Lessons for superiors and inferiors. Advantages of fearing God, and doing nothing without counsel.
Superiors must rule with mekenes, 4. teaching those wisdom that are capable thereof. 7. Be moderate in musike, and in wine. 9. Let yongmen be diligent to heare, and sparing to speake. 13. especially before their betters. 1•. Be alwayes wel occupied. 17. Serue, and feare God. 21. admitte correction. 24. do nothing without counsel.
1Have they made thee ruler? be not lifted up: be among them as one of them.Se' tu fatto capo? non insuperbirti: sii tra di loro, come uno di loro.HAVE they made thee Ruler? be not extolled: be among them as one of them.Rectorem te posuerunt ? noli extolli: / esto in illis quasi unus ex ipsis. 2Have care of them, and so sit down, and when thou hast acquitted thyself of all thy charge, take thy place:Abbi cura di essi, e dopo che avrai pienamente soddisfatto all'ufficio tuo, va a metterti a tavola;Haue care of them, and so sitte thou stil, and al thy care being dispatched, repose.Curam illorum habe, et sic conside, / et omni cura tua explicita recumbe: 3That thou mayst rejoice for them, and receive a crown as an ornament of grace, and get the honour of the contribution.Affinchè eglino siano a te di allegrezza, e per decoroso ornamento tu riceva la corona, e ne ottenga l'onore delle porzioni messe a parte per te.That thou maist reioyce for their sakes, & receiue a crowne as an ornament of grace, and obteyne the dignitie of the contribution.ut læteris propter illos, / et ornamentum gratiæ accipias coronam, / et dignationem consequaris corrogationis. 4Speak, thou that art elder: for it becometh thee,Tu maggiore di età, cui si conviene di essere il primo a parlare, parlaSpeake thou that art elder: for it becometh thee,Loquere major natu: / decet enim te 5To speak the first word with careful knowledge, and hinder not music.Con iscelta dottrina, e non disturbare l'armonia.the first word to him that loueth with knowlege, & hinder not musike.primum verbum diligenti scientia, / et non impedias musicam. 6Where there is no hearing, pour not out words, and be not lifted up out of season with thy wisdom.Dove non è chi ascolti, non buttar via le parole, e non volere a mal tempo far pompa di tua saggezza.Where there is no hearing, power not out speache, and extol not thyself out of time in thy wisdom.Ubi auditus non est, non effundas sermonem, / et importune noli extolli in sapientia tua. 7A concert of music in a banquet of wine is as a carbuncle set in gold.Un concerto di musica in un convito, dove si beve, è come un prezioso carbonchio legato in oro.A litle pearle of the carbuncleGemmula carbunculi in ornamento auri, / et comparatio musicorum in convivio vini. 8As a signet of an emerald in a work of gold: so is the melody of music with pleasant and moderate wine.L'armonia de' cantori col giocondo, e moderato bere, è come uno smeraldo incastrato in anello di oro.in an ornament of gold, and the comparison of musicians in a banket of wine. As a signet of the emerauld is in the working of gold: so the melodie of musike in ioyful and moderate wine.Sicut in fabricatione auri signum est smaragdi, / sic numerus musicorum in jucundo et moderato vino.
9Hear in silence, and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee.Ascolta in silenzio, e colla tua ritenutezza ti concilierai amore.Heare holding thy peace, & for thy reuerence good grace shal come to thee.Audi tacens, / et pro reverentia accedet tibi bona gratia. 10Young man, scarcely speak in thy own cause.Giovinetto parla al bisogno a mala pena.Yong man speake in thine owne cause scarsely.Adolescens, loquere in tua causa vix. 11If thou be asked twice, let thy answer be short.Interrogato due volte, ristringi in poco la tua risposta.If thou be asked twise, let thyne answer hauean head.Si bis interrogatus fueris, / habeat caput responsum tuum. 12In many things be as if thou wert ignorant, and hear in silence and withal seeking.In molte cose diportati come ignorante, e ascolta tacendo, e domandando.In manie thinges be as it were ignorant, and heare holding thy peace and withal asking.In multis esto quasi inscius, / et audi tacens simul et quærens. 13In the company of great men take not upon thee: and when the ancients are present, speak not much.In mezzo ai grandi non ti azzardare, e dove sono vecchj, non parlar molto.In the middes of greate men presume not: and where ancients are, speake not much.In medio magnatorum non præsumas: / et ubi sunt senes non multum loquaris. 14Before a storm goeth lightning: and before shamefacedness goeth favour: and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee.La grandine è preceduta dal lampo, e la verecondia è preceduta dalla buona grazia, e la tua ritenutezza farà, che tu sii ben veduto.Before haile there shal goe lightning: & grace shal goe before shamfastnes, & for thy reuerence good grace shal come to thee.Ante grandinem præibit coruscatio: / et ante verecundiam præibit gratia, / et pro reverentia accedet tibi bona gratia. 15And at the time of rising be not slack: but be first to run home to thy house, and there withdraw thyself, and there take thy pastime.E quando è tempo di alzarti, non istare a bada: vattene il primo a tua casa, ed ivi divertiti, e scherza,And at the houre of rysing slacke not thyself: but runne before first into thy house, and there withdraw thyself, and there play,Et hora surgendi non te trices: / præcurre autem prior in domum tuam, / et illic avocare, et illic lude, 16And do what thou hast a mind, but not in sin or proud speech.E fa quel, che ti piace, ma senza peccare, o parlar con superbia.and doe thy conceites, and not in sinnes and proud word.et age conceptiones tuas, / et non in delictis et verbo superbo:
17And for all these things bless the Lord, that made thee, and that replenisheth thee with all his good things.E dopo tutto questo benedici il Signore, che ti ha fatto, e ti inebria con tutti i suoi beni.And aboue al these thinges blesse our Lord, that made thee, & that doth replenish thee with al his goodes.et super his omnibus benedicito Dominum, qui fecit, / et inebriantem te ab omnibus bonis suis. 18He that feareth the Lord, will receive his discipline: and they that will seek him early, shall find a blessing.Chi teme il Signore, abbraccerà gli insegnamenti di lui; e quelli, che di buon mattino lo cercano, troveranno benedizione.He that feareth our Lord, shal receiue his doctrine: and they that wil watch after him, shal finde blessing.Qui timet Dominum excipiet doctrinam ejus: / et qui vigilaverint ad illum invenient benedictionem. 19He that seeketh the law, shall be filled with it: and he that dealeth deceitfully, shall meet with a stumblingblock therein.Chi ama la legge, da lei sarà fatto ricco: ma chi opera con finzione, prenderà da lei occasione di inciampo.He that seeketh the law, shal be replenished with it: and he that doth deceitfully, shal be scandalized by it.Qui quærit legem replebitur ab ea, / et qui insidiose agit scandalizabitur in ea. 20They that fear the Lord, shall find just judgment, and shall kindle justice as a light.Quelli, che temono il Signore, sapran far giudizio di quello, che è giusto, e la loro giustizia sarà quasi accesa face.They that feare our Lord, shal finde iust iudgement, and shal kindle iustices as light.Qui timent Dominum invenient judicium justum, / et justitias quasi lumen accendent. 21A sinful man will flee reproof, and will find an excuse according to his will.L'uom peccatore fugge la riprensione, e trova de' paragoni secondo la sua volontà.A sinful man wil flee reprehension, and according to his wil, wil finde excuse.Peccator homo vitabit correptionem, / et secundum voluntatem suam inveniet comparationem. 22A man of counsel will not neglect understanding, a strange and proud man will not dread fear:L'uomo, che ha prudenza, non trascura di ben riflettere: l'uomo, che non ne ha, e il superbo non teme mai nulla;A man of counsel wil not destroy vnderstanding, an aliene and proud man wil not dread feare:Vir consilii non disperdet intelligentiam: / alienus et superbus non pertimescet timorem: 23Even after he hath done with fear without counsel, he shall be controlled by the things of his own seeking.Anche dopo aver operato da se, senza consiglio; ma le sue stesse intra prese il condanneranno.Yea after he hath done with feare without counsel, he shal be controwled euen by his owne pursuites.etiam postquam fecit cum eo sine consilio, / et suis insectationibus arguetur.
24My son, do thou nothing without counsel, and thou shalt not repent when thou hast done.Figliuolo, non far cosa veruna senza consiglio, e non avrai da pentirti dopo il fatto.Sonne doe nothing without counsel, and after the fact thou shalt not repent.Fili, sine consilio nihil facias, / et post factum non pœnitebis. 25Go not in the way of ruin, and thou shalt not stumble against the stones: trust not thyself to a rugged way, lest thou set a stumblingblock to thy soul.Non camminare per istrade rovinose, e non inciamperai nei sassi, e non ti impegnare in una strada faticosa per non esporre alle cadute l'anima tua:Goe not in the way of ruine, and thou shalt not stumble at stones: commite not thyself to a laborious way, lest thou set a scandal to thy soule.In via ruinæ non eas, et non offendes in lapides: / nec credas te viæ laboriosæ, ne ponas animæ tuæ scandalum. 26And beware of thy own children, and take heed of them of thy household.Guardati anche da' propri figliuoli, e pon mente alla gente di tua casa.And beware of thy children, and take heede of them of thy household.Et a filiis tuis cave, / et a domesticis tuis attende. 27In every work of thine regard thy soul in faith: for this is the keeping of the commandments.In ogni opra tua segni la fede dell'anima tua, perché in questo sta l'osservanza de' comandamenti.In al thy worke beleue thy soule by faith: for this is the keeping of the commandmentes.In omni opere tuo crede ex fide animæ tuæ, / hoc est enim conservatio mandatorum. 28He that believeth God, taketh heed to the commandments: and he that trusteth in him, shall fare never the worse.Chi è fedele a Dio, è intento a' suoi comandamenti; e chi confida in lui, non iscapiterà.He that beleueth God, attendeth to the commandmentes: and he that trusteth in him, shal not be lessened.Qui credit Deo attendit mandatis: / et qui confidit in illo non minorabitur.
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Horace
Nec regna vini sortiere talis. (Horace, Athen. Dipn.; Plut.[Plutarch?], Symp. 1:q. 14.)
Worthington
Humility is most requisite for those in power, and it is most difficult to contemn vain honours, when enjoyed. (St. Gregory, pastor.) (Worthington)
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Haydock
Contribution, towards the feast, (Menochius) or company. This sentence is not in Greek, "rejoice on their account, and for the excellent disposition, mayst receive a corner." (Haydock)
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Horace
Music. Which usually accompanied the meals of the rich. (Horace, 2:ode 11.)
"A lyre is handed round, on which each one plays. When Themistocles confessed that he knew not how, he was deemed deficient." indoctior. (Tusc. 1:Quint. i.)
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Calmet
Words. Some Greek copies have, "where there is a concert, pour," etc. (Calmet)
And be. Greek, "and utter not wise sayings out of season."
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Calmet
Wine was not used at all meals. (Calmet)
Plut.[Plutarch?]
After they were ended, the pagans sung in honour of Bacchus, or of great men. (Plut.[Plutarch?], Sym.)
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Haydock
Hear. Greek, (10.) "young man speak if there be wanted of thee; scarcely twice if thou be asked. Sum up thy speech, much in few words. Be knowing and still silent. (11.) In the," etc. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Thee. Greek implies to be equal. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Storm. Literally, "hail." Greek, "thunder." (Haydock)
Calmet
It comes forth at the same time as the lightning, but travels slower. (Calmet)
Haydock
For. Greek, (15.) "at," etc. (Haydock)
Young people must leave the table, and take recreation.
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Bless. This is taught by the light of reason, (chap. 5:7.) and the omission before or after meals betrays a want of faith and gratitude, particularly in Christians.
Haydock
Replenisheth. Greek, "inebriateth thee with his goods." (Haydock)
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Calmet
Light. They shall advance in virtue and glory, Proverbs 4:18. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Excuse. Literally, "comparison." "He will bend the law to his desires." Thus heretics interpret Scripture. (Haydock)
Greek, "he will find condemnation."
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Without counsel; or "by himself," (Calmet) cum eo.
Calmet
And. Greek, "do nothing without counsel, and in acting do not repent," (Haydock) but execute what has been prudently devised. (Calmet)
Worthington
God directs; yet he would have us to ask advice. (Worthington)
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Calmet
Rugged way. The end of which is unknown, Luke 14:28. (Calmet)
Haydock
Lest. Greek, "and keep a guard over thy children. In every good work confide in thy soul; for," etc. (Haydock)
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Calmet
In faith. That is, follow sincerely thy soul in her faith and conscience, (Challoner) when it is well informed. Greek, "in every good work believe thy soul; for," etc. (Calmet)
Worthington
Act not in opposition to it. (Worthington)
Rondet and Grotius would read, "in every work believe in God with all thy soul."
Haydock
All that is not of faith is sin, (Romans 14:23.) inasmuch as it is against conscience. (Haydock)
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In faith.... That is, follow sincerely thy soul in her faith and conscience.
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Humilitie is necessarie in al, but most especially in men of auctoritie. The greatest art in this life is to contemne vaine glorie in height of auctoritie. S Greg. de cura pastorali
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Concordance Eccle. 3.
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God directeth mens resolutions, and actions, when they vse the meanes of consultation, as he hath appointed. for vvhen two or three are gathered in his name, he is in middes of them. Mat. 18.
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Do not against thy cō ference.
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.6
… lest the mind become unable to control that which in lust of domination it submits itself to. For, lest the heart of a ruler should be betrayed into elation by delight in personal power, it is rightly said by a certain wise man They have made thee a leader: lift not up thyself, but be among them as one of them (
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Pontianus 2
… For it is written, “Have they made thee the master of a feast? Take care for them, that thou mayst be merry on their account, and receive as thy crown the ornament of esteem, and find approbation of thine election.”
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
XVIII. What more? Are you living in Virginity? Be sealed by this purification; make this the sharer and companion of your life. Let this direct your life, your words, every member, every movement, every sense. Honour it, that it may honour you; that it may give to your head a crown of graces, and with a crown of delights may shield you.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 72.10
… but “be taken away” can be understood in no other way at all, than that a thing is destroyed: that is, it is no more: but by “be exalted,” only that it is raised to a higher place. Which indeed when it is put in a bad sense is wont to signify pride: as is the passage, “In thy wisdom be not exalted.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 47
Hast thou seen a head such as thou hadst never seen? Wilt thou see the face too, or rather mark it? Mark then for the present its color, how ruddy, and blooming, and very engaging; and observe what are its ingredients. “Well, and what are they?” Shame-facedness and blushing. Wherefore also some one saith, “Before a shamefaced man shall go favor.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 17
… Just as lust by little and little drives headlong into fornication, so also does a turn for jesting. It seems to have a grace about it, yet there is nothing more graceless than this. For hear the Scripture which says, “Before the thunder goeth lightning, and before a shamefaced man shall go favor.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.25
… so that, when we are perfectly endued with divine power, we may then go out as it were from ourselves abroad, instructing others also. Hence through a certain wise man it is said, Young man, speak scarcely in thy cause; and if thou hast been twice asked, let thy answer have a beginning (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 5.18
Let us recall to mind, most dear brother, this which is said by the most wise Solomon. Before thunder shall go lightning, and before ruin shall the heart be exalted (
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Ecumenical Councils The Canons of the Two Hundred Holy and Blessed Fathers Who Met at Ephesus the-letter-of-the-same-holy-sy
Forasmuch as the divinely inspired Scripture says, “Do all things with advice,”
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.15
… Such persons look not at all to see what things they are doing when they do them, but for the most part, when they are done, become aware that they ought not to have done them. To such, under the guise of a learner, it is well said in Solomon, My son, do nothing without counsel, and after it is done thou shalt not repent (
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1. HAVE THEY MADE THEE RULER? BE NOT LIFTED UP: BE AMONG THEM AS ONE OF THEMSELVES. — St. Jerome in chapter XIV of Ezekiel reads thus: They have made thee a leader (others, a king), be not lifted up, but be among them as one of themselves; the Zurich version: If thou art made a ruler, be not puffed up, but show thyself equal to the rest; the Arabic: If thou art shown forth, do not draw thyself up, nor recline upon the breast over the rich; be as one of them, that is to say, If others show thee forth and set thee before them, that thou mayest be seen and honored, do thou not increase the ostentation, nor show elevation, that thou mayest sit in the face or at the head of the table. For ruler in Greek is ἡγούμενον, that is, a president, leader, conductor, master, prince, king, emperor, namely of the banquet (for it is clear from what precedes and follows that this is precisely what is being discussed here), who presided over the banquet and ruled and directed it. Whence he was called συμποσιάρχης, that is, prince of the symposium and master of the banquet. For which reason, the ancient Orientals, especially the Hebrews, Syrians, Egyptians and Greeks, were wont to celebrate magnificent banquets, as appears in the banquet of Abraham for the weaning of Isaac, Genesis chapter XXI, and Job chapter I; of Ahasuerus, Esther I; of Joseph, Genesis XLIII, 42. Wherefore they placed over the banquet a man of vigor and industry, both that all things might be done in order without confusion, and that nothing might be lacking to anyone, and that he might be the arbiter of modesty and temperance. His office therefore was to prescribe the manner of the meal and the laws of drinking. Whence by Varro, book XX, and Macrobius, book I of the Saturnalia, chapter I, he is called the lord of the banquet and mode-emperor, as it were one who establishes and commands the measure in all things; by Cornelius Tacitus, king of the banquet, to whom in some way corresponds that king whom the Germans create at table at the feast of the Three Kings; by Plautus in the Stichus, dictator and strategus; by Horace, book II, satire 8, arbiter of the meal, father and steward; by others, tricliniarch. In Holy Scripture by St. John, chapter II, he is called the chief steward, as it were prince of the dining room and table; by Moses he is called the chief of the cupbearers, Genesis chapter XL, 2; by the Apostles, deacon: for the Apostles chose seven deacons as it were prefects, who presided over the tables of the faithful, Acts VI; by the Greeks he is called κλινόμενος, συμποσιάρχος, τραπεζοποιός, βασιλεύς, παρανύμφιος and ἑστιάτωρ. Siracides therefore says: "They have made thee" a ruler "of the banquet," namely the other guests. For they, before they reclined at table, chose this ruler either by lot or by vote, especially since the banquet was not provided by any one person, but was furnished by the guests themselves contributing their shares, of which presently. Otherwise, if some prince or anyone else gave a feast, he himself was the ruler, or appointed a ruler, and he was almost always the one who was more honored among the invited, who was also called the first recliner, because he occupied the first place in reclining. A similar custom obtains today in France and Germany at the feast of Epiphany. For a cake, in which a bean (or similar lot) is enclosed, is divided into as many parts as there are guests, and these are distributed one to each; and he to whom that portion falls in which the bean is contained is chosen king of the future feast. Now the lot by which this ruler was formerly chosen was the casting of dice. For, as Lipsius teaches, book III of Antiquarian Readings, chapter I, whoever first among the guests cast Venus, he was the master. Thus Horace: Whom Venus shall declare the arbiter of drinking. And Plautus in the Curculio calls this "a royal cast," that is, a kingly one; because it was proper for creating the king of the banquet. For there were various casts of dice, such as Venus, Canis, Senio, Chius. Moreover, Lipsius above gives examples of the laws which the master prescribed to the guests, namely these: Let the total drink be ten cyathi, the ninth for the Muses, the tenth let be poured out to Apollo. Let witticisms and jests be used: But let both be within bounds and jests be allowed. Let quarrels, clamor, contention be sent away to the Thracians; In their place let a song or some other musical thing be produced. Let the table be sacred to Angerona. Let things said be unsaid, things done be undone, be inscribed in wine. Thus King Ahasuerus prescribed for his banquet a truly royal law, that no one should compel the unwilling to drink, but each should take what he wished, Esther I, 8. Moreover, the duty of this master of the feast was: first, to receive all the guests, to address them, to greet them, and to place each one in his own place, to arrange and govern them. Whence Tacitus: "The king of the feast, he says, having obtained his kingdom by the casting of lots in sport, commanded one to drink; another to mix the wine; another to go away; and yet another, in turn, to be present." Which custom is observed today in Royal banquets. The same person, like a musician, by offering drink making the minds of the abstemious more contentious, and by withholding it making those of the wine-drinkers more relaxed, effects diversity and harmony, as Plutarch says, book I of the Symposium, chapter IV. He adds the reason, which is the end and purpose of the feast: "To effect either the confirmation or the beginning of friendship with a certain pleasure among the guests. For a feast is an entertainment between cups, ending in favor toward friendship." For which reason Lamprias in the same place, Question II: "Thus, he says, I shall arrange the guests, not so that I join the rich to the rich, the young to the young, the prince to the prince, the friend to the friend; which arrangement is idle and conduces nothing to procuring and increasing goodwill; but accommodating to each one what he lacks, I shall place beside the studious man one who willingly discusses matters pertaining to humanity, beside the morose a gentle person, beside the talkative an old man eager to listen, beside the boastful a mocker, beside the irascible a taciturn person, beside the quarrelsome a peaceful one, beside the munificent a poor man, so that as from a full cup into an empty one, something from the one may flow into the other. But I do not wish a sophist to sit beside a sophist, or a poet beside a poet. For one singer burns another singer, and one poor man another poor man." Wherefore the same Plutarch, book IV, chapter I: "We know that Polybius prescribed to Africanus never to depart from the forum, engaging in the affairs of citizens, unless he had first made some friend for himself, etc. But see whether that precept, besides being suited to the forum, does not also pertain to feasts; so that one should not depart from there before having obtained the goodwill and friendship of some one of those reclining. For those who are wise come to a feast no less for the sake of acquiring friends than for delighting those present. To depart having gained a friend is pleasant and honorable; on the contrary, he who neglects to do this makes the custom disagreeable and useless to himself, and thus departs as one who was a guest in belly, not in spirit." from the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath." For the master of the feast tempered and offered to each guest his own cup. And elsewhere often. Wherefore absent from the feasts of the ancients was that insane modern custom of drinking and toasting in equal draughts. For Horace, book II, satire 6, says: The guest, freed from insane laws of drinking in equal cyathi, drains unequal cups. There was one of the jesting laws among the Greeks: either drink or depart, as Cicero testifies in the Tusculan Disputations, book V. More licentious was that of the master of the feast Empedocles, as Laërtius testifies, prescribing that either he should drink or wine should be poured upon his head; for which reason Empedocles prosecuted him in a forced assembly and saw to it that he was condemned. To this pertains also that convivial law in Plutarch, book III of the Symposium, Question IX: "The mixture of wine with water is in the ratio of a fifth, a third, a fourth; for thus they sing: Five ought to be drunk or three or four. For five have a sesquialteral ratio, with three cyathi of water mixed into two of wine; three have a double ratio, two to one; four have a sesquitertian ratio, with three cyathi of water poured upon one of wine." Finally Pollux: "Let the master of the feast be splendid, he says, magnificent, hospitable, a lover of guests, popular, receiving at a sumptuous table, delighting in cleanliness, careful, of good diet, magnanimous, full of courtesy, accommodating, affable, of refined and delicate food, equally as of life." First therefore Sirach gives this precept to the master of the feast, that he should not exalt himself above others, but should make himself equal to each one, and show himself equable. Plutarch, imitating Sirach in the Symposiac, book I, Question IV, thus decreed concerning him: "Let the master of the feast be affectionate toward all the guests in a familiar, friendly and benevolent manner, hostile and an enemy to none. For otherwise he will be neither tolerable in commanding, nor observant of equality in distributing, nor blameless in joining in sport." And Epictetus: "See that you are not injurious to the guests when urged by anger, but rather gladden them with gentleness and simplicity." Wherefore Plato, just as he wishes the prefect of the watch to be most vigilant, so also wishes the master of the feast to be moderately sober, one who is not easily overcome by wine. For the wine-bibber will be insulting and unseemly: altogether sober, however, he will be unpleasant. Plutarch adds: Just as Pericles, when made praetor, addressing himself would remind himself: Pay attention, Pericles, you rule over free men, you rule over Greeks, you rule over Athenians: so the moderator of the feast will consider with himself, that he presides over friends, so that he neither permits them to act shamefully, nor altogether prohibits them from pleasures; but let him be well tempered in both respects: yet so that, like good wine, he inclines somewhat toward austerity; for thus he will be softened by wine, and brought to moderation. Thus Plutarch. Morally, you may adapt these things to any rectors and superiors whatsoever. For if the master of the feast ought to make himself equal to the guests, by equal right it befits any other rector to make himself equal to the subjects committed to him. Whence the Syrian translator renders it: They have made you a master (or great one), that you should not be exalted, and among the heads of the rich do not recline: be to yourself as one of them. Hugo: "They have placed you, he says, as a rector, not as a dominator; as a shepherd, not as a hireling; not as a butcher, but as a guardian; not as a tyrant, but as a steward; not as a lord, but as a minister — you, not your riches, not your nobility, not your progeny, but you, that is your person. Today, however, when one is made a Bishop, his whole family becomes episcopal. Whence also the whole progeny loses its name, and he who was formerly called the son of a smith or of Robert, is called the nephew of a Bishop. Isaiah LXVI: Shall the earth bring forth in one day, or shall a nation be born at once? These are the words of Christ or of the Church marveling at so many little nephews born in one birth." And St. Bernardine, tome III, sermon On the Rector: "They have placed you, he says, as a rector, not as a plunderer; as a rector, not as a destroyer; as a minister, not as a tyrant; as a steward, not as a squanderer or usurper; as a guardian, not as a devourer." Second, to provide that the food and drink be properly prepared, and brought to the table in their proper order. Wherefore Aristotle, book II of the Politics, says that masters of the feast ought to be sober. And Theophylactus, in John chapter II: "To the master of the feast, he says, he permits the tasting of wine while sober. For in such festivities, to which such a duty is entrusted, they especially study sobriety, so that by his command and mandate all things may be done in an orderly and decent manner." Third, to moderate serious matters and jests, and to direct the conversation of the feast, so that it might be suited to the guests and gladden them; yet not savor of anything base or indecent. He therefore commanded musicians to sing, orators to speak, philosophers to solve some obscure question, poets to compose a poem. Fourth, to prescribe the laws of dining and drinking, which are called by Horace the kingdoms of wine, by Cicero magistracies; indeed to measure out to each one that quality and quantity of wine, in that measure, diluted with water and apportioned, which would then be agreeable and suitable alike to health, stomach and brain, as well as to the palate. And hence are derived those metaphors of the chalice in Scripture, that is of lot, whether adverse or prosperous, which God as the master of the feast of the world measures out to each one, as in Psalm XV: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, and of my chalice." Psalm LXXIV, 9: "For in the hand of the Lord there is a chalice of pure wine full mixed." Isaiah LI, 17: "Arise, Jerusalem, you who have drunk" St. Jerome, book VI on chapter XVIII of Ezekiel: "Princes of the Church are wont," he says, "to oppress the people through pride. Concerning whom it is written in Ecclesiasticus XXXIII: They have made thee a prince, be not lifted up: be thou among them as one of them. And the Savior commands in Matthew XX: Whosoever will be first among you, let him be the servant of all." In a similar manner he explains it, book XIII on chapter XLV of Ezekiel, where he reads "leader" instead of "prince." St. Ephrem, tract On the Fear of God: "They have made thee a leader," he says, "be not lifted up in mind; but be among them as one of them, and turn over in your mind your former labors, and understand that those who now obey thee are engaged in the same; and do not neglect them, but diligently care for them." St. Bernard, epistle 9 to the Archbishop of Cologne: "Let us take care," he says, "being placed on high, not to think highly, but to fear, but to consent to the humble. They have made thee a prince, be thou among them as one of them. And again: The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things. He is wise who takes this counsel; indeed feeling no differently from Wisdom itself, which says: Whosoever is the greater among you, let him be as the younger, Luke XXII. Otherwise let the power fear a hard judgment for those who preside," Wisdom VI. Let the prince and Prelate therefore beware lest the subjects justly suspect him to be puffed up with the pride of power, despising or turning away from others; but rather let him so act that even the height of royal dignity he may lower by gentleness of conduct; so that, namely, the people, as much as they revere the majesty of the prince, so much may they admire and embrace his mild and equable manners. Wherefore in governing them let him use more benevolence than severity, more exhortation than commotion, more charity than power, as far as can be done while preserving his authority, according to that in chapter III, 19: "My son, in meekness accomplish thy works, and thou shalt be beloved above the glory of men." See what I have noted there, and especially the sayings of St. Ambrose, book II of the Duties, chapter VII. See also St. Gregory, part II of the Pastoral, chapter VI, whose title here is: "That the rector be through humility a companion to those acting well, against the vices of the delinquent raised up through zeal for justice." He gives the reason, "that nature brought forth all men equal. Whence all who preside ought to consider in themselves not the power of order, but the equality of condition; nor should they rejoice to preside over men, but to benefit them. For our ancient fathers are remembered to have been not kings of men, but shepherds of flocks." He gives examples: St. Peter, who forbade Cornelius wishing to adore him, saying: "Rise, do it not, for I myself also am a man," Acts X. And St. Paul, he says, "did not know himself to be set over the brethren acting well, when he said: Not because we lord it over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy," II Corinthians I. And: "We became little ones in the midst of you," I Thessalonians II. And: "We ourselves servants of you through Jesus," II Corinthians IV, 5. Note: There were seventy-two interpreters summoned by Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, to Alexandria, to translate the books of Holy Scripture from Hebrew into the Greek language, of whom one was our Sirach, as Jansenius and others believe: I think he was their disciple and son, or grandson. These Seventy Interpreters Ptolemy received at a royal banquet, and over the table proposed to each some ethical or political question to be resolved. Moreover, because he himself was king and ruler of Egypt, hence he proposed most of them political questions concerning the king and kingdom, and the manner of ruling rightly. I selected these and thought they should be written here, because they are suited to this place and are proper to it, so that any rulers might learn from men so wise to rule rightly. I described them from the tract of Aristeas On the Seventy-two Interpreters. Ptolemy therefore proposed this question to the first interpreter: "In what manner shall the kingdom be preserved unharmed to the end? He, hesitating a little, said: Thou wilt best arrange the kingdom in this manner especially, if, imitating the gentleness of God in all things, thou usest patience and long-suffering; and thou shalt exalt the worthy, but the proud thou shalt lead through affability from evil to repentance." To the third he proposed this question: "How may he have friends like himself? Who says: If they understand that thou art meditating much on the advantage of thy subject peoples: and thou dost this, considering how God also affects mankind with good things, health and increases of life, and all other things at opportune times." Eleventh, he proposed this question: "In what ways should a king preserve his riches?" While he was considering what had been asked, he paused a little and said: "If nothing unworthy of your kingdom, and you do not act shamefully, nor make expenditures on vain and unprofitable things, and you show yourself beneficent and kind toward your people. For God, the giver of all good things, whom it is right to follow, is generous." Twelfth, he proposed this question: "How should a king cultivate truth?" To this he answered: "If you recognize how great a disgrace falsehoods bring upon all mortals, and how much greater a mark they inflict upon kings. For when they have such power that they easily accomplish what they wish, for what reason would they lie? You ought also to consider, O king, that God is a lover of truth." Twenty-first, he proposed this question: "What is most difficult in a kingdom?" He answered: "To rule oneself and not to be carried away by appetites. For it is inherent in the nature of mortals that the mind always inclines toward something, and most are drawn to tables, cups, and pleasures, in which the multitude is especially dissipated. But kings are troubled by the care of subduing peoples on account of the greatness of glory. Yet it is noble to measure oneself in all things and to restrain with zeal what God has given. But do not covet what is forbidden and undesirable." Twenty-fourth, he proposed this question: "How would a king endure gloriously?" To him he said: "If you excel in kindness and grace, and show yourself magnificent toward others, glory will never leave you, and God must always be implored that it may be with you." Fifty-first, he proposed this question: "In what way does one not become puffed up with pride?" He answered: "If you preserve equality and remember yourself in all things; turning over in your mind that man rules over men, and that God destroys the proud and exalts the meek and humble." Fifty-third, he proposed this question: "What is most necessary for a king?" He said: "The love and affection of his subjects; for through this an unbreakable bond of goodwill is woven. For God perfects those things which are rightly chosen." Fifty-fifth, he proposed this question: "How should a king accommodate himself to many peoples in his kingdom?" He said: "If you distribute justly to each, and follow justice as your guide (as you do), with God granting you to discern rightly." Fifty-ninth, he proposed this question: "What preserves a kingdom?" He answered: "Care and attention, lest anything be done wrongly or committed against the people by those placed in charge of affairs; as you will do, since God grants you excellent understanding." Sixty-fourth, he proposed this question: "What ought kings especially to follow?" He answered: "Laws, so that they may govern the life of mortals by just operations; as you also, by performing your duties, have made a perpetual memory of yourself, following divine precepts." Sixty-fifth, he proposed this question: "Who should be placed in charge of magistracies?" He said: "Whoever, he says, hates unjust things and imitates your affections, and drawn by the sweetness of praise, always work justly to obtain glory. Which you do indeed (O king), since God grants the crown of justice." Sixty-sixth, he proposed this question: "Who should be chosen as leaders?" He said: "Those who excel in fortitude and justice, and who prefer the safety of men to bloody victory. For God also works good things for all; following whom, you benefit your subjects." Sixty-eighth, he proposed this question: "In what matters should kings spend more time?" Then he said: "In the knowledge of deeds accomplished, and in reading the writings of those who labor, one ought to spend much of one's time, and to inquire into whatever has been written for preserving kingdoms and correcting the morals of men; which you pursue diligently, and since God favors your counsels, therefore you obtain excellent glory above others." Sixty-ninth, he proposed this question: "What should be done perpetually lest you grow sluggish from idleness?" He continued: "It should be considered, he says, with much diligence whatever comes to mind, and some form and image of life should be set before your eyes, then whatever things are perfect in themselves should be considered; for there is also its own beauty in these things, and a certain learning. For often in the smallest things something excellent shines forth, which you might choose. But you, when God suffices for you in goodness, embrace all elegance on account of your love of philosophy." Learn therefore morally here how singularity is to be avoided in assembly and society, and the common life is to be followed, even under a Superior: for through it charity and humility are satisfied. It is memorable what we read in the Acts of St. Francis: when he himself was preaching at Perugia, a certain man of Perugia, desirous of a more perfect life, was thinking about changing his state of life. To him Christ appearing said: "Man of desires, if you wish to attain your vows and be saved, follow me in the religious habit of Francis of Assisi." He then asked: "What rule, Lord, shall I observe in this Order, that I may please you more?" Christ answered: "Follow the common life of the Order, and flee the intimate associations of the brethren, and do not scrutinize or judge the defects of others." Received therefore by St. Francis, and called by him Brother Humilis on account of his remarkable humility, following the admonitions of Christ, he lived a holy life, and so much did he shine forth in miracles. Thus the Annals of the Minors, by the author Luke Wadding, in the year of Christ 1211, no. 6. Memorableisthe letter of the same St. Francis (it exists among his works as the eighth) to Peter Cataneus, Vicar General of his Order, complaining of the dissolution of certain brethren: "May the Lord keep you," he says, "and preserve you in his holy charity. Patience in all your works, my brother, I commend to you to such a degree that, whoever shall have hindered you, whether brethren or others, even if they beat you, you ought to hold all things as grace, and thus wish it, and nothing else. And love those who do this to you, and do not wish anything else concerning them, except as much as the Lord has given to you, and in this love them, so that you wish that they be better Christians. And I wish to know this, if you love the Lord and me his servant and yours, if you do this: namely, that there be no brother in the world who has sinned, however much he could have sinned; that, after he has seen your eyes, he never depart without your mercy. And if he does not ask, you ask of him, if he wishes mercy. And if he appeared a thousand times thereafter before your eyes, love him more than me, to this end that you draw him to good, and always have mercy on such. And announce this to the Guardians, when you are able, that through you it be firm that you do it: and all the brethren, who knew him to have sinned, let them not be ashamed of him, nor speak ill of him; but rather let them have mercy concerning him, and keep the sin of their brother private, because the physician is not needed by the healthy, but by those who are ill." Thus St. Francis in humble style, but in sublime spirit. This is what Christ sharply rebukes in the Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. XXIII, 3: "They say, and do not: for they bind together heavy burdens and unbearable, and lay them upon the shoulders of men: but with their finger they will not move them." And therefore Pope Innocent said: "Whatever law anyone establishes over another, he himself ought to use it." And this also according to the saying of Cato saying: "Obey the law which you yourself have made," which since you bear it so that all may keep it, you first keep it. Do not dispense with it for yourself at your pleasure, unless you wish to dispense in the same way with others, or that they transgress the law without dispensation. Show the justice of your law in this, that through it you direct yourself; and show its sweetness in this, that you yourself willingly keep it: go before as a good shepherd by your example, so that your subjects may glory that they follow you. Wherefore the good Emperor Theodosius used to say: "Although he himself was not subject to his own laws, he nevertheless wished to bind himself to them and to keep them." And that great wise man left written: "The happiness of the republic consists in this, that the law be truly the mistress of princes, and the princes be servants and handmaids of the law: but on the contrary it is the ruin of the same republic, if the law be the handmaid of kings and they themselves its masters; drawing it to their will." Wherefore St. Ephrem, tract. On the Fear of God, reads this saying thus partly, partly explains it: "They have made you a ruler, do not be exalted: be one of them, and in your mind revolve your former labors, and understand those who now obey you, to be engaged in the same, and do not neglect them, but carefully care for them." For rulers who have been subjects, and have experienced the labors of subjects, know how to sympathize with subjects, and command them modestly: but those who have never experienced the burdens of subjects, command them despotically as if they were slaves, and "lord it over the clergy," as St. Peter says. St. Ephrem adds: "The drowsiness of shepherds is the joy of wolves." Among the Gentiles, Julius Caesar was celebrated, who presented himself to his soldiers as a companion in hunger, labor and dangers, indeed as a leader, and thus bound them to himself, so that they were obedient to his word in all difficult matters: and hence his great victories, prosperity and glory. Similar was Cato, whom Lucanus, book IX of the Pharsalia, thus depicts generously going before his soldiers through the pathless deserts of Africa in arms and words: I shall be first to tread the sands; first to place my steps in the dust. Let the ethereal heat strike me, let a serpent full of poison meet me; may the dangers of your fate be forestalled by mine, with no distinction known, whether I go as leader or soldier. "For it is fitting, as Paul says in book IV of the Sentences, title VI, that he who makes laws should obey the laws with equal majesty." And St. Ambrose, to the Emperor Valentinian, epistle 32: "What you have prescribed for others, you have prescribed for yourself. For the Emperor bears the laws, which he himself must first keep." Tacitus speaks excellently, book II of the Annals, chapters XX and XXX: "The leader," he says, "commands lesser things to others, he takes upon himself the most demanding," and he asserts that Germanicus did this, just as Nazarius asserts of Constantine the Great in his Panegyric, chapter XXIX.
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2. HAVE CARE FOR THEM, AND THUS RECLINE (thus the Greek: therefore the Complutensians, Palacius, Jansenius and others read incorrectly, consider), AND WITH ALL YOUR CARE FULLY DISPLAYED RECLINE. — This is the second precept which Sirach gives to the master of the feast, and consequently to any other, namely that he should have care for each of the guests, lest anything be lacking to anyone, so that no one can justly complain of being passed over, neglected, or forgotten. Let him therefore go around the table and survey all, and provide for each the necessary or opportune things: which done, then at last let him recline, so that, after he has fully displayed all his care for them, as if having discharged his duty, then at last he may recline at table with them, so that he may cheer both himself and the guests. Whence the Syriac version translates: Have care for them, and afterwards recline: in all their necessity provide and recline; the Zurich version, have care for them, and thus sit down: fulfill all your duty, and rest with praise. For the Greek texts have: καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν χρείαν σου ποίησον, καὶ εὐκοσμήσας ἀνάπαυσαι. Which the Complutensian version translates: And do all your use, and approved rest: namely when the guests shall have approved your care and diligence, and shall have said that they are satisfied. Others read, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν χρείαν σου ποιήσας ἀνάπαυε, that is, and when you have done all that is necessary for you, recline. Morally, St. Bernard, book IV of On Consideration to Pope Eugenius, chapter II, speaking of the care which pastors ought to have for the people committed to them: "Do not delay," he says, "to exact care, not cure. Finally you have heard: Have care for him, and not: care for or heal him. Truly someone said: It is not always in the physician's power that the sick man be relieved. But I propose something better for you. Paul speaks: I have labored more than all. He does not say: I have profited more than all, or I have borne more fruit than all; carefully avoiding an unusual word. But otherwise the man, whom God taught, knew that each shall receive according to his labor, not according to the result. And for this reason he thought he should glory in labors rather than in results, as you also have him saying elsewhere: in labors most abundant. So, I beseech you, do what is yours; for God will sufficiently care for what is His without your solicitude and anxiety. Plant, water, take care, and you have fulfilled your parts. Surely God will give increase when He wills, not you. Where perhaps He wills not, nothing is lost to you, Scripture saying: God will render the reward of the labors of His saints. A secure labor, which no defect can make void." Similar should be the care of a king and prince. Whence Seneca gives him this eulogy: "His vigilance defends the homes of all; the leisure of all is his occupation, from the time Caesar dedicated himself to the world, he took himself from himself." I began to fear: now I almost despair of it. For who can sustain the mass of the whole Church, who can bear the burden of so many souls without evident danger to salvation?" And yet, if anyone else here has discharged his duty excellently, and was truly a pious and religious Pontiff. Hence Bishop in Greek is the same as superintendent and one who watches over the people: pastor, who feeds the sheep; whence "the shepherd is called as it were from sheepfold: presul, who presides with solicitude: solicitous, as it were diligent and swift and restless," says St. Isidore, book X of the Origins.
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3. THAT THOU MAYEST REJOICE ON ACCOUNT OF THEM, AND RECEIVE AN ORNAMENT OF GRACE AS A CROWN, AND OBTAIN THE DIGNITY OF CONTRIBUTION, — that is to say, if thou shalt have taken care of them, and having made that care explicit and complete thou shalt recline at table with the guests, thou shalt rejoice with them, and likewise shalt gladden them. Whence from them thou shalt "receive a crown," which shall be to thee "an ornament of grace," that is, a gracious adornment, bringing to thee grace, that is, honor and comeliness: and moreover "dignity," that is, as some codices have it, dignity and honor "of contribution," that is, of the symbol, of which presently. The Greek texts briefly thus have it: That thou mayest be affected with gladness through them, and receive a crown for the sake of adornment; Zurich: That thou mayest rejoice in their name, and receive a crown of the grace of comeliness; Syriac: For this reason also in their last days thou shalt rejoice, and at table thou shalt receive honor. Note first: For "ornament of grace," in Greek it is εὐκοσμίας χάριν; where, if thou take χάριν as an adverb, thou shalt translate it, for the sake of adornment, that is, on account of: but if as a noun, thou shalt translate it, the grace of adornment; and thus it seems our author has taken it. Whence by hypallage he translated it, "ornament of grace;" for the grace of adornment is an ornament of grace; namely, a gracious and comely adornment. Moreover, this ornament is a crown; whence some think the crown is called this because it does honor to those upon whom it is placed. For it alludes to the crowns with which masters, or Doctors, were and still are distinguished. Whence some inscribe this chapter περὶ ἡγουμένων, that is, concerning masters. Or rather it alludes to the crowns of the banquet, which the guests offered to the master of the feast as to their king and ruler, on account of the care and governance provided to them. Indeed, it is clear from Plautus, in the Persa, that masters or dictators of the banquet were created by the imposition of the crown alone: "I give," he says, "this flourishing thing to thee flourishing: thou shalt thus be dictator to us." And from Plutarch, book IV of the Symposium, Question IV, which custom is still observed among some in Germany, especially when on the feast of the Three Kings they create a king for themselves, adorning him with a crown. Moreover, the guests themselves once reclined crowned, as still happens in Thuringia: for they wore crowns upon their heads made of herbs, such as ivy, spikenard, laurel, etc., or of flowers, especially roses: both that these might prevent drunkenness, and that the head might not be burdened by a cap, and that by their sweet and mild color and odor they might cool, soothe and refresh the head. For warm flowers, gently opening the passages of the head, cause the wine to be able to perspire: and those things which are slightly cold, by moderate contact repel vapors, as especially the violet and rose crown. Thus Athenaeus, Plutarch, Pliny, book XXI, chapter III, and others. For this was the custom of the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and Indians. Of the Hebrews, as is evident from this place, and Wisdom II, 8: "Let us crown ourselves with roses;"; and Ezekiel, chapter XXIII, 42, signifies that female friends placed crowns upon their lovers. Of the Greeks, as is evident from Athenaeus, book XV; Plutarch, book III of the Symposium, Question I. Indeed, Aristotle also, according to Caelius, book XXVII, chapter XXVI, says that the ancients used crowns at banquets to signify obscurely, and to augur the fertility of the harvest and abundance of things. Of the Romans, as is evident from Ovid, book V of the Fasti: The drunken guest, with linden bound about his hair, Dances, etc. No serious matter is conducted with a crowned brow, Nor is clear water drunk mixed with flowers. Bacchus loves flowers; to have pleased Bacchus with a crown ... Crowns signified that the banquet was full and complete, and from this the full joy of the guests, because nothing necessary for merriment was lacking to it: for a crown is the symbol of perfection, on account of its round shape and returning into itself. Whence Propertius, book IV, elegy 3: It pleases me greatly to bind my mind with Lyaeus, And to have my head always in the spring rose. And Anacreon, ode 4: Adorning the rose with leaves Upon the head, let us make merry Among the cups. Of the Indians, as is evident from Philostratus, who, in book II of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, asserts that the Indians, whenever they banqueted with the king, came to the banquets crowned. Hence Antiochus, as we read in II Maccabees, chapter VI, 7, compelled the Jews to reject their ancestral laws and worship Bacchus as the god of the banquet, and to celebrate his orgies crowned with ivy after the manner of bacchants. Those who refused to do this were punished with death: for, as Pliny says, lib. XVI, 1, they report that Liber (Bacchus) was the first of all to place a crown of ivy upon his head: which Festus says is so named either because it clings, or because it seeks what is produced, or because it consumes that to which it adheres. And Plutarch, lib. III Sympos. Quæst. I: Bacchus, he says, taught that ivy also, which by its nature most resists wine (drunkenness), should be held in honor, and crowned the bacchants with it, so that they might be less harmed by wine, ivy extinguishing drunkenness by its coldness. Hence also ivy is a sign of taverns and sellable wine. Finally Ovid in the place already cited: The roofs are painted with slender crowns, And the splendid table lies hidden beneath scattered roses. We read that Cleopatra in that luxurious banquet spent a talent on roses, when throughout all the dining couches of the reclining guests heaps of leaves lay scattered everywhere, standing a cubit high on the pavements on all sides. Indeed they even crowned cups and goblets, as Tertullian teaches, lib. De Corona militis, and Virgil, III Æneid.: Then father Anchises crowned the great bowl, And filled it with wine. And lib. VII: The joyful ones set down bowls, and crown the wines. To this pertains that of the bride inebriated with the wine of love: "He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me. Strengthen me with flowers, stay me up with apples: because I languish with love," Canticles II, 4. Note secondly: By dignity, or worthiness, some understand a collection of contributions, indeed with Rabanus they read the dignity of the assembly, to which namely as if a prefect you have gathered a joyful banquet either of food, or of doctrine, or of prudence and discipline: for on account of this you obtain dignity and honor from the assembly of banqueters. Thus Rabanus, Lyra, Palacius. Secondly, Jansenius says that a collection of contributions is a convoked assembly contributing its portions together. Thirdly, others say that a collection of contributions is called a banquet which is instituted from the collection and contribution of the banqueters: for formerly it was the custom to collect expenses, or even foods for preparing banquets, which collections they called banquet contributions, such as the Council of Laodicea forbade to the faithful, cap. LV: "It is not fitting," it says, "that ministers of the altar, or any clerics, or even lay Christians, celebrate banquets from contributions, which the common people call banquet fees." Thus the sense will be, as if to say: If you do this, you will obtain praise from the banqueters, because you have properly prepared the banquet. Fourthly, properly and genuinely, by a collection of contributions, understand the collection of portions which the banqueters made, so that they might offer it as it were a tribute to their king and prefect. Whence the Syriac version translates, and you will receive honor at the table. For the ancients were accustomed, for the sake of duty, to honor the symposiarch with the collected portions (which they called contributions) of the better dishes, just as now they honor bridegrooms, to whom also individuals are accustomed to drink toasts, and thus to surround and crown them with cups full of wine. By this therefore collection of dishes and cups and similar things of the banquet, he signifies that the prefect of the banquet should be honored, if he performs his duty properly. Our Salazar adds in Proverbs, chapter VIII, 21: that banqueters have collected a contribution for the symposiarch from mystical little gifts. For example, someone, in order to commend the strength and muscles of the symposiarch, would bring him an arm; another, in order to note his eloquence, would send him a tongue; another, in order to hint at his vigilance, would send him an eye; another, in order to testify his love, would give him a heart or breast; others with other such symbolic little gifts, as each one pleased, honored the king of the banquet. But this was accustomed to be done only at the most splendid dinners, as Fulvius teaches in his appendix to Ciacco's Triclinium. The sense therefore is: "That you may obtain the dignity of the collection of contributions," namely that the banqueters with the destined mystical gifts celebrate your praises, and proclaim those virtues in which you excel. Thus Samuel sent an arm to King Saul, so that he might commend to the future king fortitude (of which the arm is the symbol): "Behold, eat," he says, "because it was purposely kept for you," I Kings IX, 23 and 24. And Philo, in Joseph., relates that Joseph sent to his brother Benjamin at table a little breast, so that he might signify that he was in his breast and affections. For the same reason from the victim the arm and breast fell to the priest, Leviticus VII, 34. Hence that saying of the ancients: "Do not eat the heart, set aside the tongue, add salt," etc. Mystically, you may adapt all these things to the prefects of the spiritual table, namely Bishops, Pastors, Preachers and Doctors. For to them falls the care of instructing the table of doctrine, exhortation, and the Eucharist, by which they may teach and feed each one unto eternal life. And if they shall do this rightly, they shall rejoice with them in heaven, and shall receive the crown promised to Doctors; and the faithful themselves, led by them into heaven, shall each one honor him as a father, and shall ascribe to him their gifts and glory, according to that of St. Peter, epistle I, chapter V, 2: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking care of it not by constraint, but willingly, according to God; neither for the sake of filthy lucre, but voluntarily; nor as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart. And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory." For this reason St. Paul calls the Thessalonians and Philippians his "joy" and his "crown," I Thessalonians II, 19, and Philippians IV, 1. See there the sayings, where I have recounted a notable example of this matter from St. Amand. From the Hebrews and Sirach the philosophers of the gentiles learned the same thing. Whence Isocrates, oration to Nicocles: "Love," he says, "those over whom you rule, and bring it about that you are loved by them in return. The love of the people is the foundation of lasting empire." Pliny, in the Panegyric of Trajan: "A good prince," he says, "ought to conduct himself with citizens as with his own children. The affability of a prince is the greatest virtue. A prince cannot be loved unless he loves himself."
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4 and 5. SPEAK, THOU THAT ART THE GREATEST IN AGE; FOR IT BECOMETH THEE TO SPEAK FIRST WITH CAREFUL KNOWLEDGE, AND HINDER NOT MUSIC. — Thus the Roman [version]. Therefore Jansenius, Palacius and others read wrongly in many places, "careful knowledge," and thus explain it, as if to say: Since it becometh thee, who art elder, to speak before others, do thou speak the first word; but speak it not without the Muses, but with the Muses, that is, with those diligent in knowledge, lest thou cast pearls before swine; yet so that "thou hinder not music." Or otherwise, by dividing differently: Speak, thou that art the greatest in age; for it becometh thee to speak: the first word [supply] careful knowledge; it is fitting, as if to say: It is fitting that he speak before others who showeth himself to be a philosopher and a lover of knowledge, such as are the aged. But with the Romans, both Latin and Greek, it must be read: ἐν ἀκριβεστάτῃ ἐπιστήμῃ, that is, in exact and careful knowledge. From the rulers of the banquet he descends to the guests, both aged and young. To the aged he here giveth a precept, namely that they speak first (for this is fitting), but with exact, sensible and wise [speech]: "Speak," saith he, "thou that art the greatest in age;" in Greek presbyter, "for it becometh thee to speak," thou who by thy dignity and age art made master of the others in the manner of banqueting, so also in speaking and teaching. For "multitude of years teacheth wisdom," as the ancient proverb hath it. This was once in use among the Hebrews, Greeks and Latins, both believers and unbelievers; for that the Hebrews were wont to season their banquets not only with dishes, but also with problems and questions proposed, our Salazar learnedly showeth in the Isagoge to Proverbs, page 2. Concerning the Greeks and Romans, the same is testified by Plutarch, book I of Symposium, Question I, and Macrobius, book VII of Saturnalia, chapter I; Quintilian, book I of Institutes; Cicero, Tusculan Disputations I; Plato, in his Banquet Dialogues; Athenaeus, in the Deipnosophists, that is, the Banquets of the Wise. For it is fitting that in a banquet not only the body be nourished with food, but also the mind with learned and good discourse; wherefore problems, parables, riddles, etc., were proposed at table, and therefore they drank soberly, that they might answer to them wisely. Thus teach the authors cited. In place of these among Religious and grave men at table it is customary to read Holy Scripture, the Fathers, histories, etc., which reading therefore St. Augustine commendeth, epistle 109, and St. Basil, in the Shorter Rules, rule 130. The same Xenophon writeth that Cyrus and the Persians did likewise, book IV. The same the first Christians did above all in the Eucharist and agape, that is, the banquet after the sacred Synaxis, as I showed in I Corinthians XIV, 26; and this by the example of Christ, who at the last supper wove a long and ardent discourse on charity, John XIII and following. And concerning the Essenes the same is testified by Philo, book On the Contemplative Life, Josephus, Eusebius and others. For a banquet is a gathering of delights, inasmuch as in it the throat is nourished with food, the ears with song, the eyes with spectacles, the nostrils with perfumes and flowers. But the best and most liberal of all is the entertainment of sensible and pleasant discourse, by which alone the mind is chiefly delighted and nourished. After discourse, however, music seemeth to hold the first place, which is therefore by Sirach joined with discourse. Moreover among the Seventy Interpreters, in order the seventieth, when interrogated by Ptolemy Philadelphia, king of Egypt, at a royal banquet what ought to be spoken, he answered that the lives of illustrious Princes ought to be narrated; for nothing sweeter or more pleasant than these is found. Thus Aristeas in the History of the Seventy Interpreters. It is fitting afterwards that after the teaching of the aged there follow a musical concert, that serious matters be tempered with pleasant ones, and the banqueters be cheered, and the quarrels and brawls, which are wont to arise among banqueters when heated with wine, be calmed and soothed by the sweetness of song; for such is the power of song and music: finally, that the mind intent upon music may not speak or hear scurrilous, detracting, wanton words, which are wont to be spoken at table. Some, as Emmanuel Sa, by music understand harmony and order in discourse, so that namely the aged speak and discourse so composedly and harmoniously that they seem to produce harmony. But this is mystical music; for according to the letter, music signifieth the harmony of musicians. That the ancient Hebrews used this at table is clear from this place and verse 7, and Psalm LXIX, 13; Isaiah XXIV, 8; Amos VI, 5; Luke XV, 25. Yea, and Christ the Lord concluded the last supper with a hymn and song; for, "when a hymn had been said," in Greek ὑμνήσαντες, that is, when they had sung a hymn, he and the Apostles "went out into the mount of Olives," Mark XIV, 26. Finally, in the heavenly banquet the Blessed sing perpetual Alleluia to God and the Lamb, Apocalypse chapter IV, 8, and chapter V, 9 and 12, and chapter VII, 12. Concerning the Greeks and Latins, it is evident from Cicero, Tusculan Disputations I, and Quintilian, book I: "It was the custom," he says, "that at banquets after dinner a lyre was passed around, which the guests would play in turn; when Themistocles professed himself unskilled in this, he was considered less educated." Whence Horace, book II, ode 11: The lyres beloved of the temples and the tables of the rich. And Varro: "At banquets," he says, "modest youths would sing ancient songs, in which were praises of their ancestors, and this with voice and with the pipe." Cicero, in the Brutus: "Songs," he says, "were sung at feasts by individual guests concerning the praises of illustrious men, as Cato left written in his Origins." Virgil, Aeneid I: Iopas, long-haired, resounds the golden lyre. Now the order of singing was this: First, all the guests together with one voice sang a paean, or some hymn in honor of Bacchus and other gods, and this both at the beginning and at the end of the meal, when they made libations; then each one, having received a branch of myrtle or laurel, was compelled to sing his own song, and also to play the lyre, which was passed around; thus Plutarch, book I On Music, and Symposium I, Question I, and Clement of Alexandria, book II Pedagogue IV, where he condemns immoderate and wanton use of music, and calls such a banquet "a theater of drunkenness." Thus also Athenaeus, books I and XIV, Plato in the Protagoras, Suetonius in the Life of Galba, Livy, decade 3, Valerius Maximus, book II, and others teach that banquets were formerly seasoned with music. In like manner the first Christians employed singing in the agape, that is, the Eucharistic banquet. This is evident from St. Paul, Colossians III, 16: "Let the word of Christ," he says, "dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God;" and I Corinthians chapter XIV, 26: "Each one of you," he says, "has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation." In place of which succeeded the reading of the Epistle and Gospel, and singing and organs in the Mass, as I said there. But hear Tertullian graphically depicting the agape and the first Christian banquets and singing, Apology chapter XXXIX: "Our supper," he says, "shows the reason for its name from its meaning. For it is called ἀγάπη, that is, love. At whatever expense it is held, it is a gain to spend in the name of piety: since we also help the poor with this refreshment, not as among you parasites seek to do, for the glory of serving liberty, under the inducement of the belly amid insults to be fattened; but as before God there is greater regard for the modest. If the cause of the banquet is honorable, judge the rest of the order of discipline from the cause, what it should be from the duty of religion: it admits nothing of buffoonery, nothing of immodesty; one does not recline before prayer is tasted to God; food is eaten as much as the hungry can take: drink is taken as much as is fitting for the modest; thus they are satisfied, so that they remember that even through the night they must adore God: thus they converse, knowing that the Lord hears. After the washing of hands and the lights, as each one is able from the holy Scriptures, or from his own talent, he is called forth to sing to God: hence it is proved how he drank. Equally prayer ends the banquet: thence they depart not into bands of brawlers, nor into groups of runners about, nor into outbursts of wantonness, but to the same care of modesty and chastity, so that they have not so much dined at dinner, as learned discipline." Hence it is clear that music and organs are rightly employed in churches, even in the Mass, both so that God may be praised through them, and so that the people may be stirred to devotion and spiritual joy. But care must be taken lest the singing be lighter or more wanton, which provokes rather petulance than devotion, and rather tickles the ears than lifts the mind to God. Finally, Clement of Alexandria above: "There are," he says, "modest and chaste harmonies to be admitted; but from our strong and vigorous thinking, soft and enervated harmonies, which employ an improper artifice of vocal inflection, leading to a delicate and lazy manner of living, are to be rejected as far as possible. But grave modulations and those pertaining to temperance bid farewell to the wantonness of drunkenness. Chromatic harmonies, therefore, wanton in wine and crowned with flowers, and mercenary music, are to be abandoned." Moreover, how great is the power of music in cheering, calming and healing, not only savage and drunken men, but also beasts, Martianus Capella shows, book IX On Music: "Deer," he says, "are caught by pipes; fish in the pool of Alexandria are held by noise; the Hyperborean swans are brought by the song of the lyre; Indian elephants are known to be soothed and held by the organ voice; birds are proven to be attracted by pipes, rattles break the crying of infants, the lyre persuades friendship with dolphins to men, indeed serpents are attracted and dispersed by songs." Indeed, a little before he adds: "The ancients cured fever and wounds by song; Asclepiades likewise healed the deaf with a trumpet; Theophrastus applied pipes to affections of the mind. Who does not know that sciatica is driven out by the sweetness of the aulos? Xenocrates freed the mad by organ music; Thales the Cretan is known by the sweetness of the lyre to have put to flight diseases and pestilence; Herophilus weighed the veins of the sick by the comparison of rhythms." Thus he; but physicians and doctors will scarcely believe these things. No less wonderful is it, if it be true what the Polyhistor relates in chapter XLI, that in the Halesina region a spring otherwise quiet and tranquil, when silent; if pipes sound, rises exulting to the song, and as if marveling at the sweetness of the voice, swells beyond its margin.
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6. WHERE THERE IS NO HEARING, POUR NOT OUT SPEECH, AND BE NOT LIFTED UP INOPPORTUNELY IN THY WISDOM. — He admonished the elders to speak sensibly at the banquet: here he adds a measure and condition, namely, if there be hearing, that is, an audience; for instance, if listeners be present prepared to hear: otherwise, where that is not, speech is poured out in vain and imprudently, as happens with certain talkative and verbose persons, who everywhere strive to display their wisdom, against whom he says: "And be not lifted up inopportunely in thy wisdom," so that at an inopportune time, when namely there are no listeners who wish to hear, you may bring forth and cast about your wisdom, and thrust it upon willing and unwilling alike. The Greek codices omit the first negation not; hence they have thus: Where there is a hearing, pour not out speech, and be not wise inopportunely. Hearing to the Greeks is narrative or fable, which is willingly heard by the common people. Properly hearing is hearing, listening, as if to say, Where others are heard, do not you pour out speech. Hence the Zurich version: Where there is a place of listening, pour not out words, nor act wise inopportunely. Hence the Acroamatic works are called Aristotle's commentaries, in which subtler and more remote philosophy is treated, which therefore require the diligent listening and attention of the disciple. Here, however, hearing signifies narratives, histories, songs, fables, which are accustomed to be recited at table, so that they may entertain the guests, and also the very song of musicians, which is eagerly listened to by the guests. Thus Macrobius takes hearing for song: "Caesar," he says, "delighted among dinner by symphonies, gave them grain only, when in other entertainments he had been liberal with money." Thus also here it can be taken, so as to explain what preceded: "And hinder not music." Hence he adds: "Where there is hearing, speak not," that is, when songs are sung, do not speak obtrusively, and act wise inopportunely. But Our Author reads better by the negation: "Where there is no hearing," that is, listening, "pour not out speech." The Syriac favors this, while it translates: In the place in which wine is drunk (where drinking together prevails), do not mix in speech, nor always act wise. The sense is that which I assigned at the beginning, and it aptly answers the reading which has verse 5: "For it becometh thee first to speak with diligent knowledge;"; for "where there is no hearing," where namely science is not loved, "pour not out speech." Similar to this maxim is that of the Syrians: "Do not send out a dog where there is no hunting," that is, do not correct or teach anyone, where there is no hope of progress and fruit."
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7. A LITTLE GEM OF A CARBUNCLE IN THE ORNAMENT OF GOLD, AND A COMPARISON OF MUSICIANS AT A BANQUET OF WINE. — He continues what he said in verse 5: "And hinder not music." The "and" is comparative, and therefore means the same as "thus." "Comparison" here is not likeness, but composition and harmony: for in Greek it is σύγκριμα, that is, composition and joining together, namely of voices and musical sounds. For just as from small and large stones a remarkable structure is joined together, and from various pieces of cloth sewn or woven with a needle a Phrygian work is made, and from diverse tesserae aptly fitted together a tessellated or mosaic or musaic work is produced, whose beauty consists in the apt proportion and joining together of the individual parts to one another: so likewise from slender, middle and thick voices appropriately composed and mixed among themselves, there results a musical harmony, whose elegance consists in the harmonic proportion and comparison of all voices to one another. The sense therefore is, as if to say: Just as a carbuncle gem, although precious and beautiful in itself, appears more precious and shines more beautifully in a golden ring (for by the splendor of gold its brightness is reflected and sharpened): so likewise musical harmony, although elegant and delightful in itself, becomes more beautiful and delightful if mixed with a banquet: for there the proper place of music is, where cheerful banqueters hear music more cheerfully, and therefore sharpen, indeed double, the delight of food and drink with the delight of music; because "just as food refreshes the body, so melody refreshes the senses," says Lyra. Whence the Greek texts have: A seal of a carbuncle in a golden ornament (on the plate of a golden ring) is the harmony of musicians at a banquet of wine; the Zurich Bible: Like a notable carbuncle in a golden setting is the harmony of musicians with wine at a banquet. For there is great sympathy between wine and voice and song, especially because all these things are perceived and performed by one and the same organ, namely the mouth and tongue. Whence we see boys otherwise taciturn, as soon as they have drunk wine, become talkative and hum or listen to singers. Antistrophic to this saying of Sirach is that of Solomon, Proverbs XXV, 11: "Golden apples in beds of silver, he that speaketh a word in due season." For there too it is a matter of the beds of triclinia, in which banqueters reclined, and of table talk, with which music was intermixed, as our Salazar teaches in the same place. Mystically, musical harmony is thanksgiving, which wonderfully adorns a banquet, especially a sacred one, such as that of the Eucharist and of sacred reading or preaching. Whence the Syriac version renders it: As a seal upon a purse of gold, so is the praise of God at a banquet of wine. This is what the Apostle says, Ephesians V, 18: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury; but be filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father." This was done at agapae, as I have shown in I Corinthians XIV, 26. Again, the mystical sense of this verse is, as if to say: Just as a carbuncle adorns a ring, and in turn is adorned by the golden ring: so musical harmony, that is, a holy life (whose actions all harmonize with one another and with the law of God, and produce a mystical harmony of virtues) adorns the sound doctrine of the teacher, and in turn is adorned by it. Thus the Gloss. Hear Rabanus: "Of all burning gems," he says, "the carbuncle holds the first place; and carbuncle is so called because it is ignited like a coal, whose splendor is not overcome even at night: for it shines in darkness, so much so that it vibrates flames to the eyes. The carbuncle therefore he compares to the splendor of gold, and musical melody to a banquet of wine. Because just as a precious gem, joined to the metal of gold, doubles the beauty of splendor: so sweet melody, added to a banquet of wine, multiplies joy. Mystically, however, gold signifies divine wisdom, the carbuncle the glory of sacred virtues, wine spiritual grace, and music the preaching of the Gospel; for just as the splendor of virtues befits divine wisdom, so true preaching of the word is worthy of spiritual grace." But Hugo says: "The little gem of a carbuncle," he says, "is the humility of charity." A carbuncle, as if called a burning coal, excels all gems in splendor; so charity by its ardor excels the other virtues. "In the ornament of gold," gold is wisdom, as if to say: Just as charity and humility adorn wisdom; so the harmony of heart, mouth and deed adorns and beautifies the preaching of the word of God. And just as charity is preferred to wisdom, so a good life to doctrine. For, as St. Gregory says: "Whose life is despised, it remains that his preaching be despised." The same Hugo, by the emerald which follows, and which is green, understands faith through love working, which adorns wisdom and doctrine just as charity and humility do. In the emerald therefore is signified the faith of Confessors, in the carbuncle the charity of Martyrs. But concerning the emerald more things presently from Rabanus.
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8. AS IN THE MAKING OF GOLD A SEAL (IN GREEK σφραγίς, that is, a signet) IS OF EMERALD: SO THE NUMBER OF MUSICIANS IN PLEASANT AND MODERATE (Rabanus reads fragrant) WINE. — He says the same thing about the emerald as he said about the carbuncle. Wherefore "number" here is understood not arithmetically, but musically, namely the number of voices or harmonious melody: for in Greek it is μέλος, that is, harmonic melody. The sense is, as if to say: Just as a golden ring is adorned with a plate of emerald, or an emerald seal: so likewise a banquet is adorned by the concert of musicians, indeed the splendor of the banquet is sealed and stamped as it were with an emerald seal, that is, it is perfected and completed, so that then at last the banquet is reckoned to be perfect, when it is graced and embellished with music. Whence the Greek texts have: An emerald seal in a work constructed of gold is a musical song for pleasant, sweet and delightful wine; the Zurich version: The modulation of singers in pleasant drinking together is an emerald seal in a golden setting; the Syriac: As a golden ornament of a ring and emerald, so good words (sung) in a wine banquet. Therefore just as there is scarcely a gem more precious than the carbuncle and emerald, and more beautiful in gold: so there is nothing in a banquet more fitting and delightful than harmonic music. The Arabic: As a ring upon a bag of gold, so the glory of God upon the drinking of wine; if namely someone in a symposium glorifies God with good discourse and hymns. Hear Rabanus: "The emerald is a stone of excessive greenness, so much so that it surpasses all green herbs and foliage and gems, staining the air reflected around it with greenness, which benefits from pure wine and green oil, although it is imbued by nature. Of which there are many kinds, but the more noble are Scythian: the Bactrian hold the second place; the Egyptian the third. Moreover it signifies souls always green in faith, which the more they are tried by the adversity of the world (which the figure of Scythia designates), the more they strive to preserve in their minds, hoping, the inheritance that fadeth not and is eternal, kept in the heavens, and to scatter it among their neighbors by preaching. Which also by the chalice of the Lord's passion, and by the inward fatness of charity, which is given through the Holy Spirit, they advance to the contempt of the world. For just as in the making of gold the splendor of the emerald increases its beauty: so charity of right faith, which worketh by love, amplifies the learning of a man. Finally, the mystical music most pleasing to God and men is the concord of spouses, of household members, of Religious, of citizens, etc., according to that in chapter XL, verse 20: "Wine and music rejoice the heart, and above both the love of wisdom," that is, of charity and concord, concerning which more there. There follows indeed: "The pipe and the harp make a sweet melody, and above both a sweet tongue," which is that of charity and concord.
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9. HEAR IN SILENCE (then the music and the musicians: for these wish to be heard in silence; then the discourse of the elders already mentioned), AND FOR REVERENCE GOOD GRACE SHALL COME TO THEE, — as if to say: By being silent and listening you will show honor and reverence both to the music and to the musicians, both to the elders and to the wisdom which they speak, both to the other guests, who listen to them eagerly: wherefore you will gain the favor of all of them, so that they will venerate you as a modest, reverent, music-loving person and speak well of you, and will give you thanks for the favor of your listening: if you do otherwise, and obstruct them with your talkativeness, you will offend all, and will appear immodest, irreverent, bold and talkative. If this reverence of silence is to be shown to profane music in banquets, much more is it to be shown to sacred song in temples, namely in the Mass and Vespers: for this is required by the honor and majesty of God, to whom these praises are sung, and who in them is invoked and adored. Wherefore Christ cast out those who bought and sold from the temple, and by the same reasoning would cast out the garrulous and tale-tellers, if he found them there, saying: "My house is the house of prayer," not of tale-telling, "but you have made it a den of thieves," Luke XIX, 46. This verse is now lacking in the Greek and Syriac texts.
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10. YOUNG MAN, SPEAK IN YOUR CAUSE SCARCELY, — that is, rarely, sparingly, slowly, with difficulty. Whence Jansenius and others add: when it shall be necessary, namely that you should not speak unless it is necessary to speak; but the Roman codices delete this. 11. IF YOU BE ASKED TWICE, LET YOUR ANSWER HAVE A HEAD. — He passes from the elderly to young men, and prescribes to them silence and few words: for as it befits the elderly to speak, so it befits the young to be silent and to listen. This is the first and principal admonition to young men, namely that at table they should be taciturn and of few words. Therefore let them not speak unless their cause requires it, for example when it is necessary to speak, and that scarcely, that is with difficulty and sparingly, which he explains by adding: "If you be asked twice," as if to say, Do not answer, nor speak unless you be asked twice: for then you cannot honorably remain silent: nevertheless then take care that "your answer have a head," in Greek κεφαλαίωσον, that is, reduce your discourse into brief heads, so that you may comprise much in few words. Whence the Greek texts corrected at Rome have: Young man, speak, when necessity shall be upon you, scarcely; if you be asked twice, reduce your discourse in summary into few words comprising much; the Zurich edition: Speak, young man, if your table companions, scarcely; yet even if invited twice, in summary, in few words comprise much; others: Reduce your discourse into heads, explaining much in few words. For this is required by humility, modesty, propriety and reverence, which young men ought to show to their elders: for if they do otherwise, they will appear to be conceited and proud, and to arrogate to themselves authority of speaking, and to wish to display their own wisdom. To the same point tends what follows:
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12. IN MANY THINGS BE AS ONE IGNORANT, AND HEAR SILENT AT THE SAME TIME AND INQUIRING. — In Greek, γένου ὡς γινώσκων καὶ ἅμα σιωπῶν, which first, the Zurich edition connecting with the preceding renders: Make it understood that you are being questioned, and that you ought to answer, meanwhile be silent, as if to say, When questioned be silent, until you prudently consider what you ought to answer. Second, the Roman and Complutensian editions render: Be as one knowing and at the same time silent, as if to say, Make it so that you understand, know and perceive what is said at table by the elderly; but so that at the same time you be silent, nor show that you know these things. Our translator for ὡς, that is as, reads οὐ, that is not, and adds some other things. Whence he renders, in many things be as one not knowing, that is ignorant, as if to say, Be such that you understand and know many things, yet by remaining silent dissemble that you know them, and conduct yourself as if you did not know them; for thus by humility you will conceal your knowledge, and will provoke the elderly to continue to speak and to teach: wherefore hear them, silent at the same time and inquiring, as one eager to hear and to learn; yet do this modestly and opportunely: just as Christ among the doctors concealed his knowledge when twelve years old, nor did he teach, but questioned, Luke II, 46. Finally, as St. Bernard says, in the treatise On the Order of Life: "Silence is the greatest act of modesty;" and this is the first gift of the young. See St. Bonaventure, On the Institution of Novices, I part. cap. XX. This is the second admonition to young men; the third follows:
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13. IN THE MIDST OF THE GREAT (speak) DO NOT PRESUME: AND WHERE THERE ARE ELDERS, DO NOT SPEAK MUCH. — Thus Jansenius and others read in various places: but the word "loqui" is to be deleted with the Romans and Greeks; for the Greek Complutensian texts thus have it: In the midst of the great μὴ ἐξισάζου, that is, do not make yourself equal; and where elders are, do not chatter much; the Roman, and as another says, do not chatter much; the Zurich: Do not make yourself equal to the nobles among whom you are; and where elders are present, do not chatter much. For the Romans read, ἑτέρου λέγοντος, that is, another speaking, for which the Complutensian and Zurich texts read, ὅπου γέροντες, that is, where there are elders; the Syriac: Among princes do not exalt yourself, and those who are older do not wish to offend by contradiction and much speaking in their presence; for this is offensive to elders. So that you may reconcile the Latin with the Greeks and Syrians, explain it thus: In the midst of the great do not make yourself equal (as some manuscript codices read) to them, so that you presume to use equal freedom with them, so that you dare to deal with them as equal with equal, so that you wish to act and speak freely the same things which they themselves do and say; for this is a sign of arrogance, boldness and shamelessness: wherefore the magnates being offended, and indignant that you wish to make yourself equal to them, when you are of lower station, will rise up against you, and will depress you by words and deeds, as far as they are able; so that you who wished to be equal to the greatest, become equal, indeed inferior to the lowest. For the same reason do not presume to speak much among elders: because by this you appear to make yourself equal to them, and to arrogate to yourself their gravity, authority and prudence. Wherefore you will offend them, and they themselves will censure and blunt your arrogance. Akin to this is the admonition of St. Bonaventure: "Among many do not speak much," both that you may revere the multitude; and that you may avoid confusion, tumult, contradiction and reproof from any one of the many. Hence by the custom of all nations youth honors elders, and defers to them the honor of sitting and speaking. Whence Macrobius, book III of the Saturnalia: "Old age," he says, "if we are wise, is to be adored." And Valerius Maximus, book II, chapter I, writes that young men once honored their elders in such a way as if they themselves were the common parents of all; hence senators were called Conscript Fathers, and the Senate was named from elders; because no one was elected to it except an elder, as I said at chapter XXV, verse 7. For this reason γέροντες, that is, elders, among the Spartans were senators and nobles, number 28, who held the highest magistracy, as Aristotle testifies in the Politics. Moreover Plutarch, book VII of the Symposium, thinks that γέροντας are named not so much ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, that is from earthly dryness, and because they flow into the earth, as ἀπὸ τοῦ γηράσκω, that is from veneration, honor and reverence: wherefore among all nations they were held in the highest honor. Hear Juvenal, satire 13: "They believed this a great crime and to be atoned for by death, If a youth had not risen before an old man, and if A boy before any bearded man, even if he himself saw More grain at home, and greater heaps of acorns. So venerable was it to precede by four years, And the first down was equal to sacred old age." And Ovid, book V of the Fasti: "Great once was the reverence for the gray head, And the wrinkle of old age was in its own value." How the Essenes honored elders, see in Philo, book On the Essenes: how much the Egyptians, see in Herodotus in the Euterpe. More on honoring elders see in Cicero, book I of the Offices; Plato, dialogue 9 On the Laws; Aristotle, IX Ethics 11; Aelian, book I On the Nature of Animals, where he gives the example of elephants as a spur to this: "This kind of animal," he says, "from the beginning, by the guidance of nature alone without the precept of Lycurgus, or Solon, or Zaleucus, observes most sacredly the same thing; indeed the younger yield to the legitimate food of those affected by age, and cultivate them with the highest regard and preserve them from dangers, those fallen into a pit they extract by throwing bundles of branches, by which as by ladders the heavy with old age ascending are freed." Pliny also reports these things about elephants, book VIII, chapter V, Solinus, chapter XXXVIII. Similar things about ants the same Aelian reports, book VIII. This wise, keen and learned apologue of the ostrich and the hen, Cyril sets before the eyes as it were for viewing, in book II of his Moral Apologies, chapter IV, which has the title: Against the Presumptuous. "An ostrich named Alathus, he says, when he had ascended a mountain by the use of his feet, seeing birds spreading themselves in the liquid air with feathered agility, taking presumption from his feathers, wished to attempt the same thing. And when he was preparing himself to commit himself to the air with the force of his panting, the hen observing this, is said to have spoken to him thus: Keep your place, dearest, and beware lest the feather of your presumption cause you to lose the leg of your virtue. He, spurning the salutary counsel, soon answered: Be silent, most wretched one, who, though you could enjoy high and bright seats by the strength of your feathers, by the heaviness of your poor beast, cultivate mud. Having said this, vibrating himself with presumptuous vigor of heart with great force, with the false scales of feathers lying, he fell by his own weight, and by the swift descent of his burden broke himself entirely. Then the hen, knowing the matter, descended to the wailing of the sufferer, came to him with safe foot, and said: I do not wonder at your imprudence, because with so great a body you have a head too small placed upon it; and therefore you have lost so convenient a foot by a useless wing, and the flight of vanity has taken from you the step of truth. For indeed you did not attend to the fact that presumption, while it extends too much, disjoins; and while it raises up, it destroys; and while it prefers, it postpones." He then corroborates the apologue with other parables of the stomach, heart, weight and wine, saying: "Thus when the stomach has drawn in beyond its strength, it confuses itself; and the heart immoderately dilated, losing vital spirit, extinguishes itself. Weight snatched higher falls more forcefully, and a sail raised without measure is submerged. But virtue acts in all moderation, and nature struggling against disease shows its power only in extreme necessity. Then therefore take the measure of your strength, and do not extend yourself beyond the limit of your length. Take a burden which you can bear, and drink that which you can digest. For he who strives to lift a weight disproportionate to his strength, bursts. And if wine be drunk immoderately, it inebriates the head. Having said these things, departing, he left the presumptuous one in his pain."
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14. BEFORE HAIL SHALL GO FORTH LIGHTNING: AND BEFORE SHAME SHALL GO FORTH GRACE, AND FOR REVERENCE GOOD GRACE SHALL COME TO THEE. — Thus read the Roman, Rabanus, Lyra and others. But the Greek, Jansenius, Palacius and others read thunder instead of hail; for thus the Greek has it: Before thunder hastens lightning, and grace goes before the modest one; Zurich: As lightning precedes thunder, so grace goes before the modest one, that through reverence thou mayest obtain benevolence. Which Palacius thus explains, that is to say: Just as before thunder lightning is felt, although in truth thunder comes before lightning, so although in truth shame comes before grace, yet shame so pleases that grace appears to our eyes to precede shame and to go before, not to follow, but to precede it. Thus shame as it were magnetically draws to itself the grace of men; and therefore before shame, that is as soon and as quickly as shame is perceived by men, straightway its grace and benevolence attracts and wins them, so that they begin to be loved and honored by those who a little before was unknown: thus shame commends, thus it gratifies, thus it draws benevolence to itself. St. Ambrose, book I of the Duties, chapter XVIII: "In the very entrance of the body," he says, "action is approved and commended. And so the disposition of the mind is what is discerned in the state of the body. Like an image of the soul, the body is, in which morals and the tenor of life shine forth, so that from its adornment it is praised. And hence it is that toward some, even those whom we did not know before, the mind is well affected, toward some strangers it comes from the first encounter. Therefore modesty contributes not a little," which St. Ambrose most beautifully thus describes in book I of the Duties, chapter III: "Good is modesty as a companion, which does not dare to go beyond the boundary of humanity: which always modest, chaste, pious, dares to do nothing injurious, nothing petulant, nothing forward, gives to each his due, abstains from what is another's; which if you can, do not exceed even by zeal for virtue: lest while you vindicate another's cause, you impute sin. Good therefore is chastity, which is the companion of all virtues." This is a mystical and moral maxim, that is to say: Just as lightning and coruscation, which suddenly and at once gleams, precedes thunder (or hail), so grace which suddenly shows itself visible and as it were coruscating, precedes shame and modesty: for when we behold someone modest and ashamed, straightway by that very fact we are affected with grace toward him, and we love him, and that on account of the reverence which his modesty and shame exhibits to us. Thus St. Bonaventure, On the Institution of Novices, part I, chapter XX: "Whoever as a young man," he says, "wishes to hear and be taught at table, I admonish thee that thou answer briefly and humbly, and speak humbly and modestly: for it is a rule observed among the secular and commended by the Wise One (in this place), that thou contradict or resist no one in a doubtful matter." follow. Therefore from reverence, which thou shalt have toward elders; good grace shall come to thee; for thou shalt appear and be held in favor. Jansenius moreover more fully: Grace, he says, goes before shame, or (as it is in Greek) the modest one; because it is always present to him, and prepared to receive him or her, just as one who precedes someone for the sake of honor is always present to him, prepared to help, if need be. Or, because shame immediately diffuses grace from itself, just as thunder emits lightning from itself. A similar expression is in the Psalms, when it is said of God, Psalm LXXXVIII: Mercy and truth shall go before thy face, namely because God always has those virtues as inseparable companions, and shows them forth and causes them to shine in all his works. And so the phrase, which is in that which is said: Before shame grace shall go forth, is well expressed by the part added by the Interpreter, which is not in the Greek: And for reverence, that is shame, good grace shall come to thee, that is graciousness, that is to say: On account of shame thou shalt be in favor, because shame greatly commends young men. But grace is well compared to lightning, shame to thunder; because just as lightning and brightness gleams with its light and cheers, so also grace has its light cheering: and just as thunder makes men astonished, so also shame. It is signified therefore that just as to thunder, a thing in itself not joyful, there is present lightning in itself joyful, and which thunder diffuses from itself: so shame, a thing which torments and makes man astonished, always has joined to it grace, which it diffuses from itself, like light gleaming and recreating. Thus Jansenius aptly. The Roman reading returns to the same sense, which reads hail instead of thunders, that is, thundering hail, or thunder hailing. For, as Lyra says, at the beginning of spring and autumn, and often otherwise, when the seasons of the year or the air change, with thunder, or rather immediately after thunder and lightning, hail follows. And so it is more manifest and clear that hail is posterior to lightning than thunder is. For thunder is in fact prior to lightning, indeed it is the cause of lightning; although on account of the slowness of sound and hearing it is heard later, and lightning is seen first on account of the equal swiftness of light and sight. For thunder, by striking the clouds, draws forth lightning; but lightning resolves the cloud into rain and hail. For Pliny teaches, lib. II, cap. LX: Hail is produced from rain congealed, and snow from the same moisture more gently congealed; but frost from cold dew. Aristotle teaches the same, lib. I Meteorolog. cap. XII. Whence Rabanus thus explains it, as if to say: The flash of coruscation will precede the weight of hail: thus also the brightness of grace precedes the grace of modesty, and increases for the sake of reverence the gift of supernatural glory. Appositely, after silence, he subjoins a commendation of modesty; because silence and the other precepts which he has already given to youths flow from modesty, and therefore prescribe to youths nothing other than modesty in words and deeds. Fittingly indeed grace is compared to coruscation, and modesty to hail; because grace makes the gracious illustrious, and renders them splendid and coruscating: and modesty strikes, smites and prostrates the mind, just as hail prostrates the crop. Again, just as hail is congealed rain, so modesty, like fear (for it is itself a part and species of fear), constrains the soul, chills it and as it were congeals it, and from this often induces paleness of face, stammering of tongue, palpitation of heart, trembling of limbs. Wherefore fear always accompanies shame, and therefore the shamefaced are timid, and conversely. Morally, learn here how great is the grace of modesty in youths, inasmuch as it is compared to coruscation and lightning; for it itself, like modesty, is as it were the flash, the flower, and the beauty of life and morals, as St. Ambrose teaches, lib. I Offic. cap. XV and XVII: It is therefore, he says, the mark of good young men to have the fear of God, to show honour to parents, to have reverence for elders, to guard chastity, not to despise humility, to love clemency and modesty: which are ornaments to youth. For as gravity is in the old, so alacrity in the young: thus in adolescents modesty is commended as it were by a certain dowry to nature, etc.; and cap. XVIII: Silence itself also, in which is the leisure of certain virtues, is the greatest act of modesty. And he gives the example of the Blessed Virgin, who, although saluted by the Angel, yet on account of modesty did not return the salutation. And further: Modesty must also be maintained in movement itself, gesture, and gait. St. Bernard, serm. 86 in Cantica: What is more lovable, he says, than a modest adolescent? how fair is this, and how splendid a gem of morals in the life and face of an adolescent! how true and undoubted a herald of good hope, an index of good disposition! The rod of discipline is his who, standing over shameful affections, restrains and suppresses the light movements and acts of slippery youth. What of one who thus flees foul speech and all subsequent turpitude? she is the sister of continence. No sign equally manifest of dove-like simplicity, and therefore also a witness of innocence. A lamp of chaste mind ever shining, and she does not allow anything base or unbecoming to remain in it, which she does not immediately reveal. She is the expeller of evils, and the defender of innate purity, the special glory of conscience, and the guardian of fame, the ornament of life, the seat of virtue, the firstfruits of virtues, the praise of nature, and the badge of all that is honourable. The very blush of the cheeks, which shame may perhaps have brought on, how much grace and beauty does it usually bring to the face suffused with colour? See the same treatise On the Order of Life, or On the Teaching of Children, where many things transcribed from the Offices of St. Ambrose are found, and the style varies somewhat. For which reason, Bellarmine, lib. De Script. Eccles., and others doubt whether this treatise is by St. Bernard. Again, you should rather understand this of the reverence which is owed to God, when we pray to him, as if to say: Just as co- ruscation, gladdening the eyes, precedes hail and thunder: hail indeed truly, because it is drawn forth by the very breaking of the cloud; but thunder to the sense, because lightning is felt and presented to the eyes before thunder is heard: so likewise grace or the favour of God, like coruscation gladdening the mind, precedes modesty and reverence constraining us like thunder or hail; because it is a sign of the preventing grace of God, if we honour and revere him. Nor only this, but truly for reverence shown, good grace will come to us; for what we shall have asked of God, this assuredly we shall obtain.
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Thus the Roman [edition], Rabanus and others. Therefore Jansenius reads less correctly, not te trices, non tetrices; that is, he says, do not be tetric, that is sad, grave and slow. Others read worse, non te tristes, or non te tristet, that is, do not sadden you; namely at the hour of rising and departing. The Complutensian [edition reads], non te frices, as gluttons, drunkards, idle and lazy men rub themselves when they are drawn away and torn from a sumptuous banquet. The Greek texts have, μὴ χρονίζῃ, that is, do not be last; thus they render the whole meaning: At the hour of rising, and do not be last; hasten into your house, and do not delay: there play and do your thoughts, and not in sins and proud speech; the Zurich [edition]: Rise early, do not receive yourself among the last into your house, nor desire; there play, and indulge your own judgment, provided you do not sin or act proudly. For the Hebrew word דבר dabar, that is word or speech, is often taken by metonymy for the thing signified by word or speech: therefore proud speech is a thing, action and work of pride. The Arabic [version], adding some things, omitting others, thus has it: Do not afflict a superior with contumely by word, nor multiply words over the table, and go into your house while you are stable in mind, and go to your bed in the fear of the Lord, and not in deficiency. The Syriac also, passing over much here, compressing other things briefly, has only this: At the time of the meal do not be much in speaking, and while memory still remains in you, go into your house, and do your will in the fear of God, and not with detriment. This is the fourth admonition to youths at a banquet, namely that when the meal is finished, or certainly when the time of rising has come, they should immediately rise and go home: for there are those who after the meal, standing, converse, drink, and become intoxicated, and remain into the night. He says therefore, do not delay yourself, that is, do not entangle yourself in the delays of others, do not seek delays, do not weave hindrances, as those do who allow themselves to be detained by fellow diners or the host, indeed they desire it until they become intoxicated; and from this they fall into quarrels, blows and slaughter: but leave the banquet first and go home, and there among your own turn your mind away from serious matters, freely consider and refresh yourself, and exercise yourself in some play, if you wish: and do your thoughts, which namely you have conceived in your mind and determined, that is, indulge your own judgment and pleasure, do what you have in mind, and what pleases and delights you, provided you do not abandon, or say or do something proudly. For in your own home you are free, and you can unfold your mind, since in another's house propriety and gravity must be observed. He permits therefore, indeed he advises that serious matters not be handled immediately after the meal, but the mind be turned away from cares, which are accustomed to hinder the digestion of food: for this is aided by play and honest recreation without fault. For which reason also in Monasteries and Religious communities an hour of conversation is granted after lunch and supper, for honest relaxation of the mind and digestion of food, and so that by mutual conversation about virtues, histories, and other pious or learned matters, they may advance and kindle one another in doctrine, piety and spirit.
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Fifth is this admonition, that the guests at so sumptuous a feast, and at the other gifts and benefits of God, should give thanks to Him, who just as He created them from nothing in the beginning, so now has refreshed them with so many delights, and continually overwhelms and inebriates them with all good things. The Greek texts have: And for all these things bless Him who made thee, and inebriates thee with His goods; the Zurich Bible: For these things do thou celebrate thy Creator, who enriches thee with His goods most abundantly; the Syriac: And above all these things bless the name of God, who hath satisfied thee with His goods. For God inebriates us with the goods of the earth, sea, air, and heaven: He inebriates us with the protection of Angels, with the gifts of grace in this life, with the gifts of eternity in the life to come: He inebriates us not only with goods that are necessary and useful, but with those that abound, and serve only for abundance and pleasure; but most of all He inebriates us with the chalice of the Eucharist, concerning which the Psalmist, Psalm XXII, 5: And thy chalice which inebriates me, how goodly is it! Finally, He inebriates us with that love of His, with which He gives what He gives most lovingly. Furthermore, God far more inebriates us with spiritual goods than with temporal ones, both because those are far greater, and because they affect and delight us more simply. St. Thomas gives the reason a priori, III, Question XXXI, article 5: This, he says, appears according to three things which are required for delight, namely the good united, and that to which it is united, and the union itself. For spiritual good itself is greater than corporeal good; and it is more beloved, a sign of which is that men abstain even from the greatest corporeal pleasures, so as not to lose honour, which is an intelligible good. Similarly also the intellectual part itself is much more noble, and more knowing than the sensitive part. The union also of both is more intimate, and more perfect, and more firm. It is indeed more intimate, because sense stops at the external accidents of a thing; but the intellect penetrates even to the essence of the thing. For the object of the intellect is what a thing is. But it is more perfect, because to sensible union with sense is added motion, which is an imperfect act; hence sensible delights are not all at once, but in them something passes away, and something is awaited to be completed, as is evident in the delight of foods and of venery, but intelligible things are without motion; hence such delights are all at once. It is also more firm, because corporeal delightful things are corruptible and quickly fail; but spiritual goods are incorruptible. He then adds in what respect corporeal delights are greater than spiritual ones: But as regards us, he says, corporeal delights are more vehement for three reasons: first, because sensible things are more known to us than intelligible things; secondly also, because sensible delights, since they are passions of the sensitive appetite, are accompanied by some bodily change, which does not happen in spiritual delights, except through a certain overflow from the higher appetite into the lower; thirdly, because corporeal delights are sought as remedies of a sort against corporeal defects or troubles, from which certain sadnesses follow. Hence corporeal delights supervening upon such sadnesses are felt more, and consequently are accepted more than spiritual delights; which do not have contrary sadnesses. Learn morally here that just as a blessing should be prefixed at the beginning of a meal, as is shown from the custom of the ancients, I Timothy IV, 5; so likewise a giving of thanks should be joined to it, by which we give thanks to God for so liberal and abundant a repast, according to what Paul says, I Timothy IV, 3: Which (foods) God created to be received with thanksgiving; indeed according to what Moses prescribed to the Hebrews, Deuteronomy VIII, 10, saying: That when thou hast eaten and art full, thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the excellent land which he hath given thee. For which reason the Jews at festivals and solemn feasts, even after they are finished, give thanks to God by this rite, as is found in the Siddur habberacoth, that is, the Order of Blessings. The father of the family, or the more honored guest, holding a cup filled with wine in both hands, says: Let us bless, or give thanks to our God, because we eat of his. When this is said the guests respond: Blessed be our God, of whose goods we eat, and by whose kindness we have lived. After this he who leads in prayer prays again thus: Blessed be he, and blessed be his name. And then he adds more in the same form. When these are finished, all the guests say the following prayer in a low voice to themselves: Fear the Lord, all ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him: the rich have wanted and suffered hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good, Psalm XXXIII, 10. After that again he who leads in prayer concludes the giving of thanks with this prayer: Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the world, who createst the fruit of the vine. When this is said, from the blessed cup which he holds in his hand, he drinks a little, and then offers it to all the guests to taste, and thus distributes it. This rite of the Hebrews Christ observed at the last supper, as is evident from Luke XXII, 17. And when that was finished, he sang a hymn with the Apostles. Where Paul of Burgos, a Hebrew converted to Christianity, writes that it was an ancient tradition of the Jews that after eating the paschal lamb they would sing Psalm CXII: Praise the Lord, ye children, and the following ones up to Psalm CXVIII: Blessed are the undefiled in the way; and that this is the hymn which Christ sang with his disciples. From Christ and the Hebrews this custom of giving thanks to God after the meal passed to Christians. Whence St. Justin teaches that the primitive Christians did the same, Apology 2; St. Augustine, epistle 59 to Paulinus; Irenaeus, book IV; Tertullian, Apology cap. XXXIX: Prayer, he says, begins and ends the food. This is supported by that from the Council of Nantes, dist. 44, cap. Nullus: When priests gather for some feast, let one of them first begin a verse before the meal, and bless the food; and then let them sit in order, showing honor to one another, and in turn bless the food and drink, and let one of them read something from Holy Scripture. After the meal likewise let them say a hymn following the example of the Lord, as is read that he did at supper, etc. St. Jerome, to Eustochium, cap. I On the Consecration of the Table, writes thus: Whence we must provide more carefully that we celebrate the solemn day not so much by abundance of foods, as by exultation of spirit. Because it is very absurd to wish to honor the martyr (he means Peter, on whose birthday he had written this) by excessive satiety, whom you know pleased God by fastings. Thus you should always eat so that food is followed by prayer and reading. A little before in epistle 18 to Marcella, he confirms this by the example of Ambrose; for he says that in a certain letter he wrote that he never took food in the presence of Origen without reading; never went to sleep unless one of the brothers was reciting Holy Scripture. St. Chrysostom, when he had said that Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, after the meal prayed intently to God to remove her sterility, adds this: We have therefore gained this profit from a woman, that we know to pray even after a feast. For whoever shall be prepared for this will never fall into drunkenness or intemperance, will never be distended by gluttony; but because he has the expectation of prayer, having imposed a bridle on his mind, he will partake with fitting measure of all things that shall be set before him, and will fill both soul and body with much blessing. For indeed a feast which begins with prayer and ends in prayer will never fail, but will bring us all good things more abundantly from any source. Let us not therefore neglect so great a profit. He proves it by example: For it would be absurd if when our servants, whenever they receive some part of those things set before us, give us thanks, and depart blessing us well; we, when we have received so many and such great— that we may enjoy good things, we do not even render this honor to God, especially since we shall obtain much security from this. For where prayer and thanksgiving are, there the grace of the Holy Spirit comes, demons are driven out, and every adverse power flees and departs. Whoever is about to turn himself to prayer does not dare to speak anything absurdly, not even in the midst of a banquet: or, if he has spoken, he soon comes to his senses. Therefore it is necessary both at the beginning and at the end of a banquet to give thanks to God, for this principal reason, that, as I began to say, we shall not easily fall into drunkenness if we have established ourselves in the habit. Indeed, if ever you have risen heavy with hangover and drink, do not even then abandon the habit, etc. Of the Greek Church (as is evident from its Horologion) there exists this formula of blessing the table and giving thanks: first, before the food is set out, the entire psalm CXLIV is read: I will exalt thee, O my God my king, and I will bless thy name for ever and ever, etc. Then, when the food is set out, the blessing of the table is recited by the priest, and what is set out is thus blessed: O Christ our God, bless the food and drink of thy servants; for thou art holy now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen. After that, when they have tasted the food, they rise at the table, and all together recite that blessing, which both Clement and Chrysostom mention: Blessed art thou, O Lord God, who hast mercy upon us, and feedest us from our youth, who givest food to all flesh, fill our hearts with joy and gladness or cheerfulness, that always having all sufficiency (αὐτάρκειαν), or having in all things constant contentment present, we may abound (περισσεύωμεν) in every good work in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be glory to thee, honor, power or dominion (κράτος), worship; with the Holy Spirit. Amen. After the food is consumed, first this thanksgiving is recited: Glory to thee, O Holy One, glory to thee, O King; for thou hast given us food for gladness: fill us also with thy Holy Spirit, that we may be found acceptable in thy sight, and not ashamed or put to shame (αἰσχυνόμενοι), when thou shalt render to each one according to his works. Then psalm CXXII is read: I was glad at the things that were said to me, we shall go into the house of the Lord. After that this verse is added: As thou didst stand in the midst of thy disciples (dining together), O Savior, giving them peace, so come also to us, and save us. Finally, from Psalm XXI, 27 is read: The poor shall eat and shall be filled: they shall praise the Lord that seek him, unto the end: Lord have mercy. It is concluded finally with this short prayer: Blessed art thou, O God, who hast had mercy upon us and hast fed us from thy abundant gifts. By his grace and kindness (φιλανθρωπία) may it be given to us to enjoy, both now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen. The rite of the Latin Church of blessing the table and giving thanks, we all hear and know, and it is set forth at the end of the Roman Breviary. Indeed, even the Gentiles blessed the table, and when it was finished gave thanks, indeed they poured libations and sacrificed to their gods, as Sozomenus teaches that Julian the Apostate did, lib. III, cap. XIV. Thus also the Turks and Saracens bless the table.
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He returns in the customary manner from hypothesis to thesis; that is, he springs back from particular lessons of modesty, sobriety, and propriety to a general commendation of the law and the fear of God, and recounts both the fruits of its observance and the punishments and losses of its non-observance. The sense is, as if to say: Thus far I have commended many particular commandments of God; now, lest I be more lengthy in recounting them, I commend all the rest generally with equal zeal and affection. And because the fear of God is the cause and root of the keeping of commandments, I inculcate it again and again. For he who fears the Lord will reverently receive his teaching, in Greek παιδείαν, that is, discipline, namely the law which restrains, corrects and chastises all illicit movements of concupiscence and all vices. This law, therefore, being contrary to the flesh, he will promptly receive, so that he may obey his God. Again, he will receive his teaching, that is, he will be inwardly illuminated and taught by God, and will be imbued with his wisdom and spirit. Whence he adds: And they that watch for him shall find blessing: in Greek, οἱ ὀρθρίζοντες εὑρήσουσιν εὐδοκίαν, that is, as the Complutensian edition has it, they who have risen early shall find favour; others translate it, benevolence; others, favour; Our author, with others, reads εὐλογίαν, that is, blessing, that is, beneficence, as if to say: They who seek God in the morning, so that they may lift their mind to him, adore him, invoke him and meditate upon him; these shall be affected by him with abundant gifts and benefits both of soul and body; these shall obtain his benevolence, and thence his beneficence. Whence the Zurich edition translates: he that revereth the Lord shall receive, ἐκδέξεται (others read ἐκλέξεται, that is, shall choose), that is, shall embrace his discipline, and those seeking him in the morning shall render him favourable to them; the Syriac clearly: he that seeketh the worship of God shall receive teaching, and when he hath prayed before him in the morning, he shall hear him. He alludes to Wisdom XVI, 28, where the Wise Man, speaking of the manna, which had to be gathered before the rising of the sun (for when the sun rose its rays would melt it), adds the reason, saying: That all might know that one ought to prevent the sun in blessing thee, and to adore thee at the rising of the light, as if to say: Therefore the manna had to be gathered before the rising of the sun (for after its rising it would melt in the solar rays), so that the Hebrews might learn not to sleep, but to rise in the morning for prayer, and to prepare food: for the food was manna. But God imparts a similar spiritual manna to those who awake early to him, and say with the Psalmist: O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day, Psalm LXII, verse 1. And with Isaiah, chapter XXVI: My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch unto thee. This manna is tasted by religious men, who in the morning meditate on divine things, sing psalms, pray, hear or celebrate Mass, etc.
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In Greek, καὶ ὁ ὑποκρινόμενος σκανδαλισθήσεται ἐν αὐτῇ, that is, the hypocrite or simulator, he who acts hypocritically, shall be scandalized by it; the Zurich edition: he that followeth the law shall be enriched by it: but the simulator shall receive offence from it; others: he that seeketh the law shall be filled with it: and he that acteth deceitfully shall stumble in it. The sense is, as if to say: He who sincerely seeks to know the law of God, and having known it, to fulfil it in deed; this man shall be filled with its goods and fruits, namely with God's favour, aid, grace and glory, and thus with all good, according to that: Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The rich have wanted and suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good, Psalm XXXIII, 10. And on the other hand, he who acts not sincerely, but deceitfully, that is, fraudulently, hypocritically and in simulation, who namely feigns before men that he is zealous for the divine law, while in his heart he neglects and despises it, and in secret, when no one sees him, transgresses and violates it; this man shall stumble in it: because on account of his hypocrisy and violation of the law he shall be severely punished by God, and shall fall into grave losses both present and eternal. Just as therefore Christ is to faithful Christians a rock of refuge and salvation, but to unbelieving Jews a stone of offence and a rock of scandal; because on account of their perfidy towards Christ they fall from God's grace and salvation, and rush into hell: so likewise the law of God and of Christ is to the zealous and sincere a cause of salvation and all good: but to hypocrites and transgressors it is a cause of perdition and all evil. For the law to its observers promises and bestows reward and happiness; but to transgressors it threatens and inflicts punishment and damnation. See the remarks on chapter I, 14 and seq. For he alludes to those passages, and especially to what he said in chapter I, 37: Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men, and thou shalt not be scandalized in thy lips; and to what he said in chapter II, verse 19: They that love the Lord shall be filled with his law.
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The word 'just' is not in the Greek, but is a proper epithet of judgment. For 'justices' the Greek has δικαιώματα, that is, justifications. Therefore by judgment, in Greek κρίμα, understand that which is just, that which the right judgment of reason dictates, that which both law and virtue prescribe, that which the holy mind and will of God command: but by justices understand just works, by which that very just judgment itself, namely the prescription of law and virtue, is actually perfected and fulfilled. The sense therefore is, as if to say, Those who fear the Lord will easily, either from the light of natural reason, or from supernatural faith, or from the instruction of teachers and preachers, know that which is just and prescribed by God and His law: and they themselves then perfecting this by their work, by this their justification, that is, by justice and virtue, as by a light growing day by day, will shine forth both for themselves and for others, illuminating others by their life and morals, and showing them the way of justice, salvation and happiness. For the fear of God impels them to do that which is just and prescribed by law, and at the same time shows them this, so that they may see what they ought to do, so that they may live justly and piously in this age, awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of the glory of the great God, Tit. II, 12. Whence the Zurich version translates, those who revere the Lord will discern what is just, and as it were will kindle justice; but the Syriac version, those fearing God will become wise in His judgments, and much wisdom will proceed from their heart. It alludes to Prov. IV, 18: The path of the just, as a shining light, proceeds and grows even to the perfect day, as if to say, Just as the light of the sun grows, so that in the dawn it increases gradually, until it becomes full and perfect at midday: so likewise the just man grows daily in wisdom and holiness, until he attains to its fullness and perfection, until namely he becomes perfect here in grace, and after this life in eternal glory, so that he who was holy in childhood, becomes holier in youth, and in manhood becomes most holy, according to that saying of the Apostle: Until we all come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ, Ephes. IV, 13.
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In Greek σύγκριμα, that is, a joining together, a harmony, namely a joined-together apology and a well-constructed excuse. It is an antithesis; for it opposes the character of the hypocrite and sinner to the character of the sincere and just man, as if to say, The just man sincerely strives for the law of God, and rejoices to be instructed, directed and corrected according to it: but the sinner, even if he feigns himself a lover of the law, in truth hates it, because he loves his concupiscences, which are contrary to the law. For which reason he likewise hates correction and those who correct him, who strive to draw him away from concupiscences and to lead him back to the law of God and to conform him to it. Wherefore when he is corrected by them, he finds a comparison according to his own will, that is, he finds examples of others, pretexts, and many reasons by which, comparing himself and his morals and deeds with the morals and deeds of others, he defends and excuses himself, for example by saying: Such and such men wish that, they do that: why can I not wish and do the same? these things are conceded to the common people, why should bridles be imposed on me, rich and noble? these were the right and dominion of my ancestors, why is it not permitted to me, their heir, to use the same right? etc. He will find therefore a comparison, that is, he will bring forward similar deeds of others for his own excuse, or he will compare and match himself with a group of men similar to himself. Whence the Zurich version translates, A wicked man declines correction, and according to his will devises a pretext; others, and according to his judgment devises a well-constructed apology; but the Syriac version, a cunning man hides learning, and according to his will makes his own way. Note here: The sensible and just differ from the senseless and unjust in two things. First, that if the sensible fall or err, they allow themselves to be corrected for the fall or error, but the senseless do not allow it. Second, that the sensible acknowledge their fault, the senseless hide and excuse it, according to that saying in Psalm. CXL: Incline not my heart to evil words to excuse excuses in sins.
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There is another antithesis between the sensible and fearful man, and the insensible and bold man: for the sensible man is a man of counsel, who namely undertakes nothing except with prior mature deliberation both his own and that of the prudent, and therefore will not lose understanding; in Greek, μὴ παρίδη διανόημα, that is, he will not despise consideration or deliberation; but first he will carefully consider and understand all circumstances and outcomes, lest he stumble anywhere. But truly the man alien from counsel, namely the rash and proud man, will not fear fear, that is, a thing worthy of being feared. This is metonymy: for fear is put for the object of fear, namely for that which ought to be feared; for otherwise no one fears fear, but fear is that which fears things to be feared. Or more plainly, as if to say, He does not fear, that is, he does not admit fear, but excludes it, and assumes boldness and shamelessness, and boldly throws himself into dangers which the sensible man fears and avoids. Whence some translate it, he is not terrified by fear. Moreover, after he has done something without counsel, that is, inconsiderately and rashly, with it, namely with fear, he will not fear, as if to say, The fear and scruple arising in him from the deed, after the deed he devours and despises. In Greek, for with it is παρ' αὑτῷ, which the Complutensian and Roman editions translate, with himself, that is, according to his own will, as if to say, After he who acted according to his own will without counsel, boldly and imprudently, will not fear the losses coming to him from it. Wherefore he will be convicted by his own pursuits, as if to say, In those things which he pursues so eagerly, he will be convicted of rashness, when he falls into the straits and dangers annexed to them. Or those things which he pursued with such ardor will convict him of rashness and madness, when instead of pleasure they will exhibit to him troubles, anguish and pains. Whence the Zurich edition clearly translates: The man of counsel does not despise deliberation; but the inept and proud man is not affected by fear, even if he has done something without premeditation; others, inconsiderately; for in Greek it is ἄνευ βουλῆς, which our author translates, without counsel; the Syriac: The wise man does not abandon hidden wisdom, and the wicked man does not guard his tongue. Note: Counsel and prudence has as companion, indeed as cause, fear: for fear of hidden or impending evil impels a man to deliberate prudently and to take counsel what ought to be done or omitted, lest he incur damage unwittingly. Wherefore natural philosophers teach that prudence consists in coldness, which is the cause of fear: but fortitude and rashness consist in heat, which is the cause of boldness. Thus we see that the timid are cautious, and decline dangers beforehand, nor do they easily fall into any peril: but the bold incur a thousand harms.
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even if the outcome of the matter be unfavorable; because good counsels often lack a happy outcome, as I shall shortly show by many examples. In Greek: "Without counsel do nothing, and when you do something do not regret it." Which first, the Complutensian edition translates as it were a twofold precept: Do nothing without counsel, and in doing do not repent yourself, that is to say, Before you do anything take counsel, after taking counsel undertake boldly, and do not change your purpose or counsel. Second, others translate it: Do nothing without counsel, and when you have done it, let it not repent you. For there are some who after the deed grieve and repent, when they hear that they could have acted more prudently and better, and obtained a better lot, such as others have obtained. This happens often to the fainthearted and melancholic, to whom it should be said: Be content with your lot, which God has given you: We cannot all do all things: Better is rest in a mediocre good, than disquiet in the highest. Third, Our author translates most excellently: And after the deed you will not repent; so also the Syriac, and after you have done it, it will not grieve you; and the Zurich edition, do nothing without counsel, so that you may not repent of the deed. He speaks, says Jansenius, of matters of some moment and difficulty, to which it is necessary especially for the young to have recourse to the counsel of the wise, according to the admonition of Tobias saying: Always seek counsel from the wise, Tob. IV. And indeed in all things to be done we must use the counsel of Holy Scripture and the word of God; for thus it comes about that we do not sometimes repent of the deed, because what is done with sound and right counsel is done well, nor should we grieve over such a deed. Or if human counsel does not succeed rightly, this nevertheless consoles the agent, that he has not followed his own judgment, nor rashly undertaken the matter, but has followed the counsel of those whom it was fitting for him to approach and hear. This agrees well enough with this sentiment of Sallust: Before you do anything, take counsel: but when you have taken counsel, you must act promptly. Moreover in what follows he insinuates that counsel is to be taken especially from the word of God and His will, as David did, saying, Psalm CXVIII, 24: For thy testimonies are my meditation, and thy judgments are my counsel. Nazianzen echoes Sirach in his Tetrastichs: Do nothing headlong; but do not abandon what you have begun; It is better to make progress than to tear apart something good; that is to say, Neither should anything be undertaken rashly, nor rashly abandoned. Deliberate long: when you have deliberated, execute constantly. And St. Basil in Isaiah, cap. I, 26: Counsel, he says, is a sacred thing, the union of wills, the fruit of charity, the mark of humility. On the other hand, it is an intolerable sign of pride to think that one needs no one's counsel, but is sufficient to oneself alone, as if one could alone determine for oneself what is best. He gives the reason a little before: Indeed it is a benefit of no small moment, that counsel emanates from a prudent and benevolent counselor; for by his coming he supplies what is lacking in prudence to those seeking counsel about some matter. And St. Benedict in his Rule, cap. III: If, he says, any lesser matters are to be done for the utility of the monastery, let him use only the counsel of the elders, as it is written: Do all things with counsel, and after the deed you will not repent. Eadmer, in the Life of St. Anselm, lib. I, writes thus of him: Knowing, he says, that it is written: Do all things with counsel, and after the deed you will not repent, he was unwilling to commit himself rashly to any one of the lives which he was turning over in his mind, lest in anything he should seem not to obey the precepts of Scripture. They sin against this precept, says Rabanus, the rash and precipitate, when they anticipate the time of good acts, pervert merit, and often fall into evils, while they do not at all discern good things, who do not at all consider what and when they should do; but for the most part they recognize the acts, because they ought not to have acted thus. Whence it is said through Solomon: Let your eyelids go before your steps. For eyelids go before steps, when right counsels anticipate our operation. For he who neglects to foresee by considering what he does, stretches forth his steps, closes his eyes, completes his journey going; but by foreseeing he does not attend to himself; and therefore he falls more quickly, because by the eyelid of counsel he does not attend to where he should place the foot of his work. And further below: But yet it should be known, that there are many who take counsel, but they will not find the establishment of truth and peace. As is read in the Gospel, that the Scribes and Pharisees going took counsel against Jesus, to catch him in his speech, Matt. cap. XXII. Likewise cap. XXVI: The chief priests took counsel, how they might by deceit lay hold of Jesus and put him to death. Whence in the Psalter he says that the blessed man is he who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and in the way of sinners did not stand, and in the seat of pestilence did not sit: but his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night. Therefore only that counsel is wholesome which is brought forth by the gift of the Holy Spirit according to divine law, through the instruction of the faithful and those who fear God. For this reason God, about to create man, took counsel among the three persons of the Holy Trinity; for He says: Let us make man to our image and likeness, that is to say, Let us create man capable of counsel with counsel, so that he himself from us, indeed from his creation, may learn to do all things with counsel. Thus St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Making of Man, chapters III and IV. Whence eternal divine wisdom professes this of itself, Proverbs VIII, 12: I, says He, wisdom dwell in counsel, and am present in learned thoughts, that is to say, In counsel dwells wisdom, in precipitation dwells folly and madness. And chapter XIII, verse 10: Among the proud there are always contentions: but they who do all things with counsel are ruled by wisdom. In counsel therefore wisdom is present, indeed presides. And chapter XII, 15: The way of the fool is right in his own eyes: but he that is wise hearkeneth to counsels. Plato saw this in shadow, who said that counsel is something sacred. And Aristotle, who asserts that to take counsel in matters which concern men is the most divine thing. Among the Symbols of Pythagoras this one stands: In solitude without a staff one should not walk, that is, one should confer and take counsel with friends in necessities. And this: When going out from home the front of the head, when returning the back of the head should be scratched; that is, to stir up precaution and diligence for doing things, these accomplished to examine them carefully: for the front of the head is a symbol of counsel and precaution, the back of the head of memory. For after the deed the matter should be reviewed in memory, so that if anything was done in error it may be corrected; if anything is lacking it may be supplied. And this: The greatest care should be taken of two times, morning and evening, that is, of those things which we are about to do, and of those which we have done: the former should be provided for by counsel, the latter amended. Furthermore, among the Seventy Interpreters, the fifty-second in order, when asked by Ptolemy Philadelphia: By what counselors should one make use? answered: By those versed in many matters, who maintain the greatest goodwill toward you; and are similar to you in morals. Thus Aristeas, On the Seventy Interpreters. Morally, learn here that the acts of men are to be measured and estimated not by their outcomes, but by counsel. Therefore the foolish common people err, which does not regard the prudence of counsel, but looks to the outcome of fortune, and judges only those things to have been done providently which success has commended; according to that saying of Phyllis to Demophoon, in Ovid: The outcome approves the deed: I wish to lack success, Whoever thinks deeds are to be noted from the outcome. This was the sense of all the wise, even the Gentile- lium. Whence Artabanus in Herodotus in the Polymnia: Well, says he, I find that to take good counsel is the greatest gain; for even if something contrary should happen, nevertheless the counsel is no less good, and fortune has been overcome by counsel. But he who took counsel shamefully, if fortune favored him, he is indeed satisfied in his wish, yet no less took bad counsel. Isocrates in the oration which he wrote in praise of Helen, censures those who can perceive nothing before the event, but consider only the outcome of things. Cicero also in the Pro Rabirio rebukes those who weigh counsels by their outcomes, and who think that man has provided much, to whom things have gone well: to whom otherwise, they say he perceived nothing, so that now nothing seems to be wisdom except divination. The same, Philippic XI: In a right judgment, says he, even a defeated cause is not to be blamed. And in the Paradoxes: For indeed sins are not to be measured by the outcome of things, but by the vices of men. Demosthenes, the other eye of eloquence, in the oration by which he defended Ctesiphon against Aeschines: See, says he, what counsel I myself thought should be taken; nor twist those things which intervened; for the end of all things is imposed, as fortune pleased; but the choice of the one deliberating shows his character. Livy, decade 3, book VII: It appeared, says he, that from the outcome—than which nothing is more unjust—he would have a reputation. And decade 4, book VIII, he relates that among the Carthaginians generals were crucified if, with a prosperous outcome, they conducted the matter by bad counsel. Quintilian, declamation 281: Never, says he, is the mind to be estimated by the outcome. Pliny, book V, epistle to Rufus: It is altogether, says he, wrong, but received by use, that honest counsels or shameful ones, as they turn out prosperously or badly, are thus either praised or blamed. Tacitus, book I On Suetonius Paulinus: A delayer, says he, by nature, and one to whom cautious counsels rather than prosperous ones by chance pleased. Seneca, book IV Declamations: All honest works are begun by the will, the occasion perfects them. Often virtue is honored, even where the outcome deceived it. Crimes also, although they fell short of the outcome, are punished; nor does unhappy virtue lose the title of glory; nor does the glory of virtue interrupted by fortuitous happiness. Plutarch, in the comparison of Nicias and Crassus: Nor do they, says he, seem to judge rightly enough, who when they praise the expedition of Alexander, dare to blame the attempts of Crassus. For it is not fitting to make judgments from the outcome of the thing. Finally the voice of the Jurists is: The interpretation of fraud in civil law is derived not only from the outcome, but also from the counsel.
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Our author seems to have read προσκόπῳ; for κόπος is labor. The Roman codices read ἀπρόσκοπῳ, that is, not explored; others read ἀπροσκόπτῳ, that is, plain, unobstructed, lacking stumbling blocks and other inconveniences and impediments. Whence the Zurich version translates: Do not enter a hindered way, lest you stumble on rocky places; but again do not trust in a plain way, as if to say: Beware two extremes, namely: first, do not undertake things too difficult, dangerous and hard, because in those you easily stumble and fall; second, do not be too secure in things which seem easy and plain, because just as in a plain way there can lie hidden ditches, stones, thorns, into which, unless you take heed, you strike: so in things which seem plain, many difficulties can lie hidden, and many dangers and losses be concealed. Moreover the Syriac version translates: In a way of roughness do not walk, lest perhaps you stumble on a stone twice. Do not trust in the way of the wicked, and in your ways be cautious; the Arabic: Do not walk in a stony way (that is, rocky, full of stones), lest perhaps you stumble on a stone twice. According to the Vulgate reading the sense is, as if to say: Do not walk in a way exposed to ruin; thus it will come about that you do not strike against its stones and scandals, nor stumble. Again do not enter a way very laborious; do not place in it a stumbling block for your soul, that is, an offense, so that namely through excessive labor and weariness you stumble somewhere and fall. It is a proverb, signifying that dangerous or very laborious undertakings are not to be pursued; because in those there is ruin, in these there is danger of trouble, weariness and toilsome life, for example: It is not easy to sail to the Indies for the sake of riches; because this journey is long, dangerous and very laborious: it is better indeed to live at home securely with a little than to gain much in the Indies with such danger and labor, according to that saying of Ben-Sira, in the alphabet, at the letter Coph: Nearby business is eaten by its master: distant business eats its master. Among the apophthegms of St. Lawrence Justinian there exists this: That life which is hindered by many obstacles; because the works of the Holy Spirit are easy and smooth, but those of the devil are rough and full of thorns. Thus it is in his Life, chapter IX. Among the Symbols of Pythagoras there exists this: The cuttlefish is not to be eaten, that is, entangled things are not to be received. And this: When the foot strikes the threshold, one must retreat, that is, things which are harmful at the very beginning are not to be pursued. And this: Do not stain the seat with oil, that is, do nothing which disturbs your own or another's leisure. Again, do not undertake a state, office or work dangerous or burdensome beyond measure, exceeding your strength; for you will thereby burden your body, and oppress your spirit, and live miserable and toilsome. Hence also the ancient ascetics and anchorites imposed great labors, prayers and penances upon themselves, but measured to their strength and the grace which they had received from God. And the martyrs offered themselves eagerly to all kinds of torments, because on one hand necessity compelled the profession of faith with danger of life, on the other hand the grace of God animated them, and made them superior to all torments. For it is the mark of a great and excellent spirit to despise and overcome dangers and torments when they press upon one. For, as Elias of Crete says in the fourth oration of Nazianzen: It is the part of fortitude to show a confident spirit in those things in which boldness is to be employed, and which do not exceed one's strength, and not to fear battles, but to prefer grave matters steadfastly: but it is the part of timidity and cowardice to flee from those things which ought to be undertaken, and to be broken in spirit. But truly to throw oneself against impossible things, and things not to be undertaken, and in which there is more danger than advantage, and to drive oneself forward, is rashness; just as on the contrary to yield and retreat is caution and prudence. For it is foolish, in order that you may gain something of what you hope for, to risk the sum of all your possessions, as Julian the Apostate did with rash boldness in invading the Persians; whence he lost his life and almost the entire Roman empire. For, as Nazianzen himself says in the same place: In those matters which it is fitting to undertake boldly, to bear a great and confident spirit is magnanimity; just as on the contrary to languish and to shrink from danger is timidity and cowardice. But where more danger threatens, then truly to go forth to meet it, and to thrust oneself into peril, rather than to hold back and restrain oneself, is to be reckoned as rashness; just as on the contrary to yield is caution and prudence. A famous example of this teaching is found in the Life of Blessed Peter Celestine, who, from being a hermit and founder of the Order of Celestines, was created Pontiff and called Celestine V. For when he had devoted himself to such excessive austerity that he scarcely took food on the third day, and consumed nothing but bread and water, kept six Lents per year, lay on bare ground, was bound with a hair shirt and iron chain, and in winter exposed himself to the cold so that he was found half-frozen and half-dead, he heard a divine voice, admonishing him with discretion and saying: Do not, Peter, impose so heavy a burden on your little ass, for if you destroy it with indiscreet burden, you will have to render an account to God for it. It owes you reasonable service, and you owe it necessary sustenance: if you wish to be carried, carry it. Obeying, he moderated the rigor of his life. The same man, elected to the Pontificate, when he had experienced the burdens and dangers of the pontificate for half a year, voluntarily abdicated the pontificate and withdrew to the cell beloved from his youth in the year of the Lord 1294, and after a year and a half departed from it into heaven, truly now the heavenly Celestine. Whence Alvarus Pelagius, book II of On the Lamentation of the Church, article 11: Considering, he says, St. Peter of Murrhone, canonized by the Church, who was Pope Celestine V, the so great burdens of the papacy and dangers, he perfectly renounced the papacy. Which I believe was a greater miracle, and a greater and truer example of humility and perfection than any which he performed (for he shone forth in many miracles) and which has been in our days, and before for many times: because there is no one who rejects this entire Papal burden, which is greater than can be said, but rather who throws himself into it, considering glory not burden. Wherefore Gregory XIII as Pontiff greatly honored Celestine, and caused him to be painted excellently in the ambulatory of the Vatican so that he might continually have him before his eyes and in his mind.
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Zurich: And also beware for yourself of your children, and take care that your domestics do not harm you. In the preceding verse he warned that dangerous and overly laborious things should not be undertaken: here he warns that no one should trust too much in those things which appear safe and plain, namely, that one should not trust too much in sons and domestics; because both are often unfaithful and ungrateful, more often imprudent, so that they suggest harmful things; most often greedy, so that they seek their own advantages, not the father's or master's, indeed sometimes they steal and consume his goods: for all seek that which is their own, says the Apostle, that is, what Micah says, chapter VII, verse 5: Believe not a friend, and have not confidence in a prince: from her that sleepeth in thy bosom keep the doors of thy mouth. For the son dishonoreth the father, and the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: and a man's enemies are they of his own household.
32:27
As if to say: I have said that one should not believe sons, nor those of one's household. You will say: To whom then should I believe? I answer: Believe your soul, that is your conscience, so that what your conscience dictates to you should be done or not done, this you should do or not do. For conscience is given to each person by God as it were a pedagogue, a law and norm of actions. But see that you believe your soul from faith, that is follow the credibility and dictate of conscience, but not an erroneous one: but what is according to faith and the law of God, which, namely, conscience respecting faith and the law of God, dictates should be done. Thus Rabanus: for this is to be referred from faith to believe, not to soul, as is evident from the Greek πίστωσαι, that is believe, have faith, trust, be faithful, show yourself trustworthy. For all these things are signified by the Hebrew האמין hemin, to which corresponds the Greek πιστόω and the Latin credo. Whence some translate: In every work trust your soul; the Zurich Bible: In every good work show yourself a faithful soul: for this is to keep the commandments; the Syriac: In all your works guard your soul; because everyone who is thus, keeps the precept; the Arabic: Guard your soul from all your works; whoever has perfected all these things, has now guarded the commandments of the Lord. Thus the Apostle says Rom. XIV, 23: Everything that is not from faith, that is from the credibility of conscience, is sin; because if anyone does what the credibility of his conscience dictates to him should not be done, he sins, even if the thing in itself is not evil, but good and lawful. He commands therefore that in every work one's conscience is to be consulted, so that nothing be done against its dictate. See the things said there, and Eccli. XXXII, 15: For this is the keeping of the commandments, because whoever follows the dictate of conscience grounded in faith and the law of God, cannot err and sin, but walks according to the commandments of God, and fulfills them. For to this end the stimulus of conscience continually spurs him on and directs him. Somewhat differently Palacius: Moses, he says, in doubtful matters entered into the tabernacle of God to consult God, David entered into the sanctuary of God: you therefore enter into your soul, if you undertake some doubtful work, there consult the Lord, and faithfully believe your soul consulting you. Because indeed this was obscure, the Author clarifies it, saying, this is to keep the commandments: that is to believe faithfully your soul, is to keep the commandments; then namely one should believe one's soul, when it commands the commandments to be kept. Which again the Author explains saying: He who believes God, attends to His commandments: and he who trusts in Him, shall not be diminished; so that the order of this matter is: In doubtful matters enter your soul: there God will give oracles. He will indeed give oracles of His commandments. Therefore faithfully believe your soul consulting God's commandments: for thus you truly believe God.
32:28
The Greek codices corrected at Rome, for Κυρίῳ, that is Lord, namely God, read νόμῳ, that is law. Whence they translate: He that believes the law, attends to the commandments. But the Vulgate reading is better. He proves what he said in the preceding verse, that to believe one's soul, that is one's conscience, is to keep the commandments, by this syllogism: He that believes God, keeps the commandments of God: but he that believes his own conscience, believes God (for conscience dictates what is pleasing to God, and spurs man on to perform it); therefore he that believes his own conscience, keeps the commandments of God. Furthermore, he believes God with faith not empty and dead, but operative and living, who believes in God and hopes, who commits himself and all his things to Him, who loves Him, worships Him, who obeys Him in all things, who is to Him in all things faithful and loyal, solicitous that His will and commands be fulfilled exactly. Whence it follows: And he that trusteth in Him, shall not be diminished, but rather shall be increased and shall grow both in wisdom, and in grace and merits, and in glory and all other goods. Hence the Zurich Bible translates: He that is faithful to the Lord, keeps the commandments: and he that relies on Him, shall not suffer loss; others: And he that trusts in the Lord, shall not be diminished; the Syriac: He that keeps his way, keeps the precept of God: and he that trusts in God, shall not perish forever. Wherefore among the seventy Interpreters, he who was in order the thirty-seventh, when asked by Ptolemy Philadelphus, by what means one might exist fearless? answered: If a mind conscious to itself of no evil follows God, who directs all counsels to good. Thus Aristaeas, concerning the Seventy Interpreters.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), 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.