Sermons to the People 367.1–370.4
Latin text: PL 38 (Latin text: Migne, PL 38, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: NPNF 1/6: Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament (R. G. MacMullen, ed., 1888).
Chapter 367
367.1PL 39:1615–1616
Advertit Sanctitas vestra, fratres charissimi, et mecum, ut arbitror, tota mentis intentione perspexit opulentiam divitis, et indigentiam mendicantis; unum cibis æstuantem, et alium fame deficientem. Ambo quidem homines, ambo carnales, ambo mortales: sed non ambo æquales. Natura una, sed vita non una. Nullus eorum a conditione mortis immunis: et tamen unus epulatur splendide, et alter in pannis et in ærumna sordescit. Ille delicatis escis adinventione coquorum gaudebat: iste, si caderent micæ de mensa ejus, exspectabat. Audiant nunc divites, qui nolunt esse misericordes; audiant quia una omnes nascimur lege, una vivimus luce, unum spiramus aerem, una quoque exstinguimur morte: quæ si non intercederet, nec pauper ipse duraret. Hic ulcerosus et nudus jacens Lazarus, ad Abrahæ sinum Angelorum portatur manibus. Ecce dives refectus et splendidus tartareo carcere clauditur. Ubi est vestis illa byssina? ubi vita abundans et affluens copiis multis? Nonne morte omnia transeunt tanquam umbra? Nihil intulimus in hunc mundum, dicit Apostolus, sed nec quidquam auferre possumus. Nihil nobiscum tollimus aut rapimus. Quid si aliquid tolleremus, nonne vivos homines devoraremus? Quæ est ista aviditas concupiscentiæ, cum ipsæ belluæ habeant modum? Tunc enim rapiunt, quando esuriunt: parcunt vero prædæ, cum senserint satietatem. Inexplebilis est sola avaritia divitum. Semper rapit, et nunquam satiatur: nec Deum timet, nec hominem reveretur: nec patri parcit, nec matrem agnoscit: nec fratri obtemperat, nec amico fidem servat: viduam opprimit, pupilli rem invadit: libertos in servitium revocat, testamentum falsum profert. Res mortui occupantur; quasi non et ipsi qui hoc faciunt moriantur. Quae est ergo ista animarum insania, amittere vitam, appetere mortem? acquirere aurum, et perdere cœlum? Sed quia nemo cogitat Deum, ideo manet in morte judicium.
Your Holiness has noticed, dearest brothers, and has, I think, observed with me with the whole attention of your minds, the opulence of the rich man and the need of the beggar: the one sweltering with food, the other fainting with hunger. Both were men, both of flesh, both mortal; but not both equal. One nature, but not one life. Neither of them was exempt from the condition of death; and yet the one feasts splendidly, and the other grows filthy in rags and hardship. The one delighted in delicate dishes invented by cooks; the other waited for crumbs to fall from his table. Let the rich hear now, those who refuse to be merciful; let them hear that we are all born under one law, live by one light, breathe one air, and are put out by one and the same death; and if death did not intervene, the poor man himself could not endure. Here Lazarus, lying naked and covered with sores, is carried by the hands of angels to Abraham's bosom. Behold, the rich man, well fed and splendid, is shut in the prison of Tartarus. Where is that garment of fine linen? Where is the life abounding and overflowing with great wealth? Do not all things pass away in death like a shadow? "We brought nothing into this world," says the apostle, "nor can we take anything out." We take nothing with us, we carry nothing off. If we could take something away, would we not devour living men? What is this greed of desire, when even beasts have a limit? For they seize when they are hungry; but they spare their prey when they feel satisfied. Only the avarice of the rich is insatiable. It always seizes and is never satisfied; it neither fears God nor respects man; it does not spare a father, does not acknowledge a mother, does not defer to a brother, does not keep faith with a friend; it oppresses the widow, invades the orphan's property, calls freedmen back into slavery, produces a forged will. The property of the dead is seized, as if those who do this will not die too. What is this madness of souls, to lose life and seek death, to acquire gold and lose heaven? But because no one thinks of God, judgment awaits in death.
Luke 16:19–23 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 144:4 (143:4 Vulg.) (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Tim 6:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On the rich man and Lazarus: both shared one nature and one death, yet the rich man's insatiable avarice, worse than that of beasts, led to Tartarus while Lazarus was carried to Abraham's bosom.
- This sermon is printed by the Maurists among the doubtful sermons; its authorship by Augustine is doubted.
- The opening words "Avaritia inexplebilis" ("Insatiable avarice") are Migne's marginal heading and have been removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading; OCR slips; OCR slip; OCR slips; line-break split): Avaritia inexplebilis. Advertit Sanctitas veslra, fratres charissimi,el mecum → Advertit Sanctitas vestra, fratres charissimi, et mecum; men. tis → mentis; mendicautis; unum cibis astuantem → mendicantis; unum cibis æstuantem; condiLionemortis → conditione mortis; splendide, ct alter in pannis et in xrumna → splendide, et alter in pannis et in ærumna; divitcs → divites; una vivimus lucc → una vivimus luce; nee pauper ipse durarct. nic ulccrosus → nec pauper ipse duraret. Hic ulcerosus; Angclorum → Angelorum; Uhi est vestis → Ubi est vestis; abundans ct affluens → abundans et affluens; vivos homines '.oraremus → vivos homines devoraremus; habcant modum → habeant modum; Inexplebiiis → Inexplebilis; nec bominem reveretur → nec hominem reveretur; ncc matrem → nec matrem; nee fratri → nec fratri; rcvocat → revocat; perdere coolum → perdere cœlum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 367.1 (PL 39:1615–1616; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/367-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/367-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-367-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
367.2PL 39:1616
Merito dictum est diviti, Quia recepisti bona in vita tua, et Lazarus similiter mala; nunc autem hic consolatur, tu vero cruciaris. Audiant ista divites, qui nolunt esse misericordes. Audiant irrogari supplicia eis qui nolunt erogare subsidia. Audiant pauperem refrigerantem, audiant divitem poenis gravioribus æstuantem. Pater Abraham, inquit, mitte Lazarum, ut intingat extremum digiti sui in aquam, et refrigeret linguam meam; quia crucior in hac flamma. At ille: Memento, inquit, fili, quia recepisti bona in vita tua, et Lazarus similiter mala. Pensantur pro divitiis pœnæ, refrigerium pro paupertate, pro purpura flamma, refectio pro nuditate, ut salva sit æquitas stateræ, et non mentiatur modus illius mensuræ: In qua, inquit, mensi fueritis mensura, ita remetietur vobis (Matth. VII, 2). Ideo negatur in poenis misericordia diviti, quia ipse dum viveret, noluit misereri. Ideo rogans dives non exauditur in tormentis; quia rogantem pauperem non exaudivit in terris.
Rightly was it said to the rich man, "For you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are tormented." Let the rich who refuse to be merciful hear this. Let them hear that punishments are inflicted on those who refuse to give relief. Let them hear of the poor man refreshed; let them hear of the rich man burning in heavier punishments. "Father Abraham," he says, "send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." But Abraham said: "Remember, son, that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things." Punishments are weighed out in return for riches, refreshment in return for poverty, flame in return for purple, refreshment for nakedness, so that the fairness of the scale may be kept and the rule of that measure may not prove false: "With the measure you have measured," he says, "it will be measured back to you." Therefore mercy is refused the rich man in his punishment, because while he lived he would not show mercy. Therefore the rich man is not heard when he begs in torment, because he did not hear the poor man begging on earth.
Luke 16:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 16:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich man is refused mercy in torment because he refused mercy to Lazarus on earth; God repays with the same measure.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip in the reference; OCR slips; OCR slips; line-break split): maia; nunc autem hic consolutur9 → mala; nunc autem hic consolatur,; irrogari supplicia cis qui nolunt ero-. gare → irrogari supplicia eis qui nolunt erogare; paupcrem → pauperem; inquil → inquit; slaierx → stateræ; mensi fueritis menxura → mensi fueritis mensura; (Matth. vn, 2) → (Matth. VII, 2); Idco rogans → Ideo rogans; regantem pauperem → rogantem pauperem.
Topics: Ethics, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 367.2 (PL 39:1616; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/367-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/367-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-367-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
367.3PL 39:1616
Dives et pauper duo sibi sunt contraria: sed iterum duo sibi sunt necessaria. Nullus indigeret, si se invicem supportarent: et nemo laboraret, si se ambo juvarent. Dives propter pauperem factus est, et pauper propter divitem factus est. Pauperis est orare, et divitis erogare; Dei est pro parvis magna pensare, De misericordia ejus parva, magna nascitur copia. Fecundus est ager pauperum, cito reddit dominantibus fructum. Via cœli est pauper, per quam venitur ad Patrem. Incipe ergo erogare, si non vis errare. Patrimonii tui, quo es ligatus, compedem in hac vita resolve; ut libere ad coelum possis accedere: abjice abs te divitiarum onera, abjice vincula voluntaria, abjice anxietates et tædia, quæ te pluribus in annis inquietant. Da petenti, ut possis ipse accipere: tribue pauperi, si non vis flammis exuri. Da in terra Christo, quod tibi reddat in coelo. Obliviscere quod es, et attende quod futurus es. Præsens vita fragilis est, et in mortem proclivis. Nemo potest stare: sed omnes cogimur transire. Nolentes imus, inviti eximus, quia mali sumus. Si autem ante nos aliquid mitteremus, non ad inane hospitium veniremus. Quod enim pauperi damus, ante nos præmittimus: quod autem rapimus, hic totum dimittimus.
The rich and the poor are two things contrary to each other; but again they are two things necessary to each other. No one would be in need if they supported each other; and no one would toil if both helped each other. The rich man was made for the sake of the poor, and the poor man was made for the sake of the rich. It is for the poor to pray and for the rich to give; it is for God to repay great things for small. From his mercy, from small things great abundance is born. The field of the poor is fruitful; it quickly yields fruit to its owners. The poor man is the way to heaven, by which one comes to the Father. Begin, then, to give, if you do not want to go astray. Loosen in this life the fetter of your patrimony by which you are bound, so that you may approach heaven freely: throw off the burdens of riches, throw off your self-chosen chains, throw off the anxieties and weariness that have troubled you for so many years. Give to him who asks, so that you yourself may receive; give to the poor, if you do not want to be burned up by flames. Give to Christ on earth what he may repay you in heaven. Forget what you are, and attend to what you will be. The present life is fragile and inclined toward death. No one can stand still; we are all compelled to pass on. We go unwilling, we depart against our will, because we are bad. But if we sent something ahead of us, we would not come to an empty lodging. For what we give to the poor we send ahead of us; but what we seize we leave behind here entirely.
Matt 5:42 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:40 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 6:20 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Rich and poor need each other: the poor pray, the rich give, and God repays; alms sent ahead through the poor prepare one's lodging in heaven.
- "Begin to give (erogare), if you do not want to go astray (errare)" is a play on words in the Latin.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Dives ct pauper → Dives et pauper; itcrum → iterum; si sc invicem → si se invicem; ncmo laboraret → nemo laboraret; factus cst, ct paupcr → factus est, et pauper; Pauperis cst orare → Pauperis est orare; Dci est pro parvis magua pensare → Dei est pro parvis magna pensare; paupcrum → pauperum; Incipc ergo crogare → Incipe ergo erogare; Patrimonii lui → Patrimonii tui; in hac viia → in hac vita; oncra → onera; inquictant → inquietant; cxuri → exuri; quod es, ct attende → quod es, et attende; invti → inviti.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 367.3 (PL 39:1616; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/367-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/367-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-367-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
Chapter 368
368.1PL 39:1616–1617
Modo, fratres, cum divina lectio legeretur, audivimus Dominum dicentem, Qui amat animam suam, perdet illam. Huic sententiæ quasi contrarium videtur esse quod ait Apostolus, Nemo unquam carnem suam odio habuit. Si ergo nemo est qui carnem suam oderit, quanto magis nemo est qui oderit animam suam? Multum quippe anima carni præponitur: quia ipsa est habitatrix, caro habitaculum; et anima dominatur, caro autem servit; anima superior est, caro subjecta est. Si ergo nemo unquam carnem suam odio habuit, quis est qui animam suam oderit? Propter hoc non parvam quæstionem nobis intulit præsens evangelica lectio, ubi audivimus, Qui amat animam suam, perdet illam. Periculosum est animam amare, ne pereat. Sed si propterea periculosum est ut ames animam tuam, ne pereat anima tua, ideo non debes illam amare, quia non vis illam perire. Si autem non vis illam perire, amas illam. Quid est hoc? Si amo, perdo. Ergo non amem, ne perdam. Sed quia timeo perdere, ideo non amo; et utique quod timeo ne perdam, amo. Dicit et alibi Dominus: Quid prodest homini si totum mundum lucretur, animæ vero suæ detrimentum patiatur? Ecce quia sic est amanda anima, ut lucro totius mundi præferatur; et tamen observet qui animam amat, quia si amat, perdet illam. Non vis perdere eam, noli illam amare. Sed si non vis eam perdere, non potes eam non amare.
Just now, brothers, while the divine reading was being read, we heard the Lord saying, "Whoever loves his soul will lose it." What the apostle says seems, as it were, contrary to this saying: "No one ever hated his own flesh." If, then, there is no one who hates his flesh, how much more is there no one who hates his soul? For the soul is far above the flesh: the soul is the inhabitant, the flesh the dwelling; the soul rules, the flesh serves; the soul is higher, the flesh is subject. If, then, no one ever hated his own flesh, who is there who hates his soul? For this reason the present gospel reading has raised no small question for us, where we heard, "Whoever loves his soul will lose it." It is dangerous to love one's soul, lest it perish. But if it is dangerous for you to love your soul, lest your soul perish, then you ought not to love it because you do not want it to perish. But if you do not want it to perish, you love it. What is this? If I love it, I lose it. So let me not love it, so as not to lose it. But because I am afraid of losing it, I do not love it; and surely what I am afraid of losing, I love. The Lord also says elsewhere: "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?" See, the soul is to be loved so much that it is preferred to the gain of the whole world; and yet let him who loves his soul take heed, because if he loves it he will lose it. You do not want to lose it? Do not love it. But if you do not want to lose it, you cannot help loving it.
John 12:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: John 12:25 ("whoever loves his soul will lose it") seems to contradict Eph 5:29 and the soul's worth; Augustine sets out the puzzle.
- This sermon is printed by the Maurists among the doubtful sermons; its authorship by Augustine is doubted.
- Anima means both "soul" and "life"; the sermon plays on both senses.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): subjecta cst → subjecta est; carnem suani odio habuit, qnis cst qui → carnem suam odio habuit, quis est qui; periculosum cst ut ames → periculosum est ut ames; Si autem non vis iilam → Si autem non vis illam; idco non amo; et uliquc → ideo non amo; et utique; Iromini → homini; animœ vero arm → animæ vero suæ; ct lamcu observet qui animam amal → et tamen observet qui animam amat.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 368.1 (PL 39:1616–1617; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-368-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
368.2PL 39:1617
Sunt ergo qui perverse animam suam amant: et hoc vult Dei sermo corrigere, non ut oderint animam suam, sed ut recte diligant. Male enim diligendo perdunt eam, et fit quiddam magnum quasi præposterum et contrarium: sed ita tamen fit, ut si diligas eam perverse, perdas illam; si oderis illam recte, conserves illam. Est ergo quidam perversus amor ejus, et quoddam rectum odium ejus. Sed amor perversus ab odio, odium rectum ab amore ejus. Quis est perversus animæ amor? Quando diligis animam tuam in iniquitatibus. Audi quia ab odio venit amor iste perversus: Qui autem diligit iniquitatem, odit animam suam (Psal. X, 6). Odium autem rectum vide, quia ab amore venit. Ibidem Dominus secutus ait: Qui autem odit animam suam in hoc sæculo, in vitam æternam inveniet eam. Utique quod vis invenire in vitam æternam, multum amas. Quod enim amas ad tempus, quid prodest? Aut subduceris illi, aut subducitur tibi. Cum fueris tu subtractus, perit ipse amator: cum fuerit illud subtractum, perit quod amasti. Ubi ergo aut amator perit, aut quod amatur, non est amandum. Sed quid est amandum? Quod nobiscum potest esse in æternum. Sed si vis animam tuam in æternum habere salvam, oderis eam ad tempus. Ergo odium rectum ab amore venit; perversus amor ab odio venit.
There are, then, those who love their soul perversely; and this the word of God wants to correct, not so that they may hate their soul, but so that they may love it rightly. For by loving it badly they lose it, and something great happens, seemingly upside down and contrary, yet it happens: if you love it perversely, you lose it; if you hate it rightly, you keep it. There is, then, a certain perverse love of the soul and a certain right hatred of it. But the perverse love comes from hatred, and the right hatred from love of it. What is perverse love of the soul? When you love your soul in iniquities. Hear that this perverse love comes from hatred: "But whoever loves iniquity hates his own soul." But see that right hatred comes from love. In the same place the Lord went on to say: "But whoever hates his soul in this world will find it unto eternal life." Surely you love much what you want to find unto eternal life. For what good is it to love something for a time? Either you are taken away from it, or it is taken away from you. When you are taken away, the lover himself perishes; when it has been taken away, what you loved perishes. Where, then, either the lover perishes or what is loved, there love should not be given. But what is to be loved? What can be with us for eternity. But if you want to have your soul safe for eternity, hate it for a time. So right hatred comes from love, and perverse love comes from hatred.
Ps 11:5 (10:6 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · John 12:25 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Loving one's soul in sin is really hatred of it, and hating it in this world for the sake of eternal life is true love of it.
- The opening words "Amor quidam perversus et quoddam rectum odium animæ" ("A perverse love and a right hatred of the soul") are Migne's marginal heading and have been removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slips): Amor quidam perversus et qnoddam rectum odium animœ. Sunt ergo qui perverse auimam → Sunt ergo qui perverse animam; Male cnim diligendo → Male enim diligendo; et lit quiddam → et fit quiddam; præposterum el contrarium: sed ita tamen fil → præposterum et contrarium: sed ita tamen fit; Est ergo qnidam → Est ergo quidam; ab annore ejus → ab amore ejus; animam luam in iniquitatibus → animam tuam in iniquitatibus; ab odio vcnit amor → ab odio venit amor; (Psal. x, G). Odium autcm rectum vide, quia ab amore vcnit → (Psal. X, 6). Odium autem rectum vide, quia ab amore venit; inveniet cam → inveniet eam; mullum amas → multum amas; subducitur libi. Cum foreris → subducitur tibi. Cum fueris; cum fucrit illud → cum fuerit illud; aliI amator → aut amator; amatUr → amatur; quid cst amandum? Qnod nobiscum potest esse in:eternum → quid est amandum? Quod nobiscum potest esse in æternum; in a-ternum habere salvant, oderis cam ad lempus → in æternum habere salvam, oderis eam ad tempus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 368.2 (PL 39:1617; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-368-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
368.3PL 39:1617
Quis igitur modus diligendi animam? Putatis martyres non amabant animas suas? Videtis certe modo, si cujus vita præsentis sæculi periclitetur, quomodo amici ejus currunt pro ea: quomodo curritur ad ecclesiam, rogatur episcopus, ut intermittat, si quas habet actiones, currat, festinet. Quare? Pro anima. Et omnes contremiscunt, omnibus cæteris rebus intermissis, festinandum esse decernunt. Omnis festinatio laudatur, omnis tardatio accusatur. Quare? Pro anima. Quid est, pro anima? Ne moriatur homo. Non noverant martyres amare animas suas: et tamen hoc est pro anima, ne moriatur homo. Mors hominis iniquitas est. Si curris pro hac vita centum millia, quot millia debes currere pro vita æterna? Si festinas lucrari dies paucos, et ipsos incertos: hodie enim homo a morte liberatus, nescit utrum cras moriatur: tamen si sic curritur propter lucrum paucorum dierum, quia et usque in senectam pauci dies sunt, quomodo currendum est pro vita æterna? Et tamen propter hanc pigri sunt homines. Difficile invenis qui vel passus lente moveat pro vita æterna. Amor ergo perversus animæ abundat; amor autem rectus valde paucorum est. Nam sicut nemo est qui non diligat animam suam, sic nemo est qui non amet carnem suam. Unde fieri potest ut et verum sit quod ait Apostolus, Nemo unquam carnem suam odio habuit, et anima non ametur? Discamus ergo, fratres, amare animas nostras. Omnis voluptas sæculi transitoria est. Est amor utilis, est amor noxius: amor amore impeditur; amor noxius recedat, et amor utilis succedat. Sed quia homines nolunt illum recedere; ideo in illos non potest aliud introire: ut non capiant, pleni sunt; fundant, et capiunt. Pleni sunt enim amore voluptatum carnalium, pleni sunt amore vitæ præsentis, pleni sunt amore auri et argenti, possessionum saeculi hujus. Qui ergo pleni sunt, sic sunt quomodo vasa. Vis ut intret mel unde acetum nondum fudisti? Funde quod habes, ut capias quod non habes. Ideo prima renuntiatio est huic sæculo, et deinde conversio ad Deum. Qui renuntiat, fundit; qui convertitur, impletur: sed si non fiat corpore solo, sed et corde.
What, then, is the way to love the soul? Do you think the martyrs did not love their souls? You certainly see now, when anyone's life in this present world is in danger, how his friends run on its behalf: how they run to the church, how the bishop is begged to set aside whatever business he has, to run, to hurry. Why? For a life. And all tremble; setting everything else aside, they decide that haste is needed. All haste is praised, all delay is blamed. Why? For a life. What does "for a life" mean? That a man may not die. The martyrs did not know how to love their souls in that way; and yet this is what "for a life" means: that a man may not die. The death of man is iniquity. If you run a hundred thousand paces for this life, how many thousands ought you to run for eternal life? If you hurry to gain a few days, and those uncertain (for a man freed from death today does not know whether he will die tomorrow); yet if people run like this to gain a few days, since even up to old age the days are few, how must one run for eternal life? And yet for that people are sluggish. You will hardly find anyone who will take even a slow step for eternal life. Perverse love of the soul abounds; but right love belongs to very few. For as there is no one who does not love his soul, so there is no one who does not love his flesh. How can it be both that what the apostle says is true, "No one ever hated his own flesh," and yet that the soul is not loved? Let us learn, then, brothers, to love our souls. Every pleasure of the world is passing. There is a profitable love; there is a harmful love: love is hindered by love; let the harmful love withdraw, and let the profitable love take its place. But because people do not want the former to withdraw, another cannot enter into them: they are full, so that they cannot take it in; let them pour out, and they will take it in. For they are full of love of carnal pleasures, full of love of the present life, full of love of gold and silver and the possessions of this world. Those who are full, then, are like vessels. Do you want honey to go in where you have not yet poured out the vinegar? Pour out what you have, so that you may receive what you do not have. That is why the first thing is renunciation of this world, and then conversion to God. Whoever renounces pours out; whoever is converted is filled: but only if it happens not in body alone but in heart as well.
Eph 5:29 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: People rush to save a bodily life but are sluggish about eternal life; one must pour out harmful loves like vinegar from a vessel so that the right love can enter.
- Anima is rendered "life" where it refers to bodily life ("for a life") and "soul" elsewhere.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): uon amabant → non amabant; pro ca: quomodo → pro ea: quomodo; rugatur episcopus → rogatur episcopus; rcbus intermissis → rebus intermissis; amarc animas suas: cl tamen → amare animas suas: et tamen; iniquilas → iniquitas; pro hac vila centum → pro hac vita centum; hodie cnim homo → hodie enim homo; paucorum dicrum, quia ct usque → paucorum dierum, quia et usque; pro vila a-terna? Lt tamen → pro vita æterna? Et tamen; passus lenlc → passus lente; amor:luem rectus → amor autem rectus; ncmo est qui non amel → nemo est qui non amet; verum sil quod → verum sit quod; Neme unquam → Nemo unquam; Piscamus ergo, fratres, amare animas nostraa → Discamus ergo, fratres, amare animas nostras; amor novius → amor noxius; iitine recedere; idco → illum recedere; ideo; capiunl → capiunt; Funde qnod habes, ut capias qnod non habes → Funde quod habes, ut capias quod non habes; Qni reo nuntiat, fundit; qui convertitur, implectur → Qui renuntiat, fundit; qui convertitur, impletur; sed et eorde → sed et corde.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 368.3 (PL 39:1617; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
368.4PL 39:1617
Quæritur autem, fratres, quomodo crescat iste amor. Habet enim initia sua, habet augmenta sua, habet perfectionem suam. Et debemus nosse quis coeperit, ut eum ad augmenta cohortemur: quis nec cœperit, ut eum ut incipiat moneamus: quis et cœperit et creverit, ut eum ad perfectionem incitemus. Primo illud attendat Charitas vestra: amores omnes et dilectiones prius sunt in hominibus de se, et sic de alia re quam diligunt. Si diligis aurum, prius te diligis, et sic aurum: quia si tu mortuus fueris, non erit qui aurum possideat. Ergo dilectio unicuique a se incipit; et non potest nisi a se incipere. Et nemo monetur ut se diligat. Hoc enim non solum inest hominibus, sed et pecoribus. Videtis enim, fratres, quemadmodum non tantum ingentes bestiæ et magna animalia, ut sunt boves aut cameli vel elephanti, sed et muscæ, sed et vermiculi minimi quomodo nolunt mori, et diligant se. Omnia animalia mortem fugiunt. Ergo diligunt se, custodire se volunt; alia velocitate, alia latebris, alia resistendo et repugnando: omnia tamen animalia pro vita sua pugnant, mori nolunt, custodire se volunt. Amant ergo se. Incipe et aliud amare. Sed quid est ipsum aliud? Quidquid amaveris, aut hoc est quod tu, aut inferius te est, aut superius te est. Si inferius te est quod amas, ad consolandum ama, ad tractandum ama, ad utendum ama, non ad illigandum. Verbi gratia, aurum amas, noli te illigare auro: quanto melior es quam aurum? Aurum enim terra est fulgens; tu autem ut illumineris a Domino, ad imaginem Dei factus es. Cum sit aurum creatura Dei, non tamen fecit Deus aurum ad imaginem suam, sed te. Ergo posuit sub te aurum. Amor ergo iste contemnendus est. Ad usum assumenda sunt ista, non eis vinculo amoris quasi glutino hærendum est. Non facias tibi membra, quæ cum cœperint præcidi, doleas atque crucieris. Quid ergo? Assurge ab isto amore, quo amas inferiora quam tu es: incipe amare paria, id est, quod tu es. Sed quid multis opus est? Si volueris, breviter poteris.
The question is, brothers, how this love grows. For it has its beginnings, its increases, its perfection. And we ought to know who has begun, so that we may urge him on to increase; who has not yet begun, so that we may advise him to begin; who has both begun and grown, so that we may spur him on to perfection. First let your Love attend to this: all loves and affections in human beings are first of themselves, and then of the other thing they love. If you love gold, you love yourself first, and then gold; for if you are dead, there will be no one to possess the gold. So love begins in each one from himself, and cannot begin except from himself. And no one is urged to love himself. For this is in not only human beings but also animals. For you see, brothers, how not only huge beasts and great animals, such as oxen or camels or elephants, but even flies, even the tiniest little worms, do not want to die, and love themselves. All animals flee death. So they love themselves; they want to protect themselves, some by speed, some by hiding, some by resisting and fighting back; yet all animals fight for their life, do not want to die, want to protect themselves. So they love themselves. Begin to love something else too. But what is that something else? Whatever you love is either what you are, or lower than you, or higher than you. If what you love is lower than you, love it for comfort, love it for handling, love it for use, not so as to bind yourself to it. For example, you love gold: do not bind yourself to gold. How much better are you than gold! For gold is shining earth; but you were made in the image of God, to be enlightened by the Lord. Though gold is God's creature, God did not make gold in his image, but you. So he put gold beneath you. That love, then, is to be despised. These things are to be taken up for use, not clung to with the bond of love as with glue. Do not make them limbs of yours, which, when they begin to be cut off, would cause you pain and torment. What then? Rise up from that love by which you love things lower than yourself: begin to love your equals, that is, what you are. But what need is there of many words? If you will, you can do it in brief.
Gen 1:27 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Love begins with self-love, shared even with animals; things lower than ourselves, like gold, are to be used, not clung to, and we must rise to love our equals.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray mark): fratres quumodo → fratres, quomodo; hahet perfectionem → habet perfectionem; ut cum ad augmenta → ut eum ad augmenta; quis lice cœperit, ut cum qu » incipiat → quis nec cœperit, ut eum ut incipiat; ut cum ad perfectionem → ut eum ad perfectionem; si tu mortuus fucris, non crit qui aurum pos-ideal → si tu mortuus fueris, non erit qui aurum possideat; nisi a se inciperc. Et ncmo → nisi a se incipere. Et nemo; Hoc cnim non solum inest hominihus → Hoc enim non solum inest hominibus; non tentum ingentes → non tantum ingentes; ut sont boves → ut sunt boves; sed ei muse:,, sed → sed et muscæ, sed; Sed quid cst ipsum → Sed quid est ipsum; ant inferius te est, aut superius te cst. Si inferius te e-t → aut inferius te est, aut superius te est. Si inferius te est; terra csl fulgens; tu autem III illuminareris a Domino, ad imaginem Oei → terra est fulgens; tu autem ut illumineris a Domino, ad imaginem Dei; sub tc aurum.Amor → sub te aurum. Amor; suntista, non cis vinculo amoris quasi glutino hærendum cst → sunt ista, non eis vinculo amoris quasi glutino hærendum est; Non facias libi membra, qu:e → Non facias tibi membra, quæ; atque ' crucieris → atque crucieris; id esI, qnod tu cs. Sed quid multis opus cst → id est, quod tu es. Sed quid multis opus est.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 368.4 (PL 39:1617; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-368-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
368.5PL 39:1617–1618
Quo ordine autem verum amorem et veram charitatem habere possimus, ipse Dominus dixit nobis in Evangelio, et evidenter ostendit. Sic enim ait: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex omnibus viribus tuis; et proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. Primum ergo dilige Deum, deinde te ipsum; post hæc dilige proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. Prius tamen disce amare te ipsum: sic dilige proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. Nam si te ipsum non nosti amare, quomodo proximum poteris in veritate diligere? Putant enim nonnulli homines legitimo ordine se amare, quando res alienas rapiunt, quando se inebriant, quando libidini serviunt, quando per diversas calumnias injusta lucra conquirunt. Isti tales audiant Scripturam dicentem, Qui diligit iniquitatem, odit animam suam. Si ergo amando iniquitatem, te ipsum non solum non diligis, sed etiam odio habes; quomodo aut Deum aut proximum diligere poteris? Si ergo vis veræ charitatis ordinem custodire, fac justitiam, dilige misericordiam, fuge luxuriam; incipe secundum præceptum Domini, non solum amicos, sed etiam inimicos diligere. Et hæc cum fideliter custodire toto corde contenderis, istis virtutibus quasi quibusdam gradibus poteris ascendere, ut merearis Deum toto animo et tota virtute diligere. Et cum ad istam felicem perfectionem veneris, omnes concupiscentias istius mundi tanquam stercora computabis: et cum propheta poteris dicere, Mihi autem adhærere Deo, bonum est.
In what order we may have true love and true charity, the Lord himself has told us in the gospel and shown plainly. For he says: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength; and your neighbor as yourself." First, then, love God, then yourself; after that love your neighbor as yourself. Yet first learn to love yourself; so love your neighbor as yourself. For if you do not know how to love yourself, how will you be able to love your neighbor in truth? For some people think they love themselves in the lawful order when they seize other people's property, when they get drunk, when they serve lust, when they acquire unjust gains by various false accusations. Let such people hear Scripture saying, "Whoever loves iniquity hates his own soul." If, then, by loving iniquity you not only do not love yourself but even hate yourself, how will you be able to love either God or your neighbor? If, then, you want to keep the order of true charity, do justice, love mercy, flee luxury; begin, according to the Lord's command, to love not only your friends but also your enemies. And when you strive with all your heart to keep these things faithfully, you will be able to ascend by these virtues as by steps, so that you may merit to love God with all your soul and all your strength. And when you have come to that happy perfection, you will count all the desires of this world as dung, and you will be able to say with the prophet, "But for me it is good to cling to God."
Mark 12:30–31 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 11:5 (10:6 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Mic 6:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:44 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 73:28 (72:28 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The order of charity is to love God, then oneself rightly, then one's neighbor; loving sin is hating oneself, and by justice, mercy, and love of enemies one climbs to perfect love of God.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Quo ordine autem vcrum amorem ct veram → Quo ordine autem verum amorem et veram; ipse Doinus dixit nobis in Evangelio, ct evidenter → ipse Dominus dixit nobis in Evangelio, et evidenter; Sic cuim ait → Sic enim ait; ex toto corre tuo, et ex tota onima tun, ct ex omnibus → ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex omnibus; post hæc dilige proximum tuum sicut tc ipsum. Prius tamen disce amare tc ipsum: sic dilige proximum tuum sicut tc ipsum → post hæc dilige proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. Prius tamen disce amare te ipsum: sic dilige proximum tuum sicut te ipsum; amarc, quomodo proximum potcris → amare, quomodo proximum poteris; lcgilimo ordine sc:marc → legitimo ordine se amare; quando sc inebriant, quando libidin: serviunt → quando se inebriant, quando libidini serviunt; diccntcm → dicentem; tc ipsum non solum → te ipsum non solum; aut Dcum aut proximum diligere potcris → aut Deum aut proximum diligere poteris; justiliam → justitiam; incipc secundum præceptum Domini, non solnm amicos, sed ctiam → incipe secundum præceptum Domini, non solum amicos, sed etiam; mcrearis → merearis; siercora → stercora; et cnm propheta poteris dicorc → et cum propheta poteris dicere.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 368.5 (PL 39:1617–1618; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/368-5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-368-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
Chapter 369
369.1PL 39:1618
Salvator noster natus de Patre sine die, per quem factus est omnis dies, voluit in terra habere natalem hunc diem, quem hodie celebramus. Quisquis hunc diem miraris, æternum mirare potius ante omnem diem permanentem, omnem diem creantem, in die hodierno nascentem, a malitia diei liberantem. Adhuc mirare. Quæ peperit, et mater et virgo est; quem peperit, et infans et Verbum est. Merito cœli locuti sunt, Angeli gratulati, pastores lætati. Magi mutati, reges turbati, parvuli coronati. Lacta, mater, cibum nostrum; lacta panem de cœlo venientem, et in præsepi positum velut piorum cibaria jumentorum. Illic enim cognovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus præsepe domini sui (Isai. I, 3); circumcisio scilicet et præputium, cohærendo lapidi angulari, quorum primitiae fuerunt pastores et Magi. Lacta eum qui talem fecit te, ut ipse fieret in te, qui tibi et munus fecunditatis attulit conceptus, et decus virginitatis non abstulit natus: qui sibi, priusquam nasceretur, et uterum de quo nasceretur, et diem quo nasceretur elegit. Et ipse condidit quod elegit, ut illinc procederet ut sponsus de thalamo suo, quo mortalibus oculis posset videri, et augmento lucis annuæ se lucem mentium venisse testari. Prophetæ cecinerunt Conditorem coeli et terræ in terra cum hominibus futurum: angelus annuntiavit Creatorem carnis et spiritus in carne venturum. Salutavit Joannes ex utero in utero Salvatorem; Simeon senex Deum agnovit infantem; Anna vidua virginem matrem. Hæc sunt testimonia nativitatis tuæ, Domine Jesu, antequam tibi fluctus substernerentur calcanti, cederent imperanti; antequam ventus te jubente siluisset, mortuus te vocante vixisset, sol te moriente palluisset, terra te resurgente tremuisset, cœlum te ascendente patuisset: antequam ista et alia mirabilia jam juvenilis tui corporis ætate fecisses. Adhuc in manibus matris portabaris, et jam Dominus orbis agnoscebaris. Ipse puer parvulus ex semine Israel, et ipse nobiscum Deus Emmanuel.
Our Saviour, born of the Father without a day, through whom every day was made, willed to have on earth as his birthday this day which we celebrate today. Whoever you are who marvel at this day, marvel rather at the eternal Day, abiding before every day, creating every day, born on this present day, freeing us from the evil of the day. Marvel still more. She who bore him is both mother and virgin; he whom she bore is both an infant and the Word. Rightly the heavens spoke, the angels rejoiced, the shepherds were glad, the magi were changed, kings were troubled, little ones were crowned. Nurse, mother, our food; nurse the bread coming down from heaven, laid in a manger like fodder for devout beasts. For there the ox knew its owner, and the donkey its master's manger: that is, the circumcision and the uncircumcision, joining together at the cornerstone, whose firstfruits were the shepherds and the magi. Nurse him who made you such that he himself might be made in you; who, conceived, brought you the gift of fruitfulness, and, born, did not take away the honor of virginity; who before he was born chose for himself both the womb from which he would be born and the day on which he would be born. And he himself made what he chose, so that he might come forth from there like a bridegroom from his chamber, where he could be seen by mortal eyes, and testify by the increase of the year's light that he had come as the light of minds. The prophets sang that the maker of heaven and earth would be on earth with men; the angel announced that the creator of flesh and spirit would come in the flesh. John from the womb greeted the Saviour in the womb; the old man Simeon recognized God as an infant; the widow Anna recognized the virgin as mother. These are the testimonies of your birth, Lord Jesus, before the waves spread themselves beneath your feet and yielded to your command; before the wind fell silent at your bidding, the dead lived at your call, the sun grew pale at your death, the earth trembled at your rising, heaven opened at your ascending; before you had done these and other wonders in the years of your young manhood. You were still carried in your mother's arms, and already you were recognized as Lord of the world. He is the little child of the seed of Israel, and he is God with us, Emmanuel.
John 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 6:34 (echo, medium confidence) · Luke 2:13–20 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 2:1–16 (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:51 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 2:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 19:5 (18:6 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:41 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:25–38 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 14:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Mark 4:39 (allusion, high confidence) · John 11:43 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 23:45 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 28:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 1:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 1:23 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A Christmas sermon on the eternal Son born in time: heaven, angels, shepherds, magi, John, Simeon, and Anna all bore witness to the infant Lord before his later miracles.
- This sermon is printed by the Maurists among the doubtful sermons; its authorship by Augustine is doubted.
- The opening words "Duplex Christi ortus, alius ante omnem diem, alius in die. Nativitas Christi divinis testimoniis illustrata" ("Christ's twofold birth, one before every day, the other in a day. Christ's birth made glorious by divine testimonies") are Migne's marginal headings and have been removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal headings; OCR slip; OCR slips; footnote mark; OCR slip; joined words; punctuation lost): Duplex Christi ortus, alius ante omnem diem, alius in die. N ativitas Christi divinis festimoniis illustrata. Salvator → Salvator; Patrc sine die, pcr quem → Patre sine die, per quem; hahere nalalcm → habere natalem; miraris1 æteruum → miraris, æternum; in dic hodierno → in die hodierno; virgo cst; quem peperit, ct infans → virgo est; quem peperit, et infans; Augeli gralulali → Angeli gratulati; Magi mutati reges turbati → Magi mutati, reges turbati; lacU panem de cœlo vemientem, cl in præsepipositum velut pionun → lacta panem de cœlo venientem, et in præsepi positum velut piorum; cognvit → cognovit; Homini sui (lsai I, 5) → domini sui (Isai. I, 3); ct præpulium, cohærenndo → et præputium, cohærendo; pastorcs el Magi. Lacta cum → pastores et Magi. Lacta eum; n'n abstulit → non abstulit; uterunt → uterum; ct diem → et diem; thalalmo → thalamo; vidcri → videri; Prophetæ, cecinerunt Conditorem coeli et ter. fre → Prophetæ cecinerunt Conditorem coeli et terræ; angelusannuntiavit → angelus annuntiavit; Simcon sencx → Simeon senex; Jesu. antequam libi fluctus substernerentur calcanti → Jesu, antequam tibi fluctus substernerentur calcanti,; venUs → ventus; sol tc moriente palluisset, terra tc resurgente → sol te moriente palluisset, terra te resurgente; corpOris → corporis; feCisses → fecisses; portabaris, ct jam → portabaris, et jam.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 369.1 (PL 39:1618; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/369-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/369-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-369-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
369.2PL 39:1618
Quæ est illa nostri generatio Salvatoris, qua gignenti Patri coæternus est, quando hanc generationem ex virgine mundus expavit, quam pia fides agnovit et tenuit, infidelitas autem irrisit, superbia timuit superata? Quænam est illa generatio, qua in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum? Vel quod est hoc Verbum, quod dicturus ante non silebat, quo dicto non siluit qui dicebat? Quod est Verbum sine tempore, per quod facta sunt tempora? Verbum quod labia nullius aperuit cœptum, clausitve finitum: Verbum quod initium non habet ex ore loquentium, et aperit ora mutorum: Verbum quod linguis gentium disertis non fit, et linguas infantium disertas facit. Quænam est, inquam, illa generatio, cui Pater moriendo non cedit, quia non eam vivendo præcedit? Ab omnibus locorum temporumque intervallis, ab omni distentione spatiorum, quam vel in diebus, vel in corporibus sentire consuevimus, levemus ad eum, quantum ipso adjuvante possumus, animam nostram, si quomodo capere valeamus et natum non prævenientem qui gignit, et gignentem non subsequentem qui gignitur, Patrem et Filium: nec pariter patres, nec pariter filios, sed pariter æternos: non utrumque generantem, nec utrumque nascentem, sed alterum sine altero non viventem: et Patrem sempiterne genuisse, et Filium sempiterne natum esse cogitemus, si valemus; si non valemus, credamus. Non est quod hic dicere valeamus, sed tamen non longe positum est ab unoquoque nostrum: In illo enim vivimus, et movemur, et sumus. Transcendamus carnem nostram, in qua parentes ante filios vivunt: quia ut filios possent generare creverunt, et filiis crescentibus jam senescunt. Nondum natis filiis parentes vixerunt, quia et parentibus mortuis filii victuri sunt. Transcendamus et animas nostras: pariunt et ipsæ aliquid cogitando, quod secum habent sciendo; sed possunt amittere obliviscendo, quia non habebant ante nascendo. Cuncta corporalia, temporalia, mutabilia transcendamus: ut videamus super omnia, per quem facta sunt omnia. Ascensus noster in corde est: quia et ille ad quem ascendimus prope est. Longe autem ab illo sumus, in quantum dissimiles sumus. Ascendit ergo ad eum sua similitudo, quam in nobis fecit et refecit, qua nondum perfecta, palpitat infirmus aspectus, et ineffabilem candorem lucis æternæ non potest intueri. Cujus ergo fulgorem mentis acies nondum capit, generationem ejus quis enarrabit? Sed Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis.
What is that generation of our Saviour by which he is coeternal with the Father who begets him, when the world was astonished at his generation from a virgin, which devout faith recognized and held fast, while unbelief mocked it and pride, overcome, feared it? What is that generation by which "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"? Or what is this Word, before which the speaker was not silent, waiting to say it, and after which, once spoken, the speaker did not fall silent? What is the Word without time, through whom times were made? A Word which opened no one's lips when it began, nor closed them when it ended; a Word which has no beginning in the mouths of speakers, and opens the mouths of the dumb; a Word which is not produced by the eloquent tongues of the nations, and makes the tongues of infants eloquent? What, I say, is that generation in which the Father does not give way to the Son by dying, because he does not precede him by living? Let us lift our soul to him, as far as we can with his help, beyond all intervals of places and times, beyond all extension of spaces, which we are accustomed to perceive either in days or in bodies, if somehow we may be able to grasp both the one born, whom the begetter does not precede, and the begetter, whom the begotten does not follow: the Father and the Son; not both alike fathers, nor both alike sons, but alike eternal; not each begetting, nor each being born, but neither living without the other; and let us think, if we can, that the Father has eternally begotten and the Son has been eternally born; if we cannot, let us believe. There is nothing here that we are able to say, and yet he is not far from each one of us: for in him we live and move and are. Let us go beyond our flesh, in which parents live before their children, because they grew up so as to be able to beget children, and as the children grow they are already growing old. The parents lived before the children were born, because the children too will live after the parents are dead. Let us go beyond our souls as well: they also give birth to something by thinking, which they keep with them by knowing; but they can lose it by forgetting, because they did not have it before they gave birth to it. Let us go beyond all things bodily, temporal, and changeable, so as to see above all things him through whom all things were made. Our ascent is in the heart, because he to whom we ascend is near. But we are far from him insofar as we are unlike him. It is his likeness, then, that ascends to him, the likeness he made and remade in us; and while it is not yet perfected, our weak gaze trembles and cannot look upon the ineffable brightness of the eternal light. Whose brightness, then, the eye of the mind cannot yet grasp, who will tell of his generation? But the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Mark 7:37 (echo, medium confidence) · Acts 17:27–28 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Son's eternal generation from the Father, without before or after, surpasses every likeness in flesh or soul; the mind must ascend in the heart, and where it cannot understand, believe.
- "Makes the tongues of infants eloquent" is Wis 10:21; "the brightness of the eternal light," Wis 7:26.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): gencratio → generatio; co;cternus cst → coæternus est; supcrata → superata; gener'alio → generatio; dicturus ale non silebat → dicturus ante non silebat; qni dicebat → qui dicebat; Quod cst Verbum → Quod est Verbum; loquentium. et apcril ora → loquentium, et aperit ora; Verbum qnod linguis → Verbum quod linguis; non fit, ct linguas → non fit, et linguas; geucratio → generatio; ah omni distentione → ab omni distentione; quam vcl in diebus → quam vel in diebus; levemus ad cum → levemus ad eum; valcamus → valeamus; pr;ivenientem → prævenientem; lilios, sea parilcr → filios, sed pariter; nee utrumque → nec utrumque; sinc altero → sine altero; Non cst quod → Non est quod; nosstrum → nostrum; generarc creverunt, ct filiis crescentibus jam senecscunt. Nondum nani, filiis → generare creverunt, et filiis crescentibus jam senescunt. Nondum natis filiis; Transcendamus ct animas nostras: parinnt ct ipsæ → Transcendamus et animas nostras: pariunt et ipsæ; onmia, per quem facia → omnia, per quem facta; in corde cst: quia ct ille ad quem ascenlimus → in corde est: quia et ille ad quem ascendimus; ad cum sua similitudo, quam in nobis fccit et rcfecit → ad eum sua similitudo, quam in nobis fecit et refecit; aspcetus, et ineffabilemcandorem → aspectus, et ineffabilem candorem; intucri → intueri; fulgurem mentis acies hondnm → fulgorem mentis acies nondum.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 10:21 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation); Wis 7:26 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 369.2 (PL 39:1618; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/369-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/369-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
369.3PL 39:1618–1619
Hanc ergo generationem, cujus hodiernum celebramus diem, hanc in qua dignatus est venire per Israel, et fieri Emmanuel, nobiscum Deus in carnis infirmitate, non nobiscum in cordis iniquitate; accedens ad nos per id quod assumpsit ex nostro, et liberans nos per id quod mansit in suo (visitavit quippe Dominus servos suos per mortalem infirmitatem, ut eos liberos faceret per incommutabilem veritatem): hanc ergo generationem, cujus utcumque capax est humana fragilitas; non illam quæ sine tempore manet, sine matre super omnia: sed istam quæ in tempore facta est, sine patre inter omnia: hunc virginis filium et virginum sponsum, de incorrupta matre nascentem, incorruptibili veritate fetantem, laudemus, amemus, adoremus, ut in ejus misericordia de astutia victa diaboli triumphemus. Diabolus ad nos decipiendos corrupta feminea mente subrepsit: Christus ad nos liberandos incorrupta feminea etiam carne processit; qui est benedictus cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
This generation, then, whose day we celebrate today, this in which he deigned to come through Israel and become Emmanuel, God with us in the weakness of the flesh, not with us in the iniquity of the heart; coming near to us through what he took from what is ours, and freeing us through what remained in what is his (for the Lord visited his servants through mortal weakness, to make them free through unchangeable truth): this generation, then, which human frailty can in some measure grasp, not the one that abides without time, without a mother, above all things, but this one that took place in time, without a father, among all things: this son of a virgin and bridegroom of virgins, born of an uncorrupted mother, making fruitful with incorruptible truth, let us praise, let us love, let us adore, so that in his mercy we may triumph over the defeated cunning of the devil. The devil crept in to deceive us by corrupting a woman's mind; Christ came forth to free us from a woman's flesh that remained uncorrupted, he who is blessed with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
Matt 1:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:68 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 8:32 (echo, medium confidence) · Gen 3:1–6 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 11:3 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The birth in time, without a father, of the Son who is eternally born without a mother is to be praised and adored; as the devil deceived through a woman's corrupted mind, Christ freed us through a virgin's uncorrupted flesh.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; split word): Hanc crgo → Hanc ergo; dignatus eat → dignatus est; pcr iri quod assumpsit ex nostro, ct liberans → per id quod assumpsit ex nostro, et liberans; DominuS → Dominus; ut cumque → utcumque; fragiltas; nun illam → fragilitas; non illam; sinc matre super onmia: sed istant → sine matre super omnia: sed istam; filiom et virginum sponsnm → filium et virginum sponsum; dc astutia → de astutia; cHam → etiam; cum Putrc ct Spiritu → cum Patre et Spiritu.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 369.3 (PL 39:1618–1619; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/369-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/369-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-369-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
Chapter 370
370.1PL 39:1619
Hodiernus dies ad habendam spem vitæ æternæ, magnum contulit gaudium generi humano. Primus enim homo, quo cadente omnes cecidimus, cujus ruina est mortalitas nostra, non est natus, sed factus; patre nullo, nulla matre, sed Deo operante. Hæc est hominis prima conditio. Adam de terra. Secunda conditio est hominis, qua creatur femina de latere viri. Tertia conditio est hominis, qua natus est homo ex viro et femina. Quarta conditio est Dei et hominis, qua natus est Christus sine viro de femina. In istis quatuor conditionibus una sola nobis usitata est, cæteræ tres non sunt in oculis carnis, sed in fide cordis. De terra factum hominem sine patre, sine matre, non novimus; factam feminam de latere viri non novimus, lectam et auditam credidimus. Tertia illa usitata est nobis ipsa quotidiana: de complexu maris et feminæ quotidie nascuntur homines. Jam ergo erat una sine viro et femina, jam erat altera de viro sine femina, jam erat tertia de viro et femina, quarta restabat sine viro de femina. Sed ista quarta liberavit tres. Prima enim et secunda ruerunt, tertiam de ruina genuerunt, in quarta salutem invenerunt. Exsultent ergo virgines; virgo peperit Christum. Nihil in ea quod voverunt putent exterminatum: mansit virgo post partum. Exsultent viduæ; infantem Christum vidua Anna cognovit. Exsultent conjugatæ; nasciturum Dominum Jesum Christum Elisabeth maritata prophetavit. Nullus gradus prætermissus est, de quo non haberet testimonium salus omnium. Numquid enim solæ virgines ad regnum cœlorum perveniunt? Perveniunt et viduæ. Magni meriti fuit illa vidua sancta Anna. A virginitate enim sua septem annos vixerat cum viro suo; quo defuncto usque ad senilem ætatem pervenerat, et in senectute sancta exspectabat infantiam Salvatoris; ut parvum videret annosa, parvum agnosceret anicula, intrantem in mundum Salvatorem videret itura. Et in masculino sexu tria ipsa genera commendata sunt. Ipse Christus puer natus est; exsultent pueri, continentiam voventes puero. Ipse vere integritatem pudicitiæ consecravit, qui suæ matri fecunditatem attulit, virginitatem non abstulit. Simeon ille senex diu vixerat, cujus ætas comparatur Annæ; et audierat responsum; quod non esset visurus mortem nisi prius videret Christum Domini.
Today's day has brought great joy to the human race for holding the hope of eternal life. For the first man, in whose fall we all fell, whose ruin is our mortality, was not born but made, with no father, no mother, but by God's working. This is the first way man came into being: Adam from the earth. The second way man came into being is that by which woman is created from the side of man. The third way is that by which a human being is born of man and woman. The fourth way, of God and man, is that by which Christ was born of a woman without a man. Of these four ways only one is familiar to us; the other three are not before the eyes of the flesh but in the faith of the heart. We have not known a man made from the earth without father and mother; we have not known a woman made from the side of a man: having read and heard it, we have believed it. The third is familiar to us, the everyday one: human beings are born every day from the union of male and female. So there was already one way, without man and woman; there was already another, from man without woman; there was already the third, from man and woman; the fourth remained, from woman without man. But this fourth freed the other three. For the first and second fell; they begot the third out of their ruin; in the fourth they found salvation. [2] Let virgins exult, then: a virgin bore Christ. Let them not think that anything they have vowed was destroyed in her: she remained a virgin after childbirth. Let widows exult: the widow Anna recognized the infant Christ. Let married women exult: Elizabeth, a married woman, prophesied the Lord Jesus Christ who was to be born. No state of life was passed over that did not bear witness to the salvation of all. For do virgins alone reach the kingdom of heaven? Widows reach it too. That holy widow Anna was of great merit. For from her virginity she had lived seven years with her husband; after his death she had come to old age, and in her holy old age she was awaiting the infancy of the Saviour: so that, full of years, she might see the little one; an old woman, recognize the little one; on the point of departing, see the Saviour entering the world. And in the male sex too the same three kinds are commended. Christ himself was born a boy; let boys exult, vowing continence to the boy. He truly consecrated the integrity of chastity, he who brought fruitfulness to his mother but did not take away her virginity. That old man Simeon had lived long, an age comparable to Anna's; and he had received the answer that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
1 Cor 15:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:21–22 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:36–38 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:41–45 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:26 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A Christmas sermon on the four ways man came to be (Adam, Eve, ordinary birth, Christ's virgin birth), the last of which saved the others; virgins, widows, and the married each have a witness at Christ's birth.
- This sermon is printed by the Maurists among the doubtful sermons; its authorship by Augustine is doubted.
- Paragraph 2 is merged into this section in the digital text; its printed number (read as "A.") is marked [2]. Its marginal heading, "Omnis fidelium gradus Salvatori omnium nato attestatur" ("Every state of the faithful bears witness to the Saviour of all at his birth"), has been removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; punctuation lost; OCR slips; OCR slips; paragraph number 2 (misread) and Migne's marginal heading; footnote mark): Primus cnim homo, quo cadcnio omnes → Primus enim homo, quo cadente omnes; ruina cst mortalitas → ruina est mortalitas; Deo opcrautc → Deo operante; conditio cst hominis → conditio est hominis; conditio est Dci et hominis → conditio est Dei et hominis; sinc viro de fcmina → sine viro de femina; Dc tcri a factum hominem sine patre, sinc matre → De terra factum hominem sine patre, sine matre; nobis ipsa quotidiana de complexu maris ct feminæ → nobis ipsa quotidiana: de complexu maris et feminæ; Jam crgocrat una sine viro et fcmina, jam crat altea de viro sinc femina, jam erat tertia de viro ct fcmina → Jam ergo erat una sine viro et femina, jam erat altera de viro sine femina, jam erat tertia de viro et femina; libcravil → liberavit; Prima cnirn ct sccunda rucrInt → Prima enim et secunda ruerunt; invencrunt. A. Omnis fidelium gradus Salvatori omnium nato attestatur. Exsultent ergo virgiues → invenerunt. Exsultent ergo virgines; voverunt1 → voverunt; Exsulicnt conjugatæ; nasclturum → Exsultent conjugatæ; nasciturum; Numquid cnim solæ → Numquid enim solæ; A virginitate cnim sua septem annos vixcrat → A virginitate enim sua septem annos vixerat; quo dcfunclo usquc ad senilem ætatem p rvenerat, ct in senectute bancla → quo defuncto usque ad senilem ætatem pervenerat, et in senectute sancta; infrantem in mundum Salvatorem videret itura → intrantem in mundum Salvatorem videret itura; in masculino sem tria ipsa genera commendatasunt. Ipse Chritus pacr natus cst → in masculino sexu tria ipsa genera commendata sunt. Ipse Christus puer natus est; a'tas comparatur Anna: → ætas comparatur Annæ; viderct Christum Doinini → videret Christum Domini.
Topics: Christology, Marriage
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 370.1 (PL 39:1619; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/370-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/370-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-370-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
370.3PL 39:1619–1620
Intelligite, fratres, quantum desiderium habebant antiqui sancti videndi Christum. Sciebant illum esse venturum, et omnes qui pie vivebant, dicebant, O si hic me inveniat illa nativitas! o si quod credo in Scripturis Dei, videam oculis meis! Et ut noveritis quantum desiderium habebant sancti, qui noverant de Scripturis sanctis virginem parituram, sicut audistis cum Isaias legeretur, Ecce virgo in utero concipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel. Emmanuel quid sit, Evangelium nobis aperuit dicens, quod interpretatur, Nobiscum Deus. Non tibi ergo sit mirum, quæcumque infidelis anima, non tibi videatur impossibile ut virgo pareret, virgo pariens permaneret. Intellige natum Deum, et non miraberis virginis partum. Ut ergo noveritis antiquos sanctos et justos optasse videre, quod concessum est huic seni Simeoni; Dominus noster Jesus Christus ad discipulos loquens ait: Multi justi et prophetæ voluerunt videre quæ vos videtis, et non viderunt; et audire quæ auditis, et non audierunt ( Id. XIII, 17 ). Multum senex iste fuit ad audiendum serus, sed ad videndum maturus. Non exspectavit ut Christum audiret loquentem, quoniam agnovit infantem. Et hoc illi concessum erat jam decrepito, quasi desideranti et suspiranti et dicenti quotidie in orationibus suis: Quando veniet? quando nascetur? quando videbo? Putas durabo? putas hic me inveniet? putas isti oculi eum videbunt, per quem cordis oculi revelabuntur? Dicebat ista in orationibus suis, et pro desiderio suo accepit responsum, quod non gustaret mortem, nisi prius videret Christum Domini. Gestabat eum Maria mater ejus infantem: vidit ille, et agnovit. Ubi noverat quem agnovit? An intus est revelatus, qui foris est natus? Vidit, et agnovit. Agnovit Simeon infantem tacentem; et occiderunt Judæi juvenem mirabilia facientem. Cum ergo cognovisset, accepit in ulnas suas, hoc est, in brachia sua, amplexatus est eum. Portabat a quo portabatur. Ipse enim est Christus sapientia Dei, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponens omnia suaviter. Quantus ibi erat, et quam magnus, quam parvus factus erat? Parvus factus, parvos quærebat. Quid est, parvos quærebat? Non superbos, non elatos; sed humiles et mites colligebat. In præsepi dignatus est poni, ut esset piorum cibaria jumentorum. Accepit ergo eum Simeon in brachia sua, et dixit: Nunc dimittis, Domine, servum tuum in pace. Dimittis in pace, quia video paccm. Quare ergo dimittis in pace? Quoniam viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum (Luc. II, 25-30). Salutare Dei, Dominus Jesus Christus. Annuntiate diem ex die salutare ejus.
Understand, brothers, how great a desire the ancient saints had to see Christ. They knew that he would come, and all who lived devoutly said, "O if only that birth might find me here! O if only I might see with my own eyes what I believe in the Scriptures of God!" And so that you may know how great a desire the saints had, who knew from the holy Scriptures that a virgin would give birth, as you heard when Isaiah was read: "Behold, a virgin will conceive in her womb and bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel." What Emmanuel means the gospel has disclosed to us, saying, which is interpreted, "God with us." So do not marvel, whatever unbelieving soul you are; let it not seem impossible to you that a virgin should give birth and, giving birth, remain a virgin. Understand that God was born, and you will not marvel at a virgin's childbirth. So that you may know, then, that the ancient saints and righteous longed to see what was granted to this old man Simeon, our Lord Jesus Christ, speaking to his disciples, says: "Many righteous men and prophets wanted to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it." This old man came much too late to hear, but in good time to see. He did not wait to hear Christ speaking, since he recognized the infant. And this was granted him when he was already very old, as one who longed and sighed and said every day in his prayers: "When will he come? When will he be born? When shall I see him? Do you think I will last? Do you think he will find me here? Do you think these eyes will see him by whom the eyes of the heart will be opened?" He said these things in his prayers, and for his longing he received the answer that he would not taste death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Mary his mother was carrying him as an infant: he saw, and he recognized him. Where had he come to know the one he recognized? Was he revealed within, who was born without? He saw, and recognized. Simeon recognized the silent infant; and the Jews killed the young man who worked wonders. Having recognized him, then, he took him into his arms, that is, into his embrace; he embraced him. He carried the one by whom he was carried. For he is Christ, the wisdom of God, reaching mightily from end to end and ordering all things sweetly. How great he was there, and how great, yet how small he had become! Made small, he was seeking the small. What does "he was seeking the small" mean? Not the proud, not the haughty; he was gathering the humble and gentle. He deigned to be laid in a manger, to be the fodder of devout beasts. So Simeon took him in his arms and said: "Now you dismiss your servant, Lord, in peace." You dismiss me in peace, because I see peace. And why do you dismiss me in peace? "Because my eyes have seen your salvation." The salvation of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. Proclaim his salvation from day to day.
Isa 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 1:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 2:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:28 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:29–30 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 96:2 (95:2 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The saints of old longed to see Christ; Simeon, who would not see death before seeing him, recognized the infant, took him in his arms, and asked to be dismissed in peace.
- Paragraph 2 is translated inside 370.1.
- "Reaching mightily from end to end and ordering all things sweetly" is Wis 8:1.
- The statement that the Jews killed Christ is the preacher's own contrast with Simeon and is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip in the reference; OCR slip; stray number; OCR slips): autiqui → antiqui; pic vivebant, diccbant, 0 si hic me inveniat iila → pie vivebant, dicebant, O si hic me inveniat illa; habcbant sancti, qui nuvcrant → habebant sancti, qui noverant; Noti tibi ergo → Non tibi ergo; inlidelis → infidelis; parerct → pareret; Intellige natum Dcum, et non mirabcris → Intellige natum Deum, et non miraberis; novaritis → noveritis; concessum cst huic → concessum est huic; scIus → serus; concessum crat jam decrepito. quasi → concessum erat jam decrepito, quasi; suspiranti ct dicenti → suspiranti et dicenti; venict → veniet; isti oculi Ici videbunt → isti oculi eum videbunt; suis, ct pro desiderio → suis, et pro desiderio; gustarct → gustaret; vidit ille, ct agnovit → vidit ille, et agnovit; revolatus, qui foris cst nalns → revelatus, qui foris est natus; Simcon infantem → Simeon infantem; hoc cst, in brachia sua, amplexatus est cum → hoc est, in brachia sua, amplexatus est eum; Ipse enim cst Christus sapicntia Dei, attingens a fine usquead finem forliter, ct disponens omnia suavitcr. Quantus ibi cra!, ct quam magnus, quam parvus factus crat → Ipse enim est Christus sapientia Dei, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponens omnia suaviter. Quantus ibi erat, et quam magnus, quam parvus factus erat; acd humiles et miles → sed humiles et mites; Accepit ergo cum Simeon in brachia sua, ctdixit → Accepit ergo eum Simeon in brachia sua, et dixit; Diuitiis in pace → Dimittis in pace; Quarc ergo → Quare ergo; Quonium 1639 viderunt → Quoniam viderunt; (Luc. n, 25-30) → (Luc. II, 25-30); Domninus → Dominus; diem ex die,,utare ejus → diem ex die salutare ejus.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 8:1 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 370.3 (PL 39:1619–1620; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/370-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/370-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).
370.4PL 39:1620
Habetis ergo, pueri, puerum Jesum; sancti senes, senem Simeonem. Si autem quæritis, ut et conjugatus aliquis vir testimonium Domino perhiberet, Zachariam considerate. Nemo ergo quaerat aliud, fratres mei, christiani fideles, aut virgo, aut vidua, aut conjugata, aut puer, aut continens, aut uxoratus: quidquid plus esse quis voluerit, non invenit quemadmodum ad Christum pertineat. Non invenimus testimonium perhibuisse Christo adulteros, fornicatores, immundos. Et ut a talibus ei testimonium perhiberetur, ipse præstitit, ipse donavit. Non enim quisquam sanctus viribus suis. Exsultemus ergo, charissimi. Ab hodierno die crescunt dies. Crede in Christum, et crescit in te dies. Credidisti? Inchoatus est dies. Baptizatus es? Natus est Christus in corde tuo. Sed numquid Christus natus sic remansit? Crevit, ad juventutem pervenit: sed in senectutem non declinavit. Crescat ergo et fides tua, robur inveniat, vetustatem nesciat. Sic pertinebis ad Christum Filium Dei, in principio Verbum apud Deum, Verbum Deum; sed Verbum carnem factum, ut habitaret in nobis. Majestas ibi latebat, tibi infirmitas apparebat. In manus suas Simeon infirmitatem accepit, sed majestatem intus agnovit. Nemo contemnat natum, si vult esse renatus. Ad illum pertinuit propter nos nasci, ad nos pertineat in illo renasci: qui vivit et regnat in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
So you have, boys, the boy Jesus; holy old men, the old man Simeon. And if you ask for some married man to bear witness to the Lord, consider Zechariah. Let no one, then, look for anything else, my brothers, faithful Christians, whether virgin or widow or married woman, boy or continent man or husband: whatever else anyone may wish to be, he will not find another way of belonging to Christ. We do not find that adulterers, fornicators, or the unclean bore witness to Christ. And that witness was borne to him by such as these was his own gift; he gave it. For no one is holy by his own strength. Let us exult, then, dearly beloved. From today the days grow longer. Believe in Christ, and the day grows in you. Have you believed? The day has begun. Have you been baptized? Christ has been born in your heart. But did Christ, once born, stay as he was? He grew, he reached young manhood, but he did not decline into old age. So let your faith too grow, find strength, and know no aging. So you will belong to Christ the Son of God, in the beginning the Word with God, the Word who is God; but the Word made flesh, to dwell among us. Majesty lay hidden there; weakness appeared to you. Simeon took weakness into his hands, but recognized majesty within. Let no one despise the one who was born, if he wants to be reborn. It was his part to be born for our sake; let it be ours to be reborn in him, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Luke 1:67 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 2:28 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:3 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Every state of life, boys, old men, the married, has its witness to Christ; as the days lengthen from Christmas, faith should grow, and those born of him should be reborn in him.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Habctis → Habetis; Si autcm → Si autem; Domitio perhibent → Domino perhiberet; Ncmo ergo → Nemo ergo; fratres mci, christiani fidcles → fratres mei, christiani fideles; perbibuisse → perhibuisse; ci testimonium → ei testimonium; Nun enim → Non enim; Exsultemus crgo → Exsultemus ergo; hodierno dic crescunt → hodierno die crescunt; Inchoatus est dics. Baptizatus cs? Natus cst Christus in cordc tuo → Inchoatus est dies. Baptizatus es? Natus est Christus in corde tuo; Crescat ergo ct fides → Crescat ergo et fides; Filium Dci → Filium Dei; acccpit → accepit; rcnasci: qui vivit ct regnat → renasci: qui vivit et regnat.
Topics: Christology, Baptism
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 370.4 (PL 39:1620; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/370-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/augustine-sermones/370-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-370-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).