Contra doctrinam retrahentium a religione
by
Thomas Aquinastranslated as
REFUTATION OF THE PERNICIOUS TEACHING OF THOSE WHO WOULD DETER MEN FROM ENTERING RELIGIOUS LIFE
by
John Procter, O.P.
in
AN APOLOGY FOR THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS
London: Sands & Co., 1902
English updated, some corrections made, and html-edited by Joseph Kenny, O.P.
CONTENTS
- Object of the Author in Undertaking this Work
- Arguments Used by Those Who Maintain That None Should be Admitted to the Religious Life Who Are Not Practised in the Exercise of the Commandments
- The Foregoing Arguments Do Not Hold Good in the Case of Children
- The Opinion Held by Vigilantius and His Followers Does Not Apply to Recent Converts to the Faith
- This Argument is Equally Fallacious As Applied to Penitent Sinners
- The Fundamental Error of These Opinions Exposed
- The Arguments of Our Opponents Are Conclusively Refuted
- Arguments Used to Prove That Before Entering Religious Life A Man Ought to Deliberate for A Long Time, and Take Counsel of Many
- Answers to the Foregoing Arguments
- Answer to the Objections Raised Against the Foregoing Arguments
- Arguments Used by Those Who Maintain That Men Should Not Bind Themselves by Vow to Embrace the Religious Life
- Refutation of the Error Contained in the Last Chapter, Together with An Exposition of the Truth That Good Works, Done Under Vow, Are More Meritorious Than Those Performed Without Any Such Obligation
- Refutation of the Arguments Adduced in the Last Chapter
- Arguments Against the Perfection of Religious Whose Possessions Are Not in Common
- Refutation of the Errors Quoted in the Last Chapter
- An Answer to the Arguments Which Are Brought Forward Against the Propositions Contained in the Preceding Chapter
Caput 2
Rationes quibus astruere nituntur non debere aliquos ad religionem admitti antequam fuerint in praeceptis exercitatiCHAPTER 2
Arguments Used by Those Who Maintain That None Should be Admitted to the Religious Life Who Are Not Practised in the Exercise of the CommandmentsNituntur autem multipliciter ostendere quod consiliorum viam non debent arripere, nisi prius fuerint in observantia mandatorum exercitati. Salvator enim noster, ubi consilium de paupertate sectanda dedit, primo adolescenti proposuit, ut si vellet vitam ingredi, servaret mandata; et tunc profitenti se a iuventute sua mandata servasse, consilium sectandae paupertatis dedit. Videtur igitur quod observantia mandatorum viam consiliorum praecedere debeat. Item inducunt quod Matth. ult. super illud, docentes eos servare omnia quaecumque mandavi vobis, dicit Glossa Bedae: congruus ordo. Primo enim docendus est auditor, deinde fidei sacramentis imbuendus, tunc ad servanda mandata instruendus. Ex quo volunt accipere quod observantia mandatorum praecedere debeat consiliorum assumptionem. THE followers of Vigilantius strive, by sundry arguments, to prove that none should undertake to follow the Counsels, unless they are already exercised in obedience to the Commandments. First, they remind us that Our Saviour when He gave the Counsel of poverty, told the young man that if he desired to enter into life, he must keep the Commandments, and only when the youth professed to have kept the Commandments, did Christ give him the Counsel concerning poverty. This shows, they say, that obedience to the Commandments ought to precede observance of the Counsels. Again they bring forward, in defence of their opinion, the words of Jesus Christ (Mt 28:20), “ teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” They also quote the following commentary of Bede upon this Text: “The order herein commanded to be observed is equitable. For, first, a hearer must be taught; he must then be initiated into the mysteries of the Faith; and, finally, he must be instructed in the keeping of the Commandments.” From these words the conclusion is drawn that obedience to the Commandments must go before the practice of the Counsels. Adhuc, in Psalmo legitur: a mandatis tuis intellexi: ubi dicit Glossa: non mandata ipsa dico me intellexisse, sed a mandatis: quia ea faciendo venit iste ad latitudinem sapientiae. Ex quo etiam idem quod prius volunt concludere. Item inducunt quod alibi, in Psal. super illud: sicut ablactatus super matre sua, dicit Glossa: sicut quinque tempora notantur in procreatione carnali et alitione; ita et in spirituali. Prius enim concipimur in utero; deinde ibidem alimur, donec in lucem edamur; deinde manibus matris gestamur et lacte nutrimur quousque ablactati ad mensam patris accedamus. Et postea subdit: haec quinque tempora observat Ecclesia. In quarta enim feria quartae hebdomadae quasi Ecclesiae infantia concipitur, tunc enim per exorcismum et catechismum rudimentis Christianitatis imbuuntur; deinde quasi in utero Ecclesiae aluntur usque ad sabbatum sanctum, in quo per Baptismum ad lucem generantur; deinde quasi manibus Ecclesiae gestantur et lacte nutriuntur usque ad Pentecosten, quo tempore nulla difficilia indicuntur: non ieiunatur, non media nocte surgitur; postea spiritu Paraclito confirmati, quasi ablactati incipiunt ieiunare et alia difficilia servare. Multi vero hunc ordinem pervertunt, ut haeretici et schismatici, se ante tempus a lacte separantes, unde extinguuntur. Cum igitur observatio consiliorum sit difficilior quam observatio mandatorum; videtur perversus esse ordo, et ad haeresim vel schisma pertinere quod aliquis accedat ad observandum consilia, prius in praeceptis observandis non exercitatus. They further allege in favour of their views the verse of Psalm 118, “By your commandments I have had understanding.” They cite too the words of the Gloss, “I do not say that I have understood your Commandments themselves, but that by them I have had understanding; for, by keeping the Commandments, David attained to sublime wisdom.” The verse of Ps. 30 is also, quoted in the same sense, “As a weaned child to his mother,” with the following commentary upon this text, which occurs in the Gloss, “As in physical so also in spiritual procreation and nourishment five periods occur. First we are conceived in the womb; we are nourished therein until we see the light; we are then carried in the arms of our mother and suckled with her milk until, being weaned, we are seated at the table of our father.” The Gloss then adds: “Holy Church likewise observes these five periods.” For the child of the Church is, so to speak, conceived on the Wednesday of the fourth week [of Lent]. He is, by exorcism and catechism, initiated in the rudiments of the Christian Faith. He is nourished in the womb of the Church until, on Holy Saturday, he is by baptism born into spiritual light. Then, until Pentecost, he may be said to be carried in the arm of the Church and fostered at her breast; for during this season nothing laborious is enjoined, neither rising by night nor fasting. But after he has been confirmed by the Holy Spirit, the Christian is weaned, and begins to fast and to observe other toilsome practices. But (say the followers of Vigilantius) many reverse this order. Such are heretics and schismatics, who prematurely forsake their mother’s milk, and therefore come to nought. As it is more difficult to practise the Counsels than to keep the Commandments, it is reversing the right order of things for a man who is not exercised in obedience to the Commandments to undertake to observe the Counsels. Such an error may end in heresy or schism. Hoc etiam idem probare nituntur per ordinem miraculorum, quibus salvator turbas pavit. Primo enim, ut legitur Matth. XIV, satiavit quinque millia hominum ex quinque panibus et duobus piscibus. Postea vero satiavit quatuor millia hominum de septem panibus et paucis pisciculis, ut habetur Matth. XV. Significantur autem per quinque milia hi qui in saeculari habitu exterioribus recte uti noverunt; nam qui mundo integre renuntiant quatuor milia sunt, et septem panibus, id est evangelica perfectione, sublimes et spirituali gratia reficiuntur. Ex quo volunt accipere quod prius debent aliqui nutriri in observantia praeceptorum, et postmodum perduci ad perfectionem consiliorum. They strive, further, to strengthen this argument by the order observed by our Saviour in the miracles whereby He fed the multitudes. For, first, as we read in Mat xiv, He fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes; and then in Mat 15 we see that He fed four thousand men with seven loaves and seven little fish. By the five thousand men are meant those who, living a secular life, know how to make good use of material possessions; but the four thousand fed by seven loaves, signify those who renounce the world completely, and are nourished on evangelical perfection and spiritual grace. Hence we are to learn that men must first be sustained by obedience to the commandments, and afterwards led to the perfection of the Counsels. Item inducunt quod Hieronymus dicit super Marcum in principio: quatuor, inquit, sunt qualitates de quibus sancta Evangelia contexuntur; praecepta, mandata, testimonia, exempla. In praeceptis iustitia, in mandatis caritas, in testimoniis fides, in exemplis perfectio. Volunt igitur concludere, quod a iustitia praeceptorum sit procedendum ad perfectionem exemplorum, quae in consiliis videtur consistere. Another argument, brought forward by those who follow Vigilantius, is contained in the words of St. Jerome on the beginning of the Gospel of St. Matthew. “The Holy Gospel,” he says, “is composed of four elements, namely, precepts, commandments, testimonies, examples. Justice appears in the precepts, charity in the commandments, faith in the testimonies, perfection in the examples.” From this passage they conclude that it is from the justice of the precepts that we are to attain to the perfection of the examples, which perfection would seem to consist in the Counsels. Inducunt etiam quod Gregorius dicit in 6 Moral.: post Liae amplexus ad Rachelem Iacob pervenit: quia perfectus quisque ante activae vitae ad fecunditatem iungitur, et post contemplativae ad requiem copulatur. Status autem religionis, qui consiliorum observantiam profitetur, pertinet ad vitam contemplativam; praecepta autem dirigunt nos ad vitam activam: quia Matth. XIX, ubi enumerantur praecepta legis, dicit Glossa: ecce vita activa; ubi autem postea subiicitur, si vis perfectus esse etc., dicit ecce vita contemplativa. Non videtur ergo esse transeundum ad religionis statum, nisi prius aliquis fuerit in vita activa exercitatus per observantiam praeceptorum. They further bring forward the following passage of St. Gregory (VI Moral.): “It was after the embrace of Lia that Jacob came to Rachel; for the perfect man is first engaged in the fruitfulness of active life and afterwards attains to the repose of contemplation:” Now the religious state, which professes the practice of the Counsels, belongs to the contemplative life. But the Commandments lead us to the active life. The Gloss says, concerning the passage in Matthew 12, where the Commandments of the Law are enumerated: “Behold the active life.” But when it comments on those words of our Lord in the same chapter, “If you would be perfect” etc., the Gloss adds: “Behold the contemplative life.” Therefore, it is not fitting that a man should embrace the religious life, unless, by keeping the Commandments, he has first been exercised in the active life. Assumunt etiam quod Gregorius dicit super Ezech.: nemo repente fit summus, sed in bona conversatione a minimis quis inchoat, ut ad magna perveniat. Minima autem videntur esse praecepta Decalogi; magna autem videntur esse consilia, quae pertinent ad perfectionem vitae. Dicit enim Augustinus in Lib. de sermone domini in monte: illa quae praecepta sunt in lege, dicuntur minima; quae autem Christus dicturus est, sunt maxima. Nullus ergo debet ad consiliorum observantiam accedere, nisi prius in minoribus, hoc est in praeceptis, exercitatus. Item. Gregorius dicit, et habetur in decretis dist. XLVIII scimus quod aedificati parietes non prius tignorum pondus accipiunt, nisi a novitatis suae humore siccentur; ne si ante pondera quam solidentur, accipiant, cunctam simul ad terram fabricam deponant. Ibidem etiam habetur ex dictis Gregorii: casum appetit qui ad summi loci fastigia postpositis gradibus per abrupta quaerit ascensum. Unde concludunt, periculosum esse quod aliquis summam perfectionem consiliorum attingere praesumat, nisi prius in minoribus, hoc est in mandatis, fuerit exercitatus. Another argument, adduced by the disciples of Vigilantius in the defence of their cause, is contained in the commentary of St. Gregory on Ezekiel: “ No one becomes perfect at once. In true conversion a man must begin with the least things, in order that he may attain to great things.” Now the Commandments of the Decalogue would appear to be the lesser things, but the Counsels, which pertain to perfection, the greater. For St. Augustine, in his book De sermone Domini in Monte, says: “The things commanded by the Law are lesser; those which Christ was to command, were greater.” Let no man, therefore, proceed to the observance of the greater things, namely, the practice of the Counsels, unless he is first exercised in the lesser, that is to say, in keeping the Commandments. Again, St. Gregory says (Decretis, dist. 48, cap. Sicut): “While walls are still new and damp, we know that they cannot bear weight; and if a roof be placed upon them before they be dry, the whole building will fall to the ground.” Again, among the sayings of St. Gregory, we find the following: “He courts a fall who, despising steps, attempts to climb a height by a steep ascent.” Whence they conclude that it is dangerous for anyone to presume to attain to the high perfection of the counsels, unless he be first exercised in lesser things that is to say in the Commandments. Adiiciunt etiam, quod naturae ordine mandata praecedunt consilia, utpote magis communia, a quibus non convertitur consequentia essendi. Possunt enim praecepta sine consiliis observari, consilia vero sine praeceptis nequaquam. Unde inordinatum esse concludunt ad consilia tendere, non praemisso exercitio mandatorum. Addunt etiam, quod si consilia praecepta praecederent, salus esse non posset his qui consilia non observant: quia secundum hoc nec praecepta observare valerent. Those who hold this opinion, further observe that the Commandments, even in the order of nature, precede the counsels, for they are more common and more in harmony with nature. The Commandments can be kept together with the Counsels, but the Counsels cannot be practised apart from the Commandments. Hence it cannot be well ordered to aspire to the Counsels, unless the observance of the Commandments has gone first. Those who are of this opinion further add that if it were right that the Counsels should take precedence over the Commandments, those who did not practise the Counsels could not be saved, for they would not be keeping the Commandments. Haec igitur sunt quibus maxime utuntur ad ostendendum, quod statum perfectionis per religionis ingressum assumere non debent nisi qui sunt in observantia mandatorum exercitati. These are the chief arguments used by those who hold that religious life should not be attempted by any, save those who are exercised in obedience to the Commandments.
Caput 3
Quod praedicta assertio locum non habet in puerisCHAPTER 3
The Foregoing Arguments Do Not Hold Good in the Case of ChildrenSed quia praesens quaestio ad mores pertinet, in quibus praecipue considerandum est, utrum quod dicitur, operibus congruat; ostendamus primo, hoc quod asserere nituntur, a rectis operibus discordare. Sunt autem tria genera hominum, qui praeceptorum exercitationem non habent. Primo quidem pueri, qui propter defectum temporis mandatorum exercitium non potuerunt habere. Secundo sunt nuper ad fidem conversi, ante quam nullum in praeceptorum observantia exercitium esse potest, quia quod non est ex fide peccatum est, ut apostolus dicit ad Rom. XIV, 23, et sine fide impossibile est placere Deo, ut dicitur ad Hebr. XI, 6. Tertio peccatores, qui vitam in peccatis duxerunt. SINCE this question regards morals, our first consideration must be whether what has been said, is congruous with good works. We must prove, first of all that the doctrine of the followers of Vigilantius is directly opposed to such works. For there are three classes of mankind who have had no practice in keeping the Commandments. The first class is composed of children who have not had time to be exercised in keeping them. The second class includes recent converts to the Faith who, before their conversion, had no opportunity of observing the Commandments, “for all that is not of faith is sin” (Rom 14:23), and “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). The third class of men who have not been in the habit of keeping the Commandments are those who have led a sinful life. In singulis autem praemissorum generibus manifeste apparet falsum esse quod dicitur. Now we shall show, in the case of each of these classes, the fallacy of the arguments which we have undertaken to refute. Si enim ex necessitate, praeceptorum exercitium viam consiliorum praecederet, quam quis arripit per religionis ingressum, inordinatum valde esset, nec ab Ecclesia sustinendum, quod parentes pueros in annis minoribus constitutos offerant Deo in religione nutriendos sub consiliorum observantia, antequam in praeceptis exercitari potuerint: cuius contrarium et Ecclesiae consuetudo habet, quae maximum obtinet auctoritatis pondus, et multipliciter Scripturarum auctoritatibus approbatur. Dicit enim Gregorius, et habetur 20, q. 1 si pater vel mater filium filiamve intra septa monasterii in infantiae annis sub regulari tradiderunt disciplina, utrum liceat eis postquam pubertatis annos impleverint, egredi et matrimonio copulari: hoc omnino devitamus. Nec refert, quantum ad propositum pertinet, utrum sint obligati ad regularem observantiam perpetuo tenendam: quia si praeceptorum exercitium ex necessitate observantiam consiliorum praecederet, nullo modo liceret regulari consiliorum observantiae aliquos applicare qui nondum essent in praeceptis exercitati. Haec autem consuetudo pueros religioni tradendi, non solum ecclesiasticis statutis quampluribus, sed etiam sanctorum exemplis comprobatur. Narrat enim Gregorius in 2 dialogorum Lib. quod coeperunt ad beatum Benedictum Romanae urbis nobiles et religiosi concurrere, suosque ei filios omnipotenti domino nutriendos dare. Tunc quoque bonae spei suas soboles Eutychius Maurum, Tertullus vero patricius placidum tradidit: ex quibus Maurus iunior, cum bonis polleret moribus, magistri adiutor coepit existere; placidus vero puerilis adhuc indolis annos gerebat. Ipse etiam beatus Benedictus adhuc puer existens, despectis litterarum studiis, relicta domo rebusque patris, soli Deo placere desiderans sanctae conversationis habitum quaesivit, ut Gregorius in eodem Lib. narrat. If it were necessary that the observance of the Commandments should precede the practice of the Counsels and the entrance into the religious life, it would not be right, nor would the Church suffer parents to place their young children in religious houses, there to be educated in the exercise of the Counsels before they have kept the Commandments. But we know that such is her custom, a usage supported by grave authority, and confirmed by many passages of Scripture. St. Gregory says (XX, quaestione I, cap. Addidistis): “Is it lawful for a father or mother who have placed an infant son or daughter in a monastery to be there educated in regular discipline, to withdraw such a child when it has attained the age of puberty, and to give it in marriage? This question we will not discuss.” The question as to how far the obligation to regular observance is perpetually binding is not of great importance; for, if the practice of keeping the Commandments were a necessary introduction to the observance of the Counsels, no one could be educated in the regular observance of the Counsels who was not exercised in obedience to the Commandments. But the custom of dedicating children to the religious life is proved, not merely by many ecclesiastical statutes, but by the examples of the Saints. St. Gregory relates (II Dialog.) that “noble and religious men of the City of Rome flocked to blessed Benedict, to offer him their children to be trained for Almighty God. Then Euticius and Patricius Tertullus gave him their promising sons, Maurus and Placidus, of whom Maurus, the younger, being distinguished by his virtues, became assistant to the master, while Placidus was still, in disposition, a child.” And, as St. Gregory narrates in the same book, Blessed Benedict himself, while still a child, being desirous to please none but God, turned his back on worldly learning and, leaving his parents’ house, sought the usages of holy conversation. Hic etiam mos ab ipsis apostolis sumpsisse invenitur exordium. Dicit enim Dionysius in fine Ecclesiast. Hierarch.: sursum acti infantes ad habitum sanctum habebunt consuetudinem, ab omni remoti errore et immundae vitae expertes. Hoc divinis nostris ducibus ad mentem venit, et visum est suscipere infantes. Et quamvis ibi loquatur Dionysius de susceptione infantium ad Christianam religionem in Baptismo assumendam, tamen ratio ibi inducta etiam in proposito competit: quia utrobique pueros expedit nutriri in his quae postmodum sunt observaturi, ut ad haec eorum habitus firmetur. Et ut ulterius procedatur, ipsius domini hoc auctoritate firmatur. Legitur enim Matth. XIX, 13, quod oblati sunt Christo parvuli, ut manus eis imponeret, et oraret: discipuli autem increpabant eos. Iesus autem ait eis: sinite parvulos venire ad me et nolite eos prohibere, talium enim est regnum caelorum. Ubi dicit Chrysostomus quis mereatur appropinquare Christo, si repellitur ab eo simplex infantia? Nam si sancti futuri sunt, quid vetatis filios ad patrem venire? Si autem peccatores futuri sunt, ut quid sententiam condemnationis profertis antequam culpam videatis? Manifestum est autem quod maxime appropinquat homo Christo per viam consiliorum, secundum illud Matth. XIX, 21: vende omnia quae habes, et da pauperibus, et sequere me. Non sunt igitur pueri retrahendi, ne per observantiam consiliorum Christo appropinquent. Sed, sicut Origenes ibidem dicit, quidam priusquam discant rationem iustitiae de pueris, reprehendunt eos qui per simplicem doctrinam pueros et infantes, minus adhuc eruditos offerunt Christo. Dominus autem hortatur discipulos suos condescendere utilitatibus puerorum; haec igitur debemus attendere ne aestimatione excellentioris sapientiae contemnamus quasi magni pusillos Ecclesiae, prohibentes pueros venire ad Iesum. This custom took its rise from the Apostles themselves. Dionysius, in the end of his book Eccles. Hierarch., says, “children, brought up to sublime things and kept from sin and error, will acquire the habit of holy living. This was the opinion of our blessed masters, and it seemed good to them to receive children.” Dionysius, it is true, is here only alluding to the admission of children to Baptism, but his argument bears out our assertion, viz. that it is expedient to educate children in the principles which they are hereafter to practise, in order that they may acquire the habit of them. We must add, further that this rule is authorised by our Lord Himself. For we read in St. Matt. xix. 13, “Then were little children presented to Him, that He should impose hands upon them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said to them: ‘Allow the little children, and do not forbid them to come to me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” St. Chrysostom, commenting on these words, says, “Who shall deserve to draw near to Christ, if innocent childhood is driven from Him? If these children are to be saints, why should they not approach their Father? If they are to be sinners, why should you pronounce sentence of condemnation upon them before their crimes are committed?” Now we know that it is by the way of the Counsels that man approaches most closely to Christ, for He said to the young man, “ Sell all that you have, give to the poor and follow me” (Mt 19:21). Therefore children are by no means to be hindered from drawing near to Him by the way of the Counsels. But, as Origen says, on the same passage: “Some there are who, before they have learnt the doctrine of justice, rebuke those who, by simple teaching, offer to Christ infants and children, that is to say the unlearned. Our Lord exhorted His disciples, who were then grown men, to condescend to the service of children and to be, so to speak, children with children that so they might gain children, for ‘of such,’ He said, ‘is the Kingdom of Heaven.’ And He Himself, when He was in the form of God, became a child. We ought to bear this in mind, lest, in our esteem for our own superior wisdom, we should despise the little ones of the Church, forbidding the children to go to Jesus.” Et ut adhuc ad priora nos extendamus, de Ioanne Baptista legitur Luc. I, 80: puer crescebat, et confortabatur spiritu, et erat in desertis usque ad diem ostensionis suae ad Israel. Ubi dicit Beda: praedicator poenitentiae futurus, ut liberius auditores suos a mundi illecebris erudiendo subtollat, primaevam in desertis transigit vitam, ne, ut Gregorius Nyssenus dicit, huiusmodi fallaciis quae per sensus ingeruntur, assuetus, quandam confusionem ac errorem incurreret erga veri boni discretionem; et ideo ad tantum divinarum gratiarum elevatus est apicem, ut plusquam prophetis sibi gratia infunderetur, quia mundum et expers cuiuslibet passionis naturalis desiderium suum a principio usque ad finem divinis aspectibus obtulit. Non solum igitur licitum est, sed etiam valde expediens ad maiorem gratiam optinendam, ut aliqui a pueritia saeculum deserentes, in deserto religionis vivant. We may remember, again, how in Luke 1:80 it is written of St. John the Baptist, “And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.” Bede comments on this text in the following words: “He who was to be the preacher of penance passed his early years in the desert. He acted thus in order more easily to draw his hearers, by means of his instructions, from the vanities of the world. He would not, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says, allow himself to become accustomed to the allurements of the senses, lest he should be misled or perplexed in his judgment concerning the true good. And, because he was pure, and because, from the beginning of his life to the end, he offered to the divine regard desires free from every passion, therefore he was raised to such a height of grace that he received gifts surpassing those of the prophets.” Therefore, not only is it lawful but even most expedient in order to obtain greater grace that some men, leaving the world, even in their childhood, should live in the solitude of the religious life. Unde Thren. III, 27, dicitur: bonum est viro cum portaverit iugum ab adolescentia sua. Et causa videtur assignari, cum subditur: sedebit solitarius et tacebit, quia levavit se super se: per quod datur intelligi, quod qui ab adolescentia religionis iugum portando se super se levant, ad observantias religionis, quae in quiete consistit a mundanis curis, et silentio a turbarum tumultibus, magis redduntur idonei, secundum illud Prov. XXII, 6: adolescens iuxta viam suam; etiam cum senuerit, non recedet ab ea. Et inde est quod Anselmus in libro de similitudinibus, eos qui sunt a pueritia in monasteriis nutriti, Angelis comparat, eos vero qui postmodum in perfecta aetate convertuntur, hominibus. Hoc etiam non solum sacrae Scripturae auctoritatibus, sed etiam philosophorum sententiis confirmatur. Dicit enim philosophus in 2 Ethic.: non parum differt sic vel sic ex iuvene confestim assuefieri: sed multum, magis autem omne, id est totum in hoc consistit quod aliqui a pueritia erudiantur in hoc quod per totam vitam debent servare. Et in VIII politicae dicit idem philosophus quod legislatori maxime negotiandum est circa iuvenum disciplinam, quos oportet erudire secundum quod convenit ad unamquamque civilitatem. We read in Lamentations 3:27, “It is good for a man, when he has borne the yoke from his youth.” The reason given for these words being, “he shall sit solitary and hold his peace, because he has taken it up upon himself.” By this we are given to understand that they who bear the yoke of religious life from their youth upwards, arise above themselves and are rendered more fit for religious observance, which consists in silence and freedom from worldly care and disturbance. In the Book of Proverbs 22:6 the words occur, “A young man according to his way, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Hence St. Anselm in his book De Similitudinibus compares those who have been brought up in monasteries to angels, while those who have been converted from an imperfect life he likens to men. This mode of thinking is not only confirmed by the authority of Holy Scripture, it is shared even by philosophers; for Aristotle in his Second Book of Ethics says, “It is by no means a matter of small moment whether from our youth we are accustomed to such or such a manner of life, but, on the contrary, it is of supreme importance that certain men should, from childhood, be instructed in those things which they must observe during the course of their life.” Again, in the Eighth book of his Politics, the same philosopher writes: “The chief concern of a legislator ought to be for the education of the young who should be trained in every good quality.” Hoc etiam ex communi hominum consuetudine manifeste apparet, secundum quam homines a pueritia applicantur illis officiis vel artibus in quibus vitam sunt acturi: sicut qui futuri sunt clerici, mox a pueritia in clericatu erudiuntur; qui futuri sunt milites, oportet quod a pueritia in militaribus exercitiis nutriantur, sicut Vegetius dicit in Lib. de re militari; qui futuri sunt fabri, fabrilem artem a pueritia discunt. Cur igitur in hoc solo regula fallit, ut qui futuri sunt religiosi non a pueritia in religione exerceantur? Quinimmo necesse est ut quanto aliquid est difficilius, tanto ad illud portandum magis homo a pueritia consuescat. Sic igitur manifeste apparet quod in pueris locum non habet quod dicunt oportere aliquem prius in mandatis exerceri quam ad consilia transeat, religionem intrando. We see likewise how this opinion is practically borne out by society, for men are, from their very childhood, brought up to those professions and offices for which they are destined. Those who are intended for clerics must, from their tender years, be educated in the clerical life; soldiers, as Vegetius says in book De re militari, must, in early years, be subject to military discipline; and, carpenters must, from childhood, learn their handicraft. Why then should the only exception to this rule be made with regard to the religious life? Why should not the young be formed to it from their youth? Surely the more arduous a profession may be, the more necessary it is that men should be early trained to it. Hence we see that the argument that it is necessary to be practised in keeping the Commandments before we observe the Counsels, does not hold good with regard to children.
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Quod praedicta assertio locum non habet in his qui de novo convertuntur ad fidemCHAPTER 4
The Opinion Held by Vigilantius and His Followers Does Not Apply to Recent Converts to the FaithNunc videre oportet, utrum hoc locum habere possit in illis qui sunt nuper ad fidem conversi. Quibus si quis religionis habitum interdicat tamquam nondum in praeceptis exercitatis, primo aspectu absurdum apparet, cum constet Christi discipulos statim in sua conversione ad fidem, esse assumptos ad Christi collegium, in quo primum exemplar consiliorum et perfectionis apparuit, et absque dubio cuiuscumque religionis statum excessit. Ipse quoque Paulus inter apostolos conversione novissimus, praedicatione primus, statim ad fidem conversus, viam perfectionis evangelicae sumpsit: dicit enim ad Gal. I, 15: cum autem placuit ei qui me segregavit ex utero matris meae et vocavit per gratiam suam, ut revelaret filium suum in me, ut evangelizarem illum in gentibus; continuo non acquievi carni et sanguini. Hoc etiam ex ipsius Christi exemplo nobis ostenditur; legitur enim Matth. IV, post Baptismum Christi, quod tunc Iesus ductus est in desertum a spiritu: ubi dicit Glossa: tunc, idest post Baptismum: docens baptizatos de mundo exire, et in quiete Deo vacare. VERY few words will suffice to show the absurdity of refusing the religious habit to recent converts on the ground that they are not exercised in the observance of the Commandments. The first followers of Christ, who formed His college, and who gave an example of perfection, far surpassing that of any religious order, were received by our Lord immediately after their conversion. St. Paul, who was the last by conversion, but the foremost in preaching, embraced evangelical perfection as soon as he was converted to the faith. This we know by his own words to the Galatians: “But when it pleased Him, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and exalted me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, immediately I did not condescended to flesh and blood” (Gal 1:15). Christ teaches us the same lesson by His own example. We read in St. Matthew 4:1 that after His baptism, He “was led by the Spirit into the desert.” “Thus,” says the Gloss, “did He teach those that have been baptised to leave the world after their baptism to devote themselves to God in solitude.” Hoc etiam ex multorum laudabili consuetudine approbatur, qui ab infidelitate quacumque ad fidem Christi conversi, statim habitum religionis assumunt. Quis autem erit tam improbus disputator qui audeat eis consulere ut potius in saeculo remaneant, quam in religione perceptam Baptismi gratiam studeant conservare? Quis sanae mentis ab hoc proposito eum impediat, ne Christum, quem per sacramentum Baptismi iam induit, perfecta imitatione induere mereatur? Apparet igitur et in hoc secundo hominum genere derisibile, immo abominabile omnino esse quod dicunt, homines ab ingressu religionis arcentes ante exercitium praeceptorum. This teaching is confirmed by the praiseworthy practice of many who, being once converted from unbelief, immediately assume the religious habit. Who would be so ill-advised as to counsel these men rather to stay in the world than to withdraw into the Religious life, there to endeavour to preserve the Baptismal Grace which they have received? What right-minded man would dissuade them from putting on Christ by perfect imitation, when by baptism they have already been clothed with Him? The argument that no one ought to be admitted to the religious life who has not kept the Commandments is thus an absurdity in the case of recent converts to the Faith.
Caput 5
Quod praedicta assertio locum non habet in peccatoribus per poenitentiam conversisCHAPTER 5
This Argument is Equally Fallacious As Applied to Penitent SinnersDenique videamus, an in tertio genere hominum, scilicet de peccatis poenitentium, nondum in praeceptis exercitatorum, conveniens esse possit quod dicunt. Ubi primo assumendum videtur quod in Evangelio legitur de conversione Matthaei, quem dominus de telonei lucris ad sui sequelam vocavit: et quamvis non statim sit in apostolatum assumptus, statim tamen ad consiliorum perfectionem assumpsit. Dicitur enim Luc. V, 28, quod relictis omnibus, surgens secutus est eum; et sicut Ambrosius ibidem dicit, propria dereliquit qui rapiebat aliena. Ex quo manifeste ostenditur quod statim poenitentes post quamcumque immanitatem peccatorum, viam consiliorum possunt accipere. Quinimmo, ut verius dicatur, eis maxime competit perfectiorem viam consiliorum assumere. Gregorius enim in quadam homilia exponens illud quod habetur Luc. III, 8: facite dignos fructus poenitentiae, dicit: quisquis illicita nulla commisit, huic conceditur ut licitis utatur; at si quis in culpam lapsus est, tanto a se licita debet abscidere, quanto se meminit illicita perpetrasse. Et postmodum subdit: per hoc etiam cuiuslibet conscientia convenitur, ut tanto maiora quaerat bonorum operum lucra per poenitentiam, quanto graviora sibi intulit damna per culpam. Quia igitur in statu religionis homines etiam a licitis abstinent, et perfectorum operum lucra quaerunt; manifestum est quod a peccatis recedentes, non in observantia praeceptorum sed in eorum potius transgressione exercitati, debent viam consiliorum assumere, religionem intrando, quae est perfectae poenitentiae status. Unde, ut habetur 33, quaest. 2, Stephanus Papa Astulphum quendam, qui gravia peccata patraverat, admonet dicens: placeat tibi consilium nostrum. Ingredere monasterium, humiliare sub manu abbatis, et fratrum multorum precibus adiutus observa cuncta simplici animo quae tibi fuerint imperata: et postea subdit: sin autem poenitentiam publicam permanens in domo tua vel in hoc mundo vis agere, quod peius tibi et durius et gravius esse non dubites, ita ut agere debeas exhortamur. Et subiungit quaedam gravissima, quibus tamen omnibus utilius et melius esse dicit religionis ingressum. FINALLY, let us see whether penitent sinners, who are not yet exercised in observing the Commandments, are to be excluded from religious life. The example of St. Matthew is germane to our question. Our Lord called him from the profits of a custom collection to be His follower; and Matthew, although not at once admitted to the number of the Apostles, immediately embraced the perfection of the counsels, for, “leaving all things he rose up and followed him” (Luke v. 28). “He who had robbed others abandoned his own possessions,” says St. Ambrose. From this example, it is abundantly evident that penitents may, even after most heinous sins, enter on the observance of the Counsels. In fact, we may go further, and say that it is fitting that such repentant sinners should embrace a life of perfection; for, as St. Gregory says in his comment on the words of Luke iii., “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance”: “He who has committed no unlawful act may rightfully be granted the enjoyment of lawful things. But he who has fallen into sin, ought to deprive himself of lawful goods, in proportion as he is conscious of having committed unlawful deeds.” Again, he says: “It is fitting that if a man has impoverished himself by sin, he should so much the more eagerly seek by penance the riches of good works.” Since then in the religious life men abstain even from lawful things, and seek the treasure of perfection, it is reasonable that they who abandon sin (whereby they have been exercised, not in the practice, but in the transgression of the Commandments) should walk in the way of the Counsels, by entering religion, which is the state of true penance. Again we find, in quaest. XXXIII. cap. II. Admonere, that Pope Stephen, addressing a certain Astulphus, who had been guilty of great sins, says: “May our advice be pleasing to you. Go into a monastery: humble yourself to the Abbot; and, helped by the prayers of many brethren, perform in simplicity of heart whatever may be enjoined upon you.” “But,” he continues: “if you prefer to remain in your house or in the world and there to do public penance (which will be far more onerous and painful for you), we will tell you how you are to act.” The Pope then imposes severe penances upon him, telling him at the same time that it would be better and more advantageous for him to go into religion. Sic igitur patet quod non exercitati in praeceptis, sed potius in peccatis conversati, salubriter admonentur ad religionis ingressum, qui tamen per horum admirabilem sapientiam a consiliis assumendis arcentur. Quorum in hoc sententia, apostoli sententia confutatur, qui dicit Rom. VI, 19: humanum dico, propter infirmitatem carnis vestrae. Sicut enim exhibuistis membra vestra servire immunditiae et iniquitati, ita nunc exhibete membra vestra servire iustitiae in sanctificationem: ubi dicit Glossa: humanum dico, quia plus servitutis debetis iustitiae quam peccato. Et Baruch V dicitur: sicut fuit sensus vester ut erraretis a Deo, decies tantum iterum convertentes requiretis eum: quia videlicet post peccata, quibus homo a Deo recessit eius praecepta transgrediens, ad maiora debet manum extendere, et non esse mediocribus contentus. Thus we see that those who are practised, not in keeping the Commandments but in sinning against them, are advised to embrace religious life. Such penitent, sinners are, however, deterred from so doing by the admirable wisdom of certain advisers, whose counsel St. Paul thus refutes: “I speak a human thing because of the infirmity of your flesh, for, as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification” (Rom 6:19). “I speak a human thing,” comments the Gloss, “because you owe more service to justice than to sin.” And Baruch (4:28) says, “As it was your mind to go astray from God; so, when you return again, you shall seek him ten times as much.” For after sinning and thus forsaking God and disobeying His commands, a man ought to strive after the highest virtue, and not be content with half measures. Huic etiam rei multa sanctorum exempla suffragantur. Plurimi enim utriusque sexus post gravia facinora et flagitia perpetrata, in quibus totam vitam suam consumpserant, statim consiliorum viam assumentes, nullo praemisso praeceptorum exercitio, religioni arctissimae se dederunt. Nec solum hoc sanctorum auctoritatibus et exemplis, sed etiam philosophicis documentis comprobatur. Dicit enim philosophus in 2 Ethic.: multum enim abducentes a peccato, in medium veniemus: quod tortuosa lignorum dirigentes faciunt. Oportet igitur eos qui per peccata sunt distorti, ad rectitudinem deduci, perfectiora virtutis opera observando. This teaching is borne out by the example of numerous saints. For many of both sexes, after leading lives of crime, have embraced the practice of the Counsels, and although they had formed no habit of keeping the Commandments, have devoted themselves to the observance of the strictest religious rule. Their conduct is approved even by philosophers. In the Second book of Ethics Aristotle writes: “When we withdraw from great sin, we shall come to the uniform line, even as they do who plane away the knots from wood.” For those who are knotted by sin, must be brought back to righteousness by practising the more perfect works of virtue. Patet igitur ex praemissis, quod in nullo genere hominum locum habere potest quod dicunt, non debere aliquos ad religionem transire, nisi prius fuerint in praeceptis exercitati. Thus we have made it clear that the opinion of those who maintain that none should practise the Counsels who have not kept the Commandments, cannot be approved, with regard to any class of men.
Caput 6
In quo destruitur radix erroris praemissiCHAPTER 6
The Fundamental Error of These Opinions ExposedAd hunc autem errorem radicitus extirpandum, oportet eius radicem sive originem invenire. Videtur autem ex hoc praedictus error procedere, quod aestimant in consiliis principaliter perfectionem existere, et praecepta ad consilia ordinari sicut imperfectum ordinatur ad perfectum; ut sic necesse sit a praeceptis ad consilia transire, sicut ab imperfecto ad perfectum pervenitur. Cum autem hoc simpliciter de praeceptis enuntient, falluntur. Manifestum est enim praecipua praecepta esse de dilectione Dei et proximi, secundum quod dominus dicit Matth. XXII, 37, quod primum et maximum mandatum legis est: diliges dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo. Secundum autem simile est huic: diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. In his autem duobus praeceptis essentialiter consistit vitae Christianae perfectio. Unde apostolus dicit ad Col. III 14: super omnia caritatem habete, quae est vinculum perfectionis. Ubi dicit Glosa quod: cetera praecepta perfectum faciunt, in quantum scilicet ad caritatem ordinantur, caritas autem omnia ligat. Et inde est quod cum dominus Matth. V, 48, praecepta de proximi dilectione dedisset, subiunxit: estote ergo perfecti sicut et pater vester caelestis perfectus est. IN order to refute this error, once and for all, we must examine the fallacy on which it is based. Now the premises on which the followers of Vigilantius construct their argument are erroneous, and for this reason. They assume that perfection consists, chiefly, in the observance of the Counsels; and that the Commandments, compared to the Counsels, are as the imperfect compared to the perfect. Therefore, they say, we must go from Commandments to Counsels, as from imperfection to perfection. But this proposition is false. We know from the very words of our Lord (Mt 22:37) that the first and chief commandment of the Law is the love of God and of our fellow-men. “The first commandment is, you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” The perfection of Christian life consists essentially, in obeying these two precepts, Hence the Apostle says to the Colossians (3:14), “ But above all these things, have charity, which is the bond of perfection.” On this passage the Gloss observes that charity makes other things perfect, in so far, that is to say, as they are ordered in charity. For charity binds all things together. Again, when our Lord had been giving the precepts of brotherly love (Mt 5:48), He added, “Be therefore perfect as also your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Et Matth. XIX, 27, super illud, ecce nos reliquimus omnia, et secuti sumus te, dicit Hieronymus: quia non sufficit tantum relinquere, iungit quod perfectum est, id est: secuti sumus te. Sequebantur autem apostoli dominum non tam passibus corporis, quam affectibus mentis; unde super illud Luc. V 27: et ait illi, sequere me, dicit Ambrosius: sequi iubet non corporis gressu, sed mentis affectu. Patet igitur quod praecipue in affectu caritatis ad Deum perfectio Christianae vitae consistit. Et hoc rationabiliter. Cuiuslibet enim rei perfectio in assecutione sui finis consistit. Finis autem Christianae vitae est caritas, ad quam sunt omnia ordinanda secundum illud apostoli I ad Tim. I, 5: finis praecepti caritas est: ubi dicit Glossa: caritas est finis, idest perfectio, praecepti, idest praeceptorum omnium, quorum impletio est dilectio Dei et proximi. St. Jerome says, commenting on the words in St. Matthew 19:27, “Behold, we have left all things and have followed you”: “Whereas it does not suffice to have left all things, he (Peter) adds ‘and have followed you.’ For the Apostles followed the Lord not so much in bodily presence, as in affections of the heart.” Again, St. Ambrose, alluding to the words, “follow me” (Luke 5), says: “Christ commands him (Levi) to follow Him, not with his feet, but with the desires of his mind.” It is thus abundantly evident that the perfection of the Christian life consists in charity towards God. And there is a very solid reason for this conclusion. The perfection of anything consists, as we know, in its attainment of its end. Now the end of the Christian life is that charity, to which all things must be ordered, and which, as St. Paul says (1 Tim 1:5), is “the end of the commandment,” or, as the Gloss says, in its comment on this text, “is the perfection of the precept, that is to say, of all precepts, for the love of God and of our neighbour is the fulfilment of all.” Oportet autem considerare, quod aliter est iudicandum de fine, et de his quae sunt ad finem. In his enim quae sunt ad finem, praefigenda est quaedam mensura secundum quod congruit fini. Sed circa ipsum finem nulla mensura adhibetur: sed unusquisque ipsum assequitur quantum potest: sicut medicus medicinam quidem moderatur ne superexcedat; sanitatem autem inducit quanto perfectius potest. Sic igitur praeceptum dilectionis Dei, quod est ultimus finis Christianae vitae, nullis terminis coarctatur, ut possit dici, quod tanta Dei dilectio cadat sub praecepto, maior autem dilectio limites praecepti excedens sub consilio cadat; sed unicuique praecipitur ut Deum diligat quantum potest: quod ex ipsa forma praecepti apparet cum dicitur: diliges dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo. Unusquisque autem hoc observat secundum suam mensuram: unus quidem perfectius, alius autem minus perfecte. Ille autem totaliter ab observantia huius praecepti deficit qui Deum in suo amore non omnibus praefert. Qui vero ipsum praefert omnibus ut ultimum finem, implet quidem praeceptum vel perfectius vel minus perfecte, secundum quod magis vel minus detinetur aliarum rerum amore. Unde Augustinus dicit in Lib. 83 quaestionum: caritatis venenum est spes adipiscendorum aut recipiendorum temporalium: quod est intelligendum, si sperentur tanquam ultimus finis: nutrimentum eius est imminutio cupiditatis: perfectio, nulla cupiditas. Est autem et aliquis modus perfectus observantiae huius praecepti, qui non potest observari in via. We must distinguish between an end and the means to an end. In considering the means to an end, we must fix some certain measure by which the means may be proportioned to the end. But in what regards the end itself, there is no question of measure, but each one prosecutes his end to the best of his ability. A physician tempers his remedies, lest they should be in excess. He has no fear of excess in the health which he wishes to restore by those remedies, but he desires that such health should be as perfect as possible. In like manner, the commandment to love God, which is the end of the Christian life, knows no limits. No one can say that this degree or that of the love of God is enjoined by this precept, or that where the love of God exceeds the Commandment it becomes a Counsel. Every man is bound to love God as much as he can. This truth is embodied in the very words of the precept: “Love the Lord your God with your whole heart.” Every one must obey this commandment according to his ability, some with greater and some with less perfection. He totally fails to observe it who does not, in his affections, prefer God before all things. He who loves Him as His last End, above all other things, fulfils the precept more or less perfectly, according as he is more or less impeded by his affection for created things. St. Augustine says (LXXXIII Quaest.): “The poison of charity is the hope of acquiring or retaining temporal things. That is to say, if such things are looked on as a last end. The food of charity is the lessening of cupidity. Its perfection consists in the extinction of earthly desire.” Dicit enim Augustinus in Lib. de perfectione iustitiae, quod in illa plenitudine caritatis quae erit in patria, caritatis praeceptum illud implebitur: diliges dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo etc.; et postea subdit: cur ergo non praeciperetur homini ista perfectio, quamvis eam in hac vita nemo habeat? Non enim recte curritur, si quo currendum est nesciatur. Quomodo autem sciretur si nullis praeceptis ostenderetur? Ad haec igitur praecepta dilectionis Dei et proximi omnia alia praecepta et consilia ordinantur sicut ad finem: unde Augustinus dicit in Enchiridion: quaecumque mandat Deus, ex quibus unum est, non moechaberis; et quaecumque non iubentur sed spirituali consilio monentur, ex quibus unum est, bonum est homini mulierem non tangere, tunc recte fiunt cum referuntur ad diligendum Deum, et proximum propter Deum. But there is another perfect manner of observing this precept, which cannot be achieved in this life. For, as St. Augustine says in De perfectione justitiae, “In that fulness of charity which will reign it our heavenly country, the precept of charity ‘Love the Lord your God with your whole heart’ etc. will be perfectly obeyed.” “Why,” he continues, should not this perfection be anticipated by man, although, in this life he may not attain to it? He does not run aright, who does no know where he is running to. But how can he know, if he is not taught by any precepts Therefore, to this, as to their end, are directed the commandments of love of God and of our neighbour, together with all other counsels and commands. Hence St. Augustine says in Ench.: “God gives us certain commandments, such as: ‘Do not commit adultery’, while other things, such as ‘It is good for a man not to touch a woman,’ are not enjoined on us by precept, but set before us as a spiritual counsel. Such things are rightly done when they are referred to the love of God and to the love of our neighbour, for His sake.” Aliter tamen ad caritatis praecepta ordinantur alia praecepta legis, aliter autem consilia. Ad finem enim aliquid ordinatur ut sine quo finis haberi non potest, sicut cibus, ad vitam conservandam: aliquid vero ordinatur in finem sicut per quod et facilius et securius et perfectius finis obtinetur: sicut ad vitam corporis conservandam ordinatur cibus ex necessitate; medicina vero conservativa sanitatis, ut perfectius et securius sanitas habeatur. Primo igitur modo ad caritatem ordinantur alia legis praecepta. Nullo enim modo potest praecepta caritatis implere qui vel alios deos colit, per quod disceditur a Dei dilectione; vel qui homicidium aut furtum committit, quae dilectioni proximi adversantur. Secundo autem modo ordinantur ad caritatem consilia. Et de consilio quidem virginitatis expressa est apostoli sententia ostendentis, quod ad dilectionem Dei ordinatur: dicit enim I ad Cor. VII, 32: qui sine uxore est, sollicitus est quae sunt domini quomodo placeat Deo: qui autem cum uxore est, solicitus est quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori. Nevertheless, the manner in which the precept of Charity is to be fulfilled by certain precepts of the Law is different to that in which it is to be accomplished by the Counsels. For some things are so designed to a particular end that the end cannot be attained without them. Such is the case with food and the maintenance of life. Other things, again, serve to attain an end with peculiar certainty and completeness. Thus, though food is necessary for the continuance of physical life? medicine serves for the more easy and certain preservation of health. Now some of the commandments are given for the first of these two reasons, namely as a necessary means of attaining to charity. For instance, no one can fulfil the precept of charity who worships false gods, and thus withdraws from the love of God, or who commits murder or theft, which are contrary to the love of our neighbour. But the Counsels are given to us in order that we may fulfil the precept of charity, in the second way of which we have spoken. Hence the Apostle, “king of the Counsel of virginity, expressly says that its object is to enable us to love God. “He who is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he who is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife” (1 Cor 7:32). De consilio vero paupertatis ipse salvator dicit, quod ad sui sequelam ordinatur; ut patet Matth. XIX. Quae quidem sequela in affectu caritatis consistit, ut ostensum est. Caritas autem per cupiditatis minutionem perficitur, cupiditas vero et divitiarum amor per abiectionem earum diminuitur, vel etiam totaliter aufertur. Dicit enim Augustinus in epistola ad Paulinum et Therasiam: artius adepta quam concupita constringunt. Aliud enim est iam nolle incorporare quae desunt, aliud iam incorporata divellere. Utrumque etiam consilium ad dilectionem proximi ordinatur. Cum enim ea quae dominus praecipit Matth. V, ad dilectionem proximi pertinentia, sint in praeparatione animi observanda; manifestum est quod magis ad horum observantiam praeparatur animus qui circa propria non solicitatur: facilius enim tollenti tunicam, et pallium dimittere est paratus, si necesse fuerit, qui nihil habere in suo animo destinavit, quam qui habet animum aliquid in hoc saeculo possidendi. Again, we see from St. Matthew 19 that our Lord gave the Counsel of poverty as a means whereby He was to be followed; and following Him, as we have shown, consists in charity. Now charity is lessened by cupidity, but cupidity and love of money is diminished, or wholly eradicated, by the renunciation of earthly possessions. St. Augustine, in his Epistle to Paulinus and Therasia, says that “our love for the goods that we have acquired is much stronger than our desires for those that we do not possess. It is one thing, indeed, to have no will to gain those things that are lacking to us, but quite another to divest ourselves of those that we already possess.” Both these Counsels are also intended to facilitate charity towards our neighbour. All that our Lord lays down in St. Matthew 5 about brotherly love ought to be the abiding disposition of the soul. And it is clear that His precepts on this head will be most easily obeyed by the man who is not hampered by self-interest. He who has no will to possess anything will be better prepared to part with his coat and his cloak, than he who desires possessions. Quia vero caritas non solum finis est, sed etiam radix omnium virtutum et praeceptorum quae de actibus virtutum dantur; consequens est ut sicut per consilia homo proficit ad perfectius diligendum Deum et proximum, ita etiam proficiat ad perfectius observanda quae de necessitate ad caritatem ordinantur. Qui enim continentiam aut paupertatem servare proposuit propter Christum, longius ab adulterio et furto recessit. Adduntur etiam in religionis statu multae observantiae, puta vigiliarum, ieiuniorum et sequestrationis a saecularium vita, per quae homines magis a vitiis arcentur, et ad virtutis perfectionem facilius promoventur: et sic consiliorum observatio adminiculatur ad aliorum observantiam praeceptorum; non tamen ordinatur ad ea sicut ad finem: non enim aliquis virginitatem servat ut adulterium vitet; vel paupertatem, ut a furto desistat: sed ut in Dei dilectione proficiat: maiora enim non ordinantur ad minora sicut ad finem. Sic igitur patet quod consilia ad vitae perfectionem pertinent, non quia in eis principaliter consistat perfectio, sed quia sunt via quaedam vel instrumenta ad perfectionem caritatis habendam. Unde Augustinus dicit in Lib. de moribus Ecclesiae, de vita religiosorum loquens: concupiscentiae domandae et dilectioni fratrum retinendae, invigilat omnis intentio. Et ibidem dicit: caritas praecipue custoditur, caritati virtus, caritati sermo, caritati habitus, caritati vultus aptatur. Since charity is not only the end, but also the foundation of all virtues and of all the precepts given us for the attainment of virtue, it follows that as by means of the Counsels man advances towards more perfect love of God and of his neighbour, so likewise the more perfect observance of the Counsels is furthered by obedience to those Commandments which are necessary to charity. He who has the intention of practising continence or poverty for the love of Christ is a long way from committing adultery or theft. The various exercises of the religious life, such as watching, fasting and retirement from worldly affairs, tend furthermore to preserve man from vice, and to facilitate his practice of perfect virtue. Thus the observance of the Counsels leads to the observance of the other Commandments. Of course, we do not mean that keeping the Commandments is the end proposed by those who practise the Counsels. No one, for instance, embraces virginity in order that he may abstain from adultery, or leads a life of poverty as a safeguard against theft; but the Counsels are practised as a means of advancing in the love of God and of our neighbour. For greater things are not made for lesser ones as their end. From all this it becomes clear that the Counsels pertain to perfection of life, not because perfection necessarily consists in their observance, but because they are the way or means to perfection. St. Augustine bears this out in De moribus ecclesiae, where he says of the life of religious: “Let all our endeavour be to restrain concupiscence, and to preserve brotherly love.” Again, in the same work, he writes, “Charity is there (in religious life) chiefly cultivated: virtue, words, manner, countenance, all are agreeable to charity.” Et in collationibus patrum dicit abbas Moyses: pro hac, scilicet puritate cordis et caritate, universa agimus atque toleramus: pro hac parentes, patria, dignitates, divitiae, deliciae mundi huius, et voluptas universa contemnitur: pro hac ieiuniorum inediam, vigilias, labores, corporis nuditatem, lectiones, ceterasque virtutes suscipimus: ut per ista ab universis passionibus noxiis illaesum praeparare cor nostrum et conservare possimus, et ad perfectionem caritatis istis gradibus innitendo conscendere. Sic igitur, cum duplex sit modus observandi praecepta, perfectus scilicet et imperfectus, necesse est etiam duplex esse exercitium praeceptorum: unum quidem quo aliquis exercitatur in perfecta observantia praeceptorum: et hoc idem exercitium fit per consilia, sicut ex praemissis apparet; aliud autem est exercitium in imperfecta observantia praeceptorum, quod fit in vita saeculari absque consiliis. Again, in the Collatio patrum, the Abbot Moses says, “For this (i.e. for the sake of purity of heart and charity), we do and suffer all things, and on this account we renounced kinsfolk, country, honours, riches and all manner of earthly joy. To gain these virtues we undertake fasting, watching, labour and nakedness, and for these we practise reading and all other virtues. For we desire to prepare our hearts and to keep them pare from defiling thoughts, and by these means to rise to the perfection of charity.” Hence we learn that obedience to the Commandments may be either perfect or imperfect, according as we practise a more or less perfect means of keeping them. For we may, as we have shown, practise by means of the Counsels perfect obedience to the Commandments; or we may, by living in the world without the Counsels, keep them imperfectly. Cum ergo dicitur, quod oportet aliquem prius exercitari in praeceptis quam ad consilia transeat, idem est ac si dicatur; oportet prius hominem exercitari in imperfecta observantia praeceptorum quam exercitari in perfecta observantia eorumdem: quod valde inepte dicitur, sive ad ipsa praecepta caritatis inspiciamus, sive ad ipsa exercitia. Quis enim tam insanae mentis esse poterit qui aliquem volentem perfecte diligere Deum et proximum, retrahat, cogens ipsum prius diligere imperfecte? Nonne hoc formae dilectionis contradicit, quae nobis traditur in praecepto caritatis divinae cum dicitur: diliges dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo? Numquid timendum est ne nimis cito homo incipiat Deum perfecte diligere, quasi possit in diligendo modum praeterire? Dicitur Eccli. XLIII 32: glorificantes Deum quantumcumque potueritis, supervalebit adhuc. Unde apostolus I ad Cor. IX, 24, monet: sic currite ut comprehendatis; et ad Hebr. IV, 11, dicit: festinemus ingredi in illam requiem: quia quantumcumque homo tempestive viam perfectionis incipiat, semper sibi remanet quo possit proficere, quousque ultimam perfectionem homo consequatur in patria. Si vero ad ipsa exercitia inspiciamus, maior apparebit absurditas. Quis enim dicat volenti continentiam vel virginitatem servare, ut prius in matrimonio caste vivat? Quis dicat paupertatem pro Christo volenti subire, ut prius in divitiis iuste vivat, quasi per divitias animus hominis ad paupertatem praeparetur, et non magis propositum paupertatis impediant? Quod manifeste apparet Matth. XIX, de adolescente qui paupertatis consilium a domino non suscepit, sed abiit tristis propter divitias quas habebat. Therefore, to teach that a man must first be exercised in keeping the Commandments before he passes to the Counsels, is tantamount to saying that he must first obey the Commandments imperfectly, rather than at once strive to keep them perfectly. This is, of course, an absurdity, whether we consider the Commandments themselves or the mode of observing them. For who could be so foolish as to dissuade a man from loving God and his neighbour perfectly by telling him first to love them imperfectly? Is not such a fallacy condemned by the divine precept of charity: “Love the Lord your God with your whole heart”? Or need we fear lest we should learn to love God so quickly that we shall love Him beyond due measure? “Bless the Lord (says Sirach xliii. 30), exalt Him as much so you can, for He is above all praise.” And St. Paul says, “So run that you may obtain” (1 Cor. ix. 24). Again, “Let us hasten, therefore, to enter into that rest” (Heb. iv. 11). For with whatever energy a man enters on the road of perfection, he will still have much progress to make before he arrives at final perfection in his Heavenly home. The argument is equally absurd if we consider the means used for attaining to perfection. Who would tell a man who aspired to virginity or continence that it would be best for him first to live chastely in wedlock? Or who would tell a man who wished to practise poverty first to live justly in the enjoyment of riches, as if wealth were a preparation for poverty rather than an impediment to it? The young man who did not accept from our Lord the Counsel of poverty (Mt 19) went away sad, because of his possessions. Et haec quidem dicta sunt, si comparentur consilia ad praecepta caritatis. Si vero comparemus ea ad alia legis praecepta, quis non videat quanta sequatur absurditas? Si enim per consilia et religionis observantias tolluntur occasiones peccatorum per quae sunt praeceptorum transgressiones, quis non videat tanto aliquem magis indigere ut occasiones peccatorum evitet? Numquid igitur dicendum erit iuveni: vivas interim inter mulieres et lascivorum consortia, ut sic in castitate exercitatus, postmodum in religione castitatem observes? Tanquam facilius sit in saeculo quam in religione castitatem servare. Idem etiam de aliis virtutibus et peccatis apparet. We have up to now been observing the connection between the Counsels and the precepts of charity, but our arguments hold equally good with regard to the other precepts of the Law. For, if the practice of the Counsels and the exercises of the Religious life are a safeguard against breaking the Commandments, is it not clear that some men may need them in order, by their means, to avoid the occasions of sin? Should we advise a young man to live among women and bad companions, in order that by practising chastity in the world he might afterwards observe it in the cloister? Is this virtue easier in the world than in the religious life? The same reasoning applies to other virtues and vices. Similes sunt igitur huiusmodi doctrinam promulgantes bellorum ducibus, qui milites in suo tirocinii exordio acrioribus bellis exponerent. Fatemur autem, quod si qui sunt in vita saeculari exercitium praeceptorum habentes, melius possunt in religione proficere. Sed sicut ex una parte praeceptorum exercitium in vita saeculari praeparat hominem ad consilia melius observanda, ita ex alia parte saecularis vitae consuetudo consiliis observandis impedimentum praestat. Unde Gregorius dicit in principio Moral.: cum adhuc me cogeret animus praesenti mundo quasi specie tenus deservire, coeperunt multa contra me ex eiusdem mundi cura succrescere; ut in eo iam non specie, sed quod est gravius, mente retinerer. Those who hold the opposite opinion resemble generals, who would like to expose their raw recruits to the heat of battle. Those who live in the world and keep the Commandments can make greater progress in virtue if they become religious. For we must remember that if, on the one hand, a secular life spent in obedience to the Commandments is a good preparation for the practice of the Counsels, yet, on the other hand, a life in the world presents a great obstacle to the observance of the Counsels. Hence St. Gregory says in the beginning of his Morals: “When my conscience was urging me to leave the world, many secular cares began to press upon me, as if I were to be detained in the world, not from love of its beauty, but by that which was more serious, viz. anxiety of mind. But at length, escaping eagerly from all such cares, I sought the monastery gate.”
Caput 7
In quo solvuntur rationes adversariorum suprapositaeCHAPTER 7
The Arguments of Our Opponents Are Conclusively RefutedHis igitur visis, facile est ea quibus innituntur, refellere. Quod enim primo inducunt de adolescente cui dominus consilium perfectionis dedit, ut puta iam in mandatis exercitato quia dixerat: haec omnia servavi a iuventute mea manifestum est, secundum Hieronymum, efficaciam non habere: dicit enim super Matth.: mentitur adolescens. Si enim quod positum est in mandatis, diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum, opere complesset; quomodo postea audiens, vade et vende omnia quae habes, et da pauperibus, tristis recessit? Et, sicut Origenes super Matth. narrat, scriptum est in Evangelio secundum Hebraeos, quod cum dominus dixisset ei: vade, et vende omnia quae habes, coepit dives scalpere caput suum, et dixit ad eum dominus: quomodo dicis, feci legem et prophetas? Scriptum est in lege: diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum: et ecce multi fratres tui filii Abrahae amicti sunt stercore, morientes prae fame; et domus tua plena est multis bonis; et non egreditur aliquid omnino ex ea ad eos. Itaque dominus redarguens eum, dicit: si vis perfectus esse et cetera. Impossibile est enim implere mandatum quod dicit: diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum, et esse divitem, et maxime tantas habere possessiones. Sed haec intelligenda sunt quantum ad perfectum modum observantiae huius praecepti. Nihil autem prohibet dicere eum imperfecte praecepta prius observasse, et quantum ad hoc eum non fuisse mentitum, sicut Chrysostomus et alii expositores dicunt. Nec tamen quia exercitato aliqualiter in observantia mandatorum dominus perfectionis consilium dedit, ideo necessaria forma praescribitur ut solis talibus aditus ad consilia pateat: quia etiam Matthaeum non exercitatum in praeceptis, sed potius in peccatis conversatum, ad consilia sequenda vocavit; ut sic nec peccatoribus, nec innocentibus perfectionis viam praecluderet. THE arguments adduced in the foregoing chapters facilitate the complete refutation of our adversaries’ opinion. Their first contention, namely that our Lord gave the Counsel of poverty to one who had already practised the keeping of the Commandments, is pulverised by St. Jerome. This father, commenting on the words in St. Matthew 19, “All these things have I kept from my youth,” says: “This young man spoke untruly. For, if he had by his deeds fulfilled the command, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself, why should he have gone away sad when Christ said to him: ‘Go, sell what you have and give to the poor’?” Origen also, writing on the Gospel of St. Matthew, says, “ It is related in the Hebrew version of the Gospel that when the Lord said to him (the rich young man), ‘Go, sell what you have,’ the youth began to hesitate. Then Jesus said to him, ‘How then can you say that you have observed the Law and the prophets? It is written in the Law: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’; and see how many of your brethren, the sons of Abraham, are clothed in dung and perish with hunger. Your house is filled with plenty, but none of it goes forth to your brethren.’ Then, rebuking him, the Lord said: ‘If you would be perfect’ etc. For it is impossible to fulfil the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves if we are rich and abounding in possessions.” This remark refers, of course, to the perfect observance of the precept of charity; and there is no reason why the rich young man may not have kept the Commandments imperfectly, and thus not have spoken untruly in his answer to the Lore. This is the opinion of St. Chrysostom and of other writers. But the fact that Christ gave the Counsel of poverty to one who was, even to a certain extent, practised in obedience to the Commandments, is no proof that such obedience is a necessary preliminary, or the sole preparation, for the exercise of the Counsels. St. Matthew was called from habits of sin to the practice of the Counsels, thereby showing us that the way of perfection is open both to sinners and to innocent souls. Quod vero secundo inductum est, quod post sacramenta ad mandata servanda est auditor instruendus, hoc nihil ad propositum facit: quia instructio in mandatis omnibus necessaria est sive in saeculo remanentibus, sive etiam assumentibus perfectionis viam per religionis ingressum; sicut etiam doctrina fidei et sacramenta, de quibus praemittitur, sunt utrisque communia. In the second place, our opponents say that a catechumen must be taught to keep the Commandments after he has received the Sacraments of the Church. This argument is irrelevant to the point in question; for instruction in the Commandments, as well as the doctrine and Sacraments of the Faith, is necessary for all men, whether they remain in the world or embrace the perfect life of religious; for these things are common to both classes. Similiter quod tertio est inductum, quod faciendo mandata homo venit ad latitudinem sapientiae, nihil aliud indicat nisi quod per observantiam mandatorum homo meretur sapientiam occultorum: unde ibidem inducitur illud quod habetur Eccli. I, 33, secundum aliam litteram: concupisti sapientiam; serva mandata, et dominus praebebit illam tibi quod manifestum est nihil ad propositum pertinere. Their third argument, viz. that by keeping the Commandments man attains the fulness of wisdom, means nothing more than that obedience to the Commandments is rewarded by the knowledge of the things of God. Our opponents further quote the words given in one version of Sirach 1:26: “if you desire wisdom, keep the Commandments, and the Lord will give her to you.” This text, however, as is evident, has no bearing on the question. Iam vero quod quarto propositum est de Glossa super illud Psalmi: sicut ablactatus super matre sua, diligentius discutiamus: quia quamvis sit frivolum, multum tamen hoc iactant, et inaniter innituntur eidem. Patet autem ex ipso processu Glosae inductae quod agit de nutritione noviter ad fidem conversorum. Sic enim praemittitur, quod post Baptismum bonis operibus informamur, et lacte simplicis doctrinae nutrimur proficiendo, donec iam grandiusculi a lacte matris accedamus ad mensam patris, idest, a simpliciori doctrina ubi praedicatur verbum caro factum accedamus ad verbum patris in principio apud Deum: quod manifestum est ad doctrinae ordinem pertinere. Their fourth argument, founded on the Gloss on the verse in Psalm 130, “As a weaned child” etc., to which reference has already been made, we will carefully discuss. For, although in itself frivolous, it is considered by our adversaries to be very weighty. If we examine this passage in the Gloss, we shall see that it refers to the spiritual nourishment of recent converts to the Faith. It sets forth that “after Baptism we are instructed in good works and nourished by the milk of simple teaching until, being somewhat grown, we are admitted to our Father’s table.” This means to say that we progress from the more simple doctrine “The Word was made Flesh,” to the Word of the Father is in the beginning with God.” Now these words of the Gloss, evidently refer to the order to be observed in instruction. Postmodum vero ecclesiastica observatio in exemplum inducitur, quae quinque tempora observat: in quorum primo: per exorcismum et catechismum nuper conversi ad fidem rudimentis Christianitatis imbuuntur. Secundum tempus est quando: in utero Ecclesiae aluntur usque ad sabbatum sanctum; et tunc est tertium tempus in quo per Baptismum ad lucem generantur. Quartum tempus est in quo manibus Ecclesiae gestantur et lacte nutriuntur usque ad Pentecosten, quo tempore nulla difficilia indicuntur: non ieiunatur, non media nocte surgitur. Quintum tempus est in quo spiritu Paraclito confirmati quasi ablactati incipiunt ieiunare et alia difficilia servare: quod videtur ad eorum propositum pertinere, quia manifeste agitur de ordine transeundi a facilioribus operibus ad difficiliora. Hic autem eorum processus tripliciter deficit. Primo quidem, quia alia est ratio in his quae sponte assumuntur, alia in his quae ex necessitate indicuntur. Our opponents next adduce, as an argument, that the Church observes five seasons in the spiritual generation of her converts. They are first initiated, by exorcism and catechism, into the rudiments of the Faith. Then they are nourished in the womb of the Church until Holy Saturday when, by Baptism, they are born into light. After Baptism until Pentecost they are carried in the arms of the Church and nourished with her milk; for during that season neither fasting nor rising at night nor any other penitential practice is observed. After Pentecost, when they have been confirmed by the Holy Spirit, catechumens are, so to speak, weaned, and begin to fast and perform other laborious exercises. Now this example of the five seasons appears to support our adversaries’ argument, but it is fallacious in three respects. [First, because there is a difference between what is willingly assumed, and what is imposed by necessity.] Item est alia ratio de nuper conversis ad fidem, qui sunt quasi pueri nutriendi; atque alia de poenitentibus, qui sunt quasi infirmi sanandi. Si igitur aliqui fuerint de novo ad fidem conversi, non sunt eis ex necessitate a principio difficilia imponenda; sed primum in levioribus exercitandi, postmodum vero sunt eis arctiora imponenda; sicut pueri prius nutriuntur lacte, postmodum vero durioribus cibis: et in hoc casu loquitur Glossa. Si tamen mox conversi ad fidem sponte propria voluerint manum mittere ad altiora, quis eos audebit arcere? Et ut ab exemplo Glossae non recedamus: sicut post solemnem Baptismum, qui fit in vigilia Paschae, quaedam requies a laboriosis operibus indulgetur propter infirmos; ita post solemnem Baptismum, qui in vigilia Pentecostes celebratur, statim Ecclesia indicit ieiunia, ad significandum eos qui ex fervore spiritus in Baptismo suscepti statim se arctiori vitae subiiciunt. De poenitentibus autem est alia ratio: quia eis a principio iniungitur poenitentia arctior, postmodum vero paulatim levigatur; sicut etiam infirmis, cum sanari coeperint, artior diaeta imponitur quam postmodum cum in valetudine profecerint. Secundum hoc ergo Ecclesia innocentibus a principio leviora imponit onera praeceptorum, quae ex necessitate servantur; consilia vero ex necessitate eis Ecclesia non imponit, nec tamen prohibet, si ea velint propria voluntate assumere; poenitentibus autem secundum statuta canonum in primis annis arctiores observantiae iniunguntur. There is a difference between the case of recent converts to the Faith who, like babes, require to be nourished, and that of penitent sinners who, like sick men, need to be healed. Those newly converted to the Faith need not necessarily, in the beginning, have difficult tasks laid upon them; they may be first exercised in easier things, and then be led on to those that are more laborious. Such men resemble children who are fed first on milk, and afterwards on stronger food; and it is to those who the Gloss refers. But if recent converts should, of their own accord, stretch forth their hands to higher things, who shall dare withhold them? In the smile used by the Gloss, we see that just as after the solemn Baptism on Easter Eve, the Church, for the sake of the sick, grants a certain rest from laborious works, so likewise after the solemn Baptism which precedes Pentecost, she immediately enjoins fasting, thus signifying that some who have in fervour of spirit been received to Baptism, subject themselves at once to a stricter life. But with penitent sinners the case is otherwise. Severe penance is imposed on them at first. This, by degrees, is mitigated; for they are like sick persons who, in the beginning of their illness are restricted to a strict diet which, when convalescence has set in, is somewhat relaxed. Thus, the Church imposes on innocent souls, from the very beginning, the burden of the Commandments, which must of necessity be kept. She does not lay the Counsels upon them as a necessity, but she does not forbid them to undertake their observance, if they have the will so to do. Stricter obligations are, however, imposed upon penitents, according to the statutes of the Canons of the Early Church. Secundus defectus est, quia in quolibet officio vel statu a facilioribus ad difficiliora transitur; non tamen oportet quod quicumque altiorem statum accipit, quod in leviori prius exerceatur. Non enim necesse est ut qui in aliquo artificio exerceri voluerit, prius in alio leviori exerceatur, sed in eodem artificio a levioribus ad maiora perducitur. Unde non oportet ut qui in statu religionis per consiliorum observantiam exerceri voluerit, prius exerceatur in saeculo in observantia praeceptorum; sed quod de his quae ad religionem pertinent, a principio minora ei imponantur: sicut nec oportet quod qui volunt clericale officium assumere, prius in laicali vita exerceantur; aut qui volunt continenter vivere, non prius oportet eos in continentia coniugali exerceri. The second fallacy into which our opponents fall, in the application of their argument, is that of saying that in every office or profession, transition is made from what is easier to what is more difficult. Now it is not necessary that everyone who undertakes an important post, should first have served in an inferior capacity. Neither is it essential that a man, desiring to practise a trade, should already have worked at another trade; but he must ascend from the less to the more difficult branches of the trade in which he wishes to become proficient. In like manner, it is not essential that they who wish to become religious should already have kept the Commandments in the world. What is necessary is that, when they enter religious life, the easier observances should be imposed upon them at first. Again, those who wish to become clerics need not first have led the life of laymen, nor need they who wish to live continently, have observed continence in married life. Tertius defectus est quod duplex est operis difficultas. Quaedam ex sola magnitudine operum; et talis difficultas, quia requirit perfectionem virtutis, non imponitur imperfectis. Quaedam vero est difficultas cohibitionis, qua magis indigent qui sunt imperfectae virtutis. Unde pueris arctior adhibetur custodia dum sub paedagogis educantur, quam postmodum cum pervenerint ad aetatem perfectam. Status autem religionis est quaedam disciplina cohibens a peccatis, et facilius ad perfectionem inducens; sicut ex praedictis apparet. Et ideo hi qui sunt imperfectae virtutis, puta nondum in praeceptis exercitati, magis indigent tali custodia, quia facilius est eos a peccatis abstinere tali disciplinae subiectos, quam si liberius in saeculo nutriantur. Quod vero in Glossa subditur: multi vero hunc ordinem pervertunt, ut haeretici et schismatici; manifeste apparet per sequentia, ad ordinem doctrinae pertinere: sequitur enim: hic vero se servasse dicit, constringens se maledicto, sic quasi: non modo in aliis fui humilis, sed etiam in scientia; quia ego humiliter sentiebam prius nutritus in lacte quod est verbum caro factum, ut sic crescerem ad panem Angelorum, scilicet ad verbum quod est in principio apud Deum: et sic redit ad id quod prius dixerat. Unde quod in medio positum est, causa exempli inducitur. The third error into which our adversaries fall, arises from the fact that there is a twofold difficulty in the work of practising the Counsels. The first difficulty arises from the greatness of the work itself, which, because it needs the perfection of virtue, is not imposed upon the imperfect. The second difficulty lies in the restraints imposed. And the more imperfect the persons, the more restraint they need. Thus children need closer watching while they are under the custody of their tutors, than when they have arrived at perfection, Now the religious life, as we have seen, is a certain course of discipline restraining men from sin and leading them on to perfection. Therefore, they who are the most imperfect, not being practised in the observance of the Commandments, stand in the greatest need of the safeguards of religious life, which render it more easy for them to abstain from sin than if they lived freely in the world. The words in the Gloss, “But many, such as heretics and schismatics, pervert this order,” are clearly shown, by the context, to refer to order of doctrine. For the Gloss continues: “This man says indeed that he has kept the Commandments, thus laying himself under a curse as if he were humble, not merely in other matters, but also in knowledge. For he says, I thought humbly, being at first nourished by milk, which is the ‘Word was made flesh,’ in order that I might grow to the Bread of Angels, that is, ‘the Word which in the beginning was with God.’” And thus he returns to what he said at first. By this passage we see that words, intended as a means, have been used as an example. Quod vero quinto inductum est de quinque millibus hominum, quos Christus de quinque panibus prius pavit, et postmodum quatuor millia de septem panibus; tam frivolum est, ut responsione non egeat. Nec enim oportet secundum ordinem figurarum ordinem rerum esse quae figurantur: quia quandoque per priora figurantur posteriora, et e converso. Nec ab huiusmodi figuris efficax argumentatio trahitur, ut Augustinus dicit in quadam epistola contra Donatistas. Et Dionysius dicit in epistola ad Titum, quod symbolica theologia non est argumentativa. Hoc tamen non obstante, dicamus quod per istum ordinem miraculorum designatur ordo praeceptorum ad consilia quantum ad statum totius humani generis. Non enim consilia fuerunt data in veteri testamento, sed in novo: quia nihil ad perfectum adduxit lex: et hoc patet per Glossam: quae quinque panes dicit esse legalia praecepta, septem autem panes evangelicam perfectionem. Non autem propter hoc oportet quod iidem homines prius exerceantur in praeceptis legalibus in saeculari vita, et postmodum in consiliis in vita religiosa. Non enim legitur quod iidem homines fuerint inter quinque millia, et postmodum inter quatuor millia. The next argument brought forward against us is so frivolous that it requires no answer. It concerns the five thousand men whom Christ fed with five loaves and the four thousand among whom seven loaves were distributed. It is not necessary that the order of things typified should correspond with the order of their types, for we often see that later things are prefigured by earlier ones, and e converso. Neither can any valid argument be drawn from symbolical things of this nature, as St. Augustine says in his Epistle against the Donatists. Dionysius likewise writes in his Epistle to Titus that allegorical theology is not argumentative. We will, notwithstanding, observe that by this order of miracles is typified the order of precepts and counsels, in so far as regards the whole human race. The Counsels were given not in the old Law but in the new; for, the Law brought nothing to perfection. The Gloss points this out by saying that the five loaves signify the legal precepts, and that the seven loaves are symbolical of evangelical perfection. But this is no reason why the same men should be exercised first in the precepts of the Law, and then in the Counsels in the religious life; for we do not read that the same individuals were first among the seven thousand, and that they then formed part of the four thousand who were miraculously fed by Jesus Christ. Similiter vero quod sexto proponitur de illis quatuor ex quibus sancta Evangelia contexuntur, non facit ad propositum: quia quod dicitur in exemplis, perfectio, non refertur ad consilia, sed ad perfectum modum observandi praecepta, quae sunt de actibus virtutum, sicut Christus observavit. Unde subditur in Glosa: exempla ut hoc: discite a me quia mitis sum etc., et estote perfecti sicut et pater vester etc., et alibi: exemplum dedi vobis, et cetera. Again, the point brought forward by our opponents, as to the four things of which the Gospel is composed, is not relevant to the question we are discussing. For the perfection proposed as an example does not refer to the Counsels, but to virtuous acts or the perfect way of keeping the Commandments as Christ kept them. Hence the Gloss goes on to quote other examples, e.g., “Learn of Me, for I am meek” etc., and elsewhere, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” “I have given you an example” etc. Iam vero quod septimo proponitur de ordine vitae activae ad contemplativam, diligentius considerandum est: quia hoc ab eis frequentius inculcatur. Verum quidem igitur est quod activa vita contemplativam praecedit; sed ignorare videntur quid sit vita activa. Primo quidem, quia credunt vitam activam in sola dispensatione rerum temporalium existere: ita quod asserunt, religiosos, qui nihil possident nec proprium nec commune, activae vitae participes esse non posse: quod manifeste falsum ostenditur in hoc quod Gregorius dicit in 2 homilia secundae partis super Ezech.: activa vita est panem esurienti tribuere, verbo sapientiae nescientem docere, errantem corrigere, ad humilitatis viam superbientem proximum revocare, infirmantis curam gerere, quae singulis quibuscumque expediunt dispensare, et commissis nobis qualiter subsistere valeant, providere. Ex quo patet quod ad activam vitam pertinet non solum in temporalibus, sed etiam in spiritualibus docendo vel corrigendo aliis providere: ad quae magis homines redduntur idonei nihil penitus in hoc mundo habentes: unde et dominus apostolos orbis doctores futuros rebus omnibus huius mundi spoliavit, ut habetur Matth. X. We must examine with greater care the seventh argument, as it is one that our opponents are fond of using. It concerns the order to be observed between the active and the contemplative life. It is perfectly true that the active ought to precede the contemplative life, but the meaning of the active life is not always understood. It is sometimes thought that the active life consists merely in the management of temporal affairs; and therefore, as religious possess nothing, either individually or in common, they are believed to be incapable of sharing in the active life. St. Gregory, in the second part of the second homily on Ezekiel, points out that this view is a mistaken one. “The active life,” he says, “consists in giving bread the hungry, instructing the ignorant, correcting those who err, recalling the proud to humility, caring for the sick, distributing to each one what is needful to him, and in seeing how each one may be maintained by those things that an entrusted to us.” Thus we see that the active life regards not merely temporal matters, but also the guidance and correction of others in spiritual concerns, and that for such duties those men are the best fitted who own no worldly possessions. Consequently, when our Lord appointed the Apostles to be the teachers of the whole earth, He stripped them of their property (Matt. 10). Est autem quaerendum ulterius utrum exercitium moralium virtutum hominis ad se ipsum, ad vitam activam pertineat. Et si quidem doctrinam sequamur philosophi, morales virtutes omnes pertinent ad vitam activam, ut patet in 10 Ethic.: intellectuales vero ad vitam contemplativam: cui etiam Augustinus attestatur 12 de Trin.; ubi rationem inferiorem, quae temporalia dispensat sive ad se sive ad alium pertinentia, deputat actioni; superiorem vero rationem, quae rationibus aeternis inhaeret, deputat contemplationi. Hoc ergo habito, in promptu est ratio quare vita activa praecedat contemplativam: quia nisi homo per virtutes morales habeat animam a passionibus depuratam, quod pertinet ad vitam activam, non est idoneus ad divinam veritatem contemplandam, secundum illud Matth. V, 8: beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt, et hic imperfecta, et in futuro contemplatione perfecta. Sic igitur exercitium vitae activae non solum est in saecularibus, sed etiam in religiosis. We may further enquire whether the exercise of the moral virtues pertains to the active life. Aristotle (X Ethic.) answers this question in the affirmative, and adds that the intellectual virtues belong to the contemplative life. St. Augustine confirms this opinion in XII De Trinit., where he ascribes the inferior reason, which is exercised about temporal matters concerning either ourselves or others, to action, and the superior reason, which is occupied with eternal interests, to contemplation. In accordance with this view, it is quite reasonable to hold that the active must precede the contemplative life. For, unless a man has, by the exercise of the moral virtues, freed his soul from passion (which it is the business of the active life to do), he will not be fit for the contemplation of divine truth. “Blessed are the clean of heart,” says Christ, “for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). They shall see Him here by imperfect contemplation, and hereafter by what is perfect. Thus the exercise of the active life pertains not only to laymen, but to religious also. Primo quidem inquantum per virtutes morales animae passiones refrenantur. Secundo, quia ipsi etiam in alios possunt misericordiae officia exhibere, vel docendo, vel corrigendo, vel saltem infirmos visitando, moestos consolando, vel in saeculo existentes, vel secum in monasterio viventes. Unde quantum ad haec duo dicitur Iacobi I, 27: religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et patrem haec est, visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc saeculo. Tertio, quia in ipso religionis ingressu etiam temporalia dispensaverunt quae habebant, pauperibus largientes. Non ergo propter hoc Glossa inducta praecepta dicit ad activam vitam pertinere, consilia vero ad contemplativam, quia praecepta ad solam vitam activam pertineant: dicit enim ibidem Gregorius: contemplativa vita est caritatem Dei et proximi tota mente retinere, quae sunt magna praecepta in lege, ut dicitur Matth. XXII, 38-40: neque ita quod consilia pertineant ad solam contemplativam, sicut ostensum est: sed quia consilia principaliter disponunt ad vitam contemplativam; praecepta autem sine consiliis observata, non sufficienter disponunt ad vitam contemplativam, ad quam requiritur maior perfectio. Non ergo propter hoc oportet aliquem in saeculo remanere ut ibi exercitetur in vita activa; quia etiam in statu religionis potest homo habere exercitium vitae activae, quantum necesse est ad hoc quod homo promoveatur ad contemplationem. Three reasons go to prove that this is the case. First, because by the exercise of the moral virtues the passions are restrained. Secondly, because religious can show mercy to others by teaching and correcting, or by visiting the sick and comforting the sorrowful, be they seculars or religious of their own monastery. Thus they can verify the words of St. James (1:27), “Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and the widow in their tribulation, and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.” The third reason why religious share with seculars in the active life is because, at their entry into religion, they distributed their worldly possessions to the poor. It is not, therefore, because the precepts belong only to the active life that the Gloss says that the Commandments are the duty of the active, and the Counsels of the contemplative life. St. Gregory writes: “To live a contemplative life is to bear in mind with all diligence, charity to God and to our neighbour, which are the great precepts of the Law. The Counsels dispose the soul more particularly to the contemplative life. For without them, the mere observance of the Precepts will not suffice for contemplation, which requires greater perfection.” No one need remain in the world for the sake of leading an active life; for in religion he can have quite as much exercise in the active life as is necessary to dispose him for the contemplative. Quod vero octavo propositum est, nemo repente fit summus, non multum ad propositum facit, quamvis etiam super hoc multum innitantur. Est enim summum et infimum accipere in eodem statu et in eodem homine, aut in diversis statibus et in diversis hominibus. Si quidem igitur utrumque accipiatur in eodem statu et in eodem homine, manifestum est quod nemo repente fit summus; quia unusquisque recte vivens, toto tempore vitae suae proficit, ut ad summum perveniat. Si vero hoc referatur ad diversos status, non oportet ut quicumque vult ad superiorem statum pervenire, a minori statu incipiat; sicut non oportet ut qui vult esse clericus, prius in laicali vita exerceatur; sed statim a puerilibus annis aliqui clericali militiae adscribuntur. Similiter etiam nec hoc oportet quantum ad diversas personas. Unus enim ab altiori sanctitatis gradu incipit quam sit summum alterius, ad quod per totam vitam suam alter perveniet. Unde Gregorius dicit in II dialogorum: omnes agnoscant Benedictus puer conversationis gratiam a quanta perfectione coepisset. The eighth argument, viz. that “no one arrives at once at the highest point,” is not much to the purpose, although great stress is laid upon it. For we may consider the highest and the lowest either as referring to the same condition and to the same man, or to different conditions and different men. If we consider these degrees as referring to the same condition and the same man, it is quite evident that no one arrives at once at the highest point; for every virtuous man is, during the whole course of his life, making progress towards perfection. But if these degrees are considered with regard to different conditions, there is no reason why a man should not fill the highest post without having served in an inferior capacity. It is not necessary for a cleric to have lived as a layman; for some men are admitted in their boyhood into the ranks of the clergy. Neither is the saying that no one reaches the highest point at once true, if we consider it as referring to different people; for one man may start from a degree of holiness far higher than that to which another will attain throughout the whole course of his life. St. Gregory says (Dialog. 11): “in order that all his contemporaries and all succeeding generations might know to what a height of perfection the child Benedict had arrived, when he received the grace of conversion.” Quod vero nono proponitur de parietibus recentibus, quibus non sunt tignorum onera imponenda: et quod decimo proponitur: casum quaerit qui postpositis gradibus per abrupta quaerit ascensum: non sunt ad propositum: quia auctoritates illae loquuntur de onere praelationis, quod requirit perfectam virtutem et ideo non est imperfectis imponendum. Sed consilia sunt promotiones quaedam ad perfectionem, et cohibitiones a peccatis, quibus novi parietes indigent, ut exsiccentur ab humore vitiorum; et quibus quasi per debitos gradus ad perfectionem pervenitur. The ninth argument, viz. that “damp walls cannot bear a roof,” and the tenth that “he courts a fall who tries to climb a steep ascent without steps,” are both irrelevant to our subject. The authorities from whom these passages are drawn use these examples in speaking of the dignity of the episcopal state, which requires mature virtue and is, therefore, not to be conferred on those who are imperfect. But the Counsels are aids to perfection and safeguards from sin. Hence we may speak of them as serving to dry the moisture from newly erected walls, and as sure steps whereby the summit of perfection may be reached. Quod vero undecimo proponitur, priora esse naturae ordine praecepta consiliis; patet ex praedictis qualiter habeat veritatem. Si enim loquamur de praeceptis finalibus, quae sunt dilectio Dei et proximi; manifestum est quod consilia ordinantur ad ea sicut ad finem. Talis est ergo ordo consiliorum ad praecepta huiusmodi, qualis eorum quae sunt ad finem, respectu finis. Finis autem prior est in intentione, posterior autem in executione; et sic si consilia ordinarentur ad praedicta praecepta, sicut quae sine eis nullatenus possunt servari, sequeretur quod necesse esset prius observari consilia quam aliquis diligat Deum et proximum: quod est manifeste falsum. Sed quia hoc modo consilia ordinantur ad praedicta praecepta, ut per ea facilius et perfectius custodiantur, consequens est quod per huiusmodi consilia perveniatur ad perfectam dilectionem Dei et proximi, quae intentione praecedit consilia, sequitur autem secundum operis executionem. The eleventh argument used against us deals with the natural priority of the Commandments to the Counsels. Reference to what we have already said will show how much weight such an argument carries. If we speak of the final precepts, viz. the love of God and of our neighbour, it is clear that the Counsels are directed towards these precepts as to their end. The relation between the Counsels and these precepts is that which exists between things ordained for a certain end, and the end for which they are ordained. Now an end is the first thing, if we consider it with reference to the intention; but it is the last if we consider it with regard to the prosecution or consummation. If then the Counsels were so ordained with reference to the Commandments that unless the Counsels were practised the Commandments could not be observed, it would follow that man is bound to observe the Counsels before loving God or his neighbour. Such, of course, is not the case. But if the relations between the Counsels and the Precepts be in such wise that by means of the Counsels, the Precepts can be more easily and more perfectly kept, it follows that by means of the Counsels we can attain to the perfect love of God and of our neighbour. Hence we see that, although in intention this precept precedes the counsels, yet in prosecution the counsels precede this precept. Si autem comparemus consilia ad alia praecepta, quae ordinantur ad dilectionem Dei et proximi, sic inter ea duplex comparatio potest attendi. Quia enim consilia sine praeceptis observari non possunt, praecepta vero a multis observantur sine consiliis; poterunt comparari consilia ad praecepta communiter considerata: et sic erit ordo consiliorum ad praecepta sicut ordo proprii ad commune, quod est quodammodo naturae ordine proprio prius, non tamen oportet quod tempore. Et secundum hoc non oportebit quod aliquis prius exercitetur in praeceptis, et sic ad consilia transeat. Alia vero comparatio potest attendi consiliorum ad praecepta huiusmodi, secundum quod sine consiliis observantur; et sic est comparatio consiliorum ad praecepta sicut unius speciei perfectae ad aliam speciem imperfectam, sicut animal rationale comparatur ad animal ratione carens: et sic consilia naturae ordine sunt priora praeceptis, quia perfectum in quolibet genere naturaliter prius est: natura enim, ut Boetius dicit, a perfectis sumit initium. Nec tamen oportet quod praecepta sic considerata, sint tempore priora consiliis: non enim oportet ut aliquid sit primo in specie imperfecta ad hoc quod transeat ad perfectam; sed necesse est quod infra limites eiusdem speciei aliquis de imperfecto transeat ad perfectum. If we consider the relations between the Counsels and the other Precepts which are given as means to the love of God and our neighbour, we shall see that these relations are of a twofold nature. For, as the Counsels cannot be observed without the Precepts, and as the Precepts are kept by many without the Counsels, the Counsels can be compared to the Precepts if they be considered generally. Thus the relations between the Counsels and the Precepts would be that of particular to general. The particular will precede the general, not necessarily in order of time, but in order of nature. Therefore it is not essential to be exercised in obedience to the Precepts before passing to the observance of the Counsels. But another relation may be observed between the Counsels and the Precepts, which can be observed without the counsels. In this relation the counsels may be compared to the precepts as a perfect to an imperfect species, e.g. as a rational to an irrational animal. In this relation, the Counsels precede the precepts in the order of nature, for in every genus the perfect is naturally first. As Boethius says, “nature begins from the perfect.” It does not matter that in this relation the precepts precede the counsels in point of time, for a thing of an imperfect species may, in point of time, be prior to the thing of a perfect species to which it passes. What is essential is that an imperfect thing should pass to a perfect one of its own species. Quod vero ultimo propositum est quod non esset salus sine consiliis, si consilia praecepta praecederent; manifestum est ex praemissis quod ex falso intellectu procedit eorum quae dicuntur. Non enim sic dicimus consilia ordinari ad praecepta ut sine quibus praecepta servari non possunt, sed sicut ea per quae praecepta perfectius et melius servantur. The last argument, viz. that there can be no salvation without the Counsels if the Counsels precede the Precepts, is manifestly based on a misunderstanding of what I have been saying. For we do not affirm that the Counsels are so related to the Precepts that the latter cannot be kept without the former. What we assert is that by means of the Counsels the Precepts can be more perfectly obeyed.
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In quo ponuntur rationes quas inducunt ad astruendum quod ante religionis ingressum oportet diu et cum multis deliberareCHAPTER 8
Arguments Used to Prove That Before Entering Religious Life A Man Ought to Deliberate for A Long Time, and Take Counsel of ManyHis igitur pertractatis, inquirendum est, an oporteat volentes religionem intrare cum multis ante consilium habere, ut dicunt. Et hoc quidem nituntur astruere per hoc quod de arduis et ad totam vitam pertinentibus maxime sunt a pluribus consilia requirenda; nihil autem videtur esse magis arduum et difficile in rebus humanis quam semet ipsum abnegare, mundum deserere, religionem intrando, in qua necesse sit per totam vitam morari. In hoc igitur maxime sunt multorum consilia requirenda, et diutina deliberatione pensandum. Hoc etiam ostendere nituntur ex voti definitione. Dicitur enim votum esse sponsio melioris boni animi deliberatione firmata; ex deliberatione igitur dependet firmitas voti. Sed votum religionis est firmissimum, utpote quod nullo superveniente potest infringi; praeexigit ergo maximam deliberationem. WE will proceed to consider whether it is necessary for one who desires to become a religious to take the advice of many counsellors. It is urged that advice should be sought from many persons before taking a difficult step affecting one’s whole life; and, as nothing can be conceived more difficult than to renounce oneself, leave the world, and spend one’s whole life in religion, it must be necessary to take much advice and to spend a long time in reflection. This argument is based on the definition of a vow. A vow is said to be the promise of a better good, made with grave deliberation. The stringency of the vow depends upon the deliberation. No vow is so binding as the religious vows, which nothing can annul. Therefore, the religious vows require the gravest deliberation. Item hoc nituntur ostendere per hoc quod dicitur I Ioan. IV, 1: nolite omni spiritui credere, sed probate spiritus si ex Deo sunt; quod in religionis introitu locum habet; ut patet per hoc quod beatus Benedictus in regula, et Innocentius in decretali, in hoc casu hanc auctoritatem inducit. Sed huiusmodi probatio indiget diligenti examine, quod plenius fit per deliberationem cum multis. Oportet igitur volentem religionem intrare, primo deliberare cum multis. Those who hold this opinion seek to confirm it by these words, “Do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). This text applies to entrance into religion. St. Benedict, in his Rule, and Pope Innocent, in his Decretal, quote it in this sense. But the “ trying,” of which St. John speaks, requires careful examination, and this examination (they conclude) is best made in consultation with many. Therefore, he who desires to enter religion should take counsel of many. Addunt etiam, quod ibi est consilium requirendum ubi deceptionis periculum imminet. Hoc autem contingit in religionis ingressu: quia, ut dicitur II Cor. XI, 14: ipse Satanas transfigurat se in Angelum lucis: unde sub specie boni decipit incautos. Oportet igitur cum multis deliberatione habita religionem intrare. Item. Ea quae possunt habere malum exitum, sunt diligenti consilio prius examinanda. Religionis autem introitus in plerisque malum exitum habet, qui apostatae et desperati fiunt. Oportet igitur maxima deliberatione praemissa religionem intrare. Demum ponendum est quod maxime replicant. Dicitur enim Act. V, 39: si ex Deo consilium est hoc aut opus, non poteritis dissolvere illud. Dissolvitur autem propositum religionis intrandae in multis per apostasiam. Non igitur hoc propositum fuit a Deo. Oportet igitur magna deliberatione cum multis habita prius considerare, an aliquis debeat religionem intrare. Those who think thus, further add that counsel is most needed before taking a step wherein there is the greatest danger of being deceived. There is great danger of deception on entering religious life, since “Satan transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. ix. 14) and, under an appearance of good, misleads the unwary. Therefore it is only after grave deliberation that a man should enter on the religious life. Again, it is alleged that peculiarly diligent examination is required before undertaking anything that may come to a bad end. Now as we see in the case of apostates and despairing souls, entrance into religious life has often ended badly. Consequently, this step requires grave consideration. A last argument remains, and it is considered a very weighty one. In the Acts of the Apostles (v. 39) the following words occur: “If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought,” Now the counsel of entering religion has often come to nought by apostasy. Therefore, it was not from God. Hence much deliberation with many people is necessary before taking such a step. Haec igitur sunt quibus necessitatem magnae deliberationis et cum multis habendae nituntur imponere his qui sunt religionem intraturi; ut multiplicatis consiliis, ex aliqua parte impedimentum paretur. These are the chief arguments, adduced by those who impress upon candidates for religious life the necessity for grave deliberation with many counsellors, in the hope that some obstacle may be placed in their way by one or other of their numerous advisers.
Caput 9
In quo reprobatur praedicta positioCHAPTER 9
Answers to the Foregoing ArgumentsAd huius autem assertionis falsitatem ostendendam, primo quidem assumamus quod habetur Matth. IV, quod Petrus et Andreas continuo vocati a domino, relictis retibus secuti sunt eum. In quorum commendationem Chrysostomus dicit: in mediis operationibus existentes, audientes iubentem non distulerunt. Non dixerunt: revertentes domum loquemur amicis, sed omnia dimittentes secuti sunt, sicut et Helisaeus Heliae fecit. Talem enim obedientiam Christus quaerit a nobis, ut neque instanti tempore remoremur. Deinde sequitur de Iacobo et Ioanne, qui vocati a domino statim relictis retibus et patre secuti sunt eum. Et, sicut Hilarius dicit super Matth.: eis artem et patriam domum relinquentibus, docemur Christum secuturi, et saecularis vitae solicitudine, et paternae domus consuetudine non teneri. IN order to demonstrate the fallacy of the foregoing arguments, we will first consider the case of St. Peter and St. Andrew, who, as soon as our Lord called them, “leaving their nets, followed him” (Matt. 4). St. Chrysostom pronounces the following eulogium of them: “They were in the midst of their business; but, at His bidding, they made no delay, they did not return home saying: ‘let us consult our friends, but, leaving all things, they followed, Him, as Elisha followed Elijah. A similar unhesitating and instant obedience does Christ require of us.” Then, we have the example of St. James and St. John who, being called by God, immediately left their nets and their father and followed Him. St. Hilary, in his Commentary on St. Matthew’s Gospel, says: “ we are taught by their example in abandoning their trade and their father’s house, to follow Jesus and to be withheld neither by worldly anxieties nor by the ties of domestic life.” Postea vero Matth. IX, de Matthaeo subditur, quod ad vocationem domini surgens secutus est eum; ubi Chrysostomus dicit: disce vocati obedientiam; neque enim restitit, neque domum abire rogavit et suis hoc communicare. Humana etiam pericula, quae ei a principibus accidere poterant, parvipendit, dum rationes officii sui imperfectas reliquit, ut Remigius dicit ibidem. Ex quo evidenter accipitur quod nihil humanum nos debet retardare a servitio Dei. Rursus Matth. VIII, 21, et Luc. IX, 59, legitur, quod quidam discipulus Christi dixit ad eum: domine, permitte me ire primum et sepelire patrem meum; cui dominus respondit: sequere me, et dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos. Quod exponens Chrysostomus super Matth. dicit: hoc dixit non iubens contemnere honorem qui est ad parentes; sed monstrans quoniam nihil caelestibus negotiis nobis magis necessarium esse oportet; et quoniam cum toto studio his iungi debemus, et neque parum tardare, etiam si valde inevitabilia et incitantia fuerint quae attrahunt. Quid enim magis necessarium quam sepelire patrem? Quid etiam facilius? Neque enim multum tempus consumendum erat. Sed Diabolus instat attentius volens aliquem aditum invenire; et si modicam sumat negligentiam, magnam operatur pusillanimitatem. Propter quod sapiens admonet dicens: ne differas de die in diem. Nihil igitur aliud inde docemur, nisi quod nec minimum temporis frustra ducere decet, et si mille cogentia sint, immo praeferre spiritualia cunctis, et admodum necessariis. Et Augustinus dicit in Lib. de verbis domini: honorandus est pater, sed obediendum est Deo. Ego, inquit, ad Evangelium te voco, ad aliud opus mihi necessarius es. Maius est hoc quam quod vis facere: sunt alii qui sepeliant mortuos suos; non licet anteriora posterioribus subdere. Amate parentes, et praeponite Deum parentibus. Si ergo propter rem tam necessariam dominus etiam modici temporis inducias petentem redarguit; qua fronte diutinam deliberationem quidam asserunt praemittendam esse Christi consiliis? Again, we read of St. Matthew (Mt 9) that, at the call of the Lord he “arose and followed Him.” St. Chrysostom comments: “See the obedience of this man thus called. He neither refuses to obey, nor begs that he may go home to acquaint his kinsfolk of his departure.” And Remigius also observes of St. Matthew that he made no account of the dangers which he might incur from the anger of the magistrates, when he left their business unfinished. Thus, it becomes plain that nothing human ought to deter us from the service of God. We read in the Gospel of St. Matthew (8:21), and again in that of Luke (9:59) that “one of His disciples said to Him: ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him: ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.’” St. Chrysostom, writing on these words, says: “Christ spoke thus, not as contemning the love which we owe to our parents, but to show us that nothing ought to seem more necessary to us than the affairs of the Kingdom of Heaven. He would teach us that with our whole heart, we ought to attach ourselves to them, letting nothing, however important or attractive, to be an obstacle in our way. What would seem more necessary than to bury one’s father? What more easy? It would not have taken much time. But the devil is always on the alert to find some unguarded door, and if he perceive a slight negligence, he will cause it to become great cowardice. Therefore the wise man says: Defer not, from day to day. By these words he warns us not to waste a moment of time and, although numberless affairs may be pressing upon us, to prefer spiritual interests to all other things, even to such as are necessary.” St. Augustine says in De verbis Domini: “Your father is to be honoured, yes, but God must be obeyed. Christ says, ‘I call you to preach the Gospel. You are necessary to me for my task. My work is greater than is that which you desire to perform. There are others who can bury the dead. The first thing must not give place to the last. Love your parents, but prefer God to them.’” If then our Lord refused to grant His disciple a short time in which to perform so necessary a duty, how great is the presumption of those who teach that lengthy deliberation is necessary before embracing the Counsels? Deinde Luc. IX, 61, sequitur: et ait alter: sequar te, domine; sed primum permitte me renuntiare his qui domi sunt. Quod exponens Cyrillus insignis Graecorum doctor dicit: imitanda promissio et qualibet laude plena. Sed quaerere renuntiare his qui domi sunt ostendit quod utcumque divisus sit. Nam communicare proximis et consulere nolentes aequa sapere, indicat adhuc utcumque languentem et recedentem; propter quod audit a domino: nemo cum posuerit manum super aratrum et retrospexerit habilis est ad regnum Dei. Aspicit enim retro, qui dilationem quaerit occasione redeundi domum et cum propinquis conferendi. Non hoc invenimus fecisse sacros apostolos, qui protinus omissa navicula et parente secuti sunt Christum. Sed et Paulus statim non acquievit carni et sanguini. Tales esse decet volentes sequi Christum. Luke (9:61) tells us that “ another said: I will follow you, Lord, but let me first take my leave of those who are at my house.” St. Cyril, the great Greek doctor, comments: “This man’s promise is admirable and worthy of imitation. But by his desire of going to take leave of those who were in his house, he showed that he was somewhat wavering in his attachment to the Lord, although in his mind he had determined to follow him. The fact of his wishing to take counsel of his kinsfolk, who would not approve of his intention, shows that he was somewhat unstable; and therefore Christ rebuked him saying: ‘No man putting his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.’ He had put his hand to the plough by his eagerness to follow our Lord, but he looked back, seeking an occasion of delay by visiting his home and conversing with his kinsmen. Not thus did the holy Apostles act, who at once left their boats and their father, and followed Christ. Neither did St. Paul condescend to flesh and blood. Such ought to be the conduct of those who desire to follow our Lord.” Et Augustinus hoc exponens in Lib. de verbis domini dicit: vocat te oriens, et tu attendis occidentem? Oriens quidem Christus est, secundum illud Zach. VI, 12: ecce vir, oriens nomen eius. Occidens autem est quilibet homo in mortem cadens, et in tenebras peccati vel ignorantiae cadere valens. Iniuriam ergo facit Christo, in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae Dei absconditi, si eius audito consilio adhuc ad mortalis hominis consilium aliquis existimet recurrendum. Sed derisibili quadam tergiversatione, praedicta conantur evadere. Dicunt enim quod praedicta locum habent si aliquis ipsius domini voce vocaretur tunc enim confitentur differendum non esse, nec ad aliud consilium recurrendum. Sed quando homo interius commovetur ad religionis ingressum, tunc opus habet magna deliberatione et multorum consilio, ut discernere possit, si hoc sit ex instinctu divino. Sed haec responsio errore plena est. Sic enim verba Christi quae in Scripturis dicuntur, debemus accipere, ac si ab ipsius domini ore audiremus. Dicit enim ipse, Marc. XIII, 37: quod vobis dico, omnibus dico: vigilate; et Rom. XV, 4, dicitur: quaecumque scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt. Et Chrysostomus dicit: si tantum propter illos dicta fuissent, scripta non essent; nunc autem dicta quidem sunt propter illos, scripta vero sunt propter nos. Unde et apostolus inducens auctoritatem veteris testamenti, dicit Hebr. XII, 5: obliti estis consolationis, quae vobis tanquam filiis loquitur dicens: fili mi, noli negligere disciplinam. Ex quo patet quod verba sacrae Scripturae non solum praesentibus sed futuris loquuntur. St. Augustine, in De verbis Domini, has this passage: “The Orient calls you; will you wait for the West?” Now by the Orient is meant Christ, as we know from the words in Zach. 6:12: “Behold a man, the Orient is his name.” By the West is signified man declining to the grave and liable to fall into the darkness of sin and ignorance. He, therefore, does an injury to Christ, in whom are contained all the treasures and the wisdom of God” (Col 2:3), who, having heard His call, thinks it necessary to take counsel with mortal man. Our opponents try to evade this argument by an equivocation. They say that the passages quoted by us only refer to the audible call of the Lord, and, of course, in that case no delay must be made nor human counsel asked. But if a man is interiorly called to enter religion, he needs long deliberation and many advisers, in order to find out whether his vocation is from God. This is begging the question; for we are to take the words of Christ, written in Scripture, as coming from His own mouth. For He Himself says: “What I say to you, I say unto all, Watch” (Mark 13:37). And in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans 15:4, we find “For whatever was written, was written for our instruction.” As St. Chrysostom says: “If these things had only been said for them, they would not have been written, but they were said for them, and written for us.” And St. Paul brings forward the authority of the Old Testament in his Epistle to the Hebrews (xii. 5), “And you have forgotten the consolation which speaks to you as children: My son, do not neglect the discipline of the Lord.” From which it is clear that the words of Holy Scripture were spoken not only to those who heard them, but to future generations. Specialiter autem videamus, an consilium quod dominus dedit adolescenti, Matth. XIX, 21: si vis perfectus esse, vade, et vende omnia quae habes, et da pauperibus: utrum illi soli sit datum, vel etiam universis: quod considerare possumus ex his quae sequuntur. Cum enim Petrus ei dixisset: ecce nos reliquimus omnia et secuti sumus te: universaliter praemium omnibus statuit, dicens: omnis qui reliquerit domum vel fratres etc. propter nomen meum, centuplum accipiet, et vitam aeternam possidebit. Non minus ergo sequendum est hoc consilium ab unoquoque, quam si unicuique singulariter ex ipsius ore dominico proferretur. Unde Hieronymus dicit ad Paulinum presbyterum: tu audita sententia salvatoris: si vis perfectus esse etc., verba vertis in opera et nudam crucem nudus sequeris. Quamvis autem adolescenti loquens, singulariter ad ipsum verba protulerit, alibi tamen idem consilium universaliter protulit dicens: si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me: ubi dicit Chrysostomus: commune hoc dogma orbi terrarum proponit dicens: si quis vult, id est si mulier, si vir, si rex, si liber, si servus. Abnegatio autem sui ipsius, secundum Basilium, est totalis praeteritorum oblivio, et recessus a propriis voluntatibus. Et sic patet quod in hac negatione sui ipsius intelligitur etiam depositio divitiarum, quae per voluntatem propriam possidentur. Sic igitur consilium adolescenti a domino datum, sic est accipiendum ac si omnibus ex ore domini proponeretur. We, will especially examine whether the counsel given by Christ to the young man (Matt. 19:21): “If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor” was addressed to that youth only, or to all men. We can best consider this passage by referring to its context, where Peter says: “See, we have left all things and have followed You.” And our Lord promises the reward to all men saying, “Everyone who has left house or brethren etc. for my name’s sake... shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess life everlasting.” Thus we see that this counsel is no less to be followed by all men than if it had been given to each individually. Hence St. Jerome, writing to the presbyter Paulinus, says: “You have heard our Saviour’s words: ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me.’ Put these words then into practice. Strip yourself of all, and thus, following the Cross of poverty, you will more speedily and more easily ascend Jacob’s ladder.” And, although our Lord addressed the counsel of poverty individually to the rich young man, He nevertheless gave the same advice to all mankind (Mt 16:24): “If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” St. Chrysostom, commenting on this text, says, “He addresses this teaching to the whole world, saying, ‘If anyone’—be it man or woman, king, free man, or serf.” Now self-denial, according to St. Basil, means complete forgetfulness of past things and the abnegation of our own will. In it, therefore, is included the disposal of the property which we possess of our own will. Therefore the counsel given to the young man is to be understood as given to all. Sed in responsione praemissa adhuc aliud considerari oportet. Iam enim ostensum est, quod locutio qua nobis dominus loquitur in Scripturis, idem habet auctoritatis pondus, ac si verba ab ipso salvatoris ore proferrentur. Est autem et alius modus quo Deus interius homini loquitur; secundum illud Ps.: audiam quid loquatur in me dominus Deus: quae quidem locutio cuilibet exteriori locutioni praeponitur. Dicit enim Gregorius in Homil. Pentecostes: ipse conditor, non ad eruditionem hominis loquitur, si eidem homini per unctionem spiritus non loquatur. Certe Cain priusquam fratricidium opere perpetraret, audivit: peccasti, quiesce. Sed quia culpis suis exigentibus voce est admonitus, non unctione, audire verba Dei potuit, sed servare contempsit. Si igitur voci conditoris exterius prolatae statim obediendum esset, ut dicunt, multo magis interiori locutioni, qua spiritus sanctus mentem immutat, resistere nullus debet, sed absque dubitatione obedire. Unde Isai. l, 5, dicitur ex ore prophetae, vel potius ipsius Christi: dominus Deus aperuit mihi aurem, scilicet interius inspirando; ego autem non contradico, retrorsum non abii, quasi posteriorum oblitus ad anteriora me extendens, ut dicitur ad Philip. III. Dicit etiam apostolus ad Rom. VIII 14: qui spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii Dei sunt: ubi dicit Glossa Augustini: non quia nihil agant, sed quia impetu gratiae aguntur. Non autem agitur impetu spiritus sancti qui resistit vel tardat. But another point remains to be considered. We have already said that the words of our Lord quoted in Holy Scripture, carry the same weight as if spoken by His own lips. But there is another way whereby God speaks interiorly to men, viz. the way alluded to in Ps. 84:9: “I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me.” Now this interior voice is to be preferred to any external speech. St. Gregory says (Homil. Pentecostes), “The Creator does not speak to the understanding of a man, unless He speak to that same man by the unction of the Holy Spirit. Before Cain slew his brother he heard a voice saying, “You have sinned; stop.” But as, on account of his sin, he was admonished by a voice alone, and not by the unction of the Spirit, he was indeed able to hear the word of God, but refused to obey it.” If then we are bound to obey immediately the audible voice of our Creator, how much more ought we not, unhesitatingly and unresistingly, to obey the interior whisper, whereby the Holy Spirit changes the heart of man. Hence, in Is 50:5, it is said by the mouth of the Prophet, or rather of Christ Himself: “The Lord God has opened my ear (i.e. by interior inspiration), and I do not resist. I have not gone back.” “Forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that are before,” as we read in the Epistle to the Philippians (3:13). St. Paul, again, says (Rom 8:14), “Whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The Gloss of St. Augustine has the following comment: “Such men do not perform anything, but act under the impulse of grace.” But he who resists or hesitates, does not act by the impulse of the Holy Spirit. Est ergo proprium filiorum Dei ut impetu gratiae agantur ad meliora, non expectato consilio. De quo etiam impetu dicitur Isai. LIX, 19: cum venerit quasi fluvius violentus, quem spiritus domini cogit. Hunc autem impetum esse sequendum apostolus docet ad Gal. V, 16, ubi dicit: spiritu ambulate: et iterum: si spiritu ducimini, non estis sub lege. Et iterum: si spiritu vivimus, spiritu et ambulemus. Pro magna autem culpa quibusdam improperatur a Stephano, Act. VII, 51: vos semper spiritui sancto restitistis. Unde et apostolus, I ad Thess. V, 19, dicit: spiritum nolite extinguere: ubi dicit Glossa: si cui spiritus sanctus ad horam aliquid revelet, nolite prohibere eum loqui. Spiritus autem sanctus revelat non solum docendo quid homo debeat loqui, sed etiam suggerendo quid homo debeat facere, ut dicitur Ioan. XIV. Cum igitur homo instinctu spiritus sancti movetur ad religionis ingressum, non est ei differendum, ut humanum requirat consilium; sed statim homo impetum spiritus sancti debet sequi. Unde et Ez. I, 20, dicitur: quocumque ibat spiritus, illuc eunte spiritu et rotae pariter levabantur sequentes eum. It is then the distinguishing mark of the sons of to be carried forward by grace to better things, without waiting for counsel. This impulse of grace is alluded to in the Prophet Isaiah (59:59), “When he comes as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord drives on.” St. Paul teaches us that this impulse of grace is to be obeyed: “Walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16), and again (5:25), “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” St. Stephen thus reproached certain men, “You always resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). St. Paul says (1 Thes 5:19), “Do not extinguish the Spirit.” On which words, the Gloss comments: “If the Holy Spirit should at any time reveal something to a certain man, do not forbid him to make known what he has heard.” Now, the Holy Spirit gives His revelations not only by teaching man what he ought to speak, but by suggesting to him what he ought to do (John 14). When, therefore, a man is inspired by this Holy Spirit to enter religious life, it is his duty to follow the inspiration at once, without waiting to take counsel of human advisers. This is shown us by the words of the Prophet Ezekiel (1:20), “Wherever the spirit went, they went, and the wheels rose along with them.” Nec solum hoc Scripturae auctoritatibus, sed etiam sanctorum exemplis manifestatur. Narrat enim Augustinus in 8 Conf. de duobus militibus, quorum unus lecta vita Antonii subito repletus amore sancto, ait amico suo: ego Deo servire studui, et ex hac hora in hoc loco aggredior; te si piget imitari, noli adversari. Respondit ille se socio adhaerere, et ambo iam aedificabantur relinquendo omnia et Christum sequendo. In quo etiam libro Augustinus se ipsum reprehendit de hoc quod tardabat suam conversionem, ubi dicit: non erat quid responderem veritate convictus, nisi tantum verba lenta et somnolenta, modo, ecce modo, sine paululum. Sed modo et modo non habebat modum, et sine paululum in longum ibat. Et in eodem libro dicit: erubescebam nimis, quia nugarum murmur, scilicet saecularium et carnalium, adhuc audiebam, et cunctabundus pendebam. Non est ergo laudabile, sed magis vituperabile, post vocationem interiorem vel exteriorem, vel verbo vel Scripturis factam differre, et quasi in dubiis consilium quaerere. We have further authority for our teaching, not merely in passages of Scripture, but in the examples of the Saints. St. Augustine, in the Eighth Book of his Confessions, tells us of two soldiers, one of whom, having read the life of St. Anthony, was so filled with Divine love, that he said to his, comrade: “I have determined to serve God, I begin at this hour and in this spot. If it is irksome for you to imitate me, at least do not withstand me.” But his comrade answered that he would stand by him in a combat which would bring so great reward.” Thus (O Lord) did both these servants of yours build up a tower at a befitting cost, by leaving all things and following you.” In the same book, St. Augustine reproaches himself with having delayed his conversion: “When I was convinced of the truth, I could not reply except in slow and drowsy words: ‘I am coming now; let me be a while longer.’ But my promised time had no limit, and my ‘little while’ was long protracted.” Again in the same book he says, “I was filled with shame for listening to the babble of worldly and carnal concerns, and hung wavering.” Thus, we see that, far from being praiseworthy, it is most reprehensible to hesitate or take counsel, as if we were in doubt, when we have heard an interior or exterior call, be it some word or some passage in Scripture. Hoc etiam ad interioris inspirationis efficaciam pertinet ut homines inspirati subito ad maiora provehantur: quod significatur per hoc quod congregatis in unum discipulis, ut legitur Act. II, repente spiritus sanctus super eos veniens eos fecit magnalia Dei loqui: ubi dicit Glossa: nescit tarda molimina spiritus sancti gratia. Et Eccli. XI, 23, dicitur: facile est in oculis Dei subito honestare pauperem. Hanc etiam efficaciam Dei intrinsecus inspirantis Augustinus ostendit in Lib. de praedestinatione sanctorum, inducens quod habetur Ioh. VI 45: omnis qui audivit (a patre) et didicit, venit ad me. Valde (inquit) remota est a sensibus carnis haec schola, in qua pater auditur, et docet, ut veniatur ad filium: nec agit hoc cum carnis aure, sed cordis; et postea subdit: itaque gratia quae occulte humanis cordibus divina largitate tribuitur, a nullo corde duro respuitur: ideo quippe tribuitur ut cordis duritia penitus auferatur. Hanc etiam efficaciam inspirationis internae Gregorius in homilia Pentecostes commendat dicens: o qualis est artifex iste spiritus. Nulla ad discendum mora agitur in omne quod voluerit; mox ut tetigerit mentem docet; solumque tetigisse docuisse est. Nam humanum animum subito ut illustrat immutat; abnegat hoc repente quod erat, exhibet repente quod non erat. Virtutem igitur spiritus sancti vel ignorat vel ei resistere nititur qui a spiritu sancto motum diuturnitate consilii detinere contendit. Interior inspiration has efficacy to enable those to whom it is given to accomplish great deeds. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that when the disciples were gathered together, the Holy Spirit came upon them and made them speak of the wonders of God. The Gloss says on this passage: “The grace of the Holy Spirit of God knows no obstacles.” Again, the Book of Sirach (11:23) has these words: “It is easy in the eyes of God suddenly to make a poor man rich.” St. Augustine speaks of the efficacy of internal inspiration in his book De praedestinatione Sanctorum. He quotes the words recorded in St. John (6), “Everyone who has heard of the Father and has learned, comes to Me.” On these words he says, “This school where the Father is heard and teaches, in order that men may come to the Son, is far removed from the senses; for in it we hear not with ears of flesh, but with the hearing of the heart.” Again he says: “The grace which, by the Divine munificence, is secretly bestowed is not rejected by any hard heart; for it is given in order that hardness may be entirely taken away.” St. Gregory, in his Homilia Pentecostes, treats of the efficacy of interior inspiration: “Oh, how cunning a workman is this Spirit. He makes no delay in teaching what He wishes. As soon as He touches the heart, He teaches it. His touch is teaching. He changes the human mind as soon as He enlightens it; and the man taught by Him at once forsakes what he was, in order to show what he was not.” He who hesitates to obey the impulse of the Holy Spirit for the sake of taking counsel either knows not this impulse, or else resists it. Nec solum sacrorum doctorum auctoritatibus assertionis eorum convincitur falsitas, sed etiam philosophicis documentis. Dicit enim Aristotiles in quodam capitulo Eudimicae Ethic. quod intitulatur de bona fortuna: quod autem quaeritur quid est motus principium in anima, palam quemadmodum in toto Deus; rationis enim principium non ratio, sed aliquid melius. Quid igitur utique erit melius scientia et intellectu, nisi Deus? Et postea subdit de his qui a Deo moventur consiliari non expedit eis; habent enim principium tale quod melius intellectu et consilio. Erubescat igitur qui se dicit Catholicum, divinitus inspiratos ad humana transmittens consilia, quibus eos philosophus ethnicus asserit non egere. Philosophers, no less than sacred writers, condemn the error of acting thus. Aristotle, in a chapter of the Eudemian Ethics on good fortune, says, “If we seek to know what is the principle of movement in the soul corresponding to God in the universe, we shall see that reason cannot be the principle of reason; that principle must be something better. But what, save God, can be better than knowledge and understanding?” He continues, in another place: “Those who are moved by God do not need to be counselled; for they have a principle surpassing counsel and understanding.” Shame then on him who, calling himself a Catholic, would send men inspired by God, to take advice of human counsellors, of whom even a heathen philosopher tells us they have no need. Videamus autem ulterius ad quid consilio indigeant hi quibus est sacrae religionis propositum inspiratum. Et primo quidem dubitare an id quod Christus consuluit, melius sit sacrilegum est; dubitare vero an propter contristationem amicorum, vel quodcumque temporalium detrimentum homo debeat religionis propositum praetermittere, est animi adhuc carnali amore irretiti. Unde Hieronymus dicit in epistola ad Heliodorum: licet parvulus ex collo pendeat nepos; licet sparso crine et scissis vestibus ubera, quibus te nutrierat, mater ostendat; licet in limine pater iaceat: per calcatum perge patrem, siccis oculis ad vexillum crucis evola. Solum pietatis genus est in hac re esse crudelem. Et postea subdit: gladium tenet hostis ut me perimat, et ego de patris lacrymis cogitabo? Propter patrem militiam deseram, cui sepulturam Christi causa non debeo?. Et ad hoc etiam plura alia superius sunt inducta. Forte autem aliquis inducetur ad consilium requirendum, an possit implere quod in proposito gerit. But, let us further examine for what cause, those called by God to religious life can require counsel. First, it is sacrilegious to doubt whether the life counselled by Christ is the most perfect. Again, none but a soul enslaved by human love would hesitate as to whether it is right to abandon the intention of entering religious life for fear of grieving friends or incurring temporal loss. St. Jerome writes in his epistle to Heliodorus: “Even should your infant son hang round your neck, or your mother, with unkempt hair and dishevelled dress, show you the breasts that suckled you, or your father cast himself along your threshold, pass on. Shed no tear; tread your father underfoot and hasten to the standard of the Cross. In this case, cruelty is the only piety.” Elsewhere he adds, “My enemy, with drawn sword, is about to slay me, and shall I think of my mother’s tears? Shall I forsake the combat for love of my father, when I ought not to leave Christ even to bury my parents? In several places he writes in the same strain. Sed et huic dubitationi occurrit Augustinus 8 Confess. de se ipso loquens, qui consilium continentiae assumere formidabat. Aperiebatur, inquit, ab ea parte qua intenderam faciem, et quo transire trepidabam, casta dignitas continentiae blandiens ut venirem neque dubitarem, extendens ad me suscipiendum et amplectendum pias manus plenas gregibus bonorum exemplorum. Ibi tot pueri et puellae, ibi iuventus multa, et omnis aetas, et graves viduae et virgines anus. Et irridebat me irrisione exhortatoria, quasi diceret: tu non poteris quod isti et istae? An isti et istae in semet ipsis possunt, et non in domino Deo suo? Dominus Deus eorum me dedit eis. Quid in te stas, et non stas? Proice te in eum, noli metuere: non se subtrahet ut cadas. Proiice te securus: et excipiet te et sanabit te. But perhaps some may think it necessary to take counsel, lest they should not be able to fulfil what is implied in entering religious life. The same doubt occurred to St. Augustine, as he tells us in the Eighth Book of his Confessions. He feared to undertake to observe the counsel of continence; and, speaking of himself, he uses these words: “On the side to which I turned my face, and where I feared to go, I saw the chaste dignity of continence. She was serene and cheerful, without wantonness. She beckoned me to approach her fearlessly, holding out to embrace me and uphold me, her gentle hands full of numberless good examples. With her were many youths and maidens, staid widows and venerable virgins.” He adds later on: “And she smiled at me, mocking, as if to say, ‘What these have done, can you not likewise do? Have these acted by their own might, and not by the power of their God? The Lord their God has given me to them. Why then do you stand on your own, without a foothold? Cast yourself on Him. Fear not. He will not draw away to let you fall. Cast yourself on Him with confidence. He will receive you and heal you.” Restant autem duo de quibus consiliari relinquitur his qui religionis assumendae propositum gerunt: quorum unum est de modo religionem intrandi; aliud autem est, si aliquod speciale impedimentum habeant, per quod impediantur a religionis ingressu; puta, si sint servi, vel matrimonio iuncti, vel aliquid huiusmodi. Sed ab hoc consilio primo quidem amovendi sunt carnis propinqui. Dicitur enim Prov. XXV, 9: causam tuam tracta cum amico tuo, et secretum extraneo non reveles. Propinqui autem carnis in hoc proposito amici non sunt, sed potius inimici, secundum illud quod habetur Mich. VII, 6: inimici hominis domestici eius: quod etiam dominus introducit Matth. X, 36. In hoc igitur casu sunt praecipue vitanda carnalium propinquorum consilia. There are, nevertheless, two points on which those may take counsel who have the intention of entering religious life. Of these, one is the mode of becoming a religious; and the other is the existence of any obstacle to religious life, such as matrimony or the state of slavery. But advice should not be sought from kinsfolk. The book of Proverbs (25:9) says indeed, “Treat your cause with your friend, and discover not the secret to a stranger.” But, in the matter of entering religion, relations are not friends, but rather enemies. “A man’s enemies are those of his own household,” says Micah (7:6), and our Lord quotes his words (Mt 10:36). Therefore, with regard to this matter, the advice of our kinsmen is to be particularly avoided. Hinc est quod Ieronymus in epistola ad Heliodorum impedimenta religiosi propositi, quae a propinquis carnalibus ingeruntur, enumerat, dicens: nunc tibi blandis vidua soror haeret lacertis, nunc illi cum quibus adolevisti, vernaculi aiunt: cui nos servituros relinquis? Nunc et gerula quondam, iam anus, et nutritius secundus post naturalem pietate pater clamitant: morituros expecta paulisper, et sepeli. Et Gregorius dicit in III Moralium: callidus adversarius cum a bonorum cordibus repelli se conspicit, eos qui ab illis valde diliguntur, exquirit, et per eorum verba blandiens loquitur, qui plus ceteris amantur, ut dum vis amoris cor perforat, facile persuasionis eius gladius ad intimae rectitudinis munimina irrumpat. Hinc est quod beatus Benedictus, ut Gregorius refert in 2 dialogorum, nutricem suam occulte fugiens, deserti loci secessum petiit; sed Romano monacho propositum suum aperuit, qui eius desiderium et secretum tenuit, et adiutorium impendit. Arcendi sunt etiam ab hoc consilio carnales homines, apud quos Dei sapientia stultitia reputatur: unde Eccli. XXXVII, 12, irrisorie dicitur: cum viro irreligioso tracta de sanctitate, et cum iniusto de iustitia: et postea subdit: non attendas his in omni consilio, sed cum viro sancto assiduus esto: a quo est petendum consilium, si de aliquibus in hoc casu consiliari oporteat. St. Jerome, in his epistle to Heliodorus, thus enumerates the obstacles which family ties may raise to entrance into religious life. “Your widowed sister will encircle you with her arms. The domestic slaves, among whom you grew up, will cry to you, ‘To whose service do you leave us?’ The aged nurse and the foster-father, who in fondness has been a second father to you, after your own, will call out: ‘Stay a little; we shall soon be dead; wait and bury us.’” St. Gregory likewise says (III Moral.): “Our crafty enemy, seeing himself banished from the hearts of good men, seeks out those by whom they are loved. He speaks by means of their caressing words, knowing that they are more loved than others. He hopes that as the violence of love overcomes their heart, he may easily destroy the fortifications of their virtue by means of the sword of persuasion.” For this reason it was that the Blessed Benedict, as St. Gregory tells us (II Dialog.), secretly fled from his nurse, and sought retirement in a desert place, but opened his mind to the monk Romanus, who kept his secret, and gave him assistance. Carnal men, to whom the wisdom of God is folly, are therefore not to be consulted. The following advice is given us in the Book of Sirach (37:12), “Do not consult a man without religion concerning holiness, nor with an unjust man concerning justice.” The same inspired writer adds: “Give no heed to these in any matter of counsel. But be continually with a holy man,” from whom. counsel may be sought if any should be needed.
Caput 10
In quo solvuntur rationes contra veritatem supra inductaeCHAPTER 10
Answer to the Objections Raised Against the Foregoing ArgumentsEa vero quibus innituntur contrarium asserentes, de facili refelluntur. Quod enim primo inductum est, quod in arduis et difficilibus sunt maxime consilia requirenda; verum est, ubi non est veritas manifesta. Sed quando id quod melius est altiori consilio est diffinitum, iniuriosum est iterum id in dubium revocare, iterato consilia requirendo. IT is easy to answer the objections which may be raised against our arguments. It is true, in the first place that advice should be sought in difficult and serious undertakings, when the way is not clear. When, however, the right path has been shown us by some higher counsellor, it is unwise to open the question again and to seek further advice. Quod vero secundo propositum est, quod votum animi deliberatione firmatur, ad propositum non facit. Haec enim deliberatio in interiori consistit proposito, quo aliquis eligit maius bonum cui se obligare intendit vovendo. Omne autem quod ex electione agitur, ex deliberatione sive consilio agitur; quia electio est appetitus praeconsiliati, ut dicitur in 3 Ethic. Et sicut a spiritu sancto, qui est spiritus fortitudinis et pietatis, hoc propositum homini inspiratur; ita etiam ab eodem, qui est consilii et scientiae spiritus, deliberatio interius ministratur. The second argument adduced, that a vow is confirmed by the deliberation of the mind, is irrelevant to the matter in hand. For the deliberation spoken of consists in that choice, whereby a man elects the greater good to which he intends to devote himself. Now all that is done from choice, is done by deliberation or counsel; for choice is the desire for a thing commended to us, as Aristotle says (III Ethic.). The same Holy Spirit who is the spirit of strength and piety, and who moves men to a determination of embracing the religious life, is likewise the spirit of counsel and of knowledge, and directs their interior deliberation. Quod etiam tertio inducitur, probate spiritus si ex Deo sunt, ad propositum non facit. Ibi enim necessaria est probatio ubi non est certitudo: unde super illud I ad Thess. ult.: omnia probate, dicit Glosa: certa non egent discussione. Incertum autem potest esse his quibus alios ad religionem recipere incumbit, quo spiritu ad religionem veniant: utrum scilicet desiderio spiritualis profectus, an etiam, sicut quandoque accidit, ad explorandum vel ad malefaciendum; vel etiam utrum sint ad religionem apti qui veniunt. Et ideo indicitur eis tam per statutum Ecclesiae quam per regulare edictum, eorum qui sunt recipiendi, probatio. Sed his qui propositum religionis assumendae gerunt, dubium esse non potest qua intentione id faciant. Unde eis deliberandi necessitas non incumbit; praecipue si de suis corporalibus viribus non diffidant; ad quas examinandas religionem intrantibus annus probationis conceditur. The third objection brought against us is equally irrelevant. “Try the spirits whether they be of God,” (1 John 4:1) we are told. But probation is only necessary where certainty does not exist. The Gloss comments on the words of St. John, which we have quoted: “Things that are certain need no discussion.” Nevertheless, those whose duty it is to admit others into religious life may be uncertain of the motive which may lead a candidate to present himself. For he may be inspired by desire for spiritual perfection; or he may be influenced by curiosity, or by a wish to do some harm. Again, uncertainty may exist as to the fitness of postulants for religious life. Therefore, the Church ordains, and religious rules require, that candidates should pass through a period of probation. But the postulants themselves cannot be in doubt as to the motive which leads them to seek the religious habit. Therefore, they do not need deliberation, especially if they are not doubtful about their health, which the year of probation is intended to put to a test. Quod vero quarto proponitur, quod Satanas transfigurat se in Angelum lucis et multotiens bona suggerit intentione fallendi, verum est; sed sicut Glosa dicit ibidem: quando Diabolus sensus corporis fallit, mentem vero non movet a vera rectaque sententia, qua quisque vitam fidelem gerit, nullum est in religione periculum: vel cum se bonum fingens ea vel facit vel dicit quae bonis Angelis congruunt, etiam si credatur bonus, non est error periculosus aut morbidus. Cum vero per haec aliena ad sua incipit ducere, ne quis post eum eat opus est magna vigilantia. Detur ergo quod Diabolus aliquem incitet ad religionem intrandum; hoc opus bonum est, et bonis Angelis congruum: unde non est periculum si quis in hoc ei consentiat; sed vigilandum erit, ut ei resistatur cum ad superbiam vel ad alia vitia inceperit ducere. Frequenter enim contingit quod Deus utitur malitia Daemonum in bonum sanctorum - quibus (Diabolus) praeparat coronas invitus -, et sic eis a sanctis illuditur. Sciendum tamen, quod si cui a Diabolo suggeratur vel etiam ab homine religionis introitus, per quem aliquis accedit ad Christum sequendum; talis suggestio efficaciam non habet, nisi interius attrahatur a Deo. Dicit enim Augustinus in libro de praedestinatione sanctorum quod omnes sunt docibiles Dei, non quia omnes ad Christum veniant, sed quia nemo aliter venit: et sic religionis propositum a quocumque suggeratur, a Deo est. The statement that “Satan transforms himself into an angel of light” and inspires good desires with the intention of deceiving us, is very true. But, as the Gloss says, when the devil deceives the bodily senses, he does not withdraw the mind from a praiseworthy and holy intention; for whoever leads a faithful life is in no danger. Even should Satan, pretending to be good, do or say things befitting the holy angels, and should he delude a man into believing him, the error would not be dangerous or harmful. But, when, by means of his pretence of good, he begins to draw men away to his own work, they need the greatest watchfulness, lest they should be led astray by him. Granted, then that the devil instigates someone to enter religious life, this undertaking is a good one, worthy of the holy angels, and a man who consents to it will run no risk. But he must be on his guard to resist temptations to pride or other vices. God makes use of the malice of the devil for the profit of the just, for whom, if they overcome, He prepares crowns; and thus the evil spirits are duped by the saints. But it must be understood that a suggestion to enter religious life proceeding either from man or from Satan has no efficacy, unless it be accompanied by the interior attraction of God. St. Augustine in his book De praedestinatione Sanctorum says “that all the saints are taught by God, not because all come to Christ, but because no one comes to him by any other means. Thus the desire to enter religion, from whomever such a suggestion may proceed, comes from God.” Quod vero quinto proponitur, quod in his est requirendum consilium quae malum exitum possunt sortiri, distinctione indiget. Aut enim malus exitus potest contingere ex parte ipsius rei quae assumenda imminet, aut ex parte hominis assumentis. Si ex parte rei quae assumenda est periculum imminet: si hoc quidem frequenter accidat, magna deliberatione opus est, ut periculis obvietur, vel res totaliter relinquatur. Si vero ut in paucioribus periculum accidat; non est magna deliberatione opus, sed vigilantia et cautela, ne aliquo casu in periculum incidatur: alioquin daretur occasio omnia humana studia praetermittendi, secundum illud Eccli. XI, 4: qui observat ventum, non seminat; et qui considerat nubes, nunquam metet: et Prov. XXVI, 13, dicitur: dicit piger: leo est in via, leaena in itineribus: ubi dicit Glossa: multi cum verba exhortationis audiunt, dicunt se velle viam iustitiae incipere, sed a Satana retrahi ne perficiant. The fifth argument, namely that advice is needed before going into religion, because the undertaking may end badly, needs some discrimination. The bad end of any undertaking may be the fault either of the enterprise itself, or of him who makes the attempt. If the undertaking itself is dangerous and frequently productive of ill effects, great deliberation would be needed before attempting it; or it might be better to abandon it entirely. But if danger from the enterprise accrue but to very few, much deliberation would not be required about the step itself. Great care and vigilance, however, would be necessary on the part of him who undertakes it, lest he should by any chance fall into danger. Otherwise he would make his enterprise a pretext for neglecting all human efforts. This is enforced by the words of Sirach (11:4). “He who observes the wind shall not sow; and he who considers the clouds shall never reap,” and those other words of Proverbs (26:13), “The slothful man says, ‘There is a lion in the way and a lioness on the roads.’” On this text the Gloss observes: “There are many who, when hey hear words of exhortation, say that they would never want to enter the way of justice, but are held back by Satan from making progress.” Quandoque vero res ipsa in se secura est, habet tamen malum exitum, propter hoc quod homo mutat propositum: et ex ista causa non debet homo retrahi, vel differre sub specie maioris deliberationis religionis ingressum, quamvis aliqui mutato proposito a religione apostatantes deteriores fiant: alioquin etiam similis ratio esset de accessu ad fidem et fidei sacramenta: quia dicitur II Petr. II, 21: melius erat viam veritatis non cognoscere, quam post agnitam retroire. Et secundum apostolum ad Hebr. X 29: deteriora meretur supplicia qui sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit, et spiritui gratiae contumeliam fecerit. Non esset etiam passim ad iustitiae opera procedendum, quia scriptum est Eccli. XXVI 27: eum qui transgreditur a iustitia ad peccatum, Deus paravit ad rhomphaeam. It sometimes happens, however, that an undertaking, certainly good in itself, may come to an unfortunate termination. This failure is due to instability of purpose on the part of the person engaged in the affair. But the fact that some men who have become religious have changed for the worse, and have apostatised is no reason for delaying to enter religious life, on the plea of requiring longer deliberation. The same pretext might be used as an excuse for not embracing the Faith or approaching the Sacraments, for as we are told by St. Peter (2 Pet 2: 21), “It would have been better for them not to have known the way of justice, than after they had known it to turn back.” St. Paul also says (Heb. 10:29), “He deserves worse punishments who has esteemed the blood of the Testament unclean, and has offered an affront to the spirit of grace.” Neither would he return to works of justice, since we find it written (Sirach 26:27[19]), “He who passes over from justice to sin, God has prepared him for the sword.” Iam vero quod sexto propositum est: si est ex Deo consilium hoc aut opus, non poteritis illud dissolvere, diligentius considerandum est: tum quia ab eis frequentius inculcatur, tum quia latet ibi virus haereticae pravitatis. Ex hoc enim verbo prave intellecto, nostri temporis haeretici duo erronea concludere nituntur. Quorum primum est, quod corpora quae corrumpuntur, a Deo non sunt; secundum est, quod si aliquis gratiam habet vel caritatem a Deo, amitti non potest. Assumamus et alia: si Diabolus peccavit, opus Dei non fuit: si Iudas a choro apostolorum decidit, eius electio a Deo non fuit: si Simon magus post Baptismum in haeresim decidit, a Deo non fuit quod eum Philippus baptizavit. The sixth argument used against our proposition is one that must be carefully examined, both on account of the frequency with which it is adduced, and on account of the heresy which lurks under its cover. We are told that “a work that is of God cannot come to nought.” Two heresies have sprung up in our time through misunderstanding these words. The first error is that since the body becomes corrupted, it cannot be the work of God. The second is that any grace or charity received from God cannot be lost. We might as well say that because Satan sinned, he was not created by God; or that because Judas fell away from the Apostolic College, his calling was not from God; or that because Simon Magus lapsed into heresy after Baptism, it was not the will of God that Philip should have baptised him. Cum quibus omnibus addamus et horum argumentum mirabile, consimilem virtutem habens cum praedictis: si iste qui religionem intravit, ab ea egreditur: propositum quo intravit, a Deo non fuit; vel studium eorum a Deo non fuit qui eum ad religionem attraxerunt. Contra quos utamur verbis Augustini in I Lib. contra Iulianum, qui dicebat: non potest mali radix in eo quod donum Dei est locari: contra quem Augustinus dicit: erit profecto Manichaeus victor, nisi et illi resistatur, et tibi. Veritas ergo fidei Catholicae ideo vincit Manichaeum, quia vincit te ipsum. Ut ergo ipsi pariter cum Manichaeis vincantur, dicamus, quod consilium Dei nunquam dissolvitur, secundum illud Isai. XLVI, 10: consilium meum stabit, et omnis voluntas mea fiet. Ex hoc tamen consilio etiam immutabili, sicut dat rebus corruptibilibus esse temporale, quibus sempiternitatem non tribuit; ita quibusdam dat iustitiam temporalem, quibus non largitur perseverantiae donum, ut Augustinus dicit in Lib. de perseverantia. Et sic vincuntur Manichaei, quia aeterno Dei consilio corruptibilia instituuntur, ut temporaliter sint; vincuntur et isti, quia ex inviolabili Dei consilio quibusdam datur secundum aeternum Dei consilium propositum religionem intrandi, quibus in ea perseverandi donum non datur. We may add one other argument, as weighty as the preceding, which is commonly used by our adversaries: If a man, they say, goes into religion and leaves his monastery, his vocation was not from God, nor did the advice given him by his counsellors proceed from Heaven. In refutation of this opinion, we may quote the words wherewith St. Augustine (I Contra Julianum) replies to those who held that no root of evil can exist in that which is the gift of God. St. Augustine argues: “ Manicheus will conquer, unless both he and you be resisted. Therefore, the truth of the Catholic Faith overcomes Manicheus, because it overcomes you.” In order, then that our opponents may be worsted, together with the Manicheans, let us say that the counsel of God is never brought to nought. To quote the words of Isaiah (46:10): “My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done.” Now in God’s unchangeable counsel, He sometimes, as St. Augustine says, in De Perseverantia, gives temporal justice to those to whom He does not give the gift of perseverance; just as He gives temporal existence to corruptible things, on which He does not bestow eternal life. And thus the Manicheans are answered. For corruptible things are created by the immutable counsel of God, in order that they may enjoy temporal existence. Our opponents are likewise silenced, since, in the eternal wisdom of God, He gives the resolution of entering the religious life to those on whom He does not bestow the grace of perseverance.
Caput 11
In quo ponuntur rationes quibus astruere nituntur quod homines non debent se ad religionem obligare per votumCHAPTER 11
Arguments Used by Those Who Maintain That Men Should Not Bind Themselves by Vow to Embrace the Religious LifeNunc inquirendum est de hoc quod impedire nituntur obligationem qua aliqui voto se ad ingressum religionis astringunt. Et primo quidem aliqui sunt qui nituntur cuilibet voto derogare, dicentes, melius esse quod absque voto aliquis virtutum opera exequatur, quam quod ad ea observanda voto se obliget, inducentes id quod prosper dicit in II libro de vita contemplativa: sic abstinere, vel ieiunare debemus, ut non nos necessitati ieiunandi subdamus; ne iam non devoti sed inviti rem voluntariam faciamus. Qui autem vovet se ieiunaturum, necessitati ieiunandi se subiicit; et eadem ratio est in aliis operibus virtuosis. Non igitur videtur esse laudabile quod aliquis voveat vel ieiunare vel religionem intrare, vel quodcumque aliud opus virtutis explere. Addunt etiam ad hoc rationem: quia quanto aliquid est magis necessarium, fit minus meritorium. Cum autem aliquis iam vovit vel religionem intrare vel quodcumque aliud bonum opus explere, necessitas ei incumbit ut impleat quod promisit. Laudabilius igitur esset et magis meritorium, si aliquis absque voto faciat aliqua opera virtuosa, quam si ea expleat voto praemisso. WE must next examine the views held by those who endeavour to prevent men from binding themselves by vow to become religious. Some there are who seek to detract from the merit of any vows, contending that it is better to perform good works without being bound by any obligation. They support their opinion by the following words of Prosper (II De vita contemplativa): “We ought to fast and abstain, not as being bound thereto by necessity, lest, if we do these works unwillingly, we should be acting not through devotion, but from constraint.” Now he who makes a vow to fast, subjects himself to the necessity of fasting; and this is the case with all other good works. Therefore, it would not seem expedient to make a vow to fast, or to enter religion, or to perform any other pious action. Those who hold this view maintain, likewise that a good work loses in merit in proportion to the necessity for its performance. Now as a man who has vowed to enter religion, or to perform any other virtuous action, is bound to fulfil what he has promised to God, it is better and more praiseworthy if he executes such a good work without the obligation of a vow, rather than do it because he had taken a vow. Those who argue thus, endeavour likewise, in an especial manner, to prove that people should not be persuaded to enter religion on account of the obligation laid upon them by any vow or oath. Specialiter autem ostendere nituntur, quod ad religionis ingressum non debent aliqui per obligationem voti vel iuramenti induci; inducentes statutum Concilii Toletani, quod habetur in decretis distinct. XLV cap. de Iudaeis, ubi dicitur quod tales non inviti salvandi sunt sed volentes, ut integra sit forma iustitiae: sicut enim homo proprii arbitrii voluntate serpenti obediens periit, sic vocante se gratia Dei, propriae mentis conversione quis credendo salvatur; ergo non vi sed libera animi voluntate et facultate, ut convertantur suadendi sunt. Quod multo magis observandum videtur circa religionis ingressum, qui est minus necessarius ad salutem. Illi autem qui obligantur iuramento vel voto ad religionis ingressum, non proprii arbitrii voluntate, sed necessitate cogente convertuntur; non videtur igitur obligatio talis esse conveniens. Inducunt etiam decretum Urbani Papae quod habetur XIX qu. 2, ubi dicitur quod illi qui religionem ingrediuntur, ducuntur lege privata, quae est lex spiritus sancti; ubi autem spiritus domini, ibi libertas, secundum apostolum II ad Cor. III. Libertati autem opponitur necessitas, quam inducit obligatio iuramenti vel voti. Inconveniens igitur est aliquos ad religionis ingressum voto vel iuramento constringere. They support their opinion by the statute of the Council of Toledo, where (Dist. XLV, cap. De Judaeis) we find these words: “Not unwilling, but willing souls, will be saved. For justice must be preserved intact. Man, of his own choice, obeyed the will of the serpent and perished. Therefore, each man must be saved by the response of his own soul in believing, when the grace of God calls him to do so. Therefore men are to be converted, not by force, but by their own free will and choice. Now these words apply far more forcibly to entrance into religious life, which is less necessary to salvation than is faith in the Christian religion. But those who enter religion on account of a vow or an oath do so not freely, but under constraint. Therefore such an obligation is not to be commended. The decree of Pope Urban (XIX, quaest. II, cap. Duae sunt) is considered au argument in support of this opinion. The Pope says that they who enter religious life are led by a private law, which is the law of the Holy Spirit. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). Now necessity, which constrains men by the obligation of a vow or oath, is opposed to liberty. Therefore, it is not seemly that men should be obliged to embrace religious life, on account of any oath or vow. Idem etiam arguunt ex eventu qui videtur in pluribus, qui post huiusmodi obligationem ad religionem attracti, in ea non perseverant, sed redeuntes ad saeculum, desperantes se ipsos, omni iniquitati perversitatis se tradunt. Et sic impleri videtur quod dominus Scribis et Pharisaeis dicit Matth. XXIII, 15: circuitis mare et aridam ut faciatis unum proselytum: et cum feceritis, facitis eum filium Gehennae duplo quam vos. Another argument is drawn from the fall of those, who, having entered religion under the constraint of some obligation, have not persevered therein, but have returned to the world and abandoned themselves, in despair, to vice of every kind. In them is fulfilled what our Lord said to the Pharisees (Mt 23:15): “You go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves.” Dicunt etiam, quod aliqui sic obligati aliquando votum suum non implent; et tamen postea facti sunt boni episcopi vel archidiaconi, a quo per obligationem praemissam impediti fuissent. Addunt etiam, quod nec beneficiis temporalibus, puta per exhibitionem bursarum, sunt aliqui ad religionem inducendi: et ad hoc inducunt decretum Bonifacii Papae, quod habetur I, quaest. 2, cap. quam pio, ubi dicitur: nunquam legimus domini discipulos, vel eorum ministerio conversos, quempiam ad Dei cultum aliquo muneris interventu provocasse. It is further maintained that some men who were under vow to go into religion, have not fulfilled their obligation, and have nevertheless become good bishops or archdeacons. Had they kept their vow, these good results would not have been obtained. It is also urged that men must not be persuaded to embrace the religious state for the sake of any temporal advantages, such as gifts. The decree of Pope Boniface (I, quest. II, cap. Quam pio) is quoted in confirmation of this proposition, for the Pope says: “Nowhere do we read that the disciples of the Lord or their followers were converted to the worship of God by gifts.” Adiiciunt etiam, hoc contra fidelitatem esse, dum inexperti ad graviora religionis onera, ut ad longas matutinas, graves vigilias, ieiunia et disciplinas et alias huiusmodi asperitates obligantur, et ducuntur sicut bos ad victimam; et ita dum non implent quod voverunt, paratur eis laqueus ad mortem aeternam. Dicunt etiam huiusmodi obligationem esse illicitam, utpote factam contra statutum Innocentii IV, qui mandavit annum probationis concedi volentibus religionem intrare, et prohibuit ante annum eos per votum religioni astringi. Quod etiam consonat regulae beati Benedicti, in qua conceditur probationis annus nuper ad religionem conversis. Ulterius autem procedunt, dicentes, specialiter esse illicitum ut pueri ante annos pubertatis praedicto modo ad religionis ingressum obligentur. Illicitum enim videtur esse quod aliquis obligetur tali obligatione quae iuste possit ab aliis irritari. Si autem aliqui impuberes se religioni obligaverint, possunt retrahi a parentibus vel tutoribus, ut probatur per id quod habetur XX qu. 2: puella si ante duodecim aetatis annos sponte sua sacrum velamen sibi assumpserit, possunt statim parentes eius vel tutores id factum irritum facere, si voluerint. Illicitum est ergo impuberes ad religionem obligare iuramento vel voto. It is further alleged that it leads men into unfaithfulness to be bound, while still inexperienced, to the laborious obligations of religious life, such as the long morning office, trying vigils, fasts and disciplines. They are led like cattle to the slaughterhouse; and, as they do not fulfil what they have vowed to perform, these religious exercises are for them snares which entangle them in eternal death. Such obligations, it is urged, are unlawful, as being contrary to the statute of Innocent IV, which provides a year of probation for candidates to religious life, and forbids anyone to be bound before the age of fourteen years. This decree is in harmony with the rule of St. Benedict, which also, appoints a year of probation for those who enter the order. It is declared, furthermore, to be peculiarly unlawful for youths under the age of puberty to be bound to go into religion, for how can a youth accept obligations which may lawfully be made void by another? If any youths of tender years have bound themselves to become religious, they may be withheld from so doing by their parents or guardians. This is laid down in XX quaest. 2, where it is declared that “if a maiden, under the age of twelve years has taken the veil, her engagements may be annulled at the will of her parents or guardians.” Thus it is unlawful to bind, either by oath or vow, children under the age of puberty to the religious life. Inducunt etiam ulterius, quod aliquis infra annos pubertatis constitutus, etiam si sit doli capax, ad religionem obligari non potest. Et inducunt ad hoc id quod dicit Bernardus in apparatu de regularibus et transeuntibus ad religionem, super illam decretalem Innocentii III quae incipit, postulasti: et sunt haec verba apparatus: si vis intelligere quod essent infra quartumdecimum annum, haec potuit esse dubitatio, quia forte erant doli capaces; et sic videbatur quod malitia suppleret aetatem sicut in matrimonio carnali, ut habetur extra, de sponsalibus impuberum (cap.) a nobis et cap. tuae, quia sicut potuerunt se obligare Diabolo, sic et Deo. Sed Papa respondet, quod libere possunt ministrare in Ecclesiis postea receptis: et sic non obligantur ante quartumdecimum annum. Hugutio vero dicebat quod bene obligatur doli capax, et tenebat monachatus, quia poterat se obligare Diabolo; et Innocentius III fuit in eadem opinione, qui in decretali ista respondet quod ingressus tenuit si malitia supplebat aetatem, sicut in antiqua decretali patet: sed hodie non prodest. It is further laid down that none, under this age, can be bound to religious life, even though he or she should be capable of fraud. St. Bernard, in the preparation of regulars and of those who embrace the religious state, comments on the decree Postulasti of Pope Innocent III: “If you desire to know what to expect of them when they are under the age of thirteen or fourteen years, you may be in doubt, for they are capable of craft, and may make up in cunning what they lack in age.” This has been proved in marriage, as we see in Extra de Despon. impub. cap. A nobis, and cap. Tuae, and, as they have been able to bind themselves to the devil, they may also be able to bind themselves to God. But the Pope replies that children under fourteen may, after they have been received, serve in the Church, but they may not be bound under obligations. He who is capable of fraud, the Pope continues in his reply to Hugh, is bound to good, and if he has become a monk he is under the obligations of the monastic life, since he was able to bind himself to the devil. Innocent III was of the same opinion, for in this same decretal he replies that entrance into religious life is a solemn engagement, “if age is supplied by malice.” This is also laid down in the old decretal, but it is of small import in our days. Et ad hoc etiam inducunt quod Raymundus et Goffredus in suis summis dicunt idem. Inducunt etiam, quod pueri ante quatuordecim annos non debent obligari iuramento, ut habetur 22, quaest. 5, cap. pueri, et cap. honestum. Pari igitur ratione, nec voto sunt obligandi pueri ante quartumdecimum annum ad religionis ingressum. Dicunt etiam, quod religio dicitur a religando, vel reeligendo, ut Augustinus dicit 10 de Civit. Dei. Unde concludunt, quod pueri qui non sunt ligati, non debent religari; et qui non elegerunt, non debent reeligere per religionis ingressum. Ex quibus omnibus concludunt, pueros esse miseros et insensatos, qui religionem ingrediuntur, vel ad religionis ingressum se obligant. These who argue against the propriety of persons being under an obligation to go into religion, quote the Summae of Raymund and Goffin. They also maintain (XXII, Quaest. V, cap. Pueri and cap. Honestum) that children under fourteen years of age ought not to be bound by oath; neither, by the same reasoning, can they be bound by vow to enter religious life. They say further that, as the word religion signifies either re-binding or re-electing, according to St. Augustine (X De Civit. Dei), therefore children, who are not bound and have made no choice, cannot be re-bound, nor can they repeat their choice. From an these arguments they conclude that children who embrace, or are constrained to embrace religious life, are much to be pitied for their folly.
Caput 12
In quo reprobatur error praemissusCHAPTER 12
Refutation of the Error Contained in the Last Chapter,
Together with An Exposition of the Truth That Good Works, Done Under Vow,
Are More Meritorious Than Those Performed Without Any Such ObligationUt autem in singulis praemissorum veritas possit manifeste videri, seriatim quae praemissa sunt, investigare oportet, a communibus ad specialia descendentes. Et primo consideremus, an verum sit quod dicunt, magis esse meritorium opus virtutis absque voti obligatione factum, quam si ex voto idem aliquis impleat. Et quamvis de hoc plura sint dicta in alio nostro libello quem de perfectione conscripsimus; hic tamen aliqua iterare non piget. IN order that the truth may be made manifest with regard to each of the premises contained in the last chapter, we will investigate them one by one, beginning with those that concern common things, and proceeding to those who are more spiritual. We will first, examine whether it be true that good works, done under vow, are less meritorious than those performed without such obligation. And, although a great deal has been said on this subject in our little book on Perfection, we will nevertheless not hesitate to go over the ground again. Primo igitur considerandum est, quod cum laus operis ex radice voluntatis dependeat, tanto exterius opus laudabilius redditur, quanto ex meliori voluntate procedit. Inter alias autem conditiones bonae voluntatis una est ut sit voluntas firma et stabilis; unde et in vituperium pigrorum inducitur quod habetur Prov. XIII, 4: vult et non vult piger. Tanto igitur opus exterius laudabilius redditur et magis meritorium, quanto voluntas eius magis stabilitur in bono. Unde et apostolus monet I ad Cor. XV, 58: stabiles estote et immobiles; et secundum philosophum, ad virtutem requiritur ut aliquis firmiter et immobiliter operetur. Sed et iustitiam iurisperiti definiunt, quod est constans et perpetua voluntas. Sicut et e contrario patet quod tanto peccatum est detestabilius, quanto voluntas hominis magis fuerit obstinata in malo: unde et obstinatio ponitur peccatum in spiritum sanctum. Manifestum est autem quod voluntas firmatur ad aliquid faciendum per iuramentum: unde et Psalmista dicebat: iuravi et statui custodire iudicia iustitiae tuae. Confirmatur etiam similiter voto, cum votum sit promissio quaedam. Qui autem promittit aliquid se facturum, firmat propositum suum ad illud implendum. Laudabilius igitur est virtutis opus, et magis meritorium, si fiat voluntate firmata per votum. Hoc etiam apparet ex consuetudine vitae humanae. We must first remember that although the praiseworthiness of an action depends radically on the will, the work itself becomes outwardly more praiseworthy in proportion to the excellence of the will. Now one condition of a good will is that it be firm and stable. Proverbs (13: 4) reproaches the slothful in these words: “The sluggard wills and wills not.” Therefore an exterior work becomes praiseworthy and meritorious, in proportion to the stability of the will in good. Hence St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:58), says: “Be steadfast and immoveable.” And Aristotle teaches that for the perfection of virtue, stability and constancy in operation are necessary. Lawyers also define justice as firmness and steadfastness of will. On the other hand, we know that the heinousness of sin depends upon the obstinacy in evil shown by the sinner. In fact, this obstinacy is itself called a sin against the Holy Spirit. Now it is clear that the will to do anything is strengthened by an oath. “ I have sworn,” says the Psalmist, “and am determined to keep the judgments of your Justice” (Ps 118:106). The will is likewise confirmed by a vow, since a vow is a promise, and he who promises to do a thing strengthens his determination to do it. Therefore, as we see in our experience of human life, a virtuous action is more meritorious and more praiseworthy, if it is performed when the will is strengthened by a vow. Quia enim voluntas humana mutabilis est, ad hoc quod verbis hominum fides adhibeatur, necessaria inolevit consuetudo ut hoc quod aliquis vult alteri facere, promissione confirmet, et ulterius promissionem roboret legitimis munimentis. Plus autem debet unusquisque sibi quam proximo, praecipue in his quae pertinent ad spiritualem salutem: secundum illud Eccli. XXX, 24: miserere animae tuae placens Deo. Potest autem homo propter voluntatis mutabilitatem praetermittere id quod proposuit pro sua spirituali salute, sicut et quod proposuit pro commodo temporali alterius. Si igitur aliquis utiliter providet proximo, vallando promissionem suam iuramento, fideiussione vel pignore; multo magis utiliter et laudabiliter sibi providet, si bonum propositum quod concepit, vel voto vel iuramento, vel quocumque alio modo firmare studuerit. Unde Augustinus dicit in epistola ad Paulinam et Armentarium: quia vovisti iam te astrinxisti, aliud tibi facere non licet: et postea subdit: nec ideo te vovisse paeniteat, immo gaude iam tibi non licere quod cum tuo detrimento licuisset. So inconstant is the human will that it has become customary not to believe what men say they will do for one another, unless they confirm their words by promise, and further ratify those promises by lawful safeguards. Now we owe more to ourselves, especially in the affairs of our spiritual wellbeing, than we owe to other people. This we are taught by the words of Sirach 30:24 [23], “Have pity on your own soul, pleasing God.” Now by reason of the inconstancy of his will, a man may neglect to perform something that he intended for the temporal advantage of his neighbour; he therefore provides against this possible omission by confirming his promise by some oath or pledge. How much more fittingly then may he not bind, himself by oath or vow to carry out some good resolution which he has made? Hence St. Augustine says, in his epistle to Paulina and Armentarius, “Having made a vow, you have bound yourself, and cannot act otherwise.” And he further adds: “Never regret your vow, but rather rejoice that it is now no longer lawful for you to do what, to your detriment, you were able to do before.” Amplius considerandum est, quod opus inferioris virtutis laudabilius redditur et magis meritorium, si ad superiorem virtutem ordinetur; sicut opus abstinentiae, si ordinetur ad caritatem. Pari ergo ratione, et si ordinetur ad latriam, quae est abstinentia potior. Votum autem est latriae actus: est enim promissio Deo facta de his quae pertinent ad Dei obsequium: unde Isai. XIX, 21, dicitur: cognoscent Aegyptii dominum in die illa, et colent eum in hostiis et muneribus, et vota vovebunt domino et solvent. Ieiunium igitur laudabilius erit et magis meritorium, si fiat ex voto. Hinc est quod in Psalmo vel consulitur vel mandatur: vovete, et reddite domino Deo vestro: quod frustra mandaretur vel consuleretur, nisi opus bonum ex voto facere melius esset. It is further to be remembered that a work of lesser intrinsic worth is rendered more meritorious, if it is inspired by some motive of superior virtue. Thus, abstinence is more meritorious if it is practised from charity, and the merit is further increased if the motive be latria, which is of greater value than abstinence. Now a vow is an act of latria. It is a promise made to God, concerning those things which relate to His worship. Hence Isaiah says (19:21), “The Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship Him with sacrifices and offerings, and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform them.” Thus we see that fasting will be more meritorious and more praiseworthy, if it is performed under vow. A counsel or command concerning this matter is given us in the words of Ps 75:12: “Vow, and pay to the Lord your God!” This command or exhortation would be futile, were not a good work done under vow more meritorious than one done without such an obligation. Hoc autem habito, dubitare ulterius, utrum alicui liceat se obligare voto ad religionis ingressum, erroneum est. Si enim virtuosum est religionis statum assumere; virtuosos autem actus ex voto facere laudabilius est; laudabiliter agunt illi qui statim religionem ingredi non valentes, se ad ingressum religionis voto astringunt. Nisi forte quis secundum Vigilantium dicat, quod status saecularis vitae statui religionis aequatur: vel maiori vesania in tantum erroris prorumpat, quod praesumat asserere statum religionum quas Ecclesia approbavit, non esse statum salutis: in quo iam Vigilantii haeresim superabunt, non solum inania reddentes Christi consilia, sed ea penitus evacuantes, necnon et ordinationi Ecclesiae repugnantes, quod est schismaticum esse. These facts being premised, we must now consider whether it be justifiable or not for a man to bind himself to enter the religious life. If it be true that it is a virtuous action to embrace the religious state, and that virtuous actions become more meritorious if they be done in fulfilment of a vow, those men must be acting in a praiseworthy manner when, being unable to become religious at once, bind themselves by vow to do so at a future time. This argument must be patent to all. save to those who, with Vigilantius, hold that the secular state is equal in merit to the religious life, or who have the still grosser folly to outdo the heresy of Vigilantius by presuming to assert that the religious state, which enjoys the approbation of the Church, is not a state of salvation. Si autem laudabiliter faciunt et a spiritu Dei moventur qui se obligant voto ad religionis ingressum; consequens est eos laudabiliter facere qui alios suis exhortationibus ad hoc inducunt, in hoc spiritui sancto cooperantes, dum satagunt id ministerio exteriori suadere ad quod spiritus sanctus instigat interius. Unde et apostolus dicit, I ad Cor. III, 9: Dei enim adiutores sumus, forinsecus scilicet ministrando. This audacious teaching does not only stultify the counsels of Christ, but is distinctly schismatical, as it contravenes the ordinances of the Church. But if, on the contrary, those who oblige themselves by vow to embrace the religious life, are inspired to do so by the Spirit of God and act in a praiseworthy manner, they also are to be commended who, working together with the Holy Spirit, endeavour by their exterior ministry to persuade their neighbours to do what the Spirit of God interiorly moves them to do. For, as St. Paul says (1 Cor 3:9), “We are God’s coadjutors,” that is, by our external ministry. Sed quia quantum ad eos qui pubertatis annos excedunt, contrarium sapere nefarium est; restat considerandum, utrum pueri vel puellae ante pubertatis annos completos valeant se voto religionis astringere. Ubi oportet distinguere, duplex esse votum: unum quidem simplex, aliud autem solemne. Simplex quidem votum in sola promissione consistit: solemne autem votum cum promissione habet exteriorem exhibitionem; dum scilicet homo actualiter se offert Deo, vel per ordinis sacri susceptionem, vel per professionem certae religionis in manu praelati, quibus duobus modis votum solemnizatur; vel etiam per susceptionem habitus professorum, quod est quaedam interpretativa professio. Utriusque autem voti circa matrimonium est diversus effectus. Nam votum solemne impedit matrimonium contrahendum, et dirimit iam contractum; votum autem simplex etsi contrahendum impediat, contractum tamen non dirimit. The foregoing remarks only apply to adults. We must now consider the question as to whether children, be they boys or girls, may lawfully bind themselves by vow to become religious. A distinction must be made between two kinds of vows: simple vows, and solemn vows. A simple vow consists in a mere promise. A solemn vow is a promise accompanied by some exterior manifestation, whereby a man actually offers himself to God. Thus the reception of Holy Order, the profession of a definite religious life made in the hands of a prelate, or the reception of the habit of professed religious, which is considered equivalent to religious profession, all solemnize a vow. Simple and solemn vows have different effects upon matrimony. A solemn vow is an obstacle to marriage, and annuls a contract of marriage already made. A simple vow does not annul a marriage, but is an impediment in the way of any contract of marriage after the vow is made. Est etiam et contrarius et diversus effectus utriusque voti circa religionem. Nam votum solemne, quod fit per expressam aut praesumptam professionem, iam monachum facit, vel cuiuscumque alterius ordinis fratrem; votum vero simplex nondum monachum facit, cum adhuc dominus suarum rerum remaneat, et adhuc si contrahat possit esse maritus. Quia igitur simplex votum consistit in sola promissione Deo facta, quae ex interiore mentis deliberatione procedit, votum simplex ex iure divino efficaciam habet, quod nullo humano iure tolli potest. Huius autem voti efficacia dupliciter tolli potest. Uno quidem modo per defectum deliberationis, quae promissioni firmamentum praestat: et ideo furiosorum et aliorum amentium vota vim obligationis non habent, ut habetur Extra. de Regul. et transeuntibus ad religionem, sicut tenor: et eadem ratio est de pueris qui non sunt doli capaces, nec habent debitum rationis usum: qui in quibusdam anticipatur, in quibusdam tardatur secundum diversam dispositionem naturae: unde ad hoc non potest certum tempus praefigi. Simple and solemn vows have, likewise different effects upon religious life. A solemn vow, made either by explicit or implicit profession, causes a man to become a monk or a brother in some religious order. A simple vow does not make a him a monk, for it leaves him with the ownership of his property, and does not annul his marriage, should he marry after taking such a vow. Now as a simple vow consists solely in a promise made to God, proceeding from the interior deliberation of the mind, such a vow possesses an efficacy of which no human law can deprive it. There are, nevertheless, two conditions under which a simple vow may be invalidated. First, if such due deliberation as would ratify a promise, have been wanting; thus a vow taken by a mad or delirious man would not be binding, as is laid down in extra de regul. et transeuntibus ad relig. Sicut tenor. Neither would any obligation attach to the vow of a child as yet incapable of fraud, or who had not attained to the use of reason, which in children is developed at such different ages that no certain rule can be laid down concerning it. Alio modo impeditur efficacia simplicis voti, si aliquis Deo voveat quod non est propriae potestatis; puta, si servus voveret se religionem intrare, haberet quidem efficaciam quantum ad ipsum, qui usum rationis habet, si dominus eius permitteret; si tamen dominus hoc votum ratum non habeat, absque peccato poterit revocare, ut habetur in decretis distinct. 44, si servus: ubi dicitur quod: si ignorante domino servus fuerit ordinatus, licet ei intra spatium unius anni et servilem fortunam probare, et servum suum recipere. Et quia puer vel puella infra pueriles annos etiam ex naturali iure in potestate patris constituitur, poterit pater votum ab eis emissum, si voluerit, revocare, vel si voluerit, acceptare, secundum ordinationem iuris divini. Dicitur enim Num. XXX, 4: mulier si quippiam voverit et se constrinxerit iuramento, quae est in domo patris sui, et in aetate adhuc puellari; si cognoverit pater votum quod pollicita est, et iuramentum quo obligavit animam suam, et tacuerit, voti rea erit; quidquid pollicita est et iuravit, opere complebit. Sin autem statim ut audierit, contradixerit pater, et vota et iuramenta eius irrita erunt; nec obnoxia tenebitur sponsioni, eo quod contradixerit pater. Ex quo patet quod puella vel puer, de quo est eadem ratio, infra pueritiae annos, quantum in ipsis est, voto se obligare possunt, nisi impediat rationis defectus, ut dictum est; sed quia potestati alterius subiiciuntur, potest votum revocari a patre. Quod etiam patet per hoc quod subditur de muliere adulta, cuius votum a viro revocari potest. The other condition which would invalidate a simple vow is, in the event of a person vowing something to which he has not the power to give. Thus, if a slave makes a vow to go into religion, he (supposing him to have attained the use of reason) would be certainly bound to keep his vow, if his master permitted him to do so. But if his master would not ratify the vow, the slave could, without sin, revoke it. This is laid down in the Decreta, dist. 44, Si servus, where it is said that “if a slave have, unknown to his master, been ordained, the master is entitled within a year of the ordination to prove that the slave is his property and to take him back.” And since a boy or girl is, during childhood, in the power of the father, the father may, if he so will, acknowledge the vow made by a child as an effect of divine inspiration. We read in the Book of Numbers (30:4), “If a woman vows anything, and binds herself by an oath, being in her father’s house, and but yet a girl in age: if her father knew the vow that she has promised, and the oath wherewith she has bound her soul, and held his peace, she shall be bound by the vow: whatsoever she promised and swore, she shall fulfil in deed. But if her father, as soon as he heard it, overruled it, both her vows and her oaths shall be void; neither shall she be bound to what she promised, because her father has overruled it.” From this passage it appears that boys or girls, under the age of puberty, are bound, as far as in them lies, to keep vows that they have made, unless their reason is defective. Nevertheless, as they are under the authority of their father, he can annul their vows. This is also made clear by the context of the passage in Numbers, which we have quoted, which speaks of the right of a husband to annul a vow made by his wife. Et licet ius positivum determinare non possit tempus quo homo habere incipiat rationis usum, per quem Deo se valeat obligare; potest tamen determinare tempus obligationis vel subiectionis unius personae ad aliam. Determinatur autem hoc tempus in puella quidem usque ad duodecim annos completos, in mare autem usque ad quatuordecim, quia hoc communiter consuevit esse tempus pubertatis, ut habetur 20, quaest. 2, cap. puella. Sic igitur quantum ad votum simplex, quo quis obligatur ad religionis ingressum, potest aliquis obligari, quantum in ipso est, ante completos pubertatis annos, si sit doli capax, habens debitum rationis usum ad discernendum quod facit; potest tamen hoc votum revocari a patre, vel tutore, qui est loco patris. Quia vero solemne votum religionis, quod fit per professionem tacitam vel expressam, habet quasdam exteriores solemnitates, quae ordinationi subduntur Ecclesiae, sicut et solemnitas ordinis sacri; secundum Ecclesiae determinationem exigitur ad huiusmodi votum, completum pubertatis tempus: idest in puero quatuordecim annorum, et in puella duodecim; ita quod professio ante hoc tempus facta, quantumcumque aliquis sit doli capax, non facit profitentem esse monachum, vel cuiusque ordinis fratrem. Hoc enim nunc communiter tenet Ecclesia, licet Innocentius III aliter sensisse dicatur. We cannot positively determine the age at which individuals reach the use of reason; but the period at which the subjection of one person to another ceases, can be distinctly defined. This time is for a girl the age of twelve years: for a boy the age of fourteen. This age is generally reckoned the time of puberty, as we see in XX quaest. 2, cap. Puella, cap. Si in qualibet. Thus with regard to a simple vow to enter religion, a person may be bound, in so far as it depends upon himself, by such a vow even before he has arrived at the age of puberty, provided that he is capable of fraud, and has attained the use of reason, so that he understands what he is doing. But this vow may be revoked by a father or a guardian who holds the place of a father. A solemn vow, on the other hand, made either explicitly or implicitly, requires certain exterior rites ordained by the Church. The Church exacts that both for the reception of Holy Orders, and for the making of a solemn vow, the candidate must have attained the age of puberty, which for a boy is fourteen years and for a girl twelve. Therefore a profession made by anyone under this age, even though the person is capable of fraud, does not render him a monk or brother of any religious order. This is the commonly accepted teaching of the Church, though Innocent III is said to have spoken otherwise.
Caput 13
In quo solvuntur rationes inductae pro praemisso erroreCHAPTER 13
Refutation of the Arguments Adduced in the Last ChapterHis igitur visis, facile est ad omnia obiecta respondere. OUR last chapter consisted in an exposition of the arguments brought forward to prove that a vow did not add to the merit of a good work. Our present task is to answer these arguments. This we can easily do. Quod enim primo inducitur de verbis prosperi: sic ieiunare debemus, ut non nos necessitati ieiunandi subdamus: intelligitur de necessitate coactionis, quae voluntario repugnat: unde subdit: ne iam non devoti sed inviti rem voluntariam faciamus. Non autem loquitur de necessitate voti, per quam magis augetur devotio, quae a devovendo nominatur. The words of Prosper, “We ought to fast, not out of necessity,” refer to a forced fast, in contradistinction to a voluntary one. This is proved by the context, “lest we should, by not fasting voluntarily, show ourselves unwilling rather than devout.” These words do not refer to the necessity imposed by a vow, for by a vow devotion, is increased. This appears from the very etymology of the word. Quod vero secundo propositum est, quod necessarium est minus meritorium, intelligendum est de necessitate quae ab alio imponitur contra voluntatem ipsius. Sed cum aliquis sibi ipsi necessitatem imponit bene faciendi, ex hoc laudabilior redditur, quia per hoc se facit quodammodo servum iustitiae, ut apostolus monet ad Rom. VI 19; unde et Augustinus dicit in epistola ad Paulinam et Armentarium: felix necessitas quae ad meliora compellit. The second argument, viz. that which is done out of necessity is less meritorious than that which is done freely, must be understood of the necessity imposed on a man against his own will. But when a man lays upon himself the necessity of doing good, his action is thereby rendered more praiseworthy, since he who performs it is “a servant of justice,” which St. Paul exhorts us all to become (Rom 6:18). Hence St. Augustine, in his epistle to Paulina and Armentarius, exclaims, “Blessed necessity which constrains us to better things.” Quod vero tertio propositum est de Iudaeis convertendis libera voluntate, patet ad propositum non pertinere. Libertati enim voluntatis non opponitur confirmatio voluntatis in bono: alioquin nec Deus nec beati liberam voluntatem haberent. Opponitur autem ei necessitas coactionis ex violentia vel metu procedens. Et ideo signanter dicit canon de Iudaeis: praecepit sancta synodus nemini deinceps ad credendum vim inferre. Per votum autem vel iuramentum non infertur homini vis, sed ex eis voluntas hominis confirmatur in bonum: unde per hoc non redditur homo invitus, sed magis firmiter volens; et iam incipit homo quodammodo facere, inquantum se obligat ad faciendum. Et per hunc etiam modum nullus sanae mentis diceret esse illicitum inducere Iudaeos ut se propria voluntate obligarent vel iuramento vel voto ad accipiendum Baptismum. The third argument, which refers to the conversion of the Jews of their own free will, does not appear relevant to our subject. For the will may be confirmed in good without any violation of its liberty; otherwise neither God nor the blessed in Heaven would enjoy free will. But coercion, proceeding either from violence or fear, is repugnant to liberty. Therefore, the Canon De Judaeis expressly condemns it, saying, “The holy Synod henceforth forbids violence to be used towards anyone to make them believe.” But neither a vow nor an oath do violence to a man; they merely serve to confirm his will in good. Therefore, neither a vow nor an oath render a man unwilling, but rather cause him to will more strongly, and to begin, in so far as may lie in his power, to execute what he has bound himself to. No one in his senses will say that it is unlawful to persuade Jews to bind themselves by vow or oath to be baptized. Quod autem quinto propositum est, quod aliquando voto vel iuramento se ad religionem obligantes retrocedunt, et in desperationem incidentes tradunt se omni iniquitati, et sic fiunt filii Gehennae duplo quam illi qui eos inducunt: refellitur per verbum apostoli qui dicit Rom. III, 3: nunquid incredulitas illorum fidem Dei evacuavit? Ex quo accipere possumus, quod per hoc quod quidam bonis abutuntur, nullum fit praeiudicium illis qui perseverant in bono. Sicut etiam Glossa dicit ibidem, quod non ideo quia aliqui Iudaeorum credere noluerunt, idcirco praeiudicabitur ceteris Iudaeis, ne digni dicantur accipere quod Deus promisit fidelibus: similiter etiam nec ideo quia aliqui voventes vel iurantes religionem intrare, post votum poenitent, et deteriores fiunt, idcirco aliquid praeiudicat illis qui voventes in voto perseverant. Et ideo, qui homines inducunt ad vovendum religionis ingressum, non faciunt eos filios Gehennae, quantum in eis est, sed potius filios regni; praesertim cum plures ex talibus proficiant, votum implentes, quam deficiant a voto recedentes: The fourth contention of our opponents is that sometimes those who have bound themselves by oath or vow to go into religion lapse, and falling into despair, abandon themselves to all manner of iniquity; and thus they become the children of hell, twofold more than they who led them to become religious. This objection is answered by St. Paul, “Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” (Rom 3:3). From which words we are to conclude that the fact that some men abuse grace is not detrimental to the perseverance of others in good. The Gloss says on this passage that the refusal of certain Jews to believe in no wise hinders others of their nation from accepting what God has promised to His faithful. In the same way, the fact that certain men, after taking a vow or an oath to embrace the religious life, change their minds and become worse than they were before, is no hindrance to others who, having taken a vow, persevere in its accomplishment. Therefore, they who persuade men to make a vow to become religious do not, so far as they are concerned, make them children of hell, but rather children of the Kingdom; since the number of those who persevere is greater than that of those who fall away. nisi forte, quod absit, pravis exemplis eos ad peccandum inducerent, ut patet per expositionem Hieronymi et Chrysostomi. Videtur tamen huic rationi suffragari quod apostolus dicit I ad Tim. V, 11: adolescentiores viduas devita: et rationem assignat cum subdit: damnationem habentes quod primam fidem irritam fecerunt, qua scilicet Deo continentiam promiserunt. Sed, sicut Hieronymus dicit in epistola de monogamia ad Geruchiam: propter has quae fornicatae iniuriam viri sui Christi fecerunt, vult apostolus alterum matrimonium, praeferens digamiam fornicationi, secundum indulgentiam duntaxat, non secundum imperium, quia multo tolerabilius est digamam esse quam scortum, secundum habere virum quam plures adulteros. Non ergo apostolus prohibet simpliciter adolescentes viduas continentiam vovere, cum I ad Cor. VII 8 dicat quod melius est eis si sic in viduitate permanserint; sed eas prohibet recipi ad stipendia Ecclesiae, quae in lascivia vivunt: unde dicit: adolescentes viduas devita quae cum luxuriatae fuerint in Christo, nubere volunt. It is nevertheless possible (though God forbid it!) that they may, as appears by the exposition of St. Jerome and St. Chrysostom, by their bad example lead those whom they influence into sin. Our argument seems to be supported by the words of St. Paul (1 Tim 5:11), “But the younger widows avoid,” an exhortation for which he gives the following reason: “Having damnation, because they have made void their first faith,” whereby, that is, they pledged themselves before God to continence. But, as St. Jerome says in his epistle De monogamia ad Agerunchiam, on account of those who have committed fornication against Christ their Spouse, the Apostle desires them to marry again, preferring a second marriage to fornication. For it is much better to be a wife for a second time, than to have commerce with a debauchee or with many adulterers. But St. Paul does not, on this account, forbid young widows to make a simple vow of continency—In fact, he rather commends such a practice, saying, “it is good for them if they so continue,” i.e. in their widowhood (1 Cor 7:8)—but he forbids widows who are living in wantonness to be assisted by the alms of the Church. “But the younger widow avoid, for when they have grown wanton in Christ they will marry” (1 Tim 5:11). Quod vero sexto proponunt, quod aliqui post votum de ingressu religionis emissum, in saeculo remanentes facti sunt boni episcopi, manifeste veritati contrariatur: ut patet per decretalem Innocentii, quae habetur de voto et voti redemptione, quae sic dicit: per tuas litteras nobis intimasti te in Gratianopolitana Ecclesia suscipiendi habitum regularem votum solemniter emisisse, et postea promisisse in manibus praelati eiusdem Ecclesiae, te infra duos menses, postquam ab apostolica sede rediisses, votum quod emiseras, impleturum. Cumque termino ipso transacto non curaveras quod voveras adimplere, tandem existens voti transgressor, vocatus fuisti ad regimen Ecclesiae Gebenensis. Et infra: nos igitur tuae discretioni consulimus, ut si tuam sanare desideras conscientiam, regimen resignes Ecclesiae memoratae, ac reddas altissimo vota tua. Ex quo patet manifeste quod non possunt bona conscientia vel episcopatum vel archidiaconatum retinere qui voverunt religionem intrare; et ita, si retinent, non sunt boni episcopi vel archidiaconi, cum sint voti transgressores. As for the sixth argument, namely that some men who have made vows to go into religion have, nevertheless, remained in the world and become good bishops, it is patently contrary to fact. In the decree of Innocent, which treats of vows and their accomplishments, we find the following passage, “You state in your letters to us that you made a solemn vow in the church of Grenoble to assume the religious habit, and that you further promised, in the hands of the Bishop of the same church, to fulfil this vow within the period of two months on your return from the Apostolic See. Nevertheless, heedless that the time for accomplishing your promise has expired, although unfaithful to a vow, you have been called to the government of the Church of Geneva. We counsel you then that if you desire to give peace to your conscience, you should renounce the see, and should pay to the Most High your vows.” Hence it is plain that a man who has vowed to go into religion cannot, with a good conscience, retain a bishopric or an archdeaconate; and should he retain it, he would not be a good bishop or archdeacon, but a traitor to his vow. Quod autem septimo propositum est, quod non sunt aliqui ad Dei cultum muneris interventu provocandi, solvitur per idem cap. quod ad hoc inducunt: sequitur enim post verba praemissa: nisi forte de pauperum alimento quis incondigne proponat, quorum nulli, cuiuscumque professionis esset, victualia negabantur. Ex quo patet quod inconvenienter redarguunt eos qui pauperibus scholaribus bursas procurant, et eos in studiis nutriunt ut postmodum sint religioni aptiores. Sed et si qua alia beneficia terrena alicui conferantur, ut ex hoc eius familiaritate captata provocetur ad melius, non est illicitum; esset autem illicitum si aliqua pactio vel conventio interveniret. Unde et in eodem cap. subditur: dum omnis absit pactio et omnis cesset conventio. Alioquin, si non liceret aliquem per temporalia beneficia provocare ad aliquod spirituale bonum, illicitum esset quod in quibusdam Ecclesiis quaedam distribuuntur his qui ad officium divinum accedunt. The next contention, viz. that men should not be bribed to enter religion, is answered by the very chapter quoted in support of it. For it declares that “unless someone has the intention of feeding the poor, no one of any profession whatsoever is to be refused maintenance.” Hence it appears that the practice of burses for poor scholars, and of supporting them during their studies in order that they may be more fit to enter religion, is by no means to be condemned. Neither is it unlawful to bestow some material benefit upon a man, in order that he may be encouraged, by such a favour, to do better; but it would be unlawful to enter into a compact or agreement with him. Hence in the same chapter, it is laid down that all compacts and agreements must be avoided. Were it unlawful to encourage persons to spiritual good by means of material assistance, the custom, prevalent in certain churches, of giving a largesse to those who assist at the divine office, would be unjustifiable. Quod vero octavo propositum est, contra fidelitatem esse quod iuvenes inducuntur ad gravia onera, scilicet ieiunia, vigilias et huiusmodi, manifestam continet falsitatem. His enim qui in religione recipiuntur, vel ad eam obligantur, a principio graviora religionis onera manifestantur. Nec tamen est contra fidelitatem, si ad provocandos aliquos ad religionem, cuius asperitates sunt manifestae, spirituales eis aliquis consolationes repromittat, exemplo domini qui dicebat Matth. XI, 29: tollite iugum meum super vos, et discite a me, quia mitis sum et humilis corde; et invenietis requiem animabus vestris. In quibus verbis et corporale onus significatur per hoc quod iugum nominat, et spiritualis consolatio in hoc quod quietem promittit. Unde Augustinus dicit in Lib. de verbis domini: qui iugum domini intrepida cervice subierunt, tam difficilia pericula patiuntur, ut non a laboribus ad quietem, sed a quiete ad laborem vocari videantur. Sed profecto adest spiritus sanctus, qui in affluentia deliciarum Dei, in spe futurae beatitudinis omnia praesentia deliniret, aspera et omnia gravia relevaret. Satis ergo spiritualium deliciarum inexpertos se indicant, eos decipi arbitrantes qui ea quae sunt corpori gravia, propter Christum suscipiunt. The eighth argument, viz. that it leads to unfaithfulness to persuade young persons to adopt such painful practices as fasting, watching, and the like, contains a fallacy which may easily be detected. For those who are received to the religious life, or who are bound by vow to enter it, are, from the very outset, shown its hardships. It does not lead men to unfaithfulness if, in order to persuade them to embrace a life whose sufferings are manifest, we, after the example of Christ, hold out to them the prospect of spiritual consolations. “Take my yoke upon you,” said our Lord, “and learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest for your soul” (Mt 11:29). In these words, physical labour is symbolised by the “yoke,” and spiritual consolation by the “rest” promised to those that bear it. Hence St. Augustine, in De verbis Domini, says, “They who bravely submit to the yoke of the Lord, undergo such dangers and difficulties that they appear to be called, not from labour to rest, but from rest to labour. But the Holy Spirit who is with them by the abundance of heavenly delights and the hope of future blessedness, sweetens all present bitterness and lightens all present loads.” Therefore, they who judge that men deceive themselves by undertaking hardships for Christ’s sake, merely show that they have had no experience of heavenly delights. Quod vero nono propositum est de statuto Innocentii Papae, ad propositum non facit: quia statutum illud est editum de voto solemni, quod per professionem emittitur; non autem de voto simplici, quo aliqui ad religionem ex devotione se obligant. The ninth argument is quite irrelevant to the matter in hand. The statute of Pope Innocent, which is quoted, refers to solemn vows made at professions, not to simple vows whereby people bind themselves out of devotion to go into religion. Quod vero decimo propositum est, posse parentes huiusmodi vota impuberum retractare, efficaciam non habet: non enim omne illud quod revocari potest, illicite committitur: alioquin oporteret dicere, quod minores vigintiquinque annis peccarent in omnibus quae cum suo damno faciunt, quia possunt in integrum restitui. Sic igitur impuberes non peccant, si votum religionis emittant, vel si etiam habitum religionis assumant absque parentum scientia, quamvis hoc possit per parentes revocari: alioquin si hoc esset peccatum, prohiberetur per canones, per quos parentibus revocandi facultas conceditur. The tenth objection, viz, that parents can annul the vows of children not yet arrived at the age of puberty, carries no weight. For the fact that an engagement may be broken does not make such an engagement sinful. It would be equally reasonable to say that whatever minors, that is persons under twenty-five years of age, may do to the detriment of their own interest is unlawful, because anything that they lose can be completely restored to them. Hence children commit no sin by taking a vow to go into religion, or by assuming the religious habit without their parents’ permission, even though such vows can be annulled. Were they to commit sin by taking such vows, the fact would be noted by the Canons, which grant faculties to parents to dissolve the vows of children. Ea vero quae undecimo de apparatu decretalium et summis iuristarum proponuntur, ad propositum non faciunt: quia loquuntur de voto solemni, quod monachum facit, vel cuiuscumque religionis professum: de quo fuerunt inter doctores iuris canonici opiniones diversae: quamvis inconsonum et derisibile videatur quod sacrae doctrinae professores, iuristarum glossulas in auctoritatem inducant, vel de eis disceptent. The eleventh argument, which rests upon quotations from the decretals de apparatu, and from the Summae of the jurists Raymund and Goffin, does not bear upon our point. The passages quoted refer to the solemn vow which makes a person a religious or a professed member of some order. Doctors of Canon law held different opinions about their vow, although it would seem inconsistent and ridiculous for professors of sacred learning to quote as authorities the little glosses of jurists, or to make them a basis of argument. Illud etiam quod duodecimo de iuramento proponitur, ad propositum non facit: quia non prohibent canones pueros iurare sed decernunt quod iurare non cogantur. The twelfth objection, that which concerns oaths, is likewise irrelevant, for the Canons do not forbid children to take oaths; they only prohibit their being obliged to do so. Quod vero tertiodecimo proponitur, falsitatem continet. Pueri enim ligati sunt professione fidei Christianae, quam etiam in Baptismo sacramentaliter elegerunt. Unde possunt iterato ligari et eligere perfectionis statum. Quamvis et propter aliud hoc incongrue dicatur: quia et in ipso sacramento Baptismi pueri Christianam religionem suscipiunt, et religantur Deo, ipsum iterum eligentes, a quo per peccatum primi parentis fuerunt separati. The fallacy contained in the thirteenth argument is easily detected. Children are bound by that profession of Christian faith which they have chosen in the Sacrament of Baptism. Therefore, they may be bound anew, and can make a further choice of the state of perfection. This, however, is not a very correct way of speaking, since in Baptism children receive the Christian religion and are bound again to God, making afresh their choice of Him from whom the sin of our first parents had separated them. Demum profanam conclusionem pueros stultitiae arguentem, piorum aures ferre non valent. Quis enim puerum Benedictum stultitiae argui patiatur, quod relicta domo rebusque patris, soli Deo placere desiderans, sanctae conversationis habitum et desertum quaesivit? Quis nisi haereticus blasphemet Ioannem Baptistam, de quo legitur Luc. I, 80, quod puer crescebat et confortabatur spiritu, et erat in desertis usque ad diem ostensionis suae ad Israel? Manifeste tales insultatores animales se esse demonstrant, dum stultitiam reputant ea quae sunt spiritus Dei: qui sicut Ambrosius dicit super Lucam, non arcetur aetatibus, non finitur morte, non excluditur alvo. Et sicut Gregorius dicit in homilia Pentecostes, qui implet cytharedum puerum, et Psalmistam facit; implet puerum abstinentem, et iudicem senum facit. Utar ergo e contrario verbis apostoli dicentis, I ad Cor. III, 18: si quis inter vos sapiens videtur in hoc saeculo, stultus fiat, ut sit sapiens. Stultus quidem secundum sapientiam mundi, quae stultitia est apud Deum; non autem secundum sapientiam Dei, quae, sicut legitur Prov. I, 22, parvulos alloquitur dicens: usquequo parvuli diligitis infantias? Et postea: convertimini ad correctionem meam: en proferam vobis spiritum meum. Finally, the profane conclusion whereby these objections end, and which accuses children of folly, is an affront to pious ears. Who would presume to blame the holy child St. Benedict because, in his desire to please God alone, he left his father’s house, and sought for holy conversation and a solitary dwelling? Who but a heretic would blaspheme against St. John the Baptist, of whom we are told (Luke 1:80) that “the child grew and was strengthened in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel”? Such presumptuous words show that they who speak them are carnal men, who reckon as folly what is of the spirit of God. St. Ambrose says, in his commentary on the Gospel of Luke, “The Holy Spirit is not limited to age, nor extinguished by death, nor shut out by the womb.” St. Gregory, in his Homilia Pentecostes, likewise says, “He fills the harp-playing youth, and makes of him a Psalmist; He fills the herdsman who was uprooting a fig tree, and makes of him a Prophet: He fills the abstemious youth, and makes of him a venerable judge: He fills the fisherman, and makes of him a preacher: He fills the persecutor, and makes of him a teacher of the nations; He fills the publican, and makes of him an Evangelist.” I will further quote the words of St. Paul (1 Cor 3:18), “If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” For he who is a fool in the wisdom of this world (which is folly in the sight of God) is no fool in the wisdom of God. The book of Proverbs (1:22), speaking to children, says, “O children, how long will you love childishness? Give heed to my reproof. I will utter my words [Vul: spirit] to you.”
Caput 14
In quo ponuntur rationes contra perfectionem religiosorum non habentium possessiones in communiCHAPTER 14
Arguments Against the Perfection of Religious Whose Possessions Are Not in CommonNunc restat considerandum, quomodo homines a religione retrahere conantur religionis perfectioni derogando, maxime eorum qui in communi possessiones non habent. Inducunt enim illud quod dicit prosper in Lib. de vita contemplativa, et habetur 12, quaest. I: expedit facultates Ecclesiae possideri, et proprias perfectionis amore contemni: non enim propriae sunt, sed communes Ecclesiae facultates. Et ideo quisquis omnibus quae habuit, dimissis aut venditis, fit rei suae contemptor; cum praepositus fuerit Ecclesiae, omnium quae habet Ecclesia, efficitur dispensator. Denique sanctus Paulinus ingentia praedia quae fuerunt sua, vendita, pauperibus erogavit; sed cum factus episcopus esset, non contempsit Ecclesiae facultates, sed fidelissime dispensavit. Quo facto satis ostenditur et propria debere propter perfectionem contemni, et sine impedimento perfectionis Ecclesiae facultates posse quae sunt communia possidere. Ex hoc accipere volunt non pertinere ad perfectionem, non habere possessiones communes. WE must now examine how the adversaries of the religious life seek to withhold men from embracing it by decrying the perfection of this state, and especially the perfection of those religious whose possessions are not in common. In order to uphold their opinion they quote the following words from Prosper in his book, De vita contemplativa (XII. quaest. I), “We should possess the goods of the Church and, for the love of poverty, spurn our own possessions. The property of the Church is not private, but common. Therefore, anyone who has relinquished or sold his own belongings despises private property; but, when he is set over a Church, he becomes the administrator of all the possessions of that Church. St. Paulinus, as is well known, sold his large property and gave the effects to the poor; but, when he became Bishop, far from despising the possessions of his Church, he administered them with the utmost fidelity. This fact is sufficient evidence that we ought to relinquish our private belongings, on account of the imperfection attaching to them, but that it is quite possible (without any detriment to poverty), to possess ecclesiastical property, which is common.” Hence, our adversaries draw the conclusion that it is imperfect not to hold common property. Inducunt etiam ad hoc aliorum sanctorum exempla. Nam b. Gregorius de facultatibus suis, intra urbis Romanae moenia unum monasterium, in Sicilia vero sex legitur construxisse. Beatus etiam Benedictus, monachorum praeceptor almificus, amplas possessiones pro suo monasterio recepit. Quod tanti viri, evangelicae perfectionis aemulatores, nullo modo fecissent, si possessiones communes in aliquo apostolicae et evangelicae perfectioni derogarent. Et ex hoc concludere volunt, non pertinere ad maiorem perfectionem quod aliqui possessionibus careant. Addunt etiam, quod apostoli, quibus dominus mandaverat ut nihil possiderent nec aliquid deferrent in via, tempore necessitatis aliqua possidebant. Unde super illud Luc. XXII, 36: sed nunc qui habet sacculum, tollat etc., dicit Glossa, quod instante mortis articulo, et tota illa gente pastorem simul et gregem persequente, congruam tempori regulam decernit, permittens ut tollant victui necessaria. Non autem persecutionis tempore apostoli minoris perfectionis fuerunt. Igitur possidere communia perfectionem non diminuit. They maintain their opinion by quoting the example of several Saints. Thus Gregory, with his money, built one monastery within the walls of Rome and six in Sicily. St. Benedict, that perfect guide of religious, accepted large donations for his monastery; and many other men, who have been zealous for evangelical perfection, have acted like manner. These great men, who were zealous seekers after evangelical perfection, would certainly not have pursued such a course, had the possession of goods in common been in any degree inconsistent with Apostolic and Evangelical perfection. Our opponents draw from this argument the further conclusion that those who possess nothing are not, therefore, the most perfect; and they add that the Apostles, whom our Lord commanded to possess nothing and to take nothing with them on their way, did nevertheless hold certain possessions in time of necessity. Hence, commenting on the words of Luke, “But now, he who has a purse let him take it, and likewise a bag,” the Gloss says that “now, when the hour of death was at hand, and the whole nation were in pursuit of the shepherd and the flock, Christ gave a rule befitting the occasion, allowing them to take what was necessary for the support of life.” Dicunt insuper, quod Christus ordinem apostolorum instituit, quibus succedunt episcopi et clerici possessiones habentes; ordines autem religiosorum absque possessionibus in paupertate viventium postea ab aliis sunt instituti. Quod autem Christus instituit, perfectius est. Perfectius igitur esse videtur communes possessiones habere, quam absque possessionibus vivere. Arguunt insuper, quod non est credibile quod perfectio quam Christus instituit, obdormisset intermissa a tempore apostolorum usque ad haec tempora, in quibus aliqui ordines inceperunt sine communibus possessionibus vivere. Unde concludere volunt, quod communibus possessionibus carere ad perfectionem evangelicam non pertineat. It is also argued that Christ Himself instituted the order of His disciples, whose successors, the bishops, and clerics, have property. Religious orders, on the other hand, whose members live in poverty without possessions, were formed by men. Now what Christ has instituted must be most perfect. Therefore it is more perfect to hold goods in common than to live without property. Our opponents likewise (incredible though it may appear) contend that the perfection taught by Christ has been in abeyance from the Apostolic times until now; and that it is in our days that certain orders have begun to live without possessing anything in common. The conclusion drawn from this proposition is that the absence of common property does not pertain to Evangelical perfection. Dicunt etiam, quod si qui post apostolorum tempora communibus possessionibus caruerunt, vivebant de opere manuali, sicut legitur de sanctis patribus in Aegypto. Unde illi qui possessionibus communibus carent, et tamen de opere manuali non vivunt, videntur omnino ab evangelica perfectione deficere. Inducunt etiam, quod divitiarum abrenuntiatio introducta est ad tollendum solicitudinem temporalium rerum, secundum illud Matth. VI 25: nolite solliciti esse animae vestrae quid manducetis etc.; et I ad Cor. VII 32: volo vos sine solicitudine esse. Sed maior solicitudo imminet victus quaerendi his qui possessiones non habent, quam his qui sufficientiam victus iam habent per possessiones communes. Ergo communibus possessionibus carere diminuit evangelicam perfectionem. Circa hoc etiam addunt, quod tales religiosi necesse habent de negotiis multorum se intromittere, qui eis necessaria victus ministrant; et sic multiplicantur in eis temporalium sollicitudines perfectioni evangelicae adversantes. Videntur igitur ex hoc ipso quod possessionibus communibus carent, detrimentum perfectionis pati. Dicunt denique, hoc esse impossibile quod aliqui nihil in communi vel proprio possideant quia necesse est quod comedant et bibant et induantur; quod facere non possent, si nihil haberent. Ex his igitur derogare nituntur perfectioni possessiones non habentium in communi. Another argument, brought forward by the enemies of the religious life, is that those who, after the time of the Apostles, held no goods in common, lived as did the Fathers of the desert, by the work of their hands. Therefore, they say, those who neither possess common property, nor live by their manual labour do not practise Evangelical perfection. They likewise hold that the counsel of renouncing wealth was given as a means whereby to free our minds from worldly care, as we learn from Luke 12:22, “Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat,” and from St. Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians (7:32), “But I would have you be without solicitude.” Now they who have not sufficient property to provide them with the necessities of life are more disturbed by anxiety than those who hold certain possessions in common. Therefore the absence of common property is an obstacle to Evangelical perfection. It is further maintained that religious who possess nothing are compelled to busy themselves in the affairs of those who supply their necessities, and that this solicitude about temporal matters militates against Evangelical perfection. Therefore they who possess nothing are beset by impediments in the way of perfection. Finally, the adversaries of religious poverty say that it is impossible for anyone to possess nothing in common; for all must have food and clothing, which they could not obtain if they had no property. These are the arguments brought against the perfection of those who own no common property.
Caput 15
In quo confutatur error praemissusCHAPTER 15
Refutation of the Errors Quoted in the Last ChapterOportet autem attendere, quod praedicti paupertatis impugnatores, doctrinae Christi, nec non et vitae ipsius non modicum adversantur, qui in omnibus paupertatem servandam verbo docuit et exemplo monstravit. Dicit enim de ipso apostolus II Cor. VIII, 9: quod propter nos egenus factus est, cum dives esset. Paupertatem enim assumpsit, ut Glossa ibidem dicit et divitias non amisit, intus dives, foris pauper, latens Deus in divitiis, apparens homo in paupertate. Ex quo his qui Christi paupertatem sequuntur, magna dignitas accrescit. Unde post pauca ibidem concluditur: nemo igitur se contemnat, pauper in cella, dives in conscientia. Et ut ab exordio introitus eius in mundum incipiamus, pauperculam elegit matrem, pauperiorem patriam, egens fit pecuniis: et hoc tibi exponat praesepe, ut legitur in quodam synodali sermone Ephesini Concilii. Et post pauca subditur: respice pauperrimum habitaculum eius qui ditat caelum. Vide praesepe sedentis super Cherubim: vide pannis obsitum eum qui pelagus harenae vinxit, vide deorsum paupertatem, divitias eius sursum considerans. Si autem non propter se, sed propter nos egenus factus est, secundum apostolum, nunquid non poterat matrem multas possessiones habentem eligere, atque in domo propria nasci, si nihil ad perfectionem Christianae vitae pertineret terrenas possessiones non habere, quinimmo propria domo carere? Confundantur igitur paupertatis detractores, cuius gloria in ipsis Christi cunabulis praeclare refulget. WE must remember that the enemies of poverty impugn, not only the teaching, but the life of our Lord. Christ has taught us both by word and example to observe poverty in all things. St. Paul tells us (2 Cor 8:9), “that being rich, He became poor for our sakes.” The Gloss, commenting on these words, says that “He took poverty upon Himself, although He did not lose His riches. Interiorly He was rich, exteriorly He was poor. He concealed the treasure of His Godhead, and revealed the poverty of His Manhood.” Hence those who follow Christ in poverty acquire great dignity, as we shall presently show. “Therefore (the Gloss concludes) let no one despise Him who, though poor in His dwelling, was rich in conscience. If we consider His life, from His first entry into the world, we shall see that He chose a poor maiden for His Mother, and willed to be needy and in want, and to have for His birthplace the poorest of poor cities. The stable is a monument of His poverty, as we are reminded in a certain address delivered at one of the synods of the Council of Ephesus.” “See (we quote part of this address) the most humble dwelling of Him who enriches Heaven. A crib suffices Him who sits above the Cherubim; and He who has joined the sea to the dry land is Himself swathed in swaddling bands. Mark His poverty here below; consider the abundance of His riches above.” But if Christ, as St. Paul says, had not become poor for our sakes, not for His own, could He not have chosen a wealthy mother and might He not have been born in His own house? If the abnegation of earthly possessions is of no account in Christian perfection, why should our Lord have deprived Himself even of a home? Therefore, let the enemies of poverty blush and be silent, while the glory of this virtue radiates from the crib of Christ. Et ne putetur paupertatem, quam in infantia sustinuit, in perfecta deseruisse aetate; videamus quid ipse de se dicat Matth. VIII, 20: filius, inquit, hominis non habet ubi caput suum reclinet; quasi dicat, ut Hieronymus exponit: quid me propter divitias et saeculi lucra cupis sequi, cum tantae sim paupertatis, ut nec hospitiolum quidem habeam, et tecto utar non meo. Et Chrysostomus idem exponens dicit: aspice qualiter paupertatem, quam dominus docuerat, per opera demonstravit. Non erat ei mensa, non candelabrum, non domus, nec quidquam aliud talium. Haec autem paupertas ad perfectionem pertinet, quam dominus et verbo docuit, et per opera demonstravit. Pertinet igitur ad perfectionem Christianae vitae terrenis possessionibus omnino carere. But, lest we may imagine that in his more mature years our Lord abandoned the poverty which He bore in childhood, let us consider His own words. “The Son of man,” He said, “has nowhere to lay His head (Mt 8:20). St. Jerome makes the following comment on this text: “Christ spoke thus, as if to say, ‘Why should you desire to follow me for the sake of gaining worldly pomp and riches, since my poverty is so extreme that I have no dwelling of mine own, and since the roof under which I sleep belongs not to me?” And St. Chrysostom, writing on the same subject, says, “Observe how our Lord exemplifies in His deeds the poverty which He taught by His words. He had neither table nor lantern nor house nor any such thing,” And this poverty which He preached both by word and deed belongs to perfection. Thus we see that the entire abnegation of all earthly possessions forms part of the perfection of the Christian life. Rursus ulterius procedentes, invenimus testimonium paupertatis Christi ex hoc quod, cum pro eo tributum requireretur, dixit Petro: vade ad mare, et mitte hamum, et eum piscem qui primo ascenderit tolle, et aperto ore eius invenies staterem: illum sumens da eis pro me et te. In cuius expositione Hieronymus dicit: hoc etiam simpliciter intellectum aedificat auditorem, dum audit tantae dominum fuisse paupertatis ut unde tributa pro se et apostolo redderet, non habuerit. We find a further proof of the poverty practised by our Lord in the words which He spoke to St. Peter concerning the tribute money, “Go to the sea, and cast in a hook: and the fish which shall first come up, take; and when you open its mouth you shall find a coin; take it and give it to them for me and for you” (Mt 17:26). In his exposition of this text, St. Jerome says: “These words, understood simply, edify the hearer, showing as they do that the Lord was so poor that He had not nothing with which to pay tribute for Himself and His Apostle.” Quod si quis obiicere voluerit, quomodo Iudas in loculis portabat pecuniam? Respondebimus. Rem pauperum in usus suos convertere nefas putavit, nobisque idem exemplum reliquit. Manifestum est autem, nec alicui Christiano debet venire in dubium, quod Christus summam perfectionem in sua conversatione servavit; unde et ad paupertatis perfectionem dicebat: si vis perfectus esse, vade et vende omnia quae habes, et da pauperibus; et veni, sequere me: in quo est perfectionis summa, ut Hieronymus dicit. Haec est igitur summa paupertatis perfectio ut ad exemplum Christi aliqui homines possessionibus careant, etsi aliqua reservent ad pauperum usum, praesertim quorum eis cura incumbit; sicut dominus praecipue suos discipulos propter ipsum pauperes effectos, de his quae sibi dabantur reservans, sustentabat. But, someone may object, how then could Judas carry money in his purse? We answer that our Lord considered it criminal to use the money intended for the poor for His own purposes and that, in this, He has left us an example. But it is clear, and cannot be called in question by any Christian, that Christ practised the most sublime perfection in the tenor of His life, and therefore He taught the perfection of poverty. “If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” These words, according to St. Jerome, contain the highest rule of perfection. Therefore it is the perfection of poverty for men, after the example of Christ, to be destitute of all possessions and only to reserve something for the poor, especially for those dependent upon them, Thus our Lord took care of His disciples who had made themselves poor for His sake, reserving for their sustenance something from the things which were given Him. Inter cetera vero quae Christus in mortali vita vel fecit vel passus est, praecipue Christianis imitandum proponitur venerandae crucis exemplum: unde et ipse dominus dicebat Matth. XVI, 24: si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me; unde et apostolus quasi simul cum Christo cruci confixus, et in sola Christi cruce gloriam habens dicebat: ego stigmata domini in corpore meo porto, exemplum crucis diligenter secutus. Inter alia vero crucis insignia apparet omnimoda paupertas, in qua exterioribus rebus privatus est usque ad corporis nuditatem: unde ex persona eius in Psalmo dicitur: diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea, et super vestem meam miserunt sortem. Hanc autem crucis nuditatem per voluntariam paupertatem homines sequuntur, et praecipue qui possessionum redditibus carent; unde dicit Hieronymus ad Paulinum presbyterum: tu audita sententia salvatoris: si vis perfectus esse, vade, et vende omnia, quae habes, et da pauperibus, et veni, sequere me: verba vertis in opera, et nudam crucem nudus sequens, expeditior et levior scandis scalam Iacob. Et post pauca subdit: nihil est enim grande tristi et lurida facie vel simulare vel ostentare ieiunia, possessionum redditibus abundare, et vile iactare palliolum. Sic igitur patet inimicos esse crucis Christi praedictos adversarios paupertatis, qui terrena sapientes, terrenas possessiones ad perfectionem Christianam pertinere arbitrantur per quorum abiectionem fiat minor perfectio. But among all that Christ did and suffered during His mortal life, the example of His most holy Cross is, above all other things, proposed to Christians for their imitation. He Himself says, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). St. Paul also, speaking as though crucified with Christ, and exulting only in His Cross, says (Gal 6:17), “I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body,” being a diligent follower of the example of the Cross. Now among all that is conspicuous in the Cross, poverty is everywhere apparent. So utter, indeed, was the destitution of our Lord upon the Cross that He suffered even bodily nakedness and exclaims in the person of the Psalmist (21:19), “ They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots.” Now men imitate this nakedness of the Cross by voluntary poverty, especially when they renounce the revenues of their possessions. Thus St. Jerome, writing to the priest Paulinus, says, “Now that you have heard the counsel of our Saviour: ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor and come, follow Me,’ put His words into practice and, stripped of all things, follow the nakedness of the Cross. So shall you more easily and more speedily scale Jacob’s ladder.” A little further on, he adds, “It is no great thing for a man to wear a sad and pallid countenance, to make a display of fasting, and to wear a beggarly cloak if, at the same time, he draws a princely income from his property.” Hence we see how truly those are enemies of the Cross of Christ who impugn poverty and, savouring earthly things, deem that material possessions tend to Christian perfection, and that the abnegation of such possessions detracts from such perfection. His igitur circa vitam Christi consideratis tam in eius ortu, quam in eius progressu, quam etiam in ipso crucis occasu; ad Christi doctrinam accedamus, qui discipulos simul et turbas instruens, a paupertate principium sumpsit, Matth. V, 3, ubi dicit: beati pauperes spiritu: quod Hieronymus exponens dicit: qui scilicet propter spiritum sanctum voluntate sunt pauperes: et, sicut Ambrosius dicit super Lucam: primum uterque Evangelista hanc beatitudinem posuit. Ordine enim prima est, et parens quaedam generatrixque virtutum: quia qui contempserit saecularia, ipse merebitur sempiterna: nec potest quisque meritum regni caelestis adipisci, qui mundi cupiditate possessus est. Now that we have considered certain points in the life of Christ, in His birth, in His manhood, and in His death upon the Cross, let us proceed to reflect upon His teaching. In the instruction which He gave both to His disciples and to the multitudes, He began with poverty as a foundation, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3). St Jerome explains these words as follows: “By the poor in spirit are to be understood they who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, have the will to be poor.” As St. Ambrose says, on the Gospel of Luke, “Both Evangelists mention the beatitude of poverty in the first place. And indeed poverty is the first in order of virtues, and the mother and producer of all others. For he who spurns earthly riches shall merit such as are eternal, neither can he deserve to receive the reward of the Kingdom of Heaven, who is possessed by the spirit of covetousness.” Qualis autem pauper spiritu praecipue sit, b. Basilius ostendit dicens: beatus pauper, quasi Christi discipulus qui pro nobis paupertatem sustinuit: nam ipse dominus quodlibet opus implevit quod ad beatitudinem ducit, se praebens exemplar discentibus. Numquam autem dominus legitur possessiones habuisse. Non igitur beatitudinis detrimentum habet paupertas eorum qui possessionibus carere volunt propter Christum, sed magis beatitudinis augmentum. Deinde dominus electis duodecim apostolis, ad praedicandum eos mittens, concessa eis miraculorum potestate, inter cetera vitae documenta, primo inducit paupertatis doctrinam, dicens Matth. X, 9: nolite possidere aurum nec argentum, neque pecuniam in zonis vestris, non peram in via; quod exponens Eusebius Caesariensis dicit: prohibebat eis auri et argenti et aeris possessionem, praecognitione futurorum. Contemplabatur enim quod qui sanandi erant per eos, et ab incurabilibus passionibus liberandi, vellent eis cedere in omnibus bonis suis; et post aliqua subdit: putabat oportere conductos arrha regni Dei, terrena despicere, ut nec aurum nec argentum nec possessiones nec quidquam eorum quae mortales appretiantur, condignum existiment datis sibi caelestibus opibus; nec non cum milites eos faceret regni Dei, monebat eos colere paupertatem. St. Basil further shows us in these words what is specially meant by poverty of spirit: “Blessed is he who is poor as a true disciple of Christ, who bore poverty for us. For the Lord Himself accomplished every work that leads to perfection, giving Himself as an example to those who will learn of Him,” Now we never read that Christ owned any possessions. Therefore poverty is no hindrance to the perfection of those who desire to renounce what they possess, for the love of Christ; on the contrary such poverty greatly increases their perfection. Hence, when our Lord was sending forth His twelve chosen Apostles to preach, and when He had given them the power to perform miracles, He impressed upon them, as their first rule of life, the exercise of poverty, saying, “Do not possess gold nor silver, nor money in your purses, nor bag for your journey” (Mt 10:9). Thus, as Eusebius of Caesaraea says, “He forbade them the present use of gold, silver or brass, and also solicitude for their future needs. For he know that they who were to be healed by the Apostles and delivered by them from the violence of their passions would share their goods with them.” Eusebius further adds that “our Lord judged it fitting that they who were attracted by heavenly riches should despise earthly junk and should possess neither gold, nor silver nor any other property valued by men, but should esteem the heavenly treasures they were endowed with, as worth more then all such things. Therefore He made them soldiers of the Kingdom of Heaven, and told them to cherish poverty.” Nullus enim militans Deo implicat se huius vitae negotiis, ut placeat domino. Et sicut Ieronymus dicit super Matth.: qui divitias detruncaverat (scilicet in verbis praemissis) propemodum etiam vitae necessaria amputat; ut apostoli doctores verae religionis, qui instituebant omnia Dei providentia gubernari, se ipsos ostenderent nihil cogitare de crastino. Et, sicut Chrysostomus dicit super Matth.: per huiusmodi praecepta primo quidem dominus discipulos facit non esse suspectos; secundo ab omni eos liberat solicitudine, ut vacationem omnem tribuant verbo Dei: tertio docet eos suam virtutem. Talis enim esse qui evangelizat regnum Dei, praeceptis evangelicis suadetur, sicut Ambrosius dicit super Lucam, ut subsidii saecularis. Adminicula non requirens fide tutus, putet sibi quo minus ea requirit, magis posse suppetere. Manifestum est autem quod si apostoli possessionem suscepissent, non minus, sed multo magis suspecti fuissent quod propter quaestum praedicarent, quam si aurum vel argentum possiderent. Multo etiam maiori solicitudine circa agrorum culturam occuparentur: multoque maius est saeculare adminiculum ex agris vel vineis possessis, quam si bona mobilia habeantur. “No soldier of God who desires to please Him entangles himself in the affairs of this life.” St. Jerome, commenting on the Gospel of St. Matthew, says, “He who, in the foregoing words, had forbidden the Apostles to possess riches, now almost prohibits them from providing themselves with the necessities of life, in order that they, the teachers of true religion, who were trained to believe that all things were ordered by the Providence of God, should show that they themselves took no thought for the morrow.” Again, St. Chrysostom, writing on the Gospel of St. Matthew, observes, “Our Lord, by this precept, first frees his disciples from bondage to riches; secondly, He delivers them from all solicitude, in order that they may give their entire attention to the word of God; thirdly, He teaches them His virtue. Thus then the precepts of the Gospel point out to us what manner of man he ought to be who preaches the Kingdom of God. He ought to be one who seeks not the support of material assistance, but, relying entirely on his Faith, reflects that the less he strives after these material things, the more God can supply him with them.” St. Ambrose speaks, in his commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, has this to say: “It is evident that if the Apostles had accepted property, they would have been not less, but far more open to suspicion than if they had owned gold and silver; for it would have been thought that they preached for the sake of what they could gain. They would likewise have been far more occupied with anxiety about the cultivation of their fields. For land or vineyards are a far greater source of material profit than are moveable chattels.” Manifestum est igitur secundum expositiones praemissas apostolis interdictum fuisse ne agros vel vineas, vel alia huiusmodi bona immobilia possiderent. Quis autem dicat, nisi haereticus, primam discipulorum instructionem a Christo perfectioni evangelicae derogare? Mentiuntur ergo in doctrina fidei, dicentes, minoris esse perfectionis eos qui communibus possessionibus carent. It is evident then from these expositions that the Apostles were forbidden to possess lands, vineyards or any other fixed property. But who, save a heretic, would say that the first instruction of the disciples, given them by Christ Himself, was contrary to the principles of evangelical perfection? They therefore who say that it is less perfect for religious orders to be destitute of common property are falsifying the doctrine of the Faith. Est autem ulterius considerandum qualiter praemissa domini praecepta fuerint ab apostolis observata, quia, ut Augustinus dicit in Lib. contra mendacium, divinae Scripturae non solum praecepta Dei retinent, sed etiam vitam moresque iustorum, ut si forte occultum est quemadmodum accipiendum sit quod praecipitur, in factis iustorum intelligatur. Quod autem nihil temporalium possiderent, aut etiam in via deferrent ante tempus passionis, aperte ostenditur ex hoc quod legitur Luc. XXII, 35; ubi dominus discipulis dixit: quando misi vos sine sacculo et pera et calceamentis, nunquid aliquid defuit vobis? At illi dixerunt, nihil. Sed quia ibi subditur: dixit ergo eis: sed nunc qui habet sacculum, tollat similiter et peram: posset alicui videri quod dominus totaliter priora praecepta relaxaverit. Sed hanc relaxationem quantum ad personas apostolorum, ad solum tempus imminentis persecutionis esse referendam, apparet ex verbis Bedae, qui dicit: non eadem vivendi regula persecutionis qua pacis tempore discipulos informat. Missis quidem discipulis ad praedicandum, ne quid tollerent in via praecepit; mortis vero instante periculo, et tota simul gente pastorem pariter gregemque persequente, congruam tempori regulam decrevit, permittens ut tollant victui necessaria, donec sopita insania persecutorum, tempus evangelizandi redeat. Et subdit: ubi nobis quoque dat exemplum, ex iusta nonnunquam causa instante quaedam de nostri propositi rigore posse sine culpa intermitti. Ex quo etiam apparet ad rigorem evangelicae disciplinae pertinere quod aliquis careat omni possessione terrena. But we must finally consider in what manner these precepts of our Lord were observed by the Apostles. For, as St. Augustine says in his book Contra mendacium: “Holy Scripture contains not only the divine precepts, but also the life and conduct of the just; in order that if, by any chance, we may be uncertain how some commandment is to be understood, we may be enlightened by studying the example of holy men.” Now we know that before the Passion the Apostles possessed nothing and carried no provision on their journeys. Luke (22: 35) reports that our Lord said to them, “When I sent you without purse, or bag or shoes, did you want anything? They said, ‘nothing’.” Immediately afterwards, however, “Then said He unto them, ‘But now he who has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a bag.” It might appear as if Christ, in these words, entirely rescinded His former precept; but the dispensation was only a temporary one, granted on account of impending persecution. Venerable Bede says, “He does not govern His disciples by the same rule in the time of persecution and in the time of peace. When He sent them to preach, He forbad them to take anything with them on the way; for it was His ordinance that those who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel. When, however, the danger of death was imminent, and the whole nation was persecuting the Shepherd and the flock, He gave His disciples a rule befitting the time, allowing them to provide themselves with the necessities of life, until such time as the fury of their persecutors should be appeased, and a convenient season for preaching the Gospel should return. Hereby He also teaches us that for certain just causes, we may, without sin, somewhat relax the severity of our customary exercises.” We also see that absolute renunciation of earthly possessions forms part of the rigour of evangelical discipline. Quid autem super hoc apostoli post passionem servaverint et servandum tradiderint, aperte in actibus apostolorum docetur: legitur enim Act. IV, 32, quod multitudinis credentium erat cor unum et anima una: nec quisquam eorum quae possidebat, aliquid suum esse dicebat; sed erant illis omnia communia. Et ne aliquis dicat, eos habuisse possessiones communes, puta agros vel vineas, vel aliquid huiusmodi, hoc per sequentia excluditur: sequitur enim: quotquot possessores agrorum aut domorum erant, vendentes afferebant pretia eorum quae vendebant, et ponebant ante pedes apostolorum. Ex quo patet hanc esse evangelicae vitae observantiam ab apostolis observatam, ut ea quae ad necessitatem vitae pertinent, possideantur communiter, possessionibus omnino abdicatis. Quod autem hoc ad abundantiorem perfectionem pertineat apparet per Augustinum in III de doctrina Christiana, ubi dicit: qui crediderunt ex Iudaeis, ex quibus facta est prima Ecclesia Hierosolymis, satis ostenderunt quanta utilitas fuerit sub paedagogo, idest sub lege, custodiri. Namque tam capaces extiterunt spiritus sancti ut omnia sua venderent eorumque pretium indigentibus distribuendum ante apostolorum pedes ponerent. Et postea subdit: non enim hoc ullas Ecclesias gentium fecisse scriptum est; quia non tam prope inventi erant qui simulacra manufacta deos habebant. If we enquire as to the manner in which, after the Passion, the Apostles observed this precept, and how they taught their successors to keep it, we shall find information in the fourth Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where we read, “And the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul: neither did any one say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but all things were common to them.” It cannot be held that they possessed common property, such as lands or vineyards or anything of the kind, for in the same chapter of the Acts we read, “For as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them, and brought he price of the things they sold, and laid it down at the feet of the Apostles.” It is thus made clear that the rule of the evangelical life was that the necessities of life were possessed in common, and that property was absolutely resigned by its owners. St. Augustine points out in De doctrina christiana that this practice is conducive to the highest perfection. “The believers among the Jewish nation,” he says; “who formed the first Church, that of Jerusalem, proved most abundantly how advantageous it was for them to have grown up under the school master, viz., the Law. For they were so evidently under the influence of the Holy Spirit that they sold all their possessions, and laid the price at the feet of the Apostles to be distributed among the poor. We do not (he continues) find the same fact noted of any Church of the Gentiles; for they who had worshipped false gods, made by hands, were not found so open to the Holy Spirit.” Videtur tamen huius rei aliam rationem assignare Melchiades Papa, qui, ut habetur 12, quaest. I, dicit: futuram Ecclesiam in gentibus apostoli praeviderant: idcirco praedia in Iudaea minime sunt adepti, sed pretia tantummodo ad fovendos egentes. At vero cum inter turbines et adversa mundi succresceret Ecclesia, ad hoc usque pervenit ut non solum gentes, sed etiam Romani principes, qui totius orbis monarchiam tenebant, ad fidem Christi et Baptismi sacramenta concurrerent. Ex quibus vir religiosissimus Constantinus licentiam dedit non solum fieri Christianos, sed etiam fabricandi Ecclesias, et praedia constituit tribuenda. Et in sequenti capitulo Urbanus Papa dicit: videntes summi sacerdotes, et alii, atque Levitae et reliqui fideles plus utilitatis posse conferre, si hereditates et agros quos vendebant, Ecclesiis quibus praesiderent episcopi traderent, eo quod ex sumptibus eorum tam praesentibus quam futuris temporibus plura et elegantiora possent ministrare fidelibus communem vitam ducentibus, quam ex pretio eorum, coeperunt praedia et agros, quos vendere solebant, matricibus Ecclesiis tradere, et ex sumptibus eorum vivere. Pope Melchiades, however, assigns a different reason for the same fact. In XII, quaest. 1 he says, “The Apostles, foreseeing that the future Church would be founded among the Gentiles, did not acquire much property from the Jews, but only money for the sustenance of the needy. Now however, amidst much storm and stress, the Church gradually acquired a footing in the world, and it came to pass that not only entire nations, but even the Roman emperors, the rulers of the whole earth, flocked to profess the Faith of Christ and to receive Baptism. Constantine, that most religious prince, was the first to give permission not only for his subjects to become Christians, but also for Churches to be erected; and he ordained that certain land should be given up to this purpose.” In the following chapter, Pope Urban says, “The High Priests and Levites and others and the rest of the faithful saw that it would be more profitable if the bishops were to make over to the churches which they governed the lands and other property which was customarily sold. By means of the charges on these estates, the Bishops would be able, both at the present time and in the future, to provide more abundantly and conveniently for the needs of the faithful, living a common life, than they could have done by the sums realised from the sale of the property. Therefore they began to assign to the mother churches the landed property which they had hitherto sold; and they lived on the income derived from it.” Ex his ergo videtur quod melius sit possessiones in communi habere quam aliqua mobilia ad victum pertinentia; et quod in primitiva Ecclesia praedia vendebantur, non quia hoc esset melius, sed quia praevidebant apostoli quod apud Iudaeos Ecclesia duratura non erat, partim propter Iudaeorum infidelitatem, partim propter excidium quod eis imminebat. Sed si quis recte consideret, haec praemissis non contrariantur. Ecclesia enim in sui primordio in omnibus suis membris talis fuit, qualis postmodum vix apud perfectos quoscumque invenitur: sicut enim natura, sic et gratia debuit a perfectis initium assumere. Et ideo apostoli secundum illum statum fidelium vitam ordinaverunt perfectioni convenientem: unde dicit Hieronymus in Lib. de illustribus viris: apparet talem primum Christo credentium fuisse Ecclesiam, quales nunc monachi esse nituntur et cupiunt, ut nihil cuiusquam proprium sit, nullus inter eos dives, nullus pauper; patrimonia egentibus dividantur, orationi vacetur et Psalmis, doctrinae quoque ac continentiae. Hic autem modus vivendi perfectioni congruus fuit apud primos credentes, non solum in Iudaea sub apostolis, sed etiam apud Aegyptum sub Marco Evangelista, ut ibidem Hieronymus dicit, et sicut in 2 Lib. ecclesiasticae historiae narratur. Hence we see that it is better to have land in common, rather than chattels which can be sold to procure the necessities of life. Land was sold in the primitive Church, not because the Apostles esteemed that to be the best course, but because they foresaw that the Church would have no permanence among the Jews, partly on account of their infidelity, and partly because of the ruin which was to overwhelm their nation. The apparent inconsistency of these arrangements disappears, when we attentively consider the state of the case. For, in the early days of the Church, all her members were as holy as the most perfect of her children in later days. Therefore the Church had, in the order both of nature and of grace, to lay her foundations among the perfect; and consequently the Apostles ordained a mode of life consonant with perfection. St. Jerome, in his book De illustribus viris, says, “It seems as if at first the Church of believers had been of the standard that monks now endeavour and strive to reach. Nothing was the private property of anyone; among them were no rich nor poor; patrimonies were divided among the needy; and men devoted themselves to prayer, to perfect doctrine, and to continence.” This perfect mode of life was practised among the primitive believers not only in Judaea under the Apostle, but also in Egypt under St. Mark the Evangelist. This we learn from St. Jerome and also from Book II of the Ecclesiastical History. Processu vero temporis, multi in Ecclesia erant intraturi qui ab hac perfectione deficerent: quod non erat futurum ante Iudaeorum excidium, sed Ecclesia apud gentes multiplicata. Quod postquam contingit, utile iudicaverunt Ecclesiarum praelati ut praedia et agri Ecclesiis conferrentur, non propter perfectiores quosque, sed propter infirmiores, qui ad primorum fidelium perfectionem attingere non valerent. Fuerunt tamen et aliqui postmodum primae perfectionis aemuli, qui in congregationibus viventes possessionibus caruerunt, sicut plurima monachorum collegia in Aegypto. Narrat enim Gregorius in tertio dialogorum libro de quodam sanctissimo viro Isaac, quod de Syriae partibus in Italiam veniens, perfectionis formam quam in oriente didicerat, in occidente observavit. Cum enim: crebro ei discipuli humiliter innuerent, ut pro usu monasterii possessiones quae offerebantur acciperet, ille sollicitus suae paupertatis custos, fortem sententiam tenebat dicens: monachus qui in terra possessionem quaerit, monachus non est; quod non potest intelligi de inquisitione possessionum per modum proprietatis habendarum: non enim praemissum est, quod ei possessiones offerrentur nisi pro monasterii usu. Neque tamen eius sententia sic intelligenda est, quasi possessiones communes habentes, omnino monachorum perfectione deficiant, sed hoc dicebat propter periculum paupertatis amittendae, quod imminet plerisque monachorum communes possessiones habentium. Dicit enim Hieronymus in epitaphio Nepotiani ad Heliodorum episcopum: sunt ditiores monachi quam fuerant saeculares; possident opes sub Christo paupere, quas sub locuplete Diabolo non habuerant; suspirat eos Ecclesia divites, quos tenuit mundus ante mendicos. Et ideo signanter Gregorius de s. Isaac subdit: sic quippe metuebat paupertatis suae securitatem perdere, sicut avari divites solent perituras divitias custodire. Unde ad eius sanctitatem dominus ostendendam eum clarificavit; subdit enim Gregorius de eo ibi: itaque prophetiae spiritu magnisque miraculis cunctis longe lateque habitantibus vita eius inclaruit. Manifestum est igitur ad cumulum perfectionis pertinere quod aliqui possessiones non habeant nec proprias nec communes. In process of time, however, many were to enter the Church who would not live up to this standard of perfection. This was not to the case before the dispersion of the Jews, but afterwards, when the Church was disseminated among the Gentiles. When this state of things came to pass, the prelates of the Churches judged that landed property might advantageously be bestowed upon the churches, and this not as before, for the sake of the perfect, but on account of the weaker brethren who could not attain to the perfection of the earlier Christians. But there were, nevertheless, both at that time and later, certain men who were zealous for primitive perfection and who, like the monks of Egypt, gathered themselves into congregations and renounced all possessions. St. Gregory (III Dial.) mentions a certain holy Isaac who, coming from Syria into Italy, practised in the West the perfection which he had learned in the East. His disciples would frequently humbly beseech him to accept, for the use of the monastery, the property offered to him; but, anxious to preserve his property inviolate, he made the decisive reply that “a monk seeking earthly possessions is no monk.” This saying cannot be understood to refer to private property, since we are told that what was offered to Isaac, was pressed on him for the use of his monastery. Neither is it to be inferred that all monks who hold possessions in common are deficient in religious perfection. The words of Isaac were instigated by his fear of his failing in the virtue of poverty, a danger which threatens many religious who own property in common. For, as St. Jerome says in his epitaph on Nepotian to the Bishop Hehodorus, “Some men are richer as religious than they were as laymen. Now that they belong to Christ the Poor, they own wealth which they never possessed when they belonged to Satan the opulent; and the Church mourns over the riches of those whom the world formerly regarded as beggars.” Hence St. Gregory, speaking of St. Isaac, says, “He feared to lose the treasure of his poverty, just as a miser fears to lose his hoard of perishable wealth, and the Lord, to manifest his holiness, has glorified him.” For, as St. Gregory tells us farther on, “he became known far and wide for his spirit of prophecy and his great gift of miracles.” Hence it is evident that the absence of any possessions, either common or private, is for some men the path to sublime perfection. Adhuc potest hoc evidenter ostendi, si ratio consiliorum ad evangelicam perfectionem pertinentium consideretur. Ad hoc enim introducuntur ut homines a curis mundi expediti, liberius Deo vacent. Unde apostolus proposito consilio de virginitate servanda, dicit: qui sine uxore est, solicitus est quae sunt domini, quomodo placeat Deo; qui autem cum uxore est, solicitus est quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori; et divisus est. Ex quo patet, tanto aliqua magis ad consiliorum perfectionem pertinere, quanto magis hominem a solicitudine mundi absolvunt. Manifestum est autem quod divitiarum et possessionum cura impedit animum a rebus divinis. Dicitur enim Matth. XIII, 22: qui seminatus est in spinis, hic est qui verbum audit; et solicitudo saeculi istius et fallacia divitiarum suffocat verbum, et sine fructu efficitur: quod exponens Hieronymus dicit: blandae sunt divitiae, aliud agentes et aliud pollicentes. Lubrica est earum possessio; dum huc illucque circumferuntur, et instabili gradu vel habentes deserunt, vel non habentes reficiunt. We shall understand this more clearly, if we examine the motive underlying the counsels pertaining to evangelical perfection. These counsels are given in order that by their means men may be delivered from earthly solicitude, and thus be more free to serve God. St. Paul tells us as much, when he gives the council concerning virginity, “He who is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he who is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided” (1 Cor 7:32). Hence we we that the more any course of action delivers us from worldly anxiety, so much the more does it pertain to evangelical perfection. Now it is clear that the possession of wealth and property distracts the soul from divine things, for, to use our Lord’s, simile, “He who received the seed among thorns is he who hears the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes up the word and he becomes fruitless” (Mt 13:18). St. Jerome’s commentary on these words runs as follows: “Riches ate flatterers, promising one thing and doing another. Their possession is most uncertain: for when they are carried here and there and seem likely to endure, they desert their owners or rejoice those who previously possessed them not.” Hoc etiam evidenter ostenditur Luc. XIV, 18: ubi unus de his qui sunt vocati ad coenam se excusavit dicens: villam emi, et necesse habeo ire, et videre illam. Et, sicut Gregorius dicit, quid per villam nisi terrena substantia designatur? Exit ergo videre illam qui sola exteriora cogitat. In fine autem parabolae subditur: pauperes et debiles introduc huc: quod exponens Ambrosius, dicit, quod rarius delinquit cui deest illecebra peccandi, et citius ad Deum convertitur qui non habet in mundo unde delectetur. Sic igitur patet quod possessiones et quascumque divitias omnino non habere, magis ad evangelicam perfectionem pertineat. Item Augustinus dicit in Lib. de verbis domini: minimi Christi sunt illi qui omnia sua dimiserunt, et secuti sunt eum, et quidquid habuerunt, pauperibus distribuerunt, ut Deo sine saeculari compede expediti servirent, et ab oneribus mundi liberatos, velut pennatos, sursum humeros tollerent. Hi sunt minimi, quia humiles. Appende minimos istos, et grave pondus invenies. Nullus autem sani capitis dicet, ad mundi onera non pertinere communium possessionum curam. The same thing is taught us in the parable of the supper (Luke 14:18), where one of the invited guests is represented as excusing himself from attendance by the words, “I have bought a farm, and I must go out and see it.” “What,” asks St, Gregory, “are we to understand by this farm except material possessions? That man then goes out to we his farm who thinks of nothing but exterior things.” At the end of the parable the master of the supper says to his servants, “Bring in here the poor and the feeble.” Commenting on which, St. Ambrose observes that “he who lacks the enjoyments of sin, sins more rarely; and he who has no worldly pleasures is more easily converted to God.” Thus we see that the entire absence of property and wealth of any kind leads to evangelical perfection. St. Augustine likewise says in his book De verbis Domini, “The little ones of Christ are those who have renounced all things and have followed Him, All that they had, they have given to the poor, in order to serve God free from any earthly tie. Being thus delivered from the burdens of the world, they soar upwards as if on wings. They are little because they are humble; but weigh them, and you will find them very heavy.” Now no sane person can say that the care of common property is not a worldly care. Therefore, it adds to their perfection when men serve God freed from such shackles. Pertinet igitur ad perfectionis pondus ut etiam ab huiusmodi compedibus expediti homines serviant Deo. Sic igitur patet vanam esse doctrinam, immo pestiferam, et Christianae doctrinae contrariam, illorum qui dicunt, quod possessionibus communibus carere propter Christum, ad perfectionem non pertineat; de quibus, super illud Psalmi: convertantur et erubescant valde velociter, dicit Glossa: hoc non est hic, ubi potius iniqui irrident eos qui omnia relinquunt, et suis irrisionibus infirmos de Christi nomine erubescere faciunt. Ad eos etiam pertinere videtur quod alibi in Psalmo dicitur: consilium inopis confudistis, quoniam dominus spes eius est: ubi dicit Glossa: inopis cuiuslibet, qui est membrum Christi: et hoc ideo fecistis quoniam dominus est spes eius. Unde ergo magis reverendus erat, inde magis contemnitur. Quid enim aliud isti faciunt nisi quod contemnere nituntur eos qui Christianae paupertatis consilium perfecte sectantur: et hoc ideo quia non in terrenis possessionibus, sed in Deo spem habent? Hence we see that those who teach that the renunciation of common property for the love of Christ does not pertain to perfection, are inculcating a most dangerous error, and spreading an opinion completely at variance with Christian doctrine. The Gloss on the verse of Psalm 6, “Let them be turned back, and shamed very speedily,” says, “This fate does not befall the sinner in this world where, on the contrary, the workers of iniquity mock and put to the blush the little ones of Christ who have renounced all things for his sake.” Rather do the following words of Psalm 13:6 seem to apply to them: “You have confounded the counsel of the poor man, but the Lord is his hope.” The Gloss thus comments on this verse, “The needy is a member of Christ; and you have acted thus towards him because the Lord is his hope.” That very reason which ought to make you revere him only causes you so much the more to despise him. For what else do these men do save endeavour to contemn those who follow in its perfection the counsel of Christian poverty? And why do they despise them, except because their hope is established not in possessions, but in God?
Caput 16
In quo solvuntur rationes contra praedictam veritatem inductaeCHAPTER 16
An Answer to the Arguments Which Are Brought Forward Against the Propositions Contained in the Preceding ChapterHis igitur visis, facile est respondere ad ea quae in contrarium proponuntur. Quod enim primo inductum est, quod expedit possessiones communes possideri, iam patet quod expedit propter eos qui non sunt summae perfectionis capaces, qualis in primis credentibus fuit, qui imperfectiores omnino negligendi non erant. Unde et apud illos qui illam summam perfectionem sectabantur, possessiones non erant. Sicut etiam dominus, cui Angeli ministrabant, loculos habuit propter necessitatem aliorum, quia scilicet eius Ecclesia loculos erat habitura, sicut Augustinus dicit super Ioannem. Unde si qua sit congregatio, in qua omnes ad maiorem perfectionem tendant, expedit eis communes possessiones non habere. AFTER what has been already premised, it will be easy to answer the objections of those who maintain an opinion contrary to ours, and who hold that it is expedient to own property in common. It is certainly well to do so, for the sake of those who are not capable of that height of perfection practised by the faithful of the early Church, among whom, however, the imperfect were not wholly neglected. Thus, although they who followed sublime perfection did not own any property, yet even our Lord, to whom the angels ministered, kept a purse for the necessities of others, and because His Church was to possess funds, as St. Augustine says in his commentary on St. John’s Gospel. Therefore, if there is any congregation of which every member aspires to the highest perfection, it is expedient for such a congregation to own no possessions. Quod vero secundo proponitur, quod beatus Benedictus in vita sua amplas possessiones recepit, hoc sufficit ad ostendendum quod communes possessiones non totaliter monasticam perfectionem excludunt; non autem ex hoc haberi potest quod maioris perfectionis non sit possessionibus carere communibus, praesertim cum idem beatus Benedictus in sua regula dicat, se aliquid remisisse de rigore monasticae vitae a prioribus institutae, condescendendo infirmitatibus sui temporis monachorum. Et eadem ratio est de beato Gregorio, qui monasteria construxit secundum regulam a beato Benedicto institutam. When, in the next place, it is stated that St. Benedict received ample possessions during his lifetime, this only proves that the possession of common property does not make monastic perfection absolutely impossible. It is no proof whatsoever that it is not more perfect to renounce possessions altogether, especially as St. Benedict declares in his Rule, that he had, in condescension to the weakness of the monks of his time, mitigated in certain particulars the rigour of the monastic life as it was ordained by earlier Fathers. The same remark applies to St. Gregory, who built monasteries, according to the rule drawn up by St. Benedict. Quod vero tertio propositum est, quod apostolis persecutionis tempore permisit dominus ut peram et sacculum tollerent, magis contra eos facit, sicut ex praemissis apparet. Si enim persecutionis causa rigor prioris disciplinae remittitur, consequens est quod ad rigorem disciplinae pertinebat ut peram et sacculum non haberent. Nec tamen legitur quod illo persecutionis tempore procuraverunt sibi aliquas possessiones communes. Et sic patet, quod inducitur, ad propositum non pertinere. The third argument, viz., that our Lord allowed His apostles to take with them in time of persecution purse and bag, tells rather against our opponents than for them. If, in the time of persecution the rule Was suspended, it proves that the ordinary rule was that the apostles should take with them neither purse nor bag. We do not read that in time of persecution the Apostles procured for themselves any possessions in common. Thus the argument of their conduct during persecution is irrelevant to our subject. Quod vero quarto inductum est, quod dominus non instituit ordinem non habentium possessiones, sed ordinem praelatorum, qui possessiones habent; in altero quidem est apertum mendacium. Cum enim dominus discipulos instituit quod nec aurum nec argentum possideant, et quod corda eorum non graventur curis huius mundi, et dimittentibus agros et domos propter nomen suum praemia repromittit non solum in futuro, sed in hoc saeculo; ut scilicet sint cum apostolis, nihil in hoc mundo habentes, et omnia possidentes; manifestum est quod omnes quicumque hanc regulam secuti fuerint, institutionem Christi sequuntur. Nec enim illi qui sanctos sequuntur, per quos sunt ordines instituti, ad ipsos attendunt, sed ad Christum, cuius documenta proponunt: quia nec illi se ipsos praedicaverunt, sed cum apostolo Iesum Christum, eius dogmata proponentes. In altero vero falluntur, vel fallere volunt per fallaciam accidentis. Instituit enim Christus episcoporum ordinem, et aliorum clericorum, qui possessiones communes habent, vel proprias. Sed hoc Christus in eis non instituit, sed magis instituit eorum ordinem in perfecta paupertate, sicut ex praedictis apparet. Postmodum vero dispensative sunt in Ecclesia communes possessiones acceptae propter rationem praedictam. The fourth assertion, viz. that our Lord did not establish an order of men possessing nothing, but an order of prelates who owned certain property, is a distinct falsehood. For when our Lord taught His disciples to possess neither gold nor silver, lest their hearts should be weighed down by temporal anxieties; and when He promised to those who, for His sake should renounce lands and houses, a reward not only in the next world but in this life also, so that they should resemble the Apostles in “having nothing yet possessing all things,” He made it clear that all who should hereafter follow this rule would be obeying His ordinance. Those who follow the saints who have founded various orders are, in reality, imitating not those holy founders, but Christ, whose precepts they preach. Our adversaries are either deceived on another point, or else they try to mislead us. Christ did not establish an order of bishops, or other clerics who were to own property, either in common or individually. He established such an order, indeed, but established it in perfect poverty. Later on, however, possessions were accepted by the Church in order, as we have seen, to be distributed by her. Quod etiam quinto propositum est, quod Christiana perfectio non dormitavit a tempore apostolorum usque ad praesentia tempora; certum est eam non dormitasse, sed in plurimis viguit et in Aegypto et in aliis partibus mundi. Nunquid tamen aliquis Deo modum imponere potest, ut vel omnes, et omni tempore et omnibus locis, homines ad se trahat? Quinimmo secundum suae sapientiae ordinem, quo suaviter universa disponit, singulis temporibus congruentia adminicula providet humanae saluti. Quid enim si quaeratur: nunquid dormitavit doctrina Christiana a temporibus magnorum doctorum Athanasii, Basilii, Ambrosii, Augustini et aliorum qui circa illud tempus fuerunt, usque ad haec nostra tempora, in quibus magis in doctrina Christiana homines exercentur? Numquid secundum eorum mirabilem rationem quicquid boni tempore aliquo intermissum fuit, illicitum erit resumi? Sic enim et martyrium illicitum erit subire et miracula facere, quia multo tempore sunt huiusmodi intermissa. As for the fifth assertion, viz. that Christian perfection has been in abeyance from the time of the Apostles until our own days, it is certain, on the contrary that far from being in abeyance, Christian perfection has flourished vigorously, both in Egypt and in other parts of the world. No man can set limits to God, or say that He is to draw all men to Himself at the same time, or in the same place; rather, according to the wisdom whereby He disposes all things sweetly, He provides at divers seasons the aids to man’s salvation peculiarly befitting those times. Has Christian teaching failed from the days of the masters and the doctors, Athanasius, Basil, Ambrose, Augustine, and the rest, until our times, in which men are even better instructed than they formerly were in Christian doctrine? Is it, according to the views of out opponents, unlawful to set again in motion any good work which for a while has been interrupted? If such be the case, it would be unlawful to suffer martyrdom or to work miracles, since both these good works have, for a time, been in abeyance. Quod vero sexto proponunt, quod illi qui possessionibus communibus carebant, vivebant de operibus manuum, hoc non minorem calumniam aliis quam religiosis ingerit: quia etiam apostolus, qui Evangelium praedicabat, vivebat de opere manuali. Nunquid ergo episcopi, archidiaconi et quibuscumque ex officio competit Evangelium praedicare, peccant, si non vivant de opere manuali? Si autem ad hoc non tenentur, quia Paulus hoc non ex necessitate, sed supererogando faciebat; quid imponunt religiosis quidquid sancti patres supererogando fecerunt? Nullus enim est qui omnes supererogationes possit implere, cum unus in uno et alius in alio superabundet. Si vero non supererogationis sed necessitatis esse dicitur eos qui communibus possessionibus carent de labore manuum vivere; fateor quidem quantum ad hoc necessitatis esse ut non otiose vivant. Sed otium non solum per laborem manuum tollitur, sed multo melius per sacrae Scripturae studium, quod otium habet magnum negotium, sicut Augustinus dicit: unde super illud: defecerunt oculi mei etc., dicit Glossa: non est otiosus qui verbo Dei tantum studet; nec pluris est qui extra operatur, quam qui studium cognoscendae divinitatis exercet. Ipsa etiam sapientia maximum opus est. The sixth argument, viz. that those who possessed no common property used to live by the work of their hands, is a calumny against others as well against religious; for the Apostle who preached the Gospel maintained himself by manual labour. Is it a sin, then, for Bishops, Archdeacons and all who are officially bound to preach the Gospel not to live by the work of their hands? If they are not bound thus to maintain themselves, because St. Paul laboured not out of necessity, but as a work of supererogation, why should that work be enforced upon religious, which was only supererogatory with the holy Fathers? No one can fulfil all works of supererogation; for one thing is superfluous in one man, and another in another man. But, granted that it is not supererogatory, but necessary that they who own no common property should live by the work of their hands, that necessity only extends to such labour as may prevent idleness. But idleness is prevented, not only by manual labour, but far more by the study of Holy Scripture; such idleness performs a great work, as St. Augustine says. And the Gloss on the words of Ps 48, “My eyes have failed” etc., says, “He is not idle who only studies the word of God; neither does he accomplish more who performs external work than he who exercises himself in the knowledge of divinity. For wisdom is of all works the greatest.” Tollitur etiam otium per laborem doctrinae, quo contra hostes fidei dimicatur, secundum illud apostoli: labora sicut bonus miles Christi, II ad Tim. II, 3, ubi dicit Glossa: in praedicando Evangelium contra hostes fidei. Fateor etiam hoc necessitatis esse his qui aliunde non habent de quo licite vivant. Licitum autem est Evangelistis etiam monachis ut de Evangelio vivant, et de altaris ministerio, sicut Augustinus dicit in libro de operibus monachorum. Alioquin numquid solas illas possessiones communes monachis licet habere quas possunt lucrari de opere manuali? Nonne autem derisibilis est, si quis dicat licere religiosis in eleemosynam amplas possessiones accipere, non autem eis licere accipere de fidelium eleemosynis ea quae pertinent ad quotidianum et simplicem victum? Sic igitur nulla necessitas imminet his qui communes possessiones non habent, manibus operari. De hoc tamen alibi diffusius a nobis dictum est. Idleness is also prevented by the warfare which we wage against the enemies of the Faith, according to St. Paul’s injunction: “Labour like a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Tim 2:3). This the Gloss interprets to mean the preaching of the Gospel against the enemies of the Faith. This I acknowledge to be a necessary work, for those who have not otherwise a means of subsistence. For it is lawful for all preachers of the Gospel, even Monks, to live by the Gospel and by their ministry at the Altar. St. Augustine in De opere monachorum asks whether it is permissible for Monks to have any common property, save what they gain by their own labour. Is it not ridiculous to say that religious may receive large possessions as alms, and yet may not accept donations to provide for their simple daily needs? Therefore no necessity constrains those who do not possess common property to labour with their hands. We have, however, elsewhere spoken more fully on this point. Iam vero quod septimo propositum est, magis est derisione quam responsione dignum. Quis enim non videat in immensum maioris solicitudinis esse possessionibus procurandis curam impendere, ad quod vix saeculares sufficiunt, quam acquirere simplicem victum ex fidelium pietate collatum, et clementia divina provisum? The seventh argument deserves ridicule, rather than reply. For, who does not see that the task of heaping up riches—a task which seculars can barely achieve—involves far more anxiety of mind than that of merely procuring from the charity of the faithful and the mercy of God a simple, daily provision for the necessities of life. Quod vero octavo propositum est de hoc quod religiosi necesse habent circa eorum negotia solicitari a quibus pascuntur: fateor, habent quidem, sed circa spiritualem eorum salutem, vel ut tribulatos consolentur; quae quidem solicitudo caritatis est, unde religioni non repugnat; quinimmo, ut dicitur Iac. I, 27: religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et patrem haec est, visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum. As for the eighth argument, viz. that religious must occupy themselves about the affairs of those who minister to them, I acknowledge that this is true. But the affairs about which they must be busied are such as concern the spiritual welfare of their benefactors, or their consolation when they are in trouble. Such solicitude is a work of charity by no means incompatible with religion. For, as St. James says, “Religion pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the orphan and the widow in their tribulation” (1:27). Quod autem ultimo propositum est, omnino est frivolum: quia ea quibus utuntur religiosi ad sustentationem vitae, non sunt eorum quantum ad proprietatem dominii, sed dispensantur ad usum necessitatis ipsorum ab his qui harum rerum dominium habent, quicumque sint illi. The last argument is absolutely worthless. For the things used by religious for their support are not absolutely their own property or under their own control, but are ministered to them for their necessities by those who have the management of such things. Haec igitur sunt quae ad praesens scribenda occurrunt contra erroneam et pestiferam doctrinam avertentium homines a religionis ingressu. Si quis his contradicere voluerit, non coram pueris garriat, sed scribat, et Scripturam proponat in publico; ut ab intelligentibus diiudicari possit quid verum sit, et hoc quod erroneum est, auctoritate veritatis confutetur. This is all that occurs to me at present to write against the pernicious end erroneous teaching which deters some men from entering religious life. If any man desires to contradict my words, let him not do so by chattering before boys but let him write and publish his writings, so that intelligent persons may judge what is true, and may be able to confute what is false by the authority of the Truth.