{"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/1":{"o":"Cum splendidissimæ sanctimoniæ tuæ suhlime propositnm super humilitatis fundamenta consistere pie et sapienter intelligis, in huc usque, o sacra Virgo Demetrias, dignationem tuae dignitatis inclinas, ut provectiones tuas etiam meo stylo exigas adjuvari. Quod ego, ad tenuitatem facultatis meæ respiciens, omnibus modis recusarem, neque tam maturo et erudito animo cohortatiunculas nieas ad bibere præsumerem, nisi fiduciam efficiendi id quod jubetur a jubente conciperem, et tuis meri tis atque orationibus confiderem esse pracstanduin, ul oriaMur in deserto aqua (Ptal. CVI, 33); et fiant in sicca terra flumina (P<. CIV, 41; Isaia XLIII, i9). Uude coll borandum libi mecum est, ut qui sapienliam prœstat parculi., et linguas mutorum facit diser tas (Sap. x, 21), jdbeat de cordis mei ariditate pro fluere, quod satis tua digne possit haurire. Quae ergo materia stylo dabitur, et unde loquendi tecum causa sumetur? Si laudes tuas scribere aggrediar, et ma jorum seriem, quae per te mullum illustratur, evol fam, onerosum me forte et impudentem videri posse arbitror, qui vel humanæ tibi gloriæ tentationem adulando ingeram, vel luis ac tuorum prædicationi bus ingeunim incum par esse præsumam. Si vero de commendando virginitatis bono disseram, superna erit ejus nunc propositi insinuatio, quod tu a primo actuis tuae Hore siue humanis cohortationibus elegisti: et de quo inter ipsa principia inulti, e qui tunc in Ecclesia præeminebant, merito non siluerunt. Valde enim mirabile erat, et inter præcipua devinæ gratiae exempla numerandum, quod virgo Anicia, super omne fastigium Trabeate nobilitatis eve cta, de cujus fecund.tate avis atque atavis respon sura poster'tas et familiae votis exspectabatur et pa triæ, converso repente animo, desiderio coeles ium nuptiarum declinasti mortale conjugium, et ut omnem prosapiam tuam etiam hujus virtuti, titulo consecrares, e prima stirpis tuae perpetuam te virginem Filio virginis spopondisti. Illam ergo ætatem tuam et illa principia rationabil.tcr doctissimi viri suis adhorla lionibus incitarunt, et licet plantationi suae summus agricola valida ad profectum tuum incrementa præ beret, cooperatores tamen gratiæ Dei opportune piam adhibuere culturam, ut germen tenerum forti tudinis robur acciperet, et dignos gencrositate sua fructus propositi tui arbor afferret. Nostris antem paginis quid erit loci? Et post ornatissima scripta ex celledtium magistrorum, quid utilitatis in eo, quem indicere dignata es, sermone reperies, nisi forte quia et illorum doctrinis et tuis studiis ad sublimiores gradus virtutum consuetudo proficit, * cavendæ te clationis admoneam, et humilitatis tibi sinceritatem fida suggestione commendem, ut in omnibus actioni bus in quibus tibi es bene conscia numquam audcas esse secura.","t":"Since you understand, devoutly and wisely, that the lofty purpose of your most splendid holiness rests on the foundations of humility, you incline the condescension of your dignity so far, O holy virgin Demetrias, as to ask that your advances be helped even by my pen. I, looking at the slenderness of my ability, would refuse this in every way, nor would I presume to offer my little exhortations to drink to so mature and learned a mind, did I not draw from the one who commands the confidence of accomplishing what is commanded, and trust that it will be granted through your merits and prayers that water may spring up in the desert and rivers be made in dry land. So you must labour together with me, so that he who gives wisdom to little ones and makes the tongues of the dumb eloquent may command to flow from the dryness of my heart what you can worthily draw. What matter, then, will be given to my pen, and from where will a reason for speaking with you be taken? If I undertake to write your praises and unroll the line of your ancestors, which is made much more illustrious through you, I think I might perhaps seem burdensome and shameless, either thrusting on you by flattery the temptation of human glory, or presuming that my talent is equal to proclaiming you and yours. But if I discuss the commendation of the good of virginity, it will now be superfluous to commend that purpose which you chose from the first flower of your age without human exhortations, and about which, at its very beginnings, many who were then eminent in the church rightly did not keep silent. For it was very wonderful, and to be counted among the chief examples of divine grace, that you, a virgin of the Anician house, raised above every height of consular nobility, from whose fruitfulness a posterity worthy of grandfathers and great-grandfathers was awaited by the hopes of both family and country, suddenly turned your mind and, from desire of heavenly nuptials, declined mortal marriage; and, so as to consecrate your whole lineage also with the title of this virtue, you, the first of your stock, pledged yourself a perpetual virgin to the Son of the Virgin. That age of yours, then, and those beginnings, most learned men reasonably spurred on with their exhortations; and although the supreme farmer gave strong growth to his planting for your progress, yet the co-workers of God's grace applied devout cultivation at the right time, so that the tender shoot might receive the robust strength of fortitude and the tree of your purpose might bear fruits worthy of its nobility. But what place will there be for my pages? And after the most elegant writings of excellent teachers, what usefulness will you find in the discourse you have deigned to require, unless perhaps, since by their teachings and your studies your habit is advancing to higher steps of virtues, I may warn you to beware of elation, and commend to you the sincerity of humility by faithful suggestion, so that in all the actions in which you are of good conscience you may never dare to be secure.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 1 (PL 55:161–163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/1)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/10":{"o":"Cum ergo per ineffabilem misericordiam - Dei captivis libertas, perditis salus, mortuis vita reparatur, cu,n in sacramento crucis et resurrectionis Christi ad novitatem redit vctuslas, et ad innocen tiam regeneratur impietas, antiquus hostis malignius fremit et acrius inardescit, et cum innumeris nocendi artibus humanum genus nitatur evertere, serens discordias, incitans iras,.acuens cupiditates,suadens turpia, falsa commentans ct errorum laqueos per opinionum commenta multiplicans, plus uriturde virtute stantium quam laetetur de fragilitate tahenum. Multi enim servientes Deo, et in lege ejus die ac norte meditantes, cruxifixerunt carnem suamcum desideriis et concupiscentiis, omniumque illecebrarum incentiva domuerunt; non damnis victi, non persecutionibus fracti, nOli prosperitatibus depravati, mondnm istum nee dilexere obsequentem, nec timnere terrentem. Tantam itaque firmitatem, et tam sublime propositumqua impugnatione diabolus posset adorir;, nisi ut quibu; non potuerat persuadere vitiorum amonem, immitteret laudis cupiditatem;d et inde novisma instrueretur tentatio, undo nocuit prima deceptio9Non itaque desidiosis et tepidis, neque inertibus et incultis, sed magis quibusdam animis it... dolis et bonorum actuum probitate. luculentis, per gloriam irrepsit humanam; et quos impulsione non.novit, elatione dejecit. Quanto enim clariores eram rnfArittS, tanto eos aptiores suis invenit insidiis. In paradiso namque Ecclesiæ constitutos, et virtutum deliciis abundantes, ad confidentiamlibori incitavit arbitrii, ut profectus suos in. se constituerent, et ad \" arborem propriæ voluntatis manum præsumptionis extenderent. Restiterint quidem huic impietati recta. innumerabilium corda sanctorum, et non solum docti quique pontiOces, verum etiam universales Ecclesiæ plebes. apostolicæ sedis i eselraplo, insaniam novidogmatis horruerunt. Sed invenerunt I quidam viperina consilia, quibus doctrinæ suæ virus infunderent, et quorum linguam per dolos falsæ rationis armarent. Hinc illa erat naturae humanae fraudulenta laudatio, et iłlæsæ per omnes homines originalis defensio dignitatis; hinc Adæ peccatum elenlplo posteris asserebatur nocuisse, non transitu; et quam illi possibile fuerat non violare mandatum, tam Hiberum esse unicuique declinare delictum; hinc evacuatio bapti-matis parvulorum, qui sola:adoptione donari, nullo autem reatu dicerentur absolvi; hinc postremo divinæ gratiæ simulata et insincera coit - fessio, quæ secundum menta daretur, non ex qua mcrita nascereutnr. Quam I partem superbæ prædicationis quidam sibi, cnm caetera abnuerent, servaverunt. Sed hoc eos aut nimis imperite aut valde nequiter fecisse non dubiumest, ut omnium homi num generalemruinam meritorum privilegiosublevarent; et cum inter nostros originalis peccati vuluera faterentur, inter suos tamen hoc tenere ostenderem quod primorumhominumprævar catio solis imitatoribus obfuisset; naturalem autemfacultatem nihil sui in alieno amisisse peccato, cui et possibile esset ct liberum per voluntariam devotionem promereri gratiae largitatem.","t":"When, then, through the ineffable mercy of God freedom is restored to captives, salvation to the lost, and life to the dead; when in the sacrament of Christ's cross and resurrection oldness returns to newness and ungodliness is regenerated to innocence, the ancient enemy rages more malignantly and burns more fiercely; and although he strives to overthrow the human race with innumerable arts of harming, sowing discords, stirring up angers, sharpening desires, urging shameful things, devising falsehoods, and multiplying the snares of errors through invented opinions, he is more burned by the virtue of those who stand than he rejoices at the frailty of those who fall. For many who serve God and meditate on his law day and night have crucified their flesh with its desires and lusts and have tamed the incitements of all enticements; not conquered by losses, not broken by persecutions, not corrupted by prosperity, they have neither loved this world when it flattered nor feared it when it threatened. With what assault, then, could the devil attack such firmness and so lofty a purpose, except that, in those whom he had been unable to persuade to love vices, he might put a desire for praise, and build his latest temptation from that from which his first deception did harm? So it was not through slothful and lukewarm, nor through idle and uncultivated, minds, but rather through certain minds bright with talent and the uprightness of good acts, that he crept in by human glory; and those whom he could not overthrow by pushing, he cast down by elation. For the more illustrious they were in merits, the more fit he found them for his snares. For he incited those set in the paradise of the church and abounding in the delights of virtues to confidence in free choice, so that they would place their progress in themselves and stretch out the hand of presumption to the tree of their own will. The upright hearts of innumerable saints indeed resisted this ungodliness; and not only all the learned bishops, but also the peoples of the whole church, following the example of the apostolic see, shuddered at the madness of the new doctrine. But certain people found viper-like counsels by which they might pour in the poison of their teaching, and armed their tongue with the deceits of false reasoning. Hence came that fraudulent praise of human nature and the defence of an original dignity kept unharmed in all men; hence it was asserted that Adam's sin harmed his descendants by example, not by transmission, and that as it had been possible for him not to violate the commandment, so it is open to each one to avoid wrongdoing; hence came the emptying of the baptism of infants, who, they said, are given adoption alone and absolved from no guilt; hence, finally, a pretended and insincere confession of divine grace, as given according to merits, not as that from which merits are born. This part of the proud preaching certain people kept for themselves while rejecting the rest. But there is no doubt that they did this either very ignorantly or very wickedly, so as to lift the general ruin of all men by the privilege of merits; and while among us they confessed the wounds of original sin, among their own they showed that they held that the transgression of the first men harmed only those who imitate it, but that natural ability lost nothing of itself in another's sin, so that it is both possible and free for it to earn the bounty of grace by voluntary devotion.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 10 (PL 55:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/10)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/11":{"o":"Verum istam damnati dogmatisportionem catholicæ «entes facileintelligunt, et merito detestantur. Dicente enim Domilll. Jesu: Non cat opus sanis medicus, sed male habentibus: non enim veni vocare justos, sed peccatores Luc,V,31: convincuntur isti in superbia etiani sine voce clamare: Sani sumus, opus medico non habemus; quæ nobis exspectanda sunt praesidia de ope gratiae, quibus suppetunt vires de incolumitate naturæ 7 Non autem frustra Joannes protestatur et dicit: Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccato mundi (Joan. I, 29). Nec frustra scriptum est: Nemo mundus a sorde, nec infans, cujus unius die; vita est super terram (Job XIV, 4. juxta LXX); et: Quis poterit facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine? Nonne tu qui solus es (Ibid. juxta Vulg.)? Propter quod, sicut nunc in Ec. clesia manet constitutio Salvatoris dicentis: Nisi quis renatus fuerit a aqua et Spiritu sancto, non intrabit in regnum caelorum (Joan. III, 5); ita sacratissime erat in lege præcautum ut natus puer, nisi die circumcideretur octavo, exterminaretur anima ejus de populo suo (Gen. XVII, 14), nullum in hæreditate Israel ha bitura consortium. Quae omnia, et multo plura documenta, non tanta cura sacris paginis Spiritus sanctus inseruisset, si talis esset natura in filiis Adam, qualis in ipso est principaliter instituta. Sed qnia Filiu. Dei venit ut solveret opera diaboli (I Joan. III, 8), et ut quaereret salvaret quod perierat (Luc. XIX, 10), manifestum est omnes in Adam damnationi obnoxios esae nascendo, nisi in Christo liberati fue rint renascendo. Unde vigilanter nobis cOllsiderandum est in ipso regenerationis munere quid geratur. Quamvis enim ad unum concurrant emnes ejusdem mysterii portiones, aliud tamen est quod visibiliter agitur, aliud quod invisibiliter celebratur; nec idem est in sacramento forola, quod virtus, cum forma. humani ministerii adhibeatur obsequio, virtus autem per divini operis praestetur effectum; ad cujus utique potentiam referendum est quod dum homo exterior I abluitur, mutatur interior; et fit nova creatura de veteri, vasa irac in vasa misericordiae transferuntur, et in corpus Christi convertitur caro peccati; de im piis iusti, de captivis Ilberi, de filiis bominum Hunt lilii Dei, qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate viri, neque ex voluntate carnis; sed ex Deo nati sunt (Joan. I, 13). Quod quia indubitanter accepimus, rerissimum est quod Apostolus docet, dicens: Quicumdue naim spiritu Dei aguntur, ii filii sunt Dei (Rom. VIII, 14). Unde videant cujus se haberi filios velint, qui definierint omnes bomines voluntate prupria regi, cum idem Apostolus protestetur et dicat: Qui spiritam Christi non habet, hic non est ejus (nom. VIII, 9).","t":"But catholic minds easily understand this portion of the condemned doctrine and rightly detest it. For since the Lord Jesus says, \"It is not the healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners,\" these men are convicted of crying out in their pride even without a voice: \"We are healthy; we have no need of a physician; what protection should we expect from the help of grace, we who have enough strength from the soundness of our nature?\" But not in vain does John bear witness and say, \"Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.\" Nor in vain is it written, \"No one is clean from filth, not even an infant whose life upon the earth is of one day\"; and, \"Who can make clean one conceived of unclean seed? Is it not you, who alone are?\" For this reason, as there now remains in the church the ordinance of the Saviour, who says, \"Unless one is reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven,\" so it was most solemnly provided in the law that a boy who was born, unless he was circumcised on the eighth day, his soul should be cut off from his people, to have no share in the inheritance of Israel. The Holy Spirit would not have inserted all these and many more proofs in the sacred pages with such care, if the nature in the sons of Adam were such as it was originally established in him. But since the Son of God came to undo the works of the devil and to seek and save what was lost, it is clear that all are liable to condemnation in Adam by being born, unless they are freed in Christ by being reborn. Hence we must consider watchfully what takes place in the very gift of regeneration. For although all the parts of the same mystery run together into one, yet what is done visibly is one thing, what is celebrated invisibly another; nor is the form in the sacrament the same as the power, since the form is applied by the service of a human minister, while the power is granted through the effect of divine working. To this power, certainly, must be referred the fact that while the outer man is washed, the inner man is changed; and a new creature is made from the old, vessels of wrath are transferred into vessels of mercy, and the flesh of sin is turned into the body of Christ; from ungodly men come righteous ones, from captives free men, from sons of men sons of God, who are born \"not of blood, nor of the will of a man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.\" Since we have received this without doubt, most true is what the apostle teaches, saying, \"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.\" Let those see, then, whose sons they wish to be held, who have defined that all men are ruled by their own will, when the same apostle bears witness and says, \"He who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.\"","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 11 (PL 55:169–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/11)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/12":{"o":"Refutata igitur super borum impia vanitate, quibus in peccatum etiam illa quæ in eis videntur laudanda vertuntur, nos iilam humilitatem cui virtus et gloria Deus est eligamus,,cientes prophetam David cecinisse de santLis: Do mine, ite lumine vultus tui ambulubunt, et in nomine ruo exsultabunt tota die, et in tua justitia exaltabuntur; quoniam gloria virtutis eorum tu es (Psal. LXXXVIII, i 7). Qui et alibi piissime confitetur Domiuum iit sanctii suis esse laudandum, dicens: Jlirabili. Deus in sanctis suis: Deus Israel ipse dabit virtutem et fortitudinem plebi suæ (PIal. LXVII, 56). Huic etiam Jeremias concordat et dicit: Hæc dicit Dominus: Non glorie tur sapiens in sapientia sua, et non glorietur fortis ira fortitudine sua, et non glorietur dives in divitiis suis; sed in Auc glorieMur gui gloriatur, intel/igere et scire quia ego sum Domitius (Jerem- IX, 23, 24). Ipse veru intellectus et scientia unde habeantur, pandunt Pruverbia Salomonis, et cunt: Quoniam Dominus dat sapientiam, et a facie ejus scientia et intellectus (Prov. XI, 6). Et in Ecclesiaste libro ipsius legimus qnod et corda et opera justorum in manu IX i sim, et tantum in studiis suis proficiant, quantum eos ille provexerit. uantumcumque, inquit, laboraverit homo ut quærat non inveniet. Et quodcumque e dixerit sa. pien. ut sciat, non potest invenire, quia universum hoc vidit cor meum, quia justi et sapientes, et operationes eorum iri manu Dei (Eccle. VIII, i 7; IX, i). Tale est quod Apostolus prædicat, dicens omne verbum bo num et omne opus sanctum donum esse Spiritus sancti, sine quo nihil rt'cte agatur. 1deo, inquit, no tum vobis facio quod nemu in spiritu Dl i loquens dicit anathema Jesu, et nemo potest dicere, Dominus Jesus, nisi in Spiritu sancIa. Divisiones vero sunt gratiarum, idem autem Spiritus; et divisiones ministrationum sunt, idem autem Dunzinus; et divisiones operationum sunt, idem vero Deus ui operatur omnia in omnibus. Uni -;cuique autem datur manif estatio Spiritus ad utilitatem. iquidem pEr Spiritum atur sermo sapientiæ, alli autem sermo scientiæ secundum cumdem Spiritum. al teri fides ill eodem Spiritu; alii operatio virtutumi, alii prophetia, alii discretio spirituum, alii genera lin guarum, alii interpretatio sermonum. Hæc autem omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritus, dividen, singulis prout vult (t Cor. XII, 3).","t":"Having refuted, then, the ungodly vanity of the proud, to whom even the things in them that seem praiseworthy are turned into sin, let us choose that humility whose strength and glory is God, knowing that the prophet David sang of the saints: \"O Lord, they will walk in the light of your countenance, and in your name they will exult all the day, and in your righteousness they will be exalted; for you are the glory of their strength.\" And elsewhere he most devoutly confesses that the Lord is to be praised in his saints, saying: \"God is wonderful in his saints; the God of Israel himself will give strength and power to his people.\" Jeremiah also agrees with this and says: \"Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord.\" And from where this understanding and knowledge are had, the Proverbs of Solomon disclose, saying: \"For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his face come knowledge and understanding.\" And in his book Ecclesiastes we read that both the hearts and the works of the righteous are in God's hand, and that they make only as much progress in their pursuits as he has advanced them. \"However much,\" he says, \"a man labours to seek, he will not find; and whatever the wise man says, in order to know, he cannot find; for all this my heart has seen, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God.\" Such is what the apostle proclaims, saying that every good word and every holy work is a gift of the Holy Spirit, without whom nothing is done rightly. \"Therefore,\" he says, \"I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Anathema to Jesus; and no one can say, Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit. There are divisions of graces, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations, but it is the same God who works all things in all. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit. To one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the working of powers, to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of words. But all these the one and the same Spirit works, dividing to each as he wills.\"","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 12 (PL 55:171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/12)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/13":{"o":"Sunt et alia innumerabilia testimonia quæ ex paginis et novi et veteris Testamenti quadam conclamatione confirment hanc esse veræ humilitatis excellentissimam dignitatem, ut omnia quae hominem faciunt christianum ad divinæ gratiæ donum rereralltur. Sed tantam multitudinem sententiarum in unum congerere immodicum fuit, praesertim cum mihi sermo esset ad sanctimoniam tuam, cui ex formula eorum quae commemoravimus omnia se aut recordanti offerent aut legenti, licet quaedam etiam brevissima tantN sint plenitudinis, tantæque virtutis, ut nullo adversantis ingenio possint in sensum alium detorqueri. Nant qu:e contradictio admitti potest in eo quodipsa Veritos discipulis suis per Evangelium Joannis clixisse narratur: Sicut palmes, inqui, nou potest facere fruetum nisi manserit in vite. sic acc vos, nisi in me manseritis. Ego sum vitis, t'o. palmiltl. Qui mand in ure et ego in eo, hie fert fructum, quia sine tue nihil potestis jacere (Joan. XV, 4, 5). Nonne convincitur palmes ela tus quod omMi fertilitate vacuatur, si vitis ubertate uno alitur? Quis enim sine auxilio gratiæ fructum potest afferre justitiæ, aut quis audet dicere se a Christo non dividi, qui Christum in se diffitetur ope rari? An forte verendum est ne liberum tollere videamur arbitrium, cum omnia pcr quæ propitiatur Deus ad ipsum dicimus esse referenda? Quod lIequJquant esse consequens a luce veritatis ostenditur: oPerante enim Spiritu Dei juvatur arbitrium, non aufertur: et hoc agit gralia, ut voluntas peccatu cor rupta, vanitatibus ebria, seductionibus circumsepta, difficultatibus impedita, uon remaneat in languoribus suis, sed per opem miserentis medici curata revatescat, et gaudeat se non interrogantem edoctam, et non quærentem esse quæsitam, quia impletur quoti die quod Isaias propheta prædisit: Quibus non eat annuntiatum de eo, videbunt; et gui non audierunt intelligent (Isa. LII, 5). Quomodo anten) hoc fat Joannes cet dicens: Scimus quia ex Deo sumus, et mundus touts in maligno positus est; et scimus quoniam Filius Dei venit et dedit nobis sensum ut cognoscamus verum Deum, et aimus in vero Filio eju, (Joan. v,!9, 20). QuoJ utique nunc quoqne eadem potentia Dominus indesinenter operatur, qui ait: Ecce ego vobiscum I sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem sæculi (M auh. VIII, 20).,","t":"There are also innumerable other testimonies from the pages of both the New and the Old Testament which confirm, as with one shout, that this is the most excellent dignity of true humility, that all the things that make a man a Christian are referred to the gift of divine grace. But to gather so great a multitude of sentences into one would have been immoderate, especially since my discourse was to your holiness, to whom, on the pattern of those we have mentioned, all of them will present themselves as you recall or read; although some, even very short ones, are of such fullness and such force that no talent of an adversary can twist them into another sense. For what contradiction can be admitted in what the Truth himself is related, through the Gospel of John, to have said to his disciples: \"As the branch,\" he says, \"cannot bear fruit unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him, he bears fruit; for without me you can do nothing\"? Is not the proud branch convicted of being emptied of all fruitfulness if it is not nourished by the richness of the vine? For who can bear the fruit of righteousness without the help of grace, or who dares to say that he is not divided from Christ, who denies that Christ works in him? Or is it perhaps to be feared that we seem to take away free choice when we say that all the things by which God is made favourable are to be referred to him? That this by no means follows is shown by the light of truth: for when the Spirit of God works, choice is helped, not taken away; and grace brings it about that the will, corrupted by sin, drunk with vanities, hemmed in by seductions, hindered by difficulties, does not remain in its sicknesses, but, cured by the help of the merciful physician, grows strong again and rejoices that it was taught without asking and sought without seeking; because what the prophet Isaiah foretold is fulfilled daily: \"Those to whom it was not announced concerning him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.\" And how this happens John shows, saying: \"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one; and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the true God and may be in his true Son.\" This the Lord certainly works unceasingly now too by the same power, who says: \"Behold, I am with you all days, until the consummation of the age.\"","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 13 (PL 55:171–173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/13)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/14":{"o":"Ut ergo misericordiam Dei quæramus, Dei misericordia est qui ait: Miserebor cui misertuş ero, et misericordiam praestabo cui mise.- ricordiam præstitero (Rom. IX, 15). Unde mire per Jeremiam idem Dominus InanifesLat, qnod Dei gra tiam nemo præveniat merito suo, sud propter dile ctionem qua Deus diligit cHam aversos ad Inisericordiam trabi. Dilectione, inquit,æterna dilexi te: propterea traxi te ad miserationem, quia œdificabo te, et crdificaberis, virgo 1arael (Jerem. nx!, 3).Cui sen tentiæ Joannes quoque apostolus Congruit di sens: Non quasi noa dilexerimus Deum, sed quoniam ipse dilexit nos; et infra: Noa ergo diligamus, quoniam Deus prior dilexit nos (1 Joan. iv, 10, 19). paulus quoque apostolus in eadem est sententia, dicens in Epist. ad Tiulotb. II: Collabora Evangelio secundum virtutem Dei qui noa liberavit et vocavitvocatione esancta, non secundum opera nostra, aed secundum pro positum suum et gratiam, quæ data eat nobis ante tempora æterna (Il Tim. n, 8, 9). Ad Titum etiam scribeDs. docet nullo bono bominis merito Dei gratiam præveniri. Eramus, inquit, et nos insivientes aliquando, increduli, errantes, servientes desideriis et voluptatibus vuriis, in malitia et invidia agentes, odibiles, odeentes invicem. Cum autem btniguila. et huma nitas apparuit Salvatoris nostri, nOli ex operibus jus titiæ quæ fecimus noa, aed secundum suam misericordiant salvos noa fecit, per lavacrum regenerationis Spiritus sancti quem effudit abunde in noa per Jesum Christum Salvatorem nostrum, ut justificati gratia ipsius, hæredes simus secundum apem vitæ æternæ (Tit, III 3-7),, Omnis igitur illuminatarum mentium pius motus alienari quidem non potest a propria hominis voluntate, siquidem nihil recte faciet nisi quod volens egerit; sed ut ad id quod æquum et utile est animi tendat intentio, de illius æternæ et incommutabilis. tatis inspiratione cOllcipilUr. Et sicut arie madici in oculis caligantibus. ut possint videre quod non vident, nec tamen non ipsorQo) est visio quam me dicina contulerit, ita in cordibus tardis et hebetibus per Spiritum sanctum acies obducta lergitur, at de vero lumine tenebrosae jam et deficientes lucernæ lumen accipiunt; nec tamen nisi ipsarum erit quid. quid fulgoris acceperint. Unde dicit Dominus: Ignem veni mitttere in terram; et guid volo nisi ut ardeat (Luc. XII, 49)? Et idem jubet ut lucernæ nostræ sint sem per ardentes, ut scilicet superno igne accensus ani mus non tepescat, sed studeat semper ardere; ac si vigorem ejus aliqua turbarit adversitas, uude caepit inJlammari, inde poscat iguirj.","t":"That we seek God's mercy, then, is the mercy of God, who says: \"I will have mercy on whom I have had mercy, and I will show mercy to whom I have shown mercy.\" Hence the same Lord wonderfully shows through Jeremiah that no one anticipates God's grace by his own merit, but that even those turned away are drawn to mercy because of the love with which God loves. \"With an everlasting love,\" he says, \"I have loved you; therefore I have drawn you to compassion, for I will build you, and you will be built, O virgin Israel.\" With this sentence the apostle John too agrees, saying: \"Not as though we had loved God, but because he loved us\"; and below: \"Let us love, then, because God first loved us.\" The apostle Paul also is of the same mind, saying in the Second Letter to Timothy: \"Share in labour for the gospel according to the power of God, who has freed us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us before eternal times.\" Writing to Titus too, he teaches that God's grace is not anticipated by any good merit of man. \"For we too,\" he says, \"were once foolish, unbelieving, going astray, serving various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness and humanity of our Saviour appeared, not from works of righteousness which we did, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, justified by his grace, we may be heirs according to the hope of eternal life.\" Every devout movement of enlightened minds, then, cannot indeed be separated from man's own will, since he will do nothing rightly except what he does willingly; but that the intention of the mind should tend toward what is just and useful is conceived by the inspiration of that eternal and unchangeable goodness. And as, by the physician's art, in darkened eyes the film is wiped away so that they can see what they do not see, and yet the sight which medicine has conferred is not other than their own, so in slow and dull hearts the covering that has been drawn over their gaze is wiped away by the Holy Spirit, so that lamps now dark and failing receive light from the true light; and yet whatever brightness they have received will be nothing but their own. Hence the Lord says: \"I came to cast fire on the earth; and what do I will but that it burn?\" And he also commands that our lamps be always burning: that is, that the mind, kindled by fire from above, may not grow lukewarm but strive always to burn; and if any adversity has disturbed its vigour, it may ask to be set on fire from the source from which it began to be inflamed.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 14 (PL 55:173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/14)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/15":{"o":"Pro inde quia manifestissime et prophetica, et evangelca, et apostolica doctrina, nec superbos nos vult ess\". nec desides cooperatores nos esse oporiet gratie Dei, III illam excitantem, juvantem, locupletantem et ' quotidie provehentem, vigilanter et sobrie subsequa mur, numquam cessantes ab actione gratiarum, quia inter secunda vitae istius et adversa, quibus gemma semper tentatione pulsamur, si proficimus, inde alimur; si stamus, inde subsistimus; si recidimus, inde reparamur. Dicit enim Spiritus per prophetam David: A Domino gressus homini. dirigentur, et viana ejus volet. Cum ceciderit, non collidetur, quia Dominus supponit manum suam. Non itaque frustra præcipitur ut boni simus, cm \"dicitur: Decling a nlalo, et fuc bonum (Psal. XXXVI, 23, 24, 27). Sed nec frustra per Jeremiam dicit Dominus: Timorem meum dabo in cor corum, et viailabo eoa ut bonos eos faciam (Jerem. xx xII,40, 41). Nec superflua eratpræceptio Pau i apostoli ad Romanos dicentis: Noli vinci a malo, aed vinee ill bono malum (Rom. XII, 21); cum Corinthiis dicat: Oramu. autem nd Deum ut nibil mali faciatis (IICor. XIII, 7). In omnibus enim monilis Dei atque mandatis una eademque ratio est et divinas gratiæ et humanae obedientiæ; nec ob aliud umquam 'datur praeceptum, nisi ut quxratnr praeripientis auxi lium. Voces enim docentium et litterae paginarum quæ ad eruditionem andientium vel legentium Deo serviunt, non carent ejus virtute cui serviunt; et quando id quod jubetur a obedienter perficitur, tunc effectus divini operis declaratur.","t":"Accordingly, since the prophetic, evangelical, and apostolic teaching most clearly wills us to be neither proud nor slothful, we ought to be co-workers with the grace of God, following it watchfully and soberly as it rouses, helps, enriches, and daily advances us, never ceasing from giving thanks; because amid the prosperities and adversities of this life, by which we are always struck with a twofold temptation, if we advance, we are nourished from it; if we stand, we subsist from it; if we fall back, we are restored from it. For the Spirit says through the prophet David: \"By the Lord a man's steps will be directed, and he will will his way. When he falls, he will not be dashed, for the Lord puts his hand under him.\" So it is not in vain that we are commanded to be good, when it is said: \"Turn away from evil and do good.\" But neither is it in vain that the Lord says through Jeremiah: \"I will put my fear in their heart, and I will visit them to make them good.\" Nor was the precept of the apostle Paul to the Romans superfluous, saying, \"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good,\" although he says to the Corinthians, \"We pray to God that you do no evil.\" For in all God's admonitions and commandments there is one and the same principle of divine grace and human obedience; nor is a precept ever given for any other reason than that the help of the one who commands may be sought. For the voices of those who teach and the letters of the pages, which serve God for the instruction of those who hear or read, are not without the power of him whom they serve; and when what is commanded is obediently accomplished, then the effect of the divine work is declared.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 15 (PL 55:173–175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/15)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/16":{"o":"Vigilant antem tentatoris insidiae, ut ubi proficit devotio, surrepat elatio, et ut bomo de bone opere in se potius quam in Do mino glorietur. Sed sollicitudo no' Apostoli contra hoc periculum monet dicens: Gum timore et tremore vestram salutem operamini. Deus eat enim qui operatur in vobis et velle, et operari pro bona voluntate. (Philip. 11, 12, 13.) Quanto ergo excellentius in mandatis Deiquique proficiunt, tanto majores habent causas formidinis et tremoris: ne de ipsis probitatis augmentis meM sibi consCia et laudis avida in superbiae rapiatur excessus, et flat immunda vanitate, dum sibi videtur clara virtute. Sed contra hoc periculum quid beatus Petrus in prima Epistola praedicet audiamus: Si quia, inquit, loquitur tamquam sermones Dei; Ii quis ministrat, tamquam ex virtute quam administrat Deus: ut in omnibus honorificetur Deus per Jesum Christum, cui eat gloria et imperium in sæcula(1 Petr. IV, 1 1). Idem in Epistola secunda: Gratia, inqnit. vobis adimpleafur in recognitione Domininostri Jesu Christi, qui nunc omnia nobis divina virtute sua, quæ ad vitam et pieta tem pertinent, donavit per agni:ionem tuam, gui voca vit noa propria gloriæ virtute; per quam maxima nobis et pretiosa promissa donauit: ut per lime efficiamini divinœ. consortes naturæ, fugientes ejus quæ in mundo sat concupiscentiæ corruptionem (II Pelr. i, 2, 4). Si ergo omnia quæ ad vitam et pietatem pertinent Deus nobis divina sua virtute donavit, nihil magis rugiendum est quam appetitus hujus concupiscentiæ, quae virtutem negat divini operis., amore propriæ dignita tis; et cum alix cupiditates ea tantum bona quibus adversantur, imminuant, haec dum omnia ad se trahit, simul universa corrumpit. Cum itaque to tius superbiae generale nomen odiosum sit, sive illa de honore suo, seu de nobilitate, vel de immodicis opibus inlumescat, haec pars ipsius omnibus tentationibus nocentior invenilur, quae videtur iis quas perditas cupit, amica esse virtutibus. Sed'quia subhmiora quæqne gravius corruunt, gaudet princeps super biæ, cos quos potuerit sua impulsione prosternere, ad celsiora crevisse.","t":"But the snares of the tempter keep watch, so that where devotion advances elation may creep in, and a man may glory over a good work in himself rather than in the Lord. But the apostle's concern warns us against this danger, saying: \"With fear and trembling work out your salvation. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good will.\" The more excellently, then, each advances in God's commandments, the greater causes he has for dread and trembling: lest the mind, conscious to itself of the very increase of its uprightness and greedy for praise, be swept into the excess of pride and become filthy with vanity while it seems to itself bright with virtue. But against this danger let us hear what blessed Peter proclaims in his first letter: \"If anyone speaks,\" he says, \"let it be as the words of God; if anyone ministers, as from the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be honoured through Jesus Christ, to whom is glory and dominion for ever.\" The same in the second letter: \"Grace,\" he says, \"be fulfilled for you in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his divine power has now given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power; through which he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, fleeing the corruption of that lust which is in the world.\" If, then, God by his divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, nothing is more to be fled than the appetite of this lust, which denies the power of the divine work out of love for its own dignity; and whereas the other desires diminish only those goods to which they are opposed, this one, while it draws everything to itself, corrupts all at once. So, although the general name of all pride is hateful, whether it swells over one's honour, or nobility, or immoderate wealth, this part of it is found more harmful than all temptations, which seems friendly to the virtues it wishes to destroy. But since all the loftiest things fall more heavily, the prince of pride rejoices that those whom he has been able to lay low by his push have grown to greater heights.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 16 (PL 55:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/16)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/17":{"o":"Huic auicm malo firmissimum bonum humilitatis occurrit. Quam ideo diximus veram, qnia omnium virtut um inexpugnabilis fortitudo, et quæ dam suorum est vita membrorum. Discernimus enim illam ah iis officiis quæ potest etiam cum mundi sa pientibus habere communia, et in eo proprietatem ipsius. drfinimus, qnod per omnia Deo subditur. Nec potest quidquam de meritis suis perdere, citrorum causas atque profectus non in se, sed in quo auctore constituit. Dignum quippe est ut imago Dei Deo splendeatt et inde pulchra, inde sit compta. dicens: Signatum eat super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine (PIal. IV, 7); alioquin adultera est, et a divino aliena conjurgio, si alterius cujusquam decorem in speculo sui cordis ostentat, aut ullis aliis monilibus acquiescit ornari, nisi illis quae de tbesauris sponsi per sancti Spiritus pignus accepit.","t":"Against this evil the most firm good of humility stands. We have called it true because it is the unconquerable strength of all the virtues and a kind of life of its members. For we distinguish it from those duties which it can have in common even with the wise of the world, and we define its proper character in this, that it is subject to God in all things. Nor can it lose anything of its merits, whose causes and progress it places not in itself but in its author. For it is fitting that the image of God should shine for God, and be beautiful and adorned from him, saying, \"The light of your countenance, O Lord, is sealed upon us\"; otherwise it is an adulteress, and a stranger to the divine marriage, if it displays in the mirror of its heart the beauty of anyone else, or consents to be adorned with any other jewels than those it has received from the treasures of the bridegroom through the pledge of the Holy Spirit.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 17 (PL 55:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/17)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/18":{"o":"Si autem quaelibet amma Christiana bujus debet continentiae soliditate muniri, quia omnes nuptiale sacramentum in quocumque vocationis suæ ordine susceperunt, quanto magis personae tuæ dignitas præ sidio hujus virtutis armanda est, cui de opulentissimis gratiæ Dei donis tam multiplex se ingerit mate ria gloriandi. Quamvis enim communis tibi sil cum multarum virginum puritate virginitas, non tamen facile reperitur quae possit tibi magnificentia domus et splendure antiquissimæ famjliæ comparari. Do qn'bns ut non superbias, nec tibi hoc ipsum, quod eis Christum præposueris, ascribas; ipse est vera humilitas, vera. charitas, vera virginitas. AIJ omni quippe contaminatione mens liberaest, quæ sive ill se, sive in proximo nihil diligit, nisi quod e ex Deo esse non ambigit. Nam amare aliquid quod non.ex opere et spiritu Dei sit, non est casta dilectio, et sufficit tentatori sublimes et claras animas hac illusione violasse, ut quas ad illicita non impulit, i pla cendi sibi ad elationem dejecerit.","t":"But if every Christian soul ought to be fortified with the solidity of this self-restraint, since all have received the sacrament of marriage in whatever order of their calling, how much more must the dignity of your person be armed with the protection of this virtue, to whom, from the most abundant gifts of God's grace, such manifold matter for glorying presents itself. For although you share virginity with the purity of many virgins, yet not easily is one found who can be compared with you in the magnificence of your house and the splendour of a most ancient family. That you may not be proud of these things, nor ascribe to yourself this very fact, that you have set Christ before them: this is true humility, true love, true virginity. For that mind is free from all contamination which, whether in itself or in its neighbour, loves nothing but what it does not doubt to be from God. For to love anything that is not from the work and Spirit of God is not chaste love; and it suffices the tempter to have violated lofty and illustrious souls by this illusion, so that those whom he did not drive to unlawful things he has cast down to elation by pleasing themselves.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 18 (PL 55:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/18)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/19":{"o":"De hac charitate sine duhio Apostolus loquebatur, et istius proprietatem subtilissimis discretionibus eliquabat dicens: Si liguis ho minum loquar et angeltirum, charitatem autem non habtam, factus sum velut æs sonans aut cymbalum tiutliens. Et si habuero prophetium, et noverim mysteria omnia et omnem scientium, et habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes transferam, caritatem autem non habeam, nihil sum. Et Ii distribuero ill cibos pauperum omnes facilitate, meas, et tradidero corpu. meum ut ardeam, charitatem autem MOM habuero, nihil mihi prodest(1 Cor. XII, 1-3). In quarum definitionum for mula multo laboraremus obsenrn, nisi sequentia demonstrarent duae esset species istius charitatis, cui soli tot operum labores, tot virtutum merita a non perirent. Esto enhn ut multiplex loquendi peritia, quae non solum ad omnem humanae facundiae Irtem, sed etiam ad angelici eloquii pervenerit racultatem, si charitate careat, inutili aeris sono et tinnitui tit comparabitis cymbalorum: esto ut habens propbetiam et scientiam, habens fidem dæmonibus imperantem, nibil sit, qnia charitate sit vacuus; verunt ut euam ille ab hac esse possit alienus, qui in alimoniam pauperum suas distribuerit facultates, vet qni corpus suum igne torrendum pro Christi confes sione tradiderit, incredibile videretur, nisi beaLns Pau- Ius hoc diceret. Quitamen cum ejusdem charitatis membra describeret, doceretque qualis esset ' hæc. viritus, sine qua nullae possint'prodesse virtutes: Charitas, inqnil, patiens est, benigna eat; charitas non æmulatur, non agit perperaM, noM inflatur, non eat ambitiosa, noM quærit quæ sua sunt (I Cor. XIII, 4,:), et reliqua.","t":"Of this love without doubt the apostle was speaking, and he refined its proper character with the most subtle distinctions, saying: \"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I distribute all my resources to feed the poor, and hand over my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.\" In the form of these definitions we would labour in much obscurity, did not what follows show what kind of love this was, for which alone so many labours of works and so many merits of virtues would not perish. For grant that a manifold skill in speaking, which has reached not only every art of human eloquence but even the faculty of angelic speech, if it lacks love, will be compared to the useless sound of brass and the tinkling of cymbals; grant that one who has prophecy and knowledge, who has faith that commands demons, is nothing because he is empty of love: yet that even he can be a stranger to it who has distributed his resources for feeding the poor, or who has handed over his body to be burned by fire for the confession of Christ, would seem incredible, if blessed Paul did not say it. Yet when he described the members of this same love and taught what this virtue is without which no virtues can profit: \"Love,\" he says, \"is patient, is kind; love is not jealous, does not act wrongly, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, does not seek its own things,\" and the rest.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 19 (PL 55:175–177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/19)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/2":{"o":"De hoc igitur congruentissimo tibi et saluberrimo bono, quod Dominus donaverit disseramus, ut in spectioni nostrae non tantum visibilia ejus, sed eliam occulta reserentur. Est enim multiplex virtutis istius qualitas, et licet in exterioribus quoque pulchra sit, in intimis tamen suis multo est speciosior, multoque luculentior; ubi nihil obscurum, nihil turbidum, nihil est inquietum: quia pax multa diligentibus Ugem Dei, ct uon eat illis scundalum (Psal. CXVIII, 165). Acces suri autem ad beatae humilitatis intuitum, om nem illam abjectionem, quæ ignavos et Inconstantes animos deprimit, repellamus; nec generale nomen ila nos a judicio discretionis excludat, ut omnes quo quomodo humiles putemus esse laudabiles. Imitatur quidem plerumque necessitas voluntatem, et ab ima gine modestiæ parum differt forma segnitiæ. Sed aliud est quod gravat, aliud quod exercet; nec in eumdem finem venit labor indeclinabilis miscriæ, et expetitae fortitudo patientiae. Unum est paupertatis 1 vocabulum, sed non una mens pauperum: quia non. idem est gaudere bene expensis divitiis, quod aut gemere de non acquisitis, aut dolere de perditis. Ti moris etiam quo Deus metuitur, nulla est in appellatione distinclio; sed aliud est timere quia peccaveris, aliud timere ne pecces; et ibi est formido de suppli cio, hic sollicitudo de praemio. Ob boc enim de illo ferviii metu dicitur quia perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem (1 Joan. IV, 18); de hoc vero liberali: Timor Domini sanctus, manens in sæculum sæculi (Psal. XVIII, 10). Remota itaque illa specie humilitatis, quae tota sine fructu est, voluntarios tautum pendamus affectus, qui etiamsi in gradibus meritorum inve niuntur impares, non sunt tamen ab ipsa virtute dis cordes..","t":"Let us discuss, then, as the Lord grants, this good which is most suited to you and most wholesome, so that not only its visible aspects but also its hidden ones may be opened to our inspection. For the quality of this virtue is manifold, and although it is beautiful in its outward parts too, yet in its inner parts it is much more lovely and much more radiant; there nothing is dark, nothing turbid, nothing restless: for \"much peace have those who love the law of God, and there is no stumbling block for them.\" As we approach the contemplation of blessed humility, let us drive away all that abjectness which presses down slothful and inconstant minds; and let not the general name so exclude us from the judgment of discernment that we think all who are in any way humble to be praiseworthy. For necessity often imitates the will, and the form of sloth differs little from the image of modesty. But it is one thing that weighs down, another that exercises; nor does the inescapable labour of misery come to the same end as the strength of a patience that has been sought. There is one word, \"poverty,\" but not one mind among the poor; for it is not the same to rejoice over riches well spent as either to groan over riches not acquired or to grieve over riches lost. In the fear too by which God is feared there is no distinction in the name; but it is one thing to fear because you have sinned, another to fear lest you sin; and in the one there is dread of punishment, in the other concern for the reward. For this reason it is said of that servile fear that \"perfect love casts out fear\"; but of this free fear, \"The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever.\" Setting aside, then, that appearance of humility which is wholly without fruit, let us weigh only the voluntary affections, which, even if they are found unequal in the degrees of merit, are yet not at odds with the virtue itself.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 2 (PL 55:163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/2)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/20":{"o":"Inflatio ergo et ambitio, et propriorum bonorum superba defensio possunt.destruere eleemosynas, possunt evacuare martyria; si et magnas opes amore quis humanae laudis effundat, ct saeva supplicia, non ea fortitudine quam Deus tri buit. sed ea quam de se præsumpsit excipiat. Hoc est enim propria (jducia inDari, hoc vanam gloriam quibuslibet ambire dispendiis, boc postremo est nolle habere quæ Dei sum, et ibi suum constituere meri tum, ubi divinum cessarit auxilium. Hæc superbia omni peccato nocentior, omni genere est dationis a insanior. A quibuslibet enim lapsibus delictorum facile surgitur, quando opem a reparatore suo poscit e:isus. Huic autem ruinae nihil subvenitquia aut, difficile peccatum suum superbus agnoscit, aut etiam intellexerit, non currit ad medicum, sed de se sabi remedium pollicetur; nec umquam ibi proficit cora, ubi morbus est ipsa medicina.","t":"Being puffed up, then, and ambition, and the proud defence of one's own goods can destroy almsgiving and can empty martyrdoms of their worth: if someone pours out great wealth for love of human praise, and undergoes savage tortures not with the strength God gives but with that which he presumed of himself. For this is to be puffed up with self-confidence; this is to pursue vain glory at any cost; this, finally, is to refuse to have the things that are God's and to place one's merit where divine help has ceased. This pride is more harmful than every sin and more insane than every kind of elation. For from any falls into offences one rises easily when the fallen asks help from his restorer. But nothing comes to the aid of this ruin, because the proud man either hardly recognizes his sin, or, even if he has understood it, does not run to the physician but promises himself a remedy from himself; and a cure never makes progress where the disease is the medicine itself.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 20 (PL 55:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/20)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/21":{"o":"e Hunc autem corruptissimum pestilentiae istius statum spi ritus veræ humilitatis et verae charitatis excludit in nullo enin Lae virtutesab invicem dividuntur, et ambarum tam indiscreta connexio est, ut qui in una earum construitur, simul utraque petiatur, Sicut enim pars charitatis est humilitas, ita pars humilita tis est charitas. Et si illa recolamusquae sine bono charitatis infructuosa esse Apostolus definivit, inveniemus eadem similem hahere qualitatem, si eis humilitas vera defuerit., Quem euim fructum habebit. aut cum inflatione scienda, aut cunt humana gloria fides, aut cum jactantia largitas, aut cum etatione martyrium? Uude quia in 6 destructionem su perbiæ, et humilitas tendit et charitas;de utraque habeatur dictum quidquid de una est disputatum. -","t":"But the spirit of true humility and true love shuts out this most corrupt state of this plague; for these virtues are in nothing divided from each other, and the connection of both is so undivided that whoever is attacked in one of them is attacked in both at once. For as humility is part of love, so love is part of humility. And if we recall the things which the apostle defined as fruitless without the good of love, we shall find that they have a like quality if true humility is lacking to them. For what fruit will faith have either with the swelling of knowledge or with human glory, or generosity with boasting, or martyrdom with elation? Hence, since both humility and love tend toward the destruction of pride, let whatever has been discussed about one be taken as said of both.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 21 (PL 55:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/21)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/22":{"o":"Superest nunc, sacratissima Dei virgo, ut sobrio castoque judicio sancti cordis tui:'rcana discutias, et aculeo totius elationis oblrilo. investiges in te atque dinurperes quae et qualia tibi. sponsus tuus dona cOnlulerit; quae a me non oportuit. recenseri, ne aut plura contexerem, aut pauciora percurrerem. Verccundiæ enim tuæ oneresa foret etiam vera laudatio, et ipse contra disputationem Ineam facerem, si cui ab humana gloria continentiam suasissem, ad eamdem te tuis præconiis incitarem. Ipsa ergo aulam tuæ mentis ingredere: et in secretario purissinlæ conscientiæ tusc, qualia tibi reposita. sint ornamenta circumspice: et quidquid ibi splendidum, quidquid pulebrum pretiosumque repereris. divini operis et muneris esse ne dubites, ita tu in omnibus bonis opulentiae tuæ, et gratiam donatoris, et jus proprietatis agnoscas. Accepisti enim quæ habes et quidquid tibi diligentia tui laboris accrevit periMum tibi est auctum per QUem fuerat inchoatum. Itaque utendum tibi est i his quæ largitus e Deus: et ab eodem semper est petendum ut donis ejus fideliter et scienter maris. Quid enim nobis boni potest esse sine ipso; quandoquidem etiam ut recte orcmus, cs ipso est, dicente Apostolo: Nam quid oremus sicut oportet nescimus; sed ipse Spiritus poatulat pre nobis gemitibus inenararrabilibus. Qui autem scrutatur corda scit quid desideret Spiritus, quoniam secun dum Deumpostulat pro sanctis (Rom. VIII, 26, 27). Et ne dubium es et dc quo spiritu lequeretur, jam supra dixerat: Nou enim accepistis spiritumservitutis iterum in timore, scd accepistis spiritum adoptiolli. (iliorum, in quo clammus; Abba.. Pater. Itaque ipse Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostra quoniam. sumus filii Dei. Si autem filii, et hæredes, hæredes quidem Dei, cohæredes autem Christi; si tamen compatimur, ut et conglorificemur (Rom. VIII,!5-17).","t":"It remains now, most holy virgin of God, that with sober and chaste judgment you examine the secrets of your holy heart, and, with the sting of all elation blunted, search out and count in yourself what gifts and of what kind your bridegroom has conferred on you; these it was not fitting for me to review, lest I should either weave in too many or run over too few. For even true praise would be burdensome to your modesty, and I would act against my own argument if I urged you, whom I had persuaded to restraint from human glory, toward that same glory by praising you. Enter, then, yourself the hall of your mind, and in the inner chamber of your most pure conscience look around at what ornaments have been stored up for you; and whatever you find there splendid, whatever beautiful and precious, do not doubt that it belongs to the divine work and gift, so that in all the goods of your wealth you may recognize both the grace of the giver and the right of ownership. For you have received what you have; and whatever has increased for you by the diligence of your labour has been increased for you by him through whom it had been begun. So you must use what God has given, and always ask of him that you may use his gifts faithfully and knowingly. For what good can we have without him, since even that we pray rightly is from him, as the apostle says: \"For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings. And he who searches hearts knows what the Spirit desires, because he intercedes for the saints according to God.\" And so that there might be no doubt of what spirit he was speaking, he had already said above: \"For you did not receive a spirit of slavery again in fear, but you received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry, Abba, Father. So the Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are sons of God. And if sons, also heirs: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.\"","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 22 (PL 55:177–179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/22)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/23":{"o":"Implet igitur Spi ritus sanctus organum suum, et tamquamfila chordarum tangit digitus Dei corda sanctorum. Qui ideo MUn die Pentecostes in apostolos plebemque credcntium, sicut a Domino fuerat promissus, inOuerct, in specie lingnarum apparuit ignearum, et loquelis om nium nationum eos super quos insederat fecit e ffari; III dubium non esset ppr ipsius inspiraliorrenl. utilem affectum, rationabilemsermonem animis fidelium ministrari; sicut ipse Dominus discipuli suis insinuavit et dixit: Cum autem tradent vos, nolite cogitare quomodo aut quid loquamini: aabitur enim vobis in illa hora quid loquamini; hon enimrAS estis qui loqui mini, sed Spiritus Patris qui loquitur in vobis. (Matth. X, 19.) Quod ne in solo magnarum tribulationum tem pore credamus fieri, non autem in pace præstari, audiamus Apostolum definientem quod ipsae quoque eogitationes nostræ, nisi a Deo nohis insitæ fuerint, rectæ esse non possint. Fiduciam, inquit, talem ha bemus per Christum ad Deum; non quod sufficientes simuscogitare aliquid ex nobis quasi ex nobis, sed suf ficientia nostra ex Deo eat (II Cor. III, ł, 5).","t":"The Holy Spirit, then, fills his instrument, and the finger of God touches the hearts of the saints like the threads of strings. For this reason, when on the day of Pentecost he flowed into the apostles and the people of believers, as the Lord had promised, he appeared in the form of fiery tongues and made those on whom he rested speak in the languages of all nations; so that there might be no doubt that through his inspiration useful affection and reasonable speech are ministered to the minds of the faithful; as the Lord himself intimated to his disciples, saying: \"But when they hand you over, do not think how or what you will speak; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of the Father who speaks in you.\" Lest we believe that this happens only in the time of great tribulations and is not granted in peace, let us hear the apostle defining that our very thoughts cannot be right unless they have been implanted in us by God. \"Such confidence,\" he says, \"we have through Christ toward God; not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.\"","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 23 (PL 55:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/23)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/24":{"o":"Unde cum sanctorum animis ex Deo rit utilis meditatio, justapetitio, efficax actio, ex Deo ait in fide firmitas, in tribulatione patientia, in I ersecutione victoria, magna est in vera humiliate felicitas, cui Deus dilectio, Deus sapientia, Deus consilium, Deus fortitudo est. Nec dubit; ista subjec. tio jam ex magna parte in illius futuræ beatitudinis cst constituta consortio, ubi Deus eric omnia ill omnibus (I Cor. XV, 28); quod ideo in hac vita ad plenum non potest obtineri, qua nondum mortale nostrum induit inunortalitalem, nec corruptio trans-. iit in incorruptionem; caro adhuc contra spiritum, et contra carnem spiritus concupiscit; nee invenitur in ullo hommum tanta concordia. ut legi mentis lex quæ membris est insita non repugnet. Propter quod ex omnium sanctorum persona accipitur quod Joannes apostolus nit: Si dixtrimu, quoniam peccatum non habemus, noa ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis MOM eat (I Joan. I, 8). Cum tamen idem ipse dicat: Qui natus est ex Deo peccatum non facit: quoniam semen ipsius ill eo manet, et non potest peccare, quoniam ex Deo natus est (I Joan. III, 9). Utrumque ergo verum est, quia et nemo sine peccato est, in eo quod nemo eSI sine tege peccati; et qui natns est ex Deo,perc:xmn non facit: quia per legem mentis, idest per charitatem que Dei semen est, peccatum non facit. Charitas, enim operit multitudinem peccatorum (1 Petr. IV, 8); et e sine ea nullum prodest bonum, per quam deletur omne peccatum. Dum igitur cor pus quod corrumpitur aggravat animam, et deprimit terrena inhabitatio sensum multa cogitantem (Sop. IX, 15), non quidem obtinetur at jam: omnia in omni bus Deus sir, quia nullus est sine tentationis stimulo ct Hine mutabilitatis incerto: sed quia omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum ea!, descendens a Putre luminum (Jac. I, 17), sine dubio inde habetur virtutum omnium portio, unde habebitur lenitudo et tanto quisque est beatior, Deoque Conjunctior, quanto plus in eo fuerit divinæ gratiæ quam actionis humanæ. Benedic itaque Domino in omni tempore, et laus ejus in tHO ore sit semper (Psal. XXXIII, f); anima autem tua non acquiescat nisi in Domino laudari. Superbi quidem refragabuntur, sed mansueti hæc I audient, et laetabuntur (Ibid., 3).","t":"Hence, since for the souls of the saints useful meditation, just petition, and effective action are from God, and from God are firmness in faith, patience in tribulation, and victory in persecution, great is the happiness in true humility, whose love is God, whose wisdom is God, whose counsel is God, whose strength is God. Nor is there doubt that this subjection is already in great part set in the fellowship of that future blessedness, where God will be all in all; which cannot be fully obtained in this life, because our mortal has not yet put on immortality, nor has corruption passed into incorruption; the flesh still lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; nor is there found in any man such concord that the law implanted in the members does not fight against the law of the mind. For this reason what the apostle John says is taken as in the person of all the saints: \"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.\" Yet the same apostle says: \"He who is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.\" Both, then, are true: no one is without sin, in that no one is without the law of sin; and he who is born of God does not commit sin, because through the law of the mind, that is, through love, which is the seed of God, he does not commit sin. For \"love covers a multitude of sins\"; and without it no good profits, through which every sin is blotted out. While, then, the body which is corrupted weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling presses down the mind that ponders many things, it is not indeed yet obtained that God be all in all, because no one is without the goad of temptation and the uncertainty of changeableness; but since \"every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,\" without doubt the portion of all virtues is had from the place from which their fullness will be had; and each is the more blessed, and the more joined to God, the more there is in him of divine grace than of human action. So bless the Lord at all times, and let his praise be always in your mouth; and let your soul be content to be praised in nothing but the Lord. The proud indeed will oppose, but the meek will hear these things and rejoice.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 24 (PL 55:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/24)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/3":{"o":"Prima ergo hu militatis ratio in communis vitae versatur officiis, quibus ei divina clementia conciliatur, et societas humana connectitur. Multum enirn ad roborandum dilectionem valet, cum secundum doctrinam aposto liram, invicem se homines honore prœveniunt (Rom. xn, 10), et alteri alterum superiorem existimantes I amant servire subjecti, et nesciunt tumere praelati; cum et pjuper divitem non sibi dubitat anteferre, et dives p:.upcrem sibi gaudet aequare; cum et sublimes non superbiunt de claritate prosapiae, et pauperes non extolluntur de communione naturæ; cum deni que non plus tribuitur magnis opibus quam bonis moribus; nec major ducitur phalerata iniquorum potentia quam rectorum inhonora justitia. Ab boc aequo et modesto jure concordiae, in quo nul. lum est de gradu superiore certamen, nec felicitas aut inflat propria, aut urit aliena, pulchre et mirabi liter a plerisque proficitur ad illam humilitatis forti tudinem, quae et se extra omnem constituit dignita tem, et mavult apta esse injuriis accipiendis, quam idonea repellendis; ut impleatur quod ait Dominus: Qui vult tecum judicio contendere et tunicam tuam tol lere, dimitte et et pallium; et quicumque te angariavarit mille passus, vade cum illo et alia duo (Matth. v, 40). • Illudque quod Apostolus docet dicens: Quare nen magia injuriam accipitis? quare non magis fraudem pa limini (I Cor. vi, 7)? Tales enim multum ad imita tionem ipsius Dimini nostri et Salvatoris accedunt; qui cum dives esset, pauper factus est (II Cor. vm, 9); et, cum malediceretur, non maledicebat; et percutienti te non comminabatur (I Pet. II, 23); et quoniam dixerat:.Diligite inimicos vestros, benefacite iia qui vos oderunt (Mattli. v, 44); ut hujusmodi benevolentiam confirmaret exemplo, ipse pro iis a quibus ciucifige batur orabat.","t":"The first form of humility, then, is found in the duties of common life, by which the divine clemency is won and human society is bound together. For it does much to strengthen love when, according to the apostolic teaching, men outdo one another in showing honour, and, each thinking the other superior, those under others love to serve and those set over others do not know how to swell with pride; when the poor man does not hesitate to put the rich before himself, and the rich man rejoices to make the poor his equal; when the lofty are not proud of the brilliance of their lineage, and the poor are not lifted up by their sharing of a common nature; when, finally, no more is granted to great wealth than to good character, and the decked-out power of the wicked is not held greater than the unhonoured righteousness of the upright. From this equal and modest law of concord, in which there is no contest for a higher rank, and in which one's own happiness does not puff one up nor another's burn one, many advance beautifully and wonderfully to that strength of humility which places itself outside all dignity, and prefers to be fit for receiving injuries rather than able to repel them; so that what the Lord says is fulfilled: \"If anyone wishes to go to law with you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak too; and whoever forces you to go a mile, go with him two more.\" And what the apostle teaches, saying: \"Why do you not rather suffer wrong? Why do you not rather suffer fraud?\" For such people come very near to imitating our Lord and Saviour himself, who, though he was rich, became poor; and when he was reviled, did not revile, and did not threaten the one who struck him; and since he had said, \"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,\" to confirm such kindness by example, he himself prayed for those by whom he was being crucified.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 3 (PL 55:163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/3)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/4":{"o":"Qui ergo fideliter et scienter intelligunt quo opere salvati et quo pretio sint redempti, no lunt de mundi hujus sapientibus, nolunt esse de fortibus: quoniam, sicut ait Apostolus, quæ stulta sunt mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat sopientes: et in - firma mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat fortia; et ignobilia mundi et contemptibilia elegit Deus, ct quæ non sunt, ut ea quæ sunt destrueret; ut non glorietur omnis caro in conspectu ejus (I Cor. I, 27): id est, ut nemo se placere Deo per mundi sapientiam putet, quæ tota carnalis est, et a vera sapientia cum omui sua vanitate destruitur: Dominus enim novit cogita tiones sapientium, quoniam vanæ sunt (Ps. actii, 11). Cum itaque discipuli veritatis humanam gloriam fu giunt, et a temporalium amore desciscunt, ut quæ Dei sunt sapiant, non quae hominum, proficiuut sen sibus, non deficiunt; nequcvigorcm cordis amittunt, sed excellentissimæ intelligentiæ lumen accipiunt; viventes quidem in hac.c mundo, sed omnes mundi strepitus relinquentes, ut redimant tempus, quin dies mali sunt (Ephes. v, 16). Quo autem prelio quies hujus temporis aptius comparatur, quam ut ipsi mundo omnes divitiæ, omnes dignitatcs et uni vcr5arum cupiditatum materiæ refuodantuf, et sancto beatoque commercio ematur Christiana libertas, fiamque filii Dei de paupertatc divites, de patientia fortes, de bumilitate sublimes? Non enim, ut dileclares hujus saeculi putant, pravi cordis aut segnis est animi terrenas opes spernere, honores occiduos fastidire, rec ibi gloriam quærere ubi laudatur pec cator ill desideriis animæ suæ, et gui iniqua gerit benedicitur (PI. IX, 23). Unde si vere intelligatur, con. temptus iste 'rerum præsentium ad quæ tendat, et qual a concupiscat, nihil hujusmodi mentibus reclius, nihil invenietur * erectius, quae sacratissimis desideriis universa transcendunt, neque ad ullan. creaturam quamvis potentem atque mirabilem, sed ad ipsum omnium visibilium et invisibilium amblunt creatorem; cui appropinquare clarescere est, quem timere gaudcre est, cui servire regnare est.","t":"Those, then, who faithfully and knowingly understand by what work they have been saved and at what price redeemed, do not wish to be among the wise of this world, do not wish to be among the strong; for, as the apostle says, \"God chose the foolish things of the world to put the wise to shame, and God chose the weak things of the world to put the strong to shame, and God chose the ignoble and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to destroy the things that are, so that no flesh might glory in his sight\": that is, so that no one may think he pleases God through the wisdom of the world, which is wholly carnal and is destroyed with all its vanity by true wisdom; for \"the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.\" So when the disciples of truth flee human glory and fall away from love of temporal things, so as to mind the things of God and not those of men, they advance in their senses and do not fail; nor do they lose the vigour of the heart, but receive the light of the most excellent understanding: living indeed in this world, but leaving behind all the noise of the world, so as to redeem the time, because the days are evil. And at what price is the quiet of this time more fittingly bought than by giving back to the world itself all riches, all dignities, and the materials of all desires, and by buying Christian freedom in a holy and blessed exchange, and becoming sons of God, rich out of poverty, strong out of patience, lofty out of humility? For it is not, as the lovers of this age think, the mark of a crooked heart or a sluggish mind to spurn earthly wealth, to disdain passing honours, and not to seek glory where \"the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and he who does wicked things is blessed.\" Hence, if it is truly understood to what this contempt of present things tends and what it desires, nothing will be found more upright, nothing more lofty, than such minds, which by most holy desires transcend all things and aspire not to any creature, however powerful and wonderful, but to the very creator of all things visible and invisible; to draw near to whom is to become bright, to fear whom is to rejoice, to serve whom is to reign.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 4 (PL 55:163–165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/4)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/5":{"o":"Sed bæc virtus quae temporalis copiae et potentiæ negligens ad vitam æternam angusta via et ardua enititur, non debet voluntarios pauperes in consortium Christianae humi litatis admittere; eos autem a societate boni hujus exdudcre, qui ampla praedia, magnifica patrimonia, et multas in hoc sæculo possident facultates: cum in populo Dci multi semper qni divitiis bene uterentur exstiterint, nec ullo modo vel dici vel cogitari liceat quod Abraham, et Isaac, et Jacob, quorum se esse Deum Dominus protestatus est (Exod. III, 6), ideo vera humilitate caruerint, quia pauperes non fuerunt. Aut quod vir sacratissimus Melchisedech, Do mini et Salvatoris nostri præferens formam (Hebr. VII, 3), nou fuerit perfecte hUUlilis, quia et sacerdo tio eminebat et regno. Vel quod beato Job, de quu Deus pronuntiat, dicens: Numquid considerasti servum meum lob, quod non ait ei similis in terra, homo simplex et rectus, et timens Deum, et recedena a malo (Job II, 3)? Ideo virtus ista defuerit, quia erant (Iicut scriptum esL) in posaessione ejus septem millia orium, et tria millia camelorum, quingenta quoque juga boum, el quingentæ asinæ, ac familia multa nimia; eratque vir ille magnus inter omnes Orientales (Jub I. 3). e Qni si tune istius gratiae particeps factus est, quando omnibus facultatibus perditis, universa quo que familia filiisque privatus, et percussus vulner pessimo a planta pedis usque ad verticem capitis, testa saniem radebat, sedens in stercore (Job II, 7), ad imaginem elationis tenationisque postmodum rcvocatus est, quando corporis incolumitate renovata, septem rursus filiorum triumQue filiarum factus est pa ter, et duplo in universam substantiam est ditatus aug mento (Job XLII, 10, 13). Absit autem ab animis fide lium tam irreligiosa perbuasio, ut cuiquam sanciorum, quibus Deus ct divitias est largitus et honores, ad capiendum verae humilitatis meritum credatur I vel opulentia obfuisse, vel dignitas; cum eis ad hujus virtutis provectum utraque profuerint. Quamvis enim tota vita hominis tentatio sit super terram (Job VII, i, juxta LXX), et tam abundantia quam inopia. materia soleat esse peccali, cum vel dives extollitur ad superbiam, vel pauper prosilit ad querelan., exstiterunt tamen in omni tempore, et in nostra quoque:tate non desunt, sient et boni pauperes, ita et boni divilCS. Nec frustra beatus aposto lus Paulus Timotheum admonet, dicens: Divitibus hujus sæculi præcipe non superbe sapere, nec sperare in incerto divitiarum, aed in Deo, gui præstat nobis omnia abunde ad fruendum; belle agere, dil'ites fieri in opcribu8 bonis, facile tribuere, communicare, thesaurizare sibi fundamentum bonum ill futu rum: ut apprehendant verani vitam (1 Tim. VI, 17, 19). Quod utique fieri in universa Ecclesia, quae per totum mundum est difYusa, nov dubium est, et pau peres Christi non eorum tantum facultatibus susUneri, qui ut expeditiores Dominum sequerentur, si mul se omnibus suis opibus exuerunt; sed eidem operi etiam illorum substantias deservire, qni pos. sessionibus suis non aliter quam rcbus pauperum præsunt, e1 ecclesiasticæ utilitati sub quadam procuratine famulantur, elaborantes singuli pro sua rum virium porlinne, ut ad victum atque vestitum familiae Dei necessaria conferantur, et simul prospicientes ut in domibus ipsorum sub justo sanctoque moderamine omnes et benignitas foveat, et disciplina contineat: dicente Apostolo: Si quis aurem suorum, et maxime domesticorum curant non habet, fi dem negavit, et est in fideli deterior (1 Tim. v, 8).","t":"But this virtue, which, neglecting temporal wealth and power, strives toward eternal life by the narrow and steep way, ought not to admit the voluntary poor into the fellowship of Christian humility and exclude from the society of this good those who possess broad estates, magnificent patrimonies, and many resources in this world: since among God's people there have always been many who used riches well; nor may it in any way be said or thought that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose God the Lord declared himself to be, lacked true humility because they were not poor. Or that the most holy man Melchizedek, bearing the figure of our Lord and Saviour, was not perfectly humble because he was eminent both in priesthood and in kingship. Or that blessed Job, of whom God declares, saying, \"Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a simple and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil?\" lacked this virtue because, as it is written, there were in his possession seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels, also five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-asses, and a very large household, and that man was great among all the people of the East. If he was made a partaker of this grace only when, having lost all his resources, deprived also of his whole household and his children, and struck with a most grievous sore from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, he scraped the pus with a potsherd, sitting on a dunghill, was he afterward recalled to the image of elation and arrogance, when, his body restored to health, he became again the father of seven sons and three daughters and was enriched with a double increase in all his substance? Far from the minds of the faithful be so irreligious a persuasion, as to believe that either wealth or dignity hindered any of the saints, to whom God gave both riches and honours, from gaining the merit of true humility; since both helped them toward the advance of this virtue. For although the whole life of man upon earth is a trial, and both abundance and want are usually matter for sin, when either the rich man is lifted up to pride or the poor man breaks out into complaint, yet there have been at every time, and in our age too there are not lacking, both good poor and good rich. Nor in vain does the blessed apostle Paul admonish Timothy, saying: \"Command the rich of this age not to be haughty, nor to hope in uncertain riches, but in God, who provides us richly with all things to enjoy; to do good, to be rich in good works, to give readily, to share, to store up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may lay hold of the true life.\" There is no doubt that this happens in the whole church, which is spread through the whole world, and that the poor of Christ are sustained not only by the resources of those who stripped themselves of all their wealth at once so as to follow the Lord more freely, but that the substance of those also serves the same work who preside over their possessions as over nothing other than the property of the poor, and serve the church's need in a kind of stewardship, each labouring according to the measure of his strength, so that what is necessary for the food and clothing of God's family may be supplied; and at the same time taking care that in their own houses, under just and holy government, kindness may cherish all and discipline restrain them; as the apostle says, \"If anyone does not care for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.\"","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 5 (PL 55:165–167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/5)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/6":{"o":"Cum itaque Ecclesia Dei, quæ est corpus Christi, ita sit multimoda varietate coulexta, ut in unum dccorem etiam quæ non sunt paria concurrant, et de omni gencre hominum, de omni gradu nfficiorunl, de omni mensura operUln, de omni qualitate virtutum fiat totius ædiOcalionis inseparabilis connexio et indifferens pulchritudo, nec desit soliditati quod non defuerit portioni, tantaque ibi sit pax tantaque concordia ut non possit esse nisi omnium quod cst etiam singulo rum, indubitanter apparet copulatricem quamdam esse virtutem, qua sibi confœderatur et concinit multiplex sanctorum unitas et spreciosa diversitas. Hæc autem virtus \"era humilitas cst quæ inter quosbbet meritorum gradus numquam sui potest esse dissimilis. Nam et in officiorum vicissitudine, et in mansuetudinis lenitate, et in voluntariæ paupertatis electione, invenitur Inulta distantia, et alter altero in propositi sui devotione aut major ant minor est; in vera autem humilitate nihil divisum, nihilque non solidum est; et ideo, omnes participes suos unum facit, quia inæqualitatem ipsa non recipit.","t":"Since, then, the church of God, which is the body of Christ, is woven together with such manifold variety that even things that are not equal run together into one beauty, and from every kind of men, every rank of office, every measure of work, and every quality of virtues there comes about the inseparable joining and undivided beauty of the whole building; and since nothing is lacking to the whole that is not lacking to a portion, and there is so great a peace and so great a concord there that nothing can belong to each that does not belong to all: it appears without doubt that there is a certain uniting virtue, by which the manifold unity and lovely diversity of the saints is bound together and sings in harmony. This virtue is true humility, which can never be unlike itself among any degrees of merit. For in the alternation of offices, in the gentleness of meekness, and in the choice of voluntary poverty great distance is found, and one is greater or less than another in devotion to his purpose; but in true humility nothing is divided and nothing is not solid; and therefore it makes all who share in it one, because it does not itself admit inequality.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 6 (PL 55:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/6)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/7":{"o":"H\"jus igitur boni proprie as in confessione est gratiae Dei, quae tota repellitur nisi tota suscipilnr. Sicut enim alienus est a numero fidelium et a sorte sanctorum qni ill aliqua a catholica veritate dissentit, ita extra gratiam effici.. tur, qui aliquid de ejus plenitudine dilfitetur, quasi humo auxilio Dei in quadam actionum suarum parte egea, in quadam autem parte non egeat, sitque ullum tempus ullumve momentum quo perniciosuno illi e,se non possit si ab eo Spiritus san ctus defuerit; qui utique secundum veræ Deitatis essentiam ubique tutus est, et omnia comprehendit; sed ab illis modo quodam intelligitur recedere, quos destiterit gubernare. Cessatio quippe auxilii ejus pro absentia accipitur, quam sibi insanissime utilem pu tat qui in iis quæ recte gesserit se magis quam Deum gaudet operatum. Plene ergo et veraciter cunfitenda est gratia Dei, de cujus hoc primum munere est ut auxilium ipsius sentiatur. Propter quod dicit Apostolus: Nos autem non spiritum mundi accepimus, sed spiritum qui ex Deo est, lit sciamus quae a Deo donata * sunt nobis( I Cor. II, 12).Unde si quis est qui aliqua se hab.re existimat bona, quorum non Deus largitor sit, sed ipse sibi auctorexistat; manifestum est hunc non Det spiritun. hahere, sed mundi, et de illa sæcularis sapientiæ tumere doctrina, de qua dicit Do minus: Perdam sapientiam sapientium, et prudentiam prudentium reprobabo. Ubi sapiens? ubi scriba? ubi conquisitor \"ujus sæculi? Nonne stultam fecit Deus sapientiam hujus mundi (I Cor. I, 19)? Secundum quam, sicut ait Apostolus, quidam cum cognovissent. Deum, non sicut Deum glorificaverunt, aut gratia, ege runt; aed evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, et obscuratum est cor insipiens eorum. Dicentes enim se esae sapientes, stulti (acti sunt (Rom. I, 21). Videsne qua. lis superbis retributio debeatur, et quali mercede repleantur, qui si quo modo ad cognitionem veritatis accesserint, suae hoc sapientiae tribuunt, et de namrali ingenio gloriantur; tamquam Deum, non Dei munere, sed proprii intelectus facultate cognoverint? Omnia quidem clementa mundi, ct universæ crea- (urarurn naturæ, hoc ipsa sui exigunt specie, ut invisibilia Dei per ea quæ jacta sunt, intellecta conspiciantur om. I, 20); ct in pulchritudine caeli et terræ quædam sunt paginæ ad omnium oculos semper patentes, et auctore;n suum numquam tacentes, qua rum protestatio doctrinam imitatur magistrorum ct eloquia Scripturarum. Sed quidquid illud cst quo corporeorum sensuum exteriora pulsanlur, in agro cordis cui impenditur ista cultura, nec radicem pntest figere, nec germen emitiere, nisi ille summus et verus agricola potentiam sui operis adhibuerit, et ad vitalem profectum ea quæ sunt plantata perduxerit. Sive enim contemplatio creaturarum, sive sa crorum series voluminum, sive scicnHa disserentium, nncero et assiduo testimonio prædicet veritatem, neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat, ud qui incrementum dal Deus (I Cor. III, 7. )","t":"The proper character of this good, then, lies in the confession of the grace of God, which is wholly rejected unless it is wholly received. For as he is a stranger to the number of the faithful and the lot of the saints who dissents from catholic truth in any point, so he is put outside grace who denies anything of its fullness, as though man needed God's help in some part of his actions and in another part did not need it, and there were any time or any moment at which it could not be ruinous to him if the Holy Spirit were absent from him. The Spirit, indeed, according to the essence of true Godhead, is whole everywhere and comprehends all things; but he is understood in a certain way to withdraw from those whom he ceases to govern. For the cessation of his help is taken as absence, which he most madly thinks useful to himself who rejoices that in what he has done rightly he himself rather than God has worked. The grace of God, then, must be confessed fully and truly, of whose gift this is the first, that his help be perceived. For this reason the apostle says: \"But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things given to us by God.\" Hence, if there is anyone who thinks that he has any good things of which not God is the giver, but he himself is the author for himself, it is clear that he has not the Spirit of God but that of the world, and swells with that teaching of worldly wisdom of which the Lord says: \"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent I will reject. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?\" According to this wisdom, as the apostle says, certain people, \"when they had known God, did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. For claiming to be wise, they became fools.\" Do you see what repayment is owed to the proud, and with what wages they are filled who, if in any way they have come to the knowledge of the truth, attribute it to their own wisdom and glory in their natural talent, as though they had known God not by God's gift but by the ability of their own understanding? All the elements of the world indeed, and the natures of all creatures, by their very form demand this, that \"the invisible things of God may be understood and seen through the things that are made\"; and in the beauty of heaven and earth there are, as it were, pages always open to the eyes of all and never silent about their author, whose testimony imitates the teaching of masters and the sayings of the Scriptures. But whatever it is by which the outward parts of the bodily senses are struck, in the field of the heart on which this cultivation is spent it can neither fix a root nor send forth a shoot unless that supreme and true farmer applies the power of his work and brings what has been planted to living growth. For whether the contemplation of creatures, or the series of the sacred volumes, or the knowledge of those who discourse, proclaims the truth with sincere and constant testimony, \"neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the growth.\"","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 7 (PL 55:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/7)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/8":{"o":"Inter omnes igitur lapsus homirnum, inter omnia commissa peccantium, nulla cst gravior quam superborum ruina; maxime cum ipsa elatio in nei tendit injuriam. Nam aliter indantur, qni cupiditate extollentiæ singularis omnibus appetunt anteferri; aliter vero intumescunt, qui Dei auxilium rcrulalltes, quae fieri sine ipsius opere non possunt, ex sua perCci virtute contendunt, et spen1 suam a Do mino auferunt, atque ad se transferunt: ut adimpleatur in eis qucd scriptum est: Al aledictu, homo qui apem habet in homine, et firmat carnem brachii sui, et a Domino discedit cor ejus (Jer. XVII, 5). Hæc super bia a diabolo sumpsit exordium:qui quoniam sua, quam a Creatore acceperat, potentia et dignitate sibi placuit, seque auctoris sui gloriæ comparavit, cum iis angelis quos in consensum impietatis sum traxerat, a caelesti e humilitate dejectus est Et idco pri mis hominibus nocere potuit, quia illis male credulis per mendacia venenata persuasit nt meliores se fu turos putarent, si in libertatem sui arbitrii prosilirent, quam si in legis datae custodia permanerent.","t":"Among all the falls of men, then, among all the offences of sinners, none is heavier than the ruin of the proud, especially when the elation itself tends to an injury against God. For those swell in one way who, from a desire for singular eminence, seek to be preferred to all; but those swell in another way who, rejecting God's help, claim that things which cannot be done without his working are accomplished by their own power, and take their hope away from the Lord and transfer it to themselves: so that what is written is fulfilled in them, \"Cursed is the man who has his hope in man, and makes flesh his strong arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord.\" This pride took its beginning from the devil, who, since he was pleased with his own power and dignity, which he had received from the Creator, and compared himself to the glory of his author, was cast down from the heavenly height together with those angels whom he had drawn into consent to his ungodliness. And he was able to harm the first men because he persuaded them, credulous to their harm, by poisoned lies, that they would be better if they leapt forth into the freedom of their own choice than if they remained in keeping the law that had been given.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 8 (PL 55:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/8)."},"ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/9":{"o":"Sive itaque in lapsu diaboli, sive in prævaricatione hominis, initium peccan superbia est, quæ cungruenter et avaritia nominatur, quia utraque appellatio eum significat appetitum qui et suam mensuram concuphcat excedere, et non dignetur dives esse, nisi propriis: tamquam habeat hoc simile Deo. ut bono rum suorum ipse sibi a fons, ipse sibi sit copia. Hæc autem elatio de perverso usu donorum Dei lIascitur. Nam si conditor naturarum nulla pulchra, nulla Sublimia naturis rationabilibus contulisset, unde se extolierent non haberent. Nemo enim de iis quæ non accepit superbit, nec inflari quisquam de eo potest, quod a participatone ejus alienum esi. Num quam gloriatur de sobrietate temulentus, neque de benevolentia invidus, aut de lenitate sævus, \"el de castitate extollitur impudicus. Ipsa se a virtutibus vitia secernunt, et cum in peccans agimur, non insista per naturam, sedex mata voluntate concepta ut propr ia diliguntur: quia, sicut scriptum est, mendax de proprio loquitur (Joan. VIII, 44). Cum autem in bonis et rectis actibus laudabilis vita ducitur, Dei est quod geritur, Dei est quod amatur. Omne enim dotum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum (Jac, I, 17). Unde quia inter vitia aut nulla est aut rara jactantia, et facile spernitur qui de opprobrio gloriatur, maium super biæ maxime virtutibus est cavendum, quia nullis opportunius insidiatur, quam 'luibus laus justa dabetur.","t":"Whether, then, in the fall of the devil or in the transgression of man, the beginning of sin is pride, which is also fittingly called avarice, because both names signify that appetite which both desires to exceed its own measure and does not deign to be rich except in its own things: as though it had this likeness to God, that it should be its own source of its goods and its own abundance. This elation is born of the perverse use of God's gifts. For if the founder of natures had conferred nothing beautiful, nothing lofty on rational natures, they would have nothing on which to pride themselves. For no one is proud of what he has not received, nor can anyone be puffed up over what he has no share in. The drunkard never glories in sobriety, nor the envious in kindness, nor the savage in gentleness, nor is the unchaste lifted up over chastity. The vices separate themselves from the virtues, and when we are driven into sins, they are loved as our own, not as implanted by nature but as conceived from an evil will; for, as it is written, \"the liar speaks from his own.\" But when a praiseworthy life is led in good and right acts, what is done is God's, what is loved is God's. For \"every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.\" Hence, since among the vices there is either no boasting or rare boasting, and he who glories in disgrace is easily despised, the evil of pride is to be guarded against above all by the virtues, because it lies in wait for none more opportunely than for those to whom just praise is owed.","f":"Ps.-Leo, <i>Hum.</i> 9 (PL 55:167–169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ps-leo-epistula-demetriadem/9)."}}