Wednesday of the 26th week after Pentecost

The shepherd is rich. We are his hundredth portion. He has innumerable flocks of angels, of archangels, of dominions, of powers, of thrones, of the others whom he left on the mountains. Since these are rational, they fittingly rejoice in the salvation of people. Although this also may be of benefit as an incentive to honesty, if each believes that his conversion would be pleasing to the hosts of angels, whose protection is to be sought and whose displeasure feared. Be a source of joy to the angels. May they rejoice in your return.

Rich then is that Shepherd of whom we all are a hundredth part; and hence it follows, And if he lose one of them, does he not leave &c.

But do thou, like a compassionate shepherd, and a diligent feeder of the flock, search out, and keep an account of thy flock. Seek that which is wanting; as the Lord God our gracious Father has sent His own Son, the good Shepherd and Saviour, our Master Jesus, and has commanded Him to "leave the ninety-nine upon the mountains, and to go in search after that which was lost, and when He had found it, to take it upon His shoulders, and to carry it into the flock, rejoicing that He had found that which was lost." In like manner, be obedient, O bishop, and do thou seek that which was lost, guide that which has wandered out of the right way, bring back that which is gone astray: for thou hast authority to bring them back, and to deliver those that are broken-hearted by remission. For by thee does our Saviour say to him who is discouraged under the sense of his sins, "Thy sins are forgiven thee: thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

(de Quæst. Ev. lib. 2. qu. 32.) Or He spoke of those ninety and nine whom He left in the wilderness, signifying the proud, who bear solitude as it were in their mind, in that they wish to appear themselves alone, to whom unity is wanting for perfection. For when a man is torn from unity, it is by pride; since desiring to be his own master, he follows not that One which is God, but to that One God ordains all who are reconciled by repentance, which is obtained by humility.

Which one of you, having a hundred sheep, and if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? Behold, in a marvelous dispensation of kindness, Truth has given a parable that man might both recognize in himself and that it particularly pertains to the very Creator of men. For since the number one hundred is perfect, He had a hundred sheep when He created the substance of angels and men. But one sheep was lost when man, by sinning, abandoned the pastures of life. He left the ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness because He left those lofty choirs of angels in heaven. Why is heaven called a wilderness, unless it is because it is said to be abandoned? Man deserted heaven when he sinned. Moreover, ninety-nine sheep remained in the wilderness when the Lord was seeking the one on earth because the number of rational creatures, namely angels and men, made to see God, was diminished by the loss of man, and in order to complete the perfect number of sheep in heaven, the lost man was sought on earth.

In explaining the solicitude of sorrow concerning the lost sheep, four things are introduced by the Evangelist, namely the possession of the whole multitude, the loss of the hundredth sheep, the leaving behind of the multitude possessed, and the seeking of the one lost.

And since he speaks to little ones, he therefore sets forth manifest examples, when he says: What man of you, having a hundred sheep. This man among men is the Son of God, of whom Baruch three says: "After these things he was seen upon earth and conversed with men"; and Philippians two: "Made in the likeness of men, and found in appearance as a man". The sheep of this man are rational creatures by reason of their implanted meekness; Matthew ten: "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves"; and John ten: "My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life". Moreover, these are called a hundred on account of perfection, which is signified by the number one hundred because of the return of ten upon itself. Whence Bede says: "Because the number one hundred is perfect, God had a hundred sheep, that is, a perfect number, when he created the substance of Angels and men". For this reason it is also placed in the designation of perfect merit; Matthew thirteen: "Another fell on good ground and brought forth fruit a hundredfold"; and Genesis twenty-six: "Isaac sowed in that land and found in that year a hundredfold". Likewise also as regards the perfection of reward: Matthew nineteen: "Everyone who shall have left" etc., there follows: "He shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess eternal life". To have, therefore, a hundred sheep is to have creatures in a perfect number and in the state of their perfection.

Second, as to the loss of the hundredth sheep, he adds: And if he shall lose one of them. God lost one sheep out of a hundred when man sinned. Whence Bede: "One sheep perished when man by sinning abandoned the pastures of life. Of this sheep it is said in the Psalm: I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; seek your servant, O Lord." Now man is called one sheep because all proceeded from one man, in whom they also sinned, according to that passage in Romans 5: "Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, in whom all sinned." But on account of the variety of sins added thereupon, they are called many sheep; Isaiah 53: "All we like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned aside into his own way"; and 1 Peter 2: "You were as sheep going astray," etc. And this was so as long as man lacked a shepherd: 3 Kings 22: "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep without a shepherd." For this sheep had run into the wolf, the devil, of whom it is said in John 10: "The wolf snatches and scatters the sheep," etc.

Third, as to the leaving behind of the multitude possessed, he adds: Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert? By the ninety-nine are understood the Angels, both because the number nine most fittingly suits the designation of the number of Angels on account of the threefold triad in the orders of Angels, signifying God who is three and one; and because, with the angels falling and man being lost, their number remained imperfect: whence the Gloss: "He left the ninety-nine, because the number of rational creatures, with man perishing, was diminished." Christ left these, not abandoning them locally, since he is always everywhere, but because he in no way took hold of them: Hebrews 2: "Nowhere does he take hold of Angels, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham." Now he is said to have left them in the desert, that is, in heaven, which had been deserted by angels and men, and no one could any longer enter there. On account of which that heavenly homeland is compared to a desert; whence the Gloss: "In the desert, that is, in heaven, which has been deserted by man sinning"; on account of which also that heavenly Jerusalem is called deserted, according to that passage in Galatians 4: "That Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother. For it is written: Rejoice, O barren one who do not bear, for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband": and Isaiah 35: "The desert and the pathless land shall rejoice, and the wilderness shall exult and blossom like a lily," etc.

Fourth, as regards the seeking of the single lost sheep, he adds: And he goes after that which was lost. To save this sheep, namely man, God, the Son of God, came into this world; below in the nineteenth chapter: "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost"; whence First Timothy 1: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners." And Christ did this as a good shepherd: whence Ezekiel 34: "Behold, I myself will seek my sheep and will visit them, as a shepherd visits his flock." - But because the good shepherd does not cease from seeking before salvation, he therefore adds: Until he finds it. Now this sheep is found by Christ when it is freed from perdition by his blood, according to Deuteronomy 32: "The Lord alone was his leader, and there was no strange god with him." "He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror and vast solitude." Now God found lost men with great difficulty, according to Hosea 9: "I found Israel like grapes in the desert and like the first fruits of the fig tree." Whence this shepherd labored even unto death for the finding of his sheep, according to John 10: "The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." On account of which this shepherd was also made a lamb among the sheep, that he might redeem the sheep, according to Isaiah 53: "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer he shall be silent and shall not open his mouth." - Whence also that finding prefigured this finding, by which Abraham, wishing to offer his son, found a ram; Genesis 22: "Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw a ram caught by the horns among the briars, which he offered as a holocaust in place of his son." Therefore all those other sacrifices offered, of sheep as well as of lambs and of goats as well as of rams and calves, signify this: that "Christ entered once into the holy place by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." And this is what it means to say: "He seeks diligently until he finds it."

It is, of course, the essence of Christianity that God loves man and for his sake became man and died. But that does not prove that man is the sole end of nature. In the parable, it was the one lost sheep that the shepherd went in search of:" it was not the only sheep in the flock, and we are not told that it was the most valuable — save in so far as the most desperately in need has, while the need lasts, a peculiar value in the eyes of Love. The doctrine of the Incarnation would conflict with what we know of this vast universe only if we knew also that there were other rational species in it who had, like us, fallen, and who needed redemption in the same mode, and that they had not been vouchsafed it. But we know none of these things. It may be full of life that needs no redemption. It may be full of life that has been redeemed. It may be full of things quite other than life which satisfy the Divine Wisdom in fashions one cannot conceive. We are in no position to draw up maps of God's psychology, and prescribe limits to His interests. We would not do so even for a man whom we knew to be greater than ourselves. The doctrines that God is love and that He delights in men, are positive doctrines, not limiting doctrines. He is not less than this. What more He may be, we do not know; we know only that He must be more than we can conceive.

It is very different for the nasty people—the little, low, timid, warped, thin-blooded, lonely people, or the passionate, sensual, unbalanced people. If they make any attempt at goodness at all, they learn, in double quick time, that they need help. It is Christ or nothing for them. It is taking up the cross and following—or else despair. They are the lost sheep; He came specially to find them.

He says unto them, "What man of you having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go to seek that which is lost. And if it chance to be found, he rejoices in it, He says, more than in those that went not astray." Understand from this, my beloved, the wide extent of the Saviour's kingdom, and the multitude past numbering of His subjects, and the skilful plan of the dispensation towards us. For the sheep, He says, are a hundred, so making the number of His subjects mount up to a multitude complete and altogether perfect. For constantly, so to speak, a hundred is a perfect number, being composed of ten times ten. And we have learnt also from the divinely-inspired Scripture, that a "thousand thousands minister to God, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand around His lofty throne." The sheep therefore are a hundred: and of them one has gone astray, even the family upon earth; which also the chief Shepherd of all sought, having left in the wilderness those ninety and nine. Was it therefore because He had no regard for the many, that mercy was shown to the one only? No! not because He had no regard for them; that were impossible: but because they are in security, guarded by His Almighty hand. It was right therefore that mercy should rather be shown to that which was lost, that evidently nothing might be wanting to that other multitude, but the one being restored thereto, the hundred might regain its beauty.

The search therefore after that which was lost was no act of contempt towards those who had not erred, but one of grace and mercy and love to mankind fit for the supreme and transcendent nature to bestow on His fallen creatures.

We may hence understand the extent of our Saviour's kingdom. For He says there are a hundred sheep, bringing to a perfect sum the number of rational creatures subject to Him. For the number hundred is perfect, being composed of ten decades. But out of these one has wandered, namely, the race of man which inhabits earth.

But was He then angry with the rest, and moved by kindness only to one? By no means. For they are in safety, the right hand of the Most Mighty being their defence. It behoved Him rather to pity the perishing, that the remaining number might not seem imperfect. For the one being brought back, the hundred regains its own proper form.

All very great teachers and leaders have had this habit of assuming their point of view to be one which was human and casual, one which would readily appeal to every passing man. If a man is genuinely superior to his fellows the first thing that he believes in is the equality of man. We can see this, for instance, in that strange and innocent rationality with which Christ addressed any motley crowd that happened to stand about Him. "What man of you having a hundred sheep, and losing one, would not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which was lost?" Or, again, "What man of you if his son ask for bread will he give him a stone, or if he ask for a fish will he give him a serpent?" This plainness, this almost prosaic camaraderie, is the note of all very great minds.

To very great minds the things on which men agree are so immeasurably more important than the things on which they differ, that the latter, for all practical purposes, disappear. They have too much in them of an ancient laughter even to endure to discuss the difference between the hats of two men who were both born of a woman, or between the subtly varied cultures of two men who have both to die.

In Christendom he will never find rest. The perpetual public criticism and public change which is the note of all our history springs from a certain spirit far too deep to be defined. It is deeper than democracy; nay, it may often appear to be non-democratic; for it may often be the special defence of a minority or an individual. It will often leave the ninety-and-nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost. It will often risk the State itself to right a single wrong; and do justice though the heavens fall. Its highest expression is not even in the formula of the great gentlemen of the French Revolution who said that all men were free and equal. Its highest expression is rather in the formula of the peasant who said that a man's a man for a' that. If there were but one slave in England, and he did all the work while the rest of us made merry, this spirit that is in us would still cry aloud to God night and day. Whether or no this spirit was produced by, it clearly works with, a creed which postulates a humanised God and a vividly personal immortality. Men must not be busy merely like a swarm, or even happy merely like a herd; for it is not a question of men, but of a man. A man's meals may be poor, but they must not be bestial; there must always be that about the meal which permits of its comparison to the sacrament. A man's bed may be hard, but it must not be abject or unclean: there must always be about the bed something of the decency of the death-bed.

This is the spirit which makes the Christian poor begin their terrible murmur whenever there is a turn of prices or a deadlock of toil that threatens them with vagabondage or pauperisation; and we cannot encourage the Dean with any hope that this spirit can be cast out.

The Church did, in an evil hour, consent to imitate the commonwealth and employ cruelty. But if we open our eyes and take in the whole picture, if we look at the general shape and colour of the thing, the real difference between the Church and the State is huge and plain. The State, in all lands and ages, has created a machinery of punishment, more bloody and brutal in some places than others, but bloody and brutal everywhere. The Church is the only institution that ever attempted to create a machinery of pardon. The Church is the only thing that ever attempted by system to pursue and discover crimes, not in order to avenge, but in order to forgive them. The stake and rack were merely the weaknesses of the religion; its snobberies, its surrenders to the world. Its speciality--or, if you like, its oddity--was this merciless mercy; the unrelenting sleuthhound who seeks to save and not slay.

The heart of the true Middle Ages might be found far better, for instance, in the noble tale of Tannhauser, in which the dead staff broke into leaf and flower to rebuke the pontiff who had declared even one human being beyond the strength of sorrow and pardon.

But one sheep was lost when man, by sinning, abandoned the pastures of life. He left the ninety-nine sheep in the desert because he left those supreme choirs of angels in heaven. But why is heaven called a desert, unless because desert means abandoned? For man abandoned heaven when he sinned. The ninety-nine sheep remained in the desert while the Lord was seeking one on earth, because the number of rational creatures, namely of angels and men, which had been created to see God, was diminished by the perishing of man, and so that the perfect sum of sheep might be made whole in heaven, lost man was being sought on earth. For what this evangelist calls "in the desert," another says "in the mountains," to signify in the heights, because indeed the sheep that had not perished stood in the lofty places.

(in Hom. 34. in Evang.) One sheep then perished when man by sinning left the pastures of life. But in the wilderness the ninety and nine remained, because the number of the rational creatures, that is to say of Angels and men who were formed to see God, was lessened when man perished; and hence it follows, Does he not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, because in truth he left the companies of the Angels in heaven. But man then forsook heaven when he sinned. And that the whole body of the sheep might be perfectly made up again in heaven, the lost man was sought for on earth; as it follows, And go after that &c.

Now the Pythagoreans make the following statements: that the universe consists of a Monad and Duad, and that by reckoning from a monad as far as four they thus generate a decade. And again, a duad coming forth as far as the remarkable (letter),-for instance, two and four and six,-exhibited the (number) twelve. And again, if we reckon from the duad to the decade, thirty is produced; and in this are comprised the ogdoad, and decade, and dodecade. And therefore, on account of its having the remarkable (letter), the dodecade has concomitant with it a remarkable passion. And for this reason (they maintain) that when an error had arisen respecting the twelfth number, the sheep skipped from the flock and wandered away; for that the apostasy took place, they say, in like manner from the decade. And with a similar reference to the dodecade, they speak of the piece of money which, on losing, a woman, having lit a candle, searched for diligently. (And they make a similar application) of the loss (sustained) in the case of the one sheep out of the ninety and nine; and adding these one into the other, they give a fabulous account of numbers. And in this way, they affirm, when the eleven is multiplied into nine, that it produces the number ninety and nine; and on this account that it is said that the word Amen embraces the number ninety-nine. And in regard of another number they express themselves in this manner: that the letter Eta along with the remarkable one constitutes all ogdoad, as it is situated in the eighth place from Alpha. Then, again, computing the number of these elements without the remarkable (letter), and adding them together up to Eta, they exhibit the number thirty. For any one beginning from the Alpha to the Eta will, after subtracting the remarkable (letter), discover the number of the elements to be the number thirty. Since, therefore, the number thirty is unified from the three powers; when multiplied thrice into itself it produced ninety, for thrice thirty is ninety, (and this triad when multiplied into itself produced nine). In this way the Ogdoad brought forth the number ninety-nine from the first Ogdoad, and Decade, and Dodecade. And at one time they collect the number of this (trio) into an entire sum, and produce a triacontad; whereas at another time they subtract twelve, and reckon it at eleven. And in like manner, (they subtract) ten and make it nine. And connecting these one into the other, and multiplying them tenfold, they complete the number ninety-nine. Since, however, the twelfth Aeon, having left the eleven (Aeons above), and departing downwards, withdrew, they allege that even this is correlative (with the letters). For the figure of the letters teaches (us as much). For L is placed eleventh of the letters, and this L is the number thirty. And (they say) that this is placed according to an image of the dispensation above; since from Alpha, irrespective of the remarkable (letter), the number of the letters themselves, added together up to L, according to the augmentation of the letters with the L itself, produces the number ninety-nine. But that the L, situated in the eleventh (of the alphabet), came down to search after the number similar to itself, in order that it might fill up the twelfth number, and that when it was discovered it was filled up, is manifest from the shape itself of the letter. For Lambda, when it attained unto, as it were, the investigation of what is similar to itself, and when it found such and snatched it away, filled up the place of the twelfth, the letter M, which is composed of two Lambdas. And for this reason (it was) that these (adherents of Marcus), through their knowledge, avoid the place of the ninety-nine, that is, the Hysterema, a type of the left hand, and follow after the one which, added to ninety-nine, they say was transferred to his own right hand.

All therefore speak falsely who disallow his (Adam's) salvation, shutting themselves out from life for ever, in that they do not believe that the sheep which had perished has been found. For if it has not been found, the whole human race is still held in a state of perdition.

Blending in one the production of their own Aeons, and the straying and recovery of the sheep [spoken of in the Gospel], these persons endeavour to set forth things in a more mystical style, while they refer everything to numbers, maintaining that the universe has been formed out of a Monad and a Dyad. And then, reckoning from unity on to four, they thus generate the Decad. For when one, two, three, and four are added together, they give rise to the number of the ten Aeons. And, again, the Dyad advancing from itself [by twos] up to six-two, and four, and six-brings out the Duodecad. Once more, if we reckon in the same way up to ten, the number thirty appears, m which are found eight, and ten, and twelve. They therefore term the Duodecad-because it contains the Episemon, and because the Episemon [so to speak] waits upon it-the passion. And for this reason, because an error occurred in connection with the twelfth number, the sheep frisked off, and went astray; for they assert that a defection took place from the Duodecad.

Moreover, that Achamoth wandered beyond the Pleroma, and received form from Christ, and was sought after by the Saviour, they declare that He indicated when He said, that He had come after that sheep which was gone astray. For they explain the wandering sheep to mean their mother, by whom they represent the Church as having been sown. The wandering itself denotes her stay outside of the Pleroma in a state of varied passion, from which they maintain that matter derived its origin.

When one ailing sheep lags behind the others And loses itself in the sylvan mazes, Tearing its white fleece on the thorns and briers, Sharp in the brambles, Unwearied the Shepherd, that lost one seeking, Drives away the wolves and on his strong shoulders Brings it home again to the fold's safekeeping, Healed and unsullied. He brings it back to the green fields and meadows, Where no thorn bush waves with its cruel prickles, Where no shaggy thistle arms trembling branches With its tough briars. But where palm trees grow in the open woodland, Where the lush grass bends its green leaves, and laurels Shade the glassy streamlet of living water Ceaselessly flowing.

There is a breadth of patience in our Lord's parables, the patience of the shepherd that makes him seek and find the straying sheep. Impatience would readily take no account of a single sheep, but patience undertakes the wearisome search. He carries it on his shoulders as a patient bearer of a forsaken sinner.

What then does the Lord do? He was merciful both toward the tax collectors and toward those very ones who reproached His mercy. He does not turn away even from these, as from incurable murmurers, but with gentleness He heals them, telling them the parable of the sheep, and from a real and vivid example persuading and restraining them from being vexed at such an outpouring of goodness. The parable, evidently, by the ninety-nine sheep means the righteous, and by the one sheep, the fallen sinner. But some understand the hundred sheep as all rational creatures, and the one sheep as man of rational nature, whom, when he had gone astray, the good shepherd sought out, leaving the ninety-nine in the wilderness, that is, in the higher, heavenly place. For heaven, far removed from worldly turmoil and filled with all peace and stillness, is a wilderness.

Let us rejoice that the sheep that had strayed in Adam is lifted on Christ. The shoulders of Christ are the arms of the cross. There, I laid down my sins. I rested on the neck of that noble yoke. The sheep is one in kind, not in appearance, because "we are all one body" but many members. It is written, "You are the body of Christ, and members individually." "The Son of man came to seek and save what was lost." He sought all, because "as in Adam all men die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."

And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. He laid the sheep on his shoulders because, taking on human nature, He Himself bore our sins.

And when he has found it. After the anxiety of sorrow for the lost sheep, there follows here the greatness of joy for the sheep that has been found, concerning which three things are introduced, namely private exultation, public congratulation, and the principally intended conclusion.

First, therefore, as regards the private exultation over the sheep that was found, he says: And when he has found it, he lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing. "These shoulders," as Ambrose says, "are the arms of the cross"; "there," he says, "I laid down my sins, upon that noble neck of the gibbet I found rest." Upon these shoulders, therefore, he placed the lost sheep, because there he bore our sins; whence Isaiah fifty-three: "Surely he himself has borne our griefs, and he himself has carried our sorrows"; and First Peter two: "Who himself bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, that being dead to sins, we might live unto justice." And this is what Bede says: "He placed the sheep upon his shoulders, because, taking on human nature, he himself bore our sins." And he bore our sins on the cross, and he bore the cross on his shoulders, according to that passage of Isaiah nine: "The government was made upon his shoulder"; and Isaiah twenty-two: "I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder."

Upon this shoulder, rejoicing, he carried us on account of the greatest charity which he himself had for our liberation: Isaiah forty: "Like a shepherd he will feed his flock, in his arm he will gather the lambs"; "the ewes with young he himself will carry." And this with the greatest joy, according to that passage of the last chapter of Isaiah: "You shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom his mother caresses, so I also will comfort you." "You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass."

(Hom. de Mul. Pecc.) But when the shepherd had found the sheep, he did not punish it, he did not get it to the flock by driving it, but by placing it upon his shoulder, and carrying it gently, he united it to his flock. Hence it follows, And when he hath found it, he layeth it upon his shoulders rejoicing.

And when he finds the sheep, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. He placed the sheep on his shoulders because by taking on human nature he himself bore our sins.

(in Hom. 34.) He placed the sheep upon his shoulders, for taking man's nature upon Him he bore our sins.

There is a breadth of patience in our Lord's parables, the patience of the shepherd that makes him seek and find the straying sheep. Impatience would readily take no account of a single sheep, but patience undertakes the wearisome search. He carries it on his shoulders as a patient bearer of a forsaken sinner.

The Lord, having found this lost sheep, laid it on His shoulders. For "He bore our infirmities" and sins (Isa. 53:4), and without being burdened He took upon Himself all our loads; He paid all that we owed, and easily and without labor He saved us and brought us to His very home, that is, to heaven.

And coming home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Having found the sheep, he returned home, because our Shepherd returned to the heavenly kingdom after restoring man. There he found friends and neighbors, namely those choirs of angels. Who are his friends, because they continually keep his will in their stability. They are also his neighbors, because they enjoy the brightness of his vision with their constant presence. And note that he does not say, Rejoice with the found sheep, but Rejoice with me, because our life is his joy, and when we are led back to heaven, we fulfill the solemnity of his joy.

Secondly, with regard to the public rejoicing, he adds: And coming home, he calls together his friends and neighbors. This house is the heavenly Jerusalem, of which Isaiah 60: "I will glorify the house of my majesty"; and John 14: "In my Father's house there are many mansions." Into this house Christ came at the ascension, concerning which coming Isaiah 63: "Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?" Into this he carries the sheep, because, as is said in Ephesians 4, "ascending on high, he led captivity captive." And there he calls together the Angels, who are called friends on account of their familiarity in knowing secrets; for this is a sign of friendship; John 15: "But I have called you friends," etc.; and neighbors, on account of their nearness in sharing consolations: whence Matthew 18: "Their angels in heaven always behold the face of the Father who is in heaven." The Lord calls these together to rejoice in harmony over the salvation of men: whence he also adds: Saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep, which was lost. He says this as though giving them matter for rejoicing over the attainment of so great a benefit and of the charitable love which God showed to man; whence the Eternal Wisdom says in Proverbs 8: "My delights were to be with the sons of men." Whence Bede: "He does not say: Rejoice with the sheep that was found, but with me, because his joy is our life." Whence also in the expression of this most magnificent joy, the joyful recovery of the human race is called a nuptial joy, over which the heavenly citizens exult: Apocalypse 19: "I heard a voice as the voice of many Angels saying: Alleluia." "Let us rejoice and exult and give glory to God, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and the wife of the Lamb has prepared herself." For the Lamb espouses to himself the holy Church gathered from sinners, and the Lamb has the little sheep recovered.

And coming home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost." Having found the sheep, he returns home because our Shepherd, having restored man, returned to the heavenly kingdom. There he finds friends and neighbors, namely those choirs of angels who are his friends because they continuously guard his will in their steadfastness. They are also his neighbors because they perpetually enjoy the brightness of his vision through their constant presence. And it should be noted that he does not say "Rejoice with the sheep that was found," but "with me," because indeed our life is his joy, and when we are led back to heaven, we fulfill the celebration of his gladness.

(in Hom. 34.) But having found the sheep, he returns home; for our Shepherd having restored man, returns to his heavenly kingdom. And hence it follows, And coming he collects together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. (1 Pet. 2:24, Isai. 53.) By His friends and neighbours He means the companies of Angels, who are His friends because they are keeping His will in their own stedfastness; they are also His neighbours, because by their own constant waiting upon Him they enjoy the brightness of His sight.

(in Hom. 34.) And we must observe that He says not, "Rejoice with the sheep that is found," but with me, because truly our life is His joy, and when we are brought home to heaven we fill up the festivity of His joy.

After Thee do I run, and Thy converse do I seek: that in me may be completed that number of a hundred, by means of a lost one which is found.

And "He calls together His friends and neighbors," perhaps the Angels, whom we also understood as the sheep, in a twofold sense. Since, on the one hand, every created being in relation to God is, as it were, without reason, the Heavenly Powers can be called sheep. But since, on the other hand, they are rational, that is, endowed with reason, and appear to be nearer to God than the rest of creation, the ranks of the angelic Powers can be understood as friends and neighbors.

The heavenly powers thus are called sheep, because every created nature as compared with God is as the beasts, but inasmuch as it is rational, they are called friends and neighbours.

Now the angels, inasmuch as they are intelligent beings, do not unreasonably rejoice at the redemption of men, as it follows, I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. Let this serve as an incentive to goodness, for a man to believe that his conversion will be pleasing to the assembled angels, whose favour he ought to court, or whose displeasure to fear.

Do thou, therefore, so judge as executing judgment for God. For, as the Scripture says, "the judgment is the Lord's." In the first place, therefore, condemn the guilty person with authority; afterwards try to bring him home with mercy and compassion, and readiness to receive him, promising him salvation if he will change his course of life, and become a penitent; and when he does repent, and has submitted to his chastisement, receive him: remembering that our Lord has said, "There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth."

For we are all among the blameworthy. Let us still pray for them more earnestly, for there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, that, being converted from every evil work, they may be joined to all good practice; that God, the lover of mankind, will suddenly accept their petitions, will restore to them the joy of His salvation, and strengthen them with His free Spirit; that they may not be any more shaken, but be admitted to the communion of His most holy things, and become partakers of His divine mysteries, that appearing worthy of His adoption, they may obtain eternal life.

If any bishop or presbyter does not receive him that returns from his sin, but rejects him, let him be deprived; because he grieves Christ, who says, "There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth."

I tell you that there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons who do not need repentance. There will be more joy in heaven over converted sinners than over just persons standing still, because often those who know they are not oppressed by the weight of sins indeed stand in the path of righteousness, commit no unlawful deeds, yet do not long anxiously for the heavenly homeland. And they allow themselves to use lawful things as much as they remember not committing any unlawful acts, and often they remain sluggish in performing the foremost good deeds because they are very secure in that they have committed no grievous evils. But on the other hand, sometimes those who remember having committed some unlawful acts burn with love for God from their very sorrow, and strive in great virtues. There is therefore more joy in heaven over a converted sinner than over a standing just one, because even a leader in battle loves more the soldier who, after fleeing, returns and strikes the enemy bravely than the one who never turned his back and never did anything valiantly. But among these things, it must be known that there are many just ones in whose life there is so much joy that no repentance of sinners can in any way be placed before them. For many are aware of no evil within themselves, and yet they exercise themselves in the affliction of such great fervor, as if they were anguished by all sins, reject even all lawful things, are sublimely girded for the contempt of the world, rejoice in lamentations, humble themselves in all ways; and just as some bewail the sins of their works, so these lament the sins of their thoughts. Hence it must be concluded how much joy it brings to God when the just humbly mourn, if it makes joy in heaven when the unjust condemns through repentance what he has wrongly committed.

Thirdly, with regard to the conclusion principally intended, he adds: I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner doing penance; Isaiah 49: "Praise, O heavens, and exult, O earth; shout forth praise, O mountains, because the Lord has consoled his people and will have mercy on his poor ones."

Great is the joy, because it is a greater thing to heal the sick than to preserve the healthy; and therefore he adds: Than over ninety-nine righteous ones, who have no need of repentance. This however is said, not because the penitent sinner is better than the ninety-nine righteous, but because in the redemption of the human race God wrought greater things than in the preservation of the entire heavenly multitude; because this is manifesting of greater power, greater wisdom, and greater mercy: of greater power, because it is a greater thing to justify the ungodly than to create heaven and earth; of greater wisdom, because, Job twenty-six, "by his understanding he struck the proud one"; of greater clemency or mercy: whence above in the first chapter: "Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high has visited us." For greater was the condescension in Christ, greater also the exaltation of the human race, according to that word of the Psalm: "For your magnificence is elevated above the heavens." Whence this is understood with respect to the cause of our repentance, namely the redemption of the human race, in which there is greater matter for joy than in all other works of God.

If however it is understood of any individual sinner, then it is understood because the joy is more novel, or because the sinner is frequently more fervent than the righteous one. Whence Gregory in the Moralia: "Certain ones are strengthened in the service of God from some prior weakness, and the desire for future things draws them to keeping the commandments, and the memory of past things impels them." Whence this does not refer to all sinners nor to all the righteous, but to sinners who are fervent after conversion and to the righteous who are tepid. Whence Gregory also gives an example, and Bede in the Gloss: "Greater is the joy over the sinner than over the righteous one who stands firm: just as a commander in battle loves that soldier more who, having returned after flight, vigorously presses the enemy, than the one who never fled and never acted valiantly." Or, this is said by reason of the confusion of the adversaries, according to that word of Isaiah nine: "They shall rejoice before you, as those who rejoice in the harvest, as victors exult when the spoil is taken, when they divide the plunder," etc.

Again, the Lord clearly shows sins and transgressions to be in our own power, by prescribing modes of cure corresponding to the maladies; showing His wish that we should be corrected by the shepherds, in Ezekiel; blaming, I am of opinion, some of them for not keeping the commandments. "That which was enfeebled ye have not strengthened," and so forth, down to, "and there was none to search out or turn away." For "great is the joy before the Father when one sinner is saved," saith the Lord. So Abraham was much to be praised, because "he walked as the Lord spake to him." Drawing from this instance, one of the wise men among the Greeks uttered the maxim, "Follow God." "The godly," says Esaias, "framed wise counsels." Now counsel is seeking for the right way of acting in present circumstances, and good counsel is wisdom in our counsels. And what? Does not God, after the pardon bestowed on Cain, suitably not long after introduce Enoch, who had repented? showing that it is the nature of repentance to produce pardon; but pardon does not consist in remission, but in remedy.

the angels being lost in wonder were taught by their own eyes through man the glory and the power and the greatness and the wisdom and the goodness of the one and only God, and that all the elements and what had been brought into existence after themselves had been prepared before on account of man. With alacrity therefore did they obediently serve and minister in moving everything that conduced to assist the image of God as being themselves members thereof, whence again they greatly rejoice over the welldoing and the righteousness of men, but are on the other hand greatly distressed by his evil-doing and by his sinning, as saith also the Lord himself: For there is great joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.

since man is the bond which unites the whole creation, and is also the image of God, the dispensation under which he lives is a school for his own instruction, and for that of all rational beings. For when he had sinned and had received the sentence of death, these other beings began to lament, deeming all hope to be lost both for themselves and for the universe; but when again they saw that God cared for him, they were led to conceive a good hope both for him and for themselves. This, moreover, the Lord declares in the Gospels when he says: There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, as on the other hand it is clear there is sorrow when any one sins.

But I wonder that some are so obstinate as to think that repentance is not to be granted to the lapsed, or to suppose that pardon is to be denied to the penitent, when it is written, "Remember whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works," which certainly is said to him who evidently has fallen, and whom the Lord exhorts to rise up again by his works, because it is written, "Alms do deliver from death," and not, assuredly, from that death which once the blood of Christ extinguished, and from which the saving grace of baptism and of our Redeemer has delivered us, but from that which subsequently creeps in through sins. Moreover, in another place time is granted for repentance; and the Lord threatens him that does not repent: "I have," saith He, "many things against thee, because thou sufferest thy wife Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols; and I gave her a space to repent, and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds; " whom certainly the Lord would not exhort to repentance, if it were not that He promises mercy to them that repent. And in the Gospel He says, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance." For since it is written, "God did not make death, neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living," assuredly He who wills that none should perish, desires that sinners should repent, and by repentance should return again to life. Thus also He cries by Joel the prophet, and says, "And now, thus saith the Lord your God, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your heart, and not your garments, and return unto the Lord your God; for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil appointed." In the Psalms, also, we read as well the rebuke as the clemency of God, threatening at the same time as He spares, punishing that He may correct; and when He has corrected, preserving. "I will visit," He says, "their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from them."

We can estimate the joy of that day from our own feelings. For if, in this place, the whole number of the brethren rejoiced at your letter which you sent concerning their confession, and received this tidings of common rejoicing with the greatest alacrity, what must have been the joy there when the matter itself, and the general gladness, was carried on tinder the eyes of all? For since the Lord in His Gospel says that there is the highest "joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," how much greater is the joy in earth, no less than in heaven, over confessors who return with their glory and with praise to the Church of God, and make a way of returning for others by the faith and approval of their example? For this error had led away certain of our brethren, so that they thought they were following the communion of confessors. When this error was removed, light was infused into the breasts of all, and the Catholic Church has been shown to be one, and to be able neither to be cut nor divided. Nor can any one now be easily deceived by the talkative words of a raging schismatic, since it has been proved that good and glorious soldiers of Christ could not long be detained without the Church by the deceitfulness and perfidy of others. I bid you, dearest brother, ever heartily farewell.

I tell you that thus there will be joy in heaven over one sinner doing penance, more than over ninety-nine just who have no need of penance. We must consider, my brothers, why the Lord declares there is more joy in heaven over converted sinners than over the just who stand firm, unless it is what we ourselves know through daily experience of observation: that very often those who know themselves weighed down by no burden of sins do indeed stand in the way of justice, commit no unlawful acts, yet do not anxiously long for the heavenly homeland, and grant themselves as much use of lawful things as they remember having committed no unlawful ones. And very often they remain sluggish in practicing the highest goods, because they are quite secure in themselves that they have committed no graver evils. But on the contrary, sometimes those who remember having done certain unlawful things, pierced with compunction by their very grief, burn ardently with love of God, and exercise themselves in great virtues, seek out all the difficulties of holy struggle, abandon all worldly things, flee honors, rejoice when insults are received, burn with desire, long for the heavenly homeland; and because they consider that they have strayed from God, they compensate for preceding losses with subsequent gains. Therefore there is greater joy in heaven over a converted sinner than over a just person standing firm, because a commander in battle also loves more that soldier who, returning after flight, vigorously presses the enemy, than the one who never showed his back, and never performed any deed of valor. So too the farmer loves more that land which after thorns brings forth abundant crops, than that which never had thorns and never produces a fertile harvest.

But amid these things it must be known that there are many righteous persons in whose life there is such joy that no repentance of sinners can in any way be preferred to them. For many are conscious of no evils in themselves, and yet they exert themselves in such ardent affliction as if they were constrained by all sins. They reject even all lawful things, they gird themselves nobly for contempt of the world, they refuse to allow themselves anything whatsoever, they cut off from themselves even permitted goods, they despise visible things, they are inflamed by invisible things, they rejoice in lamentations, they humble themselves in all things; and just as some bewail sins of deeds, so these bewail sins of thoughts. What then shall I call these, except both righteous and penitent, who humble themselves in repentance for sins of thought, and always persevere upright in deed? From this therefore it must be gathered how great a joy the righteous person makes for God when he humbly mourns, if the unrighteous person makes joy in heaven when he condemns through repentance what he has done wickedly.

(ubi sup.) But he allows there is more joy in heaven over the converted sinner, than over the just who remain stedfast; for the latter for the most part, not feeling themselves oppressed by the weight of their sins, stand indeed in the way of righteousness, but still do not anxiously sigh after the heavenly country, frequently being slow to perform good works, from their confidence in themselves that they have committed no grievous sins. But, on the other hand, sometimes those who remember certain iniquities that they have committed, being pricked to the heart, from their very grief grow inflamed towards the love of God; and because they consider they have wandered from God, make up for their former losses by the succeeding gains. Greater then is the joy in heaven, just as the leader in battle loves that soldier more who having turned from flight, bravely pursues the enemy, than him who never turned his back and never did a brave act. So the husbandman rather loves that land which after bearing thorns yields abundant fruit, than that which never had thorns, and never gave him a plentiful crop. But in the mean time we must be aware that there are very many just men in whose life there is so much joy, that no penitence of sinners however great can in any way be preferred to them. Whence we may gather what great joy it causes to God when the just man humbly mourns, if it produces joy in heaven when the unrighteous by his repentance condemns the evil that he has done.

We are naturally obliged to state our opinion clearly to such people, and to reply: O, you! Why do you reason to your own perdition rather than your salvation? And why do you pick out for yourselves the obscure passages of inspired Scripture and then tear them out of context and twist them in order to accomplish your own destruction? Do you not hear the Savior crying out every day: "As I live … I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live" [Ezekiel 33:11]? Do you not hear Him Who says: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" [Matthew 3:2]; and again: "Just so, I tell you, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:7, adapted)? Did He ever say to some: "Do not repent for I will not accept you," while to others who were predestined: "But you, repent! because I knew you beforehand"? Of course not! Instead, throughout the world and in every church He shouts: "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" [Matthew 11:28]. Come, He says, all you who are burdened with many sins, to the One Who takes away the sin of the world; come all who thirst to the fountain which flows and never dies. - "Second Ethical Discourse"

The heavens, and the angels who are there, are glad at a man's repentance. Ho! you sinner, be of good cheer! you see where it is that there is joy at your return.

For if over one sheep, an irrational creature not created in the image of God, when it is found after being lost, there is so much joy, then how much more should there be joy over a rational man, created in the image of God?

The price of the soul is faith. Faith is the lost drachma that the woman in the Gospel seeks diligently. We read that she lit a candle and swept her house. After finding it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, inviting them to rejoice with her because she has found the drachma that she had lost. The damage to the soul is great if one has lost the faith or the grace that he has gained for himself at the price of faith. Light your lamp. "Your lamp is your eye," that is, the interior eye of the soul. Light the lamp that feeds on the oil of the spirit and shines throughout your whole house. Search for the drachma, the redemption of your soul. If a person loses this, he is troubled, and if he finds it, he rejoices.

(de Quæst. Ev. lib. 2. qu. 33.) Or by the nine pieces of silver, as by the ninety and nine sheep, He represents those who trusting in themselves, prefer themselves to sinners returning to salvation. For there is one wanting to nine to make it ten, and to ninety-nine to make it a hundred. To one He assigns all who are reconciled by repentance.

Or what woman having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and search diligently until she finds it? He who is signified by the shepherd, he also is signified by the woman. For He Himself is God, He Himself is the Wisdom of God. And because the image is expressed on the drachma, the woman lost the drachma when man, who had been created in the image of God, by sinning departed from the likeness of his Creator. But the woman lights a lamp because the wisdom of God appeared in humanity. Indeed, the lamp is light in a vessel. The light in the vessel is divinity in flesh. When the lamp is lit, the house is swept, for as soon as His divinity shone through the flesh, our whole conscience was shaken. The house is swept when human conscience is disturbed by considering its own guilt; when the house is swept, the drachma is found, because as the conscience of man is disturbed, the likeness of the Creator is restored in man.

Or what woman etc. After the parable of the shepherd and his sheep, there follows here the parable of the woman and the drachmas; in which indeed under the metaphor of the drachma there is manifested the mercy of God toward man, and this in four ways, namely toward man as created, toward man as fallen, toward man as restored, toward man as justified.

First, therefore, as regards the loving-kindness of God with respect to man as created, he says: Or what woman having ten drachmas. This woman is divine wisdom, who is called woman because she is to be loved as a most beautiful bride; the Wise Man, speaking of wisdom in Wisdom eight, says: "Her I loved and sought out from my youth, and I sought to take her as my bride, and I became a lover of her beauty." She is called woman, however, not from the weakness of sex, but from the loving-kindness of divine affection and mercy, by reason of which God compares himself to maternal affection: Isaiah forty-nine: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?" etc. And therefore Wisdom says of herself in Sirach twenty-four: "I am the mother of fair love" etc. Whence, since the wisdom of God is most powerful, most beautiful, most provident, and also most merciful, she is given to be understood through the strong woman, according to what is said in the last chapter of Proverbs: "Who shall find a strong woman," that is, wisdom, which "reaches mightily" etc.; through the strong and good and beautiful woman: Sirach twenty-six: "As the sun rising upon the world"; through the provident woman: Proverbs fourteen: "The wise woman builds her house," that is, wisdom; through the pious woman, as in this parable. Whence the Gloss: "The woman, that is, the wisdom of God, had ten drachmas when she created men and Angels." The drachma, however, is the rational creature, marked with the divine image; whence the Gloss: "The drachma is a coin of a certain value, bearing the image of the king." Such a coin is man, of whom it is said in Genesis one: "Let us make man in our image and likeness"; whence also Sirach seventeen: "God created man from the earth and made him according to his own image." Such a coin is the angelic spirit: whence Ezekiel twenty-eight: "You were the seal of his likeness, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; you were in the delights of the paradise of God." Therefore the ten drachmas are the nine orders of Angels and the tenth of men, for the completion of the whole universe, because within the number ten the universality of numbers is enclosed; whence also in it there is a certain completeness of numbers. Whence Bede: "The woman had ten drachmas when man was added as the tenth to the nine orders of Angels, so that the number of the elect might be completed." In this, therefore, the loving-kindness of God toward the rational creature as created appears, as toward a thing marked with his own image.

Second, as regards the compassion of God with respect to fallen man, he adds: And if she lose one drachma, namely in man's transgression. For this lost drachma is human nature: whence the Gloss: "The woman, that is, the wisdom of God, had ten drachmas when she created men and Angels in her own image; but she lost one when man departed from the likeness of the Creator." Whence, because man is the tenth after the nine orders of Angels, he is rightly understood by the tenth drachma. Hence it is that, to prefigure the liberation of mankind, God commanded the tithe to be offered to himself. Hence also it is that ten commandments were given to him, through which, as through certain steps, he might ascend all the way to God. Hence also it is that, in the prefiguration of the Incarnation, the sun is said to have gone back ten lines, as is said in the twentieth chapter of Fourth Kings; for the sun went back ten lines when God descended beyond the Angels all the way to man, who is the tenth. Hence also it is that the denarius is the wage of all those laboring in the vineyard of the householder: Matthew twenty, "When he had agreed," etc. Rightly therefore the lost tenth designates fallen human nature.

Toward this lost drachma, divine wisdom has compassion from mercy; on account of which he adds: Does she not light a lamp, in the Incarnation. A lamp is a light in an earthen vessel, that is, God in human flesh: whence the Gloss: "The wisdom of God lit a lamp for seeking when she appeared in the flesh, because a lamp is a light in an earthen vessel, that is, the Word in flesh"; Of this lamp it is said in the Psalm: "There I shall make the horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for my Christ." Whence, concerning the lighting of this lamp, it is said in John one: "The Word was God"; "it was the true light, which enlightens every man"; and afterward: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Nor only this, but she also overturns the house, namely in preaching: the Gloss: "She overturns the house, because she disturbed the consciences of men concerning their guilt." And this pertains to preachers; whence it is said in Zephaniah one: "I will search Jerusalem with lamps and I will visit upon the men who are settled on their dregs."

And she seeks diligently until she finds it, in our redemption: whence Wisdom six: "She goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she shows herself to them cheerfully in the ways, and meets them with all providence." Whence also that word of the Psalm befits her: "If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob," etc.

This second parable compares what was lost to a drachma. It is as one out of ten, a perfect number and of a sum complete in the accounting. The number ten also is perfect, being the close of the series from the unit upwards. This parable clearly shows that we are in the royal likeness and image, even that of God over all. I suppose the drachma is the denarius on which is stamped the royal likeness. We, who had fallen and had been lost, have been found by Christ and transformed by holiness and righteousness into his image.…A search was made for that which had fallen, so the woman lighted a lamp.… By the light, what was lost is saved, and there is joy for the powers above. They rejoice even in one sinner that repents, as he who knows all things has taught us. They keep a festival over one who is saved, united with the divine purpose, and never cease to praise the Savior's gentleness. What great joy must fill them when all beneath heaven is saved and Christ calls them by faith to acknowledge the truth? They put off the pollution of sin and freed their necks from the bonds of death. They have escaped from the blame of their wandering and fall! We gain all these things in Christ.

(lib. de Virgin. c. 12.) Or else; this I suppose is what our Lord sets before us in the search after the lost piece of silver, that no advantage attaches to us from the external virtues which He calls pieces of silver, although all of them be ours, as long as that one is lacking to the widowed soul, by which in truth it obtains the brightness of the Divine image. Wherefore He first bids us light a candle, that is to say, the divine word which brings hidden things to light, or perhaps the torch of repentance. But in his own house, that is, in himself and his own conscience, must a man seek for the lost piece of silver, that is, the royal image, which is not entirely defaced, but is hid under the dirt, which signifies its corruption of the flesh, and this being diligently wiped away, that is, washed out by a well-spent life, that which was sought for shines forth. Therefore ought she who has found it to rejoice, and to call to partake of her joy the neighbours, (that is, the companion virtues,) reason, desire, and anger, and whatever powers are observed round the soul, which she teaches to rejoice in the Lord. Then concluding the parable, He adds, There is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth.

There follows: "Or what woman having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does she not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and search diligently until she finds the drachma she had lost?" He who is signified by the shepherd is also signified by the woman. For He Himself is God, He Himself is also the wisdom of God. And because an image is imprinted on a drachma, the woman lost a drachma when man, who had been created in the image of God, by sinning departed from the likeness of his Creator. But the woman lit a lamp, because the wisdom of God appeared in humanity. For a lamp is a light in an earthen vessel: and a light in an earthen vessel is divinity in flesh. Concerning which earthen vessel of His body, Wisdom Himself says: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd." For because a potsherd is hardened in fire, His strength dried up like a potsherd, because He strengthened the flesh He had assumed unto the glory of resurrection through the tribulation of His passion. And when the lamp was lit, she swept the house, because as soon as His divinity shone forth through the flesh, our whole conscience was shaken. For the house is swept when the human conscience is disturbed by consideration of its own guilt. This word "swept" does not disagree with what is read in other manuscripts as "cleansed," because indeed a wicked mind, unless it is first overturned through fear, is not cleansed of its accustomed vices. Therefore, with the house swept, the drachma is found, because when the conscience of man is disturbed, the likeness of the Creator is restored in man.

(Hom. 34. in Ev.) He who is signified by the shepherd, is also by the woman. For it is God Himself, God and the wisdom of God, but the Lord has formed the nature of angels and men to know Him, and has created them after His likeness. The woman then had ten pieces of silver, because there are nine orders of angels, but that the number of the elect might be filled up, man the tenth was created.

(ut sup.) And because there is an image impressed on the piece of silver, the woman lost the piece of silver when man (who was created after the image of God) by sinning departed from the likeness of his Creator. And this is what is added, If she lose one piece, doth she not light a candle. The woman lighted a candle because the wisdom of God appeared in man. For the candle is a light in an earthen vessel, but the light in an earthen vessel is the Godhead in the flesh. But the candle being lit, it follows, And disturbs (evertit) the house. Because verily no sooner had his Divinity shone forth through the flesh, than all our consciences were appalled. Which word of disturbance differs not from that which is read in other manuscripts, sweeps, (everrit) because the corrupt mind if it be not first overthrown through fear, is not cleansed from its habitual faults. But when the house is broken up, the piece of silver is found, for it follows, And seeks diligently till she find it; for truly when the conscience of man is disturbed, the likeness of the Creator is restored in man.

And for this reason, because an error occurred in connection with the twelfth number, the sheep frisked off, and went astray; for they assert that a defection took place from the Duodecad. In the same way they oracularly declare, that one power having departed also from the Duodecad, has perished; and this was represented by the woman who lost the drachma, and, lighting a lamp, again found it. Thus, therefore, the numbers that were left, viz., nine, as respects the pieces of money, and eleven in regard to the sheep, when multiplied together, give birth to the number ninety-nine, for nine times eleven are ninety-nine.

The woman, again, who sweeps the house and finds the piece of money, they declare to denote the Sophia above, who, having lost her enthymesis, afterwards recovered it, on all things being purified by the advent of the Saviour. Wherefore this substance also, according to them, was reinstated in Pleroma.

(non occ.) By the preceding parable, in which the race of mankind was spoken of as a wandering sheep, we were shown to be the creatures of the most high God, who has made us, and not we ourselves, and we are the sheep of his pasture. (Ps. 95:7.) But now is added a second parable, in which the race of man is compared to a piece of silver which was lost, by which he shows that we were made according to the royal likeness and image, that is to say, of the most high God. For the piece of silver is a coin having the impress of the king's image, as it is said, Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one, &c.

For the mind being cleansed by laborious exercises from the distracting thoughts which darken it, quickly perceives the truth; as the widow in the Gospels found the piece of money after she had swept the house and cast out the dirt, that is, the passions which obscure and cloud the mind, which increase in us from our luxuriousness and carelessness.

The old woman (in the Gospel) had lost one of her ten pieces of silver, and therefore she sought it; when, however, she found it, she ceased to look for it.

What meaning for us have those themes of the Lord's parables? Is not the fact that a woman has lost a drachma, and seeks it and finds it, and invites her female friends to share her joy, an example of a restored sinner? There strays, withal, one little ewe of the shepherd's; but the flock was not more dear than the one: that one is earnestly sought; the one is longed for instead of all; and at length she is found, and is borne back on the shoulders of the shepherd himself; for much had she toiled in straying.

Similarly, the parable of the drachma, as being called forth out of the same subject-matter, we equally interpret with reference to a heathen; albeit it had been "lost" in a house, as it were in the church; albeit "found" by aid of a "lamp," as it were by aid of God's word.

And by "woman" understand the wisdom and power of God the Father, His Son, who lost one drachma out of the rational creatures made in His image, that is, man, and lights a lamp — His flesh. For just as a lamp, being of earth, illuminates with the light it receives what is covered in darkness, so too the flesh of the Lord, earthly and like ours, shone with the light of the Divinity by which it was assumed. And "the house was swept," that is, the whole world was cleansed from sin, for Christ took the sin of the world upon Himself.

And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost." Who are these friends and neighbors but those heavenly powers previously mentioned? They are as close to heavenly wisdom as they approach it by the grace of continuous vision. But it should be noted why this woman is said to have had ten drachmas. For the Lord created the nature of angels and men to know Him, and when He willed them to stand for eternity, He undoubtedly created them in His own likeness. The woman had ten drachmas because there are nine orders of angels, but to complete the number of the elect, man was created as the tenth, who did not perish from his Creator even after sin, because eternal Wisdom, dazzling with miracles in the flesh, restored him from the light in the vessel.

Third, as regards the lovingkindness toward restored humanity, he adds: And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors. By the friends and neighbors of divine wisdom are understood the good Angels and holy souls. Whence the Gloss: "The friends and neighbors are the heavenly powers, who are as close to God as they more nearly contemplate him." They are therefore called friends of wisdom because they love her and are loved by her, according to that passage of Wisdom 7: "Through the nations she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God and prophets. For God loves none but the one who dwells with wisdom." To call together, moreover, is nothing other than to unite in the oneness and conformity of love: Job 25: "Power and terror are with him, who makes concord in his high places"; and through this concord of mutual love he bestows a common matter of joy. — And therefore he adds: Saying: Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost. For Wisdom invites to shared rejoicing, because this is the law of charity: First Corinthians 13: "Charity does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices together with the truth"; and the Wise Man says in Wisdom 8: "Thinking on these things, that immortality is in the contemplation of wisdom, and in her friendship good delight," because she wills the joys of all to be shared, not private, as especially in that heavenly Jerusalem above. Whence Tobit 13: "Give thanks to the Lord in your good things and bless the God of the ages, that he may call back to you all your captives, and you may rejoice for ever and ever." For in this rediscovery of the coin, the restoration of the number of the elect in that Jerusalem takes place; and this is a great matter of gladness: Isaiah 65: "Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy," because they rejoice together with divine wisdom and with our salvation, according to that passage of the last chapter of Isaiah: "Rejoice with Jerusalem and exult in her, all you who love her; be glad with her in joy, all you who mourned over her, that you may suck and be filled from the breasts of her consolation; that you may drink deeply and abound in delights from her all-encompassing glory."

(Orat. xlv. 26.) But the piece of silver being found, He makes the heavenly powers partakers of the joy whom He made the ministers of His dispensation, and so it follows, And when she had found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours.

"And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the drachma which I had lost." Who are these friends or neighbors except those heavenly powers already mentioned above? They are so close to the supreme Wisdom because they approach Him through the grace of continual vision. But among these things we should by no means carelessly overlook why this woman, through whom the wisdom of God is figured, is said to have had ten drachmas, of which she lost one, which she found when she searched for it. For the Lord created the nature of angels and men to know Him, and when He willed it to endure unto eternity, He without doubt created it in His own likeness. The woman had ten drachmas because there are nine orders of angels. But so that the number of the elect might be completed, man was created as the tenth, who did not perish from his Creator even after his sin, because eternal Wisdom, flashing with miracles through the flesh, restored him by the light of the earthen vessel.

And "the drachma," that is, the royal image, "was found," and there was joy both for Christ Himself who found it and for the Heavenly Powers, who are His friends and neighbors: "friends," since they do His will; "neighbors," since they are bodiless. And I would ask, are not all the Heavenly Powers His friends, while the neighbors are the nearest of them, such as thrones, cherubim, and seraphim? For pay attention to the expression: "she calls together her friends and neighbors." It evidently points to two distinct things, although this may not seem particularly important.

Either they are friends as performing His will, but neighbours as being spiritual; or perhaps His friends are all the heavenly powers, but His neighbours those that come near to Him, as Thrones, Cherubims, and Seraphims.

Thus, I say to you, there will be joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. To repent is both to lament the wrongs committed and to refrain from committing those that should be lamented. For he who laments some wrongs yet commits others still either does not know how or pretends to repent. For what does it profit if one mourns the sins of lust but still pants with the fires of avarice? Or what does it profit if one already laments the faults of anger yet still wastes away with the torches of envy? But it is much less than what we say, that he who laments his sins at least does not commit those that should be lamented. For it must be seriously considered that he who remembers he has committed unlawful acts should strive to abstain even from some lawful things, so that in this way he may make amends to his Creator, that he who has committed forbidden acts should also cut off himself even from permissible ones.

So if we consider how great the fragrance with which the Church is perfumed in the conversion of one sinner, what a sweet smell of life leading to life each penitent can become! Provided that his repentance is wholehearted and visible to all, may we not with equal assurance say of him: "The house was full of the scent of the ointment." We can even say that this perfume of repentance reaches to the very abodes of the blessed in heaven because we have the witness of Truth itself that there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner. Rejoice then, you penitents; do not be afraid, you fainthearted ones.

Fourth, as regards the lovingkindness of God toward justified humanity, he adds: So I say to you: There is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner doing penance. The Angels rejoice over the penance of a sinful person because guilt is destroyed, justice is recovered, the pride of the demons is confounded, the guardianship of the Angels is made efficacious, the Church is restored, divine wrath is appeased, and because the heavenly Jerusalem is rebuilt. And over these seven things the blessed Angels rejoice most greatly; and therefore also over the penance of the sinner, in which they see the aforesaid seven things come to pass, there is joy among the Angels of God.

First, because fault is destroyed: Acts 3: "Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Whence it is said in Mark 1 that "John was preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins," etc.

Second, because through penance justice is recovered: whence Apocalypse 2: "Remember from whence you have fallen, and do penance, and do the first works"; and Ecclesiasticus 17: "To the penitent God gave the way of justice and strengthened those who were failing."

Third, because through penance the pride of demons is confounded: the Psalm: "Depart from me, all you who work iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping"; and afterwards: "Let all my enemies be ashamed and be greatly troubled," etc. For then the demons are ashamed of their impudence, when the sinner through penance is ashamed of his fault: Jeremiah 31: "After you converted me, I did penance." "I am confounded and I blushed, because I bore the reproach of my youth."

Fourth, because through penance the guardianship of the Angels is made efficacious: whence Apocalypse 3: "Those whom I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore and do penance. Behold, I stand at the door and knock." For the Angel guarding us does this with solicitude.

Fifth, because through penance the Church is restored: on account of which it is said in Matthew 9: "I came not to call the just, but sinners" to penance. For Christ calls to ecclesiastical unity, in which the remission of sins is effected and heavenly grace is given, according to that passage in Ezekiel 18: "If the impious man shall do penance for all his sins, he shall live and shall not die."

Sixth, because the divine wrath is appeased: Ecclesiasticus 12: "The Most High hates sinners and has mercy on the penitent"; and Jeremiah 18: "If that nation shall do penance for its evil, I also will repent of the evil that I thought to do to it."

Seventh, because through penance the heavenly Jerusalem is restored to wholeness. Whence Matthew 4: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven shall draw near." And for this reason the heavenly citizens exult, as is declared here: There is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner doing penance. For they see how great is the power of penance, which not only recovers what was lost but also obtains far more from the divine mercy; whence Job, last chapter: "The Lord was moved by the penance of Job. And the Lord added double all things that had been Job's."

And for this reason all who love God, who love the good, and who have an affection of piety ought to exult with the Angels over the conversion and repentance of sinners. Whence the Apostle, Second Corinthians seven: "Even if I made you sorrowful for an hour, now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because you were made sorrowful unto repentance. For you were made sorrowful according to God, so that you might suffer loss in nothing. For the sorrow that is according to God works repentance unto steadfast salvation." And afterward he adds: "For it works in you solicitude; but also defense, but also indignation, but also fear, but also desire, but also zeal, but also vindication." And from these things due honor is rendered to the divine majesty, the heavenly number is restored, and the unity of ecclesiastical peace is recovered. And therefore in the conversion and repentance of one sinner the supercelestial, celestial, and subcelestial hierarchy rightly exults.

For it is said there is great and exceeding joy and festival in the heavens with the Father and the angels when one sinner turns and repents.

We have said there are nine orders of angels, because we know from the testimony of sacred Scripture that there are angels, archangels, virtues, powers, principalities, dominations, thrones, cherubim, and seraphim. For nearly all pages of sacred Scripture testify that there are angels and archangels. The books of the prophets frequently speak, as is well known, of cherubim and seraphim. The apostle Paul also enumerates the names of four orders to the Ephesians, saying: "Above every principality, and power, and virtue, and domination." Writing again to the Colossians, he says: "Whether thrones, or powers, or principalities, or dominations." He had already described dominations, principalities, and powers when speaking to the Ephesians; but when about to say these things also to the Colossians, he added thrones, about which he had not yet said anything to the Ephesians. Therefore, when thrones are joined to those four which he mentioned to the Ephesians—that is, principalities, powers, virtues, and dominations—there are five orders that are specifically expressed. When angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim are added to these, without doubt nine orders of angels are found to exist.

But what does it profit us to touch briefly upon these matters concerning the angelic spirits, if we do not strive to apply them also to our own advancement through suitable reflection? For since that heavenly city consists of angels and men, to which we believe the human race ascends in such number as equals the elect angels who remained there, as it is written: "He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God," we too ought to draw something from those distinctions of the heavenly citizens for the use of our own way of life, and inflame ourselves with good pursuits toward growth in virtues.

(in Hom. 23. ut sup.) For the heavenly powers are nigh unto Divine wisdom, inasmuch as they approach Him through the grace of continual vision.

(in Hom. 34. ut sup.) To work repentance is to mourn over past sins, and not to commit things to be mourned over. For he who weeps over some things so as yet to commit others, still knows not how to work repentance, or is a hypocrite; he must also reflect that by so doing he satisfies not his Creator, since he who had done what was forbidden, must cut off himself even from what is lawful, and so should blame himself in the least things who remembers that he has offended in the greatest.

(de Quaest. Ev. lib. ii. q. 12.) Or else in these words He typically sets forth the boldness of preaching, that no one should, through fear of fleshly ills, conceal the light of knowledge. For under the names of vessel and bed, he represents the flesh, but of that of lantern, the word, which whosoever keeps hid through fear of the troubles of the flesh, sets the flesh itself before the manifestation of the truth, and by it he as it were covers the word, who fears to preach it. But he places a candle upon a candlestick who so submits his body to the service of God, that the preaching of the truth stands highest in his estimation, the service of the body lowest.

No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed; instead, they put it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. Because he had previously said to the apostles, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables," he now shows that through them the same mystery would eventually be revealed to others as well, and the hearts of all those who would enter the house of God would be illuminated by the flames of faith. Through these words, he also symbolically teaches the confidence to preach, so that no one would hide the light of knowledge they know out of fear of worldly hardships. For by the name of vessel and bed, he designates the flesh; but by the name of lamp, he designates the word. Whoever conceals it out of fear of worldly hardships, as I have said, indeed places the flesh ahead of the manifestation of truth and thus covers the word which they are hesitant to preach. He puts the lamp on the lampstand, who subjects his body to the service of God, so that the preaching of truth is above and the service of the body is below, and through the very service of the body, the doctrine shines more excellently, which is insinuated in good works through bodily offices, that is, through the voice and tongue and other bodily movements. Therefore, he puts the lamp on the lampstand when the Apostle says: "Thus I do not fight like one beating the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Cor. IX).

Having before said to His Apostles, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables; He now shows that by them at length must the same mystery be revealed also to others, saying, No man when he hath lighted a candle covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it tender a bed.

No one lighting a lamp etc. After the Apostles have been instructed for the understanding of the parable, here secondly they are invited to the communication of doctrine, to which the Apostles are invited in four ways: first, by the fittingness of a general example; second, by the necessity of the supernal judgment, there: For nothing is hidden etc.; third, by the usefulness of one's own merit, there: Take heed how you hear etc.; fourth, by the immutability of the divine good pleasure, there: And they came to him etc.

Concerning the fittingness of the general example, two things are to be noted: the first is the dissonance in the opposite, the second is the congruence in what is proposed.

First, therefore, as regards the dissonance in the opposite, it is said: No one lighting a lamp. The lamp is the word of God, according to that text of Proverbs 6: "The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and the way of life is the reproof of discipline"; and in the Psalm: "Your word is a lamp to my feet." Now the lamp is lit when the understanding of the divine word is granted to the human heart. Whence concerning John, John 5: "He was a burning and shining lamp." — Covers it with a vessel. This lamp is not to be covered with a vessel of carnal uncleanness: Hosea 8: "Israel has become among the nations as an unclean vessel." But Paul is not such a vessel, of whom Acts 9: "He is a vessel of election to me, to carry my name before the nations and kings and the sons of Israel." This was an open vessel, which illuminated the world: Sirach 43: "The sun in its appearance announcing at its rising, a wondrous vessel, the work of the Most High." — Or places it under a bed. Now in the bed, sloth is signified: Proverbs 26: "As a door turns on its hinge, so the sluggard on his bed." Hence it is that "that servant is reproved who hid his master's money," Matthew 25, against that text of Sirach 29: "Do not hide it under a stone to be lost." He wishes therefore to say that just as it is unfitting to hide a lit lamp under a vessel or a bed, so it is unfitting to conceal divine understanding. And this is what is said in Sirach 20: "Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure, what profit is there in either?" and after: "Better is the man who hides his foolishness than he who hides his wisdom." This, however, is understood when one has the proper time and place. For in the Psalm it is said: "In my heart I have hidden your words, that I may not sin against you"; and again: "I set a guard over my mouth, when the sinner stood against me: I was silent and was humbled."

Second, indeed, as to the fittingness in the matter at hand, he adds: But he places it upon a lampstand, as to the perfection of virtue: so that those who enter may see the light, through the disclosure of truth, according to that text of Matthew 5: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven"; Philippians 2: "Among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life." But that light is not seen except by those who enter through faith, because Isaiah 7 according to the Septuagint: "Unless you believe, you will not understand." And concerning this entrance of faith it is said in John 10: "If anyone enters through me, he will be saved"; enters, through faith, because "he who believes will be saved." These ones entering through faith, by means of the teaching of the Saints, arrive at the understanding of the mysteries, according to that text of the Psalm: "You wondrously illuminate from the eternal mountains." "For those who instruct many unto justice shall be as stars for perpetual eternities," Daniel 12.

And therefore the Lord said to his disciples, Matthew 10: "What I say to you in darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops."

As if He said, As a lantern is lighted that it should give light, not that it should be covered under a bushel or a bed, so also the secrets of the kingdom of heaven when uttered in parables, although hid from those who are strangers to the faith, will not however to all men appear obscure.

(Hom. 15. in Matt.) By these words he leads them to diligence of life, teaching them to be strong as exposed to the view of all men, and fighting in the world as on a stage. As if he said, Think not that we dwell in a small part of the world, for ye will be known of all men, since it cannot be that so great virtue should lie hid.

(Quæst. in Script. 63.) Or perhaps the Lord calls Himself a light shining to all who inhabit the house, that is, the world, since He is by nature God, but by the dispensation made flesh. And so like the light of the lamp He abides in the vessel of the flesh by means of the soul as the light in the vessel of the lamp by means of the flame. But by the candlestick he describes the Church over which the divine word shines, illuminating the house as it were by the rays of truth. But under the similitude of a vessel or bed he referred to the observance of the law, under which the word will not be contained.

Scripture does not say this about a tangible lamp but about a comprehensible one. One does not "light" the lamp and conceal it "with a vessel" or put it "under a bed, but on the lamp stand" within himself. The vessels of the house are the powers of the soul. The bed is the body. "Those who go in" are those who hear the teacher.…He calls the holy church a "lamp stand." By its proclamation, the Word of God gives light to all who are in this world and illuminates those in the house with the rays of the truth, filling the minds of all with divine knowledge.

But he who would adapt his lantern to the more perfect disciples of Christ, must persuade us by those things which were spoken of John, for he was a burning and a shining light. (John 5:35.) It becomes not him then who lights the light of reason in his soul to hide it under a bed where men sleep, nor under any vessel, for he who does this provides not for those who enter the house for whom the candle is prepared, but they must set it upon a candlestick, that is, the whole Church.

Now, for whatever reason He threatens the "deprivation," it will not be the work of a god who knows not how to threaten, because incapable of anger. I am, moreover, astonished when he says that "a candle is not usually hidden," who had hidden himself-a greater and more needful light-during so long a time; and when he promises that "everything shall be brought out of its secrecy and made manifest," who hitherto has kept his god in obscurity, waiting (I suppose) until Marcion be born.

For what purpose, except that malice may have no access at all to you, or that you may be an example and testimony to the evil? Else, what is (that): "Let your works shine? " Why, moreover, does the Lord call us the light of the world; why has He compared us to a city built upon a mountain; if we do not shine in (the midst of) darkness, and stand eminent amid them who are sunk down? If you hide your lamp beneath a bushel, you must necessarily be left quite in darkness, and be run against by many.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be known and come to light. Do not (he says) be ashamed of the Gospel of God, but among the darkness of persecutors, lift the light of the word above the lampstand of your body, retaining with a steadfast mind that day of final retribution, when God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will reveal the thoughts of hearts (1 Cor. IV). Then also you will receive praise from God, and punishment awaits the adversary of truth for eternity.

For nothing is hidden. Here secondly he invites them to the sharing of doctrine by the necessity of the heavenly judgment in two ways: both on account of the future manifestation of all good, and on account of the future revelation of all evil.

First, therefore, as to the future manifestation of all good, it is said: For nothing is hidden, namely good, that shall not be made manifest, namely through the future judgment; whence 2 Corinthians 5: "For we must all be made manifest before the tribunal of Christ, that each one may receive according to what he has done in the body." But this will be at the judgment, concerning which 1 Corinthians 4 says that "he will illuminate the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of hearts, and then there will be praise for each one"; and this, because light has the property of making manifest, according to that text of Ephesians 5: "Whatever is reproved by the light is made manifest"; whence the good truth of faith and morals, as a light, seeks to be made manifest, not to be hidden, according to that text of John 3: "He who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they have been done in God." Which will especially come to pass when that light will be made manifest in the judgment; on account of which in the Psalm: "You who sit upon the Cherubim, show yourself"; and again in the Psalm: "God shall come manifestly, and he shall not be silent."

Second, with regard to the future revelation of all evil, it is said: Nor hidden, namely sin or evil, which man willingly hides, according to that passage in Job thirty-one: "If I have hidden my sin as a man"; which will not be known and come into the open, that is, at the judgment, according to that passage in Proverbs twenty-six: "He who covers hatred deceitfully, his malice will be revealed in the assembly." Whence Ecclesiasticus one: "Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men, lest God reveal your hidden things and cast you down in the midst of the synagogue"; because, as is said in Wisdom one, "the ear of jealousy hears all things, and the tumult of murmurings shall not be hidden." "For he it is who reveals the deep and hidden things and knows what is established in darkness," etc. Since therefore all things must be made manifest, it is foolish to hide them for a time; and consequently it is necessary to disclose the doctrine received to others.

And if one say that it is written, "There is nothing secret which shall not be revealed, nor hidden which shall not be disclosed," let him also hear from us, that to him who hears secretly, even what is secret shall be manifested. This is what was predicted by this oracle. And to him who is able secretly to observe what is delivered to him, that which is veiled shall be disclosed as truth; and what is hidden to the many, shall appear manifest to the few. For why do not all know the truth? why is not righteousness loved, if righteousness belongs to all? But the mysteries are delivered mystically, that what is spoken may be in the mouth of the speaker; rather not in his voice, but in his understanding.

Hence he adds, For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither any thing hid that shall not be known, and come abroad. As if He said, Though many things are spoken in parables, that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand, because of their unbelief, yet the whole matter shall be revealed.

There are three broad classes of the special things in which human wisdom does permit privacy. The first is the case I have mentioned—that of hide-and-seek, or the police novel, in which it permits privacy only in order to explode and smash privacy. The author makes first a fastidious secret of how the Bishop was murdered, only in order that he may at last declare, as from a high tower, to the whole democracy the great glad news that he was murdered by the governess. In that case, ignorance is only valued because being ignorant is the best and purest preparation for receiving the horrible revelations of high life. Somewhat in the same way being an agnostic is the best and purest preparation for receiving the happy revelations of St. John.

This first sort of secrecy we may dismiss, for its whole ultimate object is not to keep the secret, but to tell it.

I should like it to be a fixed thing that the name of the proprietor as well as the editor should be printed upon every paper. If the paper is owned by shareholders, let there be a list of shareholders. If (as is far more common in this singularly undemocratic age) it is owned by one man, let that one man's name be printed on the paper, if possible in large red letters. Then, if there are any obvious interests being served, we shall know that they are being served.

I am, moreover, astonished when he says that "a candle is not usually hidden," who had hidden himself-a greater and more needful light-during so long a time; and when he promises that "everything shall be brought out of its secrecy and made manifest," who hitherto has kept his god in obscurity, waiting (I suppose) until Marcion be born.

For who will grant to you, a man of so faithless repentance, one single sprinkling of any water whatever? To approach it by stealth, indeed, and to get the minister appointed over this business misled by your asseverations, is easy; but God takes foresight for His own treasure, and suffers not the unworthy to steal a march upon it. What, in fact, does He say? "Nothing hid which shall not be revealed." Draw whatever (veil of) darkness you please over your deeds, "God is light.

Therefore, see how you hear. He earnestly teaches us to listen to the word so that we may continuously ponder it in our own hearts and be able to give out to others as well.

For to him who has, it will be given. And whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him. With full intention (he says), pay attention to the word that you hear. Because whoever has a love for the word, it will be given to him and the understanding of what he loves. But whoever does not have a love for hearing the word, even if he thinks himself clever by natural talent or literary exercise, will not enjoy the sweetness of true wisdom. And even if it seems to be said particularly about the apostles, to whom, endowed with love and faith, it was given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, and about the faithless Jews, who seeing did not see, and hearing did not understand, that is, they would lose the letter of the law in which they gloried, it can nevertheless be understood generally, because often an ingenious reader, through neglect, deprives himself of wisdom, which a simple but diligent person tastes by striving for it. Therefore, often a lazy person receives talent, so that he may be punished more justly for his neglect, because he despises knowing what he could have obtained without labor. And sometimes a diligent person is burdened with slowness of understanding, so that he finds greater rewards in return, the more he labors in the effort of discovery.

But the Lord ceases not to teach us to hearken to His word, that we may be able both to constantly meditate on it in our own minds, and to bring it forth for the instruction of others. Hence it follows, Take heed therefore how ye hear; for whosoever hath, to him shall be given. As if he says, Give heed with all your mind to the word which ye hear, for to him who has a love of the word, shall be given also the sense of understanding what he loves; but whoso hath no love of hearing the word, though he deems himself skilful either from natural genius, or the exercise of learning, will have no delight in the sweetness of wisdom; for oftentimes the slothful man is gifted with capacities, that if he neglect them he may be the more justly punished for his negligence, since that which he can obtain without labour he disdains to know, and sometimes the studious man is oppressed with slowness of apprehension, in order that the more he labours in his inquiries, the greater may be the recompense of his reward.

Take heed therefore how you hear, etc. Here, third, the Apostles are invited to the same by the advantage of their own merit, and this because its possession makes one rich, while its privation indeed renders one poor. — The divine doctrine must therefore be preached, first, because the possession of teaching leads to abundance: on account of which he says: Take heed therefore how you hear: Bede: "That you may receive it in your heart and continually ruminate upon it and be able to pour it forth for the hearing of others"; as if to say: do not hear the words of divine instruction negligently, so as not to care, but diligently, so that you may abound and bestow upon others. Whence he also adds: For whoever has, it shall be given to him: for whoever has the desire and the will to advance, God will give him understanding and the ability to teach. Whence Wisdom seven: "I wished, and understanding was given to me; and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me"; and afterward: "All good things came to me together with her." Whence if anyone wishes that it be given to him abundantly, he ought himself also to give freely from what he has: above, chapter six: "Give, and it shall be given to you," namely the gift of wisdom, according to that passage in James one: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly," etc. Whence the gift of wisdom is given to no one unless he has the desire: Isaiah fifty-five: "All you who thirst, come to the waters, and you who have no money, make haste," etc.

Second, by the contrary, because its privation leads to want, he adds: And whoever does not have, namely the affection for divine teaching in the heart, even what he thinks he has, through the swelling of pride, will be taken from him, namely through the rigor of the divine sentence: below in the nineteenth chapter: "Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas"; and Matthew twenty-one: "The kingdom shall be taken from you," namely of Sacred Scripture, "and given to a nation producing its fruits." From this it is gathered that no one can attain the fullness of divine wisdom unless he has the readiness to communicate doctrine: whence Wisdom six: "What wisdom is and how she came to be, I will relate, and I will not hide from you the mysteries of God." "Nor will I travel with consuming envy: for such a man will not be a partaker of the wisdom" of God.

And so, perhaps, with God. I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no longer shut and bolted. Was it my own frantic need that slammed it in my face? The time when there is nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the time when God can't give it: you are like the drowning man who can't be helped because he clutches and grabs. Perhaps your own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear.

On the other hand, "Knock and it shall be opened." But does knocking mean hammering and kicking the door like a maniac? And there's also "To him that hath shall be given." After all, you must have a capacity to receive, or even omnipotence can't give. Perhaps your own passion temporarily destroys the capacity.

"To the one who has, it will be given, and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken from him." This is like, "Let the one who has ears listen." This is for those who have spiritual ears within the bodily ears, so that they may listen to his spiritual words. He was increasing his teaching over and above what they already possessed.

"And do not say He acted impiously towards the wise in hiding these things from them. Far be such a supposition from us. For He did not act impiously; but since they hid the knowledge of the kingdom, and neither themselves entered nor allowed those who wished to enter, on this account, and justly, inasmuch as they hid the ways from those who wished, were in like manner the secrets hidden from them, in order that they themselves might experience what they had done to others, and with what measure they had measured, an equal measure might be meted out to them. For to him who is worthy to know, is due that which he does not know; but from him who is not worthy, even should he seem to have any thing it is taken away, even if he be wise in other matters; and it is given to the worthy, even should they be babes as far as the times of their discipleship are concerned."

Now, if from the very first "the natural man, not receiving the things of the Spirit of God," has deemed God's law to be foolishness, and has therefore neglected to observe it; and as a further consequence, by his not having faith, "even that which he seemeth to have hath been taken from him" -such as the grace of paradise and the friendship of God, by means of which he might have known all things of God, if he had continued in his obedience-what wonder is it, if he, reduced to his material nature, and banished to the toil of tilling the ground, has in his very labour, downcast and earth-gravitating as it was, handed on that earth-derived spirit of the world to his entire race, wholly natural and heretical as it is, and not receiving the things which belong to God? Or who will hesitate to declare the great sin of Adam to have been heresy, when he committed it by the choice of his own will rather than of God's? Except that Adam never said to his fig-tree, Why hast thou made me thus? He confessed that he was led astray; and he did not conceal the seducer.

He, however, was teaching them that it was the ears of the heart which were necessary; and with these the Creator had said that they would not hear. Therefore it is that He adds by His Christ, "Take heed how ye hear," and hear not,-meaning, of course, with the hearing of the heart, not of the ear.

This is proved even by the sentence which immediately follows: "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." What shall be given? The increase of faith, or understanding, or even salvation.

The parable also of the (ten) servants, who received their several recompenses according to the manner in which they had increased their lord's money by trading proves Him to be a God of judgment-even a God who, in strict account, not only bestows honour, but also takes away what a man seems to have. Else, if it is the Creator whom He has here delineated as the "austere man," who "takes up what he laid not down, and reaps what he did not sow," my instructor even here is He, (whoever He may be, ) to whom belongs the money He teaches me fruitfully to expend.

Why, a shepherd like this will be tuned off from the farm; the wages to have been given him at the time of his discharge will be kept from him as compensation; nay, even from his former savings a restoration of the master's loss will be required; for "to him who hath shall be given, but from him who hath not shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have. Thus Zechariah threatens: "Arise, O sword, against the shepherds, and pluck ye out the sheep; and I will turn my hand against the shepherds.

The moral teacher who gives himself an example to others, when about to enjoin upon others, that he who has not left father and mother, is not worthy of the Son of God, first submits Himself to this precept, not that He denies the claims of filial piety, (for it is His own sentence, He that knoweth not his father and mother shall die the death,) but because He knows that He is more bound to obey His Father's mysteries than the feelings of His mother. Nor however are His parents harshly rejected, but the bonds of the mind are shown to be more sacred than those of the body. Therefore in this place He does not disown His mother, (as some heretics say, eagerly catching at His speech,) since she is also acknowledged from the cross; but the law of heavenly ordinances is preferred to earthly affection.

Intimacy with the Lord is not explained in terms of kinship according to the flesh, but it is achieved by cheerful willingness in doing the will of God.

He answered and said to them: My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. The whole perfection of heavenly life is comprised in these two things, namely, to hear the word of God and to do it. Hence the Lord above, expounding the parable of the sower, said that they who receive the word only by hearing are the bad ground; but the good ground are those who with a good and excellent heart retain the word which they hear and bring forth fruit with patience. Those who are called the mother of the Lord, because they daily give birth to Him either by example or by word in the minds of others, are also his brothers when they also do the will of His Father who is in heaven.

They then who hear the word of God and do it, are called the mother of our Lord, because they daily in their actions or words bring Him forth as it were in their inmost hearts; they also are His brethren where they do the will of His Father, Who is in heaven.

Second, regarding the preferring of disciples, it is added: Who answering said to them: My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. In which he shows, that he valued the instruction of disciples more than the affection of parents, and that he valued disciples more than kinsmen, and that he valued the affection of teachers toward disciples more than that of parents toward children. — And note that on account of the affection, need, and request of parents, the teacher ought not to interrupt the instruction of doctrine: in which he invites more by deed than he had invited above by word.

And note that he calls his hearers mothers, insofar as through instruction they beget others, according to that passage in Galatians 4: "My little children, whom I bring forth again in labor, until Christ be formed in you." — He calls them brothers, insofar as through the word they are begotten and become sons of God, according to that passage of the Psalm: "I will declare your name to my brothers"; and Hebrews 2: "He is not ashamed to call them brothers." For those who receive the word of God are grafted in as to the root stock, and consequently are watered by the moisture of the Holy Spirit, and therefore are made sons of the living God, according to that passage in Galatians 4: "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out," etc. And therefore, as much as spirit surpasses flesh, and grace surpasses nature, and divine things surpass human things, and eternal things surpass perishable things, so much is spiritual generation, which is through the word of life, preferred to carnal generation: and therefore it is to be preferred to it. For on account of this, the true preacher is more moved toward children begotten through preaching than toward carnal parents. This is evident, because the Apostles poured out their own blood to confirm them, just as Christ himself had done, who is the master of masters.

And since those alone rightly receive the seed of the word who carry out what they have heard, therefore he rightly adds: Who hear the word of God and do it: because, in Romans 2, "not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers shall be justified before God"; and James 1: "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." For Christ prefers such people to his own parental kinship, below in chapter 11: "Blessed is the womb that bore you." "Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it." He says this, however, not because he despises his Mother, since he loved her above all, but to show by example what he commands below in chapter 14: "Whoever does not leave father and mother and wife, children, brothers, and sisters, cannot be my disciple."

The present lesson teaches us that obedience and listening to God are the causes of every blessing. Some entered and spoke respectfully about Christ's holy mother and his brothers. He answered in these words, "My mother and my brothers are they who hear the word of God and do it."Now do not let any one imagine that Christ scorned the honor due to his mother or contemptuously disregarded the love owed to his brothers. He spoke the law by Moses and clearly said, "Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you." How, I ask, could he have rejected the love due to brothers, who even commanded us to love not merely our brothers but also those who are enemies to us? He says, "Love your enemies." What does Christ want to teach? His object is to exalt highly his love toward those who are willing to bow the neck to his commands. I will explain the way he does this. The greatest honors and the most complete affection are what we all owe to our mothers and brothers. If he says that they who hear his word and do it are his mother and brothers, is it not plain to every one that he bestows on those who follow him a love thorough and worthy of their acceptance? He would make them readily embrace the desire of yielding themselves to his words and of submitting their mind to his yoke, by means of a complete obedience.

But since he who does the will of the Father is called sister and brother of the Lord, on account of both sexes who are gathered to the faith, this is not surprising; yet it is greatly to be wondered how one is also called mother. For he deigned to call his faithful disciples brothers, saying: Go, announce to my brothers. Therefore, he who could become a brother of the Lord by coming to faith—it must be asked how he can also be a mother? But we should know that one who is a brother and sister of Christ by believing becomes a mother by preaching. For one gives birth to the Lord, as it were, when one has poured him into the heart of the hearer. And one becomes his mother if through one's voice the love of the Lord is begotten in the mind of one's neighbor.

To confirm this matter fittingly for us, blessed Felicity is present, whose birthday we celebrate today, who by believing became a handmaid of Christ, and by preaching was made a mother of Christ. For she feared to leave her seven sons, as is read in the more accurate accounts of her deeds, alive in the flesh after her, just as carnal parents usually fear to send their dead children before them. For when she was seized in the labor of persecution, she strengthened the hearts of her sons by preaching the love of the heavenly fatherland, and she brought forth in spirit those whom she had borne in the flesh, so that by preaching she might bear to God those whom she had borne in the flesh to the world.

(Hom. 44. in Matt.) Think what it was, when the whole people stood by, and were hanging upon His mouth, (for His teaching had already begun,) to withdraw Him away from them. Our Lord accordingly answers as it were rebuking them, as it follows, And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are they which hear the word of God, and do it, &c.

(Hom. 41. in Matt.) Now He does not say this by way of reproof to His mother, but to greatly assist her, for if He was anxious for others to beget in them a just opinion of Himself, much more was He for His mother. And He had not raised her to such a height if she were always to expect to be honoured by Him as a son, and never to consider Him as her Lord.

'" Now He had in precisely similar terms rejected His mother or His brethren, whilst preferring those who heard and obeyed God. His mother, however, was not here present with Him.

And He therefore knowing their hearts gave them this answer, that meanness of birth harms not, but if a man, though of low birth, hear the word of God, He reckons him as His kinsman. Because however hearing only saves no one, but rather condemns, He adds, and doeth it; for it becomes us both to hear and to do. But by the word of God He means His own teaching, for all the words which He Himself spake were from His Father.