ARGUMENTUM.
Hic totus in eo est, ut ostendat quae sit dignitas sacerdotis, quod officium, quanta sit ei, qui tam sublime munus sustineat, praestanda innocentia: et quam sit non modo crimen, sed etiam criminis suspicio fugienda. In principio autem, quod oblitus eram dicere, gratias agit eidem, quod multa munera ad se misisset.
491ADomno A. Venerabili archiepiscopo, PETRUS peccator monachus plenissimae devotionis affectum.
Cum patriarchae Jacob filio suo Joseph dicat: « Benedictiones patris tui confortatae sunt benedictionibus patrum ejus (Gen. XLIX); » ego congrue possum dicere: quia benedictiones patris mei, non patrum, sed ejusdem patris mei, sunt benedictionibus confortatae. Tot quippe benedictiones fuerunt, quas mihi liberalitas vestra direxit, ut una commendasset alteram, et sequentes eas, quae praecesserant, prout Scriptura loquitur, confortarent. Porro autem si David gratiarum promeruit actiones, cum de manubiis, quas Amalecitis abstulerat, senioribus Juda dona transmitteret, dicens: « Accipite benedictionem de praeda hostium Domini (I Reg. XXX): » quanto 491Bpotiores ego gratias debeo, qui benedictiones accepi non cruentatas manibus hostium Domini, sed sanctificatas, atque depromptas e sanctuario Domini! Verum ut ab occasione corporalium munerum, ad spiritualium benedictionum se sermo dirigat sacramentum; cum apostolus hoc in magna felicitate constituat, quod dicit: « In hoc vocati estis ut benedictionem haereditate possideatis (I Petr. III); » quanta vobis, hoc est, summis Ecclesiae sacerdotibus est dignitas praerogata, ut benedictionem non modo vobis exhibitam possidere, sed possitis etiam aliis tradere! Et non qualemcunque, sed etiam episcopalem, per quam scilicet, vestri juris est ordinare pontificem; et cum non parvi terroris sit atque formidinis esse vel inferioris ordinis sacerdotem, 491Cnimirum ipsi quoque lege praecipitur, ut populi portet iniquitatem (Num. XVIII); quam pavendum est ac tremefactis visceribus formidandum, omnibus nunc in ecclesiastica dignitate praecellere, quos aeque necesse est, et ante omnes in tremendi judicis examine respondere! Unde sollicite considerandum est, ut quem ad obtinendas ecclesiastici culminis infulas summi sacerdotii sublimitas elevat, celsitudo quoque laudabilis et arduae conversationis attollat; et sicut per acceptae dignitatis sublime fastigium caeteris eminet, sic eum prae caeteris vita supereminens, et spiritualium morum splendor exornet. Unde per Moysen dicitur: « Pontifex, id est, sacerdos maximus inter fratres suos, super cujus caput fusum est unctionis oleum, et cujus manus in sacerdotio 491Dconsecratae sunt, vestitusque est sanctis vestibus, caput suum non discooperiet, vestimenta non 492Ascindet, et ad omnem mortuum non ingredietur omnino: super patre quoque suo, et matre non contaminabitur, neque egredietur de sanctis, ne polluat sanctuarium Domini, quia oleum sanctae unctionis Dei sui super eum est (Levit. XXI). » Oleo quippe caput sacerdotis inungitur, cum mens ejus sancti Spiritus pinguedine saginatur. Cujus etiam manus idem oleum consecrat, cum bonae voluntatis studium, quod sacerdos versat in mente, et visibiliter ostendit in opere.
THE ARGUMENT.
He is here wholly taken up with showing what the dignity of a priest is, what his office, how great the innocence that must be furnished by one who sustains so lofty a charge; and how not only a crime, but even the suspicion of a crime, is to be fled. At the beginning, moreover — which I had forgotten to say — he gives thanks to the same man because he had sent him many gifts.
491ATo the lord A., the venerable archbishop, PETER, a sinner and a monk, offers the affection of fullest devotion.
Since the patriarch Jacob says to his son Joseph: « The blessings of thy father are strengthened by the blessings of his fathers (Gen. XLIX); » I can fittingly say that the blessings of my father — not of his fathers, but of that same father of mine — have been strengthened by blessings. For so many were the blessings which your liberality directed to me, that one commended another, and those that followed strengthened those that had gone before, as Scripture says. But further, if David deserved thanksgivings when, out of the spoils he had taken from the Amalekites, he sent gifts to the elders of Judah, saying: « Receive a blessing from the plunder of the enemies of the Lord (I Reg. XXX): » how much 491Bgreater thanks do I owe, who have received blessings not made bloody by the hands of the enemies of the Lord, but hallowed, and brought forth from the sanctuary of the Lord! But that the discourse may direct itself, from the occasion of bodily gifts, to the mystery of spiritual blessings: since the Apostle sets this among great happiness when he says: « Unto this you were called, that you may possess a blessing by inheritance (I Petr. III); » how great is the dignity conferred beforehand upon you, that is, upon the highest priests of the Church, that you can not only possess the blessing shown to you, but can also hand it on to others! And not any sort of blessing whatever, but the episcopal blessing as well, by which, namely, it belongs to your right to ordain a bishop; and since it is a matter of no small terror and dread to be a priest even of the lower order, 491Cand to him too it is assuredly enjoined by the law that he bear the iniquity of the people (Num. XVIII), how fearful a thing it is, and to be dreaded with trembling inwardly, now to excel all men in ecclesiastical dignity — men for whom it is equally necessary to answer, and before all others, at the examination of the dread judge! Whence it must be anxiously considered that he whom the sublimity of the highest priesthood raises up to obtain the fillets of the ecclesiastical summit should be lifted also by the height of a praiseworthy and arduous manner of life; and that, as he stands out above the rest through the lofty pinnacle of the dignity he has received, so a life surpassing the rest, and the splendor of spiritual character, may adorn him beyond the rest. Whence it is said through Moses: « The high priest, that is, the greatest priest among his brethren, upon whose head the oil of anointing has been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated in the priesthood, 491Dand who is clothed with the holy vestments, shall not uncover his head, shall not 492Arend his garments, and shall not go in at all to any dead person: over his father too, and his mother, he shall not be defiled, nor shall he go out from the holy places, lest he pollute the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy anointing of his God is upon him (Levit. XXI). » For the head of the priest is anointed with oil when his mind is fattened with the richness of the Holy Spirit. And the same oil consecrates his hands when the zeal of good will, which the priest turns over in his mind, he also visibly shows in his work.
DE DIGNITATE SACERDOTII.
ON THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
CAPUT PRIMUM. Quid sit sacerdotem de sanctis egredi.
Sancti plane sacerdotis est, et quae sancta sunt, cogitare; et quae mente conceperit, etiam in operibus evidenter exprimere: alioquin quid prodest 492Bbonum aliquod cogitare, nisi solerter invigilet hoc ipsum et in operatione perficere?
Elaborandum est ergo sacerdoti, ut et caput illius consecratum sit per piae voluntatis intuitum, et manus ejus spiritualis olei sint charismate delibutae per evidens sanctae operationis indicium. Qui etiam vestitus sanctis vestibus dicitur, quia dignum est, ut sacerdos pietatis 497 atque justitiae semper induviis adornetur, sicut scriptum est: « Sacerdotes tui induant justitiam (Psal. CXXXI). » Cui praecipitur, ut caput suum non discooperiat, id est, ut cor suum hujus mundi desideriis non expandat, sed occultum semper in adipiscendi regni coelestis intentione custodiat. Jubetur etiam vestimenta non scindere, videlicet, ut sic semper honestatis ac piae 492Cconversationis veste contectus incedat; ne, quod absit, hanc perversi cujuslibet operis interpretatione disrumpat. Prohibetur insuper et ad mortuum ingredi; nimirum ut studeat a malis, quibus anima moritur, pedem caute subtrahere, seseque ab operibus mortuis pervigili sollicitudine custodire. De quibus dicit Apostolus: « Christus eripuit nos ab operibus mortuis ad serviendum Deo viventi (Hebr. IX). » Subjungitur etiam, ut super patre et matre non contaminetur, id est, ut neque mundi negotiis, neque mortalis hujus vitae desiderio polluatur. Unde bene subjungitur, de sanctis non egredietur, ne polluat sanctuarium meum. De sanctis enim sacerdos egreditur, cum neglectis animarum curis per desideria terrena vagatur. De sanctis egreditur, cum 492Decclesiastica disciplina postposita, transeuntium causarum negotiis immoderatius implicatur. Ubi 493Amox apte subjungitur: « Ne polluat sanctuarium meum. » Sanctuarium quippe polluitur, cum sacerdos quilibet per terrena desideria sparsus, causisque saecularibus dissolutus, sacrosanctis altaribus audacter assistere non veretur; cum videlicet fit, quod per prophetam dicitur: « Et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos (Isa. XXIV). » Quamobrem ut Ecclesia, Christi in sua vigere munditia valeat, et obsceno male ministrantium contagio non sordescat, illic adhuc apte subjungitur: « Virginem ducet uxorem, non viduam, non repudiatam, et sordidam, atque meretricem non accipiet, sed puellam de populo suo, ne commisceat stirpem generis sui vulgo gentis suae; quia ego Dominus, qui sanctifico eum (Levit. XXI). » Sacerdotis uxor vita ejus, et conversatio 493Bnon inconvenienter accipitur; quae scilicet esse virgo praecipitur, ubi ab immundi spiritus obsoleta luxuria, qui violator est animarum, immunis et incorrupta servetur. Non sit vidua, sed coelesti sponso felici sit foedere copulata. Repudiata quoque, ac sordida, vel etiam esse meretrix interdicitur, ne videlicet, si spurca libidinis, ac luxuriantium vitiorum contaminatione polluitur, ab eodem animarum sponso ferali divortio separetur. Huic sordidae uxori Apostolus libellum repudii dederat, cum dicebat: « Quae mihi fuerunt lucra, haec arbitratus sum propter Christum detrimenta, propter quem omnia detrimentum feci, et arbitror velut stercora (Philip. III). » Ac si dicat: Uxorem illam sordidam ac meretricem, cui copulatus in Judaismo fueram, per divortium 493Cdesero, eamque repudii interveniente libello, tanquam stercus abjicio. Ex hujusmodi quippe sacerdotis uxore non tales liberi procreantur, qui Deo sacrificium offerant, sed potius qui severitatem, et ultionem divinae animadversionis incurrant. Hinc est, quod cum ad Osee prophetam divina voce dicatur: « Vade, sume tibi uxorem fornicationum, quia fornicans fornicabitur terra a Domino. » Ille, sicut Scriptura testatur, « abiit, et accepit Gomer, filiam 498 Debelaim; et concepit, et peperit filium. Et dixit Dominus ad Osee: Voca nomen ejus Jezrahel (Osee I). » Quod utique nomen, quamvis prosperum significare videatur, in eo quod interpretatur semen Dei; hic tamen vindictam Dei et furorem sonat, cum protinus subinfertur: « Quoniam adhuc modicum, 493Det visitabo sanguinem Jezrahel super domum Jehu, et requiescere faciam regnum domum Israel, et in illa die conteram arcum Israel, in valle Jezrahel (Ibid). » Quod autem hic per Jezrahel, non salus, sive prosperitas, sed Dei potius ira signatur, etiam in hoc innuitur, cum protinus subinfertur: « Concepit adhuc, et peperit filiam, et dixit Dominus: Voca nomen ejus: Absque misericordia, quia non addam ultra misereri domui Israel, sed oblivione obliviscar eorum. Cumque peperisset et tertiam, ait: Voca nomen ejus: Non populus meus; quia vos non populus meus; et ego non ero vester Deus. » In quibus utique nominibus filiorum fornicariae mulieris evidenter addiscimus, quia quisquis immundae vitae velut uxori 494Avir jungitur, ejusque male blandientis amplexibus oblectatur, nequit ex ea liberos, qui Deo placeant, gignere; quia nec potest ex amara radice dulcis fructus afferri: « Non enim potest arbor mala fructus bonos facere (Matth. VI). » Unde cavendum est sacerdoti, ne sordidam, aut meretricem ducat uxorem, sed castae semper, atque pudicae conversationis exhibeat honestatem. Ex qua nimirum non spurios, sed legitimos valeat filios gignere, dum studet ingenuos bonorum operum fructus, divina largiente gratia, germinare. Necesse est ergo ut sacerdotalem sacerdos ducat uxorem, ex qua responsuram paterno generi procreet sobolem. Unde et illic congrue subditur: « Non commisceat stirpem generis sui vulgo gentis suae (Levit. XXI). » Sacerdos etenim 494Bgeneris sui stirpem vulgo suae gentis associat, cum vulgariter vivens a populo per clarioris vitae meritum non discordat: cum denique per latam et spatiosam viam mundanae conversationis incedit, seseque per morum spritiualium honestatem a turbis vulgaribus non secernit. Ut autem sacerdos dignam generi suo sobolem procreet, ipse quoque a patrum suorum, sanctorum videlicet praecedentium sacerdotum, vestigiis non aberret: ne, si ab eorum insigni prosapia ignobiliter vivendo degenerat, jus sacerdotalis officii, quo videlicet indigne fungebatur, amittat.
CHAPTER ONE. What it is for a priest to go out from the holy places.
It plainly belongs to a holy priest both to think the things that are holy, and also to express plainly in his works what he has conceived in his mind: otherwise what does it profit 492Bto think anything good, unless he skillfully keeps watch to bring this very thing to completion in action as well?
The priest must therefore labor that his head be consecrated through the regard of a devout will, and that his hands be anointed with the charism of spiritual oil through the plain evidence of holy work. He is also said to be clothed with holy vestments, because it is fitting that the priest be always adorned with the garments of devotion 497 and of justice, as it is written: « Let thy priests put on justice (Psal. CXXXI). » He is commanded not to uncover his head, that is, not to spread his heart open to the desires of this world, but to keep it always hidden in the intention of gaining the heavenly kingdom. He is bidden also not to rend his garments — namely, that he walk always so covered with the vesture of honorable and devout 492Cconduct that he never, which God forbid, tear it apart by the interpretation put upon any perverse deed. He is forbidden besides to go in to a dead man: namely, that he take care warily to withdraw his foot from the evils by which the soul dies, and to guard himself from dead works with ever-wakeful concern. Of which the Apostle says: « Christ has rescued us from dead works, to serve the living God (Hebr. IX). » It is added also that he be not defiled over his father and mother, that is, that he be polluted neither by the affairs of the world nor by desire for this mortal life. Whence it is well added, he shall not go out from the holy places, lest he pollute my sanctuary. For a priest goes out from the holy places when, the care of souls neglected, he wanders about through earthly desires. He goes out from the holy places when, 492Decclesiastical discipline set aside, he entangles himself too immoderately in the business of passing affairs. Where 493Athere is at once fitly added: « Lest he pollute my sanctuary. » For the sanctuary is polluted when any priest, scattered abroad by earthly desires and dissipated by secular causes, does not fear boldly to stand at the most holy altars; when, namely, that comes to pass which is said through the prophet: « And it shall be, as the people, so the priest (Isa. XXIV). » Wherefore, that the Church of Christ may be strong to flourish in her own cleanness, and may not grow filthy with the obscene contagion of those who minister ill, there is still fitly added in that place: « He shall take a virgin to wife, not a widow, not one put away; and a defiled woman and a harlot he shall not take, but a maiden of his own people, lest he mingle the stock of his own race with the common folk of his nation; for I am the Lord, who sanctify him (Levit. XXI). » The priest's wife is not unfittingly taken to be his life and his manner of life 493B; which is commanded to be a virgin, in that it should be kept unharmed and uncorrupted from the worn-out wantonness of the unclean spirit, who is the violator of souls. Let her not be a widow, but joined to the heavenly bridegroom by a happy covenant. She is forbidden also to be one put away, or defiled, or even a harlot: namely, lest, if she is polluted by the filthy defilement of lust and of riotous vices, she be separated by a deadly divorce from that same bridegroom of souls. To this defiled wife the Apostle had given a bill of divorce when he said: « The things that were gains to me, these I have counted losses for Christ, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as dung (Philip. III). » As if he were to say: That defiled and harlot wife, to whom I had been joined in Judaism, I forsake by divorce 493C, and, a bill of repudiation intervening, I cast her off like dung. For from a priest's wife of this kind there are not begotten such children as may offer sacrifice to God, but rather such as incur the severity and vengeance of divine chastisement. Hence it is that, when it is said by the divine voice to the prophet Hosea: « Go, take to thyself a wife of fornications, because the land, committing fornication, shall commit fornication away from the Lord, » he, as Scripture testifies, « went, and took Gomer, the daughter 498 of Debelaim; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to Hosea: Call his name Jezrahel (Osee I). » Which name, although it seems to signify something prosperous, in that it is interpreted the seed of God, here nevertheless sounds the vengeance of God and fury, since there is straightway subjoined: « For yet a little while, 493Dand I will visit the blood of Jezrahel upon the house of Jehu, and I will make the kingdom, the house of Israel, to rest requiescere [Vulg. quiescere, "cause to cease"], and in that day I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezrahel (Ibid). » But that here by Jezrahel not salvation or prosperity, but rather the anger of God is signified, is intimated in this also, since there is straightway subjoined: « She conceived again, and bore a daughter, and the Lord said: Call her name, Without mercy, because I will no more add to have mercy on the house of Israel, but with forgetfulness I will forget them. And when she had borne a third also, he says: Call his name, Not my people; because you are not my people, and I will not be your God. » In which names of the sons of the fornicating woman we plainly learn that whoever is joined as a husband to an unclean life as to a wife 494A, and takes delight in her ill-flattering embraces, cannot beget from her children who may please God; because neither can sweet fruit be brought forth from a bitter root: « For a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruits (Matth. VI). » Whence the priest must beware of taking a defiled wife or a harlot, but must always display the honorableness of a chaste and modest manner of life. From her, assuredly, he may be able to beget not bastard but lawful sons, while he takes pains, by the bounty of divine grace, to bring forth the freeborn fruits of good works. It is necessary therefore that a priest take a priestly wife, from whom he may beget offspring that will answer to its father's stock. Whence there too it is fittingly added: « Let him not mingle the stock of his own race with the common folk of his nation (Levit. XXI). » For the priest 494Bjoins the stock of his own race to the common folk of his nation when, living in a common way, he is not at variance with the people by the merit of a more shining life: when, in short, he walks along the broad and spacious way of worldly conduct, and does not separate himself from the vulgar crowds by the honorableness of spritiualium character. But that a priest may beget offspring worthy of his race, let him too not stray from the footsteps of his fathers, that is, of the holy priests who went before: lest, if by living ignobly he degenerates from their distinguished lineage, he lose the right of the priestly office, which, plainly, he was discharging unworthily.
CAPUT II. Quod nobilitas sacerdotum sit vita sancta
Hinc est, quod in libro Esdrae, cum praemissum 494Csit, de filiis sacerdotum filii Hobia, filii Accos, filii Berzellai, qui accepit de filiabus Berzellai Galaaditis uxorem, et vocatum est nomen eorum, protinus additur: « Ii quaesierunt scripturam genealogiae suae, et non invenerunt, et ejecti sunt de sacerdotio (I Esdr. II). » Plane qui genealogiae suae scripturam non inveniunt, de sacerdotio repelluntur; quia qui se per ignobilitatem saecularis vitae ab ingenuo praecedentium patrum stemmate degenerasse considerant, dignum profecto est ut eos a sacerdotio 499 censurae canonicae vigor expellat. Nobilem ergo necesse est esse Ecclesiae sacerdotem, ut qui minister est Domini, erubescat se servum esse peccati. Ad quam nobilitatem nos ille provexit, de quo Apostolus ait: « Qui eripuit nos de potestate tenebrarum, 494Det transtulit in regnum filii dilectionis suae, servitutemque peccati illius a nobis cruor abstersit (Coloss. I); » de quo per Joannem dicitur: « Qui dilexit nos, et lavit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo (Apoc. I). » Hanc autem munditiam, ut sacerdos in se valeat prae caeteris possidere, stigma sanguinis Christi studeat in se signanter exprimere; sicut dicit Apostolus: « Ego stigmata Jesu semper in corpore meo porto (Gal. VI). » Unde et in lege praeceptum est, ut sanguine arietis immolati, tangeretur extremum auriculae dexterae summi sacerdotis, similiter et manus dexterae, et pedis (Levit. II). Ut hinc itaque se sermo celer expediat, in auricula sacerdos arietis immolati sanguinem portat, cum eum 495Apassionis Christi mysterium inhianter audire delectat. Dexterae quoque ejus idem sanguis illinitur, cum id, quod studiosus auditor intelligit, efficaciter operatur: dexter etiam pes eodem cruore signatur, cum vita sacerdotis adversus tentamenta diaboli passionis Christi recordatione munitur; ut sicut potestatem accepit, super serpentes, et scorpiones incedat: morsus tamen eorum, et invalidi furoris venena non metuat; sive certe, quia pes est corporis terminus, quid per hoc, nisi boni operis designatur extremum? Nimirum, ut omne bonum, quod incipimus, perseveranter etiam usque ad felicem terminum perducamus. Hinc est, quod Israelitico populo divina vox ait: « Si audieris, inquit, vocem Domini Dei tui, ut facias atque custodias mandata 495Bejus, faciet te Dominus Deus tuus excelsiorem cunctis gentibus (Deut. XX). » In quibus utique verbis patenter exprimitur, quod figuratur in membris: « Si audieris, inquit, vocem Domini Dei tui, » ecce sanguis arietis immolati rubet in aure sacerdotis. Quod vero sequitur, « ut facias, » ecce manus operantis. Quod autem postremo subjungitur, « atque custodias mandata ejus, » ecce perseverantia boni operis. Nihil enim prodest cuiquam bonum opus incipere, nisi studeat etiam usque, dum perficiat, custodire.
Et notandum, quod dextera tantum auricula, manus et pes sacerdotis illo sanguine liniri praecipitur; quo videlicet sic semper dexterae conversationis ac fidei rectitudinem in omnibus teneat, ut exorbitantibus 495Ca via vestigiis, anfractus sinistrae devius non incurrat. Sive certe sic semper Dominicae passionis sacramentum pro dextro teneat, ut tanquam sinistra prorsus ac vilia cuncta mundi hujus blandimenta contemnat. Enimvero quia sacerdos dux, et antesignanus est exercitus Domini, his titulorum insignibus jubetur adornatus incedere, seseque sequentibus ecclesiasticae militiae cuneis sanguinis et crucis Christi debeat vexilla praeferre. Hoc figurabat Zacharias propheta cum diceret: « In die illa erit, quod super frenum equi est, sanctum Domino (Zach. XIV). » Porro autem ante Salvatoris adventum quid genus humanum, nisi velut infrenis equus erat, quod ubique per voluptatum suarum campos libertas 500 infrunita raptabat? Sed ori ejus frenum Redemptor 495Dnoster adhibuit, cum sanctum Evangelium, quo videlicet omnia petulantis lasciviae vitia compescuntur, objecit. Super hoc autem frenum sanctum Domini, hoc est, crux ponitur, quia cuncta sancti Evangelii praecepta crucem spirant et, ut crux post Christum portetur, invitant.
CHAPTER II. That the nobility of priests is a holy life
Hence it is that in the book of Esdras, when it has first been set down 494Cconcerning the sons of the priests — the sons of Hobia, the sons of Accos, the sons of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai the Galaadite, and their name was called after them — there is straightway added: « These sought the writing of their genealogy, and found it not, and they were cast out from the priesthood (I Esdr. II). » Plainly, those who do not find the writing of their genealogy are driven back from the priesthood; because when men consider that they have degenerated, through the ignobility of a secular life, from the freeborn lineage of the fathers who went before, it is surely fitting that the vigor of canonical censure expel them from the priesthood 499. The priest of the Church must therefore be noble, so that he who is the minister of the Lord may blush to be the slave of sin. To which nobility he has advanced us of whom the Apostle says: « Who has rescued us from the power of darkness, 494Dand has carried us over into the kingdom of the Son of his love, and whose blood has wiped away from us the slavery of sin (Coloss. I); » of whom it is said through John: « Who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood (Apoc. I). » But that the priest may be able to possess this cleanness in himself beyond the rest, let him take pains to express in himself, in a marked way, the brand of the blood of Christ; as the Apostle says: « I always bear the marks of Jesus in my body (Gal. VI). » Whence in the law also it was commanded that with the blood of the sacrificed ram there be touched the tip of the right ear of the high priest, and likewise of the right hand and of the foot (Levit. II). And so, that the discourse may quickly disengage itself from this point: the priest bears in his ear the blood of the sacrificed ram when it delights him 495Ato hear with eager longing the mystery of Christ's passion. The same blood is smeared upon his right hand also when he effectually carries out what, as an earnest hearer, he understands. The right foot too is marked with the same gore when the priest's life is fortified against the temptations of the devil by the remembrance of Christ's passion; so that, as he has received the power, he may walk upon serpents and scorpions, and yet not fear their bites and the poisons of their feeble rage; or else surely, because the foot is the body's extremity, what is designated by this but the end of a good work? Namely, that every good which we begin we should also perseveringly carry through even to a happy end. Hence it is that the divine voice says to the people of Israel: « If thou shalt hear, he says, the voice of the Lord thy God, so as to do and to keep his commandments, 495Bthe Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations (Deut. XX). » In which words there is plainly expressed what is figured in the members: « If thou shalt hear, he says, the voice of the Lord thy God, » behold, the blood of the sacrificed ram grows red on the ear of the priest. But what follows, « so as to do, » behold the hand of one at work. And what is subjoined last, « and to keep his commandments, » behold the perseverance of good work. For it profits no one to begin a good work, unless he takes pains also to keep it until he brings it to completion.
And it is to be noted that only the right ear, hand, and foot of the priest are commanded to be smeared with that blood; whereby, namely, he should so always hold in all things the rightness of a right-hand manner of life and of faith, that he may not, with his steps straying 495Cfrom the way, run into the wandering turns of the left. Or else surely that he should so always hold the mystery of the Lord's passion for the right hand, that he may despise all the allurements of this world as utterly left-handed and worthless. For indeed, because the priest is the leader and standard-bearer of the Lord's army, he is bidden to walk adorned with these badges of honor, and ought to carry before him the banners of the blood and of the cross of Christ for the squadrons of the ecclesiastical soldiery that follow. This the prophet Zacharias figured when he said: « In that day, that which is upon the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord (Zach. XIV). » But further, before the coming of the Savior, what was the human race but like an unbridled horse, which unrestrained liberty 500 was snatching away everywhere through the fields of its own pleasures? But our Redeemer 495Dapplied a bridle to its mouth when he set before it the holy Gospel, by which, namely, all the vices of wanton licentiousness are curbed. And upon this bridle is placed the holy thing of the Lord, that is, the cross, because all the precepts of the holy Gospel breathe the cross, and invite that the cross be carried after Christ.
CAPUT III. Quod sacerdoti vel minima criminis suspicio sit fugienda.
Id ipsum signabat et lamina illa aurea, quam summus sacerdos in gloriam et decorem gerebat in capite, cui videlicet nomen Domini tetragrammaton erat inscriptum (Exod. XXVIII). Sicut enim quatuor illic erant litterae, ita nihilominus quatuor sunt 496Acrucis cornua quadrifidi orbis partes amplectentia. Hanc sacerdos portabat in gloriam et decorem; quoniam et Apostolus dicit: « Mihi autem absit gloriari nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Gal. VI). » Portet ergo laminam auream sacerdos in capite, ut crucem Christi jugiter verset in mente. Sanctum quoque Domini freno equi sui consequenter adhibeat, ut carnem suam cum vitiis et concupiscentiis crucifigat. Tunc enim sacerdos et laminam auream capiti, et sanctum Domini freno adhibet equi; cum ad crucem Christi mentis intuitum dirigit, et corpus suum velut ferocem equum, ab omni lascivientium vitiorum libertate compescit. Propter hoc sane geminum crucis portandae mysterium scriptum est, quoniam et Elias (IV Reg. II), et Joannes Baptista 496Bzonas pelliceas habebant circa lumbos suos (Matth. III). De Salvatore vero nostro Joannes in Apocalypsi dicit: « Quoniam habebat zonam auream circa mamillas suas (Apoc. I). » Constat autem, quia inter utramque mamillam cor hominis constituitur. Unde sponsa dicit in Canticis: « Dilectus meus inter ubera mea commorabitur (Cant. I); » hoc est in corde meo jugiter requiescet. Quid est ergo pelliceis zonis, quae videlicet ex mortuis animalibus fiunt, lumbos, ubi libido permaxime viget, accingere; nisi omnes carnalium passionum illicitos motus ac fomites per afflictionem corporis undique refrenare? Et quid est circa mamillas auream habere zonam; nisi et adversus ingruentium cogitationum importuna phantasmata, sollicita semper invigilare custodia? Lumbos ergo pellicea 496Czona praecingimus, cum carnis lasciviam per inediae continentiam coercemus. Auream vero zonam circa mamillas habemus, cum adversus infestantium cogitationum impetus infoederabili certamine dimicamus. Tunc itaque fiet quod illic sequitur; mox enim ut sanctum Domini super frenum equi futurum propheta praemisit, praesto subjunxit: « Et erunt lebetes in domo Domini, quasi phialae coram altari, et erit omnis lebes in Hierusalem, et in Juda sanctificatus Domino exercituum (Zach. XIV). » Lebetes plane in phialas verti; et zonam auream circa mamillas haberi praecipiebat Dominus in Evangelio, cum dicebat: « Cavete ne graventur corda vestra in crapula et ebrietate, et curis hujus saeculi (Luc. XXI): » in crapula scilicet, et ebrietate lebetes; in curis hujus saeculi 496D501 zonam habendam circa mamillas intellige. Lebetes plane illorum erant pectora, qui suspirabant pisces Aegypti, qui nauseantes manna, esuriebant pepones, inhiabant caepas et allia. An lebetes non erant, qui ferventes clamabant, quia « sedebamus super ollas carnium? » (Num. XI.) Illa quippe corda lebetes sunt, in quibus edacitas regnat, et per cupiditatis aestum excoquuntur edulia et copia diversa ciborum. Sed hi lebetes convertuntur in phialas, et sunt coram altari, ac sanctificati Domino, cum Sanctum Domini equis freno superponitur, cum denique zona aurea mamillis interioribus adhibetur. Tunc nimirum lebetes et ollae carnium convertuntur in phialas aureas, videlicet plenas odoramentorum, 497Aquae sunt orationes sanctorum (Apoc. V). Et istae ponuntur coram altari phialae quae prius dum lebetes essent, potius versabantur in nidore culinae.
502 Tunc autem mens sacerdotis est phiala aurea, atque odoramentis spiritualium aromatum plena, cum orationibus ac piis operibus est vigilanter intenta. Et haec phiala coram altari esse dicitur, quia omne, quod cogitat, Deo sacrarium offerre non cessat. Et tunc lebes iste sanctificatus est Domino, atque ideo consecrationis gratiam, quam ipse intus 498Aex munere summi largitoris accepit, merito jam, e in alios adhibita manus impositione transfundit. Sed ego, quasi qui loquor, oblitus, dum sermonem diutius protraho, metam compendii epistolaris excedo. Jam igitur ista sufficiant, tantum ut qui a benedictione coeperam, verbum in benedictione concludam.
Dextera Dei, venerabilis pater, suis te benedictionibus repleat; et grege comitante commisso regnis coelestibus introducat.
Sit nomen Domini benedictum.
CHAPTER III. That even the least suspicion of a crime is to be fled by a priest.
This same thing that golden plate also signified, which the high priest bore upon his head for glory and for beauty, on which, namely, the tetragrammaton name of the Lord was inscribed (Exod. XXVIII). For as there were four letters there, so none the less are there four 496Ahorns of the cross, embracing the parts of the fourfold world. This the priest bore for glory and for beauty; since the Apostle also says: « But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. VI). » Let the priest therefore bear the golden plate upon his head, that he may continually turn the cross of Christ over in his mind. Let him likewise, as a consequence, apply the holy thing of the Lord to the bridle of his horse, that he may crucify his flesh with its vices and concupiscences. For then the priest applies both the golden plate to his head and the holy thing of the Lord to the bridle of his horse, when he directs the gaze of his mind to the cross of Christ, and restrains his body, like a fierce horse, from all liberty of wanton vices. Assuredly it is on account of this twofold mystery of bearing the cross that it is written that both Elias (IV Reg. II) and John the Baptist 496Bhad leathern girdles about their loins (Matth. III). But of our Savior John says in the Apocalypse: « That he had a golden girdle about his breasts (Apoc. I). » Now it is agreed that between the two breasts the heart of man is set. Whence the bride says in the Canticles: « My beloved shall abide between my breasts (Cant. I); » that is, he shall continually rest in my heart. What then is it to gird the loins, where lust is most of all vigorous, with leathern girdles — which, namely, are made from dead animals — but to bridle on every side, through the affliction of the body, all the unlawful motions and kindlings of carnal passions? And what is it to have a golden girdle about the breasts, but to keep watch always with anxious guard against the troublesome phantasms of assaulting thoughts as well? We gird our loins, therefore, with the leathern 496Cgirdle when we check the wantonness of the flesh by the continence of fasting. But we have the golden girdle about our breasts when we fight with implacable struggle against the onslaught of harassing thoughts. And so then will come to pass what follows there; for as soon as the prophet had premised that the holy thing of the Lord would be upon the bridle of the horse, he at once subjoined: « And there shall be caldrons in the house of the Lord, like bowls before the altar, and every caldron in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be sanctified to the Lord of hosts (Zach. XIV). » Plainly the Lord was commanding in the Gospel that caldrons be turned into bowls, and that a golden girdle be had about the breasts, when he said: « Take heed lest your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this world (Luc. XXI): » in surfeiting, namely, and drunkenness understand the caldrons; in the cares of this world 496D501 understand the girdle that is to be had about the breasts. Caldrons, plainly, were the breasts of those who sighed after the fish of Egypt, who, sick of the manna, hungered for melons and gaped after onions and garlic. Or were they not caldrons, who cried out, seething, that « we were sitting over pots of flesh? » (Num. XI.) For those hearts are caldrons in which gluttony reigns, and in which, through the boiling heat of greed, dainties and a varied abundance of foods are cooked down. But these caldrons are turned into bowls, and are before the altar, and sanctified to the Lord, when the Holy Thing of the Lord is set upon the bridle for horses, when, in short, the golden girdle is applied to the inner breasts. Then assuredly the caldrons and the pots of flesh are turned into golden bowls, namely full of sweet odors, 497Awhich are the prayers of the saints (Apoc. V). And these are set as bowls before the altar which before, while they were caldrons, were rather busied in the reek of the kitchen.
502 But then the mind of the priest is a golden bowl, and full of the sweet odors of spiritual perfumes, when it is watchfully intent upon prayers and devout works. And this bowl is said to be before the altar, because it does not cease to offer to God, as a sacred shrine, everything that it thinks. And then that caldron is sanctified to the Lord, and therefore the grace of consecration, which he himself received inwardly 498Afrom the gift of the highest bestower, he now deservedly, e, pours over into others by the imposition of hands applied to them. But I, forgetful as it were of who it is that speaks, while I draw out the discourse too long, exceed the bound of epistolary brevity. Let these things therefore now suffice, only that I, who had begun from a blessing, may conclude my word in a blessing.
May the right hand of God, venerable father, fill thee with its blessings; and, with the flock committed to thee accompanying thee, bring thee into the heavenly kingdoms.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.