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James Chapter 1

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CAPUT PRIMUM. SYNOPSIS CAPITIS. Veteri Epistolarum more, varia et disparala de variis virtutibus dal partim monila, partim præcepta. Primo, v. 1. usque ad v. 12. docet gaudendum esse in tentatione, eo quod illius patientia opus perfectum habeat: postulandam esse a Deo sapientiam certa spe et fide: humiles et pauperes gloriari debere in sui exaltatione fulura, diviles vero et superbos confundi in humiliatione, quæ eos mox excipiet. Secundo, v. 12. usque ad 19. docel, beatum esse qui suffert tentationem: tentationem vero non esse a Deo, sed omne donum et bonum ab eo, quasi a Patre luminum descendere. Tertio, v. 19. usque ad 22. docet frænandam esse linguam, iram et immunditiam. Quarto, v. 22. usque ad finem, docet iustificari factores verbi, non auditores tantum. Religionem enim veram esse, visitare pupillos, et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc sæculo. 1. IACOBUS Dei et Domini nostri Iesu Christi servus, duodecim tribubus quæ sunt in dispersione, salutem. 2. Omne gaudium existimate, fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis; 3. Scientes quod probatio fidei vestræ patientiam operatur. 4. Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri, in nullo deficientes. 5. Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei. 6. Postulet autem in fide nihil hæsitans: qui enim hæsitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur; 7. Non ergo æstimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino. 8. Vir duplex animo, inconstans est in omnibus viis suis. 9. Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua; 10. Dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos fœni transibit; 11. Exortus est enim sol cum ardore, et arefecit foenum, et flos eius decidit, et decor vultus eius deperiit: ita et dives in itineribus suis marcescet. 12. Beatus vír qui suffert tentationem; quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se. 13. Nemo, cum tentatur, dicat quoniam a Deo tentatur: Deus enim intentator malorum est: ipse autem neminem tentat. 14. Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus. 15. Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem. 16. Nolite itaque errare fratres mei dilectissimi. 17. Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum, desursum est; descendens a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio. 18. Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturæ eius. 19. Scitis fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum; tardus autem ad loquendum: et tardus ad iram. 20. Ira enim viri iustitiam Dei non operatur. 21. Propter quod abiicientes omnem immunditiam et abundantiam malitiæ, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras. 22. Estote autem factores verbi; et non auditores tantum fallentes vosmetipsos. 23. Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor, hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suæ in speculo: 24. Consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit. 25. Qui autem perspexerit in legem perfectam libertatis, et permanserit in ea, non auditor obliviosus factus, sed factor operis; hic beatus in facto suo erit. 26. Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrænans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, huius vana est religio. 27. Religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et Patrem hæc est: Visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc sæculo.

Chapter One SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER. Following the ancient style of letters, various and diverse teachings are given about different virtues, partly as admonitions, partly as precepts. First, from verse 1 to verse 12, it teaches that one should rejoice in temptation, because its endurance produces a perfect work; that wisdom should be sought from God with certain hope and faith; that the humble and poor should glory in their future exaltation, while the rich and proud should be humbled in the humiliation that will soon overtake them. Second, from verse 12 to verse 19, it teaches that blessed is the one who endures temptation; that temptation does not come from God, but every gift and good thing descends from Him, as from the Father of lights. Third, from verse 19 to verse 22, it teaches that the tongue, anger, and impurity must be restrained. Fourth, from verse 22 to the end, it teaches that those who do the word are justified, not merely those who hear it. For true religion is to visit orphans and widows in their tribulation and to keep oneself unstained by this world. 1. JAMES, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the dispersion, greetings. 2. Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, 3. knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.4. And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and does not reproach, and it will be given to him. 6. But let him ask in faith, without doubting; for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about. 7. For that man should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9. But let the humble brother glory in his exaltation, 10. and the rich in his humiliation, because he will pass away like the flower of the grass. 11. For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the grass, and its flower falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes; so too the rich man will fade away in his pursuits. 12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been tested, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him. 13. Let no one, when tempted, say that he is tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. 14. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire. 15. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. 16. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of change. 18. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 19. You know this, my beloved brothers. But let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20. for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and the abundance of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror: 24. for he looks at himself and goes away, and immediately forgets what he was like. 25. But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and perseveres, being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. 26. If anyone thinks he is religious while not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Verse 1

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JACOBUS.) Nomen hoc accepit a primo duodecim Tribuum parente et Patriarcha, qui dictus est lacob, id est supplantator, a Rebecca matre, eo quod in utero, dum nasceretur, tenuerit plantam fratris sui Esau; quo portento significabatur, quod eum esset supplantaturus, eique ius primogenituræ callide prærepturus, uti dixi Genes. 25.25. Simili modo S. Iacobus diabolum, eiusque filium Simonem Magam cum suis supplantavit. Sic Saulus nomen accepit a Saule primo rege suæ tribus Beniamin. Et sicut Saul Davidem, ita Saulus persecutus est Christum et Christianos. Mystice, Iacob, id est luctator, est quivis Christianus: hic enim ad duellum, et singulare certamen provocat dæmonem, carnem et mundum, totumque infernum. Unde est pugil et athleta Christi, ait S. Dionys. cap. 2. Eccl. Hier. et a Christo dicitur Christianus, quasi ab ungente unctus ad spiritualem luctam, quo tota vita cum hostibus confligere debet: ita S. Augustin. tract. 33. in Ioan. Idipsum repræsentavit Iacob luctans cum Angelo, Genes. 32. 24. ut docet Theod. ibid. quæst. 91. DEI ET DOMINI NOSTRI IESU CHRISTI.) Primo, Græci apud OEcumen. per Deum intelligunt Deum Patrem, per Dominum, Deum Filium, quasi utriusque personæ divinæ servum se profiteatur Iacobus; utpote quarum una eademque sit, uti essentia et operatio, ita et auctoritas ac dignitas. Secundo, alii per Deum accipiunt SS. Trinitatem; per Dominum, Christum qua homo est. Tertio, et genuine S. Cyrill. lib. 12. Thesaur. cap. 13. Thomas Anglicus, Dionys. et alii censent eamdem personam, scilicet Filium, puta Iesum Christum, vocari hic Deum et Dominum, ut duæ Christi naturæ significentur; in Deo divina, in Domino humana. Aut certe, quia epithetum Deo proprium est, Dominus: Deo enim proprie competit plenum, transcendens et universale dominium in res omnes, iuxta illud Virgilii Æneid. 1. O qui res hominumque Deumque Eternis regis imperiis, et fulmine terres. Unde et illud Martialis irridentis Domitianum Imper. qui Deus haberi et coli volebat: Edictum Domini Deique nostri. Teste enim Svetonio in Domitian. cap. 13. tanta arrogantia dictabat Domitianus epistolam, ut sic inciperet: Dominus et Deus noster sic fieri iubet. Notat S. Chrysost. hom. 9. in Epist. ad Colos. nomen Domini, Trinitatis, aut Christi Epistolis rebusque omnibus a fidelibus præfigi solitum. Quia, inquit, ubicumque fuerit nomen Domini, ibi prospera erunt omnia; multoque magis nomen Christi quam Consulum, securitatem litteris addit. Ita Christianos solere quibuslibet litteris et monumentis præfigere nomen Christi, aut signum crucis, docet noster Gretserus lib. 3. de Cruce cap. 9. et seq. Moraliter et nervose Primaticcius notat, per το Dei significari et commendari nobis excellentiam Maiestatis divinæ; pero Domini, immensam eiusdem potestatem; per το nostri, infinitam eius charitatem; per το Iesu Christi, regalem et sacerdotalem eius dignitatem.

JAMES [JACOB].) This name was received from the first parent and Patriarch of the twelve Tribes of Israel, who was called Jacob, that is, the supplanter, from his mother Rebecca, because in the womb, while being born, he held the heel of his brother Esau; by which portent it was signified that he would supplant him, and cunningly take away his right of primogeniture, as I said in Genesis 25:25. In a similar way, St. James supplanted the devil and his son Simon Magus along with his followers. So Saul received his name from Saul, the first king of his tribe of Benjamin. And just as Saul persecuted David, so Saul persecuted Christ and the Christians. Mystically, Jacob, that is, the wrestler, represents any Christian: for he is called to a duel and a singular struggle against the demon, the flesh, the world, and all of hell. Hence, he is a fighter and athlete of Christ, as St. Dionysius says in Chapter 2 of Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. And he is called a Christian by Christ, as if anointed by the one anointing for spiritual struggle, with which he must contend against enemies throughout his whole life: so says St. Augustine, Tractate 33 on John. The same thing was represented by Jacob wrestling with the Angel, Genesis 32:24, as Theodoret teaches in the same place, question 91. OF GOD AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.) First, the Greeks, according to Oecumenius, understand God the Father by "God," and God the Son by "Lord," as if Jacob professes himself a servant of both divine persons; since they are one and the same, just as in essence and operation, so also in authority and dignity. Secondly, others understand the Holy Trinity by "God"; and Christ as man by "Lord." Thirdly, and more genuinely, St. Cyril in Book 12 of Thesaurus, Chapter 13, Thomas the Englishman, Dionysius, and others assert the same person, namely the Son, Consider, for example, Jesus Christ being called here both God and Lord, so that the two natures of Christ are signified: the divine in "God," and the human in "Lord." Or certainly, because the epithet "Lord" is proper to God: for to God properly belongs the full, transcendent, and universal dominion over all things, according to that line from Virgil’s Aeneid 1: "O you who rule the affairs of men and gods with eternal commands, and terrify with your lightning." And also that saying of Martial, mocking the Emperor Domitian, who wished to be regarded and worshipped as a god: "The edict of our Lord and God." For, as Suetonius testifies in Domitian Ch. 13, Domitian dictated a letter with such arrogance that it began: "Our Lord and God commands this to be done." St. Chrysostom notes in Homily 9 on the Epistle to the Colossians that the name of the Lord, referring to the Trinity or to Christ, was customarily placed by the faithful at the beginning of letters and all matters. For, he says, wherever the name of the Lord is, there all things will prosper; and the name of Christ adds far more security to letters than the names of consuls. Thus, Christians were accustomed to prefix the name of Christ or the sign of the cross to all their letters and documents, as our Gretser teaches in Book 3 of On the Cross, Ch. 9 and following. Morally and vigorously, Primaticcius notes that through το God is signified and commended to us the excellence of divine Majesty; through Lord, His immense power; through το our, His infinite love; through το Jesus Christ, His royal and priestly dignity.

IESU CHRISTI SERVUS.) Non se vocat Apostolum, sed servum Christi. Hinc aliqui opinati sunt, Iacobum, qui fuit auctor huius Epistolæ, non fuisse Apostolum. Distinguunt enim, ponuntque tres lacobos, primum Zebedai, secundum Alphæi, utrumque Apostolum, tertium fratrem Domini, qui fuerit Episcopus dumtaxat (non Apostolus) Ierosolyma, scripseritque hanc Epistolam: ita Clemens lib. 2. Constit. cap. 59. et libr. 6. cap. 12. et Turrianus ibidem, S. Hieron. in Isaia 17. Cyrillus Ierosol. catechesi 14. Favet S. Anacletas, quartus a S. Petro, Epist. 2. ubi docet, lacobum fratrem Domini ordinatum esse Episcopum ferosolymæ a S. Petro, lacobo et loanne fratribus; cum tamen communis sententia Anacleti ibidem, Cyrilli catechesi 17. Ammonii, et aliorum quos citavi Act. 2. 4. sit, omnes Apostolos ab ipso Christo immediate ordinatos esse Episcopos; nisi quis dicat lacobum bune a Christo quoque ordinatum Episcopum, sed in genere totius orbis, uti et cæteros Apostolos: a Petro vero ordinatum, id est, deputatum et institutum esse Episcopum proprium primæ Ecclesiæ, puta Ierosolymitanæ, non vero primitus ab iis consecratum, uti recte observavit S. Chrysostom. hom. 87. in loannem. Verum communis sententia est, duos tantum fuisse Iacobos, eosque Apostolos, Zebedæi scilicet, et Alphæi, qui fuit Episcopus lerosolymæ, et auctor huius Epistolæ. Id patet ex S. Paulo, qui Galat. 1. 19. dicit se alium Apostolorum non vidisse, nisi lacobum fratrem Domini: et c. 2. 9. Jacobum hunc cum Cepha et loanne vocat columnam Ecclesia. Ita sentit et docet Concil. Trident. sess. 4. Eusebius libr. 2. Histor. cap. 1. et 22. Clemens Alexandr. 6. Strom. Chrysost. hom. 33. et 44. in Matth. S. Epiph. hæresi 29. et alii passim, imo tota Ecclesia, quæ lacobi Minoris festum celebrat 1. Maii, asserens illum Apostolum, fratrem Domini, Alphæi filium, fullonis vecte a ludæis occisum. Quare S. Hieronym. sententiam mutavit: nam Epist. 103. et lib. 2. contra Pelag. Iacobum auctorem Epistolæ vocat Apostolum. Clementis libri Recognit. dubiæ sunt anctoritatis. Unde idem Clemens Epist. 1. ad Jacobum hunc, asserit eum a Christo immediate ordinatum. Idem asserit Eusebius, Dorotheus in Synopsi, et alii. Hine a S. Iacobo Ecclesia Ierosolymitana dignitatem Patriarchalis Ecclesiæ obtinuit, æque ac Antiochena et Romana, utpote in quibus per se sedit S. Petrus; atque Alexandrina, in qua sedit S. Petrus per S. Marcum suum discipulum. Patriarchales enim Ecclesiæ sunt Apostolicæ, et ab ipsis Apostolis fundatæ et institutæ. Porro lerosolyma non tempore S. Iacobi, utpote mox evertenda a Tito, sed diu postea a Vigilio Papa banc dignitatem obtinuit, uti dixi Act. 11. 25. et 26. Causæ ergo cur S. Iacobus scribat se servum Christi, non Apostolum, sunt variæ. Prima est studium humilitatis et modestiæ, uti ex eodem B. Virgo vocavit se ancillam Dei, Lucæ 1. 38. Secunda, quod Apostolus proprie vocetur is, qui missus a Christo, per orbem evangelizatum discurrit: Iacobus autem non discurrit per orbem, uti cæteri undecim Apostoli, sed affixus fuit fudææ et lerosolyme, eiusque proprius a Christo et Apostolis creatus fuit Episcopus et Pastor. Tertia, quia ingens dignitas est, et summi honoris titulus esse servum Christi. Nam, ut ait S. Ambros. Magna dignitas est servum esse potenfis: ergo summa dignitas est servum esse summe potentis, puta Christi; servire enim Deo regnare est. Quocirca Apostoli omnibus mundi regnis præferebant servitutem Christi, magisque gloriabantur quod essent servi Christi, quam si fuissent reges totius orbis, inquit Didymus et OEcum. Unde et S. Agatha Quintiano præsidi dixit: Mullo præstantior est Christiana humilitas et servitus regum opibus ac superbia. Esse enim servum Christi, est esse servum æternæ sapientiæ, iustitiae, veritatis, bonitatis, et omnium omnino virtutum, quae Christus est, uti recte dixit Origenes. Quarta, quia ex Apostolis soli S. Petrus quasi Primas, et S. Paulus quasi Apostolus doctorque omnium Gentium, antonomastice Apostoli titulum occuparunt. Unde nec S. Ioannes, nec S. ludas in suis Epistolis se vocaat Apostolos. Quinta, quia servus Christi idem est quod Apostolus. Servus enim hic non qualem qualem significat, sed hero, puta Christo, fidelissimum, dilectissimum proximum et intimum, qui eius res omnes curat, ab eoque quovis gentium ad eas convertendas mittitur, qui sane non alius est, quam Apostolus. Hine Iudas exemplo fratris sui Iacobi, pariter initio Epistolæ se vocat servum Christi. Denique Sixtus Senensis libr. 7. Biblioth. et Fevardentius hic opinantur nomen Apostoli hic erasum esse ab aliquo falsario, ut sublato Auctore tolleret auctoritatem Epistolæ. Nam multi codices Latini, Græci, Syri et Arabici babent hic nomen Apostolus. DUODECIM TRIBUBUS QUE SUNT IN DISPERSIONE. Quæ sunt dispersæ inter Gentes: ita Syrus. Iam tribubus, id est, Iudeis quibuslibet qui prognati sunt ex duodecim tribubus. Nec enim tribus tote disperse fuerunt, sed multi ex singulis tribubus. Nota. Jacob Patriarcha duodecim habuit filios, pariter Patriarchas. Quisque enim unam familiam et tribum filioram et nepotum ex se prognatorum constituit, eique suum nomen attribuit, ut tribus Iuda, Levi, Ruben, dicitur familia prognata ex Iuda, Levi, Ruben, etc. Inter has duodecim tribus divisa fuit terra sancta, sive Iudæa a losue cap. 15. Ex ea sæpius ille in captivitatem abducte et inter Gentes dispersie fuerunt, præsertim per reges Assyriorum, Babyloniorum, Syrorum, Egyptiorum et Græcorum. Multi etiam sponte sua e ludæa in esteras regiones vel lucri, vel quietis, vel parentum, etc. causa abierunt, ibique sedes fixerunt. Insuper Iudæi fideles pene omnes, exceptis Apostolis, in persecutione ob S. Stephanum excitata, e lerusalem ad alias civitates et regiones profugerunt et dispersi fuerunt, ut patet Actor. 8.2. Hisce omnibus, ac præsertim dispersis ob necem Stephani, ut censet Beda, Gagaeius, et Ribera in Osee cap. 1. hane Epistolam scribit S. Iacobus (æque ac suam S. Petrus, ut sicut præsentes verbo, ita absentes seripto doceret, cor. roboraret et exhortaretur ad vitam Christiano dignam. Erat enim ipse proprius Judæorum Episcopus: unde proprie eorum curam pastoralem egit. Hine patet primo, S. Jacobum hane Epistolam directe scripsisse ludaeis fidelibus, indirecte tamen etiam infidelibus, ut vult Beda, consequenter tamen eamdem scripsit et fidelibus e gentilitate conversis. Hi enim omnes eamdem Christi fidem et vitam, quam hic inculcat S. Iacobus, profitebantur. Addit Lucius Dexter in Chronico, plurimos ludæos dispersos fuisse per Hispaniam iisque maxime haue Epistolam scriptam esse a lacobo, utpote quem ipse censet fuisse, non Alphæi, sed Zebedæi, Hispanorum Apostolum et magistrum, de quo dixi in Proœmio. Patet secundo, S. Iacobum non scripsisse bane Epistolam ad decem tribus, quæ post schisma factum per lero. boam a duabus, puta Iuda et Beniamin, tandem à Salmanasar abducta sunt in Assyriam, quas Iudæi fabulantur Caspiis montibus imperviiis concludi et abscondi. Nam S. Iacobus ait se scribere duodecim tribubus: ergo tam duabus, quam decem iam dictis scribit. SALUTEM.) Subaudi optat et precatur. Græce est χαιρειν , quod tria significat, scilicet gaudere, salvere, et valere. Salutantis est vox: unde ea Græci utuntur initio Epistolarum, quod imitatus Horatius initio lib. 1. Epist. Celso, inquit, gaudere, et bene rem gerere, Albinovano Musa rogata refer. Sic et hic χαίρειν alludit ad χαράν, quae sequitur, q. d. Opto vos gaudere, ut tribulationem quae vos occupat, aestimetis non dolorem, sed gaudium. Porro salutatio Apostolorum et Sanetorum, non est aulica et verbalis, sed efficax et realis, sufficitque salute impiere eum qui salutatur, uti ex S. Chrysost. dixi Rom. 1. sub initium. Salus autem pacem, gratiam, omneque bonum, quod ad salutem præsentem et æternam ducit, complectitur; ac consequenter ipsum Iesum, qui est salus, et Salvator mundi. Hoc responsum sit Caietano, qui hanc salutem (ac consequenter Epistolam) profanam, non Apostolicam censuit, et parvipendit. Nam eadem usus est S. Iacobus et Apostoli in Concil. Ierosolymitano Act. 15. 23. Unde eadem utuntur Pontifices Romani in suis Iubilæis et Epistolis Œcumenicis: precantur enim et impertiunt omnibus fidelibus salutem et Apostolicam benedictionem. Symbolice notat S. Augustinus in Expos. Epistolæ ad Romanos ante medium, vocem Salus lingua Punica (quæ affinis et filia est Hebrææ, in qua שלוש (scialos) pariter denotat tria) significare tria, ideoque laticæ indicare SS. Trinitatem, a qua omnis salus dimanat. In quorumdam, inquit, rusticorum collocutione, cum alter alteri dixisset, Salus: quæsivit (Valerius Episcopus Hipponensis) ab eo qui et Latine nosset et Punice, quid esset Salus? Responsum est, tria. Tum ille agnoscens cum gaudio salutem nostram esse Trinitatem, convenientiam linguarum non fortuito sic sonuisse arbitratus est, sed occultissima dispensatione divinæ providentiæ, ut cum Latine nominatur Salus, a Punicis intelligantur tria: et cum Punici lingua sua tria nominant, Latine intelligatur Salus. Subdit S. Augustinus, Chananæam Matth. 15. cum a Christo postulavit filiæ salutem, implicite postulasse SS. Trinitatem, eiusque fidem et opem, qua filia non tantum in corpore, sed et in anima salvanda erat.

Servant of Jesus Christ. He does not call himself an Apostle, but a servant of Christ. From this, some have inferred that James, the author of this Epistle, was not an Apostle. They distinguish, indeed, and propose three Jameses: the first, of Zebedee; the second, of Alphaeus, both Apostles; the third, the brother of the Lord, who was merely a bishop (not an Apostle) of Jerusalem and wrote this Epistle. So says Clement in Book 2, Constitutions, Chapter 59, and Book 6, Chapter 12, as well as Turrianus in the same place, St. Jerome on Isaiah 17, Cyril of Jerusalem in Catechesis 14. St. Anacletus, the fourth from St. Peter, in his Epistle 2, supports this, teaching that James, the brother of the Lord, was ordained bishop of Jerusalem by St. Peter, James, and John, the brothers. However, the common opinion of Anacletus in the same place, Cyril in Catechesis 17, Ammonius, and others I cited in Acts 2:4, is that all the Apostles were directly ordained bishops by Christ Himself. Unless someone were to say that this James was also ordained a bishop by Christ, but in a general sense for the whole world, as were the other Apostles; yet by Peter, he was ordained—that is, appointed and established—as the specific bishop of the first Church, namely Jerusalem, but not initially consecrated by them, as St. Chrysostom rightly observed in Homily 87 on John. However, the common opinion is that there were only two Jameses, both Apostles: namely, of Zebedee and of Alphaeus, the latter being the bishop of Jerusalem and the author of this Epistle. This is evident from St. Paul, who in Galatians 1:19 says he saw no other Apostle except James, the brother of the Lord; and in Galatians 2:9, he calls this James, along with Cephas and John, a pillar of the Church. This is also held and taught by the Council of Trent, Session 4, Eusebius in History, Book 2, Chapters 1 and 22, Clement of Alexandria in Stromata 6, Chrysostom in Homilies 33 and 44 on Matthew, St. Epiphanius in Heresy 29, and others widely, indeed the whole Church, which celebrates the feast of James the Less on May 1, affirming him to be an Apostle, the brother of the Lord, son of Alphaeus, killed by the Jews with a fuller’s club. Therefore, St. Jerome changed his opinion: for in Epistle 103 and Book 2 against Pelagius, he calls James, the author of the Epistle, an Apostle. The Recognitions of Clement are of doubtful authority. Hence, the same Clement, in Epistle 1 to James, asserts that he was directly ordained by Christ. Eusebius, Dorotheus in his Synopsis, and others assert the same. Hence, from St. James, the Church of Jerusalem obtained the dignity of a Patriarchal Church, equal to those of Antioch and Rome, where St. Peter himself sat, and Alexandria, where St. Peter sat through his disciple St. Mark. For Patriarchal Churches are Apostolic, founded and established by the Apostles themselves. Furthermore, Jerusalem did not receive this dignity in the time of St. James, as it was soon to be destroyed by Titus, but much later, under Pope Vigilius, as I noted in Acts 11:25-26. The reasons, therefore, why St. James describes himself as a servant of Christ, not an Apostle, are varied. The first is his pursuit of humility and modesty, just as the Blessed Virgin called herself the handmaid of God in Luke 1:38. The second is that an Apostle is properly one who, sent by Christ, travels the world preaching the Gospel; James, however, did not travel the world like the other eleven Apostles but was fixed in Judea and Jerusalem, where he was appointed by Christ and the Apostles as its specific bishop and pastor. The third is that being a servant of Christ is a great dignity and a title of the highest honor. For, as St. Ambrose says, it is a great dignity to be the servant of the powerful; therefore, it is the highest dignity to be the servant of the supremely powerful, namely Christ, for to serve God is to reign. Hence, the Apostles preferred the servitude of Christ over all the kingdoms of the world and took greater pride in being servants of Christ than if they had been kings of the whole world, as Didymus and Oecumenius say. Thus, St. Agatha told the governor Quintianus: Christian humility and servitude are far superior to the wealth and pride of kings. For to be a servant of Christ is to be a servant of eternal wisdom, justice, truth, goodness, and all virtues, which Christ is, as Origen rightly said. The fourth reason is that, among the Apostles, only St. Peter, as the chief, and St. Paul, as the Apostle and teacher of all the Gentiles, claimed the title of Apostle par excellence. From this, neither St. John nor St. Jude call themselves Apostles in their Epistles. The fifth reason is that a servant of Christ is the same as an Apostle. For here, "servant" does not signify just any kind, but a hero, so to speak, of Christ—most faithful, most beloved, closest, and most intimate, who manages all His affairs and is sent by Him to any nations to convert them. Such a one is none other than an Apostle. Hence, Jude, following the example of his brother James, similarly calls himself a servant of Christ at the beginning of his Epistle. Finally, Sixtus Senensis in Book 7 of his Bibliotheca and Fevardentius here believe that the title "Apostle" was erased by some forger to undermine the authority of the Epistle by removing its author’s title. For many Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Arabic manuscripts include the title "Apostle" here. TO THE TWELVE TRIBES WHICH ARE IN DISPERSION. Those which are scattered among the Gentiles, as the Syriac says. By "tribes," it means the Jews in general, descended from the twelve tribes. For not all the tribes were entirely dispersed, but many from each tribe were. Note. The patriarch Jacob had twelve sons, each also a patriarch. For each established a family and tribe of sons and descendants born from him, and to each, he gave his name, so that the tribe of Judah, Levi, Reuben, etc., refers to the family descended from Judah, Levi, Reuben, etc. Among these twelve tribes, the Holy Land, or Judea, was divided by Joshua, as in Joshua 15. From there, they were often led into captivity and scattered among the Gentiles, especially by the kings of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Syrians, Egyptians, and Greeks. Many also left Judea voluntarily for foreign regions, either for profit, peace, family reasons, or other causes, and settled there. Moreover, almost all the faithful Jews, except the Apostles, fled from Jerusalem to other cities and regions and were dispersed during the persecution sparked by St. Stephen, as is clear in Acts 8:2. To all these, and especially to those dispersed because of Stephen’s death, as Bede, Gagaeius, and Ribera in Hosea 1 believe, St. James writes this Epistle (just as St. Peter wrote his own), so that, as he taught those present with his words, he might teach, strengthen, and exhort those absent through writing to live a life worthy of a Christian. For he was the specific bishop of the Jews; hence, he properly exercised their pastoral care. From this, it is clear, first, that St. James wrote this Epistle directly to faithful Jews, but indirectly also to unbelieving Jews, as Bede holds, and consequently, he wrote it to the faithful converted from the Gentiles as well. For all these professed the same faith and life in Christ that St. James emphasizes here. Lucius Dexter adds in his Chronicle that many Jews were dispersed throughout Spain, and this Epistle was written especially to them by James, whom he considers not the son of Alphaeus but of Zebedee, the Apostle and teacher of the Spaniards, as I mentioned in the Proem. It is clear, second, that St. James did not write this Epistle to the ten tribes, which, after the schism caused by Jeroboam, were separated from the two tribes, namely Judah and Benjamin, and were later led by Shalmaneser into Assyria. The Jews fable that these are enclosed and hidden in the inaccessible Caspian Mountains. For St. James says he writes to the twelve tribes; therefore, he writes to both the two and the ten tribes already mentioned. GREETING. Understand that he wishes and prays for this. In Greek, it is χαιρειν, which signifies three things: to rejoice, to be well, and to be strong. It is the voice of one who greets; hence, the Greeks use it at the beginning of letters, which Horace imitates at the start of Book 1, Epistles: To Celsus, he says, rejoice and prosper, as the Muse, when asked, reports to Albinovanus. So too here, χαιρειν alludes to χαράν, which follows, as if to say: I wish you to rejoice, so that you may consider the tribulation that afflicts you not as sorrow but as joy. Furthermore, the greeting of the Apostles and Saints is not courtly or merely verbal but effective and real, sufficient to fill the one greeted with salvation, as I noted from St. Chrysostom in Romans 1 at the beginning. Salvation, however, encompasses peace, grace, and every good that leads to present and eternal salvation; and consequently, it includes Jesus Himself, who is salvation and the Savior of the world. This is a response to Cajetan, who considered this greeting (and consequently the Epistle) profane, not Apostolic, and undervalued it. For St. James and the Apostles used the same [formulation] in the Council of Jerusalem, Acts 15:23. Hence, the Roman Pontiffs use the same in their Jubilees and Ecumenical Letters: for they pray and impart to all the faithful salvation and the Apostolic blessing. St. Augustine symbolically notes in his Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, before the middle, that the word "Salus" (salvation) in the Punic language (which is related to and a daughter of Hebrew, in which שלוש [Shalosh, scialos] likewise denotes three) signifies three things, and thus broadly indicates the Holy Trinity, from which all salvation flows. In the conversation of certain peasants, as he says, when one said to another, "Salus," Valerius, Bishop of Hippo, asked someone who knew both Latin and Punic what "Salus" meant. The response was, "three things." Then Valerius, recognizing with joy that our salvation is the Trinity, considered this linguistic agreement not to be by chance but by the most hidden dispensation of divine providence: so that when "Salus" is named in Latin, it is understood by the Punic speakers as three things; and when the Punic speakers name "three" in their language, it is understood in Latin as "Salus." St. Augustine adds that the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, when she sought her daughter’s salvation from Christ, implicitly sought the Holy Trinity, through her faith and aid, by which her daughter was to be saved not only in body but also in soul.

Verse 2

OMNE GAUDIUM.) Omne, id est totum, perfectum, plenum, summum. Est enallage quantitatis: ponitur enim totum universale pro toto integro, quod suis partibus completur et integratur, q. d. In tentatione et tribulatione nolite tristari, o Christiani, sed gaudete, non quali quali, sed pleno summoque gaudio. Aliqui imperfecti in tribulatione partim dolent, partim gaudent. Hi unum pedem figunt in patientia, alterum in impatientia; S. Iacobus ergo vult utrumque animi pedem figi in patientia, eiusque summo gradu. Tres enim sunt patientiæ gradus. Primus, sustinere patienter. Secundus, sustinere libenter. Tertius, sustinere gaudenter. Sic omne sumitur pro toto Ecclesiæ 12. 13. Deum time, et mandata eius observa: hoc est enim omnis homo, id est, totus homo, q. d. Totum hominis bonum consistit in Dei timore eiusque mandatorum observatione; ac proinde totus ipse, totisque animi viribus Dei timori et mandatis intendere, seque impendere debet, ut ea impleat, iuxta illud Dei mandatum: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, Deuter. 6. 5. Secundo, omne proprie capi potest, tuncque erit sensus nervosior, q. d. Tentatio et tribulatio adeo non est mala, nec fugienda, ut in ea situm sit omne bonum, ac consequenter omne obiectum omnisque materia gaudii, adeo ut omnis illa quam natura vel Deus per alia bona sparsit, in uno hoc universali et summo tribulationis bono collecta et adunata videatur; ita ut in sola tribulatione magis gaudendum sit, quam si solus omnes mundi opes, honores et voluptates possideres. Unde sequitur, tribulationem esse summum bonum huius vitæ: summum enim gaudium nequit esse nisi de summo bono. Tres enim passiones, sive affectus sunt, quæ pro obiecto habent bonum, nimirum amor, desiderium, gaudium. Amor spectat bonum in genere: desiderium est cupido boni absentis: gaudium est fruitio boni præsentis; et quanto maius est bonum, tanto maiores sunt hi affectus. Ex adverso affectus his oppositi, qui pro obiecto habent malum, sunt odium, metus, tristitia. Odium est mali absolute: metus est fuga mali absentis: tristitia est dolor ex mali præsentis. Est hoc primum S. Iacobi paradoxum, a quo incipit, ut attentionem lectorum conciliet et excitet, utque fideles suo ævo a Iudæis aliisque afflictos, et seculi simul afflictionibus plene consoluetur, docetque quomodo afflictionem capessere, in eaque se gerere debeant, nimirum animum non deiiciendo, sed erigendo: non dolendo, sed gaudendo, non conquerendo, sed gratias agendo. Alta est hæc sapientia et Philosophis incognita, quam S. Iacobus didicit a Christo, qui illam velut arcanam et cælestem e sinu Patris in mundum detulit, dicens: Beati qui persecutionem patiuntur, etc. Matth. 5. 10. ideoque e cælo in carnem descendit, ut eam homines doceret, idque magis exemplo quam verbo. Tota enim vita Christi fuit continua afflictio, crux et martyrium. Paradoxum ergo Christi et Christianismi, a S. Iacobo cæterisque Apostolis prædicatum et practicatum est: Tribulatio est summum bonum, ideoque in ea summe gaudendum. Ignorarunt hoc prisci sapientes, nescivit hoc Aristoteles, non intellexit Plato, falsum censuit Anaxagoras, stultum Epicurus. Natura enim et naturalis ratio horret tribulationem, quasi naturæ et naturali statui, commoditati ac felicitati inimicam, et e diametro contrariam. Quocirca homo, etiamsi totis naturæ viribus connitatur, non potest eo assurgere, ut in tribulatione gaudeat, et summe gaudeat; esto nonnulli Philosophi in ea se gaudere simularint et finxerint, ut virtutis patientiæ et constantiæ, nomen, famam et fumum inanem apud homines aucuparentur. Hinc illud Catonis ad milites suos in Africa, cum arenis et serpentibus luctantes, apud Lucanum: Serpens, sitis, ardor, arena, Dulcia virtuti: gaudet patientia duris. Vere Tertull. lib. de Patientia cap. 16. Christiano, inquit, patientia cælestis est et vera, Gentium falsa et probrosa,quæ tanti boni nomen fedis operationibus occupant: patientes rivalium, et divitum, et invitatorum, impatientes solius Dei vivunt. Et S. Cyprian. libr. de Patientia: Apud Gentiles, ait, tam falsa est patientia quam sapientia. Christus ergo sua doctrina et gratia supernaturali naturam adeo alte evehit, ut contra naturam de malo naturæ, puta de tribulatione, gaudeat; ideoque permisit lapsum Adæ in peccatum, et per illud in mortem, omnemque tribulationem, ut in ea ostenderet, quasi peritissimus et potentissimus medicus, vim gratiæ suæ, quantumque pharmacum sit patientia Christiana. Hæc enim in statu innocentiæ, utpote immuni ab omni tribulatione, locum habere, cerni et demonstrari non potuisset. Plus ergo virtutis a Christo accepimus, quam in Adamo perdidimus, uti ostendi ex Apostolo Roman. 5. Quocirca S. Hieronym. in illud Ephes. 3. v. 20. Gratias agentes semper pro omnibus, sic ait: Christianorum propria virtus est, eliam in his quæ adversa pulantur, gratias agere createri. Iuxta Apostolum hæc virtus est maxima, ut in ipsis periculis atque miseriis gratiæ Deo referantur, et semper dicamus: Benedictus Deus, minora me scio sustinere quam mereor; hæc ad mea peccata, parva sunt; nihil mihi dignum redditur. Hic animus Christiani est,hic crucem suam tollens sequitur Salvatorem, quem nec orbitas, nec damna debilitant: quem, ut ail Flaccus, si fractus illabatur orbis, impavidum ferient ruinæ. Antesignanus huius in tribulationis prælio gaudii, fuit Christus, qui anhelans ad crucem dicebat: Baptismo habeo baptizari, et quomodo coarctor usque dum perficiatur? Lucæ 12. 50. Primipilus fuit S. Petrus, qui Ep. 1. cap. 4. 13. Communicantes, ait, Christi passionibus gaudete, ut et in revelatione gloriæ eius gaudeatis exullantes. Si exprobramini in nomine Christi, beati eritis: quoniam quod est honoris, gloriæ et virtutis Dei, et qui est eius Spiritus, super vos requiescil. Signifer est S. Paulus: Gloriamur, inquit, in tribulationibus, Rom. 5. 3. Et: Placeo mihi in infirmitatibus, in contumeliis, in necessitatibus, in persecutionibus, in angu stiis pro Christo, 2. Cor. 12. 10. Et: Mihi absit gloriari nisi in cruce Domini nostri Iesu Christi, per quem mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo, Galal. 6. v. 14. Paulus ergo hoc amore et gaudio crucis, in Christum crucifixum transformatus videbatur. Sic et S. Franciscus; unde et ab eo stigmata quinque vulnerum eidem impressa sunt. Paulus; inquit Chrysost. hom. 1. in 2. ad Corinth. Cum videret quasi nivis cumulos, tentationes quotidie ingruenles, non aliter quam si in medio paradiso vixisset, ila gaudebat gestiebatque: ac proinde ut qui hoc gaudio gaudet, non potest ab animi perturbatione vinci, ita qui hoc non tenetur gaudio, a quibuslibet facile capi vincique potest: ac prorsus huic idem evenit, quasi si quis arma gestans imbecillia, qualibet levi plaga vulneraretur: nullum armaturae genus validius, quam gaudere secundum Deus.

ALL JOY. "All," that is, total, perfect, full, highest joy. This is an enallage of quantity: for the whole universal is used for the whole that is complete in its parts and integrated, that is to say: In temptation and tribulation, do not be saddened, O Christians, but rejoice—not in a superficial way, but with full and highest joy. Some imperfect believers in tribulation partly sorrow, partly rejoice. They place one foot in patience, the other in impatience; therefore, St. James wants both feet of the soul to be fixed in patience, and at its highest degree. For there are three degrees of patience: the first, to endure patiently; the second, to endure willingly; the third, to endure joyfully. Thus, "all" is taken for the whole, as in Ecclesiasticus 12:13: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole man, that is, the complete man, meaning: The whole good of man consists in the fear of God and the observance of His commandments; and therefore, the whole man, with all the powers of his soul, should devote himself to the fear of God and His commandments and expend himself to fulfill them, according to that commandment of God: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (Deuteronomy 6:5). Second, "all" can be understood properly, and then the meaning is more vigorous, that is: Temptation and tribulation are not evil, nor to be fled from, but in them lies all good, and consequently every object and matter of joy, so that all that nature or God has scattered through other goods seems to be gathered and united in this one universal and highest good of tribulation; thus, one should rejoice more in tribulation alone than if one possessed all the riches, honors, and pleasures of the world. Hence it follows that tribulation is the highest good of this life: for the highest joy can only pertain to the highest good. There are three passions, or affections, that have good as their object: namely, love, desire, and joy. Love regards good in general; desire is the longing for an absent good; joy is the enjoyment of a present good; and the greater the good, the greater these affections. On the contrary, the affections opposed to these, which have evil as their object, are hatred, fear, and sorrow. Hatred is the absolute rejection of evil; fear is the flight from an absent evil; sorrow is the pain from a present evil. This is the first paradox of St. James, with which he begins, to capture and stir the attention of his readers, and to console the faithful of his time, afflicted by the Jews and others, and at the same time by the troubles of the age, and to teach them how to bear affliction: not by casting down their spirits, but by lifting them up; not by sorrowing, but by rejoicing; not by complaining, but by giving thanks. This is a lofty wisdom, unknown to philosophers, which St. James learned from Christ, who brought it as a secret and heavenly teaching from the bosom of the Father into the world, saying: Blessed are those who are persecuted, etc. (Matthew 5:10). And so He descended from heaven into the flesh to teach this to men, and even more by example than by word. For the entire life of Christ was a continuous affliction, cross, and martyrdom. Therefore, the paradox of Christ and Christianity, preached and practiced by St. James and the other Apostles, is this: Tribulation is the highest good, and therefore one should rejoice greatly in it. The ancient sages were ignorant of this; Aristotle did not know it, Plato did not understand it, Anaxagoras considered it false, and Epicurus deemed it foolish. For nature and natural reason recoil from tribulation as if it were contrary to nature, natural well-being, and happiness, and diametrically opposed to it. Therefore, a man, even if he strives with all the powers of nature, cannot rise to the point of rejoicing in tribulation, and rejoicing greatly; even though some philosophers pretended and feigned to rejoice in it, seeking to gain the empty name, fame, and smoke of the virtue of patience and constancy among men. Hence that saying of Cato to his soldiers in Africa, struggling amidst the sands and serpents, as recorded by Lucan: Serpent, thirst, heat, sand, Sweet to virtue: patience rejoices in hardships. Truly, Tertullian, in Book of Patience, Ch. 16, says: To a Christian, patience is heavenly and true; that of the Gentiles is false and shameful, for they occupy the name of such great good with shameful works: they are patient with rivals, the rich, and the invited, but impatient with the only living God. And St. Cyprian, in his Book of Patience, says: Among the Gentiles, patience is as false as their wisdom. Therefore, Christ, through His doctrine and supernatural grace, elevates nature so greatly that, against nature, one rejoices in the evil of nature, namely tribulation; and for this reason, He permitted the fall of Adam into sin, and through it into death and every tribulation, so that in it He might show, like a most skilled and powerful physician, the power of His grace, and how great a remedy Christian patience is. For in the state of innocence, being immune from all tribulation, this patience would have had no place, nor could it have been seen or demonstrated. Thus, we have received more virtue from Christ than we lost in Adam, as shown by the Apostle in Romans 5. Therefore, St. Jerome, on that passage in Ephesians 3:20, Giving thanks always for all things, says: It is a proper virtue of Christians to give thanks even in adversities, through the grace of the Creator. According to the Apostle, this virtue is greatest in dangers and miseries, giving thanks to God, and we should always say: Blessed be God, I know I endure less than I deserve; compared to my sins, these are small; nothing worthy is rendered to me. This is the spirit of a Christian, who, taking up his cross, follows the Savior, whom neither loss nor damages weaken; whom, as Flaccus [Horace] says, if the broken world falls upon him, its ruins will strike him unafraid. The standard-bearer of this joy in the battle of tribulation was Christ, who, longing for the cross, said: I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! (Luke 12:50). The centurion was St. Peter, who in 1 Peter 4:13 says: Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. The sign-bearer is St. Paul: We glory in tribulations, he says, in Romans 5:3. And: I am content in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ (2 Corinthians 12:10). And: Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14). Thus, Paul, transformed by this love and joy of the cross, seemed to be crucified with Christ. So too St. Francis, whence the five wounds of Christ were impressed upon him as stigmata. Paul, says Chrysostom in Homily 1 on 2 Corinthians, when he saw what seemed like heaps of snow—daily trials coming upon him—rejoiced no differently than if he were living in the midst of paradise, and he exulted: and thus, whoever rejoices in this joy cannot be overcome by mental turmoil, just as whoever does not hold this joy can easily be captured and conquered by any trials; and indeed, such a man, as if bearing weak arms, would be wounded by any light blow: no armor is stronger than rejoicing according to God.

Centurio est S. lacobus hic, cæterique Apostoli, qui, ut ait Lucas Act. 5. 41. Ibant gaudentes a conspectu concilii, quoniam digni habili sunt pro nomine Iesu contumeliam pati. Vide ibi dicta. Unde S. Bernard. ser. de tripl. gen. bona: Non modo patienter, inquit, sed et libenter, verum et ardenter ad tormenta sicut ad ornamenta, ad pœnas, sicut ad delicias B. Andreas properabat. EXISTIMATE ἡγήσασθε: id est, arbitramini, ducite, putate; Syrus,תהבא tehebe, id est, habeatis, q. d. Hoc gaudium situm est non in sensu naturæ: hæc enim in tribulatione sentit dolorem, sed in rationis, per fidem et gratiam illuminatæ et roboratæ, existimatione, dictamine et judicio, quod varias naturæ tentatæ et afflictæ graves considerationes et causas, quas mox recensebo, suggerit, ob quas in tentatione ad gaudium sese excitare debeat. Vere Seneca epist. 78. Levis est dolor, si nihil illi opinio adiecerit. Omnia ex opinione suspensa sunt. CUM IN VARIAS TENTATIONES. Uni enim tentationi succedit alia et alia, alterius sæpe generis et materiæ, sicut fluctus succedit fluctui, ventus vento, annulus annulo in catena, adeoque plures sæpe simul hominem invadunt. Tentatio enim est vita hominis super terram, ut ait lob c. 7.1. iuxta Septuag. Quocirca loan. Picus Mirandula spirituali pugnæ dans arma duodecim, inter ea sextum assignat: Una tentatione superata aliam expectet, cum dæmon semper circumeat. Septimum: Non tantum diabolus vincendus est, sed faciendus cum tentatione proventus, ac tentatio v. g. superbiæ, accipienda ut ad humilitatem adhortatio, et invitatio. Octavum: Dum pugnas, pugna quasi perpetuam deinde pacem habiturus: quia sæpe hoc generosis animis Deus largitur: sed cum vicisti geras te quasi mox pugnaturus. Undecimum: Cogita dulcius esse vincere tentationem, quam ire ad peccata; atque ita compara dulcedinem victoriæ cum dulcedine peccati, non pugnam cum voluptate. TENTATIONES INCIDERITIS.) Quæres, quidnam hic proprie tentatio significet? Resp. Primo, tentatio idem eat quod afflictio et tribulatio, puta paupertas qua premebantur primi fideles, fames, morbus, infamia, æstus, frigus, cæteræque adversitates et ærumnæ, sive a Deo, sive a dæmone, sive ab hostibus, sive ab amicis, sive a natura, sive aliunde immissæ. Hæc vocantur tentatio, quia tentat et explorant hominis virtutem, patientiam et robur. Secundo, magis proprie et directe, S. lacobus tentationem vocat hic persecutionem. quam suo ævo fideles patiebantur a Iudæis aliisque infidelibus. Ut enim illos in ea corroboraret, scripsit hanc epistolam, ideoque statim a tentatione hac orditur. Huc refer labores, fatigationes, pericula, innumerasque molestias et difficultates, in quas incidebant, imo sponte se conjiciebant Apostoli, primique fideles causa Evangelii, ut scilicet illud toto orbe prædicarent et propagarent. Tertio, tentatio hæc extendi potest ad veram tentationem dæmonis externam, et internam carnis sive concupiscentiæ. Hæc enim proprie vocatur tentatio, que hominem ad peccatum tentat et sollicitat. et de hac subdit lacobus vers. 13. Nemo cum tentatur dicat, quoniam a Deo tentatur. Adde, tribulationem quamvis pari modo esse tentationem proprie dictam, quia hominem ad pusillanimitatem, impatientiam, iram, aliaque peccata sollicitat. Ende de hac concludit v. 12. dicens: Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem, quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ. Quæres secundo, cur in tribulatione et persecutione Christiano sit gaudendum, non taliter qualiter, sed omni summoque gaudio? adeoque cur tribulatio sit summum bonum, in quo felicitas Christiani in hac vita sit? Respondeo, Primo, quia tribulatio avellit nos ab hoc sæculo, ejusque amore, illecebris et blandimentis, ne viam pro patria diligamus, ut ait S. Gregor. 23. Moral cap 23. ne viator tendens ad patriam, stabulum pro domo diligat, ait S. August, in Sent. sent. 186. Vere Seneca ad Lucilium: Quantum possumus a lubrico recedamus: in sicco parum firmiter stamus.» Et epist. 95, in fine: «Quasi inter se contraria sunt, bona fortuna et mens bona: ita melius in malis sapimus, secunda rectum auferunt. » S. Chrysostomus, hom. 14 ad Populum: « Dormitantes nos, inquit, expergefacere solet, et religiosiores facere tentationum natura. » Secundo, quia tribulatio signum est filiationis, electionis et prædestinationis Dei : « Quem enim diligit Dominus, castigat: flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit, » Hebr. XII, 6. Unde S. Augustinus, lib. De Pastor. « Si, inquit, exceptus es a passione flagellorum, exceptus es a numero fidelium. » Et S. Ambrosius, lib. 1, epist. 4, patientiam tribulationum vocat matrem fidelium. Unde angelus ad Tobiam, cap. xII, vers. 13: a Ego obtuli, inquit, orationem tuam Domino : et quia acceptus eras Deo, necesse fuit ut tentatio probaret te.» S. Chrysostomus, hom. 32 in Gen., «Ne existimemus, inquit, esse signum quod nos dereliquerit, et despiciat Dominus, si tentationes nobis inferantur; sed hoc maximum sit in nobis indicium quod Deus nostri curam gerit, quia peccata expurgat, et luctam ac exercendi materam nobis proponit, ut si quod nostrum est declaremus, largiori dignetur nos cura.

The centurion here is St. James, along with the other Apostles, who, as Luke says in Acts 5:41, went rejoicing from the presence of the council because they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus. See the words there. Hence, St. Bernard, in his Sermon on the Threefold Kind of Good, says: Not only patiently, he says, but also willingly, and even ardently, did Blessed Andrew hasten to torments as if to ornaments, to punishments as if to delights. Consider (ἡγήσασθε): that is, deem, think, judge; in Syriac, תהבא (tehebe), meaning "you should have," that is to say: This joy is not situated in the sense of nature—for nature feels pain in tribulation—but in the judgment, decree, and assessment of reason, illuminated and strengthened by faith and grace, which suggests to the tempted and afflicted nature serious considerations and reasons, which I will soon enumerate, for which it ought to rouse itself to joy in temptation. Truly, Seneca in Epistle 78 says: Pain is light if opinion adds nothing to it. All things depend on opinion. When You Fall into Various Temptations. For one temptation succeeds another, and yet another, often of a different kind and matter, just as wave follows wave, wind follows wind, ring follows ring in a chain, and often several assail a man at once. For the life of man on earth is a trial, as Job says in Job 7:1 according to the Septuagint. Therefore, John Pico della Mirandola, giving twelve weapons for spiritual combat, assigns among them the sixth: When one temptation is overcome, let him expect another, since the demon always prowls around. The seventh: Not only must the devil be conquered, but profit must be made from the temptation; for example, a temptation of pride should be taken as an exhortation and invitation to humility. The eighth: While you fight, fight as if you will thereafter have perpetual peace, for God often grants this to noble souls; but when you have won, bear yourself as if you will soon fight again. The eleventh: Consider it sweeter to overcome temptation than to go toward sins; and so compare the sweetness of victory with the sweetness of sin, not the struggle with pleasure. You Fall into Temptations. You may ask, what precisely does "temptation" mean here? Response: First, temptation is the same as affliction and tribulation, such as the poverty that oppressed the first believers, hunger, disease, disgrace, heat, cold, and other adversities and hardships, whether sent by God, the devil, enemies, friends, nature, or any other source. These are called temptations because they test and prove a man’s virtue, patience, and strength. Second, more properly and directly, St. James here calls temptation persecution, which the faithful of his time suffered from the Jews and other unbelievers. For to strengthen them in this, he wrote this epistle, and thus he begins immediately with this temptation. To this refer the labors, fatigues, dangers, and countless troubles and difficulties into which the Apostles and first believers fell—or rather, into which they willingly cast themselves for the sake of the Gospel, so that it might be preached and spread throughout the whole world. Third, this temptation can be extended to the true temptation of the devil, both external and internal, from the flesh or concupiscence. For this is properly called temptation, which tempts and entices a man to sin, and of this James adds in v.13: Let no one say when he is tempted that he is tempted by God. Moreover, tribulation, in the same way, is a temptation properly so-called, because it entices a man to faint-heartedness, impatience, anger, and other sins. Hence, he concludes of this in v. 12, saying: Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been tested, he will receive the crown of life. You may ask secondly, why a Christian should rejoice in tribulation and persecution, not in a superficial way, but with all and the highest joy? And therefore, why tribulation is the highest good, in which the happiness of a Christian in this life is found? I respond: First, because tribulation detaches us from this world, from its love, allurements, and flatteries, lest we prefer the way to our homeland, as St. Gregory says in Moralia, Book 23, Chapter 23, lest the traveler heading toward his homeland should love a stable instead of a home, as St. Augustine says in Sentences, Sentence 186. Truly, Seneca to Lucilius: Let us withdraw as far as we can from what is slippery; on dry ground we stand but little firmly. And in Epistle 95, at the end, Seneca says: “Good fortune and a good mind seem contrary to each other: thus we are wiser in adversity, while prosperity takes away righteousness.” St. Chrysostom, in Homily 14 to the People, says: “The nature of temptations is accustomed to awaken us when we are drowsy, and to make us more religious.” Second, because tribulation is a sign of sonship, election, and predestination by God: For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives (Hebrews 12:6). Hence, St. Augustine, in his Book on Shepherds, says: “If you have been spared the suffering of scourges, you have been excluded from the number of the faithful.” And St. Ambrose, in Book 1, Epistle 4, calls the patience of tribulations the mother of the faithful. Hence, the angel to Tobias in Tobit 12:13: I offered your prayer to the Lord, and because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should test you. St. Chrysostom, in Homily 32 on Genesis, says: “Let us not think that it is a sign that the Lord has abandoned us and despises us if temptations are brought upon us; rather, let this be in us the greatest indication that God cares for us, because He purges our sins and sets before us a struggle and material for training, so that, if we show what is ours, He may deem us worthy of greater care.”

Quod cum scimus, ne tristemur in tentationibus, sed gaudeamus cum B. Paulo dicente: Nunc enim gaudeo in afflictionibus, Coloss. 1, 24. Idem S. Chrysostomus in dictum Apostoli, Habentes autem eumdem spiritum: « Hoc generose, inquit, ac amantis animæ officium est, afflictiones et adversitates ferre generose, tolerare tentationem; atque insuper gratias agere ei, qui se tentari pre mittit, demum summæ fortitudinis est animæque vigilantis, et que omnibus humanis affectibus superior sit. » Unde S. Ephrem, lib. De Fide, tom. 1: Christianus, inquit, inter diversas tribulationes et tentationes stet, sicut incus, que licet semper verberetur, non tamen dat tergum, neque concavitatis formam in se recipit, sed eadem semper manet. Pro munitione ac castro semper Christum Dominum habeat, ad eumque belli tempore confugiat, dicatque: Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in locum refugii, ut salvum me facias. » Tertio, quia tribulatio Christo crucifixo, Del unigenito nos assimilat, ejusque opem accersit. Nam non habemus Pontificem qui non possit compati infirmitatibus nostris, tentatum autem per omnia pro similitudine absque peccato, » ait Paulus, Hebr. v, 15. Christianum ergo nullibi nisi in cruce Christi gaudere et gloriari cum S. Paulo decet. Tot enim bona Deus abscondit et concludit in cruce Christi et Christianorum, ut ea serutans Paulus passim in epistolis obstupescat. Rursum Christus sua cruce dulcorat nostras cruces, adeoque non tam nos, quam ipse in nobis patitur. Quocirca S. Ephrem crucem gestabat in fronte, et serm. De Cruce magnifica ei dat elogia, quæ recitavi Ezechiel. ix, inter que præcipua et huic loco apposita sunt hæc: Crux spes christianorum, crux resurrectio mortuorum, crux afflictorum consolalio, crux triumphus adversus demones, crux desperatorum spes, crux oppugnatorum murus; crux infantium custos, virorum caput, senum corona, regum magnificentia. Crux Prophetarum prædicatio, Apostolorum comes, Martyrum gloriatio. Crux virginum pudicitia, sacerdotum gaudium. Crux Ecclesiarum firmamentum et orbis terrarum securitas. Crux imbecillorum fortitudo, ægrorum medicina, monachorum fiducia. » Quarto, quia tribulatio tollit duo summa hominis mala, scilicet peccatum et concupiscentiam. Est ergo summum hominis bonum: est enim ipsa pænitentia pro peccatis commissis, est et antidotum contra futura, quia directe adversatur concupiscientiæ. Sicut ergo sal conservat carnes a putredine, ita tribulatio conservat corpus et animam a concupiscentia et peccato. Ideoque Deus tot tribulationibus vitam nostram opplevit, quia ille in statu hoc naturæ lapsæ et corruptæ, ad eam erigendam et sanandam sunt utiles, imo plane necessariæ; ideoque unicum ejus sunt remedium summumque bonum. Nonne gauderet lapis, si sensum haberet, quod scalpello poliatur, fiatque statua elegans regis? lignum, quod runcina lævigetur, fiatque thronus principis? pannus, quod lixivio perfricetur et emundetur? etc. utique gauderet: ita prorsus iusto gaudendum est in tribulatione. Quod enim est ignis auro, lima ferro, scalprum lapidi, cauterium cancro, runcina ligno, lixivium panno, ventilabrum tritico, sal carni, fornax pani, malleus contignationi, hoc iusto est tribulatio. Hinc tribulatio est tritura Dei, itaque dicta est a tribula, qua segetes tribulantur et triturantur, Isaia 21. 20. Audi S. August. de Tempor, barbarico cap. 3. Si aurum es, quid times paleam, quid times ignem ? simul quidem eritis in fornace, sed ignis paleas in cineres vertet, tibi sordes tollet. Si frumentum es, quid times tribulam? Non apparebis qualis antea eras in spica, nisi tribula conterendo a le separaverit paleas. Si oleum es, quid times pressuram præli? non declarabitur species tua, nisi etiam pondus lapidis a te separaverit amurcam. Unde B. Antiochus homil. 79. Sicut cera, ait, nisi recaleseat, aut permolliatur, non facile in se recipit sigilli impressionem; ita et homo, nisi laborum et multivaria infirmitatis probetur exercitio. Hoc est quod ait Dominus Isaia 48. 9. Laude mea infrænabo te, ne intereas: laude, id est, tribulatione: hæc enim est frænum concupiscentiæ, ideoque laus Dei. Et Thren. 1. 13. De excelso misit ignem in ossibus meis, et erudivit me: expandit rete pedibus meis. Tribulatio enim est rete Dei, quo homines piscatur, et invitos ad se trahit. Tribulatio est disciplina generis humani, uti fuse ostendit noster Gretserus lib. 5. de Cruce cap. 22. et seq. Quocirca nullam gratiam dat Deus hominibus, nisi prævia tribulatione, ut ait S. Marcus Anachoreta. Quinto, quia si in tribulatione tristeris et doleas, auges tribulationem et dolorem, ac minuis meritum per mistionem minoris patientiæ, vel impatientiae. Sin autem in ea gaudeas et exultes, minuis tribulationis sensum, et auges meritum per incrementum patientiæ. Summus enim actus gradusque patientiæ est, pati exultanter. Si ergo sapis, tribulationem animose excipe cum gaudio, non torpide et invite cum tristitia: sic enim minuet tibi pœnam, et augebit coronam. Sexto, quia tribulationes omnibus virtutibus, quæ in arduo sitæ sunt, uberem materiam et exercitium suggerunt: virtutes autem gaudent, cum occasionem et obiectum habent, in quod suum vigorem exerant, suumque decus ostendant. Unde Philo lib. de Quærenda cognit. erud, gram. asserit animam festum agere, quando æmulando res optimas capessit laborem, quo ad perfectionem contendat: quare virtutem amanti dulcescere laborem, tribulationes esse gaudio et voluptati. Septimo, tribulatio facit hominem excelsum, et sæculo maiorem, ut in cælo res et spes suas ponat, quasi aquila despiciat hoc terræ punctum, omnesque in eo fortunæ flatus, fluctus et ludibria videat et rideat, iuxta illud Isaia 50. 14. Tune delectaberis super Domino, et sustollam te super altitudines terræ, et cibabo te hæreditate lacob patris tui. Vide ibi dicta. Vidit hoc per umbram Seneca lib. de Provid. cap. 4. Prospera, ait, in plebem et vilia ingenia deveniunt, at calamitates terroresque mortalium sub iugum mittere, proprium magni viri est. Etc. 5. Militares viri gloriantur vulneribus, calamitas virtutis occasio est: dux lectissimos mittit, qui nocturnis hostes aggrediantur insidiis. Præceptores plus laboris ab his exigunt, in quibus certior spes est. Nunquam virtulis molle documentum est. Verberat nos et lacerat fortuna: patiamur, non est sævitia, certamen est. Et cap. 6. Labor optimos citat. Ignis aurum probat, miseria viros fortes. Vide quam alte ascendere debeat virtus. Nazianzenus Ep. 64. ad Philagrium, laudat illud Stoicorum: Vir bonus beatus est, etiamsi in Phalaridis tauro concremetur. Præclare Gerson p. 2. serm. de omnibus Sanctis; Ut, inquit, arca Noe, quo magis abundarunt aquæ diluvii, tanto altius ferebatur; sic mansuetus animus, quo maiores erunt tribulationis aquæ, tanto erit excelsior. Quocirca animæ generosæ Deumque fervide amanti nil optabilius est, nil iucundius, nil dulcius quam multa pro eo pati. Cuius rei causa est multiplex, sed maxime triplex. Prima, quod animæ sanctæ intente amant Deum amorem autem in eum, nulla in re magis ostendere possunt, quam si pro eo dura patiantur vel agant. Rursum vident Christum pro se tanta passum; ut ergo eum imitentur, utque ei vicem quam possunt reddant, et amorem amori rependant, desiderant pati cum eo et pro eo, sitiunt cruces et dolores, dicuntque cum S. Ignatio: Amor meus crucifixus est. Ita S. Laurentius ad tyrannum: Para, ait, eculeos, bestias, ignes, craticulas, et quidquid tormentorum excogitare potes: hæc omnia aveo et ambio. Non est famelicus qui ita desideret cibum, sicut ego tormenta tua. Illa ergo expedi, et famem meam exsatia. S. Xaverius cum Gentiles eum persequerentur ad necem, ideoque subinde in arboribus pernoctaret, item in naufragiis, cum in medio mari natans fluctibus iactaretur, orabat: Domine, ne hanc crucem mihi auferas, nisi maiorem immittas. Quocirca ita cælestibus consolationibus affluebat, ut eas non capiens exclamaret: Satis est Domine, satis est; in tribulationibus vero: Non satis est Domine, non satis: da plus pati: ita P. Lucena in eius vita libr. 1. cap. 7. Edmundus Campianus primus in Anglia e Societate Martyr, vere Campianus, id est, pugil Christi, audita sententia mortis, Deo sibique gratulando cecinit, Te Deum laudamus, ac protractus ad supplicium in theatro consistens: Spectaculum, inquit, facti sumus mundo, angelis et hominibus. Gaudeo et gratulor mihi de hac felici sorte, quod Martyr moriar: nunc vivo, nunc triumpho. Quare instar Samsonis, qui plures moriens quam vivens occidit, plures in morte quam in vita, suo zelo et martyrii exemplo ad fidem orthodoxam convertit, uti habet eius vita. Eximius et choragus in hac re fuit S. Andreas, qui visa cruce sibi parata iubilans exclamavit: O bona crux, que decorem ex membris Domini suscepisti, diu desiderata, sollicite amata, sine intermissione quæsita, et aliquando cupienti animo præparata: accipe me ab hominibus, et redde me magistro meo, ut per te me recipiat, qui per te me redemit. Secunda, quod Deus eos qui amore sui patiuntur vicissim amplectatur, soletur, et fel passionis melle consolationis divinæ dulcoret. Id experti sunt Martyres, qui in equuleis et tormentis lætitia gestiebant, hymnos et laudes Christo canebant. Id experiuntur omnes, qui libenter adversa pro Deo sustinent. Ita Psaltes: Secundum multitudinem, inquit, dolorum meorum in corde meo, consolationes tuæ lætificaverunt animam meam, Ps. 93. 19. et Paulus: Sicut abundant passiones Christi in nobis, ita et per Christum abundat consolatio nostra, 2. Cor. 1. 5. Mensura ergo passionis, mensura est consolationis, et quo maior passio, co maior accedit consolatio. Huius rei typo Deus Mosi in Mara dedit lignum, quod dulcoraret aquas amaras, Ex. 15.25.Lignum enim hoc figura fuit crucis Christi, quæ omnes adversitatum amaritudines dulcorat, ut ibidem dixi. Qua de causa Sancti cruces non tolli, nee mitigari, sed augeri postulabant, dicentes illud Pii V. Pont. acribus calculi doloribus afflicti: Domine, auge dolorem, auge et patientiam. Ita S. Theresia orabat: Da aut pati, aut mori. Vitam enim meam aliud esse nolo, quam te amare, pro te laborare, pro te pati. Alia Sancta dicebat se non desiderare brevem vitam et celerem mortem, quia in cælo nulla est passio: desidero ergo vivere diu, quia desidero diu pati pro amore Dei, non tantum martyria, sed et morbos, calumnias, infortunia, et quævis adversa. Amanti ergo dulcis est virtus, dulcis patientia, dulcis fortitudo, aiebat Cato. Divinius S. Marcus et Marcellianus: Nunquam tam iucunde epulati sumus, quam hæc libenter Christi causa perferimus. Tertia, quod cogitent passionem esse modicam et brevem, ac mox pro ea se recepturos immensam et æternam gloriam. Habent enim illud præmeditatum: Non sunt condignæ passiones huius temporis ad futuram gloriam, quæ revelabitur in nobis. Id enim quod in præsenti est momentaneum et leve tribulationis nostræ, supra modum in sublimitate æternum gloriæ pondus operatur in nobis , 2. Corinth. 4. 17. Ita S. Stephano videnti cælos apertos, Christumque coronam cælestem ostentantem. lapides torrentis dulces fuerunt. Ita S. Franciscus: Tanta, ait, est gloria quam expecto, ut me omnis morbus, omnis mortificatio, omnis humiliatio, omnis pœna delectet. Nimirum sentiebat quam dulcis sit crux Christi; ac proinde crux non erat ei crux, sed vitæ et gaudii dux. Felix, cui tribulatio dulcescit, qui cum B. Catharina Senensi dulcia huius vitæ pro amaris, amara pro dulcibus accipit. Sane qui tot tantaque bona, quæ in cruce et tribulatione Deus recondidit, pervidet et gustat, eam dulcissimam iudicat, experitur et sentit, crucique concinit: Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, dulcia ferens pondera. In cruce ergo est vera dulcedo, vera consolatio, verum gaudium. Amplectere eam libens, et ita esse experieris. Expertus id est S. August. unde in Medit. cap. 7. Nihil, ait, quæso sine te Domine mihi dulcescat, nihil complaceal, nil pretiosum, nil præter te mihi arrideat speciosum. Vilescant, obsecro, absque te mihi omnia, sordeant universa: quod tibi adversum est, sit mihi molestum: et tuum beneplacitum sit mihi indeficiens desiderium. Tædeat me gaudere sine te, et delectet contristari pro te. Quocirca S. Chrysost. hom. 4. de Poenit. docet, tribulationem esse spiritualem mercaturam, in qua anima patientis ingens sibi parat lucrum. Ita in morbis, mortalitate et morte fortiter standum et gaudendum esse Christiano docet S. Cyprian. lib. de Mortalitate. Nisi præcesserit, ait, pugna non potest esse victoria: cum fuerit in pugna congressione victoria, tunc dantur vincentibus et coronæ. Nam gubernator in tempestate dignoscitur, in acie miles probatur. Delicata iactatio est, cum periculum non est: conflictatio in adversis, probatio est veritatis. Arbor quæ alta radice fundata est, ventis incumbentibus non movetur: et navis quæ forti compage solidata est, pulsatur ictibus nec foratur: et quando area fruges terit, ventos grana fortia et robusta contemnunt, inanes paleæ flatu portante rapiuntur. Sic et Apostolus Paulus post naufragia, post flagella, post carnis et corporis multa et gravia tormenta, non vexari, sed emendari se dicit in adversis, ut dum gravius affligitur, verius comprobetur. Vide nostrum Gretserum toto lib. 5. de Cruce, qui est de cruce spirituali sive tribulatione. Quin et Seneca epist. 78. contra dolores hoc dat remedium: “Vir magnus et prudens, inquit, animum deducit a corpore, et multum cum meliore et divina parte versatur. Hoc solatium vasti doloris est, quod necesse est desinas illum sentire, si nimis senseris.” Et mox: “Toto contra illum pugnet animo: vincetur, si cesserit: vincet, si se contra dolorem suum intenderit. Si longus est, habet intercapedinem, dat refectioni locum. Brevis morbus ac præceps alterutrum faciet, aut extinguetur, aut extinguet.” Ita Agesilaus rex Sparta, teste Plut. in Lacon. cum arderet podagra doloribus, eumque invisisset Carneades, atque exiret tristis: Mane, inquit, Carneades: nihil enim illinc huc pervenit, ostensis pedibus et pectore. Sentiens pedes quidem dolere, sed pectus animumque dolore vacuum esse. Hæc omnia veriora et maiora sunt in ea tentatione, quæ oritur ex persecutione, de qua proprie loquitur S. Iacobus. Huic enim propria materia gaudiorum est multiplex. Prima, quod talis patiatur ob fidem, eiusque sit pugil at defensor, aut ob iustitiam: qualibus Christus dicit: Beati qui persecutionem patiuntur propter iustitiam, Matth. 5. Talis ergo est hyperaspistes, athleta et propugnator primæ et divinæ veritatis, veræ religionis, ac S. Ecclesiæ, pro iisque opes, vires et vitam dat prædæ, totis viribus dimicat, et sæpe occumbit; quod longe dignius et divinius est, quam pro rege, patria et republica dimicare et occumbere. Unde S. August. in Psalm. 67 Martyres, ait, in Ecclesiis summum locum tenent, atque apice sanctæ dignitatis excellunt. Et S. Basil. hom. in 40. Martyres: O sanctum, inquit, chorum! o sacrum ordinem/ o cuneum inexpugnabilem o communes generis humani custodes, legati apud Deum potentissimi, astra mundi, flores Ecclesiarum! Secunda, quod patiatur pro Deo eiusque lege, honore et amore. Unde facit se victimam nobilissimam et holocaustum Deo, immolans ei corpus, sanguinem, vitam et mortem, iuxta illud Sap. 3. 6. Tamquam aurum in fornace probavit eos, et quasi holocausti hostiam accepit eos. Deum ergo mire honorat, æque ac delectat patiens, ac vicissim Deus eius quasi hostis sibi devotæ et consecratæ, possessionem capit, imo cum ipso et in ipso patitur, vincit et triumphat. Unde S. Hieron. ad Hedibiam q. 12. Triumphus Dei, inquit, est passio Martyrum, et pro Christi nomine cruoris effusio, et inter tormenta lætitia, etc. Hic triumphus est Dei, Apostolorumque victoria. Quocirca martyrium ex singulari Dei privilegio omnia peccata, quantumvis multa et enormia, expiat, omnesque pœnas ei debitas abolet, Martyremque illico in cælum transmittit. Hoc est baptisma in gratia maius, in potestate sublimius, in honore pretiosius. Baptisma, in quo angeli baptizant. Baptisma in quo Deus et Christus eius exultant: quod fidei nostræ incrementa consummat, quod nos de mundo recedentes statim, Deo copulat, ait S. Cyprian. ad Fortun. præfat. de Exhort. martyr.

Since we know this, let us not be saddened in temptations, but let us rejoice with Blessed Paul, who says: For now I rejoice in my sufferings (Colossians 1:24). The same St. Chrysostom, on the Apostle’s saying, Having the same spirit: “This is the noble duty of a loving soul,” he says, “to bear afflictions and adversities nobly, to endure temptation; and moreover to give thanks to Him who permits one to be tempted, and finally it is the mark of the greatest fortitude of a watchful soul, and one superior to all human passions.” Hence, St. Ephrem, in Book on Faith, Volume 1, says: “Let the Christian stand amid various tribulations and temptations like an anvil, which, though always struck, does not turn its back, nor takes on the shape of a hollow, but remains ever the same. Let him always have Christ the Lord as his fortification and stronghold, to whom he may flee in time of war, and say: Be to me a protecting God and a place of refuge, that You may save me.” Third, because tribulation assimilates us to Christ crucified, the only-begotten Son of God, and calls forth His help. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, like us, yet without sin, says Paul, Hebrews 5:15. Therefore, it is fitting for a Christian to rejoice and glory nowhere but in the cross of Christ with St. Paul. For God has hidden and enclosed so many goods in the cross of Christ and of Christians that Paul, examining them, marvels throughout his epistles. Moreover, Christ sweetens our crosses with His own cross, so that it is not so much we who suffer, but He who suffers in us. Therefore, St. Ephrem wore the cross on his forehead, and in his Sermon on the Cross he gives it magnificent praises, which I have recited from Ezekiel 9, among which the chief and most fitting for this place are these: The cross is the hope of Christians, the resurrection of the dead, the consolation of the afflicted, the triumph over demons, the hope of the despairing, the wall of those under attack; the guardian of infants, the head of men, the crown of the elderly, the magnificence of kings. The cross is the proclamation of the Prophets, the companion of the Apostles, the glory of the Martyrs. The cross is the chastity of virgins, the joy of priests. The cross is the foundation of Churches and the security of the whole world. The cross is the strength of the weak, the medicine of the sick, the confidence of monks. Fourth, because tribulation removes the two greatest evils of man, namely sin and concupiscence. Therefore, it is the highest good of man: for it is itself a penance for sins committed, and also an antidote against future sins, because it directly opposes concupiscence. Just as salt preserves meat from decay, so tribulation preserves the body and soul from concupiscence and sin. And therefore, God has filled our life with so many tribulations because, in this state of fallen and corrupted nature, they are useful, indeed absolutely necessary, for raising it up and healing it; and therefore, they are its unique remedy and highest good. Would not a stone rejoice, if it had feeling, that it is polished by a chisel and made into an elegant statue of a king? Would not wood rejoice that it is smoothed by a plane and made into a prince’s throne? Would not cloth rejoice that it is scrubbed and cleansed with lye? And so on. Indeed, it would rejoice: thus, the just man must absolutely rejoice in tribulation. For what fire is to gold, a file to iron, a chisel to stone, a cautery to a tumor, a plane to wood, lye to cloth, a winnowing fan to wheat, salt to meat, a furnace to bread, a hammer to a framework, that is tribulation to the just man. Hence, tribulation is the threshing of God, and so it is named from the threshing sledge, with which crops are threshed and crushed, as in Isaiah 21:20. Hear St. Augustine in On the Barbaric Times, Chapter 3: If you are gold, why do you fear the chaff, why do you fear the fire? Indeed, you will be in the furnace together, but the fire will turn the chaff to ashes, while for you it will remove impurities. If you are wheat, why do you fear the threshing sledge? You will not appear as you were before in the husk unless the sledge, by threshing, separates the chaff from you. If you are oil, why do you fear the pressure of the press? Your true form will not be revealed unless the weight of the stone also separates the dregs from you. Hence, Blessed Antiochus in Homily 79: Just as wax, he says, unless it is heated or softened, does not easily take on the impression of a seal, so too a man, unless he is tested by the exercise of labors and various weaknesses. This is what the Lord says in Isaiah 48:9: With My praise I will restrain you, lest you perish: with praise, that is, with tribulation; for this is the bridle of concupiscence, and therefore the praise of God. And in Lamentations 1:13: From on high He sent fire into my bones, and it disciplined me; He spread a net for my feet. For tribulation is the net of God, with which He catches men and draws the unwilling to Himself. Tribulation is the discipline of the human race, as our Gretser extensively shows in Book 5 of On the Cross, Chapters 22 and following. Therefore, God grants no grace to men without preceding tribulation, as St. Mark the Anchorite says. Fifth, because if you are saddened and grieve in tribulation, you increase the tribulation and pain, and you diminish your merit by mixing in lesser patience, or even impatience. But if you rejoice and exult in it, you lessen the feeling of tribulation and increase your merit through the growth of patience. For the highest act and degree of patience is to suffer with exultation. Therefore, if you are wise, accept tribulation courageously with joy, not sluggishly and unwillingly with sadness: for thus it will lessen your punishment and increase your crown. Sixth, because tribulations provide abundant material and exercise for all the virtues, which are situated in difficulty: for virtues rejoice when they have an occasion and object in which to exert their strength and show their glory. Hence, Philo in On Seeking Knowledge, Learning, and Grammar asserts that the soul holds a feast when, by emulating the best things, it undertakes labor through which it strives for perfection: therefore, to one who loves virtue, labor becomes sweet, and tribulations become a source of joy and delight. Seventh, tribulation makes man exalted and greater than the world, so that he places his possessions and hopes in heaven, as if an eagle looking down on this mere speck of earth, seeing and laughing at all the blasts, waves, and mockeries of fortune in it, according to that saying in Isaiah 50:14: Then you will delight yourself in the Lord, and I will lift you up above the heights of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. See the words there. Seneca glimpsed this in a shadow in On Providence, Chapter 4: “Prosperity,” he says, “falls to the common crowd and base minds, but to bring calamities and terrors of mortals under the yoke is the mark of a great man.” And Chapter 5: Military men glory in their wounds; calamity is an occasion for virtue: a leader sends his choicest men to attack enemies by night with ambushes. Teachers demand more labor from those in whom there is greater hope. Never is the teaching of virtue soft. Fortune beats and tears at us: let us endure, for it is not cruelty, it is a contest. And Chapter 6: Labor summons the best. Fire tests gold, misery tests strong men. See how high virtue ought to ascend. Nazianzen in Epistle 64 to Philagrius praises the Stoic saying: The good man is happy, even if he is burned in Phalaris’ bull. Excellently does Gerson say in Part 2, Sermon on All Saints: “As,” he says, “the ark of Noah was lifted higher the more the waters of the flood abounded, so the gentle soul, the greater the waters of tribulation, the more exalted it will be.” Therefore, for noble souls and those who fervently love God, nothing is more desirable, more joyful, or sweeter than to suffer much for Him. The reason for this is manifold, but chiefly threefold. First, because holy souls love God intensely; they can show their love for Him in no way more than by enduring or performing hard things for Him. Moreover, they see that Christ suffered so much for them; therefore, to imitate Him, to repay Him as best they can, and to return love for love, they desire to suffer with Him and for Him, they thirst for crosses and pains, and they say with St. Ignatius: My love is crucified. Thus, St. Lawrence said to the tyrant: Prepare, he said, racks, beasts, fires, grills, and whatever tortures you can devise: I long for and seek all these. No hungry man desires food as I desire your torments. Therefore, hasten them, and satisfy my hunger. St. Francis Xavier, when the Gentiles persecuted him to death, and therefore he often spent nights in trees, and likewise in shipwrecks, when swimming in the middle of the sea he was tossed by waves, prayed: Lord, do not take this cross from me unless You send a greater one. Therefore, he was so abundant in heavenly consolations that, unable to contain them, he exclaimed: Enough, Lord, enough; but in tribulations: Not enough, Lord, not enough: grant me to suffer more: as P. Lucena relates in his life, Book 1, Chapter 7. Edmund Campion, the first martyr in England from the Society, truly a Campion, that is, a champion of Christ, upon hearing the death sentence, sang Te Deum laudamus in gratitude to God and himself, and being led to execution, standing in the theater, said: We have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. I rejoice and congratulate myself on this happy lot, that I die a martyr: now I live, now I triumph. Therefore, like Samson, who killed more in dying than in living, more in death than in life, he converted many to the orthodox faith by his zeal and example of martyrdom, as his life recounts. Outstanding and a leader in this matter was St. Andrew, who, upon seeing the cross prepared for him, joyfully exclaimed: O good cross, which received beauty from the limbs of the Lord, long desired, eagerly loved, sought without ceasing, and at last prepared for my longing soul: take me from men, and restore me to my Master, that through you He may receive me, who through you redeemed me. Second, because God in turn embraces, consoles, and sweetens the bitterness of the suffering of those who suffer out of love for Him with the honey of divine consolation. This the Martyrs experienced, who in racks and tortures were filled with joy, singing hymns and praises to Christ. All who willingly endure adversities for God experience this. Thus the Psalmist: According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Your consolations have gladdened my soul, Psalm 93:19. And Paul: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also through Christ does our consolation abound, 2 Corinthians 1:5. Therefore, the measure of suffering is the measure of consolation, and the greater the suffering, the greater the consolation that follows. As a type of this, God gave Moses a piece of wood at Marah that sweetened the bitter waters, Exodus 15:25. For this wood was a figure of the cross of Christ, which sweetens all the bitterness of adversities, as I said there. For this reason, the Saints asked that their crosses not be removed or mitigated, but increased, saying as Pope Pius V did, afflicted with sharp pains of kidney stones: Lord, increase my pain, increase my patience. Thus St. Teresa prayed: Grant me either to suffer or to die. For I wish my life to be nothing but to love You, to labor for You, to suffer for You. Another holy woman said she did not desire a short life and quick death, because there is no suffering in heaven: therefore, I desire to live long, because I desire to suffer long for the love of God, not only martyrdoms, but also diseases, slanders, misfortunes, and all manner of adversities. Therefore, to one who loves, virtue is sweet, patience is sweet, fortitude is sweet, Cato said. More divinely, Sts. Mark and Marcellian: Never have we feasted so joyfully as we now gladly endure these things for the sake of Christ. Third, because they consider suffering to be slight and brief, and that soon they will receive immense and eternal glory in return. They have this well in mind: The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us, Romans 8:18. For this slight and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 2 Corinthians 4:17. Thus, for St. Stephen, seeing the heavens opened and Christ displaying a heavenly crown, the stones of the torrents were sweet. Thus, St. Francis said: So great is the glory I await, that every disease, every mortification, every humiliation, every penalty delights me. Indeed, he felt how sweet the cross of Christ is; and therefore, the cross was not a cross to him, but the leader of life and joy. Happy is he for whom tribulation becomes sweet, who with Blessed Catherine of Siena accepts the sweets of this life for bitters, and bitters for sweets. Truly, he who perceives and tastes the many and great goods that God has hidden in the cross and tribulation judges it most sweet, experiences and feels it, and sings to the cross: Sweet wood, sweet nails, bearing sweet weights. Therefore, in the cross is true sweetness, true consolation, true joy. Embrace it willingly, and you will experience it to be so. This was experienced by St. Augustine, as in Meditations, Chapter 7 he says: Nothing, I beseech, without You, Lord, may be sweet to me, nothing may please me, nothing be precious, nothing apart from You may smile upon me as beautiful. May all things, I pray, without You become worthless to me, may all things be filthy: what is contrary to You, may it be grievous to me: and may Your good pleasure be my unceasing desire. May I grow weary of rejoicing without You, and may it delight me to sorrow for You. Therefore, St. Chrysostom, Homily 4 on Penance, teaches that tribulation is a spiritual trade, in which the soul of the sufferer prepares great profit for itself. Thus, St. Cyprian, On Mortality, teaches that a Christian must bravely stand and rejoice in diseases, mortality, and death. Unless a battle precedes, he says, there can be no victory: when victory comes through engagement in battle, then crowns are given to the victors. For a helmsman is recognized in a storm, a soldier is proven in battle. A delicate tossing is that when there is no danger: struggle in adversities is the proof of truth. A tree that is deeply rooted does not move when winds press upon it: and a ship that is strongly built withstands blows without being pierced: and when the threshing floor threshes the grain, the strong and robust grains scorn the winds, while the empty chaff is carried away by the carrying breeze. So also the Apostle Paul, after shipwrecks, after scourges, after many and severe torments of flesh and body, says he is not troubled but corrected in adversities, so that while he is more severely afflicted, he is more truly proven. See our Gretser throughout Book 5 on the Cross, which is about the spiritual cross or tribulation. Moreover, Seneca, Letter 78, against pains, gives this remedy: A great and prudent man, he says, withdraws his mind from the body, and dwells much with the better and divine part. This is the solace of vast pain, that you must cease to feel it if you feel it too much. And soon: Let him fight against it with his whole mind: it will be overcome if he yields; it will conquer if he directs himself against his pain. If it is long, it has an interval, it gives place for refreshment. A brief and headlong disease will do one or the other, either it will be extinguished, or it will extinguish. Thus, Agesilaus, king of Sparta, as Plutarch testifies in Laconica, when he burned with the pains of gout, and Carneades visited him and left sad: Stay, he said, Carneades: for nothing from there has reached here, showing his feet and chest. Feeling indeed that his feet hurt, but his chest and mind were free of pain. All these things are truer and greater in that temptation which arises from persecution, of which St. James specifically speaks. For this has a manifold matter of joys. First, because such a one suffers for faith, and is its fighter and defender, or for justice: to whom Christ says: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, Matthew 5. Therefore, he is a hyperaspist, an athlete and champion of the first and divine truth, of true religion, and of the Holy Church, and for these he gives riches, strength, and life as prey, fights with all his might, and often falls; which is far more worthy and divine than to fight and fall for a king, country, and republic. Hence, St. Augustine in Psalm 67 says that Martyrs hold the highest place in the churches, and excel at the summit of holy dignity. And St. Basil, Homily on the 40 Martyrs: O holy choir! he says, o sacred order! o invincible phalanx! o common guardians of the human race, most powerful ambassadors to God, stars of the world, flowers of the churches! Second, because he suffers for God and His law, honor, and love. Hence, he makes himself the noblest victim and holocaust to God, offering to Him body, blood, life, and death, according to that Wisdom 3:6: As gold in the furnace He proved them, and as a sacrificial offering He accepted them. Therefore, the sufferer wonderfully honors and delights God, and in turn God takes possession of him as an offering devoted and consecrated to Himself, indeed suffers, conquers, and triumphs with him and in him. Hence, St. Jerome to Hedibia, Question 12: The triumph of God, he says, is the passion of the Martyrs, and the shedding of blood for the name of Christ, and joy amid torments, etc. This triumph is God’s, and the victory of the Apostles. Therefore, martyrdom, by a singular privilege of God, expiates all sins, however many and enormous, abolishes all penalties due to him, and immediately sends the Martyr to heaven. This is a baptism greater in grace, more sublime in power, more precious in honor. A baptism in which angels baptize. A baptism in which God and His Christ rejoice: which perfects the growth of our faith, which unites us to God immediately as we depart from the world, says St. Cyprian to Fortunatus, Preface on the Exhortation of Martyrs.

Tertia, quod Christo amoris vicem reddat, reponendo illi corpus pro corpore, sanguinem pro sanguine, vitam pro vita. Unde S. Chrysost. homil. 4. in Epist. ad Phil. Pro Christo pati, inquit, munus est maioris admirationis, quam sit revera mortuos suscitare, et signa miranda patrare. Nam illic quidem debitor sum, hic vero debitorem habeo Christum. Basilius Seleucia Episcopus in vita S. Thecla scribit eam post superatas pro Christo bestias, ignes, carceres, etc. Deum orasse pro perseverantia. Etiamsi, inquit, in singulos dies mihi cum igne, belluis, vinculis, carceribus rem esse contingat; adeo mihi omne etiam mortis et discriminis genus pro pietate subeundum, ipsismet paradisi deliciis epulisque instructissimis potius ducitur: tantummodo digna quæ pro te et nomine tuo cruciatus tolerare semper possim, habear. Quarta, quod subeat martyrium, qui est nobilissimus actus fidei, charitatis, religionis, fortitudinis, ac proinde nobilissimam in cælo et terra dat palmam et coronam). Vide dicta Osea 11. 12. et Tertull. in Scorpiaco, Cypr. de Exhort. martyrii, et Epist. ad Martyres. Quocirca Martyres in tormentis non tantum exultabant; sed etiam quo magis illa crescebant, co magis pariter crescebat exultatio, ut viderentur sibi esse in atriis et ingressu cæli. Unde videntes eos, etiam carnifices et Præsides, stupebant, multique ad Christum convertebantur,alii indignabatur et frendebant, magisque torquebantur eorum gaudio, quam eos ipsi suis suppliciis torquebant. Insultabant, inquit S. Ephrem in encomio Martyrum, iudicibus, quasi sensus doloris expertes, et quasi in alienis corporibus paterentur, dicentes: Si graviora habetis tormenta, admovete nobis. Hæc enim nullius momenti sunt. Ignis vester frigidus apparet, tormenta inefficacia, percussores imbecilles, gladii vestri sunt ligna marcida: nihil quod nostræ respondeat promptitudini et alacritati habetis: ad plura el maiora toleranda consistimus. Et inferius: Non rogus ardens, non stridens flamma, non ignitæ sartagines, non ollæ ebullientes, non candentes laminæ,non ferratarum ungularum dentes, etc. deterruerunt animosissimos ac fortissimos Christi milites, etc. Cæsi quippe magno cum gaudio verberum iclus, tamquam summas delicias excipiebant. Nam cum lictorum manus eorum membra torquerent, visceraque nudarent, non tristi eos facie aspexerunt, neque inter tormenta gemitum ediderunt; verum hilariore ac latiore vultu gaudia interna testati sunt: quippe quibus illi cruciatus pro consolatione erant ac requie: afflicti, tentati, verberati, exquisitisque tormentis cruciati, Deum toto corde ac tota mente semper dilexerunt. Et paulo post: Læta quippe ac iucunda vobis fuit futurorum expectatio, quæ vos ita animarit et corroboravit, ut singulis horis nova vobis et acriora adhiberi cuperetis supplicia, neque ullis satiari potueritis. Denique passio et patientia non est in cælo, nec paradiso, sed est in terra et statu lapso. Per patientiam ergo homo superat non tantum Adamum, sed et angelos: angeli enim status felicior, sed patientis est fortior. Quare S. Laurentius, v. g., fortior fuit angelis, qui pati nequeunt; fortior inquam, per patientiam, non unam et simplicem, sed variam et multiplicem. Hæc eximia sunt tribulationum et persecutionum bona et gaudia, atque ideo ambienda et invidenda; adeoque si in angelos cadere posset invidia, utique inviderent nobis tanta passionis et patientiæ dona; quin et homines beati, si tristari possent, de hoc uno tristarentur, scilicet quod non plura pro Deo passi sint, nec amplius pro eo pati possint. Cum ergo mane evigilamus, gaudeamus et jubilemus Deo, quod diem illum nobis fecerit illucescere, quo multa ejus amore pati, multosque ei patientiæ, meritorum et virtutum cumulos offerre possumus; uti S. Mechtildem a Beatis sibi apparentibus edoctam et monitam fuisse, in gestis ejus legimus, idemque de ea refert L. Blosius, lib. IV Spirit. grat., cap. IV. « Omne ergo gaudium existimate, fratres, cum in varias tentationes incideritis. >> Quæres tertio, quomodo licite possit gaudere Christianus in proprie dicta tentatione concupiscentise, v. g. fornicationis, gulæ, superbiæ, cum eam fugere et deprecari nos jubeat Christus, ut oremus scilicet : « Et ne nos inducas in tentationem?» Respondeo: Jubet Christus id nos orare primo, ut non consentiamus tentationi, ait S. Augustinus, epist. 121, cap. xi, qui enim consentit, non qui sentit, inducitur in tentationem. Unde S. Bernardus, De Inter. domo, ait : « Molesta est lucta, sed fructuosa, quia si habet pœnam, habebit et coronam: non nocet sensus, ubi non est consensus; imo quod resistentem fatigat, vincentem coronat. » Secundo, jubet simul orare, ut Deus amoveat a nobis tentationes, præsertim graviores et periculosiores. Homo enim memor et conscius suæ imbecillitatis, ac periculi consensus quod ingerit tentatio, communiter eam vitare et deprecari debet, non optare, vel accersere, uti exponunt et docent Tertullianus, Cyprianus, Nyssenus et Chrysostomus in Orat. Domin.Nunc. Dico primo: Licet communiter oporteat fugere et deprecari tentationem ob periculum lapsus, ex humili agnitione fragilitatis nostræ, tamen posito quod Deus velit nos eam subire et pati, subeunda est cum gaudio, tum ut voluntati divinæ nos magis conformemus, tum ut eam facilius sustineamus et vincamus, tum ut dæmonem, qui eam suscitat, fortius profligemus. Nulla enim re ita vincitur dæmon, ac lætitia spirituali et gaudio, uti aiebat S. Antonius. Hujus rei symbolo de Machabæis invictis, imo hostium numerosissimorum victoribus, dicitur I Machab. III, 2: « Et præliabantur prælium Israel cum lætitia . » Hæc enim lætitia dæmonem intimidat et dejicit, spemque vincendi et nocendi ei adimit. Nam, ut ait S. Augustinus, lib. XX De Civit., VIII: «Dæmon est quasi canis a Christo ligatus, qui latrare potest, sollicitare potest; mordere omnino non potest, nisi volentem: persuadere enim potest, præcipitare non potest: spem autem persuadendi amittit, cum videt hominem in tentatione constantem, generosum, lætum et hilarem. » Audi S. Antonium in hoc genere exercitatissimum : « Si quod, inquit, in pectoribus nostris male mentis et pavoris semen invenerint dæmones, mox quasi latrones qui deserta obtinent loca, cœptos cumulant timores, et crudeliter imminentes infelicem vexant animam: sin autem alacres fuerimus in Domino, et futurorum nos bonorum cupido succenderit, si semper omnia manibus Dei committimus, nullus dæmonum ad expugnandum valebit accedere. » Ita S. Athanasius in ejus Vita. Quocirca S. Jacobus non ait: Optate tentationes, uti notat Abulensis in S. Matth. cap. iv, Quæst. LXX, sed caute dicit: «Cum in varias tentationes incideritis, gaudium existimate, » q.d. Nolite vos ultro injicere in tentationes, sed ubi incideritis, sustinete eas cum gaudio. Ita Salmeron. Dico secundo: Tentatio, quatenus sollicitat ad peccatum, appetibilis non est : sic enim proxima est causa peccati, quod summe est odibile; quatenus vero eadem est materia luctæ et victoriæ, augendæque virtutis et meritorum, appetibilis est, præsertim a viris generosis in Dei spe et amore defixis. Ita Dionysius Carthusianus, lib. De Remed. tentat., art. 7. Hinc David Psalm. xxv: « Proba me, Domine, inquit, et tenta me; ure renes meos et cor meum:» multa enim, eaque grandia bona confert tentatio. Præter enim generalia illa quæ de tribulatione jam recensui, particularia tentationum commoda sunt hæc. Primum, quod virtutem explorat et corroborat. « Vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines justos tentatio tribulationis, ait Ecclis. cap. XXVII, 6. Sicut ergo vasa figuli, si haberent rationem et sensum, appeterent igne excoqui, ut eo perficerentur et solidarentur : ita justi, Dei gratia et virtute suffulti, possunt flammam tentationis cupere, quæ in eis quidquid impurum est excoquat et in virtute corroboret. Sicut enim in hieme et frigore calor per antiperistasim sese intendit, ita pariter virtus cum tentatione colluctans sese intendit: perinde ut pugil omnes vires exerit, quando cum acri antagonista ei congrediendum est. Unde Julius Cæsar optabat fortissimos hostes, ut in eos virtutem suam exerere et ostendere posset, utque eos debellans gloriosiorem nancisceretur victoriam; et Cato censuit Carthaginem non esse delendam; ut ipsa Romanis daret juge armorum exercitium; ne otio effeminarentur, eisque jugis esset cos virtutis. « Marcet enim sine adversario virtus. » Hinc tentatio libidinis, gulæ, superbiæ, etc., in Sanctis qui ei resistunt, magis auget firmatque castitatem, sobrietatem, humilitatem, etc. Eleganter et vere S. Cyprianus, lib. De Bono pudicitiæ: «Nihil, ait, animum fidelem sic delectat, quam integra immaculati pudoris conscientia. Voluptatem vicisse, voluptas est maxima: nec ulla major est victoria quam quæ de cupiditatibus refertur. » Secundum, quod tentatio sit cos virtutis, mentis industriam Deique amorem exacuens, perinde ac cos acuit aciem gladii, et aqua modica injecta in ignem, eum magis accendit. Hinc Apostolus ait: In his omnibus superamus propter eum qui dilexit nos. Certus sum enim, quia neque mors, neque vita, neque angeli, neque principatus, neque virtutes, neque instantia, neque futura, neque fortitudo, neque altitudo, neque profundum, neque creatura alia poterit nos separare a charitate Dei, quæ est in Christo Jesu Domino nostro, »> Rom. VIII, 38. Sanctus ergo optans tentationem, optat bellum, in quo gratia Dei vincat: quærit pugnam, in qua a Domino adjutus, hostem prosternat; desiderat occasionem, qua se fidelem Domino ostendat; ambit tentationem, in qua suam in Dei obsequio et amore constantiam toti mundo, angelis et hominibus manifestet. Ita miles optat prælium, ut suam fortitudinem et fidelitatem suo duci commendet, ut gloriosam victoriam, nomen, spolia et opes sibi paret : sic et Sanctus, Dei amore fervens, optat tentationem, ut cum ea duellans, ostendat quam Dei sit amans, et in ejus amore fidelis et constans, ut luctando vires exerat, virtutes augeat, et meritorum acervos accumulet. Nam, ut ait S. Leo, serm. 1 De Quadrag. : « Nulla sunt sine tentationum experimentis opera virtutis, nulla sine perturbationibus fides, nullum sine hoste certamen, nulla sine congressione victoria. Si volumus superare, pugnandum est. »

Third, because he repays Christ with love in return, giving body for body, blood for blood, life for life. Hence, St. Chrysostom, Homily 4 on the Epistle to the Philippians, To suffer for Christ, he says, is a gift of greater admiration than truly raising the dead, and performing wondrous signs. For there indeed I am a debtor, but here I have Christ as my debtor. Bishop Basil of Seleucia in The Life of St. Thecla writes that she, after overcoming beasts, fires, prisons, etc. for Christ, prayed to God for perseverance. Even if, he says, it should happen to me daily with fire, beasts, chains, prisons; so much so that every kind of death and danger endured for piety is preferred by me to the very delights of paradise and the most lavish feasts: only may I have worthy sufferings to endure always for You and Your name. Fourth, because he undergoes martyrdom, which is the noblest act of faith, charity, religion, and fortitude, and accordingly gives the noblest palm and crown in heaven and on earth. See the sayings Hosea 11:12 and Tertullian in Scorpiace, Cyprian On the Exhortation of Martyrs, and Letter to the Martyrs. Therefore, the Martyrs not only rejoiced in torments; but also, the more those increased, the more their rejoicing grew equally, so that they seemed to themselves to be in the courts and entrance of heaven. Hence, seeing them, even the executioners and governors were astonished, and many were converted to Christ, others were indignant and gnashed their teeth, and were more tormented by their joy than they themselves were by their punishments. They mocked, says St. Ephrem in Praise of the Martyrs, the judges, as if devoid of the sense of pain, and as if they suffered in alien bodies, saying: If you have more severe torments, bring them to us. For these are of no moment. Your fire appears cold, your torments ineffective, your executioners weak, your swords are rotten wood: you have nothing that matches our readiness and eagerness: we stand ready for more and greater sufferings. And further: Neither burning pyre, nor hissing flame, nor fiery frying pans, nor boiling pots, nor glowing plates, nor the teeth of iron claws, etc. deterred the most courageous and strongest soldiers of Christ, etc. Indeed, beaten with great joy by the blows of whips, they received them as supreme delights. For when the hands of the lictors twisted their limbs and laid bare their entrails, they did not look upon them with sad faces, nor did they utter a groan amid the torments; but with a more cheerful and expansive expression they bore witness to their inner joys: for to them those tortures were consolation and rest: afflicted, tested, beaten, and tormented with exquisite pains, they always loved God with their whole heart and mind. And a little later: Joyful and pleasant to you was the expectation of future things, which so animated and strengthened you, that you desired new and sharper punishments to be applied to you hour by hour, and could not be satisfied with any. Finally, passion and patience are not in heaven, nor in paradise, but are on earth and in a fallen state. Through patience, therefore, man surpasses not only Adam but also the angels: for the state of the angels is happier, but that of the patient is stronger. Hence St. Lawrence, for example, was stronger than the angels, who cannot suffer; stronger, I say, through patience, not single and simple, but varied and manifold. These are the excellent goods and joys of tribulations and persecutions, and therefore to be sought and envied; so much so that if envy could fall upon angels, they would surely envy us such great gifts of passion and patience; indeed, even the blessed, if they could be saddened, would be saddened about this one thing, namely that they had not suffered more for God, nor can they suffer more for Him. Therefore, when we awake in the morning, let us rejoice and exult in God, because He has caused that day to dawn for us, on which we can suffer much for His love, and offer Him many heaps of patience, merits, and virtues; as we read that St. Mechtilde was taught and admonished by the blessed ones appearing to her, in her acts, and the same is reported of her by L. Blosius, Book IV of Spiritual Grace, Chapter IV. “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,” (James 1:2). Thirdly, you may ask how a Christian can licitly rejoice in the temptation of concupiscence, properly so-called, such as fornication, gluttony, or pride, when Christ commands us to flee and pray against it, as we pray: “And lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13)? I respond: Christ commands us to pray this first so that we do not consent to temptation, says St. Augustine, Letter 121, Chapter 11, for he who consents, not he who feels, is led into temptation. Hence St. Bernard, On the Inner House, says: “The struggle is troublesome, but fruitful, because if it brings pain, it also brings a crown: the feeling does not harm where there is no consent; indeed, what wearies the resister crowns the victor.” Second, He also commands us to pray that God may remove temptations from us, especially the more serious and dangerous ones. For man, mindful and aware of his weakness and the danger of consent that temptation brings, generally ought to avoid and pray against it, not desire or summon it, as Tertullian, Cyprian, Nyssenus, and Chrysostom explain and teach in The Lord’s Prayer. I say first: Although we generally ought to flee and pray against temptation due to the danger of falling, out of a humble recognition of our frailty, yet if God wills that we undergo and endure it, it should be borne with joy, both so that we may conform ourselves more to the divine will, and so that we may more easily sustain and overcome it, and so that we may more strongly defeat the demon who stirs it up. For nothing overcomes the demon so much as spiritual joy and gladness, as St. Anthony used to say. As a symbol of this, it is said of the unconquered Maccabees, indeed victors over countless enemies, in 1 Maccabees 3:2: “And they fought the battle of Israel with joy.” For this joy intimidates and casts down the demon, and takes away his hope of conquering and harming. For, as St. Augustine says, Book XX of The City of God, Chapter 8: “The demon is like a dog chained by Christ, who can bark, can harass; he cannot bite at all unless one is willing: for he can persuade, but he cannot cast down: but he loses the hope of persuading when he sees a man steadfast in temptation, noble, joyful, and cheerful.” Hear St. Anthony, most experienced in this matter: “If the demons, he says, find any seed of an evil mind and fear in our hearts, at once, like robbers who hold deserted places, they heap fears upon the timid, and cruelly threatening, they harass the unhappy soul: but if we are joyful in the Lord, and the desire for future goods inflames us, if we always entrust all things to the hands of God, no demon will be able to approach to conquer us.” Thus St. Athanasius in his Life. Therefore, St. James does not say: Desire temptations, as Abulensis notes in St. Matthew, Chapter 4, Question 70, but cautiously says: “When you fall into various temptations, count it joy,” (James 1:2), that is to say: Do not willingly throw yourselves into temptations, but when you fall into them, endure them with joy. Thus Salmeron. I say second: Temptation, insofar as it solicits to sin, is not desirable: for thus it is the proximate cause of sin, which is utterly hateful; but insofar as it is the matter of struggle and victory, and of increasing virtue and merits, it is desirable, especially by noble men fixed in the hope and love of God. Thus Dionysius Carthusianus, Book on the Remedy of Temptations, Article 7. Hence David in Psalm 25: “Prove me, O Lord, he says, and try me; burn my reins and my heart:” (Psalm 25:2), for temptation brings many and great goods. Besides those general things I have already recounted about tribulation, the particular benefits of temptations are these. First, that it tests and strengthens virtue. “The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and the trial of tribulation tests just men,” says Sirach 27:5. Therefore, just as the potter’s vessels, if they had reason and sense, would desire to be fired in the furnace to be perfected and solidified: so the just, supported by God’s grace and virtue, can desire the flame of temptation, which burns away whatever is impure in them and strengthens them in virtue. For just as in winter and cold, heat intensifies through antiperistasis, so too virtue, wrestling with temptation, intensifies itself: just as a fighter exerts all his strength when he must face a fierce opponent. Hence Julius Caesar desired the strongest enemies, so that he might exercise and show his virtue against them, and by conquering them, obtain a more glorious victory; and Cato judged that Carthage should not be destroyed, so that it might give the Romans constant practice in arms, lest they become effeminate in leisure, and it might be a constant whetstone of virtue for them. “For virtue withers without an adversary,” (Seneca, Epistulae Morales 45.5). Hence the temptation of lust, gluttony, pride, etc., in the saints who resist it, further increases and strengthens chastity, sobriety, humility, etc. Elegantly and truly St. Cyprian, Book on the Good of Chastity: “Nothing, he says, so delights a faithful soul as the pure conscience of unstained chastity. To have conquered pleasure is the greatest pleasure: nor is there any greater victory than that which is gained over desires.” Second, that temptation is a whetstone of virtue, sharpening the effort of the mind and the love of God, just as a whetstone sharpens the edge of a sword, and a small amount of water thrown into a fire kindles it more. Hence the Apostle says: In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 8:37-39). Therefore, a saint desiring temptation desires war, in which the grace of God may triumph; he seeks a battle in which, aided by the Lord, he may overthrow the enemy; he desires an opportunity by which he may show himself faithful to the Lord; he eagerly seeks temptation, in which he may manifest his constancy in the service and love of God to the whole world, to angels, and to men. Just as a soldier desires battle, that he may commend his courage and fidelity to his leader, and prepare for himself a glorious victory, a name, spoils, and wealth: so also the saint, burning with the love of God, desires temptation, that by wrestling with it, he may show how much he loves God, and how faithful and steadfast he is in His love, that by struggling he may exert his strength, increase his virtues, and heap up stores of merits. For, as St. Leo says, Sermon 1 on Quadragesima: “There are no works of virtue without the trials of temptations, no faith without disturbances, no contest without an enemy, no victory without engagement. If we wish to overcome, we must fight.”

Septimum, tentatio mire mentem illuminat in via virtutis. « Nam qui non est tentatus, quid scit?»> Eccli. XXXIV, 9. Rursum eum cautum facit, circumspectum, vigilem, ut undique carni et peccato resistat. Unde S. Laurentius Justinianus, in Ligno vitæ, tract. De Patientia, cap. IV: «Sicut, ait, caro si sale non aspergitur, quamvis sit magna et præcipua, corrumpitur: ita et anima nisi tentationibus assidue saliatur, continuo resolvitur et relaxatur. Per ipsa namque tentamenta anima negligentiæ putredinem excutit, et in spiritus vivacitate conservatur. O quantos vidimus modicis tentationibus a magnis periculis protegi, et tentatione quadam timoris et corporali quadam ineptitudine a peste superbiæ liberari, qui alias quasi equi effrenes suis talentis superbirent. » Denique tentatio animam consolatur et tranquillat, quia post nubila Phoebus, post desolationem consolatio, post tentationem serenitas et exultatio, Deo ita juste ordinante, succedit, ut ait Sara Tobia III, 22. Quocirca, ut recte notat noster Jacobus Alvarez, tract. De Victoria tentationis, cap. 1, mentium fortissimarum indicium est, hostium incursus non timere, nee tentationum molestia tristari, sed gaudere. Quarum robur Dominus apud Job, cap.xxxix, vers. 21 et seq., sub figura illius equi generosi mystice eleganter describit, dicens : « Terram ungula fodit, exultat audacter, in occursum pergit armatis, contemnit pavorem, nec cedit gladio. » Ubi vide S. Gregorium, qui inter alia ait: « Cum certamen passionis sibi appropinquare considerat, de exercitio virtutis exultat; nec terretur pugnæ periculo, qui victoriæ lætatur triumpho.» Rursus Climacus, gradu. 27: « Nullum, ait, certius argumentum est, quod dæmones a nobis victi sunt, quam si nos acerrime oppugnent. Si enim illis omnino resistas fortissime, oppugnabunt te omnino acriter, ut quasi nihil proficientem a certaminibus revocent; et inferius: «S. Arsilaites dixit: Notavi mane ut plurimum inanis gloriæ et concupiscentiæ spiritus solere advenire; meridie vero acediæ, iracundiæ et tristitiae; vespere autem infelices ventris stercorum tyrannos.»> Vis talium pugilum et heroum exempla? Accipe: S. Antonius a dæmonibus laniatus et semimortuus relictus, provocabat eos, dicens : « Ecce ego hic sum Antonius, non fugio vestra certamina, etiamsi majora faciatis : nullus me separabit a charitate Christi,» psallebatque, dicens : « Si consistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum,» Ita S. Athanasius in ejus Vita. S. Hilarion, S. Antonii discipulus: « In tantum exeso corpore, ut vix ossibus hæreret, ait S. Hieronymus in ejus Vita, quadam nocte cœpit infantum audire vagitus, balatus pecorum, mugitus boum, planctum quasi mulierum, leonum rugitus, murmur exercitus, et rursus variarum portenta vocum, ut ante sonitu, quam aspectu territus cederet. Intellexit dæmonum ludibria, et provolutus genibus Christi crucem signavit in fronte: talique armatus casside, et lorica fidei circumdatus, jacens fortius præliabatur, amodo videre desiderans quos horrebat audire, et sollicitis oculis huc illucque circumspiciens, cum interim ex improviso splendente luna cernit rhedam ferventibus equis super se irruere: cumque inclamasset Jesum, ante oculos ejus repentino terræ hiatu pompa omnis absorpta est. Tunc ille ait : Equum et ascensorem projecit in mare;» et: «Hi in curribus et hi in equis, nos autem in nomine Dei nostri magnificabimur. » S. Joannes Climacus narrat S. Ephrem, cum sentiret se in altissima pace et tranquillitate mentis, quasi in cœlo terrestri impassibilitatis constitutum, rogasse Deum, ut pristina tentationum certamina et prælia sibi restitueret, ut non perderet materiam merendi et pertexendi suam coronam. Joannes Moscus in Prato spir., cap. CLXIV, narrat abbatem Victorem dixisse cuidam a pusillanimitate tentato: « Pusillanimes ex modica tentatione perturbantur, et magnam illam esse existi mant: qui vero anima sani sunt, magis in tentationibus gaudent, » In Vitis Patrum, lib. V, libello v (sequor editionem nostri P. Heriberti), num. 19, quidam discipulus tentatus a spiritu fornicationis, adiit senem suum, a quo rogatus: «Vis rogo Dominum, ut sublevet a te molestiam istam?» respondit : «Video, Abba, quia si laboro, tamen ex pondere laboris hujus considero fructificare me : sed hoc roga Deum, ut det mihi tolerantiam, per quam sustineam. >> Cui Abbas : « Nunc agnovi, quia in magno profectu es, fili, et supergrederis me. » Ibid. num. 10 narratur, quod Sara tredecim annis a spiritu fornicationis impugnata, nunquam oraverit ut recederet a se hujusmodi pugna, sed solum dixerit : «Domine, da mihi fortitudinem.» Per tentationem enim sensim purgatur et purificatur anima, ut perveniat ad puritatem, et perfectionem pene angelicam. S. Dorotheus, doctrina 13, narrat monachum quemdam indoluisse, quod Deus ei ademisset tentationem qua pulsabatur, ac lacrymando amice dixisse: «Ergone, Domine, indignus sum qui patiar, affligar et tribuler pro nomine tuo?» Palladius in Lausiaca refert monachum similem suo Pastori dixisse : « Dominus liberavit me tentationum pugna, mihique pacem restituit. » Cui Pastor: « Revertere, oraque Deum, ut pugnam tibi restituat, ne incidas in teporem et negligentiam.» Reversus retulit ad Deum verba Pastoris. Cui Deus: « Recte dixit Pastor,» simulque ei tentationem restituit. Nam, ut ait S. Basilius, orat. de Patientia: « Ut gubernatorem navis tempestas, athletam studium, militem acies, magnanimum calamitas: sic Christianum hominem tentatio probat. Et sicut athletas certaminum labores coronis ad se alliciunt, ita etiam homines Christianos probatio, quæ ex tentationibus descendit, ad perfectionem ducit, si modo cum decenti tolerantia, ac omni gratiarum actione, quæ a Domino ordinantur, susceperimus. » Et S. Augustinus in Psalm. LX: a Vita nostra, inquit, in hac peregrinatione non potest esse sine tentatione, quia profectus noster per tentationem nostram fit; nec sibi quisque innotescit, nisi tentatus; nec potest coronari, nisi vicerit; nec potest vincere, nisi certaverit; nec potest certare, nisi inimicum et tentationes habuerit. » Et S. Ambrosius, lib. IV in Lucam, cap. IV: «Non timeamus tentationes, sed magis gloriemur tentationibus, dicentes: Quando infirmamur, tune potentes sumus. Tunc enim nectitur corona justitiæ, etc. Ergo qui vult coronare, tentationes suggerit. Et si quando tentaris, cognosce quia paratur corona. Nonne tentatio Joseph, virtutis est consecratio? nonne injuria carceris, corona est castitatis? Cassianus. Coll. XXIV, cap. xxv: «Majora, ait, nobis per colluctationem tentationum laudis contulit præmia benigna erga nos gratia Salvatoris, quam si omnem a nobis necessitatem certaminis abstulisset. Etenim sublimioris præstantiorisque virtutis est, passionibus ærumnisque vallatum manere semper immobilem, et acquirere quodammodo de infirmitate virtutem quia virtus de infirmitate perficitur.» Idem, Collat. XVIII, cap. XIV, celebrat, Religiosam quamdam petiisse a S. Athanasio feminam pauperem et infirmam, sed molestam, ingratam et rixosam, cui serviret, ut in ea haberet exercitium patientiæ. Cumque ei diu magna et charitate et patientia servivisset, rediit « gratias relatura, eo quod ei secundum desiderium suum magistram patientiæ dignissimam providisset, cujus injuriis jugibus, ut quodam palæstræ oleo, quotidie roborata, ad summam animi patientiam perveniret. >>

Seventh, temptation wonderfully illuminates the mind on the path of virtue. “For he who is not tempted, what does he know?” (Sirach 34:9). Moreover, it makes him cautious, circumspect, vigilant, so that he may resist the flesh and sin on all sides. Hence S. Laurentius Justinianus, in The Tree of Life, Treatise on Patience, Chapter IV: “As, he says, flesh, if it is not sprinkled with salt, however great and choice it may be, corrupts: so also the soul, unless it is continually seasoned with temptations, is immediately dissolved and relaxed. For through these very temptations the soul shakes off the rottenness of negligence and is preserved in the liveliness of the spirit. O how many we have seen protected from great dangers by small temptations, and freed from the plague of pride by a certain temptation of fear and a certain bodily weakness, who otherwise, like unrestrained horses, would have prided themselves on their talents.” Finally, temptation consoles and tranquilizes the soul, because after clouds comes Phoebus, after desolation comes consolation, after temptation comes serenity and exultation, succeeding by God’s just ordinance, as Sara says in Tobit 3:22. Therefore, as our Jacobus Alvarez rightly notes, Treatise on the Victory over Temptation, Chapter 1, it is the mark of the strongest minds not to fear the onslaught of enemies, nor to be saddened by the trouble of temptations, but to rejoice. The strength of which the Lord mystically and elegantly describes in Job, Chapter 39, verses 21 and following, under the figure of that noble horse, saying: “He paws the ground with his hoof, he exults boldly, he goes to meet the armed, he despises fear, nor yields to the sword.” Where see S. Gregory, who among other things says: “When he considers that the contest of passion is approaching, he exults in the exercise of virtue; nor is he terrified by the danger of battle, who rejoices in the triumph of victory.” Again Climacus, Step 27: “No surer proof, he says, that demons are defeated by us is that they attack us most fiercely. For if you resist them with all your strength, they will attack you with all their fierceness, so that, as if achieving nothing, they may recall you from the contests; and further: S. Arsilaites said: I have noted that in the morning, for the most part, the spirits of vain glory and concupiscence are wont to come; at midday, however, those of sloth, anger, and sadness; in the evening, the unhappy tyrants of the belly’s filth.” Do you wish for examples of such fighters and heroes? Take them: St. Anthony, torn by demons and left half-dead, challenged them, saying: “Behold, I am here, Anthony, I do not flee your contests, even if you do greater things: nothing will separate me from the love of Christ,” and he sang, saying: “If camps stand against me, my heart will not fear,” (Psalm 27:3). Thus S. Athanasius in his Life. St. Hilarion, disciple of St. Anthony: “To such an extent was his body wasted that he scarcely clung to his bones,” says St. Jerome in his Life, “that one night he began to hear the wailing of infants, the bleating of sheep, the lowing of oxen, the lamentation as it were of women, the roaring of lions, the murmur of an army, and again the strange sounds of various voices, so that he was terrified and gave way more by the sound than by the sight. He understood these to be the mockeries of demons, and having thrown himself down on his knees, he signed the cross on his forehead: thus armed with that helmet, and surrounded by the breastplate of faith, lying down he fought more bravely, henceforth desiring to see those he dreaded to hear, and with anxious eyes looking hither and thither; when suddenly, with the moon shining, he sees a chariot with fiery horses rushing upon him: and when he called upon Jesus, before his eyes the whole spectacle was swallowed up by a sudden chasm in the earth. Then he said: “He cast the horse and its rider into the sea;” and: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will magnify ourselves in the name of our God,” (Psalm 19:8). St. John Climacus relates that St. Ephrem, when he felt himself in the highest peace and tranquility of mind, as if established in a terrestrial heaven of impassibility, asked God to restore to him the former struggles and battles of temptations, so that he might not lose the material for earning and weaving his crown. Joannes Moschus in The Spiritual Meadow, Chapter 164, narrates that Abbot Victor said to someone tempted by faintheartedness: “The faint-hearted are disturbed by a slight temptation and consider it great: but those who are sound in soul rejoice more in temptations,” In The Lives of the Fathers, Book V, Booklet V (I follow the edition of our Father Heribert), number 19, a certain disciple tempted by the spirit of fornication went to his elder, who asked him: “Do you wish that I ask the Lord to lift this trouble from you?” He replied: “I see, Abba, that if I labor, yet from the weight of this labor I consider myself to bear fruit; but ask this of God, that He grant me endurance, by which I may persevere.” To which the Abbot: “Now I recognize that you are in great progress, my son, and surpass me.” Ibid. number 10 relates that Sara, attacked by the spirit of fornication for thirteen years, never prayed that such a battle might depart from her, but only said: “Lord, grant me strength.” For through temptation the soul is gradually purged and purified, so that it may attain to purity and a perfection nearly angelic. St. Dorotheus, Teaching 13, narrates that a certain monk grieved because God had taken away the temptation by which he was afflicted, and tearfully said in a friendly manner: “Am I then, Lord, unworthy to suffer, to be afflicted, and to be troubled for Your name?” Palladius in The Lausiac History relates that a monk similar to his Pastor said: “The Lord has delivered me from the battle of temptations and restored peace to me.” To which the Pastor: “Return, and pray to God that He restore the battle to you, lest you fall into lukewarmness and negligence.” Having returned, he reported the Pastor’s words to God. To whom God: “The Pastor spoke rightly,” and at the same time restored the temptation to him. For, as St. Basil says in On Patience: “As a storm tests the ship’s pilot, zeal the athlete, the battle line the soldier, calamity the magnanimous: so temptation proves the Christian man. And just as the labors of contests attract athletes to crowns, so also the trial, which comes from temptations, leads Christian men to perfection, if only we receive it with fitting endurance and all thanksgiving, which are ordained by the Lord.” And St. Augustine in Psalm 60: “Our life, he says, in this pilgrimage cannot be without temptation, because our progress comes through our temptation; nor does anyone know himself unless tempted; nor can he be crowned unless he conquers; nor can he conquer unless he has fought; nor can he fight unless he has an enemy and temptations.” And St. Ambrose, Book IV on Luke, Chapter IV: “Let us not fear temptations, but rather glory in temptations, saying: When we are weak, then we are strong. For then the crown of justice is woven, etc. Therefore, he who wishes to be crowned must endure temptations. And if you are ever tempted, know that a crown is being prepared. Is not the temptation of Joseph the consecration of virtue? Is not the injury of prison the crown of chastity?” Cassian, Conference XXIV, Chapter 25: “Greater, he says, are the prizes of praise that the gracious favor of our Savior has bestowed on us through the struggle of temptations, than if He had removed all necessity of combat from us. For it is of a higher and more excellent virtue to remain always unmoved amid passions and afflictions, and to acquire in a way virtue from weakness, because virtue is perfected in weakness.” The same, Conference XVIII, Chapter 14, celebrates that a certain religious woman asked St. Athanasius for a poor and sick woman, but troublesome, ungrateful, and quarrelsome, to serve, that in her she might have an exercise of patience. And when she had served her with great charity and patience for a long time, she returned to give thanks, because he had provided for her, according to her desire, a most worthy teacher of patience, whose constant injuries, as with the oil of a wrestling school, strengthened her daily, until she attained the highest patience of soul.

Verse 3

SCIENTES QUOD PROBATIO FIDEL VESTRE PATIENTIAM OPERATUR.) Probatio fidei, idem est quod tentatio quæ præcessit: tentatio enim probat eius qui tentatur fidem, virtutem, Dei amorem et constantiam; dat enim causam, cur dixerit in ea esse gaudendum. Hæc ergo est lacobi argumentatio: In tentatione et tribulatione nolite tristari,sed potius gaudete; quia tribulatio, quæ non est aliud quam fidei vestræ probatio, operatur patientiam, quæ præstans est virtus, ac huius vite quasi beatitudo. Ita Beda: Cuius patientia, ait, vinci non potest, ille perfectus esse probatur: et illa ratio facit per patientiam exerceri, ut per hanc fides quam sit perfecta probetur. Porro tribulatio operatur patientiam, non effective, sed materialiter et obiective; perinde ac ligna operantur ignem, quia ei fomitem et pabulum suggerunt. Quare eam lantum operatur in viro fideli, patiente et constante. Nam in instabili, impatiente et inconstante operatur contrarium, scilicet impatientiam et indignationem. Audi S. Bernard. Ep. 32. ad Abbatem S. Nicasii: Vasa figuli probat fornax,et homines iustos tentatio. Nec idcirco tamen immerito his quos in anxietate positos videmus, amicis nostris compatimur, quibus utique dum exitum ignoramus, defectum metuimus. Quoniam quidem sicut Sanctis et electis tribulatio operatur patientiam, patientia probationem, probatio spem, spes autem non confundit; sic damnandis et reprobis tribulatio parit e contrario pusillanimitatem, pusillanimitas perturbationem, perturbalio desperationem; et illa interimit, etc. Quocirca studeat humilis prudentia tua non vinci a malo, sed vincere in bono malum: vinces aulem, spem tuam fortiter in Deo figendo, et rei finem longanimiler expectando. Nota. Iacobus ad gaudium in tribulatione excitat, vocando eam probationem fidei, q. d. Tentatio non tam est tribulatio et afflictio, quam probatio et exploratio fidei vestræ. Gaudete ergo, quod per eam Deus fidem vestram probet et exploret; ac vos vicissim eam fortiter et exultanter sustinendo, probate et ostendite vos illi esse fideles, ac paratos pro eius fide et amore longe plura et maiora tolerare. Gaudium enim in tribulatione, signum est perfectæ fidei et virtutis. Nam, ut ait Aristot. signum habituatæ et radicatæ virtutis est, si quis eam operetur et exerceat, non cum tristitia, sed cum delectatione et gaudio. Sapienter Seneca lib. 1. de Providentia: Deus, ait, bonos, ut severi patres, durius educat, aitque: Operibus, doloribus ac damnis colligant robur, etc. Ecce par Deo dignum, vir forlis cum mala fortuna compositus, spectaculum Deo dignum. Fortuna, ut gladiator, fortissimos sibi pares quærit, alios fastidio transit. Ignem experitur in Mutio, paupertatem in Fabricio, exilium in Rutilio, tormentum in Regulo, venenum in Socrate, mortem in Catone. Gaudent magni viri aliquando rebus adversis, non aliter quam milites fortes belli triumpho. Dicant ergo: digni visi sumus Deo, in quibus experiretur quantum humana natura possit pati. Et superius: Sapiens manet in statu, et quidquid evenit in suum colorem trahit, ut mare flumina. Idem lib. de Ira sub initium: Invalidum omne, inquit, natura querulum est; nec quidquam magnum, nisi quod simul et placidum. Et inferius: Naufragio nuntiato Zeno, cum omnia sua audiret submersa: Iubet, ait, me fortuna expeditius philosophari. Idem lib. de Tranquillitate: Minabatur, inquit, Theodoro philosopho Tyrannus mortem, et quidem insepultam. Tum ille: Habes, ait, unde tibi placeas. Hemina sanguinis in tua potestate est. Nam quod ad sepulturam altinet, o te ineptum, si putas interesse, intra terram, an supra putrescam. Canius Iulius a Caio Cæsare duci iussus: Gratias, ait, ago tibi optime princeps; lamentantibus amicis: Vos, inquit, quæritis an animæ immortales sint, ego iam sciam. Et Alleri: Observare, ait, proposui, an sensurus sit animus exire se, etc. Fortunæ ergo dic: Cum vira tibi negotium est, quære quem vincas. Hæc locis citatis Seneca, sed sparsim, non iunctim: selegi enim ex eo acutiora et meliora. PROBATIO FIDEI VESTRÆ PATIENTIAM OPERATUR.) Dices, contrarium dicit Paulus Rom. 5. 3. nimirum: Gloriamur in tribulationibus, scientes quod tribulatio patientiam operatur, patientia autem probationem, probatio vero spem. Ergo probatio non causat patientiam, ut ait lacobus; sed potius ab ea causatur, ut ait Paulus, eiusque est effectus. Resp. Primo, sæpe duæ res sibi invicem sunt causæ, ut una alteram quasi causa producat, et vicissim ab ea producatur quasi effectus. Sic calor producit ignem, et ignis vicissim calorem. Sic vapor causat pluviam, et pluvia vicissim vaporem. Sic ex aere humido fit aqua, et ex aqua vicissim fit aer. Secundo, probatio causat patientiam materialiter et obiective, uti iam dixi; patientia vero causat probationem effective, quia facit hominem probatum, ut nimirum eius fides et virtus omnibus sit probata et explorata. Tertio et genuine, pro probatio hic, Græce est δοκιμιον apud Paulum vero est δοκιμη: δοκιμιον autem est ipsa res, puta tribulatio, quæ perscrutatur, examinat, probat, tentat et explorat hominis animum, fidem et virtutem; sicut δοκιμασια est ipsa rei examinatio, perscrutatio, probatio, inquisitio et exploratio: δοκιμη vero est terminus probationis et examinationis, puta ipsum experimentum, documentum, specimen. Recte ergo Iacobus dicit, quod ipsa tribulatio quasi δοκιμιον, id est, probalio, hoc est, proba, qua probatur et exploratur hominis fides, operetur patientiam, id est, suggerat materiam exercendæ, confirmandæ et augendæ patientiæ. Recte quoque dicit S. Paulus, quod patientia operetur δοκιμιον, id est, probationem, hoc est, effectum et terminum probationis; quia facit ut probatus et exploratus sit animus patientis, nimirum quod Deum, fidem, et cælum rebus omnibus lætis et tristibus anteponat; utpote pro quo tanta sit passus, et plura pati paratus. Quocirca hæc probatio operatur, excitat acuitque spem, quia facit ut patiens, qui suam virtutem in tot adversis Deo probavit, certo ab eo speret coronam et bravium gloriæ cælestis, quod in agone patientiæ legitime certantibus promisit. Nota. Pro patientiam, Græce est ὑπομονήν, id est, sustimentiam et perseverantiam, ut scilicet constanter et perseveranter toleremus longas durasque persecutiones et tribulationes, longanimiter expectantes Dei opem, consolationem et liberationem, q. d. Esto, o Christiani, diutina et continua sit hæc vestri persecutio, esto graviter vos affligat, perseverate tamen in fide et patientia, ut eam perficiatis et protrahatis usque ad ultimum vitae spiritum, si opus sit, expectantes refrigerium non in hac vita, sed in futura, eaque æterna. Et hoc significat Græcum verbum compositum κατεργάζεται, id est, peroperatur, hoc est, plene et perfecte operatur, quia plenam, continuam et perfectam patientiam, in eaque perseverantiam usque ad mortem operatur. Præclare Isidorus Pelus. lib. 3. ep. 26. ad Cassium: Præcedit, ait, coronam probatio, probationem victoria, patientia victoriam, afflictio atque tentatio, seu exploratio patientiam. Et Laurent. Iustinian. de Patientia c. 3. Quemadmodum, ait, in corporibus reparat sanitatem medicina, sic in animabus patientiam tribulatio generat. Huius probationis causa Superiores, præsertim Religiosorum, eis subinde ardua et naturæ repugnantia præcipiunt, vel offerunt, ut eorum virtutem probent, excitent et acuant; adeoque in Vitis Patrum legimus, illud apud eos vulgare fuisse. Censuisse enim eos, Superiorem qui subditum non exercet,eique mortificationis, patientiæ, obedientiæ, aliarumque virtutum occasionem et exercitium non suggerit, inhumanum esse; perinde ac inhumanus est pater, qui filio famelico cibum poscenti negat: pari enim modo hæc probatio cibus et pabulum est animæ, eam instar panis roborans et confortans. Quocirca in nonnullis Religionibus regula et praxis est, ut Superior quotannis subditis singulis hanc probationis materiam ingerat, eosque tentet, negando nonnulla alias dari solita, vel subtrahendo concessa, vel iubendo insueta. Subditus ergo, cum quid tale ingruit, non cadat animo; sed cogitet, hanc esse solitam Superiorum legem et praxim; illudque accipiat quasi probationem, quæ patientiam operetur, ne illa carens exercitio, desuetudine rubiginem obducat. Sane non tantum novitiatus, sed et religio ipsa, non aliud est, quam continua probatio. Lege Dorotheum et Climachum gradu de Obedientia, Cassianum lib. 4. de Instit. c. 23. et seq.

KNOWING THAT THE TEST OF YOUR FAITH PRODUCES PATIENCE. The testing of faith is the same as the temptation that preceded it: for temptation proves the faith, virtue, love of God, and constancy of the one who is tempted; it indeed gives the reason why it is said that there is cause for rejoicing in it. This, therefore, is James’s argument: Do not be saddened in temptation and tribulation, but rather rejoice; because tribulation, which is nothing other than the testing of your faith, produces patience, which is an excellent virtue, and as it were the beatitude of this life. Thus Bede: “He whose patience cannot be overcome is proven to be perfect: and that reasoning causes one to be exercised through patience, so that through it the perfection of faith may be proven.” Moreover, tribulation produces patience, not effectively, but materially and objectively; just as wood produces fire, because it supplies it with kindling and fuel. Therefore, it only produces it in a man who is faithful, patient, and constant. For in one who is unstable, impatient, and inconstant, it produces the opposite, namely impatience and indignation. Hear St. Bernard, Letter 32 to the Abbot of St. Nicasius: “The potter’s kiln tests the vessels, and temptation tests righteous men. Nor is it therefore without reason that we sympathize with our friends whom we see placed in anxiety, for whom, while we are ignorant of the outcome, we fear a failure. For indeed, just as for the saints and the elect tribulation produces patience, patience produces testing, testing produces hope, and hope does not disappoint; so for the damned and reprobate tribulation begets the opposite, namely faintheartedness, faintheartedness begets disturbance, disturbance begets despair; and that destroys,” etc. Therefore, let your humble prudence strive not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good: you will overcome, however, by firmly fixing your hope in God and patiently awaiting the end of the matter. Note. James stirs you to joy in tribulation by calling it the testing of faith, as if to say: Temptation is not so much tribulation and affliction, as it is the testing and exploration of your faith. Rejoice, therefore, that through it God tests and examines your faith; and you in turn, by enduring it bravely and joyfully, prove and show yourselves to be faithful to Him, and ready to endure far more and greater things for His faith and love. For joy in tribulation is a sign of perfect faith and virtue. For, as Aristotle says, it is a sign of a habituated and rooted virtue if someone practices and exercises it, not with sadness, but with delight and joy. Wisely Seneca, Book 1 of Providence: “God, he says, educates the good more harshly, as severe fathers do, and says: Through labors, pains, and losses let them gather strength,” etc. “Behold, a match worthy of God, a strong man composed with ill fortune, a spectacle worthy of God. Fortune, like a gladiator, seeks the strongest as her equals, passing over others with disdain. She tests fire in Mucius, poverty in Fabricius, exile in Rutilius, torment in Regulus, poison in Socrates, death in Cato. Great men sometimes rejoice in adversities, no differently than brave soldiers in the triumph of war. Let them therefore say: We have been deemed worthy by God, in whom He might test how much human nature can endure.” And above: “The wise man remains in his state, and draws whatever happens into his own hue, like the sea with rivers.” The same, Book on Anger at the beginning: “Everything weak, he says, is by nature complaining; nor is anything great, unless it is also calm.” And further: “When the shipwreck of Zeno was announced, and he heard that all his goods were submerged: Fortune, he says, bids me philosophize more freely.” The same, Book on Tranquility: “A tyrant threatened the philosopher Theodorus with death, and indeed an unburied one. Then he said: You have something with which to please yourself. A half-pint of blood is in your power. For as to burial, O you fool, if you think it matters whether I rot inside the earth or above it.” “Canius Julius, ordered to be led away by Gaius Caesar, said: I thank you, most excellent prince; to his lamenting friends he said: You ask whether souls are immortal, I shall soon know.” And Alleri: “I have purposed, he says, to observe whether the soul perceives its departure,” etc. Therefore, say to Fortune: “Since you have business with a man, seek one whom you can conquer.” These things are cited from Seneca in various places, but not continuously: for I have selected from him the sharper and better points. The testing of your faith produces patience. You might say, Paul says the contrary in Romans 5:3, namely: “We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience, patience produces testing, and testing produces hope.” Therefore, testing does not cause patience, as James says; but rather it is caused by it, as Paul says, and is its effect. Response. First, often two things are mutual causes to each other, so that one produces the other as a cause, and in turn is produced by it as an effect. Thus, heat produces fire, and fire in turn produces heat. So vapor causes rain, and rain in turn causes vapor. So from humid air water is made, and from water in turn air is made. Second, testing causes patience materially and objectively, as I have already said; but patience causes testing effectively, because it makes a man proven, so that his faith and virtue are tested and explored by all. Third and properly, for probatio here, in Greek it is δοκιμίον (dokimion), while with Paul it is δοκιμή (dokimē): δοκιμίον however is the thing itself, namely tribulation, which searches, examines, tests, tries, and explores the mind, faith, and virtue of a man; just as δοκίμασις (dokimasis) is the examination, scrutiny, testing, inquiry, and exploration of the thing itself: δοκιμή truly is the end of testing and examination, namely the very experiment, proof, example. Therefore, James rightly says that this tribulation, as it were δοκιμίον, that is, testing, that is, a trial, by which the faith of a man is tested and explored, produces patience, that is, provides the material for exercising, confirming, and increasing patience. Likewise, St. Paul rightly says that patience produces δοκιμήν, that is, testing, that is, the effect and end of testing; because it makes the mind of the one enduring proven and explored, namely that he prefers God, faith, and heaven to all things joyful and sorrowful; just as he has suffered so much for it, and is prepared to suffer more. Therefore, this testing produces, excites, and sharpens hope, because it makes the one enduring, who has proven his virtue to God in so many adversities, certainly hope from Him for the crown and prize of heavenly glory, which He has promised to those who legitimately contend in the struggle of patience. Note. For patientiam, in Greek it is ὑπομονήν (hypomonēn), that is, endurance and perseverance, so that we may constantly and perseveringly endure long and harsh persecutions and tribulations, patiently awaiting God’s help, consolation, and deliverance, as if to say: Let it be, O Christians, that this persecution of yours is prolonged and continuous, let it afflict you severely, yet persevere in faith and patience, so that you may complete it and extend it to the last breath of life, if need be, awaiting refreshment not in this life, but in the future, and that eternal. And this is signified by the compound Greek word κατεργάζεται (katergazetai), that is, it works thoroughly, that is, it works fully and perfectly, because it produces full, continuous, and perfect patience, and in it perseverance even unto death. Excellently Isidorus Pelusiota, Book 3, Letter 26 to Cassius: “Testing precedes the crown, victory precedes testing, patience precedes victory, affliction and temptation, or the exploration, precede patience.” And Laurentius Iustinianus, On Patience, Chapter 3: “Just as medicine restores health in bodies, so tribulation generates patience in souls.” For the sake of this testing, Superiors, especially of Religious, from time to time command or offer them arduous and repugnant things, to test, excite, and sharpen their virtue; and so we read in the Lives of the Fathers that this was common among them. For they judged that a Superior who does not exercise his subject, and does not provide him with the opportunity and exercise of mortification, patience, obedience, and other virtues, is inhuman; just as an inhuman father is he who denies food to a hungry son who asks for it: for in the same way this testing is food and nourishment for the soul, strengthening and comforting it like bread. Therefore, in some Religious Orders it is a rule and practice that the Superior annually imposes this material of testing on each of his subjects, and tries them, by denying some things usually given, or withdrawing what was granted, or commanding unusual tasks. Therefore, when such a thing comes upon a subject, let him not lose heart; but let him consider that this is the usual law and practice of Superiors; and let him accept it as a testing that produces patience, lest, lacking exercise, it become covered with the rust of disuse. Indeed, not only the novitiate, but religion itself, is nothing other than a continual testing. Read Dorotheus and Climacus On the Step of Obedience, Cassian Book 4 of the Institutes, Chapter 23 and following.

Verse 4

4. PATIENTIA AUTEM OPUS PERFECTUM HABET. Est hic duplex lectio et intellectio. Aliqui enim codices legunt habet in indicativo, alii habeat in optativo, vel imperativo: Græca enim habent ἐχέτω, id est, habeat vel habeto, et ita legunt Didymus, Œcumenius, Beda, Pagninus, Tigurina, Vatablus et multa Biblia Latina; Syrus vertit, habebit, id est, habeat, vel habet, phrasi Hebræa et Syra: Hebræi enim futuro utuntur tam pro imperativo et optativo, quam pro indicativo, quo carent. Hinc aliqui utramque lectionem ita conciliant: habet, inquiunt, id est, habere debet, oportet ut habeat. Idque valde congruit cum eo quod sequitur: « Ut sitis perfecti et integri, in nullo deficientes,» q. d. Patientia vestra habeat opus perfectum, id est, sit constans, continua et plena, nullis cerumnis, vel doloribus cedens, nulla duratione fatiscens, sed fortis, sui semper similis, crescens et invicta, « ut sitis perfecti et integri. » Multi enim Christiani illo ævo initio ferventes, stabant fortes in primis persecutionis insultibus, sed illis quasi arietibus continuo iteratis pulsati, fatigabantur animoque cadebant. Hos ergo animat et roborat Jacobus, ut quod bene coeperunt, constanter perficiant usque ad mortem et martyrium, juxta illud Tertulliani, De Patientia, cap. VIII: «Fatigetur aliena improbitas patientia tua. » Et : «In omnibus patiens ero, alioqui cruciabor impatientia mea. » Sic hodie multos videmus patientes, sed imperfectos, ideoque ex parte impatientes, qui dicunt: Vellem pati istam persecutionem, istam tribulationem, istam injuriam, istum morbum, istud malum; at pati nequeo illam et illam : vellem pati ab hoc, vel isto, v. g. extero et hoste meo; at ab amico, filio, discipulo, in quem tot beneficia contuli, quem promovi et evexi, tanta pati non possum: vellem pati ad unum alterumve diem, mensem, vel annum; at tot annos sine spe exitus et finis pati, intolerabile est: vellem pati hoc istove modo; at ille modus qui mihi offertur, novus est, inauditus et vires meas superans. Hæc est patiens impatientia, et impatiens patientia, nec piscis, nec caro, sed mixtum ex utroque, quæ onus sibi adauget, dolorem et cruciatum duplicat. Patiens vero et perfecta patientia cupit pati quidquid mali a quocumque, quantumcumque, quomodocumque irrogatum fuerit. Tales fuerunt Martyres, de quibus canit Ecclesia: Hi pro te furias, atque ferocia Calcarunt hominum sævaque verbera; Cessit bis lacerans fortiter ungula, Hæc carpsit penetralia. Cæduntur gladiis more bidentium, Non murmur resonat, non querimonia; Sed corde tacito mens bene conscia Conservat patientiam. Porro patientia habere debet opus perfectum tripliciter. Primo, perfectum in se, puta in fortitudine et continuatione tolerantiæ usque ad finem crucis et vitæ, ut non deficiamus in tribulationibus, sed audiamus a Christo: « Vos estis qui permansistis mecum in tentationibus meis; et ideo ego dispono vobis, sicut disposuit mihi Pater meus regnum, » Luca XXII, 28. Secundo, perfectum in fine, ut scilicet patiatur pro Christi fide, justitia, aut virtute. Tertio, perfectum in comitatu innocentiæ cæterarumque virtutum, ut scilicet patiens sit innocens, et purus ab omni peccato et vitio. Quid enim prodest tibi pati injuriam, si avaritiæ, gulæ, luxuriæ indulgeas? Ita Salmeron. Ita S. Lidaina cum vigesimum octavum in sua infirmitate annum ageret (passa est autem annis 38), ardens desiderio martyrii, in exstasi vidit coronam pretiosissimam, gemmis diversorum colorum egregie variegatam, necdum tamen in orbem penitus absolutam : petiit ergo multa pati pro Christo, ut hunc orbem absolveret. Exaudivit eam Deus, misitque milites, qui eam conviciis et verberibus male muletarunt. Angelus deinde ad eam venit instar solis splendidus, aitque ad eam: «Salve, charissima soror. Ecce nunc absoluta est corona, quam nuper imperfectam vidisti; propter inverecundos contactus virorum illorum, noveris te repositam fuisse in vestigiis Salvatoris. Ludibria et vulnera corpori tuo imposita fuere gemmæ, quas in illa corona et adesse vidisti, et deesse. » Ita habet ejus vita tom II Surii. Secunda lectio est, « patientia opus perfectum habet. » Ita legunt codices Romani, Lyranus, Thomas Anglicus, Hugo, Dionysius et alii multi. Sensus est, q.d. Gaudete in tribulationibus, quia illæ patientiam operantur: patientiam autem est res eximia et perfecta: illa enim facit, « ut sitis Integri et perfecti» quaquaversum. Quæres: Quomodo patientia sola præ temperantia, fide, spe, charitate, cæterisque virtutibus dicatur perfecta, et habere opus perfectum? Respondeo: Certum est charitatem et religionem, utpote quæ proxime Deum respiciunt, ex objecto esse nobiliores et perfectiores patientia: aliunde tamen patientia habet opus perfectum, idque multipliciter. Primo, quia patientia omnia sustinens et in finem usque perseverans (hanc enim significat Græcum υπομονη) virtutum consummationem efficit et conservat: crux enim continua est velut instrumentum, v. g. runcina, scalpellum, penicillus, quo nos expolit perficitque Deus. Sic enim « Christus per passionem consummatus est,» Hebr. cap. II, vers. 10. Patientia ergo est in choro cœtuque virtutum id, quod in domo est tectum. Sicut enim tectum incolas domus ab æstu, frigore, procellis, imbribus, ventis, etc., tutatur, eaque propulsat : ita patientia hominem a procellis quarumlibet tentationum et adversitatum defendit, eaque in se excipit et elidit: perinde ac lana mollis excipit et elidit impetum tormenti et globi ferrei. Quocirca nulla virtus potest esse, vel consistere sine patientia. Vera enim humilitas esse nequit, nisi per patientiam toleret contemptus et probra. Vera paupertas esse nequit, nisi per patientiam toleret inopiam, famem, sitim, nuditatem. Vera charitas esse nequit, quæ per patientiam non toleret infirmitates proximorum, quin et hostium. Unde Tertullianus, lib. De Patientia, cap. XI et XII, docet nullam esse virtutem, quæ non comitem, imo ducem habeat patientiam; adeoque complexionem virtutum quam Apostolus I Cor. XIII, assignavit charitati, ipse assignat patientiæ: « Dilectio, inquit, summum fidei Sacramentum, Christiani nominis thesaurus, quam Apostolus totis viribus Spiritus Sancti commendat, cujus, nisi patientiæ disciplinis eruditur? Dilectio, inquit, magnanimis (Noster vertit patiens) est: ita patientiam exercet. Benefica est: malum patientia non facit. Non æmulatur: id quidem patientiæ proprium est. Nec protervum sapit: modestiam de patientia traxit. Non inflatur, non protervit: non enim ad patientiam pertinet. Nec sua requirit, suffert (alii legunt si offert) sua, dum alteri prosit : nec mutatur. Cæterum quid impatientiae reliquisset? Ideo, inquit, dilectio omnia sustinet, omnia tolerat : utique quia patiens. Merito ergo nunquam excidet; nam cætera evacuabuntur. Exhauriuntur scientiæ, linguæ, prophetiæ: permanet fides, spes, dilectio. Fides, quam Christi patientia induxit: spes, quam hominis patientia exspectat: dilectio, quam Deo magistro patientia comitatur.» Nullus enim, nisi vehementer amans Deum, fidem et virtutem, potest perfectam patientiam obtinere. Unde S. Ignatius, Laurentius, Vincentius, etc., qui fuerunt specula patientiæ, fuerunt pariter specula charitatis, ut merito Trajanus Imperator videns S. Ignatii ardores ad martyrium, dixerit: « Nulla gens pro Deo suo tanta toleravit, atque Christiani pro suo Christo.» Aurum ergo patientiæ Christianæ, non nisi in fornace charitatis coquitur et formatur. Secundo, quia υπομονη, id est, perseverans patientia, et patiens perseverantia, coronat et perficit stadium agonis et vitæ humanæ : durat enim usque ad finem vitae, ideoque quasi omnium victrix patientem deducit usque ad mortem, et sæpe ad martyrium, ac per illud ad meritum in cœlis patientiæ et victoria bravium. Hoc est quod aliis verbis explicans ait Jacobus vers. 12: « Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ. >> Tritum est illud: « Omnes virtutes certant, sola perseverantia vincit et coronatur.» Vere S. Augustinus: Nemo potest custodire spem futuræ vitæ, nisi qui patientiam habuerit in laboribus præsentis vitae. In hoc stadio patientiæ nobis quasi dux præivit Christus. Causam dat Apostolus Hebr. II, 10: «Decebat enim eum propter quem omnia, et per quem omnia, qui multos filios in gloriam adduxerat, auctorem salutis eorum per passionem consummare; » Syrus, perfectum facere; græce τελειῶσαι, id est, perficere, immolare, consecrare, coronare, glorificare. Ecce hæc omnia præstitit Christo, nobisque præstat passio et patientia: vide ibi dicta. Itaque patientia hic significat perseverantiam in patiendo: hanc enim significat υπομονη, et hæc habet opus perfeum, quia totam vitam complectitur, et durat in finem usque ad mortem. Unde ipsa sola coronam gloriæ plene meretur, meritamque illico accipit, de qua præclare S. Bernardus, epist. 129: « Perseverantia, inquit, est vigor virium, virtutum consummatio, nutrix ad meritum, mediatrix ad premium. Soror est patientiæ, constantiæ filia, amica pacis, amicitiarum nodus, unanimitatis vinculum, propugnaculum sanctitatis. Tolle perseverantiam, nec obsequium mercedem habet, nec beneficium gratiam, nec laudem fortitudo. Denique non qui cœperit, sed qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hie salvus erit. Idem, lib. V De Consider, cap. ult.: « Quis sustinet, inquit, et perseverat in amore, nisi qui æmulatur æternitatem charitatis? nempe æternitatis quamdam imaginem perseverantia præ se fert. Denique sola est, cui æternitas redditur, vel potius quæ æternitati hominem reddit. » Idem (vel quisquis est auctor), serm. De Obedientia ejusque gradibus: « Incipere, ait, multorum est, perseverare paucorum. Perseverantia singularis est filia summi regis, virtutum fructus, earumque consummatio, totius boni repositorium, virtus sine qua nemo videbit Deum, neque a Deo videbitur: finis est ad justitiam omni credenti, in qua virtutum conventus reverendum sibi thalamum consecravit. Quid enim currere prodest, et ante metam cursus deficere? Sic currite ut comprehendatis, dicit Apostolus. O quam perseveranti pede cursum perfecerat, qui dicebat: Bonum certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem servavi : in reliquo reposita est mihi corona justitia, II Timoth. IV. Plura de perseverantia dixi Actor. XI, 23. Tertio, quia patientia est quasi lorica et clypeus, qui omnia mala, quasi tela, ab homine avertit et repellit, ac contraria bona conciliat. Ipsa enim omnes animi motus, æstus, concupiscentias, passiones regit, mitigat, sedat, componit, omnesque animæ affectus ad æquitatem redigit et quasi complanat. Unde sequitur mira animæ pax, plenumque sui dominium. Patiens enim est sui suorumque affectuum dominus, iisque quasi rex imperat. An non ergo perfectus est? Hoc est quod ait Christus: « In patientia vestra possidebitis animas vestras. » Causam dat S. Thomas, II II, Quæst. CXXXVI, art. 2, ad 2 : « Per patientiam, inquit, dicitur homo animam suam possidere, in quantum radicitus evellit passiones adversitatum (puta tristitiam, iram, invidiam, vindictam, etc., quæ suscitantur per adversa), quibus anima inquietatur. » Ex adverso impatiens non possidet suam animam, sed cum ipsa possidetur ab ira et impatientia, ac consequenter a Satana. Duro ergo tyranno dure servit instar mancipii. « Patientia, ait S. Gregorius, est aliena mala æquanimiter perpeti, et contra eum qui irrogat nullo dolore moveri. Audi Tertullianum, lib. De Patientia, XV: « Patientia fidem munit, pacem gubernat, dilectionem adjuvat, humilitatem instruit, pœnitentiam exspectat, exomologesin assignat: carnem regit, spiritum servat: linguam frenat, manum continet: tentationes inculcat, scandala pellit, martyria consummat: pauperem consolatur, divitem temperat infirmum non extendit, valentem non consumit : fidelem delectat, Gentilem invitat: servum domino, dominum Deo commendat : feminam exornat, virum approbat: amatur in puero, laudatur in juvene, suspicitur in sene: in omni sexu, in omni ætate formosa est. >> Magistrum Tertullianum imitatur discipulus S. Cyprianus, lib. De Bono patientia: «Patientia, ait, est, quæ nos Deo, et commendat et servat. Ipsa est quæ iram temperat, quæ linguam frenat, quæ mentem gubernat, pacem custodit, disciplinam regit, libidinis impetum frangit, tumoris violentiam comprimit, incendium simultatis extinguit, coercet potentiam divitum, inopiam pauperum refovet, tuetur in virginibus beatam integritatem, in viduis laboriosam castitatem, in conjunctis et maritatis individuam charitatem : facit humiles in prosperis, in adversis fortes, contra injurias et contumelias mites, docet delinquentibus cito ignoscere; si ipse delinquas, diu et multum rogare: tentationes expugnat, persecutiones tolerat, passiones et martyria consummat. »> Quocirca S. Basilius in Admonitione ad filium spiritualem docet, patientiam esse singulare medium ad acquirendam perfectionem. « Fili, ait, patientiam arripe, quia maxima est virtus animæ, ut velociter ad sublimitatem perfectionis possis ascendere. Patientia grandis est medela animæ: impatientia autem est pernicies cordis. » Et S. Thomas Aquinas rogatus, « quis esset perfectus ? » respondit : « qui vana non loquitur, et facile patitur se contemni. Quem enim videris in sui contemptu indignari, vel contristari, hunc tu ne dixeris perfectum, etiamsi videris eum miracula patrantem. » Virtutes enim sine patientia sunt id, quod murus sine calce et cæmento, qui proinde illico ruet. Virtutum ergo calx, vinculum et statumen est patientia. Unde Beda hic: « Cujus, inquit, patientia vinci non potest, ille perfectus esse probatur. » Quarto, “Perfectum et totum est, ait Aristoteles, lib. IV Phys., id cui nihil deest.“ Patientiæ autem nihil deest, imo ipsa omnes virtutum rerumque aliarum defectus supplet: ergo non tantum est perfecta, sed et virtutes resque alias perficiens et consummans; ipsa ergo opera imperfecta aliarum virtutum complet et perficit. Unde S. Cyprianus, tract. De Patientia: “Tolle, ait, charitati patientiam, et desolata non durat.” Et S. Gregorius, hom. 35 in Evang.:« Patientia, ait, est radix et custos omnium virtutum.» Rationem duplicem dat Dionysius Carthusianus: Primam, quia adversa que tolerat patientia, extinguunt amorem proprium, qui est causa omnis imperfectionis et mali; secundam, quia patientia sex opera perfecta producit: primum, iro invidiae aliarumque passionum subjugationem; secundum, probationem hominis et virtutum ejus; tertium, sui ipsius possessionem; quartum gaudium spiritus; quintum, gubernationem omnium actionum, ut in iis homo sit moderatus et circumspectus; sextum, consecutionem vitæ æternæ. Accedit S. Thomas, I II, Quæst. LXVI, art. 4, ad 2, ubi docet patientiam habere opus perfectum, quia ipsa extirpat inordinatam tristitiam, quae est causa et radix iræ, odii, vindictae omnisque mali. Vere Boctius lib. IV De Consol. prosa 6: « Quidam, inquit, suppliciis inexpugnabiles exemplum cæteris præfulerunt, invictam malis esse virtutem. » Et Lactantius, lib. III Instit. : « Beatus est igitur sapiens in tormentis: sed cum torquetur, pro fide, pro justitia, pro Deo, illa patientia doloris beatissimum faciet. » Alludit S. Jacobus ad priscos athletas in Olympico agone. Perfectus enim athleta nominabatur, qui perfecte omnes exercitationes sui certaminis, adhibita laborum perpessione, continentia, et legitima victus ratione obiverat; ac proinde ad omnia compositus, ad omnem partem qua traduxisset adversarius, ipsi præsto erat, eo manus operamque transferre longo usu didicerat : tales enim athlete sunt patientes. Unde S. Ephrem, orat. De Laud, SS. Martyr., eos vocat perfectissimos athletas. « Hæc sunt, ait, o formosi milites Christi, insignia vestræ victoriæ : ista, o athlete probatissimi, perfectique divini bellatores, vestræ fidei ac fortitudinis præmia. » Quocirca Gentiles videntes et admirantes tantam patientiam Christianorum, præsertim Martyrum, per eam ad fidem Christi convertebantur. Dictitabant enim, virtutem tam heroicam et perfectam non posse manare a natura, sed a Deo solo ejusque fide et gratia. Quinto, sicut truncus porta traborem cum omnibus suis ramis et fructibus: ita patientia portat totum hominis et virtutum omnium onus et pondus, puta omnia difficilia, omnia ardua, omnia adversa, etc., idque sereno animo, ore et vultu. Unde patientiæ effigiem ita pingit Tertullianus, loco jam citato : « Vultus illi tranquillus et placidus, frons pura nulla mororis aut iræ rugositate contracta, remissa æque in lætum modum supercilia, oculis humilitate, non infelicitate, dejectis; os taciturnitatis honore signatum. Color, qualis securis et innoxiis. Motus frequens capitis in diabolum, et minax risus. Cæterum amictus circa pectora candidus, et corpori impressus, ut qui nec inflatur, nec inquietatur; sedet enim in throno spiritus ejus mitissimi et mansuetissimi, qui non turbine glomeratur, non nubilo lunæ ; sed est teneræ serenitatis, apertus et simplex, quem tertio vidit Elias,» III Reg. XIX, 12. «Nam ubi Deus, ibidem et alumna ejus, patientia scilicet. Cum ergo spiritus Dei descendit, individua patientia comitatur eum. » Et Prudentius in Psychom., duellum iræ et patientiæ describens, ita eum effigiat: Ecce modesta gravi stabat patientia vultu, Per medias immota acies, variosque tumultus, Vulneraque et rigidis vitalia pervia pilis Spectabat defixa oculos, et lenta manebat. Clemens Alexandrinus in homilia quæ refertur tomo I Conciliorum, pag. 1205, miris laudibus effert patientiam, ac tandem concludens ait: « Omne itaque bonum patientia nobis suppeditat. » Et Climacus, gradu 27: « Patientia, ait, est infractus animi labor, nullis vel proximis fragoribus agitatur. Patientia est vexationis quotidie expectata definitio, etc. patiens ante monumentum mortuus est: sepulcrum enim cellam suam fecit. Sexto, patientia Deum habet agonothetam et debitorem. Adeo (inquit Tertull. loco citato) salis idoneus patientiæ sequester Deus: si iniuriam deposueris penes eum, ultor est: si damnum, restitutor est: si dolorem, medicus est: si mortem, resuscitator est. Quantum patientia licet, ut Deum habeat debitorem? Causam subdit: Omnia enim placita eius tuetur: omnibus mandatis eius intervenit. Et paulo ante cap. 14. laudans patientiam S. Job: O felicissimum, inquit, illum, qui omnem patientiæ speciem adversus omnem diaboli vim expunxit. Quem non abacti greges, non filii uno ruinæ impetu adempti, non ipsius denique corporis in ulcere cruciatus, a patientia et fide Domino debita exclusit, quem diabolus totis viribus frustra cecidit, etc. Quale in illo viro feretrum Deus de diabolo extruxit? quale vexillum de inimico gloriæ suæ extulit, cum ille homo ad omnem acerbum nuncium nihil ex ore promeret, nisi Deo gratias? Quid? ridebat Deus. Quid? dissecabatur malus (diabolus). Annon ergo perfectum opus habet patientia, quæ S. Iob et Sanctis perfectam de diabolo, carne, mundo, vitiisque omnibus dat victoriam, cœlitemque triumphum? S. August. in Psal. 42. ait patientiam esse citharam, tribulationes esse chordas, quæ dum pulsantur, melodiam edunt: pari enim modo melodiam suavem in auribus Dei edit patientia, dum in tribulationibus laudat Deum, eique gratias agit. Omnis enim patientia, inquit, dulcis est Deo: si autem in ipsis tribulationibus defeceris, citharam fregisti. Septimo, patientia opus perfectum habet: quia ejus opus et actus primarius est martyrium, inquit Thomas Anglicus, quod est opus nobilissimum et perfectissimum. Martyr enim est pugil Dei, athleta Christi, victor mundi, triumphator mortis, ideoque et præsentem et æternam martyrii lauream meretur, illicoque eam accipit. Patientia ergo martyres creat et coronat. Pari modo patientia vincit et superat quidquid in mundo est terribile et formidabile, ideoque vitam hominis facit serenam, placidam, compositam et perfectam. Tota enim vita nostra, adeoque actiones singulæ, et momenta singula plena sunt ærumnis, doloribus et crucibus: has omnes sustinet et superat patientia continua usque ad finem vitæ. Ipsa ergo est unicum asylum, columen et coronis uti vitæ, ita et passionum omnium, hominemque transcribit vitæ impassibili et immortali, itaque eum perficit et beat. Cæteræ ergo virtutes sæpe tantum sunt utiles homini: patientia vero semper et ubique est necessaria. Quocirca Bion, teste Laertio, lib. IV, cap. vii, dicebat magnum malum esse non posse ferre malum: absque hoc enim nulli potest esse vita suavis. Antisthenes vero apud eumdem, lib. VI, cap. I, dicebat, virtutem sibi sufficere ad felicitatem, nec ulla re opus habere, nisi robore Socratico: Socrates autem ad omnium rerum patientiam obduraverat. Octavo, quia Christo patientissimo nos facit simillimos, juxta illud: « Quos præscivit et prædestinavit conformes fieri imaginis Filii sui, ut sit ipse primogenitus in multis fratribus, etc., illos et glorificavit, » Rom. VIII, 28, q. d. Deus prædestinavit nos ut similes simus Christo in Ecclesia, tam militante, quam triumphante : ibi in gratia, hic in gloria: ibi in patientia, hic in corona; ac consequenter ut simus perfecti, quia patientia angelis et Deo nos assimilat. « Deus, ait Seneca in Sapiente, extra patientiam, sapiens supra patientiam est. » Tertullianus, lib. De Patient., cap. XVI: « Amemus, ait, patientiam Dei, patientiam Christi. Dependamus illi quam pro nobis ipse dependit. Offeramus patientiam carnis, patientiam spiritus, qui in resurrectionem carnis et spiritus credimus. » Hac de re egregie philosophatur Marsilius Ficinus, lib. V ad Bastianum Salvinum : « O miram, ait, patientiæ potestatem! Virtutes quidem aliæ contra fatum quodammodo pugnant; patientia vero vel sola, vel maxime omnium expugnat fatum : quæ enim fatum immutabilia necessariaque fore decrevit, patientia cum divinæ providentiæ voluntate consentiens ita quodammodo mutat, ut ex necessariis faciat voluntaria: sicut qui male agit, bona sibi convertit in malum, ita qui bene patitur mala, ea sibi vertit in bonum, nempe in perferendis malis ipse bonus evadit.» Unde concludit, patientiam bonum usque adeo perfectum esse, ut absque ipsa cætera hominum perfici nequeant. Quæ enim ab aliis virtutibus inchoantur, ab ipsa perficiuntur. Et post multa, epist. ad Antonium Cocchium: « Tria, inquit, præcipue patientia præcipit: primum, ut mala libenter pati velis, quæ ipsa natura jubet ut pati nolis; secundum, ut ipse tibi voluntaria facias, quæ fatum (Dei providentia et decretum) necessaria fore decrevit; tertium, ut mala quælibet vertas in bona; quod Dei solius est officium. In primo quidem repugnare naturæ, in secundo vero expugnare fatum, in tertio denique jubet (ut ita dicam) æquare se Deo. » Et paulo post : « Tota hominum vita in hac mundi regione maligna, cœlestibusque contraria mentibus, nihil aliud esse videtur, quam morbus quidam, dolor que perpetuus. Accedit impatientia summa malorum, quæ adeo mala est, ut nihil nobis absqu illa sit malum, nihil cum illa sit bonum; patientia vero mala bene ferendo, transfert in bonum; et bonis utendo bene, felicissime fruitur. » Ipsa ergo est omnium medicina malorum : quia per illam conjungimur et consentimus Deo, qui est omne bonum, etc. «In hoc uno patientiæ vis tota consistit, ut bene patiamur tanquam bonum, quidquid sub infinitæ bonitatis gubernatione contingit. >> Viderunt id per umbram Gentiles quoque. Burrhus princeps cum inviseretur a Nerone, a quo ferebatur veneno faucibus illito, quasi remedium adhiberetur, in morbum et mortem adactus, aversatus est illum Burrhus, qui jam scelus intellexerat, multaque percontanti nihil aliud respondit, quam: Ego bene me habeo, quia sequor fatum Deique providentiam, quæ hanc mortem, licet per tuum scelus adornatam, mihi destinavit: tibi ergo erubescendum, mihi conquiescendum in numinis de mea morte decreto. » Alexander post interfectum Antoninum Romanum Imperatorem, cum audisset Barbaros magnis copiis se et Romanum Imperium invadere: «Decet, inquit, viros fortes et moderatos optima quidem optare, sed ferre quæcumque incidant (quasi a numine venientia): ut enim is qui prior lacessit, ipse sibi injurius videtur, ita qui propulsat injuriam, confidentior ex conscientia fit, atque ex justitia spem bonam mutuatur. » Ita Herodianus, lib. VI. Zeno roganti, quo pacto ferret convicia? « Perinde, inquit, atque si legatus absque responso dimittatur.» Indicans eos, qui non habent quod respondeant, ad convicia solere confugere, eaque proinde non pluris oportere fieri, quam si nihil esset responsum: ita Laertius, lib. VII, cap. I. Unde Philippus, rex Macedonum, gratias agebat conviciatoribus: Quia, inquit, dum conor illos mendacii factis meis convincere, evado melior: ita Plutarchus in Apopth. Regum. Alfonsus, Aragonum rex, missa ad eum historia Titi Livii, monitus ne acciperet et legeret, quod veneno infectus esset codex, accepit et legit, dicens: «An nescitis regum animas non privatorum libidini subjectas esse, sed sub cura Dei securas et lætas agere? » Est enim rex Dei in terra vicarius, imo imago et speculum:ita Panormitanus et Æneas Sylvius in gestis et dictis Alfonsi. S. Basilius, tract. De Utilitate capienda ex libris Gentilium, celebrat patientiam Periclis et Euclidis. « Quidam, ait, in foro Periclem probris omnibus incessebat. Is autem minime curare visus, toto fere die sustinuit: deinde vespere jam discedente cum lumine comitatus est, ne quid in philosophia studio admitteret. Rursus quidam Euclidi Megarensi animo concitatus juravit, se mortem illaturum. Ille vero contra se patienter laturum juravit, placatumque et ei quamvis infesto se conciliatum iri. Quare valde ad nos excitandos refert, ut talia virorum cohibentium iram exempla nostram memoriam subeant. » Et paulo post: « Quidam vehementi impetu Socratis faciem cecidit: hic autem minime commotus, furentem debacchari et iram satiari permisit: ex quo eum totum ex plagis tumidum atque contusum reddidit. Ubi vero ille cedendo destitit, nihil aliud Socrates fecisse dicitur, quam fronti propria inscripsisse: Talis fecit; veluti status cuidam auctoris nomen; et eo modo vindicasse.» Sicut ergo Apelles suis picturis perfectis et eximiis inscribebat, Apelles fecit: ita patiens suis tolerantiæ facinoribus perfectis et heroicis, quibus eam quasi heroinam in anima sua depingit et ornat, inscribat: « Patientia fecit.»> Denique Epictetus in Ariano, cap. v: «Quidnam quæso, ait, esset Hercules, nisi taurus leoque extitisset, et hydra, et cervus, et ursus?»>

4. BUT LET PATIENCE HAVE ITS PERFECT WORK. There is here a double reading and interpretation. For some manuscripts read habet in the indicative, others habeat in the optative or imperative: the Greek indeed has ἐχέτω (echetō), that is, let it have or have thou, and thus read Didymus, Œcumenius, Bede, Pagninus, the Tigurina, Vatablus, and many Latin Bibles; the Syriac translates habebit, that is, let it have, or has, in the Hebrew and Syriac phrase: for the Hebrews use the future both for the imperative and optative, as well as for the indicative, which they lack. Hence some reconcile both readings thus: habet, they say, that is, it ought to have, it must have. And this very much agrees with what follows: « That you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing, » as if to say: Let your patience have its perfect work, that is, let it be constant, continuous, and full, yielding to no sorrows or pains, not growing weary with any duration, but strong, always like itself, growing and unconquered, « that you may be perfect and entire ». For many Christians in that age, fervent at the beginning, stood strong against the first assaults of persecution, but being struck by those like continual battering rams, they grew weary and fell in spirit. Therefore, James encourages and strengthens them, that what they began well, they might steadfastly complete even unto death and martyrdom, according to that saying of Tertullian, On Patience, Chapter VIII: « Let the wickedness of another be wearied by your patience. » And: « I will be patient in all things, otherwise I will be tormented by my impatience. » So today we see many patient, but imperfect, and therefore partly impatient, who say: I would like to endure this persecution, this tribulation, this injury, this disease, this evil; but I cannot endure that and that: I would like to endure from this one, or that one, for example, a stranger and my enemy; but from a friend, son, disciple, on whom I have bestowed so many benefits, whom I have promoted and advanced, I cannot endure so much: I would like to endure for one or two days, a month, or a year; but to endure so many years without hope of an end or finish is intolerable: I would like to endure this or that way; but that way offered to me is new, unheard of, and beyond my strength. This is patient impatience, and impatient patience, neither fish nor flesh, but a mixture of both, which increases its own burden, doubling pain and torment. But true and perfect patience desires to endure whatever evil, from whomever, however much, and however inflicted. Such were the Martyrs, of whom the Church sings: « For you they trampled the rages and ferocity Of men’s savage blows; The claw, tearing twice, bravely yielded, This rent their innermost parts. They are struck with swords like two-pronged forks, No murmur resounds, no complaint; But with a silent heart, a well-aware mind Preserves patience. » Moreover, patience ought to have its perfect work in three ways. First, perfect in itself, namely in the strength and continuation of endurance up to the end of the cross and life, that we may not fail in tribulations, but hear from Christ: « You are those who have continued with me in my temptations; and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father has appointed unto me, » Luke 22:28. Second, perfect in its end, namely that it suffers for the faith, justice, or virtue of Christ. Third, perfect in the company of innocence and other virtues, namely that the one enduring be innocent and pure from all sin and vice. For what does it profit you to endure an injury, if you indulge in avarice, gluttony, luxury? So Salmeron. So St. Lidwina, when she was in the twenty-eighth year of her infirmity (for she suffered for 38 years), burning with the desire for martyrdom, in ecstasy saw a most precious crown, exquisitely varied with gems of diverse colors, yet not entirely formed into a circle: therefore she asked to suffer much for Christ, that she might complete this circle. God heard her, and sent soldiers who sorely punished her with insults and blows. Then an angel came to her, shining like the sun, and said to her: « Hail, dearest sister. Behold, now the crown which you recently saw imperfect is complete; because of the shameless contacts of those men, know that you have been placed in the footsteps of the Savior. The mockeries and wounds inflicted on your body were the gems which you saw both present and lacking in that crown. » So it is in her life, Volume II of Surium. The second reading is, « patience has its perfect work. » Thus read the Roman codices, Lyranus, Thomas Anglicus, Hugo, Dionysius, and many others. The meaning is, as if to say: Rejoice in tribulations, because they produce patience: but patience is an excellent and perfect thing: for it makes, « that you may be entire and perfect » in every way. You will ask: How is patience alone said to be perfect above temperance, faith, hope, charity, and other virtues, and to have its perfect work? I respond: It is certain that charity and religion, as those which directly regard God, are by their object nobler and more perfect than patience: yet in another respect patience has its perfect work, and that in many ways. First, because patience, enduring all things and persevering to the end (for this is signified by the Greek ὑπομονή [hypomonē]), effects and preserves the consummation of virtues: for the continual cross is like an instrument, for example, a plane, chisel, brush, by which God polishes and perfects us. For thus « Christ was made perfect through suffering, » Hebrews 2:10. Therefore, patience is in the choir and assembly of virtues what the roof is in a house. For just as the roof protects the inhabitants of the house from heat, cold, storms, rains, winds, etc., and drives them away: so patience defends man from the storms of whatever temptations and adversities, and receives and breaks them within itself: just as soft wool receives and breaks the impact of a weapon and iron ball. Therefore, no virtue can exist or stand without patience. True humility cannot be, unless through patience it endures contempt and reproaches. True poverty cannot be, unless through patience it endures want, hunger, thirst, nakedness. True charity cannot be, which through patience does not endure the weaknesses of neighbors, nay even of enemies. Hence Tertullian, Book On Patience, Chapters XI and XII, teaches that there is no virtue which does not have patience as a companion, indeed a leader; and so the combination of virtues which the Apostle in I Corinthians 13 assigned to charity, he himself assigns to patience: « Love, he says, the highest sacrament of faith, the treasure of the Christian name, which the Apostle commends with all the strength of the Holy Spirit, of which, unless it is trained by the disciplines of patience? Love, he says, is magnanimous » (our translation renders it patient), thus it exercises patience. It is beneficent: patience does not do evil. It does not emulate: that indeed is proper to patience. Nor does it savor of insolence: it has drawn modesty from patience. It is not puffed up, it does not act insolently: for that does not pertain to patience. Nor does it seek its own, it endures (others read if it offers) its own, while benefiting another: nor is it changed. But what would it have left to impatience? Therefore, he says, love endures all things, tolerates all things: certainly because it is patient. Deservedly, therefore, it will never fail; for the rest will be emptied. Knowledges, tongues, prophecies are exhausted: faith, hope, love remain. Faith, which the patience of Christ brought forth: hope, which the patience of man awaits: love, which, with God as teacher, patience accompanies. For no one, unless he vehemently loves God, faith, and virtue, can obtain perfect patience. Hence St. Ignatius, Laurence, Vincent, and others, who were mirrors of patience, were equally mirrors of charity, so that deservedly Emperor Trajan, seeing St. Ignatius’s ardor for martyrdom, said: « No nation has endured so much for its God as Christians have for their Christ. » Therefore, the gold of Christian patience is forged and formed only in the furnace of charity. Second, because ὑπομονή (hypomonē), that is, persevering patience and patient perseverance, crowns and perfects the race of the struggle and of human life: for it endures to the end of life, and thus, as if the victor over all, leads the patient one to death, and often to martyrdom, and through it to the merit in heaven of the reward of patience and victory. This is what James explains in other words in verse 12: « Blessed is the man who endures temptation: for when he has been proven, he will receive the crown of life. » It is a well-known saying: « All virtues contend, but perseverance alone wins and is crowned. » Truly St. Augustine: No one can keep the hope of future life unless he has had patience in the labors of the present life. In this race of patience, Christ has gone before us as a leader. The Apostle gives the reason in Hebrews 2:10: « For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, who had brought many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through suffering; » the Syriac, to make perfect; Greek τελειῶσαι (teleiōsai), that is, to perfect, to offer, to consecrate, to crown, to glorify. Behold, all these things suffering and patience have accomplished for Christ, and accomplish for us: see what is said there. Thus, patience here signifies perseverance in suffering: for this is what ὑπομονή means, and this has its perfect work, because it embraces the whole of life and endures to the end, even to death. Hence it alone fully deserves the crown of glory, and immediately receives what it has merited, about which St. Bernard speaks excellently, Letter 129: « Perseverance, he says, is the strength of powers, the consummation of virtues, the nourisher of merit, the mediator of reward. It is the sister of patience, the daughter of constancy, the friend of peace, the bond of friendships, the chain of unity, the bulwark of holiness. Remove perseverance, and neither obedience has reward, nor benefit has gratitude, nor strength has praise. Finally, not he who begins, but he who perseveres to the end, this one will be saved. » The same, Book V On Consideration, Chapter Last: « Who sustains, he says, and perseveres in love, unless he emulates the eternity of charity? Indeed, perseverance bears a certain image of eternity. Finally, it alone is that to which eternity is given, or rather which gives man to eternity. » The same (or whoever the author is), Sermon on Obedience and Its Degrees: « To begin, he says, is the lot of many; to persevere, of few. Perseverance is the unique daughter of the highest king, the fruit of virtues, and their consummation, the treasury of all good, the virtue without which no one will see God, nor be seen by God: it is the end unto justice for every believer, in which the assembly of virtues has consecrated a revered bridal chamber for itself. For what does it profit to run, and to fail before the goal of the race? So run that you may obtain, says the Apostle. O how with a persevering foot he had completed the race, who said: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, II Timothy 4. » I have said more about perseverance in Acts 11:23. Third, because patience is like a breastplate and shield, which turns away and repels all evils, as if they were darts, from man, and brings about contrary goods. For it governs, mitigates, calms, and composes all movements of the soul, passions, desires, and affections, and brings all the soul’s inclinations to equity and, as it were, levels them. Hence follows a wondrous peace of the soul, and full dominion over itself. For the patient one is the master of himself and his own affections, and rules over them like a king. Is he not therefore perfect? This is what Christ says: « In your patience you will possess your souls. » The reason is given by St. Thomas, II II, Question 136, Article 2, Response to 2: « Through patience, he says, a man is said to possess his soul, insofar as he uproots the passions of adversities (such as sadness, anger, envy, vengeance, etc., which are stirred up by adversities), by which the soul is disturbed. » On the contrary, the impatient one does not possess his soul, but while it is possessed by anger and impatience, and consequently by Satan, he serves a harsh tyrant harshly, like a slave. « Patience, says St. Gregory, is to endure the evils of others with equanimity, and to be unmoved by any pain against the one who inflicts them. » Hear Tertullian, Book On Patience, XV: « Patience fortifies faith, governs peace, aids love, instructs humility, awaits repentance, assigns confession: it rules the flesh, preserves the spirit: it bridles the tongue, restrains the hand: it treads down temptations, drives away scandals, consummates martyrdoms: it consoles the poor, moderates the rich, does not overburden the weak, does not consume the strong: it delights the faithful, invites the Gentile: it commends the servant to the master, the master to God: it adorns the woman, approves the man: it is loved in the child, praised in the youth, admired in the old: in every sex, in every age, it is beautiful. » The disciple St. Cyprian imitates his master Tertullian, in the Book on the Good of Patience: « Patience, he says, is that which commends us to God, and preserves us. It is that which tempers anger, restrains the tongue, governs the mind, guards peace, rules discipline, breaks the onslaught of lust, restrains the violence of pride, extinguishes the fire of rivalry, curbs the power of the rich, comforts the poverty of the poor, protects the blessed integrity in virgins, the laborious chastity in widows, the indivisible love in those joined and married: it makes them humble in prosperity, strong in adversity, gentle against injuries and insults, teaches the guilty to forgive quickly; if you yourself sin, to ask earnestly and at length: it overcomes temptations, endures persecutions, completes sufferings and martyrdoms. » Therefore, St. Basil in Admonition to a Spiritual Son teaches that patience is the singular means to acquire perfection. « Son, he says, grasp patience, for it is the greatest virtue of the soul, so that you may quickly ascend to the height of perfection. Patience is a great remedy for the soul: impatience, however, is the ruin of the heart. » And St. Thomas Aquinas, when asked, « Who is perfect? » replied: « He who does not speak vain things, and easily suffers being despised. For whom you see indignant or saddened at his own contempt, do not call him perfect, even if you see him performing miracles. » For virtues without patience are like a wall without lime and cement, which therefore immediately collapses. Therefore, the lime, bond, and support of virtues is patience. Hence Bede here: « He whose patience cannot be overcome is proven to be perfect. » Fourthly, Perfect and whole is, says Aristotle, in Book IV of Physics, that which lacks nothing. But patience lacks nothing, indeed it supplies all the deficiencies of virtues and other things: therefore, it is not only perfect, but also perfecting and consummating virtues and other things; thus it completes and perfects the imperfect works of other virtues. Hence St. Cyprian, in the Treatise on Patience: « Remove, he says, patience from charity, and it does not endure when desolate. » And St. Gregory, Homily 35 on the Gospel: « Patience, he says, is the root and guardian of all virtues. » Dionysius the Carthusian gives a twofold reason: First, because the adversities which patience endures extinguish self-love, which is the cause of all imperfection and evil; second, because patience produces six perfect works: first, the subjugation of anger, envy, and other passions; second, the testing of man and his virtues; third, possession of oneself; fourth, joy of the spirit; fifth, governance of all actions, so that man is moderate and circumspect in them; sixth, the attainment of eternal life. St. Thomas adds, I II, Question 66, Article 4, Response to 2, where he teaches that patience has a perfect work, because it uproots disordered sadness, which is the cause and root of anger, hatred, vengeance, and all evil. Truly Boethius in Book IV of the Consolation, Prose 6: “Certain men, he says, unconquerable by torments, shone as an example to others, that virtue is invincible against evils.” And Lactantius, Book III of the Institutions: “Blessed, therefore, is the wise man in torments: but when he is tormented, for faith, for justice, for God, that patience of pain will make him most blessed.” St. James alludes to the ancient athletes in the Olympic contest. For a perfect athlete was named he who had perfectly performed all the exercises of his contest, with the endurance of labors, continence, and a lawful regimen of diet; and accordingly, being prepared for all things, ready for every part where the adversary might have drawn him, he had learned by long practice to transfer his hand and effort there: for such athletes are patient. Hence St. Ephrem, in Oration on the Praise of the Holy Martyrs, calls them most perfect athletes. « These are, he says, O beautiful soldiers of Christ, the signs of your victory: these, O most proven athletes, and perfect divine warriors, the rewards of your faith and fortitude. » Therefore, the Gentiles, seeing and admiring such great patience of Christians, especially of the Martyrs, through it were converted to the faith of Christ. For they declared that a virtue so heroic and perfect could not flow from nature, but only from God and His faith and grace. Fifthly, just as a trunk carries a beam with all its branches and fruits: so patience carries the whole of man and the burden and weight of all virtues, such as all difficulties, all hardships, all adversities, etc., and that with a serene mind, expression, and face. Hence Tertullian portrays the image of patience thus, in the place already cited: « His face is tranquil and calm, his forehead pure, with no wrinkle of sorrow or anger, his eyebrows relaxed in a cheerful manner, his eyes cast down with humility, not unhappiness; his mouth marked with the honor of silence. His color, as of one secure and harmless. A frequent movement of his head against the devil, and a threatening laugh. Moreover, his garment around his chest is white, and pressed to his body, so that it neither swells nor is disturbed; for he sits on the throne of his most gentle and mild spirit, which is not gathered in a whirlwind, nor in the cloud of the moon; but is of tender serenity, open and simple, which Elias saw a third time, 1 Kings 19:12. For where God is, there also is His foster-child, namely patience. Therefore, when the spirit of God descends, undivided patience accompanies Him. » And Prudentius in Psychom., describing the duel between anger and patience, thus depicts him: Behold, patience stood with a modest, grave expression, Unmoved through the midst of battle lines and various tumults, Watching the wounds and vital parts pierced by rigid spears, Her gaze fixed, and she lingered slowly. Clement of Alexandria in a homily referred to in Volume I of the Councils, page 1205, extols patience with wondrous praises, and finally concluding says: « Therefore every good thing patience supplies to us. » And Climacus, Step 27: « Patience, he says, is the unbroken labor of the soul, stirred by no nearby crashes. Patience is the daily expected resolution of vexation, etc. The patient one is dead before the tomb: for he has made the tomb his cell. » Sixthly, patience has God as its agonothete and debtor. So truly (says Tertullian in the place cited) is God a sufficiently suitable guarantor of patience: if you deposit an injury with Him, He is an avenger; if a loss, a restorer; if pain, a physician; if death, a resurrector. To what extent does patience allow that God be its debtor? He adds the reason: For He guards all His decrees: He intervenes in all His commandments. And a little before chapter 14, praising the patience of St. Job: « O most blessed, he says, is he who conquered every form of patience against all the power of the devil. Whom neither the herds driven off, nor the sons taken away in a single rush of ruin, nor finally the torment of his body in ulcers, excluded from the patience and faith owed to the Lord, whom the devil struck with all his strength in vain, etc. What kind of bier did God construct from the devil for that man? What kind of banner of His glory did He raise from the enemy, when that man, at every bitter message, brought forth nothing from his mouth except thanks to God? What? Did God laugh? What? Was the evil one (the devil) torn apart? Does not, therefore, patience have a perfect work, which gives to St. Job and the Saints perfect victory over the devil, the flesh, the world, and all vices, and a heavenly triumph? » St. Augustine in Psalm 42 says that patience is a cithara, tribulations are the strings, which, when struck, produce a melody: for in like manner patience produces a sweet melody in the ears of God, while it praises God in tribulations and gives thanks to Him. « For all patience, he says, is sweet to God: but if you fail in the very tribulations, you have broken the cithara. » Seventhly, patience has a perfect work: because its primary work and act is martyrdom, says Thomas Anglicus, which is the most noble and perfect work. For the martyr is the boxer of God, the athlete of Christ, the victor of the world, the conqueror of death, and therefore merits both the present and eternal laurel of martyrdom, and receives it immediately. Therefore, patience creates and crowns martyrs. In like manner, patience conquers and overcomes whatever is terrible and formidable in the world, and thus makes the life of man serene, calm, composed, and perfect. For our whole life, and therefore each action and each moment, is full of miseries, pains, and crosses: all these patience continually sustains and overcomes until the end of life. It is therefore the unique refuge, support, and crown, both of life and of all sufferings, and it transfers man to an impassible and immortal life, and thus perfects and blesses him. Therefore, the other virtues are often only useful to man: but patience is always and everywhere necessary. Hence Bion, according to Laertius, Book IV, Chapter vii, said that it is a great evil not to be able to bear evil: for without this no one can have a sweet life. But Antisthenes, in the same author, Book VI, Chapter I, said that virtue suffices for happiness, and has need of no other thing except Socratic strength: but Socrates had hardened himself to the patience of all things. Eighthly, because it makes us most like the most patient Christ, according to that saying: « Those whom He foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren, etc., these He also glorified, » Romans 8:29, that is to say, God predestined us to be like Christ in the Church, both militant and triumphant: there in grace, here in glory; there in patience, here in a crown; and consequently that we might be perfect, because patience makes us like angels and God. « God, says Seneca in The Wise Man, is beyond patience, the wise man is above patience. » Tertullian, in Book on Patience, Chapter 16: « Let us love, he says, the patience of God, the patience of Christ. Let us offer to Him what He Himself offered for us. Let us offer the patience of the flesh, the patience of the spirit, we who believe in the resurrection of the flesh and the spirit. » On this matter, Marsilius Ficinus philosophizes brilliantly in Book V to Bastianus Salvinus: « O wondrous power of patience! Indeed, other virtues fight against fate in some way; but patience, either alone or most of all, overcomes fate: for what fate has decreed to be immutable and necessary, patience, agreeing with the will of divine providence, in a certain way changes, so that it makes voluntary what was necessary: just as he who acts evilly turns good things into evil for himself, so he who suffers evils well turns them into good for himself, namely in enduring evils he himself becomes good. » Hence he concludes that patience is so perfect a good that without it the other things of men cannot be perfected. For what is begun by the other virtues is perfected by it. And after much, in a Letter to Antonius Cocchium: « Patience, he says, especially teaches three things: first, that you willingly endure evils, which nature itself commands you not to endure; second, that you make voluntary for yourself what fate (the providence and decree of God) has decreed to be necessary; third, that you turn any evils into goods; which is the task of God alone. In the first, indeed, it commands to oppose nature, in the second to overcome fate, and in the third, finally, it commands (so to speak) to equal oneself to God. » And a little later: « The whole life of men in this evil region of the world, and with minds contrary to heavenly things, seems to be nothing other than a certain sickness and perpetual pain. Added to this is the greatest evil of impatience, which is so evil that nothing is evil to us without it, nothing is good with it; but patience, by bearing evils well, transforms them into good; and by using good things well, enjoys them most happily. » It is, therefore, the medicine of all evils: because through it we are joined and agree with God, who is all good, etc. « In this one thing the whole power of patience consists, that we endure well as if it were good, whatever happens under the governance of infinite goodness. » The Gentiles also saw this through a shadow. Burrhus, the prefect, when visited by Nero, by whom he was said to have had his throat smeared with poison as if a remedy were being applied, was driven to sickness and death; Burrhus, having now understood the crime, turned away from him, and to Nero’s many inquiries, he responded nothing else but: « I am well, because I follow fate and the providence of God, which destined this death for me, though adorned by your crime: therefore, you should be ashamed, while I must rest in the decree of the divine will concerning my death. » Alexander, after the murder of the Roman Emperor Antoninus, when he heard that the barbarians with great forces were invading him and the Roman Empire: « It befits, he said, strong and moderate men to hope for the best, but to bear whatever happens (as if coming from the divine will): for just as he who provokes first seems to injure himself, so he who repels an injury becomes more confident from his conscience, and from justice draws good hope. » So says Herodian, Book VI. Zeno, when asked how he bore insults: « In the same way, he said, as if an ambassador were dismissed without a response. » Indicating that those who have nothing to respond with often resort to insults, and thus they should be valued no more than if nothing had been answered: so says Laertius, Book VII, Chapter I. Hence Philip, king of the Macedonians, gave thanks to those who insulted him: « Because, he said, while I try to prove them wrong with my deeds, I become better: » so says Plutarch in Sayings of Kings. Alfonso, king of Aragon, when a history of Titus Livius was sent to him, was warned not to accept and read it because the book was infected with poison; he accepted and read it, saying: « Do you not know that the souls of kings are not subject to the whims of private individuals, but live secure and joyful under the care of God? » For a king is God’s vicar on earth, indeed His image and mirror: so say Panormitanus and Aeneas Sylvius in Deeds and Sayings of Alfonso. St. Basil, in the Treatise on the Utility to Be Gained from the Books of the Gentiles, celebrates the patience of Pericles and Euclid. « Someone, he says, in the marketplace attacked Pericles with all manner of insults. But he, seeming not to care, endured it for nearly the whole day: then in the evening, as the man was leaving, he accompanied him with a light, lest he falter in his philosophical pursuit. Again, someone in a rage swore to Euclid of Megara that he would bring death upon him. But Euclid swore in return that he would bear it patiently, and that he would be reconciled even to this hostile man, however unwilling. Therefore, it greatly helps to inspire us that such examples of men restraining their anger enter our memory. » And a little later: « Someone struck Socrates’ face with violent force: but he, entirely unmoved, allowed the raging man to vent and satisfy his anger: to the point that he left Socrates swollen and bruised from the blows. But when the man ceased by yielding, Socrates is said to have done nothing else but write on his own forehead: Such a one did it; as if it were the name of the maker on some statue; and in this way he took his revenge. » Therefore, just as Apelles inscribed on his perfect and exquisite paintings, Apelles did it: so let the patient one, on the perfect and heroic deeds of his endurance, with which he depicts and adorns patience as if it were a heroine in his soul, inscribe: « Patience did it. » Finally, Epictetus in Arrian, Chapter v: « What, I ask, he says, would Hercules have been, if there had not been a bull and a lion, and a hydra, and a stag, and a bear? »

Verse 4b

UT SITIS PERFECTI ET INTEGRI, ET IN NULLO DEFICIENTES.q. d. Si sitis patientes, et in patientia usque ad finem vite perseverantes, uti dixi, eritis perfecti et integri: patientiae enim perseverantia habet opus perfectum, facitque perfectos et integros. Jam primo, Thomas Anglicus hæc tria ita distinguit: Perfecti, inquit, sunt, qui sufferunt longam durationem tentationum; «integri, » qui earumdem acerbitatem et pondus; « in nullo deficientes, qui earumdem varietatem et multiplicitatem. Secundo, idem: Perfectio, ait, consistit in agendo, integritas in patiendo, absentia defectus in perseverando. Tertio et genuine, hæc tria idem, vel pene idem significant. Est enim unius ejusdemque rei per alia et alia verba exaggeratio, q. d. Patientice perseverantia faciet undequaque perfectos, integros et in nullo deficientes, ut scilicet in fide et virtute Christiana constanter usque ad mortem profitenda, prosequenda et propugnanda sitis integri, omnibusque officii Christiani partibus et numeris absoluti, quantum fragilitas nature lapse et corrupte patitur, ut ab ea nullo metu et terrore, nullis penis, nullis promissis vel illecebris illecti deficiatis, atque nullum in ea tædii vel pusillanimitatis, nullum impatientiæ, tristitiae, similisve perturbationis vitiique motum vel in mente, vel in phantasia, vel in appetitu, vel in voluntate sentiatis, quem non illico superetis et comprimatis: spiritus enim per patientiam subditus Deo Deique voluntati, per eamdem subdet sibi animam, anima subiget sibi sensus, corpus et membra. Deus enim per patientiam sanctificabit, sibique subiget et perficiet vestrum spiritum, et per spiritum animam, et per animam sensus et membra, facietque ut omnia sancta, integra et perfecta illi, quasi integram patientiæ victimam offeratis. Hoc est quod ait Paulus, II Thessal. v, 23: « Ipse autem Deus pacis sanctificet vos per omnia, ut integer vester spiritus, et anima et corpus, sine querela in adventu Domini nostri Jesu Christi servetur.»Vide ibi dicta. Nota: Pro perfecti græce est τελειοι, quod Secundo, verti potest selecti, eximii, summi. Sic enim apud Lucianum τελειοι θεοι, vocantur Dei perfecti, id est, præcipui et summi: heroes enim habebantur a Gentilibus dii, sed minores. Tertio, « adulti: » nam τελειος ανηρ vocatur vir adultus, integræ aetatis et magnitudinis, ut sensus sit: ut sitis in patientia et virtute Christiana, non pueri, sed viri et adulti, ut virtus vestra non sit tenera et puerilis, sed constans et virilis, juxta illud Apostoli, Ephes. 4, 12: Ad consummationem Sanctorum, etc., donec occurramus omnes in unitatem fidei et agnitionis Filii Dei, in virum perfectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi, ut jam non simus parvuli, etc. Quarto, solidi. Quinto, a sancti et sacri,» quasi hostiæ patientes et pacificæ consecratæ Deo: τελεια enim ιερα vocabant hostias eximias, luculentas, largiores et sanctiores; et τελειωσις , id est, perfectio et consummatio, vocatur ipsa purificatio, consecratio et sanctificatio, ipsumque martyrium, quo patientes et martyres Deo consecrantur et immolantur. Unde S. Gregorius Nazianzenus martyres vocat τελειωθέντας δι αίματος, id est, Deo consecratos suo sanguine. Hinc et τελειωτος vocatur initiatus sacris, sacerdos. Nota secundo: Pro deficientes, Græce est λειπομενοι, id est cedentes, cadentes, vieti, fracti, diminuti: λειπομαι enim idem est quod deficio, cado, defatigor, succumbo, vincor, impar et inferior sum, linquor animo. Vult ergo Jacobus, ut Christiani nulla persecutione, nulla adversitate, nullo onere, nulla diuturnitate, nullo tædio defatigentur animisque cadant, ut vel tantillum a fide aut officio Christiano recedant, vel recedere destinent; sed corde forti, æneo et marmoreo in eo persistant, omniaque adversa constanter evincant et superent; itaque integritatem fidei, patientiæ et virtutis omni ex parte intactam et illibatam conservent, ne quid in ea sit mancum, mutilum, languidum, enerve, fatiscens, vel quoquo modo imminutum et deficiens. Patientiæ enim pes frangitur per impatientiam, cum injuriis succumbit: manus frangitur, cum in aliis opitulando defatigatur : lumbi luxantur, eum tarda fit et pigra, etc. Idem est de corpore et membris, integritate et mutilatione cæterarum virtutum, quæ sæpe defectum, mutilationem et quasi deliquium quoddam patiuntur instar lunæ. Talis est illa, de qua Bernardus, serm. De obedientia, patientia et sapientia: «Cæterum, ait, nec leprosa obedientia, nec canina patientia commendatur; illa nimirum cutem exulcerat, hæc jecur rodit et fel effundit.

THAT YOU MAY BE PERFECT AND WHOLE, LACKING IN NOTHING. That is to say, if you are patient, and persevere in patience until the end of life, as I have said, you will be perfect and whole: for the perseverance of patience has a perfect work, and makes you perfect and whole. Now first, Thomas Anglicus distinguishes these three thus: Perfect, he says, are those who endure the long duration of temptations; « whole, » those who endure their sharpness and weight; « lacking in nothing, » those who endure their variety and multiplicity. Second, the same: Perfection, he says, consists in acting, wholeness in enduring, the absence of defect in persevering. Third and genuinely, these three signify the same, or nearly the same. For it is an exaggeration of one and the same thing through different words, that is to say, the perseverance of patience will make you perfect, whole, and lacking in nothing in every way, so that you may be steadfast in professing, pursuing, and defending the Christian faith and virtue until death, and be whole, complete in all parts and aspects of Christian duty, as far as the frailty of fallen and corrupted nature allows, so that you do not fall away from it, enticed by any fear or terror, any punishments, any promises or allurements, and feel no movement of weariness or faint-heartedness, no impatience, sadness, or similar disturbance or vice, whether in the mind, the imagination, the appetite, or the will, which you do not immediately overcome and suppress: for the spirit, through patience, being subject to God and His will, through the same subdues the soul to itself, the soul subdues the senses, the body, and the members. For through patience, God will sanctify, subdue to Himself, and perfect your spirit, and through the spirit the soul, and through the soul the senses and members, and He will make all things holy, whole, and perfect for Him, so that you may offer them to Him as a whole victim of patience. This is what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 5:23: « May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, so that your whole spirit, soul, and body may be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. » See the sayings there. Note: For "perfect" in Greek, it is teleioi (τελείοι), which, secondly, can be translated as chosen, excellent, supreme. For thus in Lucian, teleioi theoi (τελείοι θεοί) are called perfect gods, that is, foremost and supreme: for heroes were considered by the Gentiles as gods, but lesser ones. Third, « mature: » for teleios aner (τελειος ανηρ) is called a mature man, of full age and stature, so that the meaning is: that you may be in patience and Christian virtue, not children, but men and mature, so that your virtue may not be tender and childish, but steadfast and manly, according to the saying of the Apostle in Ephesians 4:12: For the equipping of the saints, etc., until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may no longer be children, etc. Fourth, solid. Fifth, « holy and sacred, » as if victims of patience and peace consecrated to God: for teleia hiera (τελεια ιερα) were called exceptional, splendid, more abundant, and holier victims; and teleiosis (τελειωσις), that is, perfection and consummation, is called the purification itself, consecration, and sanctification, and the very martyrdom by which the patient and martyrs are consecrated and offered to God. Hence St. Gregory Nazianzen calls martyrs teleiothentas di’ haimatos (τελειωθέντας δι αίματος), that is, consecrated to God by their blood. Hence also teleiotos (τελειωτος) is called one initiated into sacred rites, a priest. Second note: For "lacking" in Greek, it is leipomenoi (λειπομενοι), that is, yielding, falling, defeated, broken, diminished: for leipomai (λειπομαι) means the same as I fail, I fall, I grow weary, I succumb, I am overcome, I am unequal and inferior, I am forsaken in spirit. Therefore, James wishes that Christians be not wearied in spirit nor fall by any persecution, any adversity, any burden, any duration, any weariness, so that they withdraw even the slightest bit from Christian faith or duty, or intend to withdraw; but that with a strong heart, of bronze and marble, they persist in it, and steadfastly conquer and overcome all adversities; and so preserve the integrity of faith, patience, and virtue intact and unblemished in every way, lest there be anything in it defective, mutilated, weak, feeble, faltering, or in any way diminished or lacking. For the foot of patience is broken by impatience when it succumbs to injuries: the hand is broken when it grows weary in helping others: the loins are dislocated when it becomes slow and sluggish, etc. The same applies to the body and members, the integrity and mutilation of the other virtues, which often suffer defect, mutilation, and a kind of fainting, like the moon. Such is that which Bernard speaks of in Sermon on Obedience, Patience, and Wisdom: « Moreover, he says, neither a leprous obedience nor a dog-like patience is commendable; the former indeed ulcerates the skin, the latter gnaws the liver and pours out bile. »