About Jacob and the blessed life

The treatise “On Jacob and the Blessed Life” (2 books) was written by St. Ambrose of Milan in 386. Within the framework of the Old Testament story about the Patriarch Jacob, the doctrine of the highest good is set forth as the freedom of the spirit from the desires of the flesh, the attitude of the righteous to external goods and disasters. The work is based on sermons addressed to catechumens or neophytes after their recent baptism. With the help of interpretations of some episodes from the life of James, St. Ambrose reveals the dogmatic teaching about salvation, about the Divine nature of Christ, about the Church. The first book can be called the theoretical part of the essay. It explains what the bliss of life is. The saint notes the negative and positive aspects of the Old Testament law, which was completely powerless in the fight against sin and in the justification of man. The reason was the sinful state of human nature, which the Apostle Paul spoke about: “I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do” (Rom. 7:15). The Law brought about humility in man and complete trust in God, and prepared mankind for the Redemption by the death of Christ. The second book can be considered the practical part of the essay. Speaking about the blessed life, the saint gives examples of the patriarch James, the priest Eleazar and the Maccabee brothers with their mother. According to the interpretation of St. Ambrose, Jacob typifies Christ (Book 2, ch. 5.24–25), God the Father (Book 2, ch. 9.41) and the Jewish people (Book 2, ch. 2.8; ch. 7.31). Jacob's beloved wife Rachel represents the Church (Book 2, Ch. 5.25), unloved wife Leah represents the Synagogue, and Laban, who persecutes Jacob, represents the devil (Book 2, Ch. 5.24). The mother of Jacob, Rebekah appears as the virtue of patience (Book 2, ch. 4.14) and as the Church (Book 2, ch. 2.9). Jacob's father Isaac typifies the grace of the chosen Israeli people, which the patriarch passed on to the Christian people - the new Israel (Book 2, chapter 2.8). Brother Esau typifies intemperance (Book 2, chapter 4.15) and foolishness (Book 2, chapter 3.11), as well as the Jewish people who resist Christian teaching. The Maccabee brothers are presented as an example of mastery over one's own passions (Book 2, ch. 11.45-53). *The title of the work in Latin is De Iacob et vita beatata. Contents Jerome. Theodorit (Tikhonov). Translator's Preface About Jacob and the Blessed Life Book 1 Book 2 Jerome. Theodorit (Tikhonov). Translator's Preface The treatise of St. Ambrose of Milan “On Jacob and the Blessed Life” refers to moral and exegetical works compiled on the basis of sermons addressed to catechumens or neophytes after their recent baptism. This is indicated by the abundance of moral teachings and the following words: sicut legi audisti hodie (2.5.23). An example of a virtuous life is the life of the patriarch Jacob, described in the book of Genesis. The interpretation of some episodes from the life of Jacob allows St. Ambrose to give his listeners not only a moral lesson, but also to reveal the dogmatic teaching about salvation, about the divine nature of Christ, about the Church. The title of the work “On Jacob and the Blessed Life” was given in the Middle Ages. The title itself indicates that the work consists of two semantic parts: practical and theoretical, although St. Ambrose first talks about the blessed life, and then moves on to interpret individual episodes from the life of Patriarch Jacob. Like most works of St. Ambrose, the dating of the treatise “On Jacob and the Blessed Life” can only be determined tentatively. After the study of Palanka 1, the most accurate date is considered to be 386 for the following reasons. Firstly, a number of borrowings from Plotinus’ Enneads show that we are talking about a period when the Mediolan shepherd moved away from the influence of Philo and discovered Neoplatonism 2. Secondly, in the last chapters of the second book, where St. Ambrose describes the opposition of the Maccabean martyrs to the royal command; researchers, not without reason, see an allusion to the period of the greatest conflict between Ambrose and the Arian party of the reigning house. This was on the eve of Easter 386. 3 Thirdly, in the treatise of St. Ambrose says that peace in the Roman state is maintained either by the emperor's successful military campaigns against the barbarians, or by internecine wars among the barbarians themselves (2.6.29). And indeed, in 386 The Visigoths, led by Promotus, fought the Ostrogoths, which gave the Roman Empire a brief respite. Finally, the theme of martyrdom, to which St. Ambrose constantly returns in his work, which could have been caused by the discovery of the relics of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius in 386. The very first lines of the treatise tell us that St. Ambrose was largely dependent on Stoic philosophy in matters of morality. The expression “mind listening to reason” (mens rationi intenta) (1.1.1) undoubtedly has a Stoic character and is associated with the teaching of the Stoics about the nature of the moral law in man. For the Stoics, the moral law was primarily the voice of the individual human mind, and morality was an activity consistent with the requirements of this reason. The Stoics taught that not every activity of the mind has the meaning of law, but only correct activity, sound reasoning (όρθός λόγος), or reason acting in accordance with the law of universal world reason (νοῦς). St. Ambrose also makes the subjective human mind (mens) dependent on the objective ratio. He calls moral activity “correct reasoning” (rationis rectae consideratio, 1.1.1); with the help of correct reasoning (rectae rationis tractatio) passions can be destroyed (1.1.4); through reason (recta ratio) the mind is able to adhere to the instructions of wisdom (1.1.4); and, finally, only life according to reasoning can be perfect (secundum tractationem rationis, 1.7.29). Saint Ambrose even makes external law dependent on reason. He writes that the law is “useful only in the matter of exhortation and weak in the matter of persuasion” (1.1.1). But, of course, it would be a mistake to think that St. Ambrose, sound reasoning means the agreement of the individual mind with the world mind. The saint drew many ideas from Stoicism, but at the same time rethought them and filled them with a new spirit of Christian teaching. The connecting link between the Stoic and Christian teachings about morality for St. Ambrose is the teaching of the interpreters-allegorists of Divine Revelation, led by Philo of Alexandria, who in their works made a significant amendment to the Stoic concept of the world mind. In their opinion, the criterion for correct reasoning is its agreement with the Logos. For St. Ambrose Logos is, naturally, Christ. In the “Explanation of the 118th Psalm” (Expositio de psalmo CXVIII), the saint directly writes about Christ as the living Law 4. In the treatise “On Jacob and the Blessed Life” itself, St. Ambrose writes about the Logos as a living divine Law, thanks to which David curbed the unreasonable desire to drink water from the well (1.1.3). To designate the righteous man, Ambrose uses the Stoic terms "sage" (sapiens) and "perfect man" (vir perfectus), also giving these names a Christian meaning. Unlike the Stoics, the saint does not call for complete dispassion (άπάθειαả), but only for the curbing of passions, saying that “it is impossible for someone who is easily angered not to be angry at all, but it is quite possible that he moderates himself with reasoning, restrains his indignation and refrains from revenge, just as the prophet instructs us, saying: Be angry and do not sin ( Ps.4:5)" (1.1.1). The reason for happiness and a blissful life for a sage is the highest good (summum bonum). At St. Ambrose, it is understood in two ways. In his essay “On Duties” (De officiis), he says that “virtue is the only and highest good” 5. Of course, this is not an external good, but an internal one, which allows the sage to remain calm during all kinds of disasters and troubles in life. He writes: “Whoever follows Jesus receives his reward in himself and has reward and grace in his soul; and even if he suffers hardships, he is still blessed because of his disposition, blessed even in the dangers themselves” (Iacob. 1.7.28). On the other hand, sometimes St. Ambrose applies the name solum illud et summum bonum primarily to God, since we “cannot give Him anything, because He needs nothing, as David says: I said to my Lord: You are my Lord, and therefore You do not need my blessings (Ps. 15:2)” (Iacob. 2.4.15). In the first book of the treatise “On Jacob” by St. Ambrose pays a lot of attention to the question of the meaning of the Old Testament law in the matter of human salvation. The saint notes both the negative and positive aspects of the Old Testament law. The law was completely powerless in the fight against sin and in the justification of man, and the saint asks: “Is the commandment really good, which brings me death?” (1.4.13). He further explains that such a harmful effect of the law on a person did not depend on the law, the commandments of which were good in themselves, but on the person, because through our intemperance we ourselves make the saving commandment deadly for ourselves. However, the saint finds some justification for man in the deep disorder of his entire nature, repeating the famous thesis of St. Paul: I do not do what I want, but what I hate, I do (Rom.7:15) (1.4.15). But after receiving the law, man deeply realized his sinful state and could no longer demand justification, citing his ignorance. “We who were able to justify ourselves through ignorance have all sinned, so that every mouth is stopped (Rom. 3:19). I began to admit what I had denied, I began to recognize my sin and not hide my untruth,” and thus “guilt turned out to be more fruitful than innocence. Innocence made me arrogant, guilt made me humble” (1. 6. 20-21). The Law brought about humility in man and complete trust in God, and prepared mankind for the Redemption by the death of Christ. The second book of the treatise examines specific examples. The sage here is played by Old Testament characters: the patriarch Jacob, and at the end of the book the priest Eleazar and the seven Maccabean brothers with their mother. St. Ambrose does not immediately move on to the story of the patriarch Jacob, but first resolves the question: what does it mean to be blessed (2.1.2). The definition of a blessed person for him is the words of King David: Blessed is the man who did not follow the advice of the wicked, and did not take the path of sinners, and did not sit in the company of destroyers (Ps. 1:1). Further, using examples from the life of Saint James, it is concluded that the patriarch can certainly be called blessed due to his many virtues and merits (2.1.4). The question of the hermeneutic scheme in St. Ambrose is resolved ambiguously in modern patrolological science. For a long time it was believed that St. Ambrose, following Origen, adhered to a three-part division of the meanings of Holy Scripture, namely historical, moral and spiritual 6. However, in the 20th century. French scientists E. Savon 7 and J. Norois 8 began to dispute this position, arguing that the hermeneutic theory of the Mediolan bishop did not correspond to his exegetical practice 9 . In practice, he looked for only two meanings of Scripture: moral (aka historical) and mysterious (aka spiritual). The Italian scientist L. F. Pisolato 10 did not agree with his French colleagues and remained at his previous positions regarding the number of meanings 11 . This whole debate boils down to the following two questions. First: did Saint Ambrose separately highlight the moral meaning of Scripture, or is this meaning for him an integral part of the historical meaning? And second: is the so-called “anthropological allegorism” 12 independent - that is, everything that the interpreter says about the inner life of the soul and its relationship with God, regardless of the literal meaning of the text, or is this meaning in St. Ambrose constitutes a single whole with a mysterious meaning? A detailed analysis of examples of the exegesis of the Mediolan pastor and his hermeneutic terminology convinces us that French scholars are more correct when they talk about the two-part hermeneutical scheme of St. Ambrose 13. The thesis about the presence of only two meanings of the Holy Scriptures by St. Ambrose is also confirmed in the treatise “On Jacob”, where he gives only two interpretations, calling them: moralia (2.5.23) and mystica (2.5.24). According to the moral interpretation, Patriarch Jacob is a model of virtues in all circumstances of his life. According to the mysterious interpretation, Jacob represents Christ (2.5.24–25), less often, God the Father (2.9.41) and the Jewish people (2.2.8; 2.7.31). All actions of Jacob and his parents are justified and holy for Saint Ambrose. Hence such expressions as good competition (bonum certamen, 2.2.7), impeccable theft (inreprehensibilis rapina) and good cunning (bonus dolus, 2.3.10). Like many interpreters, 14 Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel represents the Church (2.5.25), his unloved wife Leah represents the Synagogue, and Laban, who pursues Jacob, represents the devil (2.5.24). Jacob's mother, Rebecca, in a moral sense appears as the virtue of patience, according to the etymology of her name (2.4.14), in a mysterious sense - as the Church (2.2.9). Jacob's father Isaac typifies the grace of the chosen people of Israel, which the patriarch transmitted to the Christian people - the new Israel (2.2.8). Brother Esau, in a moral sense, prefigures such vices as intemperance (2.4.15) and unreason (2.3.11), in a mysterious sense, the Jewish people who oppose Christian teaching. In addition, Esau is an image of the crude and literal interpretation of the Divine Law (2.3.13). His interpretations of St. Ambrose often builds on the interpretation of the names of biblical characters. In general, St. Ambrose has the same interpretations of names as Philo of Alexandria and Origen: the translation of the name Laban as “bright” (2.5.24) is borrowed from Philo 15; the interpretation of the name of Jacob's mother Rebecca as “patience” 16 is found in both Philo and Origen 17 . But not always St. Ambrose follows the Alexandrian exegetes in interpreting the names. For example, in one of his letters he interprets the name Rachel as “a strong wind” (aspiraatio fortis) 18. This interpretation of the name Rachel is not found anywhere else - not even in St. Ambrose, nor from other authors. In the treatise “On Jacob” he gives a more traditional interpretation of the name Rachel, namely as “seeing the beginning, primacy” (uidens principium, 2.5.25) 19, which, according to the Mediolan saint, means the future primacy of the Church of Christ before the Synagogue. In the treatise “On Jacob”, researchers find obvious traces of borrowing from Plotinus’ “Enneads” (1.4. “On Happiness”) 20. But to a greater extent, Saint Ambrose uses the IV Maccabees Book or “Περί λογισμού αύτοκράτορος,” the author of which was mistakenly considered Josephus for a long time 21 . This work probably appeared in Alexandria among the Jewish diaspora in the 1st century. n. e., but before the fall of Jerusalem. The purpose of this book was to harmonize the basic principles of Stoic morality with Jewish law. The influence of pseudo-Joseph on the work of St. Ambrose is visible from the first chapters. The main idea of IV Maccabees is the proposition: αύτοδεσπότης των παθών is ευσεβής λογισμός, which is consistent with the theme of Ambrose: Necessarius ad disciplinam bonus omnibus sermo, plenus prudentiae; et mens rationi intenta praecurrit virtutibus, passiones coercet (1.1.1). St. Ambrose uses almost the same examples from Sacred History as pseudo-Joseph. Both speak of Joseph the Beautiful, who, following the guidance of reason, conquered the passion of lust (1.2.6); both point to the patriarch Jacob, who scolded his sons Simeon and Levi for the devastation of Simech, showing that anger can be tempered by reason (1.2. 7), and finally, both point to the Maccabean brothers as an example of mastery over one's own passions (2. 11. 45–53). The question of which edition of the sacred text St. used requires special attention. Ambrose. The complexity of this issue lies in the fact that the same place of Holy Scripture by St. Ambrose could give in different versions and even with different semantic shades 22. This “scriptural eclecticism” 23 is explained by the fact that the Mediolan shepherd used several editions of the Holy Scriptures. Besides the Vetus Latina, the Latin translation of the Septuagint, St. Ambrose turned directly to the Septuagint itself, from where he made his own translation. Ambrose also used Greek translations of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion from Origen's Hexapla, which may have varied significantly. Taking all this into account, the quotes from the Holy Scriptures given by St. Ambrose, correspond to the Russian Synodal translation and even the Slavic one. When translating the treatise, we used the Latin text published by Gérard Norois in the series “Christian Sources” in 2010. However, the text from the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL) series was also useful, since not all of G. Norois’s textual conclusions seemed convincing to us. 24 Jerome. Theodorit (Tikhonov) h3 About Jacob and the blessed life 1. Necessarius ad disciplinam bonus 25 omnibus sermo, plenus prudentiae, et mens rationi intenta praecurrit uirtutibus, passiones coercet; docibilis enim uirtus. Denique studio et discendo quaeritur, dissimulando amittitur. Alioquin nisi sermo bonus necessarius esset ad correctionem, numquam lex diceret: Non adulterabis. Sed quia nudus sermo ad monendum utilis, ad persuadendum infirmus est, ideo adhibenda est rationis rectae consideratio, ut quod sermo bonus praescripserit, ratio Plenius tractata persuadeat. Non enim seruili ad oboediendum constringimur necessitate, sed uoluntate arbitra, siue ad uirtutem propendimus, siue ad culpam inclinamur. Et ideo nos aut liber affectus ad errorem trahit aut uoluntas reuocat rationem secuta. Passio autem grauissima culpae concupiscentia, quam ratio emollit et conprimit. Emollire enim potest, eradicare non potest, quoniam animus qui est rationis capax suarum passionum non dominus 26, sed repressor. Neque enim fieri potest ut facilis ad iracundiam non irascatur, sed ut ratione se temperet, indignationem cohibeat, a puniendo se reuocet, sicut et propheta nos docet dicens: Irascimini et nolite peccare. Concessit quod naturae est, negauit quod culpae est. 1. For instruction, a word suitable for everyone, filled with wisdom, is necessary, and the mind, listening to reason, lays the foundation for virtues and restrains passions, therefore, virtue can be learned: it is acquired by diligent study, but lost due to negligence. Moreover, if a suitable word were not necessary for correction, then the law would not have said: Thou shalt not commit adultery (Ex. 20:14). But since one simple word is useful in the matter of reminder and weak in the matter of persuasion, then one must think about how to reason correctly so that reasonable arguments convince 27 of what correct speech prescribes. Because it is not slavish necessity that keeps us in obedience, but the judgment of free will: we are either inclined towards virtue or inclined towards sin. And therefore, either self-will leads us to error, or the will, following reason, keeps us from it. The most serious sinful passion is lust, which reason softens and curbs. Because reason can soften passion, but cannot eradicate it, since the soul, which contains reason, is not the ruler of its passions, but their oppressor. After all, it is impossible for someone who easily gives in to anger not to be angry at all, but it is quite possible that he moderates himself with reasoning, restrains his indignation and refrains from revenge, just as the prophet instructs us, saying: Be angry and do not sin (Ps. 4:5). He allows what is natural and prohibits what is sinful. 2. Omnis itaque 28 ... ex aliis, non ex se originem sumit ideoque secunda est. Nam aut de naturalibus suscipitur aut de utilibus. Itaque aut naturalia temperat, aut utilitatis adsertor est. Denique non alicui 29 excidit concupiscentiam, sed facit ne concupiscentiae seruiamus. Quis enim tantus ut corporalem motum possit auferre nisi solus ille qui potuit de infructuosa ficulnea dicere, hoc est malitia Iudaeorum: Ecce anni tres sunt, ex quo ueni quaerens fructum in ficulnea hac et non inuenio, succide ergo illum. Cui respondit scruus: Remitte illam et hoc anno, usque dum fodiam circa illam et mittam cophinum stercoris. Et si quidem fructum fecerit, sin autem, in futurum succides illam. Merito ad dominum retulit, quia excidendae corporalis prolapsionis potestatem sibi ipse uindicare non poterat, sed domino reseruabat. 2. So, any reasoning 30 arises from others, and not on its own, and therefore is secondary, because it is born either from natural causes, or from the desire for benefit. This means that it either restrains what is natural, or cares about what is beneficial. And it does not destroy the passion of the soul in anyone, but it makes sure that we are not slaves to this passion. Who is so great that he can deliver from the troubles of the flesh, if not the One who was able to say about the barren fig tree, that is, about the malice of the Jews, the following: For the third year I came looking for fruit on this fig tree and did not find it: cut it down. The servant answers him: Leave it this year too, while I dig it up and cover it with a basket of manure: will it bear fruit, but if not, next year you will cut it down (Luke 13:7-9). And rightly the servant left the decision to the Lord, because he could not arrogate to himself the power to destroy for the fall of the flesh, but left it to the Lord. 3. Denique quem de hominibus meliorem et fortiorem adsumimus 31 quam sanctum Dauid, qui cupiditatem sibi, qua concupiuerat aquam de lacu Bethleem hostili interclusam exercitu, sibi auferre non potuit, potuit mitigare? Nam cum aliis utique defuisse non inucniamus, id est tanto exercitus numero, cum utique multo minus regi deesse potuerit ex ceteris fontibus aqua, inrationabilem quandam concupiscentiam passus desiderauit eam, quae hostium erat circumfusione uallata, unde sine maximo periculo non facile potuisset deferri. Itaque ait: Quis mihi dabit potum de lacu qui est in Bethleem ad portam? Et cum essent reperti tres uiri, qui hostium castra praeciderent et deferrent aquam, quam summo desiderio desiderasset, cognoscens quod periculo alieno aqua sibi eadem constitisset, profudit illam domino, ne sanguinem illorum qui eam detulerant bibere uideretur. Quae res indicio est quod concupiscentia quidem ratioem praeueniat, sed cup ratioiditati resistat. Humanum itaque passus est Dauid, ut inrationabiliter concupisceret, sed illud laudabile, quod inrationabilem concupiscentiam rationabiliter parato fraudauit remedio. Dum laudo uiros, qui erubuerunt desiderium sui regis et maluerunt finem eius uerecundiae uel periculo propriae salutis adferre, plus laudo eum qui erubuit in suo desiderio alienum periculum et aquam dubiae sortis pretio quaesitam sanguini comparauit. Simul quasi repressa uictor cupiditate profudit aquam domino, ut ostenderet quod concupiscentiam suam uerbi consolatione restringeret. 3. Which of the people do we consider better and braver than Saint David, who, having desired water from the well of Bethlehem, surrounded by an enemy army, could not get rid of the strong desire, but was able to moderate it? Because we do not see that others in such a great army lacked water, and the king, of course, could have lacked it from other sources less than anyone else. But, being in the grip of some irrational passion, he desired that water, which was surrounded by enemies, from where it was not easy to get it without great risk. So, he says: Who will give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is at the gate (2 Samuel 23:15). And when three men were found who made their way through the enemy’s camp and brought the water that he so badly desired, he poured it out to the Lord, realizing what danger this water cost others, so as not to be found drinking the blood of those who brought it. This case shows that although passion precedes reasoning, reason counteracts desire. So David experienced something human when he wished foolishly. But it is commendable that he wisely, with the help of a suitable means, outwitted an unreasonable passion. Although I praise the men who honored the desire of their king and wanted to put an end to his shame even at the risk of their own lives, I praise more the one who was ashamed that others were in danger because of his desire, and likened the water obtained at the cost of a dangerous lot to blood. Immediately, like a conqueror, having suppressed the desire, he poured water out to the Lord to show that he had fettered his passion with the help of a pacifying thought 32 . 4. Potest igitur mens sobria inpressiones refrenare ac reprimere quamuis grauium passionum et feruorem omnem cupiditatis flagrantissimae refrigerare, deriuare alio motus et rectae rationis tractatione despuere passiones. Etenim cum deus hominem constitueret et in eo mores sensusque plantaret, tunc motibus cius regale inposuit mentis imperium, ut omnes sensus motusque hominis eius uigore ac potestate regerentur. Adiunxit ad gratiam creaturae, ut mentem ipsam diuinis informaret praeceptis et sapientiae instrueret disciplinis, quibus ct cauenda nosceret et eligenda cognosceret. Mens igitur recta ratione tenens disciplinam sapientiae, ut diuina et humana cognoscat, eruditur in lege, per quam discit quas sibi subicere debeat passiones. 4. So, a sober mind can curb and restrain the attacks of even strong passions, cool the heat of even the most burning desire, deflect emotional movements and reject passions with the help of correct reasoning. And in fact, when God created man and implanted morals and feelings in him, then at the head of his spiritual movements He placed the royal dominion of the mind, so that all human feelings and mental movements were controlled by its power and authority. Out of goodness towards His creation, God made it so that man would educate the mind with the help of divine commandments and instruct it with wise teaching, so that man would know what to fear and understand what to choose. Reasoning correctly, the mind follows wise teaching for the knowledge of the divine and human, and learns from the law, from which it learns what passions it must subdue. 5. Passionum autem uelut duces sunt naturales delectatio et dolor, quas secuntur ceterae. Illae enim conplectuntur uniuersas, quarum utraque non solum corporis, sed etiam secundum animam passiones sunt. Et quia diximus subesse his alias passiones, ante delectationem concupiscentia, post delectationem gratulatio est; ante dolorem autem est timor, post dolorem tristitia, commotio autem animi communis passio et delectationis et doloris est. Transcurram alias, id est superbiam auaritiam ambitionem contentionem inuidiam, quae sunt secundum animam passiones, transcurram etiam inexplebilem uorandi libidinem effusionemque luxuriae atque lasciuiae, quae uitia nexa sunt corpori ct secundum illud operantur. Meritoque temperantia quam maxime istarum passionum restinguit ardorem, quae primum sobrietate atque moderamine animum temperat, mentem informat, deinde etiam deliciarum abstinentia restringit habenas corporalis ferocitatis. Ideo lex recidit ciborum licentiam, epularum copias, non solum ut resecaret luxuriam, uerum etiam ut inhibentis contemplatione praecepti uiani tractationi rationis aperiret, quae imitamenta gulae ceterasque recideret cupiditates, corporeas passiones motusque cohiberet. Temperantia est igitur correctionis praeii ia, disciplinae magistra. 5. As if the natural leaders of the passions are pleasure and suffering, 33 they are followed by the others, because pleasure and suffering contain all passions, and each of them is inherent not only in the body, but also in the soul. And therefore we said that other passions are subordinate to them: before pleasure there is passion, after pleasure there is joy; before suffering there is fear, after suffering there is sadness and grief; emotional excitement is a common passion for pleasure and pain. I will mention other passions, namely pride, greed, vanity, intransigence, envy, which are the passions of the soul, and I will also mention the insatiable passion of gluttony, the immoderation of luxury and debauchery, which are the vices of the flesh and act according to it. Truly, abstinence best extinguishes the heat of these passions. It first moderates and bridles the soul with sobriety, instructs the mind, and then, by renouncing pleasures, it tightens the reins of carnal fury. This is why the law limits freedom in food and abundance at meals: not only to eliminate luxury, but also so that, through the contemplation of the prohibition, to open the way for reasoning that would moderate gluttony and other desires and restrain bodily passions and impulses. So, abstinence points the way to correction and is a teacher in science. 6. Ab hac profectus Iacob sanctus primatus a fratre quos non habebat accepit, eiusque praelatus adsensu docuit in reliquum intemperantes proprio sibi uiles esse indicio. Ab hac profectus Joseph et calorem iuuentutis edomuit et temptatum adulterinis animum inlecebris rectae rationis inductione firmauit. Denique quamuis fortis esset et ualidus, tamen tractatu rationis fulcire se maluit dicens uxori domini sui: Si dominus meus non scit praeter me aliquid in domo sua et omnia quaecumque habet dedit in manus meas, neque subtractum est a me qui equam praeter te, quae uxor illius es, et quomodo faciam uerbum hoc malum et peccabo coram deo? Haec est igitur rectae rationis tractatio, quam Graeci λογισμόν nuncupant, qua mens sapientiae intenta solidatur. Pulchra enim ratio, quod nec beneficiis domini esse deberet ingratus nec occultum posset esse peccatum, quod deo teste committeret, quem latere non posset. 6. Having begun with abstinence, Saint James received from his brother seniority, which he did not have, 34 and, having received his brother’s consent to his preference, he taught his descendants that intemperate people, even in their own opinion, are worth little. Beginning with abstinence, Joseph curbed the ardor of his youth and strengthened his soul, tempted by adulterous temptations, with correct reasoning. Although he was strong and strong, he preferred to strengthen himself with reasoning, saying to his master’s wife: Behold, my master does not know anything in his house with me, and everything that he has has given into my hands; and he forbade me nothing except you, because you are his wife; and how can I create this evil word and sin before God (Gen. 39:8–9). This is the ability for correct reasoning, which the Greeks call λογισμόν; it strengthens the mind that listens to wisdom. After all, Joseph’s reasoning is excellent that he should not be ungrateful to his master for good deeds and that sin cannot be secret, because it is committed under the testimony of God, from Whom it cannot remain hidden. 7. Bona igitur ratio, quae et hostilem plerumque allectum exuit et dolorem iniuriae sequestrate. Denique et in acie plerumque uictorem mitigat et ferituri mucronem retardat et rogantem morti eripit; eo quod "subiectis parcere" iusta ratio persuadeat. Nam de excludendo uel mitigando iniuriae dolore quis melior magister, quam patriarcha Iacob, qui proprios coarguens filios Symeon et Leui ait: Odiosum me fecistis, ita ut saeuus uidear. Et utique ulti fuerant sororis iniuriam, quae contra instituta patria uiolato fuerat pudore temerata. Nec potuit Iacob, praeceptor disciplinae, custos pudoris, stuprum probare commissum, sed maluit insolentes ratione cohiberi sciens quod indignationem ratio temperare posset. 7. So, reasoning is a blessing, which often gets rid of hostile feelings and removes the pain of insult. Even in battle, righteous reasoning often softens the winner, holds back the sword ready to strike, and delivers those who ask for mercy from death, advising mercy to be shown to the submissive 35 . For who is a better teacher than the patriarch James when it comes to preventing or mitigating the pain of an insult? Reproaching his own sons, Simeon and Levi, he says: You made me hated, so that I appeared fierce (Gen. 34:30). They, of course, took revenge for the insult of their sister, whose honor, in violation of paternal institutions, was tainted by violence. And Jacob himself could not approve of complete dishonor, being a teacher in teaching and a guardian of honor, but he considered it best that the intemperate should be guided by reason, knowing that reason can moderate indignation. 8. Temperantia est igitur quae resecat cupiditates. Hanc primis hominibus tenendam mandauit deus dicens: De fructu autem ligni, quod est in medio paradisi non edetis neque tangetis illud, ne moriamini. Et quia non est retenta, ideo transgressores uirtutis egregiae paradisi exules facti sunt et inmortalitatis exortes. Hanc lex docet et uniuersorum infundit affectibus. 8. So, abstinence is what cuts off desires. God commanded the first people to observe abstinence, saying: But you must not eat or touch the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, lest you die (Gen. 3:3). But abstinence was not observed, and therefore the violators of the great virtue were expelled from paradise and lost immortality. It is abstinence that the law teaches and implants in the hearts of all. 9 . Doceri autem eam et sapientiam et disciplinam scriptura testatur, de temperantia in lege, de ceteris in libro lob, in quo scriptum est: Nonne dominus est qui docet intellectum et disciplinam? Et in euangelio dominus ipse ait: Discite a me quia mitis sum et humilis corde. Et alibi ad discipulos ait: Ite, docete omnes gentes baptizantes eas in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. Vnde autem discipuli dicti aut quid aliud a Christo nisi uirtutum operari praecepta discebant? Denique Dauid ait: Venite, filii, audite me, timorem domini docebo uos. Vtique timor dei de numero uirtutum est, quia initium sapientiae timor domini, per quem adsciscitur piae forma doctrinae, de qua Paulus ait: Gratia autem deo, quod fuistis serui peccati, sed oboedistis ex corde in eam formam doctrinae, in quam traditi estis, liberati autem a peccato serui facti estis iustitiae. Doctrina igitur facit, ut possimus peruenire ad iustitiam. Potest igitur adquiri iustitia discendo. Intendamus igitur studio in formam euangelicae doctrinae. Minimum studii plerumque pro maximo habetur. In studio enim sunt omnia, per quod adhibetur oboedientia, quae in utram quamlibet 36 partem propenderit aut culpam adiungit aut gratiam. Haec nos in primo Adam traxit ad mortem, haec in Adam secundo ad uitam uocauit. 9 . The fact that this virtue - like wisdom and science - can be taught is testified by Scripture: abstinence is spoken of in Law 37, the rest is spoken of in the Book of Job, where it is written: Is it not the Lord who gives understanding and science (Job 21:22). And in the Gospel the Lord Himself says: Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). And in another place He says to the disciples: Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). That is why they are called disciples, because they just learned from Christ to fulfill in practice the instructions of virtues. So David says: Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Ps. 33:12). Undoubtedly, the fear of God is one of the virtues, since the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Ps. 110:10), through it the image of pious teaching is acquired, about which Paul says: Thanks be to God, that you, having previously been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to that image of teaching to which you have devoted yourselves; Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18). Therefore, teaching helps us achieve righteousness, which means we can learn righteousness. Therefore, let us strive with zeal towards the image of the Gospel teaching. Often a little effort goes a long way. After all, everything depends on the zeal with which obedience is acquired, which can lean in one direction or the other and adds either sin or mercy. Obedience in the first Adam drew us to death; in the second Adam it called us to life. 10. Non est quod cuiquam nostram adscribamus aerumnam nisi nostrae uoluntati. Nemo tenetur ad culpam, nisi uoluntate propria deflexerit. Non habent crimen quae inseruntur 38 reluctantibus, uoluntaria tantum commissa sequitur delictorum inuidia, quid in alios deriuemus? Voluntarium sibi militem elegit 39 Christus, uoluntarium seruum sibi diabolus auctionatur. Neminem iugo seruitutis adstrictum possidet, nisi se prius peccatorum aere ei uendiderit. Quid carnem quasi infirmam accusamus? Membra nostra arma sunt et arma iustitiae 40. Vidisti pauperem iniuriam accipientem, protexisti eum: membra tua arma pietatis sunt, quibus pauperem ab iniuria uindicasti. Vidisti egenum, donasti eum muneribus: dextera tua mortem a tuo pectore reppulisti. Vidisti eum qui ducitur ad mortem, eripuisti eum, quia scriptum est: Eripe eum qui ducitur ad mortem: membra tua sunt arma iustitiae, si iniuste hominem perire non passus es. Vidisti mulierem, castigasti corpus tuum, mortificasti libidines, procaces meretricis oculos auersatus deseruisti: membra tua arma sunt et arma castimoniae. Contra autem si oculus tuus uidit mulierem ad concupiscendum eam, aperuisti uulnus, inpressisti telum corpori tuo: membra tua arma peccati sunt. Vidisti possessionem pupillorum et paternis eos expulisti sedibus, transtulisti terminos quos posuerunt patres tui: membra tua arma iniquitatis sunt. Affectus igitur, non caro auctor est culpae, caro autem uoluntatis ministra. 10. There is nothing else to which we can attribute our misfortune except our will. No one falls into sin unless he inclines to it of his own free will. Those who resist what is implanted in them against their will are innocent; only an offense committed of their own free will is subject to accusation. Why blame others? Christ chose a volunteer warrior for Himself, the devil acquires a voluntary slave at auction, he does not keep anyone tied to the yoke of slavery unless someone first sells himself to him for the price of sins 41 . Why do we blame the flesh for weakness? Our members are instruments and instruments of righteousness (Rom. 6:13). You saw a poor man suffering injustice and protected him, which means that your members are instruments of mercy, with their help you protected the poor man from injustice. You saw a needy person and gave him alms, which means that with your right hand you repelled death from your heart 42 . You saw the one led to death and saved him, because it is written: Save the one led to death (Prov. 24:11), which means that your members are instruments of righteousness, if you did not allow the person to die unjustly. You saw a woman, curbed your body, killed your desire and ignored the lustful eyes of the harlot - this means that your members are tools, and instruments of purity. And, on the contrary, if your eye looks at a woman with lust, 43 you have opened a wound and thrust a weapon into your body, then your members are instruments of sin. You saw the possessions of the orphans and expelled them from their fatherly places, you moved the boundaries established by your ancestors, which means that your members are instruments of injustice. Consequently, it is not the flesh, but the spiritual disposition that commits sin, while the flesh is the servant of the will. 11. Non ergo uendat nos uoluntas nostra. Clamat apostolus: Nescitis quoniam cui exhibetis uos seruos ad oboediendum, serui estis eius cui oboeditis, siue peccati in mortem, siue oboeditionis ad iustitiam? Ergo si aut peccato seruimus aut iustitiae, consideremus in qua parte scruitus tolerabilior, fructus uberior. Sed qui potest esse fructus in morte? Peccati enim stipendium mors; et ideo nullus in eo fructus est, sed pudoris dispendium, cum ea quae gessimus, erubescimus. Seruire autem iustitiae libertas est; Qui enim uocatus est in domino seruus libertus est domini. Similiter qui liber uocatus est seruus est Christi. Vtraque condicio optima, esse sub Christo, sub quo et pretiosa seruitus et gloriosa libertas. Pretiosa seruitus quasi tanti sanguinis pretio comparata, gloriosa autem libertas quam nulla seruitus culpae, nulla peccatorum uincula constringunt, nulla flagitiorum onera, nulla criminum commercia degeneris nexui seruitutis addicunt. 11. So, let not our will sell us. The Apostle exclaims: Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as slaves to obey, you are also slaves to whom you obey, either slaves of sin to death, or slaves of obedience to righteousness (Rom. 6:16). So, if we are slaves of either sin or righteousness, then consider which side has more tolerable slavery and more abundant fruit. But what fruit can there be in death? For the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and therefore there is no fruit in this, but only a loss to our honor when we are ashamed of our deeds. To be a slave to righteousness is freedom. For a servant who is called in the Lord is free of the Lord, and likewise he who is called free is a servant of Christ (1 Cor. 7:22). In Christ both these states are excellent, since in Him both slavery is precious and freedom is glorious. Slavery is precious because it was obtained at the cost of such great blood; Glorious is freedom, which no slavery to sin and no sinful bonds restrain, no burden of shameful deeds and no criminal bargaining will condemn to the shackles of base slavery. 12. Disce humilitatem, o homo, apostolici uim cognosce magisterii. Si seruum te dicas, libertus es: si liberum te iactes, seruus es. Nam et ille qui quasi seruus redemptus est libertatem habet et iste qui quasi liber uocatus est bonum est illi ut seruum Christi se esse cognoscat, sub quo seruitus tuta est et libertas secura. Quis quasi idiotam Paulum uel in ipso hire adserit? Sciuit discernere inter libertum et liberum et ideo non perfunctorie, sed proprie dixit: Qui enim uocatus est in domino seruus, libertus est domini; similiter qui liber uocatus est seruus est Christi. Reuera enim omnes Christi liberti sumus, nemo liber; omnes enim in seruitute generati. Quid seruili condicioni adrogantiam libertatis adsumis? Quid titulos nobilitatis usurpas, seruilis hereditas? Nescis quod te Adae atque Euae culpa mancipauerit seruituti? Nescis quod redemerit te Christus, non emerit? Non auro et argento redempti estis de uana uestra conuersatione paternae traditionis, sed pretioso sanguine agni, clamat apostolus Petrus. Ergo redemptus a domino es et seruus es qui creatus es, seruus es qui redemptus es et quasi domino seruitutem debes et quasi redemptori. Nec inferiorem putes libertinitatem sub Christo quam libertatem esse. Ad dignitatem aequalis, ad tuitionem praestantior est, ad gratiam par, aduersus lapsum cautior, aduersus superbiam tectior. Ita libertatem accepisti, ut meminisse manumissoris tui debeas, ut patrono tuo noueris legitimum obsequium deferendum; ne ab ingrato reuocetur libertas. Quid te beatius, qui sub domino regnas et sub patrono militas? 12. Learn humility, O man, and know the power of the apostolic instruction. If you call yourself a slave, then you are a freedman, 44 if you boast that you are free, then you are a slave. And in fact, he who is redeemed as a slave has freedom, and it is good for him who is called as a free man, who recognized himself as a servant of Christ, under Whom slavery is not dangerous and freedom is serene. Who would call Paul ignorant of the science of law? He was knowledgeable enough to distinguish a freeman from a freedman, and therefore, not by chance, but with knowledge of the matter, he said: The servant who is called in the Lord is the freeman of the Lord; likewise, he who is called free is a servant of Christ (1 Cor. 7:22). Surely we are all freedmen of Christ, and none are free, because all were born into slavery. Why do you allow yourself the arrogance of a free man in a slave position? O slave heritage, why do you assign noble titles to yourself? Do you not know that the sin of Adam and Eve sold you into slavery? Do you not know that Christ redeemed you and did not buy you? You were redeemed not with gold or silver from the vain life handed down to you from your fathers, but with the precious Blood of the Lamb (1 Pet. 1:18–19), exclaims the Apostle Peter. Therefore, you are redeemed by the Lord, you are a created slave, you are a slave who is redeemed, and to Him as Master and Redeemer you must serve as a slave. And do not consider that the position of a freedman of Christ is lower than freedom. It is equal in dignity, superior in care, equal in grace, more reliable against falls, or more reliable against pride. This is why you received freedom in this way, so that you make it your duty to remember the One who set you free, so that you know that you must show legal obedience to your Patron, so that freedom is not taken away from the ungrateful 45. What is more blessed for you, who reigns without ceasing to be under the yoke of the Lord, and wages war without being left without a Patron? 13. Quid autem est quod tibi non contulit dominus? Legem dedit, adiunxit gratiam. Lex enim peccatum denuntiauit, sed in condicione lubrica penitus cohibere non potuit. Cognoui enim peccatum quod nesciebam, cognoui concupiscentiam esse peccatum, et hac occasione cognitionis peccati aera cumulata sunt, quia peccatum, quod ante per ignorantiam meam mortuum uidebatur, in me reuixit: ego autem mortuus sum sub peccati uulnere, quia cognitio culpae Quae mihi prolutura uidebatur, haec nocuit, ut scirem quod uitare non poteram. Peccatum enim prodidit et per bonum denuntiationis suae peccati ipsius accruauil inuidiam. Itaque supra modum factum est peccatum mihi, quia cumulatum est denuntiatione mandati. Crescit enim culpa, cum proditur nec cauetur. Quomodo ergo bonum mandatum, quod mihi mors est? Aut quomodo non est mihi mors, quod per bonum significationis suae demonstrandum peccatum operatum est in me mortem? Nam certum est quod mors mihi accessit, dum quod facio agnosco peccatum, sicut ipse dominus ait: Si non uenissem et locutus fuissem his, peccatum non haberent. 13. What did the Lord not give you? He gave the law, He added grace. For the law announced sin, 46 but it was not able to restrain the bad qualities contained within man. After all, I knew a sin that I did not know before, I knew that passion is a sin; and because of the knowledge of sin, my debt increased, because sin, which previously, due to my ignorance, seemed dead, now came to life in me, but I was killed by the wound of sin, because the consciousness of guilt, which seemed to benefit me, caused harm, because I learned what I could not avoid. For the law announced sin and, thanks to its announcement, aggravated sin itself. So, sin became beyond measure for me, because it increased due to the commandment, because guilt grows when it is discovered, and it is impossible to protect yourself from it. Is it really a good commandment that brings death to me? Is it not death for me that which, through its proclamation, showed that sin had produced death in me 48? Indeed, death approached me when I began to recognize my deeds as sinful, as the Lord Himself says: If I had not come and told them, they would not have had sin (John 15:22). 14. Quid miraris igitur si lex quibusdam morti sit, cum morti sit et domini salutaris aduentus, per quem redempti sumus? Infidelis enim mortem sibi quaerit ex gratia, manet autem mandati gratia. Etenim sicut cognitio uenenalorum poculorum consummatur ad disciplinam medicinae, sic diuinum mandatum ad uitam aeternam. Sicut autem ci qui male utitur noxiis potionibus cognitio earum in malum uertiturci periculum, et quo magis uenena cognouerit, hoc se intellegit amplius periclitari, sic forma mandati his qui male legem interpretantur uel demonstrate atque interdicta peccata uitare non possunt mortis auctor est. Sicut ergo bonum antidotum, etiamsi inprudenti aut intemperanti non bonum, sic bonum mandatum, etiamsi intemperanti non bonum est. Ergo bonum mandatum, quod alicui mors est. Responsum igitur habe primae propositioni, quia potest esse bonum mandatum, quod mihi mors est: bonum per naturam salutaris praecepti, mors per intemperantiam carnis. 14. So, why are you surprised if the law for some leads to death, when for the sake of death is the saving coming of the Lord, who has redeemed us? After all, the unbeliever finds death for himself even in grace, despite the fact that the grace of the commandment is preserved. Just as the knowledge of poisonous potions improves the knowledge of medicine, so the divine commandment improves the knowledge of eternal life. Just as for someone who uses dangerous drugs poorly, their knowledge turns into evil and becomes dangerous - and the more poisons he learns, the more he realizes the risk he is exposed to - in the same way, the commandment produces death in those who interpret the law poorly, or cannot avoid the sins specified and prohibited in it. And just as an antidote is good, even if it does not benefit the ignorant or intemperate, so the commandment remains good, even if it does not benefit the intemperate. Therefore, the commandment is good, even though it causes death to someone. So, here is the answer to the first question: a commandment can be good even if it brings death to me; good - by the nature of saving teachings, deadly - due to the incontinence of the flesh. 15. Et quia didicimus esse bonum mandatum quod mihi mors esi, nunc discutiamus quomodo non sit mihi mors quod per bonum licet mihi operatum est mortem. Sic enim proposuit apostolus: Quod ergo bonum est mihi mors est? Absit; Sed peccatum, ut pareat peccatum, per bonum mihi operatum est mortem. Itaque spectemus singula. Mandatum utique legis est, lex autem spiritalis est, cuius gratiam uideo, pulchritudinem laudo, formam praedico, praeceptum admiror: sed quia carnalis sum ego, uenundatus sub peccato, trahor inuitus ad culpam. Etenim quasi seruo culpa dominatur. Itaque odi crimen et facio. Mens odit, caro concupiscit: ego tamen in utraque, qui legi mente consentio el carne quod nolo, hoc ago. Bonum ergo mandatum, cui consentio, et mens bona, quae quod bonum est eligit. Bona ad iudicandum, sed infirma plerumque ad resistendum, quia repugnat ei corporis adpetentia ct captiuam eam trahit ad erroris inlecebras. 15. And since we have already learned that the commandment that brings death to me is good, let us now discuss how that which, with the help of good, caused my death, is not deadly to me. After all, the apostle declared this: So, has what is good become deadly to me? No, but sin, which turns out to be sin because through something good it causes me death (Rom. 7:13). Let's look at them in order. Without a doubt, the commandment belongs to the law: The Law is spiritual (Rom. 7:14), and I see its grace, I praise its beauty, glorify its image, I am amazed at the teaching, but since I am carnal and sold to sin (Rom. 7:14), I am involuntarily drawn to sin. For sin rules over me as over a slave. And I hate crime, and commit 49. The mind hates, but the flesh lusts. I, consisting of both, agree with the law with my mind, but with my flesh I do what I do not want. Consequently, the commandment is good, with which I agree, and the mind is good, which chooses what is good, but it is good in its judgments and for the most part weak in opposition, because the lust of the body fights with it and draws it captive to sinful temptations. 16. In quo periculo unum est remedium, ut quem lex liberare non potuit, liberet dei gratia. Sic enim scriptum est: Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius? Gratia dei per lesum Christum dominum nostrum. Itaque fit ut, licet peccatum quod latebat id est concupiscentia mea, quam non putabam esse peccatum, mortem mihi operata sit, dum proditur, et supra modum factum sit ipsum peccatum – erat enim peccatum, etsi nesciebatur, sed cognitione coaceruatum est et quasi incrementum erroris adsumpsit atque in naturam delicti cessit forma mandate, – mihi tamen mors non sit, cui promptum est ad Christum confugere, per quem soluimur omni mortis periculo. Absoluta igitur etiam secunda est propositio, quia mandatum mihi legis mors non est, etsi mortem operetur. Quod enim conturbamur fragilitatis est, quod euadimus Christi. 16. There is only one remedy for this danger: for the grace of God to free those whom the law could not free. For it is thus written: Poor man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:24–25). Thus it turns out that hidden sin, that is, my passion, which I did not consider to be sin, caused my death; when sin appeared, passion became sin beyond measure - because it was a sin before, albeit unknown, but with knowledge sin increased, because it seemed to increase in the severity of the crime, since the image of the commandment entered into the nature of sin 50 - however, sin did not become death to me, because it was given to me to resort to Christ, through whom we are freed from all danger of death. So, the answer to another question has been given: the commandment of the law did not become death for me, although it is capable of causing death. If we become confused, it comes from weakness, and if we avoid it, it comes from Christ. 17. Ergo ut ad exordia sermonis huius reuertamur, mens bona est, quae habet tractationem rationis et intendit sapientiae disciplinis, sed grauis lucta est ei cum mortis corpore et plerumque rationem mentis uincit carnis inlecebra. Et ideo dominus primo legem dedit, cui mens hominis sese ad optemperandum dedit et ei seruire coepit, ut esset subdita, sed caro subiecta non erat, quia sapientia carnis non est legi subdita et praeceptis eius repugnabat. Non enim poterat uirtuti oboedire cupiditatibus dedita et lenociniis carnalibus implicata. Ideo laborandum est, ut teneamus dei gratiam. Mens itaque bona, si rationi intendat, sed parum perfecta, nisi habeat gubernaculum Christi. Venit enim dominus Iesus, qui nostras passiones cruci suae adfigeret, peccata donaret: in cuius morte justificati sumus, ut totus mundus eius mundaretur sanguine. Denique in morte ipsius baptizati sumus. 17. So, returning to the beginning of this word, the mind is good when it uses reason and listens to wise teaching, but it fights a hard battle with the body of death, and for the most part the temptation of the flesh overcomes the reasoning of the mind. That is why the Lord first gave a law to which the human mind gave itself into obedience and began to serve it in order to be submissive. But the flesh did not submit, since the wisdom of the flesh did not submit to the law and opposed its prescriptions, because, given over to passions and entangled in carnal seductions, 51 it could not obey virtue. Therefore, we need to work hard to retain the grace of God. So, the mind is good if it listens to reason, but it is not perfect enough if it does not have Christ as its helmsman. After all, the Lord Jesus came, Who nailed our passions to His Cross and forgave our sins 52: By His death we are justified, because the whole world was cleansed by His blood. For we were baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). 18. Si igitur in illius morte dimittuntur nobis peccata, etiam peccatorum nobis passiones in illius morte moriantur, illius crucis clauis adfixae teneantur. Si in illius morte mortui sumus, quid iterum tamquam uiuentes ad ea quae sunt mundana reuocamur? Quid nobis cum elementis mundi? Quid cum cupiditatibus? Quid cum luxuria atque lasciuia quibus cum Christo mortui sumus? Quodsi sumus in Christo mortui, in Christo resurreximus; cum Christo igitur uersemur, cum Christo superiora quae sunt, non quae corruptibilia et terrena quaeramus. Christus surgens a mortuis ueterem hominem adfixum cruci reliquit, nouum resuscitauit. Christus ideo mortuus est, ut et nos peccato moreremur, deo resurgeremus. Mortua est caro nostra, quid iterum peccato reuiuescit? Quid iterum peccato oboedit? Quid iterum peccatum regnat in mortuis, cum mors finis peccati sit? Mortui sumus carne, renouati sumus spiritu. In spiritu ambulemus, quia spiritum Christi accepimus. Si autem Christus in nobis, ergo sit nobis caro mortua propter peccatum, spiritus uero uiuat propter iustificationem. 18. So, if in His death our sins are forgiven, 53 let our sinful passions also die in His death and remain nailed to His cross. If in His death we died 54, then why should we return again as alive to what is in the world? What do we have in common with the material principles of this world (Gal. 4:3), what do we have in common with desires, what do we have in common with luxury and licentiousness? We died with Christ (Rom.6:8) for them. And if we died in Christ, in Christ we were resurrected 55. So, our life is with Christ, with Christ we will seek things above, and not things that are corruptible and earthly 56 . Christ, having risen from the dead, left the old man nailed to the cross 57 and raised the new one. For this reason Christ died, so that we too might die to sin and rise again to God. Our flesh is dead, but why does it come to life again to sin? Why does she submit to sin again? Why does sin reign again in those who are dead [to sin], if death is the end of sin 58? We died in the flesh and were renewed in spirit 59 . Let us walk by the Spirit (Gal.5:25), because we have received the Spirit of Christ. If Christ is in us, therefore, for us the flesh is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness (Rom. 8:10). 19. Sic quod erat inpossibile legi solutum est, si in spiritu ambulemus, sic passiones sepelimus, si crucem huius corporis non resoluamus, si chirographum peccati, quod deletum est in cruce Christi, non rescribamus, si ueteris hominis amictum quem exuimus non induamus. Scriptum est enim in Canticis: Exui tunicam meam, quomodo induam eam? Laui pedes meos, quomodo inquinabo eos? Mortificata igitur nobis sunt corporis membra, cur eius pullulant uitia? Ideo lex non praeualuit, quia carnem non mortificauit, ideo quasi umbra praeteriit, quia non colorauit 60, ideo etiam obumbrauit nos a sole iustitiae, quia coaceruauit crimina: ergo et obfuit. 19. Thus, what was impossible for the law has become possible if we walk in the Spirit 61 . We bury the passions if we do not free ourselves from the cross of this body, if we do not again write the handwriting of sin 62 destroyed on the cross of Christ, if we do not put on the clothes of the old man that we have cast off. After all, it is written in the Songs: I have taken off my tunic, how can I put it on? I have washed my feet, how can I stain them ( Song 5:3 )? So, our members of the body are killed, why do its vices sprout? Therefore the law did not take effect because it did not kill the flesh; That’s why he passed by like a shadow because he didn’t decorate; Therefore, he also hid the Sun of righteousness from us with his shadow (Mal.4:2), because he accumulated crimes, and therefore did harm. 20. Quid igitur opus fuit ut lex promulgaretur, si profutura non erat? Habebamus iam legem naturae, erat unusquisque sibi lex, qui opus legis scriptum habebat in corde suo. Illam non tenuimus; cur addebatur et altera, in cuius operibus caro non posset iustificari? Accessit uinculum, non solutio; addita est peccatorum agnitio, non remissio. Peccauimus omnes, qui poteramus excusationem praetendere per ignorantiam: os obstructum est omnibus. 20. So, why was it necessary to announce the law if it did not bring any benefit? After all, we already had a natural law; everyone who had the work of the law written in his heart was a law to himself (Rom. 2:14–15). We didn't keep him. Why was another given, in whose works the flesh could not be justified? He added bonds, but not liberation: the knowledge of sins was given, but not the remission of them. We, who could be justified by ignorance, have all sinned, so that every mouth is stopped (Rom. 3:19). 21. Profit tamen mihi. Coepi confiteri quod negabam, coepi delictum meum cognoscere et iniustiliam meam non operire, coepi pronuntiare aduersus me iniustitiam meam domino ei tu remisisti impietates cordis mei. Sed et illud mihi prodest quod non iustificamur ex operibus legis. Non habeo igitur unde gloriari in operibus meis possim, non habeo unde me iactem et ideo gloriabor in Christo. Non gloriabor quia iustus sum, sed gloriabor quia redemptus sum. Cloriabor non quia uacuus peccatis sum, sed quia mihi remissa peccata sunt. Non gloriabor quia profui neque quia profuit mihi quisquam, sed quia pro me aduocatus apud patrem Christus est, quia pro me Christi sanguis effusus est. Facta est mihi culpa mea merces redemptionis, per quam mihi Christus aduenit. Propter me Christus mortem gustauit. Fructuosior culpa quam innocentia. Innocentia arrogantem me fecerat, culpa subiectum reddidit. Habet igitur quibus latio tibi profuit legis. 21. However, the law has benefited me. I began to admit what I denied, I began to recognize my sin and stopped hiding my untruth, I began to reproach myself before the Lord for my untruth, and You forgave the wickedness of my heart (Ps. 31:5). But it is also useful to me that we are not justified by the works of the law 63. Therefore, I have no reason to boast about my deeds, no reason to be proud, and therefore I will boast in Christ 64. I will not boast that I am righteous, but I will boast that I am redeemed; I will boast not that I am free from sins, but that my sins are forgiven. I will not boast that I have done something useful to someone or that someone has done something useful to me, but in the fact that Christ is the Advocate 65 for me before the Father, that the blood of Christ was shed for me. My guilt became my payment for the redemption for which Christ came to me. Because of me, Christ tasted death 66. Guilt turned out to be more fruitful than innocence. Innocence made me arrogant, guilt made me humble. That is why the giving of the law became useful to you. 22. Sed dicis quia per legem superabundauit peccatum. Sed ubi superabundauit peccatum, superabundauit et gratia. Mortuus es peccato, homo; ergo lex iam non obest. Resurgis per gratiam; ergo lex profuit, quia adquisiuit gratiam. Accepisti etiam pignus Christi caritatis, quoniam qui pro te mortuus est aduocatus est tibi et sanguinis sui mercedem reseruat et qui peccatorem reconciliauit patri multo magis commendat innocentem et tuetur subditum, qui adseiuit noxium 67 . 22. But you say that sin abounded through the law. But where sin abounded, grace also abounded (Rom. 5:20). Man, you died to sin, therefore the law no longer harms. You are resurrected as a result of grace, therefore the law was beneficial because it acquired grace. You also accepted the pledge of Christ's love, because He died for you. He is the Intercessor for you and preserves for you the reward of His blood, and He who reconciled the sinner with the Father is even more pleased with the innocent, and cares for the humble He Who accepted the criminal 68 . 23. Tanti igitur beneficii debtor non rependes obsequium? Heredem te fecit, coheredem te fecit, heredem dei, coheredem Christi: spiritum tibi adoptionis infudit. Numera haec et adiunge non tam ad debiti nexum quam ad muneris accepti conseruationem. Coheres Christi es si conpatiare, si commoriare, si consepeliare cum Christo. Suscipe passiones eius, ut supra passiones cum eodem esse merearis. Vide quomodo tibi peccata superiora donauit, ut nihil faceret obesse quod peccasti. Vide quomodo te hortatur, ne amittas quod accepisti. Breuis huius laboris est meta et corona fructus perpetui, tolerabilis passio, merces inaestimabilis. Quid enim te angit? An ignobilitatis abiectio? Sed erit tibi in futurum gloriosa nobilitas deuotionis ac fidei. Num census tenuior, uictus angustior? Sed erunt tibi diuitiae remunerationis aeternae, in quibus rei ullius egere non possis. Num amissio filiorum? Recipies perpetuos, quos susceperas temporales. Dicetur de te: Beatus qui habet semen in Sion et domesticos in Hierusalem. Indignae, inquit, passiones sunt huius temporis ad futuram gloriam scriptura tibi dicit. 23. So, being a debtor for so many good deeds, will you not show obedience? He has made you an heir and a joint heir - an heir of God and a joint heir of Christ - the Spirit of adoption informed you (Rom. 8:15-17). Count these benefits and look at it not as a debt obligation 69, but as an obligation to preserve the gift received. You are a joint heir with Christ if you suffer, die and are buried with Him. Take His suffering upon yourself so that you deserve to be with Him after suffering. See that He has forgiven you your previous sins, so that nothing sinful that you have committed becomes an obstacle. See how He calls you so that you do not lose what you have received. The end of this work and the crown of eternal reward are near: suffering can be endured, but the reward is priceless. What is it that depresses you? Neglect due to low birth? But in the next century you will be famous for the nobility of piety and faith. A miserable fortune and a meager lifestyle? But you will possess the wealth of eternal reward, having which you will not need for anything. Have you lost your children? Those whom you received for a time, you will find living forever. And they will say about you: Blessed is he who has seed in Zion and household in Jerusalem (Is. 31:9). Temporary suffering, the Scripture tells you, is worth nothing in comparison with the future glory (Rom. 8:18). 24. Adde quia uita beata his aduersis saecularium molestiarum aut passionum corporalium non minuitur, sed magis probatur. Adde quod uel patrimonii damna non sentit uel necessitudinum forti mente abscondit dispendia, absorbet dolorem. Adde quia nescit naufragia qui semper in portu tranquillitatis est. Quid illud quod labor tibi conmunis cum omni est creatura, quia propter te mundus ipse seruitutem tolerat corruptionis, quia cum sanctis tibi laboris huius et expectations conmunc consortium est? Sol occasum suum recognoscit, luna defectum, errorem stellarum lumina, dum totius corporis nostri cxpectatur redemptio. 24. Moreover, the blessed life is not diminished, but rather is tested by the difficult trials of this age or bodily suffering. She does not feel the loss of her inheritance, endures the loss of loved ones steadfastly and hides the pain. Moreover, she who is always in a haven of peace 71 knows no shipwrecks 70. Needless to say, your suffering is common to all creation, because because of you this world suffers the slavery of corruption 72 and with the saints you share the common fate of this suffering and expectation. The sun knows the hour of its setting 73 (Ps. 103:19), the moon - an eclipse, the starry bodies - their winding path 74, while the redemption of our entire body is awaited 75. 25. Sed uereris dubios uitae anfractus et aduersarii insidias, cum habeas auxilium dei, habeas tantam eius dignationem, ut filio proprio pro te non pepercerit. Pulchro uerbo usa est scriptura, ut dei patris erga te pium propositum declararet, qui morti obtulit filium. Et filius mortis acerbitatem sentire non potuit, quod in patre fuit: nihil sibi reliquit, totum pro te obtulit, quod in plenitudine diuinitatis nihil ipse amisit et te redemit. Considera affectum patrium. Quod pietatis est quasi morituri filii suscepit periculum, quasi orbitatis hausit dolorem, ne tibi periret fructus redemptionis. Tantum fuit domino studium tuae salutis, ut propemodum de suo periclitaretur, dum te lucraretur. Ille propter te dispendia nostra suscepit, ut te diuinis insereret, caelestibus consecraret. Mire etiam addidit: Pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum, ut ostenderet quod ita omnes diligat, ut dilectissimum sibi filium pro singulis traderet. Pro quibus igitur quod super omnia est dedit, potest fieri ut non in illo uniuersa donauerit? Nihil enim excepit qui omnium cessit auctorem. 25. But are you afraid of the dangerous turns of life and the machinations of the enemy, although God Himself helps you, Who honored you so much that for your sake He did not spare His Son (Rom. 8:32)? Scripture has used a beautiful expression to show the godly plan of God the Father for you, who delivered the Son to death. The Son could not taste the bitterness of death, because He was in the Father, 76 He did not leave anything for Himself, but gave everything entirely for you, because in the fullness of the Divinity, 77 He Himself did not lose anything and redeemed you. Look at Father's Love 78. This is the property of love: He seemed to endure the loss of his Son, condemned to death, He seemed to drink the pain of loss so that the fruit of redemption would not perish for you. The Lord was so concerned about your salvation that He did not spare anything of His own to acquire you 79 . For your sake, He took upon Himself our infirmities in order to introduce you to the divine and dedicate you to the heavenly. The apostle, amazed, also added: He gave Him up for us all (Rom. 8:32), showing how much He loved everyone, that He gave up His beloved Son for each of us. The Father gave for us the One who is above all, and how can He not give everything in Him? And what did He, Who gave everything to the Creator, deprive us of? 26. Nihil est igitur quod negari nobis posse uereamur, nihil est in quo de munificentiae diuinae diffidere perseuerantia debeamus, cuius fuit tam diuturna et iugis ubertas; ut primo praedestinaret, deinde uocaret et quos uocaret, hos et iustificaret et quos iustificaret hos et clarificaret. Poterit deserere quos tantis beneficiis suis usque ad praemia prosecutus est? Inter tot beneficia dei num metuendae sunt aliquae accusatoris insidiae? Sed quis audeat accusare quos electos diuino cernit iudicio? Num deus pater ipse qui contulit potest sua dona rescindere et quos adoptione suscepit eos a paterni affectus gratia relegare? Sed metus est ne iudex seuerior sit. Considera quem habeas iudicem. Nempe Christo dedit pater omne iudicium. Poterit ergo te ille damnare, quem redemit a morte, pro quo se obtulit, cuius uitam suae mortis mercedem esse cognoscit? Nonne dicet: Quae utilitas in sanguine meo, si damno quem ipse saluaui? Deinde consideras iudicem, non consideras aduocatum. Potest iste seueriorem ferre sententiam, qui interpellare non desinit, ut paternae reconciliationis in nos conferatur gratia? 26. Consequently, we have no reason to fear that He might deny us anything, we have no reason not to trust the constancy of divine generosity, the abundance of which was so constant and inexhaustible that He first predestined, then called, and whom He called He also justified, and whom He justified He also glorified (Rom. 8:30). Will He be able to abandon those whom He has brought to the reward of so many of His benefits? Among so many good deeds of God, is it necessary to beware of some of the wiles of the accuser? And who will dare to blame those 80 whom He, by divine judgment, determined to be chosen? Can God the Father, Who Himself endowed His gifts, take them away, and remove those whom He adopted from the grace of parental love? But it’s scary that the Judge might not be too harsh. Look who is your Judge. In fact, the Father gave all judgment to Christ (John 5:22). But will He be able to condemn the one whom He redeemed from death, for whom He gave Himself, and whose life, as He knows, is the price of His death? Doesn't He say: What profit is My blood (Ps. 29:10), if I condemn the one whom I Myself saved? Finally, you see Him as a judge, and do not see Him as an Intercessor 81 . Can He who never ceases to intercede to grant us the grace of reconciliation with the Father 82 pronounce a very severe sentence? 27. Sed etsi qua inminerent grauia, nequaquam nos a Christo separare deberent. Cur nos pro illo non etiam dura et acerba toleremus, qui pro nobis tam indigna suscepit? Ideoque debet in nobis esse caritas, ut nullis periculis reuocemur a Christo. Scriptum est enim: Aqua multa excludere non poterit caritatem et flumina non concludent eam, quia torrentem transit anima diligentis. Nulla tempestas, nullum profundum periculum, nullus terror mortis aut poenae uim caritatis inminuit. In his enim probamur, in his beata uita est, etiamsi multis periculis inundetur. 27. But even if difficult trials threatened us, they should not have separated us from Christ. Why shouldn’t we also endure hardships and sorrows for the One who accepted so much shame for us? That is why there must be love in us, so that no dangers can turn us away from Christ. After all, it is written: Many waters will not be able to extinguish love, and rivers will not drown it (Song. 8:7), for the soul of the lover has crossed the stream 83. No disaster, no great danger, no horror of death and torment weakens the power of love. These calamities test us; they contain a blissful life, even if it is filled with many dangers. 28. Non enim frangitur sapiens doloribus corporis nec uexatur incommodis, sed etiam in aerumnis beatus manet. Neque enim aduersa corporis uitae beatae munus inminuunt neque de eius aliquid suauitate delibant, quia non in delectatione corporis uitae beatitudo est, sed in conscientia pura ab omni labe peccati et in eius mente, qui cognoscit quia quod bonum est hoc delectat, etiamsi asperum sit, quod autem indecorum, etiamsi suaue, non mulceat 84. Ergo causa bene uiuendi non delectatio corporalis, sed mentis prudentia est, non enim caro, quae subiecta est passioni, sed mens, quae iudicat, quia nihil melius delectat quam consiliorum honestas et operum pulchritudo. Ea igitur beatae interpres est uitae. Melior est enim prudentia uel ratio arbitra passionis quam passio praestantiusque quod iudicat quam quod iudicio subiectum est. Neque enim fieri potest, ut ratione sit melius quod est inrationabile. Habet ergo in se remunerationem suam qui sequitur lesum et in suo affectu praemium et gratiam. Si 85 dura sustineat, beatus tamen est suis moribus, beatus ipsis periculis, sicut dominus deliniuit dicens: Beati qui persecutionem patiuntur propter iustitiam. 28. For the sage is indestructible in the sufferings of the flesh and unshakable in misfortunes, however, even in torment he remains blessed 86. The calamities of the body do not diminish the gift of the blessed life and do not deprive it of any sweetness: the bliss of life does not lie in the pleasure of the body, but in a conscience clear of any sinful fall and in the mind of one who understands that the source of pleasure is good, even if it were bitter, and that which is unworthy cannot delight, even if it is pleasant. Consequently, the source of the good life is not carnal pleasure, but the wisdom of the mind, not the flesh subject to passions, but the mind that reasons, because nothing delights better than the dignity of thoughts and the beauty of deeds. So, it is the mind that is the organizer of a blissful life, and the best judge of passion is wisdom or reason, and not passion itself: whoever judges is superior to the one who is subject to judgment. After all, it is impossible for the irrational to be above reason. He who follows Jesus receives his reward in himself and in his disposition of soul has reward and grace; and even if he endures hardships, he is still blessed because of his disposition, blessed even in the dangers themselves, as the Lord indicated when he said: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Matthew 5:10). 29. Est ergo beata uita in hominibus, sed in his scilicet, in quibus fuerit perfecta uita. Perfecta autem uita non sensibilis ista, sed illa rationabilis secundum tractationem rationis et mentis uiuacitatem. In quo non est portio hominis, sed perfectio, quae non tam in condicione est hominis quam in operatione. Haec enim beatum facit. Huic igitur uiro quid est bonum nisi ipse sibi quod habet? Et adest ei hoc bonum et causa ei erit futurorum bonorum. De hoc bono dixit Solomon: Bibe aquam de tuis uasis et de puteorum tuorum fontibus. Superfluant tibi aquae de tuo fonte, in tuas autem plateas discurrant. Sint tibi soli constitutae et nemo alienus particeps sit tibi. Fons aquae tuae sit tibi proprius. Vtere igitur interno bono tuo. 29. This means that the blessed life exists in people, but, of course, in those who lead a perfect life. It is not this sensual life that is perfect, but that rational one in accordance with prudence and sharpness of mind; in that life it is not a part of a person that is involved, but his completeness, 87 determined not so much by the state of a person as by his action. It is perfection that makes a person blissful. What could be good for this person if not what he has within himself? He possesses this good now, and this good will be the cause of future goods. About this good Solomon said: Drink water from your vessels and from the springs of your wells. Let the waters from your fountain overflow and spread throughout your squares. Let the waters belong to one, and let no one else be a part of you. Let the source of your water be your own (Proverbs 5:15–18). So, take advantage of the good that is within you. 30. Testimonium autem boni huius maximum, quoniam qui habet alia non requirit. Quid enim requirat qui inferiora despiciat, praestantissimo autem inhaereat, sicut scriptum est: Ceruus amicitiae et pullus gratiarum confabuietur tibi?Amicitia autem praecedat te et una sit fecum in omni tempore. Bona enim uirtutum amicitia et summi boni caritas. Nihil itaque aliud quaerit perfectus ille nisi solum et praeclarum bonum. Vnde et dicit: Vnam petii a domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabitem in domo domini omnes dies uitae meae et uideam delectationem domini. Neque uero eum tamquam angustum inopemque fastidias, qui unius boni uelut solitaria societate contentus sit. Huius enim amicitia circumdatus plurimus erit. Abundat enim huiusmodi uiro ad bcatitudinem et ad possessionem boni, et ideo nihil aliud desiderat. Nihil enim quasi nouum expetit qui omnia habet. Nihil est enim boni quod non habeat nec superfluis delectatur, sed necessariis et eo ipso necessario, quod non sibi, sed carni adhaerenti sibi necessarium sit, idque indulget quod ab interioris hominis proposito non discrepet, quo faciat utrumque unum et reconciliet interiorem deo iuxta hominem atque exterior, ut fiat in utroque unus spiritus. 30. The best proof that this is a good is that he who has it does not seek other goods. What can a person seek who has neglected the things below and clung to the things above, as it is written: Let the deer of friendship and the cub of graces talk with you. Let friendship go before you, and let it be with you at all times (Proverbs 5:19). For good is friendship with virtues and love of the highest good. So, the perfect one does not seek anything else except one beautiful good. That is why he says: I asked one thing of the Lord, and this I will seek: that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and contemplate the beauty of the Lord (Ps. 26:4). And do not neglect him as a limited and wretched person, content only with the company of one good thing. After all, those who are surrounded by his friendship will be greatly enriched (Proverbs 5:19). Friendship enriches such a person with bliss and gives him possession of good, and therefore he does not desire anything else. For he who has everything does not strive for anything that would be new to him. After all, there is no good that he does not have, and he does not enjoy excesses, but the most necessary; and what is most necessary is needed rather not by him, but by the flesh united with him; it helps to ensure that a person does not deviate from the disposition of the inner man, in order to make both one and reconcile the inner man and the outer with God, so that there is one spirit in both of them 88 . 31. Huius igitur propositi uir nec dispendiis minuitur nec aduersis frangitur nec repagulis inhibetur nec suorum amissionibus maestificatur. Ad cuius informationem dicit apostolus: Nolumus autem nos ignorare, fratres, de dormientibus; ut non tristes sitis, sicut et ceteri qui spem non habent. Solatur enim se resurrectionis fide et remunerationis futurae gratia nec recipit ea mente maestitiam, qua adhaeret deo et diuinae praestantiae 89 uoluptate laetatur. Qui autem his contristatur non secundum deum contristatur, quod autem non secundum deum hoc plenum stultitiae. A perfecto igitur abest huius mundi tristitia, quae non secundum deum, et omnis sollicitudo corporalis aerumnae. Huiusmodi enim inductioni mentis atque substantiae non adnumeratur habitudo corporis et quidam exterioris usus naturae, cum simul aducrsus delicias corporis fragilitatemque ipsam naturae, orbitates, dispendia, contumelias inuictus animus uniformem debeat seruare constantiam, ut corpus ipsum scindat Sensusque exuat carnis qui beatitudinis palmam tenere desiderat, cuius fructus non in unius portione sit, sed in plurimarum et, si fieri potest, omnium sit uirtutum consortio. 31. So, a person with such a disposition is not impoverished by losses and is not distressed by troubles, he is not held back by obstacles and is not plunged into grief by the loss of loved ones. To clarify this, the apostle says: I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant about the dead, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). For, having consoled himself with faith in the resurrection and the grace of future reward, he does not allow the sadness of the mind united with God, and rejoices, enjoying the divine splendor. And whoever falls into sadness because of this, he is not sad for God, 90 and what is not for God is full of foolishness. So, the sorrow of this world, which is not according to God, and all anxiety due to bodily troubles are removed from the perfect person. After all, the state of the body and the needs of external nature do not influence the state and essence of the perfect mind, since the invincible spirit is insensitive to the pleasures of the body, to the infirmities of nature itself, the loss of loved ones, deprivations, insults, and, wanting to retain the palm branch of bliss, 91 cuts the body itself and tears out the carnal feelings from there, and the fruit of this bliss lies not in one virtue, but in many, and if possible, in all. 32. Nescit igitur perfectus incommoda huius corporis aut aduersa mundi neque sentit, qui alienum ab huiusmodi metu, ne occidant, animum gerit. Non enim uita perfectior, si his careat, definitur, sed si ista contemnat. Nam si ita definiretur, ut ea esset beata uita, quae ab huiusmodi casibus expers uacuaque repperiri posset, utique his accidentibus non posset beatus aliqui definiri. Ea igitur sequestrata sunt et hoc solum in aestimatione beatae uitae est requisitum, ut non in aliis, sed in possessione ueri boni 92 eius definitio teneretur, quoniam qui id habet despuit cetera nec requirit. 32. So, the perfect one does not know the inconveniences of this body or the misfortunes of this world and does not feel them, because the fear that they will come is alien to his spirit. Because life is more perfect not when these troubles do not exist, but when they are neglected. After all, if it were believed that life is blissful if it does not know misfortunes, then no one could be called happy based on these signs. So, we leave this aside and believe that the only way to evaluate the blessed life is that its definition does not depend on anything else, but on the possession of true good, because the one who owns it despises the rest and does not seek them. 33. Quaero nunc utrum sapiens delectetur sanitate corporis? Negare non possumus quod delectetur secundum naturam et libenter accipiat non dolere aliquid, quam dolere, nisi forte pro Christo, pro quo, si causa poscat, et debilitatem corporis prompte accipiat et totum corpus suum morti offerat. Idem tamen etiam praeter causam fidei atque iustitiae, si desit sanitas, non adiiciatur animo neque frangatur dolore corporis, qui se potest uirtutum perfectione solari. 33. Now I ask: does the sage enjoy the health of the body? We cannot deny that he enjoys it by nature and that he would willingly prefer not to suffer than to suffer except for Christ, for whom, if necessary, he would readily accept the disease of the body and give up his whole body to death. However, even if we are not talking about faith and righteousness, when there is no health, the sage would not be troubled in spirit and tormented by bodily suffering, because he can console himself with perfection in virtues. 34. Quaero etiam utrum delectetur liberis? Quis istud abnuat? Neque enim durus et ferreus, sed perfectus quaeritur. Tamen etsi amittat liberos, non ideo minus beatus, qui non ideo minus perfectus; quod enim perfectum, beatum. Quin etiam si aduersa toleret quam si secundis adfluat magis solet uideri huiusmodi perfectus, quamuis neque si desint neque si adsint externa commoda aut corporis laeta, decedere quicquam uirtuti soleat uel accedere. Sed plerisque tamen laudi fuit tolerasse aduersa fortiter quam non incidisse. Verum haec specie aestimantur, non pondere. 34. I will also ask: does he enjoy children? Who would object to this? After all, we are not studying an insensitive and hard-hearted person, but a perfect one. However, even if he loses his children, he does not become less perfect because of this, and therefore less blissful, because bliss is a consequence of perfection. And even if he suffers disasters, such a one usually seems more perfect than one who is fortunate; whether the external comforts and joys of the body are present or absent, he usually loses and gains nothing for virtue, but for the majority, to courageously endure disasters was as commendable as not to fall into them at all. However, all this is judged by appearance, and not by true value 93. 35. Illud profundum uirum iustum nihil uelle nisi illud solum et praeclarum bonum, huic soli intendere, hoc unum in bonis ducere, non aliud cum illo, sed solum ipsum semper desiderare, hoc delectari. Cui si aliud adiungatur quod delectet eum, ut est filiorum suauitas, non illud amittitur, sed istud adiungitur. Non enim minuunt accidentia beatiludinem, quae augere non possunt, quia plenum illud et inuiolabile manet, in quod anima sese induit et cui se inseruit et infudit. Manet semper inter aduersa et delectabilia perfecta uirtus, neque aduersa de perfectione eius quicquam minuunt neque delectabilia adiungunt perfectioni. Quid enim est quod is qui ad summum ascendit aut damni de caducis sentiat aut conmoditatis? 35. The important thing is that a righteous person does not want anything else except this unique and glorious good, he strives for it alone and considers it only good, and nothing else; he always desires only it and finds pleasure in it. And if something else is added that delights him, for example, joy from children, then the righteous does not lose the first, but adds something new. Because external circumstances do not reduce bliss, which they cannot increase, because that which the soul has clothed itself with, with which it has associated itself and with which it has filled itself, remains intact and unharmed. Perfect virtue always remains between adversity and pleasure: neither adversity takes anything away from its perfection, nor pleasures add anything to perfection. Can a person feel the loss or benefit of something temporary when he has achieved the highest good? 36. Neque uero, quod grauissimum apud plerosque habetur, se miserum putabit, si in captiuitatem uel ipse ueniat, uel cius filii, non enim intolerabiliter feret quod habet natura, uel quod uidetur domino. Denique iustus dixit: Bonum uerbum quod loculus est dominus et dixit: Fiat pax et fides in diebus meis! Non utique iustus iste Ezechias in filios deflexisse aerumnam captiuitatis gratulabatur, sed uoluntati domini obuiare non poterat et ideo mandata eius aequanimiter suscipiebat ut seruulus. Accedit illud, quod aestimare poterat posse et in captiuitate meritum eminere uirtutis. Neque enim minus beatus Hieremias in captiuitate, minus etiam Danihel, minus Hesdra, minus beati Ananias Azarias Misahel quam si in captiuitatem non incidissent, cum ideo in captiuitatem deducti sint, ut populo et praesentia in captiuitate solacia et spem euadendae captiuitatis adferrent. Perfecti enim est uiri conmunitatem naturae sustentare uirtute animi et ad meliora adducere nec succumbere his quae plerisque terribilia et formidolosa uideantur, sed quasi fortem militem grauissimorum casuum sustinere incursus, conflictus subire et quasi prouidum governorem nauem in tempestate regere atque occurrendo insurgentibus fluctibus magis uitare naufragium sulcando undas quam declinando. Non iste in persecutione pauidus, non in tormentis mollior, ne torquentem exasperet, sed quasi athleta fortis, qui repercutiat uerberantem si non caedis, certe sermonis flagello, qui multis metuenda tormenta despiciat dicens: Sagittae infantium factae sunt plagae eorum, qui cum grauissimo licet dolore luctetur nec se miserabilem praebeat, sed ostendat tamquam in lanterna lumen etiam inter asperas procellas et grauissimos flatus suam lucere nec extingui posse animi uirtutem. Non iste in suorum iniuriis mollis nec de sepulchro sollicitus sui corporis, cui sciat caelum deberi, non in captiuitate ciuicae plebis abiectior, sed sicut iudex seuerus infidelium perfidiam erroresque condemnans, ut Danihel, qui sacerdotum furta prodebat et superstitiones eorum redarguebat ostendens nulla ueritate subnixas, sed fraudibus adumbratas. Talis postremo est uir perfectus, qui omnes uelit bene agere nihilque cuiquam accidere mali et, si praeter uoluntatem eius acciderit, ipse tamen de propria beatiludine nil amittat. 36. He will not consider himself unhappy if he himself or his children are captured, which many consider a very serious disaster; he patiently accepts what nature brings or what seems pleasing to the Lord. This is what the righteous man said 94: Good is the word that the Lord has spoken. And he added: Let there be peace and faith in my days (2 Kings 20:19). Of course, this righteous man Hezekiah was not happy that the misfortune of captivity befell his children, but he could not resist the will of the Lord, and therefore he accepted His commands with peace of mind, like a slave. In addition, he thought that even in captivity it was possible to receive reward for virtue. And Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, the blessed Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael 95 were no less blessed in captivity than before the captivity. For this reason, they were taken into captivity so that by their presence in captivity they could give the people comfort and hope of returning from captivity. After all, it is common for a perfect person to endure with mental fortitude what is common to all by nature, to build towards the better and not to be exhausted by what seems terrible and terrible to many, but, like a strong warrior, to endure the onslaught of severe misfortunes and enter into battles and, like a prudent helmsman, to steer a ship in a storm and avoid shipwreck, rushing to the heaving waves and surfing them, and not shying away from them. He is not timid during persecution, does not weaken during torture, so as not to irritate the executioner, but, like a strong athlete 96, repels the scourge not with blows, but with the scourge of words, and he despises torment, which many fear, saying: The wounds from them are like the arrows of infants (Ps. 63:8). And although he struggles with severe pain, he does not consider himself worthy of pity, but shows how in a lamp, even in the midst of severe storms and the strongest winds, the light shines, so the virtue of his soul cannot be extinguished. He does not weaken from the insults inflicted on his neighbors, and does not worry about burying his body, because he knows that heaven is prepared for him. He is not broken by the captivity of his compatriots, but, as a strict judge, he condemns the treachery and delusion of the infidels, like Daniel, who discovered the thefts of the priests and exposed their superstitions 97, showing that they are not based on truth, but conceal lies. In a word, such a husband is perfect, who would like everyone to do the right thing and for bad things to happen to no one, and if something happens against his will, he himself loses nothing from his own bliss. 37. Sed forte aliquis putet aegritudinem atque inbecillitatem corporis impedimento esse ad perfectionis munus implendum, eo quod non possint opera manuum ulla factaque procedere. Verum ea sibi iustus impedimento esse non sentiet, immo etiam eum qui illa miserabiliter defleat corripiet et quasi ignauum arguet, quod plus in corporis usu quam in animi uirtute constituat, quod ea quibus seruiat desideret, cum habeat quod aliis magis possit iubere, quod in paupertate ingemiscat, qui possit supra mundi opes esse – fideli enim totus mundus diuitiairum est, – quod ignobilitatem defleat, qui debeat despicere regias potestates, diuitibus et potentibus imperare. Haec enim uita i usti, qui etiam quas habeat facultates, communes aestimare debeat, immo etiam inopibus diuidere, dispensare pauperibus, recidere uoluptates proprias, tenuare sumptum, adhibere parsimoniam temperantiae, sobrietatem tenere in prosperis, patientiam in aduersis, in dolore tolerantiam, magnanimitatem in periculis, sanitatis perpetuae uota nescire, mortis inminentis terrore non concuti neque eum praestantiorem putare cui secundum naturam liberi propinqui salubritas laetitia affluentia redundauerint quam cui illa defuerint neque externis saeculi, sed uirtutis domesticis merita pensare. 37. But someone may think that illness and infirmity of the body serve as an obstacle to the achievement of the gift of perfection due to the fact that it is impossible to continue to work or engage in any activity. However, the righteous will not feel an obstacle for himself in this, and will even censure the one mourning such a state and denounce him as negligent because he sees more benefit in the abilities of the body than in the virtue of the soul - because he desires what helps him to serve, while he has what will give him the opportunity to command others; because, having the opportunity to rise above the riches of the whole world, he groans in poverty - for the faithful has a whole world of riches (Proverbs 17:6); because he mourns his low birth, when he should despise royal honors and command the rich and powerful. Such is the life of the righteous that even those means that he has, he must consider common and, of course, share with the poor, give to the poor, cut off his own pleasures, reduce spending, show sober moderation, maintain abstinence in prosperity, patience in troubles, endurance in suffering, generosity in danger, be alien to the desire for eternal health, not tremble with fear of inevitable death, but those to whom nature has given in abundance children, loved ones, health, joy and prosperity, do not put above those who do not have all this, and do not judge merit by the external things of this age, but according to the virtue living within. 38. Illam quoque formam iusti esse quis abnuat, ut nihil metuat, nihil reformidet nisi uirtutis dispendia aliorumque uanas formidines conprimat, quas habeant de periculorum sollicitudine, mortis timore, corporis infirmitate, ut doceat dissolui corpore et cum Christo esse multo melius , ut ostendat quia operationes non impediuntur debilitatibus corporis, sed augentur. Neque splendore generis aut propinquorum subsidiis aut opibus, sed bono commendantur affectu. Neque enim minus beatus Helias quam Moyses, cum alter cibi indiguus melotide uili sine filiis, sine sumptu, sine comite, alter populorum ductor, laetus subole, succinctus potentia, diuerso genere meritum aequale fundauerint, sicut in euangelio declaratum est, quando cum domino Iesu in resurrectionis gloria refulserunt. Videtur enim parem his quasi paribus gloriae suae testibus dedisse mercedem. Nec minus beatus Helisaeus quam Dauid, cum alter regibus subditus, alter regali potestate praeditus, propheticae sanctificationis haut disparem sint adepti gratiam. 38. No one will deny that the righteous sets the example of not being afraid of anything, not being afraid of anything except causing harm to virtue. He also delivers others from vain fears that arise from fear of dangers, fear of death and bodily weakness, thereby teaching that it is much better to be separated from the body and be with Christ, 98 and showing that the weakness of the body does not hinder deeds, but, on the contrary, multiplies them, and that these deeds are decorated not by the splendor of a noble family, not with the help of relatives and wealth, but by the good disposition of the soul. Elijah was no less blessed than Moses, although he walked in rough clothing and had no food, no means, no children, no companion, and Moses was the leader of the nations, comforted by offspring and invested with power. They deserved the same reward by different deeds, as the Gospel testifies to this, when they shone in the glory of the resurrection along with the Lord Jesus 99 . We see that He gave them equal reward as equal witnesses of His glory. And Elisha was no less blessed than David, although the former was subject to kings, and the other was invested with royal power, yet they had the same sanctifying grace of prophetic ministry. 39. Quid enim deest ei qui illud bonum possidet et habet sibi semper comitem sociamque uirtutem 100? In quo statu non potentissimus? In qua paupertate non diues? In qua generis ignobilitate non clarus? In quo otio non laboriosus? In qua debilitate non uegetus? In qua infirmitate non fortis? In qua somni quiete feriatus 101, quem etiam quiescentem uirtus propria non relinquit? In qua solitudine non stipatus, quem uita beata circumdat, quem uestit gratia, quem gloriae amictus inlustrat? Non minus enim otiosus quam cum operatur beatus, nec minus dormiens quam uigilans gloriosus, quia non minus dormiens quam cum uigilat incolumis et sanus est. Quando autem feriatus uideri potest, cuius mens semper operatur? Quando autem solus, qui cum illo bono semper est, de quo ait propheta: Replebimur in bonis domus tuae? Quando abiectus, cuius conuersatio est in caelo? Quando non decorus, qui ad illius decori et solius boni se conformat similitudinem, qui etiamsi membris solutus sit, tamen mente se erigat? Et tamquam ille qui cithara canere solitus, si eam dissipatam resolutis neruis et confractam uiderit et usum eius interruptum, abiciat eam atque eius numeros non requirat, sed uoce ipse se mulceat, ita et iste citharam corporis sui otiosam iacere patietur, corde se oblectabit, bonae conscientiae recordatione mulcebit, diuinis oraculis et scriptis propheticis adleuabit, suaue illud et iocundum animo tenens, mente conplectens, cui nihil possit triste accidere, cum semper ei diuinae praesentiae adspiret gratia et ipse sibi adsit summa animi tranquillitate perfusus. 39. For what is lacking in the one who possesses this good, and virtue is always his companion and friend? Isn't he the most powerful in any class? Isn't he rich even in poverty? Is he not famous in rootlessness? Is he not active in idleness? Is he not strong in illness? Is he not strong in weakness? Is he idle in peace if the virtue that belongs to him is not separated from him even in his sleep? Is he really alone if he is surrounded by a blissful life, clothed in grace and illuminated by the veil of glory? And he is blessed both in idleness and in labor; and when he sleeps, he is not inferior in glory to the one who is awake; both in sleep and in wakefulness he is peaceful and calm. When can he find himself idle if his mind is always working? When is he alone, if he is always together with that good about which the prophet says: Let us be satisfied with the good things of Thy house (Ps. 64:5)? When is he rejected if his residence is in heaven (Phil. 3:20)? When is he not good-looking, when does he liken himself to the image of that beautiful and only good, and even if he is weak in his limbs, does he build himself up with his mind? And, just as someone who is accustomed to singing to the cithara 102, if he saw it out of tune, with torn strings, broken and unfit for use, would throw it away and would not try to extract a melody from it, but would begin to delight himself with his own voice - so this person will leave the cithara of his body to lie idle and will rejoice in his heart, memories of a good conscience will delight him, divine prophecies and prophetic the scriptures will console, filling the soul and mind with this sweetness and pleasantness. No sadness disturbs him, since the grace of the Divine presence always washes over him, and he always remains within himself, filled with the greatest peace in his soul. 1. Superiore libro de uirtutum praeceptis disputauimus: sequenti clarorum uirorum utamur exemplis, qui in summis periculis positi beatitudinem uitae non amiserunt, sed potius adquisiuerunt. An non beatus Iacob etiam, cum patriam derelinqueret? Immo plane beatus, qui dura exilii suscepit, ut fratris mitigaret iracundiam. Nam si beatus est qui peccatum declinat, utique negari beatus non potest qui alterius culpam leuat, crimen auertit. Paratum itaque parricidium declinauit exilio uoluntario eoque facto sibi salutem quaesiuit, fratri donauit innocentiam. Merito itaque eum diuina ubique comitata est gratia, ut et, cum dormiret, beatae uitae munus adquireret. Videbat enim futurorum mysteria et diuina audiebat oracula. Bonus in somno operarius et in paupertate diues, qui mercennariae uitae munere et patrimonium et coniugium eodem parauit officio. Idem fraterni affectus reconciliator egregius certauit muneribus et obsequiis, ut indignationem omnem excluderet, dolorem offensionis auerteret, ostendens se minorem exilio non fuisse, qui posset largiri quae non acceperat. 1. In the previous book we discussed virtues: in this book we will resort to examples of glorious men who, while in the greatest dangers, did not lose the bliss of life, but rather acquired it. Was not Jacob blessed even when he left his fatherland? On the contrary, truly blessed is he who endured the hardships of exile in order to soften the wrath of his brother. Because if the one who avoids sin himself is blessed, then, without a doubt, the one who reduces the sin of another and prevents crime is also blessed. By voluntary exile, he prevented the fratricide that was about to take place, and thereby saved himself and granted his brother innocence. And deservedly, God's grace accompanied him everywhere, and even when he was sleeping 103, he received the gift of a blessed life. After all, he saw the secrets of the future and heard divine prophecies. And in a dream, a good worker, and in poverty, a rich man is the one who, thanks to the mercenary life, acquired both property and marriage through the same service 104. This same glorious man restored brotherly love, outstripping Esau with gifts 105 and submission, in order to prevent any indignation, to avert the pain of resentment, showing that even in exile he was no less if he could give generously, although he received nothing as an inheritance from his father. 2. Sed nimis ad inferiora propero et utilia transcurro, cum prius definiendum sit quid sit beatus. Scriptum est enim: Beatus uir, qui non abiit in consilio impiorum et in uia peccatorum non stetit et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit. Hoc scriptura significante eum beatum esse qui a perfidorum consortio temperauerit – ea est enim impietas auctorem uitae et parentem quendam salutis non recognoscere – uel in peccato non manserit uel in luxuria atque lasciuia non perseuerauerit, ipsum quoque in lege domini die ac nocte meditantem fore tamquam lignum quod dabit fructum in tempore suo. Superiora merita sunt praemiorum, hoc meritorum praemium. 2. But I am in too much of a hurry and am only briefly touching on what is useful, although first we should define what it means to be blessed. After all, it is written: Blessed is the man who did not follow the advice of the wicked, and did not take the path of sinners, and did not sit in the company of destroyers (Ps. 1:1). Scripture shows by this that blessed is the one who abstains from communicating with unbelievers - this is ungodliness: not to recognize the Creator of life and the Father of salvation - and who does not remain in sin, and who is not wallowed in luxury and idleness, but who will study in the law of the Lord day and night. And he will be like a tree that yields fruit in its season (Ps. 1:2-3). What is stated above is merit that brings rewards, here is the reward for merit. 3. Quid horum quae ad meritum 106 beatitudinis spectant defuit sancto Iacob, qui tantum abfuit ab impiorum consortiis, ut ex eo fidelis populus nomen acciperet Israel dictus, quod deum mentis internae oculis intueretur peccati abstinens, a luxuriae omnis ebrietate sobrius, ut dura laborum absorbuerit, otii secura neglexerit? Nonne pulchre et uere de hoc dictum est quod et hic fructum dabit in tempore suo, de quo scriptum est: Ecce odor filii mei tamquam odor agri pleni? Erat enim perfectus in omni flore uirtutum et sacrae benedictionis atque caelestis beatitudinis redolebat gratiam. Ipse est enim ager, quem benedixit dominus, non iste terrenus aut horridus siluis aut fragosus torrentibus aut palustris pigrioribus aquis aut ieiunus frumentis aut mutilis uitibus, aut infecunda glarea saxosus aut hiulcus et aridus siccitate aut sanguine madidus aut sentibus incultus et spinis, sed ille ager, de quo dicit ecclesia in Canticis: Adiuraui uos, filiae Hierusalem, in uirtutihus et fortitudinibus agri. Hic namque est ager, de quo et dominus ait: Et species agri mecum est. In hoc agro uua illa repperitur, quae expressa sanguinem fudit et mundum diluit, in hoc agro est ficus illa, sub qua sancti requiescent spiritualalis gratiae suauitate recreati, in hoc agro est oliua illa fructifera dominicae fluens pacis unguentum, in hoc agro florent mala granata, Quae plurimos fructus uno fidei munimine tegunt et quodam fouent caritatis amplexu. 3. What did Saint James not have that leads to the reward of blessedness? He was so far from communicating with the wicked that from him the faithful people received the name Israel 107 because, abstaining from sin, he saw God with the eyes of the inner mind and, being free from the intoxication of all luxury, bore the burden of labor and neglected the idleness of rest. Isn’t it beautiful and justly said about him that he will give fruit in his time (Ps. 1:3)? It is written about him: This is the smell of my son, like the smell of a full field (Gen. 27:27). After all, he was perfect, blossomed with many virtues and was fragrant with the grace of holy blessing and heavenly bliss. He himself is the field that the Lord blessed, and not the land covered with wild forests and cut up by streams, swampy, poor in harvest, unsuitable for vineyards, rocky with barren sand, cracked and dried up from drought, soaked in blood, not cleared of thorns and thorns - but that field about which the Church speaks in the Songs: I conjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, with power and the power of the field (Song.2:7). This is the field about which the Lord says: The beauty of the field is with Me (Ps. 49:11). In this field there are grapes, which, under oppression, bled and washed the world, in this field grows a fig tree, under which the saints rest, revived by the sweetness of spiritual grace 108, in this field the olive bears fruit, which sheds the fragrance of the Lord's peace, in this field pomegranate apple trees bloom (Song. 7:13), which protect the abundant fruits with one cover of faith and warm them, as if in the arms of love. 4. Hos igitur fructus redolebat Iacob, qui deum per pericula sequebatur et tutum se ubique eius deductione credebat. Nam licet dulcis et suatiis odor agri sit, quia est odor naturae, tamen in sancto patriarcha uirtutum spirabat gratia. Quam continens erat parsimonia, qui cibum sibi paratum non expetiuit, sed petenti fratri sine dilatione concessit, a quo primatus benedictionis accepit, quam pius erga parents, ut praeferri germano seniori materno mereretur affectu et paternae benedictionis munere sacraretur, quam religiosus, ut fratrem recusaret laedere, quam uerecundus, ut patrem timeret fallere, quam honorificus, ut matri non posset quod iubebat negare! 4. And Jacob was fragrant with these fruits, who followed God through danger and, under His guidance, considered himself protected everywhere. Although the smell of the field is sweet and pleasant, because it is the smell of nature, yet the grace of virtues breathed in the holy patriarch. He was so abstinent that he did not want the food prepared for himself, but without argument he gave it up to the asking brother, from whom he received the primacy of the blessing 109! So obedient to his parents that he was awarded more motherly love than his elder brother, and was sanctified with the gift of a fatherly blessing! So pious that he refused to insult his brother! So modest that he was afraid to deceive his father! So respectful that he could not refuse to carry out his mother’s orders! 5. Sed nec parentes nobis inexcusati relinquendi sunt, quod iuniorem filium seniori praetulerunt. Simul cauendum, ne quis dum eorum intendit exemplo, iniquum inter filios habeat iudicium, ut alterum diligendum putet, alterum posthabendum. Hinc enim excitantur odia fraterna et de pecuniae uilis incremento facinus parricidale conponitur. Eadem foueat prolem mensura pietatis. Esto tamen ut aliquid sibi amplius circa blandiorem aut similiorem rapiat affectus, par debet circa omnes esse forma iustitiae. Plus confertur dilecto, cui fratrum amor quaeritur; plus autem adimitur ei qui praelationis iniustae oneratur inuidia. Minitabatur Esau quod fratrem suum occideret, nec fraterna eum germanitas nec parentum reuerentia a parricidali furore reuocabat, et dolebat sibi benedictionem esse praereptam, cuius utique dignum se mansuetudine debebat probare, non scelere. 5. But the parents should not remain unjustified by us in the fact that they preferred the youngest son to the eldest. In addition, we must beware that someone, carried away by their example, would have an unequal judgment about children, thinking that one should be loved and the other neglected. After all, it is precisely from this that hatred arises between brothers, and for the sake of increasing the pitiful property, fratricide is plotted. Let an equal measure of parental love warm the offspring! And even if love was stronger for a more tender and similar child, however, justice should be equal to everyone. A beloved child gains much more when his parents make sure that his brothers love him too. And, on the contrary, he loses more when he is forced to bear the burden of brotherly hatred resulting from unfair preference. Esau threatened to kill his brother, and neither brotherly ties nor respect for his parents restrained him from fratricidal rage; and he grieved that the blessing was stolen from him, the blessing of which he should have shown himself worthy by meekness, and not by crime. 6. Sed et Rebecca non quasi filium filio, sed quasi iustum praeferebat iniusto. Etenim aput matrem piam mysterium pignori praeponderabat: illum non tam fratri praeferebat quam offerebat domino, quem sciebat conlatum sibi munus posse seruare, in quo et alteri consulebat, quem diuinae subducebat offensae, ne grauiore implicaretur reatu, si acceptae gratiam benedictionis amitteret. 6. But Rebekah did not prefer one son to another, but the righteous over the unrighteous. After all, for the pious mother, the secret 110 took precedence over her love for her children: she did not so much prefer Jacob to her brother as sacrifice him to the Lord, knowing that Jacob would be able to preserve the gift entrusted to him. In this way she also showed concern for her other son, whom she protected from divine wrath, so that if he lost the grace of the blessing he had received, he would not fall under even more severe condemnation. 7. Accipe tamen bonum certamen inter parentes. Mater deferat affectum, pater iudicium. Mater circa iuniorem tenera pietate propendat, pater circa seniorem naturae honorificentiam seruet. Hic magis honoret, illa plus diligat, dum singuli singulos foueant, non in unum uterque conspirent, defrudent alterum. Fiat aequalitas inter diuersa certamina et disparibus studiis par utrique atque aequalis parentum amor et gratia conferatur. Conpenset alter quod alter imminuit. Sic pio affectu Isaac patriarcha et sancta Rebecca certabant, ut neutrum inferiorem facerent, sed utrumque aequalem. 7. However, understand that there is a good competition between parents. The mother shows love, and the father administers justice. The mother bows with tender love to the youngest, the father naturally honors the elder. He honors more, she loves more: and even if one parent favors one son, and the other the other, they should not conspire in favor of the one and deceive the other. But let there be agreement in a disagreement dispute, and equal and concordant parental love and mercy for two sons in their unequal partiality! What one reduces, let the other make up. Patriarch Isaac and Saint Rebecca competed in parental love so as not to make anyone inferior, but both equal. 8. Vicit tamen ille, qui praeferebatur oraculo, uicit inpigritia tarditatem, mansuetudo duritiam. Dum alter uenatu aspero praedam quaerit agrestem, hic mitium cibos morum, hic domesticam gratiam, hic tenerae mansuetudinis atque pietatis pio patri dulces epulas ministrauit. Plus placet in animis quidquid occurrerit quam quidquid affectatum putaueris deferendum. Accessit ad oues Iacob et attulit innocentiae partus uel sacrae prophetiae munera, quia patriarchae cibum nullum credidit dulciorem esse quam Christum, qui sicut ouis ad occisionem ductus est et sicut agnus ad uictimam. Hunc uel publico parenti uel populo, cuius typum gerebat, cibum utilem indicabat, quod futura erat remissio peccatorum. 8. However, the one who was preferred by prophecy won, zeal defeated slowness, meekness defeated bitterness. While one is looking for game on a bloody hunt, the other gave his beloved father food of a quiet disposition, family harmony and sweet food of tender meekness and filial love. I like the gift that happens unexpectedly more than the one that you want and have been waiting for a long time. Jacob went to the sheep and took the innocent lambs, or gifts of holy prophecy, because he believed that for the patriarch no food would be sweeter than Christ, led as a sheep to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7) and a lamb to the slaughter (Jer. 11:19). He considered this food useful for the father of the people 111 or for the people 112 whose image he bore, because it contained a prototype of the future remission of sins. 9 . Ideo stolam accepit fratris sui, quia senili praestabat sapientia, ideo iunior frater seniorem fratrem exuit, quia fidei emicuit dignitate. Hanc stolam ecclesiae typo Rebecca protulit et dedit filio iuniori stolam ueteris testamenti, stolam propheticam et sacerdotalem, stolam regalem illam Dauticam, stolam Solomonis, Ezechiae et Iosiae regum, et dedit populo Christiano, qui uti amictu sciret accepto, quoniam populus Iudaeorum eam sine usu habebat et proprios nesciebat ornatus. Iacebat haec stola in umbra abiecta atque neglecta; obscurabatur enim tenebrosa impietatis caligine nec in angusto corde populi latius poterat explicari. Induit eam Christianus populus et refulsit. Inluminauit eam suae fidei claritate et piorum luce factorum. Agnouit Isaac notum odorem generis sui, recognouit stolam scripturae ueteris, sed uocem plebis ueteris non recognouit et ideo cognouit esse mutatam. Manet enim hodieque eadem stola, sed populi deuotioris canora coepit esse confessio meritoque dixit: Vox quidem uox Iacob, manus autem manus Esau. Et odoratus est odorem uestimentorum. Et fortasse illud est, quia non operibus justificamur, sed fide, quoniam carnalis infirmitas operibus inpedimento est, sed fidei claritas factorum obumbrat errorem, quae meretur ueniam delictorum. 9 . That is why he took the clothes of his brother, because he surpassed him in wisdom as an old man; because the younger brother took the clothes of his elder, because he shone with the dignity of faith. Rebekah brought this clothing in the image of the Church, she gave her youngest son the clothing of the Old Testament, the prophetic and priestly clothing, the royal clothing of David, the clothing of Kings Solomon, Hezekiah and Josiah, and she gave it to the Christian people, who knew how to put on the received clothing; because the Jewish people neglected and did not know their own garments. This garment, rejected and abandoned, lay in the shadows, because it was hidden in the dark darkness of wickedness, and could not be revealed in the cramped heart of the Jewish people. The Christian people put it on and shone: they illuminated it with the radiance of their faith and the light of pious deeds. Isaac recognized the familiar smell of his son, recognized the clothes of the Old Scripture, but did not recognize the voice of the old people, and therefore realized that the voice had been changed. And today the clothes remain the same, but the confession of the faithful people has become harmonious; and Isaac rightly said: The voice is the same as Jacob’s: the same hands, the hands of Esau. And he smelled the smell of his clothing (Gen. 27:22). This may mean that we are not justified by works, but by faith, 113 because carnal weakness is an obstacle to works, but the radiance of faith covers mistakes and provides forgiveness for sins. 10. Celebrata benedictione postea frater senior aduenit. Quo declaratur prius ecclesiae regnum quam synagogae in praedestinatione delatum, sed subintrasse synagogam, ut superabundaret peccatum et, cum superabundasset peccatum, superabundaret et gratia, simul clareret inpjgrum regni caelestis candidatum esse debere, ut praeripiat benedictionem et praerogatiuam suae commendationis usurpet. Vnde non est notatus a patre iunior filius, sed laudatus, quod ait Isaac: Frater tuus ueniens cum dolo accepit benedictionem tuam. Bonus enim dolus, ubi inreprehensibilis est rapina; inreprehensibilis autem rapina pietatis, quia a diebus Iohannis regnum caelorum cogitur et cogentes diripiunt illud; festinantes enim patres pascha celebrabant, qui festinantes manducabant agnum, non demorantes, et fratrem Beniamin sanctus Ioseph piae conmento fraudis accersiuit et tenuit. 10. When the blessing was given, the elder brother came. This means that in predestination there was first the Kingdom of the Church, and not the Synagogue: the Synagogue came in so that sin abounded, and when sin abounded, grace also abounded (Rom. 5:20). This also means that the one who strives for the Heavenly Kingdom must be diligent in order to receive blessings and gain his birthright. That is why the youngest son received not reproach from his father, but praise when Isaac said: Your brother came with cunning and took your blessing (Gen. 27:35). For there is good cunning where there is blameless theft: but the theft of godliness is blameless, because since the days of John the Kingdom of Heaven has been taken by force, and those who use force take it away (Matthew 11:12). In a hurry, the forefathers celebrated the Passover, who ate the lamb with haste, without delay, 114 and with the help of pious deception, 115 Saint Joseph called and restrained brother Benjamin. 11. Et ipse tamen ut benediceretur cogendo elicuit et inpetrauit, sed eam benedictionem, quae cum superiore congrueret et conueniret, ut seruiret fratri suo. Etenim qui inperare non poterat et alterum regere seruire debebat, ut a prudentiore regeretur. Neque enim fuit sancti patriarchae, ut filium suum degeneri condicioni seruitutis addiceret, sed ut bonus pater, cum duos haberet filios, unum intemperantem, prudentem et sobrium alterum, quo utrique consuleret, intemperanti praefecit sobrium et insipientem prudenti statuit oboedire, quia insipiens non potest uoluntarius uirtutis esse discipulus nec perseuerare in studio, quia stultus sicut luna mutatur, meritoque ei libertatem proprii negauit arbitrii, ne uelut nauis in fluctibus sine gubernatore fluitaret, sed subdidit eum fratri secundum quod scriptum est: Seruit enim inprudens prudenti. Recte ergo eum subdidit, ut regentis imperio suum melioraret affectum. Ideoque ait: Super gladium tuum uiues et seruies fratri tuo; Domina est enim pietas crudelitatis ct mansuetudo duris motibus praestat. 11. However, Esau also prayed for a blessing and received it, 116 but one that was in accordance with what was previously given, namely, to serve his brother. He who could not command and control another must serve and be subordinate to a more intelligent one. The holy patriarch did not condemn his son to the low state of slavery, but as a good father of two sons, one intemperate, the other reasonable and moderate, he placed the moderate over the intemperate and subordinated the unreasonable to the reasonable, in order to take care of both. After all, a foolish person cannot be a voluntary student of virtue and constant in zeal, because a foolish person changes like the moon (Sir. 27:11); and rightly he denied him the freedom of his own decision, so that he would not rush in the waves, like a ship without a helmsman, but subordinate him to his brother, as it is written: For the fool serves the wise (Prov. 11:29). It was right that he subjected him to Jacob, so that under his authority he would perfect himself. That's why he says: And you will live by your sword and serve your brother (Gen. 27:40). For piety is the master over harshness, and meekness stands above the harsh movements of the heart. 12. Seruit omnis qui auctoritatem purae non habet conscientiae, seruit quicumque uel metu frangitur uel delectatione inretitur uel cupiditatibus ducitur uel indignatione exasperatur uel maerore deicitur. Seruilis enim omnis est passio, quoniam qui facit peccatum, seruus est peccati et, quod peius est, mullorum seruus est. Qui 117 subiectus est uitiis, multis se dominis addixit, ut seruilio ei exire uix liceat. At ucro ille qui uoluntatis suae arbiter est, iudex consilii, interpres arbitrii, qui coercet corporeae adpetentiam passionis, qui ea quae agit bene agit – bene autem agens recte agit, et qui recte agit inculpate et inreprehensibiliter agit habens suorum actuum potestatem – is profecto liber est. Nam qui omnia prudenter agit et ita uiuit, ut uult, is solus est liber. Non condicio fortuita seruum facit, sed probrosa insipientia. Denique famulus prudens regit dominos stultos et proprii serui dominis faenerabunt. Quid faenerabunt? Non utique pecuniam, sed sapientiam, sicut et lex dicit: Faenerabis gentibus multis, tu autem mutuum non accipies. Faenerauit enim Iudaeus proselyto diuinae legis oracula, sed quia ipse legis mysteria uidere non potuit et quae habebat nesciuit oracula, qui litteram faenerabat gentibus nunc ab his spiritualalis doctrinae gratiam mutuatur meritoque subiectus est seruituti, quoniam qui mutuatur seruus est quasi addictus faenori creditoris, qui autem piae doctrinae faenus inpertit, is est princeps, sicut lex dicit: Princeps eris gentium multarum, tibi autem principes ex ipsis non erunt. Princeps enim est qui regit et qui habet sapientiae principatum, quem habuit populus Iudaeorum. Sed quoniam quod docebat seruare non potuit, debet discere quod docere nesciuit. 12. Anyone over whom a clear conscience does not have power becomes a slave; anyone over whom fear rules, or who is ensnared by pleasure, or captivated by passions, or embittered by painful irritation, or overcome by sadness, becomes a slave. Every passion is slavish, because everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34) and, what is even worse, a slave of many sins. He who is subject to vices has given himself into slavery to many masters, so that it is hardly possible for him to get out of slavery. And on the contrary, the ruler of his desires, the judge of thoughts, the interpreter of the will, the tamer of bodily passion acts well in all actions - he who does well acts correctly, and whoever acts correctly acts impeccably and impeccably, having power over his actions - he is completely free 118. Only the one who is rational in everything and lives according to his own will is the only one free. It is not accidental fate that makes a slave, but shameful unreason. A wise servant governs foolish masters, and his own slaves will give to their masters at interest (Proverbs 22:7). What will they give in growth? Of course, not money, but wisdom, as the law says: You will lend to many nations, but you yourself will not borrow (Deut. 15:6), because a Jew lent to a proselyte the prophecies of the divine law. But since he himself could not see the mystery of the law and did not know the prophecies that he had, then the one who previously lent the letter now borrows from them the grace of spiritual teaching. And deservedly he was subjected to slavery, because whoever borrows is a slave, bound by a debt to the lender; whoever gives the profit of pious teaching is the ruler, as the law says: And you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you (Deut. 15:6). For he is the master who rules and has the headship in wisdom, which the Jewish people possessed. But since he was unable to preserve what he taught, he must now learn for himself what he could not teach. 13. Hoc est igitur quod ait patriarcha Isaac: Seruies fratri tuo. Erit autem cum deposueris et solueris iugum illius a collo tuo, significans duos luturos populos, unum ancillae filium, alterum liberae – seruit enim littera, libera est gratia – eumque populum, qui litterae intendit, tamdiu seruum fore, quamdiu spiritalis doctrinae sequatur interpretem. Tunc quoque illud futurum quod apostolus ait: Vt reliquiae saluae fiant secundum electionem gratiae. Seruies ergo fratri tuo, sed tunc senties seruitutis profectum, cum uoluntarius potius quam coactus oboedire coeperis fratri. 13. This is precisely what the words of Patriarch Isaac indicate: You will serve your brother. The time will come when you will resist and cast off his yoke from your neck (Gen. 27:40). This meant that there would be two peoples: one the son of a maidservant, the other the son of a free woman 119 - for the letter is slave, but grace is free 120 - and that the people who listen to the letter will be a slave until they follow the Interpreter of spiritual teaching. And then what the apostle speaks about will happen, so that a remnant may be preserved (Rom. 11:5) according to the election of grace 121. And you will serve your brother, but you will feel the benefit of slavery when you begin to obey your brother voluntarily, and not under compulsion. 14. Hinc orta est inuidia et minitabatur 122 Esau quod post obitum patris fratrem occideret. Sed si id acciderit, discamus a Rebecca quemadmodum prouidendum sit, ne inuidia iracundiam excitet, iracundia in parricidium proruat. Veniat Rebecca, hoc est, induatur patientia, bona custos innocentiae, suadeat ut irae locum demus. Concedamus aliquo longius, donec tempore indignatio molliatur, offensionis obrepat obliuio. Itaque patientia nec exilium reformidat, sed inpigre suscipit, non tam ut periculum salutis quam ut incentiuum sceleris declinetur. Mater quoque pia abesse sibi dilectissimum filium tolerat plus ei conlatura quem laesit, utrique tamen consulens, ut alterum inmunem a parricidio, alterum integrum praestaret a crimine. 14. For this reason, envy arose, and Esau threatened to kill his brother after the death of his father 123. But if this happens to us, then let us learn from Revveka what needs to be done so that envy does not cause anger, and anger does not turn into fratricide. Let Rebekah come, that is, let us put on patience 124, which is a good guardian of innocence. May she convince us to flee from wrath 125 . Let's retire somewhere far away until the indignation is softened by time and passes away from the oblivion of the insult. So, patience does not fear expulsion, but readily accepts it, and not so much in order to save its life, but in order to divert the occasion for crime. A loving mother also suffers because she will not have a beloved son, being more concerned about the one whom she has plunged into sadness; although she took care of both, when she saved one from murder, and kept the other innocent of the crime. 15. Audiuinuis quid corporeis ebria cupiditatibus intemperantia locuta sit, consideremus quid uera uirtus agat. Nihil requirit nisi dei gratiam, solum illud et summum bonum sequitur, solo eo contenta est, a quo accipimus omnia, ipsi autem nihil illi conferimus, quia nullo indiget, sicut ait Dauid: Dixi domino meo: dominus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non indiges. Quo enim indiget qui abundat omnibus et nobis largitur uniuersa, omnia sine defectu ministrat? 15. We have heard what intemperance, intoxicated by bodily desires, said; Let us see what true virtue does. She does not seek anything other than the grace of God, follows only the highest good and is filled with it alone; We accept everything from Him, but we ourselves cannot give Him anything, because It does not need anything, as David says: I said to my Lord: You are my Lord, and therefore You do not need my blessings (Ps. 15:2). For what does He need, Who has abundance in everything and gives us everything and gives us everything in abundance? 16. Et profectus est Iacob et dormiuit, quod est quieti animi indicium, et indit angelos dei ascendentes et descendentes, hoc est Christum praeuidit in terris, ad quem angelorum caterua descendit atque ascendit obsequium proprio domino pio praebitura seruitio. 16. And Jacob set out on the road and fell asleep - which indicates peace of mind - and saw the angels of God ascending and descending 126, that is, he foresaw Christ on earth, to Whom an angelic host descends and ascends, ready to render obedience to their Lord through pious service. 17. Et uenit ad puteum, ut biberet de suis uasis et de puteorum suorum fontibus et superfluerent ei aquae de suo fonte. Fons enim uitac est in manibus iusti. 17. And he came to the well to drink from his vessels and from the springs of his wells, and the waters of his well overflowed. For the source of life is in the hands of the righteous. 18. Et uenit ad Laban et oues eius pauit. Iniquitas incomitata residet, sapientia regendi officium non omittit. Nescit uel in alienis uacare, nescit exui esse in peregrinis. Quomodo enim exul, quae ubique suum ius seruat et in se habet quod possidet? 18. And he came to Laban and tended his sheep 128. Unrighteousness remains alone, but wisdom does not shy away from the responsibility to govern. Even among strangers, she cannot remain idle and be an exile among strangers. How can she be an exile if she retains her right everywhere and has within herself what she owns? 19. Quasi mercennarius ingreditur iustus et rector est, qui sibi gregem multarum praestantiumque uirtutum splendore fulgentem euangelicae praedicationis magisterio 130 colligebat, ut potaturis ouibus uirgam storacinam et nucinam et de platano proponeret in uenis, quo concupiscentes beatissimae trinitatis praefigurata mysteria hautquaquam decoloros fetus piae mentis conceptione formarent. Bonae oues, quae bonorum partus operum fidei sacrae non degeneres ediderunt. Per storacem significatur incensum et sacrificium uespertinum, quod deo patri defertur in psalmo. Per nucinam uirgam sacerdotale Christo munus offertur; haec enim uirga Aaron, quae reposita floruit, qua sacerdotalis gratia sanctificationis emicuit. Per platanumalis fructus significatur ubertas, quia arbori huic uitis adnectitur, ut eius laeta consortio in partus sese uberes fundat, siquidem spirit dominicae munera passionis remissionemque omnium peccatorum adiuncta spiritus gratia fouere consueuit. 19. Although the righteous man comes as a mercenary, he is also a ruler, since, given the power of the gospel proclamation given to him, he gathered for himself a flock, shining with the brilliance of many excellent virtues. For the sheep going to water, he put twigs in the troughs: poplar 131, walnut and sycamore 132, so that those who wished to receive the preformed sacraments of the Blessed Trinity would give birth to not colorless offspring at the conception of a pious mind. Beautiful are those sheep who gave birth to noble offspring of good deeds of the holy faith. Poplar, or styrax, signifies incense and the evening sacrifice, which in the psalm refers to God the Father 133. The nut rod signifies priestly service, this refers to Christ, because it is the rod of Aaron, which, being laid in the tabernacle, flourished, and through it the grace of priestly consecration shone 134. The plane tree signifies abundance of spiritual fruit, because the vine twines around this tree so that a favorable union with it will bring abundant fruit; indeed, having joined, the grace of the Spirit preserves the gifts of the Lord’s suffering and gives remission of all sins. 20. His itaque, ut scriptura dicit, diues factus est ualde bonum gregem nutriens Christo, quem fidei titulo et uarietate uirtutum gloriosi nominis nobilitauit insignibus. Itaque nec sibi uidebatur angustus censu fidei opimus et Labae filiis ut opulentissimus in inuidiam uocabatur, qui suum gregem alieni gregis accessione cumulasset. Et dixit ei deus: Reuertere in terram patris tui et in gentem tuam, et ego ero tecum, ostendens nihil ei deesse, cui adesset omnium plenitudo; hoc solum abundare perfecto, in hoc constare omnia et omnia ad ipsum referri, nihil ei nouum, nihil superfluum necessarium, cui pax fida suppeteret, per quam reconciliaret quae primo fuerant discrepantia. Nec mirum si pacem haberet qui columnam statuerat et unxerat deo, quae est ecclesia. Columna enim et firmamentum dicta est ueritatis. Eam unguit qui in Christum fidei, in pauperes misericordiae fundit unguentum. 20. Thus, as the Scripture says, he became very rich (Gen. 30:43), having fed a good flock for Christ, whom he glorified by the dignity of his faith, and by various virtues, and by the signs of a glorious name. That is why, full of faith, he did not consider himself poor, but aroused the envy of the sons of Laban, since he became very rich, having increased his flock by adding another. And God said to him: Return to the land of your father and to your homeland; and I will be with you (Gen. 31:3), showing that he who has the fullness of everything lacks nothing; the perfect is given in abundance, and everything is based on this, and everything comes down to this; He who has reliable peace within himself does not need anything new or superfluous, with which he eliminated the differences that existed at the beginning 135. And it is not surprising that he who erected and anointed the pillar 136, which is the Church, had peace within himself. For it is called the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). This pillar is anointed by everyone who pours out the fragrance of faith on Christ and the fragrance of charity on the poor. 21. Nunc consideremus qualis uir iustus esse debeat, si inuidia fuerit exorta. Primum ut decline eam; melius est enim sine lite abire quam residere cum iurgio. Deinde ut talia possideat, quae secum auferre possit, ut in nullo teneri ab aduersario possit obnoxius, sed dicat: Cognosce, si quid tuum est apud me. Et quaesiuit Laban et nihil suum inuenit apud Iacob. Magnus uir et uere beatus, qui nihil suum potuit amittere, nihil alienum habere, hoc est nihil minus habere, nihil superfluum. Itaque ille perfectus est, cui nihil deest, iustus, cui nihil supra est; hoc enim est iustitiae tenere mensuram. Quanta uirtus, cuius societas lucrum dabat, non inrogabat dispendium! Hoc est perfectum esse, adhaerentibus sibi commodi plurimum dare, nihil adferre incommodi. 21. Now let's look at what a righteous person should do if envy appears. To begin with, avoid it, because it is better to leave without a quarrel than to stay in place and quarrel. Secondly, you need to have as much property as you can carry with you, so as not to become dependent on the enemy, but to say: Find out what I have of yours (Gen. 31:32). And Laban searched and found nothing of his own in Jacob 137. Great and truly blessed is that man who was able not to lose anything from his property and not to appropriate anything that belonged to others, that is, to have nothing lacking and nothing superfluous. So he is perfect who lacks nothing, and he is righteous who has nothing beyond measure. This is the property of righteousness - to observe moderation. How great is virtue if communication with it brought profit and did not entail loss! To be perfect means to bring as much benefit as possible to your neighbors without causing any loss. 22. Denique is qui nocere cupiebat inanem eum non potuit dimittere. Sapiens enim numquam inanis est, semper in se habens amictum prudentiae, qui potest dicere: Iustitiam induebam et uestiebar iudicium, sicut dixit Iob. Namque haec mentis sunt interna uelamina, quae nemo alius possit auferre, nisi cum aliquem sua culpa despoliat. Denique sic despoliatus Adam nudus inuentus est, at uero Ioseph etiam uestimento exteriore reiecto nudus non erat, qui salua habebat indumenta uirtutis. Numquam ergo inanis sapiens. Nam quomodo inanis, qui de plenitudine Christi accepit et seruat acceptum? Quomodo inanis, cuius repleta est anima, quae acceptae gratiae uestimenta custodit? Illud metuendum est, ne quis innocentiae uelamen amittat, ne impii sacrilegae persecutionis inpressione terminos iustitiae supergressi uestimentum animae ac mentis eripiant. Quod non facile accidit, nisi prius aliquem uox suae iniquitatis exuerit. Vnde et Dauid dicit: Si est iniquitas in manibus meis ... decidam merito ab inimicis meis inanis: persequatur inimicus animam meam et conprehendat. 22. And the one who wanted to harm could not leave him poor. For a wise man is never deprived, but always has on himself the veil of prudence and can say: I have clothed myself with righteousness and clothed myself with judgment (Job 29:14), as Job said. After all, these are the inner veils of the mind, and no one else can take them away unless his own guilt undresses him. Adam, having lost everything, found himself naked, but Joseph, on the contrary, even after throwing off his clothes, was not naked, retaining the clothes of virtue 138. Therefore, the wise man is never deprived. How can one be poor who has received from the fullness of Christ 139 and retains what he has received? How can one whose soul is full be deprived while guarding the garments of the grace he has received? But we must be careful lest we lose the veil of innocence, lest the wicked, having transgressed the boundaries of truth, forcibly tear off the clothes from the soul and mind in sacrilegious persecution. This will not happen so easily, unless someone first exposes the voice of their own untruth. That is why David says: If there is iniquity in my hands... then, according to my deserts, may I fall from my enemies, deprived of strength: and may the enemy pursue my soul and capture it (Ps. 7:4-6). 23. Nemo ergo ex inimicis potest tuam animam conprchendere, nisi prius inanis fuerit effecta. Noli igitur metuere eos qui possunt auri argentique conpilare thesauros. Isti nihil tibi auferunt. Hoc enim auferunt quod non habebas, hoc auferunt quod possidere non poteras, hoc auferunt quod non ornabat animam tuam, sed onerabat, hoc auferunt quod non locupletabat cor tuum, sed potius deprimebat. Vbi enim fuerit thesaurus tuus, ibi erit et cor tuum, sicut audisti legi hodie. Multi seris portarum suarum includunt aurum suum, sed hi nec uectibus et claustris suis credunt: multi uigiles adhibent, sed ipsi quoque plus ipsos solent timere custodes: multi defosso auro incubant; aurum eorum sub terra et cor eorum sub terra. Caue ergo ne et tu cor tuum terrae uiuus infodias. Non ergo auri istius metuendi fures, ille tibi cauendus est faenerator, qui substantiam animae tuae scrutatur, si qua peccati grauioris aera contraxeris, qui cor tuum includit solo, qui animam tuam eo caespite obruit, quo aurum texeris, qui mentem tuam centesimarum incuruat usuris et graui condit sepulchro, de quo nullus resurgit. Sequere sanctum Iacob, qui neque de alienis uitiis quicquam habebat neque suarum uirtutum erat inanis et uacuus, qui erat iustitiae fructu repletus. Sed haec moralia. 23. Consequently, none of the enemies can seize your soul if it has not been previously emptied. So, do not be afraid of those who can plunder the treasure of gold and silver. They do not deprive you of anything, since they take away what you did not have; they take away what you could not possess; they take away what did not adorn your soul, but burdened you; they take away that which did not enrich your heart, but rather depressed it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21), as you heard in today's reading 140. Many people lock up their gold on door bolts, but they do not trust their bars and locks either; many assign guards, but they themselves are usually more afraid of the guards themselves; many lie on buried gold 141 - their gold is under the ground, and their heart is under the ground. So, be careful not to bury your heart in the ground during your life. And it’s not the thieves of this gold you need to be afraid of, you need to beware of that creditor who is rummaging through the property of your soul, to see if you have somehow accumulated a debt of grave sin. He imprisons your heart in the ground, he covers your soul with turf, with which you covered the gold, he oppresses your mind with interest and covers you with a heavy gravestone, from under which no one rises. Follow Saint James, who did not have the vices characteristic of others, but he himself did not lack his own virtues, he was filled with the fruits of righteousness (Phil. 1:11). But this is a moral interpretation. 24. Illud mysticum, quod uenit ad eum Laban, hoc est dealbatus, quia et satanas transfigurat se in angelum lucis, et coepit ab eo sua requirere. Respondit ei Iacob: Cognosce si quid est tuum apud me, hoc est: nihil tuorum habeo. Quaere, si quid agnoscis uitiorum tuorum et criminum. Nihil mecum abstuli fraudum tuarum dolique consortia ulla non habeo, omnia tua tamquam contagium refugi. Et quaesiuit Laban et nihil suum repperit. Quam beatus uir, in quo inimicus nihil inuenit quod suum posset dicere, in quo diabolus nihil offendit quod suum agnosceret. Inpossibile uidebatur istud in homine, sed typum gerebat eius, qui dicit in euangelio: Veniet huius mundi princeps et in me inueniet nihil. Nihil est enim quicquid est diaboli, quod nullam potest habere perpetuitatem atque substantiam. 24. The mysterious interpretation is that Laban came to him, that is, the “bright one” 142 - after all, Satan also takes the form of an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) - and began to look for his own from him 143. Jacob answers him: Find out what I have of yours (Gen. 31:32), that is: “I have nothing of yours. Look for anything you admit to your vices and crimes. I took nothing with me from your untruths and have nothing in common with wickedness: I ran away from everything of yours as from leprosy.” And Laban searched and found nothing of his own. How blessed is the man in whom the enemy has found nothing that he could call his own, in whom the devil finds nothing that he could call his own! For a person this seems impossible. But Jacob typified the One who says in the Gospel: The prince of this world comes and will find nothing in Me (John 14:30). After all, what belongs to the devil is nothing, since he cannot have permanence and substance. 25. Ipse autem est qui praetigurabatur in Iacob dominus Iesus, duorum uir coniugiorum, hoc est consors quidam legis et gratiae, qui uirginem Rachel ante dilexit et praedestinatam sibi in coniugium pio amabat affectu. Sed quoniam alia tamquam lex subintrauit et oculis infirmior obrepsit tamquam synagoga, quae mentis caecitate Christum uidere non potuit, superabundauit gratia sanctae Rachel, quae supra primum illud est expetita coniugium, quae ecclesiae principatum futurum iam tunc nominis sui interpretatione signabat. Beata Rachel, quae abstulit obprobrium suo partu, beata Rachel, quae abscondit cultus erroresque gentilium, quae simulacra eorum plena esse inmunditiae declarauit. Nemo credat paternae pietatis laesam esse reuerentiam, quod stante patre sedit, quoniam scriptum est: Qui plus fecerit patrem aut matrem quam me non est me dignus. Vbi causa agebatur religionis, fides debuit sedem habere iudicii et quasi rea stare perfidia. 25. The Lord Jesus Himself, Whom James typified, is the Husband of two marriages, that is, the Co-Lord of law and grace. At first He loved the maiden Rachel and loved the one destined for His marriage with tender love. And, although another made her way like a law and crawled up, weak-eyed like a synagogue 144 who could not see Christ because of the blindness of her mind, the grace 145 of Saint Rachel abounded, who was desired before this first marriage and who showed the future primacy of the Church even then in the interpretation of her name 146 . Blessed is Rachel, who by her childbearing got rid of shame 147; blessed is Rachel, who abolished the false worship of God and the errors of the pagans, showing that their idols were full of uncleanness 148. Let no one think that she violated respect for her parents by sitting in front of her standing father, for it is written: Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:37). Where a matter of religion is tried, faith must occupy the seat of the judge, and unbelief must stand as the accused. 26. Haec eo usque probata sunt, ut proficiscenti Iacob sancto angeli dei occurrerent. Denique uidit castra dei adplicantia et ait: Castra dei haec sunt, perfectis enim et fidelibus diuina solent adesse praesidia. Perfectus autem qui cogitabat de reconciliatione fraterna, ita ut humilitate eum inuitaret, officiis adquireret, muneribus quoque emendum putaret. Occurrit itaque fratri cum uxoribus ct pignoribus suis, ut, etiamsi ipsi indignaretur, necessitudinis obsequiis inflecteretur. 26. The angels of God came out to meet Saint James while he was on his way, so praiseworthy was his path 149 . So he saw the approaching army of God and said: This is the army of God (Gen. 32:2), - for divine help always accompanies the perfect and faithful. And the one who thought about reconciliation with his brother, about attracting him with humility, winning him with helpfulness and winning him over with gifts, is perfect. So, Jacob hurried to his brother with his wives and children in order to soften his brother’s indignation with an expression of family humility. 27. Et adorauit septies in terra. Quid sibi istud uult esse? Lex dicit: Dominum deum tuum adorabis et ipsi soli seruies, et hic adorat intemperantem, iracundum, minantem parricidale flagitium? An terram adorauit, illam humano cruore concretam, serpentum infusam uenenis aut ieiuna infelicem glarea aut duris atque asperis inhorrentem cautibus? Quid sibi etiam uult quod septies adorauit? Haereret absolutio, nisi illud occurreret, quod Petro in euangelio interroganti: Si frater meus in me peeeauerit, quotiens remittam ei, usque septies? Respondit dominus Iesus: Non solum septies, sed etiam septuagies septies. Hoc igitur prophetico spiritu sanctus patriarcha significat in aduenientem respiciens, qui non solum usque septies, sed etiam usque septuagies septies ueniam fratri relaxari iuberet, ut eius contemplatione conuentus Esau iniuriam, quam se accepisse putabat, remitteret fratri et quamuis laesus rediret in gratiam, quia propterea suscepturus erat carnem dominus Iesus et uenturus in terras, ut multiplicatam nobis donaret ueniam delictorum. 27. And he bowed down to the ground seven times (Gen.33:3). What does this mean? The law says: You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone (Deut. 6:13), but he bows down to an intemperate, wrathful, threatening fratricidal act? Or does he bow to the earth, hardened with human blood, saturated with the poisons of snakes, barren with dry sand and uneven with hard and rough stones 150? What also means that he bowed seven times? These questions would have remained unresolved if not for Peter’s question in the Gospel: How often should I forgive my brother who sins against me? up to seven times? The Lord Jesus answered: Not only up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). This is precisely what the holy patriarch signifies with the prophetic spirit, turning his gaze to the Coming One, who ordered that mercy be increased to his brother not only seven times, but even seventy times seven, so that Esau, coming towards him, seeing him, would forgive his brother the offense that he thought he had suffered, and although he was upset, he would show mercy. After all, the Lord Jesus had to take on flesh and come to earth to generously grant us remission of sins. 28. Denique petiturus a fratre concordiam dormiuit in castris. Perfecta uirtus habet tranquillitatem et stabilitatem quietis; ideo dominus donum eius perfectioribus reseruauit dicens: Pacem meam relinquo uobis, pacem meam do uobis. Perfectorum est enim non facile mundanis moueri, non turbari metu, non exagitari suspicione, non terrore concuti, non dolore uexari, sed quasi in litore tutissimo aduersum insurgentes fluctus saecularium procellarum mentem inmobilem fida statione placidare. Hoc firmamentum Christianis mentibus Christus inuexit, pacem internam inuehens animis probatorum, ut non turbetur cor nostrum neque exagitetur animus. Hanc pacem super omnem mentem esse apostolus doctor asseruit dicens: Et pax dei, quae superat omnem mentem, custodiet corda uestra et sensus in Christo Iesu. Fructus itaque pacis est non perturbari in pectore. Denique uita iusti quieta est, iniustus autem inquietudinis et perturbationis plenus est. Itaque amplius suis suspicionibus adfligitur impius quam alienis plcrique uerberibus maioresque uibices uulnerum in eius animo sunt quam in eorum corpore qui ab aliis uerberantur. 28. And so the one going to reconcile with his brother fell asleep in the camp. Perfect virtue abides in peace and serenity; therefore the Lord prepared His gift for the more perfect, saying: My peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you (John 14:27). After all, it is unusual for perfect people to be easily confused by worldly things, embarrassed by fear, worried by suspicion, exhausted by horror and tormented by suffering; but, as if on a safe shore before the rising waves of the storms of this age, they keep the mind unshaken and serene in a safe haven 151 . This is exactly how Christ strengthened Christian minds, giving inner peace to tried souls, so that our heart would not be troubled and our spirit would not be troubled. The apostle-teacher 152 announced that this peace is above all understanding, saying: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). So, not to be troubled in heart is the fruit of peace. Moreover, the life of the righteous is calm, but the life of the unrighteous is full of anxiety and worry. And the wicked suffer more from his own suspicions than others from the lashes of others, and there are more bruises in his soul from blows than on the bodies of those who are beaten. 29. Grande est intra se aliquem tranquillum esse et sibi conuenire. Foris pax aut inperatoris sollicita prouidentia aut manu militum quaeritur aut bellorum prospero cedit euentu aut internicione aliqua barbarorum, si in se hostili motu sua arma conuertant. In ea pace nulla nostra uirtus, sed euentus est. Certe gloria pacis illius ad inperatorem refertur, istius pacis fructus in nobis est, quae est in mentibus singulorum, quae tenetur affectibus. Istius pacis maior est fructus, quo spiritalis nequitiae temptamenta quam quo arma hostilia repelluntur. Ista pax sublimior, quae corporalium passionum excludit inlecebras perturbationesque mitigat quam ea quae barbaricos sedat incursus; plus est enim clauso intra te hosti resistere quam remoto. 29. It is a great blessing to have peace within yourself and to be at peace with yourself. Outer peace is achieved either by the wise care of the emperor, or by the hand of soldiers, or peace comes due to the favorable outcome of wars or some kind of civil strife among the barbarians, when they turn their weapons against each other with hatred. In achieving this world, none of our virtues is involved, but only chance is present. Without a doubt, the glory of establishing such peace goes to the emperor; the fruit of another world is within us, this world is contained in the mind and inner disposition of a person. The fruit of inner peace, which repels the temptations of the unclean spirit, is greater than that which repels the enemy hordes. The world that helps to avoid the temptations of bodily passions and softens mental turmoil is higher than the one that repels barbarian raids, because it is more important to resist the internal enemy than the external one. 30. Itaque Iacob, qui cor suum ab omni simultate mundauerat et pacificum affectum gerebat, postquam reiecit omnia sua, solus remansit et luctatus est cum deo. Quicumque enim saecularia negligit ad imaginem dei similitudinemque propius accedit. Quid est enim luctari cum deo nisi uirtutis suscipere certamen et cum superiore congredi potioremque ceteris imitatorem fieri dei? Et quia insuperabilis erat fides eius atque deuotio, secreta ei dominus mysteria reuelabat tangens latitudinem femoris eius, eo quod ex eius erat generatione dominus Iesus oriundus ex uirgine, qui deo nec inpar nec inaequalis esset. Cuius crucem obstupescentis femoris latitudo signabat, eo quod diffusa per uniuersum mundum remissione peccati salutaris foret omnibus, qui stupore sui corporis ac sopore resurrectionem tribueret defunctorum. Vnde non inmerito exortus est sol sancto Iacob, cuius generi crux domini salutaris inluxit, simul quia sol ei oritur 153 iustitiae qui deum cernit, quia ipse est lumen aeternum. 30. So, Jacob, having cleansed his heart of all enmity, was in a peaceful mood and, after sending away everything he owned, he remained alone and wrestled with God 154. For everyone who despises worldly things draws closer to the image and likeness of God. What does struggle with God mean, if not a competition in virtue and single combat with the strongest oneself in order to surpass others in imitation of God? And since his faith and piety were irresistible, the Lord, by touching the breadth of his thigh, 155 revealed to him the hidden secrets that the Lord Jesus, who would be born of the Virgin, would be of his kind, while remaining equal and one with God. The breadth of the affected thigh meant the cross of the Lord, since the remission of sins will spread throughout the world and will become a source of salvation for everyone, the One who granted the resurrection of the dead through the real estate and sleep of His body. Therefore, the sun rose deservedly for Saint James 156, since the saving Cross of the Lord shone for his descendants; and the Sun of righteousness (Mal.4:2) rises for the one who sees God, because He Himself is the Eternal Light. 31. Claiudicauit autem Iacob a femore suo. Propter hoc non manducant hodieque filii Israel neruum. Vtinam manducassent et credidissent! Sed quia non erant facturi uoluntatem dei, ideo non manducauerunt. Sunt et qui ita accipiant, eo quod ideo claudicauerit ab uno femore Iacob, quia duobus populis ex eius generatione manantibus unius stupor iam tunc circa fidei gratiam declarabatur futurus. Ipse est ergo populus, qui stupore perfidiae claudicauit. 31. Jacob limped on his hip. Therefore, even to this day the children of Israel do not eat sinew (Gen. 32:31–32). Oh, they had better eat and believe 157! But since they did not intend to do the will of God, they did not eat. There is another interpretation: Jacob was lame on one thigh because even then the future numbness to the grace of faith of one of the two peoples descended from his family was revealed. Consequently, he himself is the people who began to limp due to the numbness of unbelief. 32. Denique non multo post reuelationem istiusmodi cum esset ab alienigenae filio Dina, Iacob filia, deflorato uirginitatis pudore temerata, fratres eius, qui non intellexerunt mysterium, alienigenas, qui societatem fidei per coniunctionem generis offerebant, uindictae studio peremerunt, Iacob autem, qui morali mansuetudine clementiam diligebat uel mystico spiritu sacramentum congregandae ex gentibus praeuidebat ecclesiae, inuitus et dolenter scaenam illam exactae ultionis accepit. Vnde prophetanti aduentum domini Iesu responsum diuinum est datum: Exsurgens ascende in locum Bethel, hoc est in domum panis, ubi natus est Christus, sicut Michaeas propheta testatur dicens: Et tu, Bethleem, domus Ephratha, non es minima, ut sis inter principes Iuda. Ex te enim exiet princeps Israel, et egressus eius ab initio a diebus saeculi. Vere domus panis, quae domus Christi est, qui nobis panis salutaris aduenit e caelo, ut iam nullus esuriat cibum sibi inmortalitalis adquirens. Ibi iubetur habitare patriarcha, ibi aram deo facere, qui apparuit ei. Ibi deos accepit alienos et abscondit eos sub lentisco, ibi quoque sepulta est Rachel in uia inquit Ephratha, haec est Bethleem. Ibi etiam columnam statuit Iacob supra monumentum eius. 32. And soon after this revelation, when the son of a foreigner 158 corrupted the virgin purity and stained Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, her brothers, not understanding the secret, killed, out of a sense of revenge, the foreigners who offered a community of faith through the union of the family 159. James, who, according to the moral interpretation, loved leniency because of his soft disposition, or, according to the mysterious interpretation, foresaw in spirit the mystery of the Church consisting of pagans, reluctantly and with pain accepted the spectacle of perfect vengeance. That is why, when he prophesied about the coming of the Lord Jesus, a divine answer was given to him: Arise and go to Bethel (Gen. 35:1), that is, to the “house of bread” 160, where Christ was born, as the prophet Micah testified, saying: And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrath, are not small to be among the princes of Judah. For out of you will come the Ruler of Israel, and His origin from the beginning, from the days of eternity (Micah 5:1-2) 161. Truly it is the “house of bread”, because it is the house of Christ, the Savior Bread, Who came down to us from heaven so that no one would hunger anymore, having acquired for himself the food of immortality. The Patriarch accepts the command to live there and build an altar to the God who appeared to him. There he took foreign gods and hid them under a mastic tree 162. Rachel was buried there on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem (Gen. 35:19). There Jacob placed a pillar over her tomb (Gen. 35:20). 33. Quanta mysteria, quia ibi est ecclesia dei, in qua apparet deus et loquitur cum seruulis suis! Ibi eripiuntur et absconduntur simulacra gentium; fides enim ecclesiae omnem obseruantiam gentilitatis aboleuit. Sed cur sub lentisco absconderit quaero? Certe genus istud infructuosum est. Ibi ergo sunt dii gentium, ubi nullus est fructus. Ibi inaures gentilium infodiuntur, quas dederunt Iacob, ut iam nouam linguam audire adsuescant, ueterem perfidiae sonum nesciant, obsurdescant aures eorum sacrilegio, emundentur ad gratiam. Non inmerito sanctus ibi Danihel falsum aduersus Susannam testimonium deprehendit. Ibi enim uolebat adhuc radices suas locare perfidia, sed latere non potuit, quia prophetico spiritu deprehensa est. Congruus autem error presbyteri uerae confessioni, ut ibi contaminatam diceret castitatem, ubi gentium defossa simulacra sunt, sed ueritas ecclesiae non texit perfidiam, sed abscondit et aures gentilitatis obstruxit. 33. What great mysteries! There is the Church of God, in which God appears and speaks to his servants! Pagan idols 163 are kidnapped and hidden there, since the faith of the Church has abolished all idolatry. But I ask: why did he hide them under the mastic tree? Undoubtedly, because this breed is barren. There are, therefore, pagan deities where there is no fruit. There Jacob accepted and buried the earrings of the pagans (Gen. 35:4), so that they would become accustomed to listening to the new language and would not know the old speech of unbelief, so that their ears would become deaf to sacrilege and they would be cleansed for grace. And it is no coincidence that it was there that Saint Daniel exposed the false testimony against Susanna 164. It was there that unbelief still wanted to take root, but could not hide because it was discovered by the prophetic spirit. The lie of the elder was compared with the true testimony in order to discover the slandered chastity where pagan idols were buried. The truth of the Church did not cover unbelief, but buried it and blocked the ears of paganism. 34. Conuenienter quoque ibi sepulta est sancta Rachel, quia omnes qui baptizantur in Christo consepeliuntur cum eo. Sic enim docemur dicente apostolo: Consepulti enim sumus cum illo per baptismum in morte, ut quemadmodum ille surrexit a mortuis per uirtutem propriam suscitatus, ita et nos eius gratia resurgamus. Tunc igitur uere absconditur omnis error gentilium, cum quis fuerit ablutus a uitiis, quia confixus cruci uetus homo noster nescit iam ueteri seruire peccato. Conpetenter etiam columna statuitur supra monumentum Rachel, quia ecclesia est columna et firmamentum ueritatis. 34. It was fitting for Rachel to be buried there, 165 since all who are baptized into Christ are also buried with Him. Thus we have learned from the apostle, who says: For we were buried with Him by baptism into death; and just as He rose from the dead (Rom. 6:4), raised up by His power, so we too shall be raised by His grace. Consequently, only then will all pagan delusions truly be hidden, when everyone will be washed from vices and our old man, nailed to the cross, will no longer know slavery to the old sin 166 . Therefore, a pillar was installed over Rachel’s tomb, since the Church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). 35. Senuit autem Iacob et ante iam senuerat moribus, sed certabant in eo inpigra uiuacitas iuuentutis et tranquillitas senectutis. Est enim et senectus uirens gratia et iuuentus incana consiliis, de qua dicit scriptura: Senectus enim uenerabilis et aetas senectutis uita inmaculata. Ex hac uita fuit Iacob, qui bonis operibus praeuenit tempus longaeuae senectutis, ut et fructum eius ante tempus carperet et postrema eius in tempore non timeret. Beatus quidem et iuuenis, qui bene uiuil, sed beatus et senex, qui bene uixit. Quod enim iuuenis sperat adeptus est senior, quod senex fuit optat hoc esse qui iuuenis est. Certe hic inquieti maris longiore sibi adhuc cursu manente iactatur fluctibus, senex uero sicut in portu ita in statione est senectutis. Erat itaque huiusmodi Iacob, qui uix speranda iuuenibus bona incolumi et tuta gratiae claue iam clausa et obsignata retinebat. Quod autem possideas eo quod adhuc speres praestabilius est. Erat ergo senex Iacob, ad quem iuuenes aduersa temporis alicuius tempestate perculsi tamquam in portum sese recipiebant, ipse autem tamquam in specula uitae huius positus sollicito praetendebat adfectu et longe ante rebus dubiis praeuidebat remedia. 35. Jacob grew old, and in morals he grew old even earlier; but the swiftness of youth and the calmness of old age competed in him. Because there is old age, young from grace, there is also youth, gray in prudence, about which Scripture speaks: An honest old age and a blameless life is the age of old age (Wis. 4:8-9) 167. This is exactly the kind of life Jacob had, who with good deeds anticipated the time of deep old age, so that he could pluck its fruit ahead of time, and not be afraid of what would follow it in due time 168. Blessed is the young man who lives with dignity, but blessed is the old man who lives with dignity. The old man has already achieved what the young man hopes for, and what the old man has become, the young man desires to become. Of course, the young man is overwhelmed by the waves during what is still a long voyage for him on a choppy sea, but the old man, as in a harbor, remains at the age of old age. Such was Jacob, who already guarded that good for which the young can hardly hope, having closed and sealed it with the safe and reliable key of grace. And what you have is better than what you still hope for. So, Jacob was old, and the young men, overwhelmed by the severe adversities of life, found refuge in him as if in a harbor, and he, as if from the watchtower of this life, carefully looked ahead, and long before dangerous circumstances foresaw the means against them. 36. Denique fames erat in tota terra: senex depositus quae alacres iuuenes ignorabam primus utrum audierit 169 uidero. Interim primus admonuit filios suos in Aegypto exuberare frumenta. Eo proficiscendum, ut emerent quae sibi ad usum necessaria forent. Libenter etiam ipse iuuenum consiliis adquicscebat, ut etiam filium iuniorem simul mitteret. Et renuntiantibus illis quod Ioseph filius eius uiucret, infracto licet corpore, sed uiuida animi uirtute non expectauit ut filius ad se ueniret, sed ipse magis perrexit ad filium; Pietati enim mensura ordinis non praeponderat. Nulla itaque sensit inpedimenta fessae senectutis, cum pergeret; Pietas enim leuabat laborem. Verum ubi recepti filii fructu potitus aliquanto exacto tempore, septem decem uidelicet annorum, quod secundum illam patriarchae longaeuitatem exiguae portionis tempus est, finem uitae sibi adpropinquare cognouit, uocauit Ioseph filium et per generationis suae futurum heredem constrinxit eum, ne in Aegypto sepeliretur. Acceptaque fide, cum paulo post infirmaretur et uenisset ad eum filius suus Ioseph, uelut resumptis uiribus sedit supra lectum suum et benedixit patriarchas duodecim et prophetauit. 36. There was a famine throughout the whole earth (Gen.41:56). I will consider how the dying old man was the first to hear about what the agile young men did not know. He was the first to point out to his sons that there was an abundance of grain in Egypt and they had to go there to buy what they needed 170. He also willingly yielded to the advice of his sons and sent his youngest son with them. And when they reported that Joseph, his son, was alive, he, although weak in body, but vigorous in the valor of the spirit 171, did not wait for his son to come to him, but he himself quickly went to his son 172: observance of order did not overcome parental love. So, Jacob did not feel any burdens due to impotent old age during the journey, since love made the work easier. But after that, having been consoled by his newly found son, after some time, namely after seventeen years - which is an insignificant period according to the longevity of the patriarch - he realized that the end of his life was approaching 173, and, calling his son Joseph, for the sake of the future Heir of the family, he swore an oath not to bury him in Egypt 174. Having received assurance, he fell ill a little later, and when his son Joseph came to him, he, as if he had regained strength, sat down on his bed and blessed the twelve patriarchs and pronounced a prophecy 175. 37. Dicant nunc aliqui non beatum Iacob, cum in ipsis mortis esset diebus, qui paene plura cum deo quam cum hominibus alloquia miscebat, non beatum, cum oculi eius grauarentur in senectute et non posset uidere; uidetur enim quibusdam caecitas esse grauis aerumna calamitatis. Sed tunc quoque beatus Iacob, quia discernebat spiritu quos oculis discernere aspectuque non poterat. Videbat futura, qui aestimabatur non uidere praesentia. Denique errauit et ipse Ioseph, ut, cum ad dexteram eius adplicasset filium suum seniorem et ad sinistram ipsius, hoc est Iacob, adplicasset filium iuniorem, ut aetatis ordo benedictionis ordinem rescruaret, extenderet Iacob dexteram suam super nepotem iuniorem et sinistram super seniorem nepotem et uolenti filio patriam dexteram super Manassen seniorem conuertere responderit: Scio, fili, scio: ei hic erit in populum et hic exaltabitur, sed frater eius iunior maior illo erit. Et causam praelationis adiunxit dicens: Semen eius erit multitudo gentium. Adeo melius impedito licet corporis aspectu uidebat, ut indentem doceret errasse. Quis enim melius uidet quam qui uidet Christum? Aut quis potest dicere oculis inpeditum eum qui uidebat in Christo ecclesiam refulgentem? Nonne igitur clarum est quod debilitas beatitudinem impedire non possit? Ille oculorum impeditus munere, ille defatigatis corporis uiribus in lecto tamquam in sepulchro corpus relinquens adsurrexit in se et longe ab aliis atque intra semet ipsum sese colligens praesentibus se rebus subduxerat et nonissimorum dierum futurae miscebatur aetati. Sic enim scriptum est: Adnuntiabo, inquit, uobis quae occursura sunt uobis in nouissimis diebus. 37. Some may say that Jacob, who spoke with God almost more than with people, was not blessed in the last days before his death, when his eyes became heavy with old age and he could not see, because some people think that blindness is a serious disaster. But even then Jacob was also blessed, because he saw in his spirit what he could not see with his eyes and eyes. Those who were considered unable to see the present saw the future. Even Joseph himself made a mistake when he brought his eldest son under his right hand, and the hand of Jacob, his youngest son, under his left hand, wanting to observe the order of age as a blessing. Jacob laid his right hand on his youngest grandson, and his left on his elder 176. And to the son, who wished to transfer his father’s right hand to the elder Manasseh, he answered: I know, I know, my son, I know; and from him shall come a nation, and he shall be great; but his younger brother will be greater than he. And he added the reason for the preference, saying: From his seed will come a numerous nation (Gen. 48:19). Despite the weakness of his physical vision, he saw so vigilantly that he pointed out the mistake of the seer. And who sees better than the one who sees Christ? Or who can call someone blind who saw the shining Church in Christ? Is it not obvious that weakness cannot be an obstacle to bliss? He, burdened with an eye disease, in exhaustion of bodily strength, leaving his body on the bed, as if in a tomb, rebelled within himself, and - away from others, within himself - having gathered his strength, he renounced the present and joined the future age of the days to come. This is what the Scripture says: I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come (Gen.49:1). 38. Quid igitur ei deerat, cui deus aderat, qui ei profecturo dixerat: Descendam tecum in Aegyptum et ego deducam te in perpetuum? Nec defuit, quando in eo sanctus spiritus loquebatur. Quis tam potens in suo domicilio quam iste in alieno? Quis tam abundans in ubertate quam iste in fame? Quis tam fortis in iuuentute quam iste in senectute? Quis tam actuosus in negotio quam iste in otio? Quis tam uelox in curriculo quam iste in lectulo? Quis tam laetus in flore adolescentiae quam iste in mortis confinio? Quis tam diues in regno quam iste in peregrino loco? Denique reges benedicebat. Nec inmerito pauper non erat, qui nullo indigebat. Pauper non erat, qui se pauperem non putabat. Et quis pauperem dicat, cuius conuersatione dignus orbis terrarum non fuit, et ideo conuersatio eius erat in caelo? Hic uero praediucs in diuitiis simplicitatis et sinceritatis, decorus maiore animae quam corporis pulchritudine, quae marcescere non nouit, aetate inpiger, cui liceret, cum uellet, corporeo isto exire gurgustio et superna paradisi mentis uigore penetrare, exultans spiritu, cum sepulchri extrema mandaret. Non enim terreno se tumulo claudendum, sed superno recipiendum domicilio praesumebat. Et ideo tamquam alteri mandabat sepulchrum, sui autem securus mortem illam inmortalitatem putabat. Videbatur corporis inplicatus impedimento et uigilanti in futura tempora praecurrebat affectu dicens de persecutoribus domini, qui de tribu Symeon et Leui auctores erant nequitiae processuri: In consilium eorum non ueniat anima mea et in occursum eorum non contendant uiscera mea. Quis autem tam ualidus in uirtute quam iste fortis in infirmitate, qui dicebat: Maledictus furor illorut, quia superbus et temerarius, et ira illorum, quia indurata est. Diuidam eos in Iacob et dispergam illos in Istrahel? 38. What was missing from the one with whom God was, who said to him who was going on the journey: I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring you out at the end 177 (Gen. 46:4)? And God was in Jacob when the Holy Spirit spoke in him. Who is as strong in his own home as he is in someone else's? Who is so abundant in harvest as he is during the famine? Who is as strong in youth as he is in old age? Who is as active while working as he is when idle? Who is as swift on the road as he is on his bed? Who is so joyful in the bloom of youth as he is on the threshold of death? Who is as rich in his own kingdom as he is in a foreign country? After all, he blessed kings 178. And truly the one who did not need anything was not poor. The one who did not consider himself poor was not poor. And who would call him poor, whose presence the whole world was not worthy of, because his residence was in heaven 179? He is truly rich in the wealth of simplicity and purity, adorned with the beauty of the soul more than the body - and this beauty has not known decay; he was tireless even in his old age, he was allowed, whenever he wanted, to leave this bodily shack 180 and reach the heights of paradise by the power of his mind, and he rejoiced in spirit when he gave the last orders for his burial. For he did not look forward to imprisonment under an earthen hill, but to the inheritance of a high dwelling. Therefore, it was as if he had commanded the tomb for someone else, and, calm for himself, he considered this death to be immortality. He seemed bound by the weakness of the body, but, cheerful in spirit, foresaw future times, speaking about the persecutors of the Lord, who were to come from the tribe of Simeon and Levi and become workers of unrighteousness 181: Let not my soul go out into their council, and let not my bowels join their assembly (Gen. 49:6). He who is stronger in strength than he in weakness, who says: Cursed be their anger, for it is cruel and foolish, and their wrath, for it is fierce; I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel (Gen.49:7). 39. Quis uero tam canorus cantibus quam iste uocibus, qui toto auditus est mundo, qui per omnes populos, per omnes auditur aetates? Quis tam suauis numeris septem uocum differentias oblocutus quam iste septemplici spiritus sancti gratia resultauit? Qui licet membra resolutus tamen adtollens se animo et erigens spiritu corporis sui tamquam citharae harmoniam dissoluta membrorum conpage destructam alta mente despiciens non requirebat, sed otiosam iacere humi patiebatur, ipse autem cantu se mulcebat interno et prophetico se modulamine delectabat dicens: Iuda, te conlaudent fratres tui. Manus tuae super dorsum inimicorum tuorum: adorabunt te filii patris tui. Catulus leonis Iuda: ex germine mihi ascendisti: recumbens dormisti ut leo et tamquam catulus leonis. Quis excitabit illum? Et infra: Lauabit in iino stolam suam et in sanguine uuae anaboladium suum. Hilares oculi eius a uino et dentes candidiores lacte. Quis cantus dulcior, quis sonus suauior quam remissio peccatorum et resurrectio mortuorum? Hunc cantum sanctus Dauid ille, diuinae organum uocis et dominici sermonis interpres, cithara cecinit spiritali. His modulis gratiae sublimem illum animum mentemque mulcebat. Hoc cantu mundi istius aspera mitigauit, hoc sonitu saeculi dura molliuit, hoc psalterio terrorem mortis infregit, hac suauitate cordarum inferna calcauit. 39. Who is as euphonious in songs as this one is in words? The whole world heard him and all peoples and all times listen to him! Who is so sweet, playing melodies on the seven-stringed cithara 182, as he, who was announced by the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit? Although his members were relaxed, but, inspired by his soul and perked up in spirit, with an exalted mind he looked with disdain at the relaxed joints, not striving for the harmony of his body, which had lost its joints, as happens with the cithara, and endured it when it lay on the ground without use. Inside, he enjoyed the singing and rejoiced at the prophetic euphony, saying: Judas! Your brothers will praise you. Your hand is on the back of your enemies; the sons of your father will worship you. Young lion Judah: you grew from my seed, you lay down and slept like a lion and like a lion cub. Who will wake him up (Gen.49:8–9)? And below: He will wash his clothing in wine and his covering in the blood of the vine. His eyes are sparkling with wine, and his teeth are white with milk (Gen.49:11–12) 183. What song is sweeter and what sound is more pleasant than the remission of sins and the resurrection of the dead? It was this song that Saint David - the sound of the divine voice and the interpreter of the divine word - sang on the spiritual lyre. It was with these melodies of grace that he delighted the high soul and mind 184. It was with this song that he softened the severity of this world, it was with this sound that he softened the callousness of this age, it was with this psalter that he crushed the horror of death, it was with this sweetness of strings that he trampled the underworld. 40. Sed audiamus etiam alia quae sanctus patriarcha Iacob admirabili illo suae organo mentis increpauit: Nephthalim uitis remissa, porrigens in germine suo decorem. Filius meus ampliatus Ioseph, filius meus ampliatus, zelo adpetitus filius meus, filius meus adulescentior, ad me reuertere. Et infra: Praeualuit super benedictiones montium manentium et desideria aeternorum collium. Quid dulcius benedictione, quid gratius aeternitate? Et ipsa uerba sunt cantus et in uerbis magna uotorum sunt praemia, meritorum fastigia. 40. But let us also listen to something else, which the holy Patriarch Jacob proclaimed with the divine crown of his mind: Naphtali is an overgrown vine, giving beauty in its seed. My illustrious son Joseph, my illustrious son, envyed, my son, my youngest son, return to me (Gen. 49:21-22) 185. And below: In whom the blessing surpassed the blessings of the immovable mountains and the pleasantness of the everlasting hills (Gen. 49:26). What's sweeter than a blessing? What is more desirable than eternity? And the words themselves are a song, and in the words lie the great rewards of promise and the pinnacle of merit. 41. Quid suauius sancto Ioseph, qui nos liberauit ab obprobrio crucis dominicae sacramento? Sicut enim maledictum factus est Christus, ut maledictum solueret legis; et peccatum factus est, ut mundi peccatum tolleret: ita obprobrium factus est, ut gentilitatis auferret obprobrium, sed illud obprobrium Christi thesauris Aegypti pretiosius aestimatum est. Et ideo Moyses Pharao regis aulam reliquit et fidei elegit obprobrium, cui se obprobrio maria diuidebant. Ipse ergo Nephthalim uitis totum remissa per mundum, ut omnibus populis ubertatem poculi spiritalis infunderet. Ipse est ampliatus, habens nomen super omne nomen, qui quoniam se pro omnibus obtulit morti, ideo audiuit a patre: Ad me reuertere. Loquebatur Iacob et deus audiebatur. Ille benedicebat et deus personabat dicens filio: Ad me reuertere, hoc est post passionem reuertere. Reuertere ad sedem tuam, reuertere cum tropaeo, reuertere ad me, ut te resurgentem defuncti sequantur et tua potestate pariter atque exemplo resurgant, ut fias primogenitus ex mortuis, ut ad dexteram sedeas patris. Vnde et filius dixit: Amodo uidebitis filium hominis sedentem ad dexteram uirtutis. 41. What is more pleasant than Saint Joseph 186, who freed us from reproach through the sacrament of the Cross of the Lord? Just as Christ became a curse in order to destroy the curse of the law, 187 and became sin 188 in order to take away the sin of the world, 189 so Joseph became a reproach in order to deliver the pagans from reproach; but the reproach that Christ suffered was valued more than the treasures of Egypt - that is why Moses left the court of King Pharaoh and chose the reproach of the faith; and before this reproach the seas parted 190. Naphtali is Christ Himself - the vine that has grown throughout the world in order to pour out an abundance of spiritual drink to all peoples 191. He Himself was glorified, having the name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9), and He, because He gave Himself up to death for all, heard from the Father: Return to Me. Jacob spoke, but God was heard. Jacob blessed, and God proclaimed, saying to the Son: Return to Me, that is: “Return after suffering, return to Your dwelling, return in victory, return to Me, so that the dead may follow You, risen, and be raised by Your power and in Your image, so that You may become the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5) and sit down at the right hand of the Father" 192. That is why the Son said: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power (Matthew 26:64). 42. Neget quis beatum Iacob in ipso mortis supremo, qui diuina fundebat oracula? Neget beatum Ioseph in carcere, ubi sapientiae spiritu interpretabatur somniorum quae audierat ueritatem et futurorum seriem reuelabat? Neget beatum Esaiam, cum medius secaretur; Hiercmiam, cum mergeretur; Danihel sanctum, cum inter leones staret intrepidus et prandium ei raptus ab angelo propheta deferret? Non utique ideo beatus, quia alienum prandebat prandium, sed quia meritis suis inpasta leonum ora claudebat. Quis autem non beatam dixerit matrem Machabaeorum, quae septem filiorum funeribus octauam se addidit ad laudem caelestis triumphi? 42. Who will deny that Jacob was blessed even on the very threshold of death when he uttered divine prophecies 193? Who will deny that Joseph was also blessed in prison, where with the spirit of wisdom he interpreted the truth of the dreams that he heard and revealed the events of the future 194? Who will deny that Isaiah was blessed when he was sawed in half, 195 and Jeremiah, when he was thrown into a pit, 196, or Saint Daniel, when he stood undaunted among the lions and was given food by a prophet brought by an angel 197? But, of course, he is blessed not because he ate someone else’s food, but because with his merits he stopped the mouths of hungry lions. Who will say that the mother of the Maccabean brothers is not blessed, who joined the seven deaths of her sons with an eighth for the glory of heavenly triumph 198? 43. Nec te, Eleazare, praetermittam, utpote sacerdotem sacerdos, sed tuis iuuandus oratis, qui genus sacerdos, peritus in lege, maturus aeui, cum oblatus esses Antiocho persecutori, nec temptamentis potuisti capi nec praemiis inflecti nec suppliciorum acerbitatibus frangi. Denique a blandimentis coepit, quia iudicabat tormenta sua posse superari. "Erubesco", inquit, "canitiem tuam, reuereor senectutem, miror prudentiam: cur abstinendum bonis epulis putes, quas natura largitur? Relaxa istiusmodi peruicaciam, expergiscere aliquando, dum adhuc malo tibi persuadere quam extorquere, ne uictus suppliciis facias quod refutas ratione inuitatus.” Ad haec respondit senex: “Nos, Antioche, non intentione ducimur, sed reuerentia legis tenemur, quae a suilla carne abstinendum praecepit. Pulcherrimam creaturam iudicas, negare tamen non potes quod potior sit temperantia quam uoluptas, potior legis oboedientia quam praeuaricatio. Quodsi hoc leue putas, ut carne uescamur suilla, qui in minimis legem contempserit quomodo in magnis tenebit? Aut si pretiosa est creatura istiusmodi, uindicaris, cum eo quod sit pulcherrimum defraudamur. Abstinentia autem nostra disciplina est castimoniae. Discimus enim resecare luxuriam, cupiditates uincere, excludere concupiscentias, delectationibus corporis obuiare. Fortitudinis quoque exercitium est poenis pro lege non cedere. Iustitiae quoque insigne atque prudentiae, ut quod sequendum elegimus timore dei morte proposita reseruemus. Quis escam imperet liberis? Quis autem se ridendum praebeat, ut in hoc seruiat? Sed non ridebitur 199. Non sum ita senex, ut mihi non iuuenescat animi fortitudo.” 43. I will not pass you by in silence, Eleazar 200 - as a priest - a priest hoping for the help of your prayers. You were of a priestly family, versed in the law, and when you reached adulthood, you were brought before Antiochus the persecutor 201; and you were not captivated by temptations, did not bow before rewards, were not crushed by painful tortures. Antiochus began with flattery, because he believed that his torment could be overcome: “I respect your gray hair, I honor your old age, I am amazed at your wisdom: why do you think that you should abstain from the good food that nature generously provides? Moderate your stubbornness, finally come to your senses, while I am still inclined to persuade you, and not to torture you; lest you, overcome by torment, do what you refuse without accepting the arguments of reason.” To which the elder replied: “We, Antiochus, are not driven by stubbornness, but by reverence for the law, which prescribed abstinence from pork. You consider her the most beautiful creation, but you cannot deny that abstinence is better than pleasure; obedience to the law is better than disobedience. If you think that eating pork is a trifle, then how can one who despised the law in small things fulfill it in great things? And if a creature of this kind is valued, then you should be pleased that we are deceived about what is most beautiful. Abstinence is our training in moral purity. This is how we learn to restrain passions, conquer desires, cut off lusts, resist bodily pleasures. It is also an exercise in courage to undergo torture while defending the law; it is also a sign of justice and wisdom 202 to adhere to the path that we have chosen out of reverent fear of God - despite the threat of death. Who can tell free people what to eat? Who will make a laughing stock of himself if he listens? But they won't laugh at me. I’m not so old that I can’t keep the courage of my soul blooming.” 44. Suspensus itaque cum hinc atque inde grauiter uerberaretur nec iam ferrent senilia membra uerberum poenas, lassatis carnificibus atque extensoribus in terram deflexus inflexibilem mentem gerebat. Et quidam seu longaeuam miseratus aetatem seu temptamentis circumuenire desiderans, "Responde", inquit, "tantummodo te manducaturum: nos te escae eius inmunem praestabimus." At ille clamans: “Nequaquam contingat mihi, ut flam senex incentiuum iuuenilis erroris, qui huc usque eram salutaris forma instituti.” His ergo ludibriis, ut paululum uiuam, lucrabor et totius uitae labores addicam breuis uiatico senectutis? Senectus portus debet esse, non naufragium uitae superioris. Non te negabo, lex patria, non abiurabo uos, sancta instituta maiorum, non decolorabo uos, infulae sacerdotales, non te perfidiae puluere turpabo canities!” Quid multa? Inmoriendo tormentis factus est ceteris magisterium perseuerantiae, qui electus erat ad infirmitatis exemplum. Beatus igitur, in quo non potuerunt tormenta rationem uincere. An non beatus, qui potuit uirtute animi uictor esse poenarum pietatisque remigium seruare integrum in tantis fluctibus passionum 203 ? 44. They hung him up and brutally scourged him on both sides, so that his old body could no longer bear the blows of the lashes, and when the tormentors and executioners got tired, they bent him to the ground, although he remained adamant in his mind. And someone, either taking pity on old age, or wanting to tempt him, says: “Just say that you agree to eat, and we will make sure that you will be free from this food.” And he exclaimed: “Let it not happen to me that I, an old man, become the cause of youthful error, when up until now I have been a model of a saving institution. With this deception I will only gain a short time in my life and betray the work of my whole life in a short moment of old age. Old age should be a haven, not a wreck of a past life. I will not give up on you, fatherly law! I will not renounce you, holy institutions of our ancestors! I will not stain you, priestly bandages! and you, gray haired man, I will not stain you with the dirt of wickedness!” 204 What else can I say? Dying from torture, the one who was chosen as an example of weakness became a teacher of perseverance. Blessed is he in whom torture could not defeat reason. And how can he not be blessed who, thanks to the valor of his soul, was able to overcome torment and keep the oar of piety unharmed in such strong waves of suffering? 45. Post ipsum statuti sunt pueri septem cum matre. Insultare licet tyranno, qui dum callide a sene incipiendum putat, magistrum elegit, qui discipulos faceret fortiores, quorum uelut puerilem aetatem praemiis prouocabat ad culpam, urgebat terroribus ad formidinem. At illi non degeneres tanto duce respondent: “Quid nos contemnis uel circumscribis ut pueros? Sed fides cana est, sed ualida disciplina. Experire certe, subice quibus placet poenis puerilia uiscera, non inuenies corda puerilia: nec potentiores erunt tormentorum machinae, quam legitimae obseruationis excubiae. Quem uicit senectus, superabit aemula senectutis pueritia. Sequimur patrem filii, discipuli doctorem. Collige suppliciorum instrumenta proposita: meditationem patientiae, non terrorem inscitiae adferunt, dum uidentur.” 45. After him, seven young men appeared with their mother 205. You can laugh at the cruel ruler, who, considering it a cunning step to start with an old man, thereby chose a teacher who made his students stronger. Their young age - he encouraged them to fall with the promise of rewards and frightened them with executions. But, worthy of such a great teacher, they answer: “Why do you despise us and deceive us like children? Our faith is hoary and our teaching is strong. Test in practice, subject youthful bodies to any torment, you will not find the hearts of youths in them; and the instruments of torture will not be stronger than the preservation and reverence of the law. Whoever is defeated by old age will also be overcome by youth, imitating old age. We, like children, follow our father, and like students, we follow our teacher. Collect the instruments of torment: by their appearance they exercise our patience, and do not inspire fear in our inexperience.” 46. Iussit maximum natu eligi. At ille ridens: “Recte, inquit, naturae ordinem seruas.” Sed cur dei legem temerandam putas? Et pro pietate quidem omnes maximi sumus, sed tamen a me inchoatum gaudeo quod quaeris, tyranne. Confiteor nos summo deo seruire. Et doces quid agere debeamus. Si tu tanta pertinacia uis extorquere ueritatem, cur non omni uirtute nos eam tenendam putemus?” Quid plura? Adhibentur uariarum genera poenarum. Sed uicit pietas inmanitatis furorem: exclusa est anima, non religio. 46. Antiochus ordered that the eldest by birth be chosen. And he says with mockery: “You correctly observe the order of nature. But why do you think that God's law should be profaned? And although in piety we are all elders, yet I rejoice that you started with me, tyrant. I confess that we serve the Most High God! Yes, and you yourself teach how we should act. If you want to snatch the truth with such tenacity, then why shouldn’t we consider that we must hold onto it with all our might?” What else can I say? He was subjected to many different torments, but piety triumphed over fierce rage: his soul was cast out, but not his adherence to faith. 47. Secundus accessit nec degener fratris munia piae confessionis inpleuit. Et cum detraheretur membrana capitis, respondit: “Aufertis quidem membranam, sed habeo galeam spiritalem, quam non potestis auferre.” Et uere nemo auferre hanc galeam potest, sicut postea apostolus docuit in ecclesia domini: Quia caput uiri Christus est et eius sumus membra. Recte puer istam diuino spiritu doctrinam apostolicam praeuidebat. Exuebant inmanes bestiae corium capitis et pardalicis feritatibus saeuiebant. At ille deficiens: “Quam dulce est”, inquit, “mori pro religione, quam suauis omnis acerbitas mortis pro pietate; Quia manet horum remuneratio laborum! Tua sunt, rex, grauiora tormenta: tu tuis uehementius torqueris suppliciis, quia uides te uinci in potestate.” 47. The second one began, and, worthy of a brother, he performed the ministry of pious confession. And when they tore off the skin from his head, he said: “You are skinning me, but I have a spiritual helmet that you cannot remove.” And truly no one can take off this helmet, as the apostle later taught in the Church of the Lord: For Christ is the head of a man (1 Cor. 11:3), and we are His members (Eph. 5:30). The youth correctly foresaw this apostolic teaching with the divine spirit. The furious beasts tore off the skin from the head and raged with leopard fury. But he, dying, said: “How sweet it is to die for faith, how pleasant is the bitterness of death for piety, for reward awaits us for these torments! Your torment, king, is more severe: you are tormented by your torments even more, because you see yourself defeated.” 48. Et hoc defuncto tertium statui sibi iussit. Et cum eum partim temptaret insidiis, partim cuperet terrore percellere, respondit ad eum: “Non faciam uoluntatem tuam nec succumbam imperio tuo. Per beatam illam fratrum passionem et nobilitatem non negabo piam germanitatem. Quaeuis adhibeto supplicia, quibus magis urgens hoc proficies asperitate poenarum, ut maiora testimonia nostrae germanitatis accipias.” Iussit itaque ei linguam amputari. At ille exclamans: “Victus es”, inquit, “Antioche, qui organum uocis abscidi iubes. Confessus es te respondere non posse rationi maioraque probas linguae nostrae flagella quam tua uerbera. Nos enim tua uerbera non timemus, tu nostrae uocis flagella non potes sustinere. Sed haec flagella pietatis sunt, tua flagella perfidiae; Sed etiam lingua sublata grauius te suo cadens murmure flagellabit. Euadere te putas, Antioche, si uocem eripias? Et tacentes deus audit et magis audit. Ecce aperui os meum, laxaui linguam meam. Abscide linguam, sed non abscides constantiam, non uirtutem auferes, non rationem obliterabis, non eripies testimonium ueritatis, non eripies cordis clamorem. Si lingua amputetur, sanguis clamabit et dicetur tibi: Vox sanguinis fratris tui clamat ad me. Audit enim sanguinis uocem, qui audit internas cogitationes, tenebrae licet operiant et parietum saepta circumdent dicat inpius, quia nullus sibi testis adsistat; explorat uniuersa, uidet omnia deus, nec est aliquod facinus quod possit latere omnium iudicem, qui cognoscit uniuersa, antequam fiant. Quid uerba damus? Loquaciora sunt uulnera: etsi uulnera tegantur, etsi abscondatur cicatrix, non absconditur fides. Nec tamen plaudas quod auferendo linguam confessionem laudis eripias. Satis iam deum sermone laudauimus, nunc passione laudemus.” 48. And when he rested, Antiochus ordered a third to be placed in front of him and tried either to entice him with temptations or to confuse him with fear. The third brother said to him: “I will not do your will and will not obey your order. For the sake of the blissful suffering of my brothers and the nobility of their souls, I will not renounce my pious kinship. Use any kind of torment: by increasing the severity of suffering, you will receive more evidence of our kinship! And so he ordered his tongue to be cut out. But he, exclaiming, said: “You are defeated, Antiochus, when you order to tear out the instrument of the word. You have admitted that you are incapable of answering arguments and are proving that the lashes of our tongue are stronger than your scourges. We are not afraid of your scourges, but you cannot withstand the lashes of our voice. But these are the scourges of piety, but you have the scourges of unbelief; and even a mortified tongue, falling, will scourge you even more heavily with its muttering. Do you think you can escape me, Antiochus, if you deprive me of my voice? But God hears those who are silent, and He hears better. Behold, I open my mouth (Job 33:2) and loosen my tongue. Cut off the tongue, but you will not cut off perseverance, you will not cut off virtue, you will not consign reason to oblivion, you will not tear out the testimony of truth, you will not drown out the cry of the heart. If they pull out the tongue, the blood will cry out and tell you: The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me (Gen. 4:10). For He who hears secret thoughts hears the voice of blood. If darkness covers and surrounds the fence of walls 206, the wicked will say that there is no witness to him, but God penetrates everything and sees everything, and there is no crime that can be hidden from the Judge of all, who knew the world before it was created. What else can we say? Wounds are more eloquent, and even if you hide the wounds and hide the scars, you cannot hide faith. Do not boast that by depriving me of my tongue, you deprive me of the opportunity to give praise. We have already praised God enough with words, now let us praise Him with suffering.” 49. Et hoc perempto iussit quartum uinciri ad rotam, ut eius uertigine membris omnibus solueretur. At ille cum torqueretur inmaniter: "Dissoluis", inquit, "corporis membra, sed adiungis gratiam passioni nec eripis solacium morti." Est enim uox tonitrui in rota, quia in bono et inoffenso uitae istius cursu caeleste resultat oraculum, sicut in Iohanne et Iacobo filiis tonitrui resultabat. Itaque illud quod legi, nunc manifestius recognosco: Quia rota intra rotam currit, nec impeditur. Teres enim uita sine ulla offensione in quauis passione uersatur et intra hanc quoque rota currit. Currit lex intra gratiam et obseruantia legis intra diuinae curriculum misericordiae est; nam quo magis uoluitur, plus probatur. "Potius est hic ab impiis aduersa tolerare, ut ibi a domino consolationem inuenire possimus." Et iste consummans cursum suum abrupit spiritum animamque uictor effudit. 49. And when he was killed, the king ordered the fourth brother to be tied to a wheel, so that, by rotating the wheel, he would crush all his members. And in terrible torment he says: “You tear the body into pieces, but you add sweetness to suffering and do not take away the consolation of death.” After all, the voice of thunder is in the wheel (Ps. 77:19), since in the good and serene running of that life a heavenly utterance is heard, as it was heard in John and Jacob - the sons of thunder 207. So, what I read, I understand more clearly now: that a wheel within a wheel rolls unhindered 208 . For smooth life moves without a single obstacle in any state, and a wheel also runs inside it. The law runs within grace, and the reverence for the law runs within divine mercy, and the more it runs, the more it is tested. “It is better here to suffer disasters from the wicked, so that there we can find comfort from the Lord.” And he, completing his run, lost his spirit and, like a winner, gave up the ghost 209. 50. Quintus cum sisteretur, caeso prius eidem ignes iussit admoueri, subici incendia. Manabat e uulneribus cruor et effossis ulceribus sanguis effusus ipsos flammarum extinguebat globos. At ille inter ignium crepitus audiebatur dicens: “Gratias tibi, domine, quod dedisti nobis dicere: Transiuimus per ignem. Et sicut alibi idem dicit tuus propheta: Igne nos examinasti, sicut igne examinatur argentum. Adstabo tibi sicut aurum purgatus incendio, ct si quid fuit culpae, ignis exussit.” Itaque et iste transfiguratus a corruptela ad incorruptionem uitam exhalauit. 50. When the fifth brother was brought, the king, after the beating, ordered fire to be brought and a flame to be lit under it. Blood flowed from the wounds, and, streaming from open ulcers, extinguished the flames. But the crackling of the fire did not drown out the words: “We thank You, Lord, for giving us the opportunity to say: We have passed through the fire (Ps. 65:12). And as in another place the same prophet of yours says: You have tested us with fire... as silver is tested with fire (Ps. 65:10). I will appear before You as gold refined by fire; and if I was guilty of anything, it was setting a fire.” So, this one, having passed from corruption to incorruptible life, betrayed the spirit. 51. Sexto quoque admota tormenta sunt. At ille: “Noli”, inquit, “frustra errare et tuae hoc adseribere potestati, quod ista aduersum nos exerceas. Nostrorum hoc delictorum est pretium, ut peccantes puniamur, et gratias domino, quod hic a nobis duplicia peccata exiguntur, ut ibi nobis consolatio deferatur. Gratias autem et tibi, quod tam durus ct inmitis es, ut talibus nostris suppliciis dominus, in quem peccauimus, genti nostrae propitius flat. Nos quoque ableuamus aerumnam, dum fidei passionibus delectamur.” Et iste duris atque asperis dilaceratus suppliciis appositus est ad fratres suos. 51. They also brought instruments of torture to the sixth brother. He says: “Do not delude yourself and do not attribute to your strength what you are using against us. This is the price for our sins 210 so that we who sin may be punished. And we thank the Lord that here He doubly exacts from us for our sins, so that there we may receive consolation. We also thank you that you are so cruel and ferocious, so that because of our torment, the Lord, against whom we sinned, would become merciful to our people. And for us, torment becomes easier when we joyfully suffer for our faith.” And, tormented by cruel and grave torments, he went to his brothers. 52. Supererat iuniorex fratribus, ct iam pudebat Antiochum inmaturae aetati ita se fuisse ludibrio. Itaque dolis eum desiderans circumscribere pollicebatur honores, diuitias, amicitiam suam, consortium secretorum. At uero pia mater monebat filium suum dicens et huic sicut ceteris: Nescio quemadmodum in uterum meum introistis, neque ego spiritum donaui uobis, neque membra formaui, sed haec omnipotentis dei munera sunt. Putauit Antiochus uidens matrem sollicitam quod saluti eius timeret et ipsi quoque suadere coepit, ut filium ab intentione reuocaret. At illa uoce patria dicebat filio: “Tu solus, fili, superes, summa uotorum meorum; tu postremus clausisti partus meos, tu postremus conclude gaudia mea. Miserere mei, quae te in utero tot mensum curriculo portaui, ne uno momento confundas senectutem meam, ne decolores tot fratrum tuorum tropaea, ne sacrum eorum comitatum relinquas, ne consortium deseras. Te adhuc isti expectant triumphi. Aspice in caelum, unde hausisti spiritum, ad patrem omnium; aspice in terram, quae tibi ante alimoniam ministrauit; aspice ad fratres, qui collegam requirunt; aspice ad matrem, quae tibi lac dedi. Redde mercedem pii sanguinis: noli a fratribus, noli a matre diuelli. Temporales opes sunt, quas promittit Antiochus, temporales honores: perpetua corona, quae a deo omnipotente defertur. Vos mihi septem dierum dominus lumina dedit, sextum iam diem clausi et omnium opera bona ualde. Debes mihi, fili, ut quae in illis sex laboraui, in te requiescam septimo, tamquam a saeculi iam operibus feriata.” Itaque proripiens se iuuenis ait: Quid sustinetis? et multa uociferans, quod nequaquam diuelli posset a fratrum consortiis, quorum multo beatiora essent funera quam regis imperia, cum urgeret conuiciis regem, et ipse acerbis excruciatus tormentorum generibus uitae huius munus absoluit. 52. The youngest of the brothers remained, and Antiochus was ashamed that he had become the subject of ridicule at a young age. And wanting to deceive him with cunning, the king promised him honors, wealth, his friendship and trust. However, the pious mother instructed her son, telling him like the others: I do not know how you were born in my womb, I did not give you breath, I did not form the composition of each one, but these are the gifts of Almighty God (2 Mac. 7:22). Seeing his worried mother, Antiochus decided that she was afraid for her son’s life, and began to convince her to dissuade her son from his intention. She spoke to her son in the language of their fathers: “You are the only one left, son, the crown of my prayers; you were my last birth, you were my last and my joy. Have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for so many months (2 Mac. 7:27) not so that you would instantly disgrace my old age and cover the victory of your brothers with shame, leave their holy community and retreat from their fate. Victory awaits you too. Look to heaven, from where you received your spirit, to the Father of all; look at the land (2Mac.7:28), which formerly provided you with food; look at the brothers who are waiting for their comrade; look at the mother who gave you milk. Repay the payment with godly blood; Do not shy away from your brothers and mother. The riches that Antiochus promises are temporary, the honors are temporary; but the crown that is given by Almighty God is eternal. The Lord gave you to me as the light of seven days, and I have already completed the sixth day, and everyone’s deeds are very good 211. You must do it for me, son, so that I, who have labored in those six, find peace in you, the seventh, as if I had rested from the affairs of this age” 212. Rushing forward, the young man says: Why are you delaying (2 Macc. 7:30)? He loudly exclaimed that he would never evade the fate of his brothers, whose death was much more blessed than the entire empire of the king. And reproaching the king with mocking words, he parted with the gift of this life after cruel tortures and tortures. 53. Nouissima mater oblata est neci. Quis hanc beatam neget, quae quasi septem uallata muneribus inter corpora filiorum nullum sensit mortis incursum? Quis, inquam, de eius dubitet beatitudine, quae septem turribus circumdata in paradisi sedem caput extulit, quae septem filiis cincta sacratissimum deo chorum non solis canorum uocibus, sed etiam passionibus ad concinendas domini laudes caelestibus inuexit altaribus? Quam bonus fidei partus, quam tutus portus iste pietatis, quam splendida lucerna ecclesiae septeno fulgens lumine et octauo utero cunctis oleum luminibus subministrans! De quibus pulchre dicitur: Date partem illis septem et illis quidem octo, eo quod in utroque numero consortium gratiae consequantur in lege nutriti, per gratiam coronati, septem tamquam in sabbato, octo tamquam in euangelio, pia matre supplemento passionis adiuncta, quae in talibus filiis integram pietatis formam et parturiuit et peperit. 53. The mother was the last to be put to death. Who can deny that she is blessed? Protected by the bodies of her sons, like seven offerings, she did not feel any onslaught of death! Who, I say, will doubt her bliss when, surrounding herself with seven towers, she raised her head to the heavenly village and, surrounded by seven sons, raised the most holy face of God to the heavenly altars - not only with the voices of songs, but also with suffering to sing the praises of the Lord? How good is the fruit of faith, how safe is this haven of piety, how bright is the lamp of the Church, shining with sevenfold light and an eighth womb that supplies oil for all lamps! It is beautifully said about them: Give part to those seven and also to those eight (Eccl. 11:2), for in both numbers they have participation with grace: brought up in the law, crowned with grace, seven as in the Sabbath, eight as in the Gospel 213, when a pious mother joined them to make up for suffering, who gave birth to and produced in her sons an impeccable image of piety. 54. Recurrunt in memoriam sermones sanctae feminae dicentis ad filios: “Ego uos genui, ego uobis sucum lactis infudi, nolite uestram nobilitatem perdere.” Sic aliae matres reuocare a martyrio solent filios, non uocare. At ista in hoc maternum ponebat affectum, si filiis uitam magis perpetuam quam temporalem suaderet. Spectabat itaque pia mater filiorum certamina et, quamuis maternorum uiscerum conpassione quateretur, pietatis studio premebat dolorem et offerente Antiocho, cum posset salutem eligere filiorum, malebat periculum conpressisque naturae gemitibus poenam filiis optabat augeri, ut mors citius adpropinquaret. Videmus conuersa uota matris in filios, ne quem superstitem derelinqueret, sed omnes piae coheredes mortis adquireret. 54. I remember the words of the holy woman who told her sons: “I gave birth to you, I nourished you with milk, do not lose your nobility.” This is how other mothers usually discourage their children from martyrdom, rather than calling them to it. But she believed her maternal love in the fact that she encouraged her sons to care more about eternal life than about temporary life. This is how the pious mother looked at the feat of her sons; and although her mother’s womb shook with compassion, she suppressed the pain with zeal for piety. And although she could save her sons, as Antiochus suggested to her, she, however, preferred death for them, and, suppressing the groans of nature, she wanted the torment of her sons to increase and death to come sooner. We see the mother's prayers addressed to her sons, but not that someone would survive, but that everyone would inherit a pious death. 55. Sed nec filii minores tali parente, qui se inuicem cohortabantur, qui dicebant uno studio et quadam animorum acie: “Mortis aduersae impetum proteramus. Tunc enim uiuemus, cum fuerimus mortui. Nemo pietatis ordinem derelinquat, nemo se subtrahat proelio triumphali. Non homini, sed omnipotenti deo nostras animas deuouimus, non homini, sed auctori omnium militamus. Talis haec pugna est, ut ille gloriosius uicerit, qui crudelius fuerit occisus.” Itaque nemo timuit, nemo trepidauit, nullus ex tot fratribus ad mortem pigrior fuit, sed omnes tamquam ad inmortalitatis uiam ita ad mortem per acerba supplicia cucurrerunt. Et 214 mater consona cernens filiorum agmina tamquam pia anima sui membra corporis in filiis offerebat et per artus proprios uidebatur sibi uotiua subire tormenta. 55. But the sons were also worthy of such a parent, when they encouraged each other and said in a single aspiration and in a unanimous impulse: “Let us overcome the fury of impending death! Then we will find life when we die. Let no one abandon the system of piety and refuse the victorious battle 215! We do not sacrifice our souls to man, but to Almighty God: we are not in the service of man, but of the Creator of all. In such a battle he will win the more glorious victory who will meet the more cruel death.” And none of them was afraid, no one flinched, none of the seven brothers delayed towards death, but, as on the path of immortality, they all hurried through severe torment to death. The mother, looking at the consenting host of sons, with a loving soul, seemed to substitute members of her body in her sons, and it seemed to her that her own body was being subjected to the desired torture. 56. Cadebant filii tormentis exulcerati, mortui super mortuos aduo luebantur, corpora super corpora uolutabantur, capita super capita exsecabantur. Refertus erat locus cadaueribus filiorum, non fleuit mater, non lamentata est, non oculos cuiusquam pressit aut ora morientis, non lauit uulnera sciens gloriosiores esse, si euiscerati et concreti pariter puluere et sanguine uiderentur, quales solent de bello redire uictores, quales solent tropaea ex hostibus reportare. Non superiacienda uelamina, non prosequendas exsequias nisi suae quoque comitatu mortis arbitrata est. Quae cithara dulciores ederet cantus quam morientes filii in tam grauibus suppliciis ediderant? Erumpebat enim naturae gemitus et inuitis. Et spectares per ordinem peremptorum cadauera sicut fila cordarum. Audires eptachordum psalterium triumphalibus gemitibus resultare. Non sic inlecebrosi illi, ut aiunt, cantus Sirenum traherent audientem; illi enim ad naufragium trahebant, isti ad sacrificii uictoriam. Nec sic cycnea carmina aures animumque mulcerent, cycni enim naturae sorte moriuntur, isti moriebantur amore pietatis. Non sic rauca resonant secreto in nemore columbarum murmura, ut ultima uerba morientum cum summa suauitate resonant. Nec sic luna inter stellas refulget, ut inter filios mater et cum eos ad martyrium inluminatura deduceret refulgebat et cum amplexa uictores iaceret in media filiorum. 56. Sons wounded by torture died, the dead fell on the dead, bodies on bodies, severed heads rolled onto heads. The place was filled with the dead bodies of sons, but the mother did not cry, did not complain, did not close the eyes and lips of the dying, did not wash the wounds, knowing that her children would be more glorious if they found themselves tormented and stained with sticky blood and dust; This is how victors usually return from war, these are the men who gain victory from their enemies. She considered it unnecessary to cover their bodies and organize funeral processions; it was enough to accompany them with her own death. What cithara makes sweeter songs than dying sons from afar in such severe torment? For the groan of nature broke out, although they did not want it. One could see the bodies of the tortured one after another like strings of strings and hear the sound of a seven-string psalter in the triumphant groans. Those alluring, as they say, songs of the sirens hardly attracted the listener: they attracted to shipwreck, and these - to the victory of sacrifice. Swan songs 216 hardly delighted the ears and soul so much - after all, swans die according to the lot of nature, and these died for the love of piety. The cooing of doves can hardly be heard in the mysterious grove as the last words of the dying sounded with great sweetness. And the moon does not shine between the stars like a mother does between her sons: she shone both when, wanting to illuminate with light, she led them to martyrdom, and when, having embraced the victors, she lay among her sons. 57. O uera mater adamante fortior, melle dulcior, flore fraglantior! O indissolubile pietatis uinculum! O uere ualida caritas sicut mors, durus sicut inferi zelus deuotionis ac fidei! Nulla tantarum diluuia passionum tuam potuerunt caritatem excludere, nulla undare eam flumina tantarum acerbitatum. Sicut arca in illo mundi diluuio totius orbis spatiis innocua ferebatur, ita et tu aduersus fluctum tam grauium passionum pietate immobilis restitisti et, cum posses salutem filiorum eligere, noluisti. 57. O true mother - stronger than adamant, sweeter than honey, more fragrant than flowers! O unbroken chain of piety! Truly love is strong as death, fierce as hell, jealousy (Song.8:6) according to piety and faith! No flood of waters of such great suffering could hinder your love, and no rivers of bitterness could drown it 217. Just as the ark was carried unharmed during the flood, so you stood unshakably in piety against the waves of such severe suffering, and even when you could have chosen to save your sons, you did not want to. 58. Quo affectu prosequar uos, sanctae matris pia pignora? Quo penicillo sermonis mei describam formae uestrae et animarum similitudinem? Stetistis inter exercitus regios, quibus totus fuit orbis terrarum subactus, quos India quoque in extremi maris secreta refugiens non 218 declinauit, et soli de rege superbo sine bellico conflictu uictoriam reportastis. Vicerunt in uobis sola arma pietatis; Dedit poenas tyrannus et quia uos non potuit uincere et quia atroci peremptus est morte. 58. With what feeling will I follow you, pious children of the holy mother? What words can I use to describe your similarity and your unanimity? You withstood the royal torment to which the whole world was subjected, which even India, located in the remote places of the extreme sea, did not escape. Only with the weapon of piety did you win; and the cruel king suffered punishment, because he could not defeat you, and he himself was killed by a painful death. Palanque J.-R. Saint Ambroise et l'Empire romain: Contribution à l'histoire des rapports de l'Église et de l'État à la fin du IV siècle. P., 1933. P. 154–156, 514–515. According to a detailed study by P. Courcelle, this turning point dates back to 386 (see: Courcelle P. Rechcrches sur les “Confessions” de saint Augustin. P., 1968. P. 122–132). See: Nauroy G. Introduction // Ambroise de Milan. Jacob et la vie heureuse. R, 2010. R 12. (Hereinafter referred to as Nauroy.) See: Lubac N. de. Exégèse médiévale. Les quatre sens de I'Écriture. 1/1. P., 1959. P. 213, n. 2, 3. See: Savon H. Saint Ambroise devant l’exégèse de Philon le Juif. T. 1–2. P, 1977. P. 64. See: Nauroy G. Ambroise de Milan. Écriture et esthétique d'ue exégèse pastorale. Bern e. al.: Peter Lang, 2003. P. 393. In the extensive exegetical work of Saint Ambrose, one can indeed find places where the saint speaks of a tripartite division of meanings, especially where he takes Origen’s interpretation as a model of interpretation (for example, in the interpretations of the psalms and the Song of Songs: expl. ps. 36, 1 or Isaac 20–27). But more often the saint still speaks about the theory of two meanings of Scripture, for example: expl. ps. 1, 42; exp. ps. 118, prol., 1; 1.9; 16.20; loseph 13. 76, etc. See: Pizzolato L. F. La dottrina esegetica di sant’Ambrogio. Milano, 1978. (Studia Patristica Mediolanensia; 9). P. 224. Pisolato refers to the following passages, which, in his opinion, speak of the tripartite hermeneutic of St. Ambrose: expl. ps. 38, 12; epist. 2, 7; 36, 3; No. 15.52. Nauroy G. Ambroise de Milan. Écriture et esthétique d'une exégèse pastorale. P. 393. For more details, see: Theodorit (Tikhonov), Herod. Sources and methods of exegesis of St. Ambrose of Milan: Diss. Ph.D. theology. Sergiev Posad, 2010. pp. 58–82. See: Iustinus Martyr, dial. 134.3; Irenaeus Lugdunensis, haer. 4. 21. 3. Origenes, hom. in Gen. 10.5. See: Philo Iudaeus, agric. 42; fug. ct inu. 44; Quis rerum 43–44. See: Isaac 1. 1; 4.18; epist. 14 (63M), 100; off. 1. 21. 90–91; Ioseph 13.78; expl. ps. 38, 9. 1. Philo Iudaeus, plant. 40: Origenes, hom. in Gen. 10. 2. We find the same interpretation in Blzh. Jerome: interpr. hebr. nom. 8. 7; 9.25. For more details see: Nauroy R. 119–183. J. Norois showed this perfectly using the example of Gen. 24.63. See: Nauroy G. Ambroise de Milan. Écriturc et esthétique d'une exégèse pastorale. P. 388–390. Notes to the Latin and Russian texts were compiled by the editor. When compiling the notes, the edition used was Sancti Ambrosii episcopi Mediolanensis. De Iacob et vita beata / Introd., trad., not. e indici R. Palla // Sant’Ambrogio. Opere esegetisehe III: Isacco o l'anima. Il bene della morte. Giaeobbe c la vita beata. Giuseppe. Milano: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Roma: Città Nuova, 1982, pp. 215–333. bonus R 1 : boni A 1 D bonis cett. codd. non dominus Schenkl: dominus Nauroy. The idea that reason is the judge in matters of good and evil was already expressed by Seneca (epist. 66.35: ratio ergo arbitra bonorum ac malorum). lacunam indicauit Schenkl. alicui coni. Nauroy. animi coni. Schenkl. The publisher of 1897 (CSEL; 32/2) K. Schenkl believed that there was a gap in this place in the Latin text, and proposed in the apparatus to the text the reading recta ratio (“correct reasoning”), since from the further text it can be assumed that the subject is ratio. J. Norois introduced this Schenkl conjecture into the text of his publication (Nauroy. R. 350). adsumimus codd. : adsumemus Schenkl. Logos (Verbum) is here understood as the mind that restrains the senses. Researchers find that the word usage of the Book of Maccabees, written in Greek, influenced St. Ambrose, see for more details: Palla. R. 229, paragraph 2. 4; r. 231, paragraphs 6–9. Cicero calls pleasure the “first impulse,” and suffering (dolor, lit. pain) the first rejection (fin. 5. 6. 17–19). A person strives either to receive pleasure or to avoid pain. Virgilius. Aen. 6. 853: parcerc subiectis et debellare superbos. in utram quamlibet corr. Nauroy: utramquelibet codd. , utramlibet corr. Schenkl. inseruntur Nauroy: inferuntur Schenkl. elegit Nauroy: elegit Schenkl. arma sunt et arma iustitiae Nauroy: arma sunt iniustitiae (iniquitatis Maurini) et arma iustitiae Schenkl. The first part of this paragraph is included in the Decretum Gratiani (10. XV. 1), from where it was transferred to the Code of Canon Law, introduced by Pope Benedict XV in 1917 (see: Palla. R. 241, paragraph 23). About other passages from the writings of St. Ambrose, included in the Code of 1917, see: Metz R. Saint Ambroise et le Code de droit canonique de 1917 // Ambrosius Episcopus. Atti dei Congesso... Vol. 2. P. 94–121. Libertus is a freedman, i.e. a freed slave, his relationship to his former master, patron, was determined by law (ius patronatus): the freedman had to show respect to the patron, who was his legal heir, as well as his legal representative, often a guardian (see: Bartoszek M. Roman Law: Concepts, Terms, Definitions. M., 1989). St. Ambrose uses the terms of Roman law: manumissor - manumission of a slave, patron; obsequium - the duty of a freedman to honor the patron, the violator became ingratus, ungrateful, and according to the law he could be returned to slavery (see: Bartoshek M. Roman Law. M., 1989). See: Rom.6:5–8; Col. 2:20 . Quia non colorauit Schenkl : non colorauit Nauroy See: Col.2:14. Chirographum (Greek) – lit. handwritten note (cf. Church Slavic “handwriting”), a promissory note concluded without witnesses. See: Ioseph 4.19. See: Gal.2:16, 3:11; Rom.3:20, 28 qui... noxium QBTR 2 , Maurini, Nauroy : quia... innoxium cett. codd., Schenkl. In some manuscripts there is noxium (guilty, worthy of punishment, criminal), in others - innoxium (innocent, innocent). The translator relied on the publication of J. Norois. Perhaps “criminal” means a prudent thief (see: Luke 23:43). Nexum is the oldest form of loan; in case of failure to pay on time, the plebeian debtor was deprived of personal freedom, the creditor could even kill him. This type of loan fell out of use at the end of the 3rd century. BC e. Sailing on a ship as a metaphor for life's journey is found in European literature starting with Alcaeus. Images of a shipwreck, storm, harbor develop this metaphor (see: Nazzaro A. V. Simbologia e poesia dell'acqua e del mare in Ambrogio di Milano. Napoli, 1977). About the haven of peace (portus tranquillitatis, p. quietis) St. Ambrose also mentions it in his other works, see: pair. 5.27; exc. fr. 2.22: bon. mori. 4. 15.8. 31. Translation given from: Psalter of David the Prophet and Tsar (in Church Slavonic with parallel translation into Russian). M., 2003. Wed: Cicero, rep. I. 22 (about the movements of the planets). R. Palla in his comments (Palla. R. 255, p. 35), referring to R. Joanni (Johanny R. L’Eucharistie center de l’histoire du salut chez Saint Ambrose de Milan. P. 143), points to the following place in the treatise “On Faith”: Non divinitas crusifixa, sed caro est (fid. 1. 15. 95), which helps to better understand thought of St. Ambrose, see also: fid. 1. 17. 109: Ioseph 3. 15. See: Col. 2:9, also: Isaac 8. 78. Here: the parental love of God the Father towards man. See: Rivière J. Le sacrifice du Père dans la rédemption d'après Saint Ambroise // Revue des sciences religieuses, 1939. XIX. P. 1–16. Also: Szabó F. Le Christ createur chez Saint Ambroise. Roma, 1968. See above about Christ as the Mediator of our salvation (6. 21–22). mulceat Nauroy : mulcet Schenkl. si Nauroy, etiamsi Schenkl. Wed. with the ideal of the Stoic sage in Cicero (tusc. 3. 15–18). Perfectio - lit. perfection. praestantiae Nauroy, praesentiae Schenkl. Palm branches were awarded to the winner of the competition. ueri boni Nauroy, ueri et boni Schenkl. The point is that true judgment can only be pronounced by the Judge on the Day of Judgment. The words of King Hezekiah, when he heard from the prophet Isaiah about the impending captivity of his children. See: Jer.44 et seq.; Book of the Prophet Daniel; Drive 7 et seq. The image of fortis athleta is often found in the writings of St. Ambrose: uirgt. 106, off. 1. 48. 238, exp. ps. 118. 10. 34, exp. Luc. 4. 39, expl. ps. 36, 52, paenit. 1.4. 19, obit. Th. 23, sacr. I. 2. 4 (Courcellep. Recherches sur les “Confessions” de saint Augustin. P. 340). sociumque uirtutum Schenkl: sociumque uirtutum Nauroy. feriatus Nauroy: non feriatus Schenkl. Wed. Plato has a similar description of the broken lyre (Phaed. 86a). meritum codd., Nauroy: meritorum Schenkl. By secret we mean the prophecy that the Lord gave to Rebekah, see: Gen. 25:22–23. Publico parenti – the father of both the Jewish people (Esau) and the Christian people (Jacob). Populo - such food is appropriate for the Christian people, whose prototype was Jacob. Rebecca, the image of the Church, gives Jacob the clothing of Esau, that is, the clothing of the Old Testament. This is how early Christian authors interpreted these Old Testament characters, in particular, St. Hippolytus of Rome, Origen, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian (see: Palla. R. 281, paragraph 69). Wed: James 2:24; Rom.3:20–30; 4:2–8; Gal.2:16–20. serus est. Qui Nauroy: seruus est qui Schenkl. Wed. description of the sage by Cicero (tusс. 5.48). See: Rom.9:27; Isa.10:22. minitabatur Nauroy: minitabat Schenkl. St. Ambrose interprets the name Rebekah as “patience”, see: Isaac 1. 1. That is, a system or set of moral rules. magisterio Nayroy: ministerio Schenkl. The styrax tree that produces the fragrant resin is probably silver poplar. See: Numbers 17:8. Palla points to Origen's interpretation that Aaron's rod represents the tree of Christ, that is, the Cross of the Lord (hom in Num. 9. 7) (Palla. P. 290–291, n. 78). That is, disagreements with brother Esau. – Note. lane See: Gen.28:18. It is further said that Jacob “called the name of the place Bethel,” “the house of God.” St. speaks in more detail about the search for Laban. Ambrose in fug. 4.22–5. 25. The indication of reading indicates that the text was intended for preaching in the church. Compare: Vergilius, georg. 2. 507: Condit opes alius defossoque incubat auro. This etymology is also found in fug. 5.26, it goes back to Philo (agric. 42; fug. et inu. 44) (Palla. P. 295, n. 83). This interpretation of the two marriages of Jacob was well-established among ancient Christian authors, cf. in Justin the Philosopher (dial. 134.3). Translated from Hebrew, the name Rachel means “ewe with lambs.” But in epist. 4 (M 27) St. Ambrose interprets the name Rachel as “a strong wind” (aspiratio fortis). See: Gen.31:34. Wed: fug. 5.27. This description is similar to Virgil's, georg. 2.212: Ieiuna... glarea; Aen. 4. 366: ...duris genuit te cautibus horrens / Caucasus. The metaphor of life as sailing on a stormy sea is repeated again, see: 1. 6. 24, 2. 8. 36; bon. mort. 4.15, 8.31. oritur Nauroy: oriatur Schenkl. Eating veins means recognizing the cross of Christ. – Note. lane See: note. to Isaac 1.1. St. Ambrose mistakenly identifies the city of Bethel with the city of Bethlehem. The house of bread is Bethlehem, the house of God is Bethel. The LXX text in this passage differs from the text of St. Ambrose. See: Gen.35:4. The Synodal Translation states that he was buried under an oak tree. See: Rom.6:6: knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him. St. Ambrose combines two lines into one, see Synodal translation (=LXX): For honest old age is not measured in longevity and is not measured by the number of years: wisdom is gray hair for people, and blameless life is the age of old age. Post audierit lacunam significauit Schenkl. See: Vergilius, Aen 5. 754; 11.386. In perpetuum conveys the Greek. εις τέλος, denoting the completion of the terms established by God, the fulfillment of times. See: Isaac 6.52 and note. The doctrine of the body as a prison for the soul was studied in detail by P. Courcelle, see: Courcelle R. Connais-toi toi-même, de Socrate à Saint Bernard. P. 345–380. That is, the scribes, Levites and high priests, also see: patr. 3. See: Vergilius, Aen. 6. 646: obloquitur numeris septem discrimina uocum. The blessing to Patriarch Judah is described in more detail in Ioseph (3.13). Perhaps we are talking about how David, with his play, drove away the evil spirit that tormented him from King Saul, see: 1 Samuel 16:23. The quotation of Genesis 49:22 in this treatise is somewhat different from the quotation of the same place in the treatise “About Joseph” (3.13). Perhaps this is one example of the saint’s independent translation of the Septuagint text. St. Ambrose here briefly speaks about Patriarch Joseph, to whom the next treatise in the collection is dedicated. The saint especially emphasizes that Joseph prefigured the Savior (he was sold by his brothers, lived in Egypt, the innocent suffered reproach, but was exalted above all and saved his family from death). See prophecies about the tribe of Naphtali: Is.9:1 et seq.; Matthew 4:12–17. See: Mark 16:19; Heb.1:3; 8:1; 12:2; Eph.1:20; Col. 3:1, etc. In the story of the death of the prophet Isaiah, St. Ambrose relies on oral tradition. In the passage about the persecution of God's prophets in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is said that the prophets were stoned, sawn apart, tortured, and killed by the sword (Heb. 11:37). See: Dan.14:30–39 about the prophet Habakkuk, whom an angel carried from Judea to Babylon. J. Norois points out that some manuscripts before this phrase contain the inscription: Incipit tractatus pulcherrimus sancti Ambrosii episcopus (sic!) de gloriosa passione Machabeorum et de sancto Eleazaro sacerdote eorum optimo magistro et duce (Nauroy. P. 468, not.). ridebitur Nauroy : ridebis Schenkl . Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Syrian king 175–164. BC e., captured Judea, desecrated the temple in Jerusalem. The story of the Syrian invasion and the uprising for independence, which was led by the five sons of the Maccabees, is told in the First Book of Maccabees. The second book is a summary of the historical work of Jason of Cyrene. The seven brothers that St. tells about. Ambrose, are not Maccabees, but are called metonymically, after the title of the book. In Eleazar's speech, four virtues are repeated: abstinentia, fortitudo, iustitia, prudentia, about which St. Ambrose speaks in several of his treatises (Isaac 6.65; bon. mort. 10.44; Ioseph 13.75) and which go back to ancient philosophy, although the direct source of the saint may have been Cicero and his treatises “Tusculan Discourses”, “On the Limits of Good and Evil”. remigio seruare integram in tantis fluctibus passionem Schenkl. See: Ezek.1:15–20. See commentary by St. Ambrose to these words of the prophet Ezekiel in uirgt. 18.118. An expression often used by ancient authors: Vergilius, Aen. 1.98; Seneca, Phoenix. 142–143; Lucan, 5.263. Compare: Gen.1:31. Palla points to 4 Mac. 14:7–8, where the seven sons are compared to the seven days of creation (see: Palla. R. 327, paragraph 133). Seven days are seven days of creation. The eighth day is the day of the next century, when the second coming of the Lord will take place. et R 2 , Maurini, Schenkl : at coni. Nauroy, ut cett. codd. St. Ambrose uses military terms: acies, impetus, ordo, proelium triumphale, militare, pugna, agmen, likening spiritual battle to military battle. Socrates talks about the beautiful song that swans sing when they sense the approach of death. Socrates says that the swans sing for joy, “that they will soon go to God” (Phaedo 85b, trans. S. P. Markish). non declinauit R, Maurini, Nauroy : declinauit cett, codd., Schenkl. You might be interested in: