De jejunio de Davide

On Fasting, and on David, and on Presbyters, and on Joseph, and against Novatus. A universal and not a partial melody does the blessed David dictate, and he has come to sing: "I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart; I will recount all your wonders." Oh, the piety of the blessed David, who erred and did not despise! For even if, as a human, he slipped and fell, yet still, as a human, he confessed. "I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart." For if I do not confess to you, I am not released from my sins. "I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart." For if I do not confess to you, I will not be whitened like snow. "I will confess to you, Lord." For if I do not confess to you, the devil, playing at murder-adultery, does not depart. "I will confess to you, Lord." For if I do not confess to you, I do not return to my former honor. "I will confess to you, Lord." For if I do not confess to you, I cannot hear you called my father according to the flesh. "I will confess to you, Lord." For if I do not confess to you, the Holy Spirit dictates nothing to me, and no one endures to learn the fiftieth psalm by heart. And it is fitting for each of those approaching holy baptism to say the words of the blessed David: "I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart." For if I do not confess to you, I do not put off the old man. "I will confess to you, Lord." For if I do not confess to you, I do not put on the new man. "I will confess to you, Lord." For if I do not confess to you, I will not be counted among the flock of the faithful.

I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart. For I was persuaded by your saying, do not be ashamed to confess your sins. I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart. For I heard you saying, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. It is also opportune to set forth the words of the blessed Paul. What are these? Now is the acceptable time. What time? The adornment of fasting. What time? The illumination of love for the poor. What time? The provision of repentance. Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. These same things also the Preacher writes and says: A time to weep for sin, and a time to laugh at salvation. To laugh, not to deride; for one thing is reckless laughter, and another is beneficial laughter. And that I do not lie in saying these things, take the proof from the divine Scriptures themselves. For concerning one who laughs recklessly, hear Wisdom saying: A fool does evil in laughter; but concerning one who laughs wisely and beneficially, hear Job saying: He will not take every gift of an impious man, but a truthful mouth will fill with laughter. Well then did the Preacher say: A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to weep for sin, and a time to rejoice in righteousness; for the Lord is just, and he loved righteousness. A time to break enmity, and a time to join love; being persuaded by the blessed Paul who says, Let the sun not set upon your anger. A time to uproot impiety, and a time to plant piety.

All these things our Lord also, revealing to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the thorn-blooming land of the Jews, said to him: Behold, I appoint you today to uproot and to plant, to dig up and to rebuild; to uproot polytheism and to plant monarchy; to dig up and to rebuild; to dig up the Greek cultic objects and to rebuild the martyrs' oratories. And the phrase, "I appoint you today," do not take as referring to a specific day, but as meaning forever and always, just as the blessed Paul says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation," that is, "On whatever day you hear the Lord saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near,' do not harden your hearts, as those called the Cathari do." These things apply not only before baptism and under the law, but also after baptism and under grace. For the Lord Christ himself, handing down these same things to his own disciples in other words, said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven." And he made his own disciples responsible not merely for certain words, but for the realities of loosing and binding. Look above all at the blessed Peter: how he bound with death those who conspired with falsehood, Ananias and Sapphira; and how he loosed the misfortune of the man crippled from birth, suddenly granting him feet. What will the Cathari say to these things, who are purer than the pure, and more impure than any impurity? For no one is clean from filth, not even if his life on earth is but one day.

What then will the many say to these things, those who have vainglorious reasoning, those who dare to say with a vain mouth: "I am to go to this presbyter and confess my sins to him, who has often erred more than I? How can this man, being a human and a sinner, blot out my sins?" Such pretexts do those who exalt themselves in sins and contempt make. But, O man, who plots against yourself with your boastful and deceitful words, who provokes God by your folly and arrogance—do you not approach a man, or does a man grant you remission of your sins? You approach the Master and King of all, God, who through the priest grants you forgiveness of your transgressions. For the priest is a mediator, not an authority. Why then do you judge and abhor him whom God does not condemn? He divides his precious body and ministers his undefiled blood. As long as he is a priest, and God permits him to minister, do not refuse to receive the gift from him; for he himself does not provide you with the remission of sins, but the great high priest Christ, who entrusted the priesthood to him. And that not only in the age of grace, but also before grace, God worked the salvation of men through a man (for this reason our Lord became incarnate, the mediator between God and men)—you know well the history concerning the blessed David, who recently said, "I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart," how the same man, having fallen into murder and adultery, the worst evils, remained unconfessed.

What then does God do, both to drive this man to repentance and to make those who come after embrace repentance? He sends to him Nathan the prophet, who announces the things concerning him in the person of another. For, it says, the aforementioned prophet, having come to David, said: "O King, I have something to tell you." And David said: "Speak." And the prophet Nathan said: "There was a certain rich man, having many flocks and herds; and there was a certain poor man, having one ewe lamb, which ate from his table, drank from his cup, and slept in his bosom"—calling David the rich man, and Uriah the poor man. "What then? A stranger came," it says, "to the rich man." Who is the stranger? The reasoning of desire, which casts us into punishment. A stranger came to the rich man; and the rich man, sparing his own sheep, sent and took the ewe lamb of the poor man, and slaughtered it for the stranger. Having heard this, King David, even though he had fallen into sin, nevertheless was clothed with justice; for the sin was of the body, but the virtue was of the soul. Hence, answering in anger, he said: "As the Lord lives, the one who did this is worthy of death, and he shall repay the ewe lamb sevenfold." David exceeds the law; for the law commands fourfold, but he commands sevenfold. And Nathan said to him: "You, O King, are the one who has done these things." Then David, being intelligent and having lived with piety, did not abuse his royal dignity, did not tyrannize the one who rebuked him, although he could have; he did not say: "Who are you, who have dared to reproach me before all?

For he knew clearly that even if he is an earthly king, he is nevertheless ruled by the king of the powers above. For as soon as he heard the voice of the prophet, "You are the one, O king," he immediately confessed: "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said, "And the Lord has removed your sin; you shall not die." O Nathan, what have you dared to declare? For you are about to be accused by the haughty Novatian. David sinned against God, and to him he confessed; and how do you know whether he received forgiveness, that you have removed the sin? First learn, and then impart the absolution of the sin. But Nathan says: "God entrusted to me the task of making a complete visitation of David. For if he did not wish to grant him forgiveness through me, he would not have sent me to him." Who accuses a physician who visits a sick man, and does not give thanks and offer recompense? It has thus been clearly demonstrated that not only under grace, but also before grace, God granted forgiveness of sins to men through men. Let us also use a moderate example for clarity of what is being said: Suppose to me, O man who is the opponent of repentance, a certain man who has erred in some charge, and has been placed under sentence by a ruler and is about to be sent away either into exile or into some other punishment; does not this man, who is guarded under sentence, go forward on his own and entreat the ruler to be released from that misfortune?

am I not to seek out the mediator, the one called—to speak more clearly—the domestic, and through him to procure salvation, and to hasten to annul the sentence of judgment, and to transform the ruler's wrath into leniency? If in the case of bodily punishments there is such order and intercession, will not mediation and the need for assistance be even more elevated in spiritual matters? Therefore, O man, if for this reason you do not wish to approach repentance because the priest is a sinful man, then do not be baptized either, for the one who baptizes is a man; do not partake of communion, for the one who breaks the Lamb of God is a man. But if these things have faith, then accept that also by faith. Take care lest, while preserving some things and rejecting others, you fall into judgment. For in this way the evil beast, the devil, trips us up, and he wishes to cast us into Gehenna through his manifold machinations. It is written in the law, "You shall not speak ill of the ruler of your people." If, then, the king of kings has given you the priest as a ruler, why do you reject him and revile him? Can you not, when standing before an earthly king who bestows honor upon a ruler, prevent him and say to him, "This man is not worthy to hold this office"? If, then, you cannot prevent that one whom he wishes and desires to honor, how do you dare to hinder the Lord's command concerning the priest, because he is sinful? Did not David the prophet fall into adultery and murder, as I said before? Did not Peter, having denied the teacher three times, fall into sin and denial? Did not Paul persecute the Church of God as no one else did?

But the benevolent Master chose and glorified these men, so that you might not despise or judge any of the rulers of the Church. For the priest, baptizing and offering the bloodless sacrifice, lends his hands to the task at hand; the Holy Spirit sanctifies and magnifies these things. Therefore, also here, when you repent and confess, he lends nothing other than his tongue, and God provides you with salvation and remission. And if these things are so, and if it is possible to be saved through repentance after baptism, why did the apostle Peter put Ananias and Sapphira to death on the spot, and not recall them through repentance? Pay close attention. It was not that the blessed Peter concealed the plaster of repentance; rather, those who fell into such a disaster did not seek the suitable plaster of repentance, but perished together with their money at the devil's prompting. For repentance then is not when it is honored by voice, but when it is recognized by deed. For there is repentance that proceeds from the soul, and there is repentance that is superficial; hence some are saved, while others are condemned. The blessed Peter repented, and the wretched Judas; but Peter, having repented genuinely and wept, and having washed away his denial through his tears, returned again to his former honor; while Judas performed his repentance as a side issue.

For even if he threw the silver pieces to the Jews and said, "I have sinned in handing over innocent blood," yet he did not groan, he did not weep, he did nothing worthy of repentance, but only twisted a noose and satisfied the devil. What then of Simon the Magus? After being baptized and tripped up, and condemned by Peter for having offered money in order to traffic in the unadulterated gift, did he not ask for repentance? Did not the blessed Peter answer, saying, "Repent of this wickedness of yours, and beseech the Lord"? Why, it is said, did he not speak these words to Ananias and Sapphira, "Repent of your wickedness"? Pay close attention. The grace of the Spirit is not trifled with. For Ananias and Sapphira, when convicted by Peter and hearing from him, "Why did you agree together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?" did they confess their own sin? Did they fall down, did they beseech, did they say, "As men we have erred"? No, but what? When convicted by him, they set themselves against his words, trying to hide from him, not understanding that the Holy Spirit is not trifled with. Hence the blessed Peter, provoked immediately, pronounced a fitting sentence upon them. But Simon, when he heard from the apostle Peter, "May your money be with you to destruction, because you thought to acquire the gift through money," did not become indignant, did not rebel, did not leap away, even though he was wicked; but receiving the insults and reproaches as antidotes, he fell down not only before Peter but before all the apostles and said:

Pray to God on my behalf, that none of the evils you have mentioned may come upon me. "I have sinned greatly," he says; "I dare not appease God by myself; you, as mediators, intercede for me." So the Preacher spoke well: "There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to weep for those who are incurably sick, and a time to laugh for those who love repentance." For thus the great Joseph wept, as if persuaded by the prophetic gaze of the blessed David, who says: "Those who sow in tears will reap in exultation." So Joseph sowed the tears of brotherly love, and reaped the crown of kingship. For you all clearly know that, after that marvelous recognition, when Joseph saw his own brothers, he did not wish to reproach them. For what kind of brothers were they who, as far as it depended on them, broke the twelve-stranded chain of brotherhood? Yet Joseph, turning his afflictions into acts of kindness, wept on the neck of his brothers over them. Through

Why on the neck, and not on another part? He wept necessarily upon their necks, those who had cast off the yoke of brotherly love. Do you see the man's gentleness and reverence? But some say about Joseph that, constrained by necessity and dwelling in foreign places, and having no human help or protector, for this reason he displayed gentleness and humility. Pay attention, then, you who say this: Joseph himself, from his own disposition, put on his father's reverence, the memory of Joseph, and the presence of light. For the Lord of light, Christ, freed him from the darkness of the prison. Therefore you talk idly, man, you do not argue justly, you who say that Joseph was reverent and forbearing out of necessity. For even before the law, Joseph was so God-loving and law-abiding that, when flattered by his own mistress, he abhorred the act of adultery. Was the law then given, commanding, "Do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness"? Did he not become a law unto himself, and, clinging to natural judgment, flee naked from her, so as not to defile his master's bed? Did not his mistress shamelessly entreat him, and promise to give him letters of freedom and to make him master of all her possessions, if he would consent to what she sought? Did not the more she pressed forward, the more he bent back, having castrated himself according to the Lord's word, not with a sword, but with faith? Did not the righteous man say these words to her:

If my master, my lady, does not know anything that happens in his own house, but has entrusted everything into my hand, and nothing is withheld from me except you, because you are his wife, how shall I commit this wicked sin before God? Is not the God of my fathers present here? Is there one God in Canaan and another in Egypt, even if you are ignorant? Is there not some all-seeing power that beholds the one who wrongs his neighbor? When your husband is away, has my God also departed? Your husband, woman, though he is my master, has entrusted all his possessions into my hand, and shall I plunder his side? Has he not joined one to one? Is it one to many, or one to one? Be still, my lady; for I know the one who is inciting you against me. It is not you who war against me, but the devil who armed my brothers against me. Having once estranged me from my father, he now hastens to separate me from God; he circles above and below, to make me a stranger to dreams. Be still, then; for it is better to bear the name and not the deed of an adulterer. If I do not obey you, I am scourged in body; but if I disobey my God, I shall be punished in both. For he knows the one who says: Fear the one who can destroy both soul and body. These things have been said to demonstrate the gentleness and forbearance of the chaste Joseph. Now hear also his other conduct.

For you all know clearly that, having been imprisoned by the false accusation of the Egyptian woman, and by the decree of divine providence having become king of Egypt, and when already his dreams—or rather, his revelations—were showing their fulfillment, and his brothers had come down to Egypt because of the scarcity of necessities, Joseph, upon seeing them, although he was king and ruler of all Egypt, did not bare a sword, did not shut them up in prison, did not waste them with hunger, did not inflict blows upon them, did not regard them as beasts who had shown no mercy to himself, did not recall the tearing of his tunic, the pit of the cistern, the servitude of the ass, the arrogance of envy, the smoke of brotherly hatred, the burden of the loss to his father, the estrangement of his full brother Benjamin; but having set aside all that grieved him, and having joined gentleness with a threat, he sought an opportunity to make himself known to his brothers. For as soon as he saw them, and his full brother Benjamin—the guileless, the innocent, the last cluster of his father's vine, the one who had not tasted brotherly hatred, the brother both by nature and by disposition—immediately wetting his cheeks with tears of joy, he cried out, saying: "I am Joseph, your brother; but now let it not seem harsh to you." O strange things! The one who is blameless defends himself as if he were guilty. "I am Joseph, O brothers. If you did not willingly bow down, my dreams are false; if my sheaf was not raised up, you did well to sharpen the sickle of brotherly hatred.

Learn even in this way, O brothers, that everyone who hopes in the Lord is not put to shame. You deprived me of a simple tunic—behold, I am clothed in purple; you buried me in a pit—behold, I ride in a chariot inlaid with gold; you sold me as a slave—behold, I have been proclaimed king; I dwelt in a prison—behold, I dwell in palaces; I wore a collar—behold, I wear a diadem of precious stones. It is therefore fitting to say truly the words of the blessed Paul: "For those who love God, everything cooperates for good," in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom are the glory and the power for ever. Amen.