Letter 11: In the Lord God Jesus Christ I feel — and in you above all I joyfully experience through God's gift and word — that...

Paulinus to his brother Severus, one in soul with him. In the Lord God Jesus Christ I perceive, and chiefly in you, by the gift and word of God, I joyfully experience, that there is nothing to be compared with a faithful friend, and that the tongue of grace abounds in a good man. For the consolation of your love is to us as a medicine of life; your discourses are to us like the honeycomb; and as cold water to those who thirst, so to us is good news of you from a far country. And since it fattens our bones with both the report of your well-being and the eloquence of your love, it has from this a great heap of gladness and delight: that it is brought and conveyed through our sons in the Lord, your boys, so that we possess not only your letters but, as it were, a certain portion of your own side. What shall we render to our Lord, besides all that he has rendered to us, for this grace also, by which he has bound to us, in his own affairs too, you who were already most dear to us in our earlier worldly friendship -- a thing we reckon of incomparable price -- as an inseparable companion and partner by spiritual brotherhood? Who, he says, is my mother, or who are my brothers? Not these, namely, who are born of the will of the flesh and the congress of sleep, but those who are born of God through the wisdom of God, Christ, who, abiding in himself, renews all things and gives power to become sons of God, coheirs of his kingdom -- having for this very purpose been conformed to the body of our lowliness, that he might conform us to the body of his glory, and might carry us, torn away not only from our land but also from our kindred, into his own lot and generation. By which gift he deigned to create us for himself and to couple us together in the bond of his love; and from the carnal familiarity, in which, as we understand, he had already even now prepared us for this covenant, he changed us by a more excellent affection into an eternal kinship -- since this is that love of Christ which never fails, because it flows down from God and abides in God, and perpetuates by its own everlastingness every man in whom it abides. This is the love that knows not to be puffed up, that is free of guile, secure from envy, emulous of God -- not in elation of spirit, but in a spirit of meekness and in emulation of piety. For our Lord, as he himself testified and as we experience, is sweet and mild and humble of heart. Begotten my brother out of him, you surpass -- not only as a present help but also as an eternal partner -- all affection of bodily kinships about me, by as much as you are to me a brother more excellent than a parent, compared with those whom flesh and blood alone associate with me. For where now is consanguineous brotherhood to me? Where the old friendship? Where the former companionships? I have vanished before all of them, a stranger, as it was said, to my brothers, and an alien to the sons of my mother. My friends and my neighbors, who once were mine, now stand afar off; and like a flowing river and like a passing flood, so they pass me by, and in me perhaps are confounded and are ashamed, as it is written, to come to me; those who are near have become far to me, and those who were far, near. For your fathers, he says, sons have been born to you. So in place of parents and brothers and friends, you have been made ours by the Lord -- you who, anxious with a parent's care and solicitous with brotherly love, and diligent with all the fidelity of unfeigned friendship, and poured out upon us with all the bowels of piety, visit us with constant letters and soothe us with most caressing solaces. Nor are you content to revisit us on every occasion, unless you also send your boys, and choose as letter-carriers not only from your servants but also from your holy sons, in whose blessed offspring in the Lord you rejoice -- through whose eyes you see us and with whose mouth you touch us. Beautiful to us are their feet, as of those who proclaim good things. For they announce to us and bring those things which are for peace concerning you, when they set forth the works of the Lord which you either perform in the word of God or write in the spirit of the word. What riches could afford gifts so precious, what kinships consolations so sweet? So that, putting off the reckoning of those things which the divine bounty promises forever, it is easy to consider how much more excellent than the things set aside are those which are repaid even now in this present age. For what loss, I ask, do an inhuman parent, a negligent brother, or an unmindful friend inflict on me as regards the grace of piety, when all the affections of these names, or of these pledges, or of these covenants, are repaid to me abundantly from you alone? -- to say nothing of how, in our own world or even in one unknown to us, there are not a few who are like you both toward God and toward us, whose great affections the grace of the Rewarder grants me in place of fatherland and parents and patrimonies. If we should reckon up the good things we have received in you alone, we shall account all our own things compensated to us in you more largely and more preciously. A brother, he says, does not redeem; shall a man redeem? Likewise it is permitted us to say: the world does not love us, but Christ loves us; man neglects, but God loves; a man's enemies are those of his own household, but again, a man's friends are those of God's household. We may have had good and great brothers and friends and neighbors; but it was not pleasing to the Lord concerning us in them -- who chose you to grant us as an inseparable brother and a most beloved neighbor, whom we may deservedly love as our own selves, because we have one heart and one soul with you in Christ. And so, what we set down above briefly about the love of many who are equally spiritual, we have by no means said fittingly and worthily; for in no person's case can the same grace fit us as that which we have in you. For though they may equally deign to love in our lowliness the grace of the Lord, yet this is to us a special gift in you: that the friendship of our former life also sealed us, predestined to one another in the most closely joined love of Christ, while we were still lovers of those things from which we are now turned away through Christ. But nevertheless into this bond, by which we are now knit by God's intervention, we grew through the habit of that familiarity, so that, by loving each other even on the way of unbelief, we might also learn to love faithfully and spiritually -- because each of us always loved the other so religiously, that to our love between ourselves no affection could be added except the love of Christ, which alone transcends every sense and affection. For which reason we owe more abundant thanks to the good Lord, who deigned to look upon our lowliness when he had found us alike in the field, and drew us out alike as twins from the womb of the flesh, and alike took us up. For truly we were two, as you wrote, in the field; but by the goodness and omnipotence of God -- I would dare to say -- one was so taken up of us that neither was left. For we were also two singly, when in us the rebellious flesh dissented from the spirit and there was no peace to our man, when the outer was at war with the inner. But now, he being propitious who made both one, even the two of us are one, because there is one spirit in two, and no distinction in those whose body is one. But this, as I said, we have in common with all our brothers in Christ; one thing in you is peculiarly pleasing to us and to be congratulated: that in your friendship we have received a most blessed gift of God, namely that not even by a change of journey were we dissolved from one another -- a loss which, as you recognize, we sometimes experience alike in many of our dearest ones. Truly, then, you are to us both parent and brother and neighbor; you who fulfill in us also the will of God and the fullness of the law, who love us as yourself, a friend to us in the love of Christ and a brother in the regeneration of God. Since you see and recognize this, why do you speak burdensomely against us and falsely of yourself, when you say: we were two in the field, and one was taken up? Let us not be ungrateful to God, who took up not one out of us, but one in us. We were two, but when we were paired with those brothers from whom division has been made from us by this purpose of ours -- because the same Scripture sufficiently declares that 'one' is said not of a single body but also of the unanimity of many, when it sets forth these persons not in two men but in peoples, showing it by the faith of the Gentiles and the remaining-behind of the Jews. For those two women grinding, of whom likewise one is taken up, bear, as I judge, the form of the synagogue and of the church, because there is no other person treated in all the reckoning of the sacred letters except either, in the whole of the human race, the distinction of believing and unbelieving peoples, or, in the nature of every man, the created thing of a twofold substance. And therefore, my brother, because we have always cohered to one another in one heart, just as now we cohere in Christ, we have been either alike taken up or alike left behind. But taken up not by our own merit but by the grace of God, whose gifts and callings are without repentance, and not from the prerogative of works but by the faith of a good will -- by which, alike animated into his love (as appeared by the one tenor of our purpose and the one time of our conversion), we ought together to glory and exult in him who justifies the impious through faith and gives food to all flesh: not that food which perishes, but that which is prepared as eternal nourishment, such as either a soul busy in the things of God, or the catholic church, cooks. For the body is of the true bread which came down from heaven and gives life-giving food to those who hunger for righteousness. For it does not stuff the flesh, but strengthens the heart of man. This bread is also a fountain, which the more it is eaten, the more it is hungered for, and the more it is drunk, the more it is thirsted for. That we may eat this bread forever, let us grind in the mill of this world the good wheat, which is the working of faithful obedience and love out of a pure heart and unfeigned faith. Since you are full of this grace and virtue, you grind a good produce for God, and you present yourself to be feasted upon by God in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, whose food is whoever, being made an effecting of his wills, is turned into the members of his very body -- he himself saying that whoever joins himself to God is made one spirit. This we attain, if we bear the image of the heavenly with that care and diligence with which we bore the image of the earthly. For by imitating the imitator of Christ we shall come to the imitation of God, to whom we are a good odor in Christ, if we present a living victim by a reasonable service -- so that we may offer to him the pure flour, sifted out by the mill of a clean heart from the inmost recesses of our inner self, and, placing in our breast a chaste altar, may sacrifice in our vices those animals commanded for sacrifices by the law: immolating the he-goat with the destroying of sin, in which is the odor of death; slaying the bull, if we lay aside pride; sacrificing the sheep, if, not lukewarm in love and fervent in spirit, we cast out softness and sloth; offering in ourselves both the lamb, if we live unspotted, and the calf, if we are made little ones in malice -- so that by the chastity of the one we may represent the pure, and by the simplicity of the other the foolish. Such a sacrifice I see you offer to God in the temple of your body, in the sanctuary of your heart, in the immolation of your flesh, in the oblation of your soul. You immolate the bull, when, laid low with pious humility, you have struck your high neck with divine fear. You immolate the kid, when, a follower of righteousness, you slay all the works of the left-hand part. You cut the throat of the sheep, when, a diligent workman and zealous meditator of the divine will and law, you lay low in yourself laziness and sloth like a soft beast, and cut away from yourself the impediments of this life -- useful to the one who shears, like fleeces, burdensome to the one who carries them -- with the shears of the heavenly word; by which Christ holds us, grasped by the two testaments, and either strips us of secular burdens as of wool, or again, as fleeces, cuts them away from our bodily vices as from the diseased and soft bodies of sheep, into a garment of his own body, which he covers by the working of believers -- since, in turn, when we put on Christ, we are put on by Christ, who leads us into the spindles of the church and weaves us into the fringes of his garment. This shepherd has already, as I judge, sheared you, and set you on his threshing-floor, and drenched your fleece with heavenly dew. For the grace also that is poured into your mouth, and through your mouth, like a stream from the fountains of Israel, or from paradise, as it is written, flows abundantly, teaches us that the Lord descended into you as rain into a fleece, and gave you water from the well of Jacob, because you too, of the sons of Israel, had drawn near to the Lord. If, then, you have been thoroughly sheared, you perceive that you have received a double benefit, because both, in the heat of the world, you pluck light pastures of the word sprinkled with the dew of morning gladness, and you are not scorched by the burning of the noonday demon, because you rest beneath the shadow of the Lord's wings. Meanwhile a tunic is prepared for you from your own wool, with which you may be clothed in that day of winter, so that you may be able to stand before the face of its cold, if, when despoiled of your body, you are not found naked of work. Then in turn Christ will offer himself to you as a sheep, and that lamb who for us was led to the slaughter and before the one shearing him did not open his mouth, having suffered his fleeces -- that is, the spoils of his flesh -- to be drawn off from him. For he himself for us laid down both his soul and his flesh, and took them up again -- he who is both priest and victim and lamb and shepherd, who for his sheep was slain as shepherd, and for his shepherds as lamb. For the Lord himself is the victim of all priests, who, pouring himself out as the victim of his priesthood for the reconciliation of all to the Father, was also the priest of his own victim; to whom now, as to the one Lord of all, every new creature is a sacrifice, and the priests are themselves victims to him. If now we present ourselves to him to be sheared in the silence of humility and patience, with which he himself offered himself for us, he will take upon himself the burdens of our fleece, and will not disdain to bear the wool of his sheep -- he who deigns to carry back to the folds upon his shoulders the very sheep which he has called back from straying. And since he himself needs none of our good things, while we for our part need all of his -- being good to us only for our own good -- he takes our things, which are his, and yet does not claim them as of his own right, but reckons them to us as though they were our own; though we have nothing unless we have received it, and not even we ourselves can exist without his nod. Therefore, to us who bring nothing into this world, he sets before us the substance of temporal things as a fleece to be shorn -- not that it may impede as a burden those whom he bids be born unencumbered, but that he may set before us material of virtue for earning merits, and that there may be whereby we may give proof of our faith and piety toward God, that is, toward our true Father and Lord, if things dear or sweet should be at hand for us, which, preferring God, we may neglect for a great reward -- and which, through his immense goodness, since they were neither brought in with us into this world nor to be carried out from here with us, are yet, if we obey his precepts, so disposed that they are changed for the better, and from temporal things eternal things are rendered. For those things which, as we did not bring them in, so neither can we carry them away through our nature and the passing figure of this world, these, turning them by the work of almighty God into a blessed kind of merchandise, we not only carry away with us, but even send before us, sown into the bosom of the Lord. Whence I judge it prescribed that the slothful workman should not eat bread -- not, namely, that bread of perishing food, but that by which one lives unto the true life, because each one, as it is written, shall eat of his own fruits and shall live in his own works; and accordingly each one's own work is bread to him, and the true and living bread is Christ, whom the slothful workman cannot eat, because he is the same as our Passover, which we are bidden to eat with all haste, ready and girded and firmly shod, and with the staves not laid down from the hand -- that is, the works on which we rely never relaxed -- because the time is short and it is expedient for us to be without care, as the apostle persuades, on account of the pressing necessity, that we may be found ready and may not fear to open to the Lord when he knocks, fearing things worthy of the consciousness of sleep or negligence. Which indeed will profit us nothing, since we are nonetheless to be dragged out, and indeed to death after death, that we may pay just penalties of negligence and impiety, if we be caught serving another lord rather than our own, occupied more with the affairs of the world than of Christ, and not opening to the Lord when he knocks, and led unwilling to the Father. Therefore it is foretold to us that we should labor and pray for this -- that is, the soul -- in the opportune time, that is, the present, into whose span we are brought in for this reason: that by this short and passing life we may seek the true life. The field and ground of this life is this world, or man himself, who is sent into this world, of whom one is taken up, when, as we said above, with the flesh subjugated to the spirit he has made two one -- because also in each one of us, according to the apostle, there are two minds and two laws, by which, grinding within us, either a flour acceptable to God or one to be rejected is prepared. That in you, the law of the members being conquered and the outer man corrupted, a pure mixture is prepared, and the unleavened bread is made for Christ without leaven, your words, as eloquent as they are chaste, bear witness. For it would not have been granted you to narrate Martin, unless you had made your mouth worthy of sacred praises by a pure heart. Blessed therefore are you, a man, to the Lord, who have reviewed the history of so great a priest and so manifest a confessor with a discourse as worthy as your affection is just. Blessed too is he, for his merits, who deserved a historian worthy of his faith and his life -- who is consecrated both to divine glory by his own merits and to human memory by your writings. These words of yours also are fleeces, and they cover the Lord Jesus with a most pleasing covering, with whose beautiful [...] they surround him and adorn him with the flowers of your talent. He in turn, that lamb, will clothe you from his own fleece on the day of retribution, putting on your mortal part over with his own immortality. Do you only remember us and look upon us -- not looking back, but mindful of your friend. For it is certain that, as a more skillful husbandman, you have more plentiful fruits, and as a swifter runner you outstrip our slowness, flying ahead to the prize of the supernal calling. For weaker in mind than in body, I follow you at a long interval, separated from you only by space, not by journey, and I turn the same mill with a sick and unequal hand -- a companion in the mill-house, but worse in produce, because I grind tares mixed with the wheat. That these may be wholly turned into produce, I have need of your prayers, by which I hope to escape both my riches and my poverty -- because each is to me unto evil, since I am poor in righteousness and rich in sin. For truly I would believe myself rich in good, if I were already so poor as you suppose. In which matter, however, I will shake you a little out of your own words, by which you are at variance with yourself. For although you have not proclaimed my virtues in me, yet, since you thought fit to grant me others' virtues, though by your words, how does it fit that you the same should confess to dread the poverty which you profess to admire? If you believe that this virtue has been granted to me, which you confess to wish for but not to be able to attain -- so that, having food and clothing, I am content with this and think of nothing beyond the day -- why do you suppose that I am to be overcome by the necessity of want, so that I cease to invite you, whom I cannot but desire? Or do you betray yourself as so weak and distrustful of Christ that you fear to come to such a friend as you proclaim, if in truth you follow him who said: take up your cross and come, follow me? How otherwise do you suppose Christ is to be followed, except by the law which he taught and the form which he set before us -- who, when he had come into his own, yet had not among his own rights a place to recline his head? Imitate the imitator of Christ, that, dead, you may live, crucifying yourself to the world and the world to yourself, daily dying through the faith of the word and living in the word of faith. For man does not live by bread alone, especially the Christian, of whom it is properly written that he lives by faith. Did he say: by bread? Why then do you fear famine from me, if you have faith? Your bread is with you. If you are fed by the word of God, you will not desire the food of the belly; for God will destroy both this and that, while he builds himself up in us, if we, founded in his love, stand firm and do not place our house in the sand of wavering distrust. Did we not believe in him and both swear by him, who said: be not anxious for the morrow, for sufficient to the day is its own evil; seek first the kingdom and righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you? If you believe him, why do you fear famine from the want of his brother, whom you know to have preferred poverty to riches in the security of this word? Or do you believe that man more abundant who trusts the earth than him who trusts God? And him who is fed by his own care than him who is fed by the divine? What should that wretch have, who does not have himself? For he does not have himself who hopes more from himself than from God; and he is truly dead who fears not to live, if he should trust his whole self to God and commit it to God. I hope, therefore, that what you wrote -- that you believe I shall shortly become so poor that I would no longer dare to invite you -- was rather a jest of your courtesy than the faith of your weakness. For I confess that I prefer nothing to the good of so great a liberty, since so inward a circumcision is a full perfection. But nevertheless, if there is in you a true faith in Christ, a true admiration of the heavenly virtues in a man, and an emulation of the man living in God, how should you not all the more seek me out, the more perfect you heard me to be -- unless indeed you should confess that you do not believe with the heart what you profess with the mouth? But you are convicted of fleeing from me as a sinner, not as a poor man -- you, a frequenter of the most blessed Martin -- whom certainly you would never have desired, if you had feared to hunger for the foods of the body. I for my part, because it is necessary that in the advance of spiritual work love above all -- which is the fullness of the law -- should make progress, as I shall not cease to desire you, so neither to invite you. Come to us, and if you can, fly to us. We have nothing but Christ; and see whether we have nothing, who have him who has all things. For we did not leave Ebromagus for the sake of a little garden, as you write, but we preferred that garden of paradise both to patrimony and to fatherland, because there is the true home where it is eternal, there more truly the fatherland where is the original land and the principal dwelling. For if you believe in the propitious Christ, on account of whom, though we have nothing, in him we possess all things, now in this soil of thorns and labors not even by the little clod of a garden does the slime of earth hold us -- but would that no dust of sin in like manner clung to us! If you believe this good thing as you proclaim it, and believe me to be in it, as you write that you believe, and yet you desire me more sluggishly: then you commit yourself no longer to me, a sinner ever and ever unworthy of your sight, but to the Lord himself, if you suppose that the nourishment of mortal life will fail us only then, when God has begun to be our possession.

XI. SEVERO FRATRI VNANIMO PAVLINVS. In domino deo Iesu Christo sentio et in te potissimum munere et uerbo dei laetus experior, quia amico fideli nulla est conparatio, et lingua gratiae in bono homine abundat. nam quasi medicamentum uitae nobis consolatio caritatis tuae, ut faui mellis sermones tui; ut aqua frigida sitientibus, ita nobis nuntius de te bonus a terra longinqua. qui cum et salutis tuae indicio et caritatis eloquio inpinguet ossa nostra, magnum laetitiae et iocunditatis cumulum hinc habet, quod per nostros filios in domino tuos pueros adfertur et promitur, ut non solum litteris sed quadam tui lateris parte potiamur. quid retribuemus domino nostro praeter omnia quae retribuit nobis, pro hac etiam gratia, qua te nobis et in saeculari prius amicitia dilectissimum, in suis quoque rebus, quod inconparabilis pretii ducimus, indiuiduum comitem atque consortem spiritali germanitate conexuit? 2] (Matth. 13, 20). 7] Eccli. 6, 15. 11] Prou. 16, 24 et 25, 25. 12] (Prou. 15, 30). 16] Ps. 115, 12. 1 colentum FPU laboris 0 fructificat om. FPU, frutificare facit M 2 orreum LPUx obtuleris] ualeas pater add. PIU . — finit prima PO, gratia dF tecum ut est, in aeternum maneat pater. et conseruet et dne in duo unianimę uenerabilis et merito beatissime. finit epistule ad epm delfinu X FLafOPU . — incipit quarta - IIII . F, item eiusdem ad eundem • XVIIII. L, ad sulpicium seuerum • XXVII. M, incipit ad seuerum quinta 0, epistola sancti paulini episcopi ad seuerum monachum de mutua caritate: qua se inuicem diligebant. ubi etiam ipsum plurimum laudat: quod beatissimi martini confessoris hystoriam eloquio digniore conscripserit (it ex at) U . — 5 unianimo 0 6 in dno xpo i\'łiu salutem. Sentio FPU 8 linguae gratia LM abundet LM 9 nobis est M 12 inpinguet 0, inpinguat LU, impinguat FMP 15 sed et M lateris tui FM 16 dno do Ml 17 et pro M 18 amititia 0 ut infra, amiticia L I in LOv, et in cet . 19 inconparabiles 01 dicimus LMlO Quae est, inquit, mater mea, aut qui sunt fratres mei? non hi uidelicet, qui de uoluntate carnis et conuenientia somni, sed qui ex deo nati sunt per sapientiam dei Christum, qui in se manens innouat omnia et dat potestatem filios dei fieri, coheredes regni sui, propter id ipsum conformatus corpori humilitatis nostrae, ut nos conformet corpori gloriae suae nec solum a terra nostra sed etiam a cognatione diuulsos in sortem et generationem suam transferat. quo munere nos sibi creare et in suae caritatis uinculo copulare dignatus est, a familiaritate carnali, in qua iam nunc, ut intellegimus, huic nos foederi praeparauerat, in aeternam necessitudinem affectu potiore mutauit, siquidem caritas Christi ista sit, quae numquam excidit, quia ex deo defluit et in deo permanet omnemque, in quo maneat, hominem sua perennitate perpetuat. haec est inflari nescia, expers doli, secura liuoris, aemula deo, non elatione spiritus, sed spiritu mansuetudinis et aemulatione pietatis. dominus enim noster, ut ipse testatus est et experimur, dulcis et mitis est et humilis corde. De quo tu mihi frater genitus non solum ad praesens adiutorium sed et ad perenne consortium tanto superas omnem circa me corporalium necessitudinum affectionem, quanto potiore mihi parente germanus es quam illi quos caro tantum et sanguis mihi sociat. ubi enim mihi nunc consanguinea germanitas? ubi amicitia uetus? ubi pristina contubernia? euanui coram illis omnibus, exter, ut dictum est, fratribus meis et peregrinus filiis matris meae. amici mei et proximi 1] Matth. 12, 48. 3] Ioh. 1, 13. 4] ib. 12. 13] I Cor. 13, 8. 18] Mattb. 11, 29. 27] Ps. 68, 9 et 37, 12. 2 hii M 3 qui om. L 5 ad ipsum Ll 7 suae om. FPU nec Or, et non cet . cogitatione Ll 8 trauferat L 9 suo U 10 et B- scripsi, est m, sed exp. M ut M, om. cet . 13 ita L sit] est M 14 manet LM peremnitate U 15 secura scripsi, cura OP1, uacua FUP\', pura LMv 18 testatur FPU 20 frater genitus 0, genitus frater cet . 21 sed a peremne U 22 afflictionem L 24 mihi tantum et sanguis M sanguinis 0 nunc mihi M 26 fratris mee F quondam mei nunc a longe steterunt; et sicut fluuius decurrens et ut fluctus pertransiens, sic transeunt me et in me forsitan confunduntur et erubescunt, ut scriptum est, uenire ad me; facti sunt mihi qui prope longe et qui longe prope. pro patribus, inquit, nati sunt tibi filii. ita pro parentibus et fratribus et amicis tu nobis factus a domino es, qui et parentum cura anxius et fraterna dilectione sollicitus et tota non fictae amicitiae fide sedulus omnibusque in nos pietatis uisceribus effusus adsiduis nos litteris adeas, blandissimis solaciis mulceas. Neque sat habeas occasionibus cunctis reuisere, nisi et pueros tuos mittas nec solum de famulis sed et de filiis sanctis, quorum benedicta in domino prole laetaris, eligas tabellarios, quorum oculis nos uideas et ore contingas. speciosi nobis pedes illorum tamquam euangelizantium bona. nuntiant enim nobis et adferunt ea quae ad pacem sunt de te, cum proferunt opera domini, quae aut operaris in uerbo dei aut scribis in spiritu uerbi. quae nobis diuitiae tam pretiosa munera, quae necessitudines tam dulcia possint praestare solacia? ut eorum reputatio differatur, quae in aeternum largitas diuina promittit, quanto potiora posthabitis rebus sint quae iam et in isto saeculo rependuntur considerare promptum est. quod enim, quaeso, mihi damnum pietatis gratiae parens inhumanus aut frater neglegens aut amicus inmemor faciunt, cum omnes horum mihi nominum uel pignorum aut foederum caritates uel de te uno largiter rependantur? ut taceam uel in nostro uel etiam in ignoto orbe non paucos et in deum et erga nos tui similes, quorum nobis affectus maximos pro patria et parentibus et patrimoniis gratia retributoris indulget, in te 4] (Ps. 37, 12 et 107, 10; Eph. 2, 13). Ps. 44,17. 13] Es. 52,7; Rom. 10, 15. 19] (Matth..l9, 29). 2 a me FPU 3 forsitant L ut scriptum est Oln. M 8 uiceribus L 9 blaudidissimis L solaciis OP, solatiis cet . 10 habes LM 11 fideliis 0 12 eligis LM 13 nos L in ras. tll. 1 16 preferunt Ov operariis U 18 queue F possunt M solatia LMOU 19 utpromittit om. M differat 0, referatur FPU quae M, om. cet . 22 pietatis] et add. v, uel add. M inhumanos UPl 24 horum Mv, honorum cet . pignerum F 28 retributionis U uno quae accepimus bona si conputemus, omnia nobis nostra in te largius atque pretiosius conpensata reputabimus. frater non redimit, inquit, redimet homo. similiter nobis licet dicere: mundus nos non amat, sed amat Christus. homo neglegit, sed deus diligit. inimici hominis domestici eius, sed rursum amici hominis domestici dei. fuerint nobis fratres et amici et proximi boni et magni; sed non fuit placitum circa nos in eis domino, qui te elegit donare nobis in fratrem inseparabilem et in proximum dilectissimum, quem merito sicut nosmet ipsos diligamus, quia cor unum et unam animam tecum in Christo habemus. Itaque quod supra breuiter posuimus de caritate multorum aeque spiritalium nequaquam apte et digne diximus; in nullius enim persona congruere nobis eadem quam in te habemus gratia potest. ut enim aeque diligere dignentur in humilitate nostra gratiam domini, tamen illud in te speciale nobis donum est, quod praedestinatos nos inuicem nobis in caritate Christi iunctissima prioris quoque uitae amicitia signauit, adhuc eorum, quae nunc per Christum auertimur, amatores. sed tamen in hanc, qua modo interuentu dei nectimur, copulam per consuetudinem illius familiaritatis inoleuimus, ut diligendo nos et in infideli uia fideliter diligere etiam spiritaliter disceremus, quia tam religiose nos semper uterque dileximus, ut ad nostram inter nos dilectionem nulla adici posset affectio nisi caritas Christi, quae sola omnem sensum affectumque supereminet. quo inpensiores debemus bono domino gratias, 2] Ps. 48, 8. 5] Matth. 10, 36. 10] (Act. 4, 32). 1 nostra nobis LM 3 redimit homo Lebrun 4 uos FPU 5 deus] i i cristus F, xps PU hominęs 01 6 sed-dei om. FU homiues 0 fuerunt LlM 9 iu om. FPU 10 diligimus Ml 13 spaliu M abte FP, ab te U 14 personam FPU 15 in 0, om. cet . humilitat U, humilitatem L, fraternitatem M 16 nostram gratia LM est dfiT M tamen illud] illud autem M nobis om. M 17 pdistinatos 0 18 uinctissima FPU prioribus LOP1 19 per (propter lIl) christum nunc LM d wiertimus L, auertimus M 20 quo P1 22 in M, om. cet . diligere etiam spiritaliter diligere FPU 23 quia] qui fort . 25 effectumque L quod respicere dignatus in humilitatem nostram, cum pariter in agro inuenisset, pariter ut geminos ab utero carnis extraxit et pariter adsumpsit. duo enim uere, ut scripsisti, fuimus in agro, sed bonitate et omnipotentia dei, ausim dicere, ita de nobis unus adsumptus est, quod neuter est relictus. eramus enim et singillatim duo, cum in nobis caro rebellis a spiritu dissideret neque nostro homini pax esset, cum interiori repugnaret exterior. nunc uero propitio ipso, qui fecit utrumque unum, et duo unum sumus, quia unus spiritus in duobus et nulla discretio, quorum corpus unum. sed hoc, ut dixi, commune nobis cum omnibus in Christo fratribus; unum in te peculiariter nobis gratum atque gratandum est, in cuius amicitia beatissimum dei munus accepimus, ut nec itinere mutato dissolueremur a nobis, quod damnum de multis, ut recognoscis, dulcissimis aliquando nostris pariter experimur. Vere ergo tu nobis et parens et frater et proximus es; qui facis et in nobis uoluntatem dei ac plenitudinem legis, diligis nos tamquam te, amicus nobis in caritate Christi et in dei regeneratione germanus. quod cum uideas et recognoscas, cur in nos onerose et de te falso loqueris, ut dicas: duo fuimus in agro, et unus adsumptus est? non simus ingrati deo, qui non unum ex nobis, sed unum adsumpsit in nobis. duo fuimus, sed quando cum illis fratribus conbinabamus, quorum a nobis per hoc propositum facta diuisio est, quia unus non de singulari corpore, sed de multorum quoque unanimitate dici satis eadem scriptura declarat, cum has personas non in duobus hominibus sed populis fide gentium et remansione Iudaeorum id ostendente proponit. nam et illae molentes duae, 4] lliatth. 24,40. 8] Eph. 2,14. 17] (Rom. 18,10). 20] Matth. 24, 40. 26] (Rom. 12, 5). 28] (Matth. 24,41; Luc. 17, 85). 1 dignatus est F 3 assupsit U 5 sigilatim U, singulatim 0 6 et 7 rebellis U discideret F 7 Hunc U 8 utraq; M 9 et-l. 10 Ullum om. M 11 peculialiter L, pecculialiter U 14 nostris] nunc FU, úñ P1, nunc P* s. I . 17 facis et] faciens LM 18 et in] et LM 20 nobis 0 falsoque FU 24 unum LM 25 quoque om. F unamitate 0 26 non LM, om. cet . 28 osteudere FU proponitur FPU ille OP de quibus similiter una adsumitur, ut arbitror, synagogae et ecclesiae formam gerunt, quia non est alia persona, quae in omni sacrarum litterarum ratione tractetur, nisi aut in uniuersitate generis humani credentium infideliumque populorum distinctio aut in natura omnis hominis geminae creatura substantiae. et ideo, mi frater, quia semper nobis cohaesimus in corde uno, sicut nunc cohaeremus in Christo, aut pariter adsumpti aut pariter relicti sumus. adsumpti autem non nostro merito sed gratia dei, cuius dona et uocationes sine paenitentia sunt, neque ex operum praerogatiua sed ei fide bonae uoluntatis, qua pariter in caritatem eius animati, ut uno et tenore propositi et tempore conuersionis nostrae apparuit, simul oportet gloriemur et exultemus in eo, qui iustificat inpium per fidem et dat escam omni carni, escam non istam quae perit, sed illam quae conficitur in aeternum uictum, qualem uel anima in dei rebus operosa uel catholica ecclesia coquit. corpus est enim ueri panis qui de caelo descendit et dat escam uiuificantem esurientibus iustitiam. non enim carnem farcit, sed cor hominis firmat. hic panis et fons est, qui quo amplius editur, plus esuritur et quo magis bibitur, plus sititur. hunc panem ut edamus in aeternum, molamus in huius mundi pistrino triticum bonum, quod est oboedientiae fidelis operatio et caritas in corde puro et fide non ficta. Qua gratia et uirtute cum plenus sis, bonam deo frugem molis teque ipsum in azymis sinceritatis et ueritatis epulandum deo exhibes, cuius esca est quisquis uoluntatum eius effectus in corporis ipsius membra conuertitur dicente ipso, quia 9] Rom. 11, 29. 14] Ps. 135, 25. 17] Ioh. 6, 33. 20] (Eccli. 24,29). 23] I Tim. 1, 5. 1 una similiter FPU 3 aut] autem U in L 8. 1 . 5 hominis omnis U creature FPU 6 nobis om. v 9 pinitentia U 11 quia LM 12 conuersationis 0 14 alt . escam om. LM 16 quoquit U 17 de] e PU 19 et panis et M quo plus FPU 21 ut] et ut F mondi PU 22 pristino F 23 puro v, om . w 24 gratie FPU et om. FU 25 teque] atque U azimis w epelandum U 26 deo om. M uoluntatem FMv effectu* (s eras.) M, efficiens v 27 conuertit L ipso] apio LM lXYUIl. Fauliui Nul. epistnlac. 5 qui se iungit deo, spiritus unus efficitur. quod adsequimur, si portemus imaginem caelestis ea cura et diligentia, qua portauimus imaginem terreni. imitando enim imitatorem Christi perueniemus ad imitationem dei, cui bonus odor sumus in Christo, si exhibeamus hostiam uiuam obsequio rationabili, ut illi puram similaginem mola mundi cordis excretam ab interioris nostri penetralibus offeramus et in pectore nostro castum altare ponentes illa per legem iussa sacrificiis animalia mactemus in uitiis, inmolantes hircum cum peremptione peccati, in quo odor mortis est, caedentes taurum, si deponamus superbiam, sacrificantes ouem, si mollitudinem et ignauiam in caritate non tepidi et spiritu feruentes eiciamus, offerentes in nobis et agnum, si inmaculati uiuamus, et uitulum, si efficiamur malitia paruuli, ut unius purum pudicitia, alterius stultum simplicitate referamus; quale te sacrificium deo exhibere uideo in templo tui corporis, in sacrario tui cordis, in inmolatione tuae carnis, in oblatione tuae animae. inmolas taurum, cum pia humilitate depositus ceruicem altam percussisti timore diuino. inmolas haedum, cum omnia sinistrae partis opera iustitiae sectator interficis. ouem iugulas, cum diligens operarius studiosusque meditator diuinae uoluntatis et legis inertiam in te et ignauiam quasi pecus molle prosternis et a te uitae istius inpedimenta quasi uellera tondenti utilia, onerosa gestanti forcipe uerbi caelestis abscidis; qua nos duobus testamentis adprehensos tenet Christus et uel sarcinis saecularibus quasi lanis exuit uel rursum ut uellera a corporalibus 1] I Cor. 6, 17. 2] I Cor. 15, 49. 4] II Cor. 2, 15. 5] (Rom. 12, 1). 9] (Leu. 10, 16). 11] (Leu. 3, 6). 1 qui om. F 3 imaginem om. F 4 cuius M 5 uiuentem LM 6 molam 0 7 interiorib; M (ib; ex is corr.) nostri om. M penetrabilibus FU, om. M 8 issa U 9 cum Ov, pro F, om. cet . 11 pr . si] depontmuj sed FPU imolemus M, ponamus FPU ouium U si mollitudinem] similitudinem U et] sed FU 12 feruenter 0 15 qualem FPU 16 deo om. M 17 immolas M, imolans P 19 immolaus LIMPl omnia] anima U 20 iugulas MP1 21 studiosiusque L mediator L 22 et a te] aetate F 23 tundeuti 0 24 accidis 0, occidis FPU 26 a om. 0 uitiis tamquam a morbidis et mollibus ouium corporibus abscidens in uestimentum sui corporis, quod operatione credentium tegit, siquidem uicissim cum Christum induimus, induamur a Christo, in ecclesiae pensa deducit et fimbriis suae uestis intexit. Totondit te hic pastor iam, ut arbitror, et posuit in area sua et caelesti rore perfudit uellus tuum. nam et gratia, quae infusa est ori tuo et per os tuum quasi riuus a fontibus Israel uel Suopui ;, ut scriptum est, a paradiso abundans fluit, docet nos, quia descendit in te dominus sicut pluuia in uellus et dedit tibi aquam de puteo Iacob, quia tu quoque de filiis Israel domino propinquatus extiteras. si ergo pertonsus es, duplex beneficium recepisse te sentis, quia et in aestu saeculi leuis pascua uerbi matutinae laetitiae rore sparsa decerpis nec meridiani daemonii ardore torreris, quia sub umbra alarum domini conquiescis. paratur tibi interim tunica de tuis lanis, qua in illa die hiemis uestiaris, ut ante faciem frigoris eius ualeas subsistere, si dispoliatus a corpore non inueniaris nudus ab opere. tum uicissim praebebit se tibi ouem Christus et agnus ille, qui pro nobis ad interfectionem ductus est et coram tondente se non aperuit os suum, uellera sua id est carnis exuuias abstrahi sibi passus. ipse enim pro nobis et animam et carnem suam posuit et recepit, qui et sacerdos et hostia et agnus et pastor est, qui pro ouibus suis pastor et pro pastoribus suis agnus occisus est. ipse enim dominus hostia omnium sacerdotum est, qui semet ipsum pro omnium 3] (Rom. 13,14). 9] (Eccli. 24, 41). 10] Ps. 71, 6. 11] (Ioh. 4,6). 15] (Ps. 90, 6). (Ps. 16, 8). 20] Es. 53, 7. 22] (Ioh. 10, 17 et 18.) 25] (Heb. 5,10). 1 abscindens F 2 quod om. FU, exp. P* cooperatione FP I U 3 texit (x in ras.) M cum] sicut FPU induam U, induimur LM 4 et in eeKe pensa-intezit om. hoc loco et ante siquidem l. 3 inserit M 6 aera FL1 8 ostium LMl a fontibus a fontibus F 9 dorix LM, dyoras (dioras P) decem FPU, dioraxii 0, Biwpua v, Siopu-pa ut coniecturow adn. Ducaeus ut est supra scriptum F 12 propinquans LM 14 matutini laetitia roris Sacch . rore sparsa scripsi, roris sparsa Ov, rore respersa FLMP, rere despersa U 16 interim tibi FPU 18 substinere U despoliatus M 19 et] ut fort . 26 est om. F 5* reconciliatione patri libans uictima sacerdotii sui et sacerdos suae uictimae fuit, cuique nunc ut uni omnium domino omnis noua creatura sacrificium ipsique sunt hostiae sacerdotes. si nunc ei nos tondendos in silentio humilitatis atque patientiae, qua se ipse pro nobis praebuit, praebeamus, suscipiet in se onera uelleris nostri nec dedignabitur ouium suarum lanas portare, qui ipsam ouem, quam ab errore reuocauerit, humeris suis ad ouilia reportare dignatur. Et quoniam bonorum nostrorum ipse non indiget, nos uero omnium illius indigemus, nostro tantum bono nobis bonus, capit nostra quae sua sunt, et tamen ea iuris sui non uult, ut quasi nostra nobis accepto ferat, cum nihil habeamus nisi acceperimus et ne ipsi quidem sine nutu ipsius esse possimus. ergo nihil in hunc mundum inferentibus substantiam rerum temporalium quasi tonsile uellus adponit, non ut sarcina inpediat quos expeditos nasci iubet, sed ut materiam nobis uirtutis ad merita parienda proponat, et sit unde documentum nostrae in deum id est uerum patrem ac dominum fidei atque pietatis edamus, si suppetant nobis cara uel dulcia, quae praeferentes deum magno praemio neglegamus et quae per inmensam eius bonitatem, cum nec inlata nobiscum sint in hunc mundum neque istinc efferenda nobiscum, tamen si pareamus praeceptis illius, ita ordinantur, ut mutentur in melius et de temporalibus aeterna reddantur. nam quae sicut non intulimus, ita nec auferre possumus per naturam nostram et praetereuntem huius mundi figuram, ea per omnipotentis dei 7] (Luc. 15,5). 9] Ps. 15,2. 12] (I Cor. 4,7). 13] (Act. 17, 28). 14] (I Tim. 6,7). 20] (Matth. 19,29). 21] (I Tim. 6,7). 26] (I Cor. 7,31). 1 recousiliatione F 2 fuit] est FPU cui M ut] et F 5 suscipiat FPU in se] ipse M 6 qui OPv, quia cet . 7 reuocauerit OPv, aa reuocauerat cet . umeris LlO 10 illius omnium M 13 receperimus 0 a notu 0 possumus FPU 14 substantium 01 15 sarcinam 0 17 si toudae LM docimentum 0 19 uel cara uel M 20 praemio] prelIDO n cio M 22 h mundo M 23 immutentur F, imitentur U 24 namq. 0, nam ea quae M 25 aufere L nostram om. M 26 ea om. M opus beato mercimonii genere uertentes non modo nobiscum efferimus, sed ante nos etiam in sinum domini seminata praemittimus. Vnde praescriptum arbitror, ut piger operarius non edat panem, non uidelicet istum pereuntis cibi panem, sed illum quo uiuitur in ueram uitam, quia unusquisque, sicut scriptum est, de fructibus suis manducabit et in operibus suis uiuet, ac perinde suum cuique opus panis est et panis uerus ac uiuus Christus est, quem non potest manducare piger operarius, quia idem est pascha nostrum, quod expediti atque praecincti et firmiter calciati nec depositis a manu baculis, id est operibus quibus nitimur numquam remissis, cum omni festinantia edere praecipimur, quia tempus breue est et expedit nobis sine cura esse, sicut apostolus suadet, propter instantem necessitatem, ut inueniamur parati et pulsanti domino non timeamus aperire de conscientia somni aut neglegentiae digna metuentes. quod quidem nobis nihil proderit nihilominus extrahendis et ad mortem quidem post mortem, ut iustas neglegentiae atque inpietatis poenas luamus, si alieno potius quam nostro domino deseruientes deprehendamur saeculi magis quam Christi negotiis occupati pulsantique domino non aperiamus et ad patrem ducamur inuiti. propterea praedicitur nobis, ut pro hac, id est anima, laboremus et oremus in tempore oportuno, hoc est praesenti, in cuius spatium ideo inducimur, ut ueram uitam ista breui et transeunte quaeramus. huius uitae campus et ager mundus iste est uel homo ipse, qui in hunc mundum mittitur, de quo unus adsumitur, cum, ut supra diximus, carne spiritui subiugata duo unum fecerit, quia et in 2] (Gal. 6, 8). 4] (H Thess. 3,10). 6] (Pa. 127,2). 8] (Ioh. 6,35). 11] (Ex. 12, 11). 13] I Cor. 7, 26, 29 et 32. 15] (Luc. 12, 36). 23] Ps. 31, 6. 25] (I Tim. 6,19). 26] Matth. 13,38. 27] Matth. 24,40. 1 uertentes ex utentes F m . 2 6 uera uita LM quia Ov, qua cet . 8 proinde FP* 11 caltiati ,0, calceati PU nec LJfO, non FPll 16 negliegtie F 17 nihil minus 0 19 impietis 0 20 magis scfi M 21 pulsantiqueque F 23 opportuno PU 25 ista tam LM 26 iste mundus FPU est iste M 27 de] deo 0 unoquoque nostrum secundum apostolum duae mentes et duae leges sunt, quibus intra nos molentibus aut acceptabilis deo aut refutabilis similago conficitur. Te uero uicta lege membrorum et exteriore corrupto puram conspersionem parare et sine fermento azymum Christo confici eloquia tua tam facunda quam casta testantur. neque enim tibi donatum fuisset enarrare Martinum, nisi dignum os tuum sacris laudibus mundo corde fecisses. benedictus igitur tu homo domino, qui tanti sacerdotis et manifestissimi confessoris historiam tam digno sermone quam iusto affectu percensuisti. beatus et ille pro meritis, qui dignum fide et uita sua meruit historicum, qui et ad diuinam gloriam suis meritis et ad humanam memoriam tuis litteris consecratur. haec quoque uerba tua uellera sunt et dominum Iesum gratissimo tegmine cooperiunt, cuius ** supellectili pulchra ambiunt et ingenii tui floribus comunt. uestiet ille te uicissim agnus de suo uellere in retributionis die, mortale tuum de sua inmortalitate superinduens. Tu tantum nostri memento et nos respice, non retro spectans sed amici memor. certum est enim, quia agricola sollertior fructus habeas largiores et pernicior cursor tarditatem nostram ad brauium supernae uocationis anteuoles. infirmior etenim mente quam corpore longo te interuallo sequor, spatio tamen tantum a te, non itinere separatus, et eandem molam aegra et inpari manu uerto, pistrino socius, fruge deterior, quia tritico mixta zizania molo. quae ut tota uertantur in frugem, orationibus tuis egeo, quibus spero euadere et 1] (Gal. 5, 17). 4] (Rom. 7, 23). 5] (I Cor. 5, 7). 17] (I Cor. 15, 54). 19] (Luc. 9, 62). 22] Phil. 8, 14. 26] (Matth. 13, 25). I 2 acceptabiles 0 4 corrupta L, corruptela M 5 parari FPU azimum w 6 fieri FPU facunda 0, fecunda cet . 7 narrare FPU 15 corpus uel ut Sacch. uoluit membra intercidisse uidetur suppelectilis M, supellectif L pulchra Ov, fulcra MU, fulchra FLP ingeni 0 17 superiaducens FPU 21 pernicior Mv, pernitior cet . cursu FPU 22Asupernae ad bravium U 23 enim M 24 te] et U seperatus F 25 aegra] erga FU pristino F 26 mixto LM 27 ego F et om. M diuitias et paupertatem meam, quia utrumque mihi in malum est, cum sim iustitiae pauper et peccati diues. nam uere me diuitem boni crederem, si ita iam pauper essem, ut putas. in quo tamen de uerbis tuis te paulisper excutiam, quibus a te ipse discordas. etsi non meas uirtutes in me praedicaueris, tamen qui alienas licet mihi uerbis tuis donandas putasti, quomodo conuenit, ut idem tu paupertatem, quam te admirari profiteris, horrere fatearis? si credas hanc mihi donatam esse uirtutem, quam te uelle nec posse adsequi confiteris, ut habens uictum et uestimentum hoc contentus sim, nihil ultra diem cogitem, cur uel me inopiae necessitate superandum putas, ut te, quem non desiderare non possum, inuitare desistam, aut te tam infirmum diffidentemque Christo prodis, ut timeas ad huiusmodi qualem praedicas amicum uenire, si in ueritate sequeris illum qui dixit: tolle crucem tuam et ueni, sequere me? quomodo aliter putas Christum sequendum nisi lege qua docuit et forma quam praetulit? qui cum in sua uenisset, reclinandi tamen capitis locum inter sua iura non habuit. Imitare imitatorem Christi, ut mortuus uiuas crucifigens te mundo et tibi mundum, cotidie moriens per fidem uerbi et uiuens in uerbo fidei. non enim in pane solo uiuit homo, praesertim Christianus, de quo proprie scriptum est: quia ex fide uiuit. numquid dixit: ex pane? quid igitur a me famem metuis, si fidem habes? panis tuus tecum est. si uerbo dei pasceris, non desiderabis escam uentris; deus enim et hunc et illam destruet, dum se aedificat in nobis, si nos in ipsius caritate fundati consistamus neque domum nostram in diffidentiae fluctuantis harena locemus. nonne illi credidimus 9] I Tim. 6, 8. 10] (Matth. 6,34). 15] Luc. 9,23; Matth. 19,21. 18] (Matth. 8, 20). 22] Deut. 8, 3; Matth. 4, 4. 23] Gal. 3, 12. 26] I Cor. 6,13. 27] (Eph. 3, 17). 29] (Matth. 7, 26; Luc. 6, 49). 1 in] ut U 5 me in L praedicaueris in me M 6 qui F, quia cet. v 8 credes 0 10 uestitum LMU contemptus 0 12 inuitare Ov, imitare LPJJ, imitari FM 13 te Bosw., om . <u defidentemque FPU ad] ab 0 17 docuit Ov, uoluit cet . 18 inclinandi FPU iura om. v 22 solo pane LM 23 est om. F 24 dixi U 29 indeficientie F fluctuantes 0 credimus LM et in illum ambo iurauimus, qui dixit: nolite cogitare in crastinum; sufficit enim diei malitia sua; quaerite primum regnum et iustitiam, et haec omnia adponentur uobis? huic si credis, quid de eius fratris inopia famem metuis, quem scis huius uerbi securitate paupertatem diuitiis praetulisse? an magis abundare credis istum qui terrae quam qui deo credit? et qui propria quam qui diuina pascitur cura? quid ille miser habeat, qui se non habet? non enim se habet qui plus de se quam de deo sperat uereque est mortuus qui non uiuere timet, si totum de se deo credat deoque permittat. opto igitur ut tuae potius comitatis hic iocus quam infirmitatis fides fuerit, quod scripsisti credere te ita me futurum breui pauperem, ut ulterius non auderem inuitare te. fateor nihil me praeoptare tantae libertatis bono, siquidem tam intima circumcisio plena perfectio sit. sed tamen si tibi uera in Christo fides, uera uirtutum in homine caelestium admiratio et hominis in deo uiuentis aemulatio est, quomodo non eo magis me expeteres, quo perfectiorem esse audires, nisi si aperte non credere corde quod ore profiteris confitereris? sed in me peccatorem fugere, non pauperem Martini beatissimi frequentator argueris, quem certe numquam desiderasses, si cibis corporis esurire timuisses. Ego certe, quia necesse est in operis spiritalis profectu caritas maxime, quae plenitudo legis est, proficiat, sicut desiderare te, ita et inuitare non desinam. ueni ad nos et si potes, aduola. nihil habemus nisi Christum, et uide, si nihil habeamus qui omnia habentem habemus. Ebromagum enim non hortuli causa, ut scribis, reliquimus, sed paradisi illum 1] Matth. 6,34.33; Luc. 12,81. 18] (Rom. 10,10). 23] Rom. 13,10. 1 illum Ov, illo cd. 2 primum Ov, om. cet . 3 regnum dei v iustitiam eius FlMv 4 si om. 0 6 abondare P istum] illum LMv 8 qui] si LM 9 uereqr (q; in ras.) L est om. FLPU mortuus est M 10 de om. LM deque F 13 non non M ausim FPU 15 sit] est F si] sit FPU si tibi om. M 17 non ideo me magis M eipectes U 18 perfectionem 0 si om. FMPU 19 conSteris U confitereris post aperte l. 18 exh. M 20 martyni 0 22 ergo 0 spiritalibus U1, nt spualis M 23 karitas M legis plenitudo FPU 26 habemus FPU 27 causa ut scribis causa ut scribis F relinquimus FPU illum om. LM hortum praetulimus et patrimonio et patriae, quia illic magis domus uera, ubi aeterna, ibi uerius patria, ubi originalis terra et principalis habitatio. nam si credis propitio Christo, propter quem si nihil habeamus, in ipso omnia possidemus, nunc in ista spinarum et laborum humo ne in hortuli quidem glebula nos terrae limus tenet sed utinam ita nullus a peccato nobis puluis haereret! tu si hoc bonum ita credis, ut praedicas, et in eo me esse credis, ut te credere scribis, et segnius me desideras: iam non in me peccatorem semper et semper indignum conspectu tuo, sed in dominum ipsum committis, si putas tum demum defuturam nobis uitae mortalis alimoniam, cum nobis coeperit deus esse possessio.