Faith And Love

Mors fidei est separatio charitatis. Credis in Christum? fac Christi opera, ut vivat fides tua. Fidem tuam dilectio animet, probet actio. Non incurvet terrenum opus, quem fides coelestium erigit. Qui te dicis in Christo manere, debes, sicut ipse ambulavit, et tu ambulare. Quod si propriam gloriam quaeris, florenti invides, absenti detrahis, reponis laedenti te: hoc Christus non fecit. Confiteris te nosse Deum, factis autem negas. Non recte plane, sed impie linguam Christo, animam dedisti diabolo. Audi ergo quid dicat: Homo iste labiis me honorat, cor autem ejus longe est a me. Non es profecto rectus, qui tam non recte dividis. Non potes attollere caput pressum diaboli jugo. Non te subrigere praevales, cui dominatur iniquitas. Iniquitates tuae supergressae sunt caput tuum, et sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super te. Iniquitas denique sedet super talentum plumbi. Vides quod non faciat hominem rectum fides etiam recta, quae non operatur ex dilectione. At qui sine dilectione est, non habet unde diligat sponsam. Sed nec opera, quamvis recta, rectum cor efficere sufficiunt sine fide. Quis enim rectum dicat hominem non placentem Deo? Sine fide autem impossibile est placere Deo. Qui non placet Deo, non potest illi placere Deus. Nam cui placet Deus, Deo displicere non potest. Porro cui non placet Deus, nec sponsa ejus. Quomodo ergo rectus, qui nec Deum diligit, nec Ecclesiam Dei, cui dicitur: Recti diligunt te? Si ergo nec fides sine operibus, nec opera sine fide sufficiunt ad animi rectitudinem; nos qui in Christum credimus, fratres, rectas studeamus facere vias nostras et studia nostra. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, In Cantica Canticorum, Sermo XXIV, Agit praecipue contra detestabile vitium detractionis; et qua in re rectitudo hominis potissimum consistat. Source: Migne PL 183.898b-899a

The death of faith is the loss of love. You believe in Christ? Do the works of Christ so that your faith will live. Love will give life to your faith, deeds will prove it. Let no worldly work drag down what faith has lifted up to the heavens. If you say you abide in Christ, you should walk as He walked. But if you seek your own glory, envying those who are successful, speaking ill of those who are absent, revenging yourself on those who hurt you, Christ did not do this. You confess that you know God, but with your deeds you reject Him. There is obviously nothing right, but wicked, in having your voice for Christ when your soul is given to the devil. Hear, then, what He says: 'That man honors me with his lips, but his heart is far from me.' 1 You are certainly not right who make a wicked division. You cannot lift up a head that is pressed down by the yoke of the devil. You cannot lift up what is ruled by wickedness. Your iniquities have risen up over your head and like the weight of a burden they are upon you. 2 And: 'Iniquity sits upon a talent of lead.' 3 Do you see, then, that correct faith will not make a man righteous if love does not fashion it? He who lacks love has no way to love the bride. But no deed, however righteous, is enough to make the heart righteous without faith. Who would call that man righteous who is not pleasing to God? But without faith it is impossible to please God. 4 And he who is not pleasing to God, God cannot please. For if God is pleasing to a man, that man cannot be displeasing to God. And then if God does not please a man, nor does His spouse. Who, then, is righteous who neither loves God nor the Church of God, to whom it is said, 'The righteous love you'? 5 If therefore, neither faith without works, nor works without faith, are enough for righteousness of soul, we who believe in Christ, brothers, must strive to make our ways and zeal right. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Commentary On The Song of Songs, from Sermon 24, On The Detestible Vice Of Detraction And In What The Righteousness Of Man Really Consists 1 Isaiah 29.13 2 Ps 37.5 3 Zach 5.7 4 Heb 11.6 5 Song 1.3

Greater Faith

Post haec autem cum venisset in Capernaum accessit ad eum centurio, rogans eum, et dicens: Domine, puer meus jacet in domo paralyticus, et male torquetur. Postquam Dominus populum docuit super montem et leprosum mundavit sub monte: post haec venit Capernauim in mysterio: post Judaeorum mundationem venit ad gentes. Et ecce centurio quidam accessit ad eum rogans. Centurio, primus fructus ex gentibus, ad cujus fidei comparitionem omnium Judaeroum fides infidelitas est inventa. Hic neques Christum audivit docentem, neque leprosum, cum mundaretur, aspexit, sed audita tantummodo sanitate leprosi, plus credidit quam audivit. Ille enim seipsum obtulit, dicens: Si vis, potes me mundare. Fidei quidem sunt haec verba, non tamen magnae, quoniam talia verba dici poterant etiam hominibus sanctis: qualis fuit Helisaeus, qui leprosum mundavit, non manibus, sed praecepto. Iste autem centurio non solum potestatis ejus virtutem confessus est, sed ipsam divinitatis ejus naturam cognovit. Non enim quasi corporalem sanctum rogavit, sed quasi Deum ubique praesentem, dicens: Dic verbo, et sanabitur puer meus. Quasi qui poterat etiam absentium infirmitatibus imperare. Erat enim iste centurio in mysterio gentium futurarum, quae neque legem aut prophetas legerant de Christo, neque ipsum Christum mirabilia facientem viderant, sed justitiam legis, quam in libris non legerant, in corde senserunt: et Christum, qum oculis non videerant, mente viderunt, ostendentes in se, quoniam Scripturae ad praejudicem peccatorum facatae sunt, non ad necessitatem sanctorum: quia rectis et fidelibus Scripturae necessariae non sunt , dicente Apostolo: Lex non est posita justo, sed injustis. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXII Source: Migne PG 56.751

After these things, when He had come to Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, beseeching Him, and saying, 'Lord, my serving boy lies paralysed in the house, and he is cruelly tormented.' 1 After the Lord taught on the mount and cleansed the leper at the bottom of it, after these things He comes to Capernaum for a mystery. After the cleansing of the Jews He comes to the Gentiles. And behold a certain centurion comes to him with an entreaty. A centurion, the first fruit of the Gentiles, in comparision to whose faith the faith of all the Jews is shown to be faithlessness. He did not hear Christ teaching, nor did he look on the leper when he was cured, he merely heard of the healing of the leper and believed more than he heard. For the leper offered himself, saying, 'If you will, make me clean,' and certainly these are the words of faith, but not of a great faith, because such words are able to be said to holy men, as it was with Elisha, who cleansed a leper, and not with his hands but with a command. 2 But this centurion not only confessed the might of Christ's power but he grasped the nature of His Divinity. For he did not ask him as a holy man, but as God who is present everywhere, saying: 'Say the word and my servant shall be healed.' As if He was able to issue commands even to the sick who are absent. This centurion was, in a mystery, the future for the Gentiles, because they neither read the law nor the prophets, nor did they see Christ performing miracles, but the righteousness of the law, which they did not read in books, was written on their hearts, 3 and Christ whom they did not see with their eyes, they saw with the mind, showing by themselves that the Scriptures were made for the judgement of sinners, not for the need of the holy, because there is no need of the Scriptures for the righteous and the holy, as the Apostle says: 'The Law was not given for the righteous man, but for the wicked.' 4 Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 22 1 Mt 8.5-6 2 4 Kings 5 3 cf Rom 2.14-15 4 Mt 8.5-6

Raising Up

Ut autem sciatis: quia potestatem habet filius hominis in terra dimittendi peccata, ait paralytico: tibi dico, surge: tolle grabatum tuum, et vade in domum tuam. Verba sunt Evangelistae: et est argumentum a visibili effectu postestatis, ad invisiblem: ut demonstrata Deitate in corporali effectu, intelligatur operari invisibiliter in mente. Et litera per se patet: notabile autem est quod dicit. Surge: tolle grabatum tuum, et vade in domum tuam Et dicit tria: quorum primum, cordis in Deum notat elevationem: secundum, peccati in pondus transitionem: tertium, conscientiae quietem. Surge, enim est: sursum te age. Surge qui dormis et exurge a mortuis: et illuminabit tibi Christus. Si consurrexistis cum Christo, quae sursum sunt quaerite, ubi Christus est in dextra Dei sedens: quae sursum sunt sapire, non quae super terram. Levemus corda nostra cum manibus in caelum. Tolle grabatum tuum. Ut pondus et onus fit, quod fuit delectatio resoluti. Sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me. Qui me salvum fecit, ille mihi praecepit: tolle grabatum tuum et ambula in pace. Et vade in domum tuam Ire est proficere in merito: in domum ire, est per profectum in pacata conscientia quiescere: in domum suam ire, est in merito proprio, et non in alienis actibus curiosum esse. De primo horum. Ibant in similitudinem fulguris coruscantis. Euntes ibant et flebant mittentes semina sua. De secundo. Intrans in domum meam conquiescam cura illa: non enim habet amaritudinem. Scies quod pacatu fit tabernaculum tuum. De tertio Ex his quae penetrant domos otiosae simul verbosae. Edidit terra eorum ranas in penetralibus regum ipsorum. Et staim surrexit ille: et sublato grabato abiit coram omnibus: ita ut mirarentur omnes et honorificarent Deum: dicentes, quia nunquam sic vidimus. Duo tanguntur: salus et salutis fructus. Salus autem est subita, integra, vigorosa, et aperta. Subita quidem, quia statim integra, quia dissolutus per omnes artus consolidatus surrexit vigorosa, quia sublato grabato suo abiit aperta sive manifesta, quia coram omnibus fructus autem triplex est: via enim ad fidem est admiratio: et hanc tangit, cum dicit. Ita ut admirentur omnes... Gratiarum autem actio, est secundum et honorificarent Deum laus autem, est in hoc quod dicit quod nunmquam sic vidimus. Quis audivit unquam talia: aut quis vidit huic simile? Si non opera fecissem inter eos quoa nemo alius fecit: peccatum non haberent. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput II Source: Here p24

'But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,' He said to the paralytic, 'I say to you, rise, take up your pallet, and go to your house.' 1 The words of the Evangelist are an argument from the visible effect of power to the invisible, so that Divinity is demonstrated in the bodily effect. Let what works unseen be understood in the mind. And the letter itself reveals it, for what He says is remarkable. 'Rise, take up your pallet and go into your house.' Which speaks of three things, the first of which is the elevation of the heart to God. The second is the passing away of the weight of sin. The third is the peace of the conscience. 'Rise,' that is, raise yourself up. 'Rise you who sleep and rise up from the dead and Christ shall enlighten you.' 2 'If you have risen with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.' 3 'Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to heaven.' 4 'Take up your pallet.' What was a comfort to the sick man is made a weight and a burden. 'As a burden weighing greatly upon me.' 5 'He who saved me, He it was who commanded me, 'Take up your pallet and go in peace.' 6 'And go into your house.' To go is to advance in merit. To go into the house is by progress to rest with a peaceful conscience. To go into one's own house, is to advance by one's own merit and not wander off to averse deeds. Concerning the first of these: 'They went off ... in a likeness of flashing lightning' 7 'Going out, they went and wept, sowing their seed.' 8 Concerning the second: 'Going into my house, I shall have rest by her care, for she has no bitterness.' 9 'You shall know that your tent is secure' 10 Concerning the third: 'From these who enter into houses are alike idle and verbose.' 11 'Their land sent frogs into the inner chambers of their king.' 12 'And immediately he arose, and taking up his pallet he went out before everyone, so that they were all amazed and honoured God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this.' Two things are touched upon: salvation and the fruit of salvation. For salvation is sudden, whole, vigorous and evident. It is sudden because 'immediately' he was made whole, the weakness in every limb being made firm. 'He arose' with vigour, because then 'taking up his pallet he went out' and did so openly and manifestly, that the fruit before all be threefold: for the way to faith is by wonder, and this is touched on when it says: So that they were all amazed... Their act of thankgiving is according to 'and they honoured God', but their praise is in this which is said: 'We have never seen anything like this.' 'Who has heard of such a thing? Or who has seen anything like this?' 13 'If I had not done the works among them which no other has done, they would not have sin.' 14 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 2 1 Mk 2.10 2 Ephes 5.14 3 Col 3.1 4 Lament 3.41 5 Ps 37.5 6 Jn 5.11 7 Ezek 1.14 8 Ps 125.6 9 Wisd 8.16 10 Job 5.24 11 cf 2 Tim 3.6 12 Ps 104.30 13 Isaiah 66.8 14 Jn 15.24

Rising Up

Videntibus illis elevatus est, nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum Hodie factum est germen Domini in magnificentia et gloria, et fructus terrae sublimis, fructus terrae fructus est uteri virginalis. Hodie impletum est verbum illud praedixerat Dominus per Prophetam: Nunc exsurgam, et nunc sublimabor. Exsurgam a mortuis, sublimabor in coelum. Hodie consummatur et perfecte clauditur tua inconsultilis tunica, Christe Jesu, id est integritas fidei Christianae, quia post praedicationem, post tentationes, post miracula, post laborem, post mortem et ignominiam crucis, post gloriam resurrectionis, postquam operatus fuisti salutem in medio terrae, tandem ostendisti te Deum et Dominum coeli, ponens nubem ascensum tuum, et ambulans super pennas ventorum. Caro itura ad Patrem, quae non erat ad Patrem, quae non erat a Patre prius, per gloriam resurrectionis omnem infirmitatem exuit. Accinxit se potentia amicta lumine sicut vestimento. Decebat enim ut Filius hominis, impleta obedientia propter quam venit, se in ornatu plenioris gloriae paternis aspectibus praesentaret. Hoc Daniel quandoque praesenterat dicens, Aspiciebam in visionis noctis, et ecce Filius hominis veniebat in nubibus colei: usque ad Antiquum dierum pervenit, qui dedit ei potestatem et honorem et regnum ejus quod non corrumpetur. Caro Christi prius mole nostrae mortalitatis aggravata, postquam gloria et honore coronata est, postquam decorem et fortitudinem induit, coelos potenter ascendit. Descendit in carnem, ut carnales in carne doceret, ut eos de carne transferret ad spiritum. Unde et Apostolus dicit, innuens glorificanionem carnis: Et si cognovimus Christum secundum carnem; sed jam non novimus. Quod aeris et coeli Dominus per aerem libere et potestative ascendit, qui de aere ejecerat principem hujus mundi, et aerias potestates suae cruci affixerat. Nemo ascendit in coelum, nisi qui de coelo descendit. Ideo descendit ut ascenderet, et ut secum ascendendo nos traheret. Cum exaltatus, inquit, fuero a terra, omnia traham ad meipsum. Deus immensus erat, neque crescere, neque ascendere poterat. Ut ergo cresceret, minoratus est paulo minus ab angelis. Ideo autem ascendit, ut in sua ascensione angelicam transcenderet dignitatem. Apparuit quidem humanitas et benignitas Christi in nativitate ipsius, apparuit potentia et gloria ipsius in resurrectione ejusdem. Sed in ejus ascensione praecipue nobis gaudendum est: in qui nobis aperta est via vitae, roborata est fides, firmata est fiducia nostra, ut illuc eamus quo transiit caput nostrum, sine membris suis caput esse non potest. Volo, inquit Pater ut ubi ego sum, illic sit et minister meus. Ob reverentiam suam exauditus est filius, et voluntate labiorum suorum non fraudavit eum Pater. Ubique nobis ministrat, ubique salutis nostrae negotium benigne procurat. Vado, inquit, parare vobis locum; et si abiero, iterum veniam ad vos, et assumam vos ad me ipsum. Verbum Christi est: Nemo venit ad me, nisi Pater meus traxerit eum: sed et nemo venit ad Patrem, nisi traxerit eum Filius. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXIII In Ascensione Domini Source: Migne PL 207.627b-628c

They saw Him lifted up, and a cloud took him away from their sight. 1 Today the bud of the Lord is magnificent and glorious, and the fruit of the earth is high, 2 and the fruit of the earth is the fruit of the virginial womb. Today is fulfilled the word which the Lord spoke through the prophet: 'Now I shall rise up, now I shall be exalted.' 3 I shall rise up from the dead, I shall be exalted in heaven. Today it is consummated, and perfect is the finishing of your garment for the untutored, O Christ Jesus, that is, the integrity of the faith of the Christian, because after preaching, after trials, after miracles, after toil, after death and the disgrace of the cross, after the glory of the resurrection, after you worked salvation in the midst of the world, at last you show yourself God and Lord of heaven, 'who place the cloud for your ascension, and walk on the wings of the wind.' 4 The flesh, which was not with the Father, is going to the Father, that which was not with the Father before, has sloughed off every weakness through the glory of the resurrection. He has bound himself with power, 'clothed with light as a garment.' 5 For it is fitting that the Son of Man, fulfilling the obedience for which He came, shall present himself in the adornment of full glory for the paternal gaze. That which Daniel once foresaw, saying, 'I had a vision in the night, and, behold, the Son of Man was coming on the clouds of heaven, and even to the ancient of days he came, who gave to him power and honour and his kingdom which shall not pass away.' 6 Before the flesh of Christ was weighted down with the mass of our mortality, after it was crowned with glory and honour, after it was endowed with beauty and strength, and in power it rose up to heaven. He descended in the flesh, that He might teach those in the flesh, so that they might pass over to the spirit. Whence the Apostle says, referring to the glorfication of the flesh, 'And if we knew Christ according to the flesh, yet we no longer know Him so.' 7 Because the Lord of the air and of heaven is able to ascend in power and freedom through the air, He who cast the prince of the world out of the air, and He nailed his powers of the air to the cross. 'No one ascends to heaven, unless the one who has come down from heaven.' 8 Therefore He descended so that He might ascend, and that He might draw us into ascending with Him. He who said: 'When I am lifted up from the earth I shall draw all things to me.' 9 God was great, He did not grow, nor was He able to ascend. That thus He might grow He was reduced 'to a little less than the angels' 10 Therefore He ascends, so that by His ascension He might transcend the dignity of angels. The humanity and kindness of Christ appeared in His nativity, His power and glory in His resurrection. But in His ascension is what is especially joyful for us, for in it the way of life is opened for us, faith is strengthed and our confidence is made firm, that we shall go from here where our head has gone, for the head cannot be without its members. 11 He has said that where He is there is His servant. 12 Because of His piety the Son is heard, and the Father does not disappoint the wish of His lips. 13 Everywhere He serves us, everywhere He kindly attends to the business of our salvation. 'I go,' He says, 'to prepare a place for you, and if I shall go, I shall come to you again and I shall take you up to myself' 14 The word of Christ is: 'No one comes to me unless my Father brings him,' 15 but also no one comes to the Father unless the Son brings him. Peter of Blois, from Sermon 33, On the Ascension of the Lord 1 Acts 1.9 2 Isaiah 4.2 3 Isaiah 32.10 4 Ps 103.3 5 Ps 103.2 6 Dan 7.13 7 2 Cor 5.16 8 Jn 3.13 9 Jn 12.32 10 Ps 8.6 11 Ephes 1.22-23 12 cf Jn 12.26, Jn 17.24 13 Ps 20.3 14 Jn 14.2 15 Jn 14.6

Jubilation And Cries

Ascendit Deus in jubilatione: Dominus in voce tubae. Veniunt filii Core ad secundum modum, ubi tempus illud pia laude concelebrant, quando corporalibus oculis ascensio Domini gloriosa veritate conspecta est. In jubilatio vero propterea dictum est, quoniam stupentes apostoli tale miraculum ineffabili cordis laetitia replebantur; quorum felicibus oculis datum est ad coelos euntem videre Dominum Salvatorem. Jubilationem vero diximus nimiam quidem esse laetitiam, sed non quae sermonibus explicatur. Vocem quoque tubae verba significant angleorum, quae magno strepitu percussi aeris fragore tonuerunt. Tunc enim de tali visione apostolis stupentibus dixerunt angeli: Viri Galilaei, quid admiramini? Hic Jesus qui assumptus est a vobis sic veniet, quemmadmodum vidistis eum euntem in coelum; ut mundus firmius crederet quod talibus praeconibus insonaret. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XLVI Source: Migne PL 70.334c

God ascends in jubilation, the Lord in the voice of the trumpet. 1 The sons of Kore come to the second measure, where is the time they celebrate with pious praise when with the bodily eyes the glorious ascension of the Lord was seen in truth. 'In jubiliation' it was said, because the Apostles had their hearts filled with ineffable joy by such a miracle, those to whom it was given to look toward the heavens with happy eyes at the Lord Saviour's going. Whatever cannot be expressed in words but is excessively joyful we name 'jubilation.' Now the voice of the trumpet signifies the words of the angels, which strikiing the heavens with a great cry made it resound with thunder. And then, concerning the sight, the angels said to the astonished Apostles: 'Men of Galilee, what are you wondering at? This Jesus who was taken up shall come to you in like manner, as you have seen him going into heaven.' 2 And that the world might more firmly believe it cried out for such preachers. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 46 1 Ps 46.6 2 Acts 1.11

Rising And Falling

Sicut humor subtilis per exhaltationes a terra sursum rapitur, sic intellectus cordis humani per meditationes et scrutationes subtilis effectus ad alta levatur. Et quemadmodum humor ascends frigore praestringitur, et relabitur unde venerat, sic multi ab intelligentia summorum per ignorantiam cadunt, propterea quod in bonis quae intelligere poterant agendis per desidiam torpescunt. Sed lapsus nivis nec strepitum facit, nec laedit; lapsus et grandinis et strepitum facit, et pondere laedit: quia multi torpent a bono, et nocent in malo; alii torpentes sunt, non nocentes. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I Tit XXI, De Impedimento Cognitionis Source: Migne PL 177.489c

As a subtle vapour is carried up above by exhalations from the earth, so the understanding of the human heart is lifted up to the heights by the performance of meditations and acute contemplation, but as that rising vapour may be gripped by cold and fall back down to where it came, so many fall from the understanding of high things by ignorance, and because of this, becoming slothful in the good deeds they were able to understand, they grow cold. But as snow falls without a sound and does no harm, and then hail falls noisely and hurts because of its weight, so many who grow cold in good turn to doing harm in evil, while others who grow cold are not harmful at all. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chap 21, On The Obstruction of Understanding

The Habit Of Virtue

Ἐλεημοσύναι καὶ πίστεις μὴ ἐκλιπέτωσάν σε ἄφαψαι δὲ αὐτὰς ἐπὶ σῷ τραχήλῳ καὶ εὑρήσεις χάριν Ἐν ἔξει τὰς ἀρετὰς ἔχων, μὴ ἐπιπολαίως καταῥῥᾳθυμῶν αὐτων, οὗτος ἔχει αὐτὰς γεγραμμένας ἐπὶ πλακὸς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ καρδίας, ἐπὶ τοῦ βάθους δηλαδὴ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς, ἥτοι τῆς διηνεκοῦς ἐπιθυμήσεως, ἵνα ὁ ἐξ ἐναντίας μὴ παρατρέπῃ σε. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' Γ’ Source: Migne PG 39.1625b

Mercy and faith, let them not forsake you, hang them around your neck, and inscribe them on the tablets of your heart. 1 He who has the habit of the virtues does not easily become careless in the exercise of them, for he has them inscribed on the tablets of his own heart, certainly in the depths of his soul, for which he has continual attention, so that the adversary does not lead him astray. Didymus the Blind, On Proverbs, Chapter 3 1 Prov 3.3

Weakness And Aid

Ἔλεγον περι τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου, ὅτι ἀναβαίνων ἀπὸ Σκήτεως, καὶ βαστάζων σπυρίδας, κοπιάσας ἐκαθέσθη· καὶ ηὔξατο λέγων, Ὁ Θεος, συ οἶδας ὅτι οὐκ ἰσχύω. Καὶ εὐθέως εὑρέθη ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμόν. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας Source: Migne PG 65.269a

They say concerning Father Macarius the Egyptian, that once going up from Scetis bearing a heavy load of baskets, he sat down exhausted and began to say to himself, 'O God, you know that I am not strong enough.' And immediately he found himself at the river. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Trials And Rewards

Qui in virtute Dei custodimini per fidem, etc. Et Dominus ait in Evangelio: In domo Patris mei mansiones multae sunt. Et iterum: Non est meum dare vobis, sed quibus paratum est a Patre meo. Paratae ergo sunt sedes in regno Dei, paratae mansiones in domo Patris, parata salus in coelis, tantum faciat se dignum qui accipere desiderat. Sed quia nemo suo tantum conamine dignus fieri, suisque viribus ad aeternam potest venire salutem, recte praemittitur: Qui in virtute Dei custodimini per fidem. Neque enim quisquam suae libertatis potentia custodiri valet in bonis, sed illius per omnia quaerendum est auxilium, ut perficiamur, a quo initium bonae actionis accepimus. In quo exsultabitis, etc. Quod dicit In quo, significat in eo quod tempore novissimo salus parata revelabitur, ac dignis dabitur. De quo et Dominus ait: Iterum autem videbo vos, et gaudebit cor vestrum, et gaudium vestrum nemo tollet a vobis. Modicum nunc, si oportet, contristari. Oportet, inquit, contristari, quia non nisi per tristitiam saeculi labentis et afflictiones potest ad gaudia aeterna perveniri. Modicum autem dicit, quia ubi merces aeterna retribuetur, breve videbitur ac leve totum fuisse quod in saeculi tribulationibus grave videbatur et acerbum. Ut probatio fidei vestrae multo pretiosior sit auro, etc. Et Sapientiae liber passiones sanctorum auro quod per ignem examinatur comparat, dicens de Domino: Tanquam aurum in fornace probavit illos, et quasi holocausti hostiam accepit illos. Quia nimirum quos in camino tribulationis fideles probaverit, hos in gaudio retributionis quasi placabilem sibi hostiam assumet. Et bene patientia sanctorum auro assimilatur, quia sicut in metallis pretiosius auro aliquid non est, ita haec apud Deum omni est laude dignissima. Hinc etenim scriptum est: Pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum ejus. Sicut enim aurum in fornace clausum ignibus examinatur, prolatum vero foras cujus sit fulgoris apparebit, ita fidelium constantia inter infidelium quidem pressuras contemptibilis videtur ac stulta; sed ubi tempus retributionis, finito certamine tribulationum, adfuerit, tunc quantae fuerit gloriae quantum flammis passionum profecerit, eorum virtus ostenditur. Sancta Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Petri, Caput I Source: Migne PL 93.43b-44a

You who by the virtue of God are guarded through faith...1 And the Lord says in the Gospel: 'In the house of my Father there are many dwelling places.' 2 And again: 'It is not for me to give this to you, but they are for whom my Father has prepared it.' 3 Thus the seats are prepared in the kingdom of God, and rooms are prepared in the house of the Father, and salvation is prepared in heaven, only let him make himself worthy of it who desires to be received. But because no one is made worthy to come to eternal salvation by his own exertions and strength, rightly it is set down first: 'You who by the virtue of God are guarded through faith.' For no one is able to guard himself in good things by the power of his own will, but it is from Him whose help must be sought in everything, that we be perfected, from whom we receive the beginning of every good deed. In which you shall exult... By 'in which' he signifies that last time when the salvation that has been prepared shall be revealed and given to those who are worthy. Concerning which the Lord says: 'But again I shall see you, and your hearts shall rejoice, and no one shall take your joy from you.' 4 If now it is necessary to suffer a little... It is necessary to suffer, he says, because only through the sorrows and afflictions of a fallen word is it possible to come to eternal joy. And he says 'a little,' because when the eternal reward shall be given, brief and light shall seem all of that which amid the tribulations of the world seemed so burdensome and bitter. That the trial of your faith, much more precious than gold... The book of Wisdom compares the passions of the saints to the examination of gold by fire, saying of the Lord: 'As gold in the furnace He tired them, and as the sacrifice of a holocaust He received them.' 5 Because certainly those who are proved faithful in the way of tribulation are those who are taken up as a pleasing sacrifice in the joy of the reward. And rightly is the endurance of the saints likened to gold, because as among metals there is nothing more precious than gold, thus with God these are most worthy of all praise. Hence indeed it has been written: 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.' 6 For as gold set in the furnace is examined with fire, and when it is drawn out its splendour appears, so the constancy of the saints amid the impositions of the godless seem contemplible and foolish, but come the time of reward, with the end of the struggle of tribulations, then with as much glory as were produced by the flames of passion, so their virtue will be shown. Saint Bede, Commentary on the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 1 1 1 Pet 1.5 2 Jn 14.2 3 Mk 10.40 4 Jn 16.22 5 Wisd 3.6 6 Ps 115.15

Endurance And Reward

Existimo ergo quod non sint condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quae revelabitur in nobis. Exhortatio haec ad superiora pertinet, per quam ostendit parva esse, quae hic possunt a perfidis irrogari, ad comparationem decreti muneris in futuro saeculo. Propterea nos jubet ad omnia exitia paratos esse debere, quia magna pro his repromissa sunt praemia; ut in tribulatione consoletur se animus, et spe crescat. Nam et quosdam, immo multos scimus pro praesentibus lucris, ad modicum utique profuturis, quam asperos et duros subire labores, et ad quae tendunt aliquando, quia ipsa vita fragilis est et incerta, pervenire non possunt. Nautae pro quibus commodis tantis se procellis et tempestatibus credunt; cum sciant in his magis mortem ante oculos esse, quam vitam? Et milites spe praesentis praemii, cum incerta victoria sit, in gladios insurgere non dubitant. Quanto ergo magis pro Christo patiendum est, cujus etiam protelata sunt nobis beneficia: qui pro parvis magnifica, pro terrenis coelestia, et pro temporalibus perpetua praemia cum gloria pollicetur! Pro Christo dicimur pati, cum nobis non illi proficiat, quod patimur: sed quia ille occasionem quaerit remunerandi nos, hoc praecipit; ut bonus enim vel profusus largitor causam quaerit, quomodo donet aut indignis, aut verecundis. Denique ut ipsa exitia tolerari possint, ipse suggerit vires. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Romanos, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 17.124a-b

Therefore I judge that the sufferings of this time are not worth comparing to the glory that shall be revealed to us. 1 This exhortation relates to what we have just read, by which he shows that the things it is possible may inflicted by the wicked here are small in comparison with the reward decreed in the future age. Because of which he admonishes us to be prepared for every sort of mischief, because the rewards promised for these things are so great, whence the soul may be consoled in tribulation and grow in hope. We know how bitter and hard are the labours we undergo for present gain, and for the little we get in the future, and that because life is fragile and uncertain that sometimes there is no gain at all. Consider how sailors give themselves to such great storms and tempests for such things, when they know that in these things death is more likely to be set before their eyes than life. And that soldiers do not hesitate to take up the sword for the hope of present reward, when victory is uncertain. How much more, therefore, should we suffer for Christ, whose blessings are spread out before us, He who offers great things for little things, heavenly things for worldly things, eternal rewards for temporal ones. We are said to suffer for Christ, when it benefits us and not Him, but because He seeks for an occasion to reward us, this is what He commands. For like a good and generous benefactor, He seeks a reason to give to those who are either unworthy or bashful. And then, that adversities be endured, He even supplies the strength. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Letter of Saint Paul To The Romans, Chapter 8 1 Rom 8.18

Arms Of Righteousness

Sed exhibete vos Deo, tanquam ex mortuis viventes, et membra vestra arma justitiae Deo. Intuere per singula sapientiam Pauli. Ubi dicit arma non esse praebenda peccato vel iniquitati non nos, sed membra nostra ponit. Ubi vero suadet, ut nos Deo exhibeamus, non tam membra nostra quam nos ipsos exhiberi vult Deo, hoc est anima vel propositum cordis: ut primum nosmetipsos exhibuerimus, et erimus adhaerentes Deo, tunc demum etiam membra nostra efficiamus arma justitiae. Rursus si peccati concupiscentiam mortificemus in corpore nostro mortali, efficiemur tanquam ex mortuis viventes, mortui peccato, et viventes Deo; et membra nostra arma justitiae militantia ei, cui ea deservire justissimum est. Bene autem metaphoram superius propositam exequitur ut in regno peccati membra nostra arma nominaret iniquitatis, rursumque arma justitiae nominaret in regno Dei. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber III, Caput VI Source: Migne PG 180.608b-c

But exhibit yourselves to God as those living from the dead, and your members as the arms of righteousness for God. 1 Observe the wisdom of Paul in each thing. When he says our arms must not be offerred to sin or wickedness, it is not us but our members he specifies. But when he exhorts us to exhibit ourselves to God, it is not so much our members but ourselves he wishes to be exhibited to God, that is, the soul or the intent of the heart, so that first we exhibit ourselves, and we are those who adhere to God, and then at last we make our members the arms of righteousness. Again if we mortify the lust for sin in our mortal bodies, we are made as living men from the dead, those dead in sin, and we live to God, and our members are the arms of righteousness for Him, Him whom it is most right to serve with all diligence. Well employed is the metaphor above, so that he might name our members as the arms of wickedness in the kingdom of sin, and again that he might name them the arms of righteousness in the kingdom of God. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Rom 6.13

Advice On Flight

Ἐπὶ τῷ Kυρίῳ πέποιθα πῶς ἐρεῖτε τῇ ψυχῇ μου μεταναστεύου ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ὡς στρουθίον ... ̓Ιδοὺ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐνέτειναν τόξον, ἡτοίμασαν βέλη εἰς φαρέτραν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς;  Ἐφ' οἷς εἰρημένοις παρορμᾷ τὴν ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ μετεωρισθῆναι δίκην στρουθίου πτεροῖς ἀρετῆς, ἵνα περάσας ἐπὶ τὰ ὕψος ἔχοντα ὄρη πνευματικὰ ἀβλαβὴς διαμείνῃ. Ὅπως δ' ἄν ἔχῃ τὰ τῆς διαστολῆς τοῦ ἀναγνώσματος, πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ Kύριον προσήκει. Κατὰ θεωρίαν δέ· πολλῶν σοφιστικῶς παρεσκευασμένων ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων ἐχθρῶν ὡς ἤδη τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν ἔχειν τεταμένον, δι' ἑτοιμασίαν τόξῳ ἐντεταμένῳ ἐοικός, ἀλλὰ καὶ βέλη ἔτοιμα, λόγοι δὲ πειθανοὶ ταῦτα, πρὸς τὸ κατατοξεῦσαί σε, ἔχεις διατριβὴν ἐν ὑψηλοῖς ὄρεσιν, ἐνθα γεναμένη οὐ τρωθήσει. Eἴρηται δὲ ὡς τὰ θειότερα τῶν Γραφῶν νοήματα τῇ τῶν ὀρῶν προσηγορίᾳ σημαίνεται· πρὸς τούτοις καὶ οἱ σοφοὶ διδάσκαλοι ἀπόστολοι καὶ προφῆται. Δυνατὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος εἰρημένον ἐκλαβεῖν τὸ Μετανάστευε ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ὡς στρουθίον, προτρεπομένου ἀναχωρεῖν τὸν διαδράναι θέλοντα τὴν ἰοβόλον τρῶσιν τῶν τοξοτῶν. Eἰ δὲ καὶ ἀόρατοι δυνάμεις αἱ αὐταὶ οὖσαι ἤ συγγενεῖς τοῖς τοξόταις λέγοιεν τὸ Μετανάστευε ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ὡς στρουθίον, χλευαστικῶς αὐτὸ εἰρημένον ἐκληψόμεθα, ὑποδειλῶσαι θελόντων τοὺς ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ ἐπὶ θεὸν πεποιθότας. Eἴτ' ἐπεὶ σκότους υἱοὶ καὶ νυκτός εἰσιν οἱ πρὸς τὸ οὔτω σοφιστεύειν παρεσκευασμένοι τοξόται, ἐν ἀφεγγεῖ νυκτὶ κατατοξεύειν προτέθεινται τοὺς εὐθείαν καρδίαν ἔχοντας. Δυδύμος του Ἀλεξανδρέως, Εἰς Ψαλμοὺς, Ψαλμός Ι’ Source: Migne PG 39.1208b-d

In The Lord I trust, how do you say to my soul, fly off to the mountains like a sparrow ... Behold sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their shafts in the quiver... 1 Because of whom the soul is exhorted to take itself off like a sparrow on the wings of the virtues, so that in passing over to the spiritual mountains it be preserved unharmed. And though there are different readings of this passage, certainly trust in the Lord is fitting. According to the spiritual sense as much as visible enemies are cleverly prepared so it is with invisible foes, who here they have wills stretched taut with intent like a bow that has been bent in preparation to shoot, and even the shafts are ready, that is, their words of perusasion, for your piercing. But you have a safe place in the heights of the mountains, and there set you shall not be harmed. It has been said, however, that the meaning of the name of the mountains in Scripture is more divine than this, and they are the wise teachers who are the Apostles and the prophets. It is possible to understand, 'Fly off to the mountains like a sparrow,' to be spoken by the Spirit, who exhorts us to withdraw the soul, because of His wish for us to escape the wounding shafts of the bows. Because if perhaps the invisible powers, and those similar to them, say, 'Fly off to the mountains like a sparrow,' we shall have to think that they say it mockingly, wishing to signify the cowardice of those who have full hearted confidence in God. And they are the sons of darkness and night, who with this sort of sophistical speech are like archers at the ready, who in the gloom of the night have set themselves to launch shafts against men who have upright hearts. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 10 1 Ps 10.2-3

Advice On Fighting

Ἀναλάβετε ὅπλα καὶ ἀσπίδα, προσπεφώνηκέ τισιν ὁ προφήτυς Ἡσαῗας. Παυλός γε μὴν ὁ σοφώτατος· Ἐνδύσασε, φησὶν, τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οἱ γὰρ Θεῷ γνώριμοι, καὶ ἀρετῆς ἐρασταὶ, καὶ ταῖς παγκάλαις ἐπιεικείαις σύντροφοι, καταστρατεύονται μὲν ὅτι μάλιστα γενικῶς ἀπὰπσης βεβήλου καὶ σαρκικῆς ἡδονῆς, ἀντεξάγουσι δὲ ὥσπερ ταῖς τοῦ διαβόλου δυστροπίαις, τὸ ἐρηρεισμένον ἐν πίστει, τὸ ἀκατασειστον εἰς ὑπομονὴν, τὸ εἰς πόνους τληπαθὲς, καὶ τὸ πρόόθυμον εἰς φιλεργίαν, τὴν ἐφ' ἄπασι δηλονότι τοῖς τεθαυμασμένοις. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν, οἶμαι, τὶς εἰς τοῦτο ποτε πνευματικῆς εὐῥῥωστίας ἀφίκοιτο μέτρον, ὡς καὶ τὴν οὕτω περιφανῆ καὶ παντὸς ὑπέκεινα θαύματος δόξαν ἐλεῖν, εἰ μὴ Χριστὸν ἔχοι τὸν προασπίζοντα. Συναθλήσει δὲ πάντως , καὶ συνέσται προθύμως τοῖς τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονεῖν ᾑρημένοις καὶ τὴν δι' αὐτοῦ κάθαρσιν ἐκπεπλουτηκόσιν, αὔχημά τε ποιεῖσθαι μεμελητηκόσι τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ γοῦν ὁ θεσπέσιος Ψαλμῳδός· Ὁ καταοικειν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Ὑψίστου, ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται. Ἐρεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ· Ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεος μου, βοηθός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ επ' αὐτόν. Ὅτι αὐτὸς ῥύσεταί με ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ λόγου ταραχώδους. Ἀμείνους γὰρ ὅτι τῶν πολεμίων ἐσόμεθα, διασώζοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, πιστὸς ἔσται λέγων αὐτός· Ὅτι ἐπ' ἐμε ἦλθε, καὶ ῥύσομαι αὐτὸν. Κέκραξε τε πρὸς με, καὶ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ· μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει· ἐξελοῦμαι, καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν. Ἀλλ' ὅρα τὸ χρῆμα καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ γραφόμενον τοῦ πανσόφου Μωσέως. Ἔφη γὰρ· Ἐὰν δὲ ἐξέλθῃς παραβαλεῖν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου, καὶ φυλάξῃ ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ ῥήματος· ἐὰν ᾗ ἐν σοὶ ἄνθρωπος ὃς οὐκ ἔστι καθαρὸς ἐκ ῥύσεως αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς, καὶ οὐκ εἰσελεύσει εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν. Καὶ ἔσται τὸ πρὸς ἐσπέραν λούσεται τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐν ὕδατι, καὶ δεδυκότος ἡλίου, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν παρεμβολήν. Καὶ τόπος ἔσται σοι ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς· καὶ ἐξελεύσῃ ἐκεῖ ἐξω· καὶ πάσσαλος ἔσται σοι ἐπὶ ζώνῃς σου. Καὶ ἔσται ὅταν διακαθιζάνῃς ἔξω, καὶ ὀρυξεις ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀπαγαγὼν καλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην σου ἐν αὐτῷ. Ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς σου ἐμπεριπατεῖ ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ σου, ἐξελέσθαι σε, καὶ παραδοῦναι τόν ἐχθρόν σου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας σου. Καὶ ἔσται ἡ παρεμβολὴ σου ἁγία, καὶ οὐκ ὀφθήσεται ἔν σοι ἀσξημοσύνη πράγματος, καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀπὸ σοῦ. Ἀκούεις ὅτι τοὺς κατανεανιεύεσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ εὐδοκιμεῖν ἐθέλοντας, ἀπαλλάττεσθαι χρὴ παντὸς μολυσμοῦ; Ἡ πάλη γὰρ ἡμῶν, οὐ πρὸς αἷμαι καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, αἵ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον ἀκριβῶς κατασκέπτονατι βίον, καὶ τῆς εκάστου ζωῆς πολυπραγμονοῦσι τὸν τρόπον. Δεῖ δὴ οὖν ἀμώμητόν τε καὶ ἀνεπίληπτον ἡμᾶη ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πολιτείαν, ἵνα μὴ τοὶς παρ' ἐκείνων ἐγκλήμασιν ὑποφέρηται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐχθρός ἐστι καὶ ἐκδικητὴς ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας πατήρ. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷδε τῷ κόσμῷ νόμῳ πολέμου καὶ μάχης ἀνεγειρόμενοι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς, τὰς εἰς σῶμα πληγὰς ἤτοι δέχονται τυχὸν, ἢγουν ἑτέροις ἐπάγουσιν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτω· Τὰ γὰρ ὅπλα ἡμων οὐ σαρκικὰ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ εἰς σάρκα πληττόμεθα, ἀλλ' εἰς νοῦν καὶ καρδίαν εἰσδεχόμενοι τὰς ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ εἰς τὰ τῆς φιλοσαρκίας διαπιποντες πάθη. Χρὴ τοίνυν ἡμᾶς παντευχίαις ἐνηρμόσθαι ταῖς πνευματικαῖς, καὶ τῇ ἄνωθων χάριτι περιφράττεσθαι, καὶ εἰς ὅσον οἶον τε τὸν νοῦν ἔξω βέλους νοητοῦ ποιεῖσθαι παντός. Περιεσόμεθα γὰρ ὡδὶ τῶν ἁνθεστηκότων, καὶ πέρα παντὸς ἰέντες πάθους, ἀδιαλώβητον τῷ Θεῷ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς τηρήσομεν κάλλος. Ταύτῃ τοι φησὶν ὁ νόμος· Ἐὰν δὲ ἐξέλθῃς παρεμβαλεῖν εἰς πόλεμον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου, καὶ φυλάξῃ ἀπὸ παντὸς ῥήματος πονηροῦ, τουτέστιν, αἰτίας ἀπάσης ἀποτάτω ποίει σαυτὸν, μηδεὶς ἔσται κατὰ σου λόγος ἀληθὴς ἐπ' αἰσχίῳ τε καὶ διαβεβλημένῳ πράγματι, παραιτοῦ τὴν κατάῥῥησιν τὴν ἐφοτῳουν καὶ ἀργείτω κατὰ σου πᾶν ῥημα πονηρόν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας,Γλαφυρών Ἐις Τὸ Δευτερονόμιον Source: Migne PG 69.657d-661b

'Take up your arms and shields,' it was said somewhere by the prophet Isaiah. 1 The most wise Paul also said: 'Put on the armour of God.' 2 For those who are the friends of God and lovers of virtue and who have been nutured on everything which is fitting, they certainly powerfully repel every defiling and carnal pleasure, and firm in faith, and unshakeably strong in patience and the toleration of trials, and swift for the glorious work of the soul in everything, they mightly oppose the perversity of the devil. Even so, I do not think that anyone rises to that measure of spiritual fortitude, from which such wonderful and admirable glory is acquired, unless he has Christ for a fellow fighter. He who shall certainly join and eagerly stand beside those who think upon the things that He loves, and who through Him have been washed to purity, having carefully given thought to glory and shame. Whence the Psalm says: 'He who dwells in the help of the most High, remaining under the protection of the God of heaven.' 3 And there he says to the Lord: 'You take me up and are my refuge, my God, my helper, and I hope in Him. Because He shall free me from the snare of the hunters and from the bitter word.' For He Himself promises that we shall be superior to our enemies by God's saving will: 'Because he comes to me, I shall deliver him. He called out to me, and I heard him, I am with him in tribulation, I shall draw him out and glorify him.' 4 And see that same thing was described by the wise Moses. For it says: 'If you shall go out of the camp to fight with enemies, keep yourself from every evil word. If there is a man among you unclean from discharge during the night, so he shall leave the camp and may not come back into it. And in the evening he shall wash his body with water and after sunset he shall return to the camp. And there shall  also be a place for you outside the camp. You shall go out there and there shall be a scoop in your belt. And when you sit outside, because of this foulness that is yours ,you shall use the earth to cover your uncleanliness. For the Lord your God walks in your camps, that he might seize you and give the enemy into your hands. Let the camps be holy, let there not appear among you anything unseemly, lest God turn Himself from you.' 5 Hear how those who wish to conquer the enemy and to be approved by God must be cleansed of every defilement. For our fight is not 'against blood and flesh,' as it is written, 'but against principalities and powers and the rulers of this world of darkness, against spiritual wickedness in the heavens,' 6 because of which human life must be carefully scrutinised, and enquiry made into each way of living. It is neccessary, therefore, that we be seen to have a blameless and correct life, lest our sins bring us into subjection. For the enemy and our persecutor is the father of sin. Now those who in this world strive to fight and battle well with an enemy will either receive wounds or inflict them on others, but it is not so for us when 'our arms are not carnal,' as it is written. 7 Whence we do receive wounds in the flesh but in the soul, and the heart lets in lusts, and we are pierced with alluring pleasures. Therefore it is necessary to be instructed in spiritual arms and to be walled about with heavenly grace, and, while it is possible, to keep the mind away from every exterior spiritual shaft. Thus we shall be superior to our adversaries, and having overcome every passion of our souls, we shall keep our beauty inviolate for God. Hence the law says: 'If you shall go out to fight against your enemies, keep yourself from every evil word.' 8 That is, draw yourself far apart from everything incriminating, and do not let any word against you be true in things depraved and vile, and avoid anything worthy of reproof, nor allow space for any word against you. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra On Deuteronomy 1 Isaiah 21.5 2 Ephes 6.11 3 Ps 90.1-3 4 Ps 90 14-14 5 Deut 23.9-14 6 Ephes 6.12 7 2 Cor 10.4 8 Deut 23.9

Grapes And Thorns, Figs And Thistles

Nunquid colligunt de spinis uvas, aut de tribulis ficus? Spina namque quamvis a principio floribus candeat, non ideo uvas affert, quia non manet in vite, etsi videntur uvae pendere super eam. Vitis autem Christus est, et omnia membra ejus palmites. Idcirco solummodo eorum est uvas ferre, opera videlicet Spiritus sancti, quae inebriant mentem. Quas profecto cum videris inter spinas, noveris non ex eis esse; et ideo sic uvam carpe ut spinam caveas. Spinarum autem est, dilacerare tangentem se et disrumpere; quia haeretici verborum aculeis universos dilaniant et affigunt. Porro tribuli nullam dulcedinem ficus ferunt; quia fornicarii et scelerum amatores sine fructu ad tempus florent. Quibus duobus bene omnes, qui de massa perditionis sunt, etsi ad nos veniant, extra nos ad ignem sine fructu futuri figurantur. Undeo primo homini dicitur: Cum operatus fueris terram, spinas et tribulos germinabit tibi. Quas isti miseri in carne et in animo, quia terra sunt, nutrientes, hortos ferre nequeant vineae, de qua Pater agricola est, et omnes palmites propagantur. Neque de tribulis ficus generantur, quos mittit ficulnea grossiores, sed ex sua propagine; quae carnis sunt ex Adam sentiunt, et ea solummodo sectantur. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib IV Cap VII Source: Migne PL 120.323c-324a

Are grapes gathered from thorns, figs from thistles? 1 For though in the beginning a thorn bush may be adorned with flowers, it does not thus bring forth grapes, because it is not part of the vine, even if it seems that grapes should come forth from it. The vine is Christ, and all his members are branches. 2 Therefore it is they alone who bear grapes, that is, the works of the Holy Spirit, which inebriate the mind. And certainly when you see them among thorns, you know they are not from them, and so lay hold of the grape and beware the thorn. For it is of thorns to cut and rend the one who touches them, for all the stings of the words of heretics tear and snare. Then thistles do not bear the sweetness of the fig, because the lovers of fornication and crimes do not bring forth fruit in its season. By which two types are contained all who are of the damned mass, even if they do come to us, and who outside of us, without fruit for the future, are shaped for fire. Whence it is said to the first man: 'When you shall work the land, it shall bear thorns and thistles for you.' 3 Which things they feed on who are wretched in flesh and soul, because they are of the earth, and they unable to bear the gardens of the vine, of which the Father is the farmer, 4 and all the branches spread forth. Nor do thistles produce the figs which the greater fig trees send forth, but they produce from their own seed, which know they are of the flesh of Adam, and these things alone they pursue. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chap 7 1 Mt 7.16 2 Jn 15.5 3 Gen 3.18 4 Jn 15.1

Toil And Travel

In multitudine viae tuae laborasti, et non dixisti: Quiescam: vitam manus tuae invenisti, propterea non rogasti me. LXX Multis itineribus tuis laborasti, et non dixisti, desinam: confortate fecisti haec: propterea non rogasti me. Qui ambulat in via una et regis, non laborat, de qua per Moysen praecipt Deus, Via regia ambulabis, et non declinabis ad dexteram neque ad sinistram. Una via est veritas, quae dicit in Evangelio: Ego sum via, veritas et vita: et multae mendaciorum viae, per quas nunc ambulasse arguitur Jersusalem quarum viarum Deus sciens differentiam, supra loquitur ad errantes: Non sicut viae meae, viae vestrae, quae dicunt Domino confitentes: Declinare fecisti vias nostras a viis tuis. Cognita igitur una via regia, videamus quae dextrae viae sint et sinistrae, per quas prohibemur incedere. Via regia temperata est, nec plus in se habens nec minus. Verbi gratia, via recta et regia, prudentia est. Declinamus ad dexteram, si plus sapimus quam oportet sapere, et pro prudentia calliditatem diligimus: quia [ Al. qua] serpens prudentior erat omnibus bestiis in paradiso: Et filii tenebrarum prudentiores sunt filiis lucis. Ad sinistramque divertimus, quando stulti sumus, et minus sapimus quam necesse est. De quibus dictum est: Dixit stultus in corde suo, non est Deus. Pietas quoque et vera religio, via regia est. Declinat ad dexteram, qui superstitiosus est, et meretur audire, Ne sis multum justus. Ad sinistram, qui negligit cultum Dei, et inter haedos hircosque numeratur. Liberalitas quoque et dispensatio virtus maxima est, a qua declinat ad dexteram, qui parcus est, et non solum aliis, sed ne sibi quidem tribuit quod necesse est. Ad sinistram, qui comedit substantiam suam cum meretricibus, et dicit cum Israel: Manducemus et bibamus; cras enim moriemur. Fortitudo etiam atque constantia via regia est, a qua declinat ad dexteram, qui temerarius et pertinax est: ad sinistram, qui formidolosus et pavidus. Unde vir sanctus per viam rectam gradi cupiens deprecatur: Deduc me, Domine, in via recta. Et in alio loco: Notam fac mihi, Domine, viam in qua ambulem; quoniam ad te levavi oculos meos. De istiusmodi via et alibi Scriptura commemorat: Quaerite viam bonum, et ambulate in ea, et invenietis purificationem animarum vestrarum. Jerusalem ergo propterea humiliata est usque ad inferos, quia in multis viis laboravit, neque dixit: Emendabo errorem poenitentia; sed e contrario, confortabor incoepto, nec curabo sententiam commonentis: Averte pedem tuum a via aspera, et guttur tuum a siti. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Isaiam Prophetam, Lib XVI, Cap LVII Source Migne PL 24.553b-554b

'In the multitude of your ways you toiled, and you did not say: 'I shall rest.' You found life in your hands, therefore you did not ask me.' The Septuagint reads: 'In many ways you toiled, and you did not say, 'I shall cease,' you were strengthed by these things, therefore you did not ask me.' 1 He who walks in the one royal way, he does not toil, concerning which God commanded through Moses: 'You shall walk in the royal way and you shall not decline to the right nor to the left.' 2 The one way is truth, which He speaks of in the Gospel: 'I am the way, the truth and the life.' 3 And the many ways of liars, through which Jerusalem had now walked, is convicted, concerning which ways, God who knows the difference, spoke to the errant: 'My ways are not as your ways,' 4 which confessing they say to the Lord, 'You made our ways decline from your ways.' 5 Therefore with the one royal way recognised, let us see what are the ways to the right and to the left on which we are prohibited to walk. The royal way is temperate, having in itself neither excess or lack. For example the way that is straight and regal is prudence. We decline to the right when we know more than it is needful to know, and we love cleverness over prudence, because the serpent was more clever than all the animals of the garden, and the sons of darkness are more prudent than the sons of light. 6 We wander to the left when we are foolish, knowing less than necessary, concerning which it has been said, 'The fool says in his heart that there is no God.' 7 Piety and true religion are also the royal way. He declines to the right who is excessively scrupulous and who deserves to hear: 'Do not be overly righteous.' 8 To the left he declines who neglects the worship of God and is reckoned among the kids and goats. Liberality and giving is also a great virtue, which if it declines to the right is parsimony, and then not only does a man not give to others what is needful but he neither does to himself. To the left he declines who squanders his wealth with whores, and he says with Israel: 'Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die.' 9 Fortitude and constancy are also the royal way, from which he declines to the right who is reckless and obstinate, and to the left he who is fearful and timid. Whence the holy man, because he desires to walk on the right way, prays: 'Lead me, Lord, on the right way.' And in another place: 'Make known to me, Lord, the way in which I should walk, because to you I have lifted up my eyes.' 10 Which way the Scriptures mention elsewhere: 'Seek the good way and walk in it, and you shall find cleansing for your soul.' 11 Jersulaem, then, because of its fall, even to hell, because it toiled in many ways, did not say: 'I will amend my error in penitence,' but on the contrary, 'I shall be strengthened because I have begun, and I shall have no care for the word of warning:' 'Take your foot from the bitter way and your throat from thirst.' 12 Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Prophet Isaiah, Book 16, Chap 57 1 Isaiah 57.10 2 Deut 5.32 3 Jn 14.6 4 Isaiah 55.8 5 Ps 43.19 6 Gen 3.1, Lk 16.8 7 Ps 13.1 8 Eccle 7.17 9 Isaiah 22.13 10 Ps 138.24, Ps 142.8 11 Jerem 6.16 Sept 12 Jerem 2.25 Sept