by Bede
Uir autem cum propria coniuge dormiens, nisi lotus aqua, intrare ecclesiam non debet; sed neque lotus intrare statim debet. Lex autem ueteri populo praecepit, ut mixtus uir mulieri, et lauari aqua debeat, et ante solis occasum ecclesiam non intrare; quod tamen intellegi spiritaliter potest. Quia mulieri uir miscetur, quando inlicitae concupiscentiae animus in cogitatione per delectationem coniungitur; quia, nisi prius ignis concupiscentiae a mente deferueat, dignum se congregationi fratrum aestimare non debet, qui se grauari per nequitiam prauae uoluntatis uidet. Quamuis de hac re diuersae hominum nationes diuersa sentiant, atque alia custodire uideantur, Romanorum tamen semper ab antiquioribus usus fuit, post amixtioncm propriae coniugis, et lauacri purificationem quaerere, et ab ingressu ecclesiae paululum reuerenter abstinere Nec haec dicentes culpam deputamus esse coniugium; sed quia ipsa licita amixtio coniugis sine uoluntate carnis fieri non potest, a sacri loci ingressu abstinendum est; quia uoluntas ipsa esse sine culpa nullatenus potest. Non enim de adulterio uel fornicatione, sed de legitimo coniugio natus fuerat, qui dicebat: ‘Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum, et in delictis peperit me mater mea.’
Qui enim in iniquitatibus conceptum se nouerat, a delicto se natum gemebat; quia portat in ramo umorem uitii, quem traxit ex radice. In quibus tamen uerbis non amixtionem coniugum iniquitatem nominat, sed ipsam uidelicet uoluntatem amixtionis. Sunt etenim multa, quae licita ac legitima, et tamen in eorum actu aliquatenus fedamur;
sicut saepe irascendo culpas insequimur, et tranquillitatem in nobis animi perturbamus; et cum rectum sit, quod agitur, non est tamen adprobabile, quod in eo animus perturbatur. Contra uitia quippe delinquentium iratus fuerat, qui diccbat: ‘Turbatus est prae ira oculus meus.’ Quia cnim non ualet nisi tranquilla mens in contemplationis se lucem suspendere, in ira suum oculum turbatum dolebat; quia, dum male acta deorsum insequitur, confundi atque turbari a summorum contemplatione cogebatur. Et laudabilis ergo est ira contra uitium, et tamen molesta, qua turbatum se aliquem reatum incurrisse aestimabat. Oportet itaque legitimam carnis copulam, ut causa prolis sit, non uoluntatis; et carnis commixtio creandorum liberorum sit gratia, non satisfactio uitiorum. Siquis uero suam coniugem non cupidine uoluptatis raptus, sed solummodo creandorum liberorum gratia utitur, iste profecto siue de ingressu ecclesiae, seu de sumendo dominici corporis sanguinisque mysterio, suo est iudicio relinquendus; quia a nobis prohiberi non debet accipere, qui in igne positus nescit ardere. Cum uero non amor ortandi subolis, sed uoluntas dominatur in opere commixtionis, habent coniuges etiam de sua commixtione, quod defleant. Hoc enim eis concedit sancta praedicatio, et tamen de ipsa concessione metu animum concutit. Nam cum Paulus apostolus diceret: ‘Qui se continere non potest, habeat uxorem suam,’ statim subiungere curauit: ‘Hoc autem dico secundum indulgentiam, non secundum imperium.’ Non enim indulgetur, quod licet, quia iustum est. Quod igitur indulgere dixit, culpam esse demonstrauit.
Uigilanti uero mente pensandum est, quod in Sina monte Dominus ad populum locuturus prius eundem populum abstinere a mulieribus praecipit. Et si illic, ubi Dominus per creaturam subditam hominibus loquebatur, tanta prouisione est munditia corporis requisita, ut, qui uerba Dei perciperent, mulieribus mixti non essent: quanto magis mulieres, quae corpus Domini omnipotentis accipiunt, custodire in se munditiam carnis debent, ne ipsa inaestimabilis mystcrii magnitudine grauentur? Hinc etiam ad Dauid de pueris suis per sacerdotem dicitur, ut si a mulieribus mundi essent, panes propositionis acciperent, quos omnino non acciperent, nisi prius mundos eos Dauid a mulieribus fateretur. Tunc autem uir, qui post amixtionem coniugis lotus aqua fuerit, etiam sacrae communionis mysterium ualet accipere, cum ei iuxta praefinitam sententiam etiam ecclesiam licuerit intrare.
VIIII. Interrogatio Augustini: Si post inlusionem, quae per somnium solet accedere, uel corpus Domini quislibet accipere ualeat: uel, si sacerdos sit, sacra mysteria celebrare?
Respondit Gregorius: Hunc quidem testamentum ueteris legis, sicut in superiori capitulo iam diximus, pollutum dicit, et nisi lotum aqua ei usque ad uesperum intrare ecclesiam non concedit. Quod tamen aliter populus spiritalis intellegens sub eodem intellectu accipiet, quo praefati sumus; quia quasi per somnium inluditur, qui temtatus inmunditia, ueris imaginibus in cogitatione inquinatur; sed lauandus est aqua, ut culpas cogitationis lacrimis abluat; et nisi prius ignis temtationis reciderit, reum se quasi usque ad uesperum cognoscat. Sed est in eadem inlusione ualde necessaria discretio, quae subtiliter pensari debet, ex qua re accedat menti dormientis;
aliquando enim ex crapula, aliquando ex naturae superfluitate uel infirmitate, aliquando ex cogitatione contingit. Et quidem cum ex naturae superfluitate uel infirmitate euenerit, omnimodo haec inlusio non est timenda; quia hanc animum nescientem pertulisse magis dolendum est, quam fecisse. Cum uero ultra modum appetitus gulae in sumendis alimentis rapitur, atque idcirco umorum receptacula grauantur, habet exinde animus aliquem reatum, non tamen usque ad prohibitionem percipiendi sancti mysterii uel missarum sollemnia celebrandi; cum fortasse aut festus dies exigit, aut exhiberi mysterium (pro eo, quod sacerdos alius in loco deest) ipsa necessitas conpellit. Nam si adsunt alii, qui implere ministerium ualeant, inlusio pro crapula facta a perceptione sacri mysterii prohibere non debet; sed ab immolatione sacri mysterii abstinere, ut arbitror, humiliter debet; si tamen dormientis mentem turpi imaginatione non concusserit. Nam sunt, quibus ita plerumque inlusio nascitur, ut eorum animus, etiam in somno corporis positus, turpibus imaginationibus non fedetur. Qua in re unum ibi ostenditur ipsa mens rea, non tamen uel suo iudicio libera, cum se, etsi dormienti corpore, nihil meminit uidisse, tamen in uigiliis corporis meminit in ingluuiem cecidisse. Sin uero ex turpi cogitatione uigilantis oritur inlusio dormientis, patet animo reatus suus; uidet enim, a qua radice inquinatio illa processerit, quia, quod cogitauit sciens, hocpertulit nesciens. Sed pensandum est, ipsa cogitatio utrum suggestione an delectatione, uel, quod maius est, peccati consensu acciderit. Tribus enim modis impletur omne peccatum, uidelicet suggestione, delectatione, consensu. Suggestio quippe fit per diabolum, delectatio per carnem, consensus per spiritum; quia et primam culpam serpens suggessit, Eua uelut caro delectata est, Adam uero uelut spiritus consensit; et necessaria est magna discretio, ut inter suggestionem atque delectationem, inter delectationem et consensum iudex sui animus praesideat. Cum enim malignus spiritus peccatum suggerit in mente, si nulla peccati delectatio sequatur, peccatum omnimodo perpetratum non est; cum uero delectare caro coeperit, tunc peccatum incipit nasci; si autem etiam ex deliberatione consentit, tunc peccatum cognoscitur perfici. In suggestione igitur peccati semen est, in delectatione fit nutrimentum, in consensu perfectio. Et saepe contingit, ut hoc, quod malignus spiritus seminat in cogitatione, caro in delectationem trahat; nec tamen anima eidem delectationi consentiat. Et cum caro delectare sine animo nequeat, ipse tamen animus carnis uoluptatibus reluctans, in delectatione carnali aliquo modo ligatur inuitus, ut ei ex ratione contradicat, ne consentiat; et tamen delectatione ligatus sit, sed ligatum se uehementer ingemiscat. Unde et ille caelestis exercitus praecipuus miles gemebat dicens: ‘Uideo aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae et captiuum me ducentem in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis.’ Si autem captiuus erat, minimc pugnabat; sed et pugnabat; quapropter et captiuus erat, et pugnabat igitur legi mentis, cui lex, quae in membris est, repugnabat. Si autem pugnabat, captiuus non erat. Ecce itaque homo est, ut ita dixerim, captiuus et liber; liber ex iustitia, quam diligit, captiuus ex delectatione, quam portat inuitus.
Chap. XXVII.
How St. Augustine, being made a bishop, sent to acquaint Pope Gregory with what had been done in Britain, and asked and received replies, of which he stood in need. [597-601 a.d.]
In the meantime, Augustine, the man of God, went to Arles, and, according to the orders received from the holy Father Gregory, was ordained archbishop of the English nation, by Aetherius, archbishop of that city. Then returning into Britain, he sent Laurentius the the priest and Peter the monk to Rome, to acquaint Pope Gregory, that the English nation had received the faith of Christ, and that he was himself
made their bishop. At the same time, he desired his solution of some doubts which seemed urgent to him. He soon received fitting answers to his questions, which we have also thought meet to insert in this our history:
The First Question of the blessed Augustine, Bishop of the Church of Canterbury. — Concerning bishops, what should be their manner of conversation towards their clergy? or into how many portions the offerings of the faithful at the altar are to be divided? and how the bishop is to act in the Church?
Gregory, Pope of the City of Rome, answers. — Holy Scripture, in which we doubt not you are well versed, testifies to this, and in particular the Epistles of the Blessed Paul to Timothy, wherein he endeavours to show him what should be his manner of conversation in the house of God; but it is the custom of the Apostolic see to prescribe these rules to bishops when they are ordained: that all emoluments which accrue, are to be divided into four portions; — one for the bishop and his household, for hospitality and entertainment of guests; another for the clergy; a third for the poor; and the fourth for the repair of churches. But in that you, my brother, having been instructed in monastic rules, must not live apart from your clergy in the Church of the English, which has been lately, by the will of God, converted to the faith, you must establish the manner of conversation of our fathers in the primitive Church, among whom, none said that aught of the things which they possessed was his own, but they had all things common.
But if there are any clerks not received into holy orders, who cannot live continent, they are to take wives, and receive their stipends outside of the community; because we know that it is written concerning the same fathers of whom we have spoken that a distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. Care is also to be taken of their stipends, and provision to be made, and they are to be kept under ecclesiastical rule, that they may live orderly, and attend to singing of psalms, and, by the help of God, preserve their hearts and tongues and bodies from all that is unlawful. But as for those that live in common, there is no need to say anything of assigning portions, or dispensing hospitality and showing mercy; inasmuch as all that they have over is to be spent in pious and religious works, according to the teaching of Him who is the Lord and Master of all, “Give alms of such things as ye have over, and behold all things are clean unto you.”
Augustine’s Second Question. — Whereas the faith is one and the same, are there different customs in different Churches? and is one custom of Masses observed in the holy Roman Church, and another in the Church of Gaul?
Pope Gregory answers. — You know, my brother, the custom of the Roman Church in which you remember that you were bred up. But my will is, that if you have found anything, either in the Roman, or the Gallican, or any other Church, which may be more acceptable to Almighty God, you should carefully make choice of the same, and sedulously teach the Church of the English, which as yet is new in the faith, whatsoever you can gather from the several Churches. For things are not to be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things. Choose, therefore, from every Church those things that are pious, religious, and right, and when you have, as it were, made them up into one bundle, let the minds of the English be accustomed thereto.
Augustine’s Third Question. — I beseech you, what punishment must be inflicted on one who steals anything from a church?
Gregory answers. — You may judge, my brother, by the condition of the thief, in what manner he is to be corrected. For there are some, who, having substance, commit theft; and there are others, who transgress in this matter through want. Wherefore it is requisite, that some be punished with fines, others with stripes; some with more severity, and some more mildly. And when the severity is greater, it is to proceed from charity, not from anger; because this is done for the sake of him who is corrected, that he may not be delivered up to the fires of Hell. For it behoves us to maintain discipline among the faithful, as good parents do with their children according to the flesh, whom they punish with stripes for their faults, and yet they design to make those whom they chastise their heirs, and preserve their possessions for those whom they seem to visit in wrath. This charity is, therefore, to be kept in mind, and it dictates the measure of the punishment, so that the mind may do nothing beyond the rule prescribed by reason. You will add to this, how men are to restore those things which they have stolen from the church. But let not the Church take more than it has lost of its worldly possessions, or seek gain from vanities.
Augustine’s Fourth Question. — Whether two full brothers may marry two sisters, who are of a family far removed from them?
Gregory answers. — Most assuredly this may lawfully be done; for nothing is found in Holy Writ on this matter that seems to contradict it.
Augustine’s Fifth Question. — To what degree may the faithful marry with their kindred? and is it lawful to marry a stepmother or a brother’s wife?
Gregory answers. — A certain secular law in the Roman commonwealth allows, that the son and daughter of a brother and sister, or of two full brothers, or two sisters, may be joined in matrimony; but we have found, by experience, that the offspring of such wedlock cannot grow up; and the Divine law forbids a man to “uncover the nakedness of his kindred.” Hence of necessity it must be the third or fourth generation of the faithful, that can be lawfully joined in matrimony; for the second, which we have mentioned, must altogether abstain from one another. To marry with one’s stepmother is a heinous crime, because it is written in the Law, “Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father:” now the son, indeed, cannot uncover his father’s nakedness; but in regard that it is written, “They twain shall be one flesh,” he that presumes to uncover the nakedness of his stepmother, who was one flesh with his father, certainly uncovers the nakedness of his father. It is also prohibited to marry with a sister-in-law, because by the former union she is become the brother’s flesh. For which thing also John the Baptist was beheaded, and obtained the crown of holy martyrdom. For, though he was not ordered to deny Christ, and it was not for confessing Christ that he was killed, yet inasmuch as the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, said, “I am the Truth,” because John was killed for the truth, he also shed his blood for Christ.
But forasmuch as there are many of the English, who, whilst they were still heathens, are said to have been joined in this unholy union, when they attain to the faith they are to be admonished to abstain, and be made to know that this is a grievous sin. Let them fear the dread judgement of God, lest, for the gratification of their carnal desires, they incur the torments of eternal punishment. Yet they are not on this account to be deprived of the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, lest they should seem to be punished for those things which they did through ignorance before they had received Baptism. For in these times the Holy Church chastises some things with zeal, and tolerates some in mercy, and is blind to some in her wisdom, and so, by forbearance and blindness often suppresses the evil that stands in her way. But all that come to the faith are to be admonished not to presume to do such things. And if any shall be guilty of them, they are to be excluded from the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. For as the offence is, in some measure, to be tolerated in those who did it through ignorance, so it is to be rigorously punished in those who do not fear to sin knowingly.
Augustine’s Sixth Question. — Whether a bishop may be consecrated without other bishops being present, if there be so great a distance between them, that they cannot easily come together?
Gregory answers. — In the Church of England, of which you are as yet the only bishop, you cannot otherwise ordain a bishop than in the absence of other bishops. For when do bishops come over from Gaul, that they may be present as witnesses to you in ordaining a bishop? But we would have you, my brother, to ordain bishops in such a manner, that the said bishops may not be far asunder, to the end that there be no lack, but that at the ordination of a bishop other pastors also, whose presence is of great benefit, should easily come together. Thus, when, by the help of
God, bishops shall have been ordained in places near to one another, no ordination of a bishop is to take place without assembling three or four bishops. For, even in spiritual affairs, we may take example by the temporal, that they may be wisely and discreetly conducted. For surely, when marriages are celebrated in the world, some married persons are assembled, that those who went before in the way of matrimony, may also partake in the joy of the new union. Why, then, at this spiritual ordinance, wherein, by means of the sacred ministry, man is joined to God, should not such persons be assembled, as may either rejoice in the advancement of the new bishop, or jointly pour forth their prayers to Almighty God for his preservation?
Augustine’s Seventh Question. — How are we to deal with the bishops of Gaul and Britain?
Gregory answers. — We give you no authority over the bishops of Gaul, because the bishop of Arles received the pall in the old times of my predecessors, and we must by no means deprive him of the authority he has received. If it shall therefore happen, my brother, that you go over into the province of Gaul, you are to concert with the said bishop of Arles, how, if there be any faults among the bishops, they may be amended. And if he shall be lukewarm in keeping up discipline, he is to be fired by your zeal; to whom we have also written, that aided by the presence of your Holiness in Gaul, he should exert himself to the utmost, and put away from the behaviour of the bishops all that is opposed to the command of our Creator. But you shall not have power to go beyond your own authority and judge the bishops of Gaul, but by persuading, and winning them, and showing good works for them to imitate, you shall recall the perverted to the pursuit of holiness; for it is written in the Law, “When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest bruise the ears with thine hand and eat; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbours’ standing corn.” For thou mayest not apply the sickle of judgement in that harvest which thou seest to have been committed to another; but by the influence of good works thou shalt clear the Lord’s wheat of the chaff of its vices, and convert it by exhortation and persuasion in the body of the Church, as it were, by eating. But whatsoever is to be done by authority, must be transacted with the aforesaid bishop of Arles, lest that should be omitted, which the ancient institution of the fathers has appointed. But as for all the bishops of Britain, we commit them to your care, that the unlearned may be taught, the weak strengthened by persuasion, and the perverse corrected by authority.