Expositions on the Book of Psalms 141
141.1 Psalm CXLI PL 36, 1833
1. …The Psalm which we have just sung is in many parts somewhat obscure. When by the help of the Lord what has been said shall begin to be expounded and explained, ye will see that ye are hearing things which ye knew already. But for this cause are they said in manifold ways, that variety of expression may remove all weariness of the truth.…
Solemnitati martyrum, sicut devotio celebritatis vestrae, ita nostrae servitutis sermo debetur. Sed meminisse oportet Charitatem vestram, hesterno die quam multa dicta sint. Non enim quia propter aviditatem interioris oris vestri per totum sermonem tanquam recentes adfuistis, propterea oblivisci debemus infirmitatis communis: primo quia et honorare oportet verba praeclara, sicut scriptum est, Praeclara autem verba sapientiae Domini Dei sunt. Per nos tanquam per vascula vobis ministrantur: et si fictilia sunt vasa, sed panis coelestis est. Apostolus dicit: «Habemus thesaurum istum in vasis fictilibus, ut eminentia virtutis sit Dei» . Qui autem thesaurus, idem et panis. Nam si non idem esset thesaurus et panis, non de ipso thesauro alibi scriptum esset: «Thesaurus desiderabilis requiescit in ore sapientis; vir autem stultus glutit illum» . Unde admonemus Charitatem vestram ut ea quae audiendo tanquam ventre memoriae conditis, rursus revolvendo et cogitando quodammodo ruminetis. Hoc est enim, «Thesaurus desiderabilis requiescit in ore sapientis; vir autem stultus glutit illum:» breviter dixit, Sapiens ruminat, stultus non ruminat. Hoc autem aperte et latine quid est? Sapiens cogitat ea quae audierit; stultus autem audita oblivioni tradit. Neque enim propter aliud in Lege, munda ea dicta sunt animalia quae ruminant, immunda quae non ruminant : nam creatura Dei omnis munda est. Artifici Deo tam mundus est porcus quam agnus. Creavit enim omnia bona valde : et, «Omnis creatura Dei bona est,» dicit Apostolus ; et, «Omnia munda mundis» . Cum ergo in natura utrumque sit mundum; significatione tamen agnus significat aliquid mundum, porcus significat aliquid immundum: agnus significat innocentiam sapientiae ruminantis; porcus significat immunditiam stultitiae obliviscentis. Brevis Psalmus pro solemnitate dictus est; videamus an possit etiam breviter tractari.
141.2 PL 36, 1834
2. “Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hear Thou me” (ver. 1). This we all can say. This not I alone say: whole Christ saith it. But it is said rather in the name of the Body: for He too, when He was here and bore our flesh, prayed; and when He prayed, drops of blood streamed down from His whole Body. So is it written in the Gospel: “Jesus prayed earnestly, and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood.” What is this flowing of sweat from His whole Body, but the suffering of martyrs from the whole Church? “Listen unto the voice of my prayer, while I cry unto Thee.” Thou thoughtest the business of crying already finished, when thou saidst, “I have cried unto Thee.” Thou hast cried; yet think not thyself safe. If tribulation be finished, crying is finished: but if tribulation remain for the Church, for the Body of Christ, even to the end of the world, let it not only say, “I have cried unto Thee,” but also, “Listen unto the voice of my prayer.”
[«vers. 2.] Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi.» Sufficeret, «Voce ad Dominum clamavi;» forte non frustra additum est, «mea.» Multi enim clamant ad Dominum, non voce sua, sed voce corporis sui. Homo ergo interior, in quo coepit habitare Christus per fidem , voce sua, non in strepitu labiorum, sed in affectu cordis clamet ad Dominum. Non ubi homo audit, ibi Deus audit: nisi voce pulmonum et laterum et linguae clames, homo te non audit; cogitatio tua clamor est ad Dominum. «Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi; voce mea ad Dominum deprecatus sum.» Quod dixit, «clamavi;» exposuit, cum dixit, «deprecatus sum.» Clamant enim ad Dominum et qui blasphemant. In superiori versu clamorem posuit, in sequenti clamorem exposuit. Quasi exigeretur, Quo clamore clamasti ad Dominum? «Ad Dominum,» inquit, «deprecatus sum:» clamor meus, deprecatio mea; non convicium, non murmur, non blasphemia.
141.3 PL 36, 1834
3. “Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight as incense, and the lifting up of my hands an evening sacrifice” (ver. 2). That this is wont to be understood of the Head Himself, every Christian acknowledgeth. For when the day was now sinking towards evening, the Lord upon the Cross “laid down His life to take it again,” did not lose it against His will. Still we too are figured there. For what of Him hung upon the tree, save what He took of us? And how can it be that the Father should leave and abandon His only begotten Son, especially when He is one God with Him? Yet, fixing our weakness upon the Cross, where, as the Apostle saith, “our old man is crucified with Him,” He cried out in the voice of that our “old man,” “Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” That then is the “evening sacrifice,” the Passion of the Lord, the Cross of the Lord, the offering of a salutary Victim, the whole burnt offering acceptable to God. That “evening sacrifice” produced, in His Resurrection, a morning offering. Prayer then, purely directed from a faithful heart, riseth like incense from a hallowed altar. Nought is more delightful than the odour of the Lord: such odour let all have who believe.
[«vers. 3.] Effundam ante eum precem meam.» Quid est, «ante eum?» In conspectu ejus. Quid est, in conspectu ejus? Ubi videt, Ubi autem non videt? Ita enim dicimus, Ubi videt, quasi alicubi non videat. Sed in isto coetu rerum corporalium vident et homines, vident et animalia: ille autem videt et ubi homo non videt. Nam cogitationem tuam nullus hominum videt, Deus autem videt. Ibi ergo effunde precem tuam, ubi solus ille videt qui remunerat. Nam in abscondito te Dominus Jesus Christus jussit orare: sed si agnoscas cubiculum tuum, et mundes, ibi rogas Deum. «Cum autem oratis,» inquit, «nolite esse sicut hypocritae, qui stant in plateis et vicis orantes, ut videantur ab hominibus. Tu autem cum oras, intra in cubiculum tuum, et claude ostium, et deprecare Deum tuum in occulto; et qui videt in occulto, reddet tibi» . Si homines reddituri sunt, effunde ante homines precem tuam: si Deus redditurus est, effunde ante eum precem tuam, et claude ostium, ne tentator ingrediatur. Tentator non cessat pulsare, ut irrumpat; si clausum invenerit, transit. Ideo Apostolus, quia in nostra potestate est ostium claudere: ostium cordis, non parietum; ibi enim et cubiculum: quia ergo in potestate nostra est hoc ostium claudere, «Neque detis,» inquit, «locum diabolo» . Etenim si intravit et possedit, attende quia tu negligenter clausisti aut claudere neglexisti.
4. Quid est autem claudere ostium? Hoc ostium tanquam duas habet valvas; cupiditatis, et timoris. Aut cupis aliquid terrenum, et hac intrat; aut times aliquid terrenum, et hac intrat. Timoris ergo et cupiditatis januam claude contra diabolum, aperi ad Christum. Quomodo ipsas valvas aperis ad Christum? Cupiendo regnum coelorum, timendo ignem gehennarum. Per cupiditatem saeculi diabolus intrat, per desiderium vitae aeternae Christus intrat: per timorem poenarum temporalium diabolus intrat, per timorem ignis aeterni Christus intrat. Ecce martyres clauserunt januam contra diabolum, Christo aperuerunt. Promisit eis multa mundus iste: riserunt, clauserunt valvam cupiditatis adversus diabolum. Minatus est mundus iste bestias, ignes, cruces: non timuerunt, clauserunt timoris valvam contra diabolum. Videamus si aperuerunt eas Christo: «Qui confessus me,» inquit, «fuerit coram hominibus, confitebor illum et ego coram Patre meo, qui est in coelis.» Amaverunt ergo regnum coelorum, ubi eos confitebitur Christus. Quomodo eos confessurus est? «Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est ab origine mundi» . Confitebitur illos ad dexteram positos. Videamus si et timoris valvam Christo aperuerunt, quam diabolo clauserunt. Uno eodemque loco Dominus monet hoc, ut et diabolo claudatur, et sibi aperiatur. «Nolite,» inquit, «timere eos qui corpus occidunt, animam autem non possunt occidere:» monuit ut timoris valva in faciem diabolo elideretur. Ergo nihil est timendum? Non ergo aperitur aditus timoris Christo, qui clausus est diabolo? Statim subjecit, tanquam dicens, Exclusisti illum, aperi mihi: «Sed eum timete,» inquit, «qui habet potestatem et animam et corpus occidere in gehenna ignis» . Jam ergo si credidisti, et aperuisti Christo, claude contra diabolum. Intus est Christus, ibi habitat: effunde ante eum precem tuam, noli quaerere ut de longe te exaudiat. Non enim longe est Sapientia Dei, quae «pertendit a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponit omnia suaviter» . Ergo intus apud te, ante eum effunde precem tuam: ibi sunt aures ejus. «Quia neque ab oriente, neque ab occidente, neque a desertis montibus; quoniam Deus judex est» : si autem judex est, qualem causam geras in corde tuo, vide.
141.4 PL 36, 1833
4. …“Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of restraint around my lips” (ver. 3). He said not a barrier of restraint, but “a door of restraint.” A door is opened as well as shut. If then it be a “door,” let it be both opened and shut; opened, to confession of sin; closed, to excusing sin. So will it be a “door of restraint,” not of ruin. For what doth this “door of restraint” profit us? What doth Christ pray in the name of His Body? “That Thou turn not aside My heart to wicked words” (ver. 4). What is, “My heart”? The heart of My Church; the heart, that is, of My Body.…
141.5 PL 36, 1835
5. But when thine heart hath not been turned aside, O member of Christ, when thy heart hath not been turned aside “to wicked words, to making excuses in sins, with men that work in iniquity,” thou shalt also not unite with their elect. For this followeth, “And I will not unite with their elect.” Who are “their elect”? Those who justify themselves. Who are their elect? Those “who trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise others,” as the Pharisee said in the temple, “Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are.” Who are their elect? “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know what manner of woman this is that touched His feet.” Here thou recognisest the words of that other Pharisee, who invited our Lord to his house; when the woman of that city, who was a sinner, came and approached His Feet.…
For even this woman herself, “if her heart had turned aside to wicked words,” would not have lacked wherewith to defend her sins. Do not women daily, her equals in defilement, but not her equals in confession, harlots, adulteresses, doers of shameful deeds, defend their sins? If they have not been seen, they deny them: if they have been caught and convicted, or have done their deeds openly, they defend them. And how easy is their defence, how ready, yet how headlong; how common, yet how blasphemous! “Had God not willed it, I had not done it: God willed it: fortune willed it: fate willed it.”…These are the defences of “the elect” of this world. But let the members of Christ, the Body of Christ, say, let Christ say in the name of His Body, “Turn not Thou aside, My Heart, to wicked words,” etc., “and I will not unite with their elect.”…
[«vers. 4.] Effundam ante eum precem meam; tribulationem meam in conspectu ejus annuntiabo.» Repetitio est, et in superioribus duobus versibus, et in his consequentibus; sententiae duae sunt, sed utraque bis dicta. Una est illa, «Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi, voce mea ad Dominum deprecatus sum:» altera est, «Effundam ante eum precem meam, tribulationem meam in conspectu ejus annuntiabo.» Quod enim est, «ante eum;» hoc est, «in conspectu ejus:» et quod est, «precem meam effundam;» hoc est, «tribulationem meam annuntiabo.» Quando hoc facis? In persecutione positus loquitur: «Dum defecit» «a me spiritus meus.» Quare defecit spiritus tuus, o martyr in tribulatione posite? Ut non mihi arrogem vires meas, ut sciam quod alius in me operatur ipsam virtutem. «Cum autem vos tradent judicibus» (sic monuit Dominus quos martyres facere volebat), «nolite cogitare quid loquamini; non enim vos estis qui loquimini, sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis» (Matth, X, 19, 20). Ergo deficiat spiritus tuus, loquatur Spiritus Dei. Merito eos pauperes facere volebat spiritu: «Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum» . Beati ergo pauperes spiritu suo, divites Spiritu Dei. Omnis enim homo qui spiritum suum sequitur, superbus est. Subdat spiritum suum, ut capiat Spiritum Dei. Ibat in culmen, residat in valle. Si ierit in culmen, denatat ab illo aqua: si in valle resederit, implebitur ea, et fit ille venter de quo dictum est, «Flumina aquae vivae fluent de ventre ejus» . Ergo «dum defecit a me spiritus meus, in conspectu tuo annuntiavi tribulationem meam,» humilis factus, confitens tibi deficiente spiritu meo, cum sum plenus Spiritu tuo.
141.6 PL 36, 1836
6. “With men that work wickedness.” What wickedness? Let me mention some sinful wickedness of theirs. Let me tell you one open sinful wickedness, which they acknowledge. They say, it is better for a man to be an usurer than a husbandman. Thou askest the reason, and they assign one.…He vexeth the members of Christ, who cleanseth the earth with a furrow: he vexeth the members of Christ, who pulleth grass from the earth: he vexeth the members of Christ, who plucketh an apple from a tree. To avoid committing their imaginary murders in the farm, he committeth real murders in usury. He dealeth no bread to the needy. See whether there can be greater unrighteousness than this righteousness. He dealeth not bread to the hungry. Thou askest, wherefore? Lest the beggar receive the life which is in the bread, which they call a member of God, the substance of God, and bind it in flesh. What then do ye? why do ye eat? Have ye not flesh? Yes; but we, they say, forasmuch as we are enlightened by faith in Manes, by our prayers and our Psalms, forasmuch as we are elect, we cleanse thereby that bread, and transmit it into the treasure-house of the heavens. Such are the elect, that they are not to be saved by God, but saviours of God. And this is Christ, they say, crucified in the whole universe. I received in the Gospel Christ a Saviour, but ye are in your books the saviours of Christ. Plainly ye are blasphemers of Christ, and therefore not to be saved by Christ. Therefore lest a crumb be given to the hungry, and in the crumb a member of Christ suffer, is the hungry to die of hunger? False mercy to a crumb causeth true murder of a man. But who are their elect? “Turn not thou aside, my heart, to wicked words, and I will not unite with their elect.”
Et audierunt forte homines quia defecit in me spiritus meus, et desperaverunt de me, et dixerunt, Cepimus eum, oppressimus eum: «Et tu cognovisti semitas meas,» Illi me dejectum putabant, tu me stantem cernebas. Illi qui persequebantur et comprehenderant, implicatos putabant pedes meos: sed illis obligati sunt pedes, et ceciderunt; nos autem surreximus, et erecti sumus . Oculi enim mei semper ad Dominum, quoniam ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos . Perseveravi ambulando: «Qui» enim «perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit» . Illi oppressum me putabant, sed ego ambulabam. Ubi ambulabam? In semitis quas illi non videbant, qui me captum putabant; in semitis justitiae tuae, in semitis praeceptorum tuorum. «Tu» enim «cognovisti semitas meas;» persecutor non eas cognovit: nam non in eis mihi invideret, sed in eis mecum ambularet. Quae sunt istae semitae, nisi viae illae de quibus alio loco dicitur: «Novit Dominus viam justorum, et via impiorum peribit» ? Non dixit, Viam impiorum non novit: «Novit justorum, impiorum autem peribit». Quod enim non novit, perit. Multis locis Scripturae invenimus quia Dei agnoscere, servare est; Dei agnoscere, custodire est; non agnoscere, damnare est. Unde enim qui novit omnia, dicturus est in fine, «Non novi vos» ? Non inde gaudeant et dicant, Non puniemur, quia non novit nos judex. Jam puniti sunt, si eos non novit judex. Quae ergo dictae sunt viae quas novit Dominus, ipsae hic dictae sunt semitae, cum ait. «Tu cognovisti semitas meas.» Omnis enim semita, via est; non omnis via, semita est. Quare ergo viae illae semitae sunt dictae, nisi quia angustae sunt? Via lata impiorum, via angusta justorum.
141.7 PL 36, 1836
7. “The righteous One shall amend me in mercy, and convict me” (ver. 5). Behold the sinner confessing. He desireth to be amended in mercy, rather than praised deceitfully.…“Shall convict me,” but “in mercy:” shall convict, yet hateth not: yea, shall all the more convict, because He hateth not. And why doth he therefore give thanks? Because, “rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.” “The righteous One shall amend me.” Because He persecuteth thee? God forbid. He requireth rather amending himself, who amendeth in hate. Wherefore then doth He amend? “In mercy. And shall convict me.” Wherein? “In mercy. For the oil of a sinner shall not enrich my head.” My head shall not grow by flattery. Undue praise is flattery: undue praise of a flatterer is “the oil of a sinner.” Therefore men too, when they have mocked any one with false praise, say, “I have anointed his head.” Love then to be “convicted by the righteous One in mercy;” love not to be praised by a sinner in mockery. Have oil in yourselves, and ye shall not seek the “oil of a sinner.”…
Quae via, ipsae et viae: quemadmodum quae Ecclesia, ipsae Ecclesiae; et quod coelum, ipsi coeli. Pluraliter dicuntur, et singulariter dicuntur. Propter unitatem Ecclesiae, una Ecclesia: «Una est columba mea, una est matri suae» . Propter congregationes fraternas per loca, multae sunt Ecclesiae: «Ecclesiae,» inquit, «Judaeae quae in Christo, gaudebant quod ille qui nos persequebatur, nunc evangelizat fidem, quam aliquando vastabat; et in me glorificabant Deum» . Ecclesias sic dixit, et unam Ecclesiam sic dicit: «Sine offensione estote Judaeis, et Graecis, et Ecclesiae Dei» . Sic ergo et viae, et via; et semitae, et semita. Quare semitae, et quare semita? Quomodo quare Ecclesiae et Ecclesia rationem reddidimus, debemus et hinc reddere rationem. Semitae dictae sunt Dei, quia multa praecepta sunt: et quia eadem multa praecepta ad unum rediguntur, quia plenitudo legis charitas ; propterea viae istae in multis praeceptis ad unam colliguntur, et una dicitur, quia via nostra charitas est. Videamus si charitas via est. Audiamus Apostolum: «Et adhuc supereminentiorem viam vobis demonstro» . Quam dicis, o Apostole, «supereminentiorem viam?» Quam dico audi: «Si linguis hominum loquar et Angelorum, charitatem autem non habeam, factus sum velut aeramentum sonans, aut cymbalum tinniens: et si habuero prophetiam, et sciero omnia sacramenta, et omnem scientiam; et si habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes transferam, charitatem autem non habeam, nihil sum: et si distribuero omnia mea pauperibus, et si tradidero corpus meum ut ardeam, charitatem autem non habeam, nihil mihi prodest» . Ergo charitatem dixit «supereminentiorem viam.» Magna ista via, fratres, magnum miraculum habet. Haec via certe, quia supereminentior est, et excellentior est; hoc enim supereminet, quod excelsum est. Nihil excelsius via charitatis, et non in illa ambulant nisi humiles. Has ergo semitas, dicit praecepta charitatis. «Tu,» inquit, «cognovisti semitas meas:» tu nosti quia quod pro te patior, amore patior; tu nosti quia charitas in me omnia tolerat; tu nosti quia et si trado corpus meum ut ardeam, habeo illam, sine qua illud non prodest homini.
141.8 PL 36, 1837
8. Thou sayest to me, What am I doing? I am beset with flatterers; they cease not to besiege me; they praise in me what I would not, that praise in me what I hold in little esteem; what I hold dear they blame in me; flatterers, treacherous, deceivers. For instance, “Gaiuseius is a great man, great, learned, wise; but why is he a Christian? For great is his learning, great his reading, great his wisdom.” If great is his wisdom, approve of his being a Christian; if great his learning, learnedly hath he chosen. In fine, what thou revilest, that pleaseth him whom thou praisest. But what? That praise sweeteneth not: it is “the oil of a sinner.” Yet ceaseth he not to speak so. Let him not therewith “fatten thy head;” that is, rejoice not in such things; agree not to such things; consent not to such things; rejoice not in such things; and then, if he have applied to thee the oil of flattery, yet hath thy head remained as it was, it has not been puffed up, it hath not swollen.…“For still shall My word be well-pleasing to them.” Wait awhile: now they revile Me, saith Christ. In the early times of the Christians, the Christians were blamed on all sides. Wait as yet; and “My word shall be well-pleasing to them.” The time shall come when they shall conquer thousands of men, who shall beat their breasts, and say, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Even now, how many remain who blush to beat their breasts? Let them then blame us: let us bear it. Let them blame; let them hate, accuse, detract; “still shall My word be well-pleasing to them;” the time shall come when My word shall please them.…O wordy defence of iniquity! Verily now whole nations say this, and the thunder of nations beating their breasts ceaseth not. Rightly do the clouds thunder, wherein now God dwelleth. Where is now that wordiness, where that boasting, “I am righteous; nought of ill have I done”? Verily, when thou hast contemplated in Holy Scripture the law of righteousness, how far soever thou hast advanced, thou shalt find thyself a sinner.…What sort of man am I now speaking of, brethren? I speak of him who worshippeth God alone, who confesseth Christ, who knoweth the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost to be one God; who committeth not fornication against Him; who worshippeth not devils; who seeketh him not aid from the devil; who holdeth the Catholic Church; whom no one complaineth of as cheating; under whose oppression no weak neighbour groaneth; who assaileth not another’s wife; who is content with his own, or even without his own, in such wise as is lawful, and as Apostolical discipline permitteth, with consent of both, or when she is not yet married. Even he who is such as this, is yet overtaken in such things as I have mentioned. For all these daily sins then what is our hope, save to say with humble heart in the Lord’s Prayer, while we defend not our sins, but confess them, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;” and to “have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” that He may be “the propitiation for our sins”? See what followeth: “their judges have been swallowed up beside the Rock” (ver. 6). What is, “swallowed up beside the Rock? That Rock was Christ. They have been swallowed up beside the Rock.” “Beside,” that is, compared, as judges, as mighty, powerful, learned: they are called “their judges,” as judging about morals, and laying down their opinions. This Aristotle said. Set him beside the Rock, and he is swallowed up. Who is Aristotle? let him hear, “Christ hath said,” and he trembleth among the dead. This Pythagoras said, that Plato said. Set them beside the Rock, compare their authority to the authority of the Gospel, compare the proud to the Crucified. Say we to them “Ye have written your words in the hearts of the proud; He hath planted His Cross in the hearts of kings: finally, He died, and rose again; ye are dead, and I will not ask how ye rise again.” So “their judges have been swallowed up beside” that “Rock.” So long do their words seem somewhat, till they are compared with the Rock. Therefore if any of them be found to have said what Christ too hath said, we congratulate him, but we follow him not. But he came before Christ. If any man speak what is true, is he therefore before the Truth itself? Regard Christ, O man, not when He came to thee, but when He made thee. The sick man too might say, “But I took to my bed before the physician came to me.” Why, for that very reason has He come last, because thou first has sickened.
Quis autem novit vias istas hominis, fratres mei, nisi vere ille cui dictum est, «Tu cognovisti semitas meas?» Omnia enim facta humana ante oculos hominum; incertum est quo corde fiant. Et quam multi impii metientes semetipsos, ex semetipsis dicunt de nobis quod ista in Ecclesia quaerimus, honores, laudes, utilitates temporales? Quam multi dicunt me propterea loqui vobis, ut acclametis et laudetis me, et hunc me habere finem et hanc intentionem, cum loquor? Et quomodo eis ostendo non ea intentione me loqui? Restat ut dicam, «Tu cognovisti semitas meas.» Quomodo illi sciunt quod nec vos scitis? Quomodo illi sciunt quod vix ego scio? Neque enim ego meipsum dijudico: qui enim dijudicat me, Dominus est . Nescio quid de se Petrus nesciens praesumpsit, et aliud videbat medicus in viribus ejus. Ergo pie pureque clametur ad Dominum, quia vere clamatur, «Tu cognovisti semitas meas.» Sed vis ut ducat te per ipsas semitas? Esto mitis, esto mansuetus; noli esse ferox, noli superbus, noli excussa et erecta cervice, sicut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus . Cum enim fueris mitis, cum fueris mansuetus, insidet Dominus, et ducet te per vias suas: diriget enim mites in judicio, docebit mansuetos vias suas . «Tu» ergo «cognovisti semitas meas.»
141.9 PL 36, 1838
9. “They shall hear My Words, for they have prevailed.” My Words have prevailed over their words. They have spoken clever things, I true things. To praise one who talketh well is one thing, to praise One who speaketh truth is another. “They shall hear My Words, for they have prevailed.” How have they prevailed? Who of them has been taken offering sacrifice, when such things were forbidden by the law, and has not denied it? Who of them has been taken worshipping an idol, and has not exclaimed, “I did it not,” and feared lest he should be convicted? Such servants hath the devil. But how have the Words of the Lord prevailed? “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Fear not those who kill the body,” etc. He gave them fear, He suggested hope, He kindled love. “Fear not death,” He saith. Do ye fear death? I die first. Fear ye, lest a hair of your head perish? I first rise again in the flesh uninjured. Rightly have ye heard His Words, for they have prevailed. They spake, and were slain; they fell, and yet stood. And what was the result of so many deaths of martyrs, save that those words prevailed, and the earth being, so to speak, watered by the blood of Christ’s witnesses, the cross of the Church shot up everywhere? How have they “prevailed”? We have said already, when they were preached by men who feared not. Feared not what? Neither banishment, nor losses, nor death, nor crucifixion: for it was not death alone that they did not fear; but even crucifixion, a death than which none was thought more accursed. It the Lord endured, that His disciples might not only not fear death, but not even that kind of death. When then these things are said by men that fear not, they have prevailed.
«In via hac qua ingrediebar, absconderunt mihi muscipulam.» Via haec qua ingrediebatur, Christus est: ibi illi absconderunt muscipulam, qui persequuntur in Christo, propter nomen Christi. Ibi ergo «absconderunt muscipulam mihi». Quid in me zelant? quid in me persequuntur? Quod christianus sum. Si ergo hoc persequuntur, quod christianus sum, «In via qua ingrediebar, absconderunt mihi muscipulam.» Quantum in ipsis est, in via qua ingrediebar, ipsi absconderunt muscipulam mihi: quantum ad eorum cupiditatem pertinet, quantum ad eorum conatum, quantum ad eorum votum, in ipsa via me voluerunt habere muscipulam qua caperer. Sed «novit Dominus viam justorum; et tu cognovisti semitas meas.» Hoc quidem illi voluerunt; sed tu eos non permittis in te ponere scandalum, quia tu es via mea. Nam et haeretici in nomine Christi nobis volunt abscondere scandalum, et ipsi falluntur. Quod se in via putant ponere, extra viam ponunt, quia et ipsi extra viam sunt: muscipulam ponere non possunt ubi ipsi non sunt. Sed dictum est hoc secundum cupiditatem ipsorum, secundum votum et opinionem eorum: nam expresse alibi dictum est, «Juxta semitas scandala posuerunt mihi» . Hoc quod dictum est, «in via;» secundum cupiditatem eorum et votum dictum est: illud quod dictum est, juxta viam, id est, «juxta semitas;» secundum veritatem dictum est. Revera enim non ponunt in semita, non ponunt in ipsa via, quia Christus est via : sane juxta semitas ponunt. Non eos Christus sinit ponere in via, ne non sit qua eamus: sinit tamen eos ponere juxta viam, ut de via non declinemus. In via se putat ponere scandalum paganus, quando mihi dicit: Colis Deum crucifixum. Reprehendit crucem Christi, quam non intelligit. In Christo se putat ponere quod juxta viam ponit. Non egrediar a Christo, et non incidam a via in muscipulam. Insultet ille crucifixo Christo; videam ego in frontibus regum crucem Christi. Quod irridet, ibi salvor. Nihil est superbius aegroto qui deridet medicamentum suum. Si non derideret, acciperet et ipse, et sanaretur. Crux illa signum est humilitatis; ille autem superbia nimia non agnoscit unde sanetur tumor animae ipsius. Si autem ego agnosco, in via ambulo. Usque adeo de cruce non erubesco, ut non in occulto loco habeam crucem Christi, sed in fronte portem. Multa Sacramenta aliter atque aliter accipimus: quaedam, sicut nostis, ore accipimus, quaedam per totum corpus accipimus. Quia vero in fronte erubescitur, ille qui dixit, «Qui me erubuerit coram hominibus, erubescam eum coram Patre meo, qui in coelis est» ; ipsam ignominiam quodam modo, quam Pagani derident, in loco pudoris nostri constituit. Audis hominem insultare impudenti, et dicere: Frontem non habet. Quid est, Frontem non habet? Impudens est. Non habeam nudam frontem; tegat eam crux Domini mei. Ergo «In via qua ingrediebar, absconderunt muscipulam mihi,» quantum in ipsis est; nam juxta viam posuerunt: ego autem tutus ero, si de via non recessero. «Ignoras quia in medio laqueorum ingrederis,» ait Scriptura . Quid est, «in medio laqueorum?» In via Christi, et hinc laquei, et hinc laquei; laquei a dextris, laquei a sinistris: laquei a dextris, prosperitas saeculi; laquei a sinistris, adversitas saeculi: laquei a dextris, promissiones; laquei a sinistris, terrores. Tu in medio laqueorum ingredere, a via noli recedere: nec promissio te capiat, nec terror elidat. «In via hac qua ingrediebar, absconderunt muscipulam mihi.»
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10. What then have all those deaths of the martyrs accomplished? Listen: “As the fatness of the earth is spread over the earth, our bones have been scattered beside the pit” (ver. 7). “The bones” of the martyrs, that is, the bodies of the witnesses of Christ. The martyrs were slain, and they who slew them seemed to prevail. They prevailed by persecution, that the words of Christ might prevail by preaching. And what was the result of the deaths of the saints? What meaneth, “the fatness of the earth is spread over the earth”? We know that everything that is refuse is the fatness of the earth. The things which are, as it were, contemptible to men, enrich the earth.…“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” As it is contemptible to the world, so is it precious to the husbandman. For he knoweth the use thereof, and its rich juice; he knoweth what he desireth, what he seeketh, whence the fertile crop ariseth; but this world despiseth it. Know ye not that “God hath chosen the contemptible things of the world, and those which are not, like as those which are, that the things which are may be brought to nought”? From the dunghill was Peter lifted up, and Paul; when they were put to death, they were despised: now, the earth having been enriched by them, and the cross of the Church springing up, behold, all that is noble and chief in the world, even the emperor himself, cometh to Rome, and whither does he hasten? to the temple of the emperor, or the memorial of the fisherman?
[«vers. 5.] Considerabam in dexteram, et videbam.» In dexteram considerabat, et videbat: in sinistram qui considerat, excaecatur. Quid est in dexteram considerare? Ubi erunt illi quibus dicetur: «Venite, benedicti Patris mei, possidete regnum.» Erunt enim quidam in sinistra, quibus dicetur: «Ite in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis ejus» . Fremente ergo toto mundo et minante in persecutionibus, crebrescentibus undique insultationibus hominum atque terroribus, ille contemnens praesentia, respiciebat in futura, attendebat in dexteram ubi futurus est; ibi esse meditabatur, illuc attendebat, et videbat, et ideo omnia ferebat: illi autem qui persequebantur, non videbant. Ideo cum diceret, «Considerabam in dexteram, et videbam;» secutus ait, «Et non erat qui cognosceret me.» Cum enim toleras omnia, quis novit quid attendas; utrum in dexteram oculum dirigas, an in sinistram? In eo quod toleras, si laudem hominum quaeris, in sinistram attendisti: in eo quod toleras, si promissa Dei quaeris, in dexteram attendisti. Attendisti in dexteram, videbis: attendisti in sinistram, excaecaberis. Sed et cum vides in dexteram, non erit qui te agnoscat. Quis enim te consolatur, nisi Dominus cui dicis, «Et tu cognovisti semitas meas? Nec erat qui cognosceret me.»
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11. “For unto Thee, Lord, are mine eyes; in Thee have I hoped, take not Thou away my life” (ver. 8). For they were tortured in persecutions, and many failed. It occurreth to him that many have failed, many have been in hazard, and as it were in the midst of the tribulation of persecution is sent forth the voice of one praying; “For unto Thee, Lord, are mine eyes:” I care not what they threaten who stand around, “unto Thee, Lord, are mine eyes.” More do I fix mine eye on Thy promises than on their threats. I know what Thou hast suffered for me, what Thou hast promised me.
«Periit fuga a me.» Tanquam circumclusum se dicit: «Periit fuga a me.» Insultent persecutores, oppressus est, captus est, circumclusus est, victus est; periit fuga ab illo. Ab illo periit fuga, qui non fugit. Qui autem non fugit, patitur quidquid potest pro Christo; id est, non fugit animo. Nam corpore fugere licet, concessum est, permissum est, Domino dicente: «Si vos persecuti fuerint in una civitate, fugite in aliam» . Qui ergo non fugit animo, periit ab illo fuga. Sed interest quare non fugiat; quia circumclusus est, quia captus est, an quia fortis est: et a capto enim periit fuga, et a forti periit fuga. Quae ergo fuga cavenda est? quae fuga a nobis pereat? De qua Dominus dicit in Evangelio, quia «pastor bonus animam suam ponit pro ovibus suis: mercenarius autem et qui non est pastor, cum viderit lupum venientem, fugit.» Cum viderit praedonem, quare fugit? «Quia non est ei cura de ovibus» . Talis fuga ab isto perierat; sive ab ipsius capitis persona accipiamus hanc vocem illius Christi Domini, qui pro omnibus mortuus est; sive a membris ejus martyribus nostris, quia et ipsi pro fratribus passi sunt. Audi Joannem dicentem: «Sicut enim ille animam suam pro nobis posuit, sic et nos debemus animas pro fratribus ponere» . Sed cum illi ponunt, Christus ponit; quia cum illi patiuntur persecutionem, ipse clamat, «Quid me persequeris» ? «Periit fuga a me; et non est qui exquirat animam meam.» Ergo non est qui exquirat animam ipsius? Videt homines velle saevire in necem suam, velle effundere sanguinem ipsius; quomodo non est qui requirat animam ejus? Et hoc duobus modis accipitur. Quomodo perire fugam accipitur duobus modis, quia et a capto et a forti perit fuga; sic duobus modis quaeritur anima hominis, aut a persecutoribus, aut a dilectoribus. Ita ergo, «Non est qui requirat animam meam:» de illis dixit, Certe persequuntur animam meam, et non quaerunt animam meam. Si autem requirunt animam meam, invenient inhaerentem tibi: et si norunt eam quaerere, norunt et imitari. Nam ut noveritis quaeri animam hominis et a persecutoribus, inde alibi dicitur: «Confundantur, et revereantur qui quaerunt animam meam» .
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12. “Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me” (ver. 9). What was the trap? “If thou consentest, I spare thee.” In the trap was set the bait of the present life; if the bird love this bait, it falleth into the trap: but if the bird be able to say, “The day of man have I not desired: Thou knowest:” “He shall pluck his feet out of the net,” etc. Two things he hath mentioned to be distinguished the one from the other: the trap he said was set by persecutors; the stumbling-blocks came from those who have consented and apostatised: and from both he desires to be guarded. On the one side they threaten and rage, on the other consent and fall: I fear lest the one be such, that I fear him; the other such, that I imitate him. “This I do to thee, if thou consent not.” “Keep me from the trap,” etc. “Behold, thy brother hath already consented.” “And from the stumbling-blocks,” etc.
[«vers. 6.] Clamavi ad te, Domine; dixi, Tu es spes mea.» Quando tolerabam, quando tribulabar, «dixi, Tu es spes mea.» Spes mea hic; ideo tolero. «Portio» autem «mea,» non hic, sed «in terra viventium.» Dat Deus portionem in terra viventium; sed non aliquid a se, extra se. Quid dabit amanti se, nisi se?
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13. “Sinners shall fall into his nets” (ver. 10). Not all sinners, certain sinners, who are so great sinners, as to love this life to such a degree as to prefer it to everlasting life, “shall fall into his trap.” But what sayest thou? Shall they that are such, thinkest thou, fall into his nets? what of Thy disciples, O Christ? Behold, when persecution was raging, when they all “left Thee alone, and went every one to his own:” lo! they who were closest to Thee, in Thy trial and persecution, when Thine enemies demanded Thee to be crucified, abandoned Thee. And that bold one, who had promised Thee that he would go with Thee even unto death, heard from the Physician what was being done in him, the sick man. For being in a fever, he had said he was whole; but the Lord touched the vein of his heart. Then came the trial; then came the test; then came the accusation; and now, questioned not by some great power, but by a humble slave, and that a woman, questioned by a handmaid, he yielded; he denied thrice.…“He wept bitterly,” it saith. Not yet was he fitted to suffer. To him was said, “Thou shalt follow Me afterwards.” Hereafter he was to be firm, having been strengthened by the Lord’s Resurrection. Not yet then was it time that those “bones” should be “scattered beside the pit.” For see how many failed, even to those who first hung on His mouth; even they failed. Wherefore? “I am alone, until I pass over:” for this followeth in the Psalm.…
[«vers. 7.] Intende ad orationem meam; quia humiliatus sum nimis.» Humiliatus a persecutoribus, humiliatus in confessione. Humiliat se invisibiliter, humiliatus ab hostibus visibiliter. Erigitur ergo ab illo visibiliter et invisibiliter. Invisibiliter erecti sunt jam martyres: visibiliter erigentur, cum corruptibile hoc induerit incorruptionem in resurrectione mortuorum, cum et hoc ipsum in quod solum persecutores saevire potuerunt, instaurabitur . «Nolite timere eos qui corpus occidunt, animam autem non possunt occidere» . Et quid perit? quid occidunt? Vel hoc eis permittitur, ut quod occiderint pereat? Non periet. Audi ipsius Domini promissionem: «Amen dico vobis, capillus capitis vestri non periet» . Quid ergo de caeteris membris sollicitus es, ubi damnum capilli non erit?
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14. Pascha, as they say who know, and who have explained to us what to read, meaneth “Passover.” When then the Lord’s Passion was about to come, the Evangelist, as though he would use this very word, saith, “When the hour was come that Jesus should pass over to the Father.” We hear then of Pascha in this verse, “I am alone, until I pass over.” After Pascha I shall no longer be alone, after passing-over I shall no longer be alone. Many shall imitate Me, many shall follow Me. And if afterward they shall follow, what shall be the case now? “I am alone, until I pass over.” What is it that the Lord saith in this Psalm, “I am alone, until I pass over”? What is it that we have expounded? If we have understood it, listen to His own words in the Gospel. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.”…Therefore He was alone before He was put to death.…So far was any from dying for the Name, that is, for confessing the Name of Christ, before that Corn of wheat fell into the ground, that even John, who was slain just before Him, being given by a wicked king to a dancing woman, was not put to death because he confessed Christ. Of course he might have been put to death for this, and that by many. If for another reason he was put to death by one man, how much more might he have been put to death by those very men, who put Christ to death? For John gave testimony to Christ. They who heard Christ, wished to slay Him; the man who gave testimony to Him they slew not.…He is not slain by the Jews who gave free testimony to Christ, whom the Jews slew; he is slain by Herod, because he said to him, “It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.” For his brother had not died without issue. For the law of truth, for equity, for righteousness’ sake, he did die: therefore is he a saint, therefore a martyr; but yet he died not for that Name whereby we are Christians, wherefore, save that the saying might be fulfilled, “I am alone, until I pass over.”
«Erue me a persequentibus me.» A quibus putatis quod oret ut eruatur? Ab hominibus qui persequebantur? Ita vero ipsi homines sunt hostes nostri? Habemus alios hostes invisibiles, qui aliter persequuntur. Homo persequitur, ut occidat corpus; persequitur alius, ut illaqueet animam. Et ideo per vasa sua, quia de illo dictum est, «Operatur in filiis diffidentiae» : per vasa sua, id est, homines in quibus operatur, agit persecutionem corporis, ut intus fiat ruina cordis. Nam si cadente corpore stat anima, muscipula comminuta est, et nos liberati sumus . Ergo sunt et alii hostes nostri, a quibus deprecari debemus Deum ut eruat nos, ne seducant nos, vel fractos molestiis saecularibus, vel inductos illecebris. Qui sunt isti hostes? Videamus si ab aliquo servo Dominico aperte describuntur, ab aliquo milite perfecto qui cum illis congressus est. Audi Apostolum dicentem: «Non est vobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem.» Nolite quasi odia vestra convertere in homines, et eos vobis hostes existimare, et eorum inimicitiis vos conteri putare: isti homines quos timetis, caro et sanguis sunt; «Non est vobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem.» Sic voluit dicere, contemnens hominum mortalitatem. Et adversus quos? «Adversus principes,» inquit, «et potestates, et rectores hujus mundi, tenebrarum harum» . Expaveras, cum audires, «rectores mundi.» Si rectores mundi istius, numquid praeter mundum iturus es, ubi illos non patiaris? praeter mundum iturus es, ubi ab eis eruaris? Sic ergo accipe «mundi» et «tenebrarum harum rectores,» non rectores coeli et terrae; nam ipsa fabrica Dei est. Coelum et terra mundus dicitur, et homines mali mundus. Quare et isti mundus? Quia diligunt mundum: et ideo tenebrae, quia impii. Ideoque jam ex ipso numero credentibus multis, quid dicit Apostolus? «Fuistis aliquando tenebrae; nunc autem lux in Domino» . Antequam essetis ergo lux, cum tenebrae essetis, attendite quem rectorem habuistis. Quem rectorem habent iniqui, nisi diabolum, quomodo pii et fideles rectorem habent Christum? Ergo diabolum et angelos ejus «rectores mundi» appellavit, id est, rectores dilectorum mundi, rectores peccatorum, quod est, «tenebrarum harum:» ipsos habemus inimicos, a quibus debemus deprecari Dominum ut eruamur.