# Tractates - Author: [Gaudentius of Brescia](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/gaudentius-of-brescia/) - Latin title: *Tractatus* - Date: ca. 397-410 (approximate) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, vol. 20 (Paris, 1844-1864), digital text of the printed volume, reprinting the edition of P. Galeardi (Padua, 1720); the editors' notes are not reproduced (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 20, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: The standard modern edition is A. Glück, ed., Gaudentii episcopi Brixiensis tractatus, CSEL 68 (Vienna: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1936); the later edition is in CCSL 68 (1971). Cited only, not reproduced. - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/ - Passages: 22 ## Tractates 0 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/0/#p-0 - Source: PL 20:827a–844a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: Gaudentius's preface to Benivolus, who had missed the Easter sermons through illness, explains why he writes them down and argues that illness and suffering come to believers for correction, purgation, or proving, not always as punishment for sin. ### Latin text SERVO CHRISTI BENIVOLO GAUDENTIUS Communis voti fuerat, ut ea quae de divinis eloquiis per paschales dies proxime praeteritos explanavi, coram valuisses audire. Cum enim semper, tum praecipue diebus festis praesentia tua nobis merito grata est in ecclesiae Brixianae conventu, Nam sicut honoratorum nostrae urbis, ita etiam Dominicae plebis, Domino annuente, dignissimum caput es, quia non minore diligentia servare studes Dei praecepta, quam discere; robustam catholicae fidei professionem praeclarae vitae meritis aequiparare contendens, ut habeat sincera fides opera suae puritatis nitore condigna. Qua in re maximus docentis fructus est, et immortalis utilitas audientis, dicente Apostolo: Non auditores tantum, sed factores legis justificabuntur apud Deum (Rom. ii). Nec mirum si hodie taliter in timore Domini converseris, qui, necdum percepta Baptismi gratia, ita pro fidei coelestis veritate pugnasti, ut imbutum te admirabilibus doctrinis Apostolici per omnia viri patris nostri Philastrii, tantae constantiae testimonium approbarit. Nostri namque temporis Regina Jezabel, Arianae perfidiae patrona simul ac socia, cum beatissimum persequeretur Ambrosium, Ecclesiae Mediolanensis antistitem, te quoque ea tempestate Magistrum memoriae, oblitum salutaris fidei arbitrata, contra catholicas dictare Ecclesias compellebat, quod ne faceres, ultro et promotionis pollicitae dignitatem, et ambitionem saeculi, gloriamque mundanam, pro Dei gloria contempsisti, magis eligens privatus vivere, quam mortuus militare. Vere enim moritur apud Deum, qui ab apostolicae fidei veritate discedit, cui Christus Deus, qui vita est, amputatur, dum aeternae Trinitatis homoousion deneganti subtrahitur. Sed ut ad propositam causationem redeam, ex ingenti aegritudine tuum n tunc adhuc corpus invalidum, ne supradictae festivitati interesses, inhibuit, unde vehementer dolebas, omnino fraudem tibi spiritualium bonorum reputans peccatis urgentibus irrogatam: ac propterea singulare quoddam dispendii memorati remedium magnopere exegisti, ut scriberem quid unaquaque die illius sacratissimae hebdomadis, sanctae fraternitati a me expositum meminissem. Quod plane ego mediocritatis meae conscius, litteris credere non auderem, nisi tu religiosa instantia compulisses, satis est enim mihi, si instruere commissam plebem viva saltem voce sufficiam. Sciens itaque verum divinae sapientiae amatorem non super assertione inutilium rerum inanis eloquentiae pompam quaerere, sed salutarem de Scripturis sanctis explanationum congruentium desiderare doctrinam, scribere tibi aggrediar omnino iisdem sensibus, et fortasse etiam verbis, quibus me in Ecclesia locutum esse reminiscor, ut loquelam meam, qualiscumque est, facile, cum legeris, recognoscas. Quatuor praeterea breviores tractatus, quos de diversis capitulis Evangelii apud te olim fuisse me locutum prodidisti, et quintum de Machabaeis martyribus, emendatos tibi, quoniam cogis, remittam, ut eos, si ulla utili memoria dignos arbitraris, in postrema parte schedulae hujus simul transcribendos adjungas. De illis vero tractatibus, quos notariis (ut comperi) latenter appositis, procul dubio interruptos, et semiplenos otiosa quorumdam studia colligere praesumpserunt, nihil ad me attinet. Mea jam non sunt, quae constat praecipiti excipientium festinatione esse conscripta: vereor tamen, ne aliqua sub sermonis mei titulo sanae fidei inimica alieni errores involvant, et efficiantur sempiterni criminis rei, qni fuerint incautae Praesumptionis auctores. Ergo quoniam desiderio tuo negare operam non potui postulatam, breviter tibi prius ostendam, non semper aegritudinum plagas pro peccatorum cumulo nostris corporibus irrogari. Humani corporis natura, ex quo sententiam mortalitatis excepit: Tu terra es, et in terram ibis (Gen. iii), infirmitatibus variis subjacet, sine discretione cujusquam; et quamvis peccatores nos esse salubriter fateamur, non tamen vel ex vigore, vel ex debilitate carnis, meritorum ponderandae sunt qualitates, cum frequenter idolorum cultores sanitate corporis, ac bonis hujus saeculi perfruantur, et e contra divino cultui inhaerentes aegritudinum, ac tribulationum vexatione quassentur. Nam legimus Abimelech gentilem regnasse (Gen. xx), et Abraham sanctum peregrinationis molestias pertulisse (Gen. xii): et illius Laban Syri idololatrae mercenarium fuisse sanctum Jacob: et Moysen justum, regnante impio Pharaone, latuisse metuentem in terra Madian (Exod. ii, iii): et Eliam mirificum a facie persequentis Reginae Jezabel fugisse ad solitudinem (III Reg. xviii, xix). In novo autem Testamento Joannes, Prophetarum maximus, post longum squalorem feralis custodiae (Matth. xiv), post iniquas contumelias vinculorum (Marc. vi), decollatur in carcere: et Herodes sacrilegus, qui eum jussit occidi, epulatur cum principibus suis, et tribunis, et primoribus Galilaeae discumbens: ebrius non solum vino, sed ipsius etiam cruore Baptistae. Et sicut in Apocalypsi de Babylone scribitur, vel urbe, vel gente, vel unaquaque anima, errorum caligine, vitiorumque carnalium permixtione confusa ( interpretatur enim confusio Babylon): Et vidi, inquit, mulierem ebriam de sanguine sanctorum (Apoc. xvii). Verum haec Dei patientia quorsum evadat, ipse Salvator docet in Evangelio, dicens: Homo quidam erat dives, qui induebatur purpura, et bysso, et epulabatur quotidie splendide: pauper autem quidam, nomine Lazarus, jacebat ad januas ejus ulceribus plenus, et cupiebat saturari de his quae cadebant de mensa divitis: sed et canes veniebant, et lingebant ulcera ejus. Factum est autem ut moreretur pauper, et portaretur ab Angelis in sinum Abrahae: dives vero mortuus sisteretur ad inferna supplicia (Luc. xvi); et obsecraret istius pauperis tincto in aqua digito refrigerari linguam suam, quod tamen promereri non potuit, in tormentis flammae inexstinguibilis constitutus. Ad hanc servatur poenam prosperitas impiorum; et e contra ad illam beatitudinem perducitur justorum tribulatio, ut cum sancto Abraham Patriarcha, in aeterna vita requiescere mereantur, qui angustias vitae hujus fideli patientia tolerantes, de saeculo isto migraverint. Unde dicebat Dominus: Intrate per angustam portam, quia lata, et spatiosa via est quae ducit ad perditionem, et multi sunt qui intrant per illam (Matth. vii). Quam angusta est porta, et arcta est via, quae ducit ad vitam, et pauci sunt qui inveniunt eam (Luc. xiii). Propter hoc et sanctus Apostolus gloriari se in infirmitatibus suis praedicat: Cum enim infirmor, ait, tunc potens sum (II Cor. xii). Sanctum quoque Timotheum assiduis aegritudinibus laborasse, idem beatissimus prodidit apostolus Paulus scribens ad eum: Noli amplius aquam bibere; sed vino modico utere, propter stomachum, et frequentes tuas infirmitates (I Tim. v). Quaerat fortasse quispiam divitum, dicens: Ergo malitiose Deus dedit divitias, si propter eas divitem torquet. Vult enim videri humanus error, non modo cum venia, sed etiam cum ratione peccare. Non malitiose, sed providenter te fecit Deus divitem, ut per opera misericordae invenires peccatorum tuorum vulneribus medicinam. Elcemosyna quippe a morte liberat, et ipsa mundat ab omni peccato (Tob. xii). Non enim ob hoc cruciatur ille quia dives fuit, sed quoniam ipso epulante pauper Lazarus esuriit. Caeterum et ipse sanctus Abraham dives fuerat, sed peregrinorum, indigentium me mancipium. Sanctus quoque Job regnum tenebat Arabiae, sed (ut scriptum est) nulla vidua, nullus pauper, domum ejus sion vacuo exibat. Denique in doloribus constituto exprobrantur per mulierem opera misericordiae, quae frustra exercuerit: Et ecce, inquit, quoe pateris (Job. ii). Heu venenata diri serpentis astutia; quoniam a bonis operibus famulum Dei revocare non valuit, incumbebat ut benefacti poenitudine fructum perderet pietatis! Caveant ergo infructuosi locupletes terribile exemplum illius sine misericordia Divitis collegae sui, ne ad similia tormenta ducantur: magis autem faciant elcemosynas largiter, frequenter, gratulanter. Hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus (II Cor. ix). Distribuant opes suas egenis, acquirant sibi thesauros in coelo, ubi neque aerugo, neque tinea corrumpit, neque fures effodiunt et furantur (Matth. vi); ut de hoc saeculo exeuntes possint invenire refrigerium in sinu illius vere divitis Abrahae. Haec ad quaestionem, quae occurrerat, breviter respondisse sufficiat. Illa autem quae superius comprehensa sunt idcirco memoravi, ut f nemo nostrum scandalizetur in cogitatione sua, nemo nostrum murmurare audeat contra Deum, si videamus injustos, idololatras, blasphemes, continua salubritate corporis frui, florere honoribus mundi, caducis opibus redundare; e contrario nos tribulationibus variis confici, doloribus carnis affligi, paupertatis necessitatibus subjacere. Novit universorum arbiter Deus qua providentia suos verberet; et qua ratione parcat impiis in hoc mundo. Nec plane ignoramus ab Apostolo beatissimo nos eruditi, quod longa erga iniquos bonitas Del aut ad conversionem provocat sentientes, aut ad justiorem poenarum sententiam reservat ingratos: An, inquit, divitias bonitatis ejus, et patientiae, et longanimitatis contemnis, ignorans quod bonitas Dei ad poenitentiam te invitat? Tu vero secundum duritiam tuam, et cor impoenitens, thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae, et revelationis justi judicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus (Rom. ii). Reservatur enim in diem Judicii Illa retributio generalis: in hoc autem saeculo idcirco interdum quidam vel blasphemi, vel apostatae, tormentis insanabilibus consumuntur, ut caeteri eorum suppliciis terreantur. Pietatis vero cultores, quod interdum vel corporis doloribus, vel variis tribulationibus afflictantur, triplex esse ratio invenitur: l prima correctionis, secunda purgationis, tertia probationis. Hominem fidei apostolicae inhaerentem, si frequenter in quibusdam peccare videat Deus, sic peccatorem suum verberat ut emendet, ut salutari admonitione flectat ad poenitentiam: negligentem, ne tolerabili ultione dilata, gehennae inextinguibili fiat obnoxius. Eum quoque quem pudice conversantem, ac juste, quaedam tamen improbarum cogitationum maculae resperserunt, idcirco Dominus nunc et tribulationum et aegritudinum flagello castigat, ne In illo aliquid, sordium futurus ignis inveniat, sed ut per exiguas plagas brevissimi temporis, ab omnibus purgatus maculis securior ad aeternam migrare requiem mereatur. Haec est amantis Dei consulta erga peccatores suos, ac pia severitas. Scriptum est enim: Quoniam quem diligit Deus, verberat: flagellat autem omnem filium, quem recipit (Hebr. xii). Unde merito misericordem Deum quisque nostrum praedicat Prophetae doctus eloquio: Castigans castigavit me Dominus, et morti non tradidit me ( Ps. cxvii). Justos vero, et inculpabiles quosque, sicut sanctum Job (de quo sci ibi tu r (Job. i) quod fuerit bomo sine querela, verus Dei cultor), hac de causa Deus omnipotens vel damnis facultatum, vel orbitatibus charorum, vel angustiis persecutionum, vel dolorum carnalium stimulis lentari permittit, ut probet. Probat autem non sibi, qui ante novit universa quam fiant,.sed Angelis, et hominibus, ut cos ex factis probos noverint, quoniam conscientias intueri non possunt, quas solus novit scrutans corda et renes Deus. Ipse enim novit occulta cordis, ut Prophetae sermo testatur (Ps. vii). Et ideo forsitan beatus Apostolus, inter multiplicium tribulationum, persecutionumque tentacula constitutus, aiebat: Quoniam spectaculum facti sumus huic mundo, et Angelis, et hominibus (I Cor. iv). Angelis quidem justos Deus probari ideo vult, ut consummatam sanctorum justitiam laetantes agnoscant. Laetantur enim beati Angeli in coelo, ut ait Dominus Jesus, etiam super uno peccatore poenitentiam agente (Luc. xv). Hominibus autem probatam esse vult perfectionem justorum, ut ad perseverantiam dilectionis Dei eorum provocentur exemplo. Diabolo etiam probatam vult ingerere Deus sanctorum justitiam, ut eos bonorum operum meritis debite ad amicitiam Dei, et ad regnum coeli unde ipse cecidit, doleat esse provectos; doleat, indignetur, invident, ingemiscat, nec tamen audeat quidquam de judicio divino causari. Probationis igitur gratia mirificus Job (Job. i), ex opulento repente inops efficitur, ex patre decem natorum sine filiis invenitur, ex vegeto ac sano vulneratus, ex florentissimo vermibus exaratus aspicitur, ex glorioso opprobriis expositus reperitur: opprobriis autem et amicorum exprobrantium, et (quod esset gravius) propriae conjugis, quae non ad solatium dolorum ejus, sed ad ultimam tentationem docetur esse servatu. Nam cogebat eum loqui verba blasphemiae replicans ei justitiae ejus opera quae incas sum gessisset, qui ad tot miseriarum genera pervenisset. Quapropter inquit: Dic aliquem sermonem contra Dominum, et morere (Job. ii). Mortem blasphemanti debitam pro remedio aerumnarum suggerit acquirendam callidus iterum per mulierem serpens; ut palmam patientiae: auferat fortissimo bellatori, et interitum congerat victo, quia blasphemantis furor non medelam doloribus praestat, sed cruciatum mortis accumulat: illius quippe mortis quae nec finem miseriis tribuat, et exordium sil poenarum, quas ultor Deus blasphemantibus praeparavit. AI ille beatissimus intelligens callido antiquae artis argumento, diabolum rursus per mulierem venenum mortis ingerere, sic respondit: Velut una, inquit, ex insipientibus mulieribus locuta es (Ibid.), pulsans videlicet unam, de qua omnis. Et adjecit: Si bona suscepimus de manu Domini, mala cur non tolerabimus? Et in alio loco: Nudus exivi de utero matris nudus iterum revertar in terram: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est, sit nomen Domini benedictum (Job. i), Inter dispendia omnium facultatum, inter funera tot natorum, inter atrocissimos sui corporis cruciatus, et intestinos dolores opprobrii conjugalis, laudat et magnificat omnipotentem Dominum verus Dei cultor. Et nos itaque si cultores Dei sumus, imitemur patientiam triumphalem, quam solam spoliatus universis non solum facultatibus, atque pignoribus, sed ipsis etiam corporis sui carnibus, inconcussa fide, possidet verus Dei cultor. Verus enim Dei cultor ille est, cujus fides inter adversa non deficit, cujus lingua benedicere nomen Domini sui in omni angustiarum tempore, in omni tribulationum plaga non desinit, dicens: Benedicam Domino in omni tempore, semper laus ejus in ore meo (Ps. xxxiii). Si peccator es, agnosce pro correctione tua esse quod caederis, vel certe pro purgatione, sicut supra disserui. Si autem justus es, nomen quidem justi praesumere non audebis, intelliges tamen ad gloriae tuae probationem evenire quod pateris. Scriptum est enim: Vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines justos tentatio tribulationis (Eccl. xxvii). Ideo sanctus quoque Apostolus dicit: Tribulatio patientiam operatur, patientia probationem, probatio spem, spes autem non confundit (Rom. v). Ergo quoniam vel ad probationem justis, vel ad emendationem peccatoribus, vel ad poenam sacrilegis, varii cruciatus in hoc saeculo irrogantur; et quibusdam mortiferae sunt istae plagae, quibusdam salutares: propterea cum distinctione summa scribitur in libro Psalmorum, de pertinacibus quidem malis ita: Mors peccatorum pessima, et qui oderunt justum delinquent (Ps. xxxiii); utique eorum peccatorum pessimam testatur mortem, qui in scelere delictorum permanere cupientes, oderunt verberantem justum; de emendabilibus autem, Multa, inquit, flagella peccatorum (Ps. xxxi): de sanctis vero, Multae, ait, tribulationes justorum (Ps. xxxiii). Nec difficile omnino est unicuique spirituali, ut hanc diversitatem ex fructibus cujusque dijudicet, dicente Domino: Ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos. Nam confusa esse apud nos omnia, philosophi Gentilium judicant; cum spiritualis homo discernat, et dijudicet omnia, ut ait Apostolus, ipse autem a nemine judicetur (I Cor. ii). Nonnulli enim prudentium saeculi, sapientiae coelestis ignari, dum volunt fortuita astruere universa quae creator omnium Deus justo moderamine providenter exercet, ita loquuntur: Si Dei providentia gubernaretur hic mundus, numquam promiscue bonos, et malos tribulationum, dolorum, aerumnarum, atque aegritudinum plagae conficerent, quia divinae aequitatis non esset, disparibus meritis plagas irrogare consimiles: sed problematis hujus invidia facile evacuatur usitato veritatis exemplo. Notum namque est omnibus, quod et ferri acies, et ignis ustio, vel ad interitum irrogantur, quando poenam exigit puniendi criminis qualitas, vel ad curam proficiunt, cum sanandi gratia medicinaliter adbibentur. Ita igitur Dens omnipotens easdem plagarum species, pro qualitatibus temperat meritorum: quosdam quidem puniens, quosdam vero vel emendans a vitiis, vel emundans, vel certe ad ampliorem gloriam promovens. Quod ut adhuc planius intelligi queat, pauca adjiciam sanctarum testimonia Scripturarum. Legimus enim: Sagittae potentis acutae cum carbonibus desolatoriis (Ps. cxxx). Et alio in loco: Sicut sagittae in manu potentis: ita filii excussorum (Ps. cxxvi). Filios excussorum beatos Apostolos praedicat, quos electos ad fidem (patribus eorum a gratia Dei, ob incredulitatem suam, procul excussis) manus omnipotentis Domini Jesu, sicut sagittas velociter pervolantes, in universum direxit orbem, ut praedicatio eorum (juxta beatissimi Pauli doctrinam) aliis quidem fieret odor mortis in mortem, aliis autem odor vitae in vitam (II Cor. ii). Doctrina enim veritatis obedientes vivificat, rebelles interficit; vitia prosternit, virtutes erigit; incredulos dejicit, fideles extollit: quoniam Christus iesus, qui ab Apostolis praedicatur, ut Simeon sanctus in Evangelio ait: Positus est in ruinam et resurrectionem multorum (Luc. ii). Ut autem noveris Apostolos (qui ex officio sortiti vocabulum, Latino sermone destinati nuncupantur) filios esse Judaeorum a Dei gratia excussorum; ausculta quid ipsis blasphemantibus Judaeis responderit Christus: Si ego, inquit, in Beelzebub ejicio daemonia, filii vestri (Luc. xi), id est Apostoli· ex vestra electi progenie, in quo ejiciunt? Et ut apertius ostenderet, de quibus loqueretur, adjecit; propterea, inquit, ipsi judices erunt vestri. Nam dicit alio in loco Apostolis: Amen dico vobis, quod vos qui secuti estis me, in resurrectione cum veneri Filius hominis in sede majestatis suae, sedebitis et ipsi super duodecim thronos, judicantes duodecim tribus Israel (Matth. xix). Sicut sagittae ergo, inquit, in manu potentis: ita filii excussorum (Ps. cxxvi). Statimque adjicitur; Beatus qui implebit desiderium suum ex ipsis, ut evidenter intelligas, quod sagittae Dei interdum mortem inferunt, interdum beatitudinem praestant, sicut Jobo sancto ac beatissimo praestiterunt, qui ait: Sagittae enim Domini in corpore meo sunt, quarum ira bibit sanguinem meum. Cum enim incipio loqui stimulant me (Job vi). Et post pauca: Quod si tribuat Dominus, et veniat petitio mea, et spem meam det mihi Dominus; qui coepit Dominus vulneret me, sed non in perpetuum interficiat me. Sunt et plurima istiusmodi sparsa per totum corpus sanctarum Scripturarum, quae studio brevitatis securus praetereo, quoniam scienti Legem loquor, qui ex paucis instructus testimoniis facile possis similia exempla colligere, quibus documentis et bonitatem Det provida castigatione suos famulos vel corrigentis a delicto, vel promoventis ad gloriam, plenius intelligas approbari; et ejusdem debilis cruciatibus pertinaces impios punientis, veram justitiam recognoscas, docente etiam beato Apostolo: Numquid injustus Deus, qui infert iram (Rom. iii)? in eos videlicet qui veritatem in injustitia detinent. De nostra autem castigatione, qua ver(??)ura Deo, ita testa tur: Cum judicamur, inquit,(e Domino corripimur, ne cum hoc mundo damnemur (I Cor. xi). De justis vero sic loquitur: In omnibus tribulationem patimur, sed non angustiamur: aporiamur, sed non destituimur: persecutionem patimur, sed non derelinquimur: dejicimur, sed non perimus: semper mortem Domini nostri Jesu in corpore nostro circumferentes, ut et vita Jesu Christi in corpore nostro manifestetur (II Cor. iv). Et alibi idem beatus apostolus Paulus, postquam raptum se dixerat usque in tertium coelum, et in paradisum, ubi ineffabilia verba audierat, ita continuo addit: Ne eminentia, inquit, revelationum me extollat, datus est mihi stimulus carnis angelus Satanae, qui me colaphizet, ut non extollar. Propter hoc ter Dominum rogavi ut discederet a me, et dixit mihi: Sufficit tibi gratia mea, nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur (II Cor. xii). Et alia Scriptura huic sensui concordans evidentius loquitur: Quomodo in igne probatur, ait, aurum, et argentum, homines autem justi in camino humiliationis (Eccli. ii); utique ut aestum perpessi tentationum, et tribulationum onere inclinati, minime in superbiam justitiae suae meritis erigantur, aliquid se contra actuum suorum dignitatem pali mussitantes injustum; quos non multo post immortalis praemii retributio subsequatur: sed potius ut in humilitate spontanea permanentes, sanetis scilicet virtutibus praediti, et humiles corde, probabiliores efficiantur in Christo. Sicut etiam venerandi martyres exstiterunt, qui cum beato Apostolo fideliter praesumentes, non esse condignas pastiones hujus temporis ad superventuram gloriam, quae revelabitur (Rom. viii) in sanctis, universa supplicia pro Domini Christi nomine, omnesque irrogatos corpori cruciatus aequissimo animo susceperunt, ipsum Dei Filium remuneratorem victricis patientiae habituri, qui regnum coelorum servis suis usque in finem fidelibus largietur. Cujus sempiterna virtus atque divinitas, cum Patre et cum Spiritu sancto permanet in omnia saecula. ### English translation (Claude) Gaudentius to Benivolus, servant of Christ. It had been our common wish that you might hear in person what I expounded from the divine oracles during the Easter days just past. For your presence is always welcome to us, and with good reason, but above all on feast days in the assembly of the church of Brescia. For just as you are, by the Lord's favour, the most worthy head of the notables of our city, so you are also of the Lord's people, because you are no less diligent to keep God's commandments than to learn them, striving to match a robust profession of the catholic faith with the merits of an excellent life, so that a sincere faith may have works worthy of the brightness of its purity. In this lies the greatest fruit for the one who teaches and an undying benefit for the one who hears, as the Apostle says: "Not the hearers only, but the doers of the law will be justified before God." Nor is it surprising that you now live in this way in the fear of the Lord, you who, before you had yet received the grace of baptism, fought so hard for the truth of the heavenly faith that our father Philastrius, a man apostolic in every respect, who had instructed you in his admirable teachings, approved the witness of so great a constancy. For the Queen Jezebel of our time, patroness and partner of the Arian faithlessness, when she was persecuting the most blessed Ambrose, bishop of the church of Milan, thought that you too, then Master of the Memory, had forgotten the saving faith, and tried to compel you to draft orders against the catholic churches. Rather than do this, you of your own accord despised both the dignity of the promotion promised you and the ambition of the world and earthly glory, for the glory of God, choosing to live as a private man rather than to serve while dead. For he truly dies before God who departs from the truth of the apostolic faith, he from whom Christ God, who is life, is cut away, when he is withdrawn from him for denying the homoousion of the eternal Trinity. But to return to the matter in hand: your body, at that time still weak after a grave illness, kept you from being present at the festival I mentioned, and you grieved over this deeply, counting it altogether a loss of spiritual goods inflicted on you because your sins pressed upon you. And for that reason you earnestly demanded a singular remedy for this loss: that I should write down what I remembered having expounded to the holy brotherhood on each day of that most sacred week. Conscious of my own mediocrity, I would plainly not have dared to commit this to writing had you not compelled me by your devout insistence; for it is enough for me if I am able to instruct the people entrusted to me at least by the living voice. Knowing, then, that a true lover of divine wisdom does not seek the pomp of empty eloquence in asserting useless things, but desires the saving teaching of fitting explanations drawn from the holy Scriptures, I shall set about writing to you in entirely the same sense, and perhaps even in the same words, in which I remember having spoken in the church, so that when you read it you may easily recognize my speech, such as it is. I shall also send back to you, revised, since you insist, four shorter tractates, which you have told me I once delivered in your presence on various chapters of the Gospel, and a fifth on the Maccabean martyrs, so that, if you judge them worth any useful remembrance, you may add them to be copied together at the end of this booklet. As for those tractates which certain people, with idle zeal, presumed to collect by secretaries secretly placed in the audience (as I have learned), no doubt broken off and half complete, they are nothing to do with me. Things which, it is clear, were taken down in the headlong haste of those recording them are no longer mine. I fear, however, that the errors of others may wrap up things hostile to sound faith under the title of my sermons, and that those who were the authors of this careless presumption may become guilty of an everlasting crime. Since, then, I could not refuse your desire the labour asked of me, I shall first briefly show you that the blows of illness are not always inflicted on our bodies for the heap of our sins. The nature of the human body, from the time it received the sentence of mortality, "You are earth, and to earth you shall go," is subject to various infirmities without distinction of persons; and although we rightly confess that we are sinners, still the quality of our merits is not to be weighed either by the vigour or by the weakness of the flesh, since worshippers of idols often enjoy health of body and the goods of this world, while on the contrary those who cleave to the worship of God are shaken by the harassment of illnesses and tribulations. For we read that Abimelech, a Gentile, was a king, while holy Abraham endured the hardships of being a stranger; that holy Jacob was the hired servant of Laban the Syrian, an idolater; that just Moses, while the impious Pharaoh reigned, lay hidden in fear in the land of Midian; and that the wonderful Elijah fled into the wilderness from the face of Queen Jezebel, who was persecuting him. In the New Testament, John, the greatest of the prophets, after the long squalor of a deadly prison, after the unjust insults of chains, is beheaded in prison; while the sacrilegious Herod, who ordered him to be killed, feasts with his princes and tribunes and the chief men of Galilee at table, drunk not only with wine but with the very blood of the Baptist. And so it is written in the Apocalypse about Babylon, whether a city, or a nation, or any soul confused by the darkness of errors and the mixture of carnal vices (for Babylon is interpreted "confusion"): "And I saw," he says, "a woman drunk with the blood of the saints." But where this patience of God leads, the Saviour himself teaches in the Gospel, saying: "There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and feasted splendidly every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus lay at his gate, full of sores, and longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the poor man died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom," while the rich man died and was set in the punishments of the underworld, and begged that his tongue might be cooled by this poor man's finger dipped in water; yet he could not obtain this, placed as he was in the torments of the unquenchable flame. The prosperity of the impious is kept for this punishment; and on the contrary the tribulation of the just is led to that blessedness, so that those who have departed this world after bearing the straits of this life with faithful patience may be counted worthy to rest in eternal life with holy Abraham the patriarch. Hence the Lord said: "Enter by the narrow gate, for wide and spacious is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it." For this reason the holy Apostle too proclaims that he boasts in his infirmities: "For when I am weak," he says, "then I am strong." The same most blessed apostle Paul also reveals that holy Timothy laboured under constant illnesses, writing to him: "No longer drink water, but use a little wine for your stomach and your frequent infirmities." Perhaps one of the rich may ask: "Then God gave riches with malice, if he torments the rich man on account of them." For human error wishes to seem to sin not only with pardon but even with reason. Not with malice, but with providence, God made you rich, so that through works of mercy you might find a remedy for the wounds of your sins. For "almsgiving frees from death, and it cleanses from every sin." That man is not tormented because he was rich, but because poor Lazarus went hungry while he feasted. Holy Abraham himself, moreover, had been rich, but he was the servant of strangers and of the needy. Holy Job too held the kingdom of Arabia, but (as it is written) no widow, no poor man went out of his house empty. In the end, when he was set in sufferings, the works of mercy that he had done in vain, as it was said, were thrown in his face through his wife: "And see," she says, "what you suffer." Alas for the poisonous cunning of the dread serpent! Since it could not call God's servant back from good works, it set about making him lose the fruit of his piety by regret for his good deeds. Let unfruitful rich men, then, beware of the terrible example of that merciless rich man, their colleague, so that they are not led to similar torments; rather let them give alms generously, frequently, gladly. "For God loves a cheerful giver." Let them distribute their wealth to the needy and acquire for themselves treasures in heaven, "where neither rust nor moth corrupts, nor thieves dig through and steal," so that on leaving this world they may find refreshment in the bosom of that truly rich man Abraham. Let it suffice to have answered briefly the question that had come up. I have mentioned what was set out above so that none of us may be scandalized in his thoughts, none of us may dare to murmur against God, if we see the unjust, idolaters and blasphemers enjoy continual health of body, flourish in the honours of the world, and overflow with perishable wealth, while we on the contrary are worn down by various tribulations, afflicted by pains of the flesh, and subject to the necessities of poverty. God, the judge of all, knows with what providence he strikes his own, and for what reason he spares the impious in this world. Nor are we at all ignorant, taught as we have been by the most blessed Apostle, that God's long kindness toward the wicked either summons to conversion those who perceive it, or reserves the ungrateful for a more just sentence of punishment: "Or do you despise," he says, "the riches of his goodness and patience and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God invites you to repentance? But by your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to each according to his works." For that general retribution is reserved for the day of judgment; yet in this world certain blasphemers or apostates are sometimes consumed by incurable torments so that the rest may be terrified by their punishments. As for the worshippers of godliness, the fact that they are sometimes afflicted by pains of the body or by various tribulations is found to have a threefold reason: the first of correction, the second of purgation, the third of proving. If God sees a man who holds fast to the apostolic faith sinning often in certain things, he strikes his sinner so as to amend him, to bend him to repentance by a saving warning, lest, being negligent, he should become liable to the unquenchable Gehenna because a bearable punishment was put off. And one who lives chastely and justly, but whom certain stains of wicked thoughts have nevertheless spattered, the Lord now chastises with the scourge of tribulations and illnesses, so that the coming fire may find nothing of filth in him, but that through small blows of a very short time he may be purged from all stains and be counted worthy to pass more securely to eternal rest. This is the counsel and the loving severity of a God who loves his sinners. For it is written: "For whom God loves he strikes, and he scourges every son whom he receives." Hence each of us rightly proclaims God merciful, taught by the prophet's words: "The Lord has chastised me sorely, and has not given me over to death." But the just and blameless, like holy Job (of whom it is written that he was a man without complaint, a true worshipper of God), almighty God for this reason permits to be tried by losses of property, by the bereavement of loved ones, by the straits of persecutions, or by the goads of bodily pains: that he may prove them. He proves them not for himself, who knows all things before they happen, but for angels and men, so that they may know them to be upright from their deeds, since they cannot look into consciences, which God alone knows, who searches the hearts and the reins. For he knows the secrets of the heart, as the prophet's word testifies. And perhaps that is why the blessed Apostle, set amid the snares of manifold tribulations and persecutions, said: "For we have become a spectacle to this world, both to angels and to men." God wishes the just to be proved to the angels so that they may joyfully recognize the perfected righteousness of the saints; for the blessed angels in heaven rejoice, as the Lord Jesus says, even over one sinner who repents. He wishes the perfection of the just to be proved to men so that they may be provoked by their example to persevere in the love of God. God also wishes to thrust the proved righteousness of the saints upon the devil, so that he may grieve that they have been rightly advanced, by the merits of good works, to the friendship of God and to the kingdom of heaven from which he himself fell; that he may grieve, be indignant, envy, groan, and yet not dare to find any fault with the divine judgment. It was for the sake of proving, then, that the wonderful Job suddenly became poor from being wealthy; from the father of ten children he is found without sons; from vigorous and healthy he is seen wounded, from flourishing he is seen ploughed by worms; from glorious he is found exposed to insults: insults both from friends who reproached him and (what was harder) from his own wife, who, we are taught, was kept not to comfort his sufferings but for the final temptation. For she tried to force him to speak words of blasphemy, throwing back at him the works of justice that he had done in vain, since he had come to so many kinds of misery. Therefore she says: "Say some word against the Lord, and die." The cunning serpent, again through a woman, suggests that he should obtain, as a remedy for his woes, the death owed to a blasphemer, so as to take the palm of patience from the bravest of warriors and to heap destruction on the vanquished; for the fury of the blasphemer does not bring healing to sufferings but piles up the torment of death, of that death which puts no end to miseries and is the beginning of the punishments that God the avenger has prepared for blasphemers. But that most blessed man, understanding that by the cunning device of his ancient art the devil was again pouring in the poison of death through a woman, answered thus: "You have spoken," he says, "like one of the foolish women," striking, that is, at the one woman from whom all came. And he added: "If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why shall we not bear evil things?" And in another place: "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I shall return to the earth. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Amid the loss of all his property, amid the deaths of so many children, amid the most dreadful torments of his body and the inward pains of his wife's reproach, the true worshipper of God praises and magnifies the almighty Lord. And so let us too, if we are worshippers of God, imitate that triumphant patience, which alone the true worshipper of God possesses with unshaken faith when he has been stripped not only of all his property and his children, but even of the very flesh of his body. For the true worshipper of God is he whose faith does not fail in adversity, whose tongue does not cease to bless the name of his Lord in every time of distress, in every blow of tribulation, saying: "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise is always in my mouth." If you are a sinner, recognize that you are beaten for your correction, or at any rate for your purgation, as I explained above. If you are just, you will not dare to presume to the name of just, but you will understand that what you suffer happens for the proving of your glory. For it is written: "The furnace proves the potter's vessels, and the trial of tribulation proves just men." Therefore the holy Apostle also says: "Tribulation works patience, patience proving, proving hope, and hope does not put to shame." Since, then, various torments are inflicted in this world either for proving on the just, or for amendment on sinners, or for punishment on the sacrilegious, and these blows are deadly to some and saving to others, therefore it is written with the greatest distinction in the book of Psalms, of the obstinate wicked: "The death of sinners is very evil, and those who hate the just will do wrong." He testifies that the death of those sinners is very evil who, wishing to remain in the wickedness of their offences, hate the just man who strikes them. But of those who can be amended he says: "Many are the scourges of sinners"; and of the saints: "Many are the tribulations of the just." Nor is it at all difficult for any spiritual man to judge this difference from the fruits of each, as the Lord says: "By their fruits you will know them." For the philosophers of the Gentiles judge that everything among us is confused, whereas the spiritual man discerns and judges all things, as the Apostle says, but is himself judged by no one. For some of the wise of this world, ignorant of heavenly wisdom, wishing to make out that everything is by chance which God, the creator of all, exercises with just governance and providence, speak thus: "If this world were governed by the providence of God, the blows of tribulations, pains, woes and illnesses would never wear down good and bad indiscriminately, for it would not belong to divine equity to inflict like blows on unequal merits." But the ill will of this problem is easily emptied by a familiar example of the truth. For it is known to all that both the edge of the knife and the burning of fire are applied either to destroy, when the nature of a crime to be punished demands a penalty, or else they serve for cure, when they are applied medically for the sake of healing. So too almighty God tempers the same kinds of blows according to the qualities of merits: punishing some, and either amending others from their vices, or cleansing them, or advancing them to greater glory. That this may be understood still more plainly, I shall add a few testimonies of the holy Scriptures. For we read: "The arrows of the mighty one are sharp, with desolating coals." And in another place: "Like arrows in the hand of the mighty, so are the sons of those shaken off." By "the sons of those shaken off" he proclaims the blessed apostles, whom, chosen for the faith (their fathers having been shaken far off from the grace of God because of their unbelief), the hand of the almighty Lord Jesus sent into the whole world like swiftly flying arrows, so that their preaching (according to the teaching of the most blessed Paul) might become to some the odour of death unto death, to others the odour of life unto life. For the teaching of truth gives life to the obedient and slays the rebellious; it lays low vices and raises up virtues; it casts down the unbelieving and exalts the faithful, since Christ Jesus, who is preached by the apostles, as holy Simeon says in the Gospel, "is set for the fall and the rising of many." And that you may know that the apostles (who took their name from their office, and in the Latin tongue are called "those sent") are the sons of the Jews shaken off from the grace of God, hear what Christ answered the Jews themselves when they blasphemed: "If I," he says, "cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons," that is, the apostles chosen from your offspring, "cast them out?" And to show more openly of whom he spoke, he added: "Therefore they themselves will be your judges." For in another place he says to the apostles: "Amen I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the resurrection, when the Son of Man comes on the throne of his majesty, you too will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." "Like arrows, then," he says, "in the hand of the mighty, so are the sons of those shaken off." And immediately there is added: "Blessed is he who will fulfil his desire from them," so that you may clearly understand that God's arrows sometimes bring death and sometimes bestow blessedness, as they bestowed it on holy and most blessed Job, who says: "For the arrows of the Lord are in my body, whose wrath drinks my blood. For when I begin to speak they goad me." And shortly after: "But if the Lord would grant it, and my petition would come, and the Lord would give me my hope; he who began, may the Lord wound me, but not slay me for ever." There are also very many passages of this kind scattered through the whole body of the holy Scriptures, which for the sake of brevity I pass over without anxiety, since I speak to one who knows the Law, who, instructed by a few testimonies, can easily gather similar examples for yourself. By these proofs you may understand more fully that the goodness of God is demonstrated in his provident chastisement, whether correcting his servants from sin or advancing them to glory; and you may recognize the true justice of the same God in punishing the obstinate impious with torments, as the blessed Apostle also teaches: "Is God unjust, who inflicts wrath?" upon those, that is, who hold back the truth in unrighteousness. Of our own chastisement, which comes from God, he testifies thus: "When we are judged," he says, "we are corrected by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned with this world." Of the just he speaks thus: "In all things we suffer tribulation, but we are not distressed; we are perplexed, but not left destitute; we suffer persecution, but are not forsaken; we are cast down, but we do not perish; always carrying about in our body the dying of our Lord Jesus, so that the life of Jesus Christ also may be made manifest in our body." And elsewhere the same blessed apostle Paul, after he had said that he was caught up to the third heaven and into paradise, where he had heard unspeakable words, at once adds: "Lest the greatness of the revelations exalt me, there was given me a goad of the flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me, so that I may not be exalted. For this I asked the Lord three times that it might depart from me, and he said to me: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." And another Scripture, agreeing with this sense, speaks more plainly: "As gold and silver are proved in the fire," it says, "so just men in the furnace of humiliation": so that, having endured the heat of temptations and being bowed under the weight of tribulations, they may not be lifted into pride by the merits of their righteousness, muttering that they suffer something unjust against the worth of their deeds, men whom the reward of an immortal prize will follow not long after; but rather that, remaining in voluntary humility, endowed with holy virtues and humble of heart, they may be made more approved in Christ. So too were the venerable martyrs, who, confidently assuming with the blessed Apostle that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come which will be revealed in the saints, received all punishments for the name of the Lord Christ and all the torments inflicted on their bodies with a perfectly calm mind, since they were to have the Son of God himself as the rewarder of their victorious patience, who will bestow the kingdom of heaven on his servants who are faithful to the end. His everlasting power and divinity remain with the Father and with the Holy Spirit for all ages. ### Scripture references - Rom 2:13: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Gen 20:2: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 31:41: allusion, low confidence - Exod 2:15: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Kgs 19:3: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 14:3–10: allusion, high confidence - Mark 6:21: allusion, high confidence - Rev 17:6: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:19–24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:13–14: quotation, high confidence - Luke 13:24: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 12:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 5:23: quotation, high confidence - Job 31:16–17: allusion, medium confidence - Job 2:9–10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 9:7: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:4–6: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 118:18 (117:18 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Job 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Ps 7:9 (7:10 Vulg.): allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:9: quotation, high confidence - Luke 15:7: allusion, high confidence - Job 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Ps 34:1 (33:2 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:3–5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 34:21 (33:22 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 32:10 (31:10 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 34:19 (33:20 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:15: quotation, high confidence - Ps 120:4 (119:4 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 127:4–5 (126:4-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 2:16: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:34: quotation, high confidence - Luke 11:19: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:28: quotation, high confidence - Job 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Job 6:8–9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:18: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:32: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:8–10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:2–9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:18: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Tob 12:9 (Tobit): quotation, high confidence - Sir 27:5 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 2:5 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Benivolus had been Master of the Memory (magister memoriae, head of an imperial secretariat) under Valentinian II; the 'Jezebel of our time' is the empress Justina, who supported the Arians against Ambrose of Milan (386). Philastrius was Gaudentius's predecessor as bishop of Brescia. 'Homoousion' is left in Greek as Gaudentius writes it (same essence). - Gaudentius says he will add four short tractates on Gospel chapters and a fifth on the Maccabean martyrs, and disowns sermons copied down by unauthorized stenographers. - Quotations: Rom 2:13; Gen 3:19; Rev 17:6; Luke 16:19–24; Matt 7:13 with Luke 13:24 (Matt 7:14); 2 Cor 12:10; 1 Tim 5:23; Tob 12:9; Job 2:9–10, 1:21; 2 Cor 9:7; Matt 6:20; Rom 2:4–6; Heb 12:6; Ps 118:18 (117:18 Vulg.); Ps 7:9; 1 Cor 4:9; Luke 15:7; Ps 34:1 (33:2 Vulg.); Sir 27:5; Rom 5:3–5; Ps 34:21 (33:22 Vulg.); Ps 32:10 (31:10 Vulg.); Ps 34:19 (33:20 Vulg.); Matt 7:16; 1 Cor 2:15; Ps 120:4 (119:4 Vulg.; the digital text's reference 'cxxx' is wrong); Ps 127:4–5 (126:4–5 Vulg.); 2 Cor 2:16; Luke 2:34; Luke 11:19; Matt 19:28; Job 6:4, 6:8–9; Rom 3:5; 1 Cor 11:32; 2 Cor 4:8–10; 2 Cor 12:7–9; Sir 2:5; Rom 8:18. The sentence 'he who began, may the Lord wound me' (Job 6:9) is obscure in the Latin and is rendered literally. - Job's wife's words 'And see what you suffer' and the statement that his alms were done 'in vain' reflect the Old Latin (LXX) expansion of Job 2:9. Gaudentius says Job 'held the kingdom of Arabia', following the LXX appendix to Job (42:17). - The digital text has many OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. pref. (PL 20:827a–844a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/0). ## Tractates 1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/1/#p-1 - Source: PL 20:844a–852b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: Easter vigil sermon: Christ rose in spring, the season of creation, and Easter may fall in April by the lunar reckoning; the Exodus month as the 'beginning of months' signifies baptism, the return of penitents, and the final light of the resurrection. ### Latin text Nocte vigiliarum de Paschae observatore. Opportuno tempore Dominiis Jesus beatissilumine dimovere, cunctaque in statam tranquilli primordii revocare, quae fuerant velamine tetro confusa ab illo principe tenebrarum. Nam veris tempore Deus condidit mundum. Martio enim mense dixit per Moysen Deus: Mensis hic vobis initium mensium, primus est in mensibus anni (Exod. xii). Quem mensem verax utique Deus primum non diceret, nisi primus esset; sicut septimum diem non diceret sabbatum, nisi Dominicus primus esset. Filius ergo Dei, per quem facta sunt omnia (Joan. i), eodem die, eodemque tempore, prostratum mundum propria Resurrectione resuscitat, quo eam prius ipse creaverat ex nihilo, ut omnia reformarentur in Christo, quae ia coelis sunt, et quae in terra sunt ( Ephes. i, 10); quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omma, ut ait Apostolus; ipsi gloria in saecula. Nec turbari quisquam nostrum debet, si interdum secundo mense, id est Aprili, Pascha nos celebrare lunaris ratio, et dies cogit Dominicus. Secundum lunae enim cursum numerantur in Scripturis divinis dies. Caeterum Calendas, et Idus, et Nonas, et mensium nomina ac dierum Gentiles posuerunt, ut puta, quem vetustas humanae memoriae primum mensem tenebat, Paganus hunc a Marte Martium nuncuparet: et diem sabbati, quem septimum rationabilium corda servabant, ille Saturni diem statueret appellandum. Scripturae autem sanctae cum de temporibus aliquid. vel referunt, vel jubent, Ita loquuntur: Decima die mensis secundi, et luna decima, aut quinta die mensis septimi; aut vicesima die mensis noni. aut quartadecima die mensis primi, ut in Exodi libro pariter nunc audivimus (Exod. xii; Levit. xxiii); ubi observatio Paschae describitur, et septem diebus ejusdem solemnitatis azyma comedenda mandantur. Praecipit tamen Deus et hoc, ut si quis primo mense, vel immundus in anima hominis, id est mortui attactu pollutus, vel extra electum sacrificii Hierosolymae locum, in longinquo itinere constitutus Pascha non potuit celebrare, secundo mense celebret. Praevidens quippe Deus Gentium populos tunc adhuc hominum mortuorum simulacris immundos, et extra sanctum locum Ecclesiae in longinquo positos, utique nos qui eramus longe, et facti sumus prope in sanguine Christi; dat licentiam, ut si primo mense nobis non occurrit et dies Dominicus, et congruus lunae numerus, secundo mense celebremus. Et ideo nec intra quartamdecimam lunam, nec ultra vicesimam primam celebrare possumus, quia septem tantum dies sunt azymorum paschalium, in quibus Dominicum quaerimus diem. Vult enim nos Christus promulgator Legis et Gratiae, neque legitimos juxta lunae cursum computatos praeterire dies, neque diem suae Resurrectionis otio ingrato transcendere. Nam sexta feria qua hominem fecerat, pro eodem passus est; et die Dominica quae dicitur in Scripturis prima sabbati (Matth. viii; Gen. i), in qua sumpserat mundus exordium, resurrexit; ut qui prima die creavit coelum, et terram (unde postea hominem faciens figuravit), prima etiam die omnem repararet hominem, propter quem fecerat mundum. Haec breviter dixerim de ratione Paschali. Sed jam tempus est, ut virtutem eorum quae in libro Exodi audivimus, edisseramus. Ac primum, quid sit Exodus, advertamus. Exodus egressio appellatur. Egressio autem fuit de captivitate Pharaonis, et AEgyptiorum, populi tunc Israel, non nostri. Tibi ergo ut quid legitur, si aliis tantum profuit? Quid ad te, quod non pro te? Sed jam disce ab Apostolo magis universa pro te, quam pro illis esse quae scripta sunt. Lex, inquit, umbra erat futurorum bonorum (Hebr. x); eorum quippe bonorum quae in nobis completa sunt. Veritas enim Christus adveniens, bona quae ante Judaeis fecit umbratiliter, nobis nunc in veritate largitus est, cum dicit ad discipulos: Amen dico vobis, multi Prophetas, et justi desideraverunt videre quae videtis, et non viderunt; et audire quae auditis, et non audierunt. Vestri autem beati oculi, qui vident; et aures, quae audiunt (Matth, xiii). Exodus ergo beate atque perfecte consummatur in nobis quando verus Moyses de Jordanis aqua sumptus, et natura, non positione, Deus, Dominus noster Jesus Christus, virga crucis suae nos per aquam Baptismi de captivitate Pharaonis diaboli educit, ac de omni tenebrarum ejus AEgypto eripit, evocans nos in lucis opera de tenebris actuum mundanorum, ubi aliquos adhuc positos increpat beatissimus Paulus: Debueratis, inquiens, de hoc mundo exisse; nunc autem scripsi vobis non commisceri (I Cor. v). Consideremus nunc quid audiant a Deo qui educuntur ex AEgypto: Mensis hic vobis initium mensium, primus est, ait, vobis in mensibus anni (Exod. xii). Legimus in Numerorum libro (Num. xxx) quod quicumque voverit votum, ut abstineat se aut ab usu conjugali, aut a deliciis quibuslibet vel cibi, vel potus, usque ad praefinitum tempus, et violaverit quocumque lapsu, dies praeteritos ei non imputandos; sed ut ab initium redeat. Sic non sunt imputati Israel ilis illi dies quos consumpserunt in AEgypto: sed quando ingemuerunt ad Dominum conversi ab operibus duris, et Dominus (Exod. ii, xii) percussit primogenita AEgypitiorum qui eos servire Domino non sinebant, tunc audierunt: Mensis hic vobis initium mensium, primus est vobis in mensibus anni (Exod. xii). Sunt enim quidam superstitionum dies, et menses, et anni, quos abrogat cum reprehendit Apostolus (Galat. iv). Sunt alii, quos praecepit Deus, et imputat. Eramus et nos aliquando in AEgypto nescientes Deum, ac luminis et veritatis ignari, quos urgebant immundi spiritus, veri AEgyptii, laterem facere, terrenis videlicet inservire figmentis: at ubi conversi ad Deum sumus reclamantes ab operibus duris, verberati sunt AEgyptii multiplicibus plagis, et primitiva eorum percussa sunt. Salus enim nostra daemonum poena est. Nos autem respiravimus, et vivificati sumus; neque enim vivebamus prius in illis diebus quibus mortui mortuos colebamus. Tunc igitur opportune audivimus: Mensis hic vobis initium mensium, primus est in mensibus anni (Exod. xii). Quando novus nobis illuxit dies ille quem fecit Dominus (Ps. cxvii), quando cognovimus mensem novorum sanctum, et annum Domini acceptum, et diem retributionis. Opportunius autem congruit expositio isti fidelibus: nam catechumenis adhuc tantum primitiva daemonum sunt interfecta; bis vero qui ad gratiam merentur Baptismi coelestis accedere, totus exercitus diaboli submergitur, ac necatur, ut vere ac merito audiant in Christo renati: Mensis hic vobis initium mensium, primus est in mensibus anni (Exod. xii). Congruit et poenitentibus haec explanatio, quos iterum tenebrae criminum, et AEgypti hujus caligo possederat. Nam si ingemiscant ad Dominum resipiscentes et fugientes ab operibus nequissimis tenebrarum, lumen coelestis indulgentiae consequentur, et ad aeternam lucem redibunt, et salutem. Scriptum esi enim: Cum conversus ingemueris, tunc salvus eris, et scies ubi eras, cum confidebas in illis. Scies, inquit, ubi eras. Tunc enim se homo in erroribus AEgypti tenebrarum fuisse intelligit, cum ad lucem veritatis regreditur, atque justitiae. Potest etiam pio sensu haec eadem oratio accipi de illa luce perpetua, quae post consummationem saeculi, justis, ac fidelibus tribuetur; quando penitus fuerit devicta mortis nox a Sole justitiae, ut tune audiant: Mensis hic vobis initium mensium, primus est in mensibus anni (Exod. xii): time utique quando interibit tota potestas AEgypitorum, et liberati de hac AEgypto, verum manna comedemus, et de petra ipso Christo bibemus adhaerentes Agni immaculati vestigiis, ut dicentes: Adhaesit anima mea post te, me vero suscepit dextera tua (Ps. lxii). Et ideo sanctus quisque adhuc in saeculo constitutus suspirat ad illam quam mundus modo capere non potest, futuram lucem dicens: Sitivit anima mea ad Dominum vivum: quando veniam, et apparebo ante faciem Domini (Ps. xli)? Nunc enim videmus per speculum in aenigmate, ait sanctus Apostolus, tunc autem facie ad faciem (I Cor. xiii). Et modo quidem ad comparationem Judaeorum, atque Gentilium qui in profunda nocte incredulitatis demersi noscuntur, et ad eorum comparationem qui in haereseon caligine, ac nocte luxuriae demorantur, nos videmur esse, et plane sumus in luce: sed ipsi dies nostri quibusdam nebulis praetexuntur, et non habent serenitatis laetitiam, dicente Propheta: Dies mei sicut umbra declinaverunt (Ps. ci). Ibi vero erit nobis ipse Dominus lumen aeternum; ut jam non tantum in umbra ejus salvemur, sed vivamus semper in splendore claritatis ejus: cui omnis honor, virtus, el gloria, cum Patre, et Spiritu sancio, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) On the night of the vigil: on the keeping of Easter. At a fitting time the Lord Jesus [chose to rise, so as to drive away the darkness of the world by his] most blessed light … and to call back into the settled state of their calm beginning all things that had been thrown into confusion under a foul veil by that prince of darkness. For God founded the world in the time of spring. For in the month of March God said through Moses: "This month is for you the beginning of months; it is the first among the months of the year." The truthful God would certainly not call this month the first unless it were the first, just as he would not call the seventh day the Sabbath unless the Lord's day were the first. So the Son of God, through whom all things were made, raises up the fallen world by his own resurrection on the same day and at the same time at which he himself had first created it out of nothing, so that all things might be restored in Christ, those in the heavens and those on earth; since "from him and through him and in him are all things," as the Apostle says; "to him be glory for ever." Nor should any of us be troubled if at times the reckoning of the moon and the Lord's day compel us to celebrate Easter in the second month, that is, April. For in the divine Scriptures days are counted according to the course of the moon. The Calends, Ides and Nones, and the names of the months and days, were laid down by the Gentiles: for instance, the month that the ancient memory of mankind held to be the first, the pagan called Martius after Mars; and the Sabbath day, which the hearts of rational men kept as the seventh, he decreed should be called Saturn's day. But when the holy Scriptures either report or command anything about times, they speak thus: "On the tenth day of the second month," and "on the tenth of the moon"; or "on the fifth day of the seventh month"; or "on the twentieth day of the ninth month"; or "on the fourteenth day of the first month," as we have also just heard in the book of Exodus, where the keeping of the Passover is described and unleavened bread is commanded to be eaten for the seven days of the same feast. Yet God also commands this: that if anyone was unable to celebrate the Passover in the first month, either being unclean in the soul of a man, that is, defiled by touching a dead body, or being on a long journey outside the place chosen for sacrifice at Jerusalem, he should celebrate it in the second month. For God foresaw the peoples of the Gentiles, still at that time unclean with the images of dead men and set far off outside the holy place of the church, that is, us who were far off and have been brought near by the blood of Christ; and he gives leave that, if in the first month both the Lord's day and the right number of the moon do not fall together for us, we may celebrate in the second month. And therefore we can celebrate neither before the fourteenth moon nor after the twenty-first, because there are only seven days of the paschal unleavened bread, within which we look for the Lord's day. For Christ, who promulgated both the Law and grace, wishes us neither to pass over the lawful days reckoned by the course of the moon, nor to let the day of his resurrection go by in ungrateful idleness. For on the sixth day of the week, on which he had made man, he suffered for that same man; and on the Lord's day, which in the Scriptures is called the first day of the week, on which the world had taken its beginning, he rose again, so that he who on the first day created heaven and earth (from which he afterwards formed man when he made him) might also on the first day restore the whole man, for whose sake he had made the world. Let this be my brief account of the reckoning of Easter. But now it is time to set out the meaning of what we heard in the book of Exodus. First, let us note what Exodus is. Exodus is called "going out." The going out was from the captivity of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, of the people of Israel at that time, not of us. Why then is it read to you, if it benefited only others? What is it to you, if it was not for you? But learn from the Apostle that what was written was rather all for you than for them. "The Law," he says, "was a shadow of the good things to come," those good things, that is, which have been fulfilled in us. For Christ the Truth, when he came, has now given us in truth the good things he had done for the Jews in shadow, when he says to the disciples: "Amen I say to you, many prophets and just men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. But blessed are your eyes, which see, and your ears, which hear." The exodus, then, is accomplished in us blessedly and perfectly when the true Moses, taken from the water of the Jordan, God by nature and not by appointment, our Lord Jesus Christ, leads us out by the rod of his cross through the water of baptism from the captivity of Pharaoh the devil, and rescues us from all the Egypt of his darkness, calling us out of the darkness of worldly deeds into the works of light. Some who were still in that darkness the most blessed Paul rebukes, saying: "You would have had to go out of this world; but now I have written to you not to associate." Let us now consider what those who are led out of Egypt hear from God: "This month is for you the beginning of months," he says; "it is the first for you among the months of the year." We read in the book of Numbers that whoever has made a vow to abstain either from conjugal relations or from any delights of food or drink until a set time, and has broken it by any lapse, is not credited with the days that have passed, but returns to the beginning. In the same way, those days that Israel spent in Egypt were not credited to them; but when they groaned to the Lord, turning from their hard labours, and the Lord struck the firstborn of the Egyptians, who would not let them serve the Lord, then they heard: "This month is for you the beginning of months; it is the first for you among the months of the year." For there are certain days and months and years of superstitions, which the Apostle abolishes when he rebukes them. There are others which God has commanded and which he credits. We too were once in Egypt, not knowing God and ignorant of light and truth, and unclean spirits, the true Egyptians, pressed us to make brick, that is, to serve earthly idols; but when we turned to God and cried out against our hard labours, the Egyptians were beaten with many plagues and their firstborn were struck. For our salvation is the punishment of demons. We, however, breathed again and were made alive; for we were not alive before, in those days when we, the dead, worshipped the dead. Then, therefore, we fittingly heard: "This month is for you the beginning of months; it is the first among the months of the year," when that new day which the Lord has made dawned for us, when we came to know the holy month of new things, the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of retribution. This explanation, however, fits the faithful more aptly; for with catechumens only the firstborn of the demons have so far been killed, but for those who are counted worthy to come to the grace of heavenly baptism, the whole army of the devil is drowned and slain, so that, reborn in Christ, they may truly and rightly hear: "This month is for you the beginning of months; it is the first among the months of the year." This explanation also fits penitents, whom the darkness of crimes and the gloom of this Egypt had again possessed. For if they come to their senses and groan to the Lord, fleeing from the most wicked works of darkness, they will obtain the light of heavenly pardon and will return to eternal light and salvation. For it is written: "When you turn and groan, then you will be saved, and you will know where you were when you trusted in them." "You will know," he says, "where you were." For a man understands that he was in the errors of the Egypt of darkness when he returns to the light of truth and righteousness. This same saying can also be taken, in a devout sense, of that perpetual light which will be given to the just and faithful after the consummation of the age, when the night of death has been utterly conquered by the Sun of righteousness, so that they may then hear: "This month is for you the beginning of months; it is the first among the months of the year": then, that is, when the whole power of the Egyptians will perish, and, freed from this Egypt, we shall eat the true manna and drink from the rock, Christ himself, cleaving to the footsteps of the spotless Lamb, saying: "My soul has clung to you; your right hand has upheld me." And therefore every saint still placed in this world sighs for that future light, which the world cannot now contain, saying: "My soul has thirsted for the living Lord; when shall I come and appear before the face of the Lord?" "For now we see through a mirror in an enigma," says the holy Apostle, "but then face to face." And now indeed, compared with the Jews and Gentiles, who are known to be sunk in the deep night of unbelief, and compared with those who linger in the gloom of heresies and the night of luxury, we seem to be, and plainly are, in the light; but our very days are veiled by certain clouds and do not have the joy of a clear sky, as the prophet says: "My days have declined like a shadow." But there the Lord himself will be our eternal light, so that we shall no longer only be saved in his shadow, but shall live for ever in the splendour of his brightness; to whom be all honour, power and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Exod 12:2: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Eph 1:10: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:36: quotation, high confidence - Num 9:1–11: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:15–18: allusion, high confidence - Eph 2:13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 28:1: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 1:1: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 10:1: quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Exod 2:10: allusion, low confidence - 1 Cor 5:10–11: quotation, high confidence - Num 6:12: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 2:23: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 12:29: allusion, high confidence - Gal 4:10: allusion, high confidence - Exod 1:14: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 118:24 (117:24 Vulg.): allusion, high confidence - Isa 61:2: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 30:15: quotation, medium confidence - Mal 4:2: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 10:3–4: allusion, high confidence - Ps 63:8 (62:9 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 42:2 (41:3 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 102:11 (101:12 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The opening sentence is damaged in the digital text (several words lost between 'beatissi-' and 'lumine'); the words in square brackets are supplied by sense only, and '…' marks the gap. - Gaudentius's rule that Easter falls between the 14th and the 21st day of the moon, and his appeal to the second-month Passover (Num 9:10–11) for Easters in April, reflect the Western reckoning of his day. - The Numbers reference is to the Nazirite law (Num 6:12), not Num 30 as the digital text marks it. 'The true Moses, taken from the water of the Jordan' applies Exod 2:10 to Christ's baptism. 'When you turn and groan…' is Isa 30:15 in an Old Latin (LXX) form. 'Sexta rena' in the digital text is read as sexta feria, 'the sixth day of the week'. - Other quotations: Exod 12:2 (repeatedly); John 1:3; Eph 1:10; Rom 11:36; Heb 10:1; Matt 13:17, 16; 1 Cor 5:10–11; Gal 4:10; Ps 118:24 (117:24 Vulg.); Isa 61:2; Ps 63:8 (62:9 Vulg.); Ps 42:2 (41:3 Vulg.); 1 Cor 13:12; Ps 102:11 (101:12 Vulg.); 1 Cor 10:4; Mal 4:2. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 1 (PL 20:844a–852b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/1). ## Tractates 2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/1/#p-2 - Source: PL 20:852b–861a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: To the newly baptized: the Passover lamb was a figure of Christ, whose body and blood are given in the bread and wine; the rules for eating the lamb teach how to read Scripture and how to receive the Eucharist in faith. ### Latin text Egressis a fonte neophtyis. De ratione Sacramentorum quae catechumenos audire non congruit, licet eadem scripta in Evangeliis patere omnibus videantur. Resurgente Christo a mortuis, ultio in AEgyptios per Sacramentum Baptismi facta est; pavescentibus inferis, ipso ad suscitationem sui corporis revertente; inimici Dei, hostes quippe populi ejus, exstincti sunt. Clamat enim spiritus Prophetalis: Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici ejus; et fugiant qui oderunt eum a facie ejus; sicut deficit fumus, deficiant; sicut liquescit cera a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei, et justi epulentur (Ps. lxvii). Redemptionem misit pius Pater populo suo, memor testamenti sancti sui (PS. cx), quod disposuit patribus nostris Abrahae et semini ejus in saecula (Luc. i). Potens enim Deus suscitavit de lapidibus istis quondam durissimis (Gentibus) filios Abrahae (Matth. iii; Luc. iii). Nunc dicant omnes qui redimuntur a Domino, quos redemit de manu inimicorum, et de regionibus congregavit eos a solis ortu, et occasu, ab aquilone et mari, quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus (Ps. cvi). Nam in exitu illius Israel de AEgypto, domus Jacob de populo barbaro, Judaea tantum facta est sanctificatio ejus ( Ps. cxiii); nunc autem Beati omnes qui timent Dominum, qui ambulant in viis ejus (Ps. cxxvii). Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata (Ps. xxxi). Non enim est distinctio Judaei, et Graeci: idem namque Dominus, dives in omnes qui invocant illum (Rom. x.); quia, sicut scriptum est: Omnis quicumque invocat nomen Domini, salvus erit (ibid). Quotquot igitur Invocantes Dominum salutem recipimus exstinctis AEgyptiis, discamus manducare pascha, non sicut Insipientes Judaei, qui post adventum Veritatis adhuc umbriam sequuntur, ovem quisque per unamquamque domum quartadecima die mensis primi occidens, et comedens. Ex quo enim Venit, cujus umbra fuerat ista ovis (Joan. v), verus ille Agnus Dei Dominus Jesus, qui tollit peccata mundi, et dixit: Nisi manducaveritis carnem meam, et biberitis meum sanguinem, non habebitis vitam in vobis (Joan. vi) ipsis; frustra jam Judaei carnaliter exercent, quod nisi nobiscum spiritualiter fecerint, habere in se Vitam hon poterunt. Lex enim spiritualis est (Rom. vii), ut ait Apostolus, et Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus (I Cor. V). Quae vero virtutes praefiguratas sunt spiritales in ipsa historia Exodi (Exod. xii), ubi celebratio paschae narratur, qui sit decimus dies, qui quartus decimus, quae immolatio perfecti, masculi, anniculi agni ad vesperam, qui sanguis linendus in postibus, quae convocatio vicinorum, quae calciamenta, qui baculi, quod fermentum, quae azyma, neccsse est ut adjuvante Domino a die crastina incipiamus exponere. Modo autem ea solum de ipsa lectione carpenda sunt, quae praesentibus catechumenis explanari non possunt, ei tamen necessario sunt aperienda neophytis. In umbra illius legalis paschae non unus agnos occidebatur, Sed plures; singuli enim occidebantur per domos, nam sufficere unus non poterat universis, quoniam figura, erat, non proprietas Dominicae Passionis. Figura etenim non est veritas, sed imitatio veritatis; nam et homo ad imaginem Dei factus est, nec tamen idcirco Deus est: tametsi ea ratione qua imago Dei dicitur, dicatur et Deus; quomodo natura unus Deus est, positione plures. Ergo in hac veritate qua sumus, unus pro omnibus mortuus est; et idem per singulas ecclesiarum domos, in mysterio panis ac vini, reficit immolatus, vivificat creditus, consecrantes sanctificat consecratus. Haec Agni caro, hic sanguis est. Panis enim qui de coelo descendit, ait: Panis quem ego dabo, caro mea est pro saeculi vita (Joan. vi). Recte etiam vini specie sanguis ejus exprimitur, quia cum ipse in Evangelio dicit: Ego sum vitis vera (Joan. xv), satis declarat sanguinem suum esse omne vinum quod in figura Passionis ejus offertur: unde beatissimus patriacha Jacob de Christo prophetaverat dicens: Lavabit in vino stolam suam, et in sanguine uvae amictum suum (Gen. xlix). Stolam quippe nostri corporis indumentum suum, proprio erat sanguine abluturus. Ipse igitur naturarum creator et Dominus, qui producit de terra panem, de pane rursus (quia et potest, et promisit) efficit proprium corpus: et qui de aqua vinum fecit, facit et de vino sanguinem suum. Qualiter itaque manducari debeat Agnus iste, ex ipsa lectione debemus advertere. Non edetis quid ab eo crudum, neque coctum in aqua, sed assatum igni: caput cum pedibus, et interaneis (Exod. xii). Duae sunt spirituales intelligentiae in his dictis, quarum si unam sequaris, ambas noveris. Omne corpus divinae Scripturae tam veteris quam novi Tastamenti, Filium Dei continet; vel venturum promittens in hominen, vel jam venisse declarans. Unde beatus Philippus inventus a Christo invenit Nathanael, et dicit et: Quem scripsit Moyses in Lege, et Prophetae, invenimus Jesum filium Joseph a Nazareth (Joan. i). Et quid plura, charissimi? In ipso continetur omnis Lex et vetus, et nova: et ut sic dixerim, ipse est anima Legis. Ipse enim per Moysen loculus est, cum dixit illi: Ego aperiam os tuum, et inspirabo qua debeas loqui (Exod. iv). Ipse et per Prophetas, cum dicit, Qui loquebar in Prophetis, ecce adsum (Is. lii). Ipse etiam per Apostolos, cum dicit Paulus apostolus: An experimentum quantis ejus qui in me loquitur, Christus (II Cor. xiii)? Has igitur immaculati Agni carnee, id est doctrinae ejus viscera, neque cruda sine interpretatione sumi oportet, neque cocta in aqua, id esi eorum dissertione dissoluta, atque decocta, qui velut aqua deorsum fluunt, nihil supernum sentientes; sed assata, inquit, igni, id est spiritu divino solidata atque tosta. Ignis enim sursum versum tendit. Unde dicebat Dominus Judaeis: Vos de inferioribus estis, ego de supernis sum (Joan. viii). Ergo quoniam membra Agni Dei Scripturas ejus diximus, videamus quid est caput cum pedibus, et interaneis, videlicet ut in capite divinitatem accipias in qualuor Evangelistarum testimonio: pedes ad incorporationem sumimus. circa finem saeculi celebratam. Pedes enim extremae partes sunt corporis: in interaneis autem percipias occulta mysteria. Et non relinquetis, inquit, ex eo usque in mane, et os non confringetis ex eo. Quae autem superfuerunt ex eo usque in mane, igne cremabitis (Exod. xii): hoc est, si qua mysteriorum superaverint, in mane illius futurae resurrectionis manifestanda, quae capere modo non possumus. Modo enim scio ex parte, inquit Apostolus, tunc autem cognoscam, sicut et cognitus sum (I Cor. xiii). Haec igni cremanda sunt, id est divino tradenda spiritui: ut ea quorum rationem modo non capimus, ardentis fidei spiritu consumantur. Quod autem dixit, os non conteritis ex eo (Exod. xii): hoc praecipit, ut omne quod est in Scripturis robustius, atque validius, non comminuatur, neque quassetur, sed solidum maneat; quod praeceptum non custodientes, merito vae excipiunt ab eo cujus ossa comminuunt. Vae vobis, inquit, Scribae, et Pharisaei hypocrita, qui decimatis mentham, et anethum, et cyminum, et reliquistis quae fortiora sunt Legis, judicium, et misericordiam, et fidem (Matth. xxiii). Haec sunt ossa agni. Et alibi ad ipsos: Irritum facitis, inquit, verbum Dei, ut traditiones vestras statuatis (Matth. xv). Adjicit vero Deus in Exodo superioribus dictis haec: Sic autem comedetis illum (agnum videlicet): lumbi vestri praecincti, et calciamenta vestra in pedibus vestris, et baculi in manibus vestris, et edetis illud festinanter. Pascha enim est Domini (Exod. xii). De calciamentis, et baculis longa ratio est, quae alio tempore disseretur. De praecinctione lumborum, quod frequenter a me latius dictum est, breviter nunc dicetur. Scribitur in Jeremia: Et tu praecinge lumbos tuos, et dices ad populum (Jerem. i). Et ad sanctum Job: Praecinge tamquam vir lumbos tuos: interrogabo autem te, tu vero respondeas mihi. Ubi eras cum ego fundarem terram (Job. xxxviii, xl)? et reliqua. Apostoli quoque audiunt: Sint lumbi vestri praecincti (Luc. xii); et cur istud tantopere jubeatur, in Joanne Baptista cognoscitur, qui zona pellicea praecinctus erat circa lumbos suos (Matth. iii). Lumborum ratio quae sit, significat Apostolus ad Hebraeos: Adhuc, inquit, in lumbis patris erat Levi, id est sacerdotale genus, quando occurrit illi Melchisedech (Hebr. vii). Illi: cui? sancto utique Abrahae. Zona ergo pellicea circa lumbos, mortificationem significat vitiorum. Pellis enim quae aptatur in usum, nonnisi mortui animantis est. Oportet ergo nos ex praecepto Dei mortificare prius concupiscentias carnis; et sic accipere corpus Christi, qui pro nobis servientibus in saeculi AEgypto, est immolatus. Propter quod probet se homo, ut ait Apostolus, et sic de isto pane manducet, et de calice bibat (I Cor. xi). Quod autem dicit cum festinatione illud manducandum, praecipit, ne lento corde, et ore languido, Sacramentum Dominici corporis sumamus, et sanguinis; sed cum omni aviditate animi, quasi vere esurientes, et sitientes justitiam. Beati enim, dicit Dominus Jesus, qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, quia ipsi saturabuntur (Matth. v). Concludens autem proposita lectio, praeclara quae dixerat, fine dignissimo, ait: Pascha est enim Domini (Exod. xii). O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei (Rom. xi)! Pascha est, inquit, Domini: hoc est transitus Domini; ne terrenum putes quod coeleste effectum est per eum qui transit in illud, et fecit illud suum corpus et sanguinem. Nam quod supra generaliter exposuimus de edenda carne agni, specialiter in degustandis servandum est iisdem mysteriis Dominicae Passionis: ut neque crudam carnem, crudumque sanguinem, sicut Judaeus, esse putes, et respuas dicens: Quomodo potest iste dare carnem suam manducare (Joan. vi)? neque in olla cordis carnei, humoribus per naturam semper obnoxii, ipsum decoquas Sacramentum, commune illud et terrenum esse existimans; sed ut per ignem divini spiritus id effectum quod annuntiatum est, credas: quia quod accipis, corpus esi illius panis coelestis, et sanguis est illius sacrae vitis. Nam cum panem consecratum et vinum discipulis suis porrigeret, sic ait; Hoc est corpus meum: hic est sanguis meus (Matth. xxvi; Luc. xxii). Credamus, quaeso, cui credidimus. Nescit mendacium veritas. Ideo cum de corpore suo manducando et sanguine suo bibendo turbis loqueretur stupentibus ac mussitantibus; Durus est hic sermo, et quis eum potest audire? ut abstergeret per ignem coelestem eas cogitationes quas vitandas esse praedixi, sic adjecit: Spiritus est qui vivificat, nam caro nihil prodest. Verba quae ego locutus sum vobis, spiritus et vita sunt. Et idcirco caput divinitatis ejus cum pedibus incorporationis el interioribus simul jubemur manducare mysteriis, ut pariter universa, quemadmodum tradita sunt, credamus, non infringentes os ipsius illud solidissimum: Hoc est corpus meum: hic esi sanguis meus (Matth. xxvi; Luc. xxii). Si quid autem superfuerit etiam none in uniuscujusque sensu, quod expositione ista non ceperit, ardore fidei concremetur: quoniam Deus noster ignis consumens est, purgans, erudiens, et illuminans corda nostra ad intelligentiam divinorum, ut et ipsius a Christo instituti sacrificii coelestis causam rationemque noscamus, inenarrabili dono ejus sine fine gratias relaturi. Nam vere istud est hereditarium munus Testamenti ejus novi, quod nobis ea nocte qua tradebatur crucifigendus, tamquam pignus suae praesentiae dereliquit. Hoc illud est viaticum nostri itineris, quo in hac via vitae alimur ac nutrimur, donec ad ipsum pergamus de boc saeculo recedentes; unda dicebat idem Dominus: Nisi manducaveritis meam carnem, et biberitis meum sanguinem, non habetis vitam in vobis (Joan. vi) ipsis. Voluit enim beneficia sua permanere apud nos, voluit animas pretioso sanguine suo sanctificari per imaginem propriae Passionis; el ideo discipulis fidelibus mandat, quos primos Ecclesiae suae constituit sacerdotes, ut indesinenter ista vitae aeternae mysteria exercerent, quae necesse est a cunctis sacerdotibus per singulas totius orbis Ecclesias celebrari, usquequa iterum Christus de coelis adveniat, quo et ipsi sacerdotes, et omnes pariter fidelium populi, exemplar Passionis Christi ante oculos habentes quotidie, et gerentes in manibus, ore etiam sumentes ac pectore, redemptionis nostrae indelebilem memoriam teneamus, et contra venena diaboli dulcem medicinam sempiterni tutaminis consequamur sicut Spiritus sanctus hortatur: Gustate et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus (Ps. xxxiii)Quod autem Sacramenta corporis sui, et sanguinis, in specie panis et vini offerenda constituit, duplex ratio est. Primum ut immaculatus Dei Agnus hostiam mundam mundato populo traderet celebrandam, sine ustione, sine sanguine, sine brodio, id est jure carnium, et quae omnibus ad offerendum prompta esset ac facilis. Deinde quomodo panem de multis tritici granis in pollinem redactis per aquam confici, et per ignem necesse ost consummari; rationabiliter in eo figura accipitur corporis Christi, quem novimus ex multitudine totius humani generis unum esse corpus effectum, per ignem sancti Spiritus consummatum. Natus est enim de Spiritu sancio; et quoniam sic eum decebat implere omnem justitiam, aquas Baptismi ut consecraret ingreditur, et exinde plenus Spiritu sancto, qui super eum in figura columbae descenderat, a Jordane regreditur, testante Evangelista; Jesus autem plenus Spiritu sancio regressus est ab Jordane (Luc. iv). Similiter et sanguinis ejus vinum ex pluribus acinis, id est uvis vineae ah ipso plantatae, collectum, in torculari crucis exprimitur, et per capacia vasa fideli corde sumentium propria virtute fervescit. Hoc sacrificium Paschae salutaris omnes de potestate AEgypti et Pharaonis diaboli exeuntes, tota nobiscum religiosi cordis aviditate percipite, ut ab ipso Domino nostro Jesu Christo, quem Sacramentis suis inesse credimus, viscerum nostrorum sanctificentur interna: cujus virtus inaestimabilis permanet in omnia saecula. ### English translation (Claude) To the newly baptized on coming out of the font: on the meaning of the sacraments, which it is not fitting for catechumens to hear, even though the same things, written in the Gospels, seem to lie open to all. When Christ rose from the dead, vengeance on the Egyptians was carried out through the sacrament of baptism; the underworld trembled as he returned to raise up his body; the enemies of God, the foes of his people, were destroyed. For the prophetic Spirit cries out: "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered, and let those who hate him flee from his face; as smoke vanishes, let them vanish; as wax melts before the fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God, and let the just feast." The loving Father has sent redemption to his people, mindful of his holy covenant, which he ordained for our fathers, for Abraham and his seed for ever. For God is able, and he has raised up from these stones (the Gentiles), once so very hard, children to Abraham. "Now let all say who are redeemed by the Lord, whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemies and gathered from the lands, from the rising and the setting of the sun, from the north and the sea, that he is good, that his mercy is for ever." For at the going out of that Israel from Egypt, of the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judea alone became his sanctuary; but now "blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways." "Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered." "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is rich toward all who call upon him," since, as it is written, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." All of us, then, who by calling upon the Lord receive salvation now that the Egyptians are destroyed, let us learn to eat the Passover, not like the foolish Jews, who after the coming of the Truth still follow the shadow, each of them killing and eating a sheep in each house on the fourteenth day of the first month. For since he has come whose shadow that sheep had been, the true Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus, who takes away the sins of the world and said, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life in yourselves," the Jews now carry out in vain in a fleshly way what, unless they do it spiritually with us, will not let them have life in themselves. "For the Law is spiritual," as the Apostle says, and "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed." What spiritual powers were prefigured in the very history of Exodus, where the celebration of the Passover is narrated (what the tenth day is, what the fourteenth, what is the sacrifice at evening of a perfect, male, year-old lamb, what the blood to be smeared on the doorposts, what the calling together of neighbours, what the shoes, what the staffs, what the leaven, what the unleavened bread), we must, with the Lord's help, begin to expound from tomorrow. For now we must pluck from the reading only those things which cannot be explained in the presence of catechumens, but which must necessarily be opened to the newly baptized. In the shadow of that Passover of the Law not one lamb was killed but many; for one was killed in each house, since one could not suffice for all, because it was a figure, not the reality, of the Lord's passion. For a figure is not the truth but an imitation of the truth; for man too was made in the image of God, and yet he is not on that account God, although by the reasoning by which he is called the image of God he may also be called god, just as by nature God is one, by appointment there are many. In this truth, then, in which we stand, one has died for all; and the same one, in each of the houses of the churches, in the mystery of the bread and wine, being sacrificed refreshes, being believed gives life, being consecrated sanctifies those who consecrate. This is the flesh of the Lamb, this is the blood. For the bread which came down from heaven says: "The bread which I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world." His blood too is rightly expressed under the appearance of wine, because when he himself says in the Gospel, "I am the true vine," he declares clearly enough that every wine which is offered as a figure of his passion is his blood. Hence the most blessed patriarch Jacob had prophesied of Christ, saying: "He will wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape." For he was going to wash with his own blood the robe of our body, his clothing. He himself, then, the creator and Lord of natures, who brings forth bread from the earth, from bread in turn (because he both can and has promised) makes his own body; and he who made wine from water makes his blood from wine. How, then, this Lamb ought to be eaten we must observe from the reading itself: "You shall not eat any of it raw, nor boiled in water, but roasted with fire: the head with the feet and the entrails." There are two spiritual meanings in these words; if you follow one, you will know both. The whole body of the divine Scripture, both of the Old and of the New Testament, contains the Son of God, either promising that he will come in human form or declaring that he has already come. Hence blessed Philip, found by Christ, found Nathanael and said to him: "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth." And what more need I say, beloved? In him the whole Law, old and new, is contained; and, if I may put it so, he is the soul of the Law. For he spoke through Moses, when he said to him: "I will open your mouth and inspire what you ought to say." He also spoke through the prophets, when he says: "I who spoke in the prophets, behold, I am here." He also spoke through the apostles, when the apostle Paul says: "Or do you seek a proof of him who speaks in me, Christ?" These meats of the spotless Lamb, then, that is, the inward parts of his teaching, must not be taken raw, without interpretation, nor boiled in water, that is, dissolved and boiled down by the discourse of those who, like water, flow downward, perceiving nothing on high; but "roasted with fire," he says, that is, made firm and baked by the divine Spirit. For fire tends upward. Hence the Lord said to the Jews: "You are from below, I am from above." Since, then, we have said that the limbs of the Lamb of God are his Scriptures, let us see what "the head with the feet and the entrails" is: namely, that in the head you should take his divinity, in the testimony of the four evangelists; the feet we take for the incarnation, accomplished toward the end of the age, for the feet are the extreme parts of the body; and in the entrails you should perceive the hidden mysteries. "And you shall not leave any of it until morning," he says, "and you shall not break a bone of it. What remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire": that is, if any of the mysteries remain over, to be made plain in the morning of that future resurrection, which we cannot now grasp. "For now I know in part," says the Apostle, "but then I shall know even as I am known." These must be burned with fire, that is, handed over to the divine Spirit, so that the things whose meaning we do not now grasp may be consumed by the spirit of a burning faith. And when he said, "You shall not break a bone of it," he commands that everything in the Scriptures that is stronger and firmer should not be broken in pieces or shattered, but should remain solid. Those who do not keep this command rightly receive a woe from him whose bones they break: "Woe to you," he says, "scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have left the weightier matters of the Law, judgment and mercy and faith." These are the bones of the Lamb. And elsewhere, to the same men: "You make void the word of God," he says, "so as to establish your traditions." To what was said above God adds in Exodus: "And thus you shall eat it" (the lamb, that is): "your loins girded, and your shoes on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste; for it is the Passover of the Lord." About the shoes and staffs there is a long explanation, which will be set out at another time. About the girding of the loins, which I have often spoken of more fully, I shall now speak briefly. It is written in Jeremiah: "And you, gird up your loins, and speak to the people." And to holy Job: "Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I founded the earth?" and so on. The apostles too hear: "Let your loins be girded"; and why this is so insistently commanded is learned from John the Baptist, who was girded with a leather belt about his loins. What the loins mean, the Apostle shows to the Hebrews: "Levi," he says, that is, the priestly race, "was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him." Met whom? Holy Abraham, of course. The leather belt about the loins, then, signifies the mortifying of vices; for a hide that is fitted for use comes only from a dead animal. We must therefore, by God's command, first mortify the desires of the flesh, and so receive the body of Christ, who was sacrificed for us while we were slaves in the Egypt of this world. "Therefore let a man examine himself," as the Apostle says, "and so eat of this bread and drink of the cup." And when he says that it must be eaten in haste, he commands that we should not receive the sacrament of the Lord's body and blood with a slow heart and a languid mouth, but with all eagerness of soul, as those who truly hunger and thirst for righteousness. "For blessed," says the Lord Jesus, "are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." The reading set before us, concluding the splendid things it had said with a most worthy ending, says: "For it is the Passover of the Lord." "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" "It is the Passover of the Lord," he says, that is, the passing over of the Lord, so that you should not think earthly what has been made heavenly by him who passes over into it and has made it his body and blood. For what we explained above in general about eating the flesh of the lamb must be kept in particular in tasting these same mysteries of the Lord's passion: so that you neither think it to be raw flesh and raw blood, like the Jew, and reject it, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"; nor boil down the sacrament itself in the pot of a fleshly heart, always subject by nature to its humours, thinking it common and earthly; but that you believe that what has been announced has been accomplished through the fire of the divine Spirit: that what you receive is the body of that heavenly bread and the blood of that sacred vine. For when he offered the consecrated bread and wine to his disciples, he said thus: "This is my body; this is my blood." Let us, I beg you, believe him in whom we have believed. Truth does not know how to lie. Therefore, when he spoke of eating his body and drinking his blood to crowds who were astonished and muttering, "This is a hard saying, and who can hear it?", in order to wipe away by the heavenly fire those thoughts which I said must be avoided, he added: "It is the Spirit that gives life, for the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." And therefore we are commanded to eat the head of his divinity together with the feet of his incarnation and with the inward mysteries, so that we may believe all things alike, as they have been handed down, not breaking that most solid bone of his: "This is my body; this is my blood." And if anything still remains over in anyone's understanding that this explanation has not grasped, let it be burned up by the ardour of faith, since our God is a consuming fire, purging, instructing and enlightening our hearts for the understanding of divine things, so that we may know the cause and meaning of the heavenly sacrifice instituted by Christ himself, and give thanks without end for his unspeakable gift. For this truly is the inheritance and gift of his new covenant, which he left us, on the night on which he was handed over to be crucified, as a pledge of his presence. This is the provision for our journey, by which we are fed and nourished on this road of life until, departing from this world, we go on to him. Hence the same Lord said: "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you do not have life in yourselves." For he willed that his benefits should remain with us; he willed that souls should be sanctified by his precious blood through the image of his own passion. And therefore he commands his faithful disciples, whom he made the first priests of his church, to celebrate these mysteries of eternal life without ceasing; and they must be celebrated by all priests in each of the churches of the whole world until Christ comes again from heaven, so that we, both the priests themselves and all the peoples of the faithful together, having the pattern of Christ's passion daily before our eyes, holding it in our hands, receiving it also in our mouths and in our breasts, may keep an indelible memory of our redemption, and obtain against the poisons of the devil the sweet medicine of an everlasting protection, as the Holy Spirit urges: "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet." That he appointed the sacraments of his body and blood to be offered under the appearance of bread and wine has a twofold reason. First, so that the spotless Lamb of God might hand over to a cleansed people a clean victim to be celebrated, without burning, without blood, without broth (that is, the juice of meat), and one that would be ready and easy for all to offer. Second, because bread must be made from many grains of wheat ground to flour, through water, and must be completed by fire, the figure of the body of Christ is reasonably taken in it, since we know that he became one body out of the multitude of the whole human race, completed through the fire of the Holy Spirit. For he was born of the Holy Spirit; and since it was fitting for him so to fulfil all righteousness, he goes down into the waters of baptism to consecrate them, and from there, full of the Holy Spirit, who had descended upon him in the form of a dove, he returns from the Jordan, as the evangelist testifies: "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan." In the same way the wine of his blood, gathered from many grapes, that is, from the clusters of the vine planted by him, is pressed out in the winepress of the cross, and by its own power ferments in the capacious vessels of those who receive it with a faithful heart. All of you who are coming out from the power of Egypt and of Pharaoh the devil, receive this sacrifice of the saving Passover with us with the whole eagerness of a devout heart, so that the inmost parts of our being may be sanctified by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, whom we believe to be present in his sacraments; whose inestimable power remains for all ages. ### Scripture references - Ps 68:1–3 (67:2-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 111:9 (110:9 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:72–73: allusion, high confidence - Luke 1:55: allusion, high confidence - Matt 3:9: allusion, high confidence - Ps 107:1–3 (106:1-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 114:1–2 (113:1-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 128:1 (127:1 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 32:1 (31:1 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:12–13: quotation, high confidence - John 1:29: allusion, high confidence - John 6:53: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:7: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:3–11: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:27: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 5:14: allusion, medium confidence - John 6:51: quotation, high confidence - John 15:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 49:11: quotation, high confidence - John 2:9: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 12:9: quotation, high confidence - John 1:45: quotation, high confidence - Exod 4:12: quotation, high confidence - Isa 52:6: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 13:3: quotation, high confidence - John 8:23: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:10: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:46: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 23:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:6: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:11: quotation, high confidence - Jer 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Job 38:3–4: quotation, high confidence - Luke 12:35: quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:4: allusion, high confidence - Heb 7:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:28: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:6: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:33: quotation, high confidence - John 6:52: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:26–28: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:19–20: allusion, high confidence - John 6:60: quotation, high confidence - John 6:63: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:29: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 9:15: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 34:8 (33:9 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:15–16: allusion, high confidence - Luke 4:1: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius explains the Eucharist only to the newly baptized, keeping it from catechumens (the 'discipline of the secret'). His statements that Christ 'from bread … makes his own body' and 'makes his blood from wine', and that Christ is 'present in his sacraments', are translated exactly. 'Natura … positione' ('by nature … by appointment') is his contrast between the one God and those called gods (cf. Ps 82:6; John 10:34). - Quotations: Ps 68:1–3 (67:2–4 Vulg.); Ps 111:9 (110:9 Vulg.); Luke 1:72–73, 55; Matt 3:9; Ps 107:2–3 (106 Vulg.), 1; Ps 114:1–2 (113:1–2 Vulg.); Ps 128:1 (127:1 Vulg.); Ps 32:1 (31:1 Vulg.); Rom 10:12–13; John 1:29; John 6:53; Rom 7:14; 1 Cor 5:7; Exod 12:3–11, 46; John 6:51; John 15:1; Gen 49:11; John 1:45; Exod 4:12; Isa 52:6; 2 Cor 13:3; John 8:23; 1 Cor 13:12; Matt 23:23; Matt 15:6; Jer 1:17; Job 38:3–4; Luke 12:35; Matt 3:4; Heb 7:10; 1 Cor 11:28; Matt 5:6; Rom 11:33; John 6:52, 60, 63; Matt 26:26–28; Heb 12:29; 2 Cor 9:15; Ps 34:8 (33:9 Vulg.); Matt 3:15; Luke 4:1. - The digital text has many OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 2 (PL 20:852b–861a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/2). ## Tractates 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/3/#p-3 - Source: PL 20:861a–867a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: On Easter Sunday Gaudentius reads the renewal of heaven and earth in the newly baptized and expounds the Passover lamb: taken on the tenth day and killed on the fourteenth, foretold but not caused by God's foreknowledge, perfect, male, and a year old as Christ was. ### Latin text Prima dominica Paschae. Deus loquitur per prophetam: Ecce ego facio coelum novum, et terram novam: et luna lucebit sicut sol, et sol septies tantum (Isa. lxvi, xxx). Quamvis elementorum futuram renovationem praedicet post hujus saeculi finem, ipsa utique creatura, ut ait Apostolus, liberabitur a servitute corruptionis, in libertatem gloriae filiorum Dei (Rom. viii). Neque enim, charissimi, vel elementa sic deficient, ut non sint, vel nos sic moriemur, ut non meliorati surgamus: tamen et hoc die promissionem Domini cernimus esse completam; renovatas ad instar coeli et terrae neophytorum animas intuentes, et corpora. Lunam quoque, id est Ecclesiam, qua; in pace crescit, in persecutione minuitur (minuitur autem globo plenitudinis, non lumine claritatis), nunc eam sicut solem cernimus per totum splendere orbem. Caeterum quod Sol justitiae Christus septies tantum terris hodie luceat, quam lucebat, radii ejus testes sunt, qui illuminant omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum (Joan. i). Nunc enim coruscat ex ipso igneus ille Spiritus septiformis, qui velut ignis sedit super Apostolos (Act. ii), et ardet hodie in unoquoque credentium. Nam priusquam pateretur ac resurgeret Christus, notus erat tantum in Judaea Deus (Ps. lxxv), nunc in omnes gentes fulgor claritatis Dominicae pertransit. A summo enim coeli egressio ejus, et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus, nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus (Ps. xviii)· Ergo, quoniam reparatus est hodie mundus, agamus exsultantes natalem reformationis mundi. Hic est dies quem fecit Dominus; exsultemus, et laetemur in eo (Ps. cxvii). Mundi vero natalem cum dico, nostrum dico, qui renati sumus in Christo, qui eramus ante viventes quidem peccato, mortui autem justitiae, et nunc iniquitatibus criminum mortui pristinorum, vivere Deo jam coepimus, conformes effecti primum mortis, deinde resurrectionis Christi. Consepulti enim sumus cum ipso per Baptismum in mortem; ut quemadmodum Christus resurrexit a mortuis, ita et nos in novitate vitae ambulemus diem festum celebrantes, ei gloriantes in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui acceptus decima die mensis primi, quartadecima die ad vesperum mundi a Judaeis immolatus est. Sed quid significet ille decimus dies, quid quartus decimus, ut promissioni hesternae satisfaciam, prout Dominus largiri dignabitur, explanabo. Ait Deus sancto Moysi: Loquere ad omnem synagogam filiorum Israel, dicens: decima mensis hujus sumat unusquisque ovem per domos familiarum, ovem per singulas domos. Quod si pauci erunt in domo, ita ut non sufficiant ad ovem, assumet secum vicinum proximum suum, secundum numerum animarum: unusquisque quod sufficiat sibi computabit in agno. Agnus autem perfectus, masculus, anniculus erit vobis: ab agnis, et haedis sumetis: et erit vobis servatus usque in quartam decimam mensis hujus: et occident illum omnis multitudo synagogae filiorum Israel ad vesperum. Et sument de sanguine, et imponent super duos postes, et super limen in domibus, in quibus manducaturi sunt eum (Exod. xii) Multiformis sapientia Dei ita per Legem loquitur, in iisdem dictis futura praenuntiet, quibus fieri salubriter jubet instantia Judaeos tunc in his observationibus secuturae veritatis umbra salvavit: significans pariter quod eorum posteri, beneficiorum immemores divinorum, ipsum advenientem trucidaturi essent, cujus sub umbra salvati sunt. Ab ipsis enim Christus in hunc mundum veniens, sicut ovis ad victimam ductus est (Isa. liii); cujus Agni nos sanguinem (signum videlicet Passionis) vel in duobus postibus, seu fide, et opere, seu corde, et ore; vel in liminaribus habentes nostrarum frontium ab omni incursu saevientis plagae protegimur. Quod autem decima die agnus accipitur, et quartadecima immolatur, hoc significari perspicio, quia Judaeorum populus Filium Dei in Decalogo Legis acceptum, et post transmigrationem Babylonis, sicut scriptum est (Matth. i), quartadecima generatione nascentem, crucifixurus esset ad vesperum. Ad vesperum autem, sive hujus mundi, quia novissimis temporibus saeculi passus est; sive etiam ad ipsius solis occasum, quoniam crucifixo Domino occidit sol. Meridie namque ab hora sexta tenebra facta sunt super universam terram usque ad horam nonam (Matth. xxvii). Quid potuit esse tam vesperum? Nec illud otiosum putes, quod cum superius imperativo modo dictum sit, sumant ovem per domos, infra indicativo modo pronuntietur, occident eum omnis multitudo synagoga filiorum Israel ad vesperam. Occident, ait; non, occidant. Synagoga quippe Judaeorum quod erat crudeliter factura, praedictum est; non, ut fieret, jussum est: nec ideo factum est, quia praedictum erat; sed ideo praedictum est, quia erat futurum; ut praescientiam suam Deus in his quae per libertatem arbitrii hominum futura erant, ostenderet. Libertatem diximus arbitrii, quia voluerunt Judaei facere quod fecerunt: et utique si noluissent, non fecissent. Certe ingentis sacrilegii est vel cogitare, quod Deus, qui non solum bonus et justus, sed ipsa bonitas est, et ipsa justitia; vel jubeat aliquid, vel cogat fieri, quod factum damnet. An fortasse putamus, quia si poenituissent Israel i tac, aliter omnipotens Filius Dei salvare non potuerit mundum? Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit? Considera in Evangelio, quomodo exspectaverit Christus poenitentiam Judaeorum; ubi exprobrat civitatibus in quibus factae sunt plurimae virtutes ejus, quod non egerint poenitentiam: Vae tibi, inquit, Chorozaim! vae tibi, Bethsaida! quia si in Tyro et Sidone essent virtutes qua factae sunt in vobis, olim utique in cilicio et cinere sedentes poenitentiam egissent. Verumtamen dico vobis: Tyro et Sidoni remissius erit in die judicii, quam vobis. Et tu, Capharnaum, qua usque in caelum extolleris, usque in infernum demergeris, inquit; quia si in Sodomis factae fuissent virtutes qua factae sunt in te, mansissent utique usque in hodiernum diem; sed tamen dico vobis, quia terra Sodomorum remissius erit in die judicii, quam vobis (Matth. xi; Luc. x). Praescientia quidem Dei non fallitur; sed nec homini concessa semel voluntatis libertas aufertur, ne nihil de eo judicare possit qui liber non fuerit in agendo. Pertinaciam mali damnat Deus conversionem poenitentis amplectitur. Sed dicas: Numquid mentiri potuit Deus, qui facturos cos praedixerit quod fecerunt? Quanta sit virtus omnipotentiae ejus non assequimur, qui vocat ea qua non sunt tamquam quae sunt. Mentiri eum putaremus potuisse, si ea quae praedixit, impleta non fuissent. Ergo et Ninivitis mentitus est? Dixit enim, adhuc triduum, et Ninive m evertetur (Jonae iii, sec. LXX): et eversa non est, quia poenitentiam egit in praedicatione Jonae. Sed intellige. Sermo Dei gladius est ex utraque parte acutus (Hebr. iv). Ninive aliter evertenda fuerat, et eversa est aliter. Evertenda fuerat excidio, si permansisset in sua nequitia: eversa est iniquitas ejus, quia poenituit. Sicut distat coetum a terra, dicit Deus hominibus, ita distant sensus mei a sensibus vestris, et cogitationes meae a cogitationibus vestris (Is. lv). Scriptum est: Altiora te ne quaesieris, et sublimiora tc ne scrutatus fueris; multos enim supplantavit suspicio eorum. Justum itaque crede Dominum, charissime, et verum, et pium in omnibus dictis, aique operibus suis, ut perfectam sapientiam consequaris. Agnus enim perfectus, masculus, inquit, anniculus erit vobis ( Exod. xii): ut nihil mediocre de perfecto sentias, nihil infirmum de masculo, nihil de anniculo semiplenum. Perfectus est, quia in eo habitavit omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter ( Coloss. ii). Masculus est, quippe quia vir nasci dignatus est ex Virgine, ut sexui utrique consuleret. Anniculus est, quia post illud Baptismum quod pro nobis in Jordane susceperat, usque ad Passionis suae diem unius anni tempus impletur; et ea tantum scripta sunt in Evangeliis quae in illo anno vel docuit, vel fecit, nec ipsa tamen omnia. Sic enim dicit Evangelisla Joannes: Multa quidem et alia signa fecit i esus in conspectu discipulorum suorum, eorum quippe quos post Baptismum scribitur elegisse, quae non sunt scripta in hoc libro: hccc autem scripta sunt, ut credatis, quia Jesus est Christus Filius Dei, et ut credentes, vitam aeternam habeatis in nomine ejus (Joan. xx ). De his autem quae ante illuni gessit annum, sic idem Joannes in postremis sermonibus libri testatur: Sunt autem et multa alia quae fecit Jesus; quae si scribantur per singula, nec ipsum arbitror mundum capere eos libros qui scriberentur (Joan. xxi). Solus plane Lucas evangelisla memoravit praeteriens, quod duodecim annorum praedictus Dominus Jesus in templo repertus sit a parentibus, sedens in medio doctorum, audiens eos, et interrogans, et quod dixerit parentibus: Quid quaerebatis me? nesciebatis quia in his quae Patris mei sunt oportet me esse (Luc. II)? Hic est annus Domini acceptus, quem ex Isaiae libro de persona sua scriptum in synagoga legens Dominus Jesus ait: Hodie impleta est haec Scriptura in auribus vestris. Hic est annus, cujus coronam ( victorialem quippe circulum operibus bonitatis Christi benedicendum) Propheta laetus nuntiavit in psalmo: Benedices, inquit, coronam anni benignitatis tuae, et campi tui replebuntur ubertate (Ps. lxiv): corda nempe credentium populorum, percepto semine verbi vitae, fructu etiam centesimo redundabunt. Quod si in cruce simul cum Christo pendentium latronum fractis cruribus, ideo Salvatoris crura fracta non sunt, siculi sanctus evangelisla testatur; ut Scriptura impleretur, quce ait: Os non confringetur ex eo (Joan· xix ): debuit juxta praedictam rationem Agnus iste Dei anniculus Immolari, ut omnia quae de illo scripta sunt, complerentur in ipso, cui est omnis honor, virtus, et gloria, cum Patre, et cum Spiritu sancto, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) The first Sunday of Easter. God speaks through the prophet: "Behold, I make a new heaven and a new earth; and the moon will shine like the sun, and the sun seven times as much." Although he foretells the future renewal of the elements after the end of this age, when the creation itself, as the Apostle says, "will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God" (for, beloved, neither will the elements fail so as no longer to exist, nor shall we die so as not to rise improved), yet on this day too we see the Lord's promise fulfilled, as we look on the souls and bodies of the newly baptized, renewed after the likeness of heaven and earth. The moon also, that is, the church, which grows in peace and wanes in persecution (it wanes, however, in the fullness of its orb, not in the light of its brightness), we now see shining like the sun through the whole world. And that Christ, the Sun of righteousness, shines on the earth today seven times as much as he used to shine, his rays bear witness, which enlighten every man coming into this world. For now there flashes from him that fiery sevenfold Spirit which sat upon the apostles like fire and burns today in each of the believers. For before Christ suffered and rose again, God was known only in Judea; now the radiance of the Lord's brightness passes into all nations. "For his going out is from the height of heaven, and his circuit to its height, and there is none who can hide from his heat." Since, then, the world has been restored today, let us joyfully keep the birthday of the world's re-formation. "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." When I say the birthday of the world, I mean our own, who have been reborn in Christ: we who before were alive to sin but dead to righteousness, and who now, dead to the iniquities of our former crimes, have begun to live to God, made conformable first to the death and then to the resurrection of Christ. "For we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ rose from the dead, so we too might walk in newness of life," celebrating the feast and glorying in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, taken on the tenth day of the first month, was sacrificed by the Jews on the fourteenth day, at the evening of the world. But what that tenth day signifies, and what the fourteenth, I shall explain, to keep yesterday's promise, as far as the Lord deigns to grant. God says to holy Moses: "Speak to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, saying: On the tenth of this month let each man take a sheep by the houses of their families, a sheep for each house. And if they are too few in the house to suffice for a sheep, he shall take with him his nearest neighbour, according to the number of souls; each shall reckon what suffices for himself in the lamb. Your lamb shall be perfect, male, a year old; you shall take it from the lambs and the kids; and it shall be kept for you until the fourteenth of this month, and the whole multitude of the congregation of the children of Israel shall kill it toward evening. And they shall take of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, in the houses in which they are to eat it." The manifold wisdom of God speaks through the Law in such a way that by the very words in which he orders things to be done for present salvation he foretells things to come. The shadow of the truth that was to follow saved the Jews of that time in these observances, while signifying at the same time that their descendants, forgetful of the divine benefits, would slaughter at his coming the very one under whose shadow they had been saved. For by them Christ, coming into this world, was led like a sheep to the slaughter; and we, having the blood of this Lamb (that is, the sign of his passion) either on the two doorposts, whether faith and works or heart and mouth, or on the lintels of our foreheads, are protected from every assault of the raging plague. That the lamb is taken on the tenth day and sacrificed on the fourteenth signifies, as I see it, that the people of the Jews would crucify at evening the Son of God, whom they had received in the Decalogue of the Law and who was born, as it is written, in the fourteenth generation after the deportation to Babylon. "At evening": either the evening of this world, because he suffered in the last times of the age; or else at the setting of the sun itself, since when the Lord was crucified the sun set. For at midday, "from the sixth hour, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour." What could be so much an evening? Nor should you think it idle that, whereas above it is said in the imperative mood, "let them take a sheep by houses," below it is pronounced in the indicative mood, "the whole multitude of the congregation of the children of Israel will kill it toward evening." "They will kill," he says, not "let them kill." For what the synagogue of the Jews was going to do cruelly was foretold; it was not commanded to be done. Nor did it happen because it had been foretold; rather it was foretold because it was going to happen, so that God might show his foreknowledge in things that were to come about through the freedom of men's choice. We have said "freedom of choice" because the Jews willed to do what they did, and certainly, had they not willed it, they would not have done it. Surely it is a huge sacrilege even to think that God, who is not only good and just but goodness itself and justice itself, either commands or compels something to be done which, once done, he condemns. Or do we perhaps think that if the Israelites had repented, the almighty Son of God could not have saved the world in another way? "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?" Consider in the Gospel how Christ waited for the repentance of the Jews, where he reproaches the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they had not repented: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will be brought down to hell," he says; "for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." God's foreknowledge is not deceived; but neither is the freedom of will once granted to man taken away, lest God be unable to judge anything of one who was not free in acting. God condemns the obstinacy of the wicked and embraces the conversion of the penitent. But you may say: "Could God, then, have lied, who foretold that they would do what they did?" We do not attain to the greatness of the power of his omnipotence, who calls the things that are not as though they were. We would think he could have lied if what he foretold had not been fulfilled. Did he then lie to the Ninevites too? For he said, "Yet three days, and Nineveh will be overthrown" (according to the Seventy); and it was not overthrown, because it repented at the preaching of Jonah. But understand: "The word of God is a sword sharp on both sides." Nineveh was to have been overthrown in one way, and it was overthrown in another. It was to have been overthrown by destruction if it had persisted in its wickedness; its iniquity was overthrown, because it repented. "As heaven is distant from the earth," God says to men, "so my thoughts are distant from your thoughts, and my counsels from your counsels." It is written: "Do not seek things too high for you, and do not search out things above you; for their suspicion has tripped up many." Believe, then, beloved, that the Lord is just, true, and loving in all his words and works, so that you may attain perfect wisdom. "For your lamb shall be perfect, male, a year old," he says, so that you may think nothing middling of the perfect one, nothing weak of the male, nothing half-complete of the year-old. He is perfect, because in him dwelt all the fullness of the divinity bodily. He is male, because he deigned to be born a man from a virgin, so as to provide for both sexes. He is a year old, because after the baptism which he received for us in the Jordan, the space of one year is completed until the day of his passion; and only those things are written in the Gospels which he taught or did in that year, and not even all of them. For so the evangelist John says: "Jesus did many other signs in the sight of his disciples" (those, that is, whom he is written to have chosen after his baptism) "which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have eternal life in his name." And of what he did before that year the same John testifies thus in the last words of his book: "There are also many other things that Jesus did; if they were written one by one, I think the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." Only the evangelist Luke mentions in passing that the Lord Jesus, when twelve years old, was found by his parents in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, hearing them and asking them questions, and that he said to his parents: "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in the things of my Father?" This is the acceptable year of the Lord, of which, reading in the synagogue what was written of his own person in the book of Isaiah, the Lord Jesus says: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears." This is the year whose crown (that is, the victorious circle to be blessed by the works of Christ's goodness) the prophet joyfully announced in the psalm: "You will bless the crown of the year of your kindness," he says, "and your fields will be filled with plenty": the hearts of the believing peoples, that is, having received the seed of the word of life, will overflow even with a hundredfold fruit. And if, when the legs of the robbers who hung on the cross with Christ were broken, the Saviour's legs were not broken, as the holy evangelist testifies, "so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says, Not a bone of him shall be broken," it was necessary, by the reasoning given above, that this Lamb of God should be sacrificed at a year old, so that everything written of him might be fulfilled in him, to whom be all honour, power and glory, with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Isa 65:17: quotation, high confidence - Isa 30:26: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:21: quotation, high confidence - Mal 4:2: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Acts 2:3: allusion, high confidence - Ps 76:1 (75:2 Vulg.): allusion, high confidence - Ps 19:6 (18:7 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 118:24 (117:24 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:11: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:14: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:3–7: quotation, high confidence - Eph 3:10: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 53:7: allusion, high confidence - Matt 1:17: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:45: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:34: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:21–24: quotation, high confidence - Luke 10:13–15: allusion, high confidence - Rom 4:17: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 3:4: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 3:10: allusion, high confidence - Heb 4:12: quotation, high confidence - Isa 55:9: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:5: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:9: quotation, high confidence - John 20:30–31: quotation, high confidence - John 21:25: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:42–49: quotation, high confidence - Isa 61:2: allusion, high confidence - Luke 4:19–21: quotation, high confidence - Ps 65:11 (64:12 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:8: allusion, medium confidence - John 19:32–36: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:46: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 3:21-24 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius argues that the Jews' killing of Christ was foretold, not commanded or compelled, and that human freedom of choice remains under God's foreknowledge; the passage is translated exactly. He holds that Christ's public ministry lasted one year (hence 'a year-old lamb'). - Quotations: Isa 65:17 with 30:26 (the digital text's 'Isa. lxvi, xxx'); Rom 8:21; John 1:9; Acts 2:3; Isa 11:2; Ps 76:1 (75:2 Vulg.); Ps 19:6 (18:7 Vulg.); Ps 118:24 (117:24 Vulg.); Rom 6:4; Gal 6:14; Exod 12:3–7, 5; Eph 3:10; Isa 53:7; Matt 1:17; Matt 27:45; Rom 11:34; Matt 11:21–24 with Luke 10:13–15; Rom 4:17; Jonah 3:4 (LXX 'three days'); Heb 4:12; Isa 55:9; Col 2:9; John 20:30–31; John 21:25; Luke 2:46–49; Luke 4:21 (Isa 61:2); Ps 65:11 (64:12 Vulg.); Matt 13:8; John 19:32–36 (Exod 12:46). 'Do not seek things too high…' is Sir 3:21 with 3:24. - The digital text has OCR slips (e.g. 'Israel i tac' read as Israelitae); these are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 3 (PL 20:861a–867a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/3). ## Tractates 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/3/#p-4 - Source: PL 20:867a–871b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: The Passover lamb 'from the lambs and the kids' signifies Christ's flesh taken from just and sinners alike; Gaudentius warns the newly baptized against idolatrous foods, magic, and drunken feasts for the dead. ### Latin text Carnalem Judaici paschae observantiam, spirituali bos typis refertam, trino jam tractatu docuimus; semel hesterno die, et bis in vigiliis allocuti charitatetn vestram; evidenter probantes, quod immolatio carnis et sanguinis umbraliter jussa, recte cessaverit adveniente Agno Dei Christo; qui juxta apostolum, finis legis est, ad justitiam omni credenti (Rom. x). Nam et Ipse beatissimus Paulus cum esset adhuc in AEgypto, cum Judaeis pascha ritu Judaico celebrabat: Sed postquam placuit ei qui segregavit me de utero matris meae, inquit, et vocavit per gratiam suam, ut revelaret Filium suum in me, continuo non adquievi, ait, carni et sanguini (Galat. i). Ergo quoniam non oportet rebus carnalibus immorari eum cui Filius Dei fuerit revelatus, quaeramus reliquas mysteriorum spiritualium partes, in visceribus propositae lectionis. Ab agnis, inquit, et haedis sumetis (Exod. xii). Hinc advertere Judaei debuerant. Legem Dei spiritualiter intelligendam, quoniam ab agnis et haedis sumendum legerunt agnum qui immolandas erat; cum sit istud naturae contrarium, ut si agnus est, ab agnis sit pariter et ab haedis. Sed haec est omnis ratio inambiguiute sermonis, quod iste immaculatus Agnus Dominus Jesus, et justorum, et peccatorum carnem suscipere sit dignatus ex Virgine: corpus enim non solum de patriarchis et prophetis, sed ex totius humani generis massa suscepit. Justos autem comparari agnis, et peccatores haedis, ipse in Evangelio declaravit, dicens agnos a dextris vocandos: Venite, benedicti (Matth. xxv), inquit; haedos vero a sinistris pellendos: discedite, maledicti. Hunc ergo ab agnis, et haedis sumptum, omnis multitudo Synagogae filiorum Israel interfecit, cum clamarunt omues Pilato: Crucifige eum (Matth. xxvii; Joan. xix). Caeterum juxta historiam legalis paschae, non omnis Synagoga occidebat nnum, sed pauci singulos per unamquamque domum. Ibi vero principes sacerdotum et seniores persuaserunt populo, ul peterent concedi sibi latronem Barabbam, Jesum vero perderent. Perdiderunt enim Salvatoreni Christum, et ex ore suo judicati sunt, ut moreretur in eis verbum Dei, id est eloquium Prophetarum, per quos ipse locutas est: et sicut scriptum esi in Propbetis, deficerent in eis sapientes, viveret vero in illis Barabhas ille latro diabolus, quem tantopere poposcerunt. Quod autem vivat in illis seditiosus ille,et homicida, seditiones ipsae testantur quas contra Apostolos commoverunt, et quas nunc usque contra omnes sanctos exercere non desinunt, ubi tempus invenerint. Nobis nutem vivit Christus. Resurrexit enim nobis, quia non est ultra visus Judiaeis; neque intravit post resurrectionem synagogam Judaeorum, sed ad congregatos discipulos introivit (Joan. xx; Luc. xxiv). Ingreditur et ad nos, qui sumus in domo Ecclesiae congregati, et ostendit nobis venerandi sui corporis veritatem, si tamen vel meruimus, vel meremur ejus esse dissapuli. Etenim beati Apostoli, quibus vere commissum est praeparare iu superioribus pascha Domini, quoniam paucos viderunt ex Judaeis in dumo Ecclesiae qui no a sufficerent ad consummandum paschae sacrificium, convocaverunt vicinos ex Gentibus, secundum quod praeceptum fuerat in Lege: Quod si pauci erunt, inquit, in domo, ita ut non sufficiant ad ovem assumet secum vicinus proximum suum, etc. (Exod. xii), nam vere non sufficiebant ad eum qui pro totius mundi peccatis mori sustinuit. Pauci enim. crediderunt ex Judaeis in Jesum Dominum; unde Apostolus: Ita, inquit, in hoc tempore (non dubium quod sicut tempore Eliae, cui ait Deus (III Reg. xix): Reliqui mihi septem millia virorum, qui non curvaverunt genua ante Baal); ita ergo, inquit, in hoc tempore (sub adventu quippe Christi) reliquiae secundum electionem gratia salvae factae sunt (Rom. xi), ex popula utique Judaeorum: de tanta enim multitudine vix pauci ad Christi fidem inveniuntur fuisse conversi. Propter quod et de istis reliquiis Domini et misericordiae Dei Isaias propheta testatur dioens: Nisi Dominus Sabaoth reliquisset nobis se men, sicut Sodoma facti essemus (Is. i), et sicut Gomorrha similes fuissemus. Vos igitur, neophyti, qui estis ad beatae hujus ac spiritualis paschae epulas invitati, videte quomodo ab omni pollutione escarum quas superstitio gentilis infecerit, vestras animas confervetis. Nec sufficit ut a mortifero daemonum cibo vitam suam custodiat Christianus; sed ut omnia abominamenta Gentilium, et omnes idololatriae tramites, sicut quaedam serpentis diaboli venena, diffugiat. Partes enim idololatriae sunt veneficia, praecantationes, suballigaturae, vanitates, auguria, sortes, observatio omnium, parentalia, inquam, nude idololatriae malum extulit caput erroris. Nqm gulae suae caus i primum coeperunt, homines prandia mortuis praeparare, quae ipsi comederent; post hoc etiam sacrificia ausi sunt eis sacrilega celebrare, quamvis nec ipsi mortuis suis munus sacrificent qui exercent parentalia, dum super sepulcrorum mensas tremulis ebrietate manibus vina fundentes, spiritum sitire balbutiunt. Cavete, quaeso, ab his omnibus, ne indignatus Deus contemptores et inimicos suos, qui noluerunt eum regnare super se, tradat illis inferni tortoribus: illic erit fletus et stridor dentium (Matth. viii; Luc. xiii). Servate, neophyti, ornamentum gratiae salutaris: sobrii estote per omnia, ne illud inebriati perdatis: solliciti convenite ad ecclesiam: orationibus, hymnis, psalmis, et canticis spiritualibus nobiscum vigilanter incumbite. Haec sint otii vestri opera; quibus debitum reddentes Christo Domino famulatum, mercedem vitae aeternae consequi ab ipso possitis. Sint igitur convivia vestra sobria, casta cubilia: sit modestus animus, sermo placidus, mitis incessus. Orate ut beneficia gratiae suae Deus conservet in vobis, et fides vestra magis magisque proficiat, largiente Christo Domino Salvatore, cui una virtus eademque divinitas cum Patre et cum Spiritu sancto, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) We have now taught, in three discourses, the carnal observance of the Jewish Passover, filled with these spiritual types: once yesterday, and twice when we spoke to your charity at the vigils; and we have clearly proved that the sacrifice of flesh and blood, commanded in shadow, rightly ceased when Christ the Lamb of God came, who, according to the Apostle, "is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes." For the most blessed Paul himself too, while he was still in Egypt, celebrated the Passover with the Jews by the Jewish rite. "But when it pleased him who set me apart from my mother's womb," he says, "and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, I did not at once consult flesh and blood." Since, then, one to whom the Son of God has been revealed must not linger over carnal things, let us look for the remaining parts of the spiritual mysteries in the inward parts of the reading set before us. "You shall take it from the lambs and the kids," he says. From this the Jews ought to have perceived that the Law of God is to be understood spiritually, since they read that the lamb to be sacrificed was to be taken from the lambs and the kids, whereas it is contrary to nature that if it is a lamb it should come both from lambs and from kids. But the whole meaning of the word, beyond all ambiguity, is that this spotless Lamb, the Lord Jesus, deigned to take from the Virgin the flesh both of the just and of sinners; for he took a body not only from the patriarchs and prophets but from the mass of the whole human race. That the just are compared to lambs and sinners to kids he himself declared in the Gospel, saying that the lambs are to be called on the right, "Come, you blessed," but the kids driven away on the left: "Depart, you cursed." This one, then, taken from the lambs and the kids, the whole multitude of the congregation of the children of Israel killed, when they all cried out to Pilate: "Crucify him!" Yet according to the history of the Passover of the Law, the whole congregation did not kill one lamb, but a few people killed one each in every house. But there the chief priests and elders persuaded the people to ask that the robber Barabbas be granted to them and that they should destroy Jesus. For they destroyed Christ the Saviour, and were judged out of their own mouth, so that the Word of God died in them, that is, the speech of the prophets through whom he himself spoke, and, as it is written in the prophets, the wise failed among them; while that robber Barabbas, the devil, whom they demanded so insistently, lived in them. That the seditious man and murderer lives in them is shown by the very seditions they stirred up against the apostles, and which they do not cease to stir up even now against all the saints whenever they find the occasion. But for us Christ lives. For he rose for us, because he was no longer seen by the Jews; nor after the resurrection did he enter the synagogue of the Jews, but he went in to the disciples gathered together. He comes in to us too, who are gathered in the house of the church, and shows us the reality of his venerable body, if only we have been or are worthy to be his disciples. For the blessed apostles, to whom it was truly entrusted to prepare the Lord's Passover in the upper room, since they saw that there were few from the Jews in the house of the church, not enough to complete the sacrifice of the Passover, called in neighbours from the Gentiles, according to what had been commanded in the Law: "And if they are too few in the house," he says, "to suffice for a sheep, he shall take with him his nearest neighbour," and so on; for they truly were not enough for him who endured to die for the sins of the whole world. For few of the Jews believed in the Lord Jesus. Hence the Apostle says: "So, at this present time" (no doubt, as in the time of Elijah, to whom God says, "I have left myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee before Baal"), "so, then," he says, "at this present time" (at the coming of Christ, that is), "a remnant according to the election of grace has been saved," from the people of the Jews, that is; for out of so great a multitude scarcely a few are found to have been converted to the faith of Christ. For this reason the prophet Isaiah too testifies of this remnant of the Lord and of God's mercy, saying: "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah." You, then, the newly baptized, who are invited to the banquet of this blessed and spiritual Passover, see how you keep your souls from every pollution of the foods that Gentile superstition has defiled. Nor is it enough for a Christian to guard his life from the deadly food of demons; he must flee all the abominations of the Gentiles and all the paths of idolatry, as though they were poisons of the serpent, the devil. For the parts of idolatry are poisonings, incantations, amulets, vanities, auguries, lots, the observance of all such things, and, I say, the feasts for the dead, from which the evil of idolatry raised the head of its error. For men first began, for the sake of their gluttony, to prepare meals for the dead which they themselves would eat; after this they even dared to celebrate sacrilegious sacrifices to them, although those who keep the feasts for the dead do not in fact offer their gift to their dead, when, pouring wine on the tables of the tombs with hands trembling from drunkenness, they stammer that the spirit is thirsty. Beware, I beg you, of all these things, lest God in his indignation hand over those who despise him and his enemies, who did not want him to reign over them, to the torturers of hell: "there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Keep, you newly baptized, the adornment of saving grace. Be sober in all things, lest you lose it through drunkenness. Come to church with care; devote yourselves watchfully with us to prayers, hymns, psalms and spiritual songs. Let these be the works of your leisure, so that, rendering the service owed to Christ the Lord, you may obtain from him the reward of eternal life. Let your banquets be sober, your beds chaste; let your mind be modest, your speech calm, your bearing gentle. Pray that God may preserve the benefits of his grace in you, and that your faith may advance more and more, by the gift of Christ the Lord, the Saviour, whose power is one and whose divinity is the same with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Rom 10:4: quotation, high confidence - Gal 1:15–16: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:33–34: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:22–23: allusion, high confidence - John 19:15: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:20: allusion, high confidence - Luke 19:22: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 29:14: allusion, medium confidence - John 20:19: allusion, high confidence - John 20:26–27: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 24:36–40: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 22:12: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 12:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 2:2: allusion, low confidence - 1 Kgs 19:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:4–5: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Luke 19:27: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Luke 13:28: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 5:18–19: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:16: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - 'While he was still in Egypt' is figurative: Paul before his conversion. The passages on the Jews and Barabbas are polemical and are translated as written. - 'Parentalia' are the Roman feasts for the dead, at which wine was poured on tombs; the list of practices (poisonings, incantations, amulets, auguries, lots) is Gaudentius's. - Quotations: Rom 10:4; Gal 1:15–16; Exod 12:5; Matt 25:33–34, 41; Matt 27:22–23 with John 19:15; Matt 27:20; Luke 19:22; Isa 29:14; John 20:19, 26; Luke 22:12; Exod 12:4; Rom 11:4–5 (1 Kgs 19:18); Isa 1:9 (Rom 9:29); Luke 19:27; Matt 8:12 with Luke 13:28; Eph 5:18–19; Col 3:16. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 4 (PL 20:867a–871b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/4). ## Tractates 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/3/#p-5 - Source: PL 20:871b–877a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: The shoes and staffs of the Passover meal: shoes are the commandments of Scripture that protect the soul's steps in this world's Egypt, to be loosed only in the holy land; the staff is the rod of correction that the apostolic pastor needs only for the unruly. ### Latin text Ordinem lectionis Exodi, ubi lex celebrandi pascha describitur, idcirco praeposteravimus, ut in mysteriis reserandis, debitae reverentiae ordinem teneremus; quia oportebat in illa splendidissima nocte vigiliarum, secundo tractatu, non dictorum sequentia, sed congrua neophytis explanari; ut edendi paschalis sacrificii disciplinam rudes neophyti discerent, instructi fideles agnoscerent. Quibus pariter ei de habitu edentium, unam speciem tempori aptam disserui, duas tam ipsis, quam catechumenis reservavi. Ait enim: Sic autem comedetis illum, id esi agnum: Lumbi vestri praecincti, et calciamenta vestra in pedibus vestris, et baculi in manibus vestris (Exod. xii). Tunc de praecinetione lumborum diximus, nunc de calciamenlis et baculis exponamus. Quae ideo hodie proponuntur, quia tunc sequenti dfe, et tertio, illa prius quae de principiis lectionis consulto praeterieram, necesse fuerit explicari. Agnus Dei verus, quem Joannes Baptista demonstrat, Christus est. Ecce, inquit, Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi (Joan. i). Hujus carnem tam fideles in mysterio, quum simul universi credentes in fide, ita debemus edere, nostrique cordis interioribus commendare, ut non solum praecinctos habeamus castitate lumbos, verum etiam calciati simus, ut ait Apostolus in praeparatione Evangelii pacis (Ephes. vi). Sicut enim calciamenla terrestria carnalium pedum munimina sunt, et vel asperitati frigoris, vel serpentum morsui, vel spinarum resistunt aculeis: ita Legis divinae praecepta, quibus gressus nostrarum mentium munire praecipimur, repugnant et serpenti diabolo, et asperrimo Aquiloni Gentilium, et haereticorum undique compungentium spinis ac tribulis. Hujusmodi ergo calciamentis uti debemus quotquot pascha Dominicum celebramus. Quoniam Lex, ut Apostolus ait, spiritualis est (Rom. vii); Et pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus (I Cor. v). Itaque et lumbi nostri praecincti esse debent, et calciati pedes. Quid enim prodest homini, si solam corporis habeat castitatem; et incautus, et sine instructione calciamentorum Legalium, malis fuerit supradictis obnoxius: vel quod quotidie in usu est cordis sui calcaneum patens praebeat comestioni serpentum? Si cogitet mala, si concupiscat aliena, si dolum meditetur, si nutriat iram, si insidictur proximo, si mendacio studeat, si comedatur livore, si tabescat invidia, si venenato ore detrahat bonis; et dum mendacis linguae spiculo lacerare nititur innocentes, morsibus daemonum, qui per ipsum loquuntur, ipse potius lanietur? Quid profuit praecinctos habuisse lumbos, st divinorum mandatorum calciamenta non servans, gressus cordis tui (id est animae tuse bases) crudelissimae concisioni tradideris? Contrarium forsitan videatur aliquibus, quod cum hic tantopere calciatos esse debere a Deo jussum sit, alibi ab eodem Domino Deo jubeatur sancio Moysi, et sancto Josue: Solve calciamenta de pedibus tuis (Exod. iii; Jos. v). Ingens quidem ratio est, et multiplicium propositionum ambagibus praestruenda: sed quia brevitas congruit et praedicantis labori, et memoriae auditoris, nolo vos longius trahere. Ibi solvitur quaestio, ubi calciamenta solvuntur, dum statim causa adjiicutur: Solve, inquit, calciamenta de pedibus tuis; locus enim in quo stas, terra sancta est (Exod. iii; Jos. v). Ostenditur ergo terra AEgypti, ubi datur praeceptio illa superior, sancta non esse, et ideo ibi habenda mandantur calciamenta; in sancta autem terra decernuntur esse solvenda: quas tamen ob causas, evidenter est exponendum. Quamdiu in hujus saeculi AEgypto conversamur, oportet nos pascha Domini celebrantes, calciamentis uti sanctarum Scripturarum; quia tutus non potest esse gressus noster, nisi mandatis Dominicis contegatur, usquequo intremus in illam sanctam promissionis terram quae justis est praeparata. Beati enim mites, ait Dominus Jesus, quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram (Matth. v); non utique istam terram quam possident peccatores, sed illam in qua non sunt spinae, et tribuli: in qua non sunt serpentes, et scorpii: quippe ubi diabolus cum caeteris immundis spiritibus non accedit. Erit enim tunc una cum suis satellitibus in igne aeterno, quem paravit Deus utique diabolo, et angelis ejus (Matth. xxv). Habemus et Joannem Baptistam, qui dixerit de Salvatore humani generis Domino Jesu: Cujus ego non sum dignus, inquit, corrigiam calciamentorum solvere (Joan. i). Sed alia in Christo ratio est. Ille non propter se calciatus est, sed propter nos; quoniam terra sustinere non poterat majestatis ejus nuda vestigia. Calciamenta cum dicit, gressus ostendit sanctarum Scripturarum, quibus graditur, et circuit notitia ejus in omnes qui habitant super terram. Et ideo Joannes Baptista in Evangelio negat vel idoneum se esse, vel dignum, qui solvat corrigiam calciamentorum ejus, id est, sermonem ejus; sive ut edisserat unum de mandatis ejus; sive ut nudare valeat, et evidenter ostendere calciati adhuc in isto saeculo Verbi Dei veneranda vestigia. Modo enim per speculum videmus in aenigmate, inquit, tunc vero facie ad faciem (I Cor. xiii): ubi non erit aliquid occultum quod non revelabitur, nec absconditum quod non scietur (Matth. x); quando ad illum futurum diem festum Dominus Jesus (Joan. vii), non sicut sub incredulis, quasi in occulto ascendet; sed sicut scriptum est: Deus palam veniet, et Deus noster, et non silebit (Ps. xlix). Propterea et Apostoli in Evangeliis alibi prohibentur portare calciamenta in via, dum dicitur eis in Evangelio Matthaei a Domino: Nolite possidere aurum, neque argentum, neque pecuniam in zonis vestris, non peram in via, neque duas tunicas, neque calciamenta, neque virgam; dignus enim est operarius mercede sua (Matth. x). Alibi autem jubentur habere, ut Marcus evangelista describit: Et circuibat, inquit, castella Jesus docens, Et convocatis illis duodecim, misit eos binos, dans illis potestatem fugare spiritus immundos; et praecipiens illis, ne quid secum tollerent in via, nisi virgam tantum; non peram, non panem, neque nummos in zonis, sed calciatos caligulis, et ne induerent, ait, duas tunicas (Marc. vi). Propter incredulos, et parvae fidei homines, jubentur in via praedicationis, calciamenta habere Apostoli, ut Verbum Dei calciatum, et contectum in mysterio, propter spinas et tribulos blasphemantium praedicent. Ad eos autem qui fideli mente audiunt, quasi jam in sancta terra, perfecti quippe cordis in fide, ubi nuda de Deo securi possent proferre testimonia; jubentur non portare calciamenta, videlicet ut aperta figant illic vestigia divinitatis ejus. Et ideo beatus Petrus calciavit se in carcere calciamentis suis (Act. xii): et sic exiit iterum ad hostes Judaeos et adversarias potestates, ut calciatus pedes in praeparatione Evangelii, calcaret super serpentes, et scorpiones, et super omnem virtutem inimici (Luc. x). Et Moyses dicit in benedictionibus, vel ad unumquemque fidelem, vel ad personam potius Christi: Ferrum, inquit, et aes calciamentum tuum (Deut. xxxiii); utique ut confringat capita draconum super aquas, id est ut conterat principatus daemonum draconum, qui sunt super aquas Gentilium populorum. Aquae vero quod populis comparentur et Gentibus, in Apocalypsi revelatur Joannis; Aquae inquit, quas vidisti, super quas sedet meretrix Babylon, populi et Gentes sunt (Apoc. xvii). Opus mihi est et baculo, pascha adhuc in Egypto celebranti; ut si imitator sum sancti Moysi, Hebraeum meum (id est intellectum Israelitem, qui Deum videre promeruit) ab interitu liberem, percusso AEgyptio. Hoc propter seipsum quisque, quamdiu servit Legi. Si quis vero est Apostolicus, et per Jesum prostrato AEgyptio, magnus factus, ac potens; non jam propter se baculum portat, sed propter eos quibus dici nccessc est: Quid vultis? in virga veniam ad vos, an in charitate, et spiritu mansuetudinis (1 Cor. iv)? Portat et propter cos qui veniunt ad nos in vestimentis ovium, ab intus autem sunt lupi rapaces (Matth. vii). Quod si lupus desinat esse lupus, ei cum agno pascatur, ut ait Propheta (Is. xi); et si leo desinens esse leo, cum bove manducet paleas; baculo opus non est. Si enim feralium morum nequitia in tantam vertatur n ansuetudinem, ut cum oviculis innocentibus, ac mundis Christi operariis, vita; pabulum miles quaerant, et capiant, et tales utique sint qui in charitate, et spiritu mansuetudinis ad perfectum debeam erudiri; dicitur a Christo (Matth. x) apostolicis quibusque sacerdotibus, ut neque baculos correptionum portent in via, quando in discipulis obedientibus, ac modestis terram sanctam possidere jam coeperint. Quod annuat de vobis pusillitati meae Salvator humani generis, Deus Dominus Jesus. Cui una Deitas, eademque omnipotentia, cum Patre, et Spiritu sancto, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) We reversed the order of the reading from Exodus, where the law for celebrating the Passover is described, so as to keep the order of due reverence in unlocking the mysteries; for on that most splendid night of the vigil, in the second discourse, it was right to explain not the sequence of what was said but what was fitting for the newly baptized, so that the unformed newly baptized might learn, and the instructed faithful recognize, the discipline of eating the paschal sacrifice. In the same way, of the dress of those who eat, I discussed one item suited to that occasion and reserved two for them as well as for the catechumens. For he says: "And thus you shall eat it" (the lamb, that is): "your loins girded, and your shoes on your feet, and your staffs in your hands." Then we spoke of the girding of the loins; now let us explain the shoes and the staffs. They are set before you today because on the next day, and the third, it was necessary first to explain the things from the beginning of the reading that I had deliberately passed over. The true Lamb of God, whom John the Baptist points out, is Christ: "Behold," he says, "the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world." His flesh, both the faithful in the mystery and all believers together in faith, we must so eat and commit to the inmost part of our heart that we not only have our loins girded with chastity but are also shod, as the Apostle says, "with the preparation of the gospel of peace." For as earthly shoes protect the feet of the body and resist the harshness of cold, the bite of serpents, or the points of thorns, so the precepts of the divine Law, with which we are commanded to protect the steps of our minds, resist both the serpent, the devil, and the bitterest north wind of the Gentiles, and the thorns and briars of the heretics who prick us on every side. We must, then, use shoes of this kind, all of us who celebrate the Lord's Passover. For "the Law," as the Apostle says, "is spiritual," and "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed." So our loins must be girded and our feet shod. For what does it profit a man if he has chastity of body alone, and, careless and without the protection of the shoes of the Law, is exposed to the evils just mentioned, or (as happens every day) offers the bare heel of his heart for serpents to devour? If he thinks evil, if he covets what belongs to others, if he plots deceit, if he nourishes anger, if he lies in wait for his neighbour, if he is given to lying, if he is eaten up by spite, if he wastes away with envy, if with poisoned mouth he slanders good men, and while he tries to tear the innocent with the dart of his lying tongue, he is rather torn himself by the bites of the demons who speak through him? What did it profit you to have your loins girded, if, not keeping the shoes of the divine commandments, you have handed over the steps of your heart (that is, the feet of your soul) to be cruelly cut to pieces? It may perhaps seem contradictory to some that, while here God so insistently commands that we must be shod, elsewhere the same Lord God commands holy Moses and holy Joshua: "Loose the shoes from your feet." The explanation is indeed a large one and would need to be built up with the windings of many propositions; but since brevity suits both the labour of the preacher and the memory of the hearer, I do not wish to draw you out at greater length. The question is resolved where the shoes are loosed, since the reason is added at once: "Loose the shoes from your feet," he says, "for the place on which you stand is holy ground." It is shown, then, that the land of Egypt, where that earlier command is given, is not holy, and therefore shoes are ordered to be worn there; but in the holy land it is decreed that they are to be loosed. For what reasons, however, must be plainly explained. As long as we live in the Egypt of this world, we who celebrate the Lord's Passover must use the shoes of the holy Scriptures, because our step cannot be safe unless it is covered by the Lord's commandments, until we enter that holy land of promise which is prepared for the just. "For blessed are the meek," says the Lord Jesus, "for they shall possess the earth": not, of course, this earth which sinners possess, but that one in which there are no thorns and briars, in which there are no serpents and scorpions, since there the devil with the other unclean spirits does not come. For he will then be, together with his followers, in the eternal fire which God has prepared for the devil and his angels. We also have John the Baptist, who said of the Saviour of the human race, the Lord Jesus: "The strap of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose." But in Christ the reason is different. He was shod not for his own sake but for ours, since the earth could not bear the bare footprints of his majesty. When he speaks of shoes, he points to the steps of the holy Scriptures, by which the knowledge of him walks and goes round to all who dwell on the earth. And therefore John the Baptist in the Gospel denies that he is either fit or worthy to loose the strap of his shoes, that is, his word: whether to expound one of his commandments, or to be able to lay bare and plainly show the venerable footprints of the Word of God, who is still shod in this world. "For now we see through a mirror in an enigma," he says, "but then face to face," where there will be nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known; when the Lord Jesus goes up to that future feast day not, as among unbelievers, as it were in secret, but, as it is written: "God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silence." For this reason too the apostles are elsewhere in the Gospels forbidden to carry shoes on the way, when it is said to them by the Lord in the Gospel of Matthew: "Do not possess gold or silver or money in your belts, no bag for the way, nor two tunics, nor shoes, nor staff; for the labourer is worthy of his wages." But elsewhere they are commanded to have them, as the evangelist Mark describes: "And Jesus went round the villages teaching. And calling the twelve, he sent them two by two, giving them power to drive out unclean spirits, and commanding them to take nothing with them on the way except a staff only; no bag, no bread, no money in their belts, but to be shod with sandals," and, he says, "not to put on two tunics." Because of unbelievers and men of little faith, the apostles are commanded to have shoes on the way of preaching, so that they may preach the Word of God shod and covered in mystery, because of the thorns and briars of blasphemers. But to those who listen with a faithful mind, as though already in the holy land, being of perfect heart in faith, where they could safely bring forth bare testimonies about God, they are commanded not to carry shoes, so that they may plant there the open footprints of his divinity. And therefore blessed Peter put on his shoes in prison, and so went out again to the hostile Jews and the adverse powers, so that, his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, he might tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy. And Moses says in the blessings, either to each of the faithful or rather to the person of Christ: "Iron and bronze shall be your shoe," so that he may break the heads of the dragons upon the waters, that is, crush the principalities of the demon dragons who are upon the waters of the Gentile peoples. That waters are likened to peoples and nations is revealed in the Apocalypse of John: "The waters which you saw," he says, "on which the harlot Babylon sits, are peoples and nations." I need a staff too, while I still celebrate the Passover in Egypt, so that, if I am an imitator of holy Moses, I may free my Hebrew (that is, my understanding, an Israelite, who has been counted worthy to see God) from destruction by striking the Egyptian. Each one does this for himself as long as he serves the Law. But if anyone is apostolic, and, the Egyptian having been laid low through Jesus, has become great and powerful, he no longer carries a staff for his own sake but for the sake of those to whom it must be said: "What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?" He carries it also for the sake of those who come to us in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves. But if the wolf ceases to be a wolf and feeds with the lamb, as the prophet says, and if the lion, ceasing to be a lion, eats straw with the ox, there is no need of a staff. For if the wickedness of savage ways is turned to such gentleness that, with the innocent little sheep and the clean labourers of Christ, they seek and take the sweet food of life, and are such that they ought to be instructed to perfection in love and a spirit of gentleness, then Christ tells all apostolic priests not to carry staffs of correction on the way, when in obedient and modest disciples they have already begun to possess the holy land. May the Saviour of the human race, God the Lord Jesus, grant this concerning you to my littleness, whose Deity is one and whose omnipotence is the same with the Father and the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Exod 12:11: quotation, high confidence - John 1:29: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:7: quotation, high confidence - Exod 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Josh 5:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - John 1:27: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:26: quotation, high confidence - John 7:10: allusion, high confidence - Ps 50:3 (49:3 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:9–10: quotation, high confidence - Mark 6:6–9: quotation, high confidence - Acts 12:8: allusion, high confidence - Luke 10:19: allusion, high confidence - Deut 33:25: quotation, high confidence - Ps 74:13 (73:13 Vulg.): allusion, high confidence - Rev 17:15: quotation, high confidence - Exod 2:12: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:15: quotation, high confidence - Isa 11:6–7: allusion, high confidence - Isa 65:25: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius harmonizes Matt 10:10 (no shoes, no staff) with Mark 6:8–9 (a staff and sandals) allegorically. - 'Iron and bronze shall be your shoe' is Deut 33:25 in the Old Latin (LXX) form; 'break the heads of the dragons upon the waters' is Ps 74:13 (73:13 Vulg.). - Quotations: Exod 12:11; John 1:29; Eph 6:15; Rom 7:14; 1 Cor 5:7; Exod 3:5; Josh 5:15; Matt 5:5; Matt 25:41; John 1:27; 1 Cor 13:12; Matt 10:26; John 7:10; Ps 50:3 (49:3 Vulg.); Matt 10:9–10; Mark 6:6–9; Acts 12:8; Luke 10:19; Rev 17:15; Exod 2:12; 1 Cor 4:21; Matt 7:15; Isa 11:6–7 (65:25). The garbled 'vita; pabulum miles' is read as vitae pabulum mite, 'the sweet food of life'. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 5 (PL 20:871b–877a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/5). ## Tractates 6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/6/#p-6 - Source: PL 20:877a–881a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: Gaudentius summarizes the Easter-week sermons and expounds the striking of Egypt's firstborn: at Christ's death and descent to the underworld he struck the demons and their idols, while the destroyer, the devil, is kept from those marked with the sign of Christ's blood. ### Latin text Quantum Deus Pater per virtutem suam, et spiritum suum pro captu virium nostrarum revelare dignatus est; quantum Patrie, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti coaequalis omnipotentia tributi; quantum sempiternae, ac sine principio Trinitatis una eademque divinitas inspiravit, aperuimus dilectioni vestrae a primis vigiliis Paschae usque in banc diem, quae esset ratio nominis libri Exodi; quae virtus paschae, cujus ibi observatio primum custodienda decernitur; et quamobrem mensis iste in quo Deus hoc observandum praecipit, primus dicatur in mensibus anni; quae esset AEgyptus; quid significaret ille decimus, vel quartus decimus dies; quis esset agnus immolationis, et cur assumendus esset ab ovibus, et ab haedis; quae vespertina dici, quod illud limen, qui illi postes, quis ille sanguis: et quam ob causam neque crudas carnes, neque in aqua codas, sed assatas igni, ei caput cum pedibus et interaneis festinanter comedere jubeantur; quod ex eo os non confringendum, quae reliquiarum crematio, et quid mysterii figuratum sit vel in calciamentis pedum, et baculis manuum, vel in praecinctu lumborum. Restat ut disseramus percussionem primitivorum AEgypti, et azyma cum amaritudine, et septem dies azymorum. Transibo, inquit, in terra AEgypti hac nocte, et percutiam omne primogenitum in terra AEgypti ab homine usque ad pecus: et in omnibus diis Aegyptiorum faciam vindictam, ego Dominus. Et erit sanguis vobis in signo in domibus in quibus vos critis ibi: et videbo sanguinem, et protegam vos: et non erit in vobis plaga contritionis cum percutio AEgyptum. Et erit hic dies vobis in memoria (Exod. xii). Percussit quidem Deus in illa nocte tunc temporis primogenita omnia AEgyptum sicut per Moysen comminatus fuerat Pharaoni, cum noluit dimittere populum Israel, quem populum idem Dominus primitivum nuncupare filium dignabatur; quando perculsi tantorum repente funerum strage AEgyptii. Israelitas quos tamquam captivos dudum relaxare no fuerant, noctis medio expulerunt. Sed quoniam multo majora fecit idem Deus pro nostro populo contra veros AEgyptios, et in nobis completa sunt qua tunc temporis umbraliter contingebant: redemptionis nostrae memores, non debemus dona pietatis ejus ingrato occultare silentio. Die qua immolatus est Agnus Dei Dominus Jesus, ad vesperum (imminentibus quippe jam tenebris, quae statim crucifixo eo cooperuerant omnem terram [Matth. xxvii]), in illius diei nocte percussit primitiva AEgyptiorum daemonum, id est simulacra hominum mortuorum, quae ipsi prima in hoc mundo creaverant, ut per ea colerentur. Sed cum ibi adjicitur, in omnibus diis AEgyptiorum faciam vindiciam (Exod. xii), fortasse dicas: qui sunt isti AEgyptiorum. dii, si daemones quos pagani deos putant, ipsi sunt AEgyptii? Audi ergo, non solum daemones Aegyptios esse, sed etiam cultores eorum, quicumque pertinaciter in incredulitate versantur, filii tenebrarum cnm sint, AEgyptii sunt: quoniam filii Aegyptiorum natura, filii sunt daemonum. Unde dicitur universis incredulis: Vos de diabolo patre estis (Joan. viii). Sicut enim quotquot spiritu Dei ducuntur, hi filii Dei sunt, secundum doctrinam Pauli apostoli (Rom. viii), ita quoque quotquot spiritu diaboli abducuntur, filii daemoniorum sunt, Ideo autem Scriptura divina diabolum et exercitum ejus AEgyptus nuncupat, quia a Deo. qui lux est, alieni sancti sunt, contra Creatorum proprium rebellando. Nam sanctus Apostolus dicit: Quid mirum si Satanas transfigurat se in Angelum lucis (II Cor. xi)? Probans utique eum esse angelum tenebrarum, qui se quasi Angelum lucis ostentare ametur, nt fallat. Simili ratione et omnes inereduli adversantes Deo, et a luce divinitatis ejus extorres, AEgyptii appellantur; quos tamen hortatur ipse Dominus ad salutem, dicens: Dum habetis lucem, credite in lucem, ut filii lucis sitis (Joan. xii). Itaque si voluntaria fides potest eos filios lucis efficere, hoc quod tenebrarum filii sunt, vitium voluntatis est, non naturae. Nocte ergo qua corpus exanime relinquens in cruce Dei Filius, transiit cum anima ad AEgyptum inferiorem, ut animas in inferno positas visitaret; tunc fecit vindictam in omnes immundos spiritus AEgyptiorum deos, interficiens in primogenitis vires principatus eorum. Nam Passioni proximus dicit Dominus Jesus: Nunc judicium est hujus mundi, nunc hujus mundi princeps ejicitur foras. Et ego cum exaltatus fuero, omnia traham ad me ipsum (Joan. xii). Revocavit itaque omnem creaturam suam ad se Dominus Jesus, quam sibi iniquissimi usurpatores divinitatis rebelli spiritu manciparant; ut ipsius ditioni subjecta essent omnia, per quem facta sunt universa; et qui protexit ac proteget credentes in se a plaga contritionis, per signum crucis suae, cum dicitur: Et erit vobis sanguis in signo in domibus: vos eritis ibi: et videbo sanguinem, et protegam vos (Exod. xii). Quaerendum tamen, priusquam transeamus ad caetera quae sequuntur, quomodo dicat, Protegam vos quasi ab alio exterminatore: et iterum Moyses, Transibit Dominus percutere, ait, AEgyptios, et videbit sanguinem in limine, et in utrisque postibus, et pertransibit ostium (Exod. xii). Quid ergo est? Dominus transiit percutere AEgyptios in manu exterminatoris? Absit. Nam post pusillum dicit: Et non dimittet exterminatorem intrare in domos vestras. Si ipse perculit, quomodo dicitur, non dimittet intrare exterminatorem? Hoc itaque in textu ipsius lectionis sollicitus, lector, considera, quod ubi dicit f percuti AEgyptios, non dicit, ab exterminatore: ubi autem dicit, Hebraeos protegendos qui percussit AEgyptios, sed ab exterminatoris. Exterminator autem non percutit AEgyptios, quorum amicus et princeps est; quoniam, sicuti ait Dominus in Evangelio Marci beatissimi, si Satanas insurrexit adversus seipsum, divisus est; hoc, inquit, facere non potest, aut finem habet (Marc. iii). Sed utique, charissimi, perculere vult exterminator Hebraeos, Deo percutiente AEgyptios. Nam retributionem molitur in servos Dei, satellites suos ab eo percussos indignans; quoniam diabolus tunc maxime accenditur, cum exstinguitur. Tunc enim saevit in Dei famulos, quando prima virtus ejus in primogenitis occiditur, dum vel idololatriam, vel superstitionem, vel caeteros principales errores daemonum Deus disperdit ex nobis. Dicit enim ille nequissimus murmurans contra Deum: Tu propter Hebraeos tuos percutis meos AEgyptios, et ego propter AEgyptios meos persequar, et interficiam Hebraeos tuos. Nam dixit inimicus, persequens comprehendam pariter spolia, replebo animam meam, interficiam gladio meo, dominabitur manus mea: sed frustratur ejus minacitas, si praecepto Domini, quo nos tutos esse posse praemonuit, gnaviter pareamus. Adjicitur enim, et custodies sermonem hunc legitimum tibi ipsi et filiis tuis usque in aeternum: scilicet ut semper solliciti simus pascha Domini legitimo studio celebrare, et vigilanter facere ea quae nobis praecepta sunt, ne per contemptum nostrum, aut negligentiam nostram, exterminator aditum grassandi reperiat, Dei protectoris tuitione cessante. Sit ergo unusquique nostrum in parte Domini, qui percussit AEgyptios; sit Israelita, Deum semper mente aspiciens, ut protegatur a plaga exterminatoris. Habeat, quinimo habeamus in utrisque postibus, scilicet in corde, et in ore, salutarem Domini Passionem. Quomodo? sicut docet Apostolus: Corde creditur ad justitiam, ore autem confessio fit in salutem (Rom. x). Habeamus et in limine frontis signum sanguinis Agni, ut non sinat exterminatorem Deus introire ad nos: neque enim solummodo tunc istud facium est vel in historia Legis, vel in tempore crucis Domini Jesu, sed et nunc semper Deus ultor populi sui percutit AEgyptios: semper exterminator diabolus intrare in domos Israelitarum nititur cupiens eos occidere: semper Dei Filius tuetur suos, et protegit eos, ubi signum suae Passionis cognoverit. Ipsi gloria curo Patre, et cum Spiritu sancio per omnia saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) As far as God the Father, by his power and his Spirit, has deigned to reveal it to the capacity of our strength, as far as the co-equal omnipotence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit has granted, as far as the one and the same divinity of the eternal Trinity, which has no beginning, has inspired, we have opened to your love, from the first vigils of Easter to this day, the meaning of the name of the book of Exodus; the meaning of the Passover, whose observance is there first decreed; why this month, in which God commands it to be kept, is called the first among the months of the year; what Egypt is; what the tenth and the fourteenth day signified; who the sacrificial lamb was, and why it was to be taken from the sheep and the kids; what is meant by "toward evening"; what that lintel is, what those doorposts, what that blood; and why they are commanded to eat the flesh neither raw nor boiled in water, but roasted with fire, the head with the feet and the entrails, and in haste; why no bone of it is to be broken; what the burning of the remains is; and what mystery is figured in the shoes on the feet, the staffs in the hands, and the girding of the loins. It remains for us to discuss the striking of the firstborn of Egypt, the unleavened bread with bitterness, and the seven days of unleavened bread. "I will pass through the land of Egypt this night," he says, "and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast; and on all the gods of the Egyptians I will execute vengeance: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be a sign for you in the houses in which you are; and I will see the blood and protect you, and the plague of destruction shall not be on you when I strike Egypt. And this day shall be a memorial for you." God did indeed, on that night at that time, strike all the firstborn of Egypt, as he had threatened Pharaoh through Moses, when he would not let go the people of Israel, the people whom the same Lord deigned to call his firstborn son; when the Egyptians, struck by the sudden slaughter of so many deaths, drove out at midnight the Israelites whom they had long refused to release as captives. But since the same God has done far greater things for our people against the true Egyptians, and what then happened in shadow has been fulfilled in us, we, mindful of our redemption, must not hide the gifts of his kindness in ungrateful silence. On the day on which the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed, toward evening (with the darkness already looming which, as soon as he was crucified, had covered the whole earth), in the night of that day he struck the firstborn of the Egyptian demons, that is, the images of dead men, which they themselves had first created in this world in order to be worshipped through them. But since it is added there, "On all the gods of the Egyptians I will execute vengeance," you may perhaps say: "Who are these gods of the Egyptians, if the demons, whom the pagans think gods, are themselves the Egyptians?" Hear, then, that not only the demons are Egyptians, but their worshippers too, all who persist obstinately in unbelief, are Egyptians, since they are children of darkness: for children of the Egyptians by nature, they are sons of demons. Hence it is said to all unbelievers: "You are of your father the devil." For as all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, according to the teaching of the apostle Paul, so too all who are led away by the spirit of the devil are sons of demons. The divine Scripture calls the devil and his army "Egypt" because they have become estranged from God, who is light, by rebelling against their own Creator. For the holy Apostle says: "What wonder if Satan transforms himself into an angel of light?", proving of course that he is an angel of darkness who tries to display himself as an angel of light in order to deceive. By a like reasoning all unbelievers who oppose God and are exiled from the light of his divinity are called Egyptians; yet the Lord himself urges them to salvation, saying: "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be sons of light." So if a willing faith can make them sons of light, their being sons of darkness is a fault of the will, not of nature. On the night, then, on which the Son of God, leaving his lifeless body on the cross, passed with his soul into the lower Egypt to visit the souls placed in the underworld, he then executed vengeance on all the unclean spirits, the gods of the Egyptians, slaying the strength of their dominion in its firstborn. For when his passion was near the Lord Jesus says: "Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world is cast out. And I, when I am lifted up, will draw all things to myself." So the Lord Jesus called back to himself all his creation, which the most wicked usurpers of divinity had enslaved to themselves with a rebellious spirit, so that all things might be subject to the rule of him through whom all things were made; and he who has protected and will protect those who believe in him from the plague of destruction through the sign of his cross, as it is said: "And the blood shall be for you a sign in the houses where you are; and I will see the blood and protect you." Before we pass on to what follows, however, we must ask how he says "I will protect you," as though from another destroyer; and again Moses says: "The Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and will see the blood on the lintel and on both doorposts, and will pass over the door." What, then? Did the Lord pass through to strike the Egyptians by the hand of the destroyer? Far from it. For a little later he says: "And he will not let the destroyer enter your houses." If he himself struck, how is it said, "He will not let the destroyer enter"? Consider carefully, then, reader, in the text of the reading itself, that where it speaks of the Egyptians being struck, it does not say "by the destroyer"; but where it speaks of the Hebrews being protected, it says they are protected not from him who struck the Egyptians but from the destroyer. The destroyer does not strike the Egyptians, whose friend and prince he is; since, as the Lord says in the Gospel of the most blessed Mark, "if Satan has risen up against himself, he is divided"; "he cannot do this," he says, "or he has an end." But surely, beloved, while God strikes the Egyptians, the destroyer wishes to strike the Hebrews. For he plots retaliation against the servants of God, indignant that his followers have been struck by him; for the devil is most inflamed when he is being extinguished. He rages against the servants of God at the very time when his first strength is being slain in its firstborn, when God destroys from among us idolatry or superstition or the other chief errors of the demons. For that most wicked one says, murmuring against God: "You strike my Egyptians for the sake of your Hebrews, and I for the sake of my Egyptians will pursue and kill your Hebrews." For the enemy said: "I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the spoils, I will fill my soul, I will kill with my sword, my hand shall rule." But his threatening is frustrated if we diligently obey the Lord's command, by which he warned beforehand that we can be safe. For it is added: "And you shall keep this word as a lawful ordinance for yourself and your sons for ever": that is, that we should always be careful to celebrate the Lord's Passover with lawful zeal and watchfully do what has been commanded us, lest through our contempt or our negligence the destroyer find a way in to ravage, when the defence of God our protector ceases. Let each of us, then, be on the side of the Lord, who struck the Egyptians; let him be an Israelite, always beholding God with his mind, so that he may be protected from the plague of the destroyer. Let him have, or rather let us have, on both doorposts, that is, in heart and in mouth, the saving passion of the Lord. How? As the Apostle teaches: "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Let us also have on the lintel of the forehead the sign of the blood of the Lamb, so that God may not let the destroyer come in to us. For this was not done only then, either in the history of the Law or at the time of the cross of the Lord Jesus; but now too God, the avenger of his people, always strikes the Egyptians; the destroyer, the devil, always tries to enter the houses of the Israelites, wishing to kill them; the Son of God always guards his own and protects them wherever he recognizes the sign of his passion. To him be glory with the Father and with the Holy Spirit for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Exod 12:12–14: quotation, high confidence - Exod 4:22–23: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:29–33: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:45: allusion, high confidence - John 8:44: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:14: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:14: quotation, high confidence - John 12:36: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 3:19: allusion, medium confidence - John 12:31–32: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:23: quotation, high confidence - Mark 3:26: quotation, high confidence - Exod 15:9: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:10: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 9:4: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius distinguishes God, who strikes the Egyptians, from 'the destroyer' (Exod 12:23), whom he identifies with the devil. Christ's descent to the underworld with his soul, leaving his body on the cross, is stated as Gaudentius writes it. 'Children of the Egyptians by nature' is set against his following claim that being a son of darkness is a fault of will, not nature; the sentence is obscure in the digital text and is rendered as it stands. - Quotations: Exod 12:12–14; Exod 4:22; Exod 12:29–33; Matt 27:45; John 8:44; Rom 8:14; 2 Cor 11:14; John 12:36; John 12:31–32; John 1:3; Exod 12:23; Mark 3:26; Exod 15:9; Exod 12:24; Rom 10:10; Ezek 9:4 (sign on the forehead, allusion). ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 6 (PL 20:877a–881a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/6). ## Tractates 7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/6/#p-7 - Source: PL 20:881a–886b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: Against Marcion and Mani, who called the God of the Law evil, Gaudentius defends the law of unleavened bread as a memorial of the Exodus and reads the leaven as corrupting teaching and the bitter herbs as the self-denial of the Christian life. ### Latin text Discussis validioribus mandatorum paschalium membris, tres adhuc superfuisse de proposita lectione Exodi species, die hesterno praediximus: quarum primam de interfectione primitivorum AEgypti, statim, prout potuimus, interpretati sumus; duas nunc residuas de prohibitione fermenti, et de septem diebus azymorum, Domini gratia largiente, proponimus explanandas. Septem diebus, inquit, azyma edetis: a primo autem die exterminabitis fermentum de domibus vestris: omnis qui manducaverit fermentum a primo die usque in septimum diem, disperiet anima illius ex Israel (Exod. xii). Haereticorum veterum quidam, ex quibus sunt insanus Marcion, et exsecrabilis Manichaeus, quoniam spiritu erroris inducti Scripturas omnes veteris Testamenti respuendas esse contendunt; per multa Scripturarum capitula, Deum Legis antiquae malum conantur asserere, quasi aut alius sit Deus novi Testamenti quam qui ex Lege utique praenuntiatus advenit, aut in comparatione bonitatis Dei, aliquis legitime bonus esse possit: cum vel Angeli, vel homines hinc habere judicentur aliquod participium bonitatis, si bonum Deum sciant, adorent, venerentur, ac diligant; perhibente Domino Jesu, quod bonus homo de bono thesauro cordis sui proferat bona (Matth. xii). Sed Deus Dei Filius, perfectam bonitatem cum Patre, et Spiritu sancio possidens, et unam sciens esse bonitatem Trinitatis, sicut unam divinitatem; indigne tulit, bonum se juxta conditionem creabilium bonorum nuncupari, et ait: Quid me dicis bonum (Matth. xix)? Hoc est: Nolo dicas bonum, quem nescis; scito prius, qui sim, et cum Deum verum cognoveris, amplector ut dicas bonum, quia nemo bonus, nisi unus Deus (Matth. xix). Ille enim Judaeus, Filio Dei (Deo et homini) velut homini tantum cuidam, sane bono doctori, dixerat: Magister bone, quid faciam, ut vitam aeternam possideam (Ibid.)? Et idcirco Dominus ad illum, quid me dicis, ait, bonum? nemo bonus, nisi unus Deus. Unus est enim Deus ubi Deitatis nulla divisio est. Per omnes libros sanctarum Scripturarum, et Patrem Deum, et Filium Deum, et Spiritum sanctum Deum legimus, non deos, quia deos non sinit dici Unitas majestatis; est enim sola in Trinitate personarum distinctio, non naturae diversitas. Quod si Marcion et Manichaeus meruissent advertere, numquam profecto dixissent, unum quidem Deum novi Testamenti bonum, alium vero malum, qui per Legem veterem sit locutus Ausi sunt et in supradicta Lege azymorum adscribere ei saevitiam, dicentes, hominis animam disperdi propter fermentum panis, quo nihil possit esse crudelius. Vecordes enim non intellexerunt, vel quanta esset in mandato utilitas, vel quod Deus majorem causam tunc ulciscendi habeat, si in exiguis rebus (ubi nulla difficultas est observandi) pervicaci tantum spiritu contemnatur. Facilius necessitati ignoscit Deus quam praesumptioni. Denique sancto David non imputatur ad peccatum, quod in necessitate famis constitutus manducaverit sanctos panes, quos non licebat manducare nisi solis sacerdotibus (1 Reg. xxi). Hic vero videamus, quid potuit necessitatis incumbere. Jussit Deus Israelitis ut septem diebus paschae, fermentatum sibi panem non facerent (Exod. xii). Si fermentatum fieri jussisset, diligentia illic necessaria fuerat, ne deesset: quod jussit, desidiae est, non laboris. Negligentiam jubet, ut obedientiam probet; et non vis ut damnet illam animam quae diligentiam commodaverit ut contemnat? Sed jam videamur, quae fuerit in ipsa praeceptione utilitatis ratio vel Judaeis historialiter usque ad Christi praesentiam, vel nobis hodie quae aedificatio sit juxta intelligentiam spiritualem. Filii Israel cum premerentur in AEgypto gravibus captivitatis injuriis, gementes proclamaverunt ad Dominum Deum ut eos eripere dignaretur (Exod. iii). Elegit ex ipsis Deus Moysen et Aaron; per quos conveniret Pharaonem regem ut dimitteret illos. Cum non dimitteret, multiplicibus plagis cum suo populo verberatus, hanc excepit poenae ultimam plagam, ut omnium primogeniti AEgyptiorum illa node percussi divinitus interirent, qua Judaeos necesse fuit ex mandato Dei paschae sacrificium celebrare. Media igitur nocte clamor factus est, et ululatus in tota AEgypto; nulla enim domus erat in qua non esset mortuus, tunc AEgypti rex metuens ne et ipse, et omnis populus ejus similiter disperirct, compulit Moysen, et Aaronem, ut illa hora noctis educerent omnem plebem de AEgypto. Qui cum perurgerentur exire, quid fecerint advertamus. Et sumpsit, inquit, populus conspersam farinam priusquam fermentaretur massa illorum, et ligaverunt in vestimentis suis, et imposuerunt super humeros suos. Egressi autem, cum venissent in Socoth, coxerunt, inquit, conspersum quod extulerant de AEgypto, subcinericia azyma (Exod. xii). Ut ergo memoras essent hujus necessitatis, et beneficiorum Dei, jussit eos septem diebus primi mensis ita celebrare pascha, ut fermentatum panem non ederent (Exod. xiii), et ut semper indicarent filiis suis causam pro qua istud facere jussi essent: scilicet ut ingratus ipse populus, vel imagine rerum gestarum admonitus, liberatori suo gratias agere cogeretur. Et ideo tantopere eis praecipitur: Septem diebus azyma edetis; a primo autem die exterminabitis fermentum de domibus vestris: omnis qui manducaverit fermentatum a primo die usque in septimum diem, disperibit anima illa ex Israel (Exod. xii). Fecit et alia plurima pro illis Deus, ei in mari Rubro, et in deserto: sed immemores misericordiarum Dei (ut de caeteris malis eorum taccam ) praeter illud quod fecerant caput vituli aureum, et quod adorantes illud dixerunt: Isti sunt dii tui, Israel, qui eduxerunt te de terra AEgypti (Exod. xxxii): Jesum quoque Filium Dei qui eorum liberator exstiterat, venientem ad se sacrilegis mentibus respuerunt. Unde sanctus evangelista Joannes non sine querela commemorat: In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt (Joan. i); id est, ad eos venit quos de servitute AEgypti liberarat; quos per mare Rubrum vestigio sicco transduxerat; in quorum conspectu Pharaonem et AEgyptios resolutis aquarum circumstantium muris obruerat; quos manna coelesti satiaverat in deserto; quibus de rupe arida fontes produxerat; quibus eloquia Legis crediderat; quibus adventum suum secundum carnem vaticinio praenuntiaverat Prophetarum; ad quos praecipue venerat, dicens; Non sum missus nisi ad oves perditas domus Israel (Matth. xv). Isti non modo eum suscipere noluerunt, sed et crucis supplicio trucidarunt; qui tamen idcirco susceptum corpus mori sustinuit, ot et suae majestatis omnipotentiam propria virtute resurgendo monstraret, et ut in sublata, ac devictia morte vitam credentibus redderet, et plenam crucifigentium nequitiam condemnaret. Quapropter resurgens tertio die, transtulit se ad Gentes, sicut dudum fuerat comminatus: Auferetur a vobis regnum, et dabitur genti facienti fructus ejus. Ergo quoniam nobis, qui fideliter Christum sequimur, datum est cognoscere mysteria regni Dei, videamus quid Idem noster Dominus ei Magister de hoc fermento intelligendum docuerit. Attendite, inquit, vobis et cavete a fermento Pharisaeorum, et Sadducaeorum (Matth. XVi; Marc. viii; Luc. xii); quod cum clarius iterasset, intellexerunt Apostoli non a fermento panis esse cavendum, sed a corrumpentis doctrinae nequitia. Unde idoneus Evangelii praedicator apostolus Paulus nobis clamat: Expurgate vetus fermentum, ut sitis nova conspersio, sicut estis azymi. Nam et pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Itaque diem festum celebremus, inquit, non in fermento veteri, neque in fermento malitiae et nequitiae sed in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis (I Cor. v). Caveamus ergo a fermento malitiae; ubi enim apparuit fermentum nequitiae confectum a diabolo de conspersione peccatorum, et iniquitatum, ibi animae illi appropinquat interitus. Cum ergo videris in animam tuam intrasse cogitationes pravas, machinantes ut te a Dei cultu detorqueant, aut ut facias aliquod peccatum, scito quod intravit ibi ille qui fermentum mortis facere consuevit: propterea cave, he inveniatur tale fermentum in te, et disperdatur anima tua a Deo. Nescitis, inquit Apostolus, quia modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit (I Cor. v; Galat. v)? Videte itaque, ne vel in modico suadeamini acquiescere aut errori Gentilium, aut iniquitati Judaeorum, aut haereticorum nequitiae, qui fermento diaboli totam fidei massam perfidiae rancore corrumpunt. Quod autem dixit azyma cum amaritudine manducanda, docuit, neminem posse sine tristitia carnis Sinceram vitam ducere. Amaritudo videtur jejunium, et omnis abstinentia deliciarum carnalium; sed pascha Domini non aliter celebratur; sed sinceritatis azyma aliter non eduntur. Cum vero exieris de AEgypto hujus mundi actu, vel corpore, mannae pabulum manducabis; panem caeli accipies, et in illam sanctorum terram repromissionis inductus, amoenitate simul paradisi, et aeterna suavitate ipsius Domini perfrueris. Dulcis amaritudo est, quam sequitur tantae retributio suavitatis. A prima igitur die vel regenerationis nostrae, vel conversionis, ejiciamus fermentum nequitae de propriis domiciliis terrenae hujus habitationis; et per septem dies totius vitae nostrae, quia iidem revolvuntur in saecula, sinceritatis puritatisque azyma comedamus, ut coelestium promissionum munera consequi mereamur, quae nobis largiri dignetur Deus Pater omnipotens, per coaeternum Filium suum viventem secum regnantemque cum Spiritu sancto, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Having discussed the weightier parts of the paschal commandments, we said yesterday that three items still remained from the reading of Exodus set before us. The first of them, on the killing of the firstborn of Egypt, we interpreted at once as best we could; the two that remain, on the prohibition of leaven and on the seven days of unleavened bread, we now set out to explain, by the gift of the Lord's grace. "For seven days," he says, "you shall eat unleavened bread; and from the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. Whoever eats leaven from the first day to the seventh day, that soul shall perish from Israel." Some of the old heretics, among them the mad Marcion and the accursed Manichaeus, since, led by the spirit of error, they contend that all the Scriptures of the Old Testament must be rejected, try to make out from many chapters of the Scriptures that the God of the old Law is evil: as if either the God of the New Testament were another than he who came having been foretold, as he was, by the Law; or as if, in comparison with the goodness of God, anyone could properly be good, since angels or men are judged to have some share in goodness from this, that they know the good God, adore, venerate and love him; as the Lord Jesus declares that "a good man brings forth good things from the good treasure of his heart." But God, the Son of God, possessing perfect goodness with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and knowing that the goodness of the Trinity is one, as its divinity is one, took it ill to be called good after the manner of created goods, and said: "Why do you call me good?" That is: "I do not want you to call good one whom you do not know; first know who I am, and when you have known the true God, I welcome your calling me good, because no one is good but God alone." For that Jew had said to the Son of God (God and man) as though to a mere man, a good teacher indeed: "Good Master, what shall I do to possess eternal life?" And therefore the Lord said to him: "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." For God is one where there is no division of the Deity. Through all the books of the holy Scriptures we read that the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, not gods, because the unity of majesty does not allow them to be called gods; for in the Trinity there is only a distinction of persons, not a diversity of nature. Had Marcion and Manichaeus been worthy to notice this, they would surely never have said that one God, of the New Testament, is good, and another, who spoke through the old Law, evil. They dared also, in this law of unleavened bread, to ascribe cruelty to him, saying that a man's soul is destroyed on account of the leaven of bread, than which nothing could be more cruel. The senseless men did not understand either how great the benefit of the command was, or that God has a greater cause to punish when he is despised out of sheer stubbornness of spirit in small things, where there is no difficulty in keeping the command. God pardons necessity more easily than presumption. Indeed, it is not imputed as sin to holy David that, placed in the necessity of hunger, he ate the holy loaves which it was not lawful for any but the priests to eat. But here let us see what necessity could have pressed upon them. God commanded the Israelites not to make leavened bread for themselves during the seven days of the Passover. Had he commanded that leavened bread be made, diligence would have been needed so that it should not be lacking; what he commanded is a matter of idleness, not of labour. He commands a neglect so as to prove obedience; and do you not want him to condemn the soul that has applied diligence in order to despise him? But now let us see what the reason and benefit was in the command itself, either for the Jews, historically, until the presence of Christ, or what edification it gives us today according to the spiritual understanding. When the children of Israel were oppressed in Egypt with the heavy wrongs of captivity, they cried out groaning to the Lord God that he would deign to rescue them. God chose from among them Moses and Aaron, through whom he would address King Pharaoh to let them go. When he would not let them go, he was beaten with his people by many plagues, and received this last plague of punishment: that the firstborn of all the Egyptians, struck by God, should perish on that night on which the Jews had to celebrate the sacrifice of the Passover by God's command. "At midnight, then, there was a cry" and a wailing "in the whole of Egypt; for there was no house in which there was not one dead." Then the king of Egypt, fearing that he too and all his people would likewise perish, compelled Moses and Aaron to lead all the people out of Egypt at that hour of the night. When they were being urged to go out, let us note what they did. "And the people," he says, "took the kneaded flour before their dough was leavened, and bound it in their garments and put it on their shoulders. And when they had gone out and come to Succoth, they baked the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, unleavened loaves baked in the ashes." So, that they might be mindful of this necessity and of God's benefits, he commanded them to celebrate the Passover during seven days of the first month without eating leavened bread, and always to tell their sons the reason why they had been commanded to do this: so that that ungrateful people, reminded at least by an image of what had been done, might be compelled to give thanks to their deliverer. And therefore it is so insistently commanded them: "For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; and from the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; whoever eats what is leavened from the first day to the seventh, that soul shall perish from Israel." God did very many other things for them too, both at the Red Sea and in the desert; but they were unmindful of God's mercies (to say nothing of their other evils), besides having made the golden head of a calf and saying as they worshipped it, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt," they also rejected with sacrilegious minds Jesus, the Son of God, who had been their deliverer, when he came to them. Hence the holy evangelist John recalls, not without complaint: "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him": that is, he came to those whom he had freed from the slavery of Egypt; whom he had led across the Red Sea with dry foot; before whose eyes he had overwhelmed Pharaoh and the Egyptians by loosing the walls of the waters that stood around them; whom he had filled with heavenly manna in the desert; for whom he had brought forth springs from the dry rock; to whom he had entrusted the oracles of the Law; to whom he had foretold his coming in the flesh by the prophecy of the prophets; to whom above all he had come, saying: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." These not only would not receive him but even slaughtered him by the punishment of the cross; yet he endured that the body he had taken should die for this reason: that by rising again by his own power he might show the omnipotence of his majesty, that in death taken away and conquered he might give back life to believers, and that he might condemn the full wickedness of those who crucified him. Therefore, rising on the third day, he transferred himself to the Gentiles, as he had long before threatened: "The kingdom will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits." Since, then, to us who follow Christ faithfully it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, let us see what the same Lord and Master of ours taught us to understand by this leaven. "Take heed to yourselves," he says, "and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." When he had repeated this more clearly, the apostles understood that they were to beware not of the leaven of bread but of the wickedness of a corrupting teaching. Hence the apostle Paul, a fit preacher of the gospel, cries out to us: "Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast," he says, "not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Let us beware, then, of the leaven of malice; for where the leaven of wickedness has appeared, prepared by the devil from the dough of sins and iniquities, there destruction draws near to that soul. When, then, you see that evil thoughts have entered your soul, scheming to twist you away from the worship of God or to make you commit some sin, know that he has entered there who is accustomed to make the leaven of death; therefore beware lest such leaven be found in you and your soul be destroyed by God. "Do you not know," says the Apostle, "that a little leaven corrupts the whole lump?" See to it, then, that you are not persuaded to yield even a little either to the error of the Gentiles, or to the iniquity of the Jews, or to the wickedness of the heretics, who corrupt the whole lump of the faith with the devil's leaven, the rancour of faithlessness. And when he said that the unleavened bread must be eaten with bitterness, he taught that no one can lead a sincere life without sorrow of the flesh. Fasting seems bitterness, and every abstinence from carnal delights; but the Lord's Passover is not celebrated in any other way, and the unleavened bread of sincerity is not eaten in any other way. But when you have gone out of the Egypt of this world, in conduct or in body, you will eat the food of manna; you will receive the bread of heaven, and, led into that land of promise of the saints, you will enjoy at once the pleasantness of paradise and the eternal sweetness of the Lord himself. Sweet is the bitterness that is followed by the reward of so great a sweetness. From the first day, then, whether of our regeneration or of our conversion, let us cast out the leaven of wickedness from the dwellings of this earthly habitation of ours; and through the seven days of our whole life (since the same days revolve through the ages) let us eat the unleavened bread of sincerity and purity, so that we may be counted worthy to obtain the gifts of the heavenly promises, which may God the almighty Father deign to bestow on us through his co-eternal Son, who lives and reigns with him and with the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Exod 12:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:35: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:16–17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 21:6: allusion, high confidence - Matt 12:3–4: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 2:23: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:29–30: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:34: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:39: quotation, high confidence - Exod 13:6–8: allusion, high confidence - Exod 32:4: quotation, high confidence - John 1:11: quotation, high confidence - Exod 14:21–28: allusion, high confidence - Exod 17:6: allusion, high confidence - Matt 15:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:43: quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:11: allusion, high confidence - Matt 16:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 16:12: allusion, high confidence - Mark 8:15: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 12:1: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 5:6–8: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:9: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:8: allusion, high confidence - John 6:31–32: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passage on the Jews' rejection of Christ is polemical and is translated as written. On the Trinity Gaudentius states 'a distinction of persons, not a diversity of nature'. - Quotations: Exod 12:15 (and 12:19); Matt 12:35; Matt 19:16–17; 1 Sam 21:6 (Matt 12:3–4); Exod 2:23; Exod 12:29–30, 34, 39; Exod 13:6–8; Exod 32:4; John 1:11; Matt 15:24; Matt 21:43; Matt 13:11; Matt 16:6 (Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1); 1 Cor 5:6–8; Gal 5:9; Exod 12:8 (bitter herbs); John 6:31–32. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 7 (PL 20:881a–886b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/7). ## Tractates 8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/8/#p-8 - Source: PL 20:886b–898a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: On the wedding at Cana: Christ's presence blesses marriage against the Manichees while virginity is the better part; Gaudentius warns the newly baptized against debauched banquets and reads the 'third day' as the age of grace, when Christ takes the Gentile church as bride after Israel's 'divorce'. ### Latin text Post illius finem tractatus quem dilectioni vestrae intulimus usque ad hesternum diem de Exodi libro, ubi Lex celebrandae paschae describitur; nunc aliquid de Evangelii lectione, quae paulo ante decursa est, adjuvante Domino, disseramus: ut eumdem Deum tam Veteris esse Instrumenti auctorem, quam novi, rebus ipsis testantibus comprobemus. Audivimus enim quod Salvator humani generis Jesus isset invitatus ad nuptias, ibique aquam in vini Saporem, naturamque convertit. Habet plane et ipsa historia ordinem veritatis·. Nam et nuptias idem qui ab initio instituerat, benedixit ( Gen. ii); et creaturam quam fecerat, in id quod voluit, sua potestate convertit. Ac de virtute quidem Dei omnipotentis nulla in facto dubietas poterit animae fideli subrepere: isse tamen illum ad festivitatem nuptiarum, id est in domo epulationis, quispiam nostrum non sine ratione mirabitur. Enimvero, charissimi, pene omnis Evangeliorum textus, Dominum Christum inter homines conversantem desperatis rebus opem contulisse insinuat, et quam maxime moeroribus adfuisse: dum blasphemantes Judaeos increpat, dum Scribas et Pharisaeos fallaciae, doli, avaritiae reos, vanitatisque coarguit (Luc. xi); dum civitatibus exprobrat incredulis, ac minatur (Matth. xi); dum spiritus torquet immundos (Luc. viii), ut imagini suae captivatae subveniat, et expulsis daemoniis salubritati restituat mentes obsessas; dum leprosos supplicantes emundat (Luc. xvii); dum paralyticos, linguae solius qua precarentur viventes officio, reformat potius, quam curat (Matth. ix); dum tempestate maris periclitantibus, ipse super aquas ambulans, securus tranquillator adventat (Matth. xiv); dum vel caecatis oculis donum lucis amissae redintegrat, vel a nativitate caecis novum lumen infundit (Luc. xviii; Joan. ix; Matth. ix); dum inter moestas aegrotantium turbas medendi peritus adsistit; dum luctus varios obsecrantium parentum dimovet, vel morientes eorum charos sanitati restituens, vel mortuos vitae (Luc. vii; Joan. xi). Ad hoc enim Filius Dei, sine initio Deus, in fine saeculi initium carnis sumpsit ex Virgine, et inter homines conversari dignatus est, ut huic mundo succurreret pereunti; quoniam, ut ipse ait, non erat opus sanis medico, sed male habentibus (Matth. ix). Medicus enim maestitudinis domum potius, quam laetitiae ingredi consuevit. Aut enim vulnerum dolore afflictis necessarius est, aut aeritudinis morbo laborantibus, aut lenta viscerum tabe defectis; quia medici officium prosperitas non requirit. Quid est ergo, quod ista Evangelii lectio quae hodie recitata est, festivitati nuptiali interfuisse Dominum perhibet invitatum, nisi quod ibi vinum, id est virtus laetitiae spiritualis, defecerat, et languebant sitientium convivarum ora vini laetificantis inopia; quoniam vinum laetificat cor hominis, ut ait Propheta (Ps. ciii). Sed priusquam spiritalem scientiam revelemus, rationem facti historialiter exponamus. Ideo nuptiarum celebritatem non aspernatur Christus, ut eumdem se esse testetur Deum, qui de limo terrae figuraverit ab initio virum et feminam, iisdemque licentiam tribuerit conjugalem, dicens: Crescite et multiplicamini, et implete terram (Gen. i). Quod Manichaeis perditis adeo displicet constitutum; quibus ego ob immunditiam suam puto non utique rem nuptialem displicere, sed legem, quae non multas feminas uni viro, neque unam feminam mullis viris, sed unam feminam uni viro conjungit. Nolunt enim vivere ipsi exsecrabiles Manichaei juxta apostoli Pauli doctrinam, ut unusquisque suam uxorem habeat, et unaquaeque suum virum (I Cor. vii). Benedixit ergo quod constituerat a primordio legitimum Christus conjugium, dum pergere ad nuptias non renuit invitatus: et tamen virginitatem docuit esse meliorem, dum magis per eam nasci dignatur. Probavit sanctam Virginem suum esse domicilium Deus, tibi coronam pudoris perpetuum servet ingressus, dum sine detrimento integritatis maternae nascitur, sine corruptela conceptus. Ideoque vas electionis Apostolus, ad istud bonum quod consecutus fuerat, caeteros invitabat, dicens innuptis: Bonum est illis si sic permanserint, sicut ego (I Cor. vii). Exemplo felicitatis hortatur, non legis potestate compellit, de virginibus, inquiens; praeceptum Domini non habeo: consilium autem do, quasi misericordiam consecutus a Domino, ut sim fidelis; quia expedit homini sic esse (Ibid.). Et post longam monitionem, qua castimoniae beatitudinem conditioni praetulit nuptiarum, sententia postrema conclusit: Igitur et qui dat virginem suam nuptui, bene facit; et qui non dat, melius facit. Quod ego arbitror non parentibus virginum fuisse a beato Apostolo dictum, quos constat alienae voluntatis arbitrio dominari non posse; sed unicuique homini tam viro, quam feminae, optionem fuisse ab eodem sancto propositam, ut virginem suam (hoc est carnem suam, virginem natam) aut integritati conservet, meliorem partem, liberamque eligens, aut agnita conditione, nuptui eam, si se non continet, tradat. Parentes autem, vel consanguinei quique virginum, tam puerorum, quam etiam puellarum, nolo sibi de supradicta libertate arbitrii blandiantur, quod alienis mentibus eos dominari non posse tractavimus. Imperare quidem perpetuam continentiam non possunt, quia res esse noscitur voluntatis: sed voluntatem tamen in melius nutrire possunt, et debitores sunt ut moneant, ut hortentur, ut foveant, ut pignora sua Deo magis gestiant obligare, quam saeculo, ut de propinquis seminis sui vel in cleri ordine dignos altari divino ministros exhibeant, vel in sanctarum numero feminarum puellas castimoniae dicatas enutriant; ut Ecclesiam Dei talibus nutrimentis ornantes, beatitudinem debitam consequantur. Scriptum est enim: Beatus qui habet semen in Sion, et domesticos in Jerusalem. Inest autem praeclaro huic eloquio prophetali et sublimior intellectus, suo in loco plena disputatione pandendus. Sed quia in hunc tractatum salubriter sumus pertracti studio, castitatis, dum rationem pandimus cujus intuitu perrexerit Salvator ad nuptias, breviter interim neophytis nostris salutare consilium suggeramus, spiritalem scientiam lectionis hujus figuraliter explanandam dictis subsequentibus ostensuri. Regeneratos vos esse per Baptismum, et renatos, nuncupatione ipsa qua infantes vocamini, potestis advertere. Si qui igitur vestrum conjugio alligati, servare virgines suas magis quam nuptui dare desiderant, sic habeant conjuges, quasi non habentes; et erit illis retributio magna Deum Dominum nostrum, quod talem suam carnem servaverint, qualis Baptismi sacramento renata est. Haec ad utilitatem vestram dico, non ut laqueum vobis injiciam (I Cor. vii); nam etsi conjugio servieris legitimo post lavacrum, non peccasti. Cave solum ut aliter non derelinquas fidem, ut a fornicationibus fugias, jam fidelis effectus. Hoc autem custodire ita demum poteritis, si ebrietatem devitetis, et convivia inhonesta, ubi turpium feminarum colubrini gestus concupiscentiam movent illicitam; ubi lyra sonat, et tibia; ubi omnia postremo genera musicorum inter cymbala saltantium concrepant. Infelices illae domus sunt quae nihil discrepant a theatris. Auferantur, quaeso, universa ista de medio. Sit domus Christiani ac baptizati hominis immunis a choro diaboli, sit plane humana, sit hospitalis; orationibus sanctificetur assiduis; psalmis, hymnis, canticisque spiritualibus frequentetur: sit sermo Dei, et signum Christi in corde, in ore, in fronte, inter cibos, inter pocula, inter colloquia, in lavacris, in cubilibus, in ingressu, in egressu, in laetitia, in moerore; tu juxta beatissimi Pauli doctrinam, sive manducatis, sive bibitis, sive aliquid facitis, omnia in nomine Domini Jesu Christi, qui vos vocavit ad gratiam, faciatis (I Cor. x). Ipse enim et praeteritis peccatis indulgentiam tribuit, et emendatae vitae praemia pollicetur. Sed his pro communi aedificatione moraliter expositis, jam venio ad promissas allegorias ipsius Evangelicae lectionis. Et licet ad explanationem mysteriorum Christi idoneum me esse non arbitrer, qui necdum merear beatissimi Pauli auctoritatem praesumere dicentis: quoniam loquimur non in doctis humanae sapientia verbis, sed in doctrina spiritus, spiritualibus spiritualia comparantes (I Cor. ii); desidero tamen ex ea divini Evangelii lectione coelestem vobis atque arcanam, prout Dominus largiri dignabitur, intelligentiam revelare. Paulo ante enim, dum propositi sermonis principium disserui, causam pandens propter quam Salvator ierit invitatus ad nuptias, transcendi ad praedicabilem virginitatis conservande tractatum, ibique aliquantulum videor immoratus. Nunc autem replicabo ipsam narrationem beati evangelistae, ut intellectum spiritualem opportunius requiramus iri verbis. Et die tertia, Inquit, nuptiae fiebant in Cana Galilaeae: et ibi erat mater Jesu. Vocatus est autem et Jesus, et discipuli ejus ad nuptias. Et vinum non habebant, quoniam consummatum erat vinum nuptiarum (Joan. ii). Veram rei gestae historiam, ut oportuit, cognoscentes, jam quis iste sit dies tertius, in quo factae nuptiae memorantur, spiritualiter exponamus. Dies lux est, fratres charissimi; et ideo praeceptis Domini, qui verum lumen est, aequissime comparatur, testante Propheta: Praeceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculos (Ps. xviii). Et alibi iterum: Quomodo lux, inquit, mandata tua super terram ( Prov. vi). Unde bene Salvator Dominus admonebat, in luce esse ambulandum, dicens: Quod si quis ambulat in die, non offendit, quia lucem mundi hujus videt (Joan. xi). Vere enim si quis ambulaverit in luce praeceptorum Dei, offendere nequaquam potest. Dies itaque fuit in mandato primus, ab Adam usque ad Moysen: secundus dies fuit sub Lege Moysi: tertius dies esi sub Gratia Salvatoris. In quo die Sponsus ipse coelestis, amator animarum credentium Dominus Jesus, sponsam sibi ex Gentibus conjunxit Ecclesiam, cui annulum signaculi sui, et inaures fidei tribueret pretiosas (nam fides ex auditu, auditus au~ iem per verbum Dei (Rom. x), videlicet Filium; quia in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum [Joan. i]), cui sponsae idem Dei Filius Deus Verbum, aurea quoque donaret dextralia, probabilium quippe operum, dextrorumque factorum, nec non etiam caetera singillatim pretiosa monilia largiretur, quae spiritualium sunt ornamenta virtutum. Et ut agnosceres tertia hac die spirituales istas a Christo nuptias in plebe gentium celebrari, non in Judaea fiunt, sed in Cana Galilaeae: quod praeter testimonium sancti Isaiae (Is. ix), qui Galilaeam Gentium memoravit, ex interpretatione ipsorum nominum clarius ostendetur. Cana enim possessio dicitur; et Galilaea vel volubilis, vel rota nuncupatur, ex Hebraeo interpretata sermone. Constat autem populum Gentium ex errore idololatriae, in quem fuerat olim devolutus, nunc ad Christianae veritatis cultum celeritate rotae cujusdam properare currentis. Unde etiam figuraliter cecinit propheta David locutus ad Deum: Vox tonitrui tui in rota (Ps. Lxxvi). Intonuit enim e coelo Deus, et Altissimus dedit vocem suam, dicens: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene placui (??) hunc auditu (Matth xvii). Cujus tonitrui vox haeret in cordibus plebis hujus, quae ex gentili superstitione ad fidem Domini Jesu, tamquam rota currens, velociter properavit. Quam ob causam etiam beatos Apostolos digne arbitramur a Christo filios tonitrui nuncupatos (Marc, iii), Boanerges. Nam legimus alio in loco Evangelii, quosdam ex Gentibus desiderantes appropinquare Christo, aditum quaesisse per lum Philippum, qui erat a Bethsaida Galilaeae civitate; ut opinor, familiaritate confisos: Domine, inquiunt, volumus Jesum videre. Venit Philippus, et dicit Andreae: Andreas et Philippus vadunt, et di~ cunt ad Jesum (Joan. xii). His cohaerent ea, quae suo in loco, ut meminit dilectio vestra, minutatim disserui, libi confestim Dominus legatos Gentium gratulanter amplectens, et in pancis credentibus fidem praevidens innumerabilium populorum, dixit Apostolis: Venit hora ut glorificetur Filius hominis (Joan. xii). Et post pauca, vocem convertens ad Patrem, inquit: Pater, glorifica nomen tuum. Statimque vox de coelo veniens ait: et glorificavi, et iterum glorificabo. Quam vocem Dei Patris circumstantium Judaeorum turba audiens, dc excelsis coelorum sedibus resultantem, tonitrum putat, quia verba noti assequitur: populus enim, secundum prophetiam sancti Isaiae (Is. vi), aure audiens et non audiens, sonum tantummodo divinae vocis audierat, sine intellectu sermonum. Ideoque Dominus et in Evangelio ad omnes, et in Apocalypsi post doctrinam coelestem, clamat: Qui habet aures audiendi, audiat (Luc. viii; Apoc. xiii). Noverat quippe universis inesse aures, sed non omnibus audiendi: neque enim computabitur audisse qui cordis hebetudine Obtusus, quid audivit ignorat. Apostoli autem, et per Apostolos ad fidem Christi currentes, qui audiendi habebant aures, meruerunt intelligere divina etoquia, pro magnitudine sui, sicut in Apocalypsi legimus (Apoc. iv, vi, viii, x), tonitruis comparata; quandoquidem digni habiti sunt, ad salutarem notitiam verbalis, paterno testimonio coelitus crudiri. Cana autem parva civitas est in Galilaea Gentium, in cujus Galilaeae partibus sita est et civitas Capharnaum, ubi beatus evangelista Matthaeus Christum testatur habitasse dicens: Cum audisset Jesus quia Joannes traditus est, secessit in Galilaeam; et relicta civitate Nazareth (Matth. iv), alterius scilicet Galilaea·, venit, inquit, et habitavit Capharnaum, maritimum oppidum in finibus Zabulon, et Nephthalim; ut adimpleretur quod per Isaiam prophetam dictum erat: Terra Zabulon, et terra Nephthalim, via maris trans Jordanem Galilaeae Gentium. Populus qui sedebat in tenebris, lucem vidit magnam: et qui sedebant in regione et umbra mortis, lux orta est illis (Is. ix). Joannes quoque evangelista beatissimus memorat, quod Dominus Jesus reliquerit terram Judaeam, et abierit iterum in Galilaeam. Oportebat autem transire, inquit, illum per Samariam, ubi eum causa mulieris Samaritanae, aliquantisper in Ipso transitu remoratum describens, consequenter adjecit: Post biduum autem exiit inde et abiit in Galilaeam. Ipse enim Jesus testimonium perhibuit, inquit, quia propheta in patria sua honorem non habet. Cum autem venisset in Galilaeam, inquit, susceperunt eum Galilaei, visis omnibus signis quae fecit Hierosolymis in die festo: et ipsi enim venerant in diem festum. Venit ergo, inquit, iterum in Cana Galilaeae, ubi fecit de aqua vinum. Erat autem quidam regulus, cujus filius infirmabatur in Capharnaum. Hic cum audisset quia Jesus advenit a Judaea in Galilaeam, abiit ad eum, et rogabat ut descenderet et sanaret filium ejus incipientem mori. Quem statim virtute sermonis sui, tamquam medicus coelestis, cum sanasset absentem, taliter sanctus evangelista conclusit: Hoc iterum secundum signum fecit Jesus, cum venisset a Judaea in Galilaeam. Ergo ut ad interpretationem nominum, rationemque figuralem redeam; in Cana Galilaea·, id est in possessione Gentium, spirituales sub Christi praesentia nuptiae celebrantur. Propheta ex ejus persona loquente ad Ecclesiam in Canticis Canticorum: Veni a Libano, sponsa: veni a Libano (Cant. iv); id est a thurificatione illa gentili. Nam Libanum thus interpretamur ex graeco, quod magi illi ex Gentilitate venientes (Matth. ii), Christo potius offerendum esse crediderunt. Libanus denique et mons esse arduus apud Phoenices cernitur, superbo imperio Gentium comparatus: unde vel maxime sponsa evocatur Ecclesia, audiens vocem Christi dicentis: Veni a Libano, sponsa: veni a Libano (Cant. iv); id est venies, et transibis ab initio fidei, capite Sanir, et Hermon: et a cubili leonum, a montibus leopardorum; scilicet ut horrentis idololatriae silvas deserens, et stabula immanium ferarum, daemonum quippe cubilia, derelinquens, ad omnipotentis Dei cultum properet, ejusque complectatur fidem qui eam divini amoris gratia sponsam vocare dignatur. Sed dicat aliquis: Si Deus, juxta Apostoli doctrinam, omnes homines vult salvos fieri, et ad notitiam veritatis venire (I Tim. ii); cur apud Gentes potissimum in consummatione saeculi istae salutares nuptiae celebrantur, et superioris aevi plebes divino non sunt copulatae conjugio? Ostendam tibi, dilectissime, et ipsum protoplastum Adam divinae familiaritati fuisse conjunctum, perceptis ab ipso sponso imaginis divinae insignibus, sapientiae, et intellectus, vitaeque perpetuae ornamentis. Sed postquam lenocinante diabolo fides est adulterata mandati, immortalitas pariter cum libertate divini amoris ablata est: fuit tamen usque ad diluvium, et usque ad ipsam Legem, justorum quorumdam redivivus amor erga Deum, et Dei erga paucos sanctos reformata conjunctio. Verum quia praeter raros quosque, ut praedixi, sanctos, fornicabatur omnis terra a Domino, et vesana libidine innumeros sibi idolorum deos generatio humana conjunxerat, elegit continuo Deus stirpem justi seminis Abrahae; et legitimas conjunctionis tabulas digito suo praescriptas, inter se et illam plebem, Moysi ministro firmavit (Exod. xx). Exinde illa plebs divina praecepta concipiens, et foecunda prole sanctorum, coepit Deo, cujus copulam meruerat, esse charissima. Sed processu temporis, nimium sibi de Dei amore praesumens, per delicias ad luxuriam declinavit, et per luxuriam ad contemptum, rebellionemque prorupit; itaque verberata est et frequenter, et varie, quod adulteriis succubuerit idolorum. Nam saepe gladio, saepe captivitati est tradita, sed, sicut scriptum est, noluit recipere disciplinam; propter quod ad eam Deus loquitur per Prophetam: Non vocaberis ultra mollis et delicata: sed sede, inquit, in terra, et accipe molam, et mole (Is. xlvii ). Et quid post haec omnia? Apparebunt, ait, opprobria tua. Et iterum conqueritur de ea Dominus apud Prophetam: Vidisti, inquit, quae fecit mihi habitatio domus Israel? abiit super omnem montem excelsum, et subtus omne lignum nemorosum, et fornicata est illic in idolis: et moechabatur, inquit, lignum et lapidem. Et dixi, postquam haec omnia fornicata est: Revertere ad me: et non est conversa. Et dimisi eam, et dedi ei libellum repudii (Jer. iii). Fugiamus, obsecro, ab idolis, ne repudiati similiter mereamur audire. Quem tamen acceperit Judaica plebs libellum repudii, audiamus: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, quae occidis Prophetas, et lapidas eos qui ad te mittuntur, quoties volui congregare filios tuos, sicut gallina congregat pullos suos sub alas, et noluisti? Ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta (Matth. xxiii). Post passionem quoque Domini plenior libellus repudii ab Apostolis datur Synagogae Judaeorum, cum dicitur: Vobis oportebat primum annuntiari verbum Dei: sed quoniam repulistis illud, et indignos vos judicastis aeterna vita, ecce convertimur ad Gentes, sicut mandatum est nobis ( Act. xiii). Deserta igitur ac repitdiata Judaeorum plebe, nostra ex Gentibus sumitur in conjugium plebs: Vocabo enim non plebem meam, plebem meam; ei non dilectam, dilectam (Osee ii). Praedixerat Dominus per Prophetam sane, quoniam primo die sub mandato, et secundo sub Lege, celebratae, ut exposui, nuptiae fuerant. Ideo sanctus evangelista non absolute ait, die tertia nuptiae fiebant; sed conjunctione praeposita loquitur, et die tertia nuptiae fiebant in Cana Galilaeae: et erat mater Jesu ibi (Joan. ii). Ubi? utique apud Gentes; nam beatam Mariam constat de gente Moabitarum ex matre traxisse originem. Booz enim genuit Obed ex Ruth, utique illa muliere Moabitide. Obed autem genuit Jesse: Jesse genuit David regem (Matth. i); de cujus semine nascitur Joseph, cui desponsata virgo Maria (ejusdem quippe tribus, quia aliter non licebat) quae genuit Jesum, qui dicitur Christus. Ibi ergo erat mater Jesu: vocatus est autem et Jesus, et discipuli ejus ad nuptias (Joan. ii). Magnum mysterium pietatis! Ipse qui sponsus est, invitatur; invitatur autem vocibus Prophetarum ita precantium: Domine, inclina coelos tuos, et descende (Ps. cxliii). Et iterum; Excita potentiam tuam, et veni, ut salvos facias nos ( Ps. lxxix ). Et his multae sunt orationes consimiles suppliciter invitantium Prophetarum. Invitantur etiam sancti una cum Christo discipuli, velut amici fideles ejusdem sponsi coelestis, cum dicitur per Prophetam: Non sunt loquela, neque sermones, quorum non audiantur voces eorum ( Ps. xviii). Nam Spiritu sancto repleti (Act. i). linguis erant variarum Gentium locuturi. Unde spiritus prophetalis ea quae indubitanter futura erant, quasi jam facta pronuntians, addidit: In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum ( Ps. xviii ).Et ut ostenderet clarius, qui essent isti, et cujus issent praecones, adjecit: In sole posuit tabernaculum suum: et ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo. Deinde sequitur evangelistae narratio: Et vinum non habebant (Joan. ii). Quod consummatum erat vinum nuptiarum, quia vinum sancti Spiritus non haberent Gentes evidenter expressit. Quod autem dicit, quia consummatum erat vinum nuptiarum, id est defecerat; non absolute dixit, ut tu credas bis forsitan defecisse quibus adhuc datum non fuerat. Nec enim dixit, defecerat eis vinum nuptiarum, sed, defecisse tantummodo ait, vinum nuptiarum; tamquam si diceret nuptiale. [Quapropter defecisse intelligitur vinum, non istarum, sed praecedentium nuptiarum; defecerat enim nuptiale vinum Spiritus sancti, cessantibus Prophetis qui ministraverant in populo Judaeorum. Omnes enim Prophetae, et Lex, usque ad Joannem prophetaverunt; nec erat quisquam qui spirituali vino Gentes potare sufficeret sitientes: sed exspectabatur Dominus Jesus, qui novo vino utres per Baptismum novos impleret. Nam vetera, inquit, transierunt: ecce facta sunt omnia nova (Matth. ix; II Cor. v). Sic tamen facta sunt omnia nova, ut origo maneret ex veteri, cum non ex nihilo vinum, sed ex antiquo aquae gignitur elemento. Nec Legem litterae existimes esse temnendam, unde Spiritus sanctus, Jesu operante, per fideles ministros hauritur; et idcirco in diluvio antiquo homines perierunt, et nunc in Baptismo renascuntur; quia littera occidit, spiritus autem vivificat (II Cor. iii). Sola quippe interficit littera, et Spiritu sancio temperata regenerat. Perisse autem constat in illo diluvio omnes ipsius temporis homines, praeter eos qui intra Arcam (Gen. vii ), quae typum gerebat Ecclesiae, reperiri meruerunt. Nam similiter etiam nunc omnino salvi esse non poterunt qui ab apostolica fide et ab Ecclesia catholica fuerint alieni. Elaboret ergo omni studio unusquisque vestrum permanere in domo Domini, exercens opera perceptae gratiae congrua. Oportet enim, in novum renatos hominem a peccatis pristinis jam cavere. Servate, quaeso, utres novos, neophyti; ne vitam veterem repetentes, vinum novum disrupti perdatis; rumpet enim vinum novum utres veteres, et vinum effundetur, et utres peribunt (Marc. ii; Luc. v). Custodite igitur regenerati hominis integram novitatem, et coeleste vinum in vestris utribus conservate, ut vos ipsa fides custodita conservet per Salvatorem generis humani Christum Jesum Dominum Deum nostrum, regnantem cum Patre, et cum Spiritu sancto, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) After the end of that treatise on the book of Exodus, where the law for celebrating the Passover is described, which we presented to your love up to yesterday, let us now, with the Lord's help, discuss something of the Gospel reading that was gone through a little while ago, so that we may prove, with the facts themselves bearing witness, that the same God is the author both of the Old Instrument and of the New. For we have heard that Jesus, the Saviour of the human race, went, being invited, to a wedding, and there turned water into the taste and nature of wine. The story itself plainly has the order of truth. For he who had instituted marriage from the beginning blessed it; and the creature he had made he turned by his power into what he willed. As to the power of almighty God, no doubt about the deed can creep into a faithful soul; yet that he went to the festivity of a wedding, that is, into a house of feasting, some of us will wonder at, not without reason. For indeed, beloved, almost the whole text of the Gospels suggests that the Lord Christ, while living among men, brought help in desperate situations and was present above all at sorrows: when he rebukes the blaspheming Jews; when he convicts the scribes and Pharisees as guilty of deceit, guile, avarice and vanity; when he reproaches and threatens the unbelieving cities; when he torments unclean spirits, so as to come to the aid of his captive image and, the demons driven out, to restore possessed minds to health; when he cleanses the lepers who beg him; when he re-forms rather than cures paralytics, who lived only by the service of the tongue with which they prayed; when, walking on the waters himself, he comes to calm those endangered by the storm at sea; when he either restores the gift of lost light to blinded eyes or pours new light into those blind from birth; when, skilled in healing, he stands among the sad crowds of the sick; when he takes away the various griefs of entreating parents, restoring their dying loved ones to health or the dead to life. For this purpose the Son of God, God without beginning, at the end of the age took the beginning of flesh from the Virgin and deigned to live among men: to help this perishing world; since, as he himself says, "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." For a physician is accustomed to enter a house of sorrow rather than of joy. He is needed by those afflicted with the pain of wounds, or labouring under the disease of sickness, or wasted by a slow decay of the inward parts; for prosperity does not require the physician's service. Why, then, does this Gospel reading recited today declare that the Lord was present, being invited, at a wedding festivity, unless because the wine there, that is, the power of spiritual joy, had failed, and the mouths of the thirsty guests were languishing for want of gladdening wine; since "wine gladdens the heart of man," as the prophet says? But before we reveal the spiritual knowledge, let us set out the reason for the deed historically. Christ does not scorn the celebration of a wedding so that he may testify that he is the same God who from the beginning formed man and woman from the slime of the earth and granted them conjugal freedom, saying: "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." This ordinance so displeases the lost Manichees; and I think that what displeases them, because of their uncleanness, is certainly not marriage as such but the law which joins not many women to one man, nor one woman to many men, but one woman to one man. For the accursed Manichees themselves do not wish to live according to the teaching of the apostle Paul, that "each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband." Christ, then, blessed lawful marriage, which he had established from the beginning, when he did not refuse to go to a wedding when invited; and yet he taught that virginity is better, since he deigned rather to be born through it. God approved the holy Virgin as his dwelling, so that by entering he might keep for you the perpetual crown of chastity, being born without loss of his mother's integrity, conceived without corruption. Therefore the Apostle, the vessel of election, invited others to this good which he had obtained, saying to the unmarried: "It is good for them if they remain so, as I do." He exhorts by the example of happiness; he does not compel by the force of law, saying of virgins: "I have no commandment of the Lord; but I give counsel, as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful; because it is expedient for a man to be so." And after a long admonition, in which he set the blessedness of chastity above the condition of marriage, he concluded with a final sentence: "So then he who gives his virgin in marriage does well, and he who does not give her does better." I think this was said by the blessed Apostle not to the parents of virgins, who, it is clear, cannot rule over the free choice of another's will; but that the same holy man set before each person, man as well as woman, the option either to preserve his virgin (that is, his own flesh, born a virgin) for integrity, choosing the better and the free part, or, recognizing his condition, to give it in marriage if he does not contain himself. But I do not wish parents, or any relatives of virgins, whether boys or girls, to flatter themselves on account of the freedom of choice spoken of above, because we have argued that they cannot rule over the minds of others. They cannot indeed command perpetual continence, because it is known to be a matter of the will; but they can nourish the will toward the better, and they are under obligation to admonish, to exhort, to encourage, so that they may be eager to bind their children to God rather than to the world; so that from the offspring of their seed they may present either, in the order of the clergy, ministers worthy of the divine altar, or bring up girls dedicated to chastity in the number of the holy women; so that, adorning the church of God with such nurslings, they may obtain the blessedness owed them. For it is written: "Blessed is he who has seed in Zion and household in Jerusalem." There is also in this splendid prophetic saying a more sublime meaning, to be opened in its place in a full discussion. But since, while explaining the reason with which the Saviour went to the wedding, we have been drawn into this treatise by a wholesome zeal for chastity, let us meanwhile briefly suggest a saving counsel to our newly baptized, intending to show in what follows the spiritual knowledge of this reading, to be explained figuratively. You can see that you have been regenerated and reborn through baptism by the very name by which you are called "infants." If any of you, then, who are bound in marriage, wish to keep their virgins rather than give them in marriage, let them have wives as though not having them; and they will have a great reward from God our Lord for having kept their flesh such as it was reborn in the sacrament of baptism. I say this for your benefit, not to cast a snare upon you; for even if you serve a lawful marriage after the washing, you have not sinned. Only beware that you do not otherwise abandon the faith, and that, now that you have become one of the faithful, you flee from acts of sexual immorality. You will be able to keep this only if you avoid drunkenness and shameful banquets, where the snaky movements of shameless women stir unlawful desire; where the lyre sounds and the flute; where, in short, every kind of musician clashes among the cymbals of dancers. Unhappy are those houses, I beg you, which differ in nothing from theatres. Let all these things, I beg you, be taken out of the way. Let the house of a Christian and baptized man be free from the devil's chorus; let it be truly humane, let it be hospitable; let it be sanctified by constant prayers; let it be filled with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; let the word of God and the sign of Christ be in the heart, in the mouth, on the forehead, at meals, at drinking, in conversation, in the baths, in bed, in coming in, in going out, in joy, in sorrow; so that, according to the teaching of the most blessed Paul, "whether you eat or drink, or do anything," you may do "all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," who has called you to grace. For he both grants pardon for past sins and promises the rewards of an amended life. But, having set out these things morally for the common edification, I come now to the promised allegories of the Gospel reading itself. And although I do not think myself fit to explain the mysteries of Christ, since I am not yet worthy to presume upon the authority of the most blessed Paul, who says, "we speak not in the learned words of human wisdom but in the teaching of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual," yet I desire to reveal to you from this reading of the divine Gospel a heavenly and secret understanding, as far as the Lord deigns to grant. For a little while ago, while discussing the beginning of the proposed sermon and showing the reason why the Saviour went to the wedding when invited, I passed over to a treatise on the praiseworthy preservation of virginity, and seem to have lingered there a little. Now I shall go back over the narrative of the blessed evangelist itself, so that we may more fittingly seek the spiritual understanding in the words. "And on the third day," he says, "there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus too was invited to the wedding, with his disciples. And they had no wine, because the wine of the wedding was used up." Knowing, as was right, the true history of what was done, let us now expound spiritually what this third day is on which the wedding is recorded to have taken place. Day is light, dearest brothers; and therefore it is most fittingly compared to the precepts of the Lord, who is the true light, as the prophet testifies: "The precept of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes." And elsewhere again: "Your commandments," he says, "are like light upon the earth." Hence the Lord and Saviour rightly warned that we must walk in the light, saying: "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world." For truly, if anyone walks in the light of God's precepts, he can by no means stumble. The first day, then, was under the commandment, from Adam to Moses; the second day was under the Law of Moses; the third day is under the grace of the Saviour. On this day the heavenly Bridegroom himself, the lover of believing souls, the Lord Jesus, joined to himself a bride from the Gentiles, the church, to whom he would give the ring of his seal and the precious earrings of faith (for "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God," that is, the Son; because "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"); to whom, his bride, the same Son of God, God the Word, would also give golden bracelets, of approved works, that is, and right-handed deeds, and would also bestow one by one the other precious necklaces, which are the ornaments of the spiritual virtues. And so that you may recognize that on this third day this spiritual wedding is celebrated by Christ among the people of the Gentiles, it does not take place in Judea but at Cana of Galilee; which, besides the testimony of holy Isaiah, who spoke of "Galilee of the Gentiles," will be shown more clearly from the interpretation of the names themselves. For Cana means "possession"; and Galilee, interpreted from the Hebrew tongue, is called either "rolling" or "wheel." It is clear that the people of the Gentiles, out of the error of idolatry into which it had once rolled down, now hastens to the worship of Christian truth with the speed of a running wheel. Hence the prophet David too sang figuratively, speaking to God: "The voice of your thunder in the wheel." For God thundered from heaven and the Most High gave his voice, saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him." The voice of this thunder clings in the hearts of this people, which, like a running wheel, has hastened swiftly from Gentile superstition to the faith of the Lord Jesus. For this reason too we rightly think that the blessed apostles were named by Christ "sons of thunder," Boanerges. For we read in another place of the Gospel that some of the Gentiles, wishing to approach Christ, sought access through Philip, who was from Bethsaida, a city of Galilee, trusting, I think, in their acquaintance: "Sir," they say, "we wish to see Jesus." "Philip comes and tells Andrew; Andrew and Philip go and tell Jesus." With this agree the things which, as your love remembers, I discussed in detail in their place, where the Lord at once joyfully embraced the envoys of the Gentiles and, foreseeing in the few believers the faith of innumerable peoples, said to the apostles: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." And shortly after, turning his voice to the Father, he says: "Father, glorify your name." And at once a voice coming from heaven says: "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." The crowd of Jews standing round, hearing this voice of God the Father resounding from the lofty seats of heaven, thinks it thunder, because it does not grasp the words; for the people, according to the prophecy of holy Isaiah, "hearing with the ear and not hearing," had heard only the sound of the divine voice, without understanding the words. And therefore the Lord, both in the Gospel to all and in the Apocalypse after the heavenly teaching, cries out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." For he knew that all have ears, but not all ears to hear; for he will not be counted as having heard who, blunted by dullness of heart, does not know what he heard. But the apostles, and those who through the apostles run to the faith of Christ, who had ears to hear, were counted worthy to understand the divine oracles, which for their greatness are compared to thunder, as we read in the Apocalypse; since they were held worthy to be taught from heaven, by the Father's testimony, unto the saving knowledge of the Word. Cana is a small city in Galilee of the Gentiles, in which part of Galilee lies also the city of Capernaum, where the blessed evangelist Matthew testifies that Christ lived, saying: "When Jesus heard that John had been handed over, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving the city of Nazareth" (of the other Galilee, that is), "he came," he says, "and lived at Capernaum, a town by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death a light has arisen." The most blessed evangelist John also records that the Lord Jesus left the land of Judea and went away again into Galilee. "He had to pass," he says, "through Samaria"; and, describing how he lingered there for a while on this very passage because of the Samaritan woman, he added accordingly: "After two days he went out from there and went away into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified," he says, "that a prophet has no honour in his own country. And when he came into Galilee," he says, "the Galileans received him, having seen all the signs that he did at Jerusalem at the feast; for they too had come to the feast. So he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain official whose son was ill at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was beginning to die." When he had healed the absent boy at once by the power of his word, as a heavenly physician, the holy evangelist concluded thus: "This again was the second sign that Jesus did, when he had come from Judea into Galilee." To return, then, to the interpretation of the names and the figurative meaning: at Cana of Galilee, that is, in the possession of the Gentiles, a spiritual wedding is celebrated in the presence of Christ. The prophet, speaking in his person to the church in the Song of Songs, says: "Come from Lebanon, bride; come from Lebanon": that is, from that Gentile offering of incense. For we interpret Lebanon from the Greek as "incense," which those magi coming from the Gentiles believed should rather be offered to Christ. Lebanon, moreover, is seen to be a steep mountain among the Phoenicians, likened to the proud dominion of the Gentiles; from which above all the bride, the church, is called out, hearing the voice of Christ saying: "Come from Lebanon, bride; come from Lebanon": that is, "you will come and pass over from the beginning of faith, from the head of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards": so that, forsaking the forests of a horrid idolatry and leaving the lairs of savage beasts, that is, the dens of demons, she may hasten to the worship of almighty God and embrace the faith of him who deigns, by the grace of divine love, to call her his bride. But someone may say: "If God, according to the Apostle's teaching, wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, why is this saving wedding celebrated chiefly among the Gentiles at the consummation of the age, and why were the peoples of the earlier age not joined in divine marriage?" I will show you, dearly beloved, that even the first-formed Adam was joined to divine intimacy, having received from the Bridegroom himself the insignia of the divine image, the ornaments of wisdom and understanding and of perpetual life. But after the faith of the commandment was adulterated through the devil's procuring, immortality was taken away together with the freedom of the divine love. Yet until the flood, and until the Law itself, there was a revived love of certain just men toward God, and a renewed union of God with a few saints. But since, apart from a rare few saints, as I said, the whole earth was committing fornication away from the Lord, and the human race, with mad lust, had joined to itself innumerable gods of idols, God at once chose the stock of the just seed of Abraham; and he confirmed between himself and that people, through his minister Moses, the lawful tablets of the union, written beforehand with his own finger. From then on that people, conceiving the divine precepts and fruitful with an offspring of saints, began to be most dear to God, whose union it had been counted worthy of. But in the course of time, presuming too much on God's love, it declined through delights into luxury, and through luxury it broke out into contempt and rebellion; and so it was beaten, often and in various ways, because it had succumbed to adulteries with idols. For it was often handed over to the sword, often to captivity; but, as it is written, it would not receive discipline. For this reason God speaks to it through the prophet: "You shall no longer be called soft and delicate; but sit," he says, "on the ground, and take the mill, and grind." And what after all this? "Your shame," he says, "will appear." And again the Lord complains of her in the prophet: "Have you seen," he says, "what the dwelling of the house of Israel has done to me? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every leafy tree, and has committed fornication there with idols; and she committed adultery," he says, "with wood and stone. And I said, after she had committed all these fornications: Return to me; and she did not turn. And I sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce." Let us flee from idols, I beg you, lest, being likewise divorced, we deserve to hear the same. Let us hear, however, what bill of divorce the Jewish people received: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often I wished to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house will be left to you desolate." After the Lord's passion too a fuller bill of divorce is given by the apostles to the synagogue of the Jews, when it is said: "It was necessary that the word of God should be announced to you first; but since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles, as we have been commanded." The people of the Jews, then, being deserted and divorced, our people from the Gentiles is taken in marriage: "For I will call not my people, my people, and her who was not beloved, beloved." The Lord had foretold this through the prophet, indeed, since on the first day under the commandment, and on the second under the Law, weddings had been celebrated, as I have explained. That is why the holy evangelist does not say simply, "On the third day there was a wedding," but speaks with a conjunction placed first: "And on the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there." Where? Among the Gentiles, of course; for it is clear that blessed Mary drew her origin through a mother from the nation of the Moabites. For Boaz begot Obed of Ruth, that Moabite woman; Obed begot Jesse; Jesse begot King David; and from his seed is born Joseph, to whom was betrothed the virgin Mary (of the same tribe, that is, since otherwise it was not lawful), who bore Jesus, who is called Christ. There, then, was the mother of Jesus; "and Jesus too was invited to the wedding, with his disciples." A great mystery of godliness! He who is the Bridegroom is himself invited; and he is invited by the voices of the prophets, who pray thus: "Lord, bow your heavens and come down." And again: "Stir up your might and come to save us." And there are many prayers like these of the prophets humbly inviting him. The holy disciples too are invited together with Christ, as faithful friends of the same heavenly Bridegroom, when it is said through the prophet: "There are no speeches nor words whose voices are not heard." For, filled with the Holy Spirit, they were to speak in the tongues of various nations. Hence the prophetic Spirit, pronouncing what was undoubtedly to come as though already done, added: "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." And to show more clearly who these were and whose heralds they had become, he added: "In the sun he has set his tabernacle, and he himself is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber." Then follows the evangelist's narrative: "And they had no wine." He plainly expressed that the Gentiles did not have the wine of the Holy Spirit. And when he says "because the wine of the wedding was used up," that is, had failed, he did not say it simply, so that you might believe that it had perhaps failed for those to whom it had not yet been given. For he did not say, "the wine of the wedding had failed them," but only that "the wine of the wedding" had failed, as if he said "the nuptial wine." [Therefore the wine is understood to have failed, not of this wedding, but of the preceding weddings; for the nuptial wine of the Holy Spirit had failed when the prophets ceased who had ministered among the people of the Jews. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John; nor was there anyone able to give the thirsty Gentiles spiritual wine to drink; but the Lord Jesus was awaited, who would fill new wineskins with new wine through baptism. "For the old things," he says, "have passed away; behold, all things have become new."] Yet all things have become new in such a way that their origin remains from the old, since the wine is produced not from nothing but from the ancient element of water. Nor should you think the Law of the letter to be despised, from which the Holy Spirit, through Jesus's working, is drawn by faithful ministers; and that is why in the ancient flood men perished, and now in baptism they are reborn: because "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." The letter alone kills; tempered by the Holy Spirit, it regenerates. It is clear that in that flood all the men of that time perished except those who were found worthy to be inside the ark, which bore the type of the church. For likewise even now those who are strangers to the apostolic faith and to the catholic church will not be able to be saved at all. Let each of you, then, labour with all zeal to remain in the house of the Lord, practising works fitting the grace you have received. For those who have been reborn into the new man must now beware of their former sins. Keep, I beg you, the new wineskins, you newly baptized, lest, returning to the old life, you burst and lose the new wine; "for the new wine will burst the old wineskins, and the wine will be spilled and the wineskins will perish." Guard, then, the whole newness of the regenerated man, and keep the heavenly wine in your wineskins, so that the faith you have guarded may itself preserve you, through the Saviour of the human race, Christ Jesus, our Lord God, who reigns with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - John 2:1–3: quotation, high confidence - John 2:9: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:22–24: allusion, high confidence - Luke 11:39–44: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:20–24: allusion, high confidence - Luke 8:29: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 17:12–14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 9:2–7: allusion, high confidence - Matt 14:25–32: allusion, high confidence - John 9:1–7: allusion, high confidence - Luke 7:11–15: allusion, medium confidence - John 11:43–44: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 9:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 104:15 (103:15 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 1:28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:25–26: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:38: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:9: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:29: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:35: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:28: allusion, high confidence - Acts 9:15: allusion, high confidence - Isa 31:9: quotation, medium confidence - 1 Pet 2:2: allusion, low confidence - Eph 5:19: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 10:31: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:8 (18:9 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Prov 6:23: quotation, medium confidence - John 11:9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:17: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 24:22: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 9:1: quotation, high confidence - Ps 77:18 (76:19 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 18:13 (17:14 Vulg.): allusion, medium confidence - Matt 17:5: quotation, high confidence - Mark 3:17: quotation, high confidence - John 12:20–29: quotation, high confidence - Isa 6:9: allusion, high confidence - Luke 8:8: quotation, high confidence - Rev 13:9: quotation, high confidence - Rev 6:1: allusion, low confidence - Matt 4:12–16: quotation, high confidence - Isa 9:1–2: quotation, high confidence - John 4:3–4: quotation, high confidence - John 4:43–54: quotation, high confidence - Song 4:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:11: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:27: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 31:18: allusion, high confidence - Isa 47:1–3: quotation, high confidence - Jer 3:6–8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 23:37–38: quotation, high confidence - Acts 13:46–47: quotation, high confidence - Hos 2:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 9:25: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 1:5–16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 3:16: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 144:5 (143:5 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 80:2 (79:3 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:3–5 (18:4-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Acts 2:4: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:13: quotation, high confidence - Mark 2:22: quotation, high confidence - Luke 5:37: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:17: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 7:23: allusion, high confidence - 1 Pet 3:20–21: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius reads 1 Cor 7:38 ('he who gives his virgin in marriage') as each person's choice about his own virginity, not a parent's about a daughter, and says that married believers who wish may live 'as though not having' wives (1 Cor 7:29); he adds that marriage after baptism is not sin. These are translated exactly. The 'bill of divorce' (Jer 3:8) is applied figuratively to God's dealings with Israel; this polemical reading is translated as written. - His claims that Mary descended from Moab through a mother, and that Mary and Joseph were of the same tribe, are his own inferences. 'Lebanon' as 'incense' plays on Greek libanos. The interpretations Cana = 'possession' and Galilee = 'wheel' are traditional onomastic etymologies. - A square bracket opens before 'Quapropter defecisse' in the digital text and is not closed; it is kept in the translation as printed and probably marks a passage the editors suspected; its end is uncertain (placed here after 2 Cor 5:17). - Quotations and allusions: John 2:1–3 (repeatedly), 9; Gen 2:22–24; Luke 11:39–44; Matt 11:20–24; Luke 8:29; Luke 17:12–14; Matt 9:2–7; Matt 14:25–32; John 9:1–7; Matt 9:12; Ps 104:15 (103:15 Vulg.); Gen 1:28; 1 Cor 7:2, 8, 25–26, 38, 29, 28, 35; Isa 31:9 (Old Latin); 1 Cor 10:31 with Col 3:17; 1 Cor 2:13; Ps 19:8 (18:9 Vulg.); Prov 6:23; John 11:9; Rom 10:17; John 1:1; Gen 24:22 (ring, earrings, bracelets); Isa 9:1; Ps 77:18 (76:19 Vulg.); Matt 17:5; Mark 3:17; John 12:20–28; Isa 6:9; Luke 8:8; Matt 4:12–16; John 4:3–4, 43–54; Song 4:8; Matt 2:11; 1 Tim 2:4; Exod 31:18; Isa 47:1–3; Jer 3:6–8; Matt 23:37–38; Acts 13:46–47; Hos 2:23 (Rom 9:25); Matt 1:5–16; 1 Tim 3:16; Ps 144:5 (143:5 Vulg.); Ps 80:2 (79:3 Vulg.); Ps 19:3–5 (18:4–6 Vulg.); Acts 2:4; Matt 11:13; Mark 2:22 (Luke 5:37); 2 Cor 5:17; 2 Cor 3:6; Gen 7:23 (1 Pet 3:20). - The digital text has many OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 8 (PL 20:886b–898a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/8). ## Tractates 9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/9/#p-9 - Source: PL 20:898a–912b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: Continuing on Cana: Mary, called 'woman' by sex, remained a virgin in giving birth as Christ entered through closed doors; the six stone jars are the dead senses of the Gentiles filled by baptism, the steward of the feast is Moses, and the Spirit's gifts show the equal power of the Trinity. ### Latin text Explanavimus hesterno die charitati vestrae ex lectione evangelica quae Salvatorem nostrum perhibet de aqua vinum fecisse in nuptiis, primum juxta historiam gesti, quam ob causam ire dignatus sit: deinde secundum spiritalem coelestis mysterii intellectum, quid esset dies, et quis esset primus dies, qui secundus, qui tertius, quae nuptiarum ratio, qui sponsus ille esset, quaeve illa sponsa, qui locus ubi fiebant illae nuptiae, et quod non primae illae nuptiae factae sint, et quamobrem ibi fuisse dicta sit Mater Domini Jesu: deinde cur ipse sponsus invitetur ad nuptias, vel a quibus; quomodo etiam discipuli pariter invitentur: deinde quid esset illud vinum quod non habebant, et quae fuerit vini nuptialis defectio; et quemadmodum repudiata ob idololatriae adulterium plebe Judaica, Ecclesia Gentium divino fuerit amori conjuncta. Unde cavendum nobis est, omni genere, charissimi, ne aliquo rursus idololatriae contagio violemur, et non solum repudiari, sed et damnari in perpetuum mereamur; quoniam si quis templum Dei violaverit, disperdet illum Deus. Templum enim Dei sanctum est, ait Apostolus, quod estis vos: cavete attentius, ne sicut serpens decepit Evam astutia sua, corrumpantur sensus vestri a castitate, quae est in Christo Jesu (I Cor. iii), sicut admonet idem Paulus (II Cor. xi); et repellamur ab eo qui nos dilexit, et dedit pignus sancti Spiritus in cordibus nostris. Teneamus ergo gratiam Spiritus sancti, largo munere Sponsi coelestis infusam, ne ad inopiam pristinam revertamur. De qua inopia tunc in aenigmate ait Mater Domini ad eum, vinum non habent (Joan. ii). Sed jam quid Dominus ei responderit, attonitis mentibus audiamus. Ait illi Jesus: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nondum venit hora mea. Juxta intellectus simplicis rationem probare suffecerit, beatam Mariam virginem sexus causa mulierem nuncupatam, sicut in Genesi de Eva scribitur: Et injecit Dominus soporem in Adam; et obdormivit: et sumpsit unam de costis ejus, et supplevit carnem in loco ejus. Et aedificavit Dominus Deus costam, quam sumpsit ab Adam, in mulierem: et utique in virginem figuravit illam, et adduxit eam ad Adam, Et dixit Adam: Hoc nunc os de ossibus meis, et caro de carne mea: haec vocabitur virago, quia de viro suo sumpla est (Gen. ii). Sed dicat fortasse aliquis parvae fidei, ac parum prudens, virginem quidem Mariam non ex viro concepisse Christum, sed de Spiritu sancto, ui in Evangelio (Luc. i) ad eam loquitur archangelus Gabriel; nato tamen Christo virginem dici ultra non posse quam constet edidisse partum; et ideo non dixisse Christum, Quid mihi et libi est, virgo? sed quid mihi et libi est, mulier? Audi ergo divinam rationem spei communis, ac vitae. Nascitur Christus non sibi, sed nobis. Nascitur enim qui semper erat: nascitur qui in principio erat et Filius Dei, et Verbum Dei, et Deus, Hic ideo prope finem saeculi ex Virgine natus est, ut Verbum caro facium habitaret in nobis (Joan. i), permanens tamen Deus esse, quod semper. Nascitur autem Filius Dei in homine, ut vel ita conditorem suum intueri caperet mundus: et nascitur de Spiritu sancto ex Virgine, ut hominem, quem de limo terrae plasmaverat, sancto Spiritu ex massa eadem reformaret. Si credimus conceptum Virginis, credere debemus et partum: utrumque impossibile videtur homini, sed est omnipotentiae divinae parvum. Quid enim Deo magnum (ut omittam sublimiora ejus opera ) qui ex nihilo fecit terram, ei de terrae limo carnem, et de carne viri feminam? ita ut neque pars reliqua terrae aliud osset quam fuerat; neque Adam minus haberet quod Deus abstulerat; neque femina hoc esset tantum quod ex viro sumplum fuerat. Integer Adam ossa sua, et carnem recognoscit in femina, dicens: Hoc nunc os de ossibus meis, et caro de carne mea (Gen. ii); et tu non vis, ut eum qui haec operatur, integra Virgo filium recognoscat? Qui sine corruptela matris conceptus creditur, cur non etiam sine corruptela editus praesumatur? incorrupta Virgo peperit, quod intacta Virgo concepit. Integritatem nascendo violare non potuit, qui venerat redintegrare naturam. Cujus facti fidem si quis adime terrena cogitatione depressus, sensuque carneo praepeditus, tardiore gradu sequitur, ac de Dei. omnipotentia infideli corde cunctatur, discat ex Evangelio Joannis (Joan. xx), eumdem Deum post resurrectionem suam, bis ad Apostolos, ubi erant in domo congregati propter metum Judaeorum, clausis utique januis introisse; et certo introgressus. Ne autem non in carne vera esse, sed in phantasmate putaretur, manus suas, caeteraque membra Thomae apostolo attrectanda ingerit dubitanti. Similiter et in Evangelio beati Lucae, simul discipulis omnibus contestatur ingresus: Palpate me, et videte, quoniam spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere (Luc. xxiv). O miranda fides! reseratae non sunt januae, et ipse intrinsecus cum vero corpore apostolicis non solum videtur oculis, sed et manibus pertractatur! Veritas mirabilis facti, cujus rationem nou nisi sola fides assequitur, omnipotentiam clamat auctoris: nec ideo negabitur factum, quia magnitudinem divini operis pusillitas mentis humanae non tenuerit. Eadem ergo divinitatis virtute per inviolabilem feminam, mundi hujus intravit hospitium, claustrum virginei pudoris etiam nascendo conservans, qua et post resurrectionem januis obseratis, domum potuit corporeus introire. Illud etiam quaestioni huic solvendae quam maxime congruit, quod Apostolus Christum memorat editum de muliere, factum sub Lege, ut eos qui sub Lege erant, redimeret (Gal. iv). Utique ut sic illa, cum Virgo sit, mulier appelletur, veritate sexus, non detrimento integritatis; quomodo Deus Dei Filius oh dispensationem salutis nostrae sub Lege factus esse praedicetur, cum dator ipse sit Legis. Hoc lotum pro beatitudine Mariae dixerim, cum illam Christus mulierem nuncupaverit, quae divino partu sic coegit esse mater, ut virgo sacratior permaneret. Quod vero ait: Quid mihi el tibi est? nondum venit hora mea (Joan. ii); non mihi videtur ista responsio ad illam suggestionem Mariae sensibiliter convenire, nisi in mysterio locutus esse spiritualiter Dominus dicatur; ut quoniam vinum Spiritus sancti ante passionem Christi, ac resurrectionem, gentibus dari nun poterat (evangelista testante, nondum erat Spiritus datus, quia Jesus necdum fuerat glorificatus [Joan. vii, 39]), merito tunc: inter initia signorum, matri responderit: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nondum venit hora mea; tamquam si diceret: Quid tam praepropera est tua, o mulier, suggestio, cum hora passionis meae nondum advenerit, qua perfectis omnibus vel doctrinae, vel operationum divinarum virtutibus, pro vita credentium mori disposui? Post passionem resurrectionemque meam, cum ad Patrem rediero, tunc eis donabitur vinum Spiritus sancti. Quapropter et ipsa beatissima, agnito responsionis hujus profundo mysterio, intellexit, non suggestionem suam praesentem aspernanter acceptam, sed secundum illam spiritualem rationem in mysterio tunc dilatam. Caeterum numquam mandaret ministris, Quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite (Joan. ii), nisi Spiritu sancto post partum divinum plena, non solum responsionis Christi virtutem cognovisset, verum etiam faciendi ab eo tunc ex aqua vini universum ordinem praevidisset. Quid enim lateret Sapientiae matrem, capacem Dei, sedem dignissimam tante virtutis? Veritate facti historialiter approbata, figuras nunc spiritualiter propositas persequemur; sicut enim intellexisti sponsum et sponsam, diem et dies, nuptias et locum, indigentiam vini et cujus vini; ita etiam matrem Domini figuraliter accipe, sanctorum Patriarcharum, et Prophetarum, justorumque omnium plebem, unde originem carnis nostrae idem Dominus traxisse in Evangelio perbibetur (Matth. i). Liber enim generationis Jesu Christi scribitur filii Abraham, et sequentium reliquorum. Haec ergo mater Domini, generatio Patriarcharum et Prophetarum, intercessit pro nobis gentibus apud aeternum Filium Dei, et suum secundum carnem natum, ut donaret nobis indigentibus coelestis vini laetitiam. Sum autem similia illis dictis quae Apostoli suggerentes pro Chananaea, gentili quippe muliere, audierunt: Non est bonum tollere panem filiorum, et dare canibus (Matth. xv), id est Gentilibus qui prius in superstitione positi, canum more consueverant ini mundum sanguinem idolothytarum lambere victimarum, contra Dominum Deum non agnitum ore rabido oblatrantes. Nam canes eramus nos quondam Gentes, et filii erant aliquando Judaei; et idcirco nolebat Dominus tollere panem filiorum, et dare canibus: sed postquam panis ipse coelestis in sua venit, et sui eum non receperunt (Joan. i); postquam cognoscitur idem Dominus noster ab Gentibus quondam canibus, et blasphemo ore contra eum latratura filiis; postquam Pilato resistenti ne Christum, qui rex eorum crederetur, crucifigendum pronuntiaret, pariter clamaverunt, nos non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem (Joan. xix); causatur de iliis iterum sic per Prophetam Deus: Filios genui, et exaltavi, ipsi autem me spreverunt (Is. i). Sed convertentur ad vesperum, quomodo Propheta ait, et famem patiemur ut canes (Ps. lviii). Convertemur quippe et ipsi Judaei, sero tandem, ad vesperum scilicet mundi. Nam scriptum est; Si fuerit numerus filiorum Israel sicut arena maris, residui salvabuntur (Is. x; Rom. ix, 27; Osee i, 10); et apostolus Paulus caecitate percussum fatetur populum Judaeorum, donec introeat Gentium plenitudo. Convertentur autem in consummatione saeculi, et famem verbi Dei patientur ut illi canes qui cupiebant saturari de micis cadentibus de mensa dominorum suorum (Matth. xv). Adoptantur igitur Gentes, prius canes, in filios, et filii canibus comparantur; belluae quippe sunt omnes increduli, non natura, sed moribus; quoniam homo in honore constitutus non intellexit: comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis (Ps. xlviii). Licet ergo Judaei, majore cum scelere, sacrilegis olim Gentibus similia perpetrassem; Christus tamen eos quos non jam suo, sed Patrum justorum merito, diligebat, licet jam indignos, adhuc tamen ut converteret, filios appellabat (Matth. xv), et paterna pietate misericors nolebat relinquere. Nolebat se panem coelestem, vitae principem, ab ipsis cito subtrahere, et Gentibus commodare; donec pertinax fides Gentilium illorum perfidiam confutaret, et donec ipse in carne adveniens doceret eos et instrueret: verberaret curationum beneficiis: quia ingrati exsisterent, judicaret divinis virtutibus: quia flecti ad fidem negligerent, condemnaret: et ita demum consummata in Passione sua eorum nequitia, post resurrectionem propriam migraret ad Gentes, quibus se ipsum panem vitae tribueret, et per aquam Baptismatis poculum sancti Spiritus propinaret. Jam vero quibus ministris dicat mater ista Domini Jesu, quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite (Joan. ii); et quid imperatum, quidve factum sit, videamus. Illuminante oculos cordis nostri ipso Domino Salvatore, qui lumen est aeterni luminis coaeternum, praeter beatam Mariam proprie matrem, cognovimus, sanctorum Patriarcharum et Prophetarum plebem, originis Christi causa, esse matrem, quae legatione apud eum functa sit pro nostra inopia: nunc advertamus, quibus ministris loquatur, quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite. Ministros autem non illos secundum rei gestum solos accipio qui tunc in illo nuptiarum convivio ministrabant; sed juxta spiritalis convivii rationem, primo ministros novi Testamenti intelligo esse Apostolos; deinde apostolicos sacerdotes, quibus et Lex, et omnis sanctorum Prophetarum doctrina insinuat, ut quidquid praeceperit eis Dominus Jesus, obsequio prompto perficiant. Jam quid ab illo jubeatur ministris, sequens loquitur sermo. Interim quid evangelista interloquatur, ausculta: Erant, inquit, ibi lapideae hydriae sex positas secundum purificationem Judaeorum, capientes singulae metretas binas, vel ternas (Joan. ii). Nuptiae istae quamvis in Galilaea Gentium gererentur, et haberent figuram quam diximus, tamen Judaeis tunc agebantur; et erant ibi vere f hydriae sex positae secundum purificationem Judaeorum, capientes singulae metretas binas, aut ternas. Nam Judaei id moris habebant, s ut priusquam synagogam ingrederentur, vel de publico regressi domum priusquam pranderent, cutem corporis sui aqua abluerent. Erat autem mensura aquae ad abluendum corpus sufficiens vel duae metretae, vel tres, pro quantitate scilicet magnitudinis corporum. Non possum parcere transiens purificationi Judaeorum immundae. Lavant polluta corpora, ablata statim polluunt: semper lavant, semper impuri sunt; et, ut dici solet, laterem lavant. Illum laterem quem paraverant in AEgypto Pharaoni diabolo (Exod. i), exhibentes seipsos arma iniquitatis peccato, ad constructionem hostilium civitatum. Terrei enim sunt, et igneo Spiritus sancti calore nequaquam solidati. Quapropter usquequo deliquescant in mortem, laterem suum non desinunt lavare polluendum. Quinimo porcorum more, de aqua in coenum redeunt. Isti sunt porci quos iratus Dominus legioni daemonum tradidit (Matth. vii), ut praecipitarentur in lacum morte necandi perpetua. Fugite immunditiae exemplum, neophyti, ne poenae participes exsistatis. Unum Baptisma nobis Apostoli juxta divinam sententiam decreverunt; ait enim; Qui biberit ex ista aqua, non sitiet in aeternum (Joan. iv). Abluti semel estis Baptismo salutari: nolite de fonte in coenum regredi; servate donatam munditiem. Non potest iterari quod semel est amissum. Sed jam videamus, quae sint apud Gentes per allegoriam sex illae hydriae lapideae, capientes singule metretas binas, vel ternas. In unoquoque hominum sex quaedam inesse numerantur: visus oculorum, auditus aurium, odoratus narium, loquela oris, attrectatio manuum, incessus pedum. Haec omnia, cum essemus Gentes, lapidea erant in nobis, et mortua, sicut sanctus propheta David exsecrando testatur: Simulacra Gentium argentum et aurum (Ps. cxiii). Studio tacuit caeteras viliores materias metallorum, ut in pretiosis multo magis damnaret et vilia. Simulacra ergo Gentium ut quo sensu vituperata sunt, edicamus, quando satis opulentos fabricatores habuerunt: Erunt, inquit, insensibilia metalla, argentum et aurum, opera manuum hominum. Os habent, et non loquentur; oculos habent, et non videbunt; aures habent, et non audient; nares habent, et non odorabunt; manus habent, et non palpabunt; pedes habent, et non ambulabunt (Ibid.). Et quid? similes illis fient qui faciunt ea; et omnes qui confidunt in eis. Ergo cum confideremus in idolis, erant in nobis isti sensus sex, juxta sententiam prophetae, emortui atque lapidei, d sine officio competenti, sine motu congruo; at ubi in Deum vivum a simulacris mortuis conversi credidimus, vivificati sumus, audientes ab ipso, quia ego vivo, et vos vivetis ( Joan. xiv, 19 ). Et iterum: Ego sum resurrectio, et vita; qui credit in me, etsi mortuus fuerit, vivet: et omnis qui vivit, id est qui jam credit, si usque in finem crediderit, non morietur in aeternum (Joan. xi). Conversi igitur ad fidem, et vivificati per Baptismum, oculos levamus ad Dominum, odorem notitiae ejus insatiabili spiritu trahimus, tacitoque testamur affectu, quoniam odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata (Cant. iv). Lectiones divinas aure percipimus, ore Dominum confitemur, laudamus, benedicimus, obsecramus; manus supplices ad coelum tendimus, pedibus ad ecclesiam currimus, et unam Trinitatis Deitatem flexis ad terram genibus adoramus. Vocatis ergo Jesus ministris. Apostolis videlicet, et eorum successoribus qui sunt per singulas Ecclesias sacerdotes, dicit eis: Implete hydrias istas aqua (Joan. ii); hoc est: Baptizate omnes gentes nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti, docentes eos servare omnia quae ego mandavi vobis (Matth. xxviii). Et plane quia audierant iidem ministri dicentem venerabilem Mariam: Quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite; impleverunt eas usque ad summum: plenitudine quippe doctrinae infusum Baptisma cumulantes. Bene autem dixit, vocatis ministris; nam Paulus vocatus apostolus, segregatus in Evangelium Dei (Rom. i)est: similiter et omnes Apostoli vocati sunt: Venite post me, et faciam vos piscatores hominum (Matth. iv). Quos enim praedestinavit, hos et vocavit: et quot vocavit, hos et justificavit: quos autem justificavit, hos glorificavit (Rom. viii). Vocatis igitur Jesus ministris injunxit opus celebrandi Baptismatis. Nec illud in postrema parte hujus sermonis praetereo, quod istae hydriae nostrae capientes esse dicuntur singulae metretas binas, vel ternas. Super hoc aliqui nostrorum dixerunt, metretas duas, vel tres, Patrem, et filium, et Spiritum sanctum; et quosdam quidem ex Gentibus baptizandis Patris, et Filii tantum scientiam posse capere, quosdam vero capaciores etiam Spiritus sancti: sed ego arbitror, quod qui Spiritum sanctum non capit, neque Filium capiat, neque Patrem. Neque enim baptizari quis potest, nisi in integram atque inseparabilem Trinitatem, quoniam nemo confitetur proprietate naturae esse, ut oportet, Dominum Jesum Christum, nisi in Spiritu sancto (I Cor. xii). Et, nemo vadit ad Patrem, nisi per Filium (Joan. xiv), ut ipse testatur: Nemo venit ad Filium, nisi Pater eum pertraxerit (Joan. vi). Igitur qui unam Trinitatis adoranda; personam ininuerit, denegavit integrum Trinitatem. Ergo cum non sit plus et minus in confessione fidei, quae traditur per Christi ministros in sacramento Baptismatis, videamus, hydriae nostrae quas metretas singulae capiant, vel binas, vel ternas. Sanctus apostolus Paulus scribens ad Corinthios, inter caetera spiritualium genera virtutum, quae aboleri profectu meliorum necesse sit, mansura in aeternum tria haec perhibet, spem, fidem, et charitatem. Manent, inquit, spes, fides, et charitas: tria haec: major autem horum est charitas (1 Cor. xiii). Fides est, qua Trinitatem unius substantiae confitemur: spes est, qua resurrectionem carnis, et praemia pro meritis futura speramus: charitas est, qua ita Christum diligimus, ut pro ejus nomine interfici aequo animo patiamur. Sed quia omnes in fide apostolica baptizali, credunt quidem in Trinitatem, et sperant futura, non tamen omnes cum sancto Apostolo ex affectu dicere ausi sunt: Quis nos separabit a charitate Christi? tribulatio? an angustia? an persecutio? an fames? an nuditas? an periculum? an gladius (Rom. viii )? idcirco quiedam hydriae nostra; binas metretas capiunt, quedam vero etiam ternas. Largiatur autem Dominus Jesus dives in omnes, et super omnes qui invocant eum, ut ternas metretas, perfecti in charitate ejus, etiam sine aperto persecutionis pradio capiamus; ut in dilectione Dei paratis mentibus ad omnem praesentium poenarum tolerantiam, constantes possimus ex occulti certaminis triumpho illustrem coronam victricis conscientiae promereri. Ergo postquam beatissimi Apostoli (Act. ii, vi), fidelium ministrorum functi officio, repleverunt hydrias credentium populorum aqua venerandi Baptismatis, et Dominus Jesus invisibili virtute hanc aquam convertit, in vinum, ita ut baptizati ab illis, confestim divini Spiritus in se operantis saporem repentina linguarum gratia testaremur; ex quibus prior Stephanus martyr plenus gratia et veritate faciebat signa, et prodigia magna in populo, in nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Tunc ait ipse Dominus Jesus iisdem ministris: Haurite nunc, et ferte architriclino. Et tulerunt. Ut autem gustavit architriclinus, inquit, ex aqua vinum factum, el nesciebat unde esset, ministri autem sciebant, qui hauserant aquam; vocat sponsum architriclinus, et dicit ei: Omnis homo prius vinum bonum ponit, et cum inebriati fuerunt, id quod deterius est: tu servasti bonum vinum usque modo (Joan. ii). Explanemus primum facti ipsius historiam, et ita ad propositam rationem spiritualis intelligentiae redeamus. Nuptiae apud Judaeos cum fierent, unus (quantum traditione comperimus) dabatur de sacerdotali ordine, qui morem disciplinae legitime gubernaret, pudorisque curam gereret conjugalis; simul etiam conviviorum apparatui ministros, atque ordinem dispensaret, et pro hoc officio architriclinus, id est triclinii preepositos, dicebatur. Huic ergo gustum vini ex aqua facti jubentur conviviorum minisui portare. Gustat architriclinus nesciens unde esset; el, vocato sponso, laudat ei saporem vini usque iu illud temporis reservati. His omnibus gestis probatur virtus Salvatoris in hoc etiam signo non phantasma fuisse, sed veritas; quando praepositus convivii non modo vinum, sed et bonum vinum testatur esse quod ei gustandum ministri, Domino jubente, portaverunt. Jam nunc ad spiritales lineas recurrentes, quis iste sit architriclinus advertamus. Architriclinum puto esse beatissimum Moysen, virum de tribu Levi, fidelem Dei dispensatorem in tota domo ejus; qui non solum in illis antiquis nuptiis illius plebis Israel quae repudiari postea meruit, praepositus fuit, sed etiam in istis quae celebrantur in Gentibus, Quis enim nostrum sine arch(??)triclino Moyse discere potuit, quoniam Dominus Deus noster, Deus unus est, et non dii? Et ne absolutum putes esse quod dicitur unius Deitatis, ah ipso ibi Trinitas prodicatur siquidem Dominum dicit Deum et Dominum. Non enim simpliciter dixit: Audi, Israel, Deus tuus mus est: sed quid? Audi, Israel, Dominus Deus tuus Dominus unus est (Deut. vi); hoc est dixisse, unus est in Trinitate Deus, una est Divinitas, ac dominatio Trinitatis, manento vera distinctione subsistentium personarum. Sicut etiam duae alae Seraphim, imaginem gerentes tam Legis et Prophetarum, quam veteris et novi Testamentis hymnum referunt adorandae Trinitatis, et jugiter clamant: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Dominus, non Domini (Is. vi): neque enim recipit pluralem numerum, Patris et Filii, et Spiritus sancti una eademque Divinitas. Deinde quis nostrum, ut dixi, sine architriclino Moyse cognoscere valuit, quod in principio fecerit Deus coelum, et terram, et mare, et omnia quae sunt in eis; et unde homo figuratus sit vir, unde etiam femina, ex quibus universa generis humani propago multiplicata noscatur? Deinde qum fuerit prima induiti beatitudo paradisi, quod exordium culpae hominis Deum provocantis offensa; denique quaenam generationes fuerint justorum, quaeve iniquorum; et cur, vel quando diluvium, et caetera quae in Lege scripta sunt Moysi, acciderint; et, ut breviter dicam, cujus nostrum anima divino Amori, et Sponso coelesti Christo conjungi promeruit, sine hujus architricli(??)i apparatu? Ipse enim Moyses, qui praenuntiaverat adventum Christi populo Israel, dicens: Prophetam suscitabit Dominus Deus noster de fratribus vestris, sicut me; illum audite per omnia quaecumque locutus fuerit ad vos. Erit autem omnis anima, quaecumque non audierit Prophetam illum, disperiet de plebe ( Deut. xviii). At ubi vidit, illos contra Christum, quem praedicaverat, repugnare, contulit se ad Gentes, et una cum sanctis Apostolis exprobrat populo Judaeorum: Vobis oportebat, prius annuntiari verbum Dei, sed quoniam respuistis illud, et indignos vos judicastis aeterna vita, ecce convertimur ad Gentes; sic enim mandavit nobis Dominus (Act. xiii): Posui te in lucem Gentium, ut sis ad salutem usque ad ultimum terrae (Is. xlix). Ergo posteaquam de aqua vinum fecit in nobis Dominus Jesus, ut ostenderet, sicut ait Apostolus, divitias gloriae suae in vasa misericordiae ( Rom. ix); et baptizatos quosque sancti Spiritus sapore condivit, aquam legalis litterae per corda credentium convertens in sapientiam spiritualem; tunc ait ministris: Haurite nunc, et ferte architriclino (Joan. ii). Hauriunt Apostoli de hydriis baptizatorum Gentilium Evangelici vigoris spiritalem saporem simul et gratiam: saporem in fide, gratiam coloris in opere: unum sentitur, alterum cernitur; et portant ad Moyseu. Quis enim sacerdotum ministrantium Christo, non omnem novi Testamenti sapientiam cum Lege conferat Moysi: quod ipsum Dominum et mandasse audiat, et fecisse perspiciat? Nam cum leprosum virtutis suae attactu mundasset, illico cum transmisit ad Legem, dicens: Vade, ostende te sacerdoti, et offer pro emundatione tua munus, quod praecepit Moyses in testimonium illis ( Matth. viii ). Gustavit architriclinus occultum Christi a saeculis sacramentum, quod aliis generationibus non est agnitum filiis hominum, sicut nunc revelatum est sanetis ejus Apostolis et Prophetis in Spiritu, Esse Gentes cohaeredes, et concorporales, et participes promissionis ejus in Christo Jesu per Euangelium: cujus factus sum ego, inquit Paulus, minister ( Ephes. iii). Participes igitur factae sunt Gentes per unumquemque Apostolum Evangelicum ministrum, promissionis Dei in Christo: illius nempe promissionis quam priores consecuti sunt ipsi Apostoli, qui postea exteris ministrarent. Nam cum conversaretur cum illis Christus post resurrectionem suam per dies quadraginta, sicut iu principiis Actuum Apostolorum Lucas evangelista testatur: Praecepit eis ne ab Hierosolymis discederent, sed exspectarent promissum Patris, quod a me audistis, inquit; quia Joannes quidem baptizavit aqua, vos autem Spiritu sancto baptizabimini non post multos hos dies (Act i). In Evangelli quoque sui fine ita eumdem Dominum loqui ad ipsos Apostolos memorat: Ecce ego, inquit, mitto promissionem Patris mei in vos: vos autem sedete in civitate, quoadusque induamini virtute ab alto (Luc. xxiv). Quamquam ergo nesciat architriclinus Moyses, ex Baptismatis dono tantam gratiam fuisse collatam, quam non ignorabant Apostoli, qui fuerunt ministri sermonis; admiratus tamen saporem Spiritus sancti hydriis inesse Gentilium, laudat sponsi munificentiam, qui tale vinum servaverit Gentibus. Quod vinum anterioribus nuptiis Judaei habentes, non ad salubritatem suam biberunt, sed inebriati sunt, et perniciosa gravedine sauciati; imbecilliores quippe mentibus, et virtutem divini Spiritus non ferentes: qui autem robustus in fide est, repletus Spiritu sancto, non inebriatur. Ideo enim praeclarum est poculum Dei inebrians (Ps. xxii ), quoniam sobrias efficit bibentium mentes divini potus ebrietas; unde Apostolus ait: Nolite inebriari vino, sed replemini Spiritu sancto (Ephes. v). Nam et Stephanus Spiritu sancto plenus, non ebrius, vidit caelos apertos, et Jesum ad dexteram Dei (Act. vii). Propterca et beatissimus Petrus ebrietatem detestatus est, dicens (Act. ii): Non enim, sicut vos putatis, inquit, hi ebrii sunt, cum sit hora diei tertia, sed hoc est quod dictum est per Joel Prophetam: Et erit in novissimis diebus, dicit Domimi, effundam de spiritu meo super omnem carnem, et prophetabunt filii vestri, et filiae vestrae: juvenes vestri visiones videbunt, et seniores vestri somnia somniabunt (Joel ii). Hoc fecit initium signorum Jesus in Cana Galilaeae id est in possessione Gentium; et manifestavit gloriam suam, et crediderunt in eum discipuli ejus(Joan. ii). Nec hoc otiosum est, quod discipuli ait, non Apostoli. Nam ut multitudinem credentium declaret, discipulorum nomen posuit, non Apostolorum. Sunt enim omnes qui credunt, ejus discipuli; sed, ut ait beatus Paulus, numquid omnes Apostoli (I Cor. xii)? Studeamus nunc, et precemur, charissimi, ut post hoc initium signorum quod fecit Dominus Jesus, dando Spiritum Sanctum in cordibus nostris, caetera quoque in nobis perficiat signa virtutum; alii datur enim sermo sapientiae, alii verbum scientiae secundum eumdem Spiritum: alii fides in eodem Spiritu: alii sanitas in uno Spiritu: alii operatio virtutis, alii discretio spirituum, alii prophetia, alii genera linguarum, alii interpretatio sermonum, Haec autem omnia operatur unus et idem Spiritus, dividens unicuique prout vult (I Cor. xii). Has igitur habentes promissionis, charissimi, mundemus nos ab omni inquinamento carnis, perficientes sanctificationem spiritus in timore Dei (II Cor. vii). Sanctum vero Spiritum idcirco ex propriae auctoritatis arbitrio distribuere munera coelestium gratiarum praedicavit Apostolus dicens: Haec omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritui, dividens unicuique prout vult, et non prout jubetur (I Cor. xii); ne quis inimica persuasione suspicari audeat in illa Trinitatis adorandae substantia aliquid esse subjectum, vel minus potens, vel sibimetipsi contrarium; cum sit Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti, una in omnibus et voluntas pariter, et potestas per omnia saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Yesterday we explained to your charity, from the Gospel reading which tells that our Saviour made wine from water at a wedding: first, according to the history of the deed, why he deigned to go; then, according to the spiritual understanding of the heavenly mystery, what "day" is, and which is the first day, which the second, which the third; what the meaning of the wedding is, who that bridegroom is, or who that bride; what the place was where that wedding took place; that it was not the first wedding to take place; and why the Mother of the Lord Jesus is said to have been there; then why the Bridegroom himself is invited to the wedding, and by whom; how the disciples too are invited with him; then what that wine was which they did not have, and what the failure of the nuptial wine was; and how, the Jewish people having been divorced for the adultery of idolatry, the church of the Gentiles was joined to the divine love. Hence, dearest ones, we must beware in every way lest we be violated again by any contagion of idolatry and deserve not only to be divorced but to be condemned for ever; since "if anyone violates the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy," says the Apostle, "and that temple you are." Take the more careful heed, lest, "as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds be corrupted from the chastity that is in Christ Jesus," as the same Paul warns, and we be thrust away from him who loved us and gave the pledge of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Let us hold fast, then, the grace of the Holy Spirit, poured in by the generous gift of the heavenly Bridegroom, lest we return to our former poverty. It was of this poverty that the Mother of the Lord then said to him, in an enigma: "They have no wine." But now let us hear with astonished minds what the Lord answered her. "Jesus said to her: What is it to me and to you, woman? My hour has not yet come." By the reasoning of the simple understanding it would be enough to show that the blessed virgin Mary is called "woman" on account of her sex, as is written in Genesis of Eve: "And the Lord cast a deep sleep on Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs and filled up flesh in its place. And the Lord God built the rib that he had taken from Adam into a woman" (and surely he formed her a virgin) "and brought her to Adam. And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken from her man." But perhaps someone of little faith and little prudence may say that the virgin Mary indeed conceived Christ not from a man but from the Holy Spirit, as the archangel Gabriel speaks to her in the Gospel; yet once Christ was born, she can no longer be called a virgin, since it is certain she gave birth; and that is why Christ did not say, "What is it to me and to you, virgin?" but "What is it to me and to you, woman?" Hear, then, the divine reasoning of our common hope and life. Christ is born not for himself but for us. For he is born who always was; he is born who in the beginning was both the Son of God and the Word of God and God. He was born of the Virgin near the end of the age so that the Word made flesh might dwell among us, yet remaining God, as he always was. The Son of God is born in man so that the world might at least in this way begin to behold its Creator; and he is born of the Holy Spirit from the Virgin so that he might re-form by the Holy Spirit, from the same mass, the man whom he had moulded from the slime of the earth. If we believe the Virgin's conception, we must believe her giving birth as well: both seem impossible to man, but for divine omnipotence it is a small thing. For what is great for God (to pass over his more sublime works), who made the earth from nothing, flesh from the slime of the earth, and woman from the flesh of man, in such a way that neither was the rest of the earth other than it had been, nor did Adam have less because God had taken something away, nor was the woman only what had been taken from the man? Adam, whole, recognizes his own bones and flesh in the woman, saying, "This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh"; and do you not want the Virgin, whole, to recognize as her son him who does these things? He who is believed to have been conceived without his mother's corruption, why should he not also be presumed to have been brought forth without corruption? The Virgin incorrupt brought forth what the Virgin untouched conceived. He could not violate integrity by being born who had come to restore nature to integrity. If anyone, weighed down by earthly thinking and hampered by a fleshly sense, follows faith in this fact with a slower step and hesitates with an unbelieving heart about the omnipotence of God, let him learn from the Gospel of John that the same God after his resurrection twice came in to the apostles where they were gathered in the house for fear of the Jews, with the doors shut, and that he truly came in. And lest he be thought to be not in true flesh but a phantom, he presses his hands and other limbs on the doubting apostle Thomas to be handled. Likewise in the Gospel of blessed Luke, having come in, he solemnly assures all the disciples together: "Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have." O wonderful faith! The doors were not unbarred, and he himself, inside, with a true body, is not only seen by the apostles' eyes but handled by their hands! The truth of a wonderful deed, whose reason faith alone attains, proclaims the omnipotence of its author; nor will the deed be denied because the littleness of the human mind has not grasped the greatness of the divine work. By the same power of his divinity, then, by which after the resurrection he could enter a house bodily with the doors locked, he entered the lodging of this world through an inviolate woman, preserving even in being born the enclosure of virginal chastity. This also is especially fitting for solving the question: that the Apostle records that Christ was "born of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law"; so that she, though a virgin, is called a woman by the truth of her sex, not by loss of her integrity, just as God, the Son of God, is proclaimed to have been made under the Law for the dispensation of our salvation, though he himself is the giver of the Law. All this I would say for the blessedness of Mary, since Christ called her "woman": she who by a divine birth was so made a mother that she remained a more sacred virgin. But as for his saying, "What is it to me and to you? My hour has not yet come," this answer does not seem to me to fit Mary's suggestion sensibly, unless the Lord is said to have spoken spiritually in a mystery: so that, since the wine of the Holy Spirit could not be given to the Gentiles before the passion and resurrection of Christ (as the evangelist testifies, "the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified"), he rightly answered his mother then, at the beginning of the signs: "What is it to me and to you, woman? My hour has not yet come"; as if he said: "Why is your suggestion so premature, woman, when the hour of my passion has not yet come, in which, having completed all the powers of teaching and of divine works, I have resolved to die for the life of believers? After my passion and resurrection, when I return to the Father, then the wine of the Holy Spirit will be given them." Therefore the most blessed one herself too, recognizing the deep mystery of this answer, understood that her suggestion had not been received with disdain for the present, but was deferred then in mystery according to that spiritual reason. Otherwise she would never have commanded the servants, "Whatever he tells you, do it," had she not, full of the Holy Spirit after the divine birth, not only known the force of Christ's answer but also foreseen the whole order of the wine to be made by him then from water. For what could be hidden from the mother of Wisdom, the one who had contained God, the most worthy seat of so great a power? The truth of the deed having been established historically, we shall now pursue the figures set out spiritually. For as you have understood the bridegroom and the bride, the day and the days, the wedding and the place, the want of wine and of which wine, so also take the mother of the Lord figuratively as the people of the holy patriarchs and prophets and of all the just, from whom the same Lord is declared in the Gospel to have drawn the origin of his flesh. For "the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of Abraham" and of the rest who follow, is written. This mother of the Lord, then, the generation of the patriarchs and prophets, interceded for us Gentiles with the eternal Son of God, her own son according to the flesh, that he might give us in our need the joy of the heavenly wine. And these words are like those which the apostles heard when they made a suggestion for the Canaanite woman, a Gentile: "It is not good to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs," that is, to the Gentiles, who, formerly placed in superstition, had been accustomed like dogs to lick the unclean blood of victims sacrificed to idols, barking with rabid mouth against the Lord God whom they did not know. For we Gentiles were once dogs, and the Jews were once children; and therefore the Lord did not wish to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. But after the heavenly bread himself came to his own and his own did not receive him; after the same Lord of ours is recognized by the Gentiles, once dogs, and the children were to bark against him with blaspheming mouth; after, when Pilate resisted pronouncing that Christ, who was believed to be their king, should be crucified, they cried out together, "We have no king but Caesar": God complains of them again through the prophet thus: "I have begotten sons and raised them up, but they have despised me." "But they will return at evening," as the prophet says, "and will suffer hunger like dogs." For the Jews themselves too will be converted, late at last, that is, at the evening of the world. For it is written: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant will be saved"; and the apostle Paul declares that the people of the Jews has been struck with blindness until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. They will be converted at the consummation of the age, and will suffer hunger for the word of God like those dogs that longed to be filled with the crumbs falling from their masters' table. The Gentiles, then, once dogs, are adopted as sons, and the sons are compared to dogs; for all unbelievers are beasts, not by nature but by their ways, since "man, when he was in honour, did not understand; he was compared to senseless cattle and became like them." So although the Jews had committed, with greater wickedness, things like those of the once sacrilegious Gentiles, yet Christ, who loved them no longer for their own merit but for that of the just fathers, still called them sons, though now unworthy, so that he might convert them; and in his fatherly kindness, being merciful, he did not wish to abandon them. He did not wish to withdraw from them quickly the heavenly bread, the prince of life, and lend it to the Gentiles, until the persistent faith of the Gentiles should refute their faithlessness, and until he himself, coming in the flesh, should teach and instruct them; should strike them with the benefits of his healings; should judge them by his divine powers because they proved ungrateful; should condemn them because they neglected to be turned to faith; and so at last, their wickedness having been completed in his passion, he should pass after his own resurrection to the Gentiles, to whom he would give himself as the bread of life, and to whom he would offer through the water of baptism the cup of the Holy Spirit. Now let us see to which servants this mother of the Lord Jesus says, "Whatever he tells you, do it," and what was commanded and what was done. With the Lord Saviour himself enlightening the eyes of our heart, he who is the light co-eternal with the eternal light, we have recognized that, besides blessed Mary, his mother in the proper sense, the people of the holy patriarchs and prophets is also his mother by reason of Christ's origin, and that it performed an embassy to him for our poverty. Now let us note to which servants she speaks: "Whatever he tells you, do it." By servants I do not take only those who, according to the event, were serving then at that wedding banquet; but according to the meaning of the spiritual banquet I understand that the servants of the New Testament are first the apostles, then the apostolic priests, whom both the Law and all the teaching of the holy prophets urge to carry out with ready obedience whatever the Lord Jesus has commanded them. What is commanded by him to the servants, the following words tell. Meanwhile, listen to what the evangelist says in between: "There were there," he says, "six stone water jars set for the purification of the Jews, each holding two or three measures." Although this wedding took place in Galilee of the Gentiles and had the figure we have spoken of, it was nevertheless conducted then by Jews; and there truly were there six water jars set for the purification of the Jews, each holding two or three measures. For the Jews had this custom, that before they entered the synagogue, or when they returned home from the public places, before they dined, they washed the skin of their body with water. The measure of water sufficient for washing the body was either two measures or three, according to the size of their bodies. I cannot, as I pass, spare the unclean purification of the Jews. They wash defiled bodies, and as soon as they are washed they defile them; they are always washing, always impure; and, as the saying goes, they wash a brick: that brick which they had prepared in Egypt for Pharaoh the devil, offering themselves as weapons of iniquity to sin for the building of hostile cities. For they are of earth and in no way made firm by the fiery heat of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, until they melt away into death, they do not cease to wash their brick, only to defile it. Rather, in the manner of swine, they return from the water to the mire. These are the swine which the angry Lord handed over to the legion of demons, to be cast headlong into the lake and slain by a perpetual death. Flee the example of uncleanness, you newly baptized, lest you become sharers in the punishment. The apostles, following the divine sentence, decreed one baptism for us; for he says: "Whoever drinks of this water will not thirst for ever." You have been washed once in saving baptism; do not go back from the font into the mire; keep the cleanness that has been given you. What has once been lost cannot be repeated. But now let us see what those six stone water jars, holding two or three measures each, are among the Gentiles by allegory. In each man six things are reckoned to be present: the sight of the eyes, the hearing of the ears, the smell of the nostrils, the speech of the mouth, the touch of the hands, the walking of the feet. All these, when we were Gentiles, were stone in us and dead, as the holy prophet David testifies in cursing: "The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold." He deliberately kept silent about the other cheaper materials of metals, so that in condemning the precious ones he might much more condemn the cheap. Let us declare, then, in what sense the idols of the Gentiles are blamed, even when they had makers rich enough: they will be senseless metals, "silver and gold, the works of men's hands. They have a mouth and will not speak; they have eyes and will not see; they have ears and will not hear; they have nostrils and will not smell; they have hands and will not feel; they have feet and will not walk." And what then? "Those who make them will become like them, and all who trust in them." So when we trusted in idols, these six senses in us were, according to the prophet's sentence, deadened and of stone, without their proper office, without fitting motion; but when we turned from dead images to the living God and believed, we were made alive, hearing from him: "Because I live, you also will live." And again: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, will live; and everyone who lives" (that is, who already believes, if he believes to the end) "will not die for ever." Turned, then, to the faith and made alive through baptism, we lift up our eyes to the Lord; we draw in the fragrance of the knowledge of him with an insatiable breath and testify with silent affection, "the fragrance of your ointments is above all spices"; we take in the divine readings with the ear; with the mouth we confess the Lord, praise, bless, entreat him; we stretch out suppliant hands to heaven, we run with our feet to the church, and with knees bent to the ground we adore the one Deity of the Trinity. Having called the servants, then, the apostles, that is, and their successors who are the priests in each of the churches, Jesus says to them: "Fill these water jars with water"; that is: "Baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you." And clearly, because the same servants had heard the venerable Mary say, "Whatever he tells you, do it," they filled them to the brim, heaping up the baptism poured in with the fullness of teaching. He rightly said, "having called the servants"; for Paul is "called an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God"; likewise all the apostles were called: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." "For those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified." Having called the servants, then, Jesus laid on them the work of celebrating baptism. Nor shall I pass over, in the last part of this sermon, that our water jars are said to hold two or three measures each. On this some of our writers have said that the two or three measures are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and that some of the Gentiles to be baptized can take in only the knowledge of the Father and the Son, while others, more capacious, take in that of the Holy Spirit as well. But I think that he who does not take in the Holy Spirit takes in neither the Son nor the Father. For no one can be baptized except into the whole and inseparable Trinity, since no one confesses, as he ought, that Jesus Christ is Lord by the property of his nature except in the Holy Spirit. And "no one goes to the Father except through the Son," as he himself testifies; "no one comes to the Son unless the Father draws him." So whoever lessens one person of the Trinity to be adored has denied the whole Trinity. Since, then, there is no more and less in the confession of faith which is handed down by Christ's servants in the sacrament of baptism, let us see what measures our water jars each hold, whether two or three. The holy apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, among the other kinds of spiritual powers, which must be done away by the advance of better things, declares that these three will remain for ever: hope, faith and love. "There remain," he says, "hope, faith and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." Faith is that by which we confess the Trinity of one substance; hope is that by which we hope for the resurrection of the flesh and the rewards to come according to merits; love is that by which we so love Christ that we patiently suffer to be killed for his name. But since all who are baptized in the apostolic faith believe indeed in the Trinity and hope for the things to come, yet not all have dared to say from the heart with the holy Apostle, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation? Or distress? Or persecution? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or danger? Or the sword?", therefore some of our water jars hold two measures, but some three. May the Lord Jesus, who is rich toward all and above all who call upon him, grant that we may hold three measures, perfect in his love, even without the open battle of persecution; so that, our minds being prepared in the love of God for every endurance of present punishments, we may steadfastly earn, from the triumph of a hidden contest, the illustrious crown of a victorious conscience. So after the most blessed apostles, performing the office of faithful servants, had filled the water jars of the believing peoples with the water of venerable baptism, and the Lord Jesus by his invisible power turned this water into wine, so that those baptized by them at once testified by the sudden grace of tongues to the taste of the divine Spirit working in them (among whom first Stephen the martyr, full of grace and truth, was doing signs and great wonders among the people in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ): then the Lord Jesus himself says to the same servants: "Draw now, and take it to the steward of the feast. And they took it. And when the steward of the feast tasted," he says, "the water made wine, and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the steward of the feast calls the bridegroom and says to him: Every man sets out the good wine first, and when they have drunk freely, that which is worse; you have kept the good wine until now." Let us first explain the history of the deed itself, and so return to the proposed account of the spiritual understanding. When weddings took place among the Jews, one man (as far as we have learned from tradition) was given from the priestly order to govern the custom of discipline lawfully and to take care of conjugal modesty, and at the same time to arrange the servants and the order for the preparation of the banquets; and for this office he was called the architriclinus, that is, the one set over the dining room. To him, then, the servants of the banquet are ordered to bring a taste of the wine made from water. The steward tastes, not knowing where it came from, and, calling the bridegroom, praises to him the taste of the wine kept back until that time. By all these events it is proved that the power of the Saviour in this sign too was not a phantom but truth, since the president of the banquet testifies that what the servants, at the Lord's command, brought him to taste was not only wine but good wine. Now, returning to the spiritual lines, let us note who this steward of the feast is. I think the steward is the most blessed Moses, a man of the tribe of Levi, God's faithful steward in all his house, who was set over not only that ancient wedding of the people of Israel, which afterwards deserved to be divorced, but also this one which is celebrated among the Gentiles. For which of us could have learned without Moses the steward that the Lord our God is one God, and not gods? And lest you think that what is said of the one Deity is without qualification, the Trinity is proclaimed by him there, since he says "the Lord God" and "Lord." For he did not say simply, "Hear, Israel, your God is one," but what? "Hear, Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord"; that is to say, God is one in the Trinity; the Divinity and dominion of the Trinity are one, while the true distinction of the subsisting persons remains. So too the two wings of the Seraphim, bearing the image both of the Law and the Prophets and of the Old and New Testaments, give back the hymn of the Trinity to be adored and cry without ceasing: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts"; "Lord," not "Lords"; for the one and the same Divinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit does not admit the plural number. Further, which of us, as I said, could without Moses the steward have known that in the beginning God made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them; and from what man was formed as male, from what also the woman, from whom the whole offspring of the human race is known to have been multiplied? Then what the first blessedness of paradise was, what the beginning of man's guilt was in the offence that provoked God; and what the generations of the just were and what those of the wicked; and why or when the flood and the other things written in the Law of Moses happened; and, to put it briefly, whose soul among us has been counted worthy to be joined to the divine Love and to Christ the heavenly Bridegroom without this steward's preparation? For Moses himself foretold the coming of Christ to the people of Israel, saying: "The Lord our God will raise up a prophet from your brothers like me; hear him in everything that he says to you. And every soul that does not hear that prophet will perish from the people." But when he saw that they fought against Christ, whom he had preached, he betook himself to the Gentiles, and together with the holy apostles reproaches the people of the Jews: "It was necessary that the word of God should first be announced to you; but since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles; for so the Lord has commanded us: I have set you as a light of the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation to the end of the earth." So after the Lord Jesus made wine from water in us, to show, as the Apostle says, the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, and seasoned all the baptized with the taste of the Holy Spirit, turning the water of the letter of the Law into spiritual wisdom through the hearts of believers, then he says to the servants: "Draw now, and take it to the steward of the feast." The apostles draw from the water jars of the baptized Gentiles the spiritual taste and at the same time the grace of the gospel's vigour, the taste in faith, the grace of colour in works (one is perceived, the other seen), and they take it to Moses. For which of the priests who serve Christ does not compare all the wisdom of the New Testament with the Law of Moses, since he hears that the Lord himself both commanded this and sees that he did it? For when he had cleansed a leper by the touch of his power, he at once sent him to the Law, saying: "Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift for your cleansing which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." The steward tasted the mystery of Christ, hidden from the ages, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: "that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and of the same body, and sharers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I," says Paul, "was made a minister." So the Gentiles were made sharers, through each apostle as a minister of the gospel, of God's promise in Christ: that promise, namely, which the apostles themselves first obtained, so that afterwards they might minister to others. For when Christ was living with them for forty days after his resurrection, as the evangelist Luke testifies at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, "he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me," he says; "for John indeed baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days after these." At the end of his Gospel too he records the same Lord speaking thus to the apostles: "Behold," he says, "I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Although, then, Moses the steward does not know that so great a grace had been conferred by the gift of baptism, which the apostles, who were ministers of the word, did not fail to know, yet, marvelling that the taste of the Holy Spirit is in the water jars of the Gentiles, he praises the munificence of the Bridegroom, who has kept such wine for the Gentiles. The Jews, having this wine at the earlier wedding, did not drink it for their health, but became drunk and were wounded by a deadly heaviness, being weaker in mind and not bearing the power of the divine Spirit; but he who is strong in faith, filled with the Holy Spirit, does not become drunk. For this reason the cup of God that inebriates is splendid, because the inebriation of the divine drink makes the minds of those who drink sober. Hence the Apostle says: "Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit." For Stephen too, full of the Holy Spirit, not drunk, saw the heavens opened and Jesus at the right hand of God. For that reason too the most blessed Peter repudiated drunkenness, saying: "For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams." "This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee," that is, in the possession of the Gentiles, "and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him." Nor is it idle that he says "disciples" and not "apostles." For to declare the multitude of believers he used the name of disciples, not of apostles. For all who believe are his disciples; but, as blessed Paul says, "are all apostles?" Let us now strive and pray, beloved, that after this beginning of signs which the Lord Jesus made by giving the Holy Spirit in our hearts, he may accomplish in us the other signs of powers as well. "For 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 healing in the one Spirit; to another the working of power, to another the discerning of spirits, to another prophecy, to another kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of speech. But all these the one and the same Spirit works, dividing to each as he wills." "Having these promises, then, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the flesh, perfecting the sanctification of the spirit in the fear of God." The Apostle proclaimed that the Holy Spirit distributes the gifts of heavenly graces by the choice of his own authority, saying, "All these the one and the same Spirit works, dividing to each as he wills," and not as he is commanded, so that no one, by hostile persuasion, may dare to suspect that in that substance of the Trinity to be adored there is anything subordinate, or less powerful, or contrary to itself; since the will and the power alike of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one in all things, for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:16–17: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 1:22: allusion, high confidence - John 2:3–11: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:21–23: quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:35: allusion, high confidence - John 1:1: allusion, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: allusion, high confidence - John 20:19: allusion, high confidence - John 20:26–27: allusion, high confidence - Luke 24:39: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:4–5: quotation, high confidence - John 7:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:26–27: quotation, high confidence - John 1:11: quotation, high confidence - John 19:15: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:2: quotation, high confidence - Ps 59:6 (58:7 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Isa 10:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 9:27: quotation, high confidence - Hos 1:10: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 11:25: allusion, high confidence - Amos 8:11: allusion, low confidence - Ps 49:12 (48:13 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Exod 1:14: allusion, high confidence - Rom 6:13: allusion, high confidence - 2 Pet 2:22: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:30–32: allusion, high confidence - Eph 4:5: allusion, medium confidence - John 4:13–14: quotation, high confidence - Ps 115:4–8 (113:12-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 1:9: allusion, medium confidence - John 14:19: quotation, high confidence - John 11:25–26: quotation, high confidence - Song 4:10: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:19–20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:30: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:3: allusion, high confidence - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - John 6:44: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:13: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:35: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:12: allusion, high confidence - Acts 2:4: allusion, high confidence - Acts 6:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:7: allusion, high confidence - Heb 3:5: allusion, medium confidence - Deut 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Isa 6:2–3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Deut 18:15: quotation, high confidence - Deut 18:19: quotation, high confidence - Acts 3:22–23: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 13:46–47: quotation, high confidence - Isa 49:6: quotation, high confidence - Rom 9:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:4: quotation, high confidence - Eph 3:5–7: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:26: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 1:3–5: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:49: quotation, high confidence - Ps 23:5 (22:5 Vulg.): allusion, high confidence - Eph 5:18: quotation, high confidence - Acts 7:55–56: allusion, high confidence - Acts 2:15–17: quotation, high confidence - Joel 2:28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:29: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:8–11: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 7:1: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius defends Mary's virginity in giving birth (virginitas in partu) by the analogy of the risen Christ entering through closed doors, and calls her 'the most worthy seat' of God's power; translated exactly. He also reads the mother of the Lord figuratively as the people of the patriarchs and prophets. The passages on the Jews' purifications and conversion at 'the evening of the world' are polemical and are translated as written. - On the 'two or three measures' he rejects the view of 'some of our writers' that some baptized Gentiles receive only the Father and the Son, and reads the measures as faith and hope, or faith, hope and love (martyr-ready love). 'What has once been lost cannot be repeated' refers to baptism, which is not repeated. - Gaudentius cites the Shema (Deut 6:4), the threefold 'Holy' (Isa 6:3), and 1 Cor 12:11 ('as he wills, not as he is commanded') for the Trinity. 'The swine handed over to the legion' is Matt 8:30–32 (the digital text marks Matt 7). 'To wash a brick' (laterem lavare) is a proverb for wasted labour. - Quotations: 1 Cor 3:17, 16; 2 Cor 11:3; 2 Cor 1:22; John 2:3–11; Gen 2:21–23; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; Gen 2:7; John 20:19, 26–27; Luke 24:39; Gal 4:4–5; John 7:39; Matt 1:1; Matt 15:26–27; John 1:11; John 19:15; Isa 1:2; Ps 59:6 (58:7 Vulg.); Isa 10:22 with Rom 9:27; Rom 11:25; Ps 49:12 (48:13 Vulg.); Exod 1:14; Rom 6:13; 2 Pet 2:22; John 4:13–14; Ps 115:4–8 (113:12–16 Vulg.); John 14:19; John 11:25–26; Song 4:10; Matt 28:19–20; Rom 1:1; Matt 4:19; Rom 8:30; 1 Cor 12:3; John 14:6; John 6:44; 1 Cor 13:13; Rom 8:35; Rom 10:12; Acts 6:8; Num 12:7 (Heb 3:5); Deut 6:4; Isa 6:2–3; Gen 1:1; Deut 18:15, 19 (Acts 3:22–23); Acts 13:46–47; Isa 49:6; Rom 9:23; Matt 8:4; Eph 3:5–7; Col 1:26; Acts 1:3–5; Luke 24:49; Ps 23:5 (22:5 Vulg.); Eph 5:18; Acts 7:55; Acts 2:15–17; Joel 2:28; 1 Cor 12:29; 1 Cor 12:8–11; 2 Cor 7:1. - The digital text has many OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 9 (PL 20:898a–912b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/9). ## Tractates 10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/10/#p-10 - Source: PL 20:912b–920b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: On the 'first day' and 'seventh day' of the Passover law: God's rest does not end his working; Christ rested in the tomb on the Sabbath while his soul freed the saints below, made the first day holy by his resurrection, and points to the seventh millennium as the saints' final rest. ### Latin text Explicitis hic quae proposueram disserenda, tam de Exodi quam de Evangelii lectione, congruens aliquid diei Dominico reservavi, quod Deus in postrema parte illius lectionis ubi primum legem paschae annuntiat, scribitur praecepisse. Nam post interminationem quam dixerat: Omnis qui manducaverit fermentatum a primo die usque in septimum diem, disperiet anima illa ex Israel: et adjecit dicens: Et primus dies vocabitur sanctus, et septimus dies vocatus sanctus erit vobis: omne opus servile non facietis, praeterquam quod faciendum erit omni animas. Primum diem saeculi esse Dominicum diem, dies sabbati septimus probat, in quo requievisse perhibetur Deus, dicente Scriptura: Et benedixit Deus diem septimum, et sanctificavit eum, quia in eo requievit ab omnibus operibus suis quae coeperat Deus facere (Gen. ii). Caute loquitur Scriptura divina, non absolute dicens, requievisse Deum ab operibus suis, sed ab operibus quae coeperat Deus facere, ne omnipotentem, et imperio sermonis cuncta facientem, laborasse existimes, cum requievisse audis; sed ut intelligas quod perfectis omnibus hujus mundi rebus, a quibus requievisse, id est cessasse, describitur, alia voluntati suae placita operari non desinat: sicut testatur in Evangelio Dominus Jesus dicens: Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor Requies igitur Dei, non laboris remedium, sed coeptorum finis est operum; siquidem postquam perfecit mundum, opus suum regere non desistit. Ipsius enim nutu omnium rerum natura cursum suum vel jussa peragit, vel prohibita subtrahit. Nam iu diebus sancti Noe (Gen. viii et ix), ipsius providentia pollutum variis iniquitatibus mundum vel cataclysmo delevit, vel post diluvium reparavit. Ipse super quatuor urbes Sodomorum, ubi masculi iu masculos turpitudines exercebant, sulphur et ignem de coelo (Gen. xix) contra morem pluit, ut quos ardor illicitus, ad expugnandum ipsius naturae morem succenderat, igneus imber exstingueret. Ipse genus patriarchicum delegit ex Gentibus, populum scilicet Hebraeorum; pro cujus libertate, AEgypti regnum novem plagis afflictum, decima interemit (Exod. xii, xiii, xiv, xv). Ipse divisit Rubrum mare; quando in murorum firmitatem liquentis elementi unda diriguit, gelaverunt enim, tamquam murus, aquae: gelaverunt fluctus in medio maris, sicut testatur in Exodo (Exod. xv) fides illius Cantici triumphalis. Ipse ergo, inquam, divisit mare Rubrum, quod a Graecis nuncupatur Erythraeum; ut et plebi suae transitum, et persequentibus foveam praepararet. Egressis namque Israelitis per fundamentum maris sicco vestigio, et AEgyptiis omnibus eodem meatu post illos properanter ingressis, confestim proprium liquorem stupentibus aquis, Deus qui abstulerat, reddidit, et armatas acies equitum, ipsumque Pharaonem pariter cum quadrigis curruum, totoque exercitu, undis obruent ibus, enecavit. Aquarum muri, qui credentem populum tuiti fuerant, hostilem manum propria ruina prosternunt. Ipse pluit manna cibum (Exod. xvi) suis cultoribus in eremo, qui ignem pluerat nefando sacrilegio criminosis: ipse pluit manna placidus, qui flammam pluerat indignatus. Sed quoniam singula per ordinem replicare propositus primi, ac septimi dierum tractatus non capit, necessaria brevitate praeteriens, pauca perstringam Ipse disrupit petram, et fluxerunt aquae (Ps. lxxvii) tot millibus hominum sitientibus in deserto (Exod. xvii), prostravit infinitos adversariorum populos, plurima inimicarum gentium regna delevit. Jordanem quoque siccavit fluvium, ut credentem populum in terram repromissionis induceret. Ipse Jordanem siccavit fluvium (Jos. iii, iv), qui arentem petram, fluminis verterat in liquorem: A facie enim Domini mota est terra, a facie Dei Jacob. Qui convertit solidum petram in stagnum aquae, et rupem in fontes aquarum (Ps. cviii). Deinde Legem quam dederat in Sina, constituit in Sion, auxit in Jerusalem; et post offensam dilecti populi, eamdem porrexit ad Gentes. Nam postquam veniens in hominem Dei Filius, per quem haec omnia facta sunt, et sine quo factum est nihil (Joan. i), ab ipsis suis quondam filiis quos protexerat, et exaltaverat, non solum repulsus est, verum etiam crucifixus, clamat utique per Prophetam: Filios genui, et exaltavi, ipsi autem me spreverunt. Agnovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus praesepe domini sui, Israel vero me non cognovit, et populus me non intellexit (Is. i); tamquam si diceret, quoniam cognoverunt olim bruta animalia Gentilium populorum regnatorem coeli, suumque possessorem, ac Dominum, humanorum peccaminum pannis indutum, et In angusto Judaeae prosepio (Luc. ii) collocatum, Israeliticus vero populus liberatorem suum non voluit agnoscere: Auferam, sicut praedictum est, ab Judaea, et ab Jerusalem, validum et validum. Verbum utique incarnatum; virtutem panis, et virtutem aquae, virtutem cibi coelestis, et virtutem aquae regenerantis; et prudentem quinquagenarium, jubilaeum scilicet remissionis annum; et sapientem architectum (Is. iii), Spiritum videlicet sanctum, per quem mihi aedificem Ecclesiam novam ex Gentibus. Ab tulit enim Dominus cuncta salutarium munera dona, vel quae tribuerat, vel quae promiserat Judaeis ingratis; et contulit ad fidem suam prompto servitio ex omni natione conversis. Quando ergo requievit Dominus, qui semper esi operatus, quem ex paucis operibus ejus quae transiens memoravi, certissime certi sumus semper operatum, et quotidie operari perspicimus? Nam quod elementa tam coelestia, quam terrena, humano generi serviunt, ipsius opus est. Quomodo enim hon contemnerent exiguum terrenumque hominem, nisi Creatoris sui imperio obedirent? Nos ipsi etiam quod nascimur, quod haec ipsa opera Domini ex parte novimus, quod vivendo vitam quaerimus, quod futurorum spem gerentes pie conversamur et loquimur; Dei, inquam, Dei sunt opera. Cujus pietatis et hoc ingens opus esi, quod etiam malos atque incredulos patienter sustineat, clementer exspectet, et, si poenituerint, sicut misericors pater amplectatur. Requievit plane tunc etiam Dei Filius ab omnibus operibus suis quae coeperat Deus facere, quando consummatis mirabilibus universis, et impleto sexto die omni opere Passionis, die septima, id est die sabbati, requievit sepultus. Sed quoniam Dei operosa quies est, ipsa requies otiosa esse non potuit. Nam corpore in sepulero seposito, divinitas cum anima hominis ad inferna descendens, vocavit de locis suis animas sanctorum, quorum corpora surrexisse Matthaeus evangelista testatur dicens: Et multa corpora sanctorum dormientium surrexerunt; et exeuntes, inquit, de monumentis post resurrectionem ipsius, intraverunt in sanctam civitatem, et multis apparuerant (Matth. xxvii). Descendisse autem Salvatoris animam ad inferos visitandos, non solum beati Petri Epistola (I Petr. iii), verum etiam beati Davidis prophetia testatur, cum dicit: Quoniam non derelinques animam meam in inferno, nec dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem (Ps. xv). Fillus enim Dei non idcirco tum suscepti hominis anima ad inferos descendit, ut eam in inferno relinqueret, sed ut plurimas resurrecturis sanctorum corporibus animas revocaret. Ob hoc namque is qui in forma Dei semper erat, formam servi suscipiens, suscepit et crucem; ut die tertia resurgendo exceptam triumpharet mortem, quam perpeti omnino vitae Dominum non liceret. Ergo quoniam post Passionem suam Dominus Jesus, illucescente Dominica, a mortuis erat resurrecturus, et primam sanctitatem primo resurrectionis suae diei collaturus; ideo Lex antiqua praenuntiat, el primus dies, inquit, vocabitur sanctus, et dies septimus vocatus sanctus erit vobis Primum diem resurrectionis vocandum perhibet sanctum, septimum jam vocatum futurum dicit sanctum; septimum millesimum scilicet annum, de quo ait Propheta ad Dominum; Quoniam mille anni ante oculos tuos sicut dies unus (Ps. lxxxix). Ita Igitur in primum diem resurrectionis Christi omnis erat transferenda festivitas, ut septimi diei exspectanda nobis esset ct requies simul, et sanctitas; cum dicitur, primus dies vocabitur sanctus, statimqne adjicitur, et dies septimus vocatus sanctus erit vobis. Omne opus servile non facietis, praeterquam quod erit faciendum omni animae (Exod. xii). Quotquot enim primum diem, id est Dominicum diem, nuncupamus sanctum, credentes cum sanctifficatum resurrectione Domini Jesu; exspectamus etiam illum vere sanctum diem, septimi millesimi anni diem, qui adveniet post istos sex dies, sex millium videlicet annorum saeculi, quibus completis requies erit vere sanctis, et fideliter credentibus in resurrectione Christi. Nam nulla erit ibi pugna contra diabolum, qui tunc utique detinebitur suppliciis religatus; nullum certamen contra vitia corporis, quod jam concupiscentiis obnoxium non erit. Nam spiritale resurget corpus, ut Apostolus ait: Quod seminatur in corruptione, surget in incorruptione: quod seminatur in contumelia, surget in gloria; quod seminatur in infirmitate, surget in virtute; quod seminatur corpus animale, surget corpus spiritale (I Cor. xv). Et iterum post pauca idem beatissimus Paulus: Oportet, inquit, corruptibile hoc induere incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induere immortalitatem. Cum autem mortale hoc induent immortalitatem, tunc fiet, inquit, sermo qui scriptus est: Absorpta est mors in victoria. Ubi est, mors, victoria tua? ubi est, mori, aculeus tuus? Et quis iste sit mortis aculeus, ipsius beati Apostoli cohaerens aperit sermo: Aculeus autem mortis peccatum: virtus autem peccati lex est. Aculens quidem mortis peccatum, charissimi, quia per peccatum mors: virtus vero peccati Lex, quoniam sine Lege peccatum mortuum est. Peccatum enim non imputatur Cum Lex non est. Nam neque Adam fuisset mortuus, quod de fructu illius arboris manducavit, nisi contra vetitum manducasset, legem mandati contemnens: neque hodie aliquis reatum peccati incurrit, si eum non adstringat aut naturalis lex, aut mandati lex, aut litterae Lex. Naturalis lex est illa qua Gentes Legem litterae non habentes, naturaliter ea quae Legis sunt (Rom. ii), faciunt; quia rationabilis animae humanae natura, ut Creatorem suum sentiat, ut proximum non laedat, ut non faciat quod pati non vult, naturali quadam lege intelligit: unde inexcusabilis est omnis homo qui vel auctorem suum negat; vel facit malum quod per legem naturae non ignorat esse malum. Iterum lex mandati est: Ab omni fructu tigni quod est in paradiso ad escam, edes: ab isto autem non edas ( Gen. ii); et quaecumque ante Moysen verbo tantum Dominus praecepisse cognoscitur. Lex litterae est: Non occides, non maechaberis, non falsum testimonium dices ( Exod. xx), et caetera quae transacto jam dimidio numero annorum saeculi, ideo per Legem litterae prohibentur, ut negligenti homini vel naturalem legem, vel mandati legem, scriptum Legis commonitorium traderetur, et haberet oblivio paedagogum, dissimulatio compulsorem; dicente Apostolo: Quoniam Lex paedagogus noster fuit in Christo (Galat. iii). Lex autem sive naturae, sive mandati, sive litterae, tunc dominatur homini, quando aetas ejus capax esse coeperit Legis. Et hinc est illud quod apostolus Paulus ex Judaeis parentibus natus, Hebraeus quippe ex Hebraeis, ait: Ego autem vivebam sine Lege aliquando, ut ostenderet solam infantiae aetatem sine Lege vivere, quae nondum capiat Legem; sed mox ubi venit Lex inquit, peccatum revixit: ego autem mortuus sum (Rom. vii); hoc est dixisse, peccatum, quod erat ignoranti mortuum, vivere intelligenti coepit: et ego qui vivebam prius sine Lege, factus sum morti obnoxius, nisi declinavero peccatum, quod jam mihi intelligenti mortem generat: et incipit mandatum quod mihi nd vitam datum est, hoc osse ad mortem. Ille ergo septimus millesimus annus (ut ad propositum caput redeam) ipse erit vere beatissimus dies, quando agonis hujus quem nunc patimur, desinente conflictu, optatam victores requiem capient, ac felici otio perfruentur, nullum servile opus ibi, Id est nullum peccati opus facientes; quia qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati, ut ait Salvator (Joan. viii); sed hoc plane solum facient quod faciendum erit omni animae sanctoe, scilicet ut copulati agminibus Angelorum, perpetuos hymnos et gratiarum actiones Domino nostro referant in aeternum. Sane juxta historiae rationem, praeceptum Judaeis fuerat, ut diebus sabbati ab omni opere peccati quiescerent, et ea solum quae animae congruebant, exercerent: sed quoniam, hac salutari observatione neglecta, omnem sabbati legem ad otium, luxuriamque contulerant, palam est, unde odisse se Deus (Is. ) jam non sua, sed illorum sabbata contestatur. In evangelicis lectionibus fraternitati vestrae frequenter exposui, ubi Salvatorem sabbatum violasse, Judaei vecordes incusant, quem nos implevisse magis legem sabbati, ipsorum operum quae sabbatis celebravit, evidenti probatione docuimus, non aliunde instructi, nisi ex ipsa Lege, quam pariter legimus cum Judaeis. Scriptum est enim: Una Lex erit indigenae, et advenae. Indigenae procul dubio Judaei erant, patriarcharum cives, et Prophetarum: advenae autem, qui graeco sermone appellantur προσήλυτοι; nos utique eramus Gentes, ut ait Apostolus, peregrini, atque hospites Testamentorum, et promissionis eorum, spem non habentes, et sine Deo in hoc mundo (Ephes. ii). Sed postquam credidimus, dicit nobis idem beatus Paulus: Jam non estis hospites, et advenae, sed estis cives sanctorum, et domestici Dei (Ibid.). Una ergo nobis cum Judaeis est Lex; sed illi eam carnali sensu excipiunt, nihil ibi spiritalis intelligentiae requirentes; nos vero in ea Christum reperimus, in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapieniite et scientias coelestis absconditi (Coloss. ii). Denique in hac etiam lectione Exodi quae ordinem celebrandae paschae disponit, verum Dei Agnum cum omnibus mysteriis vitae nostrae invenimus, ipsum cognoscentes Deum verum, et hominem. Dominum gregis, et ovem, pastorem simul, et pascua. Misericors enim, et miserator Dominus semetipsum dedit escam timentibus (Ps. cx). Nam totius observantiae veteris Legem, per gratiam Filii Dei, in veritate novi Testamenti cognovimus esse completam, probantes, quomodo paschae lex, quae per Moysen fuerat data, e gratia, et veritas per Jesum Christum facta est (Joan. i); cui omni honor, virtus, et gloria cum Patre, et cum Spiritu sancto, per omnia secula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Having set out here what I had proposed to discuss, both from the reading of Exodus and from that of the Gospel, I have kept back for the Lord's day something fitting, which God is written to have commanded in the last part of that reading where he first proclaims the law of the Passover. For after the threat he had spoken, "Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day to the seventh day, that soul shall perish from Israel," he added, saying: "And the first day shall be called holy, and the seventh day, called holy, shall be yours; you shall do no servile work, except what must be done for every soul." That the Lord's day is the first day of the world is proved by the Sabbath, the seventh day, on which God is declared to have rested, as Scripture says: "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it he rested from all his works which God had begun to make." The divine Scripture speaks carefully, not saying without qualification that God rested from his works, but "from the works which God had begun to make," so that you should not, when you hear that he rested, think that the Almighty, who makes all things by the command of his word, had laboured; but that you may understand that, having completed all the things of this world, from which he is described as having rested, that is, ceased, he does not cease to work other things pleasing to his will; as the Lord Jesus testifies in the Gospel, saying: "My Father works until now, and I work." God's rest, then, is not a remedy for labour but the end of the works he had begun; for after he completed the world he does not cease to govern his work. For by his nod the nature of all things either completes its course when commanded or withdraws when forbidden. For in the days of holy Noah his providence either destroyed by the cataclysm a world defiled by various iniquities, or restored it after the flood. He rained sulphur and fire from heaven, against the usual course, on the four cities of Sodom, where males practised shameful things with males, so that the fiery shower might extinguish those whom an unlawful passion had kindled to assault the very custom of nature. He chose a patriarchal race from the nations, namely the people of the Hebrews; for whose freedom he afflicted the kingdom of Egypt with nine plagues and destroyed it with the tenth. He divided the Red Sea, when the wave of the liquid element stiffened into the firmness of walls; for "the waters congealed like a wall; the waves congealed in the midst of the sea," as the faithful witness of that triumphal song in Exodus testifies. He, I say, divided the Red Sea, which the Greeks call the Erythraean, so as to prepare both a passage for his people and a pit for their pursuers. For when the Israelites had gone out with dry foot over the bed of the sea, and all the Egyptians had hastily entered by the same path after them, God, who had taken away from the astonished waters their proper liquidity, at once gave it back, and slew the armed lines of cavalry and Pharaoh himself, together with his four-horsed chariots and his whole army, as the waves overwhelmed them. The walls of water which had protected the believing people laid low the hostile band by their own collapse. He rained manna as food for his worshippers in the desert, he who had rained fire on those guilty of unspeakable sacrilege; the same who had rained flame in his indignation rained manna in his kindness. But since the discourse on the first and the seventh day does not allow me to go through each thing in order, I shall pass over them with necessary brevity and touch on a few. He split the rock and the waters flowed for so many thousands of men thirsting in the desert; he laid low countless peoples of his adversaries; he destroyed very many kingdoms of hostile nations. He also dried up the river Jordan, to lead the believing people into the land of promise. He dried up the river Jordan who had turned the dry rock into the liquid of a stream: "For at the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the solid rock into a pool of water, and the cliff into springs of water." Then the Law which he had given on Sinai he established in Zion, enlarged in Jerusalem, and, after the offence of the beloved people, extended the same to the Gentiles. For after the Son of God, through whom all these things were made and without whom nothing was made, came in human form and was not only rejected but even crucified by those who were once his own sons, whom he had protected and raised up, he cries out through the prophet: "I have begotten sons and raised them up, but they have despised me. The ox has known its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel has not known me, and the people has not understood me": as if he said that the brute animals of the Gentile peoples once recognized the ruler of heaven, their owner and Lord, clothed in the rags of human sins and laid in the narrow manger of Judea, but the Israelite people would not recognize its deliverer. "I will take away," as was foretold, "from Judea and from Jerusalem the strong man and the strong woman": the Word incarnate, that is; "the strength of bread and the strength of water," the strength of the heavenly food and the strength of the regenerating water; "and the prudent captain of fifty," namely the jubilee year of remission; "and the wise architect," that is, the Holy Spirit, through whom I may build myself a new church from the Gentiles. For the Lord took away all the gifts of salvation, both those he had given and those he had promised to the ungrateful Jews, and bestowed them on those who were converted from every nation to his faith with ready service. When, then, did the Lord rest, who has always been at work, whom we are most certainly sure, from the few of his works that I have mentioned in passing, to have always worked, and whom we see working every day? For that the elements, both heavenly and earthly, serve the human race is his work. For how would they not despise small, earthly man, unless they obeyed the command of their Creator? That we ourselves are born, that we know in part these very works of the Lord, that by living we seek life, that bearing the hope of things to come we live and speak devoutly: these are works of God, I say, of God. And this too is a great work of his kindness, that he patiently bears even the wicked and unbelieving, waits for them mercifully, and, if they repent, embraces them like a merciful father. The Son of God too rested then, plainly, from all his works which God had begun to make, when, all his wonders having been completed and the whole work of the passion fulfilled on the sixth day, on the seventh day, that is, the Sabbath, he rested in the tomb. But since God's rest is active, that rest itself could not be idle. For while his body was laid aside in the tomb, his divinity, descending with the human soul to the underworld, called from their places the souls of the saints, whose bodies the evangelist Matthew testifies rose, saying: "And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose; and coming out of the tombs," he says, "after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many." That the Saviour's soul went down to visit the underworld is testified not only by the Epistle of blessed Peter but also by the prophecy of blessed David, when he says: "For you will not leave my soul in hell, nor give your holy one to see corruption." For the Son of God did not then go down to the underworld with the soul of the man he had assumed in order to leave it in the underworld, but to call back very many souls to the bodies of the saints that were to rise. For this reason he who was always in the form of God, taking the form of a servant, took also the cross, so that by rising on the third day he might triumph over the death he had undergone, which the Lord of life could by no means be allowed to suffer to the end. Since, then, after his passion the Lord Jesus was to rise from the dead as the Lord's day dawned, and to confer the first holiness on the first day of his resurrection, therefore the old Law foretells: "And the first day," he says, "shall be called holy, and the seventh day, called holy, shall be yours." It declares that the first day, of the resurrection, is to be called holy; it says that the seventh, already called holy, will be holy in the future: namely the seventh millennium, of which the prophet says to the Lord, "For a thousand years in your eyes are as one day." So the whole festivity was to be transferred to the first day of Christ's resurrection, in such a way that the rest and at the same time the holiness of the seventh day should be awaited by us; since it is said, "The first day shall be called holy," and at once it is added, "and the seventh day, called holy, shall be yours. You shall do no servile work, except what must be done for every soul." For all of us who call the first day, that is, the Lord's day, holy, believing it sanctified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, also await that truly holy day, the day of the seventh millennium, which will come after these six days, the six thousand years of the world, that is; when these are completed, there will be rest for those who are truly holy and who believe faithfully in the resurrection of Christ. For there will be no fight there against the devil, who will then be held bound in punishments; no struggle against the vices of the body, which will no longer be subject to desires. For the body will rise spiritual, as the Apostle says: "What is sown in corruption will rise in incorruption; what is sown in dishonour will rise in glory; what is sown in weakness will rise in power; what is sown an animal body will rise a spiritual body." And again, shortly after, the same most blessed Paul: "This corruptible," he says, "must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality. And when this mortal puts on immortality, then will come to pass," he says, "the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" And what this sting of death is, the connected words of the same blessed Apostle reveal: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law." The sting of death is sin, beloved, because through sin came death; and the power of sin is the Law, since without the Law sin is dead. For sin is not imputed when there is no law. For neither would Adam have died because he ate of the fruit of that tree had he not eaten against the prohibition, despising the law of the commandment; nor does anyone today incur the guilt of sin unless either the natural law, or the law of commandment, or the law of the letter binds him. The natural law is that by which the Gentiles, who do not have the Law of the letter, do by nature the things of the Law; because the rational nature of the human soul understands by a certain natural law that it should perceive its Creator, should not harm its neighbour, should not do what it does not wish to suffer. Hence every man is inexcusable who either denies his author or does an evil which by the law of nature he is not ignorant to be evil. Again, the law of commandment is: "Of every fruit of the trees that is in paradise you shall eat for food; but of this one you shall not eat," and whatever the Lord is known to have commanded by word only before Moses. The law of the letter is: "You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not bear false witness," and the rest, which, when half the number of the years of the world had already passed, were forbidden by the Law of the letter so that a written reminder, the Law, might be given to negligent man of either the natural law or the law of commandment, and forgetfulness might have a tutor and pretence a constrainer; as the Apostle says: "For the Law was our tutor in Christ." The law, whether of nature, of commandment, or of the letter, rules over a man when his age has begun to be capable of law. And hence it is that the apostle Paul, born of Jewish parents, a Hebrew of Hebrews, says: "I was once alive without the Law," to show that only the age of infancy, which does not yet grasp the law, lives without the law; "but when the Law came," he says, "sin revived, and I died": that is to say, sin, which was dead to me while I did not know, began to live once I understood; and I, who lived before without the Law, became liable to death unless I turn aside from sin, which now, since I understand, brings forth death for me; and the commandment that was given me for life begins to be for death. That seventh millennium, then (to return to the proposed chapter), will itself be the truly most blessed day, when, the struggle of this contest that we now endure having ceased, the victors will take their longed-for rest and enjoy a happy leisure, doing there no servile work, that is, no work of sin; for "whoever commits sin is the servant of sin," as the Saviour says; but they will plainly do only what will have to be done by every holy soul: namely, joined to the hosts of angels, to render to our Lord perpetual hymns and thanksgivings for ever. According to the historical sense, indeed, the Jews had been commanded to rest on the Sabbath days from every work of sin and to do only what was fitting for the soul; but since, neglecting this saving observance, they had turned the whole law of the Sabbath to idleness and luxury, it is clear why God declares that he hates no longer his own Sabbaths but theirs. I have often explained to your brotherhood, in the Gospel readings where the senseless Jews accuse the Saviour of having violated the Sabbath, that he rather fulfilled the law of the Sabbath, as we taught with evident proof from the works he performed on the Sabbath, instructed from nowhere else than from the Law itself, which we read together with the Jews. For it is written: "There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger." The natives were doubtless the Jews, fellow citizens of the patriarchs and prophets; the strangers, called in the Greek tongue προσήλυτοι (proselytes), were surely we Gentiles, "foreigners," as the Apostle says, "and strangers to the covenants and their promise, having no hope and without God in this world." But after we believed, the same blessed Paul says to us: "You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of God's household." So there is one Law for us with the Jews; but they receive it in a fleshly sense, seeking nothing of spiritual understanding in it, while we find Christ in it, "in whom are hidden all the treasures" of heavenly "wisdom and knowledge." Finally, in this reading of Exodus too, which lays out the order for celebrating the Passover, we find the true Lamb of God with all the mysteries of our life, recognizing him as true God and man, Lord of the flock and the sheep, the shepherd and at the same time the pasture. For "the merciful and compassionate Lord has given" himself as "food to those who fear him." For we have known that the Law of the whole old observance has been fulfilled, through the grace of the Son of God, in the truth of the New Testament, proving how the law of the Passover was given through Moses, and grace and truth came through Jesus Christ; to whom be all honour, power and glory, with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Exod 12:15–16: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:2–3: quotation, high confidence - John 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 7:17–23: allusion, high confidence - Gen 19:24: allusion, high confidence - Rom 1:26–27: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 15:8: quotation, high confidence - Exod 14:21–28: allusion, high confidence - Exod 16:4: allusion, high confidence - Exod 17:6: allusion, high confidence - Ps 78:15–16 (77:15-Ps Vulg.): allusion, high confidence - Josh 3:16–17: allusion, high confidence - Ps 114:7–8 (113:7-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Isa 2:3: allusion, low confidence - John 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:2–3: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:7: allusion, high confidence - Isa 3:1–3: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:52–53: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 3:19: allusion, high confidence - Ps 16:10 (15:10 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:6–8: allusion, high confidence - Ps 90:4 (89:4 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Rev 20:2: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:42–44: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:53–56: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:12–13: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:8: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:20: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 7:12: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 2:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:13–16: quotation, high confidence - Gal 3:24: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:5: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:9–10: quotation, high confidence - John 8:34: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:13–14: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:49: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:19: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:3: quotation, high confidence - Ps 111:4–5 (110:4-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - John 1:17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius holds that the world will last six thousand years, followed by a seventh millennium of rest for the saints (Ps 90:4); this chiliastic reckoning, and his teaching that Christ's soul descended to the underworld, are translated as he gives them. He distinguishes three laws: the natural law, the 'law of commandment' (given by word before Moses), and the 'law of the letter' (the written Law). - The polemical statements about the Jews (Isa 1:2–3; 3:1–3 applied to them; their Sabbaths 'hated', Isa 1:13–14) are translated as written. The interpretation of Isa 3:1–3 (strong man and strong woman, bread and water, captain of fifty, wise architect) is his own allegory. - Quotations: Exod 12:15–16; Gen 2:2–3; John 5:17; Gen 6–9; Gen 19:24; Exod 15:8; Exod 14:21–28; Exod 16:4; Exod 17:6 (Ps 78:15–16); Josh 3:16–17; Ps 114:7–8 (113:7–8 Vulg.); John 1:3; Isa 1:2–3; Luke 2:7; Isa 3:1–3; Matt 27:52–53; 1 Pet 3:19; Ps 16:10 (15:10 Vulg.); Phil 2:6–7; Ps 90:4 (89:4 Vulg.); Rev 20:2; 1 Cor 15:42–44, 53–56; Rom 5:12–13; Rom 7:8–10; Rom 2:14; Gen 2:16–17; Exod 20:13–16; Gal 3:24; Phil 3:5; John 8:34; Exod 12:49; Eph 2:12, 19; Col 2:3; Ps 111:4–5 (110:4–5 Vulg.); John 1:17. Gaudentius gives 'Ab omni fructu tigni' (Gen 2:16) in an Old Latin form. - The digital text has many OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 10 (PL 20:912b–920b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/10). ## Tractates 11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/10/#p-11 - Source: PL 20:920b–927c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: On John 7:21 ('I have done one work'): healing the paralytic on the Sabbath fulfilled the Law, which permits work 'done for every soul' as circumcision does; 'judge a just judgment' forbids flattering the rich, admiring outward beauty, and judging Christ only as a man. ### Latin text Memini, me superiore tractatu sanctae dilectioni vestrae pollicitum, quod, adjuvante Domino, plenius explanaturus essem, quam ob causam unum se opus fecisse Dominus testaretur: unde plebs ignavissima Judaeorum scrupulum passa (Joan. vii), et iniquissimo furore succensa, benedictionis datorem maledictis blasphemis pulsavisset, dicens: Daemonium habes: quis te quaerit interficere (Ibid)? et insuper vitae Dominum, necis tradere supplicio cogitaret. Probavimus quidem istius Evangelistas testimonio, non unum, sed multa, et innumerabilia a Christo fuisse opera celebrata. Sic enim in fine libri conscribit: Sunt autem el alia multa quae fecit Jesus, quae si scribantur per singula, arbitror nec ipsum mundum capere eos libros c qui scriberentur, posse (Joan. xxi). Sed fortasse dicat studiosus auditor: In primis partibus Evangelii loquitur Dominus, Unum opus feci, et omnes miramini (Joan. vii): in subsequentibus ille virtutum cumulus celebratur, et idcirco nihil quaestionis super hoc videtur esse relictum. Verum ego ab isto sermone superiora libri hujus dicta recensens, invenio plurima usque in hunc locum Evangelii Christum Deum nostrum miranda opera confecisse. Jam Nathanaelem viderat, priusquam sub ficulnea constitutus a Philippo vocaretur: jam liquorem simplicissimum perlucentis aquae in colorem saporemque vini, sua potestate converterat: jam reguli filium morientem coelestis medicus, priusquam visitaret, dum rogaretur, verbo sanaverat. Jam Samaritanae illius mulieris vitia occulta prodiderat, et confessam spirituali fonte mundaverat (Joan. i, ii, iv): jam paralytici membra per triginta et octo annos emortua, unius vocis praecepto curaverat (Joan. v), vel potius reformaverat. Jam quinque millium hominum famem quinque panibus hordeaceis, et duobus piscibus, satiaverat (Joan. vi), majore miraculo convivium solvens. Amplior enim cibi appositi quantitate reliquiarum cumulus invenitur, tot populorum famelicis cohortibus satiatis. Jam mare pedibus ambulaverat, ita ut plantas gradientis tumens unda non tangeret. Sed in catalogo isto virtutum, adhuc unum fecerat opus, quo frementi contra se imperito populo Judaeorum, quasi verisimilem saeviendi aditum dedisse videbatur, quod scilicet paralyticum curasset in sabbato, cum Lex otium sabbati imperasset. Itaque Christus, qui Legem veterem non solvere venerat, sed implere (Matth. v), tamquam violati sabbati reus, insectationem perpetitur Judaeorum. Cogor hoc loco, fratres charissimi, omissa praesenti lectionis serie, rationem sabbati explanare, ne justa credatur fuisse contra justum persecutio iniquorum. Nam paralyticus ille qui die sabbati a Christo curatus esse memoratur, ideo calumniam patitur a Judaeis, quod ipsa die qua sanatus fuerat, lectum suum portare videretur. Sabbatum est, inquiunt, et non licet tibi portare grabatum tuum. Respondit curatus: Qui fecit me sanum, ille mihi dixit: Tolle grabatum tuum, et ambula. Et in subseq nentibus: Jesus inquit, qui fecit me sanum. Rudis ad huc ex infirmitate Judaica, sed jam gratus de salubritate recepta, quoniam non praevalet calumniantibus facti praestare rationem, praecepti atque operis demonstrat auctorem. Qui fecit me sanum, ille mihi dixit: Tolle grabatum tuum, et ambula; et adjecit: Jesus est, inquit, qui fecit me sanum (Ibid): vel, filius David est, qui fecit me sanum: vel, filius Joseph, qui fecit me sanum. Haec enim nomina usitata erant in populo Judaeorum tunc temporis de Christo Domino Salvatore. Sed quid? Jesus est ait, qui fecit me sanum; sciebat enim, utpote Hebraeus, nomen Jesu ex virtute descendere sanitatis. Salvator siquidem dicitur Jesus, sicut declarat Angelus, cum per somnium de Christo loquitur ud Joseph: Vocabis, inquit, nomen ejus Jesum: ipse enim salvum faciet populum suum a peccatis eorum (Matth. i). Ille ergo, inquit, me fecit sanum cujus et nomen salus est. Et quomodo poterit salus praescripta lege prohiberi ne salvet, aut sabbatorum conditione immutari ne salus sit? Videamus tamen, fratres charissimi, si vel ipsa Lex, otio sabbati salutis opus exclusit. Sex, inquit, diebus facies opera tua, septimo autem die sabbatum est Domini Dei tui (Exod. xx). Non facies in eo ullum opus tuum nisi quod fit pro omni anima. Proclivum est ex voluntate humanum genus, et maxime Judaeorum, ad carnalia opera, potius quam divina; et idcirco constitutus est unus in hebdomade sabbati dies, in quo a carnalibus cessare cogerentur, et vacare solum divinis. Nam neque cibum coquere, neque iter facere in sabbato concedebatur, ne quis, sub praetextu necessitatis, humanae, praeponeret terrena divinis. Verum posteaquam Judici, neglectis spiritualibus negotiis, quae pro animae salute Dominus agenda praeceperat, omnia legitima sabbati ad otium, luxuriamque contulerant, clamat ad cos continuo Dominus per Prophetam: Neomenias vestras, et sabbata vestra, et diem magnum non sustineo: jejunium, et ferias vestras, et dies festos vestros odit anima mea (Isai. i). Sabbata, inquit, vestra, non mea; non enim sunt mea quae geritis. Meum jejunium, et mea sabbata, qua; ego servanda praecepi, jejunare jubent a vitiis, cessare ab operibus malis, et bonis actionibus inhaerere. At contrario vestra sabbata, vestraque jejunia, et litibus inquieta sunt, et illecebris, et luxuriis plena. Ipse ergo Legis dator in homine veniens, cum operaretur pro omni anima opera salutis (in sabbato enim docebat quod provida ratione praeceperat), nec destruebat Legem, sed potius adimplebat Legem: scriptum est enim. Non facies ullum opus tuum in sabbato: tuum, inquit, opus, id est humanum (Exod. xx). Et adjicitur, nisi quod fit pro omni anima, id est ad salvandam animam. Ideoque legimus priores justos in Lege, pro salute animarum sabbatis operatos. Septem diebus Jesus filius Nave, jubente Domino, circuivit civitatem Jerichon, cum Levitis, et sacerdotibus Arcam portantibus Testamenti; et cadunt hostiles muri nutu divino, ut animae Judaeorum de belli discrimine liberentur (Jos. vi). In septem vero diebus etiam sabbatum numerari, a quolibet die computare incipiens, deprehendes. Itaque cum dicitur, Jesus est qui fecit me sanum (Joan. v), admonentur Judaei ex nominis communione, opera non condemnare similia. Ideoque Christus Dominus, cum aut aridam manum, aut hydropem, aut paralysim curaret in sabbatis, tamquam vere Dominus sabbati, rem suam Legis suae testimoniis tuebatur, dicens ad Judaeos: Licet sabbatis benefacere animali; animam salvam facere, an perdere (Matth. xii)? In hunc sensum Legis, ut arbitror, quem supra exposuimus, eos introducere volens; simulque exprobrans quod non intelligent quid esset opus suum, et, nisi quod fit pro omni anima (Exod. xx). Operatur ergo pro salute animae Christus in sabbato; et operatur in sabbato, et impiet Legem, dum conditionem interpretatur Legis, dum operum differentias illuminat, dum facit, quae Lex de sabbati feriis excepit, dum ipsum sabbati diem benedictione sua sancti(??) catum, beneficiis suis efficit sanctiorem. Nam divina in eo praesidia omni animae credenti largitus, opera debita sabbato reddidit. Ut autem ostenderet Judaeis, eumdem se semper operatum fuisse cum Patre, qui tunc etiam operaretur in carne, ait illis: Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor. Et propterea inique magis persequebantur cum Judaei, quia non solum solvebat sabbatum, sed quia ei Patrem suum dicebat Deum c, aequalem se faciens Deo. Evidenter docuit beatus Evangelista, aequalem Deo Patri esse eum qui verus Filius ejus sit proprietate naturae. Licet ergo veterum documenta praecesserint, nihil tamen hujusmodi assertionis Dominus gestivit opponere: ne, quoniam rara sunt et antiqua; vel incerta apud quosdam, vel fortuita crederentur: sed quotidianis, et usitatis exemplis eos repercutere magis voluit, unde se justissime vel refutatos negare omnino non possent. Unum opus feci, inquit, et omnes miramini. Quod Illud opus? quia paralyticum curavi in sabbato. Et adjecit: Propterea Moyses dedit vobis circumcisionem, non quia ex Moyse, Inquit, circumcisio, sed ex Patribus: Id est ex Abraham, qui primus circumcisus est (Gen. xvii), et ex caeteris Patriarchis. Et in sabbato, inquit, circumciditis hominem. Si circumcisionem, inquit, accipit homo die sabbati, ut non solvatur lex Moysi, mihi indignamini quia totum hominem sanum feci in sabbato? Nolite judicare secundum faciem, sed justum judicium judicate; tamquam si diceret: Praecepit Lex hoc solum quod pio anima est, opus faciendum in sabbato. Et dc circumcisione eadem Lego praecipitur, quod quicumque non circum ciderit octava die nativitatis omne masculum, eradicabitur anima illa de populo suo. Ergo pro anima est quod sabbatis circumciditis hominem: pro anima est itidem quod et ego hominem totum sanavi in sabbato; licet ergo pro anima opus fieri in sabbato bonum. Quod si me in isto opere violasse sabbatum judicatis vosmetipsos indesinenter violati sabbati reos esse decernitis. Nolite judicare secundum faciem sed justum judicium judicate. Tam rationabili patientia vincit inimicos Dominus noster Jesus, qui utique in hunc mundum, ut patiendo vinceret, a Patre descenderat. Sed consideremus breviter postremi hujus dicti virtutem. Nolite, ait, secundum faciem judicare, sed justum judicium judicate. Generalis, ut opinor, ista sententia est, retinendae aequitatis magistra, omnibus posita, multis nola, paucis dilecta. Praecipitur enim ne hujus saeculi divitum personis adulantes, iniquissimo judicio faveamus incredulis; et impios, crudeles, rapaces, luxuriosos, inhonestos, non solum timido silentio nutriamus: verum eliam omni reprehensione dignos, injustis laudibus praedicemus, vel, quod est omni foeditate deformius, turpia lucra captantes, alienae pecuniae notabiliter serviamus, Christianae libertatis obliti: neve carnalis cujusquam formae pulchritudine illecti, a regione veritatis, rectaeque sententiae, sinistro judicio moveamur, cum de contemnendis opibus scriptum sit: Divitae si affluant, nolite cor apponere (Psal. lxi); et de negligendo carnis decore, Deus ad Samuelem sacerdotem loquatur, electurum regem de filiis Jesse: Ne admiratus fueris, inquit, proceritatem staturae, vel pulchritudinem vultus eorum, quoniam homo videt in faciem, Deus autem videt in cor (I Reg. xvi). Et idcirco beatus David minimus, atque contemptus, oleo sanctificato sublimatur in regnum, et se ex humilitate per Dei gratiam ad summum crevisse fastigium dignitatis, peculiari carmine gloriatur, dicens: Pusillus eram inter fratres meos, et caetera. Utiliter ergo per omnia Christus ait: Nolite judicare secundum faciem, sed justum judicium judicate. Et quis nostrum, charissimi, ad singula quae praedixi servanda idoneus invenitur? Beati qui custodiunt judicium, el faciunt justitiam in omni tempore. Igitur cum generalis, ut supra dixi, sit ista sententia, specialiter tamen dirigitur ad Judaeos, qui Christum mirabilia facientem, hominem solummodo ex facie judicabant, Deum vero in virtutibus non videntes. Haereticos etiam Dei Filium blasphemantes, non mediocriter sententia ista contundit, quod humilitatem susceptos carnis intuiti, immensae divinitatis conentur metiri substantiam. Nos autem, fratres, gratia ejus salvati per fidem, justum judicium judicemus, aequitatem servantes in omni actione conversationis nostroe. Est enim rationabilis animae justum judicium, ut eligat Deo magis servire, quam saeculo; ut statuat mandatis Christi obsequi, non diaboli consiliis depravari; ut spiritualibus inhaerere d decernat studiis, non carnalibus vitiis implicari; el ut aeternam beatitudinem futurorum, brevissimis mundi voluptatibus judicet praeponendam. Recti itaque cordis aequo judicio gradiamur in omnibus praeceptis, et justificationibus Domini, ut possimus vitae aeternae consortium promereri ab ipso Dei Filio simpiterno, cujus omnipotentia cum Patre, et Spiritu sancto, permanet in omnia secula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) I remember that in the previous discourse I promised your holy love that, with the Lord's help, I would explain more fully why the Lord declared that he had done one work, at which the most sluggish people of the Jews took offence and, inflamed with a most wicked fury, assailed the giver of blessing with blasphemous curses, saying, "You have a demon; who is seeking to kill you?", and moreover planned to hand over the Lord of life to the punishment of death. We proved, indeed, by the testimony of this evangelist, that not one but many, innumerable works were performed by Christ. For so he writes at the end of the book: "There are also many other things that Jesus did; if they were written one by one, I think the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." But perhaps an attentive hearer may say: "In the first parts of the Gospel the Lord says, 'I have done one work, and you all marvel'; in the later parts that heap of mighty works is celebrated; and so no question seems to be left about this." But I, going back over the earlier words of this book from this saying, find that up to this place in the Gospel Christ our God had performed very many wonderful works. He had already seen Nathanael before he was called by Philip while placed under the fig tree; he had already by his power turned the simplest liquid of clear water into the colour and taste of wine; he had already, as a heavenly physician, healed by a word the dying son of the official, while he was being asked, before he visited him. He had already revealed the hidden vices of that Samaritan woman and cleansed her, when she confessed, at the spiritual fountain; he had already cured, or rather re-formed, by the command of a single word, the limbs of the paralytic, dead for thirty-eight years. He had already satisfied the hunger of five thousand men with five barley loaves and two fish, ending the banquet with a greater miracle; for a heap of leftovers was found larger than the quantity of food set out, when the hungry companies of so many people had been satisfied. He had already walked on the sea with his feet, so that the swelling wave did not touch the soles of his steps. But in this catalogue of mighty works he had so far done one work by which he seemed to have given the ignorant people of the Jews, raging against him, a plausible opening for their fury: namely, that he had cured a paralytic on the Sabbath, when the Law had commanded rest on the Sabbath. And so Christ, who had come not to destroy the old Law but to fulfil it, suffers the persecution of the Jews as though guilty of violating the Sabbath. I am compelled at this point, dearest brothers, leaving the present sequence of the reading, to explain the meaning of the Sabbath, lest the persecution of the wicked against the Just One be thought to have been just. For that paralytic who is recorded to have been cured by Christ on the Sabbath day suffers the false accusation of the Jews because on the very day on which he had been healed he was seen carrying his bed. "It is the Sabbath," they say, "and it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet." The cured man answered: "He who made me well said to me: Take up your pallet and walk." And in what follows: "It is Jesus," he says, "who made me well." Still unformed by his Jewish infirmity, but already grateful for the health he had received, since he is not able to give the false accusers a reason for the deed, he points out the author of the command and of the work. "He who made me well said to me: Take up your pallet and walk"; and he added: "It is Jesus," he says, "who made me well"; not "It is the son of David who made me well," or "the son of Joseph who made me well." For these names were then commonly used among the people of the Jews of Christ the Lord and Saviour. But what? "It is Jesus," he says, "who made me well"; for, being a Hebrew, he knew that the name of Jesus comes from the power of health. For Jesus means "Saviour," as the angel declares when he speaks of Christ to Joseph in a dream: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." "He, then," he says, "made me well, whose very name is salvation." And how could salvation be prevented by a prescribed law from saving, or be changed by the condition of the Sabbaths so as not to be salvation? Let us see, however, dearest brothers, whether the Law itself excluded the work of salvation from the rest of the Sabbath. "Six days," he says, "you shall do your works; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work of yours on it, except what is done for every soul." The human race is inclined by its will, and above all the Jews, to carnal works rather than divine; and therefore one day of the week was appointed, the Sabbath, on which they would be compelled to cease from carnal things and be free for divine things alone. For it was not permitted on the Sabbath either to cook food or to make a journey, lest anyone, under the pretext of human necessity, should put earthly things before divine. But after the Jews, neglecting the spiritual business which the Lord had commanded to be done for the salvation of the soul, had turned all the lawful observances of the Sabbath to idleness and luxury, the Lord at once cries out to them through the prophet: "Your new moons and your Sabbaths and the great day I cannot bear; your fast and your holidays and your feast days my soul hates." "Your Sabbaths," he says, not "mine"; for what you do is not mine. My fast and my Sabbaths, which I commanded to be kept, order you to fast from vices, to cease from evil works, and to cleave to good actions. But on the contrary your Sabbaths and your fasts are restless with quarrels and full of enticements and luxuries. The giver of the Law himself, then, coming in human form, when he did works of salvation for every soul (for on the Sabbath he taught what he had commanded by provident reason), did not destroy the Law but rather fulfilled it. For it is written: "You shall not do any work of yours on the Sabbath": "your" work, he says, that is, human work. And it is added: "except what is done for every soul," that is, to save the soul. And therefore we read that the earlier just men under the Law worked on Sabbaths for the salvation of souls. For seven days Joshua the son of Nun, at the Lord's command, went round the city of Jericho, with the Levites and priests carrying the ark of the covenant; and the hostile walls fall at the divine nod, so that the souls of the Jews might be freed from the danger of war. And you will find that a Sabbath is counted among the seven days, whatever day you begin to count from. So when it is said, "It is Jesus who made me well," the Jews are reminded, by the sharing of the name, not to condemn similar works. And therefore Christ the Lord, when he cured a withered hand, or dropsy, or paralysis on the Sabbath, as truly Lord of the Sabbath, defended his cause by the testimonies of his Law, saying to the Jews: "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good to a living being; to save a soul, or to destroy it?" He wished, I think, to lead them into the sense of the Law that we set out above, and at the same time reproached them for not understanding what "his work" was, and "except what is done for every soul." Christ, then, works on the Sabbath for the salvation of the soul; and he works on the Sabbath and fulfils the Law, while he interprets the condition of the Law, while he sheds light on the differences of works, while he does what the Law excepted from the rest of the Sabbath, while he makes the Sabbath day itself, sanctified by his blessing, holier by his benefits. For by bestowing divine help on every believing soul on that day, he rendered to the Sabbath the works owed to it. And to show the Jews that he who was then working in the flesh had always been working with the Father, he said to them: "My Father works until now, and I work." "And for this reason the Jews persecuted him the more wickedly, because he not only broke the Sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal to God." The blessed evangelist plainly taught that he who is his true Son by the property of nature is equal to God the Father. Although, then, the precedents of the ancients came first, the Lord did not care to set any of them against such an assertion, lest, since they are rare and ancient, they should be thought uncertain by some, or accidental; but he chose rather to strike them back with everyday and familiar examples, so that they could not deny that they had been most justly refuted. "I have done one work," he says, "and you all marvel." What work? That I cured a paralytic on the Sabbath. And he added: "For this reason Moses gave you circumcision, not because it is from Moses," he says, "but from the fathers": that is, from Abraham, who was the first to be circumcised, and from the other patriarchs. "And on the Sabbath," he says, "you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath day so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge by appearance, but judge a just judgment." As if he said: "The Law commanded that only this work be done on the Sabbath, what is for the soul. And concerning circumcision the same Law commands that whoever does not circumcise every male on the eighth day after birth, that soul shall be rooted out from its people. It is for the soul, then, that you circumcise a man on the Sabbath; it is likewise for the soul that I have healed a whole man on the Sabbath. It is lawful, then, to do a good work for the soul on the Sabbath. But if you judge that I have violated the Sabbath by this work, you decree that you yourselves are incessantly guilty of violating the Sabbath. Do not judge by appearance, but judge a just judgment." With such reasonable patience our Lord Jesus conquers his enemies, he who had come down from the Father into this world precisely to conquer by suffering. But let us consider briefly the force of this last saying. "Do not judge by appearance," he says, "but judge a just judgment." This is, I think, a general sentence, the teacher of keeping equity, set before all, known to many, loved by few. For it commands that we should not, by flattering the persons of the rich of this world, favour unbelievers with a most wicked judgment; and that we should not only not nourish the impious, cruel, rapacious, luxurious and dishonourable by timid silence, but should not even proclaim with unjust praises those worthy of all reproof; or, what is more hideous than any foulness, catching at shameful gain, notoriously serve another's money, forgetful of Christian freedom; nor, enticed by the beauty of anyone's bodily form, be moved by a crooked judgment from the region of truth and right opinion: since of despising riches it is written, "If riches abound, do not set your heart on them"; and of disregarding the comeliness of the flesh God speaks to the priest Samuel when he was about to choose a king from the sons of Jesse: "Do not admire," he says, "the tallness of their stature or the beauty of their face, for man looks on the face, but God looks on the heart." And therefore blessed David, the least and despised, is raised to the kingdom by the holy oil, and glories in a song of his own that by God's grace he grew from humility to the highest summit of dignity, saying: "I was small among my brothers," and the rest. Usefully, then, in every way Christ says: "Do not judge by appearance, but judge a just judgment." And which of us, dearest ones, is found fit to keep each of the things I have mentioned? "Blessed are those who keep judgment and do righteousness at all times." Though this sentence is general, then, as I said above, it is nevertheless directed particularly at the Jews, who judged Christ, as he did wonderful things, only as a man by his appearance, not seeing God in his mighty works. It also strikes hard at the heretics who blaspheme the Son of God, in that, looking at the humility of the flesh he assumed, they try to measure the substance of his immense divinity. But let us, brothers, saved by his grace through faith, judge a just judgment, keeping equity in every action of our way of life. For the just judgment of a rational soul is to choose to serve God rather than the world; to resolve to obey the commandments of Christ, not to be depraved by the counsels of the devil; to decide to cleave to spiritual pursuits, not to be entangled in carnal vices; and to judge that the eternal blessedness of things to come must be preferred to the very brief pleasures of the world. Let us walk, then, with the equal judgment of an upright heart in all the precepts and justifications of the Lord, so that we may be counted worthy to obtain a share in eternal life from the everlasting Son of God himself, whose omnipotence remains with the Father and the Holy Spirit for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - John 7:20–24: quotation, high confidence - John 21:25: quotation, high confidence - John 1:48: allusion, high confidence - John 2:9: allusion, high confidence - John 4:46–53: allusion, high confidence - John 4:16–18: allusion, high confidence - John 5:5–15: quotation, high confidence - John 6:9–13: allusion, high confidence - John 6:19: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Matt 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:9–10: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:16: allusion, high confidence - Isa 1:13–14: quotation, high confidence - Josh 6:1–20: allusion, high confidence - Matt 12:10–12: allusion, high confidence - Luke 14:1–6: allusion, medium confidence - Mark 3:4: quotation, high confidence - Luke 6:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:8: allusion, high confidence - John 5:17–18: quotation, high confidence - Gen 17:10–14: allusion, high confidence - Ps 62:10 (61:11 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:13: allusion, high confidence - Ps 106:3 (105:3 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:8: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Ps 151 1 (Psalm 151): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius reads Exod 20:10 in a form with the addition 'except what is done for every soul' (from Exod 12:16) and builds his argument on it. The words about Jewish Sabbaths (Isa 1:13–14) are polemical and are translated as written. - Quotations: John 7:20–24; John 21:25; John 1:48; John 2:9; John 4:46–53; John 4:16–18; John 5:5–9; John 6:9–13; John 6:19; Matt 5:17; John 5:10–15; Matt 1:21; Exod 20:9–10; Exod 12:16; Isa 1:13–14; Josh 6:1–20; Matt 12:10–12 (Mark 3:4; Luke 6:9; 14:1–6); Matt 12:8; John 5:17–18; Gen 17:10–14; Ps 62:10 (61:11 Vulg.); 1 Sam 16:7; Ps 151:1 (LXX); Ps 106:3 (105:3 Vulg.); Eph 2:8. - 'I was small among my brothers' is the opening of the LXX Psalm 151, which Gaudentius calls David's own song; it is tagged as an extrabiblical text. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 11 (PL 20:920b–927c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/11). ## Tractates 12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/12/#p-12 - Source: PL 20:928b–932d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: On John 12:31 ('Now is the judgment of this world'): the 'judgment' is the world's judging of Christ in his passion, by which the devil, prince of the world by usurpation, is cast out, and Christ draws all things to himself from the cross. ### Latin text De eo quod ait Dominus Jesus: Nunc judicium est [hujus mundi. Post illam Dei Patris vocem qua glorificatum Filium rursus glorificandum dixerat, ubi Salvator locutus est ad circumstantes turbas, quod proxime disseruimus, hujus testimonium vocis non sui causa honoris, sed nostrae fidei instruendae gratia fuisse delatum; quid statim subsequens idem Dominus adjecerit, textus hujus quae modo decursa est, indicat Evangelicae lectionis. Nunc, inquit, judicium est hujus mundi. Considerandum puto, fratres charissimi, cujusmodi dixerit tunc imminere judicium. Si de futuro judicio, quo per ignem judicabitur bic mundus, sentiri voluisset, non dixisset nunc est, sed dixisset tunc erit: verum quia de praesenti loquebatur judicio, intueri convenit, quod fuerit illud praesens mundi jud cium. Numquid in primo adventu suo Christus mundum judicasse existimabitur, quem potius salvasse cognoscitur, sicut ipse testatus est dicens: Non enim misit Deus Filium suum ut judicet mundum, e sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. Et in Evangelio beati Lucae legitur, cum quidam vicus Samariae noluisset suscipere Salvatorem, indigne ferentes Apostoli Jacobus ei Joannes, dixerunt ad eum: Domine, vis dicamus ut ignis descendat de coelo super eos, èt consumat eos, sicut Elias fecit? At ille indignatus prohibuit. O ira misericors! Quid ergo est quod ait: Nunc judicium est hujus mundi? Judicium, fratres, duplici ratione potest intelligi. Nam et decernentis sententia judicium dicitur, et supplicium patientis dicitur poena: judicium alterum agentis est, alterum patientis. Judex facit judicium, reus subit; et est utriusque judicium. Mundum vero cum dicit Scriptura aut facere, aut pati judicium, non elementorum irrationabilium naturas indicat, sed accolas mundi significat: sit uli cum domus Israel dicitur, non parietes, vel tecta, sed homines Israelitae monstrantur. Ergo dominator omnium Christus, post inusitatum sacre Virginis partum, post adorata munifico magorum cultu cunabula, post multiplicem doctrinam coelestis eloquii, post variarum curationum medelas imperio verbi potentis effectas, post istud praesens testimonium Patris, cum esset jam proximus Passioni, sic ait: Nunc judicium esi hujus mundi (Joan. xii); tamquam si diceret: Nunc, nunc est hujus mundi judicium, utrum credere eligat post Passionem voluntariam virtute propria resurgenti, ut ex fide salvetur, an cum Judaeis negandum judicet eum Judicem qui negaturus erit proprios negatores, dicens ad illos: Nescio vos: discedite a me in ignem aeternum, operarii iniquitatis ( Luc. xiii). Sive magis (et ita sentiendum auctoritate cohaerentis eloquii utilius approbamus), Nunc judicium est hujus mundi (Joan. xii); id est appropinquavit hora ut mundi Creatorem, ac Judicem mundus judicet judicandus. Similiter namque in Evangelio Lucae loquitur ad pontifices, et presbyteros, et strategos magistratus templi, qui ad eum comprehendendum venerant: Quasi ad latronem existis cum gladiis et fustibus; cum quotidie vobiscum fuerim in templo, et non extendistis manus super me; sed haec est, inquit, vestra hora, et potestas tenebrarum (Luc. xxii). Potestas tenebrarum quippe hujus mundi est, vel hominum mundanorum, qui in tenebris perfidiae constituti, lumen nolunt aspicere veritatis; et quia Deus hominibus agendi quodeumque velint liberum permisit arbitrium, exercent in Christum sacrilegam potestatem. Unde Pilato dicenti: Potestatem habeo crucifigendi te, et potestatem habeo dimittendi te; Dominus ita respondit: Non haberes potestatem, nisi data tibi esset desuper (Joan. xix.) Denique ut ostenderet Dominus istud quod dixerat mundi judicium, Passionem suam esse; ita copulavit dicens: Nunc judicium est hujus mundi, nunc hujus mundi princeps mittetur deorsum, sive expelletur foras (Joan. xii), ut in Graecis exemplaribus legimus. Erat enim Passio Christi expugnatio futura diaboli. Unde sanctus propheta David ad ejus personam loquitur: Ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris (Ps. L). Licet autem hic versus et alio sensu possit intelligi, huic tamen satis congruit; nam Dominus Jesus in Passione sua judicatur et vincit, moritur et triumphat. Diabolus autem cur princeps hujus mundi dicatur, advertite. Diabolus hujus mundi princeps usurpatione dicitur, non natura. Etenim seducens humanum genus, ut derelicto Deo ipsum Satanam per simulacra coleret manufacta, principatum violenter tenuit, et exercuit tyrannidem, in tantum ut advenientem verum Principem suum non recognosceret mundus, ipsius quippe diaboli prestigiis obcaecatus. Nam in hoc mundo erat Christus, ut Evangelista testatur, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. In propria venit, et sui non receperunt eum (Joan. i). Passus est ergo Dominus se hujus mundi judicio judicari, ad hunc hostem generis humani praecipitandum, sive expellendum, quia utrumque unum esse dignoscitur; e et qua ratione unum, percipite. Non in planis, atque humilibus habitabat diabolus, unde pulsus, ad alium locum credatur absque casu sue transire potuisse; sed eum de sublimitate coelesti expellitur, utique deorsum praecipitatur. Significanter plane in Graeco positum est **βλνfidero* ίξω, id ost ejicietur, sive expelletur foras; ut etiam de animis credentium jam coelestibus, tamquam de coelis, nosceretur esse pellendus; ut scilicet, expulso eo, Christus Dominus regnaret in nobis. Quapropter adjecit: Et ego si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum (Joan. xii). Et quod exaltandum se a terra indubitanter crucis patibulo indicabat, sic interloquentis evangelistae sermo declarat: Hoc autem dicebat significans qua morte esset mori~ turus. Ego cum exaltatus fuero a terra, inquit, omnia traham ad me ipsum; videlicet quod elevatus in crucem omne saeculum ad suam fidem vocaturus esset. Sed quod ait, omnia traham ad me ipsum, et non omnes; illud significari existimo, quod omnia creaturarum genera quae idolis vel immolabantur, vei dedicabantur, Christus ad suam benedictionem revocanda promiserit, suoque nomini consecranda. Necesse est enim, juxta sententiam Pauli apostoli, ut ipsi confiteatur omnis lingua, et subditus fiat omnis mundus Deo (Philipp. ii). Deo nempe huic qui ascendit super coelum caelorum ad orientem, ut Psalmista ait(Ps. lxvii); huic Deo qui eum ascendit in altum, captivam duxit captivitatem (Ps. lxvii). Cavendum plane nobis, fratres charissimi, ne victoriam Christi, qua diabolum triumphavit, de captivitate ejus nos redimens suo sanguine pretioso, et auferens ei humani generis principatum, nostro vitio irritam, faciamus; illius tyrannidi per illecebras carnis, ejus crudeli iterum regno nos subjicientes, in contumeliam Redemptoris; unde merito conqueratur increpans, et exprobrans: Quae utilitas in sanguine meo (Ps. xxix)? Sine causa meus pro vobis sanguis effusus est, si ita vos geritis, itaque conversemini, ut auctor cupiditatum malarum diabolus iterum principatur in vobis, spolia se tanta detraxisse victori, praedo superbus insultans. Nam dixit: Persequens comprehendam, partibor spolia, replebo animam meam; interficiam gladio meo, dominabitur manus mea (Exod.·xv). Hac de causa nos adhortatur beatissimus Paulus apostolus dicens: Non ergo regnet peccatum in carne vestra mortali, neque exhibeatis membra vestra arma iniquitatis peccato, sed exhibete vos Deo tamquam ex mortuis viventes (Rom. vi). Et alibi iterum: Idcirco enim Christus et vixit, et mortuus est, et resurrexit; ut et vivorum, et mortuorum dominetur (Rom. xiv), utique ut qui vivunt jam non sibi vivant, sed illi qui pro eis mortuus est, et resurrexit (II Cor. v). Talibus ergo, fratres, instrumentis edocti, omnem nostram vitam Christi servitio mancipemus, cujus regnum cum Patre, et cum Spiritu sancto permanet io omnia saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) On the saying of the Lord Jesus: "Now is the judgment of this world." After that voice of God the Father in which he had said that the Son, already glorified, was to be glorified again, where the Saviour told the crowds standing round (as we discussed recently) that the testimony of this voice had been given not for the sake of his honour but to instruct our faith, what the same Lord immediately added is shown by the text of this Gospel reading which has just been gone through. "Now," he says, "is the judgment of this world." I think we must consider, dearest brothers, what kind of judgment he said was then imminent. If he had wished it to be understood of the future judgment, by which this world will be judged by fire, he would not have said "now is," but "then will be"; but since he was speaking of a present judgment, we should look at what that present judgment of the world was. Will Christ be thought to have judged the world at his first coming, when it is known that he rather saved it, as he himself testified, saying: "For God did not send his Son to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him"? And in the Gospel of blessed Luke we read that when a certain village of Samaria would not receive the Saviour, the apostles James and John, taking it ill, said to him: "Lord, do you want us to say that fire should come down from heaven upon them and consume them, as Elijah did?" But he was indignant and forbade it. O merciful anger! What, then, does he mean by "Now is the judgment of this world"? Judgment, brothers, can be understood in two ways. For the sentence of one who decides is called judgment, and the punishment of one who suffers is called a penalty; one judgment belongs to the one acting, the other to the one undergoing. The judge makes a judgment, the accused undergoes it; and it is a judgment of both. When Scripture says that the world either makes or undergoes judgment, it does not indicate the natures of the irrational elements, but signifies the inhabitants of the world; just as when "the house of Israel" is spoken of, not walls or roofs but Israelite men are meant. So Christ, the ruler of all, after the unheard-of childbirth of the holy Virgin, after the cradle adored by the generous worship of the magi, after the manifold teaching of heavenly speech, after the remedies of various cures effected by the command of a mighty word, after this present testimony of the Father, being now near to his passion, says thus: "Now is the judgment of this world": as if he said, "Now, now is the judgment of this world: whether it chooses to believe in him who, after a voluntary passion, rises by his own power, so as to be saved by faith; or judges, with the Jews, that he must be denied, the Judge who will deny those who deny him, saying to them: I do not know you; depart from me into the eternal fire, you workers of iniquity." Or rather (and we approve this as the more useful sense, on the authority of the connected words), "Now is the judgment of this world": that is, the hour has drawn near for the world, which is to be judged, to judge the Creator and Judge of the world. For likewise in the Gospel of Luke he speaks to the chief priests and elders and captains, the magistrates of the temple, who had come to arrest him: "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs, when I was with you daily in the temple and you did not stretch out your hands against me? But this," he says, "is your hour, and the power of darkness." The power of darkness is that of this world, or of worldly men, who, set in the darkness of faithlessness, will not look at the light of truth; and since God has allowed men free choice to do whatever they will, they exercise a sacrilegious power against Christ. Hence, when Pilate said, "I have power to crucify you, and I have power to release you," the Lord answered thus: "You would have no power unless it had been given you from above." Finally, to show that this judgment of the world of which he had spoken was his passion, the Lord joined it thus, saying: "Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be sent down," or "will be cast out," as we read in the Greek copies. For the passion of Christ was to be the overthrow of the devil. Hence the holy prophet David speaks to his person: "That you may be justified in your words and conquer when you are judged." Although this verse can be understood in another sense too, it fits this one well enough; for the Lord Jesus in his passion is judged and conquers, dies and triumphs. Note why the devil is called the prince of this world. The devil is called prince of this world by usurpation, not by nature. For by seducing the human race to abandon God and worship Satan himself through images made with hands, he held the princedom by violence and exercised a tyranny, so far that the world did not recognize its true Prince when he came, blinded by the very tricks of the devil. For "Christ was in this world," as the evangelist testifies, "and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him." The Lord, then, suffered himself to be judged by the judgment of this world in order to cast down, or cast out, this enemy of the human race, since both are known to be one; and perceive in what way they are one. The devil did not live in flat and low places, so that, driven from there, he might be thought able to pass to another place without falling; but when he is driven out of the heavenly height, he is of course cast headlong downward. Significantly the Greek has ἐκβληθήσεται ἔξω, that is, "will be thrown out," or "will be driven out"; so that he might be known to be driven also out of the souls of believers, which are now heavenly, as from the heavens; so that, he being driven out, Christ the Lord might reign in us. Therefore he added: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself." And that by being lifted up from the earth he undoubtedly meant the gibbet of the cross, the words of the evangelist interposed declare thus: "He said this signifying by what death he was going to die." "When I am lifted up from the earth," he says, "I will draw all things to myself": namely, that, raised on the cross, he would call the whole world to his faith. But in saying "I will draw all things to myself," and not "all men," I think he signified that Christ promised to call back to his blessing and to consecrate to his name all the kinds of creatures that were either sacrificed or dedicated to idols. For it is necessary, according to the sentence of the apostle Paul, that every tongue confess him and the whole world become subject to God: to this God, namely, "who ascended above the heaven of heavens to the east," as the Psalmist says; to this God who, "when he ascended on high, led captivity captive." We must plainly beware, dearest brothers, lest by our own vice we make void the victory of Christ, by which he triumphed over the devil, redeeming us from his captivity by his precious blood and taking from him the princedom over the human race; subjecting ourselves again through the enticements of the flesh to his tyranny and his cruel reign, to the insult of the Redeemer; so that he might rightly complain, rebuking and reproaching: "What profit is there in my blood?" "My blood was shed for you in vain if you so conduct yourselves and so live that the devil, the author of evil desires, rules again in you, a proud robber taunting the victor that he has snatched back the spoils from him." For he said: "I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the spoils, I will fill my soul; I will kill with my sword, my hand shall rule." For this reason the most blessed apostle Paul exhorts us, saying: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal flesh, and do not present your members as weapons of iniquity to sin, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead." And again elsewhere: "For this Christ both lived and died and rose again, that he might be Lord of both the living and the dead"; that, namely, "those who live may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again." Taught by such instruments, then, brothers, let us bind our whole life to the service of Christ, whose kingdom remains with the Father and with the Holy Spirit for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - John 12:28–33: quotation, high confidence - John 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Luke 9:52–55: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:11: allusion, high confidence - Luke 13:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:52–53: quotation, high confidence - John 19:10–11: quotation, high confidence - Ps 51:4 (50:6 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - John 1:10–11: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:10–11: allusion, high confidence - Ps 68:33 (67:34 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:18 (67:19 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:8: allusion, high confidence - Ps 30:9 (29:10 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Exod 15:9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:12–13: quotation, high confidence - Rom 14:9: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek words that Gaudentius quotes are garbled in the digital text ('**βλνfidero* ίξω'); they are restored by sense as ἐκβληθήσεται ἔξω, the Greek of John 12:31, and the garbled form is kept in the original text. A stray bracket opens in the title. - Quotations: John 12:28–33; John 3:17; Luke 9:52–55; Luke 13:27 with Matt 25:41; Luke 22:52–53; John 19:10–11; Ps 51:4 (50:6 Vulg.; Rom 3:4); John 1:10–11; Phil 2:10–11; Ps 68:33 (67:34 Vulg.); Ps 68:18 (67:19 Vulg.; Eph 4:8); Ps 30:9 (29:10 Vulg.); Exod 15:9; Rom 6:12–13; Rom 14:9; 2 Cor 5:15. The words 'My blood was shed for you in vain…' expand Ps 30:9 as Christ's speech; they are not a Scripture quotation. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 12 (PL 20:928b–932d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/12). ## Tractates 13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/12/#p-13 - Source: PL 20:933a–943b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: A Christmas sermon on the incarnation and Mary's virginity in giving birth, followed by an exposition of Christ's gentle answer to Judas at Bethany, which leads into a long appeal for almsgiving against the luxury of rich landowners. ### Latin text Contra (??)(??)(??) Per omnes divini eloquii libros Filius Dei non solum Deus, sed et homo, ac filius hominis praedicatur. Et in veteri quidem Testamento praenuntiatur, atque promittitur, in novo autem demonstratur, et creditur; quoniam vetus Lex, ut ait Apostolus (Hebr. x), umbra erat futurorum bonorum: illorum quippe bonorum quae compleri noscuntur in Christo, quibus homo humani generis, hodie per beatissimam Virginem natus, redintegravit imaginem, venenato serpentis morsu corruptam: ut cujus opifex a mundi principio fuerat, esset in consummatione saeculi reparator. Quis hanc pietatem digne mirari sufficiat? Quis tantae bonitatis idoneus praedicator exstat? Quis protestari sufficiat, immensum, et inestimabilem Deum ob nostram vitam fieri voluisse quod homo est, et universarum virtutum coelestium conditorem ad hujus terrenae carnis humilia descendisse? Sic tamen homo pro nobis factus est, ut non desi neret esse quod Deus est. Nam licet Verbum caro factum sit, ut evangelisia testatur (Joan. i), tamen quia permanet esse quod ante hominem fuerat, additur statim, et habitavit in nobis; quo dicto et habitator ostenditur, et habitaculum pariter demonstratur. Sic ergo coepit esse quod prius non erat, ut non desisteret esse quod erat. Hanc omnipotentiam Filii Dei, ct hominis, etiam mater Virgo testatur; quae de Spiritu sancto concipiens, ita Deum et hominem, quem pudico utero gestaverat, edidit, ut apud incorruptam tanti nominis matrem, post divinum parium gloriosior integritas permaneret. Divinum recte diximus parium, quia Deus est iste qui per Virginem natus in carne est; dicente Gabriele archangelo ad eamdem: Quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei (Luc. i). Ex quo enim carnem nostrae fragilitatis assumpsit, idem Filius est hominis qui et Dei; quia non alius ex Maria natus est, quam qui per maternas illapsus aures, uterum Virginis opplevit. Sancto videlicet Spiritu ipse formans hominem suum, siquidem sapientia aedificavit sibi domum ( Prov. ix ): habitaculum quippe corporis nostri jam suum, quo habitaculo indutus est; sine ullo damno integritatis maternae, egreditur. Nam beatissima Maria incorruptibilem pariens, et mater, et virgo est. Haec ad demonstrandum incarnationis Filii Dei mysterium breviter dixerim: nunc ad partem venio illius lectionis Evangelicae explanandam, quae jamdudum fuerat aliis incumbentibus praetermissa. Nam disseruimus (ut meministis) omnem textum lectionis ejus quae comantem descubi(??)um in Bethania Dominum, explanantes discubitum rationem loci et temporis, Marthae ministerium, sororis ejus obsequium, unguenti virtutem, rationemque crinium quibus Maria pretioso myro unctos Christi tersit pedes; et quemadmodum Judas pio, debitoque adversarius obsequio, dum patronus pauperum vult videri, furti reus arguitur: sed illud omisimus, vel potius reservavimus, quid inter hoc locutus fuerit Dominus Jesus. Sine, inquit, eam, sive sinite: utrumque enim et in Graecis, et Latinis exemplaribus invenitur; sed magis congruere videtur sensui cum legitur sinite, etc., propter illa quae pluraliter subsequuntur: pauperes enim semper habetis vobiscum. Quaerendum ergo, dilectissimi, quamobrem ad ludae solius verba pluraliter responderit Dominus, Sinite eam, ut in diem sepultura mea servet illud: Pauperes enim semper habetis vobiscum, me autem non semper (Joan xii; Math. xxvi; Marc. xiv). Admirabilis vere, ac nimium providens Christi patientia! In commune omnibus discipulis loquitur, ut ab adversantis Judae contumelia temperet; neque acriter ut in fraudatorem invehitur, sed dissimulato ejus crimine, quem et Evangelista furem noverat, leni monitu universos pariter instruit; docens interim, illud quod Maria fecerat, necessario erga se celebratum fuisse sepulturae mysterio. Caeterum pauperibus largiendi omni tempore, iis qui vellent esse posse copiam, quia semper nobiscum sint: sibi vero in carne jam non diu a quoquam ministrandum, quia post imminentem Passionem resurgens, continuo susceptum corpus ducturus esset ad coelum. Idcirco autem supradicta lenitate, ac promiscuo monitu, Judae sermones Christus evacuat, ne aut ipsi Judae occasionem excusandi furoris tribueret, aut alicui Apostolorum quidquam scrupuli daret, piam fortasse suspicanti Judae suggestionem; vel certe ne cuiquam postea lecturo, aliquod offendiculum reservaret. Judas enim licet studio fraudis, et odio Salvatoris, sub praetextu pietatis tamen, illa ipsa fallaciae verba deprompserat: Quare hoc unguentum venumdatum non est, inquit, denariis trecentis, et datum est pauperibus (Joan. xii )? Irreligiosus nimium, et satis importunus dispositor, avari fraudatoris affectum, crimen videlicet proprium, sub specie religionis dum tegere conatur, expressit. Irreligiosus plane, atque importunus; quia quod ad honorem Christi factum fuerat, non modo superfluum computavit, verum etiam sermone improbissimo reprehendit. Fraudator etiam; quia, loculum tenens, exportabat ea quae mittebantur ad usus indigentium, sicut evangelista conqueritur. Avarus quoque; quoniam non satiabatur, stipendia pauperum quotidie subtrahendo, sed et sepulturae Christi pretium in propria ardebat lucra convertere: convertit autem non in momentanea sux cupiditatis lucra, sed salutis detrimenta perpetua. Siquidem non mullo post, universa quae vel impius fur collegerat ex fraudibus perpetratis, vel quae sacrilegus Christi traditor pro mercede iniquitatis acceperat, cum vita pariter amisit. Nam praedictorum facinorum conscientia strangulatus, mortem debitam laqueo sibimet intulit praeparato, confestim rapiendus ad inferni supplicia. Quod autem unguentum illud ad obsequium profecerit Dominicae sepulturae, idem Salvator in Evangelio Matthaei apertius declaravit: Mittens, inquit, haec unguentum hoc in corpus meum, ad sepeliendum me fecit (Matth. xxvi). Quamvis ergo Dominus Jesus conscientiae judex esset, noluit tamen Judam de occultis ejus acrius increpare, ne, quoniam verisimili ratione videbatur locutus, putaretur forsitan injuste correptus; atque hinc iracundiae justam concepisse causam, ut inimicis necandum traderet, quem sine ullo peccamine habuisset Infensum. Nihil ergo acerbum Christus voluit pro merito sceleratae mentis illius loqui, ne Judas eum tradere videretur iratus. Vult enim Dominus vere justus judex, ut meriti proprii sibi sit causa unusquisque: vult et justum pro sola justitia pati: vult et iniquum, si in malitia perduraverit, reum mortis proprio arbitrio judicari. Figuravit enim Deus hominem, ut Scriptura testatur, et ad imaginem similitudinis suae fecit illum, et dimisit eum in manu consilii sui. Posuit ante eum ignem, et aquam, dicens: Ad quod volueris, extende manum tuam (Eccli. xv). Posuit, inquit, ante hominem Deus aquam, et ignem, id est refrigerium, et poenam; remissionem, et supplicium; vitam, et mortem. Quis, oro, non refugiat supplicium, poenam, et mortem; et eligat refrigerium, remissionem, ac vitam? Sed ille fugit mortem qui per itinera graditur vitalium mandatorum; ille donum percipit vitae qui per laborem spiritualium studiorum mortales actus evitat. Ideoque dictum est: Ecce aqua, et ignis: ad quod volueris, extende manum tuam (Eccli. xv); hoc est opus tuum. In manu quippe opera demonstrantur, quia nec tormentis subjici sine crimine possumus, nec praemium sine certamine promereri; dicente Apostolo: Numquid injustus Deus, qui infert iram (Rom. iii)? et iterum: Quoniam non coronatur quis in agone contendens, nisi legitime certaverit (II Tim. ii). Certamen nostrum contra vitia carnis est, contra cupiditatem pecuniae, contra animi iracundiam: quae sunt arma diaboli, quibus resistendum est utique galea fidei, lorica continentiae, misericordiae clypeo, in quo possimus, ut ait Apostolus, omnia jacula nequissimi candentia exstinguere (Ephes. vi). Etenim sicut aqua exstinguit ignem, ita eleemosyna resistit peccato, id est, sicut aqua baptismi salutaris exstinguit flammam gehennae per gratiam, ita eleemosynarum fluvio omnis ille coacervatus post acceptam fidem, peccatorum ignis exstinguitur; si tamen post conversionem, non iterum renovatis criminibus inardescat. Is enim qui eleemosynis remedium peccatorum poenitens quaerit, debet jam non agere poenitenda, ne quod uno latere exstinguitur, alio succendatur. Fluvium diximus eleemosynarum, ut largitatem donandi sentires: sed rarus quisque est qui vel rorem spargat eleemosynae suo refrigerio profuturum. Egreditur de ecclesia Christianus, et surdis auribus precantem pauperem praeterit. ita nos Deus exaudiet obsecrantes, ita inter pericula imminentium barbarorum, auxilio protegi divino merebimur; scriptum est enim ( Tob. xii), bonum esse jejunium cum eleemosyna. Utrumque fieri oportebat ad indignationem Domini mitigandam. Sed jejunare forsitan non potes, et non potes quia non vis: vel certe esurientibus alimenta largire. Qui tribus horis praeter solitum jejunus esse non potes; poteris profecto intelligere, quid patiatur ille qui per inopiam jejunat invitus, quem jejunare tua crudelitas facit, qui largis dapibus saginatus, nec exiguo cibo famem solari cogitas indigentis. Sterilitatem causaris, necessitates praetendis, temporis angustias quereris: turpius illo indigente mendicas; quin potius Deo ingratus exsistis, dum falso quereris. Sed esto: si sterilitas fuerit, hanc tu solus sentis, quaeso, pau per ille non sentit? Quid, quod argentum novum quotidie lucrari moliris? domos marmoribus exstruis? vestes sericas comparas? monilia auro geminisque pretiosa mercaris? Pudet dicere, poenitet recordari, quantus numerus rusticorum, de possessionibus praedicta pompa viventium, vel fame sit mortuus, vel eleemosyna Ecclesiae sustentatus. Proh dirum nefas! mortui sunt homines in quibus omnis census est possidentis: ita nec praesentis temporis utilitatibus consulunt, dum nimia cupiditate caecati sunt. A nostris ergo incipientes, charissimi, benefaciamus egentibus ac miseris; victum, potum, vestitum indigentibus ministremus, quia operum talium justus retributor est Dominus; qui cum venerit in majestate sua (Matth. xxv), regnum coelorum largietur in parte dextera pro merito constitutis nutritoribus inopum: at e contrario in humanis, atque impios aeternis decernet ignibus concremari, seipsum dicens in pauperibus vel pietate fotum, vel crudelitate neglectum. Tantus ergo pauperes suos nostri Salvatoris affectus est. Studeamus ergo diligere et in pauperibus Christum, qui nos dilexit per Omnia; et qui tamquam bonus pastor, animam suam posuit pro ovibus suis ( Joan. x). Sed si explanare coepero, quibus officiis dilectionem tuam circa Dominum probes, nescio utrum me ipsum loquentem diligas, nescio utrum me libenter audias: nisi si forte ita religiosus es, ut sicut Delabaris paulo anto in divinis beneficiis, sic etiam praeceptis ejus parere desideres, et amplectaris discere, quae sint exercenda erga Deum dilectionis officia. Ipse Domimis loquitur, qualis amor esse in cum debeat uniuscujusque credentis. Qui habet praecepta mea, inquit, et servat ea, ille est qui diligit me ( Joan. xiv ). Perfecte enim ille diligit Deum qui praecepta ejus vel habet in corde, vei custodit in opere. Nam qui perfunctoria confessione, ore tantum refert divina mandatu, et ea nec mente relinet, nec factis servat, nequaquam potest hio dicere: Confitebor tibi, Domine, in tolo corde meo, in consilio justorum, et congregatione (Ps. cx); sed necesse est ut cum synagoga populi contemptoris, increpantem Deum audiat per prophetam: Populus hic me labiis diligit, cor vero eorum longe est a me(Is. xxix; Matth. xv). Nolite errare; Deus non irridetur (Galat. vi). An existimatis quod Deum diligat tepidos, ac negligens Christianus, qui idola in possessionibus suis coli permittit; qui fanum daemonis, et aram diaboli stare in contumeliam Dei patitur; qui adulteria, et stupra exercere non desinit; qui aliena quotidie rapit, quotidie concupiscit; necare proximum quibuscumque modis gestiens, quo vel voluptatem, vel cupiditatem suam licentius impleat, licet explere non possit? Nam stupri assiduitas luxuriam carnis non cohibet, sed accendit; dicente Propheta: Omnes fornicantes, velut ardens clibanus corda eorum (Osee vii) Praedatoris quoque rapacitas non comprimit avaritiam, sed irritat; scriptum est enim: Qui amat pecuniam, non satiabitur pecuniis (Eccl. v). Nec ille Deum diligit qni non miseretur pauperum, in quibus Christus se vel foveri contestatur, vel negligi. Quod enim non fecistis, inquit, uni ex minimis his, nec mihi fecistis (Matth. xxv). Et Joannes apostolus in epistola sua loquitur: Qui viderit fratrem suum in necessitate constitutum, et clauserit viscera sua ab eo, non esi charitas Dei in illo (I Joan. iii). Mentitur ergo se amare Christum qui eum in egeno non diligit, qui dilectionem quam promittit verbis, negat operibus. Studeat igitur unusquisque factis misericordiae approbare quod Deum diligat, ul dilectio Dei inundet eum ab omni peccato. Vis autem nosse, quantum eleemosyna; sublevent onera peccatorum? Audi consilium quod peccatori diviti ingerit propheta Daniel: Nunc, inquit, rex, consilium meum placeat tibi; iniquitates tuas eleemosynis redime, et peccata tua miserationibus pauperum (Dan. iv). Sed fori· vel libi, vel filiis tuis servatum aestimas quod pauperibus negas. Nolo sis tam periculose sollicitus; nescis, enim quid pariat subrequens dies. Deus noster potens est et illis dare, sicut et tibi; quinimmo quidquid largitus pauperibus fueris, et tibi, et tuis liberis contulisti. Deesse nihil poterit eis quibus Christum comparticipem feceris. Novit retribuere qui se in pauperibus testatur accipere. Securus dona; est enim repensor idoneus qui coelorum regna promittit. Loquitur Scriptura divini: Conclude eleemosynam in corde pauperis, et ipsa pro te exorabit ad Deum (Eccli. xxix); hoc est dixisse: vende patrimonium, et eme patrocinium; cujus interventu certus de impetrata venia, venturum Judicem liber merearis aspicere. In Evangelio autem: Si vis perfectus esse, ait, vende omnia tua et da pauperibus; et habebis thesaurum in coelo; et veni, sequere me (Matth. xix). Si omnia erogare praecipimur, advertamus, quis reatus exspectet eos, atque eas, quibus sericae, et purpureae, et auratae vestes in usu sunt, si nudos qualicumque indumento non texerint. Quaedam feminae onerant auro, et margaritis, vel sun, vel filiarum membra; et aridis manibus praetereunt inopum precantium turbas. Brutis quoque animalibus, equis, ac mulis, ex argento, et auro subtilia ornamenta componunt; et homini ad imaginem Dei facto vilissima vel vestimenta, vel alimenta non tribuunt. Et existimant se aliquam requiem in die judicii invenire, nisi vel de caetero opera pietatis arripiant? Obsecro vos, misericordes simus in pauperes, ut et ipsi juxta Domini eloquium (Matth. v) misericordiam consequamur. Et divites, et mediocres, certatim debent eleemosynas dare pro viribus: Nihil enim intulimus in hunc mundum, sed nec auferre aliquid possumus (I Tim. vi). Nudus exivi, ait sanctus Job, de utero matris meae, nudus iterum revertar in terram (Job. i). Hoc secum quisque portat ex facultatibus quas accepit, quod in opus religionis impenderit, quod pro dilectione Dei fecerit, praeceptis ejus obtemperans; dicetur enim in die judicii: Ecce homo, et opera ejus; non dicetur: Ecce homo, et potentia ejus, et divitiae ejus, et haeredes ejus. Opera requirit qui praecepta commisit; misericordiae repensor est qui docuit pietatem, qui dilectionem sui in praeceptorum probari custodia praefinivit. Nam sibi praestitum reputat e quidquid egeno praestitum erit. Unde alibi legimus: Qui miseretur pauperis, Deo fenerat (Prov. xix). Et plane fenerat; recipiet enim magna pro modicis, et coelestia pro terrenis ab ipso Dei Filio sempiterno, cujus regnum cum Patre, et cum Spiritu sancto, permanet in omnia saecula. ### English translation (Claude) Against … Through all the books of the divine oracles the Son of God is proclaimed not only God but also man and son of man. In the Old Testament he is foretold and promised; in the New he is shown and believed; since the old Law, as the Apostle says, was a shadow of the good things to come: of those good things, namely, which are known to be fulfilled in Christ, by which he, the man of the human race, born today through the most blessed Virgin, restored the image that had been corrupted by the poisonous bite of the serpent, so that he who had been its maker from the beginning of the world might be its restorer at the consummation of the age. Who is able to marvel worthily at this kindness? Who stands forth as a fit preacher of so great a goodness? Who is able to declare that the immense and inestimable God willed for the sake of our life to become what man is, and that the founder of all the heavenly powers came down to the lowliness of this earthly flesh? Yet he was so made man for us that he did not cease to be what God is. For although "the Word was made flesh," as the evangelist testifies, yet because he remains what he was before he was man, it is added at once, "and dwelt among us"; by which saying both the dweller and the dwelling are shown together. So he began to be what he was not before in such a way that he did not cease to be what he was. This omnipotence of the Son of God and of man is attested also by his virgin mother, who, conceiving by the Holy Spirit, so brought forth the God and man whom she had carried in her chaste womb that in the incorrupt mother of so great a name a more glorious integrity remained after the divine birth. We have rightly said "divine birth," because he who was born in the flesh through the Virgin is God, as the archangel Gabriel says to her: "The holy one who will be born of you will be called the Son of God." For from the moment he took the flesh of our frailty, the same is the Son of man who is also the Son of God; because none other was born of Mary than he who, gliding in through his mother's ears, filled the Virgin's womb, forming his own man, that is, by the Holy Spirit, since "Wisdom has built herself a house": the dwelling of our body, now his own, with which he was clothed; and he comes forth without any harm to his mother's integrity. For the most blessed Mary, giving birth to the incorruptible one, is both mother and virgin. Let this be my brief statement to show the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God. Now I come to explain a part of that Gospel reading which had long ago been passed over because other matters pressed. For, as you remember, we discussed the whole text of the reading about the Lord reclining at supper in Bethany, explaining the reclining, the meaning of the place and time, Martha's service, her sister's devotion, the power of the ointment, and the meaning of the hair with which Mary wiped Christ's feet anointed with precious myrrh; and how Judas, the adversary of a devout and due service, while he wishes to appear the patron of the poor, is convicted as guilty of theft. But we omitted, or rather reserved, what the Lord Jesus said meanwhile. "Let her alone," he says, or "Let her alone" in the plural: for both are found in both the Greek and the Latin copies; but the plural seems to fit the sense better, because of what follows in the plural: "for the poor you always have with you." We must ask, then, beloved, why the Lord answered in the plural to the words of Judas alone: "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial; for the poor you always have with you, but me you do not always have." Truly wonderful and exceedingly provident patience of Christ! He speaks to all the disciples in common, so as to soften the insult of Judas who opposed him; nor does he inveigh sharply against him as a cheat, but, passing over the crime of one whom the evangelist too knew to be a thief, he instructs them all together with a gentle warning, teaching meanwhile that what Mary had done had necessarily been performed toward him for the mystery of his burial; while there could be abundant opportunity for those who wished to give to the poor at any time, because they are always with us; but that he himself would not long be ministered to by anyone in the flesh, since, rising after his imminent passion, he would at once lead the body he had assumed to heaven. And Christ empties Judas's words with the gentleness mentioned and a general warning for this reason: lest he should either give Judas himself an occasion to excuse his rage, or give any of the apostles a scruple, if one perhaps suspected Judas's suggestion to be devout, or at any rate lest he should leave a stumbling block for anyone who would read it later. For Judas, though out of zeal for fraud and hatred of the Saviour, had nevertheless, under the pretext of piety, brought out those very words of deceit: "Why," he says, "was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" Exceedingly irreligious and rather tactless as a manager, while he tries to cover the feeling of a greedy cheat, his own crime that is, under the appearance of religion, he revealed it. Irreligious plainly, and tactless, because what had been done for the honour of Christ he not only counted superfluous but also reproved with most wicked words. A cheat as well, because, holding the purse, he carried off what was sent for the use of the needy, as the evangelist complains. Greedy too, since he was not satisfied with daily stealing the stipends of the poor, but burned to turn even the price of Christ's burial into his own gain; yet he turned it not into the momentary gain of his greed but into the perpetual loss of his salvation. For not long after he lost, together with his life, everything that either the impious thief had gathered from his frauds or the sacrilegious betrayer of Christ had received as the wages of iniquity. For, strangled by the consciousness of these crimes, he brought on himself the death he deserved with a noose he had prepared, to be swept off at once to the punishments of hell. That the ointment served the Lord's burial the same Saviour declared more openly in the Gospel of Matthew: "In pouring this ointment on my body," he says, "she has done it to bury me." Although, then, the Lord Jesus was the judge of consciences, he did not wish to rebuke Judas too sharply about his hidden things, lest, since he seemed to have spoken with plausible reason, he might be thought to have been unjustly reproved, and from this to have conceived a just cause of anger, so as to hand over to his enemies to be killed one whom he had made hostile without any fault of his. Christ, then, wished to say nothing harsh in keeping with the deserts of that wicked mind, lest Judas should seem to have betrayed him in anger. For the Lord, the truly just judge, wills that each be the cause of his own deserts; he wills that the just man suffer for righteousness alone; he wills that the wicked, if he persists in malice, be judged guilty of death by his own choice. For God formed man, as Scripture testifies, and made him in the image of his likeness, "and left him in the hand of his own counsel. He set before him fire and water, saying: To whichever you will, stretch out your hand." God set before man, it says, water and fire, that is, refreshment and punishment, remission and torment, life and death. Who, I ask, would not flee torment, punishment and death, and choose refreshment, remission and life? But he flees death who walks on the paths of the life-giving commandments; he receives the gift of life who avoids deadly acts by the labour of spiritual pursuits. And therefore it is said: "Behold, water and fire: to whichever you will, stretch out your hand," that is, your work. For works are shown in the hand, because we can neither be subjected to torments without crime nor earn the reward without a contest, as the Apostle says: "Is God unjust, who inflicts wrath?" and again: "For no one is crowned who strives in the contest unless he has striven lawfully." Our contest is against the vices of the flesh, against the desire for money, against anger of the mind; these are the devil's weapons, which must be resisted with the helmet of faith, the breastplate of continence, and the shield of mercy, with which we can, as the Apostle says, "extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one." For "as water extinguishes fire, so almsgiving resists sin": that is, as the water of saving baptism extinguishes the flame of Gehenna through grace, so by the river of almsgiving all that fire of sins heaped up after receiving the faith is extinguished; provided that after conversion it does not blaze up again with renewed crimes. For he who, being penitent, seeks a remedy for sins in almsgiving must no longer do things to be repented of, lest what is extinguished on one side be kindled on another. We have spoken of a "river" of almsgiving so that you might sense the generosity of giving; but rare is the man who sprinkles even a dew of alms that will profit his own refreshment. A Christian comes out of church and passes by the begging poor man with deaf ears. Is it thus that God will hear us when we pray? Is it thus that we shall deserve to be protected by divine help amid the dangers of the threatening barbarians? For it is written that fasting with almsgiving is good. Both ought to be done to soften the Lord's indignation. But perhaps you cannot fast; and you cannot because you will not; then at least give food to the hungry. You who cannot fast three hours beyond your custom will surely be able to understand what he suffers who fasts unwillingly through poverty, whom your cruelty makes fast, you who, fattened on lavish dishes, do not think of consoling the hunger of the needy man even with a little food. You plead a bad harvest, you allege necessities, you complain of the straits of the times: you beg more shamefully than that needy man; rather, you show yourself ungrateful to God while you complain falsely. But suppose it is so: if there has been a bad harvest, do you alone feel it, I ask, and does that poor man not feel it? What of the fact that you strive every day to gain new silver? That you build houses of marble? That you buy silk garments? That you purchase necklaces precious with gold and gems? I am ashamed to say it, it grieves me to recall, how great a number of the peasants on the estates of those who live in the pomp I have described have either died of hunger or been kept alive by the alms of the church. O dreadful wickedness! Men have died in whom lies the whole wealth of the owner; so blinded are they by excessive greed that they do not even look to the advantages of the present time. Beginning, then, with our own, dearest ones, let us do good to the needy and wretched; let us supply food, drink and clothing to those in want, because the Lord is the just rewarder of such works; who, when he comes in his majesty, will bestow the kingdom of heaven on those who fed the poor, set on the right for their merit; but, on the contrary, will decree that the inhuman and impious be burned in eternal fires, saying that he himself was either cherished by kindness or neglected by cruelty in the poor. So great is our Saviour's affection for his poor. Let us strive, then, to love Christ in the poor too, who loved us in all things, and who, like a good shepherd, laid down his life for his sheep. But if I begin to explain by what duties you may prove your love toward the Lord, I do not know whether you will love me as I speak, I do not know whether you will gladly hear me; unless perhaps you are so devout that, as you delighted a little while ago in the divine benefits, so you also desire to obey his precepts and embrace learning what duties of love must be practised toward God. The Lord himself says what kind of love each believer ought to have for him: "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." For he loves God perfectly who both has his precepts in his heart and keeps them in his work. For he who, with a perfunctory confession, repeats the divine commandments only with his mouth, and neither retains them in his mind nor keeps them in deeds, can by no means say, "I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart, in the council of the just and in the congregation"; but he must needs hear, with the synagogue of the despising people, God rebuking him through the prophet: "This people loves me with its lips, but their heart is far from me." "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked." Or do you think that the lukewarm and negligent Christian loves God, who allows idols to be worshipped on his estates; who suffers a shrine of a demon and an altar of the devil to stand, to the insult of God; who does not cease to commit adulteries and acts of sexual immorality; who daily seizes others' property and daily covets it; eager to destroy his neighbour by whatever means, so that he may more freely satisfy his pleasure or his greed, though he can never fill it? For the constancy of sexual immorality does not restrain the luxury of the flesh but inflames it, as the prophet says: "All who commit fornication, their hearts are like a burning oven." The rapacity of the plunderer too does not suppress avarice but provokes it; for it is written: "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money." Nor does he love God who has no pity on the poor, in whom Christ declares that he is either cherished or neglected. "For what you did not do," he says, "for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." And the apostle John says in his letter: "He who sees his brother in need and shuts his heart against him, the love of God is not in him." He lies, then, who says he loves Christ, who does not love him in the needy, who denies by works the love he promises in words. Let each one strive, then, to prove by deeds of mercy that he loves God, so that the love of God may wash him from every sin. Do you want to know how much alms lighten the burdens of sins? Hear the counsel that the prophet Daniel presses on a sinful rich man: "Now, O king," he says, "let my counsel please you: redeem your iniquities with alms, and your sins with mercies to the poor." But perhaps you think that what you deny the poor is saved for you or for your children. I do not want you to be so dangerously anxious; for you do not know what the following day may bring forth. Our God is able to give to them too, as to you; indeed, whatever you have given to the poor you have conferred both on yourself and on your children. Nothing can be lacking to those whom you have made Christ a partner with. He knows how to repay who declares that he receives in the poor. Give without anxiety; for he who promises the kingdom of heaven is a sufficient repayer. The divine Scripture says: "Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and it will pray for you to God"; that is to say, sell your patrimony and buy a patron, by whose intervention, certain of obtaining pardon, you may be worthy to look freely on the Judge who will come. And in the Gospel: "If you wish to be perfect," he says, "sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." If we are commanded to give away everything, let us note what guilt awaits those men and women who wear silk and purple and golden garments if they do not cover the naked with any clothing at all. Some women load their own limbs or their daughters' with gold and pearls, and with dry hands pass by the crowds of the poor who beg. For brute animals too, horses and mules, they make delicate ornaments of silver and gold, and to a man made in the image of God they do not give even the cheapest clothing or food. And do they think they will find any rest on the day of judgment unless at least from now on they take up works of kindness? I beg you, let us be merciful to the poor, so that we too, according to the Lord's word, may obtain mercy. Both the rich and those of middling means must vie in giving alms according to their strength: "For we brought nothing into this world, nor can we take anything out." "Naked I came out of my mother's womb," says holy Job, "naked I shall return to the earth." Each one carries with him, from the means he has received, only what he has spent on works of religion, what he has done for the love of God in obedience to his precepts; for it will be said on the day of judgment, "Behold the man and his works"; it will not be said, "Behold the man and his power, his riches, and his heirs." He who entrusted the precepts requires the works; he is the repayer of mercy who taught kindness, who laid down that love for him should be proved in keeping his precepts. For he counts as given to himself whatever has been given to the needy. Hence we read elsewhere: "He who has pity on the poor lends to God." And he truly lends; for he will receive great things for small, and heavenly for earthly, from the everlasting Son of God himself, whose kingdom remains with the Father and with the Holy Spirit for all ages. ### Scripture references - Heb 10:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:35: quotation, high confidence - Prov 9:1: quotation, high confidence - John 12:1–8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:11–12: quotation, high confidence - Mark 14:6–7: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:5: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:26: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 3:5: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:5: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:16–17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 5:8: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 25:31–46: allusion, high confidence - Matt 25:45: quotation, high confidence - John 10:11: allusion, high confidence - John 14:21: quotation, high confidence - Ps 111:1 (110:1 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Isa 29:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:8: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:7: quotation, high confidence - Hos 7:4: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 5:10 (5:9 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - 1 John 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Prov 27:1: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 19:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:7: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:7: quotation, high confidence - Job 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Isa 62:11: echo, low confidence - Prov 19:17: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 15:14-16 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 3:30 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Tob 12:8 (Tobit): allusion, high confidence - Sir 29:12 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The title is unreadable in the digital text ('Contra' followed by three uncertainty marks). The sermon names the day as the Nativity ('born today'). Gaudentius says the Word entered the Virgin 'through his mother's ears' (conception through hearing), and that Mary remained a virgin after giving birth; translated exactly. - He mentions 'the dangers of the threatening barbarians' (probably the Gothic incursions into northern Italy about 401–408) and peasants on rich estates dying of hunger or living on church alms; he also rebukes landowners who allow idols and shrines on their estates. - 'As water extinguishes fire, so almsgiving resists sin' is Sir 3:30; 'He set before him fire and water' is Sir 15:14–16; 'Shut up alms in the heart of the poor' is Sir 29:12 (Vulgate 29:15); 'fasting with almsgiving' is Tob 12:8. 'Behold the man and his works' echoes Isa 62:11 / Rev 22:12 (uncertain). - Quotations: Heb 10:1; John 1:14; Luke 1:35; Prov 9:1; John 12:1–8; Matt 26:11–12; Mark 14:6–7; Matt 27:5; Rom 3:5; 2 Tim 2:5; Eph 6:16–17 (1 Thess 5:8); Matt 25:31–46; John 10:11; John 14:21; Ps 111:1 (110:1 Vulg.); Isa 29:13 (Matt 15:8); Gal 6:7; Hos 7:4; Eccl 5:10 (5:9 Vulg.); 1 John 3:17; Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.); Prov 27:1; Matt 19:21; Matt 5:7; 1 Tim 6:7; Job 1:21; Prov 19:17. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 13 (PL 20:933a–943b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/13). ## Tractates 14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/14/#p-14 - Source: PL 20:943b–948d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: On John 14:25–26: the sending of the Paraclete shows both the distinction of the persons and the one omnipresent divinity of the Trinity, as Psalm 139 confesses; the incarnation is to be received in faith, not probed by curiosity. ### Latin text De promissione adventus Paracleti. Ineffabilis providentia unigeniti filii Dei, veritatem fidei salutaris, quam pariter excipere humana corda non capiunt, paulatim dignatur suis aperire discipulis. Jam de unitate divinitatis suae cum patre plurima in superioribus dictis docuerat, sicut proximo Tractatu exposui: ostendens intantum nihil divisionis esse inter Patrem, et Filium, ut etiam sermonem suum, quem loqueretur, suum diceret non esse, nisi Patris esset. Dixerat enim: Et sermo meus, quem audistis, meus non est, sed ejus qui misit me, Patris· Quo dicto satis claruit, Patris contemptores esse universos doctrinam Filii unigeniti contemnentes; quoniam quem suum sermonem dicit Filius, hunc suum negat esse nisi sit Patris. Tunc enim Filii sermo est, si Patris sermo est; quia omnia quaecumque habet Pater, mea sunt, inquit. Et alio in loco ad Patrem dicit: Quoniam tua omnia mea sunt, et mea tua sunt; per unitatem videlicet divinae substantiae, quae nescit aliquid habere suum quod naturae suae non sit. Nunc autem subsequens adjungit statim, eamdem quoque sancti Spiritus unitatem credi oportere, dum plenitudinem doctrinae suae per ipsum Paracletum praedicit consummandam, dicens: Haec locutus sum vobis apud vos manens. Paracletus autem ille Spiritus sanctus quem mittet Pater meus in nomine meo, ille vos docebit omnia, et admonebit vos omnia quae ego dixi vobis. Praenuntiare quidem beatis Apostolis eloquio isto dignatus est et suum post incumbentem Passionem ad coelos regressum, et sancti Spiritus super eos de coelis adventum, cum dicit: Haec locutus sum vobis apud vos manens. Paracletus autem ille Spiritus sanctus quem mittet Pater meus. Sed neque Spiritus sanctus in coelo erat solum, et in terra non erat; neque Filius ita coelos ascensurus erat, ut terras relinqueret; neque Pater tantum coelestem thronum possidet, ubi remeare Filius, et unde sanctus venire Spiritus perhibetur. Nam propheta beatissimus hujusmodi confessionem refert ad Patrem: Quo ibo, inquit, a Spiritu tuo? et a facie tua quo vadam? Si ascendero in coelum, tu illic es: si descendero in infernum, ades: si sumpsero pennas meas in directum, et habitavero in postremo maris (Ps. cxxxiii). Si sumpsero, inquit, pennas meas, etc. Bene quod pennas suas habet, quibus assumptis, quocumque desiderat, penetrat. Caeterum qualiter propheta in corpore constitutus, vel in coelum ascensurus erat', vel in infernum descensurus, vel trans ultima maria perrecturus? Quas tandem, quas habet pennas? Alas fidei mens credentis assumit, ut sublimior a terrenis, et totus in spiritu constitutus, possit comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis, quae sit longitudo, et latitudo, et altitudo, et profundum scientiae Dei (Ephes. iii). Istas fidei alas haeretici non habentes, de Deo disputant, et per terrena volvuntur; et a sublimitate divini intellectus ad caduca, atque carnalia deducuntur, cogitationum terrestrium d pondere praegravati. Nec ad notitiam possunt illius immensae divinitatis accedere, ubi non habet nisi sola mens fidelis accessum, quae adorandae Trinitatis unitatem sentit, credit, confitetur, ac praedicat; el quoniam digne exprimere non potest, in eo vel maxime gloriatur. Quo ergo ibo, inquit, a Spiritu tuo? et a facie tua quo vadam? Si ascendero in coelum, tu illic es: si descendero in infernum, ades: si sumpsero pennas meas in directum et habitabo in postremo maris: etenim illic manus tua tenebit me, et deducet me dextera tua (Ps. cxxxvii). Indivisam Trinitatis naturam confessio ista signavit. Quo ibo, inquit, ab ipso nempe Paracleto, cujus plenitudinem sumentes Apostoli, promissionem Dei fatentur impletam Petri ore testantis: Hoc est quod dictum est per Joel prophetam: In novissimis diebus (dicit Dominus) effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem carnem (Act. ii, Joel ii). Et a facie tua quo vadam (Ps. cxxxviii)? A Filio scilicet, qui facies Patris est; quoniam Pater videtur in Filio, juxta ipsius Domini Salvatoris sententiam, qui obsecranti Philippo, Domine, ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis, ita respondit: Tanto tempore sum vobiscum: et non agnovistis me? Philippe, qui vidit me, videt et Patrem meum. Quomodo tu dicis: ostende nobis Patrem? Non credis quia ego in Patre, el Pater in me est (Joan. xiv)? Ne vero divisus putaretur vel Spiritus sanctus a Patre, cujus Spiritus est, vel Filius ab eo crederetur sejunctus, cujus et facies, et dextera, et sapientia, et virtus est; non ait: Si ascendero in coelum. Spiritus tuus illic est; vel, facies tua, et Spiritus tuus illic sunt: sed, tu, inquit, illic es: cum Filio utique, et cum Spiritu sancto; quoniam Trinitatis adorandae una eademque divinitas semper ubique est. Sed ut Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti, una traderetur credentibus fides, et distincta confessio, propterea Pater et Filium mittere, et Spiritum sanctum scribitur cum neque qui mittit, neque qui mittitur, Deus credi possit, si in quodam loco est, et in quodam loco non est. Ipsi Filio credamus loquenti, qui veritas est: Non sum solus, inquit, quia Pater mecum est (Joan. viii). Et iterum de Spiritu sancto: Si ego, inquit, in Spiritu Dei ejicio daemonia. Et Evangelista Lucas: Jesus autem plenus Spiritu sancto regressus est ab Jordane (Luc. iv). Cum igitur nusquam desit divinitas Trinitatis, dispensatio salutis nostre esi, quod mittens praedicatur, et missus. Aliter enim credere mens humana non caperet, Patrem Patrem esse, et Filium Filium, et Spiritum sanctum Spiritum sanctum, nisi distinctionem disceret ex nuncupatione mittentis ac missi. Et rursus unam divinitatem non agnosceret Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti, nisi missum legeret a mittente nullatenus separari. Nam nec Pater (ut praedictum est) missum deseruit Filium; nec Spiritus sanctus., qui dirigendus erat Apostolis, umquam Patri aut Filio defuisse monstratur: ita tamen ut Filius Dei tantum fuerit monstratus. Nam Verbum caro factum est (Joan. i), ut legimus, non Pater, uon Spiritus. Quomodo autem istud Incarnationis mysterium Filius Dei salva unitate Trinitatis impleverit, illa omnipotentia testis est qua idem Dei Filius sic cum corpore suscepti hominis ascendit ad coelos, ut usque ad finem saeculi cum suis discipulis permaneret. Ecce enim, inquit, ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi Usque ad consummationem saeculi, inquit, vobiscum sum (Matth. xxviii): non solum cum Apostolis, sed et cum discipulis utique credentibus universis. Credere itaque nos oportet non aliter este Deum, quam se ipse proprio sermone revelavit esse credendum. Facta quoque ejus non debemus rebelli spiritu discutere, sed fideli studio admirari, quoniam rectus est sermo Domini, et omnia opera ejus in fide (Ps. xxxii). Si omnia opera in fide, quanto magis istud opus sacratissima incorporationis ejus! Desinamus ergo fide neglecta, contumeliosis quaestionibus divinum pulsare mysterium. Nam scrupulositas haesitantis, Intelligentiam factorum Dei superflua curiositate non invenit, sed fidem perdit, quam constat esse ducem salutis ao vitae. Quod autem nimia scrupulositas fidem perdat, facile potest ex una specie divinae operationis intelligi: Dixit Deus: Fiat lux, et facta est lux (Gen. i). Cum non assequar, qualiter eam Creator ejus ex nihilo fecerit, nisi credidero tamen, et confessus fuero eam factam, mendacem Deum sacrilega cunctatione pronuntio. Universa itaque opera ejus, et praecipuum, divinumque opus Incarnationis Filii Dei (sicut Scripture sanctae praedicam) fideli affectu mens debet uniuscujusque credentis excipere, et quod stabili corde crediderit, fido oris obsequio confiteri; Corde enim creditur ad justitiam, ore autem fit confessio ad salutem (Rom. x). Quod vero plenitudinem doctrinae suae per sanctum pollicetur Spiritum retribuendam, aequalem suae omnipotentiae eum credi voluit. Non est enim in Trinitate Dominus, et servus; Deus, et Angelus; Creator, et creatura: sed est aliud idem; aliud persona, idem natura; ac proinde non dii, sed Deus, quia divisionem non capit unitas Deitatis. Ait denique ibi Christus de Spiritu sancto: Quem mittet Pater in nomine meo (Joan. xiv); id est in Dei nomine, Deum scilicet, sicut Filium, profitendum. Et ideo Filius Dei de se quidem dicit: Ego veni in nomine Patris mei; quod et Propheta de illo praedixerat, et pueri in Evangelio laudantes probaverant, dum clamarent: Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini (Matth. xxi). Recte in nomine Domini; non in nomine servi, quia Deus: non in suo, quia Filius: nomen enim Patris in Filio. De se ergo, inquam, dicit Filius: Ego veni in nomine Patris (Joan. v). De sancto autem Spiritu dicit: Quem mittet Pater meus in nomine meo (Joan. xiv). Et cum Baptismi opus in Trinitate decerneret celebrandum, non ait in nominibus, sed in nomine (Matth. xxviii). Pater enim Deus est, et Filius Deus est, et Spiritus sanctus Deus est, sicut sanctarum Scripturarum testimoniis dilectioni vestrae sa pius approbavi; ac propterea unum Trinitatis est nomen, eujus una virtus, atque divinitas, permanet in omnia saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) On the promise of the coming of the Paraclete. The ineffable providence of the only-begotten Son of God deigns to open little by little to his disciples the truth of saving faith, which human hearts cannot take in all at once. He had already taught much in the words above about the unity of his divinity with the Father, as I explained in the last discourse, showing that there is so little division between the Father and the Son that he said even the word he spoke was not his own unless it were the Father's. For he had said: "And the word that you have heard is not mine, but the Father's who sent me." By this saying it was made clear enough that all who despise the teaching of the only-begotten Son despise the Father; since the word which the Son calls his own he denies to be his unless it is the Father's. For the Son's word is his only if it is the Father's; because "all that the Father has is mine," he says. And in another place he says to the Father: "For all yours are mine, and mine are yours": through the unity, that is, of the divine substance, which does not know how to have anything of its own that is not of its nature. And now, following on, he adds at once that the same unity of the Holy Spirit too must be believed, when he foretells that the fullness of his teaching will be completed through the Paraclete himself, saying: "These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and will remind you of all that I have said to you." By this saying he deigned to foretell to the blessed apostles both his own return to heaven after his imminent passion and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them from heaven, when he says: "These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send." But neither was the Holy Spirit only in heaven and not on earth; nor was the Son going to ascend to heaven in such a way as to leave the earth; nor does the Father possess only the heavenly throne, to which the Son is said to return and from which the Holy Spirit is said to come. For the most blessed prophet makes a confession of this kind to the Father: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? And where shall I go from your face? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I go down into hell, you are present; if I take my wings straight on and dwell at the farthest part of the sea." "If I take my wings," he says, and so on. It is well that he has his wings, by taking which he penetrates wherever he desires. Otherwise, how was the prophet, placed in the body, to ascend into heaven, or go down into hell, or travel beyond the farthest seas? What wings, then, what wings does he have? The mind of the believer takes the wings of faith, so that, raised above earthly things and wholly placed in the spirit, it may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and breadth and height and depth of the knowledge of God. The heretics, not having these wings of faith, dispute about God and roll about among earthly things, and are led down from the height of divine understanding to perishable and fleshly things, weighed down by the weight of earthly thoughts. Nor can they approach the knowledge of that immense divinity, to which only the faithful mind has access, which perceives, believes, confesses and proclaims the unity of the Trinity to be adored; and since it cannot express it worthily, in this above all it glories. "Where then shall I go," he says, "from your Spirit? And where shall I go from your face? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I go down into hell, you are present; if I take my wings straight on and dwell at the farthest part of the sea, even there your hand will hold me, and your right hand will lead me." This confession has marked the undivided nature of the Trinity. "Where shall I go," he says, from the Paraclete himself, of course, whose fullness the apostles received and confessed that God's promise was fulfilled, as Peter's mouth testifies: "This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: In the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." "And where shall I go from your face?" From the Son, namely, who is the face of the Father; since the Father is seen in the Son, according to the sentence of the Lord Saviour himself, who answered Philip when he begged, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us": "Have I been with you so long, and you have not known me? Philip, he who has seen me sees my Father also. How do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?" And lest the Holy Spirit should be thought divided from the Father, whose Spirit he is, or the Son believed to be separated from him whose face and right hand and wisdom and power he is, he does not say, "If I ascend into heaven, your Spirit is there," or "your face and your Spirit are there," but "you," he says, "are there": with the Son, of course, and with the Holy Spirit; since the one and the same divinity of the Trinity to be adored is always everywhere. But so that one faith and a distinct confession of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit might be handed down to believers, it is written that the Father sends both the Son and the Holy Spirit; since neither the one who sends nor the one who is sent could be believed to be God if he were in one place and not in another. Let us believe the Son himself, who is the truth, when he says: "I am not alone, for the Father is with me." And again of the Holy Spirit: "If I," he says, "cast out demons by the Spirit of God." And the evangelist Luke: "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan." Since, then, the divinity of the Trinity is nowhere absent, it belongs to the dispensation of our salvation that one is proclaimed as sending and another as sent. For otherwise the human mind would not be able to believe that the Father is the Father, the Son the Son, and the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit, unless it learned the distinction from the naming of the one who sends and the one sent. And again it would not recognize the one divinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit unless it read that the one sent is in no way separated from the one who sends. For neither did the Father (as was said above) desert the Son whom he sent, nor is the Holy Spirit, who was to be directed to the apostles, ever shown to have been absent from the Father or the Son; yet in such a way that the Son of God alone was shown. For "the Word was made flesh," as we read, not the Father, not the Spirit. How the Son of God fulfilled this mystery of the incarnation while the unity of the Trinity was preserved, that omnipotence bears witness by which the same Son of God so ascended to heaven with the body of the man he had assumed that he remains with his disciples until the end of the age. "For behold," he says, "I am with you all days, until the consummation of the age." "Until the consummation of the age," he says, "I am with you": not only with the apostles but surely with all believing disciples. We must believe, then, that God is not otherwise than he has revealed by his own word that he is to be believed. Nor should we discuss his deeds with a rebellious spirit, but marvel at them with faithful zeal, since "the word of the Lord is upright, and all his works are in faith." If all his works are in faith, how much more this most sacred work of his incarnation! Let us cease, then, neglecting faith, to batter the divine mystery with insulting questions. For the scrupulousness of one who hesitates does not find the understanding of God's deeds by superfluous curiosity, but loses faith, which is clearly the guide to salvation and life. That excessive scrupulousness loses faith can easily be understood from one kind of divine working: "God said: Let there be light, and there was light." Although I do not grasp how its Creator made it from nothing, yet unless I believe and confess that it was made, I pronounce God a liar by a sacrilegious hesitation. All his works, then, and especially the divine work of the incarnation of the Son of God (as the holy Scriptures proclaim) the mind of each believer must receive with faithful affection, and confess with the faithful obedience of the mouth what it has believed with a steadfast heart; "for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And when he promises that the fullness of his teaching will be given through the Holy Spirit, he wished him to be believed equal to his own omnipotence. For in the Trinity there is not a Lord and a servant, God and an angel, Creator and creature; but there is another and the same: another in person, the same in nature; and therefore not gods but God, because the unity of the Deity does not admit division. Finally, Christ says there of the Holy Spirit: "Whom the Father will send in my name," that is, in the name of God, so that he is to be confessed as God, like the Son. And therefore the Son of God says of himself: "I have come in the name of my Father"; which the prophet too had foretold of him, and the children in the Gospel confirmed when they cried out in praise: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Rightly "in the name of the Lord": not in the name of a servant, because he is God; not in his own, because he is the Son; for the name of the Father is in the Son. Of himself, then, I say, the Son says: "I have come in the name of the Father." But of the Holy Spirit he says: "Whom my Father will send in my name." And when he decreed that the work of baptism should be celebrated in the Trinity, he did not say "in the names" but "in the name." For the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, as I have very often proved to your love by the testimonies of the holy Scriptures; and therefore the name of the Trinity is one, whose power and divinity are one and remain for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - John 14:24: quotation, high confidence - John 16:15: quotation, high confidence - John 17:10: quotation, high confidence - John 14:25–26: quotation, high confidence - Ps 139:7–10 (138:7-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Eph 3:18: quotation, high confidence - Acts 2:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Joel 2:28: quotation, high confidence - John 14:8–10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, medium confidence - John 8:16: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:28: quotation, high confidence - Luke 4:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:20: quotation, high confidence - Ps 33:4 (32:4 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:10: quotation, high confidence - John 5:43: quotation, high confidence - Ps 118:26 (117:26 Vulg.): allusion, high confidence - Matt 21:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:19: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - A Trinitarian sermon against those who subordinate the Son and the Spirit (probably Homoian Arians). 'Another in person, the same in nature' (aliud persona, idem natura) and 'not gods but God' are translated exactly. He reads 'in the name' (singular) of Matt 28:19 as the one name of the Trinity. - Quotations: John 14:24, 25–26; John 16:15; John 17:10; Ps 139:7–10 (138:7–10 Vulg.; the digital text's 'cxxxiii' and 'cxxxvii' are slips); Eph 3:18; Acts 2:16–17 (Joel 2:28); John 14:8–10; John 8:16, 29; Matt 12:28; Luke 4:1; John 1:14; Matt 28:20; Ps 33:4 (32:4 Vulg.); Gen 1:3; Rom 10:10; John 5:43; Ps 118:26 (117:26 Vulg.) with Matt 21:9; Matt 28:19. - The digital text has many OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 14 (PL 20:943b–948d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/14). ## Tractates 15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/14/#p-15 - Source: PL 20:948d–955a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: For the feast of the Maccabean martyrs: why Christians honour Jews who died rather than eat pork; the food laws taught continence and obedience, as the tree of paradise did, and the apostolic decree kept only abstinence from idol meats, blood, and sexual immorality. ### Latin text Die natali Machabaeorum. Si quis vestrum, fratres dilectissimi, fortasse miratur, Judaeos viros supplicia pro Legis praecepto perpessos, nunc a christiana plebe inter sanctos Martyres honorari; is profecto, si omnem sanctae religionis causam, rationem, ne cognoverit, intelliget, probabili, ac summo judicio id fuisse a nostris majoribus constitutum. Judaei erant isti ante adventum Domini Salvatoris, sub Lege tantum veteri conversantes; quique cognomentum Machabaeorum trahebant ex genero, sicut hodie Aniciorum progenies, vel si qua sunt hujusmodi nuncupationum vocabula, quae stirpem nobilitatis usurpent, ex divitiarum terrestrium cumulo descendentem; cum vera nobilitas non subsistat ex divitiis, sed cognoscatur in motibus. Quanto enim nobiliores isti septem pueri rege Antiocho! quinimmo quam clara in istis nobilitas fidei, et quam ignobilis in illo, ac poenalis nota perfidiae! Isti Deum Patrem colunt, ille diabolum: isti venerantur legem patriam, ille contra Deum rebellans, filium se fatetur esse diaboli. Cogebat enim contra praeceptum divinae Legis, ut suillas carnes comederent (II Mach. vii); non dubium quod sacrificio profano pollutas, coinquinatis enim, et infidelibus nihil mundum (Tit. i). Sed esto (ut quidam volunt) sacrificate diabolo carnes illae non fuerint, quia hoc ipsa scribens historia manifestius non deprompsit; attamen gravissimi erat, extremique delicti, praeceptum divinum vel blandientibus praemiis, vel suppliciis cruciantibus temerare. Praeceperat Judaeis Deus (Levit. xi, Deut. xiv), ne porcum, caeteraque similia manducarent; et erat hoc duplici de causa, fratres charissimi; sive ut luxuriosus populus flammam carnalium vitiorum calidis carnibus non nutriret, perhibentur enim calorem nimium praestare corporibus; sive ut porcorum more non viverent. Nam sues semper immundi sunt, et de fonte, vel de fluvio exeuntes, iterum volvuntur in coenum; nec umquam intuentur coelum, sed prono semper ad terram capite ventri deserviunt. Et idcirco Dominus (Matth. viii) legionem daemonum in gregem permisit ire porcorum; id est in eorum gregem qui tantum ventris sunt animalia, qui numquam coelestia intuentur, sed immunditiis semper dediti, et coeno sunt obliti vitiorum. Salubriter ergo Deus abstinentiam gulae, vel continentiam immundarum actionum imperavit; Lex enim sancta, et mandatum sanctum, et justum, et bonum (Rom. vii). Salutaria quippe mandata divina sunt; nam qui fecerit ea homo, vivet in illis. Sed finge, nihil noxietatis inesse suillis carnibus, nec ullum fomentum illecebris augere corporeis; quin etiam esse hodie omnia munda mundis, sanctificata per verbum Dei, et orationem: praecipientis tamen Dei erat potestas, et auctoritas cogitanda, qui istud jusserat tunc temporis observari. Nemo enim imperantem Dominum, aut sine poena sui sacrilegii discutit, aut impune contemnit. Nam neque in illa arbore inesse malum potuit quam inter caeteras arbores Paradisi bonus Creator plantaverat; cujus fructus ita erat speciosus, ac dulcis, ut concupiscentiam praestaret oculis, gulae conciliaret illecebram. Scriptum est enim: Et vidit mulier fructum ligni, quia gratus est ad aspectum, et dulcis ad escam: et accepit, et manducavit, et dedit viro suo (Gen. iii). Sed si forte dixeris, non omne quod gratum videtur, et dulce, bonum quoque esse, quia sint aliqua etiam mala, quae grata videantur, et dulcia; cedo, acquiesco, consentio. Mel enim distillat, ut ait Scriptura, a labiis mulieris meretricis, quee ad tempus impinguat fauces suas; novissimum autem amarius felle invenies, et acutius gladio utroque parte acuto (Prov. v). Et certe malum nihil est vel in specie, vel in sexu mulieris; sed est utique malum in voluntate peccantis, et per intemperantiam concupiscentiae transgredientis a legitimo jure conjugii. Nam et vini natura cum bona sit, recte tamen damnatur ebrietas. Audi modo generalem de creatis omnibus, divinae Scripturae sententiam: Et vidit Deus omnia quae fecit, et ecce bona valde (Gen. i). Tamen quia veritatis ratio postulabat, ut servilis humana conditio legem Dei dominantis acciperet; proprii arbitrii libertati permissa, unam Deus elegit arborem de omnibus lignis paradisi, non utique malam, sed in qua esse scientia boni et mali videretur; in qua servorum suorum obedientiam pertentaret, ut libertas arbitrii vel immortalitatis praemium possideret obediens, vel contemnens exciperet mortis interminatae sententiam. Manducavit homo, quia voluit; mandatum non custodivit, quia noluit: morte mulctatur, quia mandatum servare potuit et non studuit. Arbor quidem bona, et fructus quidem bonus; sed praevaricatio mandati mala, et contemptus Dei malus: atque ita malum non in fetu arboris est, sed in voluntate hominis transgressoris. Igitur si unius arbusculae fructus, contra Dei mandatum temere a protoplastis degustatus, mortem generi acquisivit humano, potuit et Machabaeis tunc sub Lege positis interitum parare, mandati divini transgressio; quibus nunc honorem, et gloriam, praecepti ejus custodia comparavit, fidem Dei in ipso viriliter, constanterque servantibus. Nam fidem Dei servat qui mandati ejus jura non violat; quoniam non idcirco illi manducare illicita noluerunt, quod horrorem paterentur in specie, sed contumeliam facere prohibenti Deo, justissime formidarunt. Qui in modico fidelis est, ait Dominus, et in magno fidelis est (Luc. xvi). In magno fuerunt isti fideles, cum idolothyta inter supplicia respuerunt: in parvo fuerunt fideles, cum solum ut carnes prohibitas non comederent, suas potius devorandas suppliciis tradiderunt. Insignior fides est quae nec in modicis violatur. Formam tolerantiae praebuerunt isti beatissimi fratres futuris post passionem Christi martyribus, ut intelligant, quanta animi magnitudine, et constantia pro Redemptoris nomine dimicare debeant, pro cujus mandato tam pertinaciter ipsi certassent. Nemini absurdum videatur quod eos paulo ante Aniciis comparavi. Anicii quippe ex Graeco sermone a nobis nuncupantur invicti. Exercuit enim varia suppliciorum genera in eorum corporibus crudelissimi tyranni feritas: et cum non valuisset constantiam fidei in sex fratribus atrocitate supplicii superare callidus persecutor, in septimo, quia esset junior, ad blandimentorum sese tormenta convertit; divitiarum praemiis, et honorum promissionibus puerum torquens, quem tamen detorquere non potuit. Erat enim fratrum suorum frater; et filius matris illius quae dum singulos filios pro Dei nomine puniri laeta et aspicit, et hortatur, tot martyria pertulit, quot pignora consecravit: septies in propriis passa visceribus, octava et ipsa accessit numero, ad octavum Christi resurrectionis diem cum charis pignoribus occursura. Unde non immerito praesumitur ista mater beatissima, Ecclesiae sanetae imaginem praemonstrasse, quae spirituales Deo filios parere consuevit, nihil de carne et sanguine cogitantes. Jam vero si quis a me superioris disputationis reliquias exigat, inquirens cur illi cibi qui fuerant causa continentiae in Lege prohibiti, non etiam nunc ejusdem rei gratia arceantur, breviter, ut sentio, respondebo. Sic ablatas fuisse de medio, legalium praeceptorum multiplices observationes reor, ut generalia praecepta in statu pristino perdurarent. Diximus, pudicitiae servandae causa, Judaico populo abstinentiam vel porcinae carnis, vel similium quadrupedum, nec non et quorumdam volatilium, atque piscium fuisse indictam: adhaerentibus licet typis rationabilium figurarum, quas doctor spiritualis propriis quibusque locis singillatim debet exponere: sed quoniam terrenorum mentes, perplexitate multiplicium mandatorum onerari potius, quam instrui videbantur, indefessa et in hac parte erga humanum genus divina providentia, per Prophetam promittitur Isaiam: Quoniam verbum abbreviatum faciet, inquit, Dominus super terram. Et idcirco beatus Jacobus cum caeteris Apostolis decretum tale constituit in Ecclesiis observandum: Ut abstineatis vos, inquit, ab immolatis, et a fornicatione, et a sanguine (Act. xv), id est a suffocatis. Praetermiserunt homicidium, adulterium, veneficia; quoniam nec nominari ea in Ecclesiis oporteret quae legibus etiam Gentilium punirentur: praetermiserunt quoque illas omnes minutias observationum legalium, et sola haec quae praediximus, custodienda sanxerunt, ne vel sacrificatis diabolo cibis profanemur immundis, vel ne emortuo per viscera suffocatorum animalium sanguine polluamur, vel ne immunditiis fornicationum corpora nostra, quae templa Dei sunt, violemus. Sic ergo permiserunt omnia manducari, ut fornicationem praeciperent fugiendam. Nostri jam debet esse moderaminis tantum laxare habenas licentiae, ne praecipites feramur in luxum, sed ut pudicitia tuta esse possit, quam beatus Paulus sine circumcisione gulae sciens custodiri non posse, sic ait: Omnia quidem munda sunt: et nihil abjiciendum quod cum gratiarum actione percipitur: sed malum est homini qui per offensionem manducat; id est qui offensionem patitur cum manducat. Et subjecit statim salutare consilium: Bonum est, inquit, non manducare carnem, neque bibere vinum, neque in quo frater tuus offenditur, aut scandalizatur, aut infirmatur. Quis ille conjunctior frater, quam homo noster exterior? cui ne nostra licentia vel offendiculum, vel infirmitatem, vel scandalum pariat, utendum est ciborum licentia, non abutendum; ut sciamus, nos non edendi causa esse natos, sed bene vivendi. Quapropter imperio animae carnis conditio obsecundet, ne effrenata licentia, ut ait Salomon (Proverb. xxx), servus regnet, et stultus saturetur, et ancilla ejiciat dominam suam, cum Lex praecipiat: Ejice ancillam, et filium ejus; non enim haeres erit filius ancillae cum filio meo Isaac (Gen. xxi). Ejiciamus ergo ancillam concupiscentiam, et filium ejus peccatum, ut efficiamur haeredes Dei, cohaeredes autem Christi, qui lignum crucis suae propriis portando humeris imaginem Passionis, quam sub umbra Legis in sancio Isaac praemonstraverat, in veritate hominis suscepti complevit, pretioso sanguine suo vitam nostram redimens ab aeternae mortis exilio. Ipse est enim nostra redemptio, cui omnis honor, virtus, et gloria, cum Patre, et cum Spiritu sancto, per omnia saecula. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) On the birthday of the Maccabees. If any of you, dearest brothers, perhaps wonders that Jewish men who suffered punishments for a precept of the Law are now honoured by the Christian people among the holy martyrs, he will surely understand, once he has learned the whole cause and reason of our holy religion, that this was established by our forefathers with a sound and supreme judgment. These men were Jews before the coming of the Lord and Saviour, living only under the old Law; and they took the surname of the Maccabees from their family, as today the descendants of the Anicii, or any other names of this kind which lay claim to a stock of nobility descending from a heap of earthly riches; whereas true nobility does not stand on riches but is known in conduct. For how much nobler were these seven boys than King Antiochus! Indeed, how bright in them was the nobility of faith, and how ignoble, and deserving of punishment, the mark of faithlessness in him! They worship God the Father, he the devil; they venerate their ancestral law, he, rebelling against God, declares himself a son of the devil. For he tried to force them, against the precept of the divine Law, to eat pork, no doubt defiled by a profane sacrifice; for "to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean." But suppose (as some would have it) that those meats were not sacrificed to the devil, since the history itself that records this did not bring it out more plainly; still it was a most grave and extreme offence to violate a divine precept, whether for flattering rewards or under torturing punishments. God had commanded the Jews not to eat the pig and other such animals; and this was for a twofold reason, dearest brothers: either so that a luxurious people might not feed the flame of base carnal desires with heating meats (for they are said to give the body excessive heat); or so that they might not live in the manner of pigs. For swine are always unclean, and, coming out of a spring or a river, they roll again in the mud; nor do they ever look at the sky, but with heads always bent to the ground they serve the belly. And therefore the Lord allowed the legion of demons to go into the herd of swine: that is, into the herd of those who are only animals of the belly, who never look at heavenly things, but, always given to uncleanness, are smeared with the mud of vices. Salutarily, then, he commanded abstinence of the palate and continence from unclean actions; for "the Law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good." The divine commandments are indeed saving; for "the man who does them shall live by them." But suppose there is nothing harmful in pork, and that it does not increase any kindling for bodily enticements; indeed, that today "all things are clean to the clean, sanctified by the word of God and prayer": still the power and authority of God who commanded must be considered, who had ordered this to be observed at that time. For no one either discusses the Lord's command without the punishment of his sacrilege or despises it with impunity. For neither could there be evil in that tree which the good Creator had planted among the other trees of paradise, whose fruit was so beautiful and sweet that it offered desire to the eyes and won the enticement of the palate. For it is written: "And the woman saw the fruit of the tree, that it was pleasing to the sight and sweet for food; and she took and ate, and gave to her husband." But if perhaps you say that not everything that seems pleasing and sweet is also good, because there are some evil things too which seem pleasing and sweet, I grant it, I agree, I consent. For honey drips, as Scripture says, from the lips of a harlot woman, who for a time makes her throat smooth; but in the end you will find her more bitter than gall and sharper than a two-edged sword. And certainly there is no evil in the appearance or in the sex of a woman; but evil there certainly is in the will of the one who sins and, through intemperance of desire, transgresses the lawful right of marriage. For the nature of wine too is good, yet drunkenness is rightly condemned. Hear now the general sentence of the divine Scripture about all created things: "And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good." Yet since the reason of truth required that the servile human condition, left to the freedom of its own choice, should receive a law from God its master, God chose one tree out of all the trees of paradise, not an evil one, but one in which there seemed to be the knowledge of good and evil; in which he might test the obedience of his servants, so that freedom of choice, if obedient, might possess the reward of immortality, or, if despising, might receive the sentence of the death that had been threatened. Man ate, because he willed to; he did not keep the commandment, because he did not will to; he is punished with death, because he could keep the commandment and did not care to. The tree was good, and the fruit was good; but the transgression of the commandment was evil, and the contempt of God was evil; and so the evil is not in the fruit of the tree but in the will of the transgressing man. If, then, the fruit of one little tree, rashly tasted by the first-formed against God's command, brought death to the human race, the transgression of the divine commandment could also have prepared destruction for the Maccabees, placed as they then were under the Law; whereas the keeping of his precept has won them honour and glory now, since they kept faith with God in it manfully and steadfastly. For he keeps faith with God who does not violate the rights of his commandment; for they refused to eat what was unlawful not because they felt horror at its appearance, but because they most justly feared to insult God, who forbade it. "He who is faithful in a little," says the Lord, "is faithful also in much." They were faithful in much when, amid punishments, they rejected meats offered to idols; they were faithful in little when, only so as not to eat forbidden meats, they handed over their own flesh to be devoured by punishments. More remarkable is the faith that is not violated even in small things. These most blessed brothers gave a pattern of endurance to the martyrs who would come after the passion of Christ, so that they might understand with what greatness and constancy of soul they must fight for the name of the Redeemer, when they themselves had contended so persistently for his commandment. Let it not seem absurd to anyone that a little while ago I compared them to the Anicii. For the Anicii are named by us from the Greek word for "unconquered." For the savagery of the most cruel tyrant practised various kinds of punishments on their bodies; and when the cunning persecutor had not been able to overcome the constancy of faith in six brothers by the atrocity of punishment, in the seventh, because he was younger, he turned to the torments of flattery, torturing the boy with rewards of riches and promises of honours; yet he could not turn him aside. For he was the brother of his brothers, and the son of that mother who, while she joyfully watched and encouraged her sons one by one being punished for God's name, endured as many martyrdoms as the children she consecrated: having suffered seven times in her own inward parts, she herself added the eighth to the number, to go to meet the eighth day of Christ's resurrection with her dear children. Hence it is presumed, not without reason, that this most blessed mother prefigured the image of the holy church, which is accustomed to bear spiritual sons to God who think nothing of flesh and blood. Now if anyone asks me for what remains of the earlier discussion, inquiring why those foods which had been forbidden in the Law for the sake of continence are not still kept away now for the same reason, I shall answer briefly, as I think. I believe that the many observances of the legal precepts were removed from the midst in such a way that the general precepts remained in their former state. We have said that abstinence from pork, or from similar quadrupeds, and from certain birds and fish too, was imposed on the Jewish people for the sake of preserving chastity, although types of reasonable figures are attached to them, which the spiritual teacher must explain one by one in their own places. But since the minds of earthly men seemed to be burdened rather than instructed by the complexity of many commandments, the divine providence, unwearied in this respect too toward the human race, is promised through the prophet Isaiah: "For the Lord will make a shortened word upon the earth." And therefore blessed James with the other apostles established such a decree to be observed in the churches: "That you abstain," he says, "from things sacrificed, and from sexual immorality, and from blood," that is, from what is strangled. They passed over murder, adultery, poisonings, since things which are punished even by the laws of the Gentiles ought not even to be named in the churches; they passed over also all those minutiae of legal observances, and decreed that only these things we have mentioned should be kept, so that we should not be profaned by unclean foods sacrificed to the devil, or be polluted by blood dead within the inward parts of strangled animals, or violate our bodies, which are temples of God, with the uncleanness of sexual immorality. So they permitted all things to be eaten in such a way as to command that sexual immorality be fled. It must now be a matter of our own moderation to loosen the reins of licence only so far that we are not carried headlong into luxury, but that chastity may be safe; which blessed Paul, knowing that it cannot be guarded without circumcision of the palate, speaks thus: "All things indeed are clean, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving; but it is evil for the man who eats with offence": that is, who suffers offence when he eats. And he added at once a saving counsel: "It is good," he says, "not to eat meat nor to drink wine, nor anything by which your brother is offended, or scandalized, or weakened." Who is that more closely joined brother than our outer man? So that our licence may not bring it a stumbling block, or weakness, or scandal, we must use the freedom of foods, not abuse it, so that we may know that we were born not for the sake of eating but of living well. Therefore let the condition of the flesh obey the command of the soul, lest, by unbridled licence, as Solomon says, the servant reign, and the fool be filled, and the maidservant cast out her mistress; whereas the Law commands: "Cast out the maidservant and her son; for the son of the maidservant shall not be heir with my son Isaac." Let us cast out, then, the maidservant desire and her son sin, so that we may become heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, who, carrying the wood of his cross on his own shoulders, fulfilled in the reality of the man he had assumed the image of his passion which he had shown beforehand in holy Isaac under the shadow of the Law, redeeming our life by his precious blood from the exile of eternal death. For he is our redemption, to whom be all honour, power and glory, with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, for all ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Titus 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Lev 11:7: allusion, high confidence - Deut 14:8: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:31–32: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:12: quotation, high confidence - Lev 18:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 4:4–5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Prov 5:3–4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:31: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:17: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:10: quotation, high confidence - Isa 10:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 9:28: allusion, high confidence - Acts 15:20: quotation, high confidence - Acts 15:29: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:19: allusion, high confidence - Rom 14:20–21: quotation, high confidence - Prov 30:22–23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 21:10: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:30: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 22:6: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - 2 Macc 7:1-42 (2 Maccabees): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Anicii were a leading senatorial family of Rome; Gaudentius derives their name from Greek ἀνίκητος, 'unconquered'. The 'eighth day' is the day of the resurrection. The Maccabean story is 2 Macc 7, which he cites as history. - On the apostolic decree (Acts 15:20, 29) he reads 'blood' as 'what is strangled' and says the apostles omitted murder, adultery and poisoning because even pagan law punished them. 'Our outer man' as the 'brother' who must not be offended is his allegory of Rom 14:21. - Quotations: Titus 1:15; Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8; Matt 8:31–32; Rom 7:12; Lev 18:5 (Rom 10:5); Titus 1:15 with 1 Tim 4:4–5; Gen 3:6; Prov 5:3–4; Gen 1:31; Gen 2:17; Luke 16:10; Isa 10:23 (Rom 9:28, 'a shortened word'); Acts 15:20, 29; 1 Cor 6:19; Rom 14:20–21; Prov 30:22–23; Gen 21:10 (Gal 4:30); Rom 8:17; Gen 22:6. - The digital text has OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 15 (PL 20:948d–955a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/15). ## Tractates 16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/14/#p-16 - Source: PL 20:955a–959b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: Gaudentius's sermon on the day of his consecration as bishop of Brescia: he accepted only under pressure from Ambrose, the bishops, and the people's oath, praises his predecessor Philastrius, and asks Ambrose, as Peter's successor and mouth of the bishops, to preach after him. ### Latin text In eo quod S. Episcopum prima die ordinationis ip- Imperitiae meae conscius, et aetatis ipsius immaturae ad sacerdotii dignitatem pudore deterritus, merito silendi licentiam a summis sacerdotibus postulabam. Metuo enim primum, ne virtus verborum coelestium exiguitatis meae sermone tenuetur: deinde erubesco, quod tantae exspectationi optatum doctrinae fructum praestare non valeo. Unde imparem me vestro desiderio per omnia sentiens, onus istud totis viribus conatus sum declinare. Sed beatus Pater Ambrosius, caeterique venerandi antistites, sacramento, quo temere vos ipsos obligastis, astricti, tales ad me epistolas cum vestra legatione miserunt, ut sine damno animae meae ultra jam resistere non valerem, cui ab Orientalibus quoque episcopis, nisi meum ad vos reditum pollicerer, salutaris communio negaretur. Tali igitur conclusus articulo, et auctoritate Sanctorum praesentium subjugatus, suscepi hoc summi sacerdotii munus, nec merito dignus, nec aetate aptabilis, nec doctrina maturus. Intuemini ergo, quid patiar, qui cum loqui nesciam, tacere non possum. Cogor enim seniorum praecepto obsequi ultra vires meas, nec potestatem silendi habens, nec facundiam proloquendi. Sed spiritualium Patrum salutaria esse praecepta, divinae Legis auctoritate perspiciens, audeo in verba prorumpere, ac tenuem vestris auribus inferre sermonem; quem idcirco forsitan patienter accipitis, quoniam populo Christi utile videatur, obedientiam, quae et sacrificio divino praeponitur, et mandatis Dei omnibus antefertur, exemplo discere praedicantis (I Reg. xv). Nam cum populus Hebraeorum post AEgyptia illa portenta, ad unius Dei notitiam vocaretur, primam didicit obedientiam, tamquam ducem servandorum coelestium mandatorum. Sic enim Scriptura testatur: Audi, Israel, Dominus Deus tuus, Dominus unus est (Deut. vi). Et iterum: Audi, Israel, praecepta vitae (Deut. iv). Hoc quod dicitur, Audi, non audientiam, ut opinor, simplicem sonat, sed observanda· Legis obedientiam praedicat, testante rursum Domino, ac dicente: Si volueritis, et audieritis me, quae bona sunt terrae manducabitis (Is. i). Quod si secundum beati Pauli apostoli sententiam, non auditores, sed factores Legis justificabuntur apud Deum (Rom. ii); non jam videbitur perfunctoria ista auditio, quae bonorum terrae praemiis honoratur, ct non cujuslibet terrae, sed illius olim promisse, illius fluentis lac et mei. Promissionis enim terra Christi caro est, ex massa humani generis de terra formati suscepta, ac dulcibus divinae gratiae succis exuberans; cujus purissimo doctrinae lacte alimur ct nutrimur; cujus coelestium charismatum suavitate reficimur; cujus ubertate credentium corda pinguescunt; cujus bonis obedientium mentes, animaeque fidelium, et in hoc, et in futuro saeculo saginantur. Quonam ergo haec spectat tractatio? Nempe ut vestra dilectio evidenter intelligat, quanta vis meam compulerit parvitatem arduis obsecundare praeceptis, atque aperire os meum sub tantorum praesentia sacerdotum; et maxime post illam venerandae memoriae patris mei Philastrii eruditissimam vocem, quae per gratiam Spiritus sancti large effluens, hanc Ecclesiam in fide Trinitatis adoranda· fundavit, in vera spe, et charitate perfecta constituit, ad virtutes erexit, in pace reliquit. Haec ad excusationem, illius, quae in me reprehendi potuisset, audaciae, breviter dixisse sufficiat. Nunc vero sanctarum lectionum puteus altus est, et ego hauritorium verbi non habens, aquam vivam sitientibus vobis interim ministrare non possum. Obsecro communem patrem Ambrosium, ut post exiguum rorem sermonis mei, ipse irriget corda vestra divinarum mysteriis litterarum. Loquetur enim Spiritu sancto, quo plenus est, et flumina de ventre ejus fluent aquae vivae, et tamquam Petri apostoli successor, Ipse erit os universorum circumstantium sacerdotum. Nam cum Dominus Jesus interrogaret apostolos: Vos autem quem me esse dicitis (Matth. xvi)? solus Petrus omnium credentium ore respondit: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Quid statim muneris accepit ista confessio? beatitudinem scilicet, regnique coelestis gloriosissimam potestatem. Solus ergo cum loquitur Petrus, nequaquam reliquorum credentium fides excluditur. Sed congruus ordo servatur, dum principi Apostolorum primus loquendi locus jure defertur; ne tumultus quidam magis quam responsio videretur, si tunc universi certatim ac pariter respondissent. Dicat forte aliquis, sicut illos tres in camino fideles pueros (Dan. iii), ita in hoc examine omnes Apostolos consona voce debuisse eadem profiteri. Sed considerandum quia Judas ille Iscariotes quod corde non crediderat, ore confiteri non poterat: et neque beatitudinem merebatur incredulus, neque ante diri facinoris perpetrationem, justi Judicis poterat sententia praedamnari. Postea vero pro commisso scelere jam damnato Juda, omnes Apostoli Christo surgente, in Petro claves accipiunt; quinimmo cum Petro coelestis regni claves ab ipso Domino accipiunt, quando ait illis: Accipite Spiritum sanctum: quorum peccata dimiseritis, dimissa erunt. Et iterum: Euntes, inquit, docete omnes gentes, et baptizate eas in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti (Matth. xxviii). Janua quippe regni coelorum nonnisi hac Sacramentorum spiritualium clave reseratur. Precentur modo hi omnes apostolici sacerdotes misericordiam Dei Patris, qui suscitavit de terra inopem, et de stercore erexit pauperem, ut faceret eum sedere cum principibus populi sui (Ps. cxii); ut etiam sancti Spiritus virtutem ad Ecclesiae suae gubernaculum tenendum mihi minimo omnium largiri dignetur, per unigenitum Filium suum Redemptorem nostrum, cum quo vivit et regnat semper Deus, in unitate Spiritus sancti, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) [Sermon which the holy bishop gave on the first day of his ordination.] Conscious of my lack of skill, and deterred by shame at my own age, too young for the dignity of the priesthood, I rightly asked the chief priests for leave to be silent. For I fear, first, that the power of the heavenly words may be weakened by the speech of my smallness; and then I blush that I cannot give so great an expectation the hoped-for fruit of teaching. Hence, feeling myself in every way unequal to your desire, I tried with all my strength to decline this burden. But the blessed father Ambrose and the other venerable bishops, bound by the oath by which you rashly bound yourselves, sent me such letters together with your delegation that I could no longer resist without harm to my soul, since even the Eastern bishops would have denied me saving communion unless I promised to return to you. Shut in, then, at such a point, and subdued by the authority of the saints here present, I have taken up this office of the high priesthood, neither worthy by merit, nor fitted by age, nor mature in learning. Consider, then, what I suffer, who, though I do not know how to speak, cannot keep silent. For I am compelled to obey the command of my elders beyond my strength, having neither the power to be silent nor the eloquence to speak out. But perceiving, by the authority of the divine Law, that the precepts of spiritual fathers are saving, I dare to break into words and to bring a slender speech to your ears; which you will perhaps receive patiently for this reason, that it may seem useful to Christ's people to learn, by the example of the preacher, obedience, which is set before the divine sacrifice and preferred to all God's commandments. For when the people of the Hebrews, after those Egyptian portents, was called to the knowledge of the one God, it first learned obedience, as the leader in keeping the heavenly commandments. For so Scripture testifies: "Hear, Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord." And again: "Hear, Israel, the precepts of life." This "Hear" does not, I think, mean simple hearing, but proclaims the obedience of keeping the Law, as the Lord testifies again, saying: "If you are willing and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land." But if, according to the sentence of the blessed apostle Paul, not the hearers but the doers of the Law will be justified before God, this hearing which is honoured with the reward of the good things of the land will no longer seem perfunctory; and not of any land, but of that land once promised, flowing with milk and honey. For the land of promise is the flesh of Christ, taken from the mass of the human race formed from the earth, and overflowing with the sweet juices of divine grace; by the purest milk of whose teaching we are fed and nourished; by the sweetness of whose heavenly gifts we are refreshed; by whose richness the hearts of believers grow fat; with whose good things the minds of the obedient and the souls of the faithful are filled, both in this age and in the age to come. To what, then, does this discussion look? Surely so that your love may clearly understand how great a force compelled my littleness to comply with hard commands and to open my mouth in the presence of such great priests; and above all after that most learned voice of my father Philastrius, of venerable memory, which, flowing out abundantly by the grace of the Holy Spirit, founded this church in the faith of the Trinity to be adored, established it in true hope and perfect love, raised it up to virtues, and left it in peace. Let it suffice to have said this briefly to excuse the boldness that could have been blamed in me. But now the well of the holy readings is deep, and I, not having a bucket for the word, cannot for the present serve living water to you who thirst. I beg our common father Ambrose that, after the little dew of my speech, he himself may water your hearts with the mysteries of the divine writings. For he will speak by the Holy Spirit, of whom he is full, and rivers of living water will flow from his belly; and, as a successor of the apostle Peter, he will be the mouth of all the priests standing round. For when the Lord Jesus asked the apostles, "But who do you say that I am?", Peter alone answered with the mouth of all believers: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." What reward did this confession at once receive? Blessedness, namely, and the most glorious power of the heavenly kingdom. When Peter alone speaks, then, the faith of the other believers is by no means excluded. But a fitting order is kept, when the first place in speaking is rightly given to the prince of the apostles, lest it should seem a kind of uproar rather than an answer if all had then answered together and in rivalry. Someone may say that, like those three faithful boys in the furnace, all the apostles ought in this examination to have professed the same things with one voice. But we must consider that Judas Iscariot could not confess with his mouth what he had not believed in his heart; and neither did the unbeliever deserve blessedness, nor could he be condemned beforehand by the sentence of the just Judge before he committed his dreadful crime. But afterwards, when Judas had already been condemned for the crime he committed, all the apostles, when Christ rose, receive the keys in Peter; or rather, they receive the keys of the heavenly kingdom with Peter from the Lord himself, when he says to them: "Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven." And again: "Go," he says, "teach all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." For the door of the kingdom of heaven is unlocked only by this key of the spiritual sacraments. Let all these apostolic priests now pray to the mercy of God the Father, "who raised up the needy from the earth and lifted the poor from the dunghill, to make him sit with the princes of his people," that he may deign to bestow on me, the least of all, the power of the Holy Spirit too for holding the helm of his church, through his only-begotten Son our Redeemer, with whom he lives and reigns always as God, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - 1 Sam 15:22: allusion, high confidence - Deut 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Deut 4:1: quotation, medium confidence - Isa 1:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:13: allusion, high confidence - Exod 3:8: allusion, high confidence - John 4:11: allusion, high confidence - John 7:38: allusion, high confidence - Matt 16:15–19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:10: allusion, medium confidence - John 20:22–23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:19: quotation, high confidence - Ps 113:7–8 (112:7-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The heading is broken in the digital text ('In eo quod S. Episcopum prima die ordinationis ip-'); the bracketed title is supplied by sense. Gaudentius was called back from a journey in the East; the Eastern bishops threatened to deny him communion unless he returned to Brescia. - On Matt 16 he says Peter answered 'with the mouth of all believers' and that all the apostles received the keys 'in Peter', or 'with Peter', at John 20:22–23; he calls Ambrose 'a successor of the apostle Peter'. These are translated exactly, without comment. - Quotations: 1 Sam 15:22; Deut 6:4; Deut 4:1; Isa 1:19; Rom 2:13; Exod 3:8; John 4:11; John 7:38; Matt 16:15–19; Dan 3:51 (the hymn of the three young men in the furnace, Greek addition to Daniel); Rom 10:10; John 20:22–23; Matt 28:19; Ps 113:7–8 (112:7–8 Vulg.). ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 16 (PL 20:955a–959b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/16). ## Tractates 17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/17/#p-17 - Source: PL 20:959b–971b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: At the dedication of his basilica of the 'Assembly of the Saints' in Brescia, Gaudentius lists its relics (John the Baptist, Andrew, Thomas, Luke, Gervasius and Protasius, Nazarius, the martyrs of Anaunia, and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, received from Basil's nieces at Caesarea) and retells the martyrdom of the Forty. ### Latin text Die dedicationis basilicae Concilii Sanctorum. Divinis muneribus, et coelestibus beneficiis condignas referre gratias pusillitas nostra non praevalet, fratres charissimi. Nam ut venerandas Sanctorum reliquias haberemus, Deus noster tribuit: deinde ut hanc honori eorum fundare basilicam valeremus, ipse largitus est; et hodie ut adepti summorum sacerdotum praesentiam, dedicationem celebrare mereamur, ipse concessit. Convenerunt enim sancti antistites, et apostolici viri, ad persolvendum beatissimis patribus, et praeceptoribus suis debitae devotionis obsequium, ut ubertate plenissima benedictionum spiritualium ditaremur; licet importunitas barbarorum maximam partem celebritatis diei hodierno subtraxerit, ne caeteri sancti antistites, quos interfuturos credidimus, advenirent. Jam qui sunt isti quorum beatis reliquiis illustramur, hinc incipiam numerare. Primo in loco Joannes Baptista est, ultimus quidem, sed maximus Prophetarum: novissimus tempore, quia omnis Lex, et Prophetae usque ad Joannem; sed merito prior, et dignitate praestantior, quia ita de illo Christus loquitur ad Judaeos: Quid existis in deserto videre? Prophetam? dico vobis et plusquam prophetam. Hic est enim de quo scriptum est: Ecce mitto Angelum meum ante faciem tuam, qui praeparabit viam tuam. Uno testimonio Salvatoris beatissimus Joannes Baptista et angelus, et apostolus, et propheta praecipuus declaratur. Vere enim Dei est angelus, qui praecursor, et nuntius Christi est: vere apostolus est, qui missus a Deo est, destinatus enim nuncupatur apostolus. Fuit, inquit, homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Joannes. Idcirco autem sanctus ipse propheta dicitur, et plusquam propheta, quia Christum et sua, et omnium prophetarum voce praedictum, digito meruit demonstrare; dicens: Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Post hunc habemus Andream beatissimum, primum Joannis ipsius discipulum, deinde Salvatoris; quem priorem Christus apostolum scribitur elegisse. Erat, inquit, Andreas frater Simonis Petri unus ex duobus qui audierant ab Joanne, Ecce Agnus Dei, et secuti erant eum. Invenit hic primum fratrem suum Simonem, et dixit ei: Invenimus Messiam (quod est interpretatum Christus). Et adduxit eum ad Jesum. Tertius beatus Thomas, qui post resurrectionem Christi solus desideravit, solusque obtinuit, ut membra Christi curiosis quidem, sed utique dignis manibus contrectaret. Ardentis siquidem desiderii fuit illud, non incredulitatis, quod condiscipulis suis, qui ipso absente Dominum viderant, ait: Nisi videro, et contrectavero, non credam. Erat enim valde anxius, ne non et oculis frueretur eo quod corde credebat; ne privaretur aspectu illius lucis qua se exteri apostoli illuminatos gloriabantur. Satiavit esurientem Dominus, cujus manet illa promissio: Beati qui esuriunt, et sitiunt justitiam, quoniam ipsi saturabuntur. Apparuit secundo Apostolis, ut Thomae desiderium adimpleret: profuit cupiditas ejus et caeteris; nec ipse minus aliquid habet, quia posterior Christum videt, Nam detrimenta prioris aspectus visu pariter, et attactu compensat; qui utique, si juxta opinionem quorumdam infidelis fuisset, Christus illi post resurrectionem suam apparere non fuerat dignatus. Scriptum est enim: Quoniam invenitur ab his qui non tentant eum: apparet vero his qui fidem habent in ipsum. Quod autem dixit illi Salvator: Noli esse incredulus, sed credens; et: quia vidisti, credidisti: beati qui non viderunt, et crediderunt; informare in eo voluit omnes postea credituros, ut populus noster, similis Thomae qui absens erat quando apparuit Christus apostolis, relationi eorum indubitatam fidem commodet; nec exigat in carne conspicere quem testimonio apostolorum, post passionem crucis resurrexisse, et visum fuisse didicerit. Neque enim postquam regressus est ad coelos, solis in hoc mundo virtutibus praesens, debet quotidie pro cujuscumque voluntate, singulis, universisque credentibus, in corpore apparere. Sufficiat nobis, quoniam sancti Thomae curiositas, ambiguitatis futurae scrupulo satisfecit. Quod enim absens fuit, quod avidius et videre, et attrectare Dominum perquisivit, totum nostrae procurabatur saluti; ut evidentius nosceremus resurrectionis Dominicae veritatem, quam beatus Thomas ob necessariam curiositatem providenter reprehensus affirmat, dicens ei: Dominus meus, et Deus meus. Quartus Lucas est evangelista, qui beatos Apostolos pari merito subsecutus, et Evangelii librum, el Actus Apostolorum, miranda examinatione conscripsit. Horum quatuor beatas habemus in praesenti reliquias, qui regnum Dei, et justitiam praedicantes, ab incredulis, et iniquis occisi, Deo semper vivere operationum suarum virtutibus demonstrantur. Joannes in Sebastena urbe provinciae Palaestinae, Thomas apud Indos, Andreas et Lucas apud Patras Achaiae civitatem, consummati referuntur. Post istos habemus Gervasium. Protasium, atque Nazarium, beatissimos martyres, qui se ante paucos annos apud urbem Mediolanensem sancto sacerdoti Ambrosio revelare dignati sunt, quorum sanguinem tenemus gypso collectum, nihil amplius requirentes; tenemus enim sanguinem, qui testis est passionis. Recepimus etiam sanctos cineres Sisinnii, Martyrii, et Alexandri, quos nuper in Anaunia venerandae religionis cultui attentius inhaerentes gens interfecit sacrilega, flammisque adhibitis concremavit, ut holocaustum Deo ipsi fierent, qui Christianos suos victimas daemoniis ministrare, increpatione justissima vetuissent. Jam quid post istos decem, de Quadraginta Martyribus dignum loquar, qui se itineri meo, cum per urbes Cappadociae Jerusalem pergerem, fideles comites praebere dignati sunt? In ipsa enim maxima Cappadociae civitate, quae appellatur Caesarea, ubi habent iidem beatissimi insigne. Martyrium, repetimus quasdam Dei famulas, monasterii sanctarum virginum dignissimas matres, prorsus Mariae, et Marthae consimiles, quas merito diligat Jesus; natura, fide, et studio, et castitatis integritate germanas. Quibus ab avunculo suo summo sacerdote, ac beato confessore Basilio, olim tradita; fuerant horum martyrum venerandae reliquiae, quas desiderio nostro incunctanter, ac fideliter tribuerunt; idoneos veneratores tanti nos esse muneris approbantes, simulque sub testificatione Domini confitentes, se semper orasse Deum nostrum, ut haec tam pretiosa possessio in tales transfunderetur haeredes qui eam consimili fide, diligentiaque percolerent; qui studii, ac venerationis ipsarum et successores, et augmentatores existerent; quoniam essent ipsae in annis senilibus constitutae, et transmigrationem de hoc mundo suam quotidie exspectarent. Exaudita est ecce fidelis oratio, Venerabiles ipsas Martyrum quadraginta reliquias populis credentibus hodie proponimus percolendas, licet eis ex illo jam tempore celebritas debita numquam defuisse nostri cognoscatur officii, praeclari? eorum beneficiis salutariter mancipata. Sed jam quo ordine ad martyrii gloriam pervenerim ipsi beatissimi, breviter enarrabo; quamvis ad prosequendas eorum laudes imparem me esse confitear. Plane habent idoneum suis meritis, dignissimumque praeconem, beatae recordationis virum, confessorem Basilium, Ecclesiae Caesariensis antistitem, cujus eloquentia singularis, et sermo Apostolico sale conditus, paupertatem mei retundit ingenii. Quid enim a me inferri novum potest quod non ille in eorum laudibus ubertate eloquii sui opulenter effuderit, copiose ornaverit, signanter expresserit? Ingentis quippe difficultatis est, easdem virtutes diversis sermonibus praedicare. Aggrediar tamen instituendae dilectionis vestrae causa, vel historiam replicare gestorum. Milites erant isti in partibus minoris Armeniae constituti, florentes aetatibus, corporum proceritate sublimes, experientia belligerandi laudabiles, stipendiis militaribus virtutum suarum merito honorati, et, quod haec omnia supergreditur, Christiani; atque ad omnem probitatem morum, bono venerandae religionis ornati, ct spiritualibus armis. doctrinae coelestis instructi. Statim denique ubi tuba persecutionis increpuit, fortissimos Christi milites amor fidei praecinxit ad bellum. Piam cum feralia edicta. sacrilegi regis proponi a judicante coepissent, quibus praecipiebatur ne quisquam vel privatus, vel miles, Christianum proferre nomen auderet, sed ut omnis populus sacrificare daemonibus cogeretur; sponte prorumpunt in medium, Christianos se esse clarissima voce testantur, seque ab hoc salutari cultu nullis terroribus divelli posse pronuntiant. Intuitus constantiam juvenum terribilis persecutor, seposita auctoritate, blandis eos hortatur alloquiis, ne vellent hac pertinacia uti, ne erga imperatorem suum contumeliosi existerent, ne ejus praecepta contemnerent, ne alias devotissimi, in hoc facto offensam regis maximam provocarent, a quo magis beneficia, et honores pro hac specialiter obedientia sperare deberent. Indecorum certe bellatoribus viris esse, ut inter ignavos, et noxios, morte turpissima deperirent. Cogitandum illis esse juventutis suae florem, et jucunditatem lucis hujus ac vitae, quam sine respectu ullius rationis imprudentes amittere suaderentur. Talibus auditis Christiani viri, meritoque mirabiles, venenatas perniciosi hortatoris blanditias non solum constantibus animis respuerunt, verum etiam responsione acerrima refutarunt. Quid tu, aiunt, omnium nequissime, contra Deum rebellare ausus, famulos ejus verbis fallacibus supplantare conaris? Quid nos a cultu Dei veri, et vivi, ad mortua daemonum simulacra inclinare contendis? Quid honorum terrestrium caducis promissionibus, et inanium rerum praestigiis, animos nostros e vigore fidei coelestis depravare pertentas? Exsecramur munera, quae detrimentum salutis important; repudiamus honores, qui auferunt illam gloriam sempiternam; reprobamus amicitias regis, quae nos a charitate Dei separare desiderant; respuimus et hanc temporalem nostri corporis vitam, quae cum periculo fidei servata animae acquirit interitum; postremo nec suppliciis praesentibus deterremur. Tradimus carnem poenis, quascumque irrogare volueris, ne abnegantes Christum Deum, ad tormenta perpetua demergamur, quae diabolo, et vobis ministris ejus sunt ab initio praeparata. Tunc ille judex iniquitatis, hujusmodi dictis accensus, furorem suum, quem paulo ante subtilius explere voluerat, excogitata supplicii novitate geminavit. Perspiciens enim regionis naturam nimiis rigentem frigoribus, tempus etiam, quo maxima hiemis asperitas Aquilone flante violentius incumbebat; montes nivibus, pruinis arva tegebantur; liquores agnoscere suam naturam solis ignibus cogebantur; stupebant ingenti glacie torrentium fluminum cursus; stagnum quoque urbi in qua ista gerebantur, subjacens, longe lateque diffusum, validissimo gelu durante, iter solidum plaustris gementibus commodabat. Hac ergo vi loci, vel temporis immanitate perspecta, sacrilegii Gentilis exactor, istud supplicii genus sanctis adhiberi imperat, ut nudatis corporibus religati in aperti aeris pruinosa duritie pernoctarent, balneis longe sub conspectu eorum fumantibus; ubi velox remedium victis callidus persecutor, animas eorum magis interficere gestiens, promittebat. Sed beatissimi martyres, Spiritu sancto ferventes, vestibus suis procul abjectis, festini ad stadium properant, coronam tanto certamini propositam coelitus intuentes. Deinde hortatibus mutuis patientiae, vires accendunt, gloriam regni caelestis poenis praesentibus praeferunt, et hoc inter caetera replicantes: quod qui pro salute regis terreni hostiles gladios formidare contempsimus, cur non pro fide Dei, ac Domini nostri Jesu Christi regis aeterni, omnes irrogatos nostro corpori cruciatus, aequo animo patiamur, ocius ad aeternae lucis beatitudinem, vitamque perpetuam, gloriosae mortis compendio transituri? Inter pruinas ardebat Fides, et coelestes animi desiderio Christi fervebant. Urebat acritudo nimii frigoris lucentes rigentium corporum cutes: at occupatae erga Dei amorem religiosae mentes amoenitatem paradisi cogitabant. Terebrabantur penetralia viscerum gelu, ita ut medullas ossium gravissimis cruciatibus internus quidam glacialis tortor urgeret: et animorum virtus immobilis, cursus sui metas aspiciens, de proxima consummatione gaudebat, fideli tolerantia promissum Dei munus exspectans. Sed unus ex eorum numero, brevissimi adhuc, et jam supremi doloris impatiens, rogare miser coepit ut ad balneas duceretur. Miles interea, cui sollicitudo injuncta fuerat ut illud mortis lavacrum victis quibusque reseraret, dum curiosis oculis de loco sublimi agonem virorum spectat insignium, rei exitum captans, videt ducem coelestis militiae descendentem cum multitudine angelorum, et fortissimis bellatoribus claras vestes, atque opima singillatim praemia erogantem, quae solus ille miserabilis cujus fidem diabolus fregerat, non accepit. Ducitur infelix ad balneas; ibique confestim caloris afflatu, quo se animandum crediderat, exanimatus, et vitam perdidit, et coronam. Luctuosum facinus gratulatio inopinata subsequitur. Repente ejus locum supradictae visionis admirator invadit; nudat membra optato supplicio; se esse Christianum clamore ingenti congeminat, quem spectaculi illius admirabilis virtus, subito ex Gentili verum fecerat Christianum. Tenetur continuo professionis suae reus; ligatur volens, et secantibus vinculis crudeliter innodatur; perseverat adstrictus, gloriatur in poena, spe divinae remunerationis effertur. Crescit inter supplicia fides Christi: augetur inter tormenta dilectio. Nam sensu apostolico testabatur: Me nulla suppliciorum vis, nulla immanitas tormentorum poterit separare a charitate Dei, quae est in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. In mediis cruciatibus novus martyr, instruente Spiritu sancto, eruditur et proficit; moritur et triumphat. Trinitas adoranda testem suum inter poenas fideliter permanentem, martyrio ipso ad vicem baptismi, gloriosius et abluit, et emundat, et ad coelorum regna perducit. Commoritur denique quadragesimus iste sanctus cum sanctis, ut sacer numerus, quem Salvator jejuniis honoraverat, compleretur; sicut ipsi beati martyres orasse memorantur. Post hac jussit carnifices, defunctorum corpora longius transportata ignibus concremare. Relinquebant unum, qui adhuc vivere putabatur, si forte mutaret in pejus ipsa solitudine voluntatem. Ibi ejus venerabilis mater, quae talem filium bono sapientiae coelestis lacte nutriverat, cucurrit ad cadaver spirantis filii, et propriis eum manibus vehiculo quo corpora aliorum congesta ad pyram trahebantur, imposuit. Vade, inquit, nate, istam bonam viam, salvus cum coaetaneis tuis, et gloriosus ad Dominum. O admirabilis, et vere digna mater martyris! quinimo et ipsa jam martyr; quae propriis visceribus non pepercit, dum sua membra pro Christi nomine puniri laetatur in filio. Jam vero nec illud in postrema parte reticemus, quod cum cineres exustorum corporum, mandato persecutoris, in fluvium jacerentur, non defuerunt religiosae manus, quae partem cineris vel furto eriperent, vel pretio compararent. Hinc et Ecclesia Caesariensis exsultat, et nostra fraternitas non immerito gloriatur, reservatum sibi providentia Dei salutare munus intelligens. Portionem reliquiarum sumpsimus, et nihil nos minus possidere confidimus, dum totos quadraginta in suis favillis honorantes amplectimur: sicut illa in Evangelio (Matth. ix, Luc. viii) fidelis mulier quae per fimbriam Christi salvata est, oram tenuit vestimenti, et virtutem divinitatis exegit: attactu fimbriae medelam credenti fides traxit, et salutem quam praesumpserat, acquisivit. Itaque pars ipsa quam meruimus, plenitudo est; dividi enim quadraginta isti martyres ab invicem nullo modo possunt, quorum sunt inseparabiles et indiscrete reliquiae. Nam sicut animas eorum igneus ille Spiritus Dei, salutaris fidei unitate conjunxit (Erat enim omnium credentium cor unum, et anima una), ita etiam membra eorum concremans ignis in unum favillae corpus redegit Habemus ergo et hos quadraginta, et praedictos decem sanctos, ex diversis terrarum partibus congregatos; unde hanc ipsam basilicam eorum meritis dedicatam, concilium sanctorum nuncupari oportere decernimus. Dignum est enim, ut ad tantorum Martyrum venerandas reliquias processuri, ad concilium sanctorum nos procedere fateamur. Tot igitur justorum patrocinio adjuvandi, tota fide, omnique desiderio, supplices secundum eorum vestigia curramus; ut ipsis intercedentibus, universa quae poscimus, adipisci mereamur, magnificantes Christum Dominum tanti muneris largitorem; cui omnis honor, virtus, et gloria, cum Patre, et, cum Spiritu sancto, ante omnia, et nunc, et semper, et in cuncta saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) On the day of the dedication of the basilica of the Assembly of the Saints. Our littleness cannot give thanks worthy of the divine gifts and heavenly benefits, dearest brothers. For our God granted that we should have the venerable relics of the saints; then he bestowed on us the power to found this basilica in their honour; and today he has granted that, having obtained the presence of the chief priests, we may be counted worthy to celebrate its dedication. For the holy bishops and apostolic men have come together to pay the homage of due devotion to their most blessed fathers and teachers, so that we might be enriched with a most abundant fullness of spiritual blessings; although the troublesomeness of the barbarians has taken away the greatest part of today's celebration, so that the other holy bishops, whom we believed would be present, did not come. Now I shall begin to count, from here, who these are by whose blessed relics we are made illustrious. In the first place is John the Baptist, the last indeed but the greatest of the prophets: latest in time, because all the Law and the prophets were until John; but first in merit and more excellent in dignity, because Christ speaks thus of him to the Jews: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A prophet? I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way." By one testimony of the Saviour the most blessed John the Baptist is declared angel, apostle, and chief prophet. For he is truly God's angel who is the forerunner and messenger of Christ; he is truly an apostle who was sent by God, for one who is sent is called an apostle: "There was a man," it says, "sent from God, whose name was John." And the holy man is called a prophet and more than a prophet because he was counted worthy to point out with his finger the Christ foretold by his own voice and by that of all the prophets, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world." After him we have the most blessed Andrew, first a disciple of John himself, then of the Saviour, whom Christ is written to have chosen as an apostle before the others: "Andrew," it says, "the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard John say, Behold the Lamb of God, and had followed him. He first found his brother Simon and said to him: We have found the Messiah (which is interpreted Christ). And he brought him to Jesus." Third is blessed Thomas, who after Christ's resurrection alone desired, and alone obtained, to touch Christ's limbs with hands that were curious, indeed, but surely worthy. For it came from burning desire, not from unbelief, that he said to his fellow disciples who had seen the Lord in his absence: "Unless I see and touch, I will not believe." For he was very anxious lest he should not enjoy with his eyes too what he believed in his heart; lest he should be deprived of the sight of that light by which the other apostles boasted that they had been enlightened. The Lord satisfied him in his hunger, he whose promise stands: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." He appeared a second time to the apostles to fulfil Thomas's desire; his longing profited the others too; nor does he himself have anything less because he sees Christ later. For he makes up the loss of the first sight by sight and touch together; and certainly, if he had been an unbeliever, as some think, Christ would not have deigned to appear to him after his resurrection. For it is written: "For he is found by those who do not test him, and appears to those who have faith in him." But when the Saviour said to him, "Do not be unbelieving, but believing," and "Because you have seen, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and have believed," he wished in him to shape all who would believe afterwards; so that our people, like Thomas, who was absent when Christ appeared to the apostles, should give undoubting faith to their report, and not demand to see in the flesh him whom it has learned, by the testimony of the apostles, to have risen after the passion of the cross and to have been seen. For after he returned to heaven, present in this world by his powers alone, he ought not to appear daily in the body to each and all believers at anyone's wish. Let it suffice us that holy Thomas's curiosity has satisfied the scruple of future doubt. For that he was absent, that he sought more eagerly both to see and to touch the Lord, was all arranged for our salvation, so that we might know more clearly the truth of the Lord's resurrection, which blessed Thomas, providently reproved for a necessary curiosity, affirms, saying to him: "My Lord and my God." Fourth is Luke the evangelist, who followed the blessed apostles with equal merit and wrote both the book of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles with wonderful exactness. Of these four we have the blessed relics here present, who, preaching the kingdom of God and righteousness, were killed by the unbelieving and wicked, and are shown by the powers of their workings to live always to God. John is said to have been perfected in the city of Sebaste in the province of Palestine, Thomas among the Indians, Andrew and Luke at Patras, a city of Achaia. After these we have the most blessed martyrs Gervasius, Protasius and Nazarius, who a few years ago deigned to reveal themselves to the holy priest Ambrose at the city of Milan; of whom we hold the blood, collected in plaster, asking for nothing more; for we hold the blood, which is the witness of the passion. We have also received the holy ashes of Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander, whom a sacrilegious people in the Anaunia recently killed, as they clung more earnestly to the worship of our venerable religion, and burned with fire applied, so that they became a burnt offering to God themselves, who had forbidden, with most just rebuke, that his Christians should serve as victims to demons. Now what shall I say worthy, after these ten, of the Forty Martyrs, who deigned to offer themselves as faithful companions of my journey when I was travelling through the cities of Cappadocia to Jerusalem? For in the greatest city of Cappadocia itself, which is called Caesarea, where the same most blessed ones have a famous martyr-shrine, we found certain handmaids of God, most worthy mothers of a monastery of holy virgins, altogether like Mary and Martha, whom Jesus rightly loves; sisters by nature, by faith, by zeal, and by the integrity of chastity. To them the venerable relics of these martyrs had long ago been handed down by their uncle, the high priest and blessed confessor Basil; and they gave them to our desire without hesitation and faithfully, approving us as fit venerators of a splendid gift, and at the same time confessing, with the Lord as witness, that they had always prayed our God that so precious a possession might pass to such heirs as would honour it with like faith and diligence, who would be both successors and increasers of their own zeal and veneration; since they were already in advanced years and daily expected their departure from this world. Behold, the faithful prayer has been heard. We set before the believing peoples today the venerable relics of the Forty Martyrs to be honoured, although it is known that from that time the due celebration of our office has never been lacking to them, since we have been salutarily bound to their splendid benefits. But now I shall briefly tell in what order the most blessed ones themselves came to the glory of martyrdom; although I confess that I am unequal to pursuing their praises. They have indeed a herald fit for their merits and most worthy, a man of blessed memory, the confessor Basil, bishop of the church of Caesarea, whose singular eloquence and speech seasoned with apostolic salt blunts the poverty of my wit. For what new thing can I bring that he did not pour out richly in their praises with the abundance of his eloquence, adorn copiously, and express strikingly? For it is of huge difficulty to proclaim the same virtues in different words. I shall attempt, nevertheless, for the instruction of your love, at least to go over again the history of what was done. These men were soldiers stationed in the parts of Lesser Armenia, in the flower of their age, tall of body, praiseworthy for experience in war, honoured with military pay for the merit of their valour, and, what surpasses all this, Christians; adorned with every uprightness of conduct, with the good of our venerable religion, and instructed with the spiritual weapons of heavenly teaching. At once, when the trumpet of persecution sounded, love of the faith girded the bravest soldiers of Christ for battle. For when the deadly edicts of a sacrilegious king began to be posted by the judge, by which it was commanded that no one, whether civilian or soldier, should dare to profess the Christian name, but that the whole people should be compelled to sacrifice to demons, they burst forth of their own accord into the open, testify with the clearest voice that they are Christians, and declare that they cannot be torn from this saving worship by any terrors. The dreadful persecutor, seeing the constancy of the young men, laid aside his authority and urged them with flattering speeches not to use this obstinacy, not to show themselves insulting toward their emperor, not to despise his commands, not, devoted as they were in other matters, to provoke the king's greatest offence by this deed, from whom they ought rather to hope for benefits and honours for this obedience in particular. It was surely unbecoming for warriors, he said, to perish by a most shameful death among the cowardly and the guilty. They ought to think of the flower of their youth and the pleasantness of this light and life, which they were being persuaded foolishly to lose without regard to any reason. Hearing this, the Christian men, and rightly wonderful, not only rejected with constant minds the poisoned flatteries of the deadly persuader but also refuted them with a most sharp answer. "Why," they say, "most wicked of all, having dared to rebel against God, do you try to trip up his servants with deceitful words? Why do you strive to bend us from the worship of the true and living God to the dead images of demons? Why do you attempt to corrupt our minds from the vigour of the heavenly faith with the perishable promises of earthly honours and the illusions of empty things? We curse gifts that bring the loss of salvation; we reject honours that take away that everlasting glory; we spurn the friendship of the king, which seeks to separate us from the love of God; we reject this temporal life of our body too, which, kept at the peril of faith, gains destruction for the soul; finally, we are not deterred by present punishments. We hand over our flesh to whatever penalties you wish to inflict, so that we may not, by denying Christ God, be plunged into the perpetual torments which have been prepared from the beginning for the devil and for you, his ministers." Then that judge of iniquity, inflamed by such words, doubled his fury, which a little before he had wished to satisfy more subtly, by devising a novel kind of punishment. For he observed the nature of the region, stiff with excessive cold, and the season too, when the greatest harshness of winter pressed more violently with the north wind blowing; the mountains were covered with snow, the fields with frost; liquids were compelled to recognize their own nature only by the fires of the sun; the courses of the rushing rivers were numbed with huge ice; and the pool too lying below the city in which these things took place, spread far and wide, offered, as the hard frost held, a solid road to groaning wagons. Having observed this force of the place and the savagery of the season, the exactor of Gentile sacrilege commands this kind of punishment to be applied to the saints: that they should spend the night bound, with bodies stripped, in the frosty hardness of the open air, with baths steaming in sight of them some way off; where the cunning persecutor, wishing rather to kill their souls, promised a swift remedy to those who were defeated. But the most blessed martyrs, fervent in the Holy Spirit, throwing their clothes far away, hasten to the stadium, beholding the crown set from heaven for so great a contest. Then by mutual exhortations they kindle the strength of patience, prefer the glory of the heavenly kingdom to present punishments, and among other things repeat this: "We who for the safety of an earthly king scorned to fear the swords of the enemy, why should we not, for the faith of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal King, bear with calm minds all the torments inflicted on our body, so as to pass the more quickly, by the short road of a glorious death, to the blessedness of eternal light and perpetual life?" Amid the frosts faith was burning, and heavenly minds were glowing with desire for Christ. The sharpness of the excessive cold burned the shining skins of their stiffening bodies; but their devout minds, occupied with the love of God, thought of the pleasantness of paradise. The inner parts of their bowels were pierced by the frost, so that an inward icy torturer pressed the marrow of their bones with most grievous torments; and the unmoved strength of their souls, looking at the goal of its course, rejoiced at its near completion, awaiting with faithful endurance the promised gift of God. But one of their number, unable to bear a pain that was very brief and already the last, began, poor wretch, to ask to be taken to the baths. Meanwhile the soldier who had been charged to open that bath of death to any who were defeated, while he watched with curious eyes from a high place the contest of these remarkable men, waiting for the outcome, sees the leader of the heavenly army coming down with a multitude of angels and giving the bravest warriors, one by one, bright garments and rich rewards, which only that wretched man, whose faith the devil had broken, did not receive. The unhappy man is taken to the baths; and there at once, by the breath of the heat by which he had believed he would be revived, he died, and lost both life and crown. An unexpected rejoicing follows the mournful deed. Suddenly the man who had marvelled at the vision described takes his place; he strips his limbs for the longed-for punishment; he cries again and again with a great shout that he is a Christian, he whom the power of that wonderful spectacle had suddenly made, from a Gentile, a true Christian. He is held at once, guilty of his profession; he is bound willingly and cruelly knotted with cutting chains; he perseveres in his bonds, glories in the punishment, is lifted up by the hope of the divine reward. Faith in Christ grows amid punishments; love increases amid torments. For he testified in the apostolic sense: "No force of punishments, no savagery of torments will be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." In the midst of torments the new martyr, instructed by the Holy Spirit, is taught and advances; he dies and triumphs. The Trinity to be adored washes, cleanses, and leads to the kingdom of heaven more gloriously, by martyrdom itself in place of baptism, its witness who remained faithful amid the punishments. This fortieth saint dies at last with the saints, so that the sacred number which the Saviour had honoured with his fasting might be completed, as the blessed martyrs themselves are recorded to have prayed. After this he ordered the executioners to carry the bodies of the dead some distance and burn them with fire. They were leaving one who was thought still to be alive, in case perhaps the solitude itself should change his will for the worse. There his venerable mother, who had nourished such a son with the good milk of heavenly wisdom, ran to the body of her still-breathing son and with her own hands placed him on the cart by which the bodies of the others, heaped together, were being dragged to the pyre. "Go, my son," she says, "on this good road, safe with your companions, and glorious, to the Lord." O admirable mother, and truly worthy of a martyr! Indeed, a martyr herself; who did not spare her own flesh, while she rejoices that her own limbs are punished in her son for Christ's name. Nor, in the last part, shall we keep silent about this: that when the ashes of the burned bodies were thrown into the river by the persecutor's command, there were not lacking devout hands which either snatched part of the ashes by stealth or bought it at a price. Hence both the church of Caesarea exults and our brotherhood not undeservedly glories, understanding that a saving gift has been kept for it by the providence of God. We have received a portion of the relics, and we trust that we possess nothing less, since in their ashes we honour and embrace all forty: like that faithful woman in the Gospel who was saved through Christ's fringe; she held the hem of his garment and drew out the power of his divinity; by the touch of the fringe faith drew healing for the believer and obtained the salvation it had presumed. And so the part we have been counted worthy of is the fullness; for these forty martyrs cannot in any way be divided from one another, whose relics are inseparable and undistinguishable. For as that fiery Spirit of God joined their souls in the unity of saving faith (for "the heart and soul of all the believers was one"), so also the fire, burning their limbs, reduced them into one body of ash. We have, then, both these forty and the ten saints named above, gathered from different parts of the earth; and therefore we decree that this basilica, dedicated to their merits, ought to be called the Assembly of the Saints. For it is fitting that when we go forth to the venerable relics of so many martyrs we should profess that we are going forth to the assembly of the saints. Helped, then, by the patronage of so many just men, let us run in supplication in their footsteps with all faith and all desire, so that by their intercession we may be counted worthy to obtain all that we ask, magnifying Christ the Lord, the giver of so great a gift; to whom be all honour, power and glory, with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, before all ages, and now, and always, and for all ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Matt 11:13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:9–10: quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:6: quotation, high confidence - John 1:29: quotation, high confidence - John 1:40–42: quotation, high confidence - John 20:25–29: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:6: quotation, high confidence - John 11:5: allusion, medium confidence - Col 4:6: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 25:41: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 12:11: allusion, low confidence - Rom 8:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 9:20–22: allusion, high confidence - Luke 8:43–48: allusion, high confidence - Acts 4:32: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 1:2 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Basil, Hom. 19 (Homilies and Sermons): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The relics, their sources, and the veneration and intercession of the saints are reported as Gaudentius gives them. The martyrs of the Anaunia (Val di Non, near Trent) died in 397, which helps date the sermon to about 400–405; the 'troublesomeness of the barbarians' probably refers to the Gothic invasions of Italy. - His account of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (ca. 320) follows Basil of Caesarea's homily on them, which he names; the persecuting 'king' is Licinius. He says the fortieth martyr, the converted guard, was cleansed by martyrdom 'in place of baptism'. - 'He is found by those who do not test him…' is Wis 1:2. Quotations: Matt 11:13; Matt 11:9–10 (Mal 3:1); John 1:6; John 1:29; John 1:40–42; John 20:25–29; Matt 5:6; Rom 8:39; Matt 4:2; Matt 9:20–22 (Luke 8:43–48); Acts 4:32; Col 4:6 (speech seasoned with salt); John 11:5 (Mary and Martha). ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 17 (PL 20:959b–971b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/17). ## Tractates 18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/18/#p-18 - Source: PL 20:971b–981b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: A letter to Serminius on the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1–13): its plain lesson is almsgiving with goods entrusted by God; allegorically the steward is the devil, who 'lowers the debts' by weakening faith (wheat) and good works (oil) through heresy and vainglory. ### Latin text Seu responsio S. Episcopi ad Serminium de villico iniquitatis. Servo Christi Serminio Gaudentius episcopus. Sapientem virum semper convenit dicta sapientiae cogitare, hisque intelligendis omne acumen ingenii, omnem vigorem mentis intendere. Et idcirco tu, qui et mundanae sapientiae litteris eruditus es., et veram Dei sapientiam per sacras litteras didicisti, operata navare non desinis ad perquirendos interiores sensus verborum Christi, quem Dei esse virtutem, Deique sapientiam, docente Apostolo. non ignoras. Nam inter extera divinae Legis eloquia, quoram dissertionem frequenter exigis, hoc etiam specialiter postulasti; ut parabolam de Villico iniquitatis valde difficilem cujus nemo nostrum tibi idoneus videretur Interpres, ego scriptis propriis explanarem. Explanationem vero ipsam litteris tradi ideo forsitan vis, ut chirographum teneas responsionis meae de capitulo, ut ipse fateris, obscurissimo. Sed non formidabo vel eloqui interrogatus, vel etiam scribere pro pusillitate sensus mei, salva fidei ratione, quid sentiam. Ac primum, charissime, ipsius lectionis verba ponenda sunt, et ita demum ratio est aperienda dictorum, Refert in Evangelii sui libro beatus Lucas: Dicebat, Inquit Dominus Jesus ad discipulos suos parabolam: Homo quidam erat dives, qui habebat villicum: ·et hic delatus est quasi dissiparet facultates ejus. Et vocato eo ait illi: Quid hoc audio de te? Redde rationem, villicationis tuae, jam enim non poteris villicare. Ait autem villicus intra se; Quid faciam, quia Dominus meus aufert a me villicationem? fodere non valeo, mendicare erubesco. Scio quid faciam, ut, cum amotus fuero de villicatione, recipiant me in domos suas. Et convocans unumquemque debitorem Domini sui, dicebat primo: Quantum debes Domino meo? At ille dixit: Centum batos olei. Et ait illi: Accipe litteras tuas: et sedens cito scribe quinquaginta. Deinde alii: Tu vero quantum debes? At ille ait: Centum coros tritici. Et ait illi: Accipe litteras tuas, et scribe octoginta. Et laudavit Dominus villicum iniquitatis, quia prudenter fecit: quoniam filii hujus saeculi prudentiores quam filii lucis in generatione sua sunt. Et ego vobis dico: facite vobis amicas de mammona iniquitatis: ut, cum defeceritis, recipiant vos in aeterna tabernacula. Qui fidelis est in minimo, et in multo fidelis est: et qui in minimo iniquus est, et in multo iniquus est. Si ergo in iniquo mammona fideles non fuistis, quod verum est quis credet vobis? Et si in alieno fideles non fuistis, quod vestrum est quis dabit vobis? Nemo potest servus duobus dominis servire: aut enim unum oderit, et alterum diliget; aut unum patietur, et alterum contemnet. Non potestis Deo servire, et mammonae (Luc. xvi). Perfecti doctoris est, ad erudiendos discipulos, similitudines earum rerum proponere quae in conversatione humani generis frequentantur, ut auditor idoneus, ad operandi studium comparationis magisterio informetur; nec dubitet hoc opus aggredi quod possibile ac necessarium esse, parabolae imago monstraverit. Et idcirco Dominus Jesus, salutarium mandatorum verus magister, discipulos suos, vel tunc apostolos, vel, nunc universos credentes, incitare volens ad eleemosynas fideliter exercendas, similitudinem proposuit Villici, ut exemplo hujus personae nihil esse nostrum in saeculo isto signaret, sed nobis creditam esse dispensationem facultatum Domini nostri, vel ad utendum ex eis sufficienter cum gratiarum actione, vel ad distribuendum conservis, prout cuique opus est; nec licere nobis passim facultatibus abuti commissis, aut in expensas usurpare superfluas, eum sit erogationis ratio Domino venienti reddenda. Denique post finem parabolae sic adjecit: Et ego dico vobis: facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis, ut, cum defeceritis, recipiant vos in aeterna tabernacula; id est amicos vobis pauperes facite de terrenis facultatibus quas iniquitas humanae avaritiae sibi vindicat, nc hominibus Dei ex ejus rebus quidquam impertiat. Mammona enim sermone Syro pecunia, sive divitae, nuncupantur. Facite ergo vobis, inquit, amicos pauperes de mammona iniquitatis, ut, cum defeceritis, eadem substantia in pauperum necessitates erogata, atque consumpta, recipiant vos in aeterna tabernacula; iidem videlicet pauperes amici conciliandae salutis, in quibus Christus remunerator aeternus se hujus humanitatis fatebitur officia percepisse. Recipient ergo nos non ipsi omnino pauperes per semet ipsos, sed per eum qui in illis obedientiae, ac fidei nostrae fructu reficitur, suscepturus ministros pietatis hujus in aeterna tabernacula regni caelestis. Dicit enim: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, possidete regnum quod vobis paratum est ab origine mundi: esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare: sitivi, et dedistis mihi bibere: peregrinus eram, et collegistis me: nudus, et cooperuistis me: infirmus, et visitastis me: in carcere eram, et venistis ad me. Quibus verecunde, ac reverenter excusantibus: Domine, quando te vidimus in his necessitatibus, et ministravimus tibi? respondebit dicens; Amen dico vobis, cum fecistis uni ex minimis istis, mihi fecistis. Nulli itaque absurdum videatur quod illi nos dicantur suscipere quorum causa suscipimur; cum et ipse susceptor noster Dominus Jesus, qui necessitatibus humanis non subjacet, se in illis esurisse, el sitisse, et peregrinum, et nudum, et infirmum, et carceratum fuisse, perhibeat. Facite ergo vobis, ait, amicos de mammona iniquitatis, ut, cum defecertis, recipiant vos in aeterna tabernacula. Et post pauca: Si in iniquo mammona fideles non fuistis, quod verum est, quis credet vobis? Enim vero, dilectissime, quis ei qui terrenas facultates, iniquitatis plerumque materiam suggerentes, dispensare fideliter nesciat, committendas putet esse veras coelestium rerum divitias, quibus fidelis distributor, ac justus, rite, meritoque perfruitur? Nam gloria et divitiae in domo ejus, et justitia ejus manet in saeculum saeculi. Statim denique sermo ille Dominicus ita conjungitur: Et si in alieno fideles non fuistis, quod vestrum est quis dabit vobis? Profecto enim quidquid in hoc saeculo est, alienum nobis est; qui retributionem futuram sperantes, velut hospites et peregrini in hoc mundo conversari jubemur, ut unusquisque nostrum securus Domino audeat confiteri: Advena ego sum, et peregrinus, sicut omnes patres mei. Propria vero credentibus, et aeterna possessio est illa coelestis, ubi esse cor, et thesaurum nostrum novimus (Matth. vi): ubi jam toto affectu mentis, per fidem nos habitare praesumimus; quoniam juxta beati Pauli doctrinam, conversatio nostra in coelis est. Nostrum est igitur coelorum regnum, si pollicenti Domino, in humilitate cordis, et spiritus mansuetudine serviamus. Beati enim pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum. Quod utique regnum non potest adipisci omnis qui in alieno hujus saeculi patrimonio temporarie sibi credito, idoneus, ac fidelis dispensator non fuerit; unde alio in loco dicebat Dominus: * Quam difficile qui pecunias habent, intrabunt in regnum Dei! Et in fine lectionis hujus ait: Non potestis Deo, et mammona* servire. Dei enim Christi servos, atque discipulos, imperare oportet pecuniae, non servire; ne, dum cupiditati ejus obedimus, a charitate servitutis ejus, dominante pecunia, separemur. Dispergendae sunt ergo pecuniae indigentibus, secundum praeceptum Creatoris omnium Dei; quoniam neque nostrae sunt, neque illas sine iniquitate, ac sui pernicie, avarus quisquam detinet. Nam juxta sententiam Salvatoris aditum regni coelorum suis retentoribus intercludunt, et facilius est camelum per foramen acus transire, quam divitem intrare in regnum Dei: illum nempe divitem, qui sit ob horrorem turpis avaritiae camelo infirmior. Gravis pecuniarum sarcina est, quae tenacium sui mentes avaritiae pondere ad terram deprimit, nec emergere ad superna, coelumque suspicere, ubi vita nostra est, omnino permittit; cum doceat beatus Apostolus: Si consurrexistis cum Christo, quae sursum sunt quaerite, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens: quae sursum sunt sapite, non quae super terram. Mortui enim estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo. Cum Christus apparuerit vita vestra, tunc et vos apparebitis cum ipso in gloria. Quoniam vero arcta et angusta via est quae ducit ad vitam, oneratos divitiarum terrestrium fascibus ingredi per illam non capit. Expeditos quaerit ac tenues, omnique continentia castigatos; et (ut ita dixerim) filo gracili similes, qui etiam per foramen illius mysticae acus facile transeant, spiritales effecti. Haec est ratio, et utilitas parabolae hujus, cui primum, juxta quod jubetur, parendum est: et ita intellectus secretior, si reperiri valeat, inquirendus est; quia non in sermone est regnum Dei, sed in virtute. Et non auditores tantum, sed factores Legis justificabuntur apud Deum; nec potest aliquis liquido comprehendere interiorem scientiam divini eloquii. Apostolo protestante: O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! quam imperscrutabilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae ejus! Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit? Et alio in loco, cum de Adam et Eva, sacramentum divini sermonis nimium grande sentiret, et loqui illud digne non posset, ait: Mysterium hoc grande est: ego autem dico in Christo et in Ecclesia. Vis autem nosse, quod ad aeternam vitam non per notitiam secretorum, sed per operum bonorum efficientiam, pervenitur? Dominus in Evangelio interroganti cuidam diviti sic respondit: Si vis ad vitam venire, serva mandata. Quae cum ille se omnia custodisse jactaret, extorqueri tamen ab eo ad praesens unum mandatum non potuit, ut misericors esset in pauperes, et thesaurum suum transferret ad coelum; nam statim audito hoc sermone abscessit tristis. Nec immerito tristis; quia gaudium coelestis thesauri, malo avaritiae possessus possidere non poterat. Profecto radix omnium malorum est amor pecuniae, ut ingemiscit Apostolus: quam quidam appetentes erraverunt a fide, et inseruerunt se doloribus multis. Nam perniciosum fidei errorem patitur, et inserit se doloribus mullis, qui amore terrestrium, sicut adolescens iste, discedit a Christo; dum mandatum ejus subterfugit; dum a conspectu Domini, tristis, ac lugens, ad poenas avaris et contemptoribus praeparatas, spontanea caecitate deducitur. In sinistra enim parte, infructuositatis merito constitutis dicetur: Discedite ame in ignem aeternum, quem paravit Pater meus diabolo et angelis ejus: quia cum non fecistis misericordiam indigentibus, nec mihi fecistis. Venio nunc ad illud quod tantopere a me exegisti, et quid super eo sentiam, qua potero brevitate narrabo; nulli praejudicaturus, qualiter interpretari voluerit, modo ut explanatio ejus traditionem fidei apostolicae non infringat. Iniquitatis villicum diabolum puto esse, qui idcirco ob correptionem generis humani saeculo isto dimissus est, ut immanitatem crudelissimi hujus villici fugientes, ad pietatem Dei suppliciter concurramus, cujus misericordia atque virtute contra omnes infestationes ejus defensi esse possimus: quandoquidem et ipse villicus sub potestate constitutus est Domini Dei; illius vere divitis qui, sicut docet Apostolus, dives est in omnes, et super omnes qui invocant eum. Omnis enim qui invocaverit nomen Domini, salvus erit. Dissipat autem diabolus facultatem Domini sui, quando in perniciem generis humani grassatur; id est in nostram necem, qui possessio Dei sumus, sicut ipse Dei Filius, Patris sui dicta per Prophetam referendo, testatur: Postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes haereditatem tuam, et possessionem tuam terminos terrae. Et iterum: Quoniam elegit sibi Dominus Jacob, et Israel in possessionem sibi. Videns ergo Deus in tantum daemonis audaciam prorupisse, ut quos correctionis causa tentare solum permissus fuerat, usurpaverit, et necaverit. comminatur illi expulsionem, ut immanitas ejus, metu ultionis interminatae frangatur. At ille nequissimus, hominum mortem quaestum suum computans, aestuat anxius, quod Dominus ei potestatem dominandi ablaturus esset; et quoniam nec operari bonum vult, et petere misericordiam poenitens erubescit, argumentatur, quomodo praevaleat debitores Domini sui (id est peccatorum debitis involutos) non tantum aperto praelio persequi, sed etiam sub praetextu fallacis benevolentiae, blanda fraude decipere, quo magis eum in domos suas falsa benignitate seducti recipiant, cum ipso in perpetuum judicandi. Magnum siquidem suppliciis suis diabolus putat hoc esse remedium, si poenarum socios mullos acquirat. Nam callidus hostis, adveniente et comminante Christo turbatus, excogitavit venenato consilio, qualiter hi etiam qui illum persequentem fugiebant, cedentem sequantur. Festinat enim novis artibus, variisque tentationum generibus supplantare homines, a quorum dominatu in fine saeculi submovendum se penitus esse cognoscit. Nam post adventum Christi, duplicato contra hominum genus furore succenditur, sciens quia modicum tempus habet, sicut scriptum de illo est (Apoc. xii). Debita conservorum suorum, quae in potestate Domini sunt, relaxare se falso promittit, dum vanam, vel in fide, vel in opere peccantibus, indulgentiam pollicetur: dum persuadet non imputari ad peccatum ea scelera quae ipsi etiam qui committunt, gravia esse crimina non ignorant. Nam confitentur sui debiti quantitatem, cum ex integro obnoxios se esse Deo, et pro fide contempla, et pro opere neglecto, negare non possunt. Qui autem reddunt quae Dei sunt, Deo jam debitores non sunt. Nec mireris, si debitorum remissionem taliter mentiatur hominibus quos hac arte subtilius conatur occidere, qui Christo rerum omnium conditori ausus est regna mundi promittere, sua illa esse impudenter asserendo. Haec omnia mea sunt, inquit, et cui volo, do illa. Tu itaque si procidens adoraveris me, erunt tua omnia (Matth. iv). O inenarrabilis Christi patientia, quae idcirco tentatorem loqui permittit, ut suscepto homini artem praeliandi, atque vincendi, in semetipso demonstraret! O effrenis diaboli mendacis audacia! Deum sentit, et tentat: Dominum novit universae creaturae, cui sua esse mundi regna mentitur; et ei se largiturum possessionem creabilium pollicetur perquem creata esse omnia non ignorat. Ab initio enim. sicut scriptum est, homicida fuit diabolus, et in veritate non stetit, quia veritas non est in eo. Sed jam ad ipsas de quibus quaeritur, species veniamus, Triticum, sicut supra tetigimus, fides Christi est, vitae humanae principium. Hic enim est panis vivus, qui de coelo descendit, et vitam dat huic mundo. Et iterum dicit ipse: Qui credit in me, etiamsi mortuus fuerit, vivet. Oleum vero bona sunt opera, quae non habentes illae virgines fatuae (Matth. xxv), exstinctis animarum suarum lampadibus, in tenebris remanserunt, a thalamo regni caeleste exclusae Animas enim nostras non solum virginee esse in ide oportet, atque integras, verum etiam totius boni operis oleum portare secum semper In vasis suis; ne ipsae in nobis fidei lampades defectu operum exstinguantur. Nam sicut caro sine anima, ita fides sine operibus mortua est, secundum Jacobi sancti sententiam. Lumen quippe fidei tunc erit juge atque perpetuum, si affatim bonorum operum pinguedine animetur. Circumvenit ergo diabolus hominum genus pollicitationibus falsis, ut debitum fidei et operum non cognoscant; donec sententia Domini Judicis in inferni carcerem retrudantur, usque ad novissimum quadrantem per supplicia exigendi. Quod autem centum vasa olei, id est operis, persu(??)dei in quinquaginta scribi, et centum coros tritici, id est fidei, cogit in octoginta trans ferri; occultior ista fraus est, multumque subtilis circumventio inimici; dum retractos ab idololatria homines, variis perniciosorum dogmatum involvit erroribus, summam salutaris fidei minuendo; et ab iniquis actibus remotos, bonisque operibus insistere cupientes, pestifero jactantiae amore supplantat. Nam conatur fidem nostram, et opera nostra a centenario numero, perfecto scilicet, et in dextera constituto, ad sinistrae partis dolosa compendia depravare; apostolicam fidem sinistro haereticae persuasionis sensu pervertens, et merita bonorum operum, dexterorumque factorum, ad sinistros mores plerumque deducens. Quantos enim diabolus a dexter» partis Vigore, sinistris monilis, in vitia voluptatum carnalium relaxavit! Quantos debita spiritualia religionis operibus persolvere gestientes, mer(??)do coelesti, injecta gloriae humanae cupiditate, privavit; ut dexterae praemia promissa non rapiant, dum in ipsis bonis operibus non Deo, sed hominibus placere festinant! Unde Illius Dei Christus Dominus discipulos suos monens, ut justitiam, et eleemosynas, et jejunia, et precationes suas non auderent coram hominibus celebrare, ne per vilium jactantiae, qnod sinistro perit depetatur, mere ed em dexterae panis amitterent; ait; Nesciat sinistra tua, quid faciat dextera tua (Matth. vi). Clare patet ergo, quam venenata prudentia ille iniquitatis villicus, debita religionis officia do dextera pane in sinistram commutet Nec illud otiosum est quod major numerus deperit Domino, cui debitores sumus, ex operibus oleo figuratis, quam ex tritico ad vi i alis fidei specimen comparato, Minor enim turba est qnse a fide recto, quam quae ab operibus congruis, diaboli fraude subtrahitur, Salvatore testante: Quid mihi dicitis, Domine, Domine, et non facitis quae dico vobis? Laudat vero Dominus non bonitatem, non pietatem, non acquitttem, sed astutiam, et collidam prudentiam villici inquitatis quod dolum suum subtili conei(??)sset. Laudat autem minaciter simul, et prudenter. Minaciter quidem, dum ipso iniquitatis vocabulo pessimam diaboli prudentiam damnat: prudenter autem, dum contra argumentorum ejus consilia discipulos audientes informal, ut omni cautela, atque prudentia, tam callido, tam nequiter prudenti inimico repugnent. Ipse enim serpens erat in paradiso prudenlior omnibus bestiis (Gen. iii) qui protoplastos homines venenato morsu seductionis occidit. Cujus serpentis tortuoso ingenia liealtts Apostolus deprehendens, ait: Non enim astutias ejus ignoramus. Unde et Salvator: Estote, inquit, prudentes sicut serpentes, et simplices ut columbae (Matth. x): quod aliis verbis apostolus Paulus edisserit cum dicit: Ma(??) parvuli estote, ut sensibus perfecti sitis. Prudentes nos esse Christus praecepit, non venenatus: sapientes, non noxios; sed qui veterem peccati tunicam, ut coluber, deponentes, in novum hominem reformemur; caput nostrum quod est Christus, omni diligentia conservantes, et pro eo membra omnia persecutoribus laceranda tradentes, ut fides Dei, quae caput salutis ac vitae nostrae est, sana et invulnerata permaneat. Quapropter, dilectissime, imitemur prudentiam villici hujus, non perfidiam: aemulemur astutiam ejus, non sectemur nequitiam. Quantum ille in opere iniquitatis suae nocendi peritus esi, tantum nos studiis salutaribus eruditi, et omni prudentia instructi, atque armati esse debemus: Induentes nos ipsos loricam fidei, et galeam salutis (i Thess, v), et gladium spiritus (Sap. v), et scutum inexpugnabile aequitatis· in quo possimus, ut hortatur Apostolus, omnia jacula nequissimi ardentia exstinguere (Ephes. vi); ne nos incautos suggestionum suarum spiculis ubicumque configat, ne inermes opprimat, ne interficiat dormientes; ne et vigilantes, et armatos, si usum belligerandi nesciamus, interimat. Prudentiores enim reperiuntur interdum spiritus Immundi, quos filios saeculi, id est tenebrarum filios, Dominus nuncupat, quam filii lucis, quos Deus, qui lux in adoptionem filiorum vocare dignatur per lavacri coelestis sacramenta renatos. Vale, in Christo charissime fili. ### English translation (Claude) [Or] the reply of the holy bishop to Serminius on the steward of iniquity. Gaudentius the bishop to Serminius, servant of Christ. It always befits a wise man to think on the sayings of wisdom and to bend every sharpness of his wit and every vigour of his mind to understanding them. And therefore you, who are both learned in the letters of worldly wisdom and have learned the true wisdom of God through the sacred letters, do not cease to devote your efforts to searching out the inner meanings of the words of Christ, whom you know, as the Apostle teaches, to be the power of God and the wisdom of God. For among the other oracles of the divine Law, whose discussion you often demand, you have asked this in particular: that I should explain in writing of my own the very difficult parable of the steward of iniquity, of which none of us seemed to you a fit interpreter. You wish the explanation itself to be committed to writing perhaps so that you may hold a signed copy of my answer on a chapter which, as you yourself admit, is most obscure. But I shall not be afraid, being asked, either to say or even to write what I think, as far as the littleness of my understanding allows, without prejudice to the faith. And first, dearest one, the words of the reading itself must be set down, and only then the meaning of what is said opened. Blessed Luke records in the book of his Gospel: "The Lord Jesus," he says, "told a parable to his disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a steward; and he was accused to him of wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him: What is this I hear of you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, since my lord is taking the stewardship from me? I am not able to dig; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship they may receive me into their houses. And calling each of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much do you owe my lord? And he said: A hundred baths of oil. And he said to him: Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then to another: And how much do you owe? And he said: A hundred cors of wheat. And he said to him: Take your bill, and write eighty. And the lord praised the steward of iniquity because he had acted prudently; for the sons of this world are more prudent in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you: Make friends for yourselves of the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles. He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in a very little is unjust also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will entrust to you what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what is another's, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will bear with the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." It belongs to a perfect teacher, in instructing his disciples, to set before them likenesses of things that are frequent in the life of the human race, so that a fit hearer may be shaped for zeal in working by the teaching of the comparison, and may not hesitate to undertake the work which the image of the parable has shown to be possible and necessary. And therefore the Lord Jesus, the true teacher of saving commandments, wishing to stir up his disciples, whether the apostles then or all believers now, to practise almsgiving faithfully, set before them the likeness of a steward, so as to signify by the example of this person that nothing in this world is ours, but that the stewardship of our Lord's goods has been entrusted to us, either to use of them sufficiently with thanksgiving or to distribute to our fellow servants as each has need; and that we may not abuse at random the goods entrusted to us, or usurp them for superfluous expenses, since an account of the spending must be rendered to the Lord when he comes. Finally, after the end of the parable he added thus: "And I say to you: Make friends for yourselves of the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles"; that is, make the poor your friends out of the earthly goods which the iniquity of human avarice claims for itself, so as not to share anything of them with men of God. For in the Syrian tongue riches or wealth are called mammon. "Make for yourselves, then," he says, "friends" of the poor "out of the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail," the same substance having been spent and used up on the needs of the poor, "they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles": those same poor, namely, the friends who win salvation for us, in whom Christ the eternal rewarder will declare that he received the services of this kindness. They will receive us, then, not wholly the poor themselves by themselves, but through him who is refreshed in them by the fruit of our obedience and faith, and who will receive the ministers of this kindness into the eternal tabernacles of the heavenly kingdom. For he says: "Come, you blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the origin of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; naked and you clothed me; sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me." And when they modestly and reverently excuse themselves, "Lord, when did we see you in these needs and minister to you?", he will answer, saying: "Amen I say to you, when you did it to one of these least, you did it to me." Let it not seem absurd to anyone, then, that those are said to receive us for whose sake we are received, since our receiver himself, the Lord Jesus, who is not subject to human needs, declares that in them he was hungry and thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. "Make friends for yourselves, then," he says, "of the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles." And a little after: "If you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will entrust to you what is true?" For indeed, dearly beloved, who would think that the true riches of heavenly things, which a faithful and just distributor duly and deservedly enjoys, should be entrusted to one who does not know how to dispense faithfully earthly goods, which commonly furnish the material of iniquity? For "glory and riches are in his house, and his righteousness remains for ever." Then the Lord's saying is immediately joined thus: "And if you have not been faithful in what is another's, who will give you what is your own?" For certainly whatever is in this world is another's to us, who, hoping for the future reward, are commanded to live in this world as guests and strangers, so that each of us may dare to confess to the Lord without anxiety: "I am a sojourner and a stranger, like all my fathers." But the proper and eternal possession of believers is that heavenly one, where we know that our heart and our treasure are; where we now presume to dwell by faith with the whole affection of our mind, since, according to the teaching of blessed Paul, "our citizenship is in heaven." The kingdom of heaven, then, is ours if we serve the Lord who promises it in humility of heart and gentleness of spirit. "For blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This kingdom cannot be obtained by anyone who has not been a fit and faithful steward of the property of this world, which belongs to another and has been entrusted to him for a time; hence the Lord said in another place: "How hard it is for those who have money to enter the kingdom of God!" And at the end of this reading he says: "You cannot serve God and mammon." For the servants and disciples of God, of Christ, must rule over money, not serve it; lest, while we obey the desire for it, we be separated from the love of his service by the dominion of money. Money must therefore be scattered to the needy according to the command of God, the Creator of all, since it is neither ours, nor does any greedy man hold it without iniquity and his own ruin. For according to the Saviour's sentence it shuts the entrance of the kingdom of heaven to those who keep it, and "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God": that rich man, namely, who through the horror of shameful avarice is weaker than a camel. Heavy is the burden of money, which presses down to earth with the weight of avarice the minds of those who cling to it, and does not at all allow them to rise to things above and look up to heaven, where our life is; while the blessed Apostle teaches: "If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory." And since the way that leads to life is strait and narrow, it does not allow those loaded with bundles of earthly riches to enter by it. It seeks those who are unencumbered and slender, chastened by every continence, and (so to speak) like a thin thread, who, made spiritual, may pass easily even through the eye of that mystical needle. This is the meaning and the use of this parable, which must first be obeyed, as it commands; and only then the more secret understanding, if it can be found, is to be sought; because "the kingdom of God is not in word but in power," and "not the hearers only, but the doers of the Law will be justified before God"; nor can anyone clearly comprehend the inner knowledge of the divine oracle, as the Apostle declares: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?" And in another place, when he perceived the very great mystery of the divine word concerning Adam and Eve and could not speak it worthily, he says: "This mystery is great; but I speak with reference to Christ and the church." Do you want to know that one comes to eternal life not through knowledge of secrets but through the performance of good works? The Lord in the Gospel answered a certain rich man who asked him: "If you wish to come to life, keep the commandments." And when he boasted that he had kept them all, yet one commandment could not be wrung from him for the present: that he should be merciful to the poor and transfer his treasure to heaven; for as soon as he heard this saying he went away sad. And not without reason sad, because, possessed by the evil of avarice, he could not possess the joy of the heavenly treasure. Surely "the root of all evils is the love of money," as the Apostle groans, "which some coveting have strayed from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows." For he suffers a ruinous error of faith and pierces himself with many sorrows who, like this young man, departs from Christ for love of earthly things, while he evades his commandment, while, sad and mourning, he is led by voluntary blindness away from the sight of the Lord to the punishments prepared for the avaricious and the despisers. For to those placed on the left for their unfruitfulness it will be said: "Depart from me into the eternal fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels; for when you did not show mercy to the needy, you did not do it to me." I come now to what you demanded of me so insistently, and I shall tell, with what brevity I can, what I think about it, without prejudging anyone, however he may wish to interpret it, provided that his explanation does not infringe the tradition of the apostolic faith. I think the steward of iniquity is the devil, who has been let loose in this world for the correction of the human race, so that, fleeing the savagery of this most cruel steward, we may run in supplication to the kindness of God, by whose mercy and power we can be defended against all his attacks; since this steward too is set under the power of the Lord God, that truly rich man who, as the Apostle teaches, "is rich toward all and above all who call upon him; for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." The devil wastes his Lord's goods when he rages for the destruction of the human race, that is, for the death of us who are God's possession, as the Son of God himself testifies, recounting his Father's words through the prophet: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession." And again: "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel for his possession." God, then, seeing that the demon's audacity had broken out so far that he had usurped and slain those whom he had been permitted only to tempt for the sake of correction, threatens him with expulsion, so that his savagery may be broken by the fear of the threatened vengeance. But that most wicked one, counting the death of men his gain, burns with anxiety because the Lord was about to take from him the power of ruling; and since he neither wishes to do good nor, repenting, is ashamed to ask for mercy, he contrives how he may succeed not only in pursuing his Lord's debtors (that is, those entangled in the debts of sins) in open battle, but also in deceiving them with a flattering fraud under the pretext of a false benevolence, so that, seduced by a false kindness, they may the more receive him into their houses, to be judged with him for ever. For the devil thinks it a great remedy for his own punishments if he gains many companions in punishment. For the cunning enemy, troubled at the coming and threatening of Christ, devised with poisoned counsel how even those who fled him when he pursued might follow him when he gives way. For he hastens by new arts and various kinds of temptations to trip up men, from whose dominion he knows he must be wholly removed at the end of the world. For after the coming of Christ he is inflamed with doubled fury against the race of men, knowing that he has little time, as is written of him. He falsely promises to remit the debts of his fellow servants, which are in the Lord's power, when he promises a vain indulgence to those who sin either in faith or in works; when he persuades them that those crimes are not imputed as sin which even those who commit them know to be grave. For they confess the amount of their debt, since they cannot deny that they are wholly liable to God, both for faith despised and for works neglected. But those who render to God what is God's are no longer God's debtors. Nor should you wonder that he so lies to men about the remission of debts, men whom by this art he tries the more subtly to kill, he who dared to promise the kingdoms of the world to Christ, the Creator of all things, impudently asserting that they were his: "All these are mine," he says, "and I give them to whom I will. If you fall down and worship me, all will be yours." O unspeakable patience of Christ, which allows the tempter to speak so that he might show in himself, to the man he had assumed, the art of fighting and conquering! O unbridled audacity of the lying devil! He perceives God and tempts him; he knows the Lord of the whole creation, to whom he lies that the kingdoms of the world are his; and he promises to give the possession of created things to him through whom, he well knows, all things were created. For "from the beginning," as it is written, the devil "was a murderer, and did not stand in the truth, because the truth is not in him." But now let us come to the very kinds of goods about which the question is asked. The wheat, as we touched on above, is faith in Christ, the beginning of human life. For he is "the living bread which came down from heaven and gives life to this world." And again he himself says: "He who believes in me, though he die, will live." The oil is good works, which those foolish virgins did not have, and so, the lamps of their souls being extinguished, they remained in darkness, shut out from the bridal chamber of the heavenly kingdom. For our souls must not only be virgin and whole in faith, but must also always carry with them in their vessels the oil of every good work, lest the lamps of faith in us be extinguished by lack of works. For "as the body without the soul, so faith without works is dead," according to the sentence of holy James. For the light of faith will be continual and perpetual if it is fed abundantly with the richness of good works. The devil, then, circumvents the race of men with false promises, so that they do not recognize the debt of faith and works, until by the sentence of the Lord the Judge they are thrust back into the prison of hell, to be exacted by punishments to the last farthing. And that he persuades the hundred measures of oil, that is, of works, to be written as fifty, and compels the hundred cors of wheat, that is, of faith, to be transferred to eighty: this is a more hidden fraud and a very subtle circumvention of the enemy; when he entangles men drawn back from idolatry in various errors of pernicious doctrines, lessening the sum of saving faith; and trips up with the pestilent love of boasting those who have turned from wicked acts and wish to persist in good works. For he tries to twist our faith and our works from the number one hundred, which is perfect and set on the right hand, to the deceitful savings of the left side; perverting the apostolic faith by the sinister sense of heretical persuasion, and often leading the merits of good works and right-handed deeds into sinister ways. For how many has the devil loosened from the vigour of the right side, by sinister warnings, into the vices of carnal pleasures! How many, eager to pay the spiritual debts of religion by works, has he deprived of the heavenly reward by casting in the desire for human glory, so that they do not seize the rewards promised to the right hand, while in their very good works they hasten to please not God but men! Hence Christ the Lord, warning his disciples not to dare to perform their righteousness, alms, fasts and prayers before men, lest through the vice of boasting, which perishes on the left, they should lose the reward of the right side, says: "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand does." It is plainly clear, then, with what poisoned prudence that steward of iniquity changes the owed offices of religion from the right side to the left. Nor is it idle that a greater amount is lost to the Lord, to whom we are debtors, from the works figured by the oil than from the wheat compared to the type of living faith. For the crowd is smaller which is drawn away by the devil's fraud from right faith than that drawn away from fitting works, as the Saviour testifies: "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" The Lord praises not the goodness, not the kindness, not the equity, but the cunning and crafty prudence of the steward of iniquity, because he had contrived his deceit subtly. He praises him, however, threateningly and prudently at once: threateningly, in that by the very word "iniquity" he condemns the devil's most evil prudence; prudently, in that he trains the disciples who hear against the counsels of his schemes, so that with all caution and prudence they may resist so cunning, so wickedly prudent an enemy. For he was the serpent in paradise, more prudent than all the beasts, who slew the first-formed men with the poisoned bite of seduction. Blessed Paul, detecting the twisted wit of this serpent, says: "For we are not ignorant of his schemes." Hence the Saviour too: "Be prudent," he says, "as serpents, and simple as doves"; which the apostle Paul sets out in other words when he says: "Be little children in malice, that you may be perfect in understanding." Christ commanded us to be prudent, not poisonous; wise, not harmful; but such as, putting off the old tunic of sin like a snake, may be re-formed into the new man; guarding our head, which is Christ, with all diligence, and handing over all our limbs for his sake to be torn by persecutors, so that the faith of God, which is the head of our salvation and life, may remain sound and unwounded. Therefore, dearly beloved, let us imitate the prudence of this steward, not his faithlessness; let us emulate his cunning, not follow his wickedness. As skilled as he is in doing harm in the work of his iniquity, so instructed by saving studies, furnished and armed with all prudence, ought we to be: "putting on the breastplate of faith and the helmet of salvation," and "the sword of the spirit," and the impregnable shield of equity, with which we may, as the Apostle urges, "extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one"; lest he pierce us anywhere, unwary, with the darts of his suggestions; lest he overwhelm us unarmed; lest he kill us sleeping; lest he slay us even when awake and armed, if we do not know the practice of war. For sometimes the unclean spirits, whom the Lord calls sons of this world, that is, sons of darkness, are found more prudent than the sons of light, whom God, who is light, deigns to call into the adoption of sons, reborn through the sacraments of the heavenly washing. Farewell in Christ, dearest son. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:1–13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:34–40: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41–45: quotation, high confidence - Ps 112:3 (111:3 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Ps 39:12 (38:13 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:21: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:20: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:3: quotation, high confidence - Mark 10:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:24: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:1–4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:14: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:13: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:33–34: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:32: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:17–22: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:10: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:12–13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 135:4 (134:4 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Rev 12:12: allusion, high confidence - Matt 22:21: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 4:6–7: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:9: quotation, high confidence - John 8:44: quotation, high confidence - John 6:33: quotation, high confidence - John 6:51: allusion, high confidence - John 11:25: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:1–12: allusion, high confidence - Jas 2:26: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:26: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:1–4: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:3: quotation, high confidence - Luke 6:46: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:1: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 14:20: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:22–24: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Thess 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:16–17: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 5:17-20 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius gives his allegory as his own opinion, 'without prejudging anyone', provided the apostolic faith is not infringed. The opening word 'Seu' ('or') in the heading belongs to the manuscript title. - Quotations: 1 Cor 1:24; Luke 16:1–13; Matt 25:34–40, 41–45; Ps 112:3 (111:3 Vulg.); Ps 39:12 (38:13 Vulg.); Matt 6:21; Phil 3:20; Matt 5:3; Mark 10:23; Matt 19:24; Col 3:1–4; Matt 7:14; 1 Cor 4:20; Rom 2:13; Rom 11:33–34; Eph 5:32; Matt 19:17–22; 1 Tim 6:10; Rom 10:12–13; Ps 2:8; Ps 135:4 (134:4 Vulg.); Rev 12:12; Matt 22:21; Luke 4:6–7 (Matt 4:9); John 8:44; John 6:33, 51; John 11:25; Matt 25:1–12; Jas 2:26; Matt 5:26; Matt 6:3; Luke 6:46; Gen 3:1; 2 Cor 2:11; Matt 10:16; 1 Cor 14:20; Eph 4:22–24; 1 Thess 5:8; Eph 6:16–17; Luke 16:8. - The 'sword of the spirit' is marked 'Sap. v' in the digital text (cf. Wis 5:17–20, the armour of God). The digital text of this letter is badly garbled in places; the clearest slips are corrected, and the rest is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 18 (PL 20:971b–981b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/18). ## Tractates 19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/19/#p-19 - Source: PL 20:981b–988d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: A letter to the deacon Paul on John 14:28 ('the Father is greater than I'): against the Arians, Gaudentius distinguishes Christ's two substances, divine and human, showing from the Gospels the works of God and the weaknesses of man in him, and reads the saying of the assumed manhood before its glorification (Phil 2:6–11). ### Latin text Seu responsio ejusdem S. Episcopi ad Paulum diaconum, Ante istum sacri Evangelii locum, cujus a me intelligentiam fideli studio per litteras exigis, Paule frater, carnis ac spiritus germanitate charissime, plurima Christus Filius Dei vivi de divinitatis suae una et perfecta cum Patre substantia locutus esse cognoscitur, cum diceret Judaeis: Ego et Pater unum sumus; cum sancto Philippo responderet: Qui me videt, videt et Patrem; cum beatis Apostolis communiter loqueretur: Credite mihi, quia ego in Patre, et Pater in me est. Post haec ergo, et istiusmodi multa, quibus se unum esse cum Patre probavit, et ejusdem essentiae, nunc aliquid illaturus quod robustis in fide mentibus plenitudinem scientiae cumularet, scrupulum dubiis, perfidis fomentum blasphemiae ministraret (quoniam sermo Dei positus est in ruinam, et resurrectionem multorum), praemonuit undecim beatos Apostolos, simulque fidei eorum vestigia secuturos, ne ad auditionem proferendi sermonis turbellam mens alicujus pateretur. Ne turbetur, inquit, cor vestrum, neque formidet. Audistis quia ego dixi vobis: vado, et venio ad vos. Si diligeretis me, gauderetis utique, quia vado ad Patrem: quia Pater major me est. Hanc habent haeretici Ariani famosissimam quaestionem, qua Filium Dei ore sacrilego, minorem Patre suo esse contendant, ipsius testimonium proferentes, quoniam ait: Quia Pater major me est. Excaecavit eos nequitia cordis eorum, ne ex autelatis sermonibus rationem dicti hujus agnoscerent; vel potius ne veritatem cognitam sequerentur. Duplex est in Christo substantia; una propria, alia nostra jam sua, id est una Dei, alia hominis. Filius enim Dei, ex quo cum illibata Virgo peperit, de Spiritu sancto conceptum, atque hoc genere nascendi Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. i); idem coepit esse etiam Filius hominis qui in principio erat apud Patrem Filius Dei, utique Deus Verbum. Exinde per incrementa aetatis, Creator temporum proficit in virum perfectum, testante evangelista: Puer autem crescebat, et confortabatur, et implebatur sapientia; et gratia Dei erat in illo. Quem profectum nostro profectui profecisse, intelligens apostolus Paulus aiebat: Donec perveniamus, inquit, omnes in virum perfectum in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi: quamquam perfecta divinitas, quae quod erat semper erit: et sine fine, nullo eguerit incremento. Omnia ergo quaecumque in hac duplici substantia constitutus, vel locutus est, vel fecit, vel pertulit Christus; nunc omnipotentem Dei naturam, nunc infirmam suscepti hominis demonstrabant. Nativitas carnis hominem monstrat; Deum probat inusitatus Virginis partus. Angustum praesepis cunabulum, et obvolutio consueta pannorum, humanam signat infantiam: sed Angelorum voces Deum pastoribus annuntiant esse qui natus est. Nam cum diceret Angelus: Nolite timere: ecce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum, quod erit omni plebi; quia natus est vobis hodie Salvator, qui est Christus Dominus, in civitate David, Et hoc vobis signum: invenietis infantem pannis obvolutum et positum in praesepi. Subito facta est cum Angelo multitudo exercitus coelestis laudantium Deum et dicentium: Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Deinde Herodes persequitur parvulum: sed stellae obsequentis fulgor magnum declarat Deum; quem legati universarum Gentium magi suppliciter adorantes (Matth. n), coelesti Regi honorificentiam debitam, oblatione mysticorum munerum, deferebant. Annorum duodecim puer Jesus in templo a parentibus anxiis reperitur (Luc. n(??)); sed in verbis eum Sapientiam Dei, doctorum circumsedentium turbae mirantur. Et qui peccatum non fecit, nec dolus inventus est in ore ejus (Is, liii), ad Baptismum Joannis quasi homo peccator accedit, nostra in suo corpore crimina abluturus; sed et ibi statim naturae divinae proprietatem vox Patris ejus e coelo intonat dicens: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo bene complacui. Hunc audite. Ut ad hominem diabolus tentator accedit (Matth. iv): sed triumphato diabolo statim succedunt Christo tamquam Deo servientium ministeria angelorum. Seditiones furentium Judaeorum declinat frequenter ut homo (Joan. viii): sed legiones daemonum quasi servorum. Deus verbi sui fugat imperio (Luc. viii). Supra puteum sedet fatigatus ex itinere quasi homo (Joan. iv); sed Samaritanae mulieris occulta reserat quasi Deus, humanarum mentium perscrutator; et non solum reserat, sed etiam lavacro aquae in aeternam vitam salientis emundat. Emundat autem fideliter supplicantem: Ab occultis meis munda me (Ps. xviii); nam dicit ad eum mulier: Domine, da mihi hanc aquam, ut non sitiam amplius (Joan. iv); ardore videlicet exstincto peccaminum. Esurire, sitire, fatigari, dormire, hominis est: sed quinque panibus quinque millia hominum satiare, Dei est (Joan. vi). Et largiri aquam vivam (Joan. iv), cujus unus haustus bibenti praestet ne ultra jam sitiat, sed sit in eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam, nonnisi Dei est. El qui labore terreni itineris conficitur velut homo, rursus idem super aquas ambulat quasi Deus. Nam cum Dominus (Matth. xiv) discipulos suos jussisset navigare trans fretum, donec ipse dimitteret turbas; abscedentibus turbis, ascendit et oravit in monte. Vespere autem cum jam navicula in medio mari fluctibus jactaretur contrario vento commotis (Marc. vi; Joan. vi), ipse majestatis suae virtute subvectus, ambulabat super terga aequoris, nec plantas gradientis tumens unda tangebat. Periclitantes Apostoli quarta vigilia noctis venientem Christum procul aspiciunt. Petrus rogat: Domine, si tu es, jube me venire ad te super aquas. At ipse, ne quid fideli negaret desiderio, ait: Veni. Et descendens, inquit, Petrus de navicula, ambulabat super aquas ut perveniret ad Jesum. Videns vero ventum validum, timuit: et cum coepisset mergi, clamavit dicens: Domine, salvum me fac. Et continuo Jesus extendit manum, et apprehendit eum, dicens illi: Modicae fidei, quare dubitasti? Dum per terram gradiens fatigationem sentit, homo est: sed idem dum secura potestate per fluctus ambulans, Petrum mergentem sublevat, Deus est. Simulque hoc in loco et illud Ariani considerent, quod dubiis in fide Christi, exitialis quaedam sit parata submersio, nisi per confessionem veram supplices ad ejus omnipotentiam convertantur. Alibi quoque dormisse navigans Christus Dominus, a sancto evangelista describitur, cum discipuli in extremo tempestatis discrimine constituti suscitaverunt eum, dicentes: Domine, libera nos, perimus; quando surgens imperavit vento, et mari, et facta est tranquillitas magna. Dormit ut homo, et exsurgens elementis imperat quasi Deus. Nam tumentes fluctus verbo compescuit, statimque siluit increpata tempestas, et ad Creatoris sui vocem, plana confestim jacuit(??) inflati gurgitis moles. Sed ne hujusmodi singula recensendo longius a proposito sermone videar evagari, pauca adhuc ex verbis Domini nostri Jesu Christi adjiciam, ex quibus in ipso et humanae naturae conditionem, et divinam perspicias potestatem. Judaeis dicit: Quid me vultis occidere? hominem, etc.. Et alibi confitentem Petrum, Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi, beatum pronuntiat, quod dignus fuerit cui hanc fidem Deus Pater infunderet; verum quippe Filium Dei se esse hac elocutione confirmans. Et qui dixerat: Potestatem habeo ponendi animam meam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam, rursus ait: Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem (Matth. xxvi). Et idem qui ait: Solvite hoc templum, et ego in triduum suscitabo illud, iterum dicit: Pater, si possibile est, transfer calicem hunc a me (Luc. xxii). Ea igitur ratione ipse qui ex persona Dei dixerat: Ego et Pater unum sumus (Joan. x); ex persona suscepti hominis dicit; Quia Pater major me est (Joan. xiv). Jam vero intelligenti quae dicta sunt, sequens explanatio apertius declarabit, qua ex causa dicatur istud quod scribitur, et quidnam sit quod ait: Quia Pater major me est; quamvis evidenter liqueat testimoniis supradictis, Filium Dei sine ullo initio a Patre genitum, postquam nasci ex Maria beata dignatus est, et Deum esse et hominem; et nunc humilia quaeque secundum carnem vel egisse, vel locutum fuisse, vel passum: nunc immensam sublimitatem naturae Dei tam verbis docuisse, quam factis mirabilibus approbasse. Tamen distinctionis hujus regulam non sequuntur nequissimi Ariani, sed cauponum dolo Judaicorum miscent aquam vino, id esi humana divinis; et ita illam meram atque apostolicam fidem adultera permixtione confundunt, Deo ascribentes ignorantiam, infirmitatem, metum, impossibilitatem, dubitationem, dolorem, esuriem, sitim, lassitudinem, caeterasque hominis passiones; quas Filius Dei absque detrimento divinitatis suae ita cum homine suscepit, atque portavit, ut proprias quidem computaret contumelias quas patiebatur in carne, sed tamen divinitas ejus, vim naturae suae retinens, impassibilis permaneret. Unde sanctus Apostolus (ii Cor. xiii), salvo statu incorruptibilitatis divinae. Dominum majestatis memorat crucifixum. Enimvero ipsius Passio non in divinitatem, quae est impassibilis, sed in ejus hominem celebrata, pereunti mundo subvenit; hujus namque vulnere nos salvi facti sumus. Non quod divinitas ejus vulnerari potuerit, sed quia ipse infirmitates nostras susceperit, et peccata nostra portaverit, ac pro nobis doluerit, secundum Prophetae doctrinam (Is. Liii): neque enim ipse infirmatus est, vel peccavit, vel ipse dolores crudelium vulnerum sensit. Nam quomodo fieri poterat, ut qui multiplices aegritudinum morbos praecepti sui potestate curaverat, et mortuis iteratam vitam imperio suo tribuerat; ipse secundum naturam divinam fuerit Passioni subjectus? Sustinebat ergo ut homo contumelias Passionis in carne, et operabatur ut Deus propria auctoritate virtutes. Unde Apostolus ait: Crucifixus est ex infirmitate, sed vivit ex virtute Dei (ii Cor. xiii). Et hinc est illud quod cum ad Passionem deducitur, tactu dexterae suae novam format aurem Malcho. contra patientiae suae propositum, Petri ulciscentis gladio amputatam: et quod pendens in cruce latroni confitenti paradisum donat (Luc. xxiii): et quod in sepulcro positus corpora sanctorum resuscitat (Matth. xxvii): et quod resurgens in ea videtur qua passus fuerat compositione membrorum (Luc. XXIV), et ad Apostolos intra unum domicilium congregatos, januis clausis ingreditur (Joan. xx): et quod coelos ascendens, discipulos fideles non deserit, cum ipsis se permansurum usque ad consummationem saeculi pollicendo (Matth. xxviii). Hanc distinctionem si sequerentur haeretici Ariani, numquam mysterium vitae nostrae in contumeliam Filii Dei converterent, minorem illum Deo Patre blasphemis vocibus asserentes, quem vas electionis aequalem Patri esse testatur; aperiens omnem illam rat.onem, pro qua Dei Filius qui et homo, dixerit: quia Pater major me est. Hoc, inquit, sentite in vobis quod in Christo Jesu: qui in forma Dei constitutus, rapinam non arbitratus est quod esset aequalis Deo (Philipp. ii). AEqualem testatur Apostolus: minorem conatur asserere Arius. Arbitrio committitur audientium, cuinam credendum censeant: utrum Paulo apostolo, qui electus a Christo magister Gentium, velut sapiens architectus fundamentum Fidei posuit (I Cor.iii); quique usque ad tertium coelum raptus audivit arcana coelestia (II Cor. xii): an exsecrabili Ario, qui principis Constantini temporibus, cum venenato corde confessionem catholicae fidei simularet; ambiens in amicitiam regis, et in gradum presbyterii, unde merito pulsus fuerat revocari; ad similitudinem Judae traditoris, crepuit medius, et effusa sunt omnia viscera ejus (Act. i), ne sub indumento ovis, lupus ad devorandum gregem Domini introiret. Hujus improbi assertionem sequentes Ariani, exemplum pariter sequentur et mortis. Nos autem qui apostolicam fidem, et doctrinam sequimur, ad explanationem supradiclam beatissimi Pauli, aures nostrarum mentium fideli commodemus affectu. Sequitur enim: sed semetipsum exinanivit (voluntaria scilicet bonitate) humiliando semetipsum Et adjicitur: formam servi suscipiens, non utique servus effectus: in similitudine, inquit, hominis factus (Philipp. ii). Quod enim factum est, in illo vita est(Joan. i): nempe illud quod in eo secundum carnem factum est, vita nostra est, ipso testante: Ego veni ut vitam habeant, et abundantius habeant (Joan. x). Deinde adjecit: et specie inventus ut homo (Philipp. ii); nam Dei speciem, quanta sit, id est ipsum proprie Deum, nemo vidit umquam (I Joan.iv). Deinde humiliavit seipsum; factus, inquit, obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis (Phlipp, ii); Spontanea quippe humilitate cum patris voluntate, volens crucem pertulit, ut mors ejus fieret vita credentium. Propter quod, inquit, exaltavit illum Deus. Quem illum? eum scilicet qui supplicium crucis ac mortis excepit; non singulariter Deum, qui semper excelsus est per naturam. Et donavit illi nomen quod est super omne nomen (Ibid.), Nomen super omne nomen Deus est; et non utique Deo donatur, ut Deus sit. Nam in principio apud Patrem Filius Deus erat Verbum: sed homo a Filio assumptus promovetur in Deum, ut Filius Dei qui semper fuerat, Deus esset pariter et cum ea sub stantia quam sumpsit ex Virgine, totus iterum Deus. Ut in nomine Jesu, Dei quippe et hominis, omne genu flectatur coelestium, terrestrium et infernorum; et omnis lingua confiteatur quoniam Dominus Jesus est in gloria Dei Patris (Ibid.). Idest, ut post Passionis mysterium, et Ascensionis triumphum, jam totus Dei Filius cum eo quod pro nobis dignatus est assumere, in gloria Dei Patris (in divinitate scilicet naturae suae manens) ab universis coelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum virtutibus adoretur. Prius ergo quam pateretur; priusquam triumphata morte coelos victor ascenderet, priusquam divinitatis paternae in sinum cum tota, qua ex Virgine natus fuerat, substantia remearet; priusquam ab omni creatura rationabili coelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum agnosceretur, atque adoraretur Dominus Jesus in gloria Dei Patris, merito discipulis dicebat: Si diligeretis me, gauderetis utique, quod vado ad Patrem: quia Pater major me est. Erat enim minor adhuc in carne natus Filius Dei, donec in antiquam gloriam suam suscepti hominis naturam collocaret. Et ideo alibi ex persona ejus dicit ad Patrem; Pater, glorifica me ea gloria quam habui apud te priusquam hic mundus esset (Joan. xvii). Utique ut gloriam divinitatis, quam Deus apud Deum Patrem Filius ante mundi constitutionem semper habuerat, cum tota nativitatis corporea substantia possideret. Propter hoc ita et post resurrectionem suam loquitur quibusdam de hac dispensatione haesitantibus. insensati, inquit, et tardi corde ad credendum, in omnibus quae lo… ### English translation (Claude) [Or] the reply of the same holy bishop to Paul the deacon. Before this place of the holy Gospel, whose understanding you ask of me by letter with faithful zeal, brother Paul, most dear by the kinship of flesh and of spirit, Christ, the Son of the living God, is known to have said very much about the one and perfect substance of his divinity with the Father, when he said to the Jews, "I and the Father are one"; when he answered holy Philip, "He who sees me sees the Father also"; when he said to the blessed apostles in common, "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." After these, then, and many such sayings, by which he proved that he is one with the Father and of the same essence, now, being about to bring in something that would heap up the fullness of knowledge for minds strong in faith, and provide a scruple to the doubtful and fuel for blasphemy to the faithless (since the word of God is set for the fall and rising of many), he forewarned the eleven blessed apostles, and with them those who would follow the footsteps of their faith, lest anyone's mind should suffer disturbance on hearing the word to be spoken. "Let not your heart be troubled," he says, "nor let it be afraid. You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come to you. If you loved me, you would surely rejoice, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I." This is the most notorious question of the Arian heretics, by which with sacrilegious mouth they contend that the Son of God is less than his Father, bringing forward his own testimony, since he says, "for the Father is greater than I." The wickedness of their heart has blinded them, so that they should not recognize the meaning of this saying from the words that went before; or rather, so that they should not follow the truth once known. There is a twofold substance in Christ: one his own, the other ours, now his; that is, one of God, the other of man. For the Son of God, from the time when the inviolate Virgin bore him, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and by this manner of birth the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, the same who in the beginning was with the Father as Son of God, God the Word, began to be also Son of man. Thenceforth, through the growth of age, the Creator of times advances to perfect manhood, as the evangelist testifies: "And the child grew and became strong and was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." Understanding that this advance was made for our advance, the apostle Paul said: "Until we all arrive," he says, "at the perfect man, at the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ"; although the perfect divinity, which will always be what it was, and without end, will have needed no increase. All things, then, that Christ, placed in this twofold substance, either said or did or suffered, showed now the almighty nature of God, now the weak nature of the man he assumed. The birth of the flesh shows the man; the unheard-of childbirth of a Virgin proves God. The narrow cradle of the manger and the usual wrapping of swaddling clothes mark a human infancy; but the voices of angels announce to the shepherds that he who has been born is God. For when the angel said, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people; for to you is born today in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger," suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." Then Herod persecutes the little child; but the brightness of the obedient star declares him great God, whom the magi, envoys of all the nations, adoring in supplication, offered the honour due to the heavenly King by the offering of mystical gifts. At twelve years old the boy Jesus is found in the temple by his anxious parents; but the crowds of teachers sitting round marvel at him in his words as the Wisdom of God. And he who did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, comes to the baptism of John as if a sinful man, to wash away our crimes in his body; but there too at once the voice of his Father thunders from heaven the property of his divine nature, saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him." The devil, the tempter, approaches him as a man; but when the devil has been conquered, at once the ministries of serving angels come to Christ as to God. He often avoids the seditions of the raging Jews as a man; but as God he puts legions of demons to flight like servants by the command of his word. He sits by the well tired from the journey as a man; but as God, the searcher of human minds, he unlocks the secrets of the Samaritan woman; and not only unlocks them, but also cleanses her by the washing of the water that springs up to eternal life. And he cleanses her as she faithfully supplicates, "Cleanse me from my hidden faults"; for the woman says to him: "Lord, give me this water, that I may thirst no more": the heat of sins, that is, being extinguished. To hunger, to thirst, to be tired, to sleep, belong to man; but to satisfy five thousand men with five loaves belongs to God. And to bestow living water, one draught of which gives the drinker never to thirst again, but that there should be in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life, belongs only to God. And he who as a man is worn out by the labour of an earthly journey walks again, the same, upon the waters as God. For when the Lord had ordered his disciples to sail across the strait while he dismissed the crowds, when the crowds had gone away he went up on the mountain and prayed. And in the evening, when the boat was already being tossed in the middle of the sea by the waves stirred up by a contrary wind, he himself, borne up by the power of his majesty, walked on the back of the sea, and the swelling wave did not touch the soles of his steps. The apostles, in danger, in the fourth watch of the night, see Christ coming from afar. Peter asks: "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the waters." And he, so as to refuse nothing to a faithful desire, said: "Come." "And Peter," it says, "getting down from the boat, walked on the waters to come to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind he was afraid; and when he began to sink he cried out, saying: Lord, save me. And at once Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, saying to him: O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" When he feels fatigue walking on land, he is man; but when, walking with secure power over the waves, he lifts up the sinking Peter, the same is God. And at the same time let the Arians consider in this place that a deadly sinking is prepared for those who doubt in the faith of Christ, unless through a true confession they turn in supplication to his omnipotence. Elsewhere too the holy evangelist describes Christ the Lord as having slept while sailing, when the disciples, placed in the extreme danger of the storm, woke him, saying, "Lord, save us, we are perishing"; when, rising, he commanded the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. He sleeps as man, and rising commands the elements as God. For he checked the swelling waves with a word, and at once the rebuked storm fell silent, and at the voice of its Creator the mass of the swollen flood at once lay flat. But lest I seem to wander too far from the proposed discourse by going over each of these things, I shall add a few more from the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, from which you may see in him both the condition of human nature and the divine power. He says to the Jews: "Why do you seek to kill me, a man," and so on. And elsewhere he pronounces Peter blessed when he confesses, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," because he was worthy that God the Father should pour this faith into him; confirming by this utterance that he is the true Son of God. And he who had said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again," says again: "My soul is sorrowful even to death." And the same who says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," says again: "Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me." By the same reasoning, then, he who had said in the person of God, "I and the Father are one," says in the person of the man he assumed, "for the Father is greater than I." Now, for one who understands what has been said, the following explanation will declare more openly for what reason what is written is said, and what it means that he says, "for the Father is greater than I"; although it is plainly clear from the testimonies cited above that the Son of God, begotten of the Father without any beginning, after he deigned to be born of blessed Mary, is both God and man; and that now he did or said or suffered all lowly things according to the flesh, now he both taught by words and proved by wonderful deeds the immense sublimity of the nature of God. Yet the most wicked Arians do not follow the rule of this distinction, but with the deceit of Jewish innkeepers they mix water with wine, that is, human things with divine; and so they confuse that pure and apostolic faith by an adulterous mixture, ascribing to God ignorance, weakness, fear, inability, doubt, pain, hunger, thirst, weariness and the other passions of man; which the Son of God so took up and bore together with the man, without loss of his divinity, that he counted as his own the insults he suffered in the flesh, but his divinity, retaining the force of its nature, remained impassible. Hence the holy Apostle, the state of the divine incorruptibility being preserved, records that the Lord of majesty was crucified. For his passion, carried out not in his divinity, which is impassible, but in his man, came to the help of a perishing world; for by his wound we have been made whole. Not that his divinity could be wounded, but because he took up our infirmities and bore our sins and grieved for us, according to the prophet's teaching; for he himself was neither made weak, nor sinned, nor did he himself feel the pains of the cruel wounds. For how could it happen that he who had cured the manifold diseases of illnesses by the power of his command, and had given renewed life to the dead by his order, should himself, according to his divine nature, have been subject to suffering? He bore, then, as man the insults of the passion in the flesh, and as God worked mighty works by his own authority. Hence the Apostle says: "He was crucified out of weakness, but he lives by the power of God." And hence it is that, when he is led to his passion, he forms a new ear for Malchus by the touch of his right hand, an ear cut off, against the purpose of his patience, by the sword of Peter avenging him; and that, hanging on the cross, he gives paradise to the confessing thief; and that, laid in the tomb, he raises the bodies of the saints; and that, rising, he is seen in the same arrangement of limbs in which he had suffered, and comes in to the apostles gathered in one house when the doors were shut; and that, ascending to heaven, he does not desert his faithful disciples, promising that he will remain with them until the consummation of the age. If the Arian heretics followed this distinction, they would never turn the mystery of our life into an insult to the Son of God, asserting with blasphemous voices that he is less than God the Father, whom the vessel of election testifies to be equal to the Father, opening all that reason for which the Son of God, who is also man, said, "for the Father is greater than I." "Have this mind in you," he says, "which was in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not think it robbery to be equal with God." The Apostle testifies he is equal; Arius tries to assert he is less. It is left to the judgment of the hearers whom they think should be believed: whether the apostle Paul, who, chosen by Christ as teacher of the Gentiles, like a wise architect laid the foundation of the faith, and who, caught up to the third heaven, heard heavenly secrets; or the accursed Arius, who in the time of the emperor Constantine, when with poisoned heart he was feigning a confession of the catholic faith, seeking the friendship of the king and to be recalled to the rank of presbyter, from which he had deservedly been driven, like Judas the betrayer burst open in the middle and all his bowels were poured out, lest the wolf should enter under sheep's clothing to devour the Lord's flock. The Arians who follow this wicked man's assertion will follow the example of his death as well. But let us who follow the apostolic faith and teaching lend the ears of our minds with faithful affection to the explanation of the most blessed Paul mentioned above. For it follows: "but he emptied himself" (by voluntary goodness, that is), humbling himself. And it is added: "taking the form of a servant" (not being made a servant, surely); "made," he says, "in the likeness of man." For "what was made in him is life": namely, what was made in him according to the flesh is our life, as he himself testifies: "I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly." Then he added: "and found in appearance as a man"; for the appearance of God, how great it is, that is, God himself properly, "no one has ever seen." Then: "he humbled himself, becoming," he says, "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross"; for with spontaneous humility, with the Father's will, he willingly bore the cross, so that his death might become the life of believers. "Therefore," he says, "God exalted him." Whom? Him, namely, who underwent the punishment of the cross and of death; not God considered singly, who is always exalted by nature. "And gave him the name which is above every name." The name above every name is God; and it is surely not given to God that he may be God. For in the beginning the Son, God the Word, was with the Father; but the man assumed by the Son is promoted into God, so that the Son of God, who had always been, might be God equally, and, together with the substance which he took from the Virgin, wholly God again: "that at the name of Jesus," of God, that is, and man, "every knee should bend, of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord in the glory of God the Father"; that is, that after the mystery of the passion and the triumph of the ascension, the Son of God, now whole, together with what he deigned to assume for us, might be adored in the glory of God the Father (abiding, that is, in the divinity of his nature) by all the powers of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth. Before, then, he suffered; before, having triumphed over death, he ascended to heaven as victor; before he returned into the bosom of the paternal divinity with all the substance in which he had been born of the Virgin; before the Lord Jesus was recognized and adored in the glory of God the Father by every rational creature of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth, he rightly said to the disciples: "If you loved me, you would surely rejoice that I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I." For the Son of God, born in the flesh, was still less, until he should set the nature of the man he had assumed in his ancient glory. And therefore elsewhere he says in his own person to the Father: "Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with you before this world was": so that he might possess, with the whole substance of his bodily birth, the glory of divinity which he, God the Son, had always had with God the Father before the foundation of the world. For this reason too, after his resurrection, he speaks thus to certain people who hesitated about this dispensation: "O foolish," he says, "and slow of heart to believe in all that [the prophets have spoken]" … ### Scripture references - John 10:30: quotation, high confidence - John 14:9–11: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:34: allusion, high confidence - John 14:27–28: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:40: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:13: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:7: allusion, high confidence - Luke 2:10–14: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:1–16: allusion, high confidence - Luke 2:42–47: allusion, high confidence - Isa 53:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:22: allusion, high confidence - Matt 3:13–17: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:1–11: allusion, high confidence - John 8:59: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 8:30–33: allusion, high confidence - John 4:6: allusion, high confidence - John 4:14–18: quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:12 (18:13 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - John 6:9–13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 14:22–31: quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:24–26: quotation, high confidence - John 8:40: quotation, high confidence - Matt 16:16–17: quotation, high confidence - John 10:18: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:38: quotation, high confidence - John 2:19: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:42: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:22: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 2:8: allusion, high confidence - Isa 53:4–5: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 13:4: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:50–51: allusion, high confidence - Luke 23:43: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:52: allusion, high confidence - John 20:19: allusion, high confidence - Matt 28:20: allusion, high confidence - Phil 2:5–11: quotation, high confidence - Acts 9:15: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:10: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:2–4: allusion, high confidence - Acts 1:18: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:15: allusion, high confidence - John 1:3–4: quotation, high confidence - John 10:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 4:12: quotation, high confidence - John 17:5: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:25: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The letter breaks off in the digital text in the middle of Luke 24:25; the rest is lost here. Two pieces of verse that do not belong to Gaudentius's text, leaked from the edition's notes, are removed by logged corrections: lines of Juvencus on the magi (Evangeliorum libri 1.226–227, inside the sentence on the Samaritan woman) and a line of Terence at the break-off point. - Gaudentius's Christology ('a twofold substance in Christ'; the impassible divinity; 'the man assumed by the Son is promoted into God'; Arius's death 'like Judas') is translated exactly. His paraphrase of Phil 2:9 ('the name above every name is God') is his own reading. - Quotations: John 10:30; John 14:9–10; Luke 2:34; John 14:27–28; John 1:14; Luke 2:40; Eph 4:13; Luke 2:7, 10–14; Matt 2:1–16; Luke 2:42–47; Isa 53:9 (1 Pet 2:22); Matt 3:17 with 17:5; Matt 4:1–11; John 8:59; Luke 8:30–33; John 4:6, 15–18, 14; Ps 19:12 (18:13 Vulg.); John 6:9–13; Matt 14:22–31; Matt 8:24–26; John 7:19–20; Matt 16:16–17; John 10:18; Matt 26:38; John 2:19; Luke 22:42; Isa 1:22 (wine mixed with water); 1 Cor 2:8; Isa 53:4–5; 2 Cor 13:4; Luke 22:50–51; Luke 23:43; Matt 27:52; Luke 24:39–40; John 20:19, 26; Matt 28:20; Phil 2:5–11; Acts 9:15; 1 Cor 3:10; 2 Cor 12:2–4; Acts 1:18; Matt 7:15; John 1:3–4; John 10:10; 1 John 4:12; John 17:5; Luke 24:25. - The digital text has many OCR slips; the clearest are corrected, the rest translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 19 (PL 20:981b–988d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/19). ## Tractates 20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/19/#p-20 - Source: PL 20:988b–992a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: A short sermon for the feast of Peter and Paul (29 June), given at another bishop's request: the three births (natural, baptismal, and martyrdom), the deaths of Peter by inverted crucifixion and Paul by the sword under Nero, and their equality as brothers in faith. ### Latin text De Petro et Paulo. Venerabilis antistes Christi, communis autem pater, affectu quo me proficiscentem detinuit, nunc etiam compulit excusantem, ut iterum dilectionem vestram tractatu mei sermonis alloquerer. Et idcirco aliquid de laudibus beatissimorum Apostolorum, pro pusillitate sensus mei perstringam, ipsorum tamen quorum natalis est, praesidio animatus. Tres intelligimus nativitates humano generi ab aeterna Trinitate concessas. Una carnalis est omnium: duae spiritales sunt pro merito fidei singulorum. Prima, qua creamur ex nihilo in substantiam vitae mundanae: secunda, qua regeneramur in Baptismo ex iniquitate, et erroribus ad justitiae veritatem: tertia, qua beatissimi martyres, ob confessionem nominis Christi, per tormenta nascuntur ad regnum. Talis forma praecessit in Christo, qui ex Virgine natus, in Jordane renascitur, in crucis patibulo pretiosi cruoris sanguine baptizatur. Nam post illud baptisma quod pro nobis in Jordane susceperat, de Passione sua dicit Apostolis: Baptisma habeo baptizari. Resurrexit enim ex ipso baptismo Passionis ad vitam termino jam nullo claudendam: remeavit ad regnum, cujus regni non erit finis. Per hujus magistri vestigia gradiuntur fideles discipuli Petrus, et Paulus, quorum passionis natalem hodie per universum mundum omnes Ecclesiae debito honore concelebrant. In hoc enim die apud urbem Romam ambos pro Christi nomine Neronis crudelitas interfecit, Domini justitia coronavit. Petrus crucifigitur verso ad terram capite, et in sublime pedibus elevatis, asserens indignum se qui ita crucifigeretur ut Dominus suus, Paulus gladio capite truncatur. Ambo, nobiles, ambo insignes: duo vero mundi lumina, columnae fidei, Ecclesiae fundatores, innocentiae magistri, totius sanctitatis et veritatis auctores. Quos tunc digne laudare possumus, si eos divinis testimoniis praedicemus, quibus eos Veritas ipsa laudavit. Petro confitenti Dominus dicit: Beatus es, Simon Bar-jona: quoniam caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus, qui in coelis est (Matth. xvi). Et, tibi dico, Petre, tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum; et caetera. De Paulo quid dicam? Quoniam Vas electionis est, inquit, hic mihi, ut portet nomen meum in universo mundo (Act. ix). Super uno fundatur Ecclesia; alter pretiosum fidei myrum doctrina sua portat in populo, ipse Vas electionis effectus. Petrus signis, et mirabilibus clarescit: Paulus in doctrina, et persecutionibus gloriatur. Petrus erat antea piscator: Paulus persecutor; sed ambo postea facti sunt hominum piscatores. Etenim per totum mare saeculi hujus salutaris doctrinae retia tetenderunt. Petrus ambulare jubetur in fluctibus: Paulus in nubibus, dum usque ad tertium ducitur coelum: ambo in invii itineris gradiuntur elemento, fidei virtute sublimes. Quem cui praeponere audeam, nescio; cum Dominus eos sub una confessione aequales in passione monstraverit, in vera fraternitate conjunxerit, unanimitatis vinculo copularit; ut etiam de ipsis rectissime praesumamus prophetica spiritu praedicatum; Ecce quam bonum, et quam jucundum, habitare fratres in unum (Ps. cxxxii). Sunt quidem Moyses et Aaron, de quibus dicitur fratres. Sunt Prophetae et Apostoli una doctrina, spiritu fratres. Sunt in nobis interior et exterior homo, si unum sapiant, fratres. Sunt etiam Petrus et Paulus vere consanguinei fratres, quos una pariter fides proprii sanguinis fecit communione germanos. Ego eos et geminos dicere fratres audebo, quos mater una confessione, felici utero, simul fudit in regnum. Beati enim qui persecutionem patiuntur propter justitiam, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum (Matth. v). Communicemus igitur, fratres, sanctorum Apostolorum memoriis: communicemus sanctorum memoriis fide, opere, conversatione, sermone; ut mereamur eorum precibus ad omnia quaecumque poscimus, adjuvari, largiente gratia Domini Jesu Christi, Cui omnis honor in saecula saeculorum. ### English translation (Claude) On Peter and Paul. The venerable bishop of Christ, our common father, with the affection with which he detained me when I was setting out, has now also compelled me, though I excused myself, to address your love again with a discourse of mine. And therefore I shall touch on something in praise of the most blessed apostles, as far as the littleness of my understanding allows, encouraged, however, by the protection of those whose birthday it is. We understand that three births have been granted to the human race by the eternal Trinity. One, of the flesh, belongs to all; two are spiritual, according to the merit of each one's faith. The first is that by which we are created out of nothing into the substance of worldly life; the second, that by which we are regenerated in baptism from iniquity and errors to the truth of righteousness; the third, that by which the most blessed martyrs, for confessing the name of Christ, are born through torments into the kingdom. Such a pattern went before in Christ, who, born of the Virgin, is reborn in the Jordan and baptized on the gibbet of the cross with the blood of his precious gore. For after that baptism which he had received for us in the Jordan, he says to the apostles of his passion: "I have a baptism to be baptized with." For he rose from that very baptism of the passion to a life that will now be closed by no end; he returned to the kingdom, of whose kingdom there will be no end. In the footsteps of this master walk the faithful disciples Peter and Paul, the birthday of whose passion all the churches throughout the whole world celebrate today with due honour. For on this day, at the city of Rome, the cruelty of Nero killed both for the name of Christ, and the justice of the Lord crowned them. Peter is crucified with his head turned toward the earth and his feet raised on high, declaring himself unworthy to be crucified as his Lord was; Paul is beheaded by the sword. Both are noble, both distinguished: the two lights of the world, pillars of the faith, founders of the church, teachers of innocence, authors of all holiness and truth. We can praise them worthily only if we proclaim them with the divine testimonies with which the Truth itself praised them. To Peter, when he confessed, the Lord says: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." And: "I say to you, Peter, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven," and the rest. Of Paul what shall I say? "For this man," he says, "is a vessel of election to me, to carry my name in the whole world." On the one the church is founded; the other, having become himself a vessel of election, carries by his teaching the precious myrrh of faith among the people. Peter shines with signs and wonders; Paul glories in teaching and persecutions. Peter was formerly a fisherman, Paul a persecutor; but both afterwards were made fishers of men. For they stretched the nets of saving teaching through the whole sea of this world. Peter is commanded to walk on the waves, Paul in the clouds, when he is led to the third heaven; both walk on an element that has no road, lifted up by the power of faith. Which of them I should dare to put before which, I do not know, since the Lord has shown them equal in their passion under one confession, joined them in true brotherhood, coupled them by the bond of one mind; so that we may most rightly presume that it was proclaimed of them too by the prophetic Spirit: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity." Moses and Aaron, indeed, are spoken of as brothers. The prophets and apostles are brothers in spirit by one teaching. The inner and the outer man in us are brothers, if they think the same. Peter and Paul too are truly brothers of one blood, whom one faith alike made kin by the communion of their own blood. I shall dare to call them even twin brothers, whom their mother, by one confession, poured forth together from a happy womb into the kingdom. "For blessed are those who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Let us share, then, brothers, in the memorials of the holy apostles; let us share in the memorials of the saints by faith, works, conduct and speech, so that by their prayers we may be counted worthy to be helped toward all that we ask, by the gift of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be all honour for ages of ages. ### Scripture references - Luke 12:50: quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:33: allusion, high confidence - Matt 16:17–19: quotation, high confidence - Acts 9:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:19: allusion, high confidence - Matt 14:29: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:2: allusion, high confidence - Ps 133:1 (132:1 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The 'venerable bishop … our common father' who made Gaudentius preach is not named (perhaps Ambrose or the bishop of another city where Gaudentius was visiting). Peter's crucifixion head downward is the tradition of the Acts of Peter; it is reported as Gaudentius gives it. 'On the one the church is founded' (Matt 16:18) is translated exactly. - Quotations: Luke 12:50; Luke 1:33; Matt 16:17–19; Acts 9:15; Matt 4:19; Matt 14:29; 2 Cor 12:2; Ps 133:1 (132:1 Vulg.); Matt 5:10. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 20 (PL 20:988b–992a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/20). ## Tractates 21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gaudentius-tractatus/19/#p-21 - Source: PL 20:992a–997d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-23 Summary: Gaudentius's sermon on the anniversary of his predecessor Philastrius of Brescia: a true son of Abraham, a travelling preacher against heresies and Arianism (at Milan against Auxentius and at Rome), who evangelized Brescia, lived humbly and generously, and died on 18 July. ### Latin text Charissimi, nos hodie memores promissionum Christi, honorem debitum beato patri nostro Philastrio, tamquam vere viventi, deferimus. Est enim Patriarcharum filius, et socius in fide, et aemulator conversationis: quorum sinceritati simillimus, et qualem Christus vivere Deo pronuntiat, incredulitatem Sadducaeorum valida praescriptione refellens, dum dicit, illum qui nuncupatur Deus Abrahae, et Isaac et Jacob, non esse Deum mortuorum, sed vivorum (Matth. xxii; Luc. xx). Omnes enim, inquit, illi vivunt. Et certe Scriptura divina mortuos eos fuisse juxta conditionem carnis, quamvis in senecta bona, praedixerat, ac sepultos; sicut exstantia demonstrant sepulcra. Quod igitur beato Petro licuit audenter dicere de patriarcha David, quia mortuus fuerit, et sepultus, cum sciret eum prophetica fide vitam praesumpsisse post mortem, quippe dixerat; Vivet anima mea, et laudabit te (Ps cxviii); et caetera hujusmodi: liceat et nobis audenter dicere ad vos de filio patriarchae legitimo, summoque sacerdote Philastrio, quoniam mortuus quidem est, et sepultus, el sepulcrum ejus est apud nos, sed vita ejus in Christo est apud Deum. Itaque cum Christus apparuerit vita nostra, tune et iste cum ipso apparebit in gloria (Coloss. iii). Legitimum vero eum esse filium beatissimi Abrahae, fidei atque operum testantur exempla (Gen. xii). Credens enim Deo fide plenissima, exiit et ipse de terra sua, et de cognatione sua, et de domo patris sui; et sequebatur verbum Dei, ab omnibus saeculi impedimentis exutus. Ac propterea cito assequi meruit quod sequi studuit expeditus. Exercens namque continentiam singularem, pervigil in Scripturis sanctis, Dei sapientiam concupivit, portionem suam Christum reputans Dominum: in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae coelestis absconditi (Coloss, ii). Quibus cum replevisset desiderium suum, desideriorum coelestium vir, et per impositionem manus presbyterii, dispensator fuisset divini sermonis electus, negligere gratiam Dei omnino passus non est. Sed circumiens universum pene ambitum Romani orbis, Dominicum praedicavit verbum, Pauli apostoli idoneus imitator exsistens. Sancto enim Spiritu plenus, non solum contra Gentiles atque Judaeos, verum etiam contra haereses omnes, et maxime contra furentem eo tempore Arianam perfidiam tanto fidei vigore pugnavit, ut etiam verberibus subderetur, et in corpore suo stigmata Domini nostri Jesu Christi portaret. Nam et in mediolanensi urbe idoneus olim custos Dominici gregis fuit; Ariano repugnans Auxentio, priusquam beatus eligeretur Ambrosius. Romae etiam non exiguo tempore moratus, multos et publica et privata disputatione lucratus in fide est. Sed neque per vicos et castella diversarum praeteriens regionum, praedicare verbum Dei umquam destitit fidelis Christi discipulus. Post illos itaque circuitus animarum plurium salutares, Brixia eum rudis quondam, sed cupida doctrinae, promeruit: scientiae quidem spiritalis ignara, studio tamen discendi laudabilis. Excidit continuo imis ab stirpibus horrentem silvam diversi erroris bonus agricola, et aratro doctrinae pronus incumbens, invertit crudam totis viribus terram, squalentemque humum sulcis assiduis in novalia foecunda convertit, affatim semina vitalium mandatorum gremio ejus insinuans. Plantavit quoque vineam, cujus laetaretur ex fructu: quoniam vinum laetificat cor hominis (Ps. ciii). Oleas etiam pacis agrestibus indidit oleastris, et asperitati pomorum silvestrium germina pinguedinis, ac suavitatis inseruit;ut haberet apostolicus vir aliquem et in vobis fructum, sicut et in caeteris gentibus. Et iste quidem consummati operis nunc apud Deum fructibus, gratulatur; nam dignus est operarius mercede sua (Luc. x): et laborantem agricolam oportet primo de fructibus sumere (II Tim. ii). Ego autem minima ejus pars, omnibus votis exopto ut agrum bene a patre consitum, et non satis idonea successione susceptum, quoquo modo tueri praevaleam. Zelum fidei ejus, et magnitudinem laborum paulo ante perstrinximus. Jam reminiscamur, charissimi, vehemens ille ardor animi quantam possederit in sanctis moribus lenitatem: illa celsitudo scientiae quanta fuerit humilitate sublimis: illa coelestium rerum peritia quam fuerit ignara terrestrium. Erat enim humanae gloriae nescius, et acer divini honoris exactor: non quaerens quae sua essent, sed quae Jesu Christi (Philipp. ii). Amicitias saeculi, et officia mundana contemnens, servitio Dei jugiter adhaerens, inter humana colloquia jugiter occupatus: nimirum ibi cor ejus erat, ubi thesaurus (Matth, vi). Illud etiam quale est, quod cum operosa quaeque hujus saeculi, ac pretiosa despiceret, vilium rerum pauperrimos venditores, misericordi ambitione profusus emptor augebat? parum scilicet computans quod professis egentibus largiretur. Erat idem sanctus ira brevis, indulgentia facilis, patientia superans humanitate devincens: in corripiendo districtus, in relaxando absolutus, liber in agendo: omni aetati, et conditioni, et sexui, stupenda benignitate communis, ac tum humilibus quibuscumque conjunctior. Ipse quoque in illo habitu vestium, tota erat vilitate mundissimus: gratus sine industria, contemptibilis sine fuco; et plane qui, ipso nil curante, mentis ejus panderet puritatem. Pauca haec de virtutibus hominis Dei, brevissimo sermone memoravi; ne dies iste quo ad superna migravit beatus Philastrius patronus noster, cujus hodie festa celebramus, tristi silentio inglorius praeteriret. Nam cum multa meritorum ejus praeconia, quatuordecim jam per annos solemnitatis hujus cultum renovans, auditui vestro intulerim, plura quae praedicari adhuc possunt, intacta perspicio. Quintodecimo autem Calendarum Augustarum exuit hominem, et migravit ad eum quem dilexit. Tam digni igitur memoriam sacerdotis debito affectu veneremur, ut ipsius quoque suffragio bona quae poscimus, facilius impetremus, largiente Dei Filio sempiterno, cui est omnis honor, virtus, et gloria, cum Patre, et Spiritu sancto, in omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Dearest ones, mindful today of the promises of Christ, we pay due honour to our blessed father Philastrius as to one truly living. For he is a son of the patriarchs, and their companion in faith, and an imitator of their way of life: most like their sincerity, and such a one as Christ declares to live to God, when he refutes the unbelief of the Sadducees with a strong argument, saying that he who is called the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is not the God of the dead but of the living. "For all," he says, "live to him." And certainly the divine Scripture had said that they had died according to the condition of the flesh, although in a good old age, and been buried, as their tombs still standing show. What, then, blessed Peter was allowed to say boldly of the patriarch David, that he had died and been buried, though he knew that he had presumed on life after death by prophetic faith (for he had said, "My soul shall live and shall praise you," and other such things): let us too be allowed to say boldly to you of a lawful son of the patriarch, the high priest Philastrius, that he is indeed dead and buried, and his tomb is with us, but his life is hidden with Christ in God. And so "when Christ our life appears, then" he too "will appear with him in glory." That he is a lawful son of most blessed Abraham, the examples of his faith and works bear witness. For believing God with the fullest faith, he too went out from his land, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, and followed the word of God, stripped of all the hindrances of the world. And therefore he quickly deserved to attain what, unencumbered, he strove to follow. For, practising a singular continence, keeping vigil over the holy Scriptures, he desired the wisdom of God, counting as his portion Christ the Lord, "in whom are hidden all the treasures" of heavenly "wisdom." When he had filled his desire with them, being a man of heavenly desires, and had been chosen through the laying on of hands of the presbytery as a dispenser of the divine word, he did not at all allow himself to neglect the grace of God. But going round almost the whole circuit of the Roman world, he preached the Lord's word, proving a fit imitator of the apostle Paul. For, full of the Holy Spirit, he fought not only against Gentiles and Jews but also against all heresies, and especially against the Arian faithlessness, which was raging at that time, with such vigour of faith that he was even subjected to beatings and bore in his body the marks of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in the city of Milan too he was once a fit guardian of the Lord's flock, resisting the Arian Auxentius before blessed Ambrose was chosen. At Rome also, staying for no short time, he gained many for the faith by both public and private disputation. Nor, passing through the villages and towns of various regions, did this faithful disciple of Christ ever cease to preach the word of God. After those journeys, then, which brought salvation to many souls, Brescia was counted worthy of him: once uncultivated, but eager for teaching; ignorant indeed of spiritual knowledge, but praiseworthy for its zeal to learn. At once the good farmer cut down from the lowest roots the bristling forest of various error, and, bending over the plough of teaching, turned over the raw earth with all his strength and turned the neglected soil, with constant furrows, into fruitful new ground, sowing abundantly in its lap the seeds of life-giving commandments. He also planted a vineyard, in whose fruit he might rejoice, since "wine gladdens the heart of man." He also grafted olives of peace onto wild olive trees, and set into the harshness of wild fruit the buds of richness and sweetness, so that the apostolic man might have some fruit among you too, as among the other nations. And he indeed now rejoices with God in the fruits of his completed work; for "the labourer is worthy of his wage," and "the hard-working farmer ought to be the first to partake of the fruits." But I, the least part of him, desire with all my prayers to be able in some way to protect the field well sown by the father and received by a successor not fit enough. We have touched a little while ago on the zeal of his faith and the greatness of his labours. Now let us remember, dearest ones, how great a gentleness in holy conduct that vehement ardour of soul possessed; how sublime in humility that loftiness of knowledge was; how ignorant of earthly things that expertness in heavenly things was. For he did not know human glory, and was a keen exactor of the honour due to God, "not seeking his own things but those of Jesus Christ." Despising the friendships of the world and worldly duties, cleaving constantly to the service of God, constantly occupied even in human conversation: plainly his heart was there where his treasure was. And what of this, that while he despised all the elaborate and costly things of this world, he enriched the poorest sellers of cheap things as a lavish buyer with a merciful ambition, counting it little, no doubt, what he gave to those who openly professed their need? The same saint was brief in anger, easy in pardon, overcoming by patience, conquering by kindness; strict in reproof, generous in releasing, free in acting; common to every age, condition and sex with an astonishing kindness, and closer to all the humble. He himself too, in his manner of dress, was most clean in utter plainness: pleasing without effort, unassuming without pretence; plainly one who, without caring about it himself, displayed the purity of his mind. I have recalled these few things of the virtues of the man of God in a very brief speech, so that this day on which our patron, blessed Philastrius, passed to the heavens, whose feast we celebrate today, might not pass inglorious in sad silence. For although I have brought to your hearing many proclamations of his merits, renewing the observance of this solemnity for fourteen years now, I see that many more things that could yet be proclaimed remain untouched. On the fifteenth day before the Calends of August he put off the man and passed to him whom he loved. Let us, then, venerate the memory of so worthy a priest with due affection, so that by his intercession too we may more easily obtain the good things we ask, by the gift of the everlasting Son of God, to whom is all honour, power and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for all ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Matt 22:32: quotation, high confidence - Luke 20:37–38: quotation, high confidence - Gen 25:8: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 2:29: allusion, high confidence - Ps 119:175 (118:175 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Col 3:3–4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 12:1: allusion, high confidence - Ps 16:5 (15:5 Vulg.): allusion, medium confidence - Col 2:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 4:14: allusion, high confidence - Gal 6:17: allusion, high confidence - Ps 104:15 (103:15 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:17: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 1:13: allusion, high confidence - Luke 10:7: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:21: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Gaudentius says he has preached on this anniversary for fourteen years, so the sermon dates from about 410. 'The fifteenth day before the Calends of August' is 18 July. Philastrius's sufferings (beatings, 'the marks of Christ') and his work at Milan before Ambrose's election (374) are reported as Gaudentius gives them; the intercession of the saint is his. - A Sapphic stanza beginning 'Turribus quorum genitus hic…' (on Philastrius's unknown birthplace) stands in the digital text before 'Pauca haec'; it is not Gaudentius's prose and is probably verse from the edition's notes (perhaps from Philastrius's epitaph or a hymn). It is removed by a logged correction. - Quotations: Matt 22:32 with Luke 20:37–38; Gen 25:8; Acts 2:29; Ps 119:175 (118:175 Vulg.); Col 3:3–4; Gen 12:1; Ps 16:5 (15:5 Vulg.); Col 2:3; 1 Tim 4:14; Gal 6:17; Ps 104:15 (103:15 Vulg.); Rom 11:17; Rom 1:13; Luke 10:7; 2 Tim 2:6; Phil 2:21; Matt 6:21. ### Citation (SBL) Gaudentius, Tract. 21 (PL 20:992a–997d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gaudentius-tractatus/21).