1. YOU have kindly written me word, holy sister, that you are still
anxious about me, because I told you of my own anxiety; this makes
me wonder that you have not received the letter, in which I told you
that tranquillity had been restored to me. Complaints had been made
that a synagogue of the Jews had been burnt by the Christians, at the
instigation of their Bishop, and also a conventicle of the Valentinians;
and while I was at Aquileia a decree was issued that the synagogue
should be rebuilt by the Bishop, and that the monks who had set fire to
this building of the Valentinians should be punished. Wherefore, when
I found that my personal endeavours were of little avail, I wrote and
despatched a letter to the Emperor, and on his going to the Church, I
delivered this discourse.
Sidenote: Jer. i. 11.
Sidenote: Num. xvii. 8.
2. In the book of the Prophet it is written, _Take to thyself the rod
of an almond tree_; and with what intent the Lord said this to the
prophet we ought to consider, for it was not written without a purpose,
and we also read in the Pentateuch that the rod of Aaron the priest,
budded after being long laid up. Now the rod seems to signify that
prophetic or sacerdotal authority ought to be unswerving, and to exhort
rather to what is useful than to what is pleasing.
3. And the reason why the prophet is bidden to take the rod of an
almond is this, that the fruit of this tree has a bitter rind and hard
shell, while its inside is juicy, and so in like manner the prophet
should hold out what is hard and bitter, and not shrink from declaring
painful things. So too with the priest: his teaching may seem bitter
for a time to some, and, like Aaron’s rod, may for a long while be laid
up in the ears of dissemblers, yet afterwards, when it is thought to
have withered, it puts forth buds.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. iv. 21.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. ii. 10.
Sidenote: 2 Tim. iv. 2.
4. Hence the Apostle says, _What will ye, shall I come unto you with a
rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness_. First he speaks of _a
rod_, and as with _the rod of an almond tree_ had smitten the wanderers,
that he might afterwards comfort them with the spirit of meekness. Just
so did meekness restore the man whom the rod had driven from the Divine
sacraments. To his disciple too he gave the same injunctions, _Reprove,
beseech, rebuke_. Here are two harsh terms and one gentle; but they are
only harsh, that they may themselves be softened. For like as bitter
food or drink becomes sweet to these bodies which are laden with excess
of gall, and on the other hand sweet repasts are bitter to them, so
also when the mind is wounded it languishes under the flattering touch
of pleasure, but is healed again by the bitterness of correction.
Sidenote: S. Luke vii. 36–38.
Sidenote: Is. ix. 6.
5. Thus much let it suffice to have gathered from the lesson from the
Prophets, let us next consider what that from the Gospel would teach
us: _And one of the Pharisees desired the Lord Jesus that He would eat
with him; and He went into the Pharisee’s house and sat down to meat.
And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew
that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house brought an alabaster box
of ointment, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping._ And then the
passage was recited as far as the words, _Thy faith hath saved thee,
go in peace_. How simple, I added, are the words of this Gospel lesson,
how profound its counsels! Wherefore, seeing that it is spoken by the
_great Counsellor_, let us consider its depth.
6. Our Lord Jesus Christ believed that kindness has a greater power of
constraining and inciting men to do what is right than fear; and that
love avails more for correction than terror. And so, when He came on
earth by the Virgin’s womb, He first sent His free grace, forgiving
our sins in baptism to make us more grateful to Him. Then if we will
repay Him with such services as befit grateful men, He has declared by
this example that He will give fresh gifts of grace to every man. Had
He only remitted to us our first debt, He would have seemed cautious
rather than merciful, more heedful of our amendment than munificent in
His rewards. To allure is merely the cunning of a narrow mind, but it
is befitting to God that those whom He has invited by grace He should
lead forward by the increase of that grace. And so He first bestows
on us His gifts in baptism, and afterwards if we serve him faithfully
gives more abundantly. And so the benefits of Christ are both the
incentives and the rewards of virtue.
7. Let no man be alarmed at the word _creditor_. We were indeed under
an unforgiving creditor, who could not be satisfied by anything less
than the death of his debtor; then the Lord Jesus came and found us
burthened with a heavy debt. This debt no man could satisfy by his
natural innocence; I had nothing of my own wherewith to purchase my
freedom, and therefore He bestowed on me a new kind of acquittance; He
made me debtor to Himself, seeing I had no means of discharging my debt.
Now we became debtors not by nature but by our own fault; by our sins
we contracted heavy debts, so that we who were free came under a bond;
for he is a debtor who has received of his creditor’s money. Now sin
is from the devil, this is the money which belongs to the wicked one
as his patrimony; for as virtues are the treasure of Christ, so crimes
are the riches of the devil. He had brought the human race under the
perpetual slavery of an inherited liability by that heavy debt which
our improvident ancestor transmitted by inheritance to his posterity.
But then the Lord Jesus came, He gave His life for the life of all, and
shed His blood for the blood of all.
Sidenote: Is. xlix. 9.
Sidenote: Col. ii. 13, 14.
8. Thus we have changed our creditor, not discharged our debt, nay we
may even say we have discharged it, for although it remains, our bond
is cancelled, the Lord Jesus having _said to the prisoners, Go forth;
to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves_; your sins therefore
are forgiven. Thus He has forgiven all, nor is there any one to whom
He has not shewn mercy. For so it is written, that He has _forgiven
all trespasses; blotting out the hand-writing of the ordinances that
was against us_. Why then do we hold the bonds of others? why would
we exact our claims from others when we have obtained remission of our
own? He Who has shewn mercy to all requires of each of us that what he
remembers to have been remitted to himself he should himself remit to
others.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xviii. 23. et seq.
Sidenote: Ib. 35.
9. Beware lest you begin to incur heavier blame as a creditor than you
did as a debtor; as that servant in the Gospel to whom his Lord forgave
all his debt began to exact from his fellow servant what he himself had
not paid; wherefore his Lord was wroth, and exacted from him with the
greatest severity what he had before remitted to him. Let us beware
therefore lest the same evil befal us, lest by not remitting our debts
we also be called on to pay what had been forgiven us, for so it is
written in the words of the Lord Jesus, _So likewise shall My heavenly
Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one
his brother their trespasses _. Let us then forgive small things to
whom great have been forgiven, and understand that the more we forgive
the more acceptable we shall be to God, for we are so much the more
acceptable to God the more we have been forgiven.
Sidenote: S. Luke vii. 42.
Sidenote: Ib. 43.
Sidenote: Gen. iv. 7.
10. Further, when the Pharisee was asked by our Lord, _Which of them
loved him most_, he answered, _I suppose that he to whom he forgave
most_. Whereupon the Lord said, _Thou hast rightly judged_. The
Pharisees judgment is praised, but his affection is blamed. Of others
he judges correctly, but what he believes of others, he does not
believe in his own case. Thus you hear the Jew praising the discipline
of the Church, praising its true graces, honouring its priests; but
when you exhort him to believe he refuses to do so, and thus follows
not himself what he praises in us. His eulogy then is not complete,
though Christ has said to him, _Thou hast rightly judged_, for Cain
also offered rightly, but did not divide rightly, wherefore God said
unto him, _If thou offer rightly, but divide not rightly, thou hast
sinned; be still_. And so this man offered rightly, because he judges
that Christ, having forgiven Christians many sins, ought to be more
earnestly loved by them; but he has not divided rightly, because
he believes that He Who remitted the sins of men could possibly be
ignorant of them.
Sidenote: S. Luke vii. 44.
Sidenote: Gen. xlix. 12.
11. And therefore He says to Simon, _Seest thou this woman? I entered
into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet, but she hath
washed My feet with tears._ We are all one body of Christ, the Head is
God, and we are the members: some perhaps as the Prophets, may be the
eyes; others the teeth, as the Apostles, who have filled our hearts
with the food of the Evangelical preaching, and of whom it is written,
_His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk_. They
are His hands who perform good works: His belly are they who bestow the
strength of nourishment on the poor: Some too are His feet also, and
would that I might be counted worthy to be even His heel. He then who
pardons the very lowest their sins, pours water on the feet of Christ,
and while he frees only the mean, yet washes the feet of Christ Himself.
12. He also pours water on the feet of Christ who cleanses his
conscience from the pollution of sin; for Christ walks in the breast
of each of us. Beware then lest your conscience be defiled, or you thus
begin to stain the feet of Christ. Beware lest He encounter the thorn
of wickedness within you, whereby His heel as He walks in you may be
wounded. The reason why the Pharisee did not pour water on the feet of
Christ was because his soul was not clean from the stain of wickedness.
How could he cleanse his conscience, who had not received that water
which Christ gives? But the Church has that water, and the Church
has tears, the waters of Baptism and the tears of penitence. For
faith, which mourns for former sins, is also wont to avoid fresh ones,
wherefore Simon the Pharisee as he had no water so neither had he tears.
For how could he have them, who did no penance? but as he believed
not in Christ so neither had he tears. Had he had them, he would have
washed his eyes that he might see Christ, Whom as yet, when he first
sat down, he saw not. For had he seen Him, he would not have doubted
of His power.
13. Nor had the Pharisee hair, in that he knew not the Nazarite;
but the Church had hair, and she sought for the Nazarite. Hairs are
considered a superfluous part of the body, but if they are anointed
they send forth a good smell, and are an ornament to the head, but if
not anointed with oil they grow heavy. So likewise riches are a burthen,
if you know not how to use them, if you sprinkle them not with the
odours of Christ. But if you feed the poor, if you wash and cleanse
their filth, their wounds, you have truly wiped the feet of Christ.
Sidenote: S. Luke vii. 45.
Sidenote: S. John xiv. 27.
Sidenote: Cant. i. 2.
Sidenote: Ps. li. 17.
Sidenote: Ib. cxvi. 10.
Sidenote: Ib. lxxi. 8.
14. _Thou gavest Me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in,
hath not ceased to kiss My feet._ A kiss is the sign of love. But how
could the Jew possess this, who knew not peace, who received not peace
from Christ when He said, _Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto
you_? This kiss belongs then not to the Synagogue but to the Church,
to her who looked for Him, who loved Him, who said, _Let Him kiss
me with the kisses of His mouth_. For the ardour of that lingering
desire, which had grown with waiting for the Lord’s coming, she sought
slowly to quench by His kiss, and to satisfy her thirst by this gift.
Wherefore the holy Prophet says, _Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth
shall shew Thy praise_. He then who praises the Lord Jesus kisses Him;
and he who praises surely believes in Him. Thus David Himself says, _I
believed, and therefore have I spoken_; and before, _Let my mouth be
filled with Thy praise, and let me sing of Thy glory_.
Sidenote: Ib. cxix. 131.
Sidenote: Rom. x. 10.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xxiv. 15.
15. Concerning the gift of special grace the same Scripture also
teaches thee that he who receives the Spirit kisses Christ, for the
holy Prophet says, _I opened my mouth, and drew in the spirit_[206].
He then kisses Christ, who confesses Him; _For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation_. He kisses the feet of Christ, who, reading the Gospel,
recognizes the acts of the Lord Jesus, and admires them with pious
affection; thus religiously kissing, as it were, the Lord’s steps as He
walks. We kiss Christ then with the kiss of Communion; _Whoso readeth
let him understand_.
Sidenote: S. Luke xxii. 48.
16. But how can the Jew have this kiss? For as he believed not in His
Advent, so neither did he believe in His Passion, for how can that
man believe that He suffered, who believes not that He came? Hence the
Pharisee had no kiss save haply that of the traitor Judas. But neither
had Judas this kiss, and therefore when he would have shewn to the Jews
that kiss which was the concerted sign of his betrayal, the Lord says
to him: _Judas, betrayest |thou| the Son of man with a kiss?_ that
is, ‘Thou offerest a kiss, though thou hast not the love that the kiss
should express, thou offerest a kiss who art ignorant of the mystical
meaning[207] of the kiss.’ What is required is not the kiss of the lips,
but of the heart and mind.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xv. 8.
17. But you will say that he kissed the Lord. True it is he kissed Him
with his lips, and this kiss the Jewish people has, wherefore it is
said, _This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far
from Me_. Wherefore he has not the kiss who has not faith and charity;
for by a kiss is conveyed the force of love. Where love is not, nor
faith, nor charity, how can there be any sweetness in kisses?
Sidenote: Cant. i. 1.
Sidenote: S. Luke ii. 51.
♦18. Now the Church ceases not to kiss the feet of Christ, and
therefore in the Song of songs she asks not for one but many kisses;
like holy Mary she is attentive to all His discourses, she receives all
His words, when the Gospel is read, or the Prophets; she _keeps all His
sayings in her heart_. The Church, alone, then, as being the spouse,
has kisses, for a kiss is, as it were, the pledge of marriage and the
privilege of wedlock. How can the Jew have kisses who believes not in
the Spouse, who knows not that He is already come?
Sidenote: Exod. xxxiv. 9.
Sidenote: S. Luke x. 31, 32.
Sidenote: Is. i. 6.
19. Nor is it kisses alone that he lacks, but oil also, wherewith to
anoint the feet of Christ, for if he had had oil he would before now
have bowed down his neck. For Moses says, _It is a stiff-necked people_;
and the Lord says that the priest and levite passed by on the other
side, nor did either of these pour oil and wine into the wounds of him
who had been wounded by robbers; had they possessed this oil they would
have poured it into their own wounds. But Isaiah says, _They cannot
apply ointment nor oil nor bandage_.
Sidenote: Deut. xxxiii. 24.
20. But the Church has oil wherewith she dresses the wounds of her
children, that the hardness of the wound may not sink inwards; she has
oil, which she has received secretly. With this oil Asher has washed
his feet, as it is written, _A blessed son is Asher; and he shall
be acceptable to his brethren, dip his foot in oil_. With this oil
therefore the Church anoints the necks of her children, that they may
receive the yoke of Christ; with this oil she has anointed the martyrs
to purify them from the dust of this world; with this oil she has
anointed confessors, that so they might not yield to labour, or sink
down through weariness, or be overwhelmed by the waves of this world;
it is for the purpose of refreshing them with spiritual oil that she
has thus anointed them.
Sidenote: Gen. viii. 11.
Sidenote: S. John i. 32.
21. The Synagogue possesses not this oil, for she hath not the olive,
she did not recognize that dove which brought back the olive branch
after the deluge. This same dove afterwards descended, when Christ was
being baptized, and abode upon Him, as John testifies in the Gospel,
saying, _I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it
abode upon Him_. But how could he see the dove, who saw Him not upon
whom the Spirit descended as a dove?
22. So then the Church both washes the feet of Christ, and wipes them
with her hair, and anoints them with oil, and pours ointment upon them,
in that she not only tends the wounded and comforts the weary, but also
sprinkles over them the sweet odours of grace. Nor is it upon the rich
and powerful only that she sheds this grace, but on men of low birth
also, she weighs all in an equal balance, she receives all in the same
bosom, and cherishes them in the same lap.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xxv. 40.
23. Christ died once, and was buried once, nevertheless He daily
desires that ointment should be poured upon His feet. Now what are
these feet of Christ whereon we pour ointment? The feet of Christ are
they of whom He saith Himself, _Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me_. These feet
that woman in the Gospel tends[208], and washes with her tears, when
the lowest have their sins remitted, their faults washed away, their
pardon granted. These feet he kisses who loves even the lowest of the
holy congregation. These feet he anoints with ointment, who imparts
even to the weaker brethren the graces of His meekness. In these
the martyrs, in these the Apostles, in these the Lord Jesus Himself
declares that He is honoured.
Sidenote: Micah vi. 3, 4.
Sidenote: Ib. 5. and
Num. xxiii. 2.
Sidenote: Exod. xiv. 29.
Sidenote: Ib. xvi. 4.
Sidenote: Num. xiii. 24.
Sidenote: Ib. xxi. 24.
Sidenote: Joshua viii. 23.
Sidenote: Ib. 29.
Sidenote: Josh. x. 26.
Sidenote: Micah vi. 8.
24. Thou seest what instruction the Lord imparts, how by His example
He stimulates thee to devotion; for He instructs by His censure. And
He thus accuses the Jews, _O My people, what have I done unto thee,
and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against Me. For I brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house
of servants_; adding, _and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Remember what Balak_ devised against thee, he, that is, who sought the
aid of enchantments, but I suffered him not to hurt thee. Truly thou
wert oppressed while sojourning in foreign lands, thou wert laden with
heavy burthens: I sent Moses Aaron and Miriam before thy face, and he
who had spoiled the strangers was himself despoiled. Thou, who hadst
lost thine own goods gainedst others, thou wert delivered from the
enemies that surrounded thee, and in the midst of the waters thou
sawest in safety the death of thine enemies, for the same wave which
had separated and carried thee forward flowed back again and drowned
the Egyptians. When thou wert in want of food while journeying through
the wilderness, did I not _rain bread from heaven_ for thee, and
scatter food around thee, whereon thou wentest? Did I not subdue all
thy enemies and bring thee into the region of the cluster of grapes?
Did I not deliver up to thee Sihon (which means ‘proud’) king of the
Amorites (that is, chief of them that provoked thee); did I not also
deliver to thee alive the king of Ai, whom, subject to the sentence of
the ancient curse, thou nailedst to the wood and hangedst upon a tree?
What shall I say of the slaughter of the hosts of the five kings, who
strove to exclude thee from the promised land? _And what doth the Lord
require of thee, o man_, for all these things, _but to do justly and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?_
Sidenote: 2 Sam. xii. 7.
25. And to king David himself, that meek and holy man, what was His
expostulation by the prophet Nathan? I chose thee, He says, the
youngest among thy brethren; I filled thee with the spirit of meekness;
by the hand of Samuel, in whom was My Spirit and My Name, I anointed
thee king. And from an exile I made thee a conqueror, taking out of the
way that former king whom an evil spirit instigated to persecute the
priests of the Lord. Upon thy throne I set one of thy seed not so much
as an heir as a colleague. I made even strangers subject to thee, that
they who resisted might serve thee, and wilt thou deliver My servants
into the hands of My enemies, wilt thou take away that which was
My servant’s, whereby both thou wilt be branded with sin, and My
adversaries will have whereof to glory?
Sidenote: Deut. ix. 4.
Sidenote: S. John xii. 5.
Sidenote: S. Luke xv. 10.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. xii. 21.
26. Seeing therefore, O Emperor, (for I will now not only discourse of
you but address myself to you) how severe the Lord’s censures are wont
to be, you must take care, in proportion as you become more illustrious,
to submit so much the more humbly to your Maker. For it is written:
When the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into a foreign land, and
thou shalt eat the fruits of others, say not, ‘By my own strength and
righteousness I obtained these things,’ but, ‘The Lord God gave them to
me, Christ in His mercy conferred them on me,’ and therefore by loving
His body, that is, the Church, pour water on His feet and kiss His feet;
thus shalt thou not only absolve those who have been taken in sin, but
in giving to them peace you will bring them into concord and restore
to them rest. Pour ointment on His feet, that the whole house wherein
Christ sits at meat may be filled with the odour of thy ointment, and
let all who sit at meat with Him rejoice in thy fragrance; that is
to say, pay such regard even to the lowest, that in their absolution
the Angels may rejoice, as they do over one sinner that repenteth,
the Apostles may be glad, the Prophets may exult. For _the eye cannot
say unto the hand, I have no need of thee, nor the head to the feet, I
have no need of you_. Since therefore each member is necessary, do thou
protect the whole body of the Lord Jesus, that He also of His divine
mercy may protect thy kingdom.
27. On my coming down he says to me, ‘You have been preaching at me
to-day.’ I replied that in my discourse I had his benefit in view. He
then said, ‘It is true, I did make too harsh a decree concerning the
reparation of the synagogue by the Bishop, but this has been rectified.
As for the monks, they commit many crimes.’ Then Timasius, one of the
Generals-in-chief[209], began to be very vehement against the monks. I
replied to him, ‘With the Emperor I deal as is fitting, because I know
that he fears God, but with you, who speak so rudely, I shall deal
differently.’
28. After standing for some time, I said to the Emperor, ‘Enable me to
offer for you with a safe conscience, set my mind at rest.’ The Emperor
sat still, and nodded, but did not promise in plain words; then, seeing
that I still remained standing, he said that he would amend the order.
I said at once that he must quash the whole enquiry, for fear the
Count[210] should make it an opportunity for inflicting wrong on the
Christians. He promised that it should be done. I said to him, ‘I act
on your promise,’ and repeated the words again. ‘Do so’ said he. Then
I went to the altar; but I would not have gone, if he had not given me
his distinct promise. And indeed so great was the grace attending the
oblation, that I myself was sensible that this favour he had granted
was very acceptable to our God, and that the divine Presence had not
been withheld. Then all was done as I wished.
THE LETTER OF POPE SIRICIUS TO THE CHURCH OF MILAN.
A.D. 389.
THE Letter of Siricius was addressed to the Church of Milan to
inform them of the sentence of excommunication passed against
Jovinian and his followers. Jovinian had been a monk, but
had abandoned the ascetic life and rushed into extremes of
self-indulgence: there is a good description of him in Tillemont,
(Vie de S. Ambr. 63, 64,) who calls him ‘cet Epicure des
Chrétiens.’ The false doctrines with which he ‘barked at the
true doctrines of the Church’ are stated in this Letter and
in the reply of the Synod of the Church of Milan which follows.
Jovinian was answered by S. Jerome, who writes against him with
much vehemence.