De tocatione vineae et sanguinariis vinitoribus
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Jesus recounts the parable of the vineyard and the murderous tenants, illustrating the ingratitude of the Jewish leaders and the coming judgment.
Jesus told another parable to the chief priests and the elders of the people. "Listen," he said, "to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it to tenants, and went away on a journey." But the tenants treated the servants he sent to collect the fruit badly and killed them; finally, recognizing the son who was sent as the heir and wanting to possess the inheritance, they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him too. And when they were asked what the lord of the vineyard would do to those wicked tenants, they answered: He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will return the fruit to him. at the proper times. For he himself says: Therefore I tell you, because it will be taken away from them. Specifically, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation that produces its fruit. In this parable, he describes the malice and ingratitude of the Jews in many ways. He bestowed many benefits upon those to whom God is a father of the household—who is Lord by nature, father by benevolence, and human not by nature but by likeness, and not by truth. The house of the Lord, the synagogue, is the vineyard made up of the chosen people—the patriarchs and prophets—like the best vines He brought out of Egypt and planted in the promised land. He surrounded it with a hedge, a threefold protection: angelic, over the walls of Jerusalem; human, the protection of righteous men; and earthly, the fortification of walls. He dug a winepress in it—that is, the law of justice, the fear that brings compunction, and the torment of the wicked—and He dug this with signs, threats, and promises. There He built a tower, the temple for divine worship, which is called a tower for the security of refuge. and of other nations. He leased it to farmers and tenants—the priests and leaders—who ought to root out vices like thorns, plant virtues like good seeds, and preserve divine worship and justice among the people. He went away on a journey—not by changing His place, for God is everywhere, but because He left free will to the workers; or perhaps because of the patience He has in waiting for them to turn from their sins; or because of their own negligence, since, according to Ambrose, He is more present to those who are diligent, and more absent to the negligent. When the time for fruit had drawn near, because after receiving the Law they were expected to produce the fruit of good works, He sent His servants—the first prophets—to the farmers, meaning primarily to the kings and priests, and consequently to those subject to them, so that they might receive His fruits by their preaching, leading them toward the fruit of good works. And the farmers, having seized his servants. Many kings and priests treated the prophets the Lord sent to them shamefully, seizing them and handling them roughly; they beat one, killed another, and stoned yet another. He sent other servants again, more than the first, multiplying the prophets. ... for the correction of the people. They did the same to them because they were ungrateful and dishonored God, and they likewise persecuted those prophets and... they did the same. Finally, in these last times, He sent His Son, incarnate for our sake, whom they recognized as the heir of all things and their prince, yet they cast Him out of the vineyard, denying Him, or because they killed Him outside the gate of Jerusalem to be crucified, wanting to possess His temporal inheritance—that is, their own position. For they thought among themselves: 'If the people accept this man as Lord, we must lose the custom of victims and sacrifices, which is a source of profit for us; but if we kill Him, the custom of offering sacrifices will always be maintained, and so our possession will be secured, and it will be our inheritance.' But the Lord came to judge and to avenge this wrong when, by His decree, the Roman army came against the Jews; He destroyed the wicked when He had their city and temple demolished by the Romans, and caused the people to be killed and taken captive.
The Church and the Soul as Vineyard
The parable is expanded to describe the Church's mission to the Gentiles and the individual soul's responsibility to cultivate virtue.
The Church is also Christ's inheritance, which the Jews especially sought to destroy when, having extinguished their faith in Him, they tried to persuade the Gentiles to accept the righteousness that comes from the Law. They did this so that, in their ingratitude and wickedness, they might be ruined and justly condemned, and so that the kingdom of God—namely, Christ, the Holy Scripture or the understanding of the Scriptures, faith, the Church, and eternal life—might be taken away from them; this pertains to the rejection of the Jews. But what follows pertains to the conversion of the Gentiles: the vineyard of the Church is leased to other laborers, because Christ handed over His Church to be governed by the Apostles and other disciples, who would return the fruit to Him in its proper time. Because of their preaching, a multitude of Gentiles believed, so that the kingdom of heaven might be given to others—namely, to the Gentiles coming from the East and the West, from the South and the North—who will produce the fruit of the heart by believing, of the mouth by confessing, of work by serving, and of the body by suffering. They will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God, while the Jews themselves will be cast into the outer darkness. Mystically, the whole thing can be explained regarding the Church this way: the man—that is, Christ—planted the vineyard, which is the Church, with His own blood and formed it from His own side, in which there are as many different kinds of branches as there are differences among people. He surrounded it with a hedge, that is, the evangelical doctrine or the ministry of angels, and He dug a winepress in it, that is, the cross of Christ or the patience of the martyrs. He also built a tower, namely, the mother of Christ, or the contemplation of Christ, the confessors, and the doctors, or the faith by which the Church defends itself against its enemies; and He leased it to laborers. That is, to the prelates, by whose various ministries it is ruled and governed; its progress is as explained above. And He sent servants, that is, good men to rebuke the wicked; and some they beat, and others they killed, as is evident from many. Then Christ the Son is sent invisibly by the Father when He stirs someone to good; but some are ungrateful, not only rejecting His prompting but even acting most wickedly, because of which, as much as lies within them, they kill Him. Of whom the Apostle says: "Crucifying the Son of God again," and thus by the justice of God they are ruined, and the vineyard is leased to others, when good men are substituted in their place. This vineyard can also be understood as the rational soul, entrusted to man by God, because it's infused into the body for this purpose: that through it, man might produce the fruit of good works and acquire many merits; these good deeds done by man are like vines. And in every good thing a person does—whether it's a good thought, a good action, or a good word—five grapes grow, four of which remain for the person, while the fifth is owed to God. These grapes are: the joy of the heart, the forgiveness of sin, the avoidance of eternal death, and the acquisition of eternal glory; the fifth grape is the glory of God, which we must give not to ourselves, but to God. Furthermore, it can be explained in terms of the religious life, whose foundation is primarily in a triple vow, which is called the divine planting: the hedge is the rule and the constitutions; the winepress is the reading and study of Scripture; the tower is preaching; and the hiring of the laborers is the appointment of superiors. Blessed are those who cultivate it well and don't neglect it, who increase it and don't diminish it, who preserve it and don't destroy it! Each of us from the people is also a vineyard, and the same person is also the cultivator, for each of us cultivates himself. Hence Jerome says: "The vineyard has been entrusted to us, and it has been entrusted on the condition that we return the fruit to the Lord in its proper time, and that we know at every moment what we ought to say or keep silent."
The Blindness of the Proud
The religious leaders' reaction to the parable reveals their hardened hearts, contrasting their worldly greed with the call to seek the kingdom first.
The chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees realized that he had told this parable against them; and while they wanted to seize him as a liar to put him to death, they feared the crowds and didn't act, because the crowds held him to be a prophet. But the one whom the crowds now hold to be a prophet and honor, they will later cry out against, saying, 'Crucify him!' They cry out 'Crucify him' because the crowd is fickle and doesn't persist in its stated will. Chrysostom says: 'Every wicked person, as far as his own will is concerned, lays his hands upon God and kills him.' For anyone who doesn't hesitate to provoke God to anger, who tramples his commandments, who despises his name, who blasphemes, who murmurs against God and looks toward heaven with a troubled face, who in his anger boldly lifts his hands against him—would he not, if it were possible, lay hands on God and kill him, so that he might then sin without restraint? See now the obstinacy in the leasing of the vineyard. The priests and elders were in the wrong, because upon hearing the doctrine of Christ, they weren't contrite, but rather indignant at it and incited to kill him. There are many such people today who are indignant when they are rebuked, because there are few who wish to hear the truth of their own correction; indeed, they even persecute those who rebuke them. For the sake of their own salvation. Notice also how the high priests and leaders were restrained from evil by the people, when it should have been the other way around. This crowd was like Balaam's donkey, which rebuked him when he was going astray. This happens every day in the Church, when someone professes in name only a unity of faith and peace that they don't actually love, but they are ashamed or afraid to oppose it because of the multitude of good people. But although they could be held back for a little while from killing the Son of God out of human fear until His hour came, they were never willing to be restrained by divine love. For they despised Christ's preaching and, out of greed for worldly things, conspired to kill Him so they wouldn't lose their city and temple—the very temple where they were collecting the people's money under the guise of divine worship. So they killed the Son to keep their inheritance and possess the temple and city in peace, fearing that because of Him the Romans would come and take away their place and their nation; yet the opposite happened to them, because in retribution for the death of Christ, they lost both their place and their nation. As Chrysostom says: 'Sometimes, therefore, He was held and passed through the midst of them without appearing; at other times, by appearing, He restrained their painful greed through fear of the crowd; but they were not corrected, for the love of power and the desire for empty glory had blinded them so completely that they sought only temporary things!' Nothing so drives a person to ruin and pushes them into such precipices, and nothing so...1 It is a failure to fall away from future things just as it is to be attached to temporary ones; nothing helps you enjoy both the present and the future as much as putting the future before everything else. For the Lord says, 'Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be added to you.' Don't be anxious about your own affairs, but entrust them to God. If you're anxious, you care like a human; but God cares like God. He watches over them. So don't be anxious about them, leaving behind the more important things, otherwise God will care for them less; therefore, so that He might care for them more diligently, entrust everything to Him alone. Commit them to Him. For if you leave spiritual things behind to deal with those, God will not take great care of them.
The Angelic Life of the Monastic
Chrysostom's reflection on the monastic life as a foretaste of heaven, characterized by detachment, prayer, and angelic harmony.
So, to get these things in order for yourself and to be freed from every anxiety, hold fast to spiritual things and despise worldly ones; for in this way you will gain both earth and heaven, and you will obtain future blessings through the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ—so says Chrysostom. These words of Chrysostom apply most of all to monks, whose life he describes here, comparing it to the life of worldly people: 'The life that seems so burdensome and difficult—I mean the life of monks and those who are crucified—is much milder and softer than the one I see, and it is sweeter and more delightful.' For there is as much distance between these two lives as there is between a harbor and a sea tossed by waves. Consider their happiness right from the start: they have fled from public squares, cities, and the people caught in the chaos, choosing instead a life in the mountains that has nothing in common with the present world. Here, they meditate on things that pertain to the kingdom of heaven in great quiet; and above all, they cling to the Lord. Their work is the same as Adam's in the beginning before he sinned, when, clothed in glory, he spoke freely with God and lived in that place filled with great blessedness. For in what way do they live worse than he did, since he was placed in paradise before his disobedience, so that he might work? They have no worldly anxiety, and neither do those monks; he spoke to God with a pure conscience, and they do the same—or rather, they have even greater confidence than he did, as they enjoy a greater grace of the Spirit. These lights of the world rise from their beds bright and joyful, forming a single choir and singing in perfect harmony with a clear conscience, as if with one voice. They sing hymns to the God of all, praising Him and offering Him thanks for all benefits, whether personal or shared. If it seems right, let's set aside Adam and ask: how does this choir differ from the angels who sing on earth, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will'? Then— Once they have said that prayer, they kneel before the God whom they have praised in hymns, and they ask and seek. They ask for nothing for themselves, as they have no concern for such things; rather, they seek to stand with confidence before the terrible tribunal when the only-begotten Son of God comes to judge the living and the dead, so that no one may hear that terrible voice saying, 'I do not know you,' and that they may finish this laborious life with a pure conscience and many good works, navigating this difficult sea with tranquility. Then, rising and having finished those holy and continuous prayers, as the sun rises, each one goes to his work, gathering from it a great reward for those in need. Great is the one there who takes up even the lowliest work. And again: "There is no 'mine' or 'yours' there; that phrase is cast aside, because it's the cause of ten thousand conflicts." And again: "In none of their dwellings are things arranged worse than in heaven; for the angels descend to them, and the Lord of the angels as well." Their table is clean of all greed and full of wisdom. There are no torrents of blood among them, no butchered meat, no rich sauces, no steam from cooked food filling the air in an unseemly way, no offensive smoke, no rushing about, no tumult, no confusion, and no shouting. They have no heavy burdens; there is only bread and water—the one from a pure spring, the other from honest labor. If any of them wish to feast more sumptuously, berries satisfy their hunger, and there's more pleasure in this than in royal banquets. This is the table of the angels, free from all disturbance. They are simply provided with hay for a seat, just as Christ did when he ate in the wilderness; many don't even build a shelter here, but have the sky for a roof. They have the moon instead of a lamp's light, needing neither oil nor a servant. The sun doesn't provide light there. The angels themselves rejoice and exult as they contemplate this table from heaven. Knowing this, let's put aside all greed and strive with all our might to seize the things that are above—namely, the kingdom of heaven. So that we may also enjoy the goods to come—these are the words of Chrysostom.
Closing Prayer
A concluding prayer for the Church and its leaders to faithfully return the fruits of their labor to God.
PRAYER: Lord God, almighty Father of the family, who have placed the vineyard of your Church in the care of leaders to be cultivated, so that by uprooting vices like thorns and planting virtues like good seeds, they might produce the fruit of good works in themselves and in those under them: grant, in your mercy, to all—both leaders and each of their subjects—that they may return to you the fruit of heart, speech, and action; that by the abundance of this fruit they may be pleasing to your majesty; and that finally, after the labor of this present life, they may rest in your kingdom with your chosen ones who have labored well and faithfully, through your mercy. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Ad idom JCSUS aliam parabolam proposuit eis, scilicet principibus sacerdotum et senioribus populi. Audite^ ait, aliam parabolam : Homo erat paterfamilias , qui plantavit vineam, et sepem circumdedit ei, et fodit in ea torcidar, et sediflcavit turrim, et locavit eam agricolis, seu colonis ; et peregre profectus es^. Illi autem,scilicet agricolae servos suos ad recipiendum fructus missos male tractaverunt, et occiderunt; et novissimefilium missum heredem cognoscentes, et hereditatem habere volentes, apprehenderunt, et extra vineam ejicientes, etiam occiderunt. Et interrogati, quid faceret DE LOGATIONE Yl^ dominusvineae colonis '\si\s, aiimtiUi: Malos male perdet, et vineam suam locabitaliis agricolis, qui reddant ei fruQ. ctum temporibus suts. Qinbu^ ipse ait: Ideo dico vobis,quia auferetur ab eis. scilicet a vobis regnum Dci ; et dabitur genti facienti frucfus ejus. In hac paraboJa describit, tniiltipliciter malitiain et inj^ratitudinem Jud.
ieorum, quibus Deiispater t'amilias,<|ui natnra Domiiuis, benevoleiitia pater, homo niansuctudiiie non iiatura, similitndine non veritate, mnlta beneficia contulit. Domus autem I-nei, ctsynagoga viiiea est, ex electis persnnis Patriarcharum et Prophetarain, sicut ex vitibus optimis quam de J^gypto transtulit, et in terra promissionis plantavit ; cui sepem circumdedit, cuslodiam quidem triplicem, scihcet: angelicam super murus Jeru-alem ; et humanam, scilicet protectionem bpllicorum virorum; et terrenam, scilicet munitiouein murorum. Et fodit in ca torcuiar, id esi legi-m justitiae, ac timorem cumpnmentem, et malos torquetitem, et hoc fodit : signis, minis ct promissis ; et ibi aedificavit turrim, scilicet templum ad cultum divinuin, quod dicitur turris, propter securitate n refugii, re<pi! ctu aliarum nationum. Et locavit eam agricolis et uptTariis, scilicct sacerdotibus et priucipibus, qui debent exstir)iare vitia taminam spinas, et inserere virtutes tamquam bona semina, ac servare cultum divinum, et justitiam in hommibus. Et pergere profectus est, non loci mutatiune, quia Deus est ubiijue, sed quoniam vinitoribus liberum arbitrium reliquit ; vel, propter longaniniitatem, quam in spectando ut a peccatisconverterentur habeit; veKpropteripsorum negligentiam, quia, secundum Ambrosium, qui ubique praesens est, diligentibus praesentior, et ncgligentibus absentior, est. Cum autem tempus fructuum appropinquasset, quia post Legem susceplam debebant facere fructum bunorum operum, misit servos suos, id est primos Prophetas ad agricolas, id est ad reges et sacerdotes principaliter, et ad alios subjectos eis consequenter ; ut recipcrent fructus ejus^ eos per pra^dicatiunem snam, ad fructum bonoruni operum reducendo. Et agricolde, apprehensis seruis ejus.
quoniaai multi regi's et sacerdotes Prophetas ad se missos a Dominu turf)iter comprehendentes, eos male trartaverunt : alium enim ceciderunt, alium occiderunt alium vei^o lapidaverunt. Iterum misit alios servos plures prioribus, multiplicando scilicet Proph(! tas. ad populi correciionc. m ; et fecerunt eis similiter quia ipsi int^rati Deum iahonoravcrunt, et simiiiter illos Prophetas persecuti sunt et int(! rfecerunt. Novissime autem, id est in ultiinis temporibus, misit Filium suum, pro nobis incarnatum quem heredem universorum et principemcojxnoscentes, ejecerunt extra vineam, negando, vel, quia cxtra portam Jerusolymorum occiderunt crucifig(^ndu, vulentes habere hcreditatem ejus temporalem, scilicet possessionem ; cogitabant enim intra se:Si istum populus habeat Domitmm, necesse est ut amittamus cunsuetudinem viclimarum et hostiarum, quae ad nostrum parata esi lucrum; si autem occidamus eum, sic semper tenebitur consuetudo offerendarum hostiarum, et sic fiet nostra posscssio, et erit nostra hereditas. Venit autem Dominus ad judicandum, et istud lactnm vindicandum quando ex ejus ordinatiune venit contra Judaeus excrcitus Rumanorum ; et malos male perdidit, quando civititem eurum et templum per Romanos destruxit,ac populum occidi et captivari fecit.
Hcreditas Christi est etiam Ecclesia quam Judaei praecipue moliebantur,dum,fide cjus exstincta, ju4itiam quae ex Lege est, persuadere Gentilibus conabantur. Haec fecerunt, ut sic ingrati mali male perdantur, et merito damnentur, et ab eis regaum Dei, scilicet : Christus, Scriptiira sacra, seu Scripturarum intelligentia, fides, Ecclc'sia, et vita aeterna auferatur ; et hoc pertinet ad Judaeorum reprubationcm. Sed quod sequitur, pertinet ad Gentilium conversionem : vinea enim Ecclesiae locatur aiiis agricolis, quia, Ecclesiam suamChristusregendamtradiditApostolis et aliis discipulis, qui reddant ei fructum temporibus suis, quia ob prsedicationem eorum credidit mullitudo Gentium, ut regnum coelorum detur aliis, scilicet Gentibus ab Oriente et Occidente, ab Auslroet Aquilone venientibu»;, qui facient fructum cordis credendo, et oris confitendo, et operis serviendo, et corporis paliendo, et recumbent cum Abrahain, Isaac et Jacob in regno Bei; et ipsi Juda^i ejicientur in tenebras exteriores. Mystice,totum potest exponi de Ecclesia, hoc modo : quia homo^ id est Ghristus, plantavit vineam, id est Ecclcsiam sanguine suo, et de latere suo formatam, in qua tot sunt differentiai palmitum, qiiot sunt differentiae hominum ; et circumdedit ei sepem, id est evangelicam doctrinam, vel Angelorum msiod'mm \ et fodit in ea torcular, \desi crucem Ghrisli, vel Martyrum pntientiam ; et dedificavit turrim, scilicet matrem Ghristi, vel contemplationem Ghristi, Gonfessorum et Doctorum, vel fidem de qua Ecclesia se defen lit contra hostes ; et locavit eam agricolis. , idest praelatis, quorum variis ministeriis regitur et gubernatur ; et profectus est, ut supra exponitur. Et misit servos, id est bonos ad arguendum malos; et aliquos cdeciderunt, et alios occiderunt, ut patet de muliis. Deinde mittitur Christus Filius invisibiliter a Patre, quando aliquem insiigat ad bonum ; sed aliqui sunt ingrati, ejus instinctura non solum repelientes , sed eliam pessime agentes, propter quod, qu:intum in eisest, occidunt eum. De quibus dicit Apostolus: Eursum crucifigemes Filium Dei, et sic ex Dei justitia perduntur, et vinea aliis locatur, cum eorum loco boni subrogantur.
Potest etiam per vineam istam intelligi anima rationalis, homini per Deuin locata, quia ad hoc infunditur corpori, ut, ipso mediante, faciat fructum bonorum operum, et multa merita acquirat; quae bona facta per hominem, suQt tamquam vites. Et in quolibet bono hominis, sive sit bona cogitatio, vel bona operatio, vel bona locutio, crescunt quinque uvae, quarum quatuor remment homini, quinta vero debetur Deo. Quae uvae sunt: cordis jucunditas, culpie remissio, aeternae mortis vitatio, aeternae glonae acquisitio ; quinta uva est gloria Dei, istam non nobis, sed Deo dare debemus. — Potest insuper exponi de reiigione, cujus fundatio est maxime in triplici voLo,quod dicilur divina pIai)tatio;sepes,regula etconstitutiones ; torcular, lectio et sludiiim Scripturae ;_turris, praedicatio; agricolarum locatio praelatorum praefectio est. Felices qui bene colunt et non negligunt, augent et non diminuunt, conservant et non destruunt! Quilibet etiam nostrum de populo est viuea, et idem est etiam cultor, quilibet enim nostrum colit seipsum. Unde Hieronymus : « Locata est autem nobis vinea, et locata est ea conditione, ut reddamus fructum Domino temporibus suis, et sciamus unoquoque tempore quid oporteat nos vel loqui, vel lacere.
Principes autem sacerdotum , et Scribae, et Pharissei, cognoverunt quod de ipsis dixerit parabolam istam, et quderentes eum quasi mendacem tenere, ad occiilendum, sed divinae reverentiae humanum timorem praeferentes, timuerunt turbas, et non processerunt in faclutn, quoniam turbae sicut Prophetam eum habebant. Sed, quem nunc turbae quasi Prophetam habent, et colunt, postea contra ipsum cruciflge. , crucijlge eum clamal>unt, quia turba mobilis est, nec in proposita voluntale persistens. Ubi Chrysostomus : « Omnis homo malus, quantum ad voluntatem suam, et manus suas mittit iii Deum, et occidit eum. Qui enim Deum ad iracundiam excitare non dubitat, qui praecepta ejus conculcat, qui nomen ejus contemnit, qui blasphemat, qui murmurat contra Deum, et turbato vultu aspicit contra coelum, qui in ira sua manus audacter sublevat contra eum, nonne si posset tieri, manus mitteret in Deum, et occideret eum, ut jam licenter peccaret? )) Vide nunc obstinationem PonDE LOCATIONE VlNE. fl 217 tificum, et majorum, ia malo, quia audiimtes doclrinam Ghristi, non fuerunt contriti; sed magis ex liac indignati, et ad occiden ium eum incitati. Multi sunt tales hodie, qui indii;nantur quuido rejirehenduntur, quia p;mci sunt qui vfritatem suse correctionis Yelint audire, imo et persequuntur reprehendentes eos.
pro ipsorum salute. Vide etiam quornodo Pontifices et majoros retrahobantur a malo propter populum, cum tamen deberet esse per contrarium. Haec plebs quasi asina Balaam fuit, quas ipsum errantem coiripuit. Hoc quotidie geritur in Ecclesia, cum quiiibet solo nomine fatetur eam quam non diligit ecclesiasticae fidei et pacis unitatem ; sed erubescitvel timetimpuguare propter bonorum multifudinem. Sed licet ab occidendo Dei Filio ad modicum, donec veniret hora ejus timore humano potuerunt retardari ; numquam tamen divino amore voluerunt cohiberi. Praedicationem enim Christi contemnentes, proptcrcupiditatem temporalium, conspiraverunt in ipsius mortem, ne perderent civitatem et templum, in quo quidem templo hauriebant pecuniam populi, sub obtentu cultusdivini. Unde occiderunt Filium, ut haberent hereditatem, et pacifice possiderent templum et civitatcm, ne occasione ejus Komani venirent, et eis locum et gcntem auferrent; contrarium tamen eis accidit, quia in vindictam mortis Christi et locum et gentem perdideruut, Ubi ait Chrysostomus ; « Quandoque igitur detentus, per medios eos transiit, non apparens, quandoque autem apparens dolentem eorum concupiscentiam detin(;t, per multitudinis metum ; hi autem non emendabantur, ita semel eos dilectio principatus, et vanae gloriae cupido, obcaecarat, quod temporanea quajrerent! Nihil ita adversu-; proxiinum caput impellit, et in praecipitationes fert, etninil ita f.
icit a tuturis excidere, sicut affixum esse temporaneis; uihil ita et praesentibus et futuris jucunde uti tribuit ut futura omnibus anteponere. Quderite enim, ait Dominus, primum regnum Dei, et justitiam ejus^ et hsec omnia adjicientur vobis. Ne itaque de tuis sollicitus sis, sed illa cominitte Dco. Nam si tu soliicitus cs, ut homo curas; Deus vcro, ut Deus p.' ovidet. Ne crgo de eis sollicitus sis, priTistaiitiora relinquens, alioquin Deus illa minus curabit; ut illa igitur ddigenier curet, ipsi soli omnia c. fmmitte. Si eiiim, relietis spiriluiUbus, ilia tractes, non magnam eorum Deus geret providentiam.
Ut igitur et tibi ha3c recte composila sint, et sollicitudine omni Iibereris, haere S|)iritualibus, secularia despice; sic enim et terram cum coelo obtinebis, et futura bona consequeris, gratia etbenignitate Domini nostri Jesu Christi : » haec Chrysostomus. 5 — HaCC pcr Chrysostomum jain dicta, maxime et praecipue ad monachos spectant, de quorum vita idem Chrysostomus hoc loco narrat, eatnque ad seculirium vitam comparat, dicens : « Quae viiletur ita onerosa esse vita et difficilis, eam, quae monachorum est, dico et crucitixorum, multum hac quae vidi;tur esse milis et mollis, dulcior est et deleetibilior. Tantum etenim inter utramque vitam intervallum quantum inter portiim et fluctibus agitatum pelagus. Ex habitnculis statim ab e\ordio,horum feiicitatemconsidera; fora enim et civitates, et eos qui in medio sunt tumultus fugientes vitam, quae est in montibus, elegerunt, quae niliil habet commune ad praesentia. Jam autem hic, quae ad coelorum regnum pertinent meditantur, cum quiete multa ; praecipue autem Domino haerent. Opus autem illorum idipsum est, quod Adam initio habuit, antequam peccaret, quando gloria indutus cum Deo libere loquebatur, et locum illum multa beatitudine refertum incolebat. In quo enim hi pejus quam ille degunt, cum ante inobedientiam positus est in paradiso, ut operaretur? Nulla ipsi secularis s ollicitudo, nulla etiam monachis iliis ; Deo loquebatur cum pura conscieniia, et hi similiter, imo multo majorem quam ille fiduciaui habent, utpote majori fruentes gratia Spiritus.
Hi orbis terrarum luminares, surgentes a lectulo, clari et Isetantes, et chorum unum facientes, in praeclara conscientia cunsonant universi, et sicut ex uno ore. hymnos ad universorum canunt Deum, liudantes eum, et ei gratiam solventes pro omnibns sive propfiis sive communibus beneficiis. Quare, si videtur, Adamo dimisso, interro^emus, in quo hic difFerat chorus ab Angelis qui in terra cantant, et dicuiit : Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus honse voluntatis. Dein-ie, p . stquam rantica ilia dixerunt,genuaflectentes Deum quem hymnis laudaverunt, roj,*^ant, et petunt. Praepentium quidem nihil petunt ; nulla enim eis horum est cura, sedut cutn fiducia stare possint ante terribiJe tribunal, cum Uni^enitus Dei Filius venerit judicare vivos et mnrtuos; et ut nemo audiat illam terribilem vocem quae dicit : Nescio vos; atque ut cum pura conscientia, et multis directionibus laboriosam hanc expleant vitam, et cum tranquiilitale difflcile navigent hoc pelagus. Deinde surgentes, et piMficientes jam sanctas illas et contiuuas orationcs, oi'ieute sole, ad opus adit unusquisque, multum stipendium egentibus hinc con^regantes. Magnus est illic qui vile opus rapit.
» Et ilerum : « Non est ibi meum et tuum, sed abjectum est inde hoc verbum, quod decem millium est causaprseliorum.)) Et iterum : « In nuUo eorum tabernacula deterius coelis disposita sunt; etenim Angeli desrendunt ad eos, et Angelorum Dominator. Et mensa apud eos est ab omni avaritia munda, et philosophia plena. Non sanguinum torrentes suiit apud eos, neque carnium incisiones, neque condimenta, neque vapor coctorum indecenter implens odoratum, neque fumus inconveniens, neque cnrsus et tumaltus, et turbationes et clamor. s onerosi; sed panis et aqua: haec quidem ex fonte puro, ille autein ex laboribus justis. Si autem et ali(|uiil lautius voluerint epulari, baccae laulitiam implent; et major hic est voluptas quam reuiis mensis. Angclorum est haec mensa ab omni turbationeeruta. Etsedile eis foenuui simpliciter supponitur, sicut in eremo prandeus Christus fecit, Multi autem neque tegmen hic faciunt, sed pro tecto coelum habeut.
et lunam pro lumine lucernae, non indigentes olco, neque ministro; illis C(! rte solis condi^ne lana ministrat lucem. Hauc et Angeli mensam de coelo contemplantes laetantur et exsultant. Hae(' i^itur scientes, deposita omni avaritia, quae sunt desuper, coeleste scilicet regnum cum studio omni rapiamus. ut et futuris fruamur bonis : » haec Chrysdstomus. ORATIO Domine Deus, paterfamilias omnipotens, qui vineam Ecclesiae tuae praelatis locasti ad colendum,ut vitia tami^uam spinas exslirpando, et virtutes tamquam bona semina inserendo, fructum in se, et in subditis facerent bonorum operum, da propitius omnibus et praelatis, el singulis subditis, ut fiuctum cordis, oris, et operis tibi reiidant ; ut ubertate fructuuiii majesiati tuae placeant; ac tandem post laborem praesentis vitae cum electis tuis, qui bene et fideliter laboraverunt, in regno tuo, te miseraute, requiescant. Amen.
Notes
- 1 ↩The source text ends abruptly and appears corrupt at the end of this sentence.
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