Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Sacrament of Penance · Book IV: On Satisfaction
Chapter 9: Satisfaction Is Proved from the Tradition of the Ancient Church
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. III, De Sacramento Poenitentiae, Book IV, the fourth general controversy on the sacraments. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
Now we shall bring the testimonies of the ancient Church. And first, in the first age after the apostles, that is, after the year of the Lord 100, we have Justin, or whoever was the author of the questions which are contained in the works of Justin. He then, question 79, asks why God permitted King Josias to be slain by the sword, when he was a most holy man; and he answers in these words: “But Josias met a mournful end of life for this reason, that he did not obey the command of Jeremiah, who had told him by the commandment of God not to go forth to meet the king of Egypt in battle, as Jeremiah says. Wherefore, that the Lord God might receive him pure from sins out of this life, he permitted him to pay the penalties of his disobedience by the Egyptian sword.” But if God permitted that death that he might receive Josias pure from sin, then the punishment of death was the expiation of sin, and therefore (which is the same) satisfaction for sin; and if that punishment of a violent death was the expiation of sin, in the same manner the other punishments which after sin are exacted of penitents are satisfactions not before men only, but also before God; and are exacted not only as a remedy against future sins, but also in vengeance and compensation of past ones. Saint Irenaeus, book 3, chapter 37, speaking of the Penance of Adam: “The fear of the Lord,” he says, “is the beginning of understanding; but the understanding of his transgression wrought Penance, and to the penitent God bestows his kindness. For by the girdle he showed his Penance in deed, covering himself with fig leaves, when there were also many other leaves which could have vexed his body less; yet he made a covering worthy of his disobedience, terrified by the fear of God, and beating back the wanton impulse of the flesh.” And below he sets down the words of Adam himself: “Since,” he says, “I have lost by disobedience the robe which I had from the Spirit of holiness, I now know that I am worthy of such a covering, which affords no delight, but bites and pricks the body. And he would always have had this garment, humbling himself, unless the Lord, who is merciful, had clothed them with tunics of skins in place of fig leaves.” From this testimony we learn that the worthy fruit of Penance is not only, as the adversaries would have it, a new obedience to the commandments; for God had not commanded that Adam should use that garment so rough; but is a punishment undertaken of one’s own accord, which afflicts the body with pain, and by that means compensates the pleasure received from sin. Wherefore Irenaeus rightly calls that garment of Adam a covering worthy of his disobedience. For disobedience had been born of pride, and therefore it was just and worthy that it should be compensated by humility; but that covering not only afflicted the flesh with prickings, that satisfaction might be made to the Lord for the delight, but by its meanness availed also to humble the heart, that it might compensate the pride and disobedience. And hence it seems to have come about afterwards that penitents commonly used sackcloth or hair shirt. The same, book 4, chapter 26, at the end: “He taught,” he says, “that they should do the precepts which God commanded from the beginning, and that they should loose the old lust by good works and follow Christ. And that those things which are possessed, divided among the poor, make payment of past lust, Zacchaeus made manifest: Behold, he says, the half of my goods I give to the poor.” Tertullian, in the book On Penance: “You have offended,” he says, “but you can still be reconciled; you have one to whom you may make satisfaction, and one indeed who is willing.” And below: “Satisfaction is disposed by confession.” And a little before: “How foolish, moreover, not to fulfil Penance, and yet to expect the pardon of offences? This is not to hold out the price, and to stretch out the hand for the wares; for at this price the Lord has appointed to award pardon; by this compensation of Penance he offers impunity to be redeemed.” From this testimony we have the name of Satisfaction, which Luther wished taken away; we have that satisfaction is made to God, and not to the Church only, as the adversaries teach; we have that the works of Satisfaction redeem from condignity the punishments of sins, for therefore Tertullian calls it a price, a redemption and a compensation.
After the year of the Lord 200 we have Origen. He in homily 6 on Exodus speaks thus: “If anyone perhaps, deceived by the devil, has received money of this kind, let him not despair altogether; for the Lord is merciful and compassionate, and wills not the death of his creature, but that it be converted and live. By repenting, by weeping, by making satisfaction let him blot out what was committed.” Likewise homily 15 on Leviticus, where, having said that sins can be redeemed in this life, he adds: “If yet your hand shall have found a price to restore. What price? That of Penance without doubt, gathered by tears, and found by the hands, that is, by the labour of good work.” Homily 3 on the book of Judges: “See,” he says, “the kind Lord mixing mercy with severity, and weighing the measure of the punishment itself with a just and clement balance. He does not deliver offenders for ever, but for as long a time as you know you have erred, for as long a time as you have offended, for so long a time nonetheless humble yourself to God, and make satisfaction to him in the confession of Penance.” Saint Cyprian, book 1, letter 3, writing against those who gave peace to penitents without a full satisfaction first made: “They labour,” he says, “that satisfaction be not made to God in his indignation.” And below: “Pains are taken that offences be not redeemed by just satisfactions and lamentations, that wounds be not washed with tears.” Likewise book 3, letter 14: “He who withdraws these things from our brethren deceives the wretched, so that those who can do true Penance, and make satisfaction to God the merciful Father by their prayers and works, are seduced that they may perish the more.” Likewise in the sermon On Works and Alms: “Nor would he have anything to do, whom the infirmity and weakness of human frailty had done, unless the divine goodness again coming to help, the works of justice and mercy being shown, should open a certain way of keeping salvation, that whatever stains we afterwards contract we may wash away by alms. The Holy Spirit speaks in the Scriptures and says: By alms and faith sins are purged; not indeed those sins which had been contracted before; for those are purged by the blood and satisfaction of Christ.” From this testimony we most openly learn the difference between Baptism and the sacrament of Penance, which the adversaries could never perceive. For before Baptism Satisfaction is not exacted, since by the blood of Christ most fully applied through Baptism all sins are purged, not only as to guilt, but also as to the punishment of the other life, both eternal and temporal; but after Baptism Satisfaction is necessary, since (as we showed above) through priestly absolution the guilt and eternal punishment are indeed remitted, but not the whole temporal punishment of the other life. The same Cyprian, in the sermon On the Lapsed: “The Lord,” he says, “must be entreated, the Lord must be appeased by our Satisfaction.” And below, in the last words, after he had said, “One must pray more earnestly and entreat, pass the day in mourning, spend the nights in vigils and weeping, lying on the ground cleave to the ashes, roll in sackcloth and filth,” and so on, he adds thus: “He who shall thus have made satisfaction to God, who by the Penance of his deed, by the shame of his offence, shall have conceived more of virtue and faith from the very grief of his fall, heard and helped by the Lord, will make glad the Church which he had lately saddened; and will now merit not only the pardon of God, but a crown.”
After the year of the Lord 300, Saint Antony the Great, in letter 1, at the end, says that God looks to the many fasts, the vigils, the constant meditations, the abundant prayers, the renunciation of the things of this world and the other labours of penitents, and so has mercy on them. Lactantius, book 4 On True Wisdom, chapter 17: “Wishing,” he says, “in his eternal goodness to provide for our life and salvation, he set before us Penance in that circumcision, so that if we have laid bare our heart, that is, if, having confessed our sins, we have made satisfaction to God, we may obtain pardon.” The same, book 5 On Justice, chapter 13: “It is permitted,” he says, “to make satisfaction to God.” And book 6 On True Worship, chapter 13: “Look round on your conscience, and as far as you can heal your wounds; nor yet, because sins are taken away by giving, think that licence of sinning is given you. For they are abolished if you give to God because you had sinned; but if you sin in the confidence of giving, they are not abolished. For God most desires that men be purged from sins, and therefore commands to do Penance.” By these words Lactantius, following Cyprian, as it seems, exhorts penitents to the giving of alms, and says that sins are taken away and abolished through alms if a man repents of having sinned, and therefore, because he sinned, namely that he may make satisfaction to God, gives alms; but that they are not taken away nor abolished if men sin in the confidence of giving, that is, if they give alms that they may sin more freely. In the same book, chapter 24, the same author: “He can,” he says, “be brought back and freed, if he repents of his deeds, and, converted to better things, makes satisfaction to God.” Saint Hilary on Psalm 118, expounding the last verse of the letter Phe: “My eyes,” he says, “have shed streams of waters, for old sins, as the history itself teaches; although he had directed himself with his whole heart, yet because he had also written before in fact the grief of his sin, then when, the prophet Nathan accusing him, he acknowledged his crime and wept; now also he does not cease to wash away the crime of his old deed with the tears of true Penance.” And below: “This is the voice of Penance, to pray with tears, to groan with tears, and through this confidence to say: I will wash my bed every night. This is the pardon of sin, to weep with a fountain of weeping, to be wetted with a copious shower of tears.” From this testimony we have that David, after perfect conversion and the indulgence of guilt obtained, washed away with tears the sin once committed, because, namely, he understood that after the guilt was remitted the guilt of punishment had remained, which had to be purged by Satisfaction; we have also that the pardon of sin is to weep with a fountain of weeping, that is, that by copious tears pardon is without doubt obtained. The same, canon 4 on Matthew, not far from the end: “Because charity,” he says, “covers a multitude of sins, and is the ambitious advocate of our errors before God, we shall pay the last farthing of punishment unless by its price we are redeemed from the guilt of some crimes.” See how clearly this great doctor says that by the works of charity that punishment is redeemed which we owed for guilt. Saint Basil on Psalm 29, expounding that verse, “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy”: “But,” he says, “the prophets also lament for us, provoking us to mourning, so that, brought at the same time to the confession and knowledge of our sins by the prophetic discourses, we may mourn our destruction, afflicting our flesh with many labours and hardships. And surely he who is such is torn from the mourning garment which he had put round himself, mourning his sin; on him at length is put the robe of gladness and the mantle of salvation,” and so on. In this place the great Basil teaches clearly enough that by the labours and hardships with which the flesh is afflicted the gladness of indulgence and salvation is acquired. The same also in the oration on those words, “Attend to thyself”: “Attend to thyself,” he says, “that according to the proportion of the offence you may hence also borrow from the remedy applied to you the help of restoring health. Is the sin great and grave? you have need of much confession, of bitter tears, of a very sharp contention of vigils, of an unbroken and continued fast. Is the offence light and not intolerable? let the Penance be made equal to this also.” Here indeed Basil most openly acknowledges that Satisfaction ought to be condign, and exacts that proportion with the sin, that truly through it the offence be compensated. Saint Ambrose in letter 82 to the church of Vercelli: “What salvation,” he says, “can there be for us, unless by fasting we wash away our sins?” The same, book 2 On Penance, chapter 5: “He called each blessed,” he says, “both him whose iniquity is remitted through the laver, and him whose sin is covered by good works; for he who does Penance ought not only to wash away his sin with tears, but also to cover and hide his former offences by better deeds, that sin be not imputed to him.” Likewise to a Fallen Virgin, chapter 8: “A great wound,” he says, “needs a deep and long medicine; a great crime has need of a great Satisfaction.” The same, in the book On Elias and Fasting, chapter 20: “We have,” he says, “many helps by which we may redeem our sins. Have you money? redeem your sin. The Lord is not for sale, but you yourself are for sale; you have been sold by your sins; redeem yourself by your works, redeem yourself by your money.” Saint Gregory Nazianzen, in the oration on the love of the poor, near the end: “By mercy,” he says, “and faith sins are purged. Therefore let us be purged by compassion, and let us wipe away and whiten the stains and defilements of the soul with that excellent herb, some as wool, others as snow, namely according to the proportion of mercy.” The same, in the oration on the holy laver, says that the scar remaining from the wounds of sins is covered over by earnest prayers, by much mourning and groaning and tears. The same, in the oration on the holy lights, after he had said much of the laborious Baptism of Penance, adds: “Equal evils are remission without chastisement and chastisement without pardon; since the former loosens all the reins, the latter draws them too tight”; by which sentence he finely refutes the Novatians and the Lutherans (although these were not yet born); for the Novatians admitted chastisement without hope of absolution; the Lutherans on the contrary grant absolution without chastisement. Wherefore, as Cyprian said of the Novatians that they withdrew the medicine from Satisfaction, book 4, letter 2, so we can say of the Lutherans that they on the contrary withdraw the satisfaction from the medicine. Saint Pacian, in the exhortation to Penance, at the end: “I entreat,” he says, “and beseech that you be not ashamed in this work, that you be not slow to seize as soon as possible the timely remedies of salvation, to cast down the mind with sorrows, to wrap the body in sackcloth, to sprinkle it with ashes, to waste it with fasting, to wear it out with mourning, to help it with the prayers of many. In so far as you shall not spare your own punishment, in so far will God spare you.” And below: “Behold, I promise, if you return to your Father with true satisfaction, erring in nothing further, adding nothing to former sins, saying also something humble and tearful, We have sinned in thy sight, Father, we are no longer worthy of the name of sons, straightway the unclean cattle also will depart from you, and the foul food of husks,” and so on.
After the year of the Lord 400 we have first three supreme and most holy pontiffs. Saint Innocent I, in letter 1, chapter 7: “But of the weight of offences to be estimated,” he says, “it belongs to the priest to judge, so that he attend to the confession of the penitent, and to the weeping and tears of him who corrects himself, and that then he ought to be dismissed when he has seen a fitting Satisfaction.” The same in letter 22 to the bishops of Macedonia, chapter 4: “Therefore,” he says, “if it is so, let sacrilegious men, adulterers and those guilty of all crimes be applied to orders, because crimes or vices are thought to be taken away by the blessing of ordination; let there be no place of penance, because ordination can perform that which a long satisfaction is accustomed to perform.” Here certainly without ambiguity we learn that by a long satisfaction the remission of crimes is acquired. Saint Leo I, sermon 1 on the fast of the tenth month: “By prayer,” he says, “the propitiation of God is sought; by fasting the concupiscence of the flesh is extinguished; by alms sins are redeemed.” The same in letter 79 to Nicetas, chapter 5: “Of those Christians who are asserted to have been polluted with sacrificed meats among those by whom they had been taken captive, we have believed that this also should be answered to the consultation of your charity, that they be purged by the satisfaction of Penance, which is to be regarded not so much by the length of time as by the compunction of the heart.” The same, in letter 91 to Theodore, as was found above, that penitents are purged by a saving Satisfaction; and in letter 92 to Rusticus, chapter 2, speaking of penitent priests: “Whence,” he says, “for lapsed persons of that kind, for meriting the mercy of God, a private retirement is to be sought, that their satisfaction, if it shall have been worthy, may also be fruitful.” Saint Gelasius I, in letter 1 to the bishops of Lucania, Bruttium and Sicily, chapter 26: “Widows who with a changeable mind have trampled on the chastity of their former marriage professed by their own will, it will concern their peril with what satisfaction they ought to appease God.” Besides these pontiffs we have notable theologians, Greek and Latin. Saint John Chrysostom, in book 2 On the Priesthood, not far from the beginning: “One ought not rashly,” he says, “to apply the penalty itself to the measure of the offences; but the mind of the offenders is to be explored, as it were by certain conjectures,” and so on; and homily 41 to the people of Antioch: “If we take vengeance,” he says, “of ourselves, so shall we appease the judge.” The same, homily 2 on the fall of the first man: “The Lord showed,” he says, “by what services offences can be purged; he showed that by confession and the deformity of dress pardon can most easily be obtained.” Theophilus of Alexandria, in the first Paschal letter, at the end: “Let us correct,” he says, “past sins by penance, let us redeem future joys by present weeping, and with the sting of conscience, after the manner of bees, let us drive away the noxious drones of sins.” Saint Jerome on chapter 1 of Joel, explaining those words, “Gird yourselves and lament”: “He who is a sinner,” he says, “and whom his own conscience bites, let him be girded with sackcloth, and lament either his own offences or the people’s; and let him enter the Church, from which on account of his sins he had gone out; and let him lie or sleep in sackcloth, that he may compensate by austerity of life the past delights by which he had offended God.” The same, in the letter to Eustochium on the death of her mother Paula, introduces Paula speaking thus: “The face must be disfigured which against the precept of God I often painted with rouge and white lead and antimony; the body must be afflicted which was free for many delights; long laughter must be compensated by perpetual weeping; soft linens and most precious silks must be exchanged for the roughness of hair shirt.” Saint Augustine in the Enchiridion, chapter 70: “Life,” he says, “is rather to be changed, and by alms God is to be propitiated for past sins, not to be bought for this, that it be always lawful to commit them with impunity; for he has given to no one a licence of sinning, although in his mercy he blots out sins already done, if a fitting satisfaction is not neglected.” And chapter 71: “But for daily, brief and lighter sins, without which this life is not led, the daily prayer of the faithful makes satisfaction.” Likewise in letter 54 to Macedonius: “He who truly repents does nothing else than not to allow what he has done evil to go unpunished; for in that manner, not sparing himself, he spares him whose deep and just judgement no despiser escapes.” Likewise homily 50, chapter 11, from the book of fifty homilies: “Let the sinner come to the prelates, through whom the keys are ministered in the Church, and, as one now beginning to be a good son, the order of the maternal members being kept, let him receive from those set over the sacraments the measure of his Satisfaction, that, in offering the sacrifice of a contrite heart, devout and suppliant, he may yet do that which profits not only himself for receiving salvation, but also the rest for an example.” And below, chapter 15: “It is not enough to change one’s manners for the better, and to withdraw from evil deeds, unless also for those things which have been done satisfaction is made to God,” and so on. Likewise on Psalm 50, on those words, “And cleanse me from my sin”: “Implore mercy, but attend to justice; it is mercy that he forgive the sin, it is justice that he punish the sin. What then? you seek mercy? shall the sin remain unpunished? Let them answer with David, that they may merit mercy as David, and let them say: No, Lord, my sin shall not be unpunished; it shall not be unpunished, but for this reason I would not that thou punish it, because I punish my sin.” This place certainly openly convinces that our Satisfaction is not required only for example or political discipline, but that the injury done to God may be compensated and satisfaction made to the divine justice. Maximus, homily on Ash Wednesday: “He is not reprehended,” he says, “who, having lately with a straying heart and slippery steps slipped from the path of salvation, strives to restore himself to God by the mournful Satisfaction of penance.” Sulpicius Severus, book 2 of the Dialogues on the miracles of Saint Martin, chapter 13: “Fornication,” he says, “is reckoned for punishment unless it is purged by Satisfaction.” John Cassian, conference 20, chapter 7: “While we do penance, and are bitten by the recollection of vicious acts, it is necessary that the shower of tears, arising from the confession of guilt, extinguish the fire of our conscience; and when for anyone fixed in this humility of heart and contrition of spirit, and persevering in like labour and groaning, the recollection of these things has been lulled, and the thorn of conscience plucked from the marrow of the soul by the grace of God pitying him, it is certain that he has come to the end of satisfaction and the merits of indulgence, and has been purged from the stain of all his crimes.” See also the same, conference 23, chapter 15. Theodoret, in the epitome of the divine decrees, chapter on Penance: “Curable,” he says, “are even the wounds which are made after Baptism; but curable not, as of old, by faith alone, the remission being given, but by many tears, and weeping, and mourning, and fasting, and prayer, and labour tempered to the quantity of the sin done.” Saint Paulinus in letter 12 to Severus: “In the world,” he says, “judges corrupted by the gifts of the accused are condemned; but whoever you are, a man overtaken in some sin, distrusting your own innocence, bring the price of your salvation to our judge; do not fear as if you were doing the injury of corruption to the justice of God; let Christ willingly receive from you the price of your salvation.” And a little before, speaking of the same price, that is, of alms, he says thus in verse: “This man teaches, redeeming his crimes with money poured out, that nothing is dearer to each than his own salvation.” Salvian of Marseilles, in the books which he writes to the Church under the name of Timothy, book 1 On Mercy, says thus: “When will he mourn who has lost the days of mourning? when will he make satisfaction who has let slip the time of satisfaction?” And below: “If any man of sinners knows how much he can redeem his offences, let him use his knowledge for redemption; but if he does not know, why does he not offer as much as he can?”
After the year of the Lord 500, Cassiodorus on Psalm 37: “And I will think for my sin; that is, by thy gift I will do such things as can abolish my sin; namely I will apply weeping, I will give alms, and from that in which I have offended thou wilt purge me by the observance of thy commandments.” Saint Gregory, book 6 on 1 Kings, explaining chapter 15: “Not only,” he says, “are sins to be confessed, but also to be blotted out by the austerity of penance.” Likewise in the same place: “Corrigible sins indeed are borne, because after they depart from the will of the offender they can healthfully be purged by Satisfaction.” See the same, book 3 on the first book of Kings, chapter 7, and book 2, letter 27. Hesychius, or Isychius (whom we think to have been contemporary of Gregory, as we said in the second book On the Eucharist, chapter 32), book 2 on Leviticus, expounding chapter 6: “By the flesh of penance,” he says, “we understand fasting, vigils, the hair garment, prayer with tears, alms; for of these penance consists, which whoever touches rightly is sanctified.” See the same, book 7 on chapter 25, and on chapter 27. After the year of the Lord 600, Isidore, book 2 On the Highest Good, chapter 13: “He,” he says, “does penance worthily who laments his guilt with a lawful Satisfaction.” Caesarius of Arles, sermon 1 on alms, in which he explains that of the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 3, “If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss”: “But if,” he says, “we neither give thanks to God in tribulations, nor redeem our sins themselves by good works, we shall have delays in that purgatory so long as those aforesaid small sins are consumed like wood and hay and stubble.” And homily 6: “We do not indeed say that Penance cannot profit; it is certain that it profits, if each receives it with great alms,” and so on. The same author in those homilies everywhere repeats that by good works sins are redeemed, washed away, purged. After the year of the Lord 700, Bede on Psalm 1: “Delight,” he says, “or the will of sinning, when one comes to Satisfaction, is lightly purged by alms and other such things; but consent is not blotted out except by grave penance; but habit is not absolved except by a right and weighty Satisfaction.” The same on Psalm 4: “Mortify your own vices by bringing forth fruits worthy of penance, namely afflicting yourselves for each as much as a worthy penance demands, which will be a sacrifice of justice, that is, a just sacrifice.” After the year of the Lord 800, Rabanus, book 6 on Ecclesiasticus, chapter 7: “What else,” he says, “is it to repent but to be angry with oneself, so as to shudder at what one has done, and to exact torments of oneself, lest the angry judge rather afflict?” See the same, book 8, chapter 3. After the year of the Lord 900, Radulphus, book 12, chapter 1, on Leviticus: “By each of us,” he says, “the fault committed is wiped away by the Satisfaction of penance.” And book 18, chapter 4: “The sellers of the possession of the eternal inheritance are those who have received from the Lord the keys of the kingdom of heaven, to whom power has been committed to bind and exclude sinners, to loose and bring in penitents. These therefore, according to the Lord’s precept, must take care that in this traffic they do not burden their citizens, exacting from them a greater Satisfaction than the quality of the sin requires. The buyer also must needs beware lest he sadden the dispenser of God, if, asking pardon of his offence with a lukewarm mind, he does not fulfil the just measure of Satisfaction.” After the year of the Lord 1000, Peter Damian, sermon on Saint Andrew: “Do not flatter yourself if, when you have gravely sinned, a lighter penance is dictated by a mild or a dissembling man, since whatever you have done less here must be finished in the purgatorial fires; because the Most High seeks worthy fruits of penance.” After the year of the Lord 1100, Saint Bernard, sermon 4 on the Canticle: “When,” he says, “we make satisfaction, that, the sin which separates being taken away, we may be reconciled, the indulgence which we receive, what shall I call it but a certain kiss of peace? And that meanwhile is to be taken nowhere else than at the feet; for humble and bashful ought to be the Satisfaction by which a proud transgression is amended.” Thus far let it suffice to have noted the testimonies of the Fathers; for the Scholastic doctors, who after these times wrote more accurately of the same things, the adversaries do not deign even to read or hear.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT IX.
Ex tradilione veleris Ecclesiae prnhatur
Satislaclio.
Nunc adfercmns (csdmonia veleris Kcclesiae. Ac
Primuin aelale priiiia post aposlolos, idcst. post
annum Domini 100. babemus Juslinum. sivc qui-
cumque fuit auclor quaestionuin, quae in Juslini
operibiis contincntnr. Is igilur qnaesl. 79.quiierit,
Cur Josiam regem Deus permiscril gladio caedi,
cum vlr sanctissiraus fuissel: respondet antem liis
verbis: Caelerum luctuosum vitae finem propte-
rea Josias rclulit, quodjussioni llieremiae non
paruerit, qui ei ex mandato Dci dixerat, ul ne
'progrederetuv ad obviandum re<ji Aegyptiin bel-
lum. sicut ail Hieremias. Quaproplcruteumpu-
rum a peccalis cx hac vita rcciperct Dominus
Deus.ideo perniisil illum inobedicntiae cjus fcrro
Aeggptio poenas cxolverc. Quod si morlcni ilhuu
Deus pcrmisit. ut purum Josiam a peccaln recipe-
rel:ergo mortis poena expiatio fuit peccali; ct pro-
inde (quod ost idem) salisfaclio pro peccato: el si
]iocna illa morlis violentae. cxpialio fuit peccati,
ad eundem inodnm caelerae poenae, quae post
jieccatum cxigunlur a poenilenlibus, non sunt sa-
lisractiones coram bominibus tanluin,sed eliam co-
ram Deo: neqiie solum in reniedium conlra fulura,
sed etiam in vindictam et compensationem prae-
lerilorum exigunlur.
S. Irenaons lib. 3. cap. 37. loquens de Pocni-
tia Adami: Timor, inquil. Dominiinitium inletli'
gentiae.inteUectus rcro Iransgrcssionis fccit Poe-
nitentiam. poenitentibus autem largitur bcnigni-
tatcm suam Deus. Etenim per succinctorium in
faclo ostendil suam Poenitenliam.foliis liculneis
semetipsum conlegens, cxistenlibus el aliis fotiis
muUis. quae minus corpus ejus vcxarc potuis-
sent. condignum tamcn inobedicnliac amictum
fecil, conterrUus liniore Dei, et retundens petu-
lanlem carnis impetum. VA infra ponil vcrba ip-
siiis Adami: Quoniain.\nc\u'\[. eam. qunni habui
a Spiritu sanclilalis. stolam amisi per inol)cdicn-
Ham: el nune cognosco, quoniam sim dignus ta-
li tegumento.quod dclcctationeni quidcm nu.l}am
pracHtat. mordct aulcm et pungit r.orims. Et hoc
scmper liabuissct indumcntum.humilians scnicti-
psnm. nisi Dominus. qui osl misericors, tunicas
pcJliroas ])ro fnliis liralnris.induisscl cos. Kx boc
lesliinonio (iisciiniis.lructum Poenilcnliae dignnni,
non esse solnm ul adversarii volnnl. novarn obe-
dieiitiam miindalorum: nnn cnim Deus miindave-
ral. nl Adiim indiimenlo illo Inm aspero ulcrelnr:
sed csse pocnam spnnle susccpt;im, cpiae dolorc
rorpns anicial.el volnplalcm ex pcccalo pcrceplain
ca ralionc compcnscl. (biocircii rcclo Ircnaeos in-
(hiincnliim illiiil Adiimi vncat condigiiiim inobe-
dienli;ie iiinicliim. Inobcdicnlia enim e,\ superbia
92
72 S
\)V. l'()LMTi:.Ml.V
iiata fiicral, cl idriroo jusUim cl 0(>iulit,'niim orat,
iit humililale com|)onsaroliir: amioliis iiiilem illo,
noii soliim carnom pmirlionilHis amipol);il, iil oh
<lclool:ilioiiom iliioilam Domiiio s;ili>rK'rol, sdl cl-
iaiii vililalo ad oor luimiliantlum valohal. ulsupor-
biam ol iiiobo(lioiili;iin componsanM. .Mqm^ liiuc
videlur posloa f;iclum.ul pooiiilculos siicco.sivc oi-
lirio coMimunilcr uliMenlur. Iilcm lib. 4.oap.2(».iii
finc : Doccbal, inquil, ut facarenl prdoccjUa. quac
nb inilin prarccjiil 1)cu>i. ct ut vctcrcm cupidita-
tcm itcr opcra btuia xolvcrcnl cl ncqucrcnlnr
Chri^lum. Qnoniam autcmea. qtiacpossidcnlur,
paupcribus divi.^^a. sohuioncm faciunt praclcri-
tac cupiditalis. Zfichacus fccit manifcslum: Ke-
ce, (/io(.'/is, dimidium Ininorum mcorumdu pau-
•pcribus.
Torliilliamis in lih. dc Poonilonlin: Offcndisli.
inquit, scd reconcHiari adhuc poles, habcfi ciii
salisfacias, ct quidcmvolcnlcm. Kl infra: Satis-
faclio confcssionc disponilur.VA paulo ;iiilc:()iia7n
porro incplum. Pocnilcnliam non adimplcrc. cl
veniam dcliclorum sustincrc?hnc cst prclium non
cxhiberc. ad mcrcedem manum cmittere: hoc e-
nim prctin Dominus vcniam addiccre insliluit:
liac Pocnilenliae compcnsationc rcdimendam
proponit impunilatem. K.\ hoc loslimonio hahe-
inus nomou Salislaclionis. quod Lullicrus suhla-
tum cupichal: habpmus salisficri Doo, non aulcm
soli Eoclesiae, ui advcrsarii docenl: habemus, Sa-
lisfaclionis opera e.x ooudigno redimere poenas
peccalorum. uam idoo prclium, redemplionem ct
compensalioncm Terlullianus appellat.
Postannum Doinini 200. habcmus Orifjenem. is
homil. 6. in Exod. sic loquilur: Si quis forle hu-
jusmodi pecuniam a diabolo deceplus, accepit,
iion usqjiequaquc dcsperet. misericors enim el
miserator Dominus. et crcalurae suae non vult
morlein, sed tit convertalur el vivat. Poenilendo,
flcndo. salisfaciendo deleal quod admissum est.
Ilcm liomil. 1j. in Levit. ubi dixerat posse redimi
peccala in hac vita, subjungil: Si tamen inveneril
onanus tua prelium. quod reslituat. Quale prc-
lium? Poenilenliae sine dubio lachrymis congre-
gatum, el manibus. idcsl. labore honi operis in-
vcnlum. Ilomil. ',i. in lib. Judic. Vide, inquil, be-
nifjnum Domlnum .misericordiam cum severilate
misccntcm, el ipsius poenae modum justa el cle-
menti libratione pcnHanlcm. ISon in perpetuum
iradit delinqucnles, scd, quanto tempore errassc
te nostri, qitanto tempore dcliquisti. lanlo nihil-
ominus temporc liumilia te ipsum Deo, el salis-
facilo ei in confcssione Pocnilcntiae.
S. Cyprianus lib. I. cpist. 3. scribcns adversus
eos, r|ui non praemissa |)lena salisfaclione. paocm
poeiiilenlihus dabanl: Elaborant. inquil. ne Deo
indignanii snlisfiat. El iiifrn: Dalur opera, nesa-
tiafaclionibus el lamcnlationibus juslis dclicla
redimantur. ne vulnm-a lachrymis abluantur.
Item lib. .3. episl. li. Hacc qui sublrahit fratri-
bus nostris. decipil miscros.ut qui possunt agcra
Pocnilentiam vcram, Dco Patri et misericordi,
prccibus et operibus suis salisfacere, seducantur
ut matjis percanl. Ilem in sermone de opere el e-
leemosynis: .Vec haberct, inquil. qui fragililalis
humanac infmnilas. alquc imberUlilas faccret,
nisi ilerum pictas divina subvcnic.ns jusHtiae, et
miscrirordiac opcrilius ostcn^is, viam (faand.om,
lurndac salulis apcrircl, ut sordc.s poslmodum
quasrumquccontraliimns.elccmosynisablu,a,mus.
Loiiuilurin Srripluris Spirilus sanrlu>i, et dicil:
Klrcmosynis ct jidc drlicla purganlur: non uti-
quc: illa dclicla , quac fu.cranl anlc coniracla;
nam illa (jhristi sanguine el salisfactione pur-
ganlur. E\ hoc leslimoiiio aperlissime discimus,
(iisciimcii inlcr l»;iplisn)um cl siicr;imcMliiiii Poe-
nitentiae.quod adversarii persjiiccrc numquiim po-
liicrunl. i\ain anlc Baplismuin non (^xijfilur Salisfa-
clio. ctiin (llirisli s;iiisuine pcr U;iplisiiium plenis-
siuio applicalo, [)iiri:;onlur pccciila omnia, iion so-
liim quoad culpam. sed etiam quoad poeiiam alle-
rius vil;ie, luiii aelcriiam, lum lemporariiim: post
IJiiplismuni aulcm necessaria Salisfaclio (;st, qiio-
niain (ul su|)ra oslendimus) por absolutionem s;i-
ocrdotiilem rcmillilur quidcm ciilpa el poena ae-
teri);i. scd non lola pocna temporiilis allerius vi-
tac. Idem Cyprianiis in scrmone de l;i|)sis: Domi-
nus. inquit, oraiidus est, Dominus nostra Salisfa-
clionc placandus. El inlVa, in iillimis vcrbis.posl-
eaquam dixeral: Orare oporlet impensius et ro-
gare, diem luclu tro,nsigere , vigiliis ac noctes
flclibus ducere. slralos solo adhaerere cineri, in
cilicio et sordibus volulari etc. ita subjun;?il: Qui
sic Deo saUsfeceril, qui Poenilenlia facli sui,qui
pudore dclicti, plus virlulis et fidei de ipso lap-
sus sui dolore conceperit; exaudilus el ad,jul,us
a Domino. quam conlristaverat nuper lactam fa-
cict Ecclcsiam: nec jam sola^n Dei veniam mere-
bitur, sed coronam.
Post annum Domini 300. s. Anlonius magnus in
cpist. I. exlrema, dicit Dcum aspicere ad jejunia
pluriiTiii, vigilias, medilalioncs assiduas, preccs
largas, abdicalioncm rerura hujus mundi , et cae-
leros laborcs poenilentium , el sic eoriim mise-
rcri.
Lactanlius lib. 4. de vera sapientia, cap. i7.Vo«
lens, inquil, vilae ac saluli noslrae pro aclerna
sua pietale consulcre, Poenitcntiam nobis in illa
circumcisione proposuit, ul si cor nudaverimus,
idest, si pcccala noslra confessi, salis Deo fcccri-
mus, vcniam conscquamur. Idem lib. 5. de justi-
tiii, cap. 13. Deo, inquit, salisfacere licet, et lib.
6. de vero cuilu, cap. 13. Circumspice, inquit,
conscientiam tuam. el quantum poles, medereM
vulncribiis: ncc ta.men quia peccata largitioneM^
tolluntur, dari libi licentiam peccandi putes. A-
bolentur enim si Deo largiare, quia peccaveras:
nam si fiducia largicndi pecces, non abolentur.
Dcus enim purgari homines a peccaiis maxime
cupil,ideoque agere l*oenHentiam jubet. His ver-
bis Lactantius Cyprianum.ul vidctur,sequutus.hor-
talur poenitciUes ad eieemosyMarurn largitionem:
ac diril pcccala loUi et aboleri per cleemosynas,si
hominem poenileat pcccasse; el ideo quia pecca-
vil, nimirum ut salisfacial Deo; eleemosynas lar-
gialur: non lolli aulem nec aboleri, si fiducia lur-
gicndi homines peccent, idfist.si eleemosynas lar-
gianlur, ul liberius peccent. Eodem lib. cap. 24.
idem auclor: Polesl. inquil, reduci el liberari, si
LIBER OLARiUS
m
<ium pocniloat acloram.el ad meliora conversus,
satisfacial Deo.
S. Hylariiis in psalin. 1 IS.exponens vtM-siciihim
ullimum lilorae Phe:ExUus aquarum deduxerunl
oculi mei, inqiiit. peccalorum velcrum. iil hislo-
ria ipsa docelur. licel ioto cordese direxerit, td-
men quia el peccali sui dolorem ante re ipsa scri-
pserit. tunc cum ^athan propheta arcjuente, cri-
men suum recn()novil.ct flevil: nunc quoque non
desinit verae Poenitentiae lachrnmis, facli vete-
ns crimen nbluere. El inlra: Ilaec Poenitenliae
vox esl. lachnjmis orare. lachrymis incjemisce-
re, et per hanc confidentiam dicere: Lavabo per
singulas noctes lectum meum. Haec venia peccati
est, fonte fleluum flere . ut larfjo laclirymarwn
imbre madefieri. Ex lioc tcslimonio liabemus Da-
videm posl perfeclam conversionem el indulgen-
liam culpac adeplam , hichrymis peccalum olim
commissum abluisse, quia videlicel inlelligebat ,
posl culpain remissau), realum poenae remansisse;
qui Satisraclione purgandus essel: habemus etiam,
veniam peccali esse. lonte fleluura ncrc, ides!, co-
piosi.s lachrymis veniam si:ie dubio oblineri. Idein
can. 4. in Mallh. non procul a fine: Quia charitas,
inqmi. plurimum peccalorum terjit. et errorum
nostrorum ambitiosa. ad Deum palrona esl: no-
vissimum poenan quadrantcm solvemus.nisi pre-
tio ipsius aliquanlorum criminum culpa redi-
mamur. Yide quam pcrspicue magnus hic doclor
operibus charilalis redirai dicat eam poenam.quam
culpa debebamus.
S. Basilius in psal. 29. exponens versiculum
iWimv. Convertisti planctum meum in gaudium
mihi. Sed, inquil, et lamenlantur nobis propiie-
tae, ad luclum nosprovocantes. utsimul ad con-
fessionem et coynitionem peccntorum noslroruni
delati, ex prophelicis sernionibus. noslrorum lu-
(jeamus exitium, laboribus multis, et acrumnis
nostram carnem affliyendo. Ei sone qui talis esl,
luqubris veslris disrumpilur. quam sibi circum-
posuerat. suum luqens peccatum: huic tandeni
circumponitur amictus laetitiae el pallium sa-
lutis ete. IIoc loco salis aperle magmis Basilius
docet. laboribus et acrumnis. qnibus allligilur ca-
ro, acquiri laelitiam indulgentiae acsalulis. Idein
ntiam in oratione supcr illa verha: Attende libi.
Attende, inquit, tibi. ul pro delicliproportione ,
hinc quoque mutueris ex adniola tibi mcdela ,
valetudinis inslaurandae subsidium. Maynum
cst el (jrave peccatum? mulia, opiis habes confes-
sione. lachrymis amarulentis, peracri conlentio-
ne vifjiliarum. indivulso, et contincnli jejunio.
Levis esl: nec intoleranda nffensio? huic (juoque
exaequelur Pocnilenlia. Ilic voro aperlissinu; a-
gnoscil liasdiusSati^laclioncin condignaiu esse de-
bere, ct eam proportioncm cum peccalo exigcrc ,
ut vcre per eam olTensio compenseliir.
S. x\inbrosius in cpisl. 82. ad ecclcsiam vcrcel-
lonsem: Quae notds, inqiiil, salus esse polest,
nisijejunio eluerimus peccata nos/ra.^ Idcin lib.
!2. de i*oenitenlia. cap. 'i. fJtrumque. iiu|uit, l)ea-
tum dixit, et cujus iniquila.s ro^niltilur pcr lava-
erum, ei cujus peccatum teyitur operilms Ixmin;
qui enima(jit Poenitcnliam, nnn solum dilucre
lachrymis debet peccatum suum.sed etiam emen-
(lationibus fdcli:^ uperire, el teyere delicla supe-
riora, ut non ei imputelur peccatum. Item ad
Virginem lapsani, cap. 8. Grandi pluyae. inquil ,
(dta el prolixa opus est medieina: (jrande sce-
lus, grandem necessariam nabet Satisfactionem.
Idcm in lib. >le Klia ol jejunio.cap. ■Id.IIabemns,
\nt]{u[ , plura subsidia, quibus pcccata nostra
redimamus. Pecuniam habes? redinie peccatum
tuum. i\on venalis est Dominus, sed tu ipse vc-
nalis es, peccalis ttiis venundalus es: redime te
operibus tuis, rcdime tepecunia tua.
S. Gregorius nazianzenus in oraliune de paupe-
rum amoVe, prope extreina: IHisericordia, inquil ,
el fidepeccala purganlur. Ergo miseratione pur-
gemur, animique la.bes et inquinamenla, egre-
gia illa herba delergamus ac dealbemus, alii ut
lana. alii ul nix pro misericordiae videlicet pro-
pnrtione. Idem in orationc in sanclum lavacrum ,
dicil. cicatricem cx peccatorum vulncribus reina-
nentcm, obduci obnixis precibus , mullis kictu et
gemilu et lachrymis. Idem oralione in sancUi lu-
inina, posleaquara multa dixcral de Baptismo ia-
borioso Poenilcnliae, subjungit: Aequale cst ma-
lum et dimissio absque castigalione, ci casliga-
lio sinevenia; quandoquidem illa totas relaxat
hahenas. haec vero nimium restringil; qua scn-
tenlia pulchre refellit Novalianos et Lulheranos
(licet hi iiondum nali essent) INovaliani enim casli-
galionem admiltebanl sine spe absolulionis; Lu-
therani conlra absolulionem sine castigalione con-
cedunt. Quiwe: sicut Cyprianus de Novatianis dixil,
illos sublraxisse de Salisfactione niedicinam, lib.
4. episl. 2. ila nos dicere possumusdcLulheranis,
eos e conlrario subtraliere de medicina satisfaclio-
nem.
S. Tacianus in paraenesi ad Poenilenliam,exlre-
ma: 06fes/o?'. inquit, ct deprecor , ncpudeatin
hoc opere, ne pigeat opportuna , quamprimum
remedia saluiis invadere . dejicere moeroribus
animum. sacco corpusinvolvcre. cinerc perfun-
dere. macerarejejunio. mocrore conficere, inul-
torum precilms adjuvare. In quantum poenae
vestrae non pepercerilis. in tanlum vobis Deus
parcet. El inlVa: Ecce polUceor, si ad Patrem ve-
slrum vera snlisfactvme redealis , nihit ulterius
('rrando.nihilprislinis adjiciendo peccalis , di-
cevdo etiamhvmile aliquid et flebile; Peccavi-
inus in conspectu luo Palcr, jani non sumus di-
gni nomine (iliorum: conlinuo de vobis et iiecus
'Hljid recedet immundum, ct siliquarum esca de-
formis etc.
Pos annum Domini 400. babemus in |iriinis Iros
siimmos sanclissimosque pontilices, S. Innoccn-
liiis 1. in episl, 1, cap. 7, Caclomm, inqnil.de
pondere aestimando deliclorum . saccrdolis est
judicare. ulallendat ad confcssionem pneniten-
lis et ad flelus, alque lachrymas corrigenlis^. ac
hun debere dimitli cumvideril congruam Salis-
factionem. Idcm in cpisl, 22, ad episcopos Macc-
doi.iae, cai». 4, Ergo. impiil. si ila esl. appHcen-
turad ordines sacrilegi, udullcri.aKine omnium
v.riminum rei , quia benediclione nrdinatioms
crimina, vel vitia putantur auferri: nullus sit
728
UK POl-MTK.MiA
/•oe««/t*»Wnie /orw.s, (juia id polcst prac^Uire vrdi-
nuliojiuod lonija sutisfaclio pracstarc ronsucvil.
Iliiii- corlc siiio iiinhijiiiiliile discimiis, lt)iij,'a salis-
fiicUoiie crimiiiuin. riMiiissioiicm ac(iiiiri.
S. Lco 1. scrm. 1. ilo jfiiinio liccimi mensis :
Orationc, inqnil, propitiatio Dci (lUdfrilur. jcju-
nio concupi^ccntia caruis Cd'liu(iuilur. clccnio-
sijniif peccala rcdiinunlur. l»l«'iii iii cpisl. 71). ail
.\icclam, cap. .'i. />(• //s Chriatianis, (jui intcrcos,
a quibus fucrant captivali. rihis ininiolatiliis as-
sernntur csse polluti , consultutioni taac chari-
tatis hoc cliam rcspondcnduni essc crcdidinius ,
ul Pornitcntiac salisfaclionc purijcnlur . (juac
non tain tcniporis Uaujiludinc.quani cordis coni-
punctionc spectanda csl. Idcm in epislola 1)1. ad
riiODdornin. snrsiim reperil. salul)ri Satislaoliono
poeiiilcnles pnrjjari. ot in opisl. \)i. ad Husticnm,
cap. 2. de sacerdolibns poenilcnlibns loiiuons :
Undc. inqnil./nf/(/s»jo(// Uipsis ad promcrendain
viiscricordiiim Dci.privata csi pclcnda scccssio,
ul lUissatisfactio si fucril digna, sil cliani fru-
ctuosa.
S. (lelasins I. in C|)isl. 1. ad cpisoopos Luca-
niae. Urulii ol Siciliae. eap. 2li. Viduae, (juae
propria voluntalc profcssani pristini conjuijii
castilateni mulabiU vienle calcaverinl , pericuU
caruin inlcrcrU, quali Deuni satisfactione pUica-
re dcbcanl.
Praelcr lios ponlifices. Iiabemus insigncs llieo-
logos. graecos el lalinos. Sanclus Joaiiiies cliryso-
slonius iii 2. Iib. dc sacerdotio. non longe a priii-
cipio: yon tcmcre, in^niil, ad dcliclorum moduni
oporlel el mulclam ipsam adhibere:sed tamquain
c.x conjecturis quUtusdam cxpUn-andus est dclin-
qucnliuin animus clc. cl homil. 41. ad populum
Anliochenuiu:.! nobis, fnqnil,w//ionm sumemus,
ila pUicabimus judicem. Idem liom. 2. de lapsu
prinii hominis: Oslendit. inquil, Dominus quibus
ojficiis possint deUcta purgari: oslendU. confes-
sione el deformitate cullus, veniam possefaciUi-
inc impetrari.
Tlieophiliis alexandrinus in l.Paschali episl.ex-
treraa: Vraelerita. inquil . peccala pocnitenlia
corri(jamus. pracsenli flelu redimamus fulura
(jaudia, aculeoque conscienliae in morem apum
noxios peccatorum fucos repeUamus.
S. Hieronymus in cap. 1. Joelis, explicans illa
verba: Accingile vos e/ plangile. Qui , inquil ,
pcccaloresl. el quem rcmordet propria conscien-
tia, cUicio aceingalur:et plangat vel propria dc-
Ucta, vel populi; et ingrediatur EccLesiam, de
qua propicr pecccUa fucrcd egressus : et cubet
vel dormial in sacco, ul praelerUas deiicias, j)er
quas offenderal Deum. vitae austerilale compen-
set. Idem in episl. ad Euslochium de obilu Paulae
nialris. ila Paulam loquenlem indncit: Turpanda
est facies. quamcontra Dci praeceplum purpu-
nsso et cerussa el slibio saepe dcpinxi: affU-
gendum corpus. quod muUis vacavU deUciis :
longiia risus perpcli compensandus est fletu:mol-
Ua Unteainina e.i serica pretiosissimu, asperila-
le cUicii cominutanda.
S. Aurroslinus in enchiiidio. cap. 70. Di meUus
mquil, esl vUa mulanda., ct pcr ciccmosgnas dc
pcccalis pracleritiscst propUiandus Dcus,non ad
hoc cincndus,ut ca scmpcr Uceal unpune commit-
lcrc: ncinini cnini dcdit la.c(imcnluin pcccandi ,
quaiinis iniscrando delcatjam facla pcccala. si
mm S(Uisfactio congrua ncgUgiUur: ol cap. 71.
Ifc (luulidianis aulcmlircvUius.lcvUtusiiue 'j)ccca-
tis. sinc quUius hacc vUa non ducilur. ijuolidia-
71(1 oratio futcliuin S(UisfacU. llein in episl. ,'><>. ad
3Iacedoniniii : ISihil aliud agil qucm veracitcr
pocnilcl.nisi ul id quod rimli fcceril, iinpunilum
cssc non sinal: co quippc modo sibi non parcenU
ilU' ]KircU,cujus (dluinjuslum(iue judicium nul'
lus conleuipUir cva.dil. Item homil. .")(). oap.1 1. e.v
lil). 'A). homiliar. Vcniat pecc(Uor ad antistiles ,
pcr quos in E>xlcsia cUivcs minislranlur, et lam-
quam bonus incipicns jam esse (Uius, nmtcrno-
ruin memhrorum ordinc custodilo a pracpositis
sacraincnloruiii (uxipi(U SiUisfiwAionis smui mo-
dum. ut in olfercndo sacrificio cordis contribu-
lali dcvotus cL siqyplcx, id lamen agat, quod
non solum iUi prosiL ad suscipiendam salulem ,
sc(L ctiam cactcris ad exemplum; el infra cap.1.">.
Ao?i sufficil nurres in meUus commiUare, et a fa-
ctis matis rccedere, nisi eliam dc his, quae fa-
ctasunl, salisfuU Dco, elc. Ilem in psalm. .">(). iii
illa verba: Et a peccalo meo munda me; Implora
misericordiam. sed aUcnde jusliiiam; misericor-
dia esL uL ignoscal jieccalo, jusLilia est uL puniat
peccalum. Quid ergo? (lucw.ris misericordiam ?
pcccalum iiiipunUum remanebil?respondc(U Da-
vid, uL miscricordiam mercanlur sicut David, et
dicanl: l\on Domino, ?ion criL impunilum pecca-
tum mcum, nonimpunilum eril, sed ideo noli>
ul lu punias, quia cgo peccalum meum punio.
Hic cerle locus aperle convincil, Salisruclionenj
noslram non rcquiri solum ad exemplnm, vel di-
sciplinara polilicam, sed ul injuria Deo lacla eoni-
pcnsclnr. el divinae jnsliliae salisfial.
Maximus homil. in die cineruin: Non reprehen-
dilur. inquit. ille, ([uidudum corde devio, eL lu-
bricis grcssUms a IraniUe elapsus satulis, redin-
tcgrare se Dco mocsla poenitentiae SalisfacLione
conalur.
Scvcrus Sulpilius lib. 2. dialogorum de miracu-
lis s. Martini. cap. 13. For7iicalio,\nqu\\. dcpula-
tur ad poenam, nisi SaLisfacUone purgelur.
Joannes Cassianus collat. 20. cap. 7. Dum agi-
mus pocnilenliam, cL vUiosorum acLuum recor-
dalionc mordcmur, nccessarium esL, %U igncni
conscicnLiae nosLrae oborLus ex confessione cui-
pae, lachrgmarum imber exLinguaL: cum vere
cui(}uam in hac huinilHaLe cordis eL spiritus
conlriLione dcfixo, aUiuein labore cL gemUuper-
duranLi, horuni recordalio fueriL consopila, et
('.onscicnLiae spina de meduUis animae , grcUia
Dc.i miseranLis evulsa, ccrLum esL eum ad saLis-
factionis fineni,alque indulgenliae merila perve-
nisse. et ab universorum criminum labe purga-
luin. Vide eliam cnndcm collat. 23. cap. 1.">.
Theodorctus in epilome divinorum decrotorum,
cap. de Poenileiilia: Sunl. inquit, medicabilia el-
iam quae posl Baptismum fiurU, vulnera: medi-
cabUia aulcni iwii uL o/i/u/pcr solain fidem cUUa
remissionc. scdpervmlUis lachrgmas, cL jhlus^
mm QLAivius
72'J
cl laclus. el jcjnnium. cl oralionem , el lahorem
facU peccatt quanlilali contempcralum,
S. Paulinus in cpisl,12.ad Sevcrum:/n saeculo,
inquil. cornipli muneribus reorum judices con-
demnanlur: sed quii^quis homo praevenlus in a-
liquopeccalo. diffidens innocenliae iuae, adfers
]>relium salulis luac judici noslro : ne verearis
quasi corruplionis injuriamjustiiiaeDei faceres:
accipiat a teCiirislus libenler salutts tuaeprelium;
el paulo anle de eodem prclio, idest,de elcemosy-
nis loqucns, sic ail:
Jsle docel fusis redimcns siia crimmo mmmis,
Filior ul ail rc.s, quam sua cuique salus.
Salvianus Massiliensis, in libris quos nominc
Timulliei ad Ecclcsiam scribit, lib, 1. dc iniseri-
cordia. sic ail: Quando luqehit, qui dies lugendi
perdidii? quando salisfaciet, qui tempus satisfa-
ctionis amisit? Et infra: Si novit quisquam homi-
num peccalorum.quantumredimcre dclicla pos-
^ii, utaiur scicntia ad redemptionem: sivero ne-
scil. cur non ojferal quantum potesL ?
Post annum Oomini 500. Cassiodbrns in psalm.
?}!. Kl coqilabo pro peccato meo . idcst, lalia le
donanlc faciam.quac nieumpossint abolere pcc-
calum: scilicet flelus adhibebo, eleemosynus fa-
ciam. et ab hoc quod deliqui. mandatorum tuo-
Yum niG observalione purgabis.
S. Gregorius lib. 6. in 1, Regum, explicans cap.
M>. Nonsolum, inquit, confitenda sunt peccata ,
sed etiam poenitcntiae austeritate delenda. Ilcm
ibidem: Corrigibilia equidem peccata portantur,
quia postquam a delinquentis voluntale disce-
dunl, purgari Salisfactione saluhriter possunt.W-
(Jc eundem lib. 3. in 1. lib. Hegum, cap. 7. cl lib.
2. opisl. 27.
Ilesycbius, sive Isicbius (quem acqualcm Gre-
£forii fuisse pulamus, ut diximus in secundo lib.
de Eucharislia, cap. 32.) lib. 2. in Lcviticum, ex-
ponens cap. 6. Carnes, inquit, poenitentiae in-
telligimus jejunium, vigilias,cilicinum veslimen-
tum. cum tachrymis oral ionem.eleemosynam: ex
his cnim consisiit poenilentia,quae qui tangit re-
cle, sanctificatur. Vide eundcm lib. 7. in cap.25,
el in cap. 27.
Post annurn Domini fiOO. Isidorus lib. 2. de
summo bono cap. 13, Ille, inquil , poeniteniiam
digne agit. quirealum suum Satisfactione legiti-
ma plangil.
(>iicsarius arclatcnsis serm. 1. dc clcemosyna ,
in quo cxplicat illud Aposloli.1. Corinth, 3. Si cu-
jus opus arsc.ril ,delrimenhim ])atiel:ur. Siautem,
inquit.jfc in Iribulaiionilnis Deo gratias agimus,
Qtec honis operilms ipsa peccala redimimus: tani-
diuillo in purgntorio nioras habebinuis ,quamdiu
Hupradicta minula pcccala. tamquam lignum et
foenum et stiputa consumantur; cl hou)il. (>, Non
quidem dicimus.Poenitenliam prodessenonpos-
se: ccrtum est. quiaprodest, si cyim grandi elee-
mosyna iilam unusquisque accipiat etc.Uicm au-
<',lor in homiliis illis possim rcpetil , bonis opcri-
bus peccala rc<Jimi, elui. purgari.
Pusl aniiuni Domini 700. I>cd;i in 1. [»sal. Dclc-
ctalio, inquit, seu voluntas peccandi, quando ad
Satisfactionem venitur, leviler eleemosynis et a-
liis tatibus purgatur: consensus vcro , non nisi
gravi poeniienlia deleiur: consueludo aulem,
non nisi recla, ct ponderosa Satisfactione absol-
vitur. Idem in psalm. 4, Mortificetis propria vitia
veslra.faciendo fruclus dignos poenilenliae: lan-
tum scilicel pro singulis vos affUgendo ,quanium
digna cxpelit poenilenlia, quod erit sacrificium
justitiae, idest, justum sacrificium.
Post annum Domini 800. Uabanus lib. (i. in Ec-
clcs. cap. 7. Quid, inqnit, est aliud poeniterc ,
nisiirasci sibi. ui horreat quod fecit, ct crucia-
tus a se cxigat, nejudex iratus potius affligat?
Vide eundem lib, 8. cap, 3.
Posl annum Domini 900, Radulpluis lib.12, cap.
1, in Leviticum: Ab unoquoque noslrum. inquil ,
poenitentiae Satisfactionc commissa culpa deler-
gitur; cl lib, 18, cap, 4. Yenditores posscssionis
'haereditatis ael.ernae hi sunl . qui claves regni
coelorum a Domino susceperunt, quihus commis-
sa esl polc&las, ut ligent el excludanl pcccantes ,
solvant et introducantpoenitenles. Islis crgoju,-
xta Domini praecepium. providcndum esl. ut in
hoc mercimonio non gravent cives suos.niajorem
Satisfactionem exigentes ah eis , quam peccati
qualitas requirit. Emptor quoquc caveat necesse
cst, nc Dci dispensalorem conlrislel , si tepida
niente sui delicti veniam petens,justam Satisfa-
ctionis mensuram non explet.
Post annum Domini 1000. Pclrus Damianus
serm. de s. Andrca: ISe tihi hlandiaris, si gravi-
tcrpcccanti, levior poenUeniia a mansuclo, vei
a dissimulante dictalur:cum in purgatoriis igni-
hus perficiendum sit.quidquid hic minusfeceris:
quia dignos poenitenliac fructus quaeril Allis-
simus.
Post annum Domini 1100. s. Bernardus serm.
4, in cantica: C'Mr?i.inquit, satisfacimus ut ahlato,
quod separat , peccato reconcilieniur, indulgen-
tiam, quamrecipimus, quid nisiquoddam oscu-
lum dixerim pacis? Idque interim non alibi ,
quam ad pedes suinendum: humiiis quippe, ei
verecunda dehet esse Satisfaclio, qua cmendatur
superba transgressio.
Iluc usque teslimonia Palrum annolassc suOicial,
nam doctorum Scholaslicorum, qui posl bacc teni-
poia dc iisdem rcbus accuratius scrii)scrunt , ad-
vcrsarii ne lcgcrc quidem, vel audirc dignantur.