Problems Of Following

Καὶ πορευομένων αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ εἶπέν τις πρὸς αὐτόν, ἀκολουθήσω σοι ὅπου ἐὰν ἀπέρχῃ. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς: αἱ ἀλώπεκες φωλεοὺς ἔχουσιν καὶ τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατασκηνώσεις, ὁ δὲ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἔχει ποῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν κλίνῃ. Δὶο καὶ τὸν γραμματέα τοῦτον ἐπαγγελλόμενον ἀκολουθήσειν αὐτῷ, καὶ τῷ μὲν ῥήματι βοῶντα, τῇ δὲ διανοίᾳ μὴ σχολάζοντα, ἀλλ' ἐν ἑτέροις ἀφελκόμενον ὁρῶν ὁ Κύριος, ἐδυσώπει διὰ τοῦ ἐλέγχου· καὶ οὔτε ὡς ἀπορεπόμενος τοῦτον ἐδίωκεν, οὔτε ὡς ἀγνοῶν ἐπλανᾶτο ὑπὸ τῶν τούτου ῥημάτων· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς εἰδὼς ἤλεγχε, καὶ ὡς παιδεύων διωρθοῦτο. Μονονουχὶ γὰρ τοῦτο λέγων ἐδίδασκεν, ὡς ἅρα οὐδεὶς δύναται τῷ Λόγῳ ἀκολουθεῖν ἀναπαυόμενος ἐν ἀλόγοις, οὐδὲ τῶν ἀλόγων ὁ φίλος δύναται τὸν Λόγον δεχεσθαι, οὐδὲ ὁ τὰ ἄλογα φανταζόμενος δύναται τοῦ Λόγου μεταλαμβάνειν ἔννοιαν. Ἀμέλει ἐκ τῆς τόλμης τὸ γνώρισμα τῆς προπετείας καὶ ἀπαιδευσίας ἔξεστιν αὐτοῦ καταμαθεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ ἠπίστατο τοῦ Λόγου τὴν δύναμιν, οὐκ ἂν ὅλως φαντασίαν εἰλήφει πνευματικοῦ Λόγου, οὐκ ἂν ἄνθρωπος ὤν ἐξισοῦν ἑαυτὸν ἐτόλμα τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἀκαταλήπτῳ δυνάμει λέγων·Ἀκολουθεῖν μὲν γὰρ ἁπλούστερον τῷ Σωτῆρι πρὸς τὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν δυνατὸν τῇ ανθρωπίνῃ φύσει, καὶ τοῦτο κατὰ τὴν αὐτου φιλανθρωπίαν· συνεκτείνεσθαι δὲ καὶ συντρέχειν αὐτῷ πανταχοῦ, τοῦτο καὶ ἀδύνατον καὶ τολμηρὸν τῷ ἐπαγγελλομένῳ. Οὔτε γὰρ ἀναπαυομένῳ αὐτῷ παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ συνεῖναι δυνάμεθα· πῶς γὰρ, ἄλλης φύσεως τυγχάνοντες; οὔτε πανταχοῦ αὐτῷ ὄντι συνδραμεῖν οἷον τε. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀχώρητος, οἱ δὲ χωρητοί· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐν τῷ παντὶ μεμετρημένην ἔχομεν τὴν σύστασιν· καὶ ὁ μὲν Κύριος ἀκινήτως καὶ ἀμεταβάτως κινεῖ τὰ πανταχοῦ , καὶ τὰ ὅλα διοικεῖ· ἄνθρωποι δὲ, μεταβαίνοντες ἁφ' οὖ κινούμεθα, λειπόμεθα τῇ ἀπολείψει τοῦ τόπου πρὸς τὴν ἀμετάβατον πανταχοῦ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν. Ἀλλ' ὁ Κύριος κατ' ἀμφότερα τοῦτον διορθοῦται, καὶ τὸ μὲν ἀνέτοιμον τῆς προθέσεως διελέγχει, τὴν δὲ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ μεγαλειότητα παιδεύει, λέγων· Αἱ ἀλώπεκες φωλεοὺς ἔχουσι, καὶ τὰ ἐξῆς. Ἴσον δὲ τούτῳ εἰπεῖν ἐστι, τὰ μὲν γενητὰ πάντα χωρητὰ τυγχάνει, καὶ τόποις διίστατι, ὁ δὲ Λόγος ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀχώρητον ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν· ὥστε τοῦ μεν λέγειν, ὅτι Ὅπου ἐὰν ἀπέρχῃ ἀκολουθήσε σοι, παῦσαι· εἰ δὲ μαθητεύεσθαι θέλεις, ἀπόστα τῶν ἀλόγων, οἰκειώθητι δὲ τῷ Λόγῳ· ἀδύνατον γὰρ τὸν ἀλογίᾳ συνόντα Λόγου γενέσθαι μαθητήν. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν Ἐπαγγελιον Source: Migne PG 26.1400d-1401c

It happened that He was walking with them in the way and someone said to Him, 'I shall follow you wherever you may go.' Jesus said to him: 'Foxes have their holes, and the birds the dwelling places of the sky, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head.' 1 As the passage says, this fellow promised to follow Him, but as one crying out to Him with words and with no sense in the mind, for the Lord observing him being dragged away into other things, He shamed him with reproof, and that not as one turning away and driving him off, nor as one bewildered by the ignorance of his words, but He reproved as one with knowledge, and corrected as one with learning. For when He said these things, He taught that no one is able to follow the Word if they are resting in irrational things, nor is it possible that the lover of irrational things receive the Word, nor may the one who mixes with irrational things come to knowledge of the Word. Certainly the man's statement came from recklessness, and temerity and ignorance. For if the power of the Word is doubted, one has not at all grasped the understanding of the spiritual Word, nor when he was a man, would he have dared to say that he by himself was going to equal the incomprehensible power of the Saviour, saying ' I will follow you wherever you may go.' To follow the Saviour simply by attendance to His teaching is certainly possible for human nature, and this on account of His mercy, but when this is extended to a going with Him everywhere, that certainly is not possible, and it exhibits the recklessness of the promise. One is not able to repose with Him in the lap of the Father. For how does one acquire that different nature? Nor are we able to go with Him who is everywhere. He is not circumscribed by anything, and we are. He is in everything and outside everything; we however in everything have a certain set measure. He, the Lord, is immovable and immutable, and moves all things, and rules over all things; but being men we are changed by what moves us, and by this are certainly inferior to Him whose deity is present everywhere and changeless. So the Lord concerning both of these things corrects him, and reproves the low and uninformed promise. Teaching the greatness of His deity, He says, 'Foxes have their holes, etc' And perhaps by these things He means all things that come to be are contained in a place and set apart in a place, but the power of the Word of God is not contained by any place, so that when such a thing is said as 'I will follow you wherever you may go,' it must be restrained. Thus if you wish to learn, restrain yourself from irrational things and apply yourself to the Word. It is not possible that he who dwells with irrational things walks as a pupil of the Word. Saint Athanasius, On the Gospel of St Luke, Fragment 1 Lk 9.57-58

Grace And Labour

Audi apostolum laborem cum gratia humili confessione miscentem: gratia autem Dei sum id, quod sum, et gratia illius in me vacua non fuit, sed abundantius illis omnibus laboravi: non ego autem, sed gratia Dei mecum. Vide quomodo ad gratiae donum semper subiungit laboris obsequium: non ego autem. Quia mentionem solius laboris intulerat, cito quasi ad amplexum matris gratiae recucurrit dicens: sed gratia Dei mecum. Gratia, inquit, Dei sum. Primas partes soli gratiae pie subiectus adscripsit, media quaeque labori magister oboedientiae deputavit, utrumque in consummatione moderatus gratiam laboremque coniunxit. Non dixit: ego sine gratia vel gratia sine me, sed gratia Dei mecum. Quae prius singillatim distincta protulerat, quam bene in sermonis fine conexuit. Ac sic apud regeneratos, quando gratia sine labore vel labor sine gratia in scripturis ponitur, supprimitur, non separatur. Cum unum sine altero dicitur, tacetur alterum, non negatur secundum illam regulam, quam antistes Augustinus insinuat: non omnia quae tacentur negantur. Sanctus Faustus Reiensis, De Gratia, V Source: Migne PL 58.806c-807b

Hear the Apostle mixing grace with labour in humble confession: 'For by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace in me was not in vain, but more abundantly I worked than all of them, and yet not I, but the grace of God in me.' 1 See how he always joins the service of labour to the gift of grace, 'and yet not I'. For introducing the subject of labour alone, quickly, as returning to the embrace of a mother, he speaks of grace: 'but the grace of God with me.' By the grace of God I am, he says. In the first parts, as a subject he piously writes of grace alone, in the middle part he speaks as a master of obedient labour, and then as a moderate man he unites both grace and labour in perfection. He does not say, 'I without grace', or 'grace without me', but 'the grace of God with me.' Which things first introducing as distinct, he then joins together at the end of his words. And so for those reborn, when grace without labour, or labour without grace, is spoken of in Scripture, one there is suppressed, not separated. When one without the other is spoken of, one is passed over in silence, not denied, according to that rule, which the bishop Augustine refers to when he says, 'Not everything which is passed over in silence is denied.' Saint Faustus of Riez, On Grace, 5 1 Cor 15.10

Love And Works

Filioli mei, non diligamus verbo, neque lingua, etc  Opere videliet, ut cum frater aut soror nudi sunt, et indigent victu quotidiano, demus eis quae necessaria sunt corpori. Similiter cum spiritualibus donis eos egere conspicimus, praestemus eorum necessitati quae possumus. Veritate autem, ut eadem beneficia eis simplici intentione largiamur, et non propter laudem humanum, non per jactantiam, non in injuriam aliorum qui majoribus praediti substantiis nil tale fecerunt. Quaecunque enim mens hujusmodi nequitiis inficitur, in hac puritas veritatis habitare non valet, etiamsi opus dilectionis proximis impendere videtur. Sanctus Beda, In I Epistolam Sancti Joannis Source: Migne PL 93.103d-104a

My children, let us not love in words, nor with the tongue etc. 1 But certainly with works, that when a brother or sister are naked and they have need in daily distress, let us give to them what is required for their bodily needs. Likewise, when we see that they lack spiritual gifts, let us supply them with what they need, as we are able. But in truth let us give our goods to them, with simple intention, and not on account of human praise, nor for the sake of boasting, nor to the injury of others who endowed with greater wealth have done no such thing. For whenever the mind is afflicted with such evils, it is not able to dwell in the purity of truth, even if it seems that  it exerts itself in some work for the love of one's neighbour. Saint Bede, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John 1 1 Jn 3.17-18

Work And Understanding

Μὴ λέγε· οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι τὸ δέον καὶ ἀναίτιος εἰμι μὴ ποιῶν αὐτό. Εἰ γὰρ ἐποίεις καλὰ ὅσα ἐπίστασαι, καὶ τὰ λοιπά σοι ἀκολούθως ἀπεκαλύπτετο, οἰκείῳ τρόπῳ ἕν δι' ἐνος κατανοούμενα Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Migne PG 65.916b

Do not say that you do not know what is needful and you are blameless in doing nothing. For if you did good insofar as you understood it, so the rest would be revealed to you. One thing from one thing in its place being understood. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Work And Food

Αὐτὸς μὲν ἐφύβριστον ἡγῇ πᾶσαν χειρόκμητον ἐργασίαν, βιωφελῆ τε ὑπάρχουσαν καὶ πρὸς τὸ ζῇν χρησιμεύουσαν. Ὁ Μιτυλήναῖος δὲ Πιττακὸς, καίτοι βασιλεύς ὠν, τὸν μύλωνα ηὐτούργει, καὶ ἐνεργῶς γυμναζόμενος, καὶ τὴν τροφὴν ἐργαζόμενος. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΥΟ' Θεοδορῳ Σκολαστικῳ Source: Migne PG 78.439b-c

You despise every work which is done with the hands, even when it is most useful and profitable for life. But Pittacus of Mytilene, though he was a king, set to work at a mill, stripping himself down for it, and produced food. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 470 to Theodore the Scholar

Prayer And Remembrance

Ἐν καιρῷ μνήμης Θεοῦ πολυπλασίασον δέησιν, ἵνα ὅταν ἐπιλάθῃς, ὁ Κύριος ὑπομνήσῃ σε. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Migne PG 65.908d

At any time comes thought of God, let prayers be multiplied, that when you are forgetful, the Lord remembers you. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Endurance And Remembrance

Ἀποστραφήτωσαν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐπιλανθανόμενα τοῦ θεοῦ Εἰ γὰρ νῦν ἀναισθητοῦσι, ἀλλ' ἤξει τῆς κρίσεως ὁ καιρός. Θεοῦ δὲ ἄνθρωπος, κἂν δοκῇ καταπεφρονῆσθαι παρὰ Θεοῦ, τῷ παρὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀνήκεστα πάσχειν· ἀλλ' οὐ παραδέδοται λήθῃ. Οὐ γὰρ εἰς τὸ τέλος ἐπιλησθήσεται ὁ πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι· ἔχει δὲ καρπὸν καὶ τέλος ἀγαθὸν διὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν ὑπομονήν. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος Θ' Source: Migne PG 23.133b

Sinners shall be turned to hell, all the people who forget God. 1 For even if now they have no sense of it, the time of judgement comes. But the man of God, even if it seems he is neglected by God, suffering the afflictions of sinners, yet he is not forgotten. For not forever shall the poor of spirit be forgotten, but he shall have his fruit and a good end by his present endurance. 2 Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.17 2 Ps 9.18

A Mindless Divorce

Ἐῥῥέθη δὲ ὅτι ὃς ἄν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον... Ὁ τὴν σώφρονα ἐκβάλλων δίδωσιν αὐτῇ ἄδειαν ἄλλῳ γαμηθῆναι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν εἴδος μοιχείας, ὠσανεὶ μὴ λυθείσης συζυγίας· οὐ γὰρ τὰ ῥεποὺδια παρὰ Θεῷ λύει τὸν γάμον, ἀλλ' ἡ ἄτοπος πρᾶξις. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source:  Migne PG 72.380d

And it was said that whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce... 1   He who casts out wisdom and gives her freedom to be married to another, this is a type of adultery, for it is not as if the bond is broken; no bill of divorce releases from the marriage to God, but it is an irrational act. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 5.31

The Temple Of The Lord

Nolite confidere in verbis mendacii, dicentes: Templum Domini, templum Domini, templum Domini est: quoniam si direxeritis vias vestras et studia vestra: si feceritis judicium inter virum et proximum ejus: advenae, et pupillo, et viduae non feceritis calumniam (sive non oppresseritis eos) nec sanguinem innocentem effuderitis in loco hoc: et post deos alienos non ambulaveritis in malum vobismetipsis; habitabo vobiscum in isto loco, in terra quam dedi patribus vestris a saeculo usque in saeculum. Hoc quod Septuaginta in hujus capituli addidere principio: in verbis mendacii, quae vobis omnino non proderunt, in Hebraico non habetur. Praecepit autem et tunc populo Judaeorum, et hodie nobis qui videmur in Ecclesia constituti, ne fiduciam habeamus in aedificiorum splendore, auratisque laquearibus, et vestitis parietibus marmorum crustis. Et dicamus: Templum Domini, templum Domini, templum Domini est. Illud enim templum Domini est, in quo habitat vera fides, sancta conversatio, omniumque virtutum chorus. Denique infert: Si rectas feceritis vias vestras, et cogitatio vestra non abierit post errorem, et secuti fueritis justitiam, et malum non feceritis, neque effuderitis sanguinem innocentem, simplices quosque non scandalizantes; et post deos alienos non ambulaveritis, perversa adorantes dogmata, quae de vestro corde simulastis in malum vobismetipsis: vel habitabo vobiscum in loco isto, quem vocatis Templum Dei, et in terra quam dedi patribus vestris, Apostolis scilicet et Apostolicis viris: vel certe firma statione habitare vos faciam a principio usque ad finem. Potest hoc et illis virginibus convenire, quae jactant pudicitiam, et impudenti vultu praeferunt castitatem, cum aliud habeat conscientia, et nesciunt illam definitionem Apostoli virginalem: Ut sit sancta corpore et spiritu. Quid enim prodest corporis pudicitia animo constuprato, si caeteras virtutes quas propheticus sermo descripsit, non habuerit? Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Prophetam, Liber II Caput VII Source Migne PL 24.757d-756b

Do not trust in the deceptive words, 'The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, this is the Temple of the Lord' because if you correct your ways and pursuits, if you truly act justly among men and your neighbours, and do not deceive, (or oppress) the foreigner, and the orphan, and the widow, or pour out innocent blood in this place, and if you do not walk after other gods to your own evil, than I will dwell with you in this place, in the land which I gave of old to your fathers.1 That which the Septuagint has added at the beginning of this passage, 'in the deceptive words which will not profit you at all' is not found in the Hebrew. As it was commanded to the Jewish people then, even today it is to us who seem to be established in the Church, that we should not put our trust in the splendour of buildings and in panelled ceilings overlaid with gold, and walls decorated with coverings of marble, and say, 'The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, this is the Temple of the Lord.' For the temple of the Lord is the place where true faith dwells, and holy conduct, and a chorus of all the virtues. Then it says, 'If you correct your ways, if your thoughts do not wander off after error but you follow justice and do no evil, if you do not pour out innocent blood, and do not scandalise simple folk, and if you do not go after other gods, adoring perverse teachings that you have fashioned from your own hearts to your own evil, then I will dwell with you in this place, which you call the Temple of God, and in the land which I gave to your fathers, that is, the Apostles and apostolic men, or then I will make you dwell with a secure standing, from the beginning to the end. And this may also touch on virgins who boast of their purity and exhibit their chastity with shameless faces, with something quite different in their minds, they who do not know the Apostolic definition of virginity: to be holy in body and spirit. 2 For how does purity of body profit if the soul is ravished, and the other virtues, which the prophetic words describes, are absent? Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 2, Chapter 7 1 Jerem 7.4-7 2 1 Cor 7.34-36

Church And Tabernacle

Sequitur nunc figura tabernaculi, quod, jubente Domino, Moyses fabricare jubetur. Tabernaculum hoc per allegoriam Ecclesia est in hujus vitae eremo constituta, de qua Psalmista ait: Quoniam abscondit me in tabernaculo suo in die malorum. Variis itaque speciebus tabernaculum instruitur, partim pretiosis, partim vilioribus; per quod monstratur alios sanctos, alios peccatores esse in Ecclesia. Fideles autem omnes intra corpus Ecclesiae constitutos, infideles vero extra sinum collocatos. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Exodum, Caput LI Source: Migne PL 83.294d-295b Now follows the form of the tabernacle that by the order of the Lord Moses was commanded to make. 1 By allegory the tabernacle is the Church established in the desert of this life, concerning which the Psalmist says, 'Because He took me into his tabernacle on the day of evil. ' 2 Thus with various appearances the tabernacle is built up, partly with precious things and partly with vile things, by which it is shown that in the Church some are holy and some are sinners. For all the faithful are established within the body of the Church, but the faithless are set outside. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 51 1 Exod 25-27 2 Ps 26.5

Direction And Advance

Τὰ διαβήματα μου κατεύθυνον κατὰ τὸ λόγιον σου, καὶ μὴ κατακυριευσάτω μου πᾶσα ἀνομία. Κατὰ τὸ λόγοιν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατευθύνει· τὰ διαβήματα μου, ἐκ κακίας καὶ ἀγνοίας εἰς ἀρετὴν καὶ γνῶσιν τῆς ἀληθείας διαβαίνοντος. Εὐθυντὴρ γὰρ καὶ ἡγεμὼν τῶν τοιούτων διαβημάτων ὁ ὀρθὸς λόγος. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος ΡΙΗ' Source: Migne PG 23.1388b

Direct my steps according to your word, and let no unrighteousness rule over me. 1 Directed according to the word of God, that my steps be advanced from wickedness and ignorance to virtue and knowledge of the truth. For the right word is the guide and leader of such steps Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.133

Progress And Perfection

Εἰ καὶ τελείους ἡμᾶς εἶναι ὁ θεῖος βούλεται νόμος, ὁμώνυμε, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἀνάβασιν καὶ προκοπὴν πρὸς τὴν τελείωσιν φθάσαντας, πρότερον γάλακτι ποτιζομένους, ὡς ἀρτιγένητα βρέφη, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς σωτηρίαν αὐξάνοντας. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΥΜΑ' Ἰσιδορῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 78.425b

Even if the Divine Law wishes us to be perfect, 1 my namesake, so that we might come to ascent and progress to perfection, we first drink milk, as a new born child, and by that grow to salvation. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 441, To the Deacon Isidore 1 Mt 5.48 2 1 Pet 2.5

Knowledge And Grace

Sicut enim qui vere esurit, tamdiu petit cibum, donec impleat necessitatem corporis sui, nec potest cessare, necessitas enim urget, quia sine cibo vivere non potest, ita et qui vere desiderat gratiam Dei, cessare non potest a petendo, sciens quia salvus fieri non potest sine gratia Dei. Adhuc quaerite, interrogantes sacerdotes caeterosque habentes scientiam spiritualium Scripturarum, sicut praecepit lex: Interroga patrem tuum, et dicet tibi, seniores tuos, et annuntiabunt tibi. Quaerite studio et labore, legentes Scripturas legis et prophetarum. Nam Deus ita nos disposuit esse, ut nec studentes et laborantes circa Scripturas acquiramus salutem scientiae sine gratia Dei, ut ne nobis imputemus quod scimus; nec tamen gratiam acquiramus, nisi studuerimus et laboraverimus circa Scripturas, ne donum Dei detur negligentibus. Gratia eim adjutorium est infirmitatis humanae: adjutorem autem non dormientibus datur, sed festinantibus, et praevalentibus. Sicut enim in bello non omnis, qui pugnat, vincit, nemo tamen vincere potest, nisi pugnaverit: sic non omnes, qui student et legunt, acquirunt scientiam spiritualem, nemo tamen acquirere potest, nisi qui aut studiosus fuerit ad legendum, aut assiduus ad audiendum. Et infideles quidem, et non timentes Deum inveniunt scientiam legendo et studendo, sed non illam quae ex Deo est, quae per Spiritum Sanctum datur, sed hanc quae est ex natura carnali, quae per exercitationem carnis acquiritur, quam habuerunt etiam et gentilium studiosi. Multa enim differentia est inter scientias istas. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XVIII 'Petite et dabitur vobis, quaerite et invenietis: pulsate et aperietur vobis' Source:  Migne PG 56.730-731

For as he who genuinely hungers, while he does so, seeks food, and until he has relieved the necessity of the body he cannot stop, for necessity urges him, and without food he is not able to live, thus even he who truly desires the grace of God is not able to stop seeking it, knowing that he is not able to be saved but by the grace of God. While you seek, question the priests and others who have spiritual knowledge of the Scriptures, as the law commands: 'Question your father and he shall speak to you, your elders, and they shall declare it to you.' 1 Seek with zeal and labour, reading the writings of the Law and the Prophets. For God has thus arranged it that zealously labouring over the Scriptures we shall not acquire the good of knowledge without the grace of God, lest we claim for ourselves what we know, for if we do not acquire grace, even if we sweat and toil over the Scriptures, the gift of God is not given to the negligent. For grace is a help for our human infirmity, and it is a help that is not given to those who sleep, but only to the active and the worthy. For as in war not all who fight prevail, yet no one is able to prevail unless he fights, so not all who strive and labour acquire spiritual knowledge, and yet no one is able to acquire it unless he who is eager when it comes to reading and attentive when it comes to hearing. Certainly those who are unfaithful and who do not revere God, they find knowledge by reading and studying, but not that which is of God, which is given by the Holy Spirit, but that which is from material nature, which is acquired by the exertion of the flesh, and this even the scholars of the Gentiles possessed. There is indeed a great difference between these types of knowledge. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 18, On 'Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.' 1 Deut 32.7

Charity And Oneself

Esuerientes satiandi sunt, sitientes potandi, nudi operiendi, infirmi et qui in carcere sunt visitandi, et hospites colligendi, dicente Domino, Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare: sitivi et dedistis mihi bibere, etc. Nam haec omnia, et in se quique debet spiritaliter agere, et in aliis corporaliter adimplere, quia pene nihil possunt haec omnia ad vitam aeternam compensandam, si luxuriose, superbe, invide, et, ne singula replicem, si vitiose et inordinate quis vivat, et a caeteris bonis operibus vacet. Qui ergo videt se Christum non habere, qui dixit, Ego sum panis vivus qui de caelo descendi, et charitatem, quae est pastus animae, non habet, esurit quidem: sed si per bona opera Christo adjungit se, et charitatis dulcedine replet, esurientem omnino se pavit. Qui doctrina Spiritus sancti et Scripturarum sanctarum fluentis caret, sitiens est, sed si se fluentis verbi Dei irriget, et mentem suam spiritalis poculi dulcedine ebriet, iste se sitientem potat. Qui vide se justitia, sive caeteris bonorum operum exhbitionibus nudatum, et induit se justitia, sive caeteris virtutibus, nudum se procul dubio vestit. Si in lecto vitiorum suorum jacet, et morbo iniquitatis suae laborat, et funibus peccatorum suorum constrictus est, et vitiorum suorum obsitus pariete in tenebris iniquitatis suae, est infirmus quidem; sed si de luto vitiorum per confessionem egreditur, et per poenitentiae lamenta vinculis peccatorim absolvitur, et ad lucem bonorum operum egreditur, infirmum et in carcere positum se procul dubio visitat, Si in hujus vitae via videt se laborare, et vitiorum procella quasi quadam aeris intemperie inquietari, et receptaculum bonorum operum non habere, sciat se in itinere positum hospitio egere: at si se ad virtutum domum deducat, et sese in earum tutamine recipiat, hospitem quidem suscipit. Quae omnia cum sibi spiritaliter exhibet, Christum in se cujus ipse membrum est, pascit, potate, vestit, visitat, ac suscipit. Theodulfus Aurelianensis, Capitula ad Presbyteros Parochiae Suae, Capitula XXXII Source:Migne PL 105.201-c-202a

The hungry should be fed, the thirsty given drink, the naked covered, the sick and those in prison visited, and guests accommodated, with the Lord saying, 'For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, thirsty and you gave me to drink, etc.' 1 For all these things a man should do spiritually in himself, even in the satisfaction of others in corporeal things, because all these things profit not at all for the reward of eternal life if in luxury, pride and envy, and not to tell every one of them, if in vice and disorder a man lives, and from these good works is absent. He therefore who sees that he does not have Christ in himself, He who said, 'I am the bread of life which descended from heaven,' 2 does not have charity, which is the pasture of the soul, and he hungers. But if by good works he joins himself to Christ, troubled by his utter hunger, he is filled with the sweetness of charity. He who lacks the flowing waters of the Holy Spirit and Sacred scriptures, he thirsts, but if he waters himself with the flowing waters of the Word of God, and intoxicates his mind with the sweetness of the spiritual cup, he gives drink to the thirsty. He who sees himself to be naked of righteousness, or one of the other goods works, and he endows himself with righteousness, or one of the other virtues, without doubt he clothes the naked. If he falls on the bed of vices and labours in the sickness of his iniquities, and is bound in the bonds of his sins, and he is hemmed in by the walls of darkness of his vices in his iniquity, he is indeed sick, but if confession draws him out from the filth of vices, and through the laments of penance the chains of sin are broken, and he goes out to the light of good works, this one certainly visits the sick and those in prison. If in the way of this life he sees himself labouring, the wars of vice buffeting him like a wild storm, and the refuge of good works he does not have, let him know himself as one placed on the road who lacks hospitality, and if he leads himself to the house of virtues, and he takes himself into their protection, he certainly welcomes the guest. Which when in himself all these things he spiritually exhibits, so Christ in himself, of whom he is a member, he feeds, give drink, clothes, visits, and welcomes. Theodulf of Orleans, Chapters For His Local Priests, Chapter 32 1 Mt 25.35 2 Jn 6.41

Weakness And Glory

Habentes autem thesaurum hunc in vasis fictilibus; ut excellentia sit virtutis Dei, et non ex nobis. Thesaurum sacramentum significavit Dei in Christo, quod credentibus manifestatur, incredulis vero quodam tectum est velamine; quia sicut thesaurus in occulto ponitur, ita et sacramenta Dei intra hominem, id est, in corde humano absconditur. Hunc ergo thesaurum in animo et corpore dicit esse a Deo datum, ut eminentia virtutis ejus appareat per homines praedicatores dumtaxat; ut reconcilietur omnis lingua Creatori suo, non ad honorificentiam hominum, sed Dei, qui se manifestat per homines: qui cum humiles et imperiti essent, acceperunt potestatem a Deo et loquendi magnalia, et agendi. Fictilia ergo vasa dicens, infirmitatem naturae humanae significat, quae nihil potest, nisi a Deo acciperet virtutem, et ad laudem suam Deus per haec se praedicet, quae infirma sunt; ut gloria illi detur, non homini, qui ex luto fictus est. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Secundum, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 17.290b-d

Having even this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the virtue be God's and not from us.' 1 He means the treasure of the mystery of God in Christ, which is manifested by the faithful, though over unbelievers there is covering and a veil, because as a treasure is placed in a hidden place, so even the mystery of God in a man, that is, it is hidden in the human heart. Therefore he says that this treasure in the soul and body is given by God, that the glory of His virtue may appear through the preaching of men, that every tongue may be reconciled to its Creator, not for the honour of men, but of God, who manifests Himself through men, men who when they were humble and simple received the power of God and were able to speak and do wondrous things. So he speaks of an earthen vessel, signifying the infirmity of human nature, which can do nothing, unless it receives power from God, 2 and God to His own praise by this preaches Himself, through weakness, that glory might by given to Him, and not man, who is fashioned from mud. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 4 1 2 Cor 4.7 2 Jn 15.5