Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| To Bishop Aurelius
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
Letter XXII.
(a.d. 392.)
To Bishop Aurelius, Augustin,
Presbyter, Sends Greeting.
Chap. I.
1. When, after long hesitation, I knew not how to
frame a suitable reply to the letter of your Holiness (for all
attempts to express my feelings were baffled by the strength of
affectionate emotions which, rising spontaneously, were by the
reading of your letter much more vehemently inflamed), I cast
myself at last upon God, that He might, according to my strength,
so work in me that I might address to you such an answer as should
be suitable to the zeal for the Lord and the care of His Church
which we have in common, and in accordance with your dignity and
the respect which is due to you from me. And, first of all, as to
your belief that you are aided by my prayers, I not only do not
decline this assurance, but I do even willingly accept it. For
thus, though not through my prayers, assuredly in yours, our Lord
will hear me. As to your most benignant approval of the conduct of
brother Alypius in remaining in connection with us, to be an
example to the brethren who desire to withdraw themselves from this
world’s cares, I thank you more warmly than words can declare.
May the Lord recompense this to your own soul! The whole company,
therefore, of brethren which has begun to grow up together beside
me, is bound to you by gratitude for this great favour; in
bestowing which, you, being far separated from us only by distance
on the surface of the earth, have consulted our interest as one in
spirit very near to us. Wherefore, to the utmost of our power we
give ourselves to prayer that the Lord may be pleased to uphold
along with you the flock which has been committed to you, and may
never anywhere forsake you, but be present as your help in all
times of need, showing in His dealings with His Church, through
your discharge of priestly functions, such mercy as spiritual men
with tears and groanings implore Him to manifest.
2. Know, therefore, most blessed lord,
venerable for the superlative fulness of your charity, that I do
not despair, but rather cherish lively hope that, by means of that
authority which you wield, and which, as we trust, has been
committed to your spirit, not to your flesh alone, our Lord and God
may be able, through the respect due to councils1482
| 1482 We adopt the conjectural reading
“conciliorum.” Compare sec. 4, p. 240. | and to yourself, to bring healing
to the many carnal blemishes and disorders which the African Church
is suffering in the conduct of many, and is bewailing in the sorrow
of a few of her members. For whereas the apostle had in one passage
briefly set forth as fit to be hated and avoided three classes of
vices, from which there springs an innumerable crop of vicious
courses, only one of these—that, namely, which he has placed
second—is very strictly punished by the Church; but the other
two, viz. the first and third, appear to be tolerable in the
estimation of men, and so it may gradually come to pass that they
shall even cease to be regarded as vices. The words of the chosen
vessel are these: “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in
chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfil the lusts thereof.”1483
3. Of these three, then, chambering and wantonness
are regarded as crimes so great, that any one stained with these
sins is deemed unworthy not merely of holding office in the Church,
but also of participation in the sacraments; and rightly so. But
why restrict such censure to this form of sin alone? For rioting
and drunkenness are so tolerated and allowed by public opinion,
that even in services designed to honour the memory of the blessed
martyrs, and this not only on the annual festivals (which itself
must be regarded as deplorable by every one who looks with a
spiritual eye upon these things), but every day, they are openly
practised. Were this corrupt practice objectionable only because of
its being disgraceful, and not on the ground of impiety, we might
consider it as a scandal to be tolerated with such amount of
forbearance as is within our power. And yet, even in that case,
what are we to make of the fact that, when the same apostle had
given a long list of vices, among which he mentioned drunkenness,
he concluded with the warning that we should not even eat bread
with those who
are guilty of such things?1484
But let us, if it must be so, bear
with these things in the luxury and disorder of families, and of
those convivial meetings which are held within the walls of private
houses; and let us take the body of Christ in communion with those
with whom we are forbidden to eat even the bread which sustains our
bodies; but at least let this outrageous insult be kept far away
from the tombs of the sainted dead, from the scenes of sacramental
privilege, and from the houses of prayer. For who may venture to
forbid in private life excesses which, when they are practised by
crowds in holy places, are called an honouring of the
martyrs?
4. If Africa were the first country in which
an attempt were made to put down these things, her example would
deserve to be esteemed worthy of imitation by all other
countries;1485
| 1485 Manifestly the correct punctuation here is:
Hæc si prima Africa tentaret auferre, a cæteris terris imitatione
digna esse deberet. | but when,
both throughout the greater part of Italy and in all or almost all
the churches beyond the sea, these practices either, as in some
places, never existed, or, as in other places where they did exist,
have been, whether they were recent or of long standing, rooted out
and put down by the diligence and the censures of bishops who were
holy men, entertaining true views concerning the life to
come;—when this, I say, is the case, do we hesitate as to the
possibility of removing this monstrous defect in our morals, after
an example has been set before us in so many lands? Moreover, we
have as our bishop a man belonging to those parts, for which we
give thanks earnestly to God; although he is a man of such
moderation and gentleness, in fine, of such prudence and zeal in
the Lord, that even had he been a native of Africa, the persuasion
would have been wrought in him by the Scriptures, that a remedy
must be applied to the wound which this loose and disorderly custom
has inflicted. But so wide and deep is the plague caused by this
wickedness, that, in my opinion, it cannot be completely cured
without interposition of a council’s authority. If, however, a
beginning is to be made by one church, it seems to me, that as it
would be presumptuous for any other church to attempt to change
what the Church of Carthage still maintained, so would it also be
the height of effrontery for any other to wish to persevere in a
course which the Church of Carthage had condemned. And for such a
reform in Carthage, what better bishop could be desired than the
prelate who, while he was a deacon, solemnly denounced these
practices?
5. But that over which you then sorrowed you
ought now to suppress, not harshly, but as it is written, “in the
spirit of meekness.”1486
Pardon my boldness, for your
letter revealing to me your true brotherly love gives me such
confidence, that I am encouraged to speak as freely to you as I
would to myself. These offences are taken out of the way, at least
in my judgment, by other methods than harshness, severity, and an
imperious mode of dealing,—namely, rather by teaching than by
commanding, rather by advice than by denunciation.1487
| 1487 Magis monendo quam minando. | Thus at
least we must deal with the multitude; in regard to the sins of a
few, exemplary severity must be used. And if we do employ threats,
let this be done sorrowfully, supporting our threatenings of coming
judgment by the texts of Scripture, so that the fear which men feel
through our words may be not of us in our own authority, but of God
Himself. Thus an impression shall be made in the first place upon
those who are spiritual, or who are nearest to that state of mind;
and then by means of the most gentle, but at the same time most
importunate exhortations, the opposition of the rest of the
multitude shall be broken down.1488
| 1488 One may see in Letter XXIX. how admirably Augustin
illustrated in his own practice the directions here given. |
6. Since, however, these drunken revels and
luxurious feasts in the cemeteries are wont to be regarded by the
ignorant and carnal multitude as not only an honour to the martyrs,
but also a solace to the dead, it appears to me that they might be
more easily dissuaded from such scandalous and unworthy practices
in these places, if, besides showing that they are forbidden by
Scripture, we take care, in regard to the offerings for the spirits
of those who sleep, which indeed we are bound to believe to be of
some use, that they be not sumptuous beyond what is becoming
respect for the memory of the departed, and that they be
distributed without ostentation, and cheerfully to all who ask a
share of them; also that they be not sold, but that if any one
desires to offer any money as a religious act, it be given on the
spot to the poor. Thus the appearance of neglecting the memory of
their deceased friends, which might cause them no small sorrow of
heart, shall be avoided, and that which is a pious and honourable
act of religious service shall be celebrated as it should be in the
Church. This may suffice meanwhile in regard to rioting and
drunkenness.
Chap. II.
7. As to “strife and deceit,”1489
| 1489 “De contentione et dolo” is Augustin’s
translation of the words in Rom. xiii. 13. | what right
have I to speak, seeing that these vices prevail more seriously
among our own order than among our congregations? Let me, however,
say that the source of these evils is pride, and a desire for the
praises of men, which also frequently produces hypocrisy. This is
successfully resisted only by him who is penetrated with
love and fear of God, through the multiplied declarations of the
divine books; provided, however, that such a man exhibit in himself
a pattern both of patience and of humility, by assuming as his due
less praise and honour than is offered to him: at the same time
neither accepting all nor refusing all that is rendered to him by
those who honour him; and as to the portion which he does accept,
receiving it not for his own sake, seeing that he ought to live
wholly in the sight of God and to despise human applause, but for
the sake of those whose welfare he cannot promote if by too great
self-abasement he lose his place in their esteem. For to this
pertains that word, “Let no man despise thy youth;”1490
while he
who said this says also in another place, “If I yet pleased men,
I should not be the servant of Christ.”1491
8. It is a great matter not to exult in the
honours and praises which come from men, but to reject all vain
pomp; and, if some of this be necessary, to make whatever is thus
retained contribute to the benefit and salvation of those who
confer the honour. For it has not been said in vain, “God will
break the bones of those who seek to please men.”1492
For what
could be feebler, what more destitute of the firmness and strength
which the bones here spoken of figuratively represent, than the man
who is prostrated by the tongue of slanderers, although he knows
that the things spoken against him are false? The pain arising from
this thing would in no wise rend the bowels of his soul, if its
bones had not been broken by the love of praise. I take for granted
your strength of mind: therefore it is to myself that I say those
things which I am now stating to you. Nevertheless you are willing,
I believe, to consider along with me how important and how
difficult these things are. For the man who has not declared war
against this enemy has no idea of its power; for if it be
comparatively easy to dispense with praise so long as it is denied
to him, it is difficult to forbear from being captivated with
praise when it is offered. And yet the hanging of our minds upon
God ought to be so great, that we would at once correct those with
whom we may take that liberty, when we are by them undeservedly
praised, so as to prevent them from either thinking us to possess
what is not in us, or regarding that as ours which belongs to God,
or commending us for things which, though we have them, and perhaps
have them in abundance, are nevertheless in their nature not worthy
of commendation, such as are all those good things which we have in
common with the lower animals or with wicked men. If, however, we
are deservedly praised on account of what God has given us, let us
congratulate those to whom what is really good yields pleasure; but
let us not congratulate ourselves on the fact of our pleasing men,
but on the fact of our being (if it is the case) such in the sight
of God as we are in their esteem, and because praise is given not
to us, but to God, who is the giver of all things which are truly
and justly praised. These things are daily repeated to me by
myself, or rather by Him from whom proceed all profitable
instructions, whether they are found in the reading of the divine
word or are suggested from within to the mind; and yet, although
strenuously contending with my adversary, I often receive wounds
from him when I am unable to put away from myself the fascinating
power of the praise which is offered to me.
9. These things I have written, in order that, if
they are not now necessary for your Holiness (your own thoughts
suggesting to you other and more useful considerations of this
kind, or your Holiness being above the need of such remedies), my
disorders at least may be known to you, and you may know that which
may move you to deign to plead with God for me as my infirmity
demands: and I beseech you, by the humanity of Him who hath
commanded us to bear each other’s burdens, that you offer such
intercession most importunately on my behalf. There are many things
in regard to my life and conversation, of which I will not write,
which I would confess with tears if we were so situated that
nothing was required but my mouth and your ears as the means of
communication between my heart and your heart. If, however, the
aged Saturninus, venerated by us and beloved by all here with
unreserved and unfeigned affection, whose brotherly love and
devotion to you I observed when I was with you,—if he, I say, is
pleased to visit us so soon as he finds it convenient, whatever
converse we may be able to enjoy with that holy and
spiritually-minded man shall be esteemed by us very little, if at
all, different from personal conference with your Excellency. With
entreaties too earnest for words to express their urgency, I beg
you to condescend to join us in asking and obtaining from him this
favour. For the people of Hippo fear much, and far more than they
ought, to let me go to so great a distance from them, and will on
no account trust me by myself so far as to permit me to see the
field given by your care and generosity to the brethren, of which,
before your letter came, we had heard through our brother and
fellow-servant Parthenius, from whom we have also learned many
other things which we longed to know. The Lord will accomplish the
fulfilment of all the other things which we still desiderate.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
