A Discovery

Dicam quod mihi Guarimpotus senex, vir videlicit honestissimus, apprime litteris eruditus ac medicus, retulit; Quidam, inquit, alienum suam furtive subripuit, et caveae clandestinus inclusit. Vir tamen ille pietatis operibus intentus consuerverat esse, et praecipue humanitatem peregrinus et hospitibus sedulus exhibebat. Interea adest dives Jesus in effigie pauperis, et tanquam prolixo jam crine deformis egebat arte tonsoris.Ille protinus reverenter assurgens, inter caetera officiosae humanitatis impedniae coepit illum forcipibus attondere; sed dum tornat ac satagit, ecce reperit duos in occupitio sub crinibus oculos latitantes. Expavit homo, stupensque contremuit, et quid vellet esse quod cerneret pavidus inquisivit; cui mox ille: Ego, inquit, Jesus vocor, qui undique cuncta contemplor: et isti sunt oculi, quibus etiam suamvidi, quem nuper in cavea conclusisti; moxque disparuit. Ille protinus ad cor rediens, et divinam crica se clementiam recognovit, et quod inique praesumperat satisfactione purgavit. Sanctus Peter Damianus, De Non Fallenda Fide Deo Obstrica, Caput V Source: Migne PL 145.671d-672a

I shall speak of what an old man named Guarimpotus told me, a fellow most upright and extremely well versed in erudite letters, and a physician. A certain man, he said, secretly stole goods from another and hid them in a secret place. Yet this same man was accustomed to be keen to perform the works of piety, and he especially exhibited himself eager to attend to the needs of vagrants and travellers. Meanwhile the Divine Jesus came to him in the likeness of a poor man, who had very long hair and no means to cut it. This man, immediately rising up respectfully, among the other offices of kindness due, began to cut the fellow's hair with scissors, but while he cut and snipped, behold, he found two eyes hidden beneath the hair on the back of the head. The man was frightened, and stupefied and trembling, he fearfully asked what it was that he saw, to which the poor man instantly said: 'I am called Jesus, He who sees all things everywhere, and these eyes are that by which I have seen the things which you recently hid away.' And in a moment he disappeared. The old fellow, instantly struck to his heart, recognising the Divine mercy given to him, cleansed himself in every way to give satisfaction. Saint Peter Damian, That One Must Not Deceive For The Keeping Of Faith With God, Chap 5

Considering Salvation

Frequenter admonui vos, fratres, ut, dum licet, dum in spatio est, saluti vestrae omnibus modis consuleretis, et in hac vita brevi vitam vobis provideretis aeternam. Sapiens enim quisque intelligit quod haec vita hominum non ad quietem data, sed ad laborem, hoc est, ut hic laboret et in posterum requiescat. Hic autem requies nulla: tantis enim malis haec vita repleta est, ut comparatione ejus mors remedio putetur esse, non poena; nam ideo brevem illam fecit Deus, ut molestiae ejus, quia prosperitate non poterant, temporis exiguitate finirentur. Denqiue sanctus Job dicit: Piraterium est vita hominis super terram; hoc est, sive quod homines in hac vita omnia experiantur mala; piraterium enim Latine experimentum dici potest; seu certe piraterium, quod in hac vita circa homines diabolus, tanquam pirata desaeviat; piraterium enim habitaculum piratarum est. Tandiu ergo in piraterio sumus, quandiu in hac carne positi praedonum spiritualium tentationibus subjacemus; quamvis in hac ipsa vita etiam carnales nobis, qui sunt barbari, piratae non desunt; minus tamen eos timeo qui, etsi auferunt partimonia, non possunt auferre justitiam; si aurum tollunt, Christum certe tollere non possunt; si diripiunt argentum non possunt diripere Salvatorem. Quis igitur non festinat habere sibi Christum, quem non possit ab eo nec praedo diripere, nec hostis auferre, nec captivitas separare? Qui enim habet Christum, hominem non veretur inimicum. Quid enim facturus savienti? Pecora ejus abducet? Hoc etiam morbi lues facere consuevit. Armenta diripiet? Istud damnum abactores tolerando jam didicit. Ipsum fortassis non illi admovet taedia, sed removet; hoc enim illi intulit, quod majore cum molestia febris afferret, praesertim cum dicat Dominus: Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus, animam autem non possunt occidere. Illi igitur spirituales plus metuendi piratae sunt, qui non solum corpora hominum, sed et animas spoliare consueverunt; qui non tam aurum mundi quam aurum fidei auferre nituntur; qui non tam saeculi substantiam quam Christi sapientiam depraedantur. Nam ipsi nobis spirituales hostes hos carnales immittuntur, ut probemur in tribulatione positi quam simus confidentes in Deo, qui de solo ipso remedium postulemus. Sunt enim quidam qui, in tribulatione positi, dicant malis artibus hostes vincere, iisdem eos artibus debere superari, desperantes de Deo, a daemonibus victoriam flagitantes; miseri homines nesciunt quid faciunt, quid loquantur. Dum enim rebus suis metuunt, obliti sunt religionis ac fidei, qui res quidem suas forte non perdunt, sed quod est amplius suas animas perdiderunt. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia LXXXVIII, De non timendis hostibus carnalibus Source: Migne PL 57.453b-455b

I have frequently admonished you, brothers, that while it is permitted, while there is time, that you consider your salvation in every way, and that in this brief life you look toward eternal life. Wise is he who understands that this life of man is not given to leisure, but to toil, that is, that here a man labours and in the end he has rest. Here there is no rest, for this life is full with such evils, so that in comparison with it death may be thought a remedy, not a punishment; therefore God makes it short, so that its troubles which permit no prosperity have an end after a small time. Job says that life is a lair of bandits on the earth, 1 that is, that all men in this life experience evil, for the trial is to be understood as experience, for certainly a trial it is that in this life the devil surrounds men, and as a bandit rages against them, for indeed this is a dwelling place of bandits. Therefore, as long as we are in the lair, as long as we are in this flesh, so we are subject to the spiritual trials of brigands, and in this life which is carnal to us, we are not spared those who are barbarians and bandits. However I fear them less, who even if there are able to bear off possessions, are not able to carry off righteousness, who if they take away gold, certainly are not able to take away Christ, who if they steal silver are not able to steal the Saviour. Who, then does not hurry to have Christ, He who is not able to be taken by a brigand or borne off by an enemy, nor is He separated by captivity? Indeed he who has Christ does not fear any hostile man. What savagery will be done? Will cattle be driven away? This indeed is the custom of a plague. A herd will be seized? He has already taught that those who take must be suffered. And this perhaps does not drive one to weariness but removes it, for this instilled takes away a far worse trouble than sickness, certainly when the Lord says: 'Do not fear those who kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul.' 2 Therefore the spiritual bandits are more to be feared, who not only kill the bodies of men but are accustomed to despoil the soul, who do not so much exert themselves for the gold of the world, but to bear off faith, who do not so much destroy the things of this age, but ruin the knowledge of Christ. Yet these carnal foes do give admittance to our spiritual enemies, so that being placed in tribulation, rather than being confident in God, we seek a remedy from ourselves. They are those who when placed in tribulation would speak of conquering foes with evil deeds, that they should be overcome with their same arts, despairing of God, counseled by demons to victory, wretched men not knowing what they do, nor what they say. For while they fear for their own things, they have forgotten their religion and faith, they who would perhaps not lose their own things, but have already lost their souls. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 88, That One Should Not Fear Carnal Enemies 1 Job 7.1 2 Mt 10.28

The Good Thief

Quoniam hesterno die de latrone fecimus mentionem videamus quis iste latro sit, qui in cruce Domino constituto non solum peccatorum suorum veniam consequitur, sed etiam paradisi amoenitate donatur: ut qui propter scelera damnatus fuerat ad poenam, propter fidem transferretur ad gloriam, fueritque illi crux, quam pertulit, non tam supplicii damnatio, quam salutis occasio. In cruce enim positus Dominum credidit crucifixum, et ideo qui consortio passionis utitur, consortio paradisi condonatur. Beatus enim latro, dum supplicium patitur, regnum coeleste consequitur. Ecce reus dicitur, sicut cui damnari ad tempus expedivit. Non enim perveniret ad gloriam, si non contradictus esset ad poenam. Videamus, inquam, cur tantorum criminum reus, tam cito a Salvatore paradisum promeretur; cum alii multorum temporum lacrymis frequentibusque jejuniis, vix delictorum suorum veniam consequantur. Magna, fratres, et multiplex causae est: primum, quod iste latro devotione fidei tam repente mutatus est, ut praesentem poenam despiceret, ac de futura veniam precaretur, et magis crederet utile sibi esse de aeterno judicio petere, quam de temporali supplicio postulare; reminiscens enim sclereum suorum, et poenitudinem gerens, plus incipit avere quod sperat, quam sentire patitur. Potuit enim, nisi de futuris amplius cogitasset, qui in Christum semel crediderat, de praesenti magis supplicio deprecari. Deinde illud ad gratiam ejus majoris est meriti, quod Christum in cruce postium credidit, et passio, quae aliis sandalum fecit, illi ad fidem profecit; crucis enim passio multis scandalum fuit, sicut dicit Apostolus: Nos autem praedicamus Christum crucifixum Judaeis quidem scandalum, gentibus autem stultitiam. Recte ergo meretur paradisum, qui crucem Christi non putavit scandalum, sed virtutem; dicit enim idem Apostolus: Ipsis vocatis Judaeis Christum Dei virtutem, et Dei sapientiam. Recte plane et Dominus huic donat paradisum, quia quem Judas Scarioth in hortulo paradisi distraxerat, hic in crucis patibulo confitetur. Mira res: confitetur latro quem discipulus abnegavit; mira, inquam, res: latro honorificat patientem, quem Judas prodidit osculantem: ab hoc pacis blandimenta venduntur, ab illo crucis vulnera praedicantur; ait enim Memento mei, Domine, cum veneris in regnum tuum. Haec est fidei plena devotio, ut cum de vulneribus Domini profluus sanguis cernitur, tunc de potestate ejus venia postuletur; cum videtur ejus humilitatas, tunc magis teneatur ejus divinitas; cum morti addictus putatur, tunc regis illi honorificentia deferatur. Iste enim fidelis latro non credidit mortiturum, quem annunttiat  regnaturum; non putat subdenum inferis, quem dominaturum confitetur in caelo; non arbitratur eum apud tartarum detineri, a quo etiam se postulat liberari. Cernet licet ejus hianta vulnera; spectet ipsius sanguinem profluentem, Deum tamen credit, quem reum nescit; justum fatetur, quem non meminit peccatorem: ait enim illi alteri exprobranti latroni: Nos quidem recte digna factis recipimus; hic autem nihil mali gessit. Intellexit enim, quod pro alienis peccatis has plagas susciperet, pro alienis sceleribus haec vulnera sustineret; et scivit, quod illa in corpore Christi vulnera, non essent Christi vulnera, sed latronis; atque ideo plus amare coepit, postquam in corpore ejus sua vulnera recognovit. Ait enim propheta: Quoniam ipse infirmitates nostras portat, et pro nobis dolet; nos autem existimabamus eum esse in dolore, livore ejus sanati summus. Plus ergo in cruce positus livorem ejus cernens, latro diligit Deum: mira res: plus in cruce latro Christum diligit, quam Judas dilexit in coena, ille per cibum supplantat Magistrum; hic credidit Dominum per dolorem, sicut ait propheta: Qui edebat panes meos adampliacit adversum me supplantationem. Cognovit igitur hic latro omnem Domini passionem ex ipsius fieri voluntate, et in potestate ejus esse vel morti animam tradere, vel ad vitam iterum remeare, sicut ipse Dominus ait: Postestatem habeo ponendi animam meam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam. Usque adeo autem illum liberum ab inferni legibus judicavit, ut etiam se ab iis posceret liberari. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia LI De Sancto Latrone I Source: Migne PL 57.343b-346a

Because yesterday we made mention of the thief, let us see who this thief is, he who was placed on the cross with the Lord, and not only received forgiveness for his own sins, but was even given the delight of paradise, so that he who on account of sins was condemned to punishment on account of faith was transported to glory, and his cross which he bore was not only a punishment of torment but an occasion of salvation. Placed on the cross He believed in our Lord crucified and therefore as an associate in His passion it was given to him to be an associate in paradise. Indeed the thief was blessed while he suffered punishment, whence paradise followed. See that he is named guilty and so it profits him for a time to be condemned. He would not have come to glory if he had disputed his punishment. Let us see, I say, why, though guilty of so many crimes, he was so swiftly promised paradise by the Saviour, when others who spend a very long time amid many tears in fasting scarcely gain forgiveness for theirs. A great thing it is, brothers, and many are the reasons. First, that this thief with the devotion of faith was suddenly transformed, so that he despised present punishment and entreated future forgiveness, and thought it more useful for himself to entreat concerning the eternal judgement than to ask concerning temporal punishment, for recalling his own crimes and being penitent, the more he began to desire what he hoped than to feel what he suffered. For how was he able, unless he had greater thought of the future, he who had come to believe in Christ, otherwise to dismiss present punishments? Thus he merits to be more pleasing who placed on the cross believed in Christ, the suffering, which is a scandal to others, rather advancing him to faith. For the suffering of the cross was a scandal to many, as the Apostle says: 'For we preach Christ crucified, a scandal to the Jews, foolishness to the Gentiles.' 1 Rightly, therefore, he deserved paradise who did not think the cross of Christ a scandal but a power, for the same Apostle says, ''To Jews who have been called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.' 2 And rightly did the Lord grant him paradise, because He whom Judas Iscariot gave away in the garden, he confesses on the gibbet of the cross. A wondrous thing: the thief confessed Him whom the disciple denied; a wondrous thing, I say, that the thief gave honor to Him who suffered, whom Judas betrayed with a kiss. By the latter the delights of peace are sold, by the former the wounds of the cross are preached; for he says, 'Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom.' 3 This is a deep and devout faith, that when the blood flowing from the wounds of the Lord is seen, that then the forgiveness of His power is asked, that when His humility appears, that then His Divinity is grasped more greatly, that when He is thought to be snared by death, that then He is honoured as a king. This faithful thief did not believe that He would die whom he announced would reign, he did not think He would be subdued by hell whom he confessed would rule in heaven, he did not judge Him as one who would be held by Tartarus whom he asked to be liberated. He sees His open wounds, he gazes at His flowing blood, yet he believed Him God who did not know guilt. He names Him righteous whom he did not hold a sinner, for He says to the other thief, he who was abusive: 'We rightly receive what we do for our deeds, this one has done no evil.' 1 For he understood that for the sins of others He received His blows, and for the crimes of others He sustained His wounds, and he knew that those wounds on the body of Christ were not the wounds of Christ, but of the thief, and so the more he began to love Him after he recognised his own wounds on His body. For the Prophet says, 'Because he bore our infirmities and suffered for us, we judged him to be one condemned, but by his bruises we were healed.' 5 Thus the more the thief on the cross looked at his bruises, the more he loved God. Another wonderful thing, the thief loved Christ on the cross more than Judas loved him at the supper, that one who by bread betrayed Him. He believed the Lord in suffering, as the Prophet said, 'He who ate my bread rises up against me to overthrow me.' 6 Therefore the thief knows all the suffering of the Lord is on account of His own will, and in His power it is if He gives His soul to death and that He has power to take it up again. 7 He even judged Him able to free Himself from the laws of hell, whence he asked Him to free from him them. Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 51, On The Good Thief 1 1 Cor 1.23 2 1 Cor 1.24 3 Lk 23.42 4 Lk 23.41 5 Isaiah 53.4-5 6 Ps 40.10 7 Jn 10.18

Avarice And Murder

Dona iniquorum reprobat Altissimus. Qui offert sacrificium ex substantiam pauperum, quasi qui victimat filium in conspectu patris sui. Divitiae, inquit, quas congregabit injustus, evometur de ventre ejus; trahit illum angelus mortis: ira draconum multabitur: interficiet illum lingua colubri. Comedet autem eum ignis inexstinguibilis. Ideoque vae qui replent se quae non sunt sua. Vel, quid prodest homini, ut totum mundum lucretur, et animae suae detrimentum patiatur? Longum est per singula discutere vel insinuare, per totam legem carpere testimonia de tali cupiditate. Avaritia mortale crimen. Non concupisces rem proximi tui. Non occides. Homicidia non potest esse cum Christo. Qui odit fratrem suum, homicida ascribitur; vel, qui non diligit fratrem suum in morte manet. Quanto magis reus est qui manus suas coinqiunavit in sanguine filiorum Dei, quos nuper acquisivit in ultimis terrae, per exhortationem parvitatis nostrae? Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum Source: Migne PL 53.815c-816a

'The Most High rejects the gifts of the iniquitous. He who offers a sacrifice taken from the belongings of the poor is like one who sacrifices a son in the sight of his father.' 1 'Riches,' it says, 'which the unrighteous man gathers, will be vomited out of his stomach. The angel of death will drag him away, the rage of dragons will be his punishment; the tongue of the serpent will kill him.' 2 Indeed the unquenchable fire will consume him. And so woe to those who fill themselves with what is not theirs. And likewise: 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul?' 3 Long it would be to discuss or refer to the testimonies throughout the whole law that speak out against such greed. Avarice is a deadly crime. 'Do not covet your neighbour's goods. Do not kill.' 4 The murderer can not be with Christ. 'Whoever hates his brother is a murderer,' and likewise, 'Whoever does not love his brother remains in death.' 5 How much more guilty is he who has stained his hands with the blood of the children of God, those who He only recently acquired at the ends of the earth through the encouragement of our insignificance? Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, from The Letter to Coroticus 1 Sirach 34.23-24 2 Job 20. 15-16 3 Mt 16.26 4 Exod 20.17,13 5 1 Jn 3.14-15

A Shamed Thief

Quomodo confunditur fur, quando deprehenditur, sic confusi sunt domus Israel: ipsi et reges eorum, principes et sacerdotes, et prophetae eorum.   Quamvis sit impudens et procax vultus furantium, tamen erubescit, cum in furto fuerit deprehensus. Et Israel ergo dicens ligno, Pater meus es tu, et lapidi, tu me genuisiti;' ut eos vocaret parentes, quos ipse fabricatus est, confunditur cum in sua idololatria fuerit deprehensus. Et ne putemus hoc de plebe eum dicere: reges ponit et principes, et sacerdotes, et prophetas eorum. Utamur hoc testimonio contra principes nostros, et contra hos qui in Ecclesia putantur duces, cum in peccatis turpibus fuerint deprehensi. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Propheta, II, XXVI

'As a thief is shamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel has been disgraced, and its kings and its princes and its priests and its prophets.' 1 Although the face of thieves may be bold and impudent, yet it will blush when it is caught thieving. Therefore Israel, when it says to wood, 'You are my father, and to stone, you gave birth to me,' 2 thus calling things parents that they themselves have made, will be disgraced when caught in idolatry. And lest we think that he speaks here of the people alone, he adds, 'and its kings and princes and priests and prophets.' Let us make use of this testimony then against our princes, and those who think themselves leaders in the church, when they are caught in foul sins. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah, 2.26 1 Jer 2.26 2 Jer 2.27

Dealing with a Thief

Ὁ αὐτὸς ἀββᾶς Μακάριος, ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ὤν, εὐρεν ἄνθρωπον ἔχοντα κτῆνος καὶ συλοῦντα τὰς χρείας αύτοῦ· καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς ξένος παραστὰς τῷ συλοῦντι, συνεγέμου τὸ κτῆνος, καὶ μετὰ πολλης ἡσυχίας προέπεμπεν αὐτὸν, λέγων, ὅτι Ούδὲν εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, δῆλον ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι δυνάμεθα. Ὁ Κύριος ἔδωκεν· ὡς αὐτὸς ἠθήλησεν, οὕτως καὶ ἐγένετο. Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος ἐπὶ πᾶσιν. Ἀποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

While he was in Egypt Father Macarius came upon a man who owned a beast of burden stealing his possessions, and he came to the thief as if he was a stranger, and he helped him to load the animal, and he saw him off wishing him peace, saying, 'We have brought nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.' 1 'The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord in all things.' 2 Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia  1 1 Tim. 6.7 2 Job 1.21

Pondering the Consequences

Ἄλλοτε ὁ αὐτὸς ἀββᾶς Ζήνων περιπατῶν ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνη, καὶ κοπιάσας, ἐγγὺς σικυηλάτου ἐκάθισε φαγεῖν, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ λογισμός· Ἀρον ἑαυτῷ ἐν σικύδιν, καὶ φάγε. Τί γάρ ἐστιν; Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεις εἶπε τῷ λογισμῷ· Οἱ κλέπται εἰς κόλασιν ὑπάγουσι. Δοκίμασον οὖν ἑαυτὸν ἐντεῦθεν, εἰ δύνασαι τὴν κύλασιν ὑπενεγκεῖν. Καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔστη εἰς τὸ καῦμα πέντε ἡμέρας, καὶ τηγανιας ἑαυτὸν, εἶπεν· Οὐ δύνασαι την κόλασιν ὑπενεγκεῖν. Καὶ λέγει τῷ λογισμῷ· Εἰ οὐ δύνασαι, μὴ κλέπτε καὶ τρῶγε.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

One time father Zeno was passing through Palestine and he became weary and he sat down next to a cumber field to eat, for a thought came to him, saying, 'Take and eat. What does it matter?' But he said in reply to this thought, 'Thieves receive punishment. Do you then try yourself, if you can endure chastisement.' And he rose and stood in the hot sun for five days, and exhausted by it, he said, ' You will not endure chastisement.' And so he said to his soul, 'You are unable, do not steal and eat.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia