Caesarius of Arles

Our Lord Jesus Christ gave great assurance to his witnesses, that is, to the martyrs who, on account of their human weakness, were worried that perhaps they would perish after death if they died while confessing him. He did this by telling them, “Not a hair of your head will be harmed.” Are you, whose hair will not be harmed, afraid of perishing? If inconsequential things in your life are protected in this way, under how much protection is your soul? A hair, which you do not feel when it is cut, does not perish; does the soul, through which you feel, perish? To be sure, he foretold that they were going to suffer many difficult circumstances, in order that by his prediction he might make them stronger. They said, then, to him, “My heart is steadfast.” What does this mean, “My heart is steadfast,” except that my will is strong? In their martyrdom the martyrs had their will steadfast, but “their will was made steadfast by the Lord.” As they thought about the future harsh and difficult evils, he added, “By patient endurance you will save your lives.” By patient endurance, he said, for patient endurance would not be there if your will were not in it. “In patient endurance,” but where does ours come from? Both what we possess and what is given to us are ours, for if it were not ours, it would not be given to us. How do you give something to another, unless it comes to belong to the one to whom you are giving it? That confession is revealed: “Will not my soul be subject to God? For from him comes my patience.” He himself tells us, “In patient endurance.” Let us also say to him, “From him comes my hope.” He made it yours by giving it to you; do not be ungrateful by attributing it to yourself.

When a person lays aside his past sinfulness, he is suddenly endowed with new dignity, with that cup of divine love of which it is said, “And your cup which inebriated me, how it overflows!” Inebriated with that cup, I repeat, hearts taste the sweetness of heavenly things through the strength of spiritual wisdom. Then they may merit to hear, “Taste and see how good the Lord is.” Now he said “taste,” because love of God can refresh the soul but cannot satisfy the desire, regardless of the amount of faith or longing with which it is sought. More and more, it arouses thirst when it is, as it were, tasted beforehand with the edge of the lips, and for this reason he says of himself, “He who eats of me will hunger still, he who drinks of me will thirst for more.” Because of its sweetness, it arouses an appetite for itself, but it does not cause disgust from satiety. Just as people who are experienced in drinking wine are likely to thirst all the more when they have become drunk, so it is with the devout and chaste soul that is prudent and contrite and that can, therefore, say with the psalmist, “You have given us stupefying wine,” when it has begun to think about hope in a future life and to imbibe a thirst for heavenly goods. It knows how to be filled but not how to be satisfied, so that the more it consumes according to its capacity, the more it lacks in its eagerness, and it can join with the prophet in that word of longing: “My soul pines for your salvation”;4 and again: “My flesh and my heart waste away, O God of my heart”; moreover, “My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord.”

For this reason, the unquenchable fire there will have to burn whatever healing penance and a salutary conversion of life here has failed to cure. The burning pit of hell will be open, and to it there will be a descent but no means of return. Souls that have been stripped of the garment of faith and are mortally dead will be buried there forever, destined to be cast into the darkness outside where they will not be visited for all eternity. They will be unhappily shut out in exterior darkness, I repeat, or rather they will still more unhappily be enclosed in it. Concerning this pit the prophet relates, “Let not the abyss swallow me up, nor the pit close its mouth over me.” He said, “Let not the pit close its mouth over me” for this reason, because when it admits the guilty, it will be closed above and opened below, extending to the depths. No breathing space will be left, no breath of air will be available when the doors press down from above. Those who say farewell to the things of nature will be cast down there; since they have refused to know God, they will no longer be recognized by him, and dying to life they will live for endless death. The happy souls who now use their wealth wisely, content with bodily necessities and generous with their possessions, pure in themselves and not cruel toward others, free themselves from the fiery night of this infernal region. This punishment will detain those who will perish for all eternity, since they have lost the grace of baptism and have not restored it through repentance. To them it is said, “The chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”

That cluster of grapes that was brought from the land of promise on a lever across the shoulders of two men further prefigured Christ. Just as it was hung on the wood and brought by the services of those two men, so Christ, who came from the flesh of a virgin as from the promised land, was between both Testaments, between the two peoples of the Jews and Gentiles, and was hung on the wood of the cross. Now of the two men who walked beneath the burden of that cluster of grapes, the first one signified the Jewish people of whom it is said, “Let their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, and keep their backs always feeble.” However, the man who came after prefigured our people, that is, the Gentiles who believe and keep Christ before their eyes. They intend always to follow him as a servant does his master or a disciple his teacher, as the Lord says in the Gospel: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Moreover, this cluster of grapes poured forth the wine of his blood that was pressed out under the weight of the cross for our salvation and gave the church that chalice of his passion to drink. For this reason it was said to the apostles at the time of the birth of the church, “They are full of new wine.”

Perhaps someone may say, Why did God cause Pharaoh to be hardened by sparing him, and why did he remove his scourges? At this point I reply with assurance: God removed his scourges so often because by the immense number of his sins Pharaoh did not merit to be rebuked as a son for the amendment of his life, but like an enemy he was allowed to become hardened. Such great sins of his had preceded, and he had despised God so often with wicked boldness, that in him was fulfilled what the Holy Spirit said concerning such people: “They are free from the burdens of mortals and are not afflicted like the rest of humanity. So pride adorns them as a necklace; as a robe violence clothes them. Out of their crassness comes iniquity.” Behold how a person is hardened if he does not deserve to be chastised by our Lord for his correction. Moreover, what is written concerning those whom God’s mercy does not allow to become hardened? “God scourges every son whom he receives”;28 furthermore, “Those whom I love I rebuke and chastise”; and again, “For whom God loves he reproves.” Concerning this hardening the prophet also exclaims to the Lord in the person of the people: “Why do you harden our hearts so that we do not fear you?” Surely, this is nothing else than: You have abandoned our heart, that we should not be converted to you.

We have said this, brothers, so that you may know that in the Old Testament God’s justice orders a year’s punishment to make up for the sin of one day. In other words, the people were tormented in the desert for forty years because of the defection of forty days. What will happen to us if, after receiving the grace of Christ who redeemed us with his own blood, we still take pleasure in committing not only slight sins but perhaps even criminal offenses? Therefore, as I have frequently advised, if a person knows he has committed some serious sin, he should have recourse to the remedies of repentance while there is still time and it is within his power to do so. Indeed, conversion in the present life and penance that is fruitfully performed bring a swift cure to wounds of this kind, for repentance not only heals a past wound but also guards the soul against further injury through sin. Now I will add something more. For example, if I am a sinner will I suffer the same punishment if I have offended just once, as I will if I sin twice or a third time and even more frequently? Not at all. The amount of punishment is to be measured according to the manner, number and measure of sin, for God will give us “the bread of tears and tears to drink,” but “with ample measure.” Every person will then reap the things he sought in this life by sinning more or less.

However, we should not be without anxiety, dearly beloved, because we know that [God] is keeping his patience for such a long time. The fact that such great things happen in the world and he still does not avenge them indicates patience, not carelessness. God has not lost his power but is preserving us for repentance. Yet, the longer he awaits your amendment, the harsher will be your punishment if you refuse to amend. God indeed holds the sword, and he wishes to strike sin; we, on the contrary, defend our sins because we love them. Thus, we who should be the accusers of our sins become their defenders. Truly, dearly beloved, God does not want to kill the sinner, but his sin. Like a good doctor he wants to strike the disease, not the person who is ill. But, what is worse, we often despise the doctor and love our sickness: we love our sin and despise God. Sin, indeed, is like this, a dragon, a viper; but concerning the Lord it is written, “You shall walk on the lion and the cobra; and you shall trample under foot the young lion and the serpent.” We, on the other hand, embrace our sins like lions and dragons. But our God, who wants to punish sin and save the sinner, daily exclaims to humanity: Cast off your sin from you, and without you it will die. If you refuse to throw aside your sin, you will perish with it, for sin cannot go unpunished. God wants to kill sin, not to strike the sinner.

If we return to our psalms rather frequently, brothers, we shut off the approach to worldly thoughts; the spiritual song dominates, and carnal thoughts depart. The psalms are the weapons of the servants of God. The one who clings to the psalms does not fear the enemy, for our Lord says concerning this adversary, “Your adversary is the devil.” The devil suggests adverse thoughts, in order that he may kill us if he can; on the other hand, we have right thoughts, if we read the psalms aloud quite frequently. The devil says, Be proud; I repeat with the psalm what our Lord says: “He shall not dwell within my house who practices pride”; and elsewhere: “God resists the proud”;38 also in Solomon: “A proud person knows nothing. He has a morbid passion for contention.” He [the devil] would not encourage pride, if he knew that it had a place among the servants of God in paradise. This is why the devil especially encourages monks to be proud, in order that they may afterwards be excluded from the place from which he was expelled. If he had not been proud, he would have kept his preeminence in heaven. He encourages quarrels, he excites hatred, he himself stirs up people, but you should resist him like the true psalmist by saying, “O Lord, set a watch before my mouth, and let not my heart incline to evil words.”

You do nothing with regard to the reward; you do not act alone in the deed. Your crown comes from him, but the work is yours, although it does not happen without his help. When the apostle Paul, who was first Saul, was an exceedingly cruel and fierce persecutor, he merited nothing good at all but rather a great deal of evil; he deserved to be damned, and not chosen among the elect. Then suddenly, while he was doing evil and meriting evil, he was thrown to the ground by a voice from heaven. The persecutor was cast to the ground, and the preacher was lifted up. Listen to him admitting his own condition: “I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance, but I have been treated mercifully.” Did he say there: “The just judge will give an award to me”? “I have been treated mercifully,” he said; I deserved evil but received good. “Not according to our sins does he deal with us.” I obtained mercy; what was due to me was not given to me, for if what was due had been rendered, punishment would have been given. I did not receive what was due to me, he says; I have been treated mercifully. “Not according to our sins does he deal with us.”

As you know, that psalm [104 (103 LXX)] contains the words “The sun knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness, and it is night.” What person, though unlettered, does not understand and know that when the sun reaches its setting, immediately night and darkness appear? Why, then, was it necessary for the prophet to say what is evidently understood by everyone? Likewise what follows: “Then all the beasts of the forest roam about. Young lions roar for the prey and seek their food from God.” Can there be found anyone who does not know this? Truly, it is known to everyone that when night comes all the beasts roam about everywhere. Since, as you see, we ought not receive this according to the letter, listen attentively, as is your custom, to their spiritual significance.Now what the psalmist said, “The sun knows the hour of its setting,” is not to be taken concerning the sun but with regard to him of whom the prophet says, “For those who fear your name there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” Of him we read in Solomon that the wicked will say, “The sun did not rise for us.” Therefore, Christ is the true sun of justice. He knew his setting when he yielded to his passion for our salvation; for when he was crucified, night and darkness took hold of the souls of his disciples. Truly, brothers, how was there not darkness in those who did not believe Christ was risen from the dead? Finally, when the women reported that they had seen the Lord, “this talk seemed to the apostles to be nonsense, and they did not believe the women.” Moreover, on another occasion the two disciples spoke thus to the Lord who was talking to them: “But we were hoping that it was he who should redeem Israel.” When the apostles spoke these words, then was fulfilled those others: “The sun knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness, and it is night.”

After this the prophet added the words “The sea also, great and wide, in which are schools without number of living things.” The sea is understood as the world, which is full of storms and dangerous waves, even full of bitterness and saltiness. It also has quite large fish that do not cease to devour the smaller ones. There are numberless creeping things, so-called because they creep over the earth. For this reason carnal people and those who are too fond of the world, because they think only of the present life and continuously apply themselves to its pursuits out of love for it, are not unfittingly called creeping things. Furthermore, the words “The sea also, great and wide, where ships move about” are not to be understood relative to the ships of wood that are carried over the sea by the force of the wind but to the catholic church. While the latter desires to reach the port of paradise by holy, just works, it is beaten by many waves of tribulation and the winds of various storms. Moreover, although it is tossed by the violent beating of the winds, it is so well directed by the oars of holy discipline, so well driven by the breath of the Holy Spirit, that it is carried to eternal life by the Festal very adversities that oppose it. In this sea there is also that dragon of which it is written: “This sea dragon that you formed to make sport of it.” That dragon is understood as the devil. He is apt to play in the wicked in such a way that not only does he persuade them to sin but, using them as his ministers, he does not cease to persecute even those who are holy and just. This dragon was made a good angel by God, but since he exalted himself against God by pride and fell from that happy angelic state, deceiving himself by pride, through God’s hidden but just judgment he is permitted to deceive with his cunning careless people.

I implore, you, dearly beloved, always to call to mind and remember what we have mentioned for the salvation of your soul. Do not accept it only in passing; our sermon ought to fasten its roots in your heart, so that on judgment day it may happily bear the fruits of eternal life. If a person can retain all that we say, he should thank God and always teach others what he remembers. If he cannot remember the whole, let him remember a part of it. If one cannot retain the whole, then let each one remember three or four thoughts. If one then tells another what he heard, by informing each other you can not only remember it all but even with Christ’s help fulfill it in deed. One may say to another, “I heard my bishop talking about chastity.” Another may say, “I remember that he preached on almsgiving.” Still another says, “There has remained in my mind what he said about cultivating our soul like we till our land.” Another may report, “I recall that my bishop said that a person who knows letters should be eager to read sacred Scripture, and one who does not should look for someone and ask him to read God’s precepts to him so that with God’s help he may fulfill what was read.” Again, another may say, “I heard my bishop say that just as merchants who are illiterate hire learned mercenaries so that they may acquire wealth, so Christians should seek, ask and, if necessary, pay for someone to read the sacred Scriptures to them; that just as a trader gets money by having someone else read, so Christians should obtain eternal life in this way.” If you do this and admonish each other, you can both live devoutly in this world and afterwards attain to the bliss of eternal life. If you immediately forget all that you heard from the bishop as soon as you leave church, you have come to church without profit and return to your home empty and without fruit. Far be this from you, brothers; may there rather be fulfilled in you what is written: “Blessed are they who keep judgment and do justice at all times.” Moreover, “The mercy of the Lord is from eternity and to eternity on them that fear him, and his justice to children’s children to such as keep his covenant and are mindful of his commandments, to do them.” May the Lord in his goodness bring you to this mercy.

If we notice carefully, we will realize that what our Lord said to the blessed apostles also refers to us: “You are the light of the world,” he says, “and no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel but on the lampstand, so as to give light to all in the house.” Now, if the head’s bodily eyes refuse to show the way to the rest of the members, the whole body walks in darkness. Similarly, if priests, who seem to have the function of eyes in the body of Christ the head, have been put on a lampstand in the church but are unwilling to shine in God’s house and have ceased to show the light of doctrine to the whole church, it is to be feared that some of the people may become involved in the darkness of error and fall into some abyss of sin. The fact that the Lord said his word is a lamp is not a trite utterance, for we read, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, O Lord.” Now, profits of the present world are understood in the nature of a bushel. Who, indeed, puts a lamp under a bushel, except the person who darkens the light of doctrine with the profits of material advantages and fears to preach the truth lest he have less of the temporal possessions he desires? Thus, a person puts a lamp under a bushel if he prefers material to spiritual gains.