S. Hilarii Epistola seu Libellus cum praefatione et dissertationibus

The Letter or Little Book of Saint Hilary. (The numbers indicate annotations placed at the foot of the letter.) I. The glorious David says in the Psalm (Ps. 18:5): "Their sound went forth over the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world." From this, therefore, it is given to be understood that, with the sound prepared beforehand, that is, the principles of the Faith, one can arrive at the inner and more perfect aspects of the faith, lest with wavering foundations it be said to us by the Lord's rebuking voice (Luke 16:10): "If you were not faithful in a small matter, who will give you the greater?" But because we see that there is a fixed form which it is not permitted to exceed, and a difference between Jews and Greeks, that is, Gentiles, let us first set forth the difference (the manuscript has: let us discuss): For I think that for Jews nothing else is to be believed for the truth of the faith except that Jesus Christ is the Son of God: that through him both the race of Israel and the Gentiles are saved and are even baptized in his name: for they know the rest through the Law and the Prophets. But for Gentiles, for whom the labor is truer and greater, they are to be admitted and taught in this order. And first, indeed, that they withdraw from idols and from all human pleasures with their whole hearts: so that, with the evils cut off and torn out by the roots, good and religious things may be sown in their hearts: that is, to believe in one God; to fear him. Then, to know that he himself has made everything: and that all things of the world which have been made have stood either by his command, or by his will, or by his doing.

It is the body of Scripture: but what need have those things which are called Law and Prophets, which indeed were written through men, not by men? For the Spirit of God, who knows all things, inspired holy men who would speak, either to destroy wickedness, or to build up faith, or to raise up hope, or to threaten judgment, or to keep promises. Then it is to be believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through whom God made all things, and without whom nothing was made, through whom we received the Word in the beginning, that is, the reason of the universe, was with God. For the glorious Evangelist John begins by saying: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. All things were made through him; and without him nothing was made. Then, that there is the Holy Spirit, who animated and confirmed all things which God made through the Word. There is one baptism by which men are regenerated in God. The resurrection of the dead in the same flesh is also to be believed. A future judgment of God, by which, according to a man’s deeds, either punishments are rendered to the wicked, or the destined rewards of good works are granted. Such is the difference between converting Jews and believing Gentiles: what God is, or of what kind and how great; who and of what kind the Son of God was, and what the Holy Spirit is: for the Three are One.

It is fitting for your prudence to know that we can speak of God and know these things (the manuscript has "this") which He Himself wished to be known about Himself among men, or those things to which it was permitted for man, by His permission, to attain. Let man not seek Him on earth, nor compose Him among fictions, lest he believe Him to be like something else. For true faith has always set forth God thus: not born, not made, incomprehensible, inestimable, invisible, and impassible; and therefore the only true God, who has generated some things, made some things, arranged, ordered, and adorned them. The best and just Judge is to be proclaimed. And therefore every man is inexcusable who has not acknowledged his maker in the time of acknowledgment, having after his departure a just Judge: who will not think himself converted in his own time, but from the past. It is lawful to believe these things about God. He who has believed these things refrains from all injustice. He who has done good and just works will have eternal rest in life.

III. That He has a Son: do not think that I mean that He was begotten in the same way as men are procreated, but as it is fitting to believe concerning God, and that God has a Son born from Himself, indeed, without division of His substance, nor division of His majesty; and through this He might seem passible. Nor that speech like ours was uttered from His mouth, so that it consists of letters and syllables; nor that the Son of God is composite, and through this held to be dissoluble. Nor that He was made from nothing, as the rest of created things were, lest He be joined as similar and equal to the others who were made; but as He Himself knows who begets, and He Himself who is begotten: as the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: "No one knows the Father except the Son; nor does anyone know the Son except the Father" (Matthew 11:27). Likewise we read in the Scriptures: "My mystery is for me; my mystery is for me" (Isaiah 24:16). And truly it is fitting that that generation be hidden, in which no one was present, not even a moment of time. For before the ages, and before anyone would dare to suspect, the Son of God was born without times, which in Greek they call *achronos*; for the Son is always, because the Father is always: for it is impious to assign to God something afterwards which He did not have before, since God is always perfect.

And that what was later made for our sake, even if not yet in substance, was already with Him in full design: for He was no less capable of making everything at once, but so that all things, ordered and arranged step by step, might obey according to their rank and honor, and so that passive things with no priority among themselves might not remain without honor. For if that nativity which was undertaken by the Son of God for our sake is incomprehensible, not laid bare to mortals, how much more so is that nativity which is known to no one except God the Father and to Himself alone? For the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary, as the Evangelist testifies: "The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Luke 1:35). What is overshadowed is hidden, nor is it known to all. Therefore, if this nativity, which was arranged for our sake, is unknown to us, how much more so is that nativity which is far removed from us? And why do I say from us, and not from every heavenly creature? It is enough, therefore, that we have seen what the divinity wished us to know. Nor should knowledge be extended further, lest each one be held sacrilegious, whoever, having been shaken, should exceed the permitted boundaries of knowledge.

We have therefore accepted Christ as the Son of God, in the beginning Wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24, the power of God, and the wisdom of God) true 70; Word, that is, reason 71, spirit (John 4:24, God is spirit, etc.), way (John 14:6), light (John 1:9, and again 3:19), arm (Isa. 53:1, and John 12:38, And the arm of the Lord, to whom was it revealed?), strength, power (1 Cor. 1:24), truth (John 14:6), bread (John 6:35, 48), wine (Matt. 9:17, and John 15:1, etc., I am the true vine). Life (John 1:4, and 14:6, and elsewhere often), Door (John 10:1, 2, 7, 9), shepherd (Ibid., 11, etc.), and many other things 72, which are for the sake of men: and all live in him: which each one will learn in the course of time as Scripture teaches 75. If therefore we confess the Son of God as known: through him we know that God the Father has established both the visible and invisible ages: For it is not lawful to believe that God worked from the time from which the world took the beginning of its own birth, or that he ceased and desisted after the making of the world: since the Lord speaks and says: "My Father works even now" (John 5:17) 76. Whoever assigns him leisure before, or rest afterwards, does not know him as untiring: and is ignorant that nothing has ever happened to him, but he always is: which the Greek language calls: and in all things the perfect spirit always is 78.

V. There are therefore many things which He has done through the Son: of which either only the names are known to us, or not even these are known. For how many thrones are there? how many powers? how many dominions? how many principalities? how many spirits? how many Angels? which neither eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man? How great a glory also do we think there is in invisible things, nor can we estimate, since among those things which are with us, all are to be admired. For among all things, even the world which we behold, was fashioned through the Son. And indeed, He commanded light, by which other things would become visible, to exist, and He made it: to which He imposed the name day. He added the name of night to the darkness. Then He showed the firmament, which would separate the waters: which was able to be called Heaven: lest earthly things be mingled with celestial things in sight: but there would be something that would distinguish between human and divine things. For already from nothing He had established the materials themselves, from which all elements would be made. After these things He commanded the waters to be gathered and to come together into one: so that the dry land might be shown. Nor are each of these deprived of names. For He called the gathered waters the sea, He wished the separated dry land to possess the name earth. But these seemed less instructed. Therefore He added to them a kindly fecundity, and beauty.

And in a wondrous way, He commanded that which had been fashioned last to be generated first, not disturbing the order or being ignorant of His own creation, but He wished the last to have something of the first, lest everything lie in the extremes, and He joined the second to the first, lest the first despise the inferior. Thus the Son of God, the divine artisan, with the Father commanding, moderated so that by changing the order, He might better arrange the disposition. For He commanded the earth to bring forth all pasturage, trees with their renewing seeds, and adorned the heaven with luminaries, that is, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, by which He might mark the boundaries of day or night, or instruct farmers and sailors with signs. He also commanded the seas, enclosed within the limits of the earth, to produce their own animals: for the soul had animated the very materials, so that they might lend souls to the living beings born afterward. But to make the earth more fruitful, after pasturage, after fruit-bearing trees, after all seeds, He commanded the race of quadrupeds, wild beasts, and serpents, all living and animate, to be cast forth. Nor was there any delay in all these things: since God the Father had commanded, the Son, who is power itself, took up the command without procrastination, for with the command, the work was also present.

But since it was greatly necessary to fertilize the earthly realm, and after the divine, human things were lacking, He made man, who would not be entirely from heaven, nor yet be born again wholly from the earth: for He formed the body from all the clay of the earth (Gen. 2:7), about to grant the spirit from heaven (ibid.): and although all things were formed by the command of the Father with the Word obedient, in the fashioning of man the Father Himself also came as a maker, so that the earth would not prescribe mortality, if immortal hands established man. He also granted that man would bear the image of God on earth, about to give likeness afterward, if the image were kept unharmed. Do not think that this external form of man was made to the image. Far from it. For who would believe that God, after whose image man was made, has any part that does not hear, that does not see, that does not do everything? For man's external form does not see everywhere, does not hear everywhere, is not powerful everywhere. But God is entirely light, entirely eyes, entirely ears, entirely the most powerful hands. Therefore do the Scriptures lie? Far from it. But there is something inner in man, which is itself also called man, as the Apostle Paul instructs us, saying: "And if our outer man is corrupted, yet the inner man is daily renewed" (2 Cor. 4:16).

This is the one made in the image of God: whom we call mind, who can be similar to God then, when he is impassible: when he has been proven unshaken, blessed and holy, and without end (without end, unto the end, or, if you wish, without faithlessness, or in faith). And He gave free will and a capable mind, not without a law of living, lest, great and released from law, he be made equal to all living things: a threat was added after the law, so that, if he kept the law, he would come into eternity; if he did not keep it, he would produce death for himself, and would lose salvation. Now the name of the man made is Adam. VI. But because in all animals both sexes had proceeded for procreation, provision was also made for man, that a woman be prepared for him for the sake of generation: and she was made, as Scripture testifies: who received the name Eve, whom the prescription of equal law separated neither from reward nor from punishment. But after God saw all things perfected and adorned through his Word (that is, the Son), he handed over to his power all things that were with man. When Lucifer saw all things handed over to him, he envied the pitiable man. (For it is free and permitted for them also not to sin, if they have kept the commands, to remain in blessedness). He persuaded the transgression of God's law and commands through the woman.

...so that man would become subject to the commandments of God and fall under sentence (Gen. 2:17). He was therefore cast out into this world (Gen. 3 and following): for in Paradise, as long as he was without sin, he dwelt (Gen. 3:23). But because after the transgression he had begotten children, he led the entire human race with him all the way to death. Yet good and just men would not be lacking, since indeed it was free for those born afterward not to sin, and God did not cease to admonish daily. Then divine goodness and fatherly piety provided abundantly in many ways: first through the righteous Patriarchs, then through Moses and the Prophets. But all these died in Adam. In the last times, lest the Devil triumph entirely (for this is his name, after he envied man), and lest man, after the time of his condemnation was completed, be held long in punishment contrary to God’s mercy, he received the salvation which he merited by compassion alone. For God the omnipotent Father sent his Son Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, through whom he had created all things: not allowing even this to happen without him.

Yet no one was capable of patiently enduring man (perhaps the reading should be *tollere*, concerning the power of the demon, of course), or knew how, or could overcome the powers of this world and of these shadows, or conquer death, unlock the underworld, utterly uproot and destroy the power and might of sin, except the Son of God, who had been a participant with the Father in the making of man, who could both conceal himself in man and, with man mingled with God, perfect and display virtues: through him, with our bonds of sins cancelled (Col. 2:14), we might be reconciled to God the Father and, having become sons of God (1 John 3:1), be able to approach. Therefore the Son of God is sent, and he entered man secretly (Luke 1): not because he feared anyone, for he was lord of all, but lest the Devil fear to approach the man who was mingled with God, and lest the Devil, if conquered without approach and struggle, appear less prostrated by man. Therefore, with the Spirit of the Lord coming upon the Virgin and the power of the Most High overshadowing (Luke 1:35), the Nativity of Christ according to man was celebrated, and he passed through all ages, so that nearly all might learn God: all these things were foretold beforehand in the Law and the Prophets, so that the wondrous event might not become unbelievable to all through its suddenness; and those of the past, to whom it did not fall to behold this with their eyes, if they hoped without doubt in the coming of him who was proclaimed, might be able to escape the contagion of eternal death.

Thus, on earth, a Son of God so great and so mighty was seen, as much and as far as humanity was able to behold him. For he who, on the mountain of majesty, granting a vision of his own beauty and goodness, showed himself to the Apostles, when his face shone (Matt. 17:1; Luke 9:29; 2 Pet. 1:17), so that the power of the sun seemed to have gone forth, and he wore a garment so that it seemed whiter than snow; and yet the disciples, already instructed, already learned, already holy, could not endure the brightness of Jesus—that is, of him who had undertaken to heal the vices and sins of all men (John 1:29). What if so great a God had come to show his brightness and power to men? Perhaps every weak and frail creature would have succumbed. But the Son of God had come to save. Thus, a man in body, God in power (John 1:1, etc.), he taught as a master (John 13:13), persuaded as a brother (Matt. 28:10), acted as God (John 13:13), chose as one who knows beforehand (John 6:74; 13:1; 15:16), healed as a physician (Matt. 8:16; 9:35; 11:8, etc.), and as a human being he suffered with (Heb. 4:15). And when all things had been accomplished and completed, which either the Law or the Prophets had foretold, or the salvation of man demanded (John 19:30); at the very last, through the death of the immortal man, he died (ibid., v. 30), so that, with mortality removed, he might grant immortality to men. Therefore, suspended on the wood (Matt.

xxvii, 35), with the Jewish people crying out (Matt. xxvii, 23), among whom he had accomplished such great wonders, that in him all the envy of the Devil was overcome (God reigned from the wood), where the envious one had deceived man, he hastened to death willingly (John iii, 14, etc.; (??), 28, etc., xii, 31, 32, 33, 34, etc.), being about to delay death; with the underworld laid open, and all those things despised which then prevailed in the penalty of man and salvation in the underworld, he illuminated all the Just and the hopeful in himself, and recalled them to (??): showing the Devil and the powers of this world and of those regions that their wickedness had not prevailed: they themselves remained in punishments, while the man whom they envied was freed (Ced(??) has for man) 127. Therefore, man triumphing with God, already from death, no longer mortal, was escaping to the upper world 126. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ suffered in order to rise; he rose because he had already suffered. This he taught, namely, that whoever joins himself with God can seem to die, but cannot perish 129. Yet it seemed too little for the punishment of enemies that he had done, if he had given life to man with the enemy destroyed, and had not added glory. And so that greater punishment might come to the Devil and his angels, he, with triumph, brought the man, who had flesh no longer to die, into heaven, to be shown to the angels and holy powers (Acts i, 9; Ps. xlvi, 6), offering the freed man as a gift to God the Father 1(??)9.

Soon after, he sent the Holy Spirit as his vicar (Acts 2:1, etc.), whom he had promised to the disciples shortly before his passion (John 14:17), so that he might be both an aid and a sanctification to believing men. This order arises from our disbelief concerning Christ. VII. But since we have already made mention of the Holy Spirit, it must be believed in the Holy Spirit, through whom universally all things that would later come to be were both inspired and sanctified, of the substance (perhaps add: communication) ... The three are one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Next, it must be believed that there is a baptism, by which men, purified and made sons of God, are sealed in the faith; by which all the sins of human birth and of man are purged. In this, not the filth of the body is washed away, but the conscience is cleansed. The question is good in God concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:24).

VIII. After this, he requires the resurrection of the dead in the same [flesh?] 136. For it is established, nor is it lawful to say otherwise, that [God] is both [wise] and [foreknowing], and that as wise and prescient he chose the better, that man, once made, should be eternal rather than not exist. But if you think it better that he not exist, [he would have acted] summarily, before he made him 137. But that man is eternal, who consists of body and soul. The Scriptures teach this in very many places; but I will set forth a few as an example. Solomon proclaims, saying (Wisdom 2:2): "God created [man] for immortality" 138. And not undeservedly, in Genesis, after sin, man is forbidden to approach the tree of life, lest he live forever (Gen. 3:22), so that he might not continue as immortal 139. Who but man, who was made immortal by God, and [whose] body does not [receive] immortality? 140. I know this may move the reader, that man [was] from the living word [proceeding] from God, and that in this man there is [something]: for he was already in transgression. Therefore, take this death, which was assigned by God as a remedy, and which occurs through the separation of body and soul, and [is] a tearing away of sin, if [he had approached] the tree of life; [then] it would have been necessary, by communication of eternal life, in an immortal [state], it was necessary to [retain] sin 141. Therefore this also [was done deliberately], so that [the plan] of God [might stand]. Therefore [always] 143.

But we die in [the flesh?] ... the reason is grasped: not [to destroy] the human being, but to be separated. Nor does [the soul] take up [the elements] from which the body is constructed, but [the whole person] is reserved for the day of judgment. For it is not lawful that anything be lacking to God when He judges, since it is certain that God’s judgment comes after the end of this life. And this too must be insisted upon: it is necessary that the whole human being be depicted [or: set forth], because [they] will be found either in [reward] or in [punishment]. And this [is so] that those who have lived honorably according to His will may [be rewarded], and [others] be destined for eternal punishments. Hence let us eagerly seek the lawful precepts, [shun] adversities, [and be] obedient [to God]. IX. Now concerning the person [or: the individual]. In the person two things are to be maintained: [the rich] and [the poor]. And to the rich of this world it must be commanded (1 Timothy 6:17): Do not be proud; nor [place confidence] in the uncertainty of your riches, but in the living [God], who provides us abundantly with all things for [good] works: to be rich, but in [good] deeds, sharing the treasure [stored] for oneself in [heaven]: so that they may grasp how good life is. Then [it must be said] that [riches] are not to be accepted and held [for their own sake], nor [should one] trust [in them] so as to [abuse] them. And let them not despise the poor, nor [use wealth as] a ministry of malice, or an instrument of rich [or: luxurious] lust, nor [think] that [riches] have been given to them [for such purposes], nor [regard] that they have lost [something] when [the poor] [receive aid].

...the dispensations of God's grace established by God; so that in the distribution, the will of those who are wise or perverse may be known: that they may understand that more has come to them through abundance, unless they had been wise, they would have attempted the stronger. Let them learn to distribute riches. But in comparison with immortality, let them distribute their resources, so that they may be like God: merciful, not judged as wastrels and squanderers of the Lord's property. And let them do these things confidently and with cheerfulness. For the Apostle Paul says (2 Cor. 9:7): "God loves a cheerful giver." Let them not think that what is spent on the needs of the poor in contemplation of God's commandments can be exhausted. Since these things were received from Him and are necessary, and it is fitting to administer them usefully and to increase them. For how can temporal things be lacking, when eternal things are promised and prepared for them, if they are well distributed? More truly speaks He who is Christ, saying (Matt. 19:29; Mark 10:39): "He who has left for my sake a house, or a farm, or parents, or the rest, will receive a hundredfold in this world, and in the future, eternal life." And if some ascribe this to a time of persecution, I nevertheless hear our Lord warning that for his sake, at any time, whatever holy work of his commandment has been fulfilled, the destined reward will not be lacking. Let us not be anxious. God cares for us. The Prophet cries out, saying (Prov. 22:2, and more explicitly in Wisdom...).

...they are lacking in good works. (Isaiah 45:6) "And I have made both the poor man and the rich man. And my care is equal for all." God takes care of it; and does anyone fear that his patrimony will be diminished? It is dispensed at God's command. Let us rather fear that, if we are timid, barren, and unfaithful in good works, we will be judged needy and destitute. Let us rather fear to be filled with sadness, because concerning rich men of this sort, even if in the person of one, He referred to the whole group, saying (Matthew 19:22): "But he went away sad when he heard this, because he had many possessions." Let him not fear that he will enter the kingdom of heaven with difficulty (ibid., v. 24). Let him rather be humble; let him be generous, so that he may be judged more blessed, if he experiences poverty neither in this world nor in the next. Let him give to the poor, so that he may lend to God; let him count God as his debtor (Proverbs 19:17). Let him know that mercy is set before sacrifices. He will obtain glory and rest, if from these riches, in which others are judged corrupt and lost, he receives the crown of the fruit of justice and mercy.

X. The poor person, however, is to be consoled in such a way that he knows that more goods are to be considered for him in poverty. And first of all, that God has providentially provided for him usefully: that God, foreseeing, considered his weakness and confirmed that he could not bear the burden and anxiety of riches. Then let him perceive how many temptations and how many dangers he has passed through under the name of poverty. But affluence is lacking, which is frequently harmful: yet to the riches of the mind he passes as quickly as possible without hindrance in poverty. Certainly, let him consider what evils he lacks. He lacks envy, rivalry, treachery, deceit, pride, contention, and those things which riches in the world are accustomed to stir up for a man; for by the flux of things, as by the abundance of resources, the mind is loosened, the vigor of the intellect is impaired, the strength of the body is enervated. But in poverty there are no wanton feasts, no disgraceful drinking bouts: everything is sober, everything is austere, everything is humble: not abject, since the conscience is pure and they are full of virtue. He is not abundant in external resources: he is just. The rich man does not easily approach the riches of the mind, that is, the virtues of this world. For he who says (Matthew 19:24), that it is more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, certainly understands that it is easier for a poor man. Let him not think himself alienated from God’s care because of poverty; the Prophet testifies, saying (Proverbs 22:2; and more explicitly Wisdom 6:8): “And I have made both the poor man and the rich man: and my care is for all.” It is not (Acts...

X, 34; 1 Peter 17) For God is not an acceptor of persons. 159. Nor does He profess to care only for him who abounds in the riches of the world, but for all, and He sustains care for the poor: He will reward whom He finds either humble in riches or patient in poverty. The distribution of the whole human body, as it were, and the ministry of each individual is sought. Let him consider that the human body is one body indeed, but has many members. Are all things an eye, or a foot, or the remaining members (1 Cor. 12:14)? But, as Paul, the teacher of the Gentiles, says in faith and truth (1 Tim. ?:7): "We attribute greater honor to the inferior members" (1 Cor. 12:23). And just as the virtue of each member is demonstrated in its own order and function, so in the body of the whole human race, Poverty and Riches shine forth, as it were, like members; so that the patience of the Poor and the humanity of the Rich are approved by God's judgment. The poor person ought to rejoice and give thanks to God, because he has been freed from many bonds of patrimony. On the day of trial, he is not weighed down by the fetters of wealth; more easily does the free disciple follow the Lord, entangled by no bonds. Let him not fail, as far as he is able, in just mercy toward the needy (Tob. 4:8), because just as the rich man is made by liberality, so the poor man is made just by frugality, if he gives to those who are lower and have not.

Let him not fear that he himself will fail, when in the practice of holy administration he has a most ready will: nothing will be lacking. Through the Prophet the Spirit strengthens (Prov. 10:3): "God does not kill the soul of the just with hunger." And the Lord in the Gospel (Matt. 6:33): "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you." Let him not desire to become rich in this world, lest he acquire many evils for himself, as the glorious Paul says and warns (1 Tim. 6:8): "Therefore, having food and clothing, let us be content with these. But those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and the snare, and many desires which plunge men into perdition." Indeed, if he has chosen to believe with true faith and for the sake of salvation, let him begin to seek and acquire for himself the riches of heaven, which each person acquires and takes up through justice, mercy, and the other good deeds. Eternal things are to be preferred to temporal, stable to fleeting, more secure to anxious, free to perilous, more glorious to dishonorable. By these admonitions let the rich man be restrained and the poor man be uplifted.

XI. Now let us speak of sex. That sex is male and female; that is, man and woman. And the man indeed, after those things which we have comprehended above, for the institution of a better life ought also to observe this with all, that he love his wife, as Christ loved the Church (Eph. 5:25): that they may be able, with one mind (the manuscript codex has: with one mind for every kind) united, to pray to God for all things, lifting up pure hands without anger and contention (1 Tim. 2:8): but let all things be done for the edification that deifies. Then, let them bear the bond of union with chaste and common chastity; and let them come together only when the contemplation of generation is present, or the time of prayer does not recall (1 Cor. 7:5). I count that prayer which is celebrated with every ministry and communication of the sacraments. Besides, there is supplication, and adoration, exomologesis, and interpellation (1 Tim. 2:1), and a vow, all of which have their own times. Therefore, it befits a man to pray with uncovered head (1 Cor. 11:4 and 7): not with long hair (Ibid., v. 14): Let his gait be simple, not ostentatious or artificial; so that he may present not only belief in word, but also the appearance of his life in other respects. For it is fitting for every man to be a priest to God (1 Tim. 2:8). And thus he ought, both in catechesis (that is, in instruction) and also in lay life, to show his conduct as most pure, so that if time: (Thus it is read in the manuscript.

in the office and duty of the priesthood, yet by the likeness of life he is made equal to the priesthood. But let the woman learn to be subject to her husband (Eph. 5:22), even calling him lord (1 Pet. 3:6): and indeed let her revere all men; yet let her serve her own: For the husband is the head of every woman (Eph. 5:24). Let her also know how to live chastely with her husband (Tit. 2:5): which he also does in every way: so that he knows no other woman besides his wife (1 Cor. 7:1, 5, etc.). For he ought to know the times of intercourse, and to abstain from union when it is time for prayer, or when the woman is suffering, or when she knows herself to be within the times of purification after childbirth. For God did not join marriage for the sake of unchastity, but to provide service for procreation. Let her learn to raise children piously (1 Tim. 5: If she has raised children), to be modest, not quarrelsome, not given to wine (Tit. 1:7; Col. 3:18; Eph. 5:22; 1 Pet. 3:1), not proud toward her husband (Gen. 3:16; and Tit. 2:3, 4: Subject to husbands; and 1 Tim. 2:12, nor to rule over her husband), even if she seems greater in patrimony: but also to proceed with modest gait, not with a painted appearance (1 Tim. 2: and 10; 1 Pet. 3:3): or adorned with gold or precious clothing: not to strive after curling of the hair. But as befits Christian women promising chastity not only in words but through good conduct (1 Pet.

ii, 12; iii, 1, 2) She should know that she must be silent in church; for it is not fitting for them to speak (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34). She must be obedient not only to elders and priests, but also to all brothers (1 Pet. 2:15). Nor should she set herself before any man on account of her sex (1 Pet. 3:7); since even when she has lawfully accomplished everything, she will be completed into a perfect man (Eph. 4:13). Rather, let her strive for virtue that will attain glory, not hindered by the weakness of her sex, and be made equal to the most righteous men by sanctity and strength of mind, and by all continence and devoted passion. XII. Now let the discourse on ages be taken in hand. And first, I think that infancy should be deferred in teaching, because either by the quality of the time or of the age, the word of the teacher cannot be sustained. And for those to whom, due to the defect of age, precepts cannot be given for malice and natural innocence, their parents are to be constrained in admonishing them; although, as age advances, the Church will not be lacking, nor will it cease in admonishing. But for boys, this should first be impressed upon them: that they should not be absent from hearing at any time, because they cannot be fully taught everything at once. Next, that they should join innocence to simplicity, lest they prolong boyhood into a persistence of malice. They must guard and observe, lest in the other ages they be corrupted.

To natural goodness they should also add the good and deifying gift of faith, so that they may always remain good, always holy, always innocent, always the work of God, and not of nature, by the tradition of belief. They must consider that, in order to remain chaste or modest, they ought to come frequently to church, because those for whom, on account of their less stable age, the battle of the devil will be more severe, need to be more frequently confirmed and more frequently admonished. They must observe everything with fear, and above all beware of fornication, which has the beginning of idolatry; and it is necessary that whoever has followed one knows both. Therefore, how is one understood to believe and to have ceased from the Gentiles, if he rehearses what the Gentiles designate? Indeed, let them be obedient not only to parents (Col. 3:20), but also to all who are older in age (1 Pet. 5:5), provided that their advice and prayer bring no lawful impediment. Let them consider that they have God as a Father (Matt. 6:9); they ought to hope for his inheritance (ibid. and v. 10; Acts 20:32; Rom. 8:17; Col. 3:24), which does not consist in temporal things, but in eternal ones. Moreover, if God foresees that it is useful for them, he will also provide temporal things, especially when he sees each one pursuing eternal things, as his Son, our Lord, says (Matt. 6:33): "First seek the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.

Hence no one should doubt that those for whom heavenly things are prepared will not lack an abundance of necessary things on earth (Ibid. and verse 34). Therefore, since these things are to be hoped for from God, no one is to be obeyed; rather, all are to be obeyed, because God wills it: not because some temporal reward is to be hoped for from Him, but because we strive to fulfill even the legitimate duties of God in these matters (1 Peter 2:13). Finally, those are to be congratulated who, at the very beginning of their free will, if they have approached God, have acquired their entire life by the good of faith: not that they have spent their consummate age in error, so that they would later have something to regret; but that, while still children and innocent, they have attained not only God's pardon but also His grace. XIII. Young men, however, are to be admonished in this way, that if they have wives, they should be taught to live chastely with their wives. Let them know that it is wicked to touch another's wife (1 Corinthians 7:1). In this they will give proof and evidence that they have truly renounced their former life, if after believing, there is a reformation of life for the better. For then one ceases to be a pagan and begins to be a Christian, if, carefully observing all the precepts of the law, he shows himself chaste and modest (1 Corinthians 7). If, however, they do not have wives, they are to be constrained either to have them or to abstain altogether, lest they think that the same things are permitted to them which they did before (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:??). They should know that they have renounced the Devil not in words but in deeds.

Let them be warned and know that fornication and adultery are forbidden. That no woman is permitted to be touched, except a wife, and she acquired in a godly manner. Therefore, either a wife must be taken by them (1 Cor. 7:9, “Those who cannot contain themselves, let them marry”), or continence must be embraced. Yet, lest they be terrified and defer their faith, let them know that it is evil not to believe because of impurity; it is worse to be found unchaste after having believed. Young men should consider that in all their deeds they should surpass their age, being strong in mind and virtue; and in the inner man (2 Cor. 4:16) they should be young; (1 Cor. 14:20) among the old, let them be placed with God as judge. It is also to be rejoiced that not in every completed age, but in the very heat of their years, and in adolescence itself, they have renounced the author of shameful deeds, the Devil, and unclean acts; and renewed, they show themselves pure in malice before God (Ibid.): In temptations, young; in counsels and thoughts, grave as old men. And I think all these are to be admonished, that they obey everyone for the sake of God (1 Pet. 2:13): that they learn to govern their household well (1 Tim. 5:4): if they have children, that they treat them piously (Ibid., v. 10; Tit. 2:4), and instruct them in divine matters: for these are signs of our faith, if we have not only believed, but also handed on to others what we have believed.

Soldiers of Christ should know that they must be vigilant in peace and most courageous in persecution. They have given their name to the service, and they should hope for donatives or stipends of eternal life in such a way that, besides the daily contests of peace which we wage against the Devil, to whom we have renounced, they also contemplate the battle and combat of persecution. The torments of the body are not to be feared; rather, the rewards or promises are to be considered. Captivity, servitude under an enemy, exile from the heavenly Fatherland, the Judgment of God, even the insult of an adversary, and eternal death, and eternal torments are more to be dreaded. Let us consider that we are all mortal, and that it is necessary for us to die. How glorious and praiseworthy it is, if what must be suffered is overcome in glory. Every discourse must be adapted to the destruction of idolatry and to praising the crown of martyrdom, so that the soldier of Christ may go forth fortified in every way to overcome the enemy and repel his darts. He who evangelizes should be asked what he does. If he is a soldier, or an official, or a judge, let him moderate himself. If a rustic, let him not murmur. If a city-dweller, let him not be deceitful, and let him be circumspect, and not exercise his ingenuity in evil matters. If a merchant, let him not perjure himself. If a farmer, let him not hoard grain. If a craftsman, let him not deceive or cheat.

XV. Now faith, as the apostle Paul defines it (Heb. 11:1), is the substance of things we hope for and the evidence of things we do not see. One must believe and have faith that God is able to fulfill what he has promised, and to transfer one's hope into the future. And then, with full faith, one will be able to attain most easily what has been promised (Heb. 11:1). This sets before our eyes things that are invisible. Once we have entered into this, we abandon the Devil, the powers of this world, and all the darkness of these things (Eph. 6:11, etc.): we draw near to God with confidence. For it is necessary to believe and hope for what God has commanded, when we deny what the Devil has instilled. XVI. Hope follows faith. So let us speak about it. Hope, then, is the expectation of all future things which we hold in faith: through it we are saved, as the apostle Paul writes (Rom. 8:24): For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what one sees, who hopes for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it through patience. This contains within itself fear: not that fear which one must forget and cast out, whoever lives in faith; but that which is one of the spirits with which Jesus is filled, as Isaiah testifies (Isa.

XVI. "A rod will come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will ascend from his root, and the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge and piety, will rest upon him, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him." That spirit which David sings, saying (Ps. 33:10): "Fear the Lord, you his righteous ones." Whence also they are made blessed, with the same one testifying and saying (Ps. 111:1): "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." He speaks of that fear which is chaste and modest. For "the fear of the Lord is chaste," says David (Ps. 18:10), "it endures for ever and ever." Therefore fear is also twofold, and one is to be sought and the other to be avoided. There is, then, a fear to be sought, an admonition and a safeguard of all things which we believe or hope for: for we fear Judgment because we hope; and we dread the Lord because we believe him to be that mighty Judge. XVII. But since the fear of God is chaste, and chastity is a species of continence, we must now treat of continence and its virtues. Now continence is the restraint of all evil things to be desired. I added "evil" lest judges think that this definition is common to good and evil things. For he who restrains himself from good things is not properly continent; but from evil things, rightly. But in all precepts, there ought to be a twofold consideration and teaching.

And this I think should be retained and observed in the rest, that when you have treated one part, you should know the opposite; and the very nature of the matters themselves requires that when you have held one part, it is necessary to abandon the other. We find that evil certainly had no substance from the beginning; indeed, disobedience... is evil next to good (Ecclesiasticus 33:15). And if they are nowhere compared to each other, the protection of good is preserved. XVIII. Therefore, continence must be taught and maintained in evil things. In good things, eagerness must be demanded. David declares and teaches, saying (Psalm 111:1): "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he will greatly desire his commandments." Likewise, that one should be continent in evil things and desirous of good things, he warns in another psalm, saying thus (Psalm 33:14): "Restrain your tongue from evil, and let your lips not speak deceitful words. Shun evil, and do good; seek peace, and you will attain it.

XIX. It also pleases to confer concerning those who are continent: for I see many who, with respect to conjugal union, are continent only, and in all other parts of continence are worse than pagans. For if you consider, how many of them are both wrathful and drunken, and insolent, and proud, and more inflated by the very form of continence, strikers, slanderers, covetous, swollen, greatly pleasing themselves, so that you would rather judge that that very continence which they profess to have has supplied fuel and flame and material for crimes. Since, indeed, these things are to be cut away, in which we are daily reproached, and then the virtue of continence is to be retained more in all other vices: and for perfection, not the rejection of marriage, but chastity is to be preferred. For when the Apostle Paul was admonishing the Churches, he did not command a uniform continence, but in which things it is to be sought and found, he thus warned, saying: "Let her be," he says (1 Cor. 7:34), "holy in body and spirit," defining that one is not continent who has not been proven most continent in both parts. Many, indeed very many, so burn with desire..... as the outcome teaches, that they wish to undergo all kinds of punishments, or to bear any sentence of the Church whatsoever, rather than depart from familiar conversation: not knowing that God, who is prescient, said concerning such (Matt.

XIX. It also pleases to confer concerning those who are continent: for I see many who, with respect to conjugal union, are continent only, and in all other parts of continence are worse than pagans. For if you consider, (v. 28): Whoever looks upon a woman with desire for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Such persons cannot excuse their fault by claiming that they did not direct their eyes toward lust, when at the same time they lie under the same roof or sleep in the same bed. And when reproached, they profess to do this spiritually, adding to strangers the names of affections or piety. Indeed, since we understand the substance of the Devil to be spiritual, it must be added: but of spiritual wickedness and malice (Ephes. vi, 12) from God on account of the scandal of the Church and ruin: when they can be torn away neither by persuasion, nor by the prohibition of elders, nor by fear of present sentence or of future Judgment: when more often even those whom lawful marriage has united are separated by a light quarrel 197. What evil is this? what evil is individual charity, that they cannot be separated from the affection of another’s kinship? It is shameful to say what they are not ashamed to do. Certainly they are not even free from the kiss, which is the pledge and token of the serpent 198. Indeed, when you reprove them, they soon utter these words: that the integrity of their body can be proven; when the integrity of the mind is required from them first, although they cannot be examined even in the body. For it is not permitted for men to know or lay bare the hiding places of conscience, as Scripture says (I Reg. xvi, 7): Man sees the face, but God sees the heart. God alone beholds the inner and secret things.

But the Lord’s word is clear, warning (Matt. 7:20): “You will know them by their fruits.” If you consider what their appearance is like—how troubled their brow, how shamelessly they look about, how much audacity in their face, how much stubbornness they carry, the immodest dress in some, and the affected gait with a profession of boastfulness. And to this end, a devotion of this kind of profession proceeds, so that, on account of the name of virginity which they alone bear, they may become desirable. Hence it is that they show themselves off when they ought to have hidden themselves, offering to God only their service, from which chastity hopes for a reward. Therefore, having entered the thresholds of the house of God for prayers, they are initiated with uncovered head, interpreting the Apostle (who restrains their corrupters) as having decreed concerning married women, not concerning virgins—not knowing that everywhere he names men of any age as “men,” and designates all women by the appellation “woman.” I know I have made a digression from the proposed treatise on continence; but it was necessary, so that henceforth all people of either sex, taught by full continence, may know both what they should abstain from and what they ought to guard; or if, in one kind, by any type of continence, someone is an observer, and does not wish to approach other admonitions, let him not boast that he is among the number of the continent—lest he seem to lose even that part in which he was applauding himself, through obstinacy.

Therefore, whoever is taught continence and wishes to approach it must seek continence not merely in the body or in one part of the body, but must recognize the observances of continence in the whole movement of the mind. For the one who restrains anger is more continent than the one who withholds the tongue from insult, from curse, from detraction, from falsehood, from perjury, and from the other evil affections of the tongue. The one who finally restrains even thought from all wickedness and denies every iniquity is fully continent, and I compare him not with men but recognize him as most like the holy angels. XX. Now we must speak of patience and all its goods. Patience, therefore, is the endurance of all injuries and passions, and the bearing of all expectations without precipitation. If one understands and possesses it, he bears the contrary things of life, the heavy burdens; he contains all goods. It has hope as its sister. Although I have already included that all good things are related to one another, he suffers willingly because he hopes, and he endures what is to be hoped for: for what is not hoped for is borne impatiently, and when nothing is hoped for. Patience endures every virtue, which is recognized when hope perishes. But if the fruit of patience is followed by hope, this hope rejoices in faith as its mother, has God as its helm, and kinship with the genus of continence. Hence the just, while they do all things patiently (Rom.

and thus they become glorious witnesses of God, full of faith, anxious with fear of God, disciples of continence, children of hope, and found to be guided by wisdom. Then, co-heirs of Christ, they imitate him even unto death (if indeed we suffer with him, etc., let us follow in his footsteps) through the virtues (perhaps the struggles) of patience. XXI But let us now discuss justice. Justice, therefore, is the most equitable distribution of individual things and persons. If someone obtains it and clings to it, he preserves his life well-ordered and without disturbance; he maintains equity in all things; he knows what he owes to God; what he renders to the saints and his equals; what he does not deny to the authorities of this world; what he retains for himself; what belongs to his neighbor; what he grants or deems fitting for strangers. For it is just to worship and love God with one’s whole heart, whole soul, and whole strength; to honor saints and equals; to pay tribute to authorities (Rom. 13:7); not to be proud, but rather gentle and humble (1 Pet. 2:14); to love one’s neighbors as oneself (2 Tim. 3:2); not to pursue strangers and enemies with hatred, but to love them; to be subject to those who are prior or older in age (1 Pet. 5:5). For even the Lord, though he was lord of all, was baptized by John, who was prior to him in human birth (Luke 7:28), and thus he declares that all justice is fulfilled (Matt. 3:15).

From this mercy is born, and divine obedience is generated. In all these things, whoever is found is not undeservedly said to remain in Christ (1 John 2:6), because all these things are Christ himself. The glorious Paul informs and instructs us, saying of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30): "Who is for us from God justice, and sanctification, and redemption." Likewise in another place (Jude 2): "Who is mercy, peace, and love," which the Greeks call *agapē*; to which let us now make the transition, because among all others it is greater: thus the blessed Apostle declares (1 Corinthians 13:13): "But these three remain: Faith, Hope, Love." XXII. Therefore Love is the bond of souls, chaste, and sincere, and without rivalry: Charity is the consummation of all commandments. This is the power of all precepts; when one has it, he has everything; without it, he remains evil and imperfect. And so that your prudence may know how much charity is worth, let us read the Lord's response in the Gospel, when he was asked, he spoke thus (Matthew 22:37): "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." In these two precepts the whole law and the Prophets depend. You see that in this alone the entire heads of the law hang. Truly, whoever has this can already be called God and a son of God. From this alone consider yourself to be like God. He who loves God, does he not hope? Does he not fear?

Does he trust? No: but he only loves. "God," says Paul (Rom. 8:3), "when he had loved the world, sent his only son in the likeness of the flesh of sin: so that from sin he might condemn sin in the flesh." Hence Paul also prefers that love to all good things, saying (1 Cor. 13:1): "And if I should speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have charity, I am nothing: just like a sounding brass, or a clashing cymbal. And if I have Prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have faith, so that I might move mountains; and if I distribute all my goods for the food of the poor; and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have charity, I am nothing." Charity is magnanimous. Charity is kind. Charity does not envy, is not puffed up, does not act perversely, is not irritated, is not confounded, does not seek its own things, does not think evil, does not rejoice over injustice: but rejoices in truth. It endures all things, believes all things, hopes all things. Charity never falls away. Therefore, whoever wishes to find this species, all the Scriptures must be unsealed for him: the whole law must be opened: all the Prophets must be introduced: all the virtues of Christ, his acts, his commands must be introduced, and the doctrine of the Apostles must be thoroughly opened and taught.

And although all the species we have discussed above are incomprehensible to men in a full treatise, much more so is that in which all are completed and on which they depend—especially since John the Evangelist has forbidden us to dispute in his Epistle, when he teaches that it is both the Son of God and God the Father, saying thus (1 John 4:8): "God is love." If one can speak of the whole of God, one can also speak of love, which is God. Therefore, if it is sacrilege to dispute about God as much as is not permitted, to be silent is religious; and one must think otherwise about love. For there is as much about it as about God, since God is love. Let each one therefore know himself; because if anyone has love in himself, he is a dwelling place of God, since God, who is love, abides in him. It is fitting now to conclude the end of the species in the fullness of love and of all good things, especially since all things have been reviewed; or if anything has been omitted, it seems to be contained in the fullness of the world.

I beg pardon before all (perhaps before all things) from your people, with the most sincere holiness, praying that your Sanctity, to whom a more skilled path from God and a holier one has been approved, may deign to correct, reform, and supply what my mediocrity has either omitted or, when discovered, could not explain more fully in all matters. Or if you approve that the little work begun by us at your request and completed with God's help lacks nothing, then in your holy prayers as well as those of all the brethren, keep me in remembrance. And let the rivals of my faith know that the account has been rendered and recognize that it agrees with the Church, and let them take up the mystery more fully, so that we may not only rejoice that we have believed, but also that we have been of some benefit to enemies and believers alike. I have decided to publish the codex. But since I disown it for Hilary of Poitiers, if you wish to attribute it to another Hilary (which is certainly permissible for me), attribute it to Hilary of Arles, whom we know for certain both to have built and dedicated sacred temples and to have delivered not a few sermons to the people; also, from the common interpretation which the author of this Sermon clearly uses, he was accustomed to cite passages of Scripture. And this conjecture and suspicion of mine is greatly favored by the fact that the writing of Hilary of Arles himself is not unlike the writing of this Sermon. But to whomever this sermon is finally attributed, it is certainly praiseworthy and undoubtedly ancient, and therefore one that deserves to receive its ancient form and original purity.