Wealth And Salvation

Et circumspiciens Jesus, ait discipulis suis: Quam difficile qui pecunias habent, in regnum Dei introibunt. Discipuli autem obstupescebant in verbis ejus. At Iesus rursus respondens ait illis: Filioli, quam difficile est, confidentes in pecuniis, in regnum Dei introire. Ecce explanatio, quia eos quos primo dixit habere pecuniam: nunc exponendo dicit esse qui confidunt in pecuniis: unde Gloffa. Qui multiplicandis divitiis incumbunt, patet quia vitae alterius gaudia quaerere contemnunt. Sed aliud est pecuniam habere, aliud amare. Multi habent, et non amant: multi non habent, et amant: alii autem et habent et amant: alii vero nec habere, nec amare se gaudent, qui certiores sunt: qui cum Apostolo dicere possunt. Mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo. Unde Salomon ait Eccles. Qui amat divitias: fructum non capiet ex eis, quia vanae sunt. Sed ipse Dominus de his verbis obstupescentibus Discipulis exponit,dicens: filioli quam difficile est confidentes in pecuniis in regnum Dei introire. Qui volunt divites fieri, incidunt in tentationem e in laqueuin Diaboli: et in tentationes multas et nociuas, quae mergunt in interitum et perditionem. Ideo dicit Psal: Divitiae si affluant, nolite cor apponere. Ibidem etiam dicit Apostolus. Praecipe divitibus non sublime sapere, nec sperare in incerto divitiarum. Isti enim funt confidentes in divitiis, et difficile est tales in regnum Dei intrare hoc modo. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput X Source: Here p121

And Jesus looking around said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God.' And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus again answering, said to them, 'Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches, to enter into the kingdom of God.' 1 Consider the explanation, because those who He first spoke of having wealth He now expounds in speaking of those who trust in riches, hence the Gloss: 'Those who are burdened with an abundance of riches,' because it is manifest that they scorn the seeking of another life. It is one thing to have wealth and another thing to love it. Many have riches and do not love them, many do not have them and love them, and others have them and love them, but others rejoice in not having them and in not loving them, who are more secure, who are able to say with the Apostle, 'The world is crucified to me and I to the world.' And Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, 'He who loves riches shall gain no fruit from them, for they are vain.' 2 For the Lord Himself explains these words to the astonished disciples, saying, 'Children, how difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.' In the first letter to Timothy, 'Those who wish to be rich, they fall into temptation and in the trap of the devil,' and the temptations are many and harmful, and they drag down the soul into ruin and damnation. Therefore in the Psalm, 'If riches abound, do not set your heart on them.' Likewise the Apostle says, 'Warn the rich not to think too highly, nor to hope in the security of riches,' 3 for it is difficult for those who hope in riches to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 10 1 Mk 10.23-24 2 Galat 6.14, Eccles 5.9 3 1 Tim 6.9, Ps 61.11, 1 Tim 6.17

Tests And Signs

Non tentabis Dominum Deum tuum Tentare Deum, est se injicere periculo, ut experiatur an Deus miraculo eripere velit: cum ex humana ratione promptum habeat quid facere possit. Neque tentemus Deum, sicut quidam tentaverunt, et perierunt ab exterminatore. Si tamen a Deo offerretur signum: petere possemus et deberemus. Et ideo reprehenditur Achaz cui cum diceretur: Pete tibi signum etc, respondit; Non petam et non tentabo Dominum: sic enim signum petere: non est tentare Dominum Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Mattheum, Caput IV Source: Here p57

You shall not test the Lord your God. 1 To test God is to cast oneself into peril so that one may find out whether God wishes to save one with a miracle, when it is evident from human reason what it is possible to do. 'We should not test God, as those who tested him and perished by the exterminator.' 2 But if it is matter of receiving a sign from God, we can and should seek. And therefore Achaz was reproved when it was said to him, 'Seek a sign,' and he answered, 'I shall not seek and I shall not test the Lord.' 3 For to seek a sign is not to test God. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 4 1 Mt 18.11 2 1 Corin 10.9-10 3 Isaiah 7.12

A Firm Footing

Tοῦ θεμένου τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ζωὴν καὶ μὴ δόντος εἰς σάλον τοὺς πόδας μου Οὐ δίδονται εἰς σάλον οἱ πόδες τοῦ ἔσω ἀνθρώπου, ὅταν τις ίδρυνθῇ ἐπὶ τὸν ἀῤῥαγῆ καὶ ἰσχυρώτατον τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον· ὡς χαριστηρίως εἰπεῖν· Ἔστησας ἐπὶ πέτραν τοὺς πόδας μου. Τίθεται δὲ εἰς ζωὴν ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ τέλος κομιζομένου τῆς πίστεως σωτηρίαν· ὡς εἰπεῖν πιστῇ προθέσει· Kal ἡ ψυχή μου αὐτῷ ζῇ. Ζῇ δὲ ψυχὴ ἀρετὴν ἔχουσα καὶ σοφίαν· ὡς, ψυχὴ ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα ἀποθανεῖται. Ως εἰπεῖν τῷ Θεῷ· Ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ζῆσόν με. Οὐ σαλεύεται δὲ τοὺς πόδας ὁ τῷ ὀχυρωτάτῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγῳ ἐνιδρυθείς. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΞΕ’ Source: Migne PG 39.1439a-b

Who has set my soul to live and does not give my feet to stumbling. 1 The feet of a man are not given to stumbling when they have been fixed to the unbreakable and most firm word of God, so that the man gives thanks, saying, 'You placed my feet on a rock.' 2 And the soul is set to live which is directed to the end, the salvation of faith, and with faith he proclaims, 'And in Him my soul shall live.' 3 And the soul's life is the possession of virtue and wisdom, because the soul that sins dies. 4 Thus he says to God, 'With your righteousness revive me.' 5 So the feet are not shaken which are fixed fast on the most firm word of God. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 65 1 Ps 65.9 2 Ps 39.3 3 Ps 21.31 4 Ezek 18.20 5 Ps 118.40

The Midst Of Tribulations

Si ambulavero in medio tribulationis, vivificabis me. Non abnuit justus iste, ne in mediis tribulationibus ambulet. Scit enim quid tribulatio, secundum Apostolum , patientiam operatur. Scit improbabilem virum non placere, scit victorem militem nisi bello non futurum ; scit intentatam fidem languere , scit in tribulationibus, secundum apostolum , gloriandum: Scit imparem se tribulationibus nisi auxilio Dei esse; et idcirco per Deum salutis suae certus est: et eum in mediis tribulationibus ambulet, per eumdem se vivificandum esse confidit. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXXXVII Source: Migne PL 9.790c-d

If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, you shall preserve me. 1 The righteous man does not refuse to walk in the midst of tribulations. He knows that according to the Apostle tribulation works patience. 2 He knows this does not please the wretched man. He knows there shall be no victorious soldier without battle. He knows that firm faith can grow weak. He knows that according to the Apostle, there is glory in tribulations. 2 He knows that he is no match for tribulations unless with the help of God, and therefore that it is through God that his salvation is certain, and when in the midst of tribulations he shall walk he is confident that he shall be preserved by Him. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 137 1 Ps 137.7 2 Rom 5.3

Bodies And Members

Oὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν μέλη Χριστοῦ ἐστιν; ἄρας οὖν τὰ μέλη τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποιήσω πόρνης μέλη; Τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν ἐ τῆς ἁγνείας, Χριστοῦ μέλη μεμενηκότα, μεθέξους πάντως τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ ζωῆς τε καὶ δόξης μετα σχηματίσει γὰρ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶ σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ δὴ γι νοιτο πόρνης μέλη, πῶς ἂν λάβοι τὸν μετασχημα σμὸν καὶ τὴν τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν συμμορφίας λαμπρότητα νοητήν; Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τὴν Πρωτάν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 74.827a

Do you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of a whore? 1 If the members of our body are pure they shall remain members of Christ, and we shall participate in His life and His glory, for He shall transform the body of our humility so that it conforms with His glorious body. 2 But if they become members of a whore, how will it be possible for them to be transformed and spiritually conformed with Him? Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the First Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 1 Cor 6.15 2 Phil 3.21

Trials And Salvation

Kύριε τί ἐπληθύνθησαν οἱ θλίβοντές, με πολλοὶ ἐπανίστανται ἐν ἐμέ, πολλοὶ λέγουσιν τῇ ψυχῇ μου οὐκ ἔστιν σωτηρία αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ θεῷ αὐτοῦ. ᾿Αφίησι δὲ Θεὸς πολλοὺς θλίβειν τὸν δίκαιον, διδοὺς ἀφορμὴν αὐτῷ βάρους δόξης, ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπερβαλλουσῶν θλίψεων ὑφισταμένης· καὶ εἴ ποτε ὁ δίκαιος ἐπαπορῶν λέγοι τῷ Θεῷ· Κύριε, τί ἐπληθύνθησαν οἱ θλίβοντές με; ἔτι αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος, εἰπὼν, Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι, ἀποκρίνεται, ἵνα βάρος δόξης ἐργάσηταί σοι τὸ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως· καθ ' ὑπερβολήν. Διό· Πολλαὶ αἱ θλίψεις τῶν δικαίων. Εἰ δὲ ἐστι σωτηρία μὲν οὐκ ἐν τῷ Θεῷ, Δαυΐδ τοῖς τέως πρόσκειται τὸ· ἐν τῷ Θεῷ. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος Γ' Source: Migne PG 39.1161d-1164a

Lord, those who trouble me are multiplied, and many set themselves against me, and many say to my soul there is no salvation for him in God. 1 God allows many to afflict the righteous man in order to give an occasion for the acquisition of a great weight of glory, which is obtained from a mass of tribulations. And if sometimes the righteous man who is gravely oppressed says to God, 'Lord, why are those who trouble me multiplied?' He replies, 'Behold, I am here, 2 your great weight of glory will make this tribulation light,' which is hyperbolic. Hence it is said, 'Many are the tribulations of the righteous.' 3 And that there is no salvation but from God, therefore David adds 'in God' Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 3 1 Ps 3.2-3 2 Isaiah 52.6, 2 Cor 4.17 3 Ps 33.20

The Beginning Of Perfection

Εἰ καὶ τελείους ἡμᾶς εἶναι ὁ θεῖος βούλεται νόμος, ὁμώνυμε, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἀνάβασιν καὶ προκοπὴν πρὸςτὴν τελείωσιν φθάσαντας, πρότερον γάλακτι ποτιζομένους, ὡς ἀρτιγένητα βρέφη, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς σωτηρίαν αὐξάνοντας. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΥΜA' Ἰσιδωρῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne 78.425a

Even if the Divine law wishes us to be perfect, my namesake, it is necessary that we come to it by ascent and advance, as little infants who are nourished by the drinking of milk and by it grow to salvation. 1 Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 441, To Isidore The Deacon 1 1 Pet 2.2

Judgement And Salvation

Οὔτε ἡ ἀρετὴ, οὔτε ἡ κακία μένει αμετάπτωτος, καὶ ἀκίνητος, ἐπειδὴ ἐθελότρεπτόν ἐστι ἀνθρώπινον γένος. Ὂνπερ τοίνυν ὑπολαμβάνεις τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἀμελέστατον εἶναι, ὅνπερ νομίζεις ἁμαρτωλὸν ὑπο ἄρχειν, οὐκ οἶδας, μήποτε καθ' ἑαυτὸν στενάξας, καὶ μεταβαλλόμενος ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον, παρὰ Θεῷ σώζεται. Σὺ δὲ ἀγονῶν εὐτελίζεις πολλάκις τὸν τοιοῦτον, καὶ λοιδορεῖς , καὶ πικρῶς κατακρίνεις τὸν ὑπὲρ σὲ σωζόμενον ἄνθρωπον. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Δεύτερον, ΡΚΔ' Εὑλυσιῳ Μοναχῳ Source: Migne PG 79.253b

Since the human race is changeable neither virtue nor wickedness remain constant and unchanging. He, then, whom you reckon to be the most negligent brother and whom you judge to be a sinner, you do not know that  sometimes he groans over himself and is changing into something better, being saved by God. And being ignorant you often think such a man is worthless and you abuse and bitterly scorn him who is being saved over you. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 2, Letter 124 to Eulysios the Monk

Living And Dying

Διωκόμενοι ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι, καταβαλλόμενοι ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι, πάντοτε τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι περιφέροντες, ἵνα καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡμῶν φανερωθῇ. Ἀεὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες εἰς θάνατον παραδιδόμεθα διὰ Ἰησοῦν... Δείκνυσι δὲ διὰ τούτων καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀσμένως ὑπομένειν ἐθέλοντας τὸν τῆς σαρκὸς θάνατον, διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν εὐσέβειαν . Σκοπὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς οὐκ εἰς τὰ παρόντα βλέπειν, προαθρεῖν δὲ μᾶλλον τὰ ἐσόμενα . Τίς δὲ ἡ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ζωή; Ἡ ἀφθαρσία καὶ ἁγιασμὸς , δόξα τε μεγάλη καὶ ὑπερκόσμιος. Οὕτως γὰρ ἡμῖν ὀφθήσεται κατὰ καιρούς, ὅταν ἡμῖν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνῃ κριτής· μετασχηματίσει δὲ καὶ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ , κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ δύνασθαι αὐτὸν καὶ ὑποτάξαι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα. Ὥστε ὁ μὲν θάνατος ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργεῖται, ἡ δὲ ζωὴ ἐν ὑμῖν. Μεμίμηνται γὰρ τὸν ἑαυτῶν Δεσπότην οἱ τῆς ὑφ᾽ ἡλίῳ μυσταγωγοί· τεθείκασι καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχὰς , ἵνα ἡμεῖς οἱ ποτὲ πλα- νώμενοι , τὴν ἐκ πίστεως τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν ἀποκερδαίνωμεν ζωήν. Τοιγάρτοι φασὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ Ψάλλοντος φωνής ὡς πρὸς τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν ὅτι , Ἕνεκεν σοῦ θανατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τὴν Δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 74.937b-c

We suffer persecution, but are not forsaken. We are cast down, but we do not perish. We always carry about in our body the mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given over to death on account of Jesus... 1 With these words he refers to those who gladly suffer the death of the flesh for the religion of Christ. For it is not present things they look to but the things of the future. What is life in Jesus? Certainly it is incorruptible and sanctified, and possessed of great glory far above this world. And so He will appear to us when the time comes, when the judge descends from heaven to us, and 'He shall conform this body of our humility to His glorious body, with that power which is able to subject everything to itself.' 2 'As death works in us, so does life in you.' 3 For those who have imitated their Lord are the spiritual teachers of the world, even those who have placed down their own souls so that we who were once wandering might be enriched in faith by life in Christ. And they say with the voice of the Psalmist to our Lord Jesus Christ, 'On account of you we die every day, and we are reputed as sheep for the slaughter.' 4 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Second Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 4.11 2 Phil 3.21 3 2 Cor 4.12 4 Ps 43.22, Rom 8.36

Help And Redemption

Et erunt ut complaceant eloquia oris mei: et medilalio cordis mei in conspectu tuo semper. Domine, adiutor meus et redemptor meus. Dicit quando eloquia oris ejus Domino placere praevaleant: videlicet, si a viiiis quae supcrius dixit, reddatur alienus; propter illud quod dicitur peccatori: Quare tu enarras justitias meas? Quae est autem meditatio cordis, quae potest ad Dominum pervenire? Spes, charitas, et fides, quae utique digna sunt Deo. Illa enim merentur in conspectu ejus ascendere, quae ipse cognosciiur approbare. Adjutorem vero suum dicit in bonis, redemptorem a malis, ut nemo suis meritis applicet quod coelesti largitate susceperit. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XVIII Source: Migne PL 70.143c

And the speech of my mouth shall be pleasing, and the meditation of my heart shall be in your sight always. O Lord, my helper and my redeemer 1 When he says that the speech of his mouth shall be able to please the Lord, it is because he has been separated utterly from the vices of which he spoke of before, on account of which it is said to the sinner, 'Why do you speak of my righteousness?' 2 And what is the meditation of the heart that is able to come to the Lord? Hope, charity and faith, they are worthy of God, for that merits ascent into His sight which He is known to approve. And he calls Him his helper in good things, and his redeemer from evil things, because no one by the labour of his own merits shall take up the bounty of heaven. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 18 1 Ps 18.15 2 Ps 49.16

Care And Salvation

Ὁ φιλανθρωπότατος Σωτὴρ τῶν ὅλων Χριστός, τό γε ἧκον εἰς αὐτὸν, πάντας ἀνθρώπους παρεγένετο σῶσαι. Καὶ βλέπομεν, ὅτι οὐ πάντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδιδόατι τῇ σωτηρίᾳ ἑαυτῶν. Τοίνυν καταγνῶμεν , καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ταλανίζωμεν τῆς ἀμελείας, καὶ τῆς κακοφασύνης, καὶ μὴ τῷ ἀγαθῷ Δεσπότῃ ἐπάγωμεν τὰ ἐγεκλήματα. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΙϚ', Πιεριῳ Συγκλητικῳ. Source: Migne PG 79.196d

The most loving Christ, the Saviour of us all, because He looked to it, came to save all men, yet we see that not everyone gives themselves to their salvation. Let us then recognise and deplore their negligence and depravity, lest we attribute fault to the good Lord. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 316, to Pierius the Syncleticus

Giving Life And Dying

Caro enim factus est, ut nos spiritales faceret; benigne inclinatus est, ut levaret; exiit, ut introduceret; visibilis apparuit, ut invisibilia monstraret; flagella pertulit, ut sanaret; opprobria et irrisiones sustinuit, ut ab opprobrio aeterno liberaret; mortuus est, ut vivificaret. Agamus ergo gratias vivificanti et mortuo, et ideo amplius vivificanti, quia mortuo. Unde bene salutem nostram, et passionem illius Isaias contemplatus ait: Ut faciat opus suum, alienum opus ejus; ut operetur opus suum, peregrinum est opus ejus ab eo. Opus etenim Dei est animas quas creavit colligere, et ad aeternae lucis gaudia revocare. Flagellari autem atque sputis illini, crucifigi, mori, atque sepeliri, non hoc in sua substantia opus Dei est, sed opus hominis peccatoris, qui haec omnia meruit per peccatum. Sed peccata nostra ipse pertulit in corpore suo super lignum. Et qui in natura sua manet semper incomprehensibilis, in natura nostra comprehendi dignatus est ac flagellari, quia nisi ea quae erant infirmitatis nostrae susciperet, nunquam nos ad suae fortitudinis potentiam sublevaret. Ut ergo faciat opus suum, alienum opus ejus; et ut operetur opus suum, peregrinum est opus ejus ab eo, quia incarnatus Deus, ut nos ad suam justitiam colligeret, dignatus est pro nobis tanquam peccator homo vapulare. Et alienum opus fecit ut faceret proprium, quia per hoc quod infirmans mala nostra sustinuit, nos qui creatura illius sumus, ad fortitudinis suae gloriam perduxit, in qua vivit et regnat cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Secundus, Homilia IV Source: Migne PL 76.984a-c

He was made flesh that He might make us spiritual, He kindly came down that He might lift up, He went out that He might bring in, He appeared visibly that He might reveal things unseen, He suffered the whip that He might heal, and He sustained abuse and ridicule that He might deliver from eternal shame, and He died that He might give life. Therefore let us give thanks to the one who gives life and who died, and therefore more to the one gives life because He died. Whence Isaiah well contemplated our salvation and His passion when he said, 'So that He make a work, a strange work, and so that might accomplish a work which is alien to Him.' 1 For it is the work of God to gather the souls He created and to recall them to the joy of the eternal light. To be covered with spittle and crucified and to die and to be buried are not works consonant with the substance of God, but it is work for man the sinner, who has deserved all these things because of sin. 'But He bore our sins in His body on the cross,' 2 and He who in His nature remans incomprehensible was understood in our nature to be worthy of being whipped, because unless He took up the things of our weakness we would never have been lifted up to the power of His might. Therefore so that He might make His work, a strange work and so that might accomplish a work which is alien to him, God was incarnated, so that He might gather us to His righteousness, and worthy it was that for us he was whipped as a sinful man. And He made this foreign work so that He might perform His own, because through this, that in weakness he endured our evils, He led us who our His creations to the glory of His might, in which he lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, through every age forever. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 4 1 Isaiah 28.21 2 1 Pet 2.24

For The Benefit Of Souls

Ita ut elegit nos in ipso ane constitiutionem mundi, ut essemus sancti.. Ergo mysterio quod hic implevit, et carne, et cruce, et morte, et resurrectione, subventum est animis: etsi in Christo fides sumatur, ille suscipit hujusmodi animas et adjuvat et liberat. Christum enim credere, et in Christum fidem sumere, jam spiritaliter sentire, et jam tolli a desideriis carnalibus et materialibus: et ex hoc veluti cognatio intelligendi nos jungit et sociat Christo: et dum Christo sociaverit, inquit, et Deo. Per Christum enim Deo jungimur, neque spes ulla salutis nostrae nisi Christum credere. Hoc est spiritaliter jam sentire, et capere sensum, et mundi et materiae motibus non exagitari: quibus omnibus homo totus in spiritu vero est, et ex hoc jam in Christo est vita: cum autem in Christo vita est; jam mysterio acto a Christo recipimur, et per Christum in numerum filiorum suscipimur a Deo, spiritales facti, ut nos quoque de mundo resurgamus et de morte per Dei voluntatem, sed in Christo tamen. Hoc enim et nunc, et saepe et ubique praecipitur, ut in Christo tota sit vita nostra, tota spes, totus intelligendi labor. Omnis enim ratio aeternitatis nostrae et gloriae et salvationis, et Christus est, et in Christo est, si projicientes omnia spiritaliterque sentientes, separemus a nobis mundanas cogitationes, mundanos affectus, carnalia quodammodo desideria, carnales dignitates, carnales potestates, et mundi etiam velle potentias vel dignitates. Omne enim quidquid mundanum est, licet coeleste sit in mundo etiam vel aetherium vel quodlibet aliud divinum nominatur secundum mundum et aeternum, sed secundum mundum tamen, neque divinum est neque aeternum est; etenim materiale: et quicquid materiale est, et temporale est et caducum et corruptibile. Victorinus Afrus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Primus, Caput I Source: Migne PL 8.1240c-1241a

Thus He chose us before the establishment of the world, so that we would be holy... 1 Therefore in a mystery He fulfills it, and the flesh and the cross and the death and the resurrection were for the benefit of souls. Even if we have taken up faith in Christ, He is the one who takes up souls and helps and frees them. For to believe in Christ and to take up faith in Christ is to understand spiritually, and so to be taken from carnal desires and things. And from this, with a certain likeness of understanding, we are joined and associated with Christ, and while we associate with Christ, he says, it is also with God. For it is through Christ that we are joined to God, and there is no hope of salvation unless to believe in Christ. This is to understand spiritually, and to grasp the sense, and not to be troubled by the changes of the world and matter, because of which the whole man becomes truly spiritual, and through this there is now life in Christ, and when there is life in Christ we are received by Christ in mystery, and through Him we are taken up into the number of the sons of God, having been made spiritual, so that we also rise up from the earth and from death by the will of God, but in Christ. Indeed here and now, and often and everywhere, it is exhorted that our whole life, our whole hope, the whole work of our understanding, should be in Christ. For every cause of our eternity and glory and salvation is Christ, and is in Christ, if advancing in all spiritual understanding we separate ourselves from worldly thought, and from worldly loves, and from every carnal desire and honour and power, and every office and dignity of the world. For everything worldly, even if named celestial, ethereal, or divine, is named according to the world and eternity, but according to the world there is nothing divine nor anything eternal, for matter, and whatever is of matter, is transient, and passes away and is corruptible. Victorinus Afrus, On the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book One, Chapter One 1 Ephes 1.4

Troubles And Cure

Triplici loco laborat genus humanum: principio, medio, fine, id est, nativitate, vita, morte. Nativitas erat immunda, vita perversa, mors periculosa. Venit ergo medicus coelestis; et contra hunc triplicem morbum triplex attulit remedium. Natus enim est, vixit, obiit. Ejus nativitas purgavit nostram; ejus vita instruxit nostram; ejus mors destruxit nostram. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber V, Tit XXV, De triplici labore hominis, et triplici ejus remedio Source: Migne PL 177.760a

The race of men labours in a threefold manner, in the beginning, in the middle and at the end, that is, in birth, in life, and at death. Birth was unclean, life perverse, death ruinous. Then the heavenly physician came and brought the remedy for this threefold sickness. For He was born, and He lived, and He died. His nativity cleansed ours, His life instructed ours, His death destroyed ours. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 5, Chapter 25, On The Threefold Labour of a Man and His Threefold Remedy

Scripture And Life

Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφὰς, ὅτι ὑμεῖς δοκεῖτε ἐν αὐταῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχειν· καὶ ἐκεῖναί εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ, καὶ οὐ θέλετε έλθεῖν πρὸς με, ἴνα ζωὴν ἔχητε . Δόξαν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ λαμβάνω, ἀλλ᾽ ἔγνωκα ὑμᾶς , ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. Εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι, Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέστιν, αἱ Γραφαὶ αἱ περὶ ἐμοῦ μαρτυροῦσαι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ὑμῖν. Διδάσχων οὖν πῶς δυνήσονται σχεῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, φησίν· Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφάς· ἐν αὐταῖς γὰρ δοκεῖτε ὑμεῖς ζωὴν ἔχειν. Ὄρα δὲ πῶς οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἔχετε ζωὴν, ἀλλ᾽, Ὅτι δοκεῖτε· δοκεῖτε δὲ εἰπε, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐδὲν κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἐκεῖθεν έκαρποῦντο, ἀπὸ τῆς ἀναγνώσεως μόνης σώζεσθαι προσδοκῶντες, πίστεως μὴ προσούσης. Ἐκεῖναι μὲν γάρ εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ· ἀλλ' ὑμεῖς οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν πρός με, ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχητε. Ὥστε κἀντεῦθεν μανθάνωμεν, ὡς ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἦσαν κακοί. Οὐκ εἶπε γὰρ , ὅτι Οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι Οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν. ᾿Ακουέτωσαν Μανιχαῖοι, ὅτι οὐ φύσει τὸ κακὸν, ἀλλὰ προαιρέσει συνίσταται. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀνέμνησεν αὐτοὺς τῆς Ἰωάννου μαρτυρίας, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τῆς δια τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, διὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτῶν μόνον ταῦτα ποιῶν· εἰκὸς δὲ ἦν πολλοὺς ὑποπτεύειν, ὅτι δόξης ἔρωτι ταῦτα λέγει· διὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι Δόξαν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ λαμβάνω· τουτέστι, Δόξης οὐ δέομαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ φύσιν ἔχω τοιαύτην, ὥστε δεῖ σθαι τῆς παρὰ ἀνθρώπων δόξης. Ὑμεῖς δὲ διώκετέ με προφασιζόμενοι, ὅτι δι' ἀγάπην Θεοῦ τοῦτο ποιεῖτε. ᾿Αλλ' οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔστι. Ἔγνωκα γὰρ ὑμᾶς , ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· κἂν ἄνω καὶ κάτω τοῦτο προβάλλοισθε, τὸ διὰ τὸ διώκειν με. Εἰκότως οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ εἶχον, ἐπεὶ ἐδίωκον τὴν αὐτο αγάπην, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰκότως καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἶχον μένοντα ἐν αὐτοῖς· τὸν γὰρ Λόγον καὶ Θεὸν παρῃτοῦντο . Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ιὠαννὴν, Κεφαλὴ E' Source: Migne PG 123.1280a-c

You study the Scriptures because you think you will find eternal life in them, and they bear witness to me, and you do not wish to come to me that you might have life. I do not receive glory from men, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 1 He said to them, that is, the word of God said, that the Scriptures which testify about me, they are not in you. Then teaching how one is able to have the word of God, He says, 'You study the Scriptures because you think you will find eternal life in them.' Note how He does not say 'You have eternal life,' but 'you think' showing that they do not gather according to truth there who hope to be saved from reading alone, not coming near to faith. For 'they bear witness to me, and you do not wish to come to me, so that you might have life.' Hence we learn from this that they were wicked. For He does not say, 'You are not able to come,' but 'You do not wish to come,' Let the Manicheans hear that nothing is evil by nature, but it is established in the will. Then having borne witness to John and the Father, and the works He had performed for their salvation, He says that they scorned many of them, as if they were done for the love of glory. Therefore He says, 'I do not receive glory from men,' that is, 'I do not lack it, but nor do I have a nature which values human glory. But you persecute me, saying that is on account of the love of God that you do this, but it is not so. I know that you do not have the love of God in you, even if you boast of it, because you persecute me because of God.' Rightly, then, it is said that the Jews do not have the love of God, since they persecute that same love which is the Son of God. Hence rightly are they said not to have the word of God abiding in them, for they rejected the Word and God. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 5 1 Jn 5.39-42

The Writing On The Cross

Ἡ της σανίδας γραφή, ἣν Πιλᾶτος πρὸ τῆς Κυριακής έπηξε κεφαλῆς, τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπλήρου φωνήν, Ἐπειδὰν ὑψωθῶ, λέγοντος, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν. Ἐδήλου τοίνυν ἡ ἐκεῖθεν ἀνάγνωσις, οὐχ ὑπὲρ Ἰουδαίας μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ πάσης Ελληνος καὶ βαρβάρου γεγενῆσθαι τὸ σωτήριον πάθος. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΥϟA' Εὐτονιῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne 78.449c

The writing on the tablet that Pilate had fixed above the head of the Lord fulfills this saying of the Lord, 'When I shall be lifted up, I shall draw all things to myself.' 1 Clearly then this writing indicates that the salvific passion was not just for the Jews, but even for all the Greeks and the barbarians. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 491 To Eutonius the deacon 1 Jn 12.32

Mockery And The Cross

Et praetereuntes blasphemabant eum, moventes capita sua, et dicentes: Vah qui destruis templum Dei, et in tribus diebus reaedificas: salvum fac temetipsum, descendens de cruce. Tangitur hic de irrisione crucifixi: irrisio autem haec facta est a tribus generibus hominum: scilicet , praetereuntibus, sacerdotibus, et latronibus et secundum haec tria recipit divisionem. Irrisio praetereuntium habet tria: blasphemiam, motus capitis, et improperium in verbis. Dicit igitur et prætereuntes qui vagos in mundi vanitatibus significant, stabiliter in veritate non manentes. Ierem, Populus hic dilexit movere pedes suos, et Domino non placuit. Vir vanus in superbiam erigitur, et tanquam pullunt onagri se natum liberum putat. Blasphemabant eum: dicentes eum virtutes quas fecerat in principe daemoniorum perfecifle. Qui blasphemaverit in Spiritum sanctum, non habebit remissionem in aeternum. Isa, Dereliquerunt Dominum blasphemaverunt ſanctum Israel, abalienati sunt retrorsum, in signum comminationis et irrisionis: unde de Sennacherib dicitur Ifa. Post te movebit caput virgo filia Sion. Et haec irrisio per comminationem Propheticam est causa captivitatis ipsorum, Caput circuitus eorum, labor labiorum ipsorum operiet eos. Quia movendo capita circumdabant ipsum, et dicentes, improperando, Vah, Interietio est indignantis. Cum audierit sonitum buccinae, dicet vah. Qui destruis templum Dei, sicut dixisti Ioan, et in tribus diebus reaedificas tua virtute, quae nunc tam infirma apparere. Habac. Ibi abscondita eſt fortitudo eius. Salvum fac temetipsum. Virtute quam de te in potestate reaedificandi templum praedicasti Descendens de cruce. Sed isti non cognoverunt quod non venerat ut seipsum temporaliter salvaret, sed omnes: et ideo non descendat de cruce, sed potius ascendat, loan, Ego si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum. Si serpens de palo deponitur Num, nullus a morsu serpentis liberatur . Ioan, Sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto: ita exaltari oportet filium hominis, ut omnis qui credit in ipsum non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput XV Source: Here p183

And passers by blasphemed Him, and shook their heads saying, 'Ha, you who would destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross.' 1 He touches here on the mockery of the crucified, and the mockery is performed by three types of men, that is, by the passers by and by the priests, and by the thieves, and according to these three the division is made. The mockery of the passers by has three parts, blasphemy and the shaking of the head, and the insult in words. It speaks, then, of the passers by as being those who wander in the vanity of worldly things, and who do not remain in the truth. 2 In Jeremiah, 'This people love to move their feet, and it does not please the Lord.' 3 The vain man is lifted up in his pride and as a wild ass brought forth he thinks himself nobly born. They had blasphemed Him before, saying that the powers He showed were performed by demons, as previously in the third chapter of Mark. 'He who blasphemes the Holy Spirit shall not have forgiveness in eternity.' 4 In Isaiah, 'They forsake the Lord, they blaspheme the Holy One of Israel, they have turned their backs,' 5 as a sign of condemnation and mockery. Hence is it said of Sennacherib in Isaiah, 'Behind you the virgin daughter of Sion shall shake her head. ' 6 And through the warning of the prophet this mockery is the cause of their captivity. 'Their heads surrounded me, the toil of their lips shall cover them.' Because with the shaking of their heads they surrounded him, 7 saying insultingly, 'Ha,' which is an indignant interjection. 'When he hears the sound of the trumpet, he will say, Ha.' 8 You who would destroy the temple, as was said in John, and in three days rebuild it with your power, that appears so very weak now, In Habakkuk, 'There his strength is lost,' 9 'Save yourself,'  with the power of the rebuilding of the temple which you foretold for yourself. But they do not know that He did not come to save Himself in temporal things, but to save all men, and therefore He does not come down from the cross, but rather He rises up to it. In the twelfth chapter of John, 'And if I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all things to myself.' If the serpent is not set up in Numbers, no one is delivered from the bite of the serpent. In the third chapter of John, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so it is necessary that the Son of man shall be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.' 10 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 15 1 Mk 15.29 2 Jn 8.44 3 Jerem 14.10 4 Mk 3.22-30 5 Isaiah 1.4 6 Isaiah 37.22 7 Ps 139.10 8 Job 39.25 9 Jn 2.19, Hab 3.4 10 Jn 12.32, Numb 21, Jn 12.14-15

Sorrow And Joy

Nescio quid dicam vel quid loquar amplius de defunctis filiorum Dei, quos gladius supra modum dure tetigit. Scriptum est enim: Flete cum flentibus, et iterum: Si dolet unum membrum condoleant omnia membra. Quapropter ecclesia plorat et plangit filios et filias suas quas adhuc gladius nondum interfecit, sed prolongati et exportati in longa terrarum, ubi peccatum manifeste graviter impudenter abundat, ibi venundati ingenui homines, Christiani in servitute redacti sunt, praesertim indignissimorum pessimorum apostatarumque Pictorum. Idcirco cum tristitia et maerore vociferabo: O speciosissimi atque amantissimi fratres et filii quos in Christo genui enumerare nequeo, quid faciam vobis? Non sum dignus Deo neque hominibus subvenire. Praevaluit iniquitas iniquorum super nos. Quasi extranei facti sumus. Forte non credunt unum baptismum percepimus vel unum Deum patrem habemus. Indignum est illis Hiberionaci sumus. Sicut ait: Nonne unum Deum habetis? Quid dereliquistis unusquisque proximum suum? Idcirco doleo pro vobis, doleo, carissimi mihi; sed iterum gaudeo intra meipsum: non gratis laboravi vel peregrinatio mea in vacuum non fuit. Et contigit scelus tam horrendum ineffabile, Deo gratias, creduli baptizati, de saeculo recessistis ad paradisum. Cerno vos: migrare coepistis ubi nox non erit neque luctus neque mors amplius, sed exultabitis sicut vituli ex vinculis resoluti et conculcabitis iniquos et erunt cinis sub pedibus vestris. Vos ergo regnabitis cum apostolis et prophetis atque martyribus. Aeterna regna capietis, sicut ipse testatur inquit: Venient ab oriente et occidente et recumbent cum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum. Foris canes et venefici et homicidae, et: Mendacibus periuris pars eorum in stagnum ignis aeterni. Non inmerito ait Apostolus: Ubi iustus uix salvus erit, peccator et impius transgressor legis ubi se recognoscet? Unde enim Coroticus cum suis sceleratissimis, rebellatores Christi, ubi se videbunt, qui mulierculas baptizatas praemia distribuunt ob miserum regnum temporale, quod utique in momento transeat? Sicut nubes vel fumus, qui utique vento dispergitur, ita peccatores fraudulenti a facie Domini peribunt. Sanctus Patricius, Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum Source: Migne PL 53.817a-518b

I do not know what to say, or how to say more about the deaths of the children God, whom the sword has touched so cruelly. As it is written, 'Weep with those who weep,' and again, 'If one member suffers pain, let all the members suffer.' 1 For which reason the Church mourns and weeps for its sons and daughters whom the sword has not yet slain, but who have been taken away and exported far across the earth, where direst sin openly abounds without shame, and where freeborn men have been sold and Christians reduced to slavery, and certainly among the lowest and worst of the apostate Picts. Therefore I cry out in sorrow and grief, 'O my fairest and most beloved brothers and sisters whom I begot without number in Christ, what am I to do for you? I am not worthy to help God or men. The wickedness of the wicked has prevailed over us. We have been made as if we were complete outsiders. Perhaps they not believe we have received one and the same Baptism, or that we have one God as a father. For them it is a disgrace that we are from Ireland. As it says, 'Do you not have one God? Why have you each abandoned your neighbour?' 2 Therefore I grieve for you, I grieve for my dearest ones, but again I rejoice within myself, that I have not worked without thanks, 3 and my wanderings were not in vain. An unspeakably horrifying crime has occurred, but, thanks to God, you who are baptised believers have withdrawn from this world to paradise. I see you, you have begun to travel to where there is no night any longer, nor sorrow, nor death, rather you leap for joy, like calves set free from chains, and you tread down the wicked, and they will be like ashes beneath your feet. 4 Therefore you will reign with Apostles and Prophets and Martyrs. You will take possession of an eternal kingdom, as He testifies in these words, 'They will come from the east and from the west, and they will recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heaven.' 'Left outside are dogs and sorcerers and murderers,' and 'With the lying perjurers their lot is in a lake of eternal fire.' It is not without reason that the Apostle says: 'When the righteous man shall hardly be saved, how will it be with the sinner and the impious transgressor of the law?' 5 So where will Coroticus and his lawless rebels against Christ find themselves, those who divide up baptised women as rewards, for a miserable temporal kingdom which will pass away in a moment. Just as clouds or smoke are blown away by the wind, that is how deceitful sinners will perish from the face of the Lord. Saint Patrick, Apostle of the Irish, from The Letter to Coroticus 1 Rom 12.15, 1 Cor 12.26 2 Malachi 2.20 3 Ps Phil 2.16 4 Apoc 21.4, Malachi 4.2-3 5 Mt 8.11, Apoc 22.15, 1 Pet 4.18

A True Word

Ἐὰν θέλῃς σωθῆναι, ἀληθῆ λόγον ἀγάπησον, καὶ μηδέποτε ἀκρίτως ἔλεγχον ἀποστραφῇς. Λόγος ἀληθὴς μετέβαλε γεννήματα ἐχκιδῶν, καὶ ὑπέδειξεν αὐτοῖς φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.921a-b

If you wish to be saved, love a true word and never foolishly avoid correction. A true word can transform a brood of vipers and show them how to flee the coming wrath. 1 Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law. 1 Mt 3.7

Judgement And Joy

Et hunc peccatorum a facie Dei interitum, necesse est ut justorum laetitia consequatur. Nam et continuo subjectum est: Et justi laetentur laetitia. Aequa enim judicii coelestis et justa moderatio est, ut peccatores morte conficere, ita, et justos laetitia munerari. Idipsum autem ad ostendendum judicii examen est consecutum: Exsultent in conspectu Dei, epulentur in laetitia. Mundo enim corde, secundum evangelicae benedictionis merita, conspectu Dei digni sunt. Verum laetari in laetitia significationis est altioris, causam scilicet perfectae laetitiae ostendens. Plerique enim in his quae sibi sunt nocitura laetantur ut gaudet lascivus in scortis, ut fur laetatur in furtis, ut unumquemque pro vitiis suis ea quae exercet oblectant. Verum qui in laetitia laetatur, causam laetitiae ex ipsius laetitiae honesta utilique veritate suscipit. Et idcirco ait: In laetitia laetentur, quia in conspectu Dei exultabunt: eam verae exsultationis docens esse laetitiam, quae conspectus Dei jucunditate perfecta sit. Exsultationis autem hujus atque epulantium gaudia, ex quibus est laetitia justorum, sanctus Moyses in divina illa Deuteronomii cantione ita meminit, dicens: Jucundamini coeli simul cum eo, et adorent eum omnes angeli Dei. Jucundamini gentes cum populo ejus, et confortent eos omnes filii Dei. In hac itaque laetitia laetabuntur et justi, coelesti gaudio unanimes, exsultationis divinae societate laetantes. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LXVII Source: Migne PL 9.444b-c

With this destruction of sinners from the face of God it is necessary that the joy of the righteous should follow, and so the Psalm continues, 'And the righteous shall rejoice in joy.' 1 The just and fair arrangement of the heavenly judgement is that sinners are swept away by death and the righteous are gifted joy. And immediately the result of judgment is revealed, 'They shall exult in the sight of God, they shall feast in joy.' With pure hearts, according to that merited by the evangelical blessing, they are made worthy of the sight of God. 2 This rejoicing in joy has a higher meaning, that is, it reveals the cause of true joy. For many rejoice in things which are harmful, so that a lascivious man has his joy in whores, a thief in theft, and likewise whoever delights in exerting himself in his vices. He who rejoices in joy, takes up the cause of joy from a true and upright and beneficial joy. And therefore it says that they shall rejoice in joy, because they shall exult in the sight of God, which teaches that the joy of true exultation is perfected in the delight in the sight of God. The joy of this exultation and feasting from which is the joy of the righteous, Moses mentions in that divine song in Deuteronomy, 'Let the heavens rejoice with Him, and let all the angels of God adore Him. Let all the nations rejoice with His people, and let all the sons of God strengthen them.' 3 In this, then, the righteous rejoice in joy, united with the joy of heaven, rejoicing in the association with Divine exultation. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 67 1 Ps 67.4 2 Mt 5.8 3 Deut 32.43