Letter 25: Though I am unknown to you by face, I have already come to know you in my heart.

25. Even though I may be unknown to you by face, yet I have already come to know you in my heart, because my son most dear in the Lord, Victor, in telling me of your devout life, brought it about that I came to know you although you are absent, and that I began to love you as one who would be my partner in Christ. For he related to me how, even in the worldly military service in which you are still held, he was your comrade and the companion of your tent. For this reason I have all the more presumed to write to you through him. For I hope that you too will come from that same road to the true way, since you have sent ahead to us this one from among your comrades, whom the Church holds as a pledge of you, so that after him she may take hold of you. For there is nothing, blessed son, that can be set before, or ought to be set before, him who is the true Lord and the true Father and the eternal Emperor. Or to whom should we devote our life more rightly than to him from whom we received it, and for whom we ought to preserve it even to the end, because it is by his gift that we live? Yet only if in this present age we have served as soldiers under him will we then deserve to pass over to him. But if instead we have loved this present age more, and have preferred to serve Caesar rather than Christ, afterward we will be carried over not to Christ but to Gehenna, where the cause of the princes of this world is overthrown. Therefore we ought to prefer to God neither affection nor fatherland nor honors nor riches, because thus it is written: the figure of this world passes away. And those who have loved this world will perish together with it. Therefore the Lord himself in the Gospel bears witness and says: he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. But concerning the riches of this present age, which certain people embrace and love as the highest and most necessary good, he speaks thus: treasures will not profit the wicked, but righteousness rescues from death. And again, through the prophet he says: all who had exalted themselves in gold and silver have been exterminated. In the Gospel also he cries out and condemns the rich of this age, saying: woe to you who are rich, who have your consolation; woe to you who are filled, because you will hunger; woe to you who laugh now, because you will mourn and weep! Do not, therefore, any longer love this world nor its military service, because, according to the authority of Scripture, whoever is a friend of this age is an enemy of God. And he who fights with the sword is a minister of death, who, when he sheds his own or another's blood, from this receives the reward of his wages; for either by the outcome of death he will be held guilty, or by the crime, because it is necessary that a soldier in war, in which nevertheless he fights not so much for himself as for another, either find his own death through fear, or as victor acquire the cause of death, since he cannot be a victor unless he has first been a shedder of blood. Therefore the Lord says: you cannot serve two masters, namely the one God and mammon, that is to say Christ and Caesar, since Caesar himself now strives to be the servant of Christ, so that he may deserve to be king of certain nations. For no earthly king whatsoever is king of the whole world, but Christ God, because all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made; and he himself is King of kings and Lord of lords, he who does all things that he wills on earth, in the sea, in the depths. Therefore let us follow him, let us serve as soldiers for him, for whom the soldier who is girded is never ungirded, who bestows on those who serve as soldiers for him the glory of eternal life, the honor of the heavenly kingdom and the riches of his inheritance and the everlasting fellowship of divine knowledge. For it is written: he who loves money will not be justified; and he who covets earthly possessions will, as it is written, be entangled in them. Whence in Ecclesiasticus divine wisdom speaks through Solomon: that many have been given over to ruin for the sake of gold, and their destruction came about before their face. Gold, he says, is a stumbling-block, and it casts down those who pursue it. But none except the imprudent will perish in it. For this reason flee from it, son, as from the face of a serpent, believing in Christ, who in the Gospel testifies to all men: that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses. But perhaps confidence in your age and the rank of your dignities and the increase of riches make you anxious, so that you may say: I am still young, and there is time for me to complete my military service and to take a wife and to have children and afterward to serve God. To these things not I but the Lord answers you, who speaks in his prophets and apostles, and the prophet says: do not delay to be converted to the Lord, nor put it off from day to day, lest suddenly his wrath come. And in the Gospel he shows with what ardor one must hasten to conversion, when he says: but from the days of John until today the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and those who use violence seize it. Such violence is pleasing to God, which strikes no one, is committed with harm to no one. Turn your hands to this plunder, which has no crime in it and confers salvation. And why should you concern yourself with the cares of military pay along with the odium of violence, when perhaps, for the sake of your own honesty, you are even a moderate collector of debts? When without anyone's odium and with the grace of God you can be violent, so that you may seize the kingdom of heaven, which suffers violence, and Christ rejoices to be invaded, because, from the abundance of his charity and of his power, he is capable both of bestowing what he holds and of obtaining what he has given. For when he grants his saints to reign in his kingdom, he himself will reign in those whom he has taken up as partners of the heavenly kingdom. For it is written both that the kingdom of God will be with the saints and that the saints themselves are the kingdom of God, which, God being favorable, when you have been converted, you will both come to know by reading and understand by believing. But concerning the flower of age and of early youth, who would dare to boast? For divine Scripture admonishes us, saying: all flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen; but the word of the Lord remains forever. Whence the prophet too, desiring rather those things in which the eternal glory of the revived body may abide after the resurrection, cries out: how lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord. And concerning the bonds of marriage and the other cares of temporal things, as thorny as they are empty, the Apostle, in whom Christ speaks, admonishes us not to cast our vain prayers into the long span of this present age, and he bids us to know that the time is shortened, and he says: it remains, that those who have wives should be as though not having them, and those who weep as though not weeping, and those who rejoice as though not rejoicing, and those who buy as though not possessing, and those who use this world as though not using it. When he says this, he shows that the free ought not to be entangled, since indeed he advises the entangled to be set free. If, then, you are perhaps already bound to a wife, do not seek release. But if you are still free, do not seek entanglement. For the Apostle does not, on account of the condemnation of marriage, compare the religion of this covenant to the great sacrament of Christ and the Church, but on account of the pressing necessity he asserts that it is good for a man to be thus, just as he himself was. I wish, he says, that you be without anxiety, that is, that we think of nothing besides God and our salvation. For a wife and children, although they too have been given to us by God as pledges, are nevertheless the burdens of the heaviest cares. Whence the same Apostle says: that such persons will have tribulation of the flesh, because our carnal attachments, the dearer they are to us, the more they torment and weary us. For when a wife has been taken, first children are desired, and if they are not received, barrenness is mourned; if they are received, bereavement is feared. And accordingly the mind never so rests in carnal affections that it is free from torment, while it either loves its good attachments with the fear of losing them, or hates its bad ones with the wish of losing them, in either case always liable to enduring miseries. For he is wretched who loses a good wife, more wretched who possesses a bad one. Between these two contingencies he is happier enough who has known neither. Likewise also concerning children, very often the most wretched parents are either those who are bereaved of good ones or those who have such children that they are forced to envy those who have none. Hear, then, my son, and incline your ear to me, and break asunder all your bonds, whatever bonds hold you entangled in this present age; exchange the military service of this age for something better, so that you may begin to serve as a soldier for the eternal King. And now, as I hear, you who are the helper and protector of the citizens, become a companion of Christ. Then, in this military service you are accustomed to hold in your vows this promotion of office, that you become protectors. But if you prove yourself to God, you will begin to have God himself as protector. See to what kind of military service I invite you as my colleague, so that what you wish to be to a man, this God may be to you. If you begin to follow him, you begin to serve as a soldier from his retinue, and the end of your military service will be a kingdom not of earth and of time, but of eternity and of heaven. 25*. To my most beloved son Crispinianus, Paulinus, in Christ the Lord, greeting. When Victor, once your fellow soldier, returned to us from your homeland, I hoped I would receive a writing of your honesty, by which you would make me glad concerning your conduct, that is, concerning the advancement of your faith; for it was on account of this that I had presumed some time ago to write to you through the same brother Victor, just as now also I write, daring again to press my counsel upon you, the precept of God urging me, in which it is written: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And how can I prove that I love you as myself, except in some other way, unless I desire the same for you which I have judged best for myself, that is, that, renouncing this present age and all the pomps and enticements of its vanity, we may flee from the wrath to come and take refuge in the one salvation of the human race, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and our God, who for this reason was both crucified and rose from the dead, that he might free us from everlasting death and lead us through to everlasting life, and moreover make us heirs and conformed to his image and partakers of his glory. Whence it is fitting, dearest brother and son, that, all things being set aside which entangle and kill us in this world as we follow the desires of our flesh, we should cast out from our mind the vices of our pleasures and leave them behind us like dung, so that, making a useful loss of worldly things, in which lies the matter of sinning and the cause of dying, we may gain Christ for our profit, in whom is honor and treasure, in whom is both the everlasting kingdom and the true light, which illumines the eyes of souls, so that we may understand that a little that is righteous is better than the many riches of sinners, and that it profits a man nothing if he should gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul. For this reason, then, I judged it necessary to obey our blessed brother and good fellow citizen Victor, so that I might repeat letters to your charity and might dare, in the grief of affection, even while rebuking, to write to you, because, when I was anxious about what you were doing, by the favor of God he told me that even now you are a Christian rather in vow than in deed, always thinking on the eternal, taking up the journey of life, that is, the way of Christ. But if you do not wish to be a private man, consider that your military service must be changed, not laid aside, so that it must be exchanged for so much better a kind, by as much as God the King is greater than man. Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, so that you may begin to render to God the things that are God's. For tell me, I beg you, my brother, what are you waiting for? For what better hope do you keep your purpose in reserve? To what days do you postpone your good? How long a span of life do you promise yourself? But even if you were certain that you would still live to be present as long as you have lived, nevertheless from the swiftness of time you ought to gather that the remaining time of your age will slip away with equal speed, and that after the very brief space and most laborious course of this life, ages will follow in which one must either live without end or die without end. But it is necessary that the lovers of this present age become exiles from that other age, because, just as it is written that no one can serve two masters and that there is no communion between Christ and mammon, so it is certain that he cannot grasp the goods of the age to come who has loved the temporal and perishable things of this present age. But if you do not believe me, believe the Gospel, in which, under the person of Abraham, our father, the Lord shows that certain vicissitudes are given to men, so ordered that for those who have had tribulation in this present age there is prepared refreshment there, but for those who here have had fruitless abundance, on these in hell a rich destitution of punishments is repaid. In short, that inhuman rich man, who had been sparing toward the poor man and prodigal toward himself while he lived in this present age, afterward, dead and snatched away to hell and there sunk down in Gehenna, saw Lazarus the beggar across a great distance: and now he no longer scorns but admires, himself destitute of life, that rich man of joy, whom in the world, cast out, he had scorned, and whom hungering he had not fed, and ulcered he had not cared for, and when the dogs licked his wounds, man had not had pity on man, so that the rich man was shown to be worse than the dogs, from whom the madness of avarice had taken away the affection of humanity. This poor man, then, whom in this present age, wretched and suppliant, the rich man, proud with feasts and royal clothing, had shuddered at, afterward, among the dead, seeing himself, the wretched man, that one blessed, that is, that one resting in the light, himself burning in the darkness, and that one rejoicing in the bosom of Abraham, himself roaring in the bosom of hell, forgetting his pride and vanity, the pitiable man, not pitiable, as vainly as too late recognizes the poor man and mourns his own joys, where now he cannot find the remedy of repentance; since, he says, there is no one in death who is mindful of you, O Lord, but in hell who will confess to you? Whence also elsewhere the prophet says: because they called upon the Lord, there they feared with fear, where there was no fear. Here, therefore, while we tarry in the body, we ought to attend to our salvation and to seek out the remedies that will profit us, and insofar as we have abounded in provoking the Lord by sinning, let us superabound in making satisfaction to him by worthily repenting. But in hell there is no longer a place of repentance for sinners but only of punishment; for which reason, as I said above, in both persons, that is of the rich man and the poor man, the order of things being reversed, the dead man burning entreats that one whom, while living and passing his time in delights, he had passed by, despising and mocking him, the beggar often half-dying amid the sufferings of his sores. How justly now among the dead he feeds the fires and the worms, who among the living had not fed his needy neighbor! And so, his beggary being turned upon himself, now the evil rich man, in the abundance of his torments, begs an alms of a tiny dew from his own beggar, who now abounds in the riches of life, but he receives a just recompense, that the mercy of the destitute man should not refresh him whom from his own plenty he had never refreshed. But what is this, that, burning with his whole body, he asks only that his tongue be sprinkled by even the smallest finger of the poor man, except that he had sinned against the poor man chiefly in that member, by which he had ordered him, lying before his door, to be cast away, or had mocked the squalor of his tribulations? In both respects his tongue had sinned in that wickedness, not considering that the one God, the Creator, was for him and for the poor man, but that the same God was a more indulgent Father to the poor man, who resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. He had not considered what was written for him: he who gives to the poor lends to the Lord, and again: he who does injury to the poor provokes God, who made him. Therefore, given over to hell as a son of Gehenna, he hears Abraham, the father of refreshment: son, remember that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things, but now here he is consoled, while you are tormented. Therefore again he says in the Gospel: blessed are those who mourn, for they will be consoled, and on the contrary he says: woe to those who laugh, for they will mourn! Hence also David says: those who sow in tears will reap in joy. And Ecclesiastes with equal right declares that it is better to go into the house of mourning, that is, where, in the humility of a contrite heart, past sins are washed away by healing laments, than into the house of feasting, that is, where through intemperance and luxury sins are rather heaped up to be punished by eternal fires. For this reason, blessed son, I desire you to come to your senses, away from the love of darkness, and to be separated from the fellowship of human error, you who know that it is written: blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked. For if you wish to be a sharer of those who now sow in tears, you will be a companion of those same ones on the day of reward, because the saints, coming, will come in exultation, carrying their sheaves. But whatever anyone has sown in this life, the same he will reap in that one. Therefore the Apostle says: he who sows in the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows in the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. For believe me, you will not be able to rejoice with Christ unless you have ceased to rejoice with this present age. Unless you weep now, you will not laugh forever; if you do not humble yourself from your own self, you will not be exalted; if you do not despise the empty glory of the world, you will not obtain the everlasting glory of Christ; if here you prefer to be temporally rich, there you will endure poverty forever; if Christ finds you on the broad and spacious road, on it he will be compelled, which God forbid, to condemn you.

XXV. Etsi ignotus tibi sim facie, iam tamen te corde cognoui, quia filius meus in domino carissimus Victor referens mihi religiosam uitam tuam fecit, ut te quamuis absentem cognoscerem et sicut consortem in Christo diligere futurum inciperem. retulit enim mihi, quomodo et in militia saeculari, in qua adhuc tu teneris, socius et secutor contubernii tui fuerit. unde magis praesumpsi scribere tibi per ipsum. spero etenim 2] (Ezech. 9, 4). 3] (Geu. 6, 15). 7] Ps. 16, 7. 8] Ps. 45, 10 et 23, 8. 11] Ioh. 16, 33. 1 tum 0, nunc ex tnc P m. 2, tunc cd . figuram LM r X 2 graeearn om. LMr tau rx, tauh M numerus LMrx (sed L in ras.), numerum fort . 3 debellabit rlx1 misteriis F .4 superabit rlxl archa Mtrx tunc 0 6 crucifixi] christi F eleuemus 0, leuemus cet . oculos nostros ad ipsum 01 7 mirificet et 0 8 saluus F fecit Lrx dominus conterens bella dominus X 12 mundo Xl; uale add. U . — explicit Lrx, finit liber • II • U. buw . — Ad militem ut mundi transitoria contemnat et deo militet b, militem hortatur ut relicta scfi militia plena discriminis aeterno regi iucipiat militare perenne praemium suscepturus ne eum aut auri cupiditas nec flos retardet aetatis quae tq fenum sunt occasura u, generalis ad militem seculi ut deo militet to 14 sim tibi b 15 mihi] m u 17 in Christo om. u futurum in Christo diligere Col . 19 adhuc om. u eonsequutor b 20 tibi b, tibi ad te u, tibi a te tc, ad te Col . etenim te bu, enim et w te ex eadem uia ad ueram uiam esse uenturum, quandoquidem istum de tuis sociis ad nos praemisisti, quem pro pignore tuo ecclesia tenet, ut te post eum capiat. nihil enim est, benedicte fili, quod possit praeferri aut debeat ei, qui est uerus dominus et uerus pater et imperator aeternus. aut cui rectius uitam impendamus quam illi, a quo eam accepimus et cui eam usque in finem seruare debemus, quia ipsius beneficio uiuimus? si tamen in hoc saeculo ipsi militauerimus, tunc ad ipsum transire merebimur. quod si magis dilexerimus hoc saeculum et maluerimus Caesari militare quam Christo, postea non ad Christum sed ad gehennam transferemur, ubi principum huius mundi uertitur causa. Ideo nec affectum nec patriam nec honores nec diuitias deo praeferre debemus, quia sic scriptum est: praeterit huius mundi figura. et qui hunc mundum dilexerint, cum ipso et peribunt. ideo ipse dominus in euangelio contestatur et dicit: qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me dignus. et qui non accipit crucem suam et sequitur me non potest meus esse discipulus. de diuitiis autem huius saeculi, quas quidam pro summo bono et necessario amplectuntur et diligunt, ita dicit: non proderunt thesauri iniquis, iustitia autem eripit a morte. et iterum per prophetam ait: exterminati sunt omnes qui exaltati fuerant auro et argento. in euangelio quoque clamat atque damnat diuites saeculi dicens: uae uobis diuitibus, -qui 14] I Cor. 7,31. 17] Matth. 10,37 et 38; Luc. 14,27. 21] Prou. 10, 2. 23] Sophon. 1, 11. 25] Luc. 6, 24. 25. 1 ueram uiam b, uiam ueram u, uiam nostram 10 Col . uenturum esse u quandoquidem] quiquidem u 2 quem om. u, quando to 3 tenet om. 10 est enim u 4 aut debeat praeferri Col . 5 pater et uerus dns b aut cui bu, cui w, cui enim Col . 6 uitam] nostram add. 10 Col . impendimus 10 Col . illi] ipsi Ltbrun eam] uitam b recepimus 10 et om. u 7 seruare om. w Col . 8 ipsi] illi Col . militamus w 9 dileximus b 11 principium to 12 mundi] seculi Col . causa] eque to 13 honorem w 14 sic scriptum b, sicut scriptum Ute, scriptum Col . 17 aut] et u quam om. w 21 non] quia non to 24 atque bu, etiam et et to, etiamque Lebrun 25 damnat u, praeclamat b, praedampnat 10 ue buw semper qui] quia Col . habetis consolationem uestram; uae uobis qui saturati estis, quia esurietis! uae uobis qui ridetis nunc, quia lugebitis et flebitis! Noli ergo diutius diligere hunc mundum neque militiam eius, quia secundum scripturae auctoritatem inimicus dei est quicumque amicus est saeculi. et qui militat gladio mortis est minister, qui quando suum aut alienum sanguinem fundit, hinc recipit fructum stipendiorum; aut enim exitu mortis tenebitur reus aut crimine, quia necesse est, ut miles in bello, in quo tamen non tam pro se quam pro alio dimicat, aut suam mortem metus inueniat aut mortis causam uictor adquirat, quia uictor esse non poterit, si effusor sanguinis ante non fuerit. ideo dicit dominus: non potestis duobus dominis seruire, scilicet uni deo et mammonae, Christo uidelicet et Caesari, cum ipse Caesar Christi seruus nunc studeat esse, ut aliquarum gentium rex esse mereatur. neque enim quicumque rex terrenus totius mundi rex est, sed Christus deus, quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil; et ipse rex regum et dominus dominantium, ipse in terris in mari in abyssis omnia quae uult facit. Hunc igitur sequamur, huic militemus, cui cinctus numquam discingitur miles, qui militantibus sibi gloriam uitae 5] Iac. 4,4. 13] Mattb. 6,24. 18] Ioh. 1,3. 19] Apoc. 17, 14. 20] Ps. 134, 6. 4 nolo b1 diutius] diuicias w hunc] in w nec w 7 minister est 10 Col . quando bu, autem w Col . aut bu, uel w Col . 8 hinc scripsi, hunc buw, hic Col . recipiet w Col . enim om. w 10 tamen om. b 11 mortem suam b 12 uictor-quia om. b 14 scilicet u, sed b, sed quia w Col . uni deo et] uni deo (domino Sacch.) seruiendum est, facile puto posse (esse Col.) discerni cui potius seruiri (seruire w) debeat, deo an w Col . 15 uidelicet et u, u; et b, an w Col . nunc scripsi, non bu, om. w Col . 17 terrenus rex Col . totius mundi rex est sed christus deus bu, totius terrae dominus est. Christus autem totius mundi rex (dominus et rex Col.) est w Col . 19 ipse bw, ipse est u Col . 20 ipse bu, et w Col . et in mari et (et om. Col.) in uw Col abissis buw 22 igitur om. w huic ex hunc w cinctus] coniunctus Col . 23 distinguitur uw militat sub eo w XXVIUl. Paolini Nol. epiatnlae. 16 aeternae, honorem regni caelestis et diuitias hereditatis suae et diuinae cognitionis consortium perenne largitur. scriptum est autem: qui pecuniam diligit non iustificabitur; et qui terrenas possessiones concupiscit, in illis, sicut scriptum est, implicabitur. unde in Ecclesiastico per Salomonem loquitur diuina sapientia: quia multi dati sunt in (casum) auri causa, et facta est in facie illius perditio ipsorum. lignum, inquit, offensionis est aurum et deicit eos qui sectantur illud. sed non omnes nisi imprudentes disperient in illo. quamobrem fuge ab illo, fili, sicut a facie serpentis, credens Christo, qui in euangelio testatur omnibus hominibus: quia non in abundantia cuiusquam uita eius est ex his quae possidet. Sed te forsitan aetatis fiducia et stipes dignitatum et diuitiarum augmenta sollicitant, ut dicas: adhuc iuuenis sum et in tempore, ut permilitem et uxorem ducam et filios habeam et postea deo seruiam. ad haec tibi respondet non ego sed dominus, qui loquitur in prophetis et apostolis suis, et propheta dicit: ne tardaueris conuerti ad dominum nec differas de die in diem, ne subito ueniat ira illius. in euangelio autem quo ardore properandum sit ad conuersionem ostendit, cum dicit: a diebus autem Iohannis usque in hodiernum uim patitur regnum caelorum, et qui uim faciunt rapiunt illud. talis uiolentia deo grata est, quae 3] Eccli. 81, 5; Prou. 11, 28. 6] Eccli. 31, 6 et 7. 9] Eccli. 21,2. 12] Luc. 12,15. 19] Eccli. 5,8. 22] Matth. 11,12; Luc. 16,16. 1 suae-scriptum] acquiret w 5 implicabitur b u, inflammabitur ID, implanabitur Col . unde b u, nam w Col . ecclesiaste w salemonem w 6 dati coni. Lebrun, ditati butt periclitati Col . in casum coni. Lebrun, in bu, om. w Col . 8 offensionis] eius add. Col . deiecit w 9 omnis nisi imprudes (sic) Col . 10 disperient scripsi, dispereunt bu, disperiet w Col . 13 hiis w possident u 14 forte w stirpes to post . et bu, uel w Col . 15 huc b 16 et in tempore] est nunc tempus Col . parumper militem Col . 17 hec b, hoc uw 18 apostolis et prophetis u suis om. u propheta bw, per j>ph £ m u, sapiens Col . tardes Col . 19 nec] ne w 21 praeparandum w 22 qui b in] ad Col . 23 hodiernum diem w Col . 24 quae] qui w neminem concutit, nullius damno committitur. in hanc rapinam manus tuas uerte, quae crimen non habet et confert salutem. et quid tibi militarium stipendiorum curationes cum inuidia uiolentiae curare, cum forsitan pro tua honestate etiam debitorum moderatus exactor sis? cum sine cuiusquam inuidia et cum dei gratia possis esse uiolentus, ut capias regnum caelorum, quod uim patitur et gaudet Christus inuadi, quia pro abundantia caritatis et potentiae suae capax est et largiendi quod tenet et quod donauit obtinendi. nam quando sanctis suis in regno suo regnare concesserit, ipse regnabit in illis quos consortes regni caelestis adsumpserit. scriptum est enim et regnum dei cum sanctis fore et ipsos sanctos esse regnum dei, quod propitio deo, cum conuersus fueris, et legendo cognosces et credendo intelliges. De aetatis autem flore primaeque inuentutis quis audeat gloriari? admonet namque diuina scriptura dicens: omnis caro fenum et omnis claritas eius ut flos feni. aruit fenum, et flos decidit; sermo autem domini manet in aeternum. unde et propheta illa potius, in quibus aeterna corporis rediuiui gloria post resurrectionem possit manere, desiderans clamat: quam amabilia sunt tabernacula tua, domine uirtutum! concupiscit et deficit anima mea in atria domini. Et de uinculis coniugalibus et ceteris temporalium rerum tam spinosis quam inanibus curis apostolus, in quo Christus 3] (Luc. 3, 14). 11] (Apoc. 1, 6). 12] (Apoc. 20, 6). 16] Es. 40, 6. 21] Ps. 83, 2. 25] (II Cor. 13, 3). 1 percutit b 3 curationes] studeas add. m. 2 in mg. w, rationes coni . Ltbrun 4 forsitan etiam v 6 capias] rapias Col . 7 celorum celoram w uim u, sibi uim to, sibi b quod sibi auferri patitur Col . 8 per habundantiam w ut u potencie tue w 9 donauit bu, donauerit to Col . 10 de sanctis u suis] uiris Col . 11 caelestia om. w assumpserat w 12 sanctos ipsos to 18 cum-intelliges om. w cum] quin b 14 cognoscendo u 15 primaeque iuuentutis b u, prime to, primo Col . audiat b, audet u 16 namque om. w Col . 17 claritas] gloria w ut flos feni] quasi flos agri w 18 cecidit w 19 unde bu, ideo w Col . et om. to aeterni u 20 redimini w 21 clamat] clat u admirabilia w 22 domine deus to con. et deft. a. m. in at. do. u 23 atriis w 16* loquitur, admonet, ne in longum huius saeculi tempus irrita uota mittamus, et cognoscere nos iubet, quia tempus breuiatum est, et dicit: reliquum est, ut qui habent uxores tamquam non habentes sint, et qui flent tamquam non flentes sint, et qui gaudent tamquam non gaudentes sint et qui emunt tamquam non possidentes sint, et qui utuntur hoc mundo tamquam non utentes sint. quod cum dicit, ostendit non debere liberos implicari, quando quidem liberari suadeat impeditos. si ergo iam forsitan alligatus es uxori, noli quaerere solutionem. quod si adhuc liber es, noli quaerere implicationem. non enim apostolus propter coniugii condemnationem huius foederis religionem magno Christi et ecclesiae sacramento comparat, sed propter instantem necessitatem bonum esse asserit hominem sic esse, quemadmodum ipse erat. uolo, inquit, uos sine sollicitudine esse, hoc est ut nihil praeter deum et salutem nostram cogitemus. nam uxor et filii, quamquam et ipsa diuinitus nobis pignora data sint, tamen grauissimarum onera curarum sunt. unde idem apostolus dicit: quia tribulationem carnis habebunt huiusmodi, quia necessitudines nostrae carnales, quanto cariores nobis sunt, tanto magis nos cruciant et fatigant. nam uxore accepta primum optantur filii, et si non suscipiuntur, sterilitas lugetur; si suscipiuntur, orbitas timetur. ac perinde numquam in carnalibus affectionibus ita requiescit animus, ut cruciatu careat, dum necessitudines suas aut bonas amat cum amittendi metu aut malas odit cum amittendi uoto, in utroque 2] I Cor. 7, 29. 10] I Cor. 7,27. 13] (Eph. 5, 32). 16] I Cor. 7,32. 20] I Cor. 7, 28. 2 mittamus] teneamus 10 3 dicat w 5 sint om. Col . 6 sint om. Col . 7 sint om. Col . 8 sint om. Col . non debere liberos bu, non libere liberos w, liberos non debere Col . 9 suadet w 10 iam om . w 11 es] ab uxore add. uw Col . quaere u 12 condemnationem] hoc dicit quando quidem add. Col . 13 christo b 15 asserens Col . 18 et ipsa] ipsa to uobis b pignora nobis data sunt u 19 curarum onera Col . et idem u 20 dicit] ait Col . 21 quia et u 22 sunt nobis u magis om. w cruciant t crutiant b, discrutiant w Col . atque « 24 timetur] lugetur u proinde Col . 26 aut] ut w miseriis sustinendis semper obnoxius. miser est enim qui uxorem bonam perdit, miserior qui malam possidet. inter haec duo accidentia satis felicior est qui utrumque non nouit. similiter et de filiis saepissime miserrimi parentes uel qui bonis orbantur uel qui tales habent, ut non habentibus inuidere cogantur. Audi ergo, mi fili, et inclina aurem tuam mihi et dirumpe omnia uincula tua, quaecumque te in hoc saeculo implicatum tenent; commuta in melius militiam saeculi, ut aeterno regi incipias militare. et nunc, ut audio, qui adiutor et tutator es ciuium, fias comes Christi. deinde in hac militia soletis in uotis habere hanc officii promotionem, ut protectores efficiamini. si autem deo te probaueris, ipsum deum incipies habere protectorem. uide ad qualem militiam te inuito collegam, ut quod homini esse optas hoc tibi deus sit. quem si coeperis sequi, de comitiua incipis militare et finis militiae tuae erit regnum non terrae et temporis, sed aeternitatis et caeli. XXV*. DILECTISSIMO FILIO CRISPINIANO PAVLINVS IN CHRISTO DOMINO SALVTEM. Remeante ad nos de patria commilitone tuo quondam Victore speraui accepturum me scripta honestatis tuae, quibus me laetum de actu tuo id est de profectu fidei tuae (faceres); huius etenim gratia et pridem praesumpseram tibi scribere per eundem fratrem Victorem, sicut et nunc scribo, audens rursus ingerere tibi consilium meum urguente praecepto dei, 4 saepissime] enim sunt add. Col . bonis] amabiles habent quibus Col . 5 habentes u 6 cogamur u 7 fili mi Col. mihi om. w dirumpe bu, disrumpe w Col . 8 implicatum te w 9 seculi bu, om. w Col . 10 nunc] non w adiutor-in hac om. w tutator bu, tutor Col . 11 miliciam w 12 uobis bio Col . protectores] promptiores w 13 probaoeris] prebueris w habere incipies w 14 te miliciam w 16 de] et in eius Col . inceperis Col . et om. Col . 17 pr . et] non w m. — incipit liber paulini ad crispianum lege feliciter m 23 faceres add. Caspari 25 audens Casp., audiens m 26 rursum Casp . quo scriptum est: diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. quomodo autem probare possum aliter quia diligam te sicut et me, nisi idem tibi cupiam, quod mihi optimum iudicaui, id est ut renuntiantes huic saeculo et omnibus pompis et inlecebris uanitatis eius fugiamus ab ira uentura et confugiamus ad unicam generis humani salutem, Iesum Christum, dei filium, dominum et deum nostrum, qui propterea et crucifixus est et resurrexit a mortuis, ut nos a morte perpetua liberaret et ad uitam perpetuam perduceret, insuper et heredes et imaginis suae conformes et gloriae participes faceret. unde oportet, frater et filius carissime, omnibus intermissis, quae nos in hunc mundum inplicant et occidunt sequentes desideria carnis nostrae, uitia uoluptatum nostrarum abicere ex animo et post tergum relinquere quasi stercora, ut damnum utile facientes saecularium rerum, in quibus materia peccandi et causa moriendi subest, lucri faciamus Christum, in quo honor et thesaurus est, in quo et regnum perenne et lumen est uerum, quod inluminat oculos animarum, ut intellegamus quia melius est modicum iustum super diuitias peccatorum multas et nihil prodest homini, si adquirat totum mundum et animae suae detrimentum faciat. unde igitur necesse habui benedicto fratri et conciui bono nostro Victori oboedire, ut iterarem litteras ad caritatem tuam et auderem in dolore pietatis uel increpans tibi scribere, quia, cum sollicitus essem quid ageres, propitio deo dixit mihi etiam nunc te in uoto potius quam in opere christiani esse, semper cogitantem aeternum, arripientem iter uitae id est uiam Christi. sed si non uis esse priuatus, cogita mutandam tibi, non deponendam esse militiam, ut in tanto melius commutandam, quanto maior est rex deus quam homo. 1] Leu. 19, 18. 19] (Prou. 16, 8). 20] (Matth. 16, 26). 1 diligis m 2 aliter quia m, quod Gasp . 18 uitia scripsi, utuita m, uitam Casp . post1 ergum m 14 utilem m 19 iustum scripsi, iusto m, iuste Casp . 22 conciui bono] conci bono m, conciui Casp . oboediri m 23 audirem m 24 ageris m 26 christianum fort . aeternum m, aeternae Casp . arripientem m, arripere Gasp . 27 priuatus] hac uel simile intercidisse susp. Casp . 28 ut in tanto m, et tanto in Casp . 29 maior est scripsi, maiorem m, maior Casp . Refunde ergo Caesari quae sunt Caesaris, ut incipias deo reddere quae dei sunt. dic enim, quaeso te, frater meus, quid expectas? in quam spem meliorem consilium tuum seruas? in quos dies bonum tuum prorogas? quam longam tibi promittis aetatem? quodsi certus esses tantum te adhuc adesse uicturum, quantum uixisti, attamen de uelocitate temporis colligere deberes pari celeritate residuum aeui tui tempus esse lapsurum et post istius uitae breuissimum spatium et laboriosissimum cursum successura saecula, in quibus aut sine fine uiuendum aut sine fine moriendum est. necesse est autem istius saeculi amatores illius saeculi exules fieri, quia, sicut scriptum est neminem duobus dominis posse seruire neque ullam communionem esse Christo et mammonae, ita certum est non posse eum futuri saeculi bona capere, qui istius saeculi temporalia et caduca dilexerit. quodsi mihi non credideris, crede euangelio, in quo sub Abraham, patris nostri, persona dominus ostendit uicissitudines quasdam dari hominibus ita ordinatas, ut quibus in hoc saeculo tribulatio fuerit ibi refectio praeparetur, quibus uero istic abundantia infructuosa fuerit, his in inferno poenarum diues inopia rependatur. denique dines ille inhumanus, qui pauperi parcus et sibi prodigus fuerat, dum in hoc saeculo uiueret, postea mortuus et ad infernum raptus atque illic in gehenna demersus Lazarum mendicum longo interuallo uidit: nec iam spernit, sed admiratur ipse egens uitae illum diuitem gaudii, quem in saeculo eiectum spreuerat et esurientem non cibauerat, ulcerosum non curauerat et canibus uulnera eius lambentibus homo homini non fuerat misertus, ut deterior esse canibus ostenderetur diues, cui humanitatis adfectum rabies auaritiae sustulisset. hunc ergo pauperem, quem in hoc saeculo miserum et supplicem diues epulis et ueste regali superbus horruerat, postea apud 1] (Matth. 22, 21). 12] (Matth. 6, 24; II Cor. 6, 14). 5 adesse m, esse Casp . 6 attamen scripsi, et tamen m uocitate m collere deberis m 8 laboriosismum m 12 neminem dominibus m 15 credideris scripsi, crederis tn, credis Casp . 17 hominibus om. Casp . 19 habundantia m 23 dimersus m inferos se misero beatum uidens, id est illum in lumine requiescentem, se in tenebris aestuantem et illum in sinu Abrahae gaudentem, se in sinu (inferni) rugientem, oblitus superbiae et uanitatis suae, non miserabilis miser tam frustra quam sero pauperem recognoscit et gaudia sua luget, ubi iam remedium paenitendi non potest inuenire; quoniam, inquit, non est in morte qui memor sit tui, domine, in inferno autem quis confitebitur tibi? unde et alibi propheta dicit: quia dominum inuocauerunt, ibi timuerunt timore, ubi non erat timor. Istic ergo, dum in corpore commoramur, adesse debemus saluti nostrae et remedia nobis profutura inquirere et in quantum abundauimus ad exacerbandum dominum peccando, superabundemus satisfaciendo ei digne paenitendo. in inferno autem peccatoribus non iam paenitentiae sed tantum poenae locus est; quam ob rem, ut supra dixi, in utrasque personas hoc est diuitis et pauperis uersa rerum uice rogat ardens mortuus illum, quem uiuens et in deliciis agens mendicantem et in doloribus plagarum suarum saepe intermorientem despiciens inridensque transierat. quam iuste nunc apud inferos ignes pascit et uermes qui apud superos non pauerat indigentem propinquum! itaque in ipsum mendicitate conuersa nunc male diues in abundantia tormentorum suorum stipem roris exigui de mendico suo uitae opibus abundante mendicat, sed iustam uicem recipit, ne refrigeretur inopis misericordia, quem de copia sua nunquam refrigerauerat. quid autem illud est, quod toto ardens corpore linguam tantum suam uel minimo pauperis digito aspergi rogat, nisi quia in pauperem eo maxime membro peccauerat, quo ante ianuam suam iacentem abici iusserat aut squalorem 6] Ps. 6, 6. 9] Ps. 53, 6. 3 se Casp., sed m inferni add. Casp . 4 non] nunc fort . 6 penitendi m inueniri coni. Casp . inqid m 8 confitebitur Casp., confitebor m 12 inquerere m 13 habundauimus m exaceruandum m superhabundemus m 14 penitendo m 15 non tam iam m 18 diliciis m placarum m 19 saepae m dispiciens m 20 iustae m pascet m 21 aput m 25 copio m refriguerat Casp . 28 pauperem Casp., paupere m 29 Bqualorum m tribulationum eius inriserat, quod utrum(que) in eo facinus lingua peccauerat, non cogitans unum sibi et pauperi deum creatorem sed eundem indulgentiorem pauperi patrem, qui resistit superbis et humilibus dat gratiam. non cogitauerat sibi scriptum: qui dat pauperi domino fenerat, et iterum: qui facit iniuriam pauperi exacerbat deum, qui fecit illum. ideo datus in infernum sicut filius gehennae audit Abraham refrigerii patrem: fili, recordare, quia recepisti bona in uita tua, et Lazarus similiter mala, nunc autem hic consolatur, tu uero cruciaris. propterea iterum dicit in euangelio: beati lugentes, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur, et contra dicit: uae ridentibus, quia ipsi lugebunt! inde et Dauid ait: qui seminant in lacrimis in gaudio metent. et Ecclesiastes pari iure pronuntiat, quia melius est ire in domo luctus, hoc est ubi in humilitate cordis contribulati peccata praeterita medicis luctibus diluantur, quam in domo epulationis, id est ubi per intemperantiam et luxum magis peccata aeternis ignibus punienda cumulentur. Ob hoc, benedicte fili, cupio te resipiscere ab amore tenebrarum et ab erroris humani consortio separari, qui scriptum nosti: beatus uir, qui non abiit in consilio impiorum. si enim particeps uelis esse eorum, qui modo seminant in lacrimis, socius eorundem eris in die remunerationis, quia uenientes sancti uenient in exultatione portantes manipulos suos. quae uero quis in hac uita seminauerit, eadem in illa metet. ideo dicit apostolus: qui seminat in carne de carne metet corruptionem; qui autem seminat in spiritu 2] (Prou. 22,2). 3] (Prou. 3,34; Iac. 4,6; I Petro 5, 5). 4] Prou. 19,17. 5] Prou. 14, 31. 8] Luc. 16, 25. 10] Matth. 5, 5. 12] Luc. 6,25. 13] Ps. 126, 5. 16] Eccl. 7, 2. 21] Ps. 1, 1. 23] Ps. 126, 6. 26] Gal. 6, 8. 1 utrumque Gasp., utrum m facinos m 3 qui Casp., que m 6 exaceruat m 7 patre m 8 filii m 10 uero m, autem Casp . 18 metet m aecclesiastes m 14 ire melius est Casp . 16 aepulationis m 17 id est Casp., et m 18 coulentur m 21 habiit m 22 uellis m 23 earundem m dip m 26 ido m de spiritu metet uitam aeternam. mihi enim crede non poteris gaudere cum Christo, nisi gaudere destiteris cum hoc saeculo. nisi modo fleueris, non ridebis in aeternum; si te non humiliaueris a te ipso, non exaltaberis; (si non despexeris) inanem gloriam mundi, non adipisceris perennem gloriam Christi; si hic temporaliter diues esse malueris, illic pauperiem perpetuo sustinebis; si te in uia lata et spatiosa Christus inuenerit, in ea te, quod absit, iudicare cogetur.