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← Collationes (Conferences / Collations)/Book 2 · Collationes — Liber II
Chapter 3OdoC.2.3

Caput II

The Heart Shaped by What It Sees

Even the good, unless perfected, let their inner purpose be molded by outward sights—cheered by blessings, drawn toward the glory of the wicked, and secretly longing for the same.

It is common not only among the wicked but also among the good — though less so among the perfect — that their purpose or feeling is shaped by what they happen to have seen. When they see blessings, they grow cheerful; when they see sorrows, they become sorrowful. So it happens that when they perceive the glory of the depraved, they delight in that same glory, esteeming it as something great, nodding assent in their hearts, and longing to deserve such things for themselves.

Scripture Laments the Scandal of Worldly Glory

Christ, the Psalmist, and Job each give voice to the Church's grief: scandals are inevitable, the proud oppress the poor, and the faithful are reduced to nothing.

Hence Truth itself says: 'Woe to the world because of scandals' (Matt.✦ 18:7). Likewise the Psalmist: 'While the impious one is proud, the poor man is set ablaze' (Ps.✦ 10:2). And Job, speaking in the voice of the Church lamenting, says: 'All my joints are reduced to nothing' (Job 16:8).✦

The Church's Limbs Made Weak by Imitation

Just as frailty is revealed through the body's limbs, so the weak members of the Church are exposed when, imitating the prosperous wicked, they desire temporal goods and forget God.

Just as strong bones give structure to the body, so the weak are marked out through their limbs — each one known by its frailty. The limbs of the Church are reduced to nothing, because from imitating the wicked who thrive in this age, the weak grow even worse: seeing the prosperity of the wicked, they desire temporal goods, and enervated by present success, they neglect to desire God, who truly is.✦1

Ancient Types of a Present Danger

The captivity of Jerusalem's sons by Babylon and the sons of Seth desiring the daughters of Cain prefigure the Church's ongoing seduction by worldly glory.

This was expressed in historical form, because the citizens of Babylon led away the sons of Jerusalem as captives, and likewise because the sons of God — that is, the sons of Seth — saw the daughters of men — that is, the daughters of Cain — and desired them (Gen.✦2 6:2).

The Golden Cup of Deceptive Beauty

Deceived by outward beauty, the weak love what seems glorious in this age; the wicked display their allure like the daughters of Cain, and this seductive glory is rightly called a golden cup.

For even now, deceived by the outward appearance of worldly glory, they love too much whatever they have seen as beautiful on the outside. The glory of the present life appears beautiful, which, in the persons of the wicked — as in the daughters of Cain — displays itself to the eyes of the weak, stirring them to desire.3 Whence, as was said above, it is called a golden cup.✦4

Read the original Latin

Mos est autem non solum malorum, verum etiam bonorum, sed tamen minus perfectorum; ut eorum intentio vel sensus juxta hoc quod forte viderint informetur. Nam laeta videntes hilarescunt, pro tristibus contristantur. Unde fit, ut cum pravorum gloriam cernunt, eadem gloria delectentur et magnum aliquid aestimantes in corde nutent, et ut talia mereantur exoptent. Hinc ipsa Veritas dicit: Vae mundo a scandalis (Matth. XVIII, 7). Item Psalmista: Dum superbit impius, incenditur pauper (Psal. X, 2). Et Job ex voce plangentis Ecclesiae dicit: Ad nihilum redacti sunt omnes artus mei (Job XVI, 8).

Sicut enim per ossa fortes, sic per artus infirmi quique designari solent. Artus ergo Ecclesiae ad nihilum rediguntur, quoniam ex imitatione pravorum in hoc saeculo succrescentium, infirmi quoque deteriores fiunt: videntes felicitatem malorum bona temporalia appetunt, dum praesenti prosperitate enervati, Deum, qui vere est, desiderare negligunt. Quod videlicet historialiter expressum est, quoniam cives Babylonis filios Jerusalem captivos abduxerunt, et item, quoniam filii Dei, id est, filii Seth, videntes filias hominum, id est filias Cain, concupierunt eas (Gen. VI, 2). Nam et nunc isti exterioris gloriae specie decepti, nimis diligunt, quod pulchrum foras viderint. Pulchra autem videtur praesentis vitae gloria, quae in personis pravorum tanquam in filiabus Cain sese infirmorum oculis ad concupiscendum ostentat. Unde, sicut supra dictum est, calix aureus appellatur.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Matt.18.7 — Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! For it is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes.
  2. ↩Ps.10.2 — In the arrogance of the wicked, the poor are set ablaze; they are caught in the schemes they have devised.
  3. ↩Job.16.8 — You have seized me—it stands as a witness against me; my falsehood rises up within me and testifies to my face.
  4. ↩Job.16.8 — You have seized me—it stands as a witness against me; my falsehood rises up within me and testifies to my face.
  5. ↩Gen.6.2 — The sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose.
  6. ↩Rev.17.4 — And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the unclean things of her sexual immorality.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Artus Ecclesiae ('limbs of the Church') is a metaphor for members/parts of the Body of Christ; rendered literally to preserve the bodily imagery that frames the passage.
  2. 2 ↩The author reads Genesis 6:2 allegorically: 'sons of God' = sons of Seth, 'daughters of men' = daughters of Cain. This is a traditional patristic interpretation, not the plain sense of the text.
  3. 3 ↩The 'daughters of Cain' metaphor from s3 is carried forward: the outward splendor of the wicked is likened to Cain's daughters — attractive to the eye but spiritually deadly.
  4. 4 ↩The 'golden cup' (calix aureus) is an apocalyptic image, likely drawn from Revelation 17:4 (the golden cup of Babylon's fornication). The author connects the seductive beauty of worldly glory to the cup of Babylon.

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