Admiring The Clouds

Quid autem nos in vita sanctorum de nostra admiratione dicimus, cum ipsi quoque antiqui patres praedicatorum sanctae Ecclesiae vitam considerantes, valde admirati sunt? An non eorum vitam Psalmista admiratus est, cum dicebat: Mihi autem nimis honorati sunt amici tui, Deus, nimis confortatus est principatus eorum? Quod de quibus ejus amicis dicat Evangelium interroga, in quo Veritas praedicatoribus dicit: Vos amici mei estis. Isaias quoque eorum vitam intuens, ait: Qui sunt isti qui ut nubes volant, et quasi columbae ad fenestras suas? Recte autem praedicatores sancti nubes appellati sunt, quia verbis pluunt, miraculis coruscant. Qui volare quoque ut nubes dicuntur, quia et in terra viventes extra terram fuerunt per omne quod egerunt. Unde et per quamdam nubem dicitur: In carne enim ambulantes non secundum carnem militamus? Priores enim patres conjugiis utebantur, filios procreabant, substantias possidebant, curis rei familiaris intendebant. Istos autem per prophetiae jam spiritum praevidentes substantias deserere, conjugia non appetere, filios non procreare, nil in terra quaerere, nihil possidere, non eos per terram velut homines ambulantes, sed ut nubes volantes nominant. Volant etenim, quia mente ea quae sunt coelestia contemplantur. Qui terram quasi non tangunt, quia in ipsa nil appetunt. Qui et ad fenestras suas quasi columbae sunt, quia per mansuetudinis suae spiritum in hoc mundo per oculos nil concupiscunt. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber II, Homilia VI Source: Migne PL 76.1006c-d

But why do we speak of our own admiration for the life of the holy, when the fathers of old also, considering the life of the holy church, are extremely admiring? Is it not that the Psalmist has admired their life when he says, 'To me they have been excessively honoured, your friends, O God, greatly strengthened is their pre-eminence' 1 Concerning which friends, look to the Gospel in which the Truth says to His preachers: 'You are my friends.' 2 Isaiah also looks on their life, when he says: 'Who are these who are like clouds that fly, and as doves at their windows?' 3 And rightly are the preachers named holy clouds, because they give forth a rain of words and they flash with miracles. And they are also said to fly like clouds because though living on the earth, they were beyond the earth by everything they did. Whence as a certain cloud it is said: 'Walking in the flesh, but not fighting according to the flesh.' 4 The fathers of old made use of marriage, they sired sons, they possessed property, they looked to the cares of their family. But the later ones, through the spirit of prophecy, are foreseen as those who neglect possessions, who have no desire for marriage, who do not sire sons, who seek nothing in the earth, who claim nothing, who do not walk as men do on the earth, but are referred to as flying clouds. And indeed they fly, because with their minds they contemplate heavenly things. And they are as those who do not touch the earth, because they have no care for anything in it. And they are even as doves at their windows, because by the spirit of their meekness through their eyes they desire nothing in the world. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 6 1 Ps 138.17 2 Jn 15.14 3 Isaiah 60.8 4 2 Cor 10.3

War Of Flesh And Spirit

Ἐν σαρκὶ γὰρ περιπατοῦντες, οὐ κατὰ σὰρκα στρατευόμεθα.... Τὸ προκείμενον νόησιν ἔχει τοῦ ἐν ἑτέρᾳ ἐπιστολῇ γραφομένου ἔχοντος οὕτως· ἐπὶ γῆς περιπατοῦντες ἐν οὐρανῷ ἔχομεν τὸ πολίτευμα· καὶ γὰρ ταὐτὸν εἴη τὸ κατὰ σάρκα καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς περιπατεῖν, καὶ τὸ μὴ κατὰ σάρκα στρατεύεσθαι τοῦ τὸ πολίτευμα ἔχειν ἐν οὐρανῷ. κατὰ σάρκα δὲ στρατεύεσθαι λέγει οὐ πάντως τοὺς εἰς πόλεμον παρεσκευασμένους, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοὺς σαρκίνους καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πεπραμένους ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, οἷοι ἦσαν περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας. οἱ τούτους ὑπεραναβεβηκότες ὡς τὸ φρόνημα καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκὸς πάλιν κατὰ πνεῦμα στρατεύονται τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων Χριστῷ. διὸ ἵνα ἀρέσωσι τῷ στρατεύσαντι, οὐκ ἐμπλέκονται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις, τοῦτ' ἔστι τοῖς ὑλικοῖς. ἀμέλει γοῦν ἃ φέρουσιν ὅπλα οὐκ αἰσθητὰ καὶ σωματικά ἀσθενῆ γὰρ ταῦτα ἀλλὰ δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ εἰσιν. καθαιροῦσι γοῦν οἱ χρώμενοι τούτοις τὰς ὀχυρότητας τῶν ἀπατηλῶν λόγων πάνυ σοφιστικῶς κατεσκευασμένων πρὸς τῶν ἑτεροδόξων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ὄντα ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις ὑψώματα κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπαιρόμενα· οἱ γὰρ ἀντιταττόμενοι τῇ γνώσει τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀσεβῆ καὶ ἄθεα δόγματα παρεισάγοντες, τῇ δεινότητι τῶν λόγων φρούρια ὀχυρὰ οἰκοδομοῦντες, ἔνδον αὐτῶν χωροῦντες ἡγοῦνται εἶναι ἀκατα μάχητοι. Πρὸς τούτοις ἃ διδασκαλικῶς δῆθεν σὺν φαινομένῃ ἀποδείξει προφέρουσι μάταιον ὕψος ἔχοντα, ψευδεῖ νοήσει ἐπαίρεται ὡς ἀνωτέρω χωροῦντα τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς γνώμης ὀνομαζομένης γνώσεως θεοῦ. Αὐτὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἀξίοις παρέχει. Ἕνεκα γοῦν τοῦ καθαιρῆσαι τὰ προειρημένα ὑψώματα καὶ ὀχυρώματα, ἐνδυσάμενοι τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ πνεῦμα, τῷ εἰρημένῳ τρόπῳ στρατευόμεθα. Διαλύομεν γοῦν τοὺς σοφιστικοὺς αὐτῶν λόγους, καὶ τὰ δόγματα διελέγχομεν. Ἀμέλει γοῦν πᾶν νόημα τῶν ἠπατημένων κεκρατημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπατεώνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνατραφὲν ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ ἐκείνων αἰχμαλωτίζοντες φέρομεν πρὸς τὸ ὑπακοῦσαι τῷ Χριστῷ.Δυνατὸν ἐκλαβεῖν καὶ οὕτως· πᾶν νόημα τὸ ὅπως ποτὲ ἔν τινι διδασκαλίᾳ φερόμενον ἀνάγκῃ καὶ βίᾳ μετοικίζοντες πρὸς τὸ πεῖσαι ὑπακοῦσαι τῷ Χριστῷ φέρομεν. Oὕτω γὰρ τὸ Ἀθήνησιν ἀνακείμενον βωμῷ ἐπίγραμμα, ἐμφαῖνον πολλῶν θεῶν νόημα, ἑλκύσας ὁ ταῦτα γράφων μετήνεγκεν εἰς τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν, φήσας· ὃν οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε, τοῦτον ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν. Ἀγνοούμενον δὲ πλῆθος θεῶν ἐδήλου τὸ ἐπίγραμμα. Ὅταν οὖν πᾶν νόημα αἰχμαλωτισθῇ εἰς ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ τηνικάδε ἑτοίμως ἕξομεν κατὰ πάσης παρακοῆς ἐπαγαγεῖν ἐκδίκησιν, ὥσπερ οἱ αἰχμαλώτους λαβόντες ἐν τῷ νενικηκέναι ἔθνος τι θαρραλέοι γίνονται εἰς τὸ ὑποσκάψαι τὴν χώραν ἐκείνων. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Τὴν Δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους Source: Migne PG 39.1717c-1720c

For walking in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh...1 These words bear the same meaning which is found in another letter: 'Walking on earth, we have our place in heaven.' 2 Certainly it is according to the flesh that one walks on the earth, and yet it not according to the flesh one fights when one has one's place in heaven. For to fight according to the flesh, he says, by no means refers to men who triumph in war here, for carnal men by this are conquered by sin, concerning which it was said, 'My spirit shall not remain in these men, for they are flesh.' 3 Those who are lifted up over these things, that is, over the desires and works of the flesh, they on the contrary are the ones who fight according to the Spirit, that they rule over all things with Christ. Therefore, so that they might please their general, they are not bound up in the affairs of the world, that is material things. 4 And the arms they bear are not material things or corporeal, for such things are weak, but their strength is from God. They, then, who make use of these kind of arms, they destroy the citadels of deceitful speech, which the heterodox raise up with great sophistical art, and even the heights of their orations against the wisdom of God, by which they accliam themselves, they blow apart; for they who set up impious and godless teaching against the true knowledge, with their eloquence build up fortresses with strong walls, within which they enclose themselves, and they seem to themselves be unconquerable. But with their teachings of mere apparent proofs they vainly claim the heights, and only in a deluded mind is their place is elevated as something superior to the understanding of the Church, which is called the knowledge of God. For He gives this only to those who are worthy. Therefore for the overthrow of the aforementioned high places and citadels, there is the endowment of the arms of God according to the spirit, and instruction in the way we war. Thus let us shatter the cleverness of their speeches and thus let us refute their teachings. Let us have no care for any thought set beneath the yoke of error by these deceivers, but even those raised captive in their places, let us transfer to the service of Christ. Thus it is possible to understand it: that it is most necessary that every thought expressed in whatever teaching we bring by power to be persuaded to obedience to Christ. So indeed that inscription on the Athenean altar, which proclaimed an understanding of many gods, the author of this letter brings to the one true God, saying: 'Him whom, therefore, you worship as unknown, I announce to you.' 5 And certainly by the name of 'unknown' he speaks of the inscription regarding many gods. When, therefore, all understanding shall have been made captive in obedience to Christ, then we shall be prepared to punish any contumacy, just as one who makes a people captive, may confidently walk about their ravaged country. Didymus the Blind, On The Second Letter of Paul to The Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 1.3 2 Philip 3.20 3 Gen 6.3 4 2 Tim 2.4 5 Acts 17.23

Gideon's Place

Sed primo illud quod ex Epistola quae ad Hebraeos est, commemoravi, inter illos laudabiles viros qui ibidem recoluntur, non solum est Jephte, verum etiam Gedeon, de quo similiter Scriptura dicit, Spiritus Domini confortavit Gedeon: et tamen ejus factum, quod de illo auro praedae operatus est ephud, et fornicatus est post illud omnis Israel, et factum est domui Gedeon in scandalum, non solum laudare non possumus; verum etiam quia Scriptura hic apertissime judicavit, reprobare minime dubitamus: nec tamen ex hoc ulla fit injuria Spiritui Domini, qui cum confortavit, ut hostes populi ejus tanta facilitate superaret. Cur ergo inter illos commemoratur, qui per fidem vicerunt regna, operantes justitiam; nisi quia sancta Scriptura, quorum fidem atque justitiam veraciter laudat, non hinc impeditur eorum etiam peccata, si qua novit, et oportere judicat, notare veraciter? Nam et in eo quod idem Gedeon signum petens, sicut ipse locutus est, tentavit in vellere, nescio utrum non fuerit transgressus praeceptum quod scriptum est, Non tentabis Dominum Deum tuum: verumtamen etiam in ejus tentatione Dominus quod praenuntiare volebat ostendit; in compluto scilicet vellere et area tota circumquaque sicca, figurare primum populum Israel, ubi erant sancti cum gratia coelesti, tanquam pluvia spirituali; et postea compluta area sicco vellere, figurare Ecclesiam toto orbe diffusam, habentem non in vellere tanquam in velamine, sed in aperto coelestem gratiam, illo priore populo velut ab ejusdem gratiae rore aliento atque siccato. Nec tamen frustra inter fideles et operantes justitiam, propter bonam fidelemque vitam, in qua eum credendum est esse defunctum, tale in Epistola ad Hebraeos meruit testimonium. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestionum In Heptateuchum, Liber VII Source: Migne PL 34.813-814

But first, that which is in the letter to the Hebrews, that I have mentioned, among those who are recounted as praiseworthy men, not only is Jephtah found but even Gideon, 1 concerning whom Scripture similarly says that the Spirit of the Lord strengthened Gideon, 2 and yet one of his deeds was the making of the gold ephod from spoil, which caused all Israel to fornicate after it and made the house of Gideon a scandal, 3 which we are not only not able to praise, but since Scripture openly condemns it, we must without doubt reprove. Not, however, that this is any injury to the Spirit of the Lord, who when He strengthened gave triumph with such ease to the hosts of his people. Why, then, is he among those who are recalled, who through faith conquered kingdoms, and worked righteousness, unless that Holy Scripture, the faith and justice of whom truly it praises, is not at all impeded by their errors, when that which it knows, and judges necessary, it note truly? For even in the act of that same Gideon seeking a sign, as it is said, he made trial with a fleece, I do not know whether it were not a transgression of that command written: 'You shall not test the Lord your God.' 4 But the Lord in his testing showed what He wished to be foretold. That is, the wetting of the fleece with the whole area around it dry, is a figure of the first people Israel, when they were holy with the grace of heaven, as with spiritual water; and then the later wetting of the dry area around the fleece, is a figure of the Church spread throughout the whole world, having not heaven's grace in the fleece, as a covering, but in the open, and with the former people by the same grace bedewed as the foreign dryness. 5 Not, then, among the faithful and workers of righteousness, on account of good faith and life, in which believing in Him he died, did such a man vainly merit testimony in the Letter to The Hebrews. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on The Heptateuch, Book 7 1 Hebrews 11.32 2 Judges 6.23 3 Judges 8.27 4 Deut 6.16 5 Judges 6.36-40

Divine Assistance

Ερώτησις ΙϚ' Τί δήποτε τοὺς κυνὶ παραπλησίως πεποκότας μόνους ἐκέλευσε παρατάξασθαι; Δεδήλωκε τὴν αἰτίαν αὐτὸς ὁ Δεσπότης Θεός· Πολὺς γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ ὄχλος ὁ μετὰ σοῦ, ὥστε παραδοῦναι με τὴν Μαδιὰμ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτῶν, μήποτε καυχήσηται Ἰσραὴλ ἐπ' ἐμὲ, λέγων· Ἡ χείρ μου ἔσωσέ με. Τῶν πλείστων τοίνυν ἀπολυθέντων, τοὺς ὑπολειφθέντας τῷ ποταμῷ προσαχθῆναι προσέταξεν, εἴτα τῶν πλειόνων εἰς γόνυ κλιθέντων, καὶ πεπωκότων συντόμως· τῶν δὲ τριακοσίων τοῦτο μὲν δι' ὅκνον οὐ πεποιηκότων, τῇ δὲ χειρὶ τὸ νᾶμα προσενεγκόντων τῷ στόματι, τούτους μόνους ἐκέλευσεν, ὡ ἀργοὺς καὶ νωθεῖς, κατὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων ὁρμῆσαι· ἵνα γένηται δήλη πᾶσιν ἡ θεία ῥοπή. Οὔτω καὶ διὰ δώδεκα ἁλιέων καὶ τελωνῶν, καὶ σκυτοτόμου ἑνὸς, τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων κατέλυσε φάλαγγα, καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν φύσιν διέσωσε. Τούτο χάριν ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαῗας τούτοις ἐκεῖνα παρέβαλλεν, καὶ ἔφη· Τὴν γὰρ ῥάβδον τῶν ἀπειθούντων διεσκέδασε Κύροις, ὡς τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἐπὶ Μαδιάμ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα γυμνοῖς ἐχρήσατο στρατιώταις, τῇ μὲν λαιᾷ φέρουσι κεκρυμμένας ἐν ἀμφορεῦσι λαμπάδας· τῇ δεξιᾷ δὲ τὰς σάλπιγγας· οὕτω τοὺς ἵεροὺς ἀποστόους γυμνοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀπέστειλε, φέροντας τὴν λαμπάδα τῶν θαυμάτων, καὶ τὴν σάλπιγγα τῶν κηρυγμάτων. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τους Κριτάς Source: Migne PG 80.504a-b

Question 16 Why were those who acted like dogs alone sent into battle? The Lord God Himself revealed the reason: 'There are too many men with you that I give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel glory against me, saying, 'My own hand has liberated me.' 1 Then, with the greater part dismissed, He commanded that those who remained should be led to the river, from which the majority, those who swiftly bent the knee to drink, He sent away, and the thirty who through hestiation did not do this, who brought water to the mouth with the hand, these alone, unready and sluggish, He commanded go forth against the enemy, that the Divine aid be apparent to all. 2 Indeed in this way, by the twelve fishermen and tax collectors, and a shoe maker, He scattered the army of demons and saved human nature. Whence the Prophet Isaiah, arranging both together, says: 'The Lord scattered the staff of the faithless as on the day of Midianites.' 3 For as He once used unarmed soldiers, bearing in their left arms torches hid in urns, and in the right trumpets, 4 so He sent out the holy Apostles unarmed into the world, bearing the light of miracles, and the trumpet of preaching. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Judges 1 Judges 7.2 2 Judges 7.4-6 3 Isaiah 9.4 4 Judges 7.8

The Limitations Of Miracles

Non fuit, inquis, ordo eiusmodi necessarius, quia statim se et Filium et Missum et Dei Christum rebus ipsis esset probaturus per documenta virtutum. At ego negabo solam hanc illi speciem ad testimonium competisse, quam et ipse postmodum exauctoravit, siquidem edicens multos venturos et signa facturos et virtutes magnas edituros, aversionem etiam electorum, nec ideo tamen admittendos, temerariam signorum et virtutum fidem ostendit, ut etiam apud pseudochristos facillimarum. Aut quale est si inde se voluit probari et intellegi et recipi, ex virtutibus dico, unde ceteros noluit aeque et ipsos tam subito venturos quam a nullo auctore praedicatos? Si quia prior eis venit et prior virtutum documenta signavit, idcirco, quasi locum in balneis, ita fidem occupavit, posteris quibusque praeripuit, vide ne et ipse in condicione posteriorum deprehendatur, posterior inventus creatore ante iam cognito, et proinde virtutes ante operato, et non aliter praefato non esse aliis credendum, post eum scilicet. Igitur si priorem venisse et priorem de posteris pronuntiasse hoc fidem excludet, praedamnatus erit et ipse iam ab eo quo posterior est agnitus, et solius erit auctoritas creatoris hoc in posteros constituendi, qui nullo posterior esse potuit. Iam nunc, cum probaturus sim creatorem easdem virtutes, quas solas ad fidem Christo tuo vindicas, interdum per famulos suos retro edidisse, interdum per Christum suum edendas destinasse, possum et ex hoc merito praescribere tanto magis Christum non ex solis virtutibus credendum fuisse quanto illum non alterius quam creatoris interpretari potuissent, ut respondentes virtutibus creatoris et editis per famulos suos et in Christum suum repromissis. Quamquam, et si alia documenta invenirentur in tuo Christo, nova scilicet, facilius crederemus etiam nova eiusdem esse cuius et vetera, quam cuius tantummodo nova, egentia experimentis fidei victricis vetustatis, ut sic quoque praedicatus venire debuerit tam praedicationibus propriis exstruentibus ei fidem quam et virtutibus, praesertim adversus Christum creatoris venturum et signis et prophetiis propriis munitum, ut aemulus Christi per omnes diversitatum species reluceret. Sed quomodo a deo nunquam praedicato Christus eius praedicaretur? Hoc est ergo quod exigit nec Deum nec Christum tuum credi, quia et Deus ignotus esse non debuit, et Christus agnosci per Deum debuit. Tertullianus, Adversus Marcionem, Liber III, Caput III Source: Migne PL 2.323c-325a

An arrangement of prior prophecy, you say, was not necessary, because He was instantly able to prove Himself the Son, and He Who Was Sent, and the Christ of God, with His deeds, by means of the witness of His miracles. But I shall deny that evidence of this sort alone was sufficient testimony of Him when He Himself later dismissed its authority, since He, declaring that many would come and show great signs and wonders, so as to turn aside the very elect, and yet were not to be received, 1 showed the rashness of belief in signs and wonders, which were so easy to perform even by false christs. Else how is it, if He wished to be approved and understood and received on account of such wonders, that He forbade the recognition of others like that, whose coming was to be quite sudden and unannounced by any authority? If, because He came before them, and was before them in displaying signs, and therefore, just as the firstcomers have the first place in the baths, He had first right to faith, and so seized it from all who came after, be careful lest even He be caught in the condition of the latecomer, being found to be after the Creator, who had already been made known, and who had already worked miracles like Him, and just like Him had forewarned that others not be believed, who should come after Him. If, therefore, to have come first and to have first uttered this warning is the limit of faith, He will Himself have to be condemned, because He was later in being acknowledged, and authority to prescribe such a rule about latecomers will belong to the Creator alone, who could have been after none. And now, when I am about to prove that the Creator displayed the same miracles, which you claim as solely enough for faith in your Christ, sometimes by His servants before, and in other cases reserved for His Christ to show, I may from this with merit maintain that there was so much the greater reason why Christ should not be believed in simply on account of His miracles, inasmuch as these would have shown Him to belong to none other than the Creator, because they answer to the miracles of the Creator, both as performed by His servants and reserved for His Christ. And, then, even if some other proofs should be found in your Christ, that is, novelties, we would be more readily inclinced to believe that even they belong to the same one as the old ones, rather than to him who has nothing but new proofs which have not the witness of antiquity which wins faith, so that even here he should have come announced as much by prophecies of his own for the building up of faith in him, as by miracles, especially against the Creator's Christ who was to come fortified by signs and prophets of His own, that he might shine forth as a rival of Christ in every way. But how was his Christ to be foretold by a God who never predicted? This, therefore, must obtain: that neither your God nor your Christ are to be believed, because God should not have been unknown and Christ should have been made known through God. Tertullian, Against Marcion Book 3, Chapter 3 1 Mk 13.21-22

A Woman's Healing

Et cum venisset Jesus in domum Petri, vidit socrum ejus jacentem, et reliqua. Ad hoc ergo venerat ut videret febricitantem, et ideo mox cum venisset, vidit eam ac sanavit. Causa namque adventus ejus jacentis infirmitas, et non edenti necessitas fuit; quia in domo qua misera febris hominem laniabat, non cura prandii ac laetitiae, sed lacyrmarum erat effusio. Mira omnipotentis Dei dispensatio, qui etiam non quaerentes se quaerit, et non valentes ad se venire, ad eos clementer venit; quia si non ille ad nos prior venissset, nunquam ad eum redire potuissemus. Sed bene, postuqam descendit, haec mulier tetio loco curata legitur, quambis alii evangelistae alio in loco eam commemoraverint. Nihil enim interest ad historiae veritatem quis quo loco ponat, sive quod ex ordine interserit, sive quod postea factum ante praeoccupaverit; dum tamen invicem non adversentur, quod numquam reperies. Multum vero ad mysticam semper proficit intelligentiam, ut eo loco ab unoquoque, Spiritu sancto docente, singula ponantur, ut et veritas pateat operis, et doctrina spiritalis uberius appareat ex circumstantia lectionis. Nam, ut dixi, leprosus ille universum designat humanum genus, id est lepta originalis delicti coinquinatum: puer centurionis gentilitatem solam, morbo idololatriae, quasi paralysi, dissolutam, et ab omni compagine vitae pene emortuam. Quibus curatis, clementissimum erat ut mulier, quae fuerat auctor morborum et mortis, post virum curaretur et ipsa. Utrumque enim sexum Dominus curaturus advenerat. Sed prior curari debuit qui prior creatus est, tum demum et alla ab opifice nec praetermitti. Unde et Sciptura: Tenuit, inquit, manum, et dimisit eam febris. Quid putas? Nunquid verbo non potuit eam curare, quia tenuit manum ejus? Vel cur leprosum tangit, et curat verbo; hujus vero tenet manum, et continuo discedit febris? Illum ergo tangit, quod lex vetuerat, ut se supra legem ostenderet, de quo satis jam diximus. Hujus vero tenuit manum, quam mulier contra mandatum extenderat ad arborem, de qua noxium arboris gustum sumeret. Propterea ergo ratio fuit ejus tenere manum, ut vitam resumeret; quia Adam de manu mulieris acceperat mortem. Sic omnia Salvatoris concinunt opera. Justum quippe erat ut quod manus praesumentis admiserat, manus repararet auctoris, et indulgentiam reciperet quae cunctis intulerat mortem. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber V, Cap VIII Source: Migne PL 120.353c-354b

And when Jesus came into the house of Peter, He saw his mother in law cast down...1 For this, therefore, He came, that He see one fevered, and therefore as soon as He had come, He saw her and healed her. The reason for His coming was the weakness of her cast down and not because of some need for eating, because when in the house a fever had laid low a wretched invididual there was no care for feasting and joy but for a pouring out of tears. Wonderous dispensation of God, who sought out those not seeking and who came to those languishing, coming to them in mercy, because if He had not come to us before, never would we have been able to return to Him. And well it is said that after He descended, He cured this woman in third place, although the other evangelists remember her in another place. 2 For it is of no weight to the truth of history who is placed where, or in what order set, or recalled, or if that which is later is considered before, while none of them oppose the other, which you will never find. However, it is always of much cause of profit to the spiritual understanding, that in that place, by whichever one, with the Holy Spirit teaching, each thing is placed, that the truth of the work is revealed and the spiritual teaching more fruitfully appear from the circumstances of the passage. For, as I have said, the leper signified the whole human race, that is, the leper was soiled with original sin, and the centurion's boy indicated the Gentiles alone, who with the sickness of idolatry, as one paralysed and incapable, was mortified from every activity of life. Which curing, He most merciful, after curing man, cured woman, she who was the creator of disease and death. For the Lord came to cure both sexes. But it was right that He cure him who was created first, and then that the Creator pass on to her. Whence Scripture says: 'He held her hand and rid her of the fever.' What do you think? Was He not able to cure her with a word, because He held her hand? Or why did He touch the leper and cure with a word, but He held her hand and immediately the fever fled? He touched him that the old law wither away, that He show Himself over the law, concerning which we have spoken of enough before. And then He held the hand of woman, who against command had reached for the tree, from which she received the ruinous taste of the tree. Thus it was reasonable that He hold her hand, that life be restored, because Adam received death from the hand of the woman. So all the works of the Lord harmonise. Certainly it was right that the hand of the Creator restore the hand which had presumptively reached out, and so she receive forgiveness for bringing death to all. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 5, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.14 2 Mk 1.30, Lk 4.38

A Good Welcome

Ἐὰν τὴν στεφάνην ἐπιθῶμεν τῷ δώματι τῆς καλῆς πολιτείας, δυνήσόμεθα πάντως καθ' ὁμοίωσιν τῆς πιστοτάτης Ῥαὰβ, οὐχὶ κάτω που, ἀλλὰ ἄνω μᾶλλον ὑποδέξασθαι καὶ ξενίσαι τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἀληθέστερον δὲ λέξω, αὐτὸν ξενοδοχῆσαι Ἰησουν Χριστὸν τὸν τῶν ἀγγέλων Δεσπότην. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΞΑ' Μελετιῳ Καγκελλαριῳ Source: Migne PG 79.109-b-c

If we would put on the crown in the house of good living, we are certainly able to do so in the likeness of the most faithful Rahab, who did not receive the messengers of Joshua in any place below, but in the heights, 1 and so, I speak truly, we welcome Christ the Lord of the angels. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 61, To Meletius the Cancellarius 1 Joshua 2.1-6

Bishops And Women

Πάσας μὲν, εἰ οἶόν τε, ὁμιλίας γυναικῶν ἐκτρέπεσθαι χρὴ, ὡς ἐχούσας τινὰ πρὸς χαύνωσιν ἐπιτήδευσιν· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο ἀδύνατον διὰ περιστάσεις χρειῶν, ἤ οἰκνομίας πτωχῶν, κάτω νεύοντας διαλέγεσθαι. Τοῖς γὰρ πλείοσιν, ἤ καὶ πᾶσι σχεδὸν τοῖς ἡττηθεῖσι κάλλους γυναικῶν, δια τῶν θυρίδων ἀνέβη ὁ θάνατος, ὃς καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου Προφήτου καὶ βασιλέως ἐκράτησεν, ὅτε πρὸς τὸ λουτρὸν ἐκεῖνο τὸ θανατηφόρον ἀπέβλεψε. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΠΘ' Ἰσιδωρῳ Ἐπισκοπῳ Source: Migne PG 78.244c

All must, if it is possible, flee association and talk with women, as they have a certain power and ability for softening. But if on account of the necessity of the affair, or dispensation to the poor, it is not possible to avoid this, we must have care to fix our eyes on the ground when we speak to them. So many, indeed almost all, have been overwhelmed by female beauty, so that it happens to them that 'death rises up through the windows,' 1 even he who was a great prophet and king was conquered when he looked upon that fatal bath. 2 Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 89, To the Bishop Isidore 1 Jerem 9.21 2 2 Kings 11.2

Leaders And Rich Men

Vae qui opulenti estis in Sion, et confiditis in monte Samariae, optimates, capita populorum, ingredientes pompatice domum Israel. LXX: Vae qui despiciunt Sion, et confidunt in monte Samariae: vindemiarunt primitias gentium, et ingressi sunt sibi. Ad Sion, ut supra diximus, et ad montem Samariae, id est, ad duas tribus, quae appellabantur, Juda, et ad decem, quae Israelis nomine vocabantur, prophetae sermo confertur, maxime ad eos, qui in utroque populo optimates sunt et principes, et vacant deliciis in exemplum illius divitis purpurati, qui laetabatur in convivio, et in tantam erigebatur superbiam, ut Lazarum ante ostium suum plenum ulceribus indigaretur aspicere, et ne hoc quidem ei tribueret, quod periturum esset ex mensa. Isti sunt capita populorum, qui confidunt in divitiis, et opulenti sunt in Sion, et habent fiduciam in monte Samariae, et ingrediuntur pompatice domum Israel, ut tumorem animi corpus ostendat, et pomparum ferculis similes esse videntur. Juxta leges autem tropologiae et Septuaginta interpretes, Sion refertur ad Ecclesiam, de qua scriptum legimus: Qui exaltat me de porta mortis, ut annuntiem omnes laudationes tuas in portis filiae Sion. Mons vero Samariae, propter superbiam et jactantiam custodiae mandatorum Dei, intelligitur super haereticis, qui despiciunt Ecclesiam; quia infirma mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat fortia, et stulta, ut perdat sapientiam sapientium, et intelligentiam prudentium repobet. Isti vindemiaverunt primitias gentium, ut sub nomine Christiano introducerent eos in torcularia sua, ubi non calcatur uva, sed perditur: ubi non mustum exprimitur, sed venenum. Et ingressi sunt sibi. Pulchre dixit, sibi: non enim ingressi sunt Deo, sed sibi ingressi sunt. Alioquin Deo magis egressi sunt, dum recedunt de Ecclesia. Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Amos Prophetam, Liber II Source: Migne PL 1057a-1058b

'Woe to you who rich in Zion and assured on the mount of Samaria, rich men, leaders of the people, entering in with pomp into the house of Israel.' The Septuagint: 'Woe to you who look down on Zion, and are assured on the mount of Samaria; they reap the first fruits of the peoples, and they have entered into themselves.' 1 The speech of the Prophet is addressed to Zion, as we have said above, and to the mount of Samaria, that is, to the two tribes who are called Judah, and to the ten who are called by the name of Israel, especially to those who are rich and leaders among both peoples, who are at ease in pleasures and whose example is to be rich in purple, who have rejoiced in feasts, and have been elevated in such pride that they balk to look upon Lazarus at the door covered in sores, nor do they give to him anything which has fallen from their tables. 2 These are the heads of the peoples, who are confident in their wealth, and who are rich in Sion, and who trust in the mount of Samaria, and who enter with pomp into the house of Israel. So the body shows the bloated nature of the soul, and they seem to be like frames for pomp. According to the law of tropology and the translation of the Septuagint, Zion refers to the Church, concerning which it is written: 'Who shall lift me up from the gates of death, that I might proclaim all your praises in the gates of your daughter Zion.' 3 But the mount of Samaria, on account of its pride and its boasting that it keeps the laws of God, is to be understood as speaking of heretics, who look down on the Church, 'because God has chosen the weak of the world, that he might confound the strong, and the foolish that he might destroy the wisdom of the wise and reprove the understanding of the prudent.' 4 They have harvested the first fruits of the peoples who under the name of Christian have brought in their own winepress, where the grape is not been pressed but destroyed, and where wine is not squeezed out, but poison. And they have entered into themselves. And well it is said, 'into themselves', for they have not entered into God, but into themselves. Rather they have gone out from God, since they have withdrawn from the Church. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Amos, Book 2, Chap 4 1 Amos 6.1 2 Lk 16.19-21 3 Ps 9.15 4 1 Cor 1.27

Ruling And Serving

Iesus autem vocans eos ait illis: Scitis quia hi qui videntur principari gentibus dominantur eis, et principes eorum potestatem habent, ipsorum. Non ita est autem in vobis, sed quicunque voluerit fieri maior, erit vester minister: et quicunque voluerit in vobis primus esse, erit omnium servus. Nam et filius hominis non venit ut ministraretur ei, sed ut ministraret et daret animam suam in redemptionem pro multis. Iesus autem vocans eos tanquam benignus doctor humilitatis, et tangitur hic communis omnium salutis instructio contra fastum tumoris, qui eis surrepserat: et ostenditur via salutaris ad reganandum cum Christo. Tanguntur autem hi: tria, scilicet, fastus gentium in regno terreno: disimilitudo ad illos regnantium cum Christo: et exempli subiectio in Dei Filio. Dicit igitur quia per ea quae in mundo videris hoc scire potestis. Hoc dicit quia dominatus secularis magis est umbra et phantasma quam veritas sine legibus gentium, sicut ordinari in principes, sed per tyrannidem opprimunt pauperes, sicut Nemroth violenta dominatione et ambitione dominatus et potestatis. Tradam Aegyptum in manu Dominorum crudelium: et rex fortis dominabitur eis. Qui dominamini in nihilo, qui dicitis, Nunquid non in fortitudine nostra assumpsimus nobis cornua? et vel potius tyranni oppressorum quam pro viribus et non secundum iudicium et iustitiam exercent in eos. Reges gentium dominantur eorum: et qui potestatem habent inter eos, benefici vocantur. Sic non inter erit vos: sed quicunque doctrina est viae ad regnandum cum Christo per viam humilitatis. Et ideo dicit: discipulos meos in gloria mea sicut minor, qui ad obsequia est deputatus. Qui maior est in vobis, fiat sicut minor: et qui praecessor, sicut ministrator. Quicunque humiliaverit se sicut parvulus iste: hic maior est in regno caelorum dignitate in gloria regni mei: ille per actum humilitatis et ministeris quantum ab obsequium. Et Qui se humiliat, exaltabitur. Gloriam praecedit humilitas. Sapientia humiliati exaltabit caput illius, et in medio magnatorum confidere illum faciet. Qui humiliatus fuerit erit in gloria. Ponit seipsum in exemplum, in carnem et in mundum formam servi accipiens, in similitudinum hominum factus, exinaniens semetipsum: et ideo hoc est, ut serviatur ei. Nam quis maior est? Qui recumbit, aut qui ministrat? Ego autem in medio vestrum sum sicut qui ministrat. Ecce intelliget servus meus: et admirabitur et exaltabitur et sublimis erit valde. Et tangit maximum quod exhibuit ministerium: et dicit in pignus efficaciter, sed pro omnibus sufficienter. Apud Dominum misericordia, et copiosa apud eum redemptio. Dedi dilectam animam mean in manus inimicorum eius. Ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris: non solum autem pro nostris, sed etiam pro totius mundi. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci Source: Volumen 9, pdf p384

Jesus, calling them, said: You know that princes of the Gentiles rule over them and the rulers have power over them. It shall not be so with you, but whoever wishes to be great he shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you, he shall be a servant of every one. For even the Son of Man did not come that He be served but that He serve and give His soul for the redemption of many. 1 As a kind teacher of humility Jesus calls them, and His teaching touches on the common salvation of all, against the haughtiness of puffing up which had crept up on them, and the way of salvation to rule with Christ is shown. These three things are touched on, first the arrogance of the peoples in their worldly kingdoms, then how ruling with Christ is dissimilar to them, and then is given the example of the subjection of the Son of God. He says, therefore, that by the things you see in the world you know this of power. He says this because worldly power is more a shadow and a phantasm than the truth. As the peoples are without the law, so their princes are established, who by tyranny oppress the poor, like Nimrod who with violent domination and ambition ruled and held power. 2 'I shall hand over Egypt into the hands of cruel lords, and a mighty king shall dominate them.' 3 'You who rule in nothing, you say: Is it not that by our own strength we lift up our horns? ' 4 And they rule rather as tyrants of the oppressed than for men: they do not exert themselves according to judgement and righteousness among them. 'The kings of the nations rule over them, and he who has power among them they call benefactors. It shall not be so among you,' 5 but the teaching of the way to rule with Christ is by the way of humility. And therefore He says: My disciples in my glory are like a youth who has been appointed to serve. 'He who is greater among you let him be like the least, and who is a leader let him be a servant.' 6 'Whoever shall humble himself like this little one, he is greater in the kingdom of heaven,' 7 in the glory of my kingdom, by the act of humility and as much as he ministers in service. 'And he who humbles himself will be exalted.' 8 'Humility comes before glory.' 9 'The wisdom of the humble man shall exalt his head and it shall set him securely in the midst of the great.' 10 'He who was humble shall be glorified.' 11 Then He gave Himself as example, in the flesh and in the world 'taking on the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of a man, emptying Himself,' 12 and so He is that He might serve. 'For who is greater? He who reclines or he who serves? And I am in the midst of you as a servant.' 13 'Behold, my servant understands, and he shall be admired and exalted and lifted up to the heights.' 14 And it touches on the greatest that He has shown service, and He says He acts as surety, but indeed it is enough for all. 'With the Lord is compassion and a wealth of redemption.' 15 'I gave my beloved soul into the hands of the enemy.' 16 He is a propitation for our sins, not only for ours, but even for the whole world. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark 1 Mk 10.42-45 2 Gen 10.8-10 3 Isaiah 19.4 4 Amos 6.13 5 Lk 22.25 6 Lk 22.26 7 Mt 18.4 8 Lk 18.14 9 Prov 15.33 10 Sirach 11.1 11 Job 22.29 12 Philip 2.7 13 Lk 22.27 14 Isaiah 52.13 15 Ps 129.7 16 Jerem 12.7

Honour And Priests

Rogamus autem vos, fratres, ut cognoscatis eos, qui laborant in vobis, et praesunt vobis in Domino, et monent vos; ut illis summam honorem habeatis in charitate propter opera ipsorum: pacem habete inter vos. Hoc est, quod dicit in alia epistola presbyteres duplici honore honorandos, qui laborant in verbo doctrinae. Potest enim pigere eum, qui inopiam patitur, exercitium facere, quod prosit audientibus. Quid enim prodest honorem sine fructu habere: aut quid magnum est efferre ei carnali, qui tribuit spiritalia? Sicut enim divitiae negligentiam pariunt salutis, ita egestas dum saturari quaerit, a justitia declinat. Hinc Solomon nec nimis divitem se petit fieri; nec egestuosum. Hoc ipsum tamen in charitate fieri debere; ut honorificentia sacerdotis non de timore magis sit, sed de amore; ut etiam illi proficiat, qui facit. Res enim quae sponte non fit, ad effectum non pervenit; quamvis enim ad praesens proficiat sumenti, nihil tamen proderit in futuro danti. Et quia dissensio multa generat mala, pacificos eos esse hortatur. Ambrosiaster, Commentaria in Epistolam Ad Thessalonicenses Primam Caput V Source: Migne PL 17.452a-b

'We ask you, brothers, that you acknowledge those who labour among you and lead you in the Lord and warn you, that you give them all honor in love on account of their works, having peace among you.' 1  That is, which he says in another letter, 2 that priests have a double share of honor, they who labour in the word of teaching. For it is possible that he who suffers poverty is impeded in exerting himself for the improvement of his hearers. How indeed does it profit to have honour without fruit? Or why is it so important to give material things to him who has given spiritual things? Because as wealth gives birth to carelessness for salvation, so seeking to fulfill needs in poverty leads to a decline from righteousness. Whence Solomon does not seek to be rich, nor to be destitute. 3 But this should be done in love, that the honour given to a priest is not from fear, but from love, which indeed profits him who does it. For that which is not of one's own will does not achieve its end, although indeed in the present it may profit in gain, but in the future such giving will profit not at all. And because much dissention produces evils, he exhorts them to the love of peace. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On Saint Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians, Chapter 5 1 Thes 5.12-13 2 1 Tim 5.17 3 Prov 30.8

Teachers And Listeners

Et virtute magna reddebant apostoli testimonium resurrectionis Jesu Christi Domini nostri. Doctorum vigilanter auditorumque discernit ordinem. Nam multitudo credentium, rebus suis spretis, charitatis invicem copula juncta est. Apostoli vero virtutibus refulgentes Christi cunctis mysteria pandebant. Sanctus Beda, Super acta Apostolorum Expositio, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 92 954A

And with great power the Apostles gave testimony to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 He distinguishes carefully the order of teachers and listeners. For the multitude of the faithful, spurning their own things, are bound to one another with love. And the Apostles, blazing with virtues, reveal the mysteries of God to all. Saint Bede, from the Commentary on the Acts of The Apostles, Chap 4 1 Acts 4.33

Birth And Merits

Ad magisterii testimonium nascendi causa non pertinet, neque ille coelorum janitor Petrus, quem piscatorem hominum retia contempta fecerunt, origine placuit natalium, sed fine meritorum, sicut Matthaeus cum de teloneo assumptus est, illic inchoavit lucrum, ubi jussus est terminare negotium. Quid de singuis loquor? Talis omnium assumptio fuit, in quorum personis ignobilia et contemptibilia mundi eligens Deus, praeposuit pauperes spiritu divitibus censu, illum jure locupletissimum probans, qui ad veram et integram nobilitatem, non susceptis bonorum, sed depositis criminum fascibus pervenisset. Sancti Aviti Viennensis, ex sermone in ordinatione Episcopi Source: Migne PL 59.304b-c

As birth is no witness for the office of teaching, so that door keeper of the heavens, Peter, that fisher of men, was not made contemptible by nets; the beginning given by birthdays does not please, but the end won by merits, as Matthew who was taken up from his booth, from whence he began to profit, when he was commanded to terminate his business. Why should I speak of each one? Such was the taking up of all, that God in choosing the contemptible and common ones of the earth in such folk, 1 prefered the poor in spirit to the rich, rightly approving him most wealthy who had come to a true and incorruptabile nobility, not by the taking up of goods, but by the casting down of the burdens of evil. Saint Avitus of Vienne, from a Sermon on the Ordination of a Bishop. 1 1 Cor 1.28

The Feet Of The Apostles

Διατί τους πόδας μόνον, καὶ οὐχὶ ἕτερον μέλος τῶν μαθητῶν ὁ Κύριος ἔνιψιν; Ὅτι οὐ ῥύπον ἁπλῶς, καθάπερ νενόμικας, ἀπέκλυζεν ὁ Σωτὴρ, ἀλλὰ θείαν τινὰ δύναμιν ταῖς πτέρναις τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐνέβαλλεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἴρηται τᾡ ὄφει, ὅτι Σὺ τηρήσεις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὴν πτέρναν, τουτέστι τὴν πᾶσαν τοῦ βίου διαγωγὴν, διὰ τοῦτο οἱ πόδες τῶν μαθητῶν πέπλυνται, ἐν τῷ συμβόλῳ δηλοῦντες τοὺς νοουμένους πόδας· Δέδωκα τοίνυν ἐξουσίαν ὑμῖν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων, καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἀοράτου ἐχθροῦ. Καὶ Ἡσαῗας λέγει· Ὡς ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων εἰρήνυν καὶ ἀγαθά. Οἱ γὰρ δὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀπόστολοι κατέλυσαν μὲν τοῦ διαβόλου τὸν πόλεμον, πᾶσαν περιδραμόντες τὴν οἰκουμένην, εἰρήνην δὲ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐβράβευσαν, καὶ εὐηγγελίσαντο ἡμῖν τὰ οὐράνια ἀγαθἀ. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή Π' Φλαυιανῳ Source: Migne PG 79.117c

Why did the Lord wash only the feet of the disciples and not any other part? 1 Not only they were dirty, as you judge, which the Saviour cleansed, but He added Divine fortitude to the feet of the Apostles. For indeed it was said to the serpent, 'You shall watch for the heel of the man.' 2 that is, that which bears all life, whence the feet of the Apostles were washed as a sign expressing what should be thought of the feet: 'I have thus given you power to walk on serpents and scorpions, and on every power of the unseen enemy. 3 And Isaiah says: 'How beautiful are the feet of him announcing peace and good things.' 4 So the Apostles of Christ, travelling through the whole orb of the earth, trampled down the warring sinews of the devil, and gave peace to all, and proclaimed heavenly goods to us. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 80, To Flavianus 1 Jn 13.4-7 2 Gen 3.15 3 Lk 10.19  4 Isaiah 52.7

Lepers And Errors

Locutus est Dominus ad Moysen et Aaron, dicens : Homo in cujus carne et cute ortus fuerit diversus color, sive pustula, aut quasi lucens quidpiam, id est, plaga leprae, adducetur ad Aaron sacerdotem, vel ad ununquemlibet filiorum ejus. Qui cum viderit lepram in cute, et pilos in album mutates colorem, plaga lepra est, et ad arbitrium ejus separabitur. Lepra doctrina est falsa. Proinde leprosi non absurde intelliguntur haeretici, qui, unitatem verae fidei non habentes, varias doctinas profitentur erroris, veraque falsis admiscent, sicut et lepra veris falsisque locis humana corpora variando commaculat. Hujus scilicet leprae invenimus legislatorem sex species in homine posuisse : primam capitis et barbae,secundam calvitii et recalvationis, tertiam carnis et cutis, quartam cutis el corporis, et cicatricis albae cum rubore, quintam ulceris et cicatricis, sextam ustionis. In capite lepram portat, qui in divinitatem Patris, vel in ipso capite, quod Christus est, peccat. Caput enim viri Christus est. Hanc lepram habent Judaei, Valentiniani, Marconistae, Photinian, Manichaei, Ariani, Sabelliani, Macedoniani, Anthropomorphitae, Priscillianistae, Donatistae, Nestoriani, Eutychiani, qui omnes in calvaria lepram gerunt, quia erroris sui perfidam aperta pravitate defendunt. In barba lepram gerunt, qui de apostolis et sanctis Christi perverse aliquid sentiunt, atque eos falsum quidlibet praedicasse confingunt. Sicuti enim barba ornamentum est viri, ita sancti apostoli et doctores ornamentum praestant corpori Christi. In calvitio lepram habent, qui Ecclesiae detrahunt, sicut Caprocratiani, qui negant carnis resurrectionem, sicut Novatiani, qui nuptias damnant, et peccantibus poenitentiam negant; sicut Hierachitae, qui inter alios errores regnum coelorum pravulos habere non credant; sicut Aeriani, qui vetant pro defunctis offerri sacrificium. In carne et cute gerunt lepram, qui carnalia vel exteriora suadere conantur, ut Cerinthiani, qui resurrectionem futura, in carnis voluptate existimant; sic Actiani, qui dicunt in fide manentibus, quamvis carnaliter vivant, non posse computari peccata. In cicatrice sanati ulceris lepram portat, qui post cognitionem Dei, et medicinam, et manifestationem fidei, quam a Christo suscepit, rursum in ipsa cicatrice ascendit aliquod indicium erroris prioris, aut perfidia veteris dogmatis. In carne viva lepram gestat, qui de anima, quae vita est carnis, aliquod falsum existimat, sicut Luciferiam, qui dicunt animam de carnis substantia propagatem; sicut Arabici, qui animam simul cum corpore mori putant. In cicatrice ustionis lepram habent Manichaei qui inani abstinentiae cruciatu corpora sua exurunt, et per infidelitatem non munditiem inde, sed lepram gignunt. De talibus praedicabat Apostolus: Discedent, inquit, quidam a fide, attendentes spiritibus erroris, et doctrinis daemaniorum in hyprocrisi loqeuntium mendacium, et cauteriatem habentium suam conscientiam, prohibentium nubere, et abstinere a cibis, quos Deus creavit ad percipiendum. Sed adhuc adjecit colores leprarum, id est, pallidam, rubentem, albam, lividam, nigram, florescentem. Itaque dum pallidam lepram dicit, imbecillem et fragilem fidem animae denotat, quae, perdito colore integrae sanitatis, erroris, infirmitate languescit. Cum autem rubicundam lepram ostendit, homicidii cruore mentem infectam denotat, et innuit. Cum vero albam, illos haereticos qui se mundos appellant, sive reliquos, qui de falso merito gloriantur, sicut Pelagius et Novatus. Cum autem macram vel lividam lepram commemorat, invidiae et livoris notas exsecratur. Cum vero nigram insinuat, sacrificiorum fumo et busto idololatriae denigratam conscientiam detestatur. Cum autem florescentem toto corpore, et cooperientem omnem pelliculam corporis a capite usque ad pedes dicit, avaritiae crimen ostendit, quia nec floridum et jucundum putatur hominem felicem ecce in hoc mundo et divitem videri in saeculo. Haec enim pestis avaritiae omne hominum genus, quasi totum corpus, crebo erroris contagio commaculat. Cum autem lepram quae habet ruborem cum pallore permistum, eum hominem denotat qui, cum sit imbellicis animo, et mendax, facile in furorem prorumpit, et levitate morum cito perjurat; pallor enim mentientem linguam significat. Rubor autem iracundiam manifestat. Est itaque lepra peccati, quae sacrificiorum oblationibus emundatur, id est, contrio corde et humiliato: Sacrificium enim Deo spiritus contribulatus. Est et idololatriae, quae aqua diluitur baptismi. Est et haereticorum, quae septem dierum purgatione extra castra habeatur, id est, per septiformis Spiritus agnitionem purificetur. Est quae visu sacerdotis aufertur per doctrinam. Genus autem leprae, quo mundari omnino non potest, eorum est qui in Spiritum sanctum peccant, nec dicunt poenitentes posse consequi veniam. De his ait Veritas: Qui peccaverit in Spiritum sanctum, non remittetur ei, nec in hoc saeculo, nec in futuro. Quod vero jubetur leprosis ut exeant de castris, et sedeant foris, donec mundetur lepra eorum, intelligitur haereticos projici debere ab Eccleisa, donec a proprio errore purgentur, et sic revertantur ad Dominum. Ejusmodi vero dissutis tunicis, capite deoperto, et ore obvoluto, sedere jubentur, leprae mundationem exspectantes; dissutis tunicis, id est, omnibus secretis manifestis. Capite deoperto, ut a cunctis ejus denudatio videatur. Ore clauso, ne ulterius impia doceat, vel loquatur. Sed adhuc adjecit Scriptura lepram esse in vasis, in parietibus domus, in vestimento, in trama, in stamine. Lepra in parietibus domus haereticorum congregatio denotatur, quae per sacerdotem purgari jubetur. Lepra in vasculis, unicuique homini proprii corporis delicta. Lepra in stamine, vel in vestimento, peccata quae extra corpus commituuntur, vel quae in ipso corpore perpetrantur. Stamen enim anima hominis intelligitur, et trama mollissimi corporis sensus. Quod vero leprosi in lege ad sacerdotem mittuntur, indicat pro emundatione haereticorum ante sacrificium Ecclesiam Domino offerre debere, et sic reconciliari unitati Ecclesiae. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Leviticum Caput XI Source: Migne PL 83.294d-295b

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'A man who has on his flesh and skin a different colour, or a spot, or a certain brightness, that is, the disease of leprosy, let him be brought to Aaron the priest, or one of his sons. When he has observed the leprosy on the skin, and the hair changing to white, it is the disease of leprosy and by his judgement he shall be separated. 1 Leprosy is false teaching. Whence leprosy is rightly understood as heretics, who, not having the unity of the true faith, proclaim erroneous teachings and mix true things with false things, as even leprosy variously stains the human body with true and false marks. And we find that the legislator posited six types of this in men. First in the head and beard, second the scalp and the forehead, third in the flesh and skin, fourth skin and body in the white scab with redness, and fifth in the boil and the scab, and sixth the burn. In the head he bears leprosy who sins against the divinity of the Father, or his own head, that is Christ. For the head of the man is Christ. 2 This leprosy afflicts the Jews, Valentineans, Marconites, Photinians, Manichees, Arians, Sabellians, Macedonians, Anthropomorphites, Priscillians, Donatists, Nestorians, Eutychians. They all bear leprosy in the head, because they openly and shamelessly defend the treachery of their own error. In the beard they carry the leprosy who think something perverse regarding the Apostles and saints and in some way preach falsely about them. For as the beard is the ornament of a man, so the holy Apostles and teachers are the highest ornament of the body of Christ. On the scalp they bear leprosy who detract from the Church, like the Caprocratians, who deny the resurrection of the flesh, and the Novatians, who scorn marriage and deny the repentance of sins. And like the Hierachitae who among other errors, do not believe that children shall possess the kingdom of heaven, and the Aerians who refuse to offer sacrifice for the dead. In the flesh and skin they bear leprosy who try to incline to carnal or exterior things, as the Cerinthians, who think that the future resurrection will be in the pleaures of the flesh, and like the Actians, who say that those who remain in the faith, though they live according to the flesh, can not be accounted sinners. In the scab that covers the healed boil he bears leprosy who after the knowledge of God and healing and manifestation of faith, which faith he received from Christ, again in the scab arises some mark of previous error, or a treachery of old teaching. In the living flesh he bears leprosy, who thinks something false concerning the soul which is the life of the flesh, as the Lucifereans who say that the soul is propogated via the substance of the flesh, and the Arabicians, who say that the soul perishes at the same time as the body. In the scab of the burn the Manichees bear leprosy, who, exerting themselves in mindless abstinence, torment the body, and who bear by faithlessness not cleanliness but leprosy. Concerning which things the Apostle proclaims: 'They shall be cut off from the faith who attendant to the spirit of error and the teachings of demons speak lies in hypocrisy, and who having cauterised their conscience, prohibit marriage, and abstain from foods which God created for eating.' 3 Then it yet adds colors to leprosy, that is, pale, red, white, bruised, black, shining. And when it says leprosy is pale, it denotes a weak and fragile soul, by which fault, with the color of wholesome health ruined, in infirmity it languishes. When the leprosy shows red, it denotes a mind infected with the blood of murder. When, however, it is white, they are those heretics who call themselves 'the pure', or 'the remnant', who glory in false merit, like Pelagius and Novatus. When the leprosy is dull or bruised it is the mark of envy and malice. But when it is dark it declares that the smoke and pyre of sacrifices or a benighted conscience is hated. Then when the whole body shines with it, and every hair of the body from the head to the foot, it shows the evil of avarice, which will not have a man flourishing and joyful but in this world, and appearing rich in the things of it; this plague of avarice frequently stains with its disease every race of man, just like the whole body. When the leprosy is red with a misty pallor, it indicates that man who with a weak and deceitful soul easily bursts forth into fury, and lighty betrays good morals, for the pallor signifies a lying tongue, the redness wrath. Thus is the leprosy of sin which by the offerings of sacrifice is cleansed, that is, with contrition of heart and humility: 'A sacrifice to God is a sorrowful spirit.' 4 It is idolatry which the water of baptism cleanses. It is for the heretic to have seven days of purgatation outside the camp, that is, he should be purified by the seven-fold Spirit. It is why he is brought by teaching before the eye of the priest. For there is a type of leprosy he is not able to cleanse, the one of those who sin against the Holy Spirit, where it is not possible that forgiveness follow on repentance. Concerning which the Truth says: 'He who sins against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, not in this age, nor in the future.' 5 However by the command that the lepers go out from the camp and sit outside until their leprosy is cured, is understood that heretics should be cast out from the Church until they are purged of their error, and so they may return to the Lord. And then they who hope for cleansing from leprosy are commanded to sit with torn vestments, and have the head uncovered, and the mouth bound. The vestment is torn, that is, all hidden things are made manifest. The head is uncovered that his nakedness be seen by all. The mouth is closed, lest he teach further impiety, or speak it. But yet Scripture adds that leprosy can be in vessels, and in the walls of the house, and in clothing, and in beds, and in threads. Leprosy in the walls of the house indicates the gathering of heretics, which it commands to be purged by the priest. The leprosy in vessels is the sins of every man in his own body. The leprosy in the thread, or clothing, is sins commited outside the body, or which in the same body are perpetrated. The thread is understood as the soul of a man. The bed is the sense of the delicate body. That, however, lepers are sent by the Law to the priest, indicates that the cleansing of heretics should be offered before the ecclesial sacrifice, so they are reconcilied to the unity of the Church. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Leviticus, Chapter 11 1 Levit 13.1-3 2 1 Cor 11.3 3 1 Tim 4.1-3 4 Ps 50.19 5 Mt 12.31-32