Sermons to the People 125.1–125.11

Augustine of Hippo · Sermons to the People · ca. 391-430 · Hippo Regius · 11 passages

Latin text: PL 38 (Latin text: Migne, PL 38, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: NPNF 1/6: Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament (R. G. MacMullen, ed., 1888).

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Chapter 125

125.1PL 38:420–421

Nec auribus, nec cordibus vestris radia repetuntur: reparant tamen audientis affectum, et quodam modo commemorata innovant nos: nec piget ea quae nota sunt audire, quia semper dulcia sunt, quæ Domini sunt. Sic est expositio divinarum Scripturarum, sicut sunt ipsae divinæ Scripturæ: etsi notæ sunt, leguntur tamen ad commemorationem. Sic et expositio earum, etsi nota est, repetenda est tamen, ut qui obliti sunt commemorentur, vel qui forte non audierunt, audiant; et qui tenent quod audire consueverunt, repetendo fiat ut oblivisci non possint. Meminimus enim de hoc capitulo Evangelii jam nos locutos Charitati vestræ. Nec piget tamen eadem vobis commemorare, sicut non piguit eamdem vobis lectionem repetere. Apostolus Paulus dicit quadam in Epistola: Eadem scribere vobis, mihi quidem non pigrum, vobis autem necessarium (Philipp. tu, 1). Ita et nos eadem dicere vobis, nobis non pigrum, vobis autem tutum.

Neither to your ears nor to your hearts are new things repeated: yet they renew the hearer’s affection, and in a way, being recalled, they renew us: nor is it tiresome to hear things that are known, because the things of the Lord are always sweet. The exposition of the divine Scriptures is like the divine Scriptures themselves: though they are known, they are read for remembrance. So too their exposition, though known, must still be repeated, so that those who have forgotten may be reminded, or those who perhaps did not hear may hear; and so that those who keep what they are used to hearing may, by repetition, be unable to forget it. For we remember that we have already spoken to your Charity about this passage of the Gospel. Yet it is not tiresome to recall the same things to you, as it was not tiresome to have the same reading read again to you. The apostle Paul says in a certain letter: “To write the same things to you is not irksome to me, but for you it is necessary.” So too for us to say the same things to you is not irksome to us, but for you it is safe.

John 5:1–9 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:1 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine explains why he repeats a known exposition of the Gospel passage: repetition renews affection, reminds the forgetful, and safeguards memory.

The reading is John 5:1–18, the healing at the pool of Bethesda, on which Augustine had preached before (Sermon 124). Quotation: Phil 3:1. “New things” renders “nova” (the digital text reads “radia”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slips): Sic cst cxposilio divinarum Scripturatum → Sic est expositio divinarum Scripturarum; vel qui furte non audierunt, audiant; et qui tenent quod audire consueverunt, rcpetendo fiat → vel qui forte non audierunt, audiant; et qui tenent quod audire consueverunt, repetendo fiat; jam uos locutos Cliaritati vestræ, Noc piget tamen eadem vobis commemorare, sicut non piguit eamdem vobis lectionem re. peteve. → jam nos locutos Charitati vestræ. Nec piget tamen eadem vobis commemorare, sicut non piguit eamdem vobis lectionem repetere..

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.1 (PL 38:420–421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).

125.2PL 38:421

Quinque porticus, in quibus jacebant infirmi, Legem significant, quæ primo data est Judæis et populo Israel per famulum Dei Moysen. Etenim Moyses ipse, minister Legis, quinque libros fecit. Propter numerum ergo librorum, quos ille scripsit, quinque porticus Legem figurabant. Quia vero Lex non data est quæ sanaret infirmos, sed quæ proderet et ostenderet: sic enim dicit Apostolus, Si enim data esset Lex quæ posset vivificare, omnino ex Lege esset justitia; sed conclusit Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus: propterea in illis porticibus jacebant ægroti, non sanabantur. Quid enim ait? Si data esset Lex quæ posset vivificare. Non ergo illæ porticus, quæ figurabant Legem, sanare poterant ægrotos. Dicit mihi aliquis: Quare ergo data est? Ipse exposuit apostolus Paulus: Conclusit, inquit, Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus. Qui enim ægrotabant, sanos se esse putabant. Acceperunt Legem, quam implere non poterant; didicerunt in quo morbo essent, et imploraverunt manus medici: voluerunt sanari, quia cognoverunt se laborare; quod non cognoscerent, nisi datam Legem implere non possent. Innocens enim homo sibi videbatur, et ex ipsa superbia innocentiæ falsæ insanior fiebat. Ad domandam ergo superbiam, et ad denudandam, data est Lex; non ad liberandos ægrotos, sed ad convincendos superbos. Ergo attendat Charitas vestra: ad hoc data est Lex, quæ proderet morbos, non quæ tolleret. Ideo ergo ægroti illi, qui in domibus suis secretius ægrotare possent, si illæ quinque porticus non essent, prodebantur oculis omnium in illis porticibus, sed a porticibus non sanabantur. Utilis ergo erat Lex ad prodenda peccata, quia reus homo abundantius factus ex prævaricatione Legis, posset edomata superbia implorare auxilium miserantis. Attendite Apostolum: Lex subintravit, ut abundaret delictum; ubi autem abundavit delictum, superabundavit et gratia. Quid est, Lex subintravit, ut abundaret delictum? Sicut alio loco dicit, Ubi enim non est lex, nec prævaricatio. Peccator homo potest dici ante legem, prævaricator non potest. Cum autem accepta lege peccaverit, non solum peccator, sed etiam prævaricator invenitur. Cum ergo prævaricatio adjuncta sit peccato, ideo abundavit delictum. Abundante autem delicto, discit humana superbia tandem subjici, et confiteri Deo, et dicere, Infirmus sum (Psa/. VI, 5). Dicere etiam verba illa Psalmi, quæ non dicit nisi anima humiliata: Ego dixi: Domine, miserere mei, sana animam meam, quoniam peccavi tibi. Dicat ergo hoc anima infirma, saltem convicta per prævaricationem; et non sanata, sed demonstrata per Legem. Audi et ipsum Paulum ostendentem tibi quia et Lex bona est, et tamen nisi gratia Christi non liberat a peccato. Lex enim prohibere potest, et jubere: afferre medicinam, ut sanetur illud quod non permittit hominem implere Legem, non potest, sed gratia illud facit. Ait enim Apostolus, Condelector enim Legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem. Id est, jam video quia quod reprehendit Lex, malum est; et quod jubet Lex, bonum est. Condelector enim Legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem. Video aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meæ, et captivantem me sub lege peccati. Hoc ex pœna peccati, ex traduce mortis, ex damnatione Adam, repugnat legi mentis, et captivat legi peccati, quæ est in membris. Convictus est iste; accepit legem ut convinceretur; vide quid ei profuit quod convictus est. Audi verba sequentia: Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum.

The five porches in which the sick lay signify the law, which was first given to the Jews and the people of Israel through Moses the servant of God. For Moses himself, the minister of the law, made five books. So because of the number of the books he wrote, the five porches figured the law. But because the law was not given to heal the sick but to expose and show them (for so the apostle says, “For if a law had been given which could give life, righteousness would certainly be from the law; but Scripture has shut up all things under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe”), the sick therefore lay in those porches and were not healed. For what does he say? “If a law had been given which could give life.” So those porches, which figured the law, could not heal the sick. Someone says to me: “Why, then, was it given?” The apostle Paul himself explained: “Scripture,” he says, “has shut up all things under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” For those who were sick thought they were healthy. They received the law, which they could not fulfill; they learned in what disease they were, and they implored the physician’s hands: they wanted to be healed, because they knew they were suffering; which they would not have known unless they could not fulfill the law that had been given. For man seemed innocent to himself, and from that very pride of false innocence he became more unsound. So to tame pride, and to lay it bare, the law was given: not to free the sick, but to convict the proud. So let your Charity attend: the law was given for this, to expose diseases, not to take them away. So those sick people, who could have been sick more privately in their own houses if those five porches had not existed, were exposed to the eyes of all in those porches, but were not healed by the porches. So the law was useful for exposing sins, because man, made more guilty by transgression of the law, might, with his pride tamed, implore the help of one who has mercy. Attend to the apostle: “The law came in, so that the offense might abound; but where the offense abounded, grace abounded still more.” What does “the law came in, so that the offense might abound” mean? As he says in another place: “For where there is no law, there is no transgression.” Before the law a man can be called a sinner; he cannot be called a transgressor. But when he sins after receiving the law, he is found not only a sinner but also a transgressor. Since, then, transgression is added to sin, the offense abounded. But with the offense abounding, human pride at last learns to be subject, and to confess to God, and to say, “I am weak.” To say also those words of the Psalm which only a humbled soul says: “I said: Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.” So let the weak soul say this, convicted at least by transgression; not healed, but exposed by the law. Hear Paul himself showing you that the law is good, and yet does not free from sin except through the grace of Christ. For the law can forbid and command; it cannot bring the medicine to heal what does not allow man to fulfill the law; but grace does that. For the apostle says: “For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man.” That is, I already see that what the law rebukes is evil, and what the law commands is good. “For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and taking me captive under the law of sin.” This, from the punishment of sin, from the inheritance of death, from the condemnation of Adam, fights against the law of the mind and takes captive to the law of sin which is in the members. This man was convicted; he received the law so as to be convicted; see what it profited him that he was convicted. Hear the following words: “Wretched man that I am, who will free me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

John 5:2–3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 3:21–22 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 4:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 6:2 (6:3 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 41:4 (40:5 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:22–25 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The five porches are the five books of Moses, the law, which exposed but could not heal the sick, so that the proud might recognize their sin and seek the grace of Christ, which alone frees from the law of sin.

The opening words “Legis ad sanandum impotentia. Lex quare data” (“The law’s inability to heal. Why the law was given”) are Migne’s marginal headings left in the text; not translated. Migne’s heading “Five porches figured the law of Moses” was removed by the importer. Quotations: Gal 3:21–22; Rom 5:20; Rom 4:15; Ps 6:2 (6:3 Vulg.); Ps 41:4 (40:5 Vulg.); Rom 7:22–25 (Augustine’s form). Augustine’s doctrine of law and grace translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal headings left in the text; OCR slips; OCR slip; OCR slips; stray mark): Legis ad sanandum impotentia. Lex quare data. Quinque porticus, in quibus jaccbant infirmi, Legem significant, quæ primo data cst Judæis et populo Israel per famutum Dei Moysen. → Quinque porticus, in quibus jacebant infirmi, Legem significant, quæ primo data est Judæis et populo Israel per famulum Dei Moysen.; quos illc scripsit → quos ille scripsit; Quia vero Lex non data est quæ sanaret infirinos → Quia vero Lex non data est quæ sanaret infirmos; Si enim dala esset Lex quaposset vivificare, omnino ex Lege caet justitia → Si enim data esset Lex quæ posset vivificare, omnino ex Lege esset justitia; propterea in iMis porticibus jaccbant ægroti → propterea in illis porticibus jacebant ægroti; Non ergo illæ forticus, quæ figurabant Legem, sanare potcrant ægrotos. → Non ergo illæ porticus, quæ figurabant Legem, sanare poterant ægrotos.; Quarc ergo data est? → Quare ergo data est?; ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi flaretur credentibus → ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus; Acceperunt Legern, quam implere non poterant; didicerunt in quo morbo essent, ct imploraverunt → Acceperunt Legem, quam implere non poterant; didicerunt in quo morbo essent, et imploraverunt; quia cognoverunt se laborarc; quod non c gnoscerent → quia cognoverunt se laborare; quod non cognoscerent; Innocens enim homo sibi vidcbatur, ct ex ipsa superbia → Innocens enim homo sibi videbatur, et ex ipsa superbia; Ad domandam ergo superbiam, et ad dcnudandam, data cst Lcx; non ad liberandos ægrotos, sed ad convincendus superbos. Ergo altendal Charitas vestra → Ad domandam ergo superbiam, et ad denudandam, data est Lex; non ad liberandos ægrotos, sed ad convincendos superbos. Ergo attendat Charitas vestra; Utilis ergo crat Lex ad prodenda peccata, quia reus home abundantins tactus ex prævaricatione Legis → Utilis ergo erat Lex ad prodenda peccata, quia reus homo abundantius factus ex prævaricatione Legis; Siculalio loco dicit, Ubi enim non est leT, nec prævaricatio. Peccater homo potest dici ante legem, prævaricator non potest Cum amem accepta lege peccaverit → Sicut alio loco dicit, Ubi enim non est lex, nec prævaricatio. Peccator homo potest dici ante legem, prævaricator non potest. Cum autem accepta lege peccaverit; Audi et ipsum Paulum ostendentem tibi' quia et Lex bona est → Audi et ipsum Paulum ostendentem tibi quia et Lex bona est; ut sanetur illud qnod non perinitlit hominem implero Legem → ut sanetur illud quod non permittit hominem implere Legem; et quod jubet Lex, bonum Cil. → et quod jubet Lex, bonum est.; Video uliam legem in membris meis → Video aliam legem in membris meis; Hoc ex ptena peccati, ex traduce mortis, ex damnatione Adam, repugnat Icgi mentis → Hoc ex pœna peccati, ex traduce mortis, ex damnatione Adam, repugnat legi mentis; vide quid ei profuit quod convictus cst. → vide quid ei profuit quod convictus est..

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.2 (PL 38:421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.3PL 38:421–422

Intendite ergo. Erant illæ porticus Legem significantes, portantes ægrotos, non sanantes; prodentes, non curantes. Sed quis curabat ægrotos? Qui descendebat in piscinam. Quando autem descendebat æger in piscinam? Cum angelus signum dabat de aquæ motu. Sic enim erat sanctificata illa piscina, ut angelus veniret, et moveret aquam. Homines aquam videbant: sed ex motu aquæ turbatæ intelligebant præsentiam angeli. Si quis tunc descendisset, curabatur. Quare ergo ille ægrotus non curabatur? Consideremus verba ipsius: Hominem, inquit, non habeo, ut cum mota fuerit aqua, deponat me in piscinam: cum enim venio, descendit alius. Ergo tu non potes postea descendere, si alter ante te descendat? Significatum est hic, quia non curabatur nisi unus ad motum aquæ. Quisquis prior descendisset, ipse solus curabatur: quicumque autem postea descendisset, ad illum motum aquæ non sanabatur; sed exspectabat doncc iterum moveretur. Quid sibi vult ergo hoc sacramentum? Non enim sine causa est. Intendat Charitas vestra. Aquæ positæ sunt in Apocalypsi in figura populorum. Nam cum multas aquas vidisset, quæsivit Joannes in Apocalypsi quid esset, et dictum est ei populos esse. Aqua ergo illa populum significabat Judæorum. Sicut enim populus ille tenebatur quinque libris Moysi in Lege, sic et aqua illa quinque porticibus cingebatur. Quando turbata est aqua? Quando turbatus cst populus Judæorum. Et quando turbatus cst populus Judæorum, nisi quando venit Dominus Jesus Christus? Passio Domini, aquæ turbatio. Turbati sunt enim Judæi, quando passus est Dominus. Ecce ad ipsam perturbationem pertinet, quod modo legebatur. Volebant illum Judæi occidere, non solum quia ista faciebat sabbatis, sed quia Filium Dei se dicebat, æqualem se faciens Deo. Aliter enim se dicebat Filium Dei Christus, aliter dictum cst hominibus, Ego dixi, Dii estis, et filii Allissimi omnes ( Psal. LXXXI. G). Nam si sic se faceret Filium Dei, quomodo quicumque homo potest dici filius Dei (per gratiam enim Dei dicuntur homines filii Dei), non irascerentur Judæi. Sed quia alio modo illum intelligebant dicere Filium Dei se esse, secundum quod cst, In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus crat Verbum; et secundum id quod dicit Apostolus, Qui cum in forma Dei esset, non rapinam arbitratus est esse se æqualem Deo (Philipp. II, 6): videbant hominem, et irascebantur, quia æqualem se Deo faciebat. Ille autem noverat se æqualem, sed illi non videbant. Quod enim illi videbant, crucifigere volebant: quod non videbant, ab eo judicabantur. Quid videbant Judæi? Quod videbant et Apostoli, quando dixit Philippus: Ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis. Quid autem non videbant Judæi? Quod nec ipsi Apostoli, quando respondit Dominus: Tanto tempore vobiscum sum, et non cognovistis me? Qui me videt, videt et Patrem. Hoc ergo in illo Judæi quia videre non poterant, tanquam hominem superbum et impium habebant, æqualem se facientem Deo. Turbatio erat, turbabatur aqua, Angelus venerat. Dictus est enim et Dominus magni consilii Angelus, quia nuntius voluntatis Patris. Angelus enim græce, latine nuntius est. Et habes Dominum dicentem annuntiare se nobis regnum cœlorum. Venerat ergo ille magni consilii Angelus, sed Dominus omnium Angelorum. Et propter hoc Angelus, quia carnem suscepit: Dominus autem Angelorum, ex eo quod omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil. Si enim omnia, et Angeli. Et ideo ipse factus non est, quia per ipsum facta sunt omnia. Quod autem factum est, sine Verbo operante factum non est. Caro autem, quæ facta est mater Christi, nasci non potuit, nisi per Verbum, quod de illa postea natum est, crearetur.

So attend. Those porches signified the law, carrying the sick, not healing them; exposing, not curing. But who cured the sick? The one who went down into the pool. And when did the sick man go down into the pool? When the angel gave a sign by the stirring of the water. For that pool was so sanctified that an angel came and stirred the water. People saw the water: but from the stirring of the troubled water they understood the presence of the angel. If anyone then went down, he was cured. Why, then, was that sick man not cured? Let us consider his words: “I have no man,” he says, “to put me into the pool when the water has been stirred: for when I come, another goes down.” So could you not go down afterward, if another went down before you? It was signified here that only one was cured at the stirring of the water. Whoever went down first, he alone was cured: whoever went down afterward was not healed at that stirring of the water, but waited until it was stirred again. What, then, does this sacrament mean? For it is not without cause. Let your Charity attend. Waters are set in the Apocalypse as a figure of peoples. For when John in the Apocalypse saw many waters, he asked what it was, and it was told him that they were peoples. So that water signified the Jewish people. For as that people was held in by the five books of Moses in the law, so that water was surrounded by five porches. When was the water troubled? When the Jewish people was troubled. And when was the Jewish people troubled, if not when the Lord Jesus Christ came? The Lord’s passion is the troubling of the water. For the Jews were troubled when the Lord suffered. See, what was read just now belongs to that very troubling. The Jews wanted to kill him, not only because he did these things on sabbaths, but because he called himself the Son of God, making himself equal to God. For Christ called himself the Son of God in one way; in another way it was said to men, “I said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” For if he made himself the Son of God as any man whatever can be called a son of God (for by God’s grace men are called sons of God), the Jews would not have been angry. But because they understood him to say that he was the Son of God in another way, according to what is, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; and according to what the apostle says, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count it robbery to be equal with God”: they saw a man, and were angry, because he made himself equal to God. But he knew himself equal; but they did not see it. For what they saw, they wanted to crucify: by what they did not see, they were being judged. What did the Jews see? What the apostles too saw, when Philip said: “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” And what did the Jews not see? What not even the apostles saw, when the Lord answered: “Have I been with you so long, and you have not known me? Whoever sees me sees the Father also.” Because the Jews could not see this in him, they held him a proud and ungodly man, making himself equal to God. There was trouble, the water was troubled, the angel had come. For the Lord too has been called the Angel of great counsel, because he is the messenger of the Father’s will. For angelus in Greek is nuntius, messenger, in Latin. And you have the Lord saying that he announces to us the kingdom of heaven. So that Angel of great counsel had come, but the Lord of all the angels. And he is Angel for this reason, because he took flesh: but Lord of the angels, in that all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made. For if all things, the angels too. And so he himself was not made, because all things were made through him. And what was made was not made without the Word working. But the flesh which was made Christ’s mother could not have been born unless it were created through the Word, who was afterward born of her.

John 5:4 (allusion, high confidence) · John 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:15 (allusion, high confidence) · John 5:16–18 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:6 (81:6 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:6 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:8–9 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 9:6 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Only the first to enter the stirred water was healed; the water signifies the Jewish people within the law, and its troubling is Christ’s passion, provoked when he called himself Son of God and equal to God, the Angel of great counsel who is Lord of the angels.

The opening words “Ægrotus unus aqua mota curatus quid significat” (“What the one sick man cured when the water was stirred signifies”) are Migne’s marginal heading left in the text; not translated. Quotations: John 5:4, 7, 16–18; Rev 17:15; Ps 82:6 (81:6 Vulg.); John 1:1, 3; Phil 2:6; John 14:8–9; Isa 9:6 (LXX, “Angel of great counsel”). Statements about the Jews and Christological argument translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slips; stray footnote number and OCR slip): AEgrotus unus aqua mota curatus quid significat. latendite ergo. → Intendite ergo.; Sed quis curabat ægrotos 2? Qui descendebal in piscinam. → Sed quis curabat ægrotos? Qui descendebat in piscinam.; Sic cnim crat sanctificata illa piscina → Sic enim erat sanctificata illa piscina; sed ex motu aquuc turbatæ intelligebant → sed ex motu aquæ turbatæ intelligebant; Quare ergo il!c a grotus non curabatur? → Quare ergo ille ægrotus non curabatur?; Hominem, inquit, non Iubeo, ut cum mota fuerit aqua → Hominem, inquit, non habeo, ut cum mota fuerit aqua; si alicr ante te descendat? Significatum cst hic, quia non curabatur nisi urs I ad molum aquæ. → si alter ante te descendat? Significatum est hic, quia non curabatur nisi unus ad motum aquæ.; Quid sibi vult ergo hec sacramentum? Non enim sine causa eSI. → Quid sibi vult ergo hoc sacramentum? Non enim sine causa est.; Nam cum inultas aquas vidisset, quæsivit Joannes in Apocalypsi quid esset, ct dictum cst ci populos esse. → Nam cum multas aquas vidisset, quæsivit Joannes in Apocalypsi quid esset, et dictum est ei populos esse.; Sieut cnim populus ille tenebatur quinque libris Moysi in Lege, sic ct aqua ilia quiaque porticibus cingebatur. → Sicut enim populus ille tenebatur quinque libris Moysi in Lege, sic et aqua illa quinque porticibus cingebatur.; Ecce ad ipsam perturbationem pertinct, quod modo legebatur. Volebant illum Judæi occidere, non solum quia ista facicbat sabbatis, sed quia Filium Dei sc dicebat, æqualem sc faciens Dco. Aliter enim sc diccbal Filiam Dei Christus → Ecce ad ipsam perturbationem pertinet, quod modo legebatur. Volebant illum Judæi occidere, non solum quia ista faciebat sabbatis, sed quia Filium Dei se dicebat, æqualem se faciens Deo. Aliter enim se dicebat Filium Dei Christus; Nam si sic se facerct Filium Dei, quomodo quicumque Ionio potest dici lilius Dei (per gratiam enim Dei dicuntur homines filii Dci) → Nam si sic se faceret Filium Dei, quomodo quicumque homo potest dici filius Dei (per gratiam enim Dei dicuntur homines filii Dei); nun rapinam arbitratus est esse se æqualem Deo (Philipp. II, G): videbant homincm → non rapinam arbitratus est esse se æqualem Deo (Philipp. II, 6): videbant hominem; Ille autem noverat se æqualem, sed tibi illi non videbant. Quod enim illi vidcbant, crucifigere volebant: quod non vidcbant, ab co judicahan!ur. → Ille autem noverat se æqualem, sed illi non videbant. Quod enim illi videbant, crucifigere volebant: quod non videbant, ab eo judicabantur.; TaUrO tempore vebiscum sum → Tanto tempore vobiscum sum; Hoc ergo in illo Judæi quia vidcre non poterant, tanquam hominem superbum ct impium habcbant, æqualem sc facientem Dco. → Hoc ergo in illo Judæi quia videre non poterant, tanquam hominem superbum et impium habebant, æqualem se facientem Deo.; Dictus cst enim et Dominus magni consilii Angelus, qnia nuntius → Dictus est enim et Dominus magni consilii Angelus, quia nuntius; Vcnerat ergo ille magni consilii Angelus → Venerat ergo ille magni consilii Angelus; Dominus aulem Augelorum, ex co quod omnia → Dominus autem Angelorum, ex eo quod omnia; Quod autem fictum est, sine Verbo opcr-antc factum non cst. Caro autcm, quæ facta cst mater Christi, nasci non polit, nisi pcr Verbum → Quod autem factum est, sine Verbo operante factum non est. Caro autem, quæ facta est mater Christi, nasci non potuit, nisi per Verbum.

Topics: Christology, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.3 (PL 38:421–422; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.4PL 38:422

Turbabantur ergo Judæi. Quid est hoc? Utquid ista facit sabbatis? Et maxime ad ipsa verba Domini: Pater meus usque nunc operatur, et ego operor. Turbavit illos quod carnaliter intelligebant, quia septimo die requievit Deus ab omnibus operibus suis. Scriptum est enim in Genesi, et optime scriptum est, et rationabile quare scriptum est. Illi autem putantes quasi Deum fatigatum post omnia requievisse septimo die, et ideo benedixisse eum, quia in eo a lassitudine refectus est, non intelligebant stulti, quia qui verbo fecit omnia, fatigari non potuit. Legant, et dicant mihi quomodo posset fatigari Deus dicens: Fiat; et factum est. Hodie si sic faciat homo quomodo fecit Deus, quis fatigatur? Dixit: Fiat lux; et facta est lux. Item, Fiat firmamentum; et factum est: aut si dixit, et factum non est, fatigatus est. Alio loco breviter: Ipse dixit, et facta sunt; ipse mandavit, et creata sunt. Qui ergo sic facit, quomodo laborat? Si autem non laborat, quomodo requiescit? Sed in illo sabbato, ubi requiescere dictum est Deum ab omnibus operibus suis, in requie Dei requies nostra significata est: quia erit sabbatum hujus sæculi, cum transierint sex ætates. Quasi sex dies sæculi transeunt. Unus dies ab Adam usque ad Noe transiit; alius a diluvio usque ad Abraham transiit; tertius ab Abraham usque ad David transiit; quartus a David usque ad transmigrationem Babyloniæ transiit; quintus a transmigratione Babyloniæ usque ad adventum Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Modo sextus dies agitur. In sexta ætate, in sexto die sumus. Ergo reformemur ad imaginem Dei, quia sexto die factus est homo ad imaginem Dei. Quod ibi fecit formatio, hoc in nobis reformatio: et quod ibi fecit creatio, hoc in nobis recreatio. Post istum diem in quo modo sumus, post istam aetatem, ventura est requies quæ promittitur sanctis, quæ præfigurabatur in illis diebus. Quia et revera post omnia quæ fecit in mundo, nihil fecit postea novum in creatura. Ipsae creaturæ convertentur et commutabuntur. Nam ex quo institutæ sunt creaturæ, nihil amplius additum est. Sed tamen, nisi ille qui fecit, mundum regeret, caderet quod factum est; non potest nisi administrare illud quod fecit. Quia ergo nihil additum est creaturæ, requievisse dictus est ab omnibus operibus suis: quia vero quod fecit gubernare non cessat, recte dixit Dominus, Pater meus usque nunc operatur. Intendat Charitas vestra. Perfecit, requievisse dictus est: perfecit enim opera, et nihil addidit. Gubernat quod fecit: ergo non cessat. Sed quanta facilitate fecit, tanta facilitate gubernat. Nolite enim putare, fratres, quia non laborabat cum conderet, et laborat quia regit; quomodo in navi laborant qui fabricant navem, laborant qui gubernant; homines enim sunt. Ille enim quanta facilitate dixit, et facta sunt, tanta facilitate et judicio per Verbum gubernat omnia.

So the Jews were troubled. What is this? Why does he do these things on sabbaths? And most of all at the Lord’s very words: “My Father works until now, and I work.” It troubled them because they understood in a fleshly way that on the seventh day God rested from all his works. For it is written in Genesis, and very well written, and there is a reason why it was written. But they, thinking that God, tired after everything, rested on the seventh day, and therefore blessed it because on it he was refreshed from weariness, did not understand, the fools, that he who made all things by a word could not be tired. Let them read, and tell me how God could be tired saying, “Let it be”; and it was made. Today, if a man made things as God made them, who would be tired? He said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Likewise, “Let there be a firmament”; and it was made: or if he spoke and it was not made, he was tired. In another place briefly: “He spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.” He who makes in this way, how does he labor? And if he does not labor, how does he rest? But in that sabbath, where God is said to have rested from all his works, our rest was signified in God’s rest: because there will be a sabbath of this world, when six ages have passed. The six days of the world pass, as it were. One day passed from Adam to Noah; another passed from the flood to Abraham; a third passed from Abraham to David; a fourth passed from David to the migration to Babylon; a fifth from the migration to Babylon to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the sixth day is in progress. We are in the sixth age, on the sixth day. So let us be re-formed to the image of God, because on the sixth day man was made to the image of God. What forming did there, re-forming does in us; and what creation did there, re-creation does in us. After this day in which we now are, after this age, will come the rest that is promised to the saints, which was prefigured in those days. For indeed, after all that he made in the world, he made nothing new afterward in creation. The creatures themselves will be turned and changed. For since the creatures were established, nothing more has been added. But yet, unless he who made it governed the world, what was made would fall; he cannot but administer what he made. So because nothing has been added to creation, he is said to have rested from all his works: but because he does not cease to govern what he made, the Lord rightly said, “My Father works until now.” Let your Charity attend. He completed; he is said to have rested: for he completed his works and added nothing. He governs what he made: so he does not cease. But with what ease he made, with that ease he governs. For do not think, brothers, that he did not labor when he founded, and labors because he rules; as in a ship those labor who build the ship, and those labor who steer it; for they are men. For with what ease he spoke and things were made, with that ease and judgment he governs all things through the Word.

John 5:16–17 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 2:2–3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 33:9 (32:9 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 148:5 (quotation, medium confidence) · Gen 1:26–27 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:10 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 4:9–10 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Jews took God’s sabbath rest literally, as if he had tired, but he who created by a word does not labor; his rest signifies the future rest of the saints after the six ages of the world, and he still works by governing creation without effort.

The first sentence, “So the Jews were troubled,” was removed by the importer as a marginal heading; it is Augustine’s and is restored (Migne’s headings “The rest of God on the seventh day. The six ages of the world. How God rested and always works” were rightly removed). Quotations: John 5:16–17; Gen 2:2–3; Gen 1:3, 6; Ps 33:9 (32:9 Vulg.); Ps 148:5; Gen 1:26–27; Col 3:10. The scheme of six ages of the world is Augustine’s.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips and stray footnote number; restored text removed as a heading; OCR slips): Quid cst hoc? Utquid ista facit sabbatis? El maxime ad ipsa verba Domini → Turbabantur ergo Judæi. Quid est hoc? Utquid ista facit sabbatis? Et maxime ad ipsa verba Domini; Tuibavit ilos quod carnaliter intelligebant, quia septimo die rquievit Deus → Turbavit illos quod carnaliter intelligebant, quia septimo die requievit Deus; Scriptum est enim in Gencsi, et optime scriptum cst → Scriptum est enim in Genesi, et optime scriptum est; Illi autem putantes quasi Deum faligatum post omnia requievisse septimo dic, et ideo benedixisse cum, quia ia eo a lassitudine refectus est → Illi autem putantes quasi Deum fatigatum post omnia requievisse septimo die, et ideo benedixisse eum, quia in eo a lassitudine refectus est; quomodo posset fatigari Dens dicens → quomodo posset fatigari Deus dicens; Hodic si sic faciat homo → Hodie si sic faciat homo; aut si dixit, ct factum non est → aut si dixit, et factum non est; quoinodo requiescit? → quomodo requiescit?; in rcquie Dei requies nostra significata cst: quia erit sahbatnm hujus sæculi, cum transierint sex atates. → in requie Dei requies nostra significata est: quia erit sabbatum hujus sæculi, cum transierint sex ætates.; Ergo reformemur ad imaginem Dci → Ergo reformemur ad imaginem Dei; hoc in nobis rcformalio: et quod ibi fecit crcalio → hoc in nobis reformatio: et quod ibi fecit creatio; Quia et revera post omnia qu;c fccit in mundo → Quia et revera post omnia quæ fecit in mundo; nihil amplius additum cst. Sed tamen, nisi ille qui fccit, Indum rcgeret → nihil amplius additum est. Sed tamen, nisi ille qui fecit, mundum regeret; non potest nisi administrare illud quod fecit 1. Quia crgo nihil additum est creaturæ, requievisse dictus est ah omnibus opcrihus suis: quia vcro quod fecit → non potest nisi administrare illud quod fecit. Quia ergo nihil additum est creaturæ, requievisse dictus est ab omnibus operibus suis: quia vero quod fecit; Inlendat Charitas vestra. → Intendat Charitas vestra.; Sed quanta facilitatc fecit → Sed quanta facilitate fecit; Nolite enim pularc, fratres → Nolite enim putare, fratres.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.4 (PL 38:422; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.5PL 38:422–423

Non quia videntur perversæ res humanæ, videatur nobis non esse gubernationem rerum humanarum. Omnes enim homines in locis suis ordinantur: sed unicuique videtur quia ordinem non habent. Tu tantum vide quid velis esse: nam quomodo volueris esse, novit artifex ubi te ponat. Pictorem attende. Ponuntur ante illum varii colores, et novit ubi ponat quemque colorem. Certe peccator niger. color esse voluit: ideo nescit ordo artificis ubi eum ponat? Quanta ordinat de nigro colore? quanta ornamenta facit pictor? Facit inde capillos, facit barbam, facit supercilia: non facit frontem, nisi de albo. Tu vide quid velis esse: non cures ubi te ordinet qui non novit errare, scit ubi te ponat. Sic enim per leges istas mundi videmus hoc fieri. Effractor esse voluit nescio quis: novit lex judicis quia contra legem fecit; novit lex judicis ubi illum ponat: ordinat illum optime. Ille quidem male vixit: sed non male ordinavit lex. Ex effractore erit metallicus: de opere metallici quanta opera construuntur? Illius pœna damnati ornamenta sunt civitatis. Sic ergo Deus novit ubi te ponat. Noli putare quia turbas consilium Dei, si perversus esse volueris. Qui creare te noverat, ordinare te non novit? Bonum est tibi ut illuc coneris, ut bono loco ponaris. Quid dictum est de Juda ab Apostolo? Abiit in locum suum. Operante utique divina providentia, quia per malam. Voluntatem malus esse voluit, non autem Deus malum ordinando fecit. Sed quia ipse malus peccator esse voluit, fecit quod voluit, sed passus est quod noluit. In eo quod fecit quod voluit, peccatum ejus deprehenditur: in eo quod passus est quod noluit, ordo Dei laudatur.

Not because human affairs seem perverse should it seem to us that there is no governance of human affairs. For all men are set in order in their places: but it seems to each that they have no order. You, just see what you want to be: for however you want to be, the artist knows where to put you. Look at a painter. Various colors are set before him, and he knows where to put each color. Certainly the sinner wanted to be a black color: does the order of the artist therefore not know where to put him? How much does he arrange from the black color? How many ornaments does the painter make? He makes hair from it, he makes a beard, he makes eyebrows: he makes the forehead only from white. You, see what you want to be: do not worry where he places you who does not know how to err; he knows where to put you. For so we see this happen through the laws of this world. Someone wanted to be a burglar: the judge’s law knows that he acted against the law; the judge’s law knows where to put him; it arranges him excellently. He lived badly indeed; but the law did not arrange badly. From a burglar he will become a miner: how many works are built from a miner’s labor? The punishment of that condemned man is an ornament of the city. So God knows where to put you. Do not think that you upset God’s plan if you want to be perverse. He who knew how to create you, does he not know how to set you in order? It is good for you to strive there, so as to be put in a good place. What did the apostle say of Judas? “He went to his own place.” By the working of divine providence, certainly: because he wanted to be bad through an evil will; but God did not make him evil by setting him in order. But because he himself wanted to be a wicked sinner, he did what he willed, but suffered what he did not will. In that he did what he willed, his sin is caught; in that he suffered what he did not will, God’s order is praised.

Acts 1:25 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Though human affairs seem disordered, God governs them, placing even sinners in his order as a painter uses black or a law sends a burglar to the mines; Judas did what he willed and suffered what he did not will.

Migne’s marginal heading (“God’s providence in the ordering of evils”) was removed by the importer. Quotation: Acts 1:25. Condemnation to the mines (ad metalla) was a Roman penalty. Providence and evil will translated as written. “He makes the forehead only from white” renders “non facit frontem, nisi de albo” (in the digital text “non facil frontem”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slips; stray marks): Noi quia videntur perversæ res humanæ, videatur nohis non csse gubernationem → Non quia videntur perversæ res humanæ, videatur nobis non esse gubernationem; sed unicuique videlur quia ordinem non habent '. → sed unicuique videtur quia ordinem non habent.; novit artifex ubi te poual. IPictorem attende. → novit artifex ubi te ponat. Pictorem attende.; Facil inde capillos, Jacit barbam, facit supercilia: non facil frontem, nisi de albo. → Facit inde capillos, facit barbam, facit supercilia: non facit frontem, nisi de albo.; ordinat illum optimc. Ille quidem malc vixit: sed non male ordinavit lex. Ex effractore erit metallicus: do opere metallici → ordinat illum optime. Ille quidem male vixit: sed non male ordinavit lex. Ex effractore erit metallicus: de opere metallici; Illius pœna damnati ornamenta sunt civitatis I- Sic ergo → Illius pœna damnati ornamenta sunt civitatis. Sic ergo; si perversus esse volucris → si perversus esse volueris; Bonum ess ibi ut iiluc coneris → Bonum est tibi ut illuc coneris; non autem DCIIS IDalum ordinando fecit → non autem Deus malum ordinando fecit; fecit quod voluit, sed passus est quod uoluit. In eo quod fccit quod voluit → fecit quod voluit, sed passus est quod noluit. In eo quod fecit quod voluit.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.5 (PL 38:422–423; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.6PL 38:423

Hoc quare dixi? Ut intelligatis, fratres, quod optime dictum sit a Domino Jesu Christo, Pater meus usque modo operatur. Quia non deserit creaturam, quam fecit. Et dixit, Quomodo operatur, et ego operor. Jam ibi se significavit æqualem Deo. Pater meus, ait, usque modo operatur, et ego operor. Ille carnalis sensus de sabbato turbatus est. Putabant enim fatigatum Dominum requievisse, ut nihil operaretur. Audiunt, Pater meus usque modo operatur; turbantur. Et ego operor: fecit se æqualem Deo, turbantur. Sed nolite jam expavescere. Turbatur aqua, sanari habet ægrotus. Quid est hoc? Ideo turbantur illi, ut patiatur Dominus. Patitur Dominus, funditur pretiosus sanguis, redimitur peccator, donatur gratia peccanti, et dicenti, Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? Gratia Dei per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Sed quomodo curatur? Si descendat. Sic enim erat illa piscina, quo descenderetur, non quo ascenderetur. Possent enim esse et tales piscinæ, sic instructae, ut ascenderetur ad illas. Quare autem illa talis facta est, quo descenderetur? Quia passio Domini humilem quærit. Descendat humilis, non sit superbus, si vult sanari. Quare autem unus? Quia unica est Ecclesia per totum orbem terrarum, unitas salvatur. Ubi ergo salvatur unus, unitas significatur. Per unum unitatem intellige. Ab unitate ergo noli recedere, si non vis immunis esse ab ista salute.

Why did I say this? So that you may understand, brothers, that it was very well said by the Lord Jesus Christ, “My Father works until now.” Because he does not desert the creation he made. And he said, “As he works, I too work.” Already there he signified himself equal to God. “My Father,” he says, “works until now, and I work.” That fleshly understanding of the sabbath was troubled. For they thought the Lord had rested, tired, so as to do nothing. They hear, “My Father works until now”; they are troubled. “And I work”: he made himself equal to God; they are troubled. But do not be afraid now. The water is troubled; the sick man is to be healed. What is this? They are troubled for this, so that the Lord may suffer. The Lord suffers, the precious blood is shed, the sinner is redeemed, grace is given to the sinner, and to one who says, “Wretched man that I am, who will free me from the body of this death? The grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” But how is he cured? If he goes down. For that pool was such that one went down into it, not up. For there could be pools so constructed that one went up to them. But why was that one made such that one went down into it? Because the Lord’s passion seeks the humble. Let him go down humble, let him not be proud, if he wants to be healed. But why one? Because the church is one throughout the whole world; unity is saved. So where one is saved, unity is signified. By “one” understand unity. So do not withdraw from unity, if you do not want to be without this salvation.

John 5:17–18 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:24–25 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Father works by governing creation, and the Son claimed equality by saying “I work”; the Jews’ trouble led to the passion that redeems sinners; one must go down into the pool humbly, and only one was healed because salvation is in the unity of the one church.

The opening words “Ægrotus descendendo in piscinam curatus. Unus tantum sanatus” (“The sick man cured by going down into the pool. Only one healed”) are Migne’s marginal headings left in the text; not translated. Quotations: John 5:17–18; Rom 7:24–25. The insistence on unity is aimed at the Donatist schism; translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal headings left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slips): Ægrotus descendendo in piscinam,,,ratus. Unus tantum sanatus. Hoc quare dixi? → Hoc quare dixi?; optime dictum sit a Domino Jcsu Christo → optime dictum sit a Domino Jesu Christo; Et dixit, Quomodo operatur, ct ego operor. Jam ibi sc significavit æqualem Deo. Pater meus, ait, usque nwdo operatur → Et dixit, Quomodo operatur, et ego operor. Jam ibi se significavit æqualem Deo. Pater meus, ait, usque modo operatur; Putabant enim fatigatum Dominum requievisse, ut nibil operaretur. Audinat → Putabant enim fatigatum Dominum requievisse, ut nihil operaretur. Audiunt; fecit se æqualem Dco, turbantur. Sed nolte jam expavescere. Turbatur aqua, sanari babct ægrotus. Quid est hoc! Idco turbantur illi → fecit se æqualem Deo, turbantur. Sed nolite jam expavescere. Turbatur aqua, sanari habet ægrotus. Quid est hoc? Ideo turbantur illi; funditur pretiosus sanguis, rcdimitur peccator, donatur gratia peccanti, ct dicenti, Miser ego homo, quis me liberavit de corpore mertis hujus? → funditur pretiosus sanguis, redimitur peccator, donatur gratia peccanti, et dicenti, Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus?; Scd quomodo curatur? Si descendat. Sic cnim erat illa piscina → Sed quomodo curatur? Si descendat. Sic enim erat illa piscina; Possent enim esse ct tales piscinæ → Possent enim esse et tales piscinæ; Quare autcm illa talis facta est, quo descenderetur? Quia I assio Domini humilem quarit. → Quare autem illa talis facta est, quo descenderetur? Quia passio Domini humilem quærit.; Quia unica est Ecclesia per totum erbem terrarum → Quia unica est Ecclesia per totum orbem terrarum; Per mum unitatem intellige. Ab unitate crgo noli recedere → Per unum unitatem intellige. Ab unitate ergo noli recedere.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.6 (PL 38:423; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.7PL 38:423

Quid sibi ergo vult quod triginta et octo annos infirmus erat? Scio, fratres, me ista jam dixisse: sed et qui legunt obliviscuntur, quanto magis qui raro audiunt? Intendat ergo paululum Charitas vestra. In quadragenario numero completio justitiæ figuratur. Completio justitiæ, quia hic vivimus in labore, in ærumnis, in continentia, in jejuniis, in vigiliis, in tribulationibus; ipsa est exercitatio justitiae, ferre tempus hoc, et ab hoc sæculo quodam modo jejunare; non a cibo carnis, quod raro facimus; sed ab amore sæculi, quod semper facere debemus. Ille ergo implet legem, qui se abstinet ab isto sæculo. Non enim potest amare quod æternum est, nisi destiterit amare quod temporale est. Intendite amorem hominis: sic putate quasi manum animæ. Si aliquid tenet, tenere aliud non potest. Ut autem possit tenere quod datur, dimittat quod tenet. Hoc dico, videte quia aperte dico: Qui amat sæculum, amare Deum non potest; occupatam habet manum. Dicit illi Deus: Tene quod do. Non vult dimittere quod tenebat: non potest accipere quod offertur. Numquid dixi, Non possideat nescio quis? Si potest, si hoc de illo exigit perfectio, non possideat. Si non potest, aliqua necessitate impeditus, possideat, non possideatur; teneat, non teneatur: dominus sit rei suæ, non servus; sicut dicit Apostolus: De cætero, fratres, tempus breve est: superest ut et qui habent uxores, tanquam non habentes sint; et qui emunt, tanquam non possidentes; et qui gaudent, tanquam non gaudentes; et qui flent, tanquam non flentes; et qui utuntur hoc sæculo, tanquam non utantur: præterit enim figura hujus mundi. Volo vos sine sollicitudine esse. Quid est, Noli amare quod possides in hoc sæculo? Non teneat manum tuam, unde tenendus est Deus. Non occupetur amor tuus, quo potes ad Deum tendere, et inhærere ei qui te creavit.

What, then, does it mean that he had been sick thirty-eight years? I know, brothers, that I have said these things already: but even those who read forget; how much more those who rarely hear? So let your Charity attend a little. In the number forty the completion of righteousness is figured. The completion of righteousness, because here we live in labor, in troubles, in self-restraint, in fasts, in vigils, in tribulations; this is the exercise of righteousness: to bear this time, and in a way to fast from this world; not from the food of the flesh, which we do rarely; but from the love of the world, which we ought always to do. So he fulfills the law who abstains from this world. For he cannot love what is eternal unless he stops loving what is temporal. Consider a man’s love: think of it as the hand of the soul. If it holds something, it cannot hold something else. But so that it may be able to hold what is given, let it let go of what it holds. I say this; see that I say it plainly: whoever loves the world cannot love God; he has his hand occupied. God says to him: “Hold what I give.” He will not let go of what he was holding: he cannot receive what is offered. Have I said, “Let no one possess anything”? If he can, if perfection demands this of him, let him not possess. If he cannot, hindered by some necessity, let him possess, not be possessed; hold, not be held: let him be master of his property, not its slave; as the apostle says: “For the rest, brothers, the time is short: it remains that those who have wives be as though they had none; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who use this world, as though they did not use it: for the form of this world is passing away. I want you to be without anxiety.” What does it mean, “Do not love what you possess in this world”? Let it not hold your hand, with which God is to be held. Let your love not be occupied, by which you can reach out to God and cling to him who created you.

John 5:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 6:4–5 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 John 2:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 7:29–32 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The number forty signifies the fulfillment of righteousness, which is fasting from love of the world; love is like the soul’s hand, which cannot grasp God while it clings to the world, so those who possess must hold their goods without being held by them.

The opening words “Justitiæ perfectio quadragenario numero significata. Amor sæculi non compatitur amorem Dei” (“The perfection of righteousness signified by the number forty. Love of the world is incompatible with love of God”) are Migne’s marginal headings left in the text; not translated. Quotations: John 5:5; 2 Cor 6:4–5; 1 John 2:15; 1 Cor 7:29–32. Paul’s words on married life translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal headings left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slips; divided word, OCR slip; stray footnote letter; stray footnote number; stray mark): Justiitiæ perfectio quadragenario numero significata. Amor sæculi non compatitur amorem Dei. Quid sibi ergo vult quod triginia et octo annos infirmus erat? → Quid sibi ergo vult quod triginta et octo annos infirmus erat?; ipsa est exercitatio justitiae I, ferre tempus hoc → ipsa est exercitatio justitiae, ferre tempus hoc; sed ab amore sacculi, quod semper facere debemus. Ille ergo implet legcm, qui sc abstinet ab islo sæculo. → sed ab amore sæculi, quod semper facere debemus. Ille ergo implet legem, qui se abstinet ab isto sæculo.; nisi destitcrit amare quod temporale est. Intendite amorem hominis: sic putatc quasi manum animoe. → nisi destiterit amare quod temporale est. Intendite amorem hominis: sic putate quasi manum animæ.; Ut aulem possit tenere quod datur → Ut autem possit tenere quod datur; Qui amni sæculum, amare Deum non potest → Qui amat sæculum, amare Deum non potest; Nnniquid dixi, Non possideat nescio quis? Si potest, si hoc de illo cxigit perfectio → Numquid dixi, Non possideat nescio quis? Si potest, si hoc de illo exigit perfectio; aliqua necessitate impeditus, possidcat, nou possidcatur → aliqua necessitate impeditus, possideat, non possideatur; dominus sit rei suæ, non servus 2; sicut dicit Apostolus → dominus sit rei suæ, non servus; sicut dicit Apostolus; superest ut et qni habent uxores → superest ut et qui habent uxores; et qui emunt, tan. quam non possiden:es → et qui emunt, tanquam non possidentes; et qui utuntur hoc torculo, tanquam non utantur → et qui utuntur hoc sæculo, tanquam non utantur; Volo vos siue sollicitudine esse. → Volo vos sine sollicitudine esse.; Non teneat manum tuam a, unde tenendus est Deus. → Non teneat manum tuam, unde tenendus est Deus.; quo potes ad Deum tendere, ct inhærere ei → quo potes ad Deum tendere, et inhærere ei.

Topics: Fasting, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.7 (PL 38:423; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.8PL 38:423–424

Dicis, et respondes mihi: Et Deus scit quia innocenter possideo. Tentatio probat. Turbatur tibi quod possides, et blasphemas. Modo talia patiebamur. Turbatur quod possides, et non inveniris qui eras, et ostendis aliud esse in voce tua nunc, et aliud pridie in voce tua. Atque utinam tuum vel cum clamore defendas, et non alienum cum audacia usurpare coneris: et quod pejus est, ne reprehendaris, quod alienum est tuum esse dicis. Sed quid opus est? Illud moneo, illud dico, fratres, et ego fraterne moneo; Deus jubet, et ego commoneo, quia commoneor. Ille terret me, qui tacere non sinit. De me exigit quod dedit. Dedit enim erogandum, non servandum. Si autem servavero, et abscondero, dicit mihi: Serve nequam et piger, quare non dedisti pecuniam nummulariis, et ego veniens cum usuris eam exigerem? Et mihi quid proderit, quia nihil perdidi ex eo quod accepi? Parum est Domino meo, avarus est: sed avaritia Dei salus nostra est. Avarus est, nummos suos quærit, imaginem suam colligit. Dares, inquit, pecuniam nummulariis, et ego veniens cum usuris exigerem. Et si forte oblivio faceret, ut non vos commonerem; vel tentationes et tribulationes quas patimur, admonerent vos. Certe audistis verbum Dei. Benedictus Dominus et gloria ipsius. Congregati enim estis, et suspendimini in verbo dispensatoris Dei. Non ad carnem nostram attendatis, per quam vobis exhibetur: quia esurientes non attendunt ad vilitatem vasculi, sed ad charitatem cibi. Probat vos Deus. Congregati estis, laudatis verbum Dei; tentatio probabit quomodo audiatis: habebitis negotia, in quibus ostendatur quales estis. Nam et qui hodie conviciose clamat, heri libenter audiebat. Ideo praemoneo, ideo dico, ideo non taceo, fratres mei, quia veniet interrogandi tempus. Dominus enim interrogat justum et impium. Certe hoc cantastis, certe simul cantavimus: Dominus interrogat justum et impium. Et quid sequitur? Qui autem diligit iniquitatem, odit animam suam. Et alio loco: In cogitationibus impii interrogatio erit. Non ubi ego te interrogo, ibi interrogat Deus. Ego interrogo linguam tuam, Deus interrogat cogitationem tuam. Novit autem quomodo audias, et novit quomodo exigat, qui jubet ut dem. Erogatorem me esse voluit, exactionem sibi servavit. Monere, docere, corripere nostrum est: salvare vero et coronare, aut damnare et in gehennas mittere, non est nostrum. Judex autem tradet ministro, minister in carcerem. Amen dico tibi, non exies inde, donec solvas novissimum quadrantem.

You say, and you answer me: “And God knows that I possess innocently.” Temptation proves it. What you possess is disturbed, and you blaspheme. Such things we suffered just now. What you possess is disturbed, and you are not found to be what you were, and you show that one thing is in your voice now, and another was in your voice the day before. And would that you defended your own, even with shouting, and did not try to seize what belongs to another with audacity: and, what is worse, that you are not rebuked because you say that what belongs to another is yours. But what need is there? This I warn, this I say, brothers, and I warn in brotherly fashion; God commands, and I admonish, because I am admonished. He frightens me, who does not let me be silent. He demands from me what he gave. For he gave it to be paid out, not to be kept. But if I keep it and hide it, he says to me: “Wicked and lazy servant, why did you not give my money to the bankers, so that coming I might have demanded it with interest?” And what will it profit me that I lost nothing of what I received? It is too little for my Lord; he is greedy: but God’s greed is our salvation. He is greedy, he seeks his coins, he gathers his image. “You should have given,” he says, “my money to the bankers, and coming I would have demanded it with interest.” And if perhaps forgetfulness caused me not to warn you, the temptations and tribulations we suffer would warn you. Certainly you have heard the word of God. Blessed be the Lord and his glory. For you are gathered, and you hang on the word of God’s steward. Do not look at our flesh, through which it is offered to you: for the hungry do not look at the cheapness of the dish, but at the dearness of the food. God is testing you. You are gathered; you praise the word of God; temptation will prove how you hear: you will have business in which it will be shown what you are. For he who today shouts abuse was yesterday listening gladly. So I warn beforehand, so I speak, so I do not keep silent, my brothers, because the time of questioning will come. For “the Lord questions the righteous and the ungodly.” Certainly you sang this; certainly we sang it together: “The Lord questions the righteous and the ungodly.” And what follows? “But he who loves iniquity hates his own soul.” And in another place: “In the thoughts of the ungodly there will be questioning.” Not where I question you does God question you. I question your tongue; God questions your thought. He knows how you hear, and he knows how to demand, who commands me to give. He wanted me to be the one who pays out; he kept the exacting for himself. To warn, to teach, to rebuke is ours: but to save and crown, or to condemn and send to Gehenna, is not ours. “But the judge will hand over to the officer, the officer to prison. Amen I say to you, you will not come out from there until you pay the last farthing.”

Matt 25:26–27 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 19:22–23 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 11:5 (10:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:25–26 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Temptation tests whether one possesses innocently, as recent troubles showed when some who had listened gladly turned to abuse; Augustine must pay out God’s word or be condemned as the lazy servant, and God, not the preacher, will question each heart.

The opening words “Possessio rerum temporalium unde innocens agnoscitur” (“How possession of temporal things is recognized as innocent”) are Migne’s marginal heading left in the text; not translated. “Such things we suffered just now” refers to a recent disturbance, perhaps over property, in Augustine’s congregation. Quotations: Matt 25:26–27 (Luke 19:22–23); Ezek 3:10 (cf. Ps 72:19); Ps 11:5 (10:6 Vulg.); Wis 1:9 (an extrabiblical text: “in the thoughts of the ungodly there will be questioning”); Matt 5:25–26.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slips; joined words): Possessio rerum temporalium unde innocens agnoscitur: Dicis, ct respondes mihi → Dicis, et respondes mihi; Turbatur libi quod possides, ct blasphemas. → Turbatur tibi quod possides, et blasphemas.; et non inveniris qui cras, et ostendis → et non inveniris qui eras, et ostendis; Atque utinam tuum vel cum clarnore defendas, ctnon alienum cum audacia usurpare coneris: et quod pejus est, IIC reprehendaris → Atque utinam tuum vel cum clamore defendas, et non alienum cum audacia usurpare coneris: et quod pejus est, ne reprehendaris; Illud monco, illud dico, fratres, et ego fraterne monco; Deus jubet, et ego commoneo, quia commoncor. Ille terret me. qui tacere non sinit. → Illud moneo, illud dico, fratres, et ego fraterne moneo; Deus jubet, et ego commoneo, quia commoneor. Ille terret me, qui tacere non sinit.; Deditenim erogandum, non servandum. → Dedit enim erogandum, non servandum.; Serve nequam et piger, qare non dedisti pecuniam → Serve nequam et piger, quare non dedisti pecuniam; Parum est Domico meo, avarus est: sed avaritia Dei salos nostra est. → Parum est Domino meo, avarus est: sed avaritia Dei salus nostra est.; Congregati enim estis, et suspendimlni in verbo dispensatoris Dei. → Congregati enim estis, et suspendimini in verbo dispensatoris Dei.; non attendunt ad vilitatcm vasculi → non attendunt ad vilitatem vasculi; babebitis negotia, in quibus ostendatur → habebitis negotia, in quibus ostendatur; Ideo praemoneo, ideo dico, idco non taceo → Ideo praemoneo, ideo dico, ideo non taceo; Qui autem diligit iniquitatem, odit ammam suam. → Qui autem diligit iniquitatem, odit animam suam..

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:9 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Ethics, Church office

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.8 (PL 38:423–424; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.9PL 38:424

Redeamus ergo ad rem. Perfectio justitiæ quadragenario numero demonstratur. Quid est quadragenarium numerum implere? Continere se ab amore hujus sæculi. Continentia a rebus temporalibus, ne perniciose amentur, quasi jejunare est ab isto sæculo. Ideo Dominus quadraginta diebus jejunavit, et Moyses, et Elias. Qui ergo dedit servis jejunare posse quadraginta diebus, non potuit octoginta vel centum jejunare? Quare noluit amplius quam dederat servis, nisi quia in ipso quadragenario numero est mysterium jejunii, continere ab isto sæculo? Quid est hoc dicere? Quod ait Apostolus: Mundus mihi crucifixus est, et ego mundo. Ipse ergo implet numerum quadragenarium. Et quid ostendit Dominus? Quia hoc Moyses fecit, hoc Elias, hoc Christus, hoc et Lex, hoc et Prophetæ, hoc et Evangelium docet: ne aliud putes esse in Lege, aliud in Prophetis, aliud in Evangelio. Omnes Scripturæ nihil te aliud docent, nisi continentiam ab amore sæculi, ut amor tuus currat in Deum. Figuratur quia hoc docet Lex, quadraginta diebus jejunavit Moyses. Figuratur quia hoc docent Prophetae, quadraginta diebus jejunavit Elias. Figuratur quia hoc docet Evangelium, quadraginta diebus jejunavit Dominus. Ideo et in monte ipsi tres apparuerunt, Dominus in medio, Moyses et Elias a lateribus. Quare? Quia ipsum Evangelium testimonium habet a Lege et Prophetis. Quare autem in quadragenario numero est perfectio justitiae? In Psalterio dictum est: Deus, canticum novum cantabo tibi; in psalterio decem chordarum psallam tibi. Quod significat decem præcepta Legis, quam Dominus non venit solvere, sed adimplere. Ipsa autem Lex per orbem terrarum, quatuor angulos habere constat, orientem, occidentem, meridianum, et aquilonem, sicut dicit Scriptura. Unde et vas, quod portabat figurata omnia animalia, quod demonstratum est Petro, quando dictum est, Macta, et manduca, ut ostenderentur Gentes credituræ et intraturae in corpus Ecclesiæ, sicut quod manducamus in corpus nostrum intrat, quatuor lineis dimissum est de cœlo (ipsae sunt quatuor partes orbis terrarum), totum orbem crediturum ostendit. Ergo in quadragenario numero continentia a sæculo est. Hæc est Legis plenitudo: Legis autem plenitudo charitas. Ideo ante Pascha quadraginta diebus jejunamus. Signum enim est ante Pascha vitæ hujus nostræ laboriosæ, ubi in laboribus et ærumnis, et continentia implemus Legem. Post Pascha autem, id est, resurrectionis Domini dies celebramus, significantes resurrectionem nostram. Ideo quinquaginta dies celebrantur: quia denarii merces additur quadragenario, et fit quinquagenarius. Quomodo est merces denarius? Non legistis quia qui ad vineam conducti sunt, sive illi qui prima, sive qui sexta, sive qui novissima hora, non potuerunt accipere nisi denarium. Justitiæ nostræ cum addita fuerit merces ejus, in quinquagenario erimus. Jam tunc non nobis vacabit nisi laudare Deum. Ideo per illos dies Alleluia dicimus. Alleluia enim laus Dei est. In ista fragilitate mortalitatis, in isto quadragenario hic, velut ante resurrectionem, gemamus in orationibus, ut tunc laudemus. Modo tempus est desiderandi, tunc tempus erit amplectendi et fruendi. Non deficiamus in tempore quadragenario, ut gaudeamus in tempore quinquagenario.

Let us return, then, to the matter. The perfection of righteousness is shown by the number forty. What is it to fulfill the number forty? To restrain oneself from love of this world. Restraint from temporal things, lest they be loved harmfully, is as it were fasting from this world. That is why the Lord fasted forty days, and Moses, and Elijah. He who gave his servants the power to fast forty days, could he not fast eighty or a hundred? Why did he not want more than he had given his servants, except that in the number forty itself is the mystery of fasting, restraint from this world? What does this mean? What the apostle says: “The world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” He, then, fulfills the number forty. And what did the Lord show? That Moses did this, Elijah did this, Christ did this; that the law teaches this, the prophets this, the Gospel this: lest you think there is one thing in the law, another in the prophets, another in the Gospel. All the Scriptures teach you nothing but restraint from love of the world, so that your love may run toward God. It is figured that the law teaches this: Moses fasted forty days. It is figured that the prophets teach this: Elijah fasted forty days. It is figured that the Gospel teaches this: the Lord fasted forty days. That is why on the mountain those three appeared, the Lord in the middle, Moses and Elijah at the sides. Why? Because the Gospel itself has testimony from the law and the prophets. But why is the perfection of righteousness in the number forty? In the Psalter it is said: “God, I will sing you a new song; on a ten-stringed psaltery I will play to you.” This signifies the ten commandments of the law, which the Lord came not to abolish but to fulfill. And the law itself throughout the world is agreed to have four corners, east, west, south, and north, as Scripture says. Hence too the vessel which carried all the animals as figures, which was shown to Peter when it was said, “Kill and eat,” to show that the Gentiles would believe and enter the body of the church, as what we eat enters our body, was let down from heaven by four cords (these are the four parts of the world), and showed that the whole world would believe. So in the number forty is restraint from the world. This is the fullness of the law: “but the fullness of the law is love.” That is why we fast forty days before Easter. For it is a sign, before Easter, of this laborious life of ours, where in labors and troubles and self-restraint we fulfill the law. But after Easter, that is, we celebrate the days of the Lord’s resurrection, signifying our resurrection. That is why fifty days are celebrated: because the denarius, the reward, is added to forty, and it becomes fifty. How is the denarius the reward? Have you not read that those who were hired for the vineyard, whether at the first, or the sixth, or the last hour, could receive only a denarius? When its reward has been added to our righteousness, we shall be in the fifty. Then we shall have leisure for nothing but praising God. That is why through those days we say Alleluia. For Alleluia is the praise of God. In this frailty of mortality, in this forty here, as before the resurrection, let us groan in prayers, so that then we may praise. Now is the time of desiring; then will be the time of embracing and enjoying. Let us not faint in the time of forty, so that we may rejoice in the time of fifty.

Matt 4:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 34:28 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 19:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 6:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 17:1–3 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 144:9 (143:9 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 10:11–13 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 13:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 20:1–10 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Forty signifies the fulfillment of the law, the ten commandments spread to the four corners of the world, which is restraint from love of the world, taught alike by Moses, Elijah, and Christ in their forty-day fasts; Lent figures this life of labor, and the fifty days after Easter, forty plus the denarius of reward, figure the eternal praise of the resurrection.

Migne’s marginal headings (“9. The number forty in the fasts of Moses, Elijah, and Christ. Forty days before Easter, fifty days after Easter”) were removed by the importer. Quotations and allusions: Matt 4:2; Exod 34:28; 1 Kgs 19:8; Gal 6:14; Matt 17:1–3; Ps 144:9 (143:9 Vulg.); Matt 5:17; Acts 10:11–13; Rom 13:10; Matt 20:1–10. The ten commandments times four corners make forty; forty plus ten (the denarius) make fifty: Augustine’s number symbolism.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slips): Quid est quadragenarium numer'ura implere? Continere sc ab amore hujus sæculi. → Quid est quadragenarium numerum implere? Continere se ab amore hujus sæculi.; Ideo Dominus quadraginta dicbus jejunavit, et Moyses, et Elias. Qui cigo dedit servis → Ideo Dominus quadraginta diebus jejunavit, et Moyses, et Elias. Qui ergo dedit servis; Quare noluit amplius qnam dcderat servis, nisi quia in ipso quadragcnario nnmero est mysterium jejunii, continere ab isto sacculo? → Quare noluit amplius quam dederat servis, nisi quia in ipso quadragenario numero est mysterium jejunii, continere ab isto sæculo?; hoe et Prophetæ, hoc et Evangelium docet: nealiud putes esse in Lege → hoc et Prophetæ, hoc et Evangelium docet: ne aliud putes esse in Lege; Quia ipsum Evangelium testimonium habet a Lege et Propbetis. Quare autem in quadragenario numero est perfectio justitiae! → Quia ipsum Evangelium testimonium habet a Lege et Prophetis. Quare autem in quadragenario numero est perfectio justitiae?; Quod signilieat deeem præcepta Legis, quam Dominus non venit solvere, sed admplere. → Quod significat decem præcepta Legis, quam Dominus non venit solvere, sed adimplere.; orientem, occidentem, meridianum, et aquitonem, sicut dicit Scriptura. Undo et vas → orientem, occidentem, meridianum, et aquilonem, sicut dicit Scriptura. Unde et vas; quatuor lincis dimissum est de cœlo → quatuor lineis dimissum est de cœlo; Ergo in quadragenario numero continentia a sæculo est Hæc est Legis plenitudo: Lcgis autem plenitudo charitas. → Ergo in quadragenario numero continentia a sæculo est. Hæc est Legis plenitudo: Legis autem plenitudo charitas.; Post Pascha autcm, id est, resurrectionis Domini dies celebramus, significantes resurrectionem noslram. → Post Pascha autem, id est, resurrectionis Domini dies celebramus, significantes resurrectionem nostram.; quia denarii merces additur qundragcnario → quia denarii merces additur quadragenario; in quinquagenario crimus. Jam tunc non nohis vacabit nisi laudare Deum. Idco per illos dies → in quinquagenario erimus. Jam tunc non nobis vacabit nisi laudare Deum. Ideo per illos dies; in isto quadragenario hic, velat ante resurrectionem, gemamus in orationibus, ut tunc laudemus '. → in isto quadragenario hic, velut ante resurrectionem, gemamus in orationibus, ut tunc laudemus.; ut gaudeamus In tempore quinquagenario → ut gaudeamus in tempore quinquagenario.

Topics: Fasting, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.9 (PL 38:424; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.10PL 38:424–425

Quis est autem qui implet Legem, nisi qui habuerit charitatem? Interroga Apostolum: Plenitudo Legis charitas. Omnis enim Lex in uno sermone impleta est, in eo quod scriptum est, Diliges proximum tuum tanquam te ipsum. Sed præceptum charitatis geminum est: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota mente tua. Hoc præceptum magnum est. Alterum huic simile: Diliges proximum tuum tanquam te ipsum. Domini verba sunt in Evangelio: In his duobus præceptis tota Lex pendet et Prophetæ. Sine dilectione gemina Lex impleri non potest. Quamdiu non impletur Lex, infirmitas est. Ideo duo minus habebat, qui triginta octo annos infirmus erat. Quid est, duo minus habebat? Duo praecepta illa non implebat. Quid prodest quia caetera implentur, si illa non implentur? Triginta octo habes? si illa duo non habueris, cætera nihil tibi proderunt. Minus habes duo, sine quibus nihil valeant caetera, si non habueris duo præcepta, quæ perducunt ad salutem. Si linguis hominum loquar et Angelorum, charitatem autem non habeam, factus sum æramentum sonans, aut cymbalum tinniens. Et si sciero omnia sacramenta et omnem adatiam, et si habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes transferam; charitatem autem non habeam, nihil sum. Et si distribuero omnem substantiam meam, et si tradidero corpus meum ut ardeam; charitatem autem non habeam, nihil mihi prodest (I Cor. XIII, i -5). Apostoli verba sunt. Illa ergo omnia quae dixit, quasi triginta octo anni sunt: sed quia charitas ibi non erat, infirmitas erat. Quis ergo ab ista infirmitate sanabit, nisi qui venit dare charitatem? Mandatum novum do vobis, ut vos invicem diligatis. Et quia venit dare charitatem, et charitas perficit Legem; merito dixit, Non veni Legem solvere, sed implere. Sanavit aegrotum, et dixit illi ut ferret grabatum suum, et iret in domum suam. Hoc et paralytico, quem sanavit, dixit. Quid est ferre grabatum nostrum? Voluptatem carnis nostræ. Ubi infirmi jacemus, quasi lectus noster est. Sed qui sanati fuerint, continent et ferunt eam, non ab ipsa carne continentur. Ergo sanus contine fragilitatem carnis tuæ, ut signo quadragenarii jejunii ab isto sæculo, impleas quadragenarium numerum, qui sanavit illum ægrotum, qui non venit Legem solvere, sed implere.

But who is it who fulfills the law, except one who has love? Ask the apostle: “The fullness of the law is love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in what is written, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But the commandment of love is twofold: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” They are the Lord’s words in the Gospel: “On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets.” Without the twofold love the law cannot be fulfilled. As long as the law is not fulfilled, there is sickness. That is why he who was sick thirty-eight years was two short. What does “two short” mean? He was not fulfilling those two commandments. What does it profit that the rest are fulfilled, if those are not fulfilled? You have thirty-eight? If you do not have those two, the rest will profit you nothing. You are two short, without which the rest are worth nothing, if you do not have the two commandments that lead to salvation. “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I distribute all my substance, and if I hand over my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” They are the apostle’s words. So all the things he said are like thirty-eight years: but because love was not there, there was sickness. Who, then, will heal from this sickness, if not he who came to give love? “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another.” And because he came to give love, and love fulfills the law, rightly he said, “I came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.” He healed the sick man and told him to carry his bed and go home. This he also said to the paralytic whom he healed. What is it to carry our bed? The pleasure of our flesh. Where we lie sick, that is as it were our bed. But those who have been healed hold it in and carry it; they are not held in by the flesh itself. So, healthy, hold in the frailty of your flesh, so that by the sign of the forty-day fast from this world you may fulfill the number forty, by him who healed that sick man, who came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

Rom 13:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 22:37–40 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:1–3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:17 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Mark 2:11 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The law is fulfilled only by love of God and neighbor; the sick man of thirty-eight years lacked two of forty, the two commandments of love, without which all else is worthless; Christ, who came to give love and fulfill the law, healed him and told him to carry his bed, that is, to master the flesh.

Migne’s marginal heading (“The law is not fulfilled without love”) was removed by the importer. Quotations: Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14; Matt 22:37–40; 1 Cor 13:1–3 (Augustine’s Latin, “all knowledge”: the digital text reads “adatiam”, translated as scientiam); John 13:34; Matt 5:17; John 5:8; Mark 2:11.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): nisi qui habucrit charitatem? luterroga Apostolum → nisi qui habuerit charitatem? Interroga Apostolum; Omnis enim Lex in uno scrmone impleta est → Omnis enim Lex in uno sermone impleta est; Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto cordc tuo → Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo; In his duobus præceptis tota Lex peudet et Prophetæ. → In his duobus præceptis tota Lex pendet et Prophetæ.; Quamdiu non impletur Lcx, infirmitas est. → Quamdiu non impletur Lex, infirmitas est.; si illa duo non babueris, cætera nihil tibi proderunt. Minus habes duo, sine quibus nibil valeant caetera → si illa duo non habueris, cætera nihil tibi proderunt. Minus habes duo, sine quibus nihil valeant caetera; sed quia charitas ibi non eral, infirmitas crat. → sed quia charitas ibi non erat, infirmitas erat.; Sanavit aegrotum, et dixit illi ut ferret grabatum suum, ct iret in domum suam. → Sanavit aegrotum, et dixit illi ut ferret grabatum suum, et iret in domum suam.; continent et ferunt cam, non ab ipsa carne continentur. Ergo sanus contine fragilitatem caruis tuæ, ut signo quadragenarii jejunii ab isto sacculo → continent et ferunt eam, non ab ipsa carne continentur. Ergo sanus contine fragilitatem carnis tuæ, ut signo quadragenarii jejunii ab isto sæculo; qui sanavit illum ægrotum, quj non venit Legem solvere, sod implere. → qui sanavit illum ægrotum, qui non venit Legem solvere, sed implere..

Topics: Ethics, Fasting

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.10 (PL 38:424–425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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125.11PL 38:425

Hoc audito, dirigite cor vestrum in Deum. Nolite vos fallere. Tunc vos interrogate, quando bene est in sæculo; tunc vos interrogate, si amatis hunc mundum, aut si non amatis; discite dimittere, antequam dimittamini. Quid est dimittere? Animo non amare. Cum adhuc tecum est quod amissurus es, aut vivus, aut moriens illud dimittis, non potest tecum esse semper: cum ergo adhuc tecum est, solve amorem; paratus esto in voluntate Dei, suspendere in Deum. Tene te ad illum quem non amittis invitus; ut si contigerit ut amittas ista temporalia, dicas: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est: sit nomen Domini benedictum. Si autem contigerit, et hoc vult Deus, ut illa quæ habes tecum sint usque in finem; solutus ab hac vita, accipis denarium quinquagenarium, et fit in te perfectio beatitudinis, cum cantas Alleluia. Hæc habentes in memoria quae commemoravi, valeant ut non diligatis sæculum. Mala est amicitia ipsius, fallax est, inimicum facit Deum. Cito in una tentatione offendit Deum homo, et fit inimicus. Imo non tune fit inimicus; sed tunc proditur inimicus fuisse. Nam quando diligebat et laudabat, inimicus erat; sed nec ipse sciebat, nec alii. Accedit tentatio, tangitur vena, et proditur febris. Itaque, fratres, dilectio mundi, et amicitia mundi inimicos Deo facit. Et ipse non exhibet quod promisit, mendax est, et fallit. Ideo homines non cessant sperare in isto sæculo, et quis pervenit ad omnia quae sperat? Sed ad quæcumque pervenerit, continuo hoc vilescit ei quo pervenit. Incipiunt alia desiderari, alia cara sperantur: quae dum venerint, quidquid tibi venit, vilescit. Tene ergo Deum, quia nunquam vilescit, quia pulchrius nihil est. Propterea enim vilescunt ista, quia non possunt stare, quia non sunt quod ipse. Tibi enim, o anima, non sufficit, nisi qui te creavit. Quidquid aliud apprehendis, miserum est: quia libi solus ille potest sufficere qui ad similitudinem suam te fecit. Ex ipsa voce dictum est, Domine, ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis. Ibi tantum potest esse securitas: et ubi potest esse securitas, quod;.... modo ibi erit satietas insatiabilis. Nam neque satiaberis, ut velis discedere; neque aliquid deerit, ut quasi inopiam patiaris.

Having heard this, direct your heart toward God. Do not deceive yourselves. Question yourselves then, when it goes well in the world; question yourselves then whether you love this world or do not love it; learn to let go before you are let go. What is it to let go? Not to love in the mind. While what you are going to lose is still with you, either living or dying you let it go; it cannot be with you always: so while it is still with you, loosen your love; be ready, in the will of God, to hang upon God. Hold yourself to him whom you do not lose against your will; so that if it happens that you lose these temporal things, you may say: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it was done: blessed be the name of the Lord.” But if it happens, and God wills this, that the things you have stay with you to the end, freed from this life, you receive the denarius of the fifty, and the perfection of blessedness comes to be in you when you sing Alleluia. Having these things I have recalled in memory, let them avail so that you do not love the world. Its friendship is bad, it is deceitful, it makes God an enemy. Quickly, in one temptation, a man offends God and becomes an enemy. Rather, he does not become an enemy then; but then he is exposed as having been an enemy. For when he loved and praised, he was an enemy; but neither he himself knew it, nor others. Temptation comes, the vein is touched, and the fever is revealed. So, brothers, love of the world and friendship with the world make men enemies of God. And it does not deliver what it promised; it is a liar, and deceives. That is why people do not cease to hope in this world; and who reaches all he hopes for? But whatever he reaches, at once what he has reached grows cheap to him. Other things begin to be desired, other dear things are hoped for: and when they come, whatever has come to you grows cheap. So hold to God, because he never grows cheap, because nothing is more beautiful. For these things grow cheap because they cannot stand, because they are not what he is. For nothing is enough for you, O soul, but he who created you. Whatever else you grasp is wretched: because he alone can be enough for you who made you in his likeness. In that very voice it was said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” There alone can there be security: and where there can be security, there in a way will be an insatiable satisfaction. For you will neither be so sated as to want to leave, nor will anything be lacking, so as to suffer want as it were.

Job 1:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 4:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 20:9–10 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: One should test one’s love of the world while things go well, letting go in the heart before possessions are lost; friendship with the world makes one God’s enemy and always disappoints, while God alone, who made the soul in his likeness, satisfies it without ever growing cheap.

Migne’s marginal headings (“11. Temporal things to be let go in the mind. Temptation usually does not make a man a sinner but reveals him”) were removed by the importer; the first sentence, “Having heard this, direct your heart toward God,” also removed as a heading, is Augustine’s and is restored. Quotations: Job 1:21; Jas 4:4; John 14:8; Gen 1:26. The denarius of the fifty: see 125.9. The ending of the sermon is damaged in the digital text (“quod;....”); translated as it stands.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips and stray footnote letter; OCR slips and stray footnote number; restored text removed as a heading): Nolite vos fallere. Tunc vos interrogate → Hoc audito, dirigite cor vestrum in Deum. Nolite vos fallere. Tunc vos interrogate; Tunc vos interrogate, quando bene est in sacculo; tunc vos interrogate, si amatis hunc mundum, aut si non amalis; discitc dimittere → Tunc vos interrogate, quando bene est in sæculo; tunc vos interrogate, si amatis hunc mundum, aut si non amatis; discite dimittere; Quid cst dimittere? → Quid est dimittere?; cum ergo adhuc tecum cst, solve amorem; paratus esto in voluntate Dei, susp nderc in Deum. → cum ergo adhuc tecum est, solve amorem; paratus esto in voluntate Dei, suspendere in Deum.; sicul Domino placuit, ita factum est → sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est; Si amem contigerit, et hoc vult Deus → Si autem contigerit, et hoc vult Deus; accipis denarium quinquagenerium 1, et fit in te perfectio beatitudinis, cum cantis Alleluia. → accipis denarium quinquagenarium, et fit in te perfectio beatitudinis, cum cantas Alleluia.; inimicum facit Deum (aj. Cito in una tentatione oflendit Deum homo → inimicum facit Deum. Cito in una tentatione offendit Deum homo; Nam quando diligebat et laudabat,:inimicus erat; sed nee ipse sciebat → Nam quando diligebat et laudabat, inimicus erat; sed nec ipse sciebat; Ideo homines non cessant sperare in isto sæcudo → Ideo homines non cessant sperare in isto sæculo; Sed ad quxcumque pervenerit,.continuo hoc vilescit ei quo pervenit. → Sed ad quæcumque pervenerit, continuo hoc vilescit ei quo pervenit.; Proptera enim vilescunt ista → Propterea enim vilescunt ista; Ex ipsa voce dictum cst, Domine, ostende nobis Patrem → Ex ipsa voce dictum est, Domine, ostende nobis Patrem; Ibi tantum potest esse scuritas → Ibi tantum potest esse securitas; neque aliquid decrit, ut quasi inopiam patiaris → neque aliquid deerit, ut quasi inopiam patiaris.

Topics: Ethics, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 125.11 (PL 38:425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/125-1/#p-125-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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