Speech And Inspiration

Et dixit Dominus ad me: Facilitatis est ad eloquenciam collaco, et hoc est: ecce dedi verba, id est, facilitatem enunciandi verba mea in ore tuo, ut os tuum sit instrumentum, Ego autem motor. Perge, Ego ero in ore tuo. Lingua mea calamus scribe. Spiritus est in hominibus et inspiracio altissimus dat intelligenciam. ideo dicitur Non vos estis qui loquimini sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis. Non vos estis loquentes, sed Spiritus Sanctus. An experimentum queritis eius qui in me loquitur Christus? Sapiencia aperuit os muti et linguam infancium fecit disertas. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Super Jeremiam Source: here (pg17)

And the Lord said to me: I have established the faculty of eloquence, which is: 'Behold I have given my words to you,' 1 that is, the ability to speak my words in your mouth, that your mouth be the instrument and I the power. 'Go, I shall be in your mouth.' 2 'My tongue is as the pen that writes.' 3 'The spirit is in men and the inspiration of the Most High gives understanding.' 4 'It is not you who speak but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.' 5 'You are not speaking but it is the Holy Spirit.' 6 'Since you seek a proof that it is Christ who speaks in me.' 7 'Wisdom has opened the mouth of the mute and it has made eloquent the tongues of infants.' 8 Saint Albert The Great, On Jeremiah 1 Jerem 1.9 2 Exodus 4.12 3 Ps 44.2 4 Job 32.8 5 Mt 10.20 6 Mk 13.11 7 2 Cor 13.3 8 Wisd 10.21

Counsel And Works

Ἄνθρωπος ὑποτίθεται τῷ πλησίον, καθὰ ἐπίσταται· Θεὸς δὲ ἐνεργεῖ τῳ ἀκούοντι, καθὰ ἐπίστευσεν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ  Source: Migne PG 65 915a

A man gives counsel to another  according to his care for it, and God works in the one who hears according to his faith. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Freedom And Repentance

Μετανόησον οὖν... Προαιρετικὴ τροπὴ, ἢ πίπτει εἰς μόνον τὸν δεκτικὸν ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας. Ὁ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς μύθους τῶν αἱρετικῶν φύσει κακὸς ὢν ἄνθρωπος, οὐκ ἔστι δεκτικὸς τῆς κατὰ βούλησιν μεταβολῆς. ὅθεν παρέκλει τὸ, Μετανόησον, λεγόμενον τῷ Σίμωνι, ἐκ κατασκευῆς ὄντι κακῷ, κατὰ τοὺς ἐκείνων μύθους. Ἀλλ' οὐ ματαίως εἴρηται τὸ, Μετανόησον οὖν. Αὐτεξούσιος ἄρα καὶ αὐτός. Τούτου δὲ μὴ ὅντος φύσει κακοῦ, ἢ ἐπιτεταλμένην κακίαν ἔχοντος, οὐδ' ἄλλος τις εὑρεθείη τοιοῦτος. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Ἐις Τάς Πράξεις Τῶν Ἀποστόλων, Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 39.1668d-69a

Repent then... 1 Here is scope for choice, which falls only to one who is capable of vice and virtue. Yet according to the fables of heretics, because they say man has a wicked nature, so he is not capable of changing freely. Thus it is superfluous when Peter says to Simon, 'Repent then,' for according to their tales, man is evil from creation. Yet it is not vainly said, 'Repent then,' for he does have free will and by nature he is not evil, nor bound to depravity, or in some other way found to be so. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Acts of the Apostles, Fragment 1 Acts 8.22

Covering Up Sins

Quid est quod Sem et Japheth imposuerunt vestimentum super humeros suos, et perrexerunt retrorsum, et operuerunt nudum patrem, et non viderunt nudationem ejus? Littera evidentem pietatis expressit affectum, quod nudatum amictu patrem boni filii videre caverunt, ne paterna reverentia vel ipso minueretur aspectu. Siquidem etiam tacito vultu pietas frequenter offenditur. Unde etiam Romae vetus fuisse usus dicitur, ne filii cum parentibus et maxime puberes intrarent lavacrum. Sensus autem altior hoc habet, quia insipiens praesentia tantummodo videt quae in oculis sunt, futura non respicit, praeterita non cogitat. Sapiens autem et praeterita recordatur, et futura considerat. Omnis ergo mens sapiens retrorsum ambulat, hoc est, praeterita spectat; nec naturae quodam usu impeditur: nihil vacuum, nihil nudum suorum patitur esse gestorum. Operit quae aliter gesta sunt amictu quodam et gratia vel praesentis operis, vel futuri; ut nihil indecorum praetereat, nihil inornatum relinquat. Unde et Apostolus superiora obliviscebatur, priora appetebat: sed obliviscebatur, ut absconderet persecutionis errores, ut tegeret superiora delicta, bonisque operibus obumbraret. Beati enim et illi quorum tecta sunt peccata; id est, si tegantur bonis factis, et operiantur virtutum sequentibus disciplinis. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe Et Arca, Caput XXXI Source: Migne PL 14.412d-413b

Why is it that Shem and Japeth placed the vestment on their shoulders and walked backward that they cover the nakedness of their father and not see his nakedness? 1 The bare letter expresses the affection of piety, that the good sons by use of the vestment are wary to look on their father's nudity, lest paternal reverence, or the appearance of it, be threatened, for certainly even a silent face may frequently offend. Whence it is said that it was an old custom of Rome that sons, and especially adolescents, not enter the baths with their parents. But this also has a higher meaning, that the unwise man sees only what is present before his eyes, not looking to the future or thinking on the past. For wise is he who remembers what has passed and considers the future. Thus every mind that is wise walks backward, that is, it looks on things of the past, not being impeded by the common way of nature, but suffering nothing worthless, nothing shameful to be associated with its own deeds. For he covers what is done otherwise with the cloak and grace of present works, or shall do, that nothing indecorous shall have been done, nor anything unfitting be left behind. Whence the Apostle Paul forgets things before, desiring things after, forgetting so that he might cover up the errors of persecution, and that he conceal past crimes beneath the shadow of good works. 2 For blessed are those whose sins are covered up; 3 that is, if they are covered up with good deeds, and obscured with the later exertions of virtue. Saint Ambrose, On Noah And The Ark, Chap 31 1 Gen 9.23 2 Phil 3.13-14 3 Ps 31.1

Whose Servants?

Pretio empti estis, nolite fieri servi hominum Verum est, quia tam caro empti sumus, ut nullo redimi potuissemus, nisi a Christo, qui omnium dives est, Qui ergo pretio emitur, magis servire debet, ut aliquatenus vicem reddat emptori. A Deo ergo empti, id est a Christo, servi hominum esse non debent. Servi autem hominum hi sunt, qui humanis se subjiciunt superstitionibus. Apostolus tamen illud memorat, quod in capite epistolae reprehendit, eo quod dicerent: Ego sum Pauli; alius autem: Ego Apollo. Dedit tamen articulum Christum fatendum Deum; quando servos Christi non hominis servos appellandos ostendit. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Primam, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 17.233a-b

For a price you were bought, be unwilling to be servants of men.' 1 It is true that flesh bought us, that we were unable to pay, unless by Christ, who is rich in all things. He, then, who is bought for a price, should more willingly serve that he may, as far as he can, make return to the buyer. By God thus bought, that is, by Christ, they should not be servants of men. Servants of men they are, who are subject to human irrationality. The Apostle reminds them of this when at the beginning of the letter he reproves those who say: 'I am Paul's, and others: 'I am Apollo's.' 2 And he gives the distinguishing mark as the confession of Christ as God, when by calling ourselves servants of Christ we show that we are not servants of men. Ambrosiaster, from the Commentary On The First Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 7 1 1 Cor 7.23 2 1 Cor 1.12

Son Of My Suffering

Egressus autem inde, venit verno tempore ad terram quæ ducit Ephratam: in qua cum parturiret Rachel, ob difficultatem partus periclitari cœpit. Dixitque ei obstetrix: Noli timere, quia et hunc habebis filium. Egrediente autem anima præ dolore, et imminente jam morte, vocavit nomen filii sui Benomi, id est, Filius doloris mei: pater vero appellavit eum Benjamin, id est, Filius dextræ. Euphrata vero et Bethlehem unius urbis vocabulum est, sub interpretatione consimili, siquidem in frugiferam et domum panis vertitur, propter eum panem qui de coelo descendisse se dicit. Et factum est cum dimitteret eam anima, siquidem moriebatur, vocavit nomen ejus filius doloris mei, Pater vero vocavit nomen ejus Benjamin. In Hebraeo similitudo omnis resonat. Filius doloris mei, quod nomen moriens mater imposuit, dicitur Ben oni: filius vero dexterae, hoc est virtutis, quod mutavit Jacob, appellabatur. Unde erant qui putant Benjamin filium dierum interpretari. Cum enim dextera appelletur iamin, ימין et finiatur in n litteram, dies quidem appellantur et ipsi iamim, ימים, sed in m litteram terminantur. Sed quid sibi vult quod cum eumdem Benjamin Rachel pareret, vocavit nomen ejus filius doloris mei, nisi futurum prophetans ex ea tribu Paulum, qui affligeret filios Ecclesiae persecutionis suo tempore? Aliter, per Benjamin terrestis figurabatur Jerusalem, quae est in tribu ejusdem Benjamin, cujus populus gravi matrem dolore afflicit, effundendo sanguinem prophetarum, insuper etiam in necem Christi impiis acclamando vocibus. Sanguinus eius super nos et super filios nostros. Rabanus Maurus, In Genesim Libri Quatour, Liber III, Caput XXIV Source: Migne PL 107.617a-c

And leaving there in the spring he came into the land that lies towards Ephrata, in which place when Rachel was to give birth, the difficult labour she had put her life in peril. But the midwife said to her, 'Do not be afraid, for you will give birth to a son.' But with her life ebbing away from her in her suffering, already close to death, Rachel called her son Benoni, that is, 'Son of my suffering.' His father’s name for him was Benjamin, the son of my right hand.' 1  Euphrata and Bethlehem is the name of one city, which when translated are similar, that is, they mean 'fruit bearing' and 'house of bread', on account of that bread which is said to have descended from heaven. And when Rachel's soul was leaving her, when she was dying, she called his name 'Son Of My suffering,' but his father named him Benjamin. In Hebrew the names are very similar, Son Of My Suffering, which name the dying mother gave, is 'Ben Oni' and 'Son Of My Right Hand,' that is, my strength, to which Jacob changed it. And there are some who think that Benjamin is to be translated 'Son of Days'. But right hand is iamin ימין  and ends in the letter 'n', and that which is called days is iamim  ימים and ends in the letter 'm'. But why did Rachel wish, bearing this same Benjamin, to call him by the name 'Son Of My Suffering,' unless as a prophecy of the future and that tribe from which Paul arose, who afflicted the sons of the Church with persecution in his time. Otherwise, Benjamin is a figure of the terrestrial Jerusalem, which is in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, which people afflicted that mother with grave grief, pouring out the blood of the Prophets, 2 and beyond this even clamouring with impious voices for the death of Christ: 'His blood be on us and our sons.' 3  Rabanus Maurus, from the Commentary On Genesis, Book 3, Chapter 24  1 Gen 35. 16-18  2 Mt 23.37, Lk 13.34  3 Mt 27.25

Paul And Benjamin

Benjamin lupus rapax, mane comedens praedam, ad vesperam dividet spolia. Quibus dicitis apostolus Paulus designatur, de Benjamin stirpe progenitus, qui mane rapuit praedam, id est, in primodriis fideles, quos potuit, devastavit. Vespere autem spolia divisit, quia fidelis postmodum factus sacra eloquia audientibus discretione mirifica dispensavit: legimus quemdam ex doctoribus ad urbem Jerusalem ea quae de Benjamin scripta sunt referentem. Benjamin, inquit, filius doloris interpretatur. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput XXXI Source: Migne PL 83.286a

Benjamin is a rapacious wolf, in the morning devouring the prey, at evening dividing the spoils. 1 By which words the Apostle Paul is designated, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, 2 who in the morning seized the prey, that is, who in his early years, when he was able, ravaged the faithful. And in the evening he divided the spoil because after being made faithful with sacred eloquence he dispensed with discretion wonders to his hearers. So we read in one of the learned of the city of Jerusalem what these things  written concerning Benjamin refer to. And Benjamin, we read, is interpreted, son of sorrow. 3 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chap 31 1 Gen 49.27 2 Philip 3.5 3 Gen 35.18

Peter And Judas, House Builders

Ἑτέρα η' Ἄνθρωπός τις ᾠκοδόμησε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν.  Τίς ὁ ἄνθρωπος; Ὁ ἅγιος Πέτρος· πέτρα, ὁ Χριστός· οἰκία, ἡ πίστις· ἄνεμος ὁ διάβολος. Ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον οἰκοδομήσας Ἰούδας· ἄμμος γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἀκαρπία. Ψευδο Ἀθανάσιος, Πησεις Και Ἐρμηνειαι Παραβολων Του Ἅγιον Εὔαγγελιου Source: Migne PG 28.712c-713a

Question 8 A certain man built his house on a rock...1 Who is the man? Saint Peter. The rock is Christ. The house is faith. The wind is the devil. And the one who built his house on the sand is Judas, for the sand gives no fruit. Pseudo-Athanasius, Words And Interpretations of the Holy Gospel 1 Mt 7.24

The Pearl And Correction

Satis ad correctionem vestram arbitror posse sufficere, fratres dilecti, quod anteriore dominica profecturus nulla vobis sacrarum litterarum spiritualia dona largitus sum, sed tantum vos increpans et arguens pro peccato sine aliqua praedicationis consolatione dimiserim. Volui enim vos hoc ipsum intelligere, quam graviter peccaveritis, quod divina eloquia audire minime meruistis. Haec enim sacerdotum vehemens et copiosa vindicata est indignis quibusque litterarum coelestium sacramenta non credere, nec, sicut ait Dominus, dare sanctum canibus, neque margaritas projicere porcorum pedibus conculcandas. Perdit enim coelestis margaritae gratiam quisquis eam foedissimo peccatori circumdare conatur. Gemma enim, sicut ipsi scitis, nisi auro non convenit, margarita, nonnisi pretiosis monilibus non aptatur. Estote ergo aurum optimum, estote monile pretiosum, ut possit in vobis margarita spiritualis includi. Margarita enim Christus est Dominus, quam negotiator ille dives in Evangelio, venditis omnibus rebus suis, emere festinavit, et maluit omnes, quas habebat, saeculi gemmas amittere, tantum ut unam Christi emeret margaritam. Unde et ego, fratres, pro magnitudine quod admiseratis delicti, nolui vobis pandere evangelicae refectionis eloquia; sed magis ingerere animosae indignationis injuriam, et prius vos verberibus spiritualibus emendare, ac sic margaritae ditare muneribus: malui, inquam, peccatum vestrum incusando acriter increpare, quam leniter dissimulando nutrire. Quisquis enim fratrem non arguit peccantem, quodammodo hortatur. Nolo autem putetis quod non de amore faciam vos saepius verberando. Filius enim qui castigatione dignus est, plus amatur, sicut ait Scriptura sancta: Quem enim diligit Dominus corripit; castigat autem omnem filium quem recipit. Dicite mihi si non dolendum fuerit hoc peccatum, sic vos salutis vestrae immemores tunc fuisse, ut beatissimis apostolis Petro et Paulo honorificentiam minime redderetis, cum ipsos esse sciatis doctores gentium, auctores martyrum, principes sacerdotum, nec volueritis eorum natalem nobiscum festivissimum celebrare, atque illi coelesti interesse convivo in quo pro martyrum tanta laetitia substantiam vitae ipse nobis Dominus ministravit. Vultis autem scire quantis bonis fraudati fueritis? Interrogate, fratres, qui tunc mecum pariter adfuerunt, quam refecti a dominica mensa discesserint, vel quales secum domum spirituales divitias reportaverint. Unum scio, quod si quis illa die honoratus aut dives, ob natalem filii sui ad decimum usque milliarium ad prandium rogavisset, propter accuratas epulas, et inaequales mensuras, absque dubio vos ituros fuisse. Igitur, fratres, quotiescunque martyrum memoriam celebramus, praetermissis omnibus saeculi actibus, sine aliqua dubitatione concurrere debemus, reddere illis honorificentiam qui vobis salutem profusione sui sanguinis pepererunt, qui tanquam sacrata hostia pro nostra propitiatione Domino sunt oblati, praesertim cum dicat ad sanctos suos omnipotens Deus: Qui vos honorat me, honorat, et qui vos spernit, me spernit. Quisquis ergo honorat martyres, honorat et Christum, et qui spenit sanctos, spenit et Dominum. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia CXVII, De Margarita Source: Migne PL 57.527c-530a

It think it enough for your correction, dear brothers, that before the Lord's day for your profit I shall not offer you any spiritual gift from Sacred Scripture but only cry out against you and dispute with you concerning sin without having sent forth any comfort of preaching. For I wish you to understand this, how gravely you have sinned, and because of which you are the least worthy to receive the Divine words. This indeed is a fierce and grave punishment of clergy, that they are thought to be unworthy of the mysteries of the heavenly Scriptures, that, as the Lord said, 'one should not give holy things to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine who will trample on them with their feet.' 1 For he destroys the grace of the heavenly pearl who tries to set it in the filth of the sinner. A jewel, as you know, unless it is placed amid gold does not befit, unless it is part of a precious necklace it is not apt. Be then, that best gold, be that precious necklace, so that the spiritual pearl is able to be set among you. The pearl is Christ our Lord, which that rich merchant in the Gospel, selling all his things, made haste to buy, and he preferred to lose all that he had, the jewels of the age, only that he might buy the pearl of Christ. Whence even I, brothers, on account of the magnitude of crimes you have committed, am unwilling to open to you the speech of the restorative Gospel, but prefer far more to impose on you the wounds of ardent indignation, and beforehand to improve you with spiritual blows, and so then to enrich you with gifts of pearls. I prefer, I say, to cry against your sin with reproof than to feed you easily with lies. He who does not dispute with a sinful brother can in no way improve him. I do not want you to think that is it is on account of a lack of love that I so often strike you. For the son who is worthy of correction is the one more loved, as  Holy Scripture says: 'He whom the Lord loves He corrects, for He admonishes every son he receives.' 2 Say to me rather that he who did not trouble you for this sin would be the one heedless of your salvation, which fault is that to the most blessed Peter and Paul you have hardly returned any honour, when you know them to be teachers of nations, authors of martyrdom, princes of priests, nor do you wish to celebrate their birthday feast with us and be amid that heavenly feast in which, for martyrdom, with such joy the Lord ministers to us the substance of life. You wish to know how many goods you have been deprived? Ask yourselves, brothers, who would stand together with me when they have been cut off from the refreshment of the Lord's table, or what spiritual wealth would they bring with them to the house? One thing I know: if some man honoured or rich, on that day on which is celebrated the birth of his own son, had sent invitation to a meal, whether you be the tenth or the thousandth asked, for the sake of attending a feast, even with unequal measures, without doubt, you all would have come. Therefore, brothers, as many times as we celebrate the memory of the martyrs, removed from all worldly deeds, without hesitation we should run to give them honour, they who for you have given birth to salvation in the shedding of their blood, who as sacred victims have given themselves for our propitiation to the Lord, especially when the almighty God says to his holy ones: 'He who honours me I will honour, and he who spurns me I will spurn.' 3 Whoever, then, honours martyrs, he honours Christ, and he who spurns the saints, he spurns the Lord. Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 117, On The Pearl 1.Mt 7.6 2 Prov 3.12 3 Lk 10.16

Peter And The Priests

Audistis etiam illo die, quo multo dignius multoque rectius erat, ut ad carcerem vel catastam poenalem1 quam ad sacerdotium traheremini, Domino sciscitanti, quem se esse putarent discipuli, Petrum respondisse: Tu es Christus filius Dei vivi eique Dominum pro tali confessione dixisse : Beatus es, Simon Bar Iona, quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus qui in caelis est. Ergo Petrus a Deo Patre doctus recte Christum confitetur: vos autem moniti a patre vestro diabolo inique salvatorem malis actibus denegatis. Vero sacerdoti dicitur:Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam: vos quidem assimilamini viro stulto, qui aedificavit domum suam super arenam. Notandum vero est, quod insipientibus in aedificanda domo arenarum pendulae mobilitati Dominus non cooperetur, secundum illud : Fecerunt sibi reges et non per me. Itidemque quod sequitur eadem sonat dicendo: Et portae inferni non praevalebunt, eisque peccata intelleguntur. De vestra quid exitiabili structura pronuntiatur? Venerunt flumina et flaverunt venti et impegerunt in domum illam et cecidit et fuit ruina eius magna. Petro eiusque successoribus dicit Dominus : Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum: vobis vero: Non novi vos, discedite a me, operarii iniquitatis, ut separati sinistrae partis cum haedis eatis in ignem aeternum. Itemque omni sancto sacerdoti promittitur : Et quaecumque solveris super terram, erunt soluta et in caelis : et quaecumque ligaveris super terram, erunt ligata et in caelis. Sed quomodo vos aliquid solvetis, ut sit solutum et in caelis, a caelo ob scelera adempti et immanium peccatorum funibus compediti, ut Salomon quoque ait: Criniculis peccatorum suorum unusquisque constringitur? Quaque ratione aliquid in terra ligabitis, quod supra modum etiam ligetur praeter vosmetipsos, qui ita ligati iniquitatibus in hoc mundo tenemini, ut in caelis nequaquam ascendatis, sed infaustis tartari ergastulis, non conversi in hac vita ad Dominum, decidatis ? Nec sibi quisquam sacerdotum de corporis mundi solum conscientia supplaudat, cum eorum quis praeest, si qui propter eius imperitiam vel desidiam seu adulationem perierint, in die iudicii de eiusdem manibus, veluti interfectoris, animae exquirantur. Quia nec dulcior mors quae infertur a bono quoque homine quam a malo: alioquin non dixisset apostolus velut paternum legatum suis successoribus derelinquens : Mundus ego sum ab omnium sanguine. Non enim subterfugi, quo minus annuntiarem vobis omne mysterium Dei. Multumque nam usa ac frequentia peccatorum inebriati et incessanter irruentibus vobis scelerum cumulatorum ac si undis quassati unum veluti post naufragium, in qua ad vivorum terram evadatis, paenitentiae tabulam toto animi nisu exquirite, ut avertatur furor Domini a vobis misericorditer dicentis : Nolo mortem peccatoris, sed ut convertatur et vivat. Ipse omnipotens Deus totius consolationis et misericordiae paucissimos bonos pastores conservet ab omni malo et municipes faciat subacto communi hoste civitatis Hierusalem caelestis, hoc est, sanctorum omnium congregationis. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source: Migne PL 69.390c-392b

You heard also on that day when it was much more worthier and more right for you to be led to prison or the gibbet for punishment than to the priesthood, that when the Lord asked the disciples who they thought Him to be, Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, Son of the living God,'  and that to him for such a confession the Lord said: 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.' 1 Thus Peter, taught by God the Father, rightly confesses Christ, but you, instructed by your father the devil, iniquitously deny the Saviour by evil deeds. To the true priest it is said: 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I build my church.' 2 You, however, are like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. 3 But we must observe that the Lord does not join in the work of the foolish who build a house on the shifting inconstancy of sand, according to that saying: 'They have made kings by themselves and not by me.' 4 Similarly, what follows gives the same note when it says: 'And the gates of hell shall not prevail,' 5 whereby sins are understood. Now concerning your ruinous building, what is proclaimed? 'The floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell, and great was the fall of it.' 6  To Peter and his successors the Lord says: 'And to you I will  give the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' 7 but to you: 'I know you not, depart front me, you workers of iniquity,' 8 so that, separated with the goats on the left hand, you go to everlasting fire. To every holy priest it is also promised: 'And whatever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven.' 9 But how do you loose anything so that it shall be loosed in heaven also, when, because of your crimes, you are severed from heaven and fettered by bands of monstrous sins, as Solomon also says: 'Each one is bound with the cords of his own sins?' 10 With what reason shall you bind on earth anything that may be, in any extraordinary degree, bound, besides your own selves, who, bound to iniquities, are so held in this world, that in no way do you ascend to heaven, but, unless turned to the Lord in this life, are descending to the woeful prison of hell? And let not one of the priests celebrate himself solely on his consciousness of a pure body, because if any of those over whom he is set perish through his ignorance, or his neglect, or his flattery, on the day of judgement their souls shall be asked from his hands, as their murderer. Because the death which is inflicted by a good man is not sweeter than that caused by a wicked man. Otherwise the Apostle would not have said, in leaving a kind of paternal legacy to his successors: 'I am clean from the blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring to you the whole mystery of God.' 11 Seeing that you are intoxicated by the habit and dense mass of your sins, and incessantly overwhelmed as if by waves of crimes heaped on crimes rushing upon you, seek with all effort of soul the one plank of penance, as if after shipwreck, on which you may escape to the land of the living. In this way the anger of the Lord may be turned from you, inasmuch as He mercifully says : 'I do not wish the death of any sinner, but that he may be converted and live.' 12 May the almighty God of all consolation and mercy Himself 13 preserve His very few good priests from all evil, and make them citizens of His city, the heavenly Jerusalem, that is, the assembly of all the saints, the common enemy being subdued. Saint Gildas The Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Mt 16.16 2 Mt 16.18 3 Mt 7.26 4 Hosea 8.4 5 Mt 16.8 6 Mt 7.27 7 Mt 16.19 8 Mt 25.32 9 Mt 16.19 10 Prov 5.22 11 Acts 20.26-27 12 Ezek 33.11 13 2 Cor 1.3

The Following Crowds

Et cum audissent turbae, secutae sunt eum pedestres ea civitatibus.  Potest et ita accipi, quod aliam ob causam, audito Joannis interitu, secessit Jesus in desertum locum, ut credentium probaret fidem. Denique turbae secutae sunt eum pedestres de civitatibus, non in jumentis, non in diversis vehiculis, sed proprio labore pedum ut ardorem mentis ostenderent. Si volumus singulorum verborum aperire rationes, propositi operis brevitatem excedimus. Attamen dicendum est transitorie, Illudque notandum quod, postquam Dominus in desertum venerit, secutae sunt turbae multae; nam antequam veniret in solitudines gentium, ab uno tantum populo colebatur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber II Cap XIV Source: Migne PL 26.99b-c

'And when the crowds heard, they followed him on foot from their towns.' 1   It is possible to understand that this happened for another reason, that hearing of the execution of John, Jesus withdrew to a desert place, in order to test the faith of those who believed. For then the crowds followed from their towns, not on animals, nor by the use of varied vehicles, but by the labour of their own feet, that they exhibit the ardor of their souls. Now if we wish to reveal the reason for every word here we shall exceed the proposed brevity of this work, however, it should be noted, that after the Lord went into the desert, many crowds followed Him, for before he came into the wastelands of the Gentiles, He was worshipped by one people alone. Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 2, Chap 14 1 Mt 14.13

Kindness And Discipline

Habuit nihilominus bonitatem et disciplinam testis ille dominicus, et Baptista Joannes, qui resipiscentes a peccatis suis homines propheticae pietatis affectu poenitateniae baptismo diluebat; atque ut vere legalium praeceptorum custos immutabilis, et Herodem regem de illicita incusabat uxore, et cunctis ad se concurrentibus purgatioris vitae praecepta mandabat. Scientiae autem illius plenitudinem quisquis potest ignorate, qui, quod pro salute hominum venit Christus e coelo, primus hominibus revelavit? Videtis itaque, fratres, quo orandum compendio, et qua paucitate verborum perfectione vivendis venerabilis propheta quaerebat. Brevissimo namque sermone conclusit quidquid spiritualium habet multitudo virtutum. Si ergo ille praecipuus prophetarum doceri se a Domino, has sanctioris vitae vias tantopere precabatur, quid facere nos, inquam, magis orare debemus dicentes: Bonitatem, et disciplinam, et scientiam, doce nos, Domine, quatenus in nobis bonitas mala vincat vitia, ac voluntatis disciplina castiget. Si enim sciens omnipotentem Dominum Patrem, Filumque ejus unius esse substantiae, Spiritum quoque sanctum pari credideris aeternitate regnantem, nulla te unquam vel paganorum vana persuasio, vel Arianorum perfida turbabut impietas. Si futuri judicii scientia cor tuum mentemque repleveris, habebis tuis in moribus disciplinam; rursus si disciplinae ipsius mensuras regulasque servaveris, si congruam tenebis in omnibus bonitate; quia bonitas temperamentum est disciplinae, et disciplina condimentum est bonitatis, Cave ergo, frater, ne ita velis bonus videri, ut abjicias disciplinam; discipliam secteris, ut removeas bonitatem. Quibus beatus David idcirco scientiam precatur adjungi, ut directo mentis nostrae judicio scire possimus qualiter in nobis esse poscit et districtior bonitas, et blandior disciplina. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia CVII, De eo quod scriptum est in Psal CXVIII: Bonitatem et disciplinam et scientiam, doce me. Source: Migne PL 57.501a-502b

And John the Baptist, that witness of the Lord, also had not a little kindness with his discipline, so that men who repented of their sins on account of his prophetical piety he cleansed in baptism, and then, guarding the immutable precepts of the law, he reproached king Herod who lived illicitly with a woman, and to everyone he commanded that they join him in holding to the teaching of the purgatorial life. Who is able to ignore the plenitude of his knowledge, he who first among men revealed that for the salvation of men Christ came from heaven? Thus see, brothers, how one should pray for profit, and with what concision the venerable Psalmist sought perfection of life. For with the most brief words he encompasses whatever has the greatness of spiritual virtue. If, therefore, he especially of the prophets was taught by the Lord, we should pray for all the more these ways of the holy life, how to make ourselves, I say, pray more as we should: 'Goodness and discipline and knowledge, teach us, Lord,' 1 for as much in us goddess conquers wicked vice, so discipline corrects the will. For if knowing the omnipotent Lord and Father, and Son, to be one substance, and the Holy Spirit also equally you believe to rule in eternity, with nothing of pagan vanity influencing you, or the impiety of Arian perfidy troubling you, if you fill your heart and mind with knowledge of future judgment, you shall have your conduct disciplined; and again if you guard the rules and measures of discipline, you will hold to what is appropriate in all things by kindness, because kindness is the tempering of discipline, and discipline is the seasoning of kindness. Beware, then, brothers, lest wishing to seem good you cast away discipline, and lest pursuing discipline you are stripped of kindness. For which reason the blessed David therefore added a prayer for knowledge, that with the straight judgement of our mind we might be able to know what sort of breadth of kindness should be in us that discipline be sweeter. Saint Maximus of Tours, from Homily 107, On What I s Written in Psalm 118: Kindness And Discipline and Knowledge, Teach Me. 1 .Ps 118.66

Sons Of Promise

Nos autem, fratres, secundum Isaac promissionis filii sumus. Apostolum et similes ei secundum Isaac promissionis esse filios, nulla intellgentiae difficultas est. Sed quia Origenes hunc locum edisserens, ita Apostoli posuit exemplum: 'Vos autem, fratres, secundum Isaac promissionis filii estis, quaeritur quomodo Galatas, quos stultos appellarat, et incoepisse dixerat spiritu, carne finire, nunc secundum Isaac filios repromissionis vocet? Dicimus itaque Apostolum ideo eos appellare secundum Isaac filios repromissionis, quia non penitus eorum desperet salutem, et rursum eos ad spiritum quo coeperant aestimet reversuros, fiantque filii liberae. Qui si carne fuerint consummati, filii sunt ancillae. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber II, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 26.392a-b

We are, brothers, the sons of the promise, as Isaac. 1 That the Apostle and those like him are the sons of promise as Isaac is not difficult to understand. But since Origen also writes on this passage concerning the Apostle, when he says, 'You are, brothers, the sons of the promise, as Isaac,' and asks how the Galatians, whom the Apostle has called foolish, and whom he has said have begun in the spirit to end in the flesh, are now sons of promise according to Isaac, we say that the Apostle calls them sons of promise according to Isaac because he has not utterly despaired of their salvation, and again that he judges that they have begun to turn back to the spirit, and to become sons of the free woman. Those who, if they had reached the end of the flesh, would have been sons of the slave girl. Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 2 Chap 4 1 Gal 4.28

Servants And Sons

Παρεμβαλεῖ ἄγγελος Κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν, καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτους.  Ἡρμήνευσε τίνα λέγει τὸν πτὼχὸν, τὸν φοβούμενον τὸν Κύριον. Διότι ὁ φοβούμενος ἔτι ἔν τῇ τοῦ δούλου τάξει ἐστιν. Ὁ δὲ ὁ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τετελευωμένος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ υἱοῦ λοιπὸν ἀξίαν ἀνέδραμε. Διόπερ ὁ μὲν δούλος καὶ πτωχὸς λέγεται, τῷ μηδὲν ἴδιον ἔχειν· ὁ δὲ υἱὸς ἤδη καὶ πλούσιος, τῷ κληρονόμος εἶναι τῶν πατρικῶν ἀγαθων. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΛΓ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 29.364a

The angel of the Lord He sets in a camp around those who fear Him and delivers them. 1 This is understood as being spoken to the poor man, the one who fears God. For which reason he who fears is yet in the rank of a servant, but he who is perfected by love has arisen to the dignity of a son. Whence the servant is named a poor man, for he has nothing of his own; the son, however, is rich because he is the inheritor of the goods of the father. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 33 1 Ps 33.8 2 Ps 33.7

Father And Son And Judgement

Pater enim non judicat quemquam, sed omne judicium dedit Filio... Pater non judicat quemquam, quia Patris persona hominem non suscepit, nec in judicio videbitur: sed sola Filii persona, in ea forma quae judicata est injuste, et juste judicabit vivos ac mortuos. Nec enim Filius persona videbitur in judicio in ea natura qua consubstantialis est Deo Patri, sed in ea qua consubstantialis est matri, et homo factus est. Ita intelligendum est: Pater non judicat quemquam, sed omne judicium dedit Filio; ac si diceretur: Patrem nemo videbit in judicio vivorum et mortuorum, sed omnes Filium; quia et filius hominis est, ut possit et ab impiis videri, cum et illi videbunt in quem pupugerunt. Quod ne conjicere potius quam aperte demonstrare videamur, proferimus ejusdem Domini certam manfiestamque sententam, qua ostendimus ipsam fuisse causam ut diceret: Pater non judicat quemquam, sed omne judicium dedit Filio, quia judex forma filii hominis apparebit. Quae forma non est Patris, sed Filii, nec Filii in qua aequalis est Patri, sed in qua minor est Patre: ut sit in judicio conspicuus bonis et malis. Alcuinus, Commentariorum in Joannem, Lib III, Cap X Source: Migne PL 100.810d-811b

The Father does not judge anyone, but all judgement is given to the Son. 1 The Father does not judge anyone, because the person of the Father did not assume man, nor in judgement shall He be seen, but only the person of the Son, in that form in which He was judged unjustly, and with justice He shall judge the living and the dead. For indeed the Son shall not be seen judgement in that nature by which he is consubstantial to God The Father, but in that which he is consubstantial with His mother, and was made man. Thus should it be understood: 'The Father judges no one but all judgement is given to the Son.' 1 As if it were said: 'No one sees the Father in the judgement of the living and the dead, but all see the Son, because He is the Son of Man, so He is able to be seen by the impious, when they shall look upon Him whom they have opposed.' And lest we seem to be guessing in this rather than openly demonstrating the matter, we bring forward the certain overt sentence of the same Lord, by which we show that it was for the same reason that He said: 'The Father does not judge anyone, all judgement is given to the Son,' 1 that is, because the judge shall appear in the form of the Son of Man, which form is not of the Father but of the Son; for not in this is there equality between the Son and the Father, but in this the Son is less than the Father, 2 so that in judgement He may be apparent to the good and the wicked. Alcuin of York, from The Commentary On The Gospel of Saint John, Book 3, Chapter 10 1 Jn 5.22 2 Jn 14.28