Poor Teaching

Egent sane populi quibus praeestis vel potius quos decepistis audire. Attendite verba Domini ad apostolos et turbas loquentis, quae et vos, ut audio, in mediu crebro proferre non pudet. Super cathedram Moysi sederunt scirbae et Pharisaei. Omnia ergo quaecumque dixerint vobis, servate et facite: secundum vero opera eorum nolite facere. Dicunt enim et ipsi non faciunt. Periculosa certe ac supervacua sacerdotibus doctrina est, quae pravis operibus obfuscatur. Vae vobis, hypocritae, qui clauditis regnum caelorum ante homines, vos aute non intratis nec introientres sinites intrare. Non solum enim prae tantis malorum criminibus, quae geritis in futuro, sed etiam pro his qui vestro cotdie exemplae pereunt, poenali poena plectemini: quorum sanguis in die iudicii de vestris manibus requiretur. Sed quid mali, quod servi parabola praetenderit, inspicite, dicentis in corde suo: Moram facit Dominus meus venire. Qui pro hoc forsitan inceperat percutere conservos suos manducans et bibens cum ebriis. Veniet ergo, inquit, Dominus servi illius in die, qua non sperat, et hora qua ignorat, et dividet eum, a sanctis scilicet sacerdotibus, partemque eius ponet cum hypocritis, cum eis certe qui sub sacerdotali tegminie multum obumbrant nequitiae, illic, inquiens, erit fletus et stridor dentium, quibus in hac vita non crebro evenit, ob cotidianas ecclesiae matris ruinas filiorum vel desideria regni caelorum. Sed videamus quid Christi verus discipulus magister gentium Paulus, qui omni ecclesiastico doctori imitandus est, sicut ipse hortatur: Imitatores mei estote, inquiens, sicut et ego Christi, in tali negotio praeloquatur in prima epistola dicens: quia cum cognoverunt Deum, non sicut Deum magnificaverunt aut gratias egerunt, sed evanuerunt in cogitatioibus suis et obcaecatum est insipiens cor eorum dicentes se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt. Licet hoc gentibus dici videatur, intuemini tamen, quia competenter isitius aevi sacerdotibus cum populis coaptabitur. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source: Migne PL 69.384c-385a

Certainly the people over whom you preside, or rather whom you deceive, have need of hearing. Attend to the words of the Lord spoken to the Apostles and the crowds, words which even you, I hear, do not blush to bring forth often in public. 'The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses, therefore, whatever they say to you, listen to and do, but do not act according to their works, for they speak and they do not do.' Perilous and vain for the priest is the teaching darkened by evil acts. 'Woe to you hypocrites who shut the kingdom of heaven to men but do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who would go in to enter.' 1 You will be punished with a grave penalty not only for the huge crimes of sins which you bear for the future time, but also because of those who perish every day because of your example. On the day of judgement the blood of those men will be required at your hands. Observe what evil is set forth in the parable of the servant who said in his heart, 'My Lord delays.' Before which he had probably 'begun to beat his fellow servants, eating and drinking with those who were drunk.' It is then said, 'The Lord of the servant shall come on a day when he does not expect it, and at an hour that he does not know, and he shall separate him and place his portion with the hypocrites,' that is, he shall be separated from holy priests and placed with the hypocrites, doubtless those who conceal much evil beneath a veil of priesthood. 'There where there shall be a weeping and a gnashing of teeth,' 2 which frequently happens in this life because of the daily loss of the sons of mother church, or because of defections from the kingdom of heaven. But let us see what a true disciple of Christ exhorts, Paul the teacher of the Gentiles, who should be imitated by every teacher in the Church. 'Be imitators of me as I am of Christ,' 3 And then about such affairs in his first letter, 'Because when they knew God, they did they give Him glory as God or thanks, but they became vain in their reasoning and their senseless hearts were blinded, and proclaiming themselves wise they became fools.' 4 Although this appears to be addressed to the Gentiles, observe that it will also fittingly apply to the priests and people of this time. Saint Gildas The Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Mt 23.2, Mt 23.13 2 Mt 24.49, 24.50-51 3 1 Cor 11.1 4 Rom 1.21-22

Queries On The Achievements Of Clergy

Quis eorum mori exoptans mundo et vivere Christo luxuriosos gentium convivas laudantes deos suos, id est, sensus, extollentes divitias, ut apostolus et avaritia, inquit, quae est simulacrorum servitus, concussis duabus virtute bracchiorum columnis, quae intelleguntur in voluptatibus nequam animae carnisque, quibus domus humanae omnis nequitiae quodammodo pangitur ac fulcimentatur, tam innumerabiles, ut Sampson, prostravit? Quis orationibus holocaustoque lactantis agni Philistinorum metum depellens insperatas tonitruorum voces nubium imbres concitans absque adulatione regem constituens, eundum Deo non placentem abiciens, uncto pro illo meliore in regno, ut Samuel, valedicturus populo astabit hoc modo dicens: Ecce praesto sum, loquimini coram Domino et christo eius, utrum bovem cuiusquam tulerim an asinum, si quempiam calumniatus sum, si oppressi aliquem, si de manu cuiusquam munus accepi? cui a populo responsum est dicente: non es calumniatus nos neque oppressisti neque tulisti de manu alicuius quippiam. Quis eorum igne caelesti centum superbos exurens, quinquaginta humiles servans et absque adulationis fuco, non Deum per prophetas, sed idolum Accaron consulenti, mortem immimentem iniquo regi annuntians, omnes prophetas simulacri Baal, qui interpretati accipiuntur sensus humani invidiae avaritiae, ut iam diximus, semper intenti, mucrone corusco, hoc est verbo Dei, ut Helias egregius vates, prostravit et zelo Dei commotus, iniquorum terrae imbres adimens aetherales, ac si fortissimo penurii clustello tribus annis sexque mensibus obseratos, fame siti moribundus in deserto conquestus est: Domine, inquiens, prophetas tuos occiderunt et altaria tua suffoderunt et ego relictus sum solus et quaerunt animam meam? Quis eorum carissimum discipulum terrenis extra solitum ponderibus oneratum, quae ante ea a se magnopere licet rogato ut acciperet despecta fuissent, etsi non perpetua lepra, ut Helisaeus, saltim expulsione multavit? Et quis ex illis puero in vitae desperatione aestuanti atque inproviso super bellico hostium apparatu civitatem, in qua erant, obsidentium tremefacto inter nos, ut ille, animae visus, ferventi exoratione ad Deum facta, ita ut intueri poterit auxiiiarium caelestis exercitus, armatorum curruum ceu equitum ignito vultu fulgentium montem plenum, patefecit, et credere quin fortior fortior esset ad salvandum quam inimici ad pugnandum? Et quis eorum corporis tactu mortui scilicet mundo, viventis autem Deo, alii diverso funcre occubanti procul dubio mortuo Deo, vitiis vero viventi quasi supra dictus proficiet, ita ut statim prosiliens Christo grates pro sanitate agat cunctorum paene mortalium ore desperata? Cuius eorum, carbone ignito de altari forcipe Cherubin advecto, ut peccata sua delerentur humilitate confessionis, labia, ut Esaiae, mundata sunt et efficaci oratione sibi adiuncta pii regis Ezechiae, supplantatione centum octoginta quinque milia exercitus Assyriorum nullo apparente vulneris vestigio angeli manu, ut supra dicti, prostrata sunt ? Quis eorum ob praecepta Dei et minas caelitus datas veritatemque vel non audientibus proferendam squalores pedoresque carcerum, ut momentaneas mortes, ut beatus Ieremias excepit ? Et ne multa: quis eorum, ut magister gentium dixit, errare hi montibus et in speluncis, et in cavernis terrae, lapidari secari, totius mortis genere pro nomine Domini attemptari, sicut sancti prophetae, perpessus est? Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source: Migne PL 69.371c-372d

Who among them, longing to die to the world and live for Christ, has cast down, like Samson, such a wealth of feasters praising their gods and extolling their riches, that is, the senses, for as the Apostle says, 'avarice which is the service of idols,' 1 and with the power of two arms has smashed and brought down the two columns, which are understood as the vile pleasures of the soul and the flesh by which the house of every human wickedness in a certain manner is fixed and established? 2 Who among them by prayers and the burnt offering of a suckling lamb, driving away the fear of the Philistines, has, like Samuel, brought on sudden thunder and rain from the clouds, and without flattery set up a new king, and cast away the same when he did not please God, having anointed a better man for the kingdom, he who then coming to bid farewell to the people, standing before them, did so in this way, saying: 'Behold, here I am; speak before the Lord and His anointed: if I have taken anyone's ox or ass, if I have calumniated anyone, if I have oppressed anyone, if I have taken a bribe from anyone's hand.' To which the people gave reply, saying, 'You have not calumniated us, nor oppressed us, nor have you taken a bribe from any hand.' 3 Who among them, burning a hundred proud men by fire from heaven, and protecting fifty humble ones, like Elijah the prophet, without the pretence of flattery, have announced an imminent death to an unrighteous king when he was taking counsel, not of God through His prophet, but of the idol Accaron? He who overthrew with a gleaming sword, that is, the word of God, all the prophets of the idol Baal, who, being interpreted, are understood to be the human passions, as we have already said, ever intent on envy and avarice. He who moved by zeal for God, deprived the land of the wicked of heaven's rain, as if were shut up in a stronghold of want, for three years and six months, and about to die of hunger and thirst in the waste, made lament, saying: 'Lord, they have slain your prophets and thrown down your altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.' 4 Who among them punished a beloved disciple, burdened beyond his need by the weight of earthly things which he had previously despised, though earnestly entreated to accept them, not by perpetual leprosy, it is true, yet by dismissal, as Elisha? Who among them, in despair of life, excited and trembling at the sudden warlike preparations of the enemies for a city's besieging, has given vision to the soul of a serving boy, so that he could see the mountain full of the heavenly army of allies, and of armed chariots or horsemen flashing with fiery countenances, and believe that God was stronger to save than enemies to fight? Who among them, like him, when dead to the world and yet living to God, has profited another laying in that different death, which is doubtless death to God but living for vice, by bodily contact, so that he should swiftly leap up and give thanks to Christ for a healing despaired of in the reckoning of almost all men? 5 Whom among them, with a fiery coal carried from the altar in the tongs of Cherubim, so that his sins should be blotted out, by humble confession, as Isaiah, have had lips purified, which with the aid of the efficacious prayer of the pious king Hezekiah, utterly overthrew that one hundred and eighty five thousand of the Assyrian army, like the men mentioned above, with no trace of wound, by the hand of the angel? 6 Who among them, like the blessed Jeremiah, because of the commands of God and threats given from heaven, for the offering of truth to men who heard not, suffered the squalor and filth of prisons, as heavy as death? 7 And lest we go on too long, who among them, as the teacher of the Gentiles said, has endured wandering on mountains, in caves and holes of the earth, stoning, cutting, and trial by every kind of death for the Lord's name, like the holy prophets ? 8 Saint Gildas The Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Colos 3.5 2 Judges 16.23-30 3 1 Kings 7.8-11, 9.15-10.1, 15.22-16.13, 12.1-5 4 4 Kings 1.9-17, 3 Kings 17.36-40, 1-2, 3 Kings 19.10 5 3 Kings 5, 4 Kings 6.8-18,4.32-37 6 Isaiah 6.6, 37 7 Jerem 201-2, 37.15, 26.1-15 8 Hebr 9.36-3

Peter And The Priests

Audistis etiam illo die, quo multo dignius multoque rectius erat, ut ad carcerem vel catastam poenalem1 quam ad sacerdotium traheremini, Domino sciscitanti, quem se esse putarent discipuli, Petrum respondisse: Tu es Christus filius Dei vivi eique Dominum pro tali confessione dixisse : Beatus es, Simon Bar Iona, quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus qui in caelis est. Ergo Petrus a Deo Patre doctus recte Christum confitetur: vos autem moniti a patre vestro diabolo inique salvatorem malis actibus denegatis. Vero sacerdoti dicitur:Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam: vos quidem assimilamini viro stulto, qui aedificavit domum suam super arenam. Notandum vero est, quod insipientibus in aedificanda domo arenarum pendulae mobilitati Dominus non cooperetur, secundum illud : Fecerunt sibi reges et non per me. Itidemque quod sequitur eadem sonat dicendo: Et portae inferni non praevalebunt, eisque peccata intelleguntur. De vestra quid exitiabili structura pronuntiatur? Venerunt flumina et flaverunt venti et impegerunt in domum illam et cecidit et fuit ruina eius magna. Petro eiusque successoribus dicit Dominus : Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum: vobis vero: Non novi vos, discedite a me, operarii iniquitatis, ut separati sinistrae partis cum haedis eatis in ignem aeternum. Itemque omni sancto sacerdoti promittitur : Et quaecumque solveris super terram, erunt soluta et in caelis : et quaecumque ligaveris super terram, erunt ligata et in caelis. Sed quomodo vos aliquid solvetis, ut sit solutum et in caelis, a caelo ob scelera adempti et immanium peccatorum funibus compediti, ut Salomon quoque ait: Criniculis peccatorum suorum unusquisque constringitur? Quaque ratione aliquid in terra ligabitis, quod supra modum etiam ligetur praeter vosmetipsos, qui ita ligati iniquitatibus in hoc mundo tenemini, ut in caelis nequaquam ascendatis, sed infaustis tartari ergastulis, non conversi in hac vita ad Dominum, decidatis ? Nec sibi quisquam sacerdotum de corporis mundi solum conscientia supplaudat, cum eorum quis praeest, si qui propter eius imperitiam vel desidiam seu adulationem perierint, in die iudicii de eiusdem manibus, veluti interfectoris, animae exquirantur. Quia nec dulcior mors quae infertur a bono quoque homine quam a malo: alioquin non dixisset apostolus velut paternum legatum suis successoribus derelinquens : Mundus ego sum ab omnium sanguine. Non enim subterfugi, quo minus annuntiarem vobis omne mysterium Dei. Multumque nam usa ac frequentia peccatorum inebriati et incessanter irruentibus vobis scelerum cumulatorum ac si undis quassati unum veluti post naufragium, in qua ad vivorum terram evadatis, paenitentiae tabulam toto animi nisu exquirite, ut avertatur furor Domini a vobis misericorditer dicentis : Nolo mortem peccatoris, sed ut convertatur et vivat. Ipse omnipotens Deus totius consolationis et misericordiae paucissimos bonos pastores conservet ab omni malo et municipes faciat subacto communi hoste civitatis Hierusalem caelestis, hoc est, sanctorum omnium congregationis. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source: Migne PL 69.390c-392b

You heard also on that day when it was much more worthier and more right for you to be led to prison or the gibbet for punishment than to the priesthood, that when the Lord asked the disciples who they thought Him to be, Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, Son of the living God,'  and that to him for such a confession the Lord said: 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.' 1 Thus Peter, taught by God the Father, rightly confesses Christ, but you, instructed by your father the devil, iniquitously deny the Saviour by evil deeds. To the true priest it is said: 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I build my church.' 2 You, however, are like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. 3 But we must observe that the Lord does not join in the work of the foolish who build a house on the shifting inconstancy of sand, according to that saying: 'They have made kings by themselves and not by me.' 4 Similarly, what follows gives the same note when it says: 'And the gates of hell shall not prevail,' 5 whereby sins are understood. Now concerning your ruinous building, what is proclaimed? 'The floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell, and great was the fall of it.' 6  To Peter and his successors the Lord says: 'And to you I will  give the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' 7 but to you: 'I know you not, depart front me, you workers of iniquity,' 8 so that, separated with the goats on the left hand, you go to everlasting fire. To every holy priest it is also promised: 'And whatever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven.' 9 But how do you loose anything so that it shall be loosed in heaven also, when, because of your crimes, you are severed from heaven and fettered by bands of monstrous sins, as Solomon also says: 'Each one is bound with the cords of his own sins?' 10 With what reason shall you bind on earth anything that may be, in any extraordinary degree, bound, besides your own selves, who, bound to iniquities, are so held in this world, that in no way do you ascend to heaven, but, unless turned to the Lord in this life, are descending to the woeful prison of hell? And let not one of the priests celebrate himself solely on his consciousness of a pure body, because if any of those over whom he is set perish through his ignorance, or his neglect, or his flattery, on the day of judgement their souls shall be asked from his hands, as their murderer. Because the death which is inflicted by a good man is not sweeter than that caused by a wicked man. Otherwise the Apostle would not have said, in leaving a kind of paternal legacy to his successors: 'I am clean from the blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring to you the whole mystery of God.' 11 Seeing that you are intoxicated by the habit and dense mass of your sins, and incessantly overwhelmed as if by waves of crimes heaped on crimes rushing upon you, seek with all effort of soul the one plank of penance, as if after shipwreck, on which you may escape to the land of the living. In this way the anger of the Lord may be turned from you, inasmuch as He mercifully says : 'I do not wish the death of any sinner, but that he may be converted and live.' 12 May the almighty God of all consolation and mercy Himself 13 preserve His very few good priests from all evil, and make them citizens of His city, the heavenly Jerusalem, that is, the assembly of all the saints, the common enemy being subdued. Saint Gildas The Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Mt 16.16 2 Mt 16.18 3 Mt 7.26 4 Hosea 8.4 5 Mt 16.8 6 Mt 7.27 7 Mt 16.19 8 Mt 25.32 9 Mt 16.19 10 Prov 5.22 11 Acts 20.26-27 12 Ezek 33.11 13 2 Cor 1.3

The Spirit's Rebuke

Ex cuius ore Spiritus Sanctus cunctis mundi potestatibus intonuit, denuntiando primo regi apud Hebraeos dumtaxat Sauli pro eo, quod quaedam de mandatis Domini non compleverat, dicens: Stulte egisti nec custodisti mandata Domini Dei tui, quae praecepit tibi. Quod si non fecisses, iam nunc pararet Deus regnum tuum super Israhel in sempiternum: sed nequaquam regnum tuum ultra consurget. Quid ergo simile huius temporis sceleribus?  Adulteriumne vel parricidium fecit ? Nullo modo. Sed iussionis ex parte mutationem, quia, ut bene quidam nostrum ait, non agitur de qualitate peccati, sed de transgressione mandati. Itemquc illum obiecta, velut putabat, purgantem et apologias, ut generi humano moris est, sagaciter hoc modo adnectentem: Immo audivi vocem Domini et ambulavi in via, per quam misit me, tali animadversione multavit. Numquid vult, inquit, Dominus holocausta aut victimas et non potius, ut oboediatur voci Domini? Melior est enim oboedientia quam victimas, et audire magis quam offerre adipem arietum, quoniam sicut peccatum ariolandi est repugnare et quasi scelus idolatriae nolle adquiescere. Pro eo ergo, quod abiecisti sermonem Domini, abiecit et te, ne sis rex. Et post pauca : Scidit, inquit, Deus regnum Israhel a te hodie et dedit illud proximo tuo meliori te. Porro triumphator in Israhel non parcet et paenitudine non flectetur, necque enim homo est, ut agat paenitentiam; subauditur: super duris malorum praecordiis. Notandum ergo est, quod dixit scelus idolatriae esse nolle Deo adquiescere. Non sibi scelerati isti, dum non gentium diis perspicue litant, subplaudant, siquidem conculcantes porcorum more pretiosissimas Christi margaritas, idolatrae. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source:  Migne PL 69.355b-d

From the mouth of Samuel the Holy Spirit thundered out to all the powers of the world, when he denounced Saul, the first king of the Hebrews, because he had not fulfilled certain commands of the Lord, saying, 'You have acted foolishly, you have not kept the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded you, which if you had done God would now establish your kingdom over Israel forever; but your kingdom shall arise no further.' 1 How is there likeness to the crimes of this age? Did he commit adultery or murder? Not at all. But there was a partial change of the command, because, as a certain one of ours has well said, 'It is not a matter of the kind of sin but the transgression of a command.' 2 And he being so charged, cleansed himself, so he thought, and wove together defences, as is the custom with men, in the following plausible manner: 'Truly I have heard the voice of the Lord and walked in the way by which He sent me;' 3 And the Prophet punished him with this censure: 'Does the Lord want,' he says, 'burnt offerings or victims, and not rather obedience to the voice of the Lord? For better is obedience than victims, and  hearing more than to offer the fat of rams, because resistance is as the sin of witchcraft, and refusal as the crime of idolatry. Therefore, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being king.' 4 And a little after : 'God has torn away from you today,' he says, 'the kingdom of Israel and given it to your neighbour, one better than you. Truly the Victor in Israel will not spare and by penitence will He not be bent; for He is not a man, that He should repent,' 5 that is to say, because of the hard hearts of the wicked. We must, therefore, observe that he says that the crime of idolatry is the refusal to obey God. Let not those wicked ones applaud themselves, when they do not offer sacrifice to the gods of the Gentiles, since by treading under foot, like swine, the most precious pearls of Christ, they are idolaters. Saint Gildas The Wise, from On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 1 Kings 13.13-14 2  Source unknown 3 1 Kings 15.20 4 1 Kings 15.22-23,26 5 1 Kings 15.28-29

Preaching And Judgement

Vos estis, dicente Veritate, lux totius Britanniae, sal terrae, civitas super montem posita, lucerna super candelabrum elevata. Item beato principe apostolorum attestante: Vos estis genus electum, regale sacedotium. Per vestrae vero praedicationis instantiam nos erimus, quod in eadem sequitur Epistola: Gens sancta, populus acquisitionis: quatenus per vis virtus annuntietur illius, qui nos omnes de tenebris vocavit in admirabile lumen suum. Qui aliquando non populus Dei, nunc autem populus Dei. Patres itaque nostri, Deo dispensante, licet pagani, hanc patriam bellica virtute primum possederunt. Quam grande igitur opprobrium est ut nos Christiani perdamus quod illi pagani acquisiverunt? Hoc dico propter flagellum quod nuper accidit partibus insulae nostrae, quae prope trecentis quinquaginta annis a parentibus inhabitata est nostris. Legitur in libro Gildi Brettonum sapientissimi, quod iidem ipsi Brettones propter rapinas et avaritiam principum, propter iniquitatem et injustitiam judicum, propter desidiam et pigritiam praedictionis episcoporum, propter luxuriam et malos mores populi, patriam perdiderunt. Caveamus haec eadem nostris temporibus vitia inolescere, quatenus benedictio divina nobis patriam conservet in prosperitate bona, quam nobis in sua misericordia perdonare dignat est. Ut hoc ipsum omnipotentis Dei largissima efficiat pietas, vos qui clavem regni coelestis cum Apostolis, ligandi solvendique potestatem accepistis a Christo aperite assiduis praedicationibus portas coeli populi Dei, et nolite tacere, ne populi peccata vobis imputentur. Requirit enim a vobis animas Deus, quas ad regendum accepistis. Ex subjectorum salute vestra multiplicatur remuneratio. Alcuinus, Epistola X, Ad Aethelhard Archiepiscopum Source: Migne PL 100.154c-155b

You are, says the Truth, the light of all Britain, the salt of the earth, a city set on a mount, a lamp hung on a lamp stand. 1 And the same thing the blessed prince of the Apostles testifies, 'You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.' And by the urging of your preaching we shall be what follows in the same letter: 'A holy people, a people acquired,' as much as by you virtue is announced to us, 'who all were called from the darkness into His wonderful light. Who once were not a people of God but now are indeed a people of God.' 1 Our fathers, by the dispensation of God, although pagan, gained possession of this land by force of war. How grave then will be our disgrace if we Christians lose what pagans acquired? I say this on account of the tribulations which have fallen on parts of our island, 3 which have been inhabited by our parents for around three hundred and fifty years. We read in the book of Gildas, the wisest of the Britons, 4 that those same Britons lost their country on account of the rapine and avarice of princes and the iniquity and injustice of judges and idleness and indolence of the preaching of bishops, and the luxury and the wicked behaviour of the people. Let us then admonish the vices that grow in our own times, since it is the Divine blessing given to us that preserves us in the prosperity of good things, which to us in His mercy He deigns to give. That this holy largess of almighty God be effective, you who with the Apostles have received from Christ the key of the heavenly kingdom and the power of binding and losing, open with assiduous preaching the gates of heaven to the people of God, and do not be silent, nor let the people attribute faults to you. God requires souls from you, the rule of which you have received. By the salvation of your subjects your reward will be measured. Alcuin of York, from Letter 10, To the Archbishop Aethelhard 1 Mt 5.13-15 2 1 Pet 2.9-10 3 The Danish invasions 4 De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae

Chastising A King

Quid tu quoque, ut Propheta ait, catule leonine, Aureli Canine, agis? Nonne eodem quo supra dictus, si non exiiabiliore parricidiorum forniactionum adulteriorumque caeno uelut quibusdam marinis irruentibus tibi voraris feraliter undis? Nonne pacem patriae mortiferum ceu serpentem odiens civiliaque bella et crebras iniuste praedas sitiens animae tuae caelestis portas pacis ac refrigerii praecludis? Relictus, quaeso, iam solus ac si arbor in medio campo arescens recordare patrum fratrumque tuorum supervacuam fantasiam, iuvenilem inmaturamque mortem. Num centennis tu ob religiosa merita uel coaevus Mathuselae exceptus paene omni prole servarberis? Nequaquam. Sed nisi citius, ut psalmista ait, conversus fueris ad Dominum, ensem in te vibrabit in brevi suum rex ille qui per prophetam ego inquit occidam et ego vivere faciam; percutiam et ego sanabo, et non est qui de manu mea possit eruere. quam ob rem excutere de faetido pulvere tuo et convertere ad eum toto corde, qui creavit te, ut cum exarserit in brevi ira eius, beatus sis sperans in eum, sin alias, aeternae te manebunt poenae conterendum saeva continue et nequaquam absumendum tartari fauce. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source:  Migne PL 69.350

You also, lion whelp, 1 as the Prophet says, what are you doing, Aurelius Caninus? Are you not as ruined as those we have spoken of above, if not more so, with the filth of parricides, fornications and adulteries, like waves of the sea crashing wildly over you? Have you not, hating your country's peace, as if it were some deadly serpent, or by your unjust thirsting for civil wars and abundant spoil, closed the gates of heavenly peace and rest on your soul? Forsaken and alone now, like a withered tree in the middle of a field, remember, I bid you, the empty dreams of your fathers and brothers and their early and untimely deaths. Will you, by pious merit, a rare exception among all your stock, survive for a hundred years, or equal the age of Methuselah? By no means. But unless, as the Psalmist says, you are very swiftly converted to the Lord, in brief time that King will soon brandish His sword against you, 2 who says by the Prophet: 'I will kill and I will give life; I shall wound and I shall heal, and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand.' 3 Thus shake your filthy dust from yourself, 4 and with your whole heart turn to Him who created you, so that when His anger quickly blazes forth, you may be blessed in your hope in Him, 5 otherwise eternal punishment awaits you, you who shall be always tormented, never consumed, in the fell abyss of hell. Saint Gildas The Wise, from On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Ps 16.12 2 Ps 7.13 3 Deut 32.39 4 Isa 52.2 5 Ps 2.12

Considering The Correction Of Others

Cum qualicumque cordis compunctione attonita mente saepius volvens, si, inquam, peculiari ex omnibus nationibus populo, semini regali gentique sanctae, ad quam dixerat: primogenitus meus Israel, eiusque sacerdotibus, prophetis, regibus, per tot saecula, Apostolo ministro membrisque illius primitivae ecclesiae dominus non pepercit, cum a recto tramite deviarint, quid tali huius atramento aetatis facturus est? Cui praeter illa nefanda immaniaque peccata quae communiter cum omnibus mundi sceleratis agit, accedit etiam illud veluti ingentium quid et indelebile insipientiae pondus et levitatis ineluctabile. Quid? Mihimet aio, tibine, miser, veluti conspicuo ac summo doctori talis cura committitur ut obstes ictibus tam violenti torrentis, et contra hunc inolitorum scelerum funem per tot annorum spatia interrupte latetque protractum serves depositum tibi creditum et taceas? Alioquin hoc est dixisse pedi: speculare et manui: fare. Habet britanni rectores, habet speculatores. Quid tu nugando mutire disponis? habet, inquam, habet, si non ultra, non citra numerum. Sed quia inclinati tanto pondere sunt pressi, idcirco spatium respirandi non habent. Praeoccupabant igitur se multo talibus obiectionibus vel multo his mordacioribus veluti condebitores sensus mei. Hi non parvo, ut dixi, tempore, cum legerim, Tempus esse loquendi et tacendi, et in quadam ac si angusta timoris porticu luctabantur. Obtinuit vicitque tandem aliquando creditor, si non es, inquiens, talis audaciae ut inter veridicas rationalis secundae a nuntiis derivationis creaturas non pertimescas libertatis aureae decenti nota inuri, affectum saltem intellegibilis asinae eatenus elinguis non refugito spiritu Dei afflatae, nolentis se vehiculum fore tiarati magi devoturi populum Dei, quae in anguesto maceriae vinearum resolutum eius attriuit pedem, ob id licet verbera hostiliter senserit, cuique angelum caelestem ensem vacuum vagina habentem atque contrarium, quem ille cruda stoliditate caecatus non viderat, digito quodammodo, quamquam ingrato ac furibundo et innoxia eius latera contra ius fasque caedenti, demonstravit. In zelo igitur domus Domini sacrae legis seu cogitatuum rationibus vel fratrum religiosis precibus coactus sum persolvo debitum multo tempore antea exactum, vile quidem, sed fidele, ut puto, et amicale quibusque egregiis Christi tironibus, grave uero et importabile apostatis insipientibus. Quorum priores, ni fallor, cum lacrimis forte quae ex Dei caritate profluunt, alii autem cum trisitia, sed quae de indignatione et pusillanimitate deprehensae conscientiae extorquetur, illud excipient. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Migne PL 69 332

When with compunction of heart turning over the mind I said, if the Lord did not spare a people, peculiar out of all the nations, the royal seed and holy nation, to whom He had said: Israel is my first born, 1 nor its priests, prophets, kings for so many centuries, nor the Apostle his servant and the members of that early Church, when they swerved from the right path, what will he do on account of such blackness as this age has? An age to which, besides those impious and monstrous sins which it practices in common with all the criminals of the world, has been added that which is as if inborn with it, an irremovable unwisdom and an inextricable fickleness. What then? Do I say to myself, O wretch, as if you were a distinguished and great teacher, is such a care comitted to you, that you would stand against the blows of so violent a torrent, and against this array of growing crimes extending over so many years and so widely, keep the deposit committed to you, and be silent? Otherwise this means, to say to the foot, watch, and to the hand, speak. Britain has teachers, it has watchers. Are you disposed to mumble some paltry things? Yes, it has, it has, if not too many, not too few. But, because they are pressed down by so great a weight, so they have no time to breathe. Thus my thoughts as fellow debtors were preoccupied with many such objections, and by many that were more biting than these. Such was my state, for no short time, as I said, when I read: 'There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent,' 2 and wrestled, as it were, in the narrow gate of fear. At length the creditor prevailed and conquered, saying, 'If you have not such courage as to feel no fear of being branded with the mark that befits golden liberty among truth telling creatures of a rational origin second to the angels, at least imitate that intelligent donkey, inspired, though mute, by the Spirit of God; unwilling it was to be the carrier of the crowned magician about to curse the people of God, it bruised his feeble foot in the narrow path near the wall of the vineyards, though it was thus was obliged to suffer hostile blows, and it pointed out to him the angel from heaven, as if with the finger, who with sword drawn from scabbard opposed them, whom he in the blindness of cruel stupidity had not seen, he who, ungrateful and furious, was unrighteously beating its innocent sides. 3 In my zeal, therefore, for the holy law of the Lord's house, or by the reasons of my own meditations, or driven by the pious entreaties of brethren, I am now paying the debt exacted long ago. The work certainly is poor, but faithful, I think, and friendly to all noble young soldiers of Christ, but harsh and insupportable to foolish apostates. The former of these, if I am not deceived, will perhaps receive it with the tears that flow from the love of God; the others however with receive it with sorrow, but a sorrow that is given by the indignation and weakness of an awakened conscience.  Saint Gildas the Wise, from On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Exodus 4.2 2 Eccl 3.7  3 Numb 22.28-31

The Martyrdom of Alban

Magnificavit igitur misericordiam suam nobiscum Deus volens omnes homines salvos fieri et vocans non minus peccatores quam eos qui se putant iustos. Qui gratuito munere, supra dicto ut conicimus persecutionis tempore, ne penitus crassa atrae noctis caligine Britannia obfuscaretur, clarissimos lampades sanctorum martyrum nobis accendit, quorum nunc corporum sepulturae et passionum loca, si non lugubri divortio barbarorum quam plurima ob scelera nostra civibus adimerentur, non minimum intuentium mentibus ardorem divinae caritatis incuterens: sanctum Albanum Verolamiensem, Aaron et Iulium legionum urbis cives ceterosque utriusque sexus diversis in locis summa magnanimitate in acie Christi perstantes dico. Quorum prior postquam caritatis gratia confessorem persecutoribus insectatum et iam iamque comprehendendum, imitans et in hoc Christum animam pro ovibus ponentem, domo primum ac mutatis dein mutuo vestibus occuluit et se discrimini in fratris supra dicti vestimentis libenter persequendum dedit, ita Deo inter sacram confessionem cruoremque coram impiis romana tum stigmata cum horribili fantasia praeferentibus placens signorum miraculis mirabiliter adornatus est, ut oratione ferventi illi Israeliticae arenti viae minusque tritae, stante diu arca prope glareas testamenti in medio Iordanis canali, simile iter ignotum, trans tamesis nobilis fluuii alueum, cum mille uiris sicco ingrediens pede suspensis utrimque modo praeruptorum fluvialibus montium gurgitibus aperiret et priorem carnificem tanta prodigia videntem in agnum ex lupo mutaret et una secum triumphalem martyrii palmam sitire vehementius et excipere fortius faceret. Ceteri vero sic diversis cruciatibus torti sunt et inaudita membrorum discerptione lacerati ut absque cunctamine gloriosi in egregiis Ierusalem ueluti portis martyrii sui trophaea defigerent. De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

God, therefore, magnified His mercy to us, wishing that all men should be saved, and He calls sinners no less than those who think themselves righteous. He who, of His own free gift, in the above mentioned time of persecution, as we understand it, lest Britain be utterly engulfed in the thick darkness of black night, kindled for us the bright lamps of holy martyrs, the tombs of whose bodies and the places of their passion, had they not, so many of them, been taken from us the citizens on account of our numerous crimes, through the woeful division of the barbarians, 1 would now inspire the minds of those who gazed at them with a far from feeble glow of divine love, Saint Alban of Verulamium, Aaron and Iulius, citizens of the city of the legion, and the rest of both sexes in different places, who were firm in the lofty spirit of the mind of Christ. The former of these, for the sake of charity, hid a confessor when he was hunted by persecutors and just about to be taken, imitating in this Christ laying down his life for the sheep. First in his house and then by exchanging clothing with him, he concealed him, in the clothes of the brother mentioned willingly exposing himself to being pursued. Thus being well pleasing to God, during the time between his holy confession and cruel death, in the presence of the impious, who bore the Roman marks with their hideous forms, he was wonderfully adorned with miraculous signs, so that by fervent prayer, like that dry little-trodden way of the Israelites, when the ark of the covenant stood long on the gravel in the middle of Jordan, he opened an unknown way through the bed of the noble river Thames, and with a thousand men walked through with dry foot, the rushing waters on either side hanging like abrupt precipices, and by sight of such wonders first transformed his executioner from a wolf into a lamb, and as one with himself caused him to thirst more eagerly for the triumphant palm of martyrdom and more bravely to achieve it. Others, in truth, were so tortured with diverse torments, and mangled with unheard of tearing of limbs, that without delay, as if at the illustrious gates of Jerusalem, they raised trophies of their glorious martyrdom. On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise 1 The Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britain

A King's Failure

Nonne postquam tibi ex voto uiolenti regni fantasia cessit, cupiditate inlectus ad viam revertendi rectam, diebus ac noctibus id temporis, conscientia forte peccaminum remordente, de deficio tenore monachorumque decretis sub dente primum multa ruminans, dein popularis aurae cognitioni proferens, monachum sine ullo infidelitatis, ut aiebas, respectu coram omnipotente deo, angelicis vultibus humanisque, ruptis, ut putabatur, capacissimis illis quibus praecipitanter involui solent pingues tauri moduli tui retibus, omnis regni auri argenti et quod his maius est propriae voluntatis distentionibus ruptis, perpetue vovisti, et rete, ac si stridulo cavum lapsu aerem valide secantem saeuosque rapidi harpagones accipitris sinuosis flexibus vitantem ad sanctorum tibi magnopere fidas speluncas refrigeriaque salubriter rapuisti ex corvo columbam? O quanta ecclesiae matri laetitia, si non te cunctorum mortalium hostis de sinu quodammodo euis lugubriter abstraxisset, foret! O quam profusus spei caelestis fomes desperatorum cordibus, te in bonis permanente, inardesceret! o qualia quantaque animam tuam regni christi praemia in die iudicii manerent, si non lupus callidus ille agnum ex lupo factum te ab ovili dominico, non vehementer invitum, facturus lupum ex agno sibi similem, rapuisset! O quantum exultationem pio omnium patri deo sanctorum tua salus servanda praestaret, si non te cunctorum perditorum infaustus pater, veluti magnarum aquila alarum unguiumque, daemon infelici filiorum suorum agmini contra ius fasque rapuisset! E multa, tantum gaudii ac suavitatis tum caelo terraeque tua ad bonam frugem conversio quantum nunc maeroris ac luctus ministrauit ad horribilem, more molossi aegri, vomitum nefanda reversio. Qua peracta exhibentur membra arma iniquitatis peccato ac diabolo quae oportuerat salvo sensu avide exhiberi arma iustitiae Deo. Arrecto aurium auscultantur captu non Dei laudes canora christi tironum voce suaviter modulante neumaque ecclesiasticae melodaie, sed propriae, quae nihil sunt, furciferorum referto mendaciis simulque spumanti flegmate proximos quosque roscidaturo, praeconum ore ritu bacchantium concrepante, ita ut vas Dei quondam honore caelesti putabatur dignum merito proiciatur in tartari barathrum. De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

Was it not that you 1 who after the fantasy of violent rule ceased by a vow, drawn by the desire to return to the right way, perhaps with the consciousness of sins biting days and nights during that time, first ruminating much with yourself on the hard customs and the rules of monks, then, bringing it forward into the knowledge of the open air, did declare yourself, without any thought of deceit, a monk, in the sight of Almighty God, and before the face of angels and men, and had you not broken, as was thought, those great nets, by which fat bulls of your sort are accustomed to be entangled headlong, that is, the net of every kind of rulership, and of gold and silver, and what is mightier than these, of your own bloated will, and did you not, even if you cleaved empty air in most shrill descent, escape the cruel claws of the swift hawk with sinuous windings, and to the faithful and refreshing caves of the saints, profitably race like a dove from the raven? What joy for mother church if the enemy of all mankind had not lamentably dragged you off, so to speak, from her lap. What plentiful kindling for heavenly hope would blaze in the hearts of the desperate, if you had persevered in the good. What and how many rewards of the kingdom of Christ would wait for your soul in the day of judgment if that cunning wolf had not snatched you, you who had become a lamb from a wolf, from the Lord's fold, and not at all against your will, to make you a wolf from a lamb, to make you like himself. What joy to the gracious Father and God of all saints your salvation, if secured, would had given, had not the wretched father of all the lost, the devil. like an eagle of mighty wings and claws, against every right and good, snatched you away to the unhappy brood of his children! In brief, your conversion to good fruit brought forth as much joy and sweetness, both to heaven and earth, as now sorrow and mourning is served up by your accursed reversion to your wretched vomit like a sick dog. Which done displayed your members  as arms of iniquity to sin and the devil, things which should have been eagerly presented as weapons of righteousness to God. And now when the attention of your ears is caught, it is not the praises of God in the tuneful voices of Christ's recruits with its sweet rhythm and the song of church melody, that are heard, but your own, which are nothing, howled by a thievish crew  full of lies and foaming phlegm, so as to sully anyone near, with the mouths of bacchants, so that the vessel once thought worthy of celestial honour is cast into the depths of Tartarus. On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise 1 Maelgwyn, King of Gwynedd

Pondering A Painful Past

Haec erecta cervice et mente, ex quo inhabitata est, nunc Deo, interdum civibus, nonnumquam etiam transmarinis regibus et subiectis ingrata consurgit. Quid enim deformius quidque iniquius potest humanis ausibus vel esse uel intromitti negotium quam Deo timorem, bonis civibus caritatem, in altiore dignitate positis absque fidei detrimento debitum denegare honorem et frangere divino sensui humanoque fidem, et abiecto caeli terraeque metu propriis adinventionibus aliquem et libidinibus regi? Igitur omittens priscos illos communesque cum omnibus gentibus errores, quibus ante adv>entum Christi in carne omne humanum genus obligabatur astrictum, nec enumaerans patriae portenta ipsa diabolica paene numero Aegyptiaca vincentia, quorum nonnulla liniamentis adhuc deformibus intra vel extra deserta moenia solito mores rigentia toruis vultibus intuemur, neque nominatum inclamitans montes ipsos aut colles vel fluvios olim exitiabiles, nunc uero humanis usibus utiles, quibus divinus honor a caeco tunc populo cumulabatur, et tacens vetustos immanium tyrannorum annos, qui in aliis longe postis regionibus vulgati sunt, it ut Porphyrius rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis dementiae suae ac uanitatis stilo hoc etiam adnecteret: ‘britannis’, inquiens, ‘fertilis provincia tyrannorum’, illa tantum proferre conabor in medium quae temporibus Imperatorum Romanorum et passa est et aliis intulit civibus et longe positis mala: quantum tamen potuero, non tam ex scriptis patriae scriptorumue monimentis, quippe quae, vel si qua fuerint, aut ignibus hostium exusta aut civium exilii classe longius deportata non compareant, quam transmarina relatione, quae crebris inrupta intercapedinibus non satis claret. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae

This island of proud neck and mind, since it was first inhabited, now against God, at other times against fellow citizens, sometimes even against the rulers and subjects over the sea, ungratefully rebels. For what greater baseness or iniquity can be or be introduced into affairs by the recklessness of men than to deny reverence to God, love to good citizens, due honour, without detriment to the faith, to those placed in higher position, than to break faith with Divine and human sentiment, and having cast away fear of heaven and earth, to be ruled over by one's own inventions and desires?  Therefore, I omit those ancient errors common to all peoples by which before the coming of Christ in the flesh the whole human race was bound fast, and the enumeration of the truly diabolical monstrosities of my fatherland which almost surpassed Egypt in number, of which we behold some of ugly features even yet within or without deserted walls, stiff with savage visage as was the custom, and neither do I cry out against by name the mountains, hills or rivers, once employed for fatal purpose but now suitable for man's use, upon which divine honours were heaped by a blind people, and I am also silent about the long years of savage tyrants, those who have been spoken of in other far distant countries, so that even Porphyry, that rabid eastern dog against the Church, in his madness and vanity wrote: 'Britain is a province fertile in tyrants,' for those evils only I will try to make public which the island has both suffered and inflicted upon other and distant citizens, in the time of the Roman Emperors, doing what I can, however, not so much by support of native writings or records of authors, since these, if they ever existed, have been consumed by the fires of enemies, or taken away in the ships which exiled my fellow citizens, and so are not at hand, but rather by the accounts of those from across the sea, which, being interrupted by many gaps, are inadequately clear. Saint Gildas the Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain

A Chastisement Of Clergy

Sacerdotes habet Britannia sed insipienties; quamplurimos ministros, sed imprudentes; clericos, sed raptores subdolos; pastores, ut dicuntur, sed occisioni animarum lupos paratos; quippe non commoda plebi providentes, sed proprii plenitudinem ventris quaerentes: ecclesiae domus habentes, sed turpis lucri gratia eas adeuntes; populos docentes, sed praebendo pessima exampla, vitia malosque mores; raro sacrificantes, et nunquam puro corde inter altaria stantes; plebem ob peccata non corripientes, nimirum eadem agentes; praecepta Christi spernentes, et suas libidines modis omnibus implere curantes; sedem Petri apsotoli immundis pedibus usurpantes, sed merito cupiditatis in Judae traditoris pestilentem cathedram decidentes; veritatem pro inimico odientes, et mendaciis ac si charissimis fratribus faventes; justos inopes immanes quasi angues torvis vultibus conspicantes, et sceleratos divites absque ullo verecundiae respectu sicut coelestes angelos venerantes; egenis eleemosynam esse dandam summis e labiis praedicentes, sed ipsi vel obolum non dantes; nefanda populi scelera tacentes, et euas injurias quasi Christo irrogatas amplificantes; religiosam forte matrem seu soroes domo pellentes, et externas veluti secretiori ministerio familiares indecenter levantes, vel potius, ut vera dicam, licet inepta non tam mihi quam talia agentibus, humiliantes; ecclesiasticos post haec gradus propensius quam regna coelorum ambientes, et tyrannico ritu acceptos defendentes, nec tamen legitimis moribus illustrantes; ad praecepta sanctorum, si aliquando duntaxat audierient quae ab illis saepissime audienda erant, oscitantes ac stupidos, et ad ludicra et ineptas saecularium hominum fabulas, ac si iter viae quae mortis pandunt, strenuos et intentos. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source:Migne PL 69 367-368

Britain has priests, but they are fools; very many ministers, but they are ignorant; clerics, but they are deceitful thieves; pastors, as they are called, but they are rather wolves ready for the killing of souls since they do not look to the good of the people but seek the fullness of their own stomachs; they have the houses of the church, but they enter them for the sake of base gain; they teach the people but they present to them the worst examples, vices, and evil conduct; they rarely sacrifice and then never with pure hearts do they stand among the altars; they do not rebuke the people for their sins, for they do the very same things; they disregard the precepts of Christ and are in a rush to indulge every one of their own desires; they usurp with unclean feet the seat of the apostle Peter but on account of their covetousness they tumble into the pestilent chair of the traitor Judas; they hate truth as an enemy and they favour lies as their most beloved brothers; they look on the righteous, the poor and the powerless with savage countenances, as if they were pitiless serpents, and they reverence villainous rich men, without any hint of shame, as if such men were heavenly angels; they preach with outward lips that alms are to be given to the needy but they themselves do not give a penny; they are silent about the crimes of the people and shout loudly about their own injuries as if they were done to Christ; they drive out of house a religious mother, perhaps, or sisters, and as if it were some secret office they indecently welcome others, or rather, to speak truly, not of myself but of those who do such things, they degrade themselves by such deeds; after these things they are ambitious for ecclesiastical dignities rather than for the kingdom of heaven; they protect in tyrannical fashion what office they have gained, not however adorning such with rightful conduct; they yawn and are unmoved by the precepts of the saints, if indeed they have at some time heard what they should hear most often, but to the ludicrous and foolish fables of worldly men, as if such things were the way of life which lead to death, they are eager and intent.  Saint Gildas the Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain,

On Celtic Britain

Reges habet Britannia, sed tyrannos; iudices habet, sed impios; saepe praedantes et concutientes, sed innocentes; uindicantes et patrociniantes, sed reos et latrones; quam plurimas coniuges habentes, sed scortas et adulterantes; crebro iurantes, sed periurantes; uouentes, sed continue propemodum mentientes; belligerantes, sed ciuila et iniusta bella agentes; per patriam quidem fures magnopere insectantes, sed eos qui secum ad mensam sedent non solum amantes sed et munerantes; eleemosynas largiter dantes, sed e regione inmensum montem scelerum exaggerantes; in sede arbitraturi sedentes, sed raro recti iudicii regulam quaerentes; innoxios humilesque despicientes, sanguinarios superbos parricidas commanipulares et adulteros dei inimicos, si sors, ut dicitur, tulerit, qui cum ipso nomine certatim delendi erant, ad sidera, prout possunt, efferentes; uinctos plures in carceribus habentes, quos dolo sui potius quam merito protuerunt catenis onerantes, inter altaria iurando demorantes et haed eadem ac si lutulenta paulo post saxa despicientes.  De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

Britain has kings but they are tyrants; she has judges but they are impious, often plundering and assailing, but only the innocent; they avenge and protect, but only the guilty man and the thief; many of them have wives, but they are all whores and adulteresses; swearing they forswear, making vows they lie in the next breath; they make war, but the only battles they rush into are civil and unjust; for certain they chase after thieves throughout the land, but those thieves who sit with them at table they not only love but even remunerate; they dispense alms liberally but they heap up a huge mountain of crimes; they sit in the seat of authority but rarely seek the rule of right judgment; they despise the innocent and humble and are close companions of the bloodthirsty, and the proud, and parricides, and the adulterous enemies of God, acclaiming to the stars, if chance so offers, all those who ought, together with their very name, be exterminated; they have many subdued in their prisons, those who more by deceit than by justice bear the burden of chains; in oath taking they linger among the altars, and shortly afterwards look on them with contempt as if they were filth stained stones. On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise

A Nation Declines

Fame alia virulentiore tacitus pullulante. quiescente autem vastitate tantis abundantiarum copiis insula affluebat ut nulla habere tales retro aetas meminisset, cum quibus omnimodis et luxuria crescit. Crevit etenim germine praepollenti, ita ut competentur eodem tempore diceretur: 'Omnino talis auditur fornicatio qualis nec inter gentes.' Non solum vere hoc vitium, sed et omnia quae humanae naturae accidere solent, et praecipue, quod et nunc quoque in ea totius boni evertit statum, odium veritatis cum assertoribus amorque mendacii cum suis fabricatoribus, susceptio mali pro bono, veneratio nequitiae pro benignitate, cupido tenebrarum pro sole, exceptio satanae pro angelo lucis. Ungebantur reges non per Deum sed qui ceteris crudeliores exstarent, et paulo post ab unctioribus non pro veri examinatione trucidabantur aliis electis trucioribus. Si quis vero eorum mitior et veritati aliquatenus propior videretur, in hunc quasi Britanniae subversorem omnia odia telaque sine respectu contorquebantur, et omnia quae displicuerunt deo et quae placuaerunt aequali saltem lance pendebantur, si non gratiora fuissent displicentia; ita ut merito patriae illud propheticum, quod veterno illi populo denuntiatum est, potuit aptari, ‘Filii’ inquiens ‘sine lege, dereliquistis Deum, et ad iracundiam provocastis sanctum Israel. Quid adhuc percutiemini apponentes iniquitatem? Omne caput languidum et omne cor maerens: a planta pedis usque ad verticem non est in eo sanitas.’   De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

Another more virulent hunger was silently growing. As the devastations quietened the island became rich with an abundance of affluence such that no age after remembered having such things, and along with it luxury grew. Indeed it grew with such strong root that it might well be said at that same time: 'Such fornication is not heard about even among the Gentiles.'1 But it was not spring for this vice alone, but also for all those vices which human nature is accustomed to fall into, especially the vice which presently overturns the condition of all good: the hatred of truth along with her advocates and the love of falsehood together with its fabricators, the taking up evil for good, the veneration of iniquity rather than kindness, the desire for darkness rather than the sun, the welcoming of Satan as an angel of light. Kings were anointed, not in the name of God, but such as they excelled others in cruelty, and after a little while, without an examination of truth, they were butchered by those who anointed them for different elected savages. If any one of them seemed to be more mild and nearer to truth, against him were turned, without respect, the hatred and weapons of all, as if he would be the overthrow of Britain; and all things which displeased God and all things which pleased Him had equal weight in the balance, if things displeasing were not preferred; thus to this land the saying of the prophet which denounced an ancient people was apt to be applied with merit: ' Sons without the law, you have forsaken God and moved the Holy One of Israel to anger. Why will you be beaten any more by adding to iniquity? Every head is weak and every heart groans; from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no health in it.' 2 On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise 1 1 Cor 5.1 2 Is 1. 4-6