Letter 78: 1. Would that you, giving earnest heed to the word of God, did not require counsel of mine to support you under whatsoever offenses may arise! Would that your comfort rather came from Him by whom we also are comforted; who has foretold not only the good things which He designs to give to those who are holy and faithful, but also the evil things ...

Augustine to the clergy, elders, and people of Hippo, greetings. A case has been brought before me that requires your attention and your patience — because the details are complex, the emotions are high, and the temptation to rush to judgment is strong. The facts, as best I can establish them, are these: a dispute between two of our members has escalated to the point where accusations of fraud, theft, and dishonesty have been made publicly. Both parties claim to be in the right. Both have supporters in the congregation. And the congregation itself is beginning to split along factional lines — which is the most dangerous development of all, because the Lord did not establish his Church so that we could tear it apart over a property dispute. I have investigated the matter as thoroughly as I can. I have listened to both sides. I have examined the documents. And I will render my judgment — not because I enjoy being a judge (I assure you, I do not), but because the burden of this office requires it. But before I announce my decision, I want to say something to both parties: whatever the verdict, you are both members of this community. The loser does not become an outcast. The winner does not become a hero. A decision in a dispute is not a declaration of one person's total righteousness and another's total wickedness. Life is rarely that simple. I ask you all — and I mean all — to accept the outcome with grace, to let the wound begin to heal, and to remember that on the day of judgment, the Lord will not ask who won the property case. He will ask whether we loved one another. Farewell, beloved brothers and sisters.

Letter 78 (A.D. 404) To My Most Beloved Brethren, the Clergy, Elders, and People of the Church of Hippo, Whom I Serve in the Love of Christ, I, Augustine, Send Greeting in the Lord. 1. Would that you, giving earnest heed to the word of God, did not require counsel of mine to support you under whatsoever offenses may arise! Would that your comfort rather came from Him by whom we also are comforted; who has foretold not only the good things which He designs to give to those who are holy and faithful, but also the evil things in which this world is to abound; and has caused these to be written, in order that we may expect the blessings which are to follow the end of this world with a certainty not less complete than that which attends our present experience of the evils which had been predicted as coming before the end of the world! Wherefore also the apostle says, Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4 And wherefore did our Lord Himself judge it necessary not only to say, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father Matthew 13:43 which shall come to pass after the end of the world, but also to exclaim, Woe unto the world because of offenses! Matthew 18:7 if not to prevent us from flattering ourselves with the idea that we can reach the mansions of eternal felicity, unless we have overcome the temptation to yield when exercised by the afflictions of time? Why was it necessary for Him to say, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, if not in order that those of whom He spoke in the next sentence, but he that shall endure to the end shall be saved, Matthew 24:12-13 might, when they saw love waxing cold through abounding iniquity, be saved from being put to confusion, or filled with fear, or crushed with grief about such things, as if they were strange and unlooked for, and might rather, through witnessing the events which had been predicted as appointed to occur before the end, be assisted in patiently enduring unto the end, so as to obtain after the end the reward of reigning in peace in that life which has no end? 2. Wherefore, beloved, in regard to that scandal by which some are troubled concerning the presbyter Boniface, I do not say to you that you are not to be grieved for it; for in men who do not grieve for such things the love of Christ is not, whereas those who take pleasure in such things are filled with the malice of the devil. Not, however, that anything has come to our knowledge which deserves censure in the presbyter aforesaid, but that two in our house are so situated that one of them must be regarded as beyond all doubt wicked; and though the conscience of the other be not defiled, his good name is forfeited in the eyes of some, and suspected by others. Grieve for these things, for they are to be lamented; but do not so grieve as to let your love grow cold, and yourselves be indifferent to holy living. Let it rather burn the more vehemently in the exercise of prayer to God, that if your presbyter is guiltless (which I am the more inclined to believe, because, when he had discovered the immoral and vile proposal of the other, he would neither consent to it nor conceal it), a divine decision may speedily restore him to the exercise of his official duties with his innocence vindicated; and that if, on the other hand, knowing himself to be guilty, which I dare not suspect, he has deliberately tried to destroy the good name of another when he could not corrupt his morals, as he charges his accuser with having done, God may not permit him to hide his wickedness, so that the thing which men cannot discover may be revealed by the judgment of God, to the conviction of the one or of the other. 3. For when this case had long disquieted me, and I could find no way of convicting either of the two as guilty, although I rather inclined to believe the presbyter innocent, I had at first resolved to leave both in the hand of God, without deciding the case, until something should be done by the one of whom I had suspicion, giving just and unquestionable reasons for his expulsion from our house. But when he was labouring most earnestly to obtain promotion to the rank of the clergy, either on the spot from myself, or elsewhere through letter of recommendation from me, and I could on no account be induced either to lay hands in the act of ordination upon one of whom I thought so ill, or to consent to introduce him through commendation of mine to any brother for the same purpose, he began to act more violently demanding that if he was not to be promoted to clerical orders, Boniface should not be permitted to retain his status as a presbyter. This demand having been made, when I perceived that Boniface was unwilling that, through doubts as to his holiness of life, offense should be given to any who were weak and inclined to suspect him, and that he was ready to suffer the loss of his honour among men rather than vainly persist even to the disquieting of the Church in a contention the very nature of which made it impossible for him to prove his innocence (of which he was conscious) to the satisfaction of those who did not know him, or were in doubt or prone to suspicion in regard to him, I fixed upon the following as a means of discovering the truth. Both pledged themselves in a solemn compact to go to a holy place, where the more awe-inspiring works of God might much more readily make manifest the evil of which either of them was conscious, and compel the guilty to confess, either by judgment or through fear of judgment. God is everywhere, it is true, and He that made all things is not contained or confined to dwell in any place; and He is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth by His true worshippers, John 4:24 in order that, as He hears in secret, He may also in secret justify and reward. But in regard to the answers to prayer which are visible to men, who can search out His reasons for appointing some places rather than others to be the scene of miraculous interpositions? To many the holiness of the place in which the body of the blessed Felix is buried is well known, and to this place I desired them to repair; because from it we may receive more easily and more reliably a written account of whatever may be discovered in either of them by divine interposition. For I myself knew how, at Milan, at the tomb of the saints, where demons are brought in a most marvellous and awful manner to confess their deeds, a thief who had come there intending to deceive by perjuring himself, was compelled to own his theft, and to restore what he had taken away; and is not Africa also full of the bodies of holy martyrs? Yet we do not know of such things being done in any place here. Even as the gift of healing and the gift of discerning of spirits are not given to all saints, as the apostle declares; so it is not at all the tombs of the saints that it has pleased Him who divides to each severally as He will, to cause such miracles to be wrought. 4. Wherefore, although I had purposed not to let this most heavy burden on my heart come to your knowledge, lest I should disquiet you by a painful but useless vexation, it has pleased God to make it known to you, perhaps for this reason, that you may along with me devote yourselves to prayer, beseeching Him to condescend to reveal that which He knows, but which we cannot know in this matter. For I did not presume to suppress or erase from the roll of his colleagues the name of this presbyter, lest I should seem to insult the Divine Majesty, upon whose arbitration the case now depends, if I were to forestall His decision by any premature decision of mine: for even in secular affairs, when a perplexing case is referred to a higher authority, the inferior judges do not presume to make any change while the reference is pending. Moreover, it was decreed in a Council of bishops that no clergyman who has not yet been proved guilty be suspended from communion, unless he fail to present himself for the examination of the charges against him. Boniface, however, humbly agreed to forego his claim to a letter of commendation, by the use of which on his journey he might have secured the recognition of his rank, preferring that both should stand on a footing of equality in a place where both were alike unknown. And now if you prefer that his name should not be read that we may cut off occasion, as the apostle says, from those that desire occasion 2 Corinthians 11:12 to justify their unwillingness to come to the Church, this omission of his name shall be not our deed, but theirs on whose account it may be done. For what does it harm any man, that men through ignorance refuse to have his name read from that tablet, so long as a guilty conscience does not blot his name out of the Book of Life? 5. Wherefore, my brethren who fear God, remember what the Apostle Peter says: Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8 When he cannot devour a man through seducing him into iniquity, he attempts to injure his good name, that if it be possible, he may give way under the reproaches of men and the calumnies of slandering tongues, and may thus fall into his jaws. If, however, he be unable even to sully the good name of one who is innocent, he tries to persuade him to cherish unkindly suspicions of his brother, and judge him harshly, and so become entangled, and be an easy prey. And who is able to know or to tell all his snares and wiles? Nevertheless, in reference to those three, which belong more especially to the case before us; in the first place, lest you should be turned aside to wickedness through following bad examples, God gives you by the apostle these warnings: Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion, has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 and in another place: Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners: awake to righteousness, and sin not. 1 Corinthians 15:33-34 Secondly, that you may not give way under the tongues of slanderers, He says by the prophet, Hearken unto Me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law: fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be forever. Isaiah 51:7-8 And thirdly, lest you should be undone through groundless and malevolent suspicions concerning any servants of God, remember that word of the apostle, Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God; 1 Corinthians 4:5 and this also, The things which are revealed belong to you, but the secret things belong unto the Lord your God. 6. It is indeed manifest that such things do not take place in the Church without great sorrow on the part of saints and believers; but let Him be our Comforter who has foretold all these events, and has warned us not to become cold in love through abounding iniquity, to endure to the end that we may be saved. For, as far as I am concerned, if there be in me a spark of the love of Christ, who among you is weak, and I am not weak? Who among you is offended, and I burn not? 2 Corinthians 11:29 Do not therefore add to my distresses, by your yielding either by groundless suspicions or by occasion of other men's sins. Do not, I beseech you, lest I say of you, They have added to the pain of my wounds. For it is much more easy to bear the reproach of those who take open pleasure in these our pains, of whom it was foretold in regard to Christ Himself, They that sit in the gate speak against Me, and I was the song of the drunkards, for whom also we have been taught to pray, and to seek their welfare. For why do they sit at the gate, and what do they watch for, if it be not for this, that so soon as any bishop or clergyman or monk or nun has fallen, they may have ground for believing, and boasting, and maintaining that all are the same as the one that has fallen, but that all cannot be convicted and unmasked? Yet these very men do not straightway cast forth their wives, or bring accusation against their mothers, if some married woman has been discovered to be an adulteress. But the moment that any crime is either falsely alleged or actually proved against any one who makes a profession of piety, these men are incessant and unwearied in their efforts to make this charge be believed against all religious men. Those men, therefore, who eagerly find what is sweet to their malicious tongues in the things which grieve us, we may compare to those dogs (if, indeed, they are to be understood as increasing his misery) which licked the sores of the beggar who lay before the rich man's gate, and endured with patience every hardship and indignity until he should come to rest in Abraham's bosom. Luke 16:21-23 7. Do not add to my sorrows, O you who have some hope toward God. Let not the wounds which these lick be multiplied by you, for whom we are in jeopardy every hour, having fightings without and fears within, and perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils by the heathen, and perils by false brethren. I know that you are grieved, but is your grief more poignant than mine? I know that you are disquieted, and I fear lest by the tongues of slanderers some weak one for whom Christ died should perish. Let not my grief be increased by you, for it is not through my fault that this grief was made yours. For I used the utmost precautions to secure, if it were possible, both that the steps necessary for the prevention of this evil should not be neglected, and that it should not be brought to your knowledge, since this could only cause unavailing vexation to the strong, and dangerous disquietude to the weak, among you. But may He who has permitted you to be tempted by knowing this, give you strength to bear the trial, and teach you out of His law, and give you rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the wicked. 8. I hear that some of you are more cast down with sorrow by this event, than by the fall of the two deacons who had joined us from the Donatist party, as if they had brought reproach upon the discipline of Proculeianus; whereas this checks your boasting about me, that under my discipline no such inconsistency among the clergy had taken place. Let me frankly say to you, whoever you are that have done this, you have not done well. Behold, God has taught you, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord; 1 Corinthians 1:31 and you ought to bring no reproach against heretics but this, that they are not Catholics. Be not like these heretics, who, because they have nothing to plead in defense of their schism, attempt nothing beyond heaping up charges against the men from whom they are separated, and most falsely boast that in these we have an unenviable pre-eminence, in order that since they can neither impugn nor darken the truth of the Divine Scripture, from which the Church of Christ spread abroad everywhere receives its testimony, they may bring into disfavour the men by whom it is preached, against whom they are capable of affirming anything — whatever comes into their mind. But you have not so learned Christ, if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him. Ephesians 4:20-21 For He Himself has guarded His believing people from undue disquietude concerning wickedness, even in stewards of the divine mysteries, as doing evil which was their own, but speaking good which was His. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. Matthew 23:3 Pray by all means for me, lest perchance when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway; 1 Corinthians 9:27 but when you glory, glory not in me, but in the Lord. For however watchful the discipline of my house may be, I am but a man, and I live among men; and I do not presume to pretend that my house is better than the Ark of Noah, in which among eight persons one was found a castaway; Genesis 9:27 or better than the house of Abraham, regarding which it was said, Cast out the bondwoman and her son; Genesis 21:10 or better than the house of Isaac, regarding whose twin sons it was said, I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau; Malachi 1:2 or better than the house of Jacob himself, in which Reuben defiled his father's bed; Genesis 49:4 or better than the house of David, in which one son wrought folly with his sister, 2 Samuel 13:14 and another rebelled against a father of such holy clemency; or better than the band of companions of Paul the apostle, who nevertheless would not have said, as above quoted, Without are fightings, and within are fears, if he had dwelt with none but good men; nor would have said, in speaking of the holiness and fidelity of Timothy, I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state; for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's; Philippians 2:20-21 or better than the band of the disciples of the Lord Christ Himself, in which eleven good men bore with Judas, who was a thief and a traitor; or, finally, better than heaven itself, from which the angels fell. 9. I frankly avow to your Charity, before the Lord our God, whom I have taken, since the time when I began to serve Him, as a witness upon my soul, that as I have hardly found any men better than those who have done well in monasteries, so I have not found any men worse than monks who have fallen; whence I suppose that to them applies the word written in the Apocalypse, He that is righteous, let him be still more righteous; and he that is filthy, let him be still more filthy. Revelation 22:11 Wherefore, if we be grieved by some foul blemishes, we are comforted by a much larger proportion of examples of an opposite kind. Let not, therefore, the dregs which offend your eyes cause you to hate the oil-presses whence the Lord's storehouses are supplied to their profit with a more brightly illuminating oil. May the mercy of our Lord keep you in His peace, safe from all the snares of the enemy, my dearly beloved brethren.

EPISTOLA 78 Scripta inter a. 401 et 408. Quidam e monasterio Augustini Spes nomine, accusatus a Bonifacio presbytero, crimen in Bonifacium ipsum transtulit. Cum res evidentibus argumentis cognosci ab Augustino non posset, iussus est uterque adire sepulcrum S. Felicis Nolani, ut miraculo transigeretur iudicium. Id clam fieri curarat Augustinus: verum quoniam res eruperat in notitiam hominum, permittit interea ut Bonifacii nomen inter presbyteros non recitetur; hortatur omnes ne temere iudicent, neve ob paucorum delicta vel ipsi deficiant a pietate, vel de omnibus male suspicentur; observans nullam fuisse tam felicem sodalitatem, in qua non aliquis flagitiosus extiterit. DILECTISSIMIS FRATRIBUS, CLERO, SENIORIBUS, ET UNIVERSAE PLEBI ECCLESIAE HIPPONENSIS, CUI SERVIO IN DILECTIONE CHRISTI, AUGUSTINUS, IN DOMINO SALUTEM. Fides firmanda propter oborta scandala. 1. Utinam Scripturae Dei sollicita mente intendentes, in quibusque scandalis adiutorio nostri sermonis non egeretis, et ille vos potius consolaretur, qui consolatur et nos: qui non solum bona, quae sanctis et fidelibus suis est redditurus, verum etiam mala, quibus erat hic mundus abundaturus, ante praedixit, ante conscribenda curavit, ut bona post saeculi finem secutura certiores exspectaremus, quam mala similiter praenuntiata ante saeculi finem praecedentia sentiremus. Unde et Apostolus dicit: Quaecumque enim ante scripta sunt, ut nos doceremur scripta sunt, ut per patientiam et consolationem Scripturarum spem habeamus ad Deum 1. Quid autem opus erat ut ipse Dominus Iesus non solum diceret: Tunc iusti fulgebunt sicut sol in regno Patris sui 2, quod post saeculi finem futurum est; verum etiam exclamaret: Vae mundo ab scandalis 3 : nisi ut nobis non blandiremur venire nos posse ad sedes felicitatis aeternae, nisi temporalibus malis exerciti non defecerimus? Quid opus fuit ut diceret: Quoniam abundabit iniquitas, refrigescet caritas multorum; nisi ut illi de quibus continuo locutus adiunxit: Qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit 4, cum hac iniquitatis abundantia refrigescentem caritatem viderent, non perturbarentur, non expavescerent, non quasi rebus insperatis et inopinatis contristati deficerent; sed potius videntes accidere, quae futura praedicta sunt ante finem, patienter perseverarent usque in finem, ut securi mererentur regnare post finem in ea vita quae non habet finem. Scandalis caritas minime refrigescere debet. 2. Proinde, carissimi, in isto scandalo, quo de Bonifacio presbytero nonnulli perturbantur, non vobis dico ut non doleatis: qui enim ista non dolent, non est in eis caritas Christi; qui autem etiam de talibus gaudent, abundat in eis malignitas diaboli. Non quia in memorato presbytero apparuit aliquid, quod dignum damnatione iudicaretur; sed quia duo de domo nostra talem habent causam, ut unus eorum sine dubio perditus habeatur, et sit alterius fama apud quosdam mala, apud quosdam dubia, etiamsi non sit maculata conscientia. Dolete ista, quoniam dolenda sunt: non tamen sic ut eo dolore vestra caritas a bene vivendo refrigescat, sed potius ad Dominum deprecandum inardescat; ut si innocens est presbyter vester, quod magis credo, quia cum sensisset alterius motum impudicum et immundum, nec consentire voluit nec tacere, cito eum divina sententia manifestatum ministerio proprio repraesentet: si autem male sibi conscius, quod suspicari non audeo, voluit alterius existimationem laedere, cum eius pudicitiam contaminare non posset, sicut dicit ipse cum quo habet causam, non eum permittat suam occultare nequitiam, ut quod homines invenire non possunt, de quolibet eorum divino iudicio propaletur. Ad Dei iudicium remittit reos. 3. Cum enim ista me causa diu cruciasset, nec invenirem quomodo unus e duobus convinceretur, quamvis magis presbytero credidissem; cogitaveram primo sic ambos Deo relinquere, donec in uno eorum qui mihi suspectus erat, aliquid existeret, unde non sine iusta et manifesta causa de nostro habitaculo proiceretur. Sed cum promoveri in clericatum sive illic per me, sive alibi per litteras meas vehementissime conaretur, ego autem nullo modo adducerer ei homini, de quo tantum mali existimarem, manus ordinationis imponere, aut per commendationem meam alicui fratri meo eum subintroducere, turbulentius agere coepit, ut si ipse in clericatum non promoveretur, nec presbyter Bonifacius in suo gradu esse permitteretur. In qua eius provocatione cum viderem Bonifacium nolle quibuslibet infirmis et ad suspicionem propensis de suae vitae dubitatione scandalum fieri, paratumque esse honoris sui apud homines damnum perpeti, potius quam in ea contentione, in qua non posset ignorantibus et dubitantibus vel ad male suspicandum proclivioribus suam demonstrare conscientiam, usque ad Ecclesiae perturbationem inaniter progredi; elegi aliquid medium, ut certo placito se ambo constringerent ad locum sanctum se perrecturos, ubi terribiliora opera Dei non sanam cuiuscumque conscientiam multo facilius aperirent, et ad confessionem vel poena vel timore compellerent. Ubique quidem Deus est, et nullo continetur vel includitur loco qui condidit omnia, et eum a veris adoratoribus in spiritu et veritate oportet adorari 5, ut in occulto exaudiens, in occulto etiam iustificet et coronet. Verumtamen ad ista quae hominibus visibiliter nota sunt, quis potest eius consilium perscrutari, quare in aliis locis haec miracula fiant, in aliis non fiant? Multis enim notissima est sanctitas loci, ubi beati Felicis Nolensis corpus conditum est, quo volui ut pergerent; quia inde nobis facilius fideliusque scribi potest quidquid in eorum aliquo divinitus fuerit propalatum. Nam et nos novimus Mediolani apud memoriam sanctorum, ubi mirabiliter et terribiliter daemones confitentur, furem quemdam, qui ad eum locum venerat ut falsum iurando deciperet, compulsum fuisse confiteri furtum, et quod abstulerat reddere: numquid non et Africa sanctorum martyrum corporibus plena est? et tamen nusquam hic scimus talia fieri. Sicut enim, quod Apostolus dicit, non omnes sancti habent dona curationum, nec omnes habent diiudicationem spirituum 6; ita nec in omnibus memoriis sanctorum ista fieri voluit ille, qui dividit propria unicuique prout vult 7. Augustini aequitas ac prudentia. 4. Quapropter cum ego noluissem hunc gravissimum dolorem cordis mei vobis perferri in notitiam, ne vos atrociter et inaniter contristando turbarem; fortassis ideo Deus noluit vos latere, ut nobiscum orationibus incumbatis, ut quod ipse in hac causa novit, nos autem nosse non possumus, etiam nobis manifestare dignetur. Nomen autem presbyteri propterea non ausus sum de numero collegarum eius vel supprimere vel delere, ne divinae potestati, sub cuius examine causa adhuc pendet, facere viderer iniuriam, si illius iudicium meo vellem praeiudicio praevenire: quod nec in negotiis saecularibus iudices faciunt, quando causae dubitatio ad maiorem potestatem refertur, ut pendente relatione aliquid audeant commutare. Et in episcoporum concilio constitutum est, nullum clericum qui nondum convictus sit, suspendi a communione debere, nisi ad causam suam examinandam se non praesentaverit. Bonifacius tamen hanc humilitatem suscepit, ut nec litteras acciperet, quibus in peregrinatione honorem suum quaereret, ut in eo loco ubi ambo ignoti sunt, circa ambos aequalitas servaretur. Et nunc si vobis placet ut nomen eius non recitetur, ne iis qui ad Ecclesiam accedere nolunt, sicut ait Apostolus, demus occasionem quaerentibus occasionem 8; non erit nostrum hoc factum, sed eorum quorum causa fuerit factum. Quid enim obest homini, quod ex illa tabula non vult eum recitari humana ignorantia, si de libro vivorum 9 non eum delet iniqua conscientia? Suspiciones atque iudicia temeraria 5. Proinde, fratres mei, qui timetis Deum, mementote quod ait Apostolus Petrus: Quoniam adversarius vester diabolus tamquam leo rugiens circumit quaerens quem devoret 10. Quem non potest devorare seductum ad nequitiam, famam ipsius inquinare conatur, ut si fieri potest opprobriis hominum et malarum linguarum detractione deficiat, et sic in eius fauces ruat. Si autem nec famam innocentis maculare potuerit, hoc ei persuadere tentat, ut per malevolas suspiciones de fratre suo iudicet, et sic ab illo implicatus absorbeatur. Et quis omnes eius captiones et circumventiones vel comprehendere vel enumerare sufficiat? Adversus tamen haec tria quae ad causam praesentem pertinent prius, ne mala exempla imitando ad nequitiam seducamini, ita vos per Apostolum alloquitur Deus: Ne sitis iugum ducentes cum infidelibus; quae enim participatio iustitiae cum iniquitate, aut quae societas luci ad tenebras 11? Item alio loco: Nolite, inquit, seduci: Corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia mala. Sobrii estote, iusti, et nolite peccare 12. Ut autem linguis detrahentium non deficiatis, sic per Prophetam dicit: Audite me qui scitis iudicium, populus meus, in quorum corde lex mea est: opprobrium hominum nolite metuere, et detractione eorum ne superemini, nec quod vos spernant magni duxeritis. Sicut enim vestimentum, ita per tempus absumentur, et sicut lana a tinea comedentur; iustitia autem mea in aeternum manet 13. Iam vero ne malevolo animo de servis Dei falsa suspicando pereatis, illud Apostolicum recordamini, ubi ait: Nolite ante tempus iudicare quidquam, donec veniat Dominus, et illuminet abscondita tenebrarum, et manifestabit cogitationes cordis, et tunc laus erit unicuique a Deo 14. Et item illud quod scriptum est: Quae manifesta sunt, vobis; quae autem occulta, Domino Deo vestro 15. Ecclesiae scandala a suis inimicis verbis aucta ac divulgata. 6. Manifestum est quidem, quia ista in Ecclesia non accidunt sine gravi tristitia sanctorum atque fidelium; verumtamen consoletur nos qui cuncta praedixit, atque ut abundantia iniquitatis non refrigescamus, sed usque in finem perseveremus, ut salvi esse possimus, admonuit 16. Nam quantum ad me attinet, si est in me quantulacumque caritas Christi, quis vestrum infirmatur, et ego non infirmor? quis scandalizatur, et ego non uror 17? Nolite itaque augere cruciatus meos, deficiendo vel in suspicionibus falsis, vel in peccatis alienis. Nolite, obsecro vos, ne dicam de vobis: Et super dolorem vulnerum meorum addiderunt 18. Nam illi qui gaudent de istis doloribus nostris, de quibus in persona corporis Christi tanto ante praedictum est: Adversus me insultabant qui sedebant in porta, et in me psallebant qui bibebant vinum 19, valde tolerabilius sustinentur; pro quibus tamen etiam ipsis orare, et bonum eis velle didicimus. Ad quid enim aliud sedent isti, et quid aliud captant, nisi ut quisquis episcopus, vel clericus, vel monachus, vel sanctimonialis ceciderit, omnes tales esse credant, iactent, contendant, sed non omnes posse manifestari? Et tamen etiam ipsi cum aliqua maritata invenitur adultera, nec proiciunt uxores suas, nec accusant matres suas. Cum autem de aliquibus qui sanctum nomen profitentur, aliquid criminis vel falsi sonuerit, vel veri patuerit, instant, satagunt, ambiunt, ut de omnibus hoc credatur. Hos ergo de nostris doloribus suavitatem suae malae linguae captantes, facile est ut illis canibus comparemus, si forte in malo intellegendi sunt, qui lingebant vulnera pauperis illius, qui ante ianuam divitis iacebat, et quousque veniret ad requiem sinus Abrahae, laboriosa et indigna omnia tolerabat 20. A. rogat ne suus augeatur dolor. 7. Vos me nolite amplius cruciare, qui aliquam spem habetis ad Deum: vos nolite ipsa vulnera quae illi lingunt, multiplicare; vos pro quibus periclitamur omni hora, habentes foris pugnas, intus timores, periculis in civitate, periculis in deserto, periculis ex gentibus, periculis ex falsis fratribus 21. Scio quia doletis; sed numquid acrius quam ego? Scio quia conturbati estis, et timeo ne inter linguas maledicorum deficiat et pereat infirmus, propter quem Christus mortuus est 22. Non ex vobis increscat dolor noster, quia non culpa nostra factus est vester. Nam hoc est quod praecavere conatus sum, ut si fieri posset, hoc malum nec vitandum neglegeretur, nec in vestram notitiam perferretur, ubi infructuose cruciarentur firmi, et periculose turbarentur infirmi. Sed qui hoc cognito permisit vos tentari, det vobis vires sustinendi, et erudiat vos ex lege sua; doceat vos et mitiget a diebus malignis, donec fodiatur peccatori fovea 23. Contra haeresim, non contra haereticos pugnandum. 8. Audio nonnullos vestrum hinc amplius contristari, quam de lapsu duorum illorum diaconorum qui ex parte Donati venerant, tamquam disciplinae Proculeiani insultaverint, velut gloriantes de nobis, quod ex nostra disciplina nihil tale in clericis exstitisset: quod quicumque fecistis, fateor vobis, non bene fecistis. Ecce docuit vos Deus, ut qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur 24: nec obiciatis haereticis, nisi quia non sunt catholici; ne similes eis sitis, qui non habendo quod in causa suae divisionis defendant, non nisi hominum crimina colligere affectant, et ea ipsa plura falsissime iactant: ut quia ipsam divinae Scripturae veritatem, qua ubique diffusa Christi Ecclesia commendatur, criminari et obscurare non possunt, homines per quos praedicatur adducant in odium; de quibus et fingere quidquid in mentem venerit, possunt. Vos autem non ita didicistis Christum; si tamen illum audistis, et in illo docti estis 25. Ipse quippe fideles suos securos fecit etiam de dispensatoribus malis, mala sua facientibus, et bona eius loquentibus, ubi ait: Quae dicunt facite; quae autem faciunt, facere nolite: dicunt enim, et non faciunt 26. Orate quidem pro me, ne forte aliis praedicans ipse reprobus inveniar 27; verumtamen cum gloriamini, non in me, sed in Domino gloriamini. Quantumlibet enim vigilet disciplina domus meae, homo sum, et inter homines vivo, nec mihi arrogare audeo ut domus mea melior sit quam arca Noe, ubi tamen inter octo homines reprobus unus inventus est 28: aut melior sit quam domus Abrahae, ubi dictum est: eice ancillam et filium eius 29: aut melior sit quam domus Isaac, cuius de duobus geminis dictum est: Iacob dilexi, Esau autem odio habui 30: aut melior sit quam domus ipsius Iacob, ubi lectum patris filius incestavit 31: aut melior sit quam domus David, cuius filius cum sorore concubuit 32; cuius alter filius contra patris tam sanctam mansuetudinem rebellavit 33: aut melior quam cohabitatio Pauli apostoli, qui tamen si inter omnes bonos habitaret, non diceret quod superius commemoravi, foris pugnae, intus timores 34; nec diceret cum de sanctitate et fide Timothei loqueretur: Neminem habeo qui germane de vobis sollicitus sit. Omnes enim sua quaerunt, non quae sunt Iesu Christi 35: aut melior quam cohabitatio ipsius Domini Christi, in qua undecim boni perfidum et furem Iudam toleraverunt: aut melior sit postremo quam coelum, unde Angeli ceciderunt. Optimi qui in monasteriis profecerunt, pessimi qui ceciderunt. 9. Simpliciter autem fateor Caritati vestrae coram Domino Deo nostro, qui testis est super animam meam, ex quo Deo servire coepi: quomodo difficile sum expertus meliores quam qui in monasteriis profecerunt; ita non sum expertus peiores quam qui in monasteriis ceciderunt, ita ut hinc arbitrer in Apocalypsi scriptum: Iustus iustior fiat, et sordidus sordescat adhuc 36. Quapropter etsi contristamur de aliquibus purgamentis, consolamur tamen etiam de pluribus ornamentis. Nolite ergo propter amurcam qua oculi vestri offenduntur, torcularia detestari, unde apothecae dominicae fructu olei luminosioris implentur, Domini Dei nostri misericordia vos adversus omnes insidias inimici in sua pace custodiat, dilectissimi fratres.