Treatise 3

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On the Lapsed.

Argument.— Having Enlarged Upon the Unlooked-for Peace of theChurch, and the Constancy of the Confessors and Those Who Had Stood Fast in the Faith; And Then with Extreme Grief Having Pointed to the Downfall of the Lapsed, and Unfolded the Causes of the Bygone Persecution, Namely, the Neglect of Discipline, and the Sins of the Faithful; Our Author Severely Reproaches the Lapsed, That, at the Very First Words of the Enemy Threatening Them, They Had Sacrificed to Idols, and Had Not Rather Withdrawn, According to Christ's Counsel. Lastly, He Warns His Readers to Avoid the Novatians, Confuting Their Heresy with Many Scriptures.

1. Behold, beloved brethren, peace is restored to theChurch; and although it lately seemed to incredulous people difficult, and to traitors impossible, our security is by divine aid and retribution re-established. Our minds return togladness; and the season of affliction and the cloud being dispersed, tranquillity and serenity have shone forth once more. Praises must be given toGod, and His benefits and gifts must be celebrated with giving of thanks, although even in the time ofpersecution our voice has not ceased to give thanks. For not even an enemy has so much power as to prevent us, wholove the Lord with our whole heart, and life, and strength, from declaring His blessings and praises always and everywhere withglory. The day earnestly desired, by theprayers of all has come; and after the dreadful and loathsome darkness of a long night, the world has shone forth irradiated by the light of the Lord.

2. We look with glad countenances upon confessors illustrious with the heraldry of a good name, andglorious with the praises ofvirtue and offaith; clinging to them withholy kisses, we embrace them long desired with insatiable eagerness. The white-robed cohort ofChrist's soldiers is here, who in the fierce conflict have broken the ferocious turbulence of an urgentpersecution, having been prepared for the suffering of the dungeon, armed for the endurance of death. Bravely you have resisted the world: you have afforded aglorious spectacle in the sight ofGod; you have been an example to your brethren that shall follow you. That religious voice has named the name ofChrist, in whom it has once confessed that itbelieved; those illustrious hands, which had only been accustomed to divine works, have resisted thesacrilegioussacrifices; those lips, sanctified by heavenly food after the body and blood of the Lord, have rejected the profane contacts and the leavings of theidols. Your head has remained free from the impious andwicked veil with which the captive heads of those whosacrificed were there veiled; your brow, pure with the sign ofGod, could not bear the crown of thedevil, but reserved itself for the Lord's crown. How joyously does your Mother Church receive you in her bosom, as you return from the battle! How blissfully, how gladly, does she open her gates, that in united bands you may enter, bearing the trophies from a prostrate enemy! With the triumphing men comewomen also, who, while contending with the world, have also overcome their sex; andvirgins also come with the doubleglory of their warfare, and boys transcending their years with theirvirtues. Moreover, also, the rest of the multitude of those who stand fast follow yourglory, and accompany your footsteps with the insignia of praise, very near to, and almost joined with, your own. In them also is the same sincerity of heart, the same soundness of a tenaciousfaith. Resting on the unshaken roots of the heavenly precepts, and strengthened by the evangelical traditions, the prescribed banishment, the destined tortures, the loss of property, the bodily punishments, have not terrified them. The days for proving theirfaith were limited beforehand; but he who remembers that he has renounced the worldknows no day of worldly appointment, neither does he who hopes foreternity from God calculate the seasons of earth any more.

3. Let none, my beloved brethren, let none depreciate thisglory; let none by malignant dispraise detract from the uncorrupted steadfastness of those who have stood. When the day appointed for denying had gone by, every one who had not professed within that time not to be aChristian, confessed that he was aChristian. It is the first title to victory to confess the Lord under theviolence of the hands of theGentiles. It is the second step toglory to be withdrawn by a cautious retirement, and to be reserved for the Lord. The former is a public, the latter is a private confession. The former overcomes the judge of this world; the latter, content with God as its judge, keeps a pureconscience in integrity of heart. In the former case there is a readierfortitude; in the latter, solicitude is more secure. The former, as his hour approached, was already found mature; the latter perhaps was delayed, who, leaving his estate, withdrew for a while, because he would not deny, but would certainly confess if he too had been apprehended.

4. Onecause of grief saddens these heavenly crowns ofmartyrs, theseglorious spiritual confessions, these very great and illustriousvirtues of the brethren who stand; which is, that the hostileviolence has torn away a part of our own bowels, and thrown it away in the destructiveness of its own cruelty. What shall I do in this matter, beloved brethren? Wavering in the various tide of feeling, what or how shall I speak? I need tears rather than words to express the sorrow with which the wound of our body should be bewailed, with which the manifold loss of a people once numerous should be lamented. For whose heart is so hard or cruel, who is so unmindful of brotherlylove, as, among the varied ruins of his friends, and the mournful relics disfigured with all degradation, to be able to stand and to keep dry eyes, and not in the breaking out of his grief to express his groanings rather with tears than with words? I grieve, brethren, I grieve with you; nor does my own integrity and my personal soundness beguile me to the soothing of my griefs, since it is the shepherd that is chiefly wounded in the wound of his flock. I join my breast with each one, and I share in the grievous burden of sorrow and mourning. I wail with the wailing, I weep with the weeping, I regard myself as prostrated with those that are prostrate. My limbs are at the same time stricken with those darts of the raging enemy; their cruel swords have pierced through my bowels; my mind could not remain untouched and free from the inroad ofpersecution among my downfallen brethren; sympathy has cast me down also.

5. Yet, beloved brethren, thecause oftruth is to be had in view; nor ought the gloomy darkness of the terriblepersecution so to have blinded the mind and feeling, that there should remain no light and illumination whence the divine precepts may be beheld. If thecause of disaster is recognised, there is at once found a remedy for the wound. The Lord has desired Hisfamily to beproved; and because a long peace had corrupted the discipline that had been divinely delivered to us, the heavenly rebuke has aroused ourfaith, which was giving way, and I had almost said slumbering; and although we deserved more for oursins, yet the most merciful Lord has so moderated all things, that all which has happened has rather seemed a trial than apersecution.

6. Each one was desirous of increasing his estate; and forgetful of whatbelievers had either done before in the times of theapostles, or always ought to do, they, with the insatiable ardour ofcovetousness, devoted themselves to the increase of their property. Among thepriests there was no devotedness of religion; among the ministers there was no soundfaith: in their works there was no mercy; in their manners there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced; inwomen, their complexion was dyed: the eyes were falsified from what God's hand had made them; their hair was stained with afalsehood. Crafty frauds were used to deceive the hearts of the simple, subtle meanings for circumventing the brethren. They united in the bond of marriage with unbelievers; they prostituted the members of Christ to theGentiles. They wouldswear not only rashly, but even more, wouldswearfalsely; would despise those set over them withhaughty swelling, would speakevil of one another with envenomed tongue, would quarrel with one another with obstinatehatred. Not a fewbishops who ought to furnish both exhortation and example to others, despising their divine charge, became agents in secular business, forsook their throne, deserted their people, wandered about over foreign provinces, hunted the markets for gainful merchandise, while brethren were starving in theChurch. They sought to possess money in hoards, they seized estates by crafty deceits, they increased their gains by multiplying usuries. What do not such as we deserve to suffer forsins of this kind, when even already the divine rebuke has forewarned us, and said,If they shall forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they shall profane my statutes, and shall not observe my precepts, I will visit their offenses with a rod, and theirsins with scourges?

7. These things were before declared to us, and predicted. But we, forgetful of the law andobedience required of us, have so acted by oursins, that while we despise the Lord's commandments, we have come by severer remedies to the correction of oursin and probation of ourfaith. Nor indeed have we at last been converted to thefear of the Lord, so as to undergo patiently and courageously this our correction and divineproof. Immediately at the first words of the threatening foe, the greatest number of the brethren betrayed theirfaith, and were cast down, not by the onset ofpersecution, but cast themselves down byvoluntary lapse. What unheard-of thing, I beg of you, what new thing had happened, that, as if on the occurrence of things unknown and unexpected, the obligation to Christ should be dissolved with headlong rashness? Have notprophets aforetime, and subsequentlyapostles, told of these things? Have not they, full of theHoly Spirit, predicted the afflictions of the righteous, and always the injuries of theheathens? Does not the sacred Scripture, which ever arms ourfaith and strengthens with a voice from heaven the servants ofGod, say,You shall worship the Lord yourGod, and Him only shall you serve?Deuteronomy 6:13 Does it not again show theanger of the divine indignation, and warn of thefear of punishment beforehand, when it says,They worshipped them whom their fingers have made; and the mean man bows down, and the great manhumbles himself, and I will forgive them not?Isaiah 2:8-9 And again, God speaks, and says,He thatsacrifices unto any gods, save unto the Lord only, shall be destroyed.Exodus 22:20 In theGospel also subsequently, the Lord, who instructs by His words and fulfils by Hisdeeds, teaching what should be done, and doing whatever He had taught, did He not before admonish us of whatever is now done and shall be done? Did He not before ordain both for those who deny Himeternal punishments, and for those that confess Him saving rewards?

8. From some — ah, misery!— all these things have fallen away, and have passed frommemory. They indeed did not wait to be apprehended ere they ascended, or to be interrogated ere they denied. Many were conquered before the battle, prostrated before the attack. Nor did they even leave it to be said for them, that they seemed tosacrifice toidols unwillingly. They ran to the market-place of their own accord; freely they hastened to death, as if they had formerly wished it, as if they would embrace an opportunity now given which they had always desired. How many were put off by the magistrates at that time, when evening was coming on; how many even asked that their destruction might not be delayed! Whatviolence can such a one plead as an excuse? How can he purge his crime, when it was he himself who rather used force to bring about his own ruin? When they came voluntarily to the Capitol — when they freely approached to theobedience of the terriblewickedness — did not their tread falter? Did not their sight darken, their heart tremble, their arms fall helplessly down? Did not their senses fail, their tongue cleave to their mouth, their speech grow weak? Could the servant of God stand there, and speak and renounce Christ, when he had already renounced thedevil and the world? Was not that altar, whither he drew near to perish, to him a funeral pile? Ought he not to shudder at and flee from thedevil's altar, which he had seen to smoke, and to be redolent of a foul rector, as if it were the funeral and sepulchre of his life? Why bring with you, O wretched man, asacrifice? Why immolate a victim? You yourself have come to the altar an offering; you yourself have come a victim: there you have immolated yoursalvation, your hope; there you have burnt up yourfaith in those deadly fires.

9. But to many their own destruction was not sufficient. With mutual exhortations, people were urged to their ruin; death was pledged by turns in the deadly cup. And that nothing might be wanting to aggravate the crime, infants also, in the arms of theirparents, either carried or conducted, lost, while yet little ones, what in the very first beginning of their nativity they had gained. Will not they, when the day of judgment comes, say,We have done nothing; nor have we forsaken the Lord's bread and cup to hasten freely to a profane contact; the faithlessness of others has ruined us. We have found ourparents our murderers; they have denied to us theChurch as a Mother; they have denied God as a Father: so that, while we were little, and unforeseeing, and unconscious of such a crime, we were associated by others to the partnership ofwickedness, and we were snared by the deceit of others?

10. Nor is there, alas, any just and weighty reason which excuses such a crime. One's country was to be left, and loss of one's estate was to be suffered. Yet to whom that is born and dies is there not a necessity at some time to leave his country, and to suffer the loss of his estate? But let not Christ be forsaken, so that the loss ofsalvation and of aneternal home should be feared. Behold, theHoly Spirit cries by theprophet,Depart, depart, get out of there, touch not the unclean thing; get out of her midst, and be separate,you who bear the vessels of the Lord.Isaiah 52:11 Yet those who are the vessels of the Lord and the temple of God do not go out from the midst, nor depart, that they may not be compelled to touch the unclean thing, and to be polluted and corrupted with deadly food. Elsewhere also a voice is heard from heaven, forewarning what is becoming for the servants of God to do, saying,Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of hersins, and that you receive not of her plagues.Revelation 18:4 He who goes out and departs does not become a partaker of the guilt; but he will be wounded with the plagues who is found a companion in the crime. And therefore the Lord commanded us in thepersecution to depart and to flee; and both taught that this should be done, and Himself did it. For as the crown is given of the condescension ofGod, and cannot be received unless the hour comes for accepting it, whosoever abiding in Christ departs for a while does not deny hisfaith, but waits for the time; but he who has fallen, after refusing to depart, remained to deny it.

11. Thetruth, brethren, must not be disguised; nor must the matter andcause of our wound be concealed. A blindlove of one's own property has deceived many; nor could they be prepared for, or at ease in, departing when theirwealth fettered them like a chain. Those were the chains to them that remained — those were the bonds by which bothvirtue was retarded, andfaith burdened, and the spirit bound, and thesoul hindered; so that they who were involved in earthly things might become a booty and food for the serpent, which, according to God's sentence, feeds upon earth. And therefore the Lord the teacher ofgood things, forewarning for the future time, says,If you will be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to thepoor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.Matthew 19:21 If rich men did this, they would not perish by their riches; if they laid up treasure in heaven, they would not now have a domestic enemy and assailant. Heart and mind and feeling would be in heaven, if the treasure were in heaven; nor could he be overcome by the world who had nothing in the world whereby he could be overcome. He would follow the Lord loosed and free, as did theapostles, and many in the times of theapostles, and many who forsook both their means and theirrelatives, and clave to Christ with undivided ties.

12. But how can they follow Christ, who are held back by the chain of theirwealth? Or how can they seek heaven, and climb to sublime and lofty heights, who are weighed down by earthly desires? They think that they possess, when they are rather possessed; as slaves of their profit, and not lords with respect to their own money, but rather the bond-slaves of their money. These times and these men are indicated by the apostle, when he says,But they that will be rich, fall intotemptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtfullusts, which drown men in destruction and in perdition. For the root of allevil is thelove of money, which, while some havecoveted, they have erred from thefaith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.1 Timothy 6:9 But with what rewards does the Lord invite us to contempt of worldlywealth? With what compensations does He atone for the small and trifling losses of this present time?There is no man, says He,that leaves house, or land, orparents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, but he shall receive seven fold even in this time, but in the world to come life everlasting.Mark 10:29 If weknow these things, and have found them out from thetruth of the Lord who promises, not only is not loss of this kind to be feared, but even to be desired; as the Lord Himself again announces and warns us,Blessed are you when men shallpersecute you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall cast you out, and shall speak of your name asevil, for theSon of man's sake! Rejoice on that day, and leap forjoy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven.Luke 6:22

13. But (say they) subsequently tortures had come, and severe sufferings were threatening those who resisted. He may complain of tortures who has been overcome by tortures; he may offer the excuse of suffering who has been vanquished in suffering. Such a one may ask, and say,I wished indeed to strive bravely, and, remembering myoath, I took up the arms of devotion andfaith; but as I was struggling in the encounter, varied tortures and long-continued sufferings overcame me. My mind stood firm, and myfaith was strong, and mysoul struggled long, unshaken with the torturing pains; but when, with the renewed barbarity of the most cruel judge, wearied out as I was, the scourges were now tearing me, the clubs bruised me, the rack strained me, the claw dug into me, the fire roasted me; my flesh deserted me in the struggle, the weakness of my bodily frame gave way — not mymind, but my body, yielded in the suffering. Such a plea may readily avail to forgiveness; an apology of that kind may excite compassion. Thus at one time the Lord forgave Castus and Aemilius; thus, overcome in the first encounter, they were made victors in the second battle. So that they who had formerly given way to the fires became stronger than the fires, and in that in which they had been vanquished they were conquerors. They entreated not for pity of their tears, but of their wounds; nor with a lamentable voice alone, but with laceration and suffering of body. Blood flowed instead of weeping; and instead of tears, gore poured forth from their half-scorched entrails.

14. But now, what wounds can those who are overcome show? What gashes of gaping entrails, what tortures of the limbs, in cases where it was notfaith that fell in the encounter, but faithlessness that anticipated the struggle? Nor does thenecessity of the crime excuse the person compelled, where the crime is committed offree will. Nor do I say this in such a way as that I would burden the cases of the brethren, but that I may rather instigate the brethren to aprayer of atonement. For, as it is written,They who call youhappycause you toerr, and destroy the paths of your feet,Isaiah 3:12 he who soothes the sinner with flattering blandishments furnishes the stimulus tosin; nor does he repress, but nourishes wrong-doing. But he who, with braver counsels, rebukes at the same time that he instructs a brother, urges him onward tosalvation.As many as Ilove, says the Lord,I rebuke and chasten.Revelation 3:19 And thus also it behooves the Lord'spriest not to mislead by deceiving concessions, but to provide with salutary remedies. He is an unskilful physician who handles the swelling edges of wounds with a tender hand, and, by retaining the poison shut up in the deep recesses of the body, increases it. The wound, must be opened, and cut, and healed by the stronger remedy of cutting out the corrupting parts. The sick man may cry out, may vociferate, and may complain, in impatience of the pain; but he will afterwards give thanks when he has felt that he is cured.

15. Moreover, beloved brethren, a new kind of devastation has appeared; and, as if the storm ofpersecution had raged too little, there has been added to the heap, under the title of mercy, a deceiving mischief and a fair-seeming calamity. Contrary to the vigour of theGospel, contrary to the law of the Lord andGod, by the temerity of some, communion is relaxed to heedlesspersons — a vain and false peace, dangerous to those who grant it, and likely to avail nothing to those who receive it. They do not seek for the patience necessary to health nor thetrue medicine derived from atonement. Penitence is driven forth from their breasts, and the memory of their very grave and extremesin is taken away. The wounds of the dying are covered over, and the deadly blow that is planted in the deep and secret entrails is concealed by a dissimulated suffering. Returning from the altars of thedevil, they draw near to theholy place of the Lord, with hands filthy and reeking with smell, still almost breathing of the plague-bearing idol-meats; and even with jaws still exhaling their crime, and reeking with the fatal contact, they intrude on the body of the Lord, although the sacred Scripture stands in their way, and cries, saying,Every one that is clean shall eat of the flesh; and whateversoul eats of the flesh of the savingsacrifice, which is the Lord's, having his uncleanness upon him, thatsoul shall be cut off from his people.Leviticus 7:20 Also, the apostle testifies, and says,You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils; you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils.1 Corinthians 10:21 He threatens, moreover, the stubborn and Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.1 Corinthians 11:27

16. All these warnings being scorned and contemned — before theirsin is expiated, before confession has been made of their crime, before theirconscience has been purged bysacrifice and by the hand of thepriest, before the offense of anangry and threatening Lord has been appeased,violence is done to His body and blood; and theysin now against their Lord more with their hand and mouth than when they denied their Lord. They think that that is peace which some with deceiving words are blazoning forth: that is not peace, butwar; and he is not joined to theChurch who is separated from theGospel. Why do they call an injury a kindness? Why do they call impiety by the name ofpiety? Why do they hinder those who ought to weep continually and to entreat their Lord, from the sorrowing of repentance, and pretend to receive them to communion? This is the same kind of thing to thelapsed as hail to the harvests; as the stormy star to the trees; as the destruction of pestilence to the herds; as the raging tempest to shipping. They take away the consolation ofeternal hope; they overturn the tree from the roots; they creep on to a deadly contagion with their pestilent words; they dash the ship on the rocks, so that it may not reach to the harbour. Such a facility does not grant peace, but takes it away; nor does it give communion, but it hinders fromsalvation. This is anotherpersecution, and anothertemptation, by which the crafty enemy still further assaults thelapsed; attacking them by a secret corruption, that their lamentation may be hushed, that their grief may be silent, that the memory of theirsin may pass away, that the groaning of their heart may be repressed, that the weeping of their eyes may be quenched; nor long and full penitence deprecate the Lord so grievously offended, although it is written,Remember from whence you are fallen, and repent.Revelation 2:5

17. Let no one cheat himself, let no one deceive himself. The Lord alone can have mercy. He alone can bestow pardon forsins which have been committed against Himself, who bare oursins, who sorrowed for us, whom God delivered up for oursins. Man cannot be greater thanGod, nor can a servant remit or forego by his indulgence what has been committed by a greater crime against the Lord, lest to the person lapsed this be moreover added to hissin, if he beignorant that it is declared,Cursed is the man that puts his hope in man.Jeremiah 17:5 The Lord must be besought. The Lord must be appeased by our atonement, who has said, that him that denies Him He will deny, who alone has received all judgment from His Father. Webelieve, indeed, that the merits ofmartyrs and the works of the righteous are of great avail with the Judge; but that will be when the day of judgment shall come; when, after the conclusion of this life and the world, His people shall stand before the tribunal ofChrist.

18. But if any one, by an overhurried haste, rashly thinks that he can give remission ofsins to all, or dares to rescind the Lord's precepts, not only does it in no respect advantage thelapsed, but it does them harm. Not to have observed His judgment is to have provoked His,wrath, and to think that the mercy of God must not first of all be entreated, and, despising the Lord, to presume on His power. Under the altar of God thesouls of the slainmartyrs cry with a loud voice, saying,How long, O Lord,holy andtrue, do You not judge and avenge our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?Revelation 6:10 And they are bidden to rest, and still to keep patience. And does any one think that, in opposition to the Judge, a man can become of avail for the general remission and pardon ofsins, or that he can shield others before he himself is vindicated? Themartyrs order something to be done; but only if this thing be just and lawful, if it can be done without opposing the Lord Himself by God'spriest, if the consent of theobeying party be easy and yielding, if the moderation of the asking party be religious. Themartyrs order something to be done; but if what they order be not written in the law of the Lord, we must firstknow that they have obtained what they ask fromGod, and then do what they command. For that may not always appear to be immediately conceded by the divine majesty, which has been promised by man's undertaking.

19. ForMoses also besought for thesins of the people; and yet, when he had sought pardon for these sinners, he did not receive it.Ipray You, said he,O Lord, this people havesinned a greatsin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if You will forgive theirsin, forgive it; but if not, blot me out of the book which You have written. And the Lord said toMoses, Whosoever hassinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.Exodus 32:31 He, the friend ofGod; he who had often spoken face to face with the Lord, could not obtain what he asked, nor could appease thewrath of an indignant God by his entreaty. God praises Jeremiah, and announces, saying,Before I formed you in the belly, Iknew you; and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you aprophet unto the nations.Jeremiah 1:5 And to the same man He says, when he often entreated andprayed for thesins of the people,Pray not for this people, neither lift up cry norprayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time wherein they call on me, in the time of their affliction.Jeremiah 7:16 But who was more righteous thanNoah, who, when the earth was filled withsins, was alone found righteous on the earth? Who moreglorious than Daniel? Who more strong for sufferingmartyrdom in firmness offaith, morehappy in God's condescension, who so many times, both when he was in conflict conquered, and, when he had conquered, lived on? Was any more ready in good works than Job, braver intemptations, more patient in sufferings, more submissive in hisfear, moretrue in hisfaith? And yet God said that He would not grant to them if they were to seek. When theprophet Ezekiel entreated for thesin of the people,Whatsoever land, said He,shallsin against me by trespassing grievously, I will stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men,Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; but they only should be delivered themselves.Ezekiel 14:13 Thus, not everything that is asked is in the pre-judgment of the asker, but in thefree will of the giver; neither canhuman judgment claim to itself or usurp anything, unless the divine pleasure approve.

20. In theGospel the Lord speaks, and says,Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven: but he that denies me, him will I also deny.Luke 12:8 If He does not deny him that denies, neither does He confess him that confesses; theGospel cannot be sound in one part and waver in another. Either both must stand firm, or both must lose the force oftruth. If they who deny shall not be guilty of a crime, neither shall they who confess receive the reward of avirtue. Again, iffaith which has conquered be crowned, it is of necessity that faithlessness which is conquered should be punished. Thus themartyrs can either do nothing if theGospel may be broken; or if theGospel cannot be broken, they can do nothing against theGospel, since they becomemartyrs on account of theGospel. Let no one, beloved brethren, let no one decry the dignity ofmartyrs, let no one degrade their glories and their crowns. The strength of their uncorruptedfaith abides sound; nor can he either say or do anything againstChrist, whose hope, andfaith, andvirtue, andglory, are all in Christ: those cannot be the authority for thebishops doing anything against God's command, who themselves have done God's command. Is any one greater thanGod, or more merciful than God's goodness, that he should either wish that undone whichGod has suffered to be done, or, as if God had too little power to protect His Church, should think that we could be preserved by his help?

21. Unless, perchance, these things have been done without God'sknowledge, or all these things have happened without His permission; althoughHoly Scripture teaches the indocile, and admonishes the unmindful, where it speaks, saying,Who gave Jacob for a spoil, andIsrael to those who made a booty of him? Did not the Lord against whom theysinned, and would not walk in His ways, neither wereobedient unto His law? And He has poured upon them the fury of Hisanger.Isaiah 13:24 And elsewhere it testifies and says,Is the Lord's hand shortened, that it cannot save; or His ear heavy, that it cannot hear? But your iniquities separate between you and yourGod; and because of yoursins He has hid His face from you, that He may not have mercy.Isaiah 59:1 Let us rather consider our offenses, revolving our doings and the secrets of our mind; let us weigh the deserts of ourconscience; let it come back upon our heart that we have not walked in the Lord's ways, and have cast away God's law, and have never been willing to keep His precepts and saving counsels.

22. What good can you think of him, whatfear can you suppose to have been with him, or whatfaith, whom neitherfear could correct norpersecution itself could reform? His high and rigid neck, even when it has fallen, is unbent; his swelling andhaughtysoul is not broken, even when it is conquered. Prostrate, he threatens those who stand; and wounded, the sound. And because he may not at once receive the body of the Lord in his polluted hands, thesacrilegious one isangry with thepriests. And — oh your excessivemadness, O frantic one — you areangry with him who endeavours to avert theanger of God from you; you threaten him who beseeches the divine mercy on your behalf, who feels your wound which you yourself do not feel, who sheds tears for you, which perhaps you never shed yourself. You are still aggravating and. enhancing your crime; and while you yourself are implacable against the ministers andpriests ofGod, do you think that the Lord can be appeased concerning you?

23. Receive rather, and admit what we say. Why do your deaf ears not hear the salutary precepts with which we warn you? Why do your blind eyes not see the way of repentance which we point out? Why does your stricken and alienated mind not perceive the lively remedies which we both learn and teach from the heavenly Scriptures? Or if some unbelievers have littlefaith in future events, let them be terrified with present ones. Lo, what punishments do we behold of those who have denied! What sad deaths of theirs do we bewail! Not even here can they be without punishment, although the day of punishment has not yet arrived. Some are punished in the meantime, that others may be corrected. The torments of a few are the examples of all.

24. One of those who of his own will ascended the Capitol to make denial, after he had denied Christ, became dumb. The punishment began from that point whence the crime also began; so that now he could not ask, since he had no words for entreating mercy. Another, who was in the baths, (for this was wanting to her crime and to her misfortunes, that she even went at once to the baths, when she had lost thegrace of the layer of life); there, unclean as she was, was seized by an unclean spirit, and tore with her teeth the tongue with which she had either impiously eaten or spoken. After thewicked food had been taken, themadness of the mouth was armed to its own destruction. She herself was her own executioner, nor did she long continue to live afterwards: tortured with pangs of the belly and bowels, she expired.

25. Learn what occurred when I myself was present and awitness Someparents who by chance were escaping, being little careful on account of their terror, left a little daughter under the care of a wet-nurse. The nurse gave up the forsaken child to the magistrates. They gave it, in the presence of an idol whither the people flocked (because it was not yet able to eat flesh on account of its years), bread mingled with wine, which however itself was the remainder of what had been used in the immolation of those that had perished. Subsequently the mother recovered her child. But the girl was no more able to speak, or to indicate the crime that had been committed, than she had before been able to understand or to prevent it. Therefore it happened unawares in theirignorance, that when we weresacrificing, the mother brought it in with her. Moreover, the girl mingled with thesaints, became impatient of ourprayer and supplications, and was at one moment shaken with weeping, and at another tossed about like a wave of the sea by the violent excitement of her mind; as if by the compulsion of a torturer thesoul of that still tender child confessed a consciousness of the fact with such signs as it could. When, however, the solemnities were finished, and thedeacon began to offer the cup to those present, and when, as the rest received it, its turn approached, the little child, by the instinct of the divine majesty, turned away its face, compressed its mouth with resisting lips, and refused the cup. Still thedeacon persisted, and, although against her efforts, forced on her some of the sacrament of the cup. Then there followed a sobbing and vomiting. In a profane body and mouth theEucharist could not remain; the draught sanctified in the blood of the Lord burst forth from the polluted stomach. So great is the Lord's power, so great is His majesty. The secrets of darkness were disclosed under His light, and not even hidden crimes deceived God'spriest.

26. This much about an infant, which was not yet of an age to speak of the crime committed by others in respect of herself. But thewoman who in advanced life and of more mature age secretly crept in among us when we weresacrificing, received not food, but a sword for herself; and as if taking some deadly poison into her jaws and body, began presently to be tortured, and to become stiffened with frenzy; and suffering the misery no longer ofpersecution, but of her crime, shivering and trembling, she fell down. The crime of her dissimulatedconscience was not long unpunished or concealed. She who had deceived man, felt that God was taking vengeance. And anotherwoman, when she tried with unworthy hands to open her box, in which was theholy (body) of the Lord, was deterred by fire rising from it from daring to touch it. And when one, who himself was defiled, dared with the rest to receive secretly a part of thesacrifice celebrated by thepriest; he could not eat nor handle theholy of the Lord, but found in his hands when opened that he had a cinder. Thus by the experience of one it was shown that the Lord withdraws when He is denied; nor does that which is received benefit the undeserving forsalvation, since savinggrace is changed by the departure of thesanctity into a cinder. How many there are daily who do not repent nor make confession of the consciousness of their crime, who are filled with unclean spirits! How many are shaken even to unsoundness of mind and idiotcy by the raging ofmadness! Nor is there any need to go through the deaths of individuals, since through the manifold lapses occurring in the world the punishment of theirsins is as varied as the multitude, of sinners is abundant. Let each one consider not what another has suffered, but what he himself deserves to suffer; nor think that he has escaped if his punishment delay for a time, since he ought tofear it the more that thewrath of God the judge has reserved it for Himself.

27. Nor let thosepersons flatter themselves that they need repent the less, who, although they have not polluted their hands with abominablesacrifices, yet have defiled theirconscience with certificates. That profession of one who denies, is the testimony of a,Christian disowning what he had been. He says that he has done what another has actually committed; and although it is written,You cannot serve two masters,Matthew 6:24 he has served an earthly master in that he hasobeyed his edict; he has been moreobedient tohuman authority than toGod. It matters not whether he has published what he has done with less either of disgrace or of guilt amongmen. Be that as it may, he will not be able to escape and avoid God his judge, seeing that theHoly Spirit says in thePsalms,Your eyes saw my substance, that it was imperfect, and in Your book shall allmen be written. And again:Man sees the outward appearance, but God sees the heart.1 Samuel 16:7 The Lord Himself also forewarns and prepares us, saying,And all the churches shallknow that I am He which searches the reins and the heart.Revelation 2:23 He looks into the hidden and secret things, and considers those things which are concealed; nor can any one evade the eyes of the Lord, who says,I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off. If a man be hidden in secret places, shall not I therefore see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth?Jeremiah 23:23 He sees the heart and mind of every person; and He will judge not alone of ourdeeds, but even of our words and thoughts. He looks into the minds, and the wills, and conceptions of allmen, in the very lurking-places of the heart that is still closed up.

28. Moreover, how much are they both greater infaith and better in theirfear, who, although bound by no crime ofsacrificetoidols or of certificate, yet, since they have even thought of such things, with grief and simplicity confess this very thing to God'spriests, and make the conscientious avowal, put off from them the load of their minds, and seek out the salutary medicine even for slight and moderate wounds,knowing that it is written,God is not mocked.Galatians 6:7 God cannot be mocked, nor deceived, nor deluded by any deceptive cunning. Yea, hesins the more, who, thinking that God is like man, believes that he evades the penalty of his crime if he has not openly admitted his crime. Christ says in His precepts,Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, of him shall theSon of man be ashamed.Mark 6:83 And does he think that he is aChristian, who is either ashamed or afraid to be aChristian? How can he be one with Christ, who either blushes or fears to belong to Christ? He will certainly havesinned less, by not seeing theidols, and not profaning thesanctity of thefaith under the eyes of a people standing round and insulting, and not polluting his hands by the deadlysacrifices, nor defiling his lips with thewicked food. This is advantageous to this extent, that the fault is less, not that theconscience is guiltless. He can more easily attain to pardon of his crime, yet he is not free from crime; and let him not cease to carry out his repentance, and to entreat the Lord's mercy, lest what seems to be less in the quality of his fault, should be increased by his neglect of atonement.

29. I entreat you, beloved brethren, that each one should confess his ownsin, while he who hassinned is still in this world, while his confession may be received, while the satisfaction and remission made by thepriests are pleasing to theLord. Let us turn to the Lord with our whole heart, and, expressing our repentance for oursin withtrue grief, let us entreat God's mercy. Let oursoul lie low before Him. Let our mourning atone to Him. Let all our hope lean upon Him. He Himself tells us in what manner we ought to ask.Turn to me, He says,with all your heart, and at the same time withfasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts, and not your garments.Joel 2:12 Let us return to the Lord with our whole heart. Let us appease Hiswrath and indignation withfastings, with weeping, with mourning, as He Himself admonishes us.

30. Do webelieve that a man is lamenting with his whole heart, that he is entreating the Lord withfasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, who from the first day of hissin daily frequents the bathing-places withwomen; who, feeding at rich banquets, and puffed out with fuller dainties, belches forth on the next day his indigestions, and does not dispense of his meat and drink so as to aid thenecessity of the poor? How does he who walks with joyous and glad step mourn for his death? And although it is written,You shall not mar the figure of your beard,Leviticus 19:27 he plucks out his beard, and dresses his hair; and does he now study to please any one who displeases God? Or does she groan and lament who has time to put on the clothing of precious apparel, and not to consider the robe of Christ which she has lost; to receive valuable ornaments and richly wrought necklaces, and not to bewail the loss of divine and heavenly ornament? Although you clothe yourself in foreign garments and silken robes, you are naked; although you adorn yourself to excess both in pearls, and gems, and gold, yet without the adornment of Christ you are unsightly. And you who stain your hair, now at least cease in the midst of sorrows; and you who paint the edges of your eyes with a line drawn around them of black powder, now at least wash your eyes with tears. If you had lost any dear one of your friends by the death incident to mortality, you would groan grievously, and weep with disordered countenance, with changed dress, with neglected hair, with clouded face, with dejected appearance, you would show the signs of grief. Miserable creature, you have lost yoursoul; spiritually dead here, you are continuing to live to yourself, and although yourself walking about, you have begun to carry your own death with you. And do you not bitterly moan; do you not continually groan; do you not hide yourself, either for shame of yoursin or for continuance of your lamentation? Behold, these are still worse wounds of sinning; behold, these are greater crimes — to havesinned, and not to make atonement — to have committed crimes, and not to bewail your crimes.

31. Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, the illustrious and noble youths, even amid the flames and the ardours of a raging furnace, did not desist from making public confession toGod. Although possessed of a goodconscience, and having often deserved well of the Lord byobedience offaith andfear, yet they did not cease from maintaining their humility, and from making atonement to the Lord, even amid thegloriousmartyrdoms of theirvirtues. The sacred Scripture speaks, saying,Azarias stood up andprayed, and, opening his mouth, made confession before God together with his companions in the midst of the fire. Daniel also, after the manifoldgrace of hisfaith and innocency, after the condescension of the Lord often repeated in respect of hisvirtues and praises, strives byfastings still further to deserve well ofGod, wraps himself in sackcloth and ashes, sorrowfully making confession, and saying,O LordGod, great, and strong, and dreadful, keeping Your covenant and mercy for them thatlove You and keep Your commandments, we havesinned, we have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly: we have transgressed, and departed from Your precepts, and from Your judgments; neither have we hearkened to the words of Your servants theprophets, which they spoke in Your name to our kings, and to all thenations, and to all the earth. O Lord, righteousness belongs unto You, but unto us confusion.Daniel 9:4

32. These things were done bymen, meek, simple, innocent, in deserving well of the majesty ofGod; and now those who have denied the Lord refuse to make atonement to the Lord, and to entreat Him. I beg you, brethren, acquiesce in wholesome remedies,obey better counsels, associate your tears with our tears, join your groans with ours; we beseech you in order that we may beseech God for you: we turn our veryprayers to you first; ourprayers with which wepray God for you that He would pity you. Repent abundantly, prove the sorrow of a grieving and lamenting mind.

33. Neither let that imprudenterror or vain stupor of some move you, who, although they are involved in so grave a crime, are struck with blindness ofmind, so that they neither understand nor lament theirsins. This is the greater visitation of anangryGod; as it is written,And God gave them the spirit of deadness. And again:They received not thelove of thetruth, that they might be saved. And for thiscause God shall send them the working oferror, that they shouldbelieve alie; that they all might be damned whobelieved not thetruth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.2 Thessalonians 2:10 Unrighteously pleasing themselves, and mad with the alienation of a hardenedmind, they despise the Lord's precepts, neglect the medicine for their wound, and will not repent. Thoughtless before theirsin was acknowledged, after theirsin they are obstinate; neither steadfast before, nor suppliant afterwards: when they ought to have stood fast, they fell; when they ought to fall and prostrate themselves toGod, they think they stand fast. They have taken peace for themselves of their own accord when nobody granted it; seduced by false promises, and linked withapostates and unbelievers, they take hold oferror instead oftruth: they regard a communion as valid with those who are not communicants; theybelieve men againstGod, although they have notbelieved God against men.

34. Flee from such men as much as you can; avoid with a wholesome caution those who adhere to their mischievous contact. Their word does eat as does a cancer; their conversation advances like a contagion; their noxious and envenomed persuasion kills worse thanpersecution itself. In such a case there remains only penitence which can make atonement. But they who take away repentance for a crime, close the way of atonement. Thus it happens that, while by the rashness of some a false safety is either promised or trusted, the hope oftrue safety is taken away.

35. But you, beloved brethren, whosefear is ready towardsGod, and whosemind, although it is placed in the midst of lapse, is mindful of its misery, do you in repentance and grief look into yoursins; acknowledge the very gravesin of yourconscience; open the eyes of your heart to the understanding of yoursin, neither despairing of the Lord's mercy nor yet at once claiming His pardon.God, in proportion as with the affection of a Father He is always indulgent and good, in the same proportion is to be dreaded with the majesty of a judge. Even as we havesinned greatly, so let us greatly lament. To a deep wound let there not be wanting a long and careful treatment; let not the repentance be less than thesin. Think you that the Lord can be quickly appeased, whom with faithless words you have denied, to whom you have rather preferred your worldly estate, whose temple you have violated with asacrilegious contact? Think you that He will easily have mercy upon you whom you have declared not to be your God? You mustpray more eagerly and entreat; you must spend the day in grief; wear out nights in watchings and weepings; occupy all your time in wailful lamentations; lying stretched on the ground, you must cling close to the ashes, be surrounded with sackcloth and filth; after losing the raiment ofChrist, you must be willing now to have no clothing; after thedevil's meat, you must preferfasting; be earnest in righteous works, wherebysins may be purged; frequently apply yourself to almsgiving, wherebysouls are freed from death. What the adversary took from you, let Christ receive; nor ought your estate now either to be held or loved, by which you have been both deceived and conquered. Wealth must be avoided as an enemy; must be fled from as a robber; must be dreaded by its possessors as a sword and as poison. To this end only so much as remains should be of service, that by it the crime and the fault may be redeemed. Let good works be done without delay, and largely; let all your estate be laid out for the healing of your wound; let us lend of ourwealth and our means to the Lord, who shall judge concerning us. Thusfaith flourished in the time of theapostles; thus the first people ofbelievers kept Christ's commands: they were prompt, they were liberal, they gave their all to be distributed by theapostles; and yet they were not redeemingsins of such a character as these.

36. If a man makeprayer with his whole heart, if he groan with thetrue lamentations and tears of repentance, if be incline the Lord to pardon of hissin by righteous and continual works, he who expressed His mercy in these words may pity such men:When you turn and lament, then shall you be saved, and shallknow where you have been.Isaiah 30:51 And again:I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord, hut that he should return and live.Ezekiel 33:11 And Joel theprophet declares the mercy of the Lord in the Lord's own admonition, when he says:Turn to the Lord yourGod, for He is merciful and gracious, and patient, and of great mercy, andrepents Him with respect to theevil that He has inflicted.Joel 2:13 He can show mercy; He can turn back His judgment. He can mercifully pardon the repenting, the labouring, the beseeching sinner. He can regard as effectual whatever, in behalf of such as these, eithermartyrs have besought orpriests have done. Or if any one move Him still more by his own atonement, if he appease Hisanger, if he appease thewrath of an indignant God by righteous entreaty, He gives arms again whereby the vanquished may be armed; He restores and confirms the strength whereby the refreshedfaith may be invigorated. The soldier will seek his contest anew; he will repeat the fight, he will provoke the enemy, and indeed by his very suffering he is made braver for the battle. He who has thus made atonement toGod; he who by repentance for his deed, who by shame for hissin, has conceived more both ofvirtue and offaith from the very grief of his fall, heard and aided by the Lord, shall make theChurch which he had lately saddened glad, and shall now deserve of the Lord not only pardon, but a crown.

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