on-.' FC52 v.7 66-0^08
Fathers of the Church.
i" '."!,;. 7C/2 v. 7 66-C&308
Jc.'hlie;-? of 'bhe CliUi'ch.
DD1 D3D71t4 3
.1
THE FATHERS
OF THE CHURCH
A NEW TRANSLATION
VOLUME 7
THE FATHERS
OF THE CHURCH
Founded by
LUDWIG SCHOPP
EDITORIAL BOARD
ROY JOSEPH DEFERRARI
The Catholic University of America
Editorial Director
RUDOLPH ARBESMANN, O.S.A.
Fordham University
STEPHAN KUTTNER
BERNARD M. PEEBLES
The Catholic University of America
ROBERT P. RUSSELL, O.S.A.
The Catholic University of America Villanova College
MARTIN R. P. McGuiRE
ANSELM STRITTMATTER, O.S.B.
The Catholic University of America St. Anselm's Priory
WILFRID PARSONS, SJ.
Georgetown University
JAMES EDWARD TOBIN
Queens College
GERALD G. WALSH, SJ.
Fordham University
NIC ETA OF RE ME SI AN A
WRITINGS
Translated by
GERALD G. WALSH, SJ.
SULPICIUS SEVERUS
WRITINGS
Translated by
BERNARD M. PEEBLES
VINCENT OF LERINS
COMMONITORIES
Translated by
RUDOLPH E. MORRIS
PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
GRACE AND FREE WILL
Translated by
]. REGINALD O'DONNELL, C.S.B.
New York
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, INC.
1949
NIHIL OBSTAT:
IMPRIMATUR:
JOHN M. A, FEARNS, S.T.D.
Censor Librorum
FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN
Archbishop of New York
October 25, 1949
The Nihil obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or
pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained
therein that those who have granted the Nihil obstat and Imprimatur agree
with the contents, opinions or statements expressed.
Copyright, 1949, by
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, INC
All rights reserved
Lithography by Bishop Litho, Inc.
Typography by MiUer & Watson, Inc.
U. S. A.
CONTENTS
NICETA OF REMESIANA
INTRODUCTION 3
THE NAMES AND TITLES OF OUR SAVIOUR 9
AN INSTRUCTION ON FAITH . 13
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 23
AN EXPLANATION OF THE CREED . . . . . .43
THE VIGILS OF THE SAINTS 55
LITURGICAL SINGING 65
SULPICIUS SEVERUS
INTRODUCTION 79
LIFE OF SAINT MARTIN, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR . . 101
THE LETTER TO EUSEBIUS (Epist. 1) 141
THE LETTER TO THE DEACON AURELIUS (Epist. 2) . 147
THE LETTER TO BASSULA (Epist. 3) 153
THE FIRST DIALOGUE 161
THE SECOND DIALOGUE 201
THE THIRD DIALOGUE . . . *. 225
APPENDIX: ST. MARTIN AND THE CONDEMNATION OF
PRISCILLIAN 252
VINCENT OF LERINS
INTRODUCTION 257
THE COMMONITORIES 267
PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
INTRODUCTION 335
GRACE AND FREE WILL . 343
INDEX * 421
WRITINGS
OF
NIC ETA OF REMESIANA
Translated
by
GERALD. G. WALSH, S.J., M.A. (Oxon), Ph.D., S.T.D.
Fordham University
Neo Eboraci
die 17 Sept., 1948
IMPRIMI POTEST
JOHN J. McMAHON, SJ.
Praep. Prov.
INTRODUCTION
I HE RESTORATION to name and fame of Niceta of
Remesiana (c. 335-. 415), whose extant and au-
|thentic works appear here for the first time in an
English dress, constitutes one of the most romantic stories in
the history of patristic research. For centuries a misspelt
'Niceas of Romatiana* was given credit for half a dozen
long-lost Instructions for Converts. 1 A still worse spelt 'Nicha*
was known to have been addressed in a letter of 366 A. D,
by his fellow-bishop, Germinius of Sirmium (near Mitro-
vicza, on the Save, in modern Jugoslavia). 2 In the third
quarter of the sixth century, the saintly and scholarly ex-Sen-
ator Cassiodorus praised the 'compendious brevity' and the
'clarity of heavenly doctrine* in a summary of the doctrine of
the Trinity to be found in a work on Faith by 'Nicetus.' 3
Meanwhile, although the works were lost, there was an
all but full-length picture of the saintly, scholarly, lovable
personality of Niceta contained in a letter and two poems
written by the poet-saint, Paulinus of Nola (c. 354-431), an
almost exact contemporary of St. Augustine of Hippo (354-
430). In the letter, Niceta appears as a Venerable* bishop,
a man of eminent learning, doctissimus, who ha4 come from
1 Gennadius, Catahgus virorum illustrium, cap. 22 (cited in A, E.
Burn, Niceta of Remesiana, p. 137) .
2 Burn, op. cit. f pp. 138-141.
3 Ibid., p. 155.
NICETA OF REMESIANA
Dacia to Rome and had 'deservedly won the admiration of
all.' The two poems are inspired by immense affection. 'Go,
if you must, but leave your heart behind you' (/ memor
nostri remaneque vadens}* Paulinus pleads in a well-turned
Sapphic verse, when Niceta had to return in 398 to his heroic
missionary work among the half-barbarian frontiersmen in
the valleys and on the mountains of what is now Jugoslavia.
Two minds and hearts and spirits, the poem says, were one.
First, the journey is described from Calabria in Italy to
Epirus (modern Albania), then by sea to Thessalonica, up
the Vardar valley to Scupi (now Skoplje), then by the Mo-
rava valley to Naissus (Nisch) and so to his home town of
Remesiana (now called Bela Palanka, 'Whitby' or 'White-
boro, 3 as we might say). With a pardonable mixture of
genuine affection and rhetorical affectation, Paulinus says
he loves the roads that brought Niceta to him, but hates
them, as they take him home. What pleased Paulinus most
was the thought of his fellow poet, the hymn writer, Niceta,
captivating the hearts of the rough sailors by his songs. Oh !
for the wings of a dove, Paulinus cries, that he might join
in the singing himself ! Even the dolphins, lured by the lovely
sounds, will follow in the wake of the ship!
But, poetic fancy aside, what stirred Paulinus most of all
was the heroism of his friend's missionary work among the
wild inhabitants of those frontier regions and the still wilder
invaders. Even the Bessi, whose hearts were harder than the
ice on their mountain tops, have been tamed, he sings, and
led like sheep into the peaceful fold of Christ,
et sua Bessi nive duriores
nunc oves \acti, duce te, gregantttr
pacis in aidam.
4 The relevant parts of the letter and poems of Paulinus are given
in Burn, op. ctt., pp. 141-155,
INTRODUCTION 3
Warriors have been turned into monks and pillagers into
apostles of peace. A land of blood has been turned into a
fertile field of Christian life. The once barbarous voices, now
tamed by Christian virtue and in tune with Roman peace,
make that silent region re-echo with the Name of Christ.
Orbis in muta regions per te
barbari discunt resonare Christum 5
corde Romano placidamque casti
vivere pacem.
At the end, Paulinus begs Niceta to remember that God
meant him to be a link between East and West, a master
of more than one people, a citizen of both Dacia and Rome,
a shepherd of his new. people and a lover of his old friends.
In a second song, written (not in Horatian Sapphics but
in Virgilian hexameters) on the occasion of another visit
to Rome in 402, Paulinus praises the purity of Niceta's priest-
ly heart and the clarity of his scholarly mind. The same ad-
miration and the same affection break through these Latin
verses. And you can feel, above all, their common devotion to
the cause of Christ.
There were hints enough in these poems that Niceta was,
perhaps, the author of the Te Deum or, at least, of the work
on Liturgical Song which appeared in a number of manu-
scripts. The fact is that Irish manuscripts of the Te Deum
did attribute it to 'Niceta' or 'Nicetius,' and some manuscripts
of the work on Liturgical Song bore the name Niceta, too.
However, when the latter work was printed by Luc d'Ach&y
in 1659, it was attributed to Nicetius of Trier (d. 566).
Scholars like Sirmond and Labbe protested, but the wrong
5 The words resonare Christum, taken from St. Paulinus' poem, ap-
pear on the coat of arms of Bishop John Wright of Boston. The
sermon preached on the occasion of Bishop Wright's consecration,
June 29, 1947, and dealing with the relations of Niceta and Pauhnus.
was published in the Congressional Record, July 8, 1947.
6 NICETA OF REMESIANA
attribution was maintained. There was a chance in 1799 of
giving Niceta his due in regard to the Instruction on the
Creed. But the manuscript unearthed by Cardinal Borgia
bore the name of a Nicetas who was Bishop of Aquileia from
454 to 485. In 1802, some fragments attributed to 'Nicetas*
were published by M. Denis, and, in spite of the arguments
of J. P. Zabeo, an extremely long dissertation of P. Braida
in 1810 won the day for Nicetas of Aquileia. 6
So it remained even in 1827. In that year, a newly discov-
ered manuscript containing the Sermons on Faith, the Power
of the Holy Spirit, and the Names and Titles of Christ was
published by Cardinal Mai. Nicetas of Aquileia, however,
was given the credit of authorship. The result was that Migne,
in the Patrologia Latino., published the works on Faith, the
Holy Spirit, the Names of Christ, the Sermon on the Creed
and Six Fragments under the name of the Bishop of Aquileia, 7
and the works on Vigils and Psalmody under the name of
Nicetius of Trier. 8
The Benedictine scholar, Dom Morin, finally tried to solve
the question. In a series of articles in the Revue Btntdictine,
beginning in 1894, he argues with much cogency that the
Te Deum belonged to Niceta of Remesiana. Great scholars
like Cagin and Blume were not fully convinced, but, at
least in regard to the works here translated, all doubts have
now been dissipated. In 1905, the English scholar A. E.
Burn published a critical text on the basis of all the manu-
script evidence then available. Some needed corrections to
this text of two of the works were supplied by C. EL Turner
in the Journal of Theological Studies in 1921 and 1923. Of
these, of course, I have availed myself, but for the most part
6 The dissertation is printed in Migne, PL 52*8754134,
7 Migne, PL 52.837-876.
8 Ibid., 68.365-576.
INTRODUCTION
the present translation follows the text of the editio princeps
prepared by A. E. Burn.
Niceta (Niketes is the Greek form) seems to have been
born in Remesiana, on the imperial road connecting East and
West, about 335. The first mention of his name 'Nicha' is,
of course, a copyist's mistake for Niceta is in the letter of
Bishop Germinius, already alluded to, written in the winter
of 366-367. It seems very likely that the remarkable medita-
tion on the Names and Titles of Christ was written shortly
after the reception of this letter. It is at least possible that
Bishop Niceta was present at the Synod of Rome called by
Pope Damasus in 371. Other councils were called by Pope
Damasus in 374 and 376 and there may be echoes of the
decisions of these councils in Niceta's Sermons on Faith and
the Holy Spirit. As against Burn, who dates these sermons
370-375, Patin has argued for a date later than 38 1. 9
Either at the beginning of the reign of Theodosius in 379
or, as seems to some scholars more probable, at the end in
395, the ecclesiastical province of Illyria, which was attached
to the patriarchate of Rome, passed under the political control
of the Eastern Empire. Niceta knew Greek well enough,
as one can see from his quoting of the Greek text of St. Paul,
and still more from his knowledge of such a work as the Cate-
chetical Instructions of St. Cyril of Jerusalem; yet his spirit was
thoroughly Latin and he reveals a complete mastery of the
Latin language. His close friendship with Paulinus implies
frequent visits to Nola, but we are quite sure only of the
visits of 398 and 402. It is tempting to suggest that Niceta
may have visited St. Ambrose in Milan shortly after the lat-
tcr's introduction of community hymn singing in 386 or
thereabouts. The two men, at once poetical, practical and
9 \y. A. Patin, Niceta, Bischof von Remesiana, als Schriftsteller und
Theologe (Munich 1909) 33ff.
NICETA OF REMESIANA
pastoral, could easily have become friends. The last mention of
Niceta's name occurs in a letter of Pope Innocent I in 414. 10
The century in which Niceta lived was one of bold in-
novation. Theological speculation, especially in the East, was
magnificently constructive and the theological lexicon was
filled with all the new words which were found necessary to
silence the subtleties of the heretics. In regard to worship, there
was a battle between the conservative puritans who wanted
none of the new-fangled 'Oriental' noisiness of congregational
singing and the forward-looking realists who understood the
spiritual value of the innovation. Niceta fought the old-timers
in regard to both ascetical and liturgical practice. His instruc-
tions on Vigils and Psalmody are the evidence of his victory.
The man who emerges from these writings may not have
been a profoundly speculative genius, but he was certainly
a lovable, hard-working, highly cultivated, courageous, deeply
spiritual, thoroughly contemporary pastor of souls.
ID Migne, PL 20.526FF.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. E. Burn, Niceta of Rcmesiana, His Life and Works (Cambridge 1905) .
<X H. Turner's text of De Wgitiis and D utilitate hymnorum based
on Cod. Vatic. Reg. lat< 131, saec 940. Journal of Theological Studies,
22, 24.
W. A. Patin, Niceta, Bischof w>n Remcsiana> ah Schriftstller und
Theologe (Munich 1909)*
Dont Morin in Revue BMdictinc, 1894, 49-77; 337-345; 1907, 108-223.
THE NAMES AND TITLES
OF OUR SAVIOUR
(De diversis appellationibus)
N THE HOLY SCRIPTURES there are many names and
titles which are applied to our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus. He is said to be the Word; He is called Wis-
dom, Light and Power; right hand, arm and angel; man
and lamb, sheep and priest. He is the Way, the Truth, the
Life; a vine, Justice and Redemption; bread, a stone and
doctor; a fount of living water; peace and judge and door.
Yet, for all these names which are to help us grasp the
nature and range of His power there is but one and the
same Son of God who is our God.
These, then, are His names; but what are the meanings
of these names? He is called the Word, first, to imply that
He was begotten of the Father with no more passivity or
substantial diminution in the Father than there is in a
person who utters a spoken word; second, for the obvious
reason that God the Father has always spoken through Him
both to men and angels. The name Wisdom tells us that -in
the beginning all things, through Him, were ordered wisely.
He is the Light, because it was He who brought light into
the primordial darkness of the world and who, by His
coming among men, dissipated the darkness of their minds.
10 NICETA OF REMESIANA
Power is one of His names, since no created thing can ever
overcome Him. He is a right hand and arm, for through Him
all things were made and by Him they are all sustained. He
is called an angel of great counsel, because He is the an-
nouncer of His Father's will. He is said to be the Son of
man, because on account of us men He deigned to be born
a man. He is called a lamb, because of His perfect innocence;
a sheep, to symbolize His passion. For two reasons He is
called a priest: first, because He offered up His body as an
oblation and victim to God the Father for us; second, be-
cause, through us, He condescends day after day to be
offered up. He is the Way along which we journey to
our salvation; the Truth, because He rejects what is false;
the Life, because He destroys death. He is a vine, because
He spread out the branches of His arms that the world
might pluck in clusters the grapes of consolation 1 from the
Cross* His is called Justice, because through faith in His name
sinners are made just; and Redemption, because He paid
the price in His blood to buy us back we who had been
so long lost. He is called bread, because by His Gospel He fed
the hunger of our ignorance; 2 and a stone, both because on
Him the serpent left no trace and because He afforded us
protection. He is the doctor who came to visit us and cured
our weakness and our wounds; the fount of living water,
because by the 'bath of regeneration' 3 He cleanses sinners
and gives them life. He is peace, because He brought together
those who lived apart, and reconciled us to God the Father.
He is the Resurrection, because He will raise all bodies from
1 Magnum . . . dulcedinis . . . fructum, literally, *the great fruit of sweet-
ness' or 'much sweet fruit/ , f
2 Famem $c\cntiac t literally, our 'hunger for knowledge. Cardinal Mai*
text in Migne, PL 52.865, reads; famen gentium, 'the hunger of the
Gentiles.'
3 Titus 3.5.
NAMES AND TITLES OF OUR SAVIOUR 1 1
their graves; and the judge because it is He who will judge
both the living and the dead. He is the door, because it is
by Him that those who believe enter the kingdom of heaven.
These many names and titles belong to one Lord. Take
courage, therefore, O man of faith, and plant your hope
firmly in Him. If you would learn of the Father, listen to
this Word. If you would be wise, ask Him who is Wisdom.
When it is too dark for you to see, seek Christ, for He is
the Light. Are you sick? Have recourse to Him who is both
doctor and health. 4 Would you know by whom the world
was made and all things are sustained? Believe in Him, for
He is the arm and right hand. Are you afraid of this or that?
Remember that on all occasions He will stand by your side
like an angel. If you find it hard to meet face to face the high
majesty of the Only-begotten, 5 do not lose hope. Remember,
He was made man to make it easy for men to approach Him.
If you are innocent, like a lamb He will join your company.
If you are saddened by pagan persecution, take courage.
Remember that He Himself went like a lamb to the slaughter,
and, priest that He is, He will offer you up as a victim
to the Father. If you do not know the way of salvation,
look for Christ, for He is the road for souls. If it is truth
that you want, listen to Him, for He is the Truth. Have no
fear whatever of death, for Christ is the Life of those who
believe. Do the pleasures of the world seduce you? Turn
all the more to the Cross of Christ to find solace in the
sweetness of the vine that clustered there. Are you a lost
sinner? Then you must hunger for justice and thirst for
the Redeemer, for that is what Christ is. Because He is bread,
He takes away all hunger. If you are stumbling, fix your
4 Virtus, literally, 'strength/ 'power.'
5 The Latin reads: accedere ad tantam unigeniti maiestatem.
12 NICETA OF REMESIANA
foot firmly on Him, for He is a rock; 6 and like a wall He
will protect you. Are you weak and sick? Ask for a medicine
from Him, because He is a doctor. Especially, if you are still
unbaptized, you may suffer from the ardors of passion. Then
hurry to the well of life to put out the flame and to gain
for your soul eternal life. If anger is tormenting you and
you are torn by dissension, appeal to Christ, who is peace,
and you will be reconciled to the Father and will love every-
one as you would like 7 to be loved yourself* If you are afraid
that your body is failing and have a dread of death, remember
that He is the Resurrection, and can raise up what has
fallen. When sinful pleasure tempts you and the flesh is
weak, recall that you are in the presence of a just judge,
severe in weighing the evidence and one who is making
ready everlasting fire. Then, sinner as you are, you will lose
your taste for sin. In your hour of death, brother, should you
lose hope of obtaining a just reward in heavenly glory, be
bold in faith to remember that He is the door, and through
Him, once you are raised from the dead, you will enter the
mysteries of heaven, join the company of angels, and hear
the longed-for words: 'Well done, good and faithful servant;
because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will
set thee over many; enter the joy of thy master , , . take
possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the founda-
tion of the world.' 8 Amen.
6 Lapis, in the text.
7 Burn accepts the reading diligcndum [jttdicas], which was suggested
by Cardinal Mai. There is, in fact, a space for one word left in
the best MSS. Considering how careful Niceta is in the matter of
cadenced clausulat, we suggest that he was more likely to have written
diligcndum judicaris or putavtris,
8 Matt. 25.23,34.
AN INSTRUCTION ON FAITH 1
(De ratione fidei]
INGE MEN have been reborn and made holy by faith,
1 according to the Gospel form, 'In the name of
I the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,'
this profession gives them hope of the kingdom of heaven.
For such men, as the Apostle has said, nothing is more use-
ful than to give themselves to good works; so he writes to
Titus: 'I desire thee to insist, that they who believe in God
may be careful to excel in good works. These things are good
and useful to men. But avoid foolish controversies and genea-
logies and quarrels and disputes about the Law; for they are
useless and futile/ 2
When the blessed Apostle wrote this, he already foresaw
that there would be men who would neglect good works.
1 The title most commonly given to this work is De ratione fidei.
However, this work and the next, De Spiritus sancti potentia, jtaken
together, constitute the third of the 'six books of instruction'
(instructionis libellos sex) , mentioned by Gennadius of Marseilles
(De viris illustribus 22) and which he attributes to Niceas, Roma-
cianae civitatis episcopus.
2 Titus 3.8,9. The Latin text used by Niceta was earlier than the
Vulgate of St. Jerome. I have used the Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine translation from the Vulgate, since in most cases there is
very little difference in the general sense. Here, however, in place
of curent bonis operibus praeesse, 'to excel in good works/ Niceta's
text reads curaan habeant bonorum, 'should have a care for good
[works] .'
13
14 NICETA OF REMESIANA
They would be preoccupied by curious and useless questions,
and thus lose the peace which the Lord had bequeathed to
His Church. The fact is that men who look for lofty wisdom
are often puzzled by the simplest problems. They forget what
the Apostle said, 'Be not highminded, but fear.' 3 Seeking
what is unlawful, they lose what is lawful. They pretend to
weigh and grasp the very Author and Maker of heaven and
earth. 4 Yet, they are unable to perceive and grasp what God
has made even with their senses. 6 In the presence of the mag-
nitude and multitude of God's works, their single and simple
duty should be to adore. Yet, they choose to doubt. The
nature and immensity of God are matters of mystery. Yet,
they debate the questions: How big is the Father? What
kind of a Son is there? And what sort of a Holy Spirit?
Imagine a mere man, without full knowledge even of him-
self, daring to set limits to God.
(2) I need only mention Sabellius the Patripassian. 6 He
had the folly and presumption to assert that the Son was one
and the same person as the Father and the Holy Spirit, that
the Trinity was not a, reality but a name, that there were three
names but not three persons. He muddled the whole matter
by saying that it was the Father who assumed a body and
suffered.
3 Rom. 11.20.
4 Ipsum conditorem et fabricatorem Deum capere et mcnsurare.
5 Sensti colligere et capere.
6 The heresy .of Sabellianism consists in the idea that the three
'Persons' are merely three 'modes* in which one God acts, or three
'parts' which He plays in the drama of Creation, Incarnation and
Sanctification. When Calvin rejected the Catholic doctrine of real
immanent relations in God, he prepared the way for modern forms
of Sabellianism.
7 Bishop Photinus of Sirmium in Pannonia died in 376. His anti-
Trinitarian views were condemned in 344 by the Synod of Antioch
and again in 545 by the Western bishops at Milan. He was deposed
at the Synod of Sirmium in 351.
INSTRUCTION ON FAITH 15
Nor need I dwell on Photinus. 7 He knew of the Incarna-
tion, the abasement and saving passion of the Only-begotten
Son of God, but looked upon Him as nothing but a man. He
denied the divinity which His works should have forced
him to admit. He forgot that the Apostle had said that,
though Christ was in the form of God, He took the form
of a servant so as to give true liberty to us who were slaves
of sin. 8 So, too, to the Corinthians: Tor you know the
graciousness of Our Lord Jesus how, being rich, he became
poor for your sakes, that by his poverty you might be rich. 59
If I say no more concerning Sabellius and Photinus, it is
because practically every church has already rightly con-
demned their error.
(3) What you really want of me is to say something of the
heresy which is here and now assailing the Catholic faith,
namely, the heresy started by Arius. 10 He was not content
with the explicit mention, in the Gospels and the writings of
the Apostles, of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Nor was he humble enough to believe, as he ought
to have done, that the Father has a Son and the Son really
has a Father. Unfortunately, he wanted to go further and
8 Cf. Phil. 2,6.
9 2 Cor. 8.9. f ^ , A7 ,
10 The denial by Arius (A.D. 256-336) of the divinity of the word was
condemned by a synod in Alexandria in 320 and by the ecumenical
Council of Nicaea in 325. However, under the Emperor Constants
II (350-361) , the Arian movement regained strength. In 357, the
second formula of Sirmium declared the Word unlike (andmoios)
the Father-hence, Anomaeanism, Moderate Arians, Homoiousians,
accepted the formula that the Word was. of 'like substance' with the
Father (homoiousios) . The fourth formula of Sirmium triumphed
in 359. No mention was made of the substance, ousia, but the Word
was declared 'like in all things' (hdmoios kata pdnta) . However,
with the nomination of St. Ambrose as Bishop of Milan in 374, and
with the continued activity of St. Athanasius and the Cappadocians
St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen-the Nicene formula became
more and more universally accepted.
16 NIGETA OF REMESIANA
ask how and in what sense God could be a Father. Not un-
derstanding how since no one can understand this he
fell into the error of denying both the Father and the Son.
He denies the Father by saying that He could not beget of
Himself a real and proper Son. He denies the Son by say-
ing that the Son was not begotten, but was of another origin,
being made out of nothing, and that He was merely a special
kind of creature whose love merited for Him the name of
Son. He was not really a Son begotten by the Father. Hence,
Arms imagined that the Son was of some other substance
and by no means to be thought of as the true Son of the
Father.
It was to combat this perverse novelty in doctrine that
the Nicene Council was assembled. There, after all the texts
of Scripture had been compared and discussed, the truth was
made clear and a 'creed was composed. Arius had said
that the Son had some other origin, not of the Father, not
of the substance of the Father, that is, not of that very sub-
stance which is God. Therefore, our holy Fathers proclaimed
that the Son was c born of the Father, that is, of the substance
of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of true
God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father.'
Thus, there is nothing in the Son to make Him other than
God. In reality, if He is the true Son of God and was truly
begotten of God the Father, we cannot believe He is of
some other substance than that of Him whose Son He is.
Thus, as the Father is God, so the Son is God; and, as the
Father is light, so the Son is light.
(4-) However, a number of people take offense at this
profession that the Son is of the same substance. Con-
sequently, the holy profession is twisted to a false mean-
ing. Some take the expression, c of one substance,' to imply
that we divide the Father, as though the Son were a part
INSTRUCTION ON FAITH 17
of the Father and that God the Father suffered a diminution
in the Son; or, at least that the Son retains the unity of the
paternal substance only by being an outflowing or emanation
from the Father. May God forbid that Christians should think
of or even listen to such things let alone believe them ! What
we believe is that the Son is one substance, in this sense,
that the Father, who is eternally perfect and unchangeably
impassible, begot the Son without suffering any diminution
of His nature or majesty. Himself perfect, He begot of Him-
self a perfect Son, a true Son, likewise omnipotent by whom
'all things were made and without whom nothing was made.'
Thus we believe that the Father is truly Father of His only
begotten Son, and the Son is truly Son of the Father, each
distinct and without confusion. The Son has in Himself all
that the Father has, as He says in the Gospel: 'All things
whatsoever the Father has are mine.' 11 If we ask what these
things are, the answer is: Perfection, certainly, and the power,
the goodness, the incorruption, the glory and the eternity
that are the Father's. For, of course, if this were not so,
I am afraid I should have to say that the Father, apparently,
had degenerated in the Son. But, if it is true that the
Son is to be reckoned as less than the Father, how can
there be the same honor which our Lord Himself speaks
about: That all men may honor the Son even as they honor
the Father.' 12 This is what the Lord asks for and this is what
the faithful do. They find no difficulty in the humility of the
Son and Saviour, nor in the words which He spoke as man,
nor in His sufferings which He deigned to accept for the
salvation of the world. Rather, they feel that they owe all
the more gratitude and honor to Christ; so much so, that,
even though it were not commanded in the Gospel to honor
II John 16.15.
12 John 5.23.
18 NJCETA OF REMESIANA
the Son as they honor the Father, the truly faithful would
do this of their own accord. It would have been fitting to
exalt Him just because He had humbled Himself,^ for it
is written: 'He who humbles himself shall be exalted.' 13
(5) When we hear the Father saying: This is my Son;
hear you Him,' 14 and the Son asking 'that all men may honor
the Son even as they honor the Father,' 15 is it not shortsighted
to pass over the honor and play up the sufferings? Are we
not likely to forget our hope if we keep thinking of Christ
as weak, inferior and contemptible, when it is He who
made us strong and great and heirs of glory? This was the
will of His Father. The fact is, the Son's honor is the
Father's glory. The more you give to the Only-begotten,
the more you glorify the Father. The Father is too good
to envy the glory of the Son, and, in any case, what is
given to the Son redounds to the glory of the Father* This
is the Catholic sense, the feeling of the faithful, the mind of
the saints. This is why they so think and speak of all that
was said and done by the Saviour. Nor is their love the least
bit lessened because of certain expressions which the Lord
chose to use, such as, The Father is greater than I,*" and
'I came not to do my will,' 17 or The Son can do nothing
of himself/ 18 and so on. Such texts in no way lessen nor
depreciate the Son. They merely distinguish Him from the
Father. In any case, to make sure that His true divinity
should not be denied, these other things were said: *I came
out from the Father'; 1 ' 'I in the Father and the Father
13 Luke 14.11.
14 Matt, 3.17; Luke 9.35.
15 John 5.23.
16 John 14.24.
17 John 6.38.
18 John 5.19.
19 John 16.23.
INSTRUCTION ON FAITH 19
in me'; 20 I and the Father are one'; 'He who sees me
sees also the Father'; 21 and Tor as the Father raises the
dead, and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life
to whom he will.' 22
(6) Nor is the mind of the faithful scandalized by what
is said of the Lord's thirsting and sleeping and weeping; of
being sad unto death; of the cross, passion, and burial.
Such things were said or done to prove His patience and
help us to acknowledge the reality of His Incarnation. What
is said of the Lord's thirsting implies the assumption of a
true body, just as what is said of feeding the five thousand
with five loaves and two fishes implies His real divinity.
Certainly, when He says: 'I am the bread that comes down
from heaven/ 23 it does not occur to us to think that the
Bread hungered for bread. So, too, we understand His sleep.
Just as we recognize the reality of His body in His sleep,
so is His divinity proved by the fact that He commanded
the winds and the waves. As to the tears He shed for Lazarus,
they remove all suspicion that He was merely an appearance,
since tears can flow only from a body that is real. On the
other hand, when He said: 'Lazarus come forth,' 24 and
one who was already corrupting emerged alive from ths
opening grave, He gave a clear indication of divinity. At
the same time, from this resurrection of Lazarus we shall
know how to understand the words, 'My soul is sorrowful
20 John 10.30,38.
21 John 14.9.
23 John 6.41. It has been pointed out by Cardinal Mai (Migne PL
52.851 fn. f) that we have in this passage an imitation of the thirty-
fifth Discourse of St. Gregory Nazianzen. It may be added that the
five theological discourses, pronounced by St. Gregory at Constanti-
nople in 380, contain more than one point that resembles those of
Niceta.
24 John 11.43.
20 NICETA OF REMESIANA
even unto death. 525 While His divinity had no fear of death,
His human feeling was revealed by the sadness of His soul.
It only takes one or two sayings of the Lord to show that
the cross, passion and burial imply no lack of power or
any weakness. Thus, when He said to the Jews: 'Destroy
this temple' (meaning His body), He added: 'and in three
days I will raise it up.' 26 And, again, He says: 'I have power
to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again. 927
If, then, He raises up the temple of His body, if He has
power to lay down His life by the passion and take it up
again by the resurrection, surely the obvious greatness of
this power makes it impossible to imagine that Christ was
weak.
(7) Thus, we need the understanding of faith. We must
bring reverence to all such discussions. Both natures are to be
admitted in the Lord both the form in which He existed
from eternity and 'the form of a slave* which He accepted
for the sake of us slaves. We must believe both His passion
according to the flesh and His impassibility inasmuch as
He was God. In this way, no one can blame us for lacking
either faith or gratitude. Only a heretic will deny that the
Son of God is impassible as God, or assert that He is
unlike God the Father. And only one who is ungrateful will
refuse to confess His sufferings according to the flesh. Let
us, then, glory in the Cross of Christ, as Paul was accustomed
to do. 'God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ.' 28 Let us confess our oneness with
Christ, lest we be separated from Him. In the words of the
Apostle: 'If we have died with him we shall also live with
25 Matt. 26.38.
26 John 2.19.
27 John 10.19.
28 Gal. 6.14.
INSTRUCTION ON FAITH 21
him. If we endure we shall also reign with him. If we dis-
own him, he also will disown us.' 29 If we do not believe
what he said, 'I and the Father are one, 530 'he remains faith-
ful, for he cannot disown himself.' 31 The reason is that He
is in the glory of God the Father, and lives with the Father,
and reigns with the Father in one and the same lordship.
When the Apostle said that 'no fornicator or unclean or cov-
etous person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and of God,' 32 he spoke of one kingdom 'Of Christ and
of God/ because of one will of the Father and the Son, one
co-operation, one grace, one lordship. So, too, the same
teacher of the Gentiles writes: 'Grace be to you, and peace
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ/ 38
Again, he writes : 'May God bur Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ direct [dirigat] our way unto you.' 34 He did not say
'they direct' [dirigant], lest he should imply any difference
between the Father and Son either in will or in power. He
said 'may he direct' [dirigat], so as to bring out the unity.
In this same faith, therefore, and in these same words, let
us pray that the one grace, one peace, one lordship of Father,
Son and Holy Spirit may ever protect and direct us.
Since you asked me to write to you, I could not refuse
you this little tract. I trust that, brief as it is, it may bring
to your believing souls abundant joy in God.
29 2 Tim. 2.11,12.
30 John 10.30.
31 2 Tim. 2.13.
32 Eph. 5.15.
33 Phil. 1.12.
34 1 Thess. 3.11.
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
(De spiritus sancti potentia)
Y NEXT TASK is to explain, as far as I can, what I
hold in regard to the third Person, the Holy Spirit.
I understand that many have difficulties on this
subject. Perhaps it is rash to discuss the Person associated
with the Father and Son in the Creed which is according to
the tradition of our Lord and to the profession we make in
baptism. Nevertheless, I feel it a duty to give some account
of the matter, since there are so many differing opinions and
since you have asked me to do so. My single appeal will be
to the Holy Scriptures. And yet, I am sure that it will be
hard to gain entrance to ears and minds already filled,
unfortunately, with a prejudiced opinion. It is not easy for
human nature to renounce a fixed opinion, even with the
help of good instructors. It is like discounting unfounded gos-
sip about a good man, once we have been told a lie, before we
hear the truth. This, I am afraid, is the case with many
who have been led by their teachers into the error of believ-
ing that the Holy Spirit is a creature, worthy of no more
respect than a slave. However, let us return to the main point:
( 2 ) In the formula of the Creed of the Council of Nicaea
it is said: 'We believe also in the Holy Spirit.' This was
sufficient for the faithful, since the main question in debate
at that Council concerned not the Holy Spirit, but the Son.
23
24 NICETA OF REMESIANA
And would to heaven that those who later on raised an
issue in regard to the Holy Spirit could have believed in all
simplicity in the Holy Spirit along with the Father and the
Son according to tradition. Take, for example, the Macedon-
ians 1 and those who share their doubts. When they asked
whether the Holy Spirit was born or created, and what,
whence and how great He is, they merely raised another
schism among the people. As the Apostle puts it, their con-
tribution to the Church is an 'endless' 2 controversy. They
once believed that the Holy Spirit was by His nature holy.
Surely, it was right for such people to honor Him with the
Father and Son rather than to rank Him as a creature. But
they raised further difficulties, trying with tortuous questions
to rob simple believers of their faith. I think there can be
no doubt that a wily question can lead an ignorant and
unwary person into heresy. This is what Paul had in mind
when he wrote: 'See that no one deceives you by philosophy
and vain deceit.* 3 Those who are opposed to the Holy Spirit
ask: 'Was He born or was fte unbegotten?' What is that
but to set traps both to the right and the left of a man.
On whichever side you place the foot of your reply, you are
caught. If you say He was born, you will be told: 'It follows
that the Son of God is not the "only-begotten," since there is
another who is born. 5 If you say He was not born, you will
be told: Therefore, there must be a second unbegotten
Father; hence, there is not one God the Father from whom
all else flows.' Once the dilemma has blocked the road of
1 Macedonius (d. 362) was the leader of the Semi-Arians in Constan-
tinople from 342 to 346 and again from 351 to 360. Tixcront (His-
toire du dogme de la TriniM II 58) considers it difficult to prove
that Macedonius was opposed to the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
The Deacon Marathonius, whom Macedonius named Bishop of Ni-
comedia, may be the Macedonian whom Niceta has in mind.
2 1 Tim. 1.4.
3 Col. 2.8.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 25
reply on both sides, the heretic leads you straight into the
ditch by saying: 'If, therefore, the Spirit is neither born
of Father nor unbegotten, nothing is left but to say that
He is a creature.'
(3) How does the faith of the Church face this dilemma?
Must it bow to a trick of logic and believe, in the face of
the whole witness of Old and New Testaments, in which
the Spirit is never described as a creature, that the Holy
Spirit of God was created? Of course not. It is obviously
better to despise such human conclusions and insidious ques-
tions, and turn to the words of the Lord. He tells us in the
Gospel whence the Holy Spirit came. He put an end to
this endless debate. He told the Apostles: 'I will send you
from the Father [the Paraclete] the spirit of truth.' 4 But
whence, then, is He? If you do not know, but wish to
know, listen to what the Lord adds : '. . .who proceeds from
the Father.' What, then, my brothers, are we to do? Should
we pay heed to Christ or to men? Christ says neither that
the Spirit was born nor that He was made, but only that He
proceeds from the Father. Those who oppose us say that He
was made and created. I should think that it is better to
believe what Christ revealed rather than what human pre-
sumption has imagined. When we in our turn ask them
how they can prove that the Holy Spirit was made, they
can produce no certain and evident witness in Scripture. In-
stead, they have recourse to these words of the Gospel: 'All
things were made through him and without him was made
nothing that was made.' 5 They argue thus: If all things were
made through Him, we must believe that the Holy Spirit was
made along with all other things. There is here no proof
of the point in debate nothing but a careful selection of
4 John 15.26.
5 John 1.3.
26 NIGETA OF REMESIANA
texts. Just ask the question: In what Spirit did John speak
when he uttered these words? Did he not speak in the
Holy Spirit? And if he spoke in the Spirit, it was the Spirit
Himself who spoke. He spoke of these things because through
Him was made everything in the manifold order of creatures.
The Spirit did not include Himself, in the sense that we
should believe that He, too, was among the creatures made
out of nothing.
(4) The Apostle Paul bears witness to the same truth
when he points out, one by one, the things which were made
through Christ, 'In him/ he says, 'were created all things
in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things
invisible, whether Thrones or Dominations, or Principalities
or Powers. All things have been created through and unto
him/ 6 He does not mention the Holy Spirit among any of
these things which are in heaven or on earth. Surely, he
would have mentioned the Holy Spirit in the very first place,
if he knew that the Holy Spirit had been either made or
created like the rest. And if one is to understand the words,
'all things were created by him,' so literally as not to ex-
clude the Holy Spirit, what is one to think about the ex-
pression the Prophet David addressed to the Lord, "all things
serve thee'? 7 Are we to say that the Holy Spirit is among all
those things that serve? Are we to give the name of slave to one
who, so far from being slave, is the Lord liberating the creature
from servitude? That the Holy Spirit is the Lord, we see
clearly enough from what St. Paul wrote to the Thessalon-
ians: 'May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God
and the patience of Christ.' 8 Without doubt, the same Spirit
is here called Lord of whom our Saviour told the Apostles
6 Col. 1.16.
7 Ps. 108.91.
8 2 Thcss. 3,5.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 27
that 'he will teach you all truth." To make this point even
more obvious, St. Paul tells us that 'the Lord is the Spirit;
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 510 So,
too, to the Romans he says: 'Now you have not received a
Spirit of bondage so as to be again in fear, but you have
received a Spirit of adoption as sons.' 11 - If He is the Spirit
of adoption and makes men sons of God, how can He
be considered a slave since no slave can legitimately make
another free? 'And because you are sons, God has sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying: Abba, Father. So
that he is no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, an
heir also through God.' 12 If, then, the Spirit makes me free
and a son and in a true sense an heir of His divinity, it
ill becomes me to call One who has made me free a slave.
How little the Spirit is a slave is clear from what the Apostle
says: 'But all these things are the work of one and the
same Spirit, who divides to everyone according as he will.' 13
Where there is a question of freely dividing, it is impossible
to talk of servile condition. Yet, in a creature we must imply
the condition of a slave, as in the Trinity there is only Lord-
ship and liberty. Therefore, it follows that if the words of
the psalm, 'all things serve thee, 5 apply to creatures and not
the Holy Spirit, then the 'all 5 in the other dictum, 'all things
were, created by him, 5 does not include the Holy Spirit. No-
where, in fact, do we read that He who proceeds from the
Father was either made out of anything or created out of
nothing.
(5) It is enough, then, for the faithful to know that, while
9 John 16.13.
10 2 Cor, 3.17.
11 Rom. 8.15.
12 Gal. 4.6,7.
13 1 Cor. 12.11.
28 NICETA OF REMESIANA
the Son was begotten, the Spirit proceeds from the Father. 14
Let us use the very words which the Scripture of God wishes
us to use. No one who loves life and knows the Author of
life and has received in baptism the sacrament of the Three
Names with equal honor will look for any limit in One in
whom, he believes, there was no beginning. Hence, we
believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and
is neither the Son nor the Son of the Son as is sometimes
foolishly pretended but the Spirit of Truth, the manner
and measure of whose procession it is given to no one to
understand. That there is much about the Holy Spirit we
cannot understand is clear from the Gospel: 'The wind
[spiritus] blows where it will, and thou hearest its sound but
dost not know where it comes from or where it goes.' 15
We know that this Spirit is a Person in the proper and
true sense of the word. He is the source of sanctification, the
light of souls, the distributor of graces. The Spirit sanctifies;
He is not sanctified. He illumines; He is not illumined. No
creature, without this Spirit, reaches eternal life or can be
properly called holy. I make bold to add that the very temple
of the Lord, that is, the body which He received from the
Virgin, was the work of this Spirit* The Angel Gabriel
said to Mary: The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and
the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And
therefore what shall be born is of the Holy Spirit. 518 Thus
we see that the very temple in which the Word, the Lord,
dwelt was made holy by the Spirit. It is true that the Lord
says of Himself: 'whom the Father has made holy and sent
14 It will be noted that Niceta says 'proceeded from the Father/ not
'from the Father and the Son.' The Filioquc is absent, too, in his
Explanation of the Creed. There -was at this early date no contro-
versy in the matter.
15 John 3.8.
16 Cf. Luke 1.35. Niceta's text differs from the Vulgate.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 29
into the world/ 17 'and for whom I sanctify myself.' 18 For,
of course, the Son of God can make His body or anything
else holy. Nevertheless, in order to manifest to the world the
power appropriate to the Holy Spirit, 19 He received the
Holy Spirit in the form of a dove on His body at the time
of His baptism. Thus, it could be truly said by the Apostle
that 'in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' 20
It was from this fullness that the Apostles later received
'grace for grace/ 21 when the Lord breathed into the face of
the Apostles and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you
shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you
shall retain, they are retained. 922 And, although it is written:
'Who can forgive sins, but God only/ 23 here we have the
Apostles reported as forgiving sins through the power of the
Spirit. Hence, we can realize how much the Spirit can do,
when we notice, first, what He did in regard to the Body of
our Lord and, second, that the power is no kss apparent
when the Spirit forgives sins.
(6) We may now turn to the other powers and works of
the Holy Spirit. These will help us to realize His nature and
greatness. It is only by their works that we know the Father
and the Son 'believe the works/ 24 said the Lord. In the
same way, we shall not fully know the nature of the Holy
Spirit unless we know how wonderful are His works. And
so, let no one feel annoyed if I summarize the powers of
the Holy Spirit, nor close his ears when I set down the words
of divine revelation. One should believe heavenly witnesses
17 John 10,36.
18 John 17,19.
19 . . .virtutem et proprietatem sancti Spiritits.
20 CoL 2.9.
21 John 1.19.
22 John 20.22.
25 Luke 5.21.
24 John 10.58.
30 NICETA OF REMESIANA
rather than human fictions. My only point in this is to
draw attention to the undoubted tradition of the Lord. If
it is not enough to be baptized in the name of the Father and
the Son, without the Holy Spirit, neither are we made holy
and started on the way to eternal life without the Holy
Spirit. My purpose is to show that it is not only in baptism,
but in all other things, that the Holy Spirit has worked and
will ever work with the Father and the Son.
(7) As a matter of fact, it ought to be enough merely
to show the co-operation of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament
of baptism, because we can argue from this that nothing was
created without the Holy Spirit. What kind of a faith would
it be to believe that man's sanctification and redemption
depended on the Holy Spirit, but that his formation and
creation did not? Can anyone doubt that the sacrament of
baptism calls for more than the beginning of a creature calls
for? Eternal life springs from baptism, whereas from Adam
in our beginning what came was the reign of death. Re-
member what the Prophet David said of our creation: 'By
the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all
the power of them by the spirit of his mouth/ 25 By the 'word*
we must here understand the Son, through whom, as St. John
declares, 'all things were made/ 26 And what is 'the spirit
of his mouth' if not the Spirit whom we believe to be Holy?
Thus, in one text, you have the Lord, the Word of the Lord
and the Holy Spirit making the full mystery of the Trinity.
Some people, of course, have been rash enough to say that
this Word by which the heavens were made was nothing
but the voice of God commanding and that the Spirit was
nothing but a passing breath of air. This position leads inevi-
tably to Judaism, since, like Photinus, the Jews deny that
25 Pa. 32.6.
26 John 1.3.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 31
anything was made by a subsistent Word [verbum substan-
tivum] or by the Spirit.
(8) One may concede that, in regard to the Word, it is
clear that He created, but have doubts in regard to the
Spirit. My reply to this is the testimony of Job, the righteous
man of old, who wrote: c The spirit of God made me.' 27 So,
too, David in one of his psalms says to God: 'Thou shalt
send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created; and thou
shalt renew the face of the earth.' 28 But, if creation and
renewal are to be attributed to the Spirit, certainly the be-
ginning of creation did not occur apart from the Spirit.
However, those who are opposed to the truth resort to the
evasion of saying that, wherever there is mention of the
Spirit as creator, the name and person of the Spirit belong
to the Son. The Son is a Spirit, they say, just as the Father
is a Spirit. This is a fallacy that should deceive no one. It
is enough merely to remember that David clearly distinguishes
the Son, whom he calls the Word of the Lord, from the
Holy One, whom he calls the Spirit. It is the Word who
'makes the heavens'; it is the Spirit who 'adorns' them, who
gives them their power. Anyone who reads these words must
believe else, if he insists on being obstinate, why does he
bother to read? Let no one imagine that, somehow, our faith
dims the glory of the Father. Rather, it adds to the glory
of the Father to refer the creation of all things to a Word
of which He is the Father or to a Spirit of which He is the
source. The fact remains that when His word and Spirit
create, it is He who creates all things.
(9) The Trinity, then, creates. We must next show that
the Trinity gives life. First, in regard to the person of the
Father the Apostle says: C I charge thee in the sight of God,
27 Job 53.4.
28 Ps. 103.30.
32 NICETA OF REMESIANA
who gives life to all things.' 29 Christ, too, gives life, for He
says: 'My sheep hear my voice . . . And I give them everlast-
ing life.' 30 Finally, we are given life by the Spirit, as we
may see from our Lord's words, 'It is the Spirit that gives
life.' 31 So, too, Paul to the Romans: c He who raised Christ
from the dead will also bring to life your mortal bodies
because of his Spirit who dwells in you.' 32 You can see here
the clear demonstration that one and the same giving of
life belongs to the Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
(10) To God belongs foreknowledge of all that wffl happen
and knowledge of all that is hidden. No Christian is unaware
of this; yet, if need be, it can be proved from Daniel: 'God
knoweth hidden things, who seeth all things before they
come to pass.' 33 This same foreknowledge belongs to Christ,
according to the Evangelist: 'For Jesus knew from the be-
ginning who they were who did not believe and who it was
who should betray him.' 34 It is clear, too, that He had
knowledge of what is hidden, when He revealed the hidden
plans of the Jews: 'Why do you harbor evil thoughts in
your hearts?' 35 , .
(11) In the same way, God made it clear that the bpint
has foreknowledge of all things. For He said to the Apostles:
'When he the Spirit of truth has come, he will teach you
all the truth ... and the things that are to come he will de-
clare to you.' 36 I take it that when one is reported as fore-
telling the future, there can be no doubt about his foreknowl-
edge of all things. For 'he searches the deep things of God' and
29 1 Tim, 6.13.
30 John 10.37.
31 John 6.64.
32 Rom. 6.11,
33 Dan. 13.42.
34 John 6.65.
35 Matt. 9.4.
36 John 16.13.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 33
has knowledge of all that belongs to God. He reveals, too, the
secrets of God, according to the witness of Daniel: 'He is
the God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden
things.' 37 All things are revealed by Christ, For He tells us
Himself: 'No one knows . . . who the Father is except the
Son, and him to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 938 In
the same way, all revelation belongs to the Spirit, according
to the testimony of Paul: 'But to us God has revealed them
through his Holy Spirit. 539 Thus, there is one Revelation com-
mon to the Trinity, which is God.
(12) That God is everywhere present and fills all things,
we have the witness of Isaias: 'I am God drawing nigh, and
not God from afar.' 40 'If a man should be hidden in a
hiding place, shall I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and
earth?' 41 The same is true of the omnipresence of our Saviour,
Christ. Does He not say in the Gospel: 'Wheresoever two or
three shall be gathered in my name, there I shall be in the
midst of them'? 42 And that He fills all things, the Apostle
bears witness: 'He who descended he it is who ascended
also above the heavens, that he might fill all things/ 43 It is
equally true that the Spirit is everywhere. Thus, the Proph-
et, speaking in the person of the Lord, says: 'I am with
you . . . and my Spirit stands in the midst of you.' 44 So, too,
Solomon says: 'The Spirit of the Lord filled the whole earth.' 46
God dwells among His saints, according to the promise
He made: 'I will dwell and move among them.' 46 Recall,
37 Dan. 2.47.
38 Luke 10.22.
39 1 Cor. 2.10.
40 Is*. 30.27.
41 Jer. 23.24.
42 Matt* 18.20.
43 Eph. 4.10.
44 Ag. 2.5,6.
45 Wisd. 1.7.
46 2 Cor. 6.16*
34 NICETA OF REMESIANA
too, what the Lord says in the Gospel: 'Remain in me and
I in you/ 47 The same point is proved by Paul: 'Do you not
know yourselves that Christ Jesus is in you?' 48 Now, this
same inhabitation is realized in the case of the Spirit, as
John reminds us: 'And from this we know that he abides in us,
by his Spirit whom he has given us. 349 The same point is
made in similar words by St. Paul: 'Do you not know that
you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God
dwells in you/ 50 And again he says: 'Glorify God and bear
him in your body.' 51
(13) It can be proved, too, that just as the Father and
Son judge, so does the Holy Spirit. For in Psalm 49 it is
written: To the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou
declare my justices? 5 And a few verses later: 'I will reprove
thee and set it before thy face.' 52 In the same way, David in
prayer to God says: 'O Lord rebuke me not in thy indigna-
tion. 363 God will come to convict all flesh. So, too, we find
the Saviour in the Gospel saying in regard to the Holy Spirit:
'When the Comforter has come he will convict the world
of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. 554 David, who fore-
saw this, cried out to the Lord: 'Whither shall I go from thy
Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face? 55 And St. Paul
makes clear that there is to be but one judgment that by
God through Christ: 'God will judge the hidden secrets of
men through Jesus Christ. 956 And speaking of His person,
47 John 15.4.
48 2 Cor. 13.5.
49 1 John 3.24.
50 1 Cor. 3.16.
51 1 Cor. 6.20.
52 Ps. 49.16,21.
53 Ps. 6.2.
54 John 16.8.
55 Ps. 138.7.
56 Rom. 2.16.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 35
the Apostle makes equally clear that the Holy Spirit is to
judge the Antichrist, '. . .whom the Lord Jesus will slay with
the spirit of his mouth.' 57 If the Antichrist is slain by the
breath [spiritus] of His mouth, it follows that every creature
will be judged by the Spirit according to the witness of
Solomon: *A mighty wind [spiritus virtutti] shall stand up
against them, and as a whirlwind shall divide them/ 58
(14) It can be proved, too, that just as the Father is
good and the Son is good, so the Holy Spirit is good. Of
the Father, the Only-begotten speaks in the Gospel: 'One
there is who is good, that is God.' 5 * Of Himself He says: 'I
am the good shepherd.' 60 So, too, of the Holy Spirit, David
in his psalms says to the Lord: 'Thy good spirit shall lead
me into the right land.' 61 Just as it is said of the Son: 'The
word of the Lord is right,' 62 so of the Holy Spirit it is said:
'Renew a right spirit within my bowels.' 63
(15) How could anyone be silent in regard to the divine
authority of the Holy Spirit? The ancient Prophets cried
out: 'These things say the Lord.' When Christ came, He
also used this word 'say' in His own person: 'But I say
unto you.' Listen now to what the Prophets of the New
Testament proclaim. Take the Prophet Agabus in the Acts
of the Apostles: 'Thus says the Holy Spirit.' 64 So, too, Paul
to Timothy: 'Now the Spirit expressly says . . .' 65 Paul also
speaks of himself as called and commissioned by God the
Father and by Christ: 'Paul, an apostle sent not from men,
57 2 Thess. 2.8.
58 Wisd. 5.24.
59 Matt. 19.17.
6& John 10.11.
61 Ps. 142.10.
62 Ps. 32.4.
63 Ps. 50.12.
64 Acts 21.11,
65 1 Tim. 4.1.
36 NIGETA OF REMESIANA
not by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.' 6fi
Yet, in the Acts of the Apostles it is said that he was set
apart and called by the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit said:
"Set apart for me Saul and Barnabas unto the work to
which I have called them." ' And it is added: 'So they, sent
forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia.' 67
(16) Let no one think less of the Holy Spirit because He
is called the Comforter. Advocate or Comforter is simply the
translation of the Greek, Pardcletos. This name belongs
equally to the Son of God, as we see from St. John: These
things I write to you in order that you may not sin. But if
you should sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the just/ 68 So, too, when our Lord said to the
Apostles: 'the Father will send you another advocate,' by
speaking of 'another' He made clear that He, too, was a com-
forter. This same name, Paraclete, is not inappropriate even
for the Father not, of course, to describe His nature, but ra-
ther His goodness. We have Paul writing to the Corinthians :
'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who com-
forts us.' The Greek for 'God of all comfort' is theos pdses
parakttseos. Hence, the Father is called comforter, and the
Son is called comforter, and the Holy Spirit is called comfort-
er. But, of course, it is one and the same comfort which the
Trinity gives to us, as we see from the words: 'You have been
washed, you have been sanctified, you have been justified
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of
our God/ 70
66 Gal. 1.1.
67 Acts 13.2,4.
68 1 John 2.1.
69 2 Cor. 1.3. This is the only direct citation from the Greek New
Testament in the extant writings of St. Niceta.
70 1 Cor. 6.11.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 37
(17) However, it is possible that these benign and bene-
ficent qualities do not rouse our mind to an understanding
of the power of the Holy Spirit, Let us turn, then, to aspects
more terrifying. It is written in the Acts of the Apostles that
the disciple Ananias sold his possessions and by fraud kept
back part of the price, and, bringing the rest in place of
the whole, laid it at the feet of the Apostles, He offended
the Holy Spirit whom he had thought to deceive. Now, what
did St. Peter without hesitation say to him? 'Ananias, why
has Satan tempted thy heart, that thou shouldst lie to the
Holy Spirit?' Then he added: Thou hast not lied to men,
but to God.' 71 And being struck by the power of Him whom
he had hoped to deceive, he expired. What does St. Peter
here mean by the Holy Spirit? He clearly gives the answer
when he says: 'Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. 5 It
is clear that one who lies to the Holy Spirit lies to God;
therefore, one who believes in the Holy Spirit believes in
God. The wife of Ananias, who connived at the lie, also
joined him in his death.
The Lord shows us something as terrifying, if not more
so, when He says in the Gospel: 'Every kind of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven to men; but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven . . . either in this world
or in the world to come. 572 Terrible judgment ! He says that
the sin of one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is un-
pardonable. Compare with this judgment what is said in
the Book of Kings: 'If one man shall sin against another,
God may be appeased in his behalf, but if a man shall sin
against the Lord, who shall pray for him?' 73 Thus, it is one
and the same sin whether we blaspheme against the Holy
71 Acts 5.3,4.
72 Matt. 12.32.
73 1 Kings 2-25.
38 NICETA OF REMESIANA
Spirit or against God, and it is inexpiable. 74 Hence, the na-
ture of the Holy Spirit begins to dawn in our intelligences,
(18) It would be easy to adduce more proofs from the
Divine Scriptures to show a Trinity of single power and
operation in accord with [the form 76 of words in] the sacra-
ment of baptism. But, since the wise understand these things
well enough, I may stop here. I shall be content with a short
recapitulation. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father;
He makes us free; He sanctifies; He is the Lord in the sense
which the Apostle explains; He creates along with the Father
and the Son; He gives life; He has foreknowledge just like
the Father and the Son; He makes revelations; He is every-
where; He fills the whole world; He dwells in the elect; He
convicts the world; He judges; He is good and just; it is
proclaimed of Him: The Holy Spirit says these things'; He
constituted Prophets; He commissioned Apostles; He is the
Comforter; He cleanses and justifies; He strikes down
those who seek to deceive Him; anyone who blasphemes
against Him is pardoned neither in this world nor in the
world to come something that can be said only of God
If or, rather, because all this is true, why should I be
asked to explain the nature of the Holy Spirit? Does He not
prove what He is by the great things He does? How,
then, can He be other than divine, if He is not different
from the Father and Son in the power of operation? It is
futile to deny Him the name of God, since His power can-
not be doubted. It is vain to prohibit my venerating Him
74 Cardinal Mai (Migne, PL 52,861) suggests that* Niceta here uses
words that are harsher than the meaning he wishes to convey. God
Himself (and, therefore, the Holy Spirit) can forgive even 'inexpiable'
sins. *
75 This bracket has been added in virtue of Niceta's expression in the
beginning of the Instruction on Faith: secundum cuangelii formam
in nomine Pairo, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 39
along with the Father and the Son, since I am bound in
very truth to confess Him along with the Father and the Son.
If, along with the Father and the Son, He gives me the remis-
sion of my sins, and gives me grace and eternal life, I should
indeed be ungrateful if I refused to glorify Him along with the
Father and the Son. On the other hand, if He is not to be
adored with the Father and the Son, He is not to be confessed
with Them in baptism. But He most certainly is to be confessed
according to the word of the Lord and the tradition of the
Apostle if faith is to be more than half-hearted. 76 Who, then,
can keep me from worshipping Him? I am commanded to
believe in Him; I shall pay Him due honor with all my heart.
(19) Therefore, with one and the same veneration I shall
adore the Father, adore the Son, and adore the Holy Spirit.
If any find this hard, let them remember how David ex-
horts the faithful to the worship of God: 'Adore his foot-
stool.' 77 If it is religious to adore His footstool, it is surely
still more religious to adore His Spirit. Remember, this is
the Spirit whom St. Paul exalted so highly when he said:
'And now the angels can satisfy their eager gaze; the Holy
Spirit has been sent from heaven.' 78 If the angels desire
to look upon Him, should not men be all the more afraid
to despise Him? We ought to be afraid lest it be said of
us what was said to the Jews: 'You always oppose the Holy
Spirit; as your fathers did.' 79
(20) If, however, so many strong arguments fail to move
you to adore the Holy Spirit, there is one still stronger.
76 . . .ne semiplena sit fides.
77 Ps. 98.5. , .
78 1 Peter 1.12. The translation by Msgr. Knox has been used in this
instance. The text used by Niceta says that the Apostles 'preached
to you the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, upon whom the angels
desire to look.'
79 Acts 7.51.
40 KICETA OF KEMESIANA
Listen to the way in which Paul instructs the prophets of
the Church, in whom and through whom the Spirit Him-
self spoke: 'If while all are prophesying there should come
in an unbeliever or uninstructed person, he is convicted by
all, he is put on trial by all; the secrets of his heart are
manifest, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God,
declaring that God is truly among you.' 80 Of course, he
supposed that it was the Holy Spirit that spoke by the Proph-
ets. The unbelievers fall on their faces and adore, in fear,
the Holy Spirit, and they confess, unwillingly, compelled ^by
the greatness of what has been done, namely, the outflowing
of spiritual grace. If this is so of unbelievers, should not
believers voluntarily and with all their hearts be still more
ready to adore the Holy Spirit?
(21 ) Of course, the Holy Spirit is not adored as a separate
God, after the fashion of the pagans, just as the Son who sits
on the right hand of the Father is not adored as a sepa-
rate God. When we adore the Father, we believe that we
are adoring at the same time the Son and the Holy Spirit.
When we invoke the Son, we believe that we are invoking
the Father. And when we ask of the Father we believe we are
answered by the Son, according to the promise of the Lord:
* Whatsoever you shall ask of 'the Father in my name, I will
do; that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' 81 So, when
the Spirit is adored, He, too, is adored whose Spirit it is
we adore.
(22) No one is unaware of the fact that human supplica-
tions can neither add to nor take away anything from the
Divine Majesty. Still, each of us, according to our purpose,
can gain merit by our faithful veneration or be confounded
if we obstinately resist the Holy Spirit. Certain it is that cap-
80 1 Cor. 14.24.
81 John 14.13.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 41
tiousness and pride bring about damnation; while giving
honor can look for the reward of devotion. How, then, can
any of the faithful fail in giving full honor to the Trinity to
whom, as they hope, they belong, in whose name they were
baptized, and from whom they rejoice to have taken their
name? They are called men of God from the name of the
Father, just as Elias and Moses were called men of God,
as Timothy was called a man of God by Paul. In the same
way, from the name of Christ they are called Christians.
They are also called spiritual because of the Holy Spirit.
If you are called a man of God and are not a Christian, you
are nothing. So, too, if you are called Christian and are not
spiritual, do not be too confident of your salvation. And so,
according to the profession of our saving baptism, let our
faith be in the whole Trinity. Let there be singleness of de-
votion in our filial piety. Let us have no thought of separate
powers or of any creature in the Trinity, as though we were
pagans. And still less should we deny God's Son or refuse
worship to His Spirit, and thus succumb to what is a scandal
for the Jews. Rather, let us adore and magnify the perfect
Trinity and let us keep in mind what we proclaim aloud
in the Mysteries: 'One is holy [the Spirit], one is the Lord,
Jesus Christ, in the glory of God the Father, Amen,' 82 because
the worship of the Trinity is one. Finally, let us pursue peace
and love and abound always in good works. And let us give ear
to what the Corinthians heard in the second epistle: 'The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Charity of God and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 583
82 These words are quoted from the Byzantine and Syrian Greek
liturgy as it appears in the Apostolic Constitutions and in St. Cyril
of Jerusalem: heis hdgios, heis Ktirios lesods Christds eis ddxan
Theoti patrds.
83 2 Cor. 13.13.
AN EXPLANATION OF THE CREED
(De symbolo)
BELIEVER in Christ is one who follows Him as a
leader toward the true life, much as the people of
Israel followed Moses and entered the land of prom-
ise. One who trusts in the leadership of Christ renounces the
Enemy and his angels, that is to say, all manner of magical
superstition which depends on the emissaries of Satan.
Moreover, the Christian renounces all the Devil's works
cults, idols, omens, auguries, pomps and shows, robberies
and fraud, sins of the flesh and drunkenness, dancing and
lying. Such things not to mention much else separated you
from the Lord and allied you with the devil. They are the
chains of the Serpent, loaded on the souls of men to lead
them to the prison of hell. Only when a man has rid himself
of these evils, and cast off these chains from his back and
thrown them, so to speak, in the face of the Enemy, can he
proclaim his act of faith with sincerity.
(2) / believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of
heaven and earth. The confession begins, as it should, with
a firm 1 believe/ for so St. Paul has put it: 'With the
heart a man believes unto justice, and with the mouth pro-
fession of faith is made unto salvation. 51 And so you believe
l Rom. 10.10.
43
44 NICETA OF REMESIANA
in God the Father Almighty an unbegotten God, because
He had no origin or beginning outside Himself; an invisible
God, whom no bodily eye is able to look upon; an incom-
prehensible God, who comprehends all else; an immutable
God, who does not change with time nor age with years but
ever remains the same, who never began nor will ever cease
to live, nor will ,ever be succeeded by another; a good and
just God, the creator of heaven and earth. You confess Him
as God, but you likewise confess Him as Father, and, there-
fore, the Father of His Son, since no one is father unless
he have a son. He is the Father by reason of the Son, hav-
ing, of course, a Son of whom He is Father. This, then,
is devout faith in God, not merely to know Him as
God, after the manner of the Jews, but as a Father, 'the
Father of the living Word, of his own power and wisdom,' 2
who before the world began, before anything began, before
there was any time, begot of Himself His Son, as Spirit be-
gets Spirit, and God, God. Tor in him were created all
things in heaven and on the earth, things visible and things
invisible, 5 as Paul teaches us. 3 And this is confirmed by John:
'All things were made through him and without him was
made nothing that was made/ 4
(3) And so, the moment you believe in God the Father,
you confess that you believe also in Jesus Christ, His Son. This
is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. 'Jesus,' in the language of
the Hebrews, means 'saviour.' 'Christ* is a name to indicate
royal majesty. One and the same Christ Jesus is both saviour
2 It has been pointed out by A, E. Burn (Nketa of Remesiana, p. 40)
that these words are taken from an old Latin translation of the
Creed of Gregory Thaumaturgus. Gregory had written dundmeos
aidiou, 'everlasting power/ but both the old Latin translation and
that of Rufinus seem to suppose a reading idiou rather than aidiou.
3 Col. 1.16.
4 John 1.3.
EXPLANATION OF THE CREED 45
and king. For our salvation, He descended from the Father
in heaven and took on a body like ours.
He was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and
in this no man had any part. Body of her body, He was born
by the power of the Holy Spirit. Continuing to be God, He
became man, so that men might see Him, learn of Him, and
be saved by Him. In no other way, save by the assump-
tion of a visible body, could divinity be borne by men.
(4) And so He was born of the holy and immaculate
Virgin 6 to initiate a holy rebirth in us. His birth had been
foretold by the Prophet: 'Behold a virgin shall be with child
and shall bring forth a son; and you shall call his name
Emmanuel, which is translated, -God with us.' 6 Our faith,
therefore, is that He who was born of the Virgin is God
with us, God from the Father before all ages, a man born
of the Virgin for the sake of men. He was truly born in the
flesh, not in mere seeming. Certain heretics, erroneously
ashamed of the Mystery of God, say that the Incarnation of
the Lord was effected in a phantom, and that what was
seen had no real existence but was an illusion in men's eyes.
This is far indeed from God's truth. For, if the Incarnation
is unreal, the salvation of men will be an illusion. On the
other hand, if there is real salvation in Christ, then the In-
carnation is equally real. Each really existed the man who
was seen, the God who was not seen, a visible man and that of
the invisible God. As a man, He would hunger, but, because
He was God, He would feed five thousand men with five
loaves of bread. He felt thirst, as a man, but, as God He
gave us the water of life. As man, He slept in the
ship, but, as God, He commanded the wind and the
waves. As man, His hands were nailed to the cross, but,
5 . . .ex sancta et incontaminata virgine.
6 Matt. 1.23; Isa. 7.14.
46 NICETA OF REMESIANA
as God, He promised paradise to the thief who confessed
Him. As man, He put aside for a time His body and accepted
death, but, as God, He raised from the grave a man who
was four days dead. So, we must believe both: Christ is God
and Christ is man. If He is seen as a man in His sufferings,
in His divine works He is recognized as God. Hence, you
have an answer for the teachers of fallacies. If anyone tries
to beguile your ears with the idea that Christ was only a
man, tell him that He who was made a man for the sake
of our sins is seen to be God in His works and His words.
It was the Saviour Himself who declared to the Jews: 'If you
are not willing to believe me, believe the works, that you
may know and believe that the Father is in me and I am
in the Father/ 7
(5) The next point is that you believe in the Lord's
passion. You confess that Christ suffered, was crucified by
the Jews, according to what had been foretold by the Proph-
ets. Make sure that you are not ashamed of the passion of
your Lord. If, by any chance, some trace of Jewish unbelief
or pagan folly should tempt you to minimize the greatness
of the Cross of Christ, always remember what our Lord has
said: 'Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before
men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father in
heaven.' 8 And, indeed, you have nothing to feel ashamed of,
if only you will understand the mystery of Christ's sufferings.
He did not suffer in His divinity, but in His flesh. God, of
course, can never suffer. He suffered 'in the flesh/ as the
Apostle teaches, 9 so that from His wounds might flow salva-
tion to mankind. And this the Prophet Isaia$ had foretold:
'He was wounded for our iniquities . . . and by his bruises we
7 John 10.38.
8 Matt. 10.32.
9 1 Pet. 4.L
EXPLANATION OF THE GREED 47
are healed.' 10 Christ suffered for our sins, so that grace might
be given to us.
Suffered under Pontius Pilate. The time is indicated when
Pontius Pilate was Governor of Syria and Palestine. It is
well to have this set down, because a number of the heretics,
who have been fooled by the Devil's deceptions, prattle
about more than one Christ. You are taught the time of
the Passion so that you may confess, not someone else who
happened to suffer, but Christ, who truly suffered under
Pontius Pilate for the salvation of the world. And Christ
died that He might destroy the rights of death.
(6) The third day He rose again alive from the dead, or in
the words of the Prophet, He was 'free among the dead.' 11
For Christ could not have been held captive by death, since
He has full power over death and life.
He ascended into heaven, whence He had descended. 'No
man has ascended into heaven, but he that descended from
heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.' 12 He sits at the
right hand of the Father, according to what was said to
David, typifying God the Father speaking to His Son: *Sit
thou at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy foot-
stool.' 13 Thence He shall come to judge both the living and
the dead. Believe that Christ Himself, our God, will come
with the angels and virtues of heaven to judge both the
living and the dead, to give to each according to his works,
that is, to award eternal life to the just and to subject the
wicked to eternal punishment.
(7) And in the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is one and sanc-
tifies all. He proceeds from the Father, and He alone pene-
10 Isa. 53.5.
11 Ps. 87.6.
12 John 3.13
13 Ps. 109.1.
48 NICETA OF REMESIANA
trates the mysteries and depths of God. In the shape of a
dove He came down from heaven to Christ. This Holy
Spirit is one in Himself, but manifold in powers and opera-
tions. He divides the gift of graces c to everyone according
as he will. 514 He appointed the Prophets and inspired the
Apostles. At the time of baptism He makes holy the souls
and bodies of those who believe. Without his co-operation,
no creature can come to eternal life, and upon His glory
'angels desire to look.' 15 By His majesty He makes holy the
Thrones and Dominations 16 and all the Powers of heaven.
And, as the Lord proclaimed: 'He that shall speak against
the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world nor in the world to come. 17
(8) Make strong in your hearts, my brothers, this faith
in the Trinity, believing in one God the Father Almighty
and in His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the Holy
Spirit, the true light and sanctifier of souls, who is the pledge
of our inheritance, who will lead us, if we will but follow,
into all truth and will make us one with the citizens of
heaven. This rule of faith the Apostles received from the
Lord, so that they might baptize, 'in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, all peoples who would
believe/ 18 May this faith remain in you. O beloved, 'keep
that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane
novelties of words and the oppositions of knowledge falsely
so called.* 19
(9) If the pagans urge you to worship once more many
Fathers, keep to your holy profession, to the confession of
14 1 Cor. 12.1JL.
15 1 Pet. 1.12.
16 .. jedes et
17 Matt. 12.32.
18 Matt. 2,19.
19 1 Tim. 630.
EXPLANATION OF THE CREED 49
one Father who is God. After all, not even nature permits a
man to have more than one father. If a Jew tries to persuade
you not to believe that Christ is the Son of God, treat him
as a foe to be fought, if you are well armed with the Scrip-
tures, or else avoid him. If any heretic, claiming to be a
Christian, teaches you that Christ is a creature or that the
Holy Spirit is not one with the Father and the Son in glory,
let him be to you as a 'gentile and a publican, 5 as one lead-
ing you to idolatry by urging you to worship a creature. If
he tries to tangle you up in the meshes of debate, have re-
course to the wall of your faith and say to him, in the
words of the Apostle: 'I have been washed, I have been
sanctified, I have been justified in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of my God.' 20 I shall not risk
my salvation nor weaken my faith by giving up a single word
of this profession of the Trinity.
(10) After the confession of the Blessed Trinity, you
profess faith in the Holy Catholic Church. The Church is
simply the community of all the saints. All who from the
beginning of the world were or are or will be justified
whether Patriarchs, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or
Prophets, whether Apostles or martyrs, or any others make
up one Church, because they are made holy by one faith
and way of life, 21 stamped with one Spirit, made into one
body whose head, as we are told, is Christ. I go further.
The angels and virtues and powers in heaven are co-members
in this one Church, for, as the Apostle teaches us, in Christ
'all things whether on the earth or in the heavens, have been
reconciled. 522 You must believe, therefore, that in this one
20 l Cor, 6.11.
21 . . .una fide et conversatione sanctificati, uno Spiritu signati.
22 Col. 1.18,20. In the sentence that follows, we have one of the first
references to the Communion of Saints as an article of the Creed.
50 NIGETA OF REMESIANA
Church you are gathered into the Communion of Saints.
You must know that this is the one Catholic Church estab-
lished throughout the world, and with it you must remain in
unshaken communion. There are, indeed, other so-called
'churches' with which you can have no communion: for
example, those of the Manichaeans, the Cataphrygians, the
Marcionites and other heretics and schismatics. 23 These
'churches' ceased to be holy, because they were deceived
by the doctrines of the Devil to believe and behave differently
from what Christ commanded and from the tradition of the
Apostles.
Next, you believe in the forgiveness of sins. This is the
grace by which those who believe in and confess God and
Christ receive in baptism the remission of all their sins. We
call it a rebirth, because it makes a man more innocent and
pure than when he is born from his mother's womb.
Further, you believe in the resurrection of the body and
life everlasting. In truth, if you do not believe this, your
faith in God is vain. It is because of our resurrection that
we believe all that we believe. Otherwise, 'if with this life
only in view we have had hope in Christ, we are,' as the
23 These three sects started during the second century. All three were
inspired by a fear of the physical and the natural. The followers of
Mani accepted the idea of a double divinity, one of Light and one
of Darkness. The followers of Montanus, called Cataphrygians be-
cause they were active mainly in Phrygia (hoi katd. Phriigas) , looked
on their founder as the Organ of the Paraclete, thought of them-
selves as 'pneumatic' or 'spiritual' and not merely as jpsychic,' like
ordinary Catholics, and they looked for the coming of the Age of
the Holy Spirit. The Marcionites emphasized free grace at the ex-
pense of good works, distinguished the God of mere 'justice* in the
Old Testament from the God of 'love' revealed in the New. The
Manichaeans reappear in the medieval Cathari; the Montanists"
ideas appear in medieval apocalypticism as popularized by Joachim
of Flora; the Marcionite 'puritanism' and 'spiritualism* resembles
that of the pre-Reformers. It is opposition to the organized, visible
Church, in the name of a so-called purer, more ascetic, spiritual,
invisible Church, which Niceta seems to have in mind.
EXPLANATION OF THE CREED 51
Apostle says, 'of all men the most to be pitied.' 24 The fact
is that it was precisely for this that Christ assumed human
flesh, that He might confer on our mortal substance a share
in immortal life.
(11) There are, indeed, many heretics who distort this
faith in resurrection. They claim that salvation is only for
the soul and deny the resurrection of the body. But you
who believe in Christ profess the resurrection of your body.
Tor to this end Christ died and rose again; that he might
be Lord both of the dead and of the living/ 25 Nor do you
believe this without foundation. You have authorities enough.
Take the Prophet Isaias, who clearly proclaimed that 'the
dead men shall live and my slain shall rise again: awake
and give praise, ye that dwell in the dust.' 26 And you have
the Lord of the Prophets promising in the Gospel: C I am
the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, even
if he die, shall live.' 27 And, in another place: 'Amen I say
to you ... the hour is coming in which all who are in the
tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they
who have done good shall come forth unto resurrection of
life: but they that have done evil unto resurrection of judg-
ment.' 28 You have St. Paul, who assures us: This corrup-
tible body must put on incorruption; and this mortal body
must put on immortality. 529 You know that we exist in a
double substance: in body and soul. The body is mortal, but
the soul is immortal. When a man departs from this life, he
does not die in soul, but, when the soul goes, only the body
24 1 Cor. 15.19.
25 Rom. 14.9.
26 Isa. 26.19. Niceta's translation reads: 'The dead men shall rise again,
and those in the grave shall rise, and those who dwell in dust shall give
praise/
27 John 11.25.
28 John 5.28,29.
29 1 Cor. 15.53.
52 NICETA OF REMESIANA
dies. While the body rots in the earth, the soul is kept in
a place of light or in a place of darkness according to its
deserts, so that, in the day of the coming of the Lord from
heaven, when He comes with His holy angels, all will come
to life and the souls will be recalled to their bodies and there
will be a just separation of the good and the evil. Then
the just will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father.' 30 The impious and the wicked will depart to the
darkness of hell, where, as we are told, 'there will be weep-
ing and gnashing of teeth.' 31
(12) To remove all doubt about the resurrection of the
body, take a single illustration from the course of nature. The
Apostle reminds us: 'What thou thyself sowest is not brought
to life, unless it dies.' 32 Here you have a grain of wheat, dead
and dry and sown in the earth. It is softened by the rain from
heaven. Only when it decays does it spring to life and begin
to grow. I take it that He who raises to life the grain of
wheat for the sake of man will be able to raise to life the
man himself who has been sown in the earth. He both can
and wills to do this. What the rains do for the seed, the dew
of the Spirit does for the body that is to be raised to life.
Thus Isaias cries to Christ: 'Thy dew is health for them/ 33
true health, since, once the bodies of the saints have been
raised to life, they feel no pain, they fear no death. They
will live with Christ in heaven, who lived on earth accord-
ing to the words and ways of Christ. This is the eternal and
blessed life in which you believe. This is the fruit of all our
faith and holy works. This is the hope on acount of which
we are born, believe and are reborn. It was on account of
this that the Prophets, Apostles and martyrs sustained such
30 Matt. 13.43.
31 Matt. 13.42.
32 1 Cor. 15.36.
33 Cf. Isa. 26.19.
EXPLANATION OF THE CREED 53
endless toil and accepted death with joy. This is a life which
neither a pagan nor an unbelieving Jew may have and
possess nor, for that matter, any Christian who is a slave
to his vices and sins. It is a life prepared only for those
who both believe and live without blemish.
(13) These things being so, beloved, persevere in the
tradition which you have learned. Be true to the pact you,
made with the Lord, to the profession of faith which you
made in the presence of angels and of men. The words of
the Creed are few but all the mysteries are in them. Select-
ed from the whole of Scripture and put together for the sake
of brevity, they are like precious gems making a single crown.
Thus, all the faithful have sufficient knowledge of salvation,
even though many are unable, or too busy with their worldly
affairs, to read the Scriptures.
(14) And so, beloved, whether you are walking, resting
or at work, whether you are asleep or awake, let this salutary
confession be ever in your hearts. Let your soul be ever in
heaven, your hope in the resurrection, your longing fixed on
what is promised. Let the Cross of Christ and His glorious
Passion be proclaimed with confidence. And whenever the
Enemy tempts your mind with fear or greed or anger, answer
him boldy with words; C I have renounced and shall continue
to renounce you and your works and emissaries, because I
believe in the living God and in his Son and Spirit and,
stamped as I am, I no longer fear death. 5 Thus will the hand
of God protect you and the Spirit of Christ guard the en-
trance to your soul, now and forever, so long as, with minds
fixed on Christ, you say to one another: Brothers, whether
we wake or sleep, let us live with Christ, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen.
THE VIGILS OF THE SAINTS
(De vigiliis servorum Dei)
I T is ALTOGETHER right, fitting and becoming, my
brothers, for me to speak to you about holy vigils,
I seeing how solicitous you have been in asking for a
night talk. You know that night is a physical darkness which
impels men and other living creatures to sleep in order to
restore their strength and wake up ready for the burdens of
the day. The good God who foresaw this need so arranged
that man, who was to 'go forth to his work and to his
labor until the evening, 51 should have a second period in
which to rest after the hard work and great fatigue. Thus,
He made the day for work, the night for rest. For this, as
for all else, we should thank Him who has arranged it so.
Nevertheless, you also know that many men set aside a
part of the night for some special task. Some do this to
please their parents; others, for some profit to themselves.
They think it pays to rob their rest for the sake of something
that is to be done. Solomon praises the valiant woman who
rose in the night for her spinning and weaving and whose
lamp was not put out. And he adds that, as a result, her
husband was 'honorable in the gates' and much praise was
given him. 2 Far from being blamed, people are praised for
1 Ps. 103.23.
2 The reference is to Prov. 30.13,23.
55
56 NICETA OF REMESIANA
vigils of this sort, which have no purpose higher than the
merely physical need of food or clothing. Yet, I am astonished
to find that there are some who consider sacred vigils,
which produce such spiritual fruit and are filled with prayers,
hymns and holy reading, to be superfluous, otiose or, what
is worse, unbecoming.
(2) Not, of course, that we need be surprised if men who
are far from our faith should feel that way. Why should
we expect the profane to like what is religious? Indeed, if
they did, they would join us and be what we are, namely,
Christians. But there are some among ourselves who take
offense at the practice of salutary vigils. I can only hope
that they are suffering from nothing worse than laziness or
sleepiness or, what is much the same, old age or infirmity.
If it is laziness, they should be ashamed of themselves, and
listen to the words of Solomon: 'Go to the ant, O sluggard,
and consider her ways.' 3 If the trouble is drowsiness, let them
be wakened with the words of Scripture: How long wilt
thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou rise out of thy sleep?
Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt
fold thy hands a little to sleep. And want shall come upon
thee, as a traveler, and poverty as a man armed/ 4 If you
are an old man, no one will force you to keep awake al-
though, for that matter, your years should be enough to
keep you awake. If, finally, you are too weak to stand, and
think you are unable, you have no right to recruit to your
own torpor those who are young and strong. You must
remember youth has many temptations and should mortify
itself with appropriate vigils. Nor, if you are weak in body,
should you criticize what you cannot yourself do; rather, you
3 Prov. 6.6.
4 Prov. 6.9-11.
VIGILS OF THE SAINTS 57
should weep in bed, saying: If I have remembered thee upon
my bed.' 5 And you can always ask those who are keeping vigils
to help you with their prayers, so that with God's grace you
may be able, on your bed of sorrow, to sing and even say:
'I will meditate on thee in the morning, because thou hast
been my helper.' 5 Certainly, it is foolish and strange to hold
back those who run merely because we are unable to run our-
selves. Unable as we are we should congratulate rather than
envy those who can. For, just as we shall be punished with
the wicked, if we have consented to their sin, so may we
hope for a share in the glory of those whose virtues we ap-
proved. Some men are rewarded for what they do; others,
because of good will.
(3) Even for those with delicate bodies, does it seem
too much or too hard to give, twice in the week, that is, on
Saturday and Sunday, a portion of the night to the service
of God? This is the least we can do to purify, as it were,
the five days or nights in which our bodies have been sunk
in sloth, our spirits defiled by worldly ways.
Surely, no one need be ashamed of doing what is holy,
if sinners are not ashamed of doing what is foul. It is well
that in the Scriptures the Book of the Preacher reminds us :
'There is a shame that bringeth sin'; 6 for, it is as much a sin
to be ashamed of doing good as it is wicked not to be ashamed
of doing wrong. If you are in grace, love vigils so that
by your vigils you may guard your treasure and keep your-
self in holiness. If you are in sin, hurry to be cleansed by
watching and praying. Keep beating your breast and cry-
ing out: 'From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord, and
from those of others spare thy servant.' 7 Once a man longs
5 PS. 62.7.
6 Eccli. 4.25.
7 Ps. 18.13,14.
58 NICETA OF REMESIANA
to be cleansed of his hidden sins, he loses all joy in being
soiled by such things.
(4) And, now, beloved, I ought to say a word about the
antiquity of the tradition and utility of vigils. 8 It is easier to
begin a work if we keep before our eyes how useful it is, The
devotion to vigils is very old. It has been a household tradi-
tion among the saints. It was the Prophet Isaias who cried
out to the Lord: 'My soul hath desired thee in the night.
Yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I
will watch to thee. 59
David, who was doubly anointed both as king and proph-
et, thus broke into song: 'O Lord, the God of my salva-
tion, I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee.' 10
And again he says: In the night I have remembered thy
name, O Lord, and have kept thy law.' 11 Perhaps you think
he was in bed when he sang these psalms. And, indeed,
some of the lazier sort do think it enough if one prays in
bed and mutters a psalm or so. Of course, there is nothing
wrong in that, since it is good for the soul to think of God
at any time and anywhere. However, to prove that it is
better to get up before putting oneself in the presence of
God, here is a third expression of the same Prophet which
reveals the time, place and manner of prayer: 'In the nights
lift up your hands to the holy places and bless ye the Lord/ 12
Lest you should think he had in mind only the early hours, he
hastens to add: 'I rose at midnight to give praise to thee;
for the judgments of thy justification.' 13 Here you have
8 Niceta's words are: de auctoritate vigiliarum et antiquitate.
9 Isa. 26.9. Niceta's text reads: 'Thy soul watches for thee in the night,
O God, for your laws are a light over the earth.'
10 Ps. 87,2.
11 Ps. 118.55.
12 Ps. 133.2.
13 Ps, 118.62.
VIGILS OF THE SAINTS 59
the time of rising expressed no less clearly than the solicitude
with which we should confess to God.
(5) The more I meditate on the mind of the saints, the
more I am reminded of something that is high and hard and
beyond the powers of human nature. Call to mind what
the same psalmist has said: 'If I shall go up into the bed
wherein I lie; if I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to
my eyelids, or rest to my temples; until I find out a place
for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.' 14 Who
would not be amazed at such a love of God, such dedication
of soul, that a king and prophet should deny himself all sleep
the very essential of bodily vigor until he should find a
place to build a temple to the Lord? This fact should be a
strong admonishment to us who long to be a dwelling place
of the Lord and to be considered His tabernacle and temple
forever. 'You are,* as St. Paul reminds us, 'the temple of
the living God. 515 Let us, then, be moved by the example of
the saints to love vigils to the utmost of our power. And let it
not be said of us what is said in the psalm: They have
slept their sleep and . . . found nothing. 516 Rather, let each
of us be glad to say: 'In the day of my trouble I have sought
God and with my hands lifted up to him in the night, and I
was not deceived.' 17 The reason is that 'It is good to give
praise to the Lord, and to sing to thy name, O most High;
to show forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in
the night.' 18 These and many other such thoughts the saints
have left us in song and other writings, so that we who are
their heirs may be moved by such examples to celebrate at
night the vigils of our salvation.
14 Ps. 131.3-5.
15 1 Cor. 3.16.
16 Ps. 75.6.
17 Ps. 76.3.
18 Ps. 91.2,3.
60 NICETA OF REMESIANA
(6) Let us turn now from the old to the new, from the
ministers of the Law to the ministers of the Gospel For
the grace of vigils is vouched for in the New Testament, too.
It is written in the Gospel that Anna the daughter of Phanuel,
a holy widow serving the Lord with prayers and fasting, never
left the temple night or day. 19 It was while the holy shep-
herds were keeping watch over their sheep by night that
they were rewarded by being the first to see the angels in
glory and to hear of the birth of Christ on earth. 20 It is
the same, too, with the teaching of our Saviour. He was ever
rousing His hearers to watching. Take what He says in the
parable of the sower: 'while men were asleep, an enemy
came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.' 21
The presumption is that, had they not been asleep, the
enemy could not have sown the weeds. Or, take His other
words: 'Let your loins be girt about and your lamps burn-
ing, and you yourselves like men waiting for the master's re-
turn from the wedding . . . Blessed are those servants whom
the master, on his return, shall find watching . . . And if he
comes in the second watch and if in the third, and finds
them so, blessed are those servants . . . You must also be ready,
because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man
is coming.' 22 In regard to watching, what He taught in
words He confirmed also by example. The Gospel bears
witness to the fact that 'J esus spent the whole night in the
prayer of God/ 23 The Lord kept this nightly vigil, not for
Himself, but that His servants who are poor and weak might
know what to do, seeing that the Lord who was rich in
prayer, of which He had no need, was so resolute the whole
19 Cf. Luke 2.36ff.
20 Cf. Luke 2.8-14.
21 Matt. 13.25.
22 Luke 12.35-40.
23 Luke 6.12.
VIGILS OF THE SAINTS 61
night long in prayer. So it was that He chided Peter at the
time of the passion: 'Could you not watch one hour with
me/ And then to all He said: * Watch that you may not
enter into temptation.' 24 And now, I ask you, is there any
one whom words and examples like these could not rouse even
from a sleep deep enough to look almost like death?
(7) The blessed Apostles, taught by words like these
and strengthened by such examples, kept watch themselves
and ordered vigils. When Peter was in prison, he was
awakened by an angel, and, when the iron gate was opened, he
came to the house of Mary, 'where many had gathered to-
gether' and were praying not, I need hardly say, snoring. 25
It is Peter who puts these words into his epistle : 'Be sober, be
watchful! For your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion,
goes about seeking someone to devour,' 26 It is related that,
when Paul and Silas were in the public prison, they were
praying at midnight, singing a hymn while the prisoners were
listening to them: suddenly, the foundations of the prison
were shaken by an earthquake, and the doors flew open,
and everyone's chains were unfastened. 27 The same blessed
Apostle, when he was about to depart from Troy, 'prolonged
his address until midnight,' so that they lit 'the many lamps
in the upper room.' And a young man named Eutychus,
overcome with drowsiness, as Paul addressed them at great
length, went fast asleep and fell from the third-story window
to the ground and was picked up dead. And as soon as he
was restored to life, Paul went on with his sermon 'even till
daybreak,' and then, with the help of God, departed. 28 In
writing to the Thessalonians, St. Paul is no less full and ex-
24 Matt. 26.40,41.
25 Acts 12.7ff.
26 1 Pet. 5.8.
27 Cf. Acts 16.25,26.
28 Cf. Acts 20.7-11.
62 NIGETA OF REMESIANA
plicit in his exhortation to the practice of vigils: 'Therefore
let us not sleep as do the rest, but let us be wakeful and
sober. For they who sleep, sleep at night, and they who are
drunk, are drunk at night. But let us, who are of the day,
be sober. 5 Then he ends with these marvelous words: 'Whether
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.' 29 To
the Corinthians he writes: 'Watch, stand fast in the faith,
act like men, be strong.' 30
(8) I hope I have said enough about the ancient and
authentic tradition of vigils. 31 I must turn now to the next
point, as I promised, and say a word about their usefulness
although this can be better learned by experience than
expressed in words. It would seem that we must ourselves
'taste/ as the Scripture has it, 'how sweet is the Lord.' 32 Only
one who has tasted understands and feels how great a
weight is taken from our heart, what sloth is shaken from
our minds when we watch, what light floods the soul of
one who watches and prays, what a grace and presence fills
every member with joy. By watching, all fear is cast out
and confidence is born, the flesh is weakened, vices waste
away and charity is strengthened, folly disappears and pru-
dence takes its place, the mind is sharpened, error is blunted,
the Devil, the instigator of our sins, is wounded by the
sword of the Spirit. Is there anything we need more than
we do such advantages, any profit greater than such gains,
anything sweeter than this joy or more blessed than this hap-
piness? I need only call to witness the Prophet who in the
beginning of his psalms describes the happy man and indicates
his supreme felicity in this verse: *If he meditates on the
29 1 Thess. 5.6-10. Niceta's text reads: '. . . as, who are of God's (Dei in
place of diet) .
50 1 Cor. 16.13.
31 . . .de anttquitate et auctoritate vigiliarum.
32 Ps. 33.9.
VIGILS OF THE SAINTS 63
law of the Lord day and night.' 33 Meditation during the day
is, of course, good; but that at night is better. During the
day, there is the clamor of our many cares, the mental dis-
traction of our occupations. A double preoccupation divides
our attention. The quiet and solitude of the night make it
a favorable time for prayer and most suitable for those who
watch. With worldly occupations put aside and the attention
undivided, the whole man, at night, stands in the divine
presence.
I need not add that the Devil is always skillful in imitat-
ing divine things. He has given to his followers not only
fasts but vain virginity and baptisms without validity.
So, too, he has copied this holy service and given nightly
watchings to his sorry followers [commiseronibus]. How-
ever, those of us who are not moved, by all they have learn-
ed, to practice holy vigils, should at least not pretend that
vigils are opposed to the service of God, because they can
be travestied by the Devil. The truth is that he would not
copy these things for the deception of his followers unless
he realized how pleasing to God they were and how rich
in blessings for those who practice them,
(9) Only, dear brothers, if one is to keep awake with
his eyes, let him watch also with his heart; if he prays with
his lips, let him pray also with his mind. It is of little avail
to keep one's eyes open, if the soul is asleep. The very op-
posite is the truth, as the Scripture bears witness, speaking
in the name of the Church: 'I sleep but my heart is awake.' 34
And, needless to say, no one who intends to watch should have
his stomach loaded with too much food or drink. Belching
and hiccoughing is not only personally unpleasant, but it
makes us unworthy of the grace of the Spirit. One of the
35 Ps. 1.2.
34 Cant. 5.2.
64 NICETA OF REMESIANA
outstanding bishops of our days has said: 'Belchings with
undigested food turns away the favors of the Holy Spirit
just as smoke puts the bees to flight. 535 Therefore, like men
about to perform a divine function, we must prepare ahead
of time by fasting, so that we may be ready to watch with
all our wits about us. And if the prayer of the watcher is
not to be 'turned to sin,' as the psalm 36 puts it, every evil
thought must be put away. Some watching is the work of
the Devil, as we may see from the Book of Proverbs: Tor
they sleep not except they have done evil; and their sleep
is taken away unless they have made some to fall. 537 May
all such watching, brothers, be far from this congregation.
Rather, let the heart of those who watch be closed to the
Devil and ppen to Christ, so that the Name on our lips may
be close to our heart. Only then will our vigils be agreeable
to Christ and our night of prayer bring us grace, if with
becoming diligence and sincere devotion, our ministry is
offered in the sight of God.
So much, then, for the dignity, antiquity and spiritual
value of vigils. I would be glad to add a word here on how
pleasing and acceptable to God is the practice of the sing-
ing of hymns and psalms. But what I have to say would
take another volume. I shall do this, God willing, in my
next sermon. 'May the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be
with you all Amen. 538
35 St. Basil, Homily on Fasting, Migne, PG 3L184b.
36 Ps. 108.7.
37 Prov. 4.15. Niceta's text reads: 'Wherefore, their sleep is taken from
their eyes, for they sleep not except they have done evil.'
38 2 Cor. 13.14,
LITURGICAL SINGING
(De utilitate hymnorum)
MAN who keeps a promise pays a debt. I remember
promising at the end of my sermon on the spiritual
value 1 of vigils that, in the next sermon, I would
speak of the ministry of hymns and psalms. 2 That promise
I shall fulfill, God willing, in this sermon; for I do not see
how any better time can be found than this, in which the
sons of light think of the night as day, in which silence and
quiet are being offered to us by the night itself and in which"
we are engaged in the very thing which my sermon is to
speak about. 3 The proper time to exhort a soldier is when
he is just about to begin the battle. So for sailors a rollicking
song best suits them when they are bending to the oars and
sweeping over the sea. So with us. Now is the very best time
to keep my promise to speak of liturgical singing now that
the congregation has come together for this very purpose.
(2) I am aware that there are some among us, and some
in the Eastern provinces, too, who hold that there is some-
thing superfluous, not to say, suspicious, about the singing
of hymns and psalms during divine service. Their idea is
1 . . .de gratia et utilitate . . .
2 Laudum, lit., 'prai&es.'
3 The Latin text of this paragraph as given by Burn (p. 68) has been
rejected in favor of the text published by C. H. Turner in the
Journal of Theological Studies, vol. 24.
65
66 NICETA OF REMESIANA
that it is unrestrained to utter with the tongue what it is
enough to say with the heart. They base their opinion on a
text from the Apostle's Epistle to the Ephesians : 'Be filled with
the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts
to the Lord. 34 There, they say, you have the Apostle stating
that we should sing in our hearts, and not make a noise with
musical notes like people on the stage. 5 For God, who
searches the heart,' 6 it is enough, they insist, if our song be
silent and in the heart. I take a different view. There is
nothing wrong, of course, with singing in the heart. In
fact, it is always good to meditate with the heart on the
things of God. But I also think that there is something praise-
worthy when people glorify God with the sound of their
voices.
I shall prove this by adducing many texts of Holy Scrip-
ture, but, first, I must appeal to the very text of the Apostle
to refute, by what it precribes, the folly of all those who
find there a condemnation of vocal singing. It is true, of
course, that the Apostle said: 'Be filled with the Spirit, speak-
ing to one another in psalms.' 7 But it is no less true that he
meant us to open our mouths and move our tongues and
loosen our lips for the simple reason that no one can speak
without these organs. Speaking and silence are as different
as hot and cold. Notice, the Apostle says: ( speaking in psalms
and hymns and canticles.' Surely, he would not have men-
tioned canticles if he wanted to imply that the person sing-
ing was completely silent. The simple fact is that no one
can both sing and keep complete silence at the same
4 Eph. 5.18,19, . ,
5 ...non mere tragoediae vocis modulamine garnendum.
6 Rom. 8.2.
7 Eph. 5.19.
LITURGICAL SINGING 67
time. When he says 'in your hearts,' the Apostle wants to
warn us not to sing solely with our voice, without any feel-
ing in our hearts. So, too, in another text, 'I will sing with
the spirit, but I will sing with the understanding, 38 he means
with both voice and thought.
The objection to singing is the invention of heretics. When
their faith grows cold, they think up reasons for rejecting
song. They cloak their hatred of the Prophets and, particular-
ly, of the prophecies concerning the Lord and Creator. Un-
der the pretext of piety, they silence the words of the Proph-
ets and, above all, the heavenly songs of David.
(3) Beloved, we have been brought up in all the teach-
ings of the Prophets, the Gospels, and the apostolic writings.
Let us keep before our eyes all that has been said and done
by those to whom we owe all that we are. Let us appeal to
the authority of those who have spoken from the beginning
to prove how pleasing to God are spiritual canticles.
If we ask who was the first to introduce this kind of sing-
ing, the answer is: Moses. He sang a remarkable song to
God after Egypt had been afflicted by the ten plagues, Pha-
roah had been drowned, and the people [of Israel] moved
toward the desert, filled with joy by the miraculous passage
through the [Red] Sea. He sang: 'Let us sing to the
Lord, for he is gloriously magnified. 59 (In passing, I must
warn you against the book entitled The Revelation of Abra-
ham, 10 with its fictions about the singing of animals, fountains
8 1 Cor. 14.15.
9 Exod. 15.1.
10 Niceta's title, Inquisitio Abrahae, may stand for Andlepsis Abradm
(Acceptance or, possibly, Ascension of Abraham) , which is mention-
ed in Pseudo-Athanasius (Migne, PG 28.432b) , or for an Apokdlupsis
Abradm, alluded to by Epiphanius (PG 41.671d) . St. Jerome speaks
of fictas revelationes omnium patriarchum. See note in A, E, Burn,
Niceta of Remesiana, p. 70. Acquisitio would have been a Latin
equivalent for Andlepsis, and may have been the original reading.
68 NICETA OF REMESIANA
and the elements. The work is neither credible nor authentic.)
Thus, the first to institute choirs was Moses, the leader of
the tribes of Israel. Separating the men and women into
two choirs, with himself and his sister as leaders, he taught
them to sing a song of triumph to God. Somewhat later,
Debbora, a lady of some distinction mentioned in the book
of Judges, is found performing the same ministry. 11 Moses,
again, when about to depart from this life, sang a fear-inspir-
ing canticle in Deuteronomy. 12 He left the song as a sort
of testament to the people of Israel, to teach them the kind
of funeral they should expect, if ever they abandoned God.
And woe to those who refused to give up unlawful supersti-
tions, once they had heard such a clear denunciation.
(4) After this, you will find plenty of men and women,
filled with a divine spirit, who sang of the mysteries of God.
Among these was David. As a boy, he was given a special
call to this office, and by God's grace he became the prince
of singers and left us a treasury of song. He was still a boy
when his sweet, strong song with his harp subdued the evil
spirit working in Saul. 13 Not that there was any kind of
power in the harp, but, with its wooden frame and the
strings stretched across, it was a symbol of the Cross of
Christ. It was the Passion that was being sung, and it was
this which subdued the spirit of the Devil.
(5) You will find in David's psalms everything that can
help edify and console men and women of every class and
age. Children will find milk for their minds; boys, material
to praise God; youths, corrections for their ways; young
men, a model to Mow; and old men, food for prayer. Wo-
men can learn modesty. Orphans will find in David a father;
H Judges 5, the Canticle of Debbora and Barac after victory.
12 Beut. 32.
13 1 Kings 16.14-23.
LITURGICAL SINGING 69
widows, a vindicator; the poor, a protector; strangers, a
guardian. Rulers and magistrates learn lessons in fear. A
psalm consoles the sad, tempers the joyous, calms the angry,
consoles the poor and stirs the conscience of the rich. A
psalm offers medicine for all who will receive it including
even the sinner, to whom it brings the cure of holy penance
and tears.
The Holy Spirit makes ample provision so that even the
hardest and most recalcitrant hearts may, little by little, be
glad to receive the medicine of these revealed words. Ordin-
arily, human nature runs away from what is hard, even
though it is salutary, rejecting such things or, at least, tak-
ing them only when they seem to be tempting. Through
David his servant, the Lord prepared a medicine, powerful
enough to cure the wounds of sin, yet sweet to the taste by
reason of the melody. For, when a psalm is sung, it is sweet
to the ear. It enters the soul because it is pleasant. It is
easily retained if it is often enough repeated. Confessions that
no severity of law could extort from the heart are willingly
made under the sweet influence of song. There is contained
in these songs, for those who meditate on them, all that
is consoling in the Law, the Prophets and even the Gospels.
(6) God is revealed and idols are scorned; faith is accept-
ed and infidelity rejected; justice is recommended and in-
justice forbidden; mercy is praised and cruelty blamed;
truth is demanded and lies are condemned; guilt is accused
and innocence commended; pride is cast down and humility
exalted; patience is preached; the banner of peace is un-
furled; protection from enemies is prayed for; vindication is
promised; confident hope is fostered. And what is more
than all the rest, the Mysteries of Christ are sung. The In-
carnation is clearly indicated and, even more so, His rejection
by an ungrateful people and His welcome among the Gen-
70 NIGETA OF REMESIANA
tiles. The miracles of the Lord are sung; His venerable
Passion is depicted; His glorious Resurrection made clear;
and mention is made of His sitting at the right hand of the
Father. In addition to all this, the coming of the Lord in
a cloud of glory is declared and His terrible judgment of
the living and the dead is revealed. Need more be said?
There is, likewise, a revelation of the sending forth of the
Creating Spirit and the renewal of the world which is to be
followed by the eternal kingdom of the just in the glory of
the Lord and the everlasting punishment of the wicked.
(7) Such are the songs which the Church of God sings.
These are the songs with which we here in this congregation
are filling our throats. For the singer they are not only a
recreation but also a responsibility. They put out, rather
than excite, the passions. There can be no doubt that such
songs are pleasing to God, since everything about them is
directed solely to the glory of the Creator. And the same
psalmist who says: 'Let every spirit praise the Lord' thus
urging everyone and everything to praise God who is the
ruler of them all likewise says: 'I will praise the name
of God with a canticle, and I will magnify him with praise' 14
thus promising to give praise himself. He adds: 'And it
shall please God better than a young calf that bringeth forth
horns and hoofs,' to bring out something still more ex-
cellent, a spiritual sacrifice that is greater than all sacrifices
of victims. This is as it should be. In such sacrifices the
blood of irrational animals was shed, but from the soul and
a good conscience rational praise is offered up. Rightly did
the Lord say: The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me, and
there is the way by which I will show him the salvation
of God.' 15 Praise, then, the Lord in your life, offer to Him
14 Ps. 150.6; 68.31.
15 Ps. 49.23.
LITURGICAL SINGING 71
the sacrifice of praise, and thus show in your soul the way
by which you come to His salvation.
(8) Praise issuing from a pure conscience delights the
Lord, and so the same psalmist exhorts us: Traise ye the
Lord because a psalm is good; to our God be joyful and
comely praise.' 16 With this in mind, aware of how pleasing
to God is this ministry, the psalmist again declares: 'Seven
times a day I have given praise to thee. m To this he adds
a further promise : 'And my tongue shall meditate thy justice,
thy praise all the day long. 518 Without doubt, he had ex-
perience of the good to be derived from this work, for he
reminds us: 'Praising I will call upon the Lord, and I shall
be saved from my enemies/ 19 It was with such a shield to
protect him that as a boy he destroyed the great power of
the giant Goliath and, in many other instances, came out
victorious over the invaders.
(9) I must not bore you, beloved, with more details of
the history of the psalms. It is time to turn to the New
Testament to confirm what is said in the Old, and, particular-
ly, to point out that the office of psalmody is not to be
considered abolished merely because many other observances
of the Old Law have fallen into desuetude. 20 Only the
corporal institutions have been rejected, like circumcision,
the sabbath, sacrifices, discrimination in foods. So, too, the
trumpets, harps, cymbals and timbrels. For the sound of
these we now have a better substitute in the music from
the mouths of men. The daily ablutions, the new-moon
observances, the careful inspection of leprosy are completely
16 Ps 145.1.
17 Ps. 118.164.
18 Ps. 34.28.
19 Ps. 17.4.
20 Translation is based on d H. Turner's suggestion, pessum data. I
have followed his text for the passage beginning: Cessaverunt
Plane > . .
72 NICETA OF REMESIANA
past and gone, along \vith whatever else was necessary only
for a time as it were, for children. Of course, what was
spiritual in the Old Testament, for example, faith, piety,
prayer, fasting, patience, chastity, psalm-singing all this
has been increased in the New Testament rather than dim-
inished. Thus, in the Gospel you will find, first of all, Zachary
the father of the great John, after his long silence uttering
a prophecy in the form of a hymn. 21 Nor did Elizabeth, who
had been so long sterile, cease to magnify God in her soul
when the son of promise had been born. 22 And when Christ
was born on earth, the army of angels sang a song of praise:
'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of
good will.' 23 The children in the Temple raised their voices
to sing: 'Hosanna to the Son of David 524 only to make the
Pharisees more angry. However, the Lord rather opened
than closed the mouths of the little ones when He said:
'Have you never read, Out of the mouth of infants and suck-
lings thou hast perfected praise.' 25 If these keep silence, the
stones will cry out. 326 But I must be brief. The Lord Himself,
our teacher and master in words and deeds, showed how
pleasing was the ministry of hymns when He went out to
the Mount of Olives only after a hymn had been sung. With
such evidence before him, how can anyone go on doubting
the religious value of psalms and hymns? For here we are
told that He who is adored and sung by the angels in heaven
sang a hymn along with His disciples,
21 Luke 1.67-79. This, of course, is the Benedictus,
22 Here and at the end of Chapter 11 (according to the reading of
the eighth-century Cava MS) , it is supposed that Elizabeth, and not
Mary, sang the Magnificat. The great weight of MS authority, in-
cluding all Greek and Syriac texts, is in favor of Mary.
23 Luke 2.14.
24 Matt. 21.15.
25 Matt. 21.16.
26 Luke 19.40.
LITURGICAL SINGING 73
(10) And we know that later on the Apostles also did
this, since not even in prison did they cease to sing. So, too,
Paul speaks to the Prophets of the Church: 'When you
come together, each of you has a hymn, has an instruction,
has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all
things be done unto edification.' 27 And again, in another
place: 'I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the
understanding also.' 28 So, too, James sets down in his
Epistle: 'Is any one of you sad? Let him pray. Is any one
in good spirits? Let him sing a hymn/ 29 And John in the
Apocalypse reports that, when the Spirit revealed himself to
him, he saw and heard c a voice of the heavenly army, as
it were the voice *of many waters and as the voice of mighty
thunders, saying, Alleluia.' 30 From all this we may conclude
that no one should doubt that this ministry, if only it is
celebrated with true faith and devotion, is one with that
of the angels, who, as we know, unhindered by sleep or
other occupation, cease not to praise the Lord in heaven
and to bless the Saviour.
(11) These things being so, brothers, let us have full con-
fidence in carrying out our ministry of song. Let us believe
that we have been given a great, a very great, grace by
God who has granted to us to sing the marvels of the eternal
God in the company of so many and such great saints, proph-
ets and even martyrs. We confess to Him, with David,
that 'He is good.' And, with Moses, we sing in these great
canticles the glory of the Holy and Divine Spirit. With
Anna, who is a symbol of the Church once sterile and
now fecund we strengthen our hearts in the praise of God.
With Isaias, we keep our night watch. We join Habacuc in
27 1 Cor. 14.26.
28 1 Cor. 14.15.
29 James 5.13.
30 Apoc. 19.6,
74 NICETA OF REMESIANA
song. With the holy fathers, Jonas and Jeremias, we join
song to prayer. With the three children in the flames, we call
on every creature to bless the Lord. With Elizabeth our soul
magnifies the Lord.
(12) Can any joy be greater than that of delighting our-
selves with psalms and nourishing ourselves with prayer and
feeding ourselves with the lessons that are read in between?
Like guests at table enjoying a variety of dishes, our souls
feast on the rich banquet of lessons and hymns.
(13) Only, brothers, let us please God by singing with
attention and a mind wide awake, undistracted by idle talk.
For so the psalm invites us: 'Sing ye wisely, for God is the
King of all the earth.' 31 That is, we must sing with our
intelligences; not only with the spirit (in the sense of the
sound of our voice), but also with our mind. We must think
about what we are singing, lest we lose by distracting talk
and extraneous thoughts the fruit of our effort. The sound
and melody of our singing must be suitably religious. It must
not be melodramatic, but a revelation of the true Christianity
within. It must have nothing theatrical about it, but should
move us to sorrow for our sins.
Of course, you must all sing in harmony, without discord-
ant notes. One of you should not linger unreasonably on
the notes, while his neighbor is going too fast; nor should
one of you sing too low while another is raising his voice.
Each one should be asked to contribute his part in humility
to the volume of the choir as a whole. No one should sing
unbecomingly louder or slower than the rest, as though for
vain ostentation or out of human respect. The whole service
must be carried out in the presence of God, not with a view
to pleasing men. In regard to the harmony of voices we
31 Ps. 46,8.
LITURGICAL SINGING 75
have a model and example in the three blessed boys of
whom the Prophet Daniel tells us: Then these three, as
with one mouth, praised and glorified and blessed God in
the furnace, saying: Blessed art thou, O Lord the God
of our fathers.' 32 You see that it was, for our instruction
that we are told that the three boys humbly and holily
praised God with one voice. Therefore, let us sing all to-
gether, as with one voice, and let all of us modulate our
voices in the same way. If one cannot sing in tune with
the others, it is better to sing in a low voice rather than
drown the others. In this way he will take his part in the
service without interfering with the community singing. Not
everyone, of course, has a flexible and musical voice. St.
Cyprian is said to have invited his friend Donatus, whom
he knew to be a good singer, to join him in the office: 'Let
us pass the day in joy, so that not one hour of the feast
will be without some heavenly grace. Let the feast be loud
with songs, since you have a full memory and a musical
voice. Come to this duty regularly. You will feed your beloved
friends if you give us something spiritual to listen to. There
is something alluring about religious sweetness; and those
who sing well have a special grace to attract to religion those
who listen to them.' 33 And if our voice is without harshness
and in tune with the notes of well-played cymbals, it will
be a joy to ourselves and source of edification to those who
hear us. And c God who maketh men of one manner to dwell
in His House' 34 will find our united praise agreeable to Him.
When we sing, all should sing; when we pray, all should
32 Dan. 3.51,52.
33 Cyprian, Epist. ad Donatum 16. The entire passage, 'Not everyone,
of course, . . . listen to them/ is not found in five of the extant
MSS. It appears, however, in the Codex Cavensis, in Codex Vaticanus
5729 (The Bible of Farfa) , and in the Codex used by C. H. Turner,
34 Ps. 67.7.
76 NICETA OF REMESIANA
pray. So, when the lesson is being read, all should remain
silent, that all may equally hear. No one should be praying
with so loud a voice as to disturb the one who is reading.
And if you should happen to come in while the lesson is
being read, just adore the Lord and make the Sign of the
Cross, and then give an attentive ear to what is being read.
(14) Obviously, the time to pray is when we are all
praying. Of course, you may pray privately whenever and
as often as you choose. But do not, under the pretext of
prayer, miss the lesson. You can always pray whenever you
will, but you cannot always have a lesson at hand. Do not
imagine that there is little to be gained by listening to the
sacred lesson. The fact is that prayer is improved if our
mind has been recently fed on reading and is able to roam
among the thoughts of divine things which it has recently
heard. The word of the Lord assures us that Mary, the sister
of Martha, chose the better part when she sat at the feet
of Jesus, listening intently to the word of God without a
thought of her sister. 35 We need not wonder, then, if the
deacon in a clear voice like a herald warns all that, whether
they are praying or bowing the knees, singing hymns, or
listening to the lessons, they should all act together. God
loves 'men of one manner' and, as was said before, 'maketh
them to dwell in his house/ 36 And those who dwell in this
house are proclaimed by the psalm to be blessed, because
they will praise God forever and ever. Amen.
35 Cf. Luke 10.42.
36 Ps. 67.7.
Translated
by
BERNARD PEEBLES, Ph. D.
The Catholic University of America
INTRODUCTION
I T is MOST OFTEN the case with biographies that their
authors remain far less well known than their sub-
j jects, and this is eminently true with Sulpicius Severus.
If in the course of fifteen hundred years there have been
few literate Christians who have not heard of St. Martin of
Tours and have not had some acquaintance with one or more
episodes of his life, there have been a great many to whom
even the name of his first and most widely read biographer
is unknown. Even the fact that Sulpicius was one of the first
Christian Latin writers to compose a biography and wrote in
a style that even a Gibbon 1 could call 'not unworthy of the
Augustan age' has not saved him from an obscurity which
few besides specialists in literary history care to penetrate.
While some hints about the character and stature of the man
may be drawn from the scanty materials concerning him
which have survived, these are far too meager to furnish a
basis for a reliable judgment. It may well be that there was
little in Sulpicius himself to merit personal fame and that,
apart from such spiritual heroism as was required for his
renunciation of worldly honors, his only great achievement
was to produce the portrait of the indefatigable pastor of
souls, missioner, monk, and worker of miracles whom, chiefly
through the pen of Sulpicius, the world knows as Martin of
Tours.
1 Decline and Fall, Chap. 27, n. 61 (ed. J. B. Bury [London 1897] &155) .
79
80 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
High merits indeed would have -been required to make
him conspicuous among the great Christian Latin writers
who were his contemporaries St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and
St. Augustine. Theirs was a brilliance that might have dark-
ened even a far brighter luminary than Sulpicius ever was.
Of these three, only St. Jerome mentions Sulpicius Severus: 2
he calls him 'our Severus,' with an appropriate intimacy,
since, if the two men were not known to one another through
mutual correspondence, they had more than one acquaintance
in common. What is more, it was a reading of Sulpicius's
Dialogues that led St. Jerome to speak of him, a work which
contains an enthusiastic appreciation of the great Doctor of
Bethlehem. 3 In Sulpicius, St. Ambrose twice receives brief
mention; 4 St. Augustine, none at all On their side, there is
reason to believe that each may have known of Sulpicius, and
their failure to speak of him or of St. Martin either is
regrettable.
As basic sources for the life of Sulpicius we are confined
to the statements he himself makes, to the thirteen letters
addressed to him by St. Paulinus of Nola, 5 and to a brief
chapter in the work of Gennadius of Marseilles (d. before
500), On Famous Men. 6
Sulpicius Severus called Severus by his contemporaries,
but Sulpicius in his own Dialogues^ as born about 360 into
2 Cf. below, n. 58.
3 Dial. 1.7-9.
4 Cf. Dial 1.25, n, 11.
5 Selected writings of St. Paulinus will be translated elsewhere in this
series. The Latin text of his letters ist found in PL 61 and CSEL 29.
6 Chap. 19 (PL 58.1072) ; also in Halm's edition of Sulpicius Severus,
CSEL Lxiii. A translation by E. C. Richardson is found in A Select
Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, 3 (New
York 1892) 389f.
7 The two names are joined in the salutation of the Letter to Bassula.
INTRODUCTION 81
a distinguished Aquitanian family. 8 He was educated at
Bordeaux during the best period of the Gallic schools of
rhetoric. Presumably in the course of his studies there he
formed an intimate friendship with Meropius Pontius Pau-
linus, a native of Bordeaux and a pupil of one of its most
distinguished teachers, the poet Ausonius. While still young,
Sulpicius attained celebrity in the practice of law and saw his
worldly fame increased by marriage with the daughter of a
certain Bassula, high-born and wealthy. The early death of
his wife may have helped to turn the mind of Sulpicius from
the secular honors in which he was so rich toward a life of
renunciation. About the year 390 the two friends, Paulinus
and Sulpicius, had been baptized together. A few years later,
to the amazement and regret of some of his contemporaries,
Paulinus foreswore his own riches and secular renown, and
Sulpicius soon followed his example. It appears that he had
already made the acquaintance of Martin, the powerful and
ascetic Bishop of Tours, for, in his Life of the bishop, Sulpicius
tells how enthusiastically Martin commended to his imitation
Paulinus's rejection of the allurements and empty burdens
of the world. 9 Paulinus, after being ordained priest in Barce-
lona, passed the rest of his life in Italy, near the Campanian
town of Nola, ultimately as its bishop. It was only through
letters and visits of common friends that he kept in touch
with Sulpicius, who remained in Gaul.
After spending some time at Eluso (the present Elsonne,
near Toulouse), Sulpicius transferred the seat of his retire-
ment to a place which Paulinus calls Primuliacum, an un-
certain site fixed by some scholars near Beziers, by others near
8 The present passage is based largely on Gennadius, loc. tit., and on
the letters of Paulinus, especially Epist. 5. The year 360 is a mere ap-
proximation, based on the fact that Paulinus, who was somewhat older
than Sulpicius, was born in 353 or 354.
9 Life 25.
82 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
Perigueux. 10 It is presumably at Primuliacum that the scene
of Sulpicius's Dialogues is laid. There is little description of
background in that work and nothing to suggest the interest-
ing architectural arrangements which were to be found at
Primuliacum. Fortunately, a letter 11 of Paulinus indicates
that there were two basilicas and a baptistery. On the walls
of the baptistery Sulpicius had two murals : one representing
Martin, the other Paulinus. The humble ascetic of Nola
could only deplore the juxtaposition, but acceded to his
friend's request for verses to be inscribed under the portraits.
While no trace of these murals has been discovered, their
subjects show how clearly Sulpicius recognized a double debt :
one to the somewhat older, somewhat bolder friend of his
youth; the other to the venerable bishop of Tours, whom he
deemed worthy of comparison with the Apostles. 12 As may
be concluded from his own writings, Sulpicius had remained
in close association with Martin up to his death and, later,
with several of Martin's disciples. The knowledge he so
gained clearly qualified Sulpicius to turn his well-trained
literary talents to a biography of his saintly mentor.
His literary activity not least of all the research that his
Chronicles required must have given Sulpicius adequate
10 For Eluso, see Paulinus, Epist. 1.11; for Primuliacum, Epist. 31.1. The
latter is located near Briers by F. Mouret, Sulpice Severe ci Primuliac
(Paris 1907) , near Perigueux by E.-Ch. Babut, in Annales du Midi 20
(1908) 457-468; Jullian, in REA 25 (1923) 249f., suggests it should be
looked for farther north, near Bourges.
11 Epist. 32 (Epist. 30 and 31 are also relevant). Cf. the work of Gold-
Schmidt (cited Dial. 3.17, n. 3) 36.
12 Cf. Life 7 and the other references cited in n. 4 there. (Babut 37f. notes
a crescendo in Sulpicius's successive eulogies of St. Martin.) In his
De seruorum Dei beatificatione etc. (3rd ed., Rome 1747-1751) ,
IV.ii.xi.l, Prospero Cardinal Lambertini (later Pope Benedict XIV)
considers the question whether St. Martin is to be held equal to the
Apostles; after quoting Sulpicius and Odo of Cluny for the affirmative,
he refers to' a passage in St. Thomas Aquinas (In epist. ad Ephes., lect.
3) , where such comparison is declared to be a temerity, if not an actual
error.
INTRODUCTION 83
occupation during the years he spent at Primuliacum. It is
reasonable to suppose that there was abundant recreation as
well reunions with intimate friends, for example, like that
described in the Dialogues; when Sulpicius withdrew from the
world, he did not shake off a certain lovable attachment to
its more wholesome values. It is not known where he died
or when a date around 420 is probable. Gennadius calls him
a priest (presbyter). While nothing in the writings either of
Sulpicius himself or of Paulinus confirms this, the statement
of Gennadius should not be ignored. The same writer is also
alone in relating another biographical detail. He tells us that
Sulpicius, in his old age, fell victim to the heresy of the
Pelagians, and, to apply the appropriate correction to the
loquacity he considered the cause of his fault, maintained
silence to the end of his days. Here, also, there may be
some truth in the report of Gennadius; if there is, and if the
Dialogues do not exaggerate the pleasure Sulpicius took in
conversation, his self-imposed silence was a heavy penance
indeed.
Until Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) expunged his name,
certain printings of the Roman Martyrology listed Sulpicius
among the saints of January 29, and the Bollandists could not
refrain from considering his merits in the Act a Sanctorum
for that date. The appearance of Sulpicius Severus in the
Martyrology was due to a confusion with an unquestioned
saint of January 29, another Sulpicius, Archbishop of Bourges
(584-591), likewise called Severus. 13
13 Cf. Acta Sanctorum, Jan. Ill (Brussels 1863) 531, 583-4. Alban Butler
included a relatively long life of our Sulpicius in his The Lives of the
Saints; cf. the edition of Herbert Thurston, S.J., 1 (London 1926)
375-378. The famous church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris is dedicated to
another Archbishop of Bourges, Sulpicius Pius (626-647) , and it is from
this church that the Sulpician Fathers are named. For further comment
on our Severus and Bourges, see Jullian, loc. cit. (above, n. 10) ; also,
below, Dial. 1.27, n. 2.
84 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
Of the writings which Gennadius ascribes to Sulpicius,
most have survived. Naturally, there were letters, and it is
here that time has taken a heavy toll. Making no specific
mention of the three letters which do survive and which are
a kind of appendix to the Life of St. Martin, Gennadius
speaks of many letters written by Sulpicius to a sister, exhort-
ing her to the love of God and the renunciation of the world,
and also of letters to Paulinus of Nola and to others. Genna-
dius speaks of only two letters to Paulinus, but it appears
from those of Paulinus to Sulpicius none earlier than 394
or later than 404 is preserved that Sulpicius must have
written at least eleven. 14 Among seven letters ascribed to a
Severus in various manuscripts (one of them addressed to
'Saint Paulinus'), 15 two might appear to be among the
spiritual letters to his sister which Gennadius mentions; if
they are such, her name was Claudia. But these letters, as
well as the other five, are generally viewed by scholars as
falsely attributed to Sulpicius; some have been recently de-
clared to be the work of Pelagius. 16
Sulpicius's longest work is listed by Gennadius without the
slightest comment: 'He also composed the Chronicles.' As
their introduction makes clear, the two books of the Chron-
icles contain an abridged presentation of sacred history from
the creation of the world down to the author's own time,
with careful attention to chronology. The author's recasting of
14 So P, Reinelt, Stud ten uber die Briefe des hi Paulinus von Nola
(Diss., Breslau 1904) 57.
15 Edited by Halm in his edition of Sulpicius, CSEL 1.219-256. English
translation by Roberts (cf. below, p. 98 in Select Bibliography) . In
Halm, the title to No. 3 should show Paulinum instead of Paulum; this
letter is the most probably genuine of the lot.
16 Hylt&i 156f. denies them to Sulpicius and also holds the single author-
ship of all seven letters unlikely. For Pelagius as the author of the first
two, see G. de Plinval, Pttage, ses ecrits, sa vie et sa reforme (Lausanne
etc.: Payot 1943) 31-45; ibid. 42 n.4 for possible Pelagian authorship
of a third.
INTRODUCTION 85
Old Testament history occupies all of the first book and half
of the second. He thought it would be unfitting to reduce to
a summary the narrative contained in the Gospels and the
Acts; hence, he omits it. 17 In the remainder of his work
Sulpicius traces the history of the persecutions and other
events in Church history down to the first consulship of
Stilicho (A.D. 400 ). 18 Sulpicius's handling of a contemporary
event, the affair of the heretical Priscillian, is a valuable
source-document and furnishes his history with a stark and
shocking ending. 19 One section of this narrative reveals Martin
as playing an important role; this is translated below as an
Appendix to the Dialogues. In the latter half of his second
book Sulpicius draws his material from a variety of sources.
In one instance St. Paulinus supplies him with the facts-
those relating to the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena. 20
The letter from Nola containing this material was written in
402 or 403. It was after this date, then, that the Chronicles
of Sulpicius were finished and published. To call the Chron-
icles, as Bardenhewer does, 21 the 'pearl' among the surviving
writings may well involve an injustice to Sulpicius's works on
St. Martin. Still, it is in the Chronicles that the author's style
is, in many respects, seen at its best, a result in' large measure
of his sedulous study of Sallust and Tacitus and, to a less
degree, of Livy and Velleius Paterculus. (Sulpicius's knowl-
edge of the pagan classics was extensive, as his Martinian
writings also show.) The stylistic merits of the Chronicles
doubtless commended the book to many of the well-schooled
17 Chron. 2.27.3. For the Chronicles the title Sacred History is also fre-
quently used. , . .
18 Chron. 2.9.7 and 27.5 (cf. 33.1) show at least that Sulpicius was using
Stilicho's consulship as a terminus for chronological reference.
19 The passage in question is Chron. 2.46-51.
20 Chron. 2.53ff. Cf. Paulinus, Epist. 31. . .
21 O. Bardenhewer, Gesch. d. altkirchl. Literatur 3 (Freiburg im Breisgau
1923) 422.
86 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
contemporaries of its author, but its refinements were lost
on the less literate reading public of the period following the
barbarian invasions. Traces of its existence in the Middle
Ages are few, and only one manuscript (of the tenth or
eleventh century) has survived to modern times.
The writings which remain to be mentioned are precisely
those which comprise the new translation into English here
furnished: the Life of St. Martin, three Letters, and the
Dialogues. In this group of works, representing three different
literary forms, it was the author's chief intention to relate
the life and miracles of St. Martin of Tours, a task which he
accomplished c to the advantage of many/ as Gennadius justly
observed. Sulpicius might have organized all of his material
in one single Vita, but he chose to do otherwise. After the
publication of the Life proper, various situations arose which
led him to add to the material he had presented there, and
these circumstances produced the biography in the five (or
six) parts which we know.
How and why Sulpicius came to write the Life is best read
in the author's own words in Chapters 1 and 25. While the
work was probably, in large part, composed during Martin's
lifetime, the text as we now have it presupposes the bishop's
death. Certain phrases in Chapter 1 and the whole tone of
the characterization of Martin found in Chapters 26 and 27
are incompatible with any other assumption than that Martin
was no longer living. Doubtless, these sections were added
when the author, after Martin's death, agreed to the publica-
tion of the work reluctantly, if the prefatory letter to Desi-
derius is to be taken at face value. That a copy soon found
its way to Nola and was joyfully received there is shown by
the eleventh letter of Paulinus.
Sulpicius's second and third Letters are probably next in
order of composition, both occasioned by Martin's death;
INTRODUCTION 87
they may well have been published along with the Life. The
second is addressed to a certain Aurelius, deacon then but
later a priest, and probably a disciple of St. Martin. It was
written, Sulpicius says elsewhere, 22 from Toulouse, that is, in
all likelihood, Eluso. It contains express mention of the Life. 23
The third makes a clear reference to the second, 24 and is
addressed to Bassula, the mother of Sulpicius's deceased
wife. Where Bassula was when her son-in-law composed the
letter is not clear perhaps still at Treves, where an unauthor-
ized copy of the letter to Aurelius reached her. In the letter
to Bassula the playful raillery against his mother-in-law (it
is with traditionally typical mother-in-law conduct he charges
her) is abruptly followed by one of the most eloquent pas-
sages in all hagiographical literature, the moving description
of Martin's last days, his death and burial. The prayer of
the dying Martin and especially his expression of willing-
ness to continue with his earthly work if God so willed, his
Non recuso laborem has often been repeated by other
saints. 25 The first Letter of Sulpicius seems to be latest in date,
for it states that the Life of St. Martin was already being
widely read. 26 The priest Eusebius addressed here by Sul-
picius had become a bishop when the Dialogues were com-
posed.
The most sizeable additions to Martin's biography as con-
tained in the Life are found in the Dialogues. Are we to speak
22 Epist. 3 (cf. below, p. 00) .
23 Cf. below, p. 00.
24 Cf. below, p. 00.
25 The future Benedict XIV, op. cit. (above, n. 12) III.xxxviii.18, refers
to a similar expression used by St. Thomas de Villanova. St. Francis de
Sales on his deathbed was asked to use St. Martin's prayer, but declined,
declaring that he was a 'useless servant, useless, useless.' When St. Jean
Marie Vianney was eager to abandon his exhausting apostolic work for
a life of cloistered retirement, his disciples used the example of St. Mar-
tin's non recuso laborem to dissuade him.
26 Cf. below, p. 00.
88 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
of the Dialogues as two or as three? Nearly all the manu-
scripts and printed editions show a three-fold division and it
is this that is preserved in the present translation. Yet, a
division into two reported by Gennadius is probably the
original arrangement. The actual two-fold grouping found
in a few of the manuscripts 27 has a very natural basis and may
well represent Sulpicius's intentions. The conversations related
in the Dialogues occupy two days, and this division is such
that the transactions of the first day are contained in the first
Dialogue, those of the following day in the second. There is
basis, however, for a further division, and this is found in
the subject matter of the work.
The dominant figure in the early part of the Dialogue is
Sulpicius's friend Postumianus, who is just back from a trip to
Egypt and Palestine and who relates his experiences and the
wonders he saw and heard of there. But, while quite willing
to tell these wonder-stories of the East to Sulpicius and Gal-
l us a disciple of Martin who is with them Postumianus is
eager to hear more about St. Martin than Sulpicius had
included in his 'little book,' a work that had admittedly left
much unsaid. It falls to Gallus to relate further stories about
Martin, and his report occupies the second half of the first
day and all of the second. It is precisely at the point where
his narrative begins that the second part in the more-current
three-fold division of the Dialogues opens, the third part being
identical with the second Dialogue of the apparently original
grouping.
Whatever may be true as to how the Dialogues came to
show two systems of internal division, they seem to date, if
27 Notably V, D, 5; cf. below, Select Bibliography.
INTRODUCTION 89
considered as a single work, from about 404. 2S They are
manifestly a supplement to the Life, and both that work and
the Letter to Eusebius are mentioned in them. 29 Sulpicius's
use of the dialogue-form as a vehicle for biography is striking
and altogether effective. The similar procedure followed in
the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great is almost certainly
based on Sulpicius's example. Just as Sulpicius foresaw, the
conversational exchanges which are interspersed between
the stretches of narrative enliven the book and allow scope
for the author's salty Gallic wit. Precisely for this reason the
Dialogues have been called one of the earliest instances of
the idiosyncrasy of French prose, although the words are
Latin.' 30
For any readers of Sulpicius's biography who, knowing how
to use it best, are content to follow the narrative simply for
the pleasure and edification it can supply, it is idle to en-
quire into the trustworthiness of Sulpicius as an historian or
his accuracy in such a matter as chronology. Since these may
be important considerations for others, however, a word on
both points may not be out of place.
A tendency among some of the author's contemporaries to
doubt the truth of Martin's miracles and to make a low
estimation of his merits is noted by Sulpicius himself. 31 This
28 Postumianus's three-year journey (Dial, 1.1) took him early to Egypt,
where he seems to have arrived shortly after Theophilus's expulsion
of the Origenistic monks in August 401 (cf. Dial. 1.6 n.l) . This places
the dramatic date of the Dialogues, if not that of their composition,
in about 404. Cf. Dial. 2.14 n. 3 for a supporting argument.
29 Dial. 2.9.
30 Helen Waddell, Beasts and Saints (London 1934) xiv. The first two
stories in Miss Waddell's collection are an admirable translation from
Sulp., Dial. 1.13,14.
31 Cf. esp. Life 27, Epist. 1 (opening) , Dial. 3.5,6. For Sulpicius's sensi-
tivity to a charge of falsification, cf. Life 1 (end) , Dial. 1.26, Dial. 2.13,
Dial. 3.2. The regular naming of witnesses in Dial. 3 is noteworthy
(cf. Dial. 3.5) .
90 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
skepticism, which, perhaps, has never been wholly absent
among critical readers, gained its fullest expression early in
the present century, in an important book by Ernest-Charles
Babut, Saint Martin de Tours (Paris 1912). Babut's thesis,
in part, is briefly this: Martin, far from being the influential
figure painted by Sulpicius, was constantly thwarted by hos-
tility on the part of the clergy and his fellow bishops and
ended by falling into almost general disfavor. A number of
outbursts of indignation voiced by Sulpicius against unnamed
enemies especially, it seems, among the higher clergy are
advanced in proof of this. 32 Contemporary literature of Gaul,
moreover, ignores Martin, and the universal renown that he
was later to enjoy was due to one single fact the literary
excellence and extraordinary popularity of Sulpicius's bio-
graphy. This biography, or, rather f vie merveilleuse** is in
large measure a work of fiction and represents heavy and
substantial borrowings from a variety of sources, oral and
written, notably the Life of St. Anthony by St. Athanasius
as translated into Latin shortly before by Evagrius. 34
There is no place here for a lengthy discussion of Babut's
provocative thesis. He was killed flighting in Belgium in 1916,
and, for a time, opponents of his conclusions (and of some
of his methods) were reluctant to offer a rebuttal. After a
while, this hesitancy was overcome, and careful replies to
Babut's arguments were made by two scholars who had a
special right to be heard: Camille Jullian, 35 then the leading
32 In addition to some of the passages listed in the foregoing note, cf.
Life 9,26; Dial 1,2,26; Dial. 3.11, 13, 15, 16, 18.
33 Babut 89. On Martin's reputation as based on this 'vie merveilleuse,'
cf. Babut 21: [la] 'gloire [de saint Martin] est d'origine litte'raire; elle
est sortie des petits livres ae Sulpice SeVereY
34 PG 26.837ff. The translation was made some time after 362.
35 In a series of articles in Revue des e'tudes anciennes; see Select
Bibliography.
INTRODUCTION ^1
Gallo-Romanist of France, and Hippolyte Delehaye, S.J., 36 a
scholar of the deepest integrity and unsurpassed in the study
of hagiography. Few have spoken since then in Babut's sup-
port, 37 and it would appear that the general judgment of
scholars has pronounced his position untenable, even if high
praise is due him for his masterly assembly of evidence.
One feature of the Martiniana of Sulpicius which tends to
lower their value as an historical document is the weakness of
his chronology of the life of Martin and especially of Martin's
early years. This weakness is all the. more striking when we
consider the exactness in the matter of dates which his Chron-
icles generally exhibit. The chronological data supplied by
Sulpicius in the Life and Dialogues at least in the text as
we have it are not only inconsistent among themselves, but
do not fully agree with those given by Gregory, Bishop of
Tours, who had at his disposal the official records of the see
that had also been Martin's. Various attempts to solve the
problems of Martinian chronology have been made, none
wholly successful. Since the resolutions proposed by Pere
Delehaye in his answer to Babut are the most convincing, it
may be useful to record here his principal results : 38
November 11, 397 Martin's burial; the fundamental date
in the entire chronology, known from
the traditions of the Church at Tours
July 4, 3 7 1 ( or 3 70 ) His consecration as bishop
385 His presence at the court of Treves
Ca. 315 His birth.
36 In Analecta Bollandiana 38 (1920) 5-136.
37 The present writer knows only M. Bloch, in Revue d'histoire et de
literature religieuses, N. S. 7 (1921) 44-57.
38 Anal. Boll, 38.31 (cf. 19-33) . Attention is called in the notes to the
present translation to certain passages in Sulpicius of special interest
for the chronology.
92 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
The last date follows from the statement in Did. 2.7 that
Martin was already a septuaginarian when he was present at
the court of Maximus, and must of necessity be approximate,
since the description 'septuaginarian 3 is itself not precise. If
315 be the date of Martin's birth, the following additional
dates can be reached from statements made in Chapters 2-4
of the Life :
325 The beginning of Martin's catechumenate
330 His conscription
334 His entrance on active military service
337 His baptism
339 His withdrawal from the army.
While, as we have seen, everything tends to show that the
Chronicles of Sulpicius were not widely read until post-
Renaissance times, the case is altogether different with his
writings on St. Martin. Even if we take with some reservation
the account of their popularity given by Sulpicius himself, 39
there is abundant external evidence, beginning from the end
of the fourth century and continuing throughout the Middle
Ages, to establish the wide dissemination and manifold influ-
ence that Sulpicius's biography of St. Martin enjoyed. 40 Only
a few points can be touched on here. Without doubt, St.
Paulinus of Nola and such well-traveled friends of his as St.
Niceta of Remesiana promoted the circulation of copies of
the Life and its sequels. 41 An early reader and imitator was
Paulinus of Milan, who, about 399, at St. Augustine's re-
39 Epist. 1 (p. 141) ; Dial 1.23. These passages refer only to the Life (and
to the Letters, if they formed an attachment to it) . Dial, 3.17 shows
that Sulpicius is hopeful that the Dialogues will enjoy an equally
wide circulation.
40 For an admirable assembly of a great deal of the evidence, cf. Lecoy
de la Marche 557ff.
41 Cf. Dial. 1.23 and 3.17, n. 2.
INTRODUCTION 93
quest, wrote a life of St. Ambrose, and names Sulpicius's
Life of St. Martin as a model. 42 Similar is the case of a letter
on the death of St. Paulinus of Nola, written by a disciple of
the saint, the priest Uranius. 43 As we have seen, St. Jerome, in
Bethlehem, had occasion to read the Dialogues; they reached
him prior to 414. 44 Just before the middle of the fifth century,
we find that Sozomen, writing in Greek, probably at Constan-
tinople, gives an important place to St. Martin in his Ecclesi-
astical History and summarizes the early chapters of Sul-
picius's Life.* 5 Shortly afterwards, in Gaul, Paulinus of
Perigueux paraphrased Sulpicius's Martiniana in six books of
hexameters, 46 and a similar work was produced about a cen-
tury later by a better poet, Venantius Fortunatus. 47 This
writer's verse-setting of Sulpicius was prompted by Bishop
Gregory of Tours, who himself greatly extended the report of
St. Martin's miracles in his History of the Franks and espe-
cially in his four books On the Miracles of St. Martin; 49
evidence of his close familiarity with the writings of Sul-
picius is found throughout. Gregory makes the interesting
statement that the Life of St. Martin was publicly read in
42 Latin text in PL 14.27ff., and also in Catholic University of America
Patristic Studies 16 (Washington 1928) , by Sister M. Simplicia Ka-
niecka, who adds an English translation and commentary.
43 Latin text in PL 53.859ff.
44 Cf. below, n. 58.
45 Hist. eccL 3.14 (PG 67.1081) ; English translation by C. D. Hartranft
in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Ntcene Fathers, Second
Series 2 (New York 1890) 294.
46 Latin text in PL 61.1009ff.; CSEL 16.17ff. Cf. the works of Huber and
Chase cited in the Select Bibliography.
47 Latin text in PL 88.363ff.; Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores
antiquissimi 4.1.293ff.; also Chase, op. cit.
48 Latin text in PL 71; Mon. Germ. Hist., Scriptores rerum merovingi-
carum, Parts 1 (Hist. Franc.) and 2.584ff. (De virt. sancti Martini) .
For the History of the Franks (cf. below, Letter to Bassula, n. 15),
there is the excellent translation (with notes) by O. M. Dal ton
(Oxford 1927) .
94 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
church at celebrations of his feast. 49 The official cult of St.
Martin, established earlier at Tours, dates at Rome from the
pontificate of Pope Symmachus (498-514 ) 50 and early Sac-
ramentaries from various centers contain propers for St.
Martin's feasts (November 11 and July 4). Liturgical require-
ments no doubt produced a heavy demand for copies of Sul-
picius's writings on St. Martin (or at least of parts of them)
and were responsible in no small measure for the multiplica-
tion of manuscripts. Among the still uncounted hundreds of
manuscripts of Sulpicius that are to be found in European
and American libraries, the oldest is a venerable book of the
Verona Chapter Library, written in 5 1 7 by a certain Ursicinus,
lector of that city. 51
The various uses to which Sulpicius's Martiniana were
put in the first two centuries after their composition continue
without break during the entire mediaeval period and after.
The use of the Life as a model for biography, secular as well
as ecclesiastical., is even more frequent. When, as often, we
find a mediaeval biography beginning abruptly with the word
Igitur ('therefore 5 'then'), it is fair to guess that its prototype,
immediate or remote, is Sulpicius's Life of St. Martin. The
Igitur is used in slavish imitation of the opening of the second
chapter of Sulpicius. 52 His work is a source of much of the
49 De virL sancti Martini 2.29,49.
50 Cf. Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster, The Sacramentary (Liber Sacramen*
torum) 5 (London 1930) 266.
51 For a facsimile, description, and bibliography, see E. A. Lowe, Codices
Latini antiquiores 4 (Oxford 1947) no. 494. For an interesting fifteenth-
century manuscript of American ownership and used by G. Da Prato
(below, n. 63) for his edition of 1741, cf. the present writer's Saiban-
tianus. Facsimile pages from a number of fine copies written in the
very foundations at Tours which St. Martin had planted (cf. below,
Life 10, n. 3) may be found in E. K. Rand, A Survey of the Manu-
scripts of Tours (text and volume of plates, Cambridge, Mass. 1929) ;
cf. his Index, p. 230, s. v. 'Martinellus.'
52 Cf. Babut 8, n. 1.
INTRODUCTION 95
homiletic literature produced in honor of St. Martin; notable
examples are sermons by St. Peter Damiani, 53 St. Bernard of
Clairvaux, 54 and St. Lawrence Giustiniani. 55 The chapter on
St. Martin in the Golden Legend of Jacobus da Voragine is
taken largely from Sulpicius. Renaissance scholars often found
his writings to their taste. Petrarch was proud to own a copy
of the Life of St. Martin, and Coluccio Salutati of Florence
had the Martinian writings of Sulpicius and Gregory of Tours
copied in a magnificent volume which later belonged to
Cosimo de' Medici and to the Dominicans of San Marco. 57
Sulpicius's Martiniana were first printed (Milan ca. 1479)
in the Sanctuarium of Boninus Mombritius. There are several
other incunable editions and a neat pocket-size Aldine printing
of 1501. The subsquent bibliography is very extensive.
In one matter the Dialogues ran afoul of censure. In the
final chapter of the second Dialogue is a report of St. Martin's
teaching about the coming end of the world. Various features
of his doctrine, as Sulpicius reports Gallus stating it, were
unacceptable to St. Jerome. His condemnation of the passage
is found in the Commentary on Ezechiel and it is here that
he makes the mention of Sulpicius, already referred to. St.
Jerome's condemnation seems not to have been without effect,
for in the manuscripts we frequently find the offending passage
53 Latin text in PL 144.8I5fF.
54 Latin text in PL 183.489ff.
55 Sermo 33. San Lorenzo, Patriarch of Venice (d. 1455) ; feast day,
September 5.
56 Cr. his Epistulae de rebus senilibus 8.6, as quoted by P. de Nolhac,
Petrarque et Vhumanisme (Paris 1907) 2-211, who adds that Petrarch
had a very special admiration for Sulpicius (that is, for the Martinian
writings he does not appear to have known the Chronicles) .
57 The manuscript is now m the Biblioteca Nazionale of Florence (Conv.
soppr. LVL18) ; cf. the present writer's Da Prato 38, n. 3.
58 Comm. in Ezech. 11.36 (PL 25.339)-. The composition of the Com-
mentary fell between the years 410 and 414 (or 415) .
96 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
omitted. 59 Nor was St. Jerome alone in taking exception. A
portion of a decree traditionally ascribed to Pope Gelasius I
(492-496) is, in some sense, the first 'Index of Prohibited
Books.' 60 The writings there listed are to be 'avoided by
Catholics/ and include Opuscula Postumiani et Galli apocry-
pha surely, the Dialogues of Sulpicius, even if Postumianus
and Gallus are apparently named as authors rather than as
speakers in a conversation recorded by Sulpicius. Gennadius's
statement that Sulpicius was won over in his old age to the
Pelagian heresy may have caused the listing of his Dialogues
in the 'Gelasian Decree/ but it is still more likely that St.
Jerome's criticism prompted their inclusion. It is universally
agreed, however, that Pope Gelasius is not the author of the
decree that bears his name; who composed that portion of it
that contains the list of 'Books Not to be Received 5 is un-
certain, as is also, in consequence, the precise juridical force
of the list at the time of its issue. What is clear is that, both
before the date of the list and since, the Dialogues, like the
other works of Sulpicius on St. Martin, have been consistently
read by responsible Catholics and have provided teachers of
Catholic morality, among them Pope Benedict XIV (1740-
1758), 61 with more than one outstanding example of Chris-
tian perfection.
The present translation is based primarily on the text
59 Cf. Babut SOlff. and Chase 60. Cf. the frequent omission (or displace-
ment) of a section in Dial 3 (cf. Dial 3.15 n. 1) .
60 Latin text in PL 59 (col. 163B for the relevant entry; cf. col. 161C and
162A) ; or in the edition of E, von Dobschutz, in A. Harnack et al
(eds.), Texte und Untersuchungen . . ., 38, 4 (Leipzig 1912) llf.
(cf. 312) . Cf. H. Denzinger-J. B. Umberg, Enchiridion symbolorum . . .
ed. 21-23, Freiburg im Breisgau 1937) nos. 162-166 (esp. no. 166);
at p. 79, n. 1 the statement that the section of the decree dealing with
'Books Not to be Received' is, as it were (quasi) , the first 'Index/
61 Op. cit. (above, n. 12) , lll.xli.14, III.xli.16, IV.i.xxix,8, etc.
INTRODUCTION 97
edited by Halm (1866) in the first volume of the Corpus
scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Halm's text has been
generally pronounced as far from definitive and a number of
scholars have proposed improvements. Among these sugges-
tions, the translator has attempted to consider all that would
substantially affect the essential meaning of the text, whether
the proposed reading be a conjecture or a neglected manu-
script variant. Indication has been made in the notes where-
ever the translation rests on a reading other than that adopted
by Halm. Like other students of Sulpicius's text, the translator
is especially indebted to the doctoral dissertation (Lund 1940)
of Per Hylten, Studien zu Sulpicius Severus. Hylten has turned
to good use the complete index verborum which he prepared
as a basis for his studies and which it is to be hoped he will
publish, and his examination of the clausulae of Sulpicius
has furnished scholarship with a helpful criterion for dis-
tinguishing among variant readings.
The most recent published English translation of Sulpicius
made directly from the Latin is that of Roberts in the Nicene
and Post-Nicene Fathers.* 2 Aside from being very conscien-
tiously done, it has the merit of including with the writings
on St. Martin both the Chronicles and the seven doubtful
letters. The present translator has frequently consulted, and
with profit, the German rendering of P. Pius Bihlmeyer,
O.S.B., and the especially skillful French rendering of Paul
Monceaux.
The notes owe not a little to those of P. Bihlmeyer, but
most to the all but inexhaustible commentary of the Oratorian,
Girolamo Da Prato, 63 an eighteenth-century scholar of Verona,
62 The English translation of Mary Caroline Watt (London 1928) is
based on the French of Paul Monceaux and is bowdlerized.
63 On Da Prato's manuscripts and editorial procedure, see the present
writer's Da Prato (p. 60f. for notes on Da Prato's life, to which add
Saibantianus 231, n. 3) .
98 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
whose work on Sulpicius Severus, taken in all its parts, has
never been surpassed.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Editions of the Latin Text:
Sulpicii Severi libri qui supersunt recensuit . . . Carolus Halm (CSEL
1, Vienna 1866) .
Sulpicii Severi opera . , . studio et labore Hieronymi de Prato (2
vols. Verona 1741, 1754) . Generally cited below as 'Da Prato,
ed. Sulp.' Da Prato's edition, less nearly all of its valuable appa-
ratus, was reprinted in A. Gallandus, BibL vet. patrum (Venice
1772) 8.392JF. and passed thence into PL 20.79ff.
A. Lavertujon, La Chronique de Sulpice Severe (2 vols., Paris 1-896,
1899) . An elaborately annotated edition of the Chronicles only.
Translations:
Die Schriften des Sulpicius Severus uber den heiligen Martmus . . .
iibersetzt von P. Pius Bihlmeyer, O.S.B.; in Bibliothek der
Kirchenvdter 20 (Kempten and Munich n. d.) .
Saint Martin. Recits de Sulpice Severe ?nis en francais avec une intro-
duction par Paul Monceaux (Paris 1927) . For an English trans-
lation made from the French of Monceaux, see above, Intro-
duction n. 62.
A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series
II (New York 1894) 1-122; an English translation of all the writ-
ings of Sulpicius Severus by Alexander Roberts.
Manuscript's (mentioned in the notes to this translation) :
r-Verona, Chapter Library, MS. XXXVIII (36) ; of the year 517.
jD Dublin, Trinity College, MS. 52 (Liber Ardmachanus) ; of ca. 807.
Type facsimile in J. Gwynn, The Book of Armagh (Dublin
1913) ; pp. cclxvii-cclxxv contain valuable discussion of the text
by Babut.
B Codex Brixianus of Da Prato; identified by Peebles (Da Prato
39ff.) with Brescia, Civic Library, MS. *A.VII.13 (of the 15th
cent.) .
Studies relating primarily to the text:
A. H. Chase, 'The metrical lives of St. Martin of Tours . . .,' Harvard
Studies in Classical Philology 43 (1932) 51-76.
J. Fiirtner, Textkritische Bemerkungen zu Sulpicius Severus (Pro-
gramm, Landshut 1884/1885) .
INTRODUCTION 99
A. Huber, Die poetische Bearbeitung der Vita S. Martini des Sul-
picius Severus durch Paulinus von Perigueux (Programm, Kemp-
ten 1901) .
P. Hylten, Studien zu Sulpicius Severus (Diss., Lund 1940) .
B. M. Peebles, 'Girolamo Da Prato and his manuscripts of Sulpicius
Severus/ Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 13
(1936) 7-65.
'Da Prato's Saibantianus of Sulpicius Severus and its human-
istic connections.' Classical and Mediaeval Studies in Honor of
E. K. Rand, ed. L. W. Jones (New York 1938) 231-244.
J. Zellerer, Palaeographicae et criticae de Sulpicio Severo Aquitano
commentationes (Diss., Munich 1912) .
Other Works:
E.-Ch. Babut, Saint Martin de Tours (Paris n. d.) ; first issued as, a
series of articles in the Revue d'histoire et de litterature
religieuses, N. S. 1 (1910) 3 (1912) . See also above under
Manuscripts: D.
J.-M. Besse, Les m.oines de I'ancienne France (Archives de la France
monastique 2) (Paris 1906) .
M. Bloch, 'Saint Martin a propos d'une polemique/ Revue d'histoire
et de litterature religieuses, N. S. 7 (1921) 44-57.
F. Cabrol-H. Leclercq, Dictionnaire d'arche'ologie chretienne et de
nturgie (Paris 1924-) . (DACL.)
R. P. Coleman-Norton, 'The use of dialogue in the Vitae Sanctorum/
Journal of Theological Studies 27 (1925-1926) 388-395.
Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum (Vienna 1866) .
(CSEL.)
L. H. Cottineau, O.S.B., Repertoire topo-bibliographique des abbayes
et prieurds (2 vols., Macon 1935, 1937) .
H. Delehaye, S. J., 'Saint Martin et Sulpice Severe,' Analecta Bollan-
diana 38 (1920) 5-136.
L. Duchesne, Pastes episcopaux de I'ancienne Gaule (3 voh., Paris:
1 [2nd ed. 1907], 2 [2nd ed. 1910], 3[1915]).
E. S. Duckett, Latin Writers of the Fifth Century (New York 1930) .
Pierre Fabre, Essai sur la chronologie de I'oeuvre de saint Paulin de
Nole (Paris 1948) . Available too late to be used.
T. R. Glover, Life and Letters in the Fifth Century (Cambridge 1901;
New York 1924) 278-303.
K. P. Harrington, 'The place of Sulpicius in miracle literature/
Classical Journal 15 (1919-20) 465-474.
C. Jullian, Histoire de la Gaule (8 vols., Paris 1908-1926) .
, 'Remarques critiques sur les sources de la vie et I'oeuvre
de Saint Martin/ Revue des etudes anciennes 24 (1922) 37-47,
123-128, 229-235, 303-312; 25 (1923) 49-55, 139-143, 234-250.
100 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
P, de Labriolle, Histoire de la litterature latine chrdtienne (2nd
ed., Paris 1924) 508-516; (3rd ed. [revised and enlarged by G.
Bardy], Paris 1947) 566-574. There is an English translation
by Herbert Wilson (New York 1925) .
A. Lecoy de la Marche, Saint Martin (3rd ed., Tours n. d.) .
A, Longnon, Gdographie de la Gaule au Vleme siecle (Paris 1878) .
J. P. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus: Series Graeca (161 vols.,
Paris 1857-1886) . (PG.)
, Series Latina (221 vols., Paris 1844-1864). (PL.)
A. Pauly G. Wissowa W. Kroll, Real-Encyclopadie der classischen
Altertumswissenschaft (Stuttgart 1894) . (PWK.)
E. M. Pickman, The Mind of Latin Christendom (New York 1937) .
E. K. Rand, 'St. Martin of Tours,' Bulletin of the John Rylands
Library 11 (1927) 101-109.
Revue des etudes anciennes (Bordeaux 1899 ) . (REA.)
A. Vacant E. Mangenot, Dictionnaire de theologie catholiaue (Paris
190S-). (DTC.)
LIFE OF SAINT MARTIN,
BISHOP AND CONFESSOR 1
Severus to his beloved brother Desiderius 2
T THE little b k I wrote on the ^ fe of St - Martin >
I had decided for my part, brother of my soul, to
confine it to the paper it was written on and not let it
go beyond the walls of my own house. Since I am of a very
weak disposition, I wanted to avoid the judgments of men. I
was afraid that readers would probably not like the somewhat
unpolished style of the book, and that everyone would find me
gravely at fault for having had the impudence to usurp a
subject which should be reserved for eloquent writers. But
I was unable to refuse your insistent requests. (For what
expenditure is there which I would not make for love of you,
even if it meant a loss to my modesty?) However, I have
released the book to you, trusting in my belief that you will
reveal it to no one, as you promised. Even so, I am afraid
you may prove a door of escape for the book, which, once
sent forth, could never be recalled. 3 If this should happen and
you should see it being read by anyone, I beg you kindly to
ask its readers to weigh its matter rather than its words, and
to be patient if its faulty diction jar, perhaps, upon their ears.
1 For the date and other circumstances of composition, see above, p. 86.
2 Not surely identifiable. Probably the addressee of St. Jerome's 47th
letter (PL 22.492; CSEL 54.345) and of the 43rd letter of St. Paulinus
of Nola (PL 61.382; CSEL 29.363) . See Seeck in PWK 9.250.
3 The Latin (emissus semel revocari non queat} is reminiscent of
Horace, Satires 1,18,71: et semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum.
101
102 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
It is not upon eloquence that the kingdom of God depends,
but upon faith, 4 And let them also remember that the gospel
of salvation was preached to the world, not by orators
though, surely, if this had been profitable, the Lord could
have managed this as well but by fishermen. 6 Because I
thought it wrong that the virtues of so great a man should lie
hidden, I determined, when first I put my mind to writing, 6
not to be ashamed of offenses against rules of grammar. I
had never attained to any great knowledge of these matters;
whatever smattering I might have once acquired from their
study I had totally lost through long disuse. Nevertheless, so
that we may be spared so irksome an excuse, suppress the
name of the writer, if you are agreeable to this, and let
the book be released. To do this, erase the title at the front,
so that the page, its voice muted, may speak of its subject
ma tter that is enough while being silent as to its author. 7
Chapter 1
Many people, 1 vainly dedicated to study and worldly re-
nown, have sought to perpetuate the memory of their names
4- Cf. 1 Cor. 4.20.
5 Cf. Paulinus, Epist. 5,6. (PL 61.170; CSEL 29.28f.) : piscatorum prae-
dicationes Tullianis omnibus et tuis litteris praetulisti. The letter is
addressed to Sulpicius.
6 The Latin closely imitates the opening line of the prologue of
Terence's Andria: Poeta quom primum animum ad scribendum
adpulit.
7 The beginning of this sentence is quoted by Remigius of Auxerre, In
artem Donati minorem commentum 1 (p. 1 Fox) . See also C. Weyman,
Beitrdge zur Geschichte der christlicn-lateinischen Poesie (Munich
1926) 211 (imitation by Hucbald) .
1 The Latin (Plerique mortales studio et gloriae saeculari inaniter dediti)
closely imitates Sallust, Bellum Catilinae 2.8: multi mortales dediti
ventri atque somno, etc. Various other details in this introduction of
Sulpicius suggest the early chapters of Sallust's essay. For example,
in each an igitur ('therefore') opens the sentence in which the exact
subject to be discussed is named. On Sulpicius as borrower from
Sallust, see Hylt&i 4.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 103
through glorifying by their pens the lives of famous men.
Although, of course, this has not satisfied the hope of immor-
tality they had conceived, it has none the less achieved some
small result. Not only has their own memory been extended
(however uselessly), but, through the presentation of exem-
plary actions of great men, no small degree of emulation has
been aroused in their readers. Nevertheless, these labors of
theirs have had nothing to do with the eternal and happy
life. What profit has come to the authors themselves from the
renown of their writings, destined as it is to perish with this
world? And as for posterity, what gain has it made through
reading of the conflicts of Hector or the disputations of
Socrates? Not only is it folly to imitate these men, it is mad-
ness not to oppose them with all eagerness. Judging human
life only by deeds of the moment, they have consigned their
hopes to fables and their souls to the tomb. They have felt
obligated to a self-perpetuation which looks solely to the
memory of men, when, actually, it is a man's duty to seek
eternal life rather than an abiding place in that memory,
and this not through writing or fighting or philosophizing,
but through living a pious, holy, and God-fearing life. This
faulty human reasoning, transmitted in writings, has gained
such power that there are now many men completely emulous
of an empty philosophy or of that foolish ideal of valor.
Consequently, I thought it would be worth while 2 if I
wrote down the life of a very holy man, to serve in turn as an
example to others. In this way, readers will be spurred on to
true wisdom, to the heavenly warfaring, and to Godlike vir-
tue. In this I am also taking account of my own advantage; 3
2 The Latin (facturus rnihi operae pretium videor) reflects the begin-
ning of Livy's History: Facturusne operae pretium sim, etc.
3 Sulpicius may have had in mind a phrase of Cicero's: non ullius ratio-
nem sui commodi ducit (Pro Roscio Amerino 44.128) .
104 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
yet it is not a place in the vain memory of men that I ex-
pect, but an eternal reward from God. Even though my own
life has not been such as to permit it to be an example to
others, I have taken pains to see that one who is worthy of
imitation should not remain in obscurity.
It is, then, the life of St. Martin that I shall begin to write,
both what preceded his episcopate and what happened dur-
ing it, though I surely shall not be able to embrace all the
particulars of his career. Indeed, as to those events of which
he himself was the sole witness, we are completely in ignor-
ance. Looking for no praise from men, he would have wished
to conceal all his miracles, 4 insofar as he could. Even so,
among those acts of which I have learned, I have bmitted
many, thinking it sufficient if only the outstanding ones should
be noted. Consideration for my readers required me at the
same time to see to it that an excessive mass of material
should not weary them. I beg those who will read this to give
their trust to what has been written, and to believe that I have
set down nothing without full knowledge and proof. Rather
than tell falsehoods, I should have preferred to be silent.
Chapter 2
To begin, Martin was a native of Sabaria, 1 a town of the
Pannonians, but was reared in Italy, in Ticinum. 2 His par-
ents were not of lowly rank according to worldly standards,
4 Lat. virtutes, a word constantly used by Sulpicius to mean miracles.
The singular, virtus, sometimes designates the saint's miracle-working
power.
1 Probably the Savaria of the Roman inscriptions, a city in Upper
Pannonia raised to the status of a Roman colony by the Emperor
Claudius; generally identified today with Szombathely (German:
Steinamanger) in western Hungary. For another identification (Szent
Marten near the Benedictine abbey of Martinsberg) and a discussion
of the problem, see Lecoy de la Marche 66ff.; Babut 172 n. 4.
2 The present-day Pavia in Italy (prov. Pavia) .
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 105
but were pagans. His father was first a simple soldier and
afterwards military tribune. Martin himself, entering the
military service in his youth, served in the cavalry of the
imperial guard 3 under Emperor Constantius, 4 and subse-
quently under Emperor Julian. 5 Yet, this was not of his own
accord, for, from almost his first years, he aspired rather to
the service of God, his saintly childhood foreshadowing the
nobility of his youth. When he was ten years old, against the
wish of his parents, he took refuge in a church and demanded
to be made a catechumen. With a complete and remarkable
dedication to the work of God, 6 he longed, at the age of twelve,
for the desert, and would indeed have satisfied his wish if the
weakness of his years had not stood in the way. With his
spirit, none the less, ever drawn toward monasteries or the
Church, he even then in boyhood was reflecting upon what
later his devotion was to fulfill. But, when an imperial
edict was issued, requiring sons of veterans to be enrolled for
military service, he was handed over by his father, who was
hostile toward his spiritual actions. Martin was fifteen years
old when, arrested and in chains, he was subjected to the
military oath. He satisfied himself with the service of a single
slave. Yet, by a reversal of roles, it was the master who was
the servant. This went so far that Martin generally took off
the other's boots, and cleaned them himself. They would
3 Lat. inter scolares alas: elite palace troops with no fixed garrison and
available to the emperor for special assignments. See art. "Scolae
palatinae' in PWK, 2te Reihe 3.621-624; C. Jullian, in REA 12 (1910)
267-270 (a discussion of Martin's military service) and also his Histoire
7.256 n. 1.
4 Constantius II, Emperor 337-361.
5 Julian the Apostate, Emperor 361-363. Ch. 4, below, recounts a meet-
ing between Martin and Julian.
6 An early appearance of the phrase opus Dei ('God's work') , which
here, as also elsewhere in Sulpicius, must mean the whole duty of a
Christian; cf. below, Ch. 26. The special meaning ('divine office') found
often in the Rule of St. Benedict (e.g., Ch. 7) is a natural development.
106 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
take their meals together, Martin, however, usually doing the
serving.
He was three years under arms before his baptism, yet
free from those vices in which such men are commonly in-
volved. His kindness toward his fellow soldiers was great,
his charity remarkable, and his patience and humility sur-
passed human measure. There is no need to praise his tem-
perance; it was Such that even then he was considered not a
soldier, but a monk. These traits served so to attach his
fellows to him that their remarkable affection for him
amounted to veneration. None the less he had not yet been
reborn in Christ, but was serving a sort of candidacy for bap-
tism through his good works : assisting the sick, bringing help
to the wretched, feeding the needy, clothing the naked, re-
serving nothing from his army pay beyond his daily sustenance.
With no thought for the morrow, 7 he even then was not
listening with deaf ears to the words of the Gospel. 8
Chapter 3
One day, at the gate of the city of Amiens, 1 Martin met
a poor man who was naked. Martin's clothing was reduced
to his armor and his simple military cloak. It was the middle
7 Cf. Matt. 6.34.
8 The Latin phrase, evangelii non surdus auditor, also occurs in the pre-
viously cited letter of Paulinus to Sulpicius (Epist. 5.6: PL 61.170;
CSEL 29.28) . Each of these writers has been declared the borrower;
see C. Weyman, in Rheinisches Museum 53 (1898) 317; E.-Ch.
Babut, in Annales du Midi 20 (1908) 26. Possibly, both authors were
using a current expression (Delehaye 57) . Independent derivation
from Rom. 2.13 and James 1.22, suggested by Bihlmeyer (22 n. 3),
seems unlikely.
1 In the .sixth century, the site was marked by an oratory (Gregory o
Tours, De virt. S. Mart. 1.17) and was subsequently not forgotten; see
Longnon, Geographic 419.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 107
of a winter which had been more severe than usual, and,
indeed, many had perished from the extreme cold. Those who
had passed that way had been begged by the pitiable pauper
to have compassion on him, but all had gone by. Martin,
however, filled with God's grace, saw that it was for him,
when others had denied their mercy, that the suppliant was
being reserved. Yet, what should he do? He had nothing ex-
cept the cloak he was wearing; he had already devoted the
rest of his clothing to similar purposes. Then, drawing the
sword which he was wearing, he cut the cloak in two; 2 one
part he gave to the pauper; in the other he again dressed him-
self. Meanwhile, some of the bystanders began to laugh, for
it was an inelegant figure Martin cut, dressed in half a gar-
ment. Yet, many, of saner mind, sighed deeply. When they,
who had more to give, might have clothed the pauper with-
out making themselves naked, they had done nothing of the
sort.
When night had come and he was deep in sleep, Martin
beheld Christ, clothed in that part of his own cloak with
which he had covered the pauper. He was bidden to look
attentively upon the Lord and to recognize the garment
he had given. And soon, to the throng of angels standing
about, he heard Jesus saying in a clear voice: 'Martin, still
a catechumen, has covered me with this cloak. 5 The Lord,
in declaring that it was He who had been clothed in the person
of the pauper, was truly mindful of His own words uttered
2 Certainly, the sword and perhaps the cloak were long after believed
to have survived as relics. In 1425, a distinguished jurist of Verona,
Maggio Maggi, testified that he had seen and touched the sword (sec
my arts. Da Prato 19-22, 59 and Saibantianus 263ff.) . It is well known
that in France, in the early middle ages, a garment (cappa) , claimed
as St. Martin's, was preserved in the royal treasury (see Ledercq in
DACL 3.1.381-890), but it is uncertain whether the cappa was taken
to be (part of?) the garment here in question or that which is fea-
tured in Dial. 2.1> below.
108 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
long ago: 'As long as you did it to one of these my least, you
did it to me.' s Further, to strengthen the evidence of such a
good deed, He deigned to show Himself in the very garment
the pauper had received.
The blessed man was not puffed up with human pride
because of this vision. Rather, recognizing God's goodness in
his own act, he was baptized without delay. (He was then
eighteen, 4 ) But he did not immediately renounce military
service, won over by the prayers of his tribune, whom
Martin accompanied on terms of intimate friendship. This
officer promised that he would renounce the world upon the
completion of the term of his tribunate. Held in suspense by
this expectation, Martin, for about two years after his bap-
tism, remained a soldier, though only in name.
Chapter 4
In the meantime, the barbarians were invading the Gallic
provinces. Assembling an army at the city of the Vangiones, 1
Emperor Julian prepared to distribute a bonus 2 to his troops.
The men were called up in the customary manner, one by
one, until Martin's turn came. He recognized that moment as
a suitable time to ask for his discharge, and he did not think
it would be honest for him to accept the bonus when he did
not intend to fight. 'I have fought for you up to this point/ he
3 Matt. 25.40. J .
4 Excellent MSS. (V, D) fix Martin's age at twenty-two, instead. This
passage contributes to the confusion which surrounds the chronology of
St. Martin's life. See above, pp. 91-92.
1 Worms. Jullian dates the episode in 356: REA 12 (1910) 264; Histoir*
7.256 n. 2. In one solution of the chronological problem presented by
Martin's career (see above, p. 92) the event here narrated is dated
much earlier, in the reign of Constans (337-350) . See Delehaye 25f.
2 Lat. donativum.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 109
said to Caesar. 'Now let me fight for God. As for your bonus,
let someone who is going to join the battle receive it. I am
a soldier of Christ: combat is not permitted me.' 3 Confronted
with this speech, the tyrant fumed and said it was fear of the
battle which was to occur the next day that was causing him
to refuse participation, not any religious motive. Martin undis-
mayed, was made all the bolder by the attempt to intimidate
him. 'If my act is set down to cowardice rather than to faith/
he said, 'I shall stand unarmed tomorrow before our lines. In
the name of the Lord Jesus and protected only by the sign of
the cross, without shield or helmet, I shall penetrate the
enemy's ranks and not be afraid.' The order was given that he
should be put under guard: he was to make good his promise
to be exposed, unarmed, to the barbarians.
The next day, the enemy sent an embassy to sue for peace,
handing over themselves and all that was theirs. From this
can anyone doubt that the victory was due to the blessed
man a grace granted to prevent his being sent unarmed
into combat? True, the Lord, in His goodness, could have
preserved His soldier even among swords and spears. Yet,
to prevent the gaze of the saint from being outraged even by
the death of others, He removed the need of the battle. This
was exactly the kind of victory Christ ought to have granted
for His soldier's sake a capitulation of the enemy in which
no one died and no blood was shed.
Chapter 5
Upon leaving military service, Martin sought out St. Hilary,
the bishop of the city of Poitiers, a man conspicuous at that
3 Apparently, Martin wished to avoid having to shed human blood.
His legal and moral position in this case has been the subject of ex-
tended discussion: see Leclercq in DACL 1L1150-1152; E. Vacandard,
Etudes de critique et d'histoire religieuses, 2me Se"rie (Paris 1910)
164, 253.263.
110 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
time in the things of God and renowned for his steadfast
faith. 1 While Martin remained with him for a while, Hilary
attempted to impose the office of deacon upon him, and thus
join him more closely to himself and win him to the divine
ministry. But Martin insisted upon his unworthiness and re-
peatedly resisted. Then the bishop, a man of deep insight,
realized that the one way to compel him was to impose upon
him an office which would seem to involve some measure of
humiliation. Accordingly, he bade him be an exorcist. This
grade Martin did not refuse, lest he seem to despise it as too
humble for himself. 2
Not long after that, he was advised in his sleep to go to his
native land and in a spirit of religious zeal to visit his parents,
who were still pagans. He set out with the consent of St.
Hilary, but obligated by the bishop's repeated and tearful
urging to return. The report is that he was sad as he began
that pilgrimage. He called the brothers to witness that he
would experience many adversities a prediction borne out
by subsequent events.
First of all, following a by-road in crossing the Alps, he
fell among highwaymen. One of them had his axe poised for
a blow upon Martin's head, when another checked the
assassin's hand. None the less, his arms tied behind his back,
Martin was turned over to one of the highwaymen, who was
to guard and strip him. He led Martin to a retired spot and
began asking him who he was. Martin replied he was a
Christian. The other then asked him whether he was afraid,
1 Martin's meeting with St. Hilary (Bishop of Poitiers, ca. 350-367)
occurred before the latter was banished to Phrygia by order of Con-
stantius (356) ; see Jullian in REA 12 (1910) 270-272. Hilary's return
(below, Ch. 6) took place in 360 or 361.
2 As members of the lower clergy, exorcists are known at Rome from the
third century on. The hierarchy of the minor orders (as finally fixed
in the West) is as follows, beginning from the lowest: porter, lector,
exorcist, acolyte. A lector appears in Ch. 9, below.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 111
to which Martin with great firmness declared he had never
been so safe, knowing that the Lord's mercy would be found
especially in moments of trial; the grief he felt was rather for
his captor, who, in practising brigandage, was unworthy of
the mercy of Christ. Then, through an explanation of the
Gospel, he began preaching the word of God to the highway-
man. To make the story short, the highwayman believed. He
went with Martin and put him again on his road, begging
that he pray to the Lord for him. Later, this same man led a
God-fearing life. In fact, what I have just related is told as
heard from his own mouth.
Chapter 6
When Martin, continuing his journey, had gone past Milan,
the Devil, in human form, met him on the way and asked him
where he was going. When he had received from Martin the
answer that he was going to where the Lord was calling him,
the Devil said to him: 'Wherever you go or whatever you
attempt, the Devil will oppose you.' Then Martin answered,
in the words of the Prophet : 'The Lord is my helper : I will
not fear what man can do unto me.' 1 And instantly, the
enemy vanished from his sight.
To continue, he delivered his mother from the error of
paganism, fulfilling the hope his heart and mind had con-
ceived. Though his father persevered in unbelief, Martin
brought salvation to many through his example.
At this time, the Arian heresy was gaining strength through-
out the whole world, but especially in Illyria. 2 Against the
errors of the bishops, Martin was almost alone in making
1 Ps. 117.6.
2 Of high importance in the history of Arianism in this period arc
synods held in the (secular) 'Diocese' of Illyricum: at Sardica (343)
and at Sirmium (five: 347-359) .
112 SULPIGIUS SEVERUS
determined opposition; in return, he was subjected to many
punishments: he was publicly scourged with rods and finally
compelled to abandon the city. 3 He proceeded again to Italy.
He found that St. Hilary had been forced into exile by the
violence of the heretics and that, at his departure, the Church
in the Gallic provinces also was in great trouble. Consequently,
he established for himself a monastery in Milan. Here also,
Auxentius, 4 leader and chief of the Arians, bitterly persecuted
him, and, after inflicting many injuries, drove him from the
city. And so, Martin decided he should yield to the circum-
stances. He retired to an island named Gallinaria, 5 accom-
panied by a priest, a man of very great virtues. Here he lived
for a while on the roots of herbs. It was during this time that
he ate some hellebore, a plant generally considered poisonous.
But, when he felt the power of the poison working within him
and death near at hand, he repulsed the imminent peril
through prayer, and at once all the pain left him.
Not long afterwards, he learned that the emperor's change
of heart had permitted St. Hilary to return. 6 Martin sought to
meet him at Rome and set out for the city.
Chapter 7
Since Hilary had already gone ahead, Martin followed
after. He was welcomed by the bishop most graciously. Not
far from the town he set up a monastery for himself. 1 It was
3 Presumably, Martin's native Sabaria.
4 Arian bishop of Milan 355-374, for two decades the mainstay of
Arianisni in the West. t .
5 A rocky island off the Ligurian coast, nearly opposite the city of Albenga
(prov. Savona) . Named for the fowl (gallinae rusticae) which inhab-
ited it (Varro, De re rustica 3.9.17; Columella, Ve re rustka 8.2) .
6 See above, Ch. 5 n. 1.
1 The later Monasterium Locogiacum; now Liguge", near Poitiers; bibli-
ography in Cottineau, Repertoire 1613.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 113
at this time that there joined him a catechumen eager to be
instructed by the discipline of so holy a man. A few days
later, the catechumen was seized with faintness and fell sick
with a violent fever. Martin happened to be away at the time
and after three days' absence returned to find a lifeless body.
Death had come so suddenly that the catechumen had expired
without being baptized. The body had been laid out and the
sorrowing brothers were busily performing their sad duties
upon it, when Martin came running up, weeping and lament-
ing. Then his whole mind was suffused with the Holy Spirit.
He told all the others to leave the cell in which the body lay.
He barred the door and stretched himself upon the lifeless body
of the dead brother. 2 For some time he gave himself to prayer
and perceived through the Spirit that the virtue of the Lord
was present. Lifting himself up somewhat and with his gaze
fixed upon the face of the dead man, he awaited with con-
fidence the outcome of his own prayers and of the mercy of
the Lord. Hardly two hours had elapsed before he saw all the
limbs of the dead man move little by little and his eyes quiver
as they opened, once more to see. Then, turning to the Lord
with a loud voice and giving thanks, Martin filled the whole
cell with his cry of joy. On hearing this, those who had been
standing outside the door at once rushed in. Wonderful spec-
tacle: they saw alive one whom they had abandoned as dead. 3
The catechumen, restored to life, at once received bap-
tism and lived for many years afterwards : he, indeed, was the
first to furnish us proof or tangible evidence of Martin's
miracles. The same man used to tell what happened to him
when he was stripped of his body. He had been led to
the Judge's tribunal and had received a sentence that destined
2 Martin's action here and in the similar case described in the next chap-
ter recalls those of Elias and Eliseus in 3 Kings 17.21, 4 Kings 4.34.
3 Sulpicius records two other cases in which Martin raised the dead;
see the following chapter and Dial. 2.4.
114 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
him with the vulgar crowd to regions of darkness. Then,
word was brought to the Judge by two angels that this was
the man for whom Martin was praying. Consequently, the
two angels were ordered to have him led back, restored to
Martin, and re-established in his former life. From this time
on, the reputation of the blessed Martin rose in brilliance.
Already held to be a saint, he was now regarded as powerful
in wonders and truly apostolic. 4
Chapter 8
Not long afterwards, while Martin was going across the
property of a certain Lupicinus, 1 a man of distinguished
worldly position, the grief -stricken cries of a throng of mourn-
ers caught his ear. Martin was concerned at this, and ap-
proached. Asking what the mourning was, he was told one
of the household, a young slave, had taken his own life by
hanging. On learning this, Martin entered the cell where the
body lay. He cleared the room of the thronging spectators
and, stretching himself upon the body, prayed for a while.
Soon, life began to return to the features of the dead man, as
his still languid eyes were lifted to look into the face of
Martin. 2 Forcing himself slowly to rise and grasping the hand
of the blessed man, he stood up. Then, accompanied by
Martin as the whole crowd looked on, he walked to the
vestibule of the house.
4 The same impressive claim is made in the Chronica 2.50 (see below,
p. 253) and in Epist. I and 2 (below, p. 142 and 149) ; cf. Dial. 2.5; also
above, Introduction, p. 82 n. 12.
1 Possibly identical with a Lupicinus who was consul in 367 (PWK
26.1844) , but see Da Prato, ed. Sulp,, 1.333f.
2 'Still languid eyes': I have used the reading marcentibus oculis. On
the doubtful text, see Hylt&i 132.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 115
Chapter 9
At about this time, Martin was sought as bishop for the
church in Tours. Since he could not easily be attracted away
from his monastery, one of the men of Tours, a certain
Rusticius, 1 pretending that his wife was ill, threw himself
at Martin's knees and thus prevailed on him to set out.
Groups of citizens had already been placed at intervals along
the route, so that it was under something resembling a guard
that he was brought to the city. An incredibly large number
of people not only from Tours but from nearby localities
had assembled to voice their vote. 2 Among them all there
was one single will, one prayer, one judgment: Martin was
the most worthy to be bishop; the church would be fortunate
which had such as he for its head. Yet, there were a few men
among them some of the bishops who had been called
together to ordain the future prelate who set up an un-
scrupulous opposition. He was a contemptible person, they
said; a man so unpresentable in his appearance, shabbily
dressed, with unkempt hair, was unworthy of the episco-
pate. This stupid opposition was laughed down, how-
ever, by the general public, whose judgment was saner. The
attempts to revile the illustrious man only served to extol him.
And the only course that lay open to them was to do what
the populace, inspired by the Lord's will, thought best.
Now, among the bishops who were present, a certain De-
fensor 3 is said to have been most bitter in his opposition. It
was this fact which brought people to notice how he was
1 The name is uncertain. The MSS. show also Rusticus, Ruritius, Rurictus.
2 The role of laymen in the election of bishops was at that time large;
see Leclercq in DACL 4.2618ff.
3 Bishop of Angers. Cf. Duchesne, Pastes dpiscnpaux 2.356.
116 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
infamously branded by a reading from the Prophets. 4 It
happened that the lector whose turn it was to recite the lesson
that day had been blocked by the congregation and was not
at his place. The ministers were thrown into confusion. While
the absent lector was awaited, one of the bystanders seized
the psalter and pounced upon the first verse he found. And
the psalm was this: 5 'Out of the mouth of infants and of
sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies,
that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the defender' [de-
fensorem]. At this reading the congregation lifted up its
voice; the party of the opposition was confounded, It was
held that the Divine Will had caused that psalm to be read,
so that a judgment upon his work might be heard by Defensor :
when the praise of the Lord had been perfected in the per-
son of Martin, it was he who, out of the mouth of infants
and of sucklings, had been both denounced as the enemy
and destroyed.
Chapter 10
It is not within our power to describe the quality and gran-
deur of Martin's life, once he had assumed the office of
bishop. 1 What he had been before, he firmly continued to be.
4 Evidence that in the rite followed at Tours at this time there was a
lesson from the Old Testament in addition to the two lessons drawn
from the New.
5 Ps. 8.3. The text quoted varies from the Vulgate chiefly in the* last
word, the key of Sulpicius's story. Here we find defensorem instead of
ultorem ('avenger') or vindicator em. St. Augustine, Enarrationes in
psalmos 102.14 (PL 37.1328) , reports defensorem as the reading of
certain psalters and in fact uses the word in his Enarratio of Ps. 8 (6;
PL 36.111) . Defensorem is the reading of the Psalterium Romanum (PL
29.130) and the word is found in two quotations made by Paulinus
of Nola from Ps. 8.3: Epist. 23.27 and 24.22 (PL 61.275, 299; CSEL
29. 184, 222) .
1 As to the date of Martin's ordination as bishop, while there is no
reason to question July 4 as the day of the month (Gregory of Tours,
Hist. Franc. 2.14) , the year is uncertain: 371 or 370 according to Dele-
haye (p. 31) , 372 according to Duchesne (Pastes episcopaux 2.302) .
LIFE OJF ST. MARTIN 117
There was the same humility in his heart, the same poverty
in his dress. Lacking nothing in authority and grace, he ful-
filled the dignity of a bishop, yet did not abandon the vir-
tuous resolve of a monk. So, for a while he used a cell at-
tached to the church. Then, unable to bear up under the
distraction caused by throngs of visitors, he set up for himself
a monastery some two miles outside the city. 2
This location was so sheltered and remote that it could have
been a desert solitude. On one side it was hedged in by the
sheer rock of a high mountain; on the other the plain was
closed in by a little bend of the River Loire. Approach was
possible by a single path, and that a very narrow one. Martin
himself occupied a cell built of wood. While many of the
brothers had similar shelters, the majority fashioned lodgings
for themselves carved out of the rock of the overhanging
mountain. The disciples numbered about eighty, all forming
themselves after the model of their blessed master. No one
there had anything as his own; all property was brought
together for common holding. It was illicit to buy or to sell
anything (as is the practice of many monks). No art was
practised there except that of the copyist, 3 and to this work
only the more youthful were assigned; the elders had their
time free for prayer. Rarely was anyone found outside his own
cell, except when they came together at the place of prayer.
All had meals in common and after the hour of fasting. All
abstained from wine, except when compelled by illness. The
majority were dressed in camel's hair; the use of any softer
2 The later Maius monasterium, Marmoutier, across the Loire from the
old city of Tours, bibliography in Cottineau, Repertoire 1762ff. A
visit to the site furnishes even today an instructive commentary on the
present chapter.
3 An early start for the fine tradition of book-copying maintained at
Tours. The importance of this provision of the rule followed at
Marmoutier was duly noted by Ludwig Traube, Vorlesungen und Ab-
handlungen 2 (Munich 1911) 127.
118 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
clothing was held a, serious offense. This must be regarded
as all the more remarkable, in that many of the monks
were thought to be nobles who, after a far different up-
bringing, had constrained themselves to such practices of
humility and patience. A number of them we later saw as
bishops-. 4 And what city or what church would not have
wished for itself a bishop from Martin's monastery?
Chapter 11
Now I come to treat of other miracles of his, those
he performed while bishop. Not far from the town and very
close to the monastery was a place 1 which enjoyed a certain
sanctity because of the mistaken opinion that martyrs were
buried there. Even an altar was maintained, erected there
by former bishops. But Martin was disinclined to believe
what was uncertain. He kept asking those who were older,
priests and clerics alike, to reveal the name of the martyr and
the date of his martyrdom. He felt, he said, considerable
scruple in the matter, since nothing certain had been handed
down by any reliable report from his predecessors. He him-
self abstained from visiting the place for a while: he neither
disparaged the cult, since his own position was uncertain, nor
granted the populace the support of his authority, lest he
fortify a superstition. One day, taking a few of the brothers
4 On the disciples of St. Martin, see Lecoy de la Marche 35 Iff. Dom
J.-M. Besse, Benedictine of Liguge\ has an excellent chapter on St.
Martin's monks in his Les moines de I'ancienne France 1-33.
1 The place in question a village called Calitonnum is named in the
relevant section of a group of chapter-headings for Sulpicius's Life of
St. Martin found in a number of MSS. of which the earliest date from
the eighth and ninth centuries. The locality is probably identical with
a vicus of nearly identical spelling named by Gregory of Tours, Hist.
Franc. 10.31, for which see Longnon, Geographic 267 f.; Lecoy de la
Marche 207 n. 5. The exemplary value of Martin's action in the
episode described in this chapter is noted by an anonymous Bollandist
in Analecta Bollandiana 20 (1901') 340.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 119
with him, he went to the place. He stood upon the tomb
itself and prayed to the Lord to reveal who was buried there
and what his merits were. He then turned to the left and saw
standing near him a grim, unclean spirit. He ordered him
to speak out his name and his deserts. The spirit announced
his name and confessed his criminal life : formerly a brigand,
he had been executed for his crimes and was receiving vener-
ation through the mistaken opinion of the populace; he had
nothing in common with the martyrs heavenly glory was
their portion; punishment, his. Strange wonder: those who
were with Martin heard the voice, yet saw no one. Martin
then recounted what he had seen and ordered the altar which
had been in that place to be removed. Thus he freed the
people from the error of that superstition.
Chapter 12
Somewhat later, while he was making a journey, it
chanced that he met the funeral procession of a pagan. While
the body was being carried to the tomb with superstitious
rites, he saw the attendant throng approaching from a dis-
tance. Not knowing what it was, he halted for a while. The
'distance between was some five hundred paces, so that it
was hard to distinguish what he saw. Still, because it was a
band of peasants, and cloths laid over the body were flap-
ping in the breeze, he concluded that pagan rites of sacrifice
were being celebrated. (For it was a custom of the Gauls of
the countryside to cover images of demons with white cloths
and carry them around their fields amid frenzied lamenta-
tion.) Martin then raised his hand and made the^sign of the
cross in the direction of the oncoming peasants, ordering
them to stand firm and to lay down their load. Then you
could have seen a wonderful thing: the wretched folk first
120 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
stiffen as into stone, then, bending all their efforts to advance
but unable to move, whirl about in place, executing ridicu-
lous pirouettes, Overcome in the end, they laid down the
body they were carrying. They were amazed and, looking at
one another in silence, wondered what could have happened
to them. The blessed man, however, on learning that the
company were concerned with a funeral, not with sacrifices,
raised his hand once more and thus gave them power to
advance and carry off the body. We see then that, when he
wished, he compelled them to halt, and, when it pleased him,
he permitted them to go on their way.
Chapter 13
At another time, Martin had destroyed a very ancient
temple in a certain village. And when he attempted^ to cut
down a pine tree which was near the shrine, the priest 1 of
the place and the rest of the band of pagans began to op-
pose him. These same men, who, by the will of the Lord,
were quiet during the demolition of the temple, could not
endure the cutting down of the tree. Martin's urging was
diligent: there was no religious value in a tree trunk; rather,
let them follow the God whose servant he was; the tree was
dedicated to a demon and so deserved to be cut down. Then,
one of the crowd, bolder than others, said: 'If you have any
faith in this God of yours whom you say you worship, we
ourselves will cut down the tree, provided you stand under
and receive the fall. If your Lord is with you, as you say,
you will escape.' Martin, steadfastly trusting in the Lord,
promised he would do so. And to this arrangement that entire
company of pagans agreed: they were resigned to the loss
1 Halm's reading of the singular antistes has been retained, but see Hylte*n
134, who supports the plural.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 121
of their tree, if only through its fall they could destroy the
enemy of their rites.
Since the tree leaned to one side, so that there was no doubt
in what direction it would crash when cut, Martin was bound
and placed at a point chosen by the peasants and where no
one doubted the tree would fall. They themselves then began
hewing down their own pine tree with joy and gladness. At
a distance stood a crowd of wondering bystanders. Now, little
by little, the pine began swaying and threatening ruin by
its fall. From their distant stand the monks grew pale, and,
as the peril came nearer, in their terror they lost all hope and
faith, expecting nothing other than the death of Martin. But,
he waited with steadfast confidence in the Lord. The pine
cracked as it finally was cut through. It now began to fall,
it now began to crash upon him, when he finally raised his
hand and made the sign of salvation in its direction. The
tree and you would have likened its backward action to a
tornado crashed in just the opposite direction, so that it all
but overwhelmed the peasants who, as they thought, had taken
places of safety. The pagans, stupified by the miracle, raised
a great shout to heaven, while the monks wept for joy; all
joined in exalting the name of Christ. It is generally agreed
that salvation came to that region on that day. There was
almost no one, out of the vast number of pagans who in-
habited it, who failed to receive the long-awaited laying-on
of hands 2 and, abandoning the error of impiety, to believe
in the Lord Jesus. Yet in fact, before Martin came, very
few in those parts, or, rather, almost none, had received the
name of Christ. Through Martin's miracles and example, the
faith gained such strength that you can now find no place
without its many monasteries or much-frequented churches.
2 Whereby they became catechumens; cf. Dial. 2.4. end.
122 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
For it was Martin's custom, wherever he destroyed pagan
shrines, to replace them with churches or monasteries. 3
Chapter 14
At about this same time, he performed a similar, but no
less impressive, miracle. In a certain village he had set fire
to a very ancient and celebrated shrine. Globes of flame, driven
by the wind, were being carried to a dwelling which was
near by, or, rather, attached. When Martin perceived this,
he ran quickly, scaled the roof of the house, and set him-
self in the path of the oncoming flames. Then, in a com-
pletely marvelous way, you could have seen the fire turn
back upon itself, in direct opposition to the driving force of
the wind; there seemed to be a conflict among the very ele-
ments as they strove against one another. Through Martin's
miraculous power the force of the fire operated only where
it was bid.
In a village named Leprosum 1 there was a temple which
superstitious devotion had erected in great splendor. When,
as before, Martin wished to overturn it, he was resisted by a
crowd of pagans. Indeed, he was repulsed, and not without
injury. He withdrew to a place near by and, covering him-
self with sackcloth and ashes, applied himself for three days
to fasting and prayer. Because human hands had not suc-
ceeded in overturning the temple, he prayed the Lord to
3 A chapter (7) of nearly a hundred pages in Lecoy de la Marche is
devoted to churches dedicated to St. Martin; see also his Appendix 2.
While a number of these foundations doubtless date from the bishop's
own vigorous apostolate, the warning of Delehaye (p. 115) against
an exaggerated use of such evidence is in order.
1 Leprosum (spelling doubtful) may be the present-day Levroux, situ-
ated between CMteauroux and Valencay (dep. Indre) (Lecoy de la
Marche 277) , but the identification is questioned by Babut 208 n. 1.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 123
use divine power to destroy it. Suddenly, two angels appeared
before him, armed, in the manner of the heavenly host, with
spears and shields. They had been sent by the Lord, they
said, to put the peasant throng to rout and to lend aid to
Martin, so that there would be no resistance while the temple
was being destroyed; he was to go back and devoutly achieve
the work he had begun. So, he returned to the village and,
with the pagan crowds quietly looking on, demolished the
profane edifice to its foundations, reducing all its altars and
images to dust. The peasants, seeing this, realized that it
was the Divine Will that had brought stupor and fear upon
them, to prevent them from opposing the bishop. Nearly all
believed in the Lord Jesus, making an open confession as
they cried aloud that Martin's God* should be worshipped and
that their idols, unable to help themselves, 2 should be aban-
doned.
Chapter 15
I shall now relate what happened in the country of the
Aedui. 1 Here, also, when Martin was beginning to overturn
a temple, a frenzied crowd of pagan peasants rushed upon
him. As one of their number, bolder than the others, was
making for him with a drawn sword, Martin threw off his
mantle and extended his bared neck to the blow. The pagan
showed no hesitation about striking, but, in raising his arm
somewhat too high, he fell over backwards. Thrown into
consternation by divinely inspired fear, he begged for mercy.
The following incident was similar. As Martin was destroy-
2 The reading commonly followed before Da Prato's edition, sibi adesse
non possent, has been restored. Apparently supported by Babut 229
and Delehaye 55, it has the almost universal support of the MSS., and
Da Prato's conjecture, adopted by Halm, was based on a misreading
of the old Verona MS. (V) , which shows nee sibi adesse non posset.
I The chief city of the region was Augustudunum, the present Autun.
124 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
ing some idols, someone tried to strike him with a knife.
While the man was in the very act of delivering the blow,
the weapon flew out of his hands and disappeared.
Often, however, when the peasants opposed his efforts to
destroy their shrines, Martin's saintly preaching so softened
the hearts of the pagans that the light of truth was revealed
to them and they themselves overturned their temples.
Chapter 16
In the matter of healing, Martin had such a power of
grace within him that hardly anyone who was sick approached
him without at once recovering health. A clear example will
be found in the following incident. 1
At Treves, a girl lay ill in the grip of a fearful paralysis.
For a long time she could make no use of her body for the
needs of human life. Already dead in all her members, her
body breathed feebly and barely pulsed with life. Her kin
were standing by, awaiting only her funeral, when suddenly
the news was brought that Martin had come to that city.
When the girl's father learned this, he ran breathlessly to
beseech him on behalf of his daughter. As it happened, Martin
had already entered the church. There, under the eyes of the
people and in the presence of many other bishops, the old
man, waiting, embraced his knees and said: 'My daughter is
dying from a terrible kind of sickness. Her condition is more
cruel than death itself: it is only through breathing that she
lives; in her flesh she is already dead. I beg you to come to
her and bless her, for I have faith that she can be restored
to health through you. 5 These words confused and astonished
Martin, and he drew back, saying that the grace required for
1 What appears to be another version of the miracle which follows is
found in Dial. 3.2; see n. 4 there.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 125
such an act was not his. The old man's judgment had misled
him, he said; he was unworthy to be an agent for the mani-
festation of the Lord's power. The father persisted, weeping
more bitterly and praying him to visit the lifeless girl. Finally,
the bishops who stood about compelled him to go, and he
went down to the girl's house. A great crowd was waiting
before the door to see what the servant of God would do.
Using the means which were familiar to him in situations
of this kind, he first prostrated himself upon the floor and
prayed. Then he looked at the sick girl and asked that some
oil be given him. He blessed the potent and sanctified fluid
and poured it into the girl's mouth. At once, her voice was
restored to her. Then, at his touch, her members one by one
began gradually to regain life, until, with the people there
to witness it, strength returned to her limbs and she arose.
Chapter 17
In the same period, a slave of a certain proconsul, Taetra-
dius, 1 had been possessed by a demon and was suffering ter-
rible torture. Martin, asked to lay his hand upon him, ordered
that the man be brought to him. The evil spirit, however,
could in no way be brought out of the little room where he
was; against those who came near he raged and bared his
teeth. Then, Taetradius threw himself at the knees of the
blessed man and begged him to go down to the house where
the possessed man was. At this, Martin said that he could
not come to the house of a profane and pagan person (for
Taetradius was at that time still entangled in the error of
paganism). So, Taetradius promised to become a Christian
1 Da Prato (ed. Sulp. 1.340) suggests possible identification of this
Taetradius with the addressee of a poem of Ausonius (18.11) or with
a person of the same name addressed in Sidonius, Epist. 3.10 and also
named by the same author in Carrn. 24.81.
126 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
if the demon should be driven out of the boy. Martin then
laid his hand upon the boy and expelled the unclean spirit.
When Taetradius saw this, he believed in the Lord Jesus.
He was made a catechumen at once and not long afterwards
was baptized. Since it was to Martin that he attributed his
salvation, he always showed him a wonderful affection.
In the same town and at about the same time, Martin, on
entering the dwelling of a certain householder, halted at the
very threshold, saying that he saw a horrible demon in the
vestibule of the house. When Martin ordered him to depart,
he took possession of the householder's cook, 2 who stayed in
the inner part of the house. The wretched man madly began
to bite and to lacerate whoever confronted him. The house-
hold was alarmed, the slaves thrown into confusion, the
people reduced to flight. Martin threw himself before the
maniac and, first, ordered him to stand still. When the other
gnashed his teeth and, with mouth agape, threatened to bite
him, Martin thrust his fingers into his mouth. 'If you have
any power/ he said, c bite these.' Then, as if he had taken a
white-hot iron in his throat, the possessed man drew back
his teeth so as to avoid touching the fingers of the blessed
man. The pains and tortures' he was suffering were forcing
the demon to leave the possessed body, yet he could not get
out through the mouth. So, leaving behind a track of filth,
he was expelled in a discharge from the bowels.
Chapter 18
Meanwhile, the city 1 was thrown into confusion by a sud-
2 The well-attested reading cocum patris familiae has been adopted; it
is favored by Zellerer (58f.) and by Chase, in Harvard Studies in
Classical Philology 43 (1932) 69.
1 Probably, Troves.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 127
den rumor that the barbarians were on the move and would
attack. Martin had a possessed man brought to him and
ordered him to declare whether the report was true. The
maniac confessed that he had ten demons with him who had
spread the rumor among the people, hoping that fear of the
attack, if nothing else, would drive Martin from the city;
nothing was farther from the minds of the barbarians than
an invasion. This confession, made by the unclean spirit in
the middle of the church, freed the city from the fear which
was then troubling it.
At Paris, while Martin, accompanied by vast crowds, was
entering a gate of the city, 2 he saw a leper. The others all
were moved to horror by the leper's lamentable appearance,
but Martin kissed him and blessed him. Instantly, he was
completely cleansed, and the next day, his skin glistening
clear, he came to the church and gave thanks for the recovery
of his health. Mention also should be made of the fact that
threads removed from Martin's clothing or hair shirt worked
frequent cures upon the sick. Twisted about the fingers or
placed on the neck, these fibres frequently expelled illness
from diseased bodies.
Chapter 19
Arborius, 1 the former prefect, a pious and God-fearing man,
had a daughter who suffered gravely from the burning heat
of a quartan fever. A letter of Martin's had been brought to
him by chance. This letter, when the fever was again intense,
2 The Porte-Saint-Martin seems to have been named in commemoration
of this episode. The site of the miracle was marked by a chapel in
the sixth century (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. 8.33) .
1 Magnus Arborius of Bordeaux, nephew of the poet Ausonius, in 380
praefectus praetorio at Rome: Seeck in PWK 2.420. Arborius is named
as a witness m Dial. 3.10.
128 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
he placed on the girl's chest; instantly, the fever departed.
The event had such an effect on Arborius that he at once
promised the girl to God and dedicated her to perpetual
virginity. He then went to Martin and presented to him the
girl who had been cured through him, even though he was
absent a visible witness of his miraculous powers. Arborius
would not have it otherwise than that she should receive the
habit of virginity from Martin himself and be consecrated by
him.
Paulinus, 2 a man whose example was destined to be very
powerful, was undergoing severe pain in one of his eyes,
the pupil already covered by a thick film. Martin touched his
eye with a little sponge. The pain passed completely away
and he was restored to his former health.
One day, Martin chanced somehow or other to fall from
an upper story. Tumbling down the rough steps of the stair-
way, he injured himself in several places. He lay nearly life-
less in his cell under the tortures of excessive pain. In the
night he saw an angel wash his wounds and anoint the bruises
on his mangled body with a healing ointment. On the day
following, he had been so restored to health that you would
have thought he had received no harm at all.
But it would be tedious to relate the miracles one by one.
Let these suffice, even though they be few among many. And
we must be satisfied if, in presenting the more outstanding,
we have not detracted from the truth and have at the same
time avoided being tedious by offering too many.
Chapter 20
To such impressive examples we shall now add others of
2 On the distinguished Paulinus (of Nola) , see above, p. 81f; also
below, Ch, 25 and Dial 1.23, 3.17.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 129
less moment although, given the character of our times,
in which there is universal degradation and corruption, it
seems almost an extraordinary thing for the firmness of a
bishop not to sink to adulation of an emperor. To the court
of Emperor Maximus 1 a man of ferocious temper and full
of pride through his victory in the civil wars there had
come together numerous bishops from many parts of the
world. Conspicuous in them all was their disgraceful flattery
of the prince; yielding to a degenerate weakness, episcopal
dignity was subordinated to patronage of the emperor. In
Martin alone apostolic authority remained firm. If it fell to
him to intercede with the emperor on behalf of anyone, he
commanded rather than pleaded. Further, though frequently
invited, he abstained from the imperial table. He said that
he could not share the same board with one who had de-
prived one emperor of his kingdom, another of his life. In
reply, Maximus affirmed he had not taken the empire upon
himself voluntarily; the soldiers, by divine command, had
compelled him to rule and he had simply defended his posi-
tion with armed force. Nor, he continued, did God's favor
seem lacking to one to whom victory had come so absolutely
contrary to expectation. And, finally, none of his opponents
had fallen except on the field of battle. At last, overcome
either by argument or supplication, Martin came to the table
of the emperor, who was overjoyed that he had had his way,
1 Magnus Maximus, a native of Spain. Proclaimed Emperor by troops
in Britain, Maximus crossed over to Gaul and overthrew Gratian
(383) . Theodosius, Gratian's colleague, was forced to allow Maximus
supreme authority in Gaul, Spain, and Britain, provided Valentinian
II ruled Italy and Illyricum. In 387, Maximus drove Valentinian from
Italy. The latter gained the support of Theodosius, who overcame
the forces of Maximus: and, at Aquileia, captured and beheaded
Maximus himself (388). Dial 2.6 and 3.11 supply other glimpses of
Maximus, as also of his pious wife. The latter passage, with Chronica
2.49-51. (cf. below, p. 252), deals with the part played by Maximus
in the trial of Priscillian.
130 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
The guests were summoned as though for a festival. Most
distinguished and illustrious men were among them: Evodius,
who was at once prefect and consul and a man of unexcelled
justice, and two comitef who held positions of the highest
authority, namely, the emperor's brother and his paternal
uncle. Between these two reclined Martin's priest, while Mar-
tin himself sat in a chair placed next to the emperor. At the
customary moment, about the middle of the meal, a servant
presented a cup to the emperor. He ordered that it be given
first to the holy bishop, from whose hand it was his expecta-
tion and aim that he should have it back. But Martin, when
he had drunk, passed the cup to his priest, convinced that
there was no one more worthy to drink immediately after
himself, and that it would not be proper to prefer to a priest
either the emperor himself or those who were next in rank
to the emperor. Martin's act so astonished the emperor and
all who were then present that the very deed by which they
were humiliated won their approval. It was a matter for
enthusiastic praise throughout the palace that^ at a banquet
of the emperor, Martin had done something which none
of the bishops had done even at the tables of the lowest
officials.
To this same Maximus, Martin, long before the event,
predicted what would happen if he should move into Italy,
where he desired to go to wage war against Emperor Valen-
2 Flavins Evodius, praefectus praetorio as well as consul in 386. Cf. Seeck
in PWK 6.1153. 386 should, then, be the year of the banquet here
described, but Martin's relations with Maximus after the execution of
Priscillian (385) were presumably such that he would not have shared
the emperor's board in 386. Quite possibly, as Delehaye suggests (p.
22) , Sulpicius is simply giving Evodius the title of consul prior to
the event. See below, p. 254, for Evodius's connection with the case
of Priscillian.
3 One of these, the emperor's brother, Marcelhnus, was overcome by
Theodosius at Paetovio in 388, prior to Maximus's capture.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 131
tinian. 4 In the first attack he would be victorious, but would
perish shortly thereafter. We have lived to see this occur.
Immediately upon the arrival of Maximus, Valentinian took
to flight, but then, about a year later, assembled fresh forces,
imprisoned Maximus within the walls of Aquileia, and slew
him.
Chapter 21
It is well established that Martin frequently enjoyed the
vision even of angels; not only this, but that they spoke and con-
versed together. 1 The Devil also was plainly visible to the bish-
op's eyes. Sometimes he would confine himself within his
proper substance, at other times transform himself into a
variety of shapes of spiritual wickedness, 2 Whatever form he
took, he was discovered by Martin. Knowing that he could
not escape him, the Devil would frequently taunt him with
insults because he could not deceive him by his wiles.
One day, holding a bloody ox horn in his hand and making
a loud roar, he rushed into Martin's cell. He showed him
his blood-stained hand and boasted of the crime he had just
committed: 'Where, Martin, is your power? I have just
killed one of your men/ Then Martin called the brothers
together and reported what the Devil had announced. He
told them to go hurriedly from cell to cell to find out to whom
this misfortune had occurred. The report was made that none
of the monks was missing, but that a peasant, hired to haul
wood in a cart, had gone into the forest. Martin ordered some
of the monks to go to meet him. The peasant was found,
almost dead, not far from the monastery. As he drew his last
4 Valentinian II, brother of Gratian and Emperor 375-392.
1 On Martin's relations with angels; see Dial 1.25; 2.5,12,13; 3.11,13.
2 Lat. spiritalis nequitiae; cf, Eph. 6.12.
SULPICIUS SEVERUS
breath, he revealed to the brothers the cause of his mortal
wound. After he had yoked his team and was tightening the
loose thongs, one of the oxen had tossed its head and driven
its horn into his groin. Not long afterwards, he died. It is for
you to see why the Lord gave such power to the Devil. What
was remarkable with Martin and the example just related
is but one of many similar instances was that, when any-
thing happened, he would foresee it long before or, learning
of it by revelation, would announce it to the brothers.
Chapter 22
In the course of his attempts to make sport of the holy
man by a thousand devices of harm-doing, 1 the Devil fre-
quently showed himself to Martin under a great diversity of
forms. Sometimes he assumed the mask of Jupiter and often
that of Mercury; 2 often, too, he presented himself transfig-
ured under the features of Venus or Minerva. When confront-
ing him, the ever-fearless Martin would protect himself with
the sign of the cross and the shield of prayer. The insults
with which a crowd of demons would insolently upbraid him
were often heard, but Martin would not be moved by these
taunts, recognizing them all as false and vain.
Some of the brothers would testify that they had heard
the Demon inveighing insolently against Martin. Detailing
the individual crimes of certain of the brothers who, through
a variety of faults, had at one time lost the grace of bap-
tism, he demanded why Martin, upon their conversion, had
received them into the monastery. Martin, standing up to
the Devil, had firmly replied that former faults are washed
1 Lat. mille nocendi artibus, quoted ^mjirgil, ^^^7.338 Paulinas
also cites this line of Virgil: Epist. 4.2 (PL 61.165; CSEL 29.20) .
2 Cf. Dial. 2.13, 3.6; also Acts 14.12.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 133
away by conversion to a better life, and that, through the
Lord's mercy, absolution from sin is to come to those who stop
sinning. The Devil countered by saying that pardon does not
apply to criminals and that, to men who have once lapsed,
the Lord is incapable of granting clemency. Then, they said,
Martin cried out in these words: 'If you yourself, wretched
one, should stop pursuing mankind and, even now, when the
day of judgment is near, should repent of your deeds, my
confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ is such that I would
promise you mercy. 3 What holy presumption on the loving
kindness of the Lord! Even if Martin could not produce an
authority for his promise, it at least showed his generous
charity.
Now that we are talking about the Devil and his cunning,
it seems proper to relate another incident, even if it be un-
connected with our subject. It both belongs to the story of
Martin's wonder-working and, since it was the occasion for
a miracle, deserves to be put on record as an example of some-
thing to avoid, should any such thing ever happen in the
future.
Chapter 23
A certain Clarus 1 a youth of noble birth, later a priest,
and now, after a holy death, blessed gave up everything and
joined Martin. In a short time he rose brilliantly to the per-
fection of faith and all the virtues. Not far from the monastery
gf the bishop, he established for himself a cell, and many
brothers lived with him. There was a young man named
1 Epist. 2 (below, p. 148) records that Clarus died shortly before his
master, Martin. Paulinus has left us inscriptions composed by himself
for the tomb of Clarus at Primuliacum: Epist. 32.6 (PL 61.333f.; CSEL
29.280) ; he elsewhere pairs Martin and Clarus as examples of virtue:
Epist. 23.3, 27.3 (PL 61.258, 308; CSEL 29.160, 240) . Clarus is com*
memorated in the Roman Martyrology (November 8) .
134 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
Anatolius, whose life as a monk was an outright counterfeit of
humility and innocence. He came to Clarus and for a
while lived in common with the others. Then, as time went
on, he kept saying that angels frequently conversed with him.
No one believed his story until Anatolius, by using certain
signs and wonders, compelled many to do so. Finally, things
went so far that he announced that messengers ran to and fro
between himself and God, and at last he wished to have
himself considered as one of the Prophets. Clarus, however,
could not be persuaded, though Anatolius threatened him
with the wrath of the Lord and immediate punishment for
being unwilling to believe a saint. Finally, they say, Anatolius
burst out with these words: 'Behold, this night the Lord will
give me from heaven a white garment and, dressed in it, I
shall move in the midst of you. And this shall be for you a
sign that I, who have been endowed with God's vestments,
am the power of God.' 2 This announcement aroused great
expectation among all. About midnight, there came a noise,
as of men tramping the earth, which seemed to shake the
whole monastery. In the cell in which the young man was you
could have seen a constant flashing of light, while there re-
sounded from it the sound of steps moving here and there
and a kind of murmur of many voices. Then, all was quiet.
Anatolius called one of the brothers 3 to him and displayed
the tunic in which he was dressed. The brother was amazed
at the sight and called the others together. Even Clarus him-
self came running up. A light was brought, and they all care-
fully examined the garment. It was extremely soft, uncom-
monly white, and bordered with glittering purple, yet they
could not distinguish the kind or texture of the material.
However, when carefully examined by the eye or touch, it
2 Reading, with Zellerer (61f.) , me Dei esse virtutem; cf. Acts 8.10.
3 Some of the MSS. here add 'Sabbatius by name.' Cf. Dial. 3.1 n. 8.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 135
seemed nothing other than a garment. Meanwhile, Clarus
admonished the brothers to pray fervently that the Lord should
more clearly reveal to them what it was. The remainder of
the night was given to singing hymns and psalms. When day
broke, Clarus took Anatolius by the hand and wished to
bring him to Martin, certain that no device of the Devil
could deceive the latter. At this, the wretched man began to
resist and protest, declaring that he had been forbidden to
show himself to Martin. When they compelled him to go
against his will, the garment vanished under the very hands
of those who were dragging him. Can there be any doubt?
Here, again, the miraculous power of Martin was such that
the Devil, when his delusion was to be submitted to Martin's
eyes, could no longer disguise or conceal it.
Chapter 24
We should note the fact that there was in Spain at about
this time a young man who had made a name for himself
through many signs and wonders. His pride reached such a
pitch that he gave himself out to be Elias. When many had
rashly come to believe this, he went further and said that he
was Christ. His deception was so successful that a certain
bishop named Rufus 1 adored him as God, a fact which, as
we have seen, later caused his removal from the episcopate.
Again, many of the brothers reported to us that at this time,
in the East, someone boasted that he was John. From the
appearance of pseudo-prophets of this kind we can conjec-
ture that the coming of the Antichrist is imminent, those
1 Da Prato argues well (ed. Sulp. 1.347f.) that the Rufus here in ques-
tion is probably distinct from the Rufus named in Chronica 2.50 (below,
p. 254) . Presumably valueless is an entry in the forged Chronicle of
Dexter recording, under the year 424, the removal from office of a
Spanish bishop. Rufus who for some years had been following a pseudo-
Christ: PL 31.559-560.
136 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
persons serving as advance agents for him of the mystery of
iniquity. 2
A point we should not pass over is the extreme cunning
used by the Devil at about this time in tempting Martin.
One day, as Martin was praying in his cell, he stood by him,
preceded 3 and surrounded by a purple light, since the glitter-
ing of this added brilliance would assist his delusion. He was
clothed in a royal garment and crowned with a diadem of
gold and precious stones; his shoes were gilded, his face
serene, his mien joyous. There was nothing he resembled less
than the Devil. Martin, on first seeing him, was stupefied;
both maintained a deep silence 4 for a long while. Then the
Devil took the lead and said : 'Recognize, Martin, him whom
you see. I am Christ. Descending upon the earth, I wished
to reveal myself first to you.' When, at this, Martin was
silent and made no reply, the Devil made bold to repeat Ws
presumptuous declaration : 'Why, Martin, do you hesitate to
believe, 5 since you see? J am Christ. 5 Then Martin received a
revelation of the Spirit and through it understood that it was
the Devil, not the Lord. 'It was not clad in purple/ he said,
'nor with a glittering diadem that the Lord Jesus foretold that
He would come. Except in that clothing and in that form
which were His when He suffered, and unless the stigmata of
the cross be worn, I shall not believe that Christ has come. 3
At these words, the other instantly vanished like smoke, fill-
ing the cell with such a stench as to leave no doubt that it was
the Devil. This incident, just as I have related it, I learned
from Martin's own mouth. I mention this, lest someone may
think it a fable.
2 Cf 2 Thess. 2.7.
3 For prece (Halm) I read with Zellerer (62) prae se.
4 The text is uncertain (Hylt&i 139) , but the meaning is in little doubt,
For Halm's multum it appears likely that mutum should be read.
5 Halm's reading retained, but see Hylten I39f.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 137
Chapter 25
When I had heard Martin's faith, his career, and miracu-
lous power spoken of for a considerable time, and I was con-
sumed with a longing to know him, I was very glad to
undertake a long journey to go and see him. Further, because
I already had an ardent desire to write his life, I informed
myself by searching out the facts, partly from Martin himself
(insofar as he could be questioned), partly from those who
had shared his experiences with him or knew about them.
One cannot imagine the humility and kindness with which
he received me at that time. He congratulated himself and
greatly rejoiced in the Lord that my esteem of him had been
such that I had undertaken a long journey to seek him out.
Imagine my distress when I almost dare not confess it
he deigned to invite me to his own saintly board, poured water
himself upon my hands and at evening washed my feet I
had not the courage to resist or oppose him. His authority so
overwhelmed me that I thought it a sacrilege not to yield to
him. In his conversation with me he talked only of the need
of abandoning the seductions of the world and the burdens of
this present age so that we might follow the Lord Jesus, free
and unimpeded. As the most outstanding example of these
times he brought forward that of the illustrious Paulinus, who
has been named above. 1 Casting away an incomparable for-
tune and following Christ, he, almost alone in these times,
had carried out the precepts of the Gospel. It was he, he
declared, whom we should follow and whom we should
imitate. Our present age was happy in having had such a
lesson in faith and virtue. Following the Lord's saying, 2 one
who was rich and of many possessions had sold all and had
1 In Ch. 19.
2 Luke 14.33; Matt. 19.21.
138 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
given to the poor. What had seemed impossible to achieve
he had made possible through his example.
And in Martin's words and conversation what seriousness,
what dignity! How penetrating, how forceful he was, how
quick and at ease in resolving questions from the Scriptures!
And because I know that many are incredulous on this point
(since I have noticed that they did not believe when I myself
was telling them about it), I call to witness Jesus and our
common hope of salvation that I have never heard from any
other moiith words so full of wisdom and of so sound and
pure an eloquence. To be sure, in comparison with Martin's
virtues, this is but a small commendation, except that it is
remarkable that not even this merit was lacking in a man
untrained in letters.
Chapter 26
But now, our book demands an ending; our recital must
come to a close. It is not that I have exhausted all that
could be said about Martin. Rather, like unskillful poets
who become negligent at the end of their work, 1 we are
overcome by the mass of our material and leave off. An
attempt to speak of his deeds might or might not be suc-
cessful, but it is otherwise with his interior life, his daily man-
ner of living, the constant direction of his spirit to heaven.
As to these things, I speak the simple truth when I say that
no possible form of speech can ever unfold them. His per-
severance and temperance in fasts and abstinence, his power
in vigils and prayers, nights spent by him as if they were
days, with never a moment withdrawn from the work of
God, 2 no allowance made for leisure or business, nor even for
1 With the Lat. (ut inertes poetae extremo in opere nedegentes) cf.
Cicero, De senectute 2 A: extremum actum tamquam ab inerti poeta
esse neglectum.
2 Cf. above, Ch. 2 n. 6.
LIFE OF ST. MARTIN 139
food or sleep, except insofar as natural necessity compelled
him all this, in very truth, not Homer himself could de-
scribe, even if, as they say, he should rise from the dead. 3
So true it is that with Martin everything is too big for words
to be able to express it.
An hour, a moment never passed without Martin being
absorbed in prayer or busy in reading. Even in the midst of
reading or whatever he happened to be doing, he never re-
laxed his spirit from prayer. Even as blacksmiths, in the
midst of their work, try to find some alleviation of their toil
by constant striking of the anvil, so Martin, even when he
seemed to be doing something else, was always praying. O
truly happy man, in whom there was no guile, 4 who judged
no one, who condemned no one, who returned to no one evil
for evil ! He showed such patience toward all kinds of injury
that, though he was highest in dignity, a bishop, even the
lowest clergy could abuse him with impunity. Yet, he never
on this account removed such men from their posts or, so
far as it rested with him, banished them from his love.
Chapter 27
He was never seen to be angry, never violent, never sor-
rowing, never laughing. Always one and the same, he seemed,
somehow beyond the nature of man, to show a heavenly glad-
ness in his countenance. In his speech, only Christ was ever
to be found; in his heart, only love, peace, and mercy. 1
He would often weep even for the sins of those who had
3 A similar expression is used by St. Jerome, Vita Hilarionis, prol. (PL
23.29) .
4 Cf. John 1.47.
1 Hilary of Aries, Vita Honorati 8.37 (PL 50.1270) , has a similar turn
of phrase. Less striking resemblances between the two authors are listed
by Babut 16 n. 1 (Delehaye 133f.) .
140 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
shown themselves his detractors, who used poisoned tongues
and viper's teeth to slander him in the quiet of his retreat.
Indeed, we have seen at work some who were envious of his
virtue and mode of life, who hated in him what they did not
see in themselves and could not imitate. And it is a horrible
thing, grievous, and lamentable, that there were named as his
persecutors very few though these be almost no others than
bishops. There is no need to mention any by name, even if
most of them will bark out their rage against me. If any of
them read this and recognize themselves, it will be enough
for me if they are ashamed. If they become angry, that in
itself will be an admission that my words concern them, when,
perhaps, I was thinking of others. Yet, I do not shrink from
having any persons of this sort make me, along with such a
man as Martin, the object of their hate.
Of one thing I am reasonably confident, that this little
book will find favor with all who are truly faithful. 2 But if
anyone reads these things with other than the eyes of faith,
the sin will be his own. For myself, I am sure that what led me
to write was belief in the story and love of Christ. I am sure,
also, that I have related attested facts and spoken the truth.
The reward which I hope has been made ready by God will
be won, not by him who has read, but by him who has be-
lieved.
2 Lat. omnibus sanctis: as Bihlmeyer suggests (53 n. I) , it is probable
that monks are especially intended.
THE LETTER TO EUSEBIUS 1
ESTERDAY, a number of monks came to see me. We
had a long conversation and told one story after
another. Mention was made of the little book I
wrote on the life of the blessed man, Martin the bishop. They
said, to my satisfaction, that many people were reading it
with great pleasure. In this connection, I was told of a re-
mark someone had made under the influence of the evil
spirit. Martin, he observed, had resurrected the dead and
driven flames from burning houses. Why, then, was he himself,
some time ago, put in peril of his life through being burned in
afire?
Wretched man, whoever he is! In his words we recognize
the incredulity of the Jews, who, when the Lord hung upon
the cross, flung at Him this rebuke : 'He saved others : himself
he cannot save.' 2 Whoever that man is who now in like
manner blasphemes against a saint of the Lord, he ought to
have been born in those ancient times, so that he could have
used those words against the Lord. 3
1 For the addressee of the letter and the circumstances of its composi-
tion, see above, p. 86f.
2 Matt. 27.42.
3 The text varies in the MSS. I have followed Halm's reading in the
light of HylteVs remarks (p. 76f .) . The Dublin MS. shows a fuller
text which yields the following translation: 'In truth, that man, who-
ever he is, had he been born in those times, would surely have
uttered that speech against the Lord. He who in like fashion blas-
phemes against a saint of the Lord would certainly not have been
lacking in will towards treachery/ See E.-Ch. Babut, in Le moyen
dge 19 (1906) 207; Zellerer 47f., Hylten, loc. cit.
141
142 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
What is it you are saying, whoever you are? Is Martin not
powerful and not holy just because a fire endangered him?
Blessed Martin, in everything like the Apostles, even in
respect to these reproaches! That is just what we are told the
Gentiles thought of Paul, too, when the viper bit him. This
man,' they said, 'must be a murderer; though he has been
saved from the sea, the fates have not permitted him to live.' 4
But Paul shook off the viper into the fire and was not hurt.
The Gentiles thought he would at once fall down and quickly
die. When they saw that no harm was coming to him, they
changed their minds and said he was a god. The example of
these Gentiles surely ought to have caused you, most unhappy
of men, to convict yourself of incredulity. If you were offended
to see Martin touched by the flame, you ought to attribute
to his merits and virtue the fact that, when he was hemmed
in by fire, he did not die.
Something you do not know, wretched man, and must learn
is this: Almost all the saints have especially distinguished
themselves by miracles worked when they were in danger. I
see Peter, powerful in faith, overcoming the force of nature
by walking upon the sea, impressing his footprints upon the
unstable waters. 5 The Apostle of the Gentiles was swallowed
up by the waves and spent three days and three nights in
4 Acts 28.4. The text varies significantly from the Vulgate (see the
Wordsworth -White Novum Testamentum Latine III 1 [Oxford 1905],
ad. loc.) and represents, according to P. Sabatier, Bibl Sacr. tat. Ill
(Paris 1751) 587, the 'Antiqua versio.' The three sentences that fol-
low in Sulpicius are partly a transcript, partly a paraphrase of Acts
28.5-6.
5 Cf. Matt. 14.29f.
LETTER TO EUSEBIUS 143
the deep before the surging sea brought him out. 6 Yet, I do
not consider him inferior to Peter on that account; perhaps
it is even a greater thing to have lived in the deep than to
have passed over it upon the surface. But you, fool that you
are, have not read this, I suppose, or, if you have read it,
have not comprehended it. It was part of the divine plan that
the blessed Evangelist brought forward in the Sacred Scrip-
tures an example of this kind. The human mind was thereby
to be taught the meaning of disasters caused by shipwrecks
and serpents and 7 of those other dangers mentioned by the
Apostle, 8 who glories in nakedness and in hunger and in
perils from robbers. All these disasters are the common lot of
the saints, who must suffer them. It is in enduring them and
in overcoming them that the virtue of the just has always
been conspicuous. With invincible strength they have defied
all trials; the heavier the sufferings they endured, the more
courageous were their victories. 9
This shows that the example proposed in proof of Martin's
weakness is abundant evidence of his merit and glory, for it
was a grave danger that tried him, and he came out victorious.
Yet, no one should be surprised that I omitted this episode
6 According to 2 Cor, 11.25, St. Paul passed only a day and a night in
profundo marts. The three-day duration spoken of by Sulpicius and
his language in general suggests rather the Prophet Jonas's experiences
(cf. Matt. 12.40) than any of St. Paul's. As Da Prato suggested (ed.
Sulp. 1.39 on line 18), something may have fallen out of Sulpicius's
text with the result that what now is said of St. Paul originally
related to Jonas. Da Prato quotes from an anonymous sermon for
the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul ([Augustine], Sermo 203.3: PL 39.2123)
which joins the experiences of the two Apostles as Sulpicius does and
names Jonas in connection with those of St. Paul. Verbal parallels
noted by Da Prato make it in fact likely that one of the texts is an
imitation of the other.
7 This involved passage has been translated in the light of the punctua-
tion and interpretation proposed by Fiirtner (35f.) .
8 Cf. 2 Cor. 11.26f.
9 Cf. James 1.12.
144 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
in the book I wrote about his life. I said there I had not em-
braced all he had done. 10 If I had chosen to write down
everything, the volume offered my readers would have been
immense. And his deeds are so many 11 that one could
not include them all in a narrative. However, I shall now
bring to light the incident about which the question arose,
relating it in its entirety, just as it happened. Since it could
be used to the disparagement of ,the blessed Martin, I do not
wish to seem to have passed over it intentionally.
Martin had arrived in a certain parish, 12 following the
practice bishops have of making regular visits to their
churches. It was about the middle of winter. The clergy of
the church had prepared lodging for him in the sacristy, and
under its thin and rudely constructed flooring had kindled
a sizeable fire. They had laid out a bed generously stuffed
with straw. Now, Martin was accustomed to sleep on the bare
ground, with a single covering of camel's hair over him. So,
when he had put himself to bed, he was terrified by the
enticement of the unaccustomed soft straw. Acting as if some
injury had been done him, he cast aside all the straw bedding,
and, as it happened, heaped up a part of the rejected straw
over the furnace. 13 He then went to sleep on the bare floor,
as was his practice, succumbing to the fatigue of his journey.
Around midnight, the fire had eaten through the flooring
which was faulty, as has been said, and caught the dry straw.
Martin was aroused from his sleep. Taken without warning,
uncertain in the face of danger, and, most of all, as he re-
10 Chs. 1 and 26.
11 Reading neque enim sunt tarn pauca (pauca, Da Prate's emendation of
parva) .
12 Lat. dioecesim. The word regularly means parish in these writings of
Sulpicius.
15 Like a hypocaustum in a Roman bath establishment, the sacristy seems
to have been heated by fire burning below the floor. The floor, we are
told, was imperfect.
LETTER TO EUSEBIUS 145
ported, surprised by the Devil, who had him in ambush and
was pressing him hard, Martin was slower than he should
have been to take refuge in prayer. His first concern was to
break out of the room, and he struggled long and hard with
the bolt which held the door. Flames had consumed his cloth-
ing, so intense was the fire by which he saw himself sur-
rounded. At last he came to his senses. His safeguard, he real-
ized, was not in flight, but in the Lord. In the midst of the
flames he seized the shield of faith 14 and prayer and turned
himself wholly to the Lord. As he prayed, the divine power
dispelled the fire and rendered harmless the flames which en-
circled him. The monks were outside. They heard the crackling
and gasping of the flames. Breaking open the bolted door, they
beat down the fire and brought Martin out of the midst of the
flames, although they feared that he would be entirely con-
sumed by a fire that had burned so long.
In what follows, the Lord is witness to my words. Martin
himself gave me the account. He confessed, and not without
groaning, that the Devil's cunning had deceived him in this
instance. He had no idea of combatting the danger through
faith and prayer when first aroused from his sleep. As long
as he tried in his confusion to burst open the door, the fire
raged about him. But, when he again took up the standard of
the cross and the arms of prayer, the flames retreated from the
center out. The flames from whose burning he had suffered
now seemed to bathe him in dew. 15
Anyone who reads this should understand that, if this
danger put Martin to the test, he came out of it tried and true.
14 Cf. Eph. 6.16.
15 Cf, Dan. 3.50.
THE LETTER TO THE DEACON AURELIUS 1
FTER YOU LEFT me early this morning, I was sitting
alone in my cell. Thoughts came to me which often
occupy my mind: the hope of things to come and
the weariness of this present life, fear of the judgment, and
dread of its punishments. These led to what had started me to
meditate recollecting my sins and this left me saddened
and worn out. My anguish of mind had wearied my body, so
I went to bed. As often happens when one is sorrowful, sleep
stole upon me. Sleep in the morning hours is different from
other sleep. It is lighter and uncertain, it spreads itself through
the body in tenuous suspense. This makes you feel you are
sleeping, when, in fact, you are almost awake.
Suddenly, I seemed to see the holy bishop Martin. He wore
a white toga, his countenance gleamed, his eyes were like stars,
his hair was bathed in purple. He was showing himself to me
in that figure and form which I knew, yet and it is hard
for me to express it I could riot look at him, though I could
recognize him. He was smiling gently at me, and in his right
hand was carrying the little book I had written about his life.
I embraced his sacred knees and, as was my custom, 2 asked
for his blessing. As I felt the touch of his hand upon my
1 For the addressee of the letter and the circumstances of its com-
position, see above, p. 86f.
2 The Lat. phrase, pro consuetudine, is omitted in the oldest Mb (r)
and bracketed by Halm.
147
148 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
head, it was like a caress. He pronounced the appointed words
of benediction, repeating the name of the cross that his lips
knew so well. My eyes were fixed upon him, yet I could not
satisfy my desire for the sight of his face. Suddenly, he was
lifted aloft and I had his company no more. As he passed
through the empty reaches of the air, borne up by a fast-
moving cloud, I could follow him with my eyes. Then the
heavens opened up and received him, and he could no
longer be seen. A little later, I saw the holy priest, Clarus, 3
Martin's disciple, recently dead, ascending by the same path
his master took, I conceived the daring desire to follow them.
While I was making strenuous exertions to rise in the air, I
woke up.
Aroused from sleep, I began congratulating myself upon
the vision I had seen, when one of the household servants
came in. His face was uncommonly sad; it was as if he
wished to speak and to weep at the same time. 'What is the
sad message you wish to give me?' I asked. 'Two monks have
just arrived from Tours/ he replied. They bring word that
Martin 4 is dead. 5 I collapsed, I am frank to admit. Tears
sprang to my eyes and I wept copiously. In fact, my dear
brother, even as I write these words, my tears are flowing.
My grief has overmastered me and admits no consolation.
When the news reached me, I wished to let you share my
sorrow you who shared my love for Martin. So, come to
me at once so that we may both mourn for him whom we
both love. I know, of course, that there ought to be no mourn-
ing for Martin. After overcoming the world and triumphing
over its pomps and vanities, he has received the crown of
justice. 5 Yet, my will cannot control my grief. True, I have
3 See Life of St. Martin, Ch. 23 n. 1.
4 Lat. domnum Martinum as a present-day Italian might say Don
Martino.'
5 Cf. 2 Tim. 4.8.
LETTER TO AURELIUS 149
sent a heavenly patron ahead of me, but I have lost what gave
me solace in this present life.
If only my grief would let my reason operate, my part
would be to rejoice. Martin has joined the ranks of the
Apostles 6 and the Prophets, and in that company is second
to none of them may there be no displeasure among the
saints at my saying this. What I hope most of all and con-
fidently believe to be true is that he has been enrolled among
those who have washed their robes in blood, and that now,
free from all defilement, he follows the Lamb and accom-
panies Him. 7 Given the condition of the times, martyrdom
was not possible for him, but he will not lack a martyr's
glory. So far as his desire and virtue are concerned, he could
have been and wished to be a martyr. Suppose he had lived
in the age of Nero or of Decius and could have taken part
in the struggles of those times. 8 I swear by the God of heaven
and earth he would have mounted the rack of his own accord ;
no one would have been needed to throw him into the fire.
Like the Hebrew youths, in the midst of the rolling flames and
the fiery furnace, 9 he would have sung a song of praise to the
Lord. Perhaps the persecutor would have chosen for him the
6 See Life, Ch. 7 n. 4.
7 Cf. Apoc. 7.14; 14.4.
8 The reign of Nero (54-68) and especially that of Decius (249-251)
were marked by persecution of Christians. In this passage, Sulpicius
must have had m mind St. Hilary's Contra Constantium 4 (PL
10.580L) . We there find Hilary expressing a wish that his life had been
spent 'in the age of Nero or of Decius' and listing a variety of pun-
ishments which, in God's mercy, he might then have endured. Sul-
picius's catalogue of tortures resembles Hilary's.
9 Cf. Dan. 3.51fL
150 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
famous torture of Isaias. 10 Fully a match for the Prophet, he
would not have feared to see his limbs cut away by the saw or
the knife's edge. If the frenzy of the infidels had chosen to
cast his blessed body from precipitous rocks or sheer moun-
tain crags I am confident this is true he would have thrown
himself over of his own accord. Suppose that Martin, like the
Doctor of the Gentiles, 11 had been condemned to the sword
and been led out, as often happened, with other victims. He
would have compelled the executioner to strike him before
the others, so that he might be the first to grasp the bloody
palm of martyrdom. Whatever are the painful punishments
to which men's weakness has most often succumbed, he would
have withstood them unshaken, never denying his faith in the
Lord. Joyous in his wounds, happy in pain, he would have
smiled no matter what torture racked him,
Of course, he did not experience any of these things, yet
he did fulfill a bloodless martyrdom. In his hope of eternal
life, is there any bitterness of human suffering he did not
endure 12 hunger, vigils, nakedness, fastings, envious insults,
vicious persecution, worry for the sick, anxiety for those in
danger? Who grieved and he did not grieve? Who was scan-
dalized and he was not consumed with fire? Who perished
and he did not groan? Further, there were his daily struggles
of many kinds against the great wickedness of men and evil
10 The tradition that Isaias inet his death by being cut in two with a
saw is at least as old as Tertullian (De patientia 14: PL 1.1270; CSEL
47.21. References to other early texts in Catholic Encyclopedia 8.180f.
and in F. Vigouroux, Dictionnaire de la Bible 3.944L See the Roman
Martyrology (July 6) ; also Potamius (Bishop of Lisbon; died ca. 360) ,
Tractatus de martyrio Esaiae prophetae (PL 8.1415; ed. A. C. Vega,
Scriptores ecclesiastici Hispano-Latini veteris et medii aew, fasc. 2
[Escorial 1934] 35f.) .
11 Cf. Roman Martyrology (June 29) for St. Paul's death by the sword.
12 In this passage Sulpicius emphasizes the apostolic virtues of St. Martin
by closely imitating the language of St. Paul (2 Cor. 11.27-30).
LETTER TO AURELIUS 151
spirits. 13 Strength to win, patience to wait, evenness of tem-
per to withstand these were always in him and overcame
the temptations which attacked him. A man unique for his
virtues, which cannot be described : piety, mercy, and charity.
When charity, in this chilly world, was growing cold 14 even
in holy men, in him it increased day by day and lasted to the
end.
I profited in a special way from his goodness, for, in spite
of my faults and unworthiness, he had a particular affection
for me. Now, again, my tears are flowing and a sigh rises from
my innermost heart. After this, where will there be a man in
whom I can find such repose, from whose charity I can
derive such consolation? Wretched, unhappy man that I am.
If I continue to live, can I fail to grieve that I have survived
Martin? After this, will life be joyous, will any day or hour
be free from tears? When I am with you, beloved brother,
shall I be able to mention his name without weeping? Or, in
conversations with you, shall I be able to speak of anything
else?
But why make you weep and sigh? I, who cannot console
myself, desire to see you consoled. Martin will not, believe
me, will not be absent from us. He will be among us when we
converse about him, he will be standing by when we pray. The
favor he did me today will not be unique: he will often show
himself in his glory, that we may see him. As he did a little
while ago, he will always be shielding us with his blessing.
Again, to deal with the rest of my vision, he has shown us that
heaven is open to those who follow him. He has taught us
the path to take, the end our hope should aim for, the goal
for which our spirit should strive.
Nevertheless, my brother, what will happen? I shall be
13 Lat, adversum vim humanae spiritalisque nequitiae; cf. Eph. 6.12.
14 Cf. Matt. 24.12.
152 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
unable to climb that steep path and pursue it to the end: of
this I am quite sure. My irksome burden weighs me down too
heavily. 15 I am sunk under the mass of my sin. This forbids
me to ascend to the stars and leads me in my wretchedness
to the dread abyss of Hell. Yet, hope remains, one single, last
hope: that what we cannot obtain of ourselves we may secure
through the merits of Martin's prayers for us.
But why, brother, occupy you longer with a wordy letter
and delay your coming? Also, the page is full and will hold no
more. Yet, I did have a reason for prolonging this communi-
cation. When it was my letter that would announce to you
your sorrow, I wished that the same sheet of paper would
somehow effect a conversation between us and so bring you
consolation.
15 With this passage Bihlmeyer compares Paulinus, Epist. 24.1 (PL
61.287; CSEL 29.201f) .
THE LETTER TO BASSULA 1
Sulpicius Severus greets Bassula, his venerable mother
F IT WERE permissible to call one's parents to justice, 2
I should surely charge you with pillage and lar-
ceny. In the justice of my resentment I should hale
you before the praetor's tribunal. Why should I not complain
of the wrong you have done me? In my house you have left
me no scrap of paper, no book, no letter, so complete has
been your thievery, so thorough your dissemination. I have
only to write something in a familiar letter to a friend or
perhaps, as a pastime, dictate some would-be secret, for every-
thing to reach you almost before it is written or dictated. No
wonder ! You have got my secretaries bribed to reveal to you
the trifles of my thought. Yet, I cannot be irritated with them,
if they do what you wish. It is largely through your generous
expenditure that they are at my disposition, and, naturally,
they regard themselves as yours rather than mine. My charge
is directed only against you. The fault is entirely yours. It is
through your plotting against me and your deceptive treat-
ment of them that my writings fall into your hands without
being submitted to any selection familiar letters as well as
things I have carelessly tossed off, quite without revising or
1 For the writer's relations with Bassula, see above, pp. 81, 86f.
2 Revelant legislation is found in the Digest 2.4 (Corpus luris Civilis
I [15th ed,, Berlin 1928] 43) .
153
154 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
polishing them, I shall ask you about one case and let the
others go. That letter I recently wrote to the deacon Aurelius 3
how did it manage to reach you so quickly? I was at Tou-
louse. You were at Treves, drawn far from home through
worry over your son. How, then, did you contrive to steal
that letter of mine, written to a friend? Yes, I have received
your message. You write that, in the same letter in which I
mention St. Martin's death, I ought to have detailed the cir-
cumstances in which the blessed man passed away. As if I
sent that letter for any other than its own addressee to read,
or as if mine were the enormous task of publishing, by my
own hand, everything that should be known about Martin.
If you want to learn about the holy bishop's death, the people
to ask are those who were present. I have determined not to
write you a line, so that you may not broadcast my words.
However, if you promise to read this to no one, 4 I shall write
a few words to satisfy your wish. That is the condition on
which I am letting you share the facts I have ascertained.
Martin foresaw his death long before it occurred, remark-
ing to the brothers that the dissolution of his body was immi-
nent. 5 At that time, an occasion arose for his visiting the
parish of Candes. 6 There was a dispute among the clergy of
that church and he wished to restore peace. He well knew
the end of his days was close, yet he would not refuse to make
the trip on that account. He thought it would be a fitting
crown to his life of virtue to re-establish the church in peace
and leave this as his legacy. So he set out, accompanied, as
always, by a large band of holy disciples.
4 Cf.Sulpwaus's letter to Desiderius prefixed to the Life of St. Martin
(above, p. lOlf.
6 Candes 'is 'situated on the Loire, downstream from Tours, where the
Vienne and the Loire join; cf. Longnon, GJographie 270ff.
LETTER TO BASSULA 155
On the river he saw some diving birds going after fish.
Time and time again, the birds would make a capture and
stuff their ravenous crops. 'Here/ he said 'is a picture of the
demons. They ambush the unwary and capture them before
they know it. They devour their victims, yet cannot satisfy
their voraciousness.*
Then, with a mighty voice, he ordered the birds to leave
the whirling waters where they were swimming and to go
to some dry, deserted place. He addressed them with the same
commanding tone he commonly used in putting demons to
flight. The birds then formed a flock and together left the
river, heading for the mountains and forests. Many of his
disciples were amazed to see that Martin's power was so
great that he could command even the birds.
He stayed for a short while in the village whose church
he had come to visit. When peace was restored among the
clergy, he thought about returning to the monastery. But he
suddenly began to lose his strength. He called the brothers
together and said he was going to die.
The grief and sorrow all made a single voice of lament:
'Why, father, do you abandon us? We are desolate, and to
whom do you leave us? The ravenous wolves will invade your
flock. 7 With the shepherd stricken, 8 who will defend us from
their mouths? We know you are longing for Christ, but your
rewards are safe; postpone them and they will not diminish.
Have pity on us whom you abandon. 3
Martin, absorbed in the Lord as always and overflowing
with tender compassion, 9 was not unmoved by these lamen-
7 Cf. Matt. 7.15; Acts 20.29. In the preceding sentences Sulpicius may
be recalling the words of St. Antony to Paul of Thebes: 'Why, Paul,
do you forsake me? Why do you go away without letting me say fare-
well?' (Jerome, Vita Pauli 14: PL 23.27) .
8 Cf. Matt. 26.31; Mark 14.27.
9 Lat. misericordiae visceribus (from Col. 3.12) .
156 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
tations. It is said that he wept. He addressed himself to the
Lord and only in this way replied to those who were weeping:
'Lord, if I am still necessary to your people, I do not refuse
the toil: Thy will be done/
It is no wonder that, torn between hope and affliction, he
almost wavered in his choice. He wished neither to abandon
his disciples nor to be separated any longer from, Christ. He
gave no place to his desire and left nothing to his will, com-
mitting himself wholly to the decision and power of the Lord,
As he prayed, these were his words : 'It is hard, Lord, in Thy
service to do combat in the flesh, and the battles in which I
have engaged up to now are enough. Still, if Thou biddest me
continue the toil and stand guard before Thy camp, I do not
refuse and will not plead the exhaustion of age as an excuse.
I will dedicate myself to fulfill the tasks Thou givest me.
Under Thy standard I will serve as long as Thou biddest me.
An old man would indeed desire his discharge after a labori-
ous service, but courage knows no yielding 10 to old age and
can overcome the weight of years. Yet, Lord, if in Thy good
will Thou sparest my age, it is a kindness to me. Thou Thyself
wilt watch over these men for whom I fear,'
Here was a man whose virtue you could not describe.
Toil had not overcome him, nor would death be able to.
Inclining neither one way nor the other, he neither feared to
die nor refused to live.
For several days he suffered a violent fever, yet he did not
desist from the work of God. 11 He spent the nights in prayer
and vigil, forcing his exhausted limbs to obey his spirit. He
lay on that noble bed of his, on sackcloth and ashes. When his
10 With the Lat. (cedere nescius) cf. Horace, Odes 1,6.6.
II There is some doubt whether we should read ab opere ('from work')
or, as in the above translation, ab opere Dei; cf. Hyltn 144. See
Life, Ch. 2 n. 6.
LETTER TO BASSULA 157
disciples asked if they might spread at least a rough blanket
under him, he refused. 'It is not fitting,' he said, 'for a Chris-
tian to die except in ashes. I should have sinned if I were to
leave you any other example.' His eyes and hands directed al-
ways to heaven, his spirit unconquered, he prayed without
relaxation. The priests who then had come together to see
him asked him to rest his body by turning over on his side.
'Permit me, brothers/ he said, 'permit me to look at heaven
rather than the earth. In this way my soul will be already
started on the path that will take it to the Lord.' When he
had said this, he saw the Devil standing close by. 'Why are
you standing here, bloody beast?' he said, 'Fiend of destruc-
tion, in me you will find nothing. 12 The bosom of Abraham
receives me. 313
With these words he gave up his spirit to heaven. 14 Those
who were present have testified to me that they saw his face
like the face of an angel. His body was white as snow; so
much so that people remarked: 'Who could believe that he
had ever worn sackcloth or been covered with ashes?' In fact,
12 Viz., 'nothing that is yours.* The dying saint adapts the words of
Christ (John 14.30) . Sulpicius's reading, in me ... nihil reperies,
reflects an early Latin version varying from the Vulgate (in me non
habet quicquam) . The Codex Brixianus (/) shows non mventet for
non habet (cf. Wordsworth and White, aa loc.) and St, Augsutine
more than once quotes the phrase in the form in me nihil inveniet,
e.g., Sermo 26.10 (PL 38.176) .
13 Cf. Luke 16.22f.
14 The word caelo ('to heaven') is to be added to Halm's text after
spiritum. It is probable that St. Martin died on Sunday, November 8,
397; see the following note. Halm's text for the remainder of the
paragraph is based solely on the oldest MS,, V, which in this passage
differs widely from that represented by all other MSS. thus far re-
ported. Whether or not the reading of V is closer to the intentions of
the author, the widely dispersed text found in the other MSS. appears
to be the only one known to most of Christendom until the publica-
ion of Da Prato's edition in 1741 and therefore deserves not to be
lost sight of (printed in Halm's critical note on 149.19 and in PL 20.
183f., left half of column); unfortunately, its interpretation is not
altogether clear.
158 SULPJCIUS SEVERUS
it seemed that the glory of the coming resurrection and the
new nature of the transfigured body were already being dis-
played in him.
An unbelievably large crowd assembled for his funeral. 15
The whole city 16 rushed out to meet the bier. Everyone from
the fields and villages was present, as well as many persons
from the nearby cities. All were deeply grieved, and especially
sorrowful were the lamentations of the monks. Of these, it is
said that upwards of two thousand came together on that day
a tribute of honor especially appropriate to Martin; so
many shoots had sprung from the tree his example had
planted for the Lord's service. The shepherd was leading his
flocks before him, those thronging ranks of holy men, pale of
face and dressed in the pallium, 17 old men with long years of
toil behind them or recruits newly professed to Christ's ser-
vice. 18 Then came a chorus of virgins, abstaining from tears
15 Sulpicius passes immediately from the saint's death to his funeral.
Gregory of Tours,, Hist. Franc. 1.48(43), relates an intervening epi-
sode, a spirited dispute between the people of Tours and the people
of Poitiers as to which city should have for burial the body of the
saintly bishop then lying at Candes, where representatives of the
two cities had promptly assembled. The men of Tours removed the
body by stealth, white the men of Poitiers slept, and conveyed it by
boat to Tours, where it was buried. The burial occurred on November
11, 397 (the year is disputed, but Duchesne, Pastes dpiscopaux 2.302,
and Delehaye 31 agree on 397) , probably three days after the saint's
death.
16 Tours.
17 Lat. pallidas turbos, agmina paltiata. Similar phrases descriptive of
the appearance of monks in Paulinus, Epist. 22.2 (PL 61.254; CSEL
29.155) and in Salvian, De gubernatione Dei 8.4 (p. 231 of J. F.
O 'Sullivan's translation in this series,) . In the word palliata no refer-
ence is made, of course, to an archbishop's pallium, but to a simple
outer garment commonly worn by St. Martin's monks; cf. Besse, Les
moines 23f.
18 The Lat. phrase (iuratos Christi in sacr amenta tirones) , instead of
referring to recently professed monks, might relate to persons who in
baptism had lately sworn to serve as Christ's soldiers. In the present
context, the latter interpretation seems the less likely, although Dial.
2.11 offers it some support.
LETTER TO BASSULA 159
through modesty, concealing their grief in holy joy. If faith
forbade them to weep, in their love they still could not sup-
press a sigh. Just as there was holy exultation for Martin's
glory, so was there tender sadness for his death. As they wept,
you would have pardoned them; as they rejoiced, you would
have wished them joy. Each man's grief was on his own
account; each man's joy, on Martin's.
Singing hymns like those of heaven, this was the throng
which solemnly accompanied the body of the blessed man to
its burial place. For a comparison with secular throngs, one
might think, I will not say of a funeral procession, but of a
triumphant march of conquerors, if you please. Yet, could one
there find anything like Martin's obsequies? If those conquer-
ors as they rode led their captives before them, with hands
bound behind their backs, Martin's body was escorted by such
as had overcome the world through his leadership. If they were
honored by the mad and confused applause of the populace,
Martin had for his applause the psalms of God and was hon-
ored in heavenly hymns. They, after their triumphs, will be
hurried into the horrors of Tartarus; Martin is received joy-
ful in the bosom of Abraham. Martin, poor and humble
here, enters into heaven a rich man. From there, as I hope,
he keeps his watch, looking down on me as I write this; on
you, as you read it. 19
19 The final sentence, wanting in a number of MSS., is bracketed by
Halm.
THE FIRST DIALOGUE 1
Chapter 1
IALLUS 2 AND i had met together. He was a man very
dear to me, both because of Martin's memory for
I he was one of his disciples and because of his own
good qualities. We were joined by my friend Postumianus, 3
who had returned from the Orient to see me. (He had left
his own country and gone there three years before.) I em-
braced my loving friend and kissed his knees and his feet.
Together, with tears of joy in our eyes, we walked up and
down a few times almost carried away by delight. Then we
spread haircloth on the ground and sat down.
Postumianus was the first to speak. He looked at me and
said: 'When I was in the remoter parts of Egypt, I decided
to journey up to the sea. I found a merchant vessel there get-
ting ready to set sail for Narbonne, laden with cargo. That
night I seemed to see you in my sleep. You had grasped me
with your hand and were forcing me to embark on that
ship. When dawn dispelled the darkness, I rose from the place
1 On the date of composition and on the Dialogues in general, see
above, pp. 87-89.
2 Apparently unknown outside of the Dialogues. The- birthplace of
Gallus may be indicated below (see Ch. 27 n. 2) . Other biographical
details in Dial. 2.1,2.
3 Represented as Aquitanian in origin (Ch. 27, below) and as having
made a trip to the Orient (Ch. 8, below) before the one he now
reports to Sulpicius and Gallus. One of the familiars of Paulinus of
Nola was named Postumianus; see Babut 49 n. 2 and Delehaye 39.
161
162 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
where I had slept. I reflected on my dream and was suddenly
seized with such a longing for you that I embarked on the
ship without delay. On the thirtieth day I reached Marseilles
and have arrived here 4 after a further trip of ten days. Such
was the propitious journey which favored the loving desire
of my heart. Please, then, put everything aside, and let me
have you to embrace and enjoy. For it was on your account
that I sailed over so many seas and traveled so far on^ land.'
'Even when you were staying in Egypt,' I said, 'I was
always and wholly with you in mind and spirit. As I gave my
thought to you day and night, your love then 5 quite possessed
me, so do not suppose that now I shall be absent from you
for an instant. As I look at you, I shall hang on your lips,
I shall listen to you, I shall talk with you. Absolutely no one
will be admitted to the private retreat with which this
isolated cell provides us. I suppose you will not mind if my
friend here, Callus, is present. As you see, he is as drunk
with joy at your arrival as I am/
'Excellent,' said Postumianus. Tour friend GaUus will
remain in our company. Even if I do not know him well,
the fact that he is very dear to you necessarily makes him
dear to me, especially since he is a product of Martin's
training. I am not at all averse to chatting with you, as you
ask, at any length you please. The very reason why I came'
and here he put both his arms about me 'was to devote
myself to the wishes of my friend Sulpicius, even if it meant
that I should have to talk a lot.'
Chapter 2
'You surely have proved/ I said, c how far loving affection
will go. For my sake you have traveled here over so many
4 Presumably to Primuliacum (see above, p. 81f) . t
5 Reading tune instead of Halm's totum (so V) ; cf. Hylten
144.
FIRST DIALOGUE 163
seas and so much land, voyaging almost from the very rising
of the sun to the place of its setting. We are all by our-
selves here, with nothing to do, and we ought to be quite
free to listen to you talk. So, please give us the full story of
your travels. Tell us how the faith of Christ flourishes in the
Orient, what peace reigns among the faithful, how monks
are established there, what signs and wonders Christ works
there among His servants. Here, in these parts, surely, given
what we have to live through, we find life itself distasteful. So,
we should be very glad to have you tell us whether in the
desert at least one can live as a Christian.*
'I shall do what I see you want/ said Postumianus. 'But,
first, may I please hear from you whether all those bishops I
left here are still such as I knew them before I went away.' 1
Do not ask about those things/ I said. 'Either you know
them, I suppose, 2 as I do, or, if you do not, it is better not to
learn them. But there is one thing I cannot keep back. Those
you ask about have not become any better than when you
knew them. Not only that: the one who once loved me, in
whom I would find relief from the attacks of the others,
has been more unkind to me than he should have. But I
shall not say anything harsh about him. I cultivated his friend-
ship and I still loved him when he was thought to be my
enemy. As I think about this in private, I experience a great
grief that I have been all but deprived of the friendship of a
wise and religious man. -But this subject is full of sorrow.
Let us leave it and listen to the story you just now promised
us.'
'Agreed/ said Postumianus. When he had spoken, we all
kept quiet for a little while. Then he moved the haircloth
mat he was sitting on closer to me and began in this way.
1 Cf. Life 27 for earlier sharp criticism of bishops; also above, p. 90.
2 'I suppose': the phrase, omitted in V, is bracketed by Halm.
164 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
Chapter 3
'It was three years ago, Sulpicius, that I bade you farewell
and went away. We weighed anchor at Narbonne and on the
fifth day entered an African harbor. God had willed that the
crossing be successful. I decided to go to Carthage, there to
visit the places made holy by the saints, and, most of all, to
pray at the tomb of the martyr Cyprian. 1 On the fifteenth day
we returned to the harbor and put to sea, making for Alex-
andria. With the south wind opposing us, we were almost
driven into the Syrtis. 2 The sailors foresaw the danger and took
care to anchor the ship,
The continent lay before our eyes. We put out in little
boats and landed. When we found no trace anywhere of
human habitation, I went on farther to make a more careful
investigation of the region. Some three miles from the shore,
I spied a hut in the middle of the sand. Its roof, shaped like
those which Sallust 3 says resemble the hulls of ships, touched
the earth and was built of quite strong planks. This was not
because of any fear of rain people did not even so much as
speak of any precipitation in those parts but rather of the
winds. These blow with such violence that the least breeze,
setting in even when the sky is quite clear, is of greater conse-
quence there than a shipwreck at sea. Neither grass nor crops
grow there. There is no firmness to the soil, since the dry
sands yield to every motion of the winds. There are occasional
promontories, however, turned away from the sea, which
1 St. Caecilius Cyprianus, Bishop of Carthage martyred 258 (Roman
Martyr ology , September 14) .
2 The quicksands of two gulfs on the North African coast were much
dreaded by seafarers of antiquity. The Syrtis Major, which seems to
be here in question, is now the Gulf of Sidra, lying between Misurata
and Bengasi. The Syrtis Minor is the present Gulf of Gabes. Cf.
Acts 27.17.
3 Sallust, Bellum Jugurth. 18.8.
FIRST DIALOGUE 165
resist the winds. Here, the soil is somewhat firmer and can
produce occasional rough herbs. Such are quite useful for
nourishing sheep. The inhabitants live on milk. Those who
are more skillful or, so to speak, richer have barley-bread,
for barley is the only crop there. The soil causes such quick
growth that it usually escapes destruction by the ravaging
winds. 4 It is reported that it matures on the thirtieth day after
sowing. The only reason the people have for staying there
is that they are all exempt from tribute. These are, in fact,
the extreme parts of Cyrenaica, touching on the desert which
lies between Egypt and Africa. It was through this desert that
Cato 5 once led his army, fleeing from Caesar.'
Chapter 4
'So I made for the hut I had seen from a distance. I there
found an old man, dressed in skins and working a handmill.
After our greetings, he gave us a kindly reception. We ex-
plained that we had been cast upon that shore and were
prevented by the calm from being able at once to continue our
course. Following the bent of human nature, we continued,
we had landed in the hope of learning about the geography
of the place and the manners of the inhabitants. We were,
moreover, Christians, and especially eager to know whether
there were any Christians in those lonely parts. Then, with
tears of joy in his eyes, he cast himself at our knees. He kissed
us again and again and invited us to pray. Then he spread his
sheepskins on the ground and had us recline. He placed
before us a truly sumptuous meal half a loaf of barley-
4 On the doubtful text, cf. Hylten 144f.
5 Marcus Porcius Cato the younger, 'Uticensis (from his death at Utica
in B c 46) . Cato, after Pompey's death (B. c. 48) , undertook the
march in question in order to bring his forces into conjunction with
those of Scipio. Sulpicius probably knew the extended narrative and
description found in the ninth book of Lucan's Bellum Civile.
166 SULPJCIUS SEVERUS
bread. We were four and he made a fifth. He added a little
bunch of herbs. Its name has escaped me: it was similar to
mint, exuberant in leaf, and had a taste like honey. We were
delighted with its very sweet and pleasant taste and had our
fill.'
At this I smiled and turned to my friend Gallus: 'What do
you say, Gallus? Would you be happy lunching on a^ bunch
of herbs and half a loaf of bread, with five men eating?*
Gallus, being very shy by nature, took my teasing with a
bit of a blush, 'You are true to form, Sulpicius,' he said.
'Whenever the occasion arises, you never fail to rail at our
good appetites. But it is an inhuman thing you do, to force
us who are Gauls to live like angels. Still, my interest in eating
makes me believe that the angels also eat. As for that half-
loaf of barley-bread, I should be afraid to touch it even alone,
Let it serve to satisfy that Cyrenian, whose hunger comes by
necessity or else by nature. Or again, let it go to those travel-
ers: they had lost their appetites, I suppose,, after being
tossed about on the sea. But, we here are far from the sea
and, as I have said to you, we are Gauls. 1 But, enough of
that. Let Postumianus conclude the story about his Cyrenian. 1
Chapter 5
Very well, 5 said Postumianus. 1 shall be careful from now
on to avoid praising anyone's abstinence. I do not wish any
such strenuous example to offend our Gallic friends. To be
sure, I had intended to speak of the dinner that Cyrenian
offered us and of the banquets which followed, for it was
seven days that we were with him. But I must refrain, so
1 Gallic love of good food and drink was, as now, almost P>vbid in
antiquity. Bihlmeyer cites Ammianus Marcellmus 15.12.4, 16.8.8 and
Sidonius, Epist. 1.2.6. Chs. 8 and 9 below contain similar reference to
Gallic fondness for eating; cf. Babut 135.
FIRST DIALOGUE 167
that Gallus will not think he is being teased. Well, the follow-
ing day some of the inhabitants began to stream in to see us.
We learned that our host was a priest, a fact he had been
completely successful in hiding from us. Later, we went with
him to the church, some two miles away and hidden from
our view by an intervening mountain. It was constructed from
the interlacing of rough branches, hardly surpassing in splen-
dor the dwelling of our host, where you could not stand
unless you bent over. By our inquiry into the customs of the
inhabitants we learned one notable thing: they neither buy
nor sell. What cheating or theft is they have no idea. And,
as for gold and silver, which men value highest, 1 they neither
have them nor wish to. When I offered our priest ten pieces
of silver, he recoiled in horror, declaring in his profound wis-
dom that with gold one does not build up the Church but,
rather, destroys it. 2 We presented him with various articles
of clothing, which he kindly accepted/ 3
Chapter 6
'When the sailors called us back to the sea, we took our
leave. Good sailing brought us on the seventh day to Alexan-
dria. Here, ugly battles were being waged between the bishops
1 The phrase is adapted from Sallu&t, Bellum Jugurth. 76.6.
2 With this judgment cf, Chronica 1.23,5 (PL 20.109; CSEL 1.26) and
Ch. 21 below; also Jerome, Vita Malchi 1 (PL 23.53) . Salvian seems
to have had the present passage of Sulpicius in mind when writing the
final paragraph of Ad ecclesiam 2.13 (p. 315 of J. F. O'Sullivan's trans-
lation in this series) .
3 The final clause belongs, strictly, to the following chapter.
168 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
and the monks. The occasion or cause was as follows. 1 It
seemed that the bishops, having met together in several well-
attended synods, had decreed that no one was either to read
the books of Origen or to own them. He had the reputation
of being very expert as a commentator of the Sacred Scrip-
tures. Nevertheless, the bishops listed from his books certain
passages of unsound doctrine. His advocates did not dare
defend them and preferred to say that they had been inter-
polated by heretics; consequently, what remained should not
be condemned because of the parts that were justly censured.
The faithful reader could easily distinguish, refusing to follow
the falsified passages, while retaining those in which the dis-
cussion followed Catholic lines. It was no wonder that the
falsification of heretics should have been at work in modern
books of recent authorship, 2 when it had not hesitated even to
assail the truth of the Gospels in a number of passages. Against
these arguments, the bishops put up stubborn resistance. They
used their power to force a blanket condemnation of Origen s
works the good along with the bad and of the author
himself. There already were more than enough books which
had found acceptance with the Church; reading matter more
likely to harm the foolish than help the wise should be alto-
gether rejected.
'I myself made a rather careful investigation of certain
1 The brilliant writings of the Alexandrian theologian Origen (.
185-254/5) led at various times to vigorous controversies as to his
orthodoxy. One such controversy, that described in Chs. 6 : and 7,
occurred at the end of the fourth century. The bishop of .Alexandria
mentioned near the end of Ch. 7 was Theophilus, who in 400 > conye ned
a council which solemnly condemned certain errors of Ongen. It was
also Theophilus who, in the following year, authorized the expulsion
of the monks referred to in Ch. 7. For details, the reader might con-
suit G. Fritz in DTC 11.1567-1588; P. de Labnolle, m A. Fhche-V.
Martin, Histoire de I'Eglise 4 (Paris 1937) 31-46.
2 Lat. in libris neotericis et recens scriptis. On the meaning of Motencus
here, see J. de Ghellinck, S.J., in Bulletin Du Cange 15 (1940-41) 114r.
FIRST DIALOGUE 169
of these books. I found many things very pleasing, but there
were passages where I clearly saw that the author was in
error, those passages where his defenders claim interpola-
tion. I am amazed that one and the same man could differ
so much from himself. In the part that is acceptable he has no
equal since the Apostles, but in that which has justly been
censured no one can be found who has made more disgrace-
ful errors.' 3
Chapter 7
'Among the many passages in Origen's books noted by the
bishops and clearly contrary to the Catholic faith, there was
one place that especially provoked hostility. Here it is said
that the Lord Jesus, who had come in human flesh for man's
redemption, endured the cross for man's salvation, and
tasted death for man's eternal life, was also to redeem the
Devil through an analogous passion. This, Origen added,
befitted the goodness and charity of Christ: He who had re-
formed humankind when lost ought also to deliver the
fallen angel. 1
'When this passage and others like it were produced by the
bishops, the animosity of the two parties led to dissension.
When episcopal authority proved incapable of repressing
3 An apt and well-put judgment is quoted by Cassiodorus, Institutiones
1.1.8: Ubi bene f nemo melius; ubi male, nemo peius (ed. Mynors,
Oxford 1937, p. 14) , 'When he writes well, no one writes better; when
he writes badly, no one writes worse' (tr. L. W. Jones, New York 1946,
P-77)-
1 St. Jerome, Epist. 124.12 seems to have in mind the very passage
Postumianus refers to here (PL 22.1070; CSEL 56.114); cf. the synodi-
cal letter of Theophilus (Jerome, Epist. 92.4: PL 22.767; CSEL 55.152) .
Among the an ti -Origen ist canons of a synod of 543 (its acts apparently
confirmed by Pope Vigilius) one anathematizes those who hold that the
punishment of demons and of impious men will come to an end;
H. Denzinger, Enchiridion Symbolorum (ed. 21-28, Freiburg i. B. 1937)
no. 211.
170 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
this, an unfortunate thing occurred: 2 the prefect was called
in to direct the discipline of the Church. In.terror, the brothers
dispersed and the monks scattered and fled. Edicts were is-
sued, preventing their remaining permanently in any place.
One thing disturbed me greatly: the attitude of Jerome, a
man eminently Catholic and very skilled in the sacred law.
He was thought at first to be a follower of Origen; now he^is
eminent for having condemned the whole corpus of his writ-
ings. 3 When outstanding and very learned men were reported
to disagree in this dispute, I certainly should not venture to
give rash 4 judgment about anyone. What is in question may
be a simple error and this is my opinion or else, as others
think, a genuine heresy. In any event, the strenuous measures
repeatedly taken by the bishops were unable to repress it.
Surely, it could not have had so wide a spread unless dissension
had served to increase it.
'Such, then, was the disturbance which was having its ups
and downs when I came to Alexandria. The bishop of that
city gave me a very kind welcome, a better one than I was
expecting. He tried to keep me with him, but I had no heart
to stay on where there was a fresh seething of hatred arising
from the disaster of the brothers. It may seem that they ought
to have obeyed the bishops. Yet, that was no reason why so
vast a multitude, sharing belief in Christ, should have suffered
affliction, especially at the hands of bishops. 5
2 Sulpicius, Chronica 2.50 (below, p. 254) records St. Martin's sharp
criticism, in the case of Priscillian, of permitting a secular judge to
rule in an ecclesiastical case. t
3 As late as 392, St. Jerome had only commendation for Origen; cf.
Jerome, De viris illustribus 54 (PL 23.665) . His association with the
anti-Origenist party dates from the following year; cf. de Labriolle,
op. cit. (above, Ch. 6 n. 1) 35. Even later Jerome could recognize that
only certain parts of Origen 's works deserved censure; cf. Epist. 61.1 (PL
22.517; CSEL 54.576) .
4 The word, wanting in F, is bracketed in Halm.
FIRST DIALOGUE 171
Chapter 8
'So I left, and made for the town of Bethlehem. This lies
six miles from Jerusalem and is separated from Alexandria by
a journey of sixteen stages. The Church there is governed
by the priest Jerome; 1 it is a parish of the bishop who has his
seat at Jerusalem. I had already become acquainted with
Jerome on my earlier journey, and he had easily secured my
promise not to let anything stand in the way of my revisiting
him. Aside from the merit of his faith and the quality of his
virtues, he has such a fine training in letters, not only Greek
and Latin, but Hebrew as well, that there is no science in
which anyone dares to challenge him, I should be surprised
if he is not also known to you through the many books which
he has written and which are read throughout the world.'
'With us,' said Gallus, 'he is well known; indeed, too well
known. Five years ago I read a book of his in which he vio-
lently maltreats and reviles our whole class of monks. 2 In
consequence, it sometimes happens that our Belgian friend 3
gets very angry with him because he said that we stuff our-
selves to the point of vomiting. For my part, I excuse him,
believing that it was about the monks of the Orient rather
than those of the West he was talking. For the Greeks, heavy
eating is gluttony; for the Gauls, it is natural appetite.'
'That defense of your race, Gallus, 5 said I, 'was in the true
style of the scholar. But tell me: that book of Jerome's, it
was not only that one vice that it condemned in the monks?'
1 The great Doctor of the Church, Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus
(b. shortly before 350; d. 419) . This chapter and the following justly
evaluate the extent of his learning and the vigor of his moral stric-
tures.
2 Gallus alludes to Jerome's long and widely read letter to Eustochium
(Epist. 22: PL 22.394; CSEL 54.143-211) .
3 This Belgicus, mentioned also in the following chapter, was probably
one of the monks living with Sulpicius.
172 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
'By no means,' he said. There was absolutely nothing he
failed to attack, tear apart, and expose. His principal reproach
was against avarice and, equally, against vanity. He had much
to say about pride and not a little about superstition. To be
quite frank, I thought he depicted the vices of a great many
people. 5
Chapter 9
'Again, when he dealt with the intimacies of virgins with
monks and even with clerics, he spoke with truth and great
power. That is why we hear that he is not loved by certain
persons, whom I decline to name. Our Belgian gets angry
because we were reprimanded for heavy eating. Similarly,
those persons, it is said, are enraged when in the little book
in question they read this : l
"The virgin disdains her own brother, who is celibate, and
for a brother seeks out a stranger." '
'You go too far, Callus/ said I. Be careful that someone
who recognizes this does not hear you; he will put you with
Jerome and begin to dislike you. Because you are a scholar,
it will not be inappropriate for me to quote as a warning to
you that verse of the comic writer: 2 "Compliance begets
friends; truth, hatred." But, Postumianus, continue as you
began and resume your narrative of the Orient/
'As I had intended to state,' he said, 'I spent six months
with Jerome. His continuous, unrelenting warfare against
evil men has aroused them to hostility against him. He is
hated by the heretics because he never stops assailing them.
He is hated by the clerics because he censures their vicious
mode of life. 3 On the other hand, he has the admiration and
1 Jerome, Epist. 22.14 (PL 22.403; CSEL 54.162).
I Bfhfmeyer dt*Jerome, Epist. 130.19 and 52.7 (PI- 22.1133, 539 f.; CSEL
56.199S., 54.440$.
FIRST DIALOGUE 173
affection of all good men. Those who think he is a heretic*
are mad. In all sincerity I assure you : his learning is Catholic,
his doctrine is sound. He is always fully absorbed in reading
and in books. Day and night he takes no rest. He is continu-
ally reading or writing something. Had my mind not been
made up and my vow given to God to visit the desert as I
had already planned, I should have been unwilling to leave
the side of this great man for as much as an instant.
C I handed over and committed to him all my baggage and
all my attendants. The latter had followed me against my
wishes and their presence hampered me. As if a heavy burden
had been lifted from my back, I was quite free. I returned
to Alexandria and visited the brothers there. I then set off
for the upper .Thebaid, that is, the outer reaches of Egypt.
There, in the broad-spreading desert wildernesses, a vast num-
ber of monks were said to live. It would take me a long time
if I wished to relate all the things I saw. I shall deal briefly
with only a few.'
Chapter 10
'Not far from the desert, on the banks of the Nile, there
are many monasteries. The monks live together, most com-
monly in groups of a hundred. The chief point in their polity
is to live under the rule of an abbot, to do nothing by their
own will, to depend in everything on his command and
authority. 1 Some among them, determined to achieve greater
perfection, move to the desert to live a life of solitude, but
they do not leave without the abbot's permission. For all the
monks the chief virtue is to obey the order of another. When
4 In Epist. 61 (cited above, Ch, 7 n. 3) Jerome defends himself against
a charge of heresy based on his attitude toward Origen.
1 A passage probably known to St. Benedict when he wrote Ch. 5 of his
Rule.
174 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
they get to the desert, the abbot arranges for bread or some
other food to be supplied.
'In the days immediately after my arrival in that region,
the following incident occurred. One of the brothers had
recently withdrawn to the desert and set up his dwelling not
more than six miles from the monastery. The abbot had sent
bread to him by two boys, the older fifteen years of age, the
younger twelve. On their way back, they encountered a ser-
pent of extraordinary size. The encounter brought them no
alarm. When the serpent was in front of their feet, as if under
a spell, it lowered its dark-blue neck 2 to the ground. The
younger of the boys took it in his hand, wrapped it in his
mantle, and carried it off. He returned to the monastery like
a victor to meet the brothers. When all were looking on,^ he
opened his mantle and put down the captive beast, not with-
out boastful pride. The brothers extolled the faith and miracu-
lous power of the boys. But the abbot, with his deeper wis-
dom, 3 was afraid that in the weakness of their youth they
might become haughty. He beat them both with rods, reprov-
ing them for having revealed the deed the Lord had done
through them. What had happened did not come from their
faith, but from the divine power. They should learn to serve
God in humility rather than pride themselves on signs and
wonders; it was better to be conscious of one's weakness than
to draw vainglory from miracles/
Chapter 11
The monk who had withdrawn heard all this: that the
boys had been put in peril by encountering a serpent, and
that, further, after their victory over the serpent, they had
2 The Lat. phrase caerula colla is -found in Virgil, Aeneld 2.381.
3 Lat. altiore consilio, a phrase found in St. Benedict's Rule 63.
FIRST DIALOGUE 175
been soundly whipped. He pleaded with the abbot that from
then on no bread or any food at all should be sent to him.
Eight days had passed since the man of Christ had cut him-
self off , at the risk of dying through hunger. His limbs were
dried up through fasting, but his mind was directed to heaven
and could not tire. His body was faint from lack of nourish-
ment, but his faith stood firm.
'Meanwhile, the abbot had been advised by the Spirit to
visit his disciple. In his loving care he was eager to know
what life-giving substance was nourishing the man of faith
who had declined to have any fellow man supply him with
bread. So, he set off himself to find him. The hermit saw
from a distance the old man coming. He ran to meet him,
gave thanks, and brought him to his cell. When the two en-
tered together, they saw hanging 1 from a door post a basket
made of palm branches and filled with warm bread. They
first sensed the odor the odor of warm bread; then, from
touching it, they received the impression that it had been
taken from the oven only a little while before. Still, the loaf
they saw was not of the Egyptian shape. In amazement, they
both recognized a gift from heaven. The hermit declared
the gift had been made for the abbot's arrival, while the
abbot ascribed it rather to the faith and virtue of the hermit.
And so, together, in great gladness, they broke the heavenly
bread. When the old m'an returned to the monastery, he
reported the incident to the brothers. They all experienced
such a great longing that each tried to outstrip the other in
hastening to the desert and its sacred solitudes. They said
they would be unhappy if they stayed any longer in a large
community, where they had to tolerate relations with other
men.'
1 Instead of Halm's ante postern, de poste has been read as proposed by
Hylten 1471
176 SULPJCIUS SEVERUS
Chapter 12
'In this monastery I saw two old men who were said to have
lived there forty years without ever leaving it. What made me
decide to mention them was the report of their virtues I had
from the testimony of the abbot himself and the conversation
of all the brothers, especially this that the sun had never
seen one of these two monks eating, nor the other angry/ 1
On hearing this, Gallus looked at me and said: 'If only
that friend of yours were now here I refuse to give his
name I should greatly like him to hear this example, whose
violent anger against many persons we have experienced too
often. True, from what I learn he has recently forgiven his
enemies. Still, if he could hear the example just given, he
would become more and more confirmed in the belief that
it is a wonderful virtue not to let yourself be stirred up by
anger. I will not deny that he had just causes for his wrath,
but, where the battle is hottest, there the crown of victory is
most glorious. That is why, in my opinion, high praise is
justly owed to a certain man whom you may recognize. 2
When an ungrateful freedman of his abandoned him, he
pitied rather than reviled the runaway. He was not even
angry with the man who apparently took this freedman off
1 The same statement is made about two other hermits by Cassian, De
instit. coenob. 5.27 (PL 49.245; CSEL 17.103).
2 It may be that Sulpicius himself is meant. The freedman is probably
The Pomponius that Sulpicius calls 'ours' in Dial. 3.18; see n. 2 there,
with Babut's suggestion that the famous Vigilantius was the abductor.
FIRST DIALOGUE 177
with him. For my part, 3 if Postumianus had not brought
forward that example of victory over wrath, I should be very
angry about the fugitive's leave-taking. But, because anger
is not permitted, let us stop talking about all those things
that are painful to us. It is you, Postumianus, you we want
to hear from. 3
'I shall do what you wish, Gallus, 5 he said, 'since I see
the two of you are so eager to listen. But remember, I am not
depositing my story with you free of interest. 4 I gladly furnish
what you demand, but on the condition that you will not
deny my own demands a little later.'
The two of us,' I said, 'have nothing with which to dis-
charge our debt, even without interest. Still, demand what-
ever you choose, provided that you continue to satisfy our
desires. We are utterly charmed with your narrative.'
'I shall not deceive your hopes/ said Postumianus. 'Now
that you have learned about the virtue of one hermit, I shall
tell you briefly of many more.'
3 In Halm's text, the words Ego autem are followed by a semicolon, to
indicate that Sulpicius, the initial first-person narrator of the dia-
logue, is the speaker of the remainder of the paragraph. In the open-
ing of the following paragraph, Halm reads the vocative Sulpict
instead of the Galle of all the MSS. In all of this Halm follows Da
Prato. In line with a suggestion made by Hylten 78, I have replaced
the semicolon after Ego autem with a comma (thus continuing Gallus
as the speaker) and restored Galle, re-establishing the text in the form
it had before Da Prato, e.g., in the edition of Giselinus (Antwerp 1574;
cf. his note, p. 384) . It is quite reasonable that Gallus, as a person
friendly to Siupicius, might have been inclined to anger at the abduc-
tion of the latter's freedman. The Da Prato-Halm text is indeed quite
acceptable in itself, but the unsupported change to Sulpici is unwar-
ranted since not absolutely required by the context.
4 The reader may be reminded of a passage in Cicero's dialogue, Brutus,
in which Cicero acknowledges a debt to Atticus for the assistance he
received from reading Atticus's Liber Annalis and promises repayment
in full measure (Cicero, Brutus 4.15-5.20) , The debt-motif in a dia-
logue reappears in St. Augustine, De magistro 7.19.
178 SULPICIUS SEVERCS
Chapter 13
'I had now come into the first stretches of the desert, about
twelve miles from the Nile. As a guide, I had one of the
brothers who had a good knowledge of the region. We arrived
at the dwelling of an old man who lived at the foot of a
mountain. Here, we found something that is very rare in
those parts, a well. The old man owned an ox, whose work
consisted entirely in turning a wheel for drawing water. The
garden there was full of vegetables, contrary to what is
usually the case in the desert. There, everything is parched,
burned by the heat of the sun. Nowhere can the least root
of any plant draw nourishment. That holy man owed his
crop to the joint labor of himself and the ox and to his own
diligence. What gave fertility to the sands was the repeated
irrigation. As we saw, this caused the vegetables in that
garden to be remarkably vigorous and fruitful. These were
what the ox, along with his master, lived on, and from this
same abundant supply the holy man gave us dinner. I saw
there something you Gauls will perhaps not believe: the pot
was filled with the vegetables that were being prepared for
dinner and was boiling without any fire. The sun's heat is
so great that there is no cook who would not find it sufficient
even for preparing Gallic specialties.
'After dinner, when evening was coming on, our host
invited us to go and see a palm tree, whose fruit he would
eat from time to time. It was about two miles away. In the
desert, palms are the only trees, and these are rare. Was it
the industry of antiquity which provided them, or do they
come about from the force of the sun? I do not know. Per-
haps God foresaw that the desert was one day to be inhabited
by His saints and provided these trees in advance for His
servants. Of the people who have settled in those solitudes
FIRST DIALOGUE 179
where there are no other plants, the greater part feed them-
selves on palm fruit.
'When we came to the tree to which our kind host was
leading us, we met a lion there. My guide and I trembled
at the sight of him, but the old man approached without
hesitation. In spite of our fear, we followed him. The beast
discreetly withdrew a short distance, as if under orders from
God. He stopped while the old man picked the fruit that
hung from the lower branches. He held out a handful of
dates. The beast came running up and took the fruit more
gently than any domestic animal. When he had eaten, he
went away. As we watched this, still trembling, it was not
hard for us to measure the great strength of the old man's
faith and the extreme weakness of our own. 5
Chapter 14
f We saw another man equally remarkable. He lived in a
tiny hut not big enough for more than one. It was told of him
that a she-wolf regularly attended him at dinner. The beast
almost never failed to come running up at the regular meal-
time. She would wait outside the door until the hermit would
hand out whatever bread was left over from his meal. She
would lick his hand and, as if having performed the proper
courtesies and extended her greetings, go away.
'It once happened that the holy man had had a brother
visit him and was accompanying him on his way home. In
consequence, he was away some little while and failed to
return until nightfall. Meanwhile, the beast had presented
herself at the customary mealtime. She sensed that the cell
was empty and that her familiar patron was not at home. She
went in, making a careful search where the master could be.
By chance, a palm-leaf basket hung near by, containing five
loaves of bread. The wolf took one of these and devoured it.
180 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
After perpetrating this crime, she went away. On his return,
the hermit saw that the basket was disarranged and did not
contain the proper number of loaves. He realized there had
been a theft from his supply and near the threshold found
fragments of the loaf that had been eaten. He then had no
uncertainty about the identity of the thief. In the following
days, the beast did not come as usual. She was, no doubt,
conscious of her presumptuous deed and was refraining from
visiting the victim of her wrong-doing. On his part, the
hermit was distressed at losing the comfort of the guest and
companion of his meals. After seven days, recalled by the
hermit's prayers, the wolf was there again, as before, for
dinner. The embarrassment of the penitent was easy to see.
The wolf did not presume to come close. In deep shame, she
would not lift her eyes from the ground. It was plain that
she was imploring some act of pardon. The hermit had pity
on her confusion. He ordered her to come near and with a
caressing hand stroked her sorrowful head. Then he refreshed
the culprit with a double ration of bread. The wolf had re-
ceived her pardon. She put her grief aside and renewed her
habitual visits.
'I ask you to consider this very special aspect of Christ's
charity. Through His grace even the brute is intelligent, even
the savage beast is gentle. A wolf does acts of courtesy, a
wolf recognizes the sin of theft, a wolf feels guilt and is
ashamed. When summoned, she comes, she offers her head
and perceives that forgiveness has been granted, just as be-
fore she had carried the shame of wrong-doing. This is the
power, O Christ, of Thy charity; these, O Christ, are Thy
miracles. For, whatever Thy servants do in Thy name, these
things are Thine. And for this, indeed, do we grieve: that
savage beasts perceive Thy majesty when men do not revere
it.'
FIRST DIALOGUE 181
Chapter 15
'If anyone happens to find the foregoing story incredible,
I have still greater marvels to tell. Faith in Christ is my wit-
ness that I am not inventing anything. I shall tell nothing
that has been circulated from uncertain sources, and I shall
confine myself to what I have learned through trustworthy
men.
There are a large number of men called anchorites who
inhabit the desert without any huts to cover them. They live
on the roots of herbs, and, out of fear of frequent visitors,
they never remain fixed in any one spot. Wherever night
finds them, that is their dwelling. 1 There was a man follow-
ing this mode and rule of life whom two monks of Nitria 2
set out to find. They were, indeed, coming from a distant
region, but they had once been the object of his special affec-
tion, when they all lived in a monastery, and they had heard
subsequently of his miracles. After a long and intensive search,
they finally found him, in the seventh month, living on the
very edge of the desert, near Memphis. 3 It was said he had
been inhabiting those solitudes for twelve years. In spite of his
desire to avoid any meeting with man, he did not flee from
the visitors when he recognized them. He even devoted him-
1 Cf. Sallust, Bellum Jugurth. 18.2
2 Nitria: a marshy wasteland west of the lower part of the Egyptian
delta, the modern Wadi Natrun; an area of great importance in the
history of monasticism in Egypt.
3 Da Prato, following the important MS. of Brescia (B) , read Blemots
continuum ('near the Blembi') instead of Memphis contiguum. In
Ch 22 we read of military expeditions contra Blembos. If, as seems
quite likely (cf. Thes. Ling, Lat.> s.v. 'Blemyes') , Blembi is a variant
of Blemyes, the speaker here had in mind a people of Ethiopian origin
who were much given in the early centuries of our era to plundering
southern Egypt; cf, Sethe in PWK 3.566ff. Their normal boundaries
lay at a considerable distance from Nitria, whereas Memphis was
relatively close. This and other arguments detailed by Da Prato make
the reading Blembis contiguum more probable than the alternative.
182 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
self for three days to their friendly demands. On the fourth
day, when they left, he went forward a short distance to
accompany them. Suddenly, they saw a lioness of remarkable
size coming toward them. The beast, though confronted with
three men, had no hesitation as to which she would approach.
She lay down at the feet of the anchorite. Lying there, she
whimpered and whined and gave signs of grieving and at
the same time of asking for something. All three men were
moved, especially the anchorite, since the request was directed
to him. The lioness went ahead and they followed. She
stopped from time to time, and from time to time looked
back, making it quite clear that what she wanted was that
the anchorite should follow where she was leading. Why
lengthen the tale? They came to the beast's cave. Here, the
unfortunate mother nourished five cubs now well grown, who
were born with closed eyes and had been blind ever since.
One by one the mother brought them from the cave and laid
them at the feet of the anchorite. At last, the saint saw what
the beast was asking for. He called on God's name and with
his hand touched the closed eyes of the cubs. At once, the
darkness was dispelled, the beasts 5 eyes were opened, and
the light long denied them shone in. 4
This done, the brothers returned. They had visited the
anchorite they were eager to see and had received a very rich
reward for their toil. They had become witnesses of a great
miracle. As well as the saint's faith, they had seen Christ's
glory, to which they were called on to testify. The story em-
braces still another miracle. After five days, the lioness re-
turned to her benefactor, bringing him as a gift the skin of
4 Rufinus relates a similar story about a certain Macarius: Hist. eccL
11.4 (ed. Mommsen in E. Schwartz's edition of Eusebius, Hist, ecrl:
Eusebius Werke 2.2 [Leipzig 1908] 1006f.; or PL 21.512, where Bk.
11 is treated as Bk. 2) . Cf. Delehaye 50,
FIRST DIALOGUE 183
a rare animal. The saint would frequently wear this as a
mantle, not declining to receive from the beast a gift he be-
lieved to have quite another source.'
Chapter 16
'Another anchorite of that region was very renowned. He
lived in the part of the desert near Syene. 1 When he first came
to the desert, where he intended to live on the roots of herbs
(which grow in the sand and are sometimes very sweet and
of an exquisite flavor), he was not skilled in distinguishing
among plants and often gathered harmful ones. Nor was it
easy to distinguish the nature of the roots by their taste.
All were equally sweet, but many contained a hidden,
poisonous liquid. As the anchorite was eating, he felt violent
torture: all his vitals were racked by horrible pains; he vom-
ited frequently from a stomach weakened to exhaustion;
his sufferings were unendurable and threatened his very life.
In dread of anything that was edible, he ate nothing for
seven days. When his life's breath was failing, a wild beast
approached him, an ibex. As it stood near, the anchorite
threw it a bunch of herbs he had collected but had not dared
to eat. The beast used its muzzle to put to one side the herbs
that were poisonous and choose out those it knew were harm-
less. This example taught the anchorite what he should eat
and what he should reject. He could now avoid poisonous
herbs and thus escape the danger of hunger.
'But, to deal with all those who inhabit the desert, relating
both what I saw myself and what I heard from others,
would be a long story. I spent a whole year and almost seven
months living in the desert. I could admire the virtue of
1 The modern Assuam, at the first cataract of the Nile; scat of a bishop
as early as the fourth century.
184 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
others even when I could not undertake for myself a plan of
life so arduous and difficult. Much of the time I passed with
the old man who had the well and the ox.'
Chapter 17
C I visited two monasteries of the blessed Antony, 1 which are
today occupied by his disciples. I even went to the place in
which the very blessed Paul, the first hermit, 2 used to live.
I saw the Red Sea and the mountain chain in which Sinai
lies. The peak of Mount Sinai itself reaches nearly to heaven
and is inaccessible.
It was reported that an anchorite lived in the recesses of
Mount Sinai, but, even after a long and intensive search, I
failed to see him. He had cut himself off from human inter-
course some fifty years before. He used no clothing. Covered
only by the hairs of his own body, he was enabled by divine
grace to ignore his nakedness. Whenever pious men tried to
visit him, he ran to some inaccessible place and thus avoided
human contact. It was said that he had let himself be inter-
viewed only once, five years before, and that, I suppose, by a
man whose strong faith had merited the privilege. The two
had a long talk together. When the anchorite was asked why
he so resolutely avoided men, it is said he replied that whoever
receives visits from men cannot receive visits from angels. This
remark led, not unreasonably, to the very general and widely
circulated belief that this holy man often had angels as
visitors.
1 St. Antony of the Desert (d. 356) ; Roman Martyrology, January 17.
His life was written in Greek by St. Athanasius (PG 26,835ff.) . The
Latin translation made promptly by Evagrius (also in PG, he. cit.) is
held by Babut 75ff. to have been a principal source for Sulpicius's
Life of Saint Martin; cf. above, p. 90.
2 St. Paul of Thebes (d. 347? at a reported age of 113), the founder,
according to St. Jerome, of the monastic life; Roman Martyrology, Janu-
ary 10 and 15. St. Jerome's life of St. Paul is found in PL 23.l7ff.
FIRST DIALOGUE
185
'As for me, when I left Mount Sinai, I went back toward
the Nile. I covered both its banks and found them thick
with monasteries. I saw that, for the most part, as I said a
while back, 3 the monks live together in groups of a hundred.
However, it is not unknown for two or three thousand to
form a single community. You must not suppose that the
monks who live together in large numbers are inferior in
virtue to those men I have been speaking of, who have with-
drawn themselves from human society. Among the former,
the chief and outstanding virtue is obedience, as I have said. 4
Of such as come to the monastery only those are admitted by
the abbot who have undergone probation: they must give
evidence that they will never disobey an order of the abbot,
however trying or difficult or intolerable it be. 5
Chapter 18
'I shall relate two striking miracles of almost incredible
obedience. My memory could supply a good many more; yet,
when a few examples are not enough to excite emulation of
virtue, there is no gain in multiplying them.
'A certain man who had renounced the active life of the
world sought to be admitted into a monastery where the
observance was very strict. The abbot proposed a number
of things for him to consider: the discipline there was very
trying; he himself was severe in his orders there was no one
whose patience could easily execute them; he ought to seek
out another monastery, where the monks lived under an easier
rule; he should not attempt to undertake what he could not
fulfill. The candidate, however, was not disturbed by these
terrifying prospects. He promised absolute obedience. Yes,
3 Ch. 10.
4 Ibid.
186 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
even if the abbot should order him to go into fire, he would
not refuse. The master, hearing this promise, did not delay
to put it to the test. As it happened, an oven stood near,
heated by a roaring fire and ready for baking bread. Flame
streamed out of its sides and, in the hollow chamber within,
the fire raged unchecked. 1 The master ordered the newcomer
to go in. The disciple instantly obeyed the command, enter-
ing unhesitatingly into the midst of the flames. So bold a^faith
could not be withstood. At his coming, the flames immediately
receded, as they had long ago in the case of the Hebrew boys. 2
In the retreat of the flames, nature itself was conquered. It
had been thought that the candidate would be burned; in-
stead, he came out, to his own surprise, moistened, as it were,
with a cooling dew. But, O Christ, why should we be sur-
prised that the fire did not touch him, when the beginner
being tried was Thine? So it resulted that the abbot did not
have to repent his harsh command, nor the disciple regret his
obedience. On the very day of his arrival, tried as being weak,
he was found perfect. He deserved his happiness, he deserved
his glory; tested in obedience, he was glorified in his suffering.'
Chapter 19
The following incident occurred in the same monastery,
where it was described as a recent happening. Another man
had come to the same abbot to be admitted. The sovereign
law of obedience was laid before him, and he promised a
patience that would not fail under any test, however extreme.
As it happened, the abbot was carrying in his hand a branch
of storax that for some time had been dead. He set this into
1 With the Lat. (toils habenis regnabat inctndium) cf. Virgil, Aeneid
5.662.
2 Cf. Dan. 3,50.
FIRST DIALOGUE 187
the ground and assigned the newcomer the task of caring for
it. He was to water that rod until, contrary to all that was
natural, the dry wood planted in dry soil should put forth
leaves. It was a harsh order that the newcomer must obey. On
his own shoulders he brought water daily, drawn from the
Nile two miles away. When a whole year had passed, his labor
continued and there seemed to be no hope for any result; still,
the strength of his obedience resisted fatigue. The following
year likewise only mocked the vain toil of the brother, who
was now weakened. As time went by, a third year was running
its course, and night and day the water-bearer did not fail in
his work. Finally, the rod flowered. I have myself seen the
shrub that grew from it. With its branches flourishing, it
stands today in the court of the monastery, an abiding witness
to the merits of obedience and the power of faith. 1
'But the day would fail me before I could exhaust the
various miracles I have learned of as proving the virtues of
the saints.'
Chapter 20
'I still have two remarkable stories to tell One supplies an
impressive warning against being puffed up with miserable
pride; the other is a striking lesson against false justice.
There was a certain holy man endowed with an unbe-
lievable power of driving out demons from the bodies of the
possessed. Every day he worked unheard-of wonders. Neither
his physical presence nor the sound of his voice was required.
Possessed bodies were sometimes cured with shreds of his
hair shirt or with letters he had sent. Consequently, he re-
1 A similar story is told by Cassian, De instit. coenob. 4.24 (PL 49.183f.;
CSEL 17.636).
188 SULPIGIUS SEVERUS
ceived an extraordinary number of visitors, who came to him
from all over the world. Not to mention persons of lower sta-
tion, there were often prefects and counts and officials of
various ranks lying before his door. Most holy bishops also
put aside their episcopal dignity and humbly begged to be
touched and blessed by him. Not without reason, they thought
they were sanctified and illumined by divine grace every time
they touched his hand or his clothing. People believed that
he was strictly abstaining from any kind of drink for the rest
of his life and that, when it came to food this, Sulpicius, I
shall say in your ear, so that Gallus will not hear it six dried
figs 1 could sustain him. As time went by, the honor that came
to the holy man from his miraculous power caused vanity to
creep in. When he was first able to perceive within himself
the progress of this evil, he tried long and hard to shake it
off. But, while his power continued, he could not altogether
dispel his vanity, even through the secret awareness of it that
he had. His name was proclaimed everywhere by the demons.
He was unable to keep away the throngs that flocked to him.
With time, the latent poison crept deep into his soul. His
simple nod was enough to drive the demons from the bodies
of others, yet he could not purge his own self of secret
thoughts of vanity.
'As the report runs, he turned to God with all the force of
his prayers. He begged that for five months power be given
to the Devil to make him like those persons he had cured.
Why prolong the story? This man of extraordinary power,
who was known throughout the Orient for his signs and
wonders, to whose threshold there had come a stream oi
people, at whose door the highest powers of this world had
1 The figs are seven in number, according to some MSS. In the Vita
PauH 6 (PL 23.21) St. Jerome had told of a holy man of Egypt who
could be sustained by five dried figs. Cf. Babut 49 n. 2; Delehaye 48.
FIRST DIALOGUE 189
lain prostrate, this man was seized by the Devil and held by
his chains. When he had endured for five months all those
sufferings which come to the possessed, he was cleansed
not of the Devil alone, but also of his vanity; a deliverance
which he found more useful and desirable.'
Chapter 21
'As I tell all this, I can't help thinking of our own unhappi-
ness 1 and our own weakness. Who of us, if he receives a
humble greeting from some one wretched man or is com-
mended with words of empty flattery by one mere woman, is
not at once puffed up with pride and inflated with vanity?
Even if he is fully aware that he has no sanctity, let him be
called a saint through empty flattery or, perhaps, by some
mistake, and he will think himself a paragon of holiness. If
he is the recipient of frequent gifts, he will claim that it is
the magnificence of God that is honoring him; even if he
sleeps or takes his rest he will receive his necessities! If he
experiences, even in a small matter, any sign at all of super-
natural power, he will imagine himself an angel. Take some-
one quite inconspicuous either for deeds or virtues, and let
him be made a cleric. He will at once broaden the fringes of
his clothes, find pleasure in being spoken to, pride himself
on the visits he receives, and gad about everywhere. Before,
he used to go on foot or ride a donkey; now, he must be
proudly drawn by foaming horses. 2 While once he lived
happily in a mean and tiny cell, he now makes high the cof-
fered ceilings and constructs room after room, has the doors
1 Lat. infelicitas. Hylten 149, following Fiirtner, makes out a plausible
case for accenting instead the reading of D and V: infidelitas (weak-
ness of faith ) . ,_.. ..
2 The Lat. phrase spumantibus equis may have been suggested by Virgil,
Aeneid 6.881.
190 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
carved and the sideboards painted. Of rough clothing he
will have none; it is on soft garments that his heart is set. He
gets them as tribute from his dear widows and the virgins who
are his familiars : this lady must weave him a nice thick rain-
coat, another a flowing mantle. 3 A more biting description of
these things we must leave to the blessed man Jerome. Let us
return to our subject.'
'I do not know what it is you have left to Jerome to dis-
cuss/ said my friend Callus. 'In short compass, you have
embraced all the practices of our compatriots. Those few
words of yours, if they could be received without prejudice
and pondered patiently, would do them so much good that I
think they would have no further need to be corrected by the
books of Jerome. But, please turn now to completing what
you have begun. Give us that lesson you promised us against
the dangers of false justice. To speak frankly with you, that
is the most pernicious evil we suffer from in these Gallic
regions,'
C I shall do so/ said Postumianus, 'and hold you in suspense
no longer.'
Chapter 22
C A young man, of Asiatic origin, very rich, of distinguished
parentage, married, and the father of a little son, was a tribune
in Egypt. In a series of expeditions against the Blembi 1 he had
reached various parts of the desert and had actually seen
many of the rude huts of the holy hermits. From the blessed
3 The exact character of the two garments in question (byrrus, usually
spelled birrus; lacerna) is uncertain. Da Prato's long discussion (ed.
Sulp. 1.364-369) is full of curious detail.
1 On the Blembi (= Blemyes?) see Ch. 15 n. 3.
FIRST DIALOGUE 191
man John 2 he had received the message of salvation. There-
upon, he immediately despised as useless the military life
and all its empty honors. He boldly entered the desert and
became a shining example of perfection in all the virtues.
He was mighty in fasting and outstanding for his humility. In
his firm faith and zealous charity he easily equalled the monks
of old times. Meanwhile, a thought crept into his mind, placed
there by the Devil: it would be better for him to return to
his native land and save his only son, his wife, and all his
household. This, surely, would be more acceptable to God
than being content with his own escape from the world; it
would be a defect of charity for him to neglect the salvation
of his own.
'He yielded to this pretext of justice, false though it was,
and, after nearly four years, abandoned his cell and his
hermit's vows. He came to the nearest monastery, inhabited
by a large number of brothers. When they questioned him,
he revealed the cause of his withdrawal and the plan he had in
mind. All of them, especially the abbot, opposed his project,
yet could not dislodge the firm intention to which his mind so
unfortunately clung. So, the poor obstinate fellow rushed out
and left the brothers, to the sorrow of all. He had hardly
gone out of their sight when a demon took possession of him.
With bloody foam issuing from his mouth, he began tearing
his own body with his teeth. The brothers of that monastery
brought him back on their shoulders. Since they could not
restrain the unclean spirit which possessed him, they were
compelled to put him in irons, his feet bound to his hands.
The fugitive's punishment seemed not undeserved; when faith
2 St. John of Lycopolis, Egyptian hermit of the fourth century (Roman
Martyrology, March 27) , Cf. Da Prato ad loc. also Palladius, Lausiac
History 35 (ed. C. Butler [Texts and Studies, ed. J. A. Robinson 6.2
(Cambridge 1904) ] 100; with Butler's note 61, p. 212) .
192 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
could not restrain him, it only remained for chains to do so.
After two years, the prayers of the saints obtained his release
from the unclean spirit. He at once returned to the desert
which he had left. Through his own correction, he was to
serve as a lesson to others, that one should not be deceived by
any false semblance of justice or let restlessness or frivolity
force him to abandon what had once been undertaken, 3
'Here, then, is what I had to tell you about the Lord's
miracles as worked in his servants, showing us now what we
should imitate, now what we should dread. I hope this is
enough. Now that I have given satisfaction to your ears, or
rather, more than satisfaction (for I probably have been
wordier than I should have), it is up to you.' (It was then
to me he was speaking.) Tay off that interest you owe.
Following your custom, tell us more about your dear Martin,
I have eagerly desired this for a long time.'
Chapter 23
Tell me, 3 I said, 'are you not satisfied with the book I
wrote about Martin? You know well that I published one on
his life and miracles.'
'I am familiar with that fact,' said Postumianus. 'Indeed,
that book of yours has never left my hands. If you recog-
nize it, look: here it is! 3 The book had been hidden under
his clothing and he opened it. 'It has been my companion on
land and sea. In all my travels it has been my associate and my
comforter. I shall tell you how far that book of yours has
3 The greater part of the text of Dial. 1 from Ch. 3 to this point is con-
tained in Chs. 1-14 of the fourth book of the Vitae Patrum, edited in
1615 and 1628 by the Jesuit H, Rosweyde: PL 73.813-824; the conver-
sational exchanges between the speakers are not included. While it is
not known who drew up these excerpts Rosweyde suggested a fifth-
century compiler they form a good source for the text of Sulpicius.
FIRST DIALOGUE 193
penetrated. There is almost no place in the whole world
where the happy story it tells is not commonly known. First
to bring the book to Rome was your great friend Paulinus. 1
Copies were zealously snatched up all over the city. I saw
the booksellers there carried away with joy. It was their most
profitable item, they said; nothing sold more readily and
nothing sold at a higher price. When I crossed over the sea,
it had long before preceded me. When I arrived in Africa, it
was already being read throughout Carthage. Alone in not
knowing it was my Cyrenian priest, 2 but I lent it to him
and he copied it. What to say about Alexandria? There
almost everybody knew it better than you do. It had tra-
versed Egypt, Nitria, the Thebaid, and all the kingdom of
Memphis. I once saw an old man in the desert reading it.
When I told him I was a good friend of yours, he and many
of the brothers, too charged me with this mission : if I should
ever reach your country and find you safe and sound, I was
to compel you to complete your book on the virtues of the
blessed man, adding what you there said you had omitted.
Come, then ! What has already been written down is enough
for the book. It is not that which I am eager to hear, but,
rather, all that you left out, for fear, I suppose, of wearying
your readers. Please tell us that, and so comply with a wish
that many men join me in making. 5
Chapter 24
'Just now, Postumianus/ I said, 'when I was listening in-
tently to what you were saying about the miracles of those
holy men, my secret thoughts kept going back to my dear
Martin, I think I was justified in concluding that all those
1 See above, p. 80f., and Life Ch. 19 n. 2.
2 See above, Chs. 4, 5.
194 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
various deeds done by many individuals had plainly been
matched by Martin singly. The acts you reported were in-
deed of a noble quality, yet and may none of the saints be
offended at this I heard from you absolutely nothing which
shows his inferiority.
'When I claim that there is no one whose virtue is com-
parable to the merits of that great man, there is one point
that ought to be noticed: any comparison between him and
the hermits, or even the anchorites, is not made on an equal
basis. All their quite admirable deeds were performed by men
unhampered by any impediment, with only heaven and the
angels to witness. It was otherwise with Martin: he lived
surrounded by the thronging community of men, in the midst
of dissident clerics, of fanatic bishops; nearly every day scan-
dals bore down upon him from one direction or another. Yet,
he stood firm on a base of virtue which none of those things
could overthrow. And the deeds he thus performed were be-
yond the doing even of those men who, as you told us, either
live in the desert or once lived there. Even if their accom-
plishments were equal to his, what judge could be so unjust
as not to give him the verdict of well-deserved superiority?
Put it this way: Martin was a soldier who fought in an un-
favorable position, but emerged victor. Liken them, also, to
soldiers, but soldiers who did combat from a good position or
even from high ground. What conclusion is to be drawn? All,
indeed, are victors, but not all can have equal glory. Again,
among the marvellous things you reported, there was no
mention of anyone raising a dead man to life. 1 This one count
compels us to recognize that no one is comparable to Martin,'
1 See Life Ch. 7 and n. 3 there.
FIRST DIALOGUE 195
Chapter 25
The case of the Egyptian untouched by fire 1 does, indeed,
win our admiration; yet Martin more than once was master
over flames. 2 If you are thinking of how the anchorites could
conquer and subdue the fierceness of wild beasts, 3 Martin was
no stranger to restraining raging beasts and poisonous ser-
pents. 4 Perhaps you bring forward for comparison the man
who cured the victims of unclean spirits by the power of his
words or even through the virtue found in the fringes of his
garments. 5 There are many proofs that Martin was not in-
ferior even in such cases. 6 If you fall back on the man whose
body's hair served him for clothes and who was thought to
be visited by angels, 7 angels talked every day with Martin. 8
'Further, in the face of vanity and presumption, Martin's
spirit was unconquered; no one spurned these vices more
bravely than he. Even when not present, he often cured
persons possessed by unclean spirits. And not only counts and
prefects obeyed him, but emperors themselves. 9 This is, in-
deed, the least among his virtues, but I want you to realize
that he resisted not only vanity as no one else did, but also
the causes and occasions of vanity.
'Although what I am about to tell is only a small matter,
it should not be passed over. It supplies a basis for praising
1 Cf. Dial. 1.18.
2 Cf. Life 14; Epist. I (Dial. 2.9) .
3 Cf. Dial. 1.10; ibid. 14-16.
4 Cf. Epist. 3 (p. 155) ; Dial 2.9, 3.3, 3.9.
5 Cf. Dial. 1.20. ^ . _ . ,
6 For miracles worked by Martin from a considerable distance, cf. Life
12; Dial. 2.3, 3.6, 3.14; miracle worked through invocation of Martin's
name: Dial. 3.3 (cf. 3.14) ; miracles worked' through garments or other
objects touched by Martin: Life 18, 19; Dial. 2.8, 3.5.
7 Cf. Dial 1.17.
8 See Life Ch. 21 n. 1.
9 Cf. Dial. 2.5, 3.4, 3.12 (less clear example: Life 20) .
196 SULPIGIUS SEVERUS
a man endowed with high political power who nevertheless
showed a pious inclination to venerate the blessed Martin.
The man I have in mind is the prefect Vincentius. 10 A man of
great distinction, he was unsurpassed for any kind of virtue
in all the Gallic provinces. When passing through Tours, he
often asked Martin to have him for dinner in his monastery.
(He quoted as precedent the example of the blessed bishop
Ambrose, 11 who at that time was said often to entertain con-
suls and prefects.) But Martin, in his deep wisdom, refused,
fearing from his consent that vanity and pride might creep
into his soul.
'In view of this, you must admit that there were present
in Martin the virtues of all those you have named, while in
them, even taken as a whole, Martin's virtues were not alto-
gether included.'
Chapter 26
'Why deal with me like this?' said Postumianus. 'As if I
am not and have not always been of your opinion. As for
me, as long as I live and have my reason with me, I shall
celebrate the monks of Egypt, I shall praise the anchorites, I
shall admire the hermits. But Martin I shall always treat as
a special case. There is no monk and surely no bishop I should
dare compare with him. This is what Egypt and Syria admit,
what the Ethiopian has learned, what the Indian has heard,
what the Parthian and the Persian know so well; Armenia 1 is
10 Praefectus praetorio in Gaul in the years immediately preceding 400,
according to evidence cited by Bihlmeyer 99 n. 4.
11 Suipicius mentions the great bishop of Milan (373-397) only here
and in the Chronica 2.48, where his hostility to the Priscilliamsts is
referred to (PL 20.124; CSEL 1.101).
1 In his Vita S. Antonii 93, St. Athanasius includes a similar but shorter
list of places to which the fame of his hero had spread (PG 26.973) ; cf.
Babut 81f. and above, Ch. 17 n. 1.
FIRST DIALOGUE 197
not ignorant of it, or the Bosphorus, for all its isolation, or
such inhabitants as there be of the Fortunate Isles 2 or of the
glacial Ocean. 3 Is there any region more wretched than that
of our own compatriots, not meriting to know so great a man,
even when he was so close to them? Yet, I would not involve
the laity in this charge. It is only the clergy, it is only the
bishops who do not know him. And it is not without reason
that, in their envy, they refuse to know him: knowledge
of his virtues would make them aware of their own vices. I
actually am afraid to tell you something I recently heard : that
some unfortunate or other declared you had included a num-
ber of lies in your book. It is the Devil who spoke there, not
a man. The speech involved not any detraction of Martin, but
an outright refusal to believe in the Gospels. The Lord Him-
self testified that such deeds would be done by all the faith-
ful. 4 These Martin has performed. Anyone who does not
believe that Martin has done these things denies the very
words of Christ. But these unfortunates, these sleepers, these
degenerates are ashamed that he has done what they them-
selves cannot do. They deny his miracles rather than confess
their own impotence.
'But, since we must hasten to other things, let us put aside
all reference to those people. You are the man to speak. Tell
us the rest of Martin's deeds. We have long been eager to hear
them.'
'In my opinion/ I answered, 'you would have done better
to put your request to Gallus. He knows more than I do
a disciple cannot fail to know the deeds of his master and it
is also his turn to speak. He owes it not only to Martin, but
2 The Isles of the Blessed have a tradition as old as Homer; in extant
Latin writings, Plautus, Trinummus 549, seems to be the earliest men-
tion.
3 Sulpicius may have had in mind Juvenal, Satires 2.1.
4 Cf. John 14.12.
198 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
to us. I have already published my book, and you have been
telling us up to now about the deeds of the Orientals, In
this conversation among friends, it is for Gallus to tell the
story. As I have said, he owes it to us to take his turn at
speaking. And, if I am right, he will gladly serve his dear
Martin by relating his deeds/
Chapter 27
'Unequal as I am to this burden/ said Gallus, 'the examples
of obedience brought forward by Postumianus compel me
not to refuse the task you impose upon me. Yet, remembering
that I, a Gaul, am about to speak among Aquitanians, I am
afraid that my rather rustic speech will offend your city-
trained ears. 1 Yet, the language you will hear from me will
be free from pretense and tragic elevation, as befits that of a
man from Gourdon. 2 In assigning me a place among Martin's
pupils, you must also make me a concession: that I may use
1 On Aquitanian refinement cf. Jerome, Epist. 125.6 (PL 22.1075; CSEL
56. 123); Ammianus Marcellinus 15.11; Salvian, De gubernattone Dei
7.2.8 (p, 187 of J. F. O'Sullivan's translation in this series) .
2 Lat audietis me tamen ut Gurdonicum. What to do with Gurdonicum
is a problem. The Thes. ling. Lat. (s. v) . reports the word only from
this passage, declaring its origin unclear (possibly 'Gallic') and its
meaning uncertain. It is tempting to follow Da Prato and others and
see the word as a derivation from gurdus (assigning it then some
such meaning as 'rude' or 'rustic') , but modern etymology forbids this
(ef. A. Ernout-A. Meillet, Diet, etymologique de la langue latine [nouv.
eU Paris 1939] 438) . I tentatively follow Bihlmeyer and Monceaux in
making the problem-word a place-adjective, but am no surer than is
the former as to where to locate an appropriate Gourdon. A likely
possibility is a Gourdon near Chalon-sur-Sa6ne (dep. Sa6ne-et-Loire) ;
cf. Longnon, Geographic 218. This Gourdon is sufficiently removed from
the cultivated Aquitanian region to make the speaker's point clear. The
same can be said for Jullian's suggestion, Sancerre (dep. Cher) , orig-
inally named Gortona, he reports (RE A 25.250) . Sancerre is near
Bourges, a fact which leads Jullian to propose re-examining the long
abandoned tradition which made Sulpicius a bishop of Bourges; c.
above, p. 83.
FIRST DIALOGUE 199
his speech as a model and disdain all rhetorical decoration
and verbal ornament. 53
'Speak Celtic,' said Postumianus, 'or Gallic, if you prefer
so to call it, 4 provided that Martin is your subject. I think
that, even if you were dumb, you would not lack for words
with which to speak eloquently of Martin, The tongue of
Zacharias was loosened when it came to pronouncing the
name of John. 5 Anyway, you are a scholar and you use the
scholar's artifice of excusing your ignorance when, actually,
your mouth runs over with eloquence. Such astuteness does
not befit a monk or such cunning a Gaul. 6 But, enough of
that! Begin and meet your obligation. We have already
wasted too much time in doing other things. The lengthen-
ing shadow of the setting sun now warns us that there is not
much left of the day and that night is near. 5
We kept quiet for a little while; then, Gallus began: * Above
all, as I speak of Martin's miracles, I must avoid repeating
what Sulpicius here has already told in his book. Conse-
quently, I shall pass over his early deeds, those of his military
life, and I shall not touch on what he did as a layman and a
monk. Further, I shall avoid all second-hand accounts and
speak only of what I myself have seen/
3 See Life 25 (end) for Sulpicius's commendation of Martin's speech.
4 Lat. vel Celtice out, si mavis, Gallice loquere. J. Whatmough, in Har-
vard Stud, in Class. Philol. 55^ (1944) 72 n. 151, holds that no opposition
between 'Celtic* and 'Gallic' Is intended.
5 Cf. Luke 1.64.
6 The Gauls had a certain reputation for dullness. Bihlmeyer appropri-
ately cites the phrases 'stolid Gauls' and 'Gallic stolidity' from the
fourth-century rhetor Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 1.2.3; 1.2.4.
THE SECOND DIALOGUE 1
Chapter 1
I T WAS THE PERIOD in which I had just left school and
I joined the blessed Martin. A few days after this, he
I went to the church and we followed him. It was
winter, and a half-naked man came running up to him, beg-
ging a gift of clothing, Martin called the archdeacon and told
him to supply clothing at once. He himself then went into
the sacristy 2 and, as was his habit, remained alone. Even in
church, Martin in this way found moments of solitude, while
giving full liberty to the clerics. The priests used another
sacristy, where they either had time to see visitors or kept
themselves occupied listening to matters of business. Martin,
however, guarded his solitude right up to the hour at which
the regular public offices were to begin- (A fact worth men-
tioning is that, when sitting in the sacristy, Martin never
used the bishop's chair. In fact, no one ever saw him use it
in the church proper. In this he was unlike a certain bishop
whom, to my embarrassment, I recently saw seated high on
a towering throne, not unlike an emperor's tribunal. All this
while, Martin sat on a rustic bench of the kind that slaves
use: we unpolished Gauls call them tripecciae, while you
1 For the connection of Dial 2 with Dial. 1 and 3, see above, pp. 87-89.
2 Lat. secretarium. The incident narrated in Epist. 1 also occurred in
a secretarium. Cf. also Dial. 3.8 and Da Prato's remarks (ed. Sulp. 1.
369f).
201
202 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
scholars and surely you, [Postumianus,] just back from
Greece call them tripodes?}
That day, Martin's quiet was interrupted. The archdeacon
had put off giving a tunic to the pauper and he, disappointed,
invaded the sacristy. He complained that the cleric had ne-
glected him and that he was bitterly cold. Instantly, and so
that the pauper could not see him, the saint drew off his
tunic from under his mantle. With this he clothed the pauper
and had him go away. A little later, the archdeacon came in,
giving his usual warning that the people were ready in the
church and that it was time for Martin to go to the altar to
celebrate the office. Martin's reply was that a pauper and
here he meant himself had to be clothed first; he could not
go into the church unless the pauper received his clothing.
The archdeacon, of course, understood nothing of this. Mar-
tin, having his mantle to cover him, gave no appearance of
wearing nothing under it. The archdeacon finally excused
himself by saying that the pauper had disappeared. 'Let the
tunic that has been made ready be brought to me,' said
Martin. The pauper will surely be here to receive his clothing.*
It was a strict 4 obligation the cleric now confronted. With
his anger rising high, he went to a nearby shop, picked up a
short, shaggy garment from the Bigorre, 5 and bought it for
five pieces of silver. In anger, he threw it at Martin's feet.
'Here is the clothing, 3 he said, 'but the pauper is not here/
Martin, unmoved, told him to stay a little while outside the
3 The form tripecdae was taken over by Halm directly from the MS. V;
tripetiae is the more normal spelling.
1 Reading aria turn, as Da Prato did; cf. Hylten 149f.
> Lat< bigerricam vestem. Cf. Thes, ling. Lat. (s.v., bigerncus) . The
Bigorre is a part of Gascony in the neighborhood of Tarbes. Quite
possibly, the phrase used by Sulpicius had virtually lost its local
reference and simply designated a garment of a certain shape or texture.
For various interpretations see Du Cange, Glossarium and Da Prato, ed.
Snip. 1.99 (on line 17) .
SECOND DIALOGUE 203
door. Using every possible device to conceal what he had
done, he contrived in this way to be alone while he put on
the tunic to cover his nakedness. But, when can holy men suc-
ceed in keeping such things hidden from inquirers? Whether
they like it or not, everything is revealed/
Chapter 2
'Martin was wearing this tunic 1 as he advanced toward
the altar to offer the sacrifice to God. On that day, something
marvellous happened which I shall tell While he was bless-
ing the altar in the appointed manner, we saw a globe of fire
spring as if from his head. It rose in the air, leaving a long
trail behind it like a fiery lock of hair. 2 This happened on
a feast-day, in the midst of a great multitude of people, yet,
very few saw it: one of the virgins, one of the priests, and
only three of the monks. Why the others did not see it, we
cannot judge.
'About this same time, my uncle Evanthius, 3 a profoundly
Christian man, though much occupied in worldly business,
was gravely ill. Since death seemed imminent, he called for
Martin. The blessed man hastened to him without delay,
but, before he had come half the way, the sick man felt the
miraculous power of his approach, He instantly recovered
his health and went out to meet us.
The next day, though Martin wanted to return, he re-
mained when Evanthius begged him to do so. A slave boy
belonging to the household had been poisoned by a deadly
2 For iufpichis's language Da Prato (ed. Sulp. 1.100, on line 10) cites
Virgil, Aeneid 5.527f., Valerius Flaccus, Argonaut. 1.205, and other
3 ITEvamhius^was comes under Constantius: PWK 6.847. Babut 202 n. 1
doubts the historicity of the Evanthius in Sulpicius.
204 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
snake bite and was already nearly dead from the powerful
venom. Evanthius put him on his shoulders and laid him
before the holy man's feet. He was sure that nothing was
impossible to Martin. The poison had already spread through
the boy's entire body: you could see all the swollen veins
standing out and his vital organs tense like wineskins. Martin
stretched out his hand and touched all the members of the
boy's body. Then he placed his finger near the tiny wound
through which the beast had poured in its poison. The effect
was amazing. We saw the poison stream from every part,
attracted to Martin's finger, and then, mixed with blood,
ooze out of the tiny opening of the wound. (It was like the
long stream of milk which flows copiously from the udder of
a goat or sheep when the shepherd's hand squeezes it.) The
boy rose, completely cured. Dumbfounded at this great mir-
acle, we declared, in all truth, that there was no one under
heaven who could imitate Martin.'
Chapter 3
'Some time after this, we were traveling with Martin while
he visited his parishes. 1 Something or other had compelled us
to stay behind, and he had gone on somewhat ahead of us.
Meanwhile, a vehicle belonging to the imperial treasury,
packed with armed officials, was making its way along the
public highway. Martin was advancing on the same side^ of
the road, wearing his shabby tunic, covered with a flowing
black pallium. The mules were startled at the sight of him
2 iTt. fifcalis ^aeda. Babut 318 (correction to p. 204) describes the
vehicle as a 'voiture des pastes imperials: As to the mules which drew
the vehicle, Da Prato noted that there is a provision m the Codex
Theodosianus which permitted eight mules to be yoked to a wagon m
summer, twelve in winter: Cod. Theod. 8.5.5 (ed. Mommsen, Berlin
1905, p. 377; a law of A, D. 357) .
SECOND DIALOGUE 205
and drew over a little to the other side. Then, the traces
became tangled and the whole team was thrown into dis-
order, for the poor animals had been harnessed together in
long lines in a way you have often seen. It was not easy to
disengage the mules, and this business delayed the officials,
who were in a hurry. They were angered by this, jumped to
the ground and began to attack Martin with whips and
clubs. He said not a word, but with incredible patience gave
his back to their blows. This only aroused the madness of the
unfortunate officials, who were furious that he took their
lashings lightly, as if he did not feel them. When we came
on the scene, we found him lying on the ground where he had
fallen in a faint. He was bleeding horribly and every part
of his body had been mangled. We at once set him on his
donkey 3 and quickly made our departure, cursing the scene of
this bloody deed.
The officials, meanwhile, had satisfied their anger and
returned to their vehicle. They gave orders to start up the
mules and continue the journey. But the mules remained fixed
to the ground, rigid, as if they were bronze statues. The drivers
shouted louder and snapped their whips on this side and
that, but the mules did not so much as budge. All the pas-
sengers then rose to join in the lashing. Gallic whips were
used up in the punishment the mules received. A whole grove
from nearby was pulled up and the beasts were beaten with
tree trunks. This savagery accomplished nothing: the mules
remained in the same spot, immobile statues still. The un-
fortunate men did not know what to do, yet, even their
stupid heads could not prevent them from recognizing that
they were being held back by divine power.
They finally came to their senses and began asking who
3 It would appear from Gregory of Tours that St. Martin habitually
journeyed on a donkey: Gloria confessorum 5; De virtut. S. Martini 4.31.
206 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
it was they had beaten on that spot just a while before.
Putting the question to passers-by they learned that the vic-
tim of their cruel blows was Martin. The whole thing then
became clear to them all. They could not fail to see that they
were being held back because of their misuse of him. So, they
all set off after us at a rapid pace. They were conscious of
what they had done and what they deserved; they were
ashamed and confused. Weeping and with their heads and
faces covered with the dust by which they had defiled them-
selves, they flung themselves at Martin's knees, imploring for-
giveness and begging that he let them go. They had already
been punished enough, they said, by their pangs of con-
science. They knew full well that the earth could have
swallowed them 4 up alive, or, rather, that they ought to have
had their senses snatched from them and been turned into
solid rock, as 5 indeed, they had seen their mules nailed ^to
the ground where they stood. They begged and besought him
to pardon their crime and grant them power to go away.
'Even before they came up, the blessed Martin knew that
they were held fast and had told us so. Now, he mercifully
forgave them, gave them back their mules, and permitted
them to go away. 3
Chapter 4
'I often noticed, Sulpicius, that Martin would frequently
tell you that during his episcopate he did not have that full-
ness of miraculous power he remembered having before. If
this is so rather, since this is so we can conjecture the mag-
nificence of the miracles he performed when a monk or
[as a bishop] alone, without a witness, since we have seen
him as a bishop working great wonders in the sight of all.
4 Reading eosdem, as Hylt&i 150 proposes.
SECOND DIALOGUE 207
Of the miracles he worked earlier, many escaped suppression
and are known to the world. But, it is said that there are in-
numerable miracles which, in avoiding vanity, he concealed
and kept from men's noti'ce. He went beyond human nature :
in the knowledge he had of his own power, he scorned worldly
glory, wishing no other witness than heaven. We can judge
the truth of this assertion even from the miracles which could
not be suppressed and are known to us. Before becoming
bishop, he restored two dead men to life, as your book tells
in detail. 1 In the course of his episcopate, however, there was
only one case of a resurrection, an incident I am surprised you
omitted. Of this event I am the witness, provided, that is,
you have no doubt as to the value of my testimony. How this
miracle occurred, I shall now explain to you.
Tor some reason or other we had set out for the town of the
Carnutes. 2 As we were passing through a certain densely popu-
lated village, 3 an enormous crowd came out to meet us. It
was composed entirely of pagans, for no one in that village
knew a Christian. But, at the news of the coming of so great
a man, all the country for some distance around was filled
with a multitude of people, streaming in from all directions.
Martin perceived that he had work to do. As the Spirit
brought him this prompting, he groaned in body and soul. 4
With a superhuman voice 5 he preached the word of God to
the pagans, often asking in sorrow why so great a throng did
not know the Lord and Saviour. An unbelievably large crowd
1 Life 7 and 8.
2 Chartres.
version of
3 Probably Vendome, as Lecoy de la Marche suggests (p. 263) .
4 Lat. totus infremuit. I have adopted the Douay translators' i
infremuit at John 11.33, a passage which Sulpicius would most appropri-
ately have had in mind here. Babut's interpretataion (p. 210 n.3) unfor-
tunately fails to take the Biblical parallel into account.
5 Lat. nee mortale sonans; cf. Virgil, Aeneid 6.50 and Statius, Thebaid
4.146.
208 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
had surrounded us, when a woman approached, whose son
had just died. With her arms extended, she held the dead
body out to the blessed man and said: "We know you are a
friend of God. Restore my son to me; he is the only one I
have. 3 ' The rest of the multitude joined their cries to the
mother's prayers. Then Martin perceived what he later told
us of: that, on behalf of the conversion of those who were
waiting expectantly, he was able to perform a miracle. He
took the body of the dead boy in his own hands, and knelt in
the sight of all. When his prayer was done, he arose and
handed to his mother the infant restored to life.
Then the whole crowd raised a shout to heaven, proclaim-
ing that Christ was God. Finally, they all began to come to
Martin by groups, throwing themselves at the blessed man's
knees and demanding with faith that he make them Chris-
tians. Without delay, in the middle of the field where they
were, he placed his hand on all of them and made them
catechumens. While doing so, he turned to us and said it
was very right for them to become catechumens in an open
field, because it was there that the consecration of martyrs
occurred.'
Chapter 5
'You have conquered, Gallus, you have conquered/ said
Postumianus. "Not me, surely, for I am a champion of Martin
and have always known and believed all this about the
great man. But you have conquered all the anchorites and
hermits. For, not one of them had the dead at his control, as
had your or rather our Martin. It was quite proper that
our friend Sulpicius compared him with the Apostles and the
Prophets. 1 The power of his faith and his miraculous works
shows him to be like them in every way.
1 Epist. 2 (above, pp. 149-151) ; Cf. Life Ch. 7 n. 4.
SECOND DIALOGUE, 209
'But, please keep on, even though you can have nothing
more magnificent to tell us. Keep on, Callus, and finish the
rest of your account of Martin. Our mind is eager to learn
even the least and most ordinary of his deeds, having no doubt
that his least deeds are greater than the greatest of others/
'I shall do so,' said Gallus. 'But note that what I am about
to tell is something I myself did not see. It happened before
I joined Martin. The deed is well known; it has been spread
abroad through the report of dependable brothers who were
present.
c At about the time when Martin had just been made bishop,
he had need to visit the court. The elder Valentinian 2 was
then master of the empire. When he learned that Martin was
asking for things he was unwilling to grant, he gave orders
that he be kept outside the palace gates. Valentinian, besides
being cruel and proud, had an Arian wife. 3 She prevented him
from rendering the holy man the respect due him. When
Martin had made repeated attempts to see the proud prince,
he had recourse to familiar expedients : he clothed himself in
sackcloth, he covered himself with ashes, he abstained from
food and drink, he prayed continually night and day. On the
seventh day an angel stood at his side, ordering him to go to
the palace and to have no worry: its doors were closed but
would open of themselves, and the emperor's proud spirit
would be softened. Martin was encouraged by the presence
of the angel and his words, and trusted his support. He went
to the palace. The doors were open, and no one stood in the
way. Finally, with no resistance from anyone, he came near
2 Valentinian I, Emperor 364-375, The incident narrated. here took place
at Troves. Babut 206 n. 3 proposes a chronological difficulty, solved by
Delehaye 32.
3 The emperor's second wife is meant Justina, mother of Valentinian II,
whose policy she largely inspired, especially in the field of religion.
210 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
the emperor. Valentinian saw him coming from a distance.
Grinding his teeth, he asked why Martin had been admitted.
When Martin stood before him, the emperor did not have the
grace to rise, until fire covered the imperial throne and the
emperor himself was burned in that part of his body which
was resting on the chair. Then, the proud ruler shot out of his
throne and, in spite of himself, stood up before Martin. The
bishop, who before had been scorned, now received the em-
peror's lengthy embraces. The latter, chastened, said that he
had felt divine power. He did not wait for Martin's petitions,
but gave consent to everything before he was asked. He fre-
quently invited him to talk and to dine. Finally, when Martin
was going, he offered him many gifts, all of which the blessed
man refused, keeping an ever-watchful eye on his poverty. 5
Chapter 6
*Now that we have once entered the palace, I shall join to
the foregoing incident another which also happened there,
though at a different time. The example furnished by a Chris-
tian empress in showing admiration for Martin should not, I
think, be omitted.
The Emperor Maximus then governed the state. He was a
man whose whole life would have merited praise, if only he
could have repudiated the crown which a military uprising
illegally offered him or if, at least, he could have abstained
from civil strife. 1 But, one cannot refuse a mighty empire
without peril or retain it without armed force. He would often
invite Martin and receive him in the palace with honor and
veneration. His conversation with Martin always turned on
J On Maximus see Life, Ch. 20 n. 1. The meetings between Martin and
Maximus and his wife took place at the court in Treves around the
year 385, prior, no doubt, to the condemnation of Priscillian (see Dial.
3.11 n. 2)
SECOND DIALOGUE 211
things present and things to come, the glory of the faithful
and the eternal blessedness of the saints. During these conver-
sations, the empress hung on Martin's words day and night.
The example furnished by the Gospel 2 did not find her want-
ing: she washed the saint's feet with her tears and dried them
with her hair. Martin, whom no woman had ever touched
up to then, could not escape her assiduous, not to say servile,
attentions. She had no thought for the wealth of the realm,
for her place of honor in the empire, for the diadem, for the
imperial purple. Prostrate on the floor, she refused to be torn
away from Martin's feet. Finally, she asked her husband to
join her in prevailing on Martin to come to a dinner which she
alone would serve him, dismissing all the servants. For all his
reluctance, Martin could not refuse. The simple arrangements
were made by the empress with her own hands. She herself put
a covering on the chair, moved up the table, brought water for
his hands, and placed before him the food she herself had
cooked. As he ate, she followed the practice of servants. She
stood away from the table, motionless, as if fixed to the floor,
showing all the modesty of a serving-maid and all the
humility of a slave. It was she who mixed his drink when he
was ready and handed it to him. When the little dinner was
over, she gathered the fragments of the bread and the crumbs,
in her intense faith preferring these leftovers to an imperial
banquet.
'Blessed woman, justly to be compared in her loving devo-
tion to that queen who came from the ends of the earth to
hear Solomon. 3 This comparison is proper if we confine our-
selves to the simple narrative. But we must compare the faith
of the two royal women. So doing, and taking no account of
the solemn dignity of the mystery, I have this to point out:
2 Luke 7.36ff. and parallel passages in the other Gospels.
3 Cf. Matt. 12.42; Luke 11.31; 3 Kings 10.1-10.
212 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
the Queen of Saba sought out the wise man only to listen to
him, but our empress, not content with listening to so wise a
man, also merited the opportunity of serving him/
Chapter 7
At this point Postumianus remarked: Tor some time, as I
listened to you, Callus, I have greatly admired the faith of the
empress. But, where do we stand in respect to the report that
no woman ever approached Martin? Here we have the em-
press not only standing near him, but also serving him at
table. I am afraid that this precedent will give some small
comfort to those who like to get involved with women. 5
'Why do you not take account,' asked Gallus, 'as our gram-
marians commonly urge us to, of the circumstances of place,
time, and person? Try to imagine the situation: how Martin
was taken by surprise in the palace, solicited by the emperor's
prayers, compelled by the faith of the empress, bound by the
necessities of the moment. He had prisoners to free, exiles to
bring back, confiscated property to restore. How cheap must
the bishop have valued all that, not to have been willing, in
securing all these ends, to relax a little bit from his rigorous
principles? You say that some people will take occasion to
misuse Martin's example. They will be happy indeed, if they
abide by the lesson this example teaches. Let them note that
this happened to Martin only once in his life, when he was
seventy years old; 1 that the woman who did him menial ser-
vice was not a licentious widow, not a flighty virgin, but an
empress and a wife, ruled by her husband, who himself joined
in her request; that she simply served him as he ate and did
1 Since the year of this palace incident is known fairly closely, ^ve have
here an important datum in the vexed chronology of Martin's life; see
above, p. 91.
SECOND DIALOGUE 213
not recline at banquet with him, not venturing to share the
meal but merely showing him deference.
'This is the lesson to learn : let a matron serve you, not com-
mand you; let her serve you, not recline with you at table. It
was in this way that Martha waited on the Lord, 2 without
sharing the repast; in fact, preference was given over Martha,
who served, to Mary, who listened to His words. In Martin's
case, the empress did both things: like Martha, she served;
like Mary, she listened. So, whoever wants to use this case as
a model should follow it completely, being sure of the appro-
priateness of the cause, of the person, of the service rendered,
of the meal itself, and that it happens only once in all his
life. 5
Chapter 8
'Admirable,' said Postumianus. 'What you have said sets
the limits within which our clerics can move if they want to
follow Martin's example. But, let me assure you, all this will
fall on deaf ears. If we follow in Martin's path, we will never
have to [defend ourselves against a charge of kissing or] 1
reckon with any injuries rising from hostile opinion. But, as
you yourself say, when you are reproved for heavy eating,
we are Gauls. 2 So, in this matter, neither Martin's example
nor your disputation will make us mend our ways. But, tell
me, Sulpicius. While we have been busy with discussion for
a long time, why are you so obstinately silent?'
1 1 am not only silent now,' I said, 'but I have for some time
decided to remain silent about those things. I once reproved
an elegant, capricious, and spendthrift widow for wanton liv-
2 Cf. Luke 10.40ff.
1 The bracketed clause is omitted in several MSS., among them, V and D.
2 Cf. Dial 1.4.
214 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
ing. Another time, it was a virgin who had an unbecoming
attachment to a young man who was dear to me, yet I often
heard her upbraiding others who behaved in this way. My
strictures aroused among all women and all monks such ani-
mosity that their two legions conspired and made war upon
me. That is why I ask you to keep quiet. I do not want what
you say to increase my own unpopularity. Let us give up re-
calling things like this and return, instead, to Martin. You be-
gan, Gallus; complete what you started.'
'The stories I already have told you,' he said, 'are such
that your eagerness ought now to be satisfied with my recita-
tion. But, because I am not at liberty not to comply with
your wishes, I shall continue speaking for what still remains
of the day. I notice that straw is being prepared for our
beds, and, by this, I am reminded of a miracle which was
worked through straw on which Martin had lain. 2
The incident happened this way. There is a village, Clau-
diomagus, on the common boundary of the Bituriges and the
Turoni. 4 The church there is celebrated for the piety of its
monks and no less renowned through the presence of a large
number of consecrated virgins. Once, when passing through,
Martin took up lodging in the sacristy of the church. 5 After
he left, the virgins rushed into the sacristy. They covered with
kisses all the places, one by one, where the blessed man had
sat or stood. They even divided among themselves the straw
on which he had lain. A few days later, one of them put to
use the bit of straw she had collected as a relic for herself:
she hung it from the neck of a possessed man who was being
3 Epist. 1 tells another story about Martin and a bed of straw.
4 The modern Clion (dep. Indre) ; Ihm in PWK 3,2662. The principal
city of the Bituriges was Avaricum, the present-day Bourges. Similarly,
it was from the Turoni that their chief city, Tours, was named.
5 As in the case narrated in Epist. L
SECOND DIALOGUE 215
tormented by a false spirit, 6 At once, quicker than you could
say it, the demon was expelled and the person cured.'
Chapter 9
'About the same time, when Martin was returning from
Treves, he encountered a cow tormented by a demon. She
had left her herd and was going about attacking people; she
had already dangerously gored a number with her horns.
When she came near us, the people who were following her
from a distance began calling out with a loud voice that we
should be careful. But the raging beast, staring savagely, came
nearer to us. Martin raised his hand and ordered her to stand
still. At his word the cow halted, motionless. Meanwhile,
Martin spied a demon sitting on her back, and rebuked him.
"Depart from the beast/' he said, "and stop tormenting a
harmless animal/' The evil spirit obeyed and withdrew. The
heifer did not fail to sense that she had been delivered. Having
recovered her composure, she threw herself at the saint's feet.
When Martin then told her to go back to her own herd, she
rejoined the company of the other cows, quieter than a lamb.
'This was the time when Martin found himself surrounded
by flames, yet felt no effect from the fire. I believe I shall
not have to report this story, since Sulpicius here has related
it in detail. He omitted it in his book, but dealt with it later
in a letter he wrote to Eusebius, 1 who, then a priest, is now a
bishop. I suspect, Postumianus, that you have already read it.
If you do not know it, it is at hand in that bookcase yonder,
whenever it suits you. I shall keep telling things that Sulpicius
omitted.
6 Lat. spiritus erroris.
1 Above, pp. 141-145.
216 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
"One time, when Martin was making the round of his
parishes, we met a band of hunters. The hounds were pursuing
a hare. The long course had overcome the poor little beast.
Nowhere in all the broad-spreading field was there any
way of escape. Its death was imminent. Constantly at the
point of being captured, it put off its fate by quick zigzag
movements. The blessed man, in his bounty, had pity on
the hare's desperate position, and ordered the hounds to give
up the chase and let the fugitive escape. Instantly, at the very
first word of his command, they halted: you would have
thought them chained, or rather rooted in their very tracks.
And so, with its pursuers immobilized, the little hare escaped
unharmed. 1
Chapter 10
'It is also worth while to recall some of Martin's familiar
sayings, well seasoned with spiritual salt.
'It happened that he spied a sheep that had been lately
shorn. "There is one," he said, "who has fulfilled the Gospel
precept. 1 She had two tunics, and one of them she has given
to one who had none. That is what you also ought to do. 35
'Similarly, he once saw a swineherd, chilled to the bone,
ill-covered by his coat of sheepskin. "Here," he said, "we have
Adam [driven from paradise,] 2 dressed in a coat of sheepskin
and feeding his swine. 3 But we ought to put off that old Adam,
who survives in this swineherd, and put on the new Adam.* 54
'Some oxen had used up part of a meadow in their graz-
ing, while other sections had been rooted up by swine. The
rest of the meadow, which remained undamaged, had a
2 This phrase, omitted in F, is bracketed by Halm.
3 Cf. Gen. 3.21.
4 Cf. Eph. 4.24; Col. 3.10.
SECOND DIALOGUE 217
springlike greenness studded with many kinds of flowers, as in
a painting. "We have a symbol of marriage," he said, "in
that part of the meadow which has been used by the grazing
herd : it has not altogether lost the beauty of its grass, but has
retained nothing of the dignity its flowers once gave it. That
part which the filthy animals that are swine have uprooted
supplies the ugly image of fornication. Finally, that portion
which has suffered no damage shows us the glory of virginity:
it abounds in luxuriating grass ; there is a rich crop of hay on
it; it is clothed in ornament of surpassing beauty; its flowers
stand out like glistening gems. A blessed spectacle and one
worthy of God, for there is nothing that can be compared
with virginity. Those who compare the life of fornication to
marriage are gravely in error. And, similarly, those who think
that marriage measures up to virginity are wholly miserable
and foolish. Here is a distinction to which the wise must
hold: marriage relates to indulgence, 5 virginity tends to glory,
while fornication is destined for punishment, unless satisfac-
tion be made to cleanse it." '
Chapter 11
*A certain soldier had laid aside his sword belt in a church
to enter upon monastic profession. He had built a cell for
himself in a retired and distant spot, intending to live as a
hermit. But, the cunning Enemy soon was disturbing his un-
trained heart with strange thoughts; his resolution was altered
and he wanted to live again with his wife, whom Martin had
instructed to join a convent.
'So, the brave hermit came to see Martin and confessed
5 Lat. pertinent ad veniam. The Vulgate at 1 Cor. 7.6 shows secundum
indulgentiam, but a common Old Latin reading was secundum veniam;
cf. Wordsworth and White ad loc.
218 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
what he had in mind. But Martin's refusal was firm: it would
be improper for a woman to be joined again to a man who
was now a monk and no longer her husband. The soldier
insisted, affirming that this would in no way harm his earlier
resolve. He only wanted to have the consolation his wife's
presence could bring him; there was no need to fear they
would return to their former habits. He himself was Christ's
soldier, he said, and she also had taken the same oaths in the
same service; 1 the bishop could well permit two holy persons
who had now become ignorant of their sex through the merit
of their faith to serve together.
Then Martin said (and I am going to cite his very words) :
"Tell me whether you have ever been in war, whether you
have ever stood on the battle line." He replied, "I have fre-
quently stood on the battle line, and I have frequently had
part in war." At that, Martin said: "Tell me this then: in
any battle array whether the armed line was being put in
readiness for combat or whether the fight against the hostile
army was already on, foot placed against foot and swords
drawn have you ever seen a woman standing and fighting?' *
Then, at last, the soldier blushed in his confusion. He thanked
Martin for not having abandoned him to his error and for
having used no harsh reproof in his correction, but an apt and
just simile, appropriate to his character as a soldier.
'But Martin turned to us for a considerable crowd of
brothers had gathered about him and said: "No woman
should enter into the camp of men. A battle array of soldiers
should hold itself apart. A woman should remain far from
them and live by herself, in her own tent. An army becomes
contemptible if its cohorts of men are mingled with a horde of
women. It is for a soldier to fight in the battle line and on the
1 At her baptism, as it seems; cf. Epist. 3 n. 18.
SECOND DIALOGUE 219
field. A woman should keep herself within the defenses of the
walls. Yet, she also has her own glory, if, in her husband's
absence, she preserve her chastity. It is her first virtue and her
supreme victory not to be seen." J
Chapter 12
'This, Sulpicius, I think you recall the enthusiasm with
which Martin, when you also were present, commended the
austerity of a certain virgin. She kept herself so strictly re-
moved from all men's gazes that she refused to see Martin
himself when he wished to pay. her the homage of a visit. He
was passing near the country property in which she had lived
for many years in chaste retirement. Since he had heard of
her faith and virtue, he made a detour in order to give due
honor, through an episcopal visit, to a virgin of such illustri-
ous merits. We who were attending him thought the virgin
would be delighted: she would take it as an evidence of her
virtue that a bishop of such renown should have renounced
his rigorous principle in coming to see her. But she was bound
by the chains of an heroic vow and did not loosen them even
in consideration of Martin. He received her praiseworthy
excuses from another woman she herself was neither to be
seen nor greeted and went away from her door joyful.
'Glorious virgin, not to let herself be seen even by Martin !
Blessed Martin, not to take her refusal as an insult! On the
contrary, he gave her virtue enthusiastic commendation and
took joy in her example an unusual one, at least for these
parts. The coming of night forced us to remain not far from
her house. Here, that same virgin sent a present to the blessed
man. He did something he had never done before (for he
had never accepted a gift of any kind from anyone) : he
refused not one of the things the venerable virgin had sent
220 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
him. No bishop, he said, should refuse any blessing of hers,
whose value was higher than that of many bishops.
'Let virgins pay heed to this example. If they want their
doors to keep out the wicked, they should close them also to
the good. To keep the impious from having free access to
them, they should not fear even to exclude bishops. There also
is something here for the whole world to hear. A virgin did
not permit herself to be seen by Martin. It was, to be sure, no
ordinary bishop that she refused. Rather, the man into whose
presence she did not come was one whose very sight had been
the salvation of those who saw. Yet, what bishop other than
Martin would not have considered himself misused by this
treatment? What sentiments of anger would his mind not
have conceived against the holy virgin? He would have ad-
judged her a heretic and pronounced an anathema upon
her. In preference to that blessed soul, he would have chosen
those virgins who at every turn always contrive to meet the
bishop, who set expensive banquets for him and recline at
them in his company.
'But, to what is my flow of oratory leading me? My too free
speech must be curbed a little, so that it will not give offense
to certain persons. For those weak in faith, words of reproof
will be useless; for the faithful, the example itself will be
enough. When I continue to commend the virtue of that vir-
gin, it is not because I wish to detract from those who often
came from distant regions to see Martin. With like purpose,
even angels often came to visit the blessed man. 3
Chapter 13
'What I am now about to tell, Sulpicius, I bring forward
with you as witness' and here Gallus was looking at me.
'One day, Sulpicius and I were keeping vigil before Martin's
SECOND DIALOGUE 221
door. We had been sitting there for some hours in silence,
experiencing a sense of religious awe and trembling as if we
were standing guard before the tabernacle of an angel. Since
the door of Martin's cell was closed, he did not know we were
there. At some point, we heard the murmur of a conversation
and were at once enwrapped by a strange dread and wonder-
ment. We could not fail to know that something divine was
occurring.
'After about two hours, Martin came out and found us.
Then Sulpicius (and no one spoke with Martin on more
familiar terms than he) begged him to satisfy our pious curi-
osity and to tell us what was that divine dread we both de-
clared we had felt, and whom he had talked with in the cell
For, the sound of conversation we had heard through the
door was weak and hardly intelligible. He hesitated long and
earnestly, but there was nothing Sulpicius could not extract
from him, even against his will. What I am about to tell may,
perhaps, be incredible, but Christ is my witness that I do not
lie and surely no one is so sacrilegious as to think that Martin
ever lied. "I shall tell you," he said, "but I beg you to tell no
one. Agnes, Thecla, and Mary have been with me." He de-
scribed to us the countenance and dress of each. He confessed
that it was not only on that day that he had received a visit
from them, but frequently. He also said he had often seen the
Apostles Peter and Paul.
'As to demons, he would rebuke them by name as each
visited him. From Mercury 1 he had to endure a particular
hostility. He said Jupiter was stupid and dull. All this seemed
incredible to most, even to those living in the monastery.
Hence, I am far from confident that all who hear it will be-
1 For Mercury and for Jupiter (mentioned in the next sentence) cf.
Life 22 and n. 2 there.
222 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
lieve it. In fact, if Martin's life and virtue -had not been be-
yond men's power to judge, he would surely not have
acquired such great glory among us. Still, it is small wonder
that human weakness hesitates before the deeds of Martin,
when, even today, as we see, many people have not believed
the Gospels.
'Martin often saw angels and dealt with them as friends;
this we have learned through our own experience. The fact
1 shall now cite is not impressive; nevertheless, I shall cite
it. A synod of bishops was held at Nimes. 2 Martin declined to
attend it, but was eager to know what had occurred there.
It happened that Sulpicius was traveling with him by water.
But Martin, as always, was sitting away from the other pas-
sengers, in a secluded part of the ship. There, an angel an-
nounced to him what had occurred at the synod. We made
careful inquiry later as to the time the council was held. We
determined for certain that the very day of the voyage was
that of the assembly, and that the decrees voted there were
those the angel had announced to Martin. 5
Chapter 14 l
'One day, we were asking Martin about the end of the
world. He said that Nero and the Antichrist would come first.
Nero would subdue ten kings and rule in the regions of the
West. A persecution he was to impose would go so far as to
2 Duchesne, Pastes episcopaux 1.366 dates the synod 1 October 396; 394
is also a possibility (Delehaye 33) . From Dial. 3,13 we learn that begin-
ning with 385 Martin avoided all synods and meetings of bishops.
1 The first paragraph of this chapter is omitted in a number of MSS,,
doubtless because the doctrine contained in it had drawn the condem-
nation of St. Jerome (In Ezech. 11.36: PL. 25.339), which, m turn,
was the probable reason why the Dialogues of Sulpicius were proscribed
in the DecretUm Gelasianum; cf. above, pp. 95-96.
SECOND DIALOGUE 223
require the worship of heathen idols. The Antichrist would
first seize the empire of the East; he would have Jerusalem
as his seat and imperial capital. Both the city and its temple
were to be rebuilt by him. His persecution would require the
denial of Christ's divinity (he himself pretending to be Christ)
and would by law impose circumcision on all. Finally, Nero
himself was to perish at the hands of the Antichrist. In this
way, the whole world and all its people would be brought
under the latter's yoke, until, at Christ's coming, the impious
imposter 2 would be overcome. There was no doubt that the
Antichrist, begotten by the evil Spirit, was already born and
had now come to the years of boyhood, awaiting the legal age
to assume his empire. This we heard Martin say eight years
ago. 3 It is for you to judge how near to us now are those fear-
ful events to come.'
Gallus was just saying this and had not finished what he
had undertaken to relate, when a slave of the household came
in, announcing that the priest Refrigerius stood at the door.
We were in doubt whether it would be better to keep on
listening to Gallus or to go out to meet one whose arrival
was most welcome to us and who had come to honor us
with a visit.
Then Gallus spoke: 'Even if we did not have to abandon
our discourse because of the arrival of so holy a priest, 4 night
itself would compel us to put an end to the conversation that
has been extended until now. It has been quite impossible
2 Cf. 2 Thess. 2.4. . . .
3 If Martin's speech on the imminent coming of Antichrist is to be
dated in the period of the council of Nimes (Ch. 13 and n. 2), i.e.,
about 396, the dramatic date of this dialogue can be assigned approxi-
mately to the year 404. .
4 Lat sacerdotis. The word sacerdos elsewhere in these writings of bul-
picius is used for 'bishop' (cf. Babut 124 n. 3) . Refrigerius is elsewhere
called presbyter, Sulpicius's normal word for 4 priest.'
224 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
to exhaust the subject of Martin's miracles. Let it be enough
that you have heard this much today. Tomorrow I shall tell
the rest. 5
So we accepted Callus's promise and rose from our places.
THE THIRD DIALOGUE 1
Chapter 1
T is BEGINNING to grow light, 2 Gallus : we must get
up. As you see, Postumianus is coming. And the
priest 3 who yesterday lost the opportunity to listen
is waiting for you, who have a promise to pay off : 4 to tell us
about Martin all that you postponed telling until the next day.
To be sure, he already knows everything that can be told.
But, even to review what is known is a pleasing and agreeable
form of knowledge. Nature has so arranged it that one finds
joy in knowing with greater confidence what through numer-
ous witnesses he sees to be quite certain. This priest has been
attached to Martin since his early youth; he knows everything,
indeed, but is glad to relearn what he already knows. And so,
Gallus, I confess it is with me. I have repeatedly heard Mar-
tin's miracles related. I have committed to writing many things
about him. Yet, my admiration for his deeds always makes
their telling new for me, even when people again and again
bring up stories about him that I have already heard. We
have an added reason to congratulate ourselves that Refri-
gerius has joined us as a listener: Postumianus here who is
1 For the connection of Dial. 3 with Dial. 1 and 2, see above, pp. 87-89.
2 Lat. Lucescit hoc, a phrase found in Roman comedy: Plautus, Amphi-
tryo 543; Terence, Heautontimorumenos 410.
3 Refrigerius; his arrival was mentioned in Dial. 2.14.
4 Cf. Dial. 1.12 and 2.14.
225
226 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
eager to transmit all this to the Orient will all the more
willingly accept from you as truth what has, as it were, been
confirmed through witnesses.'
While I was saying this and Gallus was already prepared
for his narration, a crowd of monks rushed in, 5 along with
the priest Evagrius, 6 Aper, 7 Sabbatius, 8 and Agricola. A mo-
ment later, the priest Aetherius came in, accompanied by the
deacon Calupio and the subdeacon Amator. 9 Last of all was
my very dear friend, the priest Aurelius; 10 he had come a
longer journey and arrived all out of breath.
'What has happened/ I asked, 'that you all arrive together,
so suddenly, so unexpectedly, from-somany places, and so early
in the morning?'
'We learned yesterday/ they said, 'that Gallus here had
related Martin's miracles all day long, and, because of night-
fall, had put off telling the rest until the next day. That is why
we have .hastened to offer him a large company of listeners,
since he is to speak of so noble a subject.'
Meanwhile, word was brought that many lay persons were
standing at the door, not venturing to enter, but asking ad-
mittance. Then Aper said: 'It is not at all proper that those
people be joined to our company, because what has brought
5 Probably members of the community at Primuliacum; cf. above, p. 81.
6 Probably identical with the south-Gallic priest Evagrius who, about
430, wrote an Altercatio legis inter Simonem ludaeum et Theopkilum
Christianum (PL 20,1165; CSEL 45) . See Da Prato, ed. Sulp. 1.377.
7 Possibly to be identified with an Aper addressed in Paulinus, Epist.
38, 39, 44 (PL 61; CSEL 29); see Da Prato's discussion, ed, Sulp.
1.3771
8 It is not clear that this reading (that of V) is to be preferred to the
variant, Sebastianus. See Life Ch. 23 n. 3. Epist. 26 of Paulinus is
addressed to a Sebastianus.
9 Bihlmeyer reasonably suggests that the persons named in this sen-
tence were clergy serving the church at Primuliacum; see above, n. 5.
10 Quite probably the Aurelius to whom Sulpicius wrote Efyist. 2. De-
scribed as deacon there Aurelius may have been ordained priest
meanwhile.
THIRD DIALOGUE 227
them to listen is curiosity rather than piety.' Since he did not
wish them to be let in, I was embarrassed for them. Finally,
and with difficulty, I gained admittance for the former vicari-
us Eucherius 11 and for Celsus, 12 a man of consular rank. The
rest were sent off. Then we arranged for Gallus to sit down
in the middle. And, after his well-known modesty had forced
him to be silent for a long time, he finally made this beginning.
Chapter 2
'It is to listen to me that you have come together/ he said,
*you holy and eloquent men. But the ears you lend me are, I
suppose, eager for matters of religion rather than for those
of scholarship. You mean to listen to me as a witness of the
f aithj not as a copious orator.
'What I said yesterday I shall not repeat. Those who did
not hear it can learn it from the transcript. 1 New matter is
what Postumianus is waiting for. He is eager to announce it
to the Orient, so that the Occident may not have to yield
place should the Oriental solitaries be compared with Martin.
'First, I wish to relate an incident which a whisper in my
ear from Refrigerius has suggested. It happened in the city of
11 Possibly to be identified, as Bihlmeyer suggests, with an uncle of the
Emperor Thepdosius who was consul in 381 (he is not elsewhere re-
corded as serving as vicarius) ; cf PWK 6.882.
12 A Celsus was praefectus annonae in Rome in 385; PWK. 3.1884, art.
'Celsus (17).
1 Lat. ex scripturis cognoscent. According to Babut 49 n. 2, the indication
that a stenographer is at work (cf. below, Ch. 17, second paragraph,
-third sentence) is part of Sulpicius' 'artifice littdraire: (See above, p.
90) . While other arguments may support Babut's case for a literary fic-
tion (cf. below, Ch. 5 n. 2) , none is supplied by the suggestion of a sten-
ographer (notarius) occupied in taking down the conversations. Accord-
ing to St. Augustine, a stenographer was used to record the conversa-
tions at Cassiciacum less than twenty years before: Contra Academicos
1.1.4 and De beata vita 2.15, 3.18 (translations in this series, Writings
of St. Augustine L109, 63, 66; cf. Arbesmann, ibid. 97) .
228 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
Chartres. A certain householder brought to Martin his twelve-
year-old daughter who had been dumb from birth. He begged
that the blessed man use his holy intervention to free the
child's tongue from its impediment. In this, Martin yielded to
the bishops Valentinus 2 and Victricius, 3 who happened to be
at his side. He declared himself inadequate to such a great
task, while for their superior sanctity nothing was impossible.
But they joined their pious prayers to the father's request and
begged Martin to do what was hoped for from him. He de-
layed no longer admirable both in showing his humility
and in not postponing his charity. He told the large crowd
standing by to clear away. Then, in the presence only of
the bishops and the girl's father, he followed his usual prac-
tice and prostrated himself in prayer. Next, he blessed a little
oil, using the formula of exorcism. The sanctified liquid he
then poured into the girl's mouth, holding her tongue mean-
while with his fingers. The saint was not disappointed in the
miraculous outcome. He asked the girl her father's name;
she instantly replied. The father shouted for joy amidst his
tears. Embracing Martin's knees, he declared, to everyone's
amazement, that he had just heard his daughter speak for
the first time. 4
'If anyone thinks this story incredible, here is Evagrius to
give evidence of its truth, for he was present when the event
occurred.'
Chapter 3
The following incident is of minor importance, but I still
2 Probably the Valentinus who was Bishop of Chartres at this time:
Duchesne, Pastes jpiscopaux 2.424.
3 Doubtless the well-known Bishop of Rouen: Duchesne, op. ctt, 2.204, 424.
4 As Babut discerned (p. 268f.) , we have in this chapter another version
of the miracle narrated in Life 16; cf. Delehaye 40.
THIRD DIALOGUE 229
think it should not be omitted. I recently learned of it from
the report of the priest Arpagius.
The wife of the comes Avitianus, 1 following a common
practice, had sent to Martin, for his blessing, some oil to use
in curing various diseases. The glass container was round-
bellied, 2 and had a long neck. This projecting neck was empty,
for it is usual in filling such vessels to leave the extreme upper
part free for the stopper. The priest testified that he saw the
. oil increase under Martin's blessing until it overflowed and
spread outside. As the vessel was being taken back to the
mistress of the house, the oil seethed with the same miraculous
power. While the slave carried the vessel in his hands, the
overflow was so abundant as to cover all his clothing. Yet,
when the matron received the vessel it was full to the very
brim. Even today, as the priest testifies, there is no room in
the bottle for the stopper commonly used to seal up liquids
that are being kept with special care.
'This, too, is a remarkable incident that I remember hap-
pened to our friend here' and Gallus was looking at me. 3
'He had placed in a rather high window a glass vessel
filled with oil that Martin had blessed. A slave, not knowing
there was a bottk there, carelessly pulled the cloth covering
it. The vessel fell upon the marble-paved floor. Everyone was
terrified that the divinely blessed oil had been lost, but the
bottle was found undamaged, as if it had fallen upon the softest
of feathers. This outcome should be referred not to chance,
but to the miraculous power of Martin, whose blessing could
not be lost.
1 Claudius Avitianus, In the year 363 he was vicarius for Africa. After
366 he was entrusted with the conduct of criminal trials in Gaul, an
office in which he showed great cruelty. See below, Ch. 4, 5, 8. CL Seeck
in PWK 2.2394f.
2 Lat., in ventrem cresceret. Cf. Virgil, Georgia 4.122.
3 Viz,, at Sulpicius.
230 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
'And what, now, of this wonder? It was performed by some-
one whose name I shall suppress, for he is present among us
and has forbidden me to betray him. Anyway, our friend
Saturninus was also there at the time. A dog was barking at us
with more than usual vigor. "In Martin's name/' said that
other companion, "I order you to be quiet." The dog ceased
at once; the bark stuck in his throatyou would have thought
his tongue had been cut off. It is a relatively small matter that
Martin worked miracles in his own person; you can believe
me that others also have worked many in his name.'
Chapter 4
'You knew the cruel temper of the former comes Avitianus,
how savage and bloodthirsty he was. 1 One day in a rage of
spirit he entered Tours, followed by ranks of captives, pitiful
and all in chains. To the city's amazement he ordered various
kinds of torture to be prepared for their punishment, with the
next day set for beginning the gloomy executions.
'When Martin learned of this, he set out alone a little be-
fore midnight for the palace of this ferocious beast. In the
deep silence of the night everyone was sleeping and the doors
were barred. With no way, then, to enter, Martin prostrated
himself at the tyrant's bloody threshold. While Avitianus lay
buried in deep slumber, an angel broke in and struck him.
'The servant of God," he said, "lies at your threshold and
are you sleeping?* 5 Troubled at hearing these words, Avitianus
leaped from his bed. He called his slaves together and cried
out, trembling, that Martin was at the door; they were to go
at once and open it, so that the servant of God should receive
no slight or injury. But they, as is the way with all slaves,
hardly went farther than the inner doors, making sport of
1 See Ch, 3 n. 1.
THIRD DIALOGUE 231
their master for having been deluded by a dream. They said
there was no one at the door, arguing from their own charac-
ter that no one could be keeping vigil in the night. It was in-
conceivable to them that a bishop could lie prostrate before
a stranger's threshold in the dread darkness. Avitianus was
easily persuaded of this and again relaxed in sleep.
'But soon, struck with greater force, he cried out that Mar-
tin was standing before the door; that was why he could have
no rest of mind or body. While his slaves dawdled, he himself
advanced to the outer doors and there, as he suspected, found
Martin. Smitten by a power so great and so manifest, he
cried out: "Why, sir, have you done this to me? You do not
need to speak. I know what you want; I see what you de-
mand. Leave as quickly as possible, so that heaven's wrath
may not devour me for wrong done to you. I have already
paid penalty enough. Believe me, it was no slight cause that
brought me here in person/'
'When the saint had gone away, Avitianus called his offi-
cers and ordered all the prisoners to be released. And he him-
self promptly went away. With Avitianus thus put to flight,
the city found both happiness and freedom/
Chapter 5
'The foregoing facts have been learned by many people
through the testimony of Avitianus. The priest Refrigerius,
whom you see here, recently heard them from a reliable man,
the former tribune Dagridus, 1 who called the Divine Majesty
to witness his oath that the incident had been related to him
by Avitianus himself.
'Do not be surprised that I am doing today what I did not
1 The MSS. vary widely in the spelling of this proper name. There is
no certainty that Dagridus (the spelling of V) is correct.
232 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
do yesterday attaching to each miracle the names of wit-
nesses, persons still living, to whom any skeptic may have
recourse. It is incredulity that forces me to do this, for I have
been told that many have some hesitation about the truth of
certain incidents reported yesterday. All such are free to accept
the testimony of these still surviving witnesses; doubting our
trustworthiness, they may put greater faith in them. But, if
their skepticism has come to such a point, they will not, in my
opinion, believe those others, either.
'I am amazed that a man of even the slightest religious sen-
sibility could consent to such a sacrilege as to think that any-
one could possibly lie about Martin. Anyone who lives under
God's law should put aside any such suspicion, for Martin
surely has no need to be glorified by lies. It is Thee, O Christ,
that I call to witness for the good faith of my entire report.
All I have said, all I am going to say are facts I myself have
seen or have learned from dependable sources, chiefly from
Martin's own report.
True, we have adopted the dialogue form to allay bore-
dom and lend variety to the narrative. But we conscientiously
declare that it is historical truth we have used as our founda-
tion. 2
1 have had to introduce this digression and it has pained
me to do so because of the incredulity of certain persons.
Our conversation should now return to the theme agreed
upon. Since, in dealing with it, I find myself so zealously^lis-
tened to, I must confess that Aper made an appropriate
judgment in sending away the incredulous and in thinking
only those should hear who would believe.'
2 The words of this paragraph are hardly any words of Callus. Sulpicius,
like a careless 'ghost-writer/ has let his own voice be heard. The pass-
age lends force to Babul's argument that the Dialogues are a literary
artifice; cf. Ch. 2 n. 1 and, above, p. 90.
THIRD DIALOGUE 233
Chapter 6
'Something, believe me, which puts me quite beside myself
and makes me completely insane with grief is this : that Chris-
tians disbelieve in Martin's miraculous powers, whereas de-
mons recognize them!
'The blessed man's monastery was two miles distant from
the city. 1 Yet, whenever he set foot beyond the threshold of
his cell, starting for the church, you could see the demoniacs,
the whole length of the church, roar and tremble like hordes
of criminals at the approach of the judge. Indeed, the clergy,
when not aware that the bishop was coming, would have in-
dication of his approach from the groans of the demons.
When Martin was once drawing near, I saw one demoniac
lifted in mid-air and, with arms extended upwards, held
there, his feet not touching the floor.
'When Martin set himself to exorcizing demons, he would
not touch anyone with his hands or reprove anyone with
such twisted tumultuous speech 2 as the clergy for the most part
use. Rather, he would bring the demoniacs to him and order
everyone else to go away. Behind locked doors, in the middle
of the church, he would cover himself with sackcloth and
sprinkle himself with ashes; then, he would pray, prostrate on
the floor. That is when you could see the pitiful demoniacs
suffering their extremities of torment, affected now in this
way, now in that. Some would have their feet in the air,
suspended as if from a cloud; yet, their clothing would not
fall about their faces to cause shame because of their naked-
ness. 3 Elsewhere, you could see the tormented demons con-
1 See Life 10.
2 Lat., rotatur turba verborum.
3 Sulpicius is again (cf. Epist. 2 n. 8) drawing on Hilary, Contra Con-
stantium. The borrowing here is from Ch. 8 (PL 10.585) . Jerome, Eput.
10813 (PL 22.889; CSEL 55.323) seems to have used the same source.
Cf. Babut 84; Delehaye 49 finds a further parallel in Paulinus, Carm.
23.82-95.
234 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
names when none had asked for them. One would declare
fess their crime with no one questioning them, revealing their
he was Jupiter; another, Mercury. 4 Finally, you would see
all the Devil's ministers in torture, and with them the Devil
himself. In Martin we must grant the fulfillment of the words
of Scripture: "The saints will judge the angels." '
Chapter 7
'A village in the country around Sens was devastated every
year by hail. The inhabitants, compelled by their great losses,
asked help from Martin. A reliable delegation was sent in the
person of the former prefect Auspicius, whose fields generally
were ravaged by heavier storms than fell elsewhere. Martin
set to praying at once, and so thoroughly freed the whole
region from its scourge that, for the twenty years during which
he remained alive, no one in those parts had to suffer from
hail. This should not be thought a chance occurrence or any-
thing other than a favor granted to Martin's intervention:
the very year in which he died the hail storms resumed their
burdensome fury. Even the world of nature felt the passing of
that man of faith so keenly that, having taken a just joy m
his life, it bewailed his death.
'If any hearer of weak faith should demand witnesses to
confirm what I have just recounted, I shall produce not just
one man but many thousands; I shall call the whole region of
the Senones to give testimony to the miracle it experienced.
I suspect that you, priest Refrigerius, remember we had a con-
versation on this matter with Auspicius's son, Romulus, a
religious man of high position. He related the events to us as
if we did not know them. He stood in dread, as you yourself
4 Cf. Life 22 and n. 2 there.
5 Cf. 1 Cor. 6.2.
THIRD DIALOGUE 235
saw, of the repeated damage that might befall his crops, and
experienced a great sorrow that Martin's life had not been
prolonged into the present.'
Chapter 8
C I come back to Avitianus. This man who everywhere, in
every city, left unspeakable monuments of his cruelty, in
Tours only was incapable of doing harm. This beast who
drew sustenance from human blood and from the deaths of
his unhappy victims showed himself gentle and calm in the
presence of the blessed Martin.
'One day, I remember, Martin visited him. On entering
the audience chamber, he saw sitting on the shoulders of
Avitianus a demon of extraordinary size. Whereupon Martin
to use, as I must, a word that is not good Latin blew out
upon 1 the demon from a distance, while Avitianus, thinking
the breath had been directed toward himself, said: "Why,
holy man, do you do that to me? 5 ' "It is not to you I do
it," said Martin, "but to the foul creature that is pressing on
your neck." The Devil withdrew, abandoning his familiar
seat. It is well established that Avitianus was of milder temper
after that day. It may be that he understood he had been
doing the will of the Devil who was always hounding him, or
else that the unclean spirit, driven by Martin from his seat,
lost his power of violence. The servant was ashamed of the
master and the master could no longer oppress the servant.
c ln the village of Amboise, 2 that is, in the old fortress which
is now inhabited by numerous brothers, there was, you know,
1 Lat. exsufflans. Bad Latin or not, the word \vas very useful for Christian
Latin, writers from Tertullian on. Du Cange, Glossarium (s.v., ex-
sufflatio) , supplies numerous examples; cf. also Da Prato, ed. Sulp,
1.379f.
2 Lat. in vico Ambatiensi. Cf. Lecoy de la Marche 204.
236 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
the sanctuary of an idol a magnificent construction. It rose
to a massive tower built of polished stones terminating in a
cone high at the top. 3 The very grandeur of the construction
maintained the superstitious honor paid to the locality. Orders
for the destruction of the temple had often been given by the
blessed Martin to Marcellus, the priest in residence. After a
while, he came himself and reproached the priest for having
left the sanctuary intact. The priest gave as excuse that a force
of soldiers and a powerful band of public workmen would
hardly serve to overturn so vast a construction; the bishop
should not lightly suppose that such an operation could have
been handled by feeble clerics and far from robust monks.
Martin then had recourse to his familiar expedients. He spent
the whole night in prayer and vigil. When morning came, a
storm broke and overturned the whole temple upon its foun-
dations. I have this story on the evidence of Marcellus.'
Chapter 9
'I have the agreement of Refrigerius concerning a further
miracle, like the last, and involving similar actions. .There was
a massive column surmounted by an idol. This Martin was
trying to overturn, but he could not do so through lack of
adequate means. In his customary way he turned to prayer.
There was seen to fall from heaven the fact is certain a
sort of column of about equal dimensions, and this, striking
the idol, reduced to dust the whole indomitable mass. It was
not enough that heavenly powers should come to his aid
unseen: those very powers had to be observed by the human
eye in openly doing service for Martin.
3 Halm's reading m conum retained; adopted by Monceaux and favored
by Chase (H<L Stud, in Class. Philol.W [1932] 73) and Hylten 80.
Babut 209 n. 1 preferred the harder reading of V, D, tn thronum,
which was adopted by Bihlmeyer.
THIRD DIALOGUE 237
'Refrigerius is likewise my witness in another matter. A
woman was suffering from a hemorrhage. Like the woman
in the Gospel/ she touched Martin's clothing and was instantly
healed.
6 A serpent swimming in the river was cutting his way
toward the bank where we had stopped. "In God's name,"
said Martin, "I order you to go back." At this word from the
saint, the evil serpent at once reversed its course and, under
our very eyes, swam across to the farther bank. As we watched
this in amazement, Martin said with a deep sigh: "Serpents
hear me and men do not." '
Chapter 10
'Martin had the habit of eating fish during the Easter 1 days,
A little before meal time, he asked whether there was any on
hand. The deacon Gato, who was charged with the adminis-
tration of the monastery and was himself a capable fisherman,
replied that he had not caught anything the whole day
through; nor had the other fishermen, those who commonly
sold fish, caught anything either. "Go, cast your net, and you
shall have a catch," said Martin. We lived, as Sulpicius here
has described, close to the river. Since it was a holiday, we all
went out to watch the fishing. We were filled with hope that
the attempt would not be in vain, since the fishing was being
done at Martin's order to supply Martin's meal. At the first cast
1 Cf. Matt. 9.20 and parallel passages in Mark and Luke.
1 According to Dom Besse (p. 27) , the episode here described occurred
on Easter Sunday ('/<? jour de Pdques*) ; the Latin (Paschae diebus)
hardly necessitates this precision. He is no doubt right in interpreting
the eating of fish as a rare seasonal relaxation from the extremely
simple dietary regime orinarily followed at Marmoutier. This (the
traditional) interpretation goes back to the fifth century: Paulinus of
P&igueux, De vita Martini 5.651-654 (PL 61.1060; CSEL 15.130) .
238 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
of his little net, the deacon drew out a huge pike, and came
running, full of joy, to the monastery: much as in the words
of some poet or other 2 I cite an author of the schools since I
am speaking among scholars "he brought in the captive boar
to the amazement of the Argives."
'A true disciple of Christ, Martin rivaled the miracles which
the Saviour worked>nd gave as an example to His saints.
Martin showed ChrisF working in him, who glorified His saint
on every occasion and showered His various graces on one
man.
The former prefect Arborius 3 states that once, when Mar-
tin was offering the Sacrifice, he saw the saint's hand, decked
as it were with precious jewels, give out a gleam of purple
light, and that, at each motion of the right hand, he heard
the sound of the jewels striking against one another. 5
Chapter 11
'I come now to something which Martin, because of the
unfortunate circumstances then prevailing, always kept a
secret, but could not hide from us. The miracle here is that
of conversation with an angel face to face.
The Emperor Maximus, 1 in other matters a good man, had
2 Statius, Thebaid 8.750. The line refers to the capture by Hercules of
the Erymanthian boar (sw) , but the quotation gams ; f d ^d F>jnt
the fact that sus also designated a kind of fish: Ovid, Haheuttca 132,
cf. Pliny, Hist. Nat. 11.111267.
3 Cf, Life 19 n. L
1 See Life 20 n. 1; Dial. 2.6 n. 1.
THIRD DIALOGUE 239
been corrupted by the advice of certain bishops. 2 After the
execution of Priscillian, he used his imperial power to protect
the Bishop Ithacius ( Priscillian's accuser) and the other per-
sons allied with him, whom I need not mention by name. No
one was to bring it as a charge against Ithacius that he had
helped to condemn a man, no matter what his character.
Meanwhile, to assist in a number of cases in which people were
in grave peril, Martin had had to go to the court, and here he
confronted the full force of a violent storm.
'Certain bishops who had met in Treves were remaining
there, communicating daily with Ithacius and making com-
mon cause with him. When the unexpected word was brought
that Martin was coming, their courage quite collapsed and
they gave themselves over to speechless fear. The day before,
following their counsel, the emperor had decided to send tri-
bunes into the Spanish provinces, armed with full power to
search out the heretics, arrest them, and deprive them of life
and property. There was no doubt that this storm would
2 Ch. 11-13, together with Chronica 2.46-51, are fundamental documents
for the history of the fourth-century Spanish heretic Priscillian and
for that of the early stages of the opposition aroused by the doctrines
associated with his name. Priscillianism was in part a survival of older
heresies. Vincent of Lerins, Commonitorium 25 (see below, pp. 315-318)
traces its roots to Simon Magus. Chief among the bishops to press the case
against Priscillian was Ithacius of Ossonuba (in Portugal) , who, at
the synod of Saragossa (380) , had part in the first official action taken
against the heresy. The events described in Ch. 11-13 of this dialogue
took place five years later, when, in consequence of a trial at Treves
(385) , Priscillian and certain of his adherents were condemned to death.
That trial and the events immediately leading up to it are the subject
of a passage in Sulpicius's Chronica which is translated below as an
Appendix (pp. 252-254) . For initial orientation in Priscillianism, see
the article 'Priscillianism' in the Catholic Encyclopedia, but important
advances achieved by more recent studies make necessary the use of
such treatments as the following: G. Bardy in DTC 13.391-400; P. de
Labriolle in the Fliche-Martin Histoire de I'Eglise 5 (Paris 1936)
385-392; A. D'Ales, S.J., Priscillien et I'Espagne chretienne a la fin du
IVe siecle (Paris 1936) . On E.-Ch. Babut, Priscillien et le Priscillianisme
(Paris 1909) , see D'Ales, op. cit. 76.
240 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
ravage a great number of saintly men as well, for no nice
distinction would be made between classes. 3 Eyes alone were
judges then; a man was declared a heretic more^ by the
pallor of his face and by his clothing than by his faith. The
bishops saw this would not find favor with Martin. But what
most irked them, in their evil conscience, was the fear that, on
arrival, Martin would refuse to associate with them; they
well knew there would be those who would be guided by his
authority and imitate his courageous position. They went into
consultation with the emperor. Officers of the magister ojfi-
riorum would be sent to meet Martin, to forbid his further
approach to the city unless he declared he would be in peace
with the bishops there. Martin cunningly baffled the emissaries
with the statement that he would come with the peace of
Christ, He finally entered the city by night and went to the
church, but only in order to pray there. The next day he went
to the palace. Besides a number of other requests which would
take too long to enumerate, his principal petitions were for
the count Narses and the governor Leucadius; they had both
belonged to the party of Gratian and their passionate acts of
resistance had merited the anger of the victor. But Martin's
chief concern was that tribunes with life-and-death powers
should not be sent to the Spanish provinces. The pious Martin
was anxious to preserve 'not only the Christians whom this
would be an occasion to maltreat, but also the heretics them-
selves.
The first and second day, the shrewd emperor kept Martin
in suspense; possibly in order to lend more weight to the affair,
possibly because he was unreconcilable to those who had
3 See Chronica 2.50 (below, p. 253 n. 6) .
THIRD DIALOGUE 241
resisted him, 4 or possibly, as many thought at the time, because
avarice stood in the way, the property of the future victims
being the object of his cupidity. It is said that the emperor,
though given to many good works, yielded easily to avarice.
Perhaps this came about through political necessity. The state
treasury had been exhausted by earlier emperors and Maximus
always stood in constant expectancy of civil wars. It will be
easy, therefore, to excuse him for having used any occasion
whatever as a means of providing resources for his empire. 5
Chapter 12
'Meanwhile, the bishops, with whom Martin refused to
associate, were alarmed and ran to the emperor. They com-
plained that they had been condemned in advance; that the
position of all of them was already determined, if Martin's
authority should strengthen the insistence of Theognitus, 1 who
alone, when the sentence had been rendered, had openly con-
demned them; that Martin ought not to have been permitted
to enter the city walls he was now no defender of heretics,
but an avenger; nothing would have been accomplished
through Priscillian's death if Martin were to work vengeance
for it. Finally, they prostrated themselves with tears and la-
mentations, and implored the emperor to exercise his imperial
4 With Bihlmeyer and Hylt&i (p. 153) I adopt the emendation of
Furtner (p. 37f.) : obnixis (or obnisis) sibi instead of Halm*s obnoxius
episcopis (the latter yielding the translation: 'because in his servility
to the bishops he was implacable') . In the Furtner reading we have a
reference to Narses and Leucadius, who, as partisans of Gratian, had
been opposed to Maximus. For Narses, see art. 'Narses (6) ' in PWK
16.1758; Babut 149 n. L
1 The MSS. leave the spelling of this name uncertain. Halm drew the
spelling given above from V, which here shows a manifestly cor-
rupt form, but a few lines later shows Theognitum. Editions prior to
Halm generally printed Theognistus, the spelling used by Ensslin in
PWK, 2te Reihe 5.1985.
242 SULPIGIUS SEVERUS
might against the man. Maximus, indeed, was almost forced
to involve Martin in the fate of the heretics. But, while he
showed excessive favor and subservience to the bishops, he still
knew well that Martin was superior to them all in faith,
sanctity, and virtue. He set about preparing another way in
which to overcome him.
'He first summoned Martin to a private conference and
addressed him with pleasant words: the heretics had been
duly condemned under the procedure of the public courts
and not through any persecution by the bishops; there was
no reason for him to think he should condemn any association
with Ithacius and the rest of his party; as for Theognitus, it
was through animosity and not any just motive that he had
disagreed; the same Theognitus was the only one who mean-
while had separated himself from association with the rest-
no change had been made by the latter; moreover, a synod
held a few days earlier had pronounced Ithacius free of guilt.
When these reasons did not succeed in moving Martin, the
emperor burst into a rage and instantly withdrew from his
sight. Forthwith, men were dispatched to execute those per-
sons for whom Martin had interceded. 5
Chapter 13
'Although it was night when he learned this, Martin burst
into the palace. He promised, if the Priscillianists should be
spared, to associate with the other bishops, but only if there
should be a recall of the tribunes already dispatched to the
Spanish provinces for the destruction of the churches there.
The effect was immediate; Maximus granted every petition.
'The next day was appointed for the consecration of Bishop
Felix, 1 certainly a very holy man and worthy to have been
1 On Felix, Bishop of Troves, see Buchesne, Fastes Jpiscopaux 3.36. He
is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology (March 26) .
THIRD DIALOGUE
243
bishop in better days. On that day, Martin entered into com-
munion with the bishops, thinking it better to yield for an
hour than to abandon those whose necks were threatened
with the sword. The bishops used all their power to force
Martin to set his signature in witness of that communion,
but they could not wrest it from him.
'On the following day, he left Treves in haste and began his
journey home. He was sad and groaned inwardly that he had
involved himself even for an hour in communion with guilty
men. Not far from a village named Andethanna 2 was a place
where the lonely forest opens out into a vast solitude. 3 Here,
when his companions had gone forward a little, Martin sat
down. As he reflected upon the cause of the deed which sor-
rowed him, his thoughts in turn accused and defended him. 4
Suddenly an angel appeared to him. "You have reason, Mar-
tin," said he, "to feel compunction, yet you had no other way
out. Renew your courage, resume your determination; other-
wise, you may incur danger not to your honor but to your
salvation."
'Accordingly, from that time, Martin took great care not
to be involved in association with the party of Ithacius. After-
wards, when he cured possessed persons more slowly than
usual and through a diminished gift of grace, he would some-
times declare to us, weeping, that because of the evil of that
communion in which he had been involved for only a mo-
ment, and that through necessity and not from choice he
2 While it is clear from the Itinerarium Antonini that Andethanna lies
between Treves and Reims, no certain identification with a modern
locality has been made. Some hold for Epternach (Echternach) in the
duchy of Luxembourg; others for a village named Nieder-Anwen, also
in Luxembourg. Cf. Lecoy de la Marche 253f.; Ihm in PWK 1.2123f.
3 Text marked as corrupt by Halm. I have adopted Haupt's emendation,
panduntur; cf. Hylten 154f.
4 C. Rom. 2.15.
244 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
was aware of a loss of his miracle-working powers. 5 He lived
thereafter sixteen years. 6 He attended no synod and kept aloof
from all meetings of bishops."
Chapter 14
The divine grace which had been diminished in him for
a time Martin recovered, as we came to know, with heavy
interest. I saw a possessed man being brought to the rear door
of the monastery and healed before he reached the threshold.
'Recently, I heard the testimony of a man who had been
sailing on the Tyrrhenian Sea on his way to Rome. The sud-
den outbreak of a storm had put the lives of all the passengers
into extreme danger. At this point, an Egyptian merchant
who was not yet a Christian, cried out in a loud voice : God
of Martin, save us." Soon, the. tempest was calmed, and my
witness could continue his desired course with the complete
assurance of a smooth sea. _ _
"The servants of the former vicarius Lycontius, a Christian,
were in the grip of a severe epidemic. Throughout the house
they lay sick from the effects of this strange calamity. By letter,
Lycontius sought the help of Martin. The blessed man was
convinced that the result asked for was difficult of attain-
ment, 2 for he perceived in spirit that the household was being
chastised by divine power. Nevertheless, for seven days and
nights he prayed and fasted continuously and did not stop
6 Anofher woublesome chronological datum; cf. above, p "^ toton
years can not be fitted in between the consecration of Felix (385) and
the death of Martin, if the latter event is to be dated in 397 <*:
and 15 on Epist. 3) . One proposal is to emend here to thirteen, but
cf. Delehaye 33. .
7 E.g., from a synod at Mimes mentioned m Dial. 2.13.
2 Text markedas"corrupt by Halm, but the meaning intended is reason-
ably clear; cf. HyluSn 78f.
THIRD DIALOGUE 245
until he had obtained what he had undertaken to beg for.
Lycontius, when he had received the God-sent favors, came
quickly to Martin, announcing gratefully that his household
had been completely freed from danger. As an offering, he
also brought a hundred pounds of silver. This the blessed man
neither rejected nor accepted. Before the bullion crossed the
threshold of the monastery, he at once designated it to be
used in ransoming captives. Some of the brothers suggested to
him that a part of the sum be reserved to meet monastery
expenses: the whole community, they said, was badly off
as regards food, and many lacked clothing. To this Martin
replied: "It is for the Church to feed and clothe us, so long
as we are seen seeking nothing for our own use."
There here come to mind certain of Martin's great miracles
which are easier to admire than relate. You surely know what
I mean: there are things about Martin which cannot be ex-
plained in detail. What follows is an example. Whether I can
present it just as it happened I do not know.
'One of the brothers (you know the name, but I must con-
ceal his identity for fear of bringing embarrassment to a holy
man) a certain brother, then, had found in Martin's stove
a good supply of burning coals. He brought up a little stool,
spread his legs apart, bared the lower part of his body and
seated himself over the fire. Martin at once sensed that his
holy cell 3 was being profaned. In a loud voice he cried out,
"Who is defiling our dwelling-place with his belly all bare?"
The brother heard this and, conscious of his fault, recognized
that the rebuke was directed against him. He at once ran to
us, breathless, and, constrained by Martin's power, acknowl-
edged his shame.'
3 Lat. sacro tegmini sensit iniuriam. The sense given for the first two
words is gained from the following clause (quis . . . nostrum incestat
habitaculum?) . Tegmen ( covering generally) is used somewhat
similarly in Statius, Thebaid 1.406.
246 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
Chapter 15 l
'One day, in the tiny space which surrounded his cdl,
Martin was sitting on that wooden stool of his you all know.
Perched on the high rock which rises above the monastery,
he spied two demons, who were emitting lively and joyous
shouts of encouragement: "On, Brictio! Come on, Bnctio!
They noticed, I suppose, that that unfortunate man was ap-
proaching, and well knew what madness they had excited in
'Immediately, Brictio broke in, in a rage. Full of frenzy, he
poured out a torrent of abuse upon Martin. The day before,
Brictio had been reprimanded by Martin: when Brictio, before
belonging to the clergy, had had nothing (having been reared
in the monastery by Martin himself), how was he now keep-
ing horses and buying slaves? (For he was then being accused
by many of having bought not only barbarian boys but also
fair-faced girls.) All this moved the unhappy wretch to insane
anger, while his torment of spirit was largely due, I suppose,
to the instigation of the demons. His attack upon Martin,
then was such that he could hardly restrain himself from vio-
lence. On his part, the holy Martin, with his countenance
calm and his spirit unruffled, sought to check poor Brictio's
frenzy with gentle words. But Brictio was so far engulfed by
the Evil Spirit as even to have lost control of his mind, weak
1 This chapter and the following are omitted or displaced in a number
of MSS , probably out of respect for Brictio, about whom they relate
much that is unpleasant and who succeeded Martin as Bishop ot
Tours. Cf. Babut SOlff.; Delehaye 13f.; Chase, op. cit. 60f.
3 Also railed Brice, from a variant Latin form of his name, Brictiia.
Although perhaps St. Martin's most outspoken enemy (Babut 118),
Brice succeeded him in the see of Tours (although the succession was
contested at the time) -cf. Duchesne, Pastes episcopaux 2.503-and was
subsequently venerated as a saint (Roman Martyrology, November 13) .
Babut regards the scene here described as perhaps a fiction (loc cit.) ;
cf. op. dt. 116ff., 285 ff. for his treatment of Brice.
THIRD DIALOGUE 247
as it was. His lips trembled, his features quivered, his face
was pale from frenzy. Sinful words came rolling out : he said
he was more saintly than Martin, having been brought up in
the monastery from his earliest years, educated by Martin
himself in the sacred disciplines of the Church; while Martin
from the beginning (he himself could not deny it) had been
soiled by leading the life of a soldier, and now, deranged and
in his dotage, was the victim of empty superstitions and of the
ridiculous phantasms of his visions.
'When he had spat out these and other bitter words which
it would be better not to repeat, Brictio finally went away.
His anger was sated and it was as if he had worked his full
vengeance. He was returning quickly by the path by which he
had come when he was brought to repentance I believe it
was because the demons had been routed from his heart
through Martin's prayers. He promptly came back and pros-
trated himself at Martin's knees. He begged forgiveness and
confessed his error. Restored at last to his senses, he admitted
he had been possessed by demons. It was easy for Martin to
forgive the suppliant. Then, to him and to all of us, the holy
man told how he had seen Brictio incited by the demons: he
had not been moved by the abuses, which were damaging only
to him who uttered them.
'Later, the same Brictio was repeatedly charged in Martin's
presence with many serious crimes. But Martin could never
be induced to remove him from the priestly office; he wished
to avoid the appearance of taking action against a personal
injury, and would often say this: "If Christ put up with Judas,
why should I not put up with Brictio?" '
Chapter 16 l
At this, Postumianus said: C I should like that example to
1 See Ch. 15 n. 1.
248 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
be heard by that neighbor of ours. 2 He is a prudent man who
does not concern himself with either the present or the future,
but, when he has been wronged, he goes crazy and loses con-
trol of himself. He ragts against the clergy, he attacks the
laity, he puts the whole world into commotion to effect his
revenge. For three years now he has been constantly affected
by this contentiousness; neither time nor reason can calm him.
This is a grievous and pitiable condition for a man to be in,
even if this were the only incurable evil which afflicts him. But
you, Callus, ought to have confronted him often with those
examples of patience and serenity, so that he might come to
unlearn anger and learn to forgive. Perhaps he will find out
that this little speech of mine, spoken in parenthesis, was
meant for him. If so, I hope he will know I have spoken not as
an enemy, but as a friend. Were it possible, I should prefer to
have him compared to the bishop Martin than to the tyrant
Phalaris. 3
'But, let us be done with talking about him it can only be
unpleasant and return, Gallus, to our dear Martin.'
Chapter 17
With the sun about to set, I saw that evening had come
upon us and said, 'The day has gone, Postumianus; we must
get up. At the same time, such eager listeners have a dinner
due them. And as for Martin, you should not expect that
anyone telling about him will find an end. He is a subject of
such scope that no discourse can comprehend him. However,
you can carry to the Orient what you have just heard about
Martin. Wherever you pass on your return, through whatever
2 Da Prato suggests (ad loc.) that some Aquitanian bishop is intended
here; cf. Dial. 1.2 (with n. 1) and Introduction, p. 90.
3 The proverbially cruel tyrant of Agrigentum in the sixth century B.C.
THIRD DIALOGUE 249
coasts, in whatever locality, harbor, island, and city, you must
spread among the people the name and glory of Martin.
'Bear it in mind, first of all, not to bypass Campania. How-
ever far off your route it may lie, do not attach such impor-
tance to even a great loss of time that you will be prevented
from visiting there the illustrious Paulinus, whose fame has
spread throughout the world. Read to him, first of all, the book
that contains our discourse, both that of yesterday and of to-
day. Report everything to him, tell him everything. Soon,
through him, Rome will learn the praises of the holy man.
Just so did he spread that first little book of ours, 1 not through
Italy alone, but also through all Illyria. 2 He felt no jealousy
toward Martin and could justly esteem Martin's glories and
the miracles he accomplished in Christ's name. He did not
refuse to compare our bishop with his own dear Felix. 3
'If, from there, you pass over to Africa, report to Carthage
what you have heard. Carthage may already know Martin, as
you yourself have said; 4 yet, especially now, she should know
more about him and not confine her admiration to her own
martyr Cyprian, even if her soil has been consecrated through
his holy blood.
1 The Life of St. Martin; cf. Dial 1.23.
2 As Bihlmeyer suggests (cf. Delehaye 60) , Paulinus may have been
assisted in circulating the book in Illyria by his close friend St. Niceta
of Remesiana (in Dacia) , whose influence seems to have extended far
beyond his diocese. Paulinus, Epist. 29.14 (PL 61.231; CSEL 29.261) is
especially interesting in connection with Bihlmeyer's suggestion. The
works of Niceta are translated into English elsewhere in this volume.
It is a curious fact that the two friends, Paulinus and Niceta, are
commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the same day, June 22.
3 Priest and confessor of Nola in Campania; Roman Martyrology (January
14) . Thirteen of the poems of Paulinus are written in honor of St.
Felix birthday pieces (carmina natalitia) for his feast. See the recent
study of R. C. Goldschmidt, Paulinus' Churches at Nola (Amsterdam
1940) 7-10. In Epist. 17.4, Paulinus puts the merits of St. Martin side by
side with those of St. Felix (PL 61.236; CSEL 29.127) .
4 Dial 1.23.
250 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
'If you veer somewhat to the left and enter the Achaean
Gulf, make Corinth know, make Athens know, that Plato in
the Academy was no wiser than Martin, Socrates in his prison
no braver. Happy, indeed, is Greece to have been permitted
by God to hear the preaching of the Apostle, yet Christ did not
forget the Gallic provinces, since He sent them a Martin for
their keeping.
'When you have gone as far as Egypt, whatever be her
pride in the number of her saints and in their miracles, still
she should hear how neither to her nor yet to Asia as a whole
does Europe yield the palm, staking her claim on Martin
alone.'
Chapter 18
'But, when you once more set sail, leaving Egypt and mak-
ing for Jerusalem, there is a mission with which I charge you,
a mission which concerns a sorrow of mine. If ever you come
to the shores of the renowned Ptolemais, 1 inquire carefully of
the place where our Pomponius 2 is buried, and do not fail to
visit the spot where his bones lie in foreign soil. Shed abun-
dant tears there; tears that spring as well from your affection
as from my deep-rooted love. Scatter purple flowers and
sweet-smelling grasses upon the soil, even if this be but an
1 The later Acre (Akka) , in Palestine.
2 This Pomponius is probably to be identified with the freedman whose
flight is discussed in Dial. 1.12; cf. Da Prato's remarks' there and Hylte*n
77f. In both passages the desertion is blamed on the influence of a
person whose name is withheld, Babut identifies this abductor with a
notorious opponent of St. Jerome's, the priest Vigilantius: in Le
moyen dge 19 (1906) 205-213 (Babut's arguments are reproduced by
J. Gwynn, The Book of Armagh [Dublin 1913] cclxxvi ff.) ; cf. also
Babut, Saint Martin de Tours 48ff.
THIRD DIALOGUE 251
empty homage. 3 Speak to him, not harshly, not bitterly, not
in the language of reproof, but in a tone of compassion. Tell
him that if he had been willing to listen to you at one time
or to me at all times, and had taken Martin as a model rather
than that man I choose not to name, 4 he would never have
been so cruelly separated from me; he would not now be cov-
ered by the sand of an unknown beach, or, like a shipwrecked
pirate, have met his death in mid-sea and barely secured buri-
al at the very edge of the shore. Let them see this as their work,
all those who have sought to harm me in avenging themselves
on him; let them look upon their glory, and, now at least,
their vengeance done, let them cease their attacks on me/
I spoke these words of sorrow in a plaintive voice and my
grief moved all to weeping. With our great admiration for
Martin was mingled an equal sadness, awakened by our tears.
And so we parted.
3 The whole sentence is surely a reminiscence of Virgil, Aeneid 6.884ff.
Here follow in the Dublin MS. (and only there) the following words:
simul ignosce decepto et misserere fugztivo placitum illi esse dominum
et indulgens tantis obnoxio erroribus precare indicium. The interpre-
tation may be as follows (with a full- or half-stop after fugitivo and
placidum read for placitum all as in Zellerer 48) : 'At the same time
pardon that victim of deception and have mercy on the fugitive; pray
that the Lord be gentle towards him and that judgment be lenient
upon one who yielded to such false teachings.' The genuineness of
the passage has been much disputed since Babut published it in 1906
(Le moyen dge as in the foregoing note; cf. Gwynn, op. cit. cclxxvi n. 1
and 433) . See HylteVs careful analysis (pp. 77f.) .
4 Cf. n. 2 above.
APPENDIX
St. Martin and the Condemnation of Priscillian 1
(Extract from the Chronicles of Sulpicius Severus,
Book II, Chapters 49 and 50)
(49) ... When the victorious Maximus entered Treves,
[Ithacius] pressed upon him petitions directed against Pris-
cillian and his adherents that were full of hatred and criminal
intent. This action aroused the emperor. He sent letters to the
prefect of the Gallic provinces and to the vicarius of the
Spanish provinces, directing that absolutely everyone involved
in the disgraceful affair should be brought for trial to a synod
at Bordeaux. 3
When Instantius 3 and Priscillian had been brought to trial
in this way, Instantius was ordered to state his case first. He
was unsuccessful in exculpating himself and was pronounced
unworthy of the episcopate. Priscillian, however, was unwill-
ing to be heard by the bishops and appealed his case to the
emperor. The request was granted, because of the timidity of
our bishops, who ought either to have pronounced their judg-
1 See Dial. 3.11 n. 2, which fits this excerpt into its context. For Maxi-
mus, represented here as occupying his capital after the overthrow of
Gratian, see Life Ch. 20 n. 1.
2 The synod was held in 384.
3 One of the two bishops a Salvianus was the other who, with Pris-
cillian and another layman, were held suspect of heresy by the council
of Saragossa (380) ; cf. Sulpicius, Chronica 2.47 (PL 20.124; CSEL
1.100) .
252
APPENDIX 253
merit even against a person who resisted their authority, or,
if they were themselves under suspicion, to have reserved the
case for a hearing before other bishops. In a matter involving
such manifest crimes they ought not to have let the case pass
to the emperor.
(50) Thus, all who were compromised in the affair were
brought before the emperor. Following after them came their
accusers, the bishops Ydacius 4 and Ithacius. I should not
blame their zeal for condemning the heretics, if their efforts
had not been fired by an excessive eagerness for victory. In
my opinion there is as much fault to find with the accusers
as with the accused. In any case, I find Ithacius to have been
without principle and without scruple: 5 he was audacious,
excessively talkative, impudent, a spendthrift who bestowed
most of his attention on his gullet and his belly. His foolishness
went even so far that he denounced as accomplices and di-
sciples of Priscillian all men, even holy ones, who had a taste
for sacred reading or a firm disposition toward frequent
fasting. 6
The wretched Ithacius even dared at this time to make an
open charge of heresy against the bishop Martin, a man clearly
to be compared with the Apostles. Martin was then at Treves.
He constantly upbraided Ithacius, so that he might give up
the accusation; he constantly pleaded with Maximus not to
shed the blood of the unfortunate defendants. It was enough
and more, he urged, that these men should be declared here-
tics by the judgment of the bishops and dismissed from their
4 Also written Idacius and Hydatius. He was Bishop of Merida; see
D'Ales, op. cit. (Dial 3.11 n. 2) 163-166.
5 With the Lat. (nihil pensi, nihil sancti habuisse) cf. Sallust, Bellum
Jugurth. 41.9 and Delehaye 57; the description which follows likewise
shows Sallustian features.
6 Lat. quibus propositum erat certare ieiuniis. Rivalry in fasting possibly
is intended, but (see Da Prato, ad loc.) the interpretation given above
is more likely (Babut 138, Delehaye 62) .
254 SULPICIUS SEVERUS
sees; it would be a monstrosity and an unheard-of impiety
for an ecclesiastical case to be tried by a secular judge.
Finally, as long as Martin stayed at Treves, the hearing was
deferred. When he was about to leave, he used his exceptional
authority to elicit from Maximus the promise that no capital
punishment would be pronounced upon the accused.
But, later, the emperor was misled by the bishops Magnus
and Rufus. 7 Abandoning his counsel of clemency, he turned
the case over to the prefect Evodius, 8 a man of passionate
severity. Submitting Priscillian to a double interrogation,
Evodius convicted him of sorcery. 9 In fact, Priscillian did not
deny that he had been given to obscene doctrines, 10 that he
also had conducted night-time gatherings of infamous women,
that he had the habit of praying naked. When Evodius had
declared Priscillian guilty, he had him imprisoned until he
could refer the case to the emperor. The proceedings were
brought to the palace, and the emperor decreed that Priscillian
and his adherents should be condemned to death.
7 This Rufus is probably distinct from the Rufus of Life 24; see n. 1
there.
8 See Life, Ch. 20 n. 2, where Evodius is described as surpassingly just,
9 Lat. convictum maleficii. See D'Ales, op cit. 61 n. 1.
10 Lat. obscenis . . . doctrinis. D'Ales (p. 62) translates 'sciences occultes.'
VINCENT OF LERINS
THE
COMMONITORIES
(Commonitoria]
Translated
by
RUDOLPH E. MORRIS, J.U.D.
Marquette University
INTRODU GT I O N
HERE is a striking similarity between our age and that
of Vincent of Lerins. Today as then the world is in
turmoil. New forces have penetrated the historically
established centers of power and are a menace to traditional
order. People are living in a state of permanent insecurity.
Today as then ideologies are in conflict one with another.
Vincent of Lerins' Commonitories captivate the modern
reader with its verve, its penetrating analysis, its brilliance.
It deals chiefly with one issue, the question of the historical
permanence of the Catholic Church throughout the changing
ages.
In Vincent's day the Visigoths were in Spain and southern
France; the Vandals occupied northern Africa. Conquest
and struggle darkened all horizons; there seemed little likeli-
hood that any strong power, or even a balance of powers,
could be established. The links with the past were being
weakened; the path to the future was dim and uncertain.
The Huns to the North were a constant menace; the people
along the Mediterranean from Marseilles to Genoa were
disturbed by the influx of refugees, among them Prosper of
Aquitaine, Vincent's famous adversary. Those whose minds
and souls were vitally interested in the spiritual heritage of
Christianity devoted their full energies to preserving the doc-
trine of the only force that they knew was unchanging.
The Christian atmosphere of that time was charged with
257
258 VINCENT OF LERINS
explosive problems and alternatives. Four hundred years of
Christian tradition had already passed, yet what we consider
today as its foundation had been only recently clarified by
the decisions made in famous General Councils. The Council
of Nicaea (325) had taken place only about one hundred
years before Vincent wrote his work; the Council of Con-
stantinople had convened in 381 ; and the Council of Ephesus
in 43 1 was, so to speak, the topic of the day. St. Augustine
had just died. The discussion between his basic opposition
to Pelagius and the so-called Semi-Pelagians had turned into
a passionate fight for or against the role of free will and its
relationship to divine grace. The region in which Vincent
lived was the center of Western theology: Cassian, Vincent
and Hilary of Aries favored Semi-Pelagianism, Prosper de-
fended the Bishop of Hippo. Pope Celestine I (d. 432), in
a famous letter addressed to the bishops of southern Gaul,
criticized the priests of Marseilles who 'abused their preaching
to confuse people's minds 5 by denouncing errors in the Augus-
tinian doctrine. In short, the great power of Christianity, the
only power of that era, asserted its own vitality precisely by
the controversies about important issues which either had
been clarified but recently, or were still open and unresolved.
St. Vincent of Lerins died about 450 A.D. He wrote the
Comrnonitories probably ten or fifteen years earlier. Not very
much is known about his life. In his youth he was active in
worldly affairs, perhaps even in military service; he certainly
knew the political problems of his time. Later he retired to
the monastery of Lerins, 1 an island off the southern coast of
France, known today as St. Honorat, near Cannes. It was
just at its prime when Vincent entered it as a monk. There
he wrote his work, which portrays him as a well-trained
1 Founded by St. Honorat in 410.
INTRODUCTION 259
theologian and a man burning with the inner fire of Christian
enthusiasm. 2
It seems understandable, perhaps even natural, that a man
with the zeal and knowledge of Vincent should retire into
a monastery; no other place gave the spiritual and intel-
lectual forces of a man a better opportunity for wrestling
with, and solving, the essential issues of contemporary Chris-
tian thought. Here, the theologian could sit back, and survey
calmly the pertinent and important problems of his time,
and write down notes on the results of his thinking. Perhaps,
at first he wrote really only to have a memorandum to which
he could constantly refer in his daily studies. But whether or
not this was so, he must have polished and elaborated his
first notes, for his work shows correct logical development
and good style.
Although the Commonitories were written shortly after
the General Council of Ephesus (431), it is doubtful if they
were published during his lifetime. At any rate, he used a
pen name and wrote as Teregrinus' (the Pilgrim); he may
have felt, just as we do today, that each of us is only a pilgrim,
having no secure place on earth. He called his work Com-
monitories in the strict sense of the word. He wrote them,
as he tells his reader, because he felt his memory getting weak
and because he had observed that persistent reading of his
notes helped him to see more clearly in matters of decisive
importance. The second of these memoranda is very brief,
and it is assumed by the experts that it is only a summary
of a manuscript which was lost.
Everyone who approaches the Commonitories with this
historical, spiritual and personal background in mind will
from the very outset be enraptured by the transparence of
2 Cf. ch. 20.
260 VINCENT OF LERINS
thought, the intensity of love, and the breadth of vision which
characterize Vincent's plea for the tradition and universality
of the Catholic faith and his radical opposition to heretical
innovations. His point of view, recognized through the ages
up to our time, is simple. Our faith is based on the authority
of divine Law, which has to be understood and interpreted
according to the tradition of the Church; the tradition con-
sists of what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all
This principle, however, does not exclude progress or doctrinal
development. But it must be progress in the proper sense of
the word, and not a change. Progress is defined by Vincent
as a growing of doctrine within its own orbit, whereas change
implies that a thing is transformed into something different.
The Commonitories elaborate this thesis, with ample ref-
erences to the various heresies, on the one hand, and to the
Apostle Paul, the great Councils, and the authority of the
Church, on the other. Vincent may also have had in mind
to attack, as one of the 'profane innovations 5 which he de-
nounces, the Augustinian position on grace and free will. 3
It is likely that some passages implicitly contain such criticism,
but this point is of merely historical importance today. Thus,
the reader of this translation will do well not to burden him-
self too much with the study of intricate problems in the his-
tory of theology. In doing so he might lose his grasp of the
main thesis of the author, which, in itself, is of such vital
importance in our age, an age which has brought to the fore
the conflict between the theocentric and the anthropocentric
philosophies of life.
But it will certainly interest the reader to learn that the
3 The reader who is. interested in St. Augustine's teaching an grace does
well to read John Courtney Murray's translation of St. Augustine's
De correptione et gratia (Admonition and Grace) in the 4th volume of
the Works of St. Augustine in this series.
INTRODUCTION 261
Commonitories, and especially Chapter 23, which explains
the problem of 'progress in faith/ 4 has played an ever-in-
creasing role in the 19th century. Cardinal Newman quotes
Vincent in his 'Essay on the Development of Christian Doc-
trine' (1845), where 5 he discusses the concept of genuine
development and of preservation of type. More important is
the reference to the Commonitories in the Dogmatic Constitu-
tion of the Catholic Faith 6 of the Vatican Council. Further-
more, Pope Pius X, in his famous Encyclical, Tascendi'
(Against Modernism), of 1907, refers to Vincent.
The text followed in the present translation is that of G.
Rauschen, Vincentii Lerinensis Commonitoria (Florilegium
Patristicum, fasc. 5 Bonnae 1906). Some of Rauschen's in-
valuable notes, necessary for the better understanding of the
translation, have been added.
4 Cf. Ch. 23 below.
5 Ch. 5, sec. 1.
6 Ch. 4, 'On Faith and Reason'. The passage in question reads as follows:
'Let, then, the intelligence, science, and wisdom of each and all, of
individuals and of the whole Church, in all ages and all times, increase
and flourish in abundance and vigor; but only in its own proper kind,
that is to say, in one and the same doctrine, one and the same cause,
one and the same judgment/
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
1 Here begins the treatise of Vincent (Peregrinus) on the
antiquity and universality of the Catholic faith against
profane innovations of all heretics 267
2 Holy Scripture must be interpreted from the tradition
of the Catholic Church 269
3 Explanation of the Rule of Faith: Every care must be
taken that we hold fast to what has been believed
everywhere, always, and by all 271
4 The rule illustrated by events of the time of the Donatists
and Arians 272
5 Proof from St. Ambrose that we never have to desist from
the defense of the faith of our forebears .... 273
6 Here is presented the outstanding example of blessed
Pope Stephen regarding the rebaptism of heretics . . 276
7 Heretics often abuse the more obscure writings of the
past in favor of their own doctrines; St. Paul bitterly
attacked the innovators and seducers 278
8 Explanation of Galatians 1.8 and 9 281
9 To announce to Catholic Christians another doctrine
besides that which they have received has never been
permitted 282
10 The reason why Divine Providence sometimes suffers that
certain Doctors of the Church preach new dogmas is
that 'the Lord your God trieth you' 284
11 The foregoing statements illustrated from the examples
of Nestorius, Photinus, and Apollinaris .... 285
263
264 VINCENT OF LERINS
12 A short account of the heresies of these three men . . 288
13 A clearer explanation of the Catholic doctrine of the
Holy Trinity and the Person of Christ 290
14 God the Word assumed our nature, not by imitation or
simulation, hut really and truly 293
15 The unity of the person in Christ was already completed
in the virginal conception, so that Mary is most truly
called 'Theotokos' (Mother of God) 295
16 A brief and concise summary of the above-mentioned
heresies and of Catholic belief 296
17 The more scholarly and outstanding Origen was, the
more perilous the temptation to which he and the writ-
ings published under his name exposed the Christians 298
18 The case of Tertullian is similar 302
19 Brief comment on the last two chapters 303
20 Definition of a true and genuine Catholic; discussion of
the chaff of the heretic 303
21 That in matters of faith nothing can be altered is proved
from 1. Timothy, 6.20,21 305
22 Continuation of same 307
23 Explanation of progress in faith, which is necessarily
similar to the growth of the human body, but different
from a change 309
24 The words of 1 Timothy 6.20 further explained and illus-
trated 312
25 It is shown that the heretics, in using Scripture, abuse its
texts and passages from the New Testament . , .315
26 The heretics imitate satan, inasmuch as 'he assails even
the Lord of Glory with quotations from Scripture' , .318
27 Repetition of the rule according to which the true doctrine
can be distinguished from the perversity of heretics . 319
28 According to what rule and with how much power the
testimonies of the holy fathers are to be applied against
the heretics 320
COMMONITORIES 265
29 A condensation of the First Commonitory, and the be-
ginning of a study of the General Council of Ephesus
as contained in the Second Commonitory .... 324
30 The ten men whose writings were quoted as witnesses at
that Council 326
31 Report on, and praise of, the acts of the Synod of Ephesus 328
32 Letters of Popes Sixtus III and Celestine make it evident
that profane novelties must be avoided 329
33 Conclusion 331
THE COMMONITORIES 1
Chapter 1
OLY SCRIPTURE admonishes us: 'ask my father, and
He will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell
thee'; 2 and again: 'Incline thy ear and hear the
words of the wise 5 ; 3 and again: 'My son, forget not my law:
and let thy heart keep my commandments.' 4 According to these
words, it seems to me, Peregrinus, 5 the least of all the servants
of God, that it will be rather useful for me to write down, with
the help of the Lord, what I have faithfully received from
the holy fathers. 6 Of this I shall certainly be in great need in
my infirmity, for my memory may be refreshed by persistent
reading if I have these matters down in writing. I am induced
to perform this task not only for the results of the work but
1 This is the title of the work of St. Vincent in the Paris codices; but
Gennadius states. (De vir. inl. 64) that the title should be 'Of the
Pilgrim, against heretics'. Also, in the codices at the end of the work
we read: 'The explanation of the treati&e of the Pilgrim against
heretics.' In the first edition of Sichardus (Basel 1528) we read: Tn
defense of the antiquity and universality of the Catholic faith, [the
work] of Vincent of Lerins against the profane innovations of all
heretics/
2 Deut. 32.7.
3 Prov. 22.17.
4 Prov. 3.1.
5 We read in Gennadius that Vincent adopted this name.
6 But to this statement the Commonitories themselves, in so far as they
are extant, give only little support, for in them does not appear the
collected testimony of the Fathers, but certain notes and rules whereby
Catholic doctrine may be distinguished from heresy.
267
268 VINCENT OF LERINS
also because I have the time and a suitable place to do it.
As for the time element: since time snatches away all things
human, we ought to snatch from it something which may
profit us unto life eternal. We are moved particularly by the
terrible fear of the approaching Judgment which urges us
to increase our studies of religion, and by the deceitfulness of
the new heretics which requires much careful attention. As
for the place: far from the masses that overcrowd large cities,
I am living in a very remote spot where, within the cell of
a monastery with nothing to distract me, I can practice what
is sung in the psalm: 'Be still and see that I am God. 37 This
way of life is well suited to the work I am planning to do.
Long involved in various unstable and saddening whirpools
of secular strife, I finally arrived, under Christ's inspiration,
at the harbor of religion, always the safest place for everyone.
There, after the storms of vanity and pride have ceased, I may
propitiate God by the sacrifice of Christian humility and thus
avoid not only the shipwrecks of the present life, but also the
flames of the world to come.
But now it is time for me to begin, in the name of the
Lord, my work, namely, to describe what our ancestors have
handed down and entrusted to us. I shall do this more as an
honest reporter than as a presumptuous author. I shall follow
this plan in my writing. I shall not cover everything, but only
the essential points; not in an embellished and meticulous
form, but in easy and popular language. In this way most of
the points will appear to be indicated rather than developed.
Let those make use of a flowery and precise style who approach
such a task either from confidence in their own ability or
through a sense of duty. As for me, I shall be satisfied -to
compose this Commonitory for my own use, to aid my
7 Ps. 45. 11.
COMMONITORIES 269
memory, or, rather, [to check] my forge tfulness. In any case,
with the Lord's help, I shall do my best recalling step by step
what I have learned, emending and filling out my knowledge
from day to day. I have prefaced my work with this warning
so that in case it slips from my hands into those of saintly
persons, 8 they may not hastily censure certain passages, but
remember that I have promised to correct and improve them.
Chapter 2
With great zeal and full attention I often inquired from
many men, outstanding in sanctity and doctrinal knowledge,
how, in a concise and, so to speak, general and ordinary way,
I might be able to discern the truth of the Catholic faith from
the falsity of heretical corruption. From almost all of them I
always received the answer that if I or someone else wanted to
expose the frauds of the heretics and to escape their snares and
to remain sound in the integrity of faith, I had, with the help
of the Lord, to fortify that faith in a twofold manner : first, by
the authority 1 of the divine Law; second, by the tradition of
the Catholic Church.
Here, perhaps, someone may ask: Since the canon of the
Scripture is complete and more than sufficient in itself, why
is it necessary to add to it the authority of ecclesiastical inter-
pretation? As a matter of fact, [we must answer,] Holy Scrip-
ture, because of its depth, is not universally accepted in one
and the same sense. The same text is interpreted differently by
different people, so that one may almost gain the impression
that it can yield as many different meanings as there are men.
Novatianus, for example, expounds a passage in one way;
8 Of those who have forsaken the world, i.e., priests and monks.
1 Cf. the interesting comment of Tertullian, De praescr. 16-19 (Rauschen,
11).
3
270 VINCENT OF LERINS
Sabellius, in another; Donatus, 2 in another. Arius^ and
Eunomius and Macedonius read it differently; so do Photinus, 3
Apollinaris, and Priscillianus; in another way, Jovinianus,
Pelagius, and Celestius; finally, in still another, Nestorius,
Thus, because of the great distortions caused by various er-
rors, it is, indeed, necessary that the trend of the interpreta-
tion of the prophetic and apostolic writings be directed in
accordance with the rule of the ecclesiastical and Catholic
meaning.
In the Catholic Church itself, every care should be taken to
hold fast to what has been believed everywhere, always, and
by all This is truly and properly 'Catholic/ 4 as indicated by
the force and etymology of the name itself, which com-
prises everything truly universal. This general rule will be
truly applied if we follow the principles of universality, anti-
quity, and consent. We do so in regard to universality if we
confess that faith alone to be true which the entire Church
confesses all over the world. [We do so] in regard "to antiquity
if we in no way deviate from those interpretations which our
2 We must understand this to refer to that Donatus who was Bishop of
Casae Nigrae in Numidia, 'who, coming from Numidia, and drawing
to himself the bishops of his own faction against Caecilian, creating
division, among the Christian people, ordained Majorinus bishop in,
Carthage/ or Donatus the Great, who succeeded Majorinus to the See
of Carthage, 'who by his eloquence so strengthened this heresy that
many thought that because df him they should rather be called Donat-
ists' (Augustine, De haeresibus 69) .
3 This Bishop of Sirmium (chief city of Lower Pannonia, now Mitrovica,
Yugoslavia), who preached that Christ was merely a man endowed
with divine virtues and adopted by God, was removed from his See
by the Synod of Sirmium in 351, and died in exile in 376.
4 The fold of Christ is first called the Catholic Church (Katholike ec-
clesia) by St. Ignatius, Ep. ad Smyrn. 8 (See G. G. Walsh's translation
in The Apostolic Fathers [p. 121] in this series.)
The name is given by St. Optatus, De schism. Donat. 2.1: 'The proper
significance of the name Catholic will be had when that is called
Catholic which is in accordance with reason (catholicushata Idgon?
du Pin) and diffused everywhere.
COMMONITORIES
271
ancestors and fathers 6 have manifestly proclaimed as in-
violable. [We do so] in regard to consent if, in this very
antiquity, we adopt the definitions and propositions of all,
or almost all, the bishops 6 and doctors.
Chapter 3
What, therefore, will the Catholic Christian do if some
members of the Church have broken away from the com-
munion of universal faith? What else, but prefer the sanity of
the body universal to the pestilence of the corrupt member?
What if a new contagion strives to infect not only a small
part but the whole of the Church? Then, he will endeavor to
adhere to the antiquity which is evidently beyond the danger
of being seduced by the deceit of some novelty. What if in
antiquity itself an error is detected, on the part of two or
three men, or even on the part of a city or a province? Then,
he will take care to prefer the decrees of a previous ecumenical
council (if there was one) to the temerity and ignorance of
a small group. Finally, what if such an error arises and nothing
like a council can be found? Then, he will take pains to con-
sult and interrogate the opinions of his predecessors, compar-
ing them with (one another only as regards the opinions of)
those who, though they lived in various periods and at dif-
ferent periods and at different places, nevertheless remained
in the communion and faith of the One Catholic Church, and
who therefore have become reliable authorities. As he will
discover, he must also believe without hesitation whatever not
only one or two but all equally and with one and the same
consent, openly, frequently, and persistently have held, writ-
ten, and taught.
5 Cf. Ch. 28.5 and Ch. 29.4.
6 The text has sacerdotum (priests) .
272 VINCENT or LERINS
Chapter 4
To make clearer what we say, examples will be given for
each instance, and we must dwell on them more extensively.
For it must not be that our eagerness to be brief deprives the
matters in question of their weight by an overhasty presen-
tation.
In the time of Donatus (from whom rose the Donatists),
a great part of Africa rushed 1 into the madness of his error
and, forgetful of name, religion, and profession, preferred the
sacrilegious rashness of a single man to the Church of Christ.
Then, of all the people of Africa, only those who detested this
profane schism and remained associated with the universal
Church were able to keep themselves safe within the sanctuary
of Catholic faith. Thus, they left an outstanding example to
posterity of the way in which the soundness of the body uni-
versal ought rightly to be set above the unsoundness of a single
man or even of a few individuals.
Similarly, when the poison of Arianism had infected not
only a small part but nearly the entire world 2 to such an
extent that most bishops of the Latin tongue were led into
error, partly by force and partly by fraud, and a kind of
darkness had obscured their minds, depriving them of insight
into what it was best to do in such a confused situation then
each true lover and worshiper of Christ preferred the ancient
faith to the modern falsehood, and thus remained untouched
by the infection of that plague. The disaster of that perilous
period demonstrates abundantly what calamity is brought
about by the induction of a novel dogma. Not only were
matters of small moment destroyed, but also those of the
1 Cf. Possidius, Vita 5. Augustini 7.
2 Jerome (Dial. adv. Luciferianos 19) complains thus of the Synod of
Rimini, held in 359: The whole world groaned, and was amazed to
find itself Arian.'
COMMONITORIES
273
greatest import were affected. 3 Not only personal relations,
kinship, friendships, homes, but even cities, peoples, provinces,
nations, finally, the whole Roman Empire were rocked and
shaken to their foundations. When this profane Axian novelty,
like Bellona 4 or a Fury, had first of all captured the emperor 5
and then subjugated to the new laws the leaders in the im-
perial palace as well, it no longer avoided mixing up and
disturbing everything, public and private interests, sacred and
profane. It did not discriminate in favor of the good and the
true; it struck down whomever it capriciously selected, as
though it were superior to them. Then wives were dishonored,
widows desecrated, virgins ravished, monasteries demolished,
clerics thrown into panic, Levites beaten, priests exiled. Prisons,
jails, and mines were overcrowded with saintly persons. Most
of them, forbidden to enter the cities, hunted and exiled, ex-
posed to life in deserts, caves, among wild beasts and amid
rocks, exhausted by exposure, hunger, and thirst, perished. And
all this for no other reason than that human superstitions
were substituted for divine dogma; that well-founded tradi-
tion was ruined by criminal novelties; that institutions estab-
lished by authority were violated; that the wisdom of the
fathers was rescinded; that the teaching of the elders was
thrown into confusion ; that the lust for profane and novel curi-
osity did not contain itself within the most unpolluted bounds
of a sacred and uncorrupted antiquity.
Chapter 5
Or is it that we fancy all this, because of our hatred of
modernism and our love of what was established of old?
3 The allusion is to Sallust, Jug. 10.
4 Bellona was a goddess of the Sabines, the companion or wite ot Mars.
5 Constantius.
274 VINCENT OF LERINS
Whoever harbors this suspicion should at least give ear to
blessed Ambrose, who, in the second book of his work dedi-
cated to Emperor Gratian, in which he deplores the rude-
ness of his age, has this to say: 'But by now, Almighty God,
we have through our ruin and our blood sufficiently expiated
the murder of confessors, the exile of priests, and the wicked-
ness of such atrocious impiety. It is now sufficiently evident
that those who violated the faith cannot live in security. 31
And he says, in the third book of that same work: 'Let us
preserve the precepts of our ancestors and not violate the
stamp of tradition in a mood of reckless and daring boldness.
That sealed prophetic book neither the elders nor the powers
nor the angels nor the archangels have dared to open; to
Christ alone is reserved the prerogative of explaining it. 2
Who among us would dare to unseal the sacerdotal book
confirmed by the confessors 3 and now consecrated by the
martyrdom of so many? Those who were forced to subscribe
to it retracted this later on, after the fraud was denounced; 4
those who did not dare to violate it became confessors and
martyrs. How, then, can we deny the faith of those whose
victory we proclaim? 55 We proclaim it, indeed, venerable Am-
brose; we give them praise and admiration. For who is so
foolish as not to desire (although he may not be able to reach
1 De fide 2.6,141.
2 Apoc. S.lff. , ^ , ,
3 In the third and fourth centuries, those were called Confessors who
confessed the Name of Christ before a judge, or in chains and prison
(cf. Cyprian, Ep. 37.1). Later, all those who lived in and died for
Christ were accorded the title and honor of Confessor.
4 Ambrose is speaking of the bishops, worn down by poverty and old
age, whom Constantius, in 359, in the Synod of Rimini, compelled to
abjure the faith, by denying them (permission) to return. When the
Emperor died a short time later, almost all condemned the subscription
and the Arian heresy, especially the French under the leadership of
St. Hilary, in the Synod of Paris, 361 (Cf. Jerome, Dial. adv. Lucife-
rianos 19) .
5 De fide 3.15.128.
COMMONITORIES 275
such heights) to follow those whom no force could keep from
defending the faith of their ancestors no threats, no blan-
dishments, neither life nor death, not the palace, not the
courtiers, not the emperor, not the empire, not men, not
demons? These, I say, because of their tenacious attachment
to the ancient faith, were deemed worthy by the Lord of so
great a reward that through them He restored battered
churches, brought to life peoples that were spiritually dead,
and restored the stolen crowns of priests. He erased those
nefarious, not letters but blots, of the new impiety with the
tears shed by the faithful bishops, a fountain divinely fed.
Finally, He recalled the world, which had been almost com-
pletely shaken by the furious hurricane of unexpected heresy,
from the new perfidy to the old faith, from modern unreason-
ableness to ancient sanity, from the blindness of novelty to
the ancient light.
What we have to consider above all, when admiring the
quasi-divine power of the confessors, is that they took up the
defense of the old tradition of the Church, not with regard to
a particular group, but to a whole body. Indeed, it would not
have been possible for such outstanding men to assert, with
such elaborate equipment, the erroneous and self-contradic-
tory assumptions of one or two individuals, or to fight for the
cause of some impudent conspiracy that might arise in some
corner of a province. No, what they actually did was to stay
in line with the decrees and definitions 6 of all the priests of
Holy Church as the heirs of Apostolic and Catholic Truth.
They preferred to surrender themselves rather than the faith
universally held from the beginning. For this reason,- they
deserved to rise to such a height of glory that they rightly
and deservedly are regarded not as mere confessors, but rather
as princes among confessors.
6 Especially the decrees of the Nicene Council.
276 VINCENT OF LERINS
Chapter 6
A great and evidently divine example that should be medi-
tated upon and recalled again and again by every true Catho-
lic is given by those blessed persons who, like the seven-
branched candlestick radiating the sevenfold light of the
Holy Spirit, manifested to posterity the clearest formula for
the way in which the rashness of profane novelty, with all its
boastful display of errors, is to be crushed from now on by
the authority of sacred tradition. This method, to be sure, is
not at all new. It has been an established custom in the
Church that the more devout a person is, the more prompt he
is to oppose innovations.
History offers a wealth of such examples. But, in order
to be brief, we take only one, but one of exceptional weight
namely, from the Apostolic See 1 so that it may appear
clearer than daylight to all with what vigor, zeal, and fighting
spirit the blessed successors of the blessed Apostles have de-
fended the integrity of the religion that they had accepted
once and for all This is what happened. Bishop Agrippinus
of Carthage, 2 of venerable memory, was the first to hold
that rebaptism might be permitted contrary to divine Law; 3
contrary to the rule of the Church Universal, contrary to the
opinion of all of his fellow bishops, contrary to the customs
and institutions of our forefathers. This false doctrine carried
with it so much evil that it afforded not only all heretics a
pattern for sacrilege, but also some Catholics an opportunity
1 The Roman See. Cf. Tertullian De praescer. 20.
2 Agrippinus, in a council of Africans and Numidians (at Carthag-e about
220) decreed that baptisms of heretics were invalid. Cf. Cyprian, Ep*
71.4 and 73.3. The bishops of Asia, in the Synods of Iconium and Syn-
nada (about 230) , gave the same decision, as Dionysius, Bishop of
Alexandria (cf. Eusebius, Historic ecclesiastica 7.7) and Bishop Firrni-
lianus (Cf. Cyprian, Ep> 75.7) bear witness.
3 Contrary to Sacred Scripture.
COMMONITORIES 277
for error. 4 When, then, people everywhere protested against
this novelty and priests from all corners of the world each
according to the degree of his zeal strove against it, Pope
Stephen, of blessed memory, who then held the Apostolic See,
opposed it, together with his colleagues, yet more earnestly
than they. He apparently considered it fitting to surpass all
others in his devotion to the faith, inasmuch as he was su-
perior to them by virtue of his office. 5 In an epistle, which he
thereupon sent to Africa, he stated it as a rule that 'nothing
new is to be accepted save what has been handed down by
tradition.' For that saintly and prudent man realized that the
principle of piety admits of only one attitude: namely, that
everything be transferred to the sons in the same spirit of
faith in which it was accepted by the fathers; that religion
should not lead us whither we want to go, but that we must
follow whither it leads; and that it is proper to Christian
modesty and earnestness not to transfer to posterity one's own
ideas, but to preserve those received from one's ancestors. To
resume : What was the final issue of the whole problem? What
else, but the rule to which we are used and accustomed? An-
tiquity was retained; novelty, repulsed.
But, perhaps only the necessary patronage was lacking for
establishing the innovation? Quite the contrary. They had
at their disposal such strength of ingenuity, such streams of
eloquence, such numerous followers, so great a resemblance
to the true, so many references to the divine Law obviously
interpreted, however, in a new and wrong sense that as it
seems to me the whole conspiracy could not have been
crushed if it had not been overthrown by reason of terrific
weight, namely, by the proclamation on its novelty, which has
been accepted, defended, and so highly praised. What was
4 The custom, of rebaptizing heretics flourished.
5 Loci auctoritate [through the authority of his See].
278 VINCENT OF LERINS
the final impact of this African council 6 and its decrees?
Thanks be to God, there was none. The whole matter was
abolished, rejected, and trodden upon 7 like a dream, like a
fable, like an empty thing.
And now, what an amazing reversal of the situation ! The
authors of that same opinion are adjudged to be Catholics,
but the followers, heretics; 8 the masters are absolved, the di-
sciples, condemned; the writers of the books will be children
in the Kingdom, the adherents of their doctrine will be in
Gehenna. For who would be so foolish as to doubt that the
most blessed Cyprian, the light of all saints and bishops and
martyrs, will with his other colleagues reign with Christ in
eternity? Or who, on the other hand, would be so sacrilegious
as to deny that the Donatists and the rest of the pests who pride
themselves in rebaptism, under the authority of that council,
will burn forever with the Devil?
Chapter 7
In my opinion, this judgment [of the Church on rebaptism,
as discussed in the preceding chapter] has been promulgated
by divine wisdom. Especially is this so because of the fraudu-
lence of those men who try to make it seem that their heresy
6 Three Councils on the rebaptism of heretics were held at Carthage,
St. Cyprian presiding: the first in 255, the second in 256, the third on
Sept. 1, 256. Vincentius mentions here the third, in which the eighty-
seven bishops who were present agreed with Cyprian.
7 The decree of that third African council was set aside both by the
agreement of the entire Catholic Church and by the eighth canon of
the Council of Aries, held in 314. Jerome (Dial ad Luciferianos 23)
also states: 'At last these very bishops who had agreed with him
[Cyprian] as to the rebaptism of heretics, when they returned to the
ancient custom, issued a new decree.' But the testimony is not trust-
worthy.
8 I.e., the authors of rebaptism, as St. Cyprian, remained in communion
with those who did not assent to it (Cf. Augustine De bapt. 3.2) ,
but those who later embraced their opinion were adjudged heretics.
COMMONITORIES
279
is something that has a different name; who often seize upon
some of the more involved writings of an ancient author,
which, merely because of their obscurity, seem to stand in
agreement with the new dogma these men propose. By these
means, what they profess will not make them appear as though
they were the first and only ones to have sensed it. In my
judgment, their wrongdoing is doubly vicious: first, because
they do not shrink from making others drink the poison of
heresy; second, because, with a profane hand, they scatter like
ashes already quenched the memory of some holy man and,
by reviving his opinions, defame what ought to remain buried
in silence. They thus follow the pattern of Ham, who not only
failed to cover the nakedness of the venerable Noe, but even
held it up to ridicule. Because of this violation of filial piety,
therefore, he was considered so guilty that even his descen-
dants inherited the malediction he incurred for his sin. Quite
differently, his blessed brothers sought neither to profane with
their own eyes nor to expose to others the nakedness of their
venerable father. As it is written, they turned away and
covered him, that is to say, they neither approved nor betrayed
the fault of the saintly man, and for this they were rewarded
with a happy benediction for their children. But let us return
to our subject.
We should, therefore, dread with a great fear the sacrilege
of changing faith and profaning religion. We should be de-
terred from such a sin not* only by the discipline of ecclesiasti-
cal rule, but also by the censure of apostolic authority. For
it is well known to all how heavily, how severely, how ve-
hemently the blessed Apostle Paul attacks those who, with
amazing levity, 'are so quickly deserting him who called them
to the grace of Christ, unto another gospel, which is not
another 5 ; 1 who, 'according to their own desires had heaped
1 Gal. 1.6,7.
280 VINCENT OF LERINS
to themselves teachers ... and will turn away their hearing
from the truth and will be turned into fables,' 2 'having dam-
nation because they have made void their first faith.' 3 They
deceived those about whom the same Apostle writes to his
Roman brothers: 'Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark them
who make dissentions and offenses contrary to the doctrine
which you have learned, and avoid them. For they that are
such do not serve Christ our Lord but their own belly; and
by pleasing speeches and good words reduce the hearts of the
innocent.' 4 Tor of these sort are they who creep into houses
and lead captive silly women laden with sins who are led away
by divers desires: ever learning and never attaining to the
knowledge of the truth. 55 Tor there are also . . . vain talkers
and seducers . . . who subvert whole houses, teaching things
which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake/ 6 'proud, know-
ing nothing, but sick about questions and strifes of words,
men corrupted in mind and who are destitute of the truth,
supposing gain to be godliness.' 7 'And withal being idle, they
learn to go about from house to house, and are not only idle
but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they
ought not'; 8 'having ... a good conscience, which some re-
jecting have made shipwreck concerning their faith'; 9 'profane
and vain babblings, for they grow much towards ungodliness,
and their speech spreadeth like a canker. 510 What follows about
them is equally well said : 'But they shall proceed no farther,
for their folly shall be manifest to all, as theirs also was/ 11
2 2 Tim, 4.3,4.
3 1 Tim. 5.12.
4 Rom, 16.17,18.
5 2 Tim. 3.6,7.
6 Titus 1.10,11.
7 1 Tim. 6.4,5.
8 1 Tim. 5.13.
9 1 Tim. 1.19.
10 2 Tim. 2,16,17.
11 2 Tim. 3.9.
COMMONITORIES 281
Chapter 8
Some men of this type traveling through provinces and
cities, hawking their venal errors, came also to the Galatians.
These, after having listened to the travelers, became lukewarm
toward the truth, rejecting the manna of apostolic and Catho-
lic doctrine and delighting in the dirt of heretical novelty.
On this occasion, the authority of the apostolic power asserted
itself and decreed with utmost severity: 'But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.' 1 Why
does he say: 'But though we'? Why not rather: 'But though F?
Because it is his understanding that even if Peter, or Andrew,
or John, even, finally, if the whole community of Apostles
'should preach a gospel to you other than that which we have
preached to you, let them be anathema. What tremendous
strictness ! To assure firmness in the loyalty to the c first faith,'
he is ready to spare neither himself nor his fellow Apostles.
But he is not satisfied with that, for his words are : Even if 'an
angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you besides that
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.* For
the preservation of the traditional faith it was not sufficient
for him to look only on the condition of human nature; he also
included the eminent angelic nature. 'Though we, 5 he says, 'or
an angel from heaven. 3 Not that he thinks the holy and celes-
tial angels could sin. What he really means is: If that hap-
pened which cannot happen, let whosoever may attempt to
change the traditional faith be anathema.
But, perhaps he pronounced these words incidentally, utter-
ing them out of a quite human impulse rather than forming
them under divine inspiration? This is far from the case. He
continues, and emphasizes his point with the whole weight of
1 Gal. 1.8.
282 VINCENT or LERINS
reiterated assertion: 'As we said before, so now I say again:
If anyone preach to you a gospel besides that which you have
received, let him be anathema. 52 He did not say: 'If anyone
announced to you something besides that which you have re-
ceived, let him be blessed, praised, welcome/ but: let him
be anathema. 5 That is, let him be separated, segregated, ex-
cluded so that the horrible contagion of a single sheep may
not infect the innocent flock of Christ with its poisonous virus.
Chapter 9
Perhaps those precepts are aimed only at the Galatians?
Then, other rules mentioned in later parts of the same Epistle
would likewise be addressed only to the Galatians, as, for
example: 'If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vainglory, provoking
one another, envying one another/ 1 and so on. But, if this
is absurd, and if the rules are aimed equally at. all, then it
follows that, equally with the moral commandments,' those
concerning faith apply to all in the same manner. Just as
people are not permitted to provoke or envy one another,
so no one is permitted to accept doctrines other than those
the Catholic Church preaches everywhere. Or, perhaps it
was an order only for that time that whosoever preached
otherwise than had been taught [by the Apostles] be ana-
thema, and that this order is now no longer valid? If this
were true, then the exhortation, 'But I say to them: Walk in
the Spirit: and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh/ 2
would likewise have been a command only for that time, and
not for afterwards. But, if it is impious as well as perilous
2 Gal. 1.9.
1 Gal. 5.25,26.
2 Gal. 5.16.
COMMONITORIES 283
to think in this way, it follows logically that, so far as these
rules are to be observed at any time, those concerning the
immutability of holy faith also are orders which remain in
force for all ages.
Consequently, to announce to Catholic Christians a doc-
trine other than that which they have received was never
permitted, is nowhere permitted, and never will be per-
mitted. It was ever necessary, is everywhere necessary, and ever
will be necessary that those who announce a doctrine other
than that which was received once and for all be anathema.
If this be so, is there anyone alive so bold as to preach dogmas
other than those taught by the Church, or so foolish as to
accept doctrines besides those accepted by the Church? Cry-
ing aloud, crying aloud again and again and again, crying
aloud to everyone, always and everywhere throughout his
writings, is he, this 'vessel of election,' 3 this 'doctor of the
Gentiles,' 4 this trumpet among the Apostles, this herald of
the earth, this heaven-conscious man; he is crying aloud that
whoever announces a new doctrine is anathema. Against this
voice there shout certain frogs and gnats and day flies, 5 such
as the Pelagians, who have this to say to Catholics: We are
the leaders, the chiefs, the interpreters. We tell you: Con-
demn what you adhered to; adhere to what you condemned;
reject the ancient faith, the paternal institutions, the ancestral
inheritance, and accept . . . After all, accept what? I shudder
to say. It is so presumptuous that to refute it, let alone to
utter it, is almost impossible without incurring some sort of sin.
3 Acts 9.15.
4 1 Tim. 2.7.
5 By these names he compares the heretics to the plagues of Egypt.
(Exod. 8) Eccli. 10.1: muscae morientes, dying flies.
284 VINCENT OF LERINS
Chapter 10
There are some who will say: Why, then, does Divine
Providence often permit eminent persons, who are well es-
tablished in the Church, to announce novel ideas to Catholics?
This is a good and earnest question, and should be thoroughly
and extensively discussed. To do so satisfactorily, we ^ have
to refer not to our own ingenuity, but to the authority of
divine Law and to the basic documents of ecclesiastical teach-
ing. Let us listen, therefore, to blessed Moses. He himself
may teach us why learned men and those who, because of
their mysterious gifts, are called Prophets by the Apostles,
sometimes are permitted to advance new dogmas. These are
customarily called 'strange gods 3 in the Old Testament, in
accordance with its allegorical pattern of speech (and a very
good term, incidentally, since the heretics have the same rever-
ence for their own opinions as the Gentiles for their gods).
Blessed Moses has this to say in Deuteronomy: 'If there rise
in the midst of thee a prophet or one that saith he hath
dreamed a dream, 5 that is, a doctor of the Church who, in
the opinion of his disciples or listeners, is teaching by some
revelation well, what then? Moses continues: 'and he fore-
tell a sign and a wonder: and that come to pass which he
spoke . . .' Evidently, he has some outstanding master of
great knowledge in mind, one who, in the eyes of his followers,
is not only familiar with human affairs but also capable of
a foreknowledge of transcendent matters (a master such as
Valentine, Donatus, Photinus, Apollinaris, and the ^ rest of
them appeared to be in the opinion of their boasting dis-
ciples) well, and what then? 'And he say to thee: Let us go
and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us
serve them . . .' (And who are the 'strange gods/ if not
strange errors?) 'Which thou knowest not, 5 that is, novel and
COMMONITORIES 285
unheard-of ones. 'And let us serve them/ that is, let us have
faith in them; let us serve them. And now, what is Moses 3
conclusion? 'Thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet
or dreamer, 5 he says. And why, I ask you, does God not
forbid to be taught what He forbids to be listened to? Tor the
Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you
love Him with all your heart, and with all your soul. 51 Clearer
than daylight is the reason why Divine Providence sometimes
suffers certain doctors of the Church to preach new dogmas:
to the effect that 'the Lord your God trieth you. 5 And great
is the temptation indeed when that man whom you look
upon as a prophet, as a disciple of prophets, as a doctor and
a defender of truth, whom you have embraced with highest
veneration and love, suddenly and surreptitiously introduces
noxious errors which you are unable to detect quickly so
long as you still are under the spell of his former teaching,
and which you do not dare to condemn easily so long as
the affection for your old teacher hinders you from so doing,
Chapter 11
Here, someone perhaps may insist upon being given an
illustration of the words of venerable Moses by a few examples
from the history of the Church. We respond to this justifiable
demand at once, and begin with most recent and well-known
events. How did the latest temptation come about, that this
unfortunate man, Nestorius, 1 suddenly changed from a sheep
into a wolf and began to harass the flock of Christ, while
most of those who were bitten by him still believed in him
1 Deut. 13.1-3.
1 Socrates (Historia ecclesiastica 7.29) deals more extensively with Nes-
torius. In 428, Nestorius, a priest of Antioch, was proclaimed, by
Emperor Theodosius the Younger, Bishop of the See of Constantinople.
286 VINCENT OF LERINS
as a sheep and were therefore the more exposed to the effects
of his teeth? For who could readily consider entangled in
error that man whom he saw elected after a judicious examina-
tion by the imperial court and honored by such deep affec-
tion on the part of the clergy, who was extolled by the holy
men who loved him so much and by the people who gave
him all their favor when in public he daily explained Holy
Scripture and disclosed all the noxious errors of the Jews
and Gentiles? How, then, could he fail to make everyone
believe that he was teaching, preaching, and thinking orthodox
truthhe who persecuted the blasphemies of all heresies
in order to open the way for one heresy, his own? 2 This is
precisely what Moses said: The Lord your God^trieth you
that it may appear whether you love Him or not. 53
But, let us leave Nestorius, who excelled more by the ad-
miration he created than by actual worth, more by reputa-
tion than by actual performance, and who for a time ap-
peared great in public opinion less by divine grace than by
natural cleverness. Let us rather remember those who, en-
dowed with many outstanding qualities and great zeal, turned
out to be serious temptations for Catholic people. Thus, for
instance, Photinus 4 is still remembered by the older genera-
tion of Pannonia as the man who put the Church of Sirmium
on trial. He had been admitted to the priesthood there with
general approval, and then, having held his office for a
while as a Catholic, suddenly, like that evil 'prophet or
dreamer 5 (as Moses called them), he began to persuade
2 As Socrates (Hist, eccles. 1.1) bears witness, Bishop Nestorius, on the
fifth day after his appointment, succeeded in his attempt to have the
church of the Arians destroyed by fire. And, if we can trust Gotho-
fredus, Ne&torius was the author of that severe law enacted against
the heretics by the Emperor toward the end of May in that same year
(Cod. Theod. 16.5,65).
3 Deut. 13.3.
4 For Photinus, cf. above, Ch. 2.3.
COMMONITORIES 287
the people of God entrusted to him to follow 'strange gods/
that is, strange errors formerly unknown to them. The case
as such was not unusual. What made it particularly per-
nicious was the fact that he buttressed his nefarious under-
taking with his extraordinary qualities: his powerful genius,
his excellent education, and his outstanding eloquence. He
used two languages bluntly and forcibly for disputations and
writings; proof of this is the number of his books, com-
posed partly in Greek, partly in Latin. Fortunately, the sheep
of Christ entrusted to him were watching and caring for
the Catholic faith and remembered in time the warnings of
Moses. Thus, they were not unaware of the temptation, in spite
of the admiration they had for the eloquence of their prophet
and pastor. As a matter of fact, by now they began to shun
as a wolf the very man they previously had followed as the
ram of the flock.
Not only the example of Photinus, but that of Apollinaris 5
as well, teaches us the danger of temptation arising from
churchmen; but it likewise admonishes us to guard with great
care the observance of our faith. For he, too, caused his
listeners great trouble and deep anxiety. Drawn toward one
side by the authority of the Church and toward the other
by the influence of a master wavering and fluctuating between
both, they did not know how to make up their minds. Was
this man, perhaps, the sort of person who could not be but
despised? Not at all. He was of such worth that, in most
respects, people trusted him only too readily. Who was more
outstanding than he in acuteness, versatility, and erudition?
How many heresies did he crush, in as many volumes ! How
many errors dangerous to orthodoxy did he silence as indi-
5 Accounts of Apollinaris may be found in Voisin, L'Apollinarisme
(Louvain 1901) and Lietzmann, Apollinaris von Loadicea und seine
Schute I (Tubingen 1904) .
288 VINCENT OF LERINS
cated by that work of no less than thirty books, that eminent
and outstanding work in which he refuted with a mass of
arguments the mad calumnies of Porphyry! 6 It would take too
long to mention all his works, by which he could have been
deemed an equal of the most constructive minds in the
Church, if he had not, out of impious desire for heretical
curiosity, invented some new doctrine or other which in-
fected all his labors with a kind of leprosy and caused his
teaching to become more a temptation than an edification in
the Church.
Chapter 12
At this point, I may be asked to explain the heresies men-
tioned above, namely, those of Nestorius, Apollinaris, and
Photinus, This matter, to be sure, is not directly related to the
problem with which I am concerned. It is my purpose not
to follow up the errors of individuals, but to bring out a few
examples that give clear and convincing illustration of Moses'
word that, if at any time a doctor of the Church himself
a prophet interpreting the mysteries of the Prophets make
the attempt to introduce some novelty into God's Church,
Divine Providence admits this to test us. It will be useful,
therefore, to develop the ideas of the afore-mentioned heretics
only very briefly, in the form of a digression.
First, then, the doctrine of Photinus. According to him,
God is singular and unique, and one has to conceive of Him
in the manner of the Jews. He denies the plenitude of the
Trinity and denies that there is either the Person of the
Word or the Person of the Holy Spirit. As for Christ, he
asserts that, though unique, He is merely a human being, and
ascribes his origin to Mary. He states dogmatically that we
6 These books against Porphyry (d. 304) have been completely destroyed.
COMMONITORIES 289
must show reverence only to the Person of God the Father,
but to Christ only as man. Thus Photinus.
Apollinaris boasts of consenting to the doctrine of the Unity
of the Trinity though not in the full purity of the faith.
But he blasphemes openly with regard to the Incarnation of
our Lord. He says that there was no human soul in the body
of our Saviour, or, if there were one, that it had neither mind
nor reason. He asserts that the flesh of our Lord was not
formed from the flesh of Holy Virgin Mary, but descended
from Heaven into the Virgin, and he taught, in constant wav-
ering and doubt, sometimes that she was co-eternal with God
the Word, sometimes that she was only created out of the
divinity of the Word. He -refused to admit two substances
in Christ one divine, the other human; one from the Father,
the other from the mother. He believed that the Word's na-
ture was itself divided, as though the one remained in God and
the other had been converted into flesh. Whereas the Truth
says that the One Christ consists of two substances, he
contrary to truth asserts that from One Divinity of Christ
two substances were made. This is the doctrine of Apollinaris.
Nestorius, who suffered from a disease quite contrary to
that of Apollinaris, suddenly introduces two persons while
pretending to distinguish two substances in Christ. In his un-
heard-of wickedness he assumes that there are two sons of
God, two Christs the one God, the other man ; one, begotten
of the Father, the other, of the mother. Thus he asserts that
Holy Mary is not to be called 'Theotokos* [Mother of God],
but Christotokos [Mother of Christ], since she gave birth not
to Christ-God, but Christ-man. But, if one believes that he
speaks in his writings of one Christ and that he teaches one
Person of Christ, let him be careful not to give too easy cre-
dence to such an interpretation. Nestorius contrives this word-
ing skillfully to deceive his readers in order to recommend
290 VINCENT OF LERINS
evil doctrines more easily through the intermediary of good
ones, according to the words of the Apostle: 'was that then
which is good, made death unto me? 31 Well, either he deceit-
fully overemphasizes in certain passages of his writings that he
believes in one Christ and one Person of Christ, or he pretends
that, only after the birth from the Virgin, both Persons were
united in one Christ. But this statement is made in such a
way that it means that at the time of the Virgin's conception
or bearing, and even for some time after, two Christs existed.
Thus, though Christ, as merely man, was born the first, and
unique, and not joined in Unity of Person to the Word of
God, afterwards the Person of the Word descended into Him,
assuming Him. Although now, having been assumed (by the
Word), He abides in the glory of God, yet it would seem
that for a time there was no difference between Him and
other men.
Chapter 13
Thus do these mad dogs Nestorius, Apollinaris, and Pho-
tinus bark against the Catholic faith. Photinus denies the
Trinity. Apollinaris declares that the nature of the Word
is convertible; he does not recognize two substances in Christ;
he says that Christ either has no soul at all or at least that
there is no human mind and reason in His soul, and he
asserts that the Word of God taJkes the place of that mind.
Nestorius claims that there were always two Christs, but that
for a time they were separated. But the Catholic Church,
which has the true doctrine about God and our Saviour, does
not blaspheme against either the mystery of the Trinity or the
Incarnation of Christ, For it adores one Divinity in the pleni-
tude of the Trinity and the equality of the Trinity in one and
1 Rom. 7.13.
COMMONITORIES 291
the same Majesty; and confesses one Jesus Christ, not two,
the same Jesus Christ being at once God and man. The
Church believes that there are in Him one Person, but two
substances; 1 two substances, but one Person. Two substances
because the Word of God is immutable so that it could not
be converted into flesh; one Person, lest by acknowledging
two Sons it seem to adore a quaternity instead of a trinity.
It is worth while to elaborate more distinctly and clearly
on this point. In God there is one substance, but three Per-
sons; in Christ, two substances, but one Person. In the Trinity
there is distinction of Persons, but not of substance. In our
Saviour there is distinction of substances, but not of Person.
How is it that in the Trinity there is distinction of Persons,
but not of substance? Because the Father is one Person, the
Son, another, the Holy Spirit, a third. Yet, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are not distinct in nature, but one and the same.
Why in our Saviour is there a distinction of substances and
not of Person? Because there is a divine substance and also
a human substance. Yet, His Godhead and His humanity are
not two persons, but one and the same Christ, one and the
same Son of God, and one and the same Person of one and
the same Christ and Son of God.
So, in man, flesh and soul are differentiated, but soul and
flesh are one and the same man. In Peter or Paul there is a
distinction of soul and flesh, yet flesh and soul do not form
two Peters, and there are not one Paul-soul and another Paul-
flesh. But there are one and the same Peter and one and the
same Paul, each of them consisting of a twofold and diverse
nature of soul and body. Hence, there are also two substances
1 I.e., natures. Cf. Tertullian, Adv. Prax. 27: Therefore is to be preserved
the property of either substance, namely, that in Him the soul per-
formed the acts proper to it, i.e., virtues, works and signs, and the
body functioned in its proper passions,'
292 VINCENT OF LERINS
in one and the same Christ, the one is divine, the other
human; one is from God the Father, the other, from the
Virgin Mother; one co-eternal and co-equal with the Father,
the other temporal and less than the Father; one consub-
stantial with the Father, the other consubstantial with the
Mother; yet one and the same Christ in either substance.
Therefore, there is not one Christ-God and another Christ-
man; not one uncreated and another created; not one im-
passible, the other passible; not one equal to the Father and
the other less than the Father; not one from the Father and
the other from the Mother. But one and the same Christ
is God and man; one and the same noncreated and created;
one and the same unchangeable and impassible and trans-
formed and having suffered; one and the same co-equal with
and less than the Father; one and the same begotten of the
Father before time and born from a Mother in time perfect
God and perfect man; as God, highest divinity, as man, fullest
humanity. I say fullest humanity, since He possesses both soul
and flesh true flesh, ours, from His mother, and a soul en-
dowed with intelligence, possessing mind and reason.
Hence, there is in Christ the Word, soul, flesh. But this
whole is one Christ, one Son of God and for us one Saviour and
Redeemer. He is One, not by some kind of corruptible min-
gling of divinity and humanity, but by an integral and unique
Unity of Person. That conjunction neither converted nor
changed one substance into the other this is the character-
istic error of the Arians. 2 Rather, both are united in such
a way that, while singularity of one and the same Person
2 Since the Arians denied that there was a human soul in Christ, they
referred His Passion to His divinity. Since this took the place of the
soul or substantive form in man, they said that in some manner it had
been transformed -into His humanity (Cf. Hilary, De Trinitate 10.9
and 18: 'But that the power and the nature of the Word might not be
considered as lacking to Him in the flesh,' etc.) .
COMMONITORIES 293
always remains in Christ, the property of each Nature, on
the other hand, endures for all eternity. Thus, God never
begins to be a body, nor does the body ever cease to be
body. The human condition offers a good illustration. For
not only at present but also in the future each individual
does and will consist of body and soul. Never will either the
body be converted into the soul or the soul into the body,
but, in each individual destined to live without end, the differ-
entiation of both substances will necessarily endure forever.
So, also, in Christ the specific property that is characteristic
for each of both substances will be retained forever, while
the Unity of Person remains intact.
Chapter 14
As we rather frequently use the term 'Person' [persona]
and declare that God became man c in person,* we must take
great care not to produce the impression that we mean that
God the Word assumed our nature by mere imitation of our
behavior and that He pursued His manner of life as an un-
real and not as a true human being as happens on the stage,
where one individual in quick changes plays several parts
without being identical with any of them. Each time that the
behavior of other people is imitated, their reactions and actions
are reproduced in such a way that those who are acting are
not actually those whom they imitate. To use examples from
secular plays, when an actor in a tragedy plays the part of a
priest or king, he is not that priest or king; with the end
of the play, the person he played ceases to exist. Far from
me be such wicked and vicious mockery. We may leave mad-
ness like that to the Manichaeans, preachers of a phantasm,
who declare that the Son of God, God Himself, did not exist
in substance as a human person, but that He simulated it by
fictitious behavior and manner of life. But the Catholic faith
294 VINCENT or LERINS
affirms that the Word of God was made man in such a way
that He assumed our nature, not fallaciously and unreally,
but in truth and reality; that He did not imitate human
nature as being something different, but rather as His very
own; furthermore, that He was that which He acted and
whom He acted precisely like ourselves, who, in so far as we
speak, think, live, and exist, do not imitate, but actually are,
human beings. Thus, Peter and John, to take such outstand-
ing names, were men, not by imitation, but by subsistence.
Similarly, Paul did not pretend to be an Apostle or feign to
be Paul; he actually was the Apostle and subsisted as Paul
In the same way, also, God the Word deigned, by assuming
and having a body, and by speaking, acting, and suffering
through the flesh (without, however, any corruption of His
own nature), to make it manifest that He did not imitate or
feign, but that He actually presented, the perfect human be-
ing; so that He really was, and subsisted as, a true man, and
did not merely seem nor was only believed to be such. There-
fore, just as the soul united to the body (without, however,
being converted into it), does not imitate man, but is man
and this not by simulation but by substance so was God the
Word (without any conversion of Himself and not by con-
founding Himself with, but by uniting Himself to, man)
made man, not by imitation, but substantially. We must,
therefore, completely reject any notion of 'Person' that is
built on fiction or imitation, on a permanent difference be-
tween being and pretending, and on the assumption that the
acting individual never is the individual whom he represents.
Let us get rid of the idea that God the Word assumed human
personality in such a fallacious way. Let us rather realize that,
His substance remaining immutable, He Himself existed as
flesh, as man, as a human person, when He assumed to
Himself the nature of a perfect human being; that He existed
COMMONITORIES 295
so, not by simulation, but really, not by imitation, but sub-
stantially; and finally, that His existence did not cease with
His acting, but remained permanently in its substance.
Chapter 15
Thus, this unity of the Person in Christ was formed and
completed, not after the birth from the Virgin, but in the very
womb of the Virgin. We must therefore take utmost care to
be precise in our confession, so as to say that Christ is not
merely one, but that He always has been one. It were, indeed,
an intolerable blasphemy to assert that, although you admit
His now being One, you contend that He once was not One
but Two One after His baptism, but Two at the time of His
birth. We cannot escape this enormous sacrilege unless we
assert that humanity has been united to divinity through the
Unity of Person, not through the ascension or resurrection or
baptism, but within the Mother, in her womb, and even
more in the Virginal Conception itself. Because of this
Unity of Person, it happens that what is proper to God is
ascribed to the man, and what is proper to the flesh is ascribed
to God indifferently and without distinction. Therefore, as
it is written in Holy Scripture: 'He that descended from
heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven 91 and 'crucified the
Lord of glory 52 on earth. Furthermore, since the body of the
Lord was made and created, it is said that the 'Word' of God
Himself was 'made/ 3 Has wisdom filled up, 4 His knowledge
created; 5 therefore do the prophetic writings refer to His
hands and feet as 'pierced.' 6 Through this Unity of Person it
1 John 3.13.
2 1 Cor. 2.8.
3 John 1.14.
4 Eccli. 24.35.
5 Eccli. 1.4; 24.36.
6 Ps. 21.17.
296 VINCENT OF LERINS
also becomes perfectly clear by reason of a similar mystery
that it is most truly Catholic to believe (and most impious
to deny) that the Word of God Himself was born from the
Virgin even as the flesh of the Word was born from an Im-
maculate Mother.
Therefore, may God forbid that anyone should attempt to
defraud holy Mary of her privileges of divine grace and of
her special glory. For by a unique favor of our Lord and God
she is to be confessed to be the most true and most blessed
Mother of God (theotokos). She is truly the Mother of God,
not merely in name, as a certain impious heresy claims, be-
cause she gave girth to a man who later became God, as we
call the mother of priests or bishops such, because she gave
birth, not to a priest or a bishop, but to a child who later
became one. Not thus, I say, is holy Mary the Mother of God,
but rather because, as has already been said, in her sacred
womb was accomplished the mystery that, by reason of a
certain singular and unique Unity of Person, even as the Word
is flesh in flesh, so the man is God in God.
Chapter 16
In order to refresh our memory, let us more briefly and
concisely repeat what we said about the above-mentioned
heresies 1 and about the Catholic faith; By such a repetition we
may acquire a fuller understanding of and gain a firmer grasp
on the matters already dealt with. Anathema upon Photinus,
who does not accept the plenitude of the Trinity and who
teaches that Christ is merely man! Anathema upon Apolli-
naris, who asserts that the divinity had been transformed
and corrupted in Christ and who takes away from Him the
property of a perfect humanity! Anathema upon Nestorius,
1 Cf. Chapters 12-14, above.
GOMMONITORIES 297
who denies that God was born from the Virgin, and who as-
serts that there are two Christs, thus introducing to us the qua-
ternity after having destroyed the faith in the Trinity! But
blessed be the Catholic Church, which adores One God in the
plenitude of the Trinity and the equality of the Trinity in One
Divinity, so that neither the Uniqueness of the Substance con-
fuses the individuality of the Persons, nor does the distinction
of the Trinity differentiate the Unity of the Divinity! 2 Blessed,
I say, be the Church, which believes that there are in Christ
two real and perfect substances, but only One Person, so that
neither the distinction of the Natures divides the Unity of
the Person nor does the Unity of the Person confuse the dif-
ference of the substances! Blessed,* I say, be the Church, which
confesses that Man was united to God, not after His birth, but
even in the womb of His Mother, so that it thus makes clear
that there always is and always was, only Christ. Blessed, I
say, be the Church, which recognizes that God was made
man, not by a conversion of nature, but in virtue of the Per-
son not of a fictitious and transitory, but of a substantial
and permanent, Person ! Blessed, I say, be the Church, which
teaches that this Unity of the Person has such power that,
because of it, by a wonderful and ineffable mystery, divine
action can be ascribed to man and human action to God.
For, because of that power, it does not deny that man de-
scended from heaven as God, but also believes that on earth
God was made, suffered, and was crucified as man. Finally,
because of that power, she confesses the man as Son of God
and God as the son of the Virgin. Blessed, therefore, and
revered, praised and sacred and wholly worthy of that highest
panegyric of the angels, be the confession which glorifies One
Lord God in threefold sanctification ! For that reason, this
2 Many things read either in this or in the preceding chapters may be
found explained most clearly in the Athanasian Creed.
298 VINCENT OF LERINS
confession proclaims the Unity of Christ in such wise as not to
deny the mystery of the Trinity.
All these foregoing remarks were made in form of a digres-
sion. If it pleases God, these matters will be treated and ex-
plained more fully at another time. Now we return to our
thesis.
Chapter 17
We said above 1 that in the Church of God the teacher's
error was the people's temptation, and that the greater the
erring teacher, the greater the temptation. We made this clear,
first, by the authority of Holy Scripture, then, by examples
taken from the history of the Church that recalled to our
mind the men who had departed from their allegiance to
sound faith and thus had fallen into the doctrines of a strange
sect or had founded a heresy of their own. This is an impor-
tant matter, indeed, a useful experience, and to be remem-
bered again and again. We must insist on it and illustrate it
by impressive examples, so that all true Catholics may realize
that they should accept the teachers with the Church, and
not desert the faith of the Church with the teachers.
It is easy to produce innumerable instances of this kind of
temptation, but there is in my opinion scarcely a single one
comparable to that created by Origen. He had such outstand-
ing, such rare, such admirable qualities that, at first sight,
everyone was ready to accept all his statements with a like
trust. To judge from his way of life, great were his zeal, his
chastity, his patience, his endurance. With regard to his
family background and education, what can be considered
more noble than his birth into a family that had become
famous by martyrdom? 2 And, later on, after he had lost for
1 Ch. 10.1.
2 Leonidas suffered martyrdom in 202.
COMMONITORIES 299
the cause of Christ not only his father but also his whole for-
tune, [what was more admirable] than his life in the bonds
of holy poverty a life in which he so progressed as to suffer
more than once (as we are told) for having confessed the
name of the Lord? 3 But these are far from being all the
traits that later would stimulate the temptation. There still
remain his powerful genius, so profound, so acute, so subtle
that he greatly surpassed almost everyone, and his astounding
knowledge and erudition, so comprehensive that there were
few matters in theology and almost none in human philosophy
that he did not master. When he had gone through his studies
in Greek, he took up Hebrew. 4 And, what shall I say of his
eloquence? His speech was so delightful, so fluid, so soft
that it seems to me it is honey rather than words which flows
from his lips. What difficult problems did he not clarify by
the power of his persuasive speech? What difficult facts did he
not present in a way easy to understand? Perhaps he built up
his statements by means of abstract reasoning? Not at all;
no other teacher made use of more examples taken from
divine Law. Or did he write only a few works? On the con-
trary; no mortal ever wrote more. It is quite impossible to
establish all his writings, not to speak of reading them all;
moreover, he became extremely old and thus could acquire
every scientific technique. Perhaps he had no influence over
his disciples? Who ever had more? Innumerable were the
doctors, priests, confessors, and martyrs who came from his
school. Who can describe their admiration for him and the
extent of his fame and influence? Who with any serious in-
terest in religion did not rush to him from the most distant
3 Eusebius states that, in the persecution of Decius, Origen bore with
fortitude imprisonment, the rack, threats of torture by fire, and
other forms of suffering.
4 For Origen 's extraordinary skill in Greek and his knowledge of He-
brew, cf. Jerome. De viris illust. 54, and Origen, Horn, in Num. 14.1.
300 VINCENT OF LERINS
corners ,of the world? What Christian did not venerate him
almost as a prophet; what philosopher, as his master? History
tells us how he was honored, not only by private persons but
also by the court. The mother 5 of Emperor Alexander sent
for him because of the divine wisdom with which he was en-
dowed and with the love of which she also was burning.
Another proof of his renown is the correspondence he ad-
dressed with the authority of a Christian teacher to Emperor
Philip, 6 the first Christian among the Roman princes. 7 As for
his almost incredible knowledge, if one does not accept our
reference to Christian testimony, he may at least heed the
statements made by pagan philosophers. The godless Por-
phyry says that, attracted by Origen's fame, he had gone as
a young boy, to Alexandria, and that he saw him there an
old man of such extensive and deep wisdom that it seemed
he had constructed a very fortress of universal knowledge. It
would take more than a whole day to describe even 'briefly
all the outstanding qualities of the man. But, the main
point is that they tend not alone to the glory of religion, but
also indicate the magnitude of the temptation involved. For
are there many who would pass by a man of such genius,
such knowledge, such influence? Would they not rather make
theirs the statement: c lt is better to err with Origen than to
be right with others?' 8 Why say more? The result was that
not any ordinary human temptation but the exceedingly
grave one of so great a personality, so prominent a doctor, so
influential a prophet, turned masses of people away from the
5 Julia Mammaea, who summoned him to Antioch.
6 References to the letter from Origen to the Emperor Philip and to
another written to his wife Severa are found in Eusebius, Hist. eccl.
6.36.3.
7 Cf. Eusebius, Chronicon ad annum 247.
8 Cf. Cicero, Tusc. disp. 1.17.39.
COMMONITORIES 301
integrity of the faith, as later events made clear. 9 Hence, to
the same Origen, great and outstanding as he was, should be
applied the words addressed to the Church of God: *If there
rise in the midst of thee a prophet, 5 and a little later on, 'thou
shalt not hear the words of that prophet/ and again, 'for the
Lord your God trieth you, whether you love Him or not.' 10
And this, because he arrogantly abused the grace of God;
because he set too much store on his own ability and relied
too much on himself, neglecting the old simplicity of the
Christian religion; because he presumed to know more than
all the others; because he despised ecclesiastical traditions
and the teachings of the fathers and interpreted some passages
of Holy Scripture in a novel manner. 12 Indeed, it is not an
ordinary, it is a very great trial that the Church which was
devoted to and depended upon him out of admiration for his
genius, his knowledge, his eloquence, his manner of life and
his influence that the Church which had no suspicion and
feared nothing for itself was suddenly endangered by being
gradually turned away from the old religion to a modern
heresy. Someone may object and say that Origen's writings
were falsified. 12 I do not oppose this idea; I would prefer
that it were so. Indeed, several people, Catholics as well as
heretics, have orally and in writing asserted the truth of this
conjecture. But the point we must emphasize is that the books
published under his name, even if he were not their author,
are the cause of serious temptation. Abounding in deadly
blasphemies, they are read and loved, not as books by some-
9 As to the disputes about Origen which arose at the end of the fourth
century between the bishops and the monks of Egypt, we have, as it
were, an eye-witness in Sulpicius Severus, Dial. 1.6.
10 Deut. 13.1-3.
11 Origen emphasized unduly the allegorical interpretation.
12 Origen himself complained that his writings had been falsified by
the heretics, and later many made a similar charge, e.g., Sulpicius
Severus, Dial. 1.6. *
302 VINCENT OF LERINS
one eke, but as his writings, so that on Origen's authority they
have the power to persuade their readers to error, even if this
were not his intention.
Chapter 18
Quite similar, also, is the case of Tertullian. For, as Origen
among the Greeks, so must Tertullian among the Latins clear-
ly be considered as supreme. Who was more scholarly than
this man, and who better trained in divine and human
matters? With his amazing mental capacity he actually em-
braced the entire range of philosophy, including all particular
schools, their heads, disciples, and systems, as well as the
manifold forms of historical and natural sciences. Did his
outstanding genius not possess such vigor and impetus that
whatever he was attacking was either caught by the keenness
or crushed by the weight of his mind? No one is able ade-
quately to evaluate and to praise his eloquence. The logical
nexus of his argumentation was so closely knit that he forced
those whom he could not persuade to adhere to his point of
view. 1 Almost each word of his is a thought, and each sen-
tence a victory. They all experienced it the followers of
Marcion, Apelles, Praxias, Hermogenes, the Jews, the Gen-
tiles, the Gnostics, and so many others whose blasphemies he
demolished with many and weighty books, as though by light-
ning. Yet, this same Tertullian was, after all, not steadfast
enough in Catholic dogma, the universal and traditional
faith. He was more eloquent than faithful, 2 and thus ended in
changing his position, precisely as the blessed confessor Hilary
said of him: 'By his subsequent error he deprived his com-
1 Cf. Augustine, De haer. 86, Lactantius, Inst. div. 5.1.25, and Jerome,
Epist. 58.10; 48.13.
2 The text in the four codices (Parisenis and apud Pithoeum) reads
fidelior; but all later editors, with Sichardus and Costerius, have fell-
dor.
COMMONITORIES 303
mendable writings of their authority.' 3 So, too, he turned out
to be a great temptation to the Church. But I do not wish to
say more about this case. Only one point may be added. When
the modern madness of Montanus and the foolish imaginings
of ridiculous women 4 about a new dogma arose in the Church,
he declared them to be true prophecies contrary to Moses'
advice. Hence, he richly deserved that it also ought to be said
of him and his writings: 'If there rise in the midst of thee a
prophet thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet. 5 And
why not? Tor, 5 it is said, 'the Lord your God trieth you
whether you love Him or not. 55
Chapter 19
By virtue of these many convincing examples from Church
history, and others of the same kind, we must clearly perceive
and, according to the rules of Deuteronomy, fully understand
that, if at any time a teacher of the Church deviates from the
faith, Divine Providence permits this to happen in order to test
and to try us, 'whether we love God, or not, with all our
heart and all our soul. 51
Chapter 20
Since this is so, we may say that a true and genuine Catho-
lic is the man who loves the Truth of God, the Church, and
the Body of Christ; 1 who does not put anything above divine
religion and the Catholic faith neither the authority, nor
the affection, nor the genius, nor the eloquence, nor the philo-
3 Commentary on St. Matthew 5.1.
4 Priscilla and Maximilla.
5 Deut. 13.1-3.
1 Deut. 13.3.
1 Eph. 1.23.
304 VINCENT OF LERINS
sophy of any other human being. He despises all that and,
being firmly founded in the faith, is determined to hold and
believe nothing but what the Catholic Church, as he has per-
ceived, has held universally and from ancient times. He is one
who comprehends that any kind of modern and sensational
doctrine, introduced by someone outside of and contrary to
the position taken by the saints, does not pertain to religion,
but rather constitutes a temptation, according to the words
he has learned from the blessed Apostle Paul, who has this
to say: Tor there must be also heresies, that they also who
are approved may be made manifest among you.' 2 It is as
if the Apostle meant: The authors of heresies are not instantly
rooted out by God, in order to make manifest those who are
approved, that is, in order to make evident to what degree
each one is a steadfast, faithful, and firm lover of the Catholic
faith.
Indeed, as soon as some novelty is stirred up, the wheat and
the chaff are immediately separated from each other by their
respective heaviness and lightness; 3 what for lack of weight
cannot be held within the threshing floor is then easily fanned
away. Some fly off instantly; others, only shaken up, fear to
perish and are ashamed to return hurt, half-dead and half-
alive, since they have devoured a quantity of poison (not
enough to kill, but too much to be digested), a quantity that
does not necessarily bring with it death, yet does not permit
them really to live. What a miserable situation! In what
anxieties do they linger! By what whirlwinds are they har-
assed! Sometimes, stirred up by an error, they are tossed
wherever the wind drives them; sometimes they turn back on
themselves as though driven by counter currents. Now they
2 1 Cor. 11.19.
3 Matt. 3.12
GOMMONITORIES 305
approve with arbitrary presumption what seems to be uncer-
tain ; now, under the pressure of an irrational fear, they are in
dread of even the most certain truths never being sure where
to go, where to return, what to desire, what to avoid, what
to hold, what to give up. If only they would understand that
what they are suffering in their wavering and unbalanced
hearts is the medicine which the divine compassion has pre-
pared for them ! As a matter of fact, being outside the com-
pletely secure harbor of the Catholic faith, they are harassed,
beaten, and, as it were, slain, by the onslaughts of opposing
ideas. Under their impact, they may furl the sails of their
puffed-up minds which they had guiltily spread in the wind
of novelty; they may return to and stay within that most
trustworthy resting place of their gentle and kind mother; they
may disgorge those bitter and stormy floods of error, and,
finally, be able to drink of the streams of living water spring-
ing up (into life everlasting).' 4 They may well unlearn what
they had badly learned; they may grasp as much of the whole
dogma of the Church as can be intellectually understood, and
accept in faith 5 what cannot be understood.
Chapter 21
Since this is so, I am moved to reflect and ponder again
and again. I cannot help wondering about such madness in
certain people, the dreadful impiety of their blinded minds,
their insatiable lust for error that they are not content with
the traditional rule of faith as once and for all received from
antiquity, but are driven to seek another novelty daily. They
are possessed by a permanent desire to change religion, to add
something and to take something away as though the dogma
4 John 4.10,14.
5 Cf. Augustine, De Trinitate 7, end.
306 VINCENT OF LERINS
were not divine, so that it has to be revealed only once. But
they take it for a merely human institution, which cannot be
perfected except by constant emendations, rather, by constant
corrections. Yet, the divine prophecies say: 'Pass not beyond
the ancient bounds which thy fathers have set/ 1 and 'Judge
not against a judge/ 2 and 'he that breaketh a hedge, a ser-
pent shall bite him/ 3 And we have this word of the Apostle
that like a spiritual sword has often slaughtered and will for-
ever slaughter all the vicious novelties of all the heretics : 'O
Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust avoiding
the profane novelties* of words and oppositions of knowledge
falsely so called which some promising have erred concerning
the faith/ 5 Are there really people who can listen to such
adjurations and then remain in such hardened and shameless
stubbornness, such stony impudence, such adamant obstinacy,
as not to yield to the mighty weight of these divine words and
to weaken under such a load, as not to be shattered by these
hammer strokes, as not to be crushed by such powerful thun-
derbolts? 'Avoiding/ he says, 'profane novelties of words. 5
He did not say 'antiquities' or 'the old traditions.' No, he
clearly shows the positive implications of this negative state-
ment: Novelty is to be avoided, hence, antiquity has to be
respected; novelty is profane, hence, the old tradition is
sacred. 'And/ he continues, 'the oppositions of knowledge
falsely so called/ A misnomer indeed for the doctrines of the
heretics ignorance beautified by the name of knowledge,
darkness by that of clarity, night by that of light ! 'Which some
promising have erred concerning the faith/ What did they
1 Prov. 22.28.
2 Eccli. 8.17.
3 Eccle, 10.8.
4 In Greek, kenophonias.
5 1 Tim. 6.20,21.
COMMONITORIES 307
promise, and in what did they err, if not in regard to a hither-
to unknown doctrine?
You may hear it said by some of these modernists : 'Come,
you poor ignorant people, commonly called Catholics, and
learn the true faith which no one knows except ourselves,
which was concealed for many centuries, but which lately has
been revealed and made manifest. But learn it furtively and
secretly; it will delight you. And when you have learned it,
teach it covertly, lest the world hear it or the Church find out
about it. For it is given only to a few to receive the secret of
so great a mystery.' Are not these the words of that harlot,
who, in the Proverbs of Solomon, 'calls them that pass by the
way and go on their journey'? 'He,' she says, 'that is a little
one, let him turn to me.' And she invites fools, in the words :
'Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleas-
ant.' And how does the author continue? He says: 'But he
did not know that her guests are in the depths of hell.' 6 Who
are these guests? Let the Apostle explain it to us: they are
those 'who have erred concerning the faith.' 7
Chapter 22
It is worth while to study the whole text of the Apostle more
thoroughly. 'O Timothy,' he says, 'keep that which is com-
mitted^to thy trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words.' 1
The exclamation 'O' is at one and the same time an expression
of foreknowledge and of love. He foresaw future errors and
suffered pain in advance over their coming. The Timothy of
today is either, speaking generally, the Universal Church, or,
in particular, the whole body of ecclesiastical superiors who
6 Prov. 9.15-18.
7 1 Tim. 6.21.
1 1 Tim. 6.20.
308 VINCENT OF LERINS
ought to have for themselves and to administer to the people
an integral knowledge of divine worship. What, then, does
'keep that which is committed to thee' mean? 'Keep it,' he says,
in the face of thieves and enemies, lest, while men are asleep,
they oversow cockle among the good wheat which the Son of
man had sown in His field. 2 'Keep that which is committed.'
What is 'committed 5 ? It is that which has been entrusted to
you, not that which you have invented; what you have re-
ceived, not what you have devised; not a matter of ingenuity,
but of doctrine; not of private acquisition, but of public tra-
dition; a matter brought to you, not created by you; a matter
you are not the author of, but the keeper of; not the teacher,
but the learner; not the leader, but the follower. This de-
posit, he says, guard. Preserve the 'talent 53 of the Catholic
faith unviolated and unimpaired. What has been entrusted to
you may remain with you and may be handed down by you.
You received gold; hand it down as gold. I do not want you
to substitute one thing for another; I do not want you
shamelessly to put lead in the place of gold, or, deceitfully,
copper. I do not want something that resembles gold, but
real gold. O Timothy, O priest, O interpreter, 4 O doctor,
if a gift of heaven has prepared you by mental power, ex-
perience, and knowledge, to be the Beseleel 5 of the spiritual
Tabernacle, to cut the precious gems of divine dogma, to put
them together faithfully, to adorn them judiciously, 'to add
glamor, grace, and loveliness, may that which was formerly
believed with difficulty be made, through your interpretation,
more understandable in the light. May posterity, through
2 Matt. 13.24ff.
3 Matt. 25.15.
4 This term, which was introduced by the writers of that time, means
one who explains, or a teacher (Cf. Ch. 28.7) .
5 Beseleel was chosen, by God above all others to construct the taber-
nacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and the sacred vessels (Cf. Exod. 31.2ff) .
COMMONITORIES 309
your aid, rejoice in the understanding of things which in
old times were venerated without understanding. Yet, teach
precisely what you have learned; do not say new things even
if you say them in a new manner.
Chapter 23
At this point, the question may be asked: If this is right,
then is no progress of religion possible within the Church of
Christ? To be sure, there has to be progress, even exceedingly
great progress. For who is so grudging toward his fellow men
and so full of hatred toward God as to try to prohibit it?
But it must be progress in the proper sense of the word, and
not a change in faith. Progress means that each thing grows
within itself, 1 whereas change implies that one thing is trans-
formed into another. Hence, it must be that understanding,
knowledge, and wisdom grow and advance mightily and
strongly in individuals as well as in the community, in a single
person as well as in the Church as a whole, and this gradually
according to age and history. But they must progress within
their own limits, that is, in accordance with the same kind of
dogma, frame of mind, and intellectual approach.
The growth of religion in the soul should be like the growth
of the body, which in the course of years develops and unfolds,
yet remains the same as it was. Much happens between the
prime of childhood and the maturity of old age. But the
old men of today who were the adolescents of yesterday,
although the figure and appearance of one and the same
person have changed, are identical. There remains one and
the same nature and one and the same person. The limbs of
infants are small, those of young men large yet they are
1 The term in semetipsum seems to have supplanted adverbially the
in idipsum of the Vulgate version.
310 VINCENT OF LERINS
the same. The joints of adult men are as many as those of
young children; though some are developed only in maturity,
they already existed virtually in the embryo. Hence, nothing
new is later produced in old men that has not previously
been latent in children. Therefore, without any doubt, this
is the legitimate and correct rule of progress and the estab-
lished and most impressive order of growth: The course ^ of
the years always completes in adults the parts and forms with
which the wisdom of the Creator had previously imbued
infants. If, on the other hand, the human form were
turned into a shape of another kind, or if the number of
members of the body were increased or decreased, then the
whole body would necessarily perish, or become a monstros-
ity, or be in some way disabled. In the same way, the dogma
of the Christian religion ought to follow these laws of prog-
ress, so that it may be consolidated in the course of years, de-
veloped in the sequence of time, and sublimated by age
yet remain incorrupt and unimpaired, complete and perfect
in all the proportions of its parts and in all its essentials (let
us call them members and senses), so that it does not allow
of any change, or any loss of its specific character, or any
variation of its inherent form.
To give an example. In ancient times, our forefathers sowed
the seeds of the wheat of faith in that field which is the
Church. It would be quite unjust and improper if we, their
descendants, gathered, instead of the genuine truth of wheat,
the false tares of error* On the contrary, it is logically correct
that the beginning and the end be in agreement, that we reap
from the planting of the wheat of doctrine the harvest of the
wheat of dogma. In this way, none of the characteristics of the
seed is changed, although something evolved in the course of
time from those first seeds and has now expanded under
COMMONITORIES 3 1 i
careful cultivation. What may be added is merely appearance,
beauty, and distinction, but the proper nature of each kind
remains. May it never happen that the rose garden of the
Catholic spirit be turned into a field of thistles and thorns.
May it never happen that in this spiritual paradise darnel and
poison ivy suddenly appear from growths of cinnamon and
balsam. Whatever has been planted in the husbandry of
God's Church by the faith of the fathers should, therefore, be
cultivated and guarded by the zeal of their children; it should
flourish and ripen; it should develop and become perfect.
For it is right that those ancient dogmas of heavenly philo-
sophy should in the course of time be thoroughly cared for,
filed, and polished; but it is sinful to change them, sinful to
behead them or mutilate them. They may take on more evi-
dence, clarity, and distinctness, but it is absolutely necessary
that they retain their plenitude, integrity, and basic character.
If such a license for impious fraud be granted only once,
what terrible danger I am afraid even to speak of it
would result, with religion being destroyed and abolished. If
one tenet of Catholic dogma were renounced, another, then
another, and finally one after the other would be abandoned,
first by custom, and then as though by right. When, one seg-
ment after the other had been rejected, what else would the
final result be, except that the whole would be likewise re-
jected? On the other hand, once there is a beginning of mix-
ing the new with the old, foreign ideas with genuine, and
profane elements with sacred, this habit will creep in every-
where, without check. At the end, nothing in the Church will
be left untouched, unimpaired, unhurt, and unstained. Where
formerly there was the sanctuary of chaste and uncorrupted
truth, there will be a brothel of impious and filthy errors.
May divine compassion divert such shocking impiety from the
312 VINCENT OF LERINS
minds of its children; instead, may the impious crowd itself
be left in its madness !
The Church of Christ, zealous and cautious guardian of
the dogmas deposited with it, never changes any phase of
them. It does not diminish them or add to them; it neither
trims what seems necessary nor grafts things superfluous; it
neither gives up its own nor usurps what does not belong to it.
But it devotes all its diligence to one aim: to treat tradition
faithfully and wisely; to nurse and polish what from old
times may have remained unshaped and unfinished; to con-
solidate and to strengthen what already was clear and plain;
and to guard what already was confirmed and defined. After
all, what have the councils brought forth in their decrees but
that what before was believed plainly and simply might from
now on be believed more diligently; that what before was
preached rather unconcernedly might be preached from now
on more eagerly; that what before was practiced with less
concern might from now on be cultivated with more care?
This, I say, and nothing but this, has the Catholic Church,
aroused over the novelties of the heretics, again and again
accomplished by the decrees of its councils, i.e., what it earlier
received from our forefathers by tradition alone, it has handed
down to posterity by authoritative decisions, condensing
weighty matters in a few words, and particularly for the
enlightenment of the mind, by presenting in new words the
old interpretation of the faith.
Chapter 24
But let us return to the Apostle. C O Timothy/ he says, c keep
that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the profane
novelties of words.' 'Avoiding/ 1 he says, as you would avoid
1 1 Tim. 6.20.
GOMMONITORIES 313
a viper, a scorpion, or a basilisk, lest they strike you not only
with their touch, but even with their look and breath. What
does 'avoiding' mean? 'With such a one, not so much as to
eat.' 2 What does 'avoiding' mean? 'If any man come to you
and bring not this doctrine. 33 Of course, this means the Catho-
lic and universal doctrine, which remains one and the same
through all successive ages in the uncorrupted tradition of
truth, and which will remain so without end for ever and
ever. What then? 'Receive him not/ St. John continues, 'into
the house, nor say to him, God speed you. For he that saith
to him, God speed you, communicated with his wicked
works.' 4 'Profane novelties of words, 3 he says. What is 'pro-
fane'? That which has nothing sacred, nothing religious,
which is completely outside the inner sanctuary of the Church,
God's Temple. 5 'Profane novelties of words, 3 he says. 'Of
words,' i.e., novelties of dogma, subject matter, and opinions,
contrary to tradition and antiquity which, should they be
accepted, would of necessity defile the faith of the blessed
fathers either entirely or to a great extent. If they are accepted,
then it must be stated that all the faithful of all ages all the
saints, all the chaste and continent virgins, all the clerics,
levites, and priests, the many thousands of confessors and the
vast armies of martyrs, many cities and great masses of people,
innumerable islands, provinces, kings, races, kingdoms, and
nations, finally, almost the whole world, incorporated through
the Catholic Church in Christ as Head that all of them have
for so many centuries been ignorant, have erred, have blas-
phemed, have not known what ought to be believed.
'Avoiding profane novelties of words,' he says, novelties
2 1 Cor. 5.11.
3 2 John 10.
4 2 John 10,11.
5 1 Cor. 3.16.
314 VINCENT OF LERINS
which were never accepted and followed by Catholics, but
always by heretics. Indeed, when did a heresy ever boil up
except under a definite name, at a definite place, and at a
definite time? Who ever introduced a heresy who had not
first separated from the common agreement prevailing in the
universal and traditional Catholic Church? A few examples
will support these statements by clearer evidence. Who, before
the profane Pelagius, ever dared to attribute such power to
free will as not to believe in the indispensable help of God's
grace for our good deeds in every act? Who, before his mon-
strous 6 disciple, Celestius, denied that the entire human race
was bound by the guilt of Adam's transgression? Who, before
the sacrilegious Arius, was audacious enough to split the
Unity of the Trinity, or, before the wicked Sabellius, to con-
fuse the Trinity of the Unity? Who, before the most cruel
Novatianus, called God cruel, on the ground that He preferred
the death of a dying person to his conversion and life? 7 Who,
before Simon Magus 8 whom the Apostle's wrath had at-
tacked 9 and from whom that old stream of disgrace has flown
on in uninterrupted and secret succession down to the most
recent heretic, Priscillian 10 dared to say that God the Creator
was the author of evil, that is, of our crimes, impieties, and
infamies? He actually makes the statement that God with His
own hand created such a nature in man that he, by his own
initiative and by his entirely determined will, neither can do
6 Rauschen is not certain whether prodigiosus or monstrosus is here
deservedly used by Vincent.
7 Ezech. 33.11. The Novatians held that deadly sins, such as murder,
fornication, and denying the faith, could not be remitted by the
Church, but were reserved to God alone.
8 St. Irenaeus (Adv. haer. 1.23.2f.) states of Simon the Samaritan that
he taught that good works were unnecessary, and further, that by
the Commandments of God men were reduced to slavery.
9 Acts 8.20.
10 Bishop of Gallaecia (now Gallizia) . This heresy had been founded
on the teaching of the Manichaeans and the Gnostics.
COMMONITORIES 315
nor want to do anything but sin, because he is driven and
inflamed by the furies of all the vices and dragged down by
unquenchable lust into the abyss of depravity.
Innumerable are the examples we must omit, since we wish
to be brief. But all of them make it sufficiently clear that the
customary method of most heresies consists in rejoicing in
'profane novelties/ in loathing traditional knowledge, which
some rejecting have made shipwreck concerning the faith. 11
Conversely, it is proper for Catholics to guard the 'deposit 5
handed down by the holy fathers, to condemn profane novel-
ties, and, as the Apostle said 'before and now I say again,'
let him be anathema 'if any one preach to you a gospel be-
sides that which you have received.' 12
Chapter 25
At this point one may ask me: Do the heretics also make
use of the testimonies of Holy Scripture? Indeed they do;
and to a great degree. They go through each and every book
of the Bible: Moses and the Books of Kings, the Psalms, the
Apostles, the Gospels, the Prophets. They utter almost nothing
of their own that they do not try to support with passages
from the Scripture whether they are among their own dis-
ciples or among strangers, in private or in public, whether
in sermons or in writings, in private meetings or in forums.
Read the treatises of Paul of Samosata, of Priscillian, of
Eunomius, of Jovinian/ and of the rest of these pests, and
you will discover an abundance of examples; there is scarcely
a page that is not painted and illumined with texts from the
11 1 Tim. 1.19; 6.20.
12 Gal. 1.9.
1 For the extant works of these heretics, cf. Rauschen, Vincentii Leri.
nensis Commonitoria 54, nn. 3ff.
316 VINCENT OF LERINS
Old and New Testaments. One must be on guard and fear
them all the more because they are concealed under the
protective shade of divine Law. They know well that their
putrid products would not easily please anyone if their vapors
were emitted undisguised; therefore, they sprinkle them with
the perfume of divine words, knowing too well that anyone
who readily despises human errors would hesitate to set aside
divine prophecies. Thus, they behave like those who have to
prepare a bitter drink for their infants and first smear some
honey around the rim of the cup so that the unsuspecting
child may not be averse to the bitterness when he has first
sipped the sweet taste, or like those who take great pains to
embellish poisonous herbs and noxious juices with high-sound-
ing medical names, so that no one suspects the poison while
reading the labels on the mixture.
After all, that is why the Saviour exclaimed: 'Beware of
false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. 52 What does 'the clothing
of sheep 5 mean save the words of the Prophets and Apostles,
which these men in their pretended lamb-like simplicity put
on as a fleece, imitating the lamb unspotted 3 'who taketh
away the sin of the world? 54 What are 'ravening wolves'?
What but the fierce and insane doctrines of the heretics who
invade the sheepfold of the Church, wherever they can, and
harass the flock of Christ. To approach the trusting sheep
more deceitfully, they discard their wolf-like appearance,
though keeping their wolfish ferocity, and cover themselves
with quotations from the Bible as though these were fleece.
Thus, no one who has first felt the softness of the wool
will fear the sharpness of their teeth. How does the Saviour
2 Matt. 7,15.
3 1 Pet. 1.19.
4 John 1,29.
COMMONITORIES 317
continue? 'By their fruits you shall know them.' 5 This
means: Once they begin not only to use the divine expres-
sions but also to explain them, not only to present them but
also to interpret them, then people will realize how bitter,
how sharp, how fierce they are. Then will the poisonous breath
of their new ideas be exhaled, then will 'profane novelties'
appear in the open, then will you see that 'the hedge is
broken, 56 that the ancient bounds have been passed, 7 that the
dogma of the Church is' lacerated, that the Catholic faith is
harmed.
Such were those whom the Apostle Paul attacked in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, when he says: Tor they
are false apostles, deceitful workmen, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ.' 8 What does 'transforming them-
selves into the apostles of Christ' mean? The Apostles quoted
the divine Law; so did the heretics. The Apostles adduced the
authority of the Psalms; so did they. The Apostles invoked
texts from the Prophets; so did they. But, when they began
to interpret in an inaccurate way what they had accurately
quoted, it became easy to distinguish the simple-minded from
the deceitful, the unsophisticated from the sophisticated, the
upright from those of perverted mind; in short, the true
apostles from the false. 'And no wonder, for Satan himself
transformeth himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers be transformed as the ministers of
justice.'* Hence, according to the teaching of the Apostle Paul,
whenever false apostles, false prophets, or false doctors quote
passages from the Bible in an attempt to support their
errors with the aid of wrong interpretations they are obvi-
5 Matt. 7.16.
6 Eccle. 10.8.
7 Prov. 22.28.
8 2 Cor. 11.13.
9 2 Cor. 11.14,15.
318 VINCENT OF LERINS
ously imitating the cunning machinations of their master. 1
Satan certainly would never have invented them if he had
not known that there was no easier way to deceive people than
by pretending to the authority of the Bible when wicked errors
were to be fraudulently introduced.
Chapter 26
Some one may offer the objection: Where is the proof that
Satan is accustomed to make use of examples taken from the
Bible? Let him who asks such a question read the Gospel in
which it is written: Then the devil took him' (the Saviour,
our Lord ) 'up into the holy city and set him upon the pinnacle
of the Temple, and said to him, If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down; for it is written, that He hath given His
angels charge over thee; and in their hands they shall bear
thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.' 1 What can he
not do to wretched human beings he who assailed the
'Lord of Glory 52 Himself with quotations from the Bible? 'If
thou be the Son of God/ he said, 'cast thyself down.' Why?
'For it is written/ We should give particular attention to the
lesson to be drawn from this passage. In the face of such an
outstanding example of evangelical authority, we should never
doubt that, every time we see people offering texts of the
Apostles and Prophets against the Catholic faith, Satan is
speaking through them. For, just as at that time the head (of
the devils) spoke to the head (of the Church-to-be), so now
do members speak to members, namely, members of the
Devil's body to members of Christ's Body, perfidious men to
the faithful, sacrilegious ones to the religious; in short, here-
10 Of the Devil.
1 Matt. 4.5,6.
2 1 COT. 2.8.
COMMONITORIES 319
tics to Catholics. What do they say? c lf thou be the Son of
God, cast thyself down.' This means: If you want to be a
son of God and possess the inheritance of the heavenly king-
dom, cast yourself down, that is, separate yourself from the
doctrine and tradition of that sublime Church which is God's
Temple. But if you ask one of the heretics who is about to
persuade you to such ideas: 'What are the foundations of
your arguments and teachings, according to which I have to
give up the universal and traditional faith of the Catholic
Church?' he will immediately say: Tor it is written.' He
will then present you with thousands of testimonies, examples,
and authorities from the Law, the Psalms, the Apostles,
the Prophets which in his new and wrong interpretation
precipitate your unhappy soul from the Catholic fortress into
the abyss of heresy. Here are the promises by which the here-
tics usually mislead those who are wanting in foresight. They 3
dare to promise in their teaching that in their church that
is, in their own small circle, is to be found a great and special
and entirely personal form of divine grace; that it is divinely
administered, without any pain, zeal, or effort on their part,
to all persons belonging to their group, even if they do not ask
or seek or knock. Thus, borne up by angels' hands that is,
preserved by angelic protection, they can never 'dash their
foot against a stone,' they never can be scandalized.
Chapter 27
We now deal with the following question : If it is true that
Satan and his disciples, of whom some are false apostles,
some, false prophets, and some, false teachers, but all entirely
heretical, make use of Scriptural passages, texts, and promises
what should Catholics, children of Holy Mother Church,
3 The followers of Semi-Pelagianism. Cf. Rauschen, op. cit. 56.
320 VINCENT OF LERINS
do? How shall they discern in Holy Scripture truth from false-
hood? Here is the answer as we gave it at the beginning of this
Commonitory, 1 in accordance with what holy and scholarly
men have handed on to us. They will devote all their care
and attention to interpreting the divine Canon according to
the traditions of the Universal Church and the rules of Catho-
lic dogma; within the Catholic and Apostolic Church they
must follow the principles of universality, antiquity, and con-
sent, If, at any time, a part is in rebellion against the whole
[universitatem], or some novelty against tradition [vetusta-
tem]> or if there is a dissension of one or a few involved in
error against the consent of all or the vast majority of Catho-
lics, then they should prefer the integrity of the whole to the
corruption of a part. Further, within the same universality,
they should place traditional religion [antiquitatis religionem]
before profane novelty. Likewise, within tradition, before the
inconsiderate attitude of a very few they should place, first,
the general decrees (if there are any) of a universal council,
and, then, if this is less important, they should follow the con-
cordant opinions of great and outstanding teachers. If, with
God's help, these rules are cautiously and carefully observed,
then we may with little difficulty control all the noxious
errors of rebellious heretics.
Chapter 28
Following up the preceding considerations, I have now to
show by examples how the profane novelties of the heretics
can be detected and condemned by quoting from, and col-
lating with each other, the concordant opinions of the ancient
teachers. However, we must carefully investigate and follow
this traditional consent of the holy fathers, not in every
1 Chapter 2.3, above.
COMMONITORIES 321
minor problem concerning the divine Law, but certainly and
particularly for the basis and for the rules of faith. Moreover,
we need not always fight in this way against all heresies, but
only against those which are new and recent; but, in the latter
case, as soon as they appear, before they have time to falsify
the rules of traditional faith, and before they spread their
poison any farther to spoil what our forefathers have written.
Inveterate and widespread heresies are in nowise to be at-
tacked by this method, because in the course of their long his-
tories they had ample opportunity to plagiarize the truth.
Thus, those older abominations of schisms or heresies can-
not be overcome save by refuting 1 them (if necessary) on the
authority of Holy Scripture alone, or by avoiding them if
they formerly have been refuted and condemned by universal
councils of the Catholic bishops. Therefore, as soon as the
foulness of some evil error begins to break out and its de-
fenders abuse passages of Holy Scripture and explain them
deceitfully and fraudulently, the opinions of our ancestors
must immediately be collected for the interpretation of the
Canon. Each novelty, hence, each abomination that may arise
will thus be brought to light without ambiguity and be con-
demned outright. But, only those opinions of the fathers are to
be brought forward which were expressed by those who lived,
taught, and persevered in the holy Catholic faith and com-
munion, and who deserved either to die faithfully in Christ
or to be martyred gloriously for Him. Those men are to be
believed, moreover, in accordance with the following rule:
Only that is to be held as certain, valid and beyond doubt,
which either all or most of them have confirmed in one and
the same sense manifestly, frequently, and persistently, as
though a council of masters stood in agreement and which
1 On this matter, Teriullian (De praescr, 19) disagreed.
322 VINCENT OF LERINS
they have accepted, kept, and handed on. On the other hand,
what some saint, learned man, bishop, confessor, or martyr
has individually thought outside of, or even contrary to, the
general opinion must be considered his personal, particular,
and quite private opinion, entirely removed from the common,
public, and general opinion. If we respect such a rule, we
shall not fall into the sacrilegious custom of the heretics and
schismatics, who reject the ancient truth of universal dogma
and follow the error of one man, and we shall thus escape the
very grave danger of losing our eternal salvation.
Lest anyone think that the holy and Catholic consent of
those blessed fathers can arbitrarily be despised, the Apostle
says in his First Epistle to the Corinthians: 'And God indeed
hath set some in the church, first apostles' (of whom he was
one), 'secondly prophets 3 (as Agabus, mentioned in the Acts) ,
'thirdly doctors' 2 (who are now called 'tractatores? interpre-
ters, also called Prophets by the same Apostle because the
mysteries of the Prophets were made plain by them to the
people). Everyone, therefore, who disregards these men whom
God has given to His Church in all times and in all places,
who disregards them when they agree in Christ about the
interpretation of Catholic dogma, does not disregard man, but
God Himself. Lest anyone cease to adhere to their true unity,
the same Apostle urgently implores him: "Now I beseech
you, brethren . . . that you all speak the same thing; and that
there be no schisms among you, but that you be perfect in
the same mind and in the same judgment.' 3 But, if someone
has departed from the general opinion, let him listen further
to the same Apostle: 'God is not the god of dissension, but of
peace/ i.e., not the God of men who revolt against the common
2 1 Cor. 12.28.
3 1 Cor. 1.10.
COMMONITORIES 323
consent, but of those who maintain the peace of agreement,
'as also I teach in all the churches of the saints.' 4 This further
means : In the churches of Catholics, which are holy because
they persevere in the communion of faith. And lest anyone
arrogantly claim that he alone should be heard and believed,
all the rest being set aside, the Apostle continues a little later:
'Or did the word of God come out from you? Or came it only
unto you?' In order to be more emphatic, he adds: *If any
seem to be a prophet or spiritual, let him know that the things
that I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.' 5
What other commandments than that he who is c a proph-
et or spiritual' a teacher of spiritual matter culti-
vate to the utmost the principles of harmony and unity, and,
therefore, never prefer his personal opinions to those of all
the others or depart from the general opinion? If any man,
the Apostle concludes, 'know not' these commandments, 'he
shall not be known.' 6 This means that he who does not learn
what he does not know, or who disregards what he does
know, 'shall not be known,' that is, shall be considered un-
worthy to be counted by God among those who are united
in faith and made equal by humility. Is there any greater
disaster imaginable than that? But, in accordance with the
Apostle's threat, precisely this occurred, as we saw only re-
cently, to the Pelagian Julian, 7 who did not care to belong
to the united body of his brethren, and had the self-conceit
to exclude himself from that body.
But now it is time to present the example 8 I promised and
4 1 Cor. 14.33.
5 1 Cor. 14.36,37.
6 1 Cor. 14.38.
7 Julian, Bishop of Eclana, a city in Apulia, a man much skilled in
Greek and Latin, and always ready for a fight, upheld the Pelagian
heresy against St. Augustine, who answered him in the six books
Contra Julianum.
8 Cf. the beginning of this Chapter.
324 VINCENT OF LERINS
to show where and how the opinions of the holy fathers have
been collected so that, in accordance with them, the Church's
rule of faith may be fixed by the decree and authority of a
council. To accomplish my plan more conveniently, it is best
to close this Commonitory here and to start anew on what I
still have to say.
The second Commonitory has been lost. There remains
of it nothing more than the final fragment. That is, only the
recapitulation, which is here appended. 9
Chapter 29
The time has come to recapitulate here, at the end of the
Second Commonitory, the content of both. As we said in
earlier sections, it always was, and is today, the usual practice
of Catholics to test the true faith by two methods: first, by
the authority of the divine Canon, and then, by the tradition
of the Catholic Church. 1 Not that the Canon is insufficient in
itself in each case. But, because most [false] interpreters of the
Divine Word make use of their own arbitrary judgment and
thus fall into various opinions and errors, the understanding
of Holy Scripture must conform to the single rule of Catholic
teaching and this especially in regard to those questions
upon which the foundations of all Catholic dogma are laid.
We also said that within the Church itself an agreement of
universality and antiquity must be observed, lest we either
9 These words, which are found in all the codices and early editions,
cannot be those of Vincent. In regard to the second Commonitory, Gen-
nadius (De vir. ill. 64) states: 'Since, hy theft, he lost the major por-
tion of his work, written on scrolls, having briefly recapitulated the
meaning, he first assembled, and then produced it in one volume.
1 Origen, Irenaeus, and Terttillian agree with Vincent that, in deciding
questions concerning the faith, tradition is reasonably to be adhered to.
Cf. especially the preface of Origen, De principiis.
COMMONITORIES 325
are drawn away from integral unity into the separatism of
schism or precipitated from traditional belief into the novel-
ties of heresy. Moreover, we said that, with regard to the
tradition of the Church, two precautions had to be rigorously
and thoroughly observed, adhered to by everyone who does
not wish to become a heretic: first, it must be ascertained
whether there exists from ancient times a decree established
by all the bishops of the Catholic Church with the authority
of a universal council, and second, should a new question
arise for which no decree can be found, one must revert
to the opinions of the holy fathers; to be more precise, of
those fathers who remained in their own times and places
in the unity of communion and of faith and who were there-
fore held as teaching 'probable' doctrine. If we can discover
what they held in full agreement and consent, then we can
conclude without hesitation that this is the true and Catholic
doctrine of the Church.
Since we sought to avoid the impression that we set forth
these principles more by our own presumption than by the
authority of the Church, we chose the example of that holy
council which took place about three years ago at Ephesus
in Asia, while the illustrious Bassus and Antiochus 2 were
consuls. When a debate arose on what rules of faith should
be sanctioned in order to avoid new and profane novelties
from creeping in as if by chance, as had happened dis-
astrously at the Council of Rimini, 3 the nearly two hundred
2 The year 431.
3 At Rimini in 359, about four hundred bishops, 'some overcome by
weakness of intellect, some worn out by traveling' (Sulpicius Severus,
Chron, 2.43) , subscribed to a formula which decreed that the Son was
like (hdmoion) to the Father.
326 VINCENT OF LERINS
members 4 of the hierarchy who were present declared the
following procedure to be the most Catholic and truly the
best in the interests of the faith. [It was agreed] by the as-
sembled bishops that there should be presented the opinions
of the holy fathers, some of whom were martyrs, others con-
fessors but all of them Catholic bishops 5 who, as was well
known, had remained so; and that what they had unan-
imously accepted should be duly and solemnly confirmed as
the dogma of the ancient faith, and thus, vice versa, the
blasphemy of profane novelty condemned. They actually
proceeded in this way. The impious Nestorius was formally
and correctly judged as opposing ancient Catholic belief,
while, on the other hand, blessed Cyril was declared to be
in agreement with that most sacred tradition. Moreover, to
make our report on the facts fully trustworthy, we also -indi-
cated the names and number we had forgotten their rank
of those fathers according to whose unanimous and con-
cordant opinion the words of the divine Law were explained
and the rule of divine dogma established. To refresh our
memory, it is worth while to recall their names here once
more.
Chapter 30
These are the men whose writings were quoted at that
council, either as judges or as witnesses: St. Peter, Bishop of
Alexandria, an outstanding doctor and most blessed martyr;
4 At the first session of the Council of Ephesus, held on June 22, one
hundred ninety-eight bishops, joined a short time later by some others,
deposed Nestorius. Prosper (Chron. ad annum 431) states as follows:
'At the synod of more than two hundred bishops, convened at Ephesus,
Nestorius was condemned, as was the heresy bearing his name; so also
were many Pelagians who were supporting very similar doctrines.
5 episcopoi (in the text, sacerdotes) .
I Peter was Bishop of Alexandria from the year 300, and suffered mar-
tyrdom in 311 (Cf. Eusebius, Hist. eccL 9.6.2) .
COMMONITORIES 327
St. Athanasius, Bishop of that same city, a most faithful
teacher and most eminent confessor; and St. Theophilus, 2
also Bishop of that city, a man famous for his faith, knowl-
edge, and whole life, whose successor is the venerable Cyril,
now an honor to the Church in Alexandria. But it would
be wrong to conclude that this doctrine came only from one
city and province. There were, in addition, those stars of
Cappadocia: St. Gregory of Nazianzus, bishop and con-
fessor; St. Basil, confessor and Bishop of Caesarea in Cap-
padocia; and that other Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, who,
through the merits of his faith, integrity, wisdom, and manner
of life, was of equal worth with his brother Basil. Further-
more, to prove that the Western and Latin world, no less
than Greece and the East, had always been in agreement,
letters addressed to various persons were read at that council,
letters written by St. Felix the Martyr and St. Julius, 3 both
Bishops of the city of Rome. And since witnesses should come
not only from the center, but also from the outposts of the
world, the meeting was also joined by the most blessed
Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage and martyr, from the South,
and by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, from the North. All
these men, of a number 4 made sacred by the Decalogue, were
brought before the assembly at Ephesus as teachers, counsel-
ors, witnesses, and judges, and that holy council clung fast to
their teaching, followed their advice, believed in their testi-
mony, obeyed their judgment, and thus decided upon the
rule of faith without any preconceived prejudice or favor. To
2 Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, 385-412, was an opponent of St.
John Chrysostom.
3 Felix 1 was Bishop of Rome, 269-274; Julius, I, 337-352.
4 Vincent forgot not only the rank, as he himself admits (Ch. 29.10) , but
also the number. For besides the ten whom he mentions, two others
are brought forward as witnesses to the truth: Atticus, who succeeded
St. Chrysostom at Constantinople, and Amphilochius, Bishop of Ico-
nium (d. about 394).
328 VINCENT OF LERINS
be sure, a far greater number of fathers could have been
added to this list, but there was no need. Too many wit-
nesses would have prolonged unnecessarily the time of the
debate; besides, no one had the least doubt that the opinions
of these ten men were, by and large, identical with those of all
their colleagues.
Chapter 31
After we had related all these facts, we specifically quoted
a sentence from blessed Cyril which is included in the coun-
cil's record. When the letter of St. Capreolus, 1 Bishop of
Carthage, had been read and he intended no more than
to request that novelty be destroyed and tradition defended
Bishop Cyril spoke, and concluded with a remark which it
is apposite to quote once more : This letter of the venerable
and most pious Bishop of Carthage, Capreolus, which was
just read to us, may be introduced into the record. Its mean-
ing is obvious: he wishes that the dogma of traditional faith
be confirmed and that the novelties useless inventions as
they are, propagated by impious hangers-on, be disapproved
and condemned.' All the bishops acclaimed, and cried:
These are the words of us all; this is what we all mean; this
is what all of us desire. 52 To what purpose this unanimous
voice and vote? That the ancient tradition ought to be ad-
hered to, and recent novelties rejected.
After that, we emphatically expressed our admiration for
the great humility and sanctity of that council. There were
assembled so many members of the hierarchy almost all
Metropolitans of such high attainments in scholarship and
doctrinal knowledge, that almost all of them were qualified
1 Capreolus succeeded Aurelius in the See of Carthage. This letter is
extant in both Greek and Latin (Cf. Migne, PL 53.843ff.) .
2 Cf. Harduinus, Ada conciliorum 1.1.1422
COMMONITORIES 329
to participate in discussions on dogmatic problems. Yet, al-
though their meeting obviously might have tempted them
to take the initiative in setting up additional rules of their own,
they invented nothing new, they conjectured nothing, they
claimed no privilege for themselves. On the contrary, they
cared for only one thing: that they should by no means hand
on to posterity anything which they themselves had not re-
ceived from the fathers. In this way they not only settled
effectively the problems with which they were faced at that
time, but also set an example for future generations. These,
too, should honor the doctrines of sacred tradition and con-
demn the fancies of profane novelty.
We also assailed the vicious presumption of Nestorius, who
had boasted that he was the first and only one to understand
the Scriptures and that all the others who had interpreted
the divine Word before him were ignorant, even though they
were truly gifted teachers all the priests, confessors, and
martyrs, some of whom had explained the divine Law, while
others accepted or believed in their explanations. He even
asserted that the entire Church was now involved in error
and always had been so, because it had, in his opinion, fol-
lowed and still was following ignorant and misguided doc-
tors.
Chapter 32
All this material that we have accumulated should be more
than sufficient to crush and eliminate every kind of 'profane
novelty. 5 Yet, to make the evidence more complete, we still
referred at the close in addition to all other testimony to
two utterances made by authority of the Holy See: one by
the holy Pope Sixtus III, that venerable man who at present
does honor to the Roman Church ; the other by his predeces-
sor of happy memory, Pope Celestine I. We consider it neces-
330 VINCENT OF LERINS
sary to repeat them here. The holy Pope Sixtus said in a
letter 1 which he sent to the Bishop of Antioch in the Nestor-
ian affair: 'Hence, because, as the Apostle said, there is one
Faith," 2 which he victoriously kept, let us believe in the things
to be said, and speak the things to be maintained.' But which
are the things to be believed in and to be taught? The Pope
continues: 'Let no further advance of novelty be permitted,
because it is unbecoming to add anything to ancient tradition;
the transparent faith and belief of our forefathers should
not be soiled by contact with dirt.' It is truly apostolic to com-
pare the riches of belief that our ancestors possessed to the
transparence of light and to describe profane novelties as a
mixture of dirt. The holy Pope Celestine wrote in the same
manner and the same spirit. In a letter which he addressed
to the bishops of Gaul and in which he accused them of
passive collaboration, because by their silence they were for-
saking the old faith and permitting 'profane novelties' to
arise, he said: 'Rightly we have to bear the responsibility,
if by our silence we encourage error. Therefore, those who
behave in this way should be rebuked! They should have no
right to free speech.' 3 One may perhaps doubt whether those
whom he wishes to deprive of the right to 'free speech' are
the preachers who have remained in keeping with tradition
or the inventors of novelties. He himself answers this objection
and dissipates such doubts, for he continues: 'If that be so'
and he means: If it be true, as some men complain to me,
that in your cities and provinces you encourage them by
your harmful dissimulation to consent to some of those novel-
1 This letter, the sixth in the letters of Pope Sixtus III, was sent in 435
to John of Antioch, after the latter, who had previously favored Nes-
torius, had made his peace with St. Cyril (Migne PL 50.609) .
2 Eph. 4.5.
3 PL 50.528.
COMMONITORIES 331
ties 'if it be so/ he says, 'then stop such novelties from
assailing tradition !' Thus, it was the sound opinion of blessed
Celestine not that tradition should cease to crush novelties,
but, on the contrary, that novelties should refrain from at-
tacking tradition.
Chapter 33
Everyone who is opposed to these apostolic and Catholic
decrees first deliberately insults the memory of St. Celestine,
who made the point that novelties should cease from attacking
tradition; secondly, derides the definitions of St. Sixtus, who
was of the opinion that 'no further advance should be per-
mitted to novelties, because it is unbecoming to add anything
to the ancient tradition' ; and lastly, disregards the statements
of St. Cyril, who in a fine sermon praised the zeal of the
venerable Capreolus, because the latter desired that the
'dogmas of the traditional faith be confirmed and that novel
inventions be condemned.' Further, such an opponent also
rejects the Synod of Ephesus, that is, the judgments of the
bishops of almost the entire East, whom it pleased under
divine inspiration to decree that posterity should believe only
what the sacred tradition, represented by the holy fathers,
had unanimously maintained in Christ the same synod
whose members by unanimous vote attested that all of them
agreed, with regard to wording, intention, and conviction,
on the following decision: Precisely as almost every heretic
before Nestorius who disregarded tradition and adhered
to novelty was condemned, so Nestorius himself, as the author
of novelties and the assailant of tradition, should be con-
demned. If this sacred consent inspired by the gift of heaven-
ly grace should displease anyone, what conclusion follows,
save that, in the opinion of such persons, the condemnation
332 VINCENT OF LERINS
of Nestorius' blasphemy was unjust? Finally, they can have
nothing but disregard for the entire Church of Christ, for
its teachers, apostles, and prophets, and above all for the
blessed Apostle Paul, as though all of these were despicable;
contempt for the Church, since it has never abandoned its
awe-inspired respect for the faith that was once and for all
handed over to it and that it has ever practised and revered. It
is also contempt for the Apostle, who wrote: <O Timothy,
keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the pro-
fane novelties of words,' 1 and again: 'If anyone preach to
you a gospel besides that which you have received, let him be
anathema. 32 Therefore, it is not lawful to despise the apostolic
definitions and ecclesiastical decrees, in which, in ac-
cordance with the sacred common consent and tradition, all
heretics always have justly been condemned (as, of late, Pela-
gius, Celestius, and Nestorius were). It is, therefore, an
indispensable obligation for all Catholics who are eager to
prove that they are true sons of Holy Mother Church to
adhere to the holy faith of the holy fathers, to preserve it,
to die for it, and, on the other hand, to detest the profane
novelties of profane men, to dread them, to harass and attack
them.
This is more or less the subject matter which I discussed
somewhat briefly in the two Commonitories, and a con-
densation of which I presented just now in the form of a
recapitulation, in order to refresh my memory for the sup-
port of which I wrote this book by persistent recollection,
without, however, overburdening it by unpleasant prolixity.
1 I Tim. 6.20.
2 Gal. 1.9.
GRACE AND
FREE WILL
(De gratia Dei]
Translated
by
J. REGINALD O'DONNELL, C.S.B., Ph.D.
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto]
IMPRIMI POTEST
Very Rev. K J. McCORKELL, C.S.B.
Superior General
Toronto
June 15, 1949
INTRODUCTION
ROM THE MEAGER DETAILS at our disposal, it is almost
impossible to write a biography of St. Tiro Prosper
of Aquitaine. Historical documents are annoyingly
silent on the events of the life of this great champion of
St. Augustine's teaching on grace and predestination. Schol-
ars have been content to quote the findings of Abbe L. Val-
entin, 1 who closes the chapter on the biography of Prosper
with a discouraging note: 'In sum, to all the questions that
can be asked concerning the biography of Saint Prosper
science replies only with conjectures more or less plausible.
He was born in Aquitaine around the end of the fourth
century and died in the last third of the fifth century. That
is all. Was he layman, priest or bishop? He was probably a
layman. Is he a saint? The testimony of the martyrology
lends considerable strength to the opinion that he is. More
we cannot say, St. Prosper, however, is much more famous for
what he wrote than for what he did, and his real biography
is found in a historical study of his works.' 2 Abbe Valentin
places the date of birth somewhat after the year 390 and,
regarding the date of death, ventures nothing further than
to say that he was still living in 455.
Sometime before the year 428, Prosper must have come
to Marseilles; in his letter to St. Augustine, written in that
1 Saint Prosper d'Aquitaine (Paris 1900) ,
2 Ibid., p. 154.
335
336 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
year, he speaks specifically of the monks of Marseilles. 3 Not
only was he aware of the public furor caused by the attacks
on the teaching of St. Augustine, but he was also familiar
with the discussions carried on in private. 4
Although the historical data on Prosper's life are few,
nevertheless he holds an undisputed place in the ranks of
the moulders of theological understanding of the doctrine of
grace. From the year 397, the date of completion of the De
diversis quaestionibus VII ad Simplicianum? St. Augustine's
position on the question of the relations of grace and the free
will was firmly established. He tells us in the Rectractations*
that he did his best to defend a triumphant free will, but the
grace of God won out. Henceforth, he was to teach the com-
plete incapability of the free will, unaided by grace, to ful-
fill the Commandments, that every act which is not a fruit
of grace is useless, and that, as a result of the sin of Adam,
the whole human race has become a damnable mass, curable
only by the grace of the Redeemer. Likewise, he expressed
the opinion that there were a certain number of elect already
determined by God to show forth His mercy, and a certain
number predestined to eternal death to show the justice of
the penalty. 7
In his reply to St. Prosper and Hilary of Aries, St. Augus-
tine makes his position very clear regarding the dispute with
Cassian. To no one is given the sufficiency either to begin or
complete any good work. The Semi-Pelagians were not es-
sentially different from the Pelagians. 8 St. Augustine admits
3 'Multi ergo servorum Christi qui in Massiliensi urbe consistunt'
Epistola ad Sanctum Augustinum (PL 51.67B) .
4 Cf. Chapter 14.2, below.
5 PL 40.170ff. Chapter 1 n. 2, below.
6 Retractationes II 2 (PL 32.629) .
7 De civitate Dei 21.12 (PL 41.727) .
8 De praedestinatione sanctorum 2 (PL 44.961) .
INTRODUCTION
337
frankly that he had once been in error on this point, since
he thought that the faith whereby we believe in God is not
God's gift, but that it is in us of ourselves, and by it we obtain
the gifts of God. He goes on to say that in his error he did
not think that faith was 'prevented' by God's grace; rather,
that the assent to the Gospel, when it was preached to us, was
our own doing, and came to us from ourselves. 9 Faith, then,
both in its beginning and completion, is God's gift. Let no
one doubt that this gift is given to some, and not to others.
We ought not be disturbed by the fact that all do not at-
tain it; even if no one at all were delivered from sin, there
would be no reason whatsoever to blame God. 10
As far as I can see, Prosper of Aquitaine quite faithfully
reproduced the teaching of St. Augustine. Prosper's Liber
contra Collatorem represents, I think, the final opinion of
its author on the problem of the necessity of grace. It was
written while Pope Sixtus (432-440) occupied the Chair of
Peter. It was evidently very early in the reign of Sixtus, since
Prosper was not quite sure what position he would take in
the anti-Augustinian dispute. 11 Consequently, it seems safe to
conjecture that the work in question was written within the
first two or three years of Sixtus 5 pontificate.
The Liber contra Collatorem contains a step-by-step ref-
utation of Conference XIII of the Conlationes of Cassian, en-
titled On the protection of God. n The doctrine advanced
by Cassian in this Conference was gaining more and more
ground in Gaul, until, in Prosper's opinion, the problem had
9 Ibid. 3.7 (PL 44.964) .
10 Ibid. 8.16 (PL 44.972) .
11 Cf. Chapter 22.4, below.
12 For the method, cf. pp. 406411, below.
338 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
become acute. He had already appealed to both St. Augus-
tine and Pope Celestine (422-432 ) for a clarification of the
problem 1S Finally, he set out to attack and refute once and
for all the Semi-Pelagianism of Cassian." To one with the
mental outlook of Prosper, the term Semi-Pelagian would
have been meaningless; there was no middle term; either
you took a Pelagian or a Christian stand in the dispute con-
cerning the necessity of grace even to begin a good work. I
do not know how far it is safe to suggest that a considerable
part of Prosper's interest in the dispute was due to the deep
admiration in which he held St. Augustine. He was delighted
with Pope Celestine's praise of his hero, even though it did
not contribute very much to the solution of the problem at
hand. .
The teaching of St. Augustine had been found a difficult
doctrine to accept. The first call by a purely gratuitous grace
seemed to be a guarantee of salvation; without this gift of
grace, man was helpless. St. Augustine had no explanation
for the choice, as it were, made by God, but in the final
analysis asserted that the ways of God are unsearchable.
It would be difficult to preach effectively a rigid monastic
observance, if the full doctrine of St. Augustine were not well
understood; a difficult task, since much of the teaching of
13 Prosper and Hilary of Aries journeyed to Rome to discuss with Pope
Celestine the validity of the doctrine of St. Augustine (See Valentin
op cit. p. 132) . St. Celestine then wrote a letter to the bishops of
Gaul in praise of St. Augustine, Epistola XXI ad episcopos Galltarum
(PL 50.528ff) . . .. . ,,
14 Cf. M. Jacquin, O.P., 'A quelle date apparait le terme semit^lagien?
Revue des sciences philosophiques et theologtques 1 (1907) 506ft.
According to Fr. Jacquin, the term came into use at the beginning
of the seventeenth century.
15 Cf n 10, above. Cf. for Augustine's teaching on grace his work
Grace and Freedom of Choice (De gratia et libero arbitno-
PL 44. 881-912) , in which Augustine reaffirms his teaching that grace
is a free gift of God but also tries to show that this does not need
INTRODUCTION 339
St. Augustine had to be picked out of a mass of controversial
works on grace, written against Origenists and Pelagians. To
spur on his monks to the pursuit of perfection, Cassian had
endeavored to lay as much responsibility as possible on the
individual himself. But, as Prosper has emphasized, two
wrongs do not make a right. 16 Grace does not destroy free
will or take away moral responsibility. Cassian tried to prove
from Sacred Scripture that grace is the reward given us for
good beginnings which spring from the will's own natural
powers. Grace is only necessary in order to carry to com-
pletion or to facilitate the carrying out of these good first
intentions. God can, of course, choose and draw to salvation
anyone He pleases, but there hardly seems to be any merit
for such a one; certainly, he has expended no efforts which
are properly his own. Such, in brief, is the position which
Prosper seeks to disprove in the work which is here translated.
Dom Cappuyns 17 has indicated that it is possible to discern
a gradual relaxation of the original position taken by St.
Prosper of Aquitaine. He singles out three different periods:
a period of no compromise; a period of some concessions;
finally, a period of greater concessions. The first period is
marked by a literal defense of St. Augustine; here, the bitter
problem of predestination plays a considerable role, if not a
to entail a denial of free will in man (V. J- Bourke, p. 288) . For the
most complete exposition (according to A. M, Jacquin, 'La predestin-
ation d'apr& S. Augustin/ MisceL Agost. 2 855-858) of Augustine's
views on grace and predestination one should read his Admonition
and Grace, translated in Vol. 2 of the Writings of St. Augustine in
this series, and also A. C. Pegis's Introduction to Vol. 3 of the Writ-
ings of St. Augustine in this series, containing "The Freedom of
Choice" etc.
16 Cf. Chapter 5.2, below.
17 Cf. Dom D. M. Cappuyns, 'Le Premier repr&entant de rAugustinisme
me*die*val. Prosper d'Aquitaine,' Recherches de theologie andenne
et medievale 1 (1929) 308-337.
340 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
capital one. The second period, to which the Liber contra
Collatorem belongs, sees no mention of predestination. The
final period coincided with Prosper's stay at Rome; far from
the field of battle, the controversies of a corner of Gaul are
seen in a new perspective and consequently appear less im-
portant. Besides, Pope Leo (440-461), a prudent ruler, was
able to exercise a considerable influence on Prosper. It was
during this period that he began his calm commentary on
the Psalms.
It is certainly not necessary to conclude that Prosper
changed his opinion on grace simply because he withdrew
from the field of controversy. I think the Liber contra Colla-
torem represents his final position on the problem. At any
rate, the Council of Orange in 529 justified his stand/ 8 That,
I think, is reason enough to affirm that the Liber contra Col-
latorem is the most representative of Prosper's works and,
historically speaking, the most significant.
It is written in a turgid, although generally correct, style
of Latin, reminiscent of fifth-century Gallic schools of rhet-
oric. Long Scripture quotations, sometimes complete sen-
tences in themselves, are woven into the fabric of his Latin
period. There is no documentary evidence that Prosper at-
tended any school, but his degree of erudition makes it a
reasonable presumption. 19
A single method of controversy prevails throughout the
work, namely, to argue from authority and to reduce the
opponent to the dilemma of either self-contradiction or to
a position contrary to authority. The Semi : Pelagians had
used much the same tactic. They had said: Either give up
your doctrine on grace or deny free will. They had also
claimed that St. Augustine had divided the body of Chris-
18 Cf. Hefele-Leckrcq, Histoire des conciles II.2 (1086) n.3.
19 Gf. M. Roger, L'Enseignement des lettres classiques (Paris 1905) 83.
INTRODUCTION 341
tians into two camps: those predestined to glory and those
predestined to damnation. Prosper answers what he calls the
calumnies of the heretics by citing the condemnations of the
Popes and Councils against the Pelagians. He quotes text
after text of Sacred Scripture. The conclusion to be drawn,
therefore, is that doctrines contrary to the decisions and
statements of Scripture, Popes and Councils are to be rejected
with horror. The heretics, too, had divided the Christian body
into two classes: into a class which gets along on its own
strength, and a class which God saves by a purely gratuitous
gift of His grace. Moreover, in Prosper's opinion, Cassian is
somewhat dishonest; in the hope of deceiving the easy-going
reader he begins his discourse with a very definitely Catholic
statement of doctrine, but the later development finds him
contradicting himself. We could qualify the arguments used
by Prosper against Cassian as follows: argumentum ad ho-
minem; argumentum ex auctoritate; reductio ad absurdum.
They are the arguments of a man trained in rhetoric.
If we hope to find an analysis or an exposition of the
nature and essence of grace, we shall be disappointed; such
was not Prosper's aim. He was primarily interested in the
exigencies of the historical circumstances of his own time*
We need not be surprised at the strong terms used by Prosper
both in attacking his adversary and in describing the lament-
able state in which man finds himself without grace. The
Latin Fathers were trained, not in metaphysics, but in the
school of Cicero and Quintilian, in the school of rhetoric.
Although Prosper describes man's miserable conditions after
the Fall in vehement terms, he is very careful to make it
unequivocally clear that grace can heal man's wounded na-
ture; there is still a nature to be cured. 20
20 Cf, Chapters 9.3 and 10.3, below.
342 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
Prosper's influence on the Middle Ages was not negligible.
In addition to the rather numerous extant manuscripts of
his works, many authors quote him. 21 A series of Capitula
aimed at Semi-Pelagianism, if not certainly from the pen
of Prosper, are undoubtedly based upon his works. 22
The works of St. Prosper, which are generally accepted as
authentic, run to more than 700 columns of Migne's Latin
Patrology. In the translation of the Liber contra Collatorum,
I have had at my disposal the texts of Migne and a Venice
edition of 1782. Except for a rare typographical difference,
the texts are identical. Migne lists thirteen columns of the
various editions of Prosper's works throughout the centuries. 23
As far as the present translator has been able to ascertain,
no previous English translation of the present work exists.
21 Cf. Cappuyns, op. cit. 335.
22 Cf. Cappuyns, 'L'Origine des Capitula Pseudo-c^lestiniens centre le
semiptfagianisme/ Revue Benedictine 41 (1929) 156-170.
23 PL 51.49ff.
GRACE AND FREE WILL
A Defence of St. Augustine against Cassian 1
Chapter 1
HERE ARE SOME bold enough to assert that the grace
of God, by which we are Christians, was not correctly
defended by Bishop Augustine of holy memory; nor
do they cease to attack with unbridled calumnies his books
composed against the Pelagian heresy. 2 Their own internal
discord and malice within would be as much an object of scorn
as their heretical and ranting verbosity without, even if they
did not support the wolves which have been cast from the
Lord's fold, and which are of the fold in name, and even if
they were not such that neither their rank in the Church nor
their talents were to appear despicable. Since, indeed, they pos-
sess an appearance of piety in their devotion, the virtue of
which is denied by their frame of mind, they attract to them-
selves many unlearned, and disturb hearts which have no
1 The full title, as listed in Migne's Latin Patrology, is: Sancti Prosperi
Aquitani de Gratia Dei et Libero Arbitrio Liber contra Collatorem^
id est, Pro Defensione Sancti Aurelii Augustini Hipponensis Episcopi
contra Cassiani Presbyteri Librum qui Titulo de Protectione Dei
Praenotatur.
2 For a list of the Anti-Pelagian writings, see Otto Bardenhewer,
Patrology. The Lives and Works of the Fathers of the Church, trans,
by Thomas J. Shahan (St. Louis 1908) 486-488. Cf. also, Vernon J.
Bourke, Augustine's Quest of Wisdom (Milwaukee 1945) 175-200. These
writings will be published in this series.
343
344 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
discernment of spirits. Besides, they strive to reduce the cause
of the Church to such a pass that, when they assert that those
of our side have not spoken truly about grace, they insinuate
that the enemies of grace were unjustly condemned. There
must be, therefore, no overlooking this evil, which from
hidden and tiny seeds is daily increasing and spreading far
and wide from its beginning. Rather, care must be exercised
to the extent of God's help, that the hypocrisy of the deceit-
ful slanderers be uncovered, who from the very magnitude
of the injury they brought as one against all, and especially
against the pontiffs of the Apostolic See, are judged by the
untutored and incautious to be men of lofty knowledge, and
who with lamentable and perverse success gain through lies
a ready assent, because they have presumptuously created an
awe of themselves. Since they are men of good reputation,
they are not considered to have been -capable, through any
slowness of wit or rashness of judgment, of having voiced in
unison vain complaints, instead of having labored with great
skill and tireless zeal in order that, once the discussions of the
subtle compiler were understood, a presently more rigid
examination and sharper scrutiny would discover what a
previously unconcerned indulgence and careless benevolence
had not seen.
(2) Whence, then, has arisen the painstaking effort of so
strict an examination? Wherefore has the countenance as-
sumed for this serious task a lean and hungry look in order
that the crafty inquisitor might scrutinize the measures of the
lines, the balance of the sentences and the quantity of the
syllables, and presume that he was accomplishing something
great, if he could tag the Catholic preacher with the label
of error? Just as if he were assailing some unknown work
hitherto hidden ! But, that doctrine is not rent by these ma-
licious attacks, a doctrine which dislodged the commen-
GRACE AND FREE WILL 345
taries of the heretics and dashed to pieces the devilish ferment
of Pelagian pride. It is now twenty years and more that the
Catholic battle line under his [Augustine's] leadership is fight-
ing against and conquering the enemies of grace. Conquer-
ing, I say, because those whom it conquers it does not permit
to revive, and toward whose downfall it wrote the single
opinion of all priests. Put to rout by the popes and deprived
of communion, they who have preferred to be strangers to
the truth rather than citizens of the Church complain about
the good fortune of our victory. Why do those of our side,
who are of one body and partake in common of the grace of
Christ, debate about the arms with which the common faith
is defended? Why do they take up again a war that is finished,
and weaken the bulwarks of a long and tranquil peace? Are
the victors uneasy and the vanquished finding favor? Are the
condemned errors so impudently encouraged that, with de-
praved ill-will, both our writers and judges are placed on
trial? Has, in fact, the more demanding rule of the new
censors so modified itself that it asserts none of the things
which have been extirpated, and rejects some of the things
which have been held? With due regard of the tranquillity
of a Catholic victory and the indissolubility of the decrees:
behold, we are ready to hear the advocates of an emended
doctrine and to acknowledge the outlines of an acute discern-
ment, when cleared of all error. Let the golden mean be
kept in the products of new inventions.
1 Chapter 2
( 1 ) That we may not appear to belabor what the common
herd and the brazen verbosity of the incompetent have ad-
vanced in order to obscure the knowledge of the more learned,
let us set forth the propositions of the one person especially
346 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
who doubtless excels all of them in the study of Sacred Scrip-
ture. It is necessary to take these up now for discussion, since
there can be no doubt whether they are as described. For they
are written and promulgated in the publications of their
author. The question, however, is not now whether they
are; rather, what they teach must be elucidated. So, in a book
entitled On the Protection of God, 1 a certain priest, who
excelled in the art of disputation those with whom he lived,
invented an abbot who treated the problem of the grace of
God and the free will. The former made clear that he ap-
proved and accepted the opinion of the latter, and so now we
have naught to do with the latter, who would casually refute
such opinions of his own either by denying them or removing
them by correction. Rather, our affair is with him who has
endeavored to advance such a doctrine as a tool in the hands
of "the enemies of grace.
(2) This doctrine, however, was not at the outset of the
discussion at variance with true piety, and would have de-
served a just and honorable commendation, had it not, in
its dangerous and pernicious progress, deviated from its initial
correctness. For, after the comparison of the farmer, to whom
he likened the example of one living under grace and faith,
and whose work he said was fruitless unless he were aided
in all things by the divine succor, he introduced the very
Catholic proposition, saying: 'From which it is clearly de-
duced that the beginning not only of our acts, but also of
our good thoughts, is from God; He it is who inspires in us
the beginnings of a holy will and gives us the power and
capacity to carry out those things which we rightly desire.
1 Edited by Michael Petschenig, in Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum
Latinorum 13.2 (Vienna 1886) 361-397. According to L. Christian*,
Jean Cassien (S. Wandrille 1946) I 252, this work of Cassian was
written, at the latest, shortly after 426.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 347
"Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of lights." 2 He it is who begins in us
what is good and likewise accomplishes and fulfills it. In the
words of the Apostle: "And He that ministereth seed to the
sower, will both give you bread to eat and will multiply your
seed, and increase the growth of the fruits of your justice." 3
Lest anyone think that there was nothing left for the free
will to do, he added quite reasonably as proof that it was
not taken away, but rather strengthened, by these gifts, un-
less, bent upon its own iniquities, it preferred to turn away
from the divine aid.' 4 It is in our power, he says, each day to
comply humbly with the grace of God which attracts us, or
certainly, as it is written, 5 by resisting it with a stiff neck and
uncircumcised ears we deserve to hear through Jeremias:
'Shall not he that falleth rise again? Or he that is turned
away, shall he not turn again? Why then is this people in
Jerusalem turned away with stubborn revolting? They have
hardened their necks and would not return. 96 Again later on,
when he had taught that all zeal for virtue required the grace
of God, he aptly added: 'Just as all these things cannot
continually be desired by us without the divine inspiration,
likewise without His help they can in no way be brought to
completion.' 7
(3) In the seventh chapter, when he wanted to show that
the grace of Christ, which neglects no man and deserts not
even the rebellious and perverse, is universal, he said: 'The
divine protection is inseparably with us, and so great is the
love of the Creator toward His creature, that not only does
2 James 1.17.
3 2 Cor. 9.10.
4 Cf. Johannis Cassiani, Conlatio XIII 3.5 (CSEL, p. 364) .
5 Acts 7.51.
6 Jer. 8.4.
7 Cassian, op. cit. 6.3 (CSEL, p. 367) .
348 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
His providence accompany it, but even unceasingly goes
before it.' s Here it can be seen that he called providence a
companion for this reason, that it generally does not desert
its deserters, or because all whom it precedes it likewise fol-
lows But he continues with these words: 'And when He sees
in us any beginning of a good will, He illumines it, strengthens
it, and directs it to salvation, giving increase to that which
either He planted or which He saw come forth from our
own efforts.' 9 Here he can still say that he meant that the
origin of a good will is from that, whose beginnings have been
planted or inspired by God, because salutary efforts can
proceed from hearts already illumined. These, therefore, can
be said to be of man himself, because he has already received
the power of the good endeavors, and their seeds are referred
to their author.
(4) And also in the ninth chapter he added: 'Wherefore
it is not easily discernible by human reason how the Lord
gives to those who ask, is found by those who seek, and opens
to those who knock, 10 and likewise how He is found by those
who do not seek, and how he openly appears among those
who did not ask after Him, and how "All the day long He
spread His hands to a people that believeth not and contra-
dicteth," 11 how He calls them resisting and from afar, how
He calls them to salvation unwilling, how He takes away
from those who desire to sin the capacity of carrying out their
will, how He stands in the way of those who hasten towards
evil.' 12 At this point, by a sort of inscrutable contradiction,
there is introduced a proposition in which it is taught that
many come to grace without grace, and that some also, from
8 Ibid. 8.3 (CSEL, p. 371) .
9 Ibid.
10 Cf. Matt. 7.7.
11 Rom. 10.20.
12 Cassian, op. dt. 9.1 (CSEL, p. 372) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 349
*+
the endowments of the free will, have this desire to seek, to
ask and to knock; yet in other things this free will is marked
by so blind an aversion that no inducements lead it back,
unless it is unwillingly recalled by the strength of Him who
draws it. As if this were not wholly brought about in the
souls of all by the work of a multiform grace, so that, being
unwilling, they become willing! Or as if anyone from among
those who use the judgment of reason could receive faith
except by the will ! Wherefore, it is as foolish to say that any-
one can willingly strive toward a sharing in grace as it is to
assert that anyone can come to it when not impelled by the
Spirit of God.
(5) Quickly, then, did this disputant forget the foregoing
proposition; quickly and with capricious instability did he
dissent from his own statement. For he had correctly stated
that 'the beginning not only of our acts, but also of our good
thoughts, is from God. J Lest this should be understood as ir-
relevant to the stated doctrine, he was careful to add: 'He it
is who inspires in us the beginnings of a holy will and gives
the power and capacity to carry out those things which we
rightly desire. For "every best gift, and every perfect gift,
is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." 13 He
it is who begins in us what is good and likewise accomplishes
and fulfills it. 514 O Catholic teacher, why do you forsake
your profession, why do you turn to the cloudy darkness of
falsity and depart from the light of the clearest truth? Why do
you not ascribe to the same grace, which is lacking, what
you are in amazement at in those who seek, ask and knock?
You see the good endeavors, the holy zeal; do you doubt that
they are the gifts of God? The work of grace will have re-
mained hidden as long as the implanted faith is enclosed
13 James 1.17.
14 Cassian, op. tit. 3.5 (CSEL, p. 364) ,
350 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
within the mystery of thought. But where there is supplication
and diligent searching, where there is manifest and frequent
knocking, why do you not understand from the quality of the
work the supply of the One who incites it?
Chapter 3
( 1 ) You think you guard sufficiently against the Pelagian
fallacies if you grant to us in part what is to be held in the
whole body of those called. On your part, however, there is
complete agreement with neither the heretics nor the Catholics.
The former regard the beginnings in every just work of man
as belonging to the free will; we constantly believe that the
beginnings of good thoughts spring from God. You have
found some indescribable third alternative, unacceptable to
both sides, by which you neither find agreement with the
enemies nor retain an understanding with us. How is it that
you do not realize that you fall willy-nilly into that con-
demned position, since you incontestedly assert that the grace
of God is given according to bur merits, in that you affirm
that some good works proceed from man himself, for which
he receives grace? For the faith of him who seeks, the piety
of him who asks, the constancy of him who knocks cannot
be regarded as of no merit, especially when all the so-described
are said to receive, find and enter. And in this case it is vain,
even impious, to want to make a place for merits existing
before grace, so that what the Lord says may not be wholly
true: 'No man can come to Me, except the Father, who
hath sent Me, draw him. 31 This he would not have said at
all, were the conversion of anyone to be thought to be with-
out the illumination of God, or if in any way the will of man
could tend toward Gad without God, who attracts him who
1 John 6.44.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 35 1
is called to the Son. He does not compel him who resists and
is unwilling, but makes him, who was unwilling, willing and
in various ways disposes the lack of faith of him who resists,
so that the heart of him who hears and obeys, because of the
delight begotten within itself, rises whence it was pressed
down, finds knowledge where it was ignorant, places its trust
where it lacked confidence, becomes willing, whence it was
unwilling. 'For the Lord will give goodness, and our earth
shall yield her fruit. 52
Let us examine the nature of what follows: 'But to whom
is it readily evident how the whole of salvation is attributed
to our will, and how "it is not of him that willeth or of him
that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy"? 3 Anent this
there are the words: "If you be willing and will hearken to
Me, you shall eat the good things of the land/* 4 Likewise,
what is it that "God will render to every man according to
his works," 5 and "It is God who worketh in you both to will
and to accomplish, according to his good will 3 '; 6 and "that
not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God : not of works, that
no man may glory" 5 ? 7 And the other things which were
gathered from the Scriptures, he arranged as though they
were contradicting each other, so that he might assign to
human energy the desire for the gifts of grace. All men are
divided into classes: some there are whom the grace of God
saves; others whom the Law and nature justifies. The Law,
however, can command that we do no evil, but it cannot free
from evil; it makes the commandment known, but it does
not bestow a love of obedience, unless what kills through
2 Ps. 84.13.
3 Rom. 9.16.
4 Isa. 1.19.
5 Matt. 16.27.
6 Phil. 2.13.
7 Eph. 2.13.
352 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
the rule of the letter is made life-giving through the spirit of
grace.
(2) Thereupon he concludes, saying [what are we being
told] 'Except that in all these [Scriptural texts] both the grace
of God and the liberty of our will are proclaimed, and also
that man can sometime by his own activity reach out to a
desire of the virtues; but he always needs the Lord's help 3 ? 8
What has become of what was premissed in the correct propo-
sition: The beginning not only of our good acts, but also
of our good thoughts, is from God. He it is who begins in us
what is good and likewise accomplishes and fulfills it'? 9 Be-
hold here also, even if you do admit that the help of God
is necessary for good undertakings, nevertheless you ascribe
to the bare liberty of the will, without the grace of God, the
very praiseworthy activity and desire of the virtues! Conse-
quently, good and salutary endeavors cannot progress unless
God help; they can, however, make a beginning even with-
out the divine inspiration.
Chapter 4
( 1 ) Whereupon, the more clearly to define what man has
from his free will and what from grace, you add: 'For nobody
enjoys health whenever he wishes, nor is he freed from sick-
ness by the desire of his will/ 1 You teach, therefore, that man
of himself cannot, indeed, gain health, but that he has of
himself the desire of health; also, that he approaches the
physician of his own free will; and the very fact that he does
8 Cassian, op. cit. 9.4 (CSEL, p. 373) . It has been necessary to add
quid sit quod ad nos dicitur from the text of Cassian to complete
the sense.
9 Ibid. 3.5 (CSEL, p. 364) .
1 Cassian, op. cit. 9.5 (CSEL, p. 374) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 353
approach him is in no way attributable to the physician. Just
as if the soul itself were not sick, and, being healthy, were
to seek out a cure for the body! But the whole man through
it and along with it falls into the depths of his misery. And
before receiving from the physician a knowledge of its
disaster, he delights that the soul linger there, even enamored
of its errors and embracing the false for the true. Its first
salvation is to begin being dissatisfied with itself and to note
its old debility; next, that it long to be cured and know the
author of the cure. These so precede its cure that they are
placed there by Him who will operate the cure, in order that,
since they cannot at all be there in vain, it may appear to
have been saved by grace, not merit.
(2) Then you add: 2 'In order that it may be the more
evident that the beginnings of a good will sometimes emanate
from a good will, through the bounty of nature bestowed by
the beneficence of the Creator, the Apostle is also the witness
that, unless these beginnings are directed by God, they can-
not come to the perfection of virtues, he says: "For to will
is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I
find not." s3 According to this proposition, therefore, you
spoke falsely before: The beginning not only of our acts,
but also of our good thoughts, is from God. He it is who
begins in us what is good and likewise accomplishes and ful-
fills it. 34 But this cannot in any way or from any angle be
false, and what is contrary to it should not have been advanced
in such a way that what you correctly professed to begin from
grace you afterwards affirm us to have through the gift of
nature and the free will. In fact, the blessed Apostle said:
Tor to will is present with me; but to accomplish that which
2 Ibid.
3 Rom. 7.18.
4 Cassian, op. cit. 33.5 (C5L, p. 364) .
354 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
is good, I find not. 55 And the same Apostle said: c Not that we
are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves;
but our sufficiency is from God.' 6 Likewise, he said: For it is
God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish,
according to His good will.' 7 The Apostle, therefore, does
not contradict himself. But when the good will has been
given us, we do not immediately find its accomplishment,
unless He who gave the will also grant its accomplishment
to those who seek, ask and knock. For the words of him who
says: Tor to will is present with me; but to accomplish that
which is good, I find not/ 8 are the words of one who has been
called and already possessed of grace. In fact, he is delighted
with 'the Law of God, according to the inward man/ but
sees 'another law in (his) members, fighting against the law
of (his) mind, and captivating (him) in the law of sin.
Although he has received the knowledge of right willing,
nevertheless he does not find in himself the power to do what
he wills, until he merit, because of the good will which is
his, to find the power for the virtues which he seeks.
Chapter 5
(1} After this, you tender several proofs to demonstrate
that the free will is now strong, now weak; as if there were
some who accomplish by their own strength what others can-
not do without God's help; or as if man receives a com-
mandment for another purpose than to seek the divine aid!
You conclude, therefore, and say: 'And so these are some-
what indiscriminately mixed up and confused; consequently,
5 Rom. 7,18,
6 Phil 2.13.
7 Ibid.
8 Rom. 7.18.
9 Rom. 7.22.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 355
which depends on which is a considerable problem: namely,
whether God is merciful to us because we have presented
the beginning of a good will, or we receive the beginning of
a good will because God is merciful. Many, believing these
individually and affirming more than is right, are caught
in many and self-contradictory errors.' 1 Behold, what, as it
seems to you, were confused are distinct, and what could not
be explained is settled ! You propose two contradictory errors
in which are implicated those who do not know what must
be held between free will and grace. In one class you place
those who say that God is merciful to us because we present
of ourselves the beginnings of a good will; doubtless, you
mean the followers of the Pelagian doctrine, who assert that
the grace of God is given according to our merits. In the
other class you place those who say that the beginnings of a
good will come from the mercy of God, intending those to
be understood who fight against the enemies of grace. If,
therefore, it is wrong to ascribe the beginning of a good will
to man not divinely aided, and it is an error to admit that the
will is prepared by the Lord, whither must we go to avoid
both?
(2) If we follow both, you say, we subscribe to no error.
You expose us to two, and, according to your way of think-
ing, you condemn the double distortion by dividing and justify
it by combining the two. According to this law, this rule, you
were able to preach that both are wrong: those who say that
one must always deceive, and those who declare that one
must never deceive; but there is sin in neither in following
both, because neither is falsehood always to be avoided nor
truth always to be neglected. 2 You are completely wrong in
1 Cassian, op. cit. 11.1 (CSEL, p. 375).
2 Cf. Cassian, Conlatio XVII 20 (CSEL, pp. 480ff.) .
356 PROSPER OF AQUITAJNE
your opinion. Of two evils, one cannot become good. Two vices
do not beget one virtue; two falsehoods do not make one
truth. What are equal in merit are not diminished by joining;
rather, they increase. And so, they who asserted that the begin-
nings of good will are generated by a divine inspiration
should not be indicted in the same judgment in which they
are condemned who think that the free will without the
strength of grace can suffice for these beginnings. One of
these propositions has been attacked by the Church, the other
defended; nor do the stipulations of this new invention in
any way agree with those propositions, so that, the more
corrupt the Catholic one is, the more correct is the Pelagian.
(3) 'Many,' you say, 'believing these individually, and
affirming more than is right, are caught in numerous and
self-contradictory errors.' 3 It is your intention, therefore, to
condemn the Catholics along with the heretics, the victors
with the vanquished, and to brand with the stamp of error
those who have driven error from the Church. According
to your opinion, wherein you propose that the source of holy
and faithful wills is not from God in the case of all men
as if you would make a considerable concession to grace, if
you were thereby to admit that it is operative in the minds
of some ! Pope Innocent, most worthy of the See of Peter,
was wrong when he said of those who gloried in the free will :
'What shall we henceforth think of the understanding of those
who believe it is due to themselves that they are good?' And
again, when he wrote about the fall of the first man, he said :
Tor he once tested his free will, when he imprudently made
use of his goods. And falling into the depths of sin, he was
buried there; nor did he find anything whereby he might
rise thence. Eternally deceived by his liberty, he would have
3 Cassian, Conlatio XIII 11.1 (CSEL, p. 375) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 357
been prostrate under the weight of this ruin, if afterwards
the coming of Christ had not raised him up again by His
grace/ 4 The Eastern bishops were wrong, at whose investiga-
tion Pelagius, to appear Catholic, was compelled to anath-
ematize those who say that the grace of God is given accord-
ing to our merits. 5 The African councils of bishops were
wrong, which established in their decrees that to know what
we ought to do and to have the love to do it are both gifts
of God, so that through the edification of charity knowledge
may not be puffed up. 6 For, just as it has been written of God:
'He that teacheth man knowledge/ 7 so also is it written:
'Charity is of God/ 8 The two hundred and fourteen priests
were wrong, who, in the letter which they sent in advance of
their constitutions to the blessed Zozimus, bishop of the
Apostolic See, had this to say: 'We have decided that the
pronouncement, made against Pelagius and Celestius by the
venerable Bishop Innocent of the See of the most blessed
Apostle Peter, stand until, with a very clear confession, they
admit that we are in our every act aided by the grace of God
through Jesus Christ our Lord, not only to know but also
to accomplish justice, so that without it we have, think or
perform no true and holy piety.' 9 The most holy See of the
blessed Peter was wrong, which spoke thus to the whole world
through the mouth of Pope Zozimus : c We have, by the divine
inspiration (for all good things must be referred to the Author
4 Cf. Hefele-LeClercq, Histoire des candles II.l 168ff., for a history of
the conciliar decisions on Pelagianism. For the particular passage
referred to here, cf. H. Denzinger, Enchiridion Symbolorum Defini-
tionum et Declarationum de Rebus Fidei et Morum (Freiburg i. Br.
1932) no. 130.
5 Hefele-LeClercq, op. cit. 177, n. 1.
6 CL 1 Cor. 8.1.
7 Ps. 93.10.
8 1 John 4.7.
9 Cf. Hefele-LeClercq, op. cit. 189, n. 3.
358 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
whence they were given birth) referred everything to the
combined knowledge of our brethren and fellow bishops.' 10
The African bishops erred when they wrote back to the same
Pope Zozimus and commended him for the soundness of his
decision in these words: 'What you have written in your
letters, which you took care to have sent to all the provinces,
saying: "We have, by the divine inspiration (for all good
things must be referred to the Author whence they were given
birth) referred everything to the combined knowledge of
our brethren and fellow bishops." we have understood your
statement thus, that you have unsheathed the sword of truth
and as though with a quick thrust have cut off those who
extol the liberty of the free will at the expense of the divine
help. For what have you done with a will so free but refer
everything to our humble and combined knowledge. Never-
theless, you have faithfully and wisely seen, and truthfully
and confidently said, that it was done under a divine impulse.
Therefore, since the Lord prepares the will, He also, indeed,
touches the hearts of His children with fatherly inspirations
in order that they may do good. Tor whosoever are led by
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.' 11 Consequently,
neither do we think that our free will is lacking, nor do we
doubt that, in each and every motion of man's free will, His
aid is the stronger. Do you see that your canons, broken upon
the solid and irrefutable decrees, as also your perverted and
perforated fabrications against the edifice of the faith, are
fallen down like the walls of Jericho before the sound of the
priests' trumpet? 12
10 Denzinger, op. cit. f no. 134.
11 Rom. 8.14.
12 Cf. Josue 6.20.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 359
Chapter 6
( 1 ) When the question about the beginnings of holy wills
and the principles of faith and charity was raised between
our side and the Pelagians, the struggle ended in a positive
victory and a clear-cut finish. Consequently, we now must
treat of the nefarious peace of this compact of yours. The
battle line of the enemy is flattened; the war is finished; we
are the victors through Him who 'has shown might in His
arm'; 'has scattered the proud in the deceit of their heart 5 ;
'has put down the mighty from their seat and has exalted
the humble' ; 'has filled the hungry with good things and sent
the rich empty away. 51 Through Him who, performing 'mercy
to our fathers,' remembered 'His holy testament, 3 and 'the
oath, which He swore to Abraham our father, that He would
grant to us, that being delivered of the fear of our enemies,
we may serve Him without fear, in holiness and justice before
Him, all our days. 32 Through Him 'Who hath given us the
victory through Jesus Christ our Lord, 33 Through Him from
whom 'we have received, not the spirit of this world, but the
Spirit, that is of God, that we may know the things, that are
given us from God. 34 Why do you strive to gather together
the shattered weapons of the petty reasonings of broken ar-
guments? Why do you attempt to kindle into a revived flame
the glow of a failing smoke by stirring the ashes of a burned-
out doctrine? There is no 'danger for the free will from the
grace of God, nor is the will taken away, since there is
generated in it to will well. If, therefore our doctrine is not
to be considered, because the will is fashioned, directed, or-
dered and inspired, the children of God, 'who are led by the
1 Luke 1.51-53.
2. Luke 1.72-75.
3 1 Cor. 15.57.
4 1 Cor. 2.12.
360 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
Spirit of God, 35 are despoiled of their liberty. They lose the
strength of the rational soul and are deprived of all praise for
free devotion; to them is given the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, counsel and fortitude, knowledge and piety
and fear of the Lord. 6 In fact, they who think they have no
need of these transformations have turned from the habitude
of the old malady to madness; they reject the remedy, they
declaim, rage and struggle. But, if they are children of prom-
ise, they will be at rest and healed.
Chapter 7
( 1 ) Let us now examine what the soberness of the dis-
putant has to offer. By a new art he jumbles together self-
contradictory propositions to dispel vice with vice and to
cure error with error. And in order to drink to the health
of unsuspecting hearers, he planned to color with a mixture
of examples this cup of his own concoction. He says: Tor,
if we say that the beginning of a good will is ours, what was
it in Paul the persecutor? What was it in the tax collector
Matthew? One of whom by the blood and torture of inno-
cent people, the other by brooding upon violence and public
robbery, are drawn to salvation. But if, indeed, we say that
the beginnings of a good will are always inspired by the grace
of God, what about the faith of Zachaeus? What do we say
about the piety of that thief upon the cross? They, bringing
violence to bear upon the Kingdom of Heaven by their de-
sire,, anticipated the explicit admonitions of their vocation.' 1
(2) Through that dissimilarity of good beginnings, he
attempts to prove that some, through their free will, without
5 Rom. 8.14.
6 Isa. 11 .2.
1 Cassian, op. cit. 11.2 (CSEL, p. 376) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 361
the help of God, can do what some cannot without divine
co-operation. It is this he wants understood concerning the
rather slothful obedience of some, and the more eager consent
of others. Just as if, when a stern infidelity is subject to God
and suddenly succumbs to the Gospel which it had long
fought against, there the right hand of the Most High would
bring about a change in man; 2 but where the docile hearer
embraces without reluctant hesitation a quiet urging or mere
murmur, the good of such a conversion belongs to the human
will alone ! Just as if the divine power attracted only those to
the Son whom He has either verbally blamed, or chastised
by a penalty, or terrified by fear, but brings to bear nothing
of his power upon the minds of those who rush to the prom-
ises of their Redeemer with ready hope and avid longing!
But Truth says : 'No man comes to Me except the Father who
hath sent Me draw him.' 3 If, therefore, no one comes unless
drawn, all who in any manner whatsoever come, are drawn.
Contemplation of the elements and the ordered beauty of
everything which is in them leads to God. Tor the visible
things of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made.' 4 The
narrators of events draw; those 'declaring the praises of the
Lord, and His powers, and His wonders, which He hath
done' 5 enflame the soul of him who hears. Fear draws, for
'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom/ 6 Joy draws,
because 'I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We
shall go into the house of the Lord.' 7 Desire draws, because
2 PS. 76.11.
3 John 6.44.
4 Rom. 1.20.
5 Ps. 77.4.
6 Ps. 110.10.
7 Ps. 121.1-
362 PROSPER OF AgUITAINE
'my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.' 8
Delights draw, for 'how sweet are the words to my palate!
More than honey and the honey-comb to my mouth.' 9 And
who can perceive or relate through what longings the divine
visitation leads the human soul to follow what it fled, to
love what it hated, to hunger after what was distasteful; and
suddenly, with wondrous change, what had been closed be-
comes open, what was burthensome is light, what was bitter
is sweet, what was obscure is lightsome? 'But all these things
one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to everyone accord-
ing as He will/ 10 'God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light
of knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus/ 11
that is, in the manifestation of His Son, who is in the glory
of the Father.
(3) He who illumined the heart of Matthew the tax col-
lector, and Paul when he was persecuting the Church, also
enlightened the heart of the thief crucified with the Lord.
Unless, perchance, the words of the Lord were vain when he
deigned to address Zachaeus, who 'sought to see Jesus, Who
He was/ 12 saying: 'Zachaeus make haste and come down;
for this day I must abide in thy house,' 13 and He did not
prepare for Himself the soul of him whose hospitality He
chose. Finally, when all murmured, asking why He betook
Himself to a sinful man for hospitality, and when Zachaeus
was already doing penance by giving half of his goods to the
poor and promising to restore fourfold his ill-gotten gains, the
Lord said : This day is salvation come to this house, because
8 Ps. 83.3.
9 Ps. 118.103.
10 1 Cor. 12.11.
11 2 Cor. 4.6,
12 Luke 19.3.
13 Luke 19.5,
GRACE AND FREE WILL 363
he also is a son of Abraham.' 14 And lest the cause of his sal-
vation be hidden, He added: Tor the Son of man is come
to seek and to save that which was lost/ 15 so that we should
know that he whom we acknowledge as saved had been 'pre-
vented 5 by the one seeking. Also, in the justification of the
thief, even if no indications of the operation of grace were
perceptible, should we, along with all the faithful, not con-
sider him drawn, when the Lord said : 'all things are delivered
to Me by My Father/ 16 and I, when 'I shall be lifted up,
will draw all things to Myself?' 17 But, amid everything, his
confession also teaches that this man was either delivered
or drawn; who, when he had for a time blasphemed against
Jesus Christ, was suddenly changed, and said: 'Lord remem-
ber me when Thou hast come into Thy kingdom.' 18 The
blessed Apostle teaches us in these words, whence has arisen
so great a diversity of contradictory words in one man: 'No
man speaking by the Spirit of God saith anathema to Jesus.
And no man can say the Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost.* 19
As a consequence, we do not doubt that it was in the will
of the same man and of his strength that he blasphemed, and
of the Holy Spirit that he believed. In vain, therefore, has
that disputant tried to adapt the content of his proposition
to the inscrutable variety of the one grace, so that a part of
the justified be thought to come to Christ by the impulses of
their wills alone, and a part to be drawn reluctantly and un-
willingly compelled, since it is God 'Who worketh all in all,' 20
whether He wish to draw some in one way, others in another,
to whom nobody comes unless in some way drawn.
14 Luke 19.9.
15 Luke 19.10.
16 Luke 10.22.
17 John 12.32.
18 Luke 23.42.
19 1 Cor. 12.3.
20 1 Cor. 12.6.
364 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
Chapter 8
(1) Afterwards, he adds the testimonies of sacred his-
tory, 1 whereby he shows that the observance of the command-
ments of God and the accomplishment of the virtues are to
be attributed to divine grace. And this we also may readily
admit. After he had recalled the examples of Balaam, whom,
when he intended to utter curses against Israel, God trans-
formed to an utterance of blessings; 2 and of Abimelech, who
was not permitted to sin against Rebecca; 3 and of Joseph,
sold by his brothers whose ill will God turned into good; 4 he
turns once more to a confirmation of his proposition, to take
away, as far as he can, from part of the human race, and to
confirm in a part, the free will which, he says, is joined to
grace. He says: Tor these two, that is, both grace and free
will, seem indeed to be contrary to each other; but both are
in harmony. And we conclude that, because of piety, we
should accept both, lest, taking one of these away from man,
we appear to violate the Church's rule of faith.' 5
(2) The rule of faith of the Church is, according to the
preaching of the Apostle: 'No man can say the Lord Jesus,
but by the Holy Ghost. 36 The rule of the Church is: 'What
hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast re-
ceived why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received? 57
The rule of the Church is : 'By the grace of God I am what
I am, and His grace in me hath not been void, but I have
labored more abundantly than all they; yet not I but the
1 Cassian, op. cit. 11.2 (CSEL, pp. 376ff.) .
2 Num. 23.
3 Gen. 26.
4 Gen. 37.
5 Cassian, op. cit. 11.4 (CSEL, p, 377) .
6 1 Cor. 12.3.
7 1 Cor. 4.7.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 365
grace of God with me. 38 And: 'having obtained mercy, to be
faithful. 19 The rule of the Church is: 'But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency may be of the
power of God, and not of us.' 10 The rule of the Church is:
'By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of your-
selves, for it is the gift of God.' 11 The rule of the Church is:
'And in nothing be ye terrified by the adversaries, which to
them is a cause of perdition, but to you of salvation and this
is from God : For unto you it is given for Christ, not only to
believe in Him but also to suffer for Him.' 12 The rule of the
Church is: 'With fear and trembling work out your salva-
tion. For it is God Who worketh in you both to will and to
accomplish according to His good will.' 13 The rule of the
Church is: 'Not that we are sufficient to think anything of
ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.' 14
The Lord confirms this rule, saying: 'No man can come to
Me, unless it be given him by My Father.' 15 And: 'All that
the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.' 16 And: 'Without
Me you can do nothing, 517 and: 'You have not chosen Me,
but I have chosen you,' 18 and: 'No one knoweth the Son,
but the Father, neither doth anyone know the Father, but
the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal
Him.' 19 And: 'As the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth
8 l Cor. 15.10.
9 1 Cor. 7.25.
10 2 Cor. 4.7.
11 Eph. 2.8.
12 Phil. 1.28.
15 Phil. 2.12.
14 2 Cor. 3.5.
15 John 6.66.
16 John 6.37.
17 John 15.5.
18 John 15.16.
19 Matt. 11.27.
366 PROSPER OF AgUITAINE
life, so the Son also giveth life to whom He will.' 20 And:
'Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood
hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father, Who is in
heaven. 121
(3) By this rule the will is taken away from no man, be-
cause the power of grace does not destroy wills; rather, it
makes bad wills good, and faithless ones faithful; and brings
it about that those things which were of themselves darkness
become light in the Lord, 22 that what was dead be given
life, that what was prostrate be raised up, that what was lost
be found. In fact, we believe that the grace of the Saviour
operates in 'all men, without any exception of person, who
are delivered from the power of darkness into the kingdom of
the love of the Son of God; because, just as this same man
correctly, but without conviction, declared, so do we assert
and defend that 'the beginning, not only of our acts, but
also of our good thoughts is from God. He it is who inspires
in us the beginnings of a holy will, and gives us the power
and capacity to carry out those things which we rightly de-
sire. "For every best gift, and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights." 23 He it is who be-
gins in us what is good and likewise accomplishes and ful-
fills in us those things which are good.' 24 But, if its author
were to continue in that opinion, he would not violate the
rule of the Church. He would neither have attacked the free
will nor, at the same time, have been ungrateful to the grace
of God. And when he intimates that one of these was at work
in Paul and Matthew, another in Zachaeus and the thief, he
20 John 5.21.
21 Matt. 16.17.
22 Eph. 5.8.
23 James 1.17.
24 2 Cor. 9.10.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 367
does not understand that he upheld the free will in the former
and grace in the latter.
Chapter 9
(1) Then he added: Tor, when God sees us turn to a
good will. He comes to meet us, directs and strengthens us.
"At the voice of thy cry, as soon as He shall hear, He will
answer thee." 1 And: "Call upon me (He said) in the day of
trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." ' 2 Who
does not see that this doctrine gives merit to the free will, by
which grace is 'prevented/ and that this latter is servant to
the former and performs its duty, and does not confer a gift
upon it? Moreover, this proposition was condemned during
the synod of the bishops of Palestine, as well as being de-
nounced by Pelagius.' 3 For we profess that it is the grace of
God that brings it about in him who begins to will the good,
and desires to quit iniquity and error, since 'with the Lord
shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall like well
His way. 54 And: 'Every way of man seemeth right to him-
self; but the Lord weigheth the hearts.' 5 And: 'the steps of
man are guided by the Lord, but who is the man that can
understand his own way? 36 And the Apostle also says: Tor
you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but
you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we
cry: Abba, Father. 57
(2) Thereupon, he continues and says: Tor God must
not be thought to have created man such that he could never
1 Isa. 30.19.
2 P&. 49.15; cf. Cassian, op. cit. (CSEL, p. 377) .
3 Cf. Hefele-LeClercq, op. cit. 182.
4 Ps. 36.23.
5 Prov. 21.2.
6 Prov. 20.24.
7 Rom. 8.15.
368 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
either will or perform the good. Moreover, He has not be-
stowed upon him a free will, if He granted him only the will
and capacity for evil, but not the will and the capacity for
good. And how will that statement of the Lord stand, after
the sin of the first man: "Behold Adam is become like one of
us, knowing good and evil," 8 for he must not be thought to
have been such before the sin that he was wholly ignorant
of good. Otherwise, it must be admitted that he was created
like an irrational and senseless animal; and this is quite ab-
surd and foreign to the Catholic faith. Nay, rather, accord-
ing to the pronouncement of the most wise Solomon, "God
made man right," 9 that is, to enjoy continually the knowledge
of good alone. But they sought many thoughts. So they were
made, as it was said, "Knowing good and evil." 10 After the
fall, therefore, Adam conceived a knowledge of evil, which
he did not have; but he did not lose the knowledge of good,
which he did have. 311
(3) It is unspeakable to doubt that the first man, in
whom the nature of all men was concreated, was created right
and devoid of every defect. It is also wrong to doubt that he
received such a free will that, if he were not to desert the
helping hand of God, he could persevere if he wished in the
goods which he had received, and through the merit of a
voluntary perseverance come to such a happiness that he
could neither wish nor settle for the meaner things. But, by
the very free will through which he remained good, as long
as he wished, he transgressed the law established for him.
When he turned from God and followed the Devil, when he
was insubordinate to the Lord, the deliverer, and subservient
8 Gen. 3.22.
9 Eccle. 7.30.
10 Gen. 3.22.
1 1 Cassian, op. cit. 12-2 (CSEL, p. 378) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 369
to his enemy, the destroyer, he did not fear the condemna-
tion of death pronounced upon himself. Thus the blessed
Ambrose was not wrong in saying: 'Adam was, and in him
were all of us; Adam perished and we all perished in him,' 12
just as Truth itself was not wrong in asserting: Tor the Son
of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.' 13
Neither the substance nor the will of human nature was taken
away in the ruin of the universal sin, but the illumination
and splendor of the virtues, of which the deceit of the envier
despoiled them. Once it had lost those things, through which
it could come to the eternal and inamissible incorruption of
body and soul, what was left to it except what belongs to the
temporal life, which is completely under condemnation and
penalty? Wherefore, those born in Adam must be reborn in
Christ, lest there be found anyone in that generation which
was lost. For, if the descendants of Adam were naturally to
act in those virtues in which Adam was before the sin, they
would not be 'by nature children of wrath'; 14 they would
not 'be darkness' 15 nor under the 'power of darkness.' 16 They
would, in fine, have no need of the grace of the Saviour,
because they would not be good in vain, nor be cheated of
the reward of justice; and this because they would be in
possession of the good, for losing which our first parents
deserved to be driven from Paradise. Now, however, since
no one can escape eternal death without the sacrament of
rebirth, is it not clearly manifest, from the singleness of the
remedy itself, into how deep an evil the nature of the whole
human race has been plunged by the sin of him in whom all
have sinned, and have lost whatever he lost? First of all he
lost faith; he lost continence; he lost charity; he was despoiled
12 St. Ambrose, Commentary on St. Luke 7.15 (PL 15.1852B) .
13 Luke 19.10.
14 Eph. 2.3.
370 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
of wisdom and understanding; he was without counsel and
fortitude; and, because he blasphemously pursued what was
higher, he was cut off from the knowledge of truth and the
piety of obedience. Not even fear was left to him, so that he
who would not refrain out of love for justice might avoid
what was forbidden from fear of the penalty. The free will,
therefore, that is, the spontaneous appetite of what pleases it,
when it grew tired of the use of the goods which it had
received, and when the bulwarks of its happiness became
worthless, directed its insane desire to a trial of sin; it drank
the poison of every vice and besot the whole nature of man
with the drunkenness of its own intemperance. Thereupon, be-
fore eating the Flesh of the Son of Man and drinking His
Blood, human nature swallows a deadly mass, is weak in
memory, errant in judgment, staggering in step; it is quite in-
capable of choosing and desiring that good of which it was of
its own free will deprived, because the fact is not thus that,
since human nature was able to fall without a divine impulse,
it can arise without God's raising it up.
(4) Therefore, it was incorrectly said: 'God must not be
thought to have created man such that he can never either
will or do good. 915 Just as if we were to say that that weakness
was established by the Creator, and not contracted through
the deserts of sin! Whoever thinks it to follow that, if the
free will is called blind, the blindness must be referred to the
Author of nature, intends to imply that the free will in the
descendants of Adam is as sound as it was in Adam prior to
his sin. This we consider quite foreign to the Catholic faith.
For, what has been injured by sin, if not that whence sin is?
Unless by chance it be said that the penalty passed to Adam's
descendants, and not the sin. This is a completely false
15 Zph. 5.8.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 371
statement and consequently not made by chance. It is ex-
ceedingly blasphemous to think that the divine justice wishes
to condemn those free from sin along with the guilty. Sin,
therefore, is manifest when the penalty is not hidden, and
fellowship in sin is argued from the commonness of the
penalty. Consequently, what human misery there is comes
not from a disposition of the Creator, but from the retribu-
tion of the Judge.
(5) What he added to prove the soundness of the free
will is foolish and contrary to the thought of all writers. He
says: 16 'And how will that pronouncement of the Lord stand,
after the sin: "Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing
good and evil"? 317 As if the Devil promised what is true to
Adam, and Adam, by violating the divine command, became
more godlike. And as if God declared that this was conferred
upon him when, rather, there was indicated what he would
not attain; who, once he had walked the way of pride, lost
what he had, when he desired what he had not received!
The error in the conclusion of this sentence is as great, when
it is said: 'After the sin, therefore, Adam conceived a knowl-
edge of evil which he did not have; but he did not lose the
knowledge of good which he had received.' 18 Adam did have
a knowledge of good while he kept with faithful heart the
good and holy command of God, and he was just while he
persevered in the image of God and was not unmindful of
His Law. But, afterwards, he sold himself the image and
temple of God, to his deceiver; he lost the knowledge of good
because he lost a good conscience. Iniquity drove out justice,
pride destroyed humility, concupiscence crushed continence,
infidelity stole away faith, captivity took away liberty; nor
16 Col. 1.13.
17 Gen. 8.22.
18 Cassian, op. cit. 12.2 (CSEL, p. 378) .
372 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
could any part of the virtues dwell there, wherein so great
a swarm of vices had entered. For no one 'can serve two
masters/ 19 And: 'whoever committeth sin is the servant of
sin/ 20 And: 'by whom a man is overcome, of the same also
he is the slave.' 21 But no one serves without some liberty, and,
according to the words of the Apostle, no one is free with-
out some servitude. Tor when you were the servants of sin,
you were free men to justice; what fruit therefore had you
then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For
the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin,
and become servants of God, you have your fruit unto sancti-
fication, and the end life everlasting.' 22 He, therefore, who
serves the Devil is free from God; but he who, being freed,
serves God is free from the Devil. As a result, it is apparent
that an evil liberty could have been had from a defect of
the human will, but that a good liberty could not have been
received without the aid of the liberator.
Chapter 10
( 1 ) But, in order that his calamity may not appear to have
passed to Adam's descendants, this teacher endeavors from
the example of the pagans to prove how perfect the nature of
all men is in judgment. He adds, saying: 'Finally, it is also
very clearly declared in the statement of St. Paul that the
human race did not lose the knowledge of good after the
Fall: "For when the gentiles, who have not the law, do by
nature those things that are of the law, those having not the
law are a law unto themselves; who show the work of the
law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness
19 Luke 16,13.
20 John 8.34.
21 2 Pet. 2.19.
22 Rom. 6.20.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 373
*
to them, and their thoughts between themselves accusing,
or also defending one another, in the day when God shall
judge the secrets of men." 3l
( 2 ) If the Apostle is speaking of those who are called from
uncircumcision, even though 'they were afar off, (they) are
made nigh/ 2 believing in Him who now has mercy upon those
upon whom He once had no mercy; and justifying 'circum-
cision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith, 53 He made
the two one in Himself; having broken the wall of enmity 4 of
Jew and Gentile, He established the peace in the one new
man, 'concluding all under sin, that the promise by the
faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.' 5
If, I say, the Apostle is speaking of them in whose hearts God,
with His finger, that is by the Holy Spirit, writes the new
covenant, so that they naturally fulfill the plenitude of the
Law and the works of charity, that is, with a reformed and
renewed nature, what help, then, is the newness of the very
proud power, since reconciliation of enemies can only be
ascribed to the grace of the mediator? Tor all have sinned,
and do need the glory of God, being justified freely by His
grace.' 6 Grace, therefore, is the glory of God, not the merit
of him who has been freed. Tor who has first given to him,
and recompense shall be made him?' 7 No good work comes
from the dead; nothing just, from the impious. Their whole
salvation is gratuitous, and is, therefore, the glory of God,
so that he who glories may glory in Him of whose glory he
has stood in need.
1 Rom. 2.14.
2 Eph. 2.11.
3 Rom. 3.30.
4 Eph. 2.14.
5 Gal. 3.22.
6 Rom. 3.23.
7 Rom. 11.35.
374 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
A
(3) But, if those words are spoken of those who, strangers
to the grace of Christ (which this disputer prefers to be
understood), established by means of their own judgment
certain things as sacred, resembling legal precepts, and if
they thought that the morals of cities and concord of peoples
could not otherwise be obtained, except rewards be decreed
for what was rightly done, and penalties for misdemeanors,
in accord with what Divine Wisdom itself said: 'I came out
of the mouth of the most high, and I have held first place
among every race; I have sought rest in Jacob and have
found it," then who doubts that this wisdom, coming from
the remnants of the nature established by God, is sufficient
unto the human race for use in the temporal life? For, if the
power of the rational soul were not capable of ordering those
earthly things, nature would not be vitiated, but extinct.
Moreover, it cannot, even if endowed with the most excel-
lent arts and all the sciences of mortal learning, be justified
of itself, because it uses badly its goods, in which, without
the worship of the true God, it is convinced of impiety and
uncleanness; and he is accused whence he thinks he is sus-
tained. Since, therefore, Paul declares that 'from the works
of the Law, no flesh shall be justified," and since 'in Christ
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but the new creature,' 10 why does that man construct the
impious liberty of the unfaithful upon natural goods, and
endeavor to justify it from its own beginnings? Why does he
declare that a bare and sinful knowledge is apt for a renewal
of the injured 'oldness 1 ? 11 As if that knowledge, whether
possessed as a remnant of the resources of nature, or sought
8 Ecdi. 24.5.
9 Rom. 3.20.
10 Gal. 6.15.
11 Rom. 7.6.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 375
from a learning in the teaching of the Law, could grant
from its own discernment that we know what must be done
and love to do it! Or as if there were any motion of a good
will except what the inspiration of charity, poured forth by
the Holy Spirit, 12 has created ! 'Without faith it is impossible
to please.' 13 . And: 'For all that is not faith is sin.' 14 And: 'in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor un-
circumcision; but faith that worketh by charity. 315
Chapter 11
( 1 ) Thereafter, at the end of the witnesses, with which he
tried to prove that these who in the Prophet's rebuke are
called deaf and blind 1 can from the capacity of nature both
open their ears to hear and their eyes to see as if the Lord
does not speak of those same ones: And I will give them
[another] heart, and [I will give] them a new spirit; and
I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will
give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My com-
mandments, and keep My judgments, and do them >2 he
adds: 'And then to signify that the power for good was in
them, he rebuked them: "And," he said, "why even of your-
selves, do you not judge that which is just?" 3 He would not
have said this to them unless he had known that they could
discern by a natural judgment what is right.' 4 In fact, he
ascribes to the free will not only the will of, but also the
12 Rom. 5.5.
IS Heb. 11.6.
14 Rom. 14.23.
15 Gal. 5,6.
1 Isa. 42.18.
2 Ezech. 11.19.
3 Luke 1237.
4 Cassian, op. cit. 12.5 (CSEL, p. 379) .
376 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
power for, good: just as understanding, therefore, is required
of them, justice is also demanded, because they can produce
these from the goods of nature without the gifts of God. But
man was charged with those things, so that, from the very
precept by which what he received was imposed upon him,
he might acknowledge it to have been lost by his own sin, and
that it is not, therefore, an iniquitous requirement that he is
not capable of rendering what he owes. Rather, let him flee
from the letter which kills to the spirit which gives life, and
let him seek from grace the capacity which he does not find
in nature. If he does this, great is God's mercy; if not, the
penalty of sin is just.
(2) Then, to complete the foregoing discussion, in a state-
ment according to his rule, he makes this assertion: 'Where-
fore, we must beware lest we refer all the merits of the saints
to GAd in such a way that we ascribe only what is evil and
perverse to human nature. 35 What could be stated more
clearly, more expressly in accordance with the invention of
Pelagius and Celestius by any of their disciples? They say
that the grace of God is given according to our merits ; like-
wise, they say that the grace of God is not given for individual
acts, This man has included within one statement both
blasphemies, saying: ' Wherefore, we must beware lest we
refer all the merits of the saints to God in such a way that
we ascribe only what is evil and perverse to human nature.'
He means, therefore, that there are many of man's own
merits which are not conferred by the bounty of grace, to
which are owed the gifts from above, for the increase of
natural riches. He means that we do not receive the grace
of God for individual acts; hence, that we do not always
pray for every good work. Thus, as a consequence, we need
5 Ibid.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 377
not believe that in the gifts of God there is no merit, seeing
that he is without merit whom God always aids in all things;
or even if in those things which God bestows some merits
are obtained, it is also clear that they could have been ac-
quired by his own power, and that, therefore, it is necessary
that we be aided in some things, so that what was not im-
possible by nature may be more ably done by grace. Lo and
behold, then, there is in those few words a manifold com-
bination of not only two, but of many, impieties, which, if
treated with the discernment of a more painstaking care, it
would be shown to be in no way free from the chain of the
condemned error!
Chapter 12
( 1 ) Lest we appear to act on suspicion, and to dig into
hidden meanings not warranted by the words, let the sequence
elucidate the content of what is known. He who, in the begin-
ning of his disputation, had said: 'The beginning not only
of our acts, but also of our good thoughts, is from God. He
it is who inspires in us the beginnings of a holy will and gives
us the power and capacity to carry out those things which
we rightly desire, 1 now intending to prove that religious
thoughts and holy counsels can come from natural wisdom
without divine inspiration, sets down the words of Solomon,
who said: 'And David my Father would have built a house
to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And the Lord
said to David my Father: Whereas thou hast thought in thy
heart to build a house to My name, thou hast done well in
having this same thing in mind. Nevertheless, thou shalt
not build Me a house. 32 Then: 'Must it be said therefore
1 Cf. Chapter 2, n. 6, above.
2 3 Kings 8.17.
378 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
that this thought and consideration of David was good and
from God, or evil and from himself? For, if that thought was
good and from God, why is its execution denied by Him who
inspired it? If, however, it was evil and from man, why did
the Lord praise it? It remains, therefore, that it be believed
to have been both good and from man. And in this way also
we can judge daily our thoughts. For it was not conceded
to David alone to think good from himself, nor is it denied
to us ever to be able naturally to savor or think anything
good/ 3
( 2 ) It cannot in any way be proved by this testimony and
argument that pious thoughts are begotten of the free will
alone, and not of divine inspiration. For the will of David,
which was good, must not be considered as not from God,
because the Lord desired a temple built for himself, not by
David, but by his son. We must ask, therefore, from what
Spirit that affection of the will proceeded, namely, in that
divine pronouncement in which he said: 'If I shall enter
into the tabernacle of my house; if I shall go up into the
bed wherein I lie: if I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber
to my eyelids, or rest to my temples: until I find out a place
for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.' 4 Although
the Prophet desired it, he was well aware that the true and
perfect temple was to be built by Him who, although He
was the Son of God, became also the Son of David. And He,
when He saw the temple built by Solomon, said: 'Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But He spoke
of the temple of His body. 56 That this temple, therefore,
formed in Christ and in the Church, be prefigured, it was
fitting that David was not chosen to build it, but rather his
3 Cassian, op, tit, 12.6 (CSEL, p. 380) .
4 Ps. 139.3.
5 John 2.19.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 379
son, in order that the Son of God and man might be signified
through the son of man, and that the incorruptible taber-
nacle be indicated through the destructible temple. The will
of David was approved to establish this figure, and the execu-
tion was transferred to him whose person was better fitted
for the figure. Thus, both the will of David to build was
from God, and it was from God that Solomon did the build-
ing.
(3) That this may be more apparent by examples, let
us examine where God did not want done what men wished
to do, if God were willing. The Lord commanded the Apostles,
saying: 'Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I
have commanded you.' 6 When the Apostles heard this, they
doubtless did not receive the bare words through the bodily
sounds on external ears only, but by virtue of the living word
an inextinguishable flame of charity was enkindled in their
hearts, by which they most ardently desired to preach the
Gospel of Christ to all peoples. But when 'they were forbidden
to preach the word in Asia/ and when 'they attempted to go
into Bithynia/ 7 they were prevented by the Spirit of Jesus,
did they not have this will from God that they also desired
to convert to the faith the hearts of those whom by a hidden
judgment God was unwilling at that time to hear the Gospel?
Or the fact that the Church daily prays for its enemies, that
is, for those who have not yet believed in God, does she not
do this from the Spirit of God? Who would say this except
he who does not do so, or he who thinks that faith is not a
gift of God? Yet, what is sought for all is not obtained for all.
6 John 28.19.
7 Acts 16.6.
380 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
There is no injustice in God, who does not always grant the
things asked, for which He has given the power to ask.
(4) We must not deny that the good will, by which one
adheres to God, belongs to man, but we must admit that it
is received by divine inspiration. For since 'none is good but
God alone/ 8 what kind of good will there be, which does
not have a good author? To human nature, indeed, whose
Creator is God, even after the Fall there remain the sub-
stance, form, life, senses and reason and the other goods of
body and soul, which not even the evil and the vicious lack;
but in these it does not have the attainment of the true good,
which can make mortal life upright, but cannot bestow eternal
life. For it is well known how Grecian schools and Roman
eloquence and the search of the whole world in the quest of
the supreme good, with the most penetrating study and out-
standing ability, accomplished nothing by their labor except
to become 'vain in their thoughts and their foolish heart was
darkened'; 9 who to know the truth used themselves as guides.
If, therefore, anyone, ashamed of the wretched vanities and
foolish deceptions, understands that whatever is embraced
in place of the light and the life is darkness and death, and
endeavors to withdraw himself from them, that conversion
is not of himself, although not without himself. Neither does
he strive toward the sources of salvation by his own strength;
rather, the hidden and powerful grace of God does this.
And, once the embers of earthly opinions and dead works
are removed, it awakens the torch of the buried heart and
enflames it with the desire of truth; not to make man subject
unwillingly, but to make him desirous of subjection; not to
draw him in ignorance, but to precede him who understands
8 Luke 18.19.
9 Rom. 1.21.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 381
and follows. The abiding free will, which, indeed, God es-
tablished with man himself, is turned by the Creator, not
himself, from its vanities and cupidities into which it had
fallen once it neglected the Law of God. Consequently, what-
ever is bettered in him is not without him who is healed,
but is from Him alone who heals, whose new creature and
new creation we are, 'created in Christ Jesus in good works,
which God has prepared, that we should walk in them.' 10
Chapter 13
( I ) Now let us see whither the efforts of the disputant are
leading. He says: 'It cannot, therefore, be doubted that the
seeds of virtue are naturally in every soul, placed there by
the Creator's favor. But, unless these are aroused by the help
of God, they will not come to the increase of perfection, since,
according to the blessed Apostle: "Neither he that planteth
is anything nor he that watereth; but God that giveth the
increase." 1 But even the book of the so-called Shepherd 2 very
openly teaches that freedom of the will in man is found on
every side. In this book, two angels are said to be attached
to each one of us; namely, one good and one bad. The free
will is said to consist in man's choice to elect which one to
follow. For this reason, the free will always remains in man,
because he can either despise or cherish the grace of God.' 3
If it cannot be doubted that the seeds of virtue are naturally
in every soul, placed there by the Creator's favor, then only
Adam sinned, and in his sin, no one sinned; we were not
10 Eph. 2.10.
1 1 Cor. 3.7.
2 Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 6.2, in The Fathers of the Church
(New York 1947) I 268.
3 Cassian, op. cit. 12.7 (CSEL, p. 381) .
382 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
conceived in iniquity and our mothers did not bear us in sin; 4
we were not by nature children of wrath, nor were we under
the power of darkness ; rather, are we born children of light
and peace, with the virtues naturally abiding in us. God for-
bid that the insidious deception of a fallacious doctrine beset
pious souls! Virtues cannot dwell with vices. The Apostle
says: Tor what participation hath justice with injustice? Or
what fellowship hath light with darkness?' 5 Virtue is, indeed,
in its source God, for whom to have virtue is nothing else
than to be Virtue. When we share in it, Christ dwells in us,
who is "the power of God, and the wisdom of God." 6 Faith,
hope, charity, continence, understanding, counsel, fortitude
and the other virtues dwell in us, and, when we depart from
this good, all things arise contrariwise for us from ourselves.
For, when beauty departs, what save ugliness takes its place?
When wisdom leaves, what save folly finds a home? When
justice does not reign, what save injustice rules?
(2) And so the seeds of the virtues, which were inserted
by the favor of the Creator, have been lost by the sin of the
first parent and they cannot be had unless He who gave them
restore them. For human nature is transformable by its Maker
and is capable of those things which it had; consequently,
through the Mediator between God and man, the man Jesus
Christ, he can recover, in that very thing which is left to him,
what he lost. There is left to him a rational soul, which is
not virtue, but the dwelling place of virtue. From a participa-
tion in wisdom and justice and mercy, we are not wisdom,
or justice or mercy, but wise, just and merciful. Although
what is rational in us is possessed by vices and the unclean
spirit enters the temple of God when we sin, nevertheless
4 Cf. Ps. 50,7,
5 2 Cor. 6.14.
6 1 Cor. 1.24.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 383
these goods can flow again into what is rational, through
Him who 'casts out the prince of this world,' 7 and, binding
the strong man, seizes his vessels and, having put to flight
the spirit of this world, gives the Spirit, which is from God,
'that we may know the things that are given us from God.' 8
Now, he who has 'not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.' 9
(3) I think man is deceived by a likeness of truth and is
led astray into the appearance of false virtues, when he ima-
gines that those goods, which could be had only from the divine
bounty, are also found in the souls of the impious. Since, in-
deed, many of them pursue justice, temperance, continence
and benevolence, all of which they neither vainly nor use-
lessly possess, they attain from those virtues much honor and
glory in this life; but, because of their zeal for them they serve
not God, but the Devil; although they do have the temporal
reward of an empty praise, nevertheless, these false virtues
do not lead to that truth which belongs to the blessed virtues.
Thus, it is very evident that virtue does not dwell in the souls
of the impious, but all their works are unclean and polluted,
not having a spiritual but an animal wisdom, not a heavenly
but an earthly wisdom, not Christian wisdom but diabolic,
not from the Father of lights but from the Prince of darkness;
whereas they do not have those things unless God give them,
they are subject to him who first deserted God.
(4) What, then, does he who says that the seeds of the
virtues are naturally in every soul, without any question of
grace, strive to show except that from those seeds the sprouts
of preceding merits give birth to the grace of God? Then,
to appear to grant something to grace, he says: 'These seeds
cannot reach the increase of perfection unless aroused by
7 John 12.31.
8 1 Cor. 2.12.
9 Rom. 8.9.
384 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
the help of God 5 ; 10 consequently, the help of God is an
exhortation and teaching; the mind, however, which is rich
with the seeds of virtues, uses the faculty which it possesses
only to be aided to attain the heights of those virtues whose
beginning it knows to be in itself. Therefore, according to
him, the human soul is so built into a temple of God that it
may not receive a foundation than which 'no man can lay
another, which is Christ Jesus.' 11 But, when is this foundation
begun except when faith is generated in the heart of him
who listens? And if this was naturally in it, nothing is begun
there; rather, it is a superstructure. He, who had faith before
he believed, wrongly appeared as an unbeliever. And this
also must be said concerning the sources of the other virtues
which grace must increase, since they already exist, not
give, because they are lacking. But, all the texts of Sacred
Scripture teach us something else. We read that the begin-
ning of wisdom is fear of the Lord; 12 we also read that this
virtue is a gift of God. 13 The fear of God/ he says, 'hath
set itself above all things. Blessed is the man to whom it is
given to have the fear of God. 314 Since, therefore, the fear
of God is the beginning of wisdom, and this virtue can be
had without wisdom, to whom belongs the beginning of
fear? The blessed Apostle Peter says: 'Grace to you and
peace be accomplished in the knowledge of God, and of
Christ Jesus our Lord,' who has now given c us all things of
his divine power, which appertain to life and godliness.' 15
Does he say: 'who has excited in us by His help the seeds of
virtues which we had naturally implanted 3 ? Rather, he says:
10 Cassian, op. cit. 12.7 (CSEL, p. 380) .
11 1 Cor. 3.11.
12 Cf. Prov. 1.7.
13 Cf. Prov. 9.10.
14 Eccli. 25.14.
15 2 Pet, 1.2.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 385
'Who now has given us all things which pertain to life and
godliness. 516 And in saying this, of what virtue has he placed
the beginning in nature, which was not conferred by Him
who gave all things? 17 Wherefore, St. Paul also says: Tor
what hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast
received, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received?' 18
(5) We have, therefore, everything pertaining to life and
godliness, not through nature, which is vitiated, but we have
received it through grace by which nature is healed. We
ought not think, therefore, that the beginnings of virtue
are in our natural treasury, because many praiseworthy things
are also found in the endowments of the impious. And those,
indeed, come from nature; but, because they have departed
from Him who made nature, they cannot be virtues. For,
what is illumined by light is light, and what lacks the same
light is night. Tor the wisdom of this world is foolishness with
God.' 19 Thus, what is thought to be virtue is vice, since that
which is thought to be wisdom is folly. But, how is it possible
that they who glory in the seeds of the natural virtues, which
he extols, will subject those very virtues of theirs, which are to
be promoted, to that doctrine which says : 'if any man among
you seem to be wise, let him become a fool that he may be
wise, 520 and: 'Seeing that in the wisdom of God the world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness
of our preaching, to save them that believe'? 21
What would that presumption of knowledge and wisdom
consider more foolish and ridiculous, if the Spirit of God
did not subdue the snobbery of the proud, and did not destroy
16 Ibid.
17 Cf. 1 Cor. 12.6.
18 1 Cor. 4.7.
19 1 Cor. 3.19.
20 1 Cor. 3.18.
21 1 Cor. 1.21.
386 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
by the power of His grace those reasons which, along with
the abusive flow of language, are contrary to the truth which
is unknown to them, so that the seed of the Word might
conceive in the cultivated earth of the heart, and bring forth
by the divine husbandry fruits worthy of the eternal granaries?
(6) Following after that unauthoritative testimony in-
serted into his discussions from the book of the Shepherd,
by which he wanted to show, notwithstanding the contrary
persuasions of the good and bad angel, that every man was
so entrusted to his own judgment and discernment that there
was no more protection for him from God than danger from
the Devil, he added the rule of his proposition, saying: 'And,
therefore, there always remains in man his free will, which
can either despise or cherish the grace of God? In this state-
ment, even what he says to the effect that the free will al-
ways remains in man is not clear from some angles, since
many thousands of infants taken into the Kingdom of God
or excluded from the Kingdom of God either receive or lose
the grace of God without any choice of their will, and many,
completely senseless in every regard and fools, are freed by
the sacrament of regeneration from the chains of eternal
death. But, let us understand this statement thus, that the
proposition may properly apply to those who can use the free
will Is that liberty so free that it has as much pleasure in
cherishing the grace of God as it has distastefulness in spurn-
ing it? Thus, has no breath of noonday heat melted the icy
hardness of the old faithlessness and has the sluggishness of
the mind, benumbed by its coldness, grown warm? In the
words of the Lord: 'I came to cast fire on the earth,' 22 has
no spark come to the cold heart and the dead ashes of them-
selves burst into a flame of charity? No such thing has hap-
22 Luke 12.49.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 387
pened in those lovers of grace, as they have experienced who
said: 'Was not our heart burning within us' while we were
with Him e in the way, and He opened to us the Scriptures?' 23
But, neither did there take place in them what happened in
Lydia, to the seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, who,
among the women to whom the Apostle preached there, alone
at that time is evinced to have believed; 'whose heart/ he
said, 'the Lord opened to attend to those things which were
said by Paul.' 24 According to him [Cassian], so great is the
soundness and capability of the free will that charity, which
is at the summit of all virtues, is possessed not from the divine
bounty, but from the will alone. What, then, has been re-
paired in the soul by its builder? Or by what boon of grace
will it become more beautiful, if those things are its own,
without which the gifts can be of no advantage? But the
Apostle, who asserts that, without charity, the working of
miracles, knowledge, faith, prophecy, the distribution of
riches, the bearing of the most cruel of torments, are of no
avail, 25 does not refrain from telling whence comes charity.
He says: 'Because the charity of God is poured forth in our
hearts, by the Holy Ghost, Who is given us.' 26 And, he says:
'Peace be to the brethren and charity with faith, from God
the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.' 27 St. John the Apostle
also instructs us on the beginnings of our participation in this
good. He says: 'Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for
charity is of God.' 28 And, lest we might therefore think that
love is said to be from God, because this seed was planted in
23 Luke 24.32.
24 Acts 16.14.
25 Cf. 1 Cor. 13.2.
26 Rom. 5.5.
27 Eph. 6.23.
28 1 John 4.7.
388 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
the nature of man, a little later he says : 'Not as though we
had loved God, because God hath first loved us.' 29 And again:
'Let us love God, because God hath first loved us. 530 Let
human poverty admit that what is rightly said of any good
whatsoever is much more rightly said of Him without whom
all good things are of no avail. 'What hast thou, that thou hast
not received? And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory,
as if thou hadst not received?' 31
Chapter 14
( 1 ) Since he had attributed as much to man before grace
as he can profitably have through grace, he afterwards added
some vague and confused statements to demonstrate the
strength of the free will. And, along with those things which
he now commits to the energies given to it, he endeavors
to strengthen those which he declares are naturally in it; so
that to have perfected it is through the help of God ; to have
begun it is from the liberty of the free will. But let us pass
over these as tolerable, since we also say that the free will
has conceived, through the operation of grace, the affection
for a good will and the beginning of faith, so that, through
what is given to it without any previous merit, it merits those
things which have been promised to the one who will carry
them into effect; always seeking the ability to do anything
good from Him who says: 'without Me you can do nothing.' 1
With this preface, let us examine what he claims concern-
ing the sufferings of the holy Job. He says: c And we read
that the divine justice made provision for this even in the
case of the most upright Job, His champion, when the Devil
sought him out for single combat. For, if he had fought
29 1 John 4.10.
30 1 John 4.19.
31 1 Cor. 4.7.
1 John 15.5.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 389
against the Enemy, not with his own strength but under the
protection of the grace of God alone, and supported by the
divine help alone, without any virtue of his patience, he
woidti have borne those multiple burdens of temptations
demanded with the full cruelty of the enemy, and the injuries;
how is it that the Devil did not repeat quite justly against
him those slanderous words which he had previously uttered?
"Does Job (worship) God in vain? Hast not Thou made a
fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round
about? But stretch forth Thy hand a little," that is, permit
him to pit his strength against me, "and see if he blesseth
Thee not to Thy face." 2 But, since the slanderous enemy
dared not repeat such an accusation, he confesses that he was
beaten, not by the strength of God but of Job. But it must
also be believed that the grace of God was not totally lack-
ing to him, which gave as much power to the tempter as He
knew Job had the power of resisting him; He did not protect
him from the Devil's onslaughts in such a way that no place
was left for human strength; rather, He looked after him
only to this extent that the very violent enemy, by taking
away reason from his soul and rendering him powerless to
sense, might not overpower him with an unequal and unjust
weight in battle.' 3
(2) Who would believe that this was preached by Catholics
among Catholics, if what is often maintained, even written,
in private conversations were not read? Is the vision of the
intelligence in all men so darkened, and has the spirit of
knowledge and piety deserted every son of the Church, that
they are not ashamed to impose such dishonest lies upon the
judgment of readers? Outstanding man, wise teacher, truth-
2 Job l.9ff.
3 Cassian, op. cit. 14.1 (CSL, p. 384) .
390 PROSPER OF AQXJITAINE
ful master, give us the Catholic definition with which you
laid claim to our ears and minds at the beginning of your
disputation. You stated the faith of the Church in Christian
words: The beginning, not only of our acts, but also of our
good thoughts, is from God, who inspires within us both the
beginnings of a holy will and gives us the power and capacity
to carry out those things which we rightly desire. "Every
best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of lights." He it is who begins in us what
is good and likewise accomplishes and fulfills it/ 4 You shat-
tered with the soundness of this statement every device of the
hostile remnants. Why, after changing your profession, do
you build up what you have demolished, impugn what you
maintained? Why, having deserted the citadel of unconquer-
able truth, do you hasten apace to the Pelagian precipice?
For you, who have declared that neither the beginnings of
holy thoughts, nor pious wills, nor good acts are from us,
but that all good things in us are generated and made to
progress and come to perfection by the inspiration of God
and the help of His grace, a little afterwards begin to equate
the endeavors of the free will to the gifts of grace. Conse-
quently, you showed that man can have of himself the begin-
nings, which you have attributed to God. You say: 'Man
can sometimes by his own activity reach out to a desire of
the virtues, but he always needs the Lord's help/ 6 And again:
'Also, the beginnings of a good will sometimes come forth
through the bounty of nature bestowed by the beneficence of
the Creator, and, unless they are directed by God, they can-
not come to the perfection of virtues.' 6 Later, to show that
some are 'prevented' by grace, and to place the grace to be
4 Ibid. 3.5 (CSEL, p. 364) .
5 Ibid. 9.4 (CSEL, p. 373) .
6 Ibid.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 391
received in the preceding merits of some, you said: 'Which
depends on which is a considerable problem : namely, whether
God is merciful to us because we have presented the begin-
ning of a good will, or we receive the beginning of a good will
because God is merciful.' 7 Not to leave these two rules in
doubt, you took the trouble to confirm both with examples,
suitable as they appeared to you, establishing one by the
constrained conversion of Paul and Matthew, fortifying the
other by the voluntary faith of Zachaeus and the thief, whose
desire, you say, was so strong that they anticipated the ex-
plicit admonitions of their vocation to enter the kingdom of
heaven.' 8 Then, in the course of the disputation, to make
clear the wholeness of the interior man, you certify that
Adam, in fact, conceived a knowledge of evil which he did
not have, but did not lose the knowledge of good which he
had received. Because you tried to prove this from a com-
parison of the impious, you have fallen to such lengths as
to proclaim: 'We must be careful not to refer all the merits
of the saints to God in such a way that we ascribe to human
nature only what is evil. 59 And in order that we might not
think that this nature had lost any virtues in the sin of Adam,
you declared that the souls of all men are naturally as sound
as before the sin of the first man, by saying: 'It cannot there-
fore be doubted that the seeds of the virtues are naturally in
every soul, planted there by the favor of the Creator. 510
Once these definitions of yours have been examined, there
is no dissembling how much you have deviated from the
soundness of that declaration in which, by preaching falsely
what was to be ascribed to grace, you attempted to win for
7 Cassian, op. cit. 11.1 (CSEL, p. 375).
8 Ibid. (CSEL, p. 376) .
9 Ibid. 12.5 (CSEL, p. 379) .
10 Ibid. 9.5 (CSEL, p. 374) .
392 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
yourself the decision of Catholic ears, which the later pas-
sages would easily deceive, because of the negligence ^ be-
gotten of the outward appearance of the foregoing profession.
Chapter 15
(1) Hitherto, not to appear in complete disagreement
with the foregoing rule, you transferred the beginnings of
virtues and merits from the free will to grace, so as to admit
that the voluntary movements themselves of good desires
can neither be advanced nor perfected without the help of
God. Now, however, God has been moved afar and taken
away from the support of man, and you attribute so much
power to the free will that he [Job] not only accepts calmly
and with equanimity the loss of his many resources and a
bitter end to the whole family and relatives at once; but by
the determination of the bare will he also overcomes the un-
speakable torments of his own body. In order that there be
no doubt on your side of the discussion, you set up the ex-
ample of holy Job, who fought against that extraordinary
cruelty of diabolical ferocity without the support of God, and
you endeavor to prove by argument that the exceedingly cruel
enemy admitted that he was overcome, not by the power of
the Lord, but of Job, from the fact that the Devil did not say
that the grace of God opposed him in the unusually severe bat-
tle. As if that man needed to be protected in his losses and de-
privations by the divine protection, but in the torments of his
body and soul he did not need to be helped! If, therefore,
nothing among the psalms of the saints is found more worthy
or more illustrious, this greatness of soul, which the penalty
imposed by each and every pressure of so many forms of
death does not conquer and you state that it comes from
human strength alone what praise and merit will there
GRACE AND FREE WILL 393
be which the liberty of the will cannot obtain amid peace-
ful and quiet studies? And this liberty you have crowned at
the end of so great a struggle with its own powers.
(2) I ask you, therefore, does that man seem to you to
have had within him the Holy Spirit, when he was tested
by those tortures about which we have read? If you say that
he had, it is certain that God helps him, from whom he has
not departed; if, however, you say that the Holy Spirit de-
serted him, the prophetic speech of the same man accuses
you. It reads : Tor I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in
the last day I shall rise out of the earth. And I shall be clothed
again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God.
Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not
another; this my hope is laid up in my bosom. 51 If what was
foretold concerning the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the Resurrection of Him who is the 'first fruits of them
that sleep,' 2 and the hope of Redemption, which is placed
in Him for all the saints, is rightly understood, it is manifestly
clear that the grace of God did not desert His people and that
the Lord performed in His holy one already at that time what
He promised to do afterwards in His apostles and martyrs,
saying : 'But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought
how or what you speak, for it shall be given to you in that
hour what to speak. For it is not you who speak, but the
Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.' 3 And, what about
the reply of the holy one to the foolish comforters? Was he
not trusting in the help of God, when he says: 'He that is
mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God and He will
hear him'? 4 Or was he unaware that what he had, he had
1 Job 19.25.
2 1 Cor. 15.20.
3 Matt. 10.19.
4 Job 12.4.'
394 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
from Him, of whom he says: 'With Him is wisdom and
strength, He hath counsel and understanding'? 5 And of whom
he says: 'In whose hand is the soul of every living thing and
the spirit of all flesh of man? 6 And again he says: 'I expect
until my change come. Thou shalt call me, and I will answer
Thee; to the work of thy hands Thou shalt reach out Thy
right hand. Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare
my sins, Thou hast sealed up my offences, as it were in a bag,
but thou hast cured my iniquity/ 7 The Lord, therefore, did
not desert him whom He was looking after; nor did He with-
draw His bounty from him, to whom he brought the purify-
ing remedies, by which he might shine with greater splendor.
(3) For this endurance of sufferings by which the holy
man distinguished himself, he was also prepared by the Lord,
who said: Tor though I should walk in the midst of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for Thou art with me.' 8
And also : 'But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and
He is their protector in the time of trouble/ 9 For this endur-
ance he was also prepared by the Lord; and he referred both
belief in Christ and suffering for Christ to Christ, saying:
'Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God,
through Our Lord Jesus Christ: By Whom also we have
access through faith into this grace, wherein we stand, and
glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God. And not
only so; but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribu-
lation worketh patience; and patience trial; and trial hope;
and hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is
poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, Who is given
5 job 12.13.
6 job 12.10.
7 Job 14.14ff.
8 Ps. 22.4.
9 Ps. 36.39.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 395
to us. no And again: 'Who then shall separate usr f rom the
love of Christ? Shall tribulations? or distress? or famine? or
nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword? (As
it is written: ) For Thy sake we are put to death all the day
long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' 11 'But
in all these things we overcome, because of Him that hath
loved us.' 12 The sources of the fortitude and the forbearance
blessed Peter, and in him the whole Church, learned by the
words of Truth itself, saying: 'Behold Satan hath desired
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed
for thee, that thy faith fail not/ 13 Whoever does not fail in
tribulations, therefore, should not doubt that he is aided by
Him to whom the hearts of all the faithful cry out daily: 'Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,' 14 since 'the
Lord preserveth the souls of His saints, He will deliver them
out of the hand of the sinner.' 15
(4) But, regarding what you say: 'That it must be under-
stood thereby that the grace of God wholly departed from
Job, because God gave to the tempter as much power to tempt
as He knew he had power to resist,' 16 would you not have
more correctly and truly spoken, if, when you said: 'as He
knew he had the power to resist/ you had rather said: as
He knew He had given him power to resist? For, in the cor-
rection of those words, you would soberly measure that whole
glory which you wished, to attribute to human strength, so
that the marvellous patience in so great an affliction would
have been attributed to both the help of God and the free
10 Rom. 5.1ff.
11 Ps. 47.32.
12 Rom. 8.35ff.
13 Luke 22.31.
14 Matt. 6.13.
15 Ps. 96.10.
16 Cassian, op. cit. 14.2 (CSEL, p. 385) .
396 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
will. But you feared to lessen the praise of human nature,
if you admitted that the strength was given him by God.
Therefore, you do not wish it believed that God was a co-
operator at Job's battle and victory, but rather only a specta-
tor. Consequently, he whom you are able to persuade that
so a severe battle was won through the natural capability of
the free will dares not doubt that in less severe cases the ef-
fects of the good will are much more free; thus, he falls into
the pit of that condemned statement which asserts that the
grace of justification is given us, so that what we are ordered
to do through the free will we may the more easily accom-
plish through grace. As though, even if grace were not given,
we could, nevertheless, even without it, fulfill the divine
commandments, although not easily! Because the Catholic
pontiffs deemed this worthy of condemnation, we must use
the testimony they used. They said: 17 The Lord was speaking
of the fruits of the commandments, where He does not say:
without Me you can do something with difficulty; rather, He
says: 'Without Me you can do nothing. 518
Chapter 16
( 1 ) To these propositions of yours, which you believed to be
fortified with suitable authority, as though sure of the con-
sent of the readers, you add that God, in order to demon-
strate our faith, sometimes is wont to offer more than is suf-
ficient, so that it may be acknowledged how strong the faith
of believers is. And you show this by the example of the cen-
turion, who, when he asked for a cure of his servant and the
Lord promised that He would go to his home, replied: 'I
am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof;
17 Denzinger, op. tit., no. 105.
18 John 15.5.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 397
but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed/ 1
The Lord praised him for this with such admiration that
He claimed that He had not 'found so great faith in Israel.' 2
And you confirm, by means of a trifling conclusion, almost
the whole Pelagian opinion, by saying: Tor he would have
had neither praise nor merit, if Christ had revealed in him
what He Himself gave.' 3 Therefore, it was falsely written
that man can be continent, except God give it. 4 The Apostle
preached falsely when he spoke of the same virtue, saying:
Tor I would that all men were even as myself; but every
one hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner,
and another after that.' 5 He also taught falsely, who said:
'But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God; and it
shall be given him.' 6 And it was not truthfully spoken: 'Every
best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down
from the Father of lights.' 7 And: 'A man cannot receive any-
thing, unless it be given him from heaven.' 8 Perhaps it must
be said that all the virtues are to be numbered among the gifts
of God, but that man is praiseworthy in those which he had
of his own, and that there are merits there, where the gifts
of God were not. Therefore, according to your rule, those to
whom it was given not only to believe in Christ, but also to
suffer for Him, have lost both praise and merit; nor do they
have true glory, who glory not in themselves, but in the Lord*
But we hear the Prophet, who says more correctly: 'Cursed
be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm,
1 Matt. 8.8.
2 Matt. 8.10.
3 Cassian, op. cit. 14.4 (CSEL, p. 385) .
4 Cf. Wisd. 8.21.
5 1 Cor. 7.7.
6 James 1.5.
7 James 1.17.
8 John 3.27.
398 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
and whose heart departeth from the Lord/ 9 And him who
says: 'I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.' 10 And: c ln the
Lord shall my soul be praised,' 11 and 'The Lord is my strength
and my praise/ 12 This is said that we may know very clearly
that they have neither praise nor merit, in whom is not found
what is had only by the gift of the Lord.
(2) And so, you thought you could engender from the
testimony of a lauded faith a disadvantage for the gifts of
grace; as if, where faith is held up for praise, it were not
taught that the faith is given ! The Apostle praises the faith
of the Romans and gives thanks to God for this good, say-
ing: 'First I give thanks to my God, through Jesus Christ,
for you all, because your faith is spoken of in the whole
world/ 13 He writes to the Corinthians in like vein, saying:
'I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of
God that is given you in Christ Jesus, that in all things you
are made rich in Him, in all utterance and in all knowl-
edge/ 14 Did he, by giving thanks to God, take away praise
from the believers? Or did he, by praising the believers,
deny the Author of merit? Let us hear what he thought about
the faith of the Ephesians. He says: 'Wherefore I also, hear-
ing of your faith that is in the Lord Jesus, and your 'love
towards all the Saints, cease not to give thanks for you, mak-
ing commemoration of you in my prayers, that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge
of Him; the eyes of your heart enlightened/ 15 Therefore,
9 Jer, 17.5.
10 Ps. 17.1.
11 Ps. 33.3.
12 Ps. 117.14.
15 Rom. 1.8.
14 1 Cor. 1.4.
15 Eph. U5ff.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 399
they had faith; they also had the works of charity, which
could lack neither praise nor merit; but the Apostle does
not cease to give thanks to God for these virtues, knowing
that these gifts came from the Father of lights. And from
Him he declares that he also asks that to whom He gave
faith, which works through charity, He give the spirit of
wisdom and understanding. Thence, the Ephesians might
know that they received what they have; and from Him
they learn to hope for what they do not have. He gives like
thanks for the Philippians, and does not remain silent con-
cerning their merit and praise. He says: 'I give thanks to
my God in every remembrance of you, always in all my
prayers making supplication for you all with joy; for your
communication in the Gospel of Christ from the first day
until now. Being confident of this very thing, that He, Who
hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day
of Christ Jesus.' 16 And is the cause of this human praise
and merit here and now discontinued in God? What virtue
or piety has been received, which has not flowed from the
fountain of grace, when both the beginning and the fulfill-
ment of the good work from the start to finish is attributed
to the Lord? Concerning whose holy ones there is sung:
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance,
and in Thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in Thy
justice they shall be exalted. For Thou art the glory of their
strength.' 17
Chapter 17
( 1 ) In this declaration of yours, there must be taken care-
fully into consideration how much you help those who say
16 Phil. l.Sff.
17 Ps. 88.16ff.
400 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
that the grace of God is given according to our merits; 1 never-
theless, in order to find shelter under the shadow of the
Catholic faith, you claim these to be irreligious in their opin-
ion. You say: 'But let no one think that these things have
been uttered by us in an attempt to teach that the sum total
of salvation consists in the endowments of our faith in ac-
cordance with the impious opinion of some, who ascribe all
to the free will and declare that the grade of God is dis-
pensed according to the merit of each one/ 2 I am quite in
wonder how you do not see or think that it is not seen by
others, because you condemn yourself from your own mouth.
For, by saying that 'the centurion, whose faith was praised
by the Lord's words, would have had neither praise nor
merit if he excelled in that which God Himself had given,'
you declared that the centurion had a faith that was not
given, but, rather, was his own. As if nothing had been con-
ferred upon its beginnings through grace, but that he was
the cause of both praise and merit in the same faith; neither
of which he would -have had if the Lord had not conferred
that, to which there is due both praise and merit ! To avoid
the perniciousness of the condemned error, you vainly deny
that the whole of salvation consists in the endowments of
our faith, since in no way can there be salvation except from
faith. For 'the just man liveth by faith.' 3 Truth says: 'Amen,
amen, I say unto you, that he who heareth My word and
believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting; and cometh
not into judgment, but is passed from death to life. 5 * And
again: This is the will of My Father that sent Me: that
every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may
1 Epistola 1 Pelagii ad Demetriadem 3 (PL 30.18D) .
2 C. St. Augustine, De haeredbus 87 (PL 42.48) .
5 Rom. 1.17.
4 John 5.24.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 401
have life everlasting, and I will raise him up on the last day.' 5
And again: 'now this is eternal life: that they may know
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou
hast sent. 56 Since it is clear, then, that the eternal and happy
life is prepared for this faith, which you have accordingly
honored with merits and praises, because you prefer that it
be numbered among the goods of the free will rather than
among the gifts of God, how do you avoid this wound with
which you are transfixed when you say that they are impious
who declare that grace is dispensed according to human
merits, and when you affirm that it is clear that they have
neither praise nor merit who are faithful from the gift of
grace? Wherever you betake yourself, therefore, you are
conquered and ensnared by your own efforts. For, if merits
do not precede grace, and if faith cannot be without merits,
then, faith does not precede grace. Whatever the source of
merit, it is totally from grace; and this is not had anterior
to grace.
Chapter 18
( I ) Therefore, to avoid the appearance of self-contradic-
tion in your absurd declaration, you endeavor to intrude
what is incongruous and (with a new boldness) divide the
unity of the members of the body of Christ into two kinds
of faithful. In one, namely, to whom belongs what you said
in the beginning: 'the beginning, not only of our acts, but
also of our good thoughts, is from God. He it is who begins
in us what is good and likewise fulfills and accomplishes it.' 1
And in another, those whom that rule fits, in which you say
5 John 6AO.
6 John 17,3.
1 Cassian, op. cit. 3.5 (CSEL, p. 364) .
402 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
that 'the centurion would have had neither praise nor merit,
if he excelled in that which God Himself had given/ 2 Al-
though you conduct the whole text of your discussion toward
these two formulae, which can in no way be reconciled, now,
however, you more clearly and expressly state what you
wanted to establish, saying: 'through these examples, there-
fore, which we have set forth from the Gospel monuments,
we have been able to observe very clearly in diverse, in-
numberable and inscrutable ways that God procures the sal-
vation of the human race and that He incites to greater
fervor the course of some who are willing and eager, and,
indeed, even compels some who are unwilling and resisting.
Now, also, He gives the help to accomplish those things
which He has seen us desire with utility. Again, He also
inspires the principles of the holy desire itself, and gives
either the beginning of the good work or perseverance in
it. Hence it is that, when we pray, we proclaim that the
Lord is not only Protector and Saviour, but also helper and
susceptor. For, in that He first gives the call and attracts us
to salvation, even though we are ignorant and unwilling,
He is protector and saviour; and in that He is accustomed
to give His resources to us while striving, and to take us up
and fortify us, He is called susceptor and refuge/ 3
(2) By this separation, that diversity in one Church will
have been ordered, as you state, so that our Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom it is said : 'And thou shalt call His name Jesus. For
He shall save His people from their sins,' 4 and of whom it
was said: 'For there is no other name under heaven given
to men, whereby we must be saved,' 5 is not the saviour of all
2 Ibid. 14.4 (CSEL> p. 385) .
3 Ibid. 17.1-2 (CSEL, p. 393) .
4 Matt. 1.21.
5 Acts 4.12.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 403
Christians, but of some, and the susceptor of some. Thus,
only those are saved whom, turned away and resisting, God
had compelled to receive grace. And those are taken up who
anticipated their vocation with a fervor and alacrity for the
course; upon the former there is conferred a gratuitous gift;
to the latter a due reward is paid. The former have neither
praise nor merit, who have nothing good except what they
have received; but the latter abound in glory and are en-
riched with a reward, who devoutly of their own strength
have offered what they had not received. Thus, Jesus Christ
will have found some liberated, and others He will have
liberated. Thus, what He says does not pertain to all: 'You
have not chosen Me; but I have chosen you,' 6 if there are
some by whom He was chosen, although He had not chosen
them. Nor does it apply to all: 'No man can come to Me,
unless it be given him by My Father/ 7 if there are some who,
without the Father giving it, have been able to come to the
Son. What the Evangelist says does not apply to all: 'That
was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh
into this world/ 8 if there are some who either come into this
world thus that they were not darkness, or so began to be
light that they did not need the illumination of the true light.
Again, what the Apostle says is not to be understood of all
the adopted: 'Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the
Son of His love,' 9 if, indeed, they break their bonds, and,
when the yoke of the old captivity has been cast off, they
freely and eagerly go out from the sway of the Devil into the
Kingdom of God. If these things can be preached within the
6 John 15.16.
7 John 6,66.
. 8 John 1.9.
9 Col. 1.13.
404 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
one Church, so that neither opinion gives way to the other,
but each in turn surrenders, it can happen that we accept
what the Pelagians hold and the Pelagians accept what we
hold. But in this way they will not be as Catholic as we,
which God forbid, will be Pelagians. The mixture of con-
traries is a defection of better things, because, when virtue
accepts vice, it departs not from vice, but from virtue.
(3) Therefore, Christian hearts in no way accept what
you have attempted to advocate, namely, that they who are
what they are by the grace of God have neither praise nor
merit, and that a portion of the Christians were saved by
Him who came to save what was lost, and part have been
taken up. For, the disciples of the evangelical and apostolic
teaching, 'not minding high things, but consenting to the
humble,' 10 abominated that aberration of haughty pride.
In the whole body of the Church and in the individual mem-
bers, what had been dead was given life; what had been
captive was redeemed; what had been blind was illumined;
what had been lost was sought; what was wandering was
found. But there is not a saviour of some and susceptor of
others in accordance with that new division of yours; rather,
Christ is both saviour and susceptor of all the faithful, without
exception. And they are not deprived of merit and praise who
know whence they merit eternal goods, and the happier they
become, the less they have of their own, and the more they
have of God's. The stupid complaint of the proud does not dis-
turb us, whereby they pretend that the free will is taken
away, if the beginnings, the progress and perseverance in
good until the end are said to be gifts of God; whereas the
help of divine grace is the support of the human will. We
pray when we wish; nevertheless, God sent His Spirit into
10 Rom. 12.16.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 405
our hearts, crying 'Abba Father. 511 We speak when we will;
nevertheless, if what we speak is pious, it is not we who
speak, but the Spirit of our Father who speaks in us. 12 Will-
ingly we work out our salvation, 'yet it is God Who worketh
in us both to will and to accomplish.' 13 We love God and
our neighbor willingly, yet 'charity is from God, poured forth
into our hearts through the Holy Ghost Who is given us.' 14
This we profess regarding the faith, tolerance of sufferings,
conjugal modesty, virginal continence, and all virtues with-
out exception; namely, that, unless they were given us, they
would not be found in us; and that the free will, naturally
placed in man, remains, but with its quality and circum-
stances changed through the mediator of God and men, the
man Christ Jesus, who turned that very will from what it
willed perversely and converted it to what was good for it
to will. Thus, when its delight was transformed, its faith
purified, its hope raised, its charity enkindled, it took on a
free servitude and put off the servile freedom.
Chapter 19
From these propositions hitherto discussed, with some
omissions, it is neither hidden nor doubtful what they think
about the grace of God, who contradict its most authentic
defenders and disturb the peace of the victorious Church,
when they resume the petty questions of the condemned
school of thought. And if we relate them, as they have come
to our ears, our speech will become immoderately long, since,
from these which are known to be from their pen, the pious
reader may easily understand to what precipices these path-
11 Gal. 4.6.
12 Cf. Matt. 10.20.
13 Phil. 2.13.
14 1 John 4.7; Rom. 5J5.
406 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
ways lead, and into what a dirty marsh of muddy banks,
whence an abysmal fog exudes. Indeed, I deem it necessary
to arrange briefly in order before the end of the volume, and
gather together those things which we have shown to be out
of conformity with Catholic truth; thus, with our replies inter-
jected, those things which could escape the reader's memory
may be more easily recalled when treated together.
First Proposition
You said in your first proposition: 'that the beginning
not only of our acts, but also of our good thoughts, is from
God ; He it is who inspires in us the beginning of a holy will
and gives us the power and capacity to carry out those things
which we rightly desire. For "every best gift and every perfect
gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights."
He it is who begins in us what is good, and likewise accom-
plishes and fulfills it. 51 We, too, heartily accept and profess
this to be Catholic.
Second Proposition
It was said in the second proposition: 'The divine pro-
tection is inseparably with us, and so great is the love of the
Creator for His creature that not only does His providence ac-
company it, but even unceasingly goes before it, and the
Prophet admits this from experience. He says: "My God,
His mercy shall prevent me." 2 And when He sees in us any
beginning of a good will, He illumines it, strengthens it and
directs it to salvation, giving increase to that which either
He Himself planted, or which He saw come forth from our
efforts. 53
1 Cassian, op. cit. 3.5 (CSEL, p. 364) .
2 Ps. 58.11.
3 Cassian, op. cit. 8.4 (CSEL, p. 371) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 407
Here, there already is a departure from the foregoing propo-
sition; what had been attributed wholly to grace is now
partially imputed to the free will.
Third Proposition
In the third proposition you asserted: 'What else are we
being told except that in all these both the grace of God and
the liberty of our will are proclaimed, and also that man can
sometimes by his own activity reach out to a desire of the
virtues; but he always needs the Lord's help 5 ? 4 As if our
physician does not also grant that the sick desire true health !
Fourth Proposition
You asserted in the fourth definition: 'In order that it may
be the more evident that the beginnings of a good will some-
times emanate from a good will, through the bounty of na-
ture bestowed by the beneficence of the Creator, and the
Apostle is the witness that, unless these beginnings are direct-
ed by God, they cannot come to the perfection of virtues,
he says: "For to will is present with me; but to accomplish
that which is good, I find not." ' 5 As if the Apostle, who pro-
fesses that his sufficiency, even to think, is from God, had a
good will from a natural inclination and not from the gift of
grace !
Fifth Proposition
In the fifth proposition you state: 'And so these are some-
what indiscriminately mixed up and confused; consequently,
which depends on which is a considerable problem: namely,
whether God is merciful to us because we have presented
the beginning of a good will, or we receive the beginning of
4 Ibid. 9.4 (CSEL, p. 373) .
5 Ibid. 9.5 (CSEL, p. 374) .
408 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
a good will because God is merciful. Many, believing these
individually, and affirming more than is right, are caught
in many and self -contradictory errors, . . . For, if we say that
the beginning of a good will is ours, what was it in Paul the
persecutor? What was it in the tax collector Matthew? One
of whom by the blood and torture of innocent people, the
other by brooding upon violence and public robbery, are
drawn to salvation. But if, indeed, we say that the begin-
nings of a good will are always inspired by the grace of God,
what about the faith of Zachaeus? What do we say about
the piety of that thief upon the cross? They, bringing violence
to bear upon the Kingdom of Heaven by their desire, antici-
pated the explicit admonitions of their vocation. 56
Both he who affirms that a good will is born of grace, and
he who says that grace depends upon a good will are declared
to be in error; yet, both opinions are judged acceptable,
whereas the figure of the one in Paul and Matthew, of the
other in Zachaeus and the thief, are condemned.
Sixth Proposition
It is said in the sixth proposition: Tor these two, that is,
both grace and free will, seem indeed to be contrary to each
other; but both are in harmony. And we conclude that be-
cause of piety we should accept both, lest, in taking away
one of these from man, we appear to violate the Church's
rule of faith. 57
As if each is to be so understood that in some men the will
comes before grace, in others grace precedes the will, and not
that in all the will follows grace ! For, according to them, if
the free will is taken away, when 'prevented 5 by grace, grace
is taken away when it is 'prevented 5 by the free will.
6 Ibid. 11,1-2 (CSEL, pp. 375-376).
7 Ibid. 11.4 (CSL,,p. 377).
GRACE AND FREE WILL 409
Seventh Proposition
You said in the seventh proposition : 'After the Fall, there-
fore, Adam conceived a knowledge of evil which he did not
have; but he did not lose the knowledge of good which he
did have.' 8
Both are false, because Adam by a divine admonition
knew in advance how great an evil he must be on guard
against, and, when he believed the Devil, he forgot in how
great a good he was established. For, just as to be evil is a
very bad knowledge of evil, so not to be good is a very bad
ignorance of good.
Eighth Proposition
In the eighth definition it was said: 'Wherefore, we must
beware lest we refer all the merits of the saints to God in
such a way that we ascribe only what is evil and perverse to
human nature. 59
As if nature were not damned before grace, were not in
blindness, not wounded; or as if they whose merits are thence,
whence justice, were not gratuitously justified!
Ninth Proposition
'It cannot, therefore, be doubted that the seeds of the
virtues are naturally in every soul, placed there by the Crea-
tor's favor. But, unless these are aroused by the help of
God, they will not come to the increase of perfection.' 10
Just as if Adam lost none of his spiritual goods by sinning
and as if virtues were not given as a possession but as an in-
citement towards a more ready attainment of perfection 1
8 Ibid. 12.2 (CSEL, p. 378) .
9 Ibid. 12.5 (CSEL, p. 379) .
10 Ibid. 12.7 (CSEL, p. 380) .
410 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
Tentn Proposition
In the tenth proposition it was asserted: c And we read
that the divine justice made provision for this even in the
case of the most upright Job, His champion, when the Devil
sought him out for single combat. For, if he had fought
against the Enemy, not with his own strength, but under the
protection of the grace of God alone, and supported by the
divine help alone, without any virtue of his patience, he
would have borne those multiple burdens of temptations
demanded with the full cruelty of the Enemy, and the in-
juries; how is it that the Devil did not repeat quite justly
against him those slanderous words which he had previously
uttered? "Does Job (worship) God in vain? Hast not Thou
made a fence for him and his house, and all his substance
round about? But stretch forth Thy hand a little,* 1 that is,
permit him to pit his strength against me, "and see if he
blesseth Thee not to Thy face.' 511 But, since the slanderous
enemy dared not repeat such an accusation, he confesses that
he was beaten, not by the strength of God, but of Job. But
it must also be believed that the grace of God was not totally
lacking to him, which gave as much power to the tempter
as He knew Job had the power of resisting him.' 12
If God only knew what Job could do, and did not also
give him the ability, He was a witness, not a helper of his
patience. And wherein was the help of grace necessary, if
so great a victory was accomplished by human strength alone?
Eleventh Proposition
In the eleventh proposition the faith of the centurion is
discussed: The Lord marvelled at him and praised him
11 Job 1.9ff.
12 Cassian, op. cit. 14.1 (CSEL, p. 385) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 411
and extolled him above all those of the people of Israel
who believed, saying: I have not "found so great faith in
Israel." 13 For he would have had neither praise nor merit,
if Christ had revealed in him what He Himself gave. 514
It is an impious thought to consider the man to whom
God gave nothing happier than him upon whom He has
conferred everything.
Twelfth Proposition
In the twelfth proposition it was stated: 'Hence it is that,
when we pray, we proclaim that the Lord is not only pro-
tector, but also helper and susceptor. For, in that He
first gives the call and attracts us to salvation, even though
we are ignorant and unwilling, He is protector and saviour;
and in that He is accustomed to give His resources to us
while striving, and to take up and fortify us, He is called
susceptor and refuge.' 15
Whoever does not wish to have been saved by Christ can
give consent to this opinion.
Chapter 20
( 1 ) Accordingly, by these propositions, this is taught, this
is written, this is preached in the discussion set forth, that
with Adam's sin his soul was not injured, and the source of
his sin remained whole in him. If, indeed, he did not lose
the knowledge of good which he had received, neither has
his posterity lost it, nor did he suffer any loss of it. That the
seeds of the virtues are naturally in every soul, placed there
by the favor of the Creator, so that he who shall have wished
13 Matt. 8.10.
14 Cassian, op. dt. 14.4 (CSEL f p. 385) .
15 Ibid. 17.2 (CSEL, p. 393) .
412 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
can by a natural judgment anticipate the grace of God and
merit in advance His help, the more easily to arrive at per-
fection. That he has neither praise nor merit who is Adorned
by goods which are not his own but bestowed upon him.
That we also must be careful that all the merits of the saints
be not referred to God in such a way that human nature it-
self can do nothing good of itself, since, so great is the in-
tegrity of his strength, that he is able to fight against the
Devil himself and his ferocity, even to the extremities of
torture, without the help of God. And that this power is
natural in all men, but not all wish to use the virtues im-
planted in themselves. That so great is the goodness of the
Creator toward all men that He takes up some with praise
because they come of their own free will; others, because
they resist, are drawn unwillingly; therefore, He is the sus-
ceptor of those who come willingly, but the saviour of those
who come unwillingly. And, although part of the Church is
justified by grace, and part by the free will, they whom na-
ture has carried along are more glorious than those whom
grace has freed, because the will is as free for every good
work in the posterity of Adam as it was in Adam before the
Fall.
Chapter 21
(1) Behold what opinion they teach! In order to cor-
rupt the purity of Catholic minds by calumniating the de-
fenders of grace, they revile with impassioned speech the
men of our time who are outstanding in the teaching of the
Church. They think that they can tear down every authori-
tative support, if they shall have beaten down this very strong
tower of the pastoral lookout with frequent strokes of the
Pelagian battering ram. Indeed, 'the foundation of God stand-
GRACE AND FREE WILL 413
eth firm. 51 But they do not serve well their factions, for it is
fitting that they imitate the madness of those whose opinion
they follow. They can only utter what is spread about by the
complaints of the condemned and the revilings of the most
insolent Julian. 2 The sprouts of one seed are identical; what
is hidden in the roots is made manifest in the fruits. There-
fore, we must not fight them on a new line of battle, nor are
particular engagements to be entered upon as though against
an unknown enemy. Then were their engines of war broken,
then did they fall to the ground among their proud comrades
and leaders, when Innocent of blessed memory struck the
heads of the unspeakable errors with the apostolic sword, 3
when the synod of bishops of Palestine constrained Pelagius
to pronounce sentence against himself and his followers, 4
when Pope Zozimus of blessed memory joined the weight of
his pronouncement to the decrees of the African councils
and armed the right hands of all the bishops with the sword
of Peter to cut down the impious, 5 when Pope Boniface of
holy memory rejoiced in the Catholic devotion of the most
pious emperors and used against the enemies of the grace of
God, not only the apostolic, but also the royal, decrees, 6 and
likewise, although he was most learned, he nevertheless re-
quested the replies of the blessed Bishop Augustine against
the books of the Pelagians. 7
(2) Wherefore, Celestine, also a pontiff of venerable mem-
ory, upon whom the Lord bestowed many gifts of His grace for
1 2 Tim. 2.19.
2 Cf. A. Bruckner, Julian von Eclamim, sein Leben und seine Lehre,
Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Altchristllchen Liter-
atur (Leipzig 1897) XV 5.
3 Cf. Epistola XXIX (PL 20.582ff.) .
4 Cf. Hefele-LeClercq, op. cit, 2.1 177 n. 1.
5 Cf. Epistolae II et III (PL 20.649) .
6 Cf. Epistola VII (PL 20.766) .
7 Cf. St. Augustine, Contra duos epistolas Pelagianorum (PL 44.549ff) .
414 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
the protection of the Catholic Church, knowing that not the
weight of a judgment but only the remedy of penance ought
to be given to the condemned, ordered Celestius, who was
demanding an audience, to be expelled, without any discus-
sion of business, from every section of Italy. And he thought
that the Synodal Statutes and decrees of his predecessors
ought to be kept; consequently, he never allowed a revision
of what had once deserved extirpation. With no less dili-
gence did he free Britain of this disease, when he excluded
some of the enemies of grace from occupying the land of their
origin, 8 even in that hidden part of the ocean; 9 he also or-
dained a bishop for the Irish; 10 whereas he was zealous to
keep the Roman island [Britain] Catholic, he also made the
barbarous one [Ireland] Christian, Through this man, the
Eastern Churches were also cleansed of twin plagues, when
he aided with the apostolic sword Cyril, Bishop of Alexan-
dria, the glorious defender of the Catholic faith, to cut down
the Nestorian impiety. 11 By this sword, the Pelagians, since
they were kin and comrades in error, were once again brought
low. Through this man, the liberty to slander was taken away
from those very persons who attack the writings of Augus-
tine of holy memory. When he took the action advised by
his counselors, and when he praised the piety of the books
which displeased those in error, he made it clear with a holy
eloquence what was to be thought of their authority. He
clearly stated how much that novel presumption displeased
him, whereby some impudently dared to rise against the an-
cient teachers and to clamor with ignorant calumny against
the preaching of truth. He said: 'We have always held Au-
8 Cf. Prosper of Aquitaine, Chronicon mtegrum (PL 5 1.595 A) .
9 Cf. VirgU, Eclogues 1.67.
10 Cf. Prosper of Aquitaine, Chronicon mtegrum (PL 51.595B) .
11 Cf. Denzinger, op. cit. f no. 11 Iff.
GRACE AND FREE WILL 415
gustine a man of holy memory, because of his life and merits
in our communion; never has the least rumor of sinister sus-
picion bespattered him, whom we remember once to have
been of so great learning that he was always held even by
my predecessors as among the best teachers. Therefore, every-
one in general has thought well of him, as one considered
everywhere and by all as deserving of love and honor. 512
(3) Does anyone dare to emit a murmur of malicious inter-
pretation against that triumph of highly renowned praise,
against that worthy and holy testimony? That is a murmur
based on the fact that, since the title of the books in question
was not expressed in the pope's letter, it might also appear
that they were not approved and that the praise of St. Au-
gustine was bestowed on the basis of the merits of earlier
writings. The stipulation that the late date of these books
makes them appear repudiable would stand, if antiquity
were at variance with this same man and concerning the
same problem. Likewise, what was found not in conformity
with his compositions against the Pelagians would be judged
either useless or beside the point. That we may omit those
volumes in which he carried on a controversy in defense of
grace from the beginning of his episcopacy and long before
the enemies of grace lifted their heads, let the three letters
of the book to Marcellinus be read. 13 Let the letter to the
holy Bishop Paulinus of Nola be reviewed. 14 Let the pages
of the letter sent to the Blessed Sixtus, then priest of the
Apostolic See, and now Pontiff, 15 be read through. Let the
12 Ibid., no. 128,
13 De peccatorum meritis et remisswne (PL 44,109ff.) . The best list
of the works of St. Augustine, with dates and editions, is given by
Vernon J- Bourke, op. cit. f pp. 303-308.
14 Epistola CLXXXV1 (PL 33.815ff.) .
15 Epistola CXCIV (PL 33.874ff.) . Pope Sixtus reigned from 432 to 440.
416 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
volumes written to the holy Pinian, 16 to Count Valerius, 17
and to the servants of Christ, Timasius 18 and James, 19 be
unrolled. Let the first six books against Julian 20 be reviewed.
And the one to holy Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, on the
events in Palestine, 21 and the second one to the priests Paul and
Eutropius 22 against the questions of Pelagius and Celestius;
likewise, the four volumes to Pope Boniface, of blessed mem-
ory. 23 And if in all these works, and in many others too nu-
merous to mention, the same spirit of doctrine and form of
presentation prevail, let the slanderers admit that their ob-
jections are vain. For, no exceptional or divided testimony
is presented in books, whose rule of faith throughout all the
volumes is praised. The Apostolic See approves, along with
what was known in advance, that which was not at variance
with what was known in advance; and what it joins in judg-
ment, it does not divide in praise. Therefore, let those who re-
ject the recently published books give assent to the earlier ones,
and agree to what was previously written on behalf of the
grace of Christ. But they fail to do so, for they know that
everything, is against the Pelagians, and that nothing can
be of use to them in solving what follows, if they admit that
there is truth in the previous works.
(4) Therefore, the depravity of men of this kind must be
resisted; not so much their zeal in discussion as the preroga-
tives of authority, so that no disciple of their sect, long ago
crushed, may be permitted to rise up again. For, it is well
IB De gratia Christi et de peccato originali (PL 44.359ff.) .
17 De nuptiis et concupiscentia (PL 44.41 3ff.) .
18 De natura et gratia (PL 44.247ff.) .
19 Ibid.
20 Contra Julianum haeresis Pelagianae defensorem (PL 44.641ff.) .
21 De gestis Pelagii (PL 44.319ff.) .
22 De perfectione justitiae hominis (PL 44.3 19ff.) ,
23 Contra duos epistolas Pelagianorum (PL 44.549ff.) .
GRACE AND FREE WILL 417
known that the subtleties of that error are upheld in such a
way that it would strive to rebuild itself completely, even from
its smallest part, once it became apparent that an offshoot is
again growing forth, due to some indulgence on its behalf,
after the semblance of a correction was made. When the highest
degree is only a part, it is not a sign of devotion to have
given up almost the whole, but of fraud to have retained
even the smallest amount. In order that the snares of the
hypocrites may not prevail, we trust that, with the Lord's
protection, God may bring about in Sixtus what He did in
Innocent, Zozimus, Boniface and Celestine. Thus, may part
of the glory reserved for this shepherd of the Lord's flock be
that he drive out the hidden wolves, as they have cast out the
visible ones. May there ring in his ears the speech of the
learned old man, by which he exhorted his collaborator, say-
ing: Tor there are some who think they are quite at liberty
to defend the justly condemned impieties, and there are some
who covertly enter homes; and they do not cease to dissemi-
nate in secret what they fear to proclaim aloud. There are
some who have wholly gone into silence, overcome by a
strong fear, but still retaining in their hearts what they do
not now dare profess with their mouth; nevertheless, they
are well known to the brethren from an earlier defense of
that doctrine. Thus, some are to be coerced severely, some
to be quite vigilantly watched, others are to be treated kindly,
but not carelessly instructed, so that, if they do not fear
to bring ruin, nevertheless, they be not unconcerned to
perish. 324
Chapter 22
(1) It has been sufficiently demonstrated, I think, that
24 St. Augustine, Epistola CXCIV (1,2) ad Sixtum (PL 33.875) . This
letter was written fourteen years before Sixtus became Pope.
418 PROSPER OF AQUITAINE
those who blame St. Augustine make empty objections, at-
tack what is right and defend what is wrong; that, when
they bring about internal strife with assassin's arms, they
rebel against the divine sayings and human constitutions.
But, as long as they are not separated from the society of
the brotherhood, we must tolerate their intention rather
than despair of their correction. Thus, while the Lord,
through the princes of the Church and the legitimate minis-
ters of His judgments allays what has been stirred up by the
pride of a few and the ignorance of some, may it be our task,
with God's help, quietly, moderately and patiently to return
love for hatred, to avoid conflict with the foolish, not to
desert the truth nor to fight with the weapons of falsity, al-
ways to seek from God that, in all our thoughts, in all our
wills, in all our speech and activity, He hold first place, who
says that He is the beginning: Tor of Him, and by Him, and
in Him, are all things: to Him be glory forever. Amen. 51
1 Rom. 11.36.
INDEX
Abimelech, 364
Abraham, 67, 363; bosom of,
157, 159
Acre (Akka), 250 n.
Adam, 368-3 72 ; descendants
of, 370, 372; old and new,
216; sin of, 391 ; see also Fall
Aedui, country of, 123
Aetherius, 226
Africa, 164, 165, 193, 229 n.,
249, 413
Agnes, St., 221
Agricola, 226
Agrippinus, Bishop, 276
Albenga, 112
Alexander, Emperor, 300
Alexandria, 15 n., 164, 167,
168 n., 170, 171, 173, 193
Amator, 226
Amboise, 235, 236
Ambrose, St., 7, 15 n., 80, 93,
196, 274, 327, 369
Amiens, 106
Ammianus Marcellinus, 165
n., 198 n.
Amphilochius, Bishop of Ico-
nium, 327 n.
Andlepsis Abradm, 67 n.
Anatolius, 133-135
Anchorites: see Hermits
Andethanna, 243
Andrew, St., 281
Angels, 184; see also Martin,
St., miracles
Anger, restraint of, 176
Angers (city), 115
Animals, stories told of: diving
birds, 155; ox, 179, penitent
she- wolf, 179-180; lioness,
182-183; ibex, 183; mules,
204-206; cow, 215; hare
and hounds, 216; sheep,
216; oxen and swine, 216-
217; dog, 230; serpent, 237
Anthony, St., 90, 155 n., 184
Antichrist, 135, 223
Antioch, 14 n.
Antiochus, 325
Antiquity, 270, 320
Apelles, 302
421
422
INDEX
Aper, 226, 232
Apokdlupsis Abradm, 67 n.
Apollinaris, 270, 284, 287, 289,
290, 296
Apostolic Constitutions, 41 n.
Aquileia, 129 n., 131
Aquitania, 81, 198, 248 n.
Arbesmann, R., 227 n.
Arborius, Magnus, 127, 238
Archdeacon, 201-202
Arianism, 15-17, 24, 111-112,
209, 272, 273, 274 n., 286,
292
Arius, 12, 270, 314
Aeles, 278 n.
Armenia, 196
Arpagius, 229
Assuam, 183
Athanasian Creed, 297 n.
Athanasius, St., 15 n,, 327; his
Life of St. Anthony, 90, 184
n., 196 n.
Athens, 250
Atticus, 177 n.
Atticus, Bishop of Constanti-
nople, 327 n.
Augustine, St., 3, 80, 258, 260,
335-340, 343, 413-418; Con-
tra Academicos, 227 n.;
Contra duas epistolas Pelag.,
413 n., 416 n.; Contra Juli-
anum, 323 n,, 416 n.; De
baptismo, 278 n.; De beata
vita, 227 n.; De civitate Dei,
336 n.; De haer., 270 n., 302
n.; 400 n.; De magistro, 177
n.; De peccatorum, 415 n.;
De praed. sanct., 336 n., 337
n.; De Trinitate, 305 n.,
Enarr. in ps. 9 116 n.; E pis-
tola, 338 n.; 415 n.; Re-
tract., 336 n.; Sermo 26, 157
n.; Pseudo- Augustine, Ser-
mo 203, 143 n.
Aurelius, 87, 147-152, 154,
226, 416
Ausonius, 81, 125 n., 127 n.
Auspicius, 234
Authority, appeal to, 67; of
Apostles, 281; of Scripture,
321
Autun, 123 n.
Auxentius, 112
Avaricum (= Bourges), 214
n.
Avitianus, Claudius, 229-231,
235
Babut, E.-Ch., 82 n., 90, 91,
94 n., 96 n., 99, 104-253 nn.
passim, esp. 239, 251
Balaam, 364
Baptism, 28, 30, 158 n., 218
Bardenhewer, O., 85, 343 n.
Bardy, G., 100, 239 n.
INDEX
423
Basil, St., 15 n., 64 n., 327
Bassula, 80 n., 81, 87, 153,
154; Letter to, 153-159
Bassus, 325
Benedict of Nursia, St., his
Rule, 105 n., 173 n., 174 n.
Benedict XIV, Pope, 82 n., 87
n., 96
Bernard of Clairvaux, St., 95
Besse, J.-M., 99, 118 n., 158
n., 237 n.
Bethlehem, 80, 93, 171
Beziers, 81, 82 n.
Bigorre, 202
Bihlmeyer, P., 97, 98, 106-249
nn. passim
Biography, dialogue used as
vehicle for, 89; Martiniana
as model for, 94; of holy
men, its exemplary value,
103
Bishops, African councils of,
357-358; Eastern, 357, 414;
Gallic, disparaged, 163, 197;
of Palestine, 367, 413; per-
secutors of Martin, 140; role
of laymen in electing, 115
n. ; weakness of Martin's
contemporaries in episco-
pate, 129, 250-251.
Bithynia, 379
Blemyes (Blembi), 181 n., 190
Bloch, M., 91 n., 99.
Boniface, Pope, 413, 416, 417
Bourke, V. J., 339 n., 343 n.,
415 n.
Bordeaux, 81, 252
Bosphorus, 197
Bourges, 82 n., 83, 198 n., 214
(Biturigi)
Braida, N., 6
Brictio (Brice), St., Bishop of
Tours, 246-247
Bruckner, A., 413 n.
Burn, A. E., 3 n., 4 n., 6-8, 12
n., 44 n., 65 n., 67 n.
Butler, A., 83 n.
Butler, C., 191 n.
Caesar, Julius, 165
Calitonnum, 118 n.
Calupio, 226
Caecilian, 270 n.
Calvin, John, 14 n.
Campagnia, 249
Candes, 154, 158 n.
Capitula, pseudo-celcstiniens,
342
Cappuyns, M., 339 342 n.
Capreolus, St., 328, 331
Carnutes, 207, 228
Carthage, 164, 193, 249, 276
n., 277 n., 278 n.
424
INDEX
Cassian, 176 n. ; 187 n., 258,
336, 337, 341-412 nn. pass-
im; propositions of, 406-411.
Cassiodorus, 3, 169 n.
Cataphrygians, 50
Catholic, definition of, 303ff.;
etymology of, 270
Cato, of Utica, 165
Cato, deacon, 237
Celestine I, Pope, 258, 329-
332, 338, 413, 417
Celestius, 270, 314, 332, 357,
376, 414, 416
Celsus, 227
Centurion, the, 396, 400, 402
Change, 309
Chartres: see Carnutes
Chase, A. H., 93 n., 96 n., 98,
126 n., 236 n., 246 n.
Christ, as Redeemer, 169, 336,
and passim; body of, 49,
401; Cross of, 46, 53; di-
vinity of, 15-21, 44, 45,
289ff.; grace of, 347 and
passim; humanity of, 19, 20,
45; Incarnation of, 45;
names of, 9-11 (Word, Wis-
dom, Light, 9; Power, Angel
of great counsel, 10; Son of
Man, Lamb, Priest, Way,
Truth, Life, Vine, Justice,
Redemption, 1 ; Bread,
Stone, Doctor, Fount of liv-
ing water, Peace, Resurrec-
tion, 10; Judge, Door, 11);
Passion of, 46; Person of,
291, 293, 295; Resurrection
of, 47; substances of, 289ff.
Christiani, L., 346 n.
Chrysostom, St. John, 327 n.
Church, Eastern, 414; princes
of, 418; rule of faith of the,
364-367; universal, 50; visi-
ble and invisible, 50 n.
Cicero, 300 n., 341; imitated
by Sulpicius, 103 n., 138 n.,
177 n.
Circumcision, 223, 373-375
Clarus, St., 133-135, 148
Claudia, 84
Claudiomagus (=Clion), 214
n.
Claudius, Emperor, 104 n.
Cloister, strictness in keeping,
recommended for nuns, 219-
220
Codex Brixianus, 157 n,
Codex Theodosianus, 204 n.
Coleman-Norton, R. P., 99
Coluccio Salutati, 95
Columella, 112 n.
Commonitories, date of, 258-
259; translated, 267-332
Communion of saints, 49 n.
Consent, 270, 320
INDEX
425
Constans, Emperor,, 108 n.
Constantius, Emperor, 15 n.,
105, llOn., 112,273 n., 274
Constantinople, 93, 258
Contemplation of elements,
361
Controversy, method of, 340
Conversion, 380
Corinth, 250
Cottineau, L. H., 99, 112 n.,
117 n.
Councils: of Aries, 278 n.;
Carthage, 276 n.; 277 n.,
278 n.; Constantinople, 258;
Ephesus, 258, 259, 326 n.,
327, 331; Iconium, 276 n.,
Nicaea, 15 n., 23, 258; Or-
ange, 340; Paris, 247 n.,
Rimini, 274 n., 325; Syn-
ada, 276 n., Vatican, 261
Creed, 43-53
Cross, name of, 148; of Christ,
46, 53;, sign of, 114, 121,
132; true, discovery of, 85
Cyprian, St., 75 n., 164, 249,
274 n., 276 n., 278, 327
Cyrenaica, 165-167, 193
Cyril, St., 7, 41 n., 326-331,
414
Dagridus, 231
D'Ales, A., 239 n., 253 n.,
254 n.
Dalton, O. M., 93 n.
Damasus, Pope, 7
Dangers, saints tested in, 142-
143
Da Prato, G., 88 n., 94 n., 97,
98, 114-253 nn. passim
David, 68, 377-380
Decius, Emperor, 149, 299 n.
De diversis appellationibus^
9-12
Defensor, Bishop of Angers,
115-116
de Gellinck, J., 168 n.
de Labriolle, P., 100, 168 n.,
170 n., 239 n.
Delehaye, H., 91, 92, 99, 106-
253 nn. passim
Demoniacal possession, 191-
192; see also: Devil; Mar-
tin, St., miracles
de Nolhac, P., 95 n.
Denzinger, H., 96 n., 169 n.,
357 n., 358 n., 396 n., 414 n.
de Plinval, G., 84 n.
De ratione fidei, 13-21
Desiderius, 86, 101-102, 154 n.
De spiritus sancti potentia,
23-41
De symbolo, 43-53
De utiliiate hymnorum, 65-76
De vigiliis servorum Dei, 55-64
426
INDEX
Devil, 169, 191, 197, 217, 234,
235, 246, 368-372, 383, 388-
392; doctrines of, 50, 169 >
emissaries of, 43; renuncia-
tion of, 53; St. Martin and,
111, 131-136, 145, 157;
works of, 43
Dexter, Pseudo-, Chronicle of,
135 n.
Dialogue, as vehicle for bio-
graphy, 89, 232
Dialogues (of Sulpicius Sever-
us), translated: I, 161-199;
II, 200-224; III, 225-251
Diocesis=parish, 144 n.
Dionysius, Bishop, 276 n.
Dobschutz, E. von, 96 n.
Docetism, 45
Dogma, 283, 328
Dogmatic Constitution of' the
Catholic Faith, 261
Dominicans of San Marco,
Florence, 95
Donatism, 272, 278
Donatus, 270, 272, 284
Dublin MS., of Sulpicius, 88
n., 98, 108-251 nn. passim,
esp. 141, 251
Duchesne, L., 99, 115-246 nn.
passim
Duckett, E. S., 99
Eastertide, dietary relaxation
during, 237
Eating, heavy, 171
Egypt, 88, 89 n., 161, 162, 165,
173ff. passim, 190, 193,
196, 250
Elias, 113 n., 135
Elijah: see Elias
Eliseus, 113 n.
Elisha: see Eliseus
Eluso (Elsonne), 81, 82 n., 87
Ensslin, W., 241 n.
Ephesus, 258, 259, 326 n., 327,
331, 338
Epiphanius, 67 n.
Epternach, 243 n.
Ernout, A., 198 n.
Error, 271
Errors, on grace and free will,
355
Erymanthian boar, 238 n.
Ethiopians, 196
Eucherius, 227
Eunomius, 270, 315
Eusebius, 87, 89, 141, 215, 276
n., 299 n., 300 n., 326 n.;
Letter to, 141-145
Eutropius, 416
Evagrius, author of Altercatio
legis, 226 n.
Evagrius, priest, 226, 228
INDEX
427
Evagrius, translator of Atha-
nasius, 184 n.
Evanthius, 203
Evodius, Flavins, 130, 254
Evolution, 310
Exorcists, 110 n.; see also Mar-
tin, St., miracles
Explanation of the Creed,
translated, 43-53
Exsufflare, 235 n.
Fabre, P., 99
Faith, 102, 124, 175, 186-187,
212, 261, 271, 275, 305, 315,
332, gift of God, 337; rule
of, 48, 364-367; see also
Martin, St., virtues
Fall of man, 368-272, 380
Fasting, before vigils, 64; ex-
amples of, 175, 176; see also
Martin, St., virtues
Fear, 361, 384
Felix, Bishop of Treves, 242,
244 n.
Felix, St., 249, 327
Filioque, 28 n.
Firmicus Maternus, 199 n.
Firmilianus, Bishop, 276 n.
Fornication, a symbol of, 217
Fortunate Isles, 197
Fortunatus: see Venantius
Francis de Sales, St., 87 n.
Free Will, established with
man, 381; God's aid strong-
er than, 358; not lacking,
358; now strong, now weak,
354; what we have from,
352
Fritz, G., 168 n.
Furtner, J., 98, 143 n., 189 n.,
241 n.
Gallandus, A., 98
Gallic churches troubled, 112;
dullness, 199 n.; funeral
rites, 119; love of food and
drink, 166, 171-172, 213;
schools of rhetoric, 81;
speech rustic, 198; whips,
205; wit, 89
Gallinaria, 112
Gallus, 88, 96, 161-251 passim
Gaul, 90, 93, 250, 337, 338 n.,
340; criminal trials and exe-
cutions in, 229 n., 230, 235;
invaded by barbarians, 108;
life in, unfavorable to Chris-
tian living, 163, 190, 197,
213
Gelasius I, 96, 222 n.
Gennadius of Marseilles, 3, 13
n., 80, 81 n., 83, 84, 86, 88,
267 n., 324 n.
Germinius of Sirmium, 3, 7
Gibbon, E., 79
Giselinus, V., 177 n.
428
INDEX
Glover, T. R., 99
Golden Legend, 95
Goldschmidt, R. C., 82 n., 249
n.
Gnostics, 302, 314 n.
God, as Father and Creator,
14, 43, 44, 347; charity of,
387 and passim; word of,
293; see also: Christ, Holy
Spirit, Trinity
Good acts, 346-352, and pas-
sim
Good works, necessity of, 13,
14
Grace, does not destroy free
will, 366; enemies of, 345
and passim; godliness
through, 385; of Christ uni-
versal, 347; support of the
human will, 404; what man
has from, 352
Grace and Free Will, trans-
lated, 343-418
Gratian, Emperor, 129 n., 131
n., 240, 241 n., 252 n., 274
Greece, 202, 250, 380
Gregory of Nazianzus, St., 15
n., 19 n., 327
Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop, 327
Gregory, St., Bishop of Tours,
91, 93^95, 106 n., 116 n.,
118n., 127 n., 158 n., 205 n.
Gregory Thaumaturgus, St.,
Creed of, 44 n.
Gregory the Great, St., 89
Gurdonicus, 198 n.
Gwynn, J., 98, 250 n., 251 n.
Halm, Q, 80 n., 84 n., 97 n.,
120-244 nn. passim
Ham, 278
Hands, laying on of, in receiv-
ing catechumens, 121, 208
Harduinus, 328 n.
Harrington, K. P., 99
Hartranft, C. D., 93 n.
Haupt, M., 243 n.
Hebrew youths (Dan. 3), 149,
186
Hector, 103
Hefele-Leclercq, 107 n., 109
n., 340 n., 357 n., 367 n.,
413 n.
Helena, St., 85
Hercules, 238 n.
Heresies, 50, 170, 278, 279,
303, 320, 321, 350
Hermits, 176ff. passim
Hermogenes, 302
Hilary of Aries, St., 139 n.,
258, 292 n., 302, 336, 338 n.
Hilary, St., Bishop of Poitiers,
109-110, 112, Contra Con-
stantium, 149 n., 233 n.
INDEX
429
Holy Spirit, adoration of, 39,
40; age of, 50 n.; and bap-
tism, 30; and Creation, 31;
and foreknowledge, 32, 33;
as Comforter, 36 ; as giver of
life, 32; as Judge, 34, 35; as
Person, 28; authority of, 35,
36; descent of, 48; omni-
present, 33, 34; powers of,
48 ; procession of, 38, 47 ; sin
against, 37; terrifying as-
pects of, 37; uncreated, 24-
28
Homer, 139, 197 n.
Homilies, on St. Martin, 94-95
Horace, 101 n., 156 n.
Huber, A., 93 n., 99
Hucbald, 102 n.
Hydatius: see Ydacius
Hylten, Per, 84 n., 97, 99, 102-
251 nn. passim, esp. 251
Hypocaustum, 144 n.
Iconium, 276 n.
Ignatius, St., 270 n.
Ihm, M., 214 n., 243 n.
Illyria, 111, 249
Immortality, 102-103
Infants, entrance into heaven
of, 386
Innocent, Pope, 356, 357, 413,
417
Inquisitio Abrahae,.67 n.
Instantius, Bishop, 252
Instruction on Faith, trans-
lated, 13-21
Irenaeus, St., 314 n., 324 n.
Isaias, 150
Italy, 111, 249, 414
Ithacius, Bishop of Ossonuba,
239, 242-243, 252-253
Jtinerarium Antonini, 243 n.
Jacob, 374, 378
Jacobus da Voragine, 95
Jacquin, M., 338, 339 n.
Jericho, 358
Jerome, St., 13 n., 67 n., 80,
93, 95-96, 101 n., 139 n.,
155 n., 167 n., 169 n., 170-
173, 184 n., 188 n., 190, 198
n., 222 n., 233 n., 250, 272
n., 274 n., 278 n., 299 n.,
302 n.
Jerusalem, 171, 223, 250
Joachim of Flora, 50 n.
Job, 388-396
John, St., the Apostle, 281,
350 n., 387
John the Baptist, St., 199
John of Antioch, 330 n.
John of Lycopolis, St., 191
Jonas, 143 n.
Jones, L. W., 169 n.
430
INDEX
Jovinianus, 270, 315
Judaeism, 30, 31, 41, 44, 49,
373
Judgment, immediate, 113-
114; last, 47
Julian, Bishop of Eclana (Ec-
lanum), 323, 413, 416
Julian, Emperor, 105, 108-109
Julius, St., Bishop of Rome,
327
Jullian, C., 82 n., 83 n., 90, 99,
108 n., HOn., 198 n.
Jupiter, 221; his form assumed
by demons, 132, 234
Justice, mistaken conception
of, an example, 190-192
Justina, 209 n.
Juvenal, 197 n.
Kaniecka, Sister M Simplicia,
93 n.
Lactantius, 302 n.
Lambertini: see Benedict XIV
Lavertujon, A., 98
Lawrence Giustiniani, St., 95
Laymen, early role in electing
bishops, 115 n,
Lecoy de la Marche, A., 92 n.
100, 104-243 nn. passim
Lector, 110 n., 116
Leonidas, 298 n.
Leprosum (= Levroux?), 122
Letter to Bassula^ translated,
153-159
Letter to Deacon Aurelius,
translated, '147-152
Letter to Eusebius, translated,
141-145
Leucadius, 240, 241 n.
Liber contra Collatorum, 337,
340; editions of, 342
Lietzman, 287 n.
Life of St. Martin, translated,
101-140
Liguge, 112 n., 118 n.
Liturgical Singing, translated,
65-76
Liturgical singing, arguments
for, 66ff.; David and, 68;
objections to, 65-67
Livy, 85, 103
Loire, river, 117, 154 n,, 155,
158 n., 237
Longnon, A., 100, 106 n., 118
n., 154 n.
Lowe, E. A., 94 n.
Lucan, 165 n.
Lucesit hoc, 225 n.
Lupicinus, 114
Luxembourg, 243
Lycontius, 244-245
Lydia, 387
INDEX
431
Macarius, 182 n.
Macedonius, 24 n., 270
Maggi, Maggio, 107 n.
Magnificat, 68
Magnus, Bishop, 254
Mai, Cardinal, 6, 10 n., 12 n.,
19 n., 38 n.
Majorinus, Bishop of Car-
thage, 270 n.
Manichaeans, 50, 293, 314 n.
Marathonius, 24 n.
Macellinus, 130, 415
Marcellus, 236
Marcionites, 50, 302
Marmoutier, 117-118, 233,
237
Marriage, a symbol of, 217
Marseilles, 162, 258, 335, 336
Martha of Bethany, 213
Martin, St., Bishop of Tours,
79-254 passim;
chronology of his life uncer-
tain, 91-92, 108 n., 116 n.,
157 n., 158 n., 209 n., 212
n., 223 n., 244 n.; birth and
boyhood, 104-105 (cf. 91-
92); parents, 104-105; seeks
their conversion, 110-111;
catechumen, 92, 105-108;
early aspirations toward
heremitical life, 105; mili-
tary service, 92, 105-109; di-
vides cloak with beggar,
106-108; refuses armed com-
bat, 108-109; baptism, 92,
106, 108; relations with St.
Hilary of Poitiers, 109-110,
112; ordained exorcist, 110;
crosses Alps, 110; founds
monastery in Milan, 112;
inhabits Gallinaria, 112;
founds monastery near Poi-
tiers, 112; made Bishop of
Tours, 91, 115-116; founds
monastery near Tours, 117-
118; meeting with and par-
ticular affection for Sulpici-
us, 81, 137-138, 151, 221-
222 (cf. 229) ; refuses high
dignitaries as guests in his
monastery, 196; gives entire
tunic to pauper ('Mass of
St. Martin' cf. 238), 201-
203; attacked by Brictio,
246-247; dines with Emper-
or Maximus, 129-130; with
Emperor's wife, 211-213;
prominent in deliberations
concerning Priscillian and
his followers, 238-244, 252-
254; his enforced commun-
ion with anti-Priscillianist
bishops, 242-243; in late life
shunned synods and meet-
ings with bishops, 222 n.,
244; death, 86, 87, 148, 154-
159, 244 n.; his dying pray-
er imitated, 87; funeral and
burial, 87, 91, 158-159; per-
432
INDEX
sonal appearance, 115, 117,
147, 157-158; appears pos-
thumously to Sulpicius, 147-
148, 151;
pastoral activities: his con-
versions, 111, 121, 123, 125-
126, 208; exposes cult of
pseudo-martyr, 118-119; de-
stroys places of false and
pagan worship, 119-124;
founds churches and monas-
teries, 122; disciples of, 82,
87, 88, 118, 133, 148, 151,
154, 158-159, 161-162, 197,
225; visits parishes, 144, 154,
204, 216; visits convents,
219-220; his preaching, 124,
207; praises and preaches
abandonment of the world,
137-138; simple eloquence
and knowledge of Scrip-
tures, 138, 198-199; his fa-
miliar sayings, 216-217; his
analogies, 155, 216-218; his
reading, 139; works to se-
cure release of prisoners,
230-231, 239-243; sought
out by visitors from long dis-
tances, 220; relations with
women, 212-213;
virtues: 96, 106, 116-117,
138-140, 151, 156, 193-197;
charity, 106-108, 133, 139,
149-151, 154-155, 201-203,
228; faith, 109, 111, 120f.,
145, 242; used sign of the
Cross, 109, 121, 132; firm-
ness and authority, 117,
129-130, 137, 195, 254; for-
giveness, mercy, compassion,
139, 151, 155, 247; humility,
105, 108, 110, 125, 137,
195-196, 201 (cf. 246), 228;
sought to hide virtues, 104,
202-203, 207; kindness, 137;
patience, 139, 205, 247;
pena'nce, fasting, abstinence,
122, 138, 156-157, 209, 233;
piety toward parents, 110-
111; poverty, 210, 219, 245;
prayer, 112-114, 119, 122,
125, 132, 138-139, 145, 155-
157, 208, 209, 228, 233-
234, 236, 240, 244-245, 247;
prophecy and clairvoyance,
130-132, 135, 154, 206, 222,
245; prudence, 118-119; re-
spect for clergy, 130;
miracles: accomplished in
Christ's name, 249; rivals
miracles of Christ, 238; a
partial classification of, 195;
miraculous power weakened
during episcopate, 206, 243-
244;- resurrections, 113, 114,
141, 194, 207-208; bodily
healing, 124-125, 127-128,
203-204, 228, 237, 244-245;
control over demons and de-
moniacal possession (see
also Devil), 125-127, 195,
214-215, 221, 233-235, 244;
INDEX
433
over bodily motions of other
men, 119-120, 123, 210;
over animals, 155, 195, 205-
206, 215-216, 230, 237; over
inanimate objects, 120-122,
124, 141-145, 195, 229, 234-
235, 244; miracles worked
through objects touched by
Martin, 127-128, 195, 214,
237; from a distance, 195
n., 203, 233, 244; by others
in Martin's name, 195 n.,
230; Martin released from
various physical and spiri-
tual adversities (see also
Devil), 110-112, 120-124,
132, 139-145, 205; visited in
vision by Christ, 107; visited
and aided by angels, 123,
128, 131, 195, 209, 220, 222,
230, 243 ; visited in vision by
saints, 221; seemed to be
transfigured at death, 157-
158; his death bewailed by
nature, 234; assisted by nat-
ural forces, 235f.;
fame: often ignored in con-
temporary literature, 80, 90;
belittled by certain contem-
poraries, 89-90, 115, 197;
his enemies, 90, 115; his
deeds incredible to many,
221-222, 232-233; reputa-
tion claimed as due solely
to the writings of Sulpicius,
90; himself a source of
stories concerning him, 136-
137, 144-145, 221, 232;
spread of his renown, 193-
194, 196-197; intercessor,
152, 159; compared with
the Apostles, 82, 114, 129,
142, 149-150, 208, 253; with
the Prophets, 149-150, 208;
with the saints of the Orient,
193-197, 208; with contem-
porary bishops, 242; with
Plato and Socrates, 250;
represented in painting at
Primuliacum, 82 ; official
cult, 93-94; relics (sword,
cloak), 10 n.
Martinellus, 94 n.
Martyrdom, by desire, 149-151
Martyrs, consecrated in open
fields, 208
Mary, Virgin, 45, 221, 288,
289, 292, 295-297
Mary of Bethany, 213
Mass, Old Testament reading
at, 116
Maximilla, 303
Maximus, Emperor, 92, 129-
131, 210-212, 238-242, 252-
254; virtuous wife of, 129
n., 210-213
Medici, Cosimo, de', 95
Meillct, A., 198 n.
Memphis (Egypt), 181, 193
434
INDEX
Mercury, 221; his form as-
sumed by demons, 132, 234
Merit, and grace, 350, 401
Milan, 95, 111, 112
Minerva, her form assumed by
demons, 132
Modernists, 275, 307
Mombritius, Boninus, 95
Mommsen, T., 182 n.
Monachism, Egyptian, I73ff.
passim; monastic practices
at Marrnoutier, 117-118
Monceaux, P., 97, 98, 198 n.,
236 n.
Montanus, 50 n., 303
Morin, Dom., 6, 8
Moses, 67, 284-287, 303;
compared with Christ, 43
Mouret, F., 82 n.
Murray, J. C., 260 n.
Mynors, R. A. B., 169 n,
Names and Titles of Our Sa-
viour > translated, 9-12
Narbonne, 161, 164
Narses, Count, 240, 241 n.
Nature, curable by grace, 341,
385
Nero, 149, 223
Nestorius, 270, 285-290, 296,
326, 329-332, 414
Newman, J. H., 261
Nicaea, 15 n., 23, 258
Niceta of Remesiana, St.,
name, 3; life, 3-8; relation
with Sulpicius Severus, 92,
249 n.
Nicetas of Aquileia, 6
Nicetius of Trier, 6
Nieder-Anwen, 243 n.
Nile, 173, 178, 183 n., 185, 187
Nimes, 222, 223 n., 244 n.
Nitria, 181, 193
Noe, 279
Novatianus, 269, 314
Novelties, profane, 260, 284,
313, 320, 329
Obedience, examples of, 185-
187, 198; in Egyptian mon-
achism, 173, 185
Odo, St., of Cluny, 82 n.
Oil, in exorcism, 228; in heal-
ing, 125, 228, 229
Oldness, 374
Optatus, St., 270 n.
Opus Dei, 105 n., 138 n., 156
n.
Orange, 340
Orient (Near East), Christi-
anity in, 163ff,, 193-197,
208, 227, 250
INDEX
435
Origen, 89 n., 168-170, 173 n.,
298-303, 324 n., 339
O'Sullivan, J. F., 158 n., 167
n., 198 n.
Ovid, 238 n.
Paintings, mural, at Primulia-
cum, 82
Palestine, 88, 413
Palladius, 191 n.
Pallium, 158, 204
Palm tree, importance of, 178-
179
Pannonia, 104, 110-112
Papacy, 344, 396, 416
Paris, 127, 247 n.
Parthians, 196
Patin, W. A., 7 n., 8
Paul, St., 142, 143, 150, 221,
250, 260, 347, 353, 360, 362,
364, 366, 385-391, 416; see
also Scriptures, Holy
Paul of Samosata, 315
Paul of Thebes, St., 155 n.,
184
Paulinus of Milan, 92-93
Paulinus of Nola, St., 80-86,
92-93, 128, 137-138, 193,
249; Carmina, 233 n., 249
n.; Epistles, 81 n., 82 n., 85
n., 101 n., 102 n., 106 n.,
116 n., 132 n., 133 n., 152
n., 158 n,, 226 n., 249 n.
Paulinus of Perigucux, 93, 237
Pavia, 104
Peebles, B. M., 94 n., 95 n., 97
n., 98, 99, 107 n.
Pegis, A. C., 339 n.
Pelagianism, 283, 323 n., 336,
338, 339, 341, 342, 343 n.
355, 404, 413, 415; fallacies
of, 350; opinions of con-
firmed by Cassian, 397; pre-
cipice of, 390; questions of,
on faith and charity, 359;
Sulpicius Severus alleged
adherent of, 83, 96
Pelagius, 84, 258, 270, 314,
332, 357, 367, 376, 413,
416; Epistle of, 400 n.
Penance, remedy of, 414; see
also Martin, St., virtues
Perigueux, 82, 93, 237
Persians, 196
Peter, St., the Apostle, 142-
143, 221, 281, 357, 384
Peter, St., Bishop of Alexan-
dria, 326
Peter Damiani, St., 95
Petrarch, 95
Petschenig, M., 346 n.
Phalaris, 248
Philip, Emperor, 300 n.
Photinus of Sirmium, 14 n.,
15, 270, 284, 286-290, 296
Phrygia, 110 n.
436
INDEX
Pickman, E. M., 100
Pinian, 416
Pius X, Pope, 261
Plato, 250
Plautus, 197 n., 225 n.
Pliny the Elder, 238 n.
Poitiers, 109, 112, 158 n.
Pompey, 165 n.
Pomponius, 176 n., 250-251
Pontius Pilate, 47
Porpyhry, 288
Possidius, 272 n.
Postumianus, familiar of Paul-
inus of Nola, 161 n.
Postumianus, interlocutor in
Dialogues of Sulpicius Sev-
erus, 88, 89 n., 96, 161-251
passim
Potamius, Bishop of Lisbon,
150 n.
Power of the Holy Spirit,
translated, 23-41
Praxias, 302
Pride, examples of, 133-135,
136-137, 174, 187-191
Primuliacum, 81, 82 ; 162 n.,
226 n.
Priscilla, 303
Priscillian, 85, 129 n., 130 n.,
170 n., 196 n., 210 n., 239-
243, 252-254, 270, 314, 315
Progress, and change, 309; of
faith, 261, 309
Prosper of Aquitaine, 257, 326
n., Latin style of, 340; life
of, 335-342
Ptolemais, 250
Quintilian, 341
Rand, E. K., 94 n., 100
Rauschen, G., 261, 314 n., 315
n., 319 n.
Rebaptism, 276
Rebecca, 364
Refrigerius, 223, 225, 227, 23 1,
234, 236, 237
Regeneration, 50
Reims, 243 n.
Reinelt, P., 84 n.
Remigius of Auxerre, 102 n.
Resonare Christum, 5
Resurrection, of Christ, 47; of
the body, 50-52
Revelation of Abraham, 67
Richardson, E. C,, 80 n.
Rimini, 274 n., 325
Roberts, A., 84 n., 97, 98
Roger, M., 340 n.,
Romans, faith of, 394, 398
Rome, 7, 94, 112, 193
Romulus, 234
Rosweyde, H., 192 n.
Rouen, 228 n.
Rufinus, 44 n., 182 n.
Rufus, 135, 254
Rusticius, 115
INDEX
437
Saba, Queen of, 211-212
Sabaria, 104, 112 n.
Sabatier, P., 142 n.
Sabbatius ( Sebastianus ) , 134
n., 226
Sabeffius, 14, 15, 270, 314
Sacerdos = bishop (rarely
priest), 223 n.
Sacristy, 144, 201, 214
Saint Honorat ( monastery ) ,
258
Saints, can make places holy,
164; comparisons with St.
Martin, 193-197, 208; inter-
cession of, 152; tested in
dangers, 142-143
Sallust, 85, 102 n., 164, 167 n.,
181 n., 253 n., 273 n.
Salutati: see Coluccio
Salvian of Marseilles, 158 n.,
167 n., 198 n.
Salvianus, Bishop, 252 n.
Saturninus, 230
Sardica, 111 n.
Sargossa, 239 n., 252 n.
Savaria (Sabaria?), 104 n.
Schuster, I., Cardinal, 94 n.
Scipio, 165 n.
Scolares alae (scolae palatin-
ae), 105 n.
Scriptures, Holy, as tested by
heretics, 315; authority
of, 269, 284, 298; interpre-
tation of, 138, 269, 317,
320; Jerome skilled in, 170;
Origen as commentator of,
168; Chronicles of Sulpicius
Severus largely based on,
84-85;
Quotations from or references
to Biblical writers or books:
Acts, 35 n., 36 n., 37 n., 39 n.,
61 n., 132 n., 134 n., 142 n.,
155 n., 283 n., 314 n., 347
n., 379 n., 387 n., 402 n.
Apocalypse, 73 n., 149 n.
Canticle of Canticles, 63 n.
Colossians, 24 n., 26 n., 29 n.,
44 n., 49 n., 155 n., 216 n.,
371 n., 403 n.
1 Corinthians, 27 n., 32 n., 36
n., 40 n., 48 n., 49 n., 51 n.,
52 n., 59 n., 62 n., 67 n., 73
n., 217 n., 234 n., 295 n.,
304 n., 313 n., 318 n., 322
n., 323 n., 357 n., 359 n.,
361 n., 362 n,, 363 n.,
364 n., 365 n., 381 n., 382
n., 383 n., 384 n., 385 n.,
393 n., 397 n., 398 n.
2 Corinthians, 15 n., 27 n., 32
n., 34 n., 41 n., 64 n., 143 n.,
150 n., 317 n., 347 n., 362
n., 365 n., 366 n., 382 n.
Daniel, 32 n., 75 n., 145 n.,
149 n., 186 n.
438
INDEX
Deuteronomy, 68 n., 267 n.,
284, 285 n., 286 n., 301 n.,
303 n.
Ecclesiastes, 306 n., 317 n., 368
n.
Ecclesiasticus, 57 n., 283 n.,
295 n., 306 n., 374 n., 384
n.
Ephesians, 21 n., 32 n., 66 n.,
131 n, 145 n., 151 n,, 216
n. } 303 n., 351 n., 365 n.,
366 n., 369 n., 370 n., 373
n., 381 n., 387 n., 398 n.
Exodus, 67 n., 283 n., 308 n.
Ezekiel, 314 n., 375 n.
Galatians, 20 n., 27 n., 35 n.,
279 n., 281 n., 282 n., 315
n., 332 n., 373 n., 374 n.,
375 n., 405 n.
Genesis, 216 n., 364 n., 368 n.,
371 n.
Hebrews, 375 n.
Isaias, 32 n., 45 n., 47 n., 51 n.,
52 n., 58 n., 351 n., 360 n.,
367 n,, 375 n.
James, 73 n., 106 n., 143 n.,
347 n., 349 n., 366 n., 397
n., 416
Jeremias, 32 n., 347 n,, 398 n.
Job, 31 n., 388-396, 389 n.,
393 n., 394 n., 410 n.
John, 17 n., 18 n., 19 n., 20 n.,
21 n., 25 n., 27 n., 28 n.,
29 n., 30 n., 32 n., 34 n,,
35 n., 40 n., 44 n., 46 n.,
47 n., 51 n., 76 n., 139 n.,
157 n., 197 n., 207 n., 295
n., 305 n., 316 n., 361 n,,
363 n., 365 n., 366 n., 372
n., 378 n., 379 n., 383 n.,
388 n., 396 n., 397 n., 400
n., 401 n., 403 n.
1 John, 34 n., 36 n., 357 n.,
387 n., 388 n., 405 n.
2 John, 313 n.
Judges, 68 n.
1 Kings, 37 n., 68 n.
3 Kings, 113 n., 211 n., 377 n.
4 Kings, 113 n,
Luke, 18 n., 28 n., 29 n., 32 n.,
60 n., 72 n., 137 n., 157 n.,
199 n,, 211 n., 213 n., 216
n., 359 n., 362 n., 363 n.,
369 n., 372 n., 375 n., 380
n., 386 n., 387 n., 395 n.
Mark, 155 n.
Matthew, 12 n., 18 n., 20 n.,
32 n., 35 n., 37 n., 44 n.,
46 n, 3 48 n., 52 n., 60 n,,
72 n., 108 n., 137 n., 141 n.,
142 n., 143 n., 151 n., 155 n.,
211 n., 304 n., 307 n., 316
n., 317 n., 318 n., 348 n.,
INDEX
439
351 n., 365 n., 366 n., 393
n., 395 n., 397 n., 402 n.,
405 n., 411 n.
Numbers, 364 n.
1 Peter, 39 n., 46 n., 48 n.,
61 n., 316 n.
2 Peter, 372 n., 384 n.
Philippians, 15 n., 21 n., 351
n., 354 n., 365 n., 399 n.,
405 n.
Proverbs, 55 n., 56 n., 64 n.,
267 n., 306 n., 307 n., 317
n., 367 n., 384 n.
Psalms, 26 n. 5 30 n., 31 n., 34
n., 35 n., 39 n., 47 n., 55 n.,
57 n., 58 n., 59 n., 62 n.,
63 n., 64 n., 70 n., 71 n.,
74 n., 75 n., 76 n., Ill n.,
116 n., 268 n., 292 n., 351
n., 357 n., 361 n., 362 n.,
367 n., 378 n., 382 n.,
394 n., 395 n., 398 n.,
399 n., 406 n.
Romans, 14 n., 27 n., 32 n.,
34 n., 43 n., 51 n., 66 n.,
106 n., 243 n., 280 n., 290
n., 348 n., 351 n., 353 n,,
354 n., 358 n., 360 n.,
361 n., 367 n., 372 n.,
373 n., 374 n., 375 n.,
380 n., 383 n., 387 n.,
395 n., 398 n., 400 n.,
404 n., 405 n., 418 n.
1 Thessalonians, 21 n., 62 n.
2 Thessalonians, 26 n., 35 n.,
136 n., 223 n.
1 Timothy, 24 n., 32 n., 35 n.,
48 n., 280 n., 283 n., 306 n.,
307 n., 312 n., 315 n., 332 n.
2 Timothy, 21 n., 148 n., 154
n., 280 n., 413 n.
Titus, 10 n., 13 n., 280 n.
Wisdom, 32 n., 35 n., 397 n.
Sebastianus (Sabbatius), 226
Secular power, ruling in eccle-
siastical cases, 169-170, 254
Seeck, O., 101 n., 114 n., 127
n., 130 n., 203 n., 227 n.,
229 n.
Semi-Pelagians, 258, 319 n.,
336, 338, 340, 342
Sens (Senones), 234
Sethe, K., 181 n.
Sheba: see Saba
Shepherd of Hermas, 381 n.,
386
Sichardus, 261
Sidonius, 125 n., 166 n.
Simon Magus, 239 n., 314
Sinai, Mt, 184-185
Sins, forgiveness of, 29, 50
Sirmium, 111 n., 270 n.
Sixtus, III, Pope, 329-331,
337, 415, 417
Socrates, 103, 250, 285 n.,
286 n.
Solomon, 211, 368, 378, 379
440
INDEX
Soul first salvation of, 353
Sozomen, 93
Spain, 135, 239-242, 252
Statius, 207 n., 238 n., 245 n.
Steinamanger, 104 n.
Stenographers, making tran-
scripts of dialogues, 227 n.
Stephen, Pope, 277
Stilicho, 85
Sulpice, Saint- (Paris), 83 n.
Sulpician Fathers, 83 n.
Sulpicius Pius, 83 n.
Sulpicius Severus:
character, career, and influ-
ence, 79-96; name, 80; re-
lations with St. Paulinus of
Nola, 80-86, 92; his com-
munity, 171 n., 226 n., con-
temporary enemies and cri-
tics, 90, 163, 172, 214, 251;
accusation of falsehood, 89
n., 104 n., 136, 197; styled
priest, 83; bishop, 198
n.; saint, 83; charged
with Pelagianism, 83; testi-
mony as to disputes about
Origen, 301 n.; as to
Council of Rimini, 325 n.;
relations with St. Martin,
81, 82, 104, 137, 140, 147-
152, 159, 221, 222;
Life of St. Martin, translated,
101-140; origin and publica-
tion of, 86 ; author avowedly
reluctant to publish, 86,
101; admittedly incomplete,
88, 104, 128, 138, 143-144,
193, 199, 215; wide circula-
tion of, 86-89, 91-95, 141,
147, 192-193, 198-199, 207,
237, 249;
Letter to Eusebius (Epist. 1),
translated, 141-145; 84, 86-
87, 89, 215;
Letter to Aurelius (Epist. 2),
translated, 147-152; 84, 86-
87, 154;
Letter to Bassula (Epist. 3),
translated, 153-159; 84, 86-
87;
Dialogues, translated, 161-251;
structure, content, and style,
87-89; dating, 87-89, 223
n.; author's choice of dia-
logue form, 89, 232; naming
of witnesses in Dial. 3, 89 n.,
231-232; censured by St.
Jerome, 95-96, 222 n.; pro-
posed circulation of, 80, 83,
86, 91-93, 95-96, 249;
Chronicles (Sacred History),
excerpts from, translated,
252-254; 82, 84-86, 92, 95
n., 97-98, 114 n., 129 n.,
135 n., 167 n., 170 n., 196
n., 239 n., 252 n., 325 n.;
INDEX
441
other writings: doubtful letters,
84, 97; many letters lost, 84;
writings in general: style, 79,
85, 89-90, 101, 227 n.,
232 n.; varied form of the
biography of St. Martin, 86,
89; use of chronology, 84,
89, 91-92; trustworthiness as
historian, 89-9 1 ; popularity
and imitations, 87, 90, 92-
95, 141, 192-193; manu-
scripts, 86, 88, 94-95, 97, 98,
118 n.
Sulpicius Severus, St., Arch-
bishop of Bourges, 83
Syene, 183
Symmachus, Pope, 94
Synada, 276 n.
Synods, of Alexandria, 15 n.;
Antioch, 14 n., Bordeaux,
252; Ephesus, 331; Iconi-
um, 276 n.; Nimes, 222,
223 n., 244 n.; Rimini, 274
n.; Rome, 7; Sardica,
111 n.; Sargossa, 239 n.,
252 n.; Sirmium, 111 n.,
270 n.; Synada, 276 n.
Syria, 196
Syrtis, 164
Szent Marton, 104 n.
Szombathely, 104 n.
Tacitus, 85
Taetradius, 125
Te Deum y 5
Terence, 102 n., 172 n., 225 n.
Tertullian, 105 n., 235 n., 269
n., 276 n., 291 n., 302ff., 321
n., 324 n.
Thebaid, The, 173, 193
Thecla, St., 221
Theodosius, Emperor, 129 n.,
130 n., 227 n., 285 n.
Theognitus (Theognistus) ,
Bishop, 241-242
Theophilus, Bishop of Alex-
andria, 89 n., 168 n., 169 n.,
170, 327
Thief on the Cross, 360, 362,
366, 391
Thomas Aquinas, St., 82 n.
Thomas de Villanova, St.,
87 n.
Thurston, H., 83 n.
Thyatira, 387
Ticinum (= Pavia), 104
Timasius, 416
Toulouse, 81, 87, 154
Tours, 91, 93-94, 115-118,
148, 158, 196, 214 (Tur-
oni), 230-231, 233, 235, 246;
see also Brictio, Gregory,
Martin
Tradition, 53, 269, 275fL,
310ff., 320
Traube, L., 117
442
INDEX
Trees, pagan devotion to, 120
Troves, 87, 91, 124, 126 n,
129-130, 154, 209 n., 210,
215, 239-243, 252-254
Trinity, 290-298, 314; belief
in, 48; denial of, 14, 30, 31,
41, 44; mystery of, 30
Tripecciae (and tripodes),
201
Turner, C. H., 6, 8, 65 n.,
71 n., 75 n.
Umberg, J. B., 96 n.
Uncircumcision, 373
Universality, 270, 320
Uranius^ 93
Urban VIII, Pope, 83
Urscicinus, 94
Vacandard, E., 109 n.
Valentin, L., 335 n,
Valentinian I, Emperor, 209
Valentinian II, Emperor, 129
n., 130-131, 209 n.
Valentinus, Bishop of Char-
tres, 228
Valerius, 416
Valerius Flaccus, 203 n.
Vangiones (= Worms), 108
Varro, 112 n.
Vatican Council, 261
Vega, A. C, 150 n.
Velleius Paterculus, 85
Venantius Fortunatus, 93
Vendome, 207 n.
Venus, her form assumed by
the Devil, 132
Verbum substantivum^ 31
Verona, 88 n., 94, 98, 107 n.,
123 n., 157 n., 108-241 nn.
passim
Vianney, Jean Marie, St.,
87 n.
Victricius, Bishop of Rouen,
228
Vigilantius, 176 n., 250 n.,
251 n.
Vigilius, Pope, 169 n.
Vigils, antiquity of, 58; argu-
ments for, 57; fasting be-
fore, 64; physical and spir-
itual, 63; utility of, 62-64
Vigils of the Saints, translated,
55-64
Vincent of Lerins, career, 257-
260; and Priscillianism, 239
n.; and Prosper of Aqui-
taine, 257; and Vatican
Council, 261; Commonito-
ries, 25 7-26 1 ; translated,
267-332
Vincentius, 278 n.
Vincentius, prefect, 196
INDEX
443
Virgil, 132 n., 174 n., 186 n.,
189 n., 203 n., 207 n., 229
n., 251 n., 414 n.
Virgin Birth, 45
Virginity, a symbol of, 217
Virtues, cannot dwell with
vices, 256, 382; seeds of,
lost by sin, 382
Virtus, virtutes, meaning of,
104 n.
Vitae Patrum, 192 n.
Voisin, 287 n.
Waddell, H., 89 n.
Wadi Natrum, 181 n.
Walsh, G. G., 270 n.
Watt, M. C., 97 n.
Wealth, destroys the Church,
167
Weyman, C., 102 n., 106 n.
Whatmough, J., 199 n.
Wilson, H., 100
Women, St, Martin's counsel
to, 218-219
Wordsworth, C., 142 n., 157
n., 217 n.
World, end of, 95, 222-223
Ydacius ( Idacius, Hydatius ) ,
Bishop of Merida, 253
Zabeo, J. P., 6
Zachaeus, 360, 362, 366, 391
Zacharias, 199
Zellerer, J., 99, 126 n., 134
n., 141 n., 251 n.
Zosimus, Pope, 357, 358, 413,
417
n
3022'
cz
II
