OF PATIENCE
OF PATIENCE
[Tillemont (H. E. T. 3. p. 262.) seems rightly to have inferred, that the “de Patientia” was written by Tertullian while in the Church; 1) from its general calm subdued tone, so different from that of his Montanistic treatises; 2) from his allowing flight in persecution, c. 13. Lumper (art. iv.) contends that it is Montanistic on the following inadequate grounds; 1) that “the grace of the Divine Spirit” is the Paraclete; but it is only His ordinary aid to faithful Christians; 2) that he prefers widowhood to second marriage, c. 13; but so do all the Fathers except in case of necessity; 3) that he calls a second marriage adultery, c. 12; a wrong interpretation, see ib. 4) that he praises voluntary fasting, c. 13, but see ib. The peculiarity of the Montanists were not voluntary, but compulsory, additional fasts. The Catholics objected to them, that they did not leave them voluntary. 5) L. compares c. 12, “this patience waiteth for,” &c. with the de Pudic. c. 1. extr.; but there T. is speaking of second marriages as adultery in such sort as, to the last, to exclude from the Church those who contract them. There is no point of resemblance.]
I. I CONFESS to the Lord God it is with sufficient rashness, if it be not even shamelessness, that I venture to write concerning Patience, for the practice of which I am altogether unfit, being a man in whom is no good thing: whereas it is fitting that they who take in hand to set forth and commend any thing, should first be found themselves living in the practice of that thing, and should direct the energy, earnestness, boldness, of their admonitions by the example of their own conversation, so that their words blush not for the lack of their deeds. And I could wish that such blushing might bring its own remedy, so that the shame of not shewing forth in ourselves that which we go about to advise for others might school us into shewing it forth, were it not that the greatness of some good things, as well as of evils, so over-beareth our powers, that the grace of the Divine Spirit alone can work in us effectually for the comprehension and the performance of them. For that which is the most good is the most in the hands of God, and no other than He Who possesseth “dispenseth it to each” as He seeth fit. Wherefore it will be a sort of comfort to reason about that which it is not permitted us to enjoy, like sickly persons, who, while they lack health, know not how to be silent about its blessings. In like manner I, wretched man that I am, ever sick with the fever of impatience, must needs sigh for, and call upon, and speak all my thoughts upon, that healthy state of patience which I possess not, when I call to mind, and, in the contemplation of mine own weakness, ruminate on the thought that the good health of Faith and soundness in the Lord’s Religion do not easily result to any one, unless Patience sit at his side. Such an object is it made to the things of God, that no one, who is a stranger to patience, can obey any commandment or do any work pleasing to the Lord. Its good quality even they, who live blindly, honour with the title of the highest virtue. Philosophers indeed, who are accounted creatures of some wisdom, ascribe so much to it, that, while they disagree among themselves in the various humours of their sects, and the strife of rival opinions, yet having a common regard for patience alone, in respect of this one alone of their pursuits they are joined in peace: in this they conspire together: in this they are confederate: this they pursue with one mind in aspiring after virtue: it is in patience that they set up the whole display of their wisdom. There is strong testimony on its side, when it advanceth even the vain sects of worldly philosophy unto praise and glory. Or is there not rather an injury done to it, when a divine thing is made to grovel amongst the doings of this world? But no matter for them, who shall presently be ashamed of their own wisdom, when it is, together with the world, destroyed and brought to dishonour.
II. To us it is no human affectation of cynical indifference, schooled by a stupid apathy, which giveth authority for the exercise of patience, but the divine ordering of a lively and heavenly rule, setting forth God Himself as the example of patience, first as the Being Who scattereth the dew of this light over the just and the unjust equally, Who suffereth the offices of the seasons, the services of the elements, the tributes of the whole creation, to come alike to the worthy and the unworthy; bearing with those most unthankful nations, who worship the follies of their own craft, and the works of their own hands, and persecute His name, His household; bearing with covetousness, with iniquity, with wantonness, with the maliciousness which daily waxeth insolent, so that by His own patience He robbeth Himself; seeing that the greater part believe not in the Lord for this reason, because that for so long a time they have not known that He is wroth with the world.
III. And this instance indeed of Divine patience, being as it were afar off, may perchance be reckoned among those things which be too high for us. But what shall we say of that which hath in a manner been handled among men openly in the world? God suffereth Himself to be conceived in the womb of a mother, and abideth the time, and being born waiteth to grow up, and being grown up is not eager to be acknowledged, but putteth a further slight upon Himself, and is baptized by His own servant, and repelleth the attacks of the tempter by words only. When from the Lord He became the Master, teaching man to escape death, having well learned, for salvation’s sake, the forgiving spirit of offended patience, He strove not, He cried not; neither did any hear His voice in the streets: the shattered reed He did not break, the smoking flax He did not quench. For there was no lying voice in the Prophet, yea rather in the testimony of God Himself, Who put His own Spirit in His Son with perfection of patience. None that desired to cleave unto Him did He not receive; no man’s table or house did He despise; yea, Himself ministered to the washing of His disciples’ feet. He scorned not the sinners nor the publicans. He was not angry even with that city which would not receive Him, when even His disciples would have desired that fires from heaven should presently appear against a town so scornful. He healed the unthankful; He gave place to those that laid snares for Him. This were but little, if He had not had in His own company even His own betrayer, and yet did not determinately make him known. But when He is delivered up, when He is led as a sheep to the slaughter, for so He openeth not His mouth more than the lamb when in the power of his shearer: He at whose side, if He had desired it, legions of angels from Heaven would at one word have been present, approved not the avenging sword of even a single disciple. In Malchus the patience of the Lord was wounded. Wherefore also He cursed the works of the sword for ever after, and, by the restoration of soundness to him whom He had not Himself hurt, He made satisfaction through Patience the mother of Mercy. I pass in silence the Crucifixion, for it was for that that He had come into the world; yet was there need of insults also that He might undergo death? But being about to depart, He desired to be filled to the full with the pleasure of patience. He is spit upon, is beaten, is mocked, is foully clothed, still more foully crowned. Wondrous constancy in patience! He Who had purposed to hide Himself in the form of man, followed none of the example of man’s impatience! In this especially ought ye, O Pharisees, to have acknowledged the Lord; none among men could have worked patience such as this. Such and so great proofs,—whose greatness is with the nations indeed a diminishing, but with us is the cause and building up of Faith,—manifest clearly enough to those, to whom it is given to believe, not only by the discourses of the Lord in teaching, but by His sufferings in enduring, that patience is the nature of God, the effect and excellency of a sort of innate property.
IV. Wherefore if we see all good and well-disposed servants having their conversation according to the disposition of their Lord, (if indeed the art of deserving favour be obedience, and the rule of obedience a tractable subjection,) how much more ought we to be found in our behaviour according to the Lord! we, that is, who are the servants of the Living God, Whose judgment upon His people turneth not on the question between a shackle and a hat, but on that between eternity of punishment and of salvation. For escaping which severity, or inviting which free goodness, there is need of a diligence in obedience great as are the things themselves which that severity threateneth, or that free goodness promiseth. And yet it is not only from men supported by their slavery, or owing us service in any other right, that we exact obedience, but even from the cattle, even from the beasts, knowing that they have been provided and given over for our use by the Lord. Shall these therefore, which God hath put in subjection to us, be better than ourselves in the rule of obedience? Finally these acknowledge those whom they obey: do we hesitate to listen to the Lord, to Whom Alone we are put in subjection? But how unjust, yea how unthankful is it, not to repay from thyself that, which through another’s kindness thou gainest from others, unto Him through Whom thou gainest it! And no more will I say of the exercise of obedience due from us unto the Lord God. For a knowledge of God bringeth with it a sufficient understanding of the duties incumbent on it. Still that we may not seem to have thrown in this concerning obedience as a motive foreign to our subject, even obedience itself is derived from patience. An impatient man doth never obey, nor a patient man resist. Who therefore can treat too much at large of the goodness of that, which God the Lord of all good things, and the Manifester and Accepter of them, carried about with Him in His own self? to whom again can it be matter of doubt that every good thing ought, because it belongeth to God, to be followed after with all their mind by those who belong to God? whereby the question of patience is determined in brief, and as it were within the short summary of a rule.
V. Nevertheless the farther proceeding of a discussion on things necessary to the faith, is not idle, because not unprofitable. Much speaking, if indeed it be ever bad, is never bad in edifying. Wherefore if our discourse be of any good thing, the matter requireth that we should also review the contrary of that good thing. For thou wilt throw more light on the question, what ought to be followed, if thou in like manner discussest what ought to be avoided. Let us consider therefore about impatience; whether, as patience is born and found in God, so its adversary be in our adversary; so that it may hence appear how in its very origin it is opposed to the Faith. For that which is conceived by the rival of God is surely not in friendship with the things of God. There is the same disagreement between the things, as between their authors. Seeing moreover that God is the best, the devil on the contrary the worst of beings, they testify by their very diversity that neither worketh for the other; so that any good thing can no more be thought by us to be produced out of the evil one, than can any evil out of the good. It is in the Devil himself therefore that I discover the birth of Impatience, at that moment when he did not patiently bear that the Lord God should put all the works which He had made, in subjection to His own image, that is, to man. For had he borne it, he would not have grieved, and had he not grieved, he would not have envied man. Therefore he deceived him, because he had envied him; but he had envied him because he had grieved; he had grieved because forsooth he had not borne the thing with patience. Which of the two, wicked or impatient, that angel of perdition was at the first, I care not to enquire, since it is evident that his impatience began with his wickedness, or his wickedness from his impatience, then that they conspired together, and grew up inseparably in the one bosom of their father. But that which he had been the first to feel, by which he had entered first on the course of sin, taught by his own experience what an help it was to sin, that same did he call to his aid for driving man into sin. The woman forthwith on meeting him, I may say without rashness, was by her very converse with him breathed upon by a spirit infected with impatience; so that she would never have sinned at all, if she had preserved to the end her patience towards the Divine prohibition. What of this too, that she bore not to have been met alone, and had not even patience to be silent before Adam, not yet her husband, not yet bound to give ear to her? and so she maketh him aid in transmitting that which she had derived from the Evil One. Wherefore a second human being also perisheth through the impatience of the other, and presently he perisheth of himself through his own impatience likewise exercised in both cases, both as touching the warning of God and the craft of the Devil, not having patience to observe the one or to repel the other. Hence the judgment had its source from the same point as the crime: hence God began to be angry in that whereby man was first led to sin: hence patience first began in God in that whence His anger first arose, Who then, content with pronouncing a curse only, refrained from the violent execution of punishment against the Devil. Otherwise what sin is imputed to man as committed by him before that of impatience? He was innocent, and in the closest friendship with God, and the inhabitant of Paradise. But when once he yielded to impatience, he ceased to have his savour pleasing unto God: he ceased to be able to bear heavenly things. From thenceforward man given to the earth, and cast out from the sight of God, began to be an easy tool of Impatience for every thing which could offend God. For she, on being conceived of the seed of the Devil, straightway, through the fruitfulness of wickedness, brought forth Anger as her son, and trained him up, when brought forth, in her own arts. For the very thing, which had sunk Adam and Eve in the depths of death, taught their son also to begin with murder. I should without cause ascribe this to impatience, if that first slayer of a man, and first slayer of a brother, Cain, had borne with even mind, and without impatience, the rejection of his offerings by God: if he had not been angry with his brother: if in brief he had slain no one. Since therefore he could not kill unless he were angry, nor be angry unless he were impatient, he sheweth that that which he did through anger must be referred to that Impatience, by whom the anger was prompted. Through these things was the cradling, in a manner, of Impatience then an infant. But how great her growth afterwards! and no wonder: for if she were the first to sin, it followeth that because she was the first, she is therefore the single, womb of all sin, pouring forth from her own spring the various streams of crime. As concerning murder I have done: but being at the first brought forth by anger, it layeth all other motives also, whatsoever it afterwards desired for itself, on impatience as its origin. For whether a man worketh this wickedness from enmity, or for the sake of gain, he must first become impatient of hatred or of covetousness. Whatever forceth men to act, unless they be impatient of it, cannot be wrought out in action. Who hath given way to adultery, without being impatient of lust? But even if the sale of their chastity is in women compelled by the price proffered, surely here is, according to the rule, a lack of patience for the contempt of gain. These are mentioned as the chief sins in the eyes of the Lord, for, to speak briefly, every sin is to be ascribed to impatience. Evil is the impatience of good. Every immodest man is impatient of modesty, and the wicked of virtue, and the impious of piety, and the turbulent of peace. In order that each man may become evil, he must become unable to continue patiently in good. Such is the hydra of our sins! How can it but offend the Lord that hateth iniquity? Is it not plain that even Israel also ever sinned against God through impatience; from the time when forgetful of the heavenly arm, whereby they had been brought out from their afflictions in Egypt, they desired of Aaron gods to go before them; when they poured forth the offerings of their gold for the idol, because they bore impatiently the delay, so necessary, of Moses while conferring with God? After the raining down of manna for food, after the flowing of the water from the rock which followed them, they despair of the Lord, not enduring thirst for three days; for with this impatience also they are reproached by the Lord. And not to travel over each particular, they never perished otherwise than by sinning through impatience. But how came it that they laid hands upon the Prophets, but because they could not patiently bear to hear them? They laid them on the Lord Himself, because they could not even patiently bear to see Him. But if they had begun to be patient, they would have been delivered.
VI. It is this then which both followeth and goeth before Faith. Briefly, Abraham believed in God, and by Him was accounted righteous, but it was his patience which proved his Faith, when he was commanded to offer up his son, I may not say for the trial but for the testimony, (in a figure,) of his Faith. But God knew him whom He had accounted righteous. A command so grievous, which even the Lord was not pleased to have fulfilled, he both heard with patience, and, if God had willed it, would have performed. With good reason therefore was he blessed, because he was also faithful: with good reason was he faithful, because he was also patient. Thus Faith illumined by Patience, having been sown among the nations through the Seed of Abraham, Which is Christ, and having brought in grace over the Law, appointed Patience as her helper for enlarging and fulfilling the Law, because this alone had been before wanting to the teaching of righteousness. For in times past they were wont to demand eye for eye and tooth for tooth, and rendered with usury evil for evil; for Patience was not as yet, because neither was Faith, upon the earth. In fact, Impatience in the mean time availed itself of the opportunities of the Law. It was easy to do so, while the Lord and Master of Patience was away. But when He came afterwards and joined in one the grace of Faith with Patience, from that time it hath not been lawful to provoke even by a word, nor even to say thou fool, without danger of the judgment. Anger was forbidden, passions restrained, the wantonness of the hand checked, the poison of the tongue taken away. The Law gained more than it lost, when Christ said, Love your enemies, bless them which curse you, and pray for them which persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven. Seest thou what a Father Patience gaineth for us? In this main commandment the whole rule of Patience is briefly comprehended, since it is not permitted to do evil even when it is deserved.
VII. But now while we are going through the causes of impatience, the other commandments also will fall into their proper places. If the mind be disturbed by the loss of property, it is warned in almost every place in the Scriptures of the Lord to despise the world: nor is there added any more powerful exhortation to despise money, than the fact that the Lord Himself is found with no riches: He ever justifieth the poor and condemneth beforehand the rich. Thus did contempt of riches foreminister unto patience of losses, shewing by the rejection of wealth that the damage of it also ought not to be regarded. That therefore which we have no manner of need to seek after, because the Lord also sought not after it, we ought to bear the diminution of, or even its privation, without disquiet. The Spirit of the Lord hath declared by the Apostle, that covetousness is the root of all evil. This let us understand as consisting not in the desire of that only which is another’s, for even that which seemeth to be our own is another’s; for nothing is our own, since all things are God’s, Whose also are we ourselves. Wherefore if, when we suffer loss, we take it impatiently, we shall be found, in grieving for a loss in that which is not ours, to border upon covetousness. We covet that which is another’s, when we bear impatiently the loss of that which is another’s. He that is disturbed by impatience under loss, by preferring earthly to heavenly things, sinneth immediately against God: for he disturbeth that spirit which he hath received from God for the sake of a thing of this world. Let us therefore willingly lose the things of earth, and keep the things of Heaven. Let the whole world perish so that I gain Patience. Now I know not whether the man who hath not determined to bear with firmness the loss of any of his goods either by theft, or by violence, or even by slothfulness, could, easily or with his whole heart, himself lay hands on his own goods for the sake of almsgiving. For who that cannot at all bear to be cut by another, applieth the steel himself to his own body? Patience under losses is an exercise in the act of giving and communicating. He is not unwilling to give, who feareth not to lose. Besides, how shall he that hath two coats impart one of them to him that hath none, unless he be also one, who if a man take away his coat, can offer unto him his cloak also? How shall we make to ourselves friends of Mammon, if we love him so much that we cannot bear to lose him? With the loss of him we shall be lost also. Why in this world do we find where we ought to lose? To exercise impatience under all losses is the part of Heathens, who perchance prefer money to the soul: for indeed they do so when from the lust of lucre they engage in the gainful perils of merchandize by sea; when, for the sake of money, they hesitate not even in the forum to attempt what condemnation itself must dread; finally, when they hire themselves out for the games and for the camp; when, after the manner of brute beasts, they plunder in the highway. But it is meet that we, according to the difference which is betwixt us and them, lay down not our souls for money, but money for our souls’ sake, either willingly in giving, or patiently in losing.
VIII. In this world we carry about us our very souls and bodies exposed to injury from all men, and under this injury we submit to be patient. Shall we be grieved by taking thought for things of lesser moment? Away with such defilement from the servant of Christ, that his patience, made ready for greater temptations, should fall away in trifling ones! If any shall try to provoke thee by open violence, the admonition of the Lord is at hand: To him that smiteth thee on the face, saith He, turn the other cheek also. Let his wickedness be wearied out by thy patience. Be the blow what it may, bound up with pain and insult, he will suffer an heavier one from the Lord. Thou beatest that wicked man the more by bearing with him, for he shall be beaten by Him, for Whose sake thou bearest with him. If the bitterness of the tongue should break out in cursing or railing, reflect on that which hath been said: Rejoice when men shall curse you. The Lord Himself was cursed under the Law, and yet is the only Blessed. Wherefore let us His servants follow our Lord, and let us take cursing patiently, that we may be able to be blessed. If I hear not with unruffled mind any wanton or naughty word spoken against me, I must needs myself also render bitter speech in my turn, or I shall be tortured by silent impatience. When therefore I have smitten another with evil speaking, how shall I be found to have followed the teaching of the Lord, wherein it is delivered unto us that a man is defiled not by the pollutions of vessels, but of those things which proceed out of the mouth? And again: that there remaineth an account to be given by us for every vain and idle word. It followeth therefore that what God forbiddeth us to do, He also admonisheth us to bear patiently from another. Here I would now say a word of the pleasure of Patience. For every wrong, whether inflicted by the tongue or by the hand, when it hath encountered Patience, will be finally disposed of in the same manner as any weapon launched and blunted against a rock of most enduring hardness. For it will fall upon the spot, its labour rendered vain and unprofitable, and sometimes recoiling backward will wreak its fury, by a violent reaction, upon him who sent it forth. For a man injureth thee on purpose that thou mayest be pained; for the gain of the injurer lieth in the pain of the injured. When therefore thou hast overthrown his gain by not being pained, he must himself needs be pained in missing his gain: and then thou wilt come off not only unhurt, which even in itself is sufficient for thee, but besides this both pleased by the disappointment of thine adversary, and avenged by his pain. Such is the profit and the pleasure of Patience.
IX. Nor is even that kind of impatience excused, which is felt on the loss of our friends, when a certain claim of grief pleadeth in its behalf. For the consideration of the Apostle’s warning must be preferred, who saith, Sorrow not for the sleep of any one, even as the Gentiles which have no hope. And with good cause. For if we believe that Christ rose again, we believe also in our own resurrection, for whose sakes He both died and rose again. Wherefore since the resurrection of the dead is certain, grief for death is idle, and impatience in that grief is idle also. For why shouldest thou grieve, if thou believest not that he hath perished? Why shouldest thou take it impatiently that he is withdrawn for a time, who, thou believest, will return again? That which thou thinkest to be death is but a departing on a journey. He that goeth before us is not to be mourned, but altogether to be longed for: and even this longing must be tempered with patience. For why shouldest thou not bear with moderation that he hath departed, whom thou shalt presently follow? But impatience in such a matter augureth ill for our hope, and is a double dealing with our faith. Besides, we injure Christ, when, as each is called away by Him, we bear it impatiently, as though they were to be pitied. I have, saith the Apostle, a desire to be taken and to be with Christ. How much better doth he shew the desire of the Christians to be! Wherefore, if we impatiently mourn for others who have obtained this desire, we are unwilling to obtain it ourselves.
X. There is also another chief incentive to impatience, the lust of revenge, which busieth itself in deeds either of glory or of malice. But glory also is every where the same, and malice never otherwise than hateful to the Lord, and in this instance especially so, when, being provoked by the malice of another, it carrieth itself beyond it in following out its revenge, and, by returning evil, doubleth that which hath been already once committed. Revenge, in the eyes of Error, seemeth to be the solace of pain; in the eyes of assured Truth is convicted of maliciousness. For what difference is there between him that provoketh and him that is provoked, except that the one is convicted of evil-doing first, and the other afterwards? Nevertheless, each is guilty of injuring a man before the Lord, Who forbiddeth and condemneth all wickedness. In evil doing, no account is taken of the order of actions, nor doth a different place [in that order] separate what a like nature maketh one. Wherefore the command is absolute, that evil must not be recompensed for evil. A like deed hath a like merit. How shall we observe this command, if, in our disdainfulness, we shall not disdain revenge? And what honour shall we pay to the Lord God, if we shall take unto ourselves the free power of revenging ourselves? We, creatures of corruption and earthen vessels that we are, are grievously offended with our own servants, who take upon themselves to avenge themselves on their fellow-servants; and those who offer their patience as a gift to ourselves, as remembering their own lowly and servile condition, and loving the right of masters to receive honour, we not only approve of, but render them even larger satisfaction than they would have claimed for themselves. And is our cause in any danger when thus committed to the Lord, so righteous in judgment, so powerful in execution? Why then do we believe that He is our judge, if not also our avenger? This He promiseth us that He will be, saying, Leave vengeance unto Me, and I will repay; that is, ‘Leave your patience to me, and I will reward your patience.’ For when He saith, Judge not, that ye be not judged, doth He not require patience? For who is he that will not judge another, save he who will be patient in not avenging himself? Who judgeth in order that he may pardon? And if he shall pardon, yet hath he taken care to have the impatience of judging, and hath taken away the honour of the One and only Judge, that is, God. But with how many miscarriages is impatience of this sort wont to find fault! How often hath Revenge repented! How often hath its violence become worse than the things which caused it! For there is nothing undertaken with impatience which can be effected without violence; and there is nothing effected with violence which hath not met either a stumbling-block, or an overthrow, or hath gone headlong. Now, if thou avenge thyself too slightly, thou wilt be mad: if too abundantly, thou wilt be overburdened. What have I to do with revenge, the measure of which, through impatience of my pain, I am not able to regulate? But if I shall keep a guard over my patience, I shall suffer no pain; and if I shall suffer no pain, I shall desire no revenge.
XI. After having treated in order, according to my ability, these principal subjects of impatience, why should I ramble among the rest, such as are to be found at home and abroad? Wide and widely spread is the working of the Evil One, who darteth forth manifold excitements of the spirit, and these sometimes small, sometimes very great: but the small ones despise for their littleness; to the great ones, in proportion to their exceeding greatness, submit. Where the hurt is small, there is no need of impatience: but where the hurt is greater, there the medicine of patience is the more necessary for the hurt. Let us therefore strive to endure those things which are inflicted by the Evil one, that the rival zeal of our patience may mock the zeal of our adversary. But if there be some things which we ourselves bring upon ourselves, either through imprudence or even of our own accord, let us undergo with equal patience those things which we impute to ourselves. And if there be some things which we believe to be inflicted by the Lord, to Whom can we render our patience better than to the Lord? Nay, He teacheth us to rejoice moreover and to be glad, in that we are thought worthy of divine chastisement. As many as I love, saith He, I chasten. Oh! blessed is that servant, on whose amendment the Lord is bent; with whom He deigneth to be angry; whom He deceiveth not by hiding His admonitions from him! On every side therefore we are bound to the duty of exercising patience. Because wherever we come in the way of either our own sins, or the snares of the Evil one, or the admonitions of the Lord, great is the reward of this duty, to wit, our happiness. For whom hath the Lord called happy save those which are patient, when He saith, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven? Surely no one is poor in spirit, except he be humble. And who can be humble except he be patient? because no one can abase himself without patience first, to bear the very act of abasement. Blessed, saith He, are they that weep and mourn. Who beareth such things without patience? Wherefore to such it is promised that they shall be comforted, and that they shall laugh. Blessed are the meek. Under this title it may not be that the impatient can at all be numbered. Likewise when He denoteth the peacemakers, under the same title of blessed, and calleth them the children of God, are the impatient akin to peace? A fool may understand this. But when He saith, Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, when men shall revile you and persecute you, for very great is your reward in Heaven, He surely doth not promise this exceeding gladness to impatience, for no one will be exceeding glad in adversity, except he have first despised it: no one will despise it, except he have exercised patience.
XII. As respecteth the rule of that peace, which is so pleasing unto God, who is there at all, that is of his own nature impatient, who will forgive his brother even once, not to say seven times, and still less seventy times seven? Who, whiles he is in the way with his adversary to the judge, will end the matter by agreeing with him, except he first sever from himself that vexation, that harshness, that bitterness, which are in fact the venom of impatience? How wilt thou forgive and it shall be forgiven thee, if, for lack of patience, thou be retentive of an injury? No man divided in spirit against his brother will offer his gift upon the altar, except first by being reconciled with his brother, he return to patience? If the sun go down upon our wrath, we are in danger. We may not continue for even one day without patience. And since it directeth every kind of wholesome discipline, what wonder if it administer also to repentance, which is wont to come to the succour of the fallen! when, in a separation between man and wife, (for some cause, that is, for which it is lawful either for a man or a woman to persevere in continuing in a state of widowhood,) this Patience waiteth for, desireth, urgeth, their salvation, as for those who will one day begin to repent. How much good doth it confer on both! the one it hindereth from adultery, the other it amendeth. In the same manner it is present also in those holy examples of patience in the Lord’s parables. It is the patience of the shepherd which seeketh and findeth the sheep which was gone astray: for Impatience might easily despise that one sheep. But through Patience he undertaketh the labour of the search, yea, and moreover carrieth on his shoulders the deserted offender, a patient bearer of his burden. Again, it is the patience of the Father which both receiveth, and clotheth, and feedeth the prodigal son, and excuseth him to the impatience of his angry brother. He therefore which had been lost is saved, because he began to repent. His repentance is not lost, because it meeteth with patience. For by whose rules save those of Patience, is Charity instructed, that chief mystery of the Faith, that treasure of the Christian name which the Apostle commendeth with all the power of the Holy Spirit? Charity, saith he, suffereth long: therefore she useth Patience. She is kind: Patience doeth no unkindness. She envieth not: this indeed properly belongeth to Patience. She savoureth not of wantonness: she hath derived her modesty from Patience. She is not puffed up, doth not insult: for this belongeth not to Patience. And she seeketh not her own, she beareth with her own, so she may profit another. Nor is she easily provoked: for otherwise what would she have left for Impatience to do? Wherefore, saith he, Charity beareth all things, endureth all things: that is, because she is patient. With good cause therefore she shall never fail: for all other things shall be cleared away, brought to a close. Tongues, Knowledge, Prophecies, are exhausted: Faith, Hope, Charity, abide: Faith, which the patience of Christ hath produced; Hope, which the patience of man waiteth for; Charity, which Patience accompanieth, God being its Master.
XIII. Thus far then I have spoken of Patience, as simple and uniform, and situate only in the mind, while I labour for it in many ways in the body also, that I may win the Lord, seeing that it hath been shewn forth by the Lord Himself in the holy exercise of the body also, if indeed the master mind easily shareth with that wherein it dwelleth, the inspirations of the Spirit. What then is the working of Patience in the body? In the first place the afflicting of the flesh, an offering propitiating the Lord by the sacrifice of humiliation, when it offereth up to the Lord filthy garments with scantiness of food, being content with simple victuals, and a pure draught of water, when with this it joineth fasting, when it groweth familiar with ashes and sackcloth. This patience of the body commendeth our prayers, strengtheneth our entreaties for mercy: this openeth the ears of Christ our God, scattereth abroad His severity, draweth forth His mercy. So that king of Babylon, when, having offended God, he lived deprived of the form of a man in filthiness and dirt for seven years, as soon as he had offered as a sacrifice the patience of his body, he both recovered the kingdom, and, which is more to be desired for a man, made satisfaction to God. Now, if we discuss the higher and more blessed stages of bodily patience, it procureth also, on behalf of holiness, the continency of the body. It is this which both keepeth one a widow, and sealeth another as a virgin, and exalteth him that hath made himself an eunuch unto the kingdom of Heaven. That which cometh of the excellence of the spirit is accomplished in the flesh, by the patience of the flesh. Finally, this patience warreth in persecutions. If flight press us, the flesh fighteth against the hardships of flight. If even the prison prevent us, the flesh is in bonds, the flesh is in the stocks, the flesh is on the earth, and in that lack of light, and that endurance of all things. But when at last it is brought forth to the blessed trial, to the opportunity of the second baptism, to the very ascending up to the seat of God, there no patience is of more value than that of the body. If the spirit is willing, yet the flesh is weak without patience, wherein lieth the safety of the spirit, as also of the flesh itself. But when the Lord saith this concerning the flesh, declaring that it is weak, He sheweth what is needful for strengthening it, namely, patience against the whole array of evils contrived for the overthrow of faith, or for its punishment, in order that it may bear, with all perseverance, the stripes, the fire, the cross, the wild beasts, the sword, which things the Prophets and Apostles by enduring overcame.
XIV. In this strength of patience Esaias is sawn asunder, and ceaseth not to speak concerning the Lord: Stephen is stoned, and asketh forgiveness for his enemies. Oh! how exceeding blessed is he also, who against the whole power of the Devil worked out in full every sort of patience! whom neither the driving away of his herds, nor all that abundance of cattle nor his sons taken away by a single blow of ruin, nor finally the torment of his body in its wounded state, deprived of his patience, the integrity which he devoted to the Lord: whom the Devil smote with all his might in vain! For he was not moved away by so many afflictions from his reverence of God, but he was set as an example for us, and a testimony of the working-out of patience, both in the spirit and in the flesh, both in the mind and in the body: so that we may neither sink under the damage of our worldly goods, nor the loss of those most dear to us, nor even the afflictions of our own bodies. How did God in this man build up a trophy over the Devil! how did He set up His banner over the adversary of His glory! when this man, in reply to all the mass of tidings brought to him, uttered nothing from his mouth save thanks to God! when he denounced his wife already wearied out with afflictions, and advising a wicked remedy! Well! God was rejoiced. Well! the Evil one was cut asunder, while Job was wiping away with great patience the filthy discharge from his boils, while he was bringing back, in mockery, the worms, which broke out from them, into the same holes and pastures in his perforated flesh. Wherefore this labourer for the victory of God, having beaten back all the darts of his temptations by the coat of mail and the shield of patience, presently both recovered from God the soundness of his body, and had in possession twice as much as he had lost; and, if he had wished that his sons should be restored, he would have been again called their father. But he had rather they should be given back to him at that Day. Having full confidence in the Lord, he deferred a joy so great to another season. He endured this voluntary bereavement, that he might not live without some kind of patience.
XV. Thus is God an abundantly sufficient depository of Patience. If thou placest a wrong in His hands, He is an avenger; if a loss, He is a restorer; if pain, He is a physician; if death, He is the Resurrection. What a licence hath Patience, in having God for her debtor! And not without cause: for she observeth all His pleasure, she interposeth her aid in all His commands. She fortifieth Faith, guideth Peace, assisteth Charity, instructeth Humility, waiteth for Penitence, setteth her mark upon Confession, ruleth the flesh, preserveth the spirit, bridleth the tongue, restraineth the hand, treadeth temptations under foot, driveth away offences, perfecteth martyrdoms, consoleth the poor, ordereth the rich, straineth not the weak, wasteth not the strong, delighteth the believer, inviteth the heathen, commendeth the servant to his master, his master to God; adorneth the woman, approveth the man; is loved in the boy, praised in the young man, respected in the old; is beautiful in every sex, in every age. Come now, let us describe her form and her demeanour. She hath a countenance serene and mild, a forehead smooth, contracted with no wrinkle of grief or of anger, her brows evenly and cheerfully relaxed, her eyes cast down in humility, not in melancholy. Her mouth beareth the seal of honourable silence. Her colour is such as those have who are free from care and crime. Her head is often shaken at the Devil, and her smile defieth him. For the rest, her clothing about her bosom is white and closely fitted to the body, as being neither puffed out nor ruffled. For she sitteth on the throne of that most kind and gentle Spirit, Who is not in the gathering of the whirlwind, nor in the blackness of the cloud, but belongeth to the soft calm, clear and single, such as Elias saw Him at the third time. For where God is, there also is His foster child, to wit, Patience. When therefore the Spirit of God descendeth, Patience, never divided from Him, accompanieth Him. If we receive her not together with the Spirit, will He abide with us always? Nay, I know not whether He would continue any longer. Without His companion and handmaid, He must needs be grieved at every place and time. Whatsoever His enemy inflicteth He cannot endure alone, lacking the instrument of endurance. This is the way, this the rule, these the works of an heavenly and true, that is a Christian, patience; not like the patience of the nations of the earth false and shameful. For that the Devil might rival the Lord in this thing also, as if altogether on an equality with Him, (save that the difference between the evil and the good is on a par with their greatness,) he hath taught his people also a patience of their own: such an one I mean as subjecteth to the power of their wives, husbands who have sold themselves for a dowry, or are driving the trade of pimps; which, in hunting after bereaved persons, beareth all the toil of a forced courtesy with false pretences of feeling: such a patience as putteth under an insulting patronage those who labour for their belly, by the subjection of their liberty to their gluttony. Such pursuits of patience do the Gentiles know, and they seize upon the name of so good a thing for their foul deeds. They live with patience towards rivals, and rich men, and such as bid them to feasts; with impatience towards God alone. But no matter for their and their master’s patience, which endurance of the fire below awaiteth? Let us on the other hand love the patience of God, the patience of Christ. Let us pay back to Him that which He hath Himself paid for us. Let us offer to Him the patience of the spirit, the patience of the flesh, we that believe in the resurrection of the flesh and of the spirit.