A Peril Of Knowledge

Et si habuero omnem scientiam.... Nihil mihi prodest scientia, si charitas non sit. Denique Scribis et Pharisaeis nihil profuit, dicente Salvatore: Vos habetis clavem scientiae, et neque vos intratis, neque alios sinitis introire. Per invidiam enim charitatem corrumpentes, scientiam ejus ad nihilum deduxerunt. Nam et Tertullianus et Novatianus non parvae scientiae fuerunt; sed quia per zelum charitatis fodera perdiderunt, in schisma versi, ad perditionem sui haereses creaverunt. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis,In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Primam, Cap XIII Source: Migne PL 17.252a-b

'And if I have all knowledge...' 1 Knowledge profits me not if there is no love. Thus it did not profit the Scribes and Pharisees, as the Lord says: 'You have the key of knowledge and neither do you enter, nor do allow others to enter.' 2 With envy corrupting love, they brought their knowledge to nothing. Both Tertullian and Novatian were not men of little knowledge, but because of their zeal they broke the bond of love, turning to schism, and created heresies for their own ruin. Ambrosiaster, from the Commentary On The First Epistle of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 13 1 1 Cor 13.2 2 Lk 11.52

A Complete Teaching

Circuibat autem Jesus totam Galilaeam, docens in synagogis eorum, et praedicans Evangelium regni. Ex quo liquido perdocet quam sedulum oporteat doctorem esse in docendo: quia omnino pigritia praedicatoribus non expedit: sed ut circumeant non partem, sed totam, cui praeesse cernuntur, plebem. Neque praeoccupentur negotiis saeculi, sed doceant praesentium mandatorum doctrinam vitae activae subjectos, et praedicent de futuris vitae contemplativae perfectis; quatenus impraesentiarum hi erudiantur moribus, hi vero spe confirmentur futurorum majoribus documentis. Quia neque contemplatio sine operibus activae vitae a puero conscenditur, neque activa sine spe promissorum Dei perfectius consummatur. Et ideo fortassis circumisse Jesus dicitur docens ac praedicans, quia utrasque vitas appetere, non minus exemplo quam voce credentibus reserabat; ne siquidem paucis proficeret, verum ut sine acceptione personarum affluentem vocationis suae gratiam omnibus abundantur infunderet. Docebat autem non qualiacunque fabularum portenta, sed summa ac divina, ne suis falsa antiquorum videretur introducere figmenta. Unde et signanter, quod Evangelium regni doceret illico subinfertur. Regni quippe dicitur Evangelium, quia suos quos modo spe jam regnare concedit, in futuro simul reges et regnum Deo rebus adeptis facit; dum quidquid spe veniae nunc credentibus repromittit, muneribus gratiae adimplebit. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei Liber III Source: Migne PL 120.212a-c

'Jesus went around the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom.' 1   By which is clearly taught how diligent a teacher should be in his teaching, because sloth does not benefit a preacher at all, and so they should go around not merely a part, but all the people they are seen to have charge of. Nor should they be preoccupied with worldly affairs, but they should teach their charges the present commands for the active life and preach for the future perfection of the contemplative life, that to the extent they are educated by present conduct so they are strengthened in hope with the strong witness of future things. Because neither contemplation without the works of the active life lifts one from immaturity, nor does activity without hope in the promises of God lead to perfection. And therefore it is likely said that Jesus went around teaching and preaching, because He was exhibiting to believers the need to seek both lives, and not less by example than with the voice; for it would have been of little benefit if without reception of persons He had abundantly poured out the rich grace of his calling. For He does not teach in any way as do the bizarre things in fables, but things which are greatest and divine, lest it seem that He brings to them the false fantasies of the ancients. Whence we note that it is added that He taught the Gospel of the kingdom. Certainly He teaches the Gospel of the kingdom, because now He gives the rule in hope to those who in the future shall be made kings in the kingdom of heaven on account of things done, as whatever He has promised now to believers with the gift of forgiveness He fulfills with the gifts of grace. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 3 1 Mt 4.23

Humility And Wisdom

Εἶδον ἰδιώτας ἔργῳ τεπεινοφρονήσαντας καὶ ἐγένοντο τῶν σοφῶν σοφώτεροι. Ἕτερος ἰδιώτης ἀκούσας ἐκείνου ἐπαιρομένου, τὴν ταπείνωσιν οὐκ ἐμιμήσατο· ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆ ἰδιωτείᾳ κενοδοξῶν, ὑπερηφάνειαν προσελάβετο. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ  Source: Migne PG 65 915a

I saw simple men humbled by work and they became more wise than the wise. Another simple man hearing them praised did not imitate their humility but took vain delight in his simpleness and by pride he was cast down. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

The Mindless Philosopher

Ἀνάλγητός ἐστιν ἄφρων φιλόσοφος αὐτοκατάκριτος ἐξηγητής· αὐτεναντίος φιλολόγος, τυφλὸς διδάσκαλος τοῦ βλέπειν· περὶ τῆς τοῦ τραύματος ὑγιείας διαλέγεται, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπικνήθων οὐ παύεται, κατὰ τοῦ πάθους φθέγγεται· καὶ τὰ βλάπτοντα ἐσθίων οὐ παύεται· κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ προσεύχεται, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐργασίαν πορεύεται· ἐπὶ τῇ τούτου ἐργασίᾳ κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὀργίζεται· καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ λόγους οὐκ αἰσχύνεται ὁ τάλας. Κακῶς πράττω, βοᾷ, καὶ προθύμως ἐπίκειται· τὸ στόμα κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ προσεύχεται, καὶ τὸ σῶμα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ἀγωνίζεται. Περὶ θανάτου φιλοσοφεῖ, καὶ ὡς ἀθάνατος διάκειται. Περὶ χωρισμοῦ στενάζει, καὶ ὡς αἰώνιος νυστάζει. Περὶ ἐγκρατείας διαλέγεται, καὶ περὶ γαστριμαργίας ἀγωνίζεται. Περὶ κρίσεως ἀναγινώσκει, καὶ μειδιᾷν ἄρχεται περὶ κενοδοξίας, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἀναγνώσει κενοδοξεῖ· περὶ ἀγρυπνίας ἐκστηθίζει, καὶ τῷ ὕπνῳ εὐθέως ἑαυτὸν καταβαπτίζει· τὴν προσευχὴν ἐγκωμιάζει, καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ μάστιγος ταύτης φεύγει· τὴν ὑπακοὴν μακαρίζει, καὶ πρῶτος αὐτὸς παρακούει. Τοὺς ἀπροσπαθεῖς ἐπαινεῖ, καὶ διὰ ῥάκος μνησικακῶν, καὶ πολεμῶν οὐκ αἰσχύνεται. Ὀργιζόμενος πικραίνεται, καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ πικρίᾳ πάλιν ὀργίζεται, καὶ τῇ ἥττῃ ἧτταν προστιθεὶς οὐκ αἰσθάνεται· κορεσθεὶς μεταμελεῖται, καὶ μικρὸν προβὰς, πάλιν τῷ κόρῳ προσέθηκε. Τὴν σιωπὴν μακαρίζει, καὶ διὰ πολυλογίας αὐτὴν ἐγκωμιάζει. Περὶ πραότητος διδάσκει, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ πολλάκις ὀργίζεται, καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ πικρίᾳ πάλιν ὀργίζεται· ἀνανήψας ἐστέναξε, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν κινήσας πάλιν τοῦ πάθους ἔχεται. Τὸν γέλωτα ψέγει, καὶ μειδιῶν περὶ πένθους διδάσκει. Ἑαυτὸν ὡς κενόδοξον ἐπί τινων καταμέμφεται, καὶ διὰ τοῦ ψόγου δόξαν ἑαυτῷ πραγματεύεται. Ἐμπαθῶς εἰς πρόσωπον βλέπει, καὶ περὶ σωφροσύνης διαλέγεται. Τοὺς ἡσυχάζοντας ἐν κόσμῳ διατρίβων ἐπαινεῖ, καὶ ἑαυτὸν αἰσχύνων οὐ κατανοεῖ. Τοὺς ἐλεήμονας δοξάζει, καὶ τοὺς πτωχοὺς ὀνειδίζει. Πάντοτε ἑαυτοῦ κατήγορος γίνεται, καὶ εἰς συναίσθησιν ἐλθεῖν οὐ βούλεται, ἵνα μὴ εἴπω οὐ δύναται. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης τῆς Κλίμακος, Λόγος ΙΗ', ἡ Κλίμαξ Source: Migne PG 88.932b-933a

He who lacks self awareness is a mindless philosopher, a self-condemned counsellor, a self-contradictory lover of words, a blind man who teaches how to see. He talks about healing a wound, and does not stop irritating it. He complains of sickness and does not stop eating what is harmful. He prays against doing something and immediately he goes and does it, and having done it, he is enraged because of it, and the wretch is not ashamed of his own words. 'I am doing wrong,' he cries out, and eagerly he applies himself; his mouth prays against it, and his body strives for it. He philosophises about death but he acts as if he were immortal. He groans over the separation of soul and body, but drowses along as if eternal. He talks of temperance and self-control, but is a champion in gluttony. He reads about judgment and begins to smile, about vainglory and he glories in vanities while reading. He repeats to himself what he has learnt about vigils and immediately he falls asleep. He praises prayer but flees it as from a scourge. He blesses obedience and is the first to disobey. He praises detachment and will bear malice over a rag and is not ashamed to go to blows over it. When angered he is bitter and because of his bitterness he is angry again, and he does not feel that he is heaping up defeat on defeat. Having eaten until he is full he repents, and a little later goes back to it. He blesses silence and praises it with a flood of words. He teaches meekness and during the teaching often becomes angry and because of bitterness becomes angry again. Having withdrawn, he sighs, and shaking his head, he again yields to passion. He reproves laughter and speaks of  mourning with a smile on his face. Before others he blames himself for being vainglorious, and by his blame is hoping for glory. He looks people in the face with passion and talks about temperance. Lingering in the world he praises the solitary life, and does not realise that he shames himself. He lauds almsgivers, and reviles beggars. All the time he is his own accuser, and he does not want to come to his senses, I will not say it is not possible. Saint John Climacus, from Step 18, The Ladder

A Warning About Inferior Studies

Οὐ καλῶς τὰς Ἀθήνας θαυμάζεις, καὶ Στοὰν, καὶ Περίπατον, καὶ Ἀττικὴν φαντασίαν, οἶς διὰ μάθησιν φλυαρίας πάλαι προσεκαρτέρεις, ὁ τὰ γήῖνα περιφρονήσας, καὶ μηδὲν ἀγαπᾷν τῶν ἐνταῦθα κεκελευσμένος. Εἰ συνηγέρθης οὖν τῷ Χριστῷ, τὰ ἄνω φρόνει, οὐ ἐστιν αὐτός. Οἰ γὰρ τὴν εὐτελῆ ἐσθῆτὰ σου ὁρῶντες, καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἐν μόνῳ σχήματὶ προσοῦσαν, περπερείαν δὲ γνώμης, καὶ γλώσσης ἀλαζονείαν, κατὰ τῆς θειοτάτης θρησκείας βλασφημοῦσι.  Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΚΖ', Φλωρεντιῳ Source: Migne PG 78. 324d

You do not do well to admire Athens, and the Stoa and the Peripatetics and Attic pomp, worthless studies in which you were once so attentive, contemplating things of the earth, nothing of which here you have been commanded to love. 1 If, then, you have risen with Christ, think on things above, where He is. 2 For they seeing your tawdry garb and pursuit of philosophy in solitary state, with vainglorious mind and boastful tongue will blaspheme against the most Divine religion.  Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 227, to Florentius 1 1 Jn 2.15 2 Colos 3.2

Granting Understanding

Συνετιῶ σε καὶ συμβιβῶ σε ἐν ὁδῷ μου ταύτῃ ᾑ σὺ πορεύθῃ. Εὐξαμένῳ λύτρωσιν ἐχθρῶν, ἀντιφθέγγεται Θεὸς ὁδηγήσειν ἐπαγγελλόμενος ἐν εὐθείᾳ ὁδῷ· Συνετίσω σε γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ὑποδείξω σοι ὁδὸν ἢν ὀδεύσεις ἐπὶ τὸ τρισμακάριον ἄγουσαν τέλος, καὶ ἔσομαι πάντως τε ἐποπτεύων τὰ κατὰ σὲ, ὅπως ἐκ τῶν φωτιστικῶν αὐγῶν φωτιζόμενος, τὴν ὁδὸν βλέπειν ἔχῃς τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην σοι. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμός ΛΑ' Source: Migne PG 69.868c

'I will give to you understanding in my way, that on which you will walk ...' 1   God replies to the one seeking liberation from his enemies, 2 promising to direct him on the right way: 'For I shall give to you,' He says, 'understanding, and I shall show you the way on which walking you will come to final blessedness, and I shall be a watcher over all the things that are set against you, that illuminated with splendid rays you may discern the way, and obtain what is promised to you.' Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 31 1 Ps 31.8 2 Ps 31.7

Recommending A Bishop

Εἰμὶ μὲν ποιμὴν ὀλίγος καὶ μικροῦ ποιμνίου προεστηκὼς καὶ πολλοστὸς ἐν ὑπηρέταις τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ἡ χάρις δ' οὐ στενὴ οὐδὲ τόποις περιγραπτός. Διὰ τοῦτο δεδόσθω καὶ τοῖς μικροῖς παρρησία, ἄλλως τε καὶ περὶ κοινῶν καὶ τηλικούτων ὄντος τοῦ λόγου, καὶ μετὰ τοσαύτης βουλευομένοις τῆς πολιᾶς, ἣ τυχὸν ἔχει τι καὶ τῶν πολλῶν συνετώτερον.  Οὐ περὶ μικρῶν οὐδὲ τῶν τυχόντων βουλεύεσθε, ἀλλ' ὧν ἢ εὖ ἢ κακῶς ἐχόντων ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸ κοινὸν ἢ οὕτως ἢ ἐκείνως ἔχειν. Περὶ γὰρ Ἐκκλησίας ὑμῖν ὁ λόγος, ὑπὲρ ἧς Χριστὸς ἔπαθεν, καὶ τοῦ ταύτην Θεῷ παραστήσοντος καὶ προσάξοντος. Λύχνος μὲν τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὁ ὀφθαλμός, ὡς ἠκούσαμεν, οὐ μόνον οὗτος ὁ σωματικῶς ὁρῶν καὶ ὁρώμενος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ πνευματικῶς θεωρῶν καὶ θεωρούμενος· λύχνος δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπος, ὃ δῆλον ὑμῖν κἂν αὐτοὶ μὴ γράφωμεν. Ἀνάγκη τοίνυν, ὥσπερ ἐκείνου καθαρῶς μὲν ἔχοντος ὀρθῶς ἄγεσθαι καὶ τὸ σῶμα, μὴ καθαροῦ δὲ τυγχάνοντος, οὐκ ὀρθῶς· οὕτω καὶ τῷ προστάτῃ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ὁποτέρως ἂν ἔχῃ, πάντως ἢ συνδιακινδυνεύειν ἢ συνδιασώζεσθαι.  Πάσης μὲν οὖν Ἐκκλησίας φροντιστέον, ὡς Χριστοῦ σώματος, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς ὑμετέρας, ἣ μήτηρ σχεδὸν πασῶν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἦν τ' ἀπ' ἀρχῆς καὶ νῦν ἐστι καὶ νομίζεται, καὶ πρὸς ἣν τὸ κοινὸν βλέπει, ὡς κέντρῳ κύκλος περιγραφόμενος, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὴν ὀρθοδοξίαν ἄνωθεν πᾶσι κεκηρυγμένην, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐκ Θεοῦ δεδομένην αὐτῇ προδήλως χάριν τῆς ὁμονοίας.  Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν κεκλήκατε μὲν καὶ ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν περὶ τούτου διάσκεψιν, ποιοῦντες ὀρθῶς καὶ κανονικῶς, κρατούμεθα δὲ γήρᾳ καὶ ἀρρωστίᾳ, εἰ μὲν καὶ αὐτοὶ παρείημεν, τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπιρρώσαντος, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄπιστον τοῖς πιστοῖς, τοῦτο τῷ παντὶ βέλτιον καὶ ἡμῖν ἥδιον, ἵνα καὶ ὑμῖν τι συνεισε νέγκωμεν καὶ αὐτοὶ τῆς εὐλογίας μετάσχωμεν· εἰ δὲ τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας νικῴη, ὅσα γ' ἀποῦσι δυνατὸν συνεισφέρομεν·  Πείθομαι μὲν καὶ ἄλλους εἶναι παρ' ὑμῖν τῆς προσ τασίας ἀξίους, καὶ ὡς ἐκ πόλεως τοσαύτης καὶ οὕτω καὶ ὑπὸ τοιούτων ἠγμένης ἄνωθεν· ἑνὸς δ' οὐδένα δύναμαι προτιμῆσαι τῶν παρ' ὑμῖν τιμίων τοῦ θεοφιλεστάτου υἱοῦ ἡμῶν Βασιλείου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου (λέγω δ' ὡς ὑπὸ Θεῷ μάρτυρι), ἀνδρὸς καὶ βίῳ καὶ λόγῳ κεκαθαρμένου καὶ μόνου τῶν πάντων, ἢ ὅτι μάλιστα, κατ' ἀμφότερα δυναμένου στῆναι πρὸς τὸν νῦν καιρὸν καὶ τὴν κατέχουσαν τῶν αἱρετικῶν γλωσσαλγίαν. Ταῦτα καὶ ἱερατικοῖς γράφω καὶ μοναστικοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τοῦ ἀξιωματικοῦ καὶ βουλευτικοῦ τάγματος καὶ τοῦ δήμου παντός. Εἰ μὲν οὖν τοῦτο συνδόξειε καὶ ἡ ψῆφος ἡμῶν κρατοίη, οὕτως ὀρθῶς τε καὶ ὑγιῶς ἔχουσα, ὡς μετὰ Θεοῦ ψηφιζομένη, καὶ πάρειμι πνευματικῶς καὶ παρέσομαι, μᾶλλον δ' ἐπιβέβληκα τὴν χεῖρα ἤδη καὶ θαρρῶ τῷ Πνεύματι. Εἰ δ' ἄλλο τι καὶ μὴ τοῦτο συνδόξειε καὶ κατὰ φατρίας καὶ συγγενείας τὰ τοιαῦτα κρίνοιτο καὶ ἡ ὀχλώδης χεὶρ πάλιν παρασύροι τὸ ἀκριβές, πράττοιτε καθ' ὑμᾶς τὸ ἀρέσκον, ἡμεῖς δὲ συσταλησόμεθα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Ἐπιστολή ΝΓ', Πρός Τους Ἐν Καισαρείᾳ Source: Migne PG 37.84b-85c

I am a little shepherd, and over a tiny flock I stand, and I am among the least of the servants of the Spirit. But Grace is not narrow, or fenced in by place. Whence let freedom of speech be given even to the small, especially when the matter is a public one and so great, and one in which all are interested, even to deliberations of men of white hairs, who perhaps speak with more wisdom than the many. You are deliberating on no small or light matter, but concerning one by which the common interest will necessarily be served well or wounded according to the choice of this or that one. For this is a matter of the Church, for which Christ suffered, and the one who is to present it and lead it to God. For the light of the body is the eye, 1 as we have heard, not only the bodily eye which sees and is seen, but that which contemplates spiritually and is contemplated spiritually. But the light of the Church is the Bishop, as is clear to you even without writing it. As then the straightness or crookedness of the course of the body depends upon the clearness or obscurity of the eye, so must the Church partake of the peril or safety incurred by the conduct of its leader. You must then take thought for the whole Church as the Body of Christ, but most of all for your own, which from the beginning was and is now the mother of almost all the Churches, and to which the community looks, like a circle described around a centre, not only because of its orthodoxy proclaimed from of old to all, but also because of the grace of unity so evidently given to it by God. Since then you have called us to your discussion of this matter, acting rightly and canonically, yet we are oppressed by age and infirmity, and if we could be present by the strength given us by the Holy Ghost, for nothing is incredible to them that believe, it would be best for all, and pleasing to us, that gathered together we might confer something on you, and ourselves partake of the blessing; but if weakness should be the victor, we will give as much as it is possible for one who is absent. I am assured that there are others among you worthy of the leadership, because of the greatness of your city and because of its great leaders from of old, but there is one man among you whom no one stands before, our son well beloved of God, Basil the Priest, and I speak before God as my witness, a man of pure life and word, and alone or all, or almost alone, able to stand against both the present times, and the prevailing loquacity of heretics. I write this to men of the priestly and monastic life, and to the dignitaries and councillors, and to the whole people. If then you should approve it, and my vote should prevail, being so just and sound, and given with God's aid, I am with you in spirit and will be, or rather I have already set my hand to the work and am confident in the Spirit. But if you should do otherwise, not agreeing me, and the matter is judged by cliques and relations, and the hand of the mob again sweeps away correctness, do as pleases you, and I shall stand fast. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Letter 41, To the People of Cæsarea, in his father's name. 1 Mt 6.22

A Father's Love

Pater diligit Filium, et omnia dedit in manu ejus. Addidit: Et omnia dedit in manus ejus, ut nosses et hic quam distincte dictum est: Pater diligit Filium. Quare? Ergo Pater non diligit Joannem? et tamen non omnia dedit in manu ejus; Pater non diligit Paulum? et tamen non omnia dedit in manu ejus. Pater diligit Filium: sed quomodo Pater Filium, non quomodo Dominus servum; quomodo Unicum, non quomodo adoptatum. Itaque omnia dedit in manu ejus. Quid est omnia? Ut tantus sit Filius, quantus est Pater. Alcuinus, Commentariorum in Joannem, Lib II Source: Migne PL 100.790a

The Father loves the Son, and He has given everything into His hand. 1 It is added, 'And He has given everything into His hand,' that you might know how distinctly is said that 'The Father loves the Son.' How? Does the Father then not love John? And yet He did not give everything into His hand. Does the Father not love Paul? And yet He did not give everything into his hand. 'The Father loves the Son.' But the way in which the Father loves the Son is not the way in which the Lord loves a servant; the way of the Only Son is not the way of the adopted son. Thus 'He gave everything into His hand.' And what does this 'everything' mean? That the Son has as much as the Father has. Alcuin of York, from The Commentary On The Gospel of Saint John, Book 2 1 Jn 3.35

Sons And The Son

Γέγραπται· Οὕτως ἠγάπησε τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν Υἱον αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν, ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. Ποία ἀγάπης ὑπερβουλὴ, εἰ κοινὸν ἄνθρωπον χάριτι υἱοποιηθέντα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἔδωκε; Πῶς δὲ καὶ Μονογενὴς, εἰ υἱοθεσίᾳ τετιμημένος, καὶ οὐ φύσει ὤν υἱὸς, τῆς Γραφῆς λεγούσης· Ἐγὼ εἶπα· Θεοί ἐστε, καὶ υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου πάντες; Καὶ Ὁσοι ἔλαβον αὐτὸν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι; Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ πολλῶν ὄντων θεῶν θέσει καὶ χάριτι, εἶς δέ ἐστιν ὁ φύσει Θεὸς, οὕτω καὶ πολλῶν υἱοθεσίᾳ τετιμημένων, εἶς ἐστιν ὁ φύσει Υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ μονογενῆς, ὄν ἔδεκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Δαμασκηνός, Κατὰ τῆς Αἱρεσεως Των Νεστοριανῶν Source: Migne PG 95.203b-c

It is written: 'God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him have eternal life.' 1 And how is this overflowing love, if for us he gave a common man by the adoption of grace as his son? How is he Only Begotten, if he has the honour of adoption but he is not by nature a son? As Scripture says, 'I said: You are gods, and sons of the most high.' 2 And: 'As many as received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God.' 3 But as there are many gods by the adoption of grace, one however is by nature the Son, He who is the Only Begotten given for us. Saint John of Damascus, Against the Nestorian Heretics.   1  Jn 3.61 2 Ps 81.6, Jn 10.34 3 Jn 1.12

Knowing Idols

Filiolo, custodite vos a simulacris. Qui verum Deum cognovistis, in quo vitam habetis aeternam, custodite vos a doctinis haereticorum, quae perpetuam ducunt ad mortem, quia, more illorum qui simulacara pro Deo faciunt, gloriam incorruptibilis Dei pravis dogmatibus in similitudinem corruptibilium rerum immutant. Custodite vos philargyria, quae est simulacrorum servitus. Observate, ne quas mundi illecebras Conditoris amori praeponatis. Nam et hoc inter simulacra reputabitur, quatenus solius veritatis curam studiumque habentes, in hujus visione mereamini sine fine laetari. Mundus enim transit, et concupiscentia ejus. Qui autem fecerit voluntatem Domini, manet in aeternum. Sanctus Beda, In I Epistolam Sancti Joannis Source: Migne PL 93 120c

Children, guard yourself from idols. 1   You who know the true God, in which you have eternal life, guard yourself from the teachings of heretics, which lead to eternal death, because in their own way their make idols in opposition to God, changing the incorruptible glory of God into a idol of corruptible things by their depraved teachings. Guard yourselves from the love of money, which is slavery to idols. Be watchful, lest you prefer some snare of the world to the love of God. For even this is reckoned among idols, just as much as having care and desire for the truth alone in His sight we merit endless joy. 'The world passes away, and the desire of it, but he who does the will of God remains in eternity.' 2 Saint Bede, from the Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John 1 1 Jn 5.21 2 1 Jn 2.17

Counsel For Youth

Μάθε σὺ ὁ μονάζων καὶ πιστὸς ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐργάτης, καὶ διδάχθητι εὐαγγελικὴν πολιτείαν, σώματος δουλαγωγίαν, φρόνημα ταπεινόν, ἐννοίας καθαρότητα, ὀργῆς ἀφανισμόν. ἀγγαρευόμενος, προστίθει διὰ τὸν Κύριον: ἀποστερούμενος, μὴ δικάζου: μισούμενος, ἀγάπα: διωκόμενος, ἀνέχου: βλασφημούμενος, παρακάλει. νεκρώθητι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, σταυρώθητι τῷ Θεῷ: ὅλην τὴν μέριμναν μετάθες ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον, ἵνα εὑρεθῇς ὅπου ἀγγέλων μυριάδες, πρωτοτόκων πανηγύρεις, ἀποστόλων θρόνοι, προφητῶν προεδρίαι, σκῆπτρα πατριαρχῶν, μαρτύρων στέφανοι, δικαίων ἔπαινοι. ἐκείνοις σεαυτὸν τοῖς δικαίοις ἐπιθύμησον συναριθμηθῆναι, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Επιστολή ΜΓ', Νουθεσία πρὸς τοὺς νέους Source: Migne PG 32. 360b-c

Learn, you who live in solitude and are a faithful man and a practitioner of holiness, the teaching of the evangelic constitution: mastery of the body, humble thought, purity of mind, destruction of pride. Being pressed into service, add to it through the Lord: robbed, do not go to law; being hated, love; persecuted, endure; slandered, pray. Be dead to sin, be crucified to God. Cast all your care on the Lord, that you may be found where are tens of thousands of angels, assemblies of the first-born, thrones of Prophets, sceptres of Patriarchs, crowns of Martyrs, praises of righteous men. Desire to be numbered among these righteous ones, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Letter 43, Admonition to Young Men

Prayer And Safety

Dulcissimo filio vir fluctivagus salutem. Te abeunte tentavi saepius ad portum stabilitatis venire; sed rector rerum et dispensator animarum necdum concessit posse quod olim fecit velle. Adhuc ex radice cordis nascentes cogitationum ramusculos ventus tentationum flagellat, ut consolationis flores et refectionis fructus nutriri nequiverint. Toto nocte laborantes nihil cepimus, quia necdum in littore Jesus stetit, praecipiens in dexteram navigii rete mitti. Patrocinia sanctorum non obliviscere. Res ecclesiasticae pulchritudinis oculis occurrentes noli negligere ut acquiras. Nostra rusticitas avara est de talibus: vesta nobilitas larga est de omnibus. Memor esto poetici praesagii:  Si nihil attuleris, ibis, Homere, foras. Hoc de te tuoque itinere prophetatum esse, quis dubitat? Si Christum Sibylla, ejusque labores praedixit venturum, cur non Naso Homerum ejusque itinera praececinit? Paululum propter refectionem animi rhetorica lusi lepiditate. Sed ut iterum ad seriem rugosa fronte revertar, te vero unanimem deposcens amicum, te custodem animi obsecrans, ut consilium salutis animarum nostrarum, cum suffragiis sanctorum, apostolorum a Deo depreceris. Nam nos ambos, ut recognosco, quaedem necessitatis catena constringit, et libero cursu voluntatis castra intrare non permittit: nec est, qui compedes rumpere valeat, nisi qui inferni ferrea claustra contrivit, qui est via et vertias et vita. Via pergentibus per illum, veritas venientibus ad illum, vita manentibus in illo. Quid habeo plus scribere, quia omnia necessaria nosti? Juxta opportunitatem portantis semper dirige mihi litteras, ut sciam de prosperitate tua et itinere tuo, quando vel quo venias miserante Deo. Prospera cuncta, precor, faciat tibi Christus, Homere! Qui te conservet semper, ubique vale! Alcuinus, Epistola XXV, Ad Duclissimum Filium Homerum (Angilbertum) Source: Migne PL 100.180a-d

To a dear son, a man wandering amid the waves, greeting. With your departure I have very often tried to reach a secure port, but the director of things and the disposer of souls does not yet wish to concede to be possible what once He did. Though from the root of the heart the little branches of thoughts are born, the wind of trials so whips them that they are unable to bring forth the blooms of consolation and the fruit that restores. Though we work through the whole night we are not able to gain a thing because Jesus does not yet stand on the shore, commanding that the net be cast out from the right hand of the boat. 1 Do not forget the protection of the Saints. With racing eyes do not neglect the fair things of the Church, so that you might acquire them. Our narrow rusticity is on account of such things, your expansive nobility from all things. Be mindful of the poetic presage: If you bring nothing, Homer, you will go outside. 2 That this is prophetic concerning you and your way, who will doubt? If the Sybil foretold the coming works of Christ, why might not Ovid sing Homer and his way before his time? For the refreshment of my soul I have played a little with pleasant words, but returning again to the lines of a furrowed brow, I entreat you, friend of my soul, that you plead for a guard for your soul, that you pray for the counsel of the salvation of our souls, with the intercession of the Saints and the Apostles, from God. For both of us, I know, are constrained with a certain chain of necessity, and with the free step of the will we are not permitted to enter the camp, nor is there one who is able to break the fetters unless He who broke down the doors of hell, He who is the way and the truth and the life. 3 The way of the one who advances is through Him, the truth is to come to Him, life is to remain with Him. What more do I have to write, since you know what is needful? As far as opportunity allows always send me letters, that I might know how you flourish and your way, when or where you go according to the mercy of God. All prosperity, I pray, Christ make for you, O Homer! That He may preserve you always and everywhere, farewell. Alcuin of York, Letter 25, To a Dearest Son Homer, (Angilbertus) 1 Lk 5.4-7, Jn 21.4-6 2 Ovid Ars Amatoria 2.280 3 Jn 14.6

Friendship And Communication

Quanqum mihi multorum sim conscius peccatorum et quotidie in oratione flexis genibus loquar: Delicta juventutis meae et ignorantias meas ne memineris: tamen sciens dictum esse eb Apostolo: Ne inflatus superbia incidat in judicium diaboli: et in alio scriptum: Superbis Deus resistit; humilibus autem dat gratiam, nihil ita a pueritia conatus sum vitare quam tumentem animum et cervicem erectam, Dei contra se odia provocantem. Novi enim magistrum et Dominum et Deum meum in carnis humilitate dixisse: Discite a me, quia mitis sum et humilis corde: et ante per os David cecinisse: Memento, Domine, David, et omnis mansuetudinis ejus. Et in alio loco legimus: Ante gloriam humiliabitur cor viri; et ante ruinam elevatur. Itaque obsecro te, ne me putes sumptis litteris tuis ante tacuisse; et aliorum, vel infidelitatem, vel negligentiam in me referas. Quid enim causae erat, ut provocatus officio, tacerem et amicitias tuas meo silentio repellerem, qui altro soleo bonorum appetere necessitudinem, et me eorum ingerere caritati? Quia meliores sunt duo, quam unus: et si alter ceciderit, ab altero fulcietur. Funiculus triplex non facile rumpitur, et frater fratrem adjuvans, exaltabitur. Scribe igitur audacter; et absentiam corporum, crebro vince sermone. Nec doleas, si hoc non habeas quod formiculae, et muscae, et serpentes habent, id eas, carnis oculos: sed illum te oculum habere laetare, de quo in Cantico dicitur Canticorum: Vulnerasti me, soror mea sponsa, uno de oculis tuis; quo Deus videtur; de quo a Moyse dicitur: Transiens videbo visionem hanc magnam. Denique quosdam etiam mundi Philosophos legimus, ut totam cogitationem ad mentis  cogerent puritatem, sibi oculos eruisse. Et a Propheta dicitur: Intravit mors per fenestras vestras. Et Apostoli audiunt: Qui viderit mulierem ad concupiscendum eam, jam moechatus est eam in corde suo. Unde praecipitur eis, ut levent oculos, et videant candidas segetes, quae paratae sunt ad metendum. Quod autem precaris, ut nostris monitis Nabuchodonosor et Rapsaces et Nabuzardan et Holofernes in te occidantur, nunquam nostra auxilia postulares, si in te viverint. Sed quia illi mortui sunt, et cum Zorobabel, et cum Jesu filio Josedee Sacerdote magno, cum Ezra quoque, et Neemia ruinas Jerusalem aedificare coepisti; nec mittis mercedes in pertusum sacculum, sed thesauros tibi in coelestibus paras, idcirco nostras appetis amicitias, quos Christi famulos arbitraris. Sanctam filiam meam Theodoram, sororem beatae memoriae Lucinii, per se commendatam, meo sermone commendo, ut in coepto itinere non lassetur; ut ad Terram sanctam multo per eremum labore perveniat: ut non putet perfectam esse virtutem exisse de Aegytpo; sed per innumerabiles insidias ad montem Nabo, et ad Jordanem fluvium pervenire: ut accipiat secundum in Galgala circumcisionem: ut illi Jericho corruat, sacerdotalium tubarum subversa clangoribus: ut juguletur Adonisedee: ut Hai, et Azor pulcherrimae quondam corruant civitates. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistula LXXVI, Ad Abigaum Source: Migne PL 22.689-690

Although I am conscious of many sins and every day I say in prayer on bended knees, 'Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions,' 1 yet because I know that it has been said by the Apostle: 'Let a man not be lifted up with pride lest he fall into the condemnation of the devil,' 2 and that it is written in another passage: 'God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,' 3 there is nothing from my boyhood that I have endeavoured to avoid more than a bloated mind and a stiff neck, which always provoke against themselves God's revulsion. For I know that my teacher and Lord and God has said in the lowliness of the flesh: 'Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,' 4 and that before this He sang through the mouth of David: 'Lord, remember David and all his meekness.' 5 Again we read in another passage, 'Before glory the heart of a man shall be humble, and before ruin he shall be elated.' 6 Thus I implore you not to think that having received your letter I have been silent, nor attribute to me the dishonesty and negligence of others. For what reason would I, who am obliged to respond, be silent and by my silence repel your friendship, I who am accustomed to desire relations with the good and even to throw myself on their charity? Better are two than one, for if one falls, the other will lift him up, a three fold cord is not easily broken, and a brother who helps his brother shall be exalted. 7 Write to me, therefore, boldly, and conquer absence of bodies by frequent words. You should not grieve that you are destitute of those bodily eyes which ants, flies, and creeping things have, but rather you should rejoice that you have that eye of which it is said in the Song of Songs, 'You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse, with one of your eyes,' 8 which is the eye with which God is seen and of which Moses speaks of when he says: 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight.' 9 Then we even read that some of the philosophers of this world have plucked out their eyes to drive all their thoughts to the depths of the mind. 10 And a Prophet says: 'Death has entered through your windows.' 11 And the Apostles hear: 'Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' 12 Thus they are commanded to lift up their eyes and to look on the white fields, for they are ready for harvest. 13 You bid me by my exhortations to slay in you Nebuchadnezzar and Rabshakeh and Nebuzaradan and Holofernes, but our help you would never request were they alive in you. They are dead within you, but with Zerubbabel and Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest, 14 and Ezra and of Nehemiah you have begun to build up the walls of Jerusalem. Nor do you put your wages into a bag full of holes, 15 but you lay up for yourself treasure in heaven, 16 and so if you seek my friendship, it is because you judge that I am a servant of Christ. My holy daughter Theodora, the sister of Lucinius of blessed memory, commends herself, and with this word of mine I commend her, that she not grow weary of the path on which she has entered, that she will come to the Holy Land only by much toiling through the wilderness, that she should not think that the work of virtue is perfected when she has come out from Egypt, but she must pass through snares innumerable to come to Mount Nebo and the River Jordan, 17 that she must receive circumcision again at Gilgal, that Jericho must fall before her, overthrown by the blasts of priestly trumpets, 18 that Adoni-zedec must be slain, that Ai and Hazor, once fairest of cities, must both fall.  St Jerome, Letter 76, To Abigaus 1 Ps 24.7 2 1 Tim 3.6 3 Jam 4.6 4 Mt 11.29 5 Ps 131.1  6 Prov 18.12  7 Eccl 4.9  8 Song 4.9  9 Exod 3.3  10 cf Democritus, Aulus Gellius Attic Nights 10.17 11 Jerem 9.21  12 Mt 5.28  13 Jn 4.23  14 1 Esd 3  15 Haggai 1.6  16 Mt 6.20  17 Numb 33.47-48  18 Josh 6.20

The Travails Of Seeking

Εκὰλεσα αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐχ ὑπήκουσέ μου. Ἀναστήσομαι καὶ κυκλώσω ἐν τῇ πόλει. Ἀναγνώσομαι τὸν νόμον, ἀναγνώσομαι τοὺς προφήτας, ἐρευνήσω τὰ Εὐαγγέλια. Ταῦτα δὲ κατανυγεῖσα τῷ Θείῳ πόθῳ φησί· Ἐπὶ κοίτην μου ἐν νυξίν. Κοίτην ὀνομάζει τὴν τελειοτέραν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μετουσίαν, καὶ νύκτα· λέγει τὸν τῆς κοίτης καιρόν. Διὰ δὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς νυκτὸς ἐνδείκνυται τῶν ἀοράτων τὴν θεωρίαν, καθ' ὁμοιότητα Μωῦσέως, τοῦ ἐν τῷ γνόφῳ γεγονότος ἐν ᾦ ἦν ὁ Θεός. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ ᾔδειν τίς ἦν ὁ τρώσας με. Θεογνωσίαν μοι κοιμωμένῃ ἐνέσπειρεν ὁ Λόγος. Ταχέως διαναστᾶσα, ζητῶ τὸν τρώσαντα, καὶ παρακαλῷ αὐτῷ ὀφθῆναί μοι, καὶ περιέρχομαι ζητοῦσα τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν μου. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Εἰς Τα Ἀσματα Των Ἀσμάτων, Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 27.1348d-1349a

I called him and he did not answer me. I rose up and went about the city. 1 I read the Law, I read the Prophets, I study the Gospel. These things, she says, strike me with Divine love: On my bed in the night. 2 The bed it names the perfect participation in goodness, and the night as the right time for the bed. For by the name of night is indicated the contemplation of invisible things, as in the manner of Moses, who was in the darkness in which was God. 3 On the same. I did not know who it was that wounded me. While I was asleep the Word sowed Divine knowledge in me. Swiftly I rose up seeking the one who wounded me, and I cried out that he be shown to me, and I wandered about seeking my brother's son.  Saint Athanasius, Fragment on The Song of Songs 1 Song 3.2 2 Song 3.1 3 Exodus 20.21

The Foreknowledge Of God

Priusquam te formarem... Tria dicit, que ad consecracion pertinet, scilicet predestinacionis preordinacionem, gracie apposicionem et gradus sive poetestis collacionem. De primo dicit: Priusquam te formarem, id est: anima racionali, que forma hominis est, in specie hominis ponerem. Novi te, id est: luce predestinacionis ad graciam et gloriam preordinavi. Non enim novit Deus ad modum hominis. Noscit homo noticiam rei a re accipiendo, et hic intellectus sine passione non est, quia rem recipere pati quoddam est. Noscit Deus luce sapiencie res in formis suis constitudendo, et quod meneant in esse approbando. Vidit Deus cuncta que fecerat, et erant valde bona. Sic ergo oculi beneplaciti novit quibus graciam parat et gloriam. Invenisti graciam coram me, et te ipsum novi ex nomine. Novit Deus qui sunt eius. Sic per oppositum de malis quos ad graciam et gloriam non preparavit, dicitur: Ego iurabo illis: quia uumquam novi vos, non quia in noticia simplicis visionis malos non previderit, sed quia lucem gracie ex gratis oculis suis super eos non effudit, sicut de sanctis dicitur: In via hac qua gradieris, firmabo super te oculos meos. Mecum ibit Chanaan, et ponam oculos meos super eum. Secundum hoc ergo, quia noticia Dei a rebus nihil accipit, sed pocius res in esse constituit, ideo eodem modo novit res antequam fiant et postquam factae sunt. Vocat ea que non sunt tamquam ea que sunt. Fuerunt tamen heretici, a philosophis, qui stoici vocantur, occasionem erroris accipientes, qui propter hec et similia, animas ab aeterno esse dixerunt, vel ab inicio mundi simul creatas. Et quia uniuscuiusque animam novit Deus, ideo dicere quod Ieremiam novit antequam nasceretur, et illis obviat glosa que dicit: non quia ante concepcionem fuerit, ut heretici suspiciantur, sed quia prescivit eum Dominus, cui facienda iam facta sunt, qui vocat ea que non sunt tamquam ea que sunt. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Super Jeremiam Source: here

Before I formed you.. 1 Three things he speaks which pertain to consecration, certainly the preordination of predestination, and the application of grace and the degree or amount of power. Concerning the first of these He says, 'Before I formed you,' that is, before I placed the rational soul which is the form of man in the species of man. I knew you, that is, in the light of predestination I preordained you to grace and glory. For God does not know according to the way of men. Man knows by receiving from the thing an awareness of the thing, and this understanding is not without passion, because to receive things is a certain disturbance. God knows in the light of wisdom which establishes things in their forms and they remain in being by His approval. 'God saw everything which He made and it was very good.' 2 So with benevolent eye He knows those He prepares for grace and glory. 'You have found grace before me and I know you by name.' 3 'God knows those who are His.' 4 And contrariwise of the wicked ones He has not prepared to grace and glory, He says, 'I shall swear to them, I never knew you.' 5 not because with the awareness of simple vision He does not foresee, but because He does not pour the light of grace from the eyes of grace over them, just as concerning His holy ones He says, 'In this way which you shall walk, I shall fix my eyes over you.' 6 With me he shall go to Canaan, 'And I shall place over him my eyes.' 7 According to this, therefore, the knowledge of God receives nothing from things, but rather He establishes things in their being, and therefore in the same way He knows things before they are and after they are made. 'He calls things that are not as if they were.' 8 There were certain heretics, philosophers called Stoics, who received an occasion of error, who on account of this and similar things, spoke of souls as being created from eternity, or at the beginning of the world. And because He knows the soul of everyone, therefore He says that He knows Jeremiah before he was born, but against this there is a gloss which says, 'Not that he was before his conception, as the heretics assume, but because the Lord foreknew him, to whom things to be already are, and He calls those things which are not as if they are.' 9 Saint Albert The Great, On Jeremiah 1 Jerem 1.5 2 Gen 1.31 3 Exodus 33.12 4 2 Tim 2.19 5 Mt 7.23 6 Ps 31.8 7 Gen 44.21 8 Rom 4. 17 9 St Jerome Pl 23.682 and PL 114.9