Chapter 17.—22. But, having considered and handled all these points, we have now come to that peaceful utterance of Cyprian at the end of the epistle, with which I am never sated, though I read and re-read it again and again,—so great is the pleasantness of brotherly love which breathes forth from it, so great the sweetness of charity in which it abounds. "These things," he says, "we have written unto you, dearest brother, shortly,
according to our poor ability, prescribing to or prejudging no one, lest each bishop should not do what he thinks right, in the free exercise of his own will. We, so far as in us lies, do not contend on the subject of heretics with our colleagues and fellow-bishops, with whom we maintain concord and peace in the Lord; especially as the apostle also says, ‘If any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.’1512
We observe patiently and gently
charity of spirit, the
honor of our brotherhood, the
bond of
faith, the harmony of the
priesthood. For this reason also, to the
best of our
poor ability, by the permission and the
inspiration of
God we have written this
treatise on ‘The Good of
Patience,’ which we have sent to you in consideration of our mutual
love."
1513
| 1513 Cypr. Ep. lxxiii. 26.
|
23. There are many things to be considered in these words, wherein the brightness of Christian charity shines forth in this man, who "loved the beauty of the Lord’s house, and the place of the tabernacle of His habitation."1514
First, that he did not conceal what he felt; then, that he set it forth so gently and peacefully, in that he maintained the
peace of the
Church with those who thought otherwise, because he understood how great healthfulness was bound up in the
bond of
peace,
loving it so much, and maintaining it with sobriety, seeing and feeling that even men who think differently may
entertain their several sentiments with
saving charity. For he would not say that he could maintain
divine concord or the
peace of the
Lord with
evil men; for the good man can observe
peace towards
wicked men, but he cannot be united with them in the
peace which they have not. Lastly, that prescribing to no one, and prejudging no one, lest each
bishop should not do what he thinks right in the free
exercise of his own will, he has left for us also, whatsoever we may be, a place for treating peacefully of those things with him. For he is present, not only in his letters, but by that very
charity which existed in so extraordinary a degree in him, and which can never
die. Longing, therefore, with the aid of his prayers, to cling to and be in union with him, if I be not
hindered by the unmeetness of my
sins, I will
learn if I can through his letters with how great
peace and
comfort the
Lord administered His
Church through him; and, putting on the
bowels of
humility through the moving influence of his
discourse, if, in common with the
Church at large, I
entertain any
doctrine more
true than his, I will not prefer my
heart to his, even in the point in which he, though holding different views, was yet not severed from the
Church throughout the
world. For in that, when that
question was yet undecided for want of full discussion, though his sentiments differed from those of many of his colleagues, yet he observed so great
moderation, that he would not mutilate the
sacred fellowship of the
Church of
God by any stain of
schism, a greater
strength of excellence appeared in him
than would have been shown if, without that
virtue, he had held views on every point not only true, but coinciding with their own. Nor should I be acting as he would wish, if I were to pretend to prefer his
talent and his fluency of
discourse and copiousness of learning to the holy
Council of all
nations, whereat he was assuredly present through the
unity of his spirit, especially as he is now placed in such full
light of
truth as to see with
perfect certainty what he was here seeking in the
spirit of
perfect peace. For out of that
rich abundance he smiles at all that here seems eloquence in us, as though it were the first essay of infancy; there he sees by what rule of
piety he acted here, that nothing should be dearer in the
Church to him than
unity. There, too, with unspeakable
delight he beholds with what prescient and most merciful providence the
Lord, that He might
heal our swellings, "chose the foolish things of the
world to
confound the
wise,"
1515
and, in the ordering of the members of His
Church, placed all things in such a healthful way, that men should not say that they were chosen to the help of the
gospel for their own
talent or learning, of whose source they yet were ignorant, and so be puffed up with
deadly pride. Oh, how Cyprian
rejoices! With how much more
perfect calmness does he behold how greatly it conduces to the
health of the human race, that in the writings even of
Christian and pious
orators there should be found what merits
blame, and in the writings of the fishermen there should nothing of the sort be found! And so I, being fully assured of this
joy of that holy
soul, neither in any way venture to think or say that my writings are free from every
kind of error, nor, in opposing that opinion of his, wherein it seemed to him that those who came from among
heretics were to be received otherwise than either they had been in former days, as he himself
bears witness, or are now received, as is the reasonable
custom, confirmed by a plenary
Council of the whole
Christian world, do I set against him my own view, but that of the holy Catholic
Church, which he so
loved and
loves, in which he brought forth such
abundant fruit with tolerance, whose entirety he himself was not, but in whose entirety he remained; whose root he never left, but, though he already brought forth fruit from its root, he was
purged by the heavenly
Husbandman that he should
bring forth more fruit;
1516
for whose
peace and
safety, that the
wheat might not be rooted out together with the tares, he both reproved with the
freedom of
truth, and endured with the grace of charity, so many evils on the part of men who were placed in unity with himself.
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