title: De dignitate sacerdotii

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 145, coll. 491A–498A

source_text:
## ARGUMENTUM.

Hic totus in eo est, ut ostendat quae sit dignitas sacerdotis, quod officium, quanta sit ei, qui tam sublime munus sustineat, praestanda innocentia: et quam sit non modo crimen, sed etiam criminis suspicio fugienda. In principio autem, quod oblitus eram dicere, gratias agit eidem, quod multa munera ad se misisset.

[0491A]Domno A. Venerabili archiepiscopo, PETRUS peccator monachus plenissimae devotionis affectum.

Cum patriarchae Jacob filio suo Joseph dicat: « Benedictiones patris tui confortatae sunt benedictionibus patrum ejus [n: (Gen. XLIX)]; » ego congrue possum dicere: quia benedictiones patris mei, non patrum, sed ejusdem patris mei, sunt benedictionibus confortatae. Tot quippe benedictiones fuerunt, quas mihi liberalitas vestra direxit, ut una commendasset alteram, et sequentes eas, quae praecesserant, prout Scriptura loquitur, confortarent. Porro autem si David gratiarum promeruit actiones, cum de manubiis, quas Amalecitis abstulerat, senioribus Juda dona transmitteret, dicens: « Accipite benedictionem de praeda hostium Domini [n: (I Reg. XXX)]: » quanto [0491B] potiores ego gratias debeo, qui benedictiones accepi non cruentatas manibus hostium Domini, sed sanctificatas, atque depromptas e sanctuario Domini! Verum ut ab occasione corporalium munerum, ad spiritualium benedictionum se sermo dirigat sacramentum; cum apostolus hoc in magna felicitate constituat, quod dicit: « In hoc vocati estis ut benedictionem haereditate possideatis [n: (I Petr. III)]; » quanta vobis, hoc est, summis Ecclesiae sacerdotibus est dignitas praerogata, ut benedictionem non modo vobis exhibitam possidere, sed possitis etiam aliis tradere! Et non qualemcunque, sed etiam episcopalem, per quam scilicet, vestri juris est ordinare pontificem; et cum non parvi terroris sit atque formidinis esse vel inferioris ordinis sacerdotem, [0491C] nimirum ipsi quoque lege praecipitur, ut populi portet iniquitatem [n: (Num. XVIII)]; quam pavendum est ac tremefactis visceribus formidandum, omnibus nunc in ecclesiastica dignitate praecellere, quos aeque necesse est, et ante omnes in tremendi judicis examine respondere! Unde sollicite considerandum est, ut quem ad obtinendas ecclesiastici culminis infulas summi sacerdotii sublimitas elevat, celsitudo quoque laudabilis et arduae conversationis attollat; et sicut per acceptae dignitatis sublime fastigium caeteris eminet, sic eum prae caeteris vita supereminens, et spiritualium morum splendor exornet. Unde per Moysen dicitur: « Pontifex, id est, sacerdos maximus inter fratres suos, super cujus caput fusum est unctionis oleum, et cujus manus in sacerdotio [0491D] consecratae sunt, vestitusque est sanctis vestibus, caput suum non discooperiet, vestimenta non [0492A] scindet, et ad omnem mortuum non ingredietur omnino: super patre quoque suo, et matre non contaminabitur, neque egredietur de sanctis, ne polluat sanctuarium Domini, quia oleum sanctae unctionis Dei sui super eum est [n: (Levit. XXI)]. » Oleo quippe caput sacerdotis inungitur, cum mens ejus sancti Spiritus pinguedine saginatur. Cujus etiam manus idem oleum consecrat, cum bonae voluntatis studium, quod sacerdos versat in mente, et visibiliter ostendit in opere.

## DE DIGNITATE SACERDOTII.

## CAPUT PRIMUM. *Quid sit sacerdotem de sanctis egredi.*

Sancti plane sacerdotis est, et quae sancta sunt, cogitare; et quae mente conceperit, etiam in operibus evidenter exprimere: alioquin quid prodest [0492B] bonum aliquod cogitare, nisi solerter invigilet hoc ipsum et in operatione perficere?

Elaborandum est ergo sacerdoti, ut et caput illius consecratum sit per piae voluntatis intuitum, et manus ejus spiritualis olei sint charismate delibutae per evidens sanctae operationis indicium. Qui etiam vestitus sanctis vestibus dicitur, quia dignum est, ut sacerdos pietatis *497* atque justitiae semper induviis adornetur, sicut scriptum est: « Sacerdotes tui induant justitiam [n: (Psal. CXXXI)]. » Cui praecipitur, ut caput suum non discooperiat, id est, ut cor suum hujus mundi desideriis non expandat, sed occultum semper in adipiscendi regni coelestis intentione custodiat. Jubetur etiam vestimenta non scindere, videlicet, ut sic semper honestatis ac piae [0492C] conversationis veste contectus incedat; ne, quod absit, hanc perversi cujuslibet operis interpretatione disrumpat. Prohibetur insuper et ad mortuum ingredi; nimirum ut studeat a malis, quibus anima moritur, pedem caute subtrahere, seseque ab operibus mortuis pervigili sollicitudine custodire. De quibus dicit Apostolus: « Christus eripuit nos ab operibus mortuis ad serviendum Deo viventi [n: (Hebr. IX)]. » Subjungitur etiam, ut super patre et matre non contaminetur, id est, ut neque mundi negotiis, neque mortalis hujus vitae desiderio polluatur. Unde bene subjungitur, de sanctis non egredietur, ne polluat sanctuarium meum. De sanctis enim sacerdos egreditur, cum neglectis animarum curis per desideria terrena vagatur. De sanctis egreditur, cum [0492D] ecclesiastica disciplina postposita, transeuntium causarum negotiis immoderatius implicatur. Ubi [0493A] mox apte subjungitur: « Ne polluat sanctuarium meum. » Sanctuarium quippe polluitur, cum sacerdos quilibet per terrena desideria sparsus, causisque saecularibus dissolutus, sacrosanctis altaribus audacter assistere non veretur; cum videlicet fit, quod per prophetam dicitur: « Et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos [n: (Isa. XXIV)]. » Quamobrem ut Ecclesia, Christi in sua vigere munditia valeat, et obsceno male ministrantium contagio non sordescat, illic adhuc apte subjungitur: « Virginem ducet uxorem, non viduam, non repudiatam, et sordidam, atque meretricem non accipiet, sed puellam de populo suo, ne commisceat stirpem generis sui vulgo gentis suae; quia ego Dominus, qui sanctifico eum [n: (Levit. XXI)]. » Sacerdotis uxor vita ejus, et conversatio [0493B] non inconvenienter accipitur; quae scilicet esse virgo praecipitur, ubi ab immundi spiritus obsoleta luxuria, qui violator est animarum, immunis et incorrupta servetur. Non sit vidua, sed coelesti sponso felici sit foedere copulata. Repudiata quoque, ac sordida, vel etiam esse meretrix interdicitur, ne videlicet, si spurca libidinis, ac luxuriantium vitiorum contaminatione polluitur, ab eodem animarum sponso ferali divortio separetur. Huic sordidae uxori Apostolus libellum repudii dederat, cum dicebat: « Quae mihi fuerunt lucra, haec arbitratus sum propter Christum detrimenta, propter quem omnia detrimentum feci, et arbitror velut stercora [n: (Philip. III)]. » Ac si dicat: Uxorem illam sordidam ac meretricem, cui copulatus in Judaismo fueram, per divortium [0493C] desero, eamque repudii interveniente libello, tanquam stercus abjicio. Ex hujusmodi quippe sacerdotis uxore non tales liberi procreantur, qui Deo sacrificium offerant, sed potius qui severitatem, et ultionem divinae animadversionis incurrant. Hinc est, quod cum ad Osee prophetam divina voce dicatur: « Vade, sume tibi uxorem fornicationum, quia fornicans fornicabitur terra a Domino. » Ille, sicut Scriptura testatur, « abiit, et accepit Gomer, filiam *498* Debelaim; et concepit, et peperit filium. Et dixit Dominus ad Osee: Voca nomen ejus Jezrahel [n: (Osee I)]. » Quod utique nomen, quamvis prosperum significare videatur, in eo quod interpretatur *semen Dei;* hic tamen *vindictam Dei* et *furorem* sonat, cum protinus subinfertur: « Quoniam adhuc modicum, [0493D] et visitabo sanguinem Jezrahel super domum Jehu, et requiescere faciam regnum domum Israel, et in illa die conteram arcum Israel, in valle Jezrahel *(Ibid)*. » Quod autem hic per Jezrahel, non salus, sive prosperitas, sed Dei potius ira signatur, etiam in hoc innuitur, cum protinus subinfertur: « Concepit adhuc, et peperit filiam, et dixit Dominus: Voca nomen ejus: Absque misericordia, quia non addam ultra misereri domui Israel, sed oblivione obliviscar eorum. Cumque peperisset et tertiam, ait: Voca nomen ejus: Non populus meus; quia vos non populus meus; et ego non ero vester Deus. » In quibus utique nominibus filiorum fornicariae mulieris evidenter addiscimus, quia quisquis immundae vitae velut uxori [0494A] vir jungitur, ejusque male blandientis amplexibus oblectatur, nequit ex ea liberos, qui Deo placeant, gignere; quia nec potest ex amara radice dulcis fructus afferri: « Non enim potest arbor mala fructus bonos facere [n: (Matth. VI)]. » Unde cavendum est sacerdoti, ne sordidam, aut meretricem ducat uxorem, sed castae semper, atque pudicae conversationis exhibeat honestatem. Ex qua nimirum non spurios, sed legitimos valeat filios gignere, dum studet ingenuos bonorum operum fructus, divina largiente gratia, germinare. Necesse est ergo ut sacerdotalem sacerdos ducat uxorem, ex qua responsuram paterno generi procreet sobolem. Unde et illic congrue subditur: « Non commisceat stirpem generis sui vulgo gentis suae [n: (Levit. XXI)]. » Sacerdos etenim [0494B] generis sui stirpem vulgo suae gentis associat, cum vulgariter vivens a populo per clarioris vitae meritum non discordat: cum denique per latam et spatiosam viam mundanae conversationis incedit, seseque per morum spritiualium honestatem a turbis vulgaribus non secernit. Ut autem sacerdos dignam generi suo sobolem procreet, ipse quoque a patrum suorum, sanctorum videlicet praecedentium sacerdotum, vestigiis non aberret: ne, si ab eorum insigni prosapia ignobiliter vivendo degenerat, jus sacerdotalis officii, quo videlicet indigne fungebatur, amittat.

## CAPUT II. *Quod nobilitas sacerdotum sit vita sancta*

Hinc est, quod in libro Esdrae, cum praemissum [0494C] sit, de filiis sacerdotum filii Hobia, filii Accos, filii Berzellai, qui accepit de filiabus Berzellai Galaaditis uxorem, et vocatum est nomen eorum, protinus additur: « Ii quaesierunt scripturam genealogiae suae, et non invenerunt, et ejecti sunt de sacerdotio [n: (I Esdr. II)]. » Plane qui genealogiae suae scripturam non inveniunt, de sacerdotio repelluntur; quia qui se per ignobilitatem saecularis vitae ab ingenuo praecedentium patrum stemmate degenerasse considerant, dignum profecto est ut eos a sacerdotio *499* censurae canonicae vigor expellat. Nobilem ergo necesse est esse Ecclesiae sacerdotem, ut qui minister est Domini, erubescat se servum esse peccati. Ad quam nobilitatem nos ille provexit, de quo Apostolus ait: « Qui eripuit nos de potestate tenebrarum, [0494D] et transtulit in regnum filii dilectionis suae, servitutemque peccati illius a nobis cruor abstersit [n: (Coloss. I)]; » de quo per Joannem dicitur: « Qui dilexit nos, et lavit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo [n: (Apoc. I)]. » Hanc autem munditiam, ut sacerdos in se valeat prae caeteris possidere, stigma sanguinis Christi studeat in se signanter exprimere; sicut dicit Apostolus: « Ego stigmata Jesu semper in corpore meo porto [n: (Gal. VI)]. » Unde et in lege praeceptum est, ut sanguine arietis immolati, tangeretur extremum auriculae dexterae summi sacerdotis, similiter et manus dexterae, et pedis [n: (Levit. II)]. Ut hinc itaque se sermo celer expediat, in auricula sacerdos arietis immolati sanguinem portat, cum eum [0495A] passionis Christi mysterium inhianter audire delectat. Dexterae quoque ejus idem sanguis illinitur, cum id, quod studiosus auditor intelligit, efficaciter operatur: dexter etiam pes eodem cruore signatur, cum vita sacerdotis adversus tentamenta diaboli passionis Christi recordatione munitur; ut sicut potestatem accepit, super serpentes, et scorpiones incedat: morsus tamen eorum, et invalidi furoris venena non metuat; sive certe, quia pes est corporis terminus, quid per hoc, nisi boni operis designatur extremum? Nimirum, ut omne bonum, quod incipimus, perseveranter etiam usque ad felicem terminum perducamus. Hinc est, quod Israelitico populo divina vox ait: « Si audieris, inquit, vocem Domini Dei tui, ut facias atque custodias mandata [0495B] ejus, faciet te Dominus Deus tuus excelsiorem cunctis gentibus [n: (Deut. XX)]. » In quibus utique verbis patenter exprimitur, quod figuratur in membris: « Si audieris, inquit, vocem Domini Dei tui, » ecce sanguis arietis immolati rubet in aure sacerdotis. Quod vero sequitur, « ut facias, » ecce manus operantis. Quod autem postremo subjungitur, « atque custodias mandata ejus, » ecce perseverantia boni operis. Nihil enim prodest cuiquam bonum opus incipere, nisi studeat etiam usque, dum perficiat, custodire.

Et notandum, quod dextera tantum auricula, manus et pes sacerdotis illo sanguine liniri praecipitur; quo videlicet sic semper dexterae conversationis ac fidei rectitudinem in omnibus teneat, ut exorbitantibus [0495C] a via vestigiis, anfractus sinistrae devius non incurrat. Sive certe sic semper Dominicae passionis sacramentum pro dextro teneat, ut tanquam sinistra prorsus ac vilia cuncta mundi hujus blandimenta contemnat. Enimvero quia sacerdos dux, et antesignanus est exercitus Domini, his titulorum insignibus jubetur adornatus incedere, seseque sequentibus ecclesiasticae militiae cuneis sanguinis et crucis Christi debeat vexilla praeferre. Hoc figurabat Zacharias propheta cum diceret: « In die illa erit, quod super frenum equi est, sanctum Domino [n: (Zach. XIV)]. » Porro autem ante Salvatoris adventum quid genus humanum, nisi velut infrenis equus erat, quod ubique per voluptatum suarum campos libertas *500* infrunita raptabat? Sed ori ejus frenum Redemptor [0495D] noster adhibuit, cum sanctum Evangelium, quo videlicet omnia petulantis lasciviae vitia compescuntur, objecit. Super hoc autem frenum sanctum Domini, hoc est, crux ponitur, quia cuncta sancti Evangelii praecepta crucem spirant et, ut crux post Christum portetur, invitant.

## CAPUT III. *Quod sacerdoti vel minima criminis suspicio sit fugienda.*

Id ipsum signabat et lamina illa aurea, quam summus sacerdos in gloriam et decorem gerebat in capite, cui videlicet nomen Domini tetragrammaton erat inscriptum [n: (Exod. XXVIII)]. Sicut enim quatuor illic erant litterae, ita nihilominus quatuor sunt [0496A] crucis cornua quadrifidi orbis partes amplectentia. Hanc sacerdos portabat in gloriam et decorem; quoniam et Apostolus dicit: « Mihi autem absit gloriari nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi [n: (Gal. VI)]. » Portet ergo laminam auream sacerdos in capite, ut crucem Christi jugiter verset in mente. Sanctum quoque Domini freno equi sui consequenter adhibeat, ut carnem suam cum vitiis et concupiscentiis crucifigat. Tunc enim sacerdos et laminam auream capiti, et sanctum Domini freno adhibet equi; cum ad crucem Christi mentis intuitum dirigit, et corpus suum velut ferocem equum, ab omni lascivientium vitiorum libertate compescit. Propter hoc sane geminum crucis portandae mysterium scriptum est, quoniam et Elias [n: (IV Reg. II)], et Joannes Baptista [0496B] zonas pelliceas habebant circa lumbos suos [n: (Matth. III)]. De Salvatore vero nostro Joannes in Apocalypsi dicit: « Quoniam habebat zonam auream circa mamillas suas [n: (Apoc. I)]. » Constat autem, quia inter utramque mamillam cor hominis constituitur. Unde sponsa dicit in Canticis: « Dilectus meus inter ubera mea commorabitur [n: (Cant. I)]; » hoc est in corde meo jugiter requiescet. Quid est ergo pelliceis zonis, quae videlicet ex mortuis animalibus fiunt, lumbos, ubi libido permaxime viget, accingere; nisi omnes carnalium passionum illicitos motus ac fomites per afflictionem corporis undique refrenare? Et quid est circa mamillas auream habere zonam; nisi et adversus ingruentium cogitationum importuna phantasmata, sollicita semper invigilare custodia? Lumbos ergo pellicea [0496C] zona praecingimus, cum carnis lasciviam per inediae continentiam coercemus. Auream vero zonam circa mamillas habemus, cum adversus infestantium cogitationum impetus infoederabili certamine dimicamus. Tunc itaque fiet quod illic sequitur; mox enim ut sanctum Domini super frenum equi futurum propheta praemisit, praesto subjunxit: « Et erunt lebetes in domo Domini, quasi phialae coram altari, et erit omnis lebes in Hierusalem, et in Juda sanctificatus Domino exercituum [n: (Zach. XIV)]. » Lebetes plane in phialas verti; et zonam auream circa mamillas haberi praecipiebat Dominus in Evangelio, cum dicebat: « Cavete ne graventur corda vestra in crapula et ebrietate, et curis hujus saeculi [n: (Luc. XXI)]: » in crapula scilicet, et ebrietate lebetes; in curis hujus saeculi [0496D] *501* zonam habendam circa mamillas intellige. Lebetes plane illorum erant pectora, qui suspirabant pisces Aegypti, qui nauseantes manna, esuriebant pepones, inhiabant caepas et allia. An lebetes non erant, qui ferventes clamabant, quia « sedebamus super ollas carnium? » [n: (Num. XI.)] Illa quippe corda lebetes sunt, in quibus edacitas regnat, et per cupiditatis aestum excoquuntur edulia et copia diversa ciborum. Sed hi lebetes convertuntur in phialas, et sunt coram altari, ac sanctificati Domino, cum Sanctum Domini equis freno superponitur, cum denique zona aurea mamillis interioribus adhibetur. Tunc nimirum lebetes et ollae carnium convertuntur in phialas aureas, videlicet plenas odoramentorum, [0497A] quae sunt orationes sanctorum [n: (Apoc. V)]. Et istae ponuntur coram altari phialae quae prius dum lebetes essent, potius versabantur in nidore culinae.

*502* Tunc autem mens sacerdotis est phiala aurea, atque odoramentis spiritualium aromatum plena, cum orationibus ac piis operibus est vigilanter intenta. Et haec phiala coram altari esse dicitur, quia omne, quod cogitat, Deo sacrarium offerre non cessat. Et tunc lebes iste sanctificatus est Domino, atque ideo consecrationis gratiam, quam ipse intus [0498A] ex munere summi largitoris accepit, merito jam, e in alios adhibita manus impositione transfundit. Sed ego, quasi qui loquor, oblitus, dum sermonem diutius protraho, metam compendii epistolaris excedo. Jam igitur ista sufficiant, tantum ut qui a benedictione coeperam, verbum in benedictione concludam.

Dextera Dei, venerabilis pater, suis te benedictionibus repleat; et grege comitante commisso regnis coelestibus introducat.

*Sit nomen Domini benedictum.*

english:
## THE ARGUMENT.

He is here wholly taken up with showing what the dignity of a priest is, what his office, how great the innocence that must be furnished by one who sustains so lofty a charge; and how not only a crime, but even the suspicion of a crime, is to be fled. At the beginning, moreover — which I had forgotten to say — he gives thanks to the same man because he had sent him many gifts.

[0491A]To the lord A., the venerable archbishop, PETER, a sinner and a monk, offers the affection of fullest devotion.

Since the patriarch Jacob says to his son Joseph: « The blessings of thy father are strengthened by the blessings of his fathers [n: (Gen. XLIX)]; » I can fittingly say that the blessings of my father — not of his fathers, but of that same father of mine — have been strengthened by blessings. For so many were the blessings which your liberality directed to me, that one commended another, and those that followed strengthened those that had gone before, as Scripture says. But further, if David deserved thanksgivings when, out of the spoils he had taken from the Amalekites, he sent gifts to the elders of Judah, saying: « Receive a blessing from the plunder of the enemies of the Lord [n: (I Reg. XXX)]: » how much [0491B] greater thanks do I owe, who have received blessings not made bloody by the hands of the enemies of the Lord, but hallowed, and brought forth from the sanctuary of the Lord! But that the discourse may direct itself, from the occasion of bodily gifts, to the mystery of spiritual blessings: since the Apostle sets this among great happiness when he says: « Unto this you were called, that you may possess a blessing by inheritance [n: (I Petr. III)]; » how great is the dignity conferred beforehand upon you, that is, upon the highest priests of the Church, that you can not only possess the blessing shown to you, but can also hand it on to others! And not any sort of blessing whatever, but the episcopal blessing as well, by which, namely, it belongs to your right to ordain a bishop; and since it is a matter of no small terror and dread to be a priest even of the lower order, [0491C] and to him too it is assuredly enjoined by the law that he bear the iniquity of the people [n: (Num. XVIII)], how fearful a thing it is, and to be dreaded with trembling inwardly, now to excel all men in ecclesiastical dignity — men for whom it is equally necessary to answer, and before all others, at the examination of the dread judge! Whence it must be anxiously considered that he whom the sublimity of the highest priesthood raises up to obtain the fillets of the ecclesiastical summit should be lifted also by the height of a praiseworthy and arduous manner of life; and that, as he stands out above the rest through the lofty pinnacle of the dignity he has received, so a life surpassing the rest, and the splendor of spiritual character, may adorn him beyond the rest. Whence it is said through Moses: « The high priest, that is, the greatest priest among his brethren, upon whose head the oil of anointing has been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated in the priesthood, [0491D] and who is clothed with the holy vestments, shall not uncover his head, shall not [0492A] rend his garments, and shall not go in at all to any dead person: over his father too, and his mother, he shall not be defiled, nor shall he go out from the holy places, lest he pollute the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy anointing of his God is upon him [n: (Levit. XXI)]. » For the head of the priest is anointed with oil when his mind is fattened with the richness of the Holy Spirit. And the same oil consecrates his hands when the zeal of good will, which the priest turns over in his mind, he also visibly shows in his work.

## ON THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.

## CHAPTER ONE. *What it is for a priest to go out from the holy places.*

It plainly belongs to a holy priest both to think the things that are holy, and also to express plainly in his works what he has conceived in his mind: otherwise what does it profit [0492B] to think anything good, unless he skillfully keeps watch to bring this very thing to completion in action as well?

The priest must therefore labor that his head be consecrated through the regard of a devout will, and that his hands be anointed with the charism of spiritual oil through the plain evidence of holy work. He is also said to be clothed with holy vestments, because it is fitting that the priest be always adorned with the garments of devotion *497* and of justice, as it is written: « Let thy priests put on justice [n: (Psal. CXXXI)]. » He is commanded not to uncover his head, that is, not to spread his heart open to the desires of this world, but to keep it always hidden in the intention of gaining the heavenly kingdom. He is bidden also not to rend his garments — namely, that he walk always so covered with the vesture of honorable and devout [0492C] conduct that he never, which God forbid, tear it apart by the interpretation put upon any perverse deed. He is forbidden besides to go in to a dead man: namely, that he take care warily to withdraw his foot from the evils by which the soul dies, and to guard himself from dead works with ever-wakeful concern. Of which the Apostle says: « Christ has rescued us from dead works, to serve the living God [n: (Hebr. IX)]. » It is added also that he be not defiled over his father and mother, that is, that he be polluted neither by the affairs of the world nor by desire for this mortal life. Whence it is well added, he shall not go out from the holy places, lest he pollute my sanctuary. For a priest goes out from the holy places when, the care of souls neglected, he wanders about through earthly desires. He goes out from the holy places when, [0492D] ecclesiastical discipline set aside, he entangles himself too immoderately in the business of passing affairs. Where [0493A] there is at once fitly added: « Lest he pollute my sanctuary. » For the sanctuary is polluted when any priest, scattered abroad by earthly desires and dissipated by secular causes, does not fear boldly to stand at the most holy altars; when, namely, that comes to pass which is said through the prophet: « And it shall be, as the people, so the priest [n: (Isa. XXIV)]. » Wherefore, that the Church of Christ may be strong to flourish in her own cleanness, and may not grow filthy with the obscene contagion of those who minister ill, there is still fitly added in that place: « He shall take a virgin to wife, not a widow, not one put away; and a defiled woman and a harlot he shall not take, but a maiden of his own people, lest he mingle the stock of his own race with the common folk of his nation; for I am the Lord, who sanctify him [n: (Levit. XXI)]. » The priest's wife is not unfittingly taken to be his life and his manner of life [0493B]; which is commanded to be a virgin, in that it should be kept unharmed and uncorrupted from the worn-out wantonness of the unclean spirit, who is the violator of souls. Let her not be a widow, but joined to the heavenly bridegroom by a happy covenant. She is forbidden also to be one put away, or defiled, or even a harlot: namely, lest, if she is polluted by the filthy defilement of lust and of riotous vices, she be separated by a deadly divorce from that same bridegroom of souls. To this defiled wife the Apostle had given a bill of divorce when he said: « The things that were gains to me, these I have counted losses for Christ, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as dung [n: (Philip. III)]. » As if he were to say: That defiled and harlot wife, to whom I had been joined in Judaism, I forsake by divorce [0493C], and, a bill of repudiation intervening, I cast her off like dung. For from a priest's wife of this kind there are not begotten such children as may offer sacrifice to God, but rather such as incur the severity and vengeance of divine chastisement. Hence it is that, when it is said by the divine voice to the prophet Hosea: « Go, take to thyself a wife of fornications, because the land, committing fornication, shall commit fornication away from the Lord, » he, as Scripture testifies, « went, and took Gomer, the daughter *498* of Debelaim; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to Hosea: Call his name Jezrahel [n: (Osee I)]. » Which name, although it seems to signify something prosperous, in that it is interpreted *the seed of God,* here nevertheless sounds *the vengeance of God* and *fury,* since there is straightway subjoined: « For yet a little while, [0493D] and I will visit the blood of Jezrahel upon the house of Jehu, and I will make the kingdom, the house of Israel, to rest [sic: *requiescere*] [var: Vulg. *quiescere*, "cause to cease"], and in that day I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezrahel *(Ibid)*. » But that here by Jezrahel not salvation or prosperity, but rather the anger of God is signified, is intimated in this also, since there is straightway subjoined: « She conceived again, and bore a daughter, and the Lord said: Call her name, Without mercy, because I will no more add to have mercy on the house of Israel, but with forgetfulness I will forget them. And when she had borne a third also, he says: Call his name, Not my people; because you are not my people, and I will not be your God. » In which names of the sons of the fornicating woman we plainly learn that whoever is joined as a husband to an unclean life as to a wife [0494A], and takes delight in her ill-flattering embraces, cannot beget from her children who may please God; because neither can sweet fruit be brought forth from a bitter root: « For a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruits [n: (Matth. VI)]. » Whence the priest must beware of taking a defiled wife or a harlot, but must always display the honorableness of a chaste and modest manner of life. From her, assuredly, he may be able to beget not bastard but lawful sons, while he takes pains, by the bounty of divine grace, to bring forth the freeborn fruits of good works. It is necessary therefore that a priest take a priestly wife, from whom he may beget offspring that will answer to its father's stock. Whence there too it is fittingly added: « Let him not mingle the stock of his own race with the common folk of his nation [n: (Levit. XXI)]. » For the priest [0494B] joins the stock of his own race to the common folk of his nation when, living in a common way, he is not at variance with the people by the merit of a more shining life: when, in short, he walks along the broad and spacious way of worldly conduct, and does not separate himself from the vulgar crowds by the honorableness of [sic: *spritiualium*] character. But that a priest may beget offspring worthy of his race, let him too not stray from the footsteps of his fathers, that is, of the holy priests who went before: lest, if by living ignobly he degenerates from their distinguished lineage, he lose the right of the priestly office, which, plainly, he was discharging unworthily.

## CHAPTER II. *That the nobility of priests is a holy life*

Hence it is that in the book of Esdras, when it has first been set down [0494C] concerning the sons of the priests — the sons of Hobia, the sons of Accos, the sons of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai the Galaadite, and their name was called after them — there is straightway added: « These sought the writing of their genealogy, and found it not, and they were cast out from the priesthood [n: (I Esdr. II)]. » Plainly, those who do not find the writing of their genealogy are driven back from the priesthood; because when men consider that they have degenerated, through the ignobility of a secular life, from the freeborn lineage of the fathers who went before, it is surely fitting that the vigor of canonical censure expel them from the priesthood *499*. The priest of the Church must therefore be noble, so that he who is the minister of the Lord may blush to be the slave of sin. To which nobility he has advanced us of whom the Apostle says: « Who has rescued us from the power of darkness, [0494D] and has carried us over into the kingdom of the Son of his love, and whose blood has wiped away from us the slavery of sin [n: (Coloss. I)]; » of whom it is said through John: « Who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood [n: (Apoc. I)]. » But that the priest may be able to possess this cleanness in himself beyond the rest, let him take pains to express in himself, in a marked way, the brand of the blood of Christ; as the Apostle says: « I always bear the marks of Jesus in my body [n: (Gal. VI)]. » Whence in the law also it was commanded that with the blood of the sacrificed ram there be touched the tip of the right ear of the high priest, and likewise of the right hand and of the foot [n: (Levit. II)]. And so, that the discourse may quickly disengage itself from this point: the priest bears in his ear the blood of the sacrificed ram when it delights him [0495A] to hear with eager longing the mystery of Christ's passion. The same blood is smeared upon his right hand also when he effectually carries out what, as an earnest hearer, he understands. The right foot too is marked with the same gore when the priest's life is fortified against the temptations of the devil by the remembrance of Christ's passion; so that, as he has received the power, he may walk upon serpents and scorpions, and yet not fear their bites and the poisons of their feeble rage; or else surely, because the foot is the body's extremity, what is designated by this but the end of a good work? Namely, that every good which we begin we should also perseveringly carry through even to a happy end. Hence it is that the divine voice says to the people of Israel: « If thou shalt hear, he says, the voice of the Lord thy God, so as to do and to keep his commandments, [0495B] the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations [n: (Deut. XX)]. » In which words there is plainly expressed what is figured in the members: « If thou shalt hear, he says, the voice of the Lord thy God, » behold, the blood of the sacrificed ram grows red on the ear of the priest. But what follows, « so as to do, » behold the hand of one at work. And what is subjoined last, « and to keep his commandments, » behold the perseverance of good work. For it profits no one to begin a good work, unless he takes pains also to keep it until he brings it to completion.

And it is to be noted that only the right ear, hand, and foot of the priest are commanded to be smeared with that blood; whereby, namely, he should so always hold in all things the rightness of a right-hand manner of life and of faith, that he may not, with his steps straying [0495C] from the way, run into the wandering turns of the left. Or else surely that he should so always hold the mystery of the Lord's passion for the right hand, that he may despise all the allurements of this world as utterly left-handed and worthless. For indeed, because the priest is the leader and standard-bearer of the Lord's army, he is bidden to walk adorned with these badges of honor, and ought to carry before him the banners of the blood and of the cross of Christ for the squadrons of the ecclesiastical soldiery that follow. This the prophet Zacharias figured when he said: « In that day, that which is upon the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord [n: (Zach. XIV)]. » But further, before the coming of the Savior, what was the human race but like an unbridled horse, which unrestrained liberty *500* was snatching away everywhere through the fields of its own pleasures? But our Redeemer [0495D] applied a bridle to its mouth when he set before it the holy Gospel, by which, namely, all the vices of wanton licentiousness are curbed. And upon this bridle is placed the holy thing of the Lord, that is, the cross, because all the precepts of the holy Gospel breathe the cross, and invite that the cross be carried after Christ.

## CHAPTER III. *That even the least suspicion of a crime is to be fled by a priest.*

This same thing that golden plate also signified, which the high priest bore upon his head for glory and for beauty, on which, namely, the tetragrammaton name of the Lord was inscribed [n: (Exod. XXVIII)]. For as there were four letters there, so none the less are there four [0496A] horns of the cross, embracing the parts of the fourfold world. This the priest bore for glory and for beauty; since the Apostle also says: « But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ [n: (Gal. VI)]. » Let the priest therefore bear the golden plate upon his head, that he may continually turn the cross of Christ over in his mind. Let him likewise, as a consequence, apply the holy thing of the Lord to the bridle of his horse, that he may crucify his flesh with its vices and concupiscences. For then the priest applies both the golden plate to his head and the holy thing of the Lord to the bridle of his horse, when he directs the gaze of his mind to the cross of Christ, and restrains his body, like a fierce horse, from all liberty of wanton vices. Assuredly it is on account of this twofold mystery of bearing the cross that it is written that both Elias [n: (IV Reg. II)] and John the Baptist [0496B] had leathern girdles about their loins [n: (Matth. III)]. But of our Savior John says in the Apocalypse: « That he had a golden girdle about his breasts [n: (Apoc. I)]. » Now it is agreed that between the two breasts the heart of man is set. Whence the bride says in the Canticles: « My beloved shall abide between my breasts [n: (Cant. I)]; » that is, he shall continually rest in my heart. What then is it to gird the loins, where lust is most of all vigorous, with leathern girdles — which, namely, are made from dead animals — but to bridle on every side, through the affliction of the body, all the unlawful motions and kindlings of carnal passions? And what is it to have a golden girdle about the breasts, but to keep watch always with anxious guard against the troublesome phantasms of assaulting thoughts as well? We gird our loins, therefore, with the leathern [0496C] girdle when we check the wantonness of the flesh by the continence of fasting. But we have the golden girdle about our breasts when we fight with implacable struggle against the onslaught of harassing thoughts. And so then will come to pass what follows there; for as soon as the prophet had premised that the holy thing of the Lord would be upon the bridle of the horse, he at once subjoined: « And there shall be caldrons in the house of the Lord, like bowls before the altar, and every caldron in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be sanctified to the Lord of hosts [n: (Zach. XIV)]. » Plainly the Lord was commanding in the Gospel that caldrons be turned into bowls, and that a golden girdle be had about the breasts, when he said: « Take heed lest your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this world [n: (Luc. XXI)]: » in surfeiting, namely, and drunkenness understand the caldrons; in the cares of this world [0496D] *501* understand the girdle that is to be had about the breasts. Caldrons, plainly, were the breasts of those who sighed after the fish of Egypt, who, sick of the manna, hungered for melons and gaped after onions and garlic. Or were they not caldrons, who cried out, seething, that « we were sitting over pots of flesh? » [n: (Num. XI.)] For those hearts are caldrons in which gluttony reigns, and in which, through the boiling heat of greed, dainties and a varied abundance of foods are cooked down. But these caldrons are turned into bowls, and are before the altar, and sanctified to the Lord, when the Holy Thing of the Lord is set upon the bridle for horses, when, in short, the golden girdle is applied to the inner breasts. Then assuredly the caldrons and the pots of flesh are turned into golden bowls, namely full of sweet odors, [0497A] which are the prayers of the saints [n: (Apoc. V)]. And these are set as bowls before the altar which before, while they were caldrons, were rather busied in the reek of the kitchen.

*502* But then the mind of the priest is a golden bowl, and full of the sweet odors of spiritual perfumes, when it is watchfully intent upon prayers and devout works. And this bowl is said to be before the altar, because it does not cease to offer to God, as a sacred shrine, everything that it thinks. And then that caldron is sanctified to the Lord, and therefore the grace of consecration, which he himself received inwardly [0498A] from the gift of the highest bestower, he now deservedly, [sic: *e*], pours over into others by the imposition of hands applied to them. But I, forgetful as it were of who it is that speaks, while I draw out the discourse too long, exceed the bound of epistolary brevity. Let these things therefore now suffice, only that I, who had begun from a blessing, may conclude my word in a blessing.

May the right hand of God, venerable father, fill thee with its blessings; and, with the flock committed to thee accompanying thee, bring thee into the heavenly kingdoms.

*Blessed be the name of the Lord.*


site: migne

title: De picturis principum apostolorum

author: Peter Damian

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 145, coll. 589B–596B

source_text:
## ARGUMENTUM.

Causam affert cur Paulus apostolus ad dexteram, Petrus vero ad sinistram in picturis exprimantur, idcirco scilicet, quia Paulus esset ex tribu Benjamin, qui Latine, *filius dexterae* interpretatur; probatque hujusmodi nomen aptissime illi convenire. Multas quoque ejusdem Pauli praerogativas adducit. Tum demum exponit cur Hierosolymitana Ecclesia, cum in ea Christus passus fuerit, non sit caput omnium Ecclesiarum.

[0589B]Domno DESIDERIO sanctae conversionis [conversationis] abbati, religiosoque conventui, PETRUS peccator monachus in Domino servitutem.

Ut domnum Martinum ad vos iter arripere didici, notario protinus, ut exciperet, imperavi. Sed quoniam per totum quadragesimalem circulum tecum, venerabilis pater, familiariter degens, quaeque conferenda videbantur, viva voce contulimus, et quae communicanda erant, sive tractanda, saepius intimavimus; jam quid novi ad te scribi valeat, non invenio, dum quidquid necessarium esse poterat, frequentius iteratum alterutra confabulatione perpendo. Quid igitur faciam? Nunquid qui loqui coeperam, deficiente materia, stolide conticescam?

## DE PICTURIS PRINCIPUM APOSTLORUM.

## CAPUT PRIMUM. *Cur Petrus ad sinistram, et Paulus ad dextram in picturis collocentur.*

[0589C]

Sed dum armatam penna, atque ad scribendum ex more libratam manum scriptoris aspicio, materia mihi dulcis offertur, de qua ad disputandum mea mens alacriter provocetur. Per istam siquidem notarii dextram repente mihi illud occurrit, quod ipse a me, quaestione proposita, saepenumero requisisti: Cur videlicet in imaginibus picturarum per universas adjacentes Romae provincias, Petrus qui primus est, ad sinistram; coapostolatus autem ejus Paulus constituitur ad dextram; cum juxta vulgarem sensum hoc rerum ordo deposcat, ut Petrus, qui senatus apostolici princeps est, dextrum Domini latus; [0589D] Paulus vero, qui junior est, sinistrum jure possideat? Sed durum est valde, ut opinemur, quia [0590B] tam egregium, tamque famosum apostolicae dispositionis ordinem inconsulte, atque inconsiderate devota Deo ac religiosa vetustas admiserit. Neque enim credendum est, ut Constantinus imperator, imo papa Silvester; atque post eos principes et sacerdotes in ecclesiasticae disciplinae littera pervigiles atque solertes, hunc ordinem tantorum principum negligendum ducerent, si correctione dignum aliquatenus aestimarent. Ne ergo sanctae hujus historiae ordo inordinatus appareat, quod nobis videtur, sanctitati vestrae breviter innotescat.

Paulum plane de tribu Benjamin exstitisse quis ambigit? Benjamin autem Hebraice, Latine *filius dexterae* nuncupatur. Quid ergo mirum est, si ad dexteram constituitur, qui vocabulum dexterae ex [0590C] paterno jure sortitur? Enim vero, ut vetus illa beato Paulo liquido congruere videatur historia, non sine causa Scriptura dicit: « Quia egrediente anima Rachel prae dolore, et imminente jam morte, vocavit nomen filii sui, Benoni, id est *filius doloris mei [n: (Gen. XXXV)]*. » Pater vero appellavit eum Benjamin, id est, *filius dexterae.* Per Rachel namque, quae ovis, vel visum principium dicitur, Ecclesia non immerito designatur. Quae nimirum et ad instar ovis innocenter vivit, et per studium contemplationis ad videndam Redemptoris suis speciem medullitus inardescit. Qui de se requirentibus Judaeis ait: « Ego principium, qui et loquor vobis [n: (Joan. VIII)]. » Benjamin igitur nascente, Rachel mater emoritur; dum appropinquante ad lucem novae regenerationis Saulo, persecutionibus [0590D] Ecclesia per eum crudeliter impugnatur, Sicut Lucas in Actibus apostolorum: « Saulus, inquit, [0591A] devastabat Ecclesiam, per domos intrans, et trahens viros, et mulieres tradebat *607* in custodiam [n: (Act. VIII)]. » Congrue itaque Rachel Benoni, id est, *filium doloris mei* vocat: quem Jacob Benjamin, id est, *filium dexterae* nuncupat; quia Paulus, qui matris Ecclesiae dolor exstitit, qui eam quodammodo, dum nasceretur, impugnando peremit, a Deo Patre *filius dexterae* est vocatus, cum per eum divina potentia adversus gentes quasi per fortem suam dexteram dimicavit, verborum jacula valenter intorsit, salubres cordium plagas intulit, et per eum devictis atque prostratis hostibus, cum gloria triumphavit. Hinc est quod idem Paulus ad Galatas ait: « Cum autem complacuit ei, qui me segregavit ex utero matris meae, et vocavit per gratiam suam, ut revelaret [0591B] filium suum in me, et evangelizarem eum in gentibus, continuo non acquievi carni et sanguini [n: (Gal. II)]. » Non ergo immerito *filius dexterae* Paulus vocatur, per quem omnis gentium multitudo, quae ad dexteram Dei ponenda est, ad fidei sacramenta colligitur Accinctus siquidem verbo Dei, quod est gladius Spiritus [n: (Ephes. VI)], hodieque usque ad finem saeculi adversus omnium vitiorum, iniquorumque spirituum rabiem dimicat, et tanquam fulminea Christi manus, vibratis coelestis eloquii gladiis, rigidas resistentium Deo cervices obtruncat. Recte igitur Paulus dextri juxta Redemptorem lateris obtinet dignitatem, qui divinae dexterae non ambigitur exercere virtutem. An non quodammodo dextera Dei adversus diabolum dimicantem se fatetur esse, cum dicit: « Ego autem [0591C] sic curro, non quasi in incertum: sic pugno, non quasi aerem verberans? » [n: (I Cor. IX.)]

## CAPUT II. *Pauli praerogativae enarrantur.*

Paulus ad coelum tertium raptus ascendit [n: (II Cor. XII)], ubi etiam arcana verba, quae hominibus loqui non licet, audivit. Quis autem nesciat, quia vita terrena dicit sinistram, coelestis autem significat dexteram, sicut sponsa dicit in Canticis: « Laeva ejus sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me? » [n: (Cant. II.)] Laeva namque esse sub capite dicitur, quia praesens vita apud electum quemlibet sub mente, quae procul dubio cogitationum caput est, despecta calcatur. Dextera vero Dei sponsa amplexari perhibetur, quia dum fidelis et sancta anima [0591D] aestuanti sui Creatoris igne succenditur, velut divinis quibusdam amplexibus undique confovetur. Qui ergo carnis adhuc fragilitate circumdatus, ad coelestem vitam ascendisse cognoscitur, recte *filius dexterae* nuncupatur. Hunc dexterae Filium Deus omnipotens tanquam propriam dexteram per totam mundi latitudinem semper extendit, et per eam adoptionis populos ad fidei unitatem colligit. Hanc dexteram summus agricola per Ecclesiae suae aream versat, et per eam spirituales segetes ventilat, ut purgata mystici frumenti grana horreis coelestibus introducat. Hanc dexteram suam Deus huc illucque procul extendit, dum ad colligendas in fidei sacramento gentes Paulus toto terrarum orbe discurrit. Ipse quippe quam valida [0592A] charitate flagrat, tam nimia ex locis ad loca se vagatione permutat. *608* Transire ad alia ex aliis appetit, quia ipsius eum, quem implet, stimulus charitatis impellit. Longe namque a Romanis positus scribit: « Memoriam vestri facio semper in orationibus meis, obsecrans, si quo modo tandem aliquando prosperum iter habeam in voluntate Dei veniendi ad vos. Desidero enim videre vos [n: (Rom. I)]. » Retentus Ephesi, Corinthiis scribit: « Ecce tertio hoc paratus sum venire ad vos [n: (II Cor. XXII)]. » Rursum Ephesi commorans, Galatis loquitur, dicens: « Vellem me esse apud vos modo, et mutare vocem meam [n: (Gal. IV)]. » Romae quoque custodia carceris clausus, quia ire per semetipsum ad Philippenses non permittitur, transmittere se discipulum pollicetur, dicens: [0592B] « Spero in Dominum Jesum, Timotheum cito me mittere ad vos; ut ego bono animo sim, cognitis quae circa vos sunt [n: (Philip. II)]. » Constrictus etiam vinculis atque Ephesi retentus, Colossensibus scribit: « Nam et si corpore absens sum, sed spiritu vobiscum sum [n: (Coloss. II)]. » Ecce cor apostolicum quanto fraterni amoris igne decoquitur, quanto ad desudandum pro salute gentium desiderio coarctatur! Hic corpore tenetur; illuc spiritu ducitur: et paterni amoris affectum praesentibus impendit, absentibus porrigit. Coram positis exhibet opera, audientibus exprimit vota. Efficaciter praesens eis, cum quibus non erat: nec tamen illis absens, cum quibus erat. Cujus amorem melius cognoscimus, si ejus adhuc ad Corinthios verba pensamus. Ait enim: « Veniam ad [0592C] vos cum Macedoniam pertransiero; nam Macedoniam pertransibo, apud vos autem forsitan manebo, vel etiam hiemabo [n: (I Cor. XVI)]. » Quid est, quod tam anxie per tot loca partitur, nisi quod circa omnes una charitate constringitur? Charitas enim, quae divisa unire consuevit, unum cor Pauli dividi per multa compellit. Quod tamen tanto ardentius in Deo colligit, quanto latius per sancta desideria spargit. Praedicando igitur Paulus vult simul omnia dicere, amando vult simul omnes videre; quia et in carne permanendo vult omnibus vivere, et de carne transeundo per sacrificium fidei vult omnibus prodesse. Nec mirum si praedicator egregius in fraterna charitate ferventius aestuat, si prae cunctis mortalibus in eo copia verae dilectionis abundat; cum fons vitae [0592D] qui eum vas electionis appellat [n: (Act. IX)], in eum se decreverit abundanter influere, eumque dignatus sit sacramentorum suorum fluentis incomparabiliter irrigare. Hinc est quod ait: « An experimentum quaeritis ejus qui in me loquitur Christus? » [n: (II Cor. XIII.)]

## CAPUT III. *Paulus prae caeteris omnibus privilegio admirabili est insignitus.*

Hoc plane Salvator mundi B. Paulo per singularis gratiae privilegium contulit, qui nulli mortalium post Incarnationis suae mysterium praerogavit. Nam postquam beata illa atque divina Redemptoris humanitas ad paternae majestatis est evecta [0593A] consessum, ut non jam hominibus corporaliter interesset, sed coeli potius virtutibus praesideret, non per magistrum, sed specialiter per se ipsum sic illum efficaciter *609* docuit, omniumque sibi gestorum suorum mysteria delegavit; ut non modo praecessorum suorum magisterio nullatenus indigeret, sed eos insuper omnis coelestis sapientiae profunditate praecelleret. Unde et ipse primus apostolorum Petrus ejus admiratur sapientiam, dicens: « Charissimus frater noster Paulus, secundum datam sibi sapientiam scripsit vobis; sicut et in omnibus epistolis, loquens in eis de his, in quibus sunt quaedam difficilia intellectu, quae indocti et instabiles depravant [n: (II Petr. III)]. » Quod autem in discendis evangelicae doctrinae mysteriis non magistrum quemlibet hominem, sed Deum [0593B] specialiter habuerit praeceptorem, testatur ipse, qui in principio Epistolae suae ad Galatas loquitur, dicens: « Paulus apostolus non ab hominibus, neque per hominem; sed per Jesum Christum et Deum Patrem, qui suscitavit eum a mortuis [n: (Gal. I)]. » Fons enim aeternae vitae velut immensus torrens totum se simul in vas suae electionis immersit, qui in caeteros apostolos per longa temporum intervalla, sapientiae suae fluenta profudit. Et paulo post: « Notum enim vobis facio, fratres, Evangelium quod evangelizatum est a me, quia non est secundum hominem; neque enim ego ab homine accepi illud, neque didici, sed per revelationem Domini nostri Jesu Christi [n: (Ibid.)]. » Quod ergo Petrum Dominus per multa argumenta adhuc mortalis edocuit, hoc [0593C] totum repente beato Paulo constitutus jam in gloria paternae majestatis exhibuit. Ac si doctor quispiam dum privatus est, discipulos doceat, postquam vero ad obtinenda regalis imperii sceptra conscendit, remotis clientium clastibus, unum inter multos egregium, quem nobilius instruat, elegit.

Ut ergo ad id unde coepit sermo recurrat, cum B. Petrus ad dexteram ponitur, primatus ejus, quem inter caeteros est sortitus apostolos, honoratur. Cum vero Paulus ejusdem dextri lateris occupat locum, in Benjamin, cujus est filius, mystice figurae redolet sacramentum. Quanquam et hoc non a mysterio vacet, quod B. Petrus Dominici lateris sinistram tenet. Per illum siquidem activa vita signatur. Et sicut contemplativa vita per dexteram, sic actualis exprimitur [0593D] per sinistram. Quod autem per B. Petrum praesens vita, hoc est activa, figuretur, in hoc praecipue demonstratur, quod sicut evangelica frequentissime testatur historia, et Petrus Dominum plus omnibus condiscipulis diligat [n: (Joan. XX)]; et Dominus non Petro, sed Joanni potius praerogativam specialis omnino dilectionis impendat [n: (Joan. XIII)]. Per Joannem quippe contemplativa, per Petrum vero, sicut dictum est, activa vita signatur. Quia sancti omnes in hac vita ad similitudinem Petri, Deus plus amant, et quasi minus amantur; dum duras propter eum laborum molestias perferunt; mortali tamen adhuc carne circumdati, ad amplexus ejus dulcedinem non pertingunt. Illi vero qui jam cum Deo sunt, in hoc [0594A] eum quodammodo minus amant, et magis amantur; dum et pro eo nullos laborum turbines sentiunt, et tamen intimae familiaritatis ejus oblectationibus perfruuntur. Non ergo mirum, si B. Petrus aliquando partem videatur tenere sinistram, qui *610* et activae vitae continet ex scripturarum auctoritate figuram.

## CAPUT IV. *Cur B. Paulus propriam non habeat cathedram.*

Unum vero in B. Paulo videtur, egregium, quia cum omnes apostoli distributi terrarum regionibus, proprias obtineant cathedras; iste, dum nullam specialiter teneat, videtur aliquatenus communiter omnibus praesidere. [n: ( Vide scholia ad calcem opusculi. )] Plane quia ipse toto terrarum orbe universalem [0594B] fundavit Ecclesiam, dignum est, ut sicut in omnibus fidei semen sparsit, sic etiam in omnibus jus teneat praesidentis. Dicit enim ad Corinthios: « Gratia Dei sum id quod sum; et gratia ejus in me vacua non fuit, sed abundantius illis omnibus laboravi; non ego autem, sed gratia Dei mecum [n: (I Cor. XV)]. » Ad Romanos autem: « Habeo, inquit, gloriam in Christo Jesu ad Deum, in obedientia gentium: verbo et factis, in virtute signorum, et prodigiorum, in virtute Spiritus sancti; ita ut ab Hierusalem per circuitum usque ad Illyricum repleverim Evangelio Christi. Sic autem hoc praedicavi Evangelium, non ubi nominatus est Christus, ne super alienum fundamentum aedificarem; sed sicut scriptum est: Quibus non est annuntiatum de eo, videbunt; et qui [0594C] non audierunt, intelligent [n: (Rom. XV; Isa. LII)]. Haec est igitur causa cur Paulus nullam specialiter cathedram teneat, quia si audemus summis minora conferre, ad instar Christi, salvo caeterorum apostolorum jure, videtur omnibus Ecclesiis praesidere.

Porro autem quantum ad vulgarem pertinet sensum, quoniam Hierosolymis passus est Dominus, universis Ecclesiis non Romana, sed Hierosolymitana potius praeesse deberet Ecclesia; verumtamen cum ex auctoritate canonum, Romana Ecclesia primum teneat locum, Alexandrina secundum, Antiochena tertium, Constantinopolitana quartum, Hierosolymitana jam quintum: constat Dominum Salvatorem non uni cuilibet cathedrae speciali jure praeesse, sed cunctis unum pastorem universaliter praesidere. [0594D] Liquet ergo Ecclesiarum ordinem esse dispositum juxta privilegium Petri, non secundum incomparabilem excellentiam Redemptoris. Quia quod omnes apostoli juxta mensuram suam obtinent per gratiam collati muneris, hoc totum possidet Christus per naturalis imperium majestatis. Quamdam ergo, si dici liceat, cum Christo similitudinem Paulus tenet, dum non uni duntaxat Ecclesiae, sed omnibus praesidet. Non igitur sine causa B. Paulus dextrum in picturis obtinet latus, dum id non modo deposcat propensior fructuum cumulus, sed et figuralis intelligentiae sacramentum. Gliscit adhuc animus super hoc themate plura conscribere, sed litterarum bajulus, qui ad vos properare festinat, dum potius vellet [0595A] volare, quam currere, non me permittit saltem minimas ad scribendum moras habere. Clementia vobis, dilectissimi, divina praecipiat, ut pro me orare sancta vestra fraternitas non desistat.

## *611* SCHOLIA.

*Plane quia ipse* (Paulus) *toto terrarum orbe universalem fundavit Ecclesiam, dignum est, ut sicut in omnibus fidei semen sparsit, sic etiam in omnibus jus teneat praesidentis.* In hac Epistola beatus Petrus Damianus plus nimio videtur tribuere Paulo: tametsi enim vera sunt, quae refert de ipsius Apostoli rebus gestis, sunt tamen caute intelligenda; quoniam totius orbis pastor, et princeps Petrus duntaxat est, non Paulus. Quamobrem verum quidem est elogium, [0595B] quod ipsi Ecclesia tribuit, dum ait: praedicator in universo mundo; « verum est quod idem affirmat: (Instantia mea quotidiana, sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum [n: (II Cor. XI)]. » Sed tamen illum tantum bonorem, quem prima specie cardinalis Damianus sancto Paulo defert, sancto Petro magis congruere *612* [0596A] certissimum est, de quo Magnus Leo [n: ( epist. ad Anast. Thess. )]: « Inter beatissimos apostolos, inquit, in similitudine honoris, fuit quaedam discretio potestatis; et cum omnium par esset electio, uni tamen datum est, ut caeteris praeemineret: de qua forma, episcoporum quoque est orta distinctio. » Sanctus Joannes Chrysostomus [n: (hom. 87 in Joan.)]: Quid tandem aliis omissis. de his duntaxat Petrum affatur? os erat apostolorum, et princeps, et vertex ipsius coetus; propterea et Paulus eum praeter alios visurus ascendit. Itaque Damianum juxta magni Gregorii mentem intelligemus [n: (GREG. in lib. I Reg., cap. 4)], ut quod attinet ad apostolicum munus Evangelii praedicandi, atque peccata solvendi, aeque omnes apostolos, nedum Paulum, in universum mundum [0596B] missos esse existimemus, cum quadam tamen subordinatione Petri, qui gregi universali praefectus est, ut multis docet sanctus Cyprianus de unit. Eccles., et epist. 55 ad Cornelium papam.

*Sit nomen Domini benedictum.*

english:
## THE ARGUMENT.

He brings forward the reason why the Apostle Paul is represented in paintings at the right hand, but Peter at the left — namely, because Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin, which in Latin is interpreted *son of the right hand*; and he proves that a name of this sort suits him most aptly. He also adduces many prerogatives of the same Paul. Then at last he sets forth why the Church of Jerusalem, although Christ suffered in it, is not the head of all the Churches.

[0589B]To the lord DESIDERIUS, abbot of holy conversion [conversationis], and to the religious community, PETER, a sinful monk, offers his service in the Lord.

As soon as I learned that the lord Martin was setting out on the journey to you, I straightway ordered the notary to take down my words. But since, living in familiar company with you, venerable father, through the whole round of Lent, we conferred by living voice on whatever seemed to require conferring, and often made known to each other the things that were to be shared or handled, I now find nothing new that can be written to you, since I weigh how everything that could be necessary has been gone over again and again in our exchange of talk. What then am I to do? Shall I, who had begun to speak, fall stupidly silent for want of matter?

## ON THE PAINTINGS OF THE CHIEF APOSTLES.

## CHAPTER ONE. *Why Peter is placed at the left, and Paul at the right, in paintings.*

[0589C]

But while I look upon the hand of the scribe armed with the pen and poised for writing as usual, a sweet subject offers itself to me, one to which my mind is briskly summoned to dispute. For by that right hand of the notary there suddenly came to my mind the thing you yourself have very often asked of me, putting the question: namely, why, in the images of the paintings throughout all the provinces lying about Rome, Peter, who is first, is placed at the left, while Paul, the partner of his apostolate, is set at the right — whereas, according to the common understanding, the order of things demands this, that Peter, who is the chief of the apostolic senate, should by right hold the Lord's right side, [0589D] and Paul, who is the younger, the left? But it is very hard to suppose that [0590B] an age devoted to God and religious admitted so distinguished and so famous an ordering of the apostolic arrangement thoughtlessly and without consideration. Nor indeed is it to be believed that the emperor Constantine — nay rather, Pope Silvester — and after them the princes and priests, wakeful and skilled in the letter of ecclesiastical discipline, would have thought this ordering of such great princes something to be neglected, if they had judged it in any degree worthy of correction. Lest, therefore, the order of this holy history should appear disordered, let what seems right to us be briefly made known to your holiness.

That Paul was plainly of the tribe of Benjamin — who doubts it? Now Benjamin in Hebrew is called in Latin *son of the right hand*. What wonder, then, if he is placed at the right who draws the name of the right hand from [0590C] his father's right? Indeed, that the ancient history may be seen to fit blessed Paul clearly, not without cause does Scripture say: « That, as Rachel's soul was departing from her pain, and death already pressing upon her, she called her son's name Benoni, that is, *the son of my sorrow [n: (Gen. XXXV)]*. » But the father called him Benjamin, that is, *son of the right hand.* For by Rachel, who is called a sheep, or a beginning seen, the Church is not undeservedly signified. She indeed both lives innocently after the likeness of a sheep, and, through the pursuit of contemplation, burns inwardly to see the beauty of her Redeemer, who says to the Jews who ask about him: « I am the beginning, who also speak to you [n: (Joan. VIII)]. » When Benjamin, therefore, is born, his mother Rachel dies: while, as Saul draws near to the light of the new regeneration, the Church is cruelly assailed by him with [0590D] persecutions. So Luke in the Acts of the Apostles: « Saul, he says, [0591A] was laying waste the Church, entering into houses, and dragging away men, and delivering women *607* into custody [n: (Act. VIII)]. » Fittingly therefore does Rachel call him Benoni, that is, *the son of my sorrow*, whom Jacob names Benjamin, that is, *son of the right hand*: because Paul, who was the sorrow of his mother the Church, who in a manner slew her by assailing her while he was being born, was called by God the Father *son of the right hand*, since through him the divine power fought against the nations as though by its strong right hand, hurled the javelins of words with power, inflicted healing wounds upon hearts, and, the enemy being through him overcome and laid low, triumphed with glory. Hence it is that the same Paul says to the Galatians: « But when it pleased him who set me apart from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, that he might reveal [0591B] his Son in me, and that I should preach him among the nations, immediately I consented not to flesh and blood [n: (Gal. II)]. » Not undeservedly, then, is Paul called *son of the right hand*, through whom the whole multitude of the nations, which is to be set at God's right hand, is gathered to the sacraments of the faith. For girded with the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit [n: (Ephes. VI)], he fights to this day and to the end of the age against the madness of all vices and of wicked spirits, and, like the lightning hand of Christ, brandishing the swords of heavenly eloquence, strikes off the stiff necks of those who resist God. Rightly therefore does Paul hold the dignity of the right side beside the Redeemer, who is not doubted to exercise the power of the divine right hand. Or does he not in a manner confess himself to be the right hand of God fighting against the devil, when he says: « But I [0591C] so run, not as at an uncertainty; so I fight, not as one beating the air? » [n: (I Cor. IX.)]

## CHAPTER II. *The prerogatives of Paul are related.*

Paul, caught up, ascended to the third heaven [n: (II Cor. XII)], where he also heard secret words which it is not lawful for men to speak. And who does not know that the earthly life bespeaks the left, while the heavenly signifies the right — as the bride says in the Canticles: « His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me? » [n: (Cant. II.)] For the left hand is said to be under the head because the present life, in any elect soul, is despised and trodden down beneath the mind, which is beyond doubt the head of the thoughts. But the bride is said to be embraced by the right hand of God because, when the faithful and holy soul [0591D] is kindled with the burning fire of its Creator, it is cherished on every side as though by certain divine embraces. He therefore who, still girt about with the frailty of the flesh, is known to have ascended to the heavenly life, is rightly named *son of the right hand*. This son of the right hand almighty God stretches out perpetually, as his own right hand, through the whole breadth of the world, and by it gathers the peoples of adoption into the unity of the faith. This right hand the supreme husbandman turns over the threshing-floor of his Church, and by it winnows the spiritual crops, that he may bring the cleansed grains of the mystic wheat into the heavenly barns. This right hand of his God stretches far out hither and thither, while Paul runs through the whole globe of lands to gather the nations into the sacrament of the faith. For with as strong [0592A] a charity as he burns, with so excessive a wandering does he shift himself from place to place. *608* He longs to pass to some men from others, because the goad of that very charity which fills him drives him on. For, set far from the Romans, he writes: « I make mention of you always in my prayers, beseeching, if by any means at length I may have a prosperous journey, by the will of God, of coming to you. For I long to see you [n: (Rom. I)]. » Detained at Ephesus, he writes to the Corinthians: « Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you [n: (II Cor. XXII)]. » Again, staying at Ephesus, he speaks to the Galatians, saying: « I would I were with you now, and could change my voice [n: (Gal. IV)]. » Shut up too at Rome in the keeping of a prison, because he is not permitted to go to the Philippians in his own person, he promises to send a disciple across, saying: [0592B] « I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know the things concerning you [n: (Philip. II)]. » Bound also with chains and held at Ephesus, he writes to the Colossians: « For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit [n: (Coloss. II)]. » See with how great a fire of brotherly love the apostolic heart is boiled down, with how great a longing it is constrained to sweat for the salvation of the nations! Here he is held in body; thither he is led in spirit: and he spends the affection of a father's love upon those present, and reaches it out to those absent. To those set before him he displays his works; to those who hear him he expresses his prayers. He is effectively present to those with whom he was not, and yet not absent from those with whom he was. We know his love better if we still weigh his words to the Corinthians. For he says: « I will come to [0592C] you when I shall have passed through Macedonia; for I shall pass through Macedonia, but with you perhaps I shall remain, or even winter [n: (I Cor. XVI)]. » What does it mean that he is so anxiously parceled out through so many places, unless that he is bound about all men by one charity? For charity, which is accustomed to unite what is divided, compels the one heart of Paul to be divided among many things. Yet it gathers that heart in God the more ardently, the more widely it scatters it through holy desires. In preaching, therefore, Paul wishes to say all things at once; in loving, he wishes to see all men at once; because both by remaining in the flesh he wishes to live for all, and by passing out of the flesh through the sacrifice of faith he wishes to profit all. Nor is it a wonder if the distinguished preacher glows more fervently in brotherly charity, if the abundance of true love overflows in him beyond all mortals; since the fountain of life [0592D] who calls him a vessel of election [n: (Act. IX)] determined to flow abundantly into him, and deigned to water him incomparably with the streams of his sacraments. Hence it is that he says: « Do you seek a proof of Christ, who speaks in me? » [n: (II Cor. XIII.)]

## CHAPTER III. *Paul was marked out before all others by a wonderful privilege.*

This plainly the Savior of the world conferred upon blessed Paul by the privilege of a singular grace, which he granted beforehand to no mortal after the mystery of his Incarnation. For after that blessed and divine humanity of the Redeemer had been carried up to the session [0593A] of the Father's majesty, so that he was no longer bodily present among men, but rather presided over the powers of heaven, he taught him so effectively *609* not through a master but specially through himself, and made over to him the mysteries of all his own deeds, that not only did he in no way stand in need of the teaching of his predecessors, but he even surpassed them in the depth of all heavenly wisdom. Whence Peter himself, the first of the apostles, marvels at his wisdom, saying: « Our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, has written to you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest [n: (II Petr. III)]. » And that in learning the mysteries of the evangelical doctrine he had no man whatever for master, but God [0593B] specially for his teacher, he himself testifies, who speaks at the beginning of his Epistle to the Galatians, saying: « Paul, an apostle not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead [n: (Gal. I)]. » For the fountain of eternal life, like a boundless torrent, plunged itself wholly and all at once into the vessel of its own election — that fountain which poured out the streams of its wisdom upon the rest of the apostles through long intervals of time. And a little after: « For I make known to you, brethren, the Gospel which was preached by me, that it is not according to man; for neither did I receive it from man, nor did I learn it, but by the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ [n: (Ibid.)]. » What therefore the Lord, while still mortal, taught Peter by many proofs, all this [0593C] he displayed at once to blessed Paul when he was already established in the glory of the Father's majesty. It is as if some teacher, while he is a private man, should teach disciples; but after he has climbed to the holding of the scepters of royal rule, then, the [sic: *clastibus*] of dependents being removed, chooses one distinguished man among many, whom he may instruct more nobly.

That the discourse, then, may run back to the point where it began: when blessed Peter is set at the right, the primacy which he obtained among the other apostles is honored. But when Paul occupies the place of the same right side, he gives off the sacred sign of the mystical figure in Benjamin, whose son he is. And yet neither is this without mystery, that blessed Peter holds the left of the Lord's side. For by him the active life is marked out. And as the contemplative life is expressed by the right, so the active [0593D] by the left. And that the present life, that is, the active, is figured by blessed Peter, is shown chiefly in this: that, as the evangelical history very frequently testifies, Peter loves the Lord more than all his fellow-disciples [n: (Joan. XX)], and yet the Lord bestows the prerogative of an altogether special love not upon Peter but rather upon John [n: (Joan. XIII)]. For by John the contemplative life is marked out, but by Peter, as has been said, the active. Because all the saints in this life, after the likeness of Peter, love God more and are as it were loved less, while for his sake they endure the hard troubles of labors, and yet, still girt about with mortal flesh, do not attain to the sweetness of his embraces. But those who are already with God, in this [0594A] in a manner love him less and are loved more, since both they feel no storms of labors for his sake, and yet they enjoy to the full the delights of his inmost intimacy. It is no wonder, then, if blessed Peter should sometimes seem to hold the left-hand part, who *610* also holds, on the authority of the Scriptures, the figure of the active life.

## CHAPTER IV. *Why blessed Paul has no chair of his own.*

But one thing appears distinguished in blessed Paul: that whereas all the apostles, distributed among the regions of the earth, hold their own chairs, he, while holding none in particular, seems in some measure to preside over all in common. [n: ( Vide scholia ad calcem opusculi. )] Plainly, because he himself founded the universal [0594B] Church over the whole globe of lands, it is fitting that, as he scattered the seed of faith among all, so also he should hold among all the right of one presiding. For he says to the Corinthians: « By the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace in me has not been void, but I have labored more abundantly than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God with me [n: (I Cor. XV)]. » And to the Romans: « I have, he says, glory in Christ Jesus toward God, in the obedience of the nations: by word and deeds, in the power of signs and of wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit; so that from Jerusalem round about even to Illyricum I have filled up the Gospel of Christ. And so I have preached this Gospel, not where Christ has been named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation; but as it is written: They to whom it was not announced of him shall see; and they who [0594C] have not heard shall understand [n: (Rom. XV; Isa. LII)]. This, then, is the reason why Paul holds no chair in particular: because — if we dare to compare lesser things with the highest — after the likeness of Christ, saving the right of the other apostles, he seems to preside over all the Churches.

Further, however, as far as concerns the common understanding: since the Lord suffered at Jerusalem, not the Roman but rather the Jerusalem Church ought to be set over all the Churches. Yet, since by the authority of the canons the Roman Church holds the first place, the Alexandrian the second, the Antiochene the third, the Constantinopolitan the fourth, and the Jerusalem Church now the fifth, it is clear that the Lord and Savior does not preside over any one chair by a special right, but that as one shepherd he presides universally over all. [0594D] It is plain, then, that the order of the Churches has been arranged according to the privilege of Peter, not according to the incomparable excellence of the Redeemer. For what all the apostles obtain according to their measure by the grace of a gift conferred, all this Christ possesses by the sovereignty of a majesty that is his by nature. Paul therefore holds a certain likeness, if one may say so, with Christ, in that he presides not over one Church only, but over all. Not without cause, then, does blessed Paul hold the right side in the paintings, since not only the weightier heap of fruits demands it, but also the sacred sign of a figural understanding. My mind swells still to write more upon this theme, but the bearer of the letter, who hastens to hurry to you, and would rather [0595A] fly than run, does not permit me to have even the least delays for writing. May the divine mercy give you commandment, most beloved, that your holy brotherhood cease not to pray for me.

## *611* SCHOLIA.

*Plainly, because he himself* (Paul) *founded the universal Church over the whole globe of lands, it is fitting that, as he scattered the seed of faith among all, so also he should hold among all the right of one presiding.* In this Epistle the blessed Peter Damian seems to attribute more than enough to Paul: for although the things he reports of that Apostle's deeds are true, they must nevertheless be understood with caution, since the shepherd and prince of the whole world is Peter only, not Paul. Wherefore the eulogy is indeed true [0595B] which the Church attributes to him when she says: a preacher in the whole world; « true is what he himself affirms: (My daily pressing care, the solicitude of all the Churches [n: (II Cor. XI)]. » But nevertheless it is most certain that that great [sic: *bonorem*] which, at first appearance, Cardinal Damian pays to Saint Paul belongs more fittingly to Saint Peter *612* [0596A] — of whom Leo the Great [n: ( epist. ad Anast. Thess. )] says: « Among the most blessed apostles, he says, in a likeness of honor, there was a certain distinction of power; and although the election of all was equal, yet to one it was given to be preeminent over the rest: and from this pattern the distinction of bishops also arose. » Saint John Chrysostom [n: (hom. 87 in Joan.)]: Why at last, the others being passed over, does he address Peter alone concerning these things? He was the mouth of the apostles, and the prince, and the summit of that very company; and for that reason Paul too went up to see him rather than the others. And so we shall understand Damian according to the mind of Gregory the Great [n: (GREG. in lib. I Reg., cap. 4)], so that, as regards the apostolic office of preaching the Gospel and of loosing sins, we may reckon that all the apostles equally — not Paul alone — were sent into the whole world, [0596B] yet with a certain subordination to Peter, who was set over the universal flock, as Saint Cyprian teaches at length in *On the Unity of the Church*, and in Epistle 55 to Pope Cornelius.

*Blessed be the name of the Lord.*

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