Sermons on the Song of Songs58 Sermon LVIII. How the Bridegroom bids the Bride, that is to say, those men who are perfected, to undertake the rule and training of souls less perfect. Also of the cutting down of vices in them that virtues may grow and increase
Sermon LVIII. How the Bridegroom bids the Bride, that is to say, those men who are perfected, to undertake the rule and training of souls less perfect. Also of the cutting down of vices in them that virtues may grow and increase
* Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away,'—Cant. ii. 10.
T T 7HO says this? Without doubt it is the Bridegroom. But X/V' is it not He who, a little time before, so strongly forbade * * that His beloved should be aroused? How, then, is it that now He bids her not only rise up, but come away?' Something like this comes into my mind from the Gospel. In the night on which Our Lord was betrayed, after having bidden His disciples who were with Him, and who were fatigued with long watchings, at length to sleep and take their rest, in the very same hour He said to them, Rise, let us be going; behold, he is at hand that doth betray Me (Matt. xxvi. 46). Now, also, He similarly, almost at the same moment, forbids the Bride to be aroused, and arouses her. Rise up, He says, and come away. What, then, is the object of so sudden a change of will, or of plan? Must we suppose that the Bridegroom acted with levity, and desired something at first, which immediately afterwards He desired not? By no means. But recognise in this what I have said to you more than once, if you remember, about the two alternatives of sacred repose and of necessary action, and that there is not in this life space for lengthened contemplation, or prolonged repose, because the duties of office and the usefulness of work press upon us more urgently, and are more immediately necessary. The Bridegroom, therefore, as is His wont, when His beloved has been for a while re-posing in sacred communion with Him, does not delay to summon her to duties which seem to be more needful. Not as if this were against her will, for what He forbade to be done by others (ii. 7) He would not Himself do; but for the Bride to know a wish of her Bridegroom is for her at once to feel the desire to be enabled to fulfil it (i. 4), the desire for good works, the desire to bear fruit to the honour and glory of Him; since for her to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
2. And that desire is vehement; it bids her not only rise, but rise in all haste, for we read: Rise up, and come aivay. Nor is it a small comfort and strength to her that she hears: Come, and not 'Go.' because she understands by this that she is not so much sent, as led, 1 Some recent editions add the words surgere cogit, which words are wanting in most MSS., and in the earliest editions. And, indeed, the text is smoother and more compact without them.
3. Let us now see what is the spiritual meaning hidden, as it were, under this narrative of an historical kind. I have already said to you, and you took note of it, so that you do not need to hear it again, that vines signify souls, or Churches; and I gave also at the same time the reason for this. The more perfect soul is then invited to examine these, to correct them, and to instruct them, to the end that they may be saved; yet this ministry is allotted to it, not undertaken as a matter of ambition, but because called to it by God, as was Aaron. Furthermore, what is this invitation but a certain inward movement of charity, leading us piously to care for the salvation of our brethren, for the beauty of the house of the Lord, for its increase in spiritual gains and in the fruits of righteousness, arid for the praise and glory of His Name? As often, then, as one whose duty calls upon him to take the direction of souls, or to instruct them by the delivery of sermons, feels his inner man thus touched with religious sentiments towards God, so often he may understand certainly that the Bridegroom is present with him, and is inviting him to the care and culture of His vines. But to what end? That he may root up and destroy, that he may plant and edify.
4. But since for this task, as for every task under heaven, not every time, or every kind of weather, is fit and suitable, so He who gives the invitation adds also ' the time of pruning is come.' He knew well that this time was come who said: Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation; giving no offence in any iking, THE RULE AND TRAINING OF SOULS that the ministry be not blamed (2 Cor. vi. 2). His warning, without doubt, was to prune, and even to cut off, everything faulty and superfluous and that was able to give even the least offence, and to hinder the fruit of salvation, because he knew that the time of pruning had come. That was why he said to the faithful cultivator of these vines, Reprove, rebuke, exhort (2 Tim. iv. 2), indicating by the first and second of these words the practice of pruning or even cutting off, and by the third that of planting. And this, indeed, is said by the Bridegroom through the mouth of St. Paul, as to the time of working. But listen to what He has Himself said as to the proper discrimination of times and seasons, to those souls which were, so to speak, new Brides, though this was spoken under another metaphor: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest (John iv. 35); and again: The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest (Matt. ix. 37). Just as then He pointed out that it was time to reap the harvest of souls, so here He declares that it is the time to prune and to cultivate these spiritual vines, that is, souls or Churches, wishing, perhaps, by the difference of the names of which He makes use that we should understand by harvests, peoples, and by vines, societies of saints dwelling together.
5. Now, the time of winter, which He says has passed, seems to me to signify that period during which the Lord Jesus did not walk openly, because the Jews conspired against Him, and sought to kill Him. Wherefore He said to certain of them, My time has not yet come; but your time is always ready; and again: I go not up yet unto this feast; for My time is not yet full come (John vii. 6-8). Yet He afterwards went up, though not openly, but, as it were, in secret. The winter, then, endured from that time until the coming of the Holy Spirit, who aroused into warmth the torpid hearts of the faithful, and was, as it were, that fire which the Lord came to send upon the earth (Luke xii. 49) for this very end. Would you deny that it was then winter when Peter sat beside the fire of coals, being ice-cold in heart as well as in body? The Scripture says expressly, // was cold (John xviii. 18). Great, in truth, was the cold which lay at the heart of him who denied his Master, cramping its throbs with deadly grasp. Nor was this strange, since the fire had been taken away from it. A little time before he was aflame with fervent zeal, being then beside Him who is the Fire, so that, in order not to lose Him, he drew his sword and cut off a servant's ear. But that was not the time for pruning, and therefore the Saviour said, Put up thy sword into the sheath (John xviii. 11). For that was the hour and the power of darkness; and whosoever of His disciples had then lifted up the sword, whether of steel or of the Word, would either have perished by the sword, and thus have been of service to no one, and have borne no fruit, or at least have been constrained to apostasy by the fear of the sword, and thus to perish the more surely himself, according to the word of the Lord spoken immediately afterwards: All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matt. xxvi. 51). For which of the others could have stood undismayed before the terrible image of death, when their prince himself, whom the great Leader of their salvation had forearmed with His puissant Voice, and forewarned to strengthen his brethren, when even he trembled and fled?
6. But neither he nor they had as yet been filled with power from on high; and for this reason it was not safe for them to go forth among the vines, to make use of the spiritual hoe and pruning-knife—that is, the inspired tongue and the sword of the Spirit—to prune the boughs and cut back the young shoots so that they may bear more fruit. And, lastly, the Lord Himself was silent during His Passion, and when interrogated about many things, answered not (Matt, xxvii. 12), being made, as says the Psalmist, as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs (Ps. xxxviii. 14). And indeed He said: If I tell you, ye will not believe: and if I also answer you, ye will not answer Me (Luke xxii. 67, 68), knowing that the time of pruning had not yet come, and that His vine would not respond at all to labours bestowed upon it, that is to say, would not produce the fruit either of faith or of good works. Wherefore? Because it was winter in the hearts of the perfidious, and the winter rains of malice and evil had overspread the earth, more calculated to drown than to foster the seeds of the Word that were sown; and these would render profitless any labour that was undertaken for the culture of the vines.
7. Of what rains, do you think, am I now speaking? Of those which we see that are carried hither and thither by strong winds, and which the clouds at length let fall upon the earth? By no means. I speak of those which men of a turbulent spirit cause to rise from the earth into the air, when they open their mouth against the heaven, and with their tongue go through the world; and thus, like sour and bitter showers, make the earth marshy and barren, useless for cultivated plants, though not, indeed, for that wild herbage, visible and exuberant, which is bestowed by God for bodily uses, and of which He takes care only for the beasts of the field. For what plants, then, does God care? For those assuredly which His Hand, and not that of man, has sown and planted, which can germinate and take root in faith and charity, and bring forth fruits unto salvation, if they be watered by good and seasonable rains. They are, in fact, souls for which Christ died. Unhappy are the clouds which let fall upon these rains such as I have described, which cause only mud, and do not help on fertility. For as there are good trees which bear good fruits, and evil trees which bear erfl fruits, the difference in the fruits corresponding to that in the trees which bear them, so, as I think, there may be clouds which are good, and let fall benign showers, and others which are evil, and let fall injurious ones. Perhaps it may have been to indicate this 8. Thus, as long as such harmful rains had flooded and occupied the land with their weight, the time favourable for the vine had not yet come, nor did it come to pass that the Bride was invited to the task of its culture. But when they had passed away, and the dry earth appeared with its carpet of flowers, this was the sign that the season of culture had come. When was this, do you inquire? When, indeed, except in that season which saw the Flesh of Christ taking life again, and as it were reflowing, in the Resurrection. He is the first and chiefest Flower of the human race which has ever appeared on earth. For the Christ is called the first fruits ofthem that slept (1 Cor. xv. 20). Jesus, I say, is the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys (ii. 1), He who was supposed the Son of Joseph, He who was Jesus of Nazareth, which itself means a flower [or branch]. He then appeared as the first Flower of the Resurrection; but He did not appear alone. For many bodies of the saints who slept arose with Him, and appeared upon our earth as bright and shining flowers. They went, in truth, into the Holy City, and appeared unto many (Matt, xxvii. 52, 53). Those, too, who first believed from among the people, the firstfruits of the saints, they were flowers. Their flowers were miracles which, like flowers, produced the fruits of faith. For after that rain of unbelief had a little passed, and had at least in part rolled away and ceased, then speedily followed that shower of grace (voluntaria) which the Lord reserved to His inheritance (Ps. lxviii. 9), and flowers began to appear. The Lord gave His blessing, and our earth yielded her flowers, so that in one day three thousand of the people believed* and in another they were five thousand (Acts ii. 41, and iv. 4); in so short a time did the number of flowers, that is, the multitude of believers, increase. Nor was the cold and frost able to prevail against the flowers which appeared, nor could it cause to perish, as is frequently the case, the fruit of life of which they gave promise.
9. For since all those who believed were filled with power from on high, there arose among them those who, strong in the faith, contemned the threats of men. They suffered, indeed, very many opposers; but they yielded not, nor ceased from proclaiming, to the utmost of their power, the great works of God. It is that which is spoken of in a Psalm, if it may be spiritually interpreted: They sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase (Ps. cvii. 37). In course of time the tempest was stilled, and, peace being restored to the earth, vines grew, and were propagated, and increased and multiplied beyond number. And then at length the Bride is invited, not, indeed, to plant the vines, but to prune and cultivate those already planted. And that was in due season, for the task required a time of peace. How could it be performed in time of persecution? How was it possible [for the saints to take in their hands two-edged swords, to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people, to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute upon them the judgment written (Ps. cxlix. 6-9)—for all this is to be included in the task of pruning the vines; all these things are scarcely to be performed in peace even in a time of peace. So much for this subject.
10. This discourse might come to a close here if, according to my custom, I had given to each of you some words of counsel and warning with regard to the care of his own vineyard. For who has cut away, even to the quick (ad unguent), all things in himself which are superfluous, so as to have nothing which requires to be farther pruned? Believe me, those [evil tendencies which are cut down shoot up again; those which have been driven away return; the fires which have been extinguished are, in a while, rekindled; and those desires which seemed fest asleep awake again. It is of little avail, therefore, to have pruned once; we must prune frequently, nay, if it were possible, always; because if you are honest with yourself, you will always find something within requiring to be sternly repressed. Whatever spiritual progress you THE RULE AND TRAINING OF SOULS may make while you remain in this body, you err if you suppose that sins and vices are dead in you, because they are suppressed. Whether you are willing, or unwilling, the Jebusite dwells within your borders (Judg. i. 21); he may be subjugated, but cannot be exterminated. know, says the Apostle, that in me dwelleth no good thing. But that is little in comparison with the confession which he goes on to make—that evil dwells in him. For he adds: The good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Nmv, if I do that I would not, it is no more that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me (Rom. vii. 15-17). Either, then, prefer yourself to the Apostle (for he it is who speaks thus), or confess with him that you, too, are not without indwelling sins. Now, virtue maintains the mid-place between impulses which, if yielded to in excess, become wrong; and thus it is that you have need, not only of sedulous self-denial, but also of circumcision. Otherwise, it is to be feared that our vine, being closely enfolded, or rather gnawed, by the vices which surround it on every side, should languish little by little without our perceiving it, or, if they get the upper hand, should be altogether suffocated. In face of so great a peril, I have but one counsel to give—that you watch with the greatest care, and cut away with prompt severity the first shoots of reviving vices as soon as they shall make their appearance. Virtue cannot increase at the same time with vice; and if the one flourish, it will not suffer the other to increase. Take away things superfluous, and those which conduce to salvation will have vigorous growth. Whatever you take away from things which minister only to pleasure, you add to those which minister to the soul's benefit. Let us give to self-denial its perfect work, and cut off the satisfaction of our desires and lusts that virtue may be strengthened thereby.
11. It is always, then, the time of pruning with us, my brethren, because there is always need of pruning; and I trust that with us, too, the time of winter has now passed away. Do you know of what winter I speak? Of that fear which is not joined with charity—which leads all to the beginning of wisdom, but perfects no one in it; inasmuch as advancing love casts out fear, as the spring banishes the winter. For the love of God is the spring of the soul, and if it has come to us, or, rather, because it has come to us (as it is just that I should consider is the case with you), all the winter rain must needs be dried: that is, all the anxious weeping which the bitter remembrance of past sin, and the fearful looking for of judgment, have drawn forth. Therefore (and I assert this without hesitation of most of you, if not of all) this winter rain has passed away, it is over and gone: and the flowers which are the signs of the milder and sweeter showers of spring begin to appear. For spring, too, has its showers, 1 Mabillon omits bonum, with the earliest printed editions, and with five of the best MSS., as he says; the others admit the word, following, of course, the Vulgate, from which St. Bernard professedly quotes. It is obvious, also, that his argument requires the words *good and 'evil/ and is incomplete without them.—Ed.
12. If, then, the winter has passed; if the rain is over and gone; if flowers have at length appeared on our earth, and the sweetness and gentleness of grace, as a spiritual spring, indicates that the time of pruning for the vine has come, what remains but that we should set ourselves-with all our strength to the doing of this work, so sacred and so necessary? Let us, as says the prophet, search and try our ways (Lam. iii. 40), and our disposition, so that each of us may consider himself to have made progress, not in supposing that there is nothing in him to blame, but in blaming and correcting that which he has found. If you have learned that there is an ever fresh need to examine yourself, your self-examination will not be perfunctory and useless; and as often as you shall have found that there is good reason for your scrutiny, so often will you feel that it ought to be repeated. If, then, you do this whenever there is need of it, you will do it always. Remember, in conclusion, that you have always need of help from on high, and of the mercy of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is, above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
1. Surge, propera, amica mea, columba mea, formosa mea, et veni. Quis hoc dicit? Absque dubio sponsus. Et nonne ipse est, qui paulo ante suscitari dilectam tantopere prohibebat? Quo pacto ergo nunc non solum ut surgat, sed ut et acceleret jubet? Venit in mentem simile quid ex Evangelio. Ea quippe nocte qua Dominus tradebatur, cum fatigatos productioribus vigiliis discipulos qui secum erant, dormire demum ac requiescere praecepisset, in ipsa hora: Surgite, eamus, inquit, ecce appropinquavit qui me tradet. Nunc quoque similiter uno pene momento et prohibet suscitari sponsam, et suscitat: Surge, inquiens, et veni. Quid sibi itaque vult tam subita haec mutatio voluntatis sive consilii? Putamusne levitate usum sponsum, et aliquid voluisse prius, quod mox noluerit? Minime. Sed agnoscite eas quas vobis supra, si meministis, commendavi, et non semel, vicissitudines utique sanctae quietis, ac necessariae actionis; et quia non sit in hac vita copia contemplandi, nec diuturnitas otii, ubi officii et operis cogentior urget instantiorque utilitas. More igitur suo sponsus, ubi dilectam paululum in sinu proprio quievisse persentit, ad ea denuo quae utiliora visa sunt, trahere non cunctatur. Non tamen quasi invitam: nec enim quod fieri vetuit, faceret ullatenus ipse; sed trahi sane a sponso sponsae, est ab ipso accipere desiderium quo trahatur, desiderium bonorum operum, desiderium fructificandi sponso; quippe cui vivere sponsus est, et mori lucrum.
2. Et est desiderium vehemens, quod eam non tantum surgere, sed et surgere festinanter sollicitat: sic quippe habes: Surge, propera, et veni. Nec parum confortat quod audit, veni, et non: Vade: per hoc se intelligens non tam mitti quam duci, et secum pariter sponsum esse venturum. Quid enim difficile sibi illo comite reputet? Pone me, inquit, juxta te, et cujusvis manus pugnet contra me; item: Si ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es. Non itaque suscitatur praeterquam velit, quando fit prius ut velit: quod non est aliud, nisi sancti quaestus immissa aviditas. Animatur etiam ad opus injunctum, et de temporis opportunitate redditur alacrior. Tempus faciendi, inquit, o sponsa, quia hiems transiit, quando operari nemo poterat. Imber quoque, qui inundatione facta operiebat terram, culturas impediebat, et vel sata necabat, vel seri vetabat; is, inquam, imber excurrit, abiit et recessit; flores apparuerunt in terra nostra vernalem profecto temperiem adesse signantes, operandi commoditatem, frugum vicinitatem ac fructuum. Deinde subdit, ubi et quid primum operari oporteat: Tempus, inquiens, putationis advenit. Ad vineas ergo excolendas ducitur: quae ut possint uberioribus fructibus respondere colonis, ante omnia necesse est sarmenta sterilia projici, succidi noxia, putari superflua. Haec juxta litteram.
3. Nunc jam videamus, quid istiusmodi quasi historico schemate spiritualiter nobis innuatur intelligendum. Et vineas quidem animas esse vel Ecclesias, simulque hujus rei rationem quaenam sit, dixi vobis jam, et audistis, nec opus habetis iterato audire. Ad has itaque revisendas, corrigendas, intruendas, salvandas, anima perfectior invitatur, quae tamen id ministerii sortita sit, non sua ambitione, sed vocata a Deo tanquam Aaron. Porro invitatio ipsa quid est, nisi intima quaedam stimulatio charitatis pie nos sollicitantis aemulari fraternam salutem, aemulari decorem domus Domini, incrementa lucrorum ejus, incrementa frugum justitiae ejus, laudem et gloriam nominis ejus? Istiusmodi itaque circa Deum religiosis affectibus quoties is qui animas regere, aut studio praedicationis ex officio intendere habet, hominem suum interiorem senserit permoveri; toties pro certo sponsum adesse intelligat, toties se ab illo ad vineas invitari. Ad quid, nisi ut evellat et destruat, et aedificet et plantet?
4. Verum quoniam operi huic, sicut et omni rei sub coelo, non omne tempus suppetit et aptum est, addit is qui invitat, tempus putationis advenisse. Adesse hoc noverat qui dicebat: Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nunc dies salutis; nemini dantes ullam offensionem, ut non vituperetur ministerium nostrum. Vitiosa sine dubio atque superflua, et omne denique quod offendiculum dare, et impedire fructum salutis possit, putare jam et resecare monebat, sciens quia tempus putationis advenerit. Ideo et aiebat fideli cuidam cultori vinearum: Argue, increpa, obsecra; in primo et secundo horum putationem vel exstirpationem, in ultimo plantationem indicens. Et haec quidem sponsus per os Pauli de tempore operandi. Sed audi quid per proprium os de temporum consideratione, sub alio quidem rerum schemate et nomine, cum nova sponsa sit locutus. Nonne vos dicitis, inquit, quia quatuor menses sunt, et messis venit? Ecce dico vobis: Levate oculos vestros et videte regiones, quia albae sunt jam ad messem; item: Messis quidem multa, operarii pauci: rogate Dominum messis, ut mittat operarios in messem suam. Sicut igitur ibi metendi animarum segetes tempus adesse monstrabat, ita et hic vineas aeque intelligibiles, id est animas vel Ecclesias, tempus putandi advenisse denuntiat; id forsitan inter utrasque res volens vocabulorum diversitate distingui, ut messes plebes, vineas congregationes sanctorum cohabitantium intelligamus.
5. Porro hiemale tempus, quod praeteriisse significat, illud mihi designare videtur, cum Dominus Jesus jam non palam ambularet apud Judaeos, eo quod conspirassent adversus eum, volentes eum interficere. Unde et dicebat ad quosdam: Tempus meum nondum advenit; tempus autem vestrum semper est paratum; et rursum: Ascendite vos ad diem festum hunc, ego non ascendam. Ascendit tamen postea et ipse, non palam, sed quasi in occulto. Extunc ergo et deinceps usque ad adventum Spiritus sancti, quo recaluerunt torpentia fidelium corda, tanquam igne, quam Dominus ad hoc ipsum misit in terram (Luc XII, 49), hiems fuit. Tunc negaveris hiemem tunc fuisse, cum Petrus sederet ad prunas, non minus gelido corde, quam corpore? Denique: Erat frigus, inquit. Magnum revera frigus cor negantis constrinxerat. Nec mirum tamen, cum ignis ab eo ablatus esset. Nam paulo ante non parvo ferebat zelo, quippe adhuc igni proximus, qui evaginato gladio, ne ignem perderet, servi auriculam amputavit. Sed non erat tempus putationis: et ideo audit: Converte gladium tuum in locum suum. Erat enim hora et potestas tenebrarum: et quisque tunc discipulorum levaret gladium vel ferri, vel verbi, aut ferro truncandus erat, et neminem lucraretur, nec quidpiam fructus afferret; aut certe timoris gladio ad negandum cogendus; et sic magis ipse periret, juxta verbum Domini quod subjunxit mox, ita dicens: Omnis qui acceperit gladium, gladio peribit. Quis nempe caeterorum ante pavendam mortis imaginem impavidus staret, trepidante et cedente principe ipso, et qui voce confortatoria sui imperatoris fuerat praemunitus, et praemonitus alios confortare?
6. Caeterum nec is, nec illi sibi adhuc induerant virtutem ex alto; et ob hoc tutum non erat eis exire in vineas, exerere linguae sarculum, et gladio Spiritus putare vites, purgare palmites, ut fructum plus afferrent. Denique ipse Dominus tacebat in passione, et in multis interogatus non respondebat, factus, juxta Prophetam, sicut homo non audiens, et non habens in ore suo redargutiones. Dicebat autem: Si vobis dixero, non credetis mihi; si autem et interrogavero, non respondebitis mihi: sciens tempus putationis nondum advenisse, nec responsuram prorsus vineam suam impensis laboribus, id est nec fidei, nec boni operis fructum aliquem relaturam. Quare? Quia hiems erat in cordibus perfidorum, et hiemales quidam malitiae imbres occupaverant terram, jacta semina verbi suffocare, quam fovere paratiores; sed et cultui vinearum omnem nihilominus impendendam operam frustraturi.
7. Quos vos me nunc putatis dicere imbres? istosne, quos videmus currentes per aera nubes turbulento spiritu spargere super terram? Non est ita. Sed quos de terra in aerem sursum ferunt homines turbulenti spiritus, ponentes in coelum os suum, et lingua eorum transiens in terram, tanquam pluvia amarissima, terram ipsam palustrem ac sterilem facit, et tam plantis quam satis inutilem, non quidem his visibilibus atque corporeis ad nostros utique corporeos usus datis, de quibus nulla plane, sicut nec de bobus cura est Deo. Sed quibus? Profecto quae sevit et plantavit Dei manus, et non hominis; quae et vel germinare, vel radicare in fide et charitate poterant, et fructus parturire salutis, si bonis et temporaneis imbribus rigarentur. Animae denique sunt, pro quibus Christus mortuus est. Vae nubibus pluentibus istiusmodi imbres super eas, quae lutum faciant, fructum non afferant! Nam sicut sunt et bonae, et malae arbores, ferentes quaeque fructus pro sui dissimilitudine differentes, bonae videlicet bonos, et malae malos: ita et arbitror nubes et bonas, quae bonos; et malas esse, quae malos pluant imbres. Et vide ne forte innuerit nobis hanc nubium, imbriumque differentiam, qui dicebat: Mandabo nubibus meis, ne pluant super eam (haud dubium quin super vineam) imbrem. Cur putas adjunxisse signanter, meis, nisi quia sunt et malae nubes, quae non sunt ejus? Tolle, tolle, inquiunt, crucifige eum. O nubes violentas et turbidas! O imbrem procellosum! o torrentem iniquitatis, evertere magis, quam fecundare idoneum! Nec minus malus minusve amarus, minori licet impetu proruens, imber ille qui subsecutus est: Alios salvos fecit, se ipsum non potest salvum facere. Christus rex Israel descendat nunc de cruce, et credimus ei. Philosophorum ventosa loquacitas non bonus imber est qui sterilitatem magis intulit terris, quam fertilitatem. Multo magis prava dogmata haereticorum mali imbres sunt, quae pro fructibus spinas producunt et tribulos. Mali imbres etiam traditiones Pharisaeorum, quas Salvator redarguit, et ipsi nubes malae. Et nisi existimes me injuriam facere Moysi, nam bona nubes est illa, non omne quod pluit vel ipsa, bonum tamen dicam ne illi contradicam, qui ait: Dedi illis, id est Judaeis, praecepta non bona (haud dubium quin per Moysen) et justificationes, in quibus non vivent in eis. Litteralis illa, verbi causa, observatio Sabbati, sonantis requiem, non donantis; indictus sacrificiorum ritus, interdictus porcinae carnis esus, nonnullorumque similium, quae immunda a Moyse censentur, pluvia est hoc totum ex illa nube descendens, sed nolo in agrum vel hortum meum quandoque descendat. Fuerit sane bona suo tempore; post tempus si venerit, non bonam jam censeo. Omnis etiam Ienis et leniter descendens pluvia, si sit intempestiva, molesta est.
8. Donec ergo istiusmodi aquae pestilentes occupaverunt terram, et invaluerunt super eam; tempus suum vineae non habuerunt, nec fuit quod sponsa invitaretur ad putandas vineas. Caeterum illis decurrentibus terra apparuit arida, et flores apparuerunt in ea, significantes tempus putationis adesse. Quaeris quando hoc fuit? quando putas, nisi cum refloruit caro Christi in resurrectione? Et hic primus et maximus flos, qui apparuit in terra nostra. Nam primitiae dormientium Christus. Ipse, inquam, flos campi et lilium convallium Jesus, ut putabatur filius Joseph a Nazareth, quod interpretatur flos. Is ergo flos apparuit primus, non solus. Nam et multa corpora sanctorum, qui dormierant, pariter surrexerunt, qui veluti quidam lucidissimi flores simul apparuerunt in terra nostra. Denique venerunt in sanctam civitatem, et apparuerunt multis. Flores etiam fuerunt qui primi crediderunt de populo, primitiae sanctorum. Flores eorum miracula, instar florum producentia fructum fidei. Nam postquam ille infidelitatis imber aliquantulum, vel ex parte, abiit et recessit, secuta mox est pluvia voluntaria, quam segregavit Deus haereditati suae, et flores apparere coeperunt. Dominus dedit benignitatem, et terra nostra dedit flores suos, ita ut una die tria millia, in alia quinque millia de populo crederent: adeo in brevi crevit florum numerus, id est credentium multitudo. Et non potuit gelu malitiae praevalere adversus flores qui apparebant, nec praeripere, ut assolet, fructum vitae, quem promittebant.
9. Nam cum omnes qui crediderant, induerentur virtute ex alto, surrexerunt ex eis homines, qui minas hominum contempserunt, fortes in fide. Passi sunt quidem quamplurimos contradictores; sed non cesserunt, neque subterfugerunt, quominus et facerent, et annuntiarent opera Dei. Nam juxta illud in psalmo spiritualiter quidem: Et seminaverunt agros, et plantaverunt vineas, et fecerunt fructum nativitatis. Processu temporis tempestas sedata est, et pace reddita terris, creverunt vineae, et propagatae, et dilatatae sunt, et multiplicatae super numerum. Et tunc demum sponsa ad vineas invitatur, non quidem ad plantandum, sed ad putandum quod plantatum jam erat. Opportune quidem: nam id opus pacis tempus requirebat. Quando etenim persecutionis tempore id liceret? Alioquin sumere in manus gladios ancipites, facere vindictam in nationibus, increpationes in populis; alligare reges eorum in compedibus, et nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis; et facere in eis judicium conscriptum (hoc quippe putare vineas est): haec, inquam, omnia vix vel pacis tempore actitantur in pace. Et de his satis.
10. Poterat etiam finiri sermo, si prius quemque vestrum juxta morem meum de sua vinea monuissem. Quis enim ita ad unguem omnia a se superflua resecavit, ut nil se habere putet putatione dignum? Credite mihi, et putata repullulant, et effugata redeunt, et reaccenduntur exstincta, et sopita denuo excitantur. Parum est ergo semel putasse; saepe putandum est, imo, si fieri possit, semper; quia semper quod putari oporteat, si non dissimulas, invenis. Quantumlibet in hoc corpore manens profeceris, erras si vitia putas emortua, et non magis suppressa. Velis, nolis, intra fines tuos habitat Jebusaeus; subjugari potest, sed non exterminari. Scio, inquit, quia non habitat in me bonum. Parum est nisi et malum inesse fateatur. Ait namque: Non quod volo, hoc ago; sed quod odi, illud facio. Si autem quod odi, illud facio, jam non ego operor illud, sed quod habitat in me peccatum. Aut te ergo, si audes, praefer Apostolo (nempe ipsius ista vox est); aut fatere cum illo te quoque vitiis non carere. Medium denique vitiorum virtus tenet; ac proinde sedula eges non solum putatione, sed et circumcisione. Alioquin verendum, ne circumquaque a lambentibus, vel potius a rodentibus vitiis illa, dum nescis, paulatim elangueat; aut, si supercreverint, suffocetur. Unum in tanto discrimine consilium est, observare diligenter, et mox ut renascentium capita apparebunt, prompta severitate succidere. Non potest virtus cum vitiis pariter crescere. Ergo ut illa vigeat, istaccrescere non sinantur. Tolle superflua, et salubria surgunt. Utilitati accedit, quidquid cupiditati demis. Demus operam putationi. Putetur cupiditas, ut virtus roboretur.
11. Nobis, fratres, putationis semper est tempus, sicut semper est opus. Confido enim quia nobis hiems jam transiit. Scitis quam hiemem dicam? Timorem illum, qui non est in charitate, qui cum omnes initiet ad sapientiam, neminem consummat; quoniam superveniens charitas extundit illum, tanquam hiemem aestas. Aestas enim charitas est: quae si jam venit, imo quia venit, sicut justum est mihi sentire de vobis, siccaverit necesse est omnem hiemalem imbrem, omnem videlicet anxietatis lacrymam, quam amara recordatio peccati, et timor ante extorquebat judicii. Itaque (quod non dubius dico, etsi non de omnibus vobis, profecto de pluribus) hic jam imber abiit et recessit: nam et flores apparent indices pluviae suavioris. Habet et aestas pluvias suas suaves et uberes. Quid dulcius lacrymis charitatis? Flet quippe charitas, sed ex amore, non ex moerore; flet ex desiderio, flet cum flentibus. Tali imbre non ambigo rigatos uberius actus obedientiae vestrae, quos laetus intueor, non murmure tetros, non tristitia subobscuros, sed quodam spirituali gaudio jucundos et floridos. Sic sunt, ac si semper flores gestetis in manibus.
12. Ergo si hiems transiit, imber abiit et recessit; si demum flores apparuerunt in terra nostra, et subinde quaedam spiritualis gratiae vernalis temperies tempus putationis indicit: quid restat, nisi ut de caetero toti incumbamus huic operi tam sancto, tam necessario? Scrutemur, juxta prophetam, vias nostras et studia nostra, et in eo se quisque judicet profecisse, non cum non invenerit quod reprehendat, sed cum, quod invenerit, reprehendet. Tunc te non frustra scrutatus es, si rursum opus esse scrutinio advertisti: et toties non te fefellit inquisitio tua, quoties iterandam putaveris. Si autem semper hoc, cum opus est, facis, semper facis. Semper ergo opus esse tibi memineris superni auxilii, et misericordiae sponsi Ecclesiae Jesu Christi Domini nostri, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.