Desiring A Teacher

Doce me facere voluntatem tuam, quia tu es Deus meus. Nolebat prorsus errare qui tanti magistri cupiebat esse discipulus. Dicit enim: Doce me, tanquam ignarum tanquam imperitum, tanquam nihil de sua virtute praesumentem. Quem sensum Apostolus ponit cum dicit: Si quis existimat se scire aliquid, necdum cognovi quemadmdum eu operteat scire. Addidit, quia tu es Deus meus. Fide petitio, competens ratio, a clemente Domino ideo postulare benficium, eo quod ipse sit Dominus supplicantis. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXLII Source: Migne PL 70.1013b

Teach me to do your will, because you are my God. 1 He wished not to err who desired to be the pupil of such a great teacher. For he says, 'Teach me,' as one who is ignorant and inexperienced and who presumes nothing of his own ability. Which sense the Apostle takes note of when he says, 'If someone judges himself to be something, he does not yet know as it is needful to know.' 2 Then here he adds, 'Because you are my God,' A faithful petition, a reasonable enquiry, asking for something of benefit from the mercy of the Lord, because he is the Lord of those who supplicate Him. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 142 1 Ps 142.11 2 1 Cor 8.2

Ways Of Teaching

Ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος, καὶ καθίσαντος αὐτοῦ προσῆλθαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ: καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς λέγων... Διὰ τί πρόσκειται τὸ, Ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ; φαίνεται γὰρ, ὅτι περιττόν ἐστιν. Ἀλλ' οὐχί· καὶ μή ἀνοίγων γὰρ τὸ στόμα, ἐδίδασκεν. Πῶς; δὶα τοῦ βίου καὶ τῶν θαυμάτων· νῦν δὲ ἀνοίγων τὸ στόμα, διδάσκει. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ E' Source: Migne PG 123.188a

Seeing the crowd He went up the mountain, and His disciples came to Him sitting there, and He opened His mouth, teaching them, saying... 1 Why does it say here that 'He opened His mouth'? It seems to be superfluous. But it is not at all. He had been teaching them without opening His mouth. How? With His life and miracles. And now opening His mouth, He teaches. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.1-2

The Filled And The Hungry

Vae vobis, qui saturati estis, quia esurietis Saturatus erat dives ille purpuratus, quando epulabatur quotidie splendide, sed dirum vae sustinebat esuriens, quando de Lazari, quem despexerat, digito guttam aquae quaerebat. Aliter. Si beati sunt illi qui justitiae semper esuriunt opera, infelices e contrario sunt aestimandi qui sibi in desideriis placentes, nullam veri et inconcussi boni famem patiuntur, satis se rati beatos, si non ad tempus sua voluptate priventur. Sanctus Beda,In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber II Source: Migne PL 92.404a

Woe to you who are filled, for you shall hunger... 1 That rich man in purple was filled when he feasted splendidly every day, but alas he suffered wretched lack when he sought a drop of water from the finger of Lazarus whom he had scorned. 2 Otherwise, if they are blessed who thirst for the works of righteousness, 3 then on the contrary they are judged to be wretched who pleasing themselves in their desires suffer no hunger at all for the true and unshakeable good, for they reckon themselves blessed if they are not deprived of pleasure in their times. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 2 1 Lk 6.25 2 Lk 16.19-31 3 Mt 5.6

The First And Eighth Beatitude

Octava nihil est, nisi prima repetita. Unde et eamdem remunerationem habet cum prima. Sed agamus nunc de remunerationibus. Pauperibus promittitur regnum coelorum, quia majus non potest haberi quam illud, quod est commune et generale praemium. Sed quum in octava eadem retributio repetatur, differre tamen intelligendum est. Sic enim intelligitur: Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum. Qui abdicant terrena, eorum est jam regnum coelorum in spe, et si in purgatorio igne quidam horum ad horam purgantur, tamen non ambigunt se recepturos regnum coelorum. Qui autem patiuntur persecutionem, habent regnum coelorum, non tantum in spe, sed etiam in re. Qui enim moriuntur pro Christo, statim ascendunt in coelum. Hoc ideo ita legitur, non quod utrique non recipiant in re regnum coelorum, sed ut designetur quanta differentia est inter illum, quia habet in spe, et illum qui habet in re, tanta differentia est retributionis illius qui non patitur, et illius qui patitur. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1289a-b

The eighth beatitude 1 is nothing but a repetition of the first, whence it has the same reward as the first. But let us now look into the rewards. The kingdom of heaven is promised to the poor, because it is not possible to have anything greater than it, which is the common and general reward. But the same reward repeated in the eighth beatitude must be understood to differ. For with 'Blessed are the poor of spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven,' is understood those who forsake worldly things, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven in hope, and even if they must be purified in the fire of purgatory for a time, they do not doubt they shall be received into the kingdom of heaven. But those who suffer persecution, they have the kingdom of heaven in that, and not only in hope, for those who die for Christ instantly ascend to heaven. It should be read, then, in this way: that it is not that both receive the kingdom of heaven immediately truth, but there is much difference between the one who possesses in hope, and the one who possesses in truth, so great is the difference between the reward of the one who does not suffer, and the one who does. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.10

Belonging And Obedience

Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia, donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbrae. Dilectus meus mihi haec locutus est, et ego illi, subaudis obediam, qui pascitur inter lilia, hoc est delectatur in operibus eorum qui sunt candidi in virtutibus, qui sunt decus aliorum, ut lilium spinarum. Et tandiu in his pascitur, et tandiu obediam alios docendo, donec aspiret dies, id est donec scientia aeternae claritatis adveniat, ubi omnes verum lumen videant, et donec inclinentur umbrae, id est donec ignorantia praesentis vitae pertranseat. Honorius Augustodunensis, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, Caput II Source: Migne PL 172.394c-d

My beloved is mine and I am his, he who feeds among the lilies, until the day breaks and the shadows decline... 1 'My beloved is mine,' she says, 'and I am his,' meaning I shall be obedient to him, 'who feeds among the lilies,' which is to delight in the works of those who are bright with virtue, who are as worthy among others as 'a lily among thorns.' 2 And on these he shall feed, and my obedience shall teach others, 'until the day breaks,' that is, until the knowledge of eternal brightness comes, when all shall see the true light, and until 'the shadows decline,' which is when the ignorance of the present life passes by. Honorius of Autun, Commentary on The Song of Songs, Chapter 2 1 Song 2.16-17 2 Song 2.2

On Hiding

Ait enim Propheta in alio psalmo: Quoniam abscondit me in tabernaculo suo in die malorum: id est, dum adhuc dies mali sunt, et in terra aliena sumus, quae data est in manus impii, in qua non est regnum pacis, nec Deus pacis regnat in ea. Nam si regnat, quid est quod orantes dicimus: Adveniat regnum tuum? Necesse igitur est abscondere interim, si quid habemus boni; quoniam thesaurum regni coelorum, qui invenit homo, abscondit. Propter quod etiam corporaliter in claustris et in silvis abscondimur. Et si scire vultis quantum in hac absconsione lucramur, credo nullum hic esse qui, si quartam partem eorum quae facit, in saeculo actitaret, non adoraretur ut sanctus, reputaretur ut angelus: nunc autem quotidie tanquam negligens arguitur et increpatur. Parumne hoc lucrum ducitis, quod non reputamini sancti antequam sitis? An non timetis ne forte vili mercede hic recepta, in futuro mercedem non habeatis? Necessaria est ergo haec absconsio non solum ante oculos aliorum, sed etiam multo magis ante te ipsum. Hoc enim habet Dominica illa sententia: Cum feceritis omnia quae praecipiuntur vobis, dicite: Servi inutiles sumus; quod debuimus facere fecimus. Vae enim nobis si non fecissemus! Et haec est utique magna virtus et summa securitas, quando et pie vivis; et tamen plus attendis quae desunt tibi, quam quae obtinuisse videris, oblitus quae retro sunt, et extendens te in anteriora. Haec igitur est absconsio, quam sub scapulis Domini praestari dixeramus Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Psalmum XC, Sermo IV De versu quarto Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi Source: Migne PL 183.194c-195a

The prophet says in another Psalm, 'Because he hid me in his tabernacle on the day of evil.' 1 That is, while there are yet days of evil we are in a foreign land that has been given into the hands of the impious, in which there is no kingdom of peace, nor does the God of peace reign there. For if He did reign, why do we say in prayer, 'Your kingdom come'? 2 It is necessary, therefore, to hide while this is so, if we would have something good, because when a man finds the treasure of the kingdom of heaven, he hides it. 3 On account of which we hide in cells and in woods. And if you wish to know how much we are profited by this hiding, I believe there is no one here who if a quarter of what he does was done in the world, would not be admired as a holy man and reputed to be like an angel, but now every day he is reproved and denounced as a negligent fellow. But do you not profit a little here, because you are not judged to be holy before you are? Should you not fear lest perhaps here you have acquired but meagre gain, and in the future you shall have no reward? It is needful, therefore, that this hiding should not only be from before the eyes of others, but much more from before yourself. This is the meaning of the Lord's pronouncement, 'When you have done everything that you have been commanded to do, say, 'We are useless servants, because we have done what we should have done.' 4 And alas to us if we have not done. For this is great virtue and flawless security, when you live piously but you are more attentive to what is lacking in you than looking to see what you have gained, with things behind you forgotten and with you stretching forward to what is before you. 5 This, therefore, is what hiding is, which as we have said, is to be shadowed by the shoulders of the Lord. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons For The Year, On Psalm 90, Sermon 5, On the fourth line, 'He has shadowed me with His shoulders' 1 Ps 26.5 2 Mt 6.10 3 Mt 13.44 4 Lk 17.10 5 Philip 3.13

Dwellings Of The Levites

Quod vero habitacula Levitis a Jesu per omnes tribus decernuntur, significatur ut hi qui in Ecclesia Dei, scientiae operam dantes, doctinae gratiam administrant, rursum omnibus quibus dispensant divina terrena subsidia, quae non habent, recipiant, ut impleatur illud quod Apostolus praecepit, dicens: Si nos vobis spiritualia seminavimus, magnum est ut carnalia vestra metamus? Et merito isti in cunctis tribubus divisi dicuntur, quia dispensatione cunctorum vivunt. Quod autem quadraginta duas urbes accipiunt, indubitanter ipsa praedicatio sanctorum signatur; ipsi enim possident doctrinam, quae legis Decalogo constant, et quadrifido Evangelii numero, quasi quaterdenias urbes habentes. Quibus etiam duae adjiciuntur, quia nimirum cuncta quae praedicant, morali ac mystico sensu annuntiant. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Josue, Caput XVI-XVII Source: Migne PL 83.378c-379a

That the dwellings of the Levites were distributed by Joshua throughout all the tribes, 1 signifies those in the church of God who, attending to the work of knowledge, and administering the grace of teaching, are settled among all those who are given the promised land, so that they who do not have might receive. Thus is fulfilled what the Apostle exhorted, saying, 'If we have sowed spiritual things among you, is it too great a thing that we reap your material things?' 2 And with good reason they are said to be divided among every tribe, so that they might live for the guidance of all. And that they receive forty two cities is undoubtedly a sign of the preaching of the holy, for they indeed possess teaching, which is contained in the ten commandments and the fourfold Gospel, which being multiplied gives forty cities. To which two are then added, for certainly everything which they preach is spoken of in a moral and mystical sense. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Joshua, Chapters 16-17 1 Joshua 21 2. 1 Cor 9.11

Out Of Egypt

Et non dixerunt, Ubi est Dominus qui ascendere nos fecit de terra Aegypti: qui transduxit nos per desertum, per terram inhabitabilem et inviam: per terram sitis et imaginem mortis, per terram in qua non ambulavit vir, neque habitabit homo. Pro homine, LXX filium hominis interpretati sunt; et pro imagine mortis, de Theodotione additum est, umbra mortis. Quod cum iuxta historiam manifestum sit, illud considerandum est secundum anagogen, quod quamdiu in isto saeculo sumus, et de Aegypto educimur, paulatim ascendimus, et primum deserta transimus et terram inhabitabilem, quam sanctus inhabitare non debet, et inviam, ut difficultatem monstret itineris. Per terram sitis, ubi semper maiora cupimus, nec praesentibus contenti sumus; et imaginem, sive umbram mortis: semper enim in periculo consistimus, et ubique diabolus tendit laqueos suos: per terram, in qua non ambulavit vir, qui perfectae aetatis in Christo est. Omnes enim resurgemus in virum perfectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi. Neque unquam in ea habitat qui homo Dei est, vel filius hominis; sed semper ad maiora festinat. Ex quo perspicuum est, non esse perfectionem in via: sed in fine viae et in mansione, quae sanctis in coelestibus praeparatur, et quibus dicitur: Qui statis in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri. Frustra igitur nova ex veteri haeresis suspicatur, hic perfectam esse victoriam, ubi pugna est atque certamen, et incertus exitus futurorum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Prophetam, Liber I Caput II Source Migne PL 24.715b-716a

And they did not say, 'Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land uninhabitable and impassable, through a land of thirst and the image of death, through a land where a man does not walk and no one dwells.' 1 Instead of 'man' the Septuagint translates 'son of man,' and in the place of 'image of death' Theodotion's translation has 'shadow of death.' Since the history is clear, this should be considered according to anagoge. While we are in this world we are being led out of Egypt, and we go up by degrees. First we pass through the wilderness and the uninhabitable land, where a holy man should not dwell. Then it says the 'impassable land', to show the difficultly of the way. 'A land of thirst' is where we always desire more and are never content with present things. Then the image or shadow of death means we always stand in danger, and the devil sets his snares everywhere. 'Through a land where man does not walk' is the man who has obtained perfect stature, since we all will rise up to 'mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' 2 The man of God and the son of man, never dwelt in these places but always hurried to greater things. From this it is obvious that one does not reach perfection while on the way, but at the end of it and in the mansion prepared in heaven for the saints, about which it is said, 'You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.' 3 In vain, therefore, does a heresy, a new one that has come from an old one, suppose that the victory of perfection happens here, 4 when the future is combat, struggles, and an uncertain end. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Jerem 2.6 2 Ephes 4.14 3 Jn 14.2, Ps 135.2 4 Pelagianism

Mercy And Salvation

Et in misericordia tua disperdes inimicos meos. Et perdes omnes inimicos qui persequuntur animam meam: quoniam servus tuus sum ego. Habuit quidem, ut diximus, hoc justitia verecundiae, ut quidquid illud sibi beatitudinis sperat, id pro magnificentia Dei potius, quia Deo beata et aeterna et bona tribuere sit dignum, quam pro merito suo postulet. Sed tamen praeferens honorem et misericordiam Dei: merendi quoque id per se non exclusit officium. Nam cum vivificandus sit, vivificandus tamen est in aequitate; quia aequum sit vitam retribui stipendiis sanctitatis. Et cum per misericordiam Dei educto eo de tribulatione disperdendi sint ejus inimici, jam non est misericordia indiscreti confusique judicii; cum quae a tribulatione educit, eadem disperdat inimicos: quia ex meritorum diversitate, vel in poenam, vel in misericordiam judicium temperatur. Non leves autem sibi esse inimicos Propheta demonstrat, sed eos qui etiam animam persequantur: non quod cum corpore possit occidi, sed quod ita diabolicis infestationibus fatigetur, et sub injectorum sibi vitiorum incendiis aduratur, ut a Domino mereatur occidi. Verum ut etiam inimici sui pereant, quamquam ad id potissimum et nomen et misericordia Dei est; tamen cum etiam ea causa est, quod servus Dei est, cujus animam persequantur: et liberalitas ex parte Dei admiscetur, et meritum ex parte hominis; atque ad Domini misericordiam, servi quoque et fides et nomen adjungitur: ut misericordia Dei quamquam omnibus prompta sit, his tamen qui servi ejus sunt intelligatur assistere, per eum et in eo qui ait: Ego sum vobiscum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXLII Source: Migne PL 9.842c-843a

And in your mercy you scatter my enemies. You destroy all the enemies who persecute my soul, because I am your servant. 1 He has, as we have said, the righteousness of the humble, so that whatever blessing he hopes for himself, because it befits God to give blessed and eternal goods, he asks for it from the magnificence of God rather than on account of his own merit. But even though he gives precedence to the honour and mercy of God, he does not exclude the office of merit for himself. For when a man is worthy of being given life, he is revived on account of righteousness, since the rewards of sanctity are given to a righteous life. And when by the scattering of enemies the mercy of God leads him from tribulation, it is not the mercy of some sort of vague and obscure judgement that leads from tribulation with the scattering of enemies, but the judgement is fashioned by a mixture of merit, fault, and mercy. Then the Prophet shows that his enemies are not light things, but those who persecute the soul. Not that which can kill the body, but that which will wear down with devilish infestations, and burn with the fires of injected vices, which merits death from the Lord. 2 Truly so that his enemies shall perish, although this is a matter for the most powerful name and mercy of God, yet with it is the cause that he whose soul is persecuted is a servant of God, and thus the largess on the part of God shall be mixed with merit on the part of man, and thus the faith and name of the servant is joined to the mercy of God, so that the mercy of God is understood to be ready to help all who may be understood to be His servant, through Him and in Him who said: 'I am with you every day until the end of the ages.' 3 Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 142 1 Ps 142.12 2 Mt 10.28 3 Mt 28.20

Faith And Works

Cui respondeo ex libro meo, qui inscribitur de fide et operibus, ubi de hac re ita locutus sum: Iacobus autem tam vehementer infestus est eis qui sapiunt fidem sine operibus ualere ad salutem, ut illos etiam daemonibus comparet dicens, Tu credis, quoniam unus est Deus; bene facis, et daemones credunt et contremiscunt. Quid verius, brevius, uehementius dici potuit? Cum et in euangelio legamus hoc dixisse daemonia, cum Christum filium Dei confiterentur et ab illo corriperentur, quod in Petri confessione laudatum est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Ad Dulcitium De Octo Quaestionibus Source: Migne PL 40.149

To which question I responded in my book entitled Of Faith And Works, where concerning this matter I said: James was so vehemently hostile to those who thought faith without works profited for salvation, that he compared them to demons, saying, 'You believe that God is one? You have done well, for the demons believe and tremble.' 1 How more truly, more concisely, more vehemently, could he have expressed it? And then in the Gospel we read that it says that the demons were chastised by Christ when they confessed Him to be the Son of God, 2 for which confession Peter was worthy of praise. 3 Saint Augustine of Hippo, Concerning Eight Questions, To Dulcitius 1 Jam 2.19 2 Mt 8.28-32 3 Mt 16.16-17

Faith And Healing

Quod autem dicit quod in patria signa non fecit, Marc. VI, causa redditur, ubi sic dicitur: Non poterat ibi virtutem ullam facere, nisi paucos infirmos impositis manibus curavit. Haec autem impotentia, sicut patebit ex sequentibus, non fuit in Domino, sed in ipsis. Impedivit enim hoc eorum incredulitas, et indevotio: quia in fide devote non petebant. Et ideo quod Dominus poterat de potentia absoluta, non poterat de justi- tia. Non enim, ut dicit Augustinus super Joannem, aliquem sanabat Dominus in corpore quem prius non sanaret in anima. Et ideo dicitur, Joan. VII, quod totum hominem sanum fecit. Et quia interius sanari ab ipso noluerunt, ideo indigni fuerunt quod exterior sanitas praestaretur eis. Haec ergo est causa quod apud alios etiam Gentiles multas perfecit sanitates, et paucas apud suos. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Lucam, Caput IV Source: Here p333

When it says that He was not able to do miracles in His homeland, Mark gives the cause, when he says that there He was not able to perform any act of power unless to cure a few of the sick on whom He placed His hands. 1 This inability, as shall be clear from what follows, was not in the Lord but in them. It was their disbelief that was the impediment, since they did not ask in devout faith. And thus what the Lord could have done according to His absolute power, He was not able to do according to justice. For there is no one, as Augustine says on John, that the Lord healed in the body who was not first healed in the soul. And thus it says in the seventh chapter of John that He made the whole man well. 2 And because here they were not willing to be healed within, therefore they were unworthy of the exterior health He could have bestowed upon them. This, then, is the reason why many were restored to health among others, even Gentiles, and few were among them. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 4 1 Mk 6.5 2 Jn 7.23

Blessing And Righteousness

Μακάριοι οἱ φυλάσσοντες κρίσιν, καὶ ποιοῦντες δικαιοσύνην ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ. Τῇ αἰσθήσει τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς μακαρισμὸς ὑπεισέρχεται. Ο γὰρ τὰς ὑπὲρ ταύτης εὐθύνας ἐκτίνων μακαρίζει τοὺς ταύτης ἀπηλλαγμένους, καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ τὸν οἰκεῖον βίον διακοσμοῦντας. Μακαρίζει δὲ οὐ τὸν ἅπαξ τῇ δικαιοσύνη χρησάμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀεὶ καὶ διηνεκῶς τοῖς ταύτης ἑπόμενον ίχνεσι. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΡΕ’ Source: Migne PG 80.1723a

Blessed are those who keep a watch on judgement, and act righteously all the time. 1 It is by an awareness of sin that one enters into the blessing of virtue. For He who disciplines to correct blesses those who are far from such a thing and who have adorned their lives with righteousness. But He does not bless a man who once did some righteous deed, but he who always and continually cleaves to the path of virtue. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 105 1 Ps 105.3

A Great Commotion

Bene autem subditur: Et audivi post me vocem commotionis magnae. Propheta, sancto Spiritu repletus, quasi transacta narrat, quae facienda praevidet, quia et in praedestinatione jam facta sunt, quae adhuc in opere sequuntur. Unde et in translatione veteri per Isaiam dicitur: Qui fecit quae futura sunt. Quid est ergo quod post se propheta vocem audivit commotionis magnae, nisi quod post sermonem praedicationis, qui fit ad corda peccantium, lamenta poenitentium sequuntur? Perversi etenim quique dum prava agunt, et a justis recta non audiunt, nesciunt quam sint gravia quae committunt, atque ex ipsa sua ignorantia, in suo stupore securi sunt; et jacentes in culpis, quasi molliter quiescunt, sicut de quodam peccatore et securo populo dicitur: Requievit in faecibus suis, quia securus jacuit in peccatis. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia X Source: Migne PL 76.896c-897a

Well it is added, 'And I heard the sound of a great commotion behind me. 1 The prophet, filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks of things having happened which he foresees shall be, because in predestination things are already done that are to follow from the deed. Whence in an old translation of Isaiah it is said: 'He who made the things that will be.' 2 What, then, is the sound of a great commotion that the prophet hears behind himself, unless what happens after the act of preaching, which strikes the hearts of sinners so that the lamentations of penance follow? They who do not hear the right things of the righteous while they do vile things are perverse, and they do not know how grave are the things that they do, and because of their own ignorance they are confident in their foolishness and they exult in faults, as if they were happily at peace. So it was said of a certain sinner and a people who felt secure, 'He rested in his own filth,' 3 because as one confident he exulted in his sins. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 10 1 Ezek 3.12 2 Isaiah 45.11 translation from the Septuagint 3 Jerem 48.11

Conduct And Salvation

Itaque carissimi mei, sicut semper obedistis, non ut in praesentia mei tantum, sed multo magis nunc in absentia mea, cum metu et tremore vestram salutem operamini. Deus est enim, qui operatur in vobis et velle, et perficere pro bona voluntate. Deum bonos conatus adjuvare testatur; omnem enim gratiam semper reportat ad Deum; ut nostrum sit velle, perficere vero Dei. Nam quis vinceret Principes ac Potestates, rectores tenebrarum harum, spiritlia nequitiae in coelstibus, nisi solus Deus, quos causa invidiae inimicos habemus? Indignantur enim nos dici filios Dei. Non ergo novem est, quod hortatur: sed ut more solito subditi Evangelio, curam propiae conversationis habentes; bona enim conversatio salutem operatur. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philippenses, Caput II Source: Migne PL 17.411d-412a

Therefore, my most beloved ones, since you have always been obedient, and not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to achieve, according to His good will. 1 He gives witness that God helps the good in their trials, for he attributes every grace to God, that it may be our wish to be perfected only in God. For who would conquer princes and power, rulers of this darkness, and spirits of wickedness in the heavens, 2 unless God alone? For which reason we have the envy of those enemies, for they are indignant that we should be called sons of God. Therefore he does not exhort anything new here, only that they be anxious to cleave to the Gospel, having care for their own conduct, for it is good conduct that works salvation. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul To Philippians, Chapter 2 1 Phil 2.12-13 2 Ephes 6.12

Wheat And Reward

Ἔλεγον περι τοῦ ἀββᾶ Ἠσαιου, ὅτι ποτὲ ἕλαβε θαλλιον, και ἀπῆλθεν εις τὴν ἅλωνα, και λέγει τῷ γεούχῳ· Δος μοι σἶτον. Και λέγει αὐτῷ· Και σὺ ἐθερισας, ἀββᾶ; Λέγει· Οὐχι. Και λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γεούχος· Πῶς οὖν θέλεις σἶτον λαβειν, μὴ θερισῃ; Και λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Οὐκοῦν ἐὰν μή τις θερισῃ, οὐ λαμβάνει μισθον; Λέγει ὁ γεοῦχος· Οὐχι. Και οὔτως ἀνεχώρησεν ὁ γέρων. Ὁι δ' ἀδελφοι, ιδόντες τι ἐποιησεν, ἔβαλον αὐτῶ μετάνοιαν, παρακαλοῦντες μαθειν τι τοῦτο ἐποιησε. Λέγει ἀυτοις ὁ γέρων· Ὑπόδειγμα αὐτὸ ἐποιησα, ὅτι ἐὰν μή τις ἐργάσηται, οὺ λαμβάνει μισθὸν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ.  Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας Source: Migne PG 65.181b

It was said of father Isaiah that he once took a small branch and went out to the threshing floor and said to the farmer, 'Give me some wheat.' The farmer replied, 'Have you harvested it, father?' He said, 'No.' And so the farmer said to him, 'How, then, do you wish to have wheat if you do not harvest it?' The elder said to him. 'If I will not harvest, I will not have the reward?' The farmer said, 'You will not.' And thus the elder went away. The brothers, learning of what he had done, were puzzled and they came to him and asked him why he had acted in such a way. He said to them, 'To give an example, that if you do not labour, you will not gain any reward from God.' Sayings of the Fathers, Palladius of Galatia