Ways Of Denial

Solent quaedam, cum futuram virginem spoponderint, pulla tunica eam induere, et furvo operire pallio, auferre linteamina: nihil in collo, nihil in capite auri sinere: revera bono consilio, ne habere discat in tenero, quod postea ponere compellatur. Aliis vero e contra videtur. Quid enim, aiunt, si ipsa non habuerit, habentes alias non videbit? φιλόκοσμον genus femineum est; multasque etiam insignis pudicitiae, quamvis nulli virorum, tamen sibi scimus libenter ornari. Quin potius habendo satietur; et cernat laudari alias, quae ista non habeant. Meliusque est, ut satiata contemnat, quam non habendo, habere desideret. Tale vero quid et Israelitico fecisse populo Dominum, ut cupientibus aegyptias carnes, usque ad nauseam, et vomitum praeberet examina coturnicum: multosque saeculi prius homines, facilius carere experta corporis voluptate, quam eos qui a pueritia libidinem nesciant. Ab alii enim nota calcari, ab aliis ignota appeti. Illos vitare poenitendo suavitatis insidias, quas fugerunt: hos carnis illecebras, dulci titillatione corporis blandientes dum mella putant, venena noxia reperire. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola CXXVIII, Ad Gaudentium Source: Migne PL 22.1096

Some mothers when they have vowed a daughter to virginity clothe her in sombre garments and cover her in a dark cloak, and do not allow her to have linen or golden ornaments for her neck or head. With wise understanding they will not have her learn in tender years what she will afterwards be compelled to set aside. To others the opposite is true. 'Why may she not have these things', they say, 'when she will see them on other women? It is of the nature of women to be 'philokosmos,' that is, lovers of finery, and we know of many of excellent chastity who adorn themselves for themselves and not for men. Let her have what she will, but let her see that they who do not need such things are praiseworthy. It is better that she scorns what she has enjoyed than having lacked such things she should have a desire for them. This is what the Lord did to the people of Israel, for when they longed for the feasts of Egypt he gave them the quails even to satiation and sickness. 1 Many men who have lived worldly lives more easily cast off the pleasures of the flesh than those who have known nothing of pleasure from their boyhood. For the former trample on what they know but the latter are drawn to what they do not know. In penitence the former shun the subtle allures which they have fled, the latter dally with the attractions of the flesh and think the alluring delights of the body to be sweet as honey, only to find them a fatal poison. Saint Jerome, from Letter 128, To Gaudentius 1 Exod 16, Numb 11

Despising The Name

Ad vos, o sacerdotes, qui despicitis nomen meum, et dixistis: In quo despeximus nomen tuum? Offertis super altare meum panem pollutum, et dicitis : In quo polluimus te? in eo quod dicitis : Mensa Domini despecta est. LLX: Vos, o sacerdotes, qui despicitis nomen meum, et dixistis: In quo despeximus nomen tuum? Offerentes ad altare meum panes pollutos et dixistis: In quo polluimus ipsos? In eo quod dicitis, mensa Domini despecta est, et quae superpoista sunt despexistis Quod autem sequitur: et qua superposita sunt despexistis, obelo praenotavimus, quia in Hebraico non habetur, et de sequentibus additum est. Ad vos, igitur, o sacerdotes, qui despicitis nomen meum, iste sermo dirigitur: qui reversi de Babylone, metu praeteritae servitutis, debueratis ad Dominum plena mente converti: et non solum hoc non facitis, sed imitantes Cain, superbis contra Deum vocibus respondentes, sciscitamini ab eo quem occulta non fallunt, et dicitur: In quo despeximus nomen tuum? ut dissimulationis impudentia, vulnus conscientiae protegatis. Vultis ergo scire in quo despexeritis nomen meum? Offertis super altare meum panem pollutum: panes videlicet propositionis, quos juxta traditiones Hebraicas, ipsi serere, ipsi demetere, ipsi molere, ipsi coquere debebatis: et nunc sumitis quoscumque de medio, et voce temeraria respondetis, et dicitis, in quo polluimus eos, sive te? Dum enim sacramenta violantur, ipse cujus sunt sacramenta violatur. Hoc autem quod sequitur: In eo quod dicitis, mensa Domini despecta est, possumus ita interpretari: Quod reversi de Babylone, necdum templo aedificato, manentes in casulis, et in ruinis urbis antiquae, altare tantum exstruxerant, non ejusdem gloriae, cujus pristinum fuerat, et putabant deesse religionis sanctimoniam, quia deerat aedificationis ambitio. Tenues lineas duximus, quibus imprimenda est explanatio spiritualis. Corripit sermo divinus episcopos, atque presbyteros et diaconos negligentes, sive quoniam genus sacerdotale et regale sumus, omnes qui baptizati in Christo, Christi censentur nomine, cur despiciant nomen Dei: et interrogantibus, in quo despexerint nomen ejus, causas monstrat offensae: Offertis, inquit, super altare meum panem pollutum. Polluimus panem, id est, corpus Christi, quando indigni accedimus ad altare, et sordidi mundum sanguinem bibimus, et dicimus, mensa Domini despecta est; non quod hoc aliquis audeat dicere, et quod impie cogitat scelerata voce, proferre; sed opera peccatorum despiciunt mensam Dei. Possumus et aliter dicere: Doctor Ecclesiae qui spiritualem conficit panem, et eum populis dividit, si vel propter humanam gloriam, vel lucra saeculi quae gloriam consequuntur, loquatur in populis et divitibus blandiatur, et honoret peccatores, et juxta Jacobum suscipiat eos, qui cum annulis aureis ad se veniunt, et pauperes sanctos repellat, nomen Dei despicit, et panem polluit doctrinarum, et in ipsum Deum jacit contumelias, mensam Scripturarum ejus mensis idolorum saecularisque doctrinae putans esse communem. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarium In Malachiam Prophetam, Caput I Source: Migne PL 25.1548a-1549a

To you, O priests, who despise my name, and have said, 'How have we despised your name?' You offer polluted bread on my altar and you say, 'How have we polluted you?' By what you say the table of the Lord has been made contemptible.' The Septuagint has, 'You, O priests, who despise my name and have said, 'How have we despised your name?' You are offering polluted bread at my altar and you say 'How have we polluted it?' By what you say the table of the Lord is made contemptible and you have despised what has been set on it.' 1 We warn in advance that we have omitted what comes last here, 'and you have despised what you have set on it,' because it it not found in the Hebrew and has been added to comment on what precedes. To you, therefore, O priests, who despise my name, this speech means that having returned from Babylon you neglected reverence in service, you who should have fully turned your minds to the Lord, and it is not only that which you do, but imitating Cain, you reply to the Lord with proud voices, 2 and you enquire of Him who is not deceived by hidden things with, as it is said, 'How have we despised your name?' So you dissimulate with insolence, covering up the wound of your conscience. You wish to know how you have despised my name? You offer polluted bread on my altar, that is, the bread of showing, which according to the traditions of the Jews you should sow and reap, and grind and bake, but now you take up whatever you have and with a bold voice answer and say, 'In what way have we polluted it or you?' While what is holy is violated, He who hold these things as holy is insulted. In that which follows: 'By what you say the table of the Lord has been made contemptible,' we are able to understand this, that returning from Babylon, with the temple yet unbuilt, you dwelt in huts in the ruins of the old city, and the altar alone you set up, but not in its glory as it was of old, for you thought to be careless in the sacred things of religion because you were negligent in your eagerness to rebuild. We have thus considered these few lines, from which we must now take up the spiritual understanding. Here the Divine word cries out against negligent bishops and priests and deacons, or indeed, because we are a priestly and royal race, 3 all who have been baptised in Christ and are reckoned by the name of Christ, asking why they scorn the name of God, and to those addressed, regarding how they have despised his name, He shows the cause of the offense, 'You offer polluted bread on my altar.' We pollute the bread, that is, the body of Christ, when we come unworthily to the altar and in uncleanliness drink the pure blood. Thus we say, 'The table of the Lord has been made contemptible.' Not that someone would dare to say this and give voice to impious thoughts, but the works of sin despise the table of the Lord. We can also speak of this in another manner. A teacher of the Church who fashions spiritual bread and distributes it among the people, if he seeks human glory or worldly advantage in it, he then speaks among the people to flatter the rich and to honour sinners, and according to James, he receives those who come to him with golden rings, and he turns away those who are poor and holy, 3  and thus he despises the name of God and pollutes the bread of teachings, and he boasts insolently before God, thinking that the table of the Scriptures is much like the table of idols and the world's teaching. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on The Prophet Malachi , Chapter 1 1 Malac 1.7 2 Gen 4.9 3 1 Per 2.9 4 James 2.2-3

Sin And Holiness

Sic docuit Apostolos suos, ut quotidie in corporis illius sacrificio credentes audeant loqui: Pater noster, qui es in coelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Illi nomen Dei, quod per se sanctum est, in se sanctificari cupiunt; tu dicis: 'Nosti, Domine, quam sanctae, et quam innocentes, et quam purae manus meae sint.' Illi inferunt: Adveniat regnum tuum: spem regni futuro tempore praestolantes, ut regnante Christo, nequaquam regnet peccatum in mortali eorum corpore, junguntque: Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo et in terra, ut imitetur Angelos humana fragilitas, et voluntas Domini compleatur in terra. Tu dicis: "Potest homo si voluerit omni carere peccato. Panem quotidianum, sive, super omnes substantias, venturum Apostoli deprecantur, ut digni sint assumptione corporis Christi. Et vos per nimiam sanctitatem, securamque justitiam audacter vobis coelestia dona vendicatis. Sequitur: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. De baptismatis fonte surgentes, et regenerati in Dominum Salvatorem, impleto illo, quod de se scriptum est: Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata, statim in prima communione corporis Christi dicunt: Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, quae illis fuerant in Christi confessione dimissa; et tu arrogans et superbus de sanctarum puritate manuum, et munditia eloquii gloriaris. Quamvis sit hominis perfecta conversio, et post vitia atque peccata virtutum plena possessio, numquid possunt sic esse sine vitio, quomodo illi, qui statim de Christi fonte procedunt? Et tamen jubentur dicere: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris: non humilitatis mendacio, ut tu interpretaris, sed pavore fragilitatis humanae suam conscientiam formidantis. Illi dicunt: Ne nos inducas in tentationem, tu cum Joviniano loqueris, eos qui plena fide baptisma consecuti sunt, tentari ultra, et peccare non posse. Ad extremum inferunt: Sed libera nos a malo. Quid precantur a Domino, quod habent in liberi arbitrii potestate? O homo, nunc mundus factus es in lavacro, et de te dicitur: Quae est ista, quae ascendit dealbata, innitens super fratruelem suum? ut lota quidem sit, sed custodire non valeat puritatem, nisi a Domino Deo sustentetur. Quomodo cupis Dei misericordia liberari, qui paulo ante liberatus es a peccatis? nisi hac ratione qua diximus, ut cum omnia fecerimus, nos inutiles esse fateamur. Oratio ergo tua Pharisaei vincit superbiam, et publicani comparatione damnatur; qui de longe stans, oculos ad Deum non audebat attollere, sed percutiebat pectus suum, dicens: Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori. Unde profertur Domini sententia: Dico vobis, descendit hic justificatus in domum suam plus quam ille. Omnis enim qui se exaltat, humiliabitur, et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur. Apostoli humiliantur, ut exaltentur. Discipuli tui elevantur, ut corruant. Sanctus Hieronymous, Dialogus Adversus Pelagianos, Liber III Source: Migne PL 23.585a-586b

He instructed His Apostles that every day at the sacrifice of His body the faithful may dare to say, 'Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name,' 1 earnestly desiring the name of God, which in itself is holy, to be hallowed in themselves, but you say, 'You know, O Lord, how holy, how innocent, and how pure are my hands.' They say, 'Your Kingdom come,' anticipating the hope of the future kingdom, so that when Christ reigns sin may no longer reign in their mortal bodies, 2 and they add, 'Your will be done in earth as it is in Heaven,' so that human weakness may imitate the angels, and the will of our Lord may be fulfilled on earth, but you say, 'If a man wishes, he can be free from all sin.' The Apostles prayed for the daily bread, or the bread surpassing all things, which was to come, so that they might be worthy to receive the body of Christ, but you are led by an excess of holiness and assured righteousness to claim with all audacity the heavenly gifts. It follows, 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.' Rising from the baptismal font, and being born again and incorporated into our Lord and Saviour, they thus fulfil what is written of them, 'Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are blotted out,' 3 and then again at the first communion of the body of Christ they say, 'Forgive us our trespasses,' although they were forgiven them with their confession of Christ, but you in your arrogance and pride glorify the cleanliness of your holy hands and the purity of your speech. Although a man may have converted fully, and however firm his possession of virtue is after a time of sins and failings is, can he be as free from fault as those who are just leaving the font of Christ? And yet these latter are commanded to say, 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,' and this not in a spirit of a false humility, as you would understand it, but because of the fear of human frailty and a dread of their own conscience. They say, 'Lead us not into temptation,' but you with Jovinian say that those who have been baptized with a full faith are beyond temptation and cannot sin. Lastly they add, 'But deliver us from evil.' Why do they beg from the Lord what they have already by the power of free will? O, man, now you have been made clean by washing, and it is said of you, 'Who is this that comes up all white, leaning upon her beloved?' 4 that is, she is washed, yet she cannot keep her purity unless she is supported by the Lord. How is it that you long to be delivered by the mercy of God, who just a little while ago were released from your sins? It is for the reason we have spoken of, that when we have done everything that we confess we are useless. 5 Therefore your prayer outdoes the pride of the Pharisee, and you are condemned when compared with the tax collector,  who, standing at a distance, did not dare lift up his eyes up to Heaven, but struck his own breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' Hence the Lord's declaration, 'I say to you this man went down to his house justified and not than the other. For every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.' 6 The Apostles are humbled so that they may be exalted. Your disciples are lifted up so that they may fall Saint Jerome, Dialogue Against the Pelagians, Book 3 1 Mt 6.9 2 Rom 6.12 3 Ps 31.1 4 Song 8.15 5 Lk 17.10 6 Lk 18.13-15

Refusing To Confess

Quomodo dicis, Non sum polluta, post Baalim non abii? Vide vias tuas in convalle. Sive valle, quae Hebraice dicitur ge, et a LXX interpretatur πολυάνδριον, quod sermone nostro dicit potest, sepulcrum multitudinis. Frustra, inquit, non vis confiteri sclerea sua, et jactas munditiam, quae idololatriae polluta es sordibus; et impudenter negas te coluisse idolum Baalim. Respice convallem filiorum Ennon, quae Siloe fontibus irrigatur, et ibi cernes delubrum Baal, quem relicto Dei, venerata es. Quodque additur: Scito quid feceris, clausos oculos aperit denegantis, ut cernat quod erubescit aspicere. Juxta tropologiam, impudentiam frontis eorum qui nolunt sua vitia confiteri, operibus arguamus. Hujuscemdoi enim homines non ambulant in arcta et in angusta via, quae ducit ad vitam: sed in lata et spatiosa, per quam ingrediuntur plurimi, quae ducit ad mortem. Unde et significanter πολυάνδριον nominata est. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Prophetam, Liber I, Caput II Source Migne PL 24.720d-721a

How do you say, 'I am not polluted. I have not gone off after the Baals?' Look at your ways in the valley. 1 The word valley or vale in Hebrew is 'Ge,' and was rendered by the Septuagint as 'polyandrion,' which one can say in our tongue is 'tomb of many' It is in vain, it says, that you refuse to confess your evil deeds and you boast that you are clean, even though you are polluted with the filth of idolatry and shamelessly you deny that you have worshipped the idol of the Baals. Look at the valley of the sons of Hinnom which the springs of Siloam water, and there you will see the shrine of Baal, whom you have venerated, forsaking God. And what is added, 'know what you have done,' opens the closed eyes of him who denies it, so that he will see what he blushes to look on. According to the tropological sense, let us dispute the deeds of those with proud faces, who refuse to admit their vices, for such men will not walk on the straight and narrow path that leads to life, but on the wide and spacious path that leads to death, through which many enter. 2  Whence the name of 'polyandrion,' that is, 'tomb of many' is given. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Jerem 2.23 2 Mt 7.13-14

The Son of Man

'Et interrogabat discipulos suos, dicens: 'Quem dicunt homines esse Filium hominis?'  Non dixit, quem me dicunt esse homines, sed Filium hominis: ne jacanter de se quaerere videretur. Et quod ubicumque scriptum est in veteri Testamento, filius hominis in Hebraeo positum sit, filius Adam. Ut est illud, quod in psalmo legimus: Filii hominum usquequo gravi corde , quod in Hebraei dicitur, filii Adam. Pulchre autem interrogat: Quem dicunt homines esse Filium hominis? quia qui de Filio hominis loquntur, homines sunt: qui vero divinitatem ejus intelligunt, non homines, sed dii appellantur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentaria in Matthaeum, Liber III, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 25.115a

And He asked His disciples saying, 'Who do men say the Son of Man is?' 1 He did not ask who do men say I am, but 'the Son of Man,' lest He seem to be boasting about Himself with His question. And the name which is everywhere written in the Old Testament 'Son of Man' in Hebrew is 'Son of Adam.' As when in the Psalm it reads 'Sons of men, how long will your hearts be heavy?' 2 which in Hebrew reads 'Sons of Adam'. The question, 'Who do men say that the Son of Man is?' is put beautifully, for they who speak of the Son of Man, are men, but they who understand His Divine nature are called not men but Gods. 3 Saint Jerome, Commentary on Matthew, Book 3, Chapter 16 1 Mt 16.13 2 Ps 4.3 3 Ps 81.6

An Angel's Descent

Angelus autem Domini descendit cum Azaria et sociis ejus in fornacem, et excussit flammam ignis de fornace... Oppressa perturbationibus anima, et variis molestiis occupata, cum hominum desperaverit auxilium, et tota ad Dominum fuerit mente conversa, descendit ad eam angelus Domini, scilicet, sermo divinus, et excutit flammae aestuantis ardores: ut nequaquam ignita jacula inimici cordis nostri arcana penetrent, nec illius fornace claudamur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Daniel, Caput III Source: Migne PL 25.510b-c

And an angel of the Lord came down among Azarias and his companions in the furnace... 1 When the soul is oppressed by troubles and occupied by many worries, when it despairs of the help of men, and with all its mind it turns to the Lord, the angel of the Lord descends, that is, the divine word, and it extinguishes the fire of scorching flames, so that the blazing shaft of the enemy does not penetrate into the secret chambers of our heart, nor are we shut up in his furnace. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 3 1 Dan 3.49

Bearing The Stigmata

Ego autem stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore meo porto. Qui post adventum Christi in carne circumciditur, non portat stigmata Domini Jesu; sed habet gloriam in confusione sua. Qui vero in plagis supra modum, in carceribus frequenter, ter virgis caesus est, semel lapidatus est, et caetera quae in catalogo scripta sunt gloriandi, hic stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore suo portat. Forte et is qui macerat corpus suum, et subjicit servituti, ne aliis praedicans ipse reprobus inveniatur, portat stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore suo. Laetabantur et apostoli quod digni fuerant pro nomine Jesu contumeliam pati. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.438a

But I bear the stigmata of the Lord Jesus on my body... 1 He who after the coming of Christ is circumcised in the flesh does not bear the stigmata of the Lord Jesus, but he glories in his confusion. However he who receives blows for the way, and frequent imprisonments, and has fallen three times, and was once stoned, and the other things which are recorded for glory, 2 he bears the stigmata of the Lord Jesus on his body. And perhaps even he who emaciates his body and subjects it to servitude, lest he merit reproof when preaching to others, bears the stigmata of the Lord Jesus on his body. 3 And the Apostles rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer abuse for the name of Jesus. 4 Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Galat 6.17 2 2 Cor 23-25 3 1 Cor 9.27 4 Act 5.41

Apostles and Prisoners

Paulus vinctus Jesu Christi... In nulla Epistola hoc cognomine usus est, licet in corpore epistolorum, ad Ephesios vidlicet et Philippenses, et Colossense, esse se in vinculis pro confessione testetur. Majoris autem mihi videtur supercilii, vinctum se Jesu Christi dicere, quam Apostolum. Gloriabantur quippe apostoli, quod digni fuerant pro nomine Jesu Christi contumeliam pati; sed necessaria auctoritas vinculorum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philemonem Source: Migne PL 26.605a

Paul, a prisoner for Jesus Christ... 1 Paul does not name himself in this way in any other letter, though among the collection of his letters, that is, in Ephesians and in Philippians and Colossians he bears witness that he is in chains because of his confession. But it seems to me it is of more importance to say he is a prisoner of Jesus Christ than an Apostle. Since the Apostles gloried that they were worthy to suffer abuse for the name of Jesus Christ, 2 the prestige of chains is unavoidable. Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Epistle to Philemon 1 Philemon 1 2 Acts 5.41

The Faithful and the Sanctified

Omnibus sanctis qui sunt Ephesi, et fidelibus in Christo Jesu. Quoniam sanctificata est mulier in fratre fideli et vir infidelis sanctificatus est in muliere fideli. Et sunt vasa quoque sancta, et mutae pecudes quae Deo mactantur in templo: propterea eos quos sanctos dixerat, vocavit et fideles: quia fides ex mente propriae descendit arbitrio: sanctificatio vero ex sanctificantis interdum, absque voluntate nostra, sumimur largitate. Sanctus Hieronymus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Primus Source Migne PL 26.444a-b

'To all the saints in Ephesus, and to the faithful in Jesus Christ.' 1 Because a woman is sanctified by a faithful brother and a faithless man is sanctified by the faithful wife, 2 and there are sacred vessels and there are dumb beasts that are sacrificed to God in the temple, 3 besides those whom he speaks of as sanctified, he also names the faithful, because faith comes from the judgement of one's own mind, but sanctification is from the one who sanctifies, that without our will we receive by largess. Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, Book 1 1. Ephes 1.1 2 1 Cor 7.14 3 Num 4. 21

Out Of Egypt

Et non dixerunt, Ubi est Dominus qui ascendere nos fecit de terra Aegypti: qui transduxit nos per desertum, per terram inhabitabilem et inviam: per terram sitis et imaginem mortis, per terram in qua non ambulavit vir, neque habitabit homo. Pro homine, LXX filium hominis interpretati sunt; et pro imagine mortis, de Theodotione additum est, umbra mortis. Quod cum iuxta historiam manifestum sit, illud considerandum est secundum anagogen, quod quamdiu in isto saeculo sumus, et de Aegypto educimur, paulatim ascendimus, et primum deserta transimus et terram inhabitabilem, quam sanctus inhabitare non debet, et inviam, ut difficultatem monstret itineris. Per terram sitis, ubi semper maiora cupimus, nec praesentibus contenti sumus; et imaginem, sive umbram mortis: semper enim in periculo consistimus, et ubique diabolus tendit laqueos suos: per terram, in qua non ambulavit vir, qui perfectae aetatis in Christo est. Omnes enim resurgemus in virum perfectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi. Neque unquam in ea habitat qui homo Dei est, vel filius hominis; sed semper ad maiora festinat. Ex quo perspicuum est, non esse perfectionem in via: sed in fine viae et in mansione, quae sanctis in coelestibus praeparatur, et quibus dicitur: Qui statis in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri. Frustra igitur nova ex veteri haeresis suspicatur, hic perfectam esse victoriam, ubi pugna est atque certamen, et incertus exitus futurorum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Prophetam, Liber I Caput II Source Migne PL 24.715b-716a

And they did not say, 'Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land uninhabitable and impassable, through a land of thirst and the image of death, through a land where a man does not walk and no one dwells.' 1 Instead of 'man' the Septuagint translates 'son of man,' and in the place of 'image of death' Theodotion's translation has 'shadow of death.' Since the history is clear, this should be considered according to anagoge. While we are in this world we are being led out of Egypt, and we go up by degrees. First we pass through the wilderness and the uninhabitable land, where a holy man should not dwell. Then it says the 'impassable land', to show the difficultly of the way. 'A land of thirst' is where we always desire more and are never content with present things. Then the image or shadow of death means we always stand in danger, and the devil sets his snares everywhere. 'Through a land where man does not walk' is the man who has obtained perfect stature, since we all will rise up to 'mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' 2 The man of God and the son of man, never dwelt in these places but always hurried to greater things. From this it is obvious that one does not reach perfection while on the way, but at the end of it and in the mansion prepared in heaven for the saints, about which it is said, 'You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.' 3 In vain, therefore, does a heresy, a new one that has come from an old one, suppose that the victory of perfection happens here, 4 when the future is combat, struggles, and an uncertain end. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Jerem 2.6 2 Ephes 4.14 3 Jn 14.2, Ps 135.2 4 Pelagianism

Scattering And Gathering Stones

Tempus spargendi lapides et tempus saltandi... Miror, quomodo vir disertus rem ridiculam in hoc loco dixerit: De destructione, inquiens, et aedificatione domorum Salomonis sermo est, quod homines nunc destruant, nunc aedificent: alii congregent lapides ad aedificia construenda, alii uae exstructa sunt, destruant, secundum illud Hoatianum: Diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis. Aestuat, et vitae disconvenit ordine toto. Hoc utrum recte, an perperam dixerit, lectoris arbitrio derelinquo. Nos prioris explanationis sequamur ordinem: Tempus saragendorum et congregandorum lapidum esse dicentes, juxta illud quod in Evangelio scriptum est: Potens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae. Quod tempus fuerit gentilis populi dispergendi, et tempus rursum in Ecclesiam congregandi. Legi in quodam libro, juxta Septuaginta tamen Interpretes, qui dixerunt: Tempus mittendi lapides, et tempus colligendi, severitatem Legis antiquae, Evangelli gratia temperatam. Lex quippe rigida, inbenigna, non parcens, peccantem interficit. Evangelii gratia miseretur, et ad poenitentiam provocat. Et hoc esse tempus mittendorum lapidum, sive congregandorum, quod lapides mittantur in Lege, colligantur in Evangelio. Hoc uturm vere ne ne dictum sit, suo imputetur auctori. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput III Source: Migne PL 23.1035c-1036b

A time of scattering stones, and a time of gathering stones... 1 I wonder how an educated man can have said of this passage that it speaks of the destruction and building of Solomon's temple, which men now destroyed and now built up, some gathering stones for the construction of the building and others destroying what had been built, as in the lines of Horace: He cast down, he built, he changes the square into a circle. He sweats, and is discontent with the whole order of life. 2 Whether he said this rightly or wrongly, I leave to the will of the reader to determine. We shall follow the arrangement of the previous expositions by saying that the time of the scattering and the gathering of stones is in accordance with that which is written in the Gospel: 'God can raise up sons of Abraham from these stones.' 3 Since there was a time when the peoples of the Gentiles were scattered and again a time when there were gathered into the Church. I have read in a certain book which follows the translation of the Septuagint and has here, 'a time for casting stones and a time for gathering,' that this is about the tempering of the old Law by the grace of the Gospel. Because the Law rigidly and unkindly and unsparingly kills sin, and the grace of the Gospel is merciful and calls to penance, this is the time of casting stones and gathering them, because stones are cast in the Law and gathered up in the Gospel. Now whether this which is said is true or not I leave to the author. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 1 Eccles 3.5 2 Horace Epis 1.1.99-100 3 Mt 3.9

Correcting Correction

Si ad me tantum epistolam scribis, ut me commoneas, et emendatum velis, ne caeteris scandalum facias, et aliis furentibus, jugulentur alii: cur libros contra me scribis ad alios, et legendos per satellites tuos toto orbe dispergis? Ubi est syllogismus tuus, quo me irretire conaris, et loqueris? Quem in hoc, magister optime, emendare cupiebas? si illos, ad quos scribis, nihil deliquerant; si me quem arguis, non ad me scripseras. Et ego tuis respondebo tibi sermonibus: Quem emendare cupiebas, magister indocte? eosne, qui non peccaverant? an me, ad quem non scripseras? Brutos putas esse lectores, et omnes non intelligere prudentiam tuam, immo malitiam, qua et serpens prudentior fuit cunctis bestiis in paradiso: ut a me secretam admonitionem flagites, quem publica accusatione persequeris; et non te pudet accusationem tuam Apologiam vocare? Quererisque cur opponam clypeum pugioni tuo, et tibi quasi religiosulus et sanctulus personam humilitatis imponis et dicis: Si erraveram, quare scribis aliis, et non meipsum redarguis? Hoc ipsum in te retorquebo: Quidquid enim me non fecisse causaris, quare non ipse fecisti? Velut si quis pugnis aliquem calcibusque collidens, si resistere voluerit, dicat ei: Nonne tibi praeceptum est: Qui te percusserit in maxillam, praebe illi et alteram? Quid enim, bone vir, tibi praeceptum est, ut me verberes; oculum mihi effodias; et si paululum me commovero, Evangelii mihi praecepta cantabis. Vis scire totas argutiarum tuarum strophas, et vulpecularum insidias, quae habitant in parietinis, de quibus Ezechiel loquitur: Quasi vulpes in deserto Prophetae tui, Israel? Ausculta quid feceris. Ita me in tua Praefatione laudasti, ut objicerentur mihi laudes tuae, et nisi me alienum a tanto laudatore dixissem, haereticus judicarer. Postquam repuli crimina, id est laudes tuas, et absque invidia tui nominis, respondi criminibus, non criminatori: atque ut me catholicum a te infamatus probarem, invectus sum in haereticos; irasceris, furis, et luculentissimos libros contra me cudis: quos quum legendos et cantandos omnibus tradidisses, certatim ad me de Italia, et urbe Roma, atque Dalmatia scripta venerunt, quibus me laudator pristinus ornasses praeconiis. Sanctus Hieronymus, Apologia Adversus Libros Rufini, Liber Tertius Source: Migne PL 23.462d-463c

If it is true that to me alone you write a letter so that you might admonish me, and, because you wish that I alone should be corrected and you do not want to scandalise others so that some will be enraged and some struck down, then why do you write books against me and send them to others, and indeed through your associates scatter them far and wide for the whole world to read? Where is your dilemma, with which you try to entangle me? 'Whom, best teacher, did you desire to correct with this correction? If it was those to whom you wrote, they did not err; if it was me whom you accuse, you did not write to me.' I will even reply to you in your own words: 'Whom did you wish to correct, unlearned master? Those who had done no wrong? Or me to whom you did not write?' Do you think your readers such brutes that none of them are capable of understanding your cleverness, or rather your wickedness, by which the serpent was more clever than all the beasts in paradise, 1 in insisting that my admonishment of you should be private, while you pursue a public accusation, and you do not even blush to call your accusation 'An Apology?' Then you complain that I oppose a shield to your dagger, and with much religiosity and sanctimoniousness you sport the mask of humility, and say: 'If I had erred, why did you write to others, and not refute me?' I will retort to you on this very point. What you complain I did not do, why did you not do yourself? It is as if a man is assaulting another with kicks and fists, and if the other should dare to resist, he will say to him: 'Do you not know the teaching, 'If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other one to him'? 2 What is this teaching to you, good fellow, but that when you would deal me a blow and strike out my eye, if I rouse myself a little, you sing to me the teachings of the Gospel. Do you wish to know all the windings of your cunning, and the plots of the foxes who dwell among the ruins, concerning which Ezekiel says, 'Like foxes in the desert are your prophets, O Israel.' 3 Listen to what you have done. You lauded me in your preface in such a way that your praises are made a ground of accusation against me, and if I had not said that I was stranger to such an admirer, I would have been judged a heretic. After I repelled your charges, that is, your praise, and that without ill will to you personally, for I addressed the accusations and not the accuser, and having inveighed against heretics to show that I was Catholic, though I was defamed by you, you became angry and were maddened, and you threw together the most magnificent works against me, which works when you had handed them over for everyone to read and announce, then writings came to me from Italy and Rome and Dalmatia, in which you, my old adulator, had adorned me with public acclaim. Saint Jerome, from the Apology Against The Books Of Rufinus, Book 3 1 Gen 3.1 2 Mt 5.39 3 Ezek 13.4

Hating Life

Et odivi vitam, quia malum super me opus quod factum est sub sole, quia omnia vanitas et pastio venti Si mundus in maligno positus est, et in tabernaculo isto Apostolus ingemiscit dicens, Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore morti hujus, recte odio habe omne quod sub sole factum est. Ad comparationem quippe paradisi et illius vitae beatitudinem, in qua spiritualibus pomis et virtutum deliciis fruebamur: nunc quasi in ergastulo et carcere sumus et valle lacrymarum, in sudor vultus nostri comedentes panem Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput II Source: Migne PL 23.1031b

And I hated life, because what was done beneath the sun weighed on me as an evil, since it was all a vanity and a feeding of the wind. 1 If 'the world is in wickedness set,' 2 and the Apostle groans in this tabernacle, saying, 'I am a wretched man, who shall free me from this body of death,' 3 rightly he has hate for everything that is done beneath the sun. Certainly compared to paradise and the blessed life, in which we shall feast on spiritual fruits and the delights of the virtues, we are now as if in a workhouse and a prison and in a valley of tears, and in the sweat of our faces we eat our bread. 4 Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2 1 Eccl 2.17 Vetus Latina 2 1 Jn 5.1 3 Rom 7.24 4 Gen 3.19

Nothing New

Estne verum de quo dicatur, vide hoc novum est: jam fuit in saeculis, quae fuerunt ante nos. Apertius hoc Symmachus transtulit: Putasne est, qui possit dicere: Vide hoc novum est, et jam factum est in saeculo, quod fuit ante nos. Cum superioribus autem congruit quod nihil novum in mundo fiat: nec sit aliquis, qui possit existere, et dicere, ecce hoc novum est: siquidem omne quod se putaverit novum ostendere, jam in prioribus saeculis fuit. Nec putemus signa, atque prodigia, et multa, quae arbitrio Dei nova in mundo fiunt in prioribus saeculis esse jam facta, et locum invenire Epicurum, qui asserit per innumerabiles periodos eadam, et eisdem in locis, et per eosdem fieri. Alioquin et Judas crebro prodidit, et Christus passes est saepe pro nobis, et caetera quae facta sunt, et futura, in easdem similiter periodos revolventur. Sed dicendum, quod ex praescientia et praedestinatione Dei jam ea facta sint, quae futura sunt. Qui enim electi sunt in Christo ante constitutionem mundi, in prioribus saeculis jam fuerunt. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput I Source: Migne PL 23.1019b-1020a

It is not true, when it is said of something, 'See, this is new,' for it already was in the past which is behind us. 1 Symmachus more broadly translates this as: 'Do not think someone can say, 'See, this is new,' for it was done in the past, which is behind us.' This harmonises with what has been said, that there is nothing new in the world, nor is there someone who can consider it and say 'Behold, this is new,' because everything he claims to be new has been in the past. But let us not think that the signs and wonders, indeed very many of them, which the will of God has made in the world were already done in the past, turning to that passage in Epicurus which asserts that there are innumerable identical ages, and that things are done in the same place and by the same people, so that Judas has frequently betrayed, and Christ has often suffered for us, and so on with the rest of the things that were done, which likewise occur with the revolution of the ages. But it must be said that because of the prescience and predestination of God, these things were done which are yet in the future. For they who have been chosen in Christ before the beginning of the world, 2 were already so in the past. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 1 Eccles 1.10 Vetus Latina 2 Mt 7.3-5

The Time Of Sowing

Ergo, dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Tempus sementis, ut diximus, tempus est praesens, et quam currimus. In hac licet nobis quod volumus seminare; cum ista vita transierit operandi tempus aufertur. Unde et Salvator ait: Operamini dum dies est: veniet nox, quando jam nullus poterit operari. Ortus est nobis Dei sermo, sol verus, et congregatae sunt bestiae recedentes in cubilia sua: procedamus ut homines ad opus nostrum, et usque ad vesperam laboremus, sicut mystice cantatur in psalmo: Posuisti tenebras, et facta est nox. In ipsa pertransibunt bestiae silvae, catuli leonum rugientes, ut rapiant, et quaerant a Deo escam sibi. Ortus est sol, et congregatae sunt, et in cubilibus suis dormierunt. Egredietur homo ad opus suum, et ad operationem suam usque ad vesperam. Sive aegrotamus, sive sani sumus, humiles, vel potentes, pauperes, divites, ignobiles, honorati, esurientes, sive vescentes, omnia in nomine Domini cum patientia et aequanimitate faciamus, et implebitur in nobis illud quod scriptum est: Diligentibus autem Dominum, omnia cooperantur in bonum. Ira ipsa et libido, et injuria quae desiderat ultionem, si me refrenem: si propter Deum taceam: si per singulos commotionis aculeos, et incentiva vitiorum, Dei desuper me videntis recorder, fiunt mihi occasio triumphorum. Ne dicamus in largiendo: Ille est amicus, hunc nescio: hic debet accipere, iste contemni. Imitemur Patrem nostrum, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos. Fons bonitatis omnibus patet. Servus et liber, plebeius et rex, dives et pauper, ex eo similiter bibunt. Lucerna cum accensa fuerit in domo, omnibus lucet aequaliter. Quod si in cunctos indifferenter liberalitatis frena laxantur, quanto magis in domesticos fidei, et in Christianos, qui eumdem habent Patrem, ejusque magistri appellatione censentur! Videtur autem mihi locus iste posse et superioribus cohaerere, ut domesticos fidei, magistros nominet, quibus supra omnia quae putantur bona, ab auditoribus suis jusserat ministrari. Breve est vitae istius curriculum. Hoc ipsum quod loquor, quod dicto, quod scribo, quod emendo, quod relego, de tempore meo mihi aut crescit, aut deperit. Titus, filius Vespasiani, qui in ultionem Dominici sanguinis, subversis Jerosolymis, Romam victor ingressus est, tantae dicitur fuisse bonitatis, ut cum quadam nocte sero recordaretur, in coena, quod nihil boni die illa fecisset, dixerit amicis: Hodie diem perdidi. Nos putamus non perire nobis horam, diem, momenta, tempus, aetates, cum otiosum verbum loquimur, pro quo reddituri sumus rationem in die judicii? Quod si hoc ille sine Lege, sine Evangelio, sine Salvatoris, et apostolorum doctrina, naturaliter et dixit, et fecit: quid nos oportet facere, in quorum condemnationem habet et Juno univiras, et Vesta virgines, et alia idola continentes? Beatus Joannes evangelista cum Ephesi moraretur usque ad ultimam senectutem, et vix inter discipulorum manus ad ecclesiam deferretur, nec posset in plura vocem verba contexere, nihil aliud per singulas solebat proferre collectas, nisi hoc: Filioli, diligite alterutrum. Tandem discipuli et fratres qui aderant, taedio affecti, quod eadem semper audirent, dixerunt: Magister, quare semper hoc loqueris? Qui respondit dignam Joanne sententiam: Quia praeceptum Domini est, et si solum fiat, sufficit. Hoc propter praesens Apostoli mandatum: Operemur bonum ad omnes: maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.432b-433c

Therefore while we have time, let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith. 1 The time of sowing, as we have said, is the present time, in which we run. In this we are permitted to sow what we will, and when this life shall have passed by the time of such labouring is finished. Whence the Saviour says: 'Work while it is still day. The night shall come when no one will be able to work.' 2 The sun of the word of God has risen on us, the true sun, and the beasts have been gathered up and withdrawn into their lairs, and so let us as men go to our work, and even to the evening let us labour, as is spiritually sung in the Psalm: 'You set down darkness and it was night. In it pass all the beasts of the wood, the roaring of lion whelps, that they might seize, and they seek from God food for themselves. The sun has risen, and they have been gathered up and in their lairs they sleep. Man goes out to his work, and to his labour until the evening.' 3 Whether we are sick or healthy, humble or powerful, poor or rich, obscure or honoured, hungry or full, let us do everything in the name of the Lord in patience and contentment, and we shall fulfill in ourselves what has been written: 'But for the lovers of the Lord everything works together for goodness.' 4 If I restrain myself from anger and lust and the injury that seeks vengeance, if for the sake of God I am silent, if through every sharp disturbance and incentive for vice I remind myself that God watches from above, there shall be for me an occasion of triumph. Let us not say in plenty, 'That fellow is a friend, this one I do not know. This one should be received, that one scorned.' Let us imitate our Father who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked, and makes it rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous. 5 He opens the fount of kindness to all and from that slave and free, commoner and king, rich and poor, all likewise drink. A lamp that has been lit in a house shines equally on everyone, 6 whence if the reign of generosity is loosed impartially for everyone, how much more for those who are servants of the faith and Christians, who have the same Father, and those who are reckoned to be His teachers? It seems to me that it is possible to join this passage with those before, so that from hearers he exhorts service of those he names servants of the faith and teachers, whom are thought as goods above all. Brief is the time of this life. This which I say, and dictate, and write, and correct, and review, grows or perishes in my time. Titus, the son of Vespasian, who in revenge for the blood of the Lord, overthrew Jerusalem, entered Rome as victor, and it is said that such was his benevolence, that when late one night at a feast he remembered that he had done no good that day, he said to his friends, 'Today I have wasted a day.' Shall we not think that we have wasted an hour, a day, a moment, a year, an age, when we speak worthless words, for which we shall have to give a reason on the day of judgement? 7 If this fellow without the Law, without the Gospel, without the Saviour and the teaching of the Apostles, naturally said this and acted so, what is needful for us to do, for the condemnation of whom he had Juno of one husband, and the Vestal Virgins, and a collection of other idols? Blessed John the Evangelist, while he remained in Ephesus until final old age, had to be carried to the church by the hands of his followers, and unable to compose his voice for many words, he was accustomed to offer nothing else to the congregation but this: 'Little children, love one another.' 8Then when his pupils and brothers drew near, and being troubled with the repetition of what they always heard, said, 'Master, why do you always say this?' John replied with a worthy statement: 'Because it is the teaching of the Lord, and if this alone is done, it is enough.' Hence the command of this Apostle: 'Let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith.' Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Galat 6.10 2 Jn 9.4 3 Ps 103.20-23 4 Rom 8.28 5 Mt 5.45 6 Mt 5.15 7 Mt 12.36 8 cf 1 Jn 3.18

Leaven And Bread

Sciens autem Jesus, dixit eis: Quid cogitatis inter vos, modicae fidei, quia panes non habetis? Nondum intelligitis, neque recordamini quinque panum, et quinque millium hominum, et quot cophinos sumpsistis? Neque septem panum, quatuor millium hominum, et quot sportas sumpsistis? Quare non intelligitis, quia non de pane dixi vobis: Cavete a fermento Pharisaeorum, et Sadducaeorum. Tunc intellexerunt, quia non dixerit, cavendum a fermento panum, sed a doctrina Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum. Per occasionem praecepti quo Salvator jusserat dicens: Cavete a fermento Pharisaeorum et fermento Herodis. docet eos quid significent quinque panes et septem, sive pisciculi, aut quinque milia hominum et quatuor millia, quae pasta sunt in eremo; quod licet signorum magnitudo perspicua sit, tamen et aliud in spirituali intelligentia demonstretur. Si enim fermentum Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum non corporalem panem, sed traditiones perversas, et haeretica significat dogmata; quare et cibi, quibus nutritus est populus Dei, non veram doctrinam integramque significent? Quaerat aliquis et dicat: Quomodo panes non habebant, qui statim impletis septem sportis, ascenderunt in naviculam, et venerunt in fines Magedan: ibique audiunt navigantes, quod cavere debeant a fermento Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum? Sed Scriptura testatur quod obliti sint eos secum tollere. Hoc est fermentum, de quo et Apostolus loquitur; Modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit. Istiusmodi fermentum, quod omni ratione vitandum est, habuit Marcion, et Valentinus, et omnes haeretici. Fermentum hanc vim habet, ut si farinae mixtum fuerit, quod parvum videbatur, crescat in majus, et ad saporem suum universam conspersionem trahat: ita et doctrina haeretica, si vel modicam scintillam in tuum pectus jecerit, in brevi ingens flamma succrescit, et totam hominis possessionem ad se trahit. Denique sequitur: Tunc intellexerunt, quia non dixisset cavendum a fermento panum, sed a doctrina Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum. Sanctus Hieronymus, In Matthaei Evangelium Expositio, Liber Secundus, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 25.113b-114b

Jesus was aware, and said to them, 'Why do you think among yourselves, men of little faith, that you have no bread ? Do you not understand, do you not remember the five loaves and the five thousand and how many baskets you filled? Nor the seven loaves and the four thousand and their seven loaves, and how many hampers you filled? Why do you not understand that I did not speak of bread to you when I said, 'Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?' Then they understood that He did not speak a warning against leavened bread but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees 1 Because of the commandment which the Savour gave saying, 'Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians,' He teaches them the meaning of the five loaves and the seven, and the fish, and the five thousand men and the four thousand, who were fed in the desert, the greatness of which signs it is easy to grasp, but the spiritual understanding of them may require demonstration. For if the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees is not material bread, but pertains to perverse traditions and heretical teaching, why should the bread which nourished the people of God not signify true authentic teaching? Someone may ask a question about this and say, 'How did they not have bread, who just filled seven sacks and went up into the boat, and then they came to the borders of Magdalen, and there sailing heard that they should beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?' But Scripture bears witness that they had forgotten to bring these with them. This is the leaven, concering which the Apostle says, 'A little leaven corrupts the whole.' 2 This leaven, which in every sense is to be avoided, Marcion has, and Valentinus, and all heretics. This leaven has the power that if it is mixed with flour, then that what seemed small, grows into something great, and its aroma is diffused everywhere. Thus if even a tiny spark of hereritcal teaching is cast into the heart, then in a brief time a great flame rises up and it takes possession of the whole man. So it follows, 'Then they understood that He did not speak a warning against leavened bread but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Book 2 Chap 16 1 Mt 16.8-12 2 1 Cor 5.6

Deaf Ears, Hard Hearts

...Et aures suas aggravaverunt ne audirent. Et cor suum posuerunt ut adamantem, ne audirent legem, et verba quæ misit Dominus exercituum in spiritu suo per manum prophetarum priorum: et facta est indignatio magna a Domino exercituum. Et factum est sicut locutus est, et non audierunt: sic clamabunt et non exaudiam, dicit Dominus exercituum. Et aures, inquit, suas aggravaverunt ne audirent, sicut aspidis, surdae obturantis aures suas, quae non audiet vocem incantantium, et venefici incantantis sapienter. Ingravaverunt enim aures sua ut non audirent, et cor suum posuerunt, ut non acquiescerent legi Dei. Unde Isaias ad eos comminans loquitur: Incrassatum est cor populi hujus, et auribus suis graviter audierunt, et oculos suos clauserunt, ne forte viderent oculis suis, et audirent auribus, et corde intelligerent, et converterentur, et ego sanarem eos. Porro quod dicitur juxta Hebraicum: Et cor suum posuerunt adamentem, duritiam cordis ostendit, et cor lapideum, quod noluerint verba Dei suscipere. Adamas enim lapis fortissimus, qui Hebraice dicitur שׁמי־ intantum durus est, ut omnia metalla confringat, et ipse non confringatur ab ullo. Unde a Graecis indomabilis dicitur. Ab hoc adamante induratum est cor Pharaonis, ne dimitterent populum Dei. Et quia habuerunt, immo posuerunt cor suum adamantem, propria voluntate cordis duritiam suscipientes, ne audirent verba Domini, quae misit in spiritu suo, id est, in Spiritu sancto per manum prophetarum priorum, Isaiae, Osee, et caeterorum, qui mundas habuerunt manus, quos ante captivitatem fuisse manifestum est: idcirco ad magna peccata, magna facta est indignatio, et Domini verba completa sunt, par pari referentis, it sicut illi ambulaverunt ad eum perversi, et ipse adversum eos perversus incederet, et non audiret verba inclamantium, quia et illi verba Domini surda aure contempserint. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Zachariam Prophetam, Liber II Cap VII Source: Migne PL 25.1462c- 1463b

...They made their ears made heavy lest they hear, and they set their hearts like adamant lest they hear the Law, even the words which the Lord of hosts sent with His spirit through the hands of the prophets in times before, and the indignation of the Lord of hosts was great. And it was done as was said, they did not hear. So when they shall cry out I shall not attend to them, says the Lord of hosts. 1 They have made their ears heavy, he says, lest they hear,  just like the asp, which closes up its ears, that it not hear the voice of the singer clearly, nor the song of the enchanter. 2 They have made their ears heavy so that they shall not hear, and their hearts they have set so that they shall not obey the law of God. Whence Isaiah admonishing them, says: 'The heart of this people is bloated, and with their ears they hear dully, and they close up their eyes, lest perhaps they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and they turn and I heal them.' 3 In the Hebrew it is said: 'And they have set their hearts as adamant,' which shows the hardness of the heart, the stony heart, which does not wish to receive the words of God. Adamant is the strongest stone, which in Hebrew is called 'Samir,' and it is so hard that it shatters every metal, and it is not broken by anything. Whence in Greek it is called 'unbreakable.' With this adamant the heart of Pharaoh was made hard, lest he let the people of God go. 4 And because they have set their hearts as adamant, by their own will adopting this hardness of heart, lest they hear the words of the Lord, which He sent by His spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit working through the Prophets who came before, like Isaiah and Hosea, and the rest, who had clean hands, those who came forth before the captivity, therefore because of their grave sins, His indignation is great, and the word of the Lord is fulfilled, a part referring to a part, that as they had walked to Him in perversity, He would thus perversely set Himself against them and not hear the words of those who cry out to Him, because in scorn they turned a deaf ear to the word of the Lord. Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Zechariah, Book 2, Chapter 7 1 Zech 7.11-13 2 Ps 57.5-6 3 Isaiah 6.9-10, Acts 18.27 4 Exod 7

The Earth Of The Meek

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

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

Better Judgements

Non secundum visionem oculorum judicabit, neque secundum auditum aurium arguet: sed judicabit in justitia pauperes, et arguet in aequitate pro mansuetis terrae, et percutiet terram virga oris sui, et spiritu labiorum suorum interficiet impium. Et erit justitia cingulum lumborum ejus, et fides cinctorium renum ejus. Haec nos ad primum adventum referimus Salvatoris: Judaei in fine mundi contendunt futura. Porro LXX transtulerunt: Non secundum gloriam judicabit, neque juxta sermonem arguet: sed judicabit humili judicio, et arguet humiles terrae. Nullius enim personam accipit in judicio: sed Scribis et Pharisaeis ac principibus loquitur: Vae vobis, hypocritae: Et, Auferetur a vobis regnum Dei, et dabitur genti facienti fructus ejus. Nec secundum sermonem et auditum aurium corripuit. Illis enim dicentibus: Magister, scimus quia verax es, et viam Dei in veritate doces, et non ad te pertinet de aliquo: neque enim vides in faciem hominum: sciens malitiam eorum, respondebat: Quid me tentatis, hypocritae? et caetera his similia. Judicabat autem in justitia pauperes spiritu, quorum est regnum Dei: et arguebat in aequitate mansuetos et humiles terrae, dicens ad Apostolos: Adhuc et vos insipientes estis? Et iterum: Necdum scitis neque intelligitis? Et ad Petrum specialiter: Modicae fidei, quare dubitasti? Vel certe pro humilibus atque mansuetis alios arguebat, qui eos opprimere conabantur. Percussit quoque omnia terrena opera virga, sive ut LXX transtulerunt, verbo oris sui, loquens in Evangelio: Nolite putare, quia venerim mittere pacem super terram: non enim veni mittere pacem, sed gladium. Et spiritu labiorum suorum interficiet impium: de quo in nono Psalmo legimus: Increpasti gentes, et periit impius: nomen eorum delesti in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi. Et Paulus Apostolus scribit: Quem Dominus Jesus interficiet spiritu oris sui. Percusso autem impio, accinctus est Dominus justitia et veritate et fide. Ipse enim factus est nobis a Deo sapientia, et justitia, et sanctificatio et redemptio, qui et in Evangelio loquitur: Ego sum lux, et vita, et veritas. Et de Psalmis dicitur: Veritas de terra orta est: et justitia de coelo prospexit. Unde et Apostolus hortatur Ephesios: State ergo succincti lumbos vestros in veritate, et induti lorica justitiae. Quod si pro veritate, fides legitur, illud dicendum, quod cingulum Domini, quo cinctus est Jeremias, fides credentium sit. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Isaiam Prophetam, Lib IV Source Migne PL 24.146a-147a

He shall not judge according to the vision of the eyes, nor shall he determine according to the hearing of the ear, but He shall judge the poor justly and the shall determine fairly for the meek of the earth, and He shall strike the earth with the staff of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt about His waist, and faith the girdle of His loins. 1 We refer this to the first coming of the Saviour, the Jews argue that it is about the end of the world. The Septuagint translation runs: 'He shall not judge according to glory, not shall he determine according to speech, but He shall judge with a humble judgement and determine for the humble of the earth.' For He is no respecter of persons, but He says to the Scribes and Pharisees and elders: 'Woe to you hypocrites.' And: 'The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and it shall be given to a people to produce fruits from it.' 2 He shall not chastise according to the hearing of the ear. For when they said, 'Master, we know you are true, and you teach the way of God in truth, and you are not in awe of any man, nor are you are respecter of persons,' He was aware of their cunning, and answered: 'Why do you test me, hypocrites?' 3 And other things similar to this. But He shall judge justly the poor in spirit, of whom is the kingom of heaven, and he shall determine fairly among the meek and humble of the earth, saying to the Apostles: 'Are you yet so witless?' And again: 'Do you not know nor understand?' And to Peter specifically: 'O man of little faith, why did you doubt?' 4 Or certainly he will dispute with others for the humble and meek, against those who strive to oppress them. He also strikes all worldly works with a rod, or as the Septuagint translation has it: 'With the word of His own mouth,' saying in the Gospel: 'Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth, for I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.' 5 'And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.' Concerning which in the ninth Psalm we read: 'You cried out against the people and the wicked perished, you destroyed their name in the age and forever.' 6 And Paul the Apostle writes: 'Whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His own mouth.' 7 For when the Lord is girded with righteousness and truth and faith, the wicked are struck down. For He was made by God for us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, He who says in the Gospel: 'I am the light and life and truth.' 8 And in the Psalms it is said: 'Truth has arisen from the earth, and justice looks down from the skies.' Whence the Apostle exhorts in Ephesians: 'Therefore stand with your loins bound with truth, and wearing the breastplace of righteousness,' 9 Because if faith is read for truth, it must be said that the girdle of the Lord, with which Jeremiah was bound, is the faith of believers. 10 Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Prophet Isaiah, Book 4 1 Isaiah 11.3-4 2 Mt 23.13, 21.43 3 Mt 22.15-18 4 Mark 8.17 5 Mt 10.34 6 Ps 9.6 7 2 Thes 2.8 8 1 Cor 1.30, Jn 8.6 9 Ps 84.2, Ephes 6.14 10 Jerem 13

Judging Rightly

Et factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, dicens: Haec ait Dominus exercituum, dicens: Judicium verum judicate, et misericordiam et miserationes facite, unusquisque cum fratre suo. Et viduam, et pupillum, et advenam, et pauperem nolite calumniari: et malum vir fratri suo non cogitet in corde suo. Et noluerunt attendere, et averterunt scapulam recedentem, et aures suas aggravaverunt ne audirent. Et cor suum posuerunt ut adamantem, ne audirent legem, et verba quæ misit Dominus exercituum in spiritu suo per manum prophetarum priorum: et facta est indignatio magna a Domino exercituum. Et factum est sicut locutus est, et non audierunt: sic clamabunt et non exaudiam, dicit Dominus exercituum. Et dispersi eos per omnia regna quæ nesciunt: et terra desolata est ab eis, eo quod non esset transiens et revertens: et posuerunt terram desiderabilem in desertum. LXX: Et factus est sermo Domini ad Zachariam dicens: Haec dicit Dominus omnipotens, dicens: Judicium justum judicate, et misericordiam et miserationem faciat unusquisque ad fratrem suum: et viduam, et pupillum, et pauperem non opprimatis: et malitiae unusquisque fratris sui nolite meminisse in cordibus vestris. Et noluerunt attendere, et dederunt dorsum contemnens: et aures suas aggravaverunt, ut non audirent: et cor suum posuerunt inobediens, ut non audirent legem meam, et verba mea quae misit Dominus omnipotens in spiritu suo, in manibus prophetarum priorum. Et facta est ira magna a Domino omnipotente, et erit sicut dixi, et non audierunt eum. Sic clamabunt, et non exaudiam eos, dicit Dominus omnipotens: et ejiciam eos in omnes gentes quas ignoraverunt: et terra desolata est post eos a perambulante et revertente, et posuerunt terram electam in solitudinem. Haec magis volui, ista quaesivi, quae non facientes, captivitati estis traditi; et non desolationis ac mortis quinti mensis septimique jejunium. Justum judicium judicate, ne audiatis in Psalmis: Usquequo judicatis iniquitatem, et personas peccatorum sumitis? Judicate pupillo et viduae: humilem et pauperem justificate, ne vobis quoque loquatur Isaias: Qui justificant impium propter munera: et quod justum est justo auferunt: et propter vos Abaccuc ex persona eorum qui opprimuntur, Deo faciat invidiam: Contra me factum est judicium, et judex accipit: ideo dissipata est lex, et non pervenit usque ad finem judicium, quia impius opprimit justum. Nec novum putemus Dei esee praeceptum, olim per Moysen ista mandaverat: Sic magnum judicabis ut parvum: personam non accipies, et pauperis non misereberis in judicio: quoniam Dei judicium est. Misericordiam quoque et miserationes faciet unusquisque cum fratre suo. Post judicii serveritatem sequatur in cunctos clementia, et maxime in fratres, quos vel ejusdem sanguinis, vel unius nobiscum fidei esse perspicimus. Viduam quoque et pupillum, de quibus nobis praeceptum est: Esto pupillis pater, et pro viro matri eorum; judicans pupillum, et justificans viduam. Et advenam et pauperem nolite calumniari, quia alterum peregrinatio, alterum egestas humilem facit. Et malum vir fratri suo non cogitet in corde suo, sive ut a Septuaginta dicitur: Et malitiae unusquisque fratris sui non meminerit in cordibus suis. Fratrem autem et proximum, vel omne hominum genus debemus accipere; quia ex uno sumus parente generati, vel eos qui domestici fidei sunt, juxta parabolam Evangelii, quae proximum non consanguineum, sed omnes homines vult intelligi. Quod autem ante debeat ira finiri, quam sol occumbat, et omnium malorum quae ab liis passi sumus, deleri memoria, et in multis locis legimus, et maxime in Jeremia, qui ex persona Dei loquitur: Et malitiae proximi sui unusquisque in cordibus vestris ne memineritis. Cum ego ista praeceperim, illi attendere noluerunt, et verterunt scapulam recedentem, sive dorsum contemnens, ex habitu corporis mea imperia respuentes. Solemus enim quando rugata fronte, et nare contracta contemnimus admonentes, dorsum vertere, juxta illud quod scriptum est: Verterunt ad me dorsa, et non facies suas. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Zachariam Prophetam, Liber II Cap VII Source: Migne PL 25.1461a-1462b

The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: Judge with true judgement, and show mercy and compassion, each one to his brother. Do not speak ill of the widow, the orphan, the  migrant and the poor man. Let a man not think evil of his brother in his heart. And they did not listen. They turned their shoulders away, they made their ears deaf lest they hear, they hardened their hearts to adamant lest they hear the Law, even the words which the Lord of hosts sent with His spirit through the works of the prophets in times before, and the indignation of the Lord of hosts was great. And it was done as said, they did not hear. So when they called out I do not attend to them, says the Lord of hosts. So it was I scattered them thourgh every land they did not know, and their land was made desolate because of them, a place were no one came or went, for they made a land so fair a waste. The Septuagint has: 'The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: Judge with true judgement, and show mercy and compassion, each one to his brother. Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the migrant and the poor man, and let no one be mindful of the wickedness of his brother in his heart. And they did not hear, and they gave their backs to scorn, and they made deaf  their ears so they did not hear and they fixed their hearts in disobedience that they not hear my Law, and even the words which the Almighty Lord sent with His spirit through the hands of the prophets in times before. And the anger of the Almighty Lord was great, and it shall be as I have said, and they did not hear him. So they shall cry out, and I shall not hear them, says the Lord Almighty. I shall cast them out among all the people they do not know, and the land will be desolate because of them, for he who comes and goes, they who have made the chosen land a waste.' 1 These things I wished for, these things I sought, and because they were not done, you were handed over to captivity, and not to the desolation and mortification of the fifth and seven month fasts. 2 Judge justly lest you hear as in the Psalm: 'How long will you judge for wickedness, and put on the mask of the sinner? Judge for the orphan and the widow, justify the humble and the poor.' 3 Lest Isaiah also say to you: 'They who justify the wicked for gifts, and strip justice from the righteous man,' 4 and because of you, Habakkuk, in the person of those who are oppressed, shall speak their grievance to God, 'Judgement was made against me, and the judge received it, therefore the law is flouted, and there is no coming to true judgement, because the wicked oppress the righteous.' 5 Nor think this is a new teaching of God, that which was once commanded through Moses: 'So you shall judge the great as the small, you shall not be in awe of persons, and the poor you shall not  indulge in judgement, because it is the judgement of God.' 6 Also let everyone be merciful and compassionate with his brother. After the severity of judgement let clemency follow for all, and especially brothers, who are of your same blood, or who we see to be of the same faith with us. Also with the widow and orphan concerning which we are commanded: 'Be a father to orphans and a husband to their mother, judging for the orphan and justifying the widow.' 7 And do not speak ill of the migrant and the poor man, because you were once wanderers and you were once made needy by want. 8 And let a man not think evil of his brother in his heart, or as the Septuagint says, 'Let no one be mindful of the wickedness of his brother in his heart.' And for 'brother' we should understand a neighbour and every type of man, because we are all descended from one parent, or they are the servants of the faith, according to the parable of the Gospel, that wishes a neighbour to be understood not by blood relation but as all men. But let anger cease before the sun sets, 9 and let us suffer every evil from men, ridding ourselves of the memory of it, as we read in many places, and especially in Jeremiah, who in the person of God says: 'Let no one have the memory of a neighbour's wickedness in his heart.' 10 But when I commanded this, they were unwilling to attend, and they turned their shoulders away, or they scorned me with their backs, disregarding my teaching by a gesture of the body. For we are accustomed to ignore admonishments with the brow furrowed, and the nostrils narrowed, and with the back turned, according to which it is written: 'They turned their backs on me, and not their faces.' 11 Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Zechariah, Book 2, Chapter 7 1 Zech 7.8-14 2 Zech 7.5 3 Ps 81.2-3 4 Isaiah 5.23 5 Hab 1.3-4 6 Deut 1.17 7 Sirach 4.10 8 Deut 10.19 9 Lk 10.25-37, Ephes 4.26 10 cf Jerem 31.34 11 Jerem 2.27