The Fifth Sunday after Easter
Rogation Sunday
Augustine on Pslam CXLVII
Rogation Sunday Home
O LORD, from whom all good things do come; Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Source: Sacramentary of Gelasius [ca 464 AD]. The collect refers to James 1:17 which is appointed for the 4th Sunday after Easter. Known as Rogation Sunday for the Latin "Rogare" means to ask, (earnestly petition), and the Gospel says, "ask, and ye shall receive." The three days following this Sunday are Rogation Days with prayer and fasting good crops and industry. This Sunday in latter times was also when folk in England would go out in procession around the parish boundaries and pray for protection.
, Psalm 146, 147 | 132, 133, 134; St. James i. 22, St. John xvi. 23
Homily of Augustine on Psalm CXLVII
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that
hope in his mercy.
Eccl xii
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Psalm 146, 147 | 132, 133, 134
St. James i. 22
BE ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
St. John xvi. 23
VERILY, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Augustin
Psalm CXLVII
1. It is said to us, "Praise the Lord" (ver. 1). This is said to all
nations, not to us alone. And these words, sounded forth through
separate places by the Readers, each Church heareth separately; but the
one same Voice of God proclaimeth unto all, that we praise Him. And as
though we asked wherefore we ought to praise the Lord, behold what
reason he hath brought forward: "Praise the Lord," he saith, "for a
Psalm is good." Is this all the reward of them that praise?...The
"Psalm" is praise of God. This then he saith, "Praise the Lord, for it
is good to praise the Lord." Let us not thus pass over the praise of
the Lord. It is spoken, and hath passed: it is done, and we are silent:
we have praised, and then rested; we have sung, and then rested. We go
forth to some business which awaits us, and when other employments have
found us, shall the praise of God cease in us? Not so: thy tongue
praiseth but for a while, let thy life ever praise. Thus then "a Psalm
is good."
2. For a "Psalm" is a song, not any kind of song, but a song to a
psaltery. A psaltery is a kind of instrument of music, like the lyre
and the harp, and such kinds of instruments, which were invented for
music. He therefore who singeth Psalms, not only singeth with his
voice, but with a certain instrument besides, which is called a
psaltery, he accompanieth his voice with his hands. Wilt thou then sing
a Psalm? Let not thy voice alone sound the praises of God; but let thy
works also be in harmony with thy voice....To please then the ear, sing
with thy voice; but with thy heart be not silent, with thy life be not
still. Thou devisest no fraud in thy heart: thou singest a Psalm to
God. When thou eatest and drinkest, sing a Psalm: not by intermingling
sweet sounds suited to the ear, but by eating and drinking moderately,
frugally, temperately: for thus saith the Apostle, "whether ye eat or
drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." [5902] ...If by
immoderate voracity thou exceedest the due bounds of nature, and
gluttest thyself in excess of wine, however great praises of God thy
tongue sound, yet thy life blasphemeth Him. After food and drink thou
liest down to sleep: in thy bed neither commit any pollution, nor go
beyond the license given by the law of God: let thy marriage bed be
kept chaste with thy wife: and if thou desire to beget children, yet
let there not be unbridled sensuality of lust: in thy bed give honour
to thy wife, [5903] for ye are both members of Christ, both made by
Him, both renewed by His Blood: so doing thou praisest God, nor will
thy praise be altogether silent. What, when sleep has come over thee?
Let not an evil conscience rouse thee from rest: so doth the innocence
of thy sleep praise God....
3. "Let praises be pleasant to our God." How? If He be praised by our
good lives. Hear that then praise will be pleasant to Him. In another
place it is said, "Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner."
[5904] If then in the mouth of a sinner praise is not seemly, neither
is it pleasant, for that only is pleasant which is seemly....For praise
may be pleasant to a man, when he heareth one praising with neat and
clever sentiments, and with a sweet voice; but "let praise be pleasant
to our God," whose ears are open not to the mouth, but to the heart;
not to the tongue, but to the life of him that praiseth.
4. Who is "our God," that praise should be pleasant to Him? He maketh
Himself sweet to us, He commendeth Himself to us; thanks to His
condescension...."But God commendeth His love to us"..."in that, while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." [5905] ...Let us see whether
it be the commendation which the Apostle speaketh of, that Christ died
for the sinners and ungodly: "the Lord who buildeth up Jerusalem, and
gathereth the dispersions of Israel" (ver. 2). For the people of
Jerusalem are the people of Israel. It is Jerusalem "eternal in the
heavens," whereof the Angels are citizens also....All the citizens then
of that city, through "seeing God," rejoice in that great and wide and
heavenly city; they gaze upon God Himself. But we are wanderers from
that city, driven out by sin, that we should not remain there; weighed
down by mortality, that we should not return thither. God looked back
on our wandering, and He who "buildeth up Jerusalem," restored the part
that had fallen. How restored He the part that had fallen?...He sent
then to our captive estate His Son as a Redeemer. Take with Thee, said
He, a bag, bear therein the price of the captives. For He put on Him
our mortal flesh, and therein was the Blood, by the shedding of which
we were to be redeemed. With that Blood He "gathered the dispersions of
Israel." And if He gathered them that before were dispersed, how must
we strive that they be gathered who now are dispersed? If the dispersed
have been gathered, that in the Hand of the Builder they might be
fashioned into the building, how should they be gathered who through
disquiet have fallen from the Hand of the Builder? Behold whom we
praise; behold to whom we owe praise all our life long.
5. How doth He gather? What doeth He in order to gather? "Who healeth
the bruised in heart" (ver. 3). Behold the way in which the dispersions
of Israel are gathered, by the healing of the bruised in heart. They
who are not of a bruised heart, are not healed. What is to bruise the
heart? Let it be known, brethren, let it be done, that ye may be able
to be healed. For it is told in many other places of Scripture;..."the
sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit, a bruised and contrite heart God
will not despise." He healeth then the bruised in heart, for He draweth
nigh unto them to heal them; as is said in another place, "the Lord is
nigh unto them who have bruised their heart." [5906] Who are they that
have "bruised their heart"? The humble. Who are they that have not
"bruised their heart"? The proud. The bruised heart shall be healed,
the puffed up heart shall be dashed down. For for this purpose perhaps
is it dashed down, that being bruised it may be healed. Let not our
heart then, brethren, desire to be set upright, before it be upright.
It is ill for that to be uplifted which is not first corrected....
6. What are the means whereby He "bindeth up their bruises"? Just as
physicians bind up fractures. For sometimes (observe this, beloved; it
is well known to those who have observed it, or have heard it from
physicians), sometimes when limbs are sound, but are crooked and
distorted, physicians break them in order to set them straight, and
make a new wound, because the soundness which was distorted was
amiss....
7. What are these means whereby He bindeth? The sacraments of this
present life, whereby in the mean time we obtain our comfort: and all
the words we speak to you, words which sound and pass away, all that is
done in the Church in this present time, are the means whereby "He
bindeth up our bruises." For just as, when the limb has become
perfectly sound, the physician taketh off the bandage; so in our own
city Jerusalem, when we shall have been made equal to the Angels, think
ye that we shall receive there, what we have received here? Will it be
needful then that the Gospel be read to us, that our faith may abide?
or that hands be laid upon us by any Bishop? All these are means of
binding up fractures; when we have attained perfect soundness, they
will be taken off; but we should never attain it, if they were not
bound up.
8. "Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their
names" (ver. 4). What great matter is it for God to "tell the number of
the stars"! Men even have endeavoured to do this; whether they have
been able to achieve it, is their concern; they would not however
attempt it, did they not think that they should achieve it. Let us
leave alone what they can do, and how far they have attained; for God I
think it no great matter to count all the stars. Or doth He perhaps go
over the number, lest He should forget it? Is it any great thing for
God to number the stars, by whom "the very hairs of your head are
numbered"? [5907] The stars are certain lights in the Church comforting
our night; all of whom the Apostle saith, "In the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world,
holding the Word of life." [5908] These stars God counteth; all who
shall reign with Him, all who are to be gathered into the Body of His
only-begotten Son, He hath counted, and still counteth them. Whoso is
unworthy, is not even counted. Many too have believed, or rather may,
with a kind of shadowy appearance of faith, have attached themselves to
His people: yet He knoweth what He counteth, what He winnoweth away.
For so great is the height of the Gospel, that it hath come to pass as
was said, "I have declared, and have spoken: they are multiplied above
number:" [5909] there are then among the people certain
supernumeraries, so to speak. What do I mean by supernumeraries? More
than will be there. Within these walls are more than will be in the
kingdom of God, in the heavenly Jerusalem; these are above the number.
Let each one of you consider whether he shineth in darkness, whether he
refuseth to be led astray by the dark iniquity of the world; if he be
not led astray, nor conquered, he will be, as it were, a star, which
God already numbereth. "And calling them all by their names," he saith.
Herein is our whole reward. We may have certain names with God, that
God may know our names, this we ought to wish, for this to act, for
this to busy ourselves, as far as we are able; not to rejoice in other
things, not even in certain spiritual gifts....When the disciples
returned from their mission exulting, and saying, "Lord, even the
devils are subject unto us in Thy Name" [5910] --then He (knowing that
many would say, "have we not in Thy Name cast out devils?" to whom He
should say, "I know you not") said, "In this rejoice not, that the
devils are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are
written in heaven." [5911]
9. "Great is our Lord" (ver. 5). The Psalmist is filled with joy, he
hath poured out his words wonderfully: yet somewhat he was unable to
speak, and how availed he to think on it? "And great is His power, and
of His understanding is no numbering." He who "numbereth the stars,"
Himself cannot be numbered. Who can expound this? who can worthily even
imagine what is meant by, "and of His understanding is no
number"?...Whatsoever then that is infinite this world containeth,
though it be infinite to man, yet is not to God: too little is it to
say, to God: even by the angels it is numbered. His understanding
surpasses all calculators; it cannot be counted by us. Numbers
themselves who numbereth? What than is there with God? wherewith made
He all things, and where made He all things, to whom it is said, "Thou
hast arrayed all things in measure, number, and weight"? [5912] Or who
can number, or measure, or weigh, measure and number and weight
themselves, wherein God hath ordered all things? Therefore, "of His
understanding is no number." Let human voices be hushed, human thoughts
still: let them not stretch themselves out to incomprehensible things,
as though they could comprehend them, but as though they were to
partake of them, for partakers we shall be....Partakers then we shall
be: let none doubt it: Scripture saith it. And of what shall we be
partakers, as though these were parts in God, as though God were
divided into parts? Who then can explain how many become partakers of
one single substance? Require not then that which I think ye see cannot
fitly be said: but return to the healing of the Saviour, bruise your
heart. He will guide it, He will bind it up where it is broken, He will
make it perfectly sound; and then those things will not be impossible
with us, which now are impossible. For it is good that he confess
weakness, who desireth to attain to the divine nature.
10. "The Lord taketh up the gentle" (ver. 6). For example; thou
understandest not, thou failest to understand, canst not attain: honour
God's Scripture, honour God's Word, though it be not plain: in
reverence wait for understanding. Be not wanton to accuse either the
obscurity or seeming contradiction of Scripture. There is nothing in it
contradictory: somewhat there is which is obscure, not in order that it
may be denied thee, but that it may exercise him that shall afterward
receive it. When then it is obscure, that is the Physician's doing,
that thou mayest knock. He willed that thou shouldest be exercised in
knocking; He willed it, that He might open to thee when thou knockest.
By knocking thou shalt be exercised; exercised, thou shalt be enlarged;
enlarged, thou shalt contain what is given. Be not then indignant for
that it is shut; be mild, be gentle. Kick not against what is dark, nor
say, It were better said, if it were said thus. For how canst thou thus
say, or judge how it is expedient it be said? It is said as it is
expedient it be said. Let not the sick man seek to amend his remedies:
the Physician knoweth how to temper them: believe Him who careth for
thee. Therefore what cometh next?..."The Lord taketh up the gentle, but
humbleth the sinners even to the ground," he intended a certain sort of
sinners to be understood, from the gentleness mentioned first. By
sinners then in this place, we understand the fierce, and those who are
not gentle. Wherefore doth He "humble them even to the earth"? They
carp at objects of understanding, they shall perceive only things
earthly. [5913]
11. "Begin to the Lord in confession" (ver. 7). Begin with this, if
thou wouldest arrive at a clear understanding of the truth. If thou
wilt be brought from the road of faith to the profession of the
reality, "begin in confession." First accuse thyself: accuse thyself,
praise God. What after confession? Let good works follow. "Sing unto
our God upon the harp." What is, "Upon the harp"? As I have already
explained, just like the Psalm upon the psaltery, so also is the
"harp:" not with voice only, but with works.
12. ..."Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the
earth" (ver. 8). Now thou art alarmed, because thou canst not see the
heaven: when it hath rained thou shalt gather fruit, and shalt see
clear sky. Perhaps our God hath done this. For had we not the obscurity
of Scripture as an occasion, we should not say to you those things
wherein ye rejoice. This then perhaps is the rain whereat ye rejoice.
It would not be possible for it to be expressed to you by our tongue,
were it not that God covereth with clouds of figures the heaven of the
Scriptures. For this purpose willed He that the words of the Prophets
should be obscure, that the servants of God might afterwards have that
by interpreting which they might flow over the ears and hearts of men,
that they might receive from the clouds of God the fatness of spiritual
joy. "Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the
service of men." Behold the fruit of the rain. "Who maketh," saith he,
"grass to grow upon the mountains." Doth it not also grow upon the low
ground? Yes, but it is a great thing that it groweth "on the
mountains."...For nothing could be more barren than the hard mountains.
"And herb for the service of men." What "service"? Listen to Paul
himself. "And ourselves," saith he, "your servants for Jesus Christ's
sake." [5914] He who said, "If we have sown unto you spiritual things,
is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things?" yet said, that he
was a "servant." For we are your servants, brethren. Let none of us
speak of himself, as though he were greater than you. We shall be
greater if we are more humble. "But whosoever will be great among you"
(it is the Lord's saying), "shall be your servant." [5915] Paul the
Apostle, indeed, living by his own labour, refused even to receive "the
grass of the mountains;" he chose to want; nevertheless, the mountains
gave "grass." Because he chose not to receive, ought the mountains
therefore not to give, and so to remain barren? Fruit is due to the
rain, food is due to the servant, as the Lord saith, "Eat such things
as they give you:" and that they should not think that they gave aught
of their own, He added, "for the labourer is worthy of his hire."
[5916]
13. ...Just now has been read, "Give to every one that asketh of thee;"
[5917] and in another place Scripture [5918] saith, "Let alms sweat in
thy hand, till thou findest a righteous man to whom to give it." One
there is who seeketh thee, another thou oughtest to seek. Leave not
indeed him who seeketh thee empty, for, "give to every one that asketh
of thee;" yet still there is another whom thou oughtest to seek; "find
a righteous man to whom to give it." Ye will never do this, unless ye
have somewhat set aside from your substance, each what pleaseth him
according to the needs of his family, as a sort of debt to be paid to
the treasury. If Christ have not a state [5919] of His own, neither
hath He a treasury. [5920] ...Cut off then and prune off some fixed
[5921] sum either from thy yearly profits or thy daily gains, else thou
seemest as it were to give of thy capital, and thy hand must needs
hesitate, when thou puttest it forth to that which thou hast not vowed.
Cut off some part of thy income; a tenth if thou choosest, though that
is but little. For it is said that the Pharisees gave a tenth; "I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." [5922] And
what saith the Lord? "Except your righteousness exceed the
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven." [5923] He whose righteousness thou oughtest to
exceed, giveth a tenth: thou givest not even a thousandth. How wilt
thou surpass him whom thou matchest not? "Who prepareth rain for the
earth."
14. "And giveth unto the cattle their food" (ver. 9). These are the
cattle he meaneth, even God's flocks. God defraudeth not His flock of
their food through men, for whose "service He maketh the grass to
grow." "And to the young of the ravens that call upon Him." Shall we
perchance think this, that the ravens call upon God to give them their
food? Think not that the unreasoning creature calls upon God: no
creature knows how to call upon God, save the reasonable alone.
Consider it as spoken in a figure, lest thou think, as some evil men
say, that the souls of men migrate into cattle, dogs, swine, ravens.
Give this no place in your hearts or in your faith. The soul of man is
made after the image of God: He will not give His image to dog or
swine. Who are "the young of the ravens"? The Israelites used to say
that they alone were righteous, because to them the Law had been given:
all other men of every nation they used to call sinners. And in truth
all nations were given up to sin, to idolatry, to the worship of stones
and stocks: but did they continue so? Although the ravens themselves,
our fathers, did not, yet we, "the young of the ravens," do call upon
God. [5924] ...For "the young of the ravens," who seemed to worship the
images of their forefathers, have advanced, and turned to God. And now
thou hearest "the young of the ravens" calling upon the one God. What
then? Sayest thou to "the young of the ravens," "hast thou left thy
father?" Plainly I have, saith he; for he is a raven who calls not upon
God. I, "the young of the raven," do call upon God.
15. "In the power of an horse He will not take pleasure" (ver. 10). The
power "of an horse" is pride. For the horse seemeth adapted as it were
to bear a man aloft, that he may be more uplifted as he goes. And in
truth he has a neck which typifieth a sort of pride. Let not men exalt
themselves upon their worth, let them not think themselves uplifted by
their distinctions; let them beware lest they be thrown by an untamed
horse. [5925] ..."Nor in the tabernacle of a man will He delight." For
the tabernacle of the Lord is the Holy Church spread throughout the
whole world. Heretics, separating themselves from the Church's
tabernacles, have set up tabernacles for themselves. For if perchance
it be the lot of any, who is good and pious, who confesseth his own
weakness, who is "the young of a raven that calleth on God," not to
enjoy worldly distinction, he goeth not out of the Church, he setteth
not up for himself a tent outside the Church, wherein God will not
delight. But what saith he? "I have chosen to be cast away in the house
of God, rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners." [5926]
16. But what addeth he? "The Lord will delight in them that fear Him,
and in them that hope in His mercy" (ver. 11). A robber is feared, and
a wild beast is feared, and an unjust and powerful man is much feared.
"The Lord will delight in them that hope in His mercy." Behold, Judas,
who betrayed our Lord, feared, but he did not hope in His mercy....It
is well indeed that thou hast feared, but only if thou trustedst in His
mercy, whom thou hast feared. He in despair "went and hanged himself."
In such wise then fear the Lord, that thou trust in His mercy....
17. "Praise in unison, O Jerusalem, thy God" (ver. 12). Abiding yet in
captivity, they behold those flocks, or rather, the one flock of all
its citizens, gathered from all sides into that city; they see the joy
of the mass, now after threshings and winnowings placed in the garner,
fearing nothing, suffering no toil nor trouble; and, as yet abiding
here, in the midst of the threshing they send forward their joy of
hope, and pant for it, joining as it were their hearts to the Angels of
God, and to that people which shall abide with them in joy for ever.
For what wilt thou then do, O Jerusalem? Surely toil and groaning will
pass away. What wilt thou do? wilt thou plough, or sow, or plant vines,
or make voyages, or trade? What wilt thou do? Will it still be thy duty
to be engaged in the works thou now doest, good though they are, and
spring from mercy? Consider thy numbers, consider on all sides thy
company: see whether any hungers, for thee to give bread to; see
whether any thirsts, for thee to give a cup of cold water to; see
whether any is a stranger, for thee to take in; see whether any is
sick, for thee to visit; see whether any is at strife, for thee to
reconcile him; see whether any is dying, for thee to bury him. What
then wilt thou do? "Praise in unison, O Jerusalem, thy God." Behold,
this is thy business. As is wont to be said in inscriptions, "Use it
and be happy." [5927]
18. Be ye Jerusalem; remember of whom it is said, "Lord, in Thy city
their image Thou shalt bring to nought." [5928] These are they who now
rejoice in such pomps; among them are they who have not come hither
to-day because there is a show. To whom is it a gift? [5929] to whom is
it a loss? or why is it a gift? why is it a loss? For not they only who
exhibit such shows are smitten with loss, but with much greater loss
are they smitten who delight in gazing on them. The former have their
chest drained of its gold, the latter have their breast robbed of the
riches of righteousness. Most of the exhibiters of shows have to mourn
for selling their estates; how ought the sinners to mourn, for losing
their souls: Was it then for this that the Lord cried out on the Lord's
Day, "Watch ye," that to-day men should watch in this way. I beseech
you, ye citizens of Jerusalem, I beseech you by the peace of Jerusalem,
by the Redeemer, the Builder, the Ruler of Jerusalem, that ye address
your prayers to God for them. May they see, may they feel, that they
are trifling; and, intent as they are on the sights which please them,
may at length look on themselves, and be displeased. For in many we
rejoice that this has already been done: and once we too sat there and
were mad: and how many think we now sit there, who shall yet be, not
only Christians, but also Bishops! From what is past, we conjecture
what is to be: from what has already been done, we announce beforehand
what God will do. Let your prayers be wakeful, ye groan not for
nothing. Certainly they who have already escaped, praying for those who
are still in danger, because they too having been among those in
danger, are heard; and God shall drag His people out of the captivity
of Babylon; by all means He shall redeem and deliver them, and the
number of the saints who bear the image of God shall be
perfected...."Praise in unison," because thou consistest of many:
"praise," because thou hast been made one. [5930] "We being many,"
saith the Apostle, "are one in Christ." [5931] As then we are many, "we
praise in unison;" as we are one, we "praise." The same are many and
one, because He in whom they are one [5932] is ever One. [5933]
19. Wherefore, saith this Jerusalem, do I praise in unison the Lord,
and, as Sion, praise my God? Jerusalem is the same as Sion. For
different reasons has it the two names. Jerusalem meaneth "visions of
peace;" Sion meaneth "watching." [5934] See whether these words do not
sound like sights; [5935] that the Gentiles may not think that they
have sights and we have none. Sometimes after the theatre or
amphitheatre breaks up, when the crowd of lost ones begins to be
vomited forth from that den, sometimes, retaining in their minds images
of their vain amusements, and feeding their memory with things not only
useless but even hurtful, rejoicing in them as if they were sweet,
while they are really deadly; they see often, it may be, the servants
of God pass by, they recognise them by their garb or headdress, or they
know them by sight, [5936] and they say to one another, or inwardly,
"Wretched people, how much they lose!" Brethren, let us return their
good will (for they do mean it well) with prayers to the Lord. They
wish us well; but "he that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul."
[5937] If he hateth his own soul, how shall he love my soul? Yet with a
perverse, and empty, and vain good will, if indeed it may be called
good will, they grieve that we lose what they love: let us pray that
they lose not what we love. Behold of what character that Jerusalem is
to be which he exhorteth to praise, or rather foreseeth will praise.
For the praises of that city, when we shall see and love and praise,
will not need to be urged on and stirred up by the voice of prophecy;
but the Prophets now say this, to drink in as far as while they remain
in this flesh they can, the future joys of the blessed, and then giving
them forth into our ears, to arouse in us love of that city. Let us
burn with longing, let us not be slothful in spirit. "Praise thy God, O
Sion."
20. He saith, "He hath made strong the bars of thy gates" (ver. 13).
The making bars strong is not for open gates, but shut ones, wherefore
most manuscripts read, "He hath made strong the bolts [5938] of thy
gates." Observe, beloved. He biddeth Jerusalem when closed in to praise
the Lord. We praise in unison now, we praise now; but it is amid
offences. Many where we wish not, enter in: many though we wish it not,
go out: therefore offences are frequent. "And because iniquity hath
abounded," saith the Truth, "the love of many waxeth cold:" [5939]
because men come in whom we cannot discern, because men go out whom we
cannot retain. Wherefore is this? Because not yet is there perfection,
not yet is there the bliss that shall be. Wherefore is this? Because as
yet it is the threshing-floor, not yet the garner. What therefore will
be then, save no fear that aught of this kind will happen? He said not
only, He hath set, but, "He hath made strong the bars of thy gates."
Let none go out, let none come in. Let none go out, we rejoice: let
none come in, we fear. Nay, fear not this: when thou hast entered it
will be said: only be thou in the number of virgins, who carried their
oil with them....
21. "He hath blessed thy children within thee." Who? He "who hath set
peace as thy borders." How ye all exult! [5940] Love peace, my
brethren. Greatly are we delighted, when the love of peace crieth from
your hearts. How greatly doth it delight you! I had said nothing: I had
explained nothing: I but read the verse, and ye shouted. What was it
that shouted in you? The love of peace....children of the kingdom, O
citizens of Jerusalem, in Jerusalem is the vision of peace: and all who
love peace are blest in her, and they enter in, when the doors are
being shut, and the bars made strong. This, which when but named ye so
love and esteem, this follow after, this long for: this love in your
home, in your business, in your wives, in your sons, in your slaves, in
your friends, in your enemies....
22. What ye cried out a while ago at the very mention of peace, ye
cried from longing: your cry was from thirst, not from fulness; for
there will be perfect righteousness where will be perfect peace. Now we
hunger and thirst after righteousness. "They shall be filled." [5941]
How shall they be filled? When we have arrived at peace. Therefore when
he had said, "Who hath set peace for thy borders," because there is
fulness and no want, he added at once, "and filleth thee with the fat
of wheat" (ver. 14)....
23. "Who sendeth forth His Word to the earth" (ver. 15). Behold, on
earth we toil, weary, fainting, sluggish, cold: when should we be
raised up to the fat of wheat that satisfieth, did not He send His Word
to the earth, whereby we were weighed down, to the earth, whereby we
were hindered from returning? He sent His Word, He deserted us not even
in the wilderness, He rained manna from heaven. "Who sendeth forth His
Word to the earth;" and to earth His Word came. How? or what is His
Word? "Even unto swiftness His Word runneth." He said not, "His Word is
swift," but, "His Word runneth even unto swiftness." Let us understand,
my brethren: He could not have chosen a better word. He who is hot
grows hot by heat, he who is cold grows cold by cold, he who is swift
becometh swift by swiftness....To what degree then doth it run? "Even
to swiftness." Increase as much as you will the swiftness of the Word,
and say, It is as swift as this or that, as birds, as the winds, as the
Angels; is any of these as great as swiftness itself, "even unto
swiftness"? What is swiftness itself, brethren? It is everywhere; it is
not in part. This belongeth to the Word of God, not to be in part, to
be everywhere by Himself the Word, whereby He is "the Power of God and
the Wisdom of God," [5942] before He had taken flesh upon Him. If we
think of God in the Form of God, the Word equal to the Father, this is
the Wisdom of God, of which is said, "It reacheth from one end to the
other mightily." [5943] What mighty speed! "It reacheth from one end to
the other mightily."...
24. We then are burdened by the sluggishness of this cold body, and the
bonds of this earthly and corruptible life; have we no hope of
receiving "the Word," which "runneth even unto swiftness"? or hath
abandoned us, though by the body we are depressed to the lowest depths?
Did not He predestinate us, before we were born in this mortal and
sluggish body? He then, who predestinated us, gave snow to the earth,
even ourselves. For now let us come to those somewhat obscure verses of
the Psalm, let those entanglements begin to be unrolled. Behold, we are
sluggish on this earth, and are as it were frozen here. And just as
happens to the flakes of snow, for they freeze above, then fall down;
so as love groweth cold, human nature falleth down to this earth, and
involved in a sluggish body becometh like snow. But in that snow are
predestined sons of God. For, "He giveth snow like wool" (ver. 16).
What is "like wool"? It meaneth, of the snow which He hath given, of
these, who are as yet slow in spirit and cold, whom He hath
predestinated, He is about to make somewhat. For wool is the material
of a garment: when we see wool, we look on it as a sort of preparation
for a garment. Therefore since He hath predestinated these, who at
present are cold and creep on earth, and as yet glow not with the
spirit of love (for as yet He speaketh of predestination), God hath
given these as a sort of wool: He is about to make of them a garment.
Rightly did the "raiment" of Christ "shine" on the mountain, "like
snow." [5944] The raiment of Christ did shine like snow, as though of
that snow a garment had already been made: of which wool, that is, of
the snow which He gave like wool, they being as yet predestined, were
sluggish: but wait, see what followeth. Since He gave them as wool, a
garment is made of them. For as the Church is called the Body of
Christ, so is the Church also called the garment of Christ: hence
cometh that which is said by the Apostle, "that He might present it to
Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle." [5945] Let Him
then present unto Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or
wrinkle; let Him make Himself a garment of that wool, which He had
predestinated in the snow. While men are yet unbelieving, and cold, and
sluggish, let Him make a garment of this wool. That it may be washed
from spots, let it be cleansed by faith: that it may have no wrinkle,
let it be stretched out upon the cross....
25. "He scattereth mist like ashes." "He scattereth," saith the
Psalmist, "mist like ashes." Who? He "who giveth snow like wool." For
whom He predestined, He calleth to repentance; for "whom He
predestined, them He also called." But "ashes" are connected with
repentance. Hear Him calling to repentance, when He upbraided certain
cities, saying, "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for
if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Tyre
and Sidon, they had long ago repented in dust and ashes." [5946]
Therefore, "He scattereth mist like ashes." What is, "He scattereth
mist like ashes"? When a man is called to learn about God, and it is
said to him, "Receive the truth;" he beginneth to wish to receive the
Truth, but is not able; he seeth that He is under a sort of darkness,
which before he saw not....Wander not in the mist, follow in faith. But
forasmuch as thou endeavourest to see and art not able, repent of thy
sins, for mist is scattered like ashes. Repent thee now of having been
obstinate against God, repent of having followed thine own evil ways.
Thou hast come into this state where it is difficult for thee to see
the vision of bliss, and the mist will be healthful to thee, which God
scattereth like ashes. Thou thyself art as yet a mist, but like ashes.
For they that are penitent, as yet roll themselves in ashes, my
brethren, testifying, as it were, that they are like it, saying unto
God, "I am ashes." For a certain Scripture saith, "I have despised
myself, and wasted away, I have reckoned myself earth and ashes."
[5947] This is the humility of the penitent. When Abraham speaketh to
his God, and wisheth the burning of Sodom to be disclosed to him, he
saith, "I am but earth and ashes." [5948] How hath this humility ever
been found in great and holy men!
26. "Who sendeth His crystal like morsels of bread" (ver. 17). We need
not spend our toil again in saying what crystal is. We have already
said it, and I do not think that ye, beloved, have forgotten it. What
is then, "He sendeth His crystal like morsels of bread"? What is
"crystal"? It is very hard, it is very tightly congealed; it can not,
like snow, be easily melted. Snow, hardened by many years' duration,
and by the succession of ages, is called "crystal," and this "He
sendeth like morsels of bread." What meaneth this? They were too hard,
no longer fit to be compared to snow, but to crystal; but they too are
predestinated and called, and some of them even so as to feed others,
to be useful to others also. And what need is there to enumerate many,
whom we happen to know, this one and that one? Every one when he thinks
can recall to mind how hardened and obstinate some of those whom he
knows have been, how they have struggled against the truth; yet now
they preach the truth, they have been made morsels of bread. Who is
that one Bread? "We being many," saith the Apostle, "are one Body in
Christ;" [5949] he saith also, "we being many are one Bread and one
Body." [5950] If then the whole Body of Christ is one Bread, the
members of Christ are morsels of Bread. Of some that are hard He maketh
members of Himself, and useful for feeding others....Behold, the
Apostle Paul was a crystal, hard, resisting the truth, crying out
against the Gospel, hardening himself, as it were, against the
sun....Since then he was crystal, he appeared clear and white, but he
was hard and very cold. How was he bright and white? "An Hebrew of the
Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee." Behold the brightness of
crystal. Now hear the hardness of crystal. "As touching zeal,
persecuting the Church" [5951] of Christ. Among the stoners of the holy
martyr Stephen, was he, hard, perhaps harder than all. "For he kept the
raiment of all who were stoning," [5952] so that he stoned by the hands
of all.
27. Thus then we see "the snow, the mist, the crystal:" it is good that
He blow and thaw them. For if He blow not, if He Himself thaw not the
hardness of this ice, "in the face of His cold who shall stand?" He
abandoneth a sinner, behold, He calleth him not; behold, He openeth not
his perception; behold, He poureth not in grace; let the man thaw
himself, if he can, from the ice of folly. He cannot. Wherefore can he
not? "In the face of His cold who shall stand?" Behold him then growing
harder, and saying, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?" Behold, I am growing cold, behold, I am
growing hard, what heat shall thaw me that I may run? "Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?....In the face of His cold who
shall stand?" And who shall free himself, if God abandon him? Who is it
that freeth? "The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." [5953]
Are we then to despair? God forbid. For it goeth on, "He shall send out
His Word, and melt them" (ver. 18). Let not then the snow despair, nor
the mist, nor the crystal. For of the snow, as of wool, a garment is
being made. That mist findeth safety in repentance: for, "whom He
predestinated, them He also called." But even though they be the very
hardest among the predestinated, though they have been for a long time
hardening, and are become crystal, they will not be hard to the mercy
of God. "He shall send out His Word, and melt them." What is "melt"?
Understand not "melt" in an ill sense: it meaneth, He shall liquefy, He
shall thaw them. For they are hard through pride. Rightly is pride
called also dulness: for whatever is dull, is also cold....Despair not
even of the crystal. Hear a saying of the crystal. "Who before was a
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious." [5954] But wherefore doth
God melt the crystal? That the snow despair not of itself. For he
saith, "For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ
might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them that
hereafter should believe on Him unto eternal life." [5955] God then
calleth unto the Gentiles, "Be melted, O crystal; come, ye snows." "His
Spirit shall blow, and the waters shall flow." Lo, the "crystal" and
the "snows" are melted, they turn into water, "let them that thirst,
come and drink." [5956] Saul, hard as crystal, persecuted Stephen unto
death; Paul, now in the living water, [5957] calleth the Gentiles to
the Fount....
28. "Announcing His Word unto Jacob, His Righteousnesses and Judgments
unto Israel" (ver. 19). What "Righteousnesses," what "Judgments"?
Because whatever mankind had suffered here before, when it was "snow"
and "mist" and "crystal," it suffered for the deserts of its pride and
uplifting against God. Let us go back to the origin of our fall, and
see that most truly is it sung in the Psalm, "Before I was troubled I
went wrong." [5958] But he who says, "Before I was troubled I went
wrong," saith also, "It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that
I may learn Thy Righteousnesses." [5959] These righteousnesses Jacob
learnt from God, who made him to wrestle with an Angel; under the guise
of which Angel, God Himself wrestled with him. He held Him, he exerted
violence to hold Him, he prevailed to hold Him: He caused Himself to be
held, in mercy, not in weakness. Jacob therefore wrestled, and
prevailed: he held Him and when he seemed to have conquered Him asked
to be blessed of Him. [5960] How did he understand with Whom he had
wrestled, Whom he had held? Wherefore did he wrestle violently, and
hold Him? Because "the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the
violent take it by force." [5961] Wherefore then did he wrestle?
Because it is with toil. Wherefore do we with difficulty hold, what we
so easily lose? Lest, easily getting back what we have lost, we learn
to lose that which we hold. Let man have toil to hold: he will hold
firmly, what he has only held after toil. These His judgments therefore
God manifested to Jacob and Israel....
29. "He hath not done so to the whole race" (ver. 20). Let none deceive
you: it is not announced to any nation, this judgment of God; namely,
how the righteous and the unrighteous suffer, how all suffer for their
deserts, how the righteous themselves are freed by the grace of God,
not in their own merits. This is not announced to the whole race, but
only to Jacob, only to Israel. What then do we, if He hath not
announced it to the whole race, but only to Jacob, only to Israel?
Where will we be? In Jacob. "He hath not manifested His judgments to
them." To whom? To all nations. How then are the "snows" called, when
the crystal is melted? How are the nations called, now Paul is
justified? How, save to be in Jacob? The wild olive is cut off from its
stock, to be grafted into the olive: now they belong to the olive, no
longer ought they to be called nations, [5962] but one nation in
Christ, the nation of Jacob, the nation of Israel...What is Israel?
"Seeing God." Where shall he see God? In peace. What peace? The peace
of Jerusalem; for, saith he, "He hath set peace for thy borders." There
shall we praise: there shall we all be one, in One, unto One: for then,
though many, we shall not be scattered.
Let us pray in the words of Augustine.
Turn we to the Lord God, the Father Almighty, and with pure hearts offer to him, so far as our
meanness can, great and true thanks, with all our hearts praying his exceeding kindness, that of
his good pleasure he would deign to hear our prayers, that by his Power he would drive out the
enemy from our deeds and thoughts, that he would increase our faith, guide our understandings,
give us spiritual thoughts, and lead us to his bliss, through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with him, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[A prayer which he was wont to use after his Sermons and Lectures.]
NPNF (V1-08) St. Augustine
Notes:
[5901] Lat. CXLVI. Sermon to the people of Carthage.
[5902] 1 Cor. x. 31.
[5903] 1 Pet. iii. 7.
[5904] Ecclus. xv. 9.
[5905] Rom. v. 8.
[5906] Ps. xxxiv. 18.
[5907] Matt. x. 30.
[5908] Philip. ii. 15.
[5909] Ps. xl. 5.
[5910] Luke x. 17.
[5911] Luke x. 20.
[5912] Wisd. xi. 20.
[5913] [See this series, vol. iv. p. 364. Here is a digression upon men
"not gentle,"--the Manichees.--C.]
[5914] 2 Cor. iv. 5.
[5915] Matt. xx. 26.
[5916] Luke x. 7, 8.
[5917] Luke vi. 30.
[5918] The Benedictine editors were unable to identify this text.
[5919] Rempublicam.
[5920] Fiscus. [The author says: "For know ye what fiscus means? Fiscus
is a bag, and from the same source come also the words fiscella and
fiscina. Think not that fiscus is a kind of dragon, because men are
alarmed when they hear of the collector of the fiscus: the fiscus is
the public purse. The Lord had one here on earth when he had the bag:
and the bag was entrusted to Judas."--C.]
[5921] Aliquid fixum; other mss. fisco, which suits the context better;
"prune off somewhat for the treasury,"i.e. Christ's treasury.
[5922] Luke xviii. 12.
[5923] Matt. v. 20.
[5924] 1 Pet. i. 18.
[5925] Ps. xx. 7.
[5926] Ps. lxxxiv. 10.
[5927] Utere felix. This and other like expressions seem, from
Morcelli, Opera Epigraphica, vol. i. p. 415, to have been usual in
inscriptions upon cups and like works of art, probably when given as
presents.
[5928] Ps. lxxiii. 20.
[5929] A play on the double meaning of the word munus, which, meaning
literally "a gift," is also used in a special sense for "as how of
gladiators."
[5930] Unum.
[5931] 1 Cor. x. 17.
[5932] Unum.
[5933] Unus.
[5934] Speculatio.
[5935] Spectacula.
[5936] There is better reading in some mss.: forte for fronte, "or they
happen to know them."
[5937] Ps. xi. 5.
[5938] Seras.
[5939] Matt. xxiv. 12.
[5940] [Here were applauses. The Donatists were warlike.--C.]
[5941] Matt. v. 6.
[5942] 1 Cor. i. 24.
[5943] Wisd. viii. 1.
[5944] Matt. xvii. 2.
[5945] Eph. v. 27.
[5946] Matt. xi. 21.
[5947] Job xxx. 19, Vulg.
[5948] Gen. xviii. 27.
[5949] Rom. xii. 5.
[5950] 1 Cor. x. 17.
[5951] Philip. iii. 5, 6.
[5952] Acts xxii. 20.
[5953] Rom. vii. 24, 25.
[5954] 1 Tim. i. 13.
[5955] 1 Tim. i. 16.
[5956] John vii. 37.
[5957] John iv. 14.
[5958] Ps. cxix. 67.
[5959] Ps. cxix. 71.
[5960] Gen. xxxii. 24, etc.
[5961] Matt. xi. 12.
[5962] Gentes.
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