title: Evangelium secundum Marcum

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 114, coll. 179A–244C

source_text:
## PROLOGUS B. HIERONYMI.

[0179A]

[n: ( Vide Opera ejus. )]

## CAPUT PRIMUM.

VERS. 1.-- *Initium Evangelii. [n: (ISID.)]* Evangelium, *bona annuntiatio,* quod proprie ad regnum Dei et remissionem peccatorum pertinet. Unde: *Poenitemini et credite Evangelio: et appropinquavit regnum coelorum.*

[n: (HIER.)] Quatuor Evangelia unum sunt, et unum quatuor. Itaque et Marci liber dicitur Evangelium, et similiter aliorum: quia unum omnia, et omnia unum.

*Jesu Christi. [n: (HIER.)]* Jesus Hebraice, Soter Graece, Salvator Latine, Christus Graece, Messias Hebraice, unctus Latine, id est, rex sacerdos: dicitur [0179B] de genere David regis, et Levitico.

*Filii Dei. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthaeus dicit: *filii David filii Abraham [n: (Matth. I)]*. Marcus dicit: *filii Dei,* ut paulatim a minoribus ad majora, etc., *usque ad* Joannes ab aeternitate Verbi Dei inchoat, in resurrectione Domini consummat.

VERS. 2.-- *Sicut scriptum est.* Marcus prophetarum testimonia praemittit quibus haec vetera et non nova, sed a prophetis praescita et praedicta asserit, in quo et Judaeos qui legem et prophetas susceperant ad Evangelium invitat: et gentiles qui Evangelium tenebant ad venerationem legis et prophetarum provocat, ne quis juxta haereticos alterum sine altero suscipiat.

*Ecce mitto. [n: (BEDA.)]* Angelus dicitur Joannes non [0179C] societate naturae, ut mentitur Origenes, sed officii dignitate: sicut et sacerdotes, de quibus dicitur: *Labia sacerdotis custodiunt scientiam, et legem exquirunt ex ore ejus, quia angelus Domini exercituum est [n: (Mal. II)]*.

[n: (ID.)] Nota quod hoc testimonium: *Ecce ego mitto angelum,* etc., Malachiae est, utrumque tamen dicit Isaiae esse, quia, etc., *usque ad* omnes prophetae uno spiritu locuti sunt quasi uno ore.

VERS. 3.-- *Clamantis. [n: (ISID.)]* Ad Judaeos surdos propter peccata longe positos, indignationis clamore dignos. *In deserto.* In deserto fit vox et clamor: quia deserta domus Judaea vacans scopata sine spiritu Dei, propheta, rege, sacerdote. Unde Jesus et Joannes quaerunt quod in deserto amissum [0179D] est. Ubi vicit diabolus, ibi vincitur: ubi cecidit homo, ibi resurgit.

*Parate. [n: (ISID.)]* Poenitentiam agite et praedicate. Unde Parasceve ante sabbatum, etc., *usque ad* ut possideamus quieti terram desiderabilem.

*Viam Domini. [n: (HIER.)]* Via Domini qua ad homines ingreditur, poenitentia est, per quam ad nos Deus descendit, et nos ad illum ascendimus. Unde angeli ascendentes descendentesque memorantur super Filium hominis.

*Rectas facite semitas. [n: (ISID.)]* Praecipit, ut regia [0180A] via euntes, proximos diligamus ut nos, et nos, etc., *usque ad* ut non separetur os ab opere, nec opus ab ore.

Semitae post viam, quia mandata moralia post poenitentiam secundum Marcum vel Matthaeum explanantur. Paratur via per fidem et baptismum et poenitentiam.

Rectae semitae per austera indicia vestis, zonae, cibi, potus, vocis humillimae.

VERS. 4.-- *Joannes. [n: (ISID.)]* Gratia Dei. A gratia Dei incipit, unde sequitur: *Baptizans,* etc. Per baptismum peccata dimittuntur; unde: Quod *gratis accepistis, gratis date [n: (Matth. X)]*. Et Apostolus: *Gratia salvati estis [n: (Ephes. II)]*.

*Baptizans. [n: (HIER.)]* Baptismum poenitentiae dedit, baptismum in remissionem peccatorum praedicavit, [0180B] tamen non dedit. Sicut praedicatione, etc., *usque ad* nunc per amicum sponsi inducitur sponsa, ut Rebecca Isaac, per puerum pallio albo velata.

VERS. 5.-- *In Jordane [n: (ID.)]* Jordanis aliena descensio, ubi peccata absolvuntur. Arca enim, etc., *usque ad* corpus Christi, non mundatis non proficit, sed in deterius mutat.

*Confitentes,* etc. *[n: (ID.)] Confessio et pulchritudo in conspectu ejus [n: (Psal. CXV)]*, id est sponsi. Unde desilit sponsa de camelo, cum se humiliat Ecclesia Christo, qui figuratur per Isaac, in cujus nativitate risum fecit Deus Sarae. Sicut ad Mariam dicitur, quae est princeps cum Deo: *Benedicta tu in mulieribus [n: (Luc. I)]*.

[0180C] [n: (BEDA.)] Confitentes peccata sua baptizantur. Debent enim melioris vitae novitatem promittere, qui baptismum, etc., *usque ad* et sic mundatos Christianam religionem promittentes in Ecclesiae membra commuta.

VERS. 6.-- *Et erat Joannes,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Vestis prophetae et cibus et potus, totam austeram vitam praedicantium significant, et gentes, etc., *usque ad* quia omnia a gratia Evangelii, in qua non est distinctio Judaei et Graeci.

*[n: (BEDA.)] Vestitus pilis cameli.* Quia peccata non fovit, sed aspere increpavit, dicens: *Genimina viperarum,* etc. Zona pellicea, etc., *usque ad* in melle enim dulcedo, in locusta alacer volatus, sed cito deciduus.

VERS. 7.-- *Fortior me. [n: (HIER.)]* Quis fortior est [0180D] gratia qua abluuntur peccata? Ille qui, etc., *usque ad* et usque ad centum quadraginta quatuor millia pervenit.

*Solvere corrigiam. [n: (BEDA.)]* Modus fuit apud veteres, ut si quis eam quae sibi competeret, accipere uxorem nollet, ille, etc., *usque ad* Redemptoris vestigia nudare non valeo, quia sponsi nomen mihi non usurpo.

[n: (HIER.)] Corrigia calcamentorum, id est mysterium Incarnationis Dei. Calx enim, etc., *usque ad* sponsa in patriarchis, amica in prophetis, proxima [0181A] in Maria et Joseph, dilecta in Joanne Baptista, columba in Christo et apostolis.

VERS. 8.-- *Ego baptizavi vos aqua. [n: (BEDA.)]* Nondum Joannes dicit Deum aut Dei Filium esse aperte, quia rudes erant auditores: sed paulatim per humanitatem glorificatam ad fidem divinitatis ducit, dicens: *Ille vero baptizabit vos Spiritu sancto.* Sed postea cum capaciores jam videret, Dei Filium jam aperte praedicat dicens: *Testimonium perhibuit, quia hic est Dei Filius [n: (Joan. III)]*.

*[n: (ISID.)] Ego baptizo vos aqua, ille,* etc. Dei fluvius semper plenus, semper aequalis, de quo: *Fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei [n: (Psal. XLV)]*. Multum distat, etc., *usque ad* unctio Christi de amaritudine passionis pervenit ad gloriam resurrectionis; [0181B] unde Apostolus: *Hoc sentite in vobis, quod et in Christo Jesu,* etc., usque: *Propter quod et Deus illum exaltavit [n: (Phil. II)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *Et baptizatus est in Jordane.* Tribus causis: Ut justitiam et humilitatem impleret; ut baptismum Joannis comprobaret; ut Jordanis aquas sanctificans per descensionem columbae Spiritum sanctum in baptismo adesse monstraret.

[n: (HIER.)] Marcus: Sicut cervus desiderans ad fontes aquarum saltus dat, culmina pratorum carpit, palmas in vertice portat, velut apis melliflua flores agri (cui odor veri Isaac similatur) summatim gustat. Unde a Nazareth Galilaeae venientem Jesum ad baptismum, etc., *usque ad: Vincenti dabo edere de ligno vitae, quod est in paradiso Dei mei [n: (Apoc. II)]*.

[0181C]VERS. 10.-- *Vidit apertos coelos,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Mysterium Trinitatis in baptismo demonstratur: Filius baptizatur, Spiritus est in columba, Pater in voce sonat. Aperiuntur coeli, etc., *usque ad* apud nos manebit et in nobis erit juxta mensuram fidei Spiritus. De Christo autem dicitur: *Plenum gratiae et veritatis [n: (Joan. I)]*.

*Manentem in ipso.* Manet in eo Spiritus, non ex quo baptizatus, sed ex quo conceptus. Quod autem in baptismo descendit, significat nobis gratiam spiritualem in baptismo dari, quibus in remissionem peccatorum ex aqua et Spiritu regeneratis solet amplior Spiritus gratia per impositionem manus episcopi coelitus dari.

VERS. 11.-- *Tu es Filius meus dilectus. [n: (BEDA.)]* [0181D] Non quod nesciebat docetur, sed nobis quod credere debeamus ostenditur, ipsum scilicet, etc., *usque ad* bene autem in specie columbae descendit Spiritus, quae simplex animal et sine felle: quia simplices quaerit, nec habitat in mentibus impuris.

VERS. 12.-- *Spiritus. [n: (ID.)]* Ne dubium quis spiritus, Lucas consulte praemittit: *Jesus plenus Spiritu sancto regressus est a Jordane;* deinde intulit: *et agebatur a Spiritu in desertum, ne putetur immundus* spiritus quidquam contra eum potuisse.

VERS. 13.-- *Quadraginta diebus. [n: (ID.)]* Totum tempus significat, quo membra ejus diabolus tentat. Quadripartitus enim mundus per observantiam decem praeceptorum contra diabolum certando Domino famulatur. [0182A] Quater vero decem quadraginta faciunt. Ubique et semper adest adversarius, qui iter nostrum impedire non cessat.

*Eratque cum bestiis.* Nos quoque si in eremo sanctae conversationis bestiales hominum mores impolluta mente toleramus, mysterium angelorum meremur, a quibus corpore absoluti in coelum transferamur

VERS. 14.-- *Postquam autem. [n: (ISID.)]* Accepimus gratiam pro gratia, carnalia decollantur, spiritualia vivificantur. Cessante umbra, adest veritas. Joannes in carcere, lex in Judaea, Jesus in Galilaea, salus in gentibus.

*Praedicans,* etc. *[n: (HIER.)] Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsi possidebunt [n: (Matth. V)]*, etc. Regno terreno [0182B] succedit paupertas, paupertati Christianorum regnum sempiternum; unde: *Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo [n: (Joan. XVIII)]*: omnis enim honor terrenus, spuma, fumus, somnus.

VERS. 15.-- *Poenitemini. [n: (HIER.)]* Amaritudinem radicis dulcedo pomi compensat: pericula maris spes portus delectat, dolorem medicinae spes salutis mitigat. Qui desiderat nucleum, nucem frangat: poenitentiam agat, qui vult aeterno adhaerere bono. Praeconia Christi narrare possunt, qui ad palmam indulgentiae pervenire meruerunt. Unde post poenitentiam praedicatores eliguntur.

VERS. 16.-- *Vidit Simonem. [n: (HIER.)]* Simon, *obediens;* Andraeas, *virilis;* Jacobus, *supplantator;* Joannes, *gratia.* His nominibus, etc., *usque ad* per prudentiam [0182C] obedimus, per justitiam viriliter agimus, per temperantiam serpentes calcamus, per fortitudinem Dei gratiam meremur.

[n: (ID.)] Quem non inebriat eloquentia saecularis? Difficile homines potentes, et nobiles, et divites, et multo his difficilius eloquentes credunt Deo. Obcaecatur mens eorum divitiis et opibus atque luxuria, et circumdati vitiis non possunt videre virtutes, simplicitatemque Scripturae sanctae, non ex majestate sensuum, sed ex verborum judicant utilitate.

[n: (ID.)] Vocantur quatuor piscatores, Simon, Andraeas, Jacobus et Joannes: relictis omnibus sequuntur. Hac quadriga vehimur ad aethera, etc., *usque ad* pellibus Salomonis tegimur, quibus sponsa [0182D] se gloriatur formosam.

[n: (BEDA.)] Quaeritur quomodo primum Petrum et Andream et post pusillum Jacobum et Joannem vocaverit, sicut narrat, etc., *usque ad* tunc enim non subductis ad terram navibus tanquam cura redeundi, sed tanquam vocantem et jubentem secuti sunt.

*Et ingrediuntur. [n: (HIER.)]* Marcus dicta Evangelii in semetipso disponens, ordinem historiae non secutus, mysteriorum ordinem servat, unde in sabbatis primam virtutem narrat dicens: *Et ingrediuntur,* etc.

*Capharnaum. [n: (ID.)]* Capharnaum villa consolationis, sabbatum requies. Homo in spiritu immundo, [0183A] genus humanum, in quo immunditia, etc., *usque ad* Pharao dimissus ab Israel, persequimur eum, diabolus contemptus surgit in scandala.

[n: (BEDA.)] Quod sabbato maxime curat et docet, ostendit se non sub lege esse, sed supra: et docet nos verum sabbatum, ut saluti scilicet animarum studentes, ab omni opere servili, id est, ab omnibus illicitis abstineamus.

## CAPUT PRIMUM. (cont.)

VERS. 22.-- *Erat enim,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Scribae dicebant quae scripta erant in Moyse et prophetis; Jesus, ut Deus et Dominus, ipsius Moysi libere quae deerant legi addebat vel commutabat; unde in Matthaeo: *Audistis quia dictum est antiquis,* etc. *Ego autem dico vobis.*

VERS. 24.-- *Quid nobis,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Non est hic voluntatis [0183B] confessio, sed necessitatis extorsio: sicut servus fugitivus visum dominum timet, et de verberibus deprecatur. Daemones enim in terris Dominum cernentes, se continuo judicandos credebant esse.

VERS. 25.-- *Obmutesce. [n: (ID.)]* Congruo ordine lingua serpentina quae prima virus sparsit, ne ultra spargat primo obcluditur, deinde, etc., *usque ad* ut sit idem ordo restaurationis in Domino, qui perditionis in protoplasto.

VERS. 26.-- *Discerpens. [n: (ID.)]* Vel convexans, sicut quidam codices habent. Lucas autem dicit quia nihil ei nocuit. Sed quod Marcus ait, *discerpens,* idem est quod Lucas: *cum projecisset eum in medium.* Quod [0183C] vero addidit, *nihilque nocuit:* intelligendum est quia illa jactatio non eum debilitavit: sicut exeunt daemones amputatis vel avulsis aliquibus membris.

[n: (ID.)] Virum a daemonio liberatum, animum ab immunda cogitatione purgatum intelligimus. Feminam vero a febribus consequenter curatam, carnem a concupiscentiae fervore per continentiae praecepta frenatam.

VERS. 27.-- *Quidnam est?* Per ea quae vident ad inquisitionem eorum quae audierant excitantur. Ad hoc enim et ipse Dominus signa facit, et discipulis facere dedit, ut per hoc Evangelio certius credatur, dum qui coelestia promittunt terrenis, coelestia et divina opera operentur in terris.

VERS. 30.-- *Et statim dicunt ei,* etc. Lucas dicit [0183D] quia rogaverunt pro illa. Modo enim Salvator rogatus, modo ultro curat, ut contra vitiorum quoque passiones, et se precibus fidelium semper adesse, et quae non intelliguntur, vel intelligenda dare, vel non intellecta, dimittere pie petentibus ostendat. Unde: *Delicta quis intelligit? ab occultis meis munda me [n: (Psal. XVIII)]*.

VERS. 31.-- *Apprehensa.* Socrus Petri febricitans apprehensa manu levatur. Febris intemperantia est, de qua nos filii Synagogae per manum disciplinae et levationem desiderii sanamur, et hujus qui sanat nos ad vesperam declinantis a nobis ministramus voluntati.

*Ministrabat eis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Tropologice: Id est, [0184A] membra quae servierant immunditiae, serviant justitiae.

VERS. 32.-- *Vespere autem. [n: (ID.)]* Occasus solis mors Christi. *Afferebant ad eum omnes male habentes.* Plures enim per apostolos post mortem suam sanavit, quam cum in carne vivens Judaeis praedicavit.

VERS. 33.-- *Ad januam. [n: (HIER.)]* Janua regni moraliter poenitentia est cum fide, quae operatur salutem variis languoribus. Varia enim sunt vitia, quibus languescit civitas mundi.

VERS. 34.-- *Quoniam sciebant eum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Lucas dicit apertius: *Exibant daemonia a multis,* etc., *quia sciebant eum esse Christum.* Daemonia ergo Christum esse sciunt et Filium Dei, etc., *usque ad* unde [0184B] Paulus: *Nemo principum hujus saeculi cognovit. Si enim cognovissent, nunquam Dominum gloriae crucifixissent [n: (I Cor. II)]*.

VERS. 35.-- *Et diluculo. [n: (ID.)]* Sicut per occasum solis mors, sic per diluculum resurrectio Christi cujus manifesta luce abiit in desertum gentium et in fidelibus orabat, quia eorum corda ad orationem excitabat.

VERS. 38.-- *Ad hoc enim veni. [n: (VICT. ANT.)]* Commode hoc subdit evangelista. Neque enim solo illius divinitatis auctoritas per hoc adumbratur, verum etiam spontaneae evacuationis humilitas. Lucas autem, quo verbi oeconomiam exprimat, *ad hoc enim missus sum,* scribit. Quare is Patris de Verbi incarnatione beneplacitum apostolatus nomine designat.

[0184C]VERS. 39.-- *Et erat praedicans in synagogis. [n: (BEDA.)]* In hac praedicatione intelligitur etiam sermo ille habitus in monte quem refert Matthaeus; nam, etc., *usque ad: Et ecce leprosus veniens adorabat eum, dicens: Domine, si vis, potes me mundare [n: (Matth. VIII)]*.

VERS. 40.-- *Et genu flexo,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Humilis pudibundus. Debet enim quisque de maculis vitae suae erubescere, sed confessionem verecundia non reprimat: ostendat vulnus, remedium poscat.

[n: (HIER.)] Leprosus genuflexo Domini voluntatem deprecans mundatur qui non vult mortem peccatoris, sed, etc., *usque ad: Date eleemosynam: et ecce omnia munda sunt. [n: (Luc. XI)]*.

[0184D] [n: (BEDA.)] Leprosus genus humanum significat, qui, secundum Lucam, lepra plenus fuisse perhibetur. *Omnes enim,* etc., *usque ad* et vero sacerdoti offerre *corpora sua hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem [n: (Rom. XII)]*.

*Si vis potes. [n: (ID.)]* In voluntate tribuit potestatem, nec dubitat ut incredulus de voluntate Domini, sed colluvionis suae conscius non praesumit.

[n: (ID.)] Qui exclusus a lege Domini se potestate curari postulat, supra legem judicat gratiam esse. Ut enim in Domino potestatis auctoritas, sic in illo fidei constantia.

VERS. 41.-- *Extendit manum. [n: (ID.)]* Leprosum tangi lex prohibet, sed quia Dominus legis est, non [0185A] obsequitur legi, sed legem facit. Non ideo tangit, quia sine tactu curare non poterat, sed sic probat, quia legi subjectus non erat.

*Volo, mundare. [n: (ID.)]* Illud mirabile, quo rogatur eo sanat genere. *Volo, mundare: et cum dixisset, statim discessit ab eo lepra.* Nihil medium inter opus et praeceptum. *Dixit et facta sunt [n: (Psal. XXXII)]*. Vides quia voluntas potestas est. Itaque, etc., *usque ad: Volo* enim dicit propter Potinum, imperat propter Arium, tangit propter Manichaeum.

VERS. 44.-- *Vide,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Non quia voluit quod non potuit, quia *omnia quaecunque voluit fecit [n: (Psal. CXIII)]*. Sed docet nostra beneficia reprimi, non tantum a mercede pecuniae, sed etiam gratiae.

*Ostende te,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Ut intelligat non legis ordine, [0185B] sed gratia quae super legem est esse curatum. Offerre jubet, ut ostendat quia non legem solvit, sed implet, dum secundum legem gradiens supra legem sanat, quos remedia legis non sanabant. Nec sacrificium significans cessare debebat, cum nondum significatum confirmatum erat constitutione apostolorum et fide credentium.

VERS. 45.-- *At ille egressus. [n: (ID.)]* Unius salvatio multos ad Dominum cogit. Non potest tacere beneficium, etiam jussus ab eo qui dedit. Praecepit Dominus abscondi. Vult enim, ut in bonis quae agimus latere velimus, quod est humilitatis; et inviti prodamur ut aliis prosimus, quod magnae est sublimitatis, cum etiamsi ipsi velimus, opera non possunt taceri.

[0185C] *Ita ut jam,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Non omnibus manifestatus est Jesus, qui latis atque plataneis serviunt laudibus et propriis voluptatibus, sed his, etc., *usque ad* quos nihil potest separare a charitate Dei.

## CAPUT II.

VERS. 2.-- *Ita ut non caperet,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Praedicante Domino, in domo non capiuntur, neque ad januam: quia praedicante in Judaea Christo gentiles ad audiendum nondum intrare voluerunt, ad quos tamen (etsi foris positos) doctrinae suae verba direxit per praedicatores suos.

VERS. 3.-- *Paralyticum. [n: (HIER.)]* Paralysis typus est torporis, quo piger jacet in mollitie carnis, habens desiderium salutis: sed turbis, etc., *usque ad* [0185D] ut per aliam viam cum Magis in suam regionem redeat.

*A quator portabatur. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quia quatuor virtutibus ad Dominum fiducia mentis erigitur. De quibus dicitur in libro Sapientiae: *Sobrietatem et sapientiam docet, et scientiam et virtutem [n: (Sap. VIII)]*, quas alii prudentiam, fortitudinem, temperantiam et justitiam nuncupant.

VERS. 4.-- *Nudaverunt tectum ubi erat.* Tectum domus in qua Christus docet, sublimitas est Scripturae, *in qua corrigit adolescentior viam suam, in custodiendo sermones tuos [n: (Psal. CXVIII)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Domus Jesu secundum alium evangelistam tegulis tecta dicitur, quia vilitate litterae sensus spiritualis [0186A] tegitur. Cum grabato ante Jesum deponitur, quia cognoscere Jesum debet etiam in carne hac constitutus.

VERS. 5.-- *Cum autem vidisset. [n: (ID.)]* Multum valet apud Deum fides propria, ubi tantum valuit aliena: ut homo interius et exterius sanatus repente exsurgeret, aliorumque meritis sua ei relaxarentur errata.

*Fili.* Mira humilitas, despectum ab omnibus, dissolutum totis artubus, filium vocat. Aut certe ideo, quia dimittuntur ei peccata.

VERS. 6.-- *Dimittuntur tibi peccata.* Ostendit propter peccata fuisse morbo percussum, et ideo non posse sanari nisi prius his dimissis. Sicut paralytico ad piscinam: *Ecce sanus factus es, jam noli peccare, [0186B] ne deterius tibi contingat [n: (Joan. V)]*. [n: (BEDA.)] Quinque de causis afficiuntur homines molestiis carnis. Aut propter merita augenda, ut Job et martyres. Aut propter humilitatem, etc., *usque ad* Lazarus, cujus infirmitas non fuit ad mortem, sed pro gloria Dei, aut ad initium aeternae damnationis, ut Herodes.

VERS. 7.-- *Quis potest dimittere. [n: (ID.)]* Verum dicunt: Solus Deus hoc potest, solus etiam per eos dimittit quibus potestatem dimittendi peccata tribuit, ideo vere Deus. Verum testantur, sed personam Christi negando falluntur. Errant igitur, quia ut Deum esse, et peccata dimittere credunt, Christum tamen esse eum non credunt. Sed dementius Ariani, qui et Christum esse et peccata dimittere negare non audent: Deum esse negare non timent.

[0186C]VERS. 9.-- *Quid est. [n: (ID.)]* Quasi dicat: Qua potentia cordis occulta intueor, eadem peccata dimitto. Quasi dicat: Ex vobis intelligite quid consequatur paralyticus.

VERS. 10.-- *Filius hominis. [n: (ID.)]* Solus Deus dimittit peccata, et Filius hominis habet potestatem dimittendi peccata: ergo idem Deus et Filius hominis est. Ita homo Christus per divinitatem dimittit peccata, per humanitatem pro peccatoribus potest mori.

VERS. 11.-- *Vade in domum tuam. [n: (ID.)]* Qui languerat, grabatum domum reportat, cum anima peccatorum remissione curata, se ad diuturnam sui custodiam cum ipso corpore refert: ne quid iterum unde feriatur admittat.

[0186D]VERS. 13.-- *Et egressus,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Post curationem paralytici in Capharnaum ad mare egreditur, quia non solum cives, sed et maris habitatores instruit, et fluctivagos mundi motus fidei firmitate, etc., *usque ad* et ab undis cupiditatum separatos ad solitudinem, quiete conversationis quae est in spe coelestium, pertrahit.

VERS. 14.-- *Levi. [n: (HIER.)]* Levi additus, quia a telonio negotiorum saecularium sequitur solum verbum quod dicit: quia *qui non renuntiat omnibus quae possidet, non potest meus esse discipulus [n: (Luc. XIV)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Marcus et Lucas verecundiae causa et honore evangelistae nomen vulgatum non ponunt. Ipse (secundum hoc quod scriptum est: *Justus in primis [0187A] accusator est sui [n: (Prov. XVIII)]*; Matthaeum se et publicanum nominat: ut ostendat nullum conversum debere de salute diffidere cum apostolus et evangelista de publicano sit factus repente.

*Secutus est eum. [n: (ID.)]* Lucas plenius: *Et relictis omnibus secutus est eum [n: (Luc. V)]*. Sequitur, qui ut pauperem Christum non tam corporis gressu quam mentis affectu possit sequi, omnia relinquit, etc., *usque ad* merito ergo qui obediendo humana contempsit negotia, divinorum dispensator factus est talentorum.

VERS. 15.-- *Et factum est. [n: (ID.)]* Lucas: *Fecit eis convivium magnum Levi in domo sua [n: (Luc. V)]*. Qui enim Christum intus recipit, voluptatum delectatur ubertate, et Dominus libenter ingreditur, et in ejus [0187B] recumbit affectu. Hoc est spirituale convivium bonorum pauperum, quo dives eget, pauper epulatur.

*Publicani.* Qui publica vectigalia exigunt, vel saeculi lucra sectantes, qui exemplo publicani conversi jam de salute praesumunt, nec ut Pharisaei calumniantur in vitiis permanentes, sed poenitentes.

[n: (BEDA.)] Ad convivium peccatorum vadit: ut docendi occasionem habeat, et spirituales cibos impertiat. Eundo ad peccatores, Domini humilitas ostenditur: in conversione poenitentium patet doctrinae ejus potentia.

[n: (ID.)] Per vocationem Matthaei fides gentium: quae, relictis lucris saeculi, epulis charitatis et operum bonorum cum Domino convivantur. Per pharisaeorum supercilium, de salute gentium Judaeorum invidia [0187C] designatur, quibus dicitur: *Publicani et meretrices praecedent vos in regno Dei [n: (Matth. XXI)]*.

VERS. 17.-- *Non necesse. [n: (ID.)]* Si medicum dicit, qui miro medicandi genere vulneratus est propter *iniquitates nostras, et livore ejus sanati sumus [n: (Isa. LIII)]*.

VERS. 18.-- *Et erant discipuli. [n: (ID.)]* Alii evangelistae dicunt pharisaeos et discipulos Joannis hoc quaesivisse. Hic videtur dicere, quod alii quaesierunt quos ejusdem rei cura movisset. Unde colligitur hoc a pluribus fuisse objectum, a pharisaeis, a discipulis Joannis, a convivis, vel quibuslibet aliis.

[n: (ID.)] Discipuli Joannis et Pharisaeorum jejunant, quia qui operibus legis gloriantur, vel (quod pejus est) traditiones sequuntur, etc., *usque ad* manducavit [0187D] cum peccatoribus, ut gratiam cernens potestatem agnosceres.

VERS. 19.-- *Nonquid possunt.* Matthaeus ita: *Nunquid possunt filii sponsi lugere quandiu cum illis est sponsus,* etc. [n: (Matth. IX.)] Sponsus Christus, sponsa Ecclesia, de quo spirituali connubio apostoli creati sunt, qui lugere et jejunare non possunt, quandiu sponsum cum sponsa vident. Quando transierint nuptiae, ac passionis et resurrectionis tempus advenerit, tunc jejunabunt.

[n: (BEDA.)] Quandiu sponsus nobiscum est, in laetitia sumus, nec jejunare possumus, nec lugere; cum vero pro peccato recedit et avolat, tunc jejunium indicendum, tunc luctus multiplicandus.

[0188A]VERS. 21.-- *Nemo assumentum. [n: (ID.)]* Discipulos, vestimenta vetera dicit, id est, adhuc carnales, necdum innovatos fidei firmitate, etc., *usque ad* vinum, fervor fidei, spei et charitatis, quo in conspectu Dei intus sensus novitate reformamur.

VERS. 22.-- *Sed vinum novum.* Erant autem novi, cum post ascensionem desiderio consolationis ejus sperando et orando innovabantur: tunc Spiritum sanctum acceperunt, quo quasi novo musto novi utres repleti sunt.

VERS. 23.-- *Cum sabbatis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Nota primo apostolos litteram sabbati destruere contra Ebionitas, qui, cum alios discipulos recipiant, Paulum quasi transgressorem legis repudiant.

*Et vellere spicas.* Esuriunt ut homines, prae turba [0188B] manducandi spatium non habentes. Sed exemplum austerioris vitae praebent, non praeparatas epulas, sed simplices quaerunt.

[n: (BEDA.)] Discipuli per sata transeunt, cum praelati subditos pia sollicitudine circumspiciunt, et qualiter quemque ad fidem trahant, sedule, etc., *usque ad* hoc Dominus sabbati probat, stulti defensores sabbati improbant, qui solam litterae superficiem diligunt, mentis refectionem nesciunt, requiem animarum non norunt.

VERS. 25.-- *Nunquam legistis,* etc. Prae caeteris in medium affert Davidem, qui legis sanctimoniae adversatus videri potuit. Facit autem hoc eo consilio quo per honorem et reverentiam quam Davidi deferebant, compescat impudentem sycophantiam, [0188C] quam apostolis maligne intentarunt. Quasi diceret: An non Davidem legis servitute obstrictum meministis? Ego autem, etsi Filius hominis dicar, sabbati Dominus sum.

VERS. 26.-- *Sub Abiathar,* etc. Non te turbet quod alii dicunt Achimelech, ambo enim tunc illic aderant. Achimelech pater, et Abrathar filius: qui occiso patre a Saule, comes exsilii David factus est, et eo regnante summus pontifex majoris nominis quam pater: et ideo dignus cujus Dominus mentionem faceret, quasi summi sacerdotis, etiam patre vivente.

*Panes propositionis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quasi dicat: Si David et Achimelech a nobis non reprehenduntur, sed pro [0188D] fame excusantur, cur in his causam improbatis quam in caeteris probatis? quamvis sit, etc., *usque ad* et omnes filii Ecclesiae sacerdotes sunt, juncti in sacerdotium sanctum, offerentes seipsos spirituales hostias Deo.

*Et dedit eis.* Hoc secutus. *Misericordiam volo, et non sacrificium [n: (Ose. VI)]*: melius judicavit a famis periculo homines liberare quam sacrificium offerre. Hostia Deo placabilis, hominum salus.

VERS. 27.-- *Homo propter sabbatum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Ita sabbatum custodiri praeceptum est, ut si necessitas fuerit, non sit reus, etc., *usque ad* si quis jejunium fregerit aegrotus, reus non tenetur.

VERS. 28.-- *Itaque Dominus.* Quasi dicat: Si David rex et sacerdotes (secundum alium evangelistam) [0189A] propter templi ministerium sabbatum violantes, crimine carent, quanto magis Filius hominis verus Rex et Sacerdos! et ideo Dominus sabbati in sabbato vulsarum spicarum crimine non tenetur reus.

## CAPUT III.

VERS. 1.-- *Manum aridam. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quae ad fructum vetitum extensa est, a bono opere aruit, per manus Christi in cruce extensas, bonorum operum succis restituta.

[n: (HIER.)] Homo iste significat avaros, qui, nolentes dare, volunt accipere, praedari et non largiri: quibus dicitur ut extendant manus suas, id est, qui *furabatur jam non furetur, magis autem laboret operans [0189B] manibus suis quod bonum est, ut habeat unde tribuat necessitatem patienti [n: (Ephes. IV)]*.

VERS. 2.-- *Et observabant. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quia discipulos probabiliter excusaverat: ipsum observant, ut si in sabbato curet, transgressionis: si non curet, crudelitatis aut imbecillitatis arguant.

*Licet sabbatis benefacere. [n: (ID.)]* Arguit, quod legis praecepta prava interpretatione violant, aestimantes in sabbato a bono feriandum, cum lex dicat, etc., *usque ad* similitudinem praeposuit de ove, et conclusit quod *licet sabbato benefacere.*

*Animam. [n: (ID.)]* Hominem totum per partem significat. Vel quia propter animam hoc faciebat, vel quod haec manus sanatio animae salutem significat.

*Perdere. [n: (ID.)]* Non quod summe pius quemquam [0189C] possit perdere, sed ejus non salvare est perdere. Sicut dicitur indurasse cor Pharaonis, non quod obduravit, sed obduratum non emollivit.

VERS. 5.-- *Extende manum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Infructuosa debilitas animae non melius curatur quam eleemosynae largitione; unde: *Qui habet duas tunicas, det non habenti: et qui habet escas, similiter faciat [n: (Luc. III)]*. Et in Ecclesiastico: *Fili, non sit manus tua porrecta ad capiendum et ad dandum collecta [n: (Eccl. IV)]*. Frustra enim in oratione manus ad Dominum expandit, qui eas ad rogantem viduam non extendit.

*Et restituta est manus illi.* Magnum studium nequitiae in crimen reputant., quod ad verbum illius sanata est manus. Neque et sabbato potest convinci [0189D] laborasse, qui dixit et facta sunt: cum ipsi in sabbatis cibos portent, calices porrigant, et caetera victui necessaria.

VERS. 6.-- *Exeuntes autem.* Qui per se non possunt, socios iniquitatis quaerunt. *Cum Herodianis.* Ministri Herodis propter inimicitias quas ipse adversus hominem exercebat, Jesum insidiis et odiis persequebantur quem Joannes praedicabat.

VERS. 7.-- *Secessit.* Fugit ut homo, quia nondum venerat hora ejus, et passionis ejus extra Jerusalem non erat locus.

[n: (BEDA.)] De synagoga secedit ad mare, etc. Judaeam relinquit, ad gentes venit cum discipulis, scilicet praedicantibus apostolis corda gentium adiit: et sic [0190A] multos ad se venientes suscepit, et desideratam salutem dedit.

*Et multa turba. [n: (ID.)]* Magistri plebis et ministri regis odio persequuntur: vulgus indoctum dilectione sequitur, et plurimi sanari merentur.

VERS. 9.-- *Navicula.* Ecclesia de gentibus congregata fluctus saeculi mente transgressa: quae quanto sinum cordis gratiae recipiendae dilatat, tanto fluctus saeculi securius calcat. *Ne comprimerent.* Comprimunt, qui Ecclesiae pacem turbant. Tangunt, qui fidem vero corde et dilectione suscipiunt, qui tetigere sanati esse perhibentur: fugiens comprimentes naviculam ascendit.

VERS. 11.-- *Et spiritus immundi,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Uterque et plagas habentes, et immundi spiritus. [0190B] Sed infirmi pia intentione salutis: daemoniaci, vel potius in eis daemones: non solum timore coacti ad procidendum, verum etiam ad confitendum majestatem ejus. Praesentia enim ejus perterriti, quem Filium Dei esse jamjamque noverant, celare non poterant. Saniores Arianis, qui etiam hodie negant Filium Dei esse.

VERS. 12.-- *Ne manifestarent. [n: (ID.)]* Non solum daemones, qui inviti, vel ab eo sanati, qui sponte confitentur: sed et apostoli toto orbe post passionem praedicaturi, ante passionem tacere jubentur, ne divina majestate praedicata passio differretur, et sic salus mundi.

VERS. 13.-- *Et ascendens. [n: (ID.)]* Postquam immundos spiritus se praedicare prohibuit, sanctos elegit, [0190C] qui eum praedicarent et nefandos spiritus ejicerent.

Mons iste significat altitudinem justitiae, qua instruendi, et quam praedicaturi erant, per locum admonet ad coelestia erigi, sic et legem in monte dedit.

[n: (HIER.)] Consuetudo divinae Scripturae est allegorice loqui: sed nos sic excelsa sensibus nostris applicemus, ut historiae veritatem, etc., *usque ad* in montem vocantur excelsi et merito et verbo, ut locus congruat meritis altis.

VERS. 14.-- *Ut essent duodecim.* Speciem Jacob dilexit Deus cum videret excelsus gentes, et separaret filios Adam. Statuit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israel, ut sint super thronos duodecim, judicantes duodecim tribus Israel. Quibus [0190D] data est potestas, quam Filius accepit a Patre secundum carnem, ut opera quae ipse fecit et ipsi faciant, et majora horum faciant.

[n: (BEDA.)] Dedit etiam potestatem mortuos suscitandi, sicut Matthaeus dicit, ut virtus ostensa fidem, etc., *usque ad* quia *linguae in signum sunt non fidelibus, sed infidelibus [n: (I Cor. XIV)]*.

VERS. 16.-- *Et imposuit. [n: (ID.)]* Non modo primum, sed cum adducto ab Andraea dixit: *Tu vocaberis Cephas, quod interpretatur Petrus [n: (Joan. I)]*. Sed hic evangelista te attentum reddit dicens, quod, etc., *usque ad* vel audiens tristitiam mortis, scilicet cum ei dicitur: *Alius te cinget et ducet quo tu non vis [n: (I Cor. IV)]*.

[0191A]VERS. 17.-- *Et Jacobum.* Qui supplantata habet desideria carnis. Et Joannem, qui gratia accepit quod alii per laborem. *Et imposuit eis nomen Boanerges, quod est filii tonitrui.* Quorum sublime meritum in monte meretur audire tonitruum Patris per nubem de Filio tonantis: *Hic est Filius meus dilectus [n: (Matth. XVII)]*, ut per nubem carnis et ipsi Christi ignem ac fulgura in pluviam spargerent in terris. quoniam Dominus in pluviam fulgura fecit, ut exstinguat misericordia quod judicium exurit; unde: *Misericordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Domine [n: (Psal. C)]*.

*Jacobum.* Qui curam carnis Domino vocante supplantavit, et ipsam carnem Herode trucidante contempsit.

[0191B] *Joannem. [n: (BEDA.)]* In quo est gratia, vel *Domini gratia,* qui ob amoris praecipui gratiam quam virginali gloria promeruit, supra Redemptoris sui pectus in coena recubuit.

*Filii. [n: (ID.)]* Quorum unus intonans, vocem theologam (quam nemo prius edere noverat) emisit: *In principio erat Verbum,* etc. [n: (Joan. I.)] Quam tanto pondere gravidam reliquit, ut si aliquanto plus intonare voluisset, nec ipse mundus capere potuisset.

VERS. 18.-- *Et Andream. [n: (HIER.)]* Qui viriliter vim facit perditionis suae ut responsum mortis semper in se habeat et animam semper in manibus suis.

*Et Philippum. [n: (ID.)]* Qui *os lampadis* est, qui illuminat ore quod accepit, cui datum est opus oris [0191C] illuminati. Hoc locutionis genus saepe Scriptura commemorat, quando nomina propter mysteria sunt posita: quod nunc evangelista, ex Dei persona vehementer affectans interserit.

*Et Bartholomaeum. [n: (ID.)]* Qui est filius suspendentis aquas, illius scilicet qui dixit: *Mandabo nubibus meis ne pluant [n: (Isa. V)]*. Nomen vero filii Dei per pacem et dilectionem acquiritur: *Beati* enim *pacifici, quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur [n: (Matth. V)]*. Et: *Diligite inimicos vestros* ut sitis *filii Dei [n: (Luc. VI)]*.

*Et Matthaeum.* Qui est *donatus:* cui non solum remissio peccatorum, sed etiam in apostolorum numero esse datur, *ut leo et bos simul comedant, et lupus cum agno [n: (Isa. XI)]*.

Nota, quod alii evangelistae Matthaeum praeponunt, [0191D] et publicanum non dicunt. Ipse post Thomam se ponit, et publicanum se dicit.

*Et Thomam. [n: (ID.)]* Qui est *abyssus.* Multi enim profunda sciunt, sed non proferunt. *Unde scio hominem in Christo,* etc., usque: *quae non licet homini loqui [n: (II Cor. XII)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Thomas abyssus: quia altitudinem virtutis in resurrectione penetravit. Vel geminus, graece quod dicitur *didymus,* id est, dubius propter dubium cor, quia resurrectionem vix credidit.

*Et Jacobum Alphaei.* Id est, docti vel millesimi, cujus *a latere cadent mille, et decem millia a dextris tuis [n: (Psal. XC)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Jacobum Alphaei, qui et frater Domini dicitur: [0192A] quia Maria Alphaei fuit soror, etc., *usque ad* post resurrectionem statim Jerosolymorum ordinatur episcopus, tanquam doctus vel docti filius.

*Thaddaeum.* Custos cordis. Hunc Lucas in Evangelio, et in Actibus apostolorum Judam Jacobi nominat, quia frater Jacobi fratris Domini. Unde dicitur filius Mariae matris Jacobi et Joseph et Judae et Simonis.

*[n: (HIER.)] Et Thaddaeum,* qui est *corculus,* id est, cordis cultor qui servat cor suum omni custodia. Munditia namque cordis videtur Deus ut per vitrum mundum.

*Et Simonem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Simon Cananaeus a Cana vico Galilaeae, qui et Simon *Zelotes,* id est, aemulator. Cana, Zelus; Cananaeus, Zelotes.

[0192B] *Et Simonem Cananaeum.* Qui et Zelotes Simon ponens vel habens tristitiam. *Beati* namque *qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur [n: (Matth. V)]*. Trinum luctum implet qui consolationem quaerit futuram. Deflet propria peccata cum David et Maria. Cum Paulo flet cum flentibus. Et flet multum cum Joanne qui dicebat: *Et ego flebam multum: quia nemo dignus inventus est aperire librum et solvere signacula ejus [n: (Apoc. V)]*. Zelotes autem dicitur quem comedit zelus domus Dei, ut Phinees: *Et cessavit quassatio [n: (Num. XXV)]*.

VERS. 19.-- *Et Judam Scariotem.* Qui non delet peccatum suum per poenitentiam, nec illud deletur per memoriam. Unde: *Et peccatum matris ejus non deleatur. Fiat contra Dominum semper [n: (Psal. CVIII)]*.

[0192C]Judas *confitens* vel *gloriosus;* Scarioth *memoria mortis.* Confessores multi sunt in Ecclesia superbi et gloriosi quorum primus Simon Magus, et alii haeretici, quorum memoria mortalis in Ecclesia celebratur: ut deleatur.

[n: (HIER.)] Judas Scarioth a vico in quo ortus, aut a tribu Issachar. Issachar *merces,* pretium scilicet perditionis: Scarioth, etc., *usque ad* quos unius exemplum ad timorem humiliat, ut angelos luciferi casus, ut *Non glorietur sapiens in sapientia sua [n: (Jer. IX)]*, sed *qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur [n: (I Cor. I)]*.

*Et veniunt,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Qui aliorum curam susceperunt, sollicite custodire debent conscientiae donum, ut se prius, inde alios regant.

[0192D]VERS. 20.-- [n: (HIER.)] Domus in qua conveniunt, primitiva Ecclesia est. Turbae quae impediunt panem manducare, peccata et vitia sunt, quia *qui manducat corpus Domini indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit, non dijudicans corpus Domini [n: (I Cor. XI)]*. Unde Dominus in furorem vertitur cum dicit: *Nisi manducaveritis carnem Filii hominis et biberitis ejus sanguinem, non habebitis vitam [n: (Joan. VI)]*.

VERS. 21.-- *Et cum audissent,* etc. Turba frequentat eum, sui tanquam furiosum despiciunt, in quo salus gentium notatur, et invidia Judaeorum reprobatur, de quibus: *In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt [n: (Joan. VI)]*.

## CAPUT III. (cont.)

[0193A]VERS. 22.-- *Et Scribae. [n: (BEDA.)]* Si qui tarditate mentis non intelligunt verbum Dei, remanet tamen spes salutis; si forte intelligant, nulla. Qui autem intelligere nolunt et invertunt quod intelligunt, nulla spes est. Unde, *Scribae,* id est sapientes, etc. *Ab Hierosolymis.* Quod significat eum a civibus suis esse persequendum usque ad mortem. Legimus supra quia secuta est eum turba a Galilaea et Jerosolymis, et trans Jordanem et circa Tyrum et Sidonem, quae sunt civitates gentilium: et Scribae ab Jerosolymis blasphemabant: quia turba populi Judaeorum illum cum palmis et laudibus perduxit; gentiles desiderabant; Scribae et seniores populi de nece ejus tractabant. *Beelzebub habet.* Vir muscarum sive habens muscas: quo nomine principem [0193B] daemoniorum cognominabant propter sordes immolatitii cruoris.

VERS. 23.-- *Quomodo potest Satanas,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Eligant quod volunt. Si Satanas Satanam non potest ejicere, nihil contra Dominum dicunt. Si autem potest, recedant a regno ejus, quod divisum stare non potest.

VERS. 27.-- *Et tunc domum ejus diripiet. [n: (ID.)]* Domum diripuit, quia omnes mundi partes a diabolo possessas, apostolis et eorum successoribus quasi divisas provincias, ut populos ad fidem converterent, distribuit.

VERS. 29.-- *Qui autem blasphemaverit. [n: (HIER.)]* Quia non meretur poenitentiam agere ut recipiatur, qui Christum intelligens principem daemoniorum esse [0193C] dicebat, etc., *usque ad: Qui enim fecerit et docuerit, hic magnus vocabitur in regno coelorum [n: (Matth. V)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Matthaeus dicit [n: (Matth. XII)]: *Qui blasphemaverit in Spiritum sanctum vel verbum,* etc. Ubi ostendit quaedam revelari in futuro. Quod de minimis intelligendum est, ut de sermone otioso, de risu nimio; quorum etiam haec vita veniam promeruit.

*In aeternum.* Hoc contra Origenem, qui omnibus peccatoribus veniam promittit post judicium transactis innumeris saeculis.

*Reus erit aeterni delicti. [n: (BEDA.)]* Non quia spiritum non esse: vel quia esse, sed non Deum esse: vel Deum esse, sed minorem Patre et Filio: quia hoc non invidia diabolica, sed humana ignorantia, etc.

[0193D]VERS. 31.-- *Fratres. [n: (HIER.)]* Non filii Mariae semper Virginis, ut mentitur Helvidius: vel Joseph ex alia uxore, sicut alii garriunt, sed cognati.

[n: (BEDA.)] Mater et fratres, populus Judaeorum ex quibus Christus secundum carnem, foris stant in litterali sensu. Turba in domo, gentes in spirituali mysterio. Foris volunt Judaei videre Christum, quia, spiritualem intelligentiam non quaerentes, potius ad carnalia docenda eum exire cogunt vel quaerunt.

VERS. 33.-- *Quae est mater. [n: (ID.)]* Non refutat obsequi matri qui dicit: *Honora patrem et matrem [n: (Exod. XX)]*: sed ostendit se plus debere paternis mysteriis, quam maternis affectibus, idem exemplo monstravit, quod verbo ait: *Qui amat patrem aut [0194A] matrem plus quam me, non est me dignus [n: (Matth. X)]*. Nec fratres injuriose contemnit, sed opus spirituale praeficit cognationi, docens meliorem esse copulam cordium quam corporum.

VERS. 34.-- *Ecce mater mea,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Ut sciamus nos esse et fratres ejus et matrem si voluntatem Patris ejus fecerimus, ut cohaeredes simus, quia non in sexibus, sed in factis discernit. Soror et frater credendo, mater praedicando, dum per praedicationem amor Christi quasi ipse Christus in corde auditoris generatur.

## CAPUT IV.

VERS. 1.-- *Et iterum coepit docere. [n: (BEDA.)]* Exiens de domo ubi daemonium habere dicitur, docet ad [0194B] mare, ut ostenderet se ob perfidiae culpam Judaeam relicturum et ad gentes transiturum. Unde apte praemittitur, quia praedicante eo in domo, mater et fratres foris steterunt.

[n: (HIER.)] Coepit docere ad mare, ut locus indicet auditores amaros et instabiles. Et ideo, etc., *usque ad* qui amara dulcificat, tristia convertit in gaudium, aegritudinem in salutem.

*Navim ascendens,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Ecclesiam, quae est in mari inter infideles, quam Deus gratia suae visitationis illustrat et dilectam sibi mansionem consecrat.

*Et omnis turba circa mare. [n: (HIER.)]* Hi sunt qui nuper ad audiendum verbum venerunt, et inde pietate animi, ab amaritudine reproborum tamquam a [0194C] mari secuti sunt: sed nondum cum Domino in navi sunt, quia nondum coelestibus mysteriis vel sacramentis quae desiderant imbuti sunt.

VERS. 2.-- *In parabolis multa.* Parabola est rerum natura discrepantium sibi sub aliqua similitudine facta comparatio. More suae prudentiae loquitur, ut qui coelestia sapere non poterant, per similitudinem terrenam auditam percipere potuissent. Graece similitudo dicitur quando quod intelligi volumus, per aliquas comparationes indicamus, ut ferrum, aliquem durum, velocem, ventis comparamus et avibus. Idem fit in tricesimo sexagesimo et centesimo fructu, id est lege, prophetia et Evangelio, quod in ore trium testium mysterium regni in monte ostensum, id est, Moysi, Eliae et Jesu, consistit.

[0194D]VERS. 4.-- *Aliud cecidit secus viam,* etc. Lucas: *Et conculcatum est, et volucres coeli comederunt [n: (Luc. VIII)]*. Via mens, metu carnalium cogitationum trita: unde semen perit nec fructum affert, et a volucribus rapitur, id est a daemonibus, qui volucres coeli dicuntur sive quia coelestis et spiritualis naturae, vel, quia in aere habitant.

VERS. 15.-- *Hi autem,* etc. Differentias ponit eorum qui audiunt verbum. Sunt autem quidam, ut gentiles, qui nec audiunt.

VERS. 19.-- *Reliqua concupiscentiae,* etc. Quod praeceptum est. Praecipitur enim: *Concupisces sapientiam: serva mandata [n: (Prov. VII)]*, etc. Et alibi: *Beatus vir qui timet Dominum, in mandatis ejus volet [0195A] nimis [n: (Psal. III)]*. Hae concupiscentiae bonae: qui reliqua concupiscit, aberrat.

VERS. 21.-- *Lucerna,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Lucerna verbum Dei. Modius aut lectus, auditus inobedientium. Candelabrum, apostoli, quos illuminavit verbum Dei. Absconditum et occultum, quod palam fit cum a Domino tractatur.

[n: (BEDA.)] Modius, vita nostra divina praescientia mensurata. Lectus, caro, in qua, etc., *usque ad* quia ei carnis concupiscentias praeponit.

*Nonne ut super candelabrum ponatur? [n: (ID.)]* Ut dominetur praedicatio veritatis, subsit servitus corporis, per quam tamen excelsior appareat doctrina tanquam per candelabrum lucerna.

VERS. 22.-- *Non est enim aliquid,* etc. Quasi [0195B] dicat: Nolite erubescere Evangelium, quia nihil occultum modo, quod non fiat palam in judicio, *quando illuminabit Deus abscondita tenebrarum, et manifestabit consilia cordium [n: (Matth. X)]*; ubi vobis a Deo laus, illis autem poena aeterna.

VERS. 24.-- *In qua mensura,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Etenim secundum mensuram fidei unicuique dividitur intelligentia mysteriorum, et adjicietur nobis donum scientiae, etiam adjicientur virtutes.

VERS. 25.-- *Qui enim habet,* etc. Scilicet qui fidem habet, habebit virtutem, et qui habet opus verbi, habebit intelligentiam mysterii. Et econtra, qui non habet fidem, deficit virtute; et qui non habet opus verbi ejus intelligentia caret; et qui non intelligit, auditum perdit, ac si non audisset.

[0195C]VERS. 26.-- *Sic est regnum Dei. [n: (HIER.)]* Scriptura divina per terrenas similitudines monstrat coelestia sacramenta, sicut per totum Evangeliorum corpus constat. *Regnum Dei* est Ecclesia quae, etc., *usque ad: Quoniam adest messis,* id est consummatio saeculi, in qua justi gaudebunt qui in lacrymis seminaverunt.

VERS. 29.-- *Mittit falcem. [n: (VICT. ANT.)]* Messis quidem tempus consummationis, falx Dei verbum omni gladio ancipiti penetrabilius. Caeterum falx hoc loco non denotat, etc., *usque ad* omnes enim ferunt frumentum, etsi non aeque multum omnes.

VERS. 31.-- *Sicut granum. [n: (HIER.)]* Hoc semen iterum comparat grano sinapis, quod minimum in timore est, magnum in charitate, quae major est [0195D] omnibus oleribus, quia Deus charitas est, et omnis caro fenum, et qui infirmus est, olera manducet. Et facit ramos misericordiae et compassionis. Cujus sub umbra pauperes Christi qui sunt coeli animalia delectantur habitare.

*Seminatum fuerit.* A Christo sive ab homine in terra, vel in agro, id est in corde suo. Hic homo est sensus noster et animus, qui fovens granum praedicationis humore fidei facit pullulare in agro pectoris sui. *Minus est,* etc. Quasi contemptibilia praedicans, et primo non creditur, quia praedicat Deum hominem mortuum, crucifixum, hoc eloquentiae et sapientiae philosophorum comparatum minus invenitur.

[0196A]VERS. 32.-- *Ascendit,* etc. Quae altitudine, amplitudine, annositate transcendit herbarum naturam: Alta est, quia ad coelestia sustollit; ampla, quia totum mundum occupavit; annosa, quia non poterit finiri. *Oleribus. [n: (BEDA.)]* Philosophicis disciplinis, quae tanto apertius excrescunt, viliores fiunt: quia sicut olera herbarum cito decident.

VERS. 34.-- *Sine parabola. [n: (ID.)]* Non quod nullum sermonem turbis apertum faceret, sed quia nullus sermo ejus invenitur in quo aliquid parabolae non inveniatur.

*Seorsum autem discipuli. [n: (HIER.)]* Illi enim digni erant audire mysteria in intimo penetrali sapientiae, qui, remotis cogitationum tumultibus, in solitudine virtutum permanebant. Sapientia enim est in tempore [0196B] otii discenda.

VERS. 36.-- *In navi. [n: (BEDA.)]* Allegorice: Mare saeculi aestus. Navicula, crux qua mundi fluctus ascendimus et ad littus patriae coelestis pervenimus. Aliae naves, etc., *usque ad* erant enim forsitan illae naves nuper factae et in portum tantum deductae, vel post maris pericula ad portum reductae.

VERS. 38.-- *In puppi. [n: (HIER.)]* Puppis mortuis pellibus vivos continet et fluctus arcet, et ligno solidatur, etc., *usque ad: Tranquillitas magna;* pax Ecclesiae post pressuras, sive theorica post activam vitam.

*Dormiens. [n: (BEDA.)]* Discipulis navigantibus Christus obdormit, quia fidelibus regni futuri quietem meditantibus et Spiritus sancti secundo flatu vel [0196C] remigio proprii conatus mundi fluctus post terga jactantibus, subito Christi passio advenit, quo ascendente, etc., *usque ad* sed ad gubernatorem recurramus, illum sedulo excitemus, qui non servit, sed imperat ventis, qui omnia sedabit, qui portum salutis indulgebit.

VERS. 39.-- *Tace, obmutesce.* Nota quod omnis creatura sentit imperium Creatoris. Non quod omnia animata, ut mentiuntur haeretici, sed majestate conditoris quae nobis insensibilia, illi sunt sensibilia.

VERS. 40.-- *Quid timidi estis? [n: (BEDA.)]* Quasi dicat: Quid me praesente timetis? Cui simile est, quod post resurrectionem *exprobravit incredulitatem illorum, et duritiam cordis, quia hi qui viderunt eum resurgere, non crediderunt [n: (Marc. XVI)]*. Et item: [0196D] *O stulti et tardi corde ad credendum in omnibus quae locuti sunt prophetae! Nonne oportuit pati Christum et sic intrare in gloriam suam [n: (Luc. XXIV)]*?

*Et timuerunt.* Matthaeus: *Porro homines mirati sunt, dicentes: Qualis est,* etc. [n: (Matth. VIII.)] Non ergo discipuli, sed alii qui in navi erant mirabantur, de eo dubitantes, cui mare et ventus obedirent. Vel etiam ipsi discipuli recte homines dicti, quia necdum noverant potentiam Salvatoris.

## CAPUT V.

VERS. 1.-- *Et venerunt,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Gerasa urbs insignis Arabiae, trans Jordanem, juncta monti Galaad in tribu Manasse, non longe a stagno Tiberiadis, [0197A] in quo porci praecipitati sunt, significat, etc., *usque ad* et qui erat longe, factus est prope in sanguine Christi.

VERS. 2.-- *Homo in spiritu. [n: (ISID.)]* Homo iste desperatissimus est populus gentium quem enumerat Apostolus. Elatus, superbus, immundus, sanguinarius, idololatra, ignominiosus, etc., *usque ad* flagellato enim stulto sapiens sapientior fit vel prudentior.

VERS. 3.-- *Et neque catenis,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Catenis et compedibus graves, et duae leges gentium signantur, quibus peccata in re eorum publica cohibebantur. Ruptis catenis (ut Lucas scribit) subito agebatur a Domino in deserto, quia etiam transgressis illis legibus ad ea scelera cupiditate raptabantur, quae jam vulgarem excederent consuetudinem.

[0197B]VERS. 7.-- *Torqueas. [n: (ID.)]* Magnum tormentum ei a laesione hominis cessare, et tanto dimittit gravius quanto possidet diutius.

VERS. 9.-- *Quod tibi nomen est? [n: (BEDA.)]* Non quasi nescius interrogat, sed ut confessa publica peste quam toleraverat, virtus curantis gratior appareat. Sed etiam sacerdotes nostri temporis qui per exorcismum daemones ejiciunt solent dicere: non aliter patientes posse curari, nisi quantum sapere possunt, omne quod a daemonibus visu, auditu, vel quolibet sensu corporis aut animi vigilantes dormientesve pertulerunt, patenter confiteantur.

*Legio mihi nomen est. [n: (ID.)]* Significat populum gentilem innumeris idololatriae cultibus mancipatum: cui contra, est, etc., *usque ad* reprobos autem plures [0197C] sectae quam linguae dissociando confundunt.

VERS. 12.-- *Mitte nos. [n: (ID.)]* Lucas: *Et rogabant eum ne imperaret illis, ut in abyssum irent [n: (Luc. VIII)]*. Sciebant ergo aliquando futurum ut per adventum ejus mitterentur in abyssum, non futura, etc., *usque ad* nam nisi quis porci more vixerit, in eum diabolus potestatem non accipit, nisi forte ad probandum, non autem ad perdendum.

VERS. 13.-- *Grex praecipitatus est. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quia jam clarificata Ecclesia, et liberato populo gentium a daemonum dominatione, in abditis agunt sacrilegos ritus, etc., *usque ad* quoniam ob unius hominis salutem duo millia porcorum suffocantur.

VERS. 14.-- *Qui autem.* Quia quidam primates impiorum, quamvis Christianam legem fugiant, potentiam [0197D] tamen ejus stupendo et mirando per gentes praedicant.

VERS. 15.-- *Et vident illum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Lucas: *Sedentem ad pedes ejus.* quod signat eos qui a peccatis correcti sunt, fixa mentis intentione vestigia Salvatoris quae sequantur, intueri.

*Vestitum.* Virtutum studio, quod vesana mente perdiderat. Unde filius prodigus ad patrem rediens, mox stola prima cum annulo induitur: quia quisquis vero corde poenituerit potest donante Christi gratia pristina justitiae opera, de quibus ceciderat, cum annulo inviolatae fidei recuperare.

*Et timuerunt.* Multi enim antiqua suavitate delectati honorare se, sed pati nolle Christianam legem [0198A] dicunt, quia eam implere non possunt, admirantes tamen fidelem populum a pristina conversatione sanatum.

VERS. 17.-- *Et rogare coeperunt eum. [n: (RAB.)]* Ut Petrus: *Exi a me, Domine, quia homo peccator sum,* etc. [n: (Luc. V.)] Ne tangant arcam Dei, ut Oza.

VERS. 19.-- *Vade in domum tuam. [n: (BEDA.)]* Sic quisque post resurrectionem peccatorum in conscientiam bonam redeat et propter aliorum salutem Evangelio serviat: ut post cum Christo quiescat, ne dum praepropere vult jam esse cum Christo, negligat praedicationis mysterium fraternae redemptioni accommodatum.

[n: (HIER.)] Homo sanatus mittitur in domum suam, id est, in spiritualem legis observantiam: et praedicat, [0198B] etc., *usque ad* quia moralia ad litteram observanda sunt.

[n: (BEDA.)] Matthaeus duos, Marcus et Lucas unum a daemone curatum dicunt, quia unus eorum clarioris nominis, est famosioris: et ideo curatio ejus est famosior. Allegorice: Duo, gentes significant de duobus filiis Noe. Cum enim Noe tres filios genuerit, unus assumptus est in possessionem Dei, duo idolis dediti.

VERS. 22.-- *Et venit quidam,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Post haec Jairus archisynagogus venit, quia cum intraverit plenitudo gentium, tunc omnis Israel, etc., *usque ad* Abraham et Moyses et Samuel rogant pro plebe mortua, et sequitur Jesus preces eorum.

[n: (BEDA.)] Jairus *illuminans* vel *illuminatus:* quia [0198C] verbis vitae populum illuminavit: et ut hoc posset, a Spiritu sancto illuminatus est.

VERS. 23.-- *Quoniam filia mea. [n: (BEDA.)]* Lucas: *Quia filia unica erat illi fere annorum duodecim, et haec moriebatur [n: (Luc. VIII)]*. Filia Archisynagogi est Synagoga sola legali institutione, etc., *usque ad* subito errorum languore consternata, spirituales vias desperabiliter omisit.

VERS. 24.-- *Et comprimebant.* Dum ad puellam sanandam vadit, a turba comprimitur: quia Judaeis salutis monita praebens, quibus aegram eorum conscientiam erigeret, noxia carnalium populorum consuetudine gravatus est.

VERS. 25.-- *Et mulier,* etc. Pergente Domino ad filiam archisynagogi, morbosa mulier annis duodecim [0198D] praeripit sanitatem, et post filia sanata est et suscitata est: quia sic dispensata est salus humani generis, ut primo aliqui ex Israel, deinde plenitudo gentium, et sic omnis Israel salvus fiet.

[n: (BEDA.)] Notandum quod puella duodenis et mulier duodecim annis sanguine fluxit, etc., *usque ad* haec dum Christus Judaeam sanare discerneret, jam paratam aliisque promissam salutem spe certa praevenit.

VERS. 26.-- *Multa perpessa,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Falsis theologis, philosophis, legum saecularium doctoribus, qui se utilia vivendi praecepta dare promittebant. Daemones quoque, etc., *usque ad* coeperunt languoris sui et sperare et inquirere remedium.

[0199A]VERS. 27.-- *Venit in turba. [n: (ID.)] Si quis mihi ministrat, me sequatur [n: (Joan. XII)]*. Et alibi: *Post Dominum Deum ambulabis [n: (Ose. XI)]*. Vel quia Deum praesentem in carne non videt, sed post ad fidei agnitionis gratiam, etc., *usque ad* sacramentis Evangelicis, quasi suis vestimentis, fontes obsceni sanguinis emundat.

VERS. 31.-- *Tetigit. [n: (BEDA.)]* Sola fidelis mulier Dominum tangit, quem passim comitans turba comprimit. Quia qui diversis inordinate glomerantium haeresibus, vel perversis moribus gravatur, solo fideli Ecclesiae corde tangitur; unde: *Noli me tangere: nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum [n: (Joan. XX)]*. Quia veraciter tangere est eum aequalem Patri credere.

[0199B] [n: (HIER.)] Septima virtute suscitatur mortua, sed inter viam tangit fimbriam retro mulier sanguinaria, quae cum salute substantiam, etc., *usque ad* cymbalum confessionem; malum punicum, martyrii voluntatem significat et virtutum candorem.

VERS. 33.-- *Mulier autem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Ecce quo tendebat interrogatio, ut mulier scilicet confiteatur veritatem diuturnae infirmitatis, et subitae credulitatis et sanationis: et ita ipsa confirmaretur in fide et aliis praeberet exemplum.

VERS. 35.-- *Adhuc,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Muliere sanata statim nuntiatur puella mortua: quia Ecclesia gentium a labe vitiorum curata, et ob fidei meritum, etc., *usque ad* sed quod hominibus est impossibile, Deo est possibile.

[0199C]VERS. 36.-- *Archisynagogo.* Archisynagogus coetus est doctorum legis de quibus: *Super cathedram Moysis sederunt scribae et Pharisaei [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. Qui si credere voluerint, etiam subjecta eis Synagoga salva erit.

VERS. 37.-- *Et non admisit,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Blasphemis et irrisoribus non sunt revelanda mysteria, sed fidelibus qui honorent. Unde alibi: *Justificata est sapientia ab omnibus filiis suis [n: (Matth. XI)]*.

VERS. 38.-- *Flentes et ejulantes. (ID)*. *Laetentur omnes qui sperant in Domino, et in aeternum exsultabunt, et habitabis in eis [n: (Psal. V)]*. Hanc laetitiam merito infidelitatis Synagoga amisit: et ideo inter flentes et ululantes mortua jacet. Sed Jesus eam funditus interire non patitur.

[0199D]VERS. 39.-- *Non est mortua.* Mihi, in cujus dispositione et anima recepta vivit, et caro suscitanda quiescit. Hinc mos est Christianis, ut mortui qui resurrecturi non dubitantur, dormientes vocentur; unde: *Nolumus vos ignorare, fratres, de dormientibus [n: (I Thess. IV)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Cum anima quae peccaverit moriatur, ea tamen quam Dominus ad vitam aeternam praevidet, nobis quidem mortua fuisse, sed ei obdormisse non incongrue dici potest.

VERS. 40.-- *Ejectis omnibus. [n: (ID.)]* Turba ejicitur ut puella suscitetur: quia nisi saecularium curarum multitudo a corde ejiciatur, anima quae intus jacet mortua non suscitatur. Dum enim se per universas [0200A] cogitationes spargit, ad considerationem sui sese nullatenus colligit.

VERS. 41.-- *Talitha cumi.* In Syro sermone quem evangelista ponit, non plus est quam: Puella, surge. Sed forte ad vim Dominicae jussionis exprimendam hoc addidit: *Tibi dico, surge,* et magis sensum loquentis quam verba intimare curavit. Sic saepe apostoli et evangelistae cum aliquod testimonium assumunt, magis sensum quam verba ponunt.

[n: (HIER.)] Ad puellam dicitur *Talitha cumi,* id est, Puella, surge. Archisynagogo, etc., *usque ad* unde dicitur: *Credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est ei ad justitiam [n: (Jac. II)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Quod Christus tres mortuos suscitavit, tria genera animarum significat. Puellam suscitat, etc., [0200B] *usque ad* quartum mortuum annuntiante discipulo audivit: sed quia vivi qui pro eo precarentur defuerunt: *Dimitte,* inquit, *mortuos sepelire mortuos suos [n: (Matth. VIII)]*.

## CAPUT VI.

VERS. 2.-- *Unde huic,* etc. Mira caecitas. In factis et dictis Christum cognoscere possunt, ob solam generis notitiam contemnunt.

VERS. 3.-- *Faber. [n: (BEDA.)]* Qui operatur igni et spiritu; unde: *Ipse baptizabit vos in igne et spiritu [n: (Joan. I)]*. Faber est qui fabricatus est auroram et solem.

VERS. 4.-- *Non est propheta.* Prope naturale est cives civibus invidere quia non opera, sed infantiam [0200C] quam viderunt recordantur.

[n: (ISID.)] Comitatur saepe vilitas originem. Ut, *Quis est filius Isai [n: (III Reg. XII)]*. Sed: *Humilia Dominus respicit, et alta a longe cognoscit [n: (Psal. CXXXVII)]*.

VERS. 5.-- *Et non poterat,* etc. Ne cives incredulos pejus condemnaret faciens multas virtutes. Vel quia in patria sua despicitur, paucas ibi virtutes fecit et signa, ne penitus excusabiles sint. Majora quotidie in gentibus signa facit, non tam in corporum sanatione quam animarum.

VERS. 6.-- *Et mirabatur. [n: (BEDA.)]* Non quasi de improviso, sed quasi mirandum ostendit, quia nec prophetis credunt, nec ipsi quem praesentem cernunt.

VERS. 7.-- *Et vocavit. [n: (HIER.)]* Mittuntur duodecim [0200D] apostoli, et datur eis potestas praecepta docendi ut comitetur verbum simul et factum: et cum promissis invisibilibus virtutes misceantur, et sic cum ungunt aegros oleo, infirmitatem fidei virtute corroborant.

*Et dabat illis,* etc. Benignus Dominus et magister non invidet discipulis et servis potestatem suam. Sed ipse potestate sua agit, illi sua infirmitate, si quid agunt, et Domini virtutem confitentur dicentes: *In Jesu nomine surge et ambula [n: (Act. III)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *Ne quid tollerent,* etc. Tanta sit in Domino fiducia, ut nihil deesse certissime sciant, ne dum sibi provident temporalia, minus aliis provideant aeterna.

[0201A] [n: (BEDA.)] Mattheus et Lucas memorant Dominum discipulis dixisse, ut nec virgam ferrent: Marcus ne quid tollerent nisi virgam. Sed illi realiter virgam accipiunt. Marcus per virgam potestatem accipiendi necessaria a subditis intelligit.

VERS. 9.-- *Calceatos sandaliis. [n: (ID.)]* Ut pes neque tectus sit neque nudus ad terram, id est, nec Evangelium occultetur, nec terrenis commodis innitatur.

*Ne induerentur duabus tunicis. [n: (ID.)]* Quod est ut simpliciter ambulent, non dupliciter.

VERS. 11.-- *Excutite pulverem de pedibus. [n: (ID.)]* Pulvis excutitur de pedibus in testimonium laboris sui, quod ingressi sunt civitatem, quod praedicatio usque ad illos pervenerit. Vel quod nihil ab eis acceperint [0201B] ad victum necessarium qui Evangelium spreverunt.

VERS. 13.-- *Et ungebant oleo. [n: (ID.)]* Jacobus dicit: *Infirmatur quis in vobis? inducat presbyteros Ecclesiae, et orent super eum ungentes eum oleo [n: (Jac. V)]*, etc. Unde patet ab apostolis hunc morem esse traditum ut energumeni et alii aegroti ungantur oleo a pontifice consecrato.

VERS. 14.-- *Et audivit rex. [n: (ID.)]* Lucas [n: (Luc. IX)]: *Audivit Herodes tetrarcha omnia quae fiebant,* etc. Unde intelligendum, aut confirmatum eum ex aliorum verbis credendo dixisse, aut adhuc haesitando, etc., *usque ad* non resurrexisse, sed sublevatum esse furtim credere maluerunt.

VERS. 17.-- *Philippi fratris sui. [n: (BEDA.)]* Vetus [0201C] historia narrat Philippum majoris Herodis fuisse filium, et fratrem Herodis sub quo passus est Dominus, et duxisse Herodiadem, filiam Arethae, et postea Aretham ortis simultatibus filiam suam tulisse, et Herodi inimico Philippi in dolorem ipsius nuptiis copulasse. Egesippus vel Josephus tamen longe aliter.

VERS. 18.-- *Non licet tibi habere,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Qui venerat in spiritu et virtute Eliae, Herodem arguit et Herodiadem, sicut, etc., *usque ad* homo enim ad laborem nascitur, et sancti per mortem transeunt ad requiem.

VERS. 23.-- *Et juravit. [n: (BEDA.)]* Non excusatur a perjurio per juramentum. Ideo enim forte juravit, ut occasionem inveniret occidendi. Et si illa patris aut [0201D] matris interitum postulasset, non utique concessisset Herodes.

VERS. 26.-- *Et contristatus,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Consueto more Scripturae contristatus, non re, sed multorum opinione. Sicut et ipse Joseph, etc., *usque ad* ut sub occasione pietatis impius fieret.

VERS. 27.-- *Caput ejus in disco. [n: (ID.)]* Caput legis quod est Christus, a corpore abscinditur, etc., *usque ad* Christus autem, qui est lux mundi, cum incipiunt crescere dies.

VERS. 29.-- *Et tulerunt. [n: (ID.)]* Josephus narrat Joannem vinctum, in castellum Macheronta adductum ibique truncatum. Ecclesiastica narrat historia, in Sebaste urbe Palaestinae, quae dicta est quondam Samaria. [0202A] Tempore vero Juliani, etc., *usque ad* expurgato a sordibus templo Serapis ossa eadem ibi posuit, et basilicam in honore sancti Joannis consecravit.

VERS. 30.-- *Et convenientes. [n: (HIER.)]* Ad locum unde exeunt flumina redeunt. Deo gratias semper referunt super his quae acceperunt.

*Omnia.* Non solum quae ipsi egerant et docuerant apostoli Domino renuntiant, sed etiam quae Joannes eis docentibus passus sit. Vel sui vel ejusdem Joannis discipuli, sicut Matthaeus scribit.

VERS. 31.-- *Venite seorsum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Non solum requisitionis causa, sed mystice significat quod, relicta Judaea, quae, etc., *usque ad* venit seorsum, ducit quos eligit, ut inter male viventes mala non attendant, [0202B] ut Loth in Sodomis, et Job in terra Hus, et Abdias in domo Achab.

*Requiescite.* Ut aves in ramis sinapis. Pusilla hic requies sanctis, longus labor: sed post dicitur illis ut requiescant a laboribus suis.

*Erant enim,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] In arca Noe animalia quae intus erant, foras mittebantur, et quae foris erant, intus erumpebant. Sic in Ecclesia Judas, etc., *usque ad* tunc cessabit ventus et procella, Jesu sedente et regnante in navi, quae est universalis Ecclesia.

VERS. 32.-- *Abierunt in deserto. [n: (BEDA.)]* Petendo solitudinem fidem turbarum an se sequatur explorat, et exploratam digna mercede remunerat. Turbae autem non jumentis, non vehiculis, sed proprio labore [0202C] pedum, iter deserti arripiunt, et salutis desiderium ostendunt. Rursus ipse excipiendo fatigatos, docendo inscios, sanando aegrotos, recreando jejunos, quantum devotione credentium delectetur insinuat.

VERS. 33.-- *Et pedestres.* Nota quia non in aliam maris ripam sine Jordanis navigio pervenerunt. Sed transito aliquo freto vel stagno, proximos ejusdem regionis locos adierunt, quo etiam pedestres indigenae pervenire potuerunt.

VERS. 34.-- *Et misertus est. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quomodo misertus sit, Matthaeus plenius exponit hoc modo: *Et misertus est eis, et curavit languores eorum.* Hoc est enim pauperum et non habentium pastorem veraciter misereri, et viam veritatis aperire, et languidos [0202D] curare et jejunos reficiendo ad laudem supernae largitatis animare; quae sequentia eum fecisse declarant.

VERS. 35.-- *Et cum jam hora.* Die declinata Salvator turbas reficit, quia vel fine saeculi propinquante, vel cum sol justitiae pro nobis occubuit, a diutina spiritalis inediae sumus liberati fame.

[n: (BEDA.)] Christum deserta gentium petentem multae fidelium catervae relictis moenibus priscae conversationis, neglectoque variorum dogmatum praesidio, sequuntur, et cum primum notus in Judaea Deus, tunc exaltatus est super coelos et super omnem terram gloria ejus.

VERS. 37.-- *Date illis.* Provocat apostolos ad fractionem [0203A] panis, ut illis se non habere testantibus, magnitudino signi notesceret. Et insinuans, quia quotidie per eos jejuna corda sunt pascenda, cum eorum exemplis vel verbis ad amanda coelestia suscitamur. Notandum, quod hoc panum miraculum Joannes scripturus praemisit, quod proximum esset Pascha. Matthaeus et Marcus hoc, interfecto Joanne, continuo esse factum dicunt: unde colligitur Joannem imminente Pascha fuisse decollatum, et alio sequente Pascha cruxifixum Dominum.

VERS. 38.-- *Quinque. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quinque panes, quinque Mosaicae legis libri, quibus divinae aeternitatis cognitio, mundi creatio, cursus labentis saeculi, et vera Deo serviendi religio, etc., *usque ad* ad ultimum vero magno munere dat electis ut edant et [0203B] bibant super mensam suam in regno suo.

VERS. 39.-- *Secundum contubernia. [n: (ID.)]* Diversi discubitus, distincti ordines ecclesiarum qui unam catholicam faciunt.

VERS. 40.-- *Per centenos et quinquagenos.* Per quinquaginta jubilaei requies. Quinquagenarius autem bis ductus centum facit; et ideo utriusque quietis perfectionem significat, scilicet, corporis et mentis. Qui enim quiescit ab actibus pravis, requiem habet corporis. Qui autem a cogitationibus etiam perversis, requiem habet mentis.

Bene autem super viride fenum discumbentes, Dei pascuntur alimentis, qui per studium abstinentiae, calcatis illecebris carnis, audiendis implendisque verbis Dei operam impendunt.

[0203C]Ideo alii quinquageni, alii centeni, quia requiescitur prius a malo opere, ut post sit etiam requies in mente.

VERS. 41.-- *Et acceptis.* Non nova cibaria creat quia incarnatus, non alia quam quae scripta erant praedicat: sed legem et prophetas mysteriis gravida esse demonstrat.

*Fregit.* Et ante turbas ponenda distribuit discipulis suis, quia sacramenta sanctis doctoribus, qui haec toto orbe praedicent, patefecit.

VERS. 43.-- *Et sustulerunt,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Secretiora mysteria quae rudes capere nequeunt, perfectiores diligenter inquirunt. Nam per cophinos, duodecim apostoli: et per apostolos sequentes doctores figurantur, foris despecti, intus salutaris cibi reliquiis [0203D] ad alenda humilium corda cumulati. In cophinis enim servilia geruntur opera: sed ille eos panis fragmentorum implevit, qui infirma mundi, ut frangat vel confundat, elegit.

VERS. 44.-- *Quinque millia. [n: (ID.)]* Propter quinque sensus corporis. Hi Dominum secuti, significant eos qui in saeculari adhuc habitu positi, exterioribus quae possident bene uti norunt. Qui recte quinque panibus aluntur: quia necesse est ut tales legalibus adhuc praeceptis instruantur. Qui autem mundo omnino renuntiant, et quatuor sunt millia et septem panibus refecti, hoc est evangelica perfectione sublimes, et spirituali gratia intus eruditi.

VERS. 45.-- *Et statim coegit.* Exemplum dat nobis [0204A] ut in omnibus bonis quae agimus humani favoris retributionem vitemus: ne nos operatio virtutum ad concupiscentiam flectat temporalium. Quod ipse Dominus nobis insinuans, cum hi qui virtutes ejus admirabantur, regem eum facere vellent, fugit in montem orare. Crucifixoribus promptus occurrit, ut scilicet parati simus ad adversa toleranda, cauti ad blandimenta si arriserint, et ne nos, si affluant, emolliendo decipiant, crebris a Domino precibus imploremus.

*Ad Bethsaidam. [n: (BEDA.)]* Bethsaida civitas est in Galilaea Andreae et Petri et Philippi prope stagnum Genesareth. Sed Marcus dicit, etc., *usque ad* quae ambae sunt civitates in Galilaea juxta stagnum Genesareth: quod etiam Tiberiadis a Tiberiade civitate [0204B] sic vocatur.

VERS. 46.-- *Abiit in montem. [n: (ID.)]* Bene orat qui Deum orando quaerit, a terrenis ad superiora progrediens, verticem curiae sublimioris ascendit. Qui de divitiis, etc., *usque ad* omnia quae vult potest, quia advocatus et judex noster est; alterum pietatis officium, alterum potestatis insigne.

## CAPUT VI. (cont.)

VERS. 47.-- *Et ipse solus,* etc. Qui aliquando omnino in periculis Ecclesiam deseruisse videtur; unde: *Ut quid, Domine, recessisti longe [n: (Psal. X)]* etc. Sed quia differt auxilium, non aufert subsidium.

VERS. 48.-- *Et circa quartam. [n: (BEDA.)]* Stationes et vigiliae militares, horarum spatio dividuntur: patet ergo eos, etc., *usque ad* Lucifer namque tres horas noctis, id est, totam vigiliam matutinam illuminare [0204C] dicitur.

*Et volebat praeterire eos. [n: (ID.)]* Ut ad horam, scilicet, conturbati: sed continuo liberati, plus liberationis suae miraculum stuperent, et ereptori suo, etc., *usque ad* Cum ambulaveris in igne, non combureris, et flamma non ardebit in te;

VERS. 49.-- *Putaverunt. [n: (BEDA.)]* Adhuc haeretici putant phantasma esse, nec veram carnem de virgine assumpsisse. Theodorus enim, etc., *usque ad* et qualiter non infusis pedibus corporale pondus habentibus et materiale onus, deambulabat in humidam et instabilem substantiam.

VERS. 50.-- *Nolite timere.* Prima subventio est pellere timorem; secunda, tempestatem praesentiae [0204D] suae virtute compescere. Nec mirum si Domino ascendente in navim cessat ventus: quia in quocunque corde per gratiam sui amoris adest, mox universa vitiorum et adversantis mundi et malignorum spirituum bella quiescunt.

VERS. 52.-- *Non enim intellexerunt. [n: (BEDA.)]* Miraculo panum, quod esset rerum conditor ostendit. Ambulando super undas, quod totum corpus habebat liberum ab omni gravedine peccati. Placando ventos et undas, quod elementis dominaretur ostendit. Sed carnales adhuc discipuli magnitudine quidem virtutum stupebant, sed divinae majestatis veritatem non cognoscebant.

VERS. 54.-- *Cognoverunt.* Rumore, non facie vel [0205A] magnitudine signorum: etiam vultu plurimis notus erat.

VERS. 56.-- *Fimbriam vestimenti. [n: (BEDA.)]* Minimum mandatum quod qui transgressus fuerit, minimus vocabitur in regno coelorum: vel assumptionem carnis per quam venimus ad Verbum Dei.

## CAPUT VII.

VERS. 1.-- *Et conveniunt. [n: (ID.)]* Patet quam vera sit confessio Domini ad Patrem qua dicitur: *Quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis [n: (Matth. XI)]*. Indocti veniunt, infirmos adducunt, ut vel fimbriam ejus contingant, et ideo cupita salute patiuntur. Pharisaei vero et Scribae, qui doctores populi esse debebant, non ad verbum [0205B] audiendum, non quasi ad medicum, sed ad quaestionum pugnas concurrunt.

VERS. 2.-- *Communibus manibus. [n: (HIERON.)]* Immundis, vel communibus manibus communionem gentium significat. Munditia Pharisaeorum sterilis est, communio apostolorum non tota extendit palmites suos usque ad mare. *Non lotis.* De non lotis corporis manibus vituperant, cum in eorum operibus nihil immunditiae inveniatur. Ipsi aqua exterius loti, conscientiae livore intus sunt polluti.

VERS. 3.-- *Pharisaei. [n: (BEDA.)]* Superstitiosa hominum traditio crebrius lavari, ob manducandum et hujusmodi. Sed necessaria doctrina veritatis eos jubet, qui panem vitae qui de coelo descendit manducare desiderant, crebro eleemosynarum, aliorumque [0205C] justitiae fructuum lamento sua opera purgare.

VERS. 4.-- *Baptismata.* Frustra vasorum baptismata servant, qui cordium suorum et corporum sordes negligunt. Non enim hoc de materialibus manibus dictum est, sed pro mentium emundatione, et operum castigatione, et animarum sanctimonia et salute.

VERS. 5.-- *Quare discipuli tui,* etc. Mira stultitia! Filium Dei arguunt, quia non servat praecepta hominum. Manus autem, id est, opera non corporis sed animae lavandae sunt, ut fiat in illis Verbum Dei.

VERS. 6.-- *Bene prophetavit. [n: (HIERON.)]* Latratum Pharisaeorum reprimit furca rationis, id est, Moysi et Isaiae increpatione, ut et nos haereticos verbis [0205D] Scripturae vincere possimus.

VERS. 9.-- *Bene irritum.* Falsam calumniam vera ratione confutat, quasi, Vos propter traditionem hominum praecepta Dei contemnitis et negligitis, quare ergo meos discipulos arguitis, qui jussa seniorum parvipendunt, ut custodiant mandata Dei?

VERS. 11.-- *Vos autem dicitis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Consulens Dominus imbecillitati, vel aetatum vel penuriae parentum, praecepit, etc., *usque ad* qui verus Pater est, oblatio Domini praeponatur. *Tibi profuerit. [n: (ISID.)]* In tuos usus consumitur, quod sacrilegium est. Vel interrogative. Quasi dicat: Proderit tibi? Non debet: Hoc metuentes patres afficiebantur inedia.

VERS. 15.-- *Nihil est extra,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Nec [0206A] idolothytum in quantum cibus est, in quantum Dei creatura est, sed daemoniorum invocatio hoc facit immundum. Unde: *Non potestis bibere calicem Domini et calicem daemoniorum [n: (I Cor. X)]*.

Judaei se partem Dei jactant, communes cibos vocant, quibus omnes homines utuntur, ut ostrea, lepores, et hujusmodi animalia, quae ungulam non findunt, nec ruminant, nec squamosa in piscibus sunt.

VERS. 18.-- *Et vos imprudentes.* Corripiuntur, quia quae per se patent, mystica putant. Ex quo advertimus vitiosum esse auditorem, qui obscura manifeste, aut manifeste dicta obscure vult intelligere.

VERS. 19.-- *Et in secessum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hinc calumniantur quidam haeretici, quod Dominus physicae [0206B] ignarus putet omnes cibos, etc., *usque ad* per occultos meatus (quos Graeci poros vocant) ad inferiora dilabitur et in secessum vadit.

[n: (AUG.)] Quaedam sic accedunt ut etiam mutent et mutentur, sicut et ipse cibus amittens speciem suam, in corpus nostrum vertitur, et nos refecti in robur mutamur.

VERS. 21.-- *De corde hominum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Animae locus principalis non juxta Platonem in cerebro, sed juxta Christum in corde est. Arguuntur etiam, etc., *usque ad* ut si pulchram mulierem nos crebro viderit inspicere, intelligit nos amare.

VERS. 24.-- *Et inde surgens.* Relictis Scribis et Pharisaeis calumniatoribus, in partes Tyri et Sidonis secessit, ut Tyrios Sidoniosque curaret. *Neminem.* [0206C] [n: (BEDA.)] Quamvis latere non potuerit, non tamen factum est quod voluit. Sed exemplum, etc., *usque ad* ut filiam Syrophoenissae a daemonio liberaret et per fidem gentilis feminae Scribarum et Pharisaeorum perfidiam argueret.

VERS. 25.-- *Mulier enim.* Marcus dicit Dominum fuisse in domo, cum venit ad eum mulier. Matthaeus dicit quod *clamat post nos [n: (Matth. XV)]*. Per quod innuit quod post ambulantem preces emiserit. Venit ergo ad eum mulier in domum, sed quia Matthaeus ait: *Non respondit ei verbum,* dedit intelligere quod ambo tacuerunt, et cum silentio ingressi sunt. Et ita caetera contexuntur, quae in nullo dissentiunt.

[n: (HIER.)] Mulier est mater nostra Romana Ecclesiae. Nata, daemoniaca occidentalis barbaries, cujus [0206D] fides fecit de cane ovem. Micas intellectus quaerit, non panem infractum litterae cupit.

[n: (BEDA.)] Mulier gentilis, sed cum fide ad Dominum veniens Ecclesiam significat de gentibus collectam, quae pro filia, etc., *usque ad* qui priscas suae perfidiae mansiones relinquunt, atque in domum Dei, id est Ecclesiam, pia se devotione transferunt.

VERS. 27.-- *Sine prius saturari filios.* Quasi dicat: Futurum est ut et vos gentes salutem consequamini: sed prius oportet Judaeos, qui antiqua electione filii Dei nominantur, pane coelesti refici, et sic tandem gentibus vitae pabula ministrari. *Filiorum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Mira conversio: nam Israel quondam filius, nos canes. Pro diversitate fidei ordo nominum mutatur. [0207A] De illis dicitur: *Circumdederunt me canes multi [n: (Psal. XXI)]*. De nobis: *Alias oves habeo, quae non sunt ex hoc ovili [n: (Joan. X)]*.

VERS. 28.-- *De micis.* Non integros cibos digna sum recipere, reliquiis catellorum contenta sum, ut sic veniam ad panem integrum. *[n: (BEDA.)] De micis,* etc. Mensa, scriptura, unde: *Parasti in conspectu meo mensam,* etc. [n: (Psal. XXII)]. Micae puerorum, etc., *usque ad* ut ad speranda superna quae a Domino promissa sunt praemia in coelo, merito se humilitatis erigant.

VERS. 29.-- *Propter hunc sermonem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hic datur exemplum catechizandi et baptizandi infantes, quia per fidem et confessionem parentum in baptismo liberantur a daemonio parvuli, qui necdum per se sapere vel aliquid agere boni possunt aut mali.

[0207B]VERS. 31.-- *Tyri. [n: (HIERON.)]* Tyrus angustia significans Judaeam, cui Dominus: *Coangustatum est stratum et pallium breve, utrumque operire non potest, ut transferat se ad alias gentes [n: (Isai. XVIII)]*. *Sidonem. [n: (HIERON.)]* Sidon, venatio, fera indomita, nostra regio vel natio est. *Decapoleos. [n: (BEDA.)]* Regio decem urbium trans Jordanem ad Orientem. Quod autem dicitur: *Venit ad mare Galilaeae inter medios fines Decapoleos,* non ipsos eum intrasse significat, neque enim mare transnavigasse dicitur, sed usque ad mare venisse, atque ad locum qui medios fines Decapoleos longe trans mare positos respiciebat.

[n: (HIERON.)] Salvator ad salvandas gentes ab apostolis deducitur, et docet quod adolescenti interroganti respondit: *Nosti mandata, haec fac et vives [n: (Luc. XVIII)]*.

[0207C]VERS. 32.-- *Surdum et mutum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Qui scilicet, nec aures verbis Dei audiendis, nec os pro loquendis aperit. Quales necesse est ut hi qui audire et loqui verbum Dei longo usu didicerunt, Domino sanandos offerant, ut eos quos humana fragilitas nequit, gratiae dextera salvet.

[n: (HIERON.)] Genus humanum tanquam unus homo varia peste absumptus in protoplasto, caecatur dum videt, surdus fit dum audit, dum odorat emungitur, obmutescit dum loquitur, mancus fit dum manus erigit, incurvatur dum erigitur, hydropicus fit dum concupiscit, claudus dum progreditur, lepra suffunditur dum mundatur, daemone impletur dum divinitatem appetit, moritur morte dum audacter excusat. [0207D] *Et deprecabantur.* Incarnationem Domini prophetae et patriarchae cupiebant.

VERS. 33.-- *Et apprehendens eum,* etc. Seorsum a turbulentis cogitationibus et actibus inordinatis sermonibusque incompositis educitur qui sanari meretur. Digiti qui in aures mittuntur, verba Spiritus sancti, de quo dicitur: *Digitus Dei est hic [n: (Exod. VIII)]*. Et: *Opera digitorum tuorum sunt coeli [n: (Psal. VIII)]*. *Tetigit linguam,* etc. Spuma de carne Domini, divina sapientia, quae solvit ignorantiam humani generis, ut dicat: Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, etc. *Seorsum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Prima salutis via est de turba educi. De turba educit Dominus infirmum, cum mentem peccatis, etc., *usque ad* exspuens ergo [0208A] linguam muti ut loqui valeat, tangit, cum ora diu bruta ad verba sapientiae proferenda contactu suae pietatis informat.

VERS. 34.-- *Et suscipiens,* etc. *[n: (HIERON.)] Ingemuit.* Gemere nos docuit, et in coelum thesaurum nostri cordis erigere, quod per compunctionem cordis a frivola carnis laetitia purgatur, ut dicitur: *Rugiebam a gemitu cordis mei; Domine, ante te omne desiderium meum,* etc. *Et ait illi: Ephpheta, quod est Adaperire. Corde creditur ad justitiam [n: (Rom. X)]*, etc. *Et statim apertae,* etc. Aures apertae sunt ad hymnos et cantica et psalmos. Solvitur lingua, ut eructet verbum bonum, quod non possunt nec minae nec verba cohibere vel prohibere. Unde Paulus: *Ego vinctus sum, sed verbum Dei non est alligatum in me [n: (I Tim. II)]*.

[0208B]VERS. 36.-- *Et praecepit illis ne cui dicerent.* Non in virtutibus gloriandum esse docuit, sed in cruce et in humiliatione. *Quanto autem eis,* etc. Civitas in monte posita undique circumspecta abscondi non potest [n: (Matth. XV)]: humilitas semper praecedit gloriam.

*Adaperire.* Ad aures proprie. Aures enim ad audiendum aperiendae, lingua ut loqui possit erat solvenda. Unde sequitur: *Statim apertae,* etc.

VERS. 35.-- *Et loquebatur recte. [n: (BEDA.)]* Ille solus recte loquitur vel Dominum confitendo, vel aliis praedicando, cujus auditum ut coelestibus possit auscultare et obsecundare mandatis divina gratia referat. Cujus linguam Dominus tactu sapientiae, quae ipse est, ad loquendum instruit. Hic talis dicere potest: [0208C] *Domine, labia mea aperies [n: (Psal. V)]*, etc.

VERS. 36.-- *Quanto autem eis praecipiebat,* etc. Sciebat ille qui omnia novit antequam fiant, quod magis praedicarent, et hoc praecipiendo pigris voluit ostendere, quanto studiosius quantoque frequentius [ferventius] praedicare debeant, quibus jubet ut praedicarent: quando illi qui prohibentur tacere non poterant.

## CAPUT VIII.

VERS. 2.-- *Misereor super turbam.* Quia verus homo miseretur et compatitur affectu humanae fragilitatis. Quod de septem panibus et paucis pisciculis quatuor millia hominum satiavit, divinae potentiae opus est contra Eutichetis errorem.

*Triduo sustinent.* Quare triduo sustinerent Matthaeus [0208D] dicit sic [n: (Matth. XV)]: *Et ascendens in montem sedebat ibi, et accesserunt ad eum,* etc. Turba triduo Dominum sustinet propter sanationem infirmorum suorum, cum electi quique fide sanctae Trinitatis lucidi Domino, pro suis suorumque peccatis, animae peccantis, scilicet, languoribus instanter supplicant.

Turba multa triduo Dominum sustinet, cum multitudo fidelium peccata sua per poenitentiam declinans ad Dominum se in opere, in locutione et cogitatione convertit.

[n: (BEDA.)] Hoc miraculo designatur, quod viam praesentis saeculi, aliter incolumes transire nequimus, alimento verbi sui Christus nos reficiat. Hoc vero typice, etc., *usque ad* ipse ab infimis delectationibus [0209A] abstractam pane coeli reficit, atque ad appetitum supernae suavitatis cibi spiritualis dato pignore accendit.

VERS. 3.-- *Si dimisero eos.* Quia conversi peccatores in praesentis vitae via deficiunt, si in sua conscientia sine doctrinae pabulis dimittantur.

*De longe.* Moraliter. Qui nihil carnalis corruptionis expertus, ad servitutem Dei festinat, de longinquo non venit; qui etiam nulla impudicitia, nullis flagitiis inquinatus, solum autem conjugium expertus, nec iste de longinquo. Alii post multa flagitia veniunt: et ideo de longinquo.

VERS. 5.-- *Septem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Mysterium est Novi Testamenti, in quo septiformis Spiritus gratia plenius creditur et datur. Nec sunt panes hordeacei, [0209B] sicut illi quinque de quibus quinque millia hominum satiata sunt, ne, sicut in lege, vitalis animae alimentum corporalibus sacramentis tegeretur. Hordei enim medulla tenacissima tegitur palea.

[n: (HIER.)] Septem panes, septem dona Spiritus sancti. Quatuor millia, annus Novi Testamenti cum quatuor temporibus. Septem sportae, septem primae Ecclesiae. Fragmenta panum mystici intellectus primae septimanae sunt. Pisciculi benedicti: libri Novi Testamenti, quomodo piscis assi partem resurgens postulat, et piscem superpositum prunis discipulis in captura piscium porrigit.

VERS. 6.-- *Super terram. [n: (BEDA.)]* In refectione quinque panum turba supra fenum discubuit; quae autem septem panibus reficienda est, super terram [0209C] discumbere praecipitur: quia per legem carnis, etc., *usque ad* hic autem remota omni cupiditate carnali convivas Novi Testamenti spei permanentis firmamentum tanquam ipsius montis soliditas nullo feno interposito continet.

VERS. 7.-- *Pisciculos. [n: (ID.)]* Sanctos illius temporis, per quos eadem condita est Scriptura: vel quorum ipsa Scriptura, fidem, vitam et passiones continet; qui de fluctibus saeculi erepti, et divina benedictione consecrati refectionem nobis, ne in hujus mundi excursu deficiamus, vitae suae et mortis suae exemplo praebuere.

VERS. 8.-- *Manducaverunt. [n: (ID.)]* Sunt multi qui quamvis omnia sua relinquere, et altiora hujus mundi nequeant implere, tamen esurientes et sitientes justitiam [0209D] saturantur, cum audientes mandata Dei ad vitam perveniunt aeternam.

*Quod superaverat. [n: (ID.)]* Altiora praecepta vel exhortamenta, et consilia, quae generalis fidelium multitudo nequit attingere, sicut hic: *Si vis perfectus esse, vade et vende omnia quae habes [n: (Matth. XIX)]*, etc.

*Septem sportas.* Septem sportae, Spiritus sancti gratia septiformi repleti. Fiunt enim sportae de junco, et palmarum foliis. Juncus nascitur super aquas, palma victorem coronat. Sancti quoque ne ab humore aeternitatis arescant, in ipso vitae fonte se collocant, et aeternae retributionis palmam exspectant.

VERS. 10.-- *Et statim.* Pro hoc in Matthaeo habemus: *Ascendit in naviculam, et venit in fines Magedan.* [0210A] Sed non est dubitandum eumdem locum esse sub utroque nomine. Nam plerique codices habent Magedan etiam secundum Marcum.

VERS. 11.-- *Quaerentes,* etc. Quasi ea quae viderant, non fuissent signa. Sed quid quaerant per hoc determinatur, de coelo, vel in morem Eliae ignem de sublimi, vel ad similitudinem Samuelis aestivo tempore mugire tonitrua, vel fulgura vel imbres, quasi non possent et haec calumniari qui ea calumniabantur quae oculis viderant, manu tangebant, utilitate sentiebant. Vel signa de coelo, manna, ut qui paucis panibus multa hominum millia satiavit, nunc sicut Moyses manna coelitus misso populum omnem passim reficiat. Unde Joannes post edulium panum turbas quaesisse dicit: *Quid operaris? Patres nostri manducaverunt [0210B] manna in deserto [n: (Joan. VI)]*, etc.

VERS. 12.-- *Si dabitur. [n: (AUG.)]* De concordia evangelistarum. In Marco ita scriptum esse dicit: et signum non dabitur ei.

[n: (BEDA.)] Generationi isti, id est tentantium Deum et contradicentium verbis ejus, non dabitur signum de coelo, quod tentantes, etc., *usque ad* ad impositionem manuum apostolorum gratiam sancti Spiritus de coelo plurimis credentibus infudit.

VERS. 13.-- *Ascendit navim. [n: (ID.)]* Septem sportis modo impletis, statim ascenderunt in naviculam, et venerunt in fines Magedan, et ibi navigantibus dictum est quod caverent a fermento Pharisaeorum et sadducaeorum. Sed Scriptura dicit quod obliti sunt panes tollere, in quo ostenditur quod modicam curam [0210C] carnis haberent intenti Domini praesentiae.

VERS. 17.-- *Quid cogitatis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Accepta occasione, docet quid significent quinque panes et septem, et pauci pisciculi, quinque millia hominum aut quatuor. Si enim fermentum Pharisaeorum et Herodis traditiones perversas et haeretica significat dogmata, quare cibi quibus nutritus est populus Dei non veram doctrinam integramque significat?

VERS. 23.-- *Et exspuens. [n: (ID.)]* Sputum ab intus a capite Domini procedit. Manus vero membra corporis exterius posita. Exspuens ergo in oculos caeci, manus suas imponit, ut videat: quia caecitatem humani generis et per invisibilia divinae pietatis dona et per ostensa a foris sacramenta assumpta humanitatis abstersit.

[0210D]Quem uno verbo totum simul curare poterat, paulatim curat, ut magnitudinem humanae caecitatis ostendat: et quae vix et quasi per gradus ad lucem redeat, et gratiam suam nobis indicat, per quam singula perfectionis incrementa adjuvant.

VERS. 24.-- *Video homines,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Omnes aestimat sibi superiores, se indignum judicans: ut David se vocari hominem, sed canem mortuum et pulicem unum. Primo autem, etc., *usque ad* huic Dominus secunda impositione manuum, lucem omnia clara videndi restituit: scilicet quid credendum, quomodo vivendum, quae praemia sunt speranda.

VERS. 25.-- *Deinde iterum,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Ut clare videret omnia, id est per opera visibilia invisibilia [0211A] intelligeret, et quae oculus non vidit, et clarum, animae suae statum post rubiginem peccati mundi cordis oculo contemplaretur. *Beati enim mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt [n: (Matth. V)]*.

VERS. 26.-- *Et misit. [n: (HIER.)]* Ut videret in se quod ante non vidit. Non enim putat desperans homo de salute omnino posse se quod facere illuminatus per spem potest perficere.

Mystice. Admonet Dominus omnes qui agnitione veritatis illustrantur, ut ad cor redeant, et quantum sibi donatum fuerat sollicita mente perpendant, et beneficiis Dei digna operatione respondeant.

*Nemini dixeris. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quod sanationem silere jubet, exemplum est suis, ne si miranda faciant, favorem quaerant, sed divinis aspectibus sint placere [0211B] contenti.

VERS. 27.-- *Quem me dicunt?* Pulchre primo sententiam hominum interrogat, ne confessio eorum vulgi opinione, sed veritatis agnitione videatur infirmata: ne sicut Herodes de auditis haesitare putentur. Unde Petro secundum Matthaeum dicit: *Caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi [n: (Matth. XVI)]*, id est doctrina hominum.

*Homines.* Pulchre qui hominum more diversam de Domino sententiam ferunt, homines dicuntur. Nam qui veritatem potentiae ejus pia mente cognoscunt, non homines, sed dii appellari merentur. Unde dicit illis: *Vos vero,* etc. Quasi dicat: Illi, homines, humana opinantes; sed vos, dii, quem me esse dicitis?

VERS. 29.-- *Tu es Christus. [n: (BEDA.)]* Omnia complectitur [0211C] qui et naturam et nomen exprimit, in quo summa virtutum. Paulus dicit, etc., *usque ad* non licet tamen nescire generationis fidem.

VERS. 30.-- *Et comminatus est. [n: (BEDA.)]* Noluit se ante passionem et resurrectionem praedicari: quia completo sanguinis sacramento apostolis opportunius dicit: *Euntes docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*. Quia non prodesset eum publice praedicari, quem flagellatum sunt visuri, et crucifixum multa pati.

VERS. 31.-- *Quoniam oportet,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Sicut gubernator peritus tempestatem in tranquillitate praecavens, nautas paratos vult esse suos. Sicut alibi: *Si quis vult venire post me, abneget se [n: (Matth. XVI)]*, etc.

VERS. 32.-- *Et apprehendens. [n: (BEDA.)]* Amantis affectu [0211D] dicens: *Absit a te, Domine.* Vel ut melius in Graeco habetur: *Propitius esto,* etc., *usque ad* apprehenditque eum in affectum suum, vel separatim ducit, ne praesentibus caeteris magistrum videatur arguere.

VERS. 33.-- *Vade retro. [n: (ID.)]* Multi putant quod non Petrus, sed adversarius Spiritus sit correctus, quo suggerente hoc Apostolus dicebat: Sed mihi error Apostoli de pietatis affectu veniens, nunquam incentivum videbitur diaboli. Diabolo dicitur: *Vade retro, Satanas.* Petro: *Vade retro me,* etc., id est sequere sententiam meam.

*Quae Dei sunt,* etc. Mea est voluntas et Patris, ut pro salute hominum moriar: tu non vis granum frumenti [0212A] in terram cadere, ut multum fructum afferat.

VERS. 34.-- *Si quis vult,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Postquam mysterium suae passionis et resurrectionis ostendit, hortatur omnes ad imitandum passionis exemplum, et omnibus salutem promittit animarum. Sed perfectioribus, quanta passurus quod a mortuis resurrecturus esset aperuit, formam tribuens praedicandi, ut scilicet, pro suo quisque modo instruatur, neque infirmis altiora committantur.

*Deneget.* Non valet apprehendere quod ultra ipsum est si nescierit mactare quod est. Nisi quis a semetipso deficiat, ad Deum, qui supra ipsum est, non appropinquat. *Tollat crucem.* Vel per abstinentiam macerando corpus, vel per compassionem animum. De corpore dicit Paulus: *Castigo corpus meum, et in [0212B] servitutem redigo [n: (II Cor. IX)]*, etc. Idem de compassione animi: *Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor? [n: (II Cor. XI.)]*

VERS. 38.-- *Qui enim. [n: (BEDA.)]* Duo tempora Ecclesia significat, aliud persecutionis, quando ponenda est anima; aliud pacis, quando frangenda sunt desideria terrena.

*Qui enim me,* etc. Quia multi avaritiam vincunt, labentia despiciunt, sed fidei rectitudinem quam habent verecundia impediti, non exprimunt voce. Addit: *Qui enim me,* etc.

VERS. 39.-- *Amen dico. [n: (BEDA.)]* Cum de futura vita loqueretur, ideo necessarium fuit ut hoc promitteret de poenitenti vita, ut rudes adhuc discipuli hac consolatione confortarentur, sicut de Judaico [0212C] populo dicitur: *Dedit illis regiones gentium et labores populorum possederunt, ut custodiant justificationes ejus, et legem ejus requirant [n: (Psal. CIV)]*.

## CAPUT VIII. (cont.)

*Regnum Dei,* etc. Id est, Ecclesiam contra mundi hujus gloriam erectam. Vel futuram in coelis beatitudinem quam in monte viderunt. Quod pia provisione factum est, ut aeternum gaudium, tametsi ad breve momentum praelibatum, ad adversa ferenda fortius animaret.

## CAPUT IX.

VERS. 1.-- *Et post dies,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Post comminationem crucis resurrectionis gloria ostenditur, unde sequitur:

*Et post dies,* etc. Ut non timerent opprobria crucis, qui oculis suis viderant gloriam futurae resurrectionis.

[0212D] *[n: (BEDA.)] Et post dies sex.* Lucas: Factum est autem post haec verba fere dies octo, etc., *usque ad* ne in octavo retributionis tempore ab irato judice corripiamur. *In montem excelsum.* In montem ut oraret, etc., *usque ad* tunc aeterna ejus visione merebuntur laetari.

*Transfiguratus.* Non veram substantiam carnis amisit, sed gloriam futurae suae, vel nostrae resurrectionis ostendit. Talis post judicium cunctis apparebit electis: in judicio, in forma servi et bonis et malis, ut impii quem sprevere, quem Judaei negavere, milites quem crucifixere, Pilatus Herodesque quem judicavere nequeant judicem agnoscere.

[0213A]VERS. 2.-- *Et vestimenta.* Vestimenta Domini, sancti. Unde: *Qui in Christo baptizati estis Christum induistis [n: (Gal. III)]*. Haec Domino in mundo manente videbantur despecta, sed ipso montem petente novo candore refulgent. *Quia nunc quidem filii sumus Dei, sed nondum apparuit quid erimus. Cum ergo apparuerit, similes ei erimus, quia videbimus eum sicuti est [n: (I Joan. III)]*. Unde subditur.

VERS. 3.-- *Et apparuit,* etc. Moyses sanctus mortuus, Elias vivus in coelum raptus, visi in majestate cum Domino (ut Lucas dicit) futuram in illo omnium sanctorum gloriam significant: qui tempore judicii vel vivi in carne reperientur vel mortui.

*Elias cum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Legislator et eximius prophetarum apparent: loquuntur cum Domino in carne [0213B] vivente, ostendentes ipsum esse quem lex et prophetae promiserunt; non in infimis, sed in monte cum illo, quia qui terrena desideria mente transeunt solvi majestatem Scripturae sanctae, quae in Domino impleta est, perspiciunt.

VERS. 4.-- *Rabbi.* Quamvis stupefactus, etc., *usque ad* unum habentia tabernaculum, id est Ecclesiam Dei. *Bonum est.* Multo ergo melius choris sanctorum interesse, Deitatis perfrui visione: si sic delectat humanitas Christi transfigurata, et duorum societas ad punctum ostensa.

VERS. 6.-- *Nubes obumbrans.* Unde quia quaesivit materiale tabernaculum, nubis accepit umbraculum, ut discat in resurrectione non tegmine domorum, sed Spiritus sancti sanctos esse protegendos. [0213C] *Hic est.* Quasi dicat: Hic vere est ille quem Moyses iste vobis promisit, etc., *usque ad* ipsaque illustrabitur gratia et in perpetuum protegetur.

VERS. 7.-- *Et statim. [n: (BEDA.)]* Cum fieret vox super Filium hominis, inventus est ipse solus. Quia cum manifestaverit seipsum electis, erit Deus omnia in omnibus: imo ipse cum suis unus per omnia Christus, id est, caput cum corpore splendebit, unde: *Nemo ascendit in coelum, nisi qui descendit de coelo, Filius hominis, qui est in coelo [n: (Joan. III)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *Praecepit illis.* Non vult gloriam regni futuri et triumphi quam in monte ostenderat publice praedicari: ne et incredibile esset pro magnitudine, et post tantam gloriam apud rudes animos sequens crux scandalum faceret.

[0213D]VERS. 9.-- *Verbum continuerunt. [n: (HIER.)]* Id est, cum absorpta mors fuerit in victoria, non erunt in memoria priora, cum abstulerit Dominus sordem filiae Sion, auferens omnem lacrymam ab oculis sanctorum.

VERS. 10.-- *Quid ergo.* Tradunt scribae, secundum Malachiam, quod Elias veniet ante adventum Salvatoris, et reducet corda patrum ad patres eorum, et restituet omnia in antiquum statum. Existimant ergo discipuli hanc adventus gloriam esse, quam viderant in monte, et dicunt: Si jam venisti in gloria, quare praecursor tuus non apparet? maxime quia vident recessisse Eliam.

VERS. 11.-- *Restituet,* etc. Scilicet *convertet cor [0214A] patrum ad filios, et cor filiorum ad patres.* Restituet enim morti quod debet et diu vivendo sustulit, unde addit: *Quomodo scriptum.* Quasi dicat: Sicut de Christi passione prophetae multifarie scripserunt: sic et Elias multa passurus est. Restituet ergo omnia. Primo, corda hominum illius temporis ad credendum in Christo, resistendum Antichristo. Deinde, ponet animam pro Christo.

VERS. 13.-- *Turbam magnam. [n: (HIER.)]* Non est requies sub sole: semper occidit parvulos invidia, magnos percutiunt fulgura montes, alii discentes cum fide, alii invidentes cum fastu, ad Ecclesiam veniunt. *Conquirentes. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quid conquirant Evangelista non dicit, sed potest intelligi de hoc quaestionem motam fuisse, quare discipuli daemoniacum [0214B] qui in medio erat, non possent liberare: hoc enim ex sequentibus concipi potest.

VERS. 15.-- *Et interrogavit. [n: (ID.)]* Nota quod loca rebus congruunt. In monte orat, transformatur, discipulis arcana suae majestatis aperit, in imo a turba excipitur, miserorum fletu pulsatur. Sursum discipulis mysteria regni reserat, deorsum turbis peccata infidelitatis exprobrat. Sursum vocem Patris his qui audire poterant pandit, deorsum malos spiritus expellit. Nunc pro meritorum qualitate aliis ascendere, aliis non desistit descendere. *Et interrogavit. [n: (HIER.)]* Scit et interrogat, ut confessio pariat salutem, et murmur cordis nostri sermonibus solvatur prius ut est: Dic iniquitates tuas prius, ut justificeris.

VERS. 17.-- *Et dixi discipulis.* Latenter culpam [0214C] obliquat in discipulos, cum saepe curatio non curantium, sed curandorum impediatur vitio.

VERS. 18.-- *O generatio.* Non homini irascitur, sed vitio. Non taedio affectuum hoc dicit, sed ut medicus aegro contra praecepta agenti. Et arguit per unum Judaeos incredulitatis.

VERS. 19.-- *Statim spiritus.* Quia dum post peccatum ad Dominum converti volumus, magis a diabolo impugnamur, ut vel excutiat virtutem, vel vindicet suam expulsionem.

VERS. 20.-- *Ab infantia. [n: (HIER.)]* Significat gentilem populum cui nativitate increvit cultus idolorum, ut stulte immolaret filios suos daemoniis, unde sequitur:

VERS. 21.-- *Et frequenter eum,* etc. Alii enim [0214D] ignem, alii aquam venerabantur. *Adjuva. [n: (HIER.)]* Credulitas nostra, ut rostrata lingua infirma est, nisi innixa adjutorio Dei. Fides cum lacrymis optata vota capit, ut est: *Fiat tibi secundum fidem tuam [n: (Matth. XV)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *Discerpens,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Discerpit diabolus appropinquantes ad salutem, quod est ei esca dilecta, quos in ventrem suum trahere desiderat per terrores et damna, ut Job: *Factus,* etc. [n: (ISID., RAB.)] etc. Sanatis enim dicitur: *Mortui enim estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo [n: (Col. III)]*. Unde infirmitas Christianorum non est mors, sed mortis similitudo.

VERS. 28.-- *Hoc genus in nullo. [n: (HIER.)]* Stultitia [0215A] ad luxuriam carnis pertinet et jejunio sanatur. Ira et ignavia oratione depellitur. Medicina cujusque vulneris adhibenda est ei. Non sanat oculum quod calcaneum, jejunio passiones corporis, oratione sanantur pestes mentis.

VERS. 30.-- *Occident eum,* etc. Prosperis miscet tristia, ut cum venerint, non impraemeditatis ferantur animis. Si contristat eos, quia occidendus est, debet laetificare quia die tertia resurrecturus est.

VERS. 31.-- *Ignorabant.* Non tam ingenii tarditate quam amore, quia Deum verum cognoverunt, moriturum credere nequibant. Et quia eis in figuris loqui consueverunt, horrentes ejus mortem, in his quoque eum loqui figurate putabant.

VERS. 32.-- *Capharnaum. [n: (HIER.)]* Villa consolationis: [0215B] congruit praedictae sententiae: *Occisus die tertia resurget [n: (Joan. XII)]*. Granum frumenti moritur, ut multiplicius colligatur: si non moritur, solum manet. *Quid in via,* etc. In via tractabant de principatu: similis tractatio loco. Principatus enim vi ingreditur, sic deseritur, et dum tenetur labitur: et incertum in qua mansione, id est, in qua die finiatur; unde dicit: *Qui vult esse primus,* etc.

VERS. 33.-- *Inter se disputaverunt. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hinc exorta videtur disputatio, quia viderant Petrum et Jacobum et Joannem seorsum ductos in montem, et aliquod secretum ibi esse creditum eis, sed et Petro, sicut Matthaeus dicit, claves regni coelorum promissas, et Ecclesiam super petram fidei, a qua ipse nomen acceperit, aedificandam. Putabant ergo [0215C] vel illos tres caeteris, vel omnibus Petrum esse praelatum.

VERS. 34.-- *Et residens,* etc. Illi euntes disputabant de principatu, et ipse sedens docet humilitatem. Principes enim laborant, humiles quiescunt. Desiderium gloriae vult humilitate sanare, et primo simplici monet imperio, mox innocentiae puerilis exemplo.

VERS. 35.-- *Complexus.* Significat humiles dignos esse suo complexu, qui jure possunt gloriari et dicere: *Laeva ejus sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me [n: (Cant. II)]*.

VERS. 36.-- *Quisquis unum.* Vel simpliciter pauperes Christi ab his qui velint esse majores, pro [0215D] ejus honore ostendit esse recipiendos. Vel ipsos malitia parvulos esse suadet, ut tanquam parvuli simplices sint. *Et quicunque.* Quia in pueris se recipi docebat, ut caput in membris, ne putaretur hoc solum esse quod videbatur, adjunxit: *Et quicunque me susceperit,* etc.

VERS. 37.-- *Respondit illi.* Quia dixerat: *Quisquis unum ex hujusmodi pueris receperit, me recipit,* intelligit Joannes quod in nomine ejus eos non recipiant, qui non sincere ambulant; unde ait: *Magister, vidimus quemdam.* Quasi dicat: Hic in nomine tuo non debet suscipi. *Et prohibuimus eum.* Putavit eum excludendum a beneficio qui non utitur officio, sed docetur neminem a bono quod ex [0216A] parte habet arcendum, sed ad hoc potius quod non habet provocandum: unde: *Nolite prohibere.*

VERS. 38.-- *Nolite prohibere. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hinc Apostolus: *Sed sive occasione sive veritate Christus annuntietur,* etc., *usque ad* detestari et prohibere debemus.

VERS. 41.-- *Et quisquis scandalizaverit.* Quanquam hoc generale sit, potest tamen secundum consequentiam sermonis contra apostolos dici, qui de primatu disputabant et eos quos ad fidem vocabant, exemplo suo perdere poterant. [n: (BEDA.)] Nota quod in bono opere nostro aliquando cavendum est scandalum proximi, aliquando pro nihilo habendum: in quantum sine peccato possumus, vitare proximorum scandalum debemus. Si autem pro veritate [0216B] scandalum sumitur, utilius nasci permittitur quam veritas relinquatur.

*Mola asinaria. [n: (HIER.)]* Secundum morem provinciae, etc., *usque ad* tolerabilior utcunque eum inferni poena cruciaret.

VERS. 42.-- *Et si scandalizaverit.* Quia supra docuit, ne scandalizemus eos qui credunt in eum, admonet quantum debemus eos cavere qui scandalizant. Σκάνδαλον Graece offendiculum vel ruina vel impactio pedis. Vel, ut alii, scrupulus. Ille ergo scandalizat fratrem qui ei dicto vel facto occasionem ruinae praebet. *Manus tua.* Amicus, cujus ope et consilio indigemus quotidie. Sed si hic laedere in causa animae voluerit, excludendus est a nostra societate, ne si cum perdito in hac vita partem habere [0216C] volumus, simul cum illo pereamus.

*Quam duas manus. [n: (HIER.)]* Duae manus principatus, humilitas et superbia. Abscinde superbiam, tene humile principatum.

## CAPUT IX. (cont.)

VERS. 43.-- *Ubi vermis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Fetor vermium de corruptione carnis et sanguinis, ideoque caro recens sale conditur, ut exsiccato humore sanguineo, vermis esse nequeat. Caro ergo et sanguis vermes creant, quia delectatio carnalis cui condimentum continentiae non resistit, poenam luxuriosis generat aeternam. Debemus ergo corpus continentiae sale, et mentem condimento sapientiae ab erroris et vitiorum labe castigare.

VERS. 48.-- *Omnis enim igne.* Quia tertio mentionem fecit ignis et vermis, ostendit quomodo utrumque [0216D] valeamus vitare. *Omnis enim igne,* mire dictum est: Quod enim sale salitur, vermis putredinem arcet. Quod vero igne, id est, in igne, asperso sale carnem quoque consumit. Haec secundum legem in hostiis fiebant quae in altari cremabantur, ubi in omni victima et sacrificio sal offerri praeceptum est. *Omnis victima sale salietur.* Ille enim vere Domini victima est qui corpus et animam, etc., *usque ad* dilectos et proximos nobis abnegare. *Omnis victima sale salietur. [n: (HIER.)]* Victima genus humanum, quod hic sapientiae sale vel ratione salitur, dum corruptio sanguinis, custodia putredinis, et mater vermium hic consumitur, et post purgatorio igne examinabitur.

[0217A]VERS. 49.-- *Quod si sal,* etc. Id est, si quis semel condimentis veritatis refectus ad apostasiam redierit: quo alio doctore corrigitur, qui eam quam gustavit sapientiam, vel adversis territus, vel prosperis illectus respuit? Unde: *Quis medebitur incantatori a serpente percusso? [n: (Eccli. XII.)]* In hoc Judam et socios ejus significare creditur, qui phylargyria corruptus, et apostolatum perdere, et Dominum tradere non dubitavit. Quia autem sunt multi quos dum major scientia erigit, ab aliorum societate disjungit, et quo plus sapiunt, eo plus a concordiae virtute desipiunt. subjungit: *Habete in vobis sal et pacem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Habere sal sine pace, non virtutis est donum, sed damnationis argumentum. Quo enim quisque melius sapit, eo deterius delinquit.

## CAPUT X.

[0217B]

VERS. 1.-- *Et inde exsurgens.* Hucusque ea quae in Galilaea fecit et docuit: hinc narrat quae in Judaea fecit, et docuit, et passus est. Et primo quae trans Jordanem ad orientem: deinde quae cis Jordanem, quando venit Jericho, et Bethaniam, et Jerusalem. Cum enim omnis Judaeorum provincia generaliter ad distinctionem aliarum gentium Judaea dicta sit, specialius tamen meridiana plaga dicitur Judaea ad distinctionem Galilaeae Decapolis, et caeterarum in eadem provincia regionum.

VERS. 2.-- *Pharisaei interrogabant.* Magna distantia inter turbas et Pharisaeos. Hae conveniunt, ut doceantur, et infirmi curentur, sicut Matthaeus [0217C] aperte dicit: Illi ut tentando decipiant. Has enim devotio pietatis: illos adducit stimulus livoris. *Si licet viro. [n: (BEDA.)]* Cornuto syllogismo tentavit, etc., *usque ad* sed peccantium necessitate concessa est.

VERS. 5.-- *Ad duritiam cordis. [n: (ID.)]* Nunquid Deus contrarius sibi est, etc., *usque ad* per odia et homicidia perseverare nuptiarum copulam.

VERS. 8.-- *Et erunt,* etc. Praemium nuptiarum est e duobus unam carnem fieri. Castitas juncta spiritui unus spiritus efficitur.

VERS. 9.-- *Homo non separet.* Desiderio secundae uxoris. Deus separat: qui conjungit, quando ex consensu utriusque propter servitutem Dei (eo quod tempus breve sit), sic habent uxores quasi non habentes.

[0217D]VERS. 10.-- *Et in domo,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Non discipuli interrogaverunt prius, etc., *usque ad* ut panis cor hominis confirmet, ut est: *Si quis vult post me venire [n: (Luc. IX)]*, etc.

VERS. 11.-- *Quicunque dimiserit. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthaeus plenius: *Quicunque dimiserit uxorem suam, nisi ob fornicationem, et aliam duxerit, maechatur [n: (Matth. V)]*. Una ergo solummodo causa est carnalis, fornicatio: una spiritualis, timor Dei, ut uxor dimittatur, sicut multi religionis causa fecisse leguntur. Nulla autem causa est Dei lege praescripta, ut alia ducatur vivente ea quae est relicta.

VERS. 13.-- *Discipuli autem comminabantur offerentibus.* Non quia nollent eis et manu et voce Salvatoris [0218A] benedici, sed nondum plenam fidem habentes putabant eum more hominum offerentium importunitate lassari.

VERS. 14.-- *Talium enim est regnum Dei.* Talium significanter dicit, non istorum. Quasi dicat: Mores regnant, non aetas. His promittitur regnum coelorum qui similem habent simplicitatem et innocentiam, quibus congruit illud apostolis: *Nolite effici parvuli sensibus, sed malitia parvuli estote [n: (I Cor. XIV)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Quisquis non receperit regnum.* Qui non perseverat in ira, laesus non meminit, videns pulchram mulierem non concupiscit, non aliud habet in ore, aliud in corde. Quasi dicat: Si tales non fueritis, non intrabitis in regnum coelorum. *Regnum Dei.* Id est, [0218B] doctrinam Evangelii sicut parvuli accipere jubemur, id est, sicut parvulus doctoribus non contradicit, rationes adversus eos non componit, sed fideliter suscipit, cum metu obtemperat et quiescit: ita et nos obediendo simpliciter, et sine omni contradictione verba Domini debemus suscipere.

VERS. 17.-- *Procurrens quidam genu. [n: (BEDA.)]* Audierat, credo, iste a Domino tantum eos qui volunt parvulis esse similes introitu regni coelestis esse dignos, et ideo certior esse desiderat, non per parabolas, sed aperte: quibus operum meritis vitam aeternam consequi possit.

VERS. 18.-- *Quid me dicis. [n: (ID.)]* Quia magistrum vocaverat bonum, etc., *usque ad* sed absque Deo, nullum bonum esse testatur.

[0218C]VERS. 19.-- *Ne adulteres. [n: (ID.)]* Haec est puerilis innocentiae castitas, quae nobis imitanda proponitur, si regnum Dei intrare velimus. Notandum sane, quod justitia legis suo tempore custodita, non solum bona temporalia, sed etiam vitam conferebat aeternam.

VERS. 20.-- *Magister. [n: (ID.)]* Non putandus est voto tentantis, etc., *usque ad* unde addit: *Vade, quaecunque habes vende, et da pauperibus [n: (Matth. V)]*, etc.

VERS. 21.-- *Et veni, sequere me. [n: (ID.)]* Quasi dicat: Post contemptas divitias Salvatorem imitare, id est, relictis malis fac bona. Facilius saccus contemnitur quam concupiscentia vel voluptas.

VERS. 23.-- *Quam difficile. [n: (ID.)]* Qui multiplicandis divitiis incumbunt, etc., *usque ad* intrare possint [0218D] regnum Dei.

VERS. 25.-- *Facilius est camelum.* Quomodo ergo in Evangelio Matthaeus et Zachaeus, et Joseph et in Veteri Testamento quam plurimi divites intravere? Forte quia divitias pro nihilo habuere vel ex toto contemnere didicerunt, unde David: *Unicus et pauper sum ego [n: (Psal. XXIV)]*. Et idem: *Divitiae si affluant, nolite cor apponere [n: (Ibid. LXI)]*. Non ait, nolite suscipere.

VERS. 26.-- *Et quis potest.* Cum plures sint pauperes quam divites, non hoc dixissent nisi in divitum numero intellexissent cunctos qui divitias adipisci vellent.

VERS. 27.-- *Apud Deum.* Qui a cupiditate terrenorum [0219A] ad charitatem aeternorum convertere potest, et superbos facere humiles.

VERS. 28.-- *Ecce nos dimisimus.* Grandis fiducia: piscator erat, dives non erat, victum manu et arte quaerebat, et tamen confidenter dicit: *Ecce nos reliquimus omnia. Et secuti sumus.* Quia non sufficit sic dimittere, jungit quod perfectum est, *et secuti sumus te.* Quasi dicat: Fecimus quod jussisti: quid ergo dabis praemii?

VERS. 30.-- *Centies tantum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hac occasione quidam Judaicam mille annorum fabulam post resurrectionem justorum dogmatizant, etc., *usque ad* patriae coelestis, quae per dexteram significatur, omnium pariter electorum verissima dilectione fruuntur.

VERS. 31.-- *Multi autem.* Quia multi incipiunt sed non perficiunt, terribilis sententia subditur: [0219B] *Multi autem,* etc. Latro in cruce confessor eodem die quo pro peccatis suis crucifixus est, gratia fidei cum Christo in paradiso gaudet. Quotidie quoque videmus multos laicos magis vitae meritis excellere, et alios a prima aetate spirituali studio ferventes, ad extremum otio torpescere.

VERS. 32.-- *Et stupebant.* Ideo scilicet quia meminerant quod se passurum multa a summis sacerdotibus et scribis praedixerat, et occidendum. Metuebant ergo ne vel ipsi cum eo occiderentur, vel ille, cujus vita et magisterio gaudebant, occideretur.

*Et assument. [n: (BEDA.)]* Praevidens discipulorum animos ex passione sua perturbandos, etc., *usque ad* locum mortis quasi intrepidus adit.

[0219C]VERS. 35.-- *Et accedunt.* Audita resurrectione, immemores secundi adventus putant eum more hominum regnare. Matthaeus dicit matrem postulasse, sed Marcus dicit ipsos, desiderium eorum volens aperire quorum consilio mater petebat.

VERS. 38.-- *Aut baptismo.* Idem quod calix. Unde alibi de passione sua dicit: *Baptismo habeo baptizari: et quomodo coarctor usque dum perficiatur.*

VERS. 39.-- *Calicem quidem. [n: (BED.)]* Jacobus ab Herode capite truncatur, Joannes in ferventis olei dolium missus. Inde ad coronam martyrii athleta Christi processit, statimque in Pathmos relegatus. Itaque et martyrio animo non defuit, et calicem confessionis bibit quem biberunt in camino tres pueri, licet persecutor sanguinem non fuderit.

[0219D]VERS. 40.-- *Sedere autem.* Quasi, Vultis ut hoc tribuam vobis? Sed regnum coelorum non est dantis, sed accipientis. *Non enim personarum acceptio est apud Deum [n: (Act. X)]*, sed quicunque dignus fuerit, accipiet quod non personae sed vitae paratum. *Vobis.* Adhuc superbis, quasi dicat: Si vultis accipere, nolite esse quod estis: aliis paratum est, et vos alii estote, et vobis paratum est, quod est, prius humiliamini qui jam vultis exaltari.

VERS. 41.-- *Indignati sunt.* Non de matre, sed de filiis, qui ignorantes mensuram suam immodica cupiditate ardebant.

VERS. 42.-- *Jesus autem vocans eos.* Humilis magister, et pius et mitis, nec cupiditatis immodicae [0220A] duos arguit, nec decem indignationis increpat et livoris, sed docet majorem esse qui minor fuerit, et dominum qui servus sit. Frustra igitur, aut illi ad majora suspirant aut hi super desiderio eorum dolent, cum ad summitatem virtutum non potentia sed humilitas ducat. Suis denique proponit exemplum, ut si dicta parvipenderent, ad opera erubescerent. *Nam et Filius hominis, etc.*

VERS. 46.-- *Et veniunt Jericho. [n: (HIER.)]* Jericho luna vel anathema, quod congruit appropinquanti passioni. Defectus carnis Christi, praeparatio est coelestis Jerusalem, unde Jericho deserentes, Jerusalem, id est visioni pacis, appropinquant. *Et proficiscente eo. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quia ascendente ad coelos Domino et fidelibus sequentibus, etc., *usque ad* eosque ad [0220B] illuminationem omnium populorum in mundum dispersit. *Bartimaeus caecus. [n: (HIER.)]* Caecitas Judaeorum quae illustrabitur in fine in adventu Eliae et Enoch.

VERS. 47.-- *Qui cum audisset.* Populus gentium audita fama Christi, cujus particeps quaerebat fieri, contradicebant multi, primo Judaei post etiam gentiles, ne illuminandus sanandusque mundus Christum invocaret, nec tamen ad vitam praeordinatos aeternam poterat impugnantium furor prohibere.

*Fili David. [n: (HIER.)]* Per merita patriarcharum illuminatur Judaicus populus, cui adest misericors Deus et miserator illuminans caecos et erigens elisos.

VERS. 48.-- *At illo multo magis.* Ingravescente bello vitiorum, manus levandae sunt ad lapidem adjutorii [0220C] cum clamore, id est, ad Jesum.

[n: (HIER.)] Conveniens ordo salutis, etc., *usque ad* apostolos in altis considerans.

VERS. 49.-- *Et vocant caecum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Allegorice, caecum clamantem Dominus vocat, dum populo gentium scientiam veritatis desideranti, per sanctos praedicatores verbum fidei committit. Qui vocantes caecum animaequiorem esse et surgere, ad eumque venire, praecipiunt, cum praedicando spem salutis habere, de vitiorum torpore surgere, atque ad virtutum studia quibus illuminari mereatur, accingi jubent quasi dicat: *Accedite ad eum et illuminamini [n: (Psal. XXXIII)]*. *Et, surge qui dormis [n: (Ephes. V)]*, etc.

VERS. 50.-- *Qui, projecto vestimento suo.* Id est, [0220D] abjectis mundi curis, expedito mentis gressu ad datorem lucis properat. *Exsiliens.* Promptam voluntatem completione desiderii remunerat, unde: *Quodcunque petieritis in oratione credentes accipietis.*

VERS. 51.-- *Rabboni, et videam.* Non aurum quaerit, sed lumen. Caecus enim divitias habere potest, sed non videt quod habet. Exemplo hujus non falsas divitias quaeramus, sed lucem quam cum solis angelis videre possumus ad quam via fides est. Unde illuminato caeco dicitur: *Vade, fides tua salvum te fecit.*

VERS. 52.-- *Vidit et sequebatur. [n: (BEDA.)]* Videt et sequitur qui quod bene intelligit operatur. Sequi, imitari. Unde: *Si quis mihi ministrat, me sequatur [n: (Joan. XII)]*.

[0221A] *In via.* Consideremus qua via graditur, et sequamur per humilitatem, per labores. Via quae dicit: *Ego sum via, veritas et vita [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. Haec est via angusta quae ducit ad ardua, Hierosolymae et Bethaniae ad montem Olivarum, qui est mons luminis et consolationis.

## CAPUT XI.

VERS. 1.-- *Bethaniae. [n: (BEDA.)]* Bethania villa sive civitas in latere montis Oliveti, etc., *usque ad* duos propter veritatis scientiam et operis munditiam. *Duos ex discipulis. [n: (HIER.)]* Bini vocantur, bini mittuntur, etc., *usque ad* inter duo cherubim Dominum cognoscant, spiritu mente psallentes.

VERS. 2.-- *Et statim. [n: (BEDA.)]* Introeuntes mundum praedicatores invenerunt populum nationum, etc., [0221B] *usque ad* qui autem mundus et sanctus est, solius Dei est.

VERS. 4.-- *Pullum ligatum. [n: (HIER.)]* Pullus ligatus et indomitus, quem solvunt et domant, populus gentilis est. Ante januam fidei, cum vinculis peccatorum suorum in bivio stat: in libertate arbitrii dubitat inter mortem et vitam.

VERS. 6.-- *Et dimiserunt. [n: (BEDA.)]* Qui in solvendo contradicebant, etc., *usque ad* quo Christo sessore fiant digna operiunt.

VERS. 7.-- *Et sedit. [n: (HIER.)]* Coepit regnare ut non regnet peccatum in mortali vel lasciva carne: sed justitia et pax et gaudium in Spiritu sancto.

VERS. 8.-- *Multi autem straverunt.* Quia multi martyres se propriae carnis amictu exuentes, simplicioribus [0221C] viam suo sanguine parant, ut inoffensi ad supernam civitatem, ad quam ducit Jesus, incedant.

*[n: (HIER.)] Multi,* etc. Pedes sunt extremi quos ad jungendum constituit Apostolus, qui etsi non sunt dorsum in quo sedit Dominus, tamen cum militibus a Joanne instruuntur.

*Alii autem. [n: (ID.)]* Justi ut palma florebunt, angusti in radicibus, lati in floribus et fructibus: quoniam bonus odor Christi sunt, et sternunt viam mandatorum Dei bona fama. [n: (BEDA.)] Alii autem frondes vel ramos de arboribus caedunt, qui in doctrina veritatis verba et sententias Patrum de eorum excerpunt libris. Et haec in via Dei ad animum auditoris venientis humili praedicatione submittunt.

VERS. 9.-- *Et qui praeibant.* Praecessit Judaicus [0221D] populus, secutus est gentilis. Et quia omnes qui fideles sunt vel fuerunt in Christum crediderunt et credunt, et qui praeeunt, et qui sequuntur, hosanna clamant: quod Salva nos, Latine dicitur: ab ipso enim omnes priores etiam salutem quaesierunt.

VERS. 10.-- *Benedictus qui venit.* Quoniam una fides, una spes omnium. Illi exspectabant et venturum credebant, et nos venisse credimus.

[n: (BEDA.)] Per hoc quod jungitur: hosanna in excelsis: quod est salus, significat quod adventum Christi non solum hominum salus est, sed totius mundi terrena jungens coelestibus, ut *ei omne genu flectatur, coelestium, terrestrium et infernorum [n: (Philip. II)]*.

[n: (HIER.)] Hoc Gabrieli consonat: qui ait: *Hic erit [0222A] magnus, et filius Altissimi vocabitur,* etc., *usque ad* per ipsum verbum obsecrationis.

VERS. 11.-- *Et introivit. [n: (ID.)]* Jam appropinquante passione in loco passioni praefinito ante saecula vult esse, etc., *usque ad* jam sacramentum beatae immolationis inchoavit.

*In templum.* Exemplum dedit nobis, ut quocunque veniremus, primum ad domum orationis si ibi sit divertamus: et cum nos per orationis studium Deo commendaverimus, ad ea propter quae venimus agenda secedamus. *Et circumspectis,* etc. Non semel hoc fecit, sed per omnes quinque dies. Per diem in templo docebat, noctibus exiens in monte Oliveti morabatur, sicut Lucas ait. Docendo enim incredulis officium correctionis sedulus impendebat, manendo [0222B] apud fideles gratiam benignitatis propitius exhibebat.

*Cumque vidisset. [n: (BEDA.)]* Sicut per parabolas loquitur, ita facit, etc., *usque ad* miracula faciendo, et non invenit: ideo damnavit.

VERS. 14.-- *Jam non amplius. [n: (ID.)]* Tu quoque si non vis audire in judicio a Christo, *Discedite a me, mali, in ignem aeternum, quia esurivi et non dedistis mihi, manducandum [n: (Matth. XXV)]*, arbor sterilis esse caveto, sed potius Christo pauperi et esurienti fructum pietatis quo indiget offer.

VERS. 15.-- *Coepit ejicere.* In ipsa re ostendit quod per figuram in ficu fecit. Ficus enim non peccavit si ante tempus fructum non habuit, sed sacerdotes.

*Vendentes. [n: (BEDA.)]* Ea scilicet quae qui de longinquo [0222C] venerunt ab indigenis offerenda emebant, etc., *usque ad* semper privantur sacerdotio.

VERS. 16.-- *Et non sinebat.* Futuri judicii exemplum praemittit, quando omnes reprobos ab Ecclesia repellit: et ne ultra ad eam turbandam intrent aeterno verbere compescit.

*Vos autem fecistis.* Ad hoc enim in templo erant, ut vel non dantes corporaliter persequerentur, vel dantes spiritualiter necarent. Templum et domus Dei mens est et conscientia fidelium, quae in laesione proximi perversas cogitationes profert, quasi in spelunca latrones resident, et simpliciter gradientes interficiunt: et sic mens jam non domus Dei, sed spelunca est latronum.

VERS. 20.-- *Aridam factam. [n: (BEDA.)]* A radicibus [0222D] arefacta est ficus, ut ostenderetur gens impia non ad tempus, vel ex parte corripienda externorum incursibus, et per poenitentiam liberanda, sicut saepe factum est, sed omni et aeterna damnatione ferienda. Aliter. Arefacta est a radicibus, ut ostendatur non solum humano extrinsecus, sed divino intus favore funditus destituenda: nam et vitam perdidit in coelis et patriam in terris.

VERS. 21.-- *Recordatus Petrus.* Petrus agnoscit aridam, et abscissam radicem cui succedit oliva pulcherrima fructifera vocata a Domino. Unde sequitur: *Amen, dico vobis,* etc.

VERS. 23.-- *Quicunque dixerit. [n: (BEDA.)]* Solent quidam dicere, quod nostri nondum plenam fidem habuerunt, [0223A] etc., *usque ad* quanto a piorum laesione se expulsum gemit. [n: (HIER.)] Sed hoc factum est: quando dixerunt apostoli: *Digne transferimur ad gentes, quia vos indignos judicatis [n: (Matth. XXI)]*. [n: (BEDA.)] Notanda est distinctio deprecantium, etc., *usque ad* si tamen in se peccantibus primo dimittunt.

VERS. 25.-- *Et cum stabitis. [n: (HIER.)]* Marcus suo more, septem versus orationis Dominicae una oratione comprehendit. Is namque cui dimissa sunt omnia, quid amplius rogabit, nisi quod perseveret in eo quod obtinuit?

VERS. 28.-- *In qua potestate.* De Dei dubitant potestate, et volunt subintelligi diaboli esse quod facit.

VERS. 29.-- *Interrogabo.* Poterat aperta responsione calumniam tentatorum confutare: sed prudenter [0223B] interrogat, ut vel silentio suo vel sententia condemnentur.

VERS. 31.-- *Si dixerimus. [n: (HIER.)]* De lucerna mundi obscurantur, unde dicit: *Paravi lucernam Christo meo: inimicos ejus induam confusione [n: (Psal. CXXXI)]*.

*Quare ergo,* etc. Quasi dicat: Quem confitemini de coelo habuisse prophetiam, mihi testimonium perhibuit et ab illo audistis in qua potestate haec facio.

VERS. 32.-- *Si dixerimus.* Quodlibet horum respondeant: vident se in laqueum ruituros, timent lapidationem: sed magis confessionem veritatis.

VERS. 33.-- *Neque ego dico vobis. [n: (BED.)]* Duabus de causis scientia veritatis occultatur quaerentibus, cum aut hic cui quaerit minus intelligit, aut odio aut contemptu veritatis indignus est qui debeat aperiri. [0223C] Propter alterum dicitur: *Adhuc multa habeo vobis dicere, quae non potestis portare modo.* Propter alterum, *Nolite sanctum dare canibus.*

## CAPUT XII.

VERS. 1.-- *Lacum,* sive torcular aut altare, aut illa torcularia quorum titulo quidam psalmi praenotantur. *Peregre profectus.* Dans liberum arbitrium operandi non mutatione loci, quia ubique Deus, et omnia complet.

VERS. 6.-- *Quia reverebuntur.* Non hoc ignorando dixit, quia omnia novit, sed semper ambigere dicitur Deus, ut libera voluntas homini reservetur.

[n: (BEDA.)] Interrogamus Arium, et Eunomium, ecce pater dicitur ignorare, et sententiam temperat, et quantum in nobis est dicitur esse mentitus. Quidquid [0223D] pro patre responderint, hoc intelligant pro filio, qui se dicit ignorare consummationis diem.

VERS. 7.-- *Coloni autem. [n: (ID.)]* Probat Judaeorum principes non per ignorantiam Christum crucifixisse, etc., *usque ad* et suam justitiam quae ex lege est, praeferre nitebantur.

VERS. 8.-- *Et ejecerunt.* Notat pertinaciam eorum: qui nec crucifixo ac resuscitato Domino ad praedicationem apostolorum credere voluerunt, sed quasi vile cadaver projecerunt: quia quantum in se erat, a suis finibus excludentes gentibus suscipiendum dederunt.

[n: (BEDA.)] Cuicunque fidelium mysterium baptismi, etc., *usque ad* Dominum crucifigere et ostentatui habere gaudebit.

[0224A]VERS. 10.-- *Lapidem quem reprobaverunt. [n: (HIER.)]* Lapis reprobus, quem gessit angulus, conjungens in coena agnum cum pane, finiens Vetus, Novum inchoans Testamentum, hic praestat mira in oculis nostris.

VERS. 13.-- *Et mittunt ad eum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Turbam timebant, atque quod per se non poterant, etc., *usque ad* et regnum et omnia perdere maluerint, quam esse tributarii.

VERS. 14.-- *Magister, scimus. [n: (ID.)]* Blanda et fraudulenta interrogatio ad hoc provocat respondentem, ut magis Deum quam Caesarem timeat, et dicat non debere tributa solvi, ut audientes Herodiani seditionis contra Romanos auctorem teneant.

VERS. 15.-- *Qui sciens versutiam.* Qui putant interrogationem Salvatoris ignorationem esse, non dispensationem, [0224B] ex hoc loco discant, quod potuit scire cujus imago esset. Sed interrogat, ut ad sermonem eorum competenter respondeat. *Denarium.* Denarius genus nummi qui pro decem nummis computatur, et habet imaginem Caesaris.

VERS. 17.-- *Reddite ergo quae sunt Caesaris.* Hoc ipse fecit: pro se et pro Petro solvendo tributa. *Quae sunt Dei Deo.* Hoc quoque fecit Patris implens voluntatem. Aliter: *Reddite quae sunt Caesaris Caesari.* Impressionem suae imaginis. *Quae sunt Dei Deo.* Animam lumine vultus ejus illustratam, Unde: *Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui [n: (Psal. IV)]*, etc.

VERS. 18.-- *Sadducaei,* etc. Duae haereses erant in Judaeis, Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum. Pharisaei traditionum et observationum (quas illi δευτερώσεις [0224C] vocant) justitiam praeferebant: unde et divisi vocantur a populo. Sadducaei autem, id est, justi, et corporis et animae resurrectionem negabant.

*Sadducaei,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Qui resurrectionem corporum esse negant, vel non credunt animas judicantes interire cum corporibus; recte hujusmodi fabulam fingunt, quae deliramenti arguat eos qui asserunt resurrectionem corporum. Potuit autem et in gente eorum aliquando hoc accidere.

VERS. 20.-- *Septem ergo,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Turpitudinem fabulae opponunt, ut resurrectionem negent. Sed mystice, septem fratres sine filiis defuncti, omnibus reprobis congruunt: qui per totam vitam (quae septem diebus volvitur) a bono opere steriles sunt, quibus viritim morientibus ad ultimum et ipsa mundana [0224D] conversatio moritur, id est, transit, quasi uxor infecunda, quam illi sine fructu boni operis exegerunt. HIER. Mulier sterilis, nec relinquens semen ex septem fratribus, etc., *usque ad* quia *initium sapientiae timor Domini.*

VERS. 25.-- *Neque nubent, neque,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Graeco idiomati Latina consuetudo non respondet: nubere enim proprie mulieres dicuntur: et viri ducere. Sed nos simpliciter dictum intelligamus, *neque nubent* viri, *neque nubentur* mulieres.

VERS. 26.-- *Ego sum Deus,* etc. [n: (BED.)] Cum multa apertiora testimonia de resurrectione posset proferre, etc., *usque ad* quae cum animabus vel bona vel mala gesserunt.

[0225A]VERS. 28.-- *Interrogavit eum. [n: (HIER.)]* Quid sibi vult haec quaestio, cum hoc sciant omnes periti in lege? Sed diverse in Exodo et Levitico et Deuteronomio ordinantur mandata. De his enim duobus uberibus super pectora sponsae levatis alitur nostra infantia.

*Primum omnium,* etc. Maximum quod ante omnia debemus in corde, quasi unicum pietatis fundamentum locare, hoc est, scilicet cognitio atque confessio divinae unitatis cum exsecutione divinae operationis, quae in dilectione Dei et proximi perficitur: haec est *fides quae per dilectionem operatur.*

VERS. 32.-- *Bene magister. [n: (BEDA.)]* Ostendit scriba in hac responsione inter scribas et Pharisaeos gravem quaestionem diu versatam esse, etc., *usque ad* nemo autem absque fide et dilectione in qua sententia [0225B] scriba iste declarat se fuisse.

VERS. 34.-- *Non longe es a regno Dei,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Quamvis ad tentandum venerit: longior namque est ignorantia quam scientia, ut Sadducaeis dicitur: *Erratis nescientes Scripturas neque virtutem Dei [n: (Matth. XXII)]*. [n: (BEDA.)] Matthaeus dicit, quia tentando quaerebat, etc., *usque ad* secundum illud: *Qui facile credit levis est corde, et minorabitur [n: (Eccl. XIX)]*.

*Et nemo.* Quia in sermonibus confutantur, ultra non interrogant; sed aperte comprehensum Romanae potestati tradunt, unde patet venena invidiae superari posse, sed difficile quiescere.

VERS. 36.-- *Sede a dextris.* Nam in hoc infirmitatem filii, sed quia alter in altero operatur ostendit. Nam et filius subjicit inimicos Patri, et Deum Patrem [0225C] glorificat super terram.

VERS. 38.-- *Cavete. [n: (BEDA.)]* Nota, quia non vetat eos qui hujus officii sunt, etc., *usque ad* simulatione seducamur, vel aemulatione ad idem inflammemur.

VERS. 40.-- *Qui devorant domos viduarum.* Quasi patroni in judicio futuri, ab infirmis et peccatorum conscientia turbatis pecuniam accipere non dubitant: cum commendet Deo orationem manus porrecta ad dandum, non collecta ad accipiendum: quibus illud congruit: *Oratio ejus fiat in peccatum.*

VERS. 41.-- *Gazophylacium. [n: (BEDA.)]* Φυλάττειν Graece, servare Latine. Gaza, Persice, divitiae, Gazophylacium locus quo divitiae servantur, et arca, scilicet, in qua populi donaria congregabantur ad usus templi. Unde in libro Regnum: *Tulit Joiada pontifex [0225D] gazophylacium unum, aperuitque foramen desuper [n: (IV Reg. XII)]*, etc., et porticus in quibus servabantur. Unde: *Haec verba locutus est Jesus in gazophylacio, docens in templo.*

*Aspiciebat quomodo.* Sicut appetitores primatus et vanae gloriae cavendos esse dixit, et simulatione orantibus prolixius judicium praedixit, sic etiam offerentes justo examine discernit, ut retribuat singulis, secundum cor et opera, quod et hodie facit in Ecclesia.

*Divites. [n: (BEDA.)]* Divites, Judaei de justitia legis elati, etc., *usque ad* cunctis superborum Judaeorum operibus, praestant.

VERS. 42.-- *Vidua pauper. [n: (HIER.)]* Haec paupercula me et similes signat, qui mitto quod possum [0226A] et desidero quod non possum vobis explanare. Non quantum, sed ex quanto desiderat Deus. Unusquisque quadrantem potest offerre. Haec est torta panis in Levitico, quae est voluntas prompta. Quadrans, quia ex tribus consistit, cogitatu, verbo et facto.

*Quadrans.* Quadrantem vocant calculatores quartam partem cujusque rei, scilicet, loci, temporis, pecuniae. Forsitan ergo hic quartam partem sicli, id est, quinque obolos significat.

VERS. 44.-- *Omnes enim. [n: (BEDA.)]* Judaeus ex abundante mittit in munera, etc., *usque ad Deus meus misericordia ejus praeveniet me [n: (Psal. LVIII)]*.

## CAPUT XIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Et cum egrederetur. [n: (BEDA.)]* Recedent de templo Domino, etc., *usque ad* erat luitura, et [0226B] aedificia ruitura.

*Vides has,* etc. Divinitus autem procuratum est, ut, patefacta per orbem fidei evangelicae gratia, ipsum templum cum caeremoniis tolleretur: ne forte aliquis parvulus adhuc, ac lactens in fide, si videret manere illa a prophetis facta a Domino instituta admirando sanctum saeculare, paulatim ad Judaismum relaberetur. Aufertur ergo umbra, et palmam tenet veritas per orbem declarata.

[n: (HIER.)] Praenuntiat cladem novissimi temporis, id est destructionem templi cum plebe et littera sua. De qua: *Lapis super lapidem non relinquetur [n: (Luc. XXI)]*: id est, testimonia prophetarum super eos in quos Judaei retorquebant ea ut in Esdram, in Zorobabel, in Machabaeos.

[0226C]VERS. 3.-- *Et cum,* etc. [n: (BED.)] In sanctis quietus manet: dum superborum detestatur amentiam. Mons enim Olivarum fructiferam Ecclesiae celsitudinem significat: mons ille non infructuosas arbores, sed oliveta gignit, quibus lumen alitur, requies lassis tribuitur, infirmitas solvitur.

VERS. 5.-- *Et respondens. [n: (ID.)]* A tempore Dominicae passionis in populo Judaeorum qui latronem seditiosum elegerunt, Christum Salvatorem abjecerunt, nec bella hostium nec seditiones civium cessaverunt; sed apostoli ne his adventantibus terreantur, et ne Hierosolymam Judaeamque deserant, admonentur, *quia non statim finis.* In quadragesimum enim annum desolatio provinciae et ultimum urbis ac templi excidium prolatum est.

[0226D]VERS. 6.-- *Multi enim venient.* Imminente excidio multi venerunt qui se esse Christos, et jam tempus libertatis adesse mentirentur. Multi etiam in Ecclesia temporibus apostolorum inter caetera diem Domini instare minati sunt. Multi in nomine Christi venere Antichristi, quorum primus Simon Magus, *cui auscultabant omnes qui erant in Samaria a minimo usque ad maximum dicentes: Hic est virtus Dei quae vocatur magna: eo quod multo tempore magicis artibus dementasset eos.*

VERS. 8.-- *Exsurget enim. [n: (BEDA.)]* Haec omnia ante ultimos et acerbissimos dolores, etc., *usque ad* qui contra se invicem dimicantes, Ecclesiae victoriam faciunt.

[0227A]VERS. 9.-- *Videte autem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quare haec omnia inferantur, dicit *Videte,* etc. Ea enim vel sola maxima causa est excidii, quia post occisionem Domini, nominis quoque ac fidei praecones similes et confessores impia crudelitate vexabant.

VERS. 10.-- *Et in omnes gentes. [n: (ID.)]* Quia noverat Dominus corda discipulorum de perditione suae gentis tristanda, hoc modo consolatur, ut sciant amissis Judaeis se socios regni coelestis ex toto orbe habituros. Sicut enim ecclesiasticae historiae testantur multo ante excidium Judaeae, omnes apostoli ad praedicandum Evangelium per totum orbem sunt dispersi, exceptis Jacobo Zebedaei, et Jacobo fratre Domini, qui prius in Judaea pro verbo Evangelii sanguinem fuderunt.

[0227B]VERS. 14.-- *Cum autem videritis,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Potest abominatio intelligi, vel Antichristus, vel imago Caesaris quam Pilatus in templo posuit, etc., *usque ad* semper parebat imperio Romanorum.

VERS. 17.-- *Vae autem praegnantibus,* etc. Quia vel uteri pondere vel filiorum sarcina gravatae fugere non poterunt. Unde in libro Historiarum legitur uxorem Jonathae turbatam fuga, filium sinu suo lapsum recepisse perpetuo claudum.

VERS. 21.-- *Et tunc si quis. [n: (BED.)]* Quidam hoc ad captivitatem Judaicam referunt, quando multi Christos se esse dicentes, populum post se deceptum trahebant. Sed ibi nullus erat fidelis, quem Deus exhortaretur, ne perversos magistros sequeretur. Omnes et obsidentes et obsessi alieni a Christo obdurabant, [0227C] unde melius de haereticis accipiendum, qui contra Ecclesiam venientes, se Christos esse mentiuntur: quorum primus Simon Magus; extremus Antichristus.

VERS. 24.-- *Sed in illis diebus,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Sidera in judicio videbuntur obscura, etc., *usque ad* tunc fiet quod idem propheta alibi dicit: *Et erit lux lunae sicut sol, et lux solis erit septempliciter sicut lux septem dierum [n: (Isa. III)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *Decidentes.* A lumine quando pene deerit semen Abrahae, cui assimilatae sunt stellae.

*Et virtutes quae,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Quid mirum tremere homines, cum aspectu judicii tremant angelicae potestates? Unde Job: *Columnae coeli contremiscunt, et pavent ad nutum ejus [n: (Job. XXVI)]*. Et quid patitur [0227D] virgula deserti, ubi concutitur cedrus paradisi? *Movebuntur. [n: (HIER.)]* Ad iram vindictae quando mittentur a Filio hominis veniente in nubibus coeli cum virtute, quae prius sicut pluvia in vellus descendit in humilitate.

VERS. 27.-- *A quatuor ventis.* Ab oriente et occidente, austro, aquilone, et non tantum ab his; sed a summo terrae usque ad summum coelum, id est, ab extremis finibus terrae per directum usque ad ultimos terminos ejus, ubi longe aspicientibus circulus coeli terrae videtur insidere.

VERS. 28.-- *A ficu autem.* Quasi dicat, quomodo cum fuerint in ficu teneri cauliculi, et gemma in florem erumpit, intelligitis adventum aestatis et veris [0228A] et favonii; sic cum haec quae scripta sunt videritis, non putetis jam adesse finem mundi, sed quasi praecursores venire, qui ostendant prope esse.

[n: (BEDA.)] Ficus Synagoga, quae quia ad se veniente Domino fructum justitiae non habuit, etc., *usque ad* et aestatem verae lucis et pacis.

[n: (HIER.)] Fici parabola, id est, prophetia. Folia nata, verba sunt praesentia, aestas vero proxima dies est judicii, in quo unaquaeque arbor manifestabit quod intus habuit an aridum ad comburendum, an viride ad plantandum in Eden cum ligno vitae cujus folia in salutem gentium, id est, verba quibus dicetur, *Venite, benedicti Patris mei,* etc.

VERS. 31.-- *Coelum et terra transibunt.* Coelum aereum, a quo aves coeli et nubila coeli, unde Petrus: [0228B] *Coeli autem qui nunc sunt, et terra eodem verbo repositi sunt et igni reservati [n: (II Pet. III)]*, aperte docens, quia alii coeli sunt igne perituri quam aqua perditi, id est, inania et nebulosa. Aqua enim diluvii quae tantum quindecim cubitis cacumina montium transcendit ultra aeris aetherisque confinia non pervenit. Ecclesiastes [n: (Cap. I)]: *Generatio praeterit, et generatio advenit: terra vero in aeternum stat.* Sic ergo coelum et terra transeunt, secundum imaginem, manent in aeternum secundum essentiam.

VERS. 32.-- *Neque filius.* -- *In eo enim sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi.* Ideo absconditi, quia nobis scire non expedit, unde ait: *Non est vestrum nosse tempora vel momenta quae Pater [0228C] posuit in sua potestate [n: (Act. I)]*. In quo ostendit quod sciat, sed nosse apostolis non expediat, ut semper incerti de adventu judicis, sic quotidie vivant quasi alia die judicandi. Scit ergo filius sibi, sed non nobis, ut semper simus solliciti, unde: *videte, vigilate,* etc.

[n: (HILAR.)] Filius et Spiritus sanctus, quia non sunt a se, de die illa nesciunt a se: Pater autem, quia a se est, scit a se.

VERS. 34.-- *Et janitori,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Ei, scilicet, qui praedicat. Cui dicitur: *Si non annuntiaveris iniquo iniquitatem suam, sanguinem ejus de manu tua requiram [n: (Ezech. III)]*.

*Vigilate ergo.* Praemisso patrisfamilias exemplo, cur consummationis diem reticeat, dicit: *vigilate ergo.* Qui dormit, non corpora, sed phantasias videt, [0228D] cum evigilat nihil habet de his quae viderat. Sic sunt quos mundi amor rapit in vita, deserit post vitam.

VERS. 36.-- *Quod autem vobis.* Non solum rectores Ecclesiae, sed et omnes vigilare praecipimur, januas cordium custodientes; ne antiqui hostis mala suggestio subintret, ne nos Dominus dormientes inveniat, unde Paulus: *Vigilate, justi, et nolite peccare.*

## CAPUT XIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Erat autem pascha. [n: (HIER.)]* Pascha, transitus interpretatur, phase vero immolatio, etc., *usque ad* et armati virtute comedamus dicentes: *Etenim Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Pascha, quod Hebraice phase, a transitu, [0229A] non a passione, etc., *usque ad* iter scilicet admonet subire virtutum. *Et quaerebant summi sacerdotes. [n: (HIER.)]* A principibus egressa est iniquitas, qui templum parare, et vasa, et se purificare secundum legem ad esum agni debuerant.

VERS. 2.-- *Non in die festo. [n: (ID.)]* Vitant diem festum, quod convenit illis: non est festivitas eis qui vitam et misericordiam perdiderunt.

VERS. 3.-- *Et cum esset Bethaniae. [n: (ID.)]* Hinnulus cervorum semper ad lectulum suum redit, id est, Filius obediens Patri usque ad mortem: obedientiam a nobis petit. Simon enim obediens dicitur. *Simonis leprosi.* Simon leprosus mundum infidelem primo, postea fidelem significat. *Et recumberet, venit,* etc. Recumbente seipso, id est, humiliante se, ut eum tangeret [0229B] fides peccatricis: quae de pedibus ascendit ad caput, a capite descendit per fidem, id est, a Christo ad membra ejus.

*Mulier. [n: (BEDA.)]* Maria Magdalena soror Lazari quem suscitavit Dominus, etc., *usque ad* ut Matthaeus et Marcus perhibent, oleo sancto perfudit.

*Alabastrum.* Alabastrum marmor candidum variis guttis distinctum unguenta incorrupta servat. *Nardi spicati.* Pistica nardus dicitur mista, quia non solum de radice, sed de spicis et de foliis compositum erat: quod est pretiosius.

*Et fracto. [n: (HIER.)]* Domus impleta odore, coelum et terra est. Fractum alabastrum carnale est desiderium, quod frangitur ad caput: ex quo omne corpus compaginatum est. [n: (BED.)] Devotio Mariae, fidem et [0229C] pietatem designat Ecclesiae, etc., *usque ad* pia praedicatione et devotis veneratur obsequiis.

VERS. 4.-- *Erant autem quidam. [n: (ID.)]* Per synecdochen plurale pro singulari posuit, etc., *usque ad* cujus hac de causa furandi consuetudinem intimare curavit. *Ut quid perditio ista. [n: (HIER.)]* Perditus de salute perditionem invenit, ut in ficu fructifera mortis laqueum nancisceretur.

VERS. 5.-- *Poterat enim unguentum. [n: (ID.)]* Sub praetextu avaritiae mysterium loquitur fidei, etc., *usque ad* spolia dividamus ad vesperam.

VERS. 6.-- *Bonum opus operata. [n: (ID.)]* Qui credit in Deum, reputatur ei in opus justitiae. Aliud enim est credere ei, aliud est credere in eum, id est, totum se injicere in illum.

[0229D]VERS. 7.-- *Me autem non semper. [n: (BEDA.)]* Corporali praesentia et familiaritate conjunctum sicut nunc. Unde Apostolus: *Etsi noverimus Christum secundum carnem, sed nunc jam novimus [n: (II Cor. V)]*. Spiritualiter autem semper est nobiscum, unde: *Ecce ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem saeculi omnibus diebus. [n: (HIER.)]* Ita intelligendum est: Me autem non semper habebitis in corporali praesentia, ut prius in convictu et familiaritate.

VERS. 8.-- *Quod habuit.* Quod putatis perditionem esse unguenti, officium sepulturae est. Nec mirum si mihi dedit odorem fidei bonum, cum ego pro ea fusurus sum sanguinem meum.

VERS. 9.-- *Amen dico vobis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Nota in Christo [0230A] notitiam futurorum, passuros post paucos dies praescit Evangelium suum toto orbe praedicandum. Notandum, quod sicut Maria toto orbe quo est Ecclesia diffusa gloriam meruit de pio obsequio, quod Domino devote exhibuit: sic et Judas qui ei detraxit, perfidiae nota longe lateque infamatur. Sed Dominus bonum pia laude remunerat, futura impii contumelias tacet.

VERS. 10.-- *Uno de duodecim. [n: (HIER.)]* Unus numero, non merito, nomine non numine, corpore non animo, unde sponsus ad sponsam: *Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, in uno oculorum tuorum, et in uno crine colli tui [n: (Cant. IV)]*. Oculus et crinis sapientia est et virtus, quoniam Judae cum caeteris dicitur: *Vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni Dei [n: (Matth. XIII)]*. Et: [0230B] *Dedi vobis potestatem [n: (Luc. X)]*, etc.

*Abiit ad,* etc. Ille abiit ad principes: et postquam exivit, intravit in eum Sathanas. Hic *nox nocti indicat scientiam. Unumquodque animal ad sibi simile jungitur [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. Maria currit ad apostolos ut dies diei eructet verbum; Judas ad Judaeos, ut nox nocti indicet scientiam.

VERS. 11.-- *Et quaerebat quomodo illum,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Promittit se tradere, ut magister ejus ante dicebat: Tlbi dabo hanc potestatem universam. *BEDA.* Multi hodie scelus Judae exhorrent nec tamen cavent, etc., *usque ad* ut amotis arbitris mendacio veritatem, crimine mutent virtutem.

VERS. 12.-- *Et prima die azymorum. [n: (Id.)]* Quarta [0230C] decima luna, quando abjecto fermento agnus occidebatur ad vesperum, etc., *usque ad* ipsius immolationis, id est, suae passionis exordium sacravit.

[n: (ISID.)] Cum amaritudine comeditur azyma, quae est redemptio nostra. Amaritudo enim est passio Domini.

VERS. 13.-- *Ite in civitatem. [n: (BED.)]* Indicium est praescientiae divinitatis, etc., *usque ad* et ad tollenda mundi crimina vivifici fontis baptisma consecretur. [n: (HIER.)] Civitas est Ecclesia quae muro fidei cingitur: homo occurrens primitivus populus est, amphora aquae lex litterae. *Homo lagenam aquae. [n: (BEDA.)]* Consulte et aquae bajuli, et Domini domus tacita sunt vocabula, ut omnibus verum pascha celebrare volentibus, id est sacramentis Christi imbui, eumque [0230D] suae mentis hospitio suscipere quaerentibus, facultas danda signetur.

*Sequimini. [n: (HIER.)]* Qui ducit in altum ubi refectio Christi, unde Raab exploratoribus mandat, ut non per ima sed per excelsa irent.

VERS. 15.-- *Coenaculum grande. [n: (ID.)]* Ecclesia magna, quae narrat nomen Domini, strata varietate virtutum et linguarum, unde: *Circumamicta varietate [n: (Psal. XLIV)]* virtutum, in qua paratur Domino pascha. Dominus domus Petrus apostolus cui Dominus domum suam credidit: ut sit una fides sub uno pastore. [n: (BED.)] Coenaculum lex spiritualis, quae de angustiis litterae egrediens in sublimi loco recipit Salvatorem, etc., *usque ad* quia cuncta paschae sacramenta [0231A] et caetera legis decreta ejus esse sacramenta cognoscit.

VERS. 17.-- *Vespere autem. [n: (HIER.)]* Vespera diei vesperam indicat mundi. Circa undecimam namque horam veniunt novissimi: qui primi denarium accipiunt vitae aeternae: quia ante crucem Abraham erat in inferno, et post crucem latro in paradiso.

VERS. 18.-- *Amen dico,* etc. Sicut de passione praedixerat: ita de proditore praedicit, dans locum poenitendi, ut cum intellexisset cogitationes suas praesciri a Deo, poeniteret eum facti sui. Non tamen ex nomine designat, ne aperte redargutus impudentior fiat. Mittit crimen in numerum: ut conscius poenitentiam agat. *Unus ex vobis.* Dum falsitas arguitur, veritas comprobatur et impletur. *Qui edebat panes [0231B] meos, magnificavit super me supplantationem [n: (Psal. XL)]*. Omnes tanguntur ut fiat harmonia in cithara. Omnes nervi bene suspensi consona voce respondent: *Nunquid ego sum, Domine?* Unus remissus et pecuniae amore affectus dixit: *Nunquid ego sum, Rabbi?*

VERS. 19.-- *Contristari.* Sicut undecim quia nihil mali contra Dominum cogitaverant: sed plus credunt magistro quam sibi, et timentes fragilitatem suam, tristes de peccato suo interrogant, cujus non habebant conscientiam.

VERS. 20.-- *Unus ex duodecim. [n: (HIER.)]* Separat seorsum ovem lupus quam cupit. Ovis quae de ovili egreditur, lupi patet morsibus. *Qui intingit. [n: (BEDA.)]* Mira Domini patientia. Prius dixit: *Unus ex vobis tradet me,* perseverat proditor in malo. Apertius arguit: [0231C] et tamen non proprie designatur. Judas aliis contristatis et manum retrahentibus a cibis temeritate et impudentia qua Dominum tradit; etiam manum cum magistro in catino mittit ut audacia bonam conscientiam mentiretur.

VERS. 21.-- *Vae autem. [n: (ID.)]* In sempiternum vae homini illi qui ad mensam Domini indigne accedit, etc., *usque ad* poena praedicitur ut qui pudore non vincitur, timore corrigatur.

VERS. 22.-- *Manducantibus. [n: (ID.)]* Finito veteri pascha quod in commemoratione liberationis populi Dei ab Aegypto agebatur, etc., *usque ad* ideoque velocius a morte resuscitandum. *Accepit. [n: (HIER.)]* Figurans corpus suum in pane, etc., *usque ad* exstinguuntur inimici quae sunt mysteria Ecclesiae Christi. [0231D] [n: (BEDA.)] Panis qui confirmat cor hominis, etc., *usque ad* vel nos sine illius passione salvari.

VERS. 23.-- *Gratias.* Gratias egit et benedixit jam proximus passioni, qui poenam alienae iniquitatis suscipit: qui nihil dignum passione egit: ut ostendat quam aequanimiter unusquisque propriae culpae flagella sustinere debeat.

*Biberant. [n: (HIER.)]* Ebrietas felix: salutaris satietas, etc., *usque ad* sanguis enim Novi Testamenti qui pro multis effunditur non omnes emundat.

VERS. 25.-- *Jam non bibam. [n: (ID.)]* Hic mutat sacrificium, sed non mutat tempus; ut nos nunquam coenam Jesu ante quartam decimam lunam faciamus. Qui facit in quarta decima resurrectionem, in [0232A] undecima coenam Domini facit, quod nunquam inventum est nec in Novo nec in Vetere Testamento. *Vitis. [n: (BEDA.)]* Vitis vel vinea Domini Synagoga, etc., *usque ad* de salute ejusdem populi baptismo regenerati novo vobiscum gaudio perfundar.

VERS. 26. *Et hymno dicto. [n: (ID.)]* Potest intelligi hymnus quem secundum Joannem Patri gratias agens decantabat, etc., *usque ad* et charismata sancti Spiritus quibus in corde perungamur, debere conscendere. *In montem Olivarum. [n: (HIER.)]* In monte Oliveti tenetur Jesus: et inde ascendit ad coelos: ut sciamus quia inde ascendimus ad coelos unde vigilamus, et oramus, et ligamur, nec repugnamus in terra.

*Omnes scandalizabimini. [n: (BEDA.)]* Praedicit quid passuri sint: ut cum passi fuerint non desperent, sed [0232B] poeniteant.

VERS. 27.-- *In nocte ista. Qui ebrii sunt, nocte ebrii sunt [n: (I Thess. V)]*, et qui scandalizantur, nocte scandalizantur, id est, mente obscurati. [n: (HIER.)] Omnes cadunt, sed non omnes jacent. *Nunquid quia dormit non adjiciet ut resurgat? [n: (Zach. XIII.)]* Carnale est cadere: diabolicum est jacere. *Percutiam pastorem.* Percute pastorem. Propheta postulat passionem Domini: Pater respondet: *Percutiam pastorem.* Precibus sanctorum Filius a Patre mittitur: id est, incarnatur et percutitur, et patitur: disperguntur oves pastore capto. Resurrectio promittitur ut spes non exstinguatur.

VERS. 29.-- *Petrus autem. [n: (ID.)]* Avis sine pennis in altum volare nititur: sed corpus aggravat animam ut, [0232C] timore humanae mortis, timor Domini superetur.

VERS. 30.-- *Bis gallus vocem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Alii simpliciter: *Priusquam gallus cantet, ter me negabis,* etc., *usque ad* sicut et illud: *Qui viderit mulierem ad concupiscendum, jam moechatus est eam [n: (Matth. V)]*. [n: (HIER.)] Gallus cantat: Petrus negat ter, etc., *usque ad* et trinae negationis sordes lavit lacrymis.

## CAPUT XIV. (cont.)

VERS. 32.-- *Gethsemani. [n: (ID.)]* Id est, vallis pinguium, ubi tauri pingues obsederunt eum et vituli multi circumdederunt eum. *Sedete hic. [n: (ISID.)]* Separantur in oratione qui separantur in passione: quia ille orat, illi dormiunt pinguedine cordis oppressi. *Donec orem. [n: (BED.)]* Cum Dominus in monte orat, etc., *usque ad* unde: *Humiliavit semetipsum factus obediens usque ad mortem. Et majorem hac dilectionem [0232D] nemo habet ut ponat quis animam suam pro amicis suis [n: (Phil. II; Joan. XV)]*.

VERS. 33.-- *Et coepit pavere. [n: (HIER.)]* Pavere et tristari docemur ante judicium mortis, qui non possumus per nos dicere nisi per illum: *Venit princeps hujus mundi et in me non habet quidquam [n: (Joan. XIV)]*.

VERS. 34.-- *Tristis est,* etc. [n: (BED.)] Non propter mortem tristis est, etc., *usque ad* sed a somno infidelitatis et torpore mentis.

VERS. 35.-- *Et orabat. [n: (ID.)]* Haec vox est sonus infirmitatis nostrae, etc., *usque ad* sed quia aliter non fiet, *Non quod ego volo, sed quod tu.*

[n: (HIER.)] Hoc contra Eutychianos qui dicunt unam tantum in Christo operationem, unam voluntatem: [0233A] hic autem ostendit humanam quae per infirmitatem carnis recusat passionem, et divinam quae prompta est perficere dispensationem.

VERS. 36.-- *Sed non quod. [n: (HIER.)]* Usque in finem non cessat docere nos patribus obedire: et voluntatem eorum voluntati nostrae praeponere.

VERS. 37.-- *Et ait Petro,* etc. Qui dixerat: *Et si oporteat me mori tecum, non te negabo: etsi omnes scandalizati fuerint, sed non ego [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*; nunc tristitiae magnitudine somnium vincere non potest.

VERS. 38.-- *Ut non intretis.* Non ait ut non tentemini, sed *ut non intretis in tentationem,* id est, ut tentatio vos non superet, non teneat intra suos casses.

[n: (HIER.)] In tentationem intrat qui orare negligit. Ter discipuli dormiunt, ter Dominus orans [0233B] suscitat. Trina dormitio, tres mortuos quos Dominus suscitavit significat. Primus in domo, secundus ad sepulcrum, tertius de sepulcro. Trina Domini vigilia tres personas nos habere in orando docet, et de praeteritis et de praesentibus, et futuris veniam rogare. *Caro autem infirma. [n: (BEDA.)]* Caro namque pondere suo ad ima semper trahit.

VERS. 42.-- *Surgite.* Postquam tertio oravit, apostolorum timorem poenitentia corrigendum docuit, securus ad passionem pergit, dicens: *Surgite, eamus.* Quasi dicat nos non inveniant timentes, sed ultro eamus obviam, ut passuri gaudium et confidentiam videant.

VERS. 44.-- *Signum. [n: (HIER.)]* Dat signum osculi cum veneno diaboli: sicut Cain obtulit sacrificium [0233C] subdolum et reprobatum, unde vinum cum aceto in cruce ponunt.

VERS. 45.-- *Rabbi. [n: (BEDA.)]* Impudens et scelerata confidentia magistrum vocat, etc., *usque ad* illud etiam complet: *Cum his qui oderunt pacem [n: (Psal. CXIX)]*, etc.

VERS. 47.-- *Unus. [n: (ID.)]* Petrus secundum Joannem eodem ardore mentis quo caetera. Sciebat enim quod Phinees puniendo sacrilegos, mercedem justitiae et sacerdotii perennis acceperat. Lucas ait: *Quod Dominus tetigit auriculam et sanavit eam [n: (Luc. XXII)]*. Ipse enim pietatis nunquam obliviscitur, hostes etiam suos vulnerari non patitur. Mystice: Docens eos qui in suae mortis consensione vulnus animae contraxerunt, si digne poenituerunt salutem posse [0233D] mereri.

VERS. 48.-- *Tanquam ad latronem. [n: (ID.)]* Quasi dicat: Stultum est cum gladiis et fustibus comprehendere, qui ultro se vobis tradit: et in nocte quasi latitantem investigare per proditorem, cum quotidie in templo doceat. Sed ideo adversum me congregamini in tenebris, quia potestas vestra in tenebris est.

VERS. 50.-- *Tunc,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Impletur quod dixit, quod omnes scandalizarentur, etc., *usque ad* et a Deo revocandi, adversariis dare didicerunt.

VERS. 52.-- *At ille,* etc. Sicut Joseph relicto pallio nudus de manibus impudicae dominae effugit. Qui autem vult effugere manus iniquorum, relinquens mente quae mundi sunt, post Jesum fugiat. [0234A] *Ab eis.* Quorum et praesentiam detestabatur et facta. Non a Domino, cujus amorem etiam absens corpore fixum servavit in mente.

VERS. 53.-- *Summum,* etc. Caipham scilicet, qui secundum Joannem erat pontifex anni illius, de quo consentaneum scribit Josephus, quod pontificium sibi absque merito dignitatis emerat a principe Romano: quid ergo mirum, si iniquus pontifex inique judicat?

VERS. 54.-- *A longe. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quia negationi proximus, si Christo proximus fuisset non negasset: in hoc tamen admirandus est, quod Dominum non reliquit etiamsi timeat. Quod timeat naturae est, quod sequitur devotionis est: quod negat obreptionis est, quod poenitet fidei est. *Atrium. [n: (HIER.)]* Atrium, saecularis [0234B] circumitus est. Ministri, daemonia sunt. Ignis desiderium carnale, cum quibus qui manet, flere peccata non valet. *Et calefaciebat se. [n: (BEDA.)]* Est ignis charitatis; de quo dicitur, etc., *usque ad* moxque sui cordis arcana prunis inflammavit amoris.

VERS. 56.-- *Falsum testimonium. [n: (ID.)]* Falsus est qui non in eodem sensu dicta intelligit quo dicuntur, etc., *usque ad* ut proprie de templo Judaico videatur dixisse.

VERS. 60.-- *Et exsurgens,* etc. Iratus, quia non invenit locum calumniae, motu corporis insaniam mentis demonstrat. *Non respondens,* etc. Ad responsum provocat, ut ex qualibet occasione sermonis locum accusandi inveniat. Jesus autem non respondit, [0234C] quia praevidit quidquid responderet in calumniam verti.

*Tu es Christus. [n: (HIER.)]* Quem exspectabat a longe non videbat prope: sicut Isaac caligantibus oculis, Jacob sub manibus non agnoscebat, sed longe post de eo futura canit.

VERS. 62.-- *Et videbitis.* Sacerdos interrogat Filium Dei; Jesus respondit Filium hominis; ut intelligamus eumdem Filium Dei esse et Filium hominis, ne quaternitatem faciamus in Trinitate, et homo in Deo, et Deus in homine sit. *A dextris virtutis.* Quia *humiliavit seipsum factus obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis: propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum, et dedit illi nomen quod est super omne nomen* [0234D] [n: (Phil. II)].

*Cum nubibus coeli. [n: (HIER.)]* Ascendit in nube, cum nube veniet: id est cum corpore solo suo quod assumpsit a virgine ascendit, et cum multiformi Ecclesia, quae est corpus ipsius et plenitudo ad judicium venturus est, sicut dicit Matthaeus: Cum autem venerit Filius hominis, et omnes angeli cum eo, etc.

VERS. 63.-- *Summus autem sacerdos. [n: (BEDA.)]* Eadem rabies quae prius de sede excusserat, etc., *usque ad* cum in Lycaonia quasi dii honorarentur, fecerunt. *Vestimenta sua,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Hoc est, ephod in quo Judaei habebant honorem, amiserunt, etc., *usque ad* ejus tamen inviolata permanet castitas [0235A] usque ad consummationem saeculi in illis, quos sors electionis invenerit.

VERS. 64.-- *Qui omnes,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Quo reatu suo nostrum reatum solveret, etc., *usque ad* hinc propheta: *Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi? [n: (Psal. CXV.)]*

VERS. 65.-- *Velare faciem,* etc. Non ut scelera eorum non videat, sed, ut ipsi quondam Moysi fecerunt, a se gratiam cognitionis ejus abscondant. Hoc velamentum usque hodie manet super cor eorum, quod in Christum credentibus est ablatum. Unde eo moriente velut templum scissum est, et sancta sanctorum arcana patefacta.

*Alapis eum caedebant. [n: (BEDA.)]* Qui tunc caesus est alapis, et nunc caeditur blasphemiis falsorum Christianorum. [0235B] Qui consumptus salivis infidelium, nunc vesanis fidelium opprobriis exhonoratur.

VERS. 68.-- *At ille,* etc. Nota, quod negat Christum qui se negat ejus esse discipulum. Dominus enim non dixit: Negabis te discipulum meum, sed *me negabis.* Negavit ergo eum cum se negavit ejus esse discipulum.

*Et exiit foras,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Petrus sine spiritu, voci ancillae cessit, etc., *usque ad* et foras eximus extra quod fuimus.

VERS. 70.-- *Nam et Galilaeus. [n: (BEDA.)]* Eadem lingua Galilaeis et Hierosolymitis est, sed tamen quaecunque provincia et regio habet proprium loquendi sonum quem mutare, etc., *usque ad* quia nomen illud aliter Hierosolymitae, aliter Galilaei [0235C] sonabant.

VERS. 72.-- *Et recordatus est. [n: (ID.)]* Petrus nocte negat, ad galli cantum poenitet. In die quem tertio negaverat, se tertio amare professus est. Quod enim, etc., *usque ad* egreditur foras (ut alii Evangelistae narrant), ut ab impiis secretus, negationis culpam liberius abluat fletibus.

## CAPUT XV.

VERS. 1.-- *Et confestim,* etc. Sequitur: *Vincientes Jesum.* Mos erat Judaeis, ut quem morte adjudicassent, vinctum judici traderent. Et notandum, quod non tunc primum ligaverant, sed mox comprehensum nocte in horto, ut Joannes dicit: Et sic *adduxerunt eum ad Annam primum [n: (Joan. XVIII)]*.

[n: (HIER.)] Adest Samson vinctus a Dalila. Samson [0235D] interpretatur, etc., *usque ad* et fontem perennis vitae sitientibus nobis, id est corporis sui, aperit.

VERS. 2.-- *Tu es rex Judaeorum?* Cum Pilatus nihil criminis interrogat nisi an sit rex Judaeorum, arguitur impietas eorum qui nec falso quidem quod objiciant invenerunt. *Tu dicis.* Sic temperat responsum, ut verum dicat, nec tamen calumniae pareat. Et nota, quod Pilato qui invitus fert sententiam, aliqua in parte responderit: sacerdotibus autem et principibus respondere noluerit, indignosque sermone suo judicaverit.

VERS. 4.-- *Vide,* etc. Ethnicus condemnat Jesum, sed causam refert in populum Judaeorum. *Vide in quantis,* etc.

[0236A]VERS. 11.-- *Ut magis Barabbam. [n: (BEDA.)]* Adhaeret Judaeis usque hodie petitio sua, quam toto labore impetraverunt. Data enim optione sibi, pro Jesu latronem, pro Salvatore interfectorem elegerunt. Merito ergo salutem et vitam perdiderunt et latrociniis ac seditionibus in tantum se subdiderunt, ut regnum et patriam perderent, et libertatem corporis et animae nunquam reciperent.

VERS. 14.-- *Pilatus vero.* Multas occasiones dedit Pilatus liberandi Salvatorem, primo justo conferens latronem, deinde inferens: *Quid ergo vultis faciam regi Judaeorum?* Cumque respondissent: *Crucifigatur,* non statim acquievit, sed secundum suggestionem uxoris quae mandaverat ei (ut Matthaeus dicit): *Nihil tibi et justo illi [n: (Matth. XXVII)]*, respondens ait: [0236B] *Quid enim mali fecit?* Quod dicendo, Jesum absolvit. *At illi magis,* etc. David: *Circumdederunt me canes multi [n: (Psal. XXI)]*, etc. Isaias: *Exspectavi ut faceret judicium, et ecce iniquitas: et justitiam, et ecce clamor [n: (Isa. V)]*. Jeremias: *Facta est haereditas mea mihi sicut leo in silva: dedit contra me vocem [n: (Jer. XII)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Barabbam, et tradidit,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Hi sunt duo hirci, unus apompeius, id est emissarius, cum peccato populi in desertum inferni absolutus dimittitur. Alter pro peccatis absolutorum, ut agnus occiditur. Pars Domini semper mactatur, pars diaboli, qui est magister eorum, effrenata in tartara praecipitatur.

*Jesum flagellis.* Ut nos flagellis liberaret; unde: [0236C] *Flagellum non appropinquabit tabernaculo tuo [n: (Psal. XC)]*: cum prius diceretur: *Multa flagella peccatoris [n: (Psal. XXXI)]*.

*[n: (BEDA.)] Jesum flagellis caesum.* Caesus est ab ipso Pilato, unde Joannes: *Apprehendit Pilatus Jesum et flagellavit:* et post subjunxit: *Et milites plectentes coronam de spinis [n: (Joan. XIX)]*, etc. Et militibus illudendum praebuit. Quod ideo fecit, ut ejus poenis et opprobriis saturati ultra mortem non sitirent.

VERS. 17.-- *Et induunt. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthaeus ita: *Et exuentes eum, chlamydem coccineam circumdederunt ei [n: (Marc. XXVII)]*. Quod idem est. Pro regia enim purpura data est, etc., *usque ad* purpura vel cocco vestitur, cum triumpho gloriosorum martyrum [0236D] gloriatur.

VERS. 19.-- *Et percutiebant,* etc. Caput Christi Deus est. Caput ergo Christi percutiunt qui eum denegant esse Deum. Et qui Scripturae auctoritate errorem suum defendunt (quia scriptura arundine solet fieri), quasi arundine caput ejus feriunt. In faciem ejus spuunt qui praesentiam gratiae ejus exsecrandis verbis ex interna caecae mentis insania conceptis respuunt, et eum in carne venisse negant.

*Adorabant eum.* Quasi falso se dixisset Deum. Sed hodie (quod est gravioris insaniae) quidam eum certa fide ut Deum verum adorant, sed perversis actibus mox verba ejus quasi fabulosa despiciunt, [0237A] ac promissa regni illius temporalibus illecebris postponunt.

*Et educunt illum. [n: (HIER.)]* Hic educitur Abel in agrum a fratre ut perimatur. Hic adest Isaac, etc., *usque ad* hic adest Jonas de ligno navis foris et in mare ventremque ceti triduo missus.

VERS. 20.-- *Ut crucifigerent. [n: (HIER.)]* Ipsa crucis species quid est nisi forma quadrati mundi? Oriens de virtute fulget, arcton dextera tenet, auster laeva consistit, occidens sub plantis firmatur. Unde Apostolus: *Ut sciamus quae sit latitudo, longitudo, sublimitas et profundum [n: (Ephes. III)]*. Aves in forma crucis ad aethera volant, homo adorat, et natat in forma crucis, navis per maria antenna cruci assimilata sufflatur. Tau littera signum salutis et crucis [0237B] demonstrat.

VERS. 21.-- *Et angariaverunt. [n: (BEDA.)]* Ipse Dominus primo crucem suam portavit, sicut Joannes dicit: Post iste Simon, de quo et alii dicunt, et hoc satis congruo ordine mysterii. *Christus enim passus pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum ut sequamini vestigia ejus [n: (Joan. XIX; I Petr. II)]*.

[n: (HIER.)] Simon qui portat crucem in angaria, hic est qui laborat pro laude humana. Cogunt eum homines huic labori quem non cogit timor vel dilectio Dei.

*Patrem Alexandri.* Magnae opinionis Simon iste videtur esse, cum et filii ejus tanquam noti omnibus ex nomine designantur.

[n: (HIER.)] Alii per merita patrum suorum commemorantur, [0237C] alii per merita filiorum. Hic autem Simon, etc., *usque ad* unde: per Jeremiam ad Judaeam dicitur: *Olivam uberem, pulchram, fructiferam, speciosam vocavit Dominus nomen tuum.*

VERS. 22.-- *Calvariae locus. [n: (HIER.)]* Tradunt Judaei quod in hoc loco montis immolatus fuerit aries pro Isaac [n: (Gen. XXII)], ut ibi decalvetur Christus, id est carne sua, scilicet Judaea carnali, separetur.

[n: (BEDA.)] Extra portam truncabantur capita damnatorum, et calvariae decollatorum loca dicuntur. Ideo ibi crucifixus Dominus ut ubi erat area damnatorum, ibi erigantur vexilla martyrum. Et quoniam pro nobis factum est maledictum crucis et flagellatus et crucifixus pro salute omnium, quasi noxius inter noxios voluit crucifigi.

[0237D]VERS. 23.-- *Et dabant. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthaeus, *cum felle mistum [n: (Matth. XXVII)]*, quod idem est. Fel enim pro amaritudine posuit. Myrrhatum enim vinum est amarissimum; quanquam fieri possit ut et felle et myrrha amarissimum redderent vinum.

*[n: (HIER.)] Et dabant,* etc. Hoc aceto succus lethalis pomi abstergitur. *Et non accepit.* Id pro quo patitur. Unde de eo: *Quae non rapui tunc exsolvebam [n: (Psal. LXVIII)]*.

*Et non accepit.* Matthaeus: *Et cum gustasset, noluit bibere.* Indicat Matthaeus quod pro nobis amaritudinem mortis gustaverit, sed die tertia resurrexit.

VERS. 24.-- *Et crucifigentes eum. [n: (HIER.)]* Hic [0238A] figitur salus in ligno. Primo infixa est mors in ligno. Lignum primum, scientiae boni et mali; secundum boni tantum et vitae nobis lignum est. Extensio primae manus ad lignum mortem apprehendit; extensio secundae vitam quae perierat invenit. Ligno hoc vehimur per mare undosum ad terram viventium.

*Vestimenta sua. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quadripartita vestis Christi secundum numerum militum, significat Ecclesiam quatuor partibus orbis aequaliter, id est concorditer distributam.

[n: (HIER.)] Vestimenta Domini mandata sunt quibus tegitur corpus ejus, quod est Ecclesia, quia dividuntur inter milites gentium ut sint quatuor ordines cum sit una fides, id est conjugati, viduati, [0238B] praepositi, separati. Sortiti sunt tunicam indivisam quae est pax et veritas in cunctis in modum regalis amictus vel annuli. *Mittentes sortem. [n: (ID.)]* Super tunicam, scilicet quae erat inconsutilis. Hic sortita, etc., *usque ad* et sors solius Dei judicio venit vel cedit.

VERS. 25.-- *Erat autem hora ter. [n: (HIER.)]* Hoc proprie Marcus, nam sexta hora tenebrae suffuderunt terram, ut non quis posset movere caput. A tricesimo namque, etc., *usque ad* qui magis dicendi sunt eum crucifixisse quamvis nitantur hoc dissimulare, quam milites qui secundum officium suum duci suo paruere.

VERS. 26.-- *Et erat titulus. [n: (BEDA.)]* Titulus ostendit quod nec occidendo potuerunt efficere quod [0238C] non esset eis rex; unde: *Ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo,* etc. Bene enim simul est rex et pontifex, cum eximiam Patri suae carnis hostiam offerret in altari crucis, et regis dignitatem titulo praetenderet, ut cunctis insinuaret quod per crucis patibulum non perdiderit, sed confirmaverit imperium.

VERS. 27.-- *Et cum eo crucifigunt. [n: (BEDA.)]* Sicut dicit Apostolus: *Vetus homo noster simul cum illo crucifixus est ut destruatur corpus peccati, ut ultra non dominetur super nos peccatum.* Quandiu ergo agunt opera nostra ut evacuetur corpus peccati, quandiu, etc., *usque ad* unde Apostolus: *Ut in charitate radicati et fundati possitis comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis quae sit latitudo, longitudo, sublimitas et profundum [n: (Ephes. III)]*. *Duos latrones.* [0238D] [n: (ID.)] Latrones qui cum Domino crucifixi sunt signant eos qui fide et confessione Christi, vel agone sui martyrii, vel quamlibet arctam continentiam subeunt. Et qui hoc pro aeterna gloria gerunt, dextri latronis merito et fide signantur. Qui autem pro humana gloria vel qualibet minus digna intentione, sinistri latronis mentem imitatur et actus.

[n: (HIER.)] Cum iniquis veritas deputata unum relinquit sinistrum, alterum assumit dextrum; sic faciet in die judicii, ex simili crimine dissimiles sortiuntur vias. Alter praecedit Petrum in paradisum, alter Judam in infernum. Confessio brevis vitam acquirit longam, et blasphemia finita poena plectitur aeterna. Hic pullus Judae ligatur ad [0239A] vitem ἀναβόλαιον, id est, pallium tingitur in sanguine uvae, hic lacerant haedi vineam.

VERS. 29.-- *Moventes capita. [n: (HIER.)]* Emittitur mors iniquorum quando excitantur vincula inferni usque ad cervicem, quae est cervix humani generis.

VERS. 31.-- *Alios salvos. [n: (HIER.)]* Etiam nolentes confitentur quod alios fecit salvos, et se propria damnant sententia, quia alios salvos fecit et se si vellet salvare poterat.

VERS. 32.-- *Descendat nunc.* Plus est de sepulcro surgere, et tamen non crediderunt. *Hi omnes declinaverunt, simul inutiles facti sunt [n: (Psal. XIII)]*.

*Et qui cum eo. [n: (BEDA.)]* Secundum Lucam [n: (Luc. XXIII)] unus latro blasphemabat dicens: *Si tu es [0239B] Christus, salvum fac te et nos.* Alter, etc., *usque ad* qui coelestia petunt, ad ea sine dubio Christo mediante et miserante perveniunt.

VERS. 33.-- *Et facta hora sexta. [n: (BEDA.)]* Notandum quod hora sexta, id est sole recessuro a centro mundi, crucifixus sit, et diluculo, oriente sole resurrexit, etc., *usque ad* et qua hora primus Adam peccando mundo mortem intulit, eadem hora secundus Adam mortem moriendo destrueret.

*Tenebrae. [n: (HIER.)]* Hic adest Noe inebriatus ac nudatus coelo ac terra ebrioso pallio tectus, et ab homine irrisus hic stillavit de ligno sanguis.

## CAPUT XV. (cont.)

VERS. 35.-- *Et quidam,* etc. Non omnes. Forsitan milites Romani non intelligentes proprietatem Hebraei sermonis, ex eo quod dicitur Eloi, putaverunt [0239C] Eliam ab eo vocari. Vel Judaei solito sibi sermone verba Domini depravantes, imbecillitatis infamabant eum quod Eliae vocaret auxilium.

VERS. 36.-- *Currens autem,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Joannes plenius dicit: *Postea sciens Jesus,* etc. Quasi: Hoc minus fecistis, date quod estis. Erant enim, etc., *usque ad* de quo: *Dominus plantavit vineam Soreth: et quomodo conversa es in amaritudinem vitis alienae: et exspectavi ut faceres uvas, et fecisti spinas [n: (Isa. V)]*.

VERS. 37.-- *Jesus autem,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Quid dixerit Lucas aperit: *Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum; et hoc dicens exspiravit [n: (Luc. XXIII)]*. Quod autem dicit Joannes: *Cum accepisset acetum, dixit: Consummatum est: et inclinato capite tradidit [0239D] spiritum [n: (Joan. XIX)]*. Inter hoc quod ait: *Consummatum est,* et illud: *inclinato capite emisit spiritum,* emissa est vox illa magna, quam Joannes tacet, caeteri commemorant: *In manus tuas,* etc.

[n: (HIER.)] Infirmata etenim carne mox virtus divina invaluit quae dicit: *Aperite mihi portas justitiae [n: (Psal. CXVII)]*, etc. Nos autem cum nulla, vel una voce morimur qui de terra sumus; ille enim cum exaltata voce exspiravit qui de coelo descendit.

VERS. 38.-- *Et velum templi.* Ut arcam testamenti, et omnia legis sacramenta quae tegebantur appareant, et ad gentes transeant. Ante dicebatur: *Notus in Judaea Deus, in Israel magnum nomen ejus [n: (Psal. LXXV)]*; nunc autem: *Exaltare super coelos [0240A] Deus [n: (Ibid. LVI)]*, *et in omni,* etc.; et in Evangelio prius: *In viam gentium ne abieritis [n: (Matth. X)]*.; et post passionem: *Ite, et docete omnes gentes [n: (Ibid. XXVIII)]*.

VERS. 39.-- *Videns autem,* etc. Ostenditur quare centurio miratur, quia vidit eum sic exspirasse, id est spiritum emisisse. Nullus enim habet potestatem emittendi spiritum, nisi conditor animarum.

*Vere,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Nota quod centurio ante crucem in ipso scandalo passionis vere Filium Dei confitetur: et Arius, etc., *usque ad* et vere Filium Dei Synagoga tacente confirmat.

VERS. 40.-- *Erant autem. [n: (ID.)]* Sicut non excluditur muliebris sexus a salute per Mariam virginem: ita non repellitur a mysterio crucis scientiae [0240B] et resurrectionis per viduam Mariam Magdalenam et caeteras matres.

*Jacobi minoris et Joseph. [n: (BEDA.)]* Minorem Jacobum dicit Jacobum Alphei, qui et frater Domini, eo quod esset filius Mariae materterae Domini. De qua Joannes: *Stabant autem juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus [n: (Joan. XIX)]*, etc. Cleophae videtur eam dicere a patre vel a cognatione.

VERS. 42.-- *Et cum jam sero esset,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Παρασκευὴ Graece, praeparatio Latine. Hoc nomine Judaei inter Graecos morantes sextam sabbati appellabant, quia in eo quae sabbato erant necessaria praeparabant secundum quod, etc., *usque ad* donec octava veniente aetate et ipsa corpora resurrectione [0240C] glorificata cum animabus simul incorruptionem aeternae haereditatis accipiant.

VERS. 43.-- *Venit Joseph. [n: (HIER.)]* Joseph venit sero parasceve ab Arimathia, quae interpretatur *deponens,* ad deponendum corpus Christi, etc., *usque ad* aspicientibus a longe electis qui sunt stellae maris, quando, si fieri potest, scandalizabuntur etiam electi.

VERS. 46.-- *Joseph autem,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Ex simplici sepultura Domini, ambitio divitum condemnatur, qui nec in tumulis, etc., *usque ad* lineo terreno celebrat, sicut corpus Domini in syndone munda sepultum est: sic a papa Sylvestro statutum est.

*Quod erat excisum. [n: (BEDA.)]* Dicitur quod monumentum Domini domus rotunda fuit de subjacente rupe excisa tantae altitudinis ut homo rectus consistens [0240D] vix extenta manu culmen possit attingere. Et habet introitum, etc., *usque ad* color autem monumenti et loculi albo et rubeo dicitur esse permistus.

VERS. 47.-- *Maria autem,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Lucas dicit: *Quia astabant omnes noti ejus a longe, et mulieres quae secutae fuerant eum [n: (Luc. XXIII)]*. Sed aliis deposito corpore ejus ad sua remeantibus, solae mulieres, etc., *usque ad* et si forte valeant imitari pia curiositate, quo ordine sit ejus passio amplectenda, perpendunt.

## CAPUT XVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Et cum transisset. [n: (BEDA.)]* Lucas dicit quia revertentes a monumento paraverunt aromata et unguenta, et sabbato siluerunt, quia mandatum [0241A] erat ut sabbati silentium, etc., *usque ad* illuminata facie decussis vitiorum tenebris odorem bonorum operum Domino et orationum suavitatem offerre.

[n: (HIER.)] Nunc cum aromatibus redolentibus cum sponsa et adolescentulis currunt, post eam conspergimus librum, id est cubile, etc., *usque ad* et Domino in eo cum triumpho resurgente et dicente: *Haec est dies quam fecit Dominus,* etc. [n: (PSAL. CXVII)].

VERS. 2.-- *Et valde mane. [n: (HIER.)]* Quod alius dicit diluculo. Diluculum est inter tenebras noctis et diei claritatem in qua salus venit in Ecclesia declaranda more solis, qui consurgens roseam praemittit auroram, ut tantus splendor praeparatis oculis possit videri, cum tempus Dominicae resurrectionis illuxit, ut tunc laudes Christi tota cantaret ecclesia sanctarum [0241B] feminarum, quando vitam praestitit et lumen credulitatis infundit.

VERS. 3.-- *Et dicebant ad invicem. [n: (HIER.)]* Aquilae congregantur ad corpus, martyres et apostoli vident lapidem revolutum, qui est lex mortis, quasi dicat: *Ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus [n: (I Cor. XV)]*?

VERS. 4.-- *Revolutum lapidem. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quomodo lapis per angelum sit revolutus, Matthaeus dicit? Allegorice autem, lapidis revolutio resurrectionem sacramentorum Christi quae velamine litterae legis tecta erant, insinuat. Lex etenim in lapide scripta est cujus ablato tegmine, gloria resurrectionis ostensa est, et abolitio mortis antiquae, et vita nobis speranda perpetua toto orbe coepit praedicari.

[0241C]VERS. 5.-- *Juvenem. [n: (HIER.)]* Non senem, non infantem, sed jucundum aetate, ut dicitur: *Laetare, juvenis, in adolescentia tua [n: (Eccle. XI)]*, quae non est hic vera dum senio mista.

[n: (BEDA.)] Mulieres angelos vident quae cum aromatibus venerunt, quia illae mentes supernos cives aspiciunt, quae cum virtutibus ad Deum per sancta desideria veniunt.

*Sedentem in dexteris. [n: (BEDA.)]* Ad meridianam partem loci illius, ubi positum fuerat, etc., *usque ad* intrantes in monumentum duos angelos ibi stantes invenerunt.

[n: (GREG.)] Per sinistram vita praesens, per dexteram vita aeterna, etc., *usque ad* et ad angelorum numerum restituens coelestis patriae damna reparavit.

[0241D]VERS. 6.-- *Nolite expavescere. [n: (GREG.)]* Quasi: Paveant illi qui non amant adventum Domini vel supernorum civium, qui vitiis pressi de eorum societate desperant. Vos autem, quid timetis quae vestros concives videtis? Unde Matthaeus angelum apparuisse describens ait: *Erat aspectus ejus sicut fulgur, et vestimenta ejus sicut nix [n: (Matt. XXVIII)]*.

*Jesum.* Salutare. Sed quia multi non substantialiter sed nuncupative hoc nomine dicebantur, determinat per locum Nazarenum, et causam subdit: *Crucifixum.* Atque addit: *Surrexit, non est hic.* Per praesentiam carnis, qui tamen nusquam deest per praesentiam majestatis. *Ecce locus.* Ostenditur mortalitas mortalibus ad actionem gratiarum debitam, [0242A] ut intelligamus quid simus et fuerimus, et sciamus quid erimus.

VERS. 7.-- *Et Petro. [n: (BEDA.)]* Petrus vocatur ex nomine, ne desperet ex negatione. Nisi enim, etc., *usque ad* ut qui futurus erat pastor Ecclesiae in sua culpa disceret quomodo aliis misereri deberet.

*Et Petro. [n: (HIER.)]* Qui se indignum discipulatu indicat, cum ter magistrum negat. Sed peccata praeterita non nocent, quando non placent.

*Praecedit vos.* Bene de Redemptore nostro dicitur: de Galilaea namque transmigratio facta interpretatur. Jam enim a passione ad resurrectionem, a morte ad vitam, a poena ad gloriam transmigraverat. Et bene post resurrectionem in Galilaea a discipulis videtur, quia resurrectionis ejus gloriam [0242B] post laeti videbimus, si modo a vitiis ad virtutum celsitudinem transmigremus. Qui ergo in sepulcro nuntiatur, in transmigratione ostenditur; et qui in mortificatione carnis agnoscitur, in transmigratione mentis videtur.

[n: (BEDA.)] Nota quod Marcus dicit: *Praecedit vos in Galilaeam,* etc. Nec tamen ibi visum retulit. Matthaeus autem, etc., *usque ad* sicut in illa aeternitate cognoscetur, quo et nos perducet propter formam servi, ut liberi contemplemur formam Domini.

VERS. 8.-- *Fugerunt. [n: (HIER.)]* De futura vita dicitur: *Fugiet dolor et gemitus.* Imitantur mulieres ante resurrectionem omnium quod faciunt post, id est, quod facturae sunt fugiunt mortem et pavorem.

*Et nemini. [n: (HIER.)]* Quia illi soli mysterium resurrectionis [0242C] vident qui meruerunt, unde, secundum Joannem: *Petrus autem surgens cucurrit ad monumentum,* ut videret quae audivit.

VERS. 9.-- *Surgens autem.* Mane surrexit, sero sepultus est, ut hoc adimpleret: *Ad vesperum demorabitur fletus et ad matutinum laetitia [n: (Psal. XXIX)]*. Sepultus ergo sexta sabbati quae vocatur parasceve circa vesperam sequenti nocte et die sabbati, cum sequenti nocte in monumento positus, die tertia, id est primo mane prima sabbati, surrexit. Et bene una die et duabus noctibus in sepulcro jacuit, quia lucem suae simplae mortis nostrae duplae mortis tenebris adjunxit. In morte enim animae et spiritus tenebamur, unde ad nos suam, id est carnis mortem attulit, [0242D] et duas nostras solvit: simplam suam duplae nostrae contulit, et duplam nostram moriens abstulit. *Apparuit primo Mariae Magdalenae.* Mariae Magdalenae primo ostenditur, de qua ejecerat septem daemonia: quia meretrices, et publicani praecedunt Synagogam in regnum Dei, ut latro praecessit apostolos. Apostoli flent et lugent, quia necdum viderunt, sed cito consolabuntur.

[n: (BEDA.)] In principio mulier auctor culpae viro fuit, exsecutor vir erroris, etc., *usque ad* ut ipsis evangelistis et apostolis resurrectionem evangelizaret.

VERS. 11.-- *Et illi audientes. [n: (BEDA.)]* Quod discipuli resurrectionem tarde credunt, non tam est illorum infirmitas, quam nostra firmitas; dubitantibus enim [0243A] resurrectio per multa argumenta monstrata est, quibus et nos firmius solidamur.

VERS. 12.-- *Duobus ex his. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hoc Lucas apertius [n: (Luc. XXIV)]: *Oculi eorum,* etc. Post cognoverunt eum in fractione panis. Et sicut Lucas ait: *Surgentes eadem hora reversi sunt in Hierusalem,* etc.

*Ambulantibus. [n: (HIER.)]* Fides hic laborat agens activam vitam, illic contemplativa, etc., *usque ad* oblitus carnis suae postulat in ista vita quod post illam speramus in futura.

VERS. 14.-- *Novissime,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Quadragesimo die, quando erat jam ab eis recessurus in coelum, hoc eis maxime, etc., *usque ad: Euntes in mundum universum, praedicate Evangelium.*

*Duritiam cordis,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Ut succedat cor carneum [0243B] charitate plenum: hinc quod catervae martyrum mortem hujus saeculi libenter affectant, quia norunt pro temporali interitu perpetuo se esse victuros.

VERS. 15.-- *Omni creaturae.* Omni nationi gentium. Ante enim dictum erat: *In viam gentium ne abieritis [n: (Matth. X)]*: ut scilicet apostolorum prius a Judaea repulsa praedicatio, tunc gentibus in adjutorium fieret.

[n: (HIER.)] Omni generi humano, quod habet aliquid commune omni creaturae, angelis, pecoribus, lignis, lapidibus, igni et aquae, calido et frigido, humido et arido, quia minor mundus homo dicitur.

VERS. 16.-- *Qui crediderit,* etc. Per alios parvuli credunt, sicut ex aliis ea quae in baptismo eis remittuntur, [0243C] peccata extraxerunt.

VERS. 17.-- *Signa autem,* etc. Nunquid si signa [0244A] non faciamus, non credimus? Sed haec in exordio necessaria fuerunt, ut fides miraculis nutriretur, fide autem Ecclesiae jam confirmata non sunt necessaria. *Daemonia ejicient,* etc. Hoc hodie spiritualiter facit Ecclesia, cum per exorcismi gratiam manum credentibus imponit, et malignos spiritus expellit. *Linguis loquentur novis.* Hoc fit dum fideles veteris vitae saecularia verba relinquunt, et sancta mysteria insonant, et Dei laudes et potentiam quantum valent extollunt.

VERS. 18.-- *Si mortiferum,* etc. Dum pestiferas persuasiones audiunt, nec ad operationes usque perducunt, quod inde eis non nocet si mortiferum bibunt. *Super aegros manus,* etc. Dum proximos in bono opere confirmatos roborant exemplo bonae operationis, [0244B] super aegros manus imponunt, et bene habebunt. Haec miracula tanto majora, quanto spiritualia; per hoc enim animae suscitantur, non corpora.

VERS. 19.-- *In coelum. [n: (AUG.)]* Nota quod aliquando coelos pluraliter et aliquando coelum singulariter, etc., *usque ad* ubi fidelium credulitas plus actibus quam locutionibus eruditur.

*Et sedet a dextris. [n: (BEDA.)]* Et nunc omnia judicans, in fine omnium Judex venturus est. Stephanus autem vidit eum stantem, quia in certamine habuit eum adjutorem.

VERS. 20.-- *Illi autem,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Nota quod Marcus Evangelium suum quanto inchoavit tardius, tanto, etc., *usque ad* quo apostoli idem Evangelii [0244C] verbum per totum orbem seminaverunt.

english:
## THE PROLOGUE OF BLESSED JEROME.

[0179A]

[nt: ( See his Works. )]

## CHAPTER ONE.

VERS. 1.-- *The beginning of the Gospel. [n: (ISID.)]* The Gospel, *good tidings,* which belongs properly to the kingdom of God and to the remission of sins. Whence: *Repent ye and believe the Gospel: and the kingdom of heaven hath drawn nigh.* [var: Vulg. Mc 1:15 has *regnum Dei*, "the kingdom of God," and sets the two members in the other order, the kingdom's approach before the summons.]

[n: (HIER.)] The four Gospels are one, and the one is four. And so the book of Mark also is called the Gospel, and likewise that of the others: because all are one, and one is all.

*Of Jesus Christ. [n: (HIER.)]* Jesus in Hebrew, Soter in Greek, Salvator in Latin, Christus in Greek, Messias in Hebrew, anointed in Latin, that is, king and priest: he is said [0179B] to be of the line of David the king, and of the Levitical line.

*Of the Son of God. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthew says: *of the son of David, the son of Abraham [n: (Matth. I)]*. Mark says: *of the Son of God,* so that little by little from the lesser to the greater, etc., *as far as* John begins from the eternity of the Word of God, and ends in the resurrection of the Lord.

VERS. 2.-- *As it is written.* Mark sets the testimonies of the prophets first, by which he asserts that these things are old and not new, but foreknown and foretold by the prophets, and in this he invites also the Jews, who had received the law and the prophets, to the Gospel: and he calls the Gentiles, who held the Gospel, to the veneration of the law and the prophets, that no one, after the heretics, may receive the one without the other.

*Behold, I send. [n: (BEDA.)]* John is called an angel not [0179C] by fellowship of nature, as Origen falsely pretends, but by the dignity of his office: as the priests also are, of whom it is said: *The lips of the priest keep knowledge, and they seek the law out of his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts [n: (Mal. II)]*.

[n: (ID.)] Note that this testimony: *Behold, I send my angel,* etc., is Malachi's, yet he says that both are Isaiah's, because, etc., *as far as* all the prophets spoke by one spirit as with one mouth.

VERS. 3.-- *Of one crying. [n: (ISID.)]* To the Jews, deaf because of their sins, set far off, worthy of a cry of indignation. *In the desert.* In the desert the voice and the cry are made: because the house of Judaea is deserted, standing empty and swept, without the Spirit of God, without prophet, king, priest. Whence Jesus and John seek what was lost [0179D] in the desert. Where the devil conquered, there he is conquered: where man fell, there he rises again.

*Prepare ye. [n: (ISID.)]* Do penance and preach. Whence the Parasceve before the sabbath, etc., *as far as* that we, being at rest, may possess the desirable land.

*The way of the Lord. [n: (HIER.)]* The way of the Lord by which he enters in unto men is penance, through which God comes down to us, and we ascend to him. Whence the angels are remembered as ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

*Make straight the paths. [n: (ISID.)]* He commands that, going by the royal [0180A] road, we love our neighbours as ourselves, and ourselves, etc., *as far as* that the mouth be not sundered from the work, nor the work from the mouth.

The paths come after the way, because the moral commandments are expounded after penance, according to Mark or Matthew. The way is prepared by faith and baptism and penance.

The paths are made straight by the austere tokens of raiment, of girdle, of food, of drink, of a most humble voice.

VERS. 4.-- *John. [n: (ISID.)]* The grace of God. He begins from the grace of God, whence there follows: *Baptizing,* etc. Through baptism sins are forgiven; whence: That which *ye have freely received, freely give [n: (Matth. X)]*. And the Apostle: *By grace ye are saved [n: (Ephes. II)]*.

*Baptizing. [n: (HIER.)]* He gave the baptism of penance, he preached a baptism unto the remission of sins, [0180B] yet he did not give it. As by preaching, etc., *as far as* now the bride is brought in by the friend of the bridegroom, as Rebecca to Isaac, veiled by the servant with a white cloak.

VERS. 5.-- *In the Jordan [n: (ID.)]* Jordan is the descent of another, where sins are loosed. For the ark, etc., *as far as* the body of Christ profits not those who are not cleansed, but changes them for the worse.

*Confessing,* etc. *[n: (ID.)] Confession and beauty are in his sight [n: (Psal. CXV)]*, that is, in the sight of the bridegroom. Whence the bride alights from her camel, when the Church humbles herself to Christ, who is figured by Isaac, at whose birth God made laughter for Sara. As it is said to Mary, who is a princess with God: *Blessed art thou among women [n: (Luc. I)]*.

[0180C] [n: (BEDA.)] Confessing their sins, they are baptized. For they ought to promise the newness of a better life, who baptism, etc., *as far as* and so change those who are cleansed and promise the Christian religion into members of the Church.

VERS. 6.-- *And John was,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] The prophet's raiment and food and drink signify the whole austere life of preachers, and the Gentiles, etc., *as far as* because all things are from the grace of the Gospel, in which there is no distinction of Jew and Greek.

*[n: (BEDA.)] Clothed with camel's hair.* Because he did not cherish sins, but rebuked them sharply, saying: *Ye brood of vipers,* etc. The leathern girdle, etc., *as far as* for in the honey is sweetness, in the locust a nimble flight, but one soon falling.

VERS. 7.-- *Mightier than I. [n: (HIER.)]* Who is mightier than [0180D] the grace by which sins are washed away? He who, etc., *as far as* and it reaches even to the hundred and forty-four thousand.

*To loose the latchet. [n: (BEDA.)]* There was a custom among the ancients, that if any man were unwilling to take to wife her who fell to him, he, etc., *as far as* I am not able to bare the feet of the Redeemer, because I claim not for myself the name of bridegroom.

[n: (HIER.)] The latchet of the shoes, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation of God. For the heel, etc., *as far as* the bride among the patriarchs, the friend among the prophets, the neighbour [0181A] in Mary and Joseph, the beloved in John the Baptist, the dove in Christ and the apostles.

VERS. 8.-- *I have baptized you with water. [n: (BEDA.)]* John does not yet say openly that he is God or the Son of God, because his hearers were untaught: but little by little, through the humanity glorified, he leads them to faith in the divinity, saying: *But he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.* Yet afterwards, when he saw them now more capable, he preaches the Son of God openly, saying: *He gave testimony, that this is the Son of God [n: (Joan. III)]*.

*[n: (ISID.)] I baptize you with water, he,* etc. The river of God is always full, always equal, of which: *The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful [n: (Psal. XLV)]*. There is a great distance, etc., *as far as* the anointing of Christ comes from the bitterness of the passion to the glory of the resurrection; [0181B] whence the Apostle: *Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,* etc., even to: *For which cause God also hath exalted him [n: (Phil. II)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *And he was baptized in the Jordan.* For three causes: that he might fulfil justice and humility; that he might approve the baptism of John; that, sanctifying the waters of Jordan by the descent of the dove, he might show the Holy Ghost to be present in baptism.

[n: (HIER.)] Mark: As the hart, longing for the fountains of waters, gives leaps, crops the tops of the meadows, bears palms upon his crown, so, like the honey-flowing bee, he tastes but lightly the flowers of the field (to which the odour of the true Isaac is likened). Whence Jesus coming from Nazareth of Galilee to the baptism, etc., *as far as: To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God [n: (Apoc. II)]*.

[0181C]VERS. 10.-- *He saw the heavens opened,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] The mystery of the Trinity is shown in the baptism: the Son is baptized, the Spirit is in the dove, the Father sounds in the voice. The heavens are opened, etc., *as far as* the Spirit shall abide with us and shall be in us according to the measure of faith. But of Christ it is said: *Full of grace and truth [n: (Joan. I)]*.

*Remaining in him.* The Spirit remains in him, not from the time he was baptized, but from the time he was conceived. But that he descended at the baptism signifies that spiritual grace is given to us in baptism, to whom, being regenerated of water and the Spirit unto the remission of sins, a fuller grace of the Spirit is wont to be given from heaven by the imposition of the bishop's hand.

VERS. 11.-- *Thou art my beloved Son. [n: (BEDA.)]* [0181D] He is not taught what he knew not, but it is shown to us what we ought to believe, namely that he, etc., *as far as* and rightly did the Spirit descend in the likeness of a dove, which is a simple creature and without gall: because he seeks the simple, nor does he dwell in impure minds.

VERS. 12.-- *The Spirit. [n: (ID.)]* Lest it be doubtful which spirit, Luke deliberately sets before it: *Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from the Jordan;* then he added: *and was led by the Spirit into the desert, lest an unclean* spirit be thought to have had any power against him.

VERS. 13.-- *Forty days. [n: (ID.)]* It signifies the whole time in which the devil tempts his members. For the fourfold world, by the observance of the ten commandments, serves the Lord in striving against the devil. [0182A] And four times ten make forty. Everywhere and always the adversary is at hand, who ceases not to hinder our journey.

*And he was with the beasts.* We also, if in the desert of holy conversation we bear with undefiled mind the bestial manners of men, deserve the mystery of the angels, by whom, loosed from the body, we may be carried over into heaven

VERS. 14.-- *But after that. [n: (ISID.)]* We have received grace for grace, things carnal are beheaded, things spiritual are quickened. The shadow ceasing, the truth is at hand. John in prison, the law in Judaea, Jesus in Galilee, salvation among the Gentiles.

*Preaching,* etc. *[n: (HIER.)] Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall possess [n: (Matth. V)]*, etc. [var: Vulg. Mt 5:3 reads *quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum*, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"; *ipsi possidebunt* belongs to the next beatitude, Mt 5:4, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land."] To the earthly kingdom [0182B] succeeds poverty, and to the poverty of Christians an everlasting kingdom; whence: *My kingdom is not of this world [n: (Joan. XVIII)]*: for every earthly honour is froth, smoke, a dream.

VERS. 15.-- *Repent ye. [n: (HIER.)]* The sweetness of the fruit makes up for the bitterness of the root: the hope of the harbour delights away the perils of the sea, the hope of health softens the pain of the medicine. He who desires the kernel, let him break the nut: let him do penance who wishes to cleave to the eternal good. They can tell forth the praises of Christ who have deserved to come to the palm of pardon. Whence after penance preachers are chosen.

VERS. 16.-- *He saw Simon. [n: (HIER.)]* Simon, *obedient;* Andrew, *manly;* James, *supplanter;* John, *grace.* By these names, etc., *as far as* by prudence [0182C] we obey, by justice we act manfully, by temperance we tread upon serpents, by fortitude we merit the grace of God.

[n: (ID.)] Whom does worldly eloquence not intoxicate? With difficulty do men that are powerful, and noble, and rich, and with much more difficulty than these the eloquent, believe God. Their mind is blinded by riches and wealth and luxury, and, encompassed about with vices, they cannot see the virtues, and they judge the simplicity of Holy Scripture not from the majesty of its meanings, but from the serviceableness of its words.

[n: (ID.)] Four fishermen are called, Simon, Andrew, James and John: leaving all things they follow. By this chariot we are borne to the upper air, etc., *as far as* we are covered with the skins of Solomon, in which the bride [0182D] glories that she is beautiful.

[n: (BEDA.)] It is asked how he called first Peter and Andrew, and after a little James and John, as he relates, etc., *as far as* for then they followed him, not with the ships drawn up to land as though with a care of returning, but as one calling and commanding.

*And they enter in. [n: (HIER.)]* Mark, disposing the sayings of the Gospel within himself, not following the order of the history, keeps the order of the mysteries, whence on the sabbath he relates the first miracle, saying: *And they enter in,* etc.

*Capharnaum. [n: (ID.)]* Capharnaum is the village of consolation, the sabbath is rest. The man in an unclean spirit, [0183A] the human race, in which is uncleanness, etc., *as far as* Pharao, let go by Israel, we pursue him, the devil, despised, rises up into scandals.

[n: (BEDA.)] That he heals and teaches chiefly on the sabbath shows that he is not under the law, but above it: and he teaches us the true sabbath, that, being zealous namely for the salvation of souls, we may abstain from every servile work, that is, from all unlawful things.

## CHAPTER ONE. (cont.)

VERS. 22.-- *For he was,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] The scribes said the things that were written in Moses and the prophets; Jesus, as God and Lord, freely added to the law of Moses himself, or changed, the things that were wanting; whence in Matthew: *You have heard that it was said to them of old,* etc. *But I say to you.*

VERS. 24.-- *What have we,* etc. [n: (ID.)] This is not a confession [0183B] of the will, but an extortion of necessity: as a runaway servant fears his master when he sees him, and entreats concerning stripes. For the demons, beholding the Lord upon earth, believed that they were straightway to be judged.

VERS. 25.-- *Hold thy peace. [n: (ID.)]* In fitting order the serpent's tongue, which first scattered venom, is first stopped, that it scatter no more, then, etc., *as far as* that the order of restoration in the Lord may be the same as that of perdition in the first-formed man.

VERS. 26.-- *Tearing him. [n: (ID.)]* Or shaking him, as certain codices have it. But Luke says that it hurt him nothing. Yet what Mark says, *tearing,* is the same as Luke's: *when he had cast him into the midst.* But as to what [0183C] he added, *and hurt him not:* it is to be understood that that tossing did not weaken him: as demons go out with some limbs cut off or torn away.

[n: (ID.)] The man delivered from the demon we understand to be the mind cleansed from unclean thought. But the woman consequently healed of her fevers, the flesh bridled from the fervour of concupiscence by the precepts of continence.

VERS. 27.-- *What thing is this?* By the things which they see they are stirred up to the search of the things which they had heard. For to this end the Lord himself both works signs and gave to his disciples to work them, that by this the Gospel may be the more surely believed, while they who promise heavenly things to earthly men work heavenly and divine works upon earth.

VERS. 30.-- *And forthwith they tell him,* etc. Luke says [0183D] that they besought him for her. For sometimes the Saviour heals when he is asked, sometimes of his own accord, that against the passions of vices also he may show both that he is always present to the prayers of the faithful, and that the things which are not understood he either gives to be understood, or, when they are not understood, forgives to them that ask devoutly. Whence: *Who can understand sins? from my secret sins cleanse me [n: (Psal. XVIII)]*.

VERS. 31.-- *Taking her by the hand.* Peter's mother-in-law, sick of a fever, is lifted up when her hand is taken. The fever is intemperance, of which we, the sons of the Synagogue, are healed by the hand of discipline and by the lifting up of desire, and we minister to the will of him who heals us as he declines from us toward evening.

*She ministered unto them. [n: (BEDA.)]* Tropologically: that is, [0184A] let the members which had served uncleanness serve justice.

VERS. 32.-- *And in the evening. [n: (ID.)]* The setting of the sun is the death of Christ. *They brought unto him all that were ill.* For he healed more by the apostles after his death than when, living in the flesh, he preached to the Jews.

VERS. 33.-- *At the door. [n: (HIER.)]* The door of the kingdom, morally, is penance with faith, which works salvation for divers infirmities. For divers are the vices by which the city of the world languishes.

VERS. 34.-- *Because they knew him. [n: (BEDA.)]* Luke says more openly: *Demons went out from many,* etc., *because they knew him to be Christ.* The demons therefore know that he is Christ and the Son of God, etc., *as far as* whence [0184B] Paul: *None of the princes of this world knew. For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory [n: (I Cor. II)]*.

VERS. 35.-- *And in the morning. [n: (ID.)]* As by the setting of the sun, death, so by the dawn, the resurrection of Christ, by whose manifest light he went away into the desert of the Gentiles and prayed in the faithful, because he was stirring up their hearts to prayer.

VERS. 38.-- *For to this I came. [n: (VICT. ANT.)]* Fitly does the evangelist subjoin this. For not by this alone is the authority of his divinity shadowed forth, but also the humility of his voluntary emptying. But Luke, that he may express the dispensation of the Word, writes, *for to this was I sent.* Wherefore he designates by the name of apostleship the Father's good pleasure concerning the incarnation of the Word.

[0184C]VERS. 39.-- *And he was preaching in the synagogues. [n: (BEDA.)]* In this preaching is understood also that sermon delivered on the mount which Matthew relates; for, etc., *as far as: And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean [n: (Matth. VIII)]*.

VERS. 40.-- *And kneeling down,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Humble, ashamed. For every man ought to blush at the stains of his life, but let shame not check confession: let him show the wound, let him ask the remedy.

[n: (HIER.)] The leper, kneeling, entreating the will of the Lord, is made clean by him who willeth not the death of the sinner, but, etc., *as far as: Give alms: and behold, all things are clean. [n: (Luc. XI)]*.

[0184D] [n: (BEDA.)] The leper signifies the human race, which, according to Luke, is reported to have been full of leprosy. *For all,* etc., *as far as* and to offer to the true priest *their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God [n: (Rom. XII)]*.

*If thou wilt, thou canst. [n: (ID.)]* In the will he assigns the power, nor does he doubt of the Lord's will as an unbeliever, but, conscious of his own foulness, he does not presume.

[n: (ID.)] He who, shut out by the law, asks to be healed by the Lord's power, judges grace to be above the law. For as in the Lord the authority of power, so in him the constancy of faith.

VERS. 41.-- *He stretched forth his hand. [n: (ID.)]* The law forbids a leper to be touched, but because he is the Lord of the law, he does not [0185A] obey the law, but makes the law. He touches him not because he could not heal without a touch, but he thus proves that he was not subject to the law.

*I will, be thou made clean. [n: (ID.)]* That is wonderful, that he heals in the same manner in which he is asked. *I will, be thou made clean: and when he had said it, immediately the leprosy departed from him.* There is nothing between the work and the command. *He spoke, and they were made [n: (Psal. XXXII)]*. Thou seest that the will is the power. And so, etc., *as far as: I will* for he says on account of Potinus, he commands on account of Arius, he touches on account of the Manichee.

VERS. 44.-- *See thou,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Not because he willed what he could not do, since *he hath done all things whatsoever he would [n: (Psal. CXIII)]*. But he teaches that our good deeds are to be kept back, not only from the wage of money, but also from that of favour.

*Show thyself,* etc. [n: (ID.)] That he may understand that he was healed not by the order of the law, [0185B] but by the grace which is above the law. He bids him offer, that he may show that he does not destroy the law, but fulfils it, while, walking according to the law, he heals above the law those whom the remedies of the law were not healing. Nor ought the sacrifice which signified to cease, since that which was signified had not yet been confirmed by the ordinance of the apostles and the faith of believers.

VERS. 45.-- *But he going out. [n: (ID.)]* The salvation of one compels many to the Lord. He cannot keep silence about the benefit, even when bidden by him who gave it. The Lord commanded that it be hidden. For he wills that in the good things we do we should wish to lie hid, which belongs to humility; and that we be brought forward unwilling, that we may profit others, which belongs to great sublimity, since even if we ourselves should wish it, the works cannot be kept silent.

[0185C] *So that now,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Jesus was not made manifest to all, who serve broad and public praises and their own pleasures, but to those, etc., *as far as* whom nothing can separate from the charity of God.

## CHAPTER II.

VERS. 2.-- *So that there was no room,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] While the Lord preached, they are not contained in the house, nor at the door: because, while Christ preached in Judaea, the Gentiles did not yet wish to enter in to hear, yet to them (though set without) he directed the words of his doctrine by his preachers.

VERS. 3.-- *The paralytic. [n: (HIER.)]* The palsy is a type of that torpor in which the slothful man lies in the softness of the flesh, having a desire of health: but by the crowds, etc., *as far as* [0185D] that by another way he may return with the Magi into his own country.

*He was carried by four. [n: (BEDA.)]* Because by four virtues the confidence of the mind is raised up to the Lord. Of which it is said in the book of Wisdom: *She teacheth sobriety and wisdom, and knowledge and strength [n: (Sap. VIII)]*, [var: Vulg. Sap 8:7 reads *sobrietatem enim et prudentiam docet, et justitiam, et virtutem*, "for she teacheth sobriety and prudence, and justice, and strength."] which others call prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice.

VERS. 4.-- *They uncovered the roof where he was.* The roof of the house in which Christ teaches is the sublimity of Scripture, *by which a young man correcteth his way, in keeping thy words [n: (Psal. CXVIII)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] The house of Jesus, according to another evangelist, is said to be roofed with tiles, because by the meanness of the letter the spiritual sense [0186A] is covered. He is let down with his bed before Jesus, because a man ought to know Jesus even while set in this flesh.

VERS. 5.-- *And when he had seen. [n: (ID.)]* A man's own faith avails much with God, where another's availed so much: so that the man, healed within and without, rose up suddenly, and by the merits of others his own faults were loosed for him.

*Son.* Wonderful humility, him who was despised by all, loosened in all his limbs, he calls son. Or else for this reason, because his sins are forgiven him.

VERS. 6.-- *Thy sins are forgiven thee.* He shows that he had been stricken with disease on account of sins, and therefore could not be healed unless these were first forgiven. As to the paralytic at the pool: *Behold thou art made whole, sin no more, [0186B] lest worse befall thee [n: (Joan. V)]*. [n: (BEDA.)] For five causes are men afflicted with troubles of the flesh. Either that their merits may be increased, as Job and the martyrs. Or for humility's sake, etc., *as far as* Lazarus, whose infirmity was not unto death, but for the glory of God, or unto the beginning of eternal damnation, as Herod.

VERS. 7.-- *Who can forgive. [n: (ID.)]* They say true: God alone can do this, and he alone forgives through those to whom he has given the power of forgiving sins, therefore he is truly God. They bear witness to the truth, but they are deceived in denying the person of Christ. They err, therefore, because, though they believe him to be God and to forgive sins, yet they do not believe that he is Christ. But more madly the Arians, who dare not deny that he is Christ and that he forgives sins: they fear not to deny that he is God.

[0186C]VERS. 9.-- *Which is easier. [n: (ID.)]* As if he should say: By the same power by which I behold the secrets of the heart, by that same I forgive sins. As if he should say: From yourselves understand what the paralytic obtains.

VERS. 10.-- *The Son of man. [n: (ID.)]* God alone forgives sins, and the Son of man has power to forgive sins: therefore the same is both God and the Son of man. So Christ the man forgives sins through his divinity, and through his humanity can die for sinners.

VERS. 11.-- *Go into thy house. [n: (ID.)]* He who had been sick carries his bed back home, when the soul, healed by the remission of sins, betakes itself together with the body itself to a long keeping of itself: lest it again admit anything whereby it may be smitten.

[0186D]VERS. 13.-- *And he went forth,* etc. [n: (ID.)] After the healing of the paralytic in Capharnaum he goes forth to the sea, because he instructs not only citizens, but the dwellers of the sea also, and the wave-wandering motions of the world by the firmness of faith, etc., *as far as* and them that are separated from the waves of covetousness he draws to solitude, by the quiet of that conversation which is in the hope of heavenly things.

VERS. 14.-- *Levi. [n: (HIER.)]* Levi is "added," because from the custom-house of worldly business he follows only the word which he speaks: for *he that doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be my disciple [n: (Luc. XIV)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Mark and Luke, for modesty's sake and out of honour for the evangelist, do not set down the name commonly known. He himself (according to that which is written: *The just man is first of all [0187A] the accuser of himself [n: (Prov. XVIII)]*; names himself Matthew and a publican: that he may show that no convert ought to despair of salvation, since of a publican he was suddenly made an apostle and an evangelist.

*He followed him. [n: (ID.)]* Luke more fully: *And leaving all things he followed him [n: (Luc. V)]*. He follows, who leaves all things that he may be able to follow Christ the poor not so much with the step of the body as with the affection of the mind, etc., *as far as* rightly therefore he who by obeying despised human business was made the steward of divine talents.

VERS. 15.-- *And it came to pass. [n: (ID.)]* Luke: *Levi made a great feast for them in his own house [n: (Luc. V)]*. For he who receives Christ within is delighted with an abundance of pleasures, and the Lord gladly enters in, and reclines [0187B] in his affection. This is the spiritual banquet of the good poor, which the rich man lacks and the poor man feasts upon.

*Publicans.* They who exact the public taxes, or those pursuing the gains of the world, who, converted by the example of the publican, now presume upon salvation, and slander not as the Pharisees do, remaining in vices, but repenting.

[n: (BEDA.)] He goes to the banquet of sinners: that he may have occasion of teaching, and may impart spiritual food. In going to sinners the humility of the Lord is shown: in the conversion of the penitent the power of his doctrine is made plain.

[n: (ID.)] By the calling of Matthew, the faith of the Gentiles: who, having left the gains of the world, feast with the Lord at the banquets of charity and of good works. By the pride of the Pharisees, the envy of the Jews at the salvation of the Gentiles [0187C] is signified, to whom it is said: *Publicans and harlots shall go before you in the kingdom of God [n: (Matth. XXI)]*.

VERS. 17.-- *They have no need. [n: (ID.)]* If he calls him a physician, who by a wondrous manner of healing was wounded for *our iniquities, and by his bruises we are healed [n: (Isa. LIII)]*.

VERS. 18.-- *And the disciples were. [n: (ID.)]* Other evangelists say that the Pharisees and the disciples of John asked this. He seems here to say that others asked it, whom a concern for the same matter had moved. Whence it is gathered that this was objected by many, by the Pharisees, by the disciples of John, by the guests, or by any others whatsoever.

[n: (ID.)] The disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, because they who glory in the works of the law, or (which is worse) follow traditions, etc., *as far as* he ate [0187D] with sinners, that thou, beholding the grace, mightest acknowledge the power.

VERS. 19.-- *Can they.* Matthew thus: *Can the children of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them,* etc. [n: (Matth. IX.)] The bridegroom is Christ, the bride the Church, of which spiritual wedlock the apostles were created, who cannot mourn and fast as long as they see the bridegroom with the bride. When the nuptials shall have passed, and the time of the passion and of the resurrection shall have come, then shall they fast.

[n: (BEDA.)] As long as the bridegroom is with us, we are in gladness, and we can neither fast nor mourn; but when for sin he withdraws and flies away, then a fast is to be proclaimed, then mourning is to be multiplied.

[0188A]VERS. 21.-- *No man seweth a piece. [n: (ID.)]* He calls the disciples old garments, that is, still carnal, not yet renewed by firmness of faith, etc., *as far as* the wine is the fervour of faith, of hope and of charity, by which we are inwardly reformed in the sight of God by newness of understanding.

VERS. 22.-- *But new wine.* And they were new, when after the ascension they were being renewed by hoping and praying in the desire of his consolation: then they received the Holy Ghost, with whom, as with new must, the new bottles were filled.

VERS. 23.-- *When on the sabbath days. [n: (BEDA.)]* Note first that the apostles do away with the letter of the sabbath against the Ebionites, who, though they receive the other disciples, repudiate Paul as a transgressor of the law.

*And to pluck the ears of corn.* They hunger as men, having no space [0188B] for eating because of the crowd. But they set forth an example of a more austere life, they seek not prepared feasts, but simple ones.

[n: (BEDA.)] The disciples pass through the corn, when prelates look upon their subjects with holy solicitude, and how they may draw each one to the faith, diligently, etc., *as far as* this the Lord of the sabbath approves, the foolish defenders of the sabbath disapprove, who love only the surface of the letter, know not the refreshment of the mind, are not acquainted with the rest of souls.

VERS. 25.-- *Have you never read,* etc. Before all others he brings David forward into the midst, who could seem to have opposed the sanctity of the law. And he does this with the design that, through the honour and reverence which they paid to David, he may check the shameless slander [0188C] which they maliciously aimed at the apostles. As if he should say: Do you not remember that David was bound by the servitude of the law? But I, though I be called the Son of man, am the Lord of the sabbath.

VERS. 26.-- *Under Abiathar,* etc. Let it not trouble thee that others say Achimelech, for both were then present there. Achimelech the father, and Abrathar the son: who, when his father had been slain by Saul, was made the companion of David's exile, and, in his reign, high priest of greater name than his father: and therefore worthy that the Lord should make mention of him, as of a high priest, even while his father was living.

*The loaves of proposition. [n: (BEDA.)]* As if he should say: If David and Achimelech are not blamed by us, but are excused for [0188D] hunger's sake, why do you condemn in these the cause which in the rest you approve? although it be, etc., *as far as* and all the sons of the Church are priests, joined into a holy priesthood, offering themselves as spiritual sacrifices to God.

*And he gave to them.* Following this. *I will mercy, and not sacrifice [n: (Ose. VI)]*: he judged it better to free men from the peril of famine than to offer sacrifice. The victim well-pleasing to God is the salvation of men.

VERS. 27.-- *Man for the sabbath. [n: (BEDA.)]* The sabbath is so commanded to be kept, that if there be necessity, he is not guilty, etc., *as far as* if a sick man break the fast, he is not held guilty.

VERS. 28.-- *Therefore the Lord.* As if he should say: If David the king and the priests (according to another evangelist), [0189A] violating the sabbath because of the ministry of the temple, are free from crime, how much more the Son of man, the true King and Priest! and therefore the Lord of the sabbath is not held guilty of the crime of the ears of corn plucked on the sabbath.

## CHAPTER III.

VERS. 1.-- *The withered hand. [n: (BEDA.)]* Which was stretched out to the forbidden fruit, and withered from good work, and was restored by the sap of good works through the hands of Christ stretched out upon the cross.

[n: (HIER.)] This man signifies the covetous, who, unwilling to give, wish to receive, to plunder and not to bestow: to whom it is said that they should stretch forth their hands, that is, he who *stole, let him now steal no more, but rather let him labour, working [0189B] with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have wherewith to give to him that suffereth need [n: (Ephes. IV)]*.

VERS. 2.-- *And they watched him. [n: (BEDA.)]* Because he had plausibly excused the disciples: they watch himself, that if he heal on the sabbath they may accuse him of transgression: if he heal not, of cruelty or of weakness.

*It is lawful to do good on the sabbath days. [n: (ID.)]* He shows that they violate the precepts of the law by a wicked interpretation, thinking that on the sabbath one must keep holiday from good, whereas the law says, etc., *as far as* he set before them the likeness of the sheep, and concluded that *it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.*

*A soul. [n: (ID.)]* By the part he signifies the whole man. Either because he did this for the soul's sake, or because this healing of the hand signifies the salvation of the soul.

*To destroy. [n: (ID.)]* Not that he who is supremely merciful could [0189C] destroy anyone, but for him not to save is to destroy. As he is said to have hardened the heart of Pharao, not that he hardened it, but that he did not soften it when it was hardened.

VERS. 5.-- *Stretch forth thy hand. [n: (BEDA.)]* The unfruitful weakness of the soul is not better healed than by the bestowing of alms; whence: *He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none: and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner [n: (Luc. III)]*. And in Ecclesiasticus: *Son, let not thy hand be stretched out to take, and shut to give [n: (Eccl. IV)]*. For in vain does he spread out his hands to the Lord in prayer, who does not stretch them out to the widow that asks.

*And the hand was restored unto him.* A great zeal of wickedness, they reckon it for a crime., that at his word the hand was healed. Nor even on the sabbath can he be convicted [0189D] of having laboured, who spoke and they were made: whereas they themselves on the sabbath carry food, hand round cups, and the rest that is necessary for living.

VERS. 6.-- *And going forth.* They who cannot do it by themselves seek companions of iniquity. *With the Herodians.* The ministers of Herod, because of the enmities which he himself was exercising against the man, pursued with snares and hatreds Jesus, whom John preached.

VERS. 7.-- *He retired.* He flees as man, because his hour had not yet come, and there was no place for his passion outside Jerusalem.

[n: (BEDA.)] From the synagogue he retires to the sea, etc. He leaves Judaea, he comes to the Gentiles with his disciples, that is, when the apostles preached he approached the hearts of the Gentiles: and so [0190A] he received many that came to him, and gave the salvation they had desired.

*And a great crowd. [n: (ID.)]* The teachers of the people and the ministers of the king pursue him with hatred: the unlearned common folk follow him with love, and very many deserve to be healed.

VERS. 9.-- *A small ship.* The Church gathered out of the Gentiles, having passed over the waves of the world in mind: which, the more it widens the bosom of the heart for the receiving of grace, the more securely it treads upon the waves of the world. *Lest they should throng him.* They throng him who trouble the peace of the Church. They touch him who receive the faith with a true heart and with love, and they who touched him are reported to have been healed: fleeing those who thronged him, he went up into the little ship.

VERS. 11.-- *And the unclean spirits,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Each of the two, both they that had plagues, and the unclean spirits. [0190B] But the sick with a holy intention of health: the possessed, or rather the demons in them: compelled by fear not only to fall down, but also to confess his majesty. For, terrified by his presence, they could not hide him whom they now well knew to be the Son of God. Sounder than the Arians, who even to-day deny that he is the Son of God.

VERS. 12.-- *That they should not make him known. [n: (ID.)]* Not only the demons, who confess unwillingly, or those healed by him, who confess of their own accord: but the apostles also, who were to preach in all the world after the passion, are bidden to be silent before the passion, lest, his divine majesty being preached, the passion should be deferred, and so the salvation of the world.

VERS. 13.-- *And going up. [n: (ID.)]* After he had forbidden unclean spirits to preach him, he chose holy men, [0190C] who should preach him and cast out wicked spirits.

This mountain signifies the height of justice, in which they were to be instructed and which they were to preach, by the place he admonishes them to be raised up to heavenly things, and so he gave the law also upon a mountain.

[n: (HIER.)] It is the custom of divine Scripture to speak allegorically: but let us so apply high things to our own understandings, that the truth of the history, etc., *as far as* they are called into the mountain who are lofty both in merit and in word, that the place may accord with their high merits.

VERS. 14.-- *That they should be twelve.* God loved the beauty of Jacob when the Most High looked upon the nations, and divided the sons of Adam. He appointed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel, that they might be upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. To whom [0190D] was given the power which the Son received from the Father according to the flesh, that they also might do the works which he himself did, and might do greater than these.

[n: (BEDA.)] He gave also the power of raising the dead, as Matthew says, that the power shown, faith, etc., *as far as* because *tongues are for a sign not to believers, but to unbelievers [n: (I Cor. XIV)]*.

VERS. 16.-- *And he imposed. [n: (ID.)]* Not then for the first time, but when he said to him who had been brought by Andrew: *Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter [n: (Joan. I)]*. But here the evangelist makes thee attentive, saying that, etc., *as far as* or hearing the sadness of death, that is, when it is said to him: *Another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not [n: (I Cor. IV)]*.

[0191A]VERS. 17.-- *And James.* Who has supplanted the desires of the flesh. And John, who received by grace what others receive by labour. *And he imposed on them the name Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder.* Whose lofty merit deserves to hear upon the mountain the thunder of the Father thundering through the cloud concerning the Son: *This is my beloved Son [n: (Matth. XVII)]*, that through the cloud of the flesh they also might scatter upon the earth the fire and the lightnings of Christ into rain. for the Lord made the lightnings into rain, that mercy might quench what judgment burns; whence: *I will sing to thee mercy and judgment, O Lord [n: (Psal. C)]*.

*James.* Who, at the Lord's calling, supplanted the care of the flesh, and, when Herod slew him, despised the flesh itself.

[0191B] *John. [n: (BEDA.)]* In whom is grace, or *the grace of the Lord,* who, for the favour of that special love which he earned by the glory of virginity, reclined upon the breast of his Redeemer at the supper.

*Sons. [n: (ID.)]* Of whom one, thundering, uttered the theological voice (which no man before had known how to bring forth): *In the beginning was the Word,* etc. [n: (Joan. I.)] Which he left so heavy with weight, that if he had wished to thunder somewhat more, not even the world itself could have contained it.

VERS. 18.-- *And Andrew. [n: (HIER.)]* Who manfully does violence to his own perdition, that he may always have in himself the sentence of death, and his soul always in his own hands.

*And Philip. [n: (ID.)]* Who is *the mouth of a lamp,* who enlightens by his mouth what he has received, to whom is given the work of an enlightened [0191C] mouth. This kind of speech Scripture often records, when names are set down for the sake of mysteries: which the evangelist now, earnestly aiming at it in the person of God, inserts.

*And Bartholomew. [n: (ID.)]* Who is the son of him that suspends the waters, of him namely who said: *I will command my clouds that they rain not [n: (Isa. V)]*. But the name of a son of God is acquired through peace and love: for *Blessed* are *the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God [n: (Matth. V)]*. And: *Love your enemies* that you may be *the sons of God [n: (Luc. VI)]*. [var: Vulg. Lc 6:35 reads *filii Altissimi*, "the sons of the Most High."]

*And Matthew.* Who is *given:* to whom is granted not only the remission of sins, but also to be in the number of the apostles, *that the lion and the ox may eat together, and the wolf with the lamb [n: (Isa. XI)]*.

Note, that the other evangelists put Matthew before, [0191D] and do not call him a publican. He himself sets himself after Thomas, and calls himself a publican.

*And Thomas. [n: (ID.)]* Who is *an abyss.* For many know deep things, but do not utter them. *Whence I know a man in Christ,* etc., even to: *which it is not lawful for a man to utter [n: (II Cor. XII)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Thomas an abyss: because he penetrated the depth of the power in the resurrection. Or a twin, which in Greek is called *didymus,* that is, doubting, because of his doubting heart, since he scarcely believed the resurrection.

*And James the son of Alpheus.* That is, of the learned or of the thousandth, of whom *at his side a thousand shall fall, and ten thousand at thy right hand [n: (Psal. XC)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] James the son of Alpheus, who is also called the brother of the Lord: [0192A] because Mary of Alpheus was a sister, etc., *as far as* immediately after the resurrection he is ordained bishop of Jerusalem, as being learned or the son of a learned man.

*Thaddeus.* The keeper of the heart. Him Luke, in the Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles, names Jude of James, because he was the brother of James the brother of the Lord. Whence he is called the son of Mary the mother of James and Joseph and Jude and Simon.

*[n: (HIER.)] And Thaddeus,* who is *a little heart,* that is, a tiller of the heart, who keeps his heart with all watchfulness. For by cleanness of heart God is seen, as through clean glass.

*And Simon. [n: (BEDA.)]* Simon the Cananean, from Cana a village of Galilee, who is also Simon *Zelotes,* that is, the zealous. Cana is zeal; the Cananean, Zelotes.

[0192B] *And Simon the Cananean.* Who is also Zelotes, Simon laying down or having sorrow. For *Blessed* are *they that mourn, for they shall be comforted [n: (Matth. V)]*. He fulfils a threefold mourning who seeks the comfort that is to come. He weeps for his own sins with David and Mary. With Paul he weeps with them that weep. And he weeps much with John, who said: *And I wept much: because no man was found worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof [n: (Apoc. V)]*. [var: Vulg. Apc 5:4 closes *nec videre eum*, "nor to look upon it"; the words about loosing the seals stand at Apc 5:2.] But he is called Zelotes whom the zeal of the house of God eats up, as Phinees: *And the slaughter ceased [n: (Num. XXV)]*.

VERS. 19.-- *And Judas Scariot.* Who does not blot out his sin by penance, nor is it blotted out by remembrance. Whence: *And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let it be against the Lord continually [n: (Psal. CVIII)]*.

[0192C]Judas is *confessing* or *glorious;* Scarioth, *the memory of death.* There are many confessors in the Church, proud and boastful, of whom the first is Simon Magus, and other heretics, whose deadly memory is kept in the Church: that it may be blotted out.

[n: (HIER.)] Judas Scarioth, from the village in which he was born, or from the tribe of Issachar. Issachar is *a wage,* namely the price of perdition: Scarioth, etc., *as far as* whom the example of one humbles unto fear, as the fall of Lucifer humbled the angels, that *Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom [n: (Jer. IX)]*, but *he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord [n: (I Cor. I)]*.

*And they come,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] They who have undertaken the care of others ought carefully to guard the gift of conscience, that they may rule first themselves, and thence others.

[0192D]VERS. 20.-- [n: (HIER.)] The house in which they come together is the primitive Church. The crowds which hinder the eating of bread are sins and vices, because *he that eateth the body of the Lord unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord [n: (I Cor. XI)]*. [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 11:29 reads *qui enim manducat et bibit indigne*, "for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily," with no mention there of the body of the Lord.] Whence the Lord is turned into fury when he says: *Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life [n: (Joan. VI)]*.

VERS. 21.-- *And when they had heard,* etc. The crowd throngs him, his own despise him as one mad, in which the salvation of the Gentiles is marked, and the envy of the Jews is reproved, of whom: *He came unto his own, and his own received him not [n: (Joan. VI)]*.

## CHAPTER III. (cont.)

[0193A]VERS. 22.-- *And the Scribes. [n: (BEDA.)]* If any through slowness of mind do not understand the word of God, there yet remains a hope of salvation; if perchance they should understand, none. But for those who are unwilling to understand and who pervert what they do understand, there is no hope. Whence, *Scribes,* that is, the wise, etc. *From Jerusalem.* Which signifies that he was to be persecuted by his own fellow-citizens even unto death. We read above that a crowd followed him from Galilee and Jerusalem, and from beyond Jordan and about Tyre and Sidon, which are cities of the Gentiles: and the Scribes from Jerusalem were blaspheming: because the crowd of the people of the Jews conducted him with palms and praises; the Gentiles longed for him; the Scribes and the elders of the people were treating of his murder. *He hath Beelzebub.* Man of flies, or one having flies: by which name they surnamed the prince [0193B] of demons, on account of the filth of the blood of the sacrifices.

VERS. 23.-- *How can Satan,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Let them choose which they will. If Satan cannot cast out Satan, they say nothing against the Lord. But if he can, let them withdraw from his kingdom, which, being divided, cannot stand.

VERS. 27.-- *And then shall he plunder his house. [n: (ID.)]* He plundered the house, because he distributed all the parts of the world possessed by the devil to the apostles and to their successors, as provinces parted out among them, that they might convert the peoples to the faith.

VERS. 29.-- *But he that shall blaspheme. [n: (HIER.)]* Because he does not deserve to do penance so as to be received, who, understanding Christ, was [0193C] saying that he was the prince of demons, etc., *as far as: For he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven [n: (Matth. V)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Matthew says [n: (Matth. XII)]: *He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost or the word,* etc. Where he shows that certain things are revealed in the world to come. Which is to be understood of the least matters, as of an idle word, of excessive laughter; for which even this life has earned pardon.

*For ever.* This against Origen, who promises pardon to all sinners after the judgment, when countless ages have passed.

*He shall be guilty of an everlasting sin. [n: (BEDA.)]* Not because [it is said] that he is not a spirit: or that he is, but is not God: or that he is God, but less than the Father and the Son: because this comes not of diabolical envy, but of human ignorance, etc.

[0193D]VERS. 31.-- *Brethren. [n: (HIER.)]* Not sons of Mary ever Virgin, as Helvidius lies: nor of Joseph by another wife, as others prate, but kinsmen.

[n: (BEDA.)] The mother and the brethren, the people of the Jews of whom Christ is according to the flesh, stand outside in the literal sense. The crowd within the house, the Gentiles in the spiritual mystery. The Jews wish to see Christ outside, because, not seeking the spiritual understanding, they rather compel or seek him to come out to teach carnal things.

VERS. 33.-- *Who is my mother. [n: (ID.)]* He does not refuse obedience to a mother, who says: *Honour father and mother [n: (Exod. XX)]*: but he shows that he owes more to his Father's mysteries than to a mother's affections, and he showed by example the same thing which he says in word: *He that loveth father or [0194A] mother more than me, is not worthy of me [n: (Matth. X)]*. Nor does he contemn his brethren injuriously, but he sets the spiritual work before kinship, teaching that the bond of hearts is better than the bond of bodies.

VERS. 34.-- *Behold my mother,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] That we may know that we are both his brethren and his mother, if we shall have done the will of his Father, so that we may be co-heirs, because he discerns not by sexes but by deeds. Sister and brother by believing, mother by preaching, while through preaching the love of Christ, as it were Christ himself, is begotten in the heart of the hearer.

## CHAPTER IV.

VERS. 1.-- *And again he began to teach. [n: (BEDA.)]* Going out from the house where he is said to have a demon, he teaches by the [0194B] sea, that he might show that for the guilt of unbelief he would leave Judaea and pass over to the Gentiles. Whence it is fitly set before, that while he was preaching in the house, his mother and his brethren stood outside.

[n: (HIER.)] He began to teach by the sea, that the place might indicate hearers bitter and unstable. And therefore, etc., *as far as* who sweetens bitter things, turns sad things into joy, sickness into health.

*Going up into a ship,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] The Church, which is in the sea among unbelievers, which God enlightens by the grace of his visitation and consecrates as a dwelling beloved to himself.

*And all the crowd was about the sea. [n: (HIER.)]* These are they who have lately come to hear the word, and thence, by the devotion of their mind, have followed away from the bitterness of the reprobate as from the [0194C] sea: but they are not yet with the Lord in the ship, because they are not yet steeped in the heavenly mysteries or sacraments which they desire.

VERS. 2.-- *Many things in parables.* A parable is a comparison made, under some likeness, of things that differ from one another in nature. He speaks after the manner of his own prudence, that they who could not savour heavenly things might have been able to perceive them through an earthly likeness that they had heard. In Greek it is called a likeness when we point out, by certain comparisons, that which we wish to be understood, as we compare iron with some hard man, and a swift man with winds and with birds. The same is done in the thirtyfold, sixtyfold and hundredfold fruit, that is, in the law, in prophecy and in the Gospel, because in the mouth of three witnesses, that is, of Moses, of Elias and of Jesus, the mystery of the kingdom shown on the mountain stands firm.

[0194D]VERS. 4.-- *Another fell by the way side,* etc. Luke: *And it was trodden down, and the birds of the air devoured it [n: (Luc. VIII)]*. The way, the mind, worn by the fear of carnal thoughts: whence the seed perishes and bears no fruit, and is snatched away by the birds, that is, by the demons, who are called birds of the air either because they are of a heavenly and spiritual nature, or because they dwell in the air.

VERS. 15.-- *And these,* etc. He sets down the differences of those who hear the word. But there are some, as the Gentiles, who do not even hear.

VERS. 19.-- *The lusts after other things,* etc. Which is a thing commanded. For it is commanded: *Thou shalt covet wisdom: keep the commandments [n: (Prov. VII)]* [var: Vulg. Prov. VII, 2 reads *serva mandata mea, et vives*, "keep my commandments, and thou shalt live", with no clause about coveting wisdom; the nearest received wording, Eccli. VI, 37, has the desire of wisdom given, not commanded], etc. And elsewhere: *Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, in his commandments he shall delight [0195A] exceedingly [n: (Psal. III)]*. These desires are good: he that desires the other things goes astray.

VERS. 21.-- *A candle,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] The candle, the word of God. The bushel or the bed, the hearing of the disobedient. The candlestick, the apostles, whom the word of God enlightened. The hidden and the secret, which is made open when it is handled by the Lord.

[n: (BEDA.)] The bushel, our life measured by the divine foreknowledge. The bed, the flesh, in which, etc., *as far as* because he sets the lusts of the flesh before it.

*Is it not that it may be set upon a candlestick? [n: (ID.)]* That the preaching of truth may bear rule, and the service of the body lie subject beneath it, through which nevertheless the teaching may appear the loftier, as the candle by the candlestick.

VERS. 22.-- *For there is nothing,* etc. As if [0195B] he said: Be not ashamed of the Gospel, because there is nothing hidden now which shall not be made open in the judgment, *when God shall enlighten the hidden things of darkness, and shall make manifest the counsels of hearts [n: (Matth. X)]*; where there is praise for you from God, but for them everlasting punishment.

VERS. 24.-- *With what measure,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] For according to the measure of faith the understanding of the mysteries is divided to each one, and the gift of knowledge shall be added to us, and virtues also shall be added.

VERS. 25.-- *For he that hath,* etc. That is, he that has faith shall have virtue, and he that has the work of the word shall have the understanding of the mystery. And on the contrary, he that has not faith fails of virtue; and he that has not the work of the word lacks the understanding of it; and he that does not understand loses the hearing, as though he had not heard.

[0195C]VERS. 26.-- *So is the kingdom of God. [n: (HIER.)]* Divine Scripture shows the heavenly sacraments through earthly likenesses, as is plain throughout the whole body of the Gospels. *The kingdom of God* is the Church, which, etc., *as far as: Since the harvest is at hand,* that is, the consummation of the age, in which the just shall rejoice, they that have sown in tears.

VERS. 29.-- *He putteth in the sickle. [n: (VICT. ANT.)]* The harvest indeed is the time of the consummation, the sickle, the word of God, more piercing than any two-edged sword. But the sickle in this place does not denote, etc., *as far as* for all bear wheat, though not all equally much.

VERS. 31.-- *As a grain. [n: (HIER.)]* This seed he compares again to a grain of mustard, which is least in fear, great in charity, which is greater than [0195D] all herbs, because God is charity, and all flesh is grass, and let him that is weak eat herbs. And it makes the branches of mercy and of compassion. Under whose shadow the poor of Christ, who are the living creatures of heaven, delight to dwell.

*It shall have been sown.* By Christ or by man in the earth, or in the field, that is, in his own heart. This man is our sense and our mind, which, cherishing the grain of preaching with the moisture of faith, makes it sprout in the field of its own breast. *It is less,* etc. As one preaching things contemptible, and at the first he is not believed, because he preaches God a man, dead, crucified, this, compared with the eloquence and the wisdom of the philosophers, is found less.

[0196A]VERS. 32.-- *It groweth up,* etc. Which in height, in breadth, in length of years surpasses the nature of herbs: it is high, because it lifts up to heavenly things; broad, because it has taken possession of the whole world; full of years, because it shall not be able to be ended. *Than herbs. [n: (BEDA.)]* The philosophic disciplines, which grow up so much the more openly, become the more worthless: because, like the pot-herbs of the grasses, they will quickly fall.

VERS. 34.-- *Without a parable. [n: (ID.)]* Not that he made no discourse plain to the crowds, but because no discourse of his is found in which something of parable is not found.

*But apart, the disciples. [n: (HIER.)]* For they were worthy to hear the mysteries in the innermost sanctuary of wisdom, who, the tumults of their thoughts being removed, abode in the solitude of the virtues. For wisdom is to be learned in a time [0196B] of leisure.

VERS. 36.-- *In the ship. [n: (BEDA.)]* Allegorically: the sea, the surge of the age. The little ship, the cross, by which we mount the waves of the world and come to the shore of the heavenly country. Other ships, etc., *as far as* for those ships perhaps had lately been made and only brought down into the harbour, or had been brought back to harbour after the perils of the sea.

VERS. 38.-- *In the stern. [n: (HIER.)]* The stern with dead skins holds the living and keeps off the waves, and is made solid with wood, etc., *as far as: A great calm;* the peace of the Church after her afflictions, or the contemplative after the active life.

*Sleeping. [n: (BEDA.)]* While the disciples are sailing Christ falls asleep, because, while the faithful are meditating on the rest of the kingdom to come and, by the favouring breath of the Holy Ghost or by the [0196C] oarage of their own effort, are casting the waves of the world behind their backs, suddenly the passion of Christ comes upon them, and as he goes up, etc., *as far as* but let us run back to the pilot, let us diligently rouse him, who does not serve the winds but commands them, who will still all things, who will grant the harbour of salvation.

VERS. 39.-- *Peace, be still.* Note that every creature feels the command of the Creator. Not that all things are animate, as the heretics lie, but that by the majesty of the founder the things which are insensible to us are sensible to him.

VERS. 40.-- *Why are you fearful? [n: (BEDA.)]* As if he said: Why do you fear while I am present? To which is like that which, after the resurrection, *he upbraided their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they who saw him rise again did not believe [n: (Marc. XVI)]*. And again: [0196D] *O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered, and so to enter into his glory [n: (Luc. XXIV)]*?

*And they feared.* Matthew: *But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this,* etc. [n: (Matth. VIII.)] Not therefore the disciples, but others who were in the ship, were wondering, doubting of him whom the sea and the wind obeyed. Or even the disciples themselves are rightly called men, because they did not yet know the power of the Saviour.

## CHAPTER V.

VERS. 1.-- *And they came,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Gerasa, a notable city of Arabia beyond Jordan, joined to mount Galaad in the tribe of Manasses, not far from the lake of Tiberias, [0197A] into which the swine were cast headlong, signifies, etc., *as far as* and he that was far off has been made nigh in the blood of Christ.

VERS. 2.-- *A man with an unclean spirit. [n: (ISID.)]* That most desperate man is the people of the Gentiles whom the Apostle enumerates. Puffed up, proud, unclean, bloody, an idolater, dishonourable, etc., *as far as* for when the fool is scourged the wise man becomes wiser, or more prudent.

VERS. 3.-- *And not even with chains,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Heavy with chains and fetters, and the two laws of the Gentiles are signified, by which sins were restrained in their commonwealth. The chains being burst (as Luke writes), he was suddenly driven by the Lord into the desert, because, those laws also being transgressed, they were hurried by lust into those crimes which now exceeded the common usage.

[0197B]VERS. 7.-- *Torment me not. [n: (ID.)]* It is a great torment to him to cease from the injuring of a man, and by so much the more grievously does he let go as the longer he possesses.

VERS. 9.-- *What is thy name? [n: (BEDA.)]* He asks not as though ignorant, but that, the public plague which he had endured being confessed, the power of him that heals may appear the more welcome. But the priests also of our time, who cast out demons by exorcism, are wont to say: that the sufferers cannot be healed otherwise, unless, so far as they are able to understand, they plainly confess all that they have endured from the demons by sight, by hearing, or by any sense of body or of mind, waking or sleeping.

*My name is Legion. [n: (ID.)]* It signifies the Gentile people made over to countless cults of idolatry: against which is, etc., *as far as* but more [0197C] sects than tongues confound the reprobate by setting them at variance.

VERS. 12.-- *Send us. [n: (ID.)]* Luke: *And they besought him that he would not command them to go into the abyss [n: (Luc. VIII)]*. They knew therefore that it would one day come to pass that by his coming they should be sent into the abyss, not as things now to be, etc., *as far as* for unless a man live after the manner of a swine, the devil receives no power over him, unless perchance to prove him, but not to destroy him.

VERS. 13.-- *The herd was cast headlong. [n: (BEDA.)]* Because, the Church being now made glorious and the people of the Gentiles set free from the dominion of the demons, they carry on their sacrilegious rites in hidden places, etc., *as far as* since for the salvation of one man two thousand swine are drowned.

VERS. 14.-- *But they that fed them.* Because certain chief men of the impious, although they flee the Christian law, yet by being amazed at its power [0197D] and wondering at it, preach it among the Gentiles.

VERS. 15.-- *And they see him. [n: (BEDA.)]* Luke: *Sitting at his feet.* which signifies that they who have been corrected from their sins behold, with fixed intention of mind, the footsteps of the Saviour which they are to follow.

*Clothed.* With the zeal of the virtues, which he had lost by a maddened mind. Whence the prodigal son, returning to his father, is straightway clothed with the first robe together with the ring: because whosoever shall have repented with a true heart can, by the gift of Christ's grace, recover the former works of justice from which he had fallen, together with the ring of unviolated faith.

*And they feared.* For many, delighted with the old sweetness, say that they honour the Christian law but are unwilling to suffer for it, [0198A] because they cannot fulfil it, yet admiring the faithful people healed from their former manner of life.

VERS. 17.-- *And they began to beseech him. [n: (RAB.)]* As Peter: *Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man,* etc. [n: (Luc. V.)] Lest they touch the ark of God, as Oza.

VERS. 19.-- *Go into thy house. [n: (BEDA.)]* So let each one, after the resurrection from sins, return into a good conscience and serve the Gospel for the salvation of others: that afterwards he may rest with Christ, lest, while he too hastily wishes to be already with Christ, he neglect the mystery of preaching that is fitted to his brother's redemption.

[n: (HIER.)] The man that is healed is sent into his own house, that is, into the spiritual observance of the law: and he preaches, [0198B] etc., *as far as* because moral things are to be observed according to the letter.

[n: (BEDA.)] Matthew says that two, Mark and Luke that one, were healed of the demon, because one of them was of a more illustrious name, is of a more famous: and therefore his healing is the more famous. Allegorically: the two signify the nations from the two sons of Noe. For whereas Noe begot three sons, one was taken into the possession of God, two were given over to idols.

VERS. 22.-- *And there cometh a certain man,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] After these things Jairus the ruler of the synagogue comes, because when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have entered in, then all Israel, etc., *as far as* Abraham and Moses and Samuel pray for the dead people, and Jesus follows their prayers.

[n: (BEDA.)] Jairus, *enlightening* or *enlightened:* because [0198C] he enlightened the people with the words of life: and that he might be able to do this, he was enlightened by the Holy Ghost.

VERS. 23.-- *For my daughter. [n: (BEDA.)]* Luke: *For he had one only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying [n: (Luc. VIII)]*. The daughter of the ruler of the synagogue is the Synagogue, by the legal institution alone, etc., *as far as* suddenly laid low by the languor of errors, she despairingly forsook the spiritual ways.

VERS. 24.-- *And they thronged him.* While he goes to heal the girl, he is thronged by the crowd: because, offering to the Jews the warnings of salvation by which he might raise up their sick conscience, he was burdened by the harmful custom of carnal peoples.

VERS. 25.-- *And a woman,* etc. As the Lord goes on toward the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, the diseased woman of twelve years [0198D] snatches health before her, and afterwards the daughter was healed and was raised up: because the salvation of the human race was so dispensed that first some out of Israel, then the fulness of the Gentiles, and so all Israel shall be saved.

[n: (BEDA.)] It is to be noted that the girl was twelve years old and that the woman flowed with blood twelve years, etc., *as far as* while Christ was determining to heal Judaea, she forestalled with sure hope the salvation already prepared and promised to others.

VERS. 26.-- *Having suffered many things,* etc. [n: (ID.)] From false theologians, philosophers, teachers of the secular laws, who promised that they would give useful precepts of living. The demons too, etc., *as far as* they began both to hope for and to seek out a remedy for their languor.

[0199A]VERS. 27.-- *She came in the crowd. [n: (ID.)] If any man minister to me, let him follow me [n: (Joan. XII)]*. And elsewhere: *Thou shalt walk after the Lord God [n: (Ose. XI)]*. Or because she does not see God present in the flesh, but afterwards comes to the grace of the acknowledgment of faith, etc., *as far as* by the evangelical sacraments, as by his own garments, he cleanses the fountains of unclean blood.

VERS. 31.-- *Who touched me. [n: (BEDA.)]* The faithful woman alone touches the Lord, whom the crowd accompanying him on every side throngs. Because he, who is burdened by the diverse heresies of them that disorderly throng together, or by perverse manners, is touched only by the faithful heart of the Church; whence: *Touch me not: for I am not yet ascended to my Father [n: (Joan. XX)]*. Because to touch him truly is to believe him equal to the Father.

[0199B] [n: (HIER.)] By the seventh virtue the dead girl is raised, but on the way the woman with the issue of blood touches the hem from behind, who together with health her substance, etc., *as far as* the cymbal, confession; the pomegranate signifies the will of martyrdom and the whiteness of the virtues.

VERS. 33.-- *But the woman. [n: (BEDA.)]* Behold whither the questioning tended, namely, that the woman should confess the truth of her long infirmity, and of her sudden believing and healing: and that so she herself might be confirmed in faith and might afford an example to others.

VERS. 35.-- *While he was yet,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] The woman being healed, straightway the girl is announced dead: because the Church of the Gentiles, cured of the stain of vices, and for the merit of her faith, etc., *as far as* but what is impossible to men is possible to God.

[0199C]VERS. 36.-- *To the ruler of the synagogue.* The ruler of the synagogue is the company of the teachers of the law, of whom: *Upon the chair of Moses have sitten the scribes and the Pharisees [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. And if they shall be willing to believe, the Synagogue also that is subject to them shall be saved.

VERS. 37.-- *And he admitted not,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] The mysteries are not to be revealed to blasphemers and mockers, but to the faithful who may honour them. Whence elsewhere: *Wisdom is justified by all her children [n: (Matth. XI)]*.

VERS. 38.-- *Weeping and wailing. (ID)*. *Let all rejoice that hope in the Lord, and they shall exult for ever, and thou shalt dwell in them [n: (Psal. V)]*. This gladness the Synagogue lost by the desert of her unbelief: and therefore she lies dead among those that weep and howl. But Jesus does not suffer her to perish utterly.

[0199D]VERS. 39.-- *She is not dead.* To me, in whose disposing both the soul that has been received lives and the flesh that is to be raised rests. Hence it is a custom among Christians that the dead, who are not doubted to be about to rise again, are called sleepers; whence: *We will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that sleep [n: (I Thess. IV)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Since the soul that shall have sinned dies, yet that soul which the Lord foresees unto eternal life may not unfittingly be said to have been dead indeed to us, but to have fallen asleep to him.

VERS. 40.-- *All being cast out. [n: (ID.)]* The crowd is cast out that the girl may be raised: because unless the multitude of secular cares be cast out from the heart, the soul that lies dead within is not raised. For while it scatters itself through all [0200A] its thoughts, it in no wise gathers itself to the consideration of itself.

VERS. 41.-- *Talitha cumi.* In the Syriac speech which the evangelist sets down it is no more than: Girl, arise. But perhaps to express the force of the Lord's command he added this: *I say to thee, arise,* and took care to convey the sense of the speaker rather than his words. So often the apostles and the evangelists, when they take up some testimony, set down the sense rather than the words.

[n: (HIER.)] To the girl it is said *Talitha cumi,* that is, Girl, arise. To the ruler of the synagogue, etc., *as far as* whence it is said: *Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice [n: (Jac. II)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] That Christ raised three dead persons signifies three kinds of souls. He raises the girl, etc., [0200B] *as far as* he heard of a fourth dead man when a disciple announced it: but because living men to pray for him were wanting: *Let,* he says, *the dead bury their dead [n: (Matth. VIII)]*.

## CHAPTER VI.

VERS. 2.-- *Whence hath this man,* etc. Wonderful blindness. In his deeds and in his words they are able to know Christ, for the mere knowledge of his stock they despise him.

VERS. 3.-- *A craftsman. [n: (BEDA.)]* He who works with fire and with spirit; whence: *He shall baptize you in fire and in spirit [n: (Joan. I)]* [var: Vulg. Matt. III, 11 and Luc. III, 16 read *ipse vos baptizabit in Spiritu Sancto, et igni*, "in the Holy Ghost and fire", in the reverse order; Joan. I, 33 has only the Holy Ghost]. He is the craftsman who crafted the dawn and the sun.

VERS. 4.-- *A prophet is not without honour.* It is well-nigh natural that fellow-citizens should envy fellow-citizens, because they remember not his works but the childhood [0200C] which they saw.

[n: (ISID.)] Meanness often attends a man's origin. As, *Who is the son of Isai [n: (III Reg. XII)]*. But: *The Lord beholdeth the lowly, and the high he knoweth afar off [n: (Psal. CXXXVII)]*.

VERS. 5.-- *And he could not,* etc. Lest by doing many mighty works he should condemn the worse his unbelieving fellow-citizens. Or because he is despised in his own country, he did few mighty works and signs there, lest they should be wholly excusable. Greater signs he does daily among the Gentiles, not so much in the healing of bodies as of souls.

VERS. 6.-- *And he wondered. [n: (BEDA.)]* Not as at something unforeseen, but he shows it as a thing to be wondered at, because they believe neither the prophets, nor him whom they behold present.

VERS. 7.-- *And he called. [n: (HIER.)]* The twelve [0200D] apostles are sent, and there is given them power, precepts of teaching, that word and deed together may accompany them: and that mighty works may be mingled with invisible promises, and so, when they anoint the sick with oil, they strengthen the weakness of faith by a mighty work.

*And he gave them,* etc. The kind Lord and master does not grudge his own power to his disciples and servants. But he acts by his own power, they by their own weakness, if they do anything, and they confess the Lord's might, saying: *In the name of Jesus arise and walk [n: (Act. III)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *That they should take nothing,* etc. Let their confidence in the Lord be so great that they may know most certainly that nothing is wanting, lest, while they provide temporal things for themselves, they provide eternal things the less for others.

[0201A] [n: (BEDA.)] Matthew and Luke record that the Lord said to his disciples that they should not carry even a staff: Mark, that they should take nothing save a staff. But they take the staff really. Mark understands by the staff the power of receiving what is necessary from those subject to them.

VERS. 9.-- *Shod with sandals. [n: (ID.)]* That the foot be neither covered nor bare to the ground, that is, that neither the Gospel be hidden, nor lean upon earthly advantages.

*That they should not put on two coats. [n: (ID.)]* Which is, that they should walk in singleness, not in doubleness.

VERS. 11.-- *Shake off the dust from your feet. [n: (ID.)]* The dust is shaken off from the feet in testimony of their labour, that they have entered the city, that the preaching has reached even unto them. Or that they have received nothing from them [0201B] toward the food that was needful, who despised the Gospel.

VERS. 13.-- *And they anointed with oil. [n: (ID.)]* James says: *Is any man sick among you? let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil [n: (Jac. V)]*, etc. Whence it is plain that this custom was handed down from the apostles, that the possessed and other sick persons should be anointed with oil consecrated by a bishop.

VERS. 14.-- *And the king heard. [n: (ID.)]* Luke [n: (Luc. IX)]: *Herod the tetrarch heard all things that were done,* etc. Whence it is to be understood that either, being confirmed by the words of others, he said it in belief, or that he was still hesitating, etc., *as far as* they chose rather to believe that he had not risen again, but had been carried off by stealth.

VERS. 17.-- *Of Philip his brother. [n: (BEDA.)]* An ancient [0201C] history relates that Philip was the son of the elder Herod, and the brother of that Herod under whom the Lord suffered, and that he married Herodias the daughter of Aretas, and that afterwards Aretas, quarrels having arisen, took away his own daughter, and joined her in marriage to Herod, the enemy of Philip, to Philip's own grief. Egesippus, however, or Josephus, far otherwise.

VERS. 18.-- *It is not lawful for thee to have,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He who had come in the spirit and power of Elias reproves Herod and Herodias, as, etc., *as far as* for man is born to labour, and the saints pass through death to rest.

VERS. 23.-- *And he swore. [n: (BEDA.)]* He is not excused from perjury by his oath. For perhaps he swore for this reason, that he might find an occasion of killing. And if she had asked the death of her father or [0201D] of her mother, Herod assuredly would not have granted it.

VERS. 26.-- *And being made sorrowful,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Made sorrowful after the accustomed manner of Scripture, not in fact, but in the opinion of many. As Joseph himself also, etc., *as far as* that under the occasion of piety he might become impious.

VERS. 27.-- *His head in a dish. [n: (ID.)]* The head of the law, which is Christ, is cut off from the body, etc., *as far as* but Christ, who is the light of the world, when the days begin to grow.

VERS. 29.-- *And they took. [n: (ID.)]* Josephus relates that John was bound, brought into the castle of Macherus and there beheaded. The Ecclesiastical history relates that it was in Sebaste, a city of Palestine, which was once called Samaria. [0202A] But in the time of Julian, etc., *as far as* the temple of Serapis being purged of its filth, he laid those same bones there, and consecrated a basilica in honour of Saint John.

VERS. 30.-- *And gathering together. [n: (HIER.)]* To the place whence the rivers go out they return. They always render thanks to God for those things which they have received.

*All things.* The apostles report to the Lord not only what they themselves had done and taught, but also what John suffered while they were teaching. Either his own disciples, or those of the same John, as Matthew writes.

VERS. 31.-- *Come apart. [n: (BEDA.)]* Not only for the sake of a seeking again, but mystically it signifies that, Judaea being left, which, etc., *as far as* he comes apart, he leads those whom he chooses, that among men living ill they may not attend to evil things, [0202B] as Lot in Sodom, and Job in the land of Hus, and Abdias in the house of Achab.

*Rest ye.* As the birds in the branches of the mustard. Little is the rest here for the saints, long the labour: but afterwards it is said to them that they should rest from their labours.

*For there were,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] In the ark of Noe the animals that were within were sent forth, and those that were without burst in. So in the Church Judas, etc., *as far as* then shall the wind and the storm cease, Jesus sitting and reigning in the ship, which is the universal Church.

VERS. 32.-- *They went away in the desert. [n: (BEDA.)]* By seeking solitude he tries the faith of the crowds, whether it follows him, and having tried it he rewards it with a worthy recompense. But the crowds, not with beasts of burden, not with carriages, but by the very labour [0202C] of their feet, take up the journey of the desert, and show their desire of salvation. Again, by receiving the weary, by teaching the ignorant, by healing the sick, by refreshing the fasting, he intimates how much he is delighted by the devotion of them that believe.

VERS. 33.-- *And on foot.* Note that they did not come to the other bank of the sea without a sailing of the Jordan. But, some strait or lake being passed over, they went to the nearest places of the same region, whither even the natives on foot were able to come.

VERS. 34.-- *And he had compassion. [n: (BEDA.)]* How he had compassion Matthew sets forth more fully in this manner: *And he had compassion on them, and healed their infirmities.* [var: Vulg. Matt. XIV, 14 reads *curavit languidos eorum*, "healed their sick"; the gloss immediately following expounds the healing of the sick, not of infirmities] For this is truly to have compassion on the poor and on them that have no shepherd, and to open the way of truth, and the languishing [0202D] to heal, and by refreshing the fasting to hearten them to the praise of the heavenly bounty; and the things that follow declare that he did this.

VERS. 35.-- *And when the hour was now.* The day being far spent, the Saviour refreshes the crowds, because either as the end of the age draws near, or when the sun of justice set for us, we were delivered from the long hunger of spiritual want.

[n: (BEDA.)] Christ, as he seeks the desert places of the Gentiles, many bands of the faithful follow, the walls of their former manner of life being left and the safeguard of divers doctrines neglected, and whereas God was first known in Judaea, then was he exalted above the heavens, and his glory above all the earth.

VERS. 37.-- *Give ye them.* He provokes the apostles to the breaking [0203A] of bread, that, when they testified that they had none, the greatness [sic: *magnitudino*] of the sign might become known. And intimating that daily through them fasting hearts are to be fed, when by their examples or by their words we are stirred up to love heavenly things. It is to be noted that John, about to write this miracle of the loaves, set before it that the Pasch was at hand. Matthew and Mark say that this was done immediately when John had been killed: whence it is gathered that John was beheaded when the Pasch was imminent, and that the Lord was crucified at the next following Pasch.

VERS. 38.-- *Five. [n: (BEDA.)]* The five loaves, the five books of the Mosaic law, in which is the knowledge of the divine eternity, the creation of the world, the course of the passing age, and the true religion of serving God, etc., *as far as* but at the last with a great gift he grants to the elect that they may eat and [0203B] drink at his table in his kingdom.

VERS. 39.-- *By companies. [n: (ID.)]* The diverse reclinings, the distinct orders of the churches which make one catholic Church.

VERS. 40.-- *By hundreds and by fifties.* By fifty, the rest of the jubilee. But the number fifty taken twice makes a hundred; and therefore it signifies the perfection of both rests, namely, of the body and of the mind. For he who rests from depraved acts has the rest of the body. But he who rests from perverse thoughts also has the rest of the mind.

And well do they that recline upon the green grass feed upon the nourishments of God, who by the pursuit of abstinence, the allurements of the flesh being trodden down, bestow their pains upon hearing and fulfilling the words of God.

[0203C]Therefore some are by fifties, others by hundreds, because rest is first had from evil work, that afterwards there may be rest in the mind also.

VERS. 41.-- *And having taken.* He creates no new viands, because, being incarnate, he preaches no other things than those which had been written: but he shows that the law and the prophets are big with mysteries.

*He broke.* And he distributed to his disciples the things to be set before the crowds, because he laid open the sacraments to the holy teachers, who should preach them throughout the whole world.

VERS. 43.-- *And they took up,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] The more secret mysteries, which the untaught cannot grasp, the more perfect diligently search out. For by the baskets, the twelve apostles: and by the apostles the teachers that follow are figured, despised without, within heaped up with the leavings of the saving food [0203D] for the feeding of humble hearts. For in baskets servile works are carried: but he filled them with the bread of the fragments, who chose the weak things of the world, that he might break or confound.

VERS. 44.-- *Five thousand. [n: (ID.)]* Because of the five senses of the body. These, having followed the Lord, signify those who, being still set in a secular habit, know how to use well the outward things which they possess. Who are rightly fed with five loaves: because it is needful that such be still instructed by the precepts of the law. But they who wholly renounce the world are four thousand and are refreshed with seven loaves, that is, lofty in evangelical perfection, and inwardly taught by spiritual grace.

VERS. 45.-- *And immediately he constrained.* He gives us an example [0204A] that in all the good things which we do we should shun the recompense of human favour: lest the working of virtues bend us to the desire of temporal things. And the Lord himself, intimating this to us, when they who admired his mighty works wished to make him king, fled into the mountain to pray. He readily met his crucifiers, namely, that we may be ready to bear adversities, wary toward flatteries if they should smile upon us, and that, lest they deceive us by softening us if they abound, we should implore the Lord with frequent prayers.

*To Bethsaida. [n: (BEDA.)]* Bethsaida is a city in Galilee, of Andrew and of Peter and of Philip, near the lake of Genesareth. But Mark says, etc., *as far as* both of which are cities in Galilee beside the lake of Genesareth: which is also called of Tiberias, from the city of Tiberias [0204B] being so named.

VERS. 46.-- *He went into the mountain. [n: (ID.)]* He prays well who seeks God by praying, and, advancing from earthly things to the higher, ascends the summit of a loftier court. He who concerning riches, etc., *as far as* he can do all that he wills, because he is our advocate and our judge; the one the office of loving-kindness, the other the mark of power.

## CHAPTER VI. (cont.)

VERS. 47.-- *And he alone,* etc. Who sometimes seems to have forsaken the Church altogether in her perils; whence: *Why, O Lord, hast thou retired afar off [n: (Psal. X)]* etc. But because he defers his help, he does not take away his succour.

VERS. 48.-- *And about the fourth. [n: (BEDA.)]* The military stations and watches are divided by a space of hours: it is plain therefore that they, etc., *as far as* for the morning star is [0204C] said to give light for three hours of the night, that is, for the whole morning watch.

*And he would have passed by them. [n: (ID.)]* That for an hour, namely, being troubled: but straightway set free, they might the more marvel at the miracle of their deliverance, and to their deliverer, etc., *as far as* When thou shalt walk in the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, and the flame shall not burn in thee;

VERS. 49.-- *They thought. [n: (BEDA.)]* Even yet heretics think that he is a phantasm, and that he did not take true flesh of the Virgin. For Theodorus, etc., *as far as* and how, with feet not sinking in, having a bodily weight and a material burden, he walked upon the moist and unstable substance.

VERS. 50.-- *Fear ye not.* The first relief is to drive away fear; the second, to quell the tempest by the power of his own [0204D] presence. Nor is it wonderful that, when the Lord goes up into the ship, the wind ceases: because in whatever heart he is present through the grace of his love, straightway all the wars of the vices and of the opposing world and of malignant spirits are stilled.

VERS. 52.-- *For they understood not. [n: (BEDA.)]* By the miracle of the loaves he showed that he was the founder of things. By walking upon the waves, that he had his whole body free from every heaviness of sin. By calming the winds and the waves he showed that he had dominion over the elements. But the disciples, being yet carnal, were astonished indeed at the greatness of the mighty works, but did not know the truth of the divine majesty.

VERS. 54.-- *They knew him.* By report, not by his face nor by [0205A] the greatness of his signs: he was also known by his countenance to very many.

VERS. 56.-- *The hem of his garment. [n: (BEDA.)]* The least commandment, which whosoever shall have transgressed shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: or the assumption of flesh through which we come to the Word of God.

## CHAPTER VII.

VERS. 1.-- *And they come together. [n: (ID.)]* It is plain how true is that confession of the Lord to the Father in which it is said: *Because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones [n: (Matth. XI)]*. The unlearned come, they bring the sick, that they may touch even his hem, and therefore, having desired health, they suffer. But the Pharisees and the Scribes, who ought to have been the teachers of the people, run together not to [0205B] hear the word, not as to a physician, but to the battles of questionings.

VERS. 2.-- *With common hands. [n: (HIERON.)]* By unclean, or common, hands he signifies the communion of the Gentiles. The cleanness of the Pharisees is barren; the communion of the apostles does not wholly stretch out its branches as far as the sea. *Not washed.* They find fault over the unwashed hands of the body, though in their works nothing of uncleanness is found. They themselves, washed outwardly with water, are inwardly polluted with the rancour of conscience.

VERS. 3.-- *The Pharisees. [n: (BEDA.)]* The superstitious tradition of men, to wash the oftener, for the sake of eating and the like. But the necessary teaching of truth bids those who desire to eat the bread of life which came down from heaven to cleanse their works by the frequent lament of alms and of the other [0205C] fruits of justice.

VERS. 4.-- *Washings.* In vain do they keep the washings of vessels, who neglect the filth of their own hearts and bodies. For this was not said of material hands, but for the cleansing of minds, and the chastisement of works, and the holiness and salvation of souls.

VERS. 5.-- *Why do thy disciples,* etc. Wondrous folly! They accuse the Son of God because he does not keep the precepts of men. But the hands, that is, the works not of the body but of the soul, are to be washed, that the Word of God may be wrought in them.

VERS. 6.-- *Well did he prophesy. [n: (HIERON.)]* The fork of reason represses the barking of the Pharisees, that is, by the rebuke of Moses and of Isaias, that we too may be able to overcome heretics by the words [0205D] of Scripture.

VERS. 9.-- *Well do you make void.* He refutes the false calumny by true reasoning, as if, You, for the tradition of men, despise and neglect the precepts of God, why then do you accuse my disciples, who make little of the commands of the elders, that they may keep the commandments of God?

VERS. 11.-- *But you say. [n: (BEDA.)]* The Lord, taking counsel for the weakness whether of age or of the poverty of parents, commanded, etc., *as far as* to him who is the true Father let the oblation of the Lord be preferred. *It shall profit thee. [n: (ISID.)]* It is consumed for thy own uses, which is sacrilege. Or interrogatively. As if he said: Will it profit thee? It ought not: fearing this, parents were afflicted with hunger.

VERS. 15.-- *There is nothing outside,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Nor [0206A] is it the meat offered to idols, in so far as it is food, in so far as it is a creature of God, but the invocation of demons, that makes this unclean. Whence: *You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons [n: (I Cor. X)]*.

The Jews boast themselves the portion of God, and call those foods common which all men use, such as oysters, hares, and animals of this kind, which do not divide the hoof, nor chew the cud, nor, among fishes, are scaly.

VERS. 18.-- *And you also are without understanding.* They are rebuked because they think those things mystical which are plain of themselves. From which we perceive him to be a faulty hearer who wishes to understand obscure things plainly, or things plainly said obscurely.

VERS. 19.-- *And into the draught. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hence certain heretics cavil that the Lord, ignorant of natural [0206B] philosophy, supposes all foods, etc., *as far as* it slips away through hidden passages (which the Greeks call poros) to the lower parts, and goes into the draught.

[n: (AUG.)] Some things so come to us that they both change and are changed, just as food itself, losing its own appearance, is turned into our body, and we, refreshed, are changed into strength.

VERS. 21.-- *From the heart of men. [n: (BEDA.)]* The chief seat of the soul is not, according to Plato, in the brain, but, according to Christ, in the heart. They are also reproved, etc., *as far as* so that, if he has often seen us gaze upon a beautiful woman, he understands that we love her.

VERS. 24.-- *And rising up from thence.* Leaving the Scribes and Pharisees, those calumniators, he withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon, that he might heal the Tyrians and the Sidonians. *No man.* [0206C] [n: (BEDA.)] Although he could not be hid, yet what he willed was not done. But an example, etc., *as far as* that he might free the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman from the demon, and by the faith of a Gentile woman convict the perfidy of the Scribes and the Pharisees.

VERS. 25.-- *For a woman.* Mark says that the Lord was in the house when the woman came to him. Matthew says that *she crieth after us [n: (Matth. XV)]*. By which he hints that she poured out her prayers behind him as he walked. The woman therefore came to him into the house, but because Matthew says: *He answered her not a word,* he gave it to be understood that both were silent, and that they entered in silence. And so the rest is woven together, and in nothing do they disagree.

[n: (HIER.)] The woman is our Roman mother of the Church. The daughter is the demon-possessed barbarism of the West, whose [0206D] faith made a sheep out of a dog. She seeks the crumbs of understanding; she does not desire the unbroken bread of the letter.

[n: (BEDA.)] The woman, a Gentile, but coming to the Lord with faith, signifies the Church gathered out of the Gentiles, who for her daughter, etc., *as far as* who leave the ancient dwellings of their perfidy, and betake themselves with pious devotion into the house of God, that is, the Church.

VERS. 27.-- *Suffer first the children to be filled.* As if he said: It shall come to pass that you Gentiles also obtain salvation: but first the Jews, who by the ancient election are named the sons of God, must be refreshed with the heavenly bread, and so at last the food of life be ministered to the Gentiles. *Of the children. [n: (BEDA.)]* A wondrous turning about: for Israel was once the son, we the dogs. According to the diversity of faith the order of the names is changed. [0207A] Of them it is said: *Many dogs have compassed me [n: (Psal. XXI)]*. Of us: *Other sheep I have, that are not of this fold [n: (Joan. X)]*.

VERS. 28.-- *Of the crumbs.* I am not worthy to receive whole meats; I am content with the leavings of the whelps, that so I may come to the whole bread. *[n: (BEDA.)] Of the crumbs,* etc. The table is Scripture, whence: *Thou hast prepared a table before me,* etc. [n: (Psal. XXII)]. The crumbs of the children, etc., *as far as* that by the merit of humility they may raise themselves up to hope for the things above, the rewards which have been promised by the Lord in heaven.

VERS. 29.-- *For this saying. [n: (BEDA.)]* Here is given an example of catechizing and baptizing infants, because by the faith and confession of their parents little ones are freed from the demon in baptism, who cannot yet of themselves have understanding, or do anything of good or of evil.

[0207B]VERS. 31.-- *Of Tyre. [n: (HIERON.)]* Tyre, meaning straitness, signifies Judea, to which the Lord says: *The bed is straitened and the covering short: the one cannot cover both, so that he may betake himself to other nations [n: (Isai. XVIII)]*. *Sidon. [n: (HIERON.)]* Sidon, a hunting, an untamed wild beast, is our own region or nation. *Of Decapolis. [n: (BEDA.)]* The region of ten cities beyond the Jordan toward the east. But where it is said: *He came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis,* this does not signify that he entered them; for neither is he said to have sailed across the sea, but to have come as far as the sea, and to a place which looked toward the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, set far beyond the sea.

[n: (HIERON.)] The Saviour is led by the apostles to the saving of the Gentiles, and teaches what he answered to the young man who questioned him: *Thou knowest the commandments; do these things, and thou shalt live [n: (Luc. XVIII)]*.

[0207C]VERS. 32.-- *One deaf and dumb. [n: (BEDA.)]* One, namely, who opens neither his ears to hear the words of God, nor his mouth to speak them. Such men they who have learned by long use to hear and to speak the word of God must needs offer to the Lord to be healed, that those whom human frailty cannot [heal], the right hand of grace may save.

[n: (HIERON.)] The human race, as one man consumed by divers plagues in the first-formed man, is blinded while it sees, is made deaf while it hears, its nose is wiped while it smells, it is struck dumb while it speaks, it is made maimed while it lifts up its hands, it is bowed down while it is raised up, it becomes dropsical while it lusts, lame while it goes forward, it is overspread with leprosy while it is cleansed, it is filled with a demon while it aspires to divinity, it dies the death while it boldly excuses itself. [0207D] *And they besought him.* The prophets and the patriarchs desired the incarnation of the Lord.

VERS. 33.-- *And taking him,* etc. He who deserves to be healed is led apart from turbulent thoughts, from disordered deeds, and from ill-composed discourses. The fingers which are put into the ears are the words of the Holy Spirit, of whom it is said: *This is the finger of God [n: (Exod. VIII)]*. And: *The heavens are the works of thy fingers [n: (Psal. VIII)]*. *He touched his tongue,* etc. The foam from the flesh of the Lord is the divine wisdom, which looses the ignorance of the human race, so that it may say: I believe in God the Father almighty, etc. *Apart. [n: (BEDA.)]* The first way of salvation is to be led out from the crowd. The Lord leads the sick man out from the crowd, when the mind, by sins, etc., *as far as* therefore, spitting, he touches [0208A] the tongue of the dumb man that it may be able to speak, when by the touch of his loving-kindness he forms mouths long brutish to utter the words of wisdom.

VERS. 34.-- *And looking up,* etc. *[n: (HIERON.)] He groaned.* He taught us to groan, and to lift up to heaven the treasure of our heart, which is purified by compunction of heart from the frivolous gladness of the flesh, as it is said: *I roared with the groaning of my heart; Lord, all my desire is before thee,* etc. *And he said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened. With the heart we believe unto justice [n: (Rom. X)]*, etc. *And immediately they were opened,* etc. The ears are opened to hymns and canticles and psalms. The tongue is loosed, that it may utter forth a good word, which neither threats nor words can restrain or forbid. Whence Paul: *I am bound, but the word of God is not bound in me [n: (I Tim. II)]*.

[0208B]VERS. 36.-- *And he charged them that they should tell no man.* He taught that we must glory not in mighty works, but in the cross and in humiliation. *But the more he charged them,* etc. A city set on a mountain and looked upon from every side cannot be hid [n: (Matth. XV)]: humility always goes before glory.

*Be thou opened.* Properly, to the ears. For the ears were to be opened for hearing, and the tongue was to be loosed that it might be able to speak. Whence it follows: *Immediately they were opened,* etc.

VERS. 35.-- *And he spoke right. [n: (BEDA.)]* He alone speaks rightly, whether by confessing the Lord or by preaching to others, whose hearing divine grace brings back, that he may be able to hearken and be obedient to the heavenly commandments. Whose tongue the Lord instructs to speak by the touch of wisdom, which he himself is. Such a one can say: [0208C] *O Lord, thou wilt open my lips [n: (Psal. V)]*, etc.

VERS. 36.-- *But the more he charged them,* etc. He who knows all things before they come to pass knew that they would preach the more; and by so charging them he willed to show to the slothful how much more diligently and how much more frequently [ferventius] they ought to preach, whom he commands to preach: since those who were forbidden could not hold their peace.

## CHAPTER VIII.

VERS. 2.-- *I have compassion on the crowd.* Because as true man he has compassion and suffers with them in the affection of human frailty. That with seven loaves and a few little fishes he filled four thousand men is the work of divine power, against the error of Eutyches.

*Three days they continue with me.* Why they should continue three days Matthew [0208D] tells thus [n: (Matth. XV)]: *And going up into a mountain he sat there, and they came to him,* etc. The crowd continues with the Lord three days for the healing of their sick, when all the elect, made bright to the Lord by faith in the holy Trinity, make instant supplication for their own sins and for those of their people, that is, for the languors of the sinning soul.

A great crowd continues with the Lord three days, when the multitude of the faithful, turning aside from their sins by penance, turns itself to the Lord in deed, in speech, and in thought.

[n: (BEDA.)] By this miracle it is signified that we cannot otherwise pass unharmed the way of the present world: that Christ refresh us with the food of his word. But this typically, etc., *as far as* he himself refreshes with the bread of heaven [the soul] drawn away from the lowest delights, [0209A] and kindles it, by the pledge given of spiritual food, to a longing for the sweetness above.

VERS. 3.-- *If I shall send them away.* Because converted sinners faint in the way of the present life, if they are dismissed into their own conscience without the food of doctrine.

*From afar.* Morally. He who, having known nothing of carnal corruption, hastens to the service of God, does not come from afar; he too who, defiled by no immodesty and by no shameful deeds, has known wedlock only, neither does he come from afar. Others come after many shameful deeds: and therefore from afar.

VERS. 5.-- *Seven. [n: (BEDA.)]* It is the mystery of the New Testament, in which the sevenfold grace of the Spirit is more fully believed and given. Nor are they barley loaves, [0209B] like those five with which five thousand men were filled, lest, as in the law, the food of the living soul should be covered over with bodily sacraments. For the pith of barley is covered with a most clinging husk.

[n: (HIER.)] The seven loaves are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The four thousand are the year of the New Testament with its four seasons. The seven baskets are the seven first Churches. The fragments of the loaves are the mystical understandings of the first week. The blessed little fishes are the books of the New Testament: as when, rising again, he asks for a piece of broiled fish, and, at the catch of fishes, offers the disciples a fish laid upon the coals.

VERS. 6.-- *Upon the ground. [n: (BEDA.)]* At the refreshment of the five loaves the crowd sat down upon the grass; but that which is to be refreshed with seven loaves is bidden to sit down upon the ground [0209C]: because by the law of the flesh, etc., *as far as* but here, all carnal desire being removed, the firm ground of an abiding hope, as it were the solidity of the mountain itself, holds the guests of the New Testament, with no grass laid between.

VERS. 7.-- *Little fishes. [n: (ID.)]* The saints of that time, by whom that same Scripture was composed; or whose faith, life and passions Scripture itself contains: who, snatched out of the waves of the world and consecrated by the divine blessing, furnished us refreshment by the example of their life and of their death, lest we faint in the course of this world.

VERS. 8.-- *They did eat. [n: (ID.)]* There are many who, although they cannot leave all their goods and fulfil the higher things of this world, yet, hungering and thirsting after justice, [0209D] are filled, when, hearing the commandments of God, they come to life eternal.

*That which was over. [n: (ID.)]* The higher precepts or exhortations and counsels, which the general multitude of the faithful cannot attain, as here: *If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast [n: (Matth. XIX)]*, etc.

*Seven baskets.* The seven baskets are those filled with the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. For baskets are made of rushes and of the leaves of palms. The rush is born upon the waters; the palm crowns the victor. The saints too, lest they wither away from the moisture of eternity, set themselves in the very fountain of life, and look for the palm of the eternal reward.

VERS. 10.-- *And immediately.* For this we have in Matthew: *He went up into a boat, and came into the coasts of Magedan.* [0210A] But it is not to be doubted that the same place is meant under either name. For very many codices have Magedan in Mark also.

VERS. 11.-- *Seeking,* etc. As though the things they had seen had not been signs. But what they seek is determined by this: from heaven, either fire from on high after the manner of Elias, or, after the likeness of Samuel, that thunders should bellow in summer time, or lightnings, or showers, as if they could not cavil at these too, who were cavilling at the things they had seen with their eyes, touched with their hand, and felt by their profit. Or signs from heaven, manna: that he who with a few loaves filled many thousands of men should now, like Moses, refresh the whole people everywhere with manna sent down from heaven. Whence John says that after the eating of the loaves the crowds asked: *What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat [0210B] manna in the desert [n: (Joan. VI)]*, etc.

VERS. 12.-- *If a sign shall be given. [n: (AUG.)]* *On the Concord of the Evangelists.* He says that in Mark it is written thus: and a sign shall not be given to it.

[n: (BEDA.)] To this generation, that is, of those tempting God and contradicting his words, there shall not be given a sign from heaven, which they that tempt him, etc., *as far as* at the imposition of the hands of the apostles he poured out from heaven the grace of the Holy Spirit upon very many that believed.

VERS. 13.-- *He went up into the ship. [n: (ID.)]* The seven baskets being but now filled, immediately they went up into the boat and came into the coasts of Magedan; and there it was said to them as they sailed that they should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. But the Scripture says that they had forgotten to take bread, wherein it is shown that they had little care [0210C] of the flesh, being intent upon the presence of the Lord.

VERS. 17.-- *Why do you reason. [n: (BEDA.)]* Taking the occasion, he teaches what the five loaves and the seven signify, and the few little fishes, and the five thousand men or the four. For if the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod signifies perverse traditions and heretical dogmas, why do the foods with which the people of God was nourished not signify true and entire doctrine?

VERS. 23.-- *And spitting. [n: (ID.)]* The spittle proceeds from within, from the head of the Lord. But the hands are members of the body set without. Spitting therefore into the eyes of the blind man, he lays his hands upon him, that he may see: because he wiped away the blindness of the human race both by the invisible gifts of the divine loving-kindness and by the sacraments of the humanity he assumed, shown forth from without.

[0210D]Him whom he could have healed wholly and at once with a single word, he heals little by little, that he may show the greatness of human blindness: and that it scarcely and as it were by degrees comes back to the light, and he makes known to us his grace, by which the several increases of perfection lend their aid.

VERS. 24.-- *I see men,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] He esteems all men above himself, judging himself unworthy: as David [refused] to be called a man, but a dead dog and a single flea. But first, etc., *as far as* to him the Lord, by a second imposition of hands, restored the light of seeing all things clearly: namely, what is to be believed, how one is to live, what rewards are to be hoped for.

VERS. 25.-- *Then again,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] That he might see all things clearly, that is, that through visible works he might understand the invisible, [0211A] and the things which the eye hath not seen, and might contemplate with the eye of a clean heart the clear state of his own soul after the rust of sin. *For blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God [n: (Matth. V)]*.

VERS. 26.-- *And he sent him. [n: (HIER.)]* That he might see in himself what before he did not see. For a man despairing of salvation does not think that he can at all do that which, being enlightened, he is able to accomplish through hope.

Mystically. The Lord admonishes all who are enlightened by the acknowledging of the truth to return to their heart, and with a careful mind to weigh how much had been granted them, and to answer the benefits of God with worthy working.

*Tell it to nobody. [n: (BEDA.)]* That he bids the healing be kept silent is an example to his own, that, if they do things to be wondered at, they should not seek favour, but be content to please [0211B] the divine gaze.

VERS. 27.-- *Whom do men say that I am?* Fitly does he first ask the opinion of men, lest their confession should seem weakened by the opinion of the crowd, but by the acknowledging of the truth: lest, like Herod, they be thought to waver about the things they had heard. Whence he says to Peter, according to Matthew: *Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee [n: (Matth. XVI)]*, that is, the teaching of men.

*Men.* Fitly are they called men who after the manner of men bring forth a divergent opinion concerning the Lord. For they who with a pious mind acknowledge the truth of his power deserve to be called, not men, but gods. Whence he says to them: *But you,* etc. As if he said: They, being men, opine the things of men; but you, being gods, whom do you say that I am?

VERS. 29.-- *Thou art the Christ. [n: (BEDA.)]* He embraces all things [0211C] who expresses both the nature and the name, in which is the sum of the virtues. Paul says, etc., *as far as* yet it is not permitted to be ignorant of the faith of his generation.

VERS. 30.-- *And he charged them. [n: (BEDA.)]* He would not have himself preached before the passion and the resurrection: because, the sacrament of his blood being accomplished, he says to the apostles more opportunely: *Going, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*. Because it would not profit that he be publicly preached whom they were about to see scourged, and crucified, and suffering many things.

VERS. 31.-- *That it behoveth,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] As a skilled pilot, guarding against a storm while it is calm, wills his own sailors to be ready. As elsewhere: *If any man will come after me, let him deny himself [n: (Matth. XVI)]*, etc.

VERS. 32.-- *And taking him. [n: (BEDA.)]* With the affection of one that loves, [0211D] saying: *Far be it from thee, Lord.* Or, as it is better had in the Greek: *Be thou merciful,* etc., *as far as* and he takes hold of him into his own affection, or leads him aside, lest he seem to rebuke his master while the rest are present.

VERS. 33.-- *Go behind. [n: (ID.)]* Many think that it was not Peter, but the adversary spirit, that was corrected, at whose suggestion the Apostle said this: But to me the Apostle's error, coming from the affection of piety, will never seem the devil's prompting. To the devil it is said: *Go behind, Satan.* [var: Vulg. Matt. 4:10 reads *Vade Satana*, "Go, Satan," without the adverb] To Peter: *Go behind me,* etc., that is, follow my judgment.

*The things that are of God,* etc. It is my will and the Father's that I should die for the salvation of men: thou wilt not have the grain of wheat [0212A] fall into the ground, that it may bring forth much fruit.

VERS. 34.-- *If any man will,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] After he had shown the mystery of his passion and of his resurrection, he exhorts all to imitate the example of the passion, and to all he promises the salvation of souls. But to the more perfect he disclosed how great things he was to suffer, and that he was to rise again from the dead, giving thereby a form of preaching: namely, that each be instructed according to his own measure, and that higher things be not committed to the weak.

*Let him deny himself.* He is not able to lay hold of what is beyond himself, if he has not known how to slay what he is. Unless a man fail to his own self, he does not draw near to God, who is above him. *Let him take up his cross.* Either by wearing down the body through abstinence, or the mind through compassion. Of the body Paul says: *I chastise my body, and bring it into [0212B] subjection [n: (II Cor. IX)]*, etc. The same, of compassion of mind: *Who is weak, and I am not weak? [n: (II Cor. XI.)]*

VERS. 38.-- *For he that shall be ashamed. [n: (BEDA.)]* The Church signifies two times: one of persecution, when the soul must be laid down; the other of peace, when earthly desires must be broken.

*For he that shall be ashamed of me,* etc. Because many overcome avarice and despise things that pass away, but, hindered by bashfulness, do not utter with the voice the rightness of faith which they hold. He adds: *For he that shall be ashamed of me,* etc.

VERS. 39.-- *Amen I say. [n: (BEDA.)]* Since he was speaking of the life to come, it was therefore necessary that he should promise this concerning the penitent life, that the disciples, as yet untaught, might be strengthened by this consolation, as it is said of the Jewish [0212C] people: *He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, and they possessed the labours of the peoples, that they might keep his justifications, and seek after his law [n: (Psal. CIV)]*.

## CHAPTER VIII. (cont.)

*The kingdom of God,* etc. That is, the Church raised up against the glory of this world. Or the blessedness to come in heaven, which they saw upon the mountain. Which was done by a merciful provision, that the eternal joy, though foretasted for a brief moment, might the more strongly hearten them to bear adversities.

## CHAPTER IX.

VERS. 1.-- *And after days,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] After the threatening of the cross the glory of the resurrection is shown, whence there follows:

*And after days,* etc. That they might not fear the reproaches of the cross, who had seen with their own eyes the glory of the resurrection to come.

[0212D] *[n: (BEDA.)] And after six days.* Luke: And it came to pass, about eight days after these words, etc., *as far as* lest in the eighth time of retribution we be seized upon by an angry judge. *Into a high mountain.* Into a mountain, that he might pray, etc., *as far as* then shall they deserve to rejoice in the eternal vision of him.

*Transfigured.* He did not lose the true substance of the flesh, but showed the glory of his own resurrection to come, or of ours. Such will he appear to all the elect after the judgment: at the judgment, in the form of a servant, to the good and to the wicked alike, so that the impious may not be able to recognize as judge him whom they spurned, whom the Jews denied, whom the soldiers crucified, whom Pilate and Herod judged [cj: *nequeant*; read *queant*, "may be able"].

[0213A]VERS. 2.-- *And his garments.* The garments of the Lord are the saints. Whence: *You who have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ [n: (Gal. III)]*. These, while the Lord remained in the world, seemed despised; but when he sought the mountain they shine again with a new whiteness. *Because now indeed we are the sons of God, but it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. When therefore he shall appear, we shall be like to him, because we shall see him as he is [n: (I Joan. III)]*. Whence it is subjoined.

VERS. 3.-- *And there appeared,* etc. Moses, a holy man dead, and Elias, caught up alive into heaven, seen in majesty with the Lord (as Luke says), signify the glory of all the saints to come in him: who at the time of judgment shall be found either alive in the flesh or dead.

*Elias with. [n: (BEDA.)]* The lawgiver and the chief of the prophets appear: they speak with the Lord living in the flesh, [0213B] showing that he is the one whom the law and the prophets promised; not in the lowest places, but on the mountain with him, because they who pass beyond earthly desires in mind perceive that the majesty of Holy Scripture, which has been fulfilled in the Lord, is unfolded.

VERS. 4.-- *Rabbi.* Although astonished, etc., *as far as* having one tabernacle, that is, the Church of God. *It is good.* Much better therefore is it to be among the choirs of the saints, and to enjoy the vision of the Godhead: if the humanity of Christ transfigured so delights, and the company of two shown for a moment.

VERS. 6.-- *A cloud overshadowing.* Whence, because he sought a material tabernacle, he received the shade of a cloud, that he might learn that in the resurrection the saints are to be protected, not by the covering of houses, but by the Holy Spirit. [0213C] *This is.* As if he said: This is truly he whom that Moses promised you, etc., *as far as* and it shall be enlightened by the same grace, and shall be protected for ever.

VERS. 7.-- *And immediately. [n: (BEDA.)]* When the voice came over the Son of man, he alone was found. Because when he shall have manifested himself to the elect, God will be all in all: nay rather, he himself with his own, one Christ throughout all, that is, the head with the body, shall shine forth; whence: *No man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man, who is in heaven [n: (Joan. III)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *He charged them.* He wills not that the glory of the kingdom to come and of the triumph which he had shown on the mountain be publicly preached: lest both it should be past belief for its greatness, and, after so great a glory, the cross that followed should make a scandal among untaught minds.

[0213D]VERS. 9.-- *They kept the word. [n: (HIER.)]* That is, when death shall have been swallowed up in victory, the former things shall not be in memory, when the Lord shall have taken away the filth of the daughter of Sion, wiping away every tear from the eyes of the saints.

VERS. 10.-- *What then.* The scribes hand down, according to Malachy, that Elias shall come before the coming of the Saviour, and shall bring back the hearts of the fathers to their fathers, and shall restore all things to their ancient state. The disciples therefore judge this to be the glory of his coming which they had seen on the mountain, and they say: If thou hast already come in glory, why does thy forerunner not appear? especially because they see that Elias has withdrawn.

VERS. 11.-- *He shall restore,* etc. That is, *he shall turn the heart [0214A] of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers.* For he shall restore to death what he owes and what by living long he has withheld; whence he adds: *How it is written.* As if he said: As the prophets wrote in many ways of the passion of Christ, so also Elias is to suffer many things. He shall therefore restore all things. First, the hearts of the men of that time, to believe in Christ and to resist Antichrist. Then, he shall lay down his life for Christ.

VERS. 13.-- *A great crowd. [n: (HIER.)]* There is no rest under the sun: envy always slays the little ones, lightnings strike the great mountains; some learning with faith, others envying with pride, come to the Church. *Questioning. [n: (BEDA.)]* What they question about the Evangelist does not say, but it may be understood that a question had been raised about this: why the disciples could not free the demoniac [0214B] who was in their midst: for this can be gathered from what follows.

VERS. 15.-- *And he asked. [n: (ID.)]* Note that the places agree with the things. On the mountain he prays, is transformed, opens to the disciples the secrets of his majesty, in the low place he is received by the crowd, and is beaten upon by the weeping of the wretched. Above he unlocks to the disciples the mysteries of the kingdom, below he upbraids the crowds with the sins of unbelief. Above he lays open the voice of the Father to those who were able to hear, below he drives out evil spirits. Now, according to the quality of their merits, he ceases not to ascend for some and to descend for others. *And he asked. [n: (HIER.)]* He knows, and he asks, that confession may bring forth salvation, and that the murmur of our heart may first be loosed in words, as it is: Tell thy iniquities first, that thou mayest be justified.

VERS. 17.-- *And I spoke to the disciples.* Secretly he turns the blame [0214C] aside upon the disciples, whereas often the cure is hindered by the fault, not of those who heal, but of those to be healed.

VERS. 18.-- *O generation.* He is angry not with the man, but with the vice. He says this not out of weariness of feeling, but as a physician to a sick man who acts against his orders. And through one he convicts the Jews of unbelief.

VERS. 19.-- *Immediately the spirit.* Because while, after sin, we will to be converted to the Lord, we are the more assailed by the devil, that he may either shake out our virtue, or avenge his own expulsion.

VERS. 20.-- *From his infancy. [n: (HIER.)]* It signifies the Gentile people, in whom from birth the worship of idols grew, so that it foolishly sacrificed its own sons to demons; whence there follows:

VERS. 21.-- *And oftentimes he,* etc. For some [0214D] worshipped fire, others water. *Help. [n: (HIER.)]* Our belief, like a beaked tongue, is weak, unless it lean upon the help of God. Faith with tears obtains the prayers it desired, as it is: *Be it done to thee according to thy faith [n: (Matth. XV)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *Tearing him,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] The devil tears those who draw near to salvation, which is his beloved food, whom he desires to drag into his own belly by terrors and by losses, as in Job: *He was made,* etc. [n: (ISID., RAB.)] etc. For to the healed it is said: *For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God [n: (Col. III)]*. Whence the infirmity of Christians is not death, but the likeness of death.

VERS. 28.-- *This kind by nothing. [n: (HIER.)]* Folly [0215A] belongs to the luxury of the flesh, and is healed by fasting. Anger and sloth are driven off by prayer. The medicine of each wound must be applied to it. What heals the heel does not heal the eye; by fasting the passions of the body, by prayer the plagues of the mind, are healed.

VERS. 30.-- *They shall kill him,* etc. He mingles sad things with prosperous, that when they come they may not be borne with unprepared minds. If it saddens them that he is to be killed, it ought to gladden them that on the third day he is to rise again.

VERS. 31.-- *They knew not.* Not so much from slowness of wit as from love: because they had known him to be true God, they could not believe that he would die. And because they were accustomed to speak to them in figures, shuddering at his death, they thought that in these things also he spoke figuratively.

VERS. 32.-- *Capharnaum. [n: (HIER.)]* The village of consolation: [0215B] it agrees with the foregoing sentence: *Being slain, on the third day he shall rise again [n: (Joan. XII)]*. The grain of wheat dies, that it may be gathered more manifoldly: if it does not die, it remains alone. *What in the way,* etc. In the way they were treating of the primacy: a treating suited to the place. For a princedom is entered by force, and so is forsaken, and while it is held it slips away: and it is uncertain in what lodging, that is, on what day, it shall be ended; whence he says: *He that will be first,* etc.

VERS. 33.-- *They had disputed among themselves. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hence the dispute seems to have arisen, because they had seen Peter and James and John led apart into the mountain, and that some secret had there been entrusted to them; and to Peter also, as Matthew says, the keys of the kingdom of heaven promised, and the Church to be built upon the rock of faith, from which he himself received his name. They thought therefore [0215C] either that those three were set before the rest, or that Peter was set before them all.

VERS. 34.-- *And sitting down,* etc. They as they went were disputing about the primacy, and he, sitting, teaches humility. For princes toil, the humble are at rest. He wills to heal the desire of glory by humility, and first admonishes by a simple command, then by the example of a child's innocence.

VERS. 35.-- *Having embraced him.* He signifies that the humble are worthy of his embrace, who can rightly glory and say: *His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me [n: (Cant. II)]*.

VERS. 36.-- *Whosoever shall receive one.* Either he shows simply that the poor of Christ are to be received by those who would be greater, for [0215D] his honour. Or he persuades them to be themselves little ones in malice, that they may be simple as little ones. *And whosoever.* Because he was teaching that he is received in the children, as the head in the members, lest this only should be thought to be what appeared, he added: *And whosoever shall receive me,* etc.

VERS. 37.-- *He answered him.* Because he had said: *Whosoever shall receive one of such children, receiveth me,* [var: Vulg. Mark 9:36 reads *receperit in nomine meo*, "shall receive in my name"] John understands that they who do not walk sincerely do not receive them in his name; whence he says: *Master, we saw a certain man.* As if he said: This man ought not to be received in thy name. *And we forbade him.* He thought that one who does not use the office was to be shut out from the benefit; but he is taught that no one is to be barred from the good which he has in [0216A] part, but rather to be urged on to that which he has not: whence: *Forbid him not.*

VERS. 38.-- *Forbid him not. [n: (BEDA.)]* Hence the Apostle: *But whether by occasion or by truth Christ be preached,* etc., *as far as* we ought to detest and to forbid.

VERS. 41.-- *And whosoever shall scandalize.* Although this be general, yet according to the sequence of the discourse it can be said against the apostles, who were disputing about the primacy and could destroy by their own example those whom they were calling to the faith. [n: (BEDA.)] Note that in our good work the scandal of a neighbour is sometimes to be guarded against, sometimes to be counted as nothing: in so far as we can without sin, we ought to avoid the scandal of our neighbours. But if scandal is taken for the sake of truth, [0216B] it is more useful that it be suffered to arise than that the truth be forsaken.

*An ass's millstone. [n: (HIER.)]* According to the custom of the province, etc., *as far as* a more tolerable punishment of hell would in any case torment him.

VERS. 42.-- *And if it shall scandalize thee.* Because above he taught that we should not scandalize those who believe in him, he admonishes how much we ought to beware of those who scandalize. Σκάνδαλον in Greek is a stumbling-block, or a fall, or the striking of the foot. Or, as others say, a sharp stone. He therefore scandalizes his brother who by word or by deed affords him occasion of falling. *Thy hand.* A friend, of whose help and counsel we have need daily. But if he should be willing to wound us in the cause of the soul, he must be shut out from our fellowship, lest, if we will to have part with a lost man in this life, [0216C] we perish together with him.

*Than having two hands. [n: (HIER.)]* The two hands of princedom are humility and pride. Cut off pride; hold a humble princedom.

## CHAPTER IX. (cont.)

VERS. 43.-- *Where the worm. [n: (BEDA.)]* The stench of worms comes of the corruption of flesh and of blood; and therefore fresh meat is seasoned with salt, so that, the bloody humour being dried out, there can be no worm. Flesh therefore and blood breed worms, because carnal delight, which the seasoning of continence does not withstand, begets eternal punishment for the lustful. We ought therefore to chastise the body with the salt of continence, and the mind with the seasoning of wisdom, from the stain of error and of vices.

VERS. 48.-- *For every one shall be salted with fire.* Because for the third time he made mention of fire and of the worm, he shows how we may be able to avoid [0216D] both. *For every one with fire,* it is wondrously said: for what is salted with salt keeps off the rottenness of the worm. But what is salted with fire, that is, in fire, when salt has been sprinkled upon it, consumes the flesh as well. These things were done according to the law in the victims that were burned upon the altar, where it was commanded that salt be offered in every victim and sacrifice. *Every victim shall be salted with salt.* For he is truly a victim of the Lord who [offers] body and soul, etc., *as far as* to deny those dear and near to us. *Every victim shall be salted with salt. [n: (HIER.)]* The victim is the human race, which here is salted with the salt of wisdom or of reason, while the corruption of blood, the keeper of rottenness and the mother of worms, is here consumed, and afterwards shall be tried by the fire of purgatory.

[0217A]VERS. 49.-- *But if the salt,* etc. That is, if a man once refreshed with the seasonings of truth return to apostasy: by what other teacher is he corrected, who has spat out the wisdom he tasted, either terrified by adversities or enticed by prosperity? Whence: *Who shall heal a charmer struck by a serpent? [n: (Eccli. XII.)]* [var: Vulg. Eccli. 12:13 reads *miserebitur*, "shall have pity on"] In this it is believed that Judas and his fellows are signified, who, corrupted by love of money, did not hesitate both to lose his apostleship and to betray the Lord. But because there are many whom, while greater knowledge lifts them up, it severs from the fellowship of others, and the more they savour, the more they lose their savour of the virtue of concord. He subjoins: *Have salt in you, and peace. [n: (BEDA.)]* To have salt without peace is not the gift of virtue, but a proof of damnation. For the better a man savours, the worse he offends.

## CHAPTER X.

[0217B]

VERS. 1.-- *And rising up from thence.* Thus far the things which he did and taught in Galilee: from here he relates what he did in Judea, and taught, and suffered. And first the things beyond the Jordan toward the east: then those on this side of the Jordan, when he came to Jericho, and to Bethany, and to Jerusalem. For although the whole province of the Jews is generally called Judea, to distinguish it from the other nations, yet more particularly the southern tract is called Judea, to distinguish it from Galilee, from the Decapolis, and from the other regions in the same province.

VERS. 2.-- *The Pharisees asked.* Great is the distance between the crowds and the Pharisees. These come together that they may be taught, and that the sick may be healed, as Matthew [0217C] plainly says: those, that by tempting they may deceive. For the devotion of piety brings these: the goad of spite leads those. *Whether it is lawful for a man to put away his wife. [n: (BEDA.)]* He tempted him with a horned syllogism, etc., *as far as* but it was granted because of the necessity of those who sin.

VERS. 5.-- *For the hardness of heart. [n: (ID.)]* Is God contrary to himself, etc., *as far as* that the bond of wedlock should persevere through hatreds and murders.

VERS. 8.-- *And they shall be,* etc. The reward of marriage is that of two there be made one flesh. Chastity joined to the spirit is made one spirit.

VERS. 9.-- *Let not man put asunder.* By the desire of a second wife. God separates: he who joins, when by the consent of both, for the service of God (in that the time is short), they so have wives as though not having them.

[0217D]VERS. 10.-- *And in the house,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] It was not the disciples who asked first, etc., *as far as* that bread may strengthen the heart of man, as it is: *If any man will come after me [n: (Luc. IX)]*, etc.

VERS. 11.-- *Whosoever shall put away his wife. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthew more fully: *Whosoever shall put away his wife, save for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery [n: (Matth. V)]*. There is therefore one carnal cause only, fornication: one spiritual, the fear of God, that a wife be put away, as many are read to have done for religion's sake. But no cause is prescribed by the law of God, that another be married while she lives who has been left.

VERS. 13.-- *But the disciples rebuked them that brought them.* Not because they were unwilling that these should be blessed by the Saviour's [0218A] hand and voice, but, not yet having full faith, they thought that after the manner of men he was wearied by the importunity of those who brought them.

VERS. 14.-- *For of such is the kingdom of God.* He says "of such" with meaning, not "of these." As if he said: Manners reign, not age. The kingdom of heaven is promised to those who have the like simplicity and innocence, to whom that word to the apostles is fitting: *Be not made little ones in understanding, but in malice be little ones [n: (I Cor. XIV)]* [var: Vulg. 1 Cor. 14:20 *nolite pueri effici sensibus*, "be not children in understanding"].

VERS. 15.-- *Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom.* He who does not persevere in anger, who when hurt does not remember it, who seeing a fair woman does not covet, who has not one thing in his mouth and another in his heart. As if he said: If you shall not be such, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. *The kingdom of God.* That is, [0218B] we are bidden to receive the teaching of the Gospel as little ones do, that is, as a little one does not contradict his teachers, does not frame arguments against them, but faithfully receives, obeys with fear and is quiet: so we also, obeying simply and without any contradiction, ought to receive the words of the Lord.

VERS. 17.-- *A certain man running up, on bended knee. [n: (BEDA.)]* He had heard, I believe, from the Lord that only those who wish to be like little ones are worthy of entrance into the heavenly kingdom, and therefore he desires to be more certain, not through parables but openly: by what merits of works he might be able to obtain eternal life.

VERS. 18.-- *Why callest thou me good. [n: (ID.)]* Because he had called him good master, etc., *as far as* but he testifies that apart from God there is no good.

[0218C]VERS. 19.-- *Thou shalt not commit adultery. [n: (ID.)]* This is the chastity of childlike innocence, which is set before us to be imitated, if we would enter the kingdom of God. And it is to be well noted that the justice of the law, kept in its own time, conferred not only temporal goods but also eternal life.

VERS. 20.-- *Master. [n: (ID.)]* He is not to be thought [to have asked] with the intent of one tempting, etc., *as far as* whence he adds: *Go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor [n: (Matth. V)]*, etc.

VERS. 21.-- *And come, follow me. [n: (ID.)]* As if he said: After riches have been despised, imitate the Saviour, that is, evils being left behind, do good things. A money-bag is more easily despised than concupiscence or pleasure.

VERS. 23.-- *How hardly. [n: (ID.)]* They who apply themselves to the multiplying of riches, etc., *as far as* they may be able to enter [0218D] the kingdom of God.

VERS. 25.-- *It is easier for a camel.* How then in the Gospel did Matthew and Zacchaeus, and Joseph, and in the Old Testament very many rich men enter in? Perhaps because they held riches for nothing, or learned to despise them altogether, whence David: *I am alone and poor [n: (Psal. XXIV)]*. And the same: *If riches abound, set not your heart upon them [n: (Ibid. LXI)]*. He does not say, Do not receive them.

VERS. 26.-- *And who can be saved.* Since there are more poor than rich, they would not have said this unless they had understood in the number of the rich all who would wish to obtain riches.

VERS. 27.-- *With God.* Who is able to turn men from the greed of earthly things [0219A] to the love of eternal things, and to make the proud humble.

VERS. 28.-- *Behold, we have left all.* Great confidence: he was a fisherman, he was not rich, he sought his living by hand and craft, and yet he says confidently: *Behold, we have forsaken all things. And we have followed.* Because it is not enough so to leave, he joins that which is perfect, *and we have followed thee.* As if he said: We have done what thou didst command: what reward therefore wilt thou give?

VERS. 30.-- *A hundredfold. [n: (BEDA.)]* On this occasion certain men lay down as doctrine the Jewish fable of the thousand years after the resurrection of the just, etc., *as far as* they enjoy the most true love of the heavenly fatherland, which is signified by the right hand, and of all the elect alike.

VERS. 31.-- *But many.* Because many begin but do not finish, a terrible sentence is subjoined: [0219B] *But many,* etc. The thief on the cross, a confessor on the same day on which he was crucified for his own sins, by the grace of faith rejoices with Christ in paradise. Daily also we see many laymen excel rather by the merits of their life, and others, fervent from their earliest age in spiritual study, grow torpid at the last in idleness.

VERS. 32.-- *And they were astonished.* For this reason, namely, because they remembered that he had foretold that he should suffer many things from the chief priests and the scribes, and be slain. They feared therefore lest either they themselves should be slain with him, or he, in whose life and teaching they rejoiced, should be slain.

*And they shall take. [n: (BEDA.)]* Foreseeing that the minds of the disciples would be troubled by his passion, etc., *as far as* he approaches the place of death as one undaunted.

[0219C]VERS. 35.-- *And they come.* Having heard of the resurrection, forgetful of the second coming, they think that he will reign after the manner of men. Matthew says that the mother made the request, but Mark says that they themselves did, wishing to lay open the desire of those by whose counsel the mother asked.

VERS. 38.-- *Or with the baptism.* The same as the cup. Whence elsewhere he says of his passion: *I have a baptism wherewith to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished.*

VERS. 39.-- *The cup indeed. [n: (BED.)]* James is beheaded by Herod, John is cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. Thence the athlete of Christ went forth to the crown of martyrdom, and was at once banished to Patmos. And so he both was not wanting to martyrdom in mind, and drank the cup of confession which the three children drank in the furnace, although the persecutor did not shed his blood.

[0219D]VERS. 40.-- *But to sit.* As if to say, Do you wish that I should grant this to you? But the kingdom of heaven is not the giver's but the receiver's. *For there is no respect of persons with God [n: (Act. X)]*, but whosoever shall be worthy shall receive that which is prepared not for the person but for the life. *To you.* Still proud, as if he said: If you wish to receive, be not what you are: it is prepared for others, and be you others, and it is prepared for you, which is, be humbled first, you who already wish to be exalted.

VERS. 41.-- *They were indignant.* Not about the mother, but about the sons, who, not knowing their own measure, burned with immoderate greed.

VERS. 42.-- *But Jesus calling them.* A humble master, and kind and gentle, he neither reproves the two for immoderate greed [0220A] nor rebukes the ten for indignation and spite, but teaches that he is the greater who shall have been the less, and lord who is servant. In vain therefore do either those sigh after greater things or these grieve over their desire, since not power but humility leads to the summit of the virtues. Lastly he sets before his own an example, that if they made light of words, they might blush at deeds. *For the Son of man also, etc.*

VERS. 46.-- *And they come to Jericho. [n: (HIER.)]* Jericho is moon or anathema, which agrees with him drawing near to the passion. The failing of Christ's flesh is the preparation of the heavenly Jerusalem, whence, forsaking Jericho, they draw near to Jerusalem, that is, to the vision of peace. *And as he went forth. [n: (BEDA.)]* Because, the Lord ascending into the heavens and the faithful following, etc., *as far as* and he scattered them into the world for [0220B] the enlightening of all peoples. *Blind Bartimaeus. [n: (HIER.)]* The blindness of the Jews, which shall be enlightened at the end at the coming of Elias and Enoch.

VERS. 47.-- *Who when he had heard.* The people of the Gentiles, having heard the fame of Christ, of whom it sought to be made partaker, many contradicted, first the Jews and afterwards the Gentiles also, lest the world, which was to be enlightened and healed, should call upon Christ, nor yet could the fury of those who assailed it hinder those foreordained to eternal life.

*Son of David. [n: (HIER.)]* Through the merits of the patriarchs the Jewish people is enlightened, to whom God is present, merciful and compassionate, enlightening the blind and raising up them that are cast down.

VERS. 48.-- *But he much the more.* As the war of vices grows heavier, hands must be lifted up to the stone of help [0220C] with a cry, that is, to Jesus.

[n: (HIER.)] A fitting order of salvation, etc., *as far as* beholding the apostles on high.

VERS. 49.-- *And they call the blind man. [n: (BEDA.)]* Allegorically, the Lord calls the blind man crying out, while to the people of the Gentiles, desiring the knowledge of the truth, he commits the word of faith by holy preachers. These, calling the blind man, bid him be of better courage and rise and come to him, when by preaching they command him to have hope of salvation, to rise from the torpor of vices, and to gird himself to those pursuits of the virtues by which he may deserve to be enlightened, as if he said: *Come ye to him and be enlightened [n: (Psal. XXXIII)]*. *And, rise thou that sleepest [n: (Ephes. V)]*, etc.

VERS. 50.-- *Who, casting away his garment.* That is, [0220D] the cares of the world being cast off, with the step of his mind unhindered he hastens to the giver of light. *Leaping up.* He rewards a ready will with the fulfilling of its desire, whence: *Whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.*

VERS. 51.-- *Rabboni, and let me see.* He does not seek gold, but light. For a blind man can have riches, but he does not see what he has. By his example let us seek not false riches, but the light which we can see with the angels alone, to which the way is faith. Whence it is said to the blind man when enlightened: *Go, thy faith hath made thee whole.*

VERS. 52.-- *He saw and followed. [n: (BEDA.)]* He sees and follows who does that which he well understands. To follow is to imitate. Whence: *If any man minister to me, let him follow me [n: (Joan. XII)]*.

[0221A] *In the way.* Let us consider by what way he walks, and let us follow through humility, through labours. The way which says: *I am the way, the truth and the life [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. This is the narrow way which leads to the steep places, of Jerusalem and of Bethany to the mount of Olives, which is the mount of light and of consolation.

## CHAPTER XI.

VERS. 1.-- *Of Bethany. [n: (BEDA.)]* Bethany is a village or city on the side of Mount Olivet, etc., *as far as* two, for the knowledge of the truth and the cleanness of the work. *Two of the disciples. [n: (HIER.)]* Two by two they are called, two by two they are sent, etc., *as far as* they may know the Lord between the two cherubim, singing with the spirit, with the mind.

VERS. 2.-- *And straightway. [n: (BEDA.)]* The preachers, entering the world, found the people of the nations, etc., [0221B] *as far as* but that which is clean and holy belongs to God alone.

VERS. 4.-- *A colt tied. [n: (HIER.)]* The colt tied and untamed, which they loose and tame, is the Gentile people. Before the door of faith it stands with the bonds of its own sins where two ways meet: in the freedom of choice it wavers between death and life.

VERS. 6.-- *And they let them go. [n: (BEDA.)]* They who at the loosing spoke against it, etc., *as far as* they cover them with that whereby, with Christ as their rider, they may be made worthy.

VERS. 7.-- *And he sat. [n: (HIER.)]* He began to reign, that sin might not reign in mortal or in wanton flesh: but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

VERS. 8.-- *But many spread their garments.* Because many martyrs, stripping themselves of the covering of their own flesh, prepare a way with their blood for the simpler sort, [0221C] that these may go unhindered to the city on high, to which Jesus leads.

*[n: (HIER.)] Many,* etc. The feet are the outermost members, which the Apostle appointed for the joining together, which, although they are not the back on which the Lord sat, yet are instructed along with the soldiers by John.

*And others. [n: (ID.)]* The just shall flourish as the palm tree, narrow in the roots, broad in flowers and fruits: since they are the good odour of Christ, and they strew the way of the commandments of God with good report. [n: (BEDA.)] And others cut down leaves or branches from the trees, who in the teaching of the truth cull out the words and sentences of the Fathers from their books. And these they lay down in the way of God, by humble preaching, before the mind of the hearer as he comes.

VERS. 9.-- *And they that went before.* The Jewish [0221D] people went before, the Gentile followed. And because all who are or have been faithful believed and believe in Christ, both they who go before and they who follow cry hosanna: which in Latin is rendered, Save us: for from him also all the former sought salvation.

VERS. 10.-- *Blessed is he that cometh.* Since there is one faith, one hope of all. They looked for him and believed that he would come, and we believe that he has come.

[n: (BEDA.)] By this which is joined to it: hosanna in the highest: which is salvation, it signifies that the coming of Christ is the salvation not of men only, but of the whole world, joining earthly things to heavenly, that *to him every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth [n: (Philip. II)]*.

[n: (HIER.)] This is in accord with Gabriel: who says: *He shall be [0222A] great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High,* etc., *as far as* through the word itself of entreaty.

VERS. 11.-- *And he entered in. [n: (ID.)]* Now, the passion drawing near, he wills to be in the place appointed for the passion before the ages, etc., *as far as* he has already begun the sacrament of the blessed immolation.

*Into the temple.* He gave us an example, that wheresoever we should come, we should first turn aside to the house of prayer if there be one there: and when by the practice of prayer we have commended ourselves to God, we should withdraw to do those things for which we came. *And having looked about,* etc. He did this not once, but through all the five days. By day he taught in the temple, by night, going out, he abode on Mount Olivet, as Luke says. For by teaching he diligently bestowed on the unbelieving the office of correction, by abiding [0222B] among the faithful he graciously showed forth the grace of kindness.

*And when he had seen. [n: (BEDA.)]* As he speaks by parables, so he does, etc., *as far as* by working miracles, and he found none: therefore he condemned it.

VERS. 14.-- *Now no more. [n: (ID.)]* Thou also, if thou wilt not hear in the judgment from Christ, *Depart from me, ye evil ones, into everlasting fire, for I was hungry and you gave not to me, to eat [n: (Matth. XXV)]* [var: Vulg. Matt. 25:41 *maledicti*, "ye cursed"], beware to be a barren tree, but rather offer to Christ, poor and hungry, the fruit of piety which he lacks.

VERS. 15.-- *He began to cast out.* In the thing itself he shows what he did by a figure in the fig tree. For the fig tree did not sin if before the time it had no fruit, but the priests did.

*Them that sold. [n: (BEDA.)]* Those things, namely, which they who came from [0222C] afar bought from the natives to be offered, etc., *as far as* they are always deprived of the priesthood.

VERS. 16.-- *And he suffered not.* He sends before an example of the judgment to come, when he drives all the reprobate from the Church: and lest they enter any more to trouble her, he restrains them with an everlasting scourging.

*But you have made.* For to this end were they in the temple, that they might either bodily persecute those who did not give, or spiritually slay those who did give. The temple and house of God is the mind and conscience of the faithful, which in the hurting of a neighbour brings forth perverse thoughts, as robbers sit in a den, and slay those who walk in simplicity: and so the mind is now not the house of God, but a den of thieves.

VERS. 20.-- *Withered away. [n: (BEDA.)]* The fig tree was withered from [0222D] the roots, that it might be shown that the impious nation was not to be chastised for a time, or in part, by the inroads of foreigners, and to be set free through penance, as has often been done, but to be smitten with an entire and everlasting damnation. Otherwise. It was withered from the roots, that it might be shown to be utterly forsaken not only of human favour from without, but of divine favour within: for it lost both life in heaven and country on earth.

VERS. 21.-- *Peter remembering.* Peter acknowledges the tree withered, and the root cut off, to which succeeds the most beautiful fruitful olive, so called by the Lord. Whence there follows: *Amen, I say to you,* etc.

VERS. 23.-- *Whosoever shall say. [n: (BEDA.)]* Certain men are wont to say that our own had not yet full faith, [0223A] etc., *as far as* by how much he groans that he has been cast out from the hurting of the godly. [n: (HIER.)] But this was done: when the apostles said: *Worthily are we transferred to the Gentiles, because you judge yourselves unworthy [n: (Matth. XXI)]*. [n: (BEDA.)] The distinction of those who pray is to be noted, etc., *as far as* if yet they first forgive those who sin against them.

VERS. 25.-- *And when you shall stand. [n: (HIER.)]* Mark after his manner comprises the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer in one prayer. For he to whom all things are forgiven, what more shall he ask, save that he persevere in that which he has obtained?

VERS. 28.-- *By what authority.* They doubt of the power of God, and wish it to be understood underneath that what he does is the devil's.

VERS. 29.-- *I will ask.* He could have confuted the calumny of the tempters by an open answer: but he prudently [0223B] asks, that they may be condemned either by their own silence or by their own sentence.

VERS. 31.-- *If we shall say. [n: (HIER.)]* By the lamp of the world they are darkened, whence he says: *I have prepared a lamp for my Christ: his enemies I will clothe with confusion [n: (Psal. CXXXI)]*.

*Why then,* etc. As if he said: He whom you confess to have had his prophecy from heaven bore witness to me, and from him you have heard by what authority I do these things.

VERS. 32.-- *If we shall say.* Whichever of these they answer: they see that they will fall into a snare, they fear stoning: but more the confession of the truth.

VERS. 33.-- *Neither do I tell you. [n: (BED.)]* For two causes the knowledge of the truth is hidden from those who seek it, when either he to whom he seeks understands too little, or by hatred or by contempt of the truth he is unworthy that it should be opened to him. [0223C] For the one it is said: *I have yet many things to say to you, which you cannot bear now.* [var: Vulg. Jo. 16:12 *sed non potestis portare modo*, "but you cannot bear them now"] For the other, *Give not that which is holy to dogs.*

## CHAPTER XII.

VERS. 1.-- *A vat,* that is, a winepress or an altar, or those winepresses by whose title certain psalms are inscribed. *Having gone into a far country.* Giving free choice of working, not by a change of place, because God is everywhere, and fills all things.

VERS. 6.-- *Because they will reverence.* He said this not in ignorance, because he knows all things, but God is always said to be in doubt, that free will may be reserved to man.

[n: (BEDA.)] We put the question to Arius and Eunomius, behold, the father is said to be ignorant, and he tempers his sentence, and, so far as is in us, he is said to have lied. Whatever [0223D] they shall answer for the father, let them understand the same for the Son, who says that he does not know the day of the consummation.

VERS. 7.-- *But the husbandmen. [n: (ID.)]* He proves that the princes of the Jews crucified Christ not through ignorance, etc., *as far as* and they strove to prefer their own justice which is of the law.

VERS. 8.-- *And they cast him out.* He marks their obstinacy: who, not even with the Lord crucified and raised again, were willing to believe at the preaching of the apostles, but cast him forth like a worthless corpse: because, so far as in them lay, shutting him out from their own borders they gave him to the Gentiles to be received.

[n: (BEDA.)] To whichever of the faithful the mystery of baptism, etc., *as far as* he will rejoice to crucify the Lord and to hold him up for a show.

[0224A]VERS. 10.-- *The stone which they rejected. [n: (HIER.)]* The rejected stone, which the corner bore, joining at the supper the lamb with the bread, ending the Old and beginning the New Testament, this shows forth wonders in our eyes.

VERS. 13.-- *And they send to him. [n: (BEDA.)]* They feared the crowd, and what they could not do of themselves, etc., *as far as* they would rather lose both the kingdom and all things than be tributaries.

VERS. 14.-- *Master, we know. [n: (ID.)]* The smooth and deceitful question provokes him who answers to this, that he should fear God rather than Caesar, and should say that tributes ought not to be paid, so that the Herodians, hearing it, might hold him the author of sedition against the Romans.

VERS. 15.-- *Who knowing their craftiness.* Let those who think that the Saviour's questioning is ignorance and not dispensation [0224B] learn from this place that he could know whose image it was. But he asks, that he may fittingly answer their speech. *A penny.* The denarius is a kind of coin which is reckoned for ten coins, and it has the image of Caesar.

VERS. 17.-- *Render therefore the things that are Caesar's.* This he himself did: paying tribute for himself and for Peter. *The things that are God's, to God.* This also he did, fulfilling the will of the Father. Otherwise: *Render the things that are Caesar's to Caesar.* The impress of his own image. *The things that are God's, to God.* The soul enlightened by the light of his countenance, Whence: *The light of thy countenance is signed upon us [n: (Psal. IV)]*, etc.

VERS. 18.-- *The Sadducees,* etc. There were two heresies among the Jews, that of the Pharisees and that of the Sadducees. The Pharisees set forth the justice of traditions and observances (which they [0224C] call δευτερώσεις): whence they are also called the divided, apart from the people. But the Sadducees, that is, the just, denied the resurrection both of the body and of the soul.

*The Sadducees,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] They who deny that there is a resurrection of bodies, or who do not believe it, judging that souls perish together with the bodies; rightly do they frame a fable of this kind, which may convict of raving those who assert the resurrection of bodies. But this could also have befallen at some time in their own nation.

VERS. 20.-- *Seven therefore,* etc. [n: (ID.)] They set against him the baseness of a fable, that they may deny the resurrection. But mystically, the seven brothers dead without children agree with all the reprobate: who through their whole life (which is rolled round in seven days) are barren of good work, and when these die one by one, at the last the very worldly [0224D] conversation dies also, that is, passes away, like a barren wife, whom they wore out without the fruit of a good work. HIER. The barren woman, leaving no seed from the seven brothers, etc., *as far as* because *the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.*

VERS. 25.-- *Neither shall they marry, neither,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] The Latin usage does not answer to the Greek idiom: for it is properly of women that marrying is said: and of men, the taking of a wife. But let us understand it as simply said, *neither shall they marry*, the men, *neither shall they be married*, the women.

VERS. 26.-- *I am the God,* etc. [n: (BED.)] Although he could bring forward many plainer testimonies concerning the resurrection, etc., *as far as* the things which, whether good or evil, they wrought together with their souls.

[0225A]VERS. 28.-- *He asked him. [n: (HIER.)]* What does this question mean, since all who are skilled in the law know it? But the commandments are ordered differently in Exodus and in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy. For our infancy is nourished from these two breasts raised upon the bosom of the bride.

*The first of all,* etc. The greatest thing, which before all we ought to set in the heart as the one foundation of piety, is this, namely, the knowledge and confession of the divine unity together with the carrying out of the divine working, which is perfected in the love of God and of the neighbour: this is *the faith which worketh by love.*

VERS. 32.-- *Well, master. [n: (BEDA.)]* The scribe shows in this answer that a weighty question had long been debated among the scribes and the Pharisees, etc., *as far as* but no one without faith and love, in which judgment this [0225B] scribe declares himself to have been.

VERS. 34.-- *Thou art not far from the kingdom of God,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Although he had come to tempt: for ignorance is farther off than knowledge, as it is said to the Sadducees: *You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God [n: (Matth. XXII)]*. [n: (BEDA.)] Matthew says that he asked by way of tempting, etc., *as far as* according to that word: *He that believeth easily is light of heart, and shall be made less [n: (Eccl. XIX)]*.

*And no man.* Because they are confuted in words, they question him no more; but, having openly seized him, they deliver him to the Roman power, whence it appears that the poisons of envy can be overcome, but hardly be quiet.

VERS. 36.-- *Sit on my right hand.* For in this he shows the weakness [cj: *infirmitatem*; read *non infirmitatem*, "not the weakness"] of the Son, but that the one works in the other. For the Son both subjects his enemies to the Father, and glorifies God the Father [0225C] upon earth.

VERS. 38.-- *Beware. [n: (BEDA.)]* Note that he does not forbid those who are of this office, etc., *as far as* we be led astray by their pretence, or be inflamed by emulation to the same.

VERS. 40.-- *Who devour the houses of widows.* As men who are to be patrons in the judgment, they do not hesitate to take money from the weak and from those troubled by the conscience of their sins: whereas it is the hand stretched out to give, and not closed to receive, that commends prayer to God: to whom that word is fitting: *Let his prayer be turned to sin.*

VERS. 41.-- *The treasury. [n: (BEDA.)]* Φυλάττειν in Greek, to keep in Latin. Gaza, in Persian, riches, Gazophylacium the place in which riches are kept, and the chest, namely, in which the offerings of the people were gathered for the uses of the temple. Whence in the book of Kings: *Joiada the high priest took [0225D] one chest, and opened a hole in the top [n: (IV Reg. XII)]*, etc., and the porches in which they were kept. Whence: *These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple.*

*He beheld how.* As he said that those who seek after primacy and vainglory are to be avoided, and foretold a more grievous judgment to those who pray in pretence, so also he discerns those who offer with a just examination, that he may render to each according to the heart and the works, which he does also today in the Church.

*The rich. [n: (BEDA.)]* The rich, the Jews puffed up over the justice of the law, etc., *as far as* they surpass all the works of the proud Jews.

VERS. 42.-- *A poor widow. [n: (HIER.)]* This poor little woman signifies me and such as me, who cast in what I can [0226A] and desire what I cannot to expound to you. God desires not how much, but out of how much. Every one can offer a farthing. This is the twist of bread in Leviticus, which is a ready will. A farthing, because it consists of three, in thought, in word and in deed.

*A farthing.* Reckoners call a farthing the fourth part of any thing, namely, of place, of time, of money. Perhaps therefore here it signifies the fourth part of a sicle, that is, five oboli.

VERS. 44.-- *For all. [n: (BEDA.)]* The Jew casts into the gifts out of that which abounds to him, etc., *as far as My God, his mercy shall prevent me [n: (Psal. LVIII)]*.

## CHAPTER XIII.

VERS. 1.-- *And as he was going out. [n: (BEDA.)]* They shall withdraw from the temple, the Lord, etc., *as far as* it was to pay the penalty, and [0226B] the buildings to fall in ruin.

*Seest thou these,* etc. But it was divinely provided that, when the grace of the evangelical faith had been laid open throughout the world, the temple itself with its ceremonies should be taken away: lest perchance one still a little child, and a suckling in the faith, if he saw those things abide which were made by the prophets and instituted by the Lord, in admiring a worldly holy thing, should slip back little by little into Judaism. The shadow therefore is taken away, and the truth, declared throughout the world, holds the palm.

[n: (HIER.)] He foretells the calamity of the last time, that is, the destruction of the temple together with its people and its letter. Of which: *There shall not be left a stone upon a stone [n: (Luc. XXI)]*: that is, the testimonies of the prophets upon those against whom the Jews turned them back, as upon Esdras, upon Zorobabel, upon the Machabees.

[0226C]VERS. 3.-- *And when,* etc. [n: (BED.)] He abides quiet among the saints: while he detests the madness of the proud. For the Mount of Olives signifies the fruitful loftiness of the Church: that mountain brings forth not unfruitful trees, but olive groves, by which light is fed, rest is granted to the weary, weakness is loosed.

VERS. 5.-- *And answering. [n: (ID.)]* From the time of the Lord's passion, among the people of the Jews who chose the seditious robber and cast away Christ the Saviour, neither the wars of enemies nor the seditions of citizens have ceased; but the apostles are warned not to be terrified at the coming of these things, and not to forsake Jerusalem and Judea, *because the end is not at once.* For to the fortieth year was deferred the desolation of the province and the last destruction of the city and of the temple.

[0226D]VERS. 6.-- *For many shall come.* When the destruction was at hand, many came who would falsely claim that they were Christs, and that the time of liberty was already at hand. Many also in the Church, in the times of the apostles, threatened among other things that the day of the Lord was pressing on. Many antichrists came in the name of Christ, of whom the first was Simon Magus, *to whom all who were in Samaria gave ear from the least to the greatest, saying: This is the power of God which is called great: because for a long time he had bewitched them with magic arts.*

VERS. 8.-- *For there shall rise. [n: (BEDA.)]* All these things before the last and bitterest sorrows, etc., *as far as* who, fighting one against another, make the victory of the Church.

[0227A]VERS. 9.-- *But look to yourselves. [n: (BEDA.)]* Why all these things are brought in, he says *Look ye,* etc. For this alone is the greatest cause of the destruction, that after the slaying of the Lord they harassed with impious cruelty the heralds likewise of his name and of the faith, and the confessors like him.

VERS. 10.-- *And unto all nations. [n: (ID.)]* Because the Lord knew that the hearts of the disciples were to be saddened at the perdition of their own nation, he comforts them in this manner, that they may know that, the Jews being lost, they will have companions of the heavenly kingdom out of the whole world. For as the ecclesiastical histories testify, long before the destruction of Judea all the apostles were scattered through the whole world to preach the Gospel, save James the son of Zebedee, and James the brother of the Lord, who first in Judea shed their blood for the word of the Gospel.

[0227B]VERS. 14.-- *But when you shall see,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The abomination may be understood either as Antichrist, or as the image of Caesar which Pilate set in the temple, etc., *as far as* it was always obedient to the empire of the Romans.

VERS. 17.-- *But woe to them that are with child,* etc. Because, weighed down either by the burden of the womb or by the load of their children, they will not be able to flee. Whence in the book of Histories it is read that the wife of Jonathan, troubled in flight, took back her son, fallen from her bosom, lame for ever.

VERS. 21.-- *And then if any man. [n: (BED.)]* Some refer this to the Jewish captivity, when many, saying that they were Christs, drew the deceived people after them. But there was no faithful man there whom God might exhort not to follow perverse masters. All, both the besiegers and the besieged, being strangers to Christ, were hardened, [0227C] whence it is better to be taken of heretics, who, coming against the Church, falsely say that they are Christs: of whom the first was Simon Magus; the last, Antichrist.

VERS. 24.-- *But in those days,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The stars in the judgment shall be seen dark, etc., *as far as* then shall come to pass what the same prophet says elsewhere: *And the light of the moon shall be as the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days [n: (Isa. III)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *Falling down.* From their light, when the seed of Abraham, to which the stars were likened, shall almost fail.

*And the powers which,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] What wonder is it that men should tremble, when at the sight of the judgment the angelic powers tremble? Whence Job: *The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his beck [n: (Job. XXVI)]*. And what does [0227D] the little rod of the desert suffer, where the cedar of paradise is shaken? *They shall be moved. [n: (HIER.)]* To the wrath of vengeance, when they shall be sent by the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power, who before came down in humility like rain upon a fleece.

VERS. 27.-- *From the four winds.* From the east and the west, the south, the north, and not only from these; but from the utmost part of the earth to the utmost part of heaven, that is, from the farthest bounds of the earth straight on to its last limits, where to those who look from afar the circle of heaven seems to rest upon the earth.

VERS. 28.-- *But from the fig tree.* As if he said, as when there are tender shoots upon the fig tree, and the bud breaks out into flower, you understand the coming of summer and of spring [0228A] and of the west wind; so when you shall see these things which are written, think not that the end of the world is already at hand, but that they come as forerunners, to show that it is near.

[n: (BEDA.)] The fig tree is the Synagogue, which, because when the Lord came to her she had not the fruit of justice, etc., *as far as* and the summer of the true light and peace.

[n: (HIER.)] The parable of the fig tree, that is, the prophecy. The leaves that are born are the present words, but the summer near at hand is the day of judgment, in which every tree shall make manifest what it had within, whether dry, for the burning, or green, for the planting in Eden with the tree of life, whose leaves are unto the health of the nations, that is, the words in which it shall be said, *Come, ye blessed of my Father,* etc.

VERS. 31.-- *Heaven and earth shall pass away.* The airy heaven, from which are the birds of heaven and the clouds of heaven, whence Peter: [0228B] *But the heavens which now are, and the earth, by the same word are laid up in store and reserved unto fire [n: (II Pet. III)]*, plainly teaching that the heavens which are to perish by fire are other than those which were destroyed by water, that is, the empty and cloudy ones. For the water of the flood, which passed the tops of the mountains by fifteen cubits only, did not come beyond the borders of the air and of the ether. Ecclesiastes [n: (Cap. I)]: *One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for ever.* So therefore heaven and earth pass away according to their image, they remain for ever according to their essence.

VERS. 32.-- *Neither the Son.* -- *For in him are all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge hidden.* Therefore hidden, because it is not expedient for us to know, whence he says: *It is not for you to know the times or the moments which the Father [0228C] hath put in his own power [n: (Act. I)]*. In which he shows that he knows, but that it is not expedient for the apostles to know, so that, being always uncertain of the coming of the judge, they may live daily as though they were to be judged on the morrow. The Son therefore knows for himself, but not for us, that we may always be watchful, whence: *see ye, watch,* etc.

[n: (HILAR.)] The Son and the Holy Ghost, because they are not of themselves, do not know of themselves concerning that day: but the Father, because he is of himself, knows of himself.

VERS. 34.-- *And to the porter,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] To him, namely, who preaches. To whom it is said: *If thou declare not to the wicked man his iniquity, I will require his blood at thy hand [n: (Ezech. III)]*.

*Watch ye therefore.* The example of the father of the household being set before, why he keeps silence about the day of the consummation, he says: *watch ye therefore.* He who sleeps sees not bodies, but phantasms, [0228D] and when he awakes he has nothing of those things which he had seen. Such are they whom the love of the world snatches away in life, and forsakes after life.

VERS. 36.-- *And what I say to you.* Not only the rulers of the Church, but all of us are bidden to watch, keeping the doors of our hearts; lest the evil suggestion of the ancient enemy steal in, lest the Lord find us sleeping, whence Paul: *Watch, ye just, and sin not.* [var: Vulg. 1 Cor. 15:34 *Evigilate*, "Awake"]

## CHAPTER XIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Now it was the pasch. [n: (HIER.)]* Pascha is interpreted a passing over, but phase an immolation, etc., *as far as* and armed with virtue let us eat, saying: *For Christ our pasch is sacrificed [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*.

[n: (BEDA.)] Pascha, which in Hebrew is phase, from a passing over, [0229A] not from suffering, etc., *as far as* it admonishes us, namely, to undertake the way of the virtues. *And the chief priests sought. [n: (HIER.)]* Iniquity went forth from the princes, who ought to have made ready the temple, and the vessels, and to have purified themselves according to the law for the eating of the lamb.

VERS. 2.-- *Not on the festival day. [n: (ID.)]* They shun the festival day, and that befits them: there is no festival for those who have lost life and mercy.

VERS. 3.-- *And when he was in Bethany. [n: (ID.)]* The young hart of the harts always returns to his own bed, that is, the Son obedient to the Father even unto death: he asks obedience of us. For Simon is interpreted obedient. *Of Simon the leper.* Simon the leper signifies the world unbelieving at first, afterwards believing. *And as he was at meat, there came,* etc. He himself reclining, that is, humbling himself, that the faith of the sinful woman [0229B] might touch him: which faith goes up from the feet to the head, and comes down from the head through faith, that is, from Christ to his members.

*A woman. [n: (BEDA.)]* Mary Magdalen, the sister of Lazarus whom the Lord raised up, etc., *as far as* she poured holy oil upon him, as Matthew and Mark relate.

*An alabaster box.* Alabaster is a white marble marked with divers drops, and it keeps ointments uncorrupted. *Of spikenard.* Nard is called pistic, that is, mixed, because it was compounded not of the root only, but of the spikes and of the leaves: which is the more precious.

*And breaking. [n: (HIER.)]* The house filled with the odour is heaven and earth. The broken alabaster is carnal desire, which is broken at the head: from which the whole body is framed together. [n: (BED.)] The devotion of Mary designates the faith and [0229C] the piety of the Church, etc., *as far as* she venerates him with pious preaching and with devout observances.

VERS. 4.-- *And there were some. [n: (ID.)]* By synecdoche he put the plural for the singular, etc., *as far as* whose habit of thieving he took care for this cause to make known. *To what purpose is this waste. [n: (HIER.)]* He that was lost found perdition out of salvation, so that in a fruitful fig tree he might light upon the noose of death.

VERS. 5.-- *For this ointment might have been. [n: (ID.)]* Under the pretext of avarice he speaks the mystery of faith, etc., *as far as* let us divide the spoils at evening.

VERS. 6.-- *She hath wrought a good work. [n: (ID.)]* He who believes in God, it is reputed to him unto a work of justice. For it is one thing to believe him, another to believe in him, that is, to cast oneself wholly upon him.

[0229D]VERS. 7.-- *But me you have not always. [n: (BEDA.)]* Joined to you by bodily presence and familiarity as now. Whence the Apostle: *Although we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him [n: (II Cor. V)]* [var: Vulg. 2 Cor. 5:16 *sed nunc jam non novimus*, "but now we know him so no longer"]. But spiritually he is always with us, whence: *Behold I am with you even to the consummation of the world all days. [n: (HIER.)]* Thus is it to be understood: But me you shall not always have in bodily presence, as before in companionship and familiarity.

VERS. 8.-- *What she had.* What you think to be a waste of the ointment is the office of burial. Nor is it a wonder if she has given me the good odour of faith, since I am about to shed my blood for her.

VERS. 9.-- *Amen I say to you. [n: (BEDA.)]* Note in Christ [0230A] the knowledge of things to come, those about to suffer after a few days, he foreknows that his Gospel is to be preached in the whole world. It is to be noted that, as Mary through the whole world in which the Church is spread abroad earned glory for the loving service which she devoutly rendered to the Lord: so also Judas, who disparaged her, is defamed far and wide with the mark of perfidy. But the Lord rewards the good with loving praise, and is silent about the coming reproaches of the wicked man.

VERS. 10.-- *One of the twelve. [n: (HIER.)]* One in number, not in merit, in name not in divine power, in body not in mind, whence the bridegroom to the bride: *Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, with one of thy eyes, and with one hair of thy neck [n: (Cant. IV)]*. The eye and the hair are wisdom and virtue, since it is said to Judas with the rest: *To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God [n: (Matth. XIII)]*. And: [0230B] *I have given you power [n: (Luc. X)]*, etc.

*He went to,* etc. He went away to the princes: and after he went out, Satan entered into him. Here *night to night showeth knowledge. Every living thing is joined to that which is like itself [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. Mary runs to the apostles, that day to day may utter speech; Judas to the Jews, that night to night may show knowledge.

VERS. 11.-- *And he sought how he might,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] He promises to betray him, as his master had said before: To thee will I give all this power. *BEDA.* Many today shudder at the crime of Judas and yet do not beware of it, etc., *as far as* that, the witnesses being removed, they may exchange truth for a lie, and virtue for a crime.

VERS. 12.-- *And on the first day of the unleavened bread. [n: (Id.)]* On the fourteenth [0230C] moon, when, the leaven being cast away, the lamb was slain at evening, etc., *as far as* he consecrated the beginning of that very immolation, that is, of his own passion.

[n: (ISID.)] With bitterness is the unleavened bread eaten, which is our redemption. For the bitterness is the passion of the Lord.

VERS. 13.-- *Go into the city. [n: (BED.)]* It is a token of the foreknowledge of his godhead, etc., *as far as* and that the baptism of the life-giving font may be consecrated for the taking away of the crimes of the world. [n: (HIER.)] The city is the Church, which is girt with the wall of faith: the man who meets them is the primitive people, the pitcher of water the law of the letter. *A man carrying a pitcher of water. [n: (BEDA.)]* Of set purpose are the names both of the water-bearer and of the master of the house passed over in silence, that it may be signified that the opportunity is to be given to all who wish to keep the true pasch, that is, to be steeped in the sacraments of Christ, and who seek to receive him [0230D] into the lodging of their own mind.

*Follow ye. [n: (HIER.)]* He who leads on high, where the refreshment of Christ is, whence Rahab charges the spies to go not by the low places but by the heights.

VERS. 15.-- *A large upper room. [n: (ID.)]* The great Church, which declares the name of the Lord, strewn with the variety of the virtues and of tongues, whence: *Surrounded with variety [n: (Psal. XLIV)]* of virtues, in which the pasch is prepared for the Lord. The master of the house is Peter the apostle, to whom the Lord entrusted his house: that there may be one faith under one shepherd. [n: (BED.)] The upper room is the spiritual law, which, going out from the straits of the letter, receives the Saviour in a lofty place, etc., *as far as* because it knows that all the sacraments of the pasch [0231A] and the other decrees of the law are his sacraments.

VERS. 17.-- *And in the evening. [n: (HIER.)]* The evening of the day points to the evening of the world. For about the eleventh hour come the last: who first receive the penny of eternal life: because before the cross Abraham was in hell, and after the cross the thief was in paradise.

VERS. 18.-- *Amen I say,* etc. As he had foretold of his passion: so he foretells of the betrayer, giving place for repentance, that when he had understood that his thoughts were foreknown by God, he might repent of his deed. Yet he does not point him out by name, lest, being openly refuted, he become more shameless. He casts the crime into the number: that he who is conscious of it may do penance. *One of you.* While falsehood is reproved, truth is proved and fulfilled. *He that did eat [0231B] my bread, hath greatly supplanted me [n: (Psal. XL)]*. All are touched, that harmony may be made in the harp. All the strings, being well strung, answer with a concordant voice: *Is it I, Lord?* One, slack and moved by the love of money, said: *Is it I, Rabbi?*

VERS. 19.-- *To be made sorrowful.* As the eleven, because they had thought nothing evil against the Lord: but they believe their master more than themselves, and fearing their own frailty, sorrowful they ask concerning their own sin, of which they had no consciousness.

VERS. 20.-- *One of the twelve. [n: (HIER.)]* The wolf separates apart the sheep which he desires. The sheep which goes out of the fold lies open to the bites of the wolf. *He that dippeth. [n: (BEDA.)]* Wonderful is the patience of the Lord. First he said: *One of you shall betray me,* the betrayer persists in his evil. He reproves more openly: [0231C] and yet he is not named outright. Judas, when the others are made sorrowful and draw back their hand from the food, with the rashness and shamelessness with which he betrays the Lord; puts his hand also with his master into the dish, that by boldness he might feign a good conscience.

VERS. 21.-- *But woe. [n: (ID.)]* For ever woe to that man who comes unworthily to the table of the Lord, etc., *as far as* the punishment is foretold, that he who is not overcome by shame may be corrected by fear.

VERS. 22.-- *As they were eating. [n: (ID.)]* The old pasch being ended, which was kept in commemoration of the deliverance of the people of God from Egypt, etc., *as far as* and therefore that he was to be raised the more swiftly from death. *He took. [n: (HIER.)]* Figuring his own body in the bread, etc., *as far as* the enemies are extinguished, which are the mysteries of the Church of Christ. [0231D] [n: (BEDA.)] The bread which strengthens the heart of man, etc., *as far as* or that we are saved without his passion.

VERS. 23.-- *Thanks.* He gave thanks and blessed, being now near to his passion, he who takes upon himself the punishment of another's iniquity: who did nothing worthy of suffering: that he might show with how even a mind every man ought to bear the scourges of his own fault.

*They had drunk. [n: (HIER.)]* Happy drunkenness: saving fulness, etc., *as far as* for the blood of the New Testament which is shed for many cleanses not all.

VERS. 25.-- *Now I will not drink. [n: (ID.)]* Here he changes the sacrifice, but he does not change the time; so that we should never keep the supper of Jesus before the fourteenth moon. He who makes the resurrection on the fourteenth, keeps the supper of the Lord on the [0232A] eleventh, which has never been found either in the New or in the Old Testament. *The vine. [n: (BEDA.)]* The vine or the vineyard of the Lord is the Synagogue, etc., *as far as* I shall be filled with a new joy together with you over the salvation of that same people regenerated by baptism.

VERS. 26. *And a hymn being said. [n: (ID.)]* It can be understood as the hymn which, according to John, he sang, giving thanks to the Father, etc., *as far as* and that we ought to ascend by the graces of the Holy Spirit with which we are anointed in the heart. *Unto the mount of Olives. [n: (HIER.)]* On Mount Olivet Jesus is held fast: and thence he ascends to the heavens: that we may know that we ascend to the heavens from that place where we watch, and pray, and are bound, and do not fight back on the earth.

*You shall all be scandalized. [n: (BEDA.)]* He foretells what they shall suffer: that when they have suffered they may not despair, but [0232B] repent.

VERS. 27.-- *In this night. They who are drunk, are drunk in the night [n: (I Thess. V)]*, and they who are scandalized, are scandalized in the night, that is, being darkened in mind. [n: (HIER.)] All fall, but not all lie prostrate. *Because he sleepeth, shall he not rise again? [n: (Zach. XIII.)]* To fall is carnal: to lie prostrate is devilish. *I will strike the shepherd.* Strike the shepherd. The prophet asks for the passion of the Lord: the Father answers: *I will strike the shepherd.* At the prayers of the saints the Son is sent by the Father: that is, he is made flesh and is struck, and suffers: the sheep are scattered, the shepherd being taken. The resurrection is promised, that hope be not extinguished.

VERS. 29.-- *But Peter. [n: (ID.)]* A bird without feathers strives to fly on high: but the body weighs down the soul, so that, [0232C] by the fear of a human death, the fear of the Lord is overcome.

VERS. 30.-- *The cock shall twice give voice. [n: (BEDA.)]* Others simply: *Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice,* etc., *as far as* as also that word: *He that shall look on a woman to lust after, hath already committed adultery with her [n: (Matth. V)]*. [n: (HIER.)] The cock crows: Peter denies thrice, etc., *as far as* and he washed away the filth of the threefold denial with tears.

## CHAPTER XIV. (cont.)

VERS. 32.-- *Gethsemani. [n: (ID.)]* That is, the valley of fat ones, where fat bulls beset him and many calves surrounded him. *Sit ye here. [n: (ISID.)]* They are separated in prayer who are separated in the passion: because he prays, while they sleep, weighed down by the fatness of the heart. *Till I pray. [n: (BED.)]* When the Lord prays on the mountain, etc., *as far as* whence: *He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death. And greater love than this [0232D] no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends [n: (Phil. II; Joan. XV)]*.

VERS. 33.-- *And he began to fear. [n: (HIER.)]* We are taught to fear and to be sorrowful before the judgment of death, we who cannot say of ourselves, save through him: *The prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not anything [n: (Joan. XIV)]*.

VERS. 34.-- *My soul is sorrowful,* etc. [n: (BED.)] He is not sorrowful because of death, etc., *as far as* but from the sleep of unbelief and from the torpor of the mind.

VERS. 35.-- *And he prayed. [n: (ID.)]* This voice is the sound of our infirmity, etc., *as far as* but because it will not be otherwise, *Not what I will, but what thou wilt.*

[n: (HIER.)] This is against the Eutychians, who say that there is in Christ only one operation, one will: [0233A] but here he shows the human, which through the infirmity of the flesh refuses the passion, and the divine, which is ready to accomplish the dispensation.

VERS. 36.-- *But not what I will. [n: (HIER.)]* Even to the end he ceases not to teach us to obey our fathers: and to set their will before our own.

VERS. 37.-- *And he says to Peter,* etc. He who had said: *And if it behove me to die with thee, I will not deny thee: even if all shall be scandalized, yet not I [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*; now, through the greatness of his sorrow, cannot overcome sleep.

VERS. 38.-- *That ye enter not.* He does not say, that ye be not tempted, but *that ye enter not into temptation,* that is, that temptation may not overcome you, may not hold you within its nets.

[n: (HIER.)] He enters into temptation who neglects to pray. Thrice the disciples sleep, thrice the Lord in prayer [0233B] rouses them. The threefold sleeping signifies the three dead whom the Lord raised up. The first in the house, the second at the sepulchre, the third out of the sepulchre. The Lord's threefold watching teaches us that we have three persons in praying, and to ask pardon both for things past and for things present and for things to come. *But the flesh is weak. [n: (BEDA.)]* For the flesh by its own weight ever draws to the lowest things.

VERS. 42.-- *Arise.* After he had prayed the third time, he taught that the fear of the apostles was to be corrected by penance, and goes untroubled to the passion, saying: *Arise, let us go.* As if he should say, let them not find us fearing, but let us go of our own accord to meet them, so that, we being about to suffer, they may see joy and confidence.

VERS. 44.-- *A sign. [n: (HIER.)]* He gives the sign of a kiss with the venom of the devil: as Cain offered a sacrifice [0233C] guileful and reprobate, whence they set wine with vinegar upon the cross.

VERS. 45.-- *Rabbi. [n: (BEDA.)]* With shameless and wicked assurance he calls him master, etc., *as far as* he fulfils that also: *With them that hated peace [n: (Psal. CXIX)]*, etc.

VERS. 47.-- *One. [n: (ID.)]* Peter, according to John, with the same ardour of mind as in the rest. For he knew that Phinees, by punishing the sacrilegious, had received the reward of justice and of a perpetual priesthood. Luke says: *That the Lord touched the ear and healed it [n: (Luc. XXII)]*. For he himself never forgets loving-kindness, and suffers not even his own enemies to be wounded. Mystically: teaching that they who in consenting to his death contracted a wound of the soul can, if they have worthily repented, deserve [0233D] salvation.

VERS. 48.-- *As to a robber. [n: (ID.)]* As if he should say: It is foolish to seize with swords and clubs one who delivers himself up to you of his own accord: and by night, as though he were in hiding, to hunt him out by means of a traitor, when daily he teaches in the temple. But therefore you gather against me in darkness, because your power is in darkness.

VERS. 50.-- *Then,* etc. [n: (ID.)] That is fulfilled which he said, that all should be scandalized, etc., *as far as* and they that were to be called back by God learned to give to their adversaries.

VERS. 52.-- *But he,* etc. As Joseph, leaving his cloak behind, fled naked out of the hands of the unchaste mistress. But whoever wishes to escape the hands of the wicked, let him leave in mind the things that are of the world, and flee after Jesus. [0234A] *From them.* Whose presence he loathed, and whose deeds. Not from the Lord, whose love, though absent in body, he kept fixed in his mind.

VERS. 53.-- *The high priest,* etc. Caiphas, namely, who according to John was the high priest of that year, concerning whom Josephus writes to the same effect, that he had bought the high priesthood for himself from the Roman prince without any merit of worth: what wonder then, if an unjust high priest judges unjustly?

VERS. 54.-- *Afar off. [n: (BEDA.)]* Because he was near to denial, had he been near to Christ he would not have denied: in this, nevertheless, he is to be admired, that he did not leave the Lord even though he fears. That he fears is of nature, that he follows is of devotion: that he denies is of stealth, that he repents is of faith. *The court. [n: (HIER.)]* The court is the worldly [0234B] circuit. The servants are the demons. The fire is fleshly desire, and he who abides with these is not able to weep for his sins. *And he warmed himself. [n: (BEDA.)]* There is a fire of charity; whereof it is said, etc., *as far as* and forthwith he set the secret places of his heart aflame with the coals of love.

VERS. 56.-- *False testimony. [n: (ID.)]* He is false who does not understand things said in the same sense in which they are said, etc., *as far as* so that he may seem to have spoken properly of the Jewish temple.

VERS. 60.-- *And rising up,* etc. Being angry, because he found no place for calumny, he shows by the motion of his body the madness of his mind. *Not answering,* etc. [var: Vulg. Mc 14:60 *Non respondes*, "Dost thou not answer"] He provokes him to an answer, that from any occasion of speech he may find place for accusing. But Jesus answered not, [0234C] because he foresaw that whatever he should answer would be turned into calumny.

*Thou art Christ. [n: (HIER.)]* Whom he was awaiting from afar, him he did not see near at hand: as Isaac, with darkened eyes, did not know Jacob under his hands, but long afterwards sings of things to come concerning him.

VERS. 62.-- *And you shall see.* The priest asks after the Son of God; Jesus answers the Son of man; that we may understand the same to be Son of God and Son of man, lest we make a quaternity in the Trinity, and that man may be in God and God in man. *On the right hand of power.* Because *he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross: for which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name* [0234D] [n: (Phil. II)].

*With the clouds of heaven. [n: (HIER.)]* He ascended in a cloud, with a cloud he will come: that is, he ascended with his own body alone, which he took from the Virgin, and he is to come to judgment with the manifold Church, which is his body and his fulness, as Matthew says: But when the Son of man shall come, and all the angels with him, etc.

VERS. 63.-- *But the high priest. [n: (BEDA.)]* The same madness which before had shaken him from his seat, etc., *as far as* they did, when in Lycaonia they were honoured as gods. *His garments,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] That is, they lost the ephod in which the Jews had their honour, etc., *as far as* yet her chastity remains inviolate [0235A] even to the consummation of the world in those whom the lot of election shall find.

VERS. 64.-- *Who all,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] That by his own guilt he might loose our guilt, etc., *as far as* hence the prophet: *What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he hath rendered to me? [n: (Psal. CXV.)]*

VERS. 65.-- *To cover the face,* etc. Not that he might not see their crimes, but that, as they themselves once did to Moses, they might hide from themselves the grace of the knowledge of him. This veil remains upon their heart until this day, which is taken away for them that believe in Christ. Whence, at his dying, it was as though the temple was rent, and the secret things of the holy of holies laid open.

*They struck him with the palms of their hands. [n: (BEDA.)]* He who was then struck with blows is now struck with the blasphemies of false Christians. [0235B] He who was consumed with the spittle of unbelievers is now dishonoured by the raving reproaches of the faithful.

VERS. 68.-- *But he,* etc. Note that he denies Christ who denies that he is his disciple. For the Lord did not say: Thou shalt deny thyself to be my disciple, but *thou shalt deny me.* He denied him therefore when he denied that he was his disciple.

*And he went forth without,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Peter, without the Spirit, yielded to the voice of a maidservant, etc., *as far as* and we go forth outside of what we were.

VERS. 70.-- *For thou art also a Galilean. [n: (BEDA.)]* The Galileans and the men of Jerusalem have the same tongue, but nevertheless every province and region has its own sound of speaking, which to change, etc., *as far as* because the men of Jerusalem sounded that name in one way, and the Galileans [0235C] in another.

VERS. 72.-- *And he remembered. [n: (ID.)]* Peter denies by night, at the cock's crowing he repents. By day he professed three times that he loved him whom he had three times denied. For that which, etc., *as far as* he goes forth without (as the other Evangelists relate), that, set apart from the ungodly, he may the more freely wash away the guilt of his denial with tears.

## CHAPTER XV.

VERS. 1.-- *And straightway,* etc. There follows: *Binding Jesus.* It was the custom of the Jews that whomsoever they had adjudged to death they should deliver bound to the judge. And it is to be noted that they had not bound him then for the first time, but as soon as he was seized by night in the garden, as John says: And thus *they led him away to Annas first [n: (Joan. XVIII)]*.

[n: (HIER.)] Here is Samson bound by Dalila. Samson [0235D] is interpreted, etc., *as far as* and he opens to us who thirst the fountain of everlasting life, that is, of his own body.

VERS. 2.-- *Art thou the king of the Jews?* When Pilate asks of no crime save whether he be the king of the Jews, the impiety of those men is convicted who found not even falsely anything to lay against him. *Thou sayest.* So he tempers his answer that he speaks the truth, and yet gives no occasion to calumny. And note that to Pilate, who bears the sentence unwillingly, he answered in some part: but to the priests and the chief men he would not answer, and judged them unworthy of his speech.

VERS. 4.-- *See,* etc. The heathen condemns Jesus, but refers the cause to the people of the Jews. *See in how many things,* etc.

[0236A]VERS. 11.-- *That rather Barabbas. [n: (BEDA.)]* Their own petition cleaves to the Jews unto this day, which with all their labour they obtained. For, the choice being given them, they chose a robber instead of Jesus, a murderer instead of the Saviour. Deservedly therefore they lost salvation and life, and gave themselves over to robberies and seditions so far that they lost their kingdom and their country, and never received again the liberty of body and of soul.

VERS. 14.-- *But Pilate.* Pilate gave many occasions of freeing the Saviour, first in comparing the robber with the just one, then in bringing forward: *What will you then that I do to the king of the Jews?* And when they had answered: *Let him be crucified,* he did not at once give in, but according to the suggestion of his wife, who had sent to him (as Matthew says): *Have thou nothing to do with that just man [n: (Matth. XXVII)]*, answering he said: [0236B] *Why, what evil hath he done?* And in saying this he acquitted Jesus. *But they the more,* etc. David: *Many dogs have encompassed me [n: (Psal. XXI)]*, etc. Isaias: *I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity: and justice, and behold a cry [n: (Isa. V)]*. Jeremias: *My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: it hath cried out against me [n: (Jer. XII)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Barabbas, and delivered,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] These are the two goats, the one apompeius, that is, the emissary, is loosed and sent away with the sin of the people into the desert of hell. The other is slain as a lamb for the sins of those who are loosed. The Lord's portion is always sacrificed, the devil's portion, who is their master, is hurled unbridled into Tartarus.

*Jesus with scourges.* That he might free us from scourges; whence: [0236C] *The scourge shall not come nigh thy dwelling [n: (Psal. XC)]*: whereas before it was said: *Many are the scourges of the sinner [n: (Psal. XXXI)]*.

*[n: (BEDA.)] Jesus scourged with whips.* He was scourged by Pilate himself, whence John: *Pilate took Jesus and scourged him:* and afterwards he added: *And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns [n: (Joan. XIX)]*, etc. And he gave him over to the soldiers to be mocked. This he did for this end, that being sated with his punishments and reproaches they might not thirst further after his death.

VERS. 17.-- *And they clothe him. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthew thus: *And stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak about him [n: (Marc. XXVII)]*. Which is the same thing. For it was given in place of the royal purple, etc., *as far as* she is clothed in purple or in scarlet, when in the triumph of the glorious martyrs [0236D] she glories.

VERS. 19.-- *And they struck,* etc. The head of Christ is God. They therefore strike the head of Christ who deny him to be God. And they who defend their error by the authority of Scripture (because writing is wont to be made with a reed) strike his head as it were with a reed. They spit in his face who spurn the presence of his grace with execrable words conceived out of the inward madness of a blind mind, and deny that he came in the flesh.

*They adored him.* As though he had falsely called himself God. But today (which is of a graver madness) certain men adore him with sure faith as true God, yet by their perverse deeds forthwith despise his words as though they were fables, [0237A] and set the promises of his kingdom after the enticements of things temporal.

*And they lead him out. [n: (HIER.)]* Here Abel is led out into the field by his brother to be slain. Here is Isaac, etc., *as far as* here is Jonas, cast out from the wood of the ship and into the sea and into the belly of the whale for three days.

VERS. 20.-- *That they might crucify him. [n: (HIER.)]* What is the very shape of the cross but the form of the four-square world? The east shines from the power, the right hand holds the north, the south stands at the left, the west is made firm beneath the feet. Whence the Apostle: *That we may know what is the breadth, the length, the height and the depth [n: (Ephes. III)]*. Birds fly to the upper air in the form of a cross, a man adores, and swims, in the form of a cross, a ship is driven through the seas by a yard-arm made like to a cross. The letter Tau shows the sign of salvation and of the cross [0237B].

VERS. 21.-- *And they forced. [n: (BEDA.)]* The Lord himself first bore his own cross, as John says: afterwards this Simon, of whom the others also speak, and this in an order of mystery altogether fitting. *For Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps [n: (Joan. XIX; I Petr. II)]*.

[n: (HIER.)] Simon, who bears the cross under compulsion, is he who labours for human praise. Men force him to this labour whom the fear or the love of God does not force.

*The father of Alexander.* This Simon seems to have been of great repute, since his sons also are marked out by name as being known to all.

[n: (HIER.)] Some are called to mind through the merits of their fathers, [0237C] others through the merits of their sons. But this Simon, etc., *as far as* whence: by Jeremias it is said to Judea: *A plentiful olive tree, fair, fruitful, goodly, the Lord called thy name.*

VERS. 22.-- *The place of Calvary. [n: (HIER.)]* The Jews hand down that in this place of the mountain the ram was offered for Isaac [n: (Gen. XXII)], that there Christ might be made bald, that is, might be severed from his own flesh, namely from carnal Judea.

[n: (BEDA.)] Outside the gate the heads of the condemned were struck off, and the places of the beheaded are called calvaries. Therefore the Lord was crucified there, that where was the threshing-floor of the condemned, there the standards of the martyrs might be raised up. And because for us was made the curse of the cross, and he was both scourged and crucified for the salvation of all, he willed to be crucified as one guilty among the guilty.

[0237D]VERS. 23.-- *And they gave. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthew, *mingled with gall [n: (Matth. XXVII)]*, which is the same thing. For he put gall for bitterness. For wine mingled with myrrh is most bitter; although it may be that they made the wine most bitter with both gall and myrrh.

*[n: (HIER.)] And they gave,* etc. By this vinegar the juice of the deadly apple is wiped away. *And he took it not.* That for which he suffers. Whence of him: *That which I took not away, I then paid [n: (Psal. LXVIII)]*.

*And he took it not.* Matthew: *And when he had tasted, he would not drink.* Matthew shows that for us he tasted the bitterness of death, but on the third day rose again.

VERS. 24.-- *And crucifying him. [n: (HIER.)]* Here [0238A] salvation is fastened upon a tree. First death was fastened upon a tree. The first tree was of the knowledge of good and evil; the second is for us a tree of good only, and of life. The stretching out of the first hand to the tree laid hold on death; the stretching out of the second found the life that had perished. By this wood are we carried over the billowy sea to the land of the living.

*His garments. [n: (BEDA.)]* The garment of Christ, divided into four according to the number of the soldiers, signifies the Church distributed equally, that is, harmoniously, through the four quarters of the world.

[n: (HIER.)] The garments of the Lord are the commandments with which his body is covered, which is the Church, because they are divided among the soldiers of the Gentiles, so that there are four orders while the faith is one, that is, the married, the widowed, [0238B] the prelates, the set apart. They cast lots for the undivided tunic, which is peace and truth in all things, after the manner of a royal mantle or of a ring. *Casting lots. [n: (ID.)]* Upon the tunic, namely, which was without seam. Here the things allotted, etc., *as far as* and the lot comes or falls by the judgment of God alone.

VERS. 25.-- *Now it was the third hour. [n: (HIER.)]* This Mark has properly, for at the sixth hour darkness overspread the earth, so that none could move his head. For from the thirtieth, etc., *as far as* who are rather to be said to have crucified him, though they strive to dissemble it, than the soldiers, who according to their office obeyed their captain.

VERS. 26.-- *And there was a title. [n: (BEDA.)]* The title shows that not even by killing him could they bring it about that [0238C] he should not be their king; whence: *But I am appointed king by him,* etc. For he is fittingly at once king and priest, since he offered to the Father the excellent victim of his own flesh upon the altar of the cross, and held forth the dignity of a king by the title, that he might make known to all that through the gibbet of the cross he had not lost, but had confirmed, his empire.

VERS. 27.-- *And with him they crucify. [n: (BEDA.)]* As the Apostle says: *Our old man is crucified together with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, that sin may no more have dominion over us.* [var: Vulg. Rom. 6:6 *vetus homo noster simul crucifixus est, ut destruatur corpus peccati, et ultra non serviamus peccato*, "and that we may serve sin no longer"] So long therefore as our works act, that the body of sin may be emptied out, so long, etc., *as far as* whence the Apostle: *That, being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, the height and the depth [n: (Ephes. III)]*. *Two thieves.* [0238D] [n: (ID.)] The thieves who were crucified with the Lord signify those who, by faith and confession of Christ, or by the struggle of their own martyrdom, undergo any strict continence whatsoever. And they who do this for eternal glory are signified by the merit and the faith of the thief on the right. But whoever does it for human glory or with any less worthy intention imitates the mind and the deeds of the thief on the left.

[n: (HIER.)] Truth, reckoned among the wicked, leaves the one on the left and takes up the other on the right; so will he do in the day of judgment, out of a like crime they obtain unlike ways. The one goes before Peter into paradise, the other before Judas into hell. A short confession purchases a long life, and a blasphemy that has an end is punished with an eternal penalty. Here the colt of Juda is bound to [0239A] the vine, ἀναβόλαιον, that is, the cloak is dyed in the blood of the grape, here the kids tear the vineyard.

VERS. 29.-- *Wagging their heads. [n: (HIER.)]* The death of the wicked is sent forth when the bonds of hell are stirred up even to the neck, which is the neck of the human race.

VERS. 31.-- *He saved others. [n: (HIER.)]* Even unwilling they confess that he made others safe, and they condemn themselves by their own sentence, because he made others safe and could have saved himself if he would.

VERS. 32.-- *Let him now come down.* It is more to rise from the sepulchre, and yet they did not believe. *These all have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together [n: (Psal. XIII)]*.

*And they that were with him. [n: (BEDA.)]* According to Luke [n: (Luc. XXIII)] one thief blasphemed, saying: *If thou be [0239B] Christ, save thyself and us.* The other, etc., *as far as* they who seek heavenly things without doubt attain to them, Christ mediating and having mercy.

VERS. 33.-- *And when the sixth hour was come. [n: (BEDA.)]* It is to be noted that at the sixth hour, that is, when the sun was about to withdraw from the centre of the world, he was crucified, and that at daybreak, at the rising of the sun, he rose again, etc., *as far as* and at what hour the first Adam by sinning brought death into the world, at that same hour the second Adam by dying should destroy death.

*Darkness. [n: (HIER.)]* Here is Noe made drunk and stripped, covered by heaven and earth with a drunkard's cloak, and mocked by man, here blood dripped from the wood.

## CHAPTER XV. (cont.)

VERS. 35.-- *And some,* etc. Not all. Perhaps the Roman soldiers, not understanding the property of the Hebrew tongue, from that which is said Eloi, thought [0239C] that Elias was being called upon by him. Or the Jews, perverting the Lord's words in their accustomed speech, defamed him of weakness, in that he was calling for the help of Elias.

VERS. 36.-- *And running,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] John says more fully: *Afterwards Jesus, knowing,* etc. As if: This you have done the less, give what you are. For they were, etc., *as far as* whereof: *The Lord planted the vine Soreth: and how art thou turned into the bitterness of a strange vine: and I looked that thou shouldst bring forth grapes, and thou hast brought forth thorns [n: (Isa. V)]*.

VERS. 37.-- *But Jesus,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Luke discloses what he said: *Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and saying this he expired [n: (Luc. XXIII)]*. But that which John says: *When he had taken the vinegar, he said: It is consummated: and bowing his head he delivered up [0239D] the spirit [n: (Joan. XIX)]*. Between this which he says: *It is consummated,* and that: *bowing his head he sent forth the spirit,* there was sent forth that great voice which John passes over in silence, and the rest record: *Into thy hands,* etc.

[n: (HIER.)] For, the flesh being made weak, the divine power straightway prevailed, which says: *Open ye to me the gates of justice [n: (Psal. CXVII)]*, etc. But we who are of the earth die with no voice, or with one; for he expired with a lifted-up voice who came down from heaven.

VERS. 38.-- *And the veil of the temple.* That the ark of the testament and all the mysteries of the law which were covered may appear, and may pass over to the Gentiles. Before it was said: *God is known in Judea, in Israel his name is great [n: (Psal. LXXV)]*; but now: *Be thou exalted above the heavens, [0240A] O God [n: (Ibid. LVI)]*, *and in all,* etc.; and in the Gospel before: *Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles [n: (Matth. X)]*.; and after the passion: *Go ye, and teach all nations [n: (Ibid. XXVIII)]*.

VERS. 39.-- *And seeing,* etc. It is shown why the centurion wonders, because he saw that he had so expired, that is, had sent forth his spirit. For no one has the power of sending forth his spirit, save the creator of souls.

*Truly,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Note that the centurion before the cross, in the very scandal of the passion, confesses him truly the Son of God: and Arius, etc., *as far as* and, the Synagogue keeping silence, he affirms him truly the Son of God.

VERS. 40.-- *And there were. [n: (ID.)]* As the female sex is not shut out from salvation through Mary the Virgin: so it is not driven back from the mystery of the cross, of knowledge [0240B] and of the resurrection, through the widow Mary Magdalen and the other mothers.

*Of James the less and of Joseph. [n: (BEDA.)]* By James the less he means James the son of Alpheus, who is also the brother of the Lord, in that he was the son of Mary the Lord's mother's sister. Of whom John: *Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother [n: (Joan. XIX)]*, etc. He seems to call her Cleophas's from her father or from her kindred.

VERS. 42.-- *And when it was now evening,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Παρασκευὴ in Greek, preparation in Latin. By this name the Jews dwelling among the Greeks called the sixth day of the week, because on it they prepared the things that were needful for the sabbath, according as, etc., *as far as* until, the eighth age coming, the bodies themselves also, by the resurrection [0240C] glorified, may together with the souls receive the incorruption of the eternal inheritance.

VERS. 43.-- *Joseph came. [n: (HIER.)]* Joseph came in the evening of the parasceve from Arimathia, which is interpreted *laying down,* to lay down the body of Christ, etc., *as far as* the elect, who are the stars of the sea, looking on from afar, when, if it can be done, even the elect shall be scandalized.

VERS. 46.-- *And Joseph,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] From the simple burial of the Lord the ambition of the rich is condemned, who not even in their tombs, etc., *as far as* celebrates with earthly linen, as the body of the Lord was buried in a clean linen cloth: so was it decreed by pope Sylvester.

*Which was hewn out. [n: (BEDA.)]* It is said that the Lord's monument was a round house hewn out of the underlying rock, of such a height that a man standing upright [0240D] can scarcely reach the top with his hand stretched out. And it has an entrance, etc., *as far as* but the colour of the monument and of the tomb is said to be mingled of white and red.

VERS. 47.-- *And Mary,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Luke says: *That all his acquaintance stood afar off, and the women that had followed him [n: (Luc. XXIII)]*. But when the others, his body being laid down, had returned to their own, the women alone, etc., *as far as* and they weigh carefully, with pious curiosity, whether haply they may be able to imitate him, and in what order his passion is to be embraced.

## CHAPTER XVI.

VERS. 1.-- *And when the sabbath was past. [n: (BEDA.)]* Luke says that returning from the monument they prepared spices and ointments, and on the sabbath they rested, because it had been commanded [0241A] that the silence of the sabbath, etc., *as far as* with face enlightened, the darkness of vices being shaken off, to offer to the Lord the odour of good works and the sweetness of prayers.

[n: (HIER.)] Now with fragrant spices they run with the bride and the young maidens, after her we sprinkle the book, that is, the couch, etc., *as far as* and the Lord rising again in it with triumph and saying: *This is the day which the Lord hath made,* etc. [n: (PSAL. CXVII)].

VERS. 2.-- *And very early. [n: (HIER.)]* Which another calls the dawning. The dawning is between the darkness of the night and the brightness of the day, in which salvation came, to be made known in the Church after the manner of the sun, which rising sends the rosy dawn before it, so that so great a splendour may be seen by eyes made ready, when the time of the Lord's resurrection shone forth, that then the whole church of holy [0241B] women might sing the praises of Christ, when he bestowed life and poured in the light of belief.

VERS. 3.-- *And they said one to another. [n: (HIER.)]* The eagles are gathered to the body, the martyrs and the apostles see the stone rolled away, which is the law of death, as if he should say: *Where is, O death, thy sting [n: (I Cor. XV)]*?

VERS. 4.-- *The stone rolled back. [n: (BEDA.)]* Matthew says: how was the stone rolled away by the angel? But allegorically, the rolling away of the stone signifies the resurrection of the mysteries of Christ, which had been covered by the veil of the letter of the law. For the law was written on stone, and when its covering was taken away the glory of the resurrection was shown forth, and the abolition of the ancient death, and the everlasting life that is to be hoped for by us began to be preached throughout the whole world.

[0241C]VERS. 5.-- *A young man. [n: (HIER.)]* Not an old man, not an infant, but pleasant in age, as it is said: *Rejoice, young man, in thy youth [n: (Eccle. XI)]*, which here is not true while it is mingled with old age.

[n: (BEDA.)] The women who came with spices see angels, because those minds behold the citizens above which come to God with virtues through holy desires.

*Sitting on the right side. [n: (BEDA.)]* Toward the southern part of that place where he had been laid, etc., *as far as* entering into the monument they found two angels standing there.

[n: (GREG.)] By the left hand is the present life, by the right the life eternal, etc., *as far as* and restoring them to the number of the angels he repaired the losses of the heavenly country.

[0241D]VERS. 6.-- *Be not affrighted. [n: (GREG.)]* As if: Let them fear who love not the coming of the Lord or of the citizens above, who, weighed down by vices, despair of their fellowship. But you, why do you fear, who see your own fellow-citizens? Whence Matthew, describing the angel's appearing, says: *His countenance was as lightning, and his garments as snow [n: (Matt. XXVIII)]*.

*Jesus.* Salvation. But because many were called by this name not substantially but by appellation, he determines it by the place, Nazarene, and adds the cause: *Crucified.* And he adds: *He is risen, he is not here.* By the presence of the flesh, who nevertheless is nowhere absent by the presence of his majesty. *Behold the place.* Mortality is shown to mortals for the giving of due thanks, [0242A] that we may understand what we are and have been, and may know what we shall be.

VERS. 7.-- *And to Peter. [n: (BEDA.)]* Peter is called by name, lest he despair because of his denial. For unless, etc., *as far as* that he who was to be the shepherd of the Church might learn in his own fault how he ought to have mercy on others.

*And to Peter. [n: (HIER.)]* He shows himself unworthy of discipleship when he thrice denies his master. But past sins do not hurt when they do not please.

*He goeth before you.* Well is it said of our Redeemer: for Galilee is interpreted a passing over accomplished. For he had already passed over from the passion to the resurrection, from death to life, from punishment to glory. And well is he seen by the disciples in Galilee after the resurrection, because the glory of his resurrection [0242B] we shall afterwards see with joy, if only we now pass over from vices to the height of the virtues. He therefore who is announced in the sepulchre is shown in the passing over; and he who is known in the mortification of the flesh is seen in the passing over of the mind.

[n: (BEDA.)] Note that Mark says: *He goeth before you into Galilee,* etc. Nor yet did he relate that he was seen there. But Matthew, etc., *as far as* as he shall be known in that eternity, whither he will also lead us through the form of a servant, that being free we may contemplate the form of the Lord.

VERS. 8.-- *They fled. [n: (HIER.)]* Of the life to come it is said: *Sorrow and mourning shall flee away.* The women before the resurrection of all imitate what they do afterwards, that is, what they are to do, they flee death and dread.

*And to no one. [n: (HIER.)]* Because they alone see the mystery of the resurrection [0242C] who have deserved it, whence, according to John: *But Peter rising up ran to the monument,* that he might see what he had heard.

VERS. 9.-- *But rising.* In the morning he rose, in the evening he was buried, that he might fulfil this: *In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness [n: (Psal. XXIX)]*. Buried therefore on the sixth day of the week, which is called the parasceve, about evening, through the following night and the sabbath day, laid in the monument with the night following, on the third day, that is, at first light on the first day of the week, he rose again. And fittingly he lay one day and two nights in the sepulchre, because he joined the light of his own single death to the darkness of our twofold death. For we were held in the death of the soul and of the spirit, whence he brought to us his own, that is, the death of the flesh, [0242D] and loosed our two: his single he set against our twofold, and dying he took away our twofold. *He appeared first to Mary Magdalen.* He is shown first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven demons: because harlots and publicans go before the Synagogue into the kingdom of God, as the thief went before the apostles. The apostles weep and mourn, because they have not yet seen, but soon they shall be comforted.

[n: (BEDA.)] In the beginning the woman was to the man the author of guilt, the man the executor of the error, etc., *as far as* that she might announce the resurrection to the evangelists and apostles themselves.

VERS. 11.-- *And they hearing. [n: (BEDA.)]* That the disciples are slow to believe the resurrection is not so much their weakness as our strength; for to them that doubted [0243A] the resurrection was shown by many proofs, by which we also are the more firmly established.

VERS. 12.-- *To two of them. [n: (BEDA.)]* This Luke has more openly [n: (Luc. XXIV)]: *Their eyes,* etc. Afterwards they knew him in the breaking of bread. And as Luke says: *Rising up the same hour they went back to Jerusalem,* etc.

*As they walked. [n: (HIER.)]* Faith labours here, leading the active life, there the contemplative, etc., *as far as* forgetful of his own flesh he asks in this life what after it we hope for in the life to come.

VERS. 14.-- *Last of all,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] On the fortieth day, when he was now about to depart from them into heaven, this to them especially, etc., *as far as: Going into the whole world, preach ye the Gospel.*

*The hardness of heart,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] That there may succeed a heart of flesh [0243B] full of charity: hence it is that the troops of the martyrs willingly seek the death of this world, because they know that for a temporal destruction they shall live for ever.

VERS. 15.-- *To every creature.* To every nation of the Gentiles. For before it had been said: *Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles [n: (Matth. X)]*: namely, that the preaching of the apostles, first driven back from Judea, might then be made a help to the Gentiles.

[n: (HIER.)] To the whole human race, which has something in common with every creature, with angels, with cattle, with trees, with stones, with fire and water, with hot and cold, with wet and dry, because man is called a lesser world.

VERS. 16.-- *He that believeth,* etc. Little ones believe through others, as from others they drew those things which are remitted to them in baptism, [0243C] their sins.

VERS. 17.-- *And signs,* etc. Is it then that if we work not signs [0244A] we do not believe? But these were necessary in the beginning, that faith might be nourished by miracles, but now that the faith of the Church is confirmed they are not necessary. *They shall cast out demons,* etc. This the Church does today spiritually, when through the grace of exorcism she lays her hand upon believers and drives out the malignant spirits. *They shall speak with new tongues.* This comes to pass while the faithful leave behind the worldly words of their former life, and sound forth holy mysteries, and extol the praises and the power of God as much as they are able.

VERS. 18.-- *If they shall drink any deadly thing,* etc. While they hear pestilent persuasions, and do not carry them through even to deeds, thereby it does them no hurt if they drink a deadly thing. *They shall lay hands upon the sick,* etc. While they strengthen their neighbours, confirmed in good work, by the example of good working, [0244B] they lay hands upon the sick, and they shall do well. These miracles are the greater by so much as they are spiritual; for by this souls are raised up, not bodies.

VERS. 19.-- *Into heaven. [n: (AUG.)]* Note that sometimes the heavens in the plural and sometimes heaven in the singular, etc., *as far as* where the belief of the faithful is instructed more by deeds than by words.

*And he sitteth on the right hand. [n: (BEDA.)]* And now judging all things, at the end of all he is to come as Judge. But Stephen saw him standing, because in the contest he had him as helper.

VERS. 20.-- *But they,* etc. [n: (BEDA.)] Note that by how much the later Mark began his Gospel, by so much, etc., *as far as* whereby the apostles sowed that same word of the Gospel [0244C] throughout the whole world.