Letter 38: To my holy and venerable brother Aper,

XXXVIII. TO HIS HOLY AND DESERVEDLY VENERABLE AND MOST BELOVED BROTHER APER, PAULINUS. I rejoiced in those things which you wrote to me and according to your faith, which, conceived in the heart, you have testified to with your mouth. If the grace of the Lord makes me a partaker of so great a spirit, I hope that we shall go into the house of the Lord, and that, gazing together upon the things which we have grasped by our common hope and faith, we shall sing a hymn with harmonious exultation in the face of truth, about to say to our God, the Lord: we believed that we were ash and earth, if in this time our feet are so established in the courts of Jerusalem that in act and deed we cease to be earth and ash, so that in the spirit of humility we may remember that we are earth and may confess to the Lord that we are so, in order that through Him we may deserve no longer to be, by the reconciliation of grace, that which we are by the condemnation of sin. Blessed are you, brother, and it shall be well with you, because not flesh and blood but the spirit of the heavenly Father revealing it taught you that which you have confirmed, holding it with unshaken faith and professing it with free voice at the most holy end of your letter to me: that Christ Jesus crucified, the Son of God, is God, before whom bends every knee of things earthly, heavenly, and infernal, and whom every tongue confesses to be at the right hand of power and in the glory of God the Father. This Lord and our God, since no other shall be reckoned beside Him, having embraced with the whole mystery of hidden devotion as Lord and God, the Son of God before the ages, made from the seed of David in this age and now living unto the ages by the resurrection of the dead in the hope of human eternity, just as He is, you believe; and as you believe, you preach; and will you call yourself untaught and an infant before God? Truly indeed I believe in part that you have been made a little one, but in malice; yet that you are perfect in understanding I learn from the profession of your faith, because the recognition of truth, which you have grasped in an abridged discourse, is the fullness of wisdom. And therefore that same teacher of the gentiles, the vessel of election and the vessel of God, who professes that Christ speaks in him and that he has the Spirit of God, glories neither in loftiness of speech nor in knowledge of the law, but testifies that he has cast off and esteemed as dung all the glory by which either the wisdom of the Jews or of the philosophers is puffed up, that he may gain Christ and by the loss of that knowledge obtain the gain of this unlearnedness, so as to say: but I knew nothing except Christ Jesus, and Him crucified; in whom, since all the fullness and perfection of wisdom and knowledge is comprehended, insulting this world and despising its letters and all its wisdom with vanity by a loftier spirit, he says: where is the scribe, where the wise man, where the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? And he shows the cause of this error, by which the wisdom of this age deserved to be so struck that it is foolishness to God: because to it, through the arrogance of a wisdom regarded as its own, although no one has anything unless he has received it, the wisdom of God seemed foolishness. Rightly therefore, according to the justice of God and by the interchanged turn of foolishness and wisdom, those are condemned to be foolish who seem wise to themselves not from the gift of God but as from their own proper good. The more, therefore, do I congratulate your unanimity, that you have spurned that wisdom reprobated by God and have preferred to have fellowship with the little ones of Christ rather than with the wise of the world. Hence now also you merit this grace from the Lord, that, as you deigned to indicate, piously glorying, all men hate you - which would not happen unless you had begun to be a true imitator of Christ. For this world would not hate except that which it already saw to be alien from itself and adverse to itself. Rejoice and exult; already even in your beginnings the strength of perfection is at work. It is evident how strongly you have believed in Christ, to whom it has already been granted to suffer for Christ. See what the Lord Himself says, and understand how blessed you are. Do not marvel, He says, if the world hates you, because it hated me before you. For if you were of the world, the world would surely love what was its own. And again: the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have called the master of the household Beelzebub, how much more those of his household? See now whether it is permitted that we as servants should refuse to suffer for our Lord the things which the Lord previously endured for us, His servants. O blessed injury, to displease together with Christ! More to be feared by us is the love of such men, by whom one is pleased without Christ. Did I not, He says, hate those who hated you? And He added: with perfect hatred I hated them. What commerce should there be for us with the society of these, from whose lot there is separation? Deservedly you glory, most venerable brother, and in exultation you say that from this you believe of yourself that you are a Christian, because those who loved you have begun to hate you and those who feared you to despise you, and you yourself are conscious that, if you were only so much in your own estimation, they would, as they were wont, both love you and venerate you. Rejoice therefore and exult, for behold your reward is plentiful in heaven. For they hate not you, but Him who has begun to be in you, whose work is in you both the humility which they despise and the chastity which they detest; in which good acknowledge gladly that you are a partaker of the prophets and apostles, both in the prophet, when he says: they detracted from me, because I followed justice, and in the apostle who says: we have been made the offscouring of all, and again the same one attesting that we are set in this world a spectacle to all the angels and to men. From the beginning of the ages Christ suffers in all His own. For He Himself is the beginning and the end, who is veiled in the law, revealed in the gospel, ever wonderful and patient and triumphant in His saints, the Lord: slain by a brother in Abel, mocked by a son in Noah, a sojourner in Abraham, offered up in Isaac, a servant in Jacob, sold in Joseph, exposed and put to flight in Moses, stoned and cut asunder in the prophets, tossed by land and sea in the apostles, and frequently slain by the many and varied crosses of the blessed martyrs. The same one therefore even now, bearing our infirmities and sickness, since He Himself is the man ever set in a wound for us and knowing how to bear the infirmity which we without Him can neither bear nor know - He Himself, I say, now also for us and in us sustaining the world, that by bearing it through He may destroy it and may perfect strength in weakness - He Himself also suffers reproaches in you, and this world hates Him in you. But thanks be to Him, because He conquers when He is judged and, as you hold by Scripture, the Lord triumphs in us through the form of servitude, acquiring for His servants the grace of liberty, and doing this by this mystery of His devotion, by which He put on the form of a servant and deigned to humble Himself for us even unto the death of the cross, that by visible humility He might work within us that invisible loftiness in the heavenly places. For see from the beginning whence we have fallen, and you will understand that by the counsel of divine wisdom and devotion we are reformed unto life. For in Adam we fell by pride, and therefore we are humbled in Christ, that we may wash away the sin of the ancient crime by the obedience of the contrary virtue, and we who offended by being proud may please by serving. Let us therefore exult and glory in Him, who made us both His battle and His victory, saying: be steadfast, for I have conquered the world. And in the book of Kings I likewise hear the prophet saying to King Jehoshaphat, when he was terrified by the immense mass of war and the great multitude of enemies: thus says the Lord: fear not nor be dismayed at the face of this multitude, for this battle is not yours but the Lord's. Moses also had similarly said before: you shall be silent, and the Lord shall fight for you. Therefore let those who trust in their own strength or wisdom, and those who glory in the abundance of their riches, sharpen as they will against us the arms of their teeth and the arrows of their words, let them vomit forth with viperous tongues the poisons of an evil treasure; they have, answering them on our behalf, the Lord: I have kept silence, shall I always keep silence? Let us hedge our ears with thorns, as it is written, that is, with the word of God and the faith of the word, which defend the crop of our life with the most firm hedge of innocence and patience, and resist like thorns to the devil seeking with his wiles an entrance into our hearts as thieves; and they prick the bowels of the king's enemies, that is, the lovers of the enemies of Christ - these, namely, the detractors of Christians - by the contemplation of our life and constancy. Let us therefore be silent toward these men, speaking to the Lord with the silence of humility and the voice of patience; and then He Himself, who is unconquered, shall fight for us and conquer in us. Then the prince of these shadows shall be cast forth - who indeed is cast forth not from this world but from the man, when by entering faith he is shut out from us, and gives place to Christ, whose habitation casts sin forth and is the exile of the routed serpent. But in suffering of this kind, what we ought to do the prophet teaches us, saying: but I, when they were troublesome to me, clothed myself in sackcloth and humbled my soul in fasting - namely, that we may destroy our detractors by that very appearance of humility by which they are stirred, and the more they are confounded before the Lord, remaining still in the crime of ancient pride, the more we ourselves glory in that whereby they are confounded in us. For God loves an unconfounded workman as He loves a cheerful giver. Accordingly, being stable in the faith of truth and in the working of justice, we refute the hatreds or revilings of such men better by living than by speaking, because he who hates discipline will cast your words behind him, and he who reproves a fool, as you hold written, takes to himself an insult. Let the orators have their letters to themselves, let the philosophers have their wisdom to themselves, let the rich have their riches to themselves, let the kings have their kingdoms to themselves; for us Christ is glory and possession and kingdom, for us wisdom is in the foolishness of preaching, for us strength is in the weakness of the flesh, for us glory is in the scandal of the cross, by which the world is crucified to me, and I to the world, that I may live to God, yet not now I, but Christ in me, with whom we have been buried together, in whom we are now hidden from the eyes of this world, that we may be revealed with Him at the confusion of that same world, when, mindful of these things which it now casts at us, it shall say: these are they whose life we esteemed madness; how are they reckoned among the sons of God? Let them be, meanwhile, most beloved brother, let them enjoy their glory and their life, let them obtain their fruits, since like the herbs of the field they shall quickly fall and their days pass away like a shadow, whose hope is enclosed within the spaces of this age, because they have neither faith in the true nor will toward faith, who, intent only on present things, render service to avarice and lust, lest they believe in God, since the fear of the Lord makes an end of both kinds of greed, which is confirmed by the faith of Christ, through whom we learn to recognize the truth either in contempt of temporal things or in desire of eternal goods. Estranged from which - since Christ also is the truth - they must needs remain in this blindness of unhappy errors, so that they think solidity in the fragile and emptiness in the solid, and laugh at true things as if vain and marvel at vain things as if true. If these men were willing to understand, so as to act well, they would lift to the salvation of justice their eyes, which they have resolved to cast down to the earth, and would raise themselves even a little from the ground, and would easily be enlightened by these very conversions of men whom they disparage as empty and foolish. For the Lord, as it is written, looses those that are fettered and the Lord enlightens the blind, and again: the law of the Lord is irreproachable, converting souls; the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones. For it is the work of God to change a man, since He alone can restore whom He made. This Christ the wisdom of God has now long been working throughout the whole world, everywhere carrying Himself about among the nations by the flying word, and sending Himself in through chosen souls, that - as He said through the prophet - He may have the primacy among every nation. And because now daily the day of recognition draws nearer and every hour brings us to judgment, the good Lord is busy and hastens to snatch us away before the wrath to come and to lead us out of the embrace of this, as it is written, harmful and viperous generation. Hence in every place more miracles than usual and signs grow frequent daily, that He may make safe, as far as in Him lies, every man. He shows in a few what may profit all, if they will. For the example of a few suffices for the instruction of all, which is set forth toward both ends: that it may be an example to believers and a testimony to those who harden themselves. Wherefore, if these men who deny in mind the man whom they present in outward shape have any human wisdom, let them marvel at you and praise God, and let them not deem this most blessed transformation of your mind and your life to be the error of your folly, but let them understand it to be the strength of the wisdom of God. For the more prudent and learned than the rest they remember you to have been, the more evident ought the working of God's power to be to them, because nothing can turn a prudent man from the course or position of his own opinion except that highest wisdom itself, which is God in Christ, the strength of strengths and the mind of minds, the Lord of majesty, the lofty arm, in whom the proud have been scattered, as it is written, from the thought of their heart, the mighty deposed from their seat and the humble exalted. By which arm, that is, by Christ, the hungry are filled with good things and the rich sent empty away. Which we discern to be done also in you. For look upon yourself, and you will find both these things, which God casts down or lifts up, in you, the very same. You have been pulled down from the proud man, taken up into the humble man, deposed from the seat of iniquitous power, that you might be placed on the throne of peace and justice; you have been emptied of the rich man, that you might be enriched in the poor man, and you have been emptied of that satiety of superfluous distension, that you might be filled with the true goods of holy poverty, hungering for justice. Where now are you, who were once terrible either as an advocate before the tribunals or as a judge upon the tribunals? Where is that neck of yours, then more truly - as you now have lied about yourself - of a fat bull? How has it been made docile and slender under the yoke of Christ, since which you, converted, have groaned, and it has been well pleasing in you to God as upon a young calf? Having laid aside the neck of a bull, you have been made into the gentleness of that ox which acknowledged its owner. Blessed are the eyes of those who behold these wonders of God in you, and so wretched are those who, seeing, do not see. Who would give me wings like a dove, that I might fly to you and rest in your sight and conversation, that I might feast in the voice of exultation and confession, seeing not you and seeing a calf out of a lion, seeing Christ in a boar [Aper, whose name means 'boar'], now with the turn of ferocity or strength reversed, a boar to the world, a lamb to God. For now you are a boar not of the forest but of the cornfield, because you are enriched with the good fruits of the disciplines and have pasture in the produce of the virtues; you are armed with the teeth of the twofold testament for breaking the nets of Nimrod the hunter, and all those arms which you proudly bore for the world you now humbly turn against the world. Now you are truly wise, truly eloquent, and truly powerful, you who are foolish and mute to this world, that you may serve God, eloquent and wise from His own gifts, as the Author of your tongue and mind. Now, better instructed in divine law, you may plead as an advocate on your own behalf, and as a juster judge you may judge your own self, and may pronounce sentence upon yourself or concerning yourself, that you may the more deserve to be acquitted and may make yourself worthy not only of pardon but also of glory, since by the accusation of yourself you stand by yourself, and by condemning yourself you sanctify yourself, understanding that it is holy and innocent to be pleasing not to men but to God; and therefore, as you write, a rare frequenter of cities, you have loved the familiar seclusion of the silent countryside - not preferring leisure to business nor withdrawing yourself from ecclesiastical usefulness, but already declining, almost like the crowds of the forum, the tumults of the churches that rival them and their restless councils. I judge, moreover, that this very thing is being prepared for the greater usefulness of the church, namely that by salutary counsel you are free for holy instruction and, intent upon spiritual studies, to which solitude is a friend, you daily form and confirm Christ in yourself, so that, as a more useful servant and a more learned teacher, you may perfect yourself more worthily in that see in which by the nod of God you have been placed, being powerful equally in deed and in word, that, agreeing with yourself in tongue and mind, you may present yourself as a true pattern of apostolic discipline, an author and teacher of the Lord's precept. So at last it will be established that you are a priest not by human suffrage but by divine judgment. Believing that this is already proved both by your faith and your life, I ask and earnestly entreat that you always involve us in your prayers, and that, as often as there is occasion, you take care to revisit us with letters. Which gift indeed I demand of you, not so much desirous of receiving an attention as eager to refresh my mind, that I may receive both the solace of charity and joy together, when reading I shall have seen you mindful of me in holy affairs and diligent for your own advance in spiritual knowledge and in the understanding of a heart burning toward God - weighing you now not by the discourse of virtue, that is, the preaching of Christ, but by the virtue of the discourse itself; that is, that you may confirm by speaking and equally by living that you believe Christ to be the crucified Lord and God of the laws, because we ought to bear the image of the heavenly man with the same affection with which we formerly bore that of the earthly. Otherwise, who will give us what is our own, if we shall not have been as faithful in our own as we were in another's? For in this we were made, that we should be good and should serve our Author; living against whose precepts, by a fault not only of our nature but even against our life and against our nature, we shall act, and therefore are compared to the beasts which have no understanding. Yet the goodness of God so makes a covenant with us that, granting us the grace of our past impiety, He is content that we be even such servants to Him for ourselves as we were to the devil against ourselves, the apostle saying that, as we presented our members to serve iniquity, so let us present the same to serve justice - namely, that we may be delighted with the same affection in the Lord with which we were delighted in sin. So let us seek the kingdom of God in the way we sought the dignity of the world, and finally let us care as diligently for heavenly goods as we cared for earthly ones.

XXXVIII. SANCTO ET MERITO VENERABILI AC DILECTISSIMO FRATRI APRO PAVLINVS. Laetatus sum in his quae scripsisti mihi et secundum fidem tuam, quam corde conceptam ore testatus es. si me gratia domini participem tanti spiritus faciat, spero quia in domo domini ibimus, et quae communi spe fideque percepimus pariter intuentes in facie ueritatis consona exultatione cantabimus hymnum, deo nostro dicturi domino: credebamus quia cinis et terra essemus, si in hoc tempore ita confirmentur pedes nostri in atriis Hierusalem, ut terra et cinis esse 2] (Phil. 1,12). 4] (Phil. 3,20). 5] I Cor. 4,20. 13] (Ps. 121,1). 19] (Gen. 3,19; Eccli. 10, 9). 20] (Ps. 121, 2). (Gen. 18, 27). 3 confisus L1 4 tuae doctrinae U 5 regnum dei inquit U 6 alt . in om. F queritur FLMP 7 pestat L, perstat cod. Yienn . 8 dubitet U 9 uirtutum] opto ut ualeas add. FpIU . — finit prima 0 FLMOPU . — epistola paulini ad aprum XX VIllI. L, ad aprum episcopum XXXVII. M, incipit ad Aprum epm • I • 0, epistola sancti paulini episcopi ad aprum episcopum ubi de patientia in aduersis habenda et contentu mundi sermone elegantiore et caritatis flamma ignita multa proloquitur U 11 Meropius Paulinus epfa XXIIII F 13 iis v 14 in corde FPU 16 domum LMv in comuni FU fide 0 percipimus F, precipimus PU 18 cantauimus FPU dno do M dicturi domino om. M 19 cinus L1 si in sed corr. L, sed M tum scilicet ft dicturi domino, si in hoc tempore coni. Sacch . confirmentur L, confirmantur M 21* actu et opere desinamus, ita ut in spiritu humilitatis terram esse nos meminerimus et esse fateamur domino, ut per ipsum quod damnatione peccati sumus de reconciliatione gratiae non esse mereamur. beatus es, frater, et bene tibi erit, quia non carne et sanguine sed spiritu caelestis patris reuelante didicisti, quod te inconcussa fide tenere et libera uoce profiteri sanctissimo ad me epistulae tuae fine firmasti Christum Iesum crucifixum dei filium deum, cui flectit omne genu terrestrium caelestium et infernorum et quem ad dexteram uirtutis et in gloria esse dei patris omnis lingua confitetur. hunc tu dominum et deum nostrum, quia non aestimabitur alius ad eum, toto arcanae pietatis mysterio amplexus dominum et deum dei filium ante saecula, factum ex semine Dauid in hoc saeculo et nunc ex resurrectione mortuorum in spem aeternitatis humanae uiuentem in saecula, ut est, credis et, ut credis, praedicas; et rudem esse te atque infantem deo dices? uere quidem ex parte credo paruulum esse te factum sed malitia, sensu autem te esse perfectum de professione fidei tuae disco, quia ueritatis agnitio, quam adprehendisti in sermone breuiato, sapientiae plenitudo est, et ideo ipse magister gentium, uas electionis et uas dei, qui in se Christum loqui et se spiritum dei habere profitetur, non in sublimitate sermonis neque in legis scientia gloriatur, sed omnem gloriam, qua uel Iudaeorum uel philosophorum sapientia inflatur, abiecisse se et aestimasse ut stercora protestatur, ut Christum lucrifaciat et illius scientiae damno huius inperitiae lucrum consequatur, ut dicat: ego autem nihil noui nisi 4] Ps. 127, 2. 5] (Matth. 16, 17). 8] (Phil. 2,10). 11] Baruch 3, 36. 13] Rom. 1, 3. 17] (I Cor. 15, 20). 20] (II Cor. 13, 3). 22] (I Cor. 7, 40). I Cor. 2, 1. 25] (Phil. 3, 8). 27] I Cor. 2, 2. 1 ita ut] itaque M 2 non U 3 de damnatione coni. Sacch . 6 pro- Steris FPU 8 crucifissum U flectit OPU, flectitur FLM, flecti r celestium terrestrium FMPU 9 dextram F 11 extimabitur FPU 12 ad deum U tota FOPU 15 aeternitis Lx credis et LMv, credidisses cet . 17 dicis LM te esse F 19 quem U adprehendistis 0, apprehendistis FP, aprehendistis U 25 se om. FPU extimasse FPU, aestimasse se M 27 consecratur TJ ut] et M Christum Iesum et hunc crucifixum; in quo quoniam omnis sapientiae et scientiae plenitudo atque perfectio conprehenditur, ut insultans huic mundo et litteras eius totamque sapientiam uanitate spiritu celsiore despiciens ait: ubi scriba, ubi sapiens, ubi conquisitor huius saeculi? nonne stultam fecit deus sapientiam huius mundi? causamque huius erroris ostendit, quo ita percuti sapientia huius saeculi meruit, ut stultitia deo sit, quia illi per adrogantiam sapientiae tamquam suae, cum nemo quicquam habeat nisi acceperit, stultitia uideretur sapientia dei. bene igitur secundum iustitiam dei stultitiae ac sapientiae uersa uice eo stulti esse damnantur, qui sibi non de dei munere sed de suo quasi proprio bono sapientes uidentur. Quo magis gratulor unanimitati tuae, quod illam reprobatam deo sapientiam respuisti et cum paruulis Christi quam cum sapientibus mundi habere consortium maluisti. inde iam et hanc gratiam mereris a domino, ut te, sicut indicare dignatus es pie glorians, oderint omnes, quod non fieret, nisi uerus imitator Christi esse coepisses. non enim odisset hic mundus nisi quod iam a se alienum et sibi uideret aduersum. gaude et exulta; iam et in rudimentis tuis uirtus perfectionis operatur. perspicuum est quam fortiter credideris in Christo, cui iam donatum est pro Christo pati. uide quid dicat ipse dominus et intellege quam beatus sis. nolite mirari, inquit, si uos mundus odit, quia me prius odio habuit. si enim ex mundo essetis, amaret utique mundus quod suum 2] (Col. 2, 3). 4] I Cor. 1, 20. 10] (I Cor. 4, 7). 15] (Matth. 11, 25). 19] (Ioh. 15, 19). 24] Ioh. 15, 18. 25] Ioh. 3,13. 1 crucifissum U quoniam om. FPU 3 ut om. 0 et totam U 4 uanitate Oo, uanitatis cet . sapientiae uanitatem Latinius, sapientiam uanitatem Schot . 6 dominus U huius seculi sapientia FPy 8 sit deo U errogantiam F 10 uidetur LM igitur] ergo M 11 dei om. U ac] et LM 12 quia U, quo M muneris 0 14 repobatam P, te probatam U 15 a deo LM deo reprobatam F 17 mereris Of), merens cet . 18 gloriaris FPU 20 et sibi] sibique M 22 crederis F 24 si] si uos (sed uos exp.) M 25 mundus uos U me priorem uobis M esset. et iterum: non est maior seruus domino suo. si patrem familias Beelzebub dixerunt, quanto magis domesticos eius? uide nunc, si licet ut serui pro domino recusemus pati quae pro nobis seruis suis dominus ante sustinuit. o beata iniuria displicere cum Christo! magis nobis timendus est amor talium, quibus sine Christo placetur. nonne qui oderant te, inquit, oderam illos? et addidit: perfecto odio oderam illos. quod nobis cum horum societate commercium sit, cum quorum sorte discretio est? Merito gloriaris, uenerantissime frater, et in exultatione dicis hinc te ipsum tibi credere quod Christianus sis, quia te odisse coeperint qui diligebant et despicere qui timebant, et ipse tibi conscius es, quia si tu ipse tantum apud te esses, aeque, ut solebant, et diligerent te et uenerarentur. gaude igitur et exulta, ecce enim merces tua copiosa in caelis. non enim te, sed illum qui in te esse coepit oderunt, cuius opus est in te et humilitas quam contemnunt et castitas quam detestantur, in quo te bono prophetarum esse apostolorumque participem laetus agnosce et in propheta, cum dicit: detrahebant mihi, quia subsecutus sum iustitiam, et in apostolo dicente: facti sumus omnium peripsema, et iterum eodem contestante, quia positi sumus in hoc mundo spectaculum omnibus angelis et hominibus. ab initio saeculorum Christus in omnibus suis patitur. ipse est enim initium et finis, qui in lege uelatur, in euangelio reuelatur, mirabilis semper et patiens et triumphans in 1] Iolj, 13,16. 6] Ps. 138, 21. 22. 14] Matth. 5,12. 20] Ps. 37, 21. 21] I Cor. 4,13. 22] I Cor. 4, 9. 25] (Apoc. 1, 8). 26] Ps. 67, 36. 1 seruus maior M 2 belzebub U, belcebub F, behelzebub M, belzebuch P 3 si licet PMv, scilicet cet . 5 displicendus U nobis om. M 7 oderunt MU *te (e eras.) L 8 illos in ras. L 10 uenerantissime 0, uenerandissime cet . 11 hiuc Ov, iu cet . sis christianus U 12 Cfperunt LM 13 tanti v 15 copiosa est L 16 esse coepit oderunt] est odi ceperunt FPU 18 detestatur 0 21 peripsema v, peripsima w 23 speculum U 25 est om. LM finis] fons FPU sanctis suis dominus, in Abel occisus a fratre, in Noe inrisus a filio, in Abraham peregrinatus, in Isaac oblatus, in Iacob famulatus, in Ioseph uenditus, in Moyse expositus et fugatus, in prophetis lapidatus et sectus, in apostolis terra marique iactatus et multis ac uariis beatorum martyrum crucibus frequenter occisus. idem igitur etiam nunc infirmitates nostras et aegritudinem portans, quia ipse est homo semper pro nobis in plaga positus et sciens ferre infirmitatem, quam nos sine ipso nec possumus ferre nec nouimus, ipse, inquam, nunc quoque pro nobis et in nobis sustinens mundum, ut perferendo destruat et uirtutem in infirmitate perficiat, ipse et in te patitur obprobria, et ipsum in te odit hic mundus. sed gratias ipsi, quia uincit cum iudicatur et, ut scriptum tenes, triumphat in nobis per speciem seruitutis dominus, semis suis gratiam libertatis adquirens idque agens hoc pietatis suae mysterio, quo formam serui induit et pro nobis humiliare se dignatus est usque ad mortem crucis, ut humilitate uisibili inuisibilem illam nobis in caelestibus sublimitatem intus operetur. uide enim ab initio unde ceciderimus, et intelleges quod diuinae sapientiae pietatisque consilio reformemur ad uitam. in Adam quippe superbia ruimus, atque ideo humiliamur in Christo, ut peccatum sceleris antiqui contrariae uirtutis obsequio diluamus et qui superbiendo offendimus seruiendo placemus. Exultemus itaque et gloriemur in ipso, qui nos et pugnam et uictoriam suam fecit dicens: constantes estote, quia ego uici mundum. et in regnorum libro similiter audio prophetam dicentem regi Iosaphat, cum ingenti mole belli et 1] (Gen. 4, 8). (Gen. 9, 22). 2] (Gen. 12,10). (Gen. 27, 43). 3] (Gen. 37,28). (Ex. 2, 3). 4] (I Par. 24,21). (Act. 7, 57). 5] (Heb. 11, 37). 6] (Es. 53, 4). 8] (II Cor. 12, 9). 13] (Ps. 50, 6; Rom. 3, 4). 14J (U Cor. 2,14). 16] (Phil. 2, 7). 19] (Gen. 3, 5). 25] Ioh. 16, 33. 7 egritudines LM 11 distruat 0 12 obpropria F 15 gratiam libertatis] libertatem M 18 sublitatem U 19 quo coni. Sacch . 20 de I pUctmot diuinae FPU 21 ruimur L 23 deluamus FPU placeamus M 25 suam et uictoriam M 26 audeo O1 27 iosophat F cui U magna hostium multitudine terreretur. haec dicit dominus: ne timeatis neque expauescatis a facie multitudinis huius, quia non uobis est haec pugna sed domino. Moyses quoque similiter ante iam dixerat: uos tacebitis, et dominus pugnabit pro uobis. igitur qui confidunt in uirtute aut sapientia sua quique in abundantia diuitiarum suarum gloriantur, exacuant ut uolunt aduersum nos arma dentium et uerborum sagittas, uenena thesauri mali uipereis uomant linguis; habent pro nobis respondentem sibi dominum: tacui, numquid semper tacebo? nos aures nostras spinis, ut scriptum est, sepiamus id est dei uerbo et fide uerbi, quae uitae nostrae segetem firmissima innocentiae atque patientiae sepe defendunt et diabolo dolis suis aditus in praecordia nostra captanti quasi furibus spinae resistunt, et uiscera inimicorum regis id est amatores hostium Christi, hos uidelicet Christianorum obtrectatores, uitae nostrae atque constantiae contemplatione conpungunt. nos igitur taceamus istis loquentes ad dominum silentio humilitatis et uoce patientiae, et tunc ipse, qui inuictus est, pugnabit pro nobis et uincet in nobis. tunc princeps harum tenebrarum mittetur foras, qui utique non ab hoc mundo sed ab homine foras mittitur, cum a nobis fide introeunte discluditur, et dat locum Christo, cuius habitatio peccatum foras mittit et pulsi serpentis exilium est. In huiusmodi autem passione quid facere debeamus propheta nos docet dicens: ego autem, cum mihi molesti essent, induebam me cilicium et humiliabam in 1] II Par. 20, 15. 4] Ex. 14,14. 5] Ps. 48,7. 10] Es. 42,14. (Eccli. 28, 28). 12] (Eccli. 86, 27). 19] (Ex. 14,14). 20] (Ioh. 12,31). 25] Ps. 34, 13. 2 ne* (t eras.) L 3 nobis LMU 4 moises FU 5 pugnauit 0, pugnat U nobis F 7 aduersum] erga U nos om. in ras. U 0 9 uiperis L euomant LM repondentem 0 10 tacebo exp. M nos s aures ñfa exp. M 12 uita nostra FOPU segitem 0, om. FPU firmissime FU, firmisce P 13 diabulo 0 15 reges 0 16 obtrectatore U 19 inuinctus 0 pugnauit 0 20 mittitur 0 23 et elpulsi FPU 25 docet] monet M 26 cilicio LM ieiunio animam meam, uidelicet ut obtrectatores nostros ea ipsa qua commouentur humilitatis specie destruamus, tantoque magis confundantur coram domino in antiquae adhuc superbiae crimine permanentes, quanto magis nos ipsi gloriamur, in quo confunduntur in nobis. inconfusibilem enim operarium sicut hilarem datorem diligit deus. proinde stabiles in fide ueritatis et operatione iustitiae talium uel odia uel conuicia uiuendo melius quam loquendo arguimus, quia reiciet sermones tuos post se qui odit disciplinam et qui insipientem arguit, ut tenes scriptum, sumit sibi contumeliam. Sibi habeant litteras suas oratores, sibi sapientiam suam philosophi, sibi diuitias suas diuites, sibi regna sua reges; nobis gloria et possessio et regnum Christus est, nobis sapientia in stultitia praedicationis, nobis uirtus in infirmitate carnis, nobis gloria in crucis scandalo, quo mihi mundus occiditur, et ego mundo, ut uiuam deo, non autem iam ego, sed in me Christus, cui consepulti sumus, in quo nunc abscondimur huius mundi oculis, ut confusioni eiusdem cum ipso reuelemur, quando horum quae nunc nobis obicit memor dicet: hi sunt, quorum uitam aestimabamus insaniam, quomodo reputati sunt inter filios dei? sine illos interim, frater dilectissime, fruantur gloria et uita sua, potiantur fructibus suis, quoniam sicut holera herbarum cito decident et dies eorum sicut umbra praetereunt, quorum spes intra huius aeui spatia concluditur, quia nec fidem ueri habent nec uoluntatem fidei, qui praesentibus tantum rebus intenti praestant auaritiae et libidini, ne credant 5] II Tim. 2, 15; II Cor. 9, 7. 6] (I Cor. 15, 58). 8] (I Petro 2, 15; Ps. 49,17). 9] Prou. 9, 7. 13] (I Cor. 1, 21). 14] (II Cor. 12, 9). 15] (I Cor. 1, 23). Gal. 6, 14. 16] Gal. 2, 20. 17] Rom. 6,4; Col. 2, 12. 20] Sap. 5, 4. 23] Ps. 36, 2. 24] Ps. 143, 4. 2 humilitate 0 distruamus 0 3 coram dñö 0 in mg. add . 5 confundimur F, confundantur 0 6 stabilis 0 7 operationis 0 11 habebant 0 12 diuites diuitias suas hf, diuitias diuites suas L regna regna L 14 pr . in om. U 17 cui om. FPU 18 confessioni LM 20 hii M 22 fruamur F 23 erbarum L 24 praeterient LM 25 speties U deo, quia cupiditatis utriusque finem facit timor domini, qui confirmatur fide Christi, per quem discimus agnoscere ueritatem uel in contemptu temporalium uel in adpetitu aeternorum bonorum. a quo alieni, quia et ueritas Christus est, in hac necesse est errorum infelicium caecitate permaneant, ut in fragili soliditatem et in solido inanitatem putent, uera pro uanis rideant et pro ueris uana mirentur. qui si uellent intellegere, ut bene agerent, oculos suos, quos statuerunt declinare in terram, ad salutem iustitiae leuarent seque uel paululum humo tollerent, facile his ipsis, quibus ut inanibus et stultis detrahunt, hominum conuersionibus inluminarentur. dominus enim, ut scriptum est, soluit conpeditos et dominus inluminat caecos, et iterum: lex domini inreprehensibilis, conuertens animas, testimonium domini fidele, sapientiam praestans paruulis. opus enim dei est mutare hominem, quia solus potest instaurare quem fecit. quod toto iam dudum orbe terrarum sapientia dei Christus operatur, ubique se gentium uerbo uolante circumferens et per electas animas semet inmittens, ut- sicut per prophetam dixit, in omni gente primatum habeat. Et quia iam cotidie magis adpropinquat recognitionis dies omnisque nos hora iudicio adplicat, satagit et properat bonus dominus praeripere nos ab ira uentura et de conplexu huius, ut scriptum est, nocentis et uipereae generationis abducere. hinc in omni loco plura cotidie miracula solito signaque crebrescunt, ut omnem, quantum in ipso est, hominem 4] (Ioh. 14, 6). 7] (Ps. 35, 4). 8] Ps. 16, 11. 12] Ps. 145, 8. 13] Ps. 18, 8. 19] Sap. 7, 27. 20] Eccli. 24,10. 24] (Matth. 3,7). 26] (I Tim. 2, 4). 1 finem] fidem U 2 quem] quam FPU 4 bonorum aetternorum U 4 qui U 5 infidelium M 7 uelint FOPUv 8 ut] ub U et oculos Rosw . statuerunt ex strauerunt F m. 2 10 attollerent M et facile LM 16 quem LMO, quod FPU 18 operatur om. F uerbo 0, uerbi cet . uolante scripsi, uoluntate Ov, ueritate cet . 19 semet Ov, semen cet . inmictentes U 22 omnesque FPU -horae FPU et] ac U 23 de Ov, om. cet . 25 mirabilia v signaque M, signo U, signa oet. v 26 crebescunt L ipso] se U saluum faciat. ostendit in raris quod omnibus, si uelint, prosit. sufficit enim uniuersorum institutioni forma paucorum, quae in utrumque proponitur, ut credentibus exemplo sit, indurantibus testimonio. quare si quid humani sapiunt hi, qui infitiantur animo quem figura praeferunt hominem, admirentur in te et laudent deum et hanc beatissimam inmutationem mentis ac uitae tuae non existiment errorem stultitiae tuae, sed sapientiae dei esse uirtutem intellegant. quanto enim prudentiorem te ceteris et doctiorem fuisse meminerunt, tanto euidentior his esse debet operatio potentiae dei, quia prudentem a sententiae suae cursu uel statu non potest flectere nisi summa ipsa sapientia, quod est in Christo deus, uirtutum uirtus et mens mentium, dominus maiestatis, brachium celsum, in quo dispersi superbi, ut scriptum est, a mente cordis ipsorum, depositi potentes de sede et exaltati humiles. quo brachio id est Christo esurientes inplentur bonis et inanes dimittuntur diuites. quod et in te cernimus agi. respice enim in temet ipsum, et haec utraque, quae deicit aut extollit deus, in te eodem inuenies. Destructus es a superbo, adsumptus in humilem, depositus ab iniquae potentiae sede, ut in pacis atque iustitiae solio locareris, inanitus es a diuite, ut diteris in paupere, et ab illa superuacuae distentionis saturitate uacuatus es, ut ueris piae paupertatis bonis inplearis esuriens iustitiam. ubi nunc tu ille es aliquando terribilis uel pro tribunalibus aduocatus uel in tribunalibus iudex? ubi tua illa ceruix tunc uerius, ut nunc de te mentitus es, tauri pinguis? quomodo facta est docilis ac 14] (Luc. 1, 51). 1 raris] iratis F 3 durantibus FPU, induratis coni. Lebrun 4 testimonium FPU si] ut si M hii MU 5 que in FU prefer?nt 0 7 terrorem FU 8 uirtutem esse M prudentiores (s exp.) P 10 iis v 11 a] et 0, ex fort . 12 ipsa summa FPU dei FPU 13 uirtus] ds M et deus LM 14 dispsi M est om. FP 16 esurientis OP immolentur nobis 01\'1 17 et om. FPU cerninus F 18 deiecit LM, dicit U t extollit v, extulit w 20 distructus PU, districtus F 21 iniq§ L, iniq. 0, iniqua JRosw . 26 illa tua FPU 27 pingues 0 ac] et F tenuis in iugo Christi, ex quo conuersus ingemuisti, et beneplacitum est in te deo sicut super uitulum nouellum? deposita ceruice tauri factus es in mansuetudinem bouis illius, qui agnouit possessorem suum. beati oculi eorum, qui haec in te dei mirabilia conspiciunt, et sic illi miserrimi, qui uidentes non uident. Quis daret mihi pennas sicut columbae, et uolarem ad te et in conspectu tuo conloquioque requiescerem, in uoce exultationis et confessionis epularer, uidens non te et uidens ex leone uitulum, uidens in apro Christum, nunc uersa ferocitatis aut uirtutis uice aprum saeculo, aguum deo. non enim iam de silua sed de segete aper es, quia bonis disciplinarum fructibus opimaris et in fruge uirtutum tibi pastus est; duplicis testamenti dentibus ad rumpenda retia Nebroth uenatoris armaris, totaque illa, quae pro saeculo superbus gerebas, nunc aduersum saeculum humilis arma conuertis. nunc uere sapiens, uere disertus et uere potens, qui mundo huic stultus et mutus es, ut auctori linguae et mentis tuae facundus et sapiens de suis muneribus deo seruias. Nunc instructior iure diuino aduocatus pro te postules et iustior iudex te ipsum iudices et in te aut de te ipse sententiam feras, ut magis merearis absolui teque non solum uenia sed et gloria dignum facias, cum tibi per accusationem tui ades teque damnando sanctificas, intellegens non quod hominibus, sed quod deo placeat sanctum et innocens esse, et ideo rarus, ut scribis, urbium frequentator, familiare secretum 1] (Matth. 11, 29). Ps. 68, 32. 4] Es. 1, 3. 7] Ps. 54, 7. 8] Ps. 41, 5. 12] (Ps. 79, 14). 15] (Gen. 10, 9). 1 tenues 0 3 fractus v es om. L bouis mansuetudinem U 5 mirabilia dei MU et sic (c ex corr.) L, et similiter FU, etsi cd . illi om. F misserimi L 7 dabit FPU uolarem] uenirem FPU 8 et om. FPU colloquio qui FU, colloquio qde r?qui?s uident qui P 10 ait . uidens om. M Christum] agnum fort . 11 aut] ac FPU 13 opinaris F 15 nebrot FOP, nembroth MU, riebrot L 16 aduersus MU 17 dissertus 0 18 autore U 20 mere (in mg. m. 2 in ero) diuino P, mero uere diuino F, diuino mero U 21 in] de FPU de] in FPU 26 ut scribis rarus FPU taciti ruris adamasti, non otium negotio praeferens neque te ecclesiasticae utilitati subtrahens, sed iam pene forensibus turbis aemulos ecclesiarum tumultus et concilia inquieta declinans. arbitror autem id ipsum maioribus ecclesiae utilitatibus praeparari, quod salubri consilio instructioni sanctae uacas et intentus studiis spiritalibus, quibus solitudo amica est, formas in te cotidie confirmasque Christum, quo et seruus utilior et magister doctior digniorem te ea in qua nutu dei positus es sede perficias, opere pariter et uerbo potens, ut lingua et mente tibi concors ueram te apostolicae disciplinae formulam praebeas praecepti dominici auctor et doctor. ita demum constabit non humano suffragio sed diuino te esse iudicio sacerdotem. Quod iam probari et fide et uita tua credens, peto et inpense rogo, ut nos semper orationibus tuis inplices, quotiens fuerit occasio, litteris reuisere studeas. quod quidem a te munus non tam officii capiendi cupidus quam animi reficiendi studens exigo, ut et solatium caritatis et gaudium simul capiam, cum te mei memorem in negotiis sanctis ac tui diligentem profectu scientiae spiritalis et intellectu ardentis in deum cordis legens uidero, non iam te de sermone uirtutis id est praedicatione Christi, sed de uirtute ipsius sermonis expendens, id est ut credere te Christum legum crucifixum dominum et deum loquendo pariter et uiuendo confirmes, quia eodem affectu gestare debemus imaginem caelestis hominis, quo gessimus ante terreni. alioquin quod nostrum est quis dabit nobis, si non fuerimus tam fideles in nostro quam fuimus in alieno? in hoc enim facti sumus, ut boni simus et nostro seruiamus auctori; contra cuius praecepta uiuentes uitio 11] (II Thess. 8, 9). 25] I Cor. 15, 49. 27] (Luc. 16, 12). 3 aemulus U 4 id] ad 0 6 formans 0 7 quod U 8 ea] ei I dlaelpllnae FPU 9 linga M 10 doctrinae M 11 actor FPUv 15 et quotiens M\'V 16 litteris tuis M 18 ut et] ut LM 19 tui M*, tuis cet . profectum M 20 spualis M intellectu v, intellectum,., cordis OMv, om. cet . 21 praedicationis LM 22 id ex ut L 23 iHm M s. I . 24 uidendo 0 27 nobis om. FPU fuimus] fuerimus FPU solum nostrae, non solum contra uitam sed et contra naturam nostram faciemus, et ideo conparantur iumentis, quibus non est intellectus. attamen dei bonitas ita nobiscum paciscitur, ut praeteritae nobis inpietatis gratiam faciens contenta sit uel tales nos esse sibi seruos pro nobis, quales aduersum nos diabolo fuerimus, dicente apostolo, ut sicut exhibuimus membra nostra seruire iniquitati, sic eadem exhibeamus seruire iustitiae, uidelicet ut eadem adfectione delectemur in domino, qua delectati sumus in peccato. sic ambiamus dei regnum, quomodo ambiuimus saeculi dignitatem et denique tam diligenter curemus bona caelestia, quam terrena curauimus.