The Sinner And The Righteous Man

Παρατηρήσεται ὁ ἀ,αμαρτωλὸς τὸν δίκαιον, καὶ βρύξει ἐπ' αὐτὸν τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ. Ἐντεῦωεν μανθάνομεν, ὅτι, ὥσπερ πέφυκεν ἐναντίον εἶναι σκότος καὶ φῶς, οὕτω ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τῷ δικαίῳ. Ἐὰν οὗν ἴδῃς τότε μισούμενον τὸν δίκαιον, μὴ ὄκνει λέγειν περὶ τοῦ μισοῦντος αὐτὸν, ὡς ἔστιν ἁμαρτωλός. Οἱ γὰρ φρονοῦντες τὰ κοσμικὰ, καὶ τῇ τοῦ παρόντος βίου τύρβῃ τὸν ἑαυτῶν ἐνδήσαντες νοῦν, ἀεὶ πως ἐπιμεμήνασι τοῖς τὸν εὐαγῆ καὶ ἀπόλεκτον διαβιοῦσι βίον, καὶ ἐχθρὸν ἠγοῦνται τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὸν ἐρατήν. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαί Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΛϚ' Source: Migne PG 17.128

'The sinner observes the righteous man, and he grinds his teeth over him.'  1  As we have learned above, as light and darkness are contraries, so the sinner and the righteous man. If then you see someone hating a righteous man, do not shrink from naming him a sinner. For those who think of worldly things, their minds overthrown by the troubles of this life, always rage madly at the one who lives an upright and elect life, and an enemy they deem him who is a lover of righteousness. Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 36 1 Ps 36.12

Considering The Correction Of Others

Cum qualicumque cordis compunctione attonita mente saepius volvens, si, inquam, peculiari ex omnibus nationibus populo, semini regali gentique sanctae, ad quam dixerat: primogenitus meus Israel, eiusque sacerdotibus, prophetis, regibus, per tot saecula, Apostolo ministro membrisque illius primitivae ecclesiae dominus non pepercit, cum a recto tramite deviarint, quid tali huius atramento aetatis facturus est? Cui praeter illa nefanda immaniaque peccata quae communiter cum omnibus mundi sceleratis agit, accedit etiam illud veluti ingentium quid et indelebile insipientiae pondus et levitatis ineluctabile. Quid? Mihimet aio, tibine, miser, veluti conspicuo ac summo doctori talis cura committitur ut obstes ictibus tam violenti torrentis, et contra hunc inolitorum scelerum funem per tot annorum spatia interrupte latetque protractum serves depositum tibi creditum et taceas? Alioquin hoc est dixisse pedi: speculare et manui: fare. Habet britanni rectores, habet speculatores. Quid tu nugando mutire disponis? habet, inquam, habet, si non ultra, non citra numerum. Sed quia inclinati tanto pondere sunt pressi, idcirco spatium respirandi non habent. Praeoccupabant igitur se multo talibus obiectionibus vel multo his mordacioribus veluti condebitores sensus mei. Hi non parvo, ut dixi, tempore, cum legerim, Tempus esse loquendi et tacendi, et in quadam ac si angusta timoris porticu luctabantur. Obtinuit vicitque tandem aliquando creditor, si non es, inquiens, talis audaciae ut inter veridicas rationalis secundae a nuntiis derivationis creaturas non pertimescas libertatis aureae decenti nota inuri, affectum saltem intellegibilis asinae eatenus elinguis non refugito spiritu Dei afflatae, nolentis se vehiculum fore tiarati magi devoturi populum Dei, quae in anguesto maceriae vinearum resolutum eius attriuit pedem, ob id licet verbera hostiliter senserit, cuique angelum caelestem ensem vacuum vagina habentem atque contrarium, quem ille cruda stoliditate caecatus non viderat, digito quodammodo, quamquam ingrato ac furibundo et innoxia eius latera contra ius fasque caedenti, demonstravit. In zelo igitur domus Domini sacrae legis seu cogitatuum rationibus vel fratrum religiosis precibus coactus sum persolvo debitum multo tempore antea exactum, vile quidem, sed fidele, ut puto, et amicale quibusque egregiis Christi tironibus, grave uero et importabile apostatis insipientibus. Quorum priores, ni fallor, cum lacrimis forte quae ex Dei caritate profluunt, alii autem cum trisitia, sed quae de indignatione et pusillanimitate deprehensae conscientiae extorquetur, illud excipient. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Migne PL 69 332

When with compunction of heart turning over the mind I said, if the Lord did not spare a people, peculiar out of all the nations, the royal seed and holy nation, to whom He had said: Israel is my first born, 1 nor its priests, prophets, kings for so many centuries, nor the Apostle his servant and the members of that early Church, when they swerved from the right path, what will he do on account of such blackness as this age has? An age to which, besides those impious and monstrous sins which it practices in common with all the criminals of the world, has been added that which is as if inborn with it, an irremovable unwisdom and an inextricable fickleness. What then? Do I say to myself, O wretch, as if you were a distinguished and great teacher, is such a care comitted to you, that you would stand against the blows of so violent a torrent, and against this array of growing crimes extending over so many years and so widely, keep the deposit committed to you, and be silent? Otherwise this means, to say to the foot, watch, and to the hand, speak. Britain has teachers, it has watchers. Are you disposed to mumble some paltry things? Yes, it has, it has, if not too many, not too few. But, because they are pressed down by so great a weight, so they have no time to breathe. Thus my thoughts as fellow debtors were preoccupied with many such objections, and by many that were more biting than these. Such was my state, for no short time, as I said, when I read: 'There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent,' 2 and wrestled, as it were, in the narrow gate of fear. At length the creditor prevailed and conquered, saying, 'If you have not such courage as to feel no fear of being branded with the mark that befits golden liberty among truth telling creatures of a rational origin second to the angels, at least imitate that intelligent donkey, inspired, though mute, by the Spirit of God; unwilling it was to be the carrier of the crowned magician about to curse the people of God, it bruised his feeble foot in the narrow path near the wall of the vineyards, though it was thus was obliged to suffer hostile blows, and it pointed out to him the angel from heaven, as if with the finger, who with sword drawn from scabbard opposed them, whom he in the blindness of cruel stupidity had not seen, he who, ungrateful and furious, was unrighteously beating its innocent sides. 3 In my zeal, therefore, for the holy law of the Lord's house, or by the reasons of my own meditations, or driven by the pious entreaties of brethren, I am now paying the debt exacted long ago. The work certainly is poor, but faithful, I think, and friendly to all noble young soldiers of Christ, but harsh and insupportable to foolish apostates. The former of these, if I am not deceived, will perhaps receive it with the tears that flow from the love of God; the others however with receive it with sorrow, but a sorrow that is given by the indignation and weakness of an awakened conscience.  Saint Gildas the Wise, from On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Exodus 4.2 2 Eccl 3.7  3 Numb 22.28-31

Teaching And Travail

Εἴτε δὲ θλιβόμενοι Θλίβεσθαί φασιν οἱ διδάσκαλοι ὑπὲρ προκοπῆς καὶ σωτηρίας τῶν πεπαιδευμένων, ἵν' ὑπομονὴν ἔχοντες τελείαν βεβαιωθῶσιν, ἐλπίζοντες τυχεῖν ἐπαξίων ἀμοιβῶν δοθησομένων τοῖς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας ἀγωνιζομένοις ἀποστόλοις καὶ τοῖς τούτων ἀκροαταῖς. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Τὴν Δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους Migne PG 39 1683

'But if we are troubled...' 1 Troubled he names the teachers on account of the advance and salvation of their pupils, that having endurance they be firmly established, hoping that they are worthy to be given the Apostolic reward for their striving for truth, and the same for their pupils. Didymus the Blind, On The Second Letter of Paul to The Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 1.6

Gifts For Preaching

Ecce dedi faciem tuam valentiorem faciebus eorum, et frontem tuam duriorem frontibus eorum. Sicut verecundia laudabilis est in malo, ita reprehensibilis est in bono. Erubescere enim malum sapientiae est; bonum vero erubescere, fatuitatis. Unde scriptum est: Est confusio adducens peccatum, et est confusio adducens gloriam. Qui enim erubescit poenitendo mala quae fecit, ad vitae libertatem pervenit. Qui vero erubescit bona facere, a statu rectitudinis cadit, atque ad damnationem tendit, sicut per Redemptorem dicitur: Qui me erubuerit et meos sermones, hunc Filius hominis erubescet, cum venerit in majestate sua. Et sunt quidam qui bona jam in mente concipiunt, sed necdum malis aperte contradicunt. Hi nimirum quia boni sunt in mente, sed auctoritatem non habent in locutione, apti ad veritatis defensionem non sunt. Ille enim esse veritatis defensor debet, qui quod recte sentit loqui nec metuit, nec erubescit. Unde nunc in magno munere prophetae promittitur: Ecce dedi faciem tuam valentiorem faciebus eorum, et frontem tuam duriorem frontibus eorum. Quid est autem peccator, nisi vulneratus? et qui praedicator, nisi medicus? Si ergo non erubescit peccator qui jacet in vulnere, cur erubescat medicus qui per medicamenta providet salutem? Saepe vero contingit ut praedicator reverenter audiatur; nonnunquam vero a perversis ita despicitur, ac si eis nihil utilitatis loquatur. Unde recte nunc dicitur: Ut adamantem et ut silicem dedi faciem tuam. Adamas et silex utraque dura; sed unum horum pretiosum est, alterum vile. Adamas ad ornamentum sumitur, silex ab itinerantibus calcatur. Et saepe contingit ut hos quos correptionem suam conspicimus nimis humiliter audire, verecundemur eis aliqua dicere. Nonnunquam vero evenit ut eos quos increpationem suam videmus postponere, et despectui habere, trepidemus eis verbum praedicationis inferre. Sed si recte sapimus, et ad eos a quibus nos honorari conspicimus, et ad eos a quibus nos despici videmus, auctoritatem exhortationis vel increpationis sumimus, ut nec illorum humilitatem debeamus erubescere, nec horum superbiam formidare. Dicatur ergo: Dedi faciem tuam ut adamantem, id est, si ab auditoribus honoraris; Dedi faciem tuam ut silicem, si ab auditoribus conculcaris atque despiceris, ut nec per illatum honorem refrenetur lingua ex verecundia, nec per despectum taceat ex infirmitate. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia X Migne PL 76 892-893

'Behold, I have given you a strong face for their faces, and a brow harder than their brows.' 1 As it is disgraceful to praise evil, so it is to be blameable in the good. To be ashamed on account of evil is of wisdom, to blush on account of the good is foolish. Whence it is written, 'Shame leads to sin and it is shame that brings to glory.' 2 He who is ashamed so that he comes to repentance of the evil he has done, comes to the free life. He who is ashamed to do good things falls from a state of rectitude and inclines to damnation. As it was said by the Redeemer: 'He who is ashamed of my words, the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory.' 3 And there are those who, conceiving goods in the mind, will not yet openly contradict the wicked. And this without doubt because though they have good things in the mind, they have no authority in their speech, and are not capable of defending the truth. For he should be a defender of truth who knows how to speak correctly and does not fear, nor is ashamed. Whence now as a great gift it is promised the Prophet: 'Behold, I have given you a strong face for their faces, and a brow harder than their brows.' And what is a sinner, but a wounded man? And what is a preacher but a physician? If, then, the sinner is not ashamed although he is transfixed by a wound, why should the physician be ashamed who by his medication provides salvation? Often it happens that the preacher is heard reverently, but sometimes by the perverse he is despised, as if to them he had nothing useful to say. Whence rightly now it is said: 'Like adamant and like flint I have given your face.' 4 Adamant and flint are both hard, but one of these is precious, the other cheap. Adamant is used as an ornament, flint is trodden on by vagrants. Now often it happens that to those whom we see humbly listening  we speak over politely concerning their correction, and sometimes it happens that because we note that our hearers are unwilling to be corrected and they regard us disrespectfully, we fear to bring the word of preaching to them. But if we thought rightly, when we looked on those who honoured us and gazed on those who despised us, the authority of exhortation or correction we would choose, neither being ashamed of their humility, nor distressed by their pride. Therefore is is said, 'Like adamant I have given your face.' That, is against the honour of your hearers, and 'I have given you flint' against those who spurn you and despise you, that neither by their reverance you tie back the tongue on account of excessive modesty, nor by disrespect you are silent on account of your weakness. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 10 1 Ezek 3.8 2 Sirach 4.25 3 Lk. 9.26 4 Ezek 3.9

Deborah's Teaching

Debbora enim prophetis, uxor Lapidoth, judicabat populum in illo tempore, et sedebat sub palma inter Rama et Bethel in monte Ephraim, ascendebantque ad eam filii Isreal in omne judicium. Debbora, quae interpretatur apis, sive loquela, in prophetia et forma accipenda est de qua scribitur: Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua. Consideremus ubi locus prophetiae esse describitur. Sub palma, inquit, sub palma sedem habet prophetia, quia quos suis institutionibus erudit, ad palmam supernae vocationis adducit. Inter medium autem Rama et inter medium Bethel sedere prophetia dicitur, quia Rama interpretatur excelsa, Bethel autem domus Dei, utique quia nos in domo Dei positos, non quae in terra sunt quaerere docet, sed quae in coelis sunt. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Librum Judicum, Cap II Migne PL 83.380

Deborah the prophetess, wife of Lapidoth, judged the people in that time, and she sat beneath a palm between Rama and Bethel on mount Ephriam, and there came up to her for judgement the sons of Israel. 1 Deborah, is interpreted bee, or speech, and in prophecy and form it is understood concerning her that it is written: 'How sweet in my throat your words'. 2 Let us consider the place where the prophetess is said to be. Beneath a palm, it says, beneath a palm the prophetess had her seat, because instructing them with her teaching she guided them to the palm of supernal calling. And between Rama and between Bethel it is said the prophetess sat, because Rama is interpreted exalted, and Bethel the house of God, as then we who are placed in the house of God teach that one should not seek the things of earth, but the things of heaven. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On The Book of Judges, Chap 2 1 Judges 4.4-5 2 Ps 118.103

Preaching, Rule And Glory

Οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς κηρύσσομεν  Ἀναφορὰν ἔχει ἡ προκειμένη λέξις πρὸς τὸ οὐχ ὅτι κυριεύομεν τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν· ἀκολούθως γὰρ ἐκείνῳ ῥηθείη ἄν· οὐχ ἑαυτοὺς κηρύττομεν, διὸ οὐ κυριεύομεν ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως· κηρύττομεν γὰρ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν θεὸν κύριον, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ δούλους ὑμῶν διὰ Χριστοῦ. ὥστε οὐχ ἡμεῖς ἀλλ' αὐτὸς κυριεύει τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, ἀποδεχόμενος ἢ κρίνων ὑμᾶς κατ' αὐτήν. πρὸς τούτοις καὶ τὸ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ὁ εἰπὼν ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψαι, συναπτέον τῷ ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντες ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμεθα. ἐκ σκότους δὲ λάμπεται φῶς τῷ ἐξ ἀγνοίας εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐρχομένῳ· λέγομεν γοῦν ἐξ ἀγνοοῦντος καὶ ἀληθοῦς ἐπιστήμονα καὶ πεπαιδευμένον γίνεσθαι. τῆς οὖν προκαταλαβούσης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀγνοίας καὶ κακίας ὠνομασμένων σκότους, ἔλαμψεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις φωτισμὸν πρακτικῆς καὶ διανοητικῆς ἀρετῆς, ἵν' ἔχωσι θεωρίας τῆς δόξης Χριστοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ. δόξαν δὲ ἤτοι καθ' ἣν φρονοῦσι περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἢ δόξαν καθ' ἣν δεδοξασμένον αὐτὸν ἴσμεν. Δυδύμος του Ἀλεξανδρέως, Εἰς Την Δευτεραν Ἐπιστολήν Προς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογή  Migne PG 39 1697-1700

'For we do not preach ourselves.' 1 This bears a relation to the passage that says, 'For we do not wish to dominate your faith.' 2 for following that it may be said, 'We do not preach ourselves, on account of not wanting to dominate your faith.' 'For we preach the Lord God Jesus Christ, and we are your servants on account of Christ,' 1 and thus not we, but He rules your faith, testing and approving you according to it. Whence it is said: 'The God who told light to shine out from darkness.' 1 that we all be united, reflecting the revealed face of God's glory. The light illuminates the darkness, and from ignorance we come to knowledge of truth. So it is said that from ignorance and unlearnedness comes wisdom and learning. When therefore men are beset by ignorance and wickedness and are named darkness, God makes shine in their hearts the light of practical and intellectual virtue, by which men acquire awareness of Christ in His own person; glory, I say, by which they have knowledge of Him, glory by which we come to the same glorification. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on Second Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 4.5 2 2 Cor 1.23 3 2 Cor 4.6

Faith And Enlightenment

Deinde ait: Lucerna, inquit, corporis tui est oculus tuus: si oculus tuus simplex est, totum corpus tuum lucidum est; si autem oculus tuus nequam est, totum corpus tuum tenebrosum est. Si ergo lumen, quod in te est, tenebrae sunt; tenebrae ipsae quantae sunt. Lucerna corporis, sensus mentis et fides cordis intelligitur: quae si in nobis pura et lucida fuerit, sine dubio omne corpus nostrum illuminat. Idcirco autem lucerna comparatione fidei ponitur, quia sicut lucerna incedentium in nocte gressus illuminat, ne aut in foveas, aut in offendicula quaeque ambulantes incurrant: ita in hac saeculi nocte splendor fidei omnes vitae nostrae gressus, praeeunte lumine veritatis, illuminat; ne aut in foveas peccatorum, aut in offendicula diaboli incidamus. Hoc est ergo quo ait Dominus: Lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus si oculus tuus simplex est, totum corpus tuum lucidum est; si autem oculus tuus nequam est, totum corpus tuum tenebrosum est, ostendens, quia si haec fides nostra, quae lucerna corporis vel oculo significatur, in nobis aut peccatorum tenebris, aut perfidiae obscuritate caecetur; sine dubio, omne corpus nostrum obscurum tenebrosumque redditur. Quod ipsum Santus Joannes ostendit, dicens: Deus lux est. Et qui charum habet fratrem suum, ipse est in lumine qui autem odit fratrem suum, in tenebris ambulant, et nescit ubi ambulat quia tenebrae obcaecaverunt oculos ejus. Etsi hoc de eo qui fratrem suum odit, secundum dictum Joannis, intelligitur; in quibus tenebris haereticus demoretur qui, amisso lumine catholicae veritatis, perfidus ac blasphemus existit, debemus advetere. Et ideo ait Dominus: Si lumen, inquit, quod in te est, tenebrae sunt; tenebrae ipsae quantae sunt? In eo scilicet, qui veritatem in mendacium, fidem in perfidiam demutaverit. Alio autem sensu oculum corporis, qui est membris omnibus pulchrior ac pretiosior, epsicopum advertimus significatum, qui clara fidei suae ac doctrinae praedicatione, velut oculus quidam, Ecclesiae corpus illuminat. Qui, si per simplicem fidem ac santam conversationem, catholicus et fidelis doctor exstiterit, potest populus cui praeest, doctrinae ac ac formae ipsius exemplo, in lumine semper vertitatis manere. Verum si is, qui lumen caeteris praebere videtur, per pravam fidem aut per turpem conversationem, nequam et perfidus doctor exstiterit; sine dubio, vitae ac perfidiae suae exemplo, totum corpus potest tenebrosum efficere. Unde non immerito de tali oculo Dominus dicit: Si lumen quod in te est, tenebrae sunt; tenebrae ipsae quantae sunt! Hoc est, si hujusmodi doctor qui lumen fidei ex se praebere caeteris debet, per haeresim obcaecatus, tenebrosus exstiterit; quantae in populo illo possint esse tenebrae peccatorum, debemus advertere. Sanctus Chromatius Aquileiensis, Tactatus XVII in Evangelium Sancti Matthaei Migne PL 20 366-67

Then He said, The eye is the lamp of your body, if your eye is clean, all your body will be light, if your eye is bad, all your body will be darkness. If then the light in you is darkness how great will they darkness be! 1 The lamp of the body is understood as the sense of the mind and the faith of the heart, which if it is pure and bright in us without doubt enlightens our body. Therefore the lamp is compared to faith, which like a burning lamp in the night illuminates our path, lest we walk into a pit or snare; thus in this night of the world the splendor of faith goes before us all the ways of our life, as the light of illuminating truth, lest we fall into the pits of sinners or the snares of the devil. This is why the Lord says, 'The eye is the lamp of your body, if your eye is clean, all your body will be light, if your eye is bad, all your body will be darkness,' showing that as it is our faith which is the lamp, as the eye of the body, so as we are blinded by the darkness of sin or the obscurity of faithlessness, without doubt all our body is made dark and obscure. Which Saint John himself demonstrates saying, 'God is light, and He who has love for his brother is in the light and he who hates his brother walks in darkness and he knows not where he walks because darkness blinds his eyes.' 2 And if this which concerns him who hates his brother according to the speech of John is understood, those dark places in which heretics dwell, who lacking the light of Catholic truth stand in faithlessness and blasphemy, we should avoid. And thus the Lord says, 'If then the light in you is darkness how great will they darkness be.' And certainly in him in whom truth is changed into a lie and faith into treachery. And the eye of the body has another sense in that it signifies him who is of all the members most fair and precious, by which we mean, a bishop, who with the brightness of his faith and teaching is like an eye that illuminates the body of the Church. He who, if by simple faith and holy conduct he stands as a faithful and catholic teacher, can lead his people by the example of his teaching and conduct so that they remain in the light of truth. But if he, who should be a giver of light to others, on account of depraved faith and base conduct, is a wicked and treacherous teacher, without doubt, by the example of his life and faithlessness he is able to make the whole body darkness. Whence rightly the Lord says concerning such an eye: 'If the light in you is darkness, how dark it will be.' That is, if he who should be a teacher who gives the light of faith from himself to others, is blinded by heresy, and stands in darkness, how many, then, of the people will become that darkness of sinners, which we should avoid. Saint Chromatius of Aquileia, from Tractate 17 on the Gospel of Saint Matthew 1. Mt 6.22-24 2. Jn 1.5; 2.10-11

A Bishop's Counsel To A Bishop

Καλοὺς μαθητὰς ἐὰν φιλῇς, χάρις σοι οὐκ ἔστιν· μᾶλλον τοὺς λοιμοτέρους ἐν πραότητι ὑπότασσε. Οὐ πᾶν τραῦμα τῇ αὐτῇ ἐμπλάστρῳ θεραπεύεται. Τοὺς παροξυσμοὺς ἐμβροχαῖς παῦε. Φρόνιμος γίνου ὡς ὁ ὄφις ἐν ἅπασιν καὶ ἀκέραιος εἰς ἀεὶ ὡς ἡ περιστερά. Διὰ τοῦτο σαρκικὸς εἶ καὶ πνευματικός, ἵνα τὰ φαινόμενά σου εἰς πρόσωπον κολακεύῃς· τὰ δὲ ἀόρατα αἴτει ἵνα σοι φανερωθῇ, ὅπως μηδενὸς λείπῃ καί παντὸς χαρίσματος περισσεύῃς. Ὁ καιρὸς ἀπαιτεῖ σε, ὡς κυβερνῆται ἀνένους καὶ ὡς χειμαζόμενος λιμένα, εἰς τὸ θεοῦ ἐπιτυχεῖν. Νῆφε, ὡς θεοῦ ἀθλητής· τὸ θέμα ἀφθαρσία καὶ ζωὴ αἰώνιος, περὶ ἧς καὶ σὺ πέπεισαι. Κατὰ πάντα σου ἀντιψυχον ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ δεσμά μου, ἃ ἠγάπησας. Οἱ δοκοῦντες ἀξιόπιστοι εἶναι καὶ ἑτεροδιδασκαοῦντες μή σε καταπλησσέτωσαν. στῆθι ἑδραῖος ὡς ἄκμων τυπτόμενος. Μεγάλου ἐστιν ἀθλητοῦ τὸ δέρεσθαι καὶ νικᾶν. Μάλιστα δὲ ἕνεκεν θεοῦ πάντα ὑπομένειν ἡμᾶς δεῖ, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς ὑπομένῃ. πλέον σπουδαῖος γίνου οὗ εἶ. Τοὺς καιροὺς καταμάνθανε. τὸν ὑπὲρ καιρὸν προσδόκα, τὸν ἄχρονον, τὸν ἀόρατον, τὸν δι’ ἡμᾶς ὁρατόν, τὸν ἀψηλάφητον, τὸν ἀπαθῆ, τὸν δι’ ἡμᾶς παθητόν, τὸν κατὰ πάντα τρόπον δι’ ἡμᾶς ὑπομείναντα. Ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, Ἐπιστολή Προς Πολύκαρπον

If you love good scholars, it is no grace to you. Rather bring the more difficult to submission by gentleness. Not every wound is healed by the same salve. Allay sharp pains by infusions. Be as shrewd as the serpent in all things and always innocent as the dove. 1 For this you are flesh and spirit, that you may gain the favour of the things which appear before your face, and as for the invisible things, pray that they may be revealed to you, that you may lack in nothing and be rich in every spiritual gift. The season summons you, as pilots require winds, and as those beset by storms a haven, to attain to God. Be sober, as an athlete of God, for the prize is incorruption and life eternal, concerning which you are convinced. In all things I am bound to you, I and my bonds which you loved. Let not those that seem worthy of trust and yet teach strangely strike you down. Stand firm, as an anvil smitten. It is the part of a great athlete to receive blows and conquer. But especially it is necessary for us to endure all things for God's sake, that He also may endure us. Be more zealous than you are. Attend to the times. Expect the one above any time, the eternal, the invisible, He who for us became visible, the impalpable, the impassible, who suffered for us, who endured in every way for us. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, from the Letter to Saint Polycarp 1 Mt 10.16

The Contemplative And The Warrior

Homo formidoloso et corde pavido non egredietur ad bellum. Vadat et revertatur ad domum suam, ne pavere faciat corda fratrum suorum, sicut et ipse timore perterritus est. Quibus verbis edocet non posse eos professionem contemplatinois vel spiritualis militiae arripere exercitium, qui adhuc nudari terrenis operibus pertimescunt. Ne rursus infirmitate mentis revertantur, suoque exemplo alios a perfectione evangelica revocent, et infideli terrore infirment; jubentur itaque tales, ut, discedentes a pugna, revertantur in domum suam, quia non possunt duplici corde bella Domini praeliari. Vir enim duplex animo, inconstants in omnibus viis suis. Tales quippe oportet ut ne initium quidem renuntiationis arripiant. Quibus melius est ut un activa vita consistant, quam trepidi contemplationem exsequentes, majori discrimine semetipsos involvant. Melius est enim non vovere, quam vovere et non reddere. Similiter et ille a tali militia prohibetur, qui uxorem duxerit, qui plantaverit vineam, velt propaginem filiorum, non enim potest servire divinae militiae servus uxoris, secundum Apostoli: Qui cum uxore est, sollicitus est quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est.  Nec potest inesse quis studio contemplationis, qui adhuc in delectatione defigitur carnis. Nemo, inquit Apostolus, militans Deo, implicat se negotiis saecularibus, ut ei placeat cui se probavit. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Deutronomium, Caput XV Migne PL 83.365-366

A man fearful and timid in heart should not go out to war. Let him begone and return to his house lest he causes fear in the hearts of his brothers, with his own fear unnerving them. 1 By which words is taught that they are not able to take up the exercise of contemplation or spiritual warfare who yet fear to strip themselves of worldly works, lest again they fall back into weakness of soul and their example calls others away from the perfection of the Gospel, and by faithless fear others are made infirm. Such men are thus ordered to withdraw from combat and return to their own houses because they who have divided hearts are not able to fight the wars of the Lord; a man with a divided soul is inconstant in all his ways. And certainly they should not even start on the beginning of renunciation; it is better for them is to be established in the active life, those who with fear would follow the contemplative, with greater discrimination occupying themselves. Better it is not to take a vow than to take a vow and not fulfill it. And likewise he is prohibited from such warfare who takes a wife, who plants vines and who propagates children, 2 for he is not able to serve in the Divine army who is the servant of a wife, as the Apostle says, 'He who has a wife has his care in how to please her, and he is divided in himself.' 3 And the contemplative zeal is not able to inhere in him who is yet fixed in the pleasures of the flesh. 'No one,' says the Apostle, 'is a soldier of God who is involved in worldly business, but he who is would please him who has approved him.' 4 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 27 1 Deut 20.8 2 Deut 20. 5-7  3 1 Cor 7.33 4 2 Tim 2.4

Care And Prayer

Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Θεόδωρος ὁ τῶν Ἐννάτου, ὅτι Ἐὰν λογίσηται ἡμῖν ὁ Θεὸς τὰς ἐν ταῖς εὐχαϊς ἀμελείας, καὶ τὰς αἰχμαλωσίας τὰς ἐν ταῖς ψαλμῳδίαις, οὐ δυνάμεθα σωθῆναι. Ἀποφθεγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος Migne PG 65 197

Father Theodore of Enaton said, 'If God accounts us careless in our prayers and as a crowd of captives in our Psalms, we cannot be saved.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Sinai And Contemplation

Successit itaque post haec populus quadragesima septima die egressionis ex Aegyto ad montem Sina, ibique Moyses ascendit ad Dominum, et Dominus ad eum descendit. Mons quippe altitudo contemplationis nostrae est, in qua ascendimus, ut ad ea quae ultra infirmitatem nostram sunt intuenda sublevemur. Sed in hanc Dominus descendit, quia sanctis multum proficientibus parum de se aliquid eorum sensibus aperit. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Exodum, Caput XXVII Source: Migne PL 83.300

Thus it was that after these things that the people, forty seven days after their flight from Egypt, came to mount Sinai, and there Moses ascended to the Lord and the Lord came down to him. The mountain certainly is the height of our contemplation by which we go up, that we might be raised up to things which are beyond our weakness to behold. But in this the Lord descends because for those advancing in holiness much is the little concerning Himself which He reveals to their minds. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 27

Prayer And Victory

Ἐν τῷ αἴρειν με χεῖρὰς μου πρὸς ναὸν ἅγιόν σου. Ἐπαιρόμεναι χεῖρες πρὸς πράξεις θεοσεβεῖς, ἐν οὐρανῷ θησαυριζόμεναί εἰσι· δι' ὦν νικᾷ τις τὸν νοητὸν Ἀμαλήκ· ὡς ὁ Μωσῆς, ἡνίκα τὰς χεῖρας ἀνέφερεν, ὁ λαὸς ἐνίκα· ὅτε δὲ κατέσπα, ὁ Ἀμαλήκ. Μὴ κατενέγκωμεν οὖν τὰς χεῖρας, ἐπεὶ νικηθησόμεθα. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαί Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΚΖ' Source: Migne PG 17.117

'While I lift my hands toward your holy temple.' 1  Raising hands for religious actions is the gathering of treasure in heaven, by which one may conquer according to the understanding of Amalek, as Moses, on account of whose raised hands the people conquered, and when he lowered them the Amalekites prevailed. 2 Let us then not neglect our hands lest we be conquered. Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 27 1 Ps 27.2 2 Exod 17.8-16

Wisdom And Prayer

Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat et dabitur ei. Omnis quidem sapientia salutaris a Domino postulanda est, quia sicut vir sapiens ait: Omnis sapientia a Domino Deo est, et cum illo fuit semper. Neque aliquis per liberum arbitrium sine adjutorio gratiae divinae, quamvis Pelagiani multum contendant, intelligere ac sapere valet. Sed hic specialiter de illa sapientia dici videtur, qua nos in tentationibus uti necesse est. Si quis, inquit, vestrum non potest intelligere utilitatem tentationum quae fidelibus probandi causa eveniunt, postulet a Deo tribui sibi sensum, quo dignoscere valeat quanta pietate Pater castigat filios, quos aeterna haereditate dignos efficere curat. Et consulte ait: Qui dat omnibus affluentur, ne quis, videlicet, suae conscius fragilitatis, accipere se petentem posse diffideret, sed potius quisque recoleret quia desiderium pauperum exaudivit Dominus. Et sicut idem alibi dicit: Bendixit omnes timentes se Dominus, pusillos cum majoribus. Verum quia multi multa petunt a Domino, qui tamen accipere non merentur, addit qualiter petere debeant si impetrare desiderant. Sanctus Beda, Super Divi Jacobi Epistolam  Migne PL 93 11-12

'If one of yours is poor in wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to everyone abundantly, and let him not ask in an improper manner and it shall be given to him.' 1 Certainly every saving wisdom is from God, because as the wise man said, 'All wisdom is from the Lord God and with Him it was always.' 2 For not through his own free will, without Divine grace, as the Pelagians contend, is a man able to understand and know. But here especially he seems to speak of the wisdom which we need in trials. If someone, he says, of yours does not understand the usefulness of trials, that they come for the proving of faith, let him ask for understanding from God, by which he may discern how much a caring father disciplines sons, out of concern that they be able to gain an eternal inheritance. And he says, 'He who gives to all abundantly,' lest perhaps someone conscious of his weakness be tardy in seeking to receive, but rather let him be aware that God hearkens to the desire of the poor. 3 And as it says elsewhere 'The Lord blesses those who fear Him, the little with the great.' 4 Because truly many seek much from the Lord, who however are not worthy to receive, so it is added how they should seek if they wish to obtain what they seek. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Letter of Saint James 1 Jam 1.5 2 Sir 1.1 3 Ps 9.38 4 Ps 113.21

Knowledge And Wisdom

Plures autem arbitrantur simplicitatem fidei ad absolutam aeternitatis spem posse sufficere: tamquam innocentia secundum judicium saeculi, doctrinae coelestis iustitutis non egeat. Et quia aliter se res habeat, idcirco nunc videndi in Deo innocenter, et in innocentia religiose manendi cognitio multa cum copia prophetici sermonis exposita est: quia difficile est quemquam per semetipsum, id est, per saeculi instituta hanc innocentiae religiosae cognitionem et verum usum vitae piae et innocentis adipisci. Novit etiam infirmam per se esse humanam naturam Apostolus, ad hanc vivendi scientiam capessendam. Nam cum de charismatum et munerum Dei donis doceret, cum primum sermonem sapientiae praetulisset, statim sermonem scientiae subjecit. Hoc enim scientiae post sapientiae sequens a Deo donum est: quia usus sapientiae in usu scientiae perfectus est. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXVIII Migne PL 9 502

Many judge that a simple faith is sufficient for the perfect hope of eternity, as innocence according to the judgement of the world does not have need of the teaching of heavenly righteousness. And because otherwise the thing is, therefore here in this Psalm, for living in God innocently, and for remaining in innocent religion, much thought by the wealth of prophetic words is presented, because difficult it is that anyone through himself, that is, by the teaching of the age, comes to know religious innocence and to arrive at the true employment of a pious and innocent life. The Apostle knew through himself the weakness of human nature, and would have understood this need of knowledge for living. For when he teaches about the gifts and blessings of God, when first the word of wisdom he brings forth, then instantly he sets down the teaching of knowledge. 1 For here knowledge is given by God after wisdom, because the use of wisdom in the use of knowledge is perfected. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 118 1 1 Cor 12.8

Wisdom And Fools

Dicentes enim se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt. Sapientes enim se arbitrantur, quia rationes physicas investigasse se putant, scrutantes cursus siderum, et qualitates elementorum, dominum autem horum spernentes; ideo stulti sunt; cum si haec laudanda sint, quanto magis creator illorum. Solent tamen pudorem passi, neglecti Dei misera uti excusatione, dicentes per istos posse ire ad Deum, sicut per comites pervenitur ad regem. Age, numquid tam demens est aliquis, aut salutis suae immemor, ut honorificentiam regis vindicet comiti; cum de hac re si qui etiam tractare fuerint inventi, jure ut rei damnentur majestatis? Et isti se non putant reos, qui honorem nominis Dei deferunt creaturae, et relicto Domino, conservos adorant; quasi sit aliquid plus, quod reservetur Deo. Nam et ideo ad regem per tribunos aut comites itur; quia homo utique est rex, et nescit quibus debeat rempublicam credere. Ad Deum autem, quem utique nihil latet, omnium enim merita novit, promerendum, suffragatore non opus est, sed mente devota.  Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Caput Primum Migne PL 17 58

'For saying that they are wise they have become fools.' 1 For they judge themselves wise because they think themselves to have investigated material matters, scrutinizing the courses of the stars and the qualities of the elements; yet the Lord of these things they spurn, therefore they are made stupid having these things as more praiseworthy than their Lord. However, they are accustomed to be moved by modesty and have wretched excuse for their neglect of God, saying that by these things they can come to God as one approaches a king through counts. Well indeed, no one is so mad or forgetful of salvation that he would proclaim the glory of the king by a count, for truly if someone were found arguing this, would they not be one who slights his majesty? And yet these do not think themselves guilty who claim to honour the name of God through his creatures, and forsaking the Lord, adore fellow servants, and all the more because it holds them back from God. For even if the way to a king here is through tribunes and counts, that is because here the king is a man, who does not know to whom he should entrust affairs of state. However to God, to whom nothing is hidden, since He knows the merits of all, one approaches, not by the the work of a representative, but by a devout mind. Ambrosiaster, On The Epistle To The Romans, Chapter 1 1 Rom 1.22