita eius dona tanto servemus verius quanto humilius. Artem gubernandi mare tranquillum non ostendit et obsequens ventus nisi aliquid adversum occurrat sed quia animum probet turbatio naufragii. Non est laudandus rector cui gubernacula fluctus eripuit qui fluctuantia vela deseruit. Ille vero laudandus qui predictis restitit. Johannes Gallensis, Communiloquium sive Summa Collationum, Pars secunda, Septima Distinctio, De ammonitione hominum secundum differentias eventus vel fortune. Captitulum primum: De ammonitione existentium in prosperitate Source: here, p154

Similarly to be admonished are men who live in prosperity, that they should not exalt in prosperity, nor finding themselves in adversity should they be terrified to despair because of it. For they who prosper do not willingly imperil themselves, nor are reckless, nor should they scorn the enduring of adversities but consider the changeability and instability of things. Gregory gives this warning to them in the seventeenth chapter of the second book of his Pastoral Rule. And in the first chapter of Proverbs, 'The prosperity of fools ruins them.' 1 In the eighty second letter of Augustine, 'The world is more perilous when it is charming than when it is troublesome.' In the fifth chapter of Job, 'I saw a fool firmly rooted and I cursed his beauty.' Gregory in the sixth book of the Moralia: 'He runs from a fair meadow to a prison who goes through the prosperity of the present life to ruin.' In the eighteenth chapter of Job, 'His own counsel casts him down.' In the sixteenth book of the Moralia: 'Prosperity binds the feet so they can scarcely return to good things.' And Augustine in his fifth letter, 'Nothing is more unfortunate than the happiness of sinners, because wickedness nourishes punishments and evil wills strengthen the interior enemy.' And it follows, 'If God permits the wicked to flourish in prosperity, then indignation shall be heavier, and if here He allows them to be unpunished, then he shall punish more completely.' Whence the poet says, 'Souls are enfeebled by an excess of prosperity.' 2 And concerning this Seneca has much to say in his book on Providence: 'Nothing is more unfortunate than this, that nothing averse ever befalls a man because the gods judged him to be utterly wretched.' 3 And he gives an example of those who have endured adversities, such as Regulus who endured great torments so that he could gain great glory, and the more glory he had so much more effortlessly and manfully he bore torments. The bearing of difficulties with nobility is the comfort that great men enjoy. And concerning the same thing, Seneca says in this eighth letter, 'The riches of fortune are treacherous.' And in the eightieth letter, 'Crops that are too fruitful are bent down to the earth, the overladen bough breaks, excessive fecundity never advances to ripeness.' 4 The same happens to those who are corrupted with excessive fortune. Concerning this same mutability Gregory says in the third book of his registry of letters, well before the end, 'While the rule of changeability corrupts everything in this world, we should neither be exalted by prosperity nor crushed by adversity, but learn to be humble in both what we err in and in what we excel in, holding in the mind the remembrance of adversity as an anchor of humility. Nothing is stable in this life, but it is as a traveller who at one time goes across flat land and at another through rough terrain. Nor let there be anger but thanks for what we learn, for so we serve His great gift more truly the greater is our humility. The art of piloting a ship is not shown on a tranquil sea amid light winds but by the coming of adversity, which adversity may prove the soul a shipwreck. A pilot who flees from waves and the billowing sail is not worthy of praise, but he who endures what we have spoken of is worthy of acclaim.' 5 John of Wales, The Communiloquium, Second Part, Seventh Distinction, First Chapter, On The Warning Of Men According To Different Events And Fortunes, from the First Chapter, On Warning Those Who Live In Prosperity 1 Prov 1.32 2 Ovid Ars Am 2.427 3 Sen De Prov 3.3 4 Seneca Let 8.3, Let 39.4 5 Greg Reg Let 3.52

Before The Face Of God

Certe, Fratres, modo pereant peccatores a facie Dei. Modo pereant peccatores et non pereant peccatores. Si incipiant iuste vivere, peribunt utique peccatores, sed non peribunt homines. Homo peccator, duo nomina sunt. Homo unum nomen est, et peccator unum nomen est. In his duobus nominibus intellegimus, quia unum horum Deus fecit, alterum horum homo fecit. Hominem enim Deus fecit, peccatorem se ipse homo fecit. Quid ergo contremiscis, quando tibi dicit Deus: Pereant peccatores a facie mea? Hoc tibi dicit Deus: 'Pereat in te quod tu fecisti, et servo quod ego feci.' Et modo ardet ignis in calore verbi, res est in fervore Spiritus Sancti, sicut diximus iam dudum, quia scriptum est in alio psalmo: Nec est qui se abscondat a calore eius. Spiritus autem Sancti esse calorem dicit Apostolus: Spiritu ferventes. Ergo pro facie Dei, tibi pone interim Scripturam Dei. Liquesce ab illa. Paeniteat te, cum audis haec de peccatis tuis. Cum autem te paenitet, et cum te ipsum excrucias sub calore verbi, cum etiam lacrimae currunt, nonne cerae tabescenti et tamquam in lacrimas currenti similis inveniris? Modo ergo fac quod in posterum times, et non habebis quod in posterum timeas. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXIIa, De versu 3 Psalmi LXVII, Sicut deficit fumus, deficiant, sicut fluit cera a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei. Source: Migne PL 38.151-2

Certainly, brothers, sinners perish from before the face of God. 1 Yet in a way they do perish and in a way they do not. If they begin to live rightly, sinners shall perish but men shall not. A man, a sinner, these are two names. A man is one name, and a sinner is one name. With these two names we understand that God made one of them and man made the other. God made man, man made the sinner. Why, then, do you tremble, when God says to you. 'Sinners shall perish before my face?' God is saying to you, 'Let what you have made perish in you and attend to what I have made.' In one way fire flares up in the heat of the Word, and things themselves in the fervour of the Holy Spirit, as we have already said, because it is written in another Psalm, 'There is no one who can hide himself from His heat.' And the Apostle says of the heat of the Holy Spirit, 'Fervent with the Spirit.' 2 Therefore instead of the face of God place before yourself the Scriptures of God. Melt because of them. Repent when you hear these things said of your sins. For when you repent, when you excruciate yourself with the fire of the Word, when tears run, is it not that you find similarity in the melting of wax and in the flowing of tears? Therefore do now what you fear in the future and in the future you will not have what you fear. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 22a, On the third verse of the sixty seventh Psalm, 'As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish, as wax melts before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God.' 1 Ps 67.3 2 Ps 18.7, Rom 12.11

Prayer And The Devil

Audi esse diabolum peccatorem. Scriptum est: Ab initio diabolus peccat. Iam vero facinerosum et iniuriosum quis ignorat? Quid tam facinerosum est, quam homicida? Quis prior hominem occidit, nisi qui Adam decepit? Et iniuriosus ipse est, qui contra iustitiam facit, quia in veritate numquam stetit. Contra istum facinerosum et iniuriosum cantatur: Domine libera me de manu facinerosi et iniuriosi. Noli contra vicinum tuum calumniatorem, noli contra potentem qui movit limitem tuum, noli contra ipsum insidiatorem qui te parat occidere. Isti enim omnes homines sunt, qui tibi insidiantur. Caro sunt, sanguis sunt, transeunt. Audi Apostolum dicentem: Non est vobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem. Ergo, adversus quos est colluctatio? Contra quos dicendum est: Libera me Domine de manu peccatoris et de manu facinerosi et iniuriosi? Non est vobis, inquit, colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem, sed adversus principes et potestates et rectores mundi tenebrarum harum, adversus spiritalia nequitiae in caelestibus. Hominem vitando caves, diabolum orando. Vitatur enim hostis visibilis, ut ubi ille adest, tu ibi non sis; vitas enim quem vides. Quomodo vitabis quem non vides? Orando. Ora contra illum: tela tua, orationis sunt. Tu taces, ideo ille insidiatur; oras, et ille ardet. Sed ex affectu ora, quo gratis amas. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo 22A, Sermo de Responsorio Psalmi LXXI: 'Deus meus, erue me de menu peccatoris.' Source: Migne PL 38.226-227

Hear that the devil is a sinner. It is written, 'From the beginning the devil sinned.' 1 Who does not know that he is a vicious and lawless? What is so vicious as murder? Who was the first to kill a man, but he who led Adam astray? And he is lawless who acts against justice, since he has never remained in the truth. It is against this one who is vicious and lawless that we sing, 'Lord, deliver me from the hand of the vicious and lawless one.' It is not sung against your neighbor who speaks ill of you, or against some powerful man who moves your fence, or against the thief prepared to murder you. These are all men who plot against you. They are flesh, they are blood, they pass away. Listen to the Apostle saying, 'Your wrestling is not against flesh and blood.' 2 So who is the wrestling against? Against whom do we have to say 'Deliver me, Lord, from the hand of the sinner and from the hand of the vicious and lawless one. Your wrestling, he says, is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers and the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 3 You guard yourself against a man by avoiding him, against the devil by praying. For a visible enemy can be avoided, so that wherever he is, you may not be, for you are avoiding someone you can see. But how will you avoid him you cannot see? By praying. Pray against him. Your weapons are prayers. You keep silent, therefore he seizes you. You pray, and you set fire on him. But pray from love, to Him whom you love freely. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 22a , On The Response from Psalm 71, 'My God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner.' 1 Jn 3.8 2 Ephes 6.12

Keeping The Lamp Lit

Non exstinguitur lucerna eius tota nocte. Nemo accendit lucernam et ponit sub modio. Tu illuminabis lucernam meam Domine. Lucerna eius, spes eius. Ad illam operatur omnis homo, quidquid boni ad spem facit. Et in nocte ardet lucerna ista. Si enim quod non videmus speramus, ideo nox est. Si autem et non videmus et non speramus, et nox est et lucerna non ardet. Quid infelicius talibus tenebris? Ut autem non deficiamus in tenebris et per patientiam exspectemus quod non visum speramus, tota nocte ardeat lucerna nostra. Qui enim nobis quotidie loquitur verbum tamquam oleum infundit ne lucerna exstinguatur. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXXVII, Sermo Habitus in Natale Martyrum Scillitanorim In Basilica Novarum Ubi Dicit: Mulierem Fortem Quis Inveniet Source: Migne PL 38.226-227

Her lamp is not put out all night long. 1 'Nobody lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel.' 'You will light up my lamp, O Lord.' 2 Her lamp is her hope. Everyone works by its light, at whatever good they do in hope, and this lamp burns in the night. If we do not see what we hope for it is night, but if we do not see and we do not hope it is night and the lamp is not lit. What could be more wretched than such darkness? That we do not perish in the dark, but that with patience we may wait for that which we hope for and is not yet seen, let our lamp burn through the whole night. He who speaks the word to us every day is as one who pours in oil to save the lamp from guttering. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 37, Given in the New Market Basilica on the Birthday of The Scillitan Martyrs, Where it says, 'A strong woman who will find?' 1 Prov 31.18 2 Mt 5.15, Ps 17.29

Woman And Virgin

Cum autem venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum, factum ex muliere, factum sub lege. Sed offendit factum ex muliere, quia natum confitemur ex Virgine. Factum non confitemur nisi hominem; Deus autem semper faciens est, fieri nescit ut sit. Fieri nescit Deus; sed fit ut aliquid alicui sit, quo modo dicitur: Domine, refugium factus es nobis; et: Dominus factus est auxiliator meus. Quanta factus, qui numquam est factus? Dominus autem Christus homo factus est, ut esset, ut qui Creator semper erat, creatura esset. Manens enim Deus, factus est homo, ut fieret quod non erat, non ut periret quod erat. Hoc ergo de Virgine quod factum est, quare ex mulier? Quod apud Hebraeos, ubi est prima lingua Scripturae, mulier nomen est significandi sexus, non amissae integritatis. Lege: quando mulier formata est, Extraxit, inquit, Deus unam e costis eius, id est viri, et aedificavit eam in mulierem. Sic mulier Maria; sic ei dictum est, antequam pareret, antequam conciperet: Beata tu inter mulieres. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XLIX, Ut Homo Diligit Iustitiam et Misericordiam et Iudicium Paratusque sit Ambulare cum Domino Deo Suo, Fragmentum Source: Migne PL 38.257

'When came the fullness of time God sent His Son, made from a woman, made under the law.' 1 But there is a problem with 'made from a woman' because we confess that He was born from a virgin. We do not confess anything but He was made man. And God is always making, to become one knows not what. What God becomes is not known but He may become something to someone, as when it is said, 'Lord you have been made a refuge for me.' and 'The Lord was made my help.' 2 How much making for Him who was never made. But the Lord Christ was made man so that the one who was always Creator became a created thing. For remaining God He was made man so He might become what He was not, and that what He was might not perish. Therefore He was made from a virgin, but why does it say here 'made from a woman?' Because in Hebrew, which is the first tongue of Scripture, the name woman signifies the sex, not a loss of dignity. Read that when woman was formed, 'God drew out one of his ribs,' that is, the man's, 'and fashioned it into a woman.' 3 So Mary was a woman, and so it was said to her before she gave birth, and before she had conceived, 'Blessed are you among women.' 4 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 49a, 'So that the man who loves righteousness and mercy and judgement and is prepared to walk with the Lord his God.' 1 Galat 4.4 2 Ps 89.1, Ps 29.11 3 Gen 2.21 4 Lk 2.24

Sin And Healing

Cor mundum crea in me, Deus, et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis Hinc pauca quae Dominus dederit, in eius gratia ministrabimus vobis. Psalmus est paenitentis, amissam spem recuperare cupientis, lapsu suo iacentis, et Domini manu surgere deprecantis, tamquam qui fuerit idoneus ad se vulnerandum, et non sit ad sanandum. Sicut enim ipsam carnem nostram percutere et vulnerare cum volumus possumus, ut autem sanetur medicum quaerimus, nec ita nostra potestate sanamur ut nostra potestate sauciamur, ita et ad peccandum anima sibi ipsa sufficit, ad sanandum autem quod peccando laeserit Dei medicinalem dexteram implorat. Unde dicit in alio Psalmo: Ego dixi, Domine, miserere mei. Sana animam meam quoniam peccavi tibi. Ad hoc ait: Ego dixi, Domine, ut constitueret ante oculos voluntatem arbitriumque peccandi ex anima oriri sibique sufficere ut perdat se, Dei autem esse quaerere quod perierat et salvum facere quod se vulneraverat. Venit enim Filius hominis quaerere et salvum facere quod perierat. Huic precem fundentes dicimus: Cor mundum crea in me, Deus, et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis. Dicat anima quae peccavit, ne plus pereat desperando quae se perdidit delinquendo. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XX, De eo quod scriptum est in Psalmo L, Cor Mundum Crea In Me, Deus Source: Migne PL 38.144-5

Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew an upright spirit within me. 1 What few things the Lord shall give me, by His grace we shall serve you. This is a Psalm of penitence, of someone trying to recover lost hope, laying where he has fallen, entreating that the hand of the Lord might raise him up, like someone who was capable of injuring himself but not of healing himself. As we can strike and wound our own flesh when we wish but we seek a physician for healing since we who can harm ourselves are not able to heal ourselves, so the soul is capable of sinning but for healing when it has been wounded by sin it must implore the medicine of God. Hence it says in another Psalm, 'I said, O Lord, be merciful to me. Heal my soul because I have sinned against you.' 2 He says, 'I said, O Lord,' to set before our eyes that the will and the decision to sin arises from our own souls and we are able to ruin ourselves, but it is for God to seek what has been ruined and to heal what has wounded itself, for the Son of Man came to seek what was lost. 3 To Him we pour out the prayer, saying, 'Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew an upright spirit within me.' Let the soul which has sinned say this, lest it perish again in despair, having ruined itself by wickedness. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 20, On what is written in the Fiftieth Psalm, 'Create a clean heart in me, O God.' 1 Ps 50.12 2 Ps 41.4 3 Lk 19.10

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