Letter 45: To our holy lord, most blessed and uniquely dear, our venerable and longed-for father, brother, and teacher,...

45. To the holy one of the Lord, the most blessed and to us uniquely like-minded, the venerable and longed-for father, brother, and master, Augustine the bishop: Paulinus and Therasia, sinners. Your word is always a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths. And so, as often as I receive a letter from your most blessed holiness, I feel the darkness of my foolishness scattered, and, as if the eye-salve of your exposition were poured into the eyes of my mind, I see more clearly, the night of ignorance driven off and the fog of doubt wiped away. And though I have often felt this granted to me at other times through the gifts of your letters, yet I felt it especially through that little book of your recent letter, whose bearer was as welcome to me as he was worthy, the man blessed in the Lord, our brother Quintus the deacon, who, after a long interval since he had come to the city, when I had come there with him after the Lord's Passover according to my customary practice, for the veneration of the apostles and martyrs, delivered to us the blessing of your mouth. Yet, with the time effaced that he had consumed at Rome without my knowing it, he seemed to me most recently come from your presence, so that then I straightway believed he had come to me from you, when I first saw him and when he was offering me the full fragrance of your sweetness in your eloquence, redolent with the chastity of a heavenly perfume. Yet I confess to your venerable like-mindedness that I was not able, as soon as I had received the volume itself, to read it at Rome. For there were such crowds there that I could not carefully inspect your gift and enjoy it as I wished, namely so as to read it through continuously, if I had begun to read it. And so, as is wont to happen, with the untroubled expectation of a banquet prepared, I reined in the hunger of my eager mind, and with sure hope of attaining satiety, since I held in my hand the bread of my desire in the volume that was to be devoured, which afterward, as I consumed it, was most sweet both in my mouth and in my belly, I easily restrained my gullet, gaping at the honeycombs of your letters, until I should set out from the city and devote a whole day, interposed for the resting-stages of the journey, which I spent in the town of Formiae, to this work, so that, freed from all the dregs of cares and the suffocation of crowds, I might feast amid the spiritual delights of your letter. What then, lowly and earthly as I am, should I answer to this wisdom which has been given you from above, which this world does not grasp, and which no one savors except one made wise by the wisdom of God and made eloquent by the word of God? And so, because I have proof of Christ speaking in you, in God I will praise your words and I will not be afraid of the terror by night, because you have taught me, in the spirit of truth, the wholesome tempering of a mind that governs itself among declining mortals, by which you saw that blessed mother and grandmother Melania too had wept the bodily death of her only son, with a grief silent indeed in lamentation, yet not dry of a mother's tears. And indeed you, as a spirit nearer to or more equal with her own soul, understood her modest and weighty tears more deeply, and you contemplated the mother's heart of a woman perfect in Christ, with her manly strength of soul preserved, the better from the likeness of your own heart, from an equal standing, so that you perceived that she wept, first moved by natural affection, and then stricken from a weightier cause: not so much that human grief, that she had lost an only son who had fulfilled his mortal condition in the present age, as that he had been forestalled, as it were, in worldly vanity, because the ambition of senatorial dignity had not yet abandoned him, so that she did not regard him as taken up in accordance with the holy greed of her own vows, that he should have passed from the glory of his manner of life to the glory of resurrection, about to receive rest and a crown in common with his mother, if in the life of this world he had, after his mother's example, preferred the sackcloth to the toga and the monastery to the senate. Nevertheless this same man, as I think I have reported before to your holiness, departed enriched with such works that, even if he did not wear the nobility of his mother's humility in his dress, he yet preferred it in his mind; for he was so meek in his ways and humble in heart, according to the word of the Lord, that he is believed, not undeservedly, to have entered into the rest of the Lord, since there are remnants of men for the peaceable man, and the meek shall possess the earth, pleasing to God in the region of the living. For surely he fulfilled that apostolic precept too, not only with a silent disposition of meekness, but also with conspicuous religious offices, so that, although he was a colleague of the lofty men of this age in rank and honor, yet he did not, like one glorious upon the earth, mind high things, but, as a perfect imitator of Christ, consented to lowly things and persisted all the day long in showing mercy and lending. Whence his seed too has become powerful upon the earth among those who, strong for God, are exceedingly lifted up from the earth, so that even from the most blessed visitation of his family and house the holy merit of the man is revealed. The generation, it says, of the upright shall be blessed, with glory that does not fall away and riches that do not slip away in his house, a house which is built in heaven not by the labor of hands but by the holiness of works. But I forbear to recount more from my memory about a man as beloved to me as he was devoted to Christ, since I both recall that I narrated not a few things about him in my earlier letter, and I can declare nothing better or holier about this son's blessed mother, and about Melania, the equal root of holy branches, than your holiness has deigned to speak and discourse concerning her, so that, because I, a sinner having unclean lips, had been able to say nothing worthy, being far from the merits of her faith and the virtues of her soul, you, that man of Christ, the teacher of Israel in the church of truth, were prepared, by the grace of God procuring better things, a worthier proclaimer of so manly a soul in Christ, you who both beheld her mind, strengthened by divine power, as I have said, with a nearer spirit, and praised her piety mingled with virtue in worthier speech. But you have deigned to question me as to what activity there will be after the resurrection of the flesh, in that age of the blessed. Yet I consult you, as a master and a spiritual physician, about the present state of my life, that you may teach me to do the wills of God, to walk in your footsteps after Christ, and first to die that evangelical death by which we anticipate the carnal dissolution by a voluntary departure, withdrawing from the life of this age not by demise but by resolve. This life is wholly made of temptations, or, as you once said to me, is wholly a temptation. Would, then, that my ways might be so directed after your footsteps that, by your example, loosing the old sandal from my feet, I might burst my bonds and, free, leap up to run the way, so that I may be able to attain that death by which you have died to this age, in order to live for God, with Christ living in you, whose death and life alike are recognized in your body and heart and mouth, because your heart savors nothing earthly nor does your mouth speak the works of men, but the word of Christ abounds in your breast and the spirit of truth is poured out upon your tongue, gladdening the city of God with the rush of a heavenly river. But what power works this death in us except charity, which is strong as death? For thus it effaces and destroys this world for us, so that it fulfills the effect of death through the affection of Christ, toward whom, being converted, we turn away from this world, and living for whom we die to the elements of this world. Nor do we make our decisions as though living within their sight and use, because our portion is the death of Christ, whose resurrection from the dead we do not lay hold of in glory unless we imitate his death on the cross, with the members and senses of the flesh mortified, so that now we may live not by our own will but by his, whose will is our sanctification, and who therefore died for us and rose again, that now we may live not for ourselves but for him who died for us and rose again, and gave us the pledge of his promise by his spirit, just as he set the pledge of our life in heaven in his body, which is of our body. Whence now our expectation is the Lord, and our substance, which has been made by him, is with him and in him and through him, who was conformed to the body of our humility, that he might conform us to the body of his glory and set us with himself in the heavens. For this reason those too who shall have been worthy of eternal life will one day, in the glory of his kingdom, be with himself, as the apostle says, and abide with himself, just as the Lord himself said to the Father: I will that, where I am, they too may be with me. And without doubt that which you have in the Psalms: blessed are they who dwell in your house, unto ages of ages they shall praise you. But I think that this praise is to be uttered with the voices of those singing together, even if the bodies of the saints rising again shall be changed, so that they may be as the Lord's body appeared after the resurrection, in which surely the living image of human resurrection shone forth, so that the Lord himself, who in that very body in which he had suffered and risen again, became, as it were, a mirror of contemplation for all. He indeed, since he had risen again in the same flesh in which he had died and been buried, displayed all the offices of all his members expressed to the eyes and ears of men, having often been brought into their company. But if even the angels, whose creature is simply spiritual, are said to have tongues with which they surely sing praises to the Lord their creator and do not cease to render thanks, how much more will men, even though after the resurrection their bodies are spiritual, with all the members of their glorified flesh remaining and with their forms and numbers preserved throughout all their members, have tongues too in their mouths, and with speaking tongues will give voices by which they may utter divine praises or the affections of their senses and joys through words, the Lord perhaps even adding this to the grace and glory for his saints in the ages of his kingdom, so that they may sing with so much more excellent tongues and voices the more they have advanced toward the more blessed nature of bodies by a blessed transformation, so that, established now in spiritual bodies, they may now perhaps speak not in human words but in those angelic and heavenly ones, such as the apostle heard in paradise. And so perhaps he testified that those words were unspeakable to man, because for the saints, among the other kinds of rewards, new tongues are now being prepared. It is therefore not permitted to men of this age to use these tongues yet, so that they, now made immortal, may speak in these tongues befitting their glory, of whom it is said: for they shall cry out and sing a hymn, beyond doubt in the heavens, where they shall be with the Lord and shall delight in abundance of peace, rejoicing in the sight of the throne, casting before the feet of the Lamb their bowls and crowns and singing to him a new song, gathered to the choirs of the angels, virtues, dominations, thrones, so that they too, together with the Cherubim and Seraphim and those four living creatures, singing together with perpetual voice, may say: holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth, and the rest which you know. This, then, is what I, that needy and poor man, foolish and a little child of yours, whom as a true wise man you have been accustomed to bear with, ask: that you teach me your knowledge or your opinion concerning this, because I know that you are illumined by the spirit of revelation from the very leader and fountain of the wise, so that, as you have known the past and see the present, so also you may judge concerning things to come, what you think about the eternal voices of these heavenly creatures, or even of those acting above the heavens in the sight of the Most High, by what organs they are at last expressed. For although the apostle, by saying: if I should speak with the tongues of angels, has shown that they have a certain speech proper to their nature, or, so to speak, to their kind, so much higher than human senses and utterances as the very creature and station of the angels surpasses mortal dwellers and earthly seats: nevertheless he perhaps spoke of the tongues of angels in the sense of kinds of voices and speech, just as, discoursing on the variety of charisms, he numbers among the gifts of graces the kinds of tongues, surely signifying by this that it consists in a sign, that to individual men it was granted to speak in the speech of many nations. But the voice of God too, often sent forth to the saints from a cloud, shows that speech can exist without a tongue, since indeed the tongue is a member of the body, small and great. But perhaps from this very fact, because God placed in this member the office of voice, he has called the speech and voices of the incorporeal creature of angels too a tongue, just as scripture is accustomed to assign to God too the names of members according to the kinds of his operations. Pray for us and teach us. Our dearest and sweetest brother Quintus, as slowly as he returns to us from you, so quickly does he hasten to return from us to you; and his insistence in demanding letters even this epistle, more frequent in erasures than in lines, declares; the excessive haste of the aforementioned exactor has made this a mere scrap of paper. For on the day before the Ides of May he came to us to seek a reply, and on the Ides, before the sixth hour, he obtained leave to be dismissed. See, then, whether by such testimony I have commended him or accused him. For perhaps, nay rather without doubt, he will be judged praiseworthy rather than blameworthy, who has most justly hastened back from the darkness which, in comparison with your light, we are, to his own light.

XXXXV. SANCTO DOMINI BEATISSIMO ET VNICE NOBIS VNANIMO AC VENERABILI ET DESIDERABILI PATRI FRATRI MAGISTRO AVGVSTINO EPISCOPO PAVLINVS ET THERASIA PECCATORES. Lucerna semper est pedibus meis uerbum tuum et lumen semitis meis. ita quotienscumque litteras beatissimae sanctitatis tuae accipio, tenebras insipientiae meae discuti sentio et quasi collyrio declarationis infuso oculis mentis meae purius uideo ignorantiae nocte depulsa et caligine dubitationis abstersa. quod cum saepe alias per munera epistularum tuarum mihi donatum senserim, tum praecipue isto recentium litterarum libello, cuius mihi tam gratus quam dignus portitor fuit uir benedictus domino frater noster Quintus diaconus, qui longo quidem posteaquam ad urbem uenerat interuallo, cum eo iuxta sollemnem meum morem post pascha domini pro apostolorum et martyrum ueneratione uenissem, benedictionem oris tui reddidit nobis. uerumtamen oblitterato quod nesciente me Romae consumpserat tempore recentissimus mihi uisus est a conspectu tuo, ita ut tunc statim eum a te mihi uenisse crederem, cum primum uidebam et cum mihi plenum odorem suauitatis tuae in eloquiis tuis caelestis unguenti castitate fragrantibus offerebat. fateor tamen uenerandae unanimitati tuae non potuisse me uolumen ipsum, statim ut 5] Ps. 118,105. 8] (Apoc. 3,18). 21] (Gen. 8, 21). CY<Pc £ . — incp|| (3 litt. eras.) eorundem ad augus Φ , incipit eorumdem ad agustinum Y, incipit epist paulini et tyrasie ad sem aug C, epistola paulini et therasiae ad (sanctum add. C) augustinum E\' 2 unianimo <P 3 et desiderabili om. Yt £ 4 tyrasia C 8 collirio Y<f>t £ delectationis tC 9 purius Y<P, prius CtC nocte] mente Y<i> 10 munere ΥΦ ll praecipuo tC Rostv . 12 gra**atus (ua eras.) C1 portior Y<f> 13 dño Y<P, dñi CsC Rosw . 14 ad orbem <f>\\ ab urbe CtC 16 uenerationem C 17 oblicterato C 18 nescientem Y consumpseram at tempore me Y 20 crederem OY<P, uix crederem tC Rosw . primo C 21 odorem] dolorem ΥΦ ungenti ΥΦ 22 flagrantibus m unanimitate <P acceperam, Romae legere. tantae enim illic turbae erant, ut non possem munus tuum diligenter inspicere et eo, ut cupiebam, perfrui, scilicet ut perlegerem iugiter, si legere coepissem. itaque, ut fieri solet, secura expectatione conuiuii praeparati auidae licet mentis esuriem refrenaui et spe certa capiendae saturitatis, cum in manu tenerem panes desiderii mei in uolumine deuorando, quod postea uoranti mihi et in ore et in uentre dulcissimum fuit, inhiantem in fauos litterarum tuarum gulam facile suspendi, donec urbe proficiscerer et interponendum ad itineris statiua diem, quem in oppido Formiano habuimus, totum huic operi manciparem, ut in deliciis epistulae tuae spiritalibus ab omni faece curarum et suffocatione turbarum liber epularer. Quid ergo humilis et terrenus respondeam ad hanc sapientiam, quae data est tibi desuper, quam mundus hic non capit et quam nemo sapit nisi sapientia dei sapiens et uerbo dei eloquens? itaque quia experimentum habeo Christi in te loquentis, in deo laudabo sermones tuos et non timebo a timore nocturno, quia docuisti me in spiritu ueritatis salubre moderandi in occiduis mortalibus animi temperamentum, quo et illam beatam matrem et auiam Melanium fleuisse carnalem obitum unici filii taciturno quidem luctu, non tamen sicco a maternis lacrimis dolore uidisti. cuius quidem modestas et graues lacrimas sicut propior uel aequalior animae eius spiritus altius intellexisti et perfectae in Christo feminae salua uirilis animi fortitudine cor maternum de cordis tui similitudine melius ex aequo statu contemplatus es, ut eam pri- 17] (H Cor. 13, 3). 18] Ps. 55,11. Ps. 90, 5. 2 tuus Y 4 auide CY 5 licet Y<f>, scilicet CTC Bosw . 7 in ore] ore Y 8 dulcissimus OY<P iniante C fabos 01 gylam Ycf1 9 ad fC Rosw., om. CY<P, in fort . 10 statiba C 15 hic mundus TC Bosw . 16 quam Y<P, qua Ct £ BOHW . uerbo dei Yfi, deo uerbo 0., (sed I 8.1: al. dei), dei uerbo Bosw . 17 xpm Yl 18 tuos om. C 19 salubre Y4>, saluare 0 I ţ, salutare Bosw . 21 quod Y auiam] abia C melaniam Rosw . fleuissem CC carnale in Y 22 lucto Y, fletu C Bosto. - 24 proprior Y4>tC 25 faeminae rp 26 animis Y 27 ex equo f, ez quo C statu] ista tu C, et statu C mum pro naturali affectione permotam, deinde causa potiore conpunctam fleuisse perspiceres non tam illud humanum, quod unicum filium conditione mortali functum in praesenti saeculo amisisset, quam quod propemodum in saeculari uanitate praeuentum, quia necdum illum deseruerat senatoriae dignitatis ambitio, non iuxta sanctam uotorum suorum auaritiam cogitaret adsumptum, ut de conuersationis gloria transisset ad gloriam resurrectionis, communem cum matre requiem coronamque capturus, si in huius saeculi uita matris exemplo saccum togae et monasterium senatui praetulisset. Verumtamen idem uir, ut et antea rettulisse me puto sanctitati tuae, his operibus locupletatus abscessit, ut maternae humilitatis nobilitatem, si ueste non gesserit, tamen mente praetulerit; ita enim secundum uerbum domini mitis moribus fuit et humilis corde, ut non inmerito credatur introisse in requiem domini, quoniam sunt reliquiae hominum pacifico, et mansueti possidebunt terram placentes deo in regione uiuorum. nam certe et illud apostoli non solum tacito mitis affectu, sed et conspicuis religiosus inpleuit officiis, ut cum esset altorum huius saeculi in ordine et honore collega, non tamen ut gloriosus terrae alta saperet, sed ut Christi perfectus imitator humilibus consentiret et tota etiam die misereri et commodare persisteret. unde et semen eius potens in terra factum est inter eos, qui dei fortes 14] (Matth. 11,29). 16] Ps. 86,87. 17] Matth. 5,4. Ps. 114,9. 21] (Rom. 12,16). 22] (Ps. 36,26. 111,5). 23] Ps. 111,2. 24] Ps. 46,10. 1 naturale yep potiorae Y 2 perspicere Y 3 conditioni YcfJ functum Y<P, defunctum CtC Rosw . 4 amississet Y 5 senaturiae yep 7 assumtum 4>l conuersionis CtC 9 exemplum 01 11 ut et CY4> Bosw., ut tC rettulisse Y<f>, retulissem Ct C, retuli Bosw . me puto e Y«f», ex uto (° m. 2) C, ex uoto εζ Eosw . 12 sanctitatis (is ex i m. 2 C) Ct £ Bosw . 13 tamen om. yep 14 enim om. Y 16 homini CfC 17 placent et C, placente (8 m. 2) t 18 apostuli ф solum om. Y 19 mitis OY<P, mentis tC Rosw . conspicuus CtC relegiosus CY4>, religiosis tC Bosw., religionis Sacch . 20 ut Y<P Rosio., et CtC 21 sapere Y 22 et om. Y<P etiam] enim Y4> 23 miserere Y<P 24 di YcfJ, deo C, om . tC Bosw . terrae fortes tC terrae nimium eleuati sunt, ut etiam de beatissima familiae ac domus eius uisitatione sanctum hominis meritum reueletur. generatio, inquit, rectorum benedicetur, gloria non caduca et diuitiae non labentes in domo eius, domo quae aedificatur in caelis non labore manuum sed operum sanctitate. sed cesso pluria de memoria tam dilecti mihi quam deuoti Christo hominis enarrare, cum et pristinis litteris non pauca super eo narrasse me repetam et nihil possim de beata huius filii matre et sanctorum pari radice ramorum Melanio melius aut sanctius praedicare, quam sanctitas tua in eam profari et disputare dignata est, ut, quia ego peccator inmunda labia habens nihil dignum loqui potueram ut longinquus a meritis fidei eius animaeque uirtutibus, tu ille uir Christi, doctor Israel in ecclesia ueritatis, procurante in melius dei gratia parareris dignior tam uirilis in Christo animae praedicator, qui et mentem eius diuina uirtute firmatam, ut dixi, spiritu propiore conspiceres et mixtam cum uirtute pietatem eloquio digniore laudares. Quae uero post resurrectionem carnis in illo saeculo beatorum futura sit actio, tu me interrogare dignatus es. at ego de praesenti uitae meae statu ut magistrum et medicum spiritalem consulo, ut doceas me facere uoluntates dei, tuis uestigiis ambulare post Christum et mortem istam euangelicam prius emori, qua carnalem resolutionem uoluntario 3] Ps. 111, 2. 11] (Es. 6, 5). 22] (August. ep. 95, c. 2). O 2 uisitatine <P 3 generatione inquid C 4 domo Y<P, domus OEC Rosw . 5 manuum] hominum Y 6 pluria scripsi, plurima <P, pluri plurima Y, plura t £ Rosea., de plura C 7 renarrare C 8 eos Ct reputem Lebrun possum C 9 pari YcJ>, patri C, patre ł\' Rosw . romanorum Y 11 ut om. Y inmundabilia (labia om.) Y 13 tu om. Y<P isri Y, isrthl ф, iñl C, om. sex litt. spatio uacuo fC 14 eclesia 4» 16 uirtute C s. l. m. 2 firmatam-uirtute om. Y firmatum C propriore <P, propriores C 19 actio Y<f>, actio nostra Cet Rosw . est Y1 at] a te C 20 ut Y<P, et CeC Rosw., te ut fort . 21 consolo Y, consulo (u ex 0 corr) postea in mg. add.ф 22 tuisque ε 2 edd. Aug . mortem <P, morte Y ista euangelica YcJ>; cf. August. ep . 95, c. 2: quippe qui etiam nerissime dixeris euangelicam mortem prius emoriendum quam carnalem resolutionem uoluntario praeueniamus excessu et paullo post: ut uiuamus euangelicam uitam moriendo euangelicam mortem 23 quam f, qui Y praeuenimus excessu, non obitu sed sententia recedentes ab huius saeculi uita, quae tota temptationum uel, ut tu aliquando ad me locutus es, tota temptatio est. utinam ergo sic dirigantur uia.e meae post uestigia tua, ut exemplo tuo soluens calciamentum uetus de pedibus meis disrumpam uincula mea et liber exultem ad currendam uiam, quo possim adsequi mortem istam, qua tu mortuus es huic saeculo, ut uiuas deo Christo uiuente in te, cuius et mors et uita in corpore tuo et corde et ore cognoscitur, quia non sapit cor tuum terrena nec os tuum loquitur opera hominum, sed uerbum Christi abundat in pectore tuo et spiritus ueritatis effunditur in lingua tua, superni fluminis impetu laetificans ciuitatem dei. , Quae autem uirtus hanc in nobis efficit mortem nisi caritas, quae fortis est ut mors? sic enim oblitterat nobis et perimit hoc saeculum, ut inpleat mortis effectum per affectum Christi, in quem conuersi auertimur ab hoc mundo et cui uiuentes morimur ab elementis huius mundi. nec tamquam uiuentes in eorum conspectu usuque decernimus, quia portio nostra mors Christi est, cuius a mortuis resurrectionem non adprehendimus in gloria, nisi mortem eius in cruce mortificatis membris et sensibus carnis imitemur, ut iam non nostra uoluntate uiuamus sed illius, cuius uoluntas sanctificatio nostra est et qui ideo pro nobis mortuus est et resurrexit, ut iam non nobis sed illi uiuamus, qui pro nobis mortuus est et resurrexit et dedit nobis pignus repromissionis suae spiritu suo, sicut pignus uitae nostrae posuit in caelis in corpore suo, 2] (August. ep. 95, c. 2). 10] (Col. 3,16). 11] (Ps. 45, 5). 14] Cant. 8, 6. 17] (Col. 2, 20). 20] (I Thess. 4, 3). 23] (II Cor. 5, 15). 1 praeueniamus E\'j lege hoc totum fideliter add. C man . a. VIIll in mg . obitus C 2 temptationum] plena add. tC Rosw . 3 loquutus ф 5 de Y<P, a C( £ Rosw . dirrumpam C, dirumpam ef Bosto . 7 christo Y<P, in christo CtC Bosw . 10 opera om. Y habundat Y<PE\' 12 impletum C 14 oblicterat ff 15 perhimit y1 effectu Y 17 eli- O mentis Y&1 18 usuque Y<P, usque (u m. 2) C, uisuque tC Rosw . decernimur CfC 20 adpraehendimus 4» huius Lebrun 24 pro om. Y pro nobis pro C est om. Y 25 et dedit om. Y repromissionis pignus in marg. inferiore add. <f>, in textu inser . htl (— hic deest) quod est corporis nostri. unde nunc expectatio nostra dominus est, et substantia, quae ab ipso facta est, apud ipsum et in ipso et per ipsum est, qui conformatus est corpori humilitatis nostrae, ut nos conformaret corpori gloriae suae et secum in caelestibus conlocaret. propterea et qui digni fuerint uita aeterna olim in gloria regni eius, ut cum ipso sint, sicut apostolus ait, et cum ipso maneant, sicut et ipse dominus ad patrem dixit: nolo ut, ubi ego sum, et illi sint mecum, sine dubio illud quod in psalmis habes: beati qui habitant in domo tua, in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te. Puto autem hanc laudationem uocibus concinentium esse promendam, etsi inmutabuntur sanctorum resurgentium corpora, ut sint sicut et domini corpus post resurrectionem apparuit, in qua utique resurrectionis humanae uiua imago praefulsit, ut dominus ipse, qui in corpore ipso, quo passus fuerat et resurrexerat, quasi speculum contemplationis omnibus fuerit. qui utique cum in eadem carne, qua mortuus et sepultus fuerat, et resurrexisset, omnium omnia officia membrorum expressa oculis et auribus hominum saepe conlatus exhibuit. quod si etiam angeli, quorum simpliciter spiritalis est creatura, linguas habere dicuntur, quibus utique laudes domino creatori canant et gratias referre non desinant, quanto magis hominum etsi spiritalia iam post resurrectionem corpora, manentibus tamen glorificatae carnis omnibus membris et per omnia membra formis et numeris suis, et linguas habebunt 1] (Ps. 38, 8). 5] (I Thess. 4,16). 8] Ioh. 17,24. 9] Ps. 83,5. 1 est] est caput cC Bosw . 2 est facta C aput 4t t aU. et om. s CeC Rosw . 3 pr . est exp. 4t corpore Y, corpor Y, corpore ф humilitatis-corpori om. tC Rosw . 4 corpore Y, corpore ф et] ut ε (in ras.), ut C 6 olim C<f>, olym Y, erunt eC Bosw., erunt olim fort . 7 et ipse] ipse Y 9 illud CY<P, hoc illud est tC Bosw . 11 concinnentium Y 12 promerendam Y 14 qua CY4>, quo tC 15 in om. Y 18 et CYф, om. εζ \' Rosw . omnia Yфi, om. C εζ Bosw . 19 expraessa ф collatus Yф, conlatas C, collata ε 2 ζ Rosw., colata ε 1 22 canant Y4t, cantant CfC Bosw . referri Y4t desinant CY4>, desinunt ef Bosw . 23 etsi] et Yfi resurrectione C 25 linguis Y in oribus suis et linguis effantibus dabunt uoces, quibus diuinas laudes uel sensuum suorum gaudiorumque affectus per uerba depromant, forte etiam hoc gratiae gloriaeque adposituro sanctis suis domino in saeculis regni sui, ut tanto potioribus linguis et uocibus canant, quanto ad beatiorem naturam corporum beata inmutatione profecerint, ut in corporibus iam spiritalibus constituti iam forsitan non humanis sed illis angelicis atque caelestibus, quales apostolus in paradiso audiuit, sermonibus eloquantur? et ideo forsitan homini ineffabiles eos sermones fuisse testatus est, quia sanctis inter alias praemiorum species iam nouae linguae parentur. quibus idcirco homines huius saeculi adhuc uti non licet, ut iam his gloriae suae congruentibus inmortales loquantur, de quibus dictum est: etenim clamabunt et hymnum dicent, procul dubio in caelestibus, ubi cum domino erunt et delectabuntur in abundantia pacis, gaudentes in conspectu throni, mittentes ante pedes agni pateras et coronas et cantantes ei canticum nouum, adgregati choris angelorum uirtutum dominationum thronorum, ut et ipsi cum Cherubin atque Seraphin et quattuor illis animalibus uoce perpetua concinentes dicant: sanctus sanctus sanctus dominus deus Sabaoth, et reliqua quae nosti. Hoc est ergo, quod egenus et pauper ego ille insipiens et paruulus tuus, quem ut uerus sapiens ferre consuesti, rogo, ut me scientiam uel opinionem super hoc tuam doceas, quia scio te inluminatum spiritu reuelationis ab ipso duce et fonte sapientium, ut sicut praeterita cognouisti et praesentia uides, 8] (II Cor. 12,.4). 13] Ps. 64,14. 15] Ps. 36,11. 20] Es. 6,3. 1 oris fC diuinas om. Y 2 gaudiorum Y-P effectus Y4> 3 apposituros CY 5 ad] a I 6 mutatione CtC Rosw . proflcerint Y<P, profecerit C 8 in paradyso audiuit Y<P, audiuit in paradiso Cft n Rosw . 9 eloquatur fi inde It\' Rosw . homini Yfi, om. CeC Rosw . 11 parentur Y<P, parantur CfC Rosw . homines CY<t>, hominibus fC 13 dictum est etenim bis exh. C 14 ymnum C, hynnum t 17 cantantes Y<i>, cantes C, ai cantantes C in mg. m. 2, canentes tC Rosw . 18 chroris ex thronis ф, coris C thronos C 19 etque Y1 20 uoce p. concinentes om. CfC Rosw . concinnentes Y 23 consuisti CY<f> nVllll. PauliDi Nol. epictulM. 25 ita etiam de futuris aestimes, quid censeas de his caelestium creaturarum uel etiam super caelos in conspectu altissimi agentium uocibus sempiternis, quibus tandem organis exprimantur. quamlibet enim apostolus dicendo: si linguis angelorum loquar, proprium quendam illos suae naturae uel, ut ita dixerim, gentis habere sermonem ostenderit, tanto humanis sensibus et eloquiis altiorem, quanto ipsa angelorum creatura et statio mortalibus incolis et terrenis sedibus praestat: attamen forsitan linguas angelorum pro generibus uocum atque sermonum dixerit, sicut et de charismatum uarietate disserens inter dona gratiarum numerat genera linguarum, utique hoc in signo esse significans, quod multarum gentium sermone loqui singulis donaretur. sed et uox dei saepe ad sanctos emissa de nube ostendit posse loquelam esse sine lingua, siquidem lingua corporis membrum sit pusillum et magnum. sed forte ex hoc ipso, quia in hoc membro uocis officium deus posuit, etiam incorporeae angelorum creaturae sermones et uoces linguam uocauerit, sicut scriptura adsolet deo quoque secundum species operationum nomina adsignare membrorum. ora pro nobis et doce nos. Frater noster carissimus et dulcissimus Quintus quam tarde ad nos remeat a nobis, tam cito a nobis ad uos redire festinat; instantiam uero eius in litteris exigendis etiam haec epistola lituris quam uersibus crebrior loquitur; commemorati exactoris nimiam festinationem scheda fecit. nam pridie idus 4] I Cor. 13,1. 10] (I Cor. 12,10. 28). 15] (Iac. 3, 5). 1 aestimes] quid estimes tf Bosw . 3 gentium Y<P 4 quamlibet Cyep, quamuis eC Rosw . 5 ut om. Yф 6 gentes yep 7 altiore Y 8 mortalius C in caelis fţ Bosw . 10 dixit ex dixerit f de] in dei t f1 carismatum CYi ueritate Y 13 Scs yep 14 loquillam ep, loquellam C 15 membrorum C 16 in] sine I\' Eosw . membro] in quo est add. t; Rosw . 17 posuit Y<t>, possit CtC Roaw . incorporeae Y<P, in corpore Ct £ U Rosto . creatore Y, creare e? Bosw . 18 scribtura ep assolet OEC queque Y 20 doce nos ex docens C m. 2 21 et dulcissimus om. Y<P 23 standam C in litteris exigendis} hic desinit cod. ф etiam] et Lebrun 24 litoris Y, licturis tC loquitur que Y 25 nimiam festinationem CtC, nimia festinatione Y, nimia festinatio Bosvo . sceda tC, schedam Y Bosw., schidam C Maias uenit ad nos, ut rescripta peteret, et idibus ante sextam dimitti obtinuit. uidete ergo utrum eum commendauerim an accusauerim huiusmodi testimonio. forte enim, immo sine dubio laudabilis magis quam culpabilis iudicabitur qui a tenebris, quod in conparatione uestri luminis sumus, iustissime refestinauit ad lucem suam.