The ascension of Christ. Matthias is chosen in place of Judas.
Christ novv ready to ascend, biddeth the Apostles to expect the Holy Ghost vvhich he had promised. foretelling vvhere (being strengthened by him) they should begin his Church, and hovv far they should cary it. 9 After his Ascension they are vvarned by tvvo Angels to set their mindes vpon his second comming. 14 In the daies of their expectation, 15 Peter beginneth to execute his vicarship, giuing instruction and order, by vvhich Mathias is elected Apostle in the place of Iudas.
1The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach,Io ho parlato in primo luogo, o Teofilo, di tutto quello, che principiò Gesù a fare, e ad insegnare.THE first treatise I made of al things, O Theophilus, vvhich IESVS began to doe and to teache,Primum quidem sermonem feci de omnibus, o Theophile, quæ cœpit Jesus facere et docere 2Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up.Sino a quel giorno, in cui dati per mezzo dello Spirito santo i suoi ordini agli Apostoli, che aveva eletti, fu assunto:vntil the day vvherein giuing commaundement by the holy Ghost to the Apostles vvhom he chose, he vvas assumpted:usque in diem qua præcipiens Apostolis per Spiritum Sanctum, quos elegit, assumptus est: 3To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God.A' quali ancora si diede a veder vivo dopo la sua passione con molte riprove, apparendo ad essi per quaranta giorni, e parlando del regno di Dio.to vvhō he shevved also him self aliue after his passion in many arguments, for fourtie daies appearing to them, & speaking of the kingdom of God.quibus et præbuit seipsum vivum post passionem suam in multis argumentis, per dies quadraginta apparens eis, et loquens de regno Dei. 4And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth.Ed essendo insieme a mensa, comandò loro di non allontanarsi da Gerusalemme, ma di aspettare la promessa del Padre, la quale (disse) avete udita dalla mia bocca:And eating vvith them, he commaunded them, that they should not depart from Hierusalem, but should expect the promisse of the Father, vvhich you haue heard (saith he) by my mouth:Et convescens, præcepit eis ab Jerosolymis ne discederent, sed exspectarent promissionem Patris, quam audistis (inquit) per os meum: 5For John indeed baptized with water: but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence.Imperocché Giovanni battezzò bensì di acqua, ma voi sarete battezzati nello Spirito santo di qui a non molti giorni.for Iohn in deede baptized vvith vvater, but you shal be baptized vvith the holy Ghost after these fevv daies. •quia Joannes quidem baptizavit aqua, vos autem baptizabimini Spiritu Sancto non post multos hos dies. 6They therefore who were come together, asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?Ma quegli unitisi insieme gli domandavano dicendo: Signore, renderai tu adesso il regno ad Israele?They therfore that vvere assembled, asked him, saying, Lord, whether at this time vvilt thou restore the kingdom to Israel?Igitur qui convenerant, interrogabant eum, dicentes: Domine, si in tempore hoc restitues regnum Israël ?
7But he said to them: It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power:Egli però disse loro: Non si appartiene a voi di sapere i tempi, e i momenti, i quali il Padre ha ritenuti in poter suo:but he said to them, It is not for you to knovv times or moments, vvhich the Father hath put in his ovvne povver:Dixit autem eis: Non est vestrum nosse tempora vel momenta quæ Pater posuit in sua potestate: 8But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.Ma riceverete la virtù dello Spirito santo, il quale verrà sopra di voi, e sarete a me testimoni e in Gerusalemme, e in tutta la Giudea, e nella Samaria, e sino all'estremità del mondo.but you shal receiue the vertue of the holy Ghost comming vpon you, and you shal be vvitnesses vnto me in Hierusalem, and in al Ievvrie, and Samaria, and euen to the vtmost of the earth.sed accipietis virtutem supervenientis Spiritus Sancti in vos, et eritis mihi testes in Jerusalem, et in omni Judæa, et Samaria, et usque ad ultimum terræ. 9And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight.E detto questo, a vista di essi si alzò in alto: e una nuvola lo tolse agli occhi loro.And vvhen he had said these things, in their sight he vvas eleuated: and a cloud receiued him out of their sight.Et cum hæc dixisset, videntibus illis, elevatus est: et nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum. 10And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments.E in quello che stavano fissamente mirando lui, che saliva al cielo, ecco che due personaggi in bianche vesti si appressarono ad essi.And vvhen they beheld him going into heauen, behold tvvo men stoode beside them in vvhite garments,Cumque intuerentur in cælum euntem illum, ecce duo viri astiterunt juxta illos in vestibus albis, 11Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven.I quali anche dissero: Uomini di Galilea, perché state mirando verso del cielo? Quel Gesù, il quale tolto a voi è stato assunto al cielo, così verrà, come lo avete veduto andare al cielo.vvho also said, Ye men of Galilee, vvhy stand you looking into heauen? This IESVS vvhich is assumpted from you into heauen, shal so come as you haue seen him going into heauen.qui et dixerunt: Viri Galilæi, quid statis aspicientes in cælum ? Hic Jesus, qui assumptus est a vobis in cælum, sic veniet quemadmodum vidistis eum euntem in cælum.
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount that is called Olivet, which is nigh Jerusalem, within a sabbath day’s journey.Allora ritornarono a Gerusalemme dal monte, che dicesi dell'Uliveto, il quale è vicino a Gerusalemme, quant'è il viaggio d'un giorno di sabato.Then they returned to Hierusalem from the mount that is called Oliuet, vvhich is by Hierusalem, distant a Sabboths iourney.Tunc reversi sunt Jerosolymam a monte qui vocatur Oliveti, qui est juxta Jerusalem, sabbati habens iter. 13And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus and Simon Zelotes and Jude the brother of James.E giunti ch'ei furono, salirono al cenacolo (in cui alloggiavano) Pietro, e Giacomo, e Giovanni, e Andrea, Filippo, e Tommaso, Bartolommeo, e Matteo, Giacomo figliuolo di Alfeo, e Simone Zelote, e Giuda fratello di Giacomo.And vvhen they vvere entred in, they vvent vp into an vpper chamber, vvhere abode Peter & Iohn, Iames and Andrevv, Philippe and Thomas, Bartholomevv and Mathevv, Iames of Alphaeus and Simon Zelótes, and Iude of Iames.Et cum introissent in cœnaculum, ascenderunt ubi manebant Petrus, et Joannes, Jacobus, et Andreas, Philippus, et Thomas, Bartholomæus, et Matthæus, Jacobus Alphæi, et Simon Zelotes, et Judas Jacobi. 14All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.Tutti questi perseveravano di concordia nell'orazione insieme colle donne, e con Maria Madre di Gesù, e co' fratelli di lui.Al these vvere perseuéring vvith one minde in praier vvith the vvomen and MARIE the mother of IESVS, and his brethren.Hi omnes erant perseverantes unanimiter in oratione cum mulieribus, et Maria matre Jesu, et fratribus ejus. 15In those days Peter rising up in the midst of the brethren, said (now the number of persons together was about an hundred and twenty):E in que' giorni alzatosi Pietro in mezzo ai fratelli (era il numero delle persone adunate di circa cento venti) disse:In those daies Peter rising vp in the middes of the brethren, said: (and the multitude of persons together, vvas almost an hundred and tvventie)In diebus illis, exsurgens Petrus in medio fratrum, dixit (erat autem turba hominum simul, fere centum viginti): 16Men, brethren, the scripture must needs be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus:Fratelli, fa di mestieri, che si riduca ad effetto quel, che fu scritto, e predetto dallo Spirito santo per bocca di Davidde intorno a Giuda, il quale fu il caporione di coloro, che catturarono Gesù:You men, brethren, the scripture must be fulfilled vvhich the holy Ghost spake before by the mouth of Dauid concerning Iudas, vvho vvas the captaine of them that apprehended IESVS:Viri fratres, oportet impleri Scripturam quam prædixit Spiritus Sanctus per os David de Juda, qui fuit dux eorum qui comprehenderunt Jesum:
17Who was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.Egli, che fu annoverato tra noi, ed ebbe in sorte questo stesso ministero.vvho vvas numbred among vs and obteined the lot of this ministerie.qui connumeratus erat in nobis, et sortitus est sortem ministerii hujus. 18And he indeed hath possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and being hanged, burst asunder in the midst: and all his bowels gushed out.Quegli adunque acquistò un campo per ricompensa dell'iniquità, e appiccatosi crepò pel mezzo: e si sparsero tutte le sue viscere.And he in deede hath possessed a field of the revvard of iniquitie, and being hanged he burst in the middes, and al his bovvels gushed out.Et hic quidem possedit agrum de mercede iniquitatis, et suspensus crepuit medius: et diffusa sunt omnia viscera ejus. 19And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so that the same field was called in their tongue, Haceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.E la cosa si è risaputa da tutti quanti gli abitatori di Gerusalemme per modo, che quel campo è venuto a chiamarsi nel loro linguaggio Haceldama, cioè Campo del sangue.And it vvas made notorious to al the inhabitants of Hierusalem: so that the same field vvas called in their tonge, Hacel-dema, that is to say, the field of bloud.Et notum factum est omnibus habitantibus Jerusalem, ita ut appellaretur ager ille, lingua eorum, Haceldama, hoc est, ager sanguinis. 20For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let their habitation become desolate, and let there be none to dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take.Ora sta scritto nel libro de' Salmi: Diventi la loro abitazione un deserto, né siavi chi abiti in essa: e l'ufficio di lui lo abbia un altro.For it is vvritten in the booke of Psalmes. Be their habitation made desert, and be there none to dvvel in it. And his Bishoprike let another take.Scriptum est enim in libro Psalmorum: Fiat commoratio eorum deserta, et non sit qui inhabitet in ea: et episcopatum ejus accipiat alter. 21Wherefore of these men who have companied with us, all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us,Bisogna adunque, che di questi uomini, i quali sono stati uniti con noi per tutto quel tempo, in cui fe' sua dimora tra noi il Signore Gesù,Therfore, of these men that haue assembled vvith vs, al the time that our Lord IESVS vvent in and vvent out among vs,Oportet ergo ex his viris qui nobiscum sunt congregati in omni tempore quo intravit et exivit inter nos Dominus Jesus, 22Beginning from the baptism of John, until the day wherein he was taken up from us, one of these must be made a witness with us of his resurrection.Cominciando dal battesimo di Giovanni sino al giorno, in cui tolto a noi fu assunto, uno di questi sia costituito testimone con noi della risurrezione di lui.beginning from the baptisme of Iohn vntil the day vvherein he vvas assumpted from vs, there must one of these be made a vvitnes vvith vs of his resurrection.incipiens a baptismate Joannis usque in diem qua assumptus est a nobis, testem resurrectionis ejus nobiscum fieri unum ex istis.
23And they appointed two, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.E ne nominarono due, Giuseppe detto Barsaba soprannominato il Giusto, e Mattia.And they appointed tvvo, Ioseph, vvho vvas called Barsabas, vvho vvas surnamed Iustus: and Mathias.Et statuerunt duos, Joseph, qui vocabatur Barsabas, qui cognominatus est Justus, et Mathiam. 24And praying, they said: Thou, Lord, who knowest the heart of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,E fecero orazione, dicendo: Tu, o Signore, che vedi i cuori di tutti, dichiara, quale di questi due abbi elettoAnd praying they said, Thou Lord that knovvest the harts of al men, shevv of these tvvo, one, vvhom thou hast chosen,Et orantes dixerunt: Tu Domine, qui corda nosti omnium, ostende quem elegeris ex his duobus unum, 25To take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas hath by transgression fallen, that he might go to his own place.A ricevere il posto di questo ministero, e Apostolato, da cui traviò Giuda per andare al suo luogo.to take the place of this ministerie and Apostleship, from the vvhich Iudas hath preuaricated that he might goe to his ovvne place.accipere locum ministerii hujus et apostolatus, de quo prævaricatus est Judas ut abiret in locum suum. 26And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.E tirarono a sorte, e toccò la sorte a Mattia, ed egli fu aggregato agli undici Apostoli.And they gaue them lottes, and the lot fel vpon Mathias, and he vvas numbered vvith the eleuen Apostles.Et dederunt sortes eis, et cecidit sors super Mathiam: et annumeratus est cum undecim Apostolis.
1:1
Calmet
St. Luke, who was the author of this history, alludes, in this verse, to his gospel, which he calls his first discourse. In that he informs us, not only of the actions, but also the doctrines of our Saviour. These words, to do and to teach, are the abridgment of the whole gospel: here he gives us the Acts of the Apostles, that is, an history of their travels and preaching. In the beginning of this work he speaks of all the apostles, and what they did before their dispersion. As soon as he comes to the mention of St. Paul, he takes notice of no one else, but is entirely taken up with the narrative of his actions. He addresses his book to Theophilus, which signifies a friend of God, or one who loves God, as if he intended to dedicate it to all the faithful, who believed in, and loved God. But it is more probable that this was some distinct person, well known to St. Luke, and illustrious for his birth, because he gave him the title of kratiste, most excellent. [Luke 1:3.] (Calmet)
1:2
about the year A.D. 33.
Witham
Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up. As the Scripture was written without distinction of verses, and without any stops, or commas, which were added afterwards) the construction, and joining of the words in this verse, is ambiguous. The question is, with what part of the verse these words, by the Holy Ghost, are to be joined. The sense might be, 1. that he was taken up by the Holy Ghost: but this is generally rejected. 2. That he gave his commandments by the Holy Ghost to his apostles; that is, says St. Chrysostom, that he gave them spiritual commands, that came from the Holy Ghost, or from his holy Spirit. 3. The most probable exposition seems to be, that he gave his special commandments to his apostles, or to those whom he chose to be his apostles, by the Holy Ghost, or by his holy and divine spirit. (Witham)
1:3
St. Chrysostom
Appearing, etc. Why did he not appear to all, but only to his disciples? Because to many of them, who did not know the mystery, he would have seemed a phantom. For if the disciples themselves were diffident, and terrified, and required to touch him with their hands, how would others have been affected? But we know from their miracles, the truth of the resurrection, which is made evident to all succeeding generations. Perhaps the apostles did not perform miracles. How then was the world converted? This is a fact which cannot be denied, and that it should have been brought about by twelve poor illiterate fishermen, without miracles, would be the greatest of all miracles, far beyond the reach of all human means. (St. Chrysostom, hom. 1:chap. 1. on Acts.)
Estius
"And speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God," as we read in the Greek, and in the Protestant version, that is, pertaining to the Church, which is the kingdom of God, ta peri tes basileias tou theou, which plainly makes for unwritten tradition. (Estius)
1:4
Witham
And eating with them.[Ver. 4. sunalizomenos, A salis et mensae communione. Some copies sunaulizomenos.] This is a literal translation from the vulgar Latin. But the Protestant translation from some Greek copies, would have it, And being assembled together, he commanded them, etc. Mr. Bois defends the Latin Vulgate and even by the authority of St. Chrysostom who doubtless understood the Greek text, as well as any one, and who takes the Greek word here to signify eating: for he observes that the apostles elsewhere prove Christ's resurrection by his eating and drinking with them. (Acts 10:4.[41.?]) St. Jerome also says, the derivation of the Greek word, is from eating salt together. (Witham)
1:5
Witham
Baptized with the Holy Ghost, that is, cleansed, and sanctified by the plentiful graces he shall pour upon you. (Witham)
1:6
Witham
Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? Some of them, as St. Chrysostom observes, had still their thoughts upon a temporal kingdom of the Messias. Christ, to divert them from such imaginations, tells them, their business is to be witnesses of his doctrine and miracles, particularly of his resurrection, even unto the utmost bounds of the earth, to all the nations of the world. (Witham)
1:9
Witham
He was raised up. Raised himself up, and ascended, etc. (Witham)
1:10
Witham
Behold two men, that is, two angels, stood by them in white apparel. (Witham)
1:11
Witham
So shall he come, as you have seen him going. This word going, says St. Chrysostom, sufficiently intimates, that he ascended by his own power: for so will he come by his own power to judge the world. (Witham)
St. Jerome
Jesus Christ shall come on the last day, in the same body, in the same majesty, to judge the living and the dead. This he had likewise promised, in more than one place of the gospel, speaking of the vengeance, which he will exercise on the city of Jerusalem. St. Jerome, St. Hilary, and many other ancients, have believed that the Son of God will appear again on Mount Olivet, and that all people shall be assembled to judgment. (St. Jerome, super Joel 3:2.; St. Hilary, super Matthew 24:32.)
And that same body, which thus ascended to heaven, and which will thus descend, is given us in the blessed Sacrament. "O miracle! exclaims St. Chrysostom, He that sitteth with his Father above, is at the same time handled by men below. Jesus Christ ascending to heaven, both hath his flesh with him above, and hath left it with us below. Elias being taken up, left his disciple, Eliseus, his mantle and double spirit, but the Son of Man ascending, left his own flesh for us." (Lib. 3:de Sacerd. hom. 2. ad pop. Ant. hom. de divit. et paup.)
Calmet
Sulpicius Severus, and St. Paulinus, assure us, that the marks of the feet of our Saviour were imprinted in the place off which he rose to heaven; and St. Augustine informs us, that many in his time went to Judea, to venerate these sacred marks. Ven. Bede testifies the same in the eighth age [i.e. in the 8th century]. In the time of Constantine the great, the empress Helen built a church on the place. (Calmet)
1:12
Calmet
Sabbath-day's journey. It cannot now be precisely determined what this distance was, but it is most probable, that it was about a mile. On particular occasions, it perhaps was allowed to exceed a little. (Calmet)
1:13
Witham
Into an upper room, to be more retired in prayer. There they were persevering with one mind in prayer. These few words denote to us three dispositions to receive the Holy Ghost. 1. Prayer. 2. Perseverance in it. 3. To be of one mind, perfectly united in charity, and the love of one another. (Witham)
This is the last mention that is made in Scripture of the blessed Virgin Mary. She lived the rest of her time with the Christians (as here she is particularly named and noted amongst them) and especially with St. John, the apostle, to whom our Lord recommended her. (St. John xix 26. 27.) She undoubtedly communicated to the evangelists many circumstances relative to the actions, words, and mysteries of her divine Son.
1:15
Witham
Peter, rising up, etc. Peter, says St. Chrysostom[Ver. 15. St. Chrysostom, om.g. tou chorou protos, etc.] on this place, who was prince, or chief of the apostolical college, who had authority over them all, who by his place and dignity, might, without them, have chosen, and appointed a new apostle to succeed Judas, (Christ having said to him, confirm thy brethren,) etc. yet he consults them. (Witham)
Here Peter acts and ordains in virtue of his supremacy, and the other apostles agree to his appointment.
1:18
Witham
Possessed a field. Judas is here said to have done, what was done by others, with the thirty pieces of money, the reward of his iniquity. And being hanged, that is, as St. Matthew says, (chap. 27:5.) having hanged himself, he burst asunder. The Greek has it, falling headlong,[Ver. 18. Suspensus crepuit medius, prenes genomenos.] as perhaps he did, by the judgment of God, from the place or tree where he hanged himself. (Witham)
Menochius
Judas did not possess the potter's field, but he furnished the price to buy it, giving back the thirty pieces of silver. (Menochius)
Calmet
We often say in common, that we have done what happens in consequence of any action of ours, though it was not in our first intention. (Calmet)
1:20
Witham
His bishoprick. The words were prophetically spoken in the Psalms, of the traitor Judas. (Witham)
Estius
Let their habitation. In some manuscript copies, in both Greek and Syriac, we read his. In the Psalms, the text was written against the Jews, the persecutors of Christ in general; but in this place, Peter applies it to Judas in particular. (Estius, in a different place.)
1:21
Witham
Came in, and went out among us. That is, conversed with us. (Witham)
1:25
Witham
To his own place of perdition, which he brought himself to. (Witham)
1:26
Witham
And he gave them lots, which they might lawfully do, when they knew that both of them were fit, and every way qualified for the office. (Witham)
Haydock
Lots. This method of deciding the election of ministers by lots, is one of those extraordinary methods which was inspired by God; but can seldom or ever be imitated. Where both candidates appeared equally worthy, as in the present case, and human judgment cannot determine which is to be preferred, it cannot be said that it was wrong to decide it by lots. Thus were avoided any of the evil consequences which might have happened by one party being preferred before the other. St. Augustine observes, that in a doubtful case, where neither part is bad, to decide by lots is not in itself wrong. Sors enim non aliquid mali est, sed res est in dubitatione humana divinam indicans voluntatem. (In Psalm xxx.) (Haydock)
1:1
Not al particularly, (for the other Euangelists write diuers thinges not touched by him) but al the principal and most necessarie thinges.
Concordance Lu. 1, 3.
In the liturgy The Epistle •t Masse vpon Ascension day.
1:2
2. Giuing commaundement.] He meaneth the power giuen them to preach to baptize. to remit sinnes, and generally the whole commission and charge of gouernement of the Church after him and in his name, steede, and right. the which Regiment was giuen them together with the Holy Ghost to assist them therein for euer.
1:4
Concordance Iu. 24, 49.
Concordance Io. 14, 26.
1:5
Iohns Baptisme gaue not the Holy Ghost.
The aboundāt powring of the Holy Ghost vpon them on whitsunday, he calleth baptisme.
Concordance Lu. 3, 16.
1:7
7. It is not for you.] The times and moments of things to come pertaine not to vs. It is not for vs, nor needful for the Church, to know the times & moment of the world, the comming of Antichrist, and such other Gods secretes. This is ynough in that case, to be assured that Christs faith shal be preached, and the Church spred through out al Nations, the Holy Ghost concurring continually with the Apostles and their Successors for the same.
Concordance Lu. 24, 49. Act. 2, 1.
1:8
Concordance Mar. 16, 19. Lu. 24, 51.
1:11
11. Assumpted from you.] By this visible Ascending of Christ to heauen and like returne from thence to iudgement, Christ is ascended, and yet really in the B. Sacrament. the Heretikes do incredulously argue, him not to be in the Sacrament. But let the faithful rather giue eare to S. Chrysostome saying thus: O miracle, he that sitteth vvith the Father in heauen aboue, at the very same time is handled of men beneath. Christ ascending to heauen, both hath his flesh vvith him, and left it vvith vs beneath. Eliae• being taken vp, left to his Disciple his cloke only: but the Sonne of man ascending left his ovvne flesh to vs. Li. • de Sacerd. Ho. 2 ad po. Ant. in fine. Ho. de diuit. & paup. in fine.
1:13
This visible companie was the true Churche of Christ, which he left, & commaūded to keepe together til the cō ming of the Holy Ghost by h to be further informed & furnished to gaine al natiōs to the same Societie.
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14. MARIE the mother of IESVS.] Our B. LADY. This is the last mention that is made in holy Scripture, of our B Lady. for though she were ful of al diuine wisedom, and opened (no doubt) vnto the Euangelistes and other writers of holy Scriptures, diuerse of Christs actions, speaches, and mysteries, whereof she had both experimental and reuealed knowledge: Yet for that she was a woman, and the humblest creature liuing, and the paterne of al order and obedience, it pleased not God that there should be any further note of her life, Her life. doings, or death, in the Scriptures. She liued the rest of her time with the Christians (as here she is peculiarly named and noted among them) and specially with S. Iohn the Apostle, Io. 19, 26. 27. to whom our Lord recommended her. Who prouided for her al necessaries, her spouse Ioseph (as it may be thought) being deceased before. The common opinion is that she liued 63 yeres in al. Dionys. ep. ad Timotheum. At the time of her death, Her death. (as S. Denys first, & after him S. Damascene de dormit. Deiparae. writeth.) al the Apostles then dispersed into diuers nations to preache the Gospel, were miraculously brought together (sauing S. Thomas who came the third day after) to Hierusalem, to honour her diuine departure and funeral, as the said S. Denys witnesseth. Who saith that him self, S. Timothee, and S. Hierotheus were present: testifying also of his owne hearing, that both before here death and after for three daies, not onely the Apostles and other holy men present, but the Angels also and Powers of heauen did sing most melodious Hymnes. They buried her sacred body in Gethsémaui, but for S. Thomas sake, who desired to see and to reuerence it, Her ASSVMVTION. they opened the sepulcher the third day, and finding it void of the holy body, but excedingly fragrant, they returned, assuredly deeming that her body was assumpted into heauen, as the Church of God holdeth, being most agreable to the singular priuilege of the mother of God, and therfore celebrateth most solemnely the day of her Assumption. And that is consonant not onely to the said S. Denys, and S. Damascene, but to holy Athanasius also, who auoucheth the same, Serm. in Euang. de Deipara. of which Assumption of her body. S. Bernard also wrote fiue notable sermons extant in his workes.
But neither these holy fathers, The Protestāts haue no feast of her at al, as they haue of other Saincts. nor the Churches tradition and testimonie, do beare any sway now a daies with the Protestants, that haue abolished this her greatest feast of her Assumption. who of reason should at the least celebrate it as the day of her death, as they doe of other Saincts. For though they beleeue not that her body is assumpted, yet they wil not (we trow) deny that she is dead, and her soule in glorie: neither can they aske scriptures for that, no more then they require for the deathes of Peter, Paul, Iohn, and other, vvhich be not mentioned in scriptures & yet are still celebrated by the Protestants. But concerning the B. Virgin MARIE, they haue blotted out also both her Natiuitie, and her Conception: so as it may be thought the Diuel beareth a special malice to this woman whose seede brake his head. For as for the other two daies of her Purification & Aununciation, they be not proper to our Lady, but the one to Christs Conception, the other to his Presentation. so that she by this meanes shal haue no festiuitie at al.
But contrariwise, How the Primitiue Church & auncient fathers honoured our B. Lady. to consider how the auncient Church and fathers esteemed, spake, and wrote of this excellent vessel of grace, may make vs detest these mens impietie, that can not abide the praises of her Lu. 1, 48. whom al generations should call blessed, and that esteeme her honours a derogatiō to her sonne. Some of their speaches we wil set downe, that al men may see, that we neither praise her, nor pray to her, more amply then they did. S. Athanasius in the place alleaged, after he had declared how al the Angelical spirits and euery order of them honoured and praised her with the AVE, S. Athanasius. wherewith S. Gabriel saluted her; We also, saith he, of al degrees vpon the earth extol thee with loude voice, saying, Au• gratia plena &c. Haile ful of grace, our Lord is vvith thee pray for vs 〈◊〉 Maistresse, S. Ephrem. and Lady, and Queens, and mother of God. Most holy and auncient Ephrem, also in a special oration made in praise of our Lady, saith thus in diuerse places thereof, Intemerata De•p••• &c. Mother of God vndifiled, Queene of al, the hope of them that despaire, my lady most glorious, higher them the heauenly spirit•, more honorable then the Cherubins, holier then the Seraphins. and vvithout comparison more glorious thē the supernal hostes, the hope of the fathers, the glorie of the Prophets, the praise of the Apostles. And a litle after. Virgo ante partum, in partu, & post partum. by thee vve are reconciled to Christ my God, thy sonne: thou art the helper of sinners, thou the hauen for them that are tossed vvith stormes, the solam of the vvorld, the deliuerer of the emprisoned, the helpe of orphans, the redemption of captiues. And afterward, Vouchsafe me thy seruant to praise thee. Haile lady MARIE ful of grace, haile Virgin most blesed among vvomen. And much more in that sense which were to long to repeate.
S. Cyril. hath the like wonderful speaches of her honour, S. Cyril. hom. 6. contra Naestorium. Praise and glorie be to thee • holy Trinitieito thee also be praise, holy mother of God, for thou art the pretious pearle of the vvorld, thou the candel of vnquencheable light, the crovvne of Virginitis, the scepter of the Catholike faith. By thee the Trinitie is glorified and adored in al the vvorld: by thee heauen reioyceth, Angels and Archangels are glad, diuels are put to flight, and man is called againe to heauen, and euery creature that vvas held vvith the errour of Idols, is turned to the knowledge of the truth: by thee Churches are foūded through the world: thee being their helper, the Gentiles come to penance. and much more which we omit. Likewise the Greeke Liturgies or Masses of S. Iames, The Greeke Liturgies of S. Iames, S. Basil, S. Chrysostom. S. Basil, and S. Chrysostom, make most honorable mention of our B. Lady, praying vnto her, saluting her with the Angelical hymne, Au• Maria, and vsing these speaches, Most holy, vndefiled, blessed aboue al, our Queene, our Lady, the mother of God, MARIE, a virgin for ouer, the sacred arke of Christs Incarnation, broder then the heauens that didst beare they creatour, holy mother, of vnspeakable light, vve magnifie thee vvith Angelical hymnes. al things passe vnderstanding, al things are glorious in thee ô mother of God. by thee the mysterie before vnknovven to the Angels, is made manifest and reuealed to them on the earth. thou art more honorable then the Cheerubins, and more glorious then the Seraphins, to thee, O ful of grace, al creatures, both men and Angels doe gratulate and reioyce: glorie be to thee, Which art a sanctified temple, a spiritual paradise, the glorie of virgins, of vvhom God tooke flesh and made thy vvombe to be his throne, &c.
And S. Augustine Serm. 18. de Sanctis •o. 10: or (as some thinke) S. Fulgentius: S. Augustine. O blessed MARIE, who can be able vvorthily to praise or thanke thee, receiue our praiers, obtaine vs out requestes, for thou art the vnica spes. special hope of sinners, by thee vve hope for pardon of our sinnes, & in thee, ô most blessed, is the expectation of our revvards. Sancta MARIA succurre miseris, &c. And then folow these wordes now vsed in the Churches seruice: Sancta Maria suscurre miseris, iuua pusillanimes, refoue flebiles, orapro populo, interueni pro lero, intercede pro deuoto foemineo sexu. Sentiant omnes tuum inuamen, quicunque celebrant tuam commemorationem. Pray thou continually for the people of God, vvhich didst diserue to beare the redeemer of the vvorld, Who liueth and reigneth for euer. S. Damascene. S. Damascene also ser. de dormitione Deiparae. Let vs crie vvith Gabriel, Aue gratia plena, Haile ful of grace, Haile sea of ioy that can not be emptied, haile the vnicum leuamen onely case of greefes, haile holy virgin, by vvhom death vvas expelled, S. Irenaeus. and life brought in. See S. Irenaeus li. 3. c. 33. and li. 5 circa medium, & S. Augustine de side & Symbolo. & de agone Christiano. Where they declare how both the sexes concurre to our saluation, As Adam and Eue, so Christ & our Lady. the man and the woman, Christ and our Lady, as Adam and Eue both were the cause of our fall, though Adam for more then his wife, and so Christ far more excellently and in an other sort then our Lady: who (though his mother) yet is but his creature and handmaid, him self being truely both God and man. See S. Greg Nzian. in fi. Trag. Christus patiens. In al which places alleaged & many other like to these, if it please the reader to see and read, and make his owne eies witnesses, he shal perceiue that there is much more said of her, and to her, then we haue here recited, and that the very same or the like speaches and termes were vsed then, that the Church vseth now, in the honour and inuocation of the B. Virgin: The meaning of the titles and termes giuen to our B. Lady. to the confusion of al those that wilfully wil not vnderstand in what sense al such speaches are applied vnto her. to wit, either because of her praier and intercession for vs. whereby she is our hope, our refuge, our aduocate &c. or because she brought forth the author of our redemption and saluation, whereby she is the mother of mercie, and grace, and life, and whatsoeuer goodnes we receiue by Christ.
The Heretikes, some in the text, other in the margēt, traslate, Wiues, to wit, of the Apostles, most Impudently, knowīg in their cōsciences that he meaneth the Maries & other holy women that folowed Christ. as Lu. 1, 2, 24, 10. See Beza & the Engl. Bible 1579.
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15. Peter rising vp.) Peter beginneth to practise his Primacie. Peter in the meane time practised his Superioritie in the cōpanie or Church, publishing an election to be made of one to supply Iudas roome. Which Peter did not vpon commaundement of Christ written, but by suggestion of Gods Spirit, and by vnderstanding the Scriptures of the old Testament to that purpose: the sense whereof Christ had opened to the Apostles before his departure, though in more ful maner afterward at the sending of the Holy Ghost. And this acte of Peter in prescribing to the Apostles and the rest, Beza in no. Test. 〈◊〉. an. 1565. this election, and the maner thereof, is so euident for his Supremacie, that the Aduersaries confesse here that he was, Antistes, the cheefe and Bishop of this whole College and companie.
In the liturgy The Epistle vpō S. Mathias day Febr. •4.
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Concordance Ps. 40, 9.
Concordance Io. 13, 18.
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Concordance Luc. 22, 47. Io. 18, 3.
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Concordance Mt. 27, 5. 7.
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Concordance Psa. 68, 26.
Concordance Ps. 108, 8.
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No smal mysterie, that the number of the twelue Apostles must needes be made vp againe.
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26. Loties.] When the euent or fall of the lot is not expected of Diuels, nor of the starres, nor of any force of fortune, Casting of lottes. but looked and praied for to be directed by God and his holy Saincts: then may lottes be vsed lawfully. And sometimes to discerne betwixt two things mere indifferent, they be necessarie, as S. Augustine teacheth •p. 180 ad Honoratum.
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 To the Bishops of Egypt 1.1
All things whatsoever our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as Luke wrote, ‘both hath done and taught
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1
… For this, in fact, is just what this Book is: a Demonstration of the Resurrection:
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 97.1
… and they who once saved Him from the hands of Herod are ready to save Him again from this blasphemer and heretic. Demetrius expelled Origen from the city of Alexander; but he is now thanks to Theophilus outlawed from the whole world. Like him to whom Luke has dedicated the Acts of the Apostles
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 127.4
… In this sense we read elsewhere that “Jesus began both to do and teach.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Against the Epistle of Manichæus, Called Fundamental 9
… And when will be the kingdom of Israel? And He said unto them, No one can know the time which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 4.8
… We base our view of the identity of authorship, however, on the fact that this second book commences in the following strain: “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He, through the Holy Ghost, gave commandment unto the apostles whom He chose to preach the gospel.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 9.17
These four kinds of supplication the Lord Himself by His own example vouchsafed to originate for us, so that in this too He might fulfil that which was said of Him: “which Jesus began both to do and to teach.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 14.9
… “If thou seest a man who is quick to speak, know that there is more hope of a fool than of him;” and do not presume to teach any one in words what you have not already performed in deed. For our Lord taught us by His own example that we ought to keep to this order, as of Him it is said: “what Jesus began to do and to teach.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1
“Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments unto the Apostles whom He had chosen. After He had given commandments through the Spirit” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 3.25
… And at the same time he appends this [statement of the ascension], just as if it followed immediately upon these words which the Lord spake, at the same time with those other transactions on the first day of the week, that is to say, on the day on which the Lord rose again; whereas, in the Acts of the Apostles,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 47.9
… “God shall reign over all nations,” is a promise. “God sitteth upon His Holy Seat.” What then was promised to come, now being fulfilled, is acknowledged and held. “God sitteth upon His Holy Seat.” What is His Holy Seat? Haply saith one, The Heavens, and he understandeth well. For Christ hath gone up,
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 7.17
… ‘For I,’ He says, ‘by the Spirit of God cast out devils.’ Who also made His flesh a temple. ‘For I saw His spirit descending like a dove and abiding upon Him.’ Again: Who granted to Him His ascension into Heaven. For it says, “Giving a commandment to the apostles whom He had chosen, by the Holy Ghost He was taken up.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 7.22
… But to prove this assertion you bring forward a passage of Scripture: for you say “Giving commands to the apostles whom He had chosen, by the Holy Ghost He was raised up.”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.3.2
… The other eighteen Æons are made manifest in this way: that the Lord, [according to them,] conversed with His disciples for eighteen months
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.26.1
… For thus it was that the Lord discoursed with the disciples after His resurrection from the dead, proving to them from the Scriptures themselves “that Christ must suffer, and enter into His glory, and that remission of sins should be preached in His name throughout all the world.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 19
… After that, Pentecost is a most joyous space for conferring baptisms; wherein, too, the resurrection of the Lord was repeatedly proved
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 2.63
… But it is recorded in the Acts, that “being seen during forty days,” He expounded to His disciples “the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1
… for since thou hast been told that “He was taken up,” therefore, lest thou shouldest suppose Him to have been taken up by others , he adds, “To whom He shewed Himself alive.” For if He shewed Himself in the greater, surely He did in the minor circumstance. Seest thou, how casually and unperceived he drops by the way the seeds of these great doctrines?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 17
… For not as though Christ were powerless, hath he put this down, for He it is Himself who saith, (S. John ii. 19 .) “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up:” and again, (S. John x. 18 .) “I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again.” And Luke also in the Acts says, (c.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 79
(For He was with them, and talked with them forty days, being assembled with them, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God—
St Jerome † AD 420 To Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 34
… This Jesus who is taken from you into heaven, shall come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” But what are we to think of a man saying that our Lord
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.4
… After the resurrection also, it was His will to remain with His disciples on the earth not longer than forty days,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 3.25
84. At the same time, all is not recorded, as John plainly declares. For He had frequent intercourse with His disciples during the forty days which preceded His ascension into heaven.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 1.32
… Forty years also did the people wander in the wilderness. Forty days the waters of the flood lasted. Forty days after His resurrection did the Lord converse with the disciples, persuading them of the reality of His risen body,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John chapter21.13
… On the fortieth day after His resurrection He ascended into heaven, while His disciples were looking on; and they hear the angelic voice: “Men of Galilee,” saith it, “why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same that is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him going into heaven.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 50.13
… Because in respect of His bodily presence He associated for forty days with His disciples, and then, having brought them forth for the purpose of beholding and not of following Him, He ascended into heaven,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 64.1
… and yet I am not straightway to ascend into heaven, but “yet a little while I am with you.” For, as we find it written in the Acts of the Apostles, He spent forty days with them after His resurrection, going in and out, and eating and drinking:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 101.6
… And on this account, therefore, His words did not mean that He was about to die, and to be withdrawn from their view till His resurrection; but that He was about to go to the Father, which He did after His resurrection, and when, after holding intercourse with them for forty days, He ascended into heaven.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 95.12
… for they have not known My ways” ( ver. 10 ). The forty years have the same meaning as the word “always.” For that number forty indicates the fulness of ages, as if the ages were perfected in this number. Hence our Lord fasted forty days, forty days He was tempted in the desert, and forty days He was with His disciples after His resurrection.
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Tertullian † AD 220 Five Books in Reply to Marcion 1
Outpoured; the work and envied deeds of might
Tertullian † AD 220 Five Books in Reply to Marcion 2
A pledge; that, by whose virtue men had been
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 8.30
… but wait, said He, for the promise of the Father which ye heard from My lips: for John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, which ye shall also receive not many days hence
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1
… And not content with this, He added also the evidence of eating with them at their board: as to signify this, the writer adds, “And being at table with them, He commanded.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 87
And He biddeth them “to bring of the fish,” to show that what they saw was no appearance. But here indeed it saith not that He ate with them, but Luke, in another place, saith that He did; for “He was eating together with them.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 3.25
… the allusion is specifically to the eleven at a time when, in consequence of the absence of Thomas, they were only ten, we are of opinion that after this discourse which Mark mentions, and with which we have to connect in their proper order those other words, whether of the disciples or of the Lord Himself, which are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 122.8
… And the 1 is added to show that there is one who is expressed by seven on account of His sevenfold operation; and we know that it was on the fiftieth day after our Lord’s ascension that the Holy Spirit was sent, for whom the disciples were commanded to wait according to the promise.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.4
… let the voice of the Testaments in tune be heard, not that of pretenders disinherited. This thing then hath the God of gods done, “He hath called the world from the rising of the sun unto the going down, His semblance going before out of Sion.” For in that place were His disciples,
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 2
… Of them that rise the Lord says: “they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as Angels.” The apostles however bear witness that He partook of the food, for the blessed Luke in the preface to the Acts says “being assembled together with the apostles the Lord commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem”
Anonymous A Treatise on Re-Baptism by an Anonymous Writer 2
… For in the Acts of the Apostles, the Lord after His resurrection, confirming this same word of John, “commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for that promise of the Father which, saith He , ye have heard from me; for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
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Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 7.51
… say to us, “Thine incorruptible spirit is in all things, wherefore God chasteneth them by little and little that offend;” and of those who, among their other instructions, teach us that words, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” refer to a degree of spiritual influence higher than that in the passage, “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 12
“For into one Spirit,” it says, “we were all baptized in one body.” And in harmony with this are the passages: “You shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost,”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.14
14. But He came down to clothe the Apostles with power, and to baptize them; for the Lord says, ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 1.3
45. Wherefore that authority may also be joined to reason Scripture indicates that we can also be rightly baptized in the Spirit, when the Lord says: “But ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.32
… "John truly baptized you with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, whom ye shall receive not many days hence at Pentecost."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.19
… but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” The Lord also said, “John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence,”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.9
… Moreover, Christ is said to baptize with fire: because in the form of flaming tongues He poured forth on His holy disciples the grace of the Spirit: as the Lord Himself says, John truly baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, not many days hence:
Anonymous A Treatise on Re-Baptism by an Anonymous Writer 19
… and these three are one.” And, unless I am mistaken, we have also explained what our Lord says: “John indeed bap tized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.”
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St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 8.7
… It is in accordance with this view that when His disciples asked Him again in the Acts of the Apostles, “When wilt thou restore the kingdom of Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 9
… And before the Passion, the Apostles come and say to Christ, “Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” ( Matt. xxiv. 23 .) And after the Passion and the Resurrection from the dead, they said to Him, Tell us, “dost Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (From
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.53
… But this is quite unreasonable. For had it been profitable for us to know this, by whom could it better have been told than by God Himself, the Master, when the disciples questioned Him? For they were not silent when with Him, but inquired of Him, saying, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time present the kingdom to Israel, or when?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 25.3
… But saith He to the disciples (for He had yet to ascend alone), “It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father hath put in His own power: but ye shall receive virtue from on high, the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 101.4
… and even though it were so, every difficulty would not thereby disappear. For we read that the Lord Christ, after He rose again, was both questioned and petitioned. He was asked by the disciples, on the eve of His ascension into heaven, when He would be manifested, and when the kingdom of Israel would come;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 10.9
… here I sit at the right hand of the Father, but there I yet hunger, thirst, and am a stranger. In what manner then did He commend to us His Body, when about to ascend into heaven? When the disciples asked Him, saying, “Lord, wilt thou at this time present thyself, and when shall be the kingdom of Israel?”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.23.1
… to the lost sheep, and making recapitulation of so comprehensive a dispensation, and seeking after His own handiwork, should save that very man who had been created after His image and likeness, that is, Adam, filling up the times of His condemnation, which had been incurred through disobedience,—[times] “which the Father had placed in His own power.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.90
The apostle says: “The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night. When they shall say, Peace and security, then on them shall come sudden destruction.” Also in the Acts of the Apostles: “No one can know the times or the seasons which the Father has placed in His own power.”
St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 Twelve Topics on the Faith 12
As it is not for us to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power,
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 9.75
… This the Lord Himself testified, when He answered the question of the Apostles concerning the times, It is not yours to know times or moments, which the Father hath set within His own authority
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.28
… if He created and upholds all things, He knows when they will cease to be. He knows not as Man, argued from Matt. xxiv. 42 . As He asked about Lazarus’s grave, &c., yet knew, so He knows; as S. Paul says, ‘whether in the body I know not,’ &c., yet knew, so He knows. He said He knew not for our profit, that we be not curious (as in
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 8.6
… In the gospels He numbered Himself among the ignorant, on account, as I have said, of the infirmity of the greater part of mankind. In the Acts of the Apostles, speaking, as it were, to the perfect apart, He says, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 15.4
4. The things then which are seen shall pass away, and there shall come the things which are looked for, things fairer than the present; but as to the time let no one be curious. For it is not for you , He says, to know times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.6
… Holy Ghost, inasmuch as Their power resides in Their nature (for the Holy Spirit breathes “where He listeth ,” and “worketh all in all as He will ,” and the Son, by Whom all things were made, visible and invisible, in heaven and in earth, “did all things whatsoever He pleased ,” and “quickeneth whom He will ,” and the Father put “the times in His own power
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On the Making of Man 22.8
… Even so I think it is one’s duty, as the proclamation is clearly made to all that the time of change will come, not to trouble himself about times (for He said that “it is not for us to know the times and the seasons
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.17
… For unless they had believed this, they would never have asked the question.)—the Lord, I say, when asked when He would restore the kingdom to Israel, did not say that He did not know, but says: “It is not for you to know the times or years, which the Father hath put in His own power.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 74
… For now indeed He hath mentioned infallible signs, many and endless; but then He saith merely, “It is not for you to know times or seasons.” And then that they might not say, we are driven to perplexity, we are utterly scorned, we are not held worthy so much as of this, He says, “which the Father hath put in His own power.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 78
See at any rate after these things how he was subdued. For after the resurrection, when he had said, “And what shall this man do?” and was silenced, he ventured no more to gainsay as here, but held his peace. Again, towards the assumption, when he heard, “It is not for you to know times or seasons,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 2
… here they have henceforth high conceptions concerning Christ. Since then their minds are elevated, He also speaks to them in a higher strain. For He no longer tells them, “Of that day not even the Son of Man knoweth” ( Mark xiii. 32 ); but He says, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 9
For this reason Christ did not tell it, because it was not expedient. How, you say, was it not expedient? He who also concealed it knows wherefore it was not expedient. For hear Him saying to His Apostles, “It is not for you to know times, or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 144.8
… But when His disciples (who are our apostles) put this question to the all-knowing Christ, they were told: “It is not yours to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.50
… but ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even unto the ends of the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 22.30
… There are thus five ages in all. The sixth is now passing, and cannot be measured by any number of generations, as it has been said, “It is not for you to know the times, which the Father hath put in His own power.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.38
… But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 43.8
… What is, “will come at midnight”? Will come when thou art not aware. Why will He come when thou art not aware of it? Hear the Lord Himself, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Lord hath put in His own power.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 95.1
… For mark what He said to them when about to ascend into heaven: “It is not for you to know the times or the moments, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit, that cometh upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 6.1
… Which coming, it is believed, is to be, after reckoning the years from Adam, seven thousand years: so as that seven thousand years should pass as seven days, and afterwards that time arrive as it were the eighth day. But since it has been said by the Lord, “It is not yours to know the times, which the Father hath put in His own power:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 90.5
… he adds, “and as a watch in the night:” which only lasts three hours. Nevertheless men have ventured to assert their knowledge of times, to the pretenders to which our Lord said, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.11
… But if any one wonder why he should ask that question, to which when asked by the disciples, their Master replied, “It is not for you to know the times and the seasons;”
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 1.3.7
… but a share in the Holy Spirit we find possessed only by the saints. And therefore it is said, “No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” And on one occasion, scarcely even the apostles themselves are deemed worthy to hear the words, “Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.28
… The Saviour gives the name of martyr to every one who bears witness to the truth He declares; thus at the Ascension He says to His disciples:
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 10.18
… And the Apostles on this account left Israel and did that which had been enjoined on them by the Saviour, “Make disciples of all the nations,” and, “Ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judæa and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 8.30
… for John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, which ye shall also receive not many days hence . And again: But ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost cometh upon you; and ye shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 24
… The Spirit is a gift of God, but a gift of life, for the law of “the Spirit of life,” it is said, “hath made” us “free;” and a gift of power, for “ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 1.7
… The persons, then, were different, but the accomplishment of the working was in all one, because the Holy Spirit is one of Whom it is said: “Ye shall receive power, even the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 2.1
… “Ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power of God.” He certainly named the Father Power, at Whose right hand the Son sits, as you read: “The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand.” And the Lord Himself named the Holy Spirit Power, when He said: “Ye shall receive Power when the Holy Spirit cometh upon you.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 66
… For, “ye shall receive power,” saith He, “after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and unto the uttermost part of the earth;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 2
… He immediately gives them that at which they rejoiced: for He adds: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 2
… 28 .) And hearken again to the words of Christ; “But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 86
… But in the other case, after forty days, they received the power of working miracles. Wherefore He saith, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 102.29
… God;” —“Who hath bound the waters in a garment?” whence it could be said, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ;” —“Who hath established all the ends of the earth?” the same who said to His disciples, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.43
… Judas did not die for us, but Christ, to whom the Church dispersed throughout the world says, "So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in Thy word." When, therefore, I hear the words of the Lord, saying, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.55
… and, putting aside all quibbles, since we are inquiring where the Church of Christ is to be found, let us listen to the words of Christ Himself, who redeemed it with His own blood: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.64
144. Augustin answered: Again and again you may hear the Lord saying, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.86
… But as to whether we or you are schismatics, let the question be put neither to you nor to me, but to Christ, that He may show where His Church is to be found. Read the gospel then, and there you find the answer, "In Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria and even in the whole earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.98
… proceedings which were taken to their prejudice wrongly and without authority being all annulled, everything should be restored to its former position;" and yet you find nothing that has either force or truth in what Christ ordained, saying, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.100
… If you had charity, you would not picture to yourself a false unity in your calumnies, but you would learn to recognize the unity that is most clearly set forth in the words of the Lord: "even in the whole earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Correction of the Donatists 1
… also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." The Lord said by His apostle, "The gospel is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit." The Son of God said with His own mouth, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even unto the uttermost part of the earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 99.7
… and the power [virtue] of the highest shall overshadow thee;” and our Lord Himself when giving His disciples the promise of the Spirit, said, “But tarry ye in the city, until ye be endued with power [virtue] from on high;” and on another occasion, “Ye shall receive the power [virtue] of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me.”
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St Justin Martyr † AD 165 On the Resurrection, Fragments 9
… and He did eat honey-comb and fish. And when He had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, wishing to show them this also, that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling-place is in heaven), “He was taken up into heaven while they beheld,”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 51
… since Jesus is still sitting there at the right hand of the Father, man, yet God—the last Adam, yet the primary Word—flesh and blood, yet purer than ours—who “shall descend in like manner as He ascended into heaven ”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 54
Wherefore out of the cloud? Thus doth God ever appear. “For a cloud and darkness are round about Him;” and, “He sitteth on a light cloud;” and again, “Who maketh clouds His chariot;” and, “A cloud received Him out of their sight;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 2
… x. 5 ), what there He left unsaid, He here adds, “And to the uttermost part of the earth;” and having spoken this, which was more fearful than all the rest, then that they may not again question Him, He held His peace. “And having this said, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 8
… but those of the domestics who have offended remain within. We are carried upon the chariot of our Father. For He received Him up in the clouds, and “we shall be caught up in the clouds.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 46.13
… Will the day never come when we shall together enter the Saviour’s cave, and together weep in the sepulchre of the Lord with His sister and with His mother? Then shall we touch with our lips the wood of the cross, and rise in prayer and resolve upon the Mount of Olives with the ascending Lord.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 94.3
… Now, however, He promises that He will go away in such a manner that none of them shall ask Him whither He goes. For a cloud received Him when He ascended up from their side; and of His going into heaven they made no verbal inquiry, but had ocular evidence.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 59.2.2
… and they found themselves to have condemned nought, and to have done nought. Their doing issued in emptiness, the sin remained. Because therefore the doing was made void, but the sin remained upon the doers; they were taken in their pride, they saw themselves under their iniquity.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 69.21
… for on His arising and ascending into the Heavens, and sending the Holy Ghost from above, there were converted to His faith they that at His death did rage, and out of enemies they were made friends through His grace, not through their righteousness.
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Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 51
… since Jesus is still sitting there at the right hand of the Father, man, yet God—the last Adam, yet the primary Word—flesh and blood, yet purer than ours—who “shall descend in like manner as He ascended into heaven ” the same both in substance and form, as the angels affirmed,
Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 19
… After that, Pentecost is a most joyous space for conferring baptisms; wherein, too, the resurrection of the Lord was repeatedly proved among the disciples, and the hope of the advent of the Lord indirectly pointed to, in that, at that time, when He had been received back into the heavens, the angels
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 2
… which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven”—they used the expression “This” demonstratively, saying, “this Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall thus”—demonstratively, “in this way”—“come in like manner as ye have seen Him going into heaven.” (
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Smyrnæans: Shorter and Longer Versions 3
… And thus was He, with the flesh, received up in their sight unto Him that sent Him, being with that same flesh to come again, accompanied by glory and power. For, say the [holy] oracles, “This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen Him go unto heaven.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Flesh of Christ 24
… lastly, one as suffering death, the other as risen again, by means of which event they maintain a resurrection of their own also, only in another flesh. Happily, however, He who suffered “will come again from heaven,”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 22
… enemies beneath His feet” (to use the language of David ), making Him more hurried than the Father, whilst every crowd in our popular assemblies is still with shouts consigning “the Christians to the lions?” Who has yet beheld Jesus descending from heaven in like manner as the apostles saw Him ascend, according to the appointment of the two angels?
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 30
… “He sitteth at the Father’s right hand” —not the Father at His own. He is seen by Stephen, at his martyrdom by stoning, still sitting at the right hand of God where He will continue to sit, until the Father shall make His enemies His footstool. He will come again on the clouds of heaven, just as He appeared when He ascended into heaven.
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 60
… the Saviour took, apart from Him, that they should even venture to say ‘we do not worship the Lord with the Flesh, but we separate the Body, and worship Him alone.’ Why, the blessed Stephen saw in the heavens the Lord standing on [God’s] right hand , while the Angels said to the disciples, ‘He shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 11
What then? tell me. Did He put away the flesh, and is He now not with that body? Away with the thought, for He is even now clothed in flesh; for “this Jesus Who is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come. So? How? In flesh, with His body. How then doth he say, “Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth no more?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 11
… xix. 4 .) Think not that these things are mere words, for they are not, but full of hidden realities. “Received up into glory.” He ascended upon clouds. “This Jesus,” it is said, “Who is taken up from you, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 3
And of these examples both the Old [Testament] is full, and the New. For when Angels bring glad tidings to the shepherds, or to Mary, or to Joseph; when they sit at the sepulcher, when they are sent to say to the disciples, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?” (
St Jerome † AD 420 To Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 34
… Him, who shouted, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Again and again shall they beat their breasts, they and their women, those women to whom our Lord said, as He carried His cross, “Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” Then shall be fulfilled the prophecy of the angels, who said to the stupefied Apostles,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Faith and the Creed 8
… For our Lord hath been upon the earth, and at present He is in heaven, and [hereafter] He shall be in His brightness as the Judge of the quick and the dead. For He shall yet come, even so as He has ascended, according to the authority which is contained in the Acts of the Apostles.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 77.10
… He shall come Himself, That Form shall come. This you find in the Gospel too; when before the eyes of His disciples He was going into heaven, they stood and looked on, and the Angelic voice spake, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye,” etc. “This Jesus shall come in like manner as ye see Him going into heaven.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 36.12
… For at that moment, indeed, as they were beholding Him ascending, the angelic voice sounded in the ears of His disciples, “So shall He come in like manner as ye have seen Him going into heaven;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 40.4
… at last He suffered as a man, hung on the tree, was slain and buried as a man. In the same form He rose again; in the same, before the eyes of His disciples, He ascended into heaven; in the same will He yet come to judgment. For angel lips have declared in the Gospel, “He shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 76.3
… but ye shall see me.” It is true, indeed, that after a little while He was to withdraw even His body, in which the ungodly also were able to see Him, from their sight; for none of them saw Him after His resurrection. But since it was declared on the testimony of angels, “He shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 47.6
… For it is said, “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet.” Angels preached the ascension of the Lord: they saw the Disciples, their Lord ascending, tarrying, admiring, confounded, nothing speaking, but in heart jubilant: and now was the sound of the trumpet in the clear voice of the Angels, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this is Jesus.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.38
… Which also we may call the Heavens of Heavens, just as He hath called the firmament Heaven: which Heaven, however, even as Heavens we read of, in the place where there is written, “and let the waters which are above the Heavens praise the name of the Lord.” And forasmuch as from thence He is to come,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 86.20
… He rising again will come even to earth Himself to judge: He will appear terrible who appeared despicable. He will show His power, who showed His patience; on the Cross was patience; in the judgment will be power. For He will appear as Man judging, but in glory: because “as ye saw Him go,” said the Angels, “so He will come.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 2
… I have heard the divine Paul exclaiming “God hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead,” and I have learnt from the holy Angels that He will come in like manner as the disciples saw Him going into heaven.
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 4.2.12
… For that body is visible, and of this the angel spoke to the Apostles “This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 146
… With this glory He was taken up; with this the angels said that He should come; for their words were “He who was taken from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 152
… But now, as I have already said, even His human nature is immortal; and, as He ascended, so again shall He come according to the words of the Angel—“This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 139
… And when you approach the mount of Olivet, to venerate the place of the Ascension, does not the angel’s voice ring in your ears, which says to those who were dumb-founded at the Lord’s uplifting, “ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? this Jesus, Who was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye saw Him going into heaven
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 74
… But when the disciples’ eyes followed the ascending Lord to heaven with upward gaze of earnest wonder, two angels stood by them in raiment shining with wondrous brightness, who also said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus Who was taken up from you into heaven shall so come as ye saw Him going into heaven
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.1
… Moreover, His ascent from earth to heaven, and again, His descent from heaven to earth, are manifestations of the energies of His circumscribed body. For He shall so come again to you, saith he, in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.12
… Moreover Christ, when He hung on the Cross, had His face turned towards the West, and so we worship, striving after Him. And when He was received again into Heaven He was borne towards the East, and thus His apostles worship Him, and thus He will come again in the way in which they beheld Him going towards Heaven
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.26
… and they will be destroyed by him. And the Lord shall come out of heaven, just as the holy apostles beheld Him going into heaven, perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and will destroy the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the breath of His mouth
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Anonymous The Teaching of the Apostles 0
And from thence they went up to the city , and
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Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 3.20
1. “ Of the family of the Lord there were still living the grandchildren of Jude, who is said to have been the Lord’s brother according to the flesh.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… “both Peter, and James, and John:” no longer is only the latter together with his brother mentioned, but together with Peter the two: “and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, and James (the son) of Alphæus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas, (the brother) of James.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 11
… “For as many as were possessors,” etc. And with great respect they did this: for they did not presume to give into their hands, nor did they ostentatiously present, but brought to the Apostles’ feet. To them they left it to be the dispensers, made them the owners, that thenceforth all should be defrayed as from common, not from private, property.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 53.8
… the same spirit, that is, which was to be poured out in the upper chamber at Zion upon the one hundred and twenty believers.
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Unity of the Church 25
… and thus the new assembly of believers, keeping the Lord’s commandments, maintained its charity. Divine Scripture proves this, when it says, “But the multitude of them which believed were of one heart and of one soul.” And again: “These all continued with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lord's Prayer 8
… Thus also we find that the apostles, with the disciples, prayed after the Lord’s ascension: “They all,” says the Scripture, “continued with one accord in prayer, with the women, and Mary who was the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
“These were all continuing with one accord in prayer together with the women.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 13
… The Sadducees were they that were most sore on the subject of the Resurrection. But perchance some one will say: Why, what man, endowed with such gifts as the Apostles were, would not have been great? But consider, I pray you, how, before that they were endowed with the grace, “they were continuing steadfastly with one accord in prayer” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary 13
… Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?” Luke also in the Acts of the Apostles relates,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 5.4
… In this form He ascended into heaven, and that voice was heard by His disciples, "He shall so come as ye have seen Him go into heaven."
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Prescription Against Heretics 20
… struck off, He commanded the eleven others, on His departure to the Father, to “go and teach all nations, who were to be baptized into the Father, and into the Son, and into the Holy Ghost.” Immediately, therefore, so did the apostles, whom this designation indicates as “ the sent .” Having, on the authority of a prophecy, which occurs in a psalm of David,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 67.4
… And this is subsequently observed, according to divine instruction, in the Acts of the Apostles, when Peter speaks to the people of ordaining an apostle in the place of Judas. “Peter,” it says, “stood up in the midst of the disciples, and the multitude were in one place.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… 55 .) How then [is it said, that “that disciple”] took her to his own home” ( John xix. 26 ), at that time? But then the Lord had brought them together again, and so returned. “And with His brethren.” ( John xvii. 5 .) These also were before unbelieving. “And in those days,” it says, “Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 21
… See how on all occasions he goes about, foremost. When an Apostle was to be chosen, he was the foremost: when the Jews were to be told, that these were “not drunken,” when the lame man was to be healed, when harangues to be made, he is before the rest: when the rulers were to be spoken to, he was the man; when Ananias, he (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans the-argument
… What excuse then shall we have, if we are not equal to twenty names, and are not even of service to them that live with us? This is but a pretence and an excuse—for it is not want of learning or of instruction which hindereth our teaching, but drowsiness and sleep. (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 18
… Here, at least, in the case of the Apostles, how frequently they admitted the laity to share in their decisions. For when they ordained the seven, ( Acts vi. 2, 3 .) they first communicated with the people; and when Peter ordained Matthias, with all that were then present, both men and women. (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 93.21
… gospel began at Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit first filled those hundred and twenty persons, and went forth thence into Judæa and Samaria, and to all nations, as He had said unto them when He was about to ascend into heaven, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.35
… and one of them, indeed, has no great bearing on the question which is being discussed between us, but yet it helps to convict you of want of skill. For the Holy Spirit came upon a hundred and twenty men, without the laying on of any person’s hands, and again upon Cornelius the centurion and those who were with him, even before they were baptized.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 1.14
… for he saith, “I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Many of the Jews then believed in the Lord; from them were the Apostles chosen; of them were the more than five hundred brethren, to whom it was vouchsafed to see the Lord after His resurrection; of them were the hundred and twenty in the house,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 37.9
… On the third day He rose again, He showed Himself to His disciples, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Ghost on the fiftieth day after the resurrection, the tenth after the ascension. The Holy Ghost who was sent filled all who were in one room, one hundred and twenty men.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 49.11
… It was meet that God should first show that He worketh by the ministry of men; but afterwards by Himself, lest men should think, as Simon thought, that it was man’s gift, and not God’s. Though the disciples themselves knew this well already. For there were one hundred and twenty
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 109.2
… Whence the five hundred brethren, to all of whom at once He would not have appeared after His resurrection had they not previously believed on Him? Whence that hundred and nine who, with the eleven, were a hundred and twenty, when, being assembled together after His ascension, they waited and received the promise of the Holy Spirit?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.3
… from it He bade the preaching of Him begin, “beginning at Jerusalem.” He made there the beginning of the preaching of His name: and thou shrinkest back with horror from having communion with that city! No marvel that being cut off thou hatest the root. What said He to His disciples? “Sit ye still in the city, because I send my promise
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 87.4
… which, but the fallen Angels? “Know ye not, that we shall judge Angels,” he writes. The world would answer, Why dost thou boast that thou shalt be a judge? Where will be thy throne? Our Lord spoke of twelve thrones for the twelve Apostles: one, Judas, fell, and his place being supplied by Matthias, the number of twelve thrones was made up:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 133.2
… For have all the Jews perished? and whence were the Apostles, the sons of the Prophets, the sons of the exiles? He speaks as to them who know. Whence those five hundred, who saw the Lord after His resurrection, whom the Apostle Paul commemorates? Whence those hundred and twenty,
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.12.1
… “Men [and] brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David, spake before concerning Judas, which was made guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us:
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… 15 .) Both as being ardent, and as having been put in trust by Christ with the flock, and as having precedence in honor, he always begins the discourse. (“The number of the names together were about an hundred and twenty.) Men and brethren,” he says, “this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spake before,” [etc.] (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… “For he was numbered,” says he, “with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man acquired a field out of the reward of iniquity.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 17.18
… whence that saying in the Gospel, “I was an hungered, and ye gave me to eat.” Expounding which, He says, “Since ye did it to one of the least of mine, ye did it to me.” Therefore He said that He had trusted, because his disciples then had trusted concerning Judas; for he was numbered with the apostles.
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 To the Bishops of Egypt 2
… the Lord is thy avenger if thou swear falsely:’ the unfortunate man swore that he held no other, and that he had never either spoken or thought otherwise than as he had now written. But as soon as he went out he dropped down, as if paying the penalty of his crime, and ‘falling headlong burst asunder in the midst
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Persecution at Alexandria 1
… so this unhappy person who presumed to drag the throne, drew it upon himself, and, as if Divine justice had sent the wood to punish him, he struck it into his own bowels; and instead of carrying out the throne, he brought out by his blow his own entrails; so that the throne took away his life, instead of his taking it away. For, as it is
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 54
… and a wonderful and extraordinary circumstance took place. While Eusebius and his fellows threatened, the Bishop prayed; but Arius, who had great confidence in Eusebius and his fellows, and talked very wildly, urged by the necessities of nature withdrew, and suddenly, in the language of Scripture, ‘falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 21.13
13. The beginning of this madness was Arius (whose name is derived from frenzy ), who paid the penalty of his unbridled tongue by his death in a profane spot, brought about by prayer not by disease, when he like Judas burst asunder
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.19
… He was rent, even as the Apostle Peter said of Judas, because he “bought a field with the price of evil-doing, and falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 25
… And why speak I of a robber and murderer? For even the Apostle He did not spare, when he had become a traitor, but even when He saw him rushing to the halter, and hanging, and bursting asunder in the midst (for he did “burst asunder, and all his bowels gushed out”) (
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret 1.13
… The followers of Eusebius had launched out into threats, while the bishop had recourse to prayer. Arius, emboldened by the protection of his party, delivered many trifling and foolish speeches, when he was suddenly compelled by a call of nature to retire, and immediately, as it is written, ‘ falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst
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St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 53
… These things come of covetousness. Now covetousness is the root of all evil and is called idolatry. Do not then price idols above Christ for the sake of a little money. Do not imitate Judas and once more betray for a bribe Him who was crucified for us. For alike the lands and the hands of all that make such gain shall be called Aceldama.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… “And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst.” He does well to dilate not upon the sin, but upon the punishment. “And,” he says, “all his bowels gushed out.” This brought them consolation. “And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue Aceldama , that is to say, the field of blood.” (
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 2.20.2
… For that Æon, whose type they declare Judas to be, after being separated from her Enthymesis, was restored or recalled [to her former position]; but Judas was deprived [of his office], and cast out, while Matthias was ordained in his place, according to what is written, “And his bishopric let another take.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
Then after the event, he appositely brings in the Prophet, saying, “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 69.26
26. “Let the habitation of them become forsaken”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 109.8
8. “Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him; and let Satan stand at his right hand” ( ver. 5 ). Though the complaint had been before concerning many, the Psalm is now speaking of one.…Since therefore he is here speaking of the traitor Judas, who, according to the Scripture in the Acts of the Apostles, was to be punished with the penalty due to him,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 150.2
… And if each book end with, “so be it, so be it,” we may reasonably ask, why the fifth and last book hath not the same conclusion. We however, following the authority of canonical Scripture, where it is said, “For it is written in the book of Psalms,”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 77
To-day’s festival, dearly-beloved, which is held in reverence by the whole world, has been hallowed by that advent of the Holy Ghost, which on the fiftieth day after the Lord’s Resurrection, descended on the Apostles and the multitude of believers
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Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 1.12.3
… but the majority were still living at the time he wrote.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… that is, his office, his priesthood. So that this, he says, is not my counsel, but His who hath foretold these things. For, that he may not seem to be undertaking a great thing, and just such as Christ had done, he adduces the Prophet as a witness. “Wherefore it behooves of these men which have companied with us all the time.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 14
… they leave the decision to them: those who pleased all, those who of all were honestly reputed, them they present: not now twelve, but “seven, full of the Spirit and of wisdom: well reported of” for their conversation. ( v. 3 .) Now when Matthias was to be presented, it was said, “Therefore must one of these men which have companied with us all the time” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… but now he refers the matter to length of time; for he says not simply, “These who have companied with us,” but, “all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that He was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection” (
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Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 2.1.1
1. First , then, in the place of Judas, the betrayer, Matthias,
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 3.39.10
… The account is as follows: “And they put forward two, Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias; and they prayed and said.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… 22 ): that their college ( ὁ χορὸς ) might not be left mutilated. Then why did it not rest with Peter to make the election himself: what was the motive? This; that he might not seem to bestow it of favor. And besides, he was not yet endowed with the spirit. “And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabus, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… “They appointed two,” it is said, “Joseph called Barsabus, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said; Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and Apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 11
… 24 ) and with great earnestness, for it is no prayer made at random. Observe with what exquisite propriety their prayers are framed: thus, when they besought to be shown who was meet for the Apostleship, they said, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the heart of all men, show:” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 32
… “And the Apostles and elders,” etc. ( v. 6 .) “Among us,” he says, “God chose:” and “from old days:” long ago, he says, not now. And this too is no small point—at a time when Jews believed, not turned away (from the Gospel). “Among us;” an argument from the place: “of old days,” from the time. And that expression, “Chose:” just as in their own case
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 3.5
… “I desire to depart and to be with Christ.” He will brandish his fiery darts, but they will be received on the shield of faith. In a word, Satan will assail him, but Christ will defend. Thanks be to Thee, Lord Jesus, that in Thy day I have one able to pray to Thee for me. To Thee all hearts are open, Thou searchest the secrets of the heart,
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 75.5
… So then God knoweth where to place thee. Do not think that thou art disturbing the counsel of God, if thou art minded to be disorderly. Doth not He who knew how to create, know how to order thee? Good were it for thee to strive for this, to be set in a good place. What was said of Judas by the Apostle? “He went unto his own place.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… 24, 25 .) They do well to mention the sin of Judas, thereby showing that it is a witness they ask to have; not increasing the number, but not suffering it to be diminished. “And they gave forth their lots” (for the spirit was not yet sent), “and the lot fell upon Matthias: and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Against the Epistle of Manichæus, Called Fundamental 5
… But far be it that I should not believe the gospel; for believing it, I find no way of believing you too. For the names of the apostles, as there recorded, do not include the name of Manichæus. And who the successor of Christ’s betrayer was we read in the Acts of the Apostles;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 3.25
… for this number twelve, as it was used of the apostles, had so mystical an importance, that, in order to keep the spiritual symbol of the same number, there could be but a single individual, namely, Matthias, elected to fill the place of Judas.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 27.10
… Therefore, He saith, “One of you is a devil,” whilst I have chosen you twelve. This saying, “I have chosen you twelve,” may be understood in this way, that twelve is a sacred number. For the honor of that number was not taken away because one was lost, for another was chosen into the place of the one that perished.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 49.8
… Was he also among the twelve hours? If he was an hour, he had light; and if he had light, how was the Day betrayed by him to death? But the Lord, in so speaking, foresaw, not Judas himself, but his successor. For Judas, when he fell, was succeeded by Matthias, and the duodenary number preserved.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 50.10
… for it was with his body and not with his heart that he followed. He made up the apostolic number of twelve, but had no part in the apostolic blessedness: he had been made the twelfth in semblance, and on his departure, and the succession of another, the apostolic reality was completed, and the entireness of the number conserved.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.16
… Whence the tribe of Levi was commanded not to have lot among their brethren, because they were sustained by tithes from them. For, I think, they that have been ordained in the grades of the Ecclesiastical Ministry have been called both Clergy and Clerks, because Matthias by lot was chosen, who we read was the first that was ordained by the Apostles.
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1. First. — It is a noun, not an adverb: then I made a discourse. Thus St. Chrysostom, meaning: My purpose was, and is, to write the history of the Word incarnate, namely Christ and Christianity: I wrote the history of Christ in the Gospel, namely his incarnation, deeds and death over 34 years of his life, now I pursue the same deeds after his death, namely the institution and propagation of Christianity and the Church up to the first imprisonment of Paul, which occurred twenty-eight years after the death of Christ. Therefore Luke both in the Gospel and in the Acts wove together the history of Christ and the Church through the first sixty-two years of it. — For in Greek it is tò proteron, that is, the former, namely discourse. Indeed. — The Greek mèn, that is, indeed, commonly requires kaì after it, that is, but, yet not always; sometimes it is added merely for the number and weight of the narrative, especially in the exordium, so that it may begin with a certain lofty stride, as the Lexicographers note from Demetrius of Phaleron. He does both here. For he adds majesty to the history, and implicitly connects the former to the latter, and prepares and makes a transition from that to this, as if to say: I indeed made a former discourse in the Gospel concerning the life of Christ; but now I shall make a latter and subordinate one concerning the life of the Apostles of Christ. I made a discourse, — in the Gospel written by me. The Syrian translator rendered it, I wrote a book; for lógos indeed signifies both word and discourse, and book or volume, as Vatablus and Gagneius translated it. Thus Cicero, in book III of the Offices, translated the Oeconomic book, and calls the Oeconomic book of Xenophon a book. St. Chrysostom notes the modesty of St. Luke, in that he does not call his Gospel a Gospel, but a discourse: "For he does not say," he says, "the former Gospel which I preached, but: I made a former discourse, namely deeming the preaching of the Gospel to be something more magnificent than befits its dignity or his powers. And yet the Apostle adorns it with this title: Whose praise is in the Gospel," indeed the Church, which points to and inscribes his discourse and book concerning Christ as "The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke." Thus the humble, who depreciate themselves and their works, Christ and the Church exalt. The same modesty Luke shows in these Acts, making no mention of his own works and the remarkable service which he rendered to St. Paul, but suppresses all his own deeds in profound silence. Concerning all things, — namely the principal mysteries, or points, which suffice to conciliate faith in Christ and to explain his doctrine and life. For those things concerning the raising of Lazarus, the absolution of the adulteress, the illumination of the blind man, the changing of water into wine, etc., which St. John narrates in the Gospel, Luke passes over and omits: indeed all the Evangelists together joined have written few of the deeds and sayings of Christ, and have passed over many: "which if they were written one by one, the world itself would not be able to contain the books that would have to be written," says St. John in the Gospel, chapter xxi, 25. O Theophilus. — First, St. Salvianus, in his epistle to Salonius, translates Theophilus as the love of God, as if Luke had written and dedicated this book to the love of God, which impelled him to write, so that he might impress it upon the minds of those reading it. "Thus Timothy," he says, "is the same as the honor of God. Therefore when you read that Timothy wrote to the Church, you ought to understand that it was written to the Church for the honor of God, or rather that the honor of God itself sent the writings: because he is rightly said to have written through whom it came to pass that it was written." This is ingenious, symbolic and pious, and not literal, nor genuine. For Theophilus and Timothy are concrete names, not abstract, and therefore signify not the love and honor of God, but one who loves God and honors him. Therefore Luke inscribes and dedicates these Acts to him, not to God. Second, others better judge that the name Theophilus is common to any believer, not proper to some one. Thus Origen and Ambrose, in chapter 1 of the Gospel of St. Luke, and Epiphanius, heresy 51. For Theóphilos in Greek is the same as one who loves God, as Origen says; or beloved by God and pleasing to God, as St. Ambrose holds, to whom the epithet krátistos, that is, most mighty, is rightly given. For love makes those who love God almighty, both because all things of friends are common; and because "love is strong as death, jealousy cruel as the grave," Song of Songs viii, 6. Thus Theodoret inscribes the religious history of the holy Anchorites as Philotheum (which is inversely the same name as Theophilus), because the Anchorites were Philothei, that is, lovers of God and beloved by God. Thirdly, Titus of Bostra, in Luke I, holds that this book was inscribed by Luke to a certain person, but it is uncertain whether that person was called by the proper name Theophilus or by a common appellation, that is, a lover and worshipper of God. Fourthly and genuinely, St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Euthymius, Toletus and others in Luke I and V; St. Augustine, book IV On the Harmony of the Gospels, chapter IV, hold that the name Theophilus is proper, not common (as today many are called by the proper name Theophilus), and that he was a man of outstanding rank and power; for this is what the epithet krátiste signifies, that is, most powerful (Our author translates it, most excellent), which Luke gives to him, Gospel chapter 1, verse 3; for formerly governors and prefects were called krátistoi, that is, most powerful or most excellent: as "most excellent Felix," Acts xxiv, 3; "most excellent Festus," Acts xxvi, 25. Wherefore Theophylact and Euthymius hold that this Theophilus was a senator or prince; Oecumenius, a governor of a province; Nicephorus, book III, chapter xxv, the sixth Bishop of Antioch. But the epithet krátiste rather signifies that he was a governor or prince (for this is given to him) than a Bishop; unless you say he was made a Bishop from being a prince, as happened to St. Louis and others. Furthermore, St. Augustine doubts whether this Theophilus is the same as he to whom St. Luke inscribed the Gospel. But it seems certain that he is the same, and this Luke signifies here, when he writes that he is dedicating to him this later book of Acts, because he had dedicated to him the earlier Gospel: thus St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Toletus and others. Perhaps this Theophilus was that noble man of Antioch, whom St. Peter, converting him, turned his house into a church, in which he placed his Antiochene Cathedra, as St. Clement relates, book X of the Recognitions, final chapter; and therefore perhaps Luke here omits the title krátiste, that is, most excellent, by which he had addressed him at the beginning of the Gospel, because he had already withdrawn from office, and by a desire for Christian modesty was living a private and quiet life. Thus Baronius holds, whose conjecture is probable, namely that Luke, an Antiochene, seems to have written these things to Theophilus, likewise an Antiochene, as it were to his fellow citizen. Finally, what Luke writes to Theophilus, let us think is written to us, especially since we all are, or ought to be, lovers and worshippers of God. Theophylact adds, in chapter 1 of the Gospel of St. Luke, that Theophilus was a disciple and catechumen of Luke. Jesus began to do and to teach. — Jesus is a proper name, not of God, but of this man assumed by the Son of God, or of the incarnate Word, just as my proper name is Cornelius, another's Peter, Paul, etc. For Christ was called Jesus, that is, Savior, because he was destined by God to be the Redeemer and Savior of the world, Matthew i, 21. See the sayings in Philippians ii, 10. The sense is, as if to say, In the Gospel I wrote the deeds of Christ, beginning from his first deeds and teachings, indeed from his infancy, and I continued the account up to his ascension into heaven. Morally: Note here the manner, wisdom and efficacy of Christ in teaching, namely that he first did, then taught; he first taught by example, then by word. Whence first, he taught nothing which he himself had not first done. The same thing St. Basil did, as the Nazianzen teaches in his funeral oration of the same, and St. Malachy and St. Francis, as St. Bernard and St. Bonaventure teach in their Lives. The principle therefore of doing is the way and principle of teaching. Secondly, he did more than he taught. For in the first thirty years of his life he was in continuous action, but he taught only in the last three years of it, namely he wished Christ to teach as one having authority, and "to give to his voice the voice of power, so that he might instruct others thus to teach, that you yourself also teach," says St. Bernard, sermon 59 in the Canticles, and epistle 191. A golden and royal teaching is that of Pacatus, in the Panegyric of the Emperor Theodosius: "Commanded correction exasperates men, example commands most gently." Moreover, that Christ did this, St. Chrysostom demonstrates through examples: "Consider," he says, "in what manner Christ by his deeds conciliated faith to his words. He exhorted to meekness, saying: Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart; he taught us poverty, and demonstrated both by deeds: for the Son of Man, he says, hath not where to lay his head. Again, he commanded that we love our enemies: he exhibited this on the cross, praying for those who crucified him. He said: If one will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him: but he himself gave not only garments, but also his own blood. The same he commanded his disciples to do. Whence also Paul said: Have ye our form as we have yours. For nothing is colder than a teacher who philosophizes in words only. For this is not the part of a teacher, but of an actor and hypocrite. Wherefore the Apostles first taught by the example of their lives, then by words: nay rather, there was not even need of words, when their deeds cried out. " He adds then: "Nor would one err from the truth, who called his passion an action. For by suffering he wrought that great and wonderful work, by which he cast down death and accomplished all things else."
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2. Until the day on which he gave commandment (in Greek it is the aorist imperative enteilámenos, that is, when he had given commandment: for after giving commandment he was assumed: thus the Syriac and others) to the Apostles through the Holy Spirit, whom he chose, he was assumed. — The phrase "through the Holy Spirit" presents a difficulty: to what does it refer? what does it signify? First, the Syriac refers it to "whom he chose," so that it is an anastrophe, to be arranged in this manner: "Giving commandment to the Apostles, whom he chose through the Holy Spirit;" by breathing upon them the Holy Spirit, he said: "Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them," John xx, 22. But this anastrophe is gaping and rather harsh, especially because the Roman and other codices separate "through the Holy Spirit" by a comma and disjoin it from "whom he chose." Second, Idacius, book III Against Varimundus, refers it to "to preach," which he himself supplies: "on the day," he says, "on which he chose the Apostles through the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel." But "to preach the Gospel" is not in the text, nor in any Interpreter. Third, St. Chrysostom refers it to the word "gave commandment," meaning that Christ's precepts were holy and spiritual, not carnal and earthly: because he gave all his commandments from the instinct of the Holy Spirit, whom he always had assisting and dwelling in him, indeed as his companion and cooperator. Whence Christ says: "The words that I have spoken to you, they are spirit and life," that is, they are spiritual and vital, flowing from the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, John vi, 64. Fourth, others refer it to "he was assumed," meaning that Christ was assumed into heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit. But then "whom he chose" is inserted more harshly. Nestorius followed this sense, from it contending that Christ was not God, inasmuch as he needed the aid of another, namely the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is not alien, but intimate and consubstantial with Christ as he is God. Fifth, you should genuinely and properly refer it to "to the Apostles," so that it is their title and warrant, "through the Holy Spirit," meaning: Giving commandment to the Apostles, namely called by Christ, chosen and designated for the apostolate through the instinct of the Holy Spirit, shortly thereafter by the same Spirit they were to be publicly authorized and consecrated as Apostles at Pentecost: for the Greek article tois is understood, namely meaning "giving commandment to the Apostles, who were to be such through the Holy Spirit." It is an idiom of the Greeks, among whom the relative with the substantive verb is commonly supplied. Luke adds this, so that he might conciliate authority both to the Apostles and to these their Acts, as deeds done through the Holy Spirit, of which they were the instruments. Vatablus adds: "Through the Holy Spirit," that is, he says, concerning the Holy Spirit, so that "through the Holy Spirit" partly refers to "to the Apostles," in the sense which I have already given, partly to "giving commandment": and thus the sense will be full, meaning that Christ gave commandment to the Apostles chosen by him, and soon to be authorized and consecrated through the Holy Spirit, concerning the same Spirit, namely waiting, so that the Apostles would patiently await him and his coming and his mission throughout the world, and would prepare themselves for him quietly and piously. For thus he explains this commandment and these words, when he immediately adds, verse 4: "And he commanded them from Jerusalem, that they should not depart, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (he says) by my mouth: for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence." Behold this is the "giving commandment to the Apostles through the Holy Spirit," and concerning the Holy Spirit: for we read of no other commandment given to the Apostles by Christ on the day of the ascension. Luke the Evangelist confirms the same, cap. ult., verse 49, where immediately before Christ's assumption into heaven he sets forth his promise and commandment: "I," he says, "send the promise (the Holy Spirit) of my Father upon you: but you sit in the city, until you be endued with power from on high." For that commandment: "Going, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," was given to the Apostles not at the ascension, but earlier on the mountain of Galilee, where Christ after his resurrection showed himself alive to the whole assembly of disciples by appointment, as is evident Matthew xxviii, 16. The Gloss bears on this, which explains "through the Holy Spirit" as "on account of the Holy Spirit," meaning: He commanded the Apostles to sit in Jerusalem on account of the Holy Spirit, so that they might receive him there descending at Pentecost. Cajetan also adds that by "the Apostles through the Holy Spirit," he thinks the eleven Apostles are distinguished and separated from Judas. For Judas was indeed elected to the apostolate by Christ, but was not authorized by the Holy Spirit: hence he fell away and perished. From this it is clear that the Apostles were creatures of the Holy Spirit, just as Cardinals are creatures of the Pontiff. For the Holy Spirit gave to them, first, the power of preaching the Gospel by office, namely that they should do this as legates of himself, equally as of Christ; second, he filled them with his spirit, namely with a fiery mind and tongue, so that with great zeal and efficacy they might preach, strike down and convert all nations; third, he gave them the power of performing miracles, so that they might confirm and seal their preaching with the seal of the Holy Spirit, as it were; fourth, he stood by and directed them in all things, so that not so much they themselves, as the Holy Spirit through them seemed to speak and act, as Christ had promised: "For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you," Matt. x, 20. Whom he chose. — In Greek hoús exelexato, whom he had chosen, namely already long before, much earlier, namely Matt. x, 1 and 2. Hence Tertullian, lib. De Praescript., cap. xx, thus reads and understands it, "whom he attached to his side," that is to say, whom Christ as the supreme Pontiff sent as Legates from his side throughout the whole world. This is what Paul says, II Cor. v, 20: "For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting through us." Was taken up, — not by angels, but by his own power and by himself, namely by his divinity, through the gift of agility given by himself to his blessed and glorious humanity. He was taken up therefore upward (for this is what the Greek aná in analémphthē signifies), that is he ascended into heaven. Thus analambánein heautón signifies to return to himself, to gather himself together from fear, to restore himself to his place, and that not by external, but by internal and proper power and virtue. Christ did this in the thirty-fourth year of his age, as the truer and more common opinion of Theologians and Chronologists holds. But why was he taken up so soon? Why did he not exhibit his presence to the earth and to men for more years, so much desired and beneficial: according to what Jeremiah asks, cap. xiv, vers. 8: "The expectation of Israel, why wilt thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man turning aside to lodge? Why wilt thou be as a wandering man?" I answer: There are various causes: first, because Christ came chiefly so that by his death he might redeem us and offer his life for us. But it was fitting that that offering be made when it was most flourishing, namely in the flower of age, which is the thirty-fourth year. For this was the most noble and worthy victim to God, especially because Adam was created at the same age, and he abused it to the offense of God, which same age and flower Christ came to repair. Second, because in thirty-four years he perfected the work of his legation, namely he evangelized, performed miracles, gave examples of all virtues, traversed all Judaea evangelizing: nothing remained further. For he himself preached to the Jews alone, as the Messiah promised to them; lest if he should turn to the Gentiles, the Jews would have occasion to calumniate that he was not the Messiah promised to them, but another of the Gentiles. Third, because Christ in a few years produced very many and most perfect acts of all his virtues and offices, and indeed more than we in a hundred, nay a thousand years: therefore being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled many times. Fourth, because his divine body was owed heaven, as its proper place, where the angels eagerly awaited it: therefore it was not fitting that it be left on earth longer than the necessity of his legation required, where it was a reproach to the Jews, a scandal to the Gentiles: especially because prolonged intercourse diminishes esteem and begets contempt. Morally, so that he might teach us not to desire a long life, but to long for heaven, and that: "Fill your years with virtues," and that of Wisdom IV, 8: "Venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years: but the understanding of a man is grey hairs, and a spotless life is ripe old age."
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3. And to them, — These things are rightly connected with what precedes. For by these Luke explains how He was taken up, namely the manner and sequence of Christ's Ascension and its prior dispositions, by which He certainly proved to the Apostles that He had truly risen, and gradually disposed their minds, lest they should take ill His departure and going away into heaven. He presented Himself alive, — paréstēsen, that is "stood before, exhibited, presented as living again from death," namely by raising Himself, and by the power of His divinity rising again, and risen presenting Himself alive and visible to the Apostles: for paréstēsen signifies both. Whence Francis Suarez, III part., tom. I, disp. xlv, sect. 2, with St. Thomas, teaches that Christ rose by the power of His divinity, as the first and principal cause, which after death remained throughout the whole three days hypostatically united both to the body and to the soul of Christ, and by the power of the soul as an instrument, or rather as a secondary cause. For although our future resurrection will be not by our soul — but by the ministry of Angels; yet it was otherwise in Christ. For it was fitting that the soul of Christ should rise by itself, lest it should seem to need the aid of Angels for this. The soul of Christ therefore was a sufficient principle, both for disposing the body, and also for gathering together the parts which were scattered, indeed outside the sepulchre, such as the blood, hair and other humours poured out separately in the Passion. For the soul of Christ drew all these things into the sepulchre, causing them to penetrate that stone covering it, and again to be inserted into the body: which then it disposed and organized for its union, and having disposed as it were a companion of its sufferings and an instrument of its merits, it again inserted itself into it and animated it, vivified it, blessed it and glorified it. Moreover this power is connatural to the soul of Christ by reason of the hypostatic union: because from the union with the Word that soul has a permanent power, and in the manner of a habit for effecting such miracles. Whence the soul of Christ here acts not as a mere instrument, but like a secondary cause, which has in itself the force of acting: thus Suarez. Wherefore the hieroglyph of Christ dying and rising is the sun setting and rising, whose symbol likewise is the phoenix, which bird they feigned and depicted with wings expanded, so that by them alone they might shadow forth the rays. Moreover to Christ belongs the enigma of the phoenix from the Symposium: Life to me is death, I die if I begin to be born. But before me is first, the origin of joyful light. Thus I call the shades themselves alone my parents. In many proofs, — by many proofs, in Greek tekmḗria, that is certain, undoubted and necessary signs and indications, as Quintilian teaches from Aristotle, lib. V, cap. ix, by which Christ proved His resurrection. Such were so many appearances of Christ, eatings, speakings, the stigmata of wounds, which He showed and wished to be touched by Thomas; miracles, such as that closing the doors, penetrating them, He entered to the disciples, and suddenly disappeared when He wished: all which things taken together sufficiently made credible and to be believed the resurrection of Christ, and thus showed His body not only as living again, but also as blessed, subtle and glorious, especially with the testimonies of Angels and Holy Scripture added, so that deception or fiction could not underlie them. I speak of demonstration and evidence that is moral, not mathematical; thus St. Thomas and Suarez, III part., Quaest. LV, art. 6, where he teaches that Christ risen showed Himself through the works of threefold life, namely vegetative, when He ate and drank; sensitive, when He showed Himself to see and hear; intellectual, when He spoke, and discoursed about the Scriptures. For forty days, — not continuously, but by turns and at intervals. You will ask, why precisely so many? I answer: The first reason is, because this number is perfect, and sacred and frequent in Scripture: for it was sanctified by the fasting of Moses, Elijah and Christ, and many others. Second, because on the fiftieth day, namely at Pentecost, He was about to send the Holy Spirit from heaven: it was fitting therefore that He ascend on the fortieth day, so that with the Holy Spirit in heaven He might treat of His descent at that time, when the disciples, in His absence, by prayers and sighs were disposing themselves for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Third, that He might compensate for forty hours of absence in death by as many days of presence, says the Gloss. For Christ died at the ninth hour on Friday, and rose at dawn on the Lord's Day; therefore from His death to His resurrection there intervened forty hours, during which His soul was in hell; but His body lay in the sepulchre for only thirty-six hours, for He was buried three hours after His death. Thus the sense of the Church holds, and St. Augustine teaches in the Dialogue to Orosius, in the Sixty-Five Questions, Question XXVI. Fourth, that the antitype might correspond to the type, namely Christ to God, Peter to Moses. For God exhibited Himself present to Moses, while He spent forty days with him on Sinai and received the law from him: it was fitting therefore that God incarnate, namely Christ, should spend as many days on Sion with Peter and the Apostles, as it were with new and evangelical legislators, and should deliver to them and explain the evangelical law. The symbolic reason is that the number forty is a symbol of our pilgrimage in this world. Whence the children of Israel journeyed for forty years in the desert, tending toward the promised land: in like manner Christ also journeyed here for forty days, as it were, and when these were completed He ascended into heaven, that in the same way He might teach us to journey throughout this life, and to pass through the world as pilgrims, and to fix our mind on no created thing, but to dwell in heaven, whither, when the forty years of our exile are completed, we shall arrive. Hence again the number forty is a symbol of penance, purification and fasting, which when duly completed, we shall arrive with Christ at the heavenly Passover and at the fiftieth jubilee, as it were at the reward of labour and continence. Whence St. Thomas, III, Question LVII, article 1, to 4: "By forty days," he says, "the time of the present age, in which Christ dwells in the Church, can be understood: because man consists of four elements, and is instructed against the transgression of the Decalogue." Morally: Christ wished to wean His disciples gradually and draw them away from His bodily presence, lest they be overwhelmed if He suddenly ascended into heaven. Again, God wished to show how much more liberal He is in consolations than in inflicting punishments and desolations; for in place of forty hours of Christ's absence in death, He gave the disciples forty days of His presence. He therefore balanced an hour of affliction with a day of consolation. Where Christ was occupied during these forty days is curious to inquire and rash to define. Some reasonably suspect that He was with Elias and Enoch in paradise, either that primeval one, Genesis ii, 8, or one similar to it: both because this place and society befitted the blessed and glorious body of Christ; and because Elias merited it, who had stood by Him and borne witness to Him in the transfiguration; and because the translation of Elias and Henoch, as it were by their right, demanded it, and the delay and deferment of their beatitude, so that because on account of Christ they remain alive on earth for so many thousands of years, and are not transferred to heaven, as all other holy men are, that they might contemplate God and enjoy Him, at least they might see the humanity of Christ risen again acting on earth and enjoy it glorious, and receive from it the commission which they shall execute, and the commands which they shall carry out at the end of the world, when they shall return to defend the faith of Christ against Antichrist and fall as martyrs for it: thus think St. Justin Martyr in Questions to the Orthodox, Questions LXXV, LXXVI and LXXXV; Irenaeus, book V, chapter v; Nicephorus, book I of the History, chapter xxxi; St. Bonaventure, in the Meditations, chapters xci and xcviii. St. Thomas favours this, in III, Distinction xxii, Question III, article 2, at the end, where he holds that the souls of the Fathers who rose with Christ were in the earthly paradise; for where these were, there also was Christ. Speaking of the kingdom of God. — The kingdom of God properly is the kingdom of heaven: for there God reigns in the blessed through glory, He who reigns through power and providence over the whole world. To this kingdom God created and called men from the beginning of the world; for this is man's end and beatitude. Wherefore the theme of the preaching of St. John the Baptist was this: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matt. III, 2. The same theme was afterwards that of Christ, Matt. IV, 17, and by His command that of all the Apostles, Matt. x, 7. But because this kingdom of God spreads itself out, and God communicates it to the Church and to the faithful and Saints warring in it, hence the Church militant is also called the kingdom of God, namely spiritual, both because God reigns in it through faith, grace and the other virtues; and because it itself is the way, part and beginning of the Church triumphant, which properly and perfectly is the kingdom of God; for to it it tends and leads its faithful. Thus by metonymy the Church, as also evangelical preaching and faith, is sometimes called the "kingdom of God," as when Christ says: "The kingdom of God is come upon you," that is, evangelical faith, through which God reigns in you, and which makes you members of the Church, which is the kingdom of God, so that you now belong to its dominion and kingdom. The sense therefore is, as if Christ during these 40 days before His ascension into heaven spoke to the Apostles of the kingdom of God, both heavenly, namely of glory and eternal happiness in the Church triumphant; and also earthly, which leads to the heavenly, namely of the Church militant: namely He taught the Apostles how they ought to establish, form and perfect the Church.
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4. And eating together. — The Greek codices vary here. Some read synaulizomenos, that is, conversing with them in the same hall and lodging; whence also some Latin codices read conversing instead of eating together. But St. Chrysostom, the Syrian, Theophylactus, Oecumenius and others read synalizomenos throughout: which the Zurich edition, Erasmus and Pagninus translate "gathering them into the same place," from the word háma, or aná, which signifies a council or gathering. For Christ, about to depart, wished all to be present, so that he might bid all a final farewell, give final instructions to all, and ascend before all. But St. Jerome better, to Hedibius, Question VII; St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Oecumenius translate eating together, so that synalízomai is said from the communion of salt. For those who eat together mutually partake of the same salt and salt-cellar: for háls in Greek is the same as sal in Latin. For the Greeks often convert the aspiration into the letter S in Latin, as hýper, super; hys, sus; hérpō, serpo; hérpyllos, serpyllum; hýlē, sylva. Both readings and versions come to the same thing. For those who dwell in the same lodging are accustomed to eat of the same bread and salt of the lodging, that is, they are gathered together. They eat together safely. Hence Pythagoras, as Laertius testifies in his Life, thought salt should especially be placed on the table, because it reminds us of equity and justice, so that what preserves and protects whatever it has taken hold of, and becomes liquid in water and sea. Again, salt is a symbol of friendship, because it preserves bodies and keeps them longest; hence it is called the salt of the covenant, Leviticus ii, 13. Wherefore it was customary to place it before other foods for guests, by which the firmness and perpetuity of friendship might be signified. Whence some consider it a bad omen if salt happens to be spilled on the table. Hence the saying: "One ought not to transgress salt and table," that is, the law of friendship. For just as salt from many waters and fusible things comes together into one thing and becomes solid, so those coming together from different sources coalesce into one mind, and that saying of Plato (or rather of St. Luke) comes about, one soul, says Pierius, Hieroglyphics, book XIII, chapter x; wherefore Origen, in Matthew chapter xxvii, speaking of Judas the traitor: "Neither of the same salt, he says, nor of the table, nor of the bread communicated did he remember." Moreover, the synalizomenos denotes the frugality of the ancients, in that they added to bread no other relish than salt, just as their drink was water. Hence that saying of Diogenes, who, when invited by Crater to a lodging, replied "that he would rather lick salt in Athens than eat sumptuous feasts elsewhere." And that of Horace: "With salt bread / will well soothe the barking stomach." The same poet elsewhere introduces the singer Tigellium speaking thus: "Let me have a three-legged table, and a shell of pure salt." To the same point tends what Cicero, in the book On Friendship, prescribes that many bushels of salt must first be consumed with him with whom you think to enter into friendship. Pliny, book XXXI, chapter vii, from Varro, testifies that the ancients used salt in place of relish, and that they ate salt with bread. Hence Homer calls salt divine, and Plato, most sacred, concerning which see Plutarch, in the Symposium, Decade 5. Hence also the Apostles ordained, as Epiphanius writes, book V, tome I, heresy 75, that Christians on Wednesday and Saturday should eat nothing but bread, salt and water; indeed St. Gregory of Nazianzus testifies that he perpetually consumed nothing but these three, Poem 9, singing thus: "And brief pleasure / has many hardships as companions. But to me it is dear / hard bread, to me pure salt provides welcome relish, / a simple table instructed by no labor, then / sober cups pour forth drink for me. / These are my greatest riches, and Christ the / Author of salvation." That the ancient Anchorites and Cenobites lived on the same things is evident from the Lives of the Fathers. The causes were: First, "lest they should think it a mere phantom and apparition," says St. Chrysostom. Second, that departing with a signal display of dignity, friendship, humility and charity (just as he had done at the last supper when about to go to his death), he might give them an example to imitate and implant a spur to love him in return. For who would not marvel at Christ, no longer mortal and passible, but immortal and glorious, who feeds on the food of angels, indeed of God himself, stooping to the table of his unlearned and poor Apostles, lowering himself to eat vile and earthen food and salt with them, sitting with them, dining with them, eating the same food and salt, as though a companion with companions, a friend with friends? On the other hand, Luther, not Apostolic but Apostate and fanatical, in order to show himself the author of his own gospel, boasted that he had eaten a bushel of salt with the devil. He was therefore the devil's table-companion, associate, apostle. See our Serarius, the book On Luther's Master. Third, that he might give a type and as it were a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, according to that: "Behold I dispose unto you, etc., a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom," Luke xxii, 29-30. Whence salt is a symbol of eternity; equally of the wisdom and discretion which the Apostles, dining with Christ, received from him, so that they might become the salt of the earth. See the passages in Leviticus ii, 13. From this place many gather that Christ, shortly after completing the meal, which is customarily done at midday, in full light and openly before all the disciples, ascended into heaven. Thus St. Prosper, Sentences 203, among the sentences collected from Augustine, which are found at the end of vol. III of St. Augustine. St. Augustine certainly teaches that Christ ascended at midday. Wherefore in many places it is a pious custom, from the hour of midday until the first hour after midday, to devote oneself to prayer, in memory of the Lord's Ascension, says Francis Suarez, III part., vol. I, disp. 11, sect. 2. For immediately after the meal was finished, which took place in Jerusalem in the cenacle of Sion, he led the Apostles to the Mount of Olives: on this journey, and in gathering together the other disciples, some time was spent; soon on the Mount of Olives, bidding them farewell and blessing them, he ascended. St. Prosper gives the reason from St. Augustine, in the place already cited: "The vigor," he says, "of Christian faith is initiated in three times, evening, morning and midday. For in the evening the Lord was on the cross, in the morning in the resurrection, at midday in the ascension. One pertains to the patience of the slain, another to the resurrection to life, the third to the glory of majesty sitting at the right hand of the Father." Just as therefore he was crucified at midday, so on the day of the cross he ascended at midday, that at the same time he humbled himself to the death of the cross, he might also be exalted in heaven ascending. Whence at the same time dying, the Venerable Bede followed Christ the Lord ascending into heaven. For the Venerable Bede died on the very feast of the Ascension of Christ, and that without illness, while he was attending Vespers, singing: "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost," in the year of the Lord 731, at the age of 59. Thus the author of his Life, and from him Baronius, in the year of Christ already mentioned. You will ask, what and of what kind was this eating of Christ in his mouth and body now glorious? I say first, the author of On the Wonders of Holy Scripture, book III, chapter xiv, in St. Augustine, holds that it was not true eating, but apparent, such as was Raphael's, Tobit xii, 19, saying: "I seemed indeed to eat and drink with you, but I use invisible food and drink, which cannot be seen by men." For eating is a vital action, by which namely by the power of the soul food is vitally conveyed from the mouth into the stomach and the members which the soul informs, and is digested. But Raphael did not inform the assumed body, but merely assisted it: hence his speech, eating, perfection, etc., were not vital actions, that is, performed vitally by the soul informing the body, but exercised extrinsically through the body and in the body as though in an organ. The angel therefore conveyed food from the mouth into the stomach; but just as his mouth and stomach was not a true and human mouth and stomach, so neither was his eating true and human eating. But it was otherwise in Christ: for Christ after the resurrection assumed a true body, which the soul truly informed as before, and therefore just as his speech, sight, hearing were true and vital, so also was his eating. By the power of the soul he vitally conveyed food from the mouth into the stomach. Therefore this eating of his was not apparent, but real and proper, because he employed it as a certain proof of life, and consequently of his resurrection: thus the Fathers everywhere. I say secondly, that this food was not digested by Christ and converted into His body, as Waldensis and Durandus wish in III, dist. xxii, Quaest. VI, ad 2; for a glorious body cannot be nourished and grow or diminish: for it is impassible and unalterable. For, as St. Augustine says, epist. 49, Quaest. I, and from him Bede: "Otherwise the thirsty earth absorbs water, otherwise the burning ray of the sun; the one is from need, the other from power." Whence it follows that this eating is not so much of a vegetative soul (since its actions cease in a glorious body) as of a sentient soul and one that moves from place to place. For it is as it were a certain application of matter, in which the nutritive faculty could exercise its power, if it needed nourishment or were capable of it, as a mortal body is, but not an immortal one, such as Christ's was. Christ therefore by His divine power suddenly consumed this food and resolved it into air or the matter lying before Him; or by the gift of subtlety the stomach of Christ penetrated the food, and thus it passed into a place different from the food; and consequently Christ excluded the food from Himself and transferred it to the place He wished: thus Suarez, III part., tom. I, disp. xlvii, sect. 5. You will object: therefore it was not a real and proper eating by Christ, such as is in us, by which we are nourished and sustained. I answer, I deny the consequence; for the nature of true and proper eating requires and suffices that through a vital action and organs of life (namely, tongue, teeth, jaws, throat, etc.) food taken in the mouth be transmitted to the stomach: which is not in an angel, if it assume a body. For in it there is not the action of life, but only local motion through the body, to which it stands as a charioteer. Yet it is true that in Christ there was not so perfect an eating as is in us. For in us there is the work of both a vegetative and a sentient soul; in Christ, of a sentient soul only. This eating of Christ was therefore a mean between ours and that of angels. For ours is the action of a sentient and vegetative soul; in Christ, of a sentient, not vegetative soul; in an angel neither vegetative nor sentient, but moving from place to place, or exercising local motion about the stomach and the assumed body. He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem. — You will ask, why did Christ send the Holy Spirit from Jerusalem, not elsewhere? I answer: The first cause was, because He suffered in Jerusalem; for Jerusalem He chose for His passion, Bethlehem for His nativity, says St. Leo, serm. De Pass. Domini, because He wished to hide His glory and show His ignominy to the whole world, that He might teach us to do the same: but by the merit of His passion the Holy Spirit was sent; for it was fitting that where Christ had suffered ignominy, there He should also undergo glory. For the Holy Spirit was Christ's glory, and celebrated Him in Judaea and throughout the whole world, that He might teach us to suffer ignominy, in the sure hope that God would turn it into glory. Secondly, because in Jerusalem, namely on the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Jerusalem, He ascended into heaven. There therefore He likewise sent the Holy Spirit, that it might be signified that He Himself was the one sending, as He had foretold and promised, not another. Thirdly, because in Jerusalem Christ taught, instituted the Apostles, founded the Church. There therefore came the Holy Spirit, that He might confirm and advance all these things. Fourthly, that the Holy Spirit might signify that He, Judaism being abolished (for Jerusalem was its metropolis), was instituting Christianity. For on Pentecost the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to promulgate the new law. But this promulgation had to be made publicly in Jerusalem, that all the Jews might be able to hear and know it, and from there learn that the old law was made obsolete. Fifthly, because Jerusalem was the head of the Synagogue and of the faithful people, as Rome now is. Just as therefore the soul is more vigorous and lives in the head than in the other members: so the Holy Spirit was more present and vigorous in Jerusalem (as He now is vigorous in Rome, while He directs the Pontiff and Cardinals in the government of the Church, and while He inspires the faithful there with such fervor of charity in works), than in other cities of Judaea. Add that in Jerusalem was Sion and the temple, in which the Holy Spirit is worshipped and presides. Sixthly, because in Sion reigned David and Solomon, whose son Christ was promised to them. He therefore ought likewise to reign in Sion. In Sion therefore He founded the Church, as it were His kingdom. Whence it is called by the Prophets Sion, as in Isaiah ii, 3: "Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." And cap. lxi, vers. 1: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, etc., that I might preach the acceptable year to the Lord, etc.; that I might set them that mourn in Sion, and give them a crown for ashes;" and often elsewhere. Tropologically: Jerusalem, that is the vision of peace, is a symbol of the just soul, which cultivates peace with God, with itself and with its neighbors. For this is the seat and temple of the Holy Spirit, according to that: "His place is made in peace, and his abode in Sion," Psalm lxxv, 3. Allegorically: Jerusalem is a type of the Church, in which alone the Holy Spirit is and shows itself, according to that: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," Matt. xviii, 20. Let no one therefore separate himself from the Church, from its congregation, order, college, if he wishes to receive and retain the Holy Spirit. Again, let each faithful person, Cleric, Religious frequent the temples and public assemblies, such as litanies, sermons, conferences, etc.; for there he will feel the Holy Spirit speaking and will perceive its inspirations and gifts. Wherefore the Apostle admonishes the faithful, saying: "Not forsaking our assembly," Hebr. x, 25. Anagogically: Sion and earthly Jerusalem, is a type of the heavenly, in which the Holy Spirit pours out its riches and gifts of glory upon the Blessed, who were partakers of its grace and gifts in the earthly, according to that Hebr. xii, 22-25: "You are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the church of the firstborn, who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better than Abel. See that you refuse not him that speaketh." But they were to wait, — first, to sharpen in them the desire for the Holy Spirit; "for it was necessary that they be held by desire of the promise, and thus receive the gift," says St. Chrysostom. Second, it was necessary that our nature appear in heaven and perfect reconciliation be made, and then the Spirit come, by which pure and unmixed joy would be made. Third, because "Christ did not wish his disciples before the coming of the Holy Spirit to go forth in public as unarmed and as horses without a charioteer," says the same Chrysostom. For they would have succumbed to labors, temptations, persecutions, philosophers, tyrants, unless the Holy Spirit had armed them, and made them invincible, indeed conquerors of all. Hence Luke the Evangelist, explaining this precept of Christ, xxiv, 49: "But you sit, he says, in the city, until you be endued with power from on high." Morally: the Holy Spirit and its gifts come not to the thoughtless, sluggish and sleeping, but to those waiting, praying and watching. The promise of the Father. — It is a metonymy: the act is put for the object, namely promise for the promised or the thing promised. The promise therefore is the Holy Spirit promised, both by Christ and by the Father; yet for the sake of modesty he calls it the promise, not his own, but the Father's, just as also in the Gospel according to St. John, he calls it a gift, not his own, but the Father's; because namely the Father is the first source and origin of the Holy Trinity. For from him the Son draws his divinity and consequently the power of spirating, so that namely with the Father he spirates and produces the Holy Spirit. Witnesses to this modesty are these words of Christ: "I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete," John xiv, 16, as if to say: I was the first Paraclete, sent by the Father to teach and redeem you: I have taught and redeemed you: my mission therefore being completed I return to heaven: I will ask the Father and will obtain that in my place he send you another Paraclete, namely the Holy Spirit, who will illuminate and perfect those things which I have taught, according to that verse 26: "But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you." Note: The Holy Spirit is a gift and the proper dowry of the New Testament, namely of the Christian law and the grace of Christ: for it is the pledge and promise thereof; the Old Testament therefore lacked it, namely the law of Moses, the Synagogue and the Jews, as being hard, earthly and carnal: but if any had it, such as Elias, Moses, David, they were sons of the New Testament rather than of the old. Hence the Prophets foretold and promised it, as Ezechiel xxxvi: "I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in the midst of you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in the midst of you; and I will cause you to walk in my commandments." And Jeremias, chapter xxxi, verse 33: "This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord: for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest of them." Joel ii, 28: "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons shall prophesy," of which chapter ii.
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5. Because John indeed baptized with water. — St. Chrysostom, Euthymius and Tertullian, in his book On Baptism, chapter xii (although Bede seems to deny this), say that he baptized any Jews whatsoever, indeed even the Apostles, before they were called by Christ, especially Andrew and his companions, who were disciples of John. But you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, — namely in the baptism of Christ. For Christ opposes this to the baptism of John, as St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus and Euthymius say, in chapter i of John, who consequently hold that the Apostles, with Christ dying, rising and ascending, had not yet been baptized with the baptism of Christ and cleansed by water. There are added to this opinion others who think that the baptism of Christ was not instituted before, but after the death and resurrection of Christ, Matthew chapter xxviii, verse 19, when He said: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Tertullian holds this opinion, in his book On Baptism, chapter xi; St. Jerome, in his Dialogue Against Lucifer; Chrysostom, homily 28 on John, and incidentally St. Thomas, III part., Question lxxiii, article 5, to the 4th objection. But that baptism was instituted by Christ long before is evident from John iii, 3, even though it was promulgated after Christ's ascension at Pentecost, and then began to bind all, as is evident from Acts ii, 38. Thus the Interpreters and Doctors think throughout, with St. Thomas, III part., Question lxvi, article 2, where he treats this expressly. Whence also the Apostles of Christ, equally as John the Baptist, baptized in water, certainly with the baptism not of John, but of Christ, and therefore a contention arose between the disciples concerning the baptism of John and of Christ, as we read in John iv, 25. Wherefore St. Evodius, successor of St. Peter in the chair of Antioch, in his epistle inscribed Tò Phōs, that is, Light, asserts that Christ baptized with His own hands from among women only the Virgin, from among men only Peter: but Peter baptized Andrew, James and John; and these three baptized the remaining Apostles. I say therefore, according to the letter, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is called here the outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, by which He was poured out abundantly like water upon the Apostles, and submerged and absorbed them in Himself. Baptism therefore signifies the abundance of charisms which the Apostles received at Pentecost, so much so that they seemed not to be dipped, not to be imbued, but to be plunged, filled and made drunk. "For just as he who is submerged and baptized in water is surrounded on all sides by waters, so also they who were baptized in the Spirit were made perfect," says Cyril, in catechesis 17. Christ therefore opposes His mystical baptism of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost to the literal baptism of John the Baptist, in that the latter was given only in water, and conferred neither remission of sins, grace nor justice, but disposed men to receive these in the baptism of Christ, by inducing them by word and gesture to penance and tears, as St. Augustine teaches, in chapter i of St. John, tract. 5, and others throughout; but the mystical baptism of Christ was to be given in the Holy Ghost, showing itself not in cold water, but in burning fire; because He was about to give to the Apostles at Pentecost a fiery heart and fiery tongues, as if to say, John baptized in water only, but I baptize not only in water, but also in the Holy Ghost. For shortly I will send upon you the Holy Ghost, who by His spirit and holiness will so fill you, as if you were wholly baptized and submerged in Him, so that henceforth you also may be able to baptize others in water and the Holy Ghost. Thus it came to pass. For when the Apostles baptized, the Holy Ghost descended upon the faithful, not only invisibly, but also visibly in the form of fire, etc., as He had first descended upon them themselves at Pentecost: thus St. Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Bede, Lyra and others. Moreover, Christ calls the sending of the Holy Ghost a baptism, because baptism signifies, first, the purification of sins and affections, which the Holy Ghost conferred upon the Apostles and confers upon them daily. For just as water in baptism touching the body washes the heart, as St. Augustine says, and wipes away all sin from it; so the Holy Ghost at Pentecost washed and purified the heart and mind of the Apostles from all sin, vice and earthly desire. Secondly, the word baptism signifies complete sanctification. For just as baptism imparts to a soul purged from sins faith, hope, charity and holiness; so the Holy Ghost at Pentecost gave to the Apostles all grace, virtue and sanctity, and that in a perfect and heroic degree. Third, the same word signifies the fullness and abundance of charisms. For just as the body in baptism is surrounded and overwhelmed by water, so the Apostles were as it were surrounded and overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and His gifts. Fourth, it signifies ardor and zeal. For their baptism was fiery, not watery; the Holy Spirit indeed, descending upon them in the form of fire, set their hearts ablaze. This is what St. John the Baptist himself answered to the Jews when they questioned him about his baptism: "I indeed baptize you in water unto penance, but he that shall come after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire," Matt. iii, 11. Hence theologians distinguish a threefold baptism: of the river, of the flame, and of blood. Of the river is the common baptism, which is performed through water. Of blood is martyrdom: for this indeed expiates all sin, equally as baptism. Of the flame is this baptism of the Apostles, and also of those who are contrite and desire the sacrament of Baptism, but on account of the lack of water or a minister cannot receive it. For these are justified by their contrition together with the desire of baptism, which the flame, that is the Holy Spirit, inspires in them. Finally, this baptism was the greatest miracle of the renewed world. Wherefore truly St. Chrysostom in Acts says: "This very thing is the greatest miracle; by other miracles the whole world runs together, attracted by twelve poor and unlettered men." Not after many days—namely on the tenth day hence at Pentecost, but Christ did not wish to indicate a certain day to them, "so that they might always be watchful," says St. Chrysostom, "and might await the promise more diligently, for grace is not given, is not given, I say, except to the watchful. Do you not see what Elias says to his disciple? If you see me when I am taken up from you, so shall it be to you, that is, that shall happen to you which you ask," namely my spirit doubled, IV Kings ii. "So also grace was not given to Paul immediately, but three days intervened, during which he was blind, and meanwhile he was purged by fear and prepared. For just as those who dye purple first prepare with certain other colors that which is to receive the dye, lest the color be diluted and fade: so also here God first prepares the solicitude of the soul, and then pours in grace. For the same reason He did not send the Spirit immediately, but on the fiftieth day."
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6. Therefore they who were gathered together—not only the Apostles, but also other disciples, before whom Christ ascended. "They come together," says St. Chrysostom, "so that by a certain shame and reverence of the multitude, they might extort what they desire to know." The word therefore suggests that the Apostles thought that Christ, as the Messiah, would after His resurrection restore the kingdom of Israel, which had long since fallen, and therefore would send the Holy Spirit to restore it, and that this was the promise of the Father through the Prophets. For Amos indeed, cap. ix, 11, prophesies thus: "In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and I will rebuild the breaches of its walls," etc. And Osee, cap. xiv, 6: "I will be as the dew to Israel, he shall spring up as the lily, and his root shall go down as the Lebanon." And Joel, cap. iii, 20: "And Judea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation," etc. "And the Lord shall dwell in Sion." And Abdias, vers. 17: "And in mount Sion shall be salvation, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess those that possessed them." Finally Gabriel the Archangel, announcing Christ's birth to the Virgin Mother of God: "The Lord God," he says, "shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever," Luke i, 32. Wilt thou (that is, will you, whether, as Pagninus, the Zurich Bible and others translate it) at this time (of your resurrection, glory and triumph) RESTORE (in Greek apokathistáneis, that is, restore in the present) the kingdom to Israel?—In Greek tō Israēl, that is, to Israel, as if to say Israel has now lost the kingdom, indeed it has been transferred to Herod the Idumean and a foreigner. We know from the prophecies, especially that of Jacob, Gen. xlix, 10, that the scepter having been transferred, the Messiah would soon come to restore it to Israel: will you then accomplish this now? For we know and believe you to be the Messiah, that is the new and true David of Israel. They err in this, that they think the kingdom of the Messiah will be temporal, such as that of David and Solomon, not spiritual. But this was the common error of the Jews of that age (as indeed of all ages). Whence John and James asked for the right and left hand in the kingdom of Christ, Matt. xx, 20; and the two disciples going to Emmaus: "We were hoping," they say, "that he would be the one to redeem Israel," Luke xxiv, 21. Wherefore Christ does not give a solution to their question directed at him, because they were still incapable of it, but turning back their curiosity, he solves it indirectly and tacitly, namely that the Holy Spirit would come, so that they might boldly propagate the spiritual kingdom of Christ through faith in Judea and Samaria and throughout the whole world. For spiritual Israel is the faithful and Christian people, to which carnal Israel will be joined at the end of the world, when this kingdom shall become glorious and will make all the Saints blessed in soul and body forever.
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7. It is not for you to know the times, — The successions, decrees and events of times. Or moments. — In Greek kairoús, that is, the opportunities of times; thus Pagninus and others; the Zurich Bible, the articles of times; Vatablus, opportunities, namely of action to be done. Our translator learnedly calls them and renders them moments, because moment here does not signify an instant, but the weight and inclination of time. Thus Cicero, in book V of On Ends, says: "The inclinations of things and the moments of times," and Horace, book I, epistle 6: "Times declining at certain moments." Again Cicero, in book VI, epistle 10 to Trebatius: "We shall," he says, "observe all moments (that is, occasions), and shall not pass over any opportunity of helping and relieving you." For moment, grammarians derive from moveo; a moment, or occasion, is as it were a weight moving a thing and inclining it to action to be done: hence are called the great moments of judgments and of the greatest matters, that is, those which have great weight and efficacy, so that matters incline this way or that. Thus also the Wise Man, chapter xi, 23, said: "the moment of the balance," in Greek rhopḗ, that is, the inclination, motion, propensity of the balance, or scales. Thus we commonly say: "Favor in courts has great moment, learning has little." Morally: God carries out the vicissitudes, beginnings, middles and ends of kingdoms and all things in his moments and in opportune time. For the opportunity of action to be done brings great weight, both moment and weight, both facility, both propriety. But if it be lacking, God provides that it be present through the congruous modes of his providence, which he has hidden in the hidden treasures of his wisdom, by which he makes all the successions of things and times bind together aptly, and as it were insert themselves into one another like loops, so that they make an elegant chain. Wherefore Boethius, in book IV of the Consolation, prose 6, teaches that providence is the series of causes and things in the mind of God, which binds all things together in its orders, wonderful and tight, but mysterious knots: the ancients called this fate. For the Stoics said that fate is a certain entanglement of preceding and subsequent causes, and a connection like a chain. But because this, as being undeviating and unavoidable, they thought brought necessity and took away freedom from the will of man and angel; hence rightly are they impious, nay foolish, who use or speak of fate. Hear St. Augustine, tract. 37 in John: "O if your heart were not foolish, you would not believe in fate." Thus God fittingly and opportunely made it so that the kingdom and monarchy of Cyrus and the Persians succeeded the monarchy of the Chaldeans; then to Darius and the Persians succeeded Alexander and the Greeks; to these the Romans, who diminished the kingdom of Israel through Pompey and Augustus, by introducing an alien king Herod, and shortly after on account of the slaying of Christ through Titus and Vespasian destroyed it: so that thus with the kingdom of Israel and Judaism abolished, there succeeded the kingdom of Christ and Christianity, to which Israel shall be gathered at the end of the world, and that fittingly and congruously. For then God will send Enoch, from whom as it were the patriarch the Israelites were born; and Elijah, who was a Jew, and the most celebrated prophet of the Jews, to whom therefore announcing Christ, as to a fellow-citizen and his prophet, the Jews will believe, equally as Enoch, as being his father and patriarch. God teaches us by His own example, namely that we should do all things opportunely, and eagerly seize the occasions of doing things well, and not allow them to slip away. For, as Cato says: "Opportunity has hair on her forehead, but is bald behind," so that when she has passed, you cannot seize her. And Ovid: "Medicine avails in due season: things given in due time profit, and wine given at an unsuitable time harms." The admonition of Phocylides was: "Obey opportunity, and do not breathe against the winds;" of Menander: "Opportunity is much more powerful than laws, and is the cause of many things: it changes things most swiftly, and itself most swiftly slips away and flies off;" of Vegetius, book III On Military Affairs, chapter xxvi: "Opportunity in war is usually wont to help more than virtue;" of Demosthenes, oration to Leptin: "Small opportunities are the causes of great things;" of another: "Opportunity is the soul of actions;" of Livy, book II, Decade 3: "Armed and intent on these things, neither fail your opportunity, nor give your enemy his opportunity." Thus those who associate with girls give the demon an opportunity to tempt them with lust; those with the proud, with pride; those with the gluttonous, with gluttony; for if you concede him even a thread or a hair, from that he will weave you a rope which you can scarcely break with all your strength. Antigonus, when Pyrrhus provoked him to war, replied: "His military strength depended no more on arms than on times: if Pyrrhus had grown weary of life, there were quite enough ways open to him for his destruction:" thus Plutarch in his Life of Pyrrhus; to Themistocles a young man who had neglected an opportunity: "O young man," he said, "late indeed are we both, but yet we have begun to be wise." Thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms. The dogma of Scipio Africanus was: "One should not fight except either when opportunity invited or necessity urged." Thus Plutarch in his Life. Wherefore the wisdom of the Gentiles shone forth especially in seizing opportunities. Pliny most excellently, book XV, chapter xxiv: "The mulberry," he says, "germinates last of all, and yet bears fruit among the first: thus those who wait for the suitable time for completing a work, even if they begin later, nevertheless complete it sooner." The same, book XI, chapters vi and x: "Bees accomplish their work not on fixed days, but whenever the favorableness of the weather invites: thus each thing must be seized in its own time of opportunity." Finally, St. Chrysostom, book I On Compunction: "Just as," he says, "in bodies and fistulas, unless someone first stops the flowing moisture, the source of evil being unblocked, he does everything in vain: so also we, unless we guard against opportunity as a source of evil." Moreover, this same thing holds place not only in deeds, but also in words and sayings; for a word spoken opportunely will effect more than a thousand spoken inopportunely. Truly the Wise Man, Proverbs xxv, 11: "Golden apples in beds of silver, he that speaketh a word in due season." Let the Christian therefore adapt these things to himself, and use all opportunities for doing well, that he may increase heavenly gains, which he can daily wonderfully increase, if he seizes opportunities, as the merchant seizes the opportunity of trading, the soldier of conquering. For after this brief time and opportunity, there will be neither time nor opportunity for gaining.
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8. But you shall receive power — dynamis, that is, potency, strength, force, efficacy, which was so great in the Apostles that they subdued kings, tyrants, wild and barbarous nations, and the whole world to Christ, when they themselves were few, poor, unlearned, and of low birth. This is what Christ says in Luke xxiv, 49: "I send the promise of my Father upon you: but stay you in the city, till you be endued with power from on high." Most excellently St. Bernard, sermon 85 in the Canticles: "You have need of power," he says, "and not just any, but that with which you are clothed from on high. For this very power, if it be perfect, easily makes the soul victorious over itself, and thus renders it invincible in all things. For it is indeed a vigor of mind that knows not how to yield in defending reason. Or thus: A vigor of mind, which in itself compels or directs all things to reason," etc. "Happy the soul which, while angels looked on, afforded them both joy and wonder at itself, so that it heard them speaking of itself: Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved? Otherwise she strives in vain, if she leans not upon him." And soon after: "Why should not all things be possible to her that leans upon him who can do all things? What a voice of confidence: I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me? Nothing renders the omnipotence of the Word clearer than that it makes omnipotent all who hope in him." And further down: "Leaning upon the Word and clothed with power from on high, no force, no fraud, no enticement shall be able either to cast you down while standing, or to subject you while ruling." Supervenientis. — In Greek epelthóntos, in the aorist, that is, when, or after it shall come upon you. For the Holy Spirit was first given personally to the Apostles, and then, existing in them and dwelling in them, poured forth his power and gifts into them; just as the sun, after it has risen, spreads its rays throughout the world; of which more in chapter ii. Spiritus Sancti. — Who, what kind, and how great this Spirit is, I shall say at the beginning of chapter ii. And you shall be witnesses unto me. — "Unto me," namely to my incarnation, death, redemption, resurrection, ascension and the other mysteries which I have hitherto accomplished; as if to say, You shall teach and testify that I am the Son of God, who for the salvation of men was incarnate and crucified, and therefore I am the Savior of the world, and therefore they ought to believe in me that they may be saved, for there is no salvation outside of me. Witnesses, — by miracles, by the sanctity of life, by preaching, wisdom and efficacy not human but divine, as if to say, You have seen, O disciples, O my children, my life, you have heard my doctrine, you have beheld my miracles, my journeys, my labors, my contradictions, my torments, my death, my cross, my resurrection, soon you shall behold my ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit; everywhere you have seen my love and zeal toward men, which drew me from heaven to earth and to the cross: go, testify, and teach these things throughout the whole world, that they may love and care for their salvation, as I have loved and cared, that they may love me in return as one who loves them: behold I ascend, that I may prepare a place for them in heaven: persuade them therefore to despise the vain riches and pomps of the earth, to fear the judgment of God and hell, to seek and aspire to heaven. Behold what kind and how great witnesses these were to Christ. See here the dignity of the Apostles, concerning which St. Chrysostom speaks most excellently in his homily On St. Andrew, which is found in Surius on the 30th of November: "Nothing of such a kind, he says, ever was, as the Apostles were. These, being ministers of God's Word, handled that incarnate One, who as God has no form. They followed Him walking, who is present everywhere. They reclined at table with Him, who is circumscribed by no place. They heard His voice, who made all things by His word. They enclosed the world itself with their tongue, as it were with some net. They traversed in their courses the ends of the earth. They eradicated errors as tares; they cut off altars as if they were thorns; they slew idols as wild beasts; they put to flight demons as wolves; they gathered the Church as a flock; they assembled the orthodox as wheat; they cast out heresies as chaff; they dried up Judaism as hay; they burned the sect of the Greeks as stubble with fire; they cultivated human nature by the cross itself as by some plough, and scattered the word of God as seed; in short, all their deeds shone forth as stars. Wherefore the Lord said to them in a clear voice: You are the light of the world. For if a Christian man has the East, it is He who was born of the Virgin; he has the dawn, He who was the parent of baptism; he has splendor, the grace of Christ crucified; he has rays, those admirable tongues; he has day, that future age; he has midday, the time when the Lord remained on the cross itself; he has the west, the dwelling of the sepulchre; he has evening, that brief death; he has the brightness of the sun, the resurrection from the dead. You are the light of the world. Behold these stars, and be amazed at their splendor." In Jerusalem. — Apollonius, an ancient ecclesiastical writer, as Eusebius says in book V of his History, chapter xviii, at the end, "mentions a certain martyr Thrasea, who asserted that he had received from tradition of the ancients that the Saviour had commanded His Apostles not to depart from Jerusalem before twelve years. " But this is to be received with a grain of salt: for it is sufficiently established from the Acts that, on account of the death of Stephen, which occurred shortly after Christ's ascension, the Apostles were scattered; and many Historians and Doctors teach that their division throughout the provinces of the world occurred before twelve years. For 1. James, who was martyred before twelve years, they constantly assert from the Spanish Annals and continuous tradition to have gone into Spain and to have evangelized there.
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9. And when he had said these things, — and other things which St. Luke, Matthew and Mark recount at the end of the Gospel. It is probable that Christ, after finishing the meal, having first convoked the Apostles and other disciples (whom Luke numbers at 120, verse 15) from Jerusalem through the middle of the city, the Jews being restrained by divine force, stupefied and astonished, led them out to the Mount of Olives, and turned aside from the journey into the adjacent Bethany, as Luke says, Gospel chapter xxiv, 50, that he might bid farewell to Mary Magdalene, Martha and Lazarus, and led them with him likewise, that he might impart to them the vision and consolation of his Ascension, as being most dear to him: thus Suarez, III part., disp. li, sect. 2. All which things easily signify an hour having passed from the meal, before Christ reached the Mount of Olives and there, bidding farewell to his own, ascended. What most sweet and final conversations there were between the Mother of God and Christ, likewise his embraces and those of the disciples and many other things which Luke passes over for the sake of brevity, we can contemplate but cannot describe. St. Augustine, serm. 6 On the Ascension, which is 179 On the Seasons, says the Apostles spoke these things to Christ (understand rather in heart than in voice): "Lord, why dost thou forsake us ascending, thou who didst choose us going before in the way? Lord, when shall we perceive thy words sweeter than honey and the honeycomb from afar, and drink the balm of thy dropping and bedewing grace from thy lips and throat? Either instruct us whither thou ascendest, or do not forsake us as thou ascendest: as if with the shield of thy kindness we remained in the open stripped, like orphans deprived of the feathered veil of a mother's embrace. When wilt thou come to us, thou who hast redeemed us? Thy death was our sin; let thy ascension be our pledge, lest we be too much absorbed in sorrow and drowned, we whom thou hast drawn up from the vast sighs of the lower regions." — But Christ answered them through the angels sent by him: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come," etc. Whence in serm. 7, he calls these two angels two praetors and two palatines of the heavenly empire. "For it was necessary," he says, "that heavenly comforters be sent, lest the fearful fishermen remain." Our Ludovicus de Ponte, in his meditation on the Ascension, piously and probably meditates that Christ departing into heaven, that he might impress upon the disciples greater faith, hope, love and reverence toward him, gave them his hands and feet to kiss (that they might touch the sacred marks of the wounds in them), from which a most sweet fragrance exhaled, by which their hearts were wonderfully refreshed and comforted: but to his mother he offered also his side to kiss, into which she desired to hide herself, and in it to ascend with Christ. The disciples therefore with the greatest love and reverence kissed the hands and feet of Christ, as Mary Magdalene and her companion women had kissed them, John xx, 17, and Matt. xxviii, 9. He was lifted up. — "Not suddenly snatched away," as Elias and Enoch, "not secretly taken up, but lifted up before their eyes," says St. Bernard, On the Degrees of Humility, chapter 1; the same, sermon On the Ascension: "What, he says, do you think, brethren, how great a pain and fear burst into the Apostolic breast, when they saw him taken from them and lifted up into the air, not aided by ladders, not raised up by ropes, although accompanied by angelic service, yet not supported by aid, but walking in the multitude of his strength?" "Lifted up" therefore by himself and his own power through the gift of agility, and that gradually and step by step, that he might longer feed the eyes of the disciples beholding. For this is what Luke signifies, Gospel chapter xxiv, 50: "And lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And it came to pass, whilst he blessed them, he departed from them, and was carried up into heaven." From which words it is clear, first, that Christ lifted up his hands, both that he might pray to God and invoke him to bless the Apostles; and that by lifting and lowering, or certainly by placing his hands crosswise, as Jacob did, Genesis xlviii, 14, he might form the sign of the cross, as our Greiserus teaches, lib. III On the Cross, chapter xvi. For by the merit of the cross he obtained for us every blessing. Whence it became customary in the Church, that both in public and sacred Offices, and in private blessings of Prelates, Priests, Saints or parents, he who blesses forms the sign of the cross over him whom he blesses; which St. Basil testifies to be an Apostolic tradition, lib. On the Holy Spirit, chapter xxvii. Second, it is clear that Christ blessed the disciples, that is, he besought the aid and grace of the Father for them. You may ask, for what reasons Christ ascended into heaven immediately after his resurrection. I answer: The first reason is, that he might confirm his law and doctrine and show it to be heavenly. For he descended from the heavens in order to teach it, and therefore he returns there as the only-begotten Son of God, according to that passage in John iii, 13: "No one ascends into heaven, except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven." Whence St. Maximus, hom. 2 De Pentec.: "Just as," he says, "an eagle abandons low places, seeks high places, and climbs to the regions near the heavens; so also the Saviour abandoned the low places of hell, sought the higher regions of paradise, and penetrated the heights of the heavens." The second reason is, that he might open heaven, which was closed to men by the sin of Adam, and that he might show his kingdom to be not earthly and temporal, as the disciples thought, but heavenly and eternal: for which reason his followers ought to despise the earth and all earthly things. For, as St. Augustine says, serm. 175 De Temp.: "With Christ there ascended no pride, no avarice, no lust, no vice of ours ascended with our physician. And therefore, if we desire to ascend after our physician, we must lay aside vices and sins." The third reason is, that he might give to his body, thus humbled and afflicted on earth, a just reward and glory: for the fitting and proper place for a glorious body is heaven, not earth; for this is the place of things subject to generation and corruption. Whence St. Augustine, serm. 107 De Temp.: "Our," he says, "this Samson, having taken away the gates and the dominion of hell and death, ascended by a whirlwind into heaven." Christ ascended gradually: for this is what is signified by "he withdrew" and "was carried up." The Manichaeans held that Christ remained in the heaven of the sun, and therefore they worshipped the sun as a deity, and this from the fact that it is written in Psalm xviii, 5: "In the sun he has set his tabernacle." St. Augustine relates and ridicules this, tractat. 34 in Joan. It is certain that Christ ascended above all the heavens. For the Apostle asserts this, Ephes. iv, 10. See the remarks there. It is of faith that Christ, not only as Christ is God, but also as man, ascended to the throne of God the Father, and there sits as it were at his right hand. For the Apostle teaches this, Coloss. iii, 1; because Christ humbled himself on the cross below all creatures, hence he also merited to be exalted above all, Philip. ii, 10. Sixthly, Christ by his death opened heaven, which was closed on account of the sin of Adam and his descendants; hence he was the first to ascend there. And he led with him in triumph all the souls of the holy Fathers and Patriarchs, whom he had brought forth from limbo. This is what the Psalmist says, Psalm lxvii, 19, and from this Paul, Ephes. iv, 8: "Ascending on high, he led captivity captive." Moreover, the principal among them rose again with Christ, as is evident from Matt. xxvii, 53, and consequently in a glorious body they ascended with Christ, as it were the firstfruits of his resurrection. This is what Micah says, ii, 13: "For he shall ascend opening the way before them." Seventhly, when Christ, by the gift of subtlety, penetrated the heavens, as it were his Lord and King, the whole heavenly court met him and all the angels without exception, as St. Cyprian, Epiphanius, Nyssenus, serm. De Ascens., and others taught, and it is sufficiently gathered from that passage, Hebr. i, 6: "And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says: And let all the angels of God adore him;" who, marvelling at his glory, asked: "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra?" etc., Isaiah lxiii; and the three prophets sang: "Lift up your gates, O princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter," Psalm xxiii. Whence St. Augustine, serm. 3 De Resurrect.: "All the heavenly beings," he says, "saw Christ beautiful with wounds, bearing spoils from the camps of the tyrant, and marvelling at the shining standards of divine power, they resound with such hymns and lead him rejoicing: Who is this King of glory?" This is what the Psalmist exults in, Psalm lxvii, 18: "The chariot of God is ten thousand fold, thousands of the rejoicing: the Lord is in them in Sinai in the holy place." And Psalm xlvi: "All ye nations, clap your hands, shout unto God with the voice of exultation. For the Lord is high, terrible: a great King over all the earth, etc. God ascends with jubilation: and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet." Eighth, Bede, in his book On Holy Places, chapter VII, testifies that the solemnity of this day, recurring every year, was illustrated by heavenly prodigies in that place where Christ ascended. "For on the day of the Lord's Ascension," he says, "through individual years, after Mass is completed, a mighty blast of wind is accustomed to come from above, and to prostrate all who shall be in the church upon the ground. Throughout that entire night lamps burn there, so that not only is the mountain illuminated, but also the mountain itself and the places beneath it appear to burn." Concerning the place of the Ascension I shall speak at verse 12. And wise and holy souls perceive it. Christ therefore solidified faith in the faithful concerning blessedness and the heavenly kingdom, and sharpened hope by ascending: "For wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together," Matthew xxiv, 28. And St. Augustine, sermon 3 On the Ascension: "Us," he says, "the death of Christ vivified, us his resurrection raised up, us his ascension consecrated." And St. Bernard, sermon 2 On the Ascension: "Let us seek," he says, "the things that are above, because there assuredly our treasure is Jesus Christ, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Second, that he might teach us how great is the merit of humility before God, and might persuade us of it efficaciously. For, as the Apostle says, Ephesians iv, 10: "He that descended, the same also ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things." Thus St. Francis through humility ascended to the Seraphim, as St. Bonaventure testifies from the vision of a certain Saint. Whence St. Bernard, sermon 2 On the Ascension: "For neither," he says, "can you ascend unless you descend, because as it is fixed by eternal law, everyone who exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he who humbleth himself shall be exalted. O perversity, O abuse of the sons of Adam! because when ascending is most difficult, but descending is most easy, they themselves ascend lightly, and descend with greater difficulty." Third, that He might teach us to perform heroic works of virtue and to endure hardships, even martyrdoms, according to that saying of the Apostle, II Timothy ii, 10: "Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory;" which he explains by adding: "A faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall live also with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him." God the Father therefore, exalting Christ at His right hand, has "made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," as he says, Ephesians ii, 6. For, as St. Leo says, sermon 1 On the Ascension: "Because the ascension of Christ is our advancement, and whither the glory of the Head has gone before, thither the hope of the body is called, let us, beloved, exult with worthy joys and rejoice with pious thanksgiving. For today we have not only been established as citizens of paradise, but have also penetrated into the highest heavens in Christ." The same, sermon 2: "Let not earthly desires depress minds called upward, let not perishable things occupy those chosen for eternal things, let not deceitful allurements retard those who have entered the way of truth, and thus let these temporal things be passed through by the faithful as knowing themselves to be pilgrims in this valley, in which, even if certain comforts may be pleasing, they are not to be embraced wickedly, but to be passed through bravely." And above: "This faith, increased by the ascension of the Lord and strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit, was not terrified by chains, nor by prisons, nor by exiles, nor by hunger, nor by fire, nor by the tearing of beasts, nor by the exquisite tortures of persecutors. For this faith throughout the whole world not only men, but also women, and not only boys of tender age, but also tender virgins contended even unto the shedding of their blood." And St. Gregory, homily 29 on the Gospel: "Behold," he says, "he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills, etc. Do you wish to know his leaps? He came from heaven into the womb, from the womb into the manger, from the manger to the cross, from the cross to the tomb, from the tomb he returned to heaven. Because he exulted as a giant to run his course, so that we might say to him: Draw us after thee, we will run in the odor of thy ointments. Wherefore, dearest brethren, we ought to follow him thither in heart, where we believe he has ascended with his body. Let us flee earthly desires, let nothing now delight us in the lowest things, we who have the Father in the heavens." And St. Augustine, sermon 3 On the Ascension: "Let us ascend after him, and through our vices and passions: if indeed each one of us strives to subdue them to himself, and becomes accustomed to stand above them, from these very things he builds for himself a step by which he may be able to ascend to higher things. They will lift us up, if they are beneath us: from our vices we make ourselves a ladder, if we trample upon the vices themselves." And St. Bernard, sermon 4 On the Ascension: "What," he says, "can seem grievous to him who always considers in his mind that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory? What can he desire in this wicked age, whose eye always sees the good things of the Lord in the land of the living, always sees eternal rewards? because I will pass into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God." And below: "Ascend, O Lord, upon this ass, trample down these bestial motions, because they ought to be tamed, lest they prevail to rule; unless they are trampled down, they will trample upon us; unless they are pressed down, they will oppress us, etc. Follow also him ascending the cross, exalted from the earth, that thou mayest be placed not only above it, but also above the whole world by the height of thy mind, etc.; let no delights of the world incline thee, let no adversities cast thee down." See the same, sermon 6. Fourth, that He might gladden the angels by His presence and glory, and adorn heaven; for "the Lamb is the lamp thereof," Apocalypse xxi, 23. Whence also they cried out to him: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory," Apocalypse v, 12. Add, that He might sit at the right hand of God as a companion to the Father, from whom He had been sent into this world, as Oecumenius says, on chapter iii, verse 21. Most excellently St. Augustine, sermon 37 On the Temporal: "How wonderfully," he says, "does our Jesus Christ, either by the touch of His body, or by the passage of His glory, sanctify, vivify and illuminate every creature in a moment? For He consecrates waters, when He is baptized; He sanctifies the earth, when He is buried; He raises the dead, when He rises; He glorifies the heavenly things, when He ascends to heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father." Fifth, that He might send the Holy Spirit from the heavens and continually plead our cause before the Father, showing Him His sacred wounds. "For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens," Hebrews vii, 26. "Thus He became more present by divinity, who became more distant by humanity," says St. Leo, sermon 2 On the Ascension. Sixth, that He might render an account to the Holy Trinity of His legation accomplished on earth, and bring to it honor, joy and glory through the redemption of mankind accomplished. Whence St. Cyprian, sermon On the Ascension, asserts: "Neither by the tongues of men, nor of angels, nor by the acuteness of any intellect can be defined what joy of the Father there was in the return of the Son: as if any addition could be made to change that joy." And St. Epiphanius, oration On the Ascension: "Christ," he says, "triumphing with great joy, offered to the Father the sheep of human nature placed upon His shoulders, and for such a gift he obtained the gift of the Holy Spirit to give in return." And St. Chrysostom, sermon On the Ascension: "Christ ascending into heaven offered to the Father the firstfruits of our nature, and the Father marveled at the gift offered, because it offered such dignity, and what was offered was defiled by no stain. For He received the offering with His own hands, and made it a partaker of His own seat, etc. That is the nature which heard: Thou art earth, and into earth thou shalt return." And further below: "Today the angels and archangels have seen our nature in the seat of the Lord shining with immortal glory." Morally: Christ ascended before the Apostles and disciples, as if bearing their eyes and heart (would that ours too!) with Him into heaven, teaching us first, that with the Apostles we should follow Him with the eyes of the mind into the stars, and dwell with our mind in heavenly things. For He Himself is our love; but where love is, there also is the eye and the heart. Wherefore the Apostle, Colossians iii, 1: "Seek the things that are above," he says, "where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth." For our homeland is heaven, but the earth is exile and a prison. And a cloud received Him. — You will ask, what and what kind was this cloud? First, Cajetan here and Medina, III part., Question lviii, article 4, think that this cloud was not a cloud, but a splendor which Christ's body scattered from itself when it approached heaven, of which something similar is seen in the Milky Way. But truly splendor is one thing, and a cloud another: the former is clear and subtle, the latter obscure and dense. Add to this, this cloud veiled Christ, so that the disciples no longer saw Him: it was therefore a true cloud. Second, Abulensis, Paradox V, chapter ix, thinks that this cloud was to Christ like a seat and throne, by which partly He covered His nakedness, partly as if glorious in a sedan chair He ascended from the earth on high, not lifted up by Angels, but by His own power. But truly this cloud received and hid Christ carried on high. Whence St. Augustine, sermon 179 On the Seasons, calls it lofty. It was not therefore in place of a seat for Him, nor on the earth, but in the ether it received Him; for Christ ascended upright, not sitting: for this posture befits a glorious body. Therefore this cloud was borne more by Christ than it bore Him, says Oecumenius. Third therefore and genuinely, this cloud was true, but glorious and gleaming with exceptional light, brought or produced by God for this purpose, that it might cover the body of Christ, and remove it from the eyes of the Apostles, and at the same time by its brightness show forth the majesty of the ascending One. Thus Suarez, III part., disputation lii, section 2, and St. Chrysostom, who also adds: "This cloud was a symbol of heaven, declaring that in the very sign of divine power He ascended, according to that Psalm ciii: Who makest the clouds thy ascent." For throughout Scripture the majesty of God is said to be covered and veiled with clouds. Whence also the Saints will be caught up in clouds to meet Christ in the air, I Thessalonians iv, 17. Moreover, Christ did not lead this cloud with Him into heaven, but left it in its place in the air. Note: Christ ascended gradually as far as the sight of the Apostles could reach: then a cloud took Him from their view; and immediately thereafter, like a flash of lightning, by the gift of agility He bore Himself into the empyrean heaven, not as if passing from one extreme to another without an intermediate, as Abulensis holds in Paradox V, chapter xiii, but successively passing through each heaven with wondrous swiftness, so that as the supreme Lord of all He might take possession of all things, and in a certain way sanctify them by His presence, according to that passage in Ephesians iv, 10: "That He might fill all things." Thus Suarez, disputation ii, section 2. Where note the power of the gift of agility in Christ: for by it He suddenly in the twinkling of an eye, like a flash of lightning, bore Himself from the air to the summit and peak of the empyrean heaven, which is a vast and as it were immense space. Alpharabius, a noble astrologer among the Arabs, asserts that the firmament, or eighth sphere, in which the fixed stars are, is so distant from the earth that scarcely anyone could reach it in eight thousand years. Other Astronomers teach that the earth is distant from the concave of the firmament eighty million miles: and the thickness of the firmament itself to be the same, namely eighty million: how great therefore must be the distance, thickness and amplitude of the ninth heaven, the tenth, and if there are any others superior to these, and especially of the empyrean heaven? These same teach that any star positioned on the equinox completes 42 million miles in each hour: a millstone, if it fell from the firmament, would fall for ninety years before it reached the earth: in four thousand years you would scarcely reach the convex of the firmament, even if daily ascending in a straight line you completed one hundred miles, as I showed in Genesis i, in the work of the fourth day. All these things Christ traversed in almost a moment, and causes the souls of the saints after death to traverse the same as it were in a moment. Think on these things, console yourself with them, when any labor wearies you, when your slow and sluggish body exhausts you in pious work. Finally Abulensis, in Paradox V, chapter xxxiv, holds that Christ after the resurrection, being glorious, put on no garments, but appeared always naked to the disciples, clothed only in the splendor of His glory, and consequently arrived naked from the earth into heaven, surrounded only by a cloud and light. His reason is that otherwise He could not have shown the wound in His side to Thomas and offered it to be touched; for garments would have excluded Thomas's hand. But it must be answered that Christ after the resurrection assumed such garments as did not cover the five wounds, nor clothe them; or if they did cover them, they could easily be uncovered in the places of the wounds, so that He might show them to the disciples, and thereby prove to them that He had the same body that had received the wounds. For Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene as a gardener, to two disciples going to Emmaus as a traveler: He therefore had a habit and garments, which to those beholding appeared to be those of a gardener and a traveler: therefore likewise He ascended into heaven clothed, as long as He was seen by the Apostles; but when the cloud received Him, He laid aside His garments. For a glorious body is clothed by its gift of brightness like God, who is clothed with light as with a garment, Psalm ciii. Wherefore the Blessed in heaven are clothed not with garments, but with glory. Furthermore, Frederick Nausea in the Catechism, chapter xxxvi, holds that Christ ascended in a red and purple garment, and proves it from that passage in Isaiah lxiii, 2: "Why then is thy garment red?" And Apocalypse xix, 13: "He was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood," namely so that it might signify the bloody victory of Christ won by His blood. Others hold that Christ ascended in a white robe, for this befits a glorious body. Whence the garments of Christ in the transfiguration became white as snow; and the Blessed seen by John were clothed in white robes, Apocalypse vii, 9, and in fine white linen, Apocalypse xix, 14. But because Christ before the Apostles almost hid His glory and showed it only faintly, so that He might act familiarly with them, be seen and touched; hence I would believe that He appeared to them in the common garment which He was accustomed to use in life, so that He might appear to be the same who had risen, not another; and in the same He ascended, yet so that ascending He poured forth the rays of His glory into it, and made it radiant with brightness partly whitening, partly purpling. For thus the gift of brightness and light of the Blessed in heaven will be colored and varied. For in Martyrs it will be purple, in Virgins white, in Doctors green, says St. Soto in IV, distinction xlix, at the end.
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10. And as they were beholding, — gazing intently, that is, fixing their gaze, and with intent and fixed eyes, and, as St. Ambrose, sermon 60, suspended: for teínō means to stretch, and α adds and increases intensity. Who among the Apostles could express, or even conceive in mind, their admiration, joy, love, hope, and all the movements of their souls, and all their emotion? St. Bernard, sermon 3 On the Ascension, adds that they wept. The type of the Apostles was Elisha, just as Elijah ascending into heaven in a fiery chariot was the type of Christ. Whence Elisha, gazing upon him, cried out: "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the driver thereof." And: "I beseech thee that a double portion of thy spirit may be in me," IV Kings ii, 9 and 12. Two men, — two angels appearing in an assumed body, as it were two distinguished and glorious men. In white garments. — For this color denotes their purity and Christ's glory and triumph. Whence concerning the Blessed following Christ, John says, Apoc. xix, 14: "And the armies that are in heaven followed him in white garments, clothed in fine linen white and clean." St. Gregory notes, hom. 49 in the Gospel: "When Christ was born, it is not read that white-robed angels appeared: because in the nativity God appeared humble, in the ascending man was shown sublime."
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11. Men of Galilee. — For the Apostles were natives of Galilee, but the angels allude to the etymology and meaning. For Galilean in Hebrew is the same as one who transmigrates; as if to say, Be Galileans, transmigrate in mind and life from earth to heaven, fighting bravely against the world, the flesh and the devil. For the Galileans were warlike and combative, as Josephus testifies, who as leader of the Galileans fought bravely with them against Vespasian and the Romans, as he himself narrates, in the book On the Jewish War. Why stand you looking up? — The Syriac: "Why do you stand and gaze upward," that is, do you gaze upward as if with firm and fixed foot? as if to say, You have gazed upward enough: for Christ is now withdrawn from your eyes; you cannot see him any longer; but know that he will return to judgment, that he may take you up with him into heaven. Therefore return home, and prepare yourselves for the Apostolic office which he himself entrusted to you, and for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Morally the Apostles teach us: frequently to gaze upon heaven with the eyes both of mind and body, and to long for it, thinking that we are pilgrims in this world, but have heaven as our homeland. For we are enrolled as citizens of the Saints, and members of the household of God. Therefore to the Saints the earth is exile, and sōma is sēma, that is, the body is a prison, as Plato used to say: both because in it the soul is bound, depressed, afflicted, tormented with a thousand hardships as in a prison, nay as on the rack; and because on account of the desires and temptations which it suggests to the soul, it creates for it the danger of damnation and hell; and because the Saints aspire to their treasure and love, namely to Christ, the Blessed Virgin, Angels and Saints, and to the Holy Trinity, that they may be blessed by the vision of it, and perpetually adore, love and glorify it. Thus St. Martin constantly gazed upon heaven and was distinguished by this mark from others, so much so that he was commonly called the gazer upon heaven. Whence also when dying in a burning fever, lying on his back with eyes fixed upon heaven, he prayed, and when his disciples asked that he turn his body somewhat, so that while the force of the disease abated, he might rest prone: "Allow me," he said, "rather to gaze upon heaven than upon earth, that my spirit, already on its way, may be directed to the Lord." Thus Sulpitius in his Life. St. Antony, spending the night in prayer, standing in the same place, with the same eyes raised upward, beheld the rising sun with the same eyes with which he had beheld the setting sun, as St. Athanasius says. St. Mary Magdalene was not only with her eyes, but with her whole body lifted up into heaven by angels seven times daily, and there heard the music of heavenly melody, as her Life relates. St. Mary of Oignies conversed with angels and Saints in heaven, so that she could distinguish them from one another, and moreover actually heard the Saints themselves and spoke familiarly with them; concerning whom Cardinal James of Vitry writes wonderful things, cap. viii of her Life. St. Francis gazed upon heaven so constantly and affectionately, that his body ascended into heaven: namely, so great was the force of love and desire, that it lifted up the mass of his body with him. Wherefore he is depicted treading the globe of the earth with his foot, gazing upon heaven with his eyes, with this inscription: "The things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth." St. Father Ignatius, founder of our Society, used to ascend to the roof, whence he could freely gaze upon heaven, and there with eyes fixed upon heaven, weeping abundantly, he would adore God. Whence that saying of his: "How does the earth seem vile to me, when I gaze upon heaven!" Thus Ribadeneira, lib. V of his Life, cap. 1. This Jesus, — who was and will always be your Jesus, that is, your Savior: whose therefore most sweet name you should always bear in your heart and on your lips, saying: "Jesus our redemption, love and desire, God creator of all things, man in the end of times, what mercy conquered thee, that thou shouldst bear our crimes?" So shall he come in like manner as you have seen him going, — by his own power, not led by another's aid, says St. Chrysostom. Into heaven. — The angels here impart three things to the Apostles, and for three reasons they appeared to them: first, so that what the disciples could not see with the eyes of the body, namely Christ arriving in heaven, they might teach and confirm by their words; second, so that they might console the Apostles and instruct them, that they should regard and await Christ by faith rather than by bodily sight; third, so that they might signify that Christ had ascended to a certain immutable state and fellowship of eternity. For this is what they say: "Thus shall he come as you have seen him going into heaven," that is in the same glory and majesty, and with the same soul and body, which by no duration of time can be altered or changed. Which words Ignatius pondered thus, epistle 40 to the Smyrnaeans, Chrysostom and Bede, in Acts, and Tertullian, book On the Flesh of Christ, chapter xxiv, and book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter xxxi.
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12. Then they returned to Jerusalem, from the mount which is called Olivet, — from olives and olive trees, with which it is planted and fertile, just as near Rome the Tiburtine mountain. Hence it is clear that Christ ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives. Whence elsewhere this holy and renowned mountain is called. Zacharias seems to have alluded to this, chapter xiv, verse 4, when he says: "His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is over against Jerusalem on the east." See the things said there. But why from there? I answer: First, because there he began his passion, when praying in the garden he sweated water and blood, and soon after betrayed by Judas, captured, bound and dragged to Annas and Caiaphas; there therefore it was fitting for him likewise to end and place the crown upon his passion and earthly life; so that where he unjustly suffered punishment, there also his justice and innocence might be declared and glorified. Behold again, how the instruments and places of Christ's passion are turned to him into glory and triumph. Second, because on this mountain Christ often prayed and spent the night, as is evident from Luke chapter xxi, xxii and xxiii, just as David fleeing Absalom, II Kings chapter xv. Third, so that in the sight of the impious and Jewish Jerusalem, which had cast him down and killed him, he might ascend gloriously, and thus abolishing Judaism might establish and illustrate Christianity. For the Mount of Olives is of such height that from it almost all the streets of Jerusalem (indeed even the Dead Sea) can be seen. Fourth, because the olive tree and oil are a symbol of the grace and mercy which Christ bestowed upon us on this mountain suffering and ascending. Hence likewise in this place the judge will sit, when at the end of the world he shall return to perform the universal judgment. For this shall be in the valley of Josaphat, which lies beneath the Mount of Olives, and is separated from it and the city of Jerusalem by a small space, so that the unfaithful and impious Jews, who despised the oil and honey of his passion and ascension, might there feel and taste the vinegar and gall of his wrath and vengeance. Fifth, because the Mount of Olives, just as the olive tree, is a symbol of the Church and the Saints. For the olive is a symbol of peace, concord, modesty, obedience, almsgiving, splendor, eternity, which qualities all belong to the Church and the Saints, as I have shown in Jeremiah xi, 16, and Zacharias xiv, 4, and Apocalypse xi, 4. Note three continuous miracles by which God illustrated Christ's ascension on the Mount of Olives. The first, Christ at the monument of his and his ascension, impressed upon this rocky mountain like wax, and left impressed the sacred footprints of his feet, which by no means could be erased in so many centuries, and there they are still seen whole, when pilgrims come there for the sake of devotion, so that they might carry away with them particles of the earth as if sanctified by Christ's feet, like relics. Thus St. Jerome, in the Hebrew Places; St. Paulinus, epistle 11 to Severus; Sulpitius, book II of Sacred History; Bede, On the Holy Places, chapter vii, recent Geographers, and pilgrims of the Holy Land. Moreover these footprints of Christ were turned toward the West, and toward the Catholic Roman Church from the Gentiles, to which he himself, as its head, like twin and illustrious eyes, was about to send St. Peter, his Vicar on earth, and St. Paul, the teacher of the Gentiles. Thus Adrichomius and others, in the Description of Jerusalem. The second, that place from which Christ ascended, never allowed itself to be covered, or paved with marble or adorned, always with things cast off, the ground rejecting what human hands attempted to place there in the effort of adorning, as St. Paulinus already cited testifies. The third, in that same place afterwards a round and magnificent temple was erected in honor of the ascension by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, which contained within itself Christ's footprints, whose roof in that part where Christ's body ascended could never be covered and vaulted, but the passage of him from earth to heaven remains open even now, as we see in Rome in the Pantheon. Thus St. Jerome and Bede in the place already cited. Add a fourth, of flame and wind, which I have recounted in the words of Bede in verse 9. Moreover, St. Athanasius, or rather Anastasius (for in Questions III and VIII he cites Epiphanius and the Nyssen, who were later than St. Athanasius), in the Questions of Holy Scripture, Question xxxvii, teaches that Christians adore God and Christ by turning themselves toward the East, because Christ ascended on the Mount of Olives, which is to the east of Jerusalem. He brings forth two other reasons in that place. The first is, because the sun rises in the East: whence there we venerate and invoke not the sun, as the ancient Romans and Gentiles did, but God the author of the sun, and with the sun shining forth to us as it were, that he may prosper for us the light and the whole day. The second is, that mindful of paradise, which was in the East, Genesis xxviii according to the Septuagint, from which we fell through sin, we may ask to be restored to it. Finally, many hold the opinion that Antichrist, the rival of Christ and of his ascension and glory, is to be lifted up on the Mount of Olives by the aid of demons, so that he may appear to ascend into heaven, but Christ will strike him down and will kill him with the spirit of his mouth, II Thessalonians ii, 8. Having a sabbath day's journey, — that is, distant from Jerusalem by such a space as the Jews were permitted to traverse on the sabbath in journeying (for the Jews were bound by such religious observance of the sabbath, that they were not permitted to undertake a journey except a small one, as is clear from Exodus chapter xvi, verse 29), which many think was two miles. A mile is a space of a thousand paces; the Syriac translator renders it, seven stadia, that is 875 paces. But that this journey was less is clear both from Josephus, who in book VI of the Wars, chapter iii, asserts that Jerusalem is distant from the Mount of Olives by five stadia, but from its summit six: and a stadium contains 125 paces, five therefore stadia make 625 paces; and from St. Jerome, epistle 151 to Algasia, Question X, where from R. Akiba, Simeon and Hillel, he defines the sabbath day's journey to be a walking of two thousand feet: where by feet he takes not paces, as some wish, but feet, as the word sounds: now five feet make a pace; therefore twice a thousand feet make 400 paces; and from Origen as cited by Oecumenius, who says the sabbath day's journey is a mile of two thousand cubits, a cubit is a foot and a half: two therefore thousand cubits make three thousand feet, which make 600 paces; and from William, Archbishop of Tyre, who in book VIII of the Holy War, chapter xi, says the Mount of Olives is distant a mile from the city of Jerusalem. This opinion is favored by the fact that Joshua, III, verse 3, commanded that the people advancing in array should be distant from the ark by a space of two thousand cubits: because namely this was the sabbath day's journey, which the Levites could accomplish on any day, even on the sabbath, and could approach the ark, when it was necessary; which accords with the opinion of Josephus, who counts 625 paces from Jerusalem to the foot of the Mount of Olives, but to its summit, from which Christ ascended, he counts six stadia, which make 750 paces. The sabbath day's journey therefore is half an Italian mile, and moreover 200, or 450 paces. St. Chrysostom thinks that "having a sabbath day's journey" is added, because Christ ascended on the sabbath day, as if to say, Although Christ ascended on the sabbath day, yet it was permitted to him with the Apostles to go on that day to the Mount of Olives, because that journey is small, and permitted on the sabbath. But it is certain that Christ ascended on the fifth day of the week, or Thursday. For if you count 40 days from Easter, you will arrive at Thursday: but Christ ascended on the fortieth day from his resurrection. Moreover, in what month and on what day of it Christ ascended is not certain, and the Doctors vary, because they vary in assigning the day of Christ's passion and Easter. For many hold the opinion that Christ suffered and died in April, some on the 16th day, others on the 2nd, others on the 3rd; more in March, some on the 7th, others on the 23rd, others on the 30th. The more common opinion is that of St. Augustine, book XVIII of the City of God, final chapter; of Tertullian, book Against the Jews, chapter viii; of Chrysostom, sermon On the Nativity of St. John the Baptist; of St. Thomas, in chapter ii of John; of Antoninus, Platina, Usuard and Suarez, III part, disputation xl, section 5, that Christ suffered and died on the 25th day of March, just as on the same day he was incarnate; and consequently rose on the 27th of March, ascended into heaven on the 5th of May, sent the Holy Spirit on the 15th of May. The same is expressly affirmed by Lucius Dexter, prefect of the praetorium, in the Chronicle, which he himself dedicates to St. Jerome, just as in turn St. Jerome dedicated to him his tract On Ecclesiastical Writers: which Chronicle, diligently sought by Baronius and many others, was finally after Baronius's death recently found and published.
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13. And when they were come into the upper room, they went up. — Thus the Roman edition punctuates. But from the Greek it is clear that the punctuation should be otherwise, and a comma should be placed after "were come," not after "upper room." For thus the Greek has it: Kaì hóte eisēlthon, anébēsan eis tò hyperōon, hoû ēsan kataménontes, hó te Pétros kaì Iákōbos, etc., that is: And when they were come (namely into the city or rather into the house), they went up into the upper part of the house, where they were dwelling, both Peter and James, etc.; which reading is clear and gives a plain sense. For the ancient Hebrews, equally as the Romans, dwelt in the upper part of the house, and there had spacious halls for banquets, assemblies and suppers, which they therefore called upper rooms. Whose house and upper room this was, is not certain. Nicephorus, lib. I Hist., cap. xxviii, and Cedrenus think it was that of St. John the Evangelist; Theophylactus, in Matt. xxvi, believes it was that of Simon the leper; Euthymius there says it was that of Joseph of Arimathaea, Nicodemus, or some similar powerful and Christian man. More probably Baronius, in the year of Christ 34, believes it was the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was surnamed Mark, and was a cousin of Barnabas, to which Peter, freed from prison, betook himself, where he also found the other disciples gathered together for prayers. The same is also testified by Alexander in the Life of St. Barnabas: "In that upper room," he says, "the Lord made the Passover, in it He appeared to Thomas the Apostle, when He had risen from the dead; thither, after He was taken up into heaven, the disciples with the other brethren, a hundred and twenty, among whom were Barnabas and Mark, came together from the Mount of Olives; thither the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in fiery tongues on the day of Pentecost. There is now placed the great and most holy Sion, the greatest of all churches." St. Jerome mentions this same church situated in Sion, epist. 27, and Bede in the Holy Places, cap. iii, and they add that in the same place was set the column to which Christ was bound and scourged, concerning which I have said more at the end of the Chronotaxis. The Roman Martyrology favours this, which on the 25th of March records the day of the death of St. Latron, namely St. Dismas, for he was crucified with Christ on the same day and place. Hence it is clear that this upper room was on Mount Sion, near the citadel of David. Adrichomius adds, in the Description of Jerusalem, n. 6: "In that same upper room by the first sermon of Peter three thousand Jews were converted and baptized. There James, the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just, was created by the Apostles the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and Stephen and the other six Deacons were ordained; there the Apostles first held a Council, Acts xv, and in their division, they appear to have issued the Apostolic Symbol of the Catholic faith. In the same place St. Helena built a most spacious temple, in the back part of which she enclosed the upper room; afterwards in this place of the upper room a monastery of Franciscans was built, etc. The Turks made a palace for themselves from their monastery, and hold this place in such veneration that they enter it only barefoot." Peter. — Peter here and elsewhere throughout is named first by the Gospel, because he has the primacy of the Church and is the head of the Apostles. Thus St. Chrysostom and others throughout. James of Alpheus, — namely the son, who was surnamed the Just, and was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, whose feast the Church celebrates on the 1st of May. For the prior James, the brother of John, was the son of Zebedee. Simon Zelotes, — that is the Canaanite; for in Hebrew cana means to be zealous: hence Canaanite is the same as zealot. Thus Gagneius. Baronius adds that he was so called from his country, namely from Cana of Galilee: whence with Nicephorus, lib. VIII, cap. xxx, he holds that this Simon was the bridegroom at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, John ii, 1, from which Christ called him away to the apostolate. Whatever be the case concerning the bridegroom, it appears plain that this Simon is called Canaanite from the country of Cana; but because Canaanite in Hebrew is the same as zealot, and this was fitting for Simon, as one who burned with zeal, St. Jerome says, epist. 53 to Riparius; hence he is likewise surnamed Zelotes, just as Cephas was called Peter, because he is the rock of the Church: just as if one were to call St. Gregory Vigilantius; Theodore, God-given; Phrontiscus, Prudentius. Thus Rome was at first called Valentia; for rhṓmē in Greek is called strength, in which the Romans excelled: thus Pliny, lib. III, cap. v, and Solinus the Polyhistor, cap. i. Judas of James. — Supply, brother. This Judas is elsewhere called Thaddaeus, as it were mammeus: for tad in Syriac is the same as the Hebrew שד sad, that is breast; elsewhere Lebbaeus, that is little heart (for to the Hebrews לב leb is heart), just as Scipio Nasica was called little heart, on account of his exceptional wisdom, as Cicero testifies, Tuscul. 1; or little lion (for this is called לבי labi). There were therefore these four brothers, namely James, who is called the Less, or of Alpheus, or the brother of the Lord; Joseph, Simon and Judas (Matt. xiii, 55; Mark xv, 47): all kinsmen of Christ, from whom He chose three into the Apostles, James, Simon and Judas. Thus many believe; but this is to be discussed at Matt. cap. xiii, vers. 55. The other things which could be said concerning the vocation, order, office, dignity, and life of the Apostles, pertain to cap. x of St. Matthew.
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14. These all were persevering with one accord in prayer. — Note here three virtues with which the Apostles occupied themselves, that they might dispose themselves for the coming of the Holy Spirit: the first is prayer, the second, unanimity, the third, perseverance. For these draw to themselves and attract the Holy Spirit, as being divine and most dear to Him. Add a fourth, familiarity and devotion toward the Blessed Virgin, of which follows: "With the women and Mary the mother of Jesus." For she, being the daughter of God the Father, the mother of the Son of God, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, obtains whatsoever she wills. For what does not a daughter obtain from her father, a mother from her son, a spouse from her spouse? Note: For persevering, in Greek it is proskarteroûntes, which signifies to be assiduous, to persist, to insist upon some difficult and prolonged matter, and not to depart from it, but to endure and manfully overcome the troubles, labors, fatigues, tediums, temptations, etc., which either the difficulty of the matter, or the cunning of the enemy, or the weakness of nature suggests, such as we experience in prayer, especially long and continuous prayer, by which the human mind like a bow is stretched and continually extended toward heavenly and divine things. With the women, — of whom the foremost and leader in love and fervor was St. Mary Magdalene. And Mary the mother of Jesus. — As it were the mother of the household of this sacred assembly and family of Christ. For Christ, the father of the household, going away into heaven, therefore left behind on earth His most loving mother, that in His place she might be as it were the mother of all the Apostles and of all the faithful. St. Bernard marvels that she is placed here in the last place: "Is it so," says he, "and did the woman show herself last, that she might be placed last of all?" He gives the reason: "Since Mary was so much greater, she humbled herself not only below all, but also before all. Deservedly was she made last who was first, she who though she was first of all, made herself last. Deservedly was she made mistress of all, she who showed herself the handmaid of all. Deservedly finally was she exalted above the angels, she who even below widows and penitents, below her from whom seven demons had been cast out, with ineffable gentleness inclined herself. I beseech you, my children, emulate this virtue, if you love Mary, if you strive to please her." Thus he himself, in the sermon On the words of the Apocalypse xii, "A great sign." To this accords the image of the Blessed Virgin, which Nicephorus from ancient images and from Epiphanius thus paints, lib. II, cap. xxiii: "But her character, form and stature were thus (as Epiphanius says): She was in all things honest and grave, speaking very few things and those necessary, easy to hear and most affable, showing honor and veneration to all: of middling stature, although there are those who say she exceeded somewhat a middling height. She used becoming freedom of speech toward all men, without laughter, without disturbance and without anger especially; her color was like wheat, her hair fair, her eyes keen, having pupils somewhat yellowish like the color of olives in them; her eyebrows were both curved and decently black, her nose longer, her lips ruddy and full of the sweetness of words; her face not round, nor sharp, but somewhat longer, her hands together with her fingers longer. She was finally free from all pride, simple and in no way feigning her countenance, bringing with her nothing of softness, but cherishing surpassing humility; content with garments of natural color, which she herself wore, which even now her holy head-veil shows. And to say it briefly, in all her affairs much grace was divinely present." In like manner therefore Luke here places and depicts the Blessed Virgin, such as she herself was in herself, and such as she showed herself: least, because she bore herself as least; last, because she showed herself last. This the holy mothers of households imitated, as St. Monica, who "was the servant of Thy servants, O Lord, etc. So did she care for them, as if she had borne them all; so did she serve them, as if she had been born of them all," says St. Augustine, lib. IX Confess., cap. ix. And St. Paula, of whom Jerome in her Epitaph: "What," says he, "is the first virtue of Christians, with such humility did she cast herself down, that he who had not seen her, and from the fame of her name had wished to see her, would not have believed it was she, but the last of handmaids. And when surrounded by frequent choirs of virgins, in dress, voice, bearing and gait, she was the least of all." And his brethren, — namely the kinsmen both of Jesus and of Mary; for the Hebrews call these brethren. These therefore were kinsmen who were faithful, and believed in Christ. Whence they joined themselves to the Apostles, and with them awaited the Holy Spirit.
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15. In those days Peter rising up. — This is the second part of the chapter, in which Luke narrates the substitution of Matthias in the place of Judas. Here Peter begins to exercise his office and primacy, and performs his first act; namely, he takes care that the college of Apostles, diminished by the fall of Judas, be restored and completed through the substitution of another Apostle. For he knew that the care not only of the faithful, but also of the Apostles themselves, was committed to him by Christ as to a president and primate, since he heard from Him: "And thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren," Luke xxii, 32. Admiring this pastoral and watchful solicitude of Peter, St. Chrysostom, homily 3, says: "How fervent is he, how well does he know the flock entrusted to him by Christ? how is he the prince in this choir, and everywhere the first of all to begin to speak?" And further: "He first of all assumes authority in the matter, as one who has all in his hand. For to him Christ said: And thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren." St. Chrysostom is followed by Oecumenius: "Peter rises up, he says, and not James, as being more fervent and as one to whom the presidency of the disciples was entrusted." The word rising up signifies this, namely, first, as it were excelling before others, and being of a higher station and degree. Second, rising up, so that as if about to address and act concerning the affairs of the whole college and Church, he might excite the attention of his hearers, and call to himself the minds, faces and ears of all, so that he might be approached by each one suitably and easily. Third, rising up signifies the pastoral vigilance of Peter, inasmuch as he, like an upright pastor, stands and surveys and illuminates the whole flock. Fourth, it signifies the confidence and loftiness of spirit, in that as the vicar of Christ he dares to undertake his office, to succeed him, and to supply and perfect the assembly of Apostles begun by him. Fifth, in rising up he exhibited honor to the whole assembly of Apostles and the Church out of regard for modesty, and greeted them, and especially the Blessed Virgin, who was present there, as St. Chrysostom says. Thus a teacher about to begin a lesson rises and greets his disciples. In the midst. — Symbolically the word midst denotes the golden mean, by which a pastor and prelate ought to excel, so that among subjects who are of different, indeed contrary, temperament, judgment and will, he may conduct himself as if in the middle, so that he may not incline to any side by affection or favor, but may show himself to all indifferent, benevolent and friendly, indeed a father, and thus bind and unite all, though diverse among themselves, in himself, just as the head unites in itself all the senses and members of a man. See the sayings on Habacuc chapter iii, verse 1. Second, "in the midst" hints at the modesty by which St. Peter, though superior to the others, nevertheless conducted himself among them as a brother rather than a father, following the example of Christ, whose vicar he was, who says, Luke xxii, 27: "I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth." The saying of St. Bernard is golden: "If thou art distinguished, be as one of the flock." For St. Peter could alone, as Chrysostom teaches, choose a successor to Judas and designate the twelfth Apostle; but he was unwilling, both to show that he did not rule over the clergy, but gave and initiated an example of modest governance; and to add greater weight to the one elected, and to gain for him greater love and reverence, as one who had been chosen by the calculation of the others; and finally to seek God's will in so great a matter through the votes and lots of the Church. For it seemed to be the proper office of God to constitute an Apostle. Wherefore the Supreme Pontiffs, following the example of St. Peter, do not easily define anything of greater moment, especially concerning matters of faith, except by the counsel and decree of Bishops, gathered for that purpose from the whole world in an Ecumenical Council. For the Holy Spirit fully and plainly assists the head of the Church when it is joined to its members and to the whole body (which the Bishops represent). For the whole Church is the one spouse, and uniquely beloved of the Holy Spirit. Hence again in ancient times only those were ordained Bishops whom the people had requested, so that they themselves might be dearer to the people, and the people themselves dearer to them. Hear St. Leo, epistle 87 or 89: "The votes of citizens, the testimonies of peoples, the judgment of the honored, the election of the clergy should be awaited; which in the ordinations of priests are wont to be observed by those who know the rules of the Fathers." Therefore the votes belonged to the people, that is, their desires and testimonies, but the right of electing belonged to the clergy alone. Now the multitude of men. — In Greek onomátōn, that is, of names, that is, of heads which are numbered by name. It is a metonymy. Similar is Apocalypse iii, 4: "Thou hast a few names," that is, heads and men, "in Sardis." See the sayings there. Climacus writes that from these 120, into whom the Holy Spirit descended, fourteen heresiarchs came forth. Climacus is cited by our Salmeron on that passage I John ii, 19: "They went out from us, but they were not of us;" but I have not found this in Climacus up to now. Certainly St. Paul, xx, 30, says: "Of your own selves shall arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." So great is the infirmity, inconstancy and vanity of men, even of the saints.
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16. Men and Brethren: — First, St. Peter the Apostle calls the apostles brethren, because all the Apostles were equal in the Apostolate and as it were brethren, although he himself was their president. Thus the Pontiff calls Cardinals and Bishops brethren. Second, he calls all other faithful brethren by kinship, not of flesh, but of faith, regeneration, baptism, not of the womb. Brethren therefore, that is Christians. Thus all Christian women were called and called one another sisters. Thus Paul in his Epistles everywhere calls the faithful brethren and sisters. The reason is, because Christ instituted the Church as it were his own family, in which he wished the faithful to be most closely joined to one another and to love one another as brethren, having the same father Christ, and the same mother the Church and the same womb of baptism; the same house, namely the temple, the same table of the Eucharist, the same education, the same Sacraments, the same heavenly homeland, etc. The word therefore brethren denotes the highest union of the faithful and mutual communication of all goods. For, as Aristotle says, lib. VIII Ethic., cap. xi: "Brethren have in common parents, womb, blood, birth, education, house, the glory of their line, family property, patrimony, discipline, customs." Wherefore the Psalmist rightly exults, Psal. cxxxii: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! As the ointment upon the head," etc. Hear Tertullian, Apolog., cap. xxxix: "That," he says, "we call one another brethren, I suppose they defame us for no other reason than that among them every name of blood relationship is feigned from affection. But you also are our brethren (O Gentiles) by the right of nature and one mother, although you are scarcely men, because you are wicked brethren. But how much more worthily are they both called and held as brethren, who have acknowledged one God as father, who have drunk of one Spirit of holiness, who from one womb of the same ignorance have trembled forth into one light of truth?" etc. "We are brethren from a common family substance, which among you almost destroys brotherhood. And so because we mingle soul with soul, we have no doubt about the communication of goods: all things are undivided among us except wives." And Minucius, in the Octavius: "We are called," he says, "brethren, as men of one God our parent, as partners of faith, as coheirs of hope." Who was a guide, — not as a captain, but as a guide of the way: for this is what the Greek hodēgós properly signifies. Whence Pagninus translates it, guide of the journey; Vatablus, one showing the way.
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17. He obtained by lot a lot. — That is to say, Judas as if by lot, or by lot obtained a lot, that is a part, namely the twelfth place of ministry, that is, of our apostolate. Note: The apostolate is here called a lot, because this dignity came to the Apostles individually not from nature, not from lineage (as the priesthood came to the firstborn descendants of Aaron from the right of primogeniture), not from right, not from merit, but from the mere designation and grace of God, who without any merit of theirs selected these twelve from so many millions of men, called them and co-opted them as his legates and Apostles from his good pleasure, so that on God's part there was a destined will and decree of choosing these, not others; but on the part of the Apostles it was the happiest chance and lot; just as if God had cast dice over them and the cast had fallen happily upon them: because they themselves had no right, merit, rank and order to the apostolate. In a similar way Saul by lot from being a servant, and David from being a shepherd, became king. Thus every faithful person is called by lot, that is by grace, not by merit, from infidelity and sin to faith and the worship of God, according to that saying of the Apostle: "Who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light," Colossians i, 12. And: "In whom we also are called by lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will," Ephesians i, 11. Therefore let the faithful not be proud of his faith, nor the just man of his justice, nor the Bishop of his episcopate, nor the Apostle of his apostolate, because this good lot befell him not from their own worthiness, but from the mere grace and liberality of God, who deigned to choose and call them to it, passing by infinitely many others and those more noble, more learned, better, more apt, etc. From this it is clear that Judas not only shared in the grade of apostolate, but also in the ministry, and consequently preached the Gospel, cast out demons, worked miracles, just as the other Apostles sent by Christ through Judaea and Galilee did. Thus St. Augustine, book III Against the Letters of Petilian, chapter lv; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis 7; St. Leo, sermon 16 On the Passion of the Lord. Nazianzenus adds, in Christ Suffering: "That by the words of his teaching he begot many sons." He was therefore at first not only holy, but also sanctifying others by the zeal of his preaching, until being made a steward by Christ, he began to have and love the money-box, and from that point became a thief and betrayer of Christ. Thus Tertullian, book On the Soul, chapter iv, and others. For lot in Greek is klēros: whence Clergy and Clerics are called, who, separated from the laity, as it were the Lord's lot and inheritance, are appointed to his peculiar worship and the service of the Church for the procuring of sacred things. Hence when Clerics are created by the Bishop and receive the clerical tonsure, they hear and learn from him daily to say that word of Psalm xv, 5: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me." For just as formerly the Levites had no inheritance among their brethren, but the Lord, that is the offerings and sacrifices of the Lord, was their inheritance (Numbers xviii, 6 and 23): so in the New Testament the lot of Clerics is God and the worship and service of God, so that they may learn not to seek goods on earth, but in heaven. Wherefore St. Jerome, to Nepotian: "Let the Cleric," he says, "first interpret his own name, and by the definition of the name strive to be what he is called. For if klēros in Greek, or lot in Latin is the name, Clerics are called either because they are of the Lord's lot, or because the Lord himself is the lot, that is the portion, of Clerics." Tropologically: learn here that there is no sodality so holy that it does not have its dregs, its blemish. What is surprising? Christ in his company, in his family had Judas. Hear St. Augustine, purging his monastery from the scandal that had occurred in it, epistle 137: "However much," he says, "the discipline of my house may be vigilant, I am a man, and I live among men; nor do I dare to arrogate to myself that my house is better than the ark of Noah, where nevertheless among eight men one reprobate was found; or that it is better than the house of Abraham, where it was said: Cast out the handmaid and her son; or that it is better than the house of Isaac, to whom concerning two twins it was said: Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated; or that it is better than the house of Jacob himself, where the son lay with his father's bed incestuously; or that it is better than the house of David himself, whose son lay with his sister, whose other son rebelled against his father's so holy gentleness; or better than the dwelling of Paul the Apostle, who nevertheless if he dwelt among all good men, would not say what I mentioned above: Without are fightings, within are fears; nor would he say when speaking of the sanctity and faith of Timothy: I have no one who is genuinely solicitous for you; for all seek their own, not the things that are Christ's; or better than the dwelling of the Lord Christ himself, in which eleven good men tolerated the faithless and thieving Judas; or finally better than heaven from which angels fell." He then adds a notable example: "But I simply confess to your charity before the Lord our God, who is witness over my soul, from the time I began to serve God, how I have found it difficult that better men have not advanced in monasteries, so I have not found worse than those who have fallen in monasteries; so that from this I judge it written in the Apocalypse: Let the just be justified still, and let the filthy be filthy still. Wherefore although we are saddened by some refuse, we are nevertheless consoled also by many ornaments. Do not therefore, on account of the dregs by which your eyes are offended, detest the wine-presses, from which the storehouses of the Lord are filled with the fruit of a more luminous oil."
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18. And he indeed possessed a field. — Judas did not properly possess the field of the potter, because he returned the price and went and hanged himself; but the chief priests bought the field with it for the burial of strangers: yet he is said to have possessed it figuratively, namely because he possessed the price by which the field was afterwards bought. Because therefore this field was purchased with the money of Judas, hence Judas is said to have possessed it by catachresis. For by right that which is bought with my money is reckoned to be mine. Whence St. Gregory, book I of the Morals, chapter ix: "He possessed," says he, "that is, he caused to be possessed." And in Greek it is ektḗsato, which the Zurich Bible translates as "prepared"; Oecumenius and Vatablus, "acquired," by the purchase of the priests. Otherwise Rabanus, "possessed," namely because Judas was buried in it. But this is uncertain and does not satisfy: for one who is buried does not possess the whole field or cemetery, but at most his own grave and burial place. Finally John of Alba in the Electorum, chapter xcviii: "He possessed a field from the price of iniquity," that is, says he, from the price of his iniquity the field was possessed or bought. Thus chapter viii: "In humility his judgment was taken away," that is, he was taken away by the humility of judgment, or by humble judgment, or by abject punishment, that is, by shameful and most abject death. A similar hypallage is in Ecclesiasticus xlix, 18: "His bones were visited, and after death they prophesied," that is, Joseph prophesied concerning them (namely his brethren) after his death to be visited by God, and concerning his bones to be carried away into Chanaan he commanded them. For in Genesis l, he says: "God will visit you, carry away my bones with you." Thus Alba. From the price of iniquity. — The thirty pieces of silver of Judas, by which the field was bought, are called "the price of iniquity," because they were the price and payment of the betrayal and selling of Christ, which was the greatest iniquity: namely the greatest simony, the greatest sacrilege, the greatest parricide, indeed Christicide and Deicide. For Christ was sold by it unto the cross and death. And being hanged, he burst asunder in the midst. — For "being hanged" in Greek is prēnḕs genómenos, which Beza and Bullinger translate as "he fell headlong"; for they think that Judas ended his life not by a noose, but by a precipice. But they are wrong; for in Matthew xxvii, 5, it is expressly said of him: "And going away, he hanged himself," in Greek apḗnxato, that is, he strangled himself: thus the Syriac; therefore prēnḕs genómenos translate word for word with Oecumenius, Erasmus, Vatablus and others commonly, "headlong," or "with head cast down and prone upon the earth," as St. Augustine reads it, book I Against Felix the Manichee, chapter iv, which is the posture of the hanged; or, "throwing himself headlong." For it appears that Judas, having inserted and fastened a rope around his neck to a tree, threw himself down from it for a quicker death, so that by the strong impulse and swing of his heavy body, he immediately tightened the noose around his neck, and thus suffocated himself. Theophylactus adds, in Matthew xxvii, 5, that Judas, the rope having broken, survived, and finally after Christ's resurrection ended his life by a precipice. "Know," says Theophylactus, "that he indeed put a noose around his neck, and when he was hanging from the tree, the tree bending, he survived, God willing either to preserve him for repentance or for reproach and confusion. For they say that he suffered from a dropsical disease, so that he could not pass through the gate, and then fell prone or was cast down headlong, and burst asunder in the midst, that is, was torn apart, as it is said in the Acts." Others add other things from Papias, Oecumenius and Euthymius in Matthew xxvii, that Judas, the rope having broken, survived Christ, yet with his body swollen, and thus since he could not move himself, having been struck by a passing chariot, he was crushed and torn to pieces. But these accounts agree little with St. Luke here, and with St. Matthew (chapter xxvii, 5) saying: "Going away, he hanged himself"; in Greek apḗnxato, he strangled himself, that is, he suffocated and killed himself. For "being hanged, he burst asunder in the midst," as follows. I say therefore that Judas, after returning the silver pieces, in order to free himself from the anguish of conscience, immediately hanged himself and by hanging strangled himself, so that by the weight of his body, or rather by the vengeance of the divine power, he burst asunder in the midst; "so that the throat through which the voice of betrayal had come forth, the knot of the noose might strangle," says Bede; and so that the sacrilegious soul might not depart through the mouth by which he had treacherously kissed Christ, but through the bowels like a beast or wild animal torn to pieces. In a similar manner Arius the blasphemer, as another Judas, with his bowels and through his bowels poured out his impious soul into a hidden place, says Nazianzen, in the oration on St. Athanasius. Moreover, the poet Juvencus and Bede in the Holy Places, chapter iv, write that Judas hanged himself from a fig tree, which in their time still stood at Jerusalem. The common people among us, says Mariana, understand him to have been hanged from an elder tree: namely, at Rome they used to hang dogs yearly from an elder tree, because they had not barked when the Senones of Gaul crept into the Capitol, as Pliny says, book XXIX, chapter iv. And that tree is suitable for hanging, both on account of its hardness, as the same Pliny testifies, book XVI, chapter xxxix; and because it is unfruitful, and therefore among the unlucky trees which they destined for the hanging of the condemned, according to that passage of Livy, book I: "Go, lictor, cover his head, hang him on an unlucky tree." From the fall of Judas we learn first, how great an evil avarice is; for this was the cause of his crime and betrayal. Second, how deeply those fall who stand in a high position and then slip from it, so that it can be said of them: "They are lifted up on high, that they may fall with a heavier crash." It is commonly said: from the sweetest wine, if it becomes corrupted, the most sour vinegar is made; from Lucifer the devil, from an Apostle an apostate, from a monk a heresiarch, from a Saint a scoundrel. Third, how great a sin despair is. For Judas sinned more gravely by despairing than by betraying Christ; for despair drove him to the noose and to hell: "For as the noose cuts off breath, so the Holy Spirit is shut out by despair," says St. Augustine, homily 27, among 50. Wherefore St. Leo, sermon 16 On the Passion: "You," he says, "most impious man, seed of Canaan, and not Judah, nor now a vessel of election, but a son of perdition and death, you believed the devil's incitements more profitable, so that inflamed by the torches of avarice, you burned with desire for the gain of thirty pieces of silver, and did not see what riches you were losing." And soon after: "Whence your crime of commerce is not to be detested because you esteemed the Lord cheaply, but because you sold even your Redeemer, that you might spare yourself. And deservedly your punishment was committed to you, because in your torment no one could be found more cruel to you than yourself."
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19. Haceldama. — Syriac חקל דמא chakal dema, and thus this field appears to be called; for the Jews after their return from captivity did not speak pure Hebrew, but corruptly and semi-Chaldaic, that is, Syriac or Syro-Chaldaic. Thus Pagninus, in the Hebrew Names. That is, the field of blood. — This interpretation of the Syriac name was not added by St. Peter, as Hugo wishes, as though St. Peter speaking Syriac to Syrians, but by St. Luke, who writing in Greek to Greeks, interpreted the Syriac word Haceldama through Greek. This field was called first, "of the potter"; because from its clay potters formed pottery vessels. Second, "the field of Judas," because purchased with the money of Judas, as I said verse 18. Third, "of blood"; because bought with the price of the blood of Christ, and this by God's counsel, so that, when they themselves wished to bury and cover up their crime and the purchase in a pious guise, the field itself would be a perpetual monument of homicide, indeed of the murder of Christ; so that, whenever they named the field of blood, they would recall the blood of Christ slain by them, says St. Chrysostom, and would know that this blood could be expiated by no other means than by their own blood, as was done by Titus and the Romans.
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20. For it is written (Psalm lxviii, 26): Let their habitation become desolate. — That is to say, Let the impious city of the murderers, nay rather the murderers of Christ, namely Jerusalem, in which they themselves dwell securely as if invincible, be captured, burned and laid waste by Titus and the Romans. Christ himself predicted this to them with groaning and tears: "Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate," Matt. xxiii, 38. And let another take his bishopric. — Here St. Peter combines two verses from different psalms. For the former is found in Psalm lxviii, 26; but this one is read in Psalm cviii, 8. For bishopric the Hebrew is פקדתו pekuddato, that is, his prefecture, rule and principality, namely the apostolate of Judas, "let another take it," namely Matthias. Note: Throughout Psalm cviii, David utters harsh imprecations against Judas the traitor, and against the Jews in the type and person of Doeg his traitor before Saul, as St. Augustine and Theodoret teach there. Wherefore it is full of threats and curses, and so some count as many curses as the pieces of silver which Judas received, namely thirty. The first is, verse 6: "Set thou a wicked man over him," as if to make him an impious judge and tyrant, who may judge and punish him severely. The second: "And let the devil stand at his right hand," that is to say, Let the devil, that is the accuser, stand by him, so that he may accuse him before the judge and bring him to death. Again, in the divine judgment properly the devil may gain power over him, accuse him, hold him, cast him down, harass him, and drive him to the rope. Thus Satan entered into Judas, John xiii. "The devil," says St. Augustine in Psalm cviii, "stood at the right hand of Judas, when he preferred avarice to wisdom, money to his salvation, so that he would betray Christ; and thus he did not wish to be possessed by Christ, but by the devil." The third: "When he is judged let him go out condemned" to present and eternal death. The fourth: "And let his prayer be turned into sin," that is into offense, as if to say, The prayer of a man so impious, now as it were condemned and despairing, praying for remission, not so much of guilt as of punishment, may rather offend and exasperate the judge, both man and God. Thus Theodoret translates the Chaldean, "let his prayer be turned into condemnation." What good is to be expected for him to whom nothing remains but prayer, which is turned for him into torment, nay into sin? The fifth: "Let his days be few." Thus Judas survived his betrayal by only a few hours, and straightway hanged himself. The sixth: "And let another take his bishopric." See, and count the rest. Episkopos in Greek is the same as éphoros, that is, inspector, superintendent, keeper, watcher, who attends to and watches over something as a Prefect: for the office of a bishop is episkopeîn, that is, to attend to the matter committed to him. Whence, II Esd. xi, 22, Azzi is called "Bishop," that is inspector and prefect "of the Levites." And Cicero was Bishop of the coast of Campania; for thus he says, lib. VII, epist. to Atticus: "For Pompey wishes me to be, since all this Campania and maritime coast has a Bishop, to whom the levy and the sum of business is referred." And the Emperor Arcadius, Digest. De Muner. et Honor.: "These," he says, "are properly called Bishops, who preside over bread and other things for sale."
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21. Who are gathered together with us. — Pagninus and the Zurich Bible, conversed. In all time in which the Lord Jesus entered and went out among us, — that is, in which he lived among us; it is a Hebraism: for to enter and to go out signifies to the Hebrews the whole series of life and conversation, namely all actions, words, gestures and deeds. Second, to enter and to go out before an assembly or people is to preside over it, to lead and govern it. For it is the duty of a leader to go out before the people, like a shepherd leading sheep; thus Moses says, Deut. xxxi, 2: "I am not able to go out and come in," that is to lead and govern the people. And Solomon, II Paral. i, 10: "Give me," he says, "wisdom and understanding, that I may go in and out before thy people;" which explaining he adds: "For who can judge this people of thine, which is so great?" To enter therefore and to go out is the same as to judge and govern the people.
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22. Beginning from the baptism of John. — For from that point the Gospel and the deeds of Christ began. For John in his baptism announced and demonstrated Christ to all, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold He who taketh away the sin of the world," John i, 29; and therefore Christ wished to be baptized by him, and from there to begin His preaching. A witness of His resurrection. — An apostle therefore is the same as a witness of the resurrection of Christ, and consequently of the other mysteries and deeds of His, which in the resurrection, as in their end and purpose, are terminated and concluded. For Christ was born, suffered, and died in order that He might rise again, and by His resurrection abolish sin and death and raise us up from them, according to that passage in Rom. iv, 25: "Who was delivered up for our sins, and rose again for our justification." See the sayings there. For at first this article of the resurrection was most difficult to believe: wherefore the Apostles inculcated it especially, and when they had persuaded men of this, they easily persuaded them of the rest. Wherefore St. Peter wishes to elect such a one as should be a witness of all the deeds of Christ from the baptism of John even unto the ascension into heaven, and of these equally as of the resurrection, so that he might testify and say: "Behold He who ate, who drank, who was crucified, the same one rose again," as St. Chrysostom says.
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23. And they appointed. — The Apostles and the other faithful by common consent nominated from the whole number two who were more excellent in faith, virtue, and knowledge of the things of Christ; these they then set apart as it were as candidates for the Apostolate, so that the lot might be cast over both, which would designate the Apostle. All these things were done under the direction of St. Peter, who was the leader of this whole work. Whence St. Augustine, book I On the Acts against Felix the Manichaean, chapter iv, reads "appointed" as "he appointed," namely Peter with the Apostles and through the Apostles. Moreover, each of them was from the number of the 72 disciples, says Beda from Clement of Alexandria. Joseph. — This Joseph appears to have been the brother of James the Lesser and Jude the Apostles, and the son of Alphaeus and Mary, and therefore a kinsman of Christ. Whence among the women standing by Christ crucified, this one is named "the mother of James and Joseph," Matt. xxvii, 56. This Joseph was afterwards made Bishop of Eleutheropolis in Palestine, says Dorotheus in the Synopsis; he is read among the Saints in the Roman Martyrology, on the 20th of July, in these words: "On the same day the birthday of Blessed Joseph, who was surnamed Justus, whom the Apostles with Blessed Matthias appointed to fill the place of the Apostolate of Judas the traitor; but when the lot fell upon Matthias, he nevertheless served in the office of preaching and holiness, and enduring much persecution from the Jews for the faith of Christ, he rested with a victorious end in Judaea; of whom it is also related that he drank poison, and suffered nothing sad from this on account of the faith of the Lord." St. Dionysius also mentions him, chapter xi, saying: "That very divine peace and tranquility which St. Justus (for Joseph was surnamed Justus) calls silence." Who was called Barsabas. — Barsabas is the same as son of Sabas, just as Barabbas is the same as son of Abba; Bartimaeus is the same as son of Timaeus, Barjona is the same as son of Jonah, or John: for the father of St. Peter was called John, and by crasis Jonas. Whether the same should be said of this Barsabas, namely that his father was called or surnamed Sabas, is uncertain. For τὸ sabas can be taken as an appellative, not as a proper name, signifying either oath, or satiety, or return, so that Barsabas is the same as son of oath (just as Beersheba is the same as well of oath, Genesis xxi, 31), or of satiety, or of return, or of conversion: thus St. Jerome and Pagninus, in the Hebrew Names. This Barsabas is different from Barnabas the cousin of St. Paul, who was likewise called Joseph, Acts iv, 36. Who was surnamed Justus, — from his remarkable justice and holiness, just as his brother James was surnamed just from the same reason and brother of the Lord. For Justus is not a Hebrew name, as Beda and others think, but a Latin one, and is either a proper name or a surname, just as today many have the name Justus: wherefore in Greek he is likewise called Ἰοῦστος. Thus the Evangelists, writing in Greek, use many Latin words as if they were Greek. Such are praetorium, flagellum, colonia, legio, sudarium, census. Note here, that for prelacies the just and holy are not always the more suitable. For he is more suitable who has the talent of ruling and governing, which consists more in prudence and grace than in holiness, as St. Teresa used to say, and therefore she wished Superiors to be chosen prudent and discreet rather than holy, if one or the other were lacking. Many believe that this Joseph was the brother of St. James the Lesser, Simon and Jude: for St. Matthew insinuates that these four were brothers, chapter xiii, verse 35; and therefore Christ did not wish the lot to fall upon him, both lest he should seem to prefer so many kinsmen of his to outsiders; and lest four brothers should be together in the college of the twelve Apostles: just as the Canons provide that in the same Church a father and son should not hold a benefice together; and many Chapters do not wish to admit more brothers into their assembly of Canons, lest they conspire among themselves and wish to dominate the others, and thus stir up factions and schisms. Matthias. — Matthias in Hebrew is the same as מתן יה mattan ja, that is, the gift of God, or one given by God. Whence Bede thinks his name was an omen that he was to be given to the apostolate. Hence the name Matthias is almost the same as Matthanias and Natthinaeus: indeed Pagninus calls Matthias in no other way than Matthanjach. The same is the name with the doubled letter thau, Matthathias, who was the father of Judas, Jonathan and Simon the Maccabees, and it means the same as the gift of the Lord, or the slaying of the Lord; for he himself slew the general of Antiochus out of zeal. Certainly Matthias was similar to Matthathias in zeal, indeed superior. Beda adds, and others, that Matthias in Hebrew is the same as the small one of God, because he was the last of the Apostles, and because by merit of humility he was raised to the apostolate, according to that saying of Christ, Matt. cap. xi, vers. 25: "I confess to thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones:" But I do not see whence Matthias is the same as the small one of God, unless you say by the exchange of the letter m with p (because both are labials) that Matthias is the same as Pethias: for pethi in Hebrew signifies a little one; or certainly that Matthias is compounded from מה אתה יה ma atta ja, that is, what art thou, God? What art thou, Lord, what am I? thou art the abyss of being and of all good, I am the abyss of nothingness and of all evil. Thus Michael is the same as "who is like God?" Clement of Alexandria, lib. IV Strom., thinks that Matthias was Zacchaeus, who was called by Christ from the sycamore tree and made one of the 72 disciples, and afterwards was substituted for Judas by the Apostles and created an Apostle, and was called Matthias. But since Zacchaeus was a chief of the publicans, as is clear from Luke xix, 2, many think he was a Gentile: for this name and office were infamous among the Jews; but Christ's Apostles were all Jews, none Gentiles. Thus Tertullian thinks, lib. IV Contra Marc., 37, to whom St. Cyprian seems to assent, epist. 63 to Caecilium, St. Ambrose and Beda in cap. xix of Luke. But St. Jerome refutes this reasoning, epist. 146, from the fact that St. Matthew was a publican, and yet a Jew, and therefore an Apostle: again a Jew was a publican, who went up into the temple to pray with a Pharisee, Luke xviii, 10. Wherefore Euthymius, Lyra, Cajetan, Montanus, Jansenius, Salmeron and Barradius think that Zacchaeus was a Jew, in Luke cap. xix, both because there, vers. 9, he is called "a son of Abraham;" and because he says to Christ: "If I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold," which was a precept for Jews in Exod. xxii, 1, not for Gentiles.
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24. And praying they said. — The Apostles teach that common and public prayer ought to be put before the election of a Pastor and Bishop, so that God may grant the most worthy; for upon him depends the salvation or perdition of the flock. Thus Christ, about to designate the Apostles, spent the whole night in prayer, Luke vi, 12. Thus the Council of Trent, sess. xxiv, cap. i, commands that, when the Episcopate is vacant, public prayers be appointed throughout the whole diocese for the election of a good Pastor. Thou who knowest the hearts of all. — The Greeks with a single word more significantly call upon and invoke God, kardiognōsta, O Lord, inspector of the heart, who namely alone inspicest and perceivest the bosom and depths of the heart, that is, of the mind, who searchest all its hiding places, who seest through the free and secret thoughts, counsels, desires, intentions of each mind, even when often hidden, disguised and unknown to the mind itself; and therefore thou knowest best who is most fit for this apostolic office. For men in choosing are often deceived, because they regard only outward things, but are unable to see hearts, in which often many things lie hidden, which make a man most worthy or unworthy of the pastoral office and duty: God therefore alone is kardiognōstēs, not man, not angel. Show whom thou hast chosen. — These two, Joseph and Matthias, appear to have been, as it were, equal in gifts, says the Gloss; or to have stood to each other as "the exceeding and the exceeded," so that, although one surpassed the other in one respect, yet in another he was surpassed by the same one, so that the Apostles knew not which should be preferred to the other; and therefore they invoked God, that he might designate the more fit one. For they knew that they, being the new Church of Christ, were themselves the care and concern of him, and that he would be present in a matter of such moment; and just as he had formerly chosen eleven Apostles, so now he would reveal the twelfth. They felt this confidence inspired in them by him, and therefore they pray confidently, not doubting that they would obtain what they ask for, and would gain what they pray for.
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25. To receive a place. — In Greek klēron, that is, a lot, concerning which see verse 17. Concerning which Judas transgressed. — Pagninus and the Zurich Bible translate, "from which Judas fell by transgression," that is, from which by transgression (namely by betrayal, despair and self-strangulation) Judas fell. It is a metalepsis. In Greek ex hēs parébē, which some translate, "from which he went astray," so that parébē stands for parexébē, and parábasis for parekbasis, that is, a going aside, an alteration. For our calling and state is as it were a way and a course, in which we run straight to the goal, so that we may obtain the prize of heavenly glory: from which those go astray who tend into byways and turn and bend their course elsewhere. That he might go to his own place, — his fitting place, namely into the snare which he had made for himself, says Oecumenius; or, into hell; because hitherto he had occupied an alien place, and from his own demerits he makes for himself the place of damnation, says Cajetan. Subtly St. Bernard in Psalm xc, sermon 8: "To his own place, that is," he says, "so that suspended in the air he might burst as a colleague of the aerial powers; inasmuch as the betrayer of the true God and likewise the true man, who had come from heaven to work salvation in the midst of the earth, him neither would heaven receive nor would earth sustain, according to that: If not in the heavens, stand wherever you will." Was Judas therefore in his own place when he was in the apostolate? Not at all: for, as Cajetan says, "he went to his own place, because hitherto he had occupied an alien place of the apostolate and ministry." Although indeed he seemed distinguished by the apostolate, in truth he did not have the apostolate, because he did not use it as he ought. Thus plainly also pastors, who do not attend to the governing of their sheep, have nothing less than the pastoral dignity, from which they themselves cast themselves down by their negligence and sloth. Wherefore St. Bernard, in a sermon to pastors gathered in synod, addressing pastors in that passage of David: "They are confounded, because God hath despised them," Psalm lii, verse 6, thus speaks to pastors: "And you," he says, "are confounded in your deeds: not honored, but burdened by your dignities, because God hath despised you." Receive these things spoken morally: for it is certain that literally Judas truly had the apostolate, and wicked pastors truly have the pastorate.
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26. And they gave lots for them. — The Syriac version: "and they cast lots"; Pagninus: "and they gave their lots"; the Zurich Bible: "and they sent their lots"; for in Greek it is autōn, that is "of them" in the genitive, not "to them" in the dative. You will ask first, what were these lots and of what kind were they? I answer: Some, such as Gagneius, think they were a scrutiny of votes. Our men Salmeron and Sanchez agree, who think the Apostles prayed that God would illuminate their minds and declare to whom He wished them to give their vote, and they call this a lot. They prove this from the fact that for "was numbered," in Greek it is sygkatepsēphisthē, that is "was co-opted by common votes." But in this way it would not have been a lot and a casting of lots, but an election: nor would the lot have fallen upon Matthias, but he would have been made an Apostle by right of votes. Second, St. Dionysius, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter 5, part III, whom St. Antoninus, Turianus, Baronius, Sanchez and others follow, thinks it was some divine sign; but what kind it was, he does not explain. "It seems to me," says Dionysius, "that Scripture called a lot something divine and of special office, by which he would be admitted to the most sacred choir, who had been declared by divine election." St. Antoninus, part I, title 6, chapter ii, thinks it was a ray sent down from heaven upon Matthias, just as by a ray of light the great Pope Gregory was shown and certain others. Dionysius the Carthusian thinks it was a dove sent down from heaven upon Matthias, just as St. Fabian was made Pope by the descent of a dove. Others think it was the gift of prophecy, or of wisdom breathed upon Matthias. If you object: How then are the Apostles said to have given them lots? I answer, in this sense, that the Apostles predetermined this sign from divine instinct, saying: Upon whom a ray shall descend, or a dove from heaven, he shall be an Apostle by God's judgment; and then they prayed God that He Himself would show and produce these lots, just as Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, did, seeking a wife for Isaac, and by the sign of the offering of the pitcher knew and chose Rebecca, Genesis xxiv, 14. In a similar way the Gentiles called their oracles and divine responses lots, because they were given by the gods and their priests, the inquirer as it were by lot, and often through divination. Hence with Valerius, book I, to be commanded by lots is the same as to be commanded by oracles. But to give or send lots does not mean this, but something far different, as is clear to anyone from the common meaning and use of terms. For in a lot the outcome is fortuitous and is expected from chance, so that he wins into whom the lot, as it were a lucky die, has fallen. I say therefore that the Apostles sent lots properly so called, as the words sound, and the lot fell upon Matthias. Moreover, by what thing and in what manner these lots were sent is uncertain. Our men Lorinus and Mariana think the name of Matthias was written on one piece of paper, the name of Joseph on another, and thus both were thrown into an urn, where they were mixed, so that whoever's name was drawn out first, he would be an Apostle; and the name of Matthias was drawn out first. We know that there were various methods and ways of casting lots among the ancients. For in Proverbs xvi, 33, small papers, dice, balls, or pebbles were thrown into the lap; in Homer, Iliad I, into a helmet; in Plautus in the Casina, into a bucket; in Cicero, book IV Against Verres, into a pitcher; in Virgil, Aeneid VI, into an urn. In what manner and way the Apostles used them is uncertain: it is certain that God declared Matthias through it, both by directing the lot so that it would fall upon Matthias, according to that in Proverbs xvi, 33: "Lots are cast into the lap, but they are directed by the Lord"; and by adding some heavenly sign, for example a ray or something similar, by which He would confirm the lot, as St. Dionysius and others already cited think. Likewise St. Augustine, discourse 2 on Psalm xxx, and Origen, homily 23 on Joshua; and this lest Matthias be inferior to the other Apostles, who had been chosen by Christ Himself. This is clear from the prayer of the Apostles preceding the lot, in which they asked God to designate the more suitable one: but there is no doubt that God heard this prayer of the Apostles and the Church in common and granted them their wish. Wherefore this lot was human, if you regard the Apostles casting it; yet it was the same divine, if you consider the weight which God added to it. For this is what St. Dionysius says, who certainly knew that lot very well. And thus this third opinion is to be joined to the second. You ask secondly, with what conscience did the Apostles commit so great a matter to the lot, that is to chance and fortune? They answer first, some from the Gloss, that they did rightly, because those to be chosen were equal in external gifts: for then the matter can be decided and settled by lot. Whence St. Augustine, epistle 119, chapter xx, and epistle 180, teaches that by lot should be decided which priests ought to assist the faithful during times of persecution, and which ought to flee. The same is to be judged in time of plague or similar necessity. In the same way Plato ordains, in the Republic, dialogue 5, that the equality of lots should be used in the republic to avoid offending many, so that we invoke God and good fortune in prayers, that He himself may direct the lot to what is most just; for God is the moderator of fortune, and therefore He Himself is fortune active and fortuning. And Plutarch, in the Morals: "As in a democracy, he says, to which the lot has fallen to rule, he ought to rule; so in the life of men what the lot has given should be taken in good part." Secondly, the Apostles followed the examples of Holy Scripture. For thus Saul was created king by lot, I Kings x, 20. Thus Achan was discovered by lot, Joshua vii, 16. Thus the promised land was divided by lot among the twelve tribes, Joshua xv, etc. Whence St. Jerome in Jonas chapter i; St. Augustine, sermon On St. Matthias; St. Chrysostom and Bede here, and St. Thomas I II, Question xcv, article 8, hold that the Apostles, still rude and inexperienced, did this from the custom of the Fathers of the Old Testament, before they had received the Holy Ghost, and therefore after receiving Him did not do this in the election of Deacons, chapter vi, just as now all lot in the elections of Pastors and Ecclesiastical persons is prohibited by Canon Law, as appears in the chapter Ecclesia, on divinations, toward the end. For by natural, divine and human law, for benefices, especially those having the care of souls attached, the more worthy must be chosen, as the Council of Trent ordains, session 24, chapter xviii On Reform.; and the same teach Theologians everywhere with St. Thomas, whom our Lessius cites and follows, book II On Justice, chapter xxxiv, doubt 14. In a similar way the Romans, though Gentiles, passed a law that no priest should be created by lot or by price, as Dio, book II History of Rome. Thirdly and genuinely, the Apostles cast this lot lawfully, because they did this from divine instinct, by which God tacitly promised that He would demonstrate His will through it, and would designate the more suitable one. Thus our Lessius, book II On Justice, chapter xliii, doubt 9, with whom see more on the division and variety of lots, which of them is lawful, which unlawful. For in a similar way God commanded Samuel to give lots for the creation of Saul as king, and Joshua for the discovery of Achan and for the division of the holy land, of which I spoke a little before, and St. Francis by lot to take the opinions of Holy Scripture first occurring in the Gospels, and to embrace them as a rule of life, as St. Bonaventure relates. Most excellently St. Augustine, commentary 2 on Psalm xxx, explaining that passage: "In Thy hands are my lots": "A lot, he says, is a thing in human doubt indicating the divine will." And soon he interprets the lot as the grace of God: "Because in a lot, he says, there is no choice, but the will of God. For where it is said, This one does, that one does not, merits are considered, and where merits are considered, there is choice, not lot. But when God finds no merits in us, by the lot of His will He made us safe, because He willed it, not because we were worthy. This is a lot." And the lot fell upon Matthias. — From this lot that Matthias was the first Cleric, and thence Clerics received their origin and name, St. Augustine holds in Psalm lxvii: "For both Kleros and Clerics, he says, I think were called from this, who are ordained in Ecclesiastical grades, because Matthias was chosen by lot, whom we first read ordained by the Apostles. For Cleric is said from klēros, that is lot, because by lot he is enrolled into the lot of the Lord." Isidore agrees with St. Augustine, book II Etymologies, chapter ii, and St. Antoninus in the place cited a little before, although it may seem otherwise to others. Certainly we do not read of an older Cleric than Matthias; and from this opinion the name of Clergy began with the Apostles, indeed from the Apostles, and the first cleric was an Apostle. Morally: First, by this lot Christ taught that in the election to ecclesiastical offices, He did not wish to have regard for kinship. For He preferred to Joseph his kinsman in the Apostolate Matthias, a stranger. Second, that each one ought to await his vocation from God and to be content with it: just as Joseph did not grieve that Matthias was preferred to him, nor did he become more sluggish in the preaching of the Gospel on account of this, but served Christ equally strenuously in other duties, as I said above. For many who suffered rejection from the episcopate or office have brought in schism or heresy. Such as Tertullian, Novatus, and in our age Luther. Third, that the apostolate and similar preeminences and degrees do not fall under merit of condignity: for God chose Matthias and the other Apostles by lot, not by merit. In a similar manner other heroes sent by God for the defense, reformation, or illumination of the Church, such as St. Augustine, Jerome, Basil, Chrysostom, Benedict, Bernard, Dominic, Francis and the like, were chosen by lot, that is, by the grace of God, for this purpose. Yet they disposed themselves for this grace and merited it de congruo by their profound humility, acknowledging themselves to be altogether unworthy and unfit for so great a work, and that they were destined for it by the lot and gift of God (which is what the name Matthias means, as I said). Wherefore St. Francis, when asked by many what grace or good he possessed by which he had been exalted by God to so great a height of sanctity and authority, so that he drew the whole world to himself and to love and veneration of him: "For you," they said, "are not noble, not rich, not learned, not eloquent, not handsome; who therefore does the whole world run after you?" He answered: "For this reason God chose me, because I have nothing in which I can glory, so that He might show that this work is not of man, but of God." Let us imitate this humility of his and join to it great zeal for the propagation of the glory of God, and God will accomplish great things through us. Thus David became so great a Prophet and Psalmist, because he felt and said: "My lots are in Thy hands," Psalm xxx, 16. Thus concerning the Saints despised and humbled in this life, but exalted and glorified on the day of judgment, the impious will say in amazement: "These are they whom we once held in derision and as a likeness of reproach. We foolish esteemed their life madness, and their end without honour. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the Saints," Wisdom v, 3. Whence, repenting late and groaning, they add: "Therefore we have erred from the way of truth," etc. You erred deservedly, because you said: "Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither, let no meadow be which our luxury does not pass through," etc. "This is our portion, and this is our lot. Let us oppress the poor just man," etc., Wisdom ii, 9. On the other hand, "Blessed is the barren, and undefiled, etc., and the eunuch, who hath not wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wicked things against God. For there shall be given to him the excellent gift of faith, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of God," Wisdom iii, 13. Wherefore Ecclesiasticus admonishes, xvii, 24: "Know," he says, "the justices and judgments of God, and stand in the lot of the proposition and prayer of the most high God. Go into the portions of the world holy with the living and those giving confession to God." That is to say, Stand and persevere constantly in the lot proposed to you, that is, in your vocation, both of the new life and of a certain holy state. Similarly persist in the lot of prayer, so that you frequently pray to God and obtain grace, by which you may live worthily of your vocation. For this is a most useful prayer, if you pray continually in all things: Lord, direct me by that lot, by that state, by those ways by which Thou foreseest I shall live holily, and reach straight to heaven with untripped foot and the lot of the Blessed. "Go into the portions," that is to say, Advance by good works, so that you may obtain the portion of the holy world, that is, future heavenly glory, and thus begin it here by praising God in word and deed, with the just who still live and give praise to God. For in the heavens there will be perpetual praise of God. And he was numbered. — In Greek sygkatepsēphisthē, that is, he was coöpted by common votes, that is to say, All with one voice praised and approved the divine lot and through it the election of Matthias. Vatablus translates it, "he was added by votes to the number of the eleven Apostles"; Pagninus, "he was added by votes to the eleven Apostles." Whence you should not rightly conclude that the lot of Matthias was the votes, but that votes were added to the lot. Therefore Matthias was chosen by a threefold calculation: first by lot, second by God and His divine sign, third by the Apostles praising the lot of God and God's calculation. Add that sygkatepsēphisthē is transferred by catachresis to any election whatsoever, and signifies the same thing as to be chosen, to be enrolled, to be numbered, as Our translator rendered it, whether this be done by votes, or by lot, or by some other means. I have seen and venerated the relics of St. Matthias at Trier in the cathedral church, to which these titles are assigned, which St. Antoninus recounts in the place already cited: "He was most learned in the law of the Lord, pure in body, prudent in mind, acute in resolving questions of Holy Scripture, provident in counsel, ready in discourse, a worker of many signs, with hands extended to heaven a martyr he rendered his spirit to God." Clement of Alexandria recounts three axioms of St. Matthias. The first, in book II of the Stromata: "One ought to admire what is present," namely that we admire the visible works of God, and from these ascend to invisible things, admiring and contemplating in them the majesty, power, wisdom, and goodness of God. The second, in book III: "If one chosen as a neighbor has sinned, the chosen one has sinned. For if he had conducted himself as the word or reason commands, his neighbor would have so revered his life that he would not have sinned." Thus St. Bernardine, while still young, was so revered for his sanctity by his contemporaries that when he was present all would compose themselves to modesty and would say: Be silent, Bernardine is here. The third, in book VII, which Eusebius also cites, in book III of the History, chapter 29: "One must fight against the flesh, and in no way whatsoever yield to its pleasure and lust; but the soul must be nourished with the pastures of wisdom, and always increased with the food of knowledge."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 3 quibus et praebuit seipsum vivum post passionem suam in multis argumentis , per dies quadraginta apparens eis et loquens de regno Dei; τεχιανηρίεις documentis indubitatis, iisque multis; unde iam indicat paucissima solum in evangelio referri. Illud per &0 dies διὰ inter explicat Cr. : neque enim semper cum illis 6286, ut ante resurrectionem ; adveniebat enim et avolabat rursum. In illo itaque intervallo 60 dierum saepius se cis ostendit, apparuit, eosque de regno Dei, de sua Ecclesia edocuit. Quae docuerit, non refertur. At multa eum docuisse quis negare poterit? Merito assumitur apostolis tradita esse quae ad huius regni constitutionem, regimen, administrationem, propagationem, per fectionem spectabant. Velint, nolint; debent acatholici fateri multa Wendtinnuit hanc de regno Dei locutionem promissione Spiritus sancti in v. &.contineri et absolvi, ac si Christus per 40 dies saepius apparens nihil aliud habuisset quod loqueretur atque idem semper repetiisset. Apte effertur in Actuum apostolorum prooemio illos qui testes esse debebant resurrectionis et multis documentis indubitatis deprehendisse Iesum e mortuis viventem et simul edoctos esse de regno Dei quod scil. annuntiandum iis erat.
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v. & et convescens praecepit eis, ab Ierosolymis ne discederent 1. e. dum cum iis mensae accumberet praecepit etc. ; id de uno aliquo eventu apte dicitur ; inepte enuntiarctur de repetitis illis apparitionibus v. 3. Idem suadetur forma -22%-- 4e.ev; idem elucet ex .v. 6, in quo de die ascensionis sermonem fieri omnes concedunt. Sed iste versus particula cóv arcte adnectitur ad exhibeatur; insuper o! συνελθόντες v. 6 sunt iidem cum αὐτοῖς v. 4. Post resurrectionem iusserat discipulos abire in Galilaeam. Ne idem faciant post ascensionem praecavet. In Ierusalem, in urbe principe veteris theocratiae, novum regnum Dei sollemni modo inaugurari vult. Ne igitur ab urbe discederent, uti necessario praecipi debuit &nte ascensionem, ita non pertinuisse ad spatium 40 dierum aliis narrationibus ostenditur (Matth. 28,7. 16. Marc. 16,7. Ioan. 21,1 seq.). Pariter si eos iubet ezspectare alium Paraclitum, haec iam sunt verba abitum parantis, sed erspectarent promissionem Patris «i» ἐπαγγελίαν t. 5. Uti Luc. 25, 49, scil. id quod Deus per prophetas promisit de effusione Spiritus, de regno messiano condendo; cf. Is. 66, 3 etc. Ez. 11,19; 36, 26. 27; 39, 29. Ioel 2,28; quam audistis (inquit) per os meum, ἣν ἠχούσατέ μου; Sed D διὰ τοῦ στόματός μου — fit transitus in orationem directam, uti alias quoque apud Lucam 5,14 et Act. 17, 3. De Paraclito audierunt Christum loquentem Luc. 12,12, iisdem verbis Luc. 2$, 49; praeterea Ioan. 15,16; 15,26; 16,7. 13. Cur itaque in urbe debeant manere et qualem promissionem exspectare eos iubeat, declarat
Uti viderunt iam Salm. Lap. et plerique recentiorum quoque agnoscunt (cf. Beel. Bels. Hilg. 1. c.), hic Lucas loqui incipit de ipso ascensionis die. Nam planum est id quod nunc narrat non posse rerandi et ipsum argumentum obstat;
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v. 5 quia Ioannes quidem baptizavit aqua, vos autem baptizabimini Spiritu sancto non post multos hos dies i. e. infra paucos dies; uti corpus immergitur in aquam, ita animus imbuitur Spiritu sancto; baptismi metaphora copiosa declaratur effusio Spiritus sancti et copiosa donorum eius collatio; .vide quae dixi ad Matth. 3,11 et Marc. 1,8 et Luc. 3,16 et Ioan. 1,33; cf. Act. 11,16. Iste baptismus narratur 2, 1. seq. Quod apud prophetas metaphora effusionis declaratur, hoc loco in baptismo exhibetur. Significat ἐν instrumentum quo baptismus ille confertur ac perficitur. : Recte vertitur συναλιζόμενος convescens; ita quoque habet syr : et quando cum iis manducabat panem et syr ph ipsam vocis etymologiam imitatur כותכזלח salem sumens. De comestione vocem graeci quoque explicant; ita Chr. qui statim addit : hoc autem ipsi apostoli semper in resurrectionis argumentum sumpserunt dicentes : qui manducavimus et bibimus cum illo (Act. 10,41) et Oec. declarat vocem : συνεσθίων xai πίνων τουτέστι χοινωνῶν ἁλῶν, χοινωνῶν τραπέζης; idem Theoph. Etiam Ps. 141, 4 hebr. אלחם quod Symmachus vertit συμφάγοιμι (LXX. συνδυάσω) alius interpres reddit συναλισθῶ. Est igitur notio vocis communi sale uti; cf. Esdr. 4,14 nos memores salis quod in palatio comedimus; atque ea notione vox etiam habetur apud Clementem rom. hom. 13,4 eandemque explicationem recentiores amplectuntur plerumque (cf. Beel. Felt. Bels. Bl. Hilg. Wendt). Quae explicatio commendatur quoque Marc. 16,14 : novissime recumbentibus illis undecim apparuit, quo loco de eadem re narrationem institui aliquibus videtur. — Alli vocem explicant congregari. proin συναλιζ. ab ἁλής. Ita Hesychius : συναλισθεις, συναχθεις, συναθροισθεις. Legit Aug: cum conversaretur cum eis (uti D) eodemque modo lux. Notionem congregandi Grimm quoque tuetur. Sed : dum Iesus se (cum illis) congregaret, certe sensum haud congruum praebet; insuper illis praecepit non dum convenirent, sed conventu [acto. Prior autem notio aliis occasionibus suadetur (cf. Luc. 24,43. Marc. 16,14. Ioan. 21, 12. Act. 10,41) et participium praesens pariter in ea significatione apte &adhibetur de actione simul facta. . Cum Christus de promissione Patris exspectanda locutus esset et de effusione Spiritus infra paucos dies futura, vaticinia de regno et throno David et de gloria Israel apostolis in mentem venerunt; unde
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v. 6 igitur qui convenerant , οὖν nexum indicat et quaestionem esse ortam ex verbis Christi, ot συνελθόντες i. e. illi congressi, scil. de quibus iam in v. & sermo erat; neque enim dicitur : cum convenissent , (quo loquendi modo utique novus conventus a v. & distinctus induci posset) interrogabant eum dicentes : Domine si in tempore Aoc scil. quia nos iubes in urbe manere et exspectare et dicis infra paucos dies fore effusionem Spiritus, restitues regnum Israel τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ; Autc Israel, ut Beda vertit monens in graeco legi «o, non «ov. Nam dies multos sedebunt filii Israel sine.rege... et post haec revertentur et quaerent Dominum Deum suum et David regem (Os. 3,&. 5); conciderat enim tabernaculum David; 86 praedictum erat : suscitabo tabernaculum David quod cecidit (Am. 9,11) 66 vide Is. 11,129 seq. 15,1; &9,8. 22; 52,1 seq. Exspectabant gloriosam regni Dei instaurationem in qua genus israeliticum dux esset 86 princeps gentium ; huic enim stirpi data sunt vaticinia illa Is. 2,9 seq. 55,1; 60,1 et 65,17 : ecce enim ego creo coelos novos et terram novam οἱ 66,92; cf. Ier. 31, 31; Ez. 37,26. Verum in abditis Dei consiliis reconditum est, quando sponsa Messiae , Ecclesia , babitu humili vitae terrestris Sponsi Messiae deposito gloria et honore una cum Sponso coronanda sit; de die enim illo ne angeli quidem sciunt neque Messiae erat illum annuntiare (cf. Marc. 13,32); unde
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v. 7 dixit autem eis < non est vestrum nosse tempora vel momenta χρόνους ἢ χαιρούς, duplici voce negatio magis emphatice effertur; neque generatim tempora et multo minus tempora illi eventui opportuna ac destinata scire vel discere ad eos pertinet; ea enim Pater pro suo beneplacito statuit neque ea revelari vult, quae Pater posuit in sua. potestate, ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ, in potestate sibi propria, unde hanc notitiam sibi reservavit (Patr. ). Ad.eos igitur non spectat nosse quando ipse regnum suum messianum ad debitam gloriae perfectionem sit adducturus; verum quod eos proxime attinet id monet
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v. 8 sed accipietis virtutem supervententis Spiritus sancti tn vos; cf. Luc. 95,49 sedete in civitate quoadusque induamini virtute ex alto, et hac virtute instructi , e£ eritis mihi testes, mci testes, ἐπ lerusalem et in omni Iudaea et Samaria et usque ad ultimum terrae ; cf. Luc. 24,87. 48; illi «à 'Iopai opponit Iesus indolem universalem sui regni; atque id monet, ut Chr. advertit, quia ante dixerat : in viam gentium ne abieritis et in civitates Samaritanorum ne intraveritis (Matth. 10,5) et Samaritanos Iudaei detestabantur et exsecrabantur (Patr.); quare docet Christus iam non esse distinctionem (Cai.). Regni messiani indolem universalem prophetae clarissime indicarant (cf. Is. 2,9; 11,9.10 seq. 60,6 seq.); eandem Christus haud semel expresserat (cf. Matth. 8,11; 13,329; 91,53; 24,14; 28,20); quare carere possumus illa coniectura a Feine excogitata, illud ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς In fonte iudaeo-christiano quo usus sit Lucas non scriptum fuisse, neque opus est talem fingere fontem. Ad fontem primitivum inepte additum esse v.8ab aliquo « redactore » contendit Spitta; illo enim v. 8 responderi prius ad aliquid de quo non esset interrogatum , inutiliter repeti quod iam in v. 5 dictum sit, et insuper interrumpi nexum inter v. 7 et 9-14. Contra quam crisin iam ipse Hilg. respondet nullum fontem peculiarem hic cerni, auctorem ad Theophilum alterum hunc librum priori adnectere, et v. 8 plane suo loco recte constitui. Atque revera in tempore hoc duo continentur : baptismus Spiritus et restitutio regni. Christus respondet ad utrumque et insuper baptismum magis explicat ita ut in v. 8 non habeatur mera repetitio. Post negationem in v. 7 addit Christus quid apostolis in tempore hoc eventurum sit ' et quid iis praestandum sit. Hac institutione data ascendit. Inepte fingitur Christum solum dixisse : non est vestrum nosse etc. et tum statim ascendisse. Quomodo tali negatione πράξεις ἀποστόλων induci > critico » in mentem venire potuit? Cum iam in priore libro narrasset : eduxit autem eos ἕως πρὸς Βηθα- νίαν 24,50 usque Bethaniam versusi. e. usque eo ubi in monte oliveti via Bethaniam versus deflectitur (cf. Comment. iu Luc. p. 648; Beís. p. 79), hoc loco breviter pergit
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v. 9 et cum haec dixisset , videntibus illis elevatus est; postmodum v. 12 mentionem loci facit narrans de reditu ; ita enim rem aliunde iam notam referri usus ac consuetudo fert. Quare non est negligentiae accusandus quod in v. % scribit de convivio in domo certe habita et v. 9 de ascensione nulla loci mutatione commemorata; quomodo Iesus a suis recesserit, priore libro scribit : elevatis manibus benedixit eis et dum benediceret illis, recessit ab eis et ferebatur in coelum (25,50. 51). Hic pro more suo (cf. v. 3-8) aliqua addit : et nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum; spectant apostoli Iesum paulatim ascendentem , donec nubes ascendentem suscepit et eorum oculis subduxit (Cai. Beel.). > Ubique creatura suo Creatori praestat obsequium; astra indicant nascentem , patientem obnubunt, recipiunt nubes ascendentem , redeuntem ad iudicium comitabuntur » (Bed.). Ceterum nubes quasi signum et emblema divinitatis praesentis saepe exhibetur (cf. Ex. 14,25; 16,10; 19,9; 25,16; 33, 9; 35,5. Lev. 16,2. Ps. 17,10; 96,9. Is. 19,1. Ez. 1,5. Nah. 1,3; vide ad Dan. 7,13). Corpus Christi gloriosum iam non pertinebat ad terram hanc in qua corruptio et mors dominatur. Sese ostendit apostolis quamdiu opus erat ut certissimam omnes haurirent persuasionem de vera resurrectione. Dein corpore quoque intrat plene et integre in gloriam suam. sint ascendentem et'quanta animorum admiratione mirum illud spectaculum contemplati sint, verbis prosequi non est opus. Satis id una voce indicatur
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v. 10 cumque tntuerentur 1n coelum euntem illum ἀτενίζοντες fixis oculis intuentes erant i. e. diu fixos oculos habebant intentos in coelum , sursum aspicientes πορευομένου αὐτοῦ dum ille abibat nube scil. obvolutus, ecce, id quod subito et inexspectato iis contigit significatur, duo viri astiterunt iuxta 1llos in vestibus albis, angeli scil. in forma humana albis induti, uti alias angelorum apparitio describitur (Matth. 28,3. Marc. 16,5. Luc. 25,4. Ioan.: 20,19) ;: vestis candida gaudium et laetitiam designat, sicut lux symbolum est beatitatis et Deus ipse et lux est et lucem dicitur inhabitare inaccessam et amictus esse lumine sicut vestimento (Ps. 103,9. 1 Tim. 6,16);
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v. 11 qui et dixerunt : viri Galilaei quid statis aspicientes. in coelum ? cur diutius statis oculos sursum intendentes? nubes Iesum iam subduxit oculis vestris ; frustra spectatis; non iam eum cernetis ; verum quod vidistis, alterius eius adventus vobis sit symbolum et praesagium : : λῖο Iesus qui assumptus est a υοδὲς in coelum, sic veniet quemadmodum vidistis eum euntem in coelum ; cf. Matth. 25, 80 videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nubibus coeli virtute multa et maiestate; Apoc. 1,7 ecce venit cum nubibus. Docent angeli quod oculis videre apostoli non poterant, Christum revera in coelum pervenisse; monent ut Iesum fide potius quam visu corporeo intueantur; significant Christum ad immutabilem quendam statum ascendisse (Lap.); in eadem enim carne et substantia, in eadem gloria veniet iudicaturus (Bed.). Hac ratione edocti et consolatione imbuti regressi sunt cum gaudio magno (Luc. 25,59)
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v. 19 tunc reversi sunt Ierosolymam a monte qui vocatur Oliveti qui est iuxta Ierusalem, sabbati habens ster, distat ab urbe quantum viae sabbato licet conficere i. e. distat duobus millibus cubitorum, quae sunt stadia quinque. Versio syr habet : distat quasi septem stadia; item sah : abest viam septem stadiorum; Iosephus montem oliveti vel sex vel quinque stadia distare dicit (Antiq. 20,8,6. Bell. iud. 5,2,3), scilicet is monsnon punctum aliquod est, ut B/. notat. Iter sabbati ex rabbinorum statutis ad Ex. 16,99 est determinatum. Cum enim ibi dicatur : nullus egrediatur de loco suo die sabbati, rabbini explicabant de urbe sua, et sub urbe etiam comprehendi aiebant suburbium, cuius spatium ab urbe fuit bis mille cubitorum , ut est Num. 35,5. Tale itaque spatium vocabatur terminus sabbati תחום) ; vide Buztorf , lexicon chald. talm. p. 2582 seq.). Notatur itaque quam prope absit mons ab urbe. Quod aliqui inveniunt contradictionem adesse huius loci cum Luc. 25,50 et Ioan. 11,18 (ita Wendt), sane mirum est. Neque enim Christus ex pago Bethania qui quindecim stadia * abest ab urbe, ullibi ascendisse dicitur, sed id solum asseritur Christum exisse in viam Bethaniam versus; dein hoc loco solum notatur, quanta sit distantia ab urbe ad montis radices vel quanta via inter urbem et initium montis computetur; ex quo loco in monte Christus ascenderit, non indicatur. Verba enim nullatenus enuntiant ab ipso ascensionis loco usque ad urbem esse sabbati iter. De monte oliveti vide ad Luc. 19,29. In urbem regressi, commorabantur, uti videtur, in eo coenaculo ubi Christus coenam paschalem celebraverat
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v. 13 et cum 1ntroissent in urbem scil., n coenaculum ascenderunt εἰς τὸ ὑπερῷον ; in partem aedium superiorem. Cum articulus ponatur, Lucas ad rem notam alludit; iam 22,11. 12 de eiusmodi deversorio sermo erat : ἀνάγαιον μέγα ἐστρωμένον, qua voce pariter conclave in parte aedium superiore designatur; ub? manebant לס χαταμένοντες erant. commorantes Pe- (rus et Ioannes, lacobus et Andreas, Philippus et Thomas, Bartholomaeus et Matthaeus, lacobus Alphaei, et Simon zelotes et Iudas Iacobi ; cf. Luc. 6,16-10 ; a priore illa haec enumeratio eo differt quod priore loco illi ponuntur qui Iesu magis erant familiares, scil. post Petrum qui ubique primum locum occupat (et hic ὁ τε Πέτρος, qui iam ex priore libro notus est) recensentur Ioannes et Iacobus (similiter Marc. 3,16) — hi tres etiam in hoc libro agentes inducuntur —; hic quoque Philippus et Thomas simul nominantur; aliter Luc. 6,14. 15. Ceterum vide quae de albis apostolorum et de ipsis dixi ad Matth. 10,2 seq. et ad Marc. Luc. 1. c. Qua vero ratione exspectarint promissionem Patris et ad baptismum Spiritus sancti accipiendum se praepararint, docemur
1:14
v. 1& ἀξ omnes erant perseverantes unanimiter magna scil. animorum inter se consensione, ἐμοθυλχξόν tin oratione cum mulieribus quae ex Galilaea cum Chreisto ascenderant et circa eius sepulcrum sollicitae erant; aliquae tamen, non omnes videntur adfuisse — σὺν γυναιξίν ; solum D* σὺν zai; — etl Maria matre Iesu et fratribus eius, qui fratres igitur iam credentibus accensentur; unde a tempore scenopegiae (Loan. 7,5) iustiorem de Iesu sententiam capiebant. De fratribus vide ad Matth. 13,55 et cf. Cornely, Introd. 11] 2 ed. p. 595. Orationi vacabant et in conclavi et statutis horis etiam in templo : et erant semper in templo laudantes et benedicentes Deam (Luc, 25,53), semper id fieri dicitur quod assidue fit; si igitur horis ad sacrificium destinatis, horis tertia et nona, ad templum se conferebant constanter, vulgari loquendi modo semper in templo Deum adorasse dicuntur. Intrepide itaque inter ludaeos versabantur; Christi enim apparitione et frequentiore commercio animos resumebant; non iam ianuis clausis propter metum Iudaeorum se continebant, uti die ipso resurrectionis et etiam adhuc post octo dies (Ioan. 20,19. 26). Etiam in ea animorum mutatione deprehenditur effectus longioris Iesu cum eis commercii et proinde confirmatio quaedam narrationis de illis quadraginta diebus v. 3. — Adverte adumbrari hic sacrum quendam secessum et praeparationem novemdialem ad diem festum et singularem gratiam accipiendam. |
1:15
v. 15 in diebus 21/86 , dum iussi a Domino exspectant in urbe promissionem Patris 0. &. 5, exsurgens Petrus in medio fratrum, vel ut alii malunt legere, discipulorum, dixit (erat autem turba hominum simul fere centum viginti) ἔχλος ὀνομάτων 1. e. personarum, ex usu hebraeo qui cernitur Num. 1,2. 18. 20; 3,40. 43 et etiam Apoc. 3,& et 11,13; quem usum nominis eliam quandoque apud profanos reperiri Wetstenius ad ἢ. 1. exemplis docet. Coniectat Felten forte Lucam habuisse nomina illorum descripta, quia dictione . fere insolita utatur. Cum Paulus loquatur de plus quam quingentis fratribus, quibus Christás apparuerit, numerus hic in dubium vocari nequit; iam Luc. 10,1 praeter apostolos mentio est de 72 discipulis. Inepte fingunt aliqui effictum esse numerum ex 19 <> 10 vel 3 <> 40; id quod iam illo ὡς fere, circiter excluditur, qua vocula ad oculum demonstratur non esse symbolicum numerum; ecquis in historia narranda eo utetur? . Petrus memor mandati Iesu : pasce oves meas, iam munere suo ut . pote primatum tenens fungitur, « tamquam primus in choro, cui grex a Christo concreditus erat, primus sermonem orditur » (Cr. Theoph.)
Quam animi alacritatem et ad munus praedicandi evangelii promptitadinem apostoli ex longiore illo cum Christo post resurrectionermn commercio hauserint, elucet quoque ex haé Peíri oratione .et ex electione Matthiae ad dignitatem apostolicam , ut numerus ille quem Christus selegit impleatur. lam enim Petrus animo prospectat testimonium quod apostoli de Iesu reddere debent et plane perspicit collegium apostolorum 8 Deo esse elecíum, ut fidem in Iesum summa cum auctoritate praedicent ac propagent. Quantum vero haec persuasio et haec animi firmitas distet ab timiditate illa primo resurrectionis tempore exhibita, manifestum est. Unde hac quoque ratione éxsistit documentum Christum frequentiore sua consuetudine animos suorum roborasse;
1:16
v. 16 viri fratres, χνὲρες appositum aliquam habet sollemnitatem ; cf. 2,29. 37; 7,9; 22,1 etc. oportet impleri Scripturam ἔξει oportebat; prius enim de re iam facta loquitur; γραφή etiam de uno loco Scripturae saepius dicitur (Marc. 12,10. Luc. 4.21. Ioan. 19,37), quam praedixu Spiritus sanctus per os David ; auctorem nominat primarium sacrarum litterarum eandem enuntians sententiam quam postea in sua consignavit epistola : Spiritu sancto inspirati (φερόμενοι) locuti sunt sancti Dei homines (2 Petr. 1,21), de Iuda qu: fuit dux eorum qui comprehenderunt Iesum; debebat impleri quia praedictum erat; erat autem praedictum, non wt fieret, sed 01/10 quod fieret erat praevisum (Beel.); Iudas factus est ὁδηγός dux viae, demonstrans viam et opportunitatem ad capiendum Iesum. Addit declarationis 081158 :
1:17
v. 17 qui ὅτι quia )007.( , quippe, nempe )/.( connumeratus erat £n nobis et sortitus est sortem ministerii huius; χλῆρος id quod sorte alicui contingit, pars attributa; partem nactus est ministerii apostolis communis ; quod ministerium iis quasi sorte contigit, quia > singulis haec dignitas obvenit non ex natura, non ex prosapia (uli posteris Aaron : obvenit sacerdotium), non ex iure, non ex meritis, sed ex mera Dei dignatione et gratia » (Lap.). Apostoli ministerium τὴν διακονίαν iam exercebant, quando missi sunt a Iesu ad praedicandum (Matth. 10,5. Luc. 9,9), quae erat prolusio quaedam muneris postea exercendi ad quod Iudas quoque electus. erat. Mitem Petri loquendi modum Chr. Theoph. laudant : non contumeliam dicit, non insultat, non vocat scelestum aut exsecrandum , sed rem simpliciter narrat. De [uda vide quae dixi in comment. Matth. Il p..398. seq. Verum quid ipse sibi pro parte illa ac dignitate acquisierit refertur
1:18
v. 18 Aic quidem possedit ἐχτήσατο acquisivit , comparavit (cf. Sam. Cai: Sa, Est. Lap. Beel. Hake, Felt. Wendt) agrum de mercede iniquitatis; non dicitur ipsum emisse vel possedisse agrum , sed quia illa pecunia ἃ synedrio ager emptus erat (Matth. 27,6-9), Petrus de re nota loquitur oratorie efferens quid ludas pro sorte ministerii sibi elegerit et acquisierit; loquitur cum aliqua ironia , ita ut acquisitio Iudae dicatur ager ille mercede iniquitatis, pecunia pro proditione soluta , coemptus (Patr.). Est enim ager ille pecunia proditionis emptus perpetuum documentum et monumentum quod sui sceleris testimonium ac memoriale Iudas sibi acquisivit; pro apostolatu memoriam huius agri, hunc agrum sibi quasi comparavit, et suspensus crepuit medius et diffusa sunt omnia viscera eius xxi πρηνὴς γενόμενος et praeceps, pronus factus, in praeceps delatus; lapsu scil. praecipite disrupto ventre effusa sunt viscera eius. Apud Aug. textus legitur *: et collum sibi alligavit et deiectus in faciem disruptus est medius (c. Felic. manich. 1,4; M. 42,5292). Quae h. 1. Petrus narrat, non contradicunt illis apud Matth. 27,5 et abiens laqueo se suspendit. Utique « critici » qui ubique contradictiones sedulo indagare malunt (atque id impingunt sacris auctoribus quod si fieret profanis rerum scriptoribus summe indignarentur), hic clamores quoque tollunt de contradictione aperta. Audiant quod philologus eos docet : « recte iam Eusebius (ap. schol. Matthaeii) Matthaei relationem cum hac Lucae concinnavit : rupto fune Iudam in terram procidisse » (B/.). Vide quae dixi ad Matth. 27,5; apud Oec. Theoph. etin cat. Cr. sub nomine Apolinarii referuntur insulsa illa quae Papias de Iuda narrat. Pecunia illa et pretio sanguinis agrum illum esse emptum innotuit (Matth. 97,7. 8)
1:19
v. 19 et notum factum est omnibus habitantibus Ierusalem, ita ut appellaretur ager illa lingua eorum. Haceldama,. hoc est, ager sanguinis, lingua seu dialecto aramaica :חקל דמא 6 Αχελδαμαχ, videtur x additum , ut in Σιραχ pro סירא pro aramaico ,א ut exprimeretur sonus eius: gutturalis (Bl. Kautzsch, Gram. d. bibl. Aram. p. 8). Movetur quaestio, sintne haec v. 18. 19 dicta a Petro - an insería 8 Luca quippe qui quod in priore libro de Iuda non narraverat hic addiderit. Cum Petrus non censendus sit graece locutus esse, certe /ingua eorum et explicatio vocis aramaicae addita est a Luca. Totum hoc esse ἃ Luca insertum censent Sal». Est. Beel. Patr. Rose in periodico Revue biblique 1898 p. 350; nam iis quibus Petrus loquitur haec iam nota erant; insuper videntur contextum interrumpere, quia illud enzm v. 20 refertur arcte ad v. 16-17; praeterea monet Est. non.esse verisimile tam cito post factum invaluisse cognominationem agri, sed paulatim et progressu temporis, uti fieri soleat in huiusmodi, et Patr. advertit Lucam saepius eiusmodi parentheses usurpare (Luc. 2,&. 35; 5,94; 23,51. Act. 1,15; 4,5; 9,19 1 col. 98. 39; vide eius in Evang. librum III, diss. XI n. 3 p. 111). Alii tamen Petro ea adscribunt (Hake, Felt. Wendt), qui maledictionem v. 18 dicuntur, omnino ad orationem pertinere videntur, immo fere necessario exigi, ne scil. gravis illa ad v. 17 et Iudae dignitatem pristinam oppositio desideretur, quae valde est rhetorica. Interitum Iudae notum esse factum incolis urbis, etiam spectat ad gravem illam oppositionem, quia eius quoque dignitatem et apostolatum noverant. Verum merito dubitari potest sitne nomen illud pervulgatum antequam Christifideles magno numero recenseantur in urbe. Nomen enim a fidelibus esse inditum, non a Iudaeis, profecto veri simillimum est. Quare sententiam ὥστε χληθῆνχι ἃ Luca esse adiectam si existimaveris, te non a vero aberrare mihi satis persuasum est. Reliqua tamen ex v. 18 ct 19 ad orationem Petri requiri tantum abest, ut contextu negetur, ut ipso contextu postuletur. Dixerat enim debuisse impleri Scripturam, exponit iam v. 18. 19 rem ipsam qua Seriptura sit impleta et nunc v. 20 priore vaticinio adducto declarat, cur talia ei acciderint
1:20
v. 90 scriptum est enim in libro Psalmorum : fiat commoratio eorum (ita in Ps. hebr. graece αὐτῶν), hic statim applicatione ad unum illum facta αὐτοῦ, deserta et non sit qui inhabitet in ea; Ps. 68,26. Varia ex hoc psàlmo ad Christum et tempus messianum applicantur; ita Ioan. 2,17. zelus domus tuae comedit me; 15,95 quia odio habuerunt me gratis; Rom. 15,3 Christus non sibi placuit, sed sicut scriptum est : improperia improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me; Christus sitiens in cruce aceto potatus est : in siti, mea potaverunt me aceto Ps. 68,92; poenae contemptoribus Christi destinatae enuntiantur verbis psalmi Matth. 23,98 et Rom. 11,9. 10. In psalmo is orat qui propter Dei causam et zelum domus Dei maximis calamitatibus est afflictus et a suis quoque opprobriis \ affectus; Dei autem vindictam in adversarios suos qui simul sunt inimici Dei efflagitat. Talis autem adversarius Dei, qui in eum peccavit qui quam maxime zelo domus Domini flagrabat, in quem itaque suo jure poenae illae in psalmo praedictae devolvantur oportet, profecto est Iudas. Dum itaque, ut Beda ait, Petrus abiectionem Iudae vellet testimonio prophetico adstruere illud posuit, quod de Iudaeorum , in quorum numero Iudas quoque erat , abiectione generaliter erat dictum ; vel, ut Salm. scribit : quod de Iudaeis malis dicitur 8 propheta, Iudae ludaeo insigniter malo a Petro applicatur (sim. Es/. Calm. Patr.). Habitationem eius fieri desertam nec esse qui inhabitet tantumdem sonat atque illum tolli e medio (Patr.) et quidem ad magnum horrorem incutiendum, ita ut locus ubi ille habitaverit sit omnibus exsecrationi neque quisquam audeat ibi figere domicilium. lam exitus Iudae erat horrore plenus et in ipso quoque nomine agri scelus eius omnium memoriae traditur. Generatim psalmum 68 typice messianum recentiores profitentur. Alio in loco Ps. 108,8, inter poenas quae impio adversario Dei infliguntur etiam ea commemoratur, ut dignitate sua et munere excidat idque ad alium transferatur; ex quo loco Petrus pariter documentum depromit e/ episcopatum eius 00010104 alter, τὴν ἐπισχοκὴν αὐτοῦ, hebr. Ps. 109,8 legitur ִּקְדָּה praefectura, munus; unde infert Petrus
1:21
v. 21 oportet ergo ez his viris qui nobiscum sunt congregati in omni tempore quo intravit et. exivit inter nos Dominus Iesus, τῶν συνελθόντων ἡμῖν qui nobiscum iverunt, conversati sunt, varia illa itinera nobiscum fecerunt (cf. 9,39; 10,23) omni illo tempore quo nobiscum versatus est Iesus; ingredi, egredi hebraismus est, quo universa vitae agendique ratio designatur; cf. Deut. 28,19. 1 Reg. 18,13. 16; 29,6. 2 Par. 1,10. Ps. 120,8; proin cum aliquo intrare et exire est idem ac conlinuo cum eo versari, 66 quo tempore Iesus continuo secum habuit aliquos discipulos declaratur
1:22
v. 922 incipiens a baptismate loannis, ab illo enim tempore 16808 sibi discipulos adiungere coeperat (cf. Ioan. 1,37 seq. 3,23) usque in diem quo assumptus est a nobis, testem resurrectionis eius nobiscum fieri unum ez istis ; intellexit enim Petrus et probe perspexit non sine ratione symbolica Iesum elegisse ex discipulis duodecim — et fecit ut duodecim essent cum illo Marc. 3,14, quos et apostolos nominavit Luc. 6,13 — quae ratio excogitari possit, vide in Comment. Matth. I p. 370 et Luc. p. 226. Ut duodecim patriarchae populi israelitici patres erant, ita apostoli quoque patres sunt Christifidelium et novum populum Dei gignere dicuntur (cf. 1 Cor. 4,15. Gal. 4,19. Philem. 10). Quae itaque ad apostolatum requirantur, Petrus docet. Munus eorum quasi praecipuum 80 primarium est testari de resurrectione Chrisli (cf. Luc. 25, ₪6. 48). Nam resurrectio eius legationis eius ac veracitatis, proin eius divinitatis potissimum .est documentum; ad eam tamquam signum ipse provocavit (loan. 9,19. Matth. 19,39. 40; 16,4. Luc. 11,29. 30). Eius exsistere testes complures eo magis erat necesse, quia resurrectionem suam non tanta celebritate in publicam lucem etiam coram adversariis invexit, sicuti antea patraverat miracula. Et quam firmum fidei fundamentum sit, praeclare prosequitur Paulus (1 Cor. 15,12-22; cf. Act. 3,15; 10,40; 13,30; 17,31; 26,23 — en quam sedulo praedicatur resurrectio). Ex verbis Petri electio tantum fieri potuit ex iis qui sat longo tempore simul cum apostolis tamquam discipuli Iesum secuti erant; quare quod Eusebius dicit, loseph et Matthiam fuisse ex septuaginta illis discipulis (ἢ. e. 1, 12) fere necessario colligitur;
1:23
v. 23 60 statuerunt duos — D' ἔστησεν, δὰ unum Petrum refert, id quod etiam Imbetur apud Aug. c. Felic. l. c. — e contra notat Chr. : non ipse illos statuit, sed omnes; consilium vero ipse protulit ostendens non suum esse, sed iam olim in prophetia offerri — Ioseph qui vocabatur Barsabas i. e. filius Sabae (Sabbae? 223v; cf. 2 Sam. 90,1 et 1 Chr. 5, 13), qui cognominatus est Iustus ᾿Ιούστος, ex more itaque nomen romanum tamquam agnomen assumpsit, sicut v. g. loannes Marcus; si tamquam vir iustus esset celebratus, scriptum fuisset 22004 ; cf. 18,7. Col. 4,11 pariter 'Iz55-:; agnomen legitur; et Matthiam;
1:24
v. 95 et orantes dixerunt : tu Domine, qui corda nosti omntum ostende quem elegeris ex his duobus unum , v. 95 accipere locum τόπον, alii χλῆρον Sortem, partem, fortasse ex
1:25
v. 17 — »ninisterii huius et apostolatus, de quo praevaricatus est Iudas à ἧς παρέξη, a quo recedens praeteriit, ut abiret in locum suum, πορευθῆναι quasi ad finem et terminum tetendit ei; τὸν τόπον τὸν ἴδιον in oppositione ad τέπον mini- Slerii; ex contexta oratione intelligitur gehenna (Saím. Cai. Sa, Lap. Beel. Patr. Felt. Wendt, Bl.); bene enim dicit Theoph. : unusquisque factis suis aut bonum sibi aut malum conciliat et parat locum; hoc igitur dicit quod Iudas abierit in illum locum. malum quem prodito Iesu sibi paraverat. Eam dictionem etiam rabbinis fuisse usitatam, exemplis allatis docent LigAifoot (Horae hebr.) et Wetstenius ad ἢ. 1.; ita scribitur ad Num. 94,95 : Balaam ivit in locum suum, id est in gehennam. De suspendio explicat Oec. vel etiam refert verba ad eum qui eligendus sit, qui scil. Iuda reiecto in locum proprium accepto illius munere succedat; quae acceptio admitti nequit. Apostolus non ab homine, sed per Iesum Christum et Deum Patrem eligitur (cf. Gal. 1,1). Quare oratione facta id sibi faciendum esse ducunt, quo Deus iam olim suam voluntatem saepius manifestavit ; nam sortes mittuntur in sinum, sed 8 Domino temperantur (Prov. 16,33); cf. Lev..16,8. 9. los. 7,18. 1 Reg. 10,20; 15,92. 1 Par. 25,8 eíc.;
1:26
v. 96 et dederunt sortes eis, uti Lev. 16,8 nio 1.2; ubi tessellae seu tabulae videntur esse adhibitae, quibus nomina inscribebantur eorum super quos sortitio constituebatur; tabellae in urnam coniiciebantur, qua concussa sors exibat (cf. Beel. Felt.) et cecidit sors super Matthiam, cadere sortem in (ἐπὶ) aliquem antiqui usurpasse videntur in quovis modi sortiendi (Beel.). Hic itaque prius Sorte excidit nomen Matthiae, quod nomen abbreviátum esse putant ἃ Matthania (& Reg. 25,17. 1 Par. 9,15; 25,16. 9 Par. 20,14; 29,13. Neh. 11,17 etc.) et quod significat donum Dei (Iahve), Theodorus; et annumeratus est cum undecim apostolis, συνχκατεψηφίσθη hac sortium suffragatione adlectus est apostolis. Usus hic. sortis explicatur, quia electio apostoli non potest fieri ab hominibus et quia iste modus exquirendi voluntatem Dei, quando id.vere necesse erat, exempMis veteris testamenti commendatur. Apostolis autem commissa erat potestas designandi presbyteros, episcopos; quare sortis iam non erat locus seu necessitas deinceps in Ecclesia.
1:1
… Two men clothed in white appeared and declared: "This same Jesus who has been taken up into heaven from you will come in the same way that you have seen him go into heaven" (Lk. 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-14). The appendix of Mk. (16:19) also alludes to the Ascension. …
Theophilus (Θεόφιλος, 'Friend of God')
… From the absence of the title κράτιστε in the address of Acts 1:1, some suppose that, in the interval between the composition of the third Gospel and of the Acts, T., at first a catechumen, received Baptism. …
1:2
… Kingdom of God (Lc. 1:15, 35, 41, 67; 2:25-27; Mt. 3:16; 4:1; 10:20; 12:28; Lc. 4:1, 14; Io. 14:17; 16:7-15). The Acts of the Apostles constantly highlight the action of the divine Spirit, the supreme messianic gift (Act. 2:17) in the primitive Church (Act. 1:2, 8; 2:2-33; 4:8; 8:17-19; 10:44-47; etc.; I Cor. 12-14).
1:3
… After having in fact spoken of the things that pertain to the Kingdom of God (Acts 1, 3) for forty days, and having thus completed his work and left to the Apostles the task of transmitting his message of salvation and of teaching men to observe all that he had commanded …
… ἐντολήν, (St. Ignatius M., Smirn., 8, 1; cf. id., Ad Eph., 6, 1; Magn. 6, 1; Ad Trall., 3, 1; Phil., 7, 1-2). Jesus therefore, before ascending to heaven, during the forty days in which he conversed with the Apostles about the constitution of the Church (Acts 1:3), must have imparted precise norms concerning the hierarchy of the O., which
… Such a conviction, in a direct disciple of the Apostles, presupposes an oral communication of what Jesus Christ had established, concerning the constitution of the Church, during the forty days in which he spoke with the Apostles about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Rightly, therefore, the Council of Trent defined: «Si quis dixerit in Ecclesia Catholica non esse hierarchiam, divina ordinatione institutam, quae constat ex episcopis, presbyteris …
1:4
first Christians, and the outpouring of his charisms, foretold by Joel (cf. Act. 2:16 ff.), appeared notoriously (ibid. 1:4-8) as the fulfillment of the great promise of Jesus at the Last Supper. …
… the mission received from the Father and the power to forgive sins (Jn. 20, 21-23). He promises it, commanding the Apostles to remain in Jerusalem until they are clothed with "power from on high" (Lk. 24, 49: which is the power of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1, 4-8). J. thus fulfills the other messianic prophecy, which promised for his days the outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord: Is. 32, 15; Joel 2, 28-32 [Hebr. 3, 1-5]. The outpouring …
The meaning of the Christian P. results from the events that took place on that day. The mission of the Holy Spirit, repeatedly promised by Jesus (Io. 15, 26; Act. 1, 4-5, 8) with the visible manifestation in tongues of fire, was the beginning of the Church. …
1:6
Epistles I-II to the Thessalonians
… Instead of investigating the time and the circumstances (Mt. 24:36, 42; Acts 1:6 ff.: identical terms), which are God's secret, the disciples should take care to be always well disposed; because the judgment of God, for each of them, can come suddenly (Mt. 24:43; Lk. 21:34, 36 etc.). …
… Like Jesus, the Apostles refuse to concern themselves with the time of the supreme parousia, and take advantage of every question on the matter to recommend vigilance and persevering action, over the long term (Acts 1:6-8; I Thess. 5:1-11; II Pt. 3:4-14; Apoc. 3:3; 16:15); like Jesus, St. Paul describes the "signs" that precede the parousia, which must strengthen moral resistance (Mt. 24:21-27; II Thess. …
1:7
… the Apostles, in Acts 10, 42), they hear him often whether he asks for their love (Jn. 21, 15-17), or pities or reproves their weaknesses (ibid. 20, 27; Lk. 24, 13-31; Mk. 16, 14), or corrects their ideas about the character of his Kingdom (Acts 1, 7) etc. While they observe the new life of J., entirely similar to the previous life, the Apostles receive from the Risen One the confirmation of the promises already made to them and …
As for the time of the parousia, Jesus declared it unknowable (Mt. 24:36; Acts 1:7). In Mk. 13:32 he specifies that "that day and hour" are known only to the Father, "neither to the angels nor to the Son": with emphasis he affirms here that the power to establish …
1:8
Apostles (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω)
… The "seventy" go, like the "twelve," to the Hebrews, and according to Lk. 22, 47 (cf. Acts 1, 8) the mission among the Gentiles is entrusted to the "twelve" and not to the "seventy." Later Tertullian, Adv. Marcion., IV, 24 (ed. E. Kroymann, III, Vienna-Leipzig 1906, p. 499, l. …
… In fact, the Apostles, until the coming of the Holy Spirit, had an imperfect faith (John 14:13-22; Acts 1:8; Luke 24:21).
… Euntes ergo docete omnes gentes," then in Acts 1:8: "Eritis mihi testes in Ierusalem et in omni Iudaea et Samaria et usque ad ultimum terrae." Everywhere, in the writings of the New Testament, the Jewish particularism described in …
… The charge of Jesus Christ to his Apostles: "you will bear witness to me... to the ends of the earth" (Act. 1, 8) can at certain moments cost dearly and lead to imprisonment and death.
… In a stricter sense, it indicates those followers of Jesus who, not having been included in the apostolic college, were less intimate with the Savior, although they went with Him more or less often (Jn. 6:66). Therefore they were also "witnesses" (Acts 1:8; 10:59; etc.) for the future evangelization. …
… speaks of two missions of divine Persons: his own, inasmuch as he was sent by the Father into the world to save it; and that of the Holy Spirit, who will be sent by the Father and by himself, to instruct (and at the same time sanctify and strengthen [Acts 1:8]) his disciples.
… nature (E. B. Allo, op. cit., p. cxiv f.). The Kingdom of God is already inaugurated (Matt. 11:12-15; 12:28; Luke 16:16; 17:20 f.; 1 Cor. 15:25); it must grow (Matt. 13:31 f.), throughout the whole world (Mark 3:13-19; 6:7-13; 13:9 f.; 16:15 f., 20; Acts 1:8; etc.), pass to the gentiles (Matt. 8:10 ff.; 21:33-46; 22:2-10 etc.); it is identified with the Church, with Peter at its head (Matt. 16:13-20; John 21:15 ff.; 1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12:3-8 …
… centuries and extended to the whole human race, a perennial public and social profession of the faith in him and in the Father; the apostolic mission consists essentially in the charge to testify publicly to the faith in Jesus Christ (Lk. 24, 48; Jn. 15, 27; Acts 1, 8; 5, 32); his disciples, in order to be saved, will have to profess their faith in him before men (Mt. 10, 32), entrusting their persecuting hatred (Jn. 15, 18-21). St. Paul too links …
… possessed and operative, will assist the Apostles, as his witnesses and interpreters of his doctrine, enlightening them, sanctifying them in all truth, making them one thing with him and with the Father (Lk. 24:48-49; Jn. 14:16 ff. 26; 15:26; 16:7-14; 17:17; Acts 1:8 and 2:4).
… which promised for his days the outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord: Is. 32, 15; Joel 2, 28-32 [Hebr. 3, 1-5]. The outpouring of the Spirit brought with it confirmation in the apostolate, especially in its office of bearing witness to the Risen One: Acts 1, 8: "you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit, who comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The new …
… The testimony (cf. Acts 1:8, 22; 2:32-3:15; 5:32; 10:36-43) of the Twelve insisted on the sayings and deeds of the public life of Jesus in order to draw from them the fundamental teachings and to highlight their …
… His brothers and he have an identical concept of the apostolate: according to the order received from Jesus (Lk. 24:48; Acts 1:8), they present themselves as the "witnesses" of facts that did not occur in angulo, in secret (Acts 26:26; 1:21-22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:19-20; 5:32; 10:39), not as purveyors of ingeniously …
1:9
… to the Kingdom of God (Acts 1, 3) for forty days, and having thus completed his work and left to the Apostles the task of transmitting his message of salvation and of teaching men to observe all that he had commanded them, he was taken up to heaven (ibid. 1, 9; Lk. 24, 51; on the fact of the Ascension and on the problems of literary and historical criticism cf. V. Larranaga, La Ascensión del Señor en el Nuevo Testamento, Madrid 1943).
1:10
… apparition to the shepherds, flight into Egypt and return to Galilee), at the beginning of the public ministry (Mt. 4, 11), in the passion (Mt. 26, 53; Lk. 22, 43), in his triumph of the resurrection and ascension (Mk. 16, 5; Lk. 24, 23; Jn. 20, 12; Acts 1, 10), in the future judgment (Mt. 13, 39, 41, 49; 16, 27; 24, 31; 25, 31; Mk. 8, 38), in the definitive triumph of heavenly glory (Rev. 1, 11; 8, 2 ff.). - 2) The a. are subject to the …
1:11
… (Acts 1:11).
1:12
… St. Luke in Acts 1:12, 15 presents us with only two Jameses, namely the son of Zebedee and the brother of Jesus; indeed, after having indicated the death of the former, he speaks of the latter as if he were …
MOUNT OLIVET. — A hill east of Jerusalem, called in the Bible har haz-Zethim (Zech. 14:4), τὸ ὄρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν, mons Olivarum (Mt. 21:1), τὸ ὄρος τὸ καλούμενον ἐλαιῶν, mons qui vocatur Oliveti (Lk. 19:29; 21:37; Acts 1:12), today Çebel et-Tûr or Çebel ez-Zejtûn. …
1:13
2) Father of the apostle James "the less" according to the 4 lists of the apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13).
… After the mention in Acts 1:13, among the apostles in the upper room after the Ascension, A. no longer appears in the writings of the New Testament.
Bartholomew (Gr. Bartholomáios, Bartholomaeus), Apostle, Saint
I. SACRED SCRIPTURE. - One of the twelve apostles in the New Testament, named only in the lists of the Synoptics (Mt. 10:3; Mk. 3:18; Lk. 6:14), where he is joined with Philip, and in Acts 1:13. The name is a patronymic whose two elements are Aramaic: Bar-Talmaj, "son of Talmaj." Talmaj occurs in the Bible as the name of non-Jews (Josh. 15:14; II Sam. 3:3 and 13:37, …
It is almost certain that this brother of the Lord is identical with the apostle Jude of James (Lk. 6, 11; Acts 1, 13), surnamed Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus (Mt. 10, 3; Mk. 3, 18). In fact tradition is almost unanimous in favor of the apostolate of this brother of the Lord. …
CATALOGUES OF THE APOSTLES. - In Mt. 10:2-4; Mk. 3:14-19; Lk. 6:14-16 and Acts 1:13 is found the list of the names of the twelve Apostles. …
… In the list of the Apostles in Mk. 3:16-19 he occupies second place; in that of Mt. 10:2-4; Lk. 6:13-16; Acts 1:13, the third (after Peter and Andrew).
JUDAS THADDEUS. - Apostle, distinguished in the lists from the namesake traitor by the designation "J. [brother] of James" (in Lk. 6:16 in the penultimate place; in Acts 1:13, in the last place, the Iscariot being absent), or by the epithet Thaddeus (in Mt. 10:3 and Mk. 3:18, in the third-to-last place). …
Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… In the catalogues of the Apostles, Mk. 3, 18 and Lk. 6, 15 place M. in seventh position, Mt. 10, 3 and Acts 1, 13 in the eighth. …
PHILIP, Apostle, Saint. - One of the "twelve," from Bethsaida (v.), the fifth in the lists (Mt. 10:3; Mk. 3:18; Lk. 6:14; Acts 1:13). In the Gospels, only John gives biographical information about him. Called by Jesus, he informed his friend Nathanael or Bartholomew (?) thus: "We have found Him of whom Moses in …
Primacy of Saint Peter and of the Roman Pontiff
… Thus in the lists of the Apostles, while the order of the others varies, Peter always remains first (Mt. 10:2; Mk. 3:16; Lk. 6:14; Acts 1:13); Matthew expressly emphasizes: πρῶτος Σίμων ὁ λεγόμενος Πέτρος. …
… SΔWΘ 13 etc.) in Mt. 10:4 and Mk. 3:18; "the Zealot" (ὁ Ζηλωτής) in Lk. 6:15 and Acts 1:13. The title "Canaanite" does not mean "a native of Cana," as St. Jerome and certain Greek, Coptic and Ethiopian authors thought, who sometimes identified him with Nathanael (v.) of …
The example of Jesus in the desert and of the Apostles in the upper room (Acts 1:13) moved select groups of Christians in antiquity to withdraw during Lent to desert places. …
In the catalogues of the Apostles of the Synoptics (Mt. 10, 3; Mk. 3, 18; Lk. 6, 15) and of Acts 1, 13 only the name of Thomas appears. …
Since "zealot" in Aramaic is gan'ānā, according to not a few exegetes the apostle Simon called καναναῖος "Cananaean" (Mt. 10:4; Mk. 3:18) would have been a Zealot (cf. Lk. 6:15; Acts 1:13) in the primitive sense of the word.
1:14
BROTHERS OF JESUS. - Blood relatives of Jesus who in the Gospels (Mt. 12:46; 13:55; Mk. 3:31; 6:3; Lk. 8:19-21; Jn. 2:12; 7:3-5) and Acts 1:14 are called "his brothers" and in the epistles of St. Paul (1 Cor. 9:5; Gal. 1:19) "brothers of the Lord" (οἱ ἀδελφοί τοῦ Κυρίου). …
… Luke, the historian of the first days of the Church, mentions M. at the head of the disciples gathered in prayer, awaiting the Holy Spirit, after the Ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:14): the words do not note an occasional presence, but present M. at the center of the life of the Church, the natural source and witness of the history of her Son, the natural president …
1:15
Apostles (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω)
… The fixed number also emerges from Acts 1:15 ff., where the election of Matthias in place of Judas is narrated, and thus "the eleven" (Mt. 28:16; Mk. 16:14; Lk. 24:9, 33; Acts 1:26) become "the twelve" again. …
… In the same place the risen Jesus appeared to the Apostles, they chose St. Matthias and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:15-26; 2). If from these texts the identity of the hall cannot be deduced, neither can it be deduced that these were different halls. …
… According to Eusebius (Hist. eccl., 1, 12) he was one of the 72 disciples. Acts 1:15-26 relates that Peter proposed to replace Judas with one of those disciples who had associated with the Apostles during Jesus' public ministry, from the Baptism of John the Baptist to …
Primacy of Saint Peter and of the Roman Pontiff
… He presided over the selection of a new apostle (Acts 1:15-26); he was the first, as head of the Apostles, to preach (ibid. 2:14) and as such was questioned by his hearers (ibid. 2:37); he performed the first miracle (ibid. 3:6) and afterward …
First of all: the early Church, that of Jerusalem, is in no way an amorphous society of devotees or enlightened persons; it has instead its uncontested leaders, the Twelve, and a supreme head, who takes initiatives (Acts 1:15-26) and claims the right to regulate disputes (Acts 15:7 etc.). …
1:16
… For example, in Mt. 1:22 God "through" (βίᾳ) the prophet Isaiah (8:8; cf. Mt. 2:15) foretells of the Virgin who will give birth; in Lk. 1:70 He speaks "through the mouth (βίᾳ στόματος) of the holy prophets"; in Mt. 22:43, David "in the Spirit" (ἐν πνεύματι) composed Ps. 110:1; in Acts 1:16 the Holy Spirit foretold "through the mouth" (βίᾳ στόματος) of David the "Scripture" of Ps. 41:10; in Acts 4:25, on the other hand, it is affirmed that God speaks Ps. 2:1, through …
those who went to seize the Redeemer (John 18:3; Acts 1:16); he betrayed the Master with a kiss (Matt. 26:49 and parallel texts); he too was struck down by Jesus with the words: "I am he" (John 18:5), and after his condemnation he hanged himself …
2. Hebrew revelation. — The existence of a divine revelation to the Hebrew people is one of the fundamental teachings of Christianity; to it Jesus and the Apostles explicitly appeal (Mt. 5:18, 21 ff.; 22:31; Acts 1:16; 28:25; Rom. 1:2; Heb. 1:1; 3:7). Christian revelation itself
1:17
… Then J., having returned the money, went and hanged himself (Matt. 27:5); the rope broke or the branch bent and he, striking the ground, "burst open in the middle" (Acts 1:17).
1:18
those who went to seize the Redeemer (John 18:3; Acts 1:16); he betrayed the Master with a kiss (Matt. 26:49 and parallel texts); he too was struck down by Jesus with the words: "I am he" (John 18:5), and after his condemnation he hanged himself (Matt. 27:3-5; Acts 1:18).
1:19
… Thus relates Acts 1:19 (in fact in the text of Mt. 27:8 the name H. is spurious, being proper only to the Vulgate and to a few codices of the Itala [b, c]).
1:21
Apostles (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω)
… He cannot claim to have been with Jesus during his earthly life, as is required for an apostle in Acts 1:21 ff. (cf. Mk. 3:14), but he can affirm that he has seen Jesus (1 Cor. 9:1) and that he is like the others a witness of his resurrection (1 Cor. 15:5-8). Paul was not instructed by …
Barsabas (Gr. Barasbâs, "Son of Saba or Šēbhā")
1) JOSEPH B. was proposed, along with Matthias, to replace Judas Iscariot in the college of the "Twelve" (Acts 1:23: codex D, with a few other "Western" witnesses, has "B."), because he had lived with the Apostles throughout the whole of Jesus' public life (Acts 1:21 f.).
… Furthermore St. Peter names two "men who were always united with us from the baptism of John until the Ascension" (Acts 1:21); Joseph Barsabbas (v.) the Just, and Matthias.
… the work of the Baptist from this point of view: Jn. 1:6-8. 15. 19. 32-34. Presented as the Lamb of God, as the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit, J. seeks others who, after having been with him from the beginning, may bear witness to him (Jn. 16:27; Acts 1:21-22). The principal work of J. during his public life was, besides preaching to the crowds, the formation of the Apostles. …
… Now the preaching of Peter extended from the Baptism of John up to the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:21; cf. 10:37-42), and insisted on the miracles worked by Christ (ibid. 2:22; 1:38). Such are precisely the characteristics of the second Gospel.
… His brothers and he have an identical concept of the apostolate: according to the order received from Jesus (Lk. 24:48; Acts 1:8), they present themselves as the "witnesses" of facts that did not occur in angulo, in secret (Acts 26:26; 1:21-22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:19-20; 5:32; 10:39), not as purveyors of ingeniously invented fables, doctas fabulas secuti (II Pt. 1:16; I Pt. 5:1-4; I Io. 1:1-3, etc.). …
1:22
… Within the framework of this catechesis there entered by preference, as can be gathered from the speeches in Acts, the facts of the public life, "from the baptism to the death and Ascension" (according to the outline traced by Peter: Acts 1:22), especially those relating to the ministry in Galilee, which offered the greatest number of miracles and a form of doctrine that was easier and more limited. …
Immediately after the Ascension they withdraw to the Cenacle, cast lots and elect Matthias in place of Judas, so that — says Peter — "he may be established as a witness of the Resurrection together with us" (Acts 1, 22). Having seen J. risen again: this is the fundamental object of the preaching of the Twelve. …
1:23
Barsabas (Gr. Barasbâs, "Son of Saba or Šēbhā")
1) JOSEPH B. was proposed, along with Matthias, to replace Judas Iscariot in the college of the "Twelve" (Acts 1:23: codex D, with a few other "Western" witnesses, has "B."), because he had lived with the Apostles throughout the whole of Jesus' public life (Acts 1:21 f.).
… J. also bore another name, this one of Latin origin: Ἰωάντος, Iustus, which was also that of Joseph Barsabbas (Acts 1:23) and of a certain Titus (or Titius), "colens Deum," in whose house Paul is received at Corinth (Acts 18:7). The practice of adding a Greek or Latin name to the Hebrew one was fairly …
1:25
Apostles (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω)
… They therefore claim this requirement both for Matthias (Acts 1:25-26), for Paul (Acts 9:15; 22:15), and for Barnabas (Acts 13:2-4).
1:26
Apostles (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω)
… The fixed number also emerges from Acts 1:15 ff., where the election of Matthias in place of Judas is narrated, and thus "the eleven" (Mt. 28:16; Mk. 16:14; Lk. 24:9, 33; Acts 1:26) become "the twelve" again. …
1:38
… Now the preaching of Peter extended from the Baptism of John up to the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:21; cf. 10:37-42), and insisted on the miracles worked by Christ (ibid. 2:22; 1:38). Such are precisely the characteristics of the second Gospel.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.