Epigrammatum Ex Sententiis Sancti Augustini Liber Unus

THE BOOK OF EPIGRAMS OF SAINT PROSPER OF AQUITAINE, DRAWN FROM THE SENTENCES OF SAINT AUGUSTINE.

Preface.

While it pleases me to exercise my mind in sacred utterances, and it delights me to feed my soul on the bread of heaven, I have chosen to pluck certain flowers, as it were from a meadow, and to weave them together in distinct verses, so that each epigram might sing of its own theme, and each part might correspond to its own title. Nor is this within my own power, but from that source is this dew taken which once commanded the dry rock to pour forth waters; so that what has entered into the affection of the heart, with piety as its teacher, this may joyful faith bring forth in song.

HERE BEGINS THE BOOK.

I. What true innocence is.

True innocence is that which harms neither itself nor another. For whoever loves iniquity hates his own soul. And no one sins against another before he sins against himself. He is perfectly good, and is truly called blameless, who does nothing harmful either to himself or to anyone. For whoever strives to harm another, first...

He will strike himself with his own dart.

And even if the power to sin should not enter his mind, the wound is undoubtedly in the depths of his heart. Nor does the depraved mind escape the guilt of the crime it has contracted, for to it this alone has done harm—that it willed too much.

II. On loving men.

Men are to be loved in such a way that their errors are not loved, because it is one thing to love what they have been made and another to hate what they do. Whoever does not spurn the honor of his own nature, love in whatever man what you recognize as yours. Yet in such a way that concord avoids depraved morals, and there be no treaties of peace with vices. For what the hand of the supreme Artificer has made is one thing; and whatever has been established by a good author is good. Let the divine image in no one be despised; only let the things added by evil pursuits not please.

III. On true eternity.

True eternity and true immortality are only in the Godhead of the Trinity, for which to be is perfect, because a nature lacking a beginning and not needing increase admits, just as no end, so no mutability. But creatures—even those to which God has given or will give eternity—are not entirely alien to every end, because they are not outside change, since for them there is both an end and a temporal institution and local motion, and that very imitation made for their increase.

The eternal God alone is truly the all-creator, who lives in himself and remains forever to be what he is. This is the Father, this is the Word of the Father, this is the nurturing Spirit, whose nature is one, and the same at once. Nothing here is begun or increased, nothing here is changeable, that it should submit to the laws of time or of number. Power, prior to things past and further beyond things future, receives nothing variable, has nothing that sets. For of the things which wisdom made as it willed,

i To many, indeed, life perpetual has been granted. But whatever can be more or less, by some end it dies to that which it had been. Thus nothing is eternal that has been made changeable.

And that which is above all things, God is always the same.

IV. On the patience of God.

The patience of God is true, by which he spares the despised and spares the one who denies him; and "he wills rather the life of the sinner than his death"; it is the instruction of repentance, and the offering of correction. Nor are any of his works devoid of mercy, since he provides for man both by indulgence and by the scourge.

The patience of the supreme King long defers many things, suspending the weights of just judgment. And while his clemency spares the deeds that deserve punishment, it gives space for man to cleanse himself of crime. In short, men always commit evil crimes; he gives space so that crimes may perish, not men. Sometimes chastising with the rod in fatherly heart, lest savage scourges quickly consume the guilty. Thus by God's loving-kindness the circle of the earth is not empty, and there is nothing that does not draw us toward forgiveness: since the King, for those to be saved, even consults his own wrath, as a physician heals wounds by wounds.

V.5 On the vengeance of God.

The divine goodness is therefore most angry in this world, so that it may not be angry in the future; and in mercy it applies temporal severity, lest it justly bring in eternal vengeance.

When God strikes sinners with his wrath drawn forth, he acts so that men may know what they deserve. For while the times of mortal flesh are passed through, the scourges themselves bring help to the wretched. And brief vengeance thus ends harmful crimes, lest the debt of punishment hold the guilty without end.

VI. On the true praise of God.

The blessing of one who blesses is true when the meaning is the same in the mouth and in the heart. For to speak well and to live badly is nothing other than to condemn oneself by one's own voice. True praise is brought forth to the Lord from the mouth of one who prays,

if the things that flow from the voice have their source in the depths of the heart. It profits no one to speak good words alone, unless a pious mind holds what the tongue sounds forth. For to speak rightly and to live wickedly is wretched; the well-known rule of justice condemns the evil.

VII. On the virtue of charity.

The love of God and of neighbor is the proper and special virtue of the pious and the saints, since the other virtues can be common to both good and evil people. Very many goods of the saints are common to many,

and indeed it is established that they are present even in the wicked; but the pious part, tending toward the citadel of the highest virtue, surpasses every merit of works by the love of God, whereby it loves any human being equally as itself, desiring for others what it desires for itself. Hence those who lack these twin wings of the virtues have no means by which they may fly to the kingdom of heaven.

VIII. On apostolic doctrine.

The doctrine of the apostles is so healthful and so life-giving that, in proportion to the capacity of those who use it, it leaves no one without a share in it. For whether they are little or great, weak or strong, they have in it both that by which they may be nourished and that by which they may be filled. God, to strip the world of its foul darkness, kindled the light of apostolic doctrine, which suits no minds and no ages but all: watering the little ones with milk, feeding the strong with bread. Neither time nor sex nor cause resists it: it corrects, nourishes, justifies, and strengthens all. Take what the great Wisdom has set upon her table, and, having been fed on rich delicacies, learn. Of these the whole feast is a part, and from it each one, as he is delighted, receives the life that faith alone brings forth.

IX. On seeking God.

He who seeks God seeks joy. Let him therefore seek in such a way that he rejoices not in himself but in the Lord. For by drawing near to God, ignorance is enlightened and weakness is strengthened, so that understanding is given him to see and love to set him aflame.

IX. That to know God is to love Him, and that He is the true and highest good.

Whoever seeks to know God seeks also to rejoice and to live, if he has learned to love the true and supreme God. To Him he should ascribe whatever he rightly understands, desires, and does, and without whom the glory of the flesh will be dust. The Author therefore does not abandon His gifts in anyone, and the Lord manifests Himself through His own work, and as a rich guest He dwells in those inner chambers where they rejoice that they are adorned by Him with what He Himself has given.

X. On spiritual fastidiousness.

Just as it is harmful to the body not to be able to take bodily food, so it is dangerous to the soul to loathe spiritual delicacies.

As mortal bodies lose their own life if they cannot take bodily food, so souls perish, unless they are nourished by the delights of reason, while they lack the bread of the eternal Word. For what will there be to drive away dread fastidiousness far from us, when the mind, sated with God Himself, shrinks from Him?

XI. On the ends of good and evil.

Never are those many who tend toward not-being. For what is so subject to fewness as that which is owed to perdition? To be is truly and properly God's, and whoever cleaves to Him,

He will always be in the light of the eternal kingdom. For those who spurn justice strive not to exist, and tend toward nothing, and can be nothing. Therefore no great portion of them can be seen, since none of them will be in the number of the saints. But truly great and many they will remain without end, whose glory will be everlasting in Christ.

XII. On the tranquility of God's vengeance.

God does not desire the punishment of the guilty, as though longing to be sated with vengeance. But what is just He decides with tranquility, and orders by His righteous will, so that even the wicked may not be disorderly. No punishment of wretched guilty men delights God, nor does anger stir the placid One to avenge crimes. For the almighty and tranquil will of God establishes whatever it is fitting to decree, so that the King's judgment may lie open to no complaints, when due order justly receives the wicked.

XIII. On good understanding.

He has good understanding who rightly understands what must be done and does it. Otherwise such a one is without true intelligence, as wisdom is without fear, since it is written, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He who fulfills with pious deeds the words he has known fully sees every depth of the Lord's scriptures. For he wanders too far astray from the sense of doctrine who flees to do what he has taken care to know.

XIV. On the rest even of one still living in the flesh.

The soul that has been exempted from the death of unbelief already has its rest in this life, and abstains not from works of righteousness but from the action of iniquity, so that, living to God and dead to the world, it may rest in the calm tranquility of humility and gentleness. There is also in this life a rest given to many of the saints, whose souls the setting world does not hold; whom no desires that will perish weary, and to whom Christ is every good and every honor. They use the earth as heaven, they despise things that flee; what they believe, what they love, what they desire, is God.

XV. On making vows to God.

Whoever thinks well what he should vow to God, and what vows he should pay, let him vow himself and pay himself. This is required, this is owed: let the image of Caesar be rendered to Caesar, the image of God be rendered to God. But just as one must consider what and to whom you offer, so also one must consider where you offer. For there is no place of true sacrifice outside the catholic Church.

What should anyone who ponders well in his heart vow to the Lord? Let him prepare to vow his whole self, for no greater offering can be brought upon the altar of the mind, nor does a sweeter odor rise from the incense of Christ than when a man presents the libations of pure conduct and offers sacred sacrifice from the gift of virtues. Yet in such a way that he knows, who pays his vows to the Thunderer, that there is one place among the divine assemblies, which the true Church provides throughout the whole world, and without which there is no merit of righteousness.

XVI. On justice and grace.

There are two retributions of justice: when either good is returned for good, or evil for evil. The third is the retribution of grace, when through regeneration evils are forgiven and goods are bestowed. And thus it is made manifest that all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth. But that retribution of the wicked, by which they return evil for good, God does not know; for unless He returned good for evil, there would be none to whom He might return good for good. The reward of justice is twofold: either when He restores goods to the upright, or when He duly returns punishments to the depraved. But the saving grace of Christ for all, not weighing merit, washes away every evil. And renewing all through sacred baptism, it gives goods, and on account of these gives better things to the good.

XVII. On the Citizens of the Heavenly Fatherland.

Everyone who belongs to the heavenly city is a stranger to the world; and while he uses this temporal life, he lives in a foreign fatherland, where amid many enticements and many allurements it is granted to few to know and love God—to those to whom the Lord's command is made radiant, enlightening the eyes, so that they are not deceived in love either of God or of neighbor. Called to the heavenly fatherland by Christ their redeemer, he acts as a guest of the fleeting time of this life. And while he presses on toward the promised rest, not by his own merits, he endures many perils of the worldly road, which now beset by adversities, now full of prosperities, either breaks the fearful or binds the doubtful. Among these, the world will not catch as a snare the one running toward true joys, for whom Christ will be the way.

XVIII. On Overcoming the Desire of the Flesh.

There is no one whose soul the corruptible body and earthly dwelling do not weigh down. But effort must be made that the desires of the flesh be overcome by the vigor of the spirit; and the inner man, who always feels that resistance is made against him, should always expect to be aided by divine help. There is no soul that is not burdened by mortal flesh, nor that does not groan over its bodily condition. But to strengthen the weak and to bridle the rebellious is the lawful and proper work of the ruling mind. By the law of nature, that it may rule with just moderation, it subjects all harmful things to its own scepter, and from the Lord it seeks help and strength, that it may be able to conquer itself, and not itself stir up its own senses.

For if he cannot restrain the motions of his handmaid, he will never be powerful in the love of Christ.

XIX. On the Narrow Way.

Narrow is the way that leads to life. Yet one does not run along it unless the heart is enlarged, because the path of the virtues, along which the poor of Christ walk, is broad through the hope of the faithful, even if it is cramped for the vanity of the unbelieving. Narrow is the way of truth that leads to the halls of life, nor does the mind's journey admit the joys of the flesh. Earthly pleasure advances through broad spaces; lofty virtue seeks its goal by a narrow boundary. And yet these paths, which the vain things of the world dread, are as it were plains for great souls. And the going, too difficult through hardships and steep places, commends what faith finds a joy to endure.

XX. On the Reward of the Christian Religion.

God is to be worshipped with this affection and this desire, that the worship of him may itself be his reward. For he who worships God in order that he may deserve something other and greater than God himself does not worship God, but that which he longs to obtain. With this devotion of desire God is to be worshipped, that God himself may be the whole reward of righteousness. For he who hopes that he can be made blessed by another gift does not love what he asks for, but what he desires to possess.

XXI. On Not Judging Hidden Things

It is a sin to rashly pronounce judgment on the hidden things of another's heart; and to reproach a man whose works are seen to be only good, on the basis of suspicion, is unjust. Since of those things that are unknown to man, God alone is the just judge, who is also the true examiner. To suspect in anyone things that are not, is malicious, especially if the things that are known are good. Let not easy ears lie open to savage rumors. What it is a pleasure not to know, let it not be a pleasure to believe. Let secrets be left to God, who, if anything is hidden, sees it, and needs no evidence.

XXII. On the Help of God

It is of divine gift that we both think upright things and keep our feet from falsehood and injustice. For as often as we do good, God works in us and with us that we may work.

Without doubt our God is both our ruler and our author, when we carry out with whole affection the things that are good. From the appearance of works the inmost things of the heart shall shine forth, and [it shall be shown] what spirit within nourishes the mind of man. For the Holy One makes holy, and from light light arises: no one becomes good apart from the Good.

XXIII. On the Sufferings of the Saints.

By the just judgment of God, desired power is often granted to sinners, by which they persecute His saints, so that those who are helped and moved by the Spirit of God may become more illustrious through the exercises of labors. That the wicked are often allowed to rage against the saints, and that the depraved can often harm the good, does not happen without God's will, who proves His own hearts, to be glorified even by these wars. The palms of virtues grow, and crowns grow, and the battles of the world are changed into the peace of God.

XXIV. On the Knowledge of the Good.

There is no true knowledge of the good unless it is comprehended for this purpose, that it be done. For he does not meditate on the law of God profitably who labors to hold in memory what he does not fulfill in action. He knows the law, and learnedly holds the commands of the Almighty, who, doing what he knows, loves what he does. It is not enough to roll the Lord's precept on the tongue: he remembers the law who is mindful of the work.

XXV. On the Love of the Law.

XXV. He who loves the law of God proves himself in all things to hate what is against the law, not men. The lover of the law hates those who spurn the law, yet he does not hate men, but disapproves of what they do.

XXVI. On Searching Out the Commandments of God.

A mind at rest alone can search out the commandments of God. Therefore, that religious study may be practiced, the quarrels of the wicked must be shunned. The quiet can in some measure search the law, if their hearts, free from the noise of the world, keep watch. Therefore, that the mind intent on pious studies may be helped, let divine love conquer the battles of the flesh. For the temple of the Lord grows through holy silence, and a house that will not fall is built in stillness.

XXVII. On Making Progress.

No one is so learned, no one so taught, that he does not need heavenly illumination. For no increase of divine goods is ever so great that there does not always remain something for the rational creature both to desire to understand and to do. The inner depths of the Lord's teaching, in this time, are not fully open to any man. For there always remains for the saints something by which they can grow; and it is the beginning of the glory of the perfect. Let virtue give birth to virtue, let light come forth from light, and let every palm of victory make a step. For why should the mind not eagerly seek what God sets forth, when He Himself has given it the power to ask rightly?

XXVIII. On the twofold work of God.

If we consider all men together, of whom some are saved by mercy and others condemned by truth, all the ways of the Lord—that is, mercy and truth—are distinguished by their own end. But if we look upon the saints alone, these ways of the Lord are not separated. For there truth is inseparable from mercy, and mercy from truth, because the blessedness of the saints comes both from the gift of grace and from the recompense of justice. In all things the work of the Almighty is twofold. For all that he does is either justice or loving-kindness. These two descend together to earth from the citadel of light, lest either good be lacking to any part. And since we all stand in need of the help of the merciful one, grace always goes before justice—justice that condemns the proud and saves the justified, whom God has enriched both with gifts and with merits.

XXIX. On the observance of peace.

It belongs to Christian perfection to be peaceable even with the enemies of peace, in the hope of their correction, not in agreement with their wickedness; so that if they follow neither the example nor the exhortation of love, they may still have no grounds on which they ought to hate us. In the saints, concord is a beautiful harmony of peace, when many agree as one and it pleases them so. Yet the bonds of love are not to be restrained in this way only, so that peace be granted to the good alone. Let a just will be shown even to the unjust, and let kindly prayers despise no man—not so that friendships be joined to wicked vices, but that medicine may be present to corrupt minds.

But if by its own peace it does not calm troubled hearts, our rest cannot perish through us.

XXX. On the custody of God.

The Lord guards us from every evil, not so that we suffer nothing adverse, but so that the soul is not harmed by those very adversities. For when temptation is at hand, a certain entrance is made into that which assails us; and when the temptation is consummated with a good end—that is, without wound to the soul—one exits from the depth of temporal labor into eternal rest.

Often indeed the Lord drives back all adversities in such a way that no man can be touched by any wound. But then the hand of the Almighty is more wondrous, when the evils brought upon the afflicted do not overcome him. Let the guardian be praised, who gives strength to the one who endures, lest exterior fury corrupt the inner self. For to no one who does not strive is a crown to be hoped for; the end holds the palm by which glory is won.

XXXI. On the help of God.

They do not ascend to the fellowship of the heavenly Jerusalem except those who confess with their whole heart that it is not of their own work but of the divine gift that they ascend. You who strive toward the heavenly fatherland, recognize the one who calls you; by his aid you are carried forward, if you run well. For if you believe that you reach heavenly things by your own virtue, cast down from on high you will fall to the depths.

XXXI. On the hatred of the world against Christians.

All who wish to live piously in Christ must necessarily suffer reproaches from the impious and the unlike; and they are despised as fools and madmen, because they lose good things that are present and promise themselves things invisible and future. But this contempt and this mockery will be turned back upon those very people, when both their abundance has passed into want and their pride into confusion. The impious part of the world is hostile to the part of the pious, nor can it endure minds unlike its own: it laughs at those unwilling to enjoy present riches, and who hope that what has been entrusted to them can be given. But these reproaches are to be despised by the holy peoples, reproaches which hearts estranged from God cast forth foolishly. For our hope becomes more certain from this sight than from any other, because whatever we believe, God himself is our pledge.

XXXII. On the patience of the faithful.

The whole salvation of the faithful, and the strength of patience, must be referred to him who is wonderful in his saints; because unless God were in them, human frailty would succumb to the fury of the impious. When a steadfast soul is not broken by any adversities, and the virtue of faith remains undefiled: let strong patience know that the Lord is within it, and let it refer to his gift that it has stood. For in that very respect in which it attributes to its own powers that it has not fallen, it has fallen, in that it thinks itself to stand.

XXXIV. On due obedience.

Thus both princes are to be borne with by the peoples, and masters by their servants, so that temporal things may be endured under the exercise of patience, and eternal things hoped for. For that increases the merit of virtue, that one does not violate the purpose of religion. Whatever the good of the world rightly demands is to be rendered, and it does not violate the purpose of pious faith. No power is to be despised by the gentle and the holy: it is right to serve kings and lords. That it may profit the servants of Christ unto true honor, to have loved the good and to have tolerated the evil.

XXXV. On tolerating the variety of the world.

The righteous in heart do not complain against the precepts of God and the constitutions of the world, because it is just to accept with equanimity all things which He, who will judge, willed them to tolerate. While the times of mutable things run their course, and while the world is worn down by its own motions, it belongs to the upright to suffer adversities and to bear them with moderation, and not to move God with a querulous voice in anything. By whose judgment no iniquitous person will be spared, and perpetual glory will receive the just.

XXXVI. On the building of the house of God.

The whole standing of the holy building, just as it advances with God as its co-worker, so it endures with God as its guardian. For the watchful care of those set over it is useful, when the Spirit of God presides over His people, and deigns to guard not only the flocks but even the shepherds themselves. When living stones are bound together by the bond of peace, and one house comes together into equal numbers, the work of the Lord is clear, who builds the whole hall, and gives effect to the pious studies of men. The structure of their perpetual beauty shall remain, if its author perfectly protects and rules it.

XXXVII. On eternal joys.

The joys of the eternal city are eternal, and the endless infinity of its standing days shall neither change nor falter, because they shall possess an unchangeable peace, whose good shall be that of all, which shall also be that of each individually. The joys of eternal life shall always be what they are; for the cause of rejoicing shall be God Himself. Nor does a divided will give birth to varied motions. There shall be one light in all, and one love, and a happy experience placed in the highest goods, which shall neither wish to be increased nor fear to be diminished.

XXXVIII. On the law of charity.

The law of Christ is the perfection of charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, and through which the Creator of the law is addressed: Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. For he who carries out His command awaits this promise of God, nor does he hope in vain that his sins will be spared, who forgives the sins of others. True love of Christ is the true guardianship of the law, and he who loves mankind fulfills the commands of God. By forgiving the faults of these, they discharge their own crimes, and what they grant to others, they provide for themselves. A sinner grants pardon to a sinner, and on equal terms reconciles the Lord to himself. His judgment depends on our own trial; what we sow, we reap; what we give, we receive.

XXXIX. On the commands of God.

God commands nothing that benefits Himself, but him to whom He commands it. Therefore He is a true Lord, who does not need the servant, and He is what the servant needs. God does not command anything so that it may benefit Himself, nor does the true Lord need the service of a servant. He who serves is increased by His precepts, and whoever neglects His command becomes less. For God almighty, and at the same time all-holding power, loses nothing of His own, takes nothing that can perish. He never lacked what He has, giving whatever it will profit to have, and taking back only what He has given.

XL. On the timeless knowledge of God.

That which is new in time is not new with God, who created the times, and without time holds all things which he distributes to each in their own times, according to their varying age. If sliding times bring forth anything unusual, the world calls this wondrous and holds it as new. But no order of things is unknown to the Author of all; he sees whatever all the ages bear, which great hosts roll on with no uncertain motion. But under the judgment of God they both stand and flow, so that nothing exists in any part of nature which he does not temper by his own will.

XLI. On the providence of God.

The immutable reason of God contains the disposition of mutable things, where without time those things are together which in time do not happen together, because the times do not run together. The eternal law of God rules all things by a steadfast nod, nor does it change its counsel with the varying time. And as God, being one, is present at once to all places, so he holds with himself the bounds and numbers of the age. Nor does he feel anything late or early in the order of things, to whom all things done and to be done stand present at once.

XLII. On the impunity of sinners.

Nothing is more wretched than the happiness of sinners, by which a penal impunity is nourished, and the evil will is strengthened like an enemy within. He who rejoices that he fares prosperously in his sins is all too wretched in his prosperity. And while a depraved will receives its wretched effects, it is ever made more distant from the true light. Taking strength from a deadly habit, and the love of death embracing its own chains. Rather let the vain delights of the world fail, and let necks be submitted to be bowed beneath the pious yoke, and let the healer's care descend into the rotting fibers: so that a friendly health may drive out the seductive disease.

XLIII. On the letter of the law.

The letter of the law, which says that one must not sin, kills if the life-giving Spirit is absent. For it makes sin known rather than guarded against: and therefore it is increased rather than diminished, because to evil desires there is added even the transgression of the law. Hence the law of sin is to be punished by forbidding, which, unless the Spirit cleanses the heart, slays. For no one is innocent from mere fear of punishment, who does not love the holy and just command. Yet this affection the law does not confer, but grace: and what the letter of the law commands, it makes one willing.

XLIV. On the law and grace.

The law was given so that grace might be sought, and grace was given so that the law might be fulfilled. For it was not by its own fault that it was not fulfilled, but by the fault of the prudence of the flesh, which fault had to be shown through the law and healed through grace. The prudence of the flesh does not serve the commands of the law, nor can it overcome the goads of sin. But because the mind, wavering, endures the ills of a sick body, we are compelled to seek divine aid. The law, therefore, brings it about that the grace of Christ is asked for, by which the hard commands of the law can be fulfilled. And now the carnal senses can no longer fail to be conquered, since the very author of the just law helps those whom he aids.

XLV. On the promise of God.

God promises this: what he himself does. For he does not himself promise and another do it, which is now not to promise but to foretell. Therefore it is not from works but from him who calls, lest it be their own and not God's, and the reward be imputed not according to grace but according to debt, and so grace would no longer be grace. What almighty God promises, he himself accomplishes, nor does he fulfill his own work by external powers. Hence secure faith hopes for what it believes, and loves the Author, who will also bring about what he pledges. For if the Lord does not work the things he promises, but only foresees human choice, these should be called not his gifts but his predictions, as if someone were good from his own resources, apart from God. Because piety does not accept this, and it conflicts with the truth, grace does not restore, grace justifies. And this grace, calling, so fulfills its gifts in all, that of those whose leader it is, it also becomes their companion.

XLVI. On the sins of the faithful and the good deeds of the unfaithful.

Just as certain venial sins do not keep a righteous man from eternal life, without which this life is not lived, so no good works profit the wicked for eternal salvation, without which the life of even the worst man is found with difficulty. As certain slight stains in the splendor of the pious, a number of virtues which empties them, cannot stand in the way of eternal life, nor does a light fault obscure great merits: so too the wicked part often bears some good, which is easily overwhelmed by the mass of great evil. Nor does it profit the malignant to have savored something of right, if they have not worshiped the true and supreme God. Therefore there is one faith, one hope, and one love, by which a man is made righteous and becomes blessed. For the goods which remain in the wicked from the endowment of nature increase the weight of sin, they do not diminish it.

XLVII. On the effect of an evil will.

When an evil will receives the power to accomplish what it desires, it comes from the judgment of God, with whom there is no iniquity. For He punishes even in this way, and therefore not unjustly because secretly. Otherwise the wicked man does not know that he is being punished, unless when by manifest punishment he has felt unwillingly how great an evil it is that he committed willingly. When the desired power of sinning is given to the unjust man, so that by an evil mind he wickedly accomplishes what he desires, the wrath of God is great, by which He thus punishes many also, so that they perish by the very crimes in which they exult. For punishment grows secretly with long guilt, if nothing stands in the way of illicit desires.

XLVII. That one must fear lest sins spare not, and that it be not done which would harm the will.

XLVIII. On pride.

All vices avail only in evil deeds; pride alone is to be guarded against even in right actions. Every kind of vice avails only by its own act, and each sin bears its own appearance. Pride alone is armed with countless weapons, whose strength is such that it can give even to good deeds.

XLIX. On the unequal use of fortune.

It matters greatly what the use is, either of those things which are called prosperous or of those which are called adverse. For a good man is neither puffed up by good times nor broken by evil ones; but the evil man is therefore punished by this kind of misfortune because he is corrupted by prosperity. In the things of the world the use is not the same for all, nor do all bear all things with equal minds. For the good are not inflated by pleasant things, nor broken by harsh ones. But the true joys of unconquered faith delight them. But the lover of the earth and of the briefly flowering grass, whether he lacks what he desires or enjoys it, is wretched.

L. On the death of the good.

That death is not to be thought evil which a good life has preceded. For nothing makes a death evil except what follows it. Therefore those who must necessarily die need not greatly care what happens to make them die, but whither they are compelled to go by dying. All things profit the good, whom even death itself makes blessed, so that the highest rewards are their beginning. That end, then, is evil which punishment will follow, and which will be the gate of perpetual sorrow, in which tears and all labors will be consumed, so that all the signs of the old evil may perish.

LI. On purity, which one does not lose unwillingly.

Thus the holiness of the body is not lost when the holiness of the mind remains, even if the body is oppressed; just as the holiness of the body is lost when the purity of the mind is violated, even if the body is untouched. The mind, unharmed, loses nothing when the body is violated: the wounds of the flesh do not stain the unwilling. Nor does the will, not consenting, receive the guilt of the deed: to wish the crime harms more than to endure it. But all things thus run back into the inner chambers of the heart, so that often the mind is guilty without the flesh. While that which is kept apart from the untouched body is conceived alone, and works within in hidden mass.

LII. On the strength of endurance.

That mind is rightly to be called greater which chooses rather to bear a life full of hardship than to flee it, and to despise human judgment, especially the common sort, which is for the most part wrapped in the darkness of error, in comparison with the light and purity of conscience. He who has the strength to lead a life burdened by adversities, and prefers to endure evils rather than flee them, belongs to a far greater mind than one who, trembling, bears the unjust judgment of an ignorant people. For the upright mind, conscious of a pure heart, shines the more brightly the more it is worn down.

LIII. On the humility of the just.

Whatever evils are inflicted by unjust masters upon the just are not a punishment for a crime, but a trial of virtue. For the good man, even if he serves, is free. But the evil man, even if he reigns, is a slave; and not of one master, but—what is worse—of as many masters as he has vices. As often as the unjust lord it over the oppressed just, it is not a punishment of deserved guilt, but the virtue of faith grows under such a trial, and free hearts do not bear a servile yoke. The sinner alone serves badly; though he enjoy a vast kingdom, he is a wretched servant indeed, since the carnal mind, with a tyrant ruling over it too greatly, serves as many scepters as it is devoted to vices.

LIV. On the offering of vows.

No one would rightly vow anything to the Lord unless he received from Him what he vows. The best vows are vowed to God, of whom He Himself is the giver. That is worthy to ascend on high which comes from thence.

LV. On the essence of the Godhead.

Every substance that is not God is a creature; and whatever is not a creature is God. There is therefore no difference in the Godhead of the Trinity, since whatever is less than God is not God. The almighty nature is one, which created all things, and properly gave to all things to be what they are. And whatever is less than God is not God. The Father, the Word, and the Spirit of both, God is. For since there is one and the same essence of the three, it can never be either greater or lesser.

LVI. What sort of men God loves.

God loves us such as we shall be by His gift, not such as we are by our own merit. Such as we are formed to be by the Lord, we are loved; not such as we have shown ourselves to be by our merits. Let Him sanctify, teach, plant, water, cultivate, adorn: and make for Himself what is pleasing to Him forever. For nothing of man's is such that it can worthily be loved, unless the good Author perfects His own work.

LVII. On the timeless work of God.

The order of times exists in the eternal wisdom of God without time, nor are any things new with Him who made even the things that are to come. In the supreme Artificer there is an order of time without time, and in God the series of things does not vary. To the eternal Author all things are always present at once, and with Him whatever will be is already in the order of things made.

LVIII. On the principal cause of all things.

The will of God is the first and highest cause of all bodily and spiritual motions. For nothing is done visibly and sensibly which is not either commanded or permitted from the invisible and intelligible court of the supreme Commander, according to the ineffable justice of rewards and punishments, of graces and retributions, in this most vast and immense commonwealth, as it were, of the whole creation. God is the beginning of the world, by whom we are all moved, and the things which the Author permits or commands are done. Hence the unchanging order of changeable things serves the laws of the eternal Artificer. And each will proceeds to its own ends, nor is the just Arbiter absent from their various merits: ruling hearts, granting powers, forgiving sins, gentle to the submissive, fierce to the proud. So that neither punishment receive any evil man, nor glory any just man, except then with praise and honor of God.

LIX. On the ends of goods and evils.

God approves that innocence by which a man becomes innocent not through fear of punishment, but through love of justice. For he who does not sin out of fear, although he does no harm to one whom he wishes to harm, nevertheless harms himself very greatly, and though he abstains from an unjust deed, he is guilty by his will alone. Wishing to know in what part of things you are to be placed, examine what you fear, and what it is that you love. For all movements are born from this twofold fuel, and the sprouts answer to their own beginnings. And whatever good each person has chosen for himself in this time, this he shall receive by the judgment of the supreme King.

LX. On the joy of a Christian.

For a Christian the right cause of rejoicing is not the present age, but the future one. And temporal things must be used in such a way that they do not hinder eternal things: so that on the road by which pilgrims walk, this may please which leads to the fatherland. Let not the origin of the flesh drag back to the old man those who are reborn as angelic citizens and members of Christ.

The world indeed brings forth many good things for our use, and the rich earth serves us with a full bosom. But for the guests of the earth who are called above the stars of heaven, the palm of virtue is to scorn the enticements of the soil alone; and thus to run through the span of this present life, so that the very path may not become a snare for pilgrims. For those who decline to bear hardship for the sake of the Highest, greedy for earthly things, will receive the lowest things. LXI. On the ineffable excellence of the Godhead.

The supereminence of the Godhead exceeds not only the capacity of our customary speech but even that of our understanding. For God is more truly thought than spoken, and more truly is than is thought. Nor is it a small part of knowledge, if before we can know what God is, we can know what He is not. Indeed, there is no mind living in a mortal body that sees God with full knowledge. But the Author is shown by the wondrous signs of His works, and all created things sing of their Ruler. Therefore, although the glory and praise of God surpass and exceed the powers of speech and the vigor of the mind, we nevertheless rejoice in the office of heart and mouth, and it delights us so much to have submitted to so great a good. Hence let the virtue of faith arise, hence let the breath of love arise: what lies hidden, it exercises; what surpasses, it restores.

So too the proud devil seduced a proud man and led him to death; the humble Christ brought back an obedient man to life. For just as that one, lifted up, fell and cast down the one who consented to him, so this one, humbled, rose and raised up the believer. The light-bringer, an angel exalted by the immoderate honor of his nature, overthrew man from the very place from which he himself fell. But Christ, pitying the one deceived by the malice of the wicked one, granted him the power to return to life in himself, if he takes care not to serve the pacts of the proud enemy and strives to follow the form of the humble Lord. He who, remaining God in the bosom of the Father, is the all-creator, was born a true man from the holy Virgin. Thus, taking our body from the body of his Mother, he made God the origin of the flesh he took on; in him, through the bath, a new people, reborn from the power of faith, receives a heavenly beginning, retaining nothing of the first man but full of the second, to be glorified in the splendor of its head.

LXIII (otherwise LXIIJ). On true blessedness.

All the blessed have what they will, though not all who have what they will are immediately blessed. But those are immediately wretched who either do not have what they will, or have what they do not rightly will. Therefore a right will is nearer to blessedness, even when it has not obtained what it desires, than a depraved will, even if it has obtained what it coveted. The will is not always truly fulfilled, since often the desires are evil in unjust minds. Therefore one who desires rightly, even if he has not obtained it, is nonetheless good by persisting in willing the good. But the depraved man, if he does not have in act what he bears in mind, is as wretched as if he obtained what he desires.

LXIV (otherwise LXIII). What it is to be with God.

Great is man's misery when he is not with him without whom he cannot be. For he is in him, and without doubt is not without him; and yet if he does not remember him, nor understand him, nor love him, he is not with him. By the majesty of God is enclosed all that anywhere exists, without which nothing of things can stand or be. If man serves him rightly, he clings to him as near; if he recoils, he lives in wretched exile. Thus the Lord distinguishes all things by a just order: that the highest things are for the good, the lowest prepared for the evil.

LXV. On the Incarnation of the Word of God.

The divinity of the Word, equal to the Father, became partaker of our mortality, not from its own nature but from ours, so that we too might be made partakers of his divinity, not from ours but from his. The almighty Father, the Son, and the nurturing Spirit are one Godhead, equal in three persons; this Godhead has made it possible for the human race, laid low by the deceit of the wicked one, to return to life by this way: that Christ, as Redeemer of our nature and of our cause, should die as a mortal without diminishing what he was; and that through the form of a servant he might void the rights of the tyrant, and conquer death by an innocent death. Hence the Word, inserted into flesh and receiving flesh, neither confounds himself with the body nor doubles himself: thus, with heavenly power increasing the nature of man, man might be a light in the true light. When he absorbed the powers of death by a draught of life, what had been subject to falling became eternal.

LXVI. On the same.

The catholic faith believes and proclaims that the Lord Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. For both are written, and both are true. Whoever asserts that Christ is God only denies the medicine by which he is healed. Whoever asserts that Christ is man only denies the power by which he was created. Therefore receive both, faithful and upright soul. Christ is God, and Christ is man. What kind of God is Christ? Equal to the Father, one with the Father. What kind of man is Christ? The son of a virgin, having mortality from man, not having iniquity.

Whoever you are who think contrary to the eternal counsel, and deny that the Word remained in our flesh, you seek to undo the work of divine loving-kindness, and you desire to despoil the world of its hope. For who will save anyone from that coming judgment? Or who will be free from the crime of the first man, if the divinity of the Word is not implanted in our flesh, or if Christ was the shadow of a false body? Whose is the child born from the womb of the untouched Virgin? What nature grew with years and increased with food? In what offspring did Abram believe the father of the world to be? And what stock of his is it that sanctifies all things? What royal race is at once also priestly? And who is the same one, both son of David and Lord, who, as Redeemer, deigned to bear a single hope for the slaves of sin and those bound by the chain of death? He, receiving the flesh of our race together with death, opposed it to our enemy, so that he might conquer for us, and, having put off the flesh, struck down the ruling enemy, so that the prey, clothed anew, might take up a new palm.

LXVII. With what hatred evil people are to be hated.

Hatred is rightly directed when it lacks neither justice nor knowledge—that is, when you neither hate people because of their vices nor love vices because of the people. Rightly, therefore, in evil people I hate the malice, and I love the creature, so that neither is nature condemned because of vice nor is vice loved because of nature. The wise mind, willing right things and a lover of what is honorable, judges that certain people are worthy of its hatred. Yet it does not drive these wholly away from its covenant, knowing how to separate the nature of those who err from their vices. Thus it is indulgent to its own kind, so as to wish that sins be cut off, and to condemn the crimes, not the humans.

LXVIII. On the toil of those who invent falsehood.

The inventions of falsehood are difficult and laborious. But one who wishes to speak the truth does not labor. For the good are more at peace than the wicked, and the words of the truthful are more straightforward than the fabrications of the deceitful. The deceitful are always tormented by bitter cares, and an evil mind never has the joys of peace, while with trembling fashioning it licks at slippery lies, consuming all its time in the art of evil. But the simple mind, free from any contrivance of iniquity, loves nothing unjust, practices nothing unpeaceful. The follower of truth will obtain serene light, since the liar is night and grief to himself.

LXIX. On the same. Called to the fatherland of life out of the valley of night, ascend the way of light by the steps of the virtues. The steep and narrow path leads to heavenly things; the downward and broad way leads to death. By it the deceitful wisdom of the proud world walks, and, mocked by its own devices, it falls, and while it pursues the evil pleasures of the bodily sense, blind, it is banished far from the true light; nor is it helped when adorned with the semblance of false virtues. The mind ignorant of truth loses whatever it does. Therefore let the wise man know God, and love him with all his marrow, and in him let the lover love himself also. Let him be good and just, let him be truthful and kind, let him be the form and mirror, the light and image of God. Made new in Christ, and now stripped of the old flesh, let him leave the vile earth behind in his mind. Wherever he is placed as part of the sacred temple, whatever is in the body of the head will be great.

LXX. On the divine Scriptures.

Good are the deep mysteries of God in the holy Scriptures, which are covered for this reason, that they may not grow cheap; for this reason are sought, that they may exercise us; for this reason are opened, that they may feed us. Although in the sacred books, which you labor to know, very many things, reader, are dark and obscure to you, yet do not cease to watch over them with holy zeal. These things exercise your mind, trained in good morals. The fruit which a longer hope brings forth is more welcome; the price of the things set before you is of less value. Even mysteries that are covered delight the mind: he who gave you to seek will add that you may find.

LXXI. On the Lord's Prayer.

When the Lord Jesus Christ prayed with bloody sweat, he signified that from his whole body, which is the Church, the sufferings of the martyrs would flow forth. Preparing to bear his punishment and death now near, and to implant invincible faith in his own, he poured from his body bloody drops in prayer, and the sweat of the Lord was the price of the world. Nor could the harshness of the cross terrify him who willed it, for whom was the glory of the flesh that was to reign. But that blood pledged equal honors to the saints, the martyrs who would arise from his whole body. For when the sacred harvest has filled the circle of the earth, every harvest will be from this one seed.

LXXII. On the reception of the sacraments.

The unworthy man takes the sacrament of godliness to his own judgment. For it cannot go well with one who receives badly what is good. It is a great protection to be fed with the sacred offering, if no crimes weigh upon the heart of the participant. For whoever presumes on things that are good and does not flee from things that are evil doubles for himself the weight of his sin.

LXXIII. On Praising God.

Let him who praises God in the miracles of His benefits praise Him also in the terrors of His vengeance. For He both allures and threatens. If He did not allure, there would be no exhortation; if He did not threaten, there would be no correction. Let him who praises the Lord for the creation of the world, and proclaims the Artisan in the beauty of things, praise Him also who threatens eternal death and flames, and let him fear the judgment of the just King. Let hope not waver at all concerning the promises; the King will give all that He prepares, and grace will be greater than merits; if the guilty hasten to break the knots of sin before the day of death, while there is room for pardon.

LXXIV. On Hastening Conversion.

The remedies of conversion to God are not to be put off with any delays, lest the time for correction be lost through slowness. For He who promised pardon to the penitent did not pledge tomorrow to the one who puts it off. Let him who plans to be converted to upright conduct and to live holily in Christ hasten what he desires. Let the obstacles of vain things yield to virtue, lest slow faith lose the time of its vow. What does it profit to prolong the causes of sickness? Why does today's salvation wait for a doubtful tomorrow? We know that pardon is not to be denied to the corrected, but the last day is known to none of us.

LXXV. On Fear.

All things that are feared are reasonably avoided; God must be feared in such a way that from Him we flee for refuge to Him. It is useful for the prudent man to beware of worldly adversities, and to flee what he foresees must be avoided. But when by the merit of sin the hand of the Almighty, enclosing all things, presses the guilty man everywhere, the one safe refuge for the one who fears is God Himself; departing from Him, let him return, lest he perish. For to be converted to the Lord is the most certain life, and to seek peace with the One offended is the only salvation. He who terrifies spares; He who strikes, Himself heals. Do you wish to live? Submit yourself to Him whom you fear.

LXXVI. On Virginity.

Virginity of the flesh is an untouched body; virginity of the soul is uncorrupted faith. Virginity of the flesh is possessed with the body intact; virginity of the soul is undefiled faith, without which the care of bodily chastity profits nothing; but the piety of the mind increases both goods.

LXXVII. On the Manner of Possessing.

We shall be proven to have many superfluous things among our possessions, if we retain only what is necessary. For nothing suffices those who seek vain things; and he is in a certain manner a retainer of others' goods, who keeps uselessly for the poor what would profit them. It is a great sin, the immoderate love of possessing, and desiring more than suffices for life. For what clothes us, what feeds us, the care of salvation, if the mind is free from vain things, does not burden. If therefore any things remain over, of which use has no need, let them benefit the weak and help the needy. For whoever greedily stores up what ought not to be spent, what he gives to no one, he has stolen from the poor.

LXXVIII. i On Riches.

Those who are rich from iniquity are in great want: they do not have the wealth of justice and the treasures of wisdom. But those who serve the Lord acquire those goods which cannot perish. When the unjust rich man rejoices in earthly riches, he does not know that he is wretched, lacking true goods. For what will there be that he cannot lose in a single moment of time by the worldly condition? Even if, with adversities ceasing, all things spare him, still by the law of death he must be made destitute. But the goods of the just, subject to no losses, do not fear enemies, thefts, fires, or the sea. Wisdom keeps its own property unharmed, and peace and faith do not lose their merit. The whole substance of the virtues is always safe; no one takes away the gifts of Christ against His will.

LXXIX (otherwise LXXVI). On True Goodness.

It is not enough to abstain from evil unless one does what is good. And it is too little to teach no one, unless, eager to profit many. Worthy of praise indeed is he who leads a life without crime, and guards against whatever would harm himself. But piety is not content to be confined within this limit, nor is it enough for the just man to have abstained from forbidden things. The greater care of the good man is to relieve the labors of his brethren, and to bring desired help to the sorrowful: to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, loose the bound, reconcile the discordant to himself, and whatever consolations wretched men seek, to bring these forth, as far as possible, from a pious heart. That he may be truly desirous of the right and truly kind, let him flee what is evil and do what is good.

LXXX. On the Impunity of the Wicked.

When a sinner sins, he is not therefore unseen by the Lord because the punishment of the evildoer is deferred; but a heavier sentence is decreed against him to whom even correction itself is denied. The transgressor rejoices in his sin, having been polished off unpunished, if the debt of punishment is not brought upon the guilty. As though the crimes of men offended the Thunderer in no way, or lay hidden from the knowledge of the Most High. But then the wrath to be feared is heavier for those greedy for forbidden things, when the lashes of justice withdraw themselves. For what will be the disease, that it shall not rule over him to whom heavenly aid now denies medicine?

LXXXI. On Righteous Joy.

He can never be defrauded of his delights, whose joy is Christ. For it is eternal exultation which rejoices in an eternal good. They make men happy, and always blessed, the joys born of the true and highest good. For the brief and perishable pleasure from the world's riches has in it the seeds of perpetual death. Let it not please you to submit your mind to vain things, and to burden your greedy mind with pestilential foods. Let a clean and wise heart be nourished by the fruit of virtue, and let the love of Christ reign in our breast, with which once filled, it shall never be emptied of him. The rivers of the eternal fountain shall be eternal.

LXXXII. What joins man to God.

To God, who is everywhere, we are near or far not by places but by actions, since just as unlikeness separates, so imitation joins us to him. God fills and encompasses the whole circuit of the world, nor does he cease to be present in any place. From him is far and exceedingly remote whoever lacks the light of sincere faith. If, with night driven off, he shines with its rays, filled with divine light he will be light. Therefore it is not the circle of lands, not the impassable waters of the sea, that must be traversed by wandering circuit, so that one may approach the ruler and author of all things, whom a pious mind always holds in the temple of the heart. As the unlike man recedes into horrid deserts, so by the merit of his life the like man is near to him.

LXXXIII. That the whole life of unbelievers is sin.

The whole life of unbelievers is sin, and nothing is good without the highest good. For where the knowledge of eternal and unchangeable truth is lacking, virtue is false even in the best morals. Although many things remain to a man after his first wounds, which make this life worthy of praise according to the learned: yet if to a clear intellect and the love of uprightness the fountain of the highest good is lacking, watering the hearts subject to it, the useless shoot of all fruits withers, and false honor is not protected by true light. For God, being unknown, and virtue, being unbelieved, which by true art leads to the highest good, does not allow the mind to rise to the heavenly kingdoms, blocked as it is by vain things and weighed down by things that perish.

Through all the paths of the world, worldly wisdom wanders astray, and adds to the darkness the deeds it performs without light.

LXXXIV. II. On the Sabbath.

He celebrates the Sabbath badly who rests from good works. But leisure from iniquity ought to be continuous, because a good conscience makes a man not restless but calm. He does not observe the legal Sabbaths with right worship who believes that the work of piety is forbidden on them. No day does not condemn unjust men in their deeds; all times are suited to righteousness. Nor are holy leisures corrupted by virtues; only let hearts free from sins be at leisure.

LXXXV. On true freedom.

Slavery before God is always free, since it is not necessity that serves him, but charity. There is no freedom better, nor power greater, than to serve God, whom love serves well. The will, a friend of his dominion, is placed without the yoke: it thrives by affection, it does not groan under command.

LXXXVI. On pride.

The vice by which man was first overcome, this he conquers last. For when he has surpassed all sins, there remains the danger that the mind, conscious of its own good, may glory in itself rather than in the Lord. The same vice by which man was first driven into death by the malice of the wicked one, this stirs up his last wars once the battles are done. So that when he has taken up lofty palms and bright crowns, and has subjected the enemy beneath his feet, he may wish to assign the triumph to his own virtue, not to the Lord, whose gift and work it was. In this one thing he who is not overcome always overcomes; when he deigns to put his hand beneath, no one falls.

LXXXVII. On loving God.

Man's labor cannot be ended unless he loves that which cannot be taken from him. You who wish to overcome the labors of a hazardous life, love that which the true lover always possesses. Dangers hostile to earthly things press on, battles rage for losses and for gains. And nothing among carnal desires is at peace; neither is there peace for the anxious, nor limit for the covetous. The mind is safe in God alone; whoever refuses to forsake Him will never be without riches in the eternal good.

LXXXVIII. On the vice of flattery.

The tongues of flatterers bind souls in sins. For it delights one to do those things in which not only is no reprover feared, but even a praiser is heard. The flattering tongue heaps up the vice of the sinner, and by praise binds the one delighted by his crime. So that there may be no care to restore health to the fallen, the honor of the evildoer soothes the guilty one while he is persuaded of evil. Rather let the free voice of a friend be present to correct, and let it not allow blind poisons to creep through the books. Nor let the sick man, trusting the deceitful words of the physician, love the harmful wounds of the praised pestilence.

LXXXIX. On martyrs not baptized.

Those who also, without having received the washing of regeneration, die for the confession of Christ—it avails them as much for abolishing sins as if they were cleansed in the font of baptism. If one dies to the world, reborn from the divine font, and becomes new in life, who is buried in water: they were not deprived of the sacred baptism of Christ, for whom the wave of their own blood was the font. And whatever the mystical form of the laver brings, the glory of martyrdom fulfilled it all.

XC. On forgiveness, of which even the just have need.

Our righteousness, although it is true, because of the true end of the good to which it is referred, is yet so great in this life that it consists rather in the remission of sins than in the perfection of virtues. Great indeed is the excellence of the saints in many, whose souls the grace of heaven nourishes with its dew. But while the mind suffers certain ills of the sick body, and outward things stir conflict within; victory is never so perfectly won in battle that a man enjoys true peace securely. Amid discordant motions the contagions creep, and even the joys of virtues have a wound. So that long experience may make it known to all, that this is not full righteousness in this time: unless the Lord by his mercy washes away the delights of his people; and giving the gifts of virtues, grants forgiveness.

XCI. On being cautious about the unknown works of God.

Even when the causes of divine works are unknown, we are not wholly ignorant, since we know that the Almighty does not act without reason in matters where the weak human mind cannot give a reason. It is not possible for human intellects to know the secret causes of divine works. Yet he does not gaze upon hidden things without any insight who knows that it has pleased God for many things to lie hidden. In this, the mind imbued with faith learns all things at once, and through the appearance of works looks up to the craftsman, who fashions forms, places, times, and motions for things by his own measures, numbers, and weights. Therefore let not a prying care toil over things shut away, since to such a one it is granted to know and possess all things in Christ.

XCII. On not despairing of sinners.

One must not despair of the wicked, but rather pray for them all the more earnestly. For the number of the saints has always been increased from the number of the wicked. As care of healing must be provided for those oppressed by disease, as long as life remains in the sick body, so to the depraved, and those weighed down by a great mass of vices, the piety of holy prayers must be applied. So that, while it is possible for the hearts of the wicked to be changed, the love of light may shudder at the wandering ways of night, and the grace of Christ may give a new mind to the converted, by justifying which men are made good.

XCIII. On seeking aids in peace.

In the tranquility of peace, the doctrine of wisdom must be grasped, which is with difficulty recognized amid the whirlwinds of tribulations. Nor are those aids easily found in adversity which have not been sought in peace.

As long as the world's crises do not disturb the mind, and no battles press upon the day of peace with harsh constraint, it is fitting to exercise faith with divine weapons and to forestall all threats by counsel. Wisdom will imbue the mind with tranquility and free it from cares, and will be a guest of the calm heart. For what has not been conceived in a quiet heart cannot be acquired in a savage whirlwind.

XCIV. On the goods that no one loses unwillingly.

A man can lose temporal goods unwillingly; but he never loses eternal goods unless he is willing. Every good bound up with the world and born of time can be lost on whatever condition. And although vigilant care may resist losses, nevertheless a man is often despoiled of his own possessions. But the goods that are truly goods, and are not held by any end, he always has, whoever always desires to have them. Nor can a will supported by Christ suffer violence, in which love, by persisting, conquers all things.

XCV. On the remedies of tribulations.

One who faithfully supplicates God for the necessities of this life is both mercifully heard and mercifully not heard. For the physician knows better than the sick man what is useful for the weak. But if he asks for what God commands and promises, what he seeks will wholly come to pass. For charity receives what grace prepares. Amid the conflicting evils of the worldly life, by which the Lord's people are often chastised, let those who labor under the varied calamity of storms know that they bear the just scourges of God; and let them pray to Him with all groaning and lamentation, that He may aid the wretched with such help as He knows.

For the sick man will not be healed by his own will, nor will he himself lay down laws for the physician. Let him probe the diseased inner parts with the healing right hand, and lighten the organs weighed down by grievous plague. Indeed, accustomed evils cannot be driven back without pain: but the sweet things which they have harmed, bitter things renew. Let the character of his ways shine forth, and with vices put to flight by virtue, let the court of God reject the kingdom of sin. The just punishments of the pious King lead toward pardon. Brief anger will give long joys to the upright.

XCVI. On the inward war.

In this life it is a pious action to worship God and to fight in his grace against internal vices, and not to yield to them when they urge or compel us even to unlawful things; and where one does yield, to seek indulgence, and that one may not yield, to implore the help of God with the affection of religious piety. But in paradise, if no one had sinned, there would be no action of piety in fighting vices, because it would belong to felicity to have no vices and to remain so. Never are wars, never are crises lacking to the good, and the pious mind always has someone with whom to contend. The things that delight the flesh are harmful to the holy heart; the body wages battles against the law of the mind. Enemies strike from without with various motions, within is a civil and social evil. In order that the allurements of the world and its vices may be resisted, the power of the bodily man must be mortified. But what mind will hold its handmaid under rightful law, so that it may reign over the subdued flesh in its duties; unless it serves the Most High King, how shall it, from being willing, become also able?

XCVII. That evil has no nature.

All things were made through the Word, and without Him was made nothing. Since therefore all natures were made through the Word of God, iniquity was not made through Him. Because iniquity is no substance, and sin is not a nature, but a defect of nature, desiring that which is not of its own order. Through the Word, the one almighty God founded all things, from whom no nature of evil was created. And what the rich wisdom of the Word did not make has no place in the condition of things. Therefore there is no substance of vices, and no life that nourishes the body and its own matter. But when freedom departs from the right order, and good things do not keep their own measure, in guilt and vice the wandering motion turns toward opposites, and it becomes evil to have deserted the true way. If one should hasten to return to it with the whole heart, there will be no error of the neglected boundary: and the whole punishment of sin, once blotted out, will perish, when God restores what was founded to wholeness.

XCVIII. Concerning petitions contrary to God. When something evil is asked of God, by giving He is angered, by not giving He shows mercy.

When God does not grant the effect of wicked prayers, He grants much in that He denies what would harm. He does not wish those who err in desire to go astray in deed; were He angry, He would allow what in His calm He forbids. Let the suppliant learn to rejoice in a happy refusal, and begin to drive from his heart what he desired. And let him know that God spares him, since, when about to fall, he deserved not to be heard, lest he fall.

XCIX. On the judgments of God.

In no way are the judgments of God to be compared with the judgments of men, who is not to be doubted to be just even when He does what seems unjust to men. Human judgment, which must often be deceived, does not always receive the rule of justice. But the Lord's power is in all things equitable and true, from whose sight nothing remote lies hidden. Let such a judge be praised, feared, and loved, who truly remains just and good: recalling the hostile, forgiving all things to the converted, and by granting pardon to the wicked making them good. Therefore let not the mind, ignorant of the truth, boldly blame what has pleased the will of the supreme judge. But let ignorance submit itself to the just King, who can never will what is not good.

C. On restraining anger.

To no one who is angry does his anger seem unjust; therefore one must quickly return from all indignation to the gentleness of mildness. For a stubborn emotion easily passes into hatred of him whom one does not quickly forgive. No one judges the motions of his own mind to be unfair, and what men desire, they think they desire rightly. Therefore the mind must be recalled from anger by swift peace, lest times give strength to savage hatreds. Let hearts that spare themselves forgive offenses, for there is no one who does not need pardon; mindful of this, we both give and seek it amid the vain things of the world, in all causes.

CI. On the end of the saints.

The cultivator of justice, lover of the divine and of peace, whom the blessed life calls to the highest good: let him strive constantly to climb the right-hand paths, despising the harmful plains of the left-hand way. It is safer to endure the hard labors of the world and to suffer the savage battles of a hostile enemy than to submit the mind, conquered by pleasant services,

and to subdue their necks to the servile yoke. In the waning time of life the use of honor is not long, and false joys flow away in swift lapse. Therefore the wise man will consider the end of his own life, and will look to the path he runs, whither it leads. For those entangled in the world have their portion with the prince of the world; but for the servants of Christ, Christ himself will be their glory. CI [XCIX]. On chastising the desires of the flesh. Among the bodily senses, and the dying members, the mind suffers many things from the lodging of the flesh: seeking things contrary to the life by which it lives, it wishes to dissolve the law of the mind by its own law. But let the prudent prelate learn from the command of the eternal King to bridle the rebellious handmaid; and receiving the true light from the light above, let him put to flight the night of sin from the dwelling of the heart. For since God created all things good, and the very region of our exile is beautiful with its own adornment, hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell rejoice to offer on every side what pleases. And the use of the present time becomes harmful to man, if, being captured, lower things bind him with blandishments. Let the wise mind therefore strive toward the high citadels, and grow accustomed to become blessed by the highest goods; now already conceive the delights of the promised kingdom, and hold by virtue and faith what you desire to be. And do not believe that you run in vain toward a doubtful hope; look upon the offspring of your nature in Christ. If you do not doubt that you have been received by him, you will always be a whole man in the body of the Head. Only let you be willing to observe the commands of the teacher by his nod, who by his help precedes what he says in word. CIII. On the height of faith, hope, and charity.

In the Godhead there are no degrees, measure, and times; and what is the same has neither greater nor less. Far be removed bodily masses and forms; the highest Virtue lacks boundaries and spaces. What the Father is, this the Word of the Father is at once, this the Spirit of both. This is one God, and one faith, through which the hope of true goods is not uncertain, and it climbs the lofty way with fire of love.

And having foretasted the sweetness of the dew from above, it rejoices to be fed on the apostolic teachings. You therefore who do not wish to incur unworthy cares, beware of being entangled in vain and perishable things. The brevity of mortal life does not require much; the use of scanty time needs few things. Wishing to be, desiring to rejoice, seeking to know hidden things, lest base things hold you, seek the highest. Take delight in God as king, be in heavenly things, and what you follow in hope, hold as entrusted to you in love. Let no traces of the first man remain in you, nor let the image of the new man bear the form of the old. Rejoice, recognizing that you are reborn in the flesh of the Word; if you are a part of him, Christ will be your part. He, so that you would not read the evil joys of the world to be condemned, made himself the promised way for you to the kingdom.

CIV. On confessing the one God.

What the Father does with Christ, Christ does; and what Christ does with the Father, the Father does; nor does inseparable charity, majesty, and power do anything apart. As the Lord himself says, I and the Father are one. Since the Father is always in the Word, and the Word in the Father, and there is one Spirit of the Word and of the Father; so concerning the three persons you must not doubt, but confess, as learned faith does, one God. The Word, begotten of the Father's heart, creates and rules all things, nor is there anything that it does without the Father. For the motion of both is one, the reason of willing is one, equal power, the same Spirit, one love.

CV. On the same.

The Son of God, being God, has life in himself, as the Father has it, not obtained by participation but by birth. For the Father, who is life, begot life; nor does the essence of the begetter and the begotten differ in anything, since the Son is so from the Father that, of coeternal equality, he is indeed not one person, but the Godhead is one. Thus God is great, is mighty of himself, and remains in himself, whose highest and proper attribute is always to be what he is. For true light shines from true light, so that acknowledging the Begotten it may know the Unbegotten. The Godhead of the three is one, one essence for all. The same is the Spirit of the Word and of the Father. No work is separate, no power is unequal; in all things there is one principle, not three.

CVI. On seeking God perseveringly.

Let no one of the faithful, however much he has profited, say, It is enough for me.

For whoever has said, "I have remained," and has stuck fast in the way before the end, will not persevere all the way to the end.

When a devout mind, overcome in the praise of God, labors, rejoice that so great a work rightly conquers you. And know that you have drawn something of the strength from above, if what you desire and understand is not enough for itself. Seek the good without end, a good without end, and persist once it is found: let such vows have no limit in seeking. For one who now believes he needs no gift, not desiring to grow, grows tepid and loses what he has attained.

ADMONITION CONCERNING THE CHRONICLE OF ST. PROSPER.

So that no portion of the Works of St. Prosper of Aquitaine may be missing from this edition, which we desire to come forth as correct and as complete as could possibly be done, it remains to present, from the true and undoubted labors of our Author, the Chronicle or Chronicles (for thus the ancients variously cite that work) distinguished by his name: which book, as a genuine offspring of Prosper, all until now (with the exception of a very few) have held.

The objections of those few learned men who have chosen to assign this work to someone other than our Aquitanus are solidly refuted by the most learned Antelmius, the recent critic and vindicator of the Sermons of the holy Fathers Leo and Prosper (Dissertation 8, on the Chronicle or Chronicles of St. Prosper, page 371), of whom mention has been made by us more than once. And first indeed the authorities of the ancients that are adduced assert that Prosper is the author of the Chronicle. Now those men are of great name, and witnesses greater, as they say, than any exception, whom a forged inscription cannot possibly have deceived.

The first in order of time is Victorius, or Victorinus, who is to be heard the more attentively because from his name he reveals himself as a fellow countryman and compatriot of our Aquitanus, from his zeal and profession as a chronographer, or calculator of times, and from his age as his contemporary; and finally from his deeds and connections he is most probably joined to St. Prosper by acquaintance and familiarity. He, by the command of Pope Leo, to whom Prosper was a counselor and secretary, with Hilary, at that time deacon of the Roman Church and afterward pontiff, overseeing it, composed a Paschal Cycle with most careful investigation. Now he speaks thus in the preface to Hilary: Having reviewed the faithful histories of the ancients, namely of the blessed Eusebius of Caesarea...

In the Chronicles, and in the prologue, and accordingly in those things which were added to the same Chronicles by the priest Jerome of holy memory, through whom they are also approved to have been translated into the Latin language; and also in those things which are shown to have been supplied by the holy and venerable man Prosper, up to the consulate of Valentinian Augustus the eighth and Anthemius, I found from the beginning of the world to the flood... From the time of him (Ninus) public writers of deeds began to exist. Wherefore the aforesaid venerable man Eusebius began the history of the Chronicles from this point, wishing the trustworthiness of his diligence to be weighed also by the contemporary account of worldly annals, and to seek out even the writings of the Gentiles as witnesses of the truth he professed, content that past ages be explained by the sacred volumes, making known only in summary the ages of generations backward through the text of the prologue, and comprehending them equally in the fullness of the work under the recapitulation of years. Following whose course, the venerable man Prosper composed these same things in the same Chronicles with this same distinguished brevity, so that their beginning might be begun from the world's origin. These things Victorius of Aquitaine, who declares that in this work he has followed no others as leaders than Eusebius, Jerome, and Prosper, whom he calls holy and venerable, and then a venerable man, by which or a similar designation our Aquitanus is marked among the ancients: lest anyone suspect that he wished to indicate someone other than his own countryman Victorius...

We submit Gennadius of Marseille to Victor of Aquitaine; and just as that earlier author in age lends authority to his assertion, so too the testimony of the latter, about forty years afterward, carefully reviewing the Catalogue of Illustrious Men, secures strength for it, in that he expressly determines the author of the Chronicles to be Prosper of Aquitaine and an opponent of the Massilians. And lest it be doubted that this also slipped from him by chance, he retracts that very point in two distinguished places. For not being content, when speaking of Prosper in the same chapter, to have ascribed to him as the first offspring of his talent the work of the Chronicles in these words: "He is said to have composed many things, among which I have read the CHRONICLES entitled with his name, containing from the creation of the first man, according to the faithful [account] of the divine Scriptures, up to the death of the Emperor Valentinian and the captivity of the city of Rome made by Genseric king of the Vandals"—as if, I say, to have handed down these things had not been enough for him, and, foreseeing the doubts of posterity, he had striven to forestall them—after two chapters, having a discussion concerning the already-praised Victor, he brings forth these words to his mind: "He composed a Paschal cycle with most careful investigation, after the four earlier men who had composed one; that is, Hippolytus, Eusebius, Jerome, AND PROSPER." But not even thus are these things to be passed over.

For when we hear Gennadius asserting that he read the Chronicles of Prosper, which contain the course of events from the creation of the first man, in accordance with the faith of the divine Scriptures, and that he carried them down to the death of Valentinian, we must recall that Victor has already made the point that Prosper, following the thread of Eusebius, who likewise began his history, or chronological calculations, from the beginning of the world, composed these same excellent matters in these same Chronicles with the same remarkable brevity, so that their beginning was started from the world's origin... and furthermore he continued them down to the consulate of the Emperor Valentinian. Since these things indeed fit together so wonderfully with one another, it is now certain and established for us that no other Chronicles were supplied to Gennadius than those which Victor himself used, and that they ultimately set forth the true author, not a false one: inasmuch as for that work, in the hands of each most diligent writer, an equal and single outline is found.

Let a writer succeed the calculator and historian, one to be commended for both pursuits, Cassiodorus the senator: although he alone perhaps by himself [possessed] wool, as much as others would not claim authority for themselves before him; nevertheless he ought to be heard before other later writers as their leader and guarantor: because he himself, nearly equal to Prosper, versed in the lucubrations of Gennadius, and the compiler of another Chronicle, was often and again unable to handle and resume the lucubrations of that man; so that even from this necessity a greater and more powerful faculty of distinguishing his offspring ought to have accrued to him. For he, in the chapter of the book On Divine Instruction, has: "Saint Prosper also brought the Chronicles down from Adam to the times of Genseric and the plundering of Rome."

And when we stop at the testimonies of these three for those who propose [them], a fourth presents himself to our view; and he so noble and venerable that his assertion seems unable to be passed over without injury to him, and without diminution of the rights of Prosper and of our own. And this one indeed is another distinguished calculator and historian, namely Isidore of Seville, in Baetica after his brother Leander, bishop at the close of the sixth century; whose assertion in book VI, chapter [—], of the Origins we read: "Hippolytus, bishop in the times of the emperor Alexander, first composed the Paschal cycle.

After him the most approved authors Eusebius of Caesarea, Theophilus of Alexandria, Prosper also, by birth an Aquitanian, and Victorius, having expanded the reckoning of that same festival, published manifold cycles. This careful writer, by the faith of his own age and his own, both applied and confirmed of his own accord that which in the preceding century had been contained in these Chronicles; indeed, we are the more anxious to bring forth more concerning other later matters. For both for this one and for the preceding we have omitted Victor of Tunnuna, bishop in Africa, who is attested to have continued the history from the eighteenth consulate of Theodosius the Younger, where Prosper left off (since certainly he did not have a more expanded final copy of him). John, abbot of Biclarum, continuing this Victor also from Justin the Younger, where he had ceased, does not omit at the beginning of his work to praise those who had gone before: Eusebius, Jerome, and also Prosper, a religious man, and Victor of Tunnuna. These things we do not pursue.

For from these things it is clearer than the noonday light that Prosper, namely the Aquitanian, handed down his Chronicle to the records of letters, which both the most versed writers of his own time used in the cause of the Church, and other discerning men thereafter, without the taint of a supposititious title, represented and commended the same by its own genuine lineaments.

Since from what has been said it is sufficiently established that Prosper wrote the Chronicle, and that it, marked by no fault of supposition, became known to his contemporaries and fellow authors as pure and genuine: it will be recognized as beyond doubt that the Chronicle which is circulated under the name of Prosper, and is presented by us below, is that very one which the Aquitanian composed, and not another entirely different from it: indeed, that the writer of this Chronicle, Prosper, is in no way different from the adversary of the Collator and of the Massilians. And this indeed is sufficiently argued from the consensus of nearly all the learned; moreover it will remain unshaken for him, when there are read in the author cited above the few and light difficulties of that dissertation against the works of Saints Leo and Prosper, arising from two or three errors of calculation, which either ought not to be considered errors, or could easily have been admitted by Prosper himself, or perhaps crept in from no other source than the scribes and copyists: moved by which, however, certain persons wished to go over to a different opinion. But if we attempt to report these things here, the bounds of our admonition will become longer than would be fitting.

Furthermore, when we assert above that Prosper carried his Chronicle down from the beginning of the world, this must not be taken as though he had set himself the task of preparing a new work according to the calculations of a new and more exact chronology. Rather, in composing that same Chronicle he wished to present himself as nothing other than an epitomizer of Eusebius, as Victorius is found already to have borne excellent witness concerning him, whose words were cited above: "The venerable man Prosper followed the course of Eusebius, and composed these same matters in the same Chronicles with this same excellent brevity, so that their beginning should be set from the first origin of the world." These things expressly testify to the matter and prove that the Aquitanian abridged these same Chronicles of Eusebius with excellent brevity. But the very work of Prosper demonstrates this same point. For, as Sirmond opportunely notes in his Historia Praedestinationis: this Chronicle is a mere epitome of the Eusebian Chronicle, as far as it extends with the supplement of Jerome; whence they sometimes call it the Epitome of the Chronicles, or Excerpts from the Chronicles, because Prosper plucked everything from there, except that he inserted into his own places the consular fasti, which they lacked, from the baptism of Christ—or, as he himself calls it, from his manifestation—and also wove together the remaining matters thereafter to the end of the work from his own material.

Yet even if he undertook only the role of an abbreviator, and in the earlier part of his Chronicles wished to condense Eusebius and Jerome, he did not so closely follow their footsteps as never to cast them aside, and to compose phrases and periodic clauses from his own resources; indeed, he also supplied other calculations. Whence it should always be reckoned a rich addition to the integrity of Ecclesiastical History, that this monument, preserved so long amid denser shadows, has at last come down to us unharmed without any loss. But concerning the other part of the Chronicle which the same Prosper continued, where Jerome completed the continuation drawn from Eusebius, there is no need for us to remark that it was illustrated by Prosper himself with various additions, since the published codices represent some as more augmented than others, certainly in accordance with the authority of the written manuscript, whose copies, found later, carry the history down to the year 455, that is, up to the Vandal plundering of the City, whereas others had set a limit to the same work eleven years earlier, in the consulship of Theodosius Augustus for the eighteenth time and of Albinus.

The most learned Duchesnius had first published Saint Prosper's Chronicle enlarged by ten years in volume one of the Histor. Frans. Then Father Labbaeus, of the Society of Jesus, published the same work complete in the first volume of his Bibliotheca nova Manuscriptorum. We have here followed his edition as fuller than the others, not however omitting the variant readings of other editions where it seemed necessary.

Finally, we read that it was observed by a man most expert in ecclesiastical affairs that Saint Prosper brought his Chronicle back to the anvil, as they say, three times, and three times, if it be permitted to speak thus, published it: namely in the year 433, again in the year 445, and lastly in the year 455. And this is inferred from the fact that in several books there is read a certain compendium of the whole chronology up to the year 433. Yet the Scaligerian edition presents it up to the year 445, where it sets an end to the whole Chronicle, along with all the others that preceded Duchesnius's edition. Indeed Victor of Tunnuna, who supplemented that Chronicle of Prosper, observes that it ended in that year. But in these manuscripts whose aid both Duchesnius and Labbaeus used, the work is extended all the way to the Roman destruction by Genseric, in the consulship of Valentinian VIII and Anthemius, that is, to the year 455. For in truth Victorius, writing two years after Gennadius, and Cassiodorus too, affirmed that it was extended thus far. Indeed even Manus, bishop of Abricensis or Lausanne, when he undertook to supplement Prosper's work, himself likewise testified to the same.

From this you may finally determine the limits of the Prosperian Chronicle to be assigned to the year.