Interpretatio Orationum Gregorii Nazianzeni

Preface of Rufinus to Apronianus. As I was setting out from the city, you earnestly enjoined upon me, Apronianus, dearest son, that even in your absence I should devote some work to you, lest the necessity of my journey hinder us from our customary studies. You therefore asked that I translate Gregory for you into Latin—a man incomparable in every respect, who, illustrious in word and deed, provided the churches with the most splendid light of the knowledge of Christ, in that he taught what he practiced and did not condemn himself by acting contrary to what he taught. He was a Cappadocian by home, born of a bishop as father and a sufficiently religious mother. He was reared and educated at Athens as few are, yet he did not yield his chastity to the allurements of either age or companions in scholarly intercourse, but, as if a treasure entrusted to him by God, he brought back the unbroken seal of chastity to a chaste home. Finally, while he was flourishing in the study of philosophy at Athens, he saw in a dream, as he sat reading, two very comely women seated on his right and left. When he, prompted by his instinct for chastity, looked at them with a rather stern eye, he inquired who they were and what they wanted.

But they, embracing him more intimately and eagerly, said: "Do not take it amiss, young man; we are well known and familiar to you—for one of us is called Wisdom, the other Chastity—and we have been sent by the Lord to dwell with you, because you have prepared a dwelling place in your heart that is pleasing to us and quite pure." Then, when he was being pressed to teach rhetoric at Athens on account of his exceptional progress in letters, he secretly boarded a ship and departed. And when he had committed himself to the uncharted sea, he was tossed by a storm, in which he vowed to serve God. And when he did this, he was suddenly appointed to the priesthood by his father, the bishop. Taking this hard, he withdrew for a time; later, however, he returned and delivered this apologetic discourse in the church, setting forth the reasons for his departure and also for his return. After this, upon his father's death, he succeeded to the episcopate at Nazianzus, a small town. And then, when after the times of the Arian Valens the Catholic churches had been recovered, he was entreated to go to Constantinople to establish and teach the church. There, while he was carrying out a magnificent work in the word of God and daily converting almost countless multitudes from heretics to the true faith, as usually happens, glory was followed by envy.

He, however, was so perfect in the fear of God that, when he perceived that a dispute had arisen among the bishops on his account, he immediately withdrew of his own accord, saying only that prophetic utterance: "If this storm is because of me, take me and throw me into the sea, and let the disturbance cease among you." Neither a life more commendable and holy, nor an eloquence more brilliant and illustrious, nor a faith purer and more correct, nor a knowledge fuller and more perfect can be found than his; he alone is such that not even dissenting parties and factions, as is usually the case, have been able to dispute about his faith among themselves, but he has obtained this from God and the churches of God by his merit, that whoever has dared to oppose his teaching in any point is, by that very fact, proven to be a heretic; for it is a manifest sign that anyone who does not agree with Gregory in faith is not of right faith. Therefore, read him without any scruple whatsoever, knowing, however, that the exceedingly brilliant light of his eloquence in Greek is obscured not a little by the necessity of translation. Whether the poverty of our language or the very nature of translation itself causes this, you, who have expertise in both languages, are better able to judge.

I am defeated, and I confess that I have been overcome; I have submitted myself to the Lord and have besought Him. For it is fitting that the blessed David open for me the door of speech—or rather, that He Himself who spoke in David, and who even now speaks through him, do so. For the best order is that the origin of every word or work be taken from God, and that its consummation be referred back to God. The reason why, some time ago, overcome by a kind of weariness and indignation, I withdrew and, fleeing, removed myself and dwelt in the desert for no small time, may perhaps seem one thing to some and another to others—to those who are possessed either by hatred toward me, as often happens, or by love. And as for the fact that we then seemed harsh and ungentle, but now have grown mild and have returned to what we were before, one person blames me for inconstancy, another embraces the deed. For nothing is sweeter to men than to speak of others' affairs and to mind others' business, especially if it happens that they are forestalled by either hatred or love. From these especially truth is always hidden and stolen. Others, then, as I have said, may think other things; but I, without any shame, will bring forward what is true into the midst, satisfying both sides—that is, both those who are moved by affection toward us and those who are moved by hatred—in some things acting as my own accuser, and in some things also making satisfaction.

2. And so that my speech may proceed in an orderly fashion, I will first discuss my former fear and dread. For I will not allow anyone who examines either our good qualities or their opposites with curious scrutiny to retain any suspicions about me. For it is also a duty of religion to heal by verbal satisfaction those who, if there are any, seem to have been wounded by the barbs of suspicion, since it is most excellent that no one, whether by sinning or by being placed under suspicion of sin—if it is possible and the matter allows—should place an obstacle or scandal before the brethren. For we know how grave a punishment the Lord has established for one who scandalizes even in the smallest matter. 3. Therefore, I, most excellent and religious men, neither rushed into this as an inexperienced or foolish person, nor—if I may boast a little myself—as an arrogant man who despises divine laws and statutes. For I know that, just as in our body there are some members that rule the body and preside over all its movements, while others are ruled and offer obedience to the rulers, so too in the Church has God established, dispensing it by the law of equity and through His divine providence, by which He orders all things, tempering the privileges of merits.

others He appointed to be ruled and governed—for whom this is more beneficial—so that they may be trained by word and deed of the rulers toward what is expedient; others He gave as shepherds and teachers for the perfection of the Church, namely those who, more than others, endowed with strength of mind, stand more intimately by God and bear that office in the Church which the soul bears in the body, or which mind and reason work in the soul, so that both, equally joined and mingled with each other, in which there is deficiency and in which there is abundance, as in the diversity of members, a harmony made through the Spirit, a perfect and whole body, fit for all things, may exist, worthy to have Christ as its head. 4. Therefore, although I know that it is not safe even for any other living creatures to be without rulers and helms, much more so for men, because a greater danger threatens them when they err, from whom, if that which is primary cannot be preserved—that they not transgress—this certainly holds the second place in their salvation, if they are corrected and recalled from transgression. If, therefore, this has appeared true and has seemed good and just, it is certainly evil and useless on the contrary either for all to wish to become rulers, so that no one who ought to be ruled remains, or again for no one to wish to undertake the office of ruling, through which, of course, the whole body of the Church could immediately limp and be shaken, with no one governing. And where then for us, or how, or by whom, will God be worshipped?

how the most holy mysteries will be celebrated according to the pattern of the heavenly image, through which, while still placed on earth, we are joined to the heavenly orders? Without doubt, that which has been said will come to pass, that there will be no king, no prince, no priesthood, no sacrifice. And all those things will also happen to us, for which that former people was condemned on account of immense crimes. 5. But this is not new or foreign to those among whom the studies of divine philosophy flourish, that someone from the order of disciples is taken up into the office of teachers, just as not even a sailor, if the situation demands, is disapproved of when transferred to the inspection of the prow, or from that place, if he has sufficiently learned the discipline of the winds, is called to the very helm of the ship. Or a very brave soldier is entrusted with the care of a squadron and cohort, or a well-performing squadron is transferred to the command of the whole army. Therefore, let no one among those who become the harshest censors in others' affairs and judge others' deeds by their own vices think that I have blushed at this grade of ministry, desiring greater things. I am not so ignorant either of the magnitude of divine things or of the humility of human things that I do not consider it a great thing for the mortal nature of the universe to approach God in any way and in any order, who alone dwells in inaccessible light for every creature.

What, then, is the reason for my disobedience? For at that time I strove to have nothing of my own, nor anything resembling my usual habits, but rather to speak more boldly in opposition and to resist more shamelessly. Therefore, hear the causes of this matter, which you have long desired. The principal cause of my disturbance was that I was taken by surprise. And just as, when some sudden sound crashes, minds are thrown into confusion, struck by unforeseen terror, so I too, terrified, cast off all the modesty that had always been my inseparable companion throughout my entire life. Then, the recollection of my silence and my quietude disturbed me even more violently, when I saw that hindered which from the beginning of my life I had singularly loved and had vowed to God amid great and most grave dangers. I was all the more inflamed by desire for it, the more I seemed already to have touched its very threshold, and from that I was kindled more keenly, the more its goods became known to me. And therefore I did not allow myself to be violently dragged into the midst of the crowds of people and, as it were, cast out from some temple of quiet into the tumultuous uproars of this life.

Nothing, in truth, seemed to me more excellent for the blessed life than to turn oneself, as it were, with the bodily senses closed and having become something outside the flesh and the world, into oneself—that is, to contemplate one’s own senses and mind, and, having become a stranger to mortal cares, to speak only to oneself and to God, so that, made higher than all visible things, one might fill one’s mind with divine perceptions and celestial forms without any earthly admixture, having become truly an immaculate mirror of the image of God and always receiving light from that very light, bearing within oneself some foretaste or beginnings of the future age, and, while still placed on earth, in a certain way enjoying the fellowship of angels, having despised and abandoned earthly frailty, to be carried to the higher and celestial realms by the uplifting of the Holy Spirit. If any of you has ever felt the ardor of such love, he knows what I speak of and recognizes what I say, and understands why I was disturbed, and will easily grant forgiveness. But for the rest, I will not be excessive in my justification, to whom perhaps such discourse, while its work is unknown, can even be a source of mockery, and especially to those in whom the languor of envy obstructs the sense of right judgment; and they affix a vicious name to an excellent work, calling it philosophy, and defame the illustrious pursuits of wisdom with the appellations of vainglory, to which the consent of the base and ignorant multitude readily accedes.

The crowd of the ignorant is readier to disparage good pursuits than to imitate them, so that they sin in every way—either by not avoiding manifest and public evils, or by not believing in hidden and secret goods. 8. To these things was added also that—for I will bring forth everything among you and conceal nothing of my secret—whether it was due to my rusticity or my freedom, you yourselves judge. I blushed at certain men whom I saw had acquired absolutely nothing for the correction of their own life, nothing of improvement in their morals; nay, even made worse, they rushed with unclean feet, as the saying goes, into holy things, and before they were deemed worthy of the first approach and the doors, they immediately pressed on to the tribunal, hastened to the priesthood, and, with others repelled, they themselves brooded over the sacred altars—so that that order no longer seems to be for the purpose of providing a form and example to the people, but rather a certain opportunity for living in abundance and security; nor is it considered an office answerable to the future judgment of God, but a certain secure and never-to-be-examined administration is thought to be. And these rectors are almost more in number than those whom they govern, so that the saying of the Apostle is nowhere to be found: "Not all are prophets, not all are teachers." For here all are teachers, all are prophets, so that, according to the ancient proverb, it may rightly be said that "Saul is among the prophets." And truly, no history of the ancients has handed down to us either so great a number of ministers in the Church or such a base assembly.

Hence a reproach arises for our religion and teaching, because priesthoods or ministries are conferred more by ambition and favor than by judgment of merits. Even if it is beyond us to prevent this vice or blemish, yet at least to blush at it and to turn away from it is part of piety. 9. But what deterred me more than all and above everything we have said before is this—for we must come to the very summit of the word and speak what is true; for it is not right to deceive in such matters—: I thought it was not the same, as I still think now, to rule cattle or herds and to be over men and to guide souls. For in the former, the aim is to make the flock or herd strong in limbs and plump in flesh; the herdsman or shepherd, looking to this, chooses fields rich in grass and green with streams, which he has found more fertile for pasture, and renews these very fields by alternating pasturage and moves the flock from one grove to another. He also seeks out wooded resting places for repose. He drives the flock sometimes with a rod, but especially by soothing with the sweetness of the reed or pipe.

nor any further task remains for the cowherd or the shepherd, except that a certain small care is required against the treachery and wickedness of wolves, and, if anywhere a sheep happens to be sick, either to look it over with an eye or to tend it by touch, to provide shade in the heat, soft and grassy beds for the resting animals, and to allow the resting place to be fanned by blowing breezes, where the cold water of a running stream may wash over it, and also to sing and in a way converse with the flocks, either about something of antiquity or of love. For these things, it is permitted either to slaughter the fatter animal or to turn it into profit, but no care for virtue of mind and industry falls upon shepherds of this sort, by which they would be obliged to serve the pleasure of the flock more than their own. 10. For man, since it is very difficult to know how to be ruled, that is, to obey one who rules him, it is much more difficult to know how to rule others, and to rule according to that discipline of ours, which descends from divine law and leads to God. The greater its hope and glory, the graver the danger, especially for those who have understanding. The ruler, first of all, as it seems to me, ought to be tested like silver or gold and examined from every side, and contemplated in every time and in his actions, lest he have within himself some admixture of foreign or baser material and respond with a harsh sound of bronze or lead by admixture, and some counterfeit thing lie hidden within, which fire might test and dissolve.

This evil will certainly become all the more pernicious, the larger the population over which a ruler presides, just as it is certainly more serious for a plague to spread among many than for one person to be consumed by pestilence. 11. Nor is the stench of a corpse so pernicious if it pollutes a single place, as it is if, with its foul odor diffused here and there, it generates disease of the corrupted air for more people. So if there is in a ruler a vice of character, it is easily passed on and transferred to those who are at hand to obey him; and evil passes from him much more easily than if there were any virtue and industry in him. In this matter, I too often marvel greatly, when I reflect within myself on such things, that evil advances so easily and without any labor or any aids, and that nothing is so easy as for evil to be effected, even if no one teaches, no one compels, while it is rare and exceedingly difficult for good to come about, and it is as if one must ascend a steep and precipitous rock face, even if many urge, many invite, even if all favor and exhort. And this is what seems to me that the blessed Haggai also understood, when he introduced that admirable image of inquiry, when it is said to him: "Ask the priests about the law and say to them: If holy flesh or a holy vessel has touched the garment of someone, does it sanctify him from what it touched?

And when the priests had said that it does not sanctify, he says to them again: If uncleanness touches a clean garment, does it defile it? And they said that it defiles. 12. This, then, is what our present discourse has also reviewed: that the assumption of good by the nature of mortals is exceedingly difficult, as if fire were applied to some damp material. But we are prepared and suited to receive evil in the greatest number, as if someone were to cast a spark of fire into dry stubble, which is moreover fanned by blowing winds. Thus we are consumed more quickly by a small spark of malice than we can either be kindled or even warmed by the fires of virtue. For also, if a little wormwood is thrown into a great deal of honey, it imparts swift bitterness, but if even double the amount of honey is thrown into wormwood, the sweetness cannot prevail over it. Thus a small clod of earth, removed from a riverbank, diverts the weight of the whole river headlong, but to resist and turn aside the river's flow, you can scarcely do so with great masses and immense engines.

13. For this reason, first of all, we must beware lest we be found to be some very bad painters of a beautiful and seemly virtue, or at least, for other painters, that is, the common people, who ought to paint it within themselves, we provide very bad models of its image; or certainly lest the thing happen to us that the common proverb says, that we who preside over the healing of others are found ourselves teeming with sores. 14. Then, moreover, even if someone keeps himself free from the contamination of all sin, I do not think even this is sufficient for one who presides over peoples to be educated and instructed in virtue. For it is not enough that the one to whom the highest charge of teaching is entrusted be not evil—which is certainly blameworthy and disgraceful even in those who are taught—but he must also be endowed with all good actions, according to that commandment which says: turn away from evil and do good. Nor is it sufficient to cast out unworthy thoughts from the soul and to abolish the forms of evil things, but also to insert and inscribe more excellent and more divine ones, so that virtue of soul may seem to us to be acquired much more than human dignity. And let us never think that any end of good deeds or any limit of progressing has been set for us, nor that things rightly done by us are to be counted as gain so much as things we have not yet been able to fulfill are to be counted as loss. And this life is to be considered a kind of ascent, from which it matters nothing that you have completed what you have climbed, unless you have escaped what remains.

nor should we measure ourselves by comparison with others and think it a great thing if we happen to be found superior to some, but rather consider it a loss if we do not conduct ourselves worthily of our place and rank, and if the things that are done by us are weighed not by comparison with the negligent, but by the authority of the precept, whether those others live more carelessly or even somewhat more diligently, because we have received the forms of virtues not from the deeds of our neighbors, but from the authority of the word of God, from which everything comes and in which everything exists and to which everything is referred. 15. Nor should it be thought that the same things are suitable for all, just as there is not one age for all, nor the same features of face for everyone, nor one quality of the whole earth, nor one splendor of the stars. Therefore, it must be thought fitting for an unlearned and simpler person to avoid doing evil and to take care not to do anything that is drawn to punishment or punished by the gravest penalty of the law. But for one who is set over others, it is fitting, having left behind every work of sin, to advance in the best things, so that he may be able by the example of his progress to invite and entice others to virtue, especially through the form of humility handed down to us by the Lord. For it is not right to constrain by force or necessity, but to persuade by reason and by examples of life, because everything that is extorted from the unwilling, along with what seems tyrannical, cannot even endure.

For it is the case that whatever is violently drawn, just as if someone forcibly bends the top of a young tree, when released, returns again to what it was. But what is done from purpose and will is as legitimate as it is certain, bound, of course, by the strongest bonds of one's own will. Hence the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, also commands that one should rule the flock willingly and not from necessity. 16. But there is someone who is neither evil nor has attained the summit of virtue, and I do not see with what confidence he comes to teach who himself has not approached with this faith so that he might learn. For indeed it seems to me that the art of arts and the discipline of disciplines is to rule or to instruct a human being, who is certainly among all living creatures the most varied in character and diverse in will. No less sluggishly, indeed, will someone also contemplate the cures of souls from the care of bodies, and, however difficult he has found bodily medicine to grasp, he will find the medicine of souls even more difficult, since the quality of the substance is far more excellent and the end of things far more precious. For that [medicine] provides healing to bodies and applies care and diligence to temporal matter, which without doubt will be dissolved at some point by the fragility of its nature, even if now it is repaired by the aid of art. For it is certain that every body is dissolved either by illness or by time, nor is it permitted, by the condition of its fragility, to endure beyond the limits of its nature.

The soul, however, which is divine and comes from God, is a sharer in heavenly nobility, to which it also hastens to return, although it is bound and tied to a worse companion, perhaps also for other reasons, which only that God who bound and tied it knows, and whoever it is that has been enlightened and instructed by him concerning mysteries of this kind. But, as far as I can understand, for two reasons, I think: one, so that through the struggles of contests, which it has against earthly things, it may seek the inheritance of heavenly glory and, like gold in fire, be tested by the examination of the hardships of the present life, so that it may hope for the rewards of virtue not only as a gift from God, but so that virtue, being the highest good for it, may be acquired by its own work and labor, so that the good may seem to be naturally implanted in us by the creator, but cultivated by us through our will and purpose, and propagated by the exercise of the movement of free will in both directions; the other, however, so that it might also drag this worse substance of the body along with it and place it up high in heavenly abodes, gradually dissolving its thickness, by which it is slowed down, so that what God is to the soul, the soul may also become to the body, governing the material that serves it and offering to God a faithful fellow servant together with itself.

Physicians will inquire into the differences of places, times, ages, and other similar things, when and with what kind of either medicines or foods there is need, or in what way one must abstain from harmful things, so that the discipline of the art is not overcome by the desires of the sick; sometimes they also use the cutting of iron and more virulent medicines. All these things, although they are accomplished with great labor, yet nothing of such a kind is done in them as is to correct morals, to purge vices, to amend lives and turn a purpose toward better things, and to moderate with careful circumspection everything that is carried on within us or even outside us, so that, separating from our nature everything in us that is bestial and wild, if there is anything of gentleness and mildness, if anything worthy of a human being and dear to God, we may implant it in place of all those things, and we may hold a just judgment between soul and body, never subjecting the better to the worse nature, which is certainly most unjust, but always we may abuse the command of the mind and the servitude of the body. This is the first law of God and best established to be observed throughout his entire creation, whether visible or even that which exceeds the sense of sight.

I also consider this: that all these things which we have mentioned above as observed by physicians—each and every one of them remains according to the order of its own nature, and it can in no way happen that a physician attempts anything either against his art or against nature, since the very quality of the bodily matter yields and submits to medical disciplines, unless perhaps some impatience or restlessness on the part of the sick person intervenes, which itself, at any rate, is not difficult either to observe or to prevent. In our case, however, everything is carried on in the spirit, and the greatest effort is to overcome those who love themselves badly in a carnal way and in no way wish to yield to us as they fight against themselves, so that we have a kind of war against those for whom we are fighting, while each one bears as much zeal in concealing and hiding the diseases and vices of sins as he ought to have had zeal for revealing his illness to a physician.

20. In this, they appear to themselves as brave and steadfast against their own health, and prudent against their own life, while they hide sin like some theft within themselves and within the secret places of their own mind, as if that which is hidden from men could be hidden from that eye which sees all; or while they make excuses for sins, with their own vices and passions, they devise certain justifications and become advocates of their own evils; or certainly, in the manner of a deaf asp, which does not hear the voice of charmers nor yield to the remedies of the wise—by which alone the sickness of the soul is cured—they do not receive the speech of one who admonishes them; or certainly, which is the ultimate evil, when they openly and shamelessly defend their sins and, as if deranged, go headlong publicly and without shame into every outrage, and then they take vengeance upon those who wish to hinder or at least delay them somewhat for their own salvation, as if upon enemies and adversaries, hating those who reprove them at the gates and cursing holy speech, the most wretched of all, punishing themselves as much more as they have raged more fiercely against their adversaries, like those who, seized by madness and fury, tear at their own flesh, which in their derangement they think belongs to others.

21. These are the reasons why I consider this medicine of our discipline far more difficult than that which heals only bodies. And the more difficult it is, the more precious and useful it certainly is. For that other medicine indeed treats a few matters from deeper within, but it carries the greater part of its art and work before the eyes and in the hands. In this medicine of ours, however, all care and all effort is directed toward the inner man of the heart, and the entire struggle is against an enemy who attacks us from within and contends within our senses. It is our whole battle against one who, using us as swords against ourselves, delivers us to death. Against all these things, therefore, we must strive with much—indeed, with entire faith—but even more with the grace of God, and also, as I think, with some effort and labor of our own, which is shown in word and deed, so that we may be able either to heal souls from the sicknesses of vices or to cleanse them from the stains of sins—that which is more precious in us.

The end of each medicine—for this remains to be shown—is, in the one case, that the health of the body either, if it exists, be preserved, or, if it has departed, be recalled. It is not sufficiently certain whether this has always benefited those who have used it, since we frequently see that the strength of bodily vigor has harmed some, while trusting in it, some have engaged in brigandage or plunder. Yet these are intermediate things, like poverty and wealth or lowliness and renown and other similar things, which are called intermediate because they can be drawn either to good or to evil by the intention of those who use them. The end of the other, that is, of this medicine of ours, is to incite the soul to virtue and to snatch it from this world and offer it to God, and either to preserve the image of God which is in it, if it is upright, or to guide it, if it is in danger, or to repair it, if it has collapsed or been oppressed, by inserting Christ into hearts through the Holy Spirit, and finally to make man the son of God and to place him in heavenly blessedness with the heavenly beings.

For this purpose the law was given to us as a pedagogue, for this purpose the prophets were sent as mediators of the law and of Christ, for this purpose the spiritual law is fulfilled and Christ, the end of all things, has come. This is what the emptied divinity accomplishes, this is what the assumption of flesh promotes, and this is what we obtain from both. This is that new mixture of God and man, so that through the one we may possess both. For this reason indeed God was mixed with the body through the mediation of the soul, so that he might join what was separated and recall discordant things into concord and peace, recalling them into himself and through himself all things previously brought forth from the one father of our race: he took up the soul on account of the disobedience of the soul, the flesh on account of the evil obedience, on account of which it was also condemned at the same time, so that, just as condemnation had been in flesh and soul, so salvation might be in flesh and soul. Therefore Christ for Adam, for the one who had been made subject to sin, he who was without sin.

24. And the new is brought in to replace the old, so that by his voluntary passion that one who had suffered unwillingly might be healed, namely, so that for each of us what was above us might be rendered. Therefore, the new sacrament of mercy is fulfilled toward him who fell through disobedience. For this reason, there is a new birth and a virgin mother, and Bethlehem for Eden, and a manger for paradise, small and visible things for hidden and great ones. For this reason, shepherds see heavenly glory because of the lamb and the shepherd; for this reason, guided by a star, magi adore and offer gifts, so that no one might any longer worship either idols or stars; for this reason, Jesus is baptized and testimony is given to him from the heavens, and he fasts and is tempted and conquers the one who had conquered; for this reason, demons are put to flight, sicknesses are healed, and the preaching of great things is entrusted to the least. 25. For this reason, nations and peoples rage and devise empty things; for this reason, wood is set against wood, and hands are patiently stretched out against hands stretched out without restraint: for loosened and relaxed hands, hands fixed with nails are offered; for those hands that cast out Adam, hands that embrace and recall the whole world are offered. For humility, exaltation; for a sweet and harmful taste, the taste of gall is taken; and death is exchanged for death, darkness for darkness, burial for burial, resurrection for resurrection.

All this is a certain care of God toward us and a medicine for our weakness, repairing and reforming the old Adam to the state from which he fell, and restoring him to the tree of life, from which the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, untimely and prematurely taken, had driven us. 26. We, therefore, who seem to preside over the people, are the ministers and helpers of this medicine and cure. I know not whether we have even advanced so far as to be able to cure our own infirmities, let alone to heal the ailments of others and to cleanse the stains of souls by diligent instruction. 27. Then again, physicians of bodies endure labor, vigils, and anxieties, and, as a certain very wise one of them says, they bear the misfortunes of others with their own sorrows, seeking out and discovering some things by their own labor for healing, borrowing some things also from others, and nothing at all escapes them. They neglect not even the least thing, but consider everything great and important that contributes anything to the health of the body, thinking it the highest good if by their industry they seem to contribute something to this life which we lead upon the earth, and sometimes to the life of the worst of men, for whom it had long been a common good to depart from this world. And even if they thus serve the lives of good men, how great is that which is conferred by this, when the very old age of time and of old age immediately dissolves it!

For what is it that each of the good men gains from this life, since it is certain that no prudent person ought to cherish what in any case he will soon abandon? 28. But for us, for whom the peril is for the salvation of souls and for whom the contest is for immortality and the struggle is either for the eternity of glory or of punishment—of which one virtue, the other sloth will prepare—how much labor and zeal ought we to undertake, how much industry or virtue ought we to apply, so that, cured of vices, corrected in morals, and reformed in purpose, we may both transfer our life from present things to future things and subject and subordinate the earth to the spirit! Just as, therefore, not one kind of medicine is applied to all, so neither does the same speech suit everyone, nor does the same emotion befit woman and man, or old and young, nor poor and rich, joyful and sad, the infirm and the vigorous, rulers and subjects, the wise and the ignorant, the timid and the bold, the wrathful and the gentle, those who are advancing and those who are declining.

29. And to probe still deeper, the same things are not suitable for those who are in marriages and for those who are free from the marital yoke. But among these themselves again there is a difference between those who lead a life in the deserts and those who have a common and mixed association with others. And again, the same things will not be fitting for those who are rational in faith and perceptive in the Scriptures and for those who advance by simplicity alone, but also for those who come from an urban way of life and those who come from a rustic and country one; not the same for the simple and the cunning, nor for those placed in business and those acting far from it and at rest, nor for those who have converted after the blows of sins and those who chose the good before experiencing evil. In each of these, a very great difference must be observed, since indeed their very motions and desires carry very many differences among themselves. Finally, consider from the very bodily principle of the elements: although we all subsist from the same elements, yet each body has its own particular temperament.

30. And for this reason, the same remedies are not suitable for all, but one person needs one medicine, food, or drink, and another needs something else, and different things suit different individuals. So too, a discourse composed in diverse and varied ways will heal souls. And those who have themselves suffered will be my witnesses to this: that some are corrected by speech alone, others are converted by examples; some need to be spurred on with goads, others to be restrained with reins, because some are slower and lazier for good work—who are certainly roused by the whips of sermons—while others, with too fervent a spirit, are excessively agitated and exceed the measure of equity, like a high-spirited and fiery colt, impatient with the newness of the yoke, that runs beyond the defined limits of the turning-posts with a more wanton course; for these, a sermon that reins them in and calls them back to the established lines of the commandments will better temper them. 31. Many have benefited from being praised, others from being blamed, yet both only if they are offered at the right time; otherwise, if uttered inopportunely, they have done more harm. A consoling speech has corrected some, a rebuke others; and for some it is fitting to be reproved before all, for others to be admonished in private. For some indeed despise more secret admonitions, but are ashamed of public disgrace; others, however, when publicly confronted, become more shameless, revering the mystery of a private rebuke and rendering their obedience as a kind of gift in return for an honorable and diligent service.

32. For some, it is fitting to have everything observed more diligently and examined down to the smallest detail—especially those who, while thinking they conceal their faults by some art, are puffed up against others and become arrogant. For others, however, it is appropriate to pass over certain things, so that we seem, according to the proverb, to have seen as if not seeing and heard as if not hearing, lest those who perhaps blush to extend and multiply their faults as long as they think them unknown come to utter contempt through rebuke, while the bold and headstrong become even more so when their last means of correction and sole remedy—shame—is interrupted. Sometimes we must also be angry with some without being angry, and despise some without despising, and despair without despairing, since the character of each individual requires it. Others we must cure with gentleness, others with humility, by joining ourselves to them, as it were, and promising one and the same rule of hope. And it has sometimes been better to conquer some, but to be conquered by others; and sometimes it is fitting to praise and embrace the prosperity and power of some, but the poverty and lowliness of others.

33. For just as the order and character of virtue and cowardice are not such that one is always praiseworthy and the other always blameworthy, so too does the order of our discipline demand that what is sound, useful, and fitting should not always be received by a sick soul—for example, being more sharply rebuked or more gently admonished, or always choosing one of the things we have mentioned above—but rather, from some, this may be received, and from others, the opposite, as either time, circumstance, or the very sickness of souls permits. But to distinguish and explain everything in speech, describing in detail every aspect of the cure, I think is impossible even for those who have merited to know the secrets of wisdom itself. 34. However, as far as has been revealed to us through the word of God and as brief experience could discover, I think this general principle should be observed: just as for those whose discipline is to walk on tightropes stretched high above, it is dangerous to lean this way or that, and to deviate even a little, however slight it may seem, is destruction—while all their safety lies in keeping a straight and direct line of their path—so too in our actions, if anyone deviates in any direction for any reason, whether through malice or even inexperience, it is a matter of utmost peril. And if such a one also presides over others, he will become the cause of eternal destruction not only for himself but for the rest as well.

Therefore, one must proceed along the royal road, paying attention neither to those things on the right nor to those on the left, as the proverbial saying previously warned. Let it suffice, then, to have recalled these things about our vices and passions, and what works they demand for their care from the good shepherd—that is, from the one who, according to the saying of Scripture, knowingly knows the souls of his flock and rules the flock according to the Lord’s word and pastoral discipline, which we have received from Christ, the true shepherd of all. 35. But how could I explain the very care of the word of God and the method of teaching—to say last what is first and great—since today, as I see, all are teachers and all philosophize? I wonder enough at this: whether all those whom I see coming forward in church to deliver a sermon to the people know well and rightly how to give their fellow servants the measure of wheat at the proper time, and to arrange their discourses with judgment, and to explain the truth of our doctrines consistently and rationally—whatever it is necessary to philosophize about the worlds or the world, about matter, about the soul, about the mind, about intellectual natures, whether good or contrary, and, what is greatest and what binds, contains, and composes all things, about providence and about individual things that seem to happen either contrary to reason—human reason, that is—or according to reason.

But also concerning our first state and final reformation, concerning prefigurations and truth, concerning both Testaments, concerning the first and second coming of Christ, concerning his incarnation, passion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, concerning the end of all things, concerning judgment, concerning the retribution of either sorrows or goods, and above all—and this is foremost—concerning the blessed Trinity, which holds the beginning of all things, how one ought to think.

In this lies the greatest danger for those who preside over the illumination of others: that, by contracting speech into a single subsistence and person, as if avoiding a multitude of gods, one might think that only the names are appellations and that the same one is named Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and thus decline into the impiety of Sabellius through such confusion and mixture, so that, while thinking all things are named as one, one designates nothing as each individual thing, since indeed what is ceases to be what it is, when that which is said to be of each is poured into the other—or certainly, which is absurd, a composite god is introduced to us from diverse elements, according to those vulgar fables in which a single animal is sketched and painted from diverse forms—nor, on the other hand, should we cut apart the nature of God according to the madness of Arius and, confining the abundance of divinity within Jewish poverty, ascribe the supreme deity solely to the unbegotten Father, as if fearing that corruption of divinity would appear to us if God the Father is the father of a true God and a Son equal to himself by nature, nor should they produce three beginnings of deity mutually contrary and diverse, so that through many principles they might seem to return again to the errors of the pagans, from which they had departed.

38. Nor is it permissible for the divinity to be divided into three substances alien to one another and different, as Arius would have it. For one must not think that he is paying such deference to God the Father as to take away from him the very fact that he is father—for whose father will he be, if the nature of the Son is separated from him and joined to the rest of the creatures? For this is not what it means to be Son, either to be alienated from the Father or to be mixed and reabsorbed into the Father—nor, on the other hand, should one think he is acting so much on behalf of Christ that not even he himself is preserved as being what the Son is; for whose son will he be, if his origin is not referred back to the Father, so that the one is he who begot and the other is he who is begotten from him? For the origin is the Father, not of something small and unworthy, but the origin of divinity and goodness, which is understood and perceived in the Son and the Holy Spirit—in the former as Son and Word, in the latter as Spirit proceeding from him. And thus it is necessary both that we confess one God according to the truth of substance and that we perceive the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each subsisting in his own substance.

39. I have perhaps drawn this out longer than the occasion allowed, wishing to demonstrate the life, or the speech, or the understanding of him who presides over the people, so that he may become a perfect dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, through whom alone God is both understood and interpreted and heard. For it is for the pure to touch the pure, and for the holy to know holy things. And it must be known first of all that it is a very difficult business, when discoursing on such matters before a mixed and diverse multitude, where age and education vary, to find and produce a word of preaching suitable for all, and to apply it like a plectrum to each individual, so that the sound offends no one's hearing. For the danger of those who speak in the church hangs from a threefold source: from the sense, from the word, from the hearing, so that it very easily happens that one slips in at least one of these, if not in all. For either the understanding is insufficiently illuminated, or the speech adequate for explanation is lacking, or the hearing, being too dull, does not receive what has been well uttered; and from any one of these cases, danger to the truth arises in all. And indeed, in other studies and teachings, speech is either easily produced or received, but in these schools of ours, the very expectation of the hearers creates danger for the speaker.

40. For as those who are about to hear about God and to receive a discourse concerning the highest hope and salvation of all will be the more attentive and scrupulous in their listening the more fervent they are in faith, so that if anywhere the speaker’s words sound otherwise, they do not consider it a slip of the tongue but condemn it as a betrayal of faith and piety. And they judge everything not by the reasoning of the teacher but by their own feelings, not by what they hear in church but by the doctrines they bring with them from home, preserving dogmas not which they have rationally learned but which they have held from unexamined custom. And I say this is not yet the vice of very wicked men, who, although they do not hold to the rule of truth, nevertheless seem to suffer these things religiously and to have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, and therefore perhaps they will seem not to deserve too severe condemnation, as not being much to be flogged, since they are ignorant of the Lord’s will and therefore do not perform it, or who perhaps may even be corrected and reformed at some time, because a religious mind, as soon as it is offended, is so readily and easily cured. If a discourse, aptly and suitably applied, should strike their heart, immediately, like a fire-stone struck by a similar one, it kindles from the spark of light naturally inherent in it the lamps of truth.

41. But what shall we say of those who, seeking the glory of boasting and delighting in being preeminent among the people, speak iniquity from on high, who like a certain Jannes and Mambres resist not so much Moses as the truth, and stir up the weapons of words against sound doctrine? There is also a third class, of those who speak from inexperience, which inexperience insolence naturally accompanies; and they meet every word, unless perhaps it is one they themselves have uttered, with hostility and insolence. By them, according to the Lord's saying, the pearls of truth are trampled underfoot like swine. 42. There are also others who bring no opinion from their own understanding, nor hold any form, good or bad, concerning faith in God, but deliver themselves to all teachers and receive every discourse, as if they will choose what is better and more correct from all, not knowing that they have chosen poor judges of the truth, namely themselves, and think they can judge about things they confess they do not know. Then, from plausible things, frequently turned and changed now in this direction, now in that, and now acquiescing in every word, soon after resisting again, they change both teachers and studies, and like dust stirred by the wind, they are easily carried away.

At last, however, they bring forth the fruit of their folly; for, as if weary from hearing diverse things and overcome by tedium, they reject everything at once, and, as though empty and void from all that they had believed, they immediately begin to despise and mock us, as if there were nothing reasonable in our faith, and they suffer what usually happens to those who have sore eyes and accuse the light of the sun, or who have sore ears and complain that human voices are less resonant. 43. Therefore it is much more beneficial for the soul to receive the elements of truth simply and purely, and to inscribe them as on wax not yet marked, than to superimpose them upon what was previously badly written, that is, to impose the word of faith and truth upon bad teaching and perverse doctrines, and to confuse the latter with the former. For it is better to walk a path worn smooth and leveled by the constant passage of travelers than one that is untrodden, rough, and not yet marked by any footprints; it is also better to sow a field tamed by the frequent exercise of the plow than one that is ignorant of the furrow and knows nothing of the plowshare; but I will better cultivate that soul which has not yet been violated by the plow of an evil cultivator nor occupied by the preemption of the worst seed.

Otherwise our labor will be doubled, since it is necessary first to thrust out the forms of malice conceived in the heart, and then to refashion the image of goodness with the varying waxes of the virtues, so that as many and diverse as were the species of depravity in the soul, so many also are those of restoration. Knowledge and discipline of all these things ought to be vigorous in the one to whom the care of instructing souls is entrusted. Many of these we now pass over for the sake of brevity. 44. For just as, for example, if it were possible that from many animals and little beasts diverse in genus and species, large and small, fiercer and tamer, rougher and gentler, some one animal or single beast were composed, how great a work and labor would be incumbent upon anyone to whom it was entrusted to tame it, how much industry would be required of him, so that he might attend to each of the beasts or animals, as the habit of each demands or as its nature requires! For indeed neither is the same voice suitable for all, nor are they driven by the same, so to speak, whistles. But not even food is one and the same for all, nor is there one method of stroking and cherishing for beasts, so that sometimes by the very same things by which some are tamed, others are roused to fury. Therefore, by what means will that trainer adapt himself to each and every one of this beast? How will he accommodate himself to the nature and disposition of each?

Will it not be necessary for him, while he is in himself simple and constant, to become as variable and as changeable into diverse forms as the very diversity of beasts demands, so that each animal may be treated according to the opportunity of its nature and character, in order that the body of the whole beast, composed of such great diversity, may persist rightly among themselves, with the little beasts moderated in peace and tranquility? Thus from many and diverse customs and languages and institutions, as if one animal composed and unlike itself, this common body of the church, which he has undertaken to institute and govern, while he himself ought always to be immovable and the same, nevertheless he must conform himself to the customs and institutions of individuals and adapt his speech as opportune for each. 45. For since some need milk, namely those to whom the first rudiments of religion are still being taught, and who, being little ones in faith, cannot yet bear, so to speak, the vigor of solid food; which if anyone should force upon them beyond their strength, perhaps oppressed and weighed down, while the mind is not sufficient to receive what is ingested—just as in little children the bodily matter cannot digest foods greater than their strength—they will also feel the loss and detriment of what they had before.

Others, however, are those who need wisdom, which is brought forth and preached among the perfect, and they are able to use loftier and stronger foods because they have trained senses for discerning good and evil, truth and falsehood. These, certainly, should neither be given milk to drink nor fed on vegetables, that is, on weak and fragile food; otherwise, they will by no means be strengthened in the strength of Christ nor grow with praiseworthy increase, by which every perfect person ought to grow in him into a perfect man, into the measure of the full age of Christ. 46. And who is suitable for these things? For we ought not to be like the many who adulterate the word of God and mix water with wine, that is, mix a vile and earth-crawling speech with the word that gladdens the human heart, a speech that either provokes jest or narrates something temporal, so that we seem to be haggling for some carnal profit from this, when we speak to each one in such a way that they delight to hear, and we are like certain ventriloquists, that is, speaking from the belly and for the belly and providing for the belly in all our words, which is truly to speak from the earth, so that we seem to please the powerful and the rich, whom we rather harm, indeed whom we destroy and whose innocent blood we shed, that is, we consign the life of simple souls to destruction, which will certainly be demanded from our hands.

For all these reasons, therefore, I considered it far better to yield the reins of governance to others more skilled than to give a headlong chariot through inexperience, and better to lend my ear to the hearing of obedience than to set an inexperienced tongue in motion. Debating these things with myself and using as my counselor—not a bad one, I think, or at least a diligent one—I preferred, in my ignorance, to learn rather than to teach those words and deeds that pertain to piety. For it is desirable and very dear to me to go on learning even into extreme old age, since no age can suffice for complete learning; but to aspire to teach others, when one is not sufficiently instructed, seems to me a matter of the old proverb, "learning the potter's craft on the jar"—that is, learning the doctrine of piety at the peril of souls. And those who do so seem to me either quite foolish or reckless: foolish, if they are so brutish as not to perceive that they are inexperienced; reckless, if they do understand but nevertheless dare to undertake the business.

The elders of the Hebrews relate that there was among them from ancient times a certain praiseworthy observance, that not every scripture was entrusted to every age either to be read or to be learned, because it was not expedient for all to learn everything quickly, since not all can grasp everything, and for that reason they would be harmed rather than helped if, while not yet capable, they came to know those things which are more profound. But all other things, indeed, whose historical narrative is not to be disapproved, they learn from boyhood immediately; those scriptures, however, which under the cheap covering of the letter conceal precious sacraments within, are entrusted to no one to learn or even to know before the twenty-fifth year, so that this may be, as it were, a kind of reward set before the exercise of virtue for those in whom, up to that age, both a praiseworthy life and an adornment of character and a capacity for understanding will have appeared; who, of course, are already able to ascend well and confidently from the lower things of the letter to the higher things of the spirit and the heights.

What then? Among us will there be no difference between teaching and being taught, no distinction? Will there be no division between tribe and tribe? Will those beyond the Jordan and those within the Jordan not receive their inheritance by lot? Will no final boundary be given to our peoples?

No rule of living will be fixed, but everything will be held in confusion, and each one will do what seems right in his own eyes, so that many of us, not to say all, before we have scarcely laid aside the first hairs of infancy, while we still babble childishly, having barely entered the Lord's halls, before we have even learned the names of the sacred volumes, before we learn either the authors or the style of the new or old scripture—for I do not say, before we wash away the filth and lay down the vices of the soul—if by chance we have learned two or three sermons from the ancient commentators, and this perhaps more by hearing than by reading, or if we have learned a few psalms of David here and there, and then wear a darker and well-arranged garment, or if we even display philosophy up to the girdle of the belt, coloring the appearance of piety and its face with such contrivances, we immediately wish to be admired and praised, we think to preside over peoples, we seem to ourselves to be some Samuel consecrated from the cradle, and we also count ourselves wise and teachers and initiates of divine mysteries, and we enroll ourselves among the scribes and doctors of the law, and we walk about as if celestial, seeking to be called rabbi by men, saying: "The letter is never to be received at all, but everything is to be understood spiritually"—otherwise they would seem to be certain ravings and dreams—and moreover we are indignant unless we are vehemently and favorably praised?

And these are the more kindly and simple-minded among our people; but those spiritual, fastidious ones, judging and condemning each individual and holding them as utterly worthless, if it so pleases them, they depart and even refuse our communion as impious. 50. But if we should wish to approach one of them with gentler admonitions and to meet them with a reasonable assertion, saying: 'I ask you, O best of men, answer me: do you consider playing the flute or striking the cithara to be some art or discipline?' Without doubt he will admit it to be a discipline. 'What then do you think of the wise man and of wisdom itself, that is, of the discipline and knowledge of divine and human things?' They will also concede this. 'And what? Do we consider those arts to be better than wisdom, or does wisdom far surpass all these?' I know that they will also concede this; and up to this point they will keep faith in the truth of their answers. What then?

The lyre and the flute, indeed, have their discipline with its own teachings and institutions, and time is given for learning this, and labor and effort are applied, and fees are paid to the teachers; sometimes, even, if a more skilled master is heard of somewhere, a long journey is undertaken for this purpose, and whatever pertains to refined education, even if it is costly, is tolerated and endured. But wisdom, which is the chief and discoverer of all things and holds and contains everything within itself, by whose name even God rejoices to be called more than by other appellations which human speech is permitted to use—shall we consider it so light and of so little account that we think someone has only to wish it and immediately be wise? Is this not the ultimate and hopeless ignorance? Therefore, if we set forth such things or similar or even stronger arguments to them, we sow upon rocks and tell tales to deaf ears, so that they are not even wise in this, that at least, when warned, they might recognize their own ignorance. Hence it seems to me that the saying of Solomon is fittingly and appropriately applied to them, where he says: "There is a malice which I have seen under the sun: a man who seems to himself to be wise." But this is without doubt far worse, if one who does not know himself to be ignorant is also set up as a teacher of others.

A sickness that requires great tears and mourning more than words. Hence I have often pitied such people within myself, knowing that wishing to seem wise is the same as not being wise at all. But a great hindrance to virtue for men is the presumption of false and empty glory. Yet it may be the part of Peter or perhaps Paul to escape the stain of this disease entirely—those who, having merited to receive from Christ the grace of word, wisdom, and governance, nevertheless became all things to all people, so as to win all. For us, however, it is enough if we even allow ourselves to be rightly guided and ruled by those to whom the grace of ruling and governing has been granted.

But since we have made mention of Paul and others like him, setting aside, if it seems right, all the rest—whether those who governed peoples through legislation, or through prophecy, or through military command, or through some such administration, such as Moses or Aaron, or Joshua, or Elijah, or Elisha, and all the judges, also Samuel and David and the multitude of the other prophets, John the Baptist as well, and also the twelve disciples of the Lord, and those who either with them or after them governed peoples in their own times with much labor and sweat—setting aside all these for now, we will bring forward Paul alone to support our statement, and in him and through him we will consider what and how great is the care and diligence for souls, or whether it requires little work and prudence, or demands little counsel and toil. Let us therefore see what Paul says about Paul, and from him learn what this business is that we are dealing with.

I pass over recounting his labors and vigils, the miseries endured in thirst and hunger, in cold and nakedness; I pass over those lying in wait from without, those resisting from within; I pass over the persecutions, the Jewish councils, the prisons, the chains, the accusers, the trials, the daily and momentary deaths; how he was let down in a basket over the wall, how he was stoned, how he was beaten with rods; I pass over his circuits of the world, the perils at sea, the perils on land, the depth of day and night, the shipwrecks, the perils of rivers, the perils of robbers, the perils from his own kind, the perils among false brothers, the livelihood sought by the labor of his hands, the gospel without expense; that he who stood between God and men became a spectacle to both men and angels, sustaining struggles and contests for the sake of men, while for God he was comparing and acquiring a substantial people. Beyond all these things, then, who could worthily set forth his daily providence and concern for each and every one of all the churches? Merciful toward all, stretched out in brotherly affection toward all: if someone suffered a stumbling block, Paul was weakened; if another was scandalized, Paul was burned.

But why should I recount his zeal and labor in teaching? Or the variety of his concerns? Should I speak of his gentleness and again his severity, or the tempering of each, so that he would neither ulcerate with excessive harshness nor dissolve with excessive kindness? He gives laws to slaves and masters, to princes and subjects, to men and women, to parents and children, to the married and the unmarried, to the continent and the luxurious, to the wise and the foolish, to the circumcised and the uncircumcised, to the Church and the world, to the spirit and the flesh. For some he rejoices and gives thanks, others he chastises and rebukes; some he calls joy and a crown, others he brands with folly; with some who run well he runs, but others who run badly he reins in and recalls.

Now he separates from the church, now he receives them back and confirms charity; now he mourns for some, now he rejoices over others; now he gives milk to drink, now he reveals mysteries; now he humbles himself and equals the lowly, now he raises the humble with himself and exalts them; now he sets forth the spirit of gentleness, now he threatens the proud and arrogant with the rod of apostolic power; now he rises up against those who are puffed up, now he becomes for his disciples as a nurse who cherishes her little ones; now he is the least of all the apostles, now he promises proof of himself through the Christ who speaks in him; now he desires to return and be with Christ, now he proves it necessary to remain in the flesh for the sake of those who need him; for he does not seek what is his own, but seeks what belongs to his children, those whom he has begotten in Christ through the Gospel. This, indeed, must be observed especially by those who preside over spiritual peoples, that in all things they neglect and disregard their own interests for the benefit of others.

55. Paul therefore boasts, but in his own infirmities and tribulations, and is adorned with the mortification of Christ as with some precious necklace; he is exalted above all that is carnal, yet he exults in spiritual things and boasts; and though he is not unskilled in knowledge, he says he sees through a mirror and in a riddle. He trusts in the spirit, and yet he afflicts the body as if destroying a secret adversary. What does he teach us and instruct us by these things, if not to presume nothing from those things that are below, nor to be puffed up by knowledge, nor to raise the flesh against the spirit? He therefore fights for all, prays for all, is zealous for all with the zeal of God, is kindled and inflamed for all—for those who are outside the law, for those who are within the law, the teacher of the Gentiles, the advocate of the Jews. For them he even dares something beyond what is lawful, namely for his brothers according to the flesh, so that I too may dare to say something similar. He strives beyond the command of God; for he loves his neighbors not as himself but more than himself. Finally, he even sets himself aside and prays that they be brought in to Christ in his place. O singular magnificence of mind! O celestial heat of spirit! He imitates Christ even in this, who became a curse for us, who took up our infirmities and bore our languors and chose, so to speak, to be outside piety for the sake of piety, while he suffers being an anathema from Christ, only so that these may be saved.

56. And why should I go through each detail? He lives not for himself but for Christ and for the preaching of the word; he crucifies the world to himself and himself to the world; he considers everything small and insignificant in his desire for Christ. Even if he fills the area from Jerusalem around to Illyricum with the gospel, even if he is snatched up to the third heaven, even if he is led into paradise and there hears words which it is not permitted for men to speak, in all these things he does not boast, except only in his own infirmities. But this is Paul, and any who happen to be like him in spirit. As for us, I fear that, according to what is written, we are like certain foolish princes of Tanis, or tax collectors who glean the people, or those who bless the people for deception and disturb the paths of their feet, or even like those of whom it is said that mockers will rule over them, and youths are set in charge, and children in understanding, who perhaps do not even have bread or clothing for this very purpose of being princes over some, or prophets teaching iniquities, and who are blessed in vain. Certainly, we are far from being priests speaking in the heart of Jerusalem. All these things Isaiah charges and reproaches, whose lips are purified by a fiery coal through the Seraphim.

57. But what then? Is such a great and laborious work as this for a sensitive heart, while the danger is slight or none, and the fall contemptible? Indeed, it inspires great fear in me. On the one hand, the blessed Hosea pronounces judgment upon us priests and princes: "For," he says, "we have become a snare on the watchtower, and like a net stretched over Itabyrium, stretched by those who catch human souls." And he threatens that evil prophets are to be cut off and their judges consumed by fire. He also says that there should be an end to anointing kings and ordaining princes, because they have set up kings for themselves and not through God. 58. On the other hand, the blessed Micah deters me, not bearing that Sion be built in blood and Jerusalem in the iniquity of its princes, who judged with bribes, and whose priests responded for hire and prophets divined for money. Because of these or similar iniquities, he says that Sion will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will be left like a hut in an orchard, and the mountain where the house of God is will be like a grove of a forest. He also laments that he rarely finds anyone walking rightly, as if a single ear of grain were found somewhere after the reapers or a single grape after the vintagers; yet he also sometimes rebukes princes who seek favors and judges who speak flattering words, and almost like the blessed David he exclaims: "Save me, Lord, for the saint has failed.

59. Joel, however, the blessed one, also imposes lamentation and commands mourning for those who serve the altar, when the devastation of famine was imminent — to such an extent are delights and abundance forbidden during the scarcity of others — finally, they are ordered to sanctify a fast and to preach a remedy, and to bring in the old and the little ones, ages worthy of all pity. But they themselves are also ordered to go up to the temple and to prostrate themselves in ash and sackcloth — since indeed the land has been made wretched and the libation and the sacrifice have been taken away from the house of the Lord — so that through excessive humility they might merit mercy. 60. But what shall I say about Habakkuk? He, using more fervent words, directed his very speech to God himself and, as if with the confidence of the Lord’s kindness, inveighs, so to speak, against the Lord himself for the iniquity of the judges, saying: How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not hear? Shall I cry out to you, suffering violence, and you will not save? Why did you show me labors and sorrows, that I might behold this unhappiness and impiety? In my sight a judgment has taken place, and the judge accepts a bribe. Therefore the law is overturned and the judgment is not brought to completion. Then, after all this, a threat of this kind follows: See, you despisers, and look and marvel at the wonders and be destroyed, because I am doing a work. And what need is there to bring forth everything that the threat contains? Let us pass over the somewhat sadder things.

Therefore, after he had either lamented the impious or recalled them somewhat from their evils, he also tries to recall the princes and evil teachers, forbidding them to water the flock with troubled water—that is, that they ought to use clear speech and transparent, sincere doctrine, and by no means to serve the drunkenness of the law, that is, the errors of false understanding, to their neighbors, nor to prepare their caves for habitation by serpents and beasts—which means to cast evil thoughts into the souls of hearers and to sink poisoned counsels into them. These indeed discuss such things with us and about such matters. 61. But how shall we bear Malachi, now bitterly rebuking the priests, now even reproaching them for despising the name of the Lord? He also adds to those who ask him: "In what have we despised the name of the Lord?" And he says: "In that you have brought to the altar polluted bread and food from plunder." And that they offered such votive victims to the king of all, God, as they would not have accepted if offered to their own princes—namely, lame, diseased, corrupt, and polluted animals. Then he also warns the Levites of the testament of God—which is the testament of life and peace—: "That you fear the Lord with fear and revere the face of his name: the law," he says, "was truth in his mouth, and there was no iniquity on his lips.

in peace he was directed and entered with me and turned many from iniquity, because the lips of the priest shall preserve knowledge and they shall seek the law from his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord Almighty. But I would not wish to bring forth along with these also the words of the accursed, yet I fear to subtract anything from the truth. However, as much as suffices and is expedient, I shall bring forth: "No longer," he says, "shall I look upon your sacrifices nor receive them from your hands." And such is the extent to which the injury of priests exasperates the Lord, that he even repels and rejects the sacrifices themselves. 62. But when I have recalled Zechariah, I shudder at the sickle of him who descends from heaven, who likewise testifies many things against the priests. And he introduces Jesus himself, the high priest, in sordid garments, which when removed he clothes him in white and priestly vestments. And whatever the angel speaks to him, although these things seem greater than pertains to men and to surpass the state of human priesthood and therefore are to be covered in silence, yet in some way even the devil is said to stand at the right hand of Jesus himself and to oppose him. This matter certainly instills in me, a fragile man, much greater fear and announces caution.

63. How greatly he accuses and blames the other shepherds, how he rebukes and chastises them! Who is so hard of heart and of adamantine hardness that he would not tremble upon hearing? “The voice,” he says, “of the lamenting shepherds, because their glory has been brought low: the voice of roaring lions, because they have suffered this and that.” And as if in their presence and before their eyes, he sets forth the lamentation and mourns those who suffer unworthily. Then, a little more invidiously, he repeats and more bitterly pursues, saying: “You pasture the sheep of slaughter, which those who compare slaughter and do not repent. And those who sell them say: ‘Blessed be the Lord, because we have grown rich.’ And their shepherds suffered nothing nor grieved for them. Therefore I will no longer spare those who inhabit the earth,” says the Lord. And again he says: “Arise, sword, against the shepherds and strike the shepherds and rescue the sheep, and I will bring my hand upon the shepherds,” and: “My wrath has been kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit the lambs.” He also adds many things against the people and against the leaders of the people with great threats. But I fear I may seem too tedious in recounting everything in order, and so I omit to unfold more.

64. I pass over also those two elders mentioned in Daniel, of whom the Lord had foretold: because iniquity went forth from Babylon from the elders, who seemed to govern the people. I certainly cannot entirely pass over Ezekiel, who sees such splendid and magnificent things, who utters such hidden mysteries, how he commands the watchmen not to conceal wickedness in the city and the sword coming upon it, because it is neither expedient for them to be silent nor did it profit those who commit wrong not to hear. And for them, the penalty of their silence is imposed, and for those, destruction does not delay. 65. But in another place, how he introduces a kind of lament over the shepherds, saying: woe upon woe will be, and messenger upon messenger, and a vision will be demanded from the prophet, and the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. And again: son of man, say to him: you are earth, upon which it has not rained, upon which rain has not descended on the day of wrath; in your midst, your princes are like roaring lions, tearing apart prey and devouring souls through their power. And a little later again: the priests, he says, were despising my law and polluting my holy things; they did not distinguish between the unclean and the holy, but all things were one to them, and they veiled their eyes from my sabbaths.

He also threatens to finish the wall and those who plaster or anoint it, who are those who sin and those who cover and conceal their sins; this is said, of course, about evil princes and priests, who, he says, turn aside the house of Israel according to their own heart, which is estranged in its own lusts. 66. I pass over, however, mentioning whatever he says about those who pasture themselves, who eat curds and are clothed in wool, who slaughter what is fatter and feed themselves and do not feed the sheep, who do not strengthen the weak, who do not bind up the broken, who do not recall what goes astray and do not seek what is lost and do not preserve what is stronger, but afflict and wear out and scatter, so that the sheep are scattered over all the fields and over all the mountains because there are no shepherds, and the sheep become prey for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, while there is no one to seek them or to turn them back. Whence the prophetic word also speaks thus: "As I live," says the Lord, "because these things are so and my sheep have been made into prey. Behold, I am coming to the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hands." And he says he will gather and restore those sheep, but those shepherds will suffer what is prepared for evil shepherds.

But lest I prolong my discourse by enumerating each saying of the prophets, I will mention only one more prophet—namely, the one who was known before he was formed in the womb and sanctified before he came forth from the womb—this is Jeremiah. I will pass over the others. He seeks water for his head and a fountain of tears for his eyes, so that he may worthily lament Israel or the wickedness of those who rule over it. For the Lord says to him concerning the priests: The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?" and those who hold my law did not know me, and the shepherds acted impiously toward me. Then he says: The shepherds were imprudent and did not seek the Lord. And therefore the whole flock did not understand and was scattered. And again: Many shepherds corrupted my vineyard and polluted my portion, which was desirable; they made it deserted and inaccessible. And again he is stirred against them and says: O shepherds, who lose and scatter the sheep of my flock! Therefore the Lord says this against the shepherds: You have scattered my people and driven out my sheep and did not seek them. Behold, I will inflict vengeance upon you according to your most evil devices. He also commands the shepherds to howl and the rams of the sheep to mourn, because their days for slaughter have been fulfilled.

69. But why do I delay so long by adducing so many things from the ancients, as if the rules of Paul were not sufficient, which he established concerning bishops and presbyters? He commands them to be watchful and sober, not drunken, not violent, teachable, blameless in all things. But I dare not even bring forward in public that chapter in which the Lord, sending his disciples to preach, indicated how they ought to act in each and every matter: what they themselves should be like, what garments and what footwear they should use, how unencumbered, how nearly naked of all things, and, so to speak, walking as celestial beings upon the earth, so that they might teach virtue no less by the example of their life than by their words, and the truth of their deeds might confirm the credibility of their sayings. 70. But that also moves me no less, when the Pharisees and scribes are rebuked, whom we certainly ought to surpass far in virtue and justice. And I now fear that perhaps we surpass them in wickedness, so that even this saying may apply to us: 'Serpents, a generation of vipers, and blind guides, straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel, and whitewashed tombs, inwardly unclean and outwardly religious, clean dishes on the outside,' and whatever else has been either said or reproached against them.

71. As I turn these thoughts over with myself day and night, I am, so to speak, consumed and wasted away in my very marrow, and I melt away in flesh and my whole body with continuous sighs. This anguish does not permit me to walk with chest thrown back and head held high and eyes raised and lofty, but it humbles my soul and contracts my mind, and also imposes bonds and bridles on my tongue, and does not allow me to think how I ought to preside over others, nor how I might correct or amend others, but rather how I myself, if it be possible, may escape the coming wrath of the future judgment, and somehow snatch myself away from the son of perdition and make myself a stranger to him. For one must first be cleansed and then cleanse others, first become wise and then make others wise, first become light and then illuminate others, first approach God and then lead others to God, first be sanctified and then sanctify others, first have straight hands and then reach out a hand to those in need, first be of right counsel and then give right counsel to others.

72. "And when," they say, "will these things be?" These are the ones who prefer everything swift to everything cautious, who build as quickly as they destroy. "And when," they say, "will the lamp be placed upon the candelabrum? When will the talent be given to the money-changers?" "God's grace," they say, "does not require long times and a long circuit." Those who are more ardent toward friendships than toward religion say these things, to whom everything that is deferred seems slow, as if it were not better, even in extreme old age, to find something of prudence than to force an unlearned youth, because a legitimate reign of short duration is much better than a long-lasting tyranny, and because a small portion with justice is much better than many possessions with injustice. Or is not a small amount of gold considered more precious than lead of great weight? 73. And every part that is forced at the beginning will not be well directed at the end. For even that which is sown upon rocky ground springs up quickly indeed, but because it has no depth of soil, it withers at the first heat of the sun. And a house whose foundations are not laid down to the solidity of rock cannot withstand the onslaught of rains and the force of rivers. Moreover, "Woe to you, city, whose king is young," says Solomon. And again: "Do not be swift in words." But if he commands that one should not be swift in words, how much more does it not befit one to leap swiftly into such a great and important work!

as if indeed a teacher of truth, formed suddenly from clay as if under the sun, ought to be brought forth—a teacher who must, of course, stand with angels before God, glorify with archangels, offer sacrifices to Christ on heavenly altars, and perform the priesthood with him and in his presence, so that what has fallen apart may be restored, the divine image in man may be repaired, its inhabitants may be given back to the higher world, and—to say it all at once—so that they may pass from men into the number of gods. 74. We know whose ministers we are, and where and in what priesthood we serve, where we are and to whom we send those we prepare. We know the height of God and human weakness, and the strength given to weakness. Heaven is high, but earth is deep. And who among those cast out for sin will ascend there? Who, surrounded by darkness and obscurity and wrapped in the thickness of flesh, will with a pure mind clearly perceive the whole mind? Who is there who mingles with the standing and invisible beings, while still among things that are seen and where nothing stands? For scarcely someone placed among those who have been greatly purified will be able to see some image and likeness of the good, like those who gaze at the sun in water. Who, then, can worthily behold him who measured water with his hand, the sky with his palm, and the whole earth with his fist, who set mountains with a balance and hills with a scale? What will be the place of his rest, and to what will he be compared?

Who can grasp him who fashioned man by word and wisdom, and brought together into one things at odds with each other, and composed them? He mixed earth with spirit and joined together a visible and invisible animal, temporal and immortal, earthly and heavenly, touching God and not comprehending him, approaching and yet far off? “I said,” he declares, “I will become wise, O Solomon, and wisdom itself has been removed far from me, far more than before.” And he who adds knowledge will add sorrow, because the things discovered through knowledge do not gladden as much as those things that escape and cannot be grasped sadden, as usually happens to those from whom the cup is snatched away while they are still thirsty. These are the things that persuaded me that it is better to hear the voice of teachers than to become a teacher beyond one’s strength: if the height of the heavens and the purity of the higher realms can scarcely contain the clarity of God—whose abyss is a covering, whose darkness a hiding place, while he himself is entirely light and dwells in inaccessible light, who is in all things and outside all things, who is every good and is above every good, who illuminates the mind and eludes the mind, withdrawing as far as you approach in perception, so that, while he himself flees further and withdraws, he provokes and invites his lover into the inner depths and is desired all the more, since he slips away when already almost grasped.

Since, then, he whom we seek and desire, whom we follow and toward whom we hasten, is so great and of such a kind, what sort must be the one through whom desiring souls ought to have access to him who is sought and desired? For my part, there is a great fear, lest I be cast out even from the bridal chamber of the bridegroom, bound hand and foot, like one who has not prepared wedding garments for himself, but has crept rashly among those reclining. And indeed—to reveal something of what lies hidden within me—I was invited by God from childhood and was cast toward him from the womb and from my mother’s belly, offered as a gift of a maternal promise, and after this I was confirmed through perils, and my desire for him grew strong, and all things converged toward that. Hence I also offered myself into possession to him to whom I had been enslaved from the cradle and by whom I had been freed from perils; I offered him all that was mine. What do I mean by “all”? That which alone I seemed to have: letters and liberal institutions, from which I had this sole gain, that I seemed to have something to despise and to prefer Christ to them. I delighted more in the words of God, and his utterances became to me like a honeycomb, and I called prudence and gave my voice to wisdom. But I did not neglect other things either, that is, to restrain anger, to curb the tongue, to guide the eye more chastely, to govern the belly more temperately, to trample upon human glory.

But I speak as one foolish, since I do not wish it hidden from you that, in these matters, we have exerted effort as best we could, yet we are not sufficiently inferior to others. 78. But to philosophize according to God, to know how to hold the reins of souls, to preside over others and to rule them, when I myself have not yet learned to obey those who rule rightly—this I have considered a task beyond me, especially at this time, in which we see men turning this way and that and throwing everything into confusion, so that nothing seems better than to flee from the midst and hide. For the enemy attacks and disturbs everything, and as if in a blind darkness wages war, so that the members fight all the more against one another, that the remnants of charity, if any remain, may be driven out, while new names are acquired for new priests, and, as it is written, reproach is poured out upon the princes. 79. All fear has been driven from minds, and shamelessness prevails everywhere. Whoever wishes claims for himself the height of knowledge and deems the depths of the spirit to be within him. But we all wish to appear learned and catholic if we reproach others and judge them impious. Sometimes we even choose as judges concerning God those who are ignorant of God, and we cast holy things to dogs and throw pearls before swine, publishing divine mysteries to polluted ears and minds. This, of course, turns out to the advantage of our enemies, who, though they are not permitted to approach our church, yet through us trample upon our holy things.

We have therefore opened to all not the gates of justice, but the approach to slander and detraction, and the path of insolence. And we judge as best only those—not who have let fall not even an idle word from their mouth out of fear of God—but whoever have been able to slander their brothers more broadly and bitterly, or certainly those who have bitten subtly and figuratively, and have placed labor and pain under their tongue, and the venom of asps has been under their lips. 80. We diligently observe in one another not our own sins but those of others, not to lament them but to impute and reproach them, nor to heal them but to wound them further. Moreover, we judge the wicked and the good not by their character nor by their conduct, but by their factions; and what pleased today in someone, if he is of the other faction, will displease tomorrow, and he who was praised yesterday will be blamed today. Then again, those things which are blamed among others are held in admiration among us. Moreover, we easily and willingly forgive all things to our supporters, even if they are committed impiously, so that we may appear kind and generous in evil.

81. All things have become as they were in the beginning, when the world was not yet arranged in its order and species, but when everything was confused and unformed and demanded the powerful hand and virtue of the creator. We are therefore as if in a night battle, using a very small light of the moon, and that itself sometimes obscured by constant intervening clouds—there is no recognition of comrades or enemies, no distinction—or as in a naval battle when the rage of the winds presses and the swell of the waves rises, the thrusts of poles rebound, the sailors' clamor thunders, the crash of ships resounds, the groans of the wounded and the very roar of the air confound everything, and there is neither time for valor nor place for counsel, so we too—alas for me!—rush upon each other and bite and tear one another, evidently so that we may be consumed by one another. 82. But perhaps the common people are thus, but the priest is otherwise. Indeed, that saying now seems to me to be fulfilled: the priest has become like the people, which was once uttered as a curse. Or perhaps the ignoble and unskilled multitude is pressed by these evils, but the more noble and more learned among the people act otherwise. Nay, these even more manifestly and more strongly attack the priests; but perhaps, since these are still men of the world, they do this for that reason, while our continent men, who are, as they say, devoted to God in this very matter, act more quietly.

But these men even wage open war and shameless conflict against priests, all the more so because the appearance of a religious habit makes it easier for the common people to believe them even when they slander, especially when they raise questions about the faith, which is the highest of all matters. I do not speak of those in whose number I myself wish and desire to be counted as one of them, who take up the struggle for truth with an upright and sound purpose, who lay down their necks and their souls for the faith of God; for such a battle, which brings one near to God, is better than that peace which separates one from God; for this reason indeed the Holy Spirit commands a gentle warrior. I am not, therefore, speaking of warriors of this kind, in whose number I also desire to be found. 83. But there are some who stir up huge quarrels from small matters or words, or even incited not by divine but by human passions. These men enlist as many partners in their madness as they can, while they impose upon their contentiousness and insolence the magnificent and venerable name of faith, which is common to all, coloring the cause of their foul intention with the appearance of this most honorable term. From these men, therefore, as it seems to me, we are hated among the nations and, what is more serious, we do not even have the confidence to say that they hate us without cause. But we are also most poorly recommended to our own people, and especially to those who seem either honorable or religious among the laity.

For when they have heard something blameworthy or reprehensible against any of the priests or ministers of God from those who fabricate tales upon our backs, they seize upon it as more execrable because of the supposed honesty and religious zeal of their own minds, and what they have believed about one, they judge to be true of all. And we have become a kind of public theater—not for angels and men, as Paul, the athlete of God, used to say, who struggled in contests against principalities and powers—but we have become a theater for every base and unworthy creature, and, so to speak, for monsters and beasts, at all times and in every place: in the streets, in the taverns, at banquets, in councils. We are even dragged onto the stage itself—which I say with tears—and we are mocked by the most foul and shameless actors, and nothing is now so delightful in the mimes, nothing is sung so pleasingly in the comedies, as a Christian.

85. This, however, comes to us from the fact that we attack one another, that we seem to ourselves too Catholic, too faithful, and to be roused by the zeal of God, but not as is expedient, and to contend for God, but not as is lawful nor as the rule of contests holds, because our contest comes to this, that we seize a shameful victory, that we then lose the palm all the more when we have won in the contest. Or do we not read that no one is crowned unless he has contended lawfully? For one contending, virtue alone is not sufficient, unless he has also observed the rules of the athletic art. But you, as I see, fight for Christ against Christ. For the name of God is blasphemed through you among the Gentiles, as it is written. 86. Demons indeed up to now tremble when the name of Christ is invoked, and not even our malice has caused the power and might of so great a name to vanish; and we do not revere this name, but we do everything to the injury of so great a name, and instead of acting as we are commanded, so that men, seeing our good works, might praise our Father who is in heaven, we, perverting the force of the precept into the contrary, cause the name of God to be blasphemed among the Gentiles through our contentions.

87. Indeed, I do not fear external wars, nor do I dread that beast which has now risen up against the churches—in which dwells the fullness of the devil—though it threatens fires, though it brandishes swords and beasts, though it prepares crosses and precipices, though it becomes crueler than all persecutors who came before it, though it seeks out new kinds of torments: for me there is one remedy against all these things, one victory: to have willingly undergone death for Christ. 88. But against this internal war, I know not what to do, what aids to procure for myself, what word of wisdom comes to my aid, what gift of the Spirit I should invoke, with what spiritual arms I should gird myself against the wiles of the devil, what Moses—stretching out his hands on the mountain and even then prefiguring the likenesses of the cross—might check these wars, what Joshua, the approved commander of the army of God, what David—either singing on the cithara or fighting with the sling, girded with strength from God for war and his fingers fitted for battle—what Samuel, stirring the heavens with prayers, drawing forth rain, moving thunder—who will worthily lament and weep over these things?

89. Surely some Jeremiah, composing a new lament for this new captivity of ours, would cry out again to God and say: "Spare your people, Lord, and do not deliver your inheritance into disgrace, that the nations may rule over them." Who will pray to the Lord for us as Noah, Daniel, and Job did, that this devastation might cease and rest a little from us, that we might at last return to ourselves and, as if a mist were driven from our eyes, recognize that we are sons of one father, that we are brothers, so that no longer may the people of God be called Judah and Israel, nor Rehoboam and Jeroboam, nor Jerusalem and Samaria, which are now led into captivity, now lament at home? 90. And I indeed confess that I am utterly weak for battles of this kind, and for that reason I admit I have turned my back. Hence, veiling my face in shame, I have sat apart, because I am filled with bitterness. I sought also to be silent, as if understanding that the time is evil, because the beloved have kicked back and become sons who depart. The vine, too, once joyful with its branches—the true vine—entirely fruitful, has turned to bitterness, and the crown of beauty has turned into disgrace; the seal of my right hand and the crown of my glory have become confusion for me. But if someone else is boldly and bravely prepared to undergo the contests of such battles, I both call him blessed for his confidence and hold him before me.

91. I make no mention yet of those wars in which we are attacked within ourselves by our own vices and passions, and are pressed day and night by the fiery goads of this humble body and this body of death, now secretly, now even openly, provoked and irritated everywhere by the allurements of visible things, by this mire of filth to which we cling, exhaling the stench of its dregs through our more capacious veins, and also by the law of sin, which is in our members, struggling against the law of the spirit, while it strives to lead captive the royal image that is within us, so that whatever it is that flowed into us by the benefit of the divine and first creation may yield to its spoils. Hence, perhaps, someone, only after a long and strict regimen of philosophy, gradually recovering the nobility of his soul and the nature of the light that is in him joined to this humble and dark mire, may recall and turn it back to God; or if, certainly, by God’s favor he acts, he will recall both together, if only by long and constant meditation he becomes accustomed always to look upward and to lift up the matter that drags downward and weighs him down, bound to him with tighter reins. But before he obtains this, and so that, as far as possible, he may surpass other men in purity of heart, he ought not to wish to be set over those whom he does not feel himself to be purer than, nor should he consider it safe to become a mediator of the people before God—which is the special office of a priest—unless he sees himself to be near and a friend of God.

92. But why I have come to this fear, lest perhaps you think me more fearful than I ought to be, I must explain to you, so that you may judge me not so much timid as taking counsel for myself. When God spoke to Moses on the mountain, he also ordered many others to ascend with him, among whom were Aaron with his sons the priests and the seventy elders from among the seniors, all of whom were ordered to stand at a distance and worship, but Moses alone was ordered to approach near, and no other was to ascend with him. From this it is clearly indicated that it is not for just anyone to come near to God, unless he is someone like Moses, who can contain within himself the glory of God. And also before, when the giving of the law was first being prepared, the sound of trumpets and flashes of lightning and thunderclaps resounded for the others, as well as the darkness and smoke of the burning mountain and dreadful fear and terror, so that even a beast, if it touched the mountain, would be stoned—and for those standing far off, it was a great thing even to hear the sound of the voice, and this for the sanctified with all diligence and caution—but Moses alone both ascended the mountain and entered the cloud and was nowhere burned by the blazing flames and received the tablets, for the multitude of the common people the tablets of the letter, but for those who grasp the things of the spirit, the tablets written by the spirit of the living God.

93. But Nadab and Abihu, because they had offered alien fire for the incense of the altar, are consumed by fire for this alone, and they held nearly the same place of punishment and destruction as they had of guilt and impiety. And not even Aaron was sufficient to intercede, although he was the father and second only to Moses in approaching God with the honor of the priesthood. Also Eli the priest is condemned for the iniquity of his sons, because he punished with too little severity those who defiled the divine sacrifices. Wretched me, he did indeed restrain them and did indeed rebuke them, but with the leniency and gentleness of a father, not with the severity and authority of a pontiff. What of Uzzah, who, when the heifer impatient of the straight path had deviated from the course, supported the ark of the Lord's covenant, already about to fall, with a diligent and solicitous hand—was he not punished with death by God merely for this, that he had touched the sacred thing? 94. I know that not even bodily blemishes are overlooked in priests, but everything is scrutinized and required by the law, lest the victim or the priest have any physical defect. These are, of course, figures of the perfection and purity that ought to be in the heart and soul of the priest. But not even the priestly vestments or the vessels of the ministry are it lawful for anyone to touch or handle indiscriminately. The sacrifices themselves are not allowed to be consumed by all indiscriminately, but only by certain persons, and within a fixed time and within a prescribed place.

But it is not even lawful for anyone to imitate the composition of the oil of chrism, nor the mixture of incense. And what more shall I say? Not even the temple itself is permitted to enter for one who has not been pure in soul and body in even the smallest matters. And how rashly and inconsiderately do we rush into the holy of holies itself, where it was lawful for the one high priest alone, and he but once a year, to enter, to whom alone it was permitted to go beyond the inner veil and see the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat, and the Cherubim, which now everyone thinks it lawful both to see and to touch! 95. Therefore, knowing these things, and that no one is worthy to be either a priest of the highest God or to offer sacrifice, who has not first exhibited himself as a living, holy, and pleasing sacrifice to God, and has borne and immolated to God his rational obedience and a sacrifice of praise and a contrite spirit—which is the only sacrifice God seeks, all others being rejected and despised—how could I dare to approach the priesthood and the offering of sacrifices, and to celebrate the image and figure of the celestial sacraments? Or how could I assume the priestly habit and name, who had not first known that I had completed my hands with holy works, who had not yet taught my eye to see rightly the creature of God, who had not first opened my ear to the instruction of the Lord, so that I might deserve to have an ear added to me, which would not hear heavily, and that there might be a precious sardius in my ear as an earring, which is the word of the wise in the ear of the obedient?

Who has not first opened my mouth and drawn in breath, or widened my mouth so that it might be filled with spirit for uttering the mysteries and dogmas of piety? Who has not offered my tongue, so that it may be loosed in time and filled with exultation in psalms and canticles of the Lord, rising like a morning plectrum on the psaltery and cithara, rising at dawn and crying out to the Lord until my throat grows hoarse and my tongue cleaves to my palate? Before my feet stand upon the rock and are consumed like a deer, so that my steps may be directed according to God, so that my footprints may not weaken nor be spilled even a little? Before all my limbs become weapons of righteousness and all mortality in me is absorbed by life, and the flesh is subjected to the spirit? 96-99. Who would dare approach that step, before the heart and mind are kindled by the chaste and fire-tested words of the Lord, as he opens the Scriptures to them? Before he inscribes them threefold in the breadth of his heart, so that he may have the sense of Christ? Before he merits to enter the hidden treasures of knowledge, invisible and obscure to others, so that, having received riches from there, he may himself enrich others, comparing spiritual things with spiritual? Before he contemplates, as is worthy to contemplate, the delight of the Lord and visits his temple—or rather, before he himself becomes a temple of the living God and a dwelling place of Christ in the spirit?

before he comes to know the distinction and kinship between type and truth, so that he may more carefully discern from what he ought to withdraw and what he ought to retain—since truth prevails and the shadow passes away—and so that he may fully escape from the oldness of the letter and serve in the newness of the spirit, and pass entirely from the law to grace, which is fulfilled spiritually in the destruction of the body? Before he runs through all the titles and powers of Christ by works and knowledge—whether those that are highest or those that are lower and most recent on our account? That is, to know that he is God and that he is the Son of God, and also to know how he is: that he is image, word, wisdom, truth, light, life, power, vapor, emanation, radiance, creator, king, head, law, way, door, foundation, rock, pearl, peace, justice, sanctification, redemption, man, servant, shepherd, lamb, priest, sacrifice, firstborn of all creation, firstborn from the dead, resurrection.

Who would dare, before he becomes a participant in the reality and operation of all these names, before he fulfills them in himself individually and thus shares in Christ and becomes his partner in each of these, before he has leisure and learns to speak the wisdom of God hidden in mystery, before he has become a man and destroys what belongs to the child and is already counted among the Israelite number and in the army of God, before he can take up the cross of Christ and follow him and lose his own soul for his sake, so that he may find it in eternal life and be made into the fullness of Christ—how can anyone dare to approach the rank of teacher and teach those things which he does not yet feel fulfilled in himself? 100. I said to myself: Let others sail and, in the hope of immense gains, undergo the perils of the sea; for me it is more pleasing, standing on solid ground, to seek the blade of grain in the furrows of a small plot and to live a modest life in humble circumstances than to seek foreign riches amid the dangers of the waves.

For stronger and more powerful men, it is a loss not to administer greater offices nor to exercise virtue toward the majority, but to be confined to small and modest things, as if someone were to illuminate the space of a tiny room with a huge lamp, or to try to insert powerful and manly weapons into a small body and childish limbs; for the weak, however, it is safer to lift a small burden and not one beyond their strength, lest they become a laughingstock and at the same time incur danger, just as it is not fitting for someone to build a tower unless the resources for completing it are also at hand. This is the apology and excuse for my flight, and these are the reasons that had separated or drawn me away from you, O dearest brothers and friends; for such thoughts were then pressing me to withdraw farther away. But I was recalled, first, by the desire for you, and more by the fact that I was desired than by my own desiring. For nothing is so strong for love as when affection consists on both sides. Secondly, my greatest care and chief concern was the venerable gray hair of the holy parents, who were laboring more for me than for their own old age: the honor of this Abrahamic head and his angel-like countenance, and the due reverence for mother Sarah, who also spiritually gave birth to us in the faith of the Gospel, for whom it was necessary that I be the staff of their old age.

a space which I illuminated by their contemplation and by the discharge of the due offices of piety toward them, I also despised the studies of philosophy, which I held precious and dear above all my faculties and affections. In this, to speak more truly, I have philosophized precisely in order not to appear to philosophize. Therefore, I did not suffer all these things to be poured out and abolished on the pretext of a single occasion, nor to have the paternal benedictions taken from me, which a certain one of the ancient saints is reported to have stolen even by art, from a parent, with foods and shaggy skins, falsely. There are indeed two causes to which I especially yielded and which were able to mitigate my intention as much as possible. And I think that neither of these appears unworthy, to which that swelling of thought ought to have yielded, since indeed there is a time for being conquered, just as there is a time for everything. And perhaps it is sometimes better to be conquered well than to conquer badly. 104. 105. But the third is what subjected and subdued me most and above all. When I have set this forth, I will be silent about the rest. I recalled ancient days and in such great matters, so difficult and so arduous. I did not dare to trust sufficiently in my own counsels, but I sought the judgment of how to act from the authority of holy men and I set the examples of the ancients as a rule for present affairs. For these things were not written for us in vain, nor in the manner of the Greeks, that we might be educated or delighted by them in words.

as is customary in their tales or histories, the sweetness of a composed poem and the very charm of the narrative entices minds and delights the hearing; our literature, in which not a single iota or apex is idle, sets forth all things—whether deeds that are recounted or actions that are to be performed—as the rules and precepts of our life, so that if ever necessity finds us deliberating in doubtful matters, by returning to the examples of our forebears we may learn from them what we ought to choose and what to avoid. 106. Of which history, then, have I recalled, and whence has the occasion for this counsel arisen for me? I shall tell briefly, and you listen patiently. Once Jonah was fleeing from the face of God—or rather, he thought he was fleeing. But he was overtaken by the pursuit of the sea, by a storm, by lot, by the belly of a whale, and by a burial of three days and nights foreshadowing the form of a future mystery. And he indeed was fleeing, lest he become the minister of a sad message to the Ninevites, or later be found a liar if the city were saved through repentance; for he did not begrudge their salvation, but he declined the ministry of a lie, deferring in all things to the dignity of prophecy, which he saw would be disfigured in himself if it were tarnished by the stain of falsehood, while the ignorant and unskilled crowd could not understand or foresee the deep knowledge of the future dispensation.

But I have heard a certain very wise man expounding on this and rendering an account of this history, which seems almost absurd, in such a way that he would not even attribute this cause to the flight of the blessed Jonah, that he went down to Joppa and fled from Joppa to Tarshish, as if, he said, one were to believe that God did not know what was happening, or that this was to flee from the face of God, to entrust oneself to the sea and the waves. I would not say this belongs to prophetic knowledge, to which even the depths become known and the obscure are illuminated, but I do not think it belongs to any man, however ignorant and inexperienced, either; on the contrary, whoever has entered the sea then most of all declares that he has committed his safety into the hands of God. Therefore Jonah was not unaware that the most powerful hand of God was present in the sea and everywhere, which he was also sent to preach to others, nor did he presume to escape the power of the divinity anywhere—this is not to be believed—but because he foresaw that by this his ministry something was being prefigured by the Spirit, namely that the gift of prophetic grace would be transferred to the Gentiles, his own people Israel having been spurned and cast aside, for that reason he shirked the office of preaching, lest he render a sad service to the abandonment of his native people.

Then, having left that place, which is the contemplation of joy—for in the Hebrew tongue Joppe is interpreted thus—, having abandoned, therefore, the 'contemplation of joy', that is, that magnificence and ancient dignity, he gave himself over to the sea of grief and sadness. Thence the storm, thence the sleep, thence the shipwreck, thence he is roused and cast into the lot and confesses his flight and is thrown overboard and is taken up by the whale and is not consumed, but there he calls upon God and, for Christ before Christ, after the third day he rises again in Christ. But concerning these matters, let our discourse wait a little, so that later, if God grants, they may be explained more fully and more diligently. 110. Now, however, let us pursue that to which our discourse was directed, since indeed for that man there was perhaps even pardon on account of this cause we have mentioned for postponing the prophetic office; but for me, what excuse will suffice, what cause will come to my aid, what room for making amends will remain for me, who am still reluctant? And I do not know whether to call it a heavy or a light thing, the yoke of the priesthood imposed in any way, which I more stubbornly refuse.

If, then, this one excuse, which we hold as stronger than all others, be granted to us—that we are far inferior than is sufficient to discharge the priesthood—yet what shall we do, since on the other side we incur the more dangerous crime of disobedience? And perhaps the peril from contempt will be graver for us than we think the risk from temerity, because for one who offends in this direction there remains no further place for correction or amendment. Placed, therefore, in the middle between these two fears—of ascending and of descending—and weighing myself on this side and that with an equal balance, and now leaning toward one part, now toward the other, as if driven by winds, I finally yielded to that fear of disobedience which preponderated more heavily, and which, having driven away the other fear as being stronger and more vehement, claimed and held me entirely for itself. Consider, therefore, whether we weigh ourselves rightly and justly between these middle fears, since we neither assume unmerited honors nor reject those which have been offered, because in one case impudence is condemned, in the other disobedience, and both are vices of inexperience. We desire, therefore, to walk as a kind of middle way between those who are excessively timid and those who are excessively rash, so that we may be indeed more modest than those who strive for unmerited honors with base ambition, and a little more confident than those who, from fear of future judgment, shun even good actions.

Thus, then, deliberating in such matters and weighing each thing with its own merits, I added also this to my confidence of mind: that the faith of obedience deserves some reward from God, and that which is lacking is fulfilled while that which is is believed wholeheartedly, so that faith makes perfect him whom fear had left imperfect. For we read that it is written that he who fears is not perfect in love; but perfect love casts out fear. On the other hand, I saw that for the peril of disobedience and unbelief no aid comes to the rescue. Nor do I find anything that gives confidence to the distrustful; nay, rather I fear that it may be necessary to hear, even for those who have been entrusted to us, that saying: "I will demand their souls from your hands," and: "Just as you have despised me, that you might not be leaders and princes of my people, so too I will despise you, that none of you may become king," and: "Just as you did not hear my voice, but turned a hard and disobedient back, so it will be when you call upon me, I will not look upon your prayer nor hear you." May it not befall us to hear such responses from the just judge, nor may that voice come to us from Him of whom, though we sing mercy, we will also sing judgment.

Thus, then, deliberating in such matters and weighing each thing with its own merits, I added also this to my confidence of mind: that the faith of obedience deserves some reward from God, and that which is lacking is furnished by the one who commands. But again we turn back to the histories of the ancients and the deeds of the old nobles. From these we see that some, when they were chosen to govern peoples or were called to the prophetic office by the grace of God, very readily yielded to those who invited them, while others for a time put off the grace of the one inviting. Yet we see that neither of them were blamed, nor was either the ready swiftness of obedience in these or the cautious hesitation of fear in those reproached, because indeed those feared the greatness of the ministry, while faith gave confidence to these that all things are possible for the believer. Aaron was ready, but Moses resisted greatly; Isaiah readily obeys, but Jeremiah feared his youthful age and did not undertake the ministry of prophecy until he received from God a promise of strength and stability. By these thoughts I was again restored and, through constant struggle with such counsels, I was softened and subdued, like iron placed upon anvils, by certain blows of hammers. Moreover, time, which mitigates and decocts all things, also contributed to the maturity of the decision. Above all, there is that which is written: "My counsels are your justifications," to which I have entrusted my entire life. For this reason I do not resist nor contradict, says my lord, who was not called to the leadership of the people, but was being led to the sacrifice.

Therefore, I prostrate myself and fall down and submit myself to the most powerful hand of God, and I seek pardon for the leisure and delay of past time, if any guilt from this should happen to arise for me. I have been silent, but I will not always be silent. I withdrew for a short time, so that I might examine and visit myself, and so that some consolation for my sadness might arise. But now I have come into the churches to exalt the Lord and to praise Him together with the elders in the chair. If that was blameworthy, this deserves pardon. 116. But why is there still need for more lengthy words? You already have us, O shepherds and fellow shepherds; you possess us, O most holy and most worthy flock of Christ; you possess us, O father, conquered and yielding in all things, more subject to you by the laws of Christ than by nature. Behold, you already have our submission; give back your blessing. Guide us with prayers, instruct with word, strengthen with spirit; for the blessing of the father confirms the houses of his children. And may both I and this spiritual house be confirmed, in which my rest is for the age of ages, in which I will dwell, because I have chosen it, so that from this church and from this house we may deserve to be transferred together to the church of the firstborn, which is enrolled in the heavens.

This is our satisfaction before you and this is the exordium of our discourse. But the God of peace, who has made both one and restored us to each other, who seats the powerful on their thrones and who raises the needy from the earth and lifts the poor from the dung-heap; who chose David his servant and took him from the flocks of sheep, when he was the last and youngest among the sons of Jesse; who gives word to those who preach the gospel with great power for the perfection of his preaching, holding our right hand in his will—may he direct us and take us up with glory. May he himself rule the rulers, may he himself guide the guides, so that we may be able to pasture his flock with discipline and not with the vessels of an inexperienced shepherd; may he himself grant virtue and strength to his people and may he himself present to himself a pure and spotless flock, and in all things immaculate and worthy of the heavenly sheepfolds, where is the dwelling of those rejoicing in the splendors of the saints, so that in his temple we may all speak glory, flock and pastors together, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen.

II. On the Epiphanies, or On the Lord’s Nativity. H = codex Reginensis, 9th–10th century. O = codex Oxoniensis Laud. Misc., 9th century. A = codex Atrebatensis, 10th century. C = codex Augiensis CXVIII, 9th–10th century. V = codex Vindobonensis, 11th century. v = editio princeps, Strasbourg 1508. VII. On Reconciliation and the Unity of Monks. 1. Our tongue is loosened by joy, and we despise the law of men for the sake of the law of the Holy Spirit; we yield to no one, but now we utter words of peace. Before this, while the members were contending against each other, while the holy and venerable body of Christ was being divided and torn into parts, when our bones were almost scattered as if in the underworld, and like the thickness of the earth broken by a most wicked plow into deeper furrows, when the indivisible and inseparable tunic of Christ, which had been woven from above as a whole, was being rent and torn by the enemy, and he had prevailed in making us, his ministers, do what he could not do through those who had crucified Christ—when, I say, these things were so, then I placed a guard over my mouth and gave silence to my lips, because I saw that it was fitting first to purify the mind by the practice of philosophy, and only then to open the mouth, draw in the spirit, and belch forth a good word, and speak the wisdom of God perfectly among the perfect; for this seems to me to be the spiritual order of discourse.

If, according to the opinion of the most wise Solomon, there is a time for everything, God first requires from us this sacrifice: purity and a contrite heart. [Sacrifice to God is] a sacrifice of praise. For He wishes us to be a new creation in Christ and a new man, and whatever else of this kind divine Scripture relates. Therefore, the first wisdom is to despise and contemn that wisdom which consists in words and in complexities, or in the cunning of speech, or which relies on captious syllogisms and empty contradictions. I, however, would rather speak five words in church in my own sense, so as to instruct others, than many thousands of words in a tongue and in such a trumpet-like voice, which does not give a meaningful sound, in order to prepare my soldier for spiritual war. This wisdom, therefore, I praise and embrace, through which the ignoble have become glorious, and through which the abject have come to honor, and in which fishermen have enclosed the whole world with the nets of the Gospel, overcoming with a finished and concise wisdom that which is destroyed. For not he who is wise in word seems wise to me, nor he who puts forth a polished and fluent tongue while his soul remains unskilled, like those tombs which appear whitewashed and adorned on the outside to men, but within are filled with filth and stench, but he seems wise to me who, though he says and sets forth few things concerning the virtue of the soul, yet has more in his own.

to show by deeds and works and to confirm the faith of his word by the attestation of his works, just as no one could love the beauty of a form in a painting as much as when it is placed in a body, nor are riches seen in dreams as useful as those held in the hands. So too is that wisdom clear, not which flits about in words, but which consists in virtues. Thus indeed Scripture also says that understanding is good for all who do it, not for those who speak and preach it. Time declares the firmer proofs of this wisdom, which truly is the crown of glory in the elderly. For if one ought not to call a man blessed before his death, as seems right to Solomon and to me, because it is uncertain what the future may bring, since human life is very changeable, while this body of humility is always turned and changed hither and thither, how is it that he who has already spent most of this life blamelessly and, escaping the uncertain sea of our habitation, looks forward to the harbor and hopes to enter it very soon, is not much more secure and blessed than he for whom much of the sea's danger still remains?

Do not, therefore, close your tongue, which has taught many good things, whose fruits are many and whose procreations of justice are infinite, whose sons are so many and whose treasures are so great; lift your eyes around and see. This whole people is the one you have begotten in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. Do not now begrudge the grace of good speech, even if it is brief. You know how to say much in few words. But if that is too little, at least proclaim with that spiritual voice which God used to hear even when Moses was silent, saying to him: "Why do you cry out to me?" — namely, when he interceded with him in spirit. Compose and prepare for me a people who are your sheep and your nursling, and after this also your shepherd, but now also your fellow high priest. Teach me also something from pastoral discipline, and philosophize to this people something about obedience, about this present plague and devastation, about the most just judgments of God, whether we comprehend them or even ignore the great abyss, and how his mercy is a balance according to the holy Isaiah. For his goodness is not without judgment, even though it did not seem fair to those who had labored all day in the vineyard that they were made equal with those who came later. But also his wrath is called a cup in the hand of the Lord according to the measure of sins, and a cup of ruin, from which when drunk, something seems to be taken away and vomited out from the crimes of the drinkers, and again pure wrath is tempered with clemency.

For it inclines from that which is pure and vehement into that which is milder and more moderate, namely for those who are corrected by fear and who from small tribulations conceive and give birth to conversion and generate a full and complete spirit of salvation. Yet it reserves the dregs of its ultimate and most recent wrath, so that it pours all of that out upon those who refuse to be cured by admonitions and reproofs, and indeed who are hardened even more by gentleness, like the most stubborn Pharaoh, who was reserved as an example of the power of God for the impious. 5. Tell us, therefore: whence come these plagues and whence these scourges, and what is the reason for them? Is the motion of the universe itself stirred up everywhere and by chance and without any rudders, and do these things happen by accident as if with no helmsman, as it seems to those who are foolishly wise? Or do they happen by some reason and order, and just as from the beginning all things were made and composed and distinguished, so also now is the world moved and governed, as only He knows who moves it and guides it with the eternal reins of providence? Whence, then, comes sterility? Whence the corruption of the air? Whence hailstorms and this present plague and devastation and our correction? Whence pestilences and diseases? Whence earthquakes and terrors of the sea and from the sky? Or how is it that the earth, which was formed by the Creator for the service of men?

of whose goods we should all equally enjoy, is turned to the punishments of the impious, so that, in those things which were granted and allowed to us and for which we showed ourselves ungrateful, we pay the penalty and recognize the power of those things through punishments, whose grace we did not acknowledge from benefits? How is it that for some, sins are doubly returned from the hand of the Lord and a twofold measure of malice is repaid, while for others, when they are chastised, a sevenfold vengeance for sins is said to be poured into their bosom? Or what is that which is mentioned, that the measure of the Amorites has not yet been filled in crimes? How then is the sinner left and the just man punished, or again the sinner punished and the just man left and saved, and now indeed medicine is applied here, but now everything is reserved for there? What then are these plagues, or whence? Are they proofs of virtue or punishment of malice? And whether it is expedient to be humbled as if placed in punishments, or to dissemble and neglect as if brought on for the sake of testing, teach us this, remind us of these things, so that we may not bear this present plague too heavily, nor again, descending into the depth of evils, despise it—for this vice also exists among men—but that we may be humbled in the Lord’s correction, so that, while we neglect and despise in this matter, we do not provoke greater wrath of God against us.