De exemplis sanctorum imitandis
The Purpose of Imitating the Saints
We imitate good people so that, through their example, we are reshaped into the likeness of God already visible in them.
Why do you suppose, brothers, that we are told to imitate the life and conduct of good people, if not so that through imitating them we are reshaped into the likeness of a new life? In them, you see, the likeness of God has been stamped in visible form, and so when we are pressed into shape through imitating them, we too are fashioned into the image of that same likeness.1
Humility: The Softness That Receives the Imprint
Just as wax must be softened before it can receive a seal, the heart must be made pliable through humility before it can be shaped by another's virtuous example.
But it must be understood that just as wax receives no impression unless it is first softened, so too a person is not shaped by another's virtuous example unless they are first made pliable through humility, broken free from all the hardness of pride and resistance.2 Nor can anyone ever be reformed for the better by another's example if they are still so swollen with pride that they attack what is good in others and defend what is wrong in themselves. So it is necessary that if we truly want to imitate good people, we first soften our hearts to obedience through genuine humility — with the result that the more readily our life bends, through willing obedience, toward every form of virtue we see, the sooner it returns to newness; and the more eagerly we set out to imitate what is good in others rather than tear it apart, the more deeply the imprint of their goodness begins to take hold in us.3
The Seal Reversed: Reading the Saints' Example
The seal metaphor deepens: what is raised on the seal appears depressed in the wax, and what is carved inward on the seal stands out on the wax — teaching us to read the saints' lofty and lowly deeds rightly.
The image of a seal offers us yet another insight not to be dismissed for our present purpose. The design that stands out on the face of a seal is pressed inward into the wax below the surface, and what is carved on the inside of the seal shows up as a raised figure on the outside of the wax.4 What else is being shown us by this image except that we who long to be reformed by the example of good people — as if by a finely carved seal — find in them certain lofty and outstanding marks, and certain other lowly and seemingly humble traces of their deeds?
Hiding the Lofty, Displaying the Lowly
The saints' truly useful works lie low and hidden while their wondrous deeds stand out; we must store their lofty works inwardly and perform their humble works openly, lest we lose reward to vanity.
The works of the saints that pertain not to reputation in the eyes of men but to genuine usefulness — those things, in the pattern of their lives, lie low, as it were, pressed down beneath notice. But when they perform such deeds as draw human minds to wonder at them, they display within themselves certain prominent carvings, as it were, standing out in relief. Therefore, what stands out in them ought to be stored up inwardly in us, and what is lowly in them must be raised up in us, because when we draw their deeds to ourselves for imitation, we ought indeed to do lofty things in secret and humble things in the open — lest the lofty things, if they are displayed through love of received praise, begin to serve empty glory, or the humble things, if they are hidden through fear of being thought worthless, lose the reward of recompense.5
Every Path to Truth Now Open
With reason, wise teaching, the saints' examples, Scripture's precepts, and daily temptations all laid before us, no one can claim ignorance of the path to truth.
I do not know what excuse of ignorance a person can still claim, when so many paths are now shown by which one can arrive at the knowledge of truth. Look: after the discernment of one's own reason, by which a person is guided; after the teaching of the wise, by which one is instructed; after the examples of good people, by which one is formed — there are added also the precepts of Scripture, by which one is shaped for the whole manner of living. Finally, temptations are added, by which, trained through daily experience, a person is made more certain of the truth of the precepts.
Read the original Latin
Quare putatis, fratres, vitam et conversationem bonorum imitari praecipimur, nisi ut per eorum imitationem ad novae vitae similitudinem reformemur? In ipsis siquidem similitudinis Dei forma expressa est, et idcirco cum eis per imitationem imprimimur, ad ejusdem similitudinis imaginem nos quoque figuramur. Sed sciendum est quod nisi prius cera emollita fuerit, formam non recipit, sic et homo quidem per manum actionis alienae ad formam virtutis non flectitur, nisi prius per humilitatem ab omni elationis et contradictionis rigore moliatur. Neque enim per exemplum alterius aliquando in melius reformari poterit, qui adhuc per elationis vitium et bona aliena oppugnat, et sua mala defendit. Necesse est ergo ut si veraciter bonos imitari volumus, prius per veram humilitatem ad obedientiam corda nostra temperemus, quatenus vita nostra tanto citius ad novitatem redeat, quanto promptius in omnem quam viderit virtutis speciem, per voluntariam obedientiam se inclinat, et tanto altius ei vestigium alienae bonitatis incipiat inhaerere, quanto arctius studet bona aliorum imitari potius quam carpere. Aliam nobis adhuc non contemnendam considerationem ad praesens negotium forma sigilli exhibet. Figura namque quae in sigillo foris eminet, impressione cerae introrsum signata apparet, et quae in sigillo intrinsecus sculpta ostenditur, in cera exterius figurata demonstratur. Quid ergo aliud in isto nobis innuitur, nisi quia nos qui per exemplum bonorum, quasi per quoddam sigillum optime exsculptum reformari cupimus, quaedam in eis sublimia et quasi eminentia, quaedam vero abjecta et quasi depressa operum vestigia invenimus?
Sanctorum quippe opera quae quantum ad existimationem hominum non ad dignitatem, sed ad utilitatem pertinent, illa in conversatione eorum quasi deorsum pressa jacent. Quando vero talia operantur quae humanas mentes in admirationem sui pertrahunt, quasi quasdam in se eminentes sculpturas ostendunt. Quod ergo in illis eminet, in nobis introrsum recondi debet, et quod in illis depressum est, in nobis est erigendum, quia nos cum facta eorum ad imitationem trahimus, sublimia quidem in abscondito et abjecta in manifesto facere debemus, ne vel illa si ostendantur per amorem accepti favoris inani gloriae servire incipiant, vel ista si abscondantur per timorem vilitatis, praemium retributionis amittant. Nescio quam homo deinceps habeat excusationem ignorantiae, cui tot jam viae demonstrantur, quibus possit ad scientiam veritatis pervenire. Ecce post discretionem rationis propriae per quam dirigitur, post doctrinam sapientium per quam eruditur, post exempla bonorum quibus instruitur, adduntur etiam praecepta Scripturarum, quibus ad omnem vivendi rationem informatur. Postremo adjunguntur tentationes, quibus exercitatus per quotidianam experientiam de veritate praeceptorum certior efficitur.
Notes
- 1 ↩similitudinis Dei — the 'likeness of God' here refers to the divine image reflected in the saints, not the original imago Dei in humanity per se, though the two are closely related.
- 2 ↩moliatur — literally 'is ground/crushed'; rendered 'made pliable' to capture the sense of being worked soft, though the Latin carries a stronger connotation of being broken down.
- 3 ↩The tanto … quanto … tanto … quanto construction creates a double comparative: the speed of renewal and the depth of imprint are each proportional to the readiness of obedience and the eagerness to imitate.
- 4 ↩The seal-wax analogy works in both directions: the raised (eminent) parts of the seal create depressed marks in the wax, and the depressed (sculpted) parts of the seal create raised impressions. The point is the reversal between exterior and interior.
- 5 ↩The ne…vel…vel construction sets up two parallel negative purpose clauses: the first warns against ostentation in lofty works, the second against concealment of humble works out of shame. Both threaten the integrity of imitation.
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