Letter Xiv
LETTER XIV
LETTER XIV
To Heliodorus The ascetic life Written a.d. 374
Your own heart conscious of our mutual affection knows with what loving zeal I urged you to let us stay together in the desert.
This letter even, blotted, as you see, with tears, bears witness to the grief, the sobs, and the lamentations wherewith I accompanied your departure.
You, like some spoilt child, smoothed over your contemptuous refusal then with soft words and I in my folly did not know what to do.
Ought I to have held my tongue ?
I could not conceal my ardent desires under a cloak of indifference. Ought I to have pleaded with more urgency ?
You would not have listened, for you did not love me as I loved you.
The affection you scorned has done the one thing it could.
It was not able to keep you when present, but it now comes to seek you when you are far away.
At your departure you asked me to send you a letter of invitation when I took up my home in the desert, and I promised that I would do so.
That letter of invitation I now send : come, and come quickly.
Do not think of old ties the desert loves the naked—do not be deterred by the hardships of our former travels.
As you believe ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you'! 1
You need not take scrip nor in Christ, believe also in his words : staff ; he is abundantly rich who is poor with Christ.
St. Matthew, vi. 33.
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2. Sed quid ago ?
Rursus inprovidus obsecro ?
Abeant preces, blandimenta discedant ; debet amor irasci.
Qui rogantem contempseras, forsitan audies obiurgantem.
Quid facis in paterna domo, delicate miles ?
Ubi vallum, ubi fossa, ubi hiemps acta sub pellibus ?
Ecce de caelo tuba canit, cum nubibus debellaturus orbem imperator armatus egreditur, eoce bis acutus gladius ex regis ore procedens obvia quaeque metit
: et tu mihi de cubiculo ad aciem, de umbra egrederis ad solem ?
Corpus adsuetum tunica loricae onus non suffert, caput opertum linteo galeam recusat, modern otio manum durus exasperat capulus.
Audi edictum regis tui :
' Qui mecum non est, contra me est et qui mecum non colligit, spargit.'
Recordare tiroconii tui diem, quo Christo in baptismate consepultus sacramenti verba
: pro nomine eius non te matri parciturum iurasti esse, non patri.
Ecce adversaries in pectore tuo Christum conatur occidere ; ecce donativum, quod militaturus acceperas, hostilia castra suspirant.
Licet parvulus ex collo pendeat nepos, licet sparso crine et scissis vestibus ubera, quibus nutrierat, mater ostendat, licet in limine pater iaceat, per calcatum
LETTER XIV
But what am I doing ?
Why these imprudent entreaties for the second time ?
A truce to prayers, enough of soft words.
It is the duty of offended love to show resentment.
You despised my request; perhaps you will listen to my reproof.
What business have you, pampered soldier, in your father's house ?
Where now are the rampart, the trench, and the winter under canvas ?
Lo, the trumpet sounds from heaven !
Lo, our general fully armed comes forth amid the clouds to subdue the world Lo, from our king's mouth proceeds a sword twice sharpened, which cuts down all that is in its path Are you coming out, pray, from your chamber to the battle-field, from the shade to the sun ?
A body that is used to a tunic cannot support a cuirass, a head that has worn a linen hood shrinks from a helmet, a hand that idleness has softened is galled by a hard sword-hilt.
Hear your king's proclamation :
' He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.' 1
Remember the day when you enlisted as a recruit, when, buried with Christ in baptism, you took the oath of allegiance to Him, declaring that in His name you would spare neither father nor mother.
Lo, the adversary within your own heart is trying now to slay Chris c!
Lo, the enemy's camp is sighing now for the bounty which you received before your service began.
Though your little nephew 2 hang on your neck, though your mother with dishevelled hair and torn raiment show you the breasts that gave you suck, though your father fling himself upon the threshold, trample your father underfoot and go your way, fly
St. Matthew, xii. 30.
2 Nepotian. Cf. Letters LI1 and LX.
3 l
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perge patrem, siccis oculis ad vexillum crucis vola!
Pietatis genus est in hac re esse crudelem.
3. Veniet postea dies, quo victor revertaris in patriam, quo Hierosolymam caelestem vir fortis coronatus incedas.
Tunc municipatum cum Paulo capies, tunc et parentibus tuis eiusdem civitatis ius petes, tunc et pro me rogabis, qui, ut vinceres, incitavi.
Neque vero nescio, qua te nunc dicas conpede praepediri.
Non est nobis ferreum pectus nec dura praeeordia, non ex silice natos Hyrcanae nutriere tigrides.
Et nos per ista transivimus.
Nunc tibi blandis vidua soror haeret lacertis, nunc ' Cui nos illi, cum quibus adolevisti, vernulae aiunt
Nunc et gerula quondam, servituros relinquis ? iam anus, et nutricius, secundus post naturalem ' Morituros expecta paulispietatis pater, clamitat
: per et sepeli.'
Forsitan et laxis uberum pellibus, arata rugis fronte antiquum referens mamma lallare congeminet.
Dicant, si volunt, et grammatici ' In te omnis domus inclinata recumbit.'
Facile rumpit haec vincula amor Christi et timor gehennae.
' At scriptura praecipit parentibus obsequendum ' sed quicumque eos supra Christum amat, perdit animam suam.
Gladium tenet hostis, ut me perimat, et ego de matris lacrimis cogitabo ?
Propter
LETTER XIV
with tearless eyes to the standard of the Cross.
In these matters to be cruel is a son's duty.
The day will come later when you shall return in triumph to your true country, when, crowned as a man of might, you shall walk the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Then you shall share with Paul the franchise of that city, and ask the same privilege for your parents.
Yes, and for me also you shall intercede, who urged you on to victory.
I know full well the fetters which you will say impede you.
My breast is not of iron nor my heart of stone.
I was not born from a rock or suckled by Hyrcanian tigers . 1
I too have passed through all this.
Your widowed sister clings to you to-day with loving arms ; the house-slaves, in whose company you grew to manhood, cry * To what master are you leaving us?
Your old nurse and her husband, who have the next claim to your ' Wait for a few months till we die and then give us burial.'
Perhaps your foster mother with sagging breasts and wrinkled face may remind you of your old lullaby and sing it once again.
Your tutors even, if they wish, may say with Virgil : 2 affection after your own father, exclaim,
* On you the whole house resting leans.'
The love of Christ and the fear of hell easily break such bonds as these.
But, you will say, the Scripture bids us to obey our parents.
Nay, whosoever loves his parents more than Christ loses his own soul.
The enemy takes up his sword to slay me : shall I think of my mother's tears ?
Shall I desert from my army because of my
Cf. Aeneid, IV. 366.
8 Aeneid, XII. 59.
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patrem militiam deseram, cui sepulturam Christi causa non debeo, quam etiam omnibus eius causa debeo ?
Domino passuro timide consulens Petrus scandalum fuit.
Paulus retinentibus fratribus, ne Hierosolymam pergeret, respondit :
' Quid facitis plorantes et conturbantes cor meum ?
Ego non solum ligari, sed mori in Hierusalem paratus sum pro nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi.'
Aries iste pietatis, quo fides quatitur, evangelii retundendus ' Mater mea et fratres mei hi sunt, quicumque faciunt voluntatem patris mei, qui in caelis est muro : est.'
Si credunt in Christo, faveant mihi pro eius ' mortui sepeliant nomine pugnaturo ; si non credunt, mortuos suos.'
' Sed hoc,' ais, ' in martyrio.'
Erras, frater, erras, si putas umquam Christianum persecutionem non pati ; et nunc cum maxime oppugnaris, si te oppugnari nescis.
Adversarius noster tamquam leo rugiens aliquem devorare quaerens circuit, et tu pacem putas ?
* Sedet in insidiis cum divitibus in occultis, ut interficiat innocentem ; oculi eius in pauperem respiciunt; insidiatur in occulto sicut leo in spelunca sua ; insidiatur ut rapiat pauperem ' et tu frondosae arboris tectus umbraculo molies somnos, futura praeda, carpis ?
Inde me persequitur luxuria, inde avaritia conatur inrumpere,
LETTER XIV
father, to whom in Christ's cause I owe no rites of burial, although in Christ's cause I owe them to ah men ?
Peter with his craven counsel was an offence to Our Lord before His passion.
Paul's answer to his brothers, who would have stayed his journey to Jerusalem, was this:
' What mean ye, to weep and to break my heart ?
For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus .' 1
The battering-ram of affection which shakes faith must be beaten back by the wall of the Gospel :
' My mother and my brethren are these, whosoever do the will of my father which is in heaven.' 2
If men believe in Christ, they should cheer me on as I go to fight in His name.
If they do not believe, ' let the dead bury their dead.' 3
All this is well enough, you reply, if one is a martyr.
Ah, you are mistaken, grievously mistaken, my brother, if you think that there is ever a time when the Christian is not suffering persecution.
At this very moment you are being furiously attacked when you do not know that any attack is being made.
' Our adversary as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour,' 4 and do you think you are at peace ?
4 He sitteth in ambush with the rich in secret to murder the innocent, his eyes are privily set against the poor.
He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den ; he lieth in wait to catch the poor,' 5 and do you, his destined prey, enjoy your soft slumbers under the shady covering of a leafy tree ?
On one side self-indulgence pursues me, on another avarice tries to break in, on another my belly
Acts, xxi. 13.
St. Matthew, xii. 50.
St. Matthew, viii. 22.
1 St. Peter, v.
5 Psalm x. 8.
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inde venter meus vult mihi deus esse pro Christo, conpellit libido, ut habitantem in me spiritum sanctum fugem, ut templum eius violem, perse- ' cui nomina mille, mille quitur me, inquam, hostis, : et ego infelix victorem me putabo, dum capior ? nocendi artes '
Nolo, frater carissime, examinato pondere delictorum minora arbitreris idolatriae crimina esse, quae diximus ; immo apostoli disce sententiam, qui ' Hoc enim scitote intellegentes, quia omnis ait : fornicator aut immundus, aut fraudator, quod est idolatria, non habet hereditatem in regno Dei et Christi.'
Et quamquam generaliter adversum Deum sapiat, quidquid diaboli est, et quod diaboli est, idolatria sit, cui omnia idola mancipantur, tamen et in alio loco speciatim nominatimque determinat ' Mortificate membra vestra, quae in terra dicens : sunt, exponentes fornicationem, immunditiam et concupiscentiam malam et cupiditatem, quae sunt idolorum servitus, propter quae venit ira Dei.'
Non est tantum in eo servitus idoli, si quis duobus digitulis tura comprehensa in bustum arae iaciat aut haustum patera fundat merum.
Neget avaritiam idolatriam, qui potest triginta argenteis dominum venditum appellare iustitiam ; neget sacrilegium in libidine, sed is qui membra Christi et hostiam vivam placentem Deo cum publicarum libidinum victimis
LETTER XIV
wishes to be my god in Christ's place : lust urges me to drive away the Holy Spirit that dwells within me and to violate His temple ; I am pursued, I repeat, by an enemy who has ' A thousand names, a thousand arts for ill
and shall I, poor wretch, deem myself a conqueroi when I am being led into captivity ?
Do not weigh one transgression too closely against another, dearest brother, nor think that the sins I have mentioned are less heinous than idolatry.
Nay, listen to the apostle's verdict:
'For this we know, that no whoremonger or unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.' 2
Speaking generally all that is of the devil savours of enmity to God, and what is of the devil is idolatry, since all idols are in his service.
But in another place the apostle lays down a special law, saying expressly :
' Mortify your members which are upon the earth, laying aside fornication, uncleanness, evil concupiscence and covetousness, which are idolatry, for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh .' 3
Idolatry is not confined to taking some grains of incense in two fingers and throwing them upon an altar fire, nor to pouring a libation of wine from a bowl.
Let him deny that avarice is idolatry, who can assert that the selling of the Lord for thirty pieces of silver was a righteous act.
Let him, but only him, deny that there is sacrilege in carnal lust, who has polluted the living offering of his body pleasing to God by shameful intercourse with the victims of public
Virgil, Aeneid, VII. 337.
2 Ephesians, v. 5.
Colossians, iii. 5.
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nefaria conluvione violavit ; non fateatur idolatras eos, sed similis eorum, qui in Actibus Apostolorum ex patrimonio suo partem pretii reservantes praesenti periere vindicta.
Animadverte, frater : non tibi ' Omnis,' licet de tuis quicquam habere rebus. inquit dominus, ' qui non renuntiaverit cunctis quae possidet, non potest meus esse discipulus.'
6. Cur timido animo Christianus es ?
Respice cum patre relictum rete, respice surgentem de ' Filius teloneo publicanum, statim apostolum. hominis non habet, ubi caput reclinet : et tu amplas ' porticus et ingentia tectorum spatia metaris ?
Hereditatem expectas saeculi, coheres Christi ?
Interpretare vocabulum monachi, hoc est nomen tuum : quid facis in turba, qui solus es ?
Et haec ego non integris rate vel mercibus quasi ignaros fluctuum doctus nauta praemoneo, sed quasi nuper naufragio eiectus in litus timida navigaturis voce denuntio.
In illo aestu Charybdis luxuriae salutem vorat, ibi ore virgineo ad pudicitiae perpetranda naufragia Scyllaceum renidens libido blanditur hie barbarum litus, hie diabolus pirata cum sociis portat vincla capiendis.
Nolite credere, nolite esse securi.
Licet in morem stagni fusum aequor adrideat, licet vix summa iacentis elementi spiritu terga crispentur, magnus hie campus montes habet,
1 Acts, v.
St. Luke, xiv. 33.
LETTER XIV
vice.
Let him not confess that those men were idolaters, who in the Acts of the Apostles 1 kept back part of the price of their inheritance, and perished by an instant penalty, but only if he is himself like them.
Take heed, brother : it is not lawful for you to keep anything that you possess.
' Whosoever he be of ' that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple you,' says the Lord, !
Why are you such a timid Christian ?
Consider him who left his father and his nets, and how the publican rising from the receipt of custom became
' The Son of man hath not where to lay his head,' 3 and are you planning wide colonnades and spacious halls ?
Are you looking at once an apostle. for an inheritance in this world, you who are jointheir with Christ ?
Consider the meaning of the word monk, your proper designation . 4
What are you, a solitary, doing in a crowd ?
These warnings of mine are not those of a skilled sailor, with ship and cargo intact, addressed to people ignorant of the sea ; nay, rather, like some shipwrecked mariner just cast ashore, I address my faltering words to others who are about to set sail.
On one side of the strait the Charybdis of self-indulgence engulfs our salvation
; on the other the Scylla of lust, with a smile upon her girlish cheek, lures us on to make shipwreck of our chastity.
To the right is a savage coast, to the left the devil with his pirate crew carrying chains for his future captives.
Be not credulous, be not over-confident.
Though the sea be now as smooth and smiling as a pond, though the mighty monster's back be scarcely ruffled by a breath of air, yet that huge plain contains mountains within
St. Matthew, viii. 20.
4 Movayo?, solitary.
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intus inclusum est periculum, intus est hostis.
Expedite rudentes, vela suspendite.
Crux antemnae figatur in frontibus : tranquillitas ista tempestas est.
' Quid ergo ? quicumque in civitate sunt, Christiani non sunt ?
Non est tibi eadem causa, quae ceteris.
Dominum ausculta dicentem :
' Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende omnia tua et da pauperibus et veni, sequere me/ Tu autem perfectum te esse pollicitus es.
Nam cum derelicta militia castrasti te propter regnum caelorum, quid aliud qnam perfectam sectatus es vitam ?
Perfectus autem servus Christi nihil praeter Christum habet ; si praeter Christum habet, perfectus non est.
Et si perfectus non est, cum se perfectum Deo fore pollicitus sit, ante mentitus
' Os,' autem.
' quod mentitur, occidit animam/ est.
Igitur, ut concludam, si perfectus es, cur bona paterna desideras ?
Si perfectus non es, dominum fefellisti.
1 Non potestis Divinis evangelium vocibus tonat : duobus dominis servire,' et audet quisquam mendacem Christum facere mamonae et domino serviendo ?
' Si quis vult post me venire, Vociferatur ille saepe : abneget se ipsum et tollat crucem suam et sequatur me/ Et ego onustus auro arbitror me Christum sequi ?
' Qui dicit se in Christo manere, debet, quomodo ille ambulavit, et ipse ambulare/ 7. Quodsi nihil habes, ut responsurum te scio, cui
St. Matthew, xix. 21.
2 Wisdom, i. 11.
LETTER XIV
it.
There is danger in its depths, the foe is lurking there.
Stow your tackle, reef your sails, and let the cross which the yard-arm makes be fastened on your front.
That stillness means a tempest.
Well, you may say, are not all my fellow-townsmen Christians?
Your case is not the same as that of other men.
Listen to the Lord speaking :
' If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me .' 1
You promised to be perfect.
When you gave up the army and made yourself an eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake, what other purpose had you in view save the perfect life ?
A perfect servant of Christ has nothing beside Christ : if he has anything beside Christ he is not perfect.
And if he is not perfect, when he promised God that he would be perfect, his first promise was a lie.
Now ' the mouth that lieth slayeth the soul.' 2
To conclude, then, if you are perfect why do you hanker after your father's property ?
If you are not perfect, you have played the Lord false.
The Gospel thunders with God's own voice :
'Ye cannot serve two masters '
and does any man dare to make Christ a liar by serving Mammon and the Lord together ?
Often does He cry ' If any one will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me .' 4
Do I think that I am following Christ when I load myself with gold ?
; ' He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.' 5
I know what your reply will be— ' I possess nothing.'
When you are so well equipped for war, why do you
St. Matthew, vi. 24.
St. Matthew, xvi. 24.
1 John, ii. 6.
; ;
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tam bene paratus ad bella non militas ?
Nisi forte in patria tua te arbitraris hoc facere, cum in sua dominus signa non fecerit.
Et cur id ? Cum auctori- ' Nemo propheta in sua patria honorem habet.' tate sume rationem :
' Non quaero,' inquies, ' honorem sufficit mihi conscientia mea.'
Neque dominus quaerebat, quippe qui, ne a turbis rex constitueretur, aufugit.
Sed ubi honor non est, ibi contemptus est ubi contemptus, ibi frequens iniuria ; ubi autem iniuria, ibi et indignatio ; ubi indignatio, ibi quies nulla ; ubi quies non est, ibi mens a proposito saepe deducitur ; ubi autem per inquietudinem aliquid aufertur ex studio, minus fit ab eo, quod tollitur, et ubi minus est, perfectum non potest dici.
Ex hac supputatione ilia summa nascitur, monachum perfectum in patria sua esse non posse.
Perfectum autem esse nolle delinquere est.
8. Sed de hoc gradu pulsus provocabis ad clericos :
' An de his aliquid audeam dicere, qui certe in suis '
Absit ut quicquam de his urbibus commorantur ? sinistrum loquar, qui apostolico gradui succedentes Christi corpus sacro ore conficiunt, per quos nos etiam Christi ani sumus, qui claves regni caelorum habentes quodammodo ante iudicii diem iudicant, qui sponsam domini sobria castitate conservant.
Sed alia, ut ante praestruxi, monachi causa, est, alia clericorum.
Clerici oves pascunt, ego pascor ; illi de altario vivunt, mihi quasi infructuosae arbori securis ponitur ad radices, si munus ad altare non
Cf. p. 412, note 1.
LETTER XIV
not take the field ?
Perhaps you think you can do so in your own country, although the Lord could do no signs in His.
Why could He not ?
Hear the reason that has His authority :
' No prophet has honour in his own country.'
' I do not seek honour,' you will say ; ' my own conscience is enough for me.'
Neither did the Lord seek it ; for when the crowds would have made Him king He fled away.
But where there is no honour, there is contempt ; where there is contempt, insult is frequent ; where there is insult, there is indignation ; where there is indignation, there is no rest ; where there is no rest, the mind is often diverted from its purpose.
Moreover, where through restlessness something of zeal is lost, zeal is lessened by what it loses, and when a thing is lessened it cannot be called perfect.
We may sum up our account by saying that a monk cannot be perfect in his own country ; and not to wish to be perfect is a sin.
Shifted from this position you will appeal to the ' Do you dare to criticize them,' you will clergy.
' who yet assuredly remain in their own cities ?
' say, Heaven forbid that I should say anything unfavourable about the men who, as successors to the apostles, make the body of Christ for us with holy words ; who baptize us as Christians ; who hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and in a way judge us before the Judgment Day; who in sober chastity guard the bride of Christ.
But, as I have laid down already, the case of a monk is different from that of the clergy . 1
The clergy feed Christ's sheep ; I, a monk, am of their flock.
The clergy live of the altar ; if I bring no gift to the altar steps, I am a barren tree and the axe is laid to my
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defero.
Nec possum obtendere paupertatem, cum in evangelio anum videam duo, quae sola sibi supererant, aera mittentem.
Mihi ante presbyterum sedere non licet ; illi, si peccavero, licet tradere me Satanae in interitum carnis, ut spiritus salvus fiat.
Et in veteri quidem lege, quicumque sacerdotibus non obtemperasset, aut extra castra positus lapidabatur a populo aut gladio cervice subiecta contemptum expiabat cruore.
Nunc vero inoboediens spiritali mucrone truncatur aut eiectus de ecclesia rabido daemonum ore discerpitur.
Quod si te quoque ad eundem ordinem pia fratrum blandimenta sollicitant, gaudebo de ascensu, timebo de lapsu.
' Qui episcopatum desiderat, bonum opus desiderat.'
Scimus ista, sed iunge, quod sequitur ' Oportet autem huiusmodi inreprehensibilem esse, unius uxoris virum, sobrium, pudicum, prudentem, ornatum, hospitalem, docibilem, non vinolentum, non percussorem, sed modestum.'
Et ceteris de eo, quae sequuntur, explicitis non minore in tertio gradu ad- ' Diaconos similiter pudicos, non bilingues, non multo vino deditos, non turpihibuit diligentiam dicens : lucros, habentes mysterium fidei in conscientia pura.
Et hi autem probentur primum et sic ministrent '
Vae illi homini, qui vestem non habens nuptialem ingreditur ad cenam !
Nihil nullum crimen habentes. superest, nisi ut statim audiat :
' Amice, quomodo
1 Corinthians, v. 5.
2 Deut., xvii. 12.
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roots.
I cannot plead poverty, for in the Gospel I see the aged woman offering the last two pennies she had left.
It is not permitted me to sit in the presence of a presbyter : it is permitted him, if I sin, to deliver me to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved . 1
Under the old law anyone who refused obedience to the priests was put outside the camp and stoned by the people, or else he was beheaded and expiated his contempt with his blood . 2
To-day the disobedient are smitten with the spiritual sword, or they are expelled from the Church and torn in pieces by the ravening jaw rs of demons.
If the pious persuasion of your brethren invites you to take clerical orders, I shall rejoice at your present rise and fear a future fall.
' If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.' 3
We know the passage : you must continue the quotation ' Such an one must be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, chaste, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker but patient .' 4
After setting out some further details the apostle shows no less care in dealing with clergy of the third degree.
' Likewise must the deacons be grave,' he says, ' not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
And let these also first be proved then let them minister, being found blameless.' 6
Woe to the man who enters the feast without a wedding garment !
Nothing remains for him but the quick challenge, ' Friend, how earnest thou in
1 Timothy, iii.
1 Timothy, iii. 2.
1 Timothy, iii. 8.
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' et illo obmutescente dicatur ministris : hue venisti ?
' Tollite ilium pedibus et manibus et mittite eum in tenebras exteriores ; ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium.
Vae illi, qui acceptum talentum in sudario ligans ceteris lucra facientibus id tantum, quod acceperat, reservarit !
Ilico indignantis domini clamore ferie- ' Serve nequam, quare non dedisti pecuniam meam ad mensam, et ego veniens cum usuris exegissem ? tur :
' deposuisses ad altare, quod ferre non poteras.
Dum enim tu, ignavus negotiator, denarium tenes, alterius locum, qui pecuniam dupli- ' id est : care poterat, occupasti.'
Quam ob rem sicut is, qui bene ministrat, bonum gradum sibi adquirit, ita, qui indigne ad calicem domini accedit, reus erit dominici corporis et sanguinis.
9. Non omnes episcopi episcopi.
Adtendis Petrum, sed et Iudam considera.
Stephanum suspicis, sed et Nicolaum respice, quern dominus in ; qui tam turpia et nefanda commentus est, ut Ophitarum heresis ex ilia radice Apocalypsi sua odit nascatur.
Probet se unusquisque et sic accedat.
Non facit ecclesiastica dignitas Christianum.
Cornelius centurio adhuc ethnicus dono spiritus sancti ; presbyteros Danihel puer iudicat ; Amos ruborum mora destringens repente propheta est inundatur David pastor adlegitur in regem ; minimum discipulum Iesus amat plurimum.
Inferius, frater,
St. Matthew, xxii. 11.
St. Luke, xix. 23.
3 The assumed founder of the sect of the Nicolaitanes, Rev., ii.
LETTER XIV
And as he stands speechless, the servants hither?
' Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness ; there will be bidden : shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth/ 1
Woe to the man who receives a talent and ties it in a napkin, merely keeping what he has received while others make a profit !
At once his angry lord's rebuke ' Thou wicked servant, wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury ? shall strike him :
That is, ' You should have laid down at the altar what you yourself were not able to carry.
For while you, a slothful trader, keep a penny back, you occupy the place of another who could have doubled the money.
Wherefore, as he who ministers well wins for himself an honourable place, so he who comes to the Lord's cup unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
Not all bishops are true bishops.
You notice Peter; but mark Judas as well.
You look up to Stephen ; but consider also Nicolas 3 whom the Lord in His Apocalypse abominates, the man whose foul and shameful teachings gave rise to the Ophite 4 heresy.
Let a man examine himself and so let him come.
Ecclesiastical rank does not make a man a Christian.
The centurion Cornelius was still a heathen when he was cleansed by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Daniel was but a child when he judged the elders.
Amos was plucking blackberries when in a moment he was made a prophet.
David was only a shepherd when he was chosen to be king.
The least of his disciples was the one whom Jesus loved most.
My brother, sit down in the lower place, 4 The Ophites were an obscure Gnostic sect.
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accumbe, ut minore veniente sursum iubearis accedere.
Super quern dominus requiescit, nisi super liumilem et quietum et trementem verba sua ?
' Potentes Cui plus creditur, plus ab eo exigitur. potenter tormenta patientur/ Nec sibi quisquam de corporis tantum mundi castitate supplaudat, cum omne verbum otiosum, quodcumque locuti fuerint homines, reddituri sint pro eo rationem in die iudicii, cum etiam convicium in fratrem homicidii sit reatus.
Non est facile stare loco Pauli, tenere gradum iam cum Christo regnantium, ne forte veniat angelus, qui scindat velum templi tui, qui candelabrum tuum loco moveat.
Aedificaturus turrem futuri operis sumptus supputa.
Infatuatum sal ad nihilum est utile, nisi ut proiciatur foras et a porcis conculcetur.
Monachus si eeciderit, rogabit pro eo sacerdos ; pro sacerdotis lapsu quis rogaturus est ?
10. Sed quia e scopulosis locis enavigavit oratio et inter cavas spumeis fluctibus cautes fragilis in altum cumba processit, expandenda vela sunt ventis et quaestionum scopulis transvadatis laetantium more nautarum epilogi celeuma cantandum est.
O desertum Christi floribus vernans !
O solitudo, in qua illi nascuntur lapides, de quibus in Apocalypsi civitas magni regis extruitur !
O heremus familiari Deo gaudens !
Quid agis, frater, in saeculo, qui maior es mundo ?
Quam diu te tectorum umbrae
LETTER XIV
that when one less honourable comes you may be bidden to go up higher.
Upon whom does the Lord rest save upon him that is lowly and of a contrite spirit and that trembleth at his words ?
The more that is entrusted to a man, the more is demanded from him :
' The mighty will suffer torments mightily.'
Let no man applaud himself because of his bodily chastity alone on the day of judgment, for men shall render account for every idle word they have spoken, and abuse of a brother shall be counted as the sin of murder.
It is no easy thing to stand in Paul's place and to hold the rank of those who now reign with Christ.
Perchance an angel may come to rend the veil of your temple and to remove your candlestick from its place.
If you are thinking of building a tower, reckon up the cost of the structure first.
Salt that has lost its savour is worthless : it can only be cast out and trodden underfoot by swine.
If a monk falls, a priest will intercede for him ; but who shall intercede for a fallen priest ?
My discourse has now sailed clear of the reefs, and from the midst of hollow crags with foaming waves my frail bark has won her way into deep water.
Now I may spread my canvas to the wind, and leaving the rocks of controversy astern, like some merry sailor sing a cheerful epilogue.
O wilderness, bright with Christ's spring flowers !
O solitude, whence come those stones wherewith in the Apocalypse the city of the mighty king is built
O desert, rejoicing in God's familiar presence!
What are you doing in the world, brother, you who are more than the universe ?
How long is the shade of a roof going 1 Wisdom, vi. 6.
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premunt ?
Quam diu fumeus harum urbium career includit ?
Crede mihi, nescio quid plus lucis aspicio.
Libet sarcina carnis abiecta ad purum aetheris volare fulgorem.
Paupertatem times ? sed beatos pauperes Christus appellat.
Lahore terreris ? sed nemo athleta sine sudoribus coronatur.
De cibo cogitas ? sed fides famem non sentit.
Super nudam metuis humum exesa ieiuniis membra conlidere ? sed dominus tecum iacet.
Squalidi capitis horret inculta caesaries ? sed caput tuum Christus est.
Infinita hererni vastitas terret ? sed tu paradisum mente deambula.
Quotienscumque illuc cogitatione conscenderis, totiens in heremo non eris.
Scabra sine balneis adtrahitur cutis ? sed qui in Christo semel lotus est, non illi necesse est iterum lavare.
Et, ut breviter, ad cuncta apostolum audias respondentem :
' Non sunt condignae passiones huius saeculi ad superventuram gloriam, quae revelabitur in nobis.'
Delicatus es, carissime, si et hie vis gaudere cum saeculo et postea regnare cum
Christo.
11.
Veniet, veniet ilia dies, qua corruptivum hoc et mortale incorruptionem induat et immortalitatern.
Beatus servus, quem dominus invenerit vigilantem.
Tunc ad vocem tubae pavebit terra cum populis, tu gaudebis.
Iudicaturo domino lugubre mundus immugiet ; tribus ad tribum ferient ; potentissimi quondam reges nudo latere pectora 5°
LETTER XIV
to confine you ?
How long shall the smoky prison of these cities shut you in ?
Believe me, I see something more of light than you behold.
How sweet it is to fling off the burden of the flesh, and to fly aloft to the clear radiance of the sky !
Are you afraid of poverty ?
Christ calls the poor blessed.
Are you frightened by the thought of toil ?
No athlete gains his crown without sweat.
Are you thinking about food?
Faith feels not hunger.
Do you dread bruising your limbs worn away with fasting on the bare ground ?
The Lord lies by your side.
Is your rough head bristling with uncombed hair ?
Your head is Christ.
Does the infinite vastness of the desert seem terrible ?
In spirit you may always stroll in paradise, and when in thought you have ascended there you will no longer be in the desert.
Is your skin rough and scurfy without baths ?
He who has once washed in Christ needs not to wash again.
Listen to the apostle's brief reply to all complaints :
' The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall come after them, which shall be revealed in us .' 1
You are a pampered darling indeed, dearest brother, if you wish to rejoice here with this world and afterwards to reign with Christ.
The day, the day will come when this corrupt and mortal body shall put on incorruptibility and become immortal.
Happy the servant whom the Lord then shall find on the watch.
Then at the voice of the trumpet the earth with its peoples shall quake, and you will rejoice.
When the Lord comes to give judgment the universe will utter a mournful groan; the tribes of men will beat their breasts
; kings once 1 Romans, viii. 18.
5 1
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palpitabunt ; exhibebitur cum prole sua vere tunc ignitus Iuppiter ; adducetur et cum suis stultus Plato discipulis ; Aristoteli argumenta non proderunt.
Tunc tu rusticanus et pauper exultabis, ' Ecce crucifixus Deus meus, ecce ridebis et dices : iudex, qui obvolutus pannis in praesepio vagiit.
Hie est ille operarii et quaestuariae filius, hie, qui matris gestatus sinu hominem Deus fugit in Aegypturn, hie vestitus coccino, hie sentibus coronatus, hie magus daemonium habens et Samarites.
Cerne manus, Iudaee, quas fixeras ; cerne latus, Romane, quod foderas.
Videte corpus, an idem sit, quod dicebatis clam nocte tulisse discipulos.'
Ut haec tibi, frater, dicere, ut his interesse contingat, qui nunc labor durus est ?
XXII Ad Eustochium 1.
' Audi, filia, et vide et inclina aurem tuam et obliviscere populum tuum et domum patris tui
; et concupiscet rex decorem tuum.'
In quadragesimo quarto psalmo Deus ad animam loquitur humanam, 5 2
LETTER XIV AND LETTER XXII
most mighty will shiver with naked flanks ; Jupiter with all his offspring will then be shown amid real fires ; Plato with his disciples will be revealed as but a fool; Aristotle's arguments will not help him.
Then you the poor rustic will exult, and say with a smile :
' Behold my crucified God, behold the judge.
This is he who once was wrapped in swaddling clothes and uttered baby cries in a manger.
This is the son of a working man and a woman who served for wages.
This is he who, carried in his mother's arms, fled into Egypt, a God from a man.
This is he who was clad in a scarlet robe and crowned with thorns.
This is he who was called a magician^ a man with a devil, a Samaritan.
Behold the hands, ye Jews, that }mu nailed to the cross.
Behold the side, ye Romans, that you pierced.
See whether this is the same body that you said the disciples carried off secretly in the night.'
O my brother, that it may be yours to say these words and to be present on that day, what labour now can seem hard ?
LETTER XXII
To Eustochium The virgin s profession Written a.d. 384
4 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear ; forget also thine own people and thy father's house, and the king shall desire thy beauty.' 1
So in the forty-fourth Psalm God speaks to the 1 Psalm xlv. 11.
(Vulg. Psalm xliv.)
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ut secundum exemplum Abrahae exiens de terra sua et de cognatione sua relinquat Chaldaeos, qui
' quasi daemonia ' interpretantur, et habitet in regione viventium, quam alibi propheta suspirat, dicens ' Credo videre bona domini in terra viventium.'
Verum non sufficit tibi exire de patria, nisi obliviscaris populi et domum patris tui et carne contempta
' Ne respexeris,' inquit, sponsi iungaris amplexibus.
' retro nec steteris in tota circa regione ; in montem salvum te fac, ne forte comprehendaris.'
Non expedit adprehenso aratro respicere post tergum nec de agro reverti domum nec post Christi tunicam ad tollendum aliud vestimentum tecta descendere.
Grande miraculum
' Ne memineris patris.'
'Vos de patre diabolo estis et : pater filiam cohortatur :
' dicitur ad Iudaeos et alibi :
' Qui facit peccatum, de diabolo desideria patris vestri vultis facere est.'
Tali primum parente generati nigri sumus et post paenitentiam necdum culmine virtutis ascenso ' Nigra sum et speciosa filia Hierusalem.' dicimus :
Exivi de domo infantiae meae, oblita sum patris, renascor in Christo.
Quid pro hoc mercedis accipio ?
Sequitur :
' Et concupiscet rex decorem tuum.'
Hoc ergo illud magnum est sacramentum :
' Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem et adhaerebit uxori suae et erunt ambo—in carne una ?
' lam 1 Psalm xxvii.
13.
Genesis, xix. 17.
1 John, iii. 8.
St. John, viii. 44.
5 Song of Solomon, i.
Jerome's text here differs from the Vulgate :
Nigra sum sed formosa, filiae Jerusalem.
Vulg.
Cant., i. 4.
Ephesians, v. 31.