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Revelation of John 2:7Clementine VulgateQui habet aurem, audiat quid Spiritus dicat ecclesiis: Vincenti dabo edere de ligno vitæ, quod est in paradiso Dei mei.Revelation of John 2:17Clementine VulgateQui habet aurem, audiat quid Spiritus dicat ecclesiis: Vincenti dabo manna absconditum, et dabo illi calculum candidum: et in calculo nomen novum scriptum, quod nemo scit, nisi qui accipit.On the ruin of the city of Jerusalem · Preface to the online edition 1:6HegesippusThe most recent critical edition was used for this translation : Hegesippi qui dicitur historiae libri V , edited by Vincente Ussani in the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum series, volume 66, Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky (1932).Letters · Epistle 67 1:4Cyprian1. Cyprian, Caecilius, Primus, Polycarp, Nicomedes, Lucilianus, Successus, Sedatus, Fortunatus, Januarius, Secundinus, Pomponius, Honoratus, Victor, Aurelius, Sattius, Petrus, another Januarius, Saturninus, another Aurelius, Venantius, Quietus, Rogatianus, Tenax, Felix, Faustinus, Quintus, another Saturninus, Lucius, Vincentius, Libosus, Geminius, Marcellus, Iambus, Adelphius, Victoricus, and Paulus, to Felix the presbyter, and to the peoples abiding at Legio and Asturica, also to Laelius the deacon, and the people abiding at Emerita, brethren in the Lord, greeting. When we had come together, dearly beloved brethren, we read your letters, which according to the integrity of your faith and your fear of God you wrote to us by Felix and Sabinus our fellow-bishops, signifying that Basilides and Martial, being stained with the certificates of idolatry, and bound with the consciousness of wicked crimes, ought not to hold the episcopate and administer the priesthood of God; and you desired an answer to be written to you again concerning these things, and your solicitude, no less just than needful, to be relieved either by the comfort or by the help of our judgment. Nevertheless to this your desire not so much our counsels as the divine precepts reply, in which it is long since bidden by the voice of Heaven and prescribed by the law of God, who and what sort of persons ought to serve the altar and to celebrate the divine sacrifices. For in Exodus God speaks to Moses, and warns him, saying, "Let the priests which come near to the Lord God sanctify themselves, lest the Lord forsake them." And again: "And when they come near to the altar of the Holy One to minister they shall not bring sin upon them, lest they die." Also in Leviticus the Lord commands and says, "Whosoever hath any spot or blemish upon him, shall not approach to offer gifts to God."The Seventh Council of Carthage Under Cyprian 2:16CyprianVincentius of Thibaris said: We know that heretics are worse than Gentiles. If, therefore, being converted, they should wish to come to the Lord, we have assuredly the rule of truth which the Lord by His divine precept commanded to His apostles, saying, "Go ye, lay on hands in my name, expel demons." And in another place: "Go ye and teach the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Therefore first of all by imposition of hands in exorcism, secondly by the regeneration of baptism, they may then come to the promise of Christ. Otherwise I think it ought not to be done.The Proof of the Gospel · Book 3 8:66Eusebius of Caesarea34. Porphyry (Malchus, Vit. Plot. vii. 107) "the soberest of the Neoplatonic philosophers" (Cheetham), succeeded Plotinus. He was born A. D. 232 at Batanea, probably of a Tyrian family, Vit. Plot . 8; Jerome, Praef. in Gal.; Chrysost. Hom. on 1 Cor. vi. p. 58. He met Origen (Vincent Lerin. Commonit. i. 23) and afterwards ridiculed his method (Eus., HE. vi . 19). He was a pupil of Longinus at Athens (Eus., P. E. x. 3. 1). He joined Plotinus at Rome, and earlier in Eusebius' life lived in Sicily. He died about 305. His philosophy was intensely ethical, and emphasized personal access to God, in faith, truth, love, and hope. He was hostile to Christianity, though he reverenced Christ as a man, and wrote a work called To the Christians, His chief remaining works are De Abstinentia, Lives of Plotinus and Pythagoras, Letters to Marcellus, Anebo and Sententiae. See also note p. 155.Defence Against the Arians · Part 1 2:38Athanasius of Alexandria50. Hosius of Spain , Julius of Rome by his Presbyters Archidamus and Philoxenus, Protogenes of Sardica, Gaudentius, Macedonius, Severus, Praetextatus, Ursicius, Lucillus, Eugenius, Vitalius, Calepodius, Florentius, Bassus, Vincentius, Stercorius, Palladius, Domitianus, Chalbis, Gerontius, Protasius, Eulogus, Porphyrius, Dioscorus, Zosimus, Januarius, Zosimus, Alexander, Eutychius, Socrates, Diodorus, Martyrius, Eutherius, Eucarpus, Athenodorus, Irenaeus, Julianus, Alypius, Jonas, Aetius, Restitutus, Marcellinus, Aprianus, Vitalius, Valens, Hermogenes, Castus, Domitianus, Fortunatius, Marcus, Anuianus, Heliodorus, Musaeus, Asterius, Paregorius, Plutarchus, Hymenaeus, Athanasius, Lucius, Amantius, Arius, Asclepius, Dionysius, Maximus, Tryphon, Alexander, Antigonus, Aelianus, Petrus, Symphorus, Musonius, Eutychus, Philologius, Spudasius, Zosimus, Patricius, Adolius, Sapricius .Defence Before Constantius 1:8Athanasius of AlexandriaBut in truth I am ashamed even to have to defend myself against charges such as these, which I do not suppose that even the accuser himself would venture to make mention of in my presence. For he knows full well that he speaks untruly, and that I was never so mad, so reft of my senses, as even to be open to the suspicion of having conceived any such thing. So that had I been questioned by any other on this subject, I would not even have answered, lest, while I was making my defence, my hearers should for a time have suspended their judgment concerning me. But to your Piety I answer with a loud and clear voice, and stretching forth my hand, as I have learned from the Apostle, `I call God for a record upon my soul ,' and as it is written in the histories of the Kings (let me be allowed to say the same), `The Lord is witness, and His Anointed is witness ,' I have never spoken evil of your Piety before your brother Constans, the most religious Augustus of blessed memory. I did not exasperate him against you, as these have falsely accused me. But whenever in my interviews with him he has mentioned your Grace (and he did mention you at the time that Thalassus came to Pitybion, and I was staying at Aquileia), the Lord is witness, how I spoke of your Piety in terms which I would that God would reveal unto your soul, that you might condemn the falsehood of these my calumniators. Bear with me, most gracious Augustus, and freely grant me your indulgence while I speak of this matter. Your most Christian brother was not a man of so light a temper, nor was I a person of such a character, that we should communicate together on a subject like this, or that I should slander a brother to a brother, or speak evil of an emperor before an emperor. I am not so mad, Sire, nor have I forgotten that divine utterance which says, `Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter .' If then those things, which are spoken in secret against you that are kings, are not hidden it is not incredible that I should have spoken against you in the presence of a king, and of so many bystanders? For I never saw your brother by myself, nor did he ever converse with me in private, but I was always introduced in company with the Bishop of the city where I happened to be, and with others that chanced to be there. We entered the presence together, and together we retired. Fortunatian , Bishop of Aquileia, can testify this, the father Hosius is able to say the same, as also are Crispinus, Bishop of Padua, Lucillus of a Verona, Dionysius of Lëis, and Vincentius of Campania. And although Maximinus of Treveri, and Protasius of Milan, are dead, yet Eugenius, who was Master of the Palace , can bear witness for me; for he stood before the veil , and heard what we requested of the Emperor, and what he vouchsafed to reply to us.Defence Before Constantius 3:9Athanasius of AlexandriaObserving these things, I did not give sentence against myself, but hastened to come to your Piety, with this my defence, knowing your goodness, and remembering your faithful promises, and being confident that, as it is written in the divine Proverbs, `Just speeches are acceptable to a gracious king .' But when I had already entered upon my journey, and had passed through the desert , a report suddenly reached me , which at first I thought to be incredible, but which afterwards proved to be true. It was rumoured everywhere that Liberius, Bishop of Rome, the great Hosius of Spain, Paulinus of Gaul, Dionysius and Eusebius of Italy, Lucifer of Sardinia, and certain other Bishops and Presbyters and Deacons, had been banished because they refused to subscribe to my condemnation. These had been banished: and Vincentius of Capua, Fortunatian of Aquileia, Heremius of Thessalonica, and all the Bishops of the West, were treated with no ordinary force, nay were suffering extreme violence and grievous injuries, until they could be induced to promise that they would not communicate with me. While I was astonished and perplexed at these tidings, behold another report overtook me, respecting them of Egypt and Libya, that nearly ninety Bishops had been under persecution, and that their Churches were given up to the professors of Arianism; that sixteen had been banished, and of the rest, some had fled, and others were constrained to dissemble. For the persecution was said to be so violent in those parts, that at Alexandria, while the brethren were praying during Easter and on the Lord's days in a desert place near the cemetery, the General came upon them with a force of soldiery, more than three thousand in number, with arms, drawn swords, and spears; whereupon outrages, such as might be expected to follow so unprovoked an attack, were committed against women and children, who were doing nothing more than praying to God. It would perhaps be unseasonable to give an account of them now, lest the mere mention of such enormities should move us all to tears. But such was their cruelty, that virgins were stripped, and even the bodies of those who died from the blows they received were not immediately given up for burial, but were cast out to the dogs, until their relatives, with great risk to themselves, came secretly and stole them away, and much effort was necessary, that no one might know it.History of the Arians · Part 3 1:13Athanasius of AlexandriaYet even after this they did not rest; but as the father of their heresy goeth about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour, so these obtaining the use of the public posts went about, and whenever they found any that reproached them with their flight, and that hated the Arian heresy, they scourged them, cast them into chains, and caused them to be banished from their country; and they rendered themselves so formidable, as to induce many to dissemble, many to fly into the deserts, rather than willingly even to have any dealings with them. Such were the enormities which their madness prompted them to commit after their flight. Moreover they perpetrate another outrageous act, which is indeed in accordance with the character of their heresy, but is such as we never heard of before, nor is likely soon to take place again, even among the more dissolute of the Gentiles, much less among Christians. The holy Council had sent as Legates the Bishops Vincentius of Capua (this is the Metropolis of Campania), and Euphrates of Agrippina (this is the Metropolis of Upper Gaul), that they might obtain the Emperor's consent to the decision of the Council, that the Bishops should return to their Churches, inasmuch as he was the author of their expulsion. The most religious Constans had also written to his brother , and supported the cause of the Bishops. But these admirable men, who are equal to any act of audacity, when they saw the two Legates at Antioch, consulted together and formed a plot, which Stephanus undertook by himself to execute, as being a suitable instrument for such purposes. Accordingly they hire a common harlot, even at the season of the most holy Easter, and stripping her introduce her by night into the apartment of the Bishop Euphrates. The harlot who thought that it was a young man who had sent to invite her, at first willingly accompanied them; but when they thrust her in, and she saw the man asleep and unconscious of what was going on, and when presently she distinguished his features, and beheld the face of an old man, and the array of a Bishop, she immediately cried aloud, and declared that violence was used towards her. They desired her to be silent, and to lay a false charge against the Bishop; and so when it was day, the matter was noised abroad, and all the city ran together; and those who came from the Palace were in great commotion, wondering at the report which had been spread abroad, and demanding that it should not be passed by in silence. An enquiry, therefore, was made, and her master gave information concerning those who came to fetch the harlot, and these informed against Stephanus; for they were his Clergy. Stephanus, therefore, is deposed , and Leontius the eunuch appointed in his place, only that the Arian heresy may not want a supporter.Against the Donatists · Book 2 15:7Optatus of Milevis63. Claves regni coelorum tibi dabo, etportae inferorum non vincent eas.Against the Donatists · Translator's introduction 2:22Optatus of MilevisIt is beyond doubt that, as Vincent of Lerins taught in the fifth century, and as Catholic theologians have since taught in every age, there must be a certain development of doctrine in the Church----that is to say, an 'explication' or unfolding, more and more explicit as the years pass on, of that which has always been implicit in the Deposit of the Faith delivered in the beginning to the Saints; for, where there is life, there must also be growth. Yet, whilst studying St. Optatus I have asked myself whether since his day there has been room for any real development. Whatever development of doctrine may have been necessary, at least with regard to the doctrines concerning the Holy See and the Eucharist, seems to me, as I read |xiv Optatus, to have already taken place and to be generally well known and accepted throughout the Church.Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus · Book 3 3:12Tyrannius Rufinus22. If any one wishes to hear the arrangements for my journey from Rome, they were these. In the month of August, when the etesian winds were blowing, accompanied by the reverend presbyter Vincentius and my young brother, and other monks who are now living at Jerusalem, I went on board ship at the port of Rome, choosing my own time, and with a very large body of the saints attending me, I arrived at Rhegium. I stood for a while on the shore of Scylla, and heard the old stories of the rapid voyage of the versatile Ulysses, of the songs of the sirens and the insatiable whirlpool of Charybdis. The inhabitants of that spot told me many tales, and gave me the advice that I should sail not for the columns of Proteus but for the port where Jonah landed, because the former of those was the course suited for men who were hurried and flying, but the latter was best for a man who was imprisoned; but I preferred to take the course by Malea and the Cyclades to Cyprus. There I was received by the venerable bishop Epiphanius, of whose testimony to you boast. I came to Antioch, where I enjoyed the communion of Paulinius the pontiff and confessor and was set forward by him on my journey to Jerusalem, which I entered in the middle of winter and in severe cold. I saw there many wonderful things, and verified by the judgment of my own eyes things which had before come to my ears by report. Thence I made my way to Egypt. I saw the monasteries of Nitria, and perceived the snakes which lurked among the choirs of the monks. Then making haste I at once returned to Bethlehem, which is now my home, and there poured my perfume upon the manger and cradle of the Saviour. I saw also the lake of ill-omen. Nor did I give myself to ease and inertness, but I learned many things which I did not know before. As to what judgment was formed of me at Rome, or what was written afterwards, you are quite welcome to speak out, especially since you have writings to trust to; for I am not to be tried by your words which you at your will either veil in enigma or blurt out with open falsehood, but by the documents of the church. You may see how little I am afraid of you. If you can produce against me a single record of the Bishop of Rome or of any other church, I will confess myself to be chargeable with all the iniquities which I find assigned to you. It would be easy for me to tell of the circumstances of your departure, your age, the date of sailing, the places in which you lived, the company you kept. But far be it from me to do what I blame you for doing, and in a discussion between churchmen, to make up a story worthy of the ravings of quarrelling hags. Let this word be enough for your wisdom to remember. Do not adopt a method with another which can at once be retorted on yourself.Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus · Book 3 3:15Tyrannius Rufinus24. It is somewhat the same argument which you use against the pope Anastasius, namely, that, since you hold the letters of the bishop Siricius, it was impossible that he should write against you. I am afraid you suspect that some injury has been done you. I cannot understand how a man of your acuteness and capacity can condescend to such nonsense; you suppose that your readers are foolish, but you shew that you are foolish yourself. Then after this extraordinary argumentation, you subjoin this little sentence: "Far be such conduct from these reverend persons. It is from your school that such actions proceed. You gave us all the signs of peace at our departure, and then threw missiles charged with venom from behind our backs." In this clause or rather declamatory speech, you intended, no doubt, to I shew your rhetorical skill. It is true we gave you the signs of peace, but not to embrace heresy; we joined hands, we accompanied you as you set forth on your journey, on the understanding that you were catholic not that we were heretical. But I want to learn what these poisoned missiles are which you complain that I threw from behind your back. I sent the presbyters, Vincentius, Paulinianus, Eusebius, Rufinus. Of these, Vincentius went to Rome long before you Paulinianus and Eusebius set out a year after you had sailed; Rufinus two years after, for the cause of Claudius; all of them either for private reasons, or because another was in peril of his life. Was it possible for me to know that when you entered Rome, a nobleman had dreamed that a ship full of merchandise was entering with full blown sails? or that all questions about fate were being solved by a solution which should not itself be fatuous? or that you were translating the book of Eusebius as if it were Pamphilus'? or that you were putting your own cover upon Origen's poisoned dish by lending your majestic eloquence to this translation of his notorious work Peri 'Arxw ? This is a new way of calumniating a man. We sent out the accusers before you had committed the crime. It was not, I repeat, it was not by our plan, but by the providence of God, that these men, who were sent out for another reason, came to fight against the rising heresy. They were sent, like Joseph, to relieve the coming famine by the fervour of their faith.The Apology of Rufinus · Book 2 3:24Tyrannius Rufinus13. But why should I prolong this discussion? I shall take no notice of his reproaches and railings; I shall make no answer to his violent attacks, that daily task of his, for which Porphyry sharpened his pen. For I have chosen Jesus, not Barabbas, for my master, and he has taught me to be silent when reviled. I will come to the point where I will shew how much truth there is in the excuses for himself and the accusations against me which he has heaped together. He says that it is only in two short Prefaces that he ever was known to have praised Origen; and that his praise extended only to his work as an interpreter of Scripture, in which nothing is said of doctrine or of the faith, and that in those parts of his works which he has himself translated there is absolutely nothing advanced of the kind which he now reproves in the interest of the Synagogue rather than that of the edification of Christians. It ought, one would think, be enough to put him to silence, that those very things which he set forth in his own books he blames in those of others; nevertheless, let us see how far these other assertions of his are true. In the Preface to the commentaries of Origen on Ezekiel, contained in fourteen homilies or short orations, he writes thus to one Vincentius:The Canons 1:3Council of Carthage of 419After the consulate of the most glorious emperors, Honorus for the twelfth time and Theodosius for the eighth time, Augustuses, on the VIII. before the Calends of June at Carthage, in the Secretarium of the basilica of Faustus, when Pope Aurelius had sat down, together with Valentine of the primatial see of the province of Numidia, and Faustinus of the Potentine Church, of the Italian province Picenum, a legate of the Roman Church, and also with legates of the different African provinces, that is to say, of the two Numidias, of Byzacena, of Mauritania Caesariensis, as well as of Tripoli, and with Vincent Colositanus, Fortunatian, and other bishops of the proconsular province, in all two hundred and seventeen, also with Philip and Asellus, presbyters and legates of the Roman Church, and while the deacons were standing by, Aurelius the bishop said, etc., ut infra.The Canons 26:2Council of Carthage of 419After the consulate of the most glorious Emperor Honorius Augustus for the fourth time, and of the renowned Eutychian, on the fifth of the calends of May, at Carthage in the secretarium of the restored basilica. In this council Epigonius and Vincent, the bishops, received a legation, in order that they might obtain a law from the most glorious princes in behalf of those taking refuge in the Church, whatever might be the crime of which they were accused, that no one should dare to force them away.The Canons 41:4Council of Carthage of 419IT seemed good that the legates who were about leaving, viz., Vincent and Fortunatian, should in the name of all the provinces ask from the most glorious Emperors to give a faculty for the establishment of scholastic defensors, whose shall be the care of this very kind of business: so that as the priests of the province, they who have received the faculty as defensors of the Churches in ecclesiastical affairs, as often as necessity arises, may be able to enter the private apartments of the judges, so as to resist what is urged on the other side, or to make necessary explanations.The Canons 50:22Council of Carthage of 419Item, it seemed good, lest all the bishops who are assembled at a council be kept too long, that the whole synod should choose three judges of the several provinces; and they elected for the province of Carthage Vincent, Fortunatian, and Clarus; for the province of Numidia Alypius, Augustine, and Restitutus; for the province of Byzacena, with the holy Senex Donatian the Primate, Cresconius, Jocundus, and Aemilian; for Mauritania Sitephensis Severian, Asiaticus, and Donatus; for the Tripolitan province Plautius, who alone was sent as legate according to custom; all these were to take cognizance of all things with the holy senex Aurelius, from whom the whole council sought that he should subscribe all things done by the council whether acts or letters. And they subscribed: I, Aurelius, bishop of the church of Carthage consent to this decree and having read it sign my name. Likewise also signed they all.The Canons 51:3Council of Carthage of 419After the consulate of the most glorious emperors Honorius for the XII. time and Theodosius for the VIII., Augusti, on the III. Calends of June, at Carthage, in the Secretarium of the restored basilica, when Aurelius the bishop together with Faustinus of the church of Potentia in the Italian province of Picenum, a legate of the Roman Church, Vincent of Calvita (Culositanus), Fortunatian of Naples, Marianus Uzipparen- sis, Adeodatus of Simidica, Pentadius of Carpi, Rufinian of Muzuba, Praetextatus of Sicily, Quodvultdeus of Veri (Verensis), Candidus of Abbirita, Gallonian of Utica, legates of the proconsular province; Alypius of Tagaste, Augustine of Hippo Regia and Posidonius of Calama, legates of the province of Numidia; Maximian of Aquae, Jocundus of Sufetula, and Hilary of Horrea-Cascilia, legates of the province of Byzacena; Novatus of Sitifi and Leo of Mocta, legates of the province of Mauritania Sitiphensis; Ninellus of Rusucarrum, Laurence of Icosium and Numerian of Rusgunium, legates of the Province of Mauritania Caesariensis, the judges chosen by the plenary council, had taken their seats, the deacons standing by, and when, after certain things had been accomplished, many bishops complained that it was not possible for them to wait for the completion of the rest of the business to be treated of, and that they must hasten to their own churches; it seemed good to the whole council, that by all some should be chosen from each province who should remain to finish up what was left to be done. And it came about that those were present whose subscriptions testify that they were present.The Canons 54:3Council of Carthage of 419To the lord and most beloved and our honourable brother Celestine, Aurelius, Palatinus, Antony, Totus, Servusdei, Terentius, Fortunatus, Martin, Januarius, Optatus, Ceticius, Donatus, Theasius, Vincent, Fortunatian, and the rest of us, assembled at Carthage in the General Council of Africa.Chronicle · Latin text of prefaces 1:2JeromeEusebius Hieronymus Vincentio et Gallieno suis salutem.Chronicle · Latin text of prefaces 1:5JeromeItaque, mi Vincenti charissime, et tu Galliene, pars animae meae, obsecro, ut quicquid hoc tumultuarii operis est, amicorum, non judicum animo relegatis: praesertim cum et notario, ut scitis, volocissime dictaverim, et difficultatem rei etiam divinorum voluminum instrumenta testentur, quae a LXX Interpretibus edita, non eumdem saporem in Graeco sermone custodiunt. Quam ob rem Aquila et Symmachus et Theodotion incitati, diversum paene opus in eodem opere prodiderunt: alio nitente verbum de verbo exprimere, alio sensum potius sequi, tertio non multum a veteribus discrepante. Quinta autem et sexta et septima editio , licet quibus censeantur auctoribus, ignoretur: tamen itaprobabilem sui diversitatem tenent, ut auctoritatem sine nominibus meruerint.Chronicle · Prefaces of Jerome and Eusebius 1:2JeromeEusebius Hieronymus to his friends Vincentius and Gallienus, greetings.Chronicle · Prefaces of Jerome and Eusebius 1:5JeromeTherefore, my dearest Vincentius, and you, Gallienus, part of my soul, I beg that you reread whatever in this work is hasty, not with the spirit of judges, but as friends: especially since I dictated as quickly as possible to a secretary, as you know; and also the style of the divine books testifies to the difficulty of the task, which, when published by the LXX translators, did not retain the same flavour in the Greek language. For this reason Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion were roused up to produce almost different works from the same work: with the first expressing it word-for-word, and the next preferring to follow the sense, and the third not differing much from the ancients. However the fifth, sixth and seventh versions , although it is unknown from which authors they originate, yet they contain intrinsic variants that are so probably correct, that they have earned authority without having names.Letters · letter_051 1:5Jerome1. It surely becomes us, dearly beloved, not to abuse our rank as clergy, so as to make it an occasion of pride, but by diligently keeping and observing God's commandments, to be in reality what in name we profess to be. For, if the Holy Scriptures say, "Their lots shall not profit them," [Jer. 12:13, LXX] what pride in our clerical position will be able to avail us who sin not only in thought and feeling, but in speech? I have heard, of course, that you are incensed against me, that you are angry, and that you threaten to write about me-not merely to particular places and provinces, but to the uttermost ends of the earth. Where is that fear of God which should make us tremble with the trembling spoken of by the Lord-"Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment"? [Matt. 5:22] Not that I greatly care for your writing what you please. For Isaiah tells us [Isa. 18:2, LXX] of letters written on papyrus and cast upon the waters-missives soon carried away by time and tide. I have done you no harm, I have inflicted no injury upon you, I have extorted nothing from you by violence. My action concerned a monastery whose inmates were foreigners in no way subject to your provincial jurisdiction. Moreover their regard for my insignificance and for the letters which I frequently addressed to them had commenced to produce a feeling of dislike to communion with you. Feeling, therefore, that too great strictness or scrupulosity on my part might have the effect of alienating them from the Church with its ancient faith, I ordained one of the brothers deacon, and after he had ministered as such, admitted him to the priesthood. You should, I think, have been grateful to me for this, knowing, as you surely must, that it is the fear of God which has compelled me to act in this way, and particularly when you recollect that God's priesthood is everywhere the same, and that I have simply made provision for the wants of the Church. For, although each individual bishop of the Church has under him churches which are placed in his charge, and although no man may stretch himself beyond his measure, [Cf. 2 Cor. 10:14] yet the love of Christ, which is without dissimulation, [Rom. 12:9] is set up as an example to us all; and we must consider not so much the thing done as the time and place, the mode and motive, of doing it. I saw that the monastery contained a large number of reverend brothers, and that the reverend presbyters, Jerome and Vincent, through modesty and humility, were unwilling to offer the sacrifices permitted to their rank, and to labor in that part of their calling which ministers more than any other to the salvation of Christians. I knew, moreover, that you could not find or lay hands on this servant of God who had several times fled from you simply because he was reluctant to undertake the onerous duties of the priesthood, and that no other bishop could easily find him. Accordingly, I was a good deal surprised when, by the ordering of God, he came to me with the deacons of the monastery and others of the brethren, to make satisfaction to me for some grievance or other which I had against them. While, therefore, the Collect was being celebrated in the church of the villa which adjoins our monastery-he being quite ignorant and wholly unsuspicious of my purpose-I gave orders to a number of deacons to seize him and to stop his mouth, lest in his eagerness to free himself he might adjure me in the name of Christ. First of all, then, I ordained him deacon, setting before him the fear of God, and forcing him to minister; for he made a hard struggle against it, crying out that he was unworthy, and protesting that this heavy burden was beyond his strength. It was with difficulty, then, that I overcame his reluctance, persuading him as well as I could with passages from Scripture, and setting before him the commandments of God. And when he had ministered in the offering of the holy sacrifices, once more with great difficulty I closed his mouth and ordained him presbyter. Then, using the same arguments as before, I induced him to sit in the place set apart for the presbyters. After this I wrote to the reverend presbyters and other brothers of the monastery, chiding them for not having written to me about him. For a year before I had heard many of them complain that they had no one to celebrate for them the sacraments of the Lord. All then agreed in asking him to undertake the duty, pointing out how great his usefulness would be to the community of the monastery. I blamed them for omitting to write to me and to propose that I should ordain him, when the opportunity was given to them to do so.Letters · letter_061 1:5Jerome3. It is no small gain to know your own ignorance. It is a man's wisdom to know his own measure, that he may not be led away at the instigation of the devil to make the whole world a witness of his incapacity. You are bent, I suppose, on magnifying yourself and boast in your own country that I found myself unable to answer your eloquence and that I dreaded in you the sharp satire of a Chrysippus. Christian modesty holds me back and I do not wish to lay open the retirement of my poor cell with biting words. Otherwise I should soon shew up all your bravery and your parade of triumph. But these I leave to others either to talk of or to laugh at; while for my own part as a Christian speaking to a Christian I beseech you my brother not to pretend to know more than you do, lest yourpen may proclaim your innocence and simplicity, or at any rate those qualities of which I say nothing but which, though you do not see them in yourself others see in you. For then you will give everyone reason to laugh at your folly. From your earliest childhood you have been taught other lessons and have been used to a different kind of schooling. One and the same person can hardly be a tester both of gold coins on the counter and also of the scriptures, or be a connoisseur of wines and an adept in expounding prophets or apostles. As for me, you tear me limb from limb, our reverend brother Oceanus you charge with heresy, you dislike the judgment of the presbyters Vincent and Paulinian, and our brother Eusebius also displeases you. You alone are to be our Cato, the most eloquent of the Roman race, and you wish us to accept what you say as the words of prudence herself. Pray call to mind the day when I preached on the resurrection and on the reality of the risen body, and when you jumped up beside me and clapped your hands and stamped your feet and applauded my orthodoxy. Now, however, that you have taken to sea travelling the stench of the bilge water has affected your head, and you have called me to mind only as a heretic. What can I do for you? I believed the letters of the reverend presbyter Paulinus, and it did not occur to me that his judgment concerning you could be wrong. And although, the moment that you handed me the letter, I noticed a certain incoherency in your language, yet I fancied this due to want of culture and knowledge in you and not to an unsettled brain. I do not censure the reverend writer who preferred, no doubt, in writing to me to keep back what he knew rather than to accuse in his missive one who was both under his patronage and entrusted with his letter; but I find fault with myself that I have rested in another's judgment rather than my own, and that, while my eyes saw one thing, I believed on the evidence of a scrap of paper something else than what I saw.Letters · letter_088 1:3JeromeJerome to the most blessed pope Theophilus. The letter of your holiness has given me a twofold pleasure, partly because it has had for its bearers those reverend and estimable men, the bishop Agatho and the deacon Athanasius, and partly because it has shewn your zeal for the faith against a most wicked heresy. The voice of your holiness has rung throughout the world, and to the joy of all Christ's churches the poisonous suggestions of the devil have been silenced. The old serpent [Rev. 12:9] hisses no longer, but, writhing and disembowelled, lurks in dark caverns unable to bear the shining of the sun. I have already, before the writing of your letter, sent missives to the West pointing out to those of my own language some of the quibbles employed by the heretics. I hold it due to the special providence of God that you should have written to the pope Anastasius at the same time as myself, and should thus without knowing it have been the means of confirming my testimony. Now that you have directly urged me to do so, I shall shew myself more zealous than ever to recall from their error simple souls both near and far. Nor shall I hesitate, if needful, to incur odium with some, for we ought to please God rather than men: [Acts 5:29] although indeed they have been much more forward to defend their heresy than I and others have been to attack it. At the same time I beg that if you have any synodical decrees bearing upon the subject you will forward them to me, that, strengthened with the authority of so great a prelate, I may open my mouth for Christ with more freedom and confidence. The presbyter Vincent has arrived from Rome two days ago and humbly salutes you. He tells me again and again that Rome and almost the whole of Italy owe their deliverance after Christ to your letters. Shew diligence therefore, most loving and most blessed pope, and whenever opportunity offers write to the bishops of the West not to hesitate-in your own words -to cut down with a sharp sickle the sprouts of evil.Prefaces to Jerome's Early Works 1:4JeromeJerome to his friends Vincentius and Gallienus, Greeting:Prefaces to Jerome's Early Works 1:6Jerome2. So, my dear Vincentius, and you, Gallienus, whom I love as my own soul, I beseech you, whatever may be the value of this hurried piece of work, to read it with the feelings of a friend rather than with those of a critic. And I ask this all the more earnestly because, as you know, I dictated with great rapidity to my amanuensis; and how difficult the task is, the sacred records testify; for the old flavour is not preserved in the Greek version by the Seventy. It was this that stimulated Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion; and the result of their labors was to impart a totally different character to one and the same work; one strove to give word for word, another the general meaning, while the third desired to avoid any great divergency from the ancients. A fifth, sixth, and seventh edition, though no one knows to what authors they are to be attributed, exhibit so pleasing a variety of their own that, in spite of their being anonymous, they have won an authoritative position. Hence, some go so far as to consider the sacred writings somewhat harsh and grating to the ear; which arises from the fact that the persons of whom I speak are not aware that the writings in question are a translation from the Hebrew, and therefore, looking at the surface not at the substance, they shudder at the squalid dress before they discover the fair body which the language clothes. In fact, what can be more musical than the Psalter? Like the writings of our own Flaccus and the Grecian Pindar it now trips along in iambics, now flows in sonorous alcaics, now swells into sapphics, now marches in half-foot metre. What can be more lovely than the strains of Deuteronomy and Isaiah? What more grave than Solomon's words? What more finished than Job? All these, as Josephus and Origen tell us, were composed in hexameters and pentameters, and so circulated amongst their own people. When we read these in Greek they have some meaning; when in Latin they are utterly incoherent. But if any one thinks that the grace of language does not suffer through translation, let him render Homer word for word into Latin. I will go farther and say that, if he will translate this author into the prose of his own language, the order of the words will seem ridiculous, and the most eloquent of poets almost dumb.To Pammachius Against John of Jerusalem 2:18Jerome37. Reversing the order, we have given our answer respecting the state of souls and the resurrection of the flesh; and, leaving out the opening portions of the letter, we have confined ourselves to the refutation of this most remarkable treatise. For we preferred to speak of the things of God rather than of our own wrongs. "If one man sin against another, they shall pray for him to the Lord. But if he sin against God, who shall pray for him?" In these days, on the contrary, we make it our first business to pursue with undying hate those who have injured us-to those who blaspheme God we indulgently hold out the hand. John writes to Bishop Theophilus an apology, of which the introduction runs thus: "You, indeed, as a man of God, adorned with apostolic grace, have upon you the care of all the Churches, especially of that which is at Jerusalem, though you yourself are distracted with countless anxieties for the Church of God, which is under you." This is barefaced adulation, and an attempt to concentrate authority in the hands of an individual. You, who ask for ecclesiastical rules, and make use of the canons of the Council of Nicaea, and claim authority over clerics who belong to another diocese and are actually living with their own bishop, answer my question, What has Palestine to do with the bishop of Alexandria? Unless I am deceived, it is decreed in those canons that Caesarea is the metropolis of Palestine, and Antioch of the whole of the East. You ought therefore either to appeal to the bishop of Caesarea, with whom you know that we have communion while we disdain to communicate with you, or, if judgment were to be sought at a distance, letters ought rather to be addressed to Antioch. But I know why you were unwilling to send to Caesarea, or to Antioch. You knew what to flee from, what to avoid. You preferred to assail with your complaints ears that were preoccupied rather than pay due honour to your metropolitan. And I do not say this because I have anything to blame in the mission itself, except certain partialities which beget suspicion, but because you ought rather to clear yourself in the actual presence of your questioners. You begin with the words, "You have sent a most devoted servant of God, the presbyter Isidore, a man of influence no less from the dignity of his very gait and dress than from that of his divine understanding, to heal those whose souls are grievously sick; would that they had any sense of their illness! A man of God sends a man of God." No difference is made between a priest and a bishop; the same dignity belongs to the sender and the sent; this is lame enough; the ship, as the saying goes, is wrecked in harbour. That Isidore, whom you extol to the sky by your praises, lies under the same imputation of heresy at Alexandria as you at Jerusalem; wherefore he appears to have come to you not as an envoy, but as a confederate. Besides, the letters in his own handwriting, which, three months before the sending of the embassy, had been sent to us through an error in the address, were delivered to the presbyter Vincentius, and to this day they are in his keeping. In these letters the writer encourages the leader of his army to plant his foot firmly upon the rock of the faith, and not to be terrified by our Jeremiads. He promises, before we had any suspicion of his mission, that he will come to Jerusalem, and that on his arrival the ranks of his adversaries will be instantly crushed. And amongst the rest he uses these words: "As smoke vanishes in the air, and wax melts beside the fire, so shall they be scattered who are for ever resisting the faith of the Church, and are now through simple men endeavouring to disturb that faith."To Pammachius Against John of Jerusalem 2:22Jerome41. No one must blame the translator for this verbiage: the Greek is the same. Meanwhile I rejoice that whereas I thought I was beheaded I find my presbyterial head on my shoulders again. He says that we are utterly incapable of conviction, and he draws back from the encounter. If the cause of discord is not due to discussions about the faith, but springs from the ordination of Paulinianus, is it not the extreme of folly to give occasion to those who seek occasion by refusing to answer? Confess the faith; but do it so as to answer the question put to you, that it may be clear to all that the dispute is not one of faith, but of order. For so long as you are silent when questioned concerning the faith, your adversary has a right to say to you: "The matter is not one of order but of faith." If it is a question of order, you act foolishly in saying nothing when questioned concerning the faith. If it is one of faith, it is foolish of you to make a pretext of the question of order. Moreover, when you say your aim was that they might be subject to the Church, that they might not rend it, nor set up an authority of their own; who they are of whom you speak I do not well understand. If you are speaking of me and the presbyter Vincentius, you have been asleep long enough, if you only wake up now, after thirteen years, to say these things. For the reason why I forsook Antioch and he Constantinople, both famous cities, was, not that we might praise your popular eloquence, but that, in the country and in solitude, we might weep over the sins of our youth, and draw down upon us the mercy of Christ. But if Paulinianus is the subject of your remarks, he, as you see, is subject to his bishop, and lives at Cyprus: he sometimes comes to visit us, not as one of your clergy, but as another's, his, namely, by whom he was ordained. But if he wished even to stay here, and to live a quiet, solitary life sharing our exile, what does he owe you except the respect which we owe to all bishops? Suppose that he had been ordained by you; he would only tell you the same that I, a poor wretch of a man, told Bishop Paulinus of blessed memory. "Did I ask to be ordained by you?" I said. "If in bestowing the rank of presbyter you do not strip us of the monastic state, you can bestow or withhold ordination as you think best. But if your intention in giving the name presbyter was to take from me that for which I forsook the world, I must still claim to be what I always was; you have suffered no loss by ordaining me."Dialogues · Dialogue 1 25:2Sulpicius Severus"For,if it is worthy of admiration that the flames did not touch that Egyptian of whom you have spoken, Martin also not infrequently proved his power over fire. If you remind us that the savagery of wild beasts was conquered by, and yielded to, the anchorites, Martin, for his part, was accustomed to keep in check both the fury of wild beasts and the poison of serpents. But, if you bring forward for comparison him who cured those possessed of unclean spirits, by the authority of his word, or even through the instrumentality of threads from his dress, there are many proofs that Martin was not, even in this respect, inferior. Nay, should you have recourse to him, who, covered with his own hair instead of a garment, was thought to be visited by angels, with Martin angels were wont to hold daily discourse. Moreover, he bore so unconquerable a spirit against vanity and boastfulness, that no one more determinedly disdained these vices, and that, although he often, while absent, cured those who were filled with unclean spirits, and issued his commands not only to courtiers or prefects, but also to kings themselves. This was indeed a very small thing amid his other virtues, but I should wish you to believe that no one ever contended more earnestly than he did against not only vanity, but also the causes and the occasions of vanity. I shall also mention what is indeed a small point, but should not be passed over, because it is to the credit of a man who, being possessed of the highest power, manifested such a pious desire to show his regard for the blessed Martin. I remember, then, that Vincentius the prefect, an illustrious man, and one of the most eminent in all Gaul for every kind of virtue, when he had occasion to be in the vicinity of Tours, often begged of Martin that he would allow him to stay with him in the monastery. In making this request, he brought forward the example of Saint Ambrose, the bishop, who was generally spoken of at that time as being in the habit of entertaining both consuls and prefects. But Martin, with deeper judgment, refused so to act, lest by so doing some vanity and inflation of spirit might steal upon him. You, therefore, must acknowledge that there existed in Martin the virtues of all those men whom you have mentioned, but there were not found in all of them the virtues by which Martin was distinguished."Letters 93:102Augustine of HippoTo Vincentius, My Brother Dearly Beloved, Augustin Sends Greeting.Letters 99:2Augustine of Hippo20. Save yourself therefore, my brother, while you have this present life, from the wrath which is to come on the obstinate and the proud. The formidable power of the authorities of this world, when it assails the truth, gives glorious opportunity of probation to the strong, but puts dangerous temptation before the weak who are righteous; but when it assists the proclamation of the truth, it is the means of profitable admonition to the wise, and of unprofitable vexation to t,h,e foolish among those who have gone astray. For there is no power but of God: whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same." For if the power be on the side of the truth, and correct any one who was in error, he that is put right by the correction has praise from the power. If, on the other hand, the power be unfriendly to the truth, and cruelly persecute any one, he who is crowned victor in this contest receives praise from the power which he resists. But you do not that which is good, so as to avoid being afraid of the power; unless perchance this is good, to sit and speak against not one brother, but against all your brethren that are found among all nations, to whom the prophets, and Christ, and the apostles bear witness in the words of Scripture, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;"2and again, "From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, a pure offering shah be offered unto My name; for My name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord." Mark this: "saith the Lord;" not saith Donatus, or Rogatus, or Vincentius, or Ambrose, or Augustin, but "saith the Lord;" and again, "All tribes of the earth shall be blessed in Him, and all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be His glorious name for ever, and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory: so let it be, so let it be." And you sit at Cartennae, and with a remnant of half a score of Rogatists you say, "Let it not be! Let it not be!"Letters 99:3Augustine of Hippo21. You hear Christ speaking thus in the Gospel: "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." You read also in the Acts of the Apostles how this gospel began at Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit first filled those hundred and twenty persons, and went forth thence into Judaea and Samaria, and to all nations, as He had said unto them when He was about to ascend into heaven, "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth;" for "their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." And you contradict the Divine testimonies so firmly established and so clearly revealed, and attempt to bring about such an absolute confiscation of Christ's heritage., that although repentance is preached, as He said,: in His name to all nations, whosoever may be in any part of the earth moved by that preaching, there is for him no possibility of remission of sins, unless he seek and discover Vincentius of Cartennae, or some one of his nine or ten associates, in their obscurity in the imperial colony of Mauritania. What will the arrogance of insignificant mortals not dare to do? To what extremities will the presumption of flesh and blood not hurry men? Is this your well-doing, on account of which you are not afraid of the power? You place this grievous stumbling-block in the way of your own mother's son, for whom Christ died, and who is yet in feeble infancy, not ready to use strong mete. at requiring to be nursed on a mother's milk; and you quote against me the works of Hilary, in order that you may deny the fact of the Church's increase among all nations; even unto the end of the world, according to the promise which God, in order to subdue your unbelief, confirmed with an oath! And although you would by all means be most miserable if you stood against this when it was promised, you even now contradict it when the promise is fulfilled.Letters 103:8Augustine of Hippo41. Attend now a little while to the letters of Cyprian, that you may see how he proves the man to be inexcusable who desires ostensibly on the ground of his own righteousness to withdraw himself from the unity of the Church (which God promised and has fulfilled in all nations), and that you may more clearly apprehend the truth of the text quoted by me shortly before: "There is a generation that esteem themselves righteous, and have not cleansed themselves from the guilt of their going forth." In a letter which he wrote to Antonianus he discusses a matter very closely akin to that which we are now debating; but it is better for us to give his very words: "Some of our predecessors," he says, "in the episcopal office in this province were of opinion that the peace of the Church should not be given to fornicators, and finally closed the door of repentance against those who had been guilty of adultery. They did not, however, withdraw themselves from fellowship with their colleagues in the episcopate; nor did they rend asunder the unity of the Catholic Church, by such harshness and obstinate perseverance in their censure as to separate themselves from the Church because others granted while they themselves refused to adulterers the peace of the Church. The bond of concord remaining unbroken, and the sacrament of the Church continuing undivided, each bishop arranges and orders his own conduct as one who shall give account of his procedure to his Lord." What say you to that, brother Vincentius? Surely you must see that this great man, this peace-loving bishop and dauntless martyr, made nothing more earnestly his care than to prevent the sundering of the bond of unity. You see him travailing in birth for the souls of men, not only that they might, when conceived, be born in Christ, but also that, when born, they might not perish through their being shaken out of their mother's bosom.On Baptism · Book 6 45:2Augustine of Hippo85. Vincentius of Thibari said: "We know that heretics are worse than heathens. If they, being converted, wish to come to God, they have assuredly a rule of truth, which the Lord by His divine precept committed to the apostles, saying, `Go ye, lay on hands in my name, cast out devils;' and in another place, `Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' Therefore, first by the laying on of hands in exorcism, secondly by regeneration in baptism, they may come to the promises of Christ; but my judgment is that in no other way should this be done."On Marriage and Concupiscence · Book 2 62:5Augustine of Hippo"At that time one Vicentius discovered in the possesion of a certain presbyter called Peter, in Mauritania Caesarinesis, a little work of mine, in a particular passage of which, touching the origin of souls in individual men, I had confessed that I knew not wheter they are propagated from the primeval soul of the first man, and from that by parental descent, or whether they are severally assigned to each person without propogation, as the first was to Adam; but that I was, at the same time, quite sure that the soul was not body, but spirit. In opposition to these opinions of mine, he addressed to this Peter two books, which were sent to me from Caesarea by the monk Renatus. Having read these books, I replied in four others,-one addressed to the monk Renatus, another to the presbyter Peter, and two more to Victor himself. That to Peter, however, thought it has all the lengthiness of a book, is yet only a letter, which I did not like to be kept separate from the other three works. In all of them ,while discussing many points which were unavoidable, I defended my hesitancy on the point of the origin of the souls which are given to individual men; and I pointed out this man's many errors and presumptuous pravity. At the same time, I treated the young man as gently as I could,-not as one who ought to be denounced all out of hand, but as one who ought to be still instructed; and I accepted the account of his conduct which he wrote back to me. In this work of mine, the books addressed to Renatus begins with these words: "Your sincerity towards us;" while that which was written to Peter begins thus; "To his Lordship, my dearly beloved brother and co-presbyter Peter." Of the last two books, which are addressed to Vincentius Victor, the former one thus opens; "As to that which I have thought it my duty to write to you."On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 1 1:3Augustine of HippoOn receiving from Renatus the two books of Vincentius Victor, who disapproved of Augustin's opinion touching the nature of the soul, and of his hesitation in respect of its origin, Augustin points out how the young objector, in his self-conceit in aiming to decide on so abstruse a subject, had fallen into insufferable mistakes. He then proceeds to show that those passages of scripture by which Victor thought he could prove that human souls are not derived by propagation, but are breathed by God afresh into each man at birth, are ambiguous, and inadequate for the confirmation of this opinion of his.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 1 2:2Augustine of HippoYour sincerity towards us, dearest brother Renatus, and your brotherly kindness, and the affection of mutual love between us, we already had clear proof of; but now you have afforded us a still clearer proof, by sending me two books, written by a person whom I knew, indeed, nothing of,-though he was not on that account to be despised,-called Vincentius Victor (for in such form did I find his name placed at the head of his work): this you did in the summer of last year; but owing to my absence from home, it was the end of autumn before they found their way to me. How, indeed, would you be likely with your very great affection for me to fail either in means or inclination to bring under my notice any writings of the kind, by whomsoever composed, if they fell into your hands, even if they were addressed to some one else? How much less likely, when my own name was mentioned and read-and that in a context of gainsaying some words of mine, which I had published in certain little treatises? Now you have done all this in the way you were sure to act as my very sincere and beloved friend.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 1 2:3Augustine of HippoChapter 2 [II.] - He Receives with a Kindly and Patient Feeling the Books of a Young and Inexperienced Man Who Wrote Against Him in a Tone of Arrogance. Vincentius Victor Converted from the Sect of the Rogatians,On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 1 3:1Augustine of HippoChapter 3 [III]-The Eloquence of Vincentius, Its Dangers and Its Tolerableness.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 1 4:1Augustine of HippoChapter 4 [IV.]-The Errors Contained in the Books of Vincentius Victor. He Says that the Soul Comes from God, But Was Not Made Either Out of Nothing or Out of Any Created Thing.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 2 2:2Augustine of HippoThere have reached me the two books of Vincentius Victor, which he addressed in writing to your Holiness; they have been forwarded to me by our brother Renatus, a layman indeed, but a person who has a prudent and religious care about the faith both of himself and of all he loves. On reading these books, I saw that their author was a man of great resources in speech, of which he had enough, and more than enough; but that on the subjects of which he wished to teach, he was as yet insufficiently instructed. If, however, by the gracious gift of the Lord this qualification were also conferred upon him, he would be serviceable to many. For he possesses in no slight degree the faculty of explaining and beautifying what he thinks; all that is wanted is, that he should first take care to think rightly. Depraved eloquence is a hurtful accomplishment; for to persons of inadequate information it always carries the appearance of truth in its readiness of speech. I know not, indeed how you received his books; but if I amcorrectly informed, you are said, after reading them, to have been so greatly overjoyed, that you (though an elderly man and a presbyter) kissed the face of this youthful layman, and thanked him for having taught you what you had been previously ignorant of. Now, in this conduct of yours I do not disapprove of your humility; indeed, I rather commend it; for it was not the man whom you praised, but the truth itself which deigned to speak to you through him: only I wish you were able to point out to me what was the truth which you received through him. I should, therefore, be glad if you would show me, in your answer to this letter, what it was he taught you. Be it far from me to be ashamed to learn from a presbyter, since you did not blush to be instructed by a layman, in proclaiming and imitating your humble conduct, if the lessons were only true in which you received instruction.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 3 1:2Augustine of HippoAddressed to Vincentius Victor.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 3 1:3Augustine of HippoAugustin points out to Vincentius Victor the corrections which he ought to make in his books concerning the origin of the soul, if he wishes to be a Catholic. Those opinions also which had been already refuted in the preceding books addressed to Renatus and Peter, Augustin briefly censures in this third book, which is written to Victor himself: moreover, he classifies them under eleven heads of error.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 3 3:1Augustine of HippoChapter 2 [II.]-Why Victor Assumed the Name of Vincentius. The Names of Evil Men Ought Never to Be Assumed by Other Persons.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 3 3:2Augustine of HippoThe first thing which caused me some anxiety about you was the title which appeared in your books with your name; for on inquiring of those who knew you, and were probably your associates in opinion, who Vincentius Victor was, I found that you had been a Donatist, or rather a Rogatist, but had lately come into communion with the catholic Church. Now, while I was rejoicing, as one naturally does at the recovery of those whom he sees rescued from that system of error,-and in your case my joy was all the greater because I saw that your ability, which so much delighted me in your writings, had not remained behind with the enemies of truth,- additional information was given me by your friends which caused me sorrow amid my joy, to the effect that you wished to have the name Vincentius prefixed to your own name, inasmuch as you still held in affectionate regard the successor of Rogatus, who bore this name, as a great and holy man, and that for this reason you wished his name to become your surname. Some persons also told me that you had, moreover, boasted about his having appeared in some sort of a vision to you, and assisted you in composing those books the subject of which I have discussed with you in this small work of mine, and to such an extent as to dictate to you himself the precise topics and arguments which you were to write about. Now, if all this be true, I no longer wonder at your having been able to make those statements which, if you will only lend a patient ear to my admonition, and with the attention of a catholic duly consider and weigh those books, you will undoubtedly come to regret having ever advanced. For he who, according to the apostle's portrait, "transforms himself into an angel of light," has transformed himself before you into a shape which you believe to have been, or still to be, an angel of light. In this way, indeed, he is less able to deceive catholics when his transformations are not into angels of light, but into heretics; now, however, that you are a catholic, I should be sorry for you to be beguiled by him. He will certainly feel torture at your having learnt the truth, and so much the more in proportion to the pleasure he formerly experienced in having persuaded you to believe error. With a view, however, to your refraining from loving a dead person, when the love can neither be serviceable to yourself nor profitable to him, I advise you to consider for a moment this one point-that he is not, of course, a just and holy man, since you withdrew yourself from the snares of the Donatists or Rogatists on the score of their heresy; but if you do think him to be just and holy, you ruin yourself by holding communion with catholics. You are, indeed, only feigning yourself a catholic if you are in mind the same as he was on whom you bestow your love; and you are aware how terribly the Scripture has spoken on this subject: "The Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the man who feigns." If, however, you are sincere in communicating with us, and do not merely pretend to be a catholic, how is it that you still love a dead man to such a degree as to be willing even now to boast of the name of one in whose errors you no longer permit yourself to be held? We really do not like your having such a surname, as if you were the monument of a dead heretic. Nor do we like your book to have such a title as we should say was a false one if we read it on his tomb. For we are sure Vincentius is not Victor , the conqueror, but Victus , the conquered;-may it be, however, with fruitful effect, even as we wish you to be conquered by the truth! And yet your thought was an astute and skilful one, when you designated the books, which you wish us to suppose were dictated to you by his inspiration, by the name of Vincentius Victor; as much as to intimate that it was rather he than you who wished to be designated by the victorious appellation, as having been himself the conqueror of error, by revealing to you what were to be the contents of your written treatise. But of what avail is all this to you, my son? Be, I pray you, a true catholic, not a feigned one, lest the Holy Spirit should flee from you, and that Vincentius be unable to profit you at all, into whom the most malignant spirit of error has transformed himself for the purpose of deceiving you; for it is from that one that all these evil opinions have proceeded, notwithstanding the artful fraud which has persuaded you to the contrary. If this admonition shall only induce you to correct these errors with the humility of a God-fearing man and the peaceful submission of a catholic, they will be regarded as the mistakes of an over-zealous young man, who is eager rather to amend them than to persevere in them. But if he shall have by his influence prevailed on you to contend for these opinions with obstinate perseverance, which God forbid, it will in such a case be necessary to condemn them and their author as heretical, as is required by the pastoral and remedial nature of the Church's charge, to check the dire contagion before it quietly spreads through the heedless masses, while wholesome correction is neglected, under the name but without the reality of love.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 3 4:1Augustine of HippoChapter 3 [III.]-He Enumerates the Errors Which He Desires to Have Amended in the Books of Vincentius Victor. The First Error.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 4 1:2Augustine of HippoAddressed to Vincentius Victor.On the Soul and Its Origin · Book 4 39:2Augustine of HippoWherefore if you take these books, which I have with a sincere and affectionate interest written in answer to your opinions, and read them with a reciprocal love for me; if you attend to what you have yourself declared in the beginning of your first book, and "are anxious not to insist on any Opinion of your own, if it be found an improbable one," then I beseech you to beware especially of those eleven errors which I warned you of in the preceding book of this treatise. Do not say, that "the soul is of God in such a sense that He created it not out of no, nor out of another, but out of His own nature ;" or that, "as God who gives is Himself ever exintent, so is He ever giving souls through infinite time;" or that "the soul lost some merit through the flesh, which it had previous to the flesh;" or that "the soul by means of the flesh repairs its ancient condition, and is born again through the very same flesh, by which it had deserved to be polluted;" or that "the soul deserved to be sinful even prior to sin;" or that "infants who die without the regeneration of baptism, may yet attain to forgiveness of their original sins;" or that" they whom the Lord has predestinated to be baptized can be taken away from His predestination, or die before that has been accomplished in them which the Almighty had predetermined;" or that "it is of those who expire before they are baptized that the Scripture says, `Speedily was he taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding,'"- with the remainder of the passage to the same effect; or that "there are some mansions outside the kingdom of God, belonging to the 'many,' which the Lord said were in His Father's house;" or that "the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ ought to be offered in behalf of those who have departed out of the body without being baptized;" or that "any of those persons who die without Christ's baptism, are received for a while into paradise, and afterwards attain even to the blessedness of the kingdom of heaven." Above all things, beware of these opinions, my son, and, as you wish to be the vanquisher of error, do not rejoice in the surname of "Vincentius." And when you are ignorant on any subject, do not think that you know it; but in order to get real knowledge, learn how to be ignorant. For we commit a sin by affecting to be ignorant of nothing among "the secret things of God;" by constructing random theories about unknown things, and taking them for known; and by producing and defending errors as if they were truth. As for my own ignorance on the question whether the souls of men are created afresh at every birth, or are transmitted by the parents (an ignorance which is, however, modified by my belief, which it would be impious to falter in, that they are certainly made by the Divine Creator, though not of His own substance), I think that your loving self will by this time be persuaded that it either ought not to be censured at all, or, if it ought, that it should be done by a man who is capable by his learning of removing it altogether; and so also with respect to my other opinions, that while souls have in them the incorporeal semblances of bodies, they are not themselves bodies; and that, without impairing the natural distinction between soul and spirit, the soul is in a general sense actually designated spirit.. If, indeed, I have unfortunately failed to persuade you, I must leave it rather to my readers to determine whether what I have advanced ought not to have convinced you.Sermons · Sermon 274 1:2Augustine of HippoOn the Birthday of the Martyr VincentSermons · Sermon 274 1:3Augustine of HippoVincent everywhere conquered. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, he does not perish. Patience is a gift of God. Perfect victory over all hostile machinations.Sermons · Sermon 274 1:4Augustine of HippoWe have witnessed a great spectacle with the eyes of faith, the holy martyr Vincent constantly triumphing. He triumphed in words, he triumphed in sufferings; he triumphed in confession, he triumphed in tribulation; he triumphed burned by flames, he triumphed submerged by waves: finally, he triumphed tortured, he triumphed dead. When his body, in which was the trophy of Christ the victor, was cast into the sea from a small boat, it silently said: We are cast down, but we perish not. Who granted such patience to his soldier, except he who first shed his blood for him? To whom it is said in the Psalm: For thou art my patience, Lord; Lord, my hope from my youth. A great contest gains great glory; not human, nor temporal, but divine and eternal. Faith fights; and when faith fights, no one overcomes the flesh. For even if it is torn, even if it is lacerated; when does he perish who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ? A powerful man cannot lose what he bought with his gold, and does Christ lose what he purchased with his blood? But all this should be attributed not to the glory of man, but of God. From him truly is patience, true patience, holy patience, religious patience, right patience; Christian patience is a gift of God. For many robbers also suffer most patiently; and while not yielding and overcoming the torturer, afterwards are punished with eternal fire. The cause distinguishes the martyr from patience, or rather, from the hardness of the wicked. The punishment is the same, but the cause is different. We sang with the voice of the martyrs (for Vincent had said these things in his prayers): Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from an unholy nation. His cause is distinguished: because he fought for truth, for justice, for God, for Christ, for faith, for the unity of the Church, for indivisible charity. Who granted him this patience? Who? Let the Psalm tell us. For it is read there, it is sung there: Will not my soul be subject to God? From him indeed is my patience. Whoever thinks that Saint Vincent could do these things by his own strength is greatly mistaken. For whoever presumes that he can do this by his own strength, even if he seems to conquer through patience, is overcome by pride. To conquer well is to conquer all machines. When it offers allurements, it is conquered by continence: when it inflicts punishments and torments, it is conquered by patience: when it suggests errors, it is conquered by wisdom. Finally, when all these things have been conquered, it suggests to the soul, Well done, well done, how much you were able! How much you have fought! Who is compared to you? How well have you conquered? Let the holy soul answer it: Let them be confounded and put to shame that say to me, Well done, well done! When then does he conquer, except when he says: My soul shall be praised in the Lord; let the meek hear and be glad. For the meek know what I say; because in them dwells the Word, in them dwells the example. For whoever is not meek knows not what the taste is of what is said: My soul shall be praised in the Lord. For every not-meek person, proud, harsh, exalted, wants to be praised in himself, not in the Lord. But he who says: My soul shall be praised in the Lord; does not say: Let the nations hear, and be glad; let people hear, and be glad: but: Let the meek hear, and be glad. Let those who have a taste for it hear. For Christ was meek: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. Therefore meek, because he was led as a sheep to the slaughter. Let the meek hear, and be glad. For they have a taste for what is said: Taste and see how sweet the Lord is: blessed is the man that trusts in him. We have heard a long reading, the day is short: we should not hold your patience even with a long sermon. We know that you have listened patiently, and by standing and listening a long time, you have sympathized with the martyr. May he who hears you, loves you, and crowns you.Sermons · Sermon 275 1:2Augustine of HippoON THE BIRTHDAY OF THE MARTYR VINCENTSermons · Sermon 275 1:3Augustine of HippoThe strength of Vincent in sufferings comes from the assistance of Christ. Martyrs are distinguished by the cause, not the suffering.Sermons · Sermon 275 1:4Augustine of HippoOur spirit received a great and very remarkable spectacle: not the most empty and pernicious one, as is customary in the theaters of various trifles, but we indeed drank the most useful and fruitful pleasure with our inner eyes, when the glorious passion of the blessed Vincent was read. It was to see the unconquered soul of the Martyr striving against the snares of the ancient enemy, against the cruelty of the impious judge, against the pains of mortal flesh, with very sharp conflict, and overcoming all in the aid of the Lord. Indeed, dearly beloved, it was so plainly and truly: let us praise this soul in the Lord, that the meek may hear, and be glad. What voices he had heard, what he had answered, what torments he had overcome, the completed reading declared, and placed before us as if in sight what had been done. There was such pain in his limbs, such security in his words, it was as if another was being tortured, another was speaking. And indeed it was another: for the Lord had foretold this, and promised it to His martyrs, saying: It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Therefore, this soul is to be praised in the Lord. For what is man, except that he is mindful of Him? Or what strength has dust, except by Him who helps us, who made us from dust? So let him who glories, glory in the Lord. For if the diabolic and deceiving spirit often fills either false prophets or his false martyrs, so that they either inflict bodily torments on themselves or disregard those inflicted: how great is it for our Lord God to confirm the preaching of His name, to indeed deliver the flesh of the preachers into the hands of persecutors, but to take the mind to the fortress of liberty; so that while the former suffers injustice, the latter asserts the truth? Surely so that victories are made not by endurance but by justice: for it is the cause, not the punishment, that distinguishes martyrs. For many have endured pains with obstinacy, not constancy; by vice, not by virtue; by wrong error, not by right reasoning; possessed by the devil, not persecuted. However, in our victorious Vincent, he indeed conquered, who possessed: but He possessed, who had sent the prince of this world out, so that even fighting outwardly, he who had already been defeated would not dominate within. He who had been sent out still does not cease, as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. But He fights for us, who reigns in us, having cast him out.Sermons · Sermon 275 1:5Augustine of HippoThe Devil more tormented in the tortures of Vincent than Vincent himself.Sermons · Sermon 275 1:6Augustine of HippoFinally, the devil was tormented more by the unconquered Vincent than Vincent was by the persecuting devil. The more savage and exquisite the torments were, the more the tortured one triumphed over the tormentor, and from that body, as if from earth irrigated by its own blood, from which the enemy suffered more, a palm grew. For while the devil raged secretly and was secretly afflicted by his defeat, it clearly appeared in the human governor, what the devil endured in secret, and the invisible adversary was revealed through the cracks of the vessel he had filled. For the man's voices, eyes, face, and the turbulent motion of his whole body indicated that he felt more severe torments within than the ones he inflicted outwardly on the Martyr. If we consider the perturbation of the tormentor and the tranquility of the one suffering torments, it is very easy to see who was under the pains and who was above them. What joys there will be in the strength of those reigning when so great is the truth of those dying. What will it be when the body's incorruption becomes the fountain of life, when its dew is so sweet among torments? And what will the eternal flame do to the impious, who are ravaged by the madness of an angry heart? What will they suffer when judged, who are already tormented as they judge? What power will the future judgments of the saints wield, when in this life the judge's tribunal twisted the Martyr’s scaffold?Sermons · Sermon 275 1:8Augustine of HippoHowever, the Lord provides great testimony to His witnesses, when He who has ruled the hearts of those who contend does not abandon the bodies of the dead, as He exhibited the most illustrious miracle from the body of this blessed Vincent; so that what the enemy had wholly sought, strived, and made to be invisible would be revealed by such present divine will, and be demonstrated as more religiously to be buried and venerated, so that the renowned memory of conquering piety and defeated impiety would endure in it. Truly, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints: when neither the earth is disdained by the life of the flesh leaving it, nor when the invisible soul departs from the visible house, the dwelling place of the servant is kept by the Lord's care, and is honored to the glory of the Lord by faithful fellow-servants. For what does God do, by performing marvelous works around the bodies of the deceased saints, if not to bear witness that what dies does not perish to Him; and so that from this it may be understood in what honor He keeps with Him the souls of the slain, when lifeless flesh is adorned with such great effect of divinity? Just as the Apostle, speaking of the members of the Church, used the analogy of the members of our body, for those parts which are less honorable, we bestow upon them more abundant honor: so the providence of the Creator, by providing such illustrious testimonies of miracles to the bodies of the martyrs, bestows more abundant honor on the lifeless remains of men, and where what remains as deformed by the departure of life, there more evidently appears the present giver of life.Sermons · Sermon 276 1:2Augustine of HippoON THE FEAST OF THE MARTYR VINCENTSermons · Sermon 276 1:4Augustine of HippoIn the passion which was recited to us today, my brothers, a fierce judge, a bloody torturer, and an invincible martyr are clearly shown. In his body, marked by various pains, the torments had already worn out, but still the members endured. So much evidence of miracles persisted in impiety, so many tortures afflicted did not yield to weakness; therefore, the divinity at work is recognized. For how could corruptible dust endure such immense torments unless Christ dwelt in him? In all these things, he is to be acknowledged, glorified, and praised, who both gave faith in the first calling and strength in the final suffering. Do you want to know that both were granted? Listen to the apostle Paul: "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him." Vincent the deacon had received both, and he possessed them. For if he had not received, what would he have had? He had confidence in speech, he had endurance in suffering. Let no one, therefore, presume of his own heart when he speaks; let no one trust in his own strength when he endures temptation: because both to speak good things prudently, our wisdom is from him; and to bear evils courageously, our patience is from him. Recall the Lord Jesus Christ admonishing his disciples in the Gospel; recall the King of martyrs equipping his cohorts with spiritual arms, showing them battles, providing them aids, promising rewards; who, after saying to his disciples, "In this world, you will have tribulation," immediately added, as if to console the frightened heart, saying, "But take heart; I have overcome the world." Therefore, why do we wonder, dearest, if Vincent conquered in him by whom the world is conquered? "In this world," he says, "you will have tribulation; so that if it presses, it does not oppress; if it attacks, it does not vanquish."Sermons · Sermon 276 1:6Augustine of HippoThe world produces a double line of attack against the soldiers of Christ. Take note, brothers. I said, the world produces a double line of attack against the soldiers of Christ. It flatters to deceive; it terrifies to break. Let not our own pleasure hold us, nor let external cruelty terrify us; and the world is conquered. Christ meets both approaches, and the Christian is not defeated. If human patience is considered in this suffering, it begins to seem incredible; if divine power is recognized, it ceases to be remarkable. Such cruelty raged in the body of the Martyr, and such tranquility was produced in his voice, and so much harshness of tortures raged in his limbs, and such security sounded in his words, that it was wondrously thought, while Vincent was suffering, that someone else or certainly another was speaking while Vincent was being tortured. And truly, dearest brothers, it was so: indeed, it was so; another was speaking. For Christ promised this also to His witnesses in the Gospel, those whom He prepared for such struggles. For He said: Do not meditate beforehand how or what you shall speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Therefore, the flesh suffered, and the Spirit spoke. And while the Spirit spoke, not only was impiety refuted, but also weakness was strengthened.Sermons · Sermon 276 1:7Augustine of HippoVincent was not as much devastated by his torments as Dacian.Sermons · Sermon 276 1:8Augustine of HippoThe more torments there were, the more illustrious the Martyr appeared to us. For, pierced by a manifold variety of wounds, he did not abandon the fight but repeated it more fiercely. You might have thought that the flame hardened him, not burned him; and just as a potter's furnace takes soft clay and renders it a hard vessel. Our Martyr could say to Dacianus: "Now my flesh does not care for your fires, because: My strength has dried up like a potsherd." And since it is truly written: "The potter's furnace tests the vessels, and the tribulation of temptation tests the righteous men"; Vincentius was tested and purified by that fire: truly Dacianus burned and cracked. For if he was not burning, how did he smoke? For what were the words of the angry man, except the smoke of a burning? Therefore, applying external flames to our Martyr who had solace in his heart; but he himself, inflamed by the torches of rage, burned inside like an oven, and burned his inhabitant, the devil. Through the furious words of Dacianus, through his savage eyes and threatening countenance, and the movements of his entire body, his inner inhabitant was revealed; and through these visible signs, just like through the crackling crevices of his own vessel, which he had filled, he was displayed. The torments did not torture the Martyr as much as madness devastated him.Sermons · Sermon 276 1:9Augustine of HippoThe glory of Vincent after the suffering, even in this world.Sermons · Sermon 276 1:10Augustine of HippoBut now, brothers, all those things have passed: both the wrath of Dacian and the punishment of Vincent. However, the punishment of Dacian and the crown of Vincent remain. Finally, so that we may show the glory of the martyrs even in this world, dismissing for now the outcomes of future retribution: which region today, which overseas province, as far as the Roman Empire or the Christian name extends, does not rejoice in celebrating the feast day of Vincent? But who today would have even heard the name of Dacian, if not for having read about Vincent's passion? For the Lord, preserving the Martyr's body with such care, demonstrated nothing else but that He who did not abandon him breathless had governed him while living. Thus, Vincent triumphed over Dacian while living, and triumphed even in death. Living, he trampled upon the torments; dead, he swam across the seas. But He himself guided the lifeless corpse amidst the waves, who had given Vincent an invincible spirit to God amidst the claws. Neither did the torturer's flame bend his heart, nor did the sea's water submerge his body. But in all these things, there is nothing else but what is precious in the sight of the Lord: the death of his saints. To this glory may the Lord lead us under His protection, to whom be honor and dominion forever and ever. Amen.Sermons · Sermon 277 1:2Augustine of HippoON THE FEAST OF THE MARTYR VINCENTSermons · Sermon 277 1:5Augustine of HippoThe invincible body of Vincent. The relics of the saints for the consolation of the faithful. The bodies of the saints given to the churches as remembrances of prayers, not for the glories of the martyrs.Sermons · Sermon 277 1:8Augustine of HippoBehold, listen to this, and question your faith. If Saint Vincent, out of fear of torments, denied Christ, it might seem that he spared his body: under a certain mortal condition, he would be released by the body. What would he do at the resurrection, when he would be cast into eternal fire? Denying Christ, he is denied by Christ. "Whoever denies me," he says, "before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven." Behold, he would deny, those torturers would rest, and with his soul wounded, his body would be healthy; or rather with the soul killed, the body would live: what use would a brief life of the body be to one eternally dead? The day would come, which the Lord recalls, when all who are in the graves will hear his voice, and will come out: but with a great difference. All will come out, but not all to the same purpose. All will rise, but not all will be changed. For those who have done good, he says, will rise to the resurrection of life; but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. When he says: "All who are in the graves," he undoubtedly manifests the resurrection of bodies. But when you hear of judgment, do not flatter yourself as if it were a temporal judgment; judgment is placed for eternal punishment. It is said according to this: "Whoever does not believe is already judged." This difference, therefore, will separate the just from the unjust, the faithful from the unfaithful, the confessors from the deniers, the lovers of perishable life from the lovers of eternal life; that difference will separate them. And the just will go into eternal life, but the impious into eternal fire. There they will be tormented with the body, who spared the body. For fearing bodily torments, they spared the body; and by sparing the body, they denied Christ; and by denying Christ, they have also reserved eternal punishments for the body. If they postponed them, did they take them away?Sermons · Sermon 277 1:17Augustine of HippoFor that governor Dacian in his heart felt nothing, when he raged against a senseless corpse? For what indeed was he doing now to one who felt nothing, who could also be overcome by one who felt? Yet he did whatever he could, and he did it angrily. But he who now felt nothing in public, was crowned in secret. For he held to the sentence of his Lord: who wished to make us secure about those who kill the body: "Do not," he says, "fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do." How do they have nothing more they can do afterward, when that madman did so many things to Vincent's body? But what did he do to Vincent, who even feeling nothing, did nothing to him? Therefore, it is not that he did not feel like a stone, like a tree, like a corpse; but to live in the body and feel nothing of its burden, this is to be healthy. And yet, however healthy a man may be in this life, he also feels the weight of a healthy body. Even a healthy body, which is corrupted, that is, corruptible, weighs down the soul. It weighs down the soul, that is, it does not obey the soul at every command of the will. It obeys in many things: it moves the hands to work, the feet to walk, the tongue to speak, the eyes to see, and directs the hearing to perceive sounds: in all these things the body obeys. The desire to change place feels the burden, feels the weight: the body is not moved with such ease to reach where it desires. Someone desires to see a friend while established in the body, and knows him to be far away, with many dwellings between: the mind has already gone ahead, when the body arrives, it then feels what sort of burden it carries. The weight of the flesh could not obey the presumed speed of the will: it could not be snatched away with the speed it wished, as the mind carries it. It is slow and burdensome.Sermons · Sermon 277A 1:3Augustine of HippoOn the Feast of Saint VincentSermons · Sermon 277A 1:5Augustine of HippoChrist commands that we celebrate solemnly and proclaim energetically the most strong and most glorious passion of Saint Vincent the martyr. We have seen with our mind and observed with our thoughts how much he endured, what he heard, what he responded, and a wondrous spectacle was set before our eyes, in a certain manner: an unjust judge, a bloody torturer, an unconquered martyr, a contest of cruelty and piety; and on one side madness, on the other victory. When reading these things echoed in our ears, charity inflamed in our hearts: we wished to embrace and kiss those mangled limbs, if it were possible, marveling that they could endure such great sufferings, and with inexplicable affection we did not want them to be tortured. For who would want to see a raging executioner, and a man, losing his humanity, raging against the human body? Who would willingly behold limbs stretched apart by the device of torment? The form of nature seized by an art of hostility, bones extended and separated, laid bare by wounds, who would not oppose this? Who would not shudder? And yet, all these things, and these terrible injustices, the martyr’s righteousness made beautiful; and the very extraordinary strength due to faith, to piety, to hope of the future age, to the love of Christ, covered the ghastly and deadly visage of torments and wounds with the splendor of glory. Finally, in this very spectacle, we divided our viewpoints with the persecutor. He delighted in the martyr's sufferings, we in the cause; he in what he endured, we in why he endured; he in the tortures, we in the virtue; he in the wounds, we in the crown; he in that he was held in prolonged pains, we in that he was least broken by the pains; he because he was tormented in the flesh, we because he remained steadfast in faith. Thus, where his cruelty was feeding, there the truth of the martyr tortured him; we, indeed bearing the horror of the command with difficulty, but conquering with Vincent’s enduring.Sermons · Sermon 277A 1:7Augustine of HippoYet our champion himself did not become a victor in himself or through himself, but in Him and through Him who, exalted above all, provides help, who, having suffered above all, left an example. He who calls to battle, calls to reward; and in this way, He watches over those who struggle, helping those who work. To His athlete, He instructs what to do and sets forth what to receive, so that he does not fail, He supports him. Therefore, let him pray simply, who simply wishes to strive, to overcome quickly, to reign happily. We have heard our fellow servant speaking, and with steadfast and true responses, overcoming the persecutor's arguments; but first, we heard the Lord saying: For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you. And because of this, he overcame his adversaries because he praised his words in the Lord. He knew to say: In God, I will praise the word, in the Lord I will praise the speech; in God, I will hope, I will not fear what man does to me. We saw the martyr enduring immense tortures with the greatest patience: but his soul was submitted to God, for his patience was from Him. And lest human frailty, failing through impatience, deny Christ, and bring the enemy to joy, he knew to whom he should say: My God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of the lawbreaker and the wicked; for You are my patience. For thus, he who sang these things indicated how a Christian ought to ask for deliverance from the power of enemies, not by not suffering anything, but by enduring what he suffers most patiently. Deliver me from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of the lawbreaker and the wicked. But if you seek how he wishes to be delivered, consider what follows: for You are my patience. There is glorious suffering where there is a pious confession: so that, he who glories, may glory in the Lord. Therefore, let no one presume upon his own heart when he completes his speech: let no one rely on his strength when he endures temptation; because, for us to speak good things, our wisdom is from Him: for us to endure bad things, our patience is from Him. Therefore, it is ours to will, but we are called that we may will; it is ours to ask, but we do not know what to ask; it is ours to receive, but what shall we receive if we do not have? It is ours to have, but what do we have if we do not receive? Hence, he who glories should glory in the Lord. Therefore, the martyr Vincent is worthy to be crowned by the Lord, in whom he chose to glory both in wisdom and patience; he is worthy of solemn celebration, worthy of eternal happiness, for which obtaining, whatever the most threatening judge terrified with, whatever the bloody executioner inflicted, is light. What he endured has passed; what he received will not pass. For certainly, just as the limbs were vexed, the entrails tormented, the tortures so frequently and so cruelly repeated, so, just so, as these things were done, and if they had been done much more grievously, the sufferings of this time are not worthy compared to the future glory that will be revealed in us.Sermons · Sermon 359B 2:4Augustine of HippoMartyr Vincent obeying God emerged as a victor.Sermons · Sermon 359B 2:5Augustine of HippoWhence then obedient, whence holy, whence the acquirer of the true crown, Vincent, whence the victor of so many passions and congruous to his name? Whence? See who was commanding, to whom he was commanding, what he was commanding. The emperor commanded, he commanded a Christian, he commanded that he offer incense to idols. If you consider the rank of the commander, the emperor commanded a provincial. "A certain place of obedience is given, when I hear who commanded, to whom he commanded." But wait, listen to what he commanded: to offer incense to idols. "Who does not offer incense to idols, let him be punished." Now the provincial obeys, if a higher power orders nothing against it. But raise your ear, hear two voices: hear one from the tribunal, hear another from heaven. What did you hear from the tribunal? "Who has not sacrificed to the gods, let him be punished." What from the heavens? "Sacrificing to the gods, he shall be uprooted." Here let your obedience be tested, martyr. Discern the voices, distinguish the powers. See him who commands, rather fear Him who prohibits. This is the crown of martyrdom, this is the triumph, with the devil conquered and trampled underfoot, whom the martyr feared when enticing, whom he despised when angry. He himself expressed this, just as those things were heard which were read, he expressed it with his own voices: when he who was raging seemed to wish to show mercy, then he seemed most of all to be avoided. For deceptive mercy harmed more than overt cruelty. In the roar of the angry, he did not fear the lion; in the blandishment of the merciful, he did not hide that he feared the dragon. For he himself is the lion and the dragon about whom it is said: "You will trample on the lion and the dragon."Sermons · Sermon 359B 2:9Augustine of HippoFor you wish to know what kind of dragon this is, how to avoid his snares, how great is the cunning of the enemy? Behold, already for nearly six thousand years, in the temptations of the saints, having been trained, he has made many false gods against the one true God. But one Son of God came, foretold by his preceding heralds; the Son of God came, dissolved the works of the devil like the binding of that foal, taught by word, confirmed by example; showed that the one true God should be worshiped, that He should be adored, not angels in His place, since even angels, because they love God, because love especially reigns in them, want God to be loved with them, not themselves instead of God. When He thus [the Christian doctrine] had taught, He taught this: it is necessary for the saints to die, if need be, for this doctrine. For what doctrine? One that has love from a pure heart and a good conscience and genuine faith. For this He taught the saints of God to die and commended them to the Church to be venerated. How to be venerated? Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His holy ones. Hence, the death of Peter is precious, hence the death of Paul is precious, hence the death of Vincent is precious, hence the death of Cyprian is precious. Why precious? From pure love and a good conscience and genuine faith. That serpent saw this, that ancient serpent saw that martyrs are honored, temples are deserted: with that cunning and venomous vigilance against us, because he could not implant false gods among Christians, he made false martyrs. But oh you, Catholic offspring, compare with us for a little while these false martyrs with the true martyrs, and with pious faith distinguish what the devil tries to deceitfully and venomously confuse.Sermons · Sermon 359B 2:17Augustine of HippoTherefore, let the confessions of true and false martyrs be brought forward and compared. Let us place before our eyes what we witnessed yesterday. For we saw a most delightful spectacle: a martyr struggling against a wicked persecutor, never yielding in true faith in any punishment, Vincent triumphing everywhere. We saw, we participated. That reading spoke with our heart: we were delighted. That serpent, jealous of the martyrs, that viper which Vincent was wary of in its flattery, since it could not accuse that suffering, incited a rebellion among us. Let those who offered their tongues to its service recognize this and grieve. For what did those voices mean: "Say the Mass," "say the Mass, say the Mass," except to prevent that martyr from being praised a little longer? Therefore, let the confessions of true and false martyrs be compared. You say you are a martyr because you resist authority. What authority commands you? Behold, I hear what was commanded of true martyrs, and let me hear what is commanded of you. I see how gloriously they refused because I see what they refused; show me what you refuse: let me compare your voices, let me see what to imitate, what to follow. "Offer incense to the gods." "I refuse." We heard the glorious voice of the true martyr, let us also hear from the other side: "Reconcile with your brother." O abominable voice, and one not only worthy of condemnation by the supreme God but also by human authorities! "Reconcile with your brother." "I refuse." Certainly, you suffer against Christ.Sermons · Sermon 4 3:25Augustine of HippoThese things, brothers, have been said to you, few perhaps due to the magnitude of the mysteries, but many considering the time, our strength, and yours. And if by chance this question has not been discussed in detail, nonetheless some great mysteries, which if later examined, will be found. Pardon the constraints of time, our strength, and your capacity. If you wish to grasp more, grow; if you wish to grow, live well. For he who does not wish to live well does not wish to grow. The holy Lord our God has provided these feasts for you through the natal celebrations of His martyr Vincent. The name signifies victory. Love, however, in order to conquer. For persecution does not lack. The devil is the persecutor, the occasion for the crown never ceases. Only let the soldier of Christ understand the fight and know whom to conquer. Is it because a manifest enemy of the body does not press upon you, that a hidden persecutor does not press upon you with the allurements of the flesh? How many evils he suggests, how many through desire, how many through fear! By such allurements he persuades to go to sorcerers, to astrologers, when one has a headache. Those who forsake God and go to the devil's bindings are conquered by the devil. On the other hand, if someone has been suggested, perhaps in terms of the body to procure remedies from the devil through which another is said to have been healed, because having received that from him, he then ceases to pursue the body since he has won the heart; therefore to anyone for whom these wicked remedies have been suggested and who said, "I would rather die than use such remedies; if God wills, He chastises and liberates me; if He knows it is necessary, let Him free me; but if He knows I should depart from this life, whether I am sad or rejoice, I follow the will of the Lord; behold, for in a little while with what face shall I go out to the Lord; for these remedies of the devil do not provide me with what God provides, eternal life, thus why should I lose my soul, to purchase a few days for my body?" Whoever says this and does not go nor sets his heart to employ evil remedies, surely conquers. One thing I have mentioned as a sample. Certainly, you see already how many things the devil suggests. But where is he? You see him certainly languishing, you see him panting on the bed, you see him scarcely moving his limbs, scarcely moving his tongue: this tired one conquers the devil. Many have been crowned in the amphitheater fighting beasts. Many on their beds conquering the devil are crowned. They seem unable to move, yet within their hearts they have such strength, they engage in such a fight! But where there is a hidden fight, there is a hidden victory.Five tomes against Nestorius · Introduction 6:10Cyril of Alexandria'Who could readily believe,' asks Vincentius of Lerins , 'that he was in error, whom he saw to have been chosen by such judgement of the Empire, the object of such estimation of the Bishops? who was so loved by the holy, in such favour with the people, who daily discoursed on the words of God, and confuted the poisonous errors of Jews and Grentiles. Whom could he not persuade that he taught aright, preached aright, held aright, who in order to make way for his own heresy persecuted the blasphemies of all [other] heresies? But to pass by Nestorius who had ever more admiration than usefulness, more fame than experience, whom human favour had made for a season great in the eyes of the people rather than Divine grace----'Five tomes against Nestorius · Introduction 6:11Cyril of AlexandriaThe outward change was sudden, Vincentius too says,Five tomes against Nestorius · Introduction 7:1Cyril of AlexandriaYet the term Theotocos had been in such familiar use by every school for nearly two centuries, that the aversion of Nestorius to it can hardly have been simple ignorance. It was probably the instinctive aversion of heresy to the term which condemns it. Socrates himself mentions that it was used by Origen and Eusebius: it was used alike by Alexander, the predecessor of S. Athanasius , whose Council first condemned Arius; by |xlvii S. Athanasius himself ; by the Arian Eusebius ; and by S. Cyril of Jerusalem , who did not use the word Homoousion. The Apostate Emperor Julian said, in controversy with the Christians, ' Did Isaiah say that a Virgin should bear God? but ye do not cease calling Mary Theotocos,' attesting that the word was in the mouths of all Christians. A little later it was used by the two S. Gregories . It was used also by the great predecessor of Nestorius in the see of Constantinople, S. Chrysostom, as also by Ammon Bishop of Adrianople in Egypt, and by Antiochus Bishop of Ptolemais in Phoenicia . The corresponding title, Mater Dei, was used in the Latin Church by S. Ambrose , Cassian , and Vincent of Lerins .Five tomes against Nestorius · Introduction 7:11Cyril of AlexandriaIt is strange that he did not see (if indeed he did not see what every one else saw), that Christotocos, as opposed to Theotocos, could only mean 'mother of the Messiah,' i. e. mother of Him who should be the Messiah. Vincent of Lerins uses the homely illustration,Five tomes against Nestorius · Introduction 11:6Cyril of AlexandriaThe Bishops assembled in that Synod were of no ordinary character. Vincentius of Lerins, writing about three years after it was holden, speaks of itsTHE COMMONITORY · Appendix 1 1:4Vincent of LérinsThere is so close an agreement, both in substance and often in the form of expression, between the preceding sections (36-42) and the so-called Athanasian Creed, that it led Antelmi ( Nova de Symb. Athanas. Disquisitio ,) to ascribe that document to Vincentius as its author, and to suppose that in it we have the fulfilment of the promise here referred to. If, however, the Creed was the work of Vincentius, it cannot well be the work promised at the close of § 41, for Vincentius's words point to a fuller and more explicit treatment of the subjects referred to, whereas in the Athanasian Creed, though the subjects are the same, the treatment of them is very much briefer and more concise.THE COMMONITORY · Appendix 1 1:5Vincent of LérinsWhoever was the author however, if it was not Vincentius, he must at least, as the subjoined extracts seem to prove, have been familiar with the Commonitory, as also with St. Augustine's writings, of which, as well as of the Commonitory, the Creed bears evident traces. I subjoin the following instances of agreement between the Commonitory and the Creed: Antelmi gives several others.THE COMMONITORY · Appendix 2 1:8Vincent of LérinsThat Vincentius had Augustine and his adherents in view in this description will hardly be doubted by any one who will compare it with the following extracts, the first from Prosper's letter to Augustine, giving him an account of the complaints made against his doctrine by the Massilian clergy; the second from St. Augustine's treatise, "De dono Perseveranti " written in consequence of it.THE COMMONITORY · Appendix 2 1:9Vincent of LérinsVincentius's language is in keeping with that of others of St. Augustine's opponents, as Cassian and Faustus, extracts from whom are given by Noris; only, as he observes, while Vincentius uses the term "heresy" of the doctrine impugned,-they are content to use the milder term "error."- Histor. Pelag . p. 246.THE COMMONITORY · Appendix 3 1:7Vincent of LérinsThe manner in which Vincentius deals with this letter has been very commonly thought, and with reason, to indicate a Semipelagian leaning. His "si ita est." "if the case be so," emphasized by being repeated again and again, quite in an excited manner, as we should say, shows an evident wish to shift the charge of novelty from those against whom it had been brought, and fix it upon the opposite party. "Who are the introducers of novelty? The Massilians, as Prosper represents them, or their calumniators? Not the Massilians: they notoriously appeal to antiquity,-not the Massilians, but Prosper and the rest of Augustine's followers."THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY · Book 6 18:15Hermias Sozomen"Some have decreed to discolor this saving definition and adorable view; but in the very beginning, some of the persons who made the innovation at the council of Ariminum, or who were compelled to vote for the change, have since, in some measure, made amends by confessing that they were deceived by certain specious arguments, which did not appear to them to be contrary to the principles laid down by our fathers at Nicaea. The number of individuals congregated at the council of Ariminum proves nothing in prejudice of orthodox doctrines; for the council was held without the sanction of the bishops at Rome, whose opinion, before that of all others, ought to have been received, and without the assent either of Vincentius, who during a very long series of years guarded the episcopate without spot, or of many other bishops who agreed with those last mentioned.THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY · Book 7 16:2Hermias SozomenAbout this time the head of John the Baptist, which Herodias had asked of Herod the tetrarch, was removed to Constantinople. It is l said that it was discovered by some monks of the Macedonian heresy, who originally dwelt at Constantinople, and afterwards fixed their abode in Cilicia. Mardonius, the first eunuch of the palace, made known this discovery at court, during the preceding reign; and Valens commanded that the relic should be removed to Constantinople. The officers appointed to carry it thither, placed it in a public chariot, and proceeded with it as far as Pantichium, a district in the territory of Chalcedon. Here the mules of the chariot suddenly stopped; and neither the application of the lash, nor the threats of the hostlers, could induce them to advance further. So extraordinary an event was considered by all, and even by the emperor himself, to be of God; and the holy head was therefore deposited at Cosilaos, a village in the neighborhood, which belonged to Mardonius. Soon after, the Emperor Theodosius, impelled by an impulse from God, or from the prophet, repaired to the village. He determined upon removing the remains of the Baptist, and it is said met with no opposition, except from a holy virgin, Matrona, who had been the servant and guardian of the relic. He laid aside all authority and force, and after many entreaties, extorted a reluctant consent from her to remove the head; for she bore in mind what had occurred at the period when Valens commanded its removal. The emperor placed it, with the box in which it was encased, in his purple robe, and conveyed it to a place called Hebdomos, in the suburbs of Constantinople, where he erected a spacious and magnificent temple. The woman who had been appointed to the charge of the relic could not be persuaded by the emperor to renounce her religious sentiments, although he had recourse to entreaty and promises; for she was, it appears, of the Macedonian heresy. A presbyter of the same tendency, named Vincent, who also took charge of the coffin of the prophet, and performed the sacerdotal functions over it, followed the religious opinions of the emperor, and entered into communion with the Catholic Church. He had taken an oath, as the Macedonians affirm, never to swerve from their doctrines; but he afterwards openly declared that, if the Baptist would follow the emperor, he also would enter into communion with him and be separated. He was a Persian, and had left his country in company with a relative named Addas, during the reign of Constantius, in order to avoid the persecution which the Christians were then suffering in Persia. On his arrival in the Roman territories, he was placed in the ranks of the clergy, and advanced to the office of presbyter. Addas married and rendered great service to the Church. He left a son named Auxentius, who was noted for his very faithful piety, his zeal for his friends, the moderation of his life, his love of letters, and the greatness of his attainments in pagan and ecclesiastical literature. He was modest and retiring in deportment, although admitted to familiarity with the emperor and the courtiers, and possessed of a very illustrious appointment. His memory is still revered by the monks and zealous men, who were all acquainted with him. The woman who had been entrusted with the relic remained during the rest of her life at Cosilaos. She was greatly distinguished by her piety and wisdom, and instructed many holy virgins; and I have been assured that many still survive who reflect the honorable character which was the result of training under Matrona.THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY · Book 8 3:4Hermias SozomenFlavita had rendered himself very conspicuous in this war, and was therefore appointed consul. During his consulate, and that of Vincentius, a son was born to the emperor. The young prince was named after his grandfather, and at the commencement of the next consulate, was proclaimed Augustus.The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret · Book 2 8:1Theodoret of CyrusChapter VII.-Account of the Bishops Euphratas and Vincentius, and of the Plot Formed in Antioch Against Them.The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret · Book 2 8:4Theodoret of CyrusAt this period Stephanus held the rudder of the church of Antioch, and had well nigh sunk the ship, for he employed several tools in his despotic doings, and by their aid involved all who maintained orthodox doctrines in manifold calamities. The leader of these instruments was a young man of a rash and reckless character, who led a very infamous life. He not only dragged away men from the market-place, and treated them with blows and insult, but had the audacity to enter private houses, whence he carried off men and women of irreproachable character. But, not to be too prolix in relating his crimes, I will merely narrate his daring conduct towards the bishops; for this alone is sufficient to give an idea of the unlawful deeds of violence which he perpetrated against the citizens. He went to one of the lowest women of the town, and told her that some strangers had just arrived, who desired to pass the night with her. He took fifteen of his band, placed them in hiding among the stone walls at the bottom of the hill, and then went for the prostitute. After giving the preconcerted signal, and learning that the folk privy to the plot were on the spot, he went to the gate of the courtyard belonging to the inn where the bishops were lodging. The doors were opened by one of the household servants, who had been bribed by him. He then conducted the woman into the house, pointed out to her the door of the room where one of the bishops slept, and desired her to enter. Then he went out to call his accomplices. The door which he had pointed out happened to be that of Euphratas, the elder bishop, whose room was the outer of the two. Vincentius, the other bishop, occupied the inner room. When the woman entered the room of Euphratas, he heard the sound of her footsteps, and, as it was then dark, asked who was there. She spoke, and Euphratas was full of alarm, for he thought that it was a devil imitating the voice of a woman, and he called upon Christ the Saviour for aid. Onager, for this was the name of the leader of this wicked band (a name peculiarly appropriate to him, as he not only used his hands but also his feet as weapons against the pious), had in the meantime returned with his lawless crew, denouncing as criminals those who were expecting to be judges of crime themselves. At the noise which was made all the servants came running in, and up got Vincentius. They closed the gate of the courtyards, and captured seven of the gang; but Onager and the rest made off. The woman was committed to custody with those who had been seized. At the break of day the bishops awoke the officer who had come with them, and they all three proceeded together to the palace, to complain of the audacious acts of Stephanus, whose evil deeds, they said, were too evident to need either trial or torture to prove them. The general loudly demanded of the emperor that the audacious act should not be dealt with synodically, but by ordinary legal process, and offered to give up the clergy attached to the bishops to be first examined, and declared that the agents of Stephanus must undergo the torture too. To this Stephanus insolently objected, alleging that the clergy ought not to be scourged. The emperor and the principal authorities then decided that it would be better to judge the cause in the palace. The woman was first of all questioned, and was asked by whom she was conducted to the inn where the bishops were lodging. She replied, that a young man came to her, and told her that some strangers had arrived who were desirous of her company; that in the evening he conducted her to the inn; that he went to look for his band, and when he had found it, brought her in through the door of the court, and desired her to go into the chamber adjoining the vestibule. She added, that the bishop asked who was there; that he was alarmed; and that he began to pray; and that then others ran to the spot.The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret · Book 2 18:7Theodoret of Cyrus"When first the wickedness of the heretics began to flourish, and when, as now, the blasphemy of the Arians was crawling to the front, our fathers, three hundred and eighteen bishops, the holiest prelates in the Roman Empire, deliberated at Nicaea. The wall which they set up against the weapons of the devil, and the antidote wherewith they repelled his deadly poisons, was their confession that the Father and the Son are of one substance, one godhead, one virtue, one power, one likeness , and that the Holy Ghost is of the same essence and substance. Whoever did not thus think was judged separate from our communion. Their deliberation was worthy of all respect, and their definition sound. But certain men have intended by other later discussions to corrupt and befoul it. Yet, at the very outset, error was so far set right by the bishops on whom the attempt was made at Ariminum to compel them to manipulate or innovate on the faith, that they confessed themselves seduced by opposite arguments, or owned that they had not perceived any contradiction to the opinion of the Fathers livered at Nicaea. No prejudice could arise from the number of bishops gathered at Ariminum, since it is well known that neither the bishop of the Romans, whose opinion ought before all others to have been waited for, nor Vincentius, whose stainless episcopate had lasted so many years, nor the rest, gave in their adhesion to such doctrines. And this is the more significant, since, as has been already said, the very men who seemed to be tricked into surrender, themselves, in their wiser moments, testified their disapproval.Book 1 2:14Sidonius ApollinarisTo his friend VincentiusLives of Illustrious Men 65:2Gennadius of MassiliaVincentius, the Gaul, presbyter in the Monastery on the Island of Lerins, a man learned in the Holy Scriptures and very well informed in matters of ecclesiastical doctrine, composed a powerful disputation, written in tolerably finished and clear language, which, suppressing his name, he entitled Peregrinus against heretics. The greater part of the second book of this work having been stolen, he composed a brief reproduction of the substance of the original work, and published in one [book]. He died in the reign of Theodosius and Valentinianus.Lives of Illustrious Men 81:2Gennadius of MassiliaVincentius the presbyter, a native of Gaul, practised in Divine Scripture and possessed of a style polished by speaking and by wide reading, wrote a Commentary On the Psalms. A part of this work, he read in my hearing, to a man of God, at Cannatae, promising at the same time, that if the Lord should spare his life and strength, he would treat the whole Psalter in the same way.On the Government of God · Translators introduction 8:39Salvian the PresbyterLérins was that "earthly paradise" which furnished a haven for many religious of the day, and was so powerful a stimulant to their faith that from it went forth a seemingly endless stream of |12 saintly men. Honoratus and Hilary, Caesarius and Virgilius went from Lérins to the archbishopric of Aries; Maximus and Faustus to the see of Riez; Lupus to Troyes. Eucherius came to Lérins with his wife Galla and his two sons. He himself left to become bishop of Lyons ; his sons, Salonius and Veranus, were put under the successive tutelage of Honoratus, Hilary, Salvian. and Vincent,and became bishops of Geneva and Vence. Three bishops went from Lérins to Avignon, and many others might be named.