Letter Cxxv
LETTER CXXV
' Verily I say unto thee, to-day to hear the words: shalt thou be with me in Paradise.'
Judas on the other hand fell from his high place as apostle into the traitor's hell, and neither by the close intercourse of the banquet nor by the dipping of the sop nor by the grace of Christ's kiss was he prevented from betraying as man Him whom he had known as the Son of God.
What could be of less worth than the woman of Samaria?
Yet not only did she herself believe, and after her six husbands find one Lord, not only did she recognize at the well the Messiah whom the Jews failed to recognize in the temple ; she brought salvation to many, and while the apostles were buying food she comforted
Him who was hungry and weary.
What could be wiser than Solomon?
Yet he was rendered foolish by his love of women.
4 Salt is good,' and no sacrifice is received unless it is sprinkled with it.
Therefore ' Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt.' 2 it was that the apostle gave command :
3 and so completely loses its credit that it is not even useful on the dunghill to season believers' fields and enrich the barren soil of their souls.
I say all this, my son Rusticus, because in the forefront of this treatise I would teach the greatness of your undertaking and the loftiness of your goal.
You must know that only by treading underfoot the allurements of youth and But if salt has lost its savour, it is cast out , early manhood can you climb to the heights of perfect maturity.
The path you tread is slippery, and the glory of success is less than the disgrace of failure.
It is not my task now to lead you through the meadows of virtue, nor need I labour to show you the beauty of their gay blossoms, the purity of the
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tudinem florum, quid in se lilia habeant puritatis, quid rosarum verecundia possideat, quid violae purpura promittat in regno, quid rutilantium spondeat pictura gemmarum. lam enim propitio domino stivam tenes, iam in tectum atque solarium cum Petro apostolo conscendisti, qui esuriens in Iudaeis
Cornelii saturatur fide et famem incredulitatis eorum gentium conversione restinguit atque in vase evangeliorum quadrangulo, quod de caelo descendit ad terras, docetur et discit omnes homines posse salvari.
Rursumque, quod viderat, in specie candidissimi linteaminis in superna transfertur et credentium turbas de terris in caelum rapit, ut pollicitatio domini conpleatur :
' Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbuntJ Totum, quod adprehensa manu insinuare tibi cupio, quod quasi doctus nauta post multa naufragia rudem conor instruere vectorem, illud est, ut, in quo litore pudicitiae pirata sit, noveris, ubi Charybdis et radix omnium malorum avaritia, ubi
Scyllaei obtrectatorum canes, de quibus apostolus loquitur :
' Ne mordentes invicem mutuo consumamini,' quomodo in media tranquillitate securi Libycis interdum vitiorum Syrtibus obruamur, quid venenatorum animantium desertum huius saeculi nutriat.
3. Navigantes Rubrum Mare, in quo optandum nobis est ut verus Pharao cum suo mergatur exercitu, multis difficultatibus ae periculis ad urbem Abisamam perveniunt.
Utroque litore gentes vagae, immo 1 Acts x. 9-16.
St. Matthew, v.
4 A city of Arabia Felix.
Galatians, v. 15.
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lilies, the modesty of the roses, and the sure promise of the kingdom given by the violet's purple and the jewelled brilliance of each painted flower.
By God's favour you have already put your hand to the plough, and have already climbed up to the house-top and the terrace like the apostle Peter, who when he was hungry among the Jews was satisfied by the faith of Cornelius and appeased the cravings caused through their unbelief by the conversion of the Gentiles, being taught by the four-cornered vessel of the Gospels let down from heaven to earth that it was possible for all men to be saved . 1
And then, again, the fair white sheet which he saw in his vision was taken up, carrying hosts of believers from earth to heaven, that the promise of the Lord might be fulfilled :
' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' 2
In all this I only wish to take you by the hand and convey to you certain knowledge.
Like an experienced sailor who has been in many a shipwreck, I seek to instruct an unskilled steersman, to tell you where to find the pirates who would rob you of chastity, where lies the Charybdis of avarice, root of all evils, where are Scylla's dogs, those calumniators of whom the ' If ye bite and devour one another, apostle says : take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.' 3
I would warn you too that sometimes as we sail at ease in calm weather we may be sucked down by the quicksands of vice, and that many venomous creatures have their home in the desert of this world.
Those who navigate the Red Sea, where we must hope that the real Pharaoh may be drowned with all his host, have to face many difficulties and dangers before they reach the city of Abisama . 4
Both shores are infested by nomad tribes and savage beasts.
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beluae habitant ferocissimae.
Semper solliciti, semper armati totius anni vehunt cibaria.
Latentibus saxis vadisque durissimis plena sunt omnia, ita ut speculator et ductor in summa mali arbore sedeat et inde regendae et circumflectendae navis dictata praedicat.
Felix cursus est, si post sex menses supra dictae urbis portum teneant, a quo se incipit aperire oceanus, per quern vix anno perpetuo ad Indiam pervenitur et ad Gangem fluvium—quern Phison sancta scriptura cognominat—qui circuit omnem terram Evilat et multa genera pigmentorum de paradisi dicitur fonte evehere.
Ibi nascitur carbunculus et zmaragdus et margarita candentia et uniones, quibus nobilium feminarum ardet ambitio, montesque aurei, quos adire propter dracones et gryphas et inmensorum corporum monstra hominibus inpossibile est, ut ostendatur nobis, quales custodes habeat avaritia.
4. Quorsum ista ?
Perspicuum est.
Si negotiators saeculi tanta sustinent, ut ad incertas perveniant periturasque divitias, et servant cum animae discrimine, quae multis periculis quaesierunt, quid Christi negotiatori non faciendum est, qui venditis omnibus quaerit pretiosissimum margaritum, qui totis substantiae suis opibus emit agrum, in quo reperiat thesaurum, quem nec fur effodere nec latro possit auferre ?
Scio me offensurum esse quam plurimos, qui generalem de vitiis disputationem in suam referant contumeliam et, dum mini irascuntur, suam indicant conscientiam multoque peius de se quam de me iudicant.
Ego enim neminem nominabo nec veteris
Oenesis, ii.
11.
St. Matthew, xiii. 45 and vi. 19.
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Travellers must be always on the alert, always armed, and they must take a year's provisions with them.
The sea is full of hidden rocks and dangerous shoals, so that a look-out man on the top of the mast has to call out directions for the ship's course and steering.
It is a successful trip if the harbour of the abovenamed city is reached in six months.
At that point begins the ocean, which takes nearly a year to cross before you come to India and the river Ganges called Phison in the Scriptures—which compasses the whole land of Evilat , 1 and is said to carry down from its source in Paradise many kinds of bright pigments.
This land is the home of the carbuncle and the emerald, and those gleaming pearls which our great ladies so ardently desire.
There are also in it mountains of gold which men cannot approach because of the dragons and griffins and other huge monsters, set there to show us what sort of guardians avarice employs.
To what end, you ask, do I say this ?
My reason is plain.
If the merchants of this world undergo such pains to arrive at doubtful and passing riches, and after seeking them in the midst of dangers keep them at the risk of their lives, what should not Christ's merchant do who sells all he has to buy the pearl of great price, and with his whole substance buys a field that he may find therein a treasure which neither thief can dig up nor robber carry away ? 2
I know that I shall offend a very large number of people, who think that any general discourse on vice is meant as an attack upon themselves.
Their anger against me is evidence of a guilty conscience, and they pass a severer judgment on their own character than on mine.
I shall not mention names nor use
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eomoediae Hcentia certas personas eligam atque perstringam.
Prudentis viri est ac prudentium feminarum dissimulare, immo emendare, quod in se intellegant, et indignari sibi magis quam mihi nec in monitorem maledicta congerere, qui, ut isdem teneatur criminibus, certe in eo melior est, quod sua ei mala non placent.
6. Audio religiosam habere te matrem, multorum annorum viduam, quae aluit, quae erudivit infantem et post studia Galliarum, quae vel florentissima sunt, misit Romam non parcens sumptibus et absentiam filii spe sustinens futurorum, ut ubertatem Gallici nitoremque sermonis gravitas Romana condiret nec calcaribus in te sed frenis uteretur, quod et in disertissimis viris Graeciae legimus, qui Asianum tumorem
Attico siccabat sale et luxuriantes flagellis vineas falcibus reprimebant, ut eloquentiae torcularia non verborum pampinis, sed sensuum quasi uvarum expressionibus redundarent.
Hanc tu suscipe ut parentem, ama ut nutricem, venerare ut sanctam.
Nec aliorum imiteris exemplum, qui relinquunt suas et alienas appetunt, quorum dedecus in propatulo est sub nominibus pietatis quaerentium suspecta consortia.
Novi ego quasdam iam maturioris aetatis et plerasque generis libertini adulescentibus delectari et filios quaerere spiritales paulatimque pudore superato per ficta matrum nomina erumpere in licentiam maritalem.
Alii sorores virgines deserunt
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the licence of the Old Comedy to pick out definite persons for criticism.
A wise man and wise women will either hide or correct any faults they find in themselves, they will be more indignant with themselves than with me, and will not heap curses upon their adviser.
Granted that he is liable to the same charges as they are, in his case his faults give him no pleasure ; and so far at least he is their superior.
I hear that your mother is a religious woman who for many years has been a widow, and that when you were a child she reared and taught you herself.
After you had studied in the flourishing academies of Gaul she sent you to Rome, sparing no expense and consoling herself for her son's absence with bright hopes of his future.
Her idea was that Roman gravity would temper the exuberance and glitter of your Gallic eloquence, and in your case would act as a bit rather than as a spur.
So we read of the greatest Greek orators, that they seasoned the bombast of Asia with Attic salt and pruned their vines severely when the shoots were too luxuriant.
They wished to fill the wine-press of eloquence, not with leafclusters of words, but with the rich grape-juice of sound sense.
Respect her then as a parent, love her as a mother, venerate her as a saint.
Do not imitate those who leave their own relatives and run after strange women.
Their infamy is plain ; for under pretext of piety they really seek illicit intercourse.
I know some women of ripe age who in many cases take their pleasure with young freedmen, calling them their spiritual children, and gradually so far overcoming any sense of shame as to allow themselves under this pretence of motherhood all the licence of marriage.
In other cases men
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et extraneis viduis copulantur.
Sunt, quae oderunt suos et non suorum palpantur affectu, quarum inpatientia, index animi, nullam recepit excusationem et cassa inpudicitiae velamenta quasi aranearum fila disrumpit.
Videas nonnullos accinctis renibus, pulla tunica, barba prolixa a mulieribus non posse discedere, sub eodem conmanere tecto, simul inire convivia, ancillas iuvenes habere in ministerio et praeter vocabulum nuptiarum omnia esse matrimonii.
Nee culpa est nominis Christiani, si simulator religionis in vitio sit, quin immo confusio gentilium, cum ea vident ecclesiis displicere, quae omnibus bonis non placent.
7. Tu vero, si monachus esse vis, non videri, habeto curam non rei familiaris, cui renuntiando hoc esse coepisti, sed animae tuae.
Sordes vestium candidae mentis indicio sint, vilis tunica contemptum saeculi probet ita dumtaxat, ne animus tumeat, ne habitus sermoque dissentiat.
Balnearum fomenta non quaeras, qui calorem corporis ieiuniorum cupis frigore extinguere.
Quae et ipsa moderata sint, ne nimia debilitent stomachum et maiorem refectionem poscentia erumpant in cruditatem, quae parens libidinum est.
Modicus et temperatus cibus et carni et animae utilis est.
Matrem ita vide, ne per illam alias videre cogaris, quarum vultus cordi tuo
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abandon their sisters who are virgins, and unite themselves to widows who are no relations.
There are women who hate their own kin and feel no affection for their family.
Their restlessness reveals their state of mind, for it disdains excuses and rends asunder like cobwebs any veils that might conceal their licentiousness.
You may see some men also with girded loins, sombre tunics and long beards, who yet can never leave women's society.
They live with them under one roof, they go out to dinner with them, they have young girls to wait upon them, and, save that they are not called husbands, they enjoy all the privileges of marriage.
But it is no fault of Christianity if a hypocrite falls into sin : rather it is the confusion of the Gentiles when they see that the churches condemn what is condemned by all honest folk.
If you wish to be, and not merely seem, a monk, have regard not for your property—you began your vows by renouncing it—but for your soul.
Let a squalid garb be the evidence of a clean heart : let a coarse tunic prove that you despise the world provided only that you do not pride yourself on such things nor let your dress and language be at variance.
Avoid hot baths : your aim is to quench the heat of the body by the help of chilling fasts.
But let your fasts be moderate, since if they are carried to excess they weaken the stomach, and by making more food necessary to make up for it lead to indigestion, which is the parent of lust.
A frugal, temperate diet is good both for body and soul.
See your mother often, but do not be forced to see other women when you visit her.
Their faces may dwell in your heart and so
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' Et taciturn vivat sub pectore vulnus.' haereant, Ancillulas, quae illi in obsequio sunt, tibi scias esse in insidiis, quia, quantum vilior earum condicio, tanto facilior ruina est.
Et Iohannes Baptista sanctam matrem habuit pontificisque filius erat et tamen nee matris affectu nee patris opibus vincebatur, ut in domo parentum cum periculo viveret castitatis.
Vivebat in heremo et oculis desiderantibus Christum nihil aliud dignabatur aspicere.
Vestis aspera, zona pellicia, cibus locustae melque silvestre, omnia virtuti et continentiae praeparata.
Filii prophetarum—quos monachos in veteri legimus testamento —aedificabant sibi casulas propter fluenta Iordanis et turbis urbium derelictis polenta et herbis agrestibus
victitabant.
Quamdiu in patria tua es, habeto cellulam pro paradiso, varia scripturarum poma decerpe, his utere deliciis, harum fruere conplexu.
Si scandalizat te oculus, pes, manus tua, proice ea.
Nulli parcas, ut soli parcas animae.
' Qui viderit mulierem ad concupiscendum earn, iam moechatus est earn in corde suo.
Quis gloriabitur castum se habere cor?
Astra non sunt munda in conspectu domini : quanto magis homines, quorum vita temptatio est!
Vae nobis, qui, quotiens concupiscimus, ' Inebriatus est,' inquit, ' gladius meus in caelo totiens fornicamur.
: multo amplius in terra, quae spinas ' et tribulos generat.
Vas electionis, in cuius Christus ore sonabat, macerat corpus suum et subicit servituti et tamen cernit naturalem carnis ardorem suae St. Matthew, xviii. 9.
St. Matthew, v. 28.
4 Proverbs, xx. 9.
Virgil, Aeneid, IV. 67.
Isaiah, xxxiv. 5.
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* A secret wound may fester in your breast .' 1
You must remember too that the maids who wait upon her are an especial snare ; the lower they are in rank, the easier it is to ruin them.
John the Baptist had a saintly mother and his father was a priest ; but neither his mother's love nor his father's wealth could prevail upon him to live in his parents' house at the risk of his chastity.
He took up his abode in the desert, and desiring only to see Christ refused to look at anything else.
His rough garb, his skin girdle, his diet of locusts and wild honey were all alike meant to ensure virtue and selfrestraint.
The sons of the prophets, who are the monks of the Old Testament, built huts for themselves by the stream of Jordan, and leaving the crowded cities lived on porridge and wild herbs.
As long as you stay in your native city, regard your cell as Paradise, gather in it the varied fruits of the Scriptures, make them your delight, and rejoice in their embrace.
If your eye or your foot or your hand offend you, cast it off. 2
Spare nothing, provided that you spare your soul.
' Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.' 3
'Who can boast I have made my heart clean "?
' 4
The stars are not pure in God's sight : how much less are men, whose life is one long temptation !
Woe to us, who commit fornication whenever we have lustful thoughts !
' My sword,' says the Scripture, ' hath drunk its fill in heaven '
: much more then will it on earth, which produces thorns and thistles.
The chosen vessel, from whose mouth we hear Christ's own words, keeps his body under and brings it into subjection; but still he perceives that the natural
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repugnare sententiae, ut, quod non vult, hoc agere conpellatur, et quasi vim patiens vociferatur et ' Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius ? dicit :
Et tu te arbitraris absque lapsu et vulnere posse transire, nisi omni custodia servaveris cor tuum et cum salvatore dixeris :
' Mater mea et fratres mei hi sunt, qui faciunt voluntatem patris mei ' ?
Crudelitas ista pietas est ; immo quid tarn pium, quam sanctae matri sanctum fihum custodire ?
Optat et ilia te vivere, non videre ad tempus, ut semper cum Christo videat.
Anna Samuhelem non sibi, sed tabernaculo genuit.
Filii Ionadab, qui vinum et siceram non bibebant, qui habitabant in tentoriis et, quas nox conpulerat, sedes habebant, scribuntur in psalmo, quod primi captivitatem sustinuerint, quia exercitu Chaldaeorum vastante Iudaeam urbes introire conpulsi sunt.
Viderint, quid alii sentiant—unusquisque enim suo sensu ducitur—mihi oppidum career est et solitudo paradisus.
Quid desideramus urbium frequentiam, qui de singularite censemur ?
Moyses, ut praeesset populo Iudaeorum, quadraginta annis eruditur in heremo, pastor ovium hominum factus est pastor ; apostoli de piscatione lacus Genesar ad piscationem hominum transierunt.
Tunc habebant patrem, rete, naviculam : secuti dominum protinus omnia reliquerunt portantes cotidie crucem suam et
1 Romans, vii. 24.
St. Luke, viii. 21.
3 Jeremiah, xxxv. 6.
4 The reference is to the heading of Psalm lxxi, given in the Septuagint (70): tw Aavl8 vlu)v 'Icvvabaf}, naircov upanoov alxixaAcoTLodevTCov.
6 Monachus means ' lonely.'
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heat of the body fights against his fixed purpose, and he is compelled to do what he will not.
Like a man suffering violence he cries aloud and says ' O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?
' 1
And do you think then that you can pass through life without a fall and without a wound, if you do not keep your heart with ' My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it all diligence and say with the Saviour :
' ? 2
Such cruelty as this is really love.
Nay, what greater love can there be than to guard a holy son for a holy mother ?
She desires your eternal life : she is content not to see you for the moment, provided that she may see you for ever with Christ.
She is like Hannah, who brought forth Samuel, not for her own comfort, but for the service of the tabernacle.
The sons of Jonadab drank no wine nor strong drink and lived in tents which they pitched whenever night came on . 3 Of them the psalm 4 says that they were the first to undergo captivity, for when the Chaldean host was devastating Judaea they were compelled to enter cities.
Let others think as they will—every one follows his own bent—but to me a town is a prison, and the wilderness a paradise.
What do we monks want with crowded cities, we whose very name bespeaks loneliness ? 5
Moses was trained for forty years in the desert to fit him for the task of leading the Jewish people, and from being a shepherd of sheep he became a shepherd of men.
The apostles left their fishing on Lake Gennesaret to fish for human souls.
Then they had a father, nets, and a little boat : but they followed the Lord straightway and abandoned everything, carrying their cross 4J!
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ne virgam quidem in manu habentes.
Hoc dico, ut, etiam si clericatus te titillat desiderium, discas, quod possis docere, et rationabilem hostiam offeras Christo, ne miles antequam tiro, ne prius magister sis quam discipulus.
Non est humilitatis meae neque mensurae iudicare de ceteris et de ministris ecclesiarum sinistrum quippiam dicere.
Habeant illi ordinem et gradum suum, quem si tenueris, quomodo tibi in eo vivendum sit, editus ad Nepotianum liber docere te
poterit.
Nunc monachi incunabula moresque discutimus et eius monachi, qui liberalibus studiis eruditus in adulescentia iugum Christi collo suo inposuit.
9. Primumque tractandum est, utrum solus an cum aliis in monasterio vivere debeas.
Mihi placet, ut habeas sanctorum contubernium nec ipse te doceas et absque ductore ingrediaris viam, quam numquam ingressus es, statimque in partem tibi alteram declinandum sit et errori pateas plusque aut minus ambules, quam necesse est, ut currens lasseris, moram faciens obdormias.
In solitudine cito subrepit superbia et, si parumper ieiunaverit hominemque non viderit, putat se alicuius esse momenti oblitusque sui, unde quo venerit, intus corpore lingua foris vagatur. ludicat contra apostoli voluntatem alienos
; quod gula poposcerit, porrigit manus ; dormit, servos 1 doctore :
Hilberg.
1 A monk monachus—originally was a solitary living in the desert, but after the time of St. Basil monks were usually organized in communities under a rule, and devoted their time to prayer, meditation and useful work.
If a monk wished to enter the ministry of the Church he had to be ordained as deacon by a bishop.
He then normally lived in a city and had a cure of souls.
2 Letter LII.
8 Romans, xiv. 4.
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every day, without so much as a stick in their hands.
I say this, so that if you are tickled by a desire to become a clergyman , 1 you may learn now what you will then be able to teach others, offering a reasonable sacrifice to Christ.
You must not think yourself an old soldier while you are still a recruit, a master while you are still a pupil.
It would not become my lowly rank to pass judgment on others, or to say anything unfavourable about those who serve in churches.
Let them keep their proper place and station, and if you ever join them, my treatise written for Nepotian 2 will show you how you ought to live in that position.
For the moment I am discussing a monk's early training and character, a monk, moreover, who after a liberal education in his early manhood placed upon his neck the yoke of Christ.
The first point with which I must deal is whether you ought to live alone or in a monastery with others.
I would prefer you to have the society of holy men and not to be your own teacher.
If you set out on a strange road without a guide you may easily at the start take a wrong turning and make a mistake, going too far or not far enough, running till you weary yourself or delaying your journey for a sleep.
In solitude pride quickly creeps in, and when a man has fasted for a little while and has seen no one, he thinks himself a person of some account.
He forgets who he is, whence he comes, and where he is going, and lets his body run riot within, his tongue abroad.
Contrary to the apostle's 3 wishes, he judges another man's servants; he stretches out his hand for anything that his gullet craves ; he does what he pleases and sleeps as long as he pleases
; he 4i3
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quantum voluerit ; nullum veretur, omnes se inferiors putat crebriusque in urbibus quam in cellula est et inter fratres simulat verecundiam, qui platearum turbis conliditur.
Quid igitur?
Solitariam vitam reprehendimus ?
Minime, quippe quam saepe laudavimus.
Sed de ludo monasteriorum huiusce modi volumus egreai milites, quos rudimenta non terreant, qui specimen conversationis suae multo tempore dederint, qui omnium fuerunt minimi, ut primi omnium fierent, quos nee esuries nec saturitas aliquando superavit, qui paupertate laetantur, quorum habitus, sermo, vultus, incessus doctrina virtutum est, qui nesciunt secundum quc-sdam ineptos homines daemonum obpugnantium contra se portenta confingere, ut apud inperitos et vulgi homines miraculum sui faciant et exinde sectentur lucra.
10. Vidimus nuper et planximus Croesi opes unius morte deprehensas urbisque stipes quasi in usus pauperum congregatas stirpi et posteris derelictas.
Tunc ferrum, quod latebat in profundo, supernatavit aquae et inter palmarum arbores Merrae amaritudo monstrata est.
Nec mirum : talem et socium habuit et magistrum, qui egentium famem suas fecit esse divitias et miseris derelicta in suam miseriam tenuit.
Quorum clamor tandem pervenit ad caelum et patientissimas Dei vicit aures, ut missus angelus pessimo Nabal Carmelio diceret :
' Stulte, hac noct.e auferent animam tuam a te ; quae autem preparasti, cuius erunt?
1 Exodus, xv. 23.
St. Luke, xii. 20.
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fears no one, he thinks all men his inferiors, spends more time in cities than in his cell, and though among the brethren he makes a pretence of modesty, in the crowded squares he ruffles it with the best.
What then, you will say ?
Do I disapprove of the solitary life ?
Not at all :
I have often commended it.
But I wish to see the soldiers who march out from a monastery-school men who have not been frightened by their early training, who have given proof of a holy life for many months, who have made themselves last that they might be first, who have not been overcome by hunger or satiety, who take pleasure in poverty, whose garb, conversation, looks and gait all teach virtue, and who have no skill—as some foolish fellows have—in inventing monstrous stories of their struggles with demons, tales invented to excite the admiration of the ignorant mob and to extract money from their pockets.
Just lately, to my sorrow, I saw the fortune of a Croesus brought to light at one man's death, and beheld a city's alms collected ostensibly for the poor's benefit left by will to his sons and their descendants.
Then the iron which was hidden in the depths floated upon the surface, and amid the palm trees the bitter waters of Marah 1 were seen.
Nor need we wonder at his avarice : his partner and teacher was a man who turned the hunger of the needy into a source of wealth for himself, and to his own wretchedness kept back the legacies that were left to the wretched.
But at last their cries reached heaven and were too much for God's patient ears, so that he sent an angel to say to this villainous Nabal the Carmelite :
' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ?
4i5
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11. Volo ergo te et propter causas, quas supra exposui, non habitare cum matre et praecipue, ne offerentem delicatos cibos rennuendo contristes aut, si acceperis, oleum igni adicias et inter frequentiam puellarum per diem videas, quod noctibus cogites.
Numquam de manu et oculis tuis recedat liber, psalterium discatur ad verbum, oratio sine intermissione, vigil sensus nec vanis cogitationibus patens.
Corpus pariter animusque tendatur ad dominum.
Iram vince patientia ; ama scientiam scripturarum et carnis vitia non amabis.
Nec vacet mens tua variis perturbationibus, quae, si pectori insederint, dominabuntur tui et te deducent ad delictum maximum.
Fac et aliquid operis, ut semper te diabolus inveniat occupatum.
Si apostoli habentes potestatem de evangelio vivere laborabant manibus suis, ne quern gravarent, et aliis tribuebant refrigeria, quorum pro spiritalibus debebant metere carnalia, cur tu in usus tuos cessura non praepares?
Vel fiscellam texe iunco vel canistrum lentis plecte viminibus, sariatur humus, areolae aequo limite dividantur; in quibus cum holerum iacta fuerint semina vel plantae per ordinem positae, aquae ducantur inriguae, ut pulcherrimorum versuum spectator adsistas
' Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam Elicit, ilia cadens raucum per levia murmur
Saxa ciet scatebrisque arentia temperat arva.'
2 Thessalonians, iii. 8.
Virgil, Georgies, I. 108.
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For the reasons then which I have given above, I wish you not to live with your mother.
And there are some further considerations.
If she offers you a dainty dish, you would grieve her by refusing it, while if you take it you would be throwing oil on fire.
Moreover, in a house that is full of girls you would see things in the day-time that you would think about in the night.
Always have a book in your hand and before your eyes ; learn the psalms word by word, pray without ceasing, keep your senses on the alert and closed against vain imaginings.
Let your mind and body both strain towards the Lord, overcome wrath, by patience ; love the knowledge of the Scriptures and you will not love the sins of the flesh.
Do not let your mind offer a lodging to disturbing thoughts, for if they once find a home in your breast they will become your masters and lead you on into fatal sin.
Engage in some occupation, so that the devil may always find you busy.
If the apostles who had the power to make the Gospel their livelihood still worked with their hands that they might not be a burden on any man , 1 and gave relief to others whose carnal possessions they had a right to enjoy in return for their spiritual benefits, why should you not provide for your own future wants ?
Make creels of reeds or weave baskets of pliant osiers.
Hoe the ground and mark it out into equal plots, and when you have sown cabbage seed or set out plants in rows, bring water down in channels and stand by like the onlooker in the lovely lines ' Lo, from the channelled slope he brings the stream,
Which falls hoarse murmuring o'er the polished stones And with its bubbling flood allays the heat Of sun-scorched fields.' 2
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Inserantur infructuosae arbores vel gemmis vel surculis, et parvo post tempore laboris tui dulcia poma decerpas.
Apum fabricare alvearia, ad quas te mittunt Proverbia, et monasteriorum ordinem ac regiam disciplinam in parvis disce corporibus.
Texantur et lina capiendis piscibus, scribantur libri, lit et manus operetur cibos et anima lectione satu- ' In desideriis est omnis otiosus.'
Aegyptiorum monasteria hunc morem tenent, ut nullum absque opere ac labore suscipiant, non tarn propter retur. victus necessaria quam propter animae salutem, ne vagetur perniciosis cogitationibus, et instar fornicantis
Hierusalem omni transeunti divaricet pedes suos.
12. Dum essem iuvenis et solitudinis me deserta vallarent, incentiva vitiorum ardoremque naturae ; quae cum crebris ieiuniis frangerem, mens tamen cogitationibus aestuabat.
Ad quam edomandam cuidam fratri, qui ex Hebraeis ferre non poteram crediderat, me in disciplinam dedi, ut post Quintiliani acumina Ciceronisque fluvios gravitatemque Frontonis et lenitatem Plinii alphabetum discerem, stridentia anhelantiaque verba meditarer.
Quid ibi laboris insumpserim, quid sustinuerim difficultatis, quotiens desperaverim quotiensque cessaverim et contentione discendi rursus inceperim, testis est conscientia tarn mea, qui passus sum, quam eorum, qui mecum duxere vitam.
Et gratias ago domino, 1 Proverbs, vi.
8, where LXX. adds : rj TropcvdrjTc -rrpos tt\v \xz\iooav Kal padk cos epyans ear i k. t.A.
2 Proverbs, xiii. 4.
(LXX.)
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Graft barren trees with buds or slips, so that you may, after a little time, pluck sweet fruit as a reward for your labours.
Make hives for bees, for to them the Proverbs of Solomon send you , 1 and by watching the tiny creatures learn the ordinance of a monastery and the discipline of a kingdom.
Twist lines too for catching fish, and copy out manuscripts, so that your hand may earn you food and your soul be satisfied with reading.
' Every one that is idle is a prey to vain desires.' 2
Monasteries in Egypt make it a rule not to take any one who will not work, thinking not so much of the necessities of life as of the safety of men's souls, lest they should be led astray by dangerous imaginings, and be like Jerusalem in her whoredoms, who opened her feet to every chance comer.
When I was a young man, though I was protected by the rampart of the lonely desert, I could not endure against the promptings of sin and the ardent heat of my nature.
I tried to crush them by frequent fasting, but my mind was always in a turmoil of imagination.
To subdue it I put myself in the hands of one of the brethren who had been a Hebrew before his conversion, and asked him to teach me his language.
Thus, after having studied the pointed style of Quintilian, the fluency of Cicero, the weightiness of Pronto, and the gentleness of Pliny,
I now began to learn the alphabet again and practise harsh and guttural words.
What efforts I spent on that task, what difficulties I had to face, how often I despaired, how often I gave up and then in my eagerness to learn began again, my own knowledge can witness from personal experience and those can testify who were then living with me.
I thank the
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quod de amaro semine litterarum dulces fructus capio.
13. Dicam et aliud, quid in Aegyptio viderim.
Graecus adulescens erat in coenobio, qui nulla continentiae, nulla operis magnitudine flammam poterat carnis extinguere.
Hunc periclitantem pater monasterii hac arte servavit.
Imperat cuidam viro gravi, ut iurgiis atque conviciis insectaretur hominem et post inrogatam iniuriam primus veniret ad querimonias.
Vocati testes pro eo loquebantur, qui contumeliam fecerat.
Flere ille contra mendacium nullus alius credere veritati, solus pater defensionem suam callide opponere, ne ' abundantiori tristitia absorberetur frater.'
Quid multa ?
Ita annus ductus est, quo expleto interrogatus adulescens super cogitationibus pristinis, an adhuc molestiae aliquid ' Papae/ inquit, ' vivere non licet, et sustineret:
Hie si solus fuisset, quo adiutore superasset ? fornicari libet?
14.
Philosophi saeculi solent amorem veterem amore novo quasi clavum clavo expellere.
Quod et Asuero septem principes fecere Persarum, ut Vasti reginae desiderium aliarum puellarum amore conpescerent.
Illi vitium vitio peccatumque peccato remediantur, nos amore virtutum vitia superemus.
Declina,' ait, ' a malo et fac bonum ; quaerere pacern et persequere earn.'
Nisi oderimus malum, bonum amare non possumus.
Quin potius faciendum est bonum, ut declinemus a malo ; pax quaerenda, ut bella fugiamus.
Nec sufficit earn
2 Corinthians, ii. 7.
2 Esther, ii. 2.
8 Psalm xxxiv. 14.
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Lord that from a bitter seed of learning I am now plucking sweet fruits.
I will tell you of another thing that I saw in Egypt.
There was a young Greek in a community there, who could not quench the fires of the flesh by any continence or any labour however severe.
In his danger the father of the monastery saved him by the following device.
He instructed a grave elder to pursue the young man with revilings and abuse, and after having thus insulted him to be the first to lay a complaint.
When witnesses were called they always spoke in favour of the aggressor.
The youth could only weep at the false charge, but no one believed the truth.
The father alone would cleverly put in a plea on his behalf, lest ' our brother be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow .' 1
To cut a long tale short, a whole year passed in this way, and at the end the youth was asked about his former imaginings, whether they still troubled him.
' Good heavens,' he replied, ' how can I want to fornicate, when I am not allowed even to live ?
If he had been alone, by whose help could he have overcome temptation ?
Worldly philosophers are wont to drive out an old passion by a new one, as you drive out an old nail by hammering in another.
This is what the seven princes of Persia did to Ahasuerus, when they assuaged his regret for queen Vashti by suggesting an amour with other maidens . 2
They cure fault by fault and sin by sin : we must overcome vice by love of virtue.
' Depart from evil,' says the Scripture, ' and do good; seek peace and pursue it .' 3
If we do not hate evil we cannot love good.
Nay more, we must do good if we are to depart from evil : we must seek peace, if we are to avoid wars.
Nor is it
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quaerere, nisi inventam fugientemque omni studio persequamur, ' quae exsuperat omnem sensum,' in qua habitatio Dei est dicente propheta :
' Et factus est in pace locus eius,' pulchreque persecutio pacis ' Hospitalitatem perdicitur iuxta illud apostoli : sequentes,' ut non levi citatoque sermone et—ut ita loquar—summis labiis hospites invitemus, sed toto mentis ardore teneamus quasi auferentes secum de lucro nostro atque conpendio.
15. Nulla ars absque magistro discitur.
Etiam muta animalia et ferarum greges ductores sequuntur suos.
In apibus principes sunt; grues unam sequuntur ordine litterato.
Imperator unus, iudex unus provinciae.
Roma, ut condita est, duos fratres simul habere reges non potuit et parricidio dedicatur.
In Rebeccae utero Esau et Iacob bella gesserunt.
Singuli ecclesiarum episcopi, singuli archipresbyteri, singuli archidiaconi et omnis ordo ecclesiasticus suis rectoribus nititur.
In navi unus gubernator, in domo unus dominus ; in quamvis grandi exercitu unius signum expectatur.
Et ne plura replicando fastidium legenti faciam, per haec omnia ad illud tendit oratio, ut doceam te non tuo arbitrio dimittendum. sed vivere debere in monasterio sub unius disciplina patris consortioque multorum, ut ab alio discas humilitatem, ab alio patientiam, hie te silentium, ille doceat mansuetudinem, non facias, quod vis, comedas,
1 Philippians, iv.
2 Psalm lxxvi. 2.
(Septuagint Ixxv.
2.) 3 Romans, xii.
13.
4 Genesis, xxv. 22.
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enough merely to seek peace ; when we have found it and it flies from us, we must pursue with all our might.
' Peace passeth all understanding ,' 1 and in ' In peace also is His habitation.' 2
The pursuing of peace it is God's dwelling.
As the prophet says : is a fine metaphor, and is like the saying of the apostle, ' pursuing hospitality.' 3
Our invitation to guests should not be a mere light form of words, spoken, if I may use the phrase, with the surface of the lips ; we should be as eager to detain them as if they were robbers carrying off our savings.
No art is learned without a master.
Even dumb animals and herds of wild beasts follow leaders of their own.
Bees have rulers, and cranes fly behind one of their number in the shape of the letter Y.
There is one emperor, and one judge for each province.
When Rome was founded it could not have two brothers reigning together, and so it was inaugurated by an act of fratricide.
Esau and Jacob warred against one another in Rebecca's womb . 4
Each church has but one bishop, one arch-presbyter, one archdeacon; every ecclesiastical order is subjected to its own rulers.
There is one pilot in a ship, one master in a house ; and however large an army may be, the soldiers await one man's signal.
I will not weary my reader with further repetition, for the purpose of all these examples is simply this.
I want to show you that you had better not be left to your own discretion, but should rather live in a monastery under the control of one father and with many companions.
From one of them you may learn humility, from another patience ; this one will teach you silence, that one meekness.
You will not do what you yourself wish ; you will eat what you are ordered
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quod iuberis, habeas, quantum acceperis, vestiaris, quod acceperis, operis tui pensa persolvas, subiciaris, cui non vis, lassus ad stratum venias ambulansque dormites, necdum expleto somno surgere conpellaris, dicas psalmum in ordine tuo—in quo non dulcedo vocis sed mentis affectus quaeritur scribente ' Psallam spiritu, psallam et mente,' et: apostolo :
* Cantantes in cordibus vestris '
: legerat enim esse '—servias fratribus, praeceptum :
' psallite sapienter hospitum laves pedes, passus iniuriam taceas, praepositum monasterii timeas ut dominum, diligas ut parentem, credas tibi salutare, quidquid ille praeeeperit, nee de maioris sententia iudices, cuius officii est oboedire et inplere, quae iussa sunt, dicente Moyse :
' Audi, Israhel, et tace.'
Tantis negotiis occupatus nullis vacabis cogitationibus et, dum ab alio transis ad aliud opusque succedit operi, illud solum mente retinebis, quod agere conpelleris.
16. Vidi ego quosdam, qui, postquam renuntiavere saeculo—vestimentis dumtaxat et vocis professione, non rebus—nihil de pristina conversatione mutarunt.
Res familiaris magis aucta quam inminuta est ; eadem ministeria servulorum, idem apparatus convivii
; in vitro et patella fictili aurum come2 Ephesians, v. 19.
4 Deuteronomy, xxvii. 9.
1 Corinthians, xiv. 15.
3 Psalm xlvii. 7.
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you will take what you are given ; you will wear the dress allotted to you ; you will perform a set amount of work ; you will be subordinate to some one you do not like ; you will come to bed worn out with weariness and fall asleep as you walk about.
Before you have had your fill of rest, you will be forced to get out of bed and take your turn in psalm-singing, a task where real emotion is a greater requisite than a sweet voice.
The apostle says :
' I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding ' Make melody in your hearts.' 2
He had read the precept : also ,' 1 and, again :
' Sing ye praises with understanding.' 3
You will serve the brethren; you will wash the feet of guests ; if you suffer wrong you will say nothing ; the superior of the monastery you will fear as a master and love as a father.
Whatever precepts he gives you will believe to be wholesome for you.
You will not pass judgment upon your elder's decisions, for it is your duty to be obedient and carry out orders, according to the words of Moses:
' Keep silence and hearken, O Israel .' 4
You will be so busy with all these tasks that you will have no time for vain imaginings, and while you pass from one occupation to the next you will only have in mind the work that you are being forced to do.
I myself have seen some men who after they had renounced the world—in garb, at least, and in verbal professions, but not in reality—changed nothing of their former mode of life.
Their property has increased rather than diminished ; they have the same number of servants to wait upon them and keep the same elaborate table ; though they drink from glass and eat from plates of earthenware, it
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ditur et inter turbas et examina ministrorum nomen sibi vindicant solitarii.
Qni vero pauperes sunt et tenui substantiola videnturque sibi scioli, pomparum ferculis similes procedunt. ad publicum, ut caninam exerceant facundiam.
Alii sublatis in altum humeris et intra se nescio quid eornicantes stupentibus in terram oculis tumentia verba trutinantur, ut, si praeconem addideris, putes incedere praefecturam.
Sunt qui, humore cellularum inmoderatisque ieiuniis, taedio solitudinis ac nimia lectione, dum diebus ac noctibus auribus suis personant, vertuntur in /x.eA.ay^oAtai/ et Hippocratis magis fomentis quam nostris monitis indigent.
Plerique artibus et negotiationibus pristinis carere non possunt mutatisque nominibus institorum eadem exercent conmercia, non victum et vestitum, quod apostolus praecipit, sed maiora quam saeculi homines emolumenta sectantes.
Et prius quidem ab aedilibus, quos ayopavo/jiovs Graeci appellant, vendentium cohercebatur rabies nec erat inpune peccatum, nunc autem sub religionis titulo exercentur iniusta conpendia et honor nominis Christiani fraudem magis tacit quam patitur.
Quodque pudet dicere, sed necesse est, ut saltim sic ad nostrum erubescamus dedecus, publice extendentes manus pannis aurum tegimus et contra omnium opinionem plenis sacculis morimur divites, qui quasi pauperes viximus.
Tibi, cum in monasterio fueris, haec facere non licebit et 1 Images of the gods were carried on these litters in solemn state.
2 The institores were travelling merchants who dealt largely in female finery.
Cf. Horace, Odes, III. vi. 302; Ep.
XVII. 20.
l Timothy, vi. 8.
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is gold they swallow, and amidst crowds of servants swarming round them they claim the name of hermit.
Others, who are poor and of slender means and think themselves full of wisdom, pass through the streets like the pageants in a procession ,
to practise a cynical eloquence.
Others shrug their shoulders and croak indistinctly to themselves, and with glassy eyes fixed upon the earth they balance swelling words upon their tongues, so that if you add a crier, you might think it was his excellency the governor who was coming along.
Some, too, by reason of damp cells and immoderate fasts, added to the weariness of solitude and excessive study, have a singing in their ears day and night, and turning melancholy mad need Hippocrates' fomentations more than any advice of mine.
Very many cannot forgo their previous trades and occupations, and though they change its name carry on the same pedlar's 2 traffic as before, seeking for themselves not food and raiment, as the apostle directs ,
3 but greater profits than men of the world expect.
In the past the mad greed of sellers was checked by the aediles, or as the Greeks call them, market-inspectors, and men could not cheat with impunity : to-day under the cloak of religion such men hoard up unjust gains, and the good name of Christianity does more wrong than it suffers.
I am ashamed to say it, but I must —at least we ought to blush at our disgrace—we hold out our hands in public for alms vffiile we have gold hidden under our rags, and to every one's surprise after living as poor men we die rich with purses well filled.
In your case, since you will be in a monastery, such conduct will not be allowed ; habits will gradually grow on you, and finally you will do of
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inolescente paulatim consuetudine, quod primum cogebaris, velle incipies et delectabit te labor tuus oblitusque praeteritorum semper priora sectaberis nequaquam considerans, quid alii mali faciant, sed quid boni tu facere debeas.
17. Neque vero peccantium ducaris multitudine et te pereuntium turba sollicitet, ut tacitus cogites ' Quid ? ergo omnes peribunt, qui in urbibus habitant ? t Ecce illi fruuntur suis rebus, ministrant ecclesiis, adeunt balneas, unguenta non spernunt et tamen in omnium flore versantur.'
Ad quod et ante respondi et nunc breviter respondebo : me in praesenti opusculo non de clericis disputare, sed monachum instituere.
Sancti sunt clerici et omnium vita laudabilis.
Ita ergo age et vive in monasterio, ut clericus esse merearis, ut adulescentiam tuam nulla sorde conmacules, ut ad altare Christi quasi de thalamo virgo procedas et habeas de foris bonum testimonium feminaeque nomen tuum noverint, vultum nesciant.
Cum ad perfectam aetatem veneris, si tamen vita comes fuerit, et te vel populus vel pontifex civitatis in clerum adlegerit, agito, quae clerici sunt, et inter ipsos sectare meliores, quia in omni condicione et gradu optimis mixta sunt pessima.
18. Ne ad scribendum cito prosilias et levi ducaris insania.
Multo tempore disce, quod doceas.
Cf. p. 412, n. 1.
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your own accord what was at first a matter of compulsion ; you will take pleasure in your labours, and forgetting what is behind you will reach out to that which is before ; you will not think at all of the evil that others do, but only of the good which it is your duty to perform.
Do not be influenced by the number of those that sin, or disturbed by the host of the perishing, so as to have the unspoken thought :
' What ?
Shall all then perish who live in cities ?
Behold, they enjoy their property, they serve in the churches, they frequent the baths, they do not disdain unguents, and yet they flourish and are universally respected.'
To such reasonings I have replied before, and will now do so briefly again, merely remarking that in this present short treatise I am not discussing the behaviour of the clergy, but laying down rules for a monk . 1
The clergy are holy men, and in every case their life is worthy of praise.
Go then and so live in your monastery that you may deserve to be a clergyman, that you may keep your youth free from all stain of defilement, and that you may come forth to Christ's altar as a virgin steps from her bower that you may be well spoken of abroad, and that women may know your reputation but not your looks.
When you come to ripe years, that is, if life be granted you, and have been appointed as a clergyman either by the people or by the bishop of the city, then act as becomes a cleric, and among your colleagues choose the better men as your models.
In every rank and condition of life the very bad is mingled with the very good.
Do not rashly leap into authorship, and be led by light-headed madness.
Spend years in learning
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credas laudatoribus tuis, immo inrisoribus aurem ne libenter adcommodes, qui cum te adulationibus foverint et quodam modo inpotem mentis effecerint, si subito respexeris, aut ciconiarum deprehendas post te colla curvari aut manu auriculas agitari asini aut aestuantem canis protendi linguam.
Nulli detrahas nec in eo te sanctum putes, si ceteros laceres.
Aecusamus saepe, quod facimus, et contra nosmet ipsos diserti in nostra vitia invehimur muti de eloquentibus iudicantes.
Testudineo Grunnius incedebat ad loquendum gradu et per intervalla quaedam vix pauca verba capiebat, ut eum putares singultire, non proloqui.
Et tamen, cum mensa posita librorum exposuisset struem, adducto supercilio contractisque naribus ac fronte rugata duobus digitulis concrepabat hoc signo ad audiendum discipulos provocans.
Tunc nugas meras fundere et adversum singulos declamare ; criticum diceres esse Longinum censoremque Romanae facundiae notare, quern vellet, et de senatu doctorum excludere.
Hie bene nummatus plus placebat in prandiis.
Nec mirum, qui multos inescare solitus erat factoque cuneo circumstrepentium garrulorum procedebat in publicum intus Nero, foris Cato, totus ambiguus, ut ex contrariis diversisque naturis unum monstrum novamque bestiam diceres esse conpactum iuxta illud poeticum
1 Closely copied from Persius I. 58-60.
2 A character in the mime Porci Testamentum : here the reference is to Rufinus, once Jerome's friend but afterwards for theological reasons his bitter enemy.
Cf. App. II, p. 498 if.
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what you are to teach.
Do not believe your flatterers, or rather do not lend an ear too readily to mockers ; such men will warm your heart with fulsome praise and make you in a fashion lose control of your mind, but if you turn round quickly you will see them making stork-necks behind your back, or flapping their hands like a donkey's ears, or putting out the tongue like a mad dog . 1
Never speak evil of any man or think that holiness consists in attacking others.
Often we accuse our neighbour of what we do ourselves, and eloquently inveigh against vices of which we too are guilty, dumb men trying to criticize orators.
When the Grunter 2 came forward to address an audience he used to advance first at a snail's pace and utter a few words at such long intervals that you might have thought that he was gasping for breath rather than making a speech.
He would put his table in position and arrange on it a pile of books, and then frowning and drawing in his nose and wrinkling his forehead he would call his pupils to attention with a snap of his fingers.
After this prelude he would pour out a flood of nonsense, declaiming against individuals so fiercely that you might imagine him to be a critic like Longinus or the most eloquent of Roman censors, and putting a black mark against any one he pleased to exclude him from the senate of the learned.
He had plenty of money, and was more attractive at his dinner-parties.
And no wonder ; he hooked many with this bait, and gathering a wedge of noisy chatterers about him he would make public progress, Nero at home, Cato abroad, a complete puzzle, so that you might call him one monster made up of different and opposing natures, a strange beast like that of which 43 1
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' Prima leo, postrema draco, media ipsa chimaera.'
19. Numquam ergo tales videas nee huiusce modi hominibus adpliceris, ne declines cor tuum in verba malitiae et audias :
' Sedens adversus fratrem tuum detrahebas et adversus filium matris tuae ponebas scandal urn,' et iterum :
' Filii hominum dentes eorum arma et sagittae,' et alibi :
' Molliti sunt sermones eius super oleum et ipsi sunt iacula,' et apertius in Ecclesiaste :
' Si mordeat serpens in silentio, sic, qui fratri suo occulte detrahit.'
Sed dicis :
'Ipse non detraho, aliis loquentibus facere quid possum ?
' Ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis '
' ista praetendimus.
Christus arte non luditur.
Nequaquam mea, sed apostoli sententia est :
' Nolite errare ; Deus non inride tur.'
Ille in corde, nos videmus in facie.
Salomon loquitur in Proverbiis :
' Ventus aquilo dissipat nubes et vultus tristis linguas detrahentium.'
Sicut enim sagitta, si mittatur contra duram materiam, nonnumquam in mittentem revertitur et vulnerat vulnerantem illudque conpletur:
' Facti sunt mihi in arcum pravum,' et alibi :
' Qui mittit in altum lapidem, recidet in caput eius,' ita detractor, cum tristem faciem viderit audientis, immo ne audientis quidem, sed obturantis aures suas, ne audiat iudicium sanguinis, ilico conticescit, pallet vultus, haerent labia, saliva siccatur.
Unde idem vir 1 Lucretius, V. 905, describing the Chimaera.
2 Psalm 1. 20.
3 Psalm lvii. 4.
4 Psalm lv. 21.
Ecclesiastes, x. 11.
R.V. margin.
6 Psalm cxli. 4.
Galatians, vi. 7.
8 Proverbs, xxv. 23.
9 Psalm lxxviii. 57.
Ecclesiasticus, xxvii. 25.
Cf. Isaiah, xxxiii. 15 (of the righteous man) : qui obterat aures ne audiat sanguinem.
43 2
LETTER CXXV
4 In front a lion, behind a dragon, the poet tells us : in the middle a very goat .' 1
Therefore you must never look at men such as he was, or have any intercourse with fellows of this kind, lest you turn your heart aside unto words of evil and hear the words :
' Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's 4 The sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows,' 3 and in another place
: son,' 2 and again :
4 His words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords,' 4 and more clearly in Ecclesiastes
4 Surely the serpent will bite where there is no enchantment, and the slanderer is no better.' 5
But you may say :
I myself am not given to detraction, but if other people say things, what can I do ?
Such a plea is only an excuse to 4 practise wicked works with men that work iniquity.' 6
Christ is not deceived by such a trick.
It is not I but the apostle who says :
4 Be not deceived; God is not mocked .' 7
God looks upon the heart, we only see the face.
In the Proverbs Solomon savs :
4 As the north wind driveth V away rain, so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.' 8
As an arrow, if it be aimed at a hard substance, sometimes rebounds upon the archer and wounds the wounder—and so the word is ful4 They were turned aside like a deceitful bow,' 9 and in another place : filled :
4 Whoso casteth a stone on high casteth it on his own head ' 10—so when a slanderer sees that his hearer is looking surly, and so far from listening is stopping up his ears so that he may not hearken to the blood judgment , 11 he for his part at once falls silent, his face turns pale, his lips stick fast, and the moisture dries up within his mouth.
Wherefore the same wise man says:
4 Meddle not
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' Cum detractatoribus,' inquit, * non conmissapiens : cearis, quoniam repente veniet perditio eorum
; et ruinam utriusque quis novit?
Tam scilicet eius, qui loquitur, quam illius, qui audit loquentem.
Veritas angulos non amat nec quaerit susurrones.
Timotheo dicitur :
' Adversus presbyterum accusationem cito ne receperis.
Peccantem autem coram omnibus argue, ut et ceteri me turn habeant.'
Non est facile de perfecta aetate credendum, quam et vita praeterita defendit et honorat vocabulum dignitatis, verum, qui homines sumus et interdum contra annorum maturitatem puerorum vitiis labimur, si me vis corrigi deliquentem, aperte increpa, tantum ne occulte mordeas :
' Corripiet me iustus in misericordia et increpabit me, oleum autem peccatoris non inpinguet caput meum.
Quern enim diligit dominus, corripit, flagellat autem omnium filium, quern ' Populus meus, qui beatos vos dicunt, seducunt vos et semitas pedum vestrorum supplantant.'
Quid enim mihi prodest, si aliis mala mea referas, si me nesciente recipit.'
Et per Esaiam clamat Deus : peccatis meis, immo detractationibus tuis alium vulneres et, cum certatim omnibus narres, sic singulis loquaris, quasi nulli alteri dixeris ?
Hoc est non me emendare, sed vitio tuo satisfacere.
Praecipit dominus peccantes in nos argui debere secreto vel adhibito teste et, si audire noluerint, referri ad ecclesiam habendosque in malo pertinaces quasi ethnicos et publicanos.
1 Proverbs, xxiv. 21 Vulgate.
1 Timothy, v. 19 (slightly altered).
3 Psalm cxli. 5.
(Septuagint cxl. 5.) 4 Hebrews, xii. 6.
6 Isaiah, iii. 12 (Septuagint).
LETTER CXXV
with them that are given to detraction : for their calamity shall rise suddenly ; and who knoweth the ruin of them both ?
' 1—that is, the ruin of him who speaks and him who listens.
Truth does not love corners nor does she seek out whisperers.
To Timothy ' Against an elder receive not an accusait is said : tion suddenly ; but him that sinneth rebuke before all, that others also may fear.' 2
When a man is of ripe years you should not readily believe evil of him ; his past life is a defence and so is the honourable title of elder.
Still, as we are but men and sometimes in spite of our mature age fall into the sins of youth, if I do wrong and you wish to correct me, rebuke me openly and do not indulge in secret backbiting.
' Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness, and let him reprove me ; but let not the oil of the sinner enrich my head .' 3
' Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.' 4
By the mouth of Isaiah God makes proclamation :
' O my people, they who call you happy cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths.' 5
What benefit is it to me if you tell other people of my misdeeds, if without my knowledge you hurt another by the story of my sins or rather by your slanders, if while really eager to tell your tale to all you speak to each individual as though he were your only confidant?
Such conduct seeks not my improvement but the satisfaction of your own vice.
The Lord gave commandment that those who sin against us should be arraigned privately or else in the presence of a witness, and that if they refuse to listen they should be brought before the Church, and those who persist in wickedness should be regarded as heathens and publicans.
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20. Haec expressius loquor, lit adulescentem meum et linguae et aurium prurigine liberem, ut renatum in Christo sine ruga et macula quasi pudicam virginem exhibeam sanctamque tam mente quam corpore, ne solo nomine glorietur et absque oleo bonorum operum extincta lampade excludatur ab sponso.
Habes ibi sanctum doctissimumque pontificem Proculum, qui viva et praesenti voce nostras scidulas superet cotidianisque tractatibus iter tuum dirigat nee patiatur te in partem alteram declinando viam relinquere regiam, per quam Israhel ad terram repromissionis properans se transiturum esse promittit.
Atque utinam exaudiatur vox ecclesiae conplorantis :
' Domine, pacem da nobis ; omnia enim reddidisti nobis.'
Utinam, quod renuntiamus saeculo, voluntas sit, non necessitas, et paupertas habeat expetita gloriam, non inlata cruciatum.
Ceterum iuxta miserias huius temporis et ubique gladios saevientes satis dives est, qui pane non indiget, nimium potens, qui servire non cogitur.
Sanctus Exsuperius, Tolosae episcopus, viduae Saraptensis imitator, esuriens pascit alios et ore pallente ieiuniis fame torquetur aliena omnemque substantiam Christi visceribus erogavit.
Nihil illo ditius, qui corpus domini canistro vimineo, sanguinem portat vitro, qui avaritiam proiecit e templo, qui absque funiculo et
1 Bishop of Marseilles.
2 Isaiah, xxvi. 12 (Septuagint).
3 Bishop of Toulouse in the beginning of the fifth century, and a friend of Jerome.
He lived at Rome before his episcopate (Letter LIV, 11).
1 Kings, xvii. 12.
LETTER CXXV
I have spoken thus definitely because I wish to free a young friend of mine from an itching tongue and itching ears, so that I may present him born again in Christ without spot or roughness as a chaste virgin, holy both in body and in mind.
I would not have him boast in name alone, or be shut out by the Bridegroom because his lamp has gone out for want of the oil of good works.
You have in your town a saintly and most learned prelate, Proculus , 1 and he by the living sound of his voice can do more for you than any pages I can write.
By daily homilies he will keep you in the straight path and not suffer you to turn right or left and leave the king's highway, whereby Israel undertakes to pass on its hasty journey to the promised land.
May the voice of the Church's supplication be heard :
' Lord, ordain peace for us, for thou also hast wrought all our works for us.' 2
May our renunciation of the world be a matter of free will and not of necessity !
May we seek poverty as a glorious thing, not have it forced upon us as a punishment !
However, in our present miseries, with swords raging fiercely all around us, he is rich enough who is not in actual want of bread, he is more powerful than he needs be who is not reduced to slavery.
Exuperius , 3 the saintly bishop of Toulouse, like the widow of Zarephath feeds others and goes hungry himself. 4
His face is pale with fasting, but it is the craving of others that torments him, and he has spent all his substance on those that are Christ's flesh.
Yet none is richer than he ; for in his wicker basket he carries the body of the Lord and in his glass cup His blood.
He has driven greed from the temple ; without scourge of ropes or chiding words he has overthrown the tables
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increpatione vendentium columbas, id est dona Spiritus Sancti, mensas subvertit mammonae et nummulariorum aera dispersit, ut domus Dei domus vocaretur orationis et non latronum spelunca.
Iluius e vicino sectare vestigia et ceterorum, qui virtuturn illius similes sunt, quos sacerdotium et humiliores facit et pauperiores, aut, si perfecta desideras, exi cum Abraham de patria et de cognatione tua et perge, quo nescis.
Si habes substantiam, vende et da pauperibus, si non habes, grandi onere liberatus es ; nudum Christum nudus sequere.
Durum, grande, difficile, sed magna sunt praemia.
CXXVII Ad Principiam Virginem de Vita Sanctae Marcellae 1. Saepe et multum flagitas, virgo Christi Principia, ut memoriam sanctae feminae Marcellae litteris recolam et bonum, quo diu fruiti sumus, etiam ceteris noscendum imitandumque describam.
Satisque doleo, quod hortaris sponte currentem et me arbitraris indigere precibus, qui ne tibi quidem in 1 This letter is really a memoir of Marcella, the noble lady in whose house on the Aventine Jerome used to meet his female disciples while he was living in Rome.
The chief facts of her life are given here by Jerome, who concludes with an account of the sack of Rome in a.d. 410.
In 408 the Goths, who had been settled in Dalmatia, by Theodosius (379-395), taking advantage of Stilicho's death, marched into Italy under Alaric, and forced Rome to pay ransom.
The process was repeated in the next year and in 410 the city was stormed and sacked, although the Goths, who were
LETTER CXXV AND LETTER CXXVII
of mammon of those that sell doves, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit ; he has scattered the money of the money-changers, so that the house of God might be called a house of prayer and not a den of robbers.
Follow closely in his steps and in those of others like him in virtue, men whom their holy office only makes more humble and more poor.
Or else, if you desire perfection, go out like Abraham from your native city and your kin, and travel whither you know not.
If you have substance, sell it and give it to the poor.
If you have none, you are free from a great burden.
Naked yourself follow a naked Christ.
The task is hard and great and difficult; but great also are the rewards.
LETTER CXXVII
To Principia Marcella 1 and the sack of Rome Written a.d, 412 You have often and earnestly begged me, Principia, virgin of Christ, to honour in writing the memory of that saintly woman Marcella, and to set forth the goodness we so long enjoyed for others to know and imitate.
It is, however, something of a grief to me that you should spur a willing horse,2 or that you should think I need Christians, spared the churches.
Soon afterwards Alaric died in South Italy, his sudden end being used as a warning to Attila in 452 by Leo the Great.
For Marcella and her circle, cf. Appendix I.
2 A proverb :
Cic.
Att., xiii. 45. 1
: quod me hortaris .
, eurrentem tu quidem.
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eius dilectione concedam multoque plus accipiam quam tribuam beneficii tantarum recordatione virtuturn.
Nam ut hucusque reticerem et biennium praeterirem silentio, non fuit dissimulationis, ut male aestimas, sed tristitiae incredibilis, quae ita meum obpressit animum, ut melius iudicarem tacere inpraesentiarum, quam nihil dignum illius laudibus dicere.
Neque vero Marcellam tuam, immo meam et, ut verius loquar, nostram, omniumque sanctorum et proprie Romanae urbis inclitum decus, institutis rhetorum praedicabo, ut exponam illustrem familiam, alti sanguinis decus et stemmata per consules et praefectos praetorio decurrentia.
Nihil in ilia laudabo, nisi quod proprium est et in eo nobilius, quod opibus et nobilitate contempta facta est paupertate et humilitate nobilior.
2. Orbata patris morte viro quoque post nuptias septimo mense privata est.
Cumque earn Cerealis, cuius clarum inter consules nomen est, propter aetatem et antiquitatem familiae et insignem—quod maxime viris placere consuevit—decorem corporis ac insignem temperantiam ambitiosius peteret suasque longaevus polliceretur divitias et non quasi in uxorem sed quasi in filiam vellet donationem transfundere Albinaque mater tarn clarum praesidium viduitati domus ultro appeteret, ilia respondit:
' Si vellem