Winter's End

Ἀποκρίνεται, φησίν, ὁ ἀδελφιδός μου καὶ λέγει μοι· Ἀνάστα, ἐλθέ, ἡ πλησίον μου, καλή μου, περιστερά μου, ὅτι ἰδοὺ ὁ χειμὼν παρῆλθεν, ὁ ὑετὸς ἀπῆλθεν, ἐπορεύθη ἑαυτῷ, τὰ ἄνθη ὤφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὁ καιρὸς τῆς τομῆς ἔφθακεν, φωνὴ τοῦ τρυγόνος ἠκούσθη ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμῶν, ἡ συκῆ ἐξήνεγκε τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς, αἱ ἄμπελοι κυπρίζουσιν, ἔδωκαν ὀσμήν. Ὢ πῶς γλαφυρῶς ἡμῖν ὑπογράφει τὴν τοῦ ἔαρος χάριν ὁ πλάστης τοῦ ἔαρος, πρὸς ὅν φησιν ὁ Δαβὶδ ὅτι Θέρος καὶ ἔαρ σὺ ἔπλασας αὐτά. Λύει τὴν τοῦ χειμῶνος κατήφειαν παρεληλυθέναι λέγων τὴν χειμερινὴν σκυθρωπότητα καὶ τὴν τῶν ὑετῶν ἀηδίαν· λειμῶνας δείκνυσι βρύοντας καὶ ὡραϊζομένους τοῖς ἄνθεσιν, τὰ δὲ ἄνθη ἐν ἀκμῇ εἶναι λέγει καὶ πρὸς τομὴν ἐπιτηδείως ἔχειν, ὡς εἰς στεφάνου πλοκὴν ἢ μύρου κατασκευὴν ἀναιρεῖσθαι πάντως τοὺς ἀνθολόγους. Ἡδύνει δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ὁ λόγος καὶ ταῖς τῶν ὀρνίθων ᾠδαῖς κατὰ τὰ ἄλση περιηχούμενον τῆς ἡδείας τῶν τρυγόνων φωνῆς ταῖς ἀκοαῖς προσηχούσης, συκῆν δὲ λέγει καὶ ἄμπελον τὴν ἀπ' αὐτῶν γενησομένην τρυφὴν τοῖς φαινομένοις προοιμιάζεσθαι, τὴν μὲν τοὺς ὀλύνθους ἐκφέρουσαν, τὴν δὲ τῷ ἄνθει κυπρίζουσαν, ὡς κατατρυφᾶν τῆς εὐωδίας τὴν ὄσφρησιν. Oὕτω μὲν οὖν ἁβρύνεται τῇ ὑπογραφῇ τῆς ἐαρινῆς ὥρας ὁ λόγος τό τε σκυθρωπὸν ἀποβάλλων καὶ τοῖς γλυκυτέροις ἐμφιλοχωρῶν διηγήμασιν. Χρὴ δέ, οἶμαι, μὴ παραμεῖναι τὴν διάνοιαν τῇ τῶν γλαφυρῶν τούτων ὑπογραφῇ, ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτῶν ὁδηγηθῆναι πρὸς τὰ δηλούμενα διὰ τῶν λογίων τούτων μυστήρια, ὥστε ἀνακαλυφθῆναι τὸν θησαυρὸν τῶν νοημάτων τὸν ἐγκεκρυμμένον τοῖς ῥήμασιν. Tί οὖν ἐστιν ὅ φαμεν; πεπήγει ποτὲ τῷ τῆς εἰδωλολατρίας κρυμῷ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τῆς εὐκινήτου φύσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀκινήτων σεβασμάτων φύσιν μεταβληθείσης· Ὅμοιοι γάρ φησιν αὐτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ καὶ πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Kαὶ τὸ εἰκὸς ἐν τοῖς γινομένοις ἦν· ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ πρὸς τὴν ἀληθινὴν θεότητα βλέποντες ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν δέχονται τὰ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἰδιώματα, οὕτως ὁ τῇ ματαιότητι τῶν εἰδώλων προσανέχων μετεστοιχειοῦτο πρὸς τὸ βλεπόμενον λίθος ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γινόμενος. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀπολιθωθεῖσα διὰ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων λατρείας ἀκίνητος ἦν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἡ φύσις ἐμπεπηγυῖα τῷ τῆς εἰδωλολατρίας κρυμῷ, τούτου χάριν ἐπανατέλλει τῷ χαλεπῷ τούτῳ χειμῶνι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος καὶ ἔαρ ποιεῖ τοῦ μεσημβρινοῦ πνεύματος, τοῦ τὴν τοιαύτην διαλύοντος πῆξιν, ἅμα τῇ ἀνατολῇ τῶν ἀκτίνων συνεπιθάλποντος ἅπαν τὸ ὑποκείμενον, ἵνα διαθερμανθεὶς τῷ πνεύματι ὁ διὰ τοῦ κρύους λιθωθεὶς ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὑποθαλφθεὶς τῇ ἀκτῖνι τοῦ λόγου πάλιν γένηται ὕδωρ ἁλλόμενον εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον· Πνεύσεται γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ῥυήσεται ὕδατα. Στρεφομένης τῆς πέτρας εἰς λίμνας ὑδάτων καὶ τῆς ἀκροτόμου εἰς πηγὰς ὑδάτων. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία E' Source: Migne PG 44.864d-65a

My love answered and said to me: 'Rise up, come, my dear , my fair one, my dove, behold, the winter has passed, the rains have gone and departed, the flowers appear on the earth, and the time of cutting has come, the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land, the fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines blossom, giving off their scents.' 1 How elegantly the Creator of spring describes to us the grace of spring, concerning which David says. 'Summer and spring, you had shaped them.' 2 The gloom of winter passes away, meaning that the troubles of winter have passed away and the vexations of the rains. He reveals the meadows teeming and adorned with flowers, and he speaks of flowers at their fairest, which are now most suitable for cutting, to be taken and arranged for a garland or for the making of scents. This passage delights in the season, the birds singing in groves, and the sweet voice of the turtle dove resounding in the ears, and the figs, he says, and the vines, which from themselves birth the signs of future delights, for one puts forth little figs, the other buds with flowers, and the nose perceives the fair aromas. Thus the passage delights in describing spring time, and casts away grief with the telling of sweet joys. But I think we must not linger on the thought of these delightful descriptions, but by them be led to those mysteries which this speech signifies, that the treasury of the understanding be opened for what is hidden by these words. What is it, then, that we should say about this? When the chill of idolatry froze the human race, the lively nature of man was turned to the cult of immobile things. As it says 'They shall be like those things which they make and all who trust in them.' 3 And it was fitting that this be so. For as the true Divinity is seen by those who have received the qualities of the Divine nature, so he who attended to the vanity of idols was transformed into what he saw, as a stone from a man. Since, then, he was petrified by the worship of idols, the immobile nature froze the better in the frigidity of idolatry. Because of this, in the bitterness of this winter, the sun of righteousness arose, and spring was fashioned, the southern wind melted the ice, and with its rising whatever was cast down was warmed up by the rays of the word, so that man who was frozen like a stone was warmed by the spirit, and again the waters leaped up to eternal life. 4 It says: 'He breathed out His spirit and the waters flowed,' 5 and 'Who turned the stone into a lake of water, and the rock into a spring of water.' 6 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 5 1 Song 2.10-13 2 Ps 73.17 3 Ps 113.8 4 Jn 4.14 5 Ps 147.18 6 Ps 113.8

A Winter's Tale

Etiamsi ego taceam, fratres, tempus nos admonet quod Domini Christi natalis in proximo est. Nam praedicationem meam praevenit dierum extrema conclusio. Ipsis enim angustiis suis mundus loquitur imminere aliquid, quo in melius reparetur, et expectatione festina desiderat, ut tenebras suas splendioris solis candor illuminet. Dum enim cursum suum brevitate horarum concludi meruit, spe quadam annum suum indicat reformari. Haec igitur expectatio creaturae, etiam nos expectare persuadet, ut peccatorum nostrorum tenebras novus sol Christus ortus illuminet, et longam in nobis caliginem delictorum justitiae sol nativitatis suae vigore discutiat: nec patiatur cursum vitae nostrae tenebris vitae concludi, sed virtutis suae gratia dilatari. Igitur quia natalem Domini etiam mundo indicante cognoscimus, faciamus et nos, quod mundus facere consuevit: hoc est, sicut in illa die mundus spatia suae lucis extendit, ita et nostram justitiam protendamus: et sicut diei illius claritas pauperibus et divitibus communis est, ita et nostra liberalitas peregrinas et indigentibus sit communis: et sicut tunc mundus noctium suarum recidit caliginem, ita et nos avaritiae nostrae tenebras amputemus; atque ad instar hiberni temporis, sicut in segetibus solis vapore resoluto gelu nutriuntur semina, ita et in pectoribus nostris resoluta duritie justitiae semen tepefactum Salvatoris radio coalescat. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia IV, Ante Natale Domini Source: Migne PL 57.233a-c

Even if I were to be silent, brothers, the time admonishes us that the nativity of our Lord Christ is near. The utter end of days anticipates my preaching. And in its sparsity the world speaks that something is imminent, by which it shall restored to what is better, and with an eager expectation it desires it, that the brightness of the sun might illuminate its darkness with its splendour. For while the brief course of the year has come to its end, a certain hope hints at its refashioning. Therefore let us also be persuaded to hope with this expectation of created things, that the rising of the new sun of Christ will illuminate the darkness of our sins and the birth of the sun of righteousness dissipate with its power the lengthy darkness of the wickedness in us, that it suffer not the course of our life to end in darkness but enlarge it with the power of His grace. Therefore, because we know that the world points to the birthday of the Lord, let us act as the world is accustomed to act, that is, that in that day in which the world extends its span with light, so even we give greater scope to our righteousness, and as the light of that day is common to the poor and to the rich, so our generosity is common to the vagrant and to the needy, and as the world reduces the darkness of its nights, so we cut off the darkness of our avarice, and as in the season of winter the vapour of the sun melts the snow for the nourishment of the seeds of crops, so even in our heart the rays of the Saviour warm from its hardness the tepid seed of righteousness. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 4, On The Nativity Of The Lord

Changing Seasons

Ἀποκρίνεται ἀδελφιδός μου καὶ λέγει μοι ἀνάστα ἐλθέ ἡ πλησίον μου καλή μου περιστερά μου, ὅτι ἰδοὺ ὁ χειμὼν παρῆλθεν ὁ ὑετὸς ἀπῆλθεν ἐπορεύθη ἑαυτῷ, τὰ ἄνθη ὤφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ καιρὸς τῆς τομῆς ἔφθακεν φωνὴ τοῦ τρυγόνος ἠκούσθη ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμῶν ἡ συκῆ ἐξήνεγκεν ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς αἱ ἄμπελοι κυπρίζουσιν ἔδωκαν ὀσμήν. Ἀνάστα, φησὶν, ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθητῶν πρὸς τὰ νοητὰ, ἵνα συνῆμεν· Ὁ ὑετὸς ἀπῆλθεν· εἴπομεν ἂν ὑετὸν γεγονέναι, τὸν πρὸ τῆς Ἐπιδημίας καιρὸν, τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντειλαμένου ταῖς νεφέλαις ὕειν τὸν νομικὸν καὶ προφητικὸν λόγον· πεπαῦσθαι δὲ τοῦτον, ἐπειδὴ ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἕως Ἰωάννου· ἔαρ δὲ καὶ θέρος μετὰ τὴν Ἐπιδημίαν· ὅτι μηκέτι ὑετῶν χρεία ὅτε τὰ διὰ Χριστὸν ἄνθη ὤφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ· καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιδημίας αὐτοῦ, ἡ συκῆ οὐκ ἐκκόπτεται ἄκαρπος ἐν τῷ προτέρῷ γενομένη καιρῷ· νυνὶ γὰρ ὀλύνθους ἐξήνεγκε, καὶ κυπρίζουσιν αἱ ἄμπελοι· διό φησιν, ἔν τῶν κλημάτων Χριστοῦ, εὐωδία, ἐσμὲν τῷ Θεῷ. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τo Ἀσμα Των Ἀσμάτων, Κεφάλαιον Β' Source: Migne PG 17.263 b-d

My beloved replies and says to me: 'Rise up, come, my love, my dove, for behold winter is over, and the rain has passed and is gone away, and the flowers appear in our land, and the time of pruning has come, the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig bears its figs, and the blossoming vines give their fragrance.' 1 Rise up, he says, from sensible things to spiritual things, that we be together. 'The rain has passed.' Here the rain indicates the time before the Incarnation, when God enjoined through clouds as the rain of the the Law and Prophetic words. And this has gone away: 'for the Law and the Prophets were until John.' 2 And spring and summer come after the Incarnation, for no more is rain needed when through Christ flowers appear on the earth; and with His incarnation, the fig is not cut down on account of fruitlessness, as in the time before. 'For now the fig tree bears its figs and the vines are blossoming.' Therefore as branches of Christ, he says, we are a good odour to God. 3 Origen, from the Commentary On The Song Of Songs, Chapter 2 1 Song 2.10-13 2 Lk 16.16 3 2 Cor 2.15

A Wintery Way

Qui dat nivem sicut lanam, nebulam sicut cinerem spargit. Mittit crystallum suam sicut buccellas, ante faciem frigoris ejus quis sustinebit? Emittet verbum suum, et liquefaciet ea; flabit spiritus ejus, et fluent aquae. Vitae via, sicut Dominus in Evangeliis ait, angusta et tribulata est; neque nisi per maximas difficultates et molestias hac ad coelorum regnum via pergitur. Quod quidem de molestiis hujus saeculi dictum fuisse intelligi oportet; per praesentes enim vexationes in requiem aeternam aditur. Et quamvis rerum praesentium laboribus, quasi quadam violentis asperrimae himeis, uramur; tamen post harum praesentium acerbitatum rigores, Deo eos resolvente, in placidis et tranquillis et serenis quiescemus. Secundum enim dictum propheticum et allegorumeni constuetudinem, nunc in nive et nebula et crystallo, quae omnia per naturam suam urunt atque mortificant, saecularium in nos molestiarum et calamitatum et dolorum nocturnum frigus significatum esse credendum est. Scit hic idem propheta beatae hujus civitatis participem nequaquam jam frigore isto injuriae saecularis urendum, dicens: Per diem sol non uret te, neque luna per noctem. Haec enim omnia, quibus per praesentes calamitates adurimur, rursum Dei bonitate resoluta liquuntur. Nix namque lanae mollitudine defluens, tegens omnia intra se detinet: pruina quoque nebulae descendentis cineris modo sparsa constringit: crystallum etiam ultra consuetudinem grandinis duratum, et in frusta solidatum, habet in se et impetum et rigorem. Et si haec perpetuo permanerent, numquid non universa horum frigore perusta semper arerent? Quis enim ferre aeternas corporis calamitates indeficientesque posset, si series mali nostri sempiterna traheretur? Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXLVII Source: Migne PL 9.877a-c

He who gives snow like wool, scatters cloud like ash. He sends forth ice like morsels, who can stand before the face of His cold? He sends forth His word, and melts them, He makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 1 The way of life, the Lord has said in the Gospels, is narrow and troublesome, 2 nor may one take the way to the kingdom of heavens but through great difficulties and trials. And this certainly should be understood as having been spoken about the troubles of this world, for through present vexations one is led to eternal rest. And although amid the labours of present things, as if amid the bitter buffetings of winter, we suffer, yet after the rigors of trial, with God dismissing them, we shall have rest in peace and tranquility and serenity. For according to the prophetic custom this is told allegorically, by snow and cloud and ice, which by their nature distress and mortify all things, so our troubles and calamities in the world and griefs through the night we judge to be the meaning of the cold. For the same prophet knows that a participant of the blessed city cannot in any way suffer the cold and injuries of this world, when he says, 'Through the day the sun shall not burn you, nor the moon through the night.' 3 For all these troubles and calamities by which we are beset are again dismissed by the soothing kindness of God. The wooly snow melts away, and all that was hidden is uncovered, and the hoarfrost that falls like ash from the clouds and binds fast is scattered, and even the icy hail which persists beyond custom, in vain is solid, having in itself weight and cold. And if these things remained forever, would not all things beset by them not always suffer? Who indeed would be able to bear the eternal and relentless afflictions of the body, if our series of evils were indefinitely dragged out? Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 147 1 Ps 147.16-18 2 Mt 7.14 3 Ps 120.6

Resurrection And Renewal

Εἰ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντός δυνατὸς ὁ θεὸς ὑφιστᾷν ὄσα βούλεται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον έκ τοῦ ὑφεστῶτος άνακαινίσαί τὰ ἤδη γενόμενα, καὶ εἰς γῆν ὑποστρέψαντασώματα; Ὁτε δὲ ἔσται, καὶ πῶς ἔσται ἀνάστασις, καὶ τὸ μυστήριον τῶν σπειρομένων διδάξει σε, καὶ πάντων τῶν φυτῶν ἡ κίνησις, χειμῶνι τελευτώντων, καὶ ἔαρι ἀναζώντων. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΠΔ', Συναδιῳ Source: Migne PG 78.349b

If God can bring from nothing what He will, how much more will He be able to renew bodies that having existed at some time have then passed away into the earth? What will be, and how the resurrection will be, the mystery of sowing shall teach you, the motion of everything grown perishing in winter, and in spring returning to life. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 284, To Synadius

Grief over the Times

Μὴ σφόδρα δάκνου τοῖς λυπηροῖς. Ἂ γὰρ ἂν ἥττον λυπώπεθα ἥττόν ἐστι λυπηρά. Οὐδὲν δεινὸν εἰ ανεθλφθησαν οἱ αἰρετικοὶ, καὶ τῷ ἔαρι θαῥῥοῦσι τῶν φωλεῶν ἐξερπύσαντες, ὡς αὐτὸς γράφεις. Μικρὰ συριοῦσιν, εὔ οἴδα, εἴτα καταδὐσοντι, καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ τῷ καιρῷ πολεμούμενοι· καὶ τόσῳ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳπερ ἂν τῷ Θεῷ τὸ πᾶν ἐπιτρέπωεν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Ἐπιστολή ΟΒ', Γρηγοριῳ Νυσσης

Do not let troubles turn you to excessive grief. For the less we grieve over things the less grievous they are. It is not strange that the heretics have thawed and encouraged by the spring are creeping out of their holes, as you write. They will hiss for a short time, I know, and then will hide away, overcome both by the truth and the times, and all the more so the more we entrust the whole matter to God. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Letter 72, to To Gregory of Nyssa

Times and Seasons

Quam accurate Sancta Scriptura facta describat. Intueri libet quomodo sacra eloquia in exordiis narrationum qualitates exprimant, terminosque causarum. Aliquando namque a positione loci, aliquando a positione corporis, aliquando a qualitate aeris, aliquando a qualitate temporis signant, quid de ventura actione subjiciant. A positione quippe locorum Divina Scriptura exprimit subsequentium merita finesque causarum, sicut de Israel dicit quia verba Dei in monte audire non potuit, sed praecepta in campestribus accepit: subsequentem nimirum infirmitatem populi indicans, qui ascendere ad summa non valuit, sed semetipsum in infimis neglecte vivendo laxavit. A positione corporis futura denuntiat, sicut in apostolorum Actibus Stephanus Jesum, qui a dextris virtutis Dei sedet, stantem se vidisse manifestat. Stare quippe adjuvantis est. Et recte stare cernitur, qui in bello certaminis opitulatur. A qualitate aeris res subsequens demonstratur, sicut evangelista, cum praedicante Domino, nullos tunc ex Judaea credituros diceret, praemisit dicens: Hiems autem erat. Scriptum namque est: Quoniam abundabit iniquitas, refrigescet charitas multorum. Idcirco ergo hiemis curavit tempus exprimere, ut inesse auditorum cordibus malitiae frigus indicaret. Hinc est quod de negaturo Petro praemittitur: Quia frigus erat, et stans ad prunas calefaciebat se. Jam namque intus a charitatis calore torpuerat, et ad amorem praesentis vitae, quasi ad persecutorum prunas infirmitate aestuante recalebat. A qualitate quoque temporis finis exprimitur actionis, sicut non rediturus ad veniam, ad traditionis perfidiam nocte Judas exiisse perhibetur, cum egrediente illo, ab evangelista dicitur: Erat autem nox. Hinc enim et iniquo diviti dicitur: Hac nocte repetent animam tuam abs te. Anima quippe, quae ad tenebras ducitur, non in die repeti, sed in nocte memoratur. Hinc est quod Salomon, qui sapientiam non perseveraturus accepit, in somnis hanc et nocte accepisse describitur. Hinc est quod angeli ad Abraham meridie veniunt; punituri autem Sodomam, ad eam vespere venisse memorantur. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber II

How carefully Sacred Scripture describes incidents. One should look closely at how the sacred eloquence in the beginning of its narrations details the qualities and limits of the issues. For at one time by location, at another by the position of the body, at another by the quality of the air, at another by the the time, it foreshadows what is to come. So then by location Divine Scripture sets forth the merits and ends of the events to follow, as where it says of Israel that they were not able to hear the words of God on the mountain but received the commandments on the plain, doubtless indicating the subsequent weakness of the people who could not ascend to the heights but who enervated themselves by careless living in lowest things. By the posture of the body it announces the future, as where in the Acts of the Apostles Stephen discloses that he saw Jesus who is placed at the right hand of the Power of God, in a standing posture,1 for standing is the posture of one in the act of rendering aid, and rightly is He discerned standing who gives aid in the struggle of the battle.  By the quality of the air the subsequent event is shown, as when the Evangelist said that none out of Judea were at that time to prove believers in our Lord's teaching, he prefaced it by saying, 'And it was winter.' For it is written, 'Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold.'  Therefore he took care to remark that it was the winter season in order to indicate that the frost of wickedness was in the hearts of the hearers. Thus it is that it is said before Peter denied the Lord that it was cold and Peter stood warming himself at the coals, for now inwardly the warmth of charity lessened but the love of this present life was warming, as though his weakness were heated by the coals of the persecutors. By the time also is the end of the act is set forth, as is said of Judas, who was never to be restored by pardon, that he went out at night to the treachery of his betrayal, where on his exit, the Evangelist says: 'And it was night.' And again it is declared to the iniquitous rich man: 'This night your soul be taken from you.' The soul which is taken to darkness is not demanded in the day but in the night.  Hence it is that Solomon, who received wisdom but was not to retain it, is said to have received it in dreams and in the night.  Hence it is that the Angels come to Abraham at midday, but when the go to punish Sodom they are recorded to have arrived at evening. Saint Gregory the Great, Commentary on Job, Book II  1 Acts 7.55

Against Astrology

Sed quolibet modo superstitionis haec ab hominibus nuncupentur, sunt tamen sidera quae Deus in mundi principio condidit, ac certo motu distinguere tempora ordinavit. Horum igitur signorum observationes, vel geneses, vel cetera superstitiosa, quae se ad cognitionem siderum coniungunt, id est ad notitiam fatorum, et fidei nostrae sine dubitatione contraria sunt, sic ignorari debent a Christianis, ut nec scripta esse videantur. Sed nonnulli siderum pulcritudine et claritate perlecti in lapsus stellarum caecatis mentibus conruerunt, ita ut per subputationes noxias, quae mathesis dicitur, eventus rerum praescire posse conentur: quos non solum Christianae religionis doctores, sed etiam gentilium Plato, Aristoteles, atque alii rerum veritate conmoti concordi sententia damnaverunt, dicentes confusionem rerum potius de tali persuasione generari. Nam sicut genus humanum ad varios actus nascendi necessitate premerentur, cur aut laudem mereantur boni aut mali legum percipiant ultionem? Et quamvis ipsi non fuerint caelesti sapientiae dediti, veritatis tamen testimonio errores eorum merito perculerunt. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Etymologiae, Liber III, Caput LXXI Source: Migne PL 82.182c-184a

But by whatever type of superstition the stars were named by men, they were established by God in the beginning of the world, and He ordained that their particular motion distinguish the seasons. Therefore observation of the constellations, or horoscopes, or other superstitions that are attached to the study of the stars, that is, for the knowledge of fate, are without doubt contrary to our faith and should be ignored by Christians, indeed as if it were that they had never been written about. Yet some lured by the beauty and brightness of the constellations, with minds so blinded, have raced into error about the stars, so that through noxious computations, which is called astrology, they try to foresee events. And not only those learned in the Christian religion but even the pagan Plato and Aristotle and others, in harmony of thought, were moved by the truth of things to condemn this, saying that such an idea caused a confusion of things. For if the human species is compelled to various acts by the necessities of birth, then why should the good merit praise and why should the wicked receive the punishment of the laws? Thus though those pagan wise men were not devoted to heavenly matters, they rightly threw down these errors by their testimony of truth. Saint Isidore of Seville, The Etymologies, Book 3, Chapter 71