Mind of the Church

The mind of the Church, faithfully rendered into English

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Folio 190–212

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The Abbot of Vercelli [Abbas Vercellensis], whose name I have not yet been able to find — a man (as his Paraphrase on Dionysius the Areopagite shows) of the highest erudition and religion — composed expositions on the Song of Songs of Solomon, of a style not to be despised, in which he insisted chiefly upon the anagogical sense, taking the likeness of the supreme created love which is in the seraphic spirits, to whose sublimity he strove to raise the soul, and in a certain way to transform it into God. John Gerson mentions this work in the preface of his commentaries on the Song of Songs. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1400.

Abbo of Fleury [Abbo Floriacensis], abbot of the monastery [of Fleury], wrote homilies on the Gospels. He lived in the year 1000.

Acacius — whom, because he was one-eyed, they used to call Μονόφθαλμον, that is, “One-eyed” — bishop of the church of Caesarea in Palestine, disciple of Eusebius bishop of Caesarea and his successor in the bishopric; a man exercised in the divine scriptures, but perverted by the Arian impiety. He flourished so greatly under the Emperor Constantius, that

…that he set up at Rome, in the place of Liberius, Felix the Arian as bishop. He elaborated, upon various passages of Divine Scripture, [a work] of συλλεκτῶν ζητημάτων — that is, a Volume of Selected Questions — from which many fragments are preserved in the Greek Catena of explanations on Genesis; and Jerome mentions this work in his epistle to Minerius and Alexander. He also composed seventeen volumes of commentaries on Ecclesiastes. I would not have listed him, had not Jerome done so before me. He flourished in the year of the Lord 350. His acts are written in the fifth book of the Tripartite History.

There are weighty Theologians who deny that this Felix was an Arian — although before his Pontificate he communicated with the Arians, whom, after he was made Pontiff [Pope], he detested, and was therefore killed by them, or at least sent into exile. See Rufinus, book 10 of the History, ch. 22; Theodoret, book 2 of the History, ch. 17; and Sozomen, book 4 of the History, ch. 10 and 14.

Adam Sasbout, of the Order of Minors [Franciscans], who for many years publicly professed the Sacred letters in the University of Louvain, published a succinct exposition on Isaiah, and on all the Pauline epistles, gathered from all the Orthodox fathers, both Greek and Latin, in which he confuted many errors of the heretics. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1540. 1

Adam of Barking [Adamus Barkingensis], an Englishman, a monk of Clairvaux, wrote commentaries on the 4 Gospels. He lived in the year of the Lord 1216.

Adam Marsh [Adamus de Marisco], an Englishman, wrote an Elucidarium of Scripture. He flourished in the year 1260.

Adam Wodeham [Adamus Wodeham], of the Order of Minors, disciple of William of Occam, wrote commentaries on the Song of Songs, and a Postil on Ecclesiastes. He died in the year of the Lord 1358.

Adomnán [Adamannus], Presbyter and Abbot of the monks dwelling on the island of Hy [Iona], beyond Britain, wrote to Aldfrid, king of the English, a book on the holy places — most useful for the understanding of the whole scripture — which he gathered from the conversations of Arculf, a bishop of Gaul, who had surveyed all the holy land with his own eyes. He flourished under Justinian the Younger, Augustus, in the year of the Lord 690. This Adomnán, by surname Colodius, was by nation a Scot [Irishman], a man especially learned, from whose writings Bede borrowed not a few things.

Ailred [Adilredus / Aelred], abbot of a certain Cistercian monastery, studious of the Holy scriptures and not ignorant of secular philosophy, wrote many little works for the benefit of his brethren; among the rest, one homily on the boy Jesus at twelve years old, on the second chapter of Luke, which begins, When Jesus was twelve years old, and is found among the works of Bernard. He flourished under Henry the Sixth, in the year of the Lord 1200.

Giles [of Rome] [Aegidius], Archbishop of Bourges, by fatherland a Roman, of the illustrious family Colonna, once Prior General of the Order of Hermits [Augustinians], disciple of St. Thomas Aquinas, a man most learned in the divine scriptures, and in Aristotelian Philosophy second to none in his time, of subtle intellect, scholastic in speech, and — for the constancy of his doctrine — one who obtained the surname of the Most-Founded [Doctor Fundatissimus]. He wrote on the sacred letters many excellent explanations, of which are reported:

He flourished under the Emperor Rudolph [of Habsburg], in the year of the Lord 1280.

Giles Faber [Aegidius Faber], of Brussels, a Carmelite, Doctor of Louvain, wrote Commentaries on Ruth, Job, and on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. He died at Brussels in 1506.

Giles Topiarius [Aegidius Topianus] wrote discourses on the Gospels and epistles which are wont to be set forth during Lent, and on the Gospels and epistles of the whole year. He flourished under the Emperor Ferdinand.

Aelius — see Antonio of Nebrija [Antonius Nebrissensis].

Agathius of Guidiacum [Agathius Guidiacensis, or Guidacenus], royal professor of sacred Theology in the original languages, wrote commentaries on the first twenty-four Psalms of David, in which he especially examines the Hebrew text of the Psalms. The same [author] embraced the Song of Songs in a succinct explanation. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1540.

Agrippa, by surname Castor, a very learned man, wrote, under Antoninus Pius, against the 24 volumes which the heretic Basilides had composed on the gospel — very eloquent books, in which he most strongly refuted the insane blasphemies of Basilides. He flourished in the year of the Lord 160.

Aidan [Aidanus Auinius], a Scot [Irishman], bishop of Lindisfarne, wrote commentaries on the Scriptures. He died in the year of the Lord 651.

Alalphus, or Alulf of Tournai [Alulphus Tornacensis], a Benedictine monk, gathered from the works of St. Gregory a work of Excerpts on the New Testament, which is entitled the Gregorianum.

Alan Cope [Alanus Copus], an Englishman, wrote a Syntaxis of the Gospel History, in which the deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ are narrated in the order in which they were done. The book was printed at Louvain in 1572. He flourished under Maximilian II, Emperor, and departed from the living at Rome.

Alan of Lille [Alanus Insulensis], a German [of the Low Countries] — orator, poet, Philosopher, and Theologian, the most excellent of all of his time, moderator [head] of the sacred University of Paris, who, on account of his erudition in all things of every kind, earned the surname of the Universal Doctor [Doctor Universalis] — left, among the many illustrious monuments of his labors:

…entitled The Eye of Sacred Scripture, he touched upon [in brief]; its exordium is, To the most reverend father and lord. He flourished under the Emperor Albert, in the year of the Lord 1300.

Alan of Lynn [Alanus de Linna], an Englishman, a Carmelite, wrote On the Various Sense of Scripture, 1 book; and Morals of the Bible [Moralia Bibliorum], 1 book. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1420.

Alan de la Roche [Alanus Rupensis], a German, of the Order of Preachers [Dominicans] — a man learned in the divine scriptures, excellent in sacred declamations, venerable in life and conversation, and a chief lover of the Blessed Mary ever-virgin, and also the restorer and promoter of that confraternity which, under the name of the Rosary, is dedicated to the holy virgin — wrote one book on the Song of Songs, in which he most becomingly fitted the individual words of Solomon to the Virgin Mary and to Christ her son, as conversing with each other in turn. He flourished under the Emperor Frederick III, and died in the year of the Lord 1474.

Alard of Amsterdam [Alardus Amstelredamus], by nation a Hollander — whose celebrated book of Sacred Parallels [Sacrorum similium] survives, gathered from the orthodox fathers, and another, On the Miracles Wrought through the Venerable Eucharist — gathered from all the catholic doctors all the tropes, phrases, idioms, and various figures of speech used in the divine scriptures, and arranged them most fittingly into a single volume according to the Alphabetical order. He also expounded Ecclesiastes according to all the topics [loci] of Rudolph Agricola. He flourished under Charles V, Augustus, in 1538.

Albert [son] of John, of Haarlem [Albertus Ioannis Harlemensis], a Carmelite, Doctor of Louvain, wrote a Lecture on Ecclesiasticus, 1 book, and on the first Canonical [epistle] of John, 1 book. He died at Mechlin in the year of the Lord 1496.

Albert Novocampianus wrote a Biblical Scope [Scopus Biblicus] of the Old and New Testament, with Annotations embracing the Sum of Christian doctrine; Lazarus Andreas printed it at Cracow in the year of the Lord 1552.

Albert the Great [Albertus Magnus], Archbishop of Regensburg, of the Order of Preachers, by nation a Swabian, from the town of Lauingen — a man of admirable erudition, from whom few things of divine matters, and perhaps none of human, lay hidden, excelling by the sublime powers of his intellect and memory even to a miracle, by far the most learned in divine studies, and the prince of all the philosophers whom all Germany brought forth either before or after him. On account of the exceeding multitude and greatness of his sciences, he obtained before his death the surname of the Great [Magni] — which never befell any of the learned. For many years he taught Peripatetic Philosophy and Scholastic Theology in the most flourishing Universities of Paris and Cologne [Agrippina]; in which, among other excellent hearers, he had as his disciple Thomas Aquinas, of divine natural gift and most excellent intellect. Then, called — nay, almost unwilling — to the Archbishopric of the Church of Regensburg by the Emperor Rudolph, and drawn thither by the Supreme Pontiff Urban IV, when he had magnificently presided over it for some years, he was recalled again, by the most grateful recollection of his old studies, to the former exercises of letters; and he freely resigned the care of the Church. 2 Having cast off the Episcopal dignity, he returned as a private man to his monastery at Cologne, where he most happily passed what remained of his life — reading, writing, teaching, and serving God day and night — departing from human affairs in the 81st year of his age; and he was buried in the middle of the choir of his Dominican church, in the reign of the Emperor Rudolph, in the year from the redemption of the world 1280. Of his innumerable works upon the whole of divine scripture, heaped up in the scholastic kind of explanation, I have seen only these, namely:

Albert of Padua [Albertus Patauinus], a Hermit [Augustinian], disciple of Giles of Rome, that most excellent doctor — exquisitely learned in both sacred and profane letters, and most celebrated in the office of preaching — wrote these things, namely:

He lived in the times of the Emperor Albert, in the year of the Lord 1300.

Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem [Albertus, Patriarcha Hierosolymitanus], a man of admirable sanctity and doctrine, who — by the command of Pope Innocent III of that name — gave to the Carmelite brothers, still dwelling in the holy land, a form and rule of living; he wrote commentaries, not to be despised, on the site and condition of the Holy Land. He flourished under the Emperor Henry VI, in the year of the Lord 1190.

Albert of Siegburg [Albertus Sigebergensis], a monk, [wrote] a Glossary of the Old and New Testament.

Albinus Flaccus, by surname Alcuin [Alcuinus] — monk, deacon, and abbot of the monastery of St. Martin of Tours, by nation an Englishman, a hearer of Bede the Presbyter, a man most celebrated in his time in every kind of the sciences, and the teacher of Charlemagne [Charles the Great] Augustus — wrote on the sacred letters the volumes written below:

…a brief commentary [of moral annotations on the Gradual Psalms], which begins, They are steps [degrees].

He also gathered, and reduced into order at the command of Charlemagne, the homilies of the most excellent doctors of the church on the gospels which throughout the year are read publicly in the churches. And these are: of Augustine 48, of Jerome 6, of Ambrose 10, of Hilary 1, of Fulgentius 2, of Origen 4, of Maximus 17, of Chrysostom 11, of Severian 1, of Leo 21, of Gregory 39, of Bede 48, of Isidore 1 — the sum of all the homilies, 209. But those which are inscribed under the title of Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, and sometimes Bede are not homilies, but centos of explanations sewn together out of the commentaries of these authors; and in this volume they are numbered among the ancient homilies. He flourished under Charlemagne, Augustus, in the year of the Lord 770.

Aldhelm [Aldelmus], an Englishman, gathered the flowers of both Testaments, 2 books. He flourished in the year of the Lord 709.

Alexander, bishop of Cappadocia and martyr, a man eminent in sanctity and in the erudition of the sacred letters, left among other monuments of his genius a commentary on the epistle to the Galatians, from which Jerome confesses that he derived some things into his own commentaries on the same epistle. In the seventh persecution under Decius — at which time Babylas suffered at Antioch — he was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison; for the confession of Christ he was crowned with martyrdom, in the year of the Lord 255.

Alexander, bishop of Chester [Cestriensis], wrote a Scholastic Postil on all the Psalms, in the year of the Lord 1238.

Alexander Seton, a Scot, wrote on both epistles of St. Peter, on the epistle of St. James, and on chapter 18 of Acts. He lived in the year 1541.

Alexander Wendock, bishop of Chester, wrote a Postil on the Psalter, 1 book; Sermons and Lectures, 2 books. He lived in the year of the Lord 1238.

Alexander of Villedieu [Alexander Villadeus], by fatherland of Dôle, a Franciscan — easily the chief poet of the Leonine verse which was once in esteem, whose work still survives, entitled the Doctrinale, once used by boys in the grammar schools for grasping the rudiments of Grammar — composed on the Acts of the Apostles a Scholastic Postil in Leonine hexameters, which begins:

If thou wouldst know the transacted Apostolic deeds, This Postil shall handle those for thee in verses.

He also wrote, for the convenience of those who wish to commit to memory and retain the sum of the divine volumes, a most brief and compressed little compendium of the whole divine scripture, tightly enclosed in two hundred and twelve hexameter verses, in which the individual words comprehend the individual chapters of the holy books. And that the words of these verses might be more plainly understood, he inscribed over each of them the number of the chapter contained in it, with some interlinear glosses of smaller character beneath, which indicate the meaning of each word — thus [for Genesis 1–7]:

Six. He-forbids. They-sin. Abel. Enoch. And-the-ark-is-made. They-enter. (glossed: 1 the days; 2 the tree of life; 3 the first parents; 4 [Abel] is slain; 5 [Enoch] is translated; 6 by Noah; 7 into the ark.)

He flourished under Frederick II, Emperor, in the year of the Lord 1240.

Alexander [of Hales], from the town of Hales, which is on the island of Britain, a professor of the Franciscan religion, teacher of the cardinal St. Bonaventure, a public doctor of Theology in the University of Paris — who attained in the Scholastic arts and in the knowledge of the divine sciences so great a name and glory that he deserved to be called by the most learned of his time the Fountain of Life 3 — besides that noble Summa of Theology which he composed at the command of Pope Innocent IV, illustrated both sacred Testaments with various annotations here and there, like little stars, which work he himself entitled a Postil upon the Whole Bible. He flourished under Frederick II, in the year of the Lord 1240.

Alexander Neckam [Nechan], an Englishman, wrote a Postil on the Song of Songs, 6 books; on Ecclesiastes, 2 books; on the Proverbs of Solomon, 1 book; and on Ezekiel. In the year of the Lord 1210.

Alphonsus de Castro [à Castro], of Zamora, a Spaniard, of the Order of Minors [Franciscans] — a man of keen intellect and a most fierce enemy of the heretics, against whom he also wrote several volumes — expounded some Psalms, and in particular published on the thirty-first Psalm one book, and likewise on Psalm 50, one book, in the year of the Lord 1546.

Alphonsus Martinez, of Baetica [Andalusia], of the Order of Preachers [Dominicans], published a censure [expurgatory index] of the Bibles under the name of the Holy Inquisition against the heretics, in the year of the Lord 1558.

Alphonsus Tostatus [Alonso Tostado], bishop of Ávila [Abulensis], by nation a Spaniard, from the town of Madrigal — a man the most learned of his time among all the professors of Scholastic Theology in the University of Salamanca, most skilled in the divine scriptures by long and continual exercise, and unwearied (nay, almost adamantine) in constant vigils and in the gravest labors of reading, teaching, and writing — elaborated on both Testaments volumes of immense size; in which, after the simple and historical exposition of the letter, which alone he pursu[ed]

…pursued [alone], he heaped up so many and so great piles of Scholastic disputations that frequently, in the explanation of one single brief chapter, he brought forward above one hundred and seventy Scholastic questions, answering the various opinions upon that same chapter — always inquiring into some new and different difficulty upon each, even the smallest, particle of divine scripture. Of how great a bulk the load of these volumes once was, his commentaries on Matthew are an indication: which, when Peter Ximenes, a Spaniard, bishop of Coria [Cauriensis], his hearer and disciple, attempted to reduce into a small compendium that would contain only a fifth part of them, he yet could not so compress them but that the work abridged by him still remained huge and vast — for it comprises one thousand and twenty pages of the largest folio (which they call Royal), printed in small and tight characters. His other commentaries too, abridged with like zeal by various writers, extend into many and large volumes; of which these alone have come to my knowledge:

He flourished in the times of the Council of Basel and of Pope Eugene IV, in the year of the Lord 1440.

Francisco Fontana [Franciscus Fontanus], born in the town of Llerena [Erena] in Spain, a canon of Alcalá [Complutensis], published an Index to all the aforesaid works [of Tostatus], contained in two large volumes, in which he most laboriously embraced everything pertaining either to Sacred Scripture or to the various erudition of man.

Aloysius Lippomanus [Luigi Lippomano], a Venetian, bishop first of Modon [Methone] and afterward of Verona — from boyhood instructed in all the best arts, and throughout his whole life engaged in the assiduous reading of the doctors of the church, both Greek and Latin — gathered, among many indefatigable labors of his genius, upon the whole book of Genesis a huge and most-enriched volume of explanations. In which, emulating the zeal of St. Thomas Aquinas, he wove together — for the convenience of those who have neither leisure nor means to turn over the countless and immense volumes of the fathers — a catena of expositions on the book of Genesis, drawn from authors both Latin and Greek, both ancient and more recent, succeeding one another according to the order of time, with his own not-to-be-despised annotations also inserted. He arranged the whole medley of the work in a most fitting order in this manner: First he set the explanations of the fathers which help toward understanding the obscure senses of the letter, the Hebrew and Greek copies being brought forward together with the Chaldaic [Targum] edition. Then, under the name of one mystical explanation, he gathered whatever pertains to the other three senses of divine scripture — namely the Allegorical, the Tropological, and the Anagogical — omitting, however, those long digressions by which the fathers are wont to wander off, whether to the disputation of difficult matters or to the instruction of morals, lest the volume, growing to an immense size, should breed weariness in the readers. He also cited everywhere not only the names of the authors from whom he gathered the opinions and words of the exposition, but faithfully noted the books, and the individual chapters of the books — with certain exceptions, whose opinions he took from the Greek catena of the Vatican Library, in which, the titles of the books being omitted, only the sayings of the ancient authors are read, with their names prefixed. He also happily completed the same labor upon the book of Exodus, promising likewise that he would elaborate with similar zeal upon the whole of divine scripture. He flourished under Charles V, Augustus, distinguished in the Council of Trent; and he died under Ferdinand I, Emperor, in the year of the Lord 1559. The beginning of the work is, Gloss: The author of this book is Moses. And the names of the authors whose expositions are contained in it are these:

The Greeks: Philo the Jew; Melito bishop of Sardis; Apollinaris bishop of Hierapolis; Irenaeus; Origen; Hippolytus of Rome; Theodorus; Eusebius bishop of Caesarea; Eusebius of Emesa; Eustathius bishop of Antioch; Acacius; Serapion; Didymus; Philo the bishop; Apollinaris of Laodicea; Ephrem; Basil; Gregory Nazianzen; Gregory of Nyssa.

The Latins: Zeno bishop of Verona; Hilary; Ambrose; Jerome; Augustine; Eucherius; Pope Leo; Prosper of Aquitaine; Pope Gregory I; Isidore bishop of Seville; Junilius; Bede; Strabo [Walafrid]; Albinus, who is also Alcuin; Rabanus; Pope Nicholas; Bernard; Hugh of St. Victor; Rupert of Deutz.

The Greeks (continued): Isidore of Pelusium; Epiphanius; Diodorus; Theophilus bishop of Alexandria; Theodore of Mopsuestia; John Chrysostom; John Cassian; John of Damascus; Severian of Gabala; Cyril; Theodoret; Gennadius; Isidore the abbot; an uncertain Greek author; the Greek Gloss.

The Latins (continued): Gratian; the Master of the Sentences [Peter Lombard]; Bonaventure; Thomas Aquinas; the Ordinary Gloss; the Interlinear Gloss; Cajetan; the Author of the Catena.

The expositions of the doctors — and their names — which are contained in the Catena of Exodus, are these:

The Greeks: Dionysius the Areopagite; Irenaeus bishop of Lyons; Antony the abbot; Athanasius; Irenaeus of Antioch; Euthymius Zigabenus; another Dionysius; Severus bishop of Antioch; another Severus; Oecumenius; the Sixth Synod.

The Latins: Cyprian; Maximus bishop of Turin; Hesychius; Gilbert; Pope Sixtus; Gilbert the Hollander; Guerric abbot of Igny.

In this very year 1586, in which this work is being printed, Aloysius’s Catena on the Psalter came out for the first time, connected from more or less seventy ecclesiastical authors, both Greek and Latin.

Aelred of Rievaulx [Alredus Rievallis], an Englishman, a Cistercian monk, wrote on the 13th chapter of Isaiah, upon The Burden of Babylon, thirty-three Latin homilies, in the year of the Lord 1164.

Alvarus of Cahors [Alvardus de Cadurco], a Dominican, of Toulouse, wrote a Postil on the Apocalypse, 1 book; on the seven Penitential Psalms, 1 book.

Álvaro Gómez [Alvarus Gomes], a Spaniard, a man not unlearned, rendered the Proverbs of Solomon in verse.

Amandus of Zierikzee [Amandus Zierixiensis], a Zeelander, of the Order of Minors of the Observance [Observant Franciscans], wrote: on the Weeks of Daniel, 1 book; a Commentary on Genesis, 1 book; a history of the Lord’s Passion, 1 book; on the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, one book; on Ecclesiastes, 1 book; expositions on Job. He died in the year 1534.

Ambrose of Alexandria [Ambrosius Alexandrinus], a hearer and disciple of Didymus of Alexandria, whose are the books against Apollinaris; under Theodosius Augustus, in the year 400, he published very praiseworthy commentaries on the book of Job.

Ambrose Autpert [Ambrosius Ansbertus], a monk and presbyter of the Benedictine order, a man exquisitely learned in the divine letters, and elegant and sweet in speech, wrote — under Arnulf Augustus — an explanation on the Psalter, one book; on the Song of Songs, one book; on the Apocalypse, ten books (printed at Cologne in the year 1536). He flourished under the Emperor Arnulf, in the year of the Lord … [blank].

Ambrosius Catharinus Politus [Ambrogio Catarino Politi], first bishop of Minori, and afterward archbishop of Conza [Compsa], by nation a Tuscan, by fatherland a Sienese — my fellow-citizen, and my first teacher in the divine scriptures — a man strong in the powers of intellect, excelling in the riches of the disciplines, and mighty in eloquence both Tuscan and Latin. Having left the public school of Imperial [civil] Law — in which, among many illustrious hearers of his teaching, he had also Julius III, the Supreme Pontiff, as a disciple — he dedicated himself to Christ, entering the sacred order of St. Dominic; in which, persevering day and night in the study of the divine and sacred letters with the highest holiness of life, and fighting most valiantly, as in an arena, against all the heresies of our time, he was raised by Pope Julius to the care of a bishopric, and destined for the burden of the Cardinalate, which death snatched from him. He therefore, among many most noble works which — already an old man — he elaborated with the greatest industry upon the holy scriptures, left us most learned commentaries on all the Epistles of St. Paul; in which this was his chief care, that he might explain to the utmost the true sense of the Apostle, and at the same time show that no one fights more with the heretics of our age than Paul — whom they most impudently make out to be the champion of their heresies. Moved by this occasion, he resolved many difficult and arduous difficulties of our religion arising from the sentences of Paul. Among others, he attempts to crush with a great mass of many arguments that opinion concerning the “mass of perdition” (that it is left in its everlasting miseries, from the sole good-pleasure of God, without any consideration of works), as we shall explain more fully in the sixth volume, in the censures upon the epistles of Paul. The work begins, Before our most holy Lord Julius III, Supreme Pontiff. That so many things, with [those] of the ancients, etc.

He dies in the year of the Lord 1552.

Ambrose [Ambrosius], bishop of Milan, by fatherland a Roman, first governor of Liguria and Insubria, and then divinely attaining the bishopric of the Church of Milan, so excelled among the bishops of his time in stability of faith, integrity of morals, and admirableness of erudition, that the Emperor Theodosius, moved by the loftiness of his virtues, publicly cried out in the great church of the city of Constantinople: Ἀμβρόσιον οἶδα μόνον ἐπίσκοπον ἀξίως καλούμενον — that is, I know one Ambrose, who alone is worthily called a Bishop. Augustine writes that so great was the authority of his Christian doctrine that not even by his enemies could anything be found in his writings to be reprehended. He expounded almost all the divine scriptures with the highest praise, following in that labor Philo the Jew, Hippolytus, Apollinaris, both Eusebiuses, and Basil, but most of all Origen — with whose discourses, as Jerome testifies in the Epistle to Pammachius and Marcella, almost all his books are full; whence also (as Ambrose himself said of Origen) he appears far better in the old than in the new testament.

Now the kind of his exposition is varied, but insisting chiefly on the mystical senses, yet so that meanwhile the sense of the letter is not altogether neglected. His manner of speaking, as the variety of matters seems to demand, is varied, but everywhere pouring forth a lucid and perspicuous river of eloquence, as Augustine says — who also, in the fourth volume of On Christian Doctrine, brings forward from Ambrose’s works certain most beautiful examples of the threefold Ambrosian style, that is, the plain, the moderate, and the grand; from which he shows that Ambrose spoke of humble things plainly, of middling things moderately, and of great things sublimely, according to the diversity and dignity of the matters. Yet he loved, with a peculiar and natural affection, a grave and pointed abundance of brief sentences, delighting wonderfully in a discourse distinguished sometimes by numerous commas and clauses, and painted with little flowers.

But his writings pertaining to the exposition of divine scripture are distinguished into four orders — namely, into Books, Commentaries, Treatises, and Epistles. 4 In the Books, in which he frequently embraces the method of Thematic exposition in imitation of Philo, the continuity of the historical context being passed over, he follows an interrupted order of explanation; and, summarily touching the chapters of the histories, he explains them in various and separate volumes of diverse arguments and titles. Whose number, arguments, and titles are these:

These sermons — I know not who first transformed them into books and cut them up into many chapters (for both Bede, in his little work on the seasons, and Junilius, in the preface of the Hexaemeron, cite them under the name of books) — are nevertheless not books, but sermons delivered to the people and taken down by the hearers. Which their titles in the most ancient manuscripts indicate, and the little prefaces themselves demonstrate, being composed to prepare the minds of the hearers; likewise the perorations ending in doxologies, contrary to Ambrose’s custom, who was not wont to end any of his [proper] books thus. But also those words which are found about the middle of the fifth sermon (or fifth book), chapter twelve, more evidently prove that Ambrose spoke these things in a discourse, and that while speaking, feigning a lapse of memory, he purposely fell silent for a little while, in imitation of Basil the Great, who in the narration of the same passage had artfully feigned himself deserted by his memory. For the Notary who was then taking down the words of the speaker, the course of the writing being interrupted, inserted this clause of his own, saying: And when he had here been silent for a little while, taking up his discourse again, he said: “The necessary disputation concerning the nature of things had escaped us, most beloved brethren, and a discourse of this kind had flown away from us with the birds themselves, etc.” Which words that first transformer of the sermons — though the ancient copies everywhere protested, and the very sense of the matter resisted — inaptly enough accommodated to the very person of Ambrose, in this manner: And when I had here been silent for a little while, taking up my discourse again, I say: “It had escaped us, etc.”

- On Noah and the Ark, one book: in which he narrates the life, morals, and deeds of the holy man Noah, and also the loftiness of his mind and the events of his times, expounding in the allegorical sense the history of nearly six chapters — namely, from the end of the fifth chapter to the end of the tenth.

He also wrote, besides these books, three epistles on various passages of Genesis: the first, to Horontianus, On the Division of the Works of the Six Days, beginning The division; the second, to the same, On Man Produced after the Beasts, beginning That thou art moved; the third, On Paradise, to Sabinus, beginning The Hexaemeron being read.

Likewise, letter-treatises on other passages:

And these are the works of Ambrose which we have on the Old Testament; but those which are extant on the New are these — from various passages of Matthew, eight sermons, that is:

…he [Bede] testifies that he copied out for himself.

On the Gospel of Luke, eleven books of commentaries of an interrupted exposition, succinctly arranged according to the mystical understanding. Concerning these, Rufinus, in the second book of his Invectives, reports that Jerome — in the preface to Origen’s homilies on Luke, and in a certain epistle of which he himself had a copy — wrote that the author of these commentaries “played with words and dozed in the senses.” Which I would rather believe to have been fabricated by Rufinus out of hatred of Jerome, than that such a judgment was uttered by Jerome concerning the learned commentaries of a most erudite man. Concerning these, Acca, bishop of Hexham [Cantabrigiensis], writes to Bede the Venerable, presbyter, thus: 11 There are certain things in the exposition of the blessed Ambrose on Luke, at once so eloquent and so lofty (which I doubt not that your holiness also has seen), that they can be understood only by the more learned; but by the rude or fastidious readers (of whom in the present age you will find many), on account of the difficulty of attaining what is eloquently said, or of grasping what is lofty, they are not even to be sought as too exalted, nor to be scrutinized as if too strong [for them]. And the most learned father Augustine gave no small judgment [of it], who, writing to Paulina, the servant of God, On seeing God, thought that he should use no testimonies more than those of blessed Ambrose taken from this work; and he judged that they should not only be set down simply, but also expounded — so much so that out of a very few little sentences of that commentator he made, by treating them, no small volume. Yet some things St. Ambrose passed over in this work undiscussed, which to him, as a man of the highest erudition, seemed plain and not worth inquiry. Thus far Acca.

There are those who think that this work was not divided into books by the author himself, but written in a continuous series; but that they are mistaken is clear from the writings of Augustine, who in the first book Against Pelagius and Celestius, ch. 44, cites by name the second, sixth, and tenth book of Ambrose on Luke; 12 and the Sixth Synod also, in the 10th action, cites the authority of Ambrose by number from the sixth book of the commentaries on Luke.

There survive also, after these commentaries, seven sermons on the same gospel, namely:

On all the epistles of Paul, 14 books — brief indeed in words, but weighty in the weight of their sentences.

There are also carried about, under the name of Ambrose, commentaries on the Apocalypse, recently printed at Paris; but, besides that the diversity of style manifestly protests against it, there are also many opinions of Gregory scattered throughout the whole work, which show it not to be Ambrose’s; and the author himself, in the explanation of chapter 17, openly confesses that he wrote after the Roman Empire had been occupied by the Lombards 13 — which happened more than two hundred years after Ambrose. The work begins, The blessed John the Apostle.

Ambrose flourished under Theodosius the Great, about the year of the Lord 380; and Paulinus, bishop of Nola, wrote his life.

Ammonius of Alexandria, the teacher of Origen Adamantius in Philosophy 14 — an eloquent man, most learned in the secular disciplines, famous in the times of the Emperor Alexander Severus — composed, among many monuments of his genius, an elegant work On the Harmony of Moses and Jesus, in which he gathered all the passages of the old and new law that are conformable to one another. He also made a volume which he entitled the Gospel Harmony, or Monotessaron (that is, One out of Four), in which, as by a certain chain [catena], out of the four incomplete histories of the gospels he wove together one whole and perfect history, whose beginning is, In the beginning was the Word. Him Porphyry falsely accuses, in the third book against the Christians, of having become a Gentile from a Christian — whereas it is established that he persevered a Christian to the very end of his life. 15 Volaterranus, in the 13th book of the Anthropology, reports from Suidas that an ass — the most stupid of all animals — was a hearer of his teaching. 16 He flourished under Alexander [Severus], son of Mamaea, in the year of the Lord 220.

Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium — who read to Jerome a book published by him On the Holy Spirit, in the times of the Emperor Theodosius, that is, in the year of the Lord 390 — wrote several learned and eloquent homilies, of which I have found these cited in Theodoret’s Dialogues [entitled] Polymorphus:

Anastasius, bishop of Antioch — who, because he lived the contemplative life on Mount Sinai and there subdued the sense of the flesh, obtained the surname of the Sinaite — left many lucubrations, of which Nicephorus reports that he read a learned book on the sixth Psalm, which he published at the beginning of the fasts [Lent]. He flourished under Maurice Augustus, and died under the Emperor Phocas, being cut down in the city of Antioch by the Jews, who, a sedition being stirred up against the Christians, [slew] this most blessed bis[hop]

…this most blessed bishop, thrown down from his throne, and a rope being tied to his feet, dragged through the city, they afflicted with a foul death. For his private parts, cut off with a sword while he was being dragged, they cast into his mouth; and afterward they gave him over to the fire like a certain holocaust — a man illustrious in wisdom and virtue — in the year of the Lord 600. His Greek works are preserved at Rome in the Palatine Library.

Anastasius, bishop of Antioch, the successor in the bishopric of Anastasius the Sinaite, venerable in life and doctrine, published on the Hexaemeron twelve Greek sermons, adorned with most elegant allegories, which are preserved in the most flourishing Academy [Library] of Venice. He flourished in the year of the Lord 610.

Andrew Biglia [Andreas Bilius] of Milan, of the Order of Hermits [Augustinian], a Philosopher and Theologian learned in Greek and Latin, left on the Hexaemeron a remarkable commentary, which — together with his other most learned works, not yet printed — is kept in the Marciana Library at Milan. 17 He flourished under the Emperor Sigismund, in the year of the Lord 1434.

Andrew, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, by nation a Greek, elaborated in Greek eloquence a remarkable work on the Apocalypse, which he most aptly divided into 24 parts or discourses, and these into 72 chapters — for the number 24, thrice repeated, produces 72. He took the number 24 on account of the 24 elders named in the Apocalypse, who are the sign of those who pleased God well from the beginning of the world to the consummation; and he tripled this number in the chapters not inconsiderately, but because those who pleased God had a tripartite substance [hypostasis] — namely soul, body, and spirit — to delineate the appropriation of the omnipotent Trinity. He flourished, as I think, a thousand years ago.

Andrew, bishop of Crete, wrote several Greek sermons, of which the sermon on Lazarus (four days dead) is celebrated.

Andrew, bishop of Jerusalem, wrote in Greek, on the annunciation of the Virgin Mother of God and the salutation (from the first chapter of Luke), a most brilliant oration, which begins, Today is present the joy of all.

Andreas Gallus, of the Order of Preachers, wrote on the four books of Kings a scholastic Postil, whose authority Lyra, in the tenth chapter of 1 Kings [1 Samuel], having brought it forward, refutes.

Andreas Placus wrote an interpretation, or dictionary, of the more difficult Greek, Hebrew, and other foreign words which are found in the sacred letters.

Andrew of St Victor [Andreas Victorius], an Englishman, disciple of Hugh of St Victor, wrote Commentaries on the books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Kings, Paralipomenon [Chronicles], Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Joel. He flourished 1150.

Angelomus, a monk of Luxeuil, of the Order of St. Benedict, a man endowed with a noble genius in the divine scriptures, at the command of Drogo bishop of Metz (son of the Emperor Charlemagne), gathered from the commentaries of the ancient fathers a pious and learned work — namely, on the four books of Kings, four books of Stromata [Patchwork], whose beginning is, Twenty-two; likewise, for the Emperor Lothair, son of the Emperor Louis, a Stromatic explanation on the Song of Songs of the same kind, whose beginning is, Before the imperial glory. He flourished in the year of the Lord 830.

Angelus of Camerino, an Italian, of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, wrote 4 books on the Gospels and 14 books on the Epistles of St. Paul. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1340.

Angelo Canini [Angelus Caninius] of Anghiari published a historical narration of some passages of the New Testament. He flourished under the Emperor Ferdinand.

Anselm of Laon [Anselmus Laudunensis], a Frenchman, surnamed the Scholastic — learned by continual study in the divine scriptures and the volumes of the sacred doctors, and not moderately instructed in all the disciplines, sharp in intellect, concise in speech, and an imitator of a certain Laconic brevity — expounded the books of both testaments, in a new and unusual manner of explanation, with certain very brief little annotations of the fathers: which, written in very small characters, he most artfully fitted between the very lines of the scriptures (written in larger letters), with no less curious than useful industry; and this labor — to distinguish it from the Gloss of Strabo, which is wont to be written in the margins of the sacred manuscripts — he called the Interlinear Gloss. He flourished under the Emperor Henry IV, in the year of the Lord 1110. He also wrote one book of commentaries on the Psalter.

Anselm of Canterbury [Anselmus Cantuariensis], bishop in England, formerly abbot of the monastery of Bec, of the Benedictine order, disciple of Lanfranc archbishop of Canterbury — a man nobly cultivated in both divine and human disciplines, of a wonderfully simple and pure, but not unpleasant, style — left, among his other monuments, the volumes written below:

He flourished under the Emperor Henry III [IV], in the year of the Lord 1080; Eadmer, an English monk, wrote his life. Anselm’s commentaries on Matthew were printed at Antwerp by Jan Grave [Ioannes Granius] in 1551, and all his works were published at Cologne by Maternus Cholinus in 1573.

Anselm, bishop of Lucca, a man distinguished by the sanctity of his morals and by his erudition in divine and human matters, an indefatigable fellow-laborer of Pope Gregory VII (of Sovana), and against Gilbert the Antipope

…against Gilbert the Antipope, subordinated to him by force by the Emperor Henry IV, a most fierce champion [of Gregory VII], he published on all the Psalms of David one book, and on the prophet Jeremiah a second book of explanation. He flourished under Henry III [IV], in the year of the Lord 1080.

Anselm, bishop of Mantua, famous for sanctity and erudition, at the exhortation of the most illustrious lady Matilda [of Tuscany], briefly and clearly expounded the Psalter from the beginning of the book to the versicle of Psalm 117 [118], We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord; he also pursued the Lamentations of Jeremiah with like zeal. He dies in the year of the Lord 1086, in the thirteenth year of his bishopric, and was buried at Mantua in the church of St. Peter.

Anselm, of the Order of Minors, described the holy land and the city of Jerusalem. The book was printed at Cracow in the year 1514.

Antiochus, bishop of the city of Ptolemais, a man of rare genius, of the highest erudition and eloquence — to whom Anianus, the most ancient translator of John Chrysostom, ascribes a pleasing pomp of speaking — left, among other monuments of his noble genius, on the ninth chapter of John, On the Illumination of the Man Born Blind, a most brilliant oration, full of the compunction of fear, of God, and of humility. He flourished under the Augusti Theodosius and Arcadius, in the year of the Lord 390.

Antiochus the Monk, a Greek, very learned in the divine scriptures, gathered a remarkable work, distinguished into sixty-three sermons, which he entitled the Pandects, comprising the expositions of various most excellent fathers on the Decalogue, together with the refutations of all the heresies which have arisen against the Decalogue. At what time he flourished I have not yet found.

Antipater, bishop of Bostra — who composed a refutation of the Apology for Origen written by Eusebius — published several homilies, among others one on the ninth chapter of Matthew, on the woman suffering from an issue of blood, whose beginning is, That the calling of the Jews. It is cited in the Second Nicene Synod, action four.

Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence, of the Order of Preachers, a writer of many works, patched together on the first chapter of Luke (on the annunciation, the Angelic salutation, and the Canticle of Mary) a volume of vast prolixity, disposed in scholastic method and style, and afterward placed it at the end of the last part of his Summa. He also published, on the history of the two disciples going to Emmaus, a Trialogue, in which — Christ (in the garb of a wayfarer), Cleopas, and Amaon speaking with one another — all the prophecies, oracles, and presages are declared which were written in the old testament concerning the life, death, and resurrection of CHRIST. The work begins, Beginning from Moses. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1460.

Antonio of Bitonto [Antonius Bitontinus], a Minorite [Franciscan], gathered from Nicholas of Lyra a postil on all the lessons of the old and new testament which are recited throughout the whole year, with certain little questions of his own added, not altogether to be cast away.

Antonio Broickwy of Königstein [Antonius Bruichius à Konigstein], guardian of the regular observance of St. Francis at Nijmegen, gathered a brief Gospel Monotessaron, taken from the four Evangelists in a most fitting order. And the same wrote on the four gospels four books of narration, in an almost scholastic but somewhat more polished style; and he also published commentaries on some of the epistles of St. Paul, whose beginning is, The evangelical office, etc. — intending to do the same on all the rest, had he lived longer. For he dies of a pain in the side, in the year of the Lord 1541.

Antonio de Ghislandis, of Turin, Inquisitor of heretical depravity, of the Order of Preachers, wrote a work of ten thousand little questions on the Gospels of the whole year. Its beginning is, To the Reverend Lord John Louis. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1490.

Antonio de Guevara, from a Franciscan monk [made] bishop of Mondoñedo, born in the city of Álava in Spain, preacher and chronicler of Charles V Augustus, wrote in the more polished Spanish tongue, on the history of the Lord’s Passion gathered from the four gospels, a most learned work, to which he gave the title Mount Calvary [Monte Calvario], divided into two volumes. He also composed, on various passages of divine scripture, most elegant colloquies, which — on account of the elegance of the speech and the pointed weight of the sentences — the French, Germans, and Italians (together with his other little works) each translated into their own languages. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1540.

Antonio de Honcala, a Spaniard, by fatherland of Langa, a canon of the church of Ávila, piously learned, put forth most elegant commentaries on Genesis, in the year of the Lord 1558.

Antonio Marinari, a Carmelite, wrote On the Harmony of Jesus Christ and the Prophets, three books, not unuseful for understanding the prophecies of the prophets. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1541.

Antonio de Nebrija [Antonius Nebrissensis], from Nebrija, a noble town in Baetica [Andalusia], published annotations on certain somewhat-obscure passages of both the old and new testament.

Antonio Pucci [Antonius Puccius], a Florentine, Cardinal of the title of the Four Crowned Saints, Grand Penitentiary, wrote on the words of consecration (taken from the four evangelists) fourteen homilies no less learned than pious, whose beginning is, Since to each is attributed by nature. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1548.

Antonio Rampegollo [Antonius Rampegolus], a Genoese, a Hermit [Augustinian], by profession a Scholastic, wrote for the young students of his order in the monastery at Naples, on various passages of the old testament, a rude little work, in which — expounding almost all the sacred histories morally in a well-worn eloquence — he accommodated each to each of the moral virtues. The title of the work is the Figures of the Bible [Figurae Bibliae], and its beginning, To religious men in Christ. He flourished in the Council of Constance, disputing against the Hussite heretics, under the Emperor Sigismund, in the year of the Lord 1418.

Apion, a professor of Greek eloquence, and a lover of the sacred letters, under the Emperor Severus

…under the Emperor Severus, in the year of the Lord 200, wrote on the Hexaemeron six treatises — learned indeed, but in some things departing a little from the right rule of faith.

Apollinaris the Elder, having attained the dignity of the presbyterate in the church of Laodicea in Syria, a doctor of Greek letters and a professor of the art of Grammar, was by family an Alexandrian. He first taught at Berytus [Beirut], then migrated to Laodicea; and there, having married a wife, he had a son Apollinaris, afterward bishop of the same Church. With whom he lived many years, being forbidden the holy communion by Theodore, bishop of Laodicea, and by George his successor — whether because he was unwilling to agree with them (who taught the Son of God to be homoiousion [of like substance], and not homoousion [of the same substance]), or because he was joined by too great familiarity with Epiphanius the Sophist, whose name was suspect to the Christians and hateful to the bishops.

When therefore Julian the Apostate had brought in a law by which he forbade the Christians all the Greek disciplines and institutions 18 — affirming that it was not fitting that they should take utility from these teachings, which they [the pagans] handed down as fables, and which they [the Christians] attacked with weapons sought thence — Apollinaris rendered almost the whole old and new testament, most elegantly, in various kinds of verse, so that the boys, learning those instead of the Greek disciplines, might attain skill both in the Greek tongue and in verse. And his sacred poems are reported by name to have been these:

These poems the Christians used in place of Homer and the other poets, until the Emperor Jovian established a law that the Christians should be imbued with the letters of the gentiles, so that they might the more easily overcome the errors of the gentiles, using against them their own weapons. 19 Sozomen, in the fifth book of his History, brought forth a judgment on the labors of Apollinaris in these words: Apollinaris, in a short time, composed lucubrations very equal to the ancient Greeks in number, virtue, character of writing, and arrangement; and — unless men honored antiquity, and believed pleasing the things that are in use — the works of Apollinaris would (as I think) have been esteemed equal to the ancients. He flourished in the year of the Lord 360.

Apollinaris the Younger, reader of the divine scriptures of the Church of Laodicea in Syria, and afterward bishop, son of Apollinaris the Elder (presbyter of the same Church), from his early age was most nobly instructed in the oratorical arts (of which he was afterward a professor) by Epiphanius, the most illustrious Sophist of his age — on account of whose intimate acquaintance he was for a long time forbidden the fellowship of the faithful by the two Episcopal predecessors of his church, namely Theodore and Gregory. But when the Emperor Julian had prohibited to Christians the studies of Greek letters, he, leaving Epiphanius, gave himself wholly to the sacred letters; in which, when by the acuteness of his genius and by assiduous exercise he had in a short time greatly advanced, he first reduced the Evangelical and Apostolic doctrines into the form of dialogues, after the example of Plato, among the Greeks — by this art eluding the craft of the emperor. Then, attempting greater things, he published so great a multitude of volumes for the Christian faith, that St. Basil rightly said of him that Apollinaris had filled the whole world with his books.

Jerome, his disciple in the divine letters, testifies that he wrote on almost all the holy books commentaries not indeed to be despised, but constrained with so great brevity that he noted down rather certain little notes of exposition than expositions themselves. For thus Jerome says: He expounded all things so as to run over the whole, and with certain points and intervals — nay, with great compendia — to fly past the spaces of a long road, so that he seems to have gathered not so much commentaries as indexes of chapters. Whence, on account of the excessive brevity — touching the sense rather than explaining it — he could not lead the reader to a perfect understanding. Which he himself also acknowledging, when he was now older, at the request of his friends, gave somewhat fuller commentaries on some of the Prophets than those which, as a young man, he had briefly written on the same Prophets.

He also wrote against the insane Porphyry thirty books, superior in the judgment of all to his other works. Among which he composed a great volume — that is, the twenty-sixth book — for the defense of the book of Daniel, against which Porphyry had written the twelfth book of the fifteen books against the holy Christian scriptures which he had published. 20 He followed in his expositions sometimes the version of Symmachus, sometimes a certain edition compiled by himself out of all the editions; concerning which Jerome, in the second book against Rufinus, says: Apollinaris, with a good intention indeed, but not according to knowledge, attempted to sew together the patches of all the translations into one garment, and to weave the coherence of scripture not by the rule of truth, but by his own judgment. And again, in the commentaries on the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, Jerome says: The Laodicean, having followed the interpretation of Symmachus, can please neither the Jews nor the Christians — since he is both far from the Hebrews, and disdains to follow the interpretation of the Seventy.

Apollinaris was also accused, by many writers of no contemptible name, of having been in the error of the Millenarians [Chiliasts]; of having introduced into the Trinity a “great, greater, greatest” — calling, namely, the Spirit “great,” the Son “greater,” and the Father “greatest”; and likewise of not thinking rightly of the incarnation of Christ, supposing that He brought His flesh from heaven, and lacked a rational [soul]

…lacked a rational soul, the divinity supplying the office of the rational part. But since very many most weighty authors — among whom Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, most hostile to his name — relate that he overthrew, in many volumes, the Arians, the Eunomians, the Origenists, and many other sects of heretics, 21 it is credible that these heresies were devised by his disciples, who, to gain credit for them, imposed them upon their master — heresies which they themselves (as Epiphanius testifies in the third book of the Panarion) had neither learned nor heard from him. He flourished under Gratian Augustus, in the year of the Lord 380.

Aponius, a man most eloquent in the sacred letters, wrote on the Song of Songs (according to the Septuagint edition), to Armenius the Presbyter, six books, in which he most exactly described, in the allegorical sense, the nuptials of Christ and the Church. These Lucas, abbot of Mont-Saint-Corneille, contracted into an epitome; and Angelomus the Monk also, in his Stromata on the Song of Songs, plucked very many passages from these, the author’s name not being concealed. The beginning of the work is, By that great example of beatitude. He flourished under the Emperor Louis, in the year of our salvation 810.

Apringius [Aprigius], a Spaniard, bishop of the city of Pax [Beja] in Spain — exactly learned in the secular disciplines, eminent in eloquence, and the most skilled of his age in all the holy scriptures, and in the explanation of the divine volumes second to none of the ancient fathers — published, under Justinian Augustus, about the year of the Lord 530, most learned and most elegant commentaries on the Song of Songs and on the Apocalypse.

Aquila, disciple of Rabbi Akiba, the second Greek interpreter [translator] of the divine volumes — careful and diligent, by nation a Pontic, by fatherland of Sinope, a man most skilled in both branches of mathematics [astronomy/astrology], and on that account dear to Hadrian Augustus, by whom he was even appointed overseer of the works for building up the city of Jerusalem (destroyed by Titus). This man, I say, when — the city being restored — the disciples of the Apostles were preaching the Gospel in it, believed in Christ and was baptized. But when, too intent on the casters-of-nativities, he daily marked out the positions of nativities, the horoscope of those being born having been inspected; and when, rebuked for this by the fathers, he did not desist but rather opposed himself to them insultingly — he was driven from the church by them. Which ignominy, bearing it more grievously and vexingly than can be said, he renounced Christianity, is made a proselyte, and is circumcised among the Jews; 22 and, having quickly been taught the Hebrew tongue, he translated the divine scriptures into Greek word for word — attacking the translation of the Seventy-two interpreters, that he might render otherwise certain testimonies concerning Christ brought forth in the scriptures and translated by them, and thus avenge the confusion he had received. His edition, as Jerome (at the beginning of the Hebrew Questions) and Severian, bishop of Gabala (in the exordium of the Hexaemeron), noted, had this beginning: ἐν κεφαλίδι ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ τὴν γῆν· ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν κενότης, καὶ οὐδέν — that is, In the chapter-heading [or in the sum] God made heaven and earth; but the earth was emptiness, and nothing [Aquila’s rendering of Gen 1:1–2].

He flourished, as Epiphanius writes, under Hadrian Augustus, in the year of the Lord 120. But as Jerome supposes (in the third commentary on Isaiah), he flourished many years before the last Jewish captivity, and was a disciple of Rabbi Akiba, who lived before Christ.

Arator, subdeacon [and] Cardinal of the holy Roman Church, a distinguished poet, under the Emperor Justinian, in the year of the Lord 540, wrote in most elegant verses two books of the Apostolic History, in which, in hexameter verse, he sang whatever Luke the Evangelist wrote in prose in the Acts of the Apostles — with innumerable and elegant flowers of allegories intermingled in his work, which the venerable presbyter Bede, gathering into one, used to adorn his own commentaries on the Acts of the Apostles. When Arator himself had offered the volume of these books to Pope Vigilius, before the confession [tomb] of St. Peter, on the 7th before the Ides of April [April 7], in a circle of many Bishops, he was ordered by the Pontiff to recite it aloud before all. But when the time of the hour had now passed, Pope Vigilius handed the codex to Surgentius, the venerable primicerius, to be placed in the archive, that he might finish the reading of it at the appointed time. All earnestly demanding that the book be read publicly before all, from the beginning — the Pontiff assenting — within the Church of St. Peter in Chains [ad Vincula], in a great throng of all the most learned, Arator himself reciting with distinct words, both books were heard four times over — since in one day scarcely the half of one book could be read, on account of the constant repetitions which the hearers demanded with auspicious and frequent acclamations. The beginning of the work is: As Judaea, polluted with the blood of its own crime… He flourished in the year of the Lord 560.

Archangelo Favorino [Archangelus Faorinus] published Denis the Carthusian’s Adunation [Gathering] of the matters contained here and there in the various passages of the Epistles of St. Paul. The book was printed at Venice in the year of the Lord 1569.

Arethas, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, gathered a certain brief explanation on the Apocalypse, which he reduced into order out of the divinely-instituted commentaries of the most blessed Andrew, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Its beginning is, It is to be known, that the whole, etc. This work was made Latin [translated] by John Henten [Ioannes Hentenius], a Hieronymite — afterward a Dominican, whom I heard teaching Theology in the University of Louvain in the year of the Lord 1565.

Aribo, Archbishop of Mainz, the 19th after St. Boniface the martyr, a man most illustrious in the study of the divine law — at whose command a Provincial synod was gathered at Seligenstadt in Germany, under Conrad the Younger Augustus — wrote one book on the 15 Psalms of Degrees. He flourished under the Emperor Conrad the Younger, in the year of the Lord 1031.

Aristobulus the Elder, by nation a Jew, from Paneas, a city of Phoenicia (which is called Caesarea of Palestine, or Caesarea Philippi) — disciple of Agathobulus the Jew, a most wise man (who himself also wrote on the Pentateuch) — a man of singular learning

…renowned in doctrine and sanctity, was one of those seventy elders who were sent by Eleazar, the pontiff of Jerusalem, to Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second king of Egypt, to translate the Hebrew books of the divine law into the Greek tongue; and he answered many things, out of the traditions of Moses, to the king who proposed and inquired of them. He therefore published, in the Greek tongue, five books of Questions on the Pentateuch addressed to Ptolemy Philadelphus — of which Anatolius, bishop of Laodicea, made mention in his book On the Pasch, from which Eusebius, in the seventh book of the Ecclesiastical History, brings forward a long testimony, embracing the words of Aristobulus. He flourished in the 124th Olympiad, that is, in the year 350 before the coming of Christ.

Aristobulus the Younger [Aristobulus Iunior], by nation a Jew, of the race of the priests, tutor of Ptolemy Philometor the sixth king of Egypt, a philosopher by profession, a Peripatetic by sect, but above all things imbued from his tender years with the knowledge of the holy scriptures, wrote — in polished Greek eloquence, to Ptolemy Philometor the king his pupil — commentaries on the Pentateuch of Moses, most excellent in doctrine and in eloquence, in which he showed that the whole Peripatetic philosophy had been drawn from the Mosaic law.23 Clement makes mention of these in the fifth book of the Stromata, and Eusebius in the eighth book of the Preparation for the Gospel, and in the Chronicles. There is extant, addressed to this Aristobulus, a letter prefixed at the beginning of the second book of Maccabees, which the senate and the people of Jerusalem transmitted to him in these words: The people who are in Jerusalem and in Judea, and the senate, and Judas, to Aristobulus, teacher of King Ptolemy, who is of the stock of the anointed priests, and to those Jews who are in Egypt, greeting and health. Concerning the great things, etc. [2 Maccabees 1:10]. He flourished under the same Ptolemy Philometor in the 151st Olympiad, that is, in the year 215 before Christ was born.

Arlottus [Arlotto], Minister General of the Order of Minors, by nation a Tuscan, a man eminently learned and a keen disputant, compiled a book inscribed Concordances of the Old and New Testament, in which he fitted together, in becoming order, the testimonies of both Testaments mutually consonant with one another. He flourished under Adolph the Emperor, in the year of the Lord 1290.

Armandus Bellovisus [Armand de Beauvoir], a Dominican, whose work on the difficult terms both of philosophy and of theology is extant, wrote a scholastic postil on the Psalms.

Arnobius the African [Arnobius Afer], who under Diocletian Augustus, in Sicca, a city of Africa, taught rhetoric most flourishingly, and among the other youths whom he trained in declamation had as a pupil Lactantius Firmianus, a man of great and excellent genius and eloquence.24 When, while still a pagan, he was called to the faith of Christ by hidden inspirations, and in a certain way compelled to belief, he demanded of the bishops of Africa the sacrament of regeneration; and when they rejected him — fearing lest the man, swollen with secular eloquence, might wish to make a mockery of the Christian religion which he had always assailed — he offered them, as an argument of his sincerity, most excellent volumes of disputations against his former religion, as hostages of his faith.

From which auspicious pledge, being received into the church, he is said afterward to have left behind some lucubrations upon the divine scriptures, from among which Trithemius reckons commentaries on the Psalter — of which, however, Jerome, in indicating Arnobius’s works, makes no mention. There exist certain small and very brief commentaries on all the psalms according to the tropological and allegorical sense, which Erasmus of Rotterdam issued in print with the Frobenian types, together with a preface of a certain Arnobius written to Laurentius and Rusticus, bishops, a dedicatory epistle being added, in which he contends by many arguments that the work is, beyond any controversy, that of the famous rhetorician Arnobius. But the unpolished style and speech, teeming with countless solecisms and barbarisms, openly proves that its author differs from that Arnobius — of whom we now have seven most eloquent books Against the Nations25 — more than heaven differs from earth. Which [seven books], although Jerome, writing to Paulinus, reprehends as being uneven in speech, and excessive, and confused without any division of the whole work, he nevertheless confesses to be otherwise most brilliant and happily elaborated by a most flourishing rhetorician.

Nor does that which Erasmus brings forward to excuse the diversity of style much satisfy me — namely, that Arnobius purposely wished, in these commentaries, to lower himself to the speech of the lowest of the common people, so that, all pomp of eloquence being laid aside, he might declare himself a Christian with his whole heart before those who could not be persuaded that he professed the Christian religion with a sincere mind. Which, although I would not deny that it could have been done, yet the diversity of the times most evidently shows the distinction between the two Arnobii. For that this Arnobius, the interpreter of the psalms, was long after the other Arnobius, can easily be detected from the exposition of psalm 109, in which Photinus, the restorer of the Ebionite heresy, is refuted by name. But it cannot be that Arnobius — who had Lactantius, still a young man under the emperor Diocletian, that is, around the year of the Lord 290, as a pupil — could have heard of the heresy of Photinus: who, as is gathered from the fifth book of the Tripartite History and from Jerome both in the catalog and in the chronicles, began to teach the impiety of his dogma in the year of the Lord 35826 — that is, in the 30th year after Crispus Caesar, son of Constantine the Great, was slain, whose youth Lactantius Firmianus, in his extreme old age, instructed as tutor.27

To this is added also a conjecture, in my judgment indeed not to be disapproved: that in the explication of psalm 108, and 117, he assails as heretical the opinion of those who profess that God from eternity predestined some to blessing and reprobated others to cursing. But it is agreed, from the two epistles of Prosper and Hilary to Augustine, that this assertion arose so much under Augustine’s own times that not a few most holy men throughout Africa and Gaul complained that no one ever among the ecclesiastical fathers had held those things which Augustine preached — no less newly than uselessly — concerning the eternal discretion of the predestined and the reprobate, made by God. Yet this work, whosesoever it be, appears (for Hierony‑

…‑mus does not enumerate it among the monuments of Arnobius) to be very ancient: for Bede the Presbyter, in his commentaries on the Psalms, uses its testimonies, marked beforehand with the title of ARNOBIUS.28 And, if anything is to be granted to suspicions and conjectures, we can conjecture that its author — who, in the exposition of Psalm 105, places himself among the priests — was an African, and lived in Africa in Augustine’s age, and dedicated his work to Laurentius and Rusticus, African bishops, whose names are set down in the preface of that same work. For indeed in the Council of Carthage I find that, together with Augustine, there took part a certain Rusticus, a bishop in Africa, and Laurentius, bishop of Icosium, legate of the province of Mauretania. And in these commentaries I find certain expressions everywhere in use among the Africans in Augustine’s times — as in the exposition of Psalm 131, where it is read, But upon him shall my sanctification flourish [floriet]. Which expression Floriet Augustine writes to have been in his age in the mouth of the peoples, in the second book On Christian Doctrine, chapter thirteen, in which place, discoursing on the faults of speech, he says: THAT ALSO which we cannot now take from the mouth of the singing peoples — Upon him shall my sanctification flourish [floriet] — detracts nothing indeed from the sense; yet a more skilled hearer would prefer this to be corrected, so that it be said not Floriet but Florebit [both = “shall flourish,” floriet being the vulgar form]; nor does anything impede the correction, except the custom of the singers. And in the explanation of Psalm 138, explaining that verse, My bone [os] was not hidden, he says: SINCE indeed my bone is not hidden from thee, that is, my ossum. Which word Augustine affirms to have been commonly corrupted among his own people, in the enarration of the same psalm, saying: He says his os [bone], which is commonly called ossum, and in Latin is called os; but let us rather say ossum. For it is better that the grammarians reprehend us than that the peoples not understand. These few things concerning Arnobius’s commentaries on the psalms, which we had to say, we have said.

There are also carried about, under the name of Arnobius the African, certain little mystical annotations of no great moment upon various — but few — passages of the gospels, whose beginning is, In the beginning was the Word, printed at Cologne by Quentel: concerning which I leave to each his own judgment entire. Arnobius flourished under Diocletian up to Constantine the Great, around the year of the Lord 300.

Arnold of Austria [Arnoldus de Austria], a Carmelite, wrote Sermons and Questions on Scripture, in the year of the Lord 1400.

Arnold Haldrenius of Wesel [Arnoldus Haldrenius Vesaliensis], Canon of the Cathedral church of Cologne, a man conspicuous for singular holiness of life and for exact knowledge of sacred Scripture, most skilled also in the three tongues, namely Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, likewise strong in verse and in prose, published a little book on the ten precepts of the decalogue, which begins, If thou wilt enter into life. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1530.

Arnold of Wesel [Arnoldus Vesaluensis] wrote an exegesis of the decalogue, in the year 1542.

Arnulphus, an English preacher, wrote On the Works of the Six Days, one book; likewise homilies and other sermons. He lived in the year of the Lord 1126.

Ascensius, of the Order of Minors, a theologian not obscure, made a Postil on the Apocalypse.

Astensis [of Asti] wrote sermons on the Sunday gospels from Easter up to Advent.

Asterius, bishop of Amasea, a man of sincere piety and great erudition, wrote on Luke chapter 16, one sermon on the rich man and Lazarus, cited in the sixth session of the second Synod of Nicaea.

Asterius of Scythopolis [Asterius Scythopolitanus], the fourth of the Greek expounders of all the psalms. A follower of the Arian faction — whom I would not put in the catalog, unless Jerome before me had done so — under the reign of Constantius Augustus he composed many volumes on the sacred Scriptures, which were most studiously read by the men of his party. But among the rest he wrote most learned commentaries on the Psalter, whose fragments are still preserved in the Greek Catena of the Psalms, his name being prefixed. He gave also brief little commentaries on the four gospels, and on all the epistles of Paul. He flourished in the year 380.

Athanasius, nineteenth bishop of the city of Alexandria, of exceptional sanctity and erudition, a most vigorous champion of the Catholic faith, for whose defense — having endured many snares of the Arians — he fled to Constantius Augustus into Gaul; whence, returned with letters, and again put to flight after his death, he lay hidden until the reign of Jovian [printed “Jovinian”]; by whom, the governance of his church being restored to him, he dies in the year of the Lord 370,29 having left to posterity many monuments of his distinguished genius, of which those pertaining to the divine scriptures are these.

A Synopsis of the whole of divine Scripture, that is, a Conspectus [Contuitus]: in which he embraced most briefly the arguments, inscriptions, beginnings, authority, and authors of all the books of both testaments. Its beginning is, All our Scripture, we who are Christians.

Of Questions from the Old and New Testament, to Antiochus the prince, one book, containing 162 questions. Its beginning is, Whence it can be declared. Which, however, does not seem to be Athanasius’s: I suspect it was collected out of various writings of the fathers by some studious person, who in the fourth question alleges the mystical Theology of Dionysius — unknown, as I judge, to the age of Athanasius — and in question 33 cites Athanasius himself, and brings forth from him a differing opinion.

Commentaries on the Psalter of David.

Likewise, upon the Psalter of David, to Marcellinus, an Isagogic little book On the Titles and Force of the Psalms: in which, from the conference of a certain industrious old man, he teaches most briefly what utility each one can obtain from the settled reading of each particular psalm. Its beginning is, I praise thy will in Christ. Cassiodorus makes mention of this work in his prologue, and at the end of his commentaries on the psalms, saying: A witness is the magnificent discourse of Bishop Athanasius, who, examining the virtues of the psalms with searching truth, proves that all things are there which are contained within the compass of the whole of sacred Scripture.

In

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes of Solomon.

Commentaries on the Song of Songs.

On that passage from Leviticus chapter 9, And Moses said to Aaron, Approach to the altar, and make a holocaust for thy sin, and for the expiation of thy house — one sermon, which begins, Behold for thee in this place.

On that passage of Matthew 11, All things are delivered to me by my Father — against Eusebius and his followers, one book; [beginning] Not understanding this.

On that passage of Matthew 12, Jesus passed through the corn, and his disciples followed, plucking the ears — one homily; [beginning] On the Sabbath day.

On that passage of Matthew 12, Whosoever shall speak a word against the Holy Spirit — On the sin against the Holy Spirit, one book.

On that passage of Matthew 20 [read 21], Go into the village that is over against you — one sermon, which appears to be a fragment of some commentary, and begins, Because those things which are upon the earth.

On that passage of Matthew 27, And they came to the place which is called Golgotha, up to Truly this was the Son of God — a most eloquent sermon On the Passion of the Lord; [beginning] That which has now been recited, etc.

On Luke chapter 1, a homily On the Lord’s Annunciation, concerning the most holy Mother of God [Deipara], beginning, The sacred things of the sacred.

Athanasius is also cited by St. Thomas in the book Against the Errors of the Greeks — in the case [theca], or volume, upon John.

Photius, Archbishop of Constantinople, writes thus concerning the writings and manner of teaching of Athanasius, to his brother Tarasius:30

Athanasius, in his sermons, is everywhere clear in expression, and brief, and simple, yet acute, and lofty, and altogether vehement in his argumentations; and in these there is such abundance that it is admirable. But of logical methods he uses nothing thinly, nothing childishly (like boys and the untaught), but employs them philosophically and magnificently. He is well fortified with the testimonies and demonstrations of the Scriptures for conquering [his adversary] — and above all that discourse which was delivered on the humanity of the Word of God; and the five volumes of books against Arius, which are a trophy over every heresy, but especially over the Arian. And if anyone should say that Gregory the Theologian and the divine Basil, drawing as from a certain fountain out of his book, poured forth those beautiful and most lucid rivers of their own discourse against error, he would not go, as I judge, far from the likelihood [of the truth]. There have also been written by him commentaries on Ecclesiastes, and on the Song of Songs, and likewise on the Psalter, and elsewhere in many places; yet in grace and ornament there truly excel his sermons against Apollinaris, and his epistles — as many as contain the apology for his exile.

Gregory the Theologian celebrated the life of Athanasius in a brilliant oration.

Augustine of Ancona [Augustinus Anconas, Augustinus Triumphus], of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, a man learned in the divine scriptures and most practiced in Scholastic Theology and in the sacrosanct decrees of the pontiffs, wrote — with postillating zeal, upon the whole New Testament — the below-written books of commentaries, namely:

On Matthew, one book. On Mark, one book. On Luke, one book. On John, one book. On the Acts of the Apostles, one book. On the Acts of the Apostles, again, a catena from the explanations of the fathers, with insertions of his own throughout the opportune places, questions being proposed and solved in the Scholastic manner. On all the epistles of Paul, 14 books. On all Paul’s epistles, a catena from the expositions of the fathers. On the Canonical epistles, 7 books. On the Canonical epistles, a catena from the explanations of the fathers. On the Apocalypse, one book. On the Apocalypse, a catena from the explanations of the fathers.

He wrote also, on the first chapter of Luke, upon He was sent [Luke 1:26], a useful treatise. Likewise, upon the Canticle of the Virgin [the Magnificat], another treatise, in which he prosecuted the words of the Canticle with a threefold exposition; but in both he discoursed copiously about the most sacred incarnation of the divine Word, and about the praises of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

He flourished under Louis IV of Bavaria and Pope John XXII — to whom he dedicated his work On the Power of the Pope — in the year of the Lord 1330.

Augustine of Ascoli [Augustinus de Esculo], of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, wrote Lectures on the whole of Scripture. He lived in the year of the Lord 1330.

Augustine Leo [Augustinus Leo], a hermit monk, wrote Sermons on the Lord’s Prayer and on the Angelic Salutation.

Augustine of Nebbio [Augustinus Nebiensis; Agostino Giustiniani], bishop in the island of Corsica, by fatherland a Genoese, of the illustrious family of the Giustiniani, a most observant professor of the Order of Preachers, a Theologian sincerely learned, and most skilled in all the tongues that are dispersed throughout the whole world. By a new and vast enterprise, the first of all men, he reduced both instruments of the sacred law [both Testaments] — in five principal tongues, Hebrew, Chaldean, Greek, Latin, and Arabic — into one body, entitled the Octapla, with such artifice that on each single page he arranged eight columns, in which all the aforesaid tongues, expressed in their own characters, corresponding to one another in as many lines and as many words, might be seen at one and the same glance, in this order, namely:

In the first little column he set the Hebrew edition. In the second, a Latin interpretation corresponding to the Hebrew word for word. In the third, the common and Vulgate Latin edition. In the fourth, the Greek. In the fifth, the Arabic. In the sixth, the Targum — that is, the Chaldean paraphrase, written indeed in the Chaldean speech, but in Hebrew letters. In the seventh, a Latin translation corresponding to the Chaldean. In the eighth, certain very brief little scholia, or annotations, scattered and interspersed at intervals, by which he especially refuted the errors of the Jews.

Of this so illustrious a work I have deserved to see only two volumes: namely, from the Old Testament, an Octaple upon the whole Psalter, [dedicated] to Leo X, Supreme Pontiff, printed with types (whose beginning is, I know, most kind Father); and, from the New Testament, an Octaple upon the whole four gospels, [written] by the author’s own hand, with ink and

…and described with red-lead [minium]: whose beginning is, A salutary and great fruit, and increase of usefulness.

This most learned man flourished under Leo X, Supreme Pontiff, being distinguished at Rome in the Lateran Council; and he dies, consumed by a storm at sea, in the year of our salvation 1530, while he was sailing to Corsica for the administration of his church.

Augustine the Roman [Augustinus Romanus], Prior General of the whole Order of Hermits, most learned in Scholastic Theology, a subtle disputant, and practiced in the divine scriptures, published, in scholastic style, 14 books of commentaries on the epistles of Paul, and one book on the Apocalypse. He flourished in the year of the Lord 1410.

Augustine of Gubbio [Augustinus Eugubinus; Agostino Steuco], bishop of Chisamos [Kissamos], by fatherland of Gubbio, prefect of the Apostolic library in the Vatican, distinguished in every kind of wisdom, whose most celebrated work On the Perennial Philosophy is extant, composed upon the Pentateuch of Moses elegant and succinct annotations, most diligently explaining the phrases of the Greek and Hebrew tongue, and the idioms contained in the Mosaic books: whose beginning is, With all labor and study. And he strives, throughout this whole work, so to defend the Latin edition of St. Jerome that he may show there was no translation of the Old Testament, either among the Greeks or among the Latins, better than Jerome’s, more elegant, more lucid, and even more Latin; in which, if anything either faulty is found, or dissonant from the Hebrew truth, or added, or subtracted, he demonstrates that all this is either of no moment, or has befallen through the fault of the copyists.

The same man illustrated the first two chapters of Genesis with a most eloquent explanation, which he entitled, by the Greek word, Cosmopoeia, that is, The Fabric of the World; its beginning is, There are two things. Likewise he wrote most eloquent and most learned commentaries on all the Davidic psalms, digested copiously and diligently according to the historical and mystical sense. The opening of the work is, Since, of all the sacred letters. He flourished under Charles V Augustus, in the year of the Lord 1540.

Augustine Steuchus of Gubbio [the same Agostino Steuco] wrote Annotations on the Pentateuch; an interpretation on Psalm 18 and 138; a Cosmopoeia on the first three chapters of Genesis; enarrations on several Psalms and on the book of Job; and Hebraic Expressions [Locutiones Hebraicae]. He flourished at Rome under Paul III, Supreme Pontiff.

Avitus [Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus], by forename Alcimus, of Vienne, bishop in Gaul; most copiously instructed in the secular disciplines, a most distinguished rhetorician and poet, conspicuous for holiness of life and for knowledge of the sacred volumes. He wrote, in the Latin tongue and in hexameter verses:

On the first chapter of Genesis, On the Origin of the World, one book. On the Flood of the world, on the 6th chapter of Genesis, one book. On the Crossing of the Red Sea, on the 13th [read 14th] chapter of Exodus, one book.

He flourished under the Emperor Zeno, in the year of the Lord 500. There are said to be six books of the same author, composed in heroic verse on Genesis and Exodus, extant at Vienna in the library of Wolfgang Lazius.

Aurelius Augustine [of Hippo], bishop of Hippo, by nation an African, by fatherland of Tagaste — a man above all mortals who were before him and after him up to now; endowed with an admirable sharpness of genius, instructed in all the liberal disciplines, most fully imbued with the Platonic philosophy, not ignorant of the Aristotelian doctrine, by far the most learned of all in the divine Scriptures, and in their explanation sublime with an incomparable subtlety beyond what can be told. He surpassed all the writers of the Latin Church in the labor of writing and in the multitude of his lucubrations, having published more than one thousand and thirty volumes of every kind of discipline:31 of which he composed expressly, upon all the books of divine scripture here and there, very many exegetical writings of diverse kinds — that is, explanatory writings — which he himself, in the preface of his Retractations, divided into three parts, that is, into Epistles, Tractates, and Books.

In the Epistles he satisfied friends who consulted him about various difficulties of divine scripture. In the Tractates — under whose number are comprehended homilies, or sermons, and other enarrations of the divine volumes to the people — he discoursed publicly on the sacred letters, before the assembly, with his own voice. But the Books he, in the Retractations, divided into four orders, namely into Annotations, Questions, Disputations, and Continuous expositions. In the books of Annotations, passing over many things, he touched here and there only a few — cursorily, briefly, and lightly — which pertain to the understanding of the words and of the letter. In the books of Questions he proposes for inquiry, and resolves, various doubts from diverse passages of the scriptures. In the books of Disputations he most strongly defends some part of divine scripture that has been assailed by the calumnies of heretics. In the books of Continuous explanation he explains anew some parts of both testaments, in a continuous course of exposition, according to the varied understanding both of the letter and of the spirit.

And all these things Augustine attests, at the end of the Retractations, to have been produced by him in three ways, namely by dictating, by speaking, and by writing. Of the kind of Spoken works are the Tractates delivered to the people — to hear which, as Posidonius is witness, the heretics themselves also, together with the catholics, moved by the sanctity and erudition of the man, used to run together with vast eagerness from all Africa, bringing with them notaries who would take down and write out what was caught from his mouth. Of the number of the Dictated works are many epistles, and very many Tractates to the common people, and also some books. Of the order of the Written works are the books of Continuous exposition, the books of Questions, and of Disputations: which, with greater diligence and skill applied, he himself wrote more accurately.

Nor do I think this ought to be passed over in this place: that he himself, in the reading of his little works, wished the readers to observe, namely, the variety and the fourfold order of the times in which it befell them to be written.32 For he wrote some things when he was a Catechumen, in‑

…‑flated with the habit of secular letters; others he composed when first he was baptized, and still raw and a novice in the sacred letters; others he wrote when made a presbyter, more erudite and learned; and others, finally, when raised to the episcopate — by far the most learned of all. This distinction of the times Augustine therefore judged should be observed, so that from the consideration of it the readers might notice how he himself, after the manner of learners, gradually advanced by writing;33 and thus they would the more easily pardon him if they should find anything erroneous in his earlier writings, and would take refuge in his last lucubrations as in the more erudite and firmer decrees of the author.

Besides these, he published also many other exoteric writings, in which — in passing, and as though doing something else — he explained, on various occasions, very many things here and there about the divine letters. Omitting these, I have collected only the exegetical works, and those that were composed by him of set purpose in the explanation and defense of the sacred volumes. The rest, if anyone desires to know, let him read the two books of the Retractations, in which Augustine reviewed and retracted the greater part of his labors.

His manner of teaching, in all the aforesaid works, always and everywhere savors of the same author; yet in the Books he is more erudite, acute, and — by the subtlety of sublime matters — more recondite than in the Tractates: so much so that Jerome, in a certain epistle, does not fear to call him the most obscure expositor of the scriptures.34 He abounds, moreover, in a most copious supply of questions, disputations, argumentations, and reasonings; and, above all the ecclesiastical writers, he flows forth with the testimonies and sentences of divine scripture, like a great river overflowing with the winter’s snow. In the Tractates the style is somewhat more sparing, and more open, and better accommodated to allegorical and moral explanations: in which Augustine, on account of the ears of the unskilled multitude, often lowers himself even to barbarism, frequently having that saying in his mouth, I prefer that the grammarians reprehend me, rather than that the peoples not understand35 — choosing rather to be understood in barbarisms, even with the grammarians condemning them, than to abandon his hearers in the midst of eloquence. But he uses, in all his explanations, the translation of divine scripture of his own times, which was called the Italic;36 for he himself, in the second book On Christian Doctrine, prefers it above the rest, as much for its fidelity of words as for its perspicuity of sentences, to the Latin editions.

His commonplaces, most peculiar to him — and with which above all his exegetical volumes are filled — are these: on the Holy Trinity, Foreknowledge, Election, Predestination, Vocation, Justification, Reprobation, Hardening; on Grace and free will; on Faith and works; on Gifts and merits; on Original Sin; and on other dogmas like these — with moral topics occasionally interspersed, which are in use among all the enarrators.

The kind of his oration and diction is most fruitful and most exuberant, most rich and most copious — not to say excessive — redounding with an affluence of diverse matters, and, with periods drawn out to length, mixedly and indiscriminately rolling and snatching along with itself very many things at once, wandering with digressions, excursions, and roundabout ways; [a style] which requires an ingenious, attentive, mindful, and patient reader — whom, lest he be wearied by the tedium of prolixity, he is wont to refresh with certain Punic [African] witticisms, playing very often with similarly-advancing and similarly-falling clauses, and with other not-unpleasant figures of the rhetoricians, which soften the long and intricate journey of a prolix reading. Let these things, concerning the kind of his lucubrations, the manner of teaching, and the character of speech usual to Augustine, be said sufficiently. But those works which he elaborated upon the individual and the universal parts of both testaments are these.

Upon the whole body of divine Scripture: On Christian Doctrine, four books; in which, for the instruction of him who is to be an expositor of holy scripture, he hands down the precepts of reading, understanding, and interpreting the sacred letters — showing by the aid of which tongues and arts, and by the reading of which authors, and by what rules he has need who inquires into the senses of the Scriptures; and what modes of narrating and expounding the expositor of the sacred volumes ought to have. The work begins, There are certain precepts.

Upon both Testaments: thirty-six books of Disputations against the heretics who blaspheme the Old Testament and accuse the New of falsification. Of these, while he was still a presbyter, he wrote one against Adimantus, a disciple of Manichaeus — who had put out a destructive volume against the ancient testament, setting forth in it, by antithesis, many testimonies from both testaments as though contrary to one another; wishing, namely, by this craft to persuade that the whole Old Testament fights hostilely with the New, and is therefore to be cast away by Christians. This machination Augustine overthrew in this book, the passages of both scriptures which seemed to disagree among themselves being reduced to true concord. The work begins, Concerning that which is written.

Then, having been made a bishop, he published thirty-three books of Disputations against Faustus, bishop of the Manichees37 — who, having published an impious volume against all the divine letters, strove above all to demonstrate two things: first, that the whole Old Testament was framed, for the deception of the human race, by the worst demon, and afterwards augmented by the Jews themselves with obscene and impious narrations; then, that all the scriptures of the New Instrument had been falsified by certain Semi-Jews, who — in order to win credit for the Old Testament — deceitfully inserted the testimonies of Moses and the prophets into the Evangelical books. These impious blasphemies Augustine most strongly confuted in these thirty-three books. Their beginning is, There was a certain Faustus.

The same [Augustine], in his episcopate, composed the remaining two books of Disputations, against a certain unnamed Manichee who had put out a book against the Law and the Prophets. And since he did not know his name, he entitled the work Against an Adversary of the Law and the Prophets. Its beginning is, The book which you sent. He wrote likewise on

…the kind of Questions.

Upon both Testaments, here and there, six books; namely, from the whole Old Testament, two scattered books, of which the first begins, What is God?, and the second thus, Against those who deny. Upon the whole New Testament, two books, of which the former begins, God certainly is perfect, and the other, Why [things were] done and said. Likewise, from both testaments mixedly, 2 books; of these, one begins, You have heard what he attests, and the other, What is [made] to the image. To these books a seventh also can be added, which is entitled Of Eighty-three Questions, thus beginning, Every truth.

He collected also, upon both testaments, a volume which he entitled the Mirror of the Scriptures [Speculum Scripturarum], gathering into it, according to the order of the divine books, all things that are found in the sacred letters for the forming of morals. The opening of the work runs thus, Who is ignorant. There are also carried about, under the title of Augustine, upon the whole Scripture, three books On the Marvels of Sacred Scripture [De mirabilibus sacrae Scripturae], embracing the individual wondrous events narrated in both testaments, with brief elucidations according to the letter occasionally added, and little questions — yet resolved by no fixed determination. These Thomas Aquinas, in the 43rd question of the third part, denies to be a work of Augustine’s;38 which indeed begins thus, Since, of Almighty God. And these are the works of Augustine which pertain to the whole body of holy scripture. But those which regard the particular parts of divine scripture, now receive.

Upon the Heptateuch, after receiving the episcopate, he wrote seven books of Annotations, which he marked beforehand with the title Of Expressions [Locutionum], for this reason: that in them he had annotated the expressions, idioms, and phrases of the Greek and Hebrew scripture which occur here and there in the first seven books of the old testament. The work begins, The expressions of the scriptures. The same [work] he wrote, having been raised to the episcopate.

Upon the Heptateuch, seven books of Questions: in which, passing over the first three chapters of Genesis (elsewhere most copiously expounded by himself), he discoursed various questions upon the remaining chapters of the seven volumes, more with the zeal of inquiring than with the mind of deciding. The work begins, Since with the scriptures, etc.

He labored also upon the first three chapters of Genesis — that is, from the beginning of the book up to the ejection of the first parents from Paradise — [producing] fifteen books of continuous exposition. Namely: when he was in Africa, shortly after receiving the sacrament of baptism, [he wrote] on Genesis according to allegory, against the Manichees (assailants of the Mosaic history), two books; in which, since he did not yet dare to explain the secrets of natural and divine things, hidden in the Mosaic words, according to the letter and the propriety of history, he followed the allegorical sense, as being then easier for him. The work begins, If the Manichees should choose.

Then, having been made a presbyter, he composed On Genesis according to the Letter, unfinished, one book — wishing to try how much he could avail by his genius in the historical kind of explaining, the most difficult of all.39 But when, scarcely and with difficulty, he had reached, by historical explanation, that sentence, Let us make man, he sank under so great a mass of the burden, and rested from the labor which he could not sustain, abandoning the book unfinished: whose opening is, On the obscure [matters] of natural things.

At last, after his elevation to the episcopate, being made bolder, he wrote upon the first three chapters of Genesis, On Genesis according to the Letter, twelve books. In which, although he himself confesses that more things were sought by him than found, and of those found fewer confirmed, and [many] left, as it were, still to be more diligently investigated, in the open: yet there is in them so great a treasure of all the arts, disciplines, and sciences, that it easily appears that nothing more erudite or more sublime, in the exposition of these three chapters, has come forth either before or after Augustine’s times — nor perhaps will come forth hereafter, in future times. But it pleased Augustine to determine nothing in this work about natural things with fixed assertion, lest he should give occasion to the pagan wise men of mocking the sacred letters, and should shut the way of believing to the unbelievers — who, when they saw some of our enarrators of Genesis gravely erring in these works of nature (which had already been shown, by the most learned men, with most certain experience and demonstration), and, what is more shameful, confirming their errors with the testimonies of divine Scripture, used to deride our Writers and Scriptures as unlearned, absurd, and false, judging also that the rest, which are contained in them concerning the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of the Son of God, had been written with a like vanity. Therefore, lest Augustine should be a ruin to those men, he preferred to weave the present work by prudently inquiring rather than by rashly defining. Its beginning is, All divine Scripture.

The same [Augustine], as he himself recounts in the second book of the Retractations, wrote again upon the first chapter of Genesis, three Books — which he inserted into the Books of Confessions published by him; and among them [the Confessions] they are the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth.

There is also carried about a book, or dialogue, Of 75 Questions, under the title of Augustine, in which, Orosius and Augustine conversing, various passages from the first twelve chapters of Genesis are explained. Besides these there are extant:

Upon various passages of Genesis, homilies, or tractates, or sermons — 21, namely:

On Genesis chapter one, six Tractates or Sermons, cited by Trithemius, but not yet seen by me. Likewise, on the beginning of the first chapter, one sermon, which is among the sermons On the Season [de tempore], no. 133. On Genesis 2, on the tree of knowledge, one tractate, which begins, We read in Genesis. On Genesis 6, on the Cataclysm [the Flood], one sermon, which is On the Season, no. 69. On Genesis 12, on Abraham, one sermon, which is On the Season, no. 51. On Genesis 15, on the three-year-old heifer, sermon 1, On the Season, no. 54. On Genesis 18, on the three men seen by Abraham, sermon 1, On the Season, no. 70.

On

On Genesis 19, on Lot and his daughters, homily 1, which is [of … — a word left blank in the print], no. 5. On Genesis 19, on the things which are figured in Lot and his wife, sermon 1, which is To the Hermits, no. 34. On Genesis 22, on the temptation of Abraham, sermon 1, de tempore [On the Season], no. 72. On Genesis 22, on the immolation of Isaac, two sermons, which are de tempore, nos. 71 and 73. On Genesis 25, on the conception of Rebecca, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 68. On Genesis 28, on Jacob’s ladder, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 79. On Genesis 37, on the dream of Joseph, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 81. On Genesis 39, on Joseph and his mistress, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 83. On Genesis 42, on Jacob — from whom it was hidden that Joseph was in Egypt — sermon 1, de tempore, no. 82.

There remains, finally, upon Genesis 49, a small little commentary on the blessings of the patriarchs, published in dialogue, under the title of Augustine, which begins, How is it to be understood. It is thought to have been collected by some studious person out of the book of Jerome’s Questions on Genesis. After these are held [these]:

Upon Exodus, eleven sermons, namely: On the first chapter, on the death of Joseph and the multiplication of the sons of Israel, one sermon, de tempore, no. 84. On the same chapter, on the straw of the Egyptians, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 85. On Exodus 2, on the nativity of Moses, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 86. On Exodus 3, on the appearance of the Lord in the bush, sermon 1, which is from those added to the tenth tome, no. 18. On the same, on the words of God, I am who I am, tractate 1, which is held in tome 9. On Exodus 4, on the hardening of Pharaoh, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 88. On Exodus 7, on the ten plagues of Egypt, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 87. On Exodus 14, on Pharaoh, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 89. On Exodus 15, on the journey of three days, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 90. On the same, on the bitter water and the manna, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 91. On Exodus 31, on the sons of Israel, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 97.

Upon Numbers, six sermons, namely: On chapter 13, on the spies and the cluster [of grapes], sermon 1, de tempore, no. 100. On Numbers 14, on the people that died in the desert, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 102. On Numbers 16, on the censers, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 98. On Numbers 17, on the rod of Aaron, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 99. On Numbers 21, on the bronze serpent, one sermon, de tempore, no. 101. On Numbers 22, on Balaam, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 103.

Upon Joshua, the first chapter: That, by the just judgment of God, the sons of Israel received the land of promise, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 105. On Joshua 6, on Rahab and the overthrow of Jericho, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 106.

Upon the book of Judges, chapter six, on Gideon, two sermons: one, which is de tempore, no. 108; the other among the homilies …. [a reference left blank in the print]. On Judges 14, on Samson, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 107.

Upon [the books of] Kings, Augustine attempted a volume of Questions, after the likeness of those which he had written on the Heptateuch; but, not having advanced much further in the work — since he was called to other matters that pressed more urgently — he broke off the labor. The second book of the Retractations makes mention of this work, which is now wanting.

He wrote also another book, to Simplicianus, bishop of Milan, On the Solution of Five Questions from the Books of Kings, namely: On the 1st book of Kings, chapter 10, on the spirit of the Lord leaping upon Saul, question 1. On 1 Kings 15, on the repentance of God, that he had made Saul king, question 1. On 1 Kings 28, on Samuel called back from the dead through the Pythoness [the witch of Endor], question 1. On 2 Kings 7, on David entering and sitting before the Lord, question 1. On 3 Kings 17, on Elijah expostulating with God, that he had slain the widow’s son, question 1.

Likewise, upon various passages of Kings, 10 sermons, that is: On 1 Kings 17, on David and Goliath, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 196. On the same, on David’s single combat, sermon 1, which is in book 50, homily one. On 3 Kings 3, on Solomon’s judgment concerning the two harlots, one sermon, de tempore, no. 200. On 3 Kings 19, on Elijah, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 201. On 4 Kings 2, on Elisha mocked by the boys, two sermons, which are de tempore, nos. 204 and 206. On 4 Kings 5, on Naaman the Syrian, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 207. On the same, on Elisha and Gehazi, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 208. On 4 Kings 6, on Elisha and the axe fallen into the stream, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 210. On the same, on the famine of Samaria, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 211.

Upon Tobit, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 226. Upon Judith, two sermons, which are de tempore, nos. 228 and 229.

Upon Job, when he was a bishop, he collected a volume of Annotations; concerning which he himself, in the second book of the Retractations, speaks thus:

A book, whose title is Annotations on Job — whether it is to be reckoned mine, or rather theirs who, as they were able or willing, reduced them (written on the margins of the codex) into one body, I could not easily say. For they are agreeable to very few who understand them, while it is inevitable that many, not understanding, are offended: because not even the very words which are expounded are, in many places, so written out that it may appear what is being expounded. Then, upon the brevity of the sentences there followed so great an obscurity that the reader can scarcely bear it — one who must needs pass over very many things not understood. Finally, I found the work itself so full of errors in our codices that I could not correct it; nor would I wish it to be said to have been published by me — except that I know the brethren have it, by whose zeal it cannot be denied [to others].

The work begins, And great works.

Upon the Psalter, Tractates (or Enarrations) of continuous and entire exposition, 205,40

…which — partly as a presbyter, partly as a bishop, up to the end of his life — he enarrated before the assembly, no order being kept, treating now this psalm, now that.41 These tractates, pious and benevolent hearers, collected from his mouth, digested into a whole and ordered body, such as we now have. The kind of exposition is everywhere allegorical and moral, touching but little on the literal understanding: stricter and more accurate in the first several psalms, in the later ones more diffuse, and running out into long digressions. Jerome, in his epistles to Augustine, seems to censure these commentaries as too obscure,42 and in some places also as differing from the right line, and from his own [Jerome’s] mind, and from that of all the Greek expositors. I suspect that Jerome missed, in these enarrations, an explication of the Psalms according to the purity of the Hebrew truth and the opinion of the Greek expositors. But since Augustine was ignorant of the Hebrew tongue,43 and was not so instructed in Greek letters that he could unroll the Greek commentaries with a free hand, it was necessary that he often — out of a poverty of literal understanding — bend aside, from the true and proper sense of the letter, to wrested allegories. The work begins, All scripture.

Besides these Tractates, there are extant also another nineteen sermons upon various verses of the Psalms, of which the catalog is this: On the first Psalm entire, one sermon, which is held in the book of Questions on the Old Testament, question 110. On Psalm 9, upon To thee is the poor man left, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 110. On Psalm 16 [read 26], upon Wait for the Lord, do manfully, one sermon, among the 50 homilies, no. 11. On the whole of Psalm 21, an epistle to Honoratus, which is no. 120. On the whole of Psalm 23, one sermon, held in the book of Questions on the Old Testament, question 111. On Psalm 33, upon Who is the man that desireth life?, one sermon, which is of the 50 homilies, the first. On Psalm 40, on the beginning of the same psalm, one sermon, which is among the 50 homilies the thirty-ninth. On Psalm 45, upon Be still and see that I am God, one sermon, de tempore, no. 251. On Psalm 49, upon God shall come manifestly, two sermons: one de tempore, no. 220; the other, no. 28, in the book of 50 homilies. Likewise on Psalm 49, upon Sitting, thou didst speak against thy brother, one sermon, which is among the 50 homilies the second. On Psalm 50, one sermon, held in the book of Questions on the Old Testament, question 112. On Psalm 67, upon As smoke faileth, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 109. On Psalm 83, upon My heart and my flesh, one sermon, among the 50 homilies the thirty-third. On Psalm 94, upon Come, let us adore, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Apostle, no. 11. On Psalm 97, upon Sing and make melody on the harp, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 221. On Psalm 117, on the first verse of the psalm, sermon 1, among the 50 homilies, no. 36. On Psalm 117, upon This is the day which the Lord hath made, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 136. On Psalm 118, upon Goodness and discipline and knowledge, sermon 1, among the 50 homilies the fourth. On Psalm 118, upon Direct my steps, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 12.

Upon Proverbs, chapter 13, upon There are that count themselves rich, sermon 1, de tempore. On Proverbs 31, on the valiant woman, 2 sermons, de tempore, nos. 217 and 218. On that of Wisdom 7, [She] is the brightness of eternal light, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 190. On Isaiah 11, upon The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, one sermon, On the Saints, no. 7. On Isaiah 53, upon He shall grow up as a tender plant before him, sermon 1, among the 50 homilies, no. 36. On Isaiah 58, upon Cry, cease not, sermon 1, among the 50 homilies, no. 7. On Isaiah 58, upon Break thy bread to the hungry, sermon 1, among the 50 homilies, no. 17. On Ezekiel chapter 34, two books: one on the shepherds, in which the former part of this chapter is expounded; the other on the sheep, in which the latter part is explained. The work begins, Our hope. On Daniel 3, on the three boys, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 240. On Daniel 13, on Susanna, two sermons, which are de tempore, nos. 118 and 242.

Thus far reach the things which Augustine wrote upon the Old Testament; now follow those which he composed upon the New.

Upon the four Gospels: On the Harmony of the Evangelists, four books — which, having been made a Bishop, he wrote against certain rash calumniators who accused the writers of the four Gospels with the mark of ignorance and of falsehood, [charging] that they had said many things dissonant among themselves, conflicting, and destructive of one another; but he showed that the Evangelists were in nothing discordant, neither among themselves, nor with their own selves. The work begins, Among all.

Upon Matthew, he brought a threefold kind of exposition, that is, the Questionary, the Continuous, and the Homiletic.

In the Continuous kind, while he was still a presbyter, he wrote On the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, upon the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters, two books — showing that in that same sermon are contained all the precepts which pertain to the forming of the Christian man’s life. The work begins, The sermon which.

In the Questionary kind, being now a bishop, he collected one book of Evangelical Questions, not according to the order of the evangelical chapters, but according to the occasions of those who consulted him with such questions; which afterward, when he was revising the book, he reduced into order, numbers being added, lest the reader should be offended by the tedium of a disturbed order. But the carelessness of the copyists again confused the order, the former part of the book being torn away and cast to the end of the volume of Questions from the gospel according to Luke. The work begins, It is not so written.

In the Homiletic kind, he left homilies, or sermons delivered to the people, 43, namely: On Matthew chapter 2, on the coming of the Magi, sermon, which is On the Saints, the ninth. On the same

On the same [Matthew 2], on the slaughter of the infants, sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 10. On Matthew 3, upon I ought to be baptized by thee, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 63. On Matthew 4, upon Do penance, sermon 1, de verbis Domini. On Matthew 5, on the beatitude of the poor, sermon 1, which is from those added to the tenth tome, the fourteenth. On the same, upon You have heard that it was said to them of old, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 59. On the same, upon Love your enemies, sermon 2, de tempore, no. 170. On the same, upon Let your light shine, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 2. On the same, upon Whosoever shall say to his brother, Racha, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, the fourth. On Matthew 6, upon Let not thy left hand know, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 10. On the same, on the Lord’s Prayer, 3 sermons, which are de tempore, nos. 126 and 182, and, among the 50 homilies, the forty-second. On Matthew 7, upon that, He that shall do and teach, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 3. On Matthew 7, upon Ask and you shall receive, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 5. On the same, upon Judge not, and you shall not be judged, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 202. On the same, on the parable of the Tares, sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 39.

On Matthew 8, on the Centurion’s servant, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 6. On the same, upon Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 7. On Matthew 11, upon I confess to thee, Father, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 8. On the same, upon Come to me, all [you], sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 9. On the same, upon Among those born of women, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 44. On Matthew 12, on the word against the Holy Spirit, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 11. On the same, upon Either make the tree good, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 12. On Matthew 14, on Peter walking upon the waters, two sermons, which are de verbis Domini, nos. 13 and 14. On Matthew 15, on the Canaanite woman, one sermon, de tempore, no. 74. On Matthew 17, on the demoniac, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 230. On Matthew 18, on fraternal correction, two sermons, which are de verbis Domini, nos. 15 and 16.

On Matthew 19, upon If thou wilt enter into life, two sermons, de tempore, no. 205, [and] de verbis Domini, no. 17. On the same, upon If thou wilt be perfect, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 233. On Matthew 20, on the two blind men, two sermons, de tempore, no. 52, [and] de verbis Domini, no. 18. On Matthew 22, on the tribute of Caesar, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 19. On the same, upon Thou shalt love thy neighbor, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 38. On the same, upon Whose son do they say Christ is, two sermons, de tempore, nos. 234 and 235. On Matthew 24, upon Woe to them that are with child, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 30. On the same, upon Of that day no one knoweth, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 21. On Matthew 15 [read 25], on the ten virgins, sermon 3, de verbis Domini, nos. 22 and 23, and in the book of 83 Questions, question 59. On the same, upon Come, ye blessed of my Father, sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 38.

Upon Mark, chapter eight, on the hungry crowd following Christ, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 209. On Mark 16, on the two disciples to whom Christ appeared in another form, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 146. On the same, on the Eleven disciples reclining [at table], sermon 1, from those added to the tenth tome, no. 5.

Upon Luke, being a bishop, he wrote one book of Questions, in the same order in which he had before written the Questions on Matthew. Its beginning is, Because Zacharias. Likewise, from various passages of Luke, 26 sermons, namely: On Luke chapter 2 [read 1], upon He was sent [the Annunciation], sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 18. On the same, upon the Magnificat, sermon 1, from those added to the ninth tome, the last. On Luke 2, upon Son, why hast thou done so to us, sermon 1, from those added to the tenth tome, no. 2. On Luke 6, upon Forgive, and you shall be forgiven, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 29. On Luke 7, on the sinful woman, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 23. On Luke 10, upon He that despiseth you, despiseth me, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 24. On the same, on Mary and Martha, two sermons, de verbis Domini, nos. 26 and 27. On the same, on him who fell among robbers, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 37. On Luke 11, upon Lord, teach us to pray, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 28 — which is entirely transcribed from the fourth chapter of the fifth book of St. Ambrose’s On the Sacraments. On Luke 12, upon Which of you shall have a friend [Luke 11:5], sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 29. On the same, on the Pharisees washing the outside of the dish [Luke 11:39], sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 30. On the same, on the rich man having a fruitful field, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 58. On Luke 13, on the fig tree, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 31. On the same, upon If they are few that are saved, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 32. On the same, on the grain of mustard seed, sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 34. On Luke 14, on the great supper, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 33. On Luke 15, on the prodigal son, two sermons, which are de verbis Domini, no. 34, and To the Hermits, no. 27. On Luke 16, on the mammon of iniquity, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 35. On the same, on the rich man and Lazarus, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 25. On Luke 17 [read 18], on the unjust judge, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 36. On Luke 21, upon A hair of your head, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 14. On Luke 23, on the cross and the thief, sermon 1, de tempore. On Luke 24, on the disciples going to Emmaus, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 140. On the same, on Jesus standing in the midst of the disciples, sermon 1, from those added to the tenth tome, no. 4.

Upon the Gospel of John, he published Tracta‑

…‑tes, 124, written down from the mouth of the speaker by notaries, of a continuous exposition — from the beginning of the Gospel, namely, up to the end. Of this work no mention is made in the books of the Retractations, because it is of the number of the Spoken works,44 as are also the enarrations on the psalms. Its beginning is, Divine scripture, to all. He had also, besides these tractates, upon the same gospel, 42 sermons, namely:

On John chapter 1, upon In the beginning was the Word, two sermons, which are de tempore, no. 134, and de verbis Domini, no. 38. On the same, upon He was in the world, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 39. On the same, upon When thou wast under the fig tree, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 40. On John 2, on the water changed into wine, two sermons, which are de verbis Domini, no. 41, and de tempore, no. 41. On John 5, on the sick man, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 42. On the same, upon If I bear witness of myself, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 43. On the same, upon As the Father raiseth up the dead, two sermons, de verbis Domini, no. 44, and of the 50 homilies, no. 22. On the same, upon Search the scriptures, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 45. On the same, upon The Son of man cannot do anything of himself, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 32. On the same, upon The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 64. On the same, upon He that eateth my flesh, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 46. On John 8, on the adulteress, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 47. On the same, upon If you continue in my word, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 48. On John 9, on the man born blind, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 43. On John 10, on the shepherd, and the hireling, and the thief, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 49. On the same, on the Good Shepherd, one sermon, de verbis Domini, no. 50. On the same, upon I and the Father are one, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 51. On John 11, on Lazarus, two sermons, de verbis Domini, no. 51, and de tempore, no. 104. On the same, upon He that believeth in me, believeth in him that sent me, sermon 1. On John 12, upon He that loveth his life, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 37. On John 13, on the Lord’s Supper, sermon 1, To the Hermits, no. 28. On John 14, upon I am the way, three sermons, de verbis Domini, nos. 54 and 55, and of the 50 homilies, no. 34. On the same, upon The things which I speak, I speak not of myself, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 56. On the same, upon My peace I give unto you, two sermons, de verbis Domini, no. 57, and from those added to the tenth tome, the last. On the same, upon Let not your heart be troubled, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 58. On John 15, upon You are my friends, two sermons. On the same, upon He riseth from supper [John 13:4], sermon 1, de tempore, no. 127. On the same, upon I am the vine, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 59. On John 16, upon It is expedient for you that I go, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 60. On the same, upon He shall convince the world of sin, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 61. On John 19, on Joseph asking Pilate [for the body], sermon 1, de tempore, no. 132. On the same, on the sepulchre of the Lord, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 133. On John 20, on Magdalene weeping at the monument, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 152. On John 21, on the manifestation of Christ at the sea of Tiberias, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 148. On the same, upon Peter, lovest thou me, sermon 1, de verbis Domini, no. 62. On the same, upon Lovest thou me more than these, sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 24.

Upon the Acts of the Apostles, he brought forth four sermons, namely: On Acts 3, on the going up of Peter and John into the temple, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 29. On Acts 4, upon No one possessed anything of his own, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 27. On Acts 9, on the conversion of Paul, sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 14. On Acts 10, on the ecstasy of mind in Peter, sermon 1, de sanctis, no. 45.

Upon the Epistle to the Romans, he dictated two books: one of an interpolated exposition upon various passages of that epistle here and there — while he was still a presbyter at Carthage, where, when the epistle was being read among his intimates, and he himself, being questioned by them, answered, this book was taken down by the questioners out of responses of that kind; which begins, These are the senses. But the other book he undertook as of a continuous exposition; yet, when he had consumed one whole book upon the salutation of the epistle alone,45 deterred by the magnitude and labor of the work to come, he desisted from what he had begun, and left only this book — which he had made the first of the whole work — under the title Of the Begun [Unfinished] Exposition [Inchoatae expositionis]. Its beginning is, In the epistle which, etc.

To these he added, upon various sentences of the same epistle, ten sermons, namely: On Romans 7, upon When we were in the flesh, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 4. On the same, upon The law worketh sin, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 5. On the same, upon Therefore I myself serve, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 6. On the same, upon Not the good that I will, two sermons, de tempore, nos. 43 and 45. On the same, upon I am delighted with the law of God, sermon 1, de tempore, no. 47. On Romans 8, upon If God be for us, who is against us?, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 16. On the same, upon I speak a human thing because of the infirmity, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 17. On the same, upon By hope we are saved, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 25. On Romans 9, upon I will have mercy on whom I will, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 22.

On the same, upon On whom he will, he hath mercy, one book On Predestination and Grace, beginning, Since in the sacred [scriptures]. On the same, upon For Rebecca also, up to that, Unless the Lord of Sabaoth, one Question, On the Cause of Election and Reprobation, to Simplicianus.

On

Upon the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 6, upon Know you not that your bodies, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 18. On 1 Corinthians 7, upon that, To them that are married, not I, but the Lord, command, two books, to Pollentius, showing that those who have made a divorce ought to remain unmarried; the work begins, The first question. On 1 Corinthians 9, upon So I fight, not as one beating the air, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Apostle, no. 21. On 1 Corinthians 10, upon Let no temptation take hold of you but such as is human, sermon 1. On 1 Corinthians 12, how we ought to love one another by the example of the members, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 15. On 2 Corinthians 3, upon The letter killeth, the spirit quickeneth, [there is] On the Spirit and the Letter, to Marcellinus, one book, beginning, The little works being read. On 2 Corinthians 5, upon All must be made manifest before the tribunal of God, two sermons, which are On the Words of the Apostle, nos. 19 and 20. On the same, upon We are ambassadors for Christ, sermon 1, which is of the 50 homilies, no. 49.

Upon the epistle to the Galatians, while he was still a presbyter, he composed one book of a continuous and succinct exposition, beginning, The cause for which. On the 2nd chapter to the Galatians, when he was a bishop, he wrote — on Peter being reprehended by Paul — two epistles to Jerome, of which one begins, Never equally, the other, I give thanks. On Galatians 3, upon If a law had been given which could justify, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Apostle, no. 13. On Galatians 5, upon Walk in the spirit, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Apostle, no. 3. On Galatians 6, upon Bear ye one another’s burdens, two sermons, which are On the Words of the Apostle, nos. 23 and 24. On the same, upon God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross, sermon 1, which is from those added to the tenth tome, no. 15.

Upon the epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 3, upon That you may be able to comprehend what is the breadth, sermon 1, which is of the 50 homilies, no. 3. On the same, upon I ask that I be not weakened, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Apostle, no. 7. On Ephesians 4, upon Putting away malice, sermon 1, which is de tempore, no. 221. On Ephesians 5, upon See how you walk circumspectly, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Apostle, no. 26. On Ephesians 6, upon Peace to the brethren, and charity, sermon 1, which is of the 50 homilies, no. 17.

Upon the epistle to the Philippians, chapter three, upon We are not circumcised, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Apostle, no. 5. On the same, upon According to the justice which is of the law, sermon 1, which is de tempore, no. 221.

Upon the first [read: second] epistle to the Thessalonians, [chapter] 3, upon He that will not work, let him not eat [2 Thessalonians 3:10], [there is] On the Work of Monks, to Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, one book, in which it is discussed whether monks who neglect Paul’s precept ought to be compelled to labor; its beginning is, At thy command, holy brother Aurelius. On 1 Thessalonians 4, upon I would not have you sorrow concerning them that sleep, sermon 1, which is On the Words of the Lord, no. 34.

Upon the first epistle to Timothy, [chapter] 1, upon A faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, three sermons, which are On the Words of the Apostle, nos. 8, 9, and 10. On 1 Timothy 6, [upon] That the root of all evils is covetousness, one sermon, which is of the 50 homilies, no. 8. On the 2nd epistle to Timothy, [chapter] 3, upon All that will live godly in Christ, [there is] On the Conflict of the Vices, one book — in which it is shown that, without the persecution of the vices, no one can be saved; and it begins, The apostolic voice. Some think it is not Augustine’s. On 2 Timothy 4, upon Preach the word, be instant in season, sermon 1, which is of the 50 homilies, no. 5.

Upon the epistle of James, being a bishop, he dictated one book of Annotations, collected by the diligence of his hearers, which begins, To the twelve tribes. On James 2, upon Whosoever shall offend in one [point], [there is] one epistle to Jerome, which is among his epistles no. 29. On James 5, upon Swear not, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 30. On the same, upon Confess [your sins] one to another, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 12.

Upon the epistle of 1 Peter, chapter two, upon Laying aside all malice, sermon 1, of the 50 homilies, no. 20. On 1 Peter 3, on Christ preaching to the spirits that were in prison, [there is] one epistle to Evodius, which is [epistle] no. 99. On 2 Peter 1, on the voice brought from heaven, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 29.

Upon the epistle of 1 John, from the beginning — namely, up to the middle of the last chapter — 10 tractates, published to the people during the eight days of the paschal feast. The work begins, Your sanctity remembers. On 1 John 1, upon If we say that we have no sin, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 31. On 1 John 4, on not believing every spirit, sermon 1, On the Words of the Apostle, no. 32.

Upon the Apocalypse, being a bishop, he wrote one book of Annotations according to the anagogical [sense]; which someone (I know not who) cut up into eighteen homilies, with some words added before and after — in which homilies are wont to begin and end — perhaps that he might, thus divided, present them the more conveniently to be read in church on certain days of the year. But it is not likely that Augustine spoke to the people so briefly about matters so obscure. The work begins, In the reading of the Revelation.

Thus far the exegetical writings of Augustine; out of which — and out of other exoteric works of the same author — various authors collected diverse volumes of explanations upon the divine scriptures.46 Of whose number is Peter of Tripoli, who (as Cassiodorus testifies) collected expositions upon all the epistles of Paul. Bede also, after him, did the same upon the whole of Paul, and upon the first epistle of John. Lastly, Bartholomew of Urbino, an Augustinian, gathered — upon the whole body of the Bible — two Tomes of explanations out of the sayings of Augustine. Concerning his life and writings there wrote Posidonius, bishop of Calama, and Jacobus, archbishop of Genoa. Blessed Augustine dies in the city of Hippo, while it was being besieged by the Vandals, in the times of Theodosius the Younger, in the year of the Lord 430.47

Aurelius Cassiodorus, a most illustrious man, master of the epistles of Theodoric king of Italy, senator and consul of the city of Rome, when — having left the world48 —

…when — having left the world — he had been made a monk, and abbot of the monastery at Ravenna, turning all the secular disciplines, and especially eloquence, to the service of Christ, he interpreted many things concerning the divine scriptures. But among the rest, far more excellent is the book of the Psalms, in the explanation of which he compressed, with a compendious and elegant brevity, whatever St. Augustine had poured forth in his tractates on the Psalms with a most copious enarration — interspersing also, of his own, not-to-be-despised annotations, definitions, propositions, and several axioms from grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, music, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and other disciplines; with which, as with stars and gems, he adorns the bright texture of his work: brief little prefaces being fitted, in rhetorical manner, to each psalm, in which — setting forth the argument, and the division of the psalm into its parts — he briefly explains what is contained in each part of the psalm. Then, in the enarration itself, artfully connecting together the words and verses of the psalm with a certain necessary sequence of order, he applies himself chiefly to the anagogical explanation, referring all things to Christ, the end of all. Finally, at the end of each psalm, he appends a brief epilogue of the things said by him; in which, mingling something ethical with the anagogy, he inflames the mind of the reader. The work begins, Once driven back in the city of Ravenna.

He wrote likewise On the Institution of Divine Readings, two books, most useful to those approaching the sacred studies; whose beginning is, Since the studies of secular [men].

Likewise, a compendium of the whole of divine scripture, which he entitled the Memorial of the Scriptures.

Upon the Song of Songs, commentaries, beginning, Solomon, inspired.

Upon the Acts of the Apostles, a succinct exposition.

Upon all the Catholic epistles, Annotations.

Upon the Apocalypse, a commentary, to which he gave the title Complexions on the Apocalypse.

He also delineated a shadow-drawing [sciography] of the Mosaic tabernacle, according to the exemplar described by Moses in the 26th chapter of Exodus; whose picture Bede testifies that he saw, in the 2nd book On the Tabernacle of Moses. He flourished under the Justins, the elder and the younger, and dies in the 97th year of his age, in the year of the Lord 576.

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, a man of consular rank, by nation a Spaniard, a Palatine soldier from the city of Caesaraugusta [Zaragoza], and Consul of Massilia [Marseilles], the most celebrated poet of his time, and adorned with the variety of all the disciplines. When for fifty-seven years he had served worldly vanities, at last, leaving these in his old age, he dedicated himself wholly to the study of the divine scriptures — in which he wrote many things in verse; but among the rest a volume of hexameter verse, entitled Dittochaeon (ΔΙΤΤΟΧΑΙΟΝ) for this reason: that in it, out of all the histories of the Old and New Testament, he had prepared as it were a twofold food (for διττός [dittos] means “twofold,” and ὀχή [ochē] “food”). I have read a certain fragment of his work, whose beginning is, Eve was a dove. He published also, after the manner of the Greeks, upon the first three chapters of Genesis — that is, from the beginning of the book, up to the prevarication of Adam and his expulsion from paradise — commentaries famous as much for their style as for their sense. He flourished under Gratian Augustus, in the year of the Lord 380; whose life Aldus Manutius briefly collected out of his works.

Footnotes

  1. The commentaries of this author on all the epistles of St. Paul are not extant. ↩

  2. Albert the Great resigned his bishopric, that he might close his last day in the Order of St. Dominic. ↩

  3. Alexander of Hales was called the Fountain of Life. ↩

  4. Ambrose’s writings are distributed into four orders. ↩

  5. The argument of St. Ambrose’s book On Paradise. ↩

  6. Abraham was the image and pattern of a wise man perfected through contemplation. ↩

  7. The good of death is explained by St. Ambrose. ↩

  8. Beatitude can be acquired even in the greatest perils of life. ↩

  9. Joseph was the example of many virtues, but chiefly of chastity. ↩

  10. Ambrose piously excuses the adultery of David. ↩

  11. Acca’s judgment on St. Ambrose’s commentary on the gospel of St. Luke. ↩

  12. The same Augustine also cites other books of Ambrose on Luke. ↩

  13. The Roman Empire was occupied by the Lombards more than 200 years after Ambrose. ↩

  14. Ammonius was the teacher of Origen in Philosophy. ↩

  15. Ammonius was a Christian. ↩

  16. An ass was a hearer of the teaching of Ammonius. ↩

  17. He [Andrew Biglia] also wrote 4 books of expositions on the Gospels. ↩

  18. Julian the Apostate forbade the Christians to read profane [pagan] writings. ↩

  19. A law was passed by the Emperor Jovian, that the Christians should be imbued with the letters of the gentiles. Sozomen, book 5 of the Ecclesiastical History, ch. 17. ↩

  20. Porphyry wrote 15 books against the Christians. ↩

  21. Apollinaris overthrew many heresies. ↩

  22. Aquila, having renounced Christianity, becomes a proselyte of the Jews. ↩

  23. Peripatetic philosophy was drawn from the books of Moses. ↩

  24. Lactantius was Arnobius’s pupil in the study of eloquence. ↩

  25. Jerome testifies, in the epistle to Magnus, that Arnobius wrote only seven books Against the Nations. The one that is now appended after the seven, and titled “the eighth,” is a dialogue on the same subject, but not a part of the same body, nor a book of the same work. ↩

  26. Photinus began to teach his heresy in the year of the Lord 358. ↩

  27. Lactantius was the tutor of Crispus Caesar, son of Constantine the Great. ↩

  28. The author’s judgment concerning the commentaries on the Psalms that are here and there ascribed to Arnobius. ↩

  29. Athanasius dies in the year of the Lord 370. ↩

  30. The judgment of Photius concerning Athanasius. ↩

  31. Augustine published more than 1030 volumes. ↩

  32. St. Augustine warns the reader to observe the fourfold variety of the times in which he composed his works. ↩

  33. Augustine advanced by writing. ↩

  34. Augustine was, to Jerome, the most obscure expositor of the scriptures. ↩

  35. A distinguished saying of St. Augustine. ↩

  36. St. Augustine used the Italic translation of the Scriptures. ↩

  37. St. Augustine refuted the blasphemies of Faustus the Manichee. ↩

  38. St. Thomas denies that the books On the Marvels of Sacred Scripture are St. Augustine’s. ↩

  39. The historical kind of explaining is the most difficult of all. ↩

  40. The Enarrations of St. Augustine on the Psalms are 205 [in number]. ↩

  41. [These enarrations were] collected by his own hearers, as he was making [these] words to the people. ↩

  42. Jerome censures St. Augustine’s Enarrations on the Psalms as too obscure. ↩

  43. Augustine was ignorant of the Hebrew tongue. ↩

  44. Why Augustine, in the books of the Retractations, made no mention of the Tractates on the Gospel of John [namely, because they are reckoned among his “Spoken” works]. ↩

  45. St. Augustine wrote one book upon the salutation alone of the Epistle to the Romans. ↩

  46. Authors who collected explanations upon the sacred Scriptures out of the books of St. Augustine. ↩

  47. At what time Augustine departed from this life. ↩

  48. Cassiodorus, from a Roman consul, became a monk. ↩

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To cite this page

Sixtus of Siena, O.P., “Letter A,” in The Catholic Expositors of the Divine Volumes, English translation, Mind of the Church, https://mindofthechurch.com/works/bibliotheca-sancta-iv/001-letter-a/.

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