CHAPTER 15
Refutation of the Errors Quoted in the Last Chapter
| Oportet autem attendere, quod praedicti paupertatis impugnatores, doctrinae Christi, nec non et vitae ipsius non modicum adversantur, qui in omnibus paupertatem servandam verbo docuit et exemplo monstravit. Dicit enim de ipso apostolus II Cor. VIII, 9: quod propter nos egenus factus est, cum dives esset. Paupertatem enim assumpsit, ut Glossa ibidem dicit et divitias non amisit, intus dives, foris pauper, latens Deus in divitiis, apparens homo in paupertate. Ex quo his qui Christi paupertatem sequuntur, magna dignitas accrescit. Unde post pauca ibidem concluditur: nemo igitur se contemnat, pauper in cella, dives in conscientia. Et ut ab exordio introitus eius in mundum incipiamus, pauperculam elegit matrem, pauperiorem patriam, egens fit pecuniis: et hoc tibi exponat praesepe, ut legitur in quodam synodali sermone Ephesini Concilii. Et post pauca subditur: respice pauperrimum habitaculum eius qui ditat caelum. Vide praesepe sedentis super Cherubim: vide pannis obsitum eum qui pelagus harenae vinxit, vide deorsum paupertatem, divitias eius sursum considerans. Si autem non propter se, sed propter nos egenus factus est, secundum apostolum, nunquid non poterat matrem multas possessiones habentem eligere, atque in domo propria nasci, si nihil ad perfectionem Christianae vitae pertineret terrenas possessiones non habere, quinimmo propria domo carere? Confundantur igitur paupertatis detractores, cuius gloria in ipsis Christi cunabulis praeclare refulget.
| WE must remember that the enemies of poverty impugn, not only the teaching, but the life of our Lord. Christ has taught us both by word and example to observe poverty in all things. St. Paul tells us (2 Cor 8:9), “that being rich, He became poor for our sakes.” The Gloss, commenting on these words, says that “He took poverty upon Himself, although He did not lose His riches. Interiorly He was rich, exteriorly He was poor. He concealed the treasure of His Godhead, and revealed the poverty of His Manhood.” Hence those who follow Christ in poverty acquire great dignity, as we shall presently show. “Therefore (the Gloss concludes) let no one despise Him who, though poor in His dwelling, was rich in conscience. If we consider His life, from His first entry into the world, we shall see that He chose a poor maiden for His Mother, and willed to be needy and in want, and to have for His birthplace the poorest of poor cities. The stable is a monument of His poverty, as we are reminded in a certain address delivered at one of the synods of the Council of Ephesus.” “See (we quote part of this address) the most humble dwelling of Him who enriches Heaven. A crib suffices Him who sits above the Cherubim; and He who has joined the sea to the dry land is Himself swathed in swaddling bands. Mark His poverty here below; consider the abundance of His riches above.” But if Christ, as St. Paul says, had not become poor for our sakes, not for His own, could He not have chosen a wealthy mother and might He not have been born in His own house? If the abnegation of earthly possessions is of no account in Christian perfection, why should our Lord have deprived Himself even of a home? Therefore, let the enemies of poverty blush and be silent, while the glory of this virtue radiates from the crib of Christ.
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| Et ne putetur paupertatem, quam in infantia sustinuit, in perfecta deseruisse aetate; videamus quid ipse de se dicat Matth. VIII, 20: filius, inquit, hominis non habet ubi caput suum reclinet; quasi dicat, ut Hieronymus exponit: quid me propter divitias et saeculi lucra cupis sequi, cum tantae sim paupertatis, ut nec hospitiolum quidem habeam, et tecto utar non meo. Et Chrysostomus idem exponens dicit: aspice qualiter paupertatem, quam dominus docuerat, per opera demonstravit. Non erat ei mensa, non candelabrum, non domus, nec quidquam aliud talium. Haec autem paupertas ad perfectionem pertinet, quam dominus et verbo docuit, et per opera demonstravit. Pertinet igitur ad perfectionem Christianae vitae terrenis possessionibus omnino carere.
| But, lest we may imagine that in his more mature years our Lord abandoned the poverty which He bore in childhood, let us consider His own words. “The Son of man,” He said, “has nowhere to lay His head (Mt 8:20). St. Jerome makes the following comment on this text: “Christ spoke thus, as if to say, ‘Why should you desire to follow me for the sake of gaining worldly pomp and riches, since my poverty is so extreme that I have no dwelling of mine own, and since the roof under which I sleep belongs not to me?” And St. Chrysostom, writing on the same subject, says, “Observe how our Lord exemplifies in His deeds the poverty which He taught by His words. He had neither table nor lantern nor house nor any such thing,” And this poverty which He preached both by word and deed belongs to perfection. Thus we see that the entire abnegation of all earthly possessions forms part of the perfection of the Christian life.
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| Rursus ulterius procedentes, invenimus testimonium paupertatis Christi ex hoc quod, cum pro eo tributum requireretur, dixit Petro: vade ad mare, et mitte hamum, et eum piscem qui primo ascenderit tolle, et aperto ore eius invenies staterem: illum sumens da eis pro me et te. In cuius expositione Hieronymus dicit: hoc etiam simpliciter intellectum aedificat auditorem, dum audit tantae dominum fuisse paupertatis ut unde tributa pro se et apostolo redderet, non habuerit.
| We find a further proof of the poverty practised by our Lord in the words which He spoke to St. Peter concerning the tribute money, “Go to the sea, and cast in a hook: and the fish which shall first come up, take; and when you open its mouth you shall find a coin; take it and give it to them for me and for you” (Mt 17:26). In his exposition of this text, St. Jerome says: “These words, understood simply, edify the hearer, showing as they do that the Lord was so poor that He had not nothing with which to pay tribute for Himself and His Apostle.”
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| Quod si quis obiicere voluerit, quomodo Iudas in loculis portabat pecuniam? Respondebimus. Rem pauperum in usus suos convertere nefas putavit, nobisque idem exemplum reliquit. Manifestum est autem, nec alicui Christiano debet venire in dubium, quod Christus summam perfectionem in sua conversatione servavit; unde et ad paupertatis perfectionem dicebat: si vis perfectus esse, vade et vende omnia quae habes, et da pauperibus; et veni, sequere me: in quo est perfectionis summa, ut Hieronymus dicit. Haec est igitur summa paupertatis perfectio ut ad exemplum Christi aliqui homines possessionibus careant, etsi aliqua reservent ad pauperum usum, praesertim quorum eis cura incumbit; sicut dominus praecipue suos discipulos propter ipsum pauperes effectos, de his quae sibi dabantur reservans, sustentabat.
| But, someone may object, how then could Judas carry money in his purse? We answer that our Lord considered it criminal to use the money intended for the poor for His own purposes and that, in this, He has left us an example. But it is clear, and cannot be called in question by any Christian, that Christ practised the most sublime perfection in the tenor of His life, and therefore He taught the perfection of poverty. “If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” These words, according to St. Jerome, contain the highest rule of perfection. Therefore it is the perfection of poverty for men, after the example of Christ, to be destitute of all possessions and only to reserve something for the poor, especially for those dependent upon them, Thus our Lord took care of His disciples who had made themselves poor for His sake, reserving for their sustenance something from the things which were given Him.
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| Inter cetera vero quae Christus in mortali vita vel fecit vel passus est, praecipue Christianis imitandum proponitur venerandae crucis exemplum: unde et ipse dominus dicebat Matth. XVI, 24: si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me; unde et apostolus quasi simul cum Christo cruci confixus, et in sola Christi cruce gloriam habens dicebat: ego stigmata domini in corpore meo porto, exemplum crucis diligenter secutus. Inter alia vero crucis insignia apparet omnimoda paupertas, in qua exterioribus rebus privatus est usque ad corporis nuditatem: unde ex persona eius in Psalmo dicitur: diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea, et super vestem meam miserunt sortem. Hanc autem crucis nuditatem per voluntariam paupertatem homines sequuntur, et praecipue qui possessionum redditibus carent; unde dicit Hieronymus ad Paulinum presbyterum: tu audita sententia salvatoris: si vis perfectus esse, vade, et vende omnia, quae habes, et da pauperibus, et veni, sequere me: verba vertis in opera, et nudam crucem nudus sequens, expeditior et levior scandis scalam Iacob. Et post pauca subdit: nihil est enim grande tristi et lurida facie vel simulare vel ostentare ieiunia, possessionum redditibus abundare, et vile iactare palliolum. Sic igitur patet inimicos esse crucis Christi praedictos adversarios paupertatis, qui terrena sapientes, terrenas possessiones ad perfectionem Christianam pertinere arbitrantur per quorum abiectionem fiat minor perfectio.
| But among all that Christ did and suffered during His mortal life, the example of His most holy Cross is, above all other things, proposed to Christians for their imitation. He Himself says, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). St. Paul also, speaking as though crucified with Christ, and exulting only in His Cross, says (Gal 6:17), “I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body,” being a diligent follower of the example of the Cross. Now among all that is conspicuous in the Cross, poverty is everywhere apparent. So utter, indeed, was the destitution of our Lord upon the Cross that He suffered even bodily nakedness and exclaims in the person of the Psalmist (21:19), “ They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots.” Now men imitate this nakedness of the Cross by voluntary poverty, especially when they renounce the revenues of their possessions. Thus St. Jerome, writing to the priest Paulinus, says, “Now that you have heard the counsel of our Saviour: ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor and come, follow Me,’ put His words into practice and, stripped of all things, follow the nakedness of the Cross. So shall you more easily and more speedily scale Jacob’s ladder.” A little further on, he adds, “It is no great thing for a man to wear a sad and pallid countenance, to make a display of fasting, and to wear a beggarly cloak if, at the same time, he draws a princely income from his property.” Hence we see how truly those are enemies of the Cross of Christ who impugn poverty and, savouring earthly things, deem that material possessions tend to Christian perfection, and that the abnegation of such possessions detracts from such perfection.
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| His igitur circa vitam Christi consideratis tam in eius ortu, quam in eius progressu, quam etiam in ipso crucis occasu; ad Christi doctrinam accedamus, qui discipulos simul et turbas instruens, a paupertate principium sumpsit, Matth. V, 3, ubi dicit: beati pauperes spiritu: quod Hieronymus exponens dicit: qui scilicet propter spiritum sanctum voluntate sunt pauperes: et, sicut Ambrosius dicit super Lucam: primum uterque Evangelista hanc beatitudinem posuit. Ordine enim prima est, et parens quaedam generatrixque virtutum: quia qui contempserit saecularia, ipse merebitur sempiterna: nec potest quisque meritum regni caelestis adipisci, qui mundi cupiditate possessus est.
| Now that we have considered certain points in the life of Christ, in His birth, in His manhood, and in His death upon the Cross, let us proceed to reflect upon His teaching. In the instruction which He gave both to His disciples and to the multitudes, He began with poverty as a foundation, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3). St Jerome explains these words as follows: “By the poor in spirit are to be understood they who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, have the will to be poor.” As St. Ambrose says, on the Gospel of Luke, “Both Evangelists mention the beatitude of poverty in the first place. And indeed poverty is the first in order of virtues, and the mother and producer of all others. For he who spurns earthly riches shall merit such as are eternal, neither can he deserve to receive the reward of the Kingdom of Heaven, who is possessed by the spirit of covetousness.”
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| Qualis autem pauper spiritu praecipue sit, b. Basilius ostendit dicens: beatus pauper, quasi Christi discipulus qui pro nobis paupertatem sustinuit: nam ipse dominus quodlibet opus implevit quod ad beatitudinem ducit, se praebens exemplar discentibus. Numquam autem dominus legitur possessiones habuisse. Non igitur beatitudinis detrimentum habet paupertas eorum qui possessionibus carere volunt propter Christum, sed magis beatitudinis augmentum. Deinde dominus electis duodecim apostolis, ad praedicandum eos mittens, concessa eis miraculorum potestate, inter cetera vitae documenta, primo inducit paupertatis doctrinam, dicens Matth. X, 9: nolite possidere aurum nec argentum, neque pecuniam in zonis vestris, non peram in via; quod exponens Eusebius Caesariensis dicit: prohibebat eis auri et argenti et aeris possessionem, praecognitione futurorum. Contemplabatur enim quod qui sanandi erant per eos, et ab incurabilibus passionibus liberandi, vellent eis cedere in omnibus bonis suis; et post aliqua subdit: putabat oportere conductos arrha regni Dei, terrena despicere, ut nec aurum nec argentum nec possessiones nec quidquam eorum quae mortales appretiantur, condignum existiment datis sibi caelestibus opibus; nec non cum milites eos faceret regni Dei, monebat eos colere paupertatem.
| St. Basil further shows us in these words what is specially meant by poverty of spirit: “Blessed is he who is poor as a true disciple of Christ, who bore poverty for us. For the Lord Himself accomplished every work that leads to perfection, giving Himself as an example to those who will learn of Him,” Now we never read that Christ owned any possessions. Therefore poverty is no hindrance to the perfection of those who desire to renounce what they possess, for the love of Christ; on the contrary such poverty greatly increases their perfection. Hence, when our Lord was sending forth His twelve chosen Apostles to preach, and when He had given them the power to perform miracles, He impressed upon them, as their first rule of life, the exercise of poverty, saying, “Do not possess gold nor silver, nor money in your purses, nor bag for your journey” (Mt 10:9). Thus, as Eusebius of Caesaraea says, “He forbade them the present use of gold, silver or brass, and also solicitude for their future needs. For he know that they who were to be healed by the Apostles and delivered by them from the violence of their passions would share their goods with them.” Eusebius further adds that “our Lord judged it fitting that they who were attracted by heavenly riches should despise earthly junk and should possess neither gold, nor silver nor any other property valued by men, but should esteem the heavenly treasures they were endowed with, as worth more then all such things. Therefore He made them soldiers of the Kingdom of Heaven, and told them to cherish poverty.”
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| Nullus enim militans Deo implicat se huius vitae negotiis, ut placeat domino. Et sicut Ieronymus dicit super Matth.: qui divitias detruncaverat (scilicet in verbis praemissis) propemodum etiam vitae necessaria amputat; ut apostoli doctores verae religionis, qui instituebant omnia Dei providentia gubernari, se ipsos ostenderent nihil cogitare de crastino. Et, sicut Chrysostomus dicit super Matth.: per huiusmodi praecepta primo quidem dominus discipulos facit non esse suspectos; secundo ab omni eos liberat solicitudine, ut vacationem omnem tribuant verbo Dei: tertio docet eos suam virtutem. Talis enim esse qui evangelizat regnum Dei, praeceptis evangelicis suadetur, sicut Ambrosius dicit super Lucam, ut subsidii saecularis. Adminicula non requirens fide tutus, putet sibi quo minus ea requirit, magis posse suppetere. Manifestum est autem quod si apostoli possessionem suscepissent, non minus, sed multo magis suspecti fuissent quod propter quaestum praedicarent, quam si aurum vel argentum possiderent. Multo etiam maiori solicitudine circa agrorum culturam occuparentur: multoque maius est saeculare adminiculum ex agris vel vineis possessis, quam si bona mobilia habeantur.
| “No soldier of God who desires to please Him entangles himself in the affairs of this life.” St. Jerome, commenting on the Gospel of St. Matthew, says, “He who, in the foregoing words, had forbidden the Apostles to possess riches, now almost prohibits them from providing themselves with the necessities of life, in order that they, the teachers of true religion, who were trained to believe that all things were ordered by the Providence of God, should show that they themselves took no thought for the morrow.” Again, St. Chrysostom, writing on the Gospel of St. Matthew, observes, “Our Lord, by this precept, first frees his disciples from bondage to riches; secondly, He delivers them from all solicitude, in order that they may give their entire attention to the word of God; thirdly, He teaches them His virtue. Thus then the precepts of the Gospel point out to us what manner of man he ought to be who preaches the Kingdom of God. He ought to be one who seeks not the support of material assistance, but, relying entirely on his Faith, reflects that the less he strives after these material things, the more God can supply him with them.” St. Ambrose speaks, in his commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, has this to say: “It is evident that if the Apostles had accepted property, they would have been not less, but far more open to suspicion than if they had owned gold and silver; for it would have been thought that they preached for the sake of what they could gain. They would likewise have been far more occupied with anxiety about the cultivation of their fields. For land or vineyards are a far greater source of material profit than are moveable chattels.”
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| Manifestum est igitur secundum expositiones praemissas apostolis interdictum fuisse ne agros vel vineas, vel alia huiusmodi bona immobilia possiderent. Quis autem dicat, nisi haereticus, primam discipulorum instructionem a Christo perfectioni evangelicae derogare? Mentiuntur ergo in doctrina fidei, dicentes, minoris esse perfectionis eos qui communibus possessionibus carent.
| It is evident then from these expositions that the Apostles were forbidden to possess lands, vineyards or any other fixed property. But who, save a heretic, would say that the first instruction of the disciples, given them by Christ Himself, was contrary to the principles of evangelical perfection? They therefore who say that it is less perfect for religious orders to be destitute of common property are falsifying the doctrine of the Faith.
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| Est autem ulterius considerandum qualiter praemissa domini praecepta fuerint ab apostolis observata, quia, ut Augustinus dicit in Lib. contra mendacium, divinae Scripturae non solum praecepta Dei retinent, sed etiam vitam moresque iustorum, ut si forte occultum est quemadmodum accipiendum sit quod praecipitur, in factis iustorum intelligatur. Quod autem nihil temporalium possiderent, aut etiam in via deferrent ante tempus passionis, aperte ostenditur ex hoc quod legitur Luc. XXII, 35; ubi dominus discipulis dixit: quando misi vos sine sacculo et pera et calceamentis, nunquid aliquid defuit vobis? At illi dixerunt, nihil. Sed quia ibi subditur: dixit ergo eis: sed nunc qui habet sacculum, tollat similiter et peram: posset alicui videri quod dominus totaliter priora praecepta relaxaverit. Sed hanc relaxationem quantum ad personas apostolorum, ad solum tempus imminentis persecutionis esse referendam, apparet ex verbis Bedae, qui dicit: non eadem vivendi regula persecutionis qua pacis tempore discipulos informat. Missis quidem discipulis ad praedicandum, ne quid tollerent in via praecepit; mortis vero instante periculo, et tota simul gente pastorem pariter gregemque persequente, congruam tempori regulam decrevit, permittens ut tollant victui necessaria, donec sopita insania persecutorum, tempus evangelizandi redeat. Et subdit: ubi nobis quoque dat exemplum, ex iusta nonnunquam causa instante quaedam de nostri propositi rigore posse sine culpa intermitti. Ex quo etiam apparet ad rigorem evangelicae disciplinae pertinere quod aliquis careat omni possessione terrena.
| But we must finally consider in what manner these precepts of our Lord were observed by the Apostles. For, as St. Augustine says in his book Contra mendacium: “Holy Scripture contains not only the divine precepts, but also the life and conduct of the just; in order that if, by any chance, we may be uncertain how some commandment is to be understood, we may be enlightened by studying the example of holy men.” Now we know that before the Passion the Apostles possessed nothing and carried no provision on their journeys. Luke (22: 35) reports that our Lord said to them, “When I sent you without purse, or bag or shoes, did you want anything? They said, ‘nothing’.” Immediately afterwards, however, “Then said He unto them, ‘But now he who has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a bag.” It might appear as if Christ, in these words, entirely rescinded His former precept; but the dispensation was only a temporary one, granted on account of impending persecution. Venerable Bede says, “He does not govern His disciples by the same rule in the time of persecution and in the time of peace. When He sent them to preach, He forbad them to take anything with them on the way; for it was His ordinance that those who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel. When, however, the danger of death was imminent, and the whole nation was persecuting the Shepherd and the flock, He gave His disciples a rule befitting the time, allowing them to provide themselves with the necessities of life, until such time as the fury of their persecutors should be appeased, and a convenient season for preaching the Gospel should return. Hereby He also teaches us that for certain just causes, we may, without sin, somewhat relax the severity of our customary exercises.” We also see that absolute renunciation of earthly possessions forms part of the rigour of evangelical discipline.
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| Quid autem super hoc apostoli post passionem servaverint et servandum tradiderint, aperte in actibus apostolorum docetur: legitur enim Act. IV, 32, quod multitudinis credentium erat cor unum et anima una: nec quisquam eorum quae possidebat, aliquid suum esse dicebat; sed erant illis omnia communia. Et ne aliquis dicat, eos habuisse possessiones communes, puta agros vel vineas, vel aliquid huiusmodi, hoc per sequentia excluditur: sequitur enim: quotquot possessores agrorum aut domorum erant, vendentes afferebant pretia eorum quae vendebant, et ponebant ante pedes apostolorum. Ex quo patet hanc esse evangelicae vitae observantiam ab apostolis observatam, ut ea quae ad necessitatem vitae pertinent, possideantur communiter, possessionibus omnino abdicatis. Quod autem hoc ad abundantiorem perfectionem pertineat apparet per Augustinum in III de doctrina Christiana, ubi dicit: qui crediderunt ex Iudaeis, ex quibus facta est prima Ecclesia Hierosolymis, satis ostenderunt quanta utilitas fuerit sub paedagogo, idest sub lege, custodiri. Namque tam capaces extiterunt spiritus sancti ut omnia sua venderent eorumque pretium indigentibus distribuendum ante apostolorum pedes ponerent. Et postea subdit: non enim hoc ullas Ecclesias gentium fecisse scriptum est; quia non tam prope inventi erant qui simulacra manufacta deos habebant.
| If we enquire as to the manner in which, after the Passion, the Apostles observed this precept, and how they taught their successors to keep it, we shall find information in the fourth Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where we read, “And the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul: neither did any one say that any of the things he possessed was his own , but all things were common to them.” It cannot be held that they possessed common property, such as lands or vineyards or anything of the kind, for in the same chapter of the Acts we read, “For as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them, and brought he price of the things they sold, and laid it down at the feet of the Apostles.” It is thus made clear that the rule of the evangelical life was that the necessities of life were possessed in common, and that property was absolutely resigned by its owners. St. Augustine points out in De doctrina christiana that this practice is conducive to the highest perfection. “The believers among the Jewish nation,” he says; “who formed the first Church, that of Jerusalem, proved most abundantly how advantageous it was for them to have grown up under the school master, viz., the Law. For they were so evidently under the influence of the Holy Spirit that they sold all their possessions, and laid the price at the feet of the Apostles to be distributed among the poor. We do not (he continues) find the same fact noted of any Church of the Gentiles; for they who had worshipped false gods, made by hands, were not found so open to the Holy Spirit.”
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| Videtur tamen huius rei aliam rationem assignare Melchiades Papa, qui, ut habetur 12, quaest. I, dicit: futuram Ecclesiam in gentibus apostoli praeviderant: idcirco praedia in Iudaea minime sunt adepti, sed pretia tantummodo ad fovendos egentes. At vero cum inter turbines et adversa mundi succresceret Ecclesia, ad hoc usque pervenit ut non solum gentes, sed etiam Romani principes, qui totius orbis monarchiam tenebant, ad fidem Christi et Baptismi sacramenta concurrerent. Ex quibus vir religiosissimus Constantinus licentiam dedit non solum fieri Christianos, sed etiam fabricandi Ecclesias, et praedia constituit tribuenda. Et in sequenti capitulo Urbanus Papa dicit: videntes summi sacerdotes, et alii, atque Levitae et reliqui fideles plus utilitatis posse conferre, si hereditates et agros quos vendebant, Ecclesiis quibus praesiderent episcopi traderent, eo quod ex sumptibus eorum tam praesentibus quam futuris temporibus plura et elegantiora possent ministrare fidelibus communem vitam ducentibus, quam ex pretio eorum, coeperunt praedia et agros, quos vendere solebant, matricibus Ecclesiis tradere, et ex sumptibus eorum vivere.
| Pope Melchiades, however, assigns a different reason for the same fact. In XII, quaest. 1 he says, “The Apostles, foreseeing that the future Church would be founded among the Gentiles, did not acquire much property from the Jews, but only money for the sustenance of the needy. Now however, amidst much storm and stress, the Church gradually acquired a footing in the world, and it came to pass that not only entire nations, but even the Roman emperors, the rulers of the whole earth, flocked to profess the Faith of Christ and to receive Baptism. Constantine, that most religious prince, was the first to give permission not only for his subjects to become Christians, but also for Churches to be erected; and he ordained that certain land should be given up to this purpose.” In the following chapter, Pope Urban says, “The High Priests and Levites and others and the rest of the faithful saw that it would be more profitable if the bishops were to make over to the churches which they governed the lands and other property which was customarily sold. By means of the charges on these estates, the Bishops would be able, both at the present time and in the future, to provide more abundantly and conveniently for the needs of the faithful, living a common life, than they could have done by the sums realised from the sale of the property. Therefore they began to assign to the mother churches the landed property which they had hitherto sold; and they lived on the income derived from it.”
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| Ex his ergo videtur quod melius sit possessiones in communi habere quam aliqua mobilia ad victum pertinentia; et quod in primitiva Ecclesia praedia vendebantur, non quia hoc esset melius, sed quia praevidebant apostoli quod apud Iudaeos Ecclesia duratura non erat, partim propter Iudaeorum infidelitatem, partim propter excidium quod eis imminebat. Sed si quis recte consideret, haec praemissis non contrariantur. Ecclesia enim in sui primordio in omnibus suis membris talis fuit, qualis postmodum vix apud perfectos quoscumque invenitur: sicut enim natura, sic et gratia debuit a perfectis initium assumere. Et ideo apostoli secundum illum statum fidelium vitam ordinaverunt perfectioni convenientem: unde dicit Hieronymus in Lib. de illustribus viris: apparet talem primum Christo credentium fuisse Ecclesiam, quales nunc monachi esse nituntur et cupiunt, ut nihil cuiusquam proprium sit, nullus inter eos dives, nullus pauper; patrimonia egentibus dividantur, orationi vacetur et Psalmis, doctrinae quoque ac continentiae. Hic autem modus vivendi perfectioni congruus fuit apud primos credentes, non solum in Iudaea sub apostolis, sed etiam apud Aegyptum sub Marco Evangelista, ut ibidem Hieronymus dicit, et sicut in 2 Lib. ecclesiasticae historiae narratur.
| Hence we see that it is better to have land in common, rather than chattels which can be sold to procure the necessities of life. Land was sold in the primitive Church, not because the Apostles esteemed that to be the best course, but because they foresaw that the Church would have no permanence among the Jews, partly on account of their infidelity, and partly because of the ruin which was to overwhelm their nation. The apparent inconsistency of these arrangements disappears, when we attentively consider the state of the case. For, in the early days of the Church, all her members were as holy as the most perfect of her children in later days. Therefore the Church had, in the order both of nature and of grace, to lay her foundations among the perfect; and consequently the Apostles ordained a mode of life consonant with perfection. St. Jerome, in his book De illustribus viris, says, “It seems as if at first the Church of believers had been of the standard that monks now endeavour and strive to reach. Nothing was the private property of anyone; among them were no rich nor poor; patrimonies were divided among the needy; and men devoted themselves to prayer, to perfect doctrine, and to continence.” This perfect mode of life was practised among the primitive believers not only in Judaea under the Apostle, but also in Egypt under St. Mark the Evangelist. This we learn from St. Jerome and also from Book II of the Ecclesiastical History.
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| Processu vero temporis, multi in Ecclesia erant intraturi qui ab hac perfectione deficerent: quod non erat futurum ante Iudaeorum excidium, sed Ecclesia apud gentes multiplicata. Quod postquam contingit, utile iudicaverunt Ecclesiarum praelati ut praedia et agri Ecclesiis conferrentur, non propter perfectiores quosque, sed propter infirmiores, qui ad primorum fidelium perfectionem attingere non valerent. Fuerunt tamen et aliqui postmodum primae perfectionis aemuli, qui in congregationibus viventes possessionibus caruerunt, sicut plurima monachorum collegia in Aegypto. Narrat enim Gregorius in tertio dialogorum libro de quodam sanctissimo viro Isaac, quod de Syriae partibus in Italiam veniens, perfectionis formam quam in oriente didicerat, in occidente observavit. Cum enim: crebro ei discipuli humiliter innuerent, ut pro usu monasterii possessiones quae offerebantur acciperet, ille sollicitus suae paupertatis custos, fortem sententiam tenebat dicens: monachus qui in terra possessionem quaerit, monachus non est; quod non potest intelligi de inquisitione possessionum per modum proprietatis habendarum: non enim praemissum est, quod ei possessiones offerrentur nisi pro monasterii usu. Neque tamen eius sententia sic intelligenda est, quasi possessiones communes habentes, omnino monachorum perfectione deficiant, sed hoc dicebat propter periculum paupertatis amittendae, quod imminet plerisque monachorum communes possessiones habentium. Dicit enim Hieronymus in epitaphio Nepotiani ad Heliodorum episcopum: sunt ditiores monachi quam fuerant saeculares; possident opes sub Christo paupere, quas sub locuplete Diabolo non habuerant; suspirat eos Ecclesia divites, quos tenuit mundus ante mendicos. Et ideo signanter Gregorius de s. Isaac subdit: sic quippe metuebat paupertatis suae securitatem perdere, sicut avari divites solent perituras divitias custodire. Unde ad eius sanctitatem dominus ostendendam eum clarificavit; subdit enim Gregorius de eo ibi: itaque prophetiae spiritu magnisque miraculis cunctis longe lateque habitantibus vita eius inclaruit. Manifestum est igitur ad cumulum perfectionis pertinere quod aliqui possessiones non habeant nec proprias nec communes.
| In process of time, however, many were to enter the Church who would not live up to this standard of perfection. This was not to the case before the dispersion of the Jews, but afterwards, when the Church was disseminated among the Gentiles. When this state of things came to pass, the prelates of the Churches judged that landed property might advantageously be bestowed upon the churches, and this not as before, for the sake of the perfect, but on account of the weaker brethren who could not attain to the perfection of the earlier Christians. But there were, nevertheless, both at that time and later, certain men who were zealous for primitive perfection and who, like the monks of Egypt, gathered themselves into congregations and renounced all possessions. St. Gregory (III Dial.) mentions a certain holy Isaac who, coming from Syria into Italy, practised in the West the perfection which he had learned in the East. His disciples would frequently humbly beseech him to accept, for the use of the monastery, the property offered to him; but, anxious to preserve his property inviolate, he made the decisive reply that “a monk seeking earthly possessions is no monk.” This saying cannot be understood to refer to private property, since we are told that what was offered to Isaac, was pressed on him for the use of his monastery. Neither is it to be inferred that all monks who hold possessions in common are deficient in religious perfection. The words of Isaac were instigated by his fear of his failing in the virtue of poverty, a danger which threatens many religious who own property in common. For, as St. Jerome says in his epitaph on Nepotian to the Bishop Hehodorus, “Some men are richer as religious than they were as laymen. Now that they belong to Christ the Poor, they own wealth which they never possessed when they belonged to Satan the opulent; and the Church mourns over the riches of those whom the world formerly regarded as beggars.” Hence St. Gregory, speaking of St. Isaac, says, “He feared to lose the treasure of his poverty, just as a miser fears to lose his hoard of perishable wealth, and the Lord, to manifest his holiness, has glorified him.” For, as St. Gregory tells us farther on, “he became known far and wide for his spirit of prophecy and his great gift of miracles.” Hence it is evident that the absence of any possessions, either common or private, is for some men the path to sublime perfection.
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| Adhuc potest hoc evidenter ostendi, si ratio consiliorum ad evangelicam perfectionem pertinentium consideretur. Ad hoc enim introducuntur ut homines a curis mundi expediti, liberius Deo vacent. Unde apostolus proposito consilio de virginitate servanda, dicit: qui sine uxore est, solicitus est quae sunt domini, quomodo placeat Deo; qui autem cum uxore est, solicitus est quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori; et divisus est. Ex quo patet, tanto aliqua magis ad consiliorum perfectionem pertinere, quanto magis hominem a solicitudine mundi absolvunt. Manifestum est autem quod divitiarum et possessionum cura impedit animum a rebus divinis. Dicitur enim Matth. XIII, 22: qui seminatus est in spinis, hic est qui verbum audit; et solicitudo saeculi istius et fallacia divitiarum suffocat verbum, et sine fructu efficitur: quod exponens Hieronymus dicit: blandae sunt divitiae, aliud agentes et aliud pollicentes. Lubrica est earum possessio; dum huc illucque circumferuntur, et instabili gradu vel habentes deserunt, vel non habentes reficiunt.
| We shall understand this more clearly, if we examine the motive underlying the counsels pertaining to evangelical perfection. These counsels are given in order that by their means men may be delivered from earthly solicitude, and thus be more free to serve God. St. Paul tells us as much, when he gives the council concerning virginity, “He who is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he who is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided” (1 Cor 7:32). Hence we we that the more any course of action delivers us from worldly anxiety, so much the more does it pertain to evangelical perfection. Now it is clear that the possession of wealth and property distracts the soul from divine things, for, to use our Lord’s, simile, “He who received the seed among thorns is he who hears the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes up the word and he becomes fruitless” (Mt 13:18). St. Jerome’s commentary on these words runs as follows: “Riches ate flatterers, promising one thing and doing another. Their possession is most uncertain: for when they are carried here and there and seem likely to endure, they desert their owners or rejoice those who previously possessed them not.”
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| Hoc etiam evidenter ostenditur Luc. XIV, 18: ubi unus de his qui sunt vocati ad coenam se excusavit dicens: villam emi, et necesse habeo ire, et videre illam. Et, sicut Gregorius dicit, quid per villam nisi terrena substantia designatur? Exit ergo videre illam qui sola exteriora cogitat. In fine autem parabolae subditur: pauperes et debiles introduc huc: quod exponens Ambrosius, dicit, quod rarius delinquit cui deest illecebra peccandi, et citius ad Deum convertitur qui non habet in mundo unde delectetur. Sic igitur patet quod possessiones et quascumque divitias omnino non habere, magis ad evangelicam perfectionem pertineat. Item Augustinus dicit in Lib. de verbis domini: minimi Christi sunt illi qui omnia sua dimiserunt, et secuti sunt eum, et quidquid habuerunt, pauperibus distribuerunt, ut Deo sine saeculari compede expediti servirent, et ab oneribus mundi liberatos, velut pennatos, sursum humeros tollerent. Hi sunt minimi, quia humiles. Appende minimos istos, et grave pondus invenies. Nullus autem sani capitis dicet, ad mundi onera non pertinere communium possessionum curam.
| The same thing is taught us in the parable of the supper (Luke 14:18), where one of the invited guests is represented as excusing himself from attendance by the words, “I have bought a farm, and I must go out and see it.” “What,” asks St, Gregory, “are we to understand by this farm except material possessions? That man then goes out to we his farm who thinks of nothing but exterior things.” At the end of the parable the master of the supper says to his servants, “Bring in here the poor and the feeble.” Commenting on which, St. Ambrose observes that “he who lacks the enjoyments of sin, sins more rarely; and he who has no worldly pleasures is more easily converted to God.” Thus we see that the entire absence of property and wealth of any kind leads to evangelical perfection. St. Augustine likewise says in his book De verbis Domini, “The little ones of Christ are those who have renounced all things and have followed Him, All that they had, they have given to the poor, in order to serve God free from any earthly tie. Being thus delivered from the burdens of the world, they soar upwards as if on wings. They are little because they are humble; but weigh them, and you will find them very heavy.” Now no sane person can say that the care of common property is not a worldly care. Therefore, it adds to their perfection when men serve God freed from such shackles.
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| Pertinet igitur ad perfectionis pondus ut etiam ab huiusmodi compedibus expediti homines serviant Deo. Sic igitur patet vanam esse doctrinam, immo pestiferam, et Christianae doctrinae contrariam, illorum qui dicunt, quod possessionibus communibus carere propter Christum, ad perfectionem non pertineat; de quibus, super illud Psalmi: convertantur et erubescant valde velociter, dicit Glossa: hoc non est hic, ubi potius iniqui irrident eos qui omnia relinquunt, et suis irrisionibus infirmos de Christi nomine erubescere faciunt. Ad eos etiam pertinere videtur quod alibi in Psalmo dicitur: consilium inopis confudistis, quoniam dominus spes eius est: ubi dicit Glossa: inopis cuiuslibet, qui est membrum Christi: et hoc ideo fecistis quoniam dominus est spes eius. Unde ergo magis reverendus erat, inde magis contemnitur. Quid enim aliud isti faciunt nisi quod contemnere nituntur eos qui Christianae paupertatis consilium perfecte sectantur: et hoc ideo quia non in terrenis possessionibus, sed in Deo spem habent?
| Hence we see that those who teach that the renunciation of common property for the love of Christ does not pertain to perfection, are inculcating a most dangerous error, and spreading an opinion completely at variance with Christian doctrine. The Gloss on the verse of Psalm 6, “Let them be turned back, and shamed very speedily,” says, “This fate does not befall the sinner in this world where, on the contrary, the workers of iniquity mock and put to the blush the little ones of Christ who have renounced all things for his sake.” Rather do the following words of Psalm 13:6 seem to apply to them: “You have confounded the counsel of the poor man, but the Lord is his hope.” The Gloss thus comments on this verse, “The needy is a member of Christ; and you have acted thus towards him because the Lord is his hope.” That very reason which ought to make you revere him only causes you so much the more to despise him. For what else do these men do save endeavour to contemn those who follow in its perfection the counsel of Christian poverty? And why do they despise them, except because their hope is established not in possessions, but in God?
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