Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, "My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked." [Deuteronomy 32:15] Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and has become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world. [Wisdom 2:24]

For thus it is written: "And it came to pass after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice unto God; and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his sheep, and of the fat thereof. And God had respect to Abel and to his offerings, but Cain and his sacrifices He did not regard. And Cain was deeply grieved, and his countenance fell. And God said to Cain, Why are you grieved, and why is your countenance fallen? If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, have you not sinned? Be at peace: your offering returns to yourself, and you shall again possess it. And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the field. And it came to pass, while they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." [Genesis 4:3-8] You see, brethren, how envy and jealousy led to the murder of a brother. Through envy, also, our father Jacob fled from the face of Esau his brother [Genesis 27:41-45]. Envy made Joseph be persecuted unto death, and to come into bondage. [Genesis 37:18-28] Envy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt, when he heard these words from his fellow-countryman, "Who made you a judge or a ruler over us? Will you kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" [Exodus 2:14] On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their abode without the camp. [Numbers 12:14-15] Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to Hades, through the sedition which they excited against God's servant Moses. [Numbers 16:33] Through envy, David not only underwent the hatred of foreigners, but was also persecuted by Saul king of Israel. [1 Samuel 21:10-15]

Some understand the murderer Cain as the Jews' lack of faith, the killing of Abel as the passion of the Lord and Savior, and the earth that opened its mouth and received Abel's blood from Cain's hand as the church (which received, in the mystery of its renewal, the blood of Christ poured out by the Jews). Undoubtedly those who have this understanding find water turned into wine, for they have a more sacred understanding of the saying of the sacred law.

And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go out into the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him. And here the treachery of Cain and the innocence of Abel are both demonstrated: the innocence of Abel indeed, in that he simply followed his elder brother as a brother, being commanded, though his brother was inflamed with hostile hatred towards him; the treachery of Cain, in that he leads his brother outside to kill him, as if he could avoid divine presence in a more secret place: not considering, nor understanding that He who knew the secret things of his heart which reproved him, could also see wherever he withdrew and whatever he did in secret.

Cain led his brother out into the field and killed him. The Jewish people led the Lord out of their city Jerusalem and crucified Him at Calvary; from both instances of this ordeal we are reminded typically to go out to the Lord outside the camp, bearing His reproach, that is, leaving behind the fellowship of the world and the company of the wicked, we should willingly endure all worldly contempt for the love of our heavenly homeland. When the Lord asked Cain where his brother Abel was, he replied that he did not know, and that it was not his duty to be his brother's keeper. Even to this day, when the faithful, the members of Christ, inquire of the Jews about Christ, they say they do not know. They would themselves have been keepers of Christ if they had been willing to receive and uphold the Christian faith. For whoever keeps Christ in their heart does not say, like Cain, that they do not know their brother, or that they are not their brother's keeper.

Christ is symbolized most of all by the murder of Abel; for Christ was killed by His brothers; and an inscription was placed among the Jews, that they be not killed, but become errant and fugitive on the earth.

(Verse 8) And Cain said to his brother Abel. It is understood what the Lord said. Therefore, it is superfluous, what is found in the Samaritan and our volume, Let us go to the field.

And moreover we may see the cunning of Cain from the outlet which he found for his wickedness, for when he meditated slaying Abel his brother, and was not able to do it because he was near unto his parents, he said "Let us go down into the plain;" and Abel, in his innocency, heard and was persuaded like a child. And his simplicity imagined not wickedness, and he did not consider in his heart why Cain called him to the plain, neither did he perceive Cain's hatred towards him, because simplicity knoweth not how to be a spectator of these things; but in the innocency of his heart and in brotherly love towards him he turned, and whithersoever he called him he went readily and obediently. And observe here also the works of simplicity, and have regard unto the injurious effects of cunning and wickedness, and be strenuous to be on the side of the simple, who have at all times pleased God; and reject cunning as something which is unfit for thee, and which is not meet for the discipleship in which thou standest.

Now this is the first lust which conquered the world, and because of it the first transgression of the law took place; and next Cain also, in turning unto this, meditated the killing of his brother that he might inherit the earth by himself.

Why did Cain become a fratricide? Was it not by his evil will? He preferred himself to his Creator and followed after evil thoughts and so became abandoned to envy and committed murder.

And the Lord said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? Not as if ignorant, to learn from him, but as a judge questioning a defendant whom he will punish.

He answered: I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? A foolish and equally arrogant answer; foolish, since he thought he could deceive Him who knew his sinful conscience and accused him of the crime of fratricide even before it was committed, as the knower of secrets; arrogant, since he denied being his brother's keeper in the manner of an obstinate servant, who by manifestation, if any danger threatened, should have taken care of his younger brother, and as the elder should have protected him from impending adversities.

God appeared to Cain with kindness, so that if he repented, the sin of murder that his fingers had committed might be effaced by the compunction on his lips. If he did not repent, however, there would be decreed on him a bitter punishment in proportion to his evil folly.

But Cain was filled with wrath instead of compunction. To him who knows all, who asked him about his brother in order to win him back, Cain retorted angrily and said, "I do not know, am I my brother's keeper?" … What then would you say, Cain? Should Justice take vengeance for the blood that cried out to it? Or not? Did it not delay so that you might repent? Did Justice not distance itself from its own knowledge and ask you as if it did not know, so that you might confess? What it said to you did not please you, so you came to that sin to which it had warned you beforehand not to come.

What is true is this: that if the nonsense of Nietzsche or some such sophist submerged current culture, so that it was the fashion to deny the duties of fraternity; then indeed it might be found that the group which still affirmed fraternity was the original group in whose sacred books was the text about Adam and Eve. Suppose some Prussian professor has opportunely discovered that Germans and lesser men are respectively descended from two such very different monkeys that they are in no sense brothers, but barely cousins (German) any number of times removed. And suppose he proceeds to remove them even further with a hatchet; suppose he bases on this a repetition of the conduct of Cain, saying not so much "Am I my brother's keeper?" as "Is he really my brother?" And suppose this higher philosophy of the hatchet becomes prevalent in colleges and cultivated circles, as even more foolish philosophies have done. Then I agree it probably will be the Christian, the man who preserves the text about Cain, who will continue to assert that he is still the professor's brother; that he is still the professor's keeper. He may possibly add that, in his opinion, the professor seems to require a keeper.

The divine Scripture always cries out and speaks; hence God also says to Cain, "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me." Blood, to be sure, has no voice, but innocent blood that has been spilled is said to cry out not by words but by its very existence. [It makes] demands of the Lord not with eloquent discourse but with anger over the crime committed. It does not accuse the wrongdoer with words so much as bind him by the accusation of his own conscience. The evil deed may seem to be excused when it is explained away with words. But it cannot be excused if it is made present to the conscience. For in silence and without contradiction the wrongdoer's conscience always convicts and judges him.

(69) Why he who had slain his brother makes answer as if he were replying to a man; and says, "I do not know: am I my brother's keeper?" (#Ge 4:9). It is the opinion of an atheist to think that the eye of God does not penetrate through every thing, and behold all things at the same time; piercing not only through what is visible, but also through every thing which lurks in the deepest and bottomless unfathomable abysses. Suppose a person said to him, "How can you be ignorant where your brother is, and how is it that you do not know that, when as yet he is one out of the only four human beings which exist in the world? He being one with both his parents, and you his only brother." To this question the reply made is: "I am not my brother's keeper." O what a beautiful apology! And whose keeper and protector ought you to have been, rather than your brother's? But if you have excited your diligence to give effect to violence, and injury, and fraud, and homicide, which are the foulest and most abominable of actions, why did you consider the safety of your brother a secondary object?"

Cain was at once the most wicked and foolish of men in believing that for committing the greatest of crimes it would be sufficient if he avoided other human witnesses. In fact God was the primary witness to his fratricide. Because of this, I think he then shared the opinion held by many today: that God pays no attention to earthly affairs; neither does he see those done by wicked men. There is no doubt that Cain, when summoned by the word of God after his misdeed, answered that he knew nothing of his brother's murder. He believed God was so ignorant of what had been done that he thought this most deadly crime could be covered by a lie. But it turned out otherwise than he thought. When God condemned him, he realized that God, whom he thought had not seen his crime of murder, had seen him.

And He said to him: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. The blood has a great voice, not only of Abel, but of all those slain for the Lord: for the voice of their blood is the very steadfastness of their faith, the very fervor of their charity, through which they merited to suffer for the Lord. It cries out to the Lord from the earth: for even if they have been slain by the impious in the hidden recesses of the earth as Abel was, nevertheless the very cause of their death is precious and clear in the sight of the internal Judge, justly demanding that those who were unjustly slain in their simplicity be crowned; and those who unjustly persecuted and slaughtered them be condemned. Therefore, the blood of the slain cries out to the Lord, and it is proven that their life before death cried out to Him as well, for they used to say: "I cried out with all my heart, hear me, O Lord; I will seek your justifications" (Psalm 118:145). For he indeed cries out to the Lord in his heart, who asks for great things, who prays for heavenly things, who hopes for the eternal, who seeks from Him not the glory of this world, but the keeping of His justifications. The Apostle teaches where this cry is born in the hearts of the just, saying: "God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father'" (Galatians 4:6); he says that the Spirit cries out in our hearts to the Father, because surely He Himself kindles this yearning to cry out. John reveals that the souls of martyrs possess this cry of pious devotion even after death when he says: "I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?'" (Revelation 6:9-10). The souls of the saints cry out not out of hatred for their enemies, but out of love for justice, which they always learned to hunger and thirst for, as well as the desire to reclaim their body, so that the flesh they gave to death for the Lord might merit to stand before Him immortal and incorruptible. Great indeed is the voice of their cry, great is their desire for justice. As the blood of the saints cries out to the Lord, seeking just retribution for their unjust death, what befalls their persecutors is subsequently revealed, with the Lord saying to Cain:

God said to Cain: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. In the same way, the divine voice in the holy Scriptures reproaches the Jews. For Christ's blood speaks with a great voice on the earth, when all the nations respond Amen upon receiving it. This is the clear voice of the blood which the blood itself expresses from the mouths of the faithful redeemed by the same blood of which the Apostle rightly says to the faithful: You have come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better than the blood of Abel (Heb. 12:24). For the blood of Christ certainly speaks better than that of Abel, since the latter cried to the Lord in condemnation of the fratricide, but the former raises its voice to heaven for the salvation of Christ's faithful brethren.

We also know that what was said of Abel, when he was slain by the wicked murderer Cain, is suitable for all whose blood has been shed wickedly. Let us suppose that the verse "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground" is said as well for each of the martyrs, the voice of whose blood cries to God from the ground.

Now therefore you are cursed from the earth which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand: when you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. According to the measure of sinners, the just judge also sets the measure of retribution: for Adam, who ate the forbidden fruit, is by no means himself cursed, but rather the earth is subjected to a curse in his work; not so much that it denies the fruits to the worker, but that it yields its fruits to the cultivator with labor and sweat; and so that the same labor could eventually be finished, and eternal rest entered. He is also subjected to the death of the flesh: which is done by a favor of benevolence, so that he would not always labor and suffer, as only those who cannot grasp how burdensome the life of this present age is would doubt. But Cain, though knowing the transgression of his parents and their condemnation, added to the same transgression a heavier guilt of perfidy, malice, murder, and lying, which he had inherited; hence he is also justly punished with a harsher penalty: first, that he himself should be cursed beyond the earth, which he had polluted with his brother's blood, previously clean; then, that he should sweat uselessly in working the earth, with no abundance of fruits responding to his labors: thirdly, that he should always be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, not daring to have settled abodes anywhere, or, as another translation has it, live trembling and lamenting on the earth. But he, having heard the penalty of his great curse, did not wish to ask for forgiveness, but doubling sins upon sins, thought his crime so great that it could not be forgiven by God. Finally, he responded to the Lord:

Now therefore you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. He refers to the earth as the Church, for no other earth but she opens her mouth to taste in the mystery the blood of Christ that was shed by the hands of the Jewish people. Over this Church, the same people are accursed: for as much as she more closely adheres to the love of her Creator, so much more gravely does she understand the nation opposed to Him to be cursed, even if they, still in their pride, boast themselves as specially blessed.

You see, since Cain perpetrated practically the same evil as the serpent, which like an instrument served the devil's purposes, and as the serpent introduced mortality by means of deceit, in like manner Cain deceived his brother, led him out into open country, raised his hand in armed assault against him and committed murder. Hence, as God said to the serpent, "Cursed are you beyond all the wild animals of the earth," so to Cain too when he committed the same evil as the serpent.

When you have worked it, it will not give you its fruits. The same people worked that land which the head of the Church Christ bore, that is, in his flesh our salvation, by crucifying him who died for our sins, and that land did not give him its fruits, because he was not justified by faith in his resurrection who rose for our justification: hence, neither did the resurrected one appear to those by whom he was crucified, like Cain working the land, to sow that grain, not showing the same land the fruit of its virtue. But the Jews worked the land which is the Church, acting through their persecutions so that it might more greatly progress in God: often also raging against many unto death, but they themselves did not merit to see the fruit of the faith and precious death of those. But what Cain answered to the Lord was, "My iniquity is greater than to deserve forgiveness. Behold you cast me today from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from your face, and I shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth:" it is evident more clearly than light about the Jewish people, because the iniquity by which they killed the Son of God is greater than to deserve forgiveness; and hence whoever of them receive forgiveness repenting, these truly beyond their merit are saved by the divine grace of piety. It is evident that he was cast out from the face of the earth, that is, from the lot of the holy Church, and hidden from the face of divine contemplation; what he himself extended, when he veiled the face of Christ in the passion, which also the heavenly signs extended to them, when, he being crucified, the sun hid its rays of light, and with the kingdom lost, a fugitive and wanderer he was dispersed through the world, fearing lest he be deprived of even temporal life, and as if saying with Cain: "Everyone who finds me will kill me." But what did God answer to him? "It shall not be so," but "whoever kills Cain will pay sevenfold vengeance," that is, the impious race of carnal Jews will not perish by bodily death. For whoever will thus destroy them will pay sevenfold vengeance, that is, will remove from them the sevenfold vengeance with which they were bound for the guilt of the slain Christ, so that in this whole time, which is turned by the sevenfold number of days, the more because the Jewish nation did not perish, it may appear clearly enough to faithful Christians what subjection they deserved, who with proud rule killed the Lord. We placed the exposition of this sentence here according to the old translation because we have excerpted from the works of St. Augustine who followed this, as also many other things.

Do you, who have but lately come to the catechesis, wish to see the loving kindness of God? Would you want to behold the loving kindness of God and the extent of his forbearance? Listen to the story of [Cain].… Cain, the firstborn man, became a fratricide, from whose wicked designings first stemmed murder and envy. Yet consider his sentence for slaying his brother. "Groaning and trembling shall you be upon the earth." Though the sin was great, the sentence was light.

The punishment of which God spoke seems to be excessively harsh, but rightly understood it gives us a glimpse of his great solicitude. God wanted men of later times to exercise self-control. Therefore, he designed the kind of punishment that was capable of setting Cain free from his sin. If God had immediately destroyed him, Cain would have disappeared, his sin would have stayed concealed, and he would have remained unknown to men of later times. But as it is, God let him live a long time with that bodily tremor of his. The sight of Cain's palsied limbs was a lesson for all he met. It served to teach all men and exhort them never to dare do what he had done, so that they might not suffer the same punishment. And Cain himself became a better man again. His trembling, his fear, the mental torment that never left him, his physical paralysis kept him, as it were, shackled. They kept him from leaping again to any other like deed of bold folly. They constantly reminded him of his former crime. Through them he achieved greater self-control in his soul.

Over Cain, who did not fear God of his own freewill, did fear rule of necessity, and he became a vagabond and a wanderer in the earth; for because he did not fear the One Who was worthy to be feared, he was filled with fears at everything which appeared unto him. And by reason of the torture of fear he entreated God and besought Him that whosoever found him might kill him, so that he might flee from a life filled with fear and dread. And God also gave the law by the hand of Moses, which was filled with many and divers commandments, and to all the commandments He linked fear, for without fear the commandments would not be kept.

My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon. Behold, you cast me out today from your presence, and I shall be hidden from your face and from the face of the earth, and I shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth. I am cast out, he says, from your sight, and the consciousness of my crime not enduring the very light itself, I shall be hidden to lie in concealment. Or certainly you cast me out from the face of the earth, namely that in any region of the lands, among any inhabitants of this world, I may not be allowed to remain safe and free, and also hidden from your face, that I may no longer deserve to see it, which until today, by often beholding and hearing your voice, I lived more happily.

Someone may say, "Behold he has confessed, and confessed with great precision"—but all to no avail, dearly beloved: the confession comes too late. You see, he should have done this at the right time when he was in a position to find mercy from the judge.

Therefore, everyone who finds me will kill me. Since from the trembling of the body and the fury of the trembling one, or from the instability of the wanderer and fugitive, he understands him to be one who deserves to be killed. But God, not wanting to end his torments quickly with death, nor delivering him to the punishment to which he had condemned himself:

Indeed, it was not without reason that the mark was set upon Cain, that no one might kill him. Thus it was indicated that evil is not destroyed or removed from the earth. Cain was afraid that he might be killed, because he did not know how to flee. For evil is augmented and amassed by the practice of evil, and it exists without moderation or limit, fights through guile and deceit and is revealed by its deeds and by the blood of the slain, even as Cain also was revealed.

Therefore as a slave he received a sign, but even thus he could not escape death. Thus the sinner is a slave to fear, to cupidity, to avarice, to lust, to malice, to anger, nay, he is a greater slave than if he were set under tyrants.

By no means, he said, shall it be so, but whoever kills Cain shall be avenged sevenfold. You shall not die as you think, and you shall not receive death as a remedy, but you shall live for a long time as an example to others, so that they may not dare to sin in the same way; and it is so far from my wish that you be killed by anyone, that if anyone kills you, he shall be punished sevenfold, that is, with the gravest vengeance, for he will not have refrained from shedding blood despite being warned by the severity of your condemnation. For man should not have killed the man to whom God had given life despite his sin, either for the accumulation of his punishment or for the exemplar of caution and correction of others. For often Scripture signifies fullness by the number seven, as in Leviticus: If you walk contrary to me, and will not listen to me, I will add seven times more plagues upon you (Lev. 26:21). And a little later: And I will strike you seven times for your sins (Lev. 26:24), meaning manifoldly. And in a favorable sense the Psalmist says: Seven times a day I praise you (Ps. 118:164), which is to say in other words: His praise shall constantly be in my mouth (Ps. 34:1). As the ancient interpreters have said: Whoever kills Cain shall pay sevenfold vengeance, this holds the meaning: You shall live up to the seventh generation, and be tormented by the fire of your conscience; so that whoever kills you, according to double understanding, either in the seventh generation or to free you from great torment: not that he who kills Cain should be subjected to sevenfold vengeance, but that he should pay the sevenfold vengeance which have extended through the whole time of Cain, by killing him who was left alive for punishment. For the seventh from Adam was Lamech, who is said to have killed Cain: and this same Lamech fulfilled the sevenfold vengeance which Cain, having sinned sevenfold, deserved, by his death. For his first sin was that, offering to God, he did not divide rightly; the second, that he envied his brother; the third, that he acted deceitfully, saying: Let us go out to the field; the fourth, that he killed him; the fifth, that he brazenly denied: I do not know; the sixth, that he condemned himself, saying: My iniquity is greater than that I can deserve pardon; the seventh, that he did not repent even after being condemned.

And God set a sign upon Cain, lest anyone who found him would kill him. The very sign by which it was evident that he would always live as a trembling, groaning, wandering, and fugitive; reminded by his own misery, because he could not be killed by just anyone; but whoever would kill him would either deliver Cain himself from great miseries or, by doing this, would subject himself to a sevenfold vengeance.

And God set a mark upon Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him. The Jewish people, whether under pagan or Christian rulers, have the mark of their law, by which they are distinguished from other nations and peoples, and every emperor or king who finds them in his kingdom finds them with that mark, nor does he kill them, that is, he does not make them cease to be Jews, being distinguished by a certain definite mark of their own observance from the communion of other nations, unless any of them have turned to Christ.

Christ is symbolized most of all by the murder of Abel; for Christ was killed by His brothers; and an inscription was placed among the Jews, that they be not killed, but become errant and fugitive on the earth.

Now Adam, in the act of making fruitful, represents those doctors who, falling upon the law as lovers upon their spouse, consumed the tree of the knowledge in order to observe the Law, and consented to the Serpent who persuaded them to do so, whence arose the heresy of the Ebionites, who taught that the Law was to be observed together with the Gospels. And so great was the zeal for the Law that Peter fell into that fallacy, but the grace of God delivered him. And thereupon follows the expulsion from Paradise, God withdrawing Himself from them. And they were dispersed, and cursed in their work, and devoured as by two bears, Titus and Vespasian. Thus did Cain, the murderer of his brother, that is, the Jewish people, receive a sign.

when Cain petitioned for death through horror at his fratricide, did God not give it, but rather delivered him over to a still heavier punishment, namely, to remain on the earth lamenting and trembling—an evil from which he said death would be a deliverance? God therefore said: Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.

(Verse 15.) Everyone who kills Cain will suffer sevenfold vengeance. Aquila interpreted it sevenfold. Symmachus, the seventh. Theodotion, by the week. On this chapter, our letter to Bishop Damasus exists.

My son, attend to my wisdom, etc. Until now he had generally rebuked the listener; hence under the guise of the harlot, he prohibits from the wickedness of heretics.

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my prudence, that thou mayest guard thy thoughts. For, indeed, nothing is more fugitive than the heart, which deserts us as often as it slips away through bad thoughts. For hence the Psalmist says, My heart hath failed me. Hence, when he returns to himself, he says, Thy servant hath found his heart to pray to Thee. When, therefore, thought is kept under guard, the heart which was wont to fly away is found.

That you may guard your thoughts, etc. Thoughts, by which you rightly believe; lips, by which you profess the faith itself in simple words, and usual, as well as ecclesiastical ones. But, according to the letter: He who adheres to a harlot defiles even his lips, either by kissing or speaking foul things.

Even when the sinner looks for gratification, he doesn't find the fruit of his sin pleasant. As the wisdom of God says in another place, "Bread of deceit is pleasant to a man, but after he eats it, his mouth will be filled with gravel." And, "Honey drips from the lips of an adulteress, and for a time it tastes sweet, but in the end you will find it more bitter than gall and sharper than a two-edged sword." So he eats and is quite pleased for a little while. Then, when it is too late, when he has cut off his soul from God, he rejects it. But the fool does not know that those who are cut off from God shall perish.

For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb distilling. For in the mouth of heretics, the sweetness of eloquence not only resounds to sufficiency, but to superfluity; and for this reason, because falsehood is discerned to be aptly spoken, it is deemed truth by the foolish.

And her throat is smoother than oil. The Catholic faith is consecrated by the oil of the Holy Spirit, by which they who prefer their own sense to the faith of the Fathers show their throat smoother. It is evident concerning the harlot, because she seeks both the sweetness of speech and the beauty of body to capture the wretched.

In a very short time [the devil] leads the proud and wicked to death on a broad and spacious path. Christ our Lord, on the contrary, leads the humble and obedient to life on the straight and narrow path. Both of these roads, the wide one and the narrow one, have an end and are very short. Labor is not long on the narrow road, nor is joy lengthy on the broad one. Those whom the broad way of wickedness delights, after brief joy will have endless punishment. Those who follow Christ on the narrow way, after brief tribulations will merit to reach eternal rewards. If a layman who is in the world possesses pride, it is a sin for him. If a monk is proud, it is a sacrilege. You ought to show yourselves living so holy a life, so justly and piously in such a way that your merits may not only suffice for you but also find pardon in this world for other sinners. If we do not bridle our tongue, our religion is not true but false; and it would have been better not to have made a vow than after the vow not to do what was promised.

Let us reflect on what is written concerning dissipation and evil desires: "The lips of an adulteress are sweet for a time," it says, "but in the end she is more bitter than gall." Now since our life in this world is known to be, as it were, a road, it is necessary for us to reach rest as the result of our labor rather than labor as the result of rest. It is better for us to work for a short time on the way, in order that afterwards we may be able happily to reach eternal joy in our [home country], with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

What does it profit a man to be an expert theologian if he is a shameless fornicator; or to be nobly temperate but an impious blasphemer? The knowledge of doctrines is a precious possession. There is need of a vigilant soul, since many there are who would deceive you by philosophy and vain deceit. The Greeks, indeed, by their smooth tongue lead men astray, for honey drops from the lips of a harlot.

The harlot knows not how to love, but only to ensnare. Her kiss has poison, and her mouth a pernicious drug. And if this does not immediately appear, it is the more necessary to avoid her on that account, because she veils that destruction, and keeps that death concealed, and does not permit it to become manifest from the outset. So if any one pursues pleasure and a life full of gladness, let him avoid the society of fornicating women, for they fill the minds of their lovers with a thousand conflicts and tumults, setting in motion against them continual strifes and contentions, by means of their words and all their actions. And just as it is with those who are the most virulent enemies, so the object of their actions and schemes is to plunge their lovers into shame and poverty and the worst extremities. And in the same manner as hunters when they have spread out their nets, they try to drive the wild animals into them, in order that they may put them to death. So also it is with these women.

But her end is bitter, etc. The drink of wormwood becomes bitter within the bowels, outwardly the members are wounded by the sword. Therefore, to show the wicked in the final retribution, both internally to be filled, and externally surrounded by perpetual punishments, he assures that they will be tormented by the bitterness of wormwood, and slaughtered by the sword. And why the same sword is called two-edged, the Lord opens when he says: But fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10).

"In the end," [Solomon] says, "you will find what seemed sweet in the beginning to be more bitter than gall and sharper than the edge of a sword." But the nature of righteousness is the opposite: In the beginning, it seems more bitter, but in the end, when it produces fruits of virtue, it is found to be sweeter than honey.

Her ways are unstable, etc. The ways of heretical deception are unstable, because some deny Christ to be God, others to be man; some deny he took flesh, others a soul; some that he was born of a virgin; some that the Holy Spirit, others that the Father is God, some prohibit confessing pardon to the repentant. And this pestilence spreads itself into such countless paths, that they cannot wholly be traced. But Catholic truth is not unstable and untraceable, because it is one and the same, known to all, throughout the world, to the faithful.

Your flight is a good one if your heart does not act out the counsels of sinners and their designs. Your flight is a good one if your eye flees the sight of cups and drinking vessels, so that it may not become envious as it lingers over the wine. Your flight is good if your eye turns away from the woman stranger, so that your tongue may keep the truth. Your flight is a good one if you do not answer the fool according to his folly. Your flight is good if you direct your footsteps away from the countenance of fools. Indeed, one swiftly goes astray with bad guides; but if you wish your flight to be a good one, remove your ways far from their words.

Keep your way far from her, etc. And the apostle says, Flee fornication (1 Corinthians 6). Because indeed the first remedy of this vice is to be far from those whose presence either allures or cooperates in the vice. But it also benefits weak listeners to be entirely separated from the hearing of heretics.

Do not give your honor to others, etc. Do not subject the honor by which you were created in the image of God to the wills of unclean spirits, nor waste the granted time of living according to the will of the cruel adversary. For whoever succumbs to any crime, is surely enslaved to the dominion of malignant spirits.

Give not thine honour unto aliens and thy years unto the cruel, lest haply strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a stranger, and thou moan at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. For who are aliens from us but malignant spirits, who are separated from the lot of the heavenly country? And what is our honour but that, though made in bodies of clay, we are yet created after the image and likeness of our Maker? Or who else is cruel but that apostate angel, who has both smitten himself with the pain of death through pride, and has not spared, though lost, to bring death upon the human race? He therefore gives his honour unto aliens who, being made after the image and likeness of God, devotes the seasons of his life to the pleasures of malignant spirits. He also surrenders his years to the cruel one who spends the space of life accorded him after the will of the ill-domineering adversary.

Lest strangers be filled with your strength, etc. Lest you assist the deeds of demons, if you lend either the ingenuity of your mind or the strengths of your body to perform crimes; and you multiply the household of strangers, that is, the number of the lost, by adding yourself. And beautifully he said: Let your labors be in the house of a stranger, because there are those who, according to the prophet, labor to act wickedly. And would that it were hidden how much labor heretics have undergone against the Church.

And you moan at the last, etc. To be prefixed from above, Lest perhaps. And the sense is: Therefore keep yourself chaste, lest you be forced to groan in punishments, when not only the carnal allurements pass away, but also with the body itself being left, the soul, which acted through the body, is compelled to render all things. Indeed, it often happens in this life that those who dissipated their possessions living luxuriously in youth, fall into poverty in old age. And as the heat of the flesh cools, and the flower of youth withers, they see others using their own goods, which they sold to lust, and, groaning with late repentance, say what follows:

Why did I hate instruction? etc. He calls the instruction of ecclesiastical faith; the reproaches by which heretics are rebuked, why they withdrew from the Church, he refers to them. It is evident concerning fornicators.

I was almost in all evil, etc. The Church and the Synagogue are Greek names, and they signify the same thing in Latin, that is, an assembly of many together. But if they are distinguished more subtly, the Church is interpreted as a calling together, the Synagogue as a gathering together. And indeed the old people of God were called by both names. Now, however, for the sake of distinction, that one is called the Synagogue, ours is called the Church, rightfully indeed because of the greater faith and knowledge, because even irrational creatures can be gathered. Finally, God said, Let the waters be gathered into one gathering. Only the rational and sensible can be called together. But these names sometimes signify the gathering of the wicked. Hence that, "Fire burned their assembly" (Psalm 105); and, "I hated the assembly of evildoers" (Psalm 26). Therefore, what the late penitent, contemptuous of wisdom, says, "I was almost in all evil, in the midst of the congregation and assembly," seems to refer to someone sadly recognizing the magnitude of his own damnation, because he was involved in almost every sin, worthy of undergoing such torments. This adds to the heap of his miseries, that he was not merely the last of sinners, but rather in the midst and almost the leader. Or indeed, placed bodily in the midst of holy assemblies, he did not fear to lead a different life from them. And this is particularly felt about heretics because they could not be recalled from error by the sayings and examples of either the ancient fathers or the new ones.

And I hope, O man, that you imitate the example of this kind, so that you yourself may bear fruit of joy and delight! The sweetness of your grace is within yourself, it sprouts from you, it remains in you, it is within you, that is, the joy of your conscience is to be sought within yourself. Therefore, it says: Drink water from your own vessels, and from the fountains of your own wells (Prov., V, 15).

"Let the fountain of your water be your own and let no stranger share with you." For all who do not love God are strangers, are antichrists. And although they enter the basilicas, they cannot be numbered among the sons of God. That fountain of life does not belong to them. Even an evil person can have baptism; even an evil person can have prophecy. We find that king Saul had prophecy; he was persecuting the holy David and was filled with the Spirit of prophecy and began to prophesy. Even an evil person can receive the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord, for about such it has been said, "He who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself." Even an evil person can have the name of Christ, that is, even an evil person can be called Christian; and about these it has been said, "They profaned the name of their God." Therefore, even an evil man can have all these mysteries. But he cannot have love and be evil. This, then, is the peculiar gift; it is the unique fountain. For drinking of this the Spirit of God encourages you; for drinking of himself the Spirit of God encourages you.

"Drink water out of your own cistern," that is, examine your own resources, do not go to the springs belonging to others, but from your own streams gather for yourself the consolations of life. Do you have metal plates, clothing, beasts of burden, utensils of every kind? Sell them; permit all things to go except your [soul's] liberty.

"Drink water from your own cistern," etc. Use your own wife's desire and cherish her with devoted services.

Let us return to the sacred Scriptures and "drink water from our own cisterns and running water from our own wells." Let us drink of the living water, "springing up unto life everlasting." … Not visible rivers merely watering the earth with its thorns and trees, but enlightening souls.

[Daniel 2:22] "It is He who reveals deep and hidden things, and He knows what is placed in the darkness, and with Him is the light." A man to whom God makes profound revelations and who can say, "O the depth of the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of God!" (Romans 11:33), he it is who by the indwelling Spirit probes even into the deep things of God, and digs the deepest of wells in the depths of his soul. He is a man who has stirred up the whole earth, which is wont to conceal the deep waters, and he observes the command of God, saying: "Drink water from thy vessels and from the spring of thy wells" (Proverbs 5:15). As for the words which follow, "He knows what is placed in the darkness, and with Him is the light," the darkness signifies ignorance, and the light signifies knowledge and learning. Therefore as wrong cannot hide God away, so right encompasses and surrounds Him. Or else we should interpret the words to mean all the dark mysteries and deep things (concerning God), according to what we read in Proverbs: "He understands also the parable and the dark saying." (Proverbs 1:6, LXX) This in turn is equivalent to what we read in the Psalms: "Dark waters in the clouds of the sky" (Psalm 18:11). For one who ascends to the heights and forsakes the things of earth, and like the birds themselves seeks after the most rarified atmosphere and everything ethereal, he becomes like a cloud to which the truth of God penetrates and which habitually showers rain upon the saints. Replete with a plenitude of knowledge, he contains in his breast many dark waters enveloped with deep darkness, a darkness which only Moses can penetrate and speak with God face to face (Exodus 33:11), of Whom the Scripture says: "He hath made darkness His hiding-place" (Psalm 18:11).

"Drink the waters from your own wells, fresh water from your own source." … As the prophet Isaiah declares, "You will be like a well-watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters will never fail. And places emptied for ages will be built up in you. You will lift up the foundations laid by generation after generation. You will be called the builder of fences, the one who turns the pathways toward peace." … And so it will happen that not only the whole thrust and thought of your heart but even all the wanderings and the straying of your thoughts will turn into a holy and unending meditation on the law of God.

Attempt, O hearer, to have your own well and your own spring, so that you too, when you take up a book of the Scriptures, may begin even from your own understanding to bring forth some meaning, and in accordance with those things which you have learned in the church, you too attempt to drink from the fountain of your own abilities. You have the nature of "living water" within you. There are within you perennial veins and streams flowing with rational understanding, if only they have not been filled with earth and rubbish. But get busy to dig out your earth and to clean out the filth, that is, to remove the idleness of your natural bent and to cast out the inactivity of your heart.

(Verse 7.) But the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and the men of Judah, his pleasant plant. That is, of God: or as the LXX translated, the beloved new plantation. Israel and Judah differ in this, that the whole people were first called Israel, and afterwards, when David reigned over the tribe of Judah, and Rehoboam the son of Solomon over the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, those who were in Samaria, that is, the ten tribes, were called Israel; and those who reigned from the lineage of David were called Judah. And since the Israelites worshipped calves in Dan and Bethel, Samaria was first captured by the Assyrians; and much later, Judah was taken into Babylon by the Chaldeans, because they had sinned less. Therefore, in Ezekiel, for the purification of the sins of both peoples, Israel is placed on the left side, according to the Seventy, for one hundred and ninety days, or as is more accurately stated in Hebrew, three hundred and ninety days; but Judah (according to the LXX and the Hebrew text) for forty days (Ezek. IV). I say this so that by comparing it to Israel, that is, the ten tribes, I may show the beloved and chosen Judah, in which there were priests and Levites, and the religion of God was practiced at that time when the prophet Isaiah spoke to the people. And beautifully Israel, that is, the whole people, is the house: but Judah, which afterwards sprouted from the separated tribes, is called a delightful new growth. But it should also be noted that according to the prophetic custom, which was first spoken in metaphor or parable, it is later explained more clearly: that the vineyard and new plantation are Israel and Judah.

And I waited for judgment, and behold there was iniquity: and for justice, and behold there was a cry, as the LXX translated, I waited for judgment, and he did iniquity, and not justice, but a cry. We want to reveal to Latin ears what we learned from the Hebrews: Judgment, among them, is called Mesphat (): iniquity, or dissipation, as Aquila interpreted, is called Mesphaa (). Again, justice is called Sadaca (): but a cry is called Saaca (). Therefore, either by adding or changing a single letter, he tempered the similarity of the words, so that instead of Mesphat, he wrote Mesphaa: and instead of Sadaca, he put Saaca, and he rendered the elegant structure and sound of the words according to the Hebrew language. However, God expected the people of Judea to produce judgment, that is, grapes: but they produced iniquity, that is, wild grapes: and he expected righteousness, that they would receive the generous sender of such great gifts from the Father, but instead they shouted, crying out against the Lord, and they shouted, saying: "Take him away, take him away, crucify him" (John 19:15). And so the Apostle Paul writes: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice (Ephesians 4:31). Or certainly, because they had shed innocent blood, the blood of the Lord's Passion cried out to the Lord: therefore they made a cry for justice, according to what we read in Genesis, The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me (Genesis 4:10).

169. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts. Here he explains the metaphor:

and first, as to the vineyard,

second as to the trial of the vineyard, where it says, I looked that he should do judgment.

Concerning the first, he explains the vineyard saying, for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, either all of Israel, or as to the ten tribes, which were called Israel after the separation of the kingdom because of their multitude (1 Kgs 12; 2 Chr 10).

Second, as to the plant or branches, men of Judah, that is, the two tribes in which the worship of God was still observed: if you play the harlot, O Israel, at least let not Judah offend (Hos 4:15); or because the princes came from Judah: but of the race of Judah, who was the strongest among his brethren, came the princes (1 Chr 5:2).

170. I looked that he should do judgment. Here he explains the trial of the vineyard, which consists in the fault and the punishment that follows upon the fault. Hence it is divided into three parts:

in the first, the fault in general is set out;

in the second, the punishment and the fault together in particular, where it says, woe to you that join house to house (Isa 5:8);

in the third, the punishment in general, where it says, for after this (Isa 5:25).

He denounces the fault in general as to their superiors, to whom it belongs to do judgment, where he says: I looked, following the order of benefits, that he should do judgment, judging justly; and behold iniquity, as inequality of judgment: I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity (Eccl 3:16).

Second, as to their subjects, to whom it belongs to hold to the justice appointed to them by their superiors: and do justice, which is through comparison to the precepts of the law; and behold a cry, the tumult of quarrelers, or of the lamentation of the poor, below: what ails you also, that you too are wholly gone up to the housetops, full of clamor, a populous city, a joyous city? (Isa 22:1-2).

Attend to yourself, poor one; for your soul is precious: and if mortal flesh, a temporary soul: and if you lack money, grace does not lack: and if there is no spacious house, widespread possession, heaven is open, the earth is free. The elements have been given to all in common, the ornaments of the world are open equally to the rich and the poor. Are not the faces of the heavens, adorned with shining stars, more beautiful than the most precious gold-leaf ceilings of luxurious houses? Are the riches of the rich wider than the expanses of the earth? Whence it was said to those who join house to house and villa to villa: Will you alone dwell upon the earth? You have a larger house: the poor, in which you cry out and are heard. ... The house of God is common to the rich and the poor.

Let him use those tenths and first-fruits, which are given according to the command of God, as a man of God; as also let him dispense in a right manner the free-will offerings which are brought in on account of the poor, to the orphans, the widows, the afflicted, and strangers in distress, as having that God for the examiner of his accounts who has committed the disposition to him. Distribute to all those in want with righteousness, and yourselves use the things which belong to the Lord, but do not abuse them; eating of them, but not eating them all up by yourselves: communicate with those that are in want, and thereby show yourselves unblameable before God. For if you shall consume them by yourselves, you will be reproached by God, who says to such unsatiable people, who alone devour all, "You eat up the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool;" [Ezekiel 34:3] and in another passage, "Must you alone live upon the earth"? [Isaiah 5:8] Upon which account you are commanded in the law, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." [Leviticus 19:18] Now we say these things, not as if you might not partake of the fruits of your labours; for it is written, "You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox which treads out the grain;" [Deuteronomy 25:4; 1 Corinthians 9:9] but that you should do it with moderation and righteousness. As, therefore, the ox that labours in the threshing-floor without a muzzle eats indeed, but does not eat all up; so do you who labour in the threshing-floor, that is, in the Church of God, eat of the Church: which was also the case of the Levites, who served in the tabernacle of the testimony, which was in all things a type of the Church.

(Verse 8) Woe to those who join house to house and connect field to field, until there is no more room and you are left to dwell alone in the land. In our opinion, they have transferred this phrase, 'until there is no more room,' to 'until you take away your neighbor's property.' Symmachus and Theodotion have done this, until the land fails or there is no place left; so that when the land fails, greed will not be satisfied. I believe that this applies generally to all those who are never satisfied, and specifically to the vineyard of the Lord, which produces wild grapes instead of good grapes, meaning injustice instead of justice, and outcry instead of righteousness. For what madness is it, when houses and fields should be had for driving away the rains and for sowing crops, to desire to have those things in which you cannot dwell and which you are not sufficient to cultivate, and to make your own pleasure the necessity of another? Some consider this saying according to the trope, against the heretics: when they move their feet from the East, they come into the plain of Shinar, which is interpreted as the scattering of teeth; and they build a city of confusion and a tower of pride, and they hear under other words: 'Hear this, rulers of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel, who loathe justice and pervert all that is right, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity' (Micah 3:9-10). They join houses to houses, that is, doctrines to doctrines; about which it is said by Michael, 'Do not build in a scornful house' (Micah 3), nor above the foundation of Christ, which the apostle Paul placed (1 Cor. 3), and in which they should have built gold, silver, precious stones; on the contrary, let them build wood, hay, straw, the end of which is fire. The Savior speaks about these kinds of houses in the Gospel: 'Everyone who hears my words and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.' Rain descended, rivers came, winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell; and great was its fall. (Matthew 7:26, 27). For so long heretics seek to join new things with old, and to change the same things for more recent ones, until human perception and speech fail.

You see, even if many people do not admit this in so many words but claim to believe in the doctrine of the resurrection and future retribution, nevertheless I take notice not of their words but of what they do day to day. That is to say, if you are looking forward to resurrection and retribution, why go chasing the values of this life to such an extent? Why, tell me, do you put yourself to such trouble day in and day out amassing more possessions than there is sand on the seashore, not to mention property and dwellings, as well as buying baths, often acquiring these things through robbery and greed and thus fulfilling that saying from the inspired author "Woe to those who add house to house, and join field to field so as to steal from their neighbor"? Cannot this sort of thing be seen happening day after day? One person says, "That house casts a terrible shadow on mine," and he invents countless pretexts to get hold of it, while another lays hold of a poor person's property and makes it his own. And what in fact is worse, remarkable and unheard of and quite beyond excuse, is for a person comfortably situated in one locality being able to move elsewhere without any good reason for wanting to, either on account of a change of circumstances or because constrained by physical disability; all over the place, in city after city, he is bent on procuring monuments to his own avarice and having timeless effigies of his own evil for all to see. He heaps all sins of this kind on his own head without feeling his heavy and troublesome burden, whereas enjoyment of them he leaves for others, not only after his departure from this life but even here before his demise. You see, no matter what he wishes, he is stripped of his possessions, they are all squandered, so to say, by his friends and left in tatters without the smallest part of them falling to him to enjoy. Yet why do I say enjoy? Even if he wanted, how could he with one stomach manage to dispose of such an abundance of good things?

171. Woe to you that join house to house. Here he sets out their fault in the abuse of things in particular, going through it part by part. And this is divided into two parts:

in the first, he denounces them as to the fault itself,

in the second, as to their obstinacy in sinning, where it says, woe to you that draw (Isa 5:18).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he denounces them as to the abuse of possessions, which occurs through avarice;

in the second part, as to the abuse of food, which occurs through gluttony, where it says, woe to you that rise up (Isa 5:11).

172. Concerning the first, he sets out three things.

First, their superfluous multiplication of possessions is denounced, whence he says: woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place, as to the public road: the princes of Judah are become as they that take up the bound upon them (Hos 5:10); woe to him that builds up his house by injustice, and his chambers not in judgment: that will oppress his friend without cause, and will not pay him his wages. Who says: I will build me a wide house, and large chambers (Jer 22:13-14); and they have coveted fields, and taken them by violence, and houses they have forcibly taken away: and oppressed a man and his house, a man and his inheritance (Mic 2:2).

173. Second, the interpretation of the judge is set out: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth, which is broad and spacious and given in possession to many: increase and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen 1:28).

(Ver. 9.) In my ears are these things of the Lord of hosts: Unless many houses are deserted, great and beautiful without an inhabitant. Because we translate according to the Hebrew, 'In my ears are these things of the Lord of hosts,' that is, the words that the Lord spoke still resonate in my ears: The LXX translated, 'These things have been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts.' Not that the Prophet heard the words of the Lord, but that the things the Prophet is about to say have been heard in the ears of the Lord: it is more consistent to understand that the Prophet heard, what the Lord spoke. But the Lord spoke, saying that after the captivity, the great and beautiful house will be desolate, having no inhabitant.

174. Third, the threat of punishment is set out, and concerning this, two things are set out.

First, the authority and power of the one who punishes; hence he says: these words of the Lord of hosts, who is able to punish, are in my ears; these words, which I will speak to you, are still sounding in my ears, within: in which the certitude of the words is noted, below: in the morning he wakens my ear, that I may hear him as a master. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I do not resist (Isa 50:4-5).

175. Second, the severity of the punishment is set out, where it says, unless many great and fair houses.

And first, as to desertion of their houses; hence he says, unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, as to guardianship, and without inhabitant, as to desertion of their houses, as if to say: unless this happens, my wrath will not rest. And this is an aposiopesis, which is the failing of speech. And he sets out those things in which the riches of houses consist: namely, in multitude, and as to this, he says, many; in beauty, and as to this, he says, fair; in size: great: and their strength shall become a booty, and their houses as a desert (Zeph 1:13).

(Verse 10.) For they will make one small jar from ten acres of vineyards, and they will make three bushels from thirty bushels of seed. For the small jar, which only the seventy translated, all others have interpreted as a bat, which is said in Hebrew Beth (). And for the thirty bushels, which we have called a cor, which in Hebrew is called Omer (), the seventy translated as six artabas: which is an Egyptian measure and makes twenty bushels. Therefore, in the extreme barrenness that follows the captivity, ten acres of vineyards will make a bat, that is, three amphoras: and thirty bushels of seed, that is, a cor, will make an ephah, which the seventy have interpreted as three measures, that is, three bushels. But batus is said to refer to liquid measures, and ephi, or epha of the same measurement, to dry measures. As we read in Ezekiel according to the Hebrew: A just ephi and a just batus shall be for you. Ephi and batus shall be equal and of the same measurement, so that a batus may hold a tenth part of a cor, and an ephi may hold a tenth part of a cor; their balance shall be according to the measurement of a cor (Ezek. 45:10-11). According to anagoge, we ask how the houses of heretics, which are large and beautiful, will have no inhabitant when the time of judgement comes. For every parade and elaborate arrangement of words, and every dialectical argument, are reduced to nothing. And since according to the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 3) we are not just the building of God, but also the cultivation, which the heretics imitating are dug up and eradicated by Jeremiah: therefore where ten acres of vineyards, or where ten pairs of oxen work, they will make one bath, and thirty measures of seed they will make an ephah (Jeremiah 18), to signify the mystical and perfect number of ten in the holy scriptures: and the thirty, in which Ezekiel prophesied (Ezekiel 1), and the Lord was baptized (Luke 3), are reduced to the ephah, which is connected by comparison with a multiple number through unity. But when it comes to spiritual understanding, building and agriculture, the Apostle Paul also teaches in another place (Ephesians 4) that believers are rooted and grounded in love. Furthermore, Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 2) not only built houses for himself, but also planted vineyards, made gardens and orchards, and established all kinds of fruit trees. He also constructed pools to irrigate the forest. On the other hand, heretics, having only the image and shadow of virtues and not the truth itself, promise empty words without the fruit of works. Regarding their trees, the Lord says: Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted (Matt. 15:13). For the vineyard of the Sodomites is their vineyard, and their offspring is from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the venom of serpents and the deadly poison of cobras (Deut. 32:32, following).

There are many instances in which the land suffers because of people's sins. Why are you surprised if the people's sin makes the land infertile and unfruitful when we caused it to be corrupt in the first place (and will again make it incorruptible)?… See Noah, for example. When humanity had become utterly perverse, turmoil ensued everywhere. Everything—the seed, the plants, all types of animals, the land, the sea, the air, the mountains, the valleys, the hills, the cities, the ramparts, the houses and the towers—everything was covered by the flood. When the time came for humanity to be replenished, the land was restored to the order and beauty it had before. It is clear that the land was restored in part as an honor to humanity.

175. Second, as to the barrenness of the vineyard, he says: for ten jugera (a jugerum is 120 feet in length) of vineyard shall yield one little measure. Another reading has one bath, which is the same volume in liquids as an ephah is in dry goods.

Third, as to the loss of seed: and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels, because you will harvest less than you sowed: when you went to a heap of twenty bushels, and they became ten (Hag 2:17). Other readings have cors, or ephahs, which is one tenth of a cor: the ephah and the bath shall be equal, and of one measure: that the bath may contain the tenth part of a cor, and the ephah the tenth part of a cor (Ezek 45:11).

(Verse 11, 12.) Woe to those who rise early in the morning to pursue drunkenness, and continue drinking until evening, so that they are inflamed with wine. They have the lyre, the harp, the tambourine, and the flute at their feasts, but they do not regard the work of the Lord or consider the operation of His hands. Regarding drunkenness, which Aquila and Symmachus have interpreted as the Hebrew word Siceram, the LXX have rendered it as any drink that can intoxicate and overthrow one's mental state. But it accuses, according to the sequence of the begun explanation, the farmers of the vineyard, who, with impending sterility and a nearby fire, in which brambles and thorns are to be burned, have surrendered themselves to luxury and pleasures: not only in eating and drinking, but also in the delight of the ears, and in various types of musical art. When they do these things, they do not consider the work of the Lord, nor do they consider what is to come. We will use this testimony against the princes of the Church, who rise in the morning to drink and drink until evening: concerning whom it is said elsewhere: Woe to you, O city, whose king is young, and whose princes feast in the morning (Eccl. X, 16). Those who are occupied with pleasures do not understand the Creator from His creatures, nor do they consider the works of His hands, of which we read: 'By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their power by the breath of His mouth' (Psalm 32:6). According to a higher understanding, every disturbance of the soul can be called drunkenness, which is conceived from the wine of the madness of dragons, and from the incurable poison of asps, which some drink from youth to old age, that is, from morning until evening (Deuteronomy 32). But others are awakened from the banquet at the third, sixth, or ninth hour, and it is said to them: Wake up, you who are drunk with wine. On account of this wine, and on account of such grapes and vineyards, the Lord rains down sulfur and fire from the Lord; and whoever drinks from them is burned and tormented. He seeks the lyre and the harp, the inventor of which is Jubal, generated from the lineage of Cain (Gen. 4), and does not hear the Lord saying to Aaron: You and your sons shall not drink wine or strong drink, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, or when you approach the altar (Lev. 10:8). The king of Babylon had lyres, and harps, and a drum, and flutes, with which, when they sounded together, the peoples of all nations would fall down and worship the golden statue (Dan. III). But as for the first time of human wisdom, when we leave childhood and come to the age of reason, it is understood in the Scriptures to be the morning, many testimonies can teach us about it, of which a few examples are to be given: In the morning I sent the prophets; and: In the morning you will hear my prayer. In the morning I will stand before you, and I will see (Ps. 5:4-5); and: From night until morning my spirit will rise (Ps. 62:1); and: O God, my God, I watch for you from dawn (Ps. 100:8); and: In the morning I would slay all sinners of the earth, that I might destroy from the city of the Lord all who work wickedness (Ps. 29:7); and in another place: We delay weeping until evening, and joy comes in the morning, and similar things. But we rise in the morning when we leave our vices in childhood, and we can say: Remember not the sins of my youth and ignorance (Ps. 24:7). And with the rising of the sun of justice, darkness is banished, and immediately we destroy all thoughts that provoke us to sin, and we scatter those sinners from the city of our mind, of whom the Savior speaks: Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies (Matt. XV, 19), and the rest. However, most unfortunate are those who, from morning until evening, occupied with drunkenness, gluttony, and various pleasures, do not understand in themselves the works of the Lord, nor consider why they were created.

Hear also the words of the prophecy, and the "Woe" which was proclaimed for gluttons, "Woe unto those who rise up early in the morning and pursue strong drink, and who tarry long over it in the evening while wine inflameth them. With harps, and stringed instruments, and drums, and tabrets, they drink wine, and the works of God they understand not." And behold, the Spirit also hath taught thee that the man who ministereth unto his lusts is unable to understand the works of God. For as in our sleep we are not able to speak and to act as living beings who are awake, even so the man who is sunk in the sleep of lusts cannot understand the living works of God, neither doth he know how to contemplate His government, nor to wonder at the various forms of His dispensation; and he knoweth not admiration of the majesty of God, nor is he awake unto the knowledge of Him, nor is he ready to respond unto His wisdom. For whosoever is sunk in the slumber of lust perceiveth not these things, because the remembrance of these things belongeth unto those who are awake and living. And blessedness is ascribed unto the man who understandeth these things. For if unto those who eat, and drink, and who do not understand the works of God "Woe" be given, contrariwise "Blessing" is ascribed unto those who are abstinent and self-denying, and who at all times meditate upon the works of God.

Now this is the first lust which conquered the world, and because of it the first transgression of the law took place. Through it also the Prophet reproached the people, when he proclaimed, "Woe unto those who rise up early in the morning, and follow quickly thereafter."

176. Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness. Here he denounces their fault as to the abuse of food.

And first, he denounces the fault,

second, he threatens punishment, where it says, therefore is my people led away captive (Isa 5:13).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he denounces gluttony as to its species,

second as to its effect, where it says, and the work of the Lord you regard not (Isa 5:12).

177. Now the species of gluttony are five, which are contained in the verse: hastily, sumptuously, too much, greedily, daintily.

Therefore, he first says: woe to you that rise up early in the morning, as to "hastily": woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning (Eccl 10:16); when shall I awake and find wine again? (Prov 23:35).

As to "greedily," he says, to follow.

As to "too much," he says, and to drink until the evening: who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has contentions? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups (Prov 23:29-30); to be inflamed with wine, with lust, and to all the vices.

177. As to "daintily," he says, the harp and wine, sought out daintily, with great eagerness because they prepare for themselves pleasure in food.

As to "sumptuously," he says, in your feasts, in which there were great pomps and choice foods: you that eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the herd; you that sing to the sound of the psaltery: they have thought themselves to have instruments of music like David; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best ointments (Amos 6:4-6).

178. The effect is thoughtlessness, and as to this he says, and the work of the Lord you regard not, that which you ought to do, nor the works of his hands, which he himself has done: wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous (Prov 20:1).

"Therefore my people are led into captivity, because they did not have knowledge," namely neither in the head nor in the members.

What do servants think of themselves when they dare to despise the Lord's precepts, not even condescending to reread the letters of invitation whereby he asks them to the blessedness of his kingdom? If any one of us sends a letter to his administrator and he in turn not only fails to do what is commanded but even refuses to read over the orders, that person deserves to receive punishment, not pardon; imprisonment, not freedom. Similarly, one who refuses to read the sacred writings that have been transmitted from the eternal country should fear that he perhaps will not receive eternal rewards and even not escape endless punishment. So dangerous is it for us not to read the divine precepts that the prophet mournfully exclaims, "Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge." … Doubtless, if a person fails to seek God in this world through the sacred lessons, God will refuse to recognize him in eternal bliss.

(Verse 13.) Therefore, my people have been taken captive because they lack knowledge, and their nobles have perished of hunger, and their multitude has dried up with thirst. This happened literally to the people of Judah under the Roman princes Vespasian and Titus, as both Greek and Latin history relate. And even today, they suffer from this spiritually, enduring not the hunger for bread or the thirst for water, but the hunger to hear the word of God. For they have not regarded the works of the Lord, nor considered the deeds of His hands, nor have they obtained His knowledge who has spoken through the prophets (Amos 8). And in the Psalms it is said of them: They shall convert in the evening, and suffer hunger like dogs, and shall go around the city (Ps. 59:16). But the Gospel teaches that every word of doctrine is called bread and water: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Luke 4:4); And, Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst (John 4:13). And in the Psalm it is said: He has led me by the waters of refreshment (Ps. 23:2). And the Lord does not want to send away the hungry in the wilderness, so that they do not faint and fall and be killed by hunger (Matt. XV). And of the just man it is said: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Ps. XXXVI, 25). Some interpret this that is said: My people have been taken away, because they have no knowledge; and the nobles have perished with hunger, and the multitude thereof is dried up with thirst, generally as referring to Hell and Gehenna, where everyone who does not have the knowledge of God will be punished.

179. Therefore is my people led away captive. Here he sets out the corresponding punishment:

and first, as to the affection of the will; hence he says, therefore, just as their knowledge was taken captive by drunkenness, so will they themselves be taken captive: my people have been silent, because they had no knowledge (Hos 4:6).

180. But it seems that ignorance does not merit punishment, because it excuses fault.

And to this is to be said that ignorance can mean merely the negation of knowledge; and thus it merits neither punishment nor pardon, like ignorance of geometry among peasants. It can also mean the privation of knowledge, so that it neglects the aptitude one ought to have in the subject; and thus it is evident that it is vicious to not know those things which someone is able and bound to know.

181. Second, he sets out the punishment opposed to the five species of gluttony: and thus he sets out hunger and thirst, which correspond, as to cause, to what is "hastily," for hunger is caused by someone excessively postponing the taking of food; as if he were saying: you used to eat too quickly, but you only postponed your going hungry.

Again he answers the species of gluttony that is "greedily" as to its genus, for hunger is the desire for food. Hence he says: and their nobles; and he sets out thirst in opposition to the multitude of the common people, who at least were accustomed to quench their thirst with water; but against the nobles, who abounded in provisions sometimes weighed down with thirst, he sets out hunger: it was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger (Lam 4:9).

(Verse 14, 15.) Therefore, hell enlarged its soul and opened its mouth without any limit, and its strong ones, and its people, and its high and glorious ones descended to it. And man will be humbled, and the man will be brought low, and the eyes of the proud will be cast down. Those who rose early to pursue wine, and remained in drunkenness until evening, and were occupied with pleasure and indulgence, did not want to consider the work of the Lord, nor did they contemplate the works of His hands. Therefore they were brought into captivity because they did not have knowledge of the Son of God, as He himself said to them, 'You neither know me nor the one who sent me' (John 8:19), and in that very captivity they died of famine and wasted away from thirst. Where Hell and death extended their souls, and opened their mouths, and devoured without number and satiety those to be punished forever: so that the princes and people, and the sublimity and glory of the land of Judah would descend to him, and all pride would be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty would be lowered, understanding themselves to be mortals; and all things were fulfilled, which the Lord had foretold through the prophets. However, Hell is said to have a soul, not that it is a living creature, according to the error of some; but that by the words of human custom, we express the impassivity of things that do not sense, that it is insatiable, and is never filled by the multitude of the dead. And in the hand of the tongue, death is spoken (Prov. XVIII), and the almighty God hates the Sabbaths, and speaks of the Jews despising their own soul (Isai. I). Whatever we have said about the Jewish people can be metaphorically applied to those who are occupied with the pleasures of the world, not looking to the works of God, they are led captive into sin, and have no knowledge of God: and therefore, they perish from hunger and thirst for good works and virtues, and are dragged into hell, where they are assigned to eternal torments, and they witness the power and pride of misery being transformed by humility.

182. Second, against another species of gluttony which is "too much," he sets out the insatiability of those who take them captive in subjugation; hence he says, therefore has hell, that is, death or the devil, enlarged her soul, as to affection, and opened her mouth, as to effect. And he speaks according to a human manner, for hell does not have a soul: hell and destruction are never filled (Prov 27:20). Or hell may be said to be Nabuchodonosor: who has enlarged his desire like hell: and is himself like death, and he is never satisfied (Hab 2:5).

183. Third, as to dainty preparation of food, which arises from a certain vanity, he sets out the punishment of humiliation, where it says, and shall go down. And he shows that they are going to be humiliated as to three things.

First, as to subjugation; hence he says: their strong ones, as to the powerful, and their high ones, as to the rich and others prominent in wealth, who are prideful about it, glorious ones, as to the noble and famous, shall go down, as if humiliated, into it, namely to the hell of captivity: and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. He also put out the eyes of Sedecias: and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon (Jer 39:6-7); and below that in the same place: and Nabuzardan the general of the army carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to him, and the rest of the people that remained (Jer 39:9).

183. Second, as to the lowering of the captives: and man shall be brought down, being in captivity, as to the high ones, and man shall be humbled, as to the powerful, and the eyes of the lofty, as to the glorious ones: neither shall you be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of your foot (Deut 28:65).

(Verse 16) And the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment: and the holy God will be sanctified in righteousness. When the people are led captive, because they have no knowledge, and die of hunger, and with thirst shrivel up, and the grave enlarges its appetite: and the mighty and noble and glorious descend into the depths, and man is humbled, and the vir is abased, and all receive according to their merits: then the Lord will be exalted in judgment, whose judgment previously seemed unjust, and the holy God will be sanctified in righteousness by all, so that what is said in the Gospel may be fulfilled: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9); and: Righteous Father, the world has not known thee (John 17:25). Where should we be careful not to anticipate the judgment of God, whose judgments are great and unsearchable, and about whom the Apostle speaks: His judgments are unsearchable and his ways are unfathomable (Rom. XI, 33), until he enlightens the hidden things of darkness and reveals the thoughts of the hearts (I Cor. IV, 5), who says in the Gospel: Do not judge, so that you may not be judged (Matth. VII, 1). To which statement the Apostle Paul concurs, commanding: Who are you to judge someone else's servant? He stands or falls to his own master. And he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)

183. Third, as to the exaltation of God who punishes them: and the Lord of hosts shall be exalted, he will appear high, who was first despised, in just judgment, and the holy God, holy in himself, shall be sanctified, that is, he will appear holy; above: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day (Isa 2:11).

And when they were approaching Jerusalem, and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, and said to them: Go into the village opposite you. Bethany is a small village or town on the slope of the Mount of Olives, about fifteen stades from Jerusalem, as the evangelist John manifests, where Lazarus was raised from the dead, whose tomb is now demonstrated there with a constructed church. Bethany, moreover, is called the house of obedience. And suitably the Lord, about to come to Jerusalem and redeem the world with his blood, first elevated Bethany by the dignity of his presence, and there he was anointed with mystical chrism by a devout woman, because undoubtedly, before his passion, teaching many, he made for himself a house of obedience where he would dwell through the Spirit of grace, and being delighted by their pious action, he himself was anointed as if with a fragrant ointment. Hence this city is said to be situated on the Mount of Olives, to designate that the Church by the grace of its founder is to be saved, who refreshes us with the anointing of spiritual charisms and the eternal light of knowledge and piety. From whence elsewhere, when he said: A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, he immediately added: Neither do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel (Matt. V). Because the same Mount of Olives, that is, the highest distributor of spiritual graces, who elevates his city to be prominent, also anoints it with the oil of gladness so it can shine, lest it fail. And because he did not want the light to be placed under a bushel, he sent the disciples into the village opposite them, that is, he sent teachers who would penetrate unlearned and barbarous places of the whole world, like the walls of a village set opposite, by evangelizing. And rightly two are sent, either for the knowledge of truth and purity of action, or for the sacrament of twin love, namely of God and neighbor, to be preached throughout the whole world.

(in Marc. 3, 41) Bethany is a little village or town by the side of mount Olivet, where Lazarus was raised from the dead.

(ubi sup.) Bethany again means the house of obedience, because by teaching many before His Passion, he made for Himself a house of obedience; and it is said to be placed on the mount of Olives, because He cherishes His Church with the unction of spiritual gifts, and with the light of piety and knowledge.

(Cat. in Marc. Oxon.) Not indeed that He was compelled by necessity to ride on a colt from the mount of Olives to Jerusalem, for He had gone over Judæa and all Galilee on foot, but this action of His is typical. It goes on: And many spread their garments in the way: that is, under the feet of the colt; and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. This, however, was rather done to honour Him, and as a Sacrament, than of necessity. It goes on: And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 2For the multitude, until it was corrupted, knew what was its duty, for which reason each honoured Jesus according to his own strength. Wherefore they praised Him, and took up the hymns of the Levites, saying, Hosanna, which according to some is the same as save me, but according to others means a hymn. I however suppose the former to be more probable, for there is in the 117th Psalm, (Ps. 118:25) Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord, which in the Hebrew is Hosanna.

(Cat. in Marc. Oxon.) Thus then they give glory to God, saying, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. They also bless the kingdom of Christ, saying, Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, which cometh.

(Cat. in Marc. Oxon.) Wherefore also the prophets so often call Christ by the name of David, on account of the descent according to the flesh of Christ from David.

(Cat. in Marc. Oxon.) And further, they give glory to God, when they add Hosanna in the highest, that is, praise and glory be to the God of all, Who is in the highest.

The disciples of Christ are called two by two, and sent two by two, since charity implies more than one, as it is written, Woe to him that is alone. (Eccl. 4:10) Two persons lead the Israelites out of Egypt: two bring down the bunch of grapes from the Holy Land, that men in authority might ever join together activity and knowledge, and bring forward two commandments from the Two Tables, and be washed from two fountains, and carry the ark of the Lord on two poles, and know the Lord between the two Cherubim, and sing to Him with both mind and spirit.

Jesus often came to Jerusalem at other times as well, but never with such glory as now. Before, on account of the envy of the Jews, He concealed Himself, but now, since the time of suffering determined by Him Himself had come, He goes openly, so that they, if they wished, might understand His glory and through the fulfillment of the prophecies upon Him might come to know the truth. And if they did not wish to understand, then so that this circumstance might serve toward their greater condemnation, as those who did not believe even after such glorious miracles. For see how many signs there are here! The Lord told the disciples that they would find a young donkey; He said that they would be hindered, and then, when the disciples would say that the Lord requires it, they would be permitted to take it. For it is no small thing that the apostles were allowed to lead away the colt; this could not have been, had the power of God not been acting upon its owners, moving them to release the colt; they were poor, working people. And one must know that the Lord did not do this without purpose, for before He had not required a colt, but on foot He traversed Galilee and Judea many times, but through this He was showing that He would gain mastery over the gentile nations, who were unsubmissive and untaught, like young donkeys: they were bound by their sins "in the street," that is, in this life, "at the gate," that is, outside the Church. But the disciples loosed them through baptism and faith, and they bore the Lord upon their shoulders, and the apostles placed upon them their garments, that is, all the true rules of virtue. Before, the gentiles, being naked, were unseemly and committed lawless deeds, but from the time they were brought to Christ by the apostles, they learned to walk with propriety, and therefore Christ was borne by them. And who were the owners of the colt who hindered the apostles from taking it? Without doubt, the demons. However, the apostles were stronger than they.

That thus, if they were willing, they might recognise His glory, and by the prophecies, which were fulfilled concerning Him, know that He is very God; and that if they would not, they might receive a greater judgment, for not having believed so many wonderful miracles. Describing therefore this illustrious entrance, the Evangelist says, And when they came nigh unto Jerusalem, and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples.

(in Luc. 9, 6) Or else, they found it bound before the door, because whosoever is not in Christ is without, in the way; but he who is in Christ, is not without. He has added in the way, or in a place where two ways meet, where there is no certain possession for any man, nor stall, nor food, nor stable; miserable is his service, whose rights are unfixed; for he who has not the one Master, has many. Strangers bind him that they may possess him, Christ looses him in order to keep him, for He knows that gifts are stronger ties than bonds.

"His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him," that is, when he had manifested the power of his resurrection.… In short, mentally comparing with the contents of Scripture what was accomplished both prior to and in the course of our Lord's passion, they found this also in Scripture, that it was in accordance with the utterance of the prophets that he sat on an ass's colt.

And going, they found the colt tied outside the gate at the crossroads, and they untied it. The colt is rightly found outside the gate at the crossroads. The gate, indeed, is He who says: I am the gate for the sheep. Through me, if anyone enters he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture. This colt, that is, the people of the nations, lacked these pastures of life, as they still stood tied outside this gate at the crossroads. And rightly at the crossroads, because they did not hold a certain single path of life and faith, but followed many uncertain and erring paths of heresies.

(ubi sup.) Or else, fitly did the colt stand in a place where two ways meet, because the Gentile people did not hold on in any certain road of life and faith, but followed in its error many doubtful paths of various sects.

And the prophecy, "He shall be the expectation of the nations," signified that there would be some of all nations who should look for Him to come again. And this indeed you can see for yourselves, and be convinced of by fact. For of all races of men there are some who look for Him who was crucified in Judaea, and after whose crucifixion the land was straightway surrendered to you as spoil of war. And the prophecy, "binding His foal to the vine, and washing His robe in the blood of the grape," was a significant symbol of the things that were to happen to Christ, and of what He was to do. For the foal of an ass stood bound to a vine at the entrance of a village, and He ordered His acquaintances to bring it to Him then; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it, and entered Jerusalem, where was the vast temple of the Jews which was afterwards destroyed by you. And after this He was crucified, that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled.

But they found the colt tied by the door without, because the Gentile people were bound by the chain of their sins before the door of faith, that is, without the Church.

Or, in a place where two roads meet, that is, in the freedom of will, hesitating between life and death.

Or else, in a place where two roads meet, that is, in this life, but it was loosed by the disciples, through faith and baptism.

(de Con. Ev. ii. 66) Matthew says, an ass and a colt, the rest however do not mention the ass. Where then both may be the case, there is no disagreement, though one Evangelist mentions one thing, and a second mentions another; how much less should a question be raised, when one mentions one, and another mentions that same one and another. It goes on: And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded, and they let them take it, that is, the colt.

And some of those standing there said to them, "What are you doing untying the colt?" In the Gospel of Luke, it is written thus: "So those who were sent went and found it just as He had told them, a colt standing there. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, 'What are you untying the colt for?' " And quite appropriately. For it had many owners, since it was not given to one doctrine and superstition, but miserably carried off into various and diverse errors at the whim of unclean spirits, proceeding to mute idols as led. Hence, by a certain customary usage of Scripture, it is said to be common, which is unclean. Just as the voice from heaven says to Peter, "What God has cleansed, you must not call common" (Acts 10). Because he who is holy belongs to God alone and is shared with no one. But he who is a sinner and unclean belongs to many. For many demons possess him, and thus he is called common.

(ubi sup.) Or else, the masters of error, who resisted the teachers, when they came to save the Gentiles; but after that the power of the faith of the Lord appeared to believers, the faithful people were freed from the cavils of the adversaries, and were brought to the Lord, whom they bore in their hearts.

But some said, What do ye? as if they would say, Who can remit sins?

But they would not have allowed this, if the Divine power had not been upon them, to compel them, especially, as they were country people and farmers, and yet allowed them to take away the colt.

Or else, those who prevent them are the devils, who were weaker than the Apostles.

The master of humility is Christ who humbled himself and became obedient even to death, even the death of the cross. Thus he does not lose his divinity when he teaches us humility.… What great thing was it to the king of the ages to become the king of humanity? For Christ was not the king of Israel so that he might exact a tax or equip an army with weaponry and visibly vanquish an enemy. He was the king of Israel in that he rules minds, in that he gives counsel for eternity, in that he leads into the kingdom of heaven for those who believe, hope, and love. It is a condescension, not an advancement for one who is the Son of God, equal to the Father, the Word through whom all things were made, to become king of Israel. It is an indication of pity, not an increase in power.

They said to them as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go, and they brought the colt to Jesus. Those who had opposed untying the colt quieted upon hearing the name of the Lord. Because the masters of errors, who resisted the teachers of the gentiles coming to salvation, defended their darkness until, with miracles attesting, the power of the true owner and Lord shone forth. But after the power of the Lord's faith appeared, with the complaints of the adversaries giving way, the assembly of believers was freely brought to God, whom they carried in their hearts.

And they put their garments on it, and He sat on it. The garments of the apostles can be understood as the doctrine of virtues, the explanation of Scriptures, or certainly the varieties of ecclesiastical doctrines, by which those hearts of men, formerly bare and cold, are covered so they may be made worthy of Christ as the rider.

But by the garments of the Apostles, which they put upon it, we may understand the teaching of virtues, or the interpretation of the Scriptures, or the various doctrines of the Church, by which they clothe the hearts of men, once naked and cold and fit them to become the seats of Christ.

Or else, they put upon it their garments, that is, they bring to them the first robe of immortality by the Sacrament of Baptism. And Jesus sat upon it, that is, began to reign in them, so that sin should not reign in their wanton flesh, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

As long as the common people remain uncorrupted, they recognize what is beneficial. This is why they now pay honor to Jesus, each according to his ability. But what did they say as they glorified Him? They borrowed their song from David, and the word "Hosanna," according to some, means "salvation," while according to others it means "a song." But the first opinion is better, for in the one hundred and seventeenth psalm it says: "O Lord, save us," which in Hebrew is written "Hosanna." They called Christ's Kingdom the "Kingdom of David," first because Christ descended from the seed of David, and second because David means "strong of hand." And who else is so strong of hand as the Lord, whose hands have accomplished such wondrous works? But let us also spread our garments, that is, our flesh, for the flesh is the garment of the soul, and let us submit it to the Lord. Let us pave the path of our life by cutting branches from the trees, that is, by imitating the lives of the saints. For the saints are like trees from which one who imitates their virtues cuts branches. But let our deeds, both those that precede and those that follow, be to the glory of God. For some showed a good beginning in their earlier life, yet their subsequent life was not the same and did not serve to the glory of God.

It goes on: And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

The colt, however, was not necessary to Him, but He sent for it to show that He would transfer Himself to the Gentiles.

But many spread their garments on the way. When the Lord was borne on a donkey, many spread their garments on the way, because the holy martyrs, stripping themselves of their own fleshly clothing, prepare the way for the simpler servants of God with their blood, so that, with an unhindered step of mind, they may proceed to the walls of the heavenly city where Jesus leads. Likewise, our Savior tends towards Jerusalem sitting on a donkey when he, ruling the soul of each believer, that is, his beast of burden, leads to the inner vision of peace. He also sits on the beast when he universally presides over the holy Church and inflames it with a desire for heavenly peace. But many spread their garments on the way, for they subjugate their bodies through abstinence to prepare the way to the mind, or they present good examples to those who follow.

But others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. And those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting: Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They cut branches or twigs from the trees, who in the teaching of truth extract words and sentences of the Fathers from their eloquence, and submit these on the way of God to the mind of a coming listener with humble preaching. But those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting: Hosanna. Indeed, the Jewish people went ahead, the Gentiles followed. And because all the chosen, whether they could have been in Judea or those who now exist in the Church, believed and believe in the Mediator of God and men, those who go ahead and those who follow shouted Hosanna. Hosanna is said in Latin as save us. From Him, both the former sought salvation, and the present seek. They confess the blessed one who comes in the name of the Lord, because there is one hope, one faith of the preceding and following peoples. For just as they were healed by witnessing His passion and resurrection, so we are saved by His past passion and by His resurrection enduring through the ages. For whom our ancestors from the Jewish people believed and loved to come, this one we believe has come and love, and we are kindled with desire for Him, so that we may behold Him face to face.

(ubi sup.) Or else, many strew their garments in the way, because the holy martyrs put off from themselves the garment of their own flesh, and prepare a way for the more simple servants of God with their own blood. Many also strew their garments in the way, because they tame their bodies with abstinence, that they may prepare a way for God to the mount, or may give good examples to those who follow them. And they cut down branches from the trees, who in the teaching of the truth cull the sentences of the Fathers from their words, and by their lowly preaching scatter them in the path of God, when He comes into the soul of the hearer.

And others cut boughs … and strewed them in the way. They cut branches from the fruitbearing trees with which the Mount of Olives was planted, and spread them in the way; so as to make the crooked ways straight, and the rough ways smooth, that Christ the conqueror of sin might walk straightly and safely into the hearts of the faithful.… And when they had done all that was to be done by their hands, they offered also the tribute of their voices; and going before and following after they cry, not in a brief and wordless confession, but with all their might: "Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord."

Instead of our garments, let us spread our hearts before him.

Again, many spread their garments in the way, under the feet of the foal of the ass. What are feet, but those who carry, and the least esteemed, whom the Apostle has set to judge? (v. 1 Cor. 6:4.) And these too, though they are not the back on which the Lord sat, yet are instructed by John with the soldiers.

For the righteous shall flourish as a palm tree, straitened in their roots, but spreading out wide with flowers and fruits; for they are a good odour unto Christ, and strew the way of the commandments of God with their good report.

Let us also strew the way of our life with branches which we cut from the trees, that is, imitate the saints, for these are holy trees, from which, he who imitates their virtues cuts down branches.

"Hosanna," however, is a word of supplicating, as some say who know the Hebrew language, more declaring a feeling than signifying something. Just as in the Latin language there are words which we call interjections, as when in sorrow we say, Heu! Or when we are delighted, we say, Vah! Or when we are amazed, we say, "Oh, what a great thing!" For then oh signifies nothing except the feeling of one who is amazed.

(ubi sup.) But Hosanna is a Hebrew word, made out of two, one imperfect the other perfect. For save, or preserve, is in their language, hosy; but anna is a supplicatory interjection, as in Latin heu is an exclamation of grief.

(ubi sup.) And because all the elect, whether those who were able to become such in Judæa, or those who now are such in the Church, believed and now believe on the Mediator between God and man, both those who go before and those who follow cried out Hosanna.

The boys in the Gospel raised aloft their branches as the Savior entered Jerusalem. They kept on crying: "Hosanna." … They borrowed these versicles from Psalm 117. Hosanna, moreover, is the Hebrew for "O Lord, grant salvation!"

They cry out Hosanna, that is save us, that men might be saved by Him who was blessed, and was a conqueror and came in the name of the Lord, that is, of His Father, since the Father is so called because of the Son, and the Son, because of the Father.

Or Hosanna, that is, save in the highest as well as in the lowest, that is, that the just be built on the ruin of Angels, and also that both those on the earth and those under the earth should be saved. In a mystical sense, also, the Lord approaches Jerusalem, which is 'the vision of peace,' in which happiness remains fixed and unmoved, being, as the Apostle says, the mother of all believers. (Gal. 4:26)

Those who went before are the prophets, and those who followed are the Apostles.

But both those of our deeds which go before and those which follow after must be done to the glory of God; for some in their past life make a good beginning, but their following life does not correspond with their former, neither does it end to the glory of God.

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest. And he entered Jerusalem into the temple, etc. We read in the Gospel of John that the crowds, having been fed with five loaves and two fishes, wanted to seize Jesus and make him king; but to prevent this from happening, he fled to the mountain and prayed. Now, however, as he comes to Jerusalem to suffer, he does not avoid those who make him king, who lead him to the royal city with a glorious procession and hymns worthy of the Son of God and king; he does not suppress the voices of those who proclaim the restoration of the kingdom of patriarch David in him and the recovery of the blessings of old. Why, then, does he now willingly embrace what he avoided before by fleeing, and not refuse to accept the kingdom, which while still living in the world he did not wish to receive, but now, about to depart from the world through the passion of the cross, he does not refuse to accept, unless it is to openly teach that he is a king not of a temporal and earthly, but of an eternal empire in heaven? To which kingdom indeed he would arrive through the contempt of death, the glory of resurrection, and the triumph of ascension. Hence it is that after the resurrection, appearing to the disciples, he said: All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me, and other things of the same place. It should certainly be noted how great a consonance there is between the crowd praising the Lord and the voice of the archangel Gabriel announcing to the virgin mother, who said: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever (Luke I). Now, the Lord took the seat or kingdom of David to call the people, to whom David once provided the reins of the temporal kingdom as well as examples of justice, and whom they were accustomed to inspire with the modulations of spiritual hymns to faith and love for their Creator, to the heavenly and immortal kingdom by means of words, gifts, deeds, and promises worthy of such a mediator between God and men, and to lead them to the very vision of God the Father. In this it is joined: Hosanna in the highest, that is, salvation. This clearly shows that the coming of Christ is not only the salvation of men but of the whole world; uniting the earthly with the heavenly, so that every knee shall bow to him, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. It should certainly be noted that the word Hosanna, a Hebrew word, is composed of two parts, corrupted and intact. For save or save us is said by them Osi, while anna is an interjection of one who is beseeching. Just as among the Latins there is an interjection for one who is in pain, "heu," and an interjection for one who is marveling, "papae." Finally, in the hundred and seventeenth psalm, where the seventy interpreters translated "O Lord, save me," in Hebrew it is written: Anna Adonai, osi anna. This our interpreter Jerome, elucidating more diligently, translated thus: I beseech you, O Lord, save I beseech. For it signifies the same thing, "O Lord," through the interjection of beseeching, as "I beseech you, O Lord," through the very word of supplication. Hosanna thus signifies "save, I beseech," with the vowel letter i, which terminates the first word when it is perfectly said osi, being consumed by the force of the vowel letter a, with which the following word begins anna. Which the metrical poets call synaloepha in scanning verses, although when scanning they leap over the written letter; however, in this word Hosanna, the letter i is neither even written, but with the sense of the speakers preserved, is utterly extinguished.

(ubi sup.) Now we read in the Gospel of John that He fled into a mountain, lest they should make him their king. Now, however, when He comes to Jerusalem to suffer, He does not shun those who call Him king, that He might openly teach them that He was King over an empire not temporal and earthly, but everlasting in the heavens, and that the path to this kingdom was through contempt of death. Observe also the agreement of the multitude with the saying of Gabriel, The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; (Luke 1:32) that is, that He Himself may call by word and deed to a heavenly kingdom the nation to which David once furnished the government of a temporal rule.

But they called the kingdom of Christ, that of David, both because Christ was descended from the seed of David, and because David means a man of a strong hand. For whose hand is stronger than the Lord's, by which so many and so great miracles were wrought.

And he entered Jerusalem into the temple. Having entered the city, he first went to the temple, showing us the form of religion which we should follow. So that when by chance we enter a village or town or any other place where there is a house dedicated to the worship of God, we first go to this; and, after we have commended ourselves to the Lord through the duty of prayers, we then withdraw to attend to the temporal business for which we came. However, as the time of the Passion approached, the Lord wished to draw near to the place of the Passion and remain there, where at the appointed and predetermined time he could be found by those through whom the Passion was to be accomplished. Through this, he also intimated to all those hearing that he would face death not unwillingly, as the profane thought, but of his own will. When the hour was approaching, he boldly went to the place where he had foretold far in advance through himself and his prophets that he would suffer. It should be noted that this entry of his into Jerusalem occurred five days before Passover, during which he decided to fulfill the mystery of his most holy Passion. For John narrates that six days before Passover, he came to Bethany, where a supper was made for him, and many reclining at the table, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointed him with mystical ointment; and the next day, sitting on a donkey, with a large crowd meeting him with palms, he came to Jerusalem. Here, not only the harmony in things but also in the times of the Old and New Testaments, the shadow and the truth, the law and the Gospel, must not be passed over in silence. For it is written in the law, with the Lord speaking to Moses and Aaron: "This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Speak to the whole congregation of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their ancestral houses, a lamb for each household." And shortly after: "And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight" (Exodus 12). Therefore, on the tenth day of the first month, the lamb to be sacrificed at Passover was commanded to be brought into the house, because also on the tenth day of the same month, that is, five days before Passover, the Lord was to enter the city in which he would suffer. And just as the lamb chosen from the whole flock awaited the certain day of its sacrifice, so also the Lord, as the whole council of elders and leaders conspired against him, steadfastly awaited the hour in which he would offer himself as a sacrifice to God and a victim in the odor of sweetness for the salvation of the world. The lamb was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight, and the Lord, at the same hour, eating the lamb with his disciples, where he completed the decrees of the legal Passover, immediately went out with them to the place of prayer, where, being captured and bound by the Jews, he began at once the mysteries of his blessed suffering.

And having looked around at everything, since it was already evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. He did not do this just once; but for all five days after he had gone up to Jerusalem until the time of the Passion, he was accustomed to do this very thing: that during the day he would teach in the temple, but at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as we read in Luke. For by teaching the unbelievers, he diligently fulfilled the duty of correction. However, by staying among the faithful, he graciously exhibited the kindness of his favor to them. It is well noted that, after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany. Indeed, the internal judge examines the hearts of all, and when he does not find a place to rest his head among those who oppose and resist the truth, he withdraws to the faithful and rejoices in making a dwelling with the Father in those who obey the word. For Bethany is called the house of obedience. This also must be understood, that the Lord was of such great poverty, and so did not flatter anyone, that he found no host, no lodging in that greatest city, but stayed in the small country place with Lazarus and his sisters. For their village is Bethany.

(ubi sup.) As the time of His Passion approached, the Lord wished to approach to the place of His Passion, in order to intimate that He underwent death of His own accord: wherefore it is said, And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple. And by His going to the temple on first entering the city, He shows us beforehand a form of religion, which we are to follow, that if by chance we enter a place, where there is a house of prayer, we should first turn aside to it. We should also understand from this, that such was the poverty of the Lord, and so far was He from flattering man, that in so large a city, He found no one to be His host, no abiding place, but lived in a small country place with Lazarus and his sisters; for Bethany is a hamlet of the Jews. Wherefore there follows: And when he had looked round about upon all things, (that is, to see whether any one would take Him in,) and now the eventide was come, he went out into Bethany with the twelve. Nor did He do this once only, but during all the five days, from the time that He came to Jerusalem, to the day of His Passion, He used always to do the same thing; during the day He taught in the temple, but at night, He went out and dwelt in the mount of Olives.

(ubi sup.) Farther, He looks round about upon the hearts of all, and when in those who opposed the truth, He found no place to lay His head, He retires to the faithful, and takes up His abode with those who obey Him. For Bethany means the house of obedience.

Likewise, Mark 11: Having looked around at all things, He went out to Bethany: Gloss: "to see if anyone would receive Him as a guest; for He was of such great poverty and flattered no one, so that in so great a city He could find no lodging"; but it is certain that if He had wished to hire lodging, He would have found a place to hire: therefore He was looking around as a poor man and beggar.

He went in the morning to the Jews, and visits us in the eventide of the world.

Jesus entered the temple and soon went out of it again, showing by this that He was already leaving it to desolation and plunder. He departs to Bethany, which means "house of obedience," for, leaving the disobedient and hard-hearted, He now goes with His disciples to those obedient to Him.

Wishing to show His disciples that if He chose He could in a moment exterminate those who were about to crucify Him. In a mystical sense, however, the Lord entered into the temple, but came out of it again, to show that He left it desolate, and open to the spoiler.