Sermons on the Song of Songs30 Sermon XXX
Sermon XXX
Google able, how a contest against the Church may be carried on by her children in a spirit of hostility, and yet how the harm which they inflict may be for her good; for there is nothing more agreeable than that those who intend to do harm should do good even against their will. The former interpretation given of the words covers either sense, because the Church has never been without those who have been well disposed towards her, or without others who have been ill disposed; and each of these classes of people have attacked her, though from precisely opposite motives; yet each kind of attacks have been to her profit In fact, she is able so to glory in having profited by the trials which she has endured at the hand of her rivals, that for one vineyard, which they have seemed to have taken away from her, she rejoices in having been set over many. This, she says, is the benefit that they have done in contending against me and my vineyard, those, I mean, who say, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof (Vs. cxxxvii. 7), namely, that instead of one, I can number many vineyards as mine. It is that she says in effect, when she continues, My own vineyard I have not kept, as if she would explain the reason why she is no longer the keeper of one vineyard, but of many; and that is, indeed, the literal sense of the words.
2. But if we follow it simply, and are contented with the most obvious meaning which occurs to us, we shall consider that the Holy Scripture intends to speak here of those earthly and material vineyards, which, as we see daily, receive from the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth the elements from which they pour forth wine, in which is excess and riot (luxuria); and thus we draw out no sense befitting and worthy, I do not say of the Bride of the Lord merely, but of any modest and retiring matron, from the words of the Scripture. For what sort of fitness is there in married women to undertake the custody of vineyards? And even if that were otherwise, what reason have we for supposing that the Church was ever destined to such an office? Does God take a particular care of earthly vineyards? But if we interpret in a spiritual manner, and understand by the vineyards Churches, that is, faithful nations, according to the thought of the Prophet, when he says, The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel (Is. v. 7), then we shall, perhaps, begin to perceive how it is by no means unworthy of the Bride to become keeper of the vineyards.
3. Furthermore, I think that we shall find in this a veritable prerogative, and one of no small value, if anyone takes the trouble to consider carefully how greatly she has extended her bounds in vineyards of this kind in every part of the world since the day when she was attacked in Jerusalem, and driven forth by the children of her mother, with those who were of that her new plantation, I mean the multitude of them who believed, of whom we read that they were of one heart and of one soul (Acts iv. 32). And it is that vineyard which she here confesses that she had not kept, but that did not turn to her discredit; for that was not in the persecution so torn up thence 4. Then, again, from this single vine, which the violence of a cruel persecution seemed to have destroyed, how many shoots have been planted and have flourished in every part of the world? And over all these the Bride has been set as guardian, that she might not sorrow, because her first vineyard she did not keep. Be consoled, O daughter of Sion; if blindness in part has happened unto Israel, what hast thou lost by this? Reverence in silence the mystery; do not lament it as a loss. Rather make broad thy bosom, and gather in the fulness of the Gentiles. Say to the cities of Judah: // was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts xiii. 46). The offer was made by God to Moses, that if he would give up a people which had quickly turned aside out of the way of God's commandments, and abandon it to the Divine vengeance, that he himself should become a great nation; but he refused. Wherefore? Because he felt for that people an exceeding love, which held him in close attachment to them; and because he did not seek to advance his own interests but the honour of God, nor cared for that which should profit himself, but for that which should be to the good of many. That was his great desire.
5. For my part I think that in this was a secret design of Providence, and that this gift, so great and so excellent, was reserved to the Bride, so that she, and not Moses, should be developed into a 6. I am accustomed, when occasion is given to me by these words, and understanding souls to be meant by vines, I am accustomed to blame myself for having undertaken the cure of souls when I am not sufficient to guard and keep my own soul. And if you approve of this interpretation, notice also, that we may go on to call faith the root of the vine; the various virtues the branches; good works the bunch or cluster of grapes which it bears; and devotion the wine they 1 Plectentem et amplectentem.
7. I wonder at the rash boldness of very many people who do not gather anything from their own vineyards, unless it be briers and thorns, and yet do not fear to obtrude themselves as keepers even over the vineyards of the Lord. Robbers they are, and thieves, not faithful guardians, nor laborious vine-dressers. But let us not occupy ourselves longer with these. Woe to me also for the peril in which the vineyard of my soul is even now—indeed, even more now than heretofore, inasmuch as being engrossed with the care of many, it is impossible but that I should become less careful, less occupied in loving thoughtfulness for that one. No opportunity is given to me to surround it by a protecting hedge, or to dig out the [place for the wine-press. Alas the enclosing wall of it is broken down, so that all they who pass by pluck her grapes (Ps. lxxx. 12). It lies open and exposed on all sides to sadness, to wrath, to impatience. Certain little foxes of pressing necessities, which are, so to speak, constantly gnawing, demolish and lay it waste; it is overrun in all 8. It is thus, then, that I apply, in my imperfect manner, the present passage to myself. But perfect will be everyone who is enabled in another sense to say, My own vineyard I have not kept; namely, in that sense in which the Saviour says in the Gospel, He that loseth his life for My sake shallfind it (Matt. x. 39). The person is evidently fit and worthy to be set as keeper over the vineyards, who is not prevented from, or even hindered in, the care of his own vineyard, by all the diligence and carefulness which he gives to watching over others committed to his charge; while at the same time he seeks not the advancement of his own interests, or that which is of advantage to himself, but that which is useful and beneficial to many. Without doubt, if the care of so many vineyards (that is, souls belonging to the circumcision) was confined to St. Peter, it was because he was ready to go both into prison, and to death (Luke xxii. 33), so little was he restrained by the love of his own vineyard, that is, of his soul, from the care of those intrusted to his charge. It was also on a similar ground that so great a space of vineyards among the nations was confided to St Paul; because, so far from being too much engrossed in the care of his own, he was ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus (Acts xxii. 33). He said, in fact, None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself (xx. 24). It was to form a right estimate of things, to regard nothing that belonged to him as to be preferred to his own self.
0. How many persons there are who have preferred even the meanest of things, a little money, to their salvation! But St. Paul 10. You also, if you abandon your own will; if you perfectly renounce the pleasures of the body; if you crucify the flesh, with its desires and lusts, and mortify your members which are upon the earth, you will show yourself to be an imitator of St. Paul, in that you do not regard your life as dearer than yourself; you will show yourself also a disciple of Christ, by even losing it, unto salvation. And indeed you will act more prudently by losing it in order to preserve it, than by so preserving it as to lose it. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (Matt. xvi. 25). What do you say to this, you who are close observers of the quality of your provisions, but negligent of your own characters? Hippocrates and his followers teach how 1 See notes to Ep. 345.
11. What other advice have you ever heard in the school of Jesus Christ than this which was just now repeated: He that loveth his life shall lose it (John xii. 25)? Shall lose it, He says, whether by laying it down as a martyr, or by afflicting it as a penitent. Although to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit is a kind of martyrdom, and it is done with a spiritual weapon which does not, indeed, excite so much horror as that with which the limbs of the body are cut and carved, but is not less painful, since its action continues much longer., Do you see how, by this saying of the Master, the wisdom of the flesh is condemned—that wisdom, I mean, which either ministers to the desire for bodily pleasure, or which cares for the good health of the body beyond what is needful? To show us that the true wisdom does not expend itself upon pleasures, a wise man teaches (Job xxviii. 13, Douay) that it is not even found in the land of them who live in delights. While he who has found it cries: I have loved it [wisdom more than health and beauty (Wisd. vii. 10). But if above health and beauty, how much more above pleasure and shameful enjoyment? But even though a man has severed himself from pleasures, what does this profit if he expends his cares and thoughts every day in investigating differences of constitution, or in devising variations in the cooking of food? ' Beans,' gravely reflects such a person as this, 'produce wind; cheese is heavy upon the stomach; milk causes headache; the chest will not bear the drinking of water; cabbages nourish melancholy; leeks inflame the bile; fishes from ponds, or from stagnant and muddy water, do not at all agree with 12. Consider. I pray you, that you are a monk, not a physician; and that it is not your business to make a study of constitutions, but to obey your rule. Have consideration, I entreat, first for your own quiet, then for the labour of those who minister to your wants; do not increase the charges upon the house—have some regard to conscience. To conscience, I say, not your own, but his who, sitting opposite you, eats what is set before him, and murmurs at your unaccountable abstinence. For he is scandalized, either at your hateful superstition, or at what he perhaps thinks the hardheartedness of him whose duty it is to make needful provision for you. Your brother, I repeat, is scandalized at your singularity; he thinks you superstitious in that you require superfluities, or he accuses me of being unfeeling in that I do not seek out and provide the food necessary for you. It is to no purpose that some people flatter themselves that they have precedent in their favour by the example of St. Paul, who bade his disciple drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities (1 Tim. v. 23). They ought to notice, in the first place, that it was not to himself that the Apostle gave that direction; and, in the next, that the disciple did not make this request on his own behalf. Then, it was not to a monk that this direction was given, but to a Bishop, whose life was of great importance to the nascent and still tender Church. This was Timothy. Give me another Timothy, and I will feed him even upon gold if you wish it, and give him precious cordial to drink. But it is you who make these dispensations, for your own self, and that through tenderness for your own feelings. That dispensation of yours, granted to yourself, is, I confess, a matter for suspicion to me, and I strongly suspect that carnal prudence is deceiving you under the cover and by the name of discretion. And I desire, at least, to admonish you if you allege the authority of the Apostle for drinking wine, that you do not overlook the limitation which he adds of * a little.’ And so enough of that subject. Let us return to the Bride, and let us learn from her not to keep our vineyards merely for our own good, especially we who seem to have been made keepers of the vineyards of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
1 Utiliter; that is, to our own good. So the oldest MSS., and printed editions. Horst and others read: * Proprias utiliter nos eustodireS THE EXCELLENCY OF THE VISION OF GOD
1. Posuerunt me custodem in vineis. Qui? Tuine illi oppugnatores quos proxime memorasti? Audite et intelligite, si non se ab illis ipsis fatetur ista promotam, a quibus et passam. Nec mirum tamen, siquidem fuerit causa pugnandi intentio corrigendi. Nam quis nesciat multos amicabiliter utiliterque multoties oppugnatos? Quam multos quotidie experimur piis impugnationibus praelatorum ad meliora proficere, provehi ad altiora? Ergo illud potius demonstremus, si possumus, quemadmodum adversus Ecclesiam pugnatum sit a filiis matris suae, et hostili animo, et damno utili. Id enim jucundius, cum qui nocere intendunt, prosunt et nolentes. Utrumque vero sensum tenet superior interpretatio: quoniam quidem non defuerunt, et qui bene, et qui male aemularentur eam, diversa intentione pugnantes; sed utrique profuerunt. In tantum denique se profecisse ex iis quae ab aemulis passa est gloriatur, ut pro una vinea, quam sibi abstulisse visi sunt, super multas se gaudeat constitutam. Hoc mihi, inquit, praestitere pugnando contra me et contra vineam meam, qui dicunt: Exinanite, exinanite usque ad fundamentum in ea, ut unam pluribus commutarim. Hoc quippe est quod infert, Vineam meam non custodivi: tanquam causam subjungens unde hoc illi contigerit, ut non in una jam, sed in pluribus custos posita sit. Et littera quidem sic est.
2. Sed si eam simpliciter sequimur, contenti eo solo quod sonare in superficie illa videtur, putabimus nos legere in Scriptura sancta de his vineis corporeis et terrenis quas quotidie cernimus de roro coeli et de pinguedine terrae accipere, unde fundunt vinum, in quo est luxuria: et sic nihil, non dico Domini sponsae dignum, sed nec cuivis caeterarum congruum quid de tam sancta et divina Scriptura attulisse videbimur. Quae enim convenientia sponsis et custodiae vinearum? Sed etsi convenire putetur, unde docebimus fuisse aliquando Ecclesiam istiusmodi deputatam officio? Nunquid de vineis cura est Deo? Si autem spirituali sensu vineas Ecclesias, id est fideles interpretamur populos, juxta prophetae sensum dicentis, Vinea Domini sabaoth domus Israel est, incipiet fortassis elucere nobis quomodo sponsae minime indignum sit fieri custodem in vineis.
3. Puto quod et non parva insuper et in hoc ipso apparebit praerogativa, si quis diligentius curet advertere quantum ubique per orbem in hujusmodi vineas dilataverit terminos suos a die illa qua Jerosolymis a filiis matris suae expugnata est et exturbata, una cum prima illa sua novella plantatione; multitudinem dico credentium, quorum legitur fuisse cor unum et anima una. Et ipsa est, quam modo fatetur se minime custodisse, sed non ad insipientiam sibi. Nec enim ita inde evulsa in persecutione fuit, ut non alibi plantaretur, atque aliis locaretur agricolis, qui reddant fructus ejus temporibus suis. Non prorsus, non periit, sed migravit; etiam crevit et dilatata est, tanquam cui benedixit Dominus. Denique leva oculos tuos, et vide si non operuit montes umbra ejus, et arbusta ejus cedros Dei; si non extendit palmites suos usque ad mare et usque ad flumen propagines ejus. Nec mirum, Dei enim aedificatio est, Dei agricultura est. Ipse fecundat, ipse propagat, ipse putat et purgat eam, ut fructum plus afferat. Quando nempe sua destitueret cura vel opera, quam plantavit dextera ejus? Non plane habenda neglectui, in qua apostoli palmites, Dominus vitis, et Pater ejus agricola est. In fide plantata, in charitate mittit radices, defossa sarculo disciplinae, stercorata poenitentium lacrymis, rigata praedicantium verbis: et sic sane exuberans vino in quo est laetitia, sed non luxuria; vino totius suavitatis, nullius libidinis. Hoc certe vinum laetificat cor hominis; hoc constat et angelos bibere cum laetitia. Denique gaudent in conversione et poenitentia peccatorum, salutem hominum sitientes. Lacrymae poenitentium vinum eorum, quod in illis vitae odor, sapor gratiae sit, indulgentiae gustus, reconciliationis jucunditas, sanitas redeuntis innocentiae, serenatae suavitas conscientiae.
4. Ergo ex illa una vinea, quam saevae persecutionis visa est delevisse tempestas, quantae in universa terra propagatae refloruerunt? Et in his omnibus custos posita sponsa est, ut non contristetur, quod primam vineam non custodivit. Consolare, filia Sion: si caecitas ex parte contigit in Israel, quid tu perdis? Mirare mysterium, et noli plangere detrimentum: dilata sinum, et collige plenitudinem gentium. Dic civitatibus Judae: Vobis oportebat primum loqui verbum Dei; sed quoniam repulistis illud, et indignos vos judicastis aeternae vitae, ecce convertimur ad gentes. Moysi sane oblatum est a Deo, si praevaricatorem populum vellet dimittere, et divinae exponere ultioni, ipsum quidem fieri posse in gentem magnam: sed ille renuit. Quare? Ob nimiam profecto dilectionem qua illi fortiter devinctus populo tenebatur; et quoniam non requirebat quae sua sunt, sed Dei honorem, et non quod sibi utile foret, sed quod multis. Et ille quidem sic.
5. Ego autem consilio secretiori puto hoc munus divinitus pro sui magnitudine servatum sponsae, ut ipsa potius, et non Moyses, mitteretur in gentem magnam. Non enim oportebat amicum sponsi praeripere sponsae benedictionem; et propterea non quidem Moyses, sed nova sponsa, cui dicitur: Ite in mundum universum, praedicate Evangelium omni creaturae; ipsa, inquam, prorsus missa est in gentem magnam. Num in majorem potuit quam in universitatem? Et facile universitas cessit portanti pacem, gratiam offerenti. Sed non sicut gratia, ita et lex. Quam dissimili vultu ad omnem conscientiam se offerunt suavitas hujus, et illius austeritas. Quis sane ex aequo respiciat condemnantem et consolantem, reposcentem et ignoscentem, plectentem et amplectentem? Non pari profecto acceptabitur voto umbra et lux, ira et pax, judicium et misericordia, figura et veritas, virga et haereditas, frenum et osculum. Graves denique Moysi manus, testibus Aaron et Hur; grave Legis jugum, testibus ipsis apostolis, qui hoc et sibi, et patribus importabile clamitant; grave jugum, et vile praemium: nam terra est in promissione. Pro hujusmodi non est Moyses missus in gentem magnam. Verum tu, mater Ecclesia, promissionem habens vitae quae nunc est et futurae, facile in duplici gratia obtines ab universis te recipi, et propter jugum suave, et propter regnum sublime. Pulsa de civitate, ab universitate exciperis, dum sic provocat quod promittis, ut quod imponis non terreat. Quid adhuc unius vineae plangis damnum, quod tanto tibi fenore compensatum est? Pro eo quod fuisti derelicta, et odio habita, et non fuit qui per te transiret: Ponam te, inquit, in superbiam saeculorum, gaudium in generatione et generationem; et suges lac gentium, et mammilla regum lactaberis; et scies quia ego Dominus salvans te, et redemptor tuus fortis Jacob. Tali itaque modo dicit se sponsa positam custodem in vineis, et quia vineam suam non custodivit.
6. Ego loci hujus occasione me ipsum reprehendere soleo, quod animarum susceperim curam, qui meam non sufficerem custodire; vineas animas interpretans. Quod si probas et tu hanc nostram interpretationem, vide etiam consequenter, an recte quoque dicamus fidem, vitem; virtutes, palmites; botrum, opus; devotionem, vinum. Siquidem nec palmes absque vite, nec virtus sine fide aliquid est. Sine fide enim impossibile est placere Deo; fortasse et displicere necesse erit. Denique omne quod non est ex fide, peccatum est. Hoc ergo considerare oportuit illos qui me posuerunt custodem in vineis, si videlicet propriam custodissem. At quanto tempore inculta jacuit et deserta, redacta in solitudinem! Prorsus defecerat vinum ex ea, arefactis, prae sterilitate fidei, virtutum palmitibus. Erat fides, sed mortua. Quomodo enim non mortua sine operibus? Et id quidem in saeculari vita. Caeterum conversus ad Dominum, meliuscule coepi, fateor, custodire; non tamen prout oportuit. Et quis nempe ad hoc idoneus? Nec sanctus Propheta, qui ait: Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, frusta vigilat qui custodit eam. Quantis etiam tunc memini me patere insidiis illius, qui sagittat in occultis immaculatum? Quantum nobis, o vinea mea, furtivis subreptum est machinamentis eo ipso tempore, quo vigilantius intendere coepimus curae et custodiae nostri? Quot et quales piorum botros operum aut praefocavit ira, aut tulit jactantia, aut foedavit inanis gloria? Quanta ab illecebra gulae, quanta ab acediae spiritu, quanta a pusillanimitate spiritus et tempestate sustinuimus? Sic eram: et nihilominus tamen posuerunt me custodem in vineis, non considerantes quid de mea ego facerem vel fecissem, nec audientes arguentem magistrum ac dicentem: Si quis domui suae praesse nescit, quomodo Ecclesiae Dei diligentiam habebit?
7. Miror audaciam plurimorum, quos videmus de suis vineis non colligere nisi spinas et tribulos, vineis tamen Dominicis etiam se ingerere non vereri. Fures sunt et latrones, non custodes, neque cultores. Hoc illis. Vae autem mihi etiam nunc a periculo vineae meae! imo magis nunc, quando pluribus intentus, minus circa unam diligens, minusque sollicitus fieri cogor. Nec spem circumdare, nec torcular fodere in ea licet. Heu! destructa est maceria ejus, et vindemiant eam omnes qui praetergrediuntur viam! Patet exposita tristitiae, iracundiae atque impatientiae pervia. Demoliuntur eam sedulae quaedam vulpeculae instantium necessitatum; irrumpunt undique anxietates, suspiciones, sollicitudines; turbae discordantium, causarum molestiae rara hora desunt. Non est prohibendi facultas, non copia declinandi, sed nec orandi spatium. Quo imbre lacrymarum perfundere sufficiam sterilitatem animae meae? Vineae meae volui dicere, sed de psalmo sic incidit propter usum, et sensus idem est; nec piget erroris qui admonet similitudinis, quia non de vinea sermo est, sed de anima. Ergo anima cogitetur, cum vinea legitur; siquidem sub hujus specie et nomine illius sterilitas deploratur. Quibus ergo lacrymis rigabo sterilitatem vineae meae? Omnes palmites ejus aruerunt prae inopia; jacent sine fructu, eo quod non habeant humorem, Jesu bone! quos fasciculos sarmentorum ex eis in tuo quotidie sacrificio ustio contriti cordis mei te teste absumit? Sit, obsecro, sacrificium tibi spiritus contribulatus; cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, ne despicias.
8. Et ego quidem sic pro imperfecto meo traho ad me capitulum praesens. Perfectus autem omnis erit qui alias dicere poterit: Vineam meam non custodivi; illo videlicet sensu, quo Salvator loquitur in Evangelio, Qui perdiderit animam suam propter me, inveniet eam. Idoneus plane et dignus qui ponatur custos in vineis, quem propriae cura vineae a commissarum diligentia et sollicitudine non impedit aut retardat; dum non quaerit quae sua sunt, neque quod sibi utile est, sed quod multis. Propterea sane Petro cura ista credita est in tam multis vineis, quae erant de circumcisione, quia homo paratus erat, et in carcerem, et in mortem ire, usque adeo suae vineae, id est suae animae, non detinebatur amore, quominus curae intenderet creditarum. Merito et Paulo inter gentes tam ingens silva credita est vinearum, quod et ipse in suae custodia vineae minime curiosus inventus sit; ita ut non solum alligari, sed et mori in Jerusalem paratus fuerit propter nomen Domini Jesu Christi. Denique: Nihil horum vereor, inquit, nec facio animam meam pretiosiorem quam me. Optimus aestimator rerum, qui nihil suorum sibi praeferendum existimet.
9. Quam multi saluti propriae modicam vilissimamque pecuniam praetulerunt! Paulus nec animam. Non, inquit, facio eam pretiosiorem quam me. Ergo differentiam facis inter te, et animam tuam? Prudenter quidem tu tibi pluris es, quam quidvis tuum. Sed quomodo non tua anima tu? Arbitror quod quia Paulus jam tunc in spiritu ambularet, et mente consentiret legi Dei quoniam bona est; idcirco hanc ipsam mentem suam, tanquam principale ac supremum quiddam sui, dignum duxerit suimet potius, quam suae cujuspiam rei nomine designare; reliquum vero, quod constat naturae esso inferioris, et inferiori proinde viliorique essentiae, quod est corpus, inhaerere; non modo officio vivificandi ac sensificandi, sed et fovendi nutriendique desiderio: hoc, inquam, sensuale atque carnale appellatione sui homo spiritualis indignum judicans, inter sua magis censuit deputandum, quam se personaliter exprimendum per illud. Cum me dico, inquit, excellentius quod in me est, in quo et sto per gratiam Dei, id est mentem rationemque, intellige. Cum loquor animam meam, hoc inferius accipe, quod carni animandae vides accommodatum, etiam et junctum in concupiscentia. Id me fuisse quidem, sed jam non esse agnosco, quia non secundum carnem adhuc ambulo, sed secundum spiritum. Vivo ego jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus. Secundum mentem ego, secundum carnem non ego. Quid enim si carnaliter etiam nunc anima concupiscit? Jam non ego operor illud, sed quod habitat in me peccatum. Et ideo non me quidem, sed tamen meum dixerim quod in me carnaliter sapit, idque non aliud quam ipsam animam. Revera enim animae portio est carnalis affectio ejus, et vita, quam administrat corpori. Hanc ergo animam suam Paulus spernebat prae se, paratus pro Domino non solum alligari, sed et mori in Jerusalem, et sic perdere animam suam juxta consilium Domini.
10. Tu quoque si propriam deseras voluntatem, si corporis voluptatibus perfecte renunties, si carnem tuam crucifigas cum vitiis et concupiscentiis, sed et mortifices membra tua, quae sunt super terram: probabis te Pauli imitatorem, qui non facias animam tuam pretiosiorem te ipso; probabis et Christi discipulum, etiam illam perdendo salubriter. Et quidem prudentius eam perdis ut custodias, quam custodis ut perdas. Nam qui voluerit animam suam salvam facere, perdet eam. Quid hic vos dicitis, observatores ciborum, morum neglectores? Hippocrates et sequaces ejus docent animas salvas facere in hoc mundo; Christus et ejus discipuli, perdere. Quemnam vos e duobus sequi magistrum eligitis? At manifestum se facit qui sic disputat: hoc oculis, hoc capiti, et illud pectori vel stomacho nocet. Profecto unusquisque quod a suo magistro didicit, hoc in medium profert. Num in Evangelio legisti has differentias, aut in prophetis, aut in litteris apostolorum? Caro et sanguis pro certo revelavit tibi hanc sapientiam, non spiritus Patris; est enim carnis haec sapientia. Sed audi quid de ipsa nostri medici sentiant. Sapientia, inquiunt, carnis mors est; item: Sapientia carnis inimica est Deo. Num Hippocratis seu Galeni sententiam, aut certe de schola Epicuri debui proponere vobis? Christi sum discipulus; Christi discipulis loquor: ego si peregrinum dogma induxero, ipse peccavi. Epicurus atque Hippocrates corporis alter voluptatem, alter bonam habitudinem praefert; meus Magister utriusque rei contemptum praedicat. Animae in corpore vitam, quam summo studio iste unde sustentet, ille unde et delectet, inquirit atque inquirere docet, Salvator monet et perdere.
11. Quid enim tibi aliud de Christi auditorio sonuit, cum paulo ante clamatum est: Qui amat animam suam, perdet eam? Perdet eam dixit, sive ponendo ut martyr, sive affligendo ut poenitens. Quanquam genus martyrii est, spiritu facta carnis mortificare; illo nimirum, quo membra caeduntur ferro, horrore quidem mitius, sed diuturnitate molestius. Videsne hac sententia Magistri mei carnis sapientiam condemnari, per quam utique aut in luxum voluptatis diffluitur, aut ipsa quoque bona valetudo corporis ultra quam oporteat appetitur? Denique quod vera sapientia in voluptates non effluat, audisti profecto a Sapiente, ne inveniri quidem hanc in terra suaviter viventium. Qui autem invenit, dicit: Super salutem et omnem pulchritudinem dilexi sapientiam. Si super salutem et pulchritudinem, quanto magis super voluptatem et turpitudinem? Quid vero prodest temperare a voluptatibus, et investigandis diversitatibus complexionum, ciborumque varietatibus inquirendis, quotidianam expendere curam? Legumina, inquit, ventosa sunt, caseus stomachum gravat, lac capiti nocet, potum aquae non sustinet pectus, caules nutriunt melancholiam, choleram porri accendunt, pisces de stagno aut de lutosa aqua meae penitus complexioni non congruunt. Quale est hoc, ut in totis fluviis, agris, hortis, cellariisve reperiri vix possit quod comedas?
12. Puta te, quaeso, monachum esse, non medicum; nec de complexione judicandum, sed de professione. Parce, obsecro, primum quidem quieti tuae, parce deinde labori ministrantium, parce gravamini domus, parce conscientiae. Conscientiae dico, non tuae, sed alterius; illius videlicet, qui prope sedens, et edens quod sibi apponitur, de tuo singulari jejunio murmurat. Scandalo quippe est ei aut tua odiosa superstitio, aut duritia, quam forte putat illius, qui tibi habet providere. Scandalizatur, inquam, in tua singularitate frater judicans te superstitiosum, tanquam superflua quaeritantem; aut certe me durum causans, qui non perquiram victui tuo necessaria. Frustra sibi quidam blandiuntur de exemplo Pauli, hortantis discipulum non bibere aquam, sed modico uti vino propter stomachum et frequentes suas infirmitates. Qui attendere debent primum quidem Apostolum minime sibi ipsi rem istiusmodi suadere, sed nec discipulum aeque exposcere sibi. Deinde non monacho hoc intimari, sed episcopo, cujus vita tenerae adhuc et nascenti Ecclesiae pernecessaria esset. Timotheus hic erat. Da mihi alterum Timotheum; et ego cibo eum, si vis, etiam auro, et poto balsamo. Caeterum tu tibimetipsi dispensas, misertus tui. Suspecta est mihi, fateor, tua ipsius in te dispensatio; et vereor tibi illudi sub tegmine et nomine discretionis a carnis prudentia. Id te saltem volo admonitum esse, ut si tibi ita auctoritas Apostoli placet de bibendo vino, modico, quod ille adjunxit, non praetermittas. Et de hoc satis. Sed revertamur ad sponsam, et discamus ab ea vineas proprias se utiliter non custodire, praesertim nos qui videmur deputati custodes in vineis sponsi Ecclesiae Jesu Christi Domini nostri, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen,