Ambrose

XVI. LITTERA AIN.

1. Incipit littera sexta decima 'Ain', cuius interpretatio est 'oculus' siue 'fons'. oculus utitur uidendi munere, sed saepe uidemus ea quae conplacent et saepe quae displicent, nec in eo oculi est uel culpa uel probitas pro eorum qualitate quae uiderit; oculi est enim officium nuntiare quod uiderit. est sane uel offensa uel gratia, si aut delectetur suauibus aut offendatur aduersis. ideo frequenter oculus suppliciorum dicitur, oculus temptationis, oculus haedi, oculus uitulae, oculus generationis aut fons generationis.

2. Legimus in euangelio, quia baptizabat Iohannes in Aenon.¹ Aenon oculum suppliciorum interpretati sunt. itaque nemo uenit ad baptismum nisi qui desiderat sibi propria peccata dimitti, quorum supplicia corde prouido perhorrescat. itaque licet oculus supplicio-

-rum dicatur, praeuidentis est tamen supplicia, non sustinentis, licet baptismum paenitentiae habeat aliquam de suppliciorum susceptione tolerantiam.² oculi est, ut intuendi officio fungatur, tuum est cauere quod uideris.

3. Denique et oculus temptationis dicitur, quia per oculum saepe temptamur. oculus meretricis laqueus amatoris. sed oculus nihil delinquit ideoque saluatoris sententia plena iustitiae est dicentis: qui uiderit mulierem ad concupiscendum eam, iam adulterauit eam in corde suo.³ non dixit 'qui uiderit mulierem', sed 'ad concupiscendum uiderit'. oculum absoluit, mentem ligauit. nec dixit 'adulterauit eam in oculo', sed 'in corde'. in oculo uisus est, in corde peccatum.

4. Oculus haedi qui ad sinistram est, quod ea quae dextra sunt peccator uidere non possit.⁴ sanctus autem dicit: prouidebam dominum in conspectu meo semper, quoniam a dextris mihi est, ne commouear.⁵ et Petro sancto apostolo, cum tota nocte nihil cepisset, ut legimus in euangelio, a saluatore dictum est: mitte in dexteram partem retia nauigii.⁶ itaque fretus imperatis caelestibus misit retia et plurimum piscium congregauit. in sinistra nox erat, in dextera diuini sermonis diurna claritudo fulgebat.

5. Est et oculus uitulae, quod aeque ad peccatores refertur, quia sicut iugi loro uitulae adtrahunt iniquitates, non disrumpentes neque abscidentes proprium, sed longo trahentes fune peccatum.⁷ indomita enim uitula sero mansuescit et trahit lora, non suscipit, quia inpatiens est tenendi; quo diutius traxerit, eo amplius inpeditur.

6. Oculus quoque generationis aut fons generationis dicitur, quia ex oculi conspectu aut bona aut aduersa generantur. uidisti mulieris pulchritudinem, laudasti artificis opus, uenustatem naturae: generatio fidei, deuotionis est partus. contentus fuisti formae decore, non census ambitione sumpsisti in uxorem, genuit filios liberalioris gratiae: oculus tibi fuit generatio prosperorum. contemplatus es sacram puellam, pressit oculos tuos augustae reuerentia castitatis, praedicasti dominum Iesum, qui senilem dedisset in adulescentula aetate grauitatem inmaculatamque uitam inter infirmas tam lubricae huius carnis inlecebras humanis infudisset affectibus:⁸ oculus tibi factus fons bonorum est. uidisti possessiones pupillorum non ad inuadendum, sed ad tuendum et paternis ingemuisti uisceribus, si quid aduertisti de minoris commodis esse neglectum, reppulisti eum qui fines eius uolebat inuadere, iudicasti pupillo:⁹ oculus tuus fons tibi fuit et origo iustitiae. iudicasti uiduae — sicut enim mala dragma non dragma, sic malum iudicium non utique iudicium —, iudicasti ergo sicut iustus et bonus iudex, uidisti usurpatorem inprobum,¹⁰ qui maritali auxilio destitutam suam praedam putaret, iniquitatem non passus es, tulisti indefensae opem, quo adiuta praesidio inoffensa opera castitatis exercuit nec auxilium quaerere maritale conpulsa est, dicit tibi dominus: 'uenite, disputemus,¹¹ quia iustificasti uiduam':¹² oculus tuus fons gratiae tibi factus est. uidisti nudum corpus inopis iacere defuncti, non praeteristi ut ille qui exponitur in euangelio sacerdos atque leuita,¹³ sed continuo miseratus sepulturae solaciis tradidisti: generauit tibi oculus materiam redemptionis.

7. Contra si aspiciens agrum pupilli uineis consitum, laetum segetibus, nemoribus umbrosis aut fluuiis decurrentibus aut fon-

-tibus scaturrientibus aut riparum herbosis amoenum toris,¹⁴ et auaritiae faucibus accensus transtulisti patrum limites atque in possessionem indefensam inprobus inruisti, oculus tuus tibi mortis perpetuae acerba generauit. uicinae uiduae iura temerasti, coegisti eam, quae aut dolorem suum aut pudorem secretis clausa parietibus fouere deberet, prosilire in publicum, inuerecundius quam iniustius litigare: oculus tuus partus iniquitatis est factus. uidisti inopem superbo oculo et insatiabili corde, despexisti precem pauperis et, quem miserari debueras, cum fastidio praeteristi: oculus tuus fons tibi fuit et origo peccati.

8. Ideoque oculi tui non lupi oculi sint et insidiantes ad praedam, sed, sicut sponsae dicitur: oculi tui stagna in Esebon, in portis filiae multorum. nares tuae sicut turris Libani.¹⁵ stagna in Esebon quid est nisi in cogitationibus rationabilibus abundantia, quae est in portis ecclesiae, cui merito defertur multitudo doctrinae? filia enim multorum, plurimarum doctrinarum posteritas et fetus est, cuius nares odor est sacrificiorum floribus omnibus praestans. quid enim Christi odore sublimius, qui adolebat terris fragrantiam? oculus ergo iste prouideat quae futura sunt et, si aduersa inminere praeuiderit, fletu lacrimisque emollire ac mitigare non desinat.

9. Ideo Hieremias in captiuitate gentis Iudaeae positus futuram praeuidens perpetuae captiuitatis aerumnam, quam perfidiae pretio Iudaeorum populus habebat exsoluere, dicebat in Threnis sub hac eadem littera: in hoc ego fleo, oculi mei caligauerunt a fletu, quia elongauit a me qui me con-

-solabatur.¹⁶ non igitur abductum se esse de terris suis dolebat, sed a Christo populum relinquendum consolationemque futurae uitae cernebat amissam. haec est dolenda captiuitas, quae aeternae spe libertatis priuata uidebatur. alio quoque loco sub hac eadem littera repetiuit in Threnis dicens: dominus quae cogitauit consummauit, uerbum suum quod mandauit a diebus antiquis; destruxit et non pepercit et laetificauit super te inimicum et exaltauit cornu tribulantis te.¹⁷ nonne euidenter futurum iudicium Christi adnuntiatur, sicut in psalmo quoque praesenti declarari certum est? oculus ergo praeuideat quae uentura sunt et ea aut profusione lacrimarum aut erroris correctione detorqueat. denique Hieremias flebat, quia malam causam impiae plebis suspiceret, quae perfidiae pertinacia proprium negabat auctorem.

10. Dauid autem prophetico spiritu iudicium praeuidens Christi, in quo nemo innocens periclitabitur, nemo sceleratus eludet, bona fretus conscientia dicit: feci iudicium et iustitiam, ne tradas me nocentibus me.¹⁸ non quasi gloriosus insolens ipse se laudat, cum utique peritus legis alterius potius quam proprio ore unumquemque laudandum esse non ignoraret,¹⁹ non, inquam, praedicatarum iactantia est hic ulla uirtutum, sed uitae innocentis adsertio iure praesumpta, ne dignus aestimaretur qui propter grauia peccata relinqueretur a domino et traderetur nocentium potestati. defensio est igitur, non adrogantia, quando non excellentia aliqua honoris adsumitur, sed formidabilis propulsatur aerumna. denique Petrus hoc genere

defensionis utitur dicens: ecce nos reliquimus omnia et secuti sumus te; quid ergo erit nobis?²⁰ in quo si dicti adrogantis decolor aliqui ausus fuisset, non tantum gratiae de domini saluatoris sententia retulisset,²¹ ut non solum minime subdendus ipse iudicio, sed etiam iudicaturus de aliorum meritis ipse nuntiaretur. neque enim in iudicio, si quis innocentiae suae tuendae gratia quid fecisset aperiret, ad iactantiam potius quam ad defensionem causae dictum aestimaretur. aliud est dignum se praemio dicere, aliud indignum iniuria.

11. Et tamen ille ipse philosophiae summus, ut aiunt, magister cum accusaretur, interrogatus qua tandem poena se dignum putaret, respondisse fertur, ut in prytaneo publico cotidie conuiuio susciperetur;²² ille honorem usurpauit, hic praecauit aerumnam; ille adrogauit gloriam, hic seruauit humilitatem. nam quae maior esse humilitas potest quam ut conscius sibi iudicii et iustitiae reseruatae tradi potestati diaboli uereretur? hominem se esse cognouit, inpar sibi bellum aduersum spiritalia nequitiae in caelestibus,²³ raptum esse Enoch nouit, ne malitia mutaret cor eius,²⁴ Noe inebriatum,²⁵ Loth incestatum,²⁶ sacerdotum primum ipsum Aaron cum Maria sorore temptatum,²⁷ leprae maculis aspersam Mariam primum, post absolutam, Moysen paene internecatum, nisi circumcisione filii et eiusmodi sanguinis fusione Sephora mulier eius omne ab eo

periculum depulisset.²⁸ his igitur commonitus exemplis nequaquam se fortitudini suae credit, sed cauta humilitas diuinum sibi precando adsciscit auxilium, petens ne tradatur nocentibus.

12. Scit enim auctorem esse principem mundi²⁹ omnium delictorum, ipse indiuiduos proximorum irarum stimulis excitatos scindit affectus, ipse flammam accendit libidinis, ipse adolet auaritiae cupiditates, ut quo plus rapuerimus amplius requiramus, ipse suggerit et ministrat fomenta luxuriae, ipse odio exasperat et inmodicae studio ambitionis inflammat. quod uitium blandum in exordio, saeuum in processu nec fraternae potuit germanitatis contemplatione reuocari: dum dolet sibi gratiae caelestis ambitor fratrem esse praelatum, de sacrificio processit ad parricidium.³⁰ auctorem igitur incontinentiae diabolum esse apostolus docet: ne temptet uos satanas propter incontinentiam uestram.³¹ incentorem quoque auaritiae ipsum esse legimus dicente Paulo: qui uolunt diuites fieri incidunt in temptationem et laqueum diaboli,³² et alibi: mortificate ergo membra uestra quae sunt super terram, fornicationem, inmunditiam, libidinem, concupiscentiam malam et auaritiam quae est idolatria.³³ in his enim diaboli uoluntatem facimus et exsequimur potestatem, qui per carnis istius desideria incentiuum suae fraudis operatur.

13. Quemcumque ergo in uitiorum suorum possessione reppererit, tamquam obnoxium suo iuri uindicabit. adulterium quis facit, luxuriam exercet, aliena diripit; portio diaboli est, pudicus autem et continens et misericors Christi portio est. Christi ergo seruum sibi non potest uindicare, nisi forte lapsum in uitia depre-

-henderit. ne tum quidem uindicat, sed tamquam suum sibi tradi postulat. ideo ergo dicit Dauid: feci iudicium et iustitiam,³⁴ non ut adroget, sed excuset, ne quasi peccator deseratur a Christo. exemplo sit nobis apostolica lectio, quam ob rem unusquisque tradatur. illum enim qui uxorem patris habuit, quia sic operatus est, tradidit satanae, ut dicit, apostolus.³⁵ non ergo esset traditus, nisi diaboli opera fecisset. unde non inmerito recusat propheta nocentibus tradi, qui allegat non diaboli opera se fecisse, sed Christi. Christus enim dicit: iudicate pupillo et iustificate uiduam,³⁶ hoc est ergo feci iudicium et iustitiam: in iudicio non contempsi pauperem, non oppressi uiduam, personam diuitis non recepi, in omnibus operibus iustitiam reseruaui.

14. Iudicii finis iustitia est; in altero ueritatis custodia, in altero fructus est aequitatis, utraque tamen non priuata uirtus, sed publica. nam inmaculatum corpus a uirili permixtione seruare et palmam castimoniae limoso in corpore usque ad angelorum conuersationem custodia integritatis euehere utilitas priuata, laus publica est. frugi esse ac modestum et sobriae parcitatis tenere mensuram probatur a pluribus, sed sibi soli proficit. fortitudo in proeliis eminet, in otio friget, cuius opus in tempore necessarium, in uoto aduersum; malunt enim homines non pugnare quam uincere. sola iustitia est, quae omnibus temporibus aliis potius nata quam sibi cotidiano usu et fructu publico, suo damno alienas custodit utilitates, quae nihil habeat utilitatis et plurimum laudis. hanc igitur propheta praetendit ad sui meriti commendationem dicens: feci iudicium et iustitiam, ne tradas me nocentibus me.³⁷ ubi iustitia, ibi misericordia; misericordia a peccato liberat:³⁸ quomodo ergo peccatoribus trador?

simile illud in Canticis: exui tunicam meam, quomodo induam eam? laui pedes meos, quomodo inquinabo eos?³⁹ exui tunicam peccatoris uelamenque terreni, cur quasi peccator atque terrenus adiudicor? laui pedes meos, ne qua delicti sors posset adhaerere uestigio, cur das in me delinquentibus potestatem?

15. Sequitur uersus secundus: suscipe seruum tuum in bono, non calumnientur me superbi.⁴⁰ quasi iudicii et iustitiae conscius auctoritate prophetica progreditur, ut seruum domini se dicere non reformidet; seruus enim domini nihil debet alienis. pretiosa haec seruitus quae uirtutum constat expensis. cur autem timet nocentibus tradi, aperit euidenter: quia calumniatores sunt qui oderint ueritatem, inpugnent innocentiam, quia superbi sunt. qualis enim aduersum seruulos dei potest superbus esse, qui aduersus deum se exaltat et dicit: in caelum ascendam, super sidera caeli ponam sedem meam, sedebo in monte excelso super montes altos qui sunt ab aquilone, ascendam super nubes et ero similis altissimo?⁴¹ quid mirum igitur, si grauare homines possit, qui peruicaci spiritu nec deo cedit? quomodo mensuram ueritatis et fidem in hominem reseruabit, qui sacrilego inpudentique mendacio omnipotenti se domino adaequandum esse promittit? quomodo calumniatur singulis, qui totam inritauit terram, concussit reges, posuit uniuersum orbem desertum et ciuitates destruxit, eos qui in abductione erant non soluit?⁴²

16. Caueamus ergo, ne muros animae nostrae destruat, ne propugnacula nostrae mentis diruat, ne super sidera thronum

suum ponat. ponit super sidera, quando electum decipit, quando iustum circumuenit, cuius opera lucent sicut stellae in caelo. nonne et Iudas proditor inter ceteros audiebat: uos estis lux huius mundi?⁴³ nonne diabolus lumen eius extinxit? quia etiam quos non potuerit circumuenire calumniatur, insidens regni caelestis gloriam, ut, quos inlecebris suis a Christo non potuit separare, eos calumniis suis debiti honoris fructu fraudare conetur. fugiamus ergo malos calumniatores, qui peccatum operantur in nobis et ipsi nobis calumnias infestissima accusatione conponunt, id quod ipsi fecerint arguentes. ecce manus domini parata est, quae te fugientem ab aduersariis tueatur ac protegat. Pharao te in patribus tenebat superbus inuitis, fugisti ab eo, suscepit te manus domini et de periculis liberauit. non dimisisset te Pharao, nisi tu ad dominum refugisses. dicebat Pharao: dominum nescio et Israel non dimitto,⁴⁴ uides quam superbus. merito ergo susceptus in bono est qui malum fugit. non patitur ergo deus in malo nos esse, suscipit in bono nec patitur suos calumniis subiacere.

17. Oculi mei defecerunt in salutare tuum et in eloquium iustitiae tuae.⁴⁵ qui sint isti oculi considera, qui in Christum deficiunt, dum eius praestolantur aduentum: animae uidelicet oculi, non corporis, tota fidei intentione defixi; in eo enim quem diligimus totis oculis occupamur nec quicquam aliud uidere delectat. non potest hoc dicere nisi qui a mundanis sollicitudinibus et saecularibus uoluptatibus intentionem omnem suae mentis auertit. nam quomodo hoc dicit qui theatralibus ludibriis occupatur? sed ille hoc dicit, qui supra dixit: auerte oculos meos, ne uideant uanitatem.⁴⁶ qui autem

sunt oculi, qui deficiunt in eloquium dei, nisi oculi hominis interioris obtutusque animae, qui tenduntur, ut uideant dei uerbum, et nimia intentione et expectatione deficiunt in salutare dei, defectum sui patientes, ut adsumant quod uerbi est?

18. Et quia 'eloquium dei' plerosque mouere potest, ideo addidit: eloquium iustitiae, ut mouere non debeat. mouere autem poterat, quia scriptum est: maior seruiet minori⁴⁷ — nam nisi ad mysterium accipias, naturae iniuria est — et: dedi uobis praecepta non bona⁴⁸ — ergo deus mala dat praecepta? — et: ego dominus creans mala,⁴⁹ sed et de praeceptis sic soluitur, quia infirmibus non debuit dare perfecta praecepta quae sustinere non possent. quando audiret Iudaeus: dimitte omnia tua et sequere me?⁵⁰ quando audiret Iudaeus: qui non tulerit crucem suam et secutus me fuerit, non est me dignus?⁵¹ sed haec perfectiora praecepta euangelio reseruata sunt, et mala non creauit deus, sed haec quae nobis uidentur austera, uerbera, mors et huiusmodi alia, quae propter emendationem praescripta sunt noxiorum; iustis enim lex non est posita, sed iniustis.⁵² nam si noxii nihil timerent, innocentes semper timerent.

19. Qui sunt igitur oculi isti qui deficiunt in salutare dei? diximus oculum suppliciorum esse, qui praeuidens futura supplicia peccatorum gerendam adnuntiet paenitentiam. demonstrauit hunc oculum Baptista Iohannes dicens: generatio uiperarum, quis ostendit uobis fugere ab ira uentura? facite ergo fructus dignos paenitentiae.⁵³ ad Iohannis baptismum ueniebat qui habebat oculum suppliciorum, ad Christi autem baptismum uenit qui uidet gratiam; hic

enim oculus est, quem dominicae passionis umbra tuetur et protegit, aliud ergo Aenon,⁵⁴ aliud Ain: in Aenon baptizatur conscius grauium delictorum, qui autem purum oculum habet gratiam suscipit spiritalem, et inperfectae fortasse animae oculus suppliciorum est, perfectae autem oculus gratiarum est purior atque sincerior, qui significatur hac littera, ad quam iusti forma dirigitur, quia inperfecta peccati tantummodo iudicium declinare desiderat, perfecta uero meritum regni caelestis adquirere. praesumimus tamen, eo quod utrumque oculum una anima habeat, et oculum suppliciorum et oculum gratiae, laeuum oculum suppliciorum, dextrum gratiae, quia non a primo homines possunt esse perfecti, sed per processum uirtutis ascendunt, ante igitur unaquaeque anima quasi ad baptismum Iohannis uenit, ut praemittat paenitentiam delictorum, et in processu paulatim, ubi sua peccata defleuerit, spiritali abluta baptismate Christi accipit sacramentum, unde uidetur et in Canticis canticorum ecclesia praedicari, cui dicitur: cor nostrum cepisti, soror mea sponsa, cor nostrum cepisti uno ab oculis tuis,⁵⁵ ut iste oculus gratiae sit, qui Christi sibi pleniorem adquisiuerit caritatem.

20. Plerique tamen hoc loco accipiunt duos oculos ecclesiae, unum qui mystica uideat, alterum qui moralia, eo quod sancta ecclesia non solum moralium teneat disciplinam, sed etiam caelestis doceat secreta mysterii. unde dictum est de ea: oculi tui sicut columbae extra taciturnitatem tuam,⁵⁶ quod et spiritaliter uideat et nouerit tempus tacendi esse et tempus loquendi,⁵⁷ ut in tempore sermonem suum proferat, ne inportunitate loquendi peccatum possit incurrere.

21. Habe ergo oculos columbae ad similitudinem Christi, quia

de ipso lectum est: oculi tui sicut columbae super abundantiam aquarum lotae in lacte, sedentes super plenitudinem.⁵⁸ baptizat in lacte dominus, id est in sinceritate, et isti sunt qui uere baptizantur in lacte, qui sine dolo credunt et puram fidem deferunt, inmaculatam induunt gratiam. ideo candida sponsa ascendit ad Christum, quia in lacte baptizata est. ideo mirantur eam uirtutes dicentes: quae est haec quae ascendit dealbata?⁵⁹ ante paululum dicebat: nigra sum,⁶⁰ nunc dealbata cernitur et ascendit ad caelum et innixa dei uerbo alta iam penetrat. nec inmerito illic aquarum abundantia, ubi Christus, ut mens humana repleri cupiat. has sitit aquas ceruus, quas cum biberit sitire non possit. has aquas sitit propheta, cum dicit: sitiuit in te anima mea.⁶¹ sedet ergo Christus super abundantiam aquarum et super plenitudinem, et ideo qui baptizatur in lacte dicit: et nos omnes de plenitudine eius accepimus.⁶² unde et oculus suppliciorum non alienus est ab ecclesia, quia, etsi baptizabat Iohannes in Aenon, baptizabat iuxta Salim, ubi erat aquarum abundantia et duodecim fontes et septuaginta palmarum arbores.⁶³

22. Hos fontes habet ecclesia, hoc est in ueteri testamento duodecim patriarchas, in nouo duodecim apostolos. ideoque dictum est: in ecclesia benedicamus dominum deum de fontibus Israel.⁶⁴ his fontibus ante perfunditur quicumque mysteria sacrosancta consequitur; isti enim fontes ex aeterno fonte manantes toto orbe fluxerunt. ubi isti fontes, ibi ascensio animarum. denique Salim interpretati sunt 'ipsum ascendentem'⁶⁵; ille enim uere ascendit qui propria peccata deponit.

hoc igitur uerbo purificatoriae sanctificationis usus exprimitur. unde bene etiam in Canticis Christus dicit ad ecclesiam: dentes tui sicut grex tonsarum quae ascenderunt a lauacro, quae omnes geminos creant et infecunda non est in eis.⁶⁶ quod specie tenus de capris dicitur, mystice autem de ecclesiae grege.

23. Nec ulla tibi ista uideantur animalia, denique audi, quae de his sanctus loquatur spiritus: capillamentum tuum ut grex tonsarum quae reuelatae sunt a monte Galaad. dentes tui ut grex tonsarum quae ascenderunt de lauacro.⁶⁷ uides quod in altis grex iste pascitur, audis in monte. itaque ubi aliis praecipitia, ibi capris nullum periculum, ubi aliis periculum, ibi gregis huius alimentum, ibi cibus dulcior, ibi fructus electior. spectantur a pastoribus suis dumosa de rupe pendentes,⁶⁸ ubi luporum incursus esse non possunt, ubi fecundae arbores fructum integrum subministrant, cernere licet uberi lacte distentas super teneram subolem materna pietate sollicitas. ideo elegit eas sanctus spiritus quibus coetum uenerabilis ecclesiae conpararet.

24. Et ut mystice audias, capillamentum uerbi est altitudo et eminentia quaedam iustarum animarum, quoniam sensus sapientis in capite eius.⁶⁹ in altitudine enim cogitationis humanae certum est esse sapientiam. et quemadmodum tondentur caprae, ut superflua deponant, ita etiam tonsarum animarum gregem, hoc est multarum animarum uirtutes habet sancta ecclesia, in quo grege nihil possis insensibile repperire, nihil superfluum, quoniam fides sapientes fecit, spiritalis autem gratia ab omni superfluorum labe mundauit.

25. Merito igitur reuelatae sunt animae iustorum et reuelatae a monte Galaad, hoc est a transmigratione testimonii, eo quod a synagoga ad ecclesiam testimonium caeleste migrauit. in hoc itaque monte nascitur thymiama, resina et ceteri odores, quos negotiatores illi Ismahelitae, ut habes in primo libro testamenti ueteris,⁷⁰ deferebant. hos odores habet ecclesia, quos mercatores ex gentibus congregati fide et deuotione uexerunt. itaque sicut caprae bonis refectae cibis et solis calore uernantes lauantur in flumine et exsultantes mundae surgunt de flumine, ita animae iustorum ascendunt ab spiritali lauacro.

26. Istae sunt uere quae geminos creant, in quibus non est infecunditas aliqua uirtutum, sterilitas ulla meritorum. bene geminos creant, quia congeminant sensus suos, unde habes in Prouerbiis scriptum: et tu scribe haec tibi tripliciter in consilio et cognitione.⁷¹ triplicem praemisit scriptionem et duo subdidit, consilium et cognitionem; sed cognitio gemina est, una incorporalium, altera corporalium.

27. Diximus de fecunditate, dicamus de dentibus. nam et nauigantes plerique et properantes itinere terreno ubi uiderint speciosum aliquem locum, delectationis gratia demorantur, pascunt oculos animumque ableuant nec mora ulla commeandi putatur, sed gratia; ita et nobis pulcherrimos dentes iustarum animarum considerare cordi est. docuit enim scriptura pulcherrimos dentes esse iustorum, dicens secundum litteram quidem de patriarcha Iuda, spiritaliter autem de Christo: hilares oculi eius a uino et dentes sicut lac.⁷² in quo non utique carnis humanae officia, sed diuinae gratiae munera praedicauit. docet igitur exemplum dentes non esse praetereundos, ubi de oculis dixerimus.

28. Qui sunt igitur iustarum dentes animarum nisi qui informem ac durum accipientes cibum uel frigidum plerumque uel

supra modum calentem nunc comminuunt, nunc fouent, nunc temperant, prout qualitas fuerit alimentorum? dura comminuunt, ne asperitas litterae in ueteri testamento et saecularis intellectus rigor, nisi fuerit spiritali dente resolutus, uitalia ipsa interclusis ciborum salutarium meatibus et gulam quandam animae incuriosa edacitate suffocet. par est igitur ut diuidas primum, si solida tibi uidetur esca quae sumitur, et distinguas eam atque emollitam sine noxa aliqua animae in omnia eius membra naturali diuisione transfundas, ut uitalem sucum omne eius corpus epuletur. nihil cadauerosum, nihil mortuum ore tuo sumas, ne dicatur: sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum,⁷³ sed uiuum haurias uerbum, ut in tuae mentis uisceribus possit operari.

29. Hi dentes super lac candidiores, quia dentes iustorum sunt. denique cum omnes in Moyse baptizati in nube et in mari⁷⁴ patres nostri fuerint, non otiose tamen scriptum est, quia omnes eandem escam spiritalem manducauerunt et omnes eundem potum spiritalem biberunt,⁷⁵ ut istis sanctorum dentibus maior quidam fulgor accederet, quos post transitum Maris Rubri Myrrae fontis amaritudine per ligni gratiam temperata cognoscimus esse mundatos, deinde duodecim fontium potu,⁷⁶ postremo petrae spiritalem undam uomentis inriguo;⁷⁷ petra enim erat Christus.⁷⁸ ideo et manna manducauerunt, ut totiens abluti manducarent panem, ut scriptum est, angelorum.⁷⁹ nunc quoque in euangelii mysteriis recognoscis, quia baptizatus licet toto corpore postea tamen esca spiritali potuque mundaris.

30. Merito ergo Dauid, et oculos interiores purificatus et dentes, tamquam inluminatos spiritalium dentium candore sermones

profert dicens: feci iudicium et iustitiam.⁸⁰ ille est enim uerus dentium fulgor, ubi bene consciae mentis resonat canora confessio, ille mundus oculus, quem peccatorum grauium trabes nulla depresserit,⁸¹ quem purgamentorum leuium festuca nulla turbauerit. iste oculus iustitiae defecit; qui enim Christo adhaeret unus est spiritus.⁸² et Balaam petebat, ut anima sua deficeret in animis iustorum,⁸³ id est ut proprii obliuisceretur erroris, quod suum erat, deponeret, quod iustitiae et aequitatis adsumeret. sed progrediamur ad cetera.

31. Sequitur: fac cum seruo tuo secundum misericordiam tuam et iustitias tuas doce me.⁸⁴ praestruxit uiam et commendationis suae incrementa praesumpsit, supra poposcit ne nocentibus traderetur,⁸⁵ iterum petiit ut susciperetur in bono, ne calumniarentur ei superbi;⁸⁶ hoc est: 'non declino iudicium, sed calumniam perfidorum; illi enim iudicare nesciunt, calumniari sciunt. ad te confugio, qui nosti repraesentare iudicium'. et bene non uult calumniatoribus tradi; multa enim Iob passus est iustus, postquam traditus est nocenti.⁸⁷ sed difficile fuit illud et grande certamen, quod nisi Iob nimia patientia haud facile quisquam superare potuisset; et tamen ille non totus est traditus, sed meliore exceptus est portione. qui dicit: non tradas me, quae maiora sunt conprehendit. plus autem in anima quam in carne sumus; iustis enim dicitur: uos autem non estis in carne sed in spiritu.⁸⁸ tradi ergo animam suam recusat qui corpore sicut aranea tabescebat.⁸⁹

32. Hoc igitur loco maiore quodam familiaritatis usu potiora praesumens ait: fac cum seruo tuo secundum misericordiam tuam et iustitias tuas doce me.⁹⁰ misericordiam deferri sibi poscit, iustitias doceri. alibi quoque [id est in posterioribus] habes hunc sensum: et ne intres in iudicium cum seruo tuo.⁹¹ etenim nostrorum conscii peccatorum misericordiam magis petere dei nostri quam iustitiam inplorare debemus; alia ueniam largitur, alia examen inpertit. quae spes hominibus certandi apud eum, quem occulta non fallunt, quem latere peccata non possunt? ideoque sciens eius potentiam, qui hominem non timeret, ait: tibi soli peccaui.⁹² nemo potest hoc iustus negare, quia nemo sine peccato, non potest rex, quia, etsi leges in potestate habet, ut inpune delinquat, deo tamen subditus est, immo plus ipse debet, cui plus commissum est.

33. Hoc ergo dicit: 'fac cum seruo tuo secundum misericordiam tuam, quia, etsi quid boni feci, plura debeo quasi seruus.' non uno facto seruus absoluitur, quia nemo seruum habens arantem aut oues pascentem dicit illi: transi, recumbe, sed dicit illi: para quod cenem et praecinge te et ministra mihi. numquid gratiam habet seruus, si fecit quod imperatum est ei?⁹³ ergo et cum fecerimus quod nobis imperatum est, non statim nos exaltare debemus, sed magis humiliare, quia non statim, si aliquid fecimus, impleuimus omnia seruitutis obsequia. quis tanta naturae munera, uitae salutisque seruatae diuina beneficia digno possit aequare seruitio? quis potest soluere quod accepit? ideoque sciens omnia misericordiam petit potius quam audientiam, quo

-niam non iustificabitur, inquit, in conspectu tuo omnis homo uiuens.⁹⁴

34. Quintus uersiculus sequitur: seruus tuus sum ego; da mihi intellectum, et scibo testimonia tua.⁹⁵ intellectus spiritale munus est et ideo quod dei est a domino postulatur. nec quasi extraneus poscit qui seruum se confitetur; bene ait: seruus tuus sum. seruus enim uoluntatem domini sui facit, seruus quaerit seruitutis stipendia, remunerationem sperat. seruus domini non potest idem seruus esse peccati⁹⁶ et ideo intellectum dari sibi poscit, ut possit cauere peccatum. habebat quidem intellectum, sed non ut redundare sibi crederet; uberiorem requirit.

35. Est autem et intellectus naturae et est intellectus non bonus. ideo Salomon ait: intellectus autem bonus dat gratiam,⁹⁷ nam si omnis intellectus bonus esset, non opus fuisset additamento. iure ergo gratiam domini sui quaerit; aliter enim scire non potest secreta domini, nisi intellectus spiritalis munus acceperit. habes hoc in Hieremia: notum mihi fac, domine, et scibo,⁹⁸ quia, nisi deus notum fecerit hominibus mysterium suum, scire non possumus.

36. Sequitur uersiculus sextus: tempus est faciendi, domine, dissipauerunt legem tuam iniqui.⁹⁹ bene ait tempus faciendi esse; est enim tempus tacendi et tempus loquendi.¹⁰⁰ sed loquendi tempus aduenit ac per hoc dominici aduentus tempus iam esse commemorat, ut, quia legis facta est praeuaricatio, ueniat finis legis et consummatio eius¹⁰¹ et plenitudo dominus Iesus, qui donet hominibus uniuersa delicta

et abolito chirographo debitorum¹⁰² absoluat omnes et liberet peccatores. tempus est faciendi,¹⁰³ ut si ingrauescente aegritudine alicuius incommodi curras ad medicum, ut citius ueniat, ne postea subuenire non possit. medicus enim tunc amplius desideratur, cum grauis incubuerit aegritudo languenti. ergo cum uideat in spiritu sanctus propheta praeuaricationes populi, luxuriam delicias dolos fraudes auaritiam temulentiam, quasi pro nobis interueniat, currit ad Christum, quem solum tantis sciebat subuenire posse peccatis, urget ut ueniat nec patitur fieri moras, tempus, inquit, faciendi, domine,¹⁰⁴ hoc est: ut pro nobis crucem ascendas, mortem subeas. totus in periculum ultimum mundus urgetur: ueni ut tollas peccatum mundi.¹⁰⁵ ueniat uita morientibus, ueniat resurrectio iam sepultis. factum tuum subueniat, quoniam nec tua praecepta prodesse potuerunt. in lege praeceptum est, in euangelio ministerium.

37. Caecus omnis populus proprium non uidebat auctorem, claudus erat mundus et titubante uestigio fidei fluctuabat. non erat qui malagma inponeret neque oleum neque alligaturam.¹⁰⁶ omne patrimonium suum in medicos erogauerat mulier illa euangelica,¹⁰⁷ speciem habens congregationis humanae quae coibat ex gentibus, nec fluentem sanguinem et inueteratae passionis letale profluuium poterant saeculi huius medici restringere. principis populi posteritas interierat et omnis occiderat eius hereditas. uidens haec propheta dicit ad Christum: tempus faciendi, domine;¹⁰⁸ non hoc 'iubendi' inquit, sed 'faciendi', quia non legatus neque nuntius, sed dominus saluaturus erat populum suum. et ille quidem tempus sciebat et non differebat, sed nos nesciebamus quo melius tempore subueniret.

38. Aut fortasse uult a nobis admoneri, uult rogari, immo si rogatus fuerit, et ante tempus uenit. uenit ad ficulneam¹⁰⁹ et ante horam uenit, ut dicit ad matrem. illa rogabat pro nobis, illa festinabat dicens: uinum non habent, fili. respondit Iesus: quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nondum uenit hora mea. et mater, quae sciebat eius affectum, dicit ministris: quodcumque dixerit uobis facite.¹¹⁰ Iesus quoque, qui horam suam uenisse negauerat, fecit quod ante differebat; nam omnia deus tempore fecit.¹¹¹ quicquid facit, non est extra tempus, sed totum oportunum est quod fecerit, et mihi tempore suo aduenit; omne enim tempus oportunum saluti, nihil praeposterum pro salute periclitantium. sed uolebat expectare adhuc synagogae correctionem. ideo ante tempus ad ficulneam uenit, hoc est Iudaeis cito uenit, oportune gentibus; cito uenit perituris, commode credituris.

39. Sequitur uersus septimus: propter hoc dilexi mandata tua super aurum et topazion,¹¹² lex adnuntiatrix Christi est. praecepta ergo legis spem futurorum bonorum deferunt; mandatum est enim domini: adtende tibi, ne derelinquas leuiten per omne tempus quo uixeris super terram.¹¹³ quis est iste leuites? intellegis, si consideres, qui sit ille qui uenit ministrare,¹¹⁴ qui sacerdos est in aeternum.¹¹⁵ aliud mandatum est: custodi mensem nouorum et facies pascha domino deo tuo,¹¹⁶ et infra: in loco quem elegerit dominus deus tuus inuocari nomen suum ibi, occides pascha uespere ad occasum solis in tempore quo

existi de Aegypto.¹¹⁷ ergo mandata dei habent redemptionis futurae indicia, resurrectionis insignia; ideo super aurum et topazion memorat sibi esse dilecta. quid enim salute gratius, resurrectione pretiosius?

40. Uel quia quae stulta sunt mundi Christus elegit,¹¹⁸ ut, quoniam per sapientiam mundus non cognouit deum, per stultitiam praedicationis salutem adferret credentibus,¹¹⁹ ideo ait: 'super sapientiam operationis caelestis et mundanae constitutionis et super ornamenta solis et lunae stellarumque pretiosa monilia dilexi obaudientiam dominicae passionis. plus enim redimendo mihi contulit quam creando; tunc enim sine sensu natus sum, nunc cum uoluntate seruatus'. sed non quicumque dicit: dilexi mandata tua super aurum et topazion,¹²⁰ non dicit auarus qui auro incubat, diuitiis inhiat, ornamenta desiderat, sed ille dicit qui potest dicere: argentum et aurum non habeo,¹²¹ quoniam non requiro, quoniam nihil mihi aurum prodest; praeceptum autem et mandatum caeleste me redemit.

41. Diximus continentiae sensus, nunc de topazio lapide exprimamus historiam. de quo inuenimus scriptum in historia Xenocratis, qui scripsit quasi Lithognomonem,¹²² nasci eum uel inueniri circa Thebaidis ciuitatem Alabastrum uel Topazion, ut aliqui putant, unde et nominatus est ab eo loco in quo gigneretur. sunt autem qui putauerunt insulam nuncupari Topazion, ad quam adpulsos Trogo-

-dytas orta subito commotione maritima, quod nauium usum non haberent, regredi nequiuisse, deinde plurimo inmorantes tempore in insula inuenisse lapidem et delectatos colore eius repetisse domum et Arabis negotiatoribus aduenientibus uendidisse. ab illis emisse Philonem et ad matrem Ptolomaei secundi, cui nomen erat Beronice, ab ipso esse perlatum. illam autem, quamuis regalibus ornamentis abundaret, supra modum tamen colore eius stupefactam elaborasse, ut diutius species tam pretiosi lapidis non lateret, ideoque studio eius quaesitum lapidem in usus frequentiores uenisse.

42. Diximus quomodo innotuerit topazion lapis; nunc expressius de eius qualitate dicamus. duorum colorum est in hoc lapide χρόας,¹²³ hoc est quaedam temperata permixtio, πρασοειδής et χρυσαυγής, similis chrysoprasso, secundum utrumque uelut quasdam extendens colorum figuras, et plenius quidem a peritis fertur extendere. est autem parygrus et satis purus et chrysochrus et pinguis, resplendenti similis, maxime cum solis splendore percutitur. est etiam pulcherrimus et mirabilis super omnes chrysoprassos magnitudine et, ut dixi, uisu pinguior. natura huiusmodi, ut, si polire et leuigare eum uelis, asperetur magis, et usu minuitur. est autem quodam genitali opere naturae euglyphus, hoc est bene insignitus atque mirabilis et, ut summo studio dignus haberetur, difficile in-

-uenitur et repertus raro tamen in usu hominum est, quasi is quem diues regina mirata sit.

43. Sed iam, sicut Trogodytae illi quasi pretio suae remansionis inuento repetierunt domum, ita et nos emolumento morae huius recepto redeamus eo, unde deuertimus. nec par est nos ornamentis regiis diutius sermonis nostri quaedam admouere brachia, cum habeamus in manibus crucem Christi, quam admonet propheta super aurum et topazion praeferendam, quae ab omni errore culpaque reuocat et corrigit. quis enim iustorum non ambiat Christi in morte solacium, in resurrectione consortium? quis non reflectat gradum, quando audiat sibi superiora omnia peccata donari? hoc enim plerique a conuersionis studio reuocari solebant, quod delictorum suorum conscii nullam spem ueniae praesumerent et ecclesiae quanto sanctiora praecepta, tanto sine uenia putarent esse peccata.

44. Ideoque ait octauo uersiculo: propterea ad omnia mandata tua corrigebar, omnem uiam iniustam odio habui.¹²⁴ merito corrigebatur, quoniam diligebat: caritas enim multitudinem operit peccatorum.¹²⁵ uide quanta operiat, quanta corrigat: caritas patiens est, benigna est, caritas non aemulatur, non agit perperam, non inflatur, non est ambitiosa, non quaerit quae sua sunt, non irritatur, non cogitat malum, non gaudet super iniquitate, congaudet autem ueritati; omnia suffert, omnia credit, omnia sperat, omnia sustinet, caritas numquam excidit.¹²⁶ in inferioribus tria perfecta posuit, spem

fidem caritatem, maiorem autem dixit caritatem, et recte; caritas enim omnia sperat, omnia credit.¹²⁷ cum igitur spes et fides in caritate sint, non est dubium quod maior caritas sit.¹²⁸ et bene sibi respondit propheta. supra enim dixit: lex domini inreprehensibilis, conuertens animam;¹²⁹ si lex animam conuertit, utique qui diligit legis dilector est. deinde in hoc ipso centesimo decimo octauo psalmo primum posuit: beati inmaculati in uia, qui ambulant in lege domini.¹³⁰ si inmaculatus est qui in lege dei ambulat, utique conuertitur qui diligit dei legem, ergo si lex inmaculatum facit, recte caritas multitudinem operit peccatorum, quia plenitudo legis caritas est.¹³¹

45. Omnem, inquit, uiam iniustam odio habui.¹³² si is, qui praecepta iustitiae diligit, facit illa quae diligit, utique is, qui odit iniquitatem, non facit quod exosus est. nec inmerito ad omnia domini praecepta corrigitur, qui omnem uiam odit iniquitatis; nam nisi omnem uiam iniquitatis oderis, non potes in omnibus praeceptis dei corrigi. potest enim fieri ut aliquis temperet a crudelitatis horrore, lubrico tamen deceptus amore meretricis et semitas incontinentiae iuuenilis ingressus inpressum semel non queat reuocare uestigium; multos enim uitia blandiora decipiunt et contra auertit a se plurimos tristis et nimium seuera crudelitas. sed iuuentus ad amorem liberior, ad lapsum incautior, ad infirmitatem fragilior, ad correctionem durior est. alius se restringit a luxu, sed auaritiae cupiditate raptatur. plerumque enim peccata huiusmodi sunt, ut, si alterum declines, incurras alterum, et naturae usus adiuuat infirmitatem. odisti luxuriam quasi frugi, sed frugalitatis studio habendi cupiditas frequenter inrepit, auaritiae ipsi rapina est subdita. et quanto tolerabilius propria profundere quam aliena diripere! sunt

qui metuentes aliquid proprio minuere de censu etiam inopi sumptum negent et misericordiam detrimentum putent, sunt qui degenerem uitantes ignobilitatem flabro saecularis ambitionis agitentur et sicut quassatae harundines¹³³ huc atque illuc ferantur incerti. sunt etiam qui, dum maiorum suorum statum secuntur, ueluti digna conuersatione contenti ne errores quidem patrios existiment declinandos, ut fide mutandam perfidiam non arbitrentur, cum in melius mutare propositum non leuitas, sed uirtus, neque culpa, sed gratia sit. alius circensibus ludis aut theatralibus sollicitatus uoluptatibus aut ceteris uanitatibus occupatus ecclesiam non frequentat: alium ruris quieta delectant eaque causa ad ecclesiam rarus accessus est. itaque diuerso usu in eundem indeuotionis errorem uterque concurrit, sed qui omnem uiam iniquitatis odit, ad uniuersa corrigitur et emendatur. et bene posuit 'uiam iniquitatis': ille enim facilius iniquitatem declinat, qui uias eius non fuerit ingressus.

1. The sixteenth letter, Ain, now begins, whose interpretation is eye or fountain. The eye exercises the office of seeing, but often we see things which please us and often things which displease us; nor in this is there either fault or virtue in the eye, according to the quality of the things seen — for it is the eye's office to report what it has seen. There is, however, either offense or favor, if we are either delighted by sweet things or offended by adverse ones. And so the eye is frequently called the eye of punishments, the eye of temptation, the eye of the kid, the eye of the heifer, the eye of generation or the fountain of generation.

2. We read in the Gospel that John was baptizing in Aenon.¹ Aenon they have interpreted as eye of punishments. And so no one comes to baptism except he who desires to have his own sins remitted, whose punishments he shudders at with provident heart. Therefore, although it is called eye of pun-

-ishments, yet it belongs to one foreseeing punishments, not to one bearing them — though the baptism of repentance has some endurance from the bearing of punishments.² It is the eye's office to perform the duty of looking; it is yours to beware of what you have seen.

3. Then it is also called the eye of temptation, because through the eye we are often tempted. The eye of the harlot is a snare to her lover. But the eye sins nothing, and so the Saviour's sentence is full of justice when he says: Whosoever shall look upon a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.³ He did not say, 'whosoever shall look upon a woman,' but, 'shall look to lust after her.' He absolved the eye, he bound the mind. Nor did he say, 'committed adultery with her in the eye,' but, 'in the heart.' In the eye is the seeing; in the heart is the sin.

4. The eye of the kid which is on the left, because the sinner cannot see the things which are on the right.⁴ But the holy man says: I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved.⁵ And to Peter, the holy apostle, when he had taken nothing all the night long, as we read in the Gospel, it was said by the Saviour: Cast the net on the right side of the boat.⁶ So, trusting in the heavenly commands, he cast his net and gathered a great quantity of fish. On the left was night; on the right shone the daily brightness of divine speech.

5. There is also the eye of the heifer, which likewise refers to sinners, because they draw iniquities as with a yoke-strap of heifers, not breaking nor severing what is theirs, but drawing sin with a long rope.⁷ For an untamed heifer is slow to be gentled and drags at the traces, does not bear them, because she is impatient of being held; and the longer she has dragged them, so much the more is she hindered.

6. It is also called the eye of generation or the fountain of generation, because from the eye's gaze either good or adverse things are generated. You have seen a woman's beauty, you have praised the Maker's work, the loveliness of nature: a generation of faith, a birth of devotion. You have been content with the comeliness of form, you have not from ambition for fortune taken her to wife, she has borne sons of more liberal grace: the eye has been to you a generation of prosperous things. You have looked upon a sacred maiden, the reverence of her august chastity has overawed your eyes, you have praised the Lord Jesus, who had given a senile gravity in adolescent age and an unstained life amid the weak enticements of this slippery flesh poured into human affections:⁸ the eye has been made to you a fountain of good things. You have seen the possessions of orphans not for invading but for guarding, and you have groaned with paternal heart, if you have noticed anything to have been neglected of the lesser one's interests, you have rebuffed him who wished to invade his bounds, you have judged for the orphan:⁹ your eye has been to you a fountain and origin of justice. You have judged for the widow — for as a bad coin is no coin, so a bad judgment is in no way a judgment — you have judged, then, like a just and good judge; you have seen the wicked usurper,¹⁰ who supposed her, deprived of marital aid, his own prey, you have not borne the iniquity, you have brought help to her undefended, by which aid she has carried on the unoffended works of chastity nor has she been compelled to seek a marital protector — the Lord says to you: Come, let us reason together,¹¹ because thou hast justified the widow':¹² your eye has been made to you a fountain of grace. You have seen the naked body of a poor man lying dead, you have not passed by like that priest and Levite who are set forth in the Gospel,¹³ but at once, in pity, you have given him over to the consolations of burial: the eye has generated for you the matter of redemption.

7. On the contrary, if, looking upon the orphan's field planted with vines, joyful with crops, with shady groves or rushing streams or bub-

-bling fountains, or pleasant with the grassy banks of its shores,¹⁴ kindled by the jaws of greed you have moved the boundary-stones of the fathers and have wickedly rushed into the undefended possession, your eye has generated for you the bitter things of perpetual death. You have violated the rights of a neighboring widow, you have compelled her, who ought to have nourished either her grief or her shame shut within secret walls, to leap forth into public, to litigate more shamefully than unjustly: your eye has been made the offspring of iniquity. You have looked upon a poor man with proud eye and insatiable heart, you have despised the prayer of the pauper and, him whom you ought to have pitied, you have passed by with disdain: your eye has been to you a fountain and origin of sin.

8. Therefore let your eyes not be wolves' eyes, lying in wait for prey, but, as it is said to the bride: Thy eyes are like the fishpools in Hesebon, in the gates of the daughter of the multitude. Thy nose is as the tower of Libanus.¹⁵ What are fishpools in Hesebon but an abundance in rational thoughts, which is in the gates of the Church, to whom rightly is conveyed a multitude of doctrine? For daughter of the multitude is the posterity and offspring of many doctrines, whose nose is the odor of sacrifices surpassing all flowers. For what is more sublime than the fragrance of Christ, who breathed his perfume upon the earth? Therefore let this eye foresee what is to come, and, if it shall foresee adverse things impending, let it not cease, by weeping and tears, to soften and mitigate them.

9. Therefore Jeremiah, set in the captivity of the Jewish people, foreseeing the future calamity of perpetual captivity which the Jews' people had to pay as the price of their perfidy, said in his Lamentations under this same letter: In this I weep, my eyes have grown dim with weeping, because he that com-

-forted me is removed far from me.¹⁶ He did not, then, grieve that he had been led away from his own land, but that the people had to be left behind by Christ, and he beheld the consolation of future life lost. This is the captivity to be lamented, which seemed to be deprived of the hope of eternal liberty. In another place too, under this same letter, he repeated in his Lamentations, saying: The Lord hath consummated what he had thought, his word which he commanded from days of old; he hath destroyed and not spared, and hath made the enemy rejoice over thee, and hath set up the horn of thy oppressors.¹⁷ Is not the future judgment of Christ evidently announced — as it is also certain that it is declared in the present psalm? Therefore let the eye foresee what is to come, and turn it aside either by a profusion of tears or by the correction of error. So Jeremiah wept, because he beheld the evil cause of the impious people, which by the obstinacy of perfidy denied its own author.

10. But David, by prophetic spirit foreseeing the judgment of Christ, in which no innocent shall be in peril, no criminal shall escape, trusting in a good conscience says: I have done judgment and justice; deliver me not to them that slander me.¹⁸ Not as if vainglorious he praises himself — since indeed, learned in the law, he was not unaware that everyone should be praised by another's mouth rather than his own;¹⁹ not, I say, is there here any boast of virtues to be proclaimed, but the assertion of an innocent life, rightly presumed, lest he should be reckoned worthy who, on account of grave sins, should be left by the Lord and handed over to the power of the noxious. It is, then, a defense, not arrogance, when not some preeminence of honor is taken on, but a fearful calamity is repelled. So Peter uses this kind

of defense, saying: Behold, we have left all things and have followed thee; what therefore shall we have?²⁰ In which, if there had been any unbecoming venture of arrogant speech, he would not have brought back so much grace from the Lord and Saviour's sentence,²¹ that not only he should be reckoned least subject to judgment, but even should be announced as one who would judge concerning the merits of others. For neither in a court of law, if anyone, for the sake of guarding his innocence, were to make plain what he had done, would it be reckoned to be said for the sake of boasting rather than for defense of his case. It is one thing to declare oneself worthy of reward, another to declare oneself unworthy of injury.

11. And yet that very greatest, as they say, master of philosophy, when he was accused, asked what punishment he thought himself worthy of, is reported to have answered that he should be received daily at public banquet in the Prytaneum;²² he usurped honor, this man warded off calamity; he arrogated glory, this man preserved humility. For what greater humility can there be than that, conscious to himself of the judgment and of justice reserved, he feared to be handed over to the power of the devil? He knew himself to be a man, knew his unequal war against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places,²³ knew that Enoch had been caught up lest malice should change his heart,²⁴ Noah inebriated,²⁵ Lot incested,²⁶ the very first of priests, Aaron himself, tempted with his sister Miriam,²⁷ Miriam first sprinkled with the spots of leprosy, then absolved; Moses almost slain, had not Sephora his wife, by the circumcision of her son and a shedding of blood of that sort, repelled from him every

danger.²⁸ Warned, then, by these examples, by no means does he trust to his own fortitude, but cautious humility, by praying, claims for itself divine aid, asking that he be not handed over to the noxious.

12. For he knew that the prince of this world²⁹ is the author of all sins; he himself, by the goads of irascibility, divides individual affections of those near, his neighbors aroused; he himself kindles the flame of lust; he himself foments the desires of greed, that the more we have plundered, the more we may seek; he himself supplies and ministers the kindling of luxury; he himself exasperates with hatred and inflames with the zeal of immoderate ambition. Which vice, smooth at the start, savage in its progress, could not be recalled even by the contemplation of fraternal kinship: while the climber after heavenly grace grieves that his brother is preferred to him, from sacrifice he has gone forth to parricide.³⁰ So the Apostle teaches that the devil is the author of incontinence: Lest Satan tempt you for your incontinence.³¹ We read also that he is the inciter of greed, when Paul says: They that will become rich, fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil,³² and elsewhere: Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and avarice, which is the service of idols.³³ For in these things we do the will of the devil and execute his power, who through the desires of this flesh works the kindling of his own deceit.

13. Whomsoever, therefore, he shall have found in the possession of his own vices, he will claim, as bound to his own jurisdiction. Whoever commits adultery, exercises luxury, plunders another's goods, is the devil's portion; but the chaste, the continent, the merciful is Christ's portion. He cannot, then, claim Christ's servant for himself, unless perchance he should ap-

-prehend him fallen into vices. Not even then does he claim him, but asks that he be handed over to him as his own. Therefore David says: I have done judgment and justice,³⁴ not in order to arrogate, but to excuse, lest he should be deserted as a sinner by Christ. Let the apostolic reading be an example to us, on what account a man is handed over. For him who had had his father's wife, because he had so done, the apostle says he handed over to Satan.³⁵ He would not, then, have been handed over, had he not done the works of the devil. Whence not undeservedly does the prophet refuse to be handed over to the noxious, who alleges that he has done not the works of the devil, but those of Christ. For Christ says: Judge for the orphan and justify the widow,³⁶ this then is I have done judgment and justice: in judgment I did not despise the poor, I did not oppress the widow, I did not accept the person of the rich, in all my works I have preserved justice.

14. The end of judgment is justice; in the one is the keeping of truth, in the other is the fruit of equity, both, however, not a private but a public virtue. For to keep an immaculate body from manly intermingling and to bear the palm of chastity in muddy flesh up to the conversation of angels by guarding integrity is a private utility, a public praise. To be frugal and modest and to keep the measure of sober economy is approved by many, but it profits oneself alone. Fortitude is conspicuous in battles, frigid in leisure, whose work in time of need is necessary, in our wishes adverse — for men prefer not to fight rather than to conquer. Justice alone it is which, born for all times for others rather than for itself, by daily exercise and public fruit, with its own loss guards another's advantages, which has nothing of advantage and very much of praise. This, then, the prophet sets forth for the commendation of his merit, saying: I have done judgment and justice; deliver me not to them that slander me.³⁷ Where justice is, there is mercy; mercy frees from sin:³⁸ how then am I handed over to sinners?

A like saying is in the Song of Songs: I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?³⁹ I have put off the tunic of the sinner and the veil of the earthly man — why am I judged as if a sinner and earthly? I have washed my feet, lest any lot of fault might cleave to my footstep — why dost thou give to those who sin power over me?

15. The second verse follows: Receive thy servant unto good; let not the proud calumniate me.⁴⁰ As one conscious of judgment and justice he advances with prophetic authority, that he may not fear to call himself the Lord's servant; for the Lord's servant owes nothing to strangers. Precious is this servitude, which consists in the outlay of virtues. Why then he fears to be handed over to the noxious he opens plainly: because they are calumniators who hate the truth, attack innocence, because they are proud. For what kind of proud man can there be against God's little servants, who lifts himself up against God and says: I will ascend into heaven; above the stars of heaven I will set my throne; I will sit on the high mountain above the high mountains which are toward the north; I will ascend above the clouds, and I will be like the most High?⁴¹ What wonder, then, if he can oppress men, who, with obstinate spirit, does not yield even to God? How will he keep the measure of truth and faith toward man, who with sacrilegious and shameless lying promises that he is to be made equal to the omnipotent Lord? How does he calumniate individuals, who hath irritated the whole earth, hath shaken kings, hath made the whole world a desert and hath destroyed the cities, hath not loosed those that were carried into captivity?⁴²

16. Let us beware, therefore, lest he destroy the walls of our soul, lest he tear down the bulwarks of our mind, lest above the stars

he set his throne. He sets it above the stars when he deceives an elect, when he circumvents a just man, whose works shine like stars in heaven. Did not Judas the betrayer hear, among the rest: You are the light of this world?⁴³ Did not the devil extinguish his light? Because even those whom he could not circumvent he calumniates, sitting upon the glory of the heavenly kingdom, that those whom by his enticements he could not separate from Christ, he may attempt by his calumnies to defraud of the fruit of due honor. Let us flee, then, the evil calumniators, who work sin in us and themselves frame calumnies against us with most hostile accusation, charging that very thing which they themselves have done. Behold, the Lord's hand is ready, which guards and protects you fleeing from your adversaries. Pharaoh in proud fashion held you in your fathers, against your will; you fled from him, the Lord's hand received you and freed you from dangers. Pharaoh would not have let you go, had you not taken refuge in the Lord. Pharaoh said: I know not the Lord, and I will not let Israel go,⁴⁴ you see how proud. Rightly, then, has he been received into good who flees evil. God does not, then, suffer us to be in evil, he receives us into good and does not suffer his own to be subject to calumnies.

17. My eyes have failed for thy salvation, and for the word of thy justice.⁴⁵ Consider what eyes these are, which fail for Christ, while they await his coming: namely, the eyes of the soul, not of the body, fixed with the whole intention of faith; for in him whom we love we are wholly taken up with our eyes, nor does it delight us to see anything else. He cannot say this who is preoccupied with theatrical mockeries; but he says this who said above: Turn away my eyes, that they may not behold vanity.⁴⁶ But what

are the eyes which fail for the speech of God, except the eyes of the inner man and the gaze of the soul, which are stretched, that they may see God's word, and by too great intention and expectation fail for the salvation of God, suffering their own failure, that they may receive what is the Word's?

18. And because the speech of God may move many, therefore he added: the speech of justice, that it should not move them. For it could move them, because it is written: The elder shall serve the younger⁴⁷ — for unless you take it as a mystery, it is an injury to nature — and: I have given you precepts that are not good⁴⁸ — does God then give evil precepts? — and: I am the Lord, creating evil,⁴⁹ but with regard to the precepts the matter is resolved: he ought not to give to the weak perfect precepts which they could not bear. When would the Jew hear: Leave all thine and follow me?⁵⁰ When would the Jew hear: He that taketh not up his cross and followeth me, is not worthy of me?⁵¹ But these more perfect precepts are reserved for the Gospel; and God did not create evils, but those things which seem to us austere — scourgings, death, and the like — which have been prescribed for the correction of the noxious; for the law is not made for the just, but for the unjust.⁵² For if the noxious feared nothing, the innocent would always fear.

19. Who, then, are these eyes which fail for the salvation of God? We have said the eye of punishments to be that which, foreseeing the future punishments of sinners, announces a penance to be performed. John the Baptist showed this eye, saying: Generation of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance.⁵³ To John's baptism came he who had the eye of punishments, but to Christ's baptism comes he who sees grace; for this

is the eye which the shadow of the Lord's Passion guards and protects: one thing, then, is Aenon,⁵⁴ another is Ain: in Aenon is baptized one conscious of grave sins, but he who has a pure eye receives spiritual grace; and perhaps for the imperfect soul there is an eye of punishments, but for the perfect, an eye of graces, more pure and more sincere, which is signified by this letter, toward which the just one's likeness is directed, because the imperfect desires only to decline the judgment of sin, but the perfect to acquire the merit of the heavenly kingdom. Yet we presume, since one and the same soul has both eyes — both the eye of punishments and the eye of grace, the left of punishments, the right of grace — because men cannot be perfect from the start, but ascend by the progress of virtue. Before, therefore, every soul comes as it were to John's baptism, that it may send penance for its sins ahead, and in the gradual progress, when it has wept its sins, washed by spiritual baptism it receives the sacrament of Christ. Whence the Church seems to be proclaimed in the Song of Songs also, to whom it is said: Thou hast wounded our heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded our heart with one of thine eyes,⁵⁵ so that this is the eye of grace, which has acquired for itself the fuller charity of Christ.

20. Yet many in this place understand two eyes of the Church, one which sees the mystical, the other the moral, because the holy Church holds not only the discipline of moral things, but also teaches the secrets of the heavenly mystery. Whence it is said of her: Thy eyes are like doves' eyes besides what is hidden within,⁵⁶ so that she sees both spiritually and knows that there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak,⁵⁷ that she may bring forth her speech in due time, lest by the importunity of speaking she should incur sin.

21. Have, therefore, the eyes of a dove after the likeness of Christ, because

of him it has been read: Thy eyes are as doves on the abundance of waters, washed in milk, sitting beside the plenteous streams.⁵⁸ The Lord baptizes in milk, that is, in sincerity, and these are they who are truly baptized in milk, who without guile believe and bring pure faith and put on unstained grace. Therefore the bride ascends shining-white to Christ, because she has been baptized in milk. So the powers wonder at her, saying: Who is this that cometh up made white?⁵⁹ A little before she was saying: I am black,⁶⁰ now she is seen made white and ascends to heaven and, leaning upon the word of God, already pierces the heights. Nor undeservedly is there an abundance of waters where Christ is, that the human mind may desire to be filled. The hart thirsts for these waters, which when he has drunk he can thirst no more. The prophet thirsts for these waters when he says: My soul hath thirsted in thee.⁶¹ Christ, then, sits upon the abundance of waters and upon the fulness, and therefore he who is baptized in milk says: And of his fulness we all have received.⁶² Whence also the eye of punishments is not foreign to the Church, because, although John was baptizing in Aenon, he was baptizing near Salim, where there was an abundance of waters and twelve fountains and seventy palm-trees.⁶³

22. These fountains the Church has — that is, in the Old Testament the twelve patriarchs, in the New the twelve apostles. Therefore it is said: In the church bless ye the Lord God from the fountains of Israel.⁶⁴ By these fountains is bathed beforehand whosoever obtains the most sacred mysteries; for these fountains, flowing from the eternal fountain, have flowed throughout the whole world. Where these fountains are, there is the ascent of souls. So Salim they have interpreted as the same one ascending⁶⁵; for he truly ascends who lays down his own sins.

By this word, therefore, the use of purifying sanctification is expressed. Whence well also in the Song of Songs Christ says to the Church: Thy teeth as the flock that is shorn, which come up from the washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them.⁶⁶ Which under the appearance of goats is said, but mystically of the flock of the Church.

23. Nor let these animals seem to you of any common sort: hear, then, what the holy Spirit speaks of them: Thy hair is as a flock of shorn ones, that have been revealed from mount Galaad. Thy teeth as a flock of the shorn, which come up from the washing.⁶⁷ You see that this flock is pastured in high places, you hear, on the mountain. So where for others are precipices, there for the goats is no danger; where for others is danger, there is the food of this flock, there sweeter food, there more choice fruit. They are spied by their shepherds hanging from the bushy crag,⁶⁸ where the inroads of wolves cannot be, where fruitful trees yield up entire fruit; one may see them, distended with rich milk, anxious in maternal piety over their tender offspring. Therefore the holy Spirit chose them, by which to compare the assembly of the venerable Church.

24. And, that you may hear it mystically: the hair of the word is the height and certain eminence of just souls, since the wise man's senses are in his head.⁶⁹ For in the height of human thought it is certain that wisdom resides. And as goats are shorn that they may lay aside superfluous things, so also the holy Church has the flock of shorn souls, that is, the virtues of many souls, in which flock you cannot find anything insensible, anything superfluous, since faith has made them wise, but spiritual grace has cleansed them from every stain of superfluities.

25. Rightly, then, are the souls of the just revealed, and revealed from mount Galaad, that is, from the transmigration of testimony, because from the synagogue to the Church the heavenly testimony has migrated. On this mountain, therefore, are born thymiama, resin, and other odors, which those Ishmaelite merchants, as you have it in the first book of the Old Testament,⁷⁰ used to bring. These odors the Church has, which the merchants gathered from the gentiles have borne by faith and devotion. Therefore as goats refreshed by good food and warmed in the sun's heat are washed in the river and exult, rising clean from the river, so the souls of the just ascend from the spiritual washing.

26. These are they who truly bear twins, in whom is no barrenness of virtues, no sterility of merits. They rightly bear twins, because they double their senses, whence you have it written in Proverbs: And do thou write these things to thyself in three ways, in counsel and knowledge.⁷¹ He set forth a threefold writing and added two: counsel and knowledge; but knowledge is twofold — one of incorporeal things, the other of corporeal.

27. We have spoken of fecundity; let us speak of teeth. For many of those sailing or hastening on a journey by land, when they have seen some scenic place, linger for the sake of delight, they pasture their eyes and lighten their soul, nor is any delay of travel reckoned, but rather the grace of it; so also for us it is a thing of the heart to consider the most beautiful teeth of just souls. For Scripture has taught that the teeth of the just are most beautiful, saying according to the letter indeed of the patriarch Judah, but spiritually of Christ: His eyes are merry from wine, and his teeth as milk.⁷² In which surely it has not proclaimed the offices of human flesh, but the gifts of divine grace. The example, then, teaches that teeth are not to be passed over, when we have spoken of eyes.

28. Who, then, are the teeth of just souls but those which, receiving food unformed and hard or for the most part either cold or

heated beyond measure, now grind it, now warm it, now temper it, according as the quality of the food shall be? They grind hard things, lest the harshness of the letter in the Old Testament and the rigor of secular understanding, unless dissolved by the spiritual tooth, with the passages of saving foods cut off, choke the very vitals and a kind of throat of the soul by careless gluttony. It is fitting, therefore, that you first divide, if the food which is taken seems solid to you, and distinguish it and, softened, transfuse it without any harm to the soul into all its members by natural division, that the whole body of it may feast on the vital juice. Take nothing cadaverous, nothing dead, into your mouth, lest it be said: Their throat is an open sepulchre,⁷³ but draw in the living word, that it may be able to work in the inwards of your mind.

29. These teeth are whiter than milk, because they are the teeth of the just. Then, although all our fathers were baptized in Moses in the cloud and in the sea,⁷⁴ yet not idly is it written that all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink,⁷⁵ that to these teeth of the saints a certain greater brightness might accrue, whom we know to have been cleansed, after the crossing of the Red Sea, by the bitterness of the spring of Mara tempered by the grace of the wood, then by the drink of the twelve fountains,⁷⁶ last by the watering of the spiritual wave of the rock pouring forth;⁷⁷ for the rock was Christ.⁷⁸ Therefore they ate manna also, that, so often washed, they might eat the bread, as it is written, of angels.⁷⁹ Now also in the mysteries of the Gospel you recognize that, although baptized in your whole body, yet afterward you are cleansed by spiritual food and drink.

30. Rightly, then, David, his inner eyes purified and his teeth, brings forth, as it were illumined by the brightness of spiritual teeth, his words

saying: I have done judgment and justice.⁸⁰ For that is the true brightness of teeth, where the sounding confession of a well-conscious mind resounds, that the pure eye, which no beam of grave sins has weighed down,⁸¹ which no mote of light defilements has disturbed. This eye of justice has failed; for he who cleaves to Christ is one spirit.⁸² And Balaam asked that his soul might fail among the souls of the just,⁸³ that is, that he might forget his own error, lay down what was his, take up what was of justice and equity. But let us go on to the rest.

31. It follows: Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy, and teach me thy justifications.⁸⁴ He has prepared the way and has presumed the increments of his commendation: above he asked not to be handed over to the noxious;⁸⁵ again he asked that he be received into good, lest the proud calumniate him.⁸⁶ This is to say: 'I do not decline judgment, but the calumny of the perfidious; for they do not know how to judge, they know how to calumniate. To thee I flee, who knowest how to render judgment.' And rightly he is unwilling to be handed over to calumniators; for the just Job suffered many things, after he had been handed over to the noxious one.⁸⁷ But it was difficult and a great contest, which scarcely anyone could have overcome unless Job by exceeding patience; and yet he was not handed over wholly, but was excepted in the better portion. He who says, deliver me not, comprehends greater things. For we are more in soul than in body; for to the just it is said: But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit.⁸⁸ He, therefore, refuses his soul to be handed over, who in body wasted away as a spider.⁸⁹

32. Therefore in this place, presuming greater things by a certain greater use of familiarity, he says: Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy, and teach me thy justifications.⁹⁰ He asks that mercy be conveyed to him, that justifications be taught him. Elsewhere too [that is, in later places] you have this sense: And enter not into judgment with thy servant.⁹¹ For we, conscious of our sins, ought rather to seek the mercy of our God than to implore his justice; the one bestows pardon, the other imparts examination. What hope have men of contending with him whom hidden things do not deceive, whom sins cannot escape? Therefore knowing his power, who would not fear man, he said: To thee only have I sinned.⁹² No just man can deny this, because no one is without sin: not the king, because, although he has laws in his power so as to sin with impunity, yet he is subject to God — rather, he himself owes more, to whom more has been entrusted.

33. Therefore he says this: 'Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy, because, even if I have done some good, I owe more, as a servant.' A servant is not absolved by one act, because no one having a servant ploughing or feeding sheep says to him: Pass on, sit down, but says to him: Prepare what I shall sup, and gird thyself, and serve me. Doth that servant have grace, because he hath done what he was commanded to do?⁹³ Therefore even when we have done what was commanded us, we ought not at once to exalt ourselves, but rather to humble ourselves, because we have not at once, if we have done some thing, fulfilled all the duties of servitude. Who could equal so many gifts of nature, the divine benefits of life and salvation preserved, with worthy service? Who can repay what he has received? Therefore knowing all this, he asks for mercy rather than a hearing, since

no man living, he says, shall be justified in thy sight.⁹⁴

34. The fifth little verse follows: I am thy servant; give me understanding, and I shall know thy testimonies.⁹⁵ Understanding is a spiritual gift, and therefore that which is God's is asked from the Lord. Nor as a stranger does he ask who confesses himself a servant; well does he say: I am thy servant. For a servant does the will of his Lord, a servant seeks the wages of his service, hopes for recompense. The servant of the Lord cannot be the same as a servant of sin⁹⁶ and therefore he asks that understanding be given him, that he may be able to beware of sin. He had understanding indeed, but not so that he should believe it to abound in him; he requires more abundant.

35. There is, however, both an understanding of nature and an understanding that is not good. So Solomon says: But good understanding giveth grace,⁹⁷ for if every understanding were good, there had been no need of the addition. Rightly, then, he seeks the grace of his Lord; for otherwise he cannot know the secrets of the Lord, unless he receive the gift of spiritual understanding. You have this in Jeremiah: Make me know, O Lord, and I shall know,⁹⁸ for unless God shall make his mystery known to men, we cannot know.

36. The sixth little verse follows: It is time, O Lord, to do; the wicked have dissipated thy law.⁹⁹ Well does he say it is the time of doing; for there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak.¹⁰⁰ But the time of speaking has come, and through this he commemorates that the time of the Lord's coming is now, that, since the transgression of the law has been made, the end of the law and its consummation¹⁰¹ and fulness, the Lord Jesus, may come, who may give to men remission of all faults

and, the handwriting of debts having been blotted out,¹⁰² may absolve all and free sinners. It is time to do,¹⁰³ as if, when sickness of some discomfort grows heavy, you should run to the doctor, that he may come more quickly, lest later he be unable to help. For a doctor is then more desired, when grave sickness has fallen upon the languishing. Therefore when the holy prophet sees in the Spirit the prevarications of the people — luxury, delights, deceits, frauds, greed, drunkenness — as if interceding for us, he runs to Christ, whom alone he knew could relieve such great sins, urges that he come and does not suffer delays to be made: It is time, he says, to do, O Lord,¹⁰⁴ this is to say: that for us thou shouldst ascend the cross, undergo death. The whole world is being driven into ultimate peril: come, that thou mayest take away the sin of the world.¹⁰⁵ Let life come for those dying, let resurrection come for those already buried. Let thy deed succor, since not even thy precepts have been able to profit. In the law was the precept, in the gospel is the ministry.

37. The whole people was blind and did not see its own author, the world was lame and was wavering with stumbling step of faith. There was none who would lay on a poultice or oil or bandage.¹⁰⁶ That gospel woman¹⁰⁷ had spent all her inheritance on physicians, having the appearance of the human assembly which was being gathered out of the gentiles, nor could the physicians of this world stanch her flowing blood and the deadly issue of an inveterate disease. The posterity of the prince of the people had perished, and all his inheritance had fallen. Seeing these things, the prophet says to Christ: It is time to do, O Lord;¹⁰⁸ not, he says, 'to command,' but 'to do,' because not a delegate or messenger, but the Lord himself was about to save his people. And he indeed knew the time and was not delaying it, but we did not know at what time it were better that he should help.

38. Or perhaps he wishes to be admonished by us, wishes to be asked — rather, if asked, even before time he comes. He came to the fig tree¹⁰⁹ and before the hour he came, as he says to his mother. She prayed for us, she hastened, saying: They have no wine, son. Jesus answered: What is that to me and to thee, woman? My hour is not yet come. And the mother, who knew his disposition, says to the ministers: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do.¹¹⁰ Jesus also, who had denied that his hour was come, did what he had been deferring; for God hath made all things in time.¹¹¹ Whatever he does, is not outside of time, but the whole of what he does is opportune, and to me he comes in his own time; for every time is opportune for salvation, nothing is too soon for the salvation of those in peril. But he wished to await still the synagogue's correction. So before the time he came to the fig tree, that is, to the Jews he came quickly, opportunely to the gentiles; quickly to those about to perish, conveniently to those about to believe.

39. The seventh verse follows: Therefore have I loved thy commandments above gold and topaz,¹¹² the law is the announcer of Christ. Therefore the precepts of the law convey the hope of future goods; for the Lord's commandment is: Take heed to thyself, that thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou shalt live upon the earth.¹¹³ Who is this Levite? You will understand, if you consider, who is he who came to minister,¹¹⁴ who is a priest for ever.¹¹⁵ Another commandment is: Observe the month of new things and thou shalt make the Passover to the Lord thy God,¹¹⁶ and below: In the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may be invoked there, thou shalt slay the Passover in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at the time at which

thou camest out of Egypt.¹¹⁷ Therefore the commandments of God have the indications of future redemption, the insignia of resurrection; therefore he commemorates that they are loved by him above gold and topaz. For what is more pleasing than salvation, more precious than resurrection?

40. Or because Christ hath chosen the things that are foolish of the world,¹¹⁸ that, since by wisdom the world knew not God, by the foolishness of preaching he might bring salvation to them that believe,¹¹⁹ therefore he says: 'Above the wisdom of the heavenly working and of the worldly constitution and above the precious necklaces of sun and moon and stars, I have loved the obedience of the Lord's Passion. For he conferred more on me by redeeming than by creating; for then I was born without sense, now I have been preserved with my will.' But not just any one says: I have loved thy commandments above gold and topaz,¹²⁰ not the avaricious one says it, who broods over gold, gapes after riches, desires ornaments, but he says it who can say: Silver and gold I have not,¹²¹ since I do not seek them, since gold profits me nothing; but the heavenly precept and commandment has redeemed me.

41. We have spoken of the senses concerning continence; now let us set forth the history concerning the topaz stone. Of which we find written in the History of Xenocrates, who wrote a kind of Lithognomon,¹²² that it is born or found about the city of Alabastrum or Topazion, in Thebaid, as some think, whence also it has been named from the place in which it was begotten. There are, however, those who have thought an island to be called Topazion, to which Trogo-

-dytes having been driven by a sudden disturbance of the sea, since they had no use of ships, were unable to return; then, lingering for a very long time on the island, they found a stone and, delighted by its color, returned home and sold it to Arab merchants who came that way. From them Philo bought it and brought it to the mother of Ptolemy II, whose name was Berenice. She, although she abounded in royal ornaments, yet astonished beyond measure by its color, took pains that the appearance of so precious a stone might no longer lie hid; and so by her zeal the stone, having been sought, came into more frequent use.

42. We have said how the topaz stone became known; now let us speak more expressly of its quality. The colors are two in this stone, χρόας,¹²³ that is, a kind of tempered intermingling, πρασοειδής and χρυσαυγής, like chrysoprasus, extending as it were certain figures of colors according to either, and it is reported by experts to extend more fully. It is, moreover, parygrus and quite pure and chrysochrus and rich, like a thing shining back, especially when it is struck by the splendor of the sun. It is also most beautiful and admirable above all chrysoprasi in size and, as I have said, richer in appearance. Its nature is such that, if you wish to polish and smooth it, it grows rather rough, and is diminished by use. It is, moreover, by a certain generative work of nature euglyphus, that is, well-engraved and admirable; and, that it might be held worthy of the highest pursuit, it is hard to be

-found, and once found, is rarely in the use of men, like that one which the wealthy queen so wondered at.

43. But now, just as those Trogodytes, having found as it were the price of their delay, returned home, so let us also, with the gain of this delay received, return to the place from which we turned aside. Nor is it fitting that we should longer move the arms of our discourse toward the royal ornaments, since we have in our hands the cross of Christ, which the prophet warns is to be preferred above gold and topaz, which calls back and corrects from every error and fault. For who of the just would not seek Christ's solace in death, his fellowship in resurrection? Who would not turn his step back, when he hears that all his former sins are forgiven him? For this used to call back many from the zeal of conversion, that, conscious of their sins, they presumed no hope of pardon, and the more sacred the precepts of the Church, the more they reckoned the sins to be without pardon.

44. And so he says in the eighth little verse: Therefore was I directed to all thy commandments; I have hated every unjust way.¹²⁴ Rightly was he being directed, since he was loving: for charity covereth a multitude of sins.¹²⁵ See how much it covers, how much it directs: Charity is patient, is kind; charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things; charity never faileth.¹²⁶ Among lower things he posited three perfect ones — hope,

faith, charity — but he called charity the greater, and rightly; for charity hopeth all things, believeth all things.¹²⁷ When, therefore, both hope and faith are in charity, there is no doubt that charity is the greater.¹²⁸ And well does the prophet answer himself. For above he said: The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls;¹²⁹ if the law converts the soul, surely whoever loves it is a lover of the law. Then in this same hundred and eighteenth psalm he set first: Blessed are the unspotted in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.¹³⁰ If he is unspotted who walks in the law of God, surely he is converted who loves the law of God; therefore if the law makes one unspotted, rightly does charity cover a multitude of sins, because the fulness of the law is charity.¹³¹

45. Every, he says, unjust way I have hated.¹³² If he who loves the precepts of justice does those things which he loves, surely he who hates iniquity does not do what he abhors. Nor undeservedly is he directed to all the precepts of the Lord, who hates every way of iniquity; for unless you hate every way of iniquity, you cannot be directed in all the precepts of God. For it can come to pass that someone may abstain from the horror of cruelty, yet, deceived by the slippery love of a harlot and entered upon the paths of youthful incontinence, may not be able to call back the footstep once impressed; for many vices, the more flattering, deceive many, and on the contrary a sad and too severe cruelty turns very many away from itself. But youth is freer for love, less cautious in the lapse, more fragile in weakness, harder for correction. Another restrains himself from luxury, but is snatched away by greed's desire. For sins are often of such kind that, if you decline one, you run into the other, and nature's use aids the weakness. You have hated luxury, as one frugal, but in the zeal of frugality the desire of having frequently creeps in; to greed itself rapine is subjected. And how much more tolerable to pour out one's own than to plunder another's! There are

those who, fearing to diminish anything from their own income, deny even to a poor man what he would spend, and reckon mercy a detriment; there are those who, avoiding ignoble baseness, are tossed by the wind of secular ambition and, like bruised reeds,¹³³ are carried hither and thither uncertain. There are also those who, while they follow the state of their elders, as if content with worthy converse, reckon that not even paternal errors should be declined, so that they reckon perfidy not to be changed for faith — though to change one's resolve for the better is not levity, but virtue, nor fault, but grace. Another, drawn aside by the Circus games or theatrical pleasures or occupied with other vanities, does not frequent the church; another is delighted with the quiet of the country, and on this account his approach to the church is rare. So with diverse practice each rushes upon the same error of devotionlessness, but he who hates every way of iniquity is directed and amended toward all things. And well did he set 'the way of iniquity': for he the more easily declines iniquity, who has not entered upon its ways.