1. In the absence of brother Macarius, c I can give you no definite news meanwhile about that affair, which cannot fail to concern me. He is said to be returning soon, and what God's help will enable me to carry through, shall be carried through. Although the brethren, our fellow-townsmen, who were with you, could assure you of our zeal on their behalf, still a piece of news deserving of that epistolary con- verse which is a solace to us both has been provided by the Lord, in gaining Whose favour I believe I have been much assisted by that very anxiety of yours on my behalf, for it certainly must have been accompanied by intercession for me.
1. De negotio interim quod non curare non possum, nihil certum scribere potui absente fratre Macario, qui cito dicitur rediturus, et quod deo adiuvante peragi potuerit, peragetur. De nostra autem pro eis sollicitudine quamquam fratres nostri cives qui aderant, securos vos facere possent, tamen digna res epistulari conloquio quo nos invicem consolantur, a domino praestita est, in quo promerendo multum nos adiutos esse credimus ipsa vestra sollicitudine, quae profecto sine deprecatione pro nobis esse non potuit.
2. So let me not miss the chance of telling your Charity what has happened, so that, as you joined me in pouring forth prayers for the bestowing of this boon, you may join me in giving God thanks for it, now that it has been bestowed. News was brought me after your departure, as it had been several times while you were here, that people were growing unruly and were saying they could not tolerate the prohibition of that festival, the drunken character of winch they try in vain to disguise under the name of a “gaudy.” Very appropriately, by a hidden dispensation of Almighty God, it happened that on the Wednesday a I was expounding in its due course that section b from the Gospel: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.” c I discoursed about dogs and swine in such a way as to compel those to blush for very shame who were obstinately snarling and brawling against God's commandments and were abandoned to foul carnal pleasures. I ended up by showing them the heinousness of perpetrating within the four walls of the church, in the name of religion, what would necessitate their exclusion from " that which is holy " and the " pearls " of the church, if they persisted in doing it within their own homes.
2. Itaque non praetermittamus vestrae caritati narrare quid gestum sit, ut nobiscum deo gratias agatis de accepto beneficio, qui nobiscum preces de accipiendo fudistis. Cum post profectionem tuam nobis nuntiatum esset tumultuari homines et dicere se ferre non posse, ut illa sollemnitas prohiberetur quam laetitiam nominantes vinulentiae nomen frustra conantur abscondere, sicut etiam te praesente iam iam nuntiabatur, opportune nobis accidit occulta ordinatione omnipotentis dei, ut quarta feri a illud in evangelio capitulum consequenter tractaretur: Nolite dare sanctum canibus neque proieceritis margaritas vestras ante porcos. Tractatum est ergo de canibus et de porcis, ita ut et pervicaci latratu adversus dei praecepta rixantes et voluptatum carnarium sordibus dediti erubescere cogerentur concursumque ita ut viderent quam esset nefarium intra ecclesiae parietes id agere nomine religionis, quod in suis domibus si agere perseveraret, sancto et margaritis ecclesiasticis eos arceri oporteret.
3. They took this in quite a good spirit, but as the congregation was small, a matter so important demanded further treatment. When my hearers spread news of my sermon outside, each according to his ability and point of view, it found many to oppose it. But after the morning of Quadragesima had dawned and a considerable crowd had gathered at the time of Scripture exposition, we read that portion from the Gospel where the Lord drove from the Temple the sellers of animals and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, saying that His Father's house had been turned from a house of prayer into a den of thieves. a After securing their attention by announcing the subject of drunkenness, I read that section myself and followed it with an address designed to show that, if our Lord drove lawful trade from the Temple, since what was sold was requisite for the sacrifices permitted under that dispensation, He would with much greater indignation and violence drive from it drunken revels, which are abominable anywhere. And I asked them which they thought more like a den of thieves, those who sold necessaries or those who drank beyond measure.
3. Sed haec quamvis grate accepta fuerint, tamen quia pauci convenerant, non erat satisfactum tanto negotio. Iste autem sermo cum ab eis qui aderant pro cuiusque facultate ac studio foris ventilaretur, multos habuit contradictores. Postea vero quam dies quadragesimae inluxisset et frequens multitudo ad horam tractationis occurrit, lectum est illud in evangelio, ubi dominus de templo expulsis venditoribus animalium et eversis mensis nummulariorum dixit domum patris sui pro domo orationum speluncam latronum esse factam. Quod capitulum, cum eos intentos proposita vinulentiae quaestione feci, et ipse quoque recitavi adiunxique disputationem, qua ostenderem, quanto commotius et vehementius dominus noster ebriosa convivia, quae ubique sunt turpia, de templo expelleret. unde sic expulit concessa commercia, cum ea venderentur quae sacrificiis illo tempore licitis essent necessaria, quaerens ab eis quibus similiorem putarent speluncam latronum necessaria vendentibus an immoderate bibentibus.
4. The Scripture readings, turned up beforehand, were being held ready to hand up to me, so I went on to say that the Jewish people, though yet carnal, never held even sober feasts, far less drunken ones, in that Temple in which as yet there was no offering up of the body and blood of the Lord, and that as a people they were never found in the Bible b drunk in the name of religion, unless when they were celebrating a feast to the idol they had made. c So saying, I took the book and read all that passage. Reminding them that the Apostle, to distinguish the Christian people from the obdurate Jews, speaks of his letter as written “not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart,”a I went on to ask with all the sorrow I could how it was that, though God's servant, Moses, had broken those two tables of stone b because of the rulers of Israel, we found it impossible to break their hearts; they were men of the new covenant, yet they chose, in celebrating their saints' days, to practise such rites as the people of the old covenant had practised only once, and that before an idol.
4. Et quoniam mihi praeparatae lectiones suggerendae tenebantur, adiunxi deinde ipsum adhuc carnalem populum Iudaeorum in illo templo ubi nondum corpus et sanguis domini offerebatur, non solum vinulenta sed nec sobria quidem umquam celebrasse convivia nec eos publice religionis nomine inebriatos inveniri in historia, nisi cum festa fabricato idolo exsolverent. Quae cum dicerem, codicem etiam accepi et recitavi totum illum locum. Addidi etiam cum dolore, quo potui, quoniam apostolus ait ad dis- cernendum populum christianum a duritia Iudaeorum epistulam suam non in fabulis lapideis scriptam sed in tabulis cordis carnalibus, cum Moyses famulus dei propter illos principes binas lapideas tabulas confregisset, quo modo non possemus istorum corda confringere, qui homines novi testamenti sanctorum diebus celebrandis ea vellent sollemniter exhibere, quae populus veteris testamenti et semel et idolo celebravit.
5. Then I gave back the book of Exodus and enlarged. as far as time permitted, on the sin of drunkenness, taking the apostle Paul and showing in what class of sins he placed it. I read that passage, “If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner, with such an one no, not to eat,” c reminding them with groanings what a risk we ran in carousing with those who got drunk even at home. I read that passage, too, which follows quite close to the last, “Be not deceived: neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” d After which, I bade them consider how the faithful could bear to be told “But ye are washed,” when they still tolerated in their heart, that is in the inward Temple of God, such filthy lusts, against which the kingdom of heaven is closed. Then I came to that section, “When ye come together into one place, that is not to eat the Lord's Supper; for in eating every one taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the Church of God?” a After reading that, I earnestly pressed the point that it was not right that even decorous and sober feasts should be held in church, for the Apostle did not say, “Have ye not houses of your own to get drunk in?” as though it were only in church that getting drunk was not allowed; what he did say was “to eat and to drink in,” a seemly enough action, provided it be done outside the church by those who have houses in which they can be refreshed by the necessary food. And yet what straits we had fallen into, what corrupt times and lax morals, that we could not yet hope for decorous feasts, but only that the dominion of drunkenness should be confined to the home.
5. Tunc reddito exodi codice crimen ebrietatis, quantum tempus sinebat, exaggerans sumpsi apostolum Paulum et inter quae peccata posita esset, ostendi legens illum locum: Si quis frater nominetur aut fornicator aut idolis serviens aut avarus aut maledicus aut ebriosus aut rapax, cum eius modi nec cibum sumere, ingemescendo admonens cum quanto periculo convivaremur cum eis qui vel in domibus inebriarentur. Legi etiam illud quod non longo intervallo sequitur: Nolite errare; neque fornicatores neque idolis servientes neque adulteri neque molles neque masculorum concubitores neque fures neque avari neque ebriosi neque maledici neque raptores regnum dei possidebunt. Et haec quidem fuistis, sed abluti estis, sed iustificati estis in nomine domini Iesu Christi et spiritu dei nostri. Quibus lectis, dixi ut considerarent quo modo possent fideles audire sed abluti estis, qui adhuc talis concupiscentiae sordes, contra quas clauditur regnum caelorum, in corde suo, id est in interiore dei templo esse patiuntur. Inde ventum est ad illud capitulum: Con- venientibus ergo vobis in unum non est dominicam cenam celebrare, unusquisque enim propriam cenam praesumit in manducando et alius quidem esurit, alius ebrius est. Numquid domos non habetis ad manducandum et bibendum? an ecclesiam dei contemnitis? Quo recitato, diligentius commendavi ne honesta quidem et sobria convivia debere in ecclesia celebrari, quando quidem apostolus non dixerit: “Numquid domos non habetis ad inebriandos vos,” ut quasi tantum modo inebriari in ecclesia non liceret, sed “ad manducandum et bibendum,” quod potest honeste fieri sed praeter ecclesiam ab eis qui domos habent ubi alimentis necessariis refici possint. Et tamen nos ad has angustias corruptorum temporum et diffluentium morum esse perductos, uti nondum modesta convivia sed saltem domesticum regnum ebrietatis optemus.
6. I mentioned, too, a passage in the Gospels which I had expounded the day before, in which it is said of false prophets, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” b Then I reminded them that there " fruits " meant only “works.” Next I asked them what fruits drunkenness was reckoned among, repeating to them that passage in Galatians, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you, as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” c After these words, I asked them how, when the Lord has enjoined that Christians be recognized by their fruits, we could ever be so recognized by the fruits of drunkenness. I added that we must read too the verse that follows, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” a and I urged them to consider how shameful and lamentable it was that they were not satisfied with practising those fruits of the flesh at home, but actually wanted to honour the church with them and, if they were only allowed, to fill up all the space of a church of this great size with crowds of banqueters and drunkards; yet they would not offer to God the tribute of those spiritual fruits, to which they were invited both by the authority of the Holy Scriptures and by our groanings, and with them rather than any others celebrate the saints' days.
6. Commemoravi etiam evangelii capitulum, quod pridie tracta veram, ubi de pseudoprophetis dictum est: Ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos. Deinde in memoriam revocavi fructus eo loco non appellatos nisi opera. Tum quaesivi inter quos fructus nominata esset ebrietas, et recitavi illud ad Galatas: Manifesta autem sunt opera carnis, quae sunt fornicationes, inmunditiae, luxuriae, idolorum servitus, veneficia, inimicitiae, contentiones, aemulationes, animositates, dissensiones, haereses, invidiae, ebrietates, comissationes et his similia; quae praedico vobis, sicut praedixi, quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum dei non possidebunt. Post quae verba interrogavi quo modo de fructu ebrietatis agnosceremur christiani, quos de fructibus agnosci dominus iussit. Adiunxi etiam legendum quod sequitur: Fructus autem spiritus est caritas, gaudium, pax, longanimitas, benignitas, bonitas, fides, mansuetudo, continentia, egique ut considerarent quam esset pudendum atque plangendum, quod de illis fructibus carnis non solum privatim vivere, sed etiam honorem ecclesiae deferre cuperent et, si potestas daretur, totum tam magnae basilicae spatium turbis epulantium ebriorumque complerent; de spiritalibus autem fructibus ad quos et divinarum scripturarum auctoritate et nostris gemitibus invitarentur, nolunt adferre deo munera et his potissimum celebrare festa sanctorum.
7. After that, I handed back the manuscript and, being asked to speak, b I set before their eyes, as far as I could and as far as the danger itself impelled me and the Lord was pleased to afford me strength, our common danger, theirs, who were entrusted to our care, as well as ours, who were to render an account of them to the Chief Shepherd. I implored them by His humiliation, the unequalled insults, buffetings, and spitting on the face that He endured, by the blows on His face c and His crown of thorns and cross and blood, to have pity at least for me, if they had any reason for personal displeasure, and to consider the inexpressible affection felt for me by the venerable Senior, Valerius, who for their sakes had not hesitated to lay upon me the dangerous burden of expounding the words of truth a and had often said to them that my coming had been an answer to his prayers; but his rejoicing was surely that I had come to him not to share or to behold their death, but to share their efforts towards eternal life. Finally, I told them that I had trust and confidence in Him who cannot lie, who made by the mouth of His prophet a promise concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, in the words, “If His children forsake My law and walk not in My judgements; if they break My statutes and keep not My commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes; nevertheless My loving-kindness will I not utterly take from Him” b—I had confidence therefore in Him that if they despised the grave warnings that had been read and addressed to them, He would visit them with the rod and with stripes, but would not leave them to condemnation along with the world. Throughout this protest I acted as our Defender and Ruler, to meet the importance of the matter and the greatness of the danger, provided me with courage and ability. I did not move them to weep by first weeping myself, but while such remarks were being addressed to them, their own tears came first and I confess that I could not keep back my own. After we had thus wept together, I concluded my sermon in the full anticipation of their amendment.
7. Quibus peractis, codicem reddidi et imperata oratione, quantum valui et quantum me ipsum periculum urguebat et vires subministrare dominus dignabatur, constitui eis ante oculos commune periculum, et ipsorum qui nobis commissi essent, et nostrum, qui de illis rationem reddituri essemus pastorum principi, per cuius humilitatem, insignes contumelias, alapas et sputus in faciem et palmas et spineam coronam et crucem ac sanguinem obsecravi ut, si se ipsi aliquid offendissent, vel nostri miserarentur et cogitarent venerabilis senis Valerii circa me ineffabilem caritatem, qui mihi tractandi verba veritatis tam periculosum onus non dubitant propter eos inponere, eisque saepe dixerit quod orationes eius exauditae essent de nostro adventu, quos non utique ad communem mortem vel spectaculum mortis illorum sed ad communem conatum in aeternam vitam ad se venisse laetatus est. Postremo etiam dixi certum esse me et ridere in eum qui mentiri nescit, qui per os prophetae sui pollicitus est de domino nostro Iesu Christo dicens: Si reliquerint filii eius legem meam et in praeceptis meis no?i ambulaverint, si iustificationes meas profanaverint, visitabo in virga facinora eorum et in flagellis delicta eorum; misericordiam autem meam non auferam, in eum ergo me fidere, quod, si haec tanta quae sibi essent lecta et dicta, contemnerent, visitaturus esset in virga et in flagello nec eos permissurus cum hoc mundo damnari. In qua conquestione sic actum ut pro negotii atque periculi magnitudine tutor et gubernator noster animos facultatemque praebebat. Non ego illorum lacrimas meis lacrimis movi. sed cum talia dicerentur, fateor, eorum fletu praeventus meum abstinere non potui. Et cum iam pariter flevissemus, plenissima spe correctionis illorum finis sermonis mei factus est.
8. But on the morrow, when the day dawned for which it was the habit of their throats and stomachs to prepare, I was told that some of those who had been present at my sermon had not even then given over complaining, and were so much under the influence of that vile custom that they were speaking in terms of it alone and saying, “Why thus late in the day? Those who allowed it in times past were surely not unchristian.” On hearing this, I was quite at a loss what weapons to prepare that would have a greater effect on them, but still, if they decided to continue in that frame of mind, I was intending to read that passage from the prophet Ezekiel, “The watchman is absolved if he has uttered a warning of the danger, even if those whom he has warned have not cared to take precaution,”a and to shake my garments and depart. But at that point the Lord showed that He does not forsake us, and taught me the means He takes to encourage us to put our trust in Him, for before the time at which I had to mount into the choir, b those same individuals came in to me who, as I had learned, had complained of my attack upon their long-established custom. I received them graciously, and needed only a few words to bring them round to a sound state of mind. And when it came to the time for my discourse, I left out the reading I had prepared, since it no longer appeared to be needed, and made a few remarks about the very point they had raised, stating that we could put forward against those who say “Why thus late in the day?” no briefer and truer reply than to imitate them and say, “Yes, thus late in the day.”
8. Postridie vero, cum inluxisset dies cui solebant fauces ventresque se parare, nuntiatur mihi nonnullos eorum etiam, qui sermoni aderant, nondum a murmuratione cessasse tantumque in eis valere vim pessimae consuetudinis, ut eius tantum voce uterentur et dicerent: “Quare modo? Non enim antea, qui haec non prohibuerunt, Christiani non erant.” Quo audito, quas sicut maiores commovendi eos machinas praepararent, omnino nesciebam; disponebam tamen, si perseverandum putarent, lecto illo loco de propheta Ezechiele: “Explorator absolvitur, si periculum denuntiaverit, etiam si illi, quibus denuntiatur, cavere noluerint,” vestimenta mea excutere atque discedere. Tum vero dominus ostendit quod nos non deserat, et quibus modis, in se ut praesumamus, hortetur; namque ante horam, qua exhedram ascenderemus, ingressi sunt ad me idem ipsi, quos audieram de oppugnatione vetustae consuetudinis fuisse conquestos. Quos blande acceptos paucis verbis in sententiam sanam transtuli. Atque ubi ventum est ad tempus disputationis, omissa lectione quam praepara veram, quia necessaria iam non videbatur, de hac ipsa quaestione pauca disserui, nihil nos nec brevius nec verius posse adferre adversus eos qui dicunt: “Quare modo?” nisi et nos dicamus: “Vel modo.”
9. Yet to avoid the appearance of casting any slight upon those who in earlier times either allowed, or did not venture to forbid, the ignorant mob to perpetrate these open sins, I explained to them the critical circumstances in which those practices apparently arose in the Church. When peace was made after many violent persecutions, crowds of pagans were anxious to come over to the Christian name but were hindered by the fact that they were accustomed to spend their feast-days with their idols in drunkenness and excessive banqueting and could not easily abstain from those baneful but long-established pleasures. So our predecessors thought it good to make concessions for the time being to those weaker brethren, and to let them celebrate in honour of the holy martyrs other feast-days, in place of those they were giving up, unlike them, at any rate, in profanation, though like them in excess. Now that they were bound together by the name of Christ and submissive to the yoke of His great authority, they must inherit the wholesome rules of sobriety, and these they could not oppose because of their veneration and fear for Him whose rules they were. It was now high time, therefore, for such as had not the courage to deny that they were Christians, to begin to live according to the will of Christ, casting behind them, now that they were Christians, the concessions made to induce them to become Christians. a Then I urged them to undertake to follow the example of the churches overseas, in some of which those practices were never admitted, while in others they had already been corrected by the agency of good leaders and compliance on the part of the people.
9. Verum tamen ne illi qui ante nos tam manifesta inperitae multitudinis crimina vel permiserunt vel prohibere non ausi sunt, aliqua a nobis affici contumelia viderentur, exposui eis, qua necessitate ista in ecclesia viderentur exorta. Scilicet post persecu- tiones tam multas tamque vehementes cum facta pace turbae gentilium in christianum nomen venire cupientes hoc impedirentur, quod dies festos cum idolis suis solerent in abundantia epularum et ebrietate consumere, nec facile ab his perniciosissimis sed tamen vetustissimis voluptatibus se possent abstinere, visum fuisse maioribus nostris ut huic infirmitatis parti interim parceretur diesque festos post eos quos relinquebant, alios in honorem sanctorum martyrum vel non simili sacrilegio quamvis simili luxu celebrarent; iam Christi nomine conligatis et tantae auctoritatis iugo subditis salutaria sobrietatis praecepta traderentur, quibus iam propter praecipiente honorem ac timorem resistere non valerent. Quocirca iam tempus esse, ut, qui non se audent negare christianos, secundum Christi voluntatem vivere incipiant, ut ea quae, ut essent christiani, concessa sunt, cum christiani sunt, respuantur.
10. b And as examples of daily excess in drinking were produced to me from the Church of the blessed apostle Peter, I stated in the first place that I had heard that they had often been forbidden, but since the place was at a distance from the bishop's control a and in a city of that size there was a great crowd of carnally-minded people, the pilgrims especially, of whom fresh batches were continually arriving, clinging to that custom with a vehemence proportionate to their unenlightenment, it had not yet been possible to restrain and repress such a monstrous disorder. But yet, if we honoured the apostle Peter, we personally should give ear to his counsels and pay much more zealous attention to the Epistle in which his intention is revealed, than to his church, in which it is not, and straightway, taking up the manuscript, I read the passage where he says, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings and abominable idolatries.” b After that, when I perceived that all with one mind were turning to a right disposition and spurning their wretched custom, I enjoined them to attend at mid-day for Scripture reading and singing of psalms: it was our purpose in that way to celebrate that day with much more decency and purity, and it could easily be seen, from the number of those who assembled, who was following reason and who was the slave of appetite. So, when everything had been read, my sermon concluded.
10. Deinde hortatus sum, ut transmarinarum ecclesiarum, in quibus partim ista recepta numquam sunt, partim iam per bonos rectores populo obtemperante correcta, imitatores esse vellemus. Et quoniam de basilica beati apostoli Petri cotidianae vinulentiae proferebantur exempla, dixi primo audisse nos saepe esse prohibitum, sed quod remotus sit locus ab epi- scopi conversatione et in tanta civitate magna sit carnalium multitudo peregrinis praesertim, qui novi subinde veniunt, tanto violentius quanto inscitius illam consuetudinem retinentibus, tam immanem pestem nondum compesci sedarique potuisse. Verum tamen nos si Petrum apostolum honoraremus, debere praecepta eius audire et multo devotius epistulam in qua voluntas eius apparet, quam basilicam in qua non apparet, intueri; statimque accepto codice recitavi ubi ait: Christo enim passo pro nobis per carnem et vos eadem cogitatione armamini, quia qui passus est carne, desiit a carne, ut iam non hominum desideriis sed voluntate dei reliquum tempus in carne vivat. Sufficit enim vobis praeteritum tempus voluntate hominum perfecisse ambulantes in libidinibus, desideriis, ebrietate, comissationibus et nefandis idolorum servitutibus. Quibus gestis, cum omnes uno animo in bonam voluntatem ire contempta mala consuetudine cernerem, hortatus sum ut meridiano tempore divinis lectionibus et psalmis interessent; ita illum diem multo mundius atque sincerius placere celebrandum et certe de multitudine convenientium facile posse apparere, qui mentem et qui ventrem sequeretur. Ita lectis omnibus sermo terminatus est.
11. In the afternoon a greater crowd attended than in the forenoon, and reading and singing went on alternately until the hour when I was to come out with the bishop. When we came out. two psalms were read, then the Senior compelled me by express injunction to say something to them, though it was against my will, for by this time I was lunging for the end of so critical a day. I gave a short address with the object of rendering thanks to God, and as we heard in the church of the heretics a the noise of the usual feasting that they were celebrating (for even at the very time when we were so engaged they were still lingering in their cups), I remarked that the beauty of the day was enhanced by comparison with the night and that a white colour was more pleasing alongside of a black; thus our gathering for a spiritual celebration would perhaps have been less gratifying without the contrast of gluttonous carnality from other quarters. And I exhorted them that such were the banquets that they should eagerly seek after, if they had tasted how-sweet the Lord is. but that fear was to be the lot of those who seek as the chief object of desire anything that would some day be destroyed. For each man is made to share the fate of that which he worships, and such people had been mocked by the Apostle in the words, “whose god is their belly,” b since in another place he has used the words: “Meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them.” c It was therefore our duty to follow after that which is not to be destroyed, which through the sanctification of the spirit is kept far removed from what befalls the flesh. And so, when what the Lord was pleased to suggest had been for the occasion spoken along those lines, the usual daily evening service a was held and we retired with the bishop, while the brethren repeated hymns there and a considerable crowd of both sexes remained and engaged in singing until darkness fell.
11. Pomeridiano autem die maior quam ante meridiem adfuit multitudo et usque ad horam qua cum episcopo egrederemur, legebatur alternatim et psallebatur; nobisque egressis duo psalmi lecti sunt. Deinde me invitum, qui iam cupiebam peractum esse tam periculosum diem, iussum compulit senex ut aliquid eis loquerer. Habui brevem sermonem, quo gratias agerem deo, et quoniam in haereticorum basilica audiebamus ab eis solita convivia celebrata, cum adhuc etiam eo ipso tempore quo a nobis ista gerebantur, illi in poculis perdurarent, dixi diei pulchritudinem noctis comparatione decorari et colorem candidum nigri vicinitate gratiorem; ita nostrum spiritalis celebrationis conventum minus fortasse futurum fuisse iucundum, nisi ex alia parte carnalis ingurgitatio conferretur, hortatusque sum ut tales epulas instanter appeterent, si gustassent quam suavis est dominus; illis autem esse metuendum, qui tamquam primum sectantur quod aliquando destruetur, cum quisque comes efficiatur eius rei quam colit, insultaritque apostolus talibus dicens: Quorum deus venter, cum idem alio loco dixerit: Esca ventri et venter escis; deus autem et hunc et illas evacuabit. Nos proinde oportere id sequi quod non evacuatur, quod remotissimum a carnis affectu spiritus sanctificatione retinetur. Atque in hanc sententiam pro tempore cum ea quae dominus suggerere dignatus est, dicta essent, acta sunt vespertina quae cotidie solent, nobisque cum episcopo recedentibus fratres eodem loco hymnos dixerunt non parva multitudine utriusque sexus 1 ad obscuratum diem manente atque psallente.
12. I have set forth for you, as briefly as I could, what I am sure you were anxious to hear. Pray that God will graciously protect my efforts from providing any cause of offence or any distress. In no small measure we share with lively warmth of affection in your contentment that such frequent gifts to us from the spiritually-minded church of Tagaste are intimated. The ship with the brethren has not yet arrived. At Asna, b where the priest is brother Argentius, the Circumcellions c have broken into our church and smashed the altar. The case is at present being tried; we earnestly beg you to pray that the trial may give no provocation, and may serve, as becomes the Catholic Church, to check the tongue of provocative heresy. I have sent a letter to the Asiarch. d May ye remain steadfast in the Lord, brethren, in all blessedness, and forget us not! Amen.
12. Digessi vobis, quantum breviter potui, quod vos audire desiderasse quis dubitaverit? Orate ut a conatibus nostris omnia scandala et omnia taedia deus dignetur avertere. Magna sane ex parte vobiscum requiescimus cum alacritate fervoris, quia spiritalis ecclesiae Tagastensium tam crebra nobis dona nuntiantur. Navis cum fratribus nondum venit. Apud Asnam, ubi est presbyter frater Argentius, Circumcelliones invadentes basilicam nostram altare comminuerunt. Causa nunc agitur, quae ut pacate agatur et ut ecclesiam catholicam decet ad opprimendas linguas haereseos inpacatae, multum vos petimus ut oretis. Epistulam Asiarchae misimus. Beatissimi perseveretis in domino memores nostri. Amen.