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| On the Words of the Gospel, 'When Jesus Had Finished These Sayings,' Etc.--S. Matt. xix. 1.
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Oration XXXVII.
On the Words of the Gospel, “When
Jesus Had Finished These Sayings,” Etc.—S. Matt. xix. 1
I. Jesus Who Chose
The Fishermen, Himself also useth a net, and changeth place for
place. Why? Not only that He may gain more of those who
love God by His visitation; but also, as it seems to me, that He may
hallow more places. To the Jews He becomes as a Jew that He may
gain the Jews; to them that are under the Law as under the Law, that He
may redeem them that are under the Law; to the weak as weak, that He
may save the weak. He is made all things to all men that He may
gain all. Why do I say, All things to all men? For even
that which Paul could not endure to say of himself I find that the
Saviour suffered. For He is made not only a Jew, and not only
doth He take to Himself all monstrous and vile names, but even that
which is most monstrous of all, even very sin and very curse; not that
He is such, but He is called so. For how can He be sin, Who
setteth us free from sin; and how can He be a curse, Who redeemeth us
from the curse of the Law?3812
But it is in
order that He may carry His display of humility even to this extent,
and form us to that humility which is the producer of exaltation.
As I said then, He is made a Fisherman; He condescendeth to all; He
casteth the net; He endureth all things, that He may draw up the fish
from the depths, that is, Man who is swimming in the unsettled and
bitter waves of life.
II. Therefore now also, when He had finished
these sayings He departed from Galilee and came into the coasts of
Judea beyond Jordan; He dwelleth well in Galilee, in order that the
people which sat in darkness may see great Light.3813
He removeth to Judea in order that He
may persuade people to rise up from the Letter and to follow the
Spirit. He teacheth, now on a mountain; now He discourseth on a
plain; now He passeth over into a ship; now He rebuketh the
surges. And perhaps He goes to sleep, in order that He may bless
sleep also; perhaps He is tired that He may hallow weariness also;
perhaps He weeps that He may make tears blessed. He removeth from
place to place, Who is not contained in any place; the timeless, the
bodiless, the uncircumscript, the same Who was and is; Who was both
above time, and came under time, and was invisible and is seen.
He was in the beginning and was with God, and was God.3814
The word Was occurs the third time to
be confirmed by number. What He was He laid aside; what He was
not He assumed; not that He became two, but He deigned to be One made
out of the two. For both are God, that which assumed, and that
which was assumed; two Natures meeting in One, not two Sons (let us not
give a false account of the blending). He who is such and so
great—but what has befallen me? I have fallen into human
language. For how can So Great be said of the Absolute, and how
can That which is without quantity be called Such? But pardon the
word, for I am speaking of the greatest things with a limited
instrument. And That great and long-suffering and formless and
bodiless Nature will endure this, namely, my words as if of a body, and
weaker than the truth. For if He condescended to Flesh, He will
also endure such language.
III. And great multitudes followed Him, and He
healed them there, where the multitude was greater. If He had
abode upon His own eminence, if He had not condescended to infirmity,
if He had remained what He was, keeping Himself unapproachable and
incomprehensible, a few perhaps would have followed Him—perhaps
not even a few, possibly only
Moses—and He only so far as to see with difficulty the Back Parts
of God.3815
| 3815 Exod. xx. 21; xxxiii. 20, 23. | For He
penetrated the cloud, either being placed outside the weight of the
body or being withdrawn from his senses; for how could he have gazed
upon the subtlety, or the incorporeity, or I know not how one should
call it, of God, being incorporate and using material eyes? But
inasmuch as He strips Himself for us, inasmuch as He comes down (and
speak of an exinanition, as it were, a laying aside and a diminution of
His glory), He becomes by this comprehensible.
IV. And pardon me meanwhile that I again
suffer a human affection. I am filled with indignation and grief
for my Christ (and would that you might sympathize with me) when I see
my Christ dishonoured on this account on which He most merited
honour. Is He on this account to be dishonoured, tell me, that
for you He was humble? Is He therefore a Creature, because He
careth for the creature? Is He therefore subject to time, because
He watches over those who are subject to time? Nay, He beareth
all things, He endureth all things.3816
And what
marvel? He put up with blows, He bore spittings, He tasted gall
for my taste. And even now He bears to be stoned, not only by
those who deal despitefully with Him, but also by ourselves who seem to
reverence Him. For to use corporeal names when discoursing of the
incorporeal is perhaps the part of those who deal despitefully and
stone Him; but pardon, I say again to our infirmity, for I do not
willingly stone Him; but having no other words to use, we use what we
have. Thou art called the Word, and Thou art above Word; Thou art
above Light, yet art named Light; Thou art called Fire not as
perceptible to sense, but because Thou purgest light and worthless
matter; a Sword, because Thou severest the worse from the better; a
Fan, because Thou purgest the threshing-floor, and blowest away all
that is light and windy, and layest up in the garner above all that is
weighty and full; an Axe, because Thou cuttest down the worthless
fig-tree, after long patience, because Thou cuttest away the roots of
wickedness; the Door, because Thou bringest in; the Way, because we go
straight; the Sheep, because Thou art the Sacrifice; the High Priest,
because Thou offerest the Body the Son, because Thou art of the
Father. Again I stir men’s tongues; again some men rave
against Christ, or rather against me, who have been deemed worthy to be
a herald of the Word. I am like John, The Voice of one crying in
the wilderness3817
—a wilderness
that once was dry, but now is only too populous.
V. But, as I was saying, to return to my argument;
for this reason great multitudes followed Him, because He condescended
to our infirmities. What next? The Pharisees also, it says,
came unto Him, tempting Him, and saying unto Him, is it lawful for a
man to put away his wife for every cause? Again the Pharisees
tempt Him; again they who read the Law do not know the Law; again they
who are expounders of the Law need others to teach them. It was
not enough that Sadducees should tempt Him concerning the Resurrection,
and Lawyers question Him about perfection, and the Herodians about the
poll-tax, and others about authority; but some one must also ask about
Marriage at Him who cannot be tempted, the Creator of wedlock, Him who
from the First Cause made this whole race of mankind. And He
answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that He which made them
at the beginning made them male and female? He knoweth how to
solve some of their questions and to bridle others. When He is
asked, By what authority doest thou these things? He Himself, because
of the utter ignorance of those who asked Him, replies with another
question; The baptism of John, was it from Heaven or of men? He
on both sides entangles His questioners, so that we also are able,
following the example of Christ, sometimes to check those who argue
with us over-officiously, and with still more absurd questions to solve
the absurdity of their questions. For we too are wise in vanity
at times, if I may boast of the things of folly. But when He sees
a question that calls for reasoning, then He does not deem His
questioners unworthy of prudent answers.
VI. The question which you have put seems to me to
do honour to chastity, and to demand a kind reply. Chastity, in
respect of which I see that the majority of men are ill-disposed, and
that their laws are unequal and irregular. For what was the
reason why they restrained the woman, but indulged the man, and that a
woman who practises evil against her husband’s bed is an
adulteress, and the penalties of the law for this are very severe; but
if the husband commits fornication against his wife, he has no account
to give? I do not accept this legislation; I do not approve this
custom. They who made the Law were men, and therefore their legislation is hard
on women, since they have placed children also under the authority of
their fathers, while leaving the weaker sex uncared for. God doth
not so; but saith Honour thy father and thy mother, which is the first
commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee; and, He that
curseth father or mother, let him die the death. Similarly He
gave honour to good and punishment to evil. And, The blessing of
a father strengtheneth the houses of children, but the curse of a
mother uprooteth the foundations.3818
See the
equality of the legislation. There is one Maker of man and woman;
one debt is owed by children to both their parents.
VII. How then dost thou demand Chastity,
while thou dost not thyself observe it? How dost thou demand that
which thou dost not give? How, though thou art equally a body,
dost thou legislate unequally? If thou enquire into the
worse—The Woman Sinned, and so did Adam.3819
The serpent deceived them both; and
one was not found to be the stronger and the other the weaker.
But dost thou consider the better? Christ saves both by His
Passion. Was He made flesh for the Man? So He was also for
the woman. Did He die for the Man? The Woman also is saved
by His death. He is called of the seed of David;3820
and so perhaps you think the Man is
honoured; but He is born of a Virgin, and this is on the Woman’s
side. They two, He says, shall be one Flesh; so let the one flesh
have equal honour. And Paul legislates for chastity by His
example. How, and in what way? This Sacrament is great, he
says, But I speak concerning Christ and the Church.3821
It is well for the wife to reverence
Christ through her husband: and it is well for the husband not to
dishonor the Church through his wife. Let the wife, he says, see
that she reverence her husband, for so she does Christ; but also he
bids the husband cherish his wife, for so Christ does the
Church.3822
Let us, then,
give further consideration to this saying.
VIII. Churn milk and it will be
butter;3823
examine this and
perhaps you may find something more nourishing in it. For I think
that the Word here seems to deprecate second marriage. For, if
there were two Christs, there may be two husbands or two wives; but if
Christ is One, one Head of the Church, let there be also one flesh, and
let a second be rejected; and if it hinder the second what is to be
said for a third? The first is law, the second is indulgence, the
third is transgression, and anything beyond this is swinish, such as
has not even many examples of its wickedness. Now the Law grants
divorce for every cause; but Christ not for every cause; but He allows
only separation from the whore; and in all other things He commands
patience. He allows to put away the fornicatress, because she
corrupts the offspring; but in all other matters let us be patient and
endure; or rather be ye3824
| 3824 An indication that S.
Gregory was himself unmarried. | enduring and
patient, as many as have received the yoke of matrimony. If you
see lines or marks upon her, take away her ornaments; if a hasty
tongue, restrain it; if a meretricious laugh, make it modest; if
immoderate expenditure or drink, reduce it; if unseasonable going out,
shackle it; if a lofty eye, chastise it. It is uncertain which is
in danger, the separator or the separated. Let thy fountain of
water, it says, be only thine own, and let no stranger share it with
thee;3825
and, let the colt of thy favours and the
stag of thy love company with thee; do thou then take care not to be a
strange river, nor to please others better than thine own wife.
But if thou be carried elsewhere, then thou makest a law of lewdness
for thy partner also. Thus saith the Saviour.
IX. But what of the Pharisees? To them
this word seems harsh. Yes, for they are also displeased at other
noble words—both the older Pharisees, and the Pharisees of the
present day. For it is not only race, but disposition also that
makes a Pharisee. Thus also I reckon as an Assyrian or an
Egyptian him who is ranged among these by his character. What
then say the Pharisees? If the case of the man be so with his
wife, it is not good to marry. Is it only now, O Pharisee, that
thou understandest this, It is not good to marry?3826
Didst thou not know it before when
thou sawest widowhoods, and orphanhoods, and untimely deaths, and
mourning succeeding to shouting, and funerals coming upon weddings, and
childlessness, and all the comedy or tragedy that is connected with
this? Either is most appropriate language. It is good to
marry; I too admit it, for marriage is honourable in all, and the bed
undefiled.3827
It is good
for the temperate, not for those who are insatiable, and who desire to
give more than due honour to the flesh. When marriage is only
marriage and conjunction and the desire for a succession of children,
marriage is honourable, for it brings into the world more to please
God. But when it
kindles matter, and surrounds us with thorns, and as it were discovers
the way of vice, then I too say, It is not good to marry.
X. Marriage is honourable; but I cannot say
that it is more lofty than virginity; for virginity were no great thing
if it were not better than a good thing. Do not however be angry,
ye women that are subject to the yoke. We must obey God rather
than man. But be ye bound together, both virgins and wives, and
be one in the Lord, and each others’ adornment. There would
be no celibate if there were no marriage. For whence would the
virgin have passed into this life? Marriage would not have been
venerable unless it had borne virgin fruit to God and to life.
Honour thou also thy mother, of whom thou wast born. Honour thou
also her who is of a mother and is a mother.3828
| 3828 The passage is
obscure. Combefis reads, “Though she be not a mother”
but the mss are against him. | A mother she is not, but a Bride of
Christ she is. The visible beauty is not hidden, but that which
is unseen is visible to God. All the glory of the King’s
Daughter is within,3829
clothed with golden
fringes, embroidered whether by actions or by contemplation. And
she who is under the yoke, let her also in some degree be
Christ’s; and the virgin altogether Christ’s. Let the
one be not entirely chained to the world,3830
and let the other not belong to the world at all. For that which
is a part to the yoked, is to the virgin all in all. Hast thou
chosen the life of Angels? Art thou ranked among the
unyoked? Sink not down to the flesh; sink not down to matter; be
not wedded to matter, while otherwise thou remainest unwedded. A
lascivious eye guardeth not virginity; a meretricious tongue mingles
with the Evil One; feet that walk disorderly accuse of disease or
danger. Let the mind also be virgin; let it not rove about; let
it not wander; let it not carry in itself forms of evil things (for the
form is a part of harlotry); let it not make idols in its soul of
hateful things.
XI. But He said unto them, All men cannot receive
this saying, save they to whom it is given. Do you see the
sublimity of the matter? It is found to be nearly
incomprehensible. For surely it is more than carnal that that
which is born of flesh should not beget to the flesh. Surely it
is Angelic that she who is bound to flesh should live not according to
flesh, but be loftier than her nature. The flesh bound her to the
world, but reason led her up to God. The flesh weighed her down,
but reason gave her wings; the flesh bound her, but desire loosed
her. With thy whole soul, O Virgin, be intent upon God (I give
this same injunction to men and to women); and do not take the same
view in other respects of what is honourable as the mass of men do; of
family, of wealth, of throne, of dynasty, of that beauty which shews
itself in complexion and composition of members, the plaything of time
and disease. If thou hast poured out upon God the whole of thy
love; if thou hast not two objects of desire, both the passing and the
abiding, both the visible and the invisible, then thou hast been so
pierced by the arrow of election, and hast so learned the beauty of the
Bridegroom, that thou too canst say with the bridal drama and song,
thou art sweetness and altogether loveliness.
XII. You see how streams confined in lead pipes,
through being much compressed and carried to one point, often so far
depart from the nature of water that that which is pushed from behind
will often flow constantly upwards. So if thou confine thy
desire, and be wholly joined to God, thou wilt not fall downward; thou
wilt not be dissipated; thou wilt remain entirely Christ’s, until
thou see Christ thy Bridegroom. Keep thyself unapproachable, both
in word and work and life, and thought and action. From all sides
the Evil One interferes with thee; he spies thee everywhere, where he
may strike, where wound thee; let him not find anything bared and ready
to his stroke. The purer he sees thee, the more he strives to
stain thee, for the stains on a shining garment are more
conspicuous. Let not eye draw eye, nor laughter, nor familiarity
night, lest night bring destruction. For that which is gradually
drawn away and stolen, works a mischief which is unperceived at the
time, but yet attains to the consummation of wickedness.
XIII. All men, He saith, cannot receive this
saying, but they to whom it is given. When you hear this, It is
given, do not understand it in a heretical fashion, and bring in
differences of nature, the earthly and the spiritual and the
mixed. For there are people so evilly disposed as to think that
some men are of an utterly ruined nature, and some of a nature which is
saved, and that others are of such a disposition as their will may lead
them to, either to the better, or to the worse. For that men may
have a certain aptitude, one more, another less, I too admit; but not
that this aptitude alone suffices for perfection, but that it is reason
which calls this out, that nature may proceed to action, just as
fire is produced when a flint is struck with iron. When you hear
To whom it is given, add, And it is given to those who are called and
to those who incline that way. For when you hear, Not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth
mercy,3831
I counsel you to
think the same. For since there are some who are so proud of
their successes that they attribute all to themselves and nothing to
Him that made them and gave them wisdom and supplied them with good;
such are taught by this word that even to wish well needs help from
God; or rather that even to choose what is right is divine and a gift
of the mercy of God. For it is necessary both that we should be
our own masters and also that our salvation should be of God.
This is why He saith not of him that willeth; that is, not of him that
willeth only, nor of him that runneth only, but also of God. That
sheweth mercy. Next; since to will also is from God, he has
attributed the whole to God with reason. However much you may
run, however much you may wrestle, yet you need one to give the
crown. Except the Lord build the house, they laboured in vain
that built it: Except the Lord keep the city, in vain they
watched that keep it.3832
I know, He
says, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong,3833
nor the victory to
the fighters, nor the harbours to the good sailors; but to God it
belongs both to work victory, and to bring the barque safe to
port.
XIV. In another place it is also said and
understood, and perhaps it is necessary that I should add it as follows
to what has already been said, in order that I may impart to you also
my wealth. The Mother of the Sons of Zebedee, in an impulse of
parental affection, asked a thing in ignorance of the measure of what
she was asking,3834
but pardonably,
through the excess of her love and of the kindness due to her
children. For there is nothing more affectionate than a
Mother,—and I speak of this that I may lay down a law for
honouring Mothers. Their mother, then, asked Jesus that they
might sit, the one on His right hand, the other on his left. But
what saith the Saviour? He first asks if they can drink the Cup
Which He Himself was about to drink; and when this was professed, and
the Saviour accepted the profession (for He knew that they were being
perfected by the same, or rather that they would be perfected thereby);
what saith He? “They shall drink the cup; but to sit on My
right hand and on My left—it is not Mine, He saith, to give this,
but to whom it hath been given.” Is then the ruling mind
nothing? Nothing the labour? Nothing the reasoning?
Nothing the philosophy? Nothing the fasting? Nothing the
vigils, the sleeping on the ground, the shedding floods of tears?
Is it for nothing of these, but in accordance with some election by
lot, that a Jeremias is sanctified, and others are estranged from the
womb?
XV. I fear lest some monstrous reasoning may come
in, as of the soul having lived elsewhere, and then having been bound
to this body, and that it is from that other life that some receive the
gift of prophecy, and others are condemned, namely, those who lived
badly. But since such a conception is too absurd, and contrary to
the traditions of the Church (others if they like may play with such
doctrines, but it is unsafe for us to play with them); we must in this
place too add to the words “To whom it hath been given,”
this, “who are worthy;” who have not only received this
character from the Father, but have given it to themselves.
XVI. For there are eunuchs which were made eunuchs
from their mother’s womb, etc. I should very much like to
be able to say something bold about eunuchs. Be not proud, ye who
are eunuchs by nature. For, in point of self-restraint, this is
perhaps unwilling. For it has not come to the test, nor has your
self-restraint been proved by trial. For the good which is by
nature is not a subject of merit; that which is the result of purpose
is laudable. What merit has fire for burning, for it is its
nature to burn? What merit has water for falling, a property
given to it by its Maker? What thanks does the snow get for its
coldness, or the sun for its shining?—It shines even if it does
not wish. Claim merit if you please by willing the better
things. You will claim it if, being carnal, you make yourself
spiritual; if, while drawn down by the leaden flesh, you receive wings
from reason; if though lowly born, you are found to be heavenly; if
while chained down to the flesh, you shew yourself superior to the
flesh.
XVII. Since then, natural chastity is not
meritorious, I demand something else from the eunuchs. Do not go
a whoring in respect of the Godhead. Having been wedded to
Christ, do not dishonour Christ. Being perfected by the spirit,
do not make the Spirit your own equal. If I yet pleased men, says
Paul, I should not be the
servant of Christ.3835
If I
worshipped a creature, I should not be called a Christian. For
why is Christianity precious? Is it not that Christ is God,
unless my mingling with Him in love is a mere human passion? And
yet I honour Peter, but I am not called a Petrine; and Paul, but have
never been called a Pauline. I cannot allow myself to be named
after a man, who am born of God. So then, if it is because you
believe Him to be God that you are called a Christian, may you ever be
so called, and may you remain in both the name and the thing; but if
you are called from Christ only because you have an affection for Him,
you attribute no more to him than other names which are given from some
practice or fact.
XVIII. Consider those men who are devoted to
horse racing. They are named after the colours and the sides on
which they have placed themselves. You know the names without my
mentioning them. If it is thus that you have got the name of
Christian, the mere title is a very small thing even though you pride
yourself upon it. But if it is because you believe Him to be God,
shew your faith by your works. If the Son is a creature, even now
also you are worshipping the creature instead of the Creator. If
the Holy Ghost is a creature, you are baptized in vain, and are only
sound on two sides, or rather not even on them; but on one you are
altogether in danger. Imagine the Trinity to be a single pearl,
alike on all sides and equally glistening. If any part of the
pearl be injured; the whole beauty of the stone is gone. So when
you dishonour the Son in order to honour the Father, He does not accept
your honour. The Father doth not glory in the dishonour of the
Son. If a wise Son maketh a glad Father,3836
how much more doth the honour of the Son become that of the
Father! And if you also accept this saying, My Son, glory not in
the dishonour of thy Father,3837
similarly the
Father doth not glory in the Son’s dishonour. If you
dishonour the Holy Ghost, the Son receiveth not your honour. For
though He be not of the Father in the same way as the Son, yet He is of
the same Father. Either honour the whole or dishonour the whole,
so as to have a consistent mind. I cannot accept your half
piety. I would have you altogether pious, but in the way that I
desire. Pardon my affection: I am grieved even for those
who hate me. You were one of my members, even though you are now
cut off: perhaps you will again become a member; and therefore I
speak kindly. Thus much for the sake of the Eunuchs, that they
may be chaste in respect of the Godhead.
XIX. For it is not only bodily sin which is
called fornication and adultery, but any sin you have committed, and
especially transgression against that which is divine. Perhaps
you ask how we can prove this:—They went a whoring, it says, with
their own inventions.3838
Do you see an
impudent act of fornication? And again, They committed adultery
in the wood.3839
See you a
kind of adulterous religion? Do not then commit spiritual
adultery, while keeping your bodies chaste. Do not shew that it
is unwillingly you are chaste in body, by not being chaste where you
can commit fornication. Why have you done your
impiety? Why are you hurried to vice, so that it is all one to
call a man a Eunuch or a villain? Place yourselves on the side of
men, and, even though so late, have some manly thoughts. Avoid
the women’s apartments; do not let the disgrace of proclamation
be added to the disgrace of the name. Would you have us persevere
a little longer in this discourse, or are you tired with what we have
said? Nay, by what follows let even the eunuchs be
honoured. For the word is one of praise.
XX. There are, He says, some eunuchs which
were so born from their mother’s womb; and there are some eunuchs
which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs which have made
themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He
that is able to receive it, let him receive it. I think that the
discourse would sever itself from the body, and represent higher things
by bodily figures; for to stop the meaning at bodily eunuchs would be
small and very weak, and unworthy of the Word; and we must understand
in addition something worthy of the Spirit. Some, then, seem by
nature to incline to good. And when I speak of nature, I am not
slighting free will, but supposing both—an aptitude for good, and
that which brings the natural aptitude to effect. And there are
others whom reason cleanses, by cutting them off from the
passions. These I imagine to be meant by those whom men have made
Eunuchs, when the word of teaching distinguishing the better from the
worse and rejecting the one and commanding the other (like the verse,
Depart from evil and do good),3840
works spiritual
chastity. This sort of making eunuchs I approve; and I highly praise both teachers and
taught, that the one have nobly effected, and the other still more
nobly endured, the cutting off.
XXI. And there be eunuchs which have made
themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake.
Others, too, who have not met with teachers, have been laudable
teachers to themselves. No father nor mother, no Priest or
Bishop, nor any of those commissioned to teach, taught you your duty;
but by moving reason in yourself and by kindling the spark of good by
your free will, you made yourself a eunuch, and acquired such a habit
of virtue that impulse to vice became almost an impossibility to
you. Therefore I praise this kind of Eunuch-making also, and
perhaps even above the others. He that is able to receive it let
him receive it. Choose which part you will; either follow the
Teacher or be your own teacher. One thing alone is
shameful—that the passions be not extirpated. It matters
not how they are extirpated. The teacher is God’s creature;
and you also have the same origin; and whether the teacher grasp this
grace, or the good be your own—it is equally good.
XXII. Only let us cut ourselves off from
passion, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble us;3841
only let us follow the image; only let us
reverence our Archetype. Cut off the bodily passions; cut off
also the spiritual. For by how much the soul is more precious
than the body, by so much more precious is it to cleanse the soul than
the body. And if cleansing of the body be a praiseworthy act,
see, I pray you, how much greater and higher is that of the soul.
Cut away the Arian impiety; cut away the false opinion of Sabellius; do
not join more than is right, or wrongly sever; do not either confuse
the Three Persons into One, or make Three diversities of Nature.
The One is praiseworthy if rightly understood; and the Three when
rightly divided, when the division is of Persons, not of
Godhead.
XXIII. I enact this for Laymen too, and I enjoin
it also upon all Priests, and upon those commissioned to rule.
Come to the aid of the Word, all of you to whom God has given power to
aid. It is a great thing to check murder, to punish adultery, to
chastise theft; much more to establish piety by law, and to bestow
sound doctrine. My word will not be able to do as much in
fighting for the Holy Trinity as your Edict, if you will bridle the ill
disposed, if you will help the persecuted, if you will check the
slayers, and prevent people from being slain. I am speaking not
merely of bodily but of spiritual slaughter. For all sin is the
death of the soul. Here let my discourse end.
XXIV. But it remains that I speak a prayer for
those who are assembled. Husbands alike and wives, rulers and
ruled, old men, and young men, and maidens, every sort of age, bear ye
every loss whether of money or of body, but one thing alone do not
endure—to lose the Godhead. I adore the Father, I adore the
Son, I adore the Holy Ghost; or rather We adore them; I, who am
speaking, before all and after all and with all, in the same Christ our
Lord, to whom be the glory and the might for ever.
Amen. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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