Augustine of Hippo

In his own words on Sirach

• Sirach 1:4

  Wisdom was created before all things—not certainly that Wisdom that is clearly coeternal and equal to you, our God, his Father, and by whom all things were created and in whom, as the Beginning, you created heaven and earth. Rather, truly, it was that wisdom that has been created, namely, the intellectual nature that, in the contemplation of light, is light. For this is called wisdom, although it is created. But as great as the difference is between the Light that enlightens and that which is enlightened, so great is the difference between the Wisdom that creates and that which has been created. It is just as great as the difference between the Righteousness that justifies and the righteousness that has been made by justification.

  Confessions 12.15.20

• Sirach 1:14

  Isaiah the prophet presents us with those seven well-known spiritual gifts. He begins with wisdom and ends with the fear of God, as though he were coming down from the heights to our level. He does this to teach us to climb back up again. Thus, he began from where we want to finish, and he arrived at the point where we should begin. "Here will rest on him," he says, "the Spirit of God, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and courage, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord." Therefore, just as he descended from wisdom to fear—not because he was slipping back but in order to teach—we in the same way must climb from fear to wisdom. We do this not as a matter of pride but in order to progress. "For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

  SERMON 347:2

• Sirach 1:26

  Wisdom is a good that fills those with joy who possess it but weighs down those who do not. But what does Scripture say? "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Who would not love to reign, and yet in the Psalms the Spirit admonishes, "And now, O kings, understand; be instructed, you who judge the earth; serve the Lord in fear, and exult before him with trembling." This is also why Paul says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." And still we read, "If you desire wisdom, observe justice, and the Lord will grant it to you." Since many, as you can readily observe, do not observe justice even though they ardently aspire to wisdom, the Scripture admonishes them that they cannot arrive at what they desire if they do not observe what they are neglecting. Observe justice, it says, and the Lord will grant you the wisdom that you desire. But only one who fears God can observe justice. "The one who is without fear cannot be justified." Therefore, if the Lord grants wisdom to the one who observes justice, the one who is without fear will not be found just. We thus return to the affirmation that I have cited at the beginning: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

  SERMON 347:1

• Sirach 2:10

  "Listen, O God, to my prayer, while I am troubled; from fear of the enemy deliver my soul." Enemies have raged against the martyrs. For what was that voice of Christ's body praying? It was praying for this: to be delivered from enemies and praying that enemies might not have power to kill them. Were they not therefore listened to because they were killed, and has God forsaken his servants who have contrite hearts and despised those who hope in him? Certainly not. For "who has called on God and been forsaken; who has hoped in him and been deserted by him?" Therefore, they were heard, and they were killed—and yet, they were delivered from their enemies. Others who were afraid gave in and lived, and yet these same people were swallowed up by their enemies. The slain were delivered, the living were swallowed up. This is what that recognizable voice of the psalmist is referring to when it says, "Perhaps they would have devoured us alive." Many, in fact, were devoured alive, but many others were devoured dead. The ones who considered Christianity as foolish were already dead, in fact, by the time they came to devour them.

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 63:2

• Sirach 2:12

  If … one dies to whom one of these superstitious remedies has been given—and how many have died with remedies, and how many have lived without them!—with what confidence does his spirit go forth to God? He has lost the sign of Christ, receiving instead the sign of the devil. Perhaps he may say that he has not lost the sign of Christ. Can you have, then, the sign of Christ along with the sign of the devil? Christ does not want cooperative ownership. He desires to have sole possession of what he has purchased. He bought it at such a high price in order that he alone may possess it. Would you make him the partner of that devil to whom you have sold yourself by your sin? "Woe to the double-hearted," to those who in their hearts give a portion to God and a portion to the devil. Angered that the devil has a portion there, God leaves and the devil takes possession of the whole. There is a reason why the Apostle admonishes, "Allow no place for the devil."

  TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7:7

• Sirach 2:13

  The one whose spirit has been entrusted to God clings to God. God is faithful and will not allow him to be tempted above that which he is able but will make with the temptation a way of escape also, so that he may be able to endure and not be turned back in the day of battle. The one who, instead, glories in himself and not in God—even though he might make a big spectacle out of stretching and bending his bow—is the one who is destined to turn and run in the day of battle. His spirit is not faithful to God, and therefore the Spirit of God is not with him. And, as it is written, "Anyone who has not believed in God will not be protected."

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 77:10

• Sirach 2:14

  One can read somewhere in the Gospel the following words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "With your patience you will save your souls." And in another passage of the Scriptures it is said, "Woe to those who have lost patience." Whether you call it patience or endurance or tolerance, the various terms allude to the same thing. Let us anchor in our hearts not so much the diversity of the words but the unique substance of the concept, and let us try to possess deep down what we express in words. The person who is conscious of the fact that the life he leads in this world is far away from his real home lives here in patience wherever he finds himself in the body, here on earth. He lives in patience when he knows that he possesses an eternal home in heaven, trusting that that place is where happiness is found that he cannot find here but can only long for here, and he burns with a such a good, holy and chaste desire for it. It is evident that patience is not necessary in prosperity but in adversity. One cannot say that one tolerates with patience that which is pleasing. That which we tolerate, that which we support patiently, is something hard, something bitter. Therefore, patience is not necessary in happiness but in unhappiness.

  SERMON 359/A.2

• Sirach 3:15

  "What shall I render to the Lord," that while my memory recalls these things my soul is not appalled at them? I will love you, O Lord, and thank you and confess your name, because you have removed from me these terribly wicked and nefarious acts of mine. I attribute it to your grace and to your mercy that you have melted away my sin as if it were ice. I also attribute whatever of evil I have not committed to your grace—for what sin is there that I would not have committed, loving as I did the sin for the sin's sake? Yes, all my sins I confess to have been granted pardon to me, including those sins that I committed by my own perversity and those which, by your guidance, I did not commit. Where is the person who, reflecting on his own infirmity, dares to ascribe his chastity and innocence to his own strength? To do so would mean loving you less, as though he were in less need of your mercy by which you forgive the transgressions of those who turn to you. Whoever, therefore, has responded to your call and followed your voice—avoiding those things that he reads me recalling and confessing of myself—should not despise me, who, being sick, was healed by that same Physician who helped him not get sick, or at least less sick than he would have been. This is why he should love you as much, yes, even more than I do since once he sees how I have been restored by you from such a great enfeeblement of sin, he will see that he himself also has been preserved by you from a similar enfeeblement of sins.

  Confessions 2.7.15

• Sirach 3:17

  The activity of a soul that aspires to rest in quietness must be humble and gentle, which is appropriate for the follower of Christ the Way. It also should not be lazy or less than fully committed but should instead be committed to running the race to its end. It is, in fact, written, "Do your work thoroughly in a spirit of meekness," where the admonition, "Do your work thoroughly" is aimed at preventing you from allowing your meekness to degenerate into laziness.

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 114:6

• Sirach 3:18

  You should listen to John, you heretic. You should listen to the one who runs forward as you run backwards. You should listen to the humble, you who are proud. You should listen to the burning oil lamp, you unlit lamp. Listen to what John said when people came to him. "I baptize you with water." You too, if you would only acknowledge what you really are, are a minister of water. "I," he says, "baptize you with water; but he who shall come is far greater than I." How much greater than you is he? "I am not worthy to undo the lace of his sandal." How much would he have humiliated himself had he said he was worthy of this? In reality, he said he was not even worthy to do this—to undo the lace of his sandal. "It is he who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit." … Repeat what the friend of the Bridegroom says instead of drawing attention to yourself and away from the Bridegroom. "Neither is he that plants anything, nor he that waters, but God who lets it grow."12Listen again to the one we are talking about, the friend of the Bridegroom. It is true that he had, it seems, his own disciples and that he himself was not a disciple of Christ. Listen to him though as he recognizes himself as a disciple of Christ. See him there among the disciples of Christ, both more true and more humble. The humbler he was, the greater he was. Notice how he behaves himself according to what is written: "The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord." He rightly says, "I am not worthy to loosen the lace of his sandals," but this was not how he showed himself to be a disciple. "He who comes from above," he says, "is above everyone," "but we all have received from his fullness." Therefore, he too was among the disciples who had disciples around him, just as Christ did. Listen to him admitting with utmost clarity to being a disciple: "The one who possesses the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom stands there and listens."

  SERMON 292:8

• Sirach 3:21

  Let us, therefore, listen together to the admonition and to the words of Scripture: "Do not seek out the things that are too high for you, neither search the things that are above your strength." Not that such things are forbidden to us, since the divine Master says, "There is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed." But if we continue along the way we have undertaken, as the apostle tells us, God not only will reveal to us what we do not know and ought to know but also anything else we care to know about. The way we have undertaken is the way of faith: let us keep to it without wavering. Let it introduce us to the secrets of the King in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For it was surely not out of envy that the Lord Jesus Christ acted toward those great and specially chosen disciples of his when he said, "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." We must be walking, making progress and growing so that our hearts may become fit to receive the things that we cannot receive at present. And if the last day shall find us sufficiently advanced, we shall then learn what here we were unable to know.

  TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 53:7

• Sirach 4:28

  "Martyrs" is a Greek word; however, tradition nowadays uses this name instead of the Latin one; in Latin, rather, one would say "witnesses." So, there are authentic martyrs, and there are false ones. There are, in fact, true witnesses and false witnesses. But the Scripture affirms, "The false witness will not remain unpunished." If the false one does not remain unpunished, then the true witness will not remain without rewards. Certainly, it would be an easy thing to render testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the truth of him being God; but it would be an assignment arduous enough to render it until death. There were some leaders of the Jews, cited in the Gospel, who believed in the Lord Jesus; but because of the Jews, it is said, they did not dare to recognize him publicly. And it is immediately noted down in the passage; in fact, the Evangelist, continuing, affirms, "For they loved the glory of people more than the glory of God." There were, then, those who, before people, were ashamed to recognize Christ; there were still others, certainly better, who were not ashamed to recognize Christ before people, but who were incapable of confessing him unto death. In fact, the gifts of God are such that sometimes they only gradually develop themselves in the soul. First pay attention, then confront among them these three categories of witnesses: the first includes he who believes in Christ and hardly manages to whisper his name; the next, he who believes in Christ and recognizes him openly; the third, he who believes in Christ and, in his confession, is ready to die for Christ. The first is so weak that his shame prevails over his fear; the second already puts on a brave face, but not yet until the blood; the third has everything, so there is nothing left to be desired. He meets in fact all that is written: "He fights until death for the truth."

  SERMON 286:1.1-2:1

• Sirach 5:7

  "Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to everyone according to his works." The fear of God must therefore take hold in your heart. If you do not want to sin, you should reflect on the fact that God is always present with you. This is the case not only in public but also in your own home, and not only in your home but in your own room, even at night in your very own bed, in your heart. If, then, you abolish the safe haven of penance and repentance, sins would increase out of desperation. As you see, those who think that the safe haven of repentance presented by the Christian faith is an occasion for sin have nothing more to say.And what happens next? Shouldn't God have made provision for preventing sin from increasing since people would count on there being this hope of forgiveness? In other words, just as he has provided that sin would not be added to because of desperation, he should also make sure that sin also would not be added to because of hope. In reality, the person who despairs adds to his sins just as much as the one who counts on forgiveness. You might even say to yourself, "In the meantime, I will do what I want. Then, when I repent, God is good and will forgive me." You certainly can say to yourself, "When I convert, he will forgive me"—if you know you will be alive tomorrow. Don't the Scriptures warn you, though, saying, "Do not delay turning back to the Lord or put it off from day to day; for suddenly his wrath will come, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy you." You see, divine Providence has kept watch over us, allowing us to avoid one or the other danger: in order to make sure we do not increase our sin out of despair, there is the safe haven of repentance; in order to make sure we do not increase them out of excessive hope of forgiveness, the day of our demise has been made unknown.

  SERMONS 352:9

• Sirach 5:7

  The mind fluctuates between presumption and desperation. You must have fear, otherwise presumption will kill you; you must have fear, that is, rather than counting on the mercy of God, lest you fall into judgment. You also need to have fear so that desperation does not kill you when you begin to think that the horrible sins that you have committed cannot be forgiven you. In that case, you end up not repenting and incur instead the sentence of Wisdom, which says, "I also will laugh at your destruction." How then does the Lord treat those who are in danger from both these maladies? To those who are in danger from presumption, he says, "Do not be slow in turning to the Lord. Do not put it off from day to day, for suddenly his anger will come and in the time of vengeance will utterly destroy you." To those who are in danger from despair, what does he say? "In whatever day the wicked person shall be converted, I will forget all his iniquities." Accordingly, for the sake of those who are in danger because of despair, he has offered us a refuge of pardon. And for those who are in danger because of presumption and are deluded by delays, he has made the day of death uncertain. You do not know when your last day may come. You are an ingrate. Why not use the day today that God has given you to repent?

  TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 33:8

• Sirach 6:24

  The weakness and the corruptibility of the body are truly fetters that weigh down the soul. The body's fragility is like the material a persecutor could use for causing pain and suffering, thus forcing many of the saints into impiety. The apostle longed to be unbound from these fetters and to be with Christ, but to remain in the flesh was necessary for the sake of those to whom he was ministering the gospel. Until, then, this corruptible puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on immortality, the weak flesh will imprison the willing spirit. No one feels these fetters except those who groan inwardly, who are burdened and wanting to be clothed with the tabernacle that is from heaven, because death is terrifying and mortal life brings sorrow. The prophet redoubles his own groaning in behalf of these individuals who are suffering so that their groaning may come before the sight of the Lord.Those who are bound by the disciplines of wisdom may also be understood to be fettered. But these disciplines, if patiently endured, can be turned into adornments, which is why it is written, "Put your feet into [wisdom's] fetters."

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 78:15

• Sirach 6:36

  Andrew was Peter's brother, and we know from the Gospel that the Lord called Peter and Andrew from the ship, saying, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And from that time they joined him and did not leave him. On the present occasion these two followed him, however, not as those who were not again to leave him but to see where he was living and to fulfill the Scripture, "Let your foot wear out the threshold of his doors; get up and come to him continually and be instructed in his commandments." He showed them where he lived. They came and remained with him.

  TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7:9

• Sirach 10:9

  "No one knows the things of a person except the spirit of man which is in him." And yet, there is something of a person that "the spirit … in him" does not know. But you, Lord, who made him, you fully know him. I indeed, though in your sight I despise myself and consider "myself but dust and ashes"—I still know something concerning you that I do not know about myself. Most assuredly, "we see through a glass dimly," "not yet face to face." As long as I am absent from you, I am more present with myself than with you.

  Confessions 10.5.7

• Sirach 10:9

  I am afraid that the reason why the soul went forth away from God is that it was proud. In fact, I have no doubt about it. For it is written, "Pride is the beginning of all sin," and "the beginning of human pride is a falling away from God." It is written, it is firm and sure, it is true. And so, what is said of proud mortal humanity, clad in the tattered rags of the flesh, weighed down with the weight of a corruptible body, and all the while extolling himself, and forgetting the very skin he is clothed with—what, I ask, do the Scriptures say to him? "Why is dust and ashes proud?" Why proud! Let the Scriptures tell why. "Because in his life he put forth his inmost parts." What does "put forth" mean except that he "threw it far away"? In other words, to send them out. For to enter within is to long after the inmost parts; to put forth the inmost parts is to send them out. The proud man gets rid of the inmost parts, the humble man earnestly desires the inmost parts. If we are cast out by pride, let us return by humility.

  TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 25:15

• Sirach 10:12

  "Those who do such things deserve to die." Which things? Those he had previously listed as punishments. In fact, "God gave them up," he says, "in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, because they do that which should not be done. To be an adulterer is already a kind of punishment; to be a liar, a miser, a cheat, a murderer, these are already punishments. Punishments for which sin? Of the primordial apostasy, the supreme sin of pride. "The beginning of human sin is rebellion against God," and, "The beginning of every sin is pride." For the apostle had spoken of this antecedent of sin: "Although they knew God, they neither gave him glory nor rendered thanks to him; instead, they have become futile in their reasonings, and their obtuse minds have become darkened." A darkened heart is already a punishment. But from what does it derive? "While declaring themselves wise, they have become fools." They said that what they had received from God derived from themselves; or, if they knew from whom they had received it, they still did not give the glory to the one from whom they received it.

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 57:18

• Sirach 10:13

  "The gate of hell" means the beginning of sin because it is written, "The wages of sin is death," and to say "death" is equivalent to saying "hell." The Scripture also explains what constitutes the beginning of sin: "The beginning of every sin is pride." Therefore pride is the gate of hell. When one inquires concerning the causes that have produced heresies, one sees that they were born from pride because pride pushes people, in the end, toward heresies and schisms when they boast of their abilities and their holiness with the goal of attracting people to themselves but with the result of detaching them from Christ. But all heresies and schisms derive from these children of pride who will not overcome the catholic church, as it was precisely foretold, "The gates of hell will not prevail against it."

  SERMON 346/B.3

• Sirach 12:4

  Execute mercy to the wicked, but not because he is wicked. Do not receive the wicked, in so far as he is wicked, that is, do not receive him because you have an inclination and love toward for his iniquity. For it is forbidden to give to a sinner and to receive sinners. Yet how do we hear, "Give to every one that asks of you," and this, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him"? This is seemingly contradictory, but it is opened to those who knock in the name of Christ and will be clear to those who seek. "Do not help a sinner," and, "Do not give to the ungodly," and yet, "Give to every one who asks of you." But it is a sinner who asks of me. Give, not as though you were giving to a sinner. When do you give as though you were giving to a sinner? When that which makes him a sinner pleases you so that his sin becomes the reason that you give.

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 102:13

• Sirach 15:9

  The old song sings about sexual lust, the new song sings of divine love. If your song is moved by lust, then you are singing an old song. Let the words of the new song resonate in your mouth, but if you are sinner there is no such thing as beautiful praise on your lips. It is best to be renewed and chastened than to continue singing the same old song. If, in fact, you have become a new person, even if you remain silent and your singing never reaches human ears, your heart elevates the new inner song so that it reaches the ear of God who has restored you. You love, and, even if you are silent, your love is itself a voice that sings to God.

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 95:2

• Sirach 17:23

  "And do not let the abyss swallow me or the pit close its mouth around me." What does this mean? What is he praying for? The abyss of human iniquity is a great pit, and anyone who falls into it will fall very far down. However, if the one who has fallen confesses his sins to God, then the pit will not close its mouth around him. As it is written in the Psalms, "Out of the depths have I cried to you, Lord. O Lord, listen to my voice." But it is different if the disaster found in another Scripture has happened to the sinner: "One who is devoid of reverence sinks deep into sin and is defiant." The pit has closed its mouth on him. In what sense does it mean that it closed its mouth? It has plugged the sinner's mouth shut. When the sinner refuses to confess his own guilt, then he is truly dead, and it has been fulfilled in him what is said elsewhere, "A confession coming from a dead person is like one who does not exist." Brothers and sisters, we must greatly fear such a disaster. If you see someone commit a sin, consider that person as though he or she were sunk in the pit. But if, at present, you point out the person's sin and he says to you, "I have sinned. I truly confess," the pit has not yet closed its mouth on him. If instead you hear that person saying, "Is what I have done that bad?" then he has become a defender of his sin and the pit has closed its mouth. There is no way for him to be pulled back outside. Clearly if there is no confession, there is no recourse to mercy. If you defend your sin, how can God free you from it? If therefore you want him as your liberator, you must be your own prosecutor.

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 68:1.19

• Sirach 18:1

  Scripture narrates the story of how the God who finished all his work in six days is the same one who it says elsewhere, and without any contradiction, that "he created everything at the same time." Consequently, he who created all things at the same time simultaneously also simultaneously created these six or seven days, or, rather, this one day repeating the day six or seven times. What need was there to enumerate these six days in such a precise and ordered way? Surely it was necessary for those who cannot arrive at a comprehension that "God created everything at the same time," that Scripture accompanied them more slowly, step by step, to the final goal of the story to which it was leading them.

  ON THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 4:33.52

• Sirach 18:7

  The language of the divine hymn is, "Seek God, and your soul shall live." Let us search for that which needs to be discovered, and into that which has been discovered. He whom we need to discover is concealed, in order to be sought after; and when found, is infinite, in order still to be the object of our search. Therefore it is said in another place, "Seek his face always." For even as he satisfies the seeker to the utmost of his capacity, he makes the finder still more capable so that he may seek to be newly filled according to the growth of his ability to receive. Therefore it was not said, "Seek his face always," in the same sense as of certain others, who are "always learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth." Rather, as the preacher says, "When a person has finished, then he begins," till we reach that life where we shall be so filled that our natures shall attain their utmost capacity because we shall have arrived at perfection and will no longer be aiming at more. For then all that can satisfy us will be revealed to our eyes. But here let us always be seeking, and let our reward in finding put no end to our searching. For we do not say that it will not be so always, because it is only so here. Rather, here we say we must always be seeking, lest at any time we should imagine that here we can ever cease from seeking.

  TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 63:1

• Sirach 18:30

  The perfection of the good consists in being totally free from lust because the elimination of evil consists in this. This is what the apostle asserts: "The perfect performance of good is not in my power." It was not in his power not to feel lust. It was in his power to refrain from lust, however, in order not to give in to it and to refuse to offer his members to the service of lust. "To perfect that which is good is not in my power," since it is impossible for me to fulfill the commandment: "You shall not lust." What is therefore necessary? That you put into practice, "Do not follow after your lusts." This is what you do so long as illicit lusts are present in your flesh: "Do not follow after your lusts." Remain faithful to the service of God, in the liberty of Christ. Serve the law of God with your mind. Do not yield to your lusts, because when you follow them, you add to their strength. By giving them strength, how can you hope to conquer them when you are nourishing these very enemies on your own strength?

  TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41:12

• Sirach 21:1

  We know that repentance over one's sins renews a person, making him better, but it will result in nothing more if it does not result in works of mercy. Truth testifies the same thing through the mouth of John when against those who were approaching him he said, "Generation of vipers! Who made you to believe that you could escape from the coming wrath? Produce fruit therefore in keeping with repentance, and do not say to yourselves, 'We are descendants of Abraham,' because I assure you that God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees, ready to cut; every tree that does not yield good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." This is the fruit about which he had said in the preceding phrase, "Produce fruits in keeping with repentance." Anyone who does not produce such fruits has no reason to believe that an unfruitful penance will merit the forgiveness of sins. And what these fruits are, the same John indicates, because after he had said these things, "The crowds questioned him, saying, 'What shall we do?' " that is, what are these fruits that he was pressing them to produce. "And he answered, 'Whoever possesses two cloaks should give one to the person who has none, and he should do the same with his provisions.' " It is an unambiguous, clear, explicit answer. So what is the meaning of what he said first, "Every tree that does not yield fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire," except what those who are on his left are going to hear to whom he says, "Be gone into the eternal fire, for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat." It is not enough therefore just to stop sinning if we neglect repairing the guilt of the past. In fact, Scripture says, "Son, have you sinned? Sin no more." However, if you think that this alone will make him safe, "and about the past" he quickly adds, "pray that the guilt of your transgressions may be pardoned." But what good does such praying do for you if you do not become worthy to be heard by not yielding fruits worthy of repentance, so that you are not cut down like a barren tree and thrown into the fire? If you want to be heard when you pray for your sins, "Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you."

  SERMON 389:6

• Sirach 24:5

  Hence also it follows by consequence, that the Apostle Paul did not say, "Who alone has immortality," of the Father merely; but of the One and only God, which is the Trinity itself. For that which is itself eternal life is not mortal according to any changeableness; and hence the Son of God, because "He is Eternal Life," is also Himself understood with the Father, where it is said, "Who only hath immortality." For we, too, are made partakers of this eternal life, and become, in our own measure, immortal. But the eternal life itself, of which we are made partakers, is one thing; we ourselves, who, by partaking of it, shall live eternally, are another. For if He had said, "Whom in His own time the Father will show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality;" not even so would it be necessarily understood that the Son is excluded. For neither has the Son separated the Father from Himself, because He Himself, speaking elsewhere with the voice of wisdom (for He Himself is the Wisdom of God), says, "I alone compassed the circuit of heaven." And therefore so much the more is it not necessary that the words, "Who hath immortality," should be understood of the Father alone, omitting the Son; when they are said thus: "That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: whom in His own time He will show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." In which words neither is the Father specially named, nor the Son, nor the Holy Spirit; but the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; that is, the One and only and true God, the Trinity itself.

  ON THE TRINITY 1:6.10

• Sirach 24:21

  Christ is for you both the shepherd and the door; he is both the pasture and the provider. "I alone am the door of the sheep," I declare. "The one who enters through me I will accept. He will be able to come and go and to find the pastures." The pastures the good Shepherd has prepared for you and where he has placed you are not those various sweet, mixed grasses that you love, which are here one minute and gone the next according to the changing of the seasons. The Word of God is your pasture, and its commandments are the sweet fields where you graze. Those pastures were savored by the one who sang to God, "How sweet are your words to my palate, more than honey in my mouth." The same person refers to these pastures when addressing the sheep of the Lord: "Taste and see how sweet the Lord is." Therefore, read the laws of the Decalogue of the Old Testament where they tell us "not to kill, not to steal, not to speak false testimony," and those that follow. Read the New Testament's praise of these commandments: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," and those that follow, and still many more transmitted from the prophets and the apostles. These are the pastures referred to when the Shepherd turns and exclaims to the sheep, "Work for food that does not perish." It does not perish because the Word of God remains forever. The Word of the Lord is your food, indeed, not only food but also drink. Thus, through the prophet, he addresses the people of old: "However many partake of me will still be hungry, and however many drink of me will still have thirst." And referring directly to himself he says the same thing: "My flesh is real food, my blood is real drink." These pastures are found next to the water that recreates, and these pastures and water are found only in the catholic church. Here your pastures are found in the commandments of life, here is found the fountain of water that flows to eternal life. Those streams will renew you when you come to be baptized in order to be restored in Christ. This is the water that must water your pastures so that you can grow; only the baptism of Christ produces fruits from the commandments, and only these nourish us so that we may be satisfied.

  SERMON 366:3

• Sirach 25:19

  Our death comes as a punishment we have been given to drink. We have received this from the stock of our origin as human branches spreading out from the root. The first Adam deserved this because of sin. "Sin had its beginning from a woman," as it says in Scripture, "and because of her we all die." And again: "Because of a single human being sin has entered into the world, and death through sin; thus death has caught up all of humanity because all have sinned." Thus in our nature there is present both guilt and punishment. God created our nature immune from guilt, and, if it had persisted without guilt, it would not then have had to experience the punishment. From our origin we have contracted this, and many other evils are derived from it as well. Therefore guilt and punishment are present in our nature: in the flesh of Jesus there was punishment without guilt because he came and abolished the guilt and the punishment.

  SERMON 299:8

• Sirach 25:19

  Since it has been written, "Sin had its beginning from the woman, and this is why all die," remember from which member the woman was taken and notice where the Lord was hit by the spear. Remember, I say, our primitive condition because it was not in vain, in fact, that I previously mentioned, "Our old self has been crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed and we would no longer be enslaved to sin." Eve, from whom sin had its beginning, was formed by drawing her from the side of the man. While she was drawn from his side, he lay there asleep; Christ was hanging and dead on the cross when he was wounded. To sleep and to die are closely related, and thus so are these two sides, Adam's side and Christ's side; the Lord was wounded where our sins originated. But from that side Eve was formed who in her sinning procured death for us; from Christ's side, however, the church was formed that brought us back to life by giving us birth.

  SERMON 336:5

• Sirach 27:11

  "You have made perfect sun and moon." The sun indicates spiritual people; the moon, carnal ones. As carnal as one is, may he not be forsaken and may he too be made perfect. The sun, as it were, is a wise person; the moon, as it were, is an unwise person. You have not however forsaken either one. For thus it is written, "A wise person endures as the sun, but a foolish person as the moon is changed." What then? Because the sun endures, that is, because the wise person endures as the sun, a foolish person is changed like the moon. Is one who is still carnal, still unwise, to be forsaken? And where is that which has been said by the apostle, "To the wise and unwise a debtor I am"?

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 73:19

• Sirach 29:12

  Those who are going to receive the kingdom have given aid to the poor like good, faithful Christians, following the words of the Lord and confidently hoping in his promises. This is how they conducted themselves, because if they had not, their lives that were otherwise suited to holiness would have remained sterile, limiting themselves to abstaining from sins, not violating chastity or abandoning themselves to drunkenness, not stealing or doing anything bad. If they had not added charitable actions, they would remain sterile, only observing the first part of the commandment, "Stay far away from evil," and not the other part, "and do good." Thus, when it says, "Come, receive your kingdom," this call is not motivated by the fact that they have lived in chastity, refrained from stealing, or that they have not taken advantage of the poor, or robbed other people's possessions or perjured themselves. Rather, it says, "Because I was hungry and you gave me something to eat." This fact is recognized as all the more important if the Lord was silent about the rest and only focused on this merit. In an analogous way, when he says to others, "Go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels," he does not introduce any of the other causes that could have been adduced for their sentences because they were adulterers, murderers, liars, sacrilegious, blasphemers, unbelievers; instead he only says, "I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat." I see that this has made an impression on you and astonishes you; this is truly amazing what he is saying. I will try to sort out for you the meaning and communicate it to you. It is written, "As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so aid given to the poor cancels one's sins." And still, "Visit mercy on the heart of the poor, and the same will pray to the Lord for you." We have already cited the passage, "Listen, my king, and redeem your sins with mercy." These are some of the many passages from the Word of God that demonstrate the importance of mercy in order to extinguish and to cancel sins. Or, there are also those whom the Lord condemns—or no, rather, those whom he is going to reward with crowns, as we have heard, for their acts of charity, as though he were saying, It would be difficult when weighing and examining carefully your actions to find a reason not to condemn you. Instead, he says, "Enter into the kingdom because I was hungry and you gave me something to eat." Therefore, they will be saved, not because they have not sinned but because they have redeemed their sins with their good works.

  SERMON 389:5

• Sirach 30:18

  So now that he is buried, I want to see if I can hear his voice. Or if I cannot hear his, I'll try to hear my father's voice, or my grandfather's or my great-grandfather's. But in fact no one has ever risen from the grave, no one has ever told us what is done in the beyond. Let us enjoy life while we live, and if our loved ones—our parents, or relatives or friends—bring remembrances to our grave after we are dead, this can only satisfy them; it has nothing to do with us! The Scripture also criticized this practice when, speaking about those who do not recognize the good things they have, it says, "As though making offerings of food at a grave." It is obvious that this can be of no use to the one who is dead. It is in fact a pagan custom and not part of the tradition that conforms to the truth of the Patriarchs. Of them, one reads that they did solemnly celebrate the funeral rites but not that they carried sacrificial offerings to the tombs. This can also be seen in the practice of the Jews who, even if they did not preserve the fruit of the virtues of the ancestors, nevertheless did maintain the ancient custom with much solemnity.

  SERMON 361:6.6

• Sirach 31:8

  How can one approve those who seem to dominate in this world, if they do less than they can? The Scripture praises precisely the one "who could have sinned but did not, who did not run after gold." Gold must follow you, and not you gold. In fact, gold is a good thing—certainly God created nothing evil. Don't you be evil, then, and the gold good. See here, I place some gold between an upright person and a dishonest one. If the dishonest person takes it, the poor are oppressed, magistrates corrupted, laws broken, social life upset. Why? Because a dishonest person took the gold. If the upright person were to have it, the poor would be sustained, the naked clothed, the oppressed liberated, prisoners redeemed. How much good is derived from the gold the honest person has, and how many evils from the gold of the dishonest person! To what end, therefore, do you say in disgust, "And what if gold did not exist at all?" You should not love gold. If you are dishonest, you will follow gold. If you are upright, it will follow you. What does "it will follow you" mean? That you will rule it and not be made its servant, because you will possess it, rather than being possessed by it.

  SERMON 311:9.9

• Sirach 32:4

  "May it be exalted" means nothing other than that the thing in question be raised on high. When this expression is used in a bad sense, it usually means pride, as when the Scripture says, "Do not exalt yourself in your wisdom," whereas if it is understood in a good sense, the expression supposes a greater honor, as if the thing really were raised on high. In this sense it is written, "In the nights, lift your hands toward the holy, and bless the Lord."

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 71:10

• Sirach 34:25

  It was not Donatus of Carthage who established that Christians had to be rebaptized, as I thought when I responded to his letter. Nor is it true that he drew the words necessary for his purpose directly from an expression of Ecclesiasticus, where it is written, "If a person is baptized after touching a dead person and touches him again, what good was it for him to wash." He claims it reads, "If someone is baptized by a dead person, what good was it for him to wash?" We later ascertained that even before the Donatist party existed, many codices—mostly, to be honest, African—did not have in this context the words "and touches him again."

  RETRACTATIONS 1:21.3

• Sirach 35:20

  When tribulation comes, you will not be without help. This will show you that what he sent you during the day was true. In a certain passage it is written, "Mercy is as wonderful in time of affliction as clouds that bear rain in time of drought." "By day the Lord sent his mercy, and by night I will tell of it." At no time does he show you his help more than when tribulation comes, in such a way that he who had promised by day that he would do so, frees you from it.

  EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 41:16

• Sirach 39:15

  The confession of sins is that ordinary confession that is known to you. It is therefore unnecessary to speak of the reasons for its use. We must rather look into confession in praise of God and the proofs that demonstrate it. People are so habituated to calling "confession" the confession of sins that every time they hear the reader say the words, "Confess yourselves," they beat their breasts, and a kind of noisy buzz arises in their consciences as they are reminded of their duty. This almost always happens, and yet one is not always speaking of the confession of sins. At times, in fact, one speaks of the confession of praise, as in that passage of Scripture where it says, "Confess to the Lord, and in your confession you will say, 'All the works of the Lord are very good.' " When you hear, "In your confession you will say, 'All the works of the Lord are very good,' " it is clear that this is a confession of praise to God and not of your guilt. In this case, you confess that all the works of the Lord are good, not that your actions are bad. And here is another passage about which, as with the previous one, there can be no doubt. The Lord Jesus certainly committed no sin, yet in the Gospel it says, "I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth." And he continues with praise: "Because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to the little ones. Yes, Father, because that is what it pleased you to do." This is the confession of one who praises God, not of one who accuses himself. Since, therefore, one who confesses either accuses himself or praises God, you should reflect a bit about the advantages of each type of confession.

  SERMONS 8:2

• Sirach 39:33

  Your creature had existence from the fullness of your goodness, so that a good that was entirely useless to you and, though it was from you and not equal to you, because it could be created by you, would not fail to exist. What value did the heavens and the earth, which you created in the beginning, have for you? And spiritual and bodily natures, created by you in your Wisdom—let them too declare what they deserve from you, because even the inchoate and the formless beings depend on your Word. In their element, whether spiritual or corporeal, they tend away from you toward disorder and degeneration—although a formless spiritual being is superior to a formed bodily being and a formless corporeal being in turn superior to what is absolutely nothing. Thus they would have remained suspended in your word, formless, if this same word had not called them to your unity, endowed them with form and made all of them very good thanks to you, the One and highest Good.

  Confessions 13.2.2

• Sirach 40:27

  The church, for the faithful servants of God who live in temperance, justice and love for God, is rightly called paradise, rich as it is with abundant graces and chaste delights. Even in tribulation, such a servant glories in his patience and is filled with great joy because the consolations of God gladden his soul in proportion to the many sufferings he experiences in his heart.

  SERMONS 12:34.65

• Sirach 43:31

  For with what understanding can man apprehend God, who does not yet apprehend that very understanding itself of his own, by which he desires to apprehend Him? And if he does already apprehend this, let him carefully consider that there is nothing in his own nature better than it; and let him see whether he can there see any outlines of forms, or brightness of colors, or greatness of space, or distance of parts, or extension of size, or any movements through intervals of place, or any such thing at all. Certainly we find nothing of all this in that, than which we find nothing better in our own nature, that is, in our own intellect, by which we apprehend wisdom according to our capacity. What, therefore, we do not find in that which is our own best, we ought not to seek in Him who is far better than that best of ours; that so we may understand God, if we are able, and as much as we are able, as good without quality, great without quantity, a creator though He lack nothing, ruling but from no position, sustaining all things without "having" them, in His wholeness everywhere, yet without place, eternal without time, making things that are changeable, without change of Himself, and without passion. Whoso thus thinks of God, although he cannot yet find out in all ways what He is, yet piously takes heed, as much as he is able, to think nothing of Him that He is not.

  ON THE TRINITY 5:1.2

• Sirach 50:29

  Therefore all these things which are made by divine skill, show in themselves a certain unity, and form, and order; for each of them is both some one thing, as are the several natures of bodies and dispositions of souls; and is fashioned in some form, as are the figures or qualities of bodies, and the various learning or skill of souls; and seeks or preserves a certain order, as are the several weights or combinations of bodies and the loves or delights of souls. When therefore we regard the Creator, who is understood by the things that are made, we must needs understand the Trinity of whom there appear traces in the creature, as is fitting.

  ON THE TRINITY 6:10.12

• Sirach 51:23

  The Word of God was directed to us. It was proclaimed to exhort us, as the Scripture says: "Receive instruction in the house of instruction." Instruction is given so as to instruct, and the house of instruction is the church of Christ. Let us ask ourselves the object and purpose of this instruction: who is instructed, and who imparts the instruction. One learns to live well, and the purpose for which he learns to live well is so as to live forever. To this end Christians are taught, and Christ is the one who teaches.

  SERMON 399:1.1