Everything Has Its Time

VERANUS. Quid vult demonstrare per hoc quod ait: Omnia tempus habent? Quod si omnia tempus habent, ergo aeternae Divinitatis substantia, tempus habet? SALONIUS. Absit; illa quippe ineffabilis aeterna maiestatis divinae essentia quae omnia creavit ex nihilo, non loco clauditur, non tempore coangustatur, non ullo spatio terminatur: et idcirco Salomon, ut ostenderet de quibus hoc dixerit, statim subiungit dicens, Et suis spatiis transeunt universa sub coelo. Vult enim demonstrare quod contraria sibi sunt omnia quae in mundo sunt, et nihil est perpetuum ex omnibus quae sub coelo sunt, et ista tempus continent. Salonius Viennensis, Expositio Mystica in Ecclesiasten Source: Migne PL 53.998b-c

Veranus: What does he wish to show through this which he says, 'Everything has its time.' 1 Because if everything has its time, then the substance of the eternal Divinity must have its time? Salonius: Let it not be. Certainly that eternal essence of ineffable majestic Divinity which created everything from nothing is not enclosed in any place, nor bound in the any time, nor limited by any space, and therefore Solomon, so that he might show what things he was speaking of, instantly adds, 'and with their own spans they pass away beneath heaven.' For he wishes to show that everything in the world is unlike heaven, and nothing is forever among all the things beneath heaven, but they have their time. Salonius of Geneva, A Spiritual Exposition of Ecclesiastes 1 Eccl 3.1

The Fall And Time

In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane tuo, donec revertaris in terram, de qua sumptus es, quia pulvis est, et in pulverem reverteris. Illum hic panem intellige qui ait: Ego sum panis vitae qui de coelo descendi. Quo in sudore vultus nostri vescimur, quia ad conspectum divinae celsitudinis non nisi per laborem necessariae afflictionis ascendimus. Primus homo ita conditus fuit, ut manente illo decederent tempora, nec cum temporibus ipse transiret. Stabat enim momentis decurrentibus, quia nequauam ad extremum vitae per dierum incrementa tendebat. Stabat tanto robustior, quanto semper stani arctius inhaerebat. At ubi vetitum contigit, mox offenso creatore, coepit ire cum tempore. Unde et ei dictum est: Terra es, et in terram ibis; statum videlicet immortalitatis amisso, cursus eum mortalitatis absorbuit, et dum juventute ad senium, senio traheretur ad mortem, transeundo didicit stando quid fuit. Cujus nos quia de propagine nascimur, radicis amaritudinem, quasi in virgulto retinemus. Nam quia ex illo originem ducimus, ejus cursum nascendo sortimur, ut eo ipso quotidiano momento qui vivimus, incessanter a vita transeamus, et vivendi nobis spatium unde crescere creditur, inde decrescat, quia dum infantia ad pueritiam, adolescentia ad juventutem, juventus ad senectutem, senectus transit ad mortem, et in cursu vitae praesentis, ipsis suis augmentiis ad detrimenta impellitur: et inde semper deficit, under proficere se in spatium vitae credit. Fixum etenim statum hic habere non possumus, ubi transitorie vivimus, atque hoc ipsum nostrum vivere, quotidie a vita transire est. Quem videlicet lapsum primus homo ante culpam habere non potuit, quia tempora eo stante transibant. Sed postquam deliquit, in quodam se quasi lubrico temporalitatis posuit; et quia cibum comedit vetitum, staus sui protinus invenit defectum. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Genesim, Liber I Source: Migne PL 107.498c-499b

'In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread until you return to the earth from which you were taken, because you are dust and to dust you shall return.' 1 Understand the bread as He who said: 'I am the bread of life which comes down from heaven.' 2 That which we eat in the sweat of our faces because we are not able to ascend to the presence of the Divine heavens unless by the labour of needful affliction. The first man was so established that he persisted while time passed, not passing away with time. For he stood while the moments flowed past and did not at all move to the end of life with the increase of days. He stood more strongly as much as always he adhered more strictly to his standing. But when he turned to fault, instantly offending the Creator, he began to flow with time. Thus it was said to him: 'Earth you are and to earth you shall go.' Certainly because of the loss of the state of immortality the way of mortality seized him, and being dragged from youth to old age, and from old to death, he learnt what was the passing of his stability. From which we by proceation are born, retaining as in the shoot the bitterness of the root. For because from that beginning we come, we are destined from birth for his course, that with him, every moment we live, we are relentlessly passing from life, and our span of life which is thought to grow so by that deceases; for going from infancy to childhood, childhood to adulthood, adulthood to old age, old age passes into death, and in the course of this present life as it increases so it is driven to diminish; and so it always falling way as it is thought to be advancing. We are not able to have a fixed state here, where we live in transience, but as him it is ours to live every day passing away from life. Which fault certainly the first man was not able to have before his error, because with time passing he stood firm. But after he erred he placed himself, as it were, on the slippy slope of time, and because he ate the forbidden food he swiftly discovered his own state defective. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On Genesis, Book I 1 Gen 3.19 2 Jn 6.35

Life And A Day

Εἶπε πάλιν· Ὅλος ὁ βίος ἀνθρώπου, ἡμέρα μία, τοῖς πόθῳ κάμνουσιν. Ἄποφθέγματα των Αγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Source: Migne PG 65.145b

Again Father Gregory said, 'The whole life of a man is but a day for those who are exerting themselves with longing.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Substance and Nothingness

Καὶ ὑπόστασίς μου ὡσει οὐθὲν ἐνωπιόν σου. Ἥ καὶ οὕτως· Ἡ ὑπόστασίς μου ὡσει οὐθὲν ἐνωπιόν σου, ὅτι χίλια ἕτη ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου ὡσεὶ ἡμέρα ἡ ἐχθὲς ἢτις παρὴλθεν, ἢ φυλακὴ ἐν νυκτὶ, τουτέστιν ὥραι τρεῖς ἢ τέσσαρες. Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδήπερ αὐτὸς μὲν ὑπάρχεις ἀεὶ, ἡ δ' ἐμὴ ὑπόστασίς ὀλίγη παντελῶς ἐστιν καὶ συνεσταλμένη, καὶ ὡς οὐδὲν ὅλως ἐν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, μὴ ἀφῇς κολάζεσθαι μακρὰ τὸν ἐξ ἀσθενείας ὠλισθηκότα, μήτε μὴν τῷ παντὶ τοῦ βίου μήκει σύνδρομον ἔχοιμι τὴν πληγήν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ὑπόστασίς, ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας κατάδυσις εἴπεν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος βίωσις. Ὁ γαρ ἀνθρώπινος βίος οὐδεν ἐστιν, ὡς πρὸς τὴν θείαν ἀϊδιότητα· καψὰ τὸ, Σὺ δὲ αὐτὸς εἶ· ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ παρ' ἀνθρώποις σπουδὴ, ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τον Ψαλμον ΛΗ' Source: Migne PG 69.973c-976a

And my substance is nothing before you. 1 So he says that his substance is nothing before you, because a thousand years before your eyes are like a day which has passed, or a watch in the night 2 that is, three or four hours. When, then, you are eternal my existence is contracted to a tiny thing, and it is as nothing in your sight, and that lest you give long length for punishment to him who in his weakness errs, and all through such life he have a flood of blows. Now for substance, the translator Aquila writes 'depths', and Symmachus has 'life'. For human life is nothing before the eternity of God, according to which, 'You yourself are, and every concern of man is a vanity of vanities.' 3 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Psalm 38 1 Ps 38.6 2  Ps 89.4 3 Ps 101.28

Healing The Blind

Ab Jericho egreditur Dominus, jam de ista terra resurrectione discedens.  Sequuntur eum turbae multae; credunt in eum populi et gentes. Duo caeci sedentes iuxta viam significant de utroque populo quosdam iam cohaerentes per fidem dispensationi temporali secundum quam Christus via est, et desiderantes illuminari; id est, aliquid de verbi aeternitate intelligere: quod transeunte domino impetrare cupiebant, idest, per meritum fidei, qua creditur filius Dei, et natus homo, et passus propter nos: per hanc enim dispensationem quasi transit Iesus, quia actio temporalis est. Oportebat autem ut tantum clamarent donec resistentis sibi turbae strepitum vincerent; id est, tam perseverando animum intenderent orando atque pulsando, quousque consuetudinem desideriorum carnalium, quae tamquam turba obstrepit cognitioni lucem veritatis aeternae videre conanti, vel ipsam hominum carnalium turbam, studia spiritualia impedientem, fortissima intensione superarent. Itaque audiens Jesus qui ait, Petenti dabitur,et quaerens inveniet, et pulsanti aperietur, venientes ad se, ipso scilicet desiderii ardore perevenientes ad id quod desiderant, stans eos tangit, atque illuminat. Non enim sicut illa dispensatio temporalis, ita etiam Verbi aeternitas transit, quae in seipsa manens omnia innovat. Quapropter quia fides incarnantionis temporalis ad aeterna intelligenda nos praeparat, transeunte Jesu admoniti sunt ut illuminarentur, et ab stante illuminati sunt. Temporalia enim transeunt, aeterna stant. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Questiones in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Liber Primus, XXVIII Source: Migne PL 35 1328

From Jericho the Lord goes out, 1 already going out from this earth with the resurrection. A great crowd follows him, the people and the gentiles believe in him. The two blind men sitting by the way signify certain folk of both nations already by faith coming to that temporal dispensation, according to which Christ is the way, and seeking to be enlightened, that is, to understand something of the eternity of the Word. This they desired to obtain from the Lord passing by, by the merit of that faith by which He is believed to be the Son of God, to have been born man, and to have suffered for us, for in this dispensation, Jesus, as it were, passes by, for all action is temporal. Also it was fitting that they should cry out until they overcame the din of the crowd that opposed them, that is, that they exert the soul by striving and prayer, and for as long as spiritual zeal was impeded by the habit of carnal desires, which as a crowd cry out against those who try to see the light of eternal truth, and so are like a crowd of carnal men, which with great striving they overcame. Thus Jesus hears, He who said, 'To him who asks it shall be given, and he who seeks shall find, and to him who knocks it shall be opened,' 1 and so they come to Him, approaching by the flame of desire in them to come to what they desire, and standing still He touches them and they see. For not as a temporal arrangement does the eternal Word pass by, that which in itself persisting makes all things new. 3 Whence since faith in the temporal incarnation prepares us for the understanding of eternity, so with Jesus passing by they were stirred that they be enlightened, and by Him standing still they were enlightened. Temporal things are transient, eternal things stand. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 1, 28 1 Mt 20. 29 2 Mt 7.7 3 Wisdom 7.27

The Years Of The Web

Anni nostri ut aranea meditabuntur. Ut aranearum telae sunt futiles et caducae, et ad omnen tactum cito pereunt: ita vita nostra fragilis et morti proxima est. Quod quidem melius Aquila interpretatus est, dicens: 'Anni nostri similes loquenti' : quod scilicet ad conpartionem sermonis humani praetereant, dum subsistunt. 'Dextram tuam sic notam fac mihi, et eruditos corde sapientia. Hoc melius Symmachus transtulit, dicens: Dies nostros sic notos fac, ut veniamus corde sapienti.' Precatur ergo, ut tempus vitae nostrae Deus indicet nobis: quo possimus corde sapienti eius nos praeparare iudicio. Sanctus Hieronimus, Commentarioli, Ps LXXXIX

'Our years shall be considered as a cobweb.' 1 Like those threads of the web that are so weak and break, swiftly perishing at the touch of anything, so are our fragile lives near to death. Which Aquila has interpreted better, saying, 'Our years are like a thing spoken,' for indeed they pass away like a piece of human speech which has been spoken, as soon as they come to be. 'Make known your right hand  to me and those wise in heart'. 2 This Symmachus has translated better, saying, 'Our days make known to us, that we may come to wisdom of heart.' He prays therefore that God indicate the time of our life to us, by which we are able with a wise heart to prepare ourselves for judgement. Saint Jerome,The Little Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 89 1 Ps 89.9 2 Ps 89.12

An Eternal Possession

Dabo tibi et semini tuo post te terram in qua habitas, omnem terram cultam in possessionem aeternam.  Quaestio est quomodo dixerit aeternam, cum Israelitis temporaliter data sit; utrum secundum hoc saeculum dicta sit aeterna, ut ab eo quod est αἰὼν graece, quod est saeculum significat, dictum sit: αἰώνιον, tamquam si latine dici posset saeculare ; an ex hoc aliquid secundum spiritalem promissionem hic intellegere cogamur, ut aeternum dictum sit, ideo quia hinc aeternum aliquid significatur; an potius locutionis est Scripturarum, ut aeternum appellent, cuius rei finis non constituitur; aut non ita fit ut deinceps non sit faciendum, quantum pertinet ad curam vel potestatem facientis; sicut ait Horatius: Serviet aeternum, qui parvo nesciet uti. Non enim potest in aeternum servire, cuius ipsa vita, qua servit, aeterna esse non potest. Quod testimonium non adhiberem, nisi locutionis esset. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestionum in Heptateuchum, Liber I, Cap XXXI

'I give to you and your seed after you that land in which you dwell, all the cultivated earth as an eternal possession.' 1  The question is: how does it say 'eternal' when it was given to the Israelites but for a time? Can it be that this age is called an eternity and that which the Greek have as αἰὼν and our 'age' signifies may have been meant? As again the Greeks say αἰώνιον and we say 'for the age.' But this is something we are obliged to understand as a spiritual promise, that was spoken as eternal, because by it something eternal is signified, or rather it is a way of speaking in Scripture that things are called eternal of which the end is not established, or what is to happen may not be done, as much as it pertains to the care or the ability to do it, and so Horace says, 'He shall be a slave for eternity who does not know how to live on little.' And yet he is not able to be a slave in eternity whose life in which he is a slave is not eternal. So likewise that passage I would not admit, unless it is a way of speaking. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Heptateuch, Book 1, Chap 31 1 Gen 17.8 2 Horace Epis 1.10. 41

Three Eternities

Sed sciendum est quod aeternam tribus modis in sancta Scriptura legi solet. Primo, quod vere et proprie aeternum dicitur, omni mutabilitate carens, sicut solus Deus est. Alter vero modus est, eum ea res aeterna dicitur, quae ipsa quidem per se aeterna non est, sed quod significat, aeternum est; veluti hoc quod Abrahae dicitur: Dabo tibi et semini tuo terram hanc in possessionem aeternam. Cum nec ipsa terra, nec ejus habitatores aeterni esse potuissent, sed terra viventium, quae per hanc terram significatur, aeterna est; et habitatores illius aeterni, de quibus dicitur: Beati mites, quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram. Tertius modus est, quando ea res aeterna appelantur, cui finis non constituitur, aut ita fit ut deinceps non sit facienda, quantum ad curam val ad potestatem facientis, aut dicentis pertinet, eo genere locutionis, quo quidam Poeta dicit: Serviet aeternum, quo parvo nesciet uti. Non enim potest aeternum servire, cujus ipsa vita aeterna esse non potest. Sed magis quaedam differentia est inter essentiam omnipotentis Dei, et volventia humanae vitae tempora. Legimus enim tria tempora esse, id est, praeteritum, praesens, et futurum; sed ita ut pene nihil nobis praesens sit, sed omnia praeterita et futura. Verbum enim dum dico priorem dum dixi syllabam, posterior futura fuit: et dum posteriorem dico, praeteriit prior. Deo vero nihil praeteritum et futurum, sed omnia praesentia sunt, qui servo suo Moysi ait: Ego sum qui sum. Et Dices filiis Isreal: qui est, misit me ad vos. Alcuinus, Epistola CLXII, Ad Carolum Magnum Source: Migne PL 100.421b-d

But it should known that eternity is spoken of in three ways in Scripture. The first, which is the true and proper eternity, lacking any change, is God alone. Another way is when something is spoken of as eternal which is not in itself eternal, that is, it signifies something which is eternal, as when it is said to Abraham, 'I shall give to you and your seed this land as an eternal possession.' 1 And yet neither the land nor its inhabitants were eternal, but it is the 'land of the living,' 2 that is signified by this land, that which is eternal, and the inhabitants of it are also eternal, concerning which it is said, 'Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth' 3 The third way is when things are called eternal of which the end is not established, or that perhaps might not come to be on account of care of power to do it, which is signified by the words of that way of speaking, as a certain poet says, 'He shall be a slave for eternity who does not know how to live on little.' 4 For he cannot be a slave in eternity who does not have a life that is eternal. But certainly there is a great difference between the being of the almighty God and the fleeting times of human life. For we read there are three times, that is, the past, the present and the future, but almost nothing to us is able to be present, but everything is past or future. For a mere word which I speak, before I have said a syllable, it is in the future and then that moment after I have spoken it is of the past. But to God nothing is past or future but all things are present, which He declared to his servant Moses when He said, 'I am He who is.' And say to the sons of Israel, 'He who is sent me to you.' 5 Alcuin of York, from Letter 162, To Charlemagne 1 Gen 18.8 2 Ps 26.13 3 Mt 5.4 4 Horace Epis 1.10.41 5 Exod 3.14

Days of Salvation

Ἀνατελεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, Βλαστήσει ἐν ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δίκαιος καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον Ἀνθήσει ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δίκαιος. Ἡμέραι δὲ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν αἱ ἀπὸ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ μέχρι τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος νοηθήσονται. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀκούομεν τὸ Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Δαυῗδ , καὶ, Ἐν ἡμέραις Ἰερονοὰμ, οὕτως εἴεν ἂν ἡμέραι τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι μὲν, πρὸς ὀλίγον φανέντες, θᾶττον ἀπεσβέσθησαν· δι' ὅ καὶ αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν ἐξέλιπον· αἱ δὲ ἡμέραι τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ὁπόσαι τυγχάνουσι, φθάσας, ὁ λόγος ἐδήλωσεν εἰπών· Συμπαραμενεῖ τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῆς σελήνης γενεὰς γενεῶν· οἷς ἀκολούθως καὶ αὐτὸς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς ἐπηγγέλλετο λέγων· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι ἄχρι τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος· Οὕτω γὰρ ἥμελλε συμπαραμένειν τῷ ἡλίῳ. Οὐκοῦν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ, καθ'  ἂς συμπαραμενεῖ τῷ ἡλίῳ, καὶ ὁμοίως σελήνῃ τὰς τῶν ἐν σκότῳ φωτίσει ψυχὰς, ἀναλάμψει ἐπὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς δικαιοσύνη· Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος ΟΑ'

'There will rise in those days His righteousness and a fullness of peace.' 1  Or according to Aquila's translation: 'His justice shall spring up in those days and an abundance of peace,' or according to Symmachus: 'His justice shall flourish in those days.' Here the days of our Saviour from his coming to the consummation of the world are to be understood. With which understanding we hear such passages as, 'In the days of David, and 'In the days of Jeroboam,' and in the same way the days of our Saviour are to be understood. But the former appeared for a a brief time and quickly passed away, their days perishing, but how many the days of our Saviour there are is declared in a line above the passage we have quoted with the words, 'He shall remain with the sun and before the moon from generation unto generation.' 2 And consequently He gave this promise to His disciples: 'I shall be with you until the consummation of the world,' 3 for with the sun He was to remain. So in those same days, in which He is with the sun, and in similar manner with the moon, the souls placed in darkness shall be illuminated, and His righteousness shall shine on the whole earth. Eusebius of Caesarea, from Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 71 1  Ps 71. 7 2 Ps 71. 5 3 Mt 28.20

Differing Days

Quintam Tychonius regulam ponit quam De temporibus appellat, qua regula plerumque inveniri vel conici possit latens in Scripturis sanctis quantitas temporum. Duobus autem modis vigere dicit hanc regulam, aut tropo synecdoche aut legitimis numeris. Tropus synecdoche aut a parte totum aut a toto partem facit intellegi, sicut unus Evangelista post dies octo factum dicit, quod alius post dies sex, quando in monte discipulis tantum tribus praesentibus facies Domini fulsit ut sol et vestimenta eius ut nix. Utrumque enim verum esse non posset, quod de numero dierum dictum est, nisi ille qui dixit post dies octo, intellegatur partem novissimam diei ex quo id Christus praedixit futurum, et partem primam diei quo id ostendit impletum, pro totis diebus duobus atque integris posuisse; is vero qui dixit: post dies sex, integros omnes et totos, sed solos medios computasse.  Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Doctrina Christiana, Liber III

The fifth rule Tychonius gives he names 'of times', by which one can frequently discover or conjecture quantities of time which are not declared in Scripture. And he says that this rule is applicable in two ways: either to the trope of synecdoche, or to legitimate numbers. The trope of synecdoche would have the part for the whole, or the whole for the part understood; as when one Evangelist says it was after eight days, 1 and another that it was after six days 2 that on the mount in the presence of the three disciples the face of the Lord shone like the sun and His garments were as white as snow. Now both of these statements cannot be true, unless we suppose that he who says 'after eight days,' should be understood as counting the latter part of the day on which Christ spoke of the future, and the first part of the day on which he showed its fulfillment as two whole days, while the writer who says 'after six days', reckoned only the whole unbroken days between. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Christian Teaching, Book 3 1 Lk 9:28 2 Mt 17.1

Questioning Genesis

Primum ergo librum Veteris Testamenti, qui inscribitur Genesis, sic solent Manichaei reprehendere. Quod scriptum est: In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram, quaerunt, in quo principio; et dicunt: Si in principio aliquo temporis fecit Deus coelum et terram, quid agebat antequam faceret coelum et terram? et quid ei subito placuit facere, quod nunquam antea fecerat per tempora aeterna? His respondemus, Deum in principio fecisse coelum et terram, non in principio temporis, sed in Christo, cum Verbum esset apud Patrem, per quod facta et in quo facta sunt omnia  Dominus enim noster Iesus Christus, cum eum Iudaei interrogassent quis esset, respondit: Principium, quia et loquor vobis. Sed etsi in principio temporis Deum fecisse coelum et terram credamus, debemus utique intellegere quod ante principium temporis non erat tempus. Deus enim fecit et tempora: et ideo antequam faceret tempora, non erant tempora. Non ergo possumus dicere fuisse aliquod tempus quando Deus nondum aliquid fecerat. Quomodo enim erat tempus quod Deus non fecerat, cum omnium temporum ipse sit fabricator? Et si tempus cum coelo et terra esse coepit, non potest inveniri tempus quo Deus nondum fecerat coelum et terram. Cum autem dicitur, Quid ei placuit subito, sic dicitur, quasi aliqua tempora transierint, quibus Deus nihil operatus est. Non enim transire poterat tempus, quod nondum fecerat Deus; quia non potest esse operator temporum, nisi qui est ante tempora. Certe et ipsi Manichaei legunt apostolum Paulum, et laudant et honorant; et eius Epistolas male interpretando multos decipiunt. Dicant ergo nobis quid dixerit apostolus Paulus: Agnitionem veritatis quae est secundum pietatem Dei in spem vitae aeternae, quam promisit non mendax Deus ante tempora aeterna : aeterna enim tempora quid ante se habere potuerunt? Hoc ergo cogantur exponere, ut intellegant se non intellegere, cum temere volunt reprehendere quod diligenter quaerere debuerunt. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De Genesi, Contra Manichaeos, Liber Primus

With the First book of the Old Testament which is entitled Genesis the Manichees are accustomed to find fault. When it is written: 'In the beginning God made heaven and earth' 1 they wonder, in what beginning, and they say, 'If in some beginning of time God made heaven and earth, what was he doing before he made heaven and earth? And why did it suddenly please Him to act, when he had done nothing before in all eternity?' To these we reply that God in the beginning made heaven and earth, not in the beginning of time, but in Christ, when the Word was with the Father, through which and in which everything was made. 2 The Lord Jesus Christ, who when the Jews questioned him, asking him who he was, he answered,' The beginning, that I even speak to you.' 3 But even if in the beginning of time But even if in the beginning we believe God made heaven and earth, we should understand that that which is before the beginning of time was not time. For God made time and then before he made time there was no time. So we are not able to say what He was at some time when God had not yet made it. For how was there time when God had not made it, when He is the maker of every time? And if time began with with heaven and earth, one cannot find the time in which God was not yet making heaven and earth. For when he says, 'Why did it please Him suddenly to do this?' he speaks as if some time had passed in which God had done nothing. Time was not able to pass when God had yet to make it. He is not able to be a maker of time unless He is before time. Certainly the Manichees read the Apostle Paul, and they praise and they honour him, and his letters they interpret badly and deceive many. Thus they say to us 'Why did the Apostle Paul say: 'The knowledge of truth which is according to the piety of God in the hope of the life eternal, which God who does not lie promised before all times.' 4 For before all times what was he doing?' And to this they demand an answer that they might understand not understanding, for audaciously they wish to find fault with what they should seek diligently. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Genesis, Against the Manichees, Book 1 1 Gen 1.1 2 Jn 1-3 3 Jn 8.25  4 Titus 1.1-2

Abraham and Christmas

Respondit Jesus, Abraham exsultavit ut videret diem meum; vidit, et gravisus est. Ille, ut ostenderet vivere Abraham, dixit illum vidisse diem suum, id est diem quo mundo natus est Christus. Dierum conditor non tenetur die, temporis auctor tempora nescit; sed Christus propter hominem homo natus, et diem suscepit et tempus. 'Abraham exsultavit ut videret diem meum.' Si Moyses et Elias in monte occurrunt, ut promissum conspicerent Christum, quomodo nec Abraham occurrit ad partum Virginis, ut promissam benedictionem in gentibus, id est, in semine suo, patientissimus exspectator intenderet? Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CXXXI

Jesus replied, 'Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw and he was happy.' 1 He, that he might show Abraham lived, said that he had seen His day, that is, the day on which Christ was born to the world. The Creator of days is not constrained by the day, the Author of time does not know periods of time. But for the sake of the human being Christ was born a man and became subject to both day and time. 'Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day.' If Moses and Elijah are present on the mountain that they might catch sight of the promised Christ, 2 what prevents Abraham from being present when the Virgin gives birth, so that after waiting patiently he might behold the blessing promised in his people, this is, his seed? Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 131 1. Jn 8. 54, 56.52 2  Mt 17.3

The Eighth Day

In diebus octo assumpsit, et duxit in montem. Quid est quod iste dicit: In diebus octo post haec verba. Ne forte quia is qui verna Christi audit et credit, resurrectionis tempore gloriam Christi videbit; octava enim die facta est resurrectio; unde et plerique psalmi in octavam inscribuntur. Aut forte ut ostenderet nobis quia dixerat quod is qui propter Dei verbum perdiderit animam suam, salvam faciet eam; quoniam promissa sua in resurrectione restituat. Sed Matthaeus et Marcus post dies sex assumptos hos esse memorarunt  De quo possemus dicere, post sex millia annorum, Mille enim anni in conspectu Dei tamquam dies una: sed plures quam sex millia computantur anni: et malumus sex dies per symbolum intelligere, quod sex diebus mundi opera sunt creata; ut per tempus opera, per opera mundum intelligamus. Et ideo mundi temporibus impletis, resurrectio futura monstratur: aut quia is qui supra mundum ascenderit, et hujus saeculi momenta transcenderit, velut in sublimi locatus, futurae resurrectionis expectabit aeternum. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VII

On the eighth day he took them up and led them on to the mountain. 1 What is the meaning of him saying, 'On the eighth day after these words' unless perhaps that he who is a servant of Christ, who hears and believes, shall see in time the glory of the resurrection of Christ. For the eighth day is the resurrection, whence many Psalms are written in eight sections. 2 Or perhaps that it might be shown to us that he said that he who for the word of God gives his own soul, that he will save it, because His promise will restore in the resurrection. But Matthew and Mark recall that he took them up on the sixth day. 3 Concerning which we are able to say, after six thousand years, 'For a thousand years are as a day in the sight of God ' 4 but more than six thousand years are reckoned, and we prefer to understand the six days as a figure, that in six days the things of the world were created, that through time the works were done, and through the works we might understand the world. And therefore with the fullness of the time of the earth, the future resurrection will be shown. Or because this is of the one who has risen above the world, and this age transcended, and as in sublime place, is expecting the eternity of the future resurrection. Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 7 1 Lk 9.28 2 cf Ps 6 and 11 3 Mt 17.1 , Mk 9.1 4 Ps 89.4

War And Peace

'Tempus belli et tempus pacis' Quandiu in praesenti saeculo sumus, tempus est belli: cum autem migraverimus de hoc saeculo, pacis tempus adveniet. In pace enim locus est Dei, et civitas nostra Jerusalem, de pace sortita est vocabulum. Nemo ergo se nunc putet esse securum: in tempore belli accingendum est, et arma tractanda, ut victores quondam requiescamus in pace. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

'A time of war and a time of peace.'1 While we are in the present world, it is a time of war. When we leave this world, there comes the time of peace. Peaceful is the place of God, and our city of Jerusalem, which is named peace chosen. 2 None therefore should think himself secure now. In time of war one must wear armor, and take up weapons, so that victors we may rest in peace.   Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 3.8  2. Ps 75.3

Differing Natures

Sane quoniam te novi, accipe hoc quiddam grande et breve. Est natura per locos et tempora mutabilis, ut corpus. Et est natura per locos nullo modo, sed tantum per tempora etiam ipsa mutabilis, ut anima. Et est natura quae nec per locos, nec per tempora mutari potest; hoc Deus est. Quod hic insinuavi quoque modo mutabile, creatura dicitur; quod immutabile, Creator. Cum autem omne quod esse dicimus, in quantum manet dicamus, et in quantum unum est, omnis porro pulchritudinis forma unitas sit: vides profecto in ista distributione naturarum, quid summe sit, quid infime, et tamen sit; qui medie, maiusque infimo, et minus summo sit. Summum illud est ipsa beatitas: infimum, quod nec beatum esse potest, nec miserum: quod vero medium, vivit inclinatione ad infimum, misere; conversione ad summum, beate vivit. Qui Christo credit, non diligit infimum, non superbit in medio, atque ita summo inhaerere fit idoneus: et hoc est totum quod agere iubemur, monemur, accendimur. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, ex Epistula XVIII, Caelestino

Since I know you well, receive these short and grand themes. There is a nature through time and place which is mutable, that is, the corporeal. There is nature which is mutable not in respect to place but only in respect of time, namely, that is, the spiritual. And there is a third nature which  is mutable neither in respect of place time, that is, God. Those natures of which I have said that they are somehow mutable are called creatures and that which is immutable is the Creator. When we speak of thing existing it is in as much as it persists and is one, and so unity is the form of every beauty, you certainly see in this classification of natures, which exists in the highest sense, and which occupies the lowest, yet is, and which occupies the middle place, greater than the lowest, but less than the highest. That highest is blessedness itself, the lowest is that which cannot be either blessed or wretched, and the intermediate nature when it stoops towards the lowest lives in wretchedness, and turning toward the highest in blessedness. He who believes in Christ does not seek the lowest, is not proud in that which is intermediate, and thus he is fit to adhere to that which is highest; and this is all that we are commanded, admonished, and inspired to do. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Letter 18, To Caelestinus

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

Using The Royal Time

Prava corrigere, et recta corroborare, et sancta subliminare omni intentione studeat, et nomen Domini Dei excelsi per multa terrarum spatia diltare guadeat, et catholicae fidei lumen in extremis mundi partibus incendere conetur. Haec est, o dulcissime David, gloria, laus et merces tuae in judicio diei magni, et in perpetuo sanctorum consortio; ut diligentissime populum, excellentiae vestrae Deo comissum, corrigere studeas, et ignorantiae tenebris diu animas obcaecatas ad lumen verae fidei deducere coneris. Nunquam optimis voluntatibus, vel bonis conatibus remuneratio divina deerit: sed qui plus laborat in voluntate Dei, plus mercedis recipiet in regno Dei. Tempus hujus vitae velocitar currit, fugit et non revertitur; ineffabilis vero Dei pietas humano praevidebat generi breviter laborare et aeternaliter coronari. Ideo pretiosa debent esse nobis tempora, ne perdamus per negligentiam quod per bonae vitae exercitium habere poterimus aeternum. Alcuinus, Epistola XLIII Ad Carolum Magnum Source: Migne PL 100.207c-208a

One should strive with every effort to improve the depraved and to strengthen the righteous and to edify the holy, and one should rejoice to spread the name of the Lord God Most High through all the span of the earth, and one should try to bring the light of the Catholic faith to the furthest ends of the earth. This is, O beloved David, glory and praise and reward on the great day of judgement, and the perpetual company of the saints, that you should try to lead to the light of faith those who are blind of soul in the darkness of ignorance. Never does the Divine fail to remunerate the best of wills or good efforts, but he who labours more to do the will of God shall receive more in the kingdom of God. Our time of life quickly runs on, it flies off and it will not return. Yet in truth the ineffable piety of God provides for the brief labour of man an eternal crown. Thus should our time be precious to us, lest we destroy by negligence the eternity which with a good life of exertions we were able to have. Alcuin of York, from Letter 43, To Charlemagne