1. In the former book I indulged my longing to some extent, lest too sharp remedies applied to a burning wound might rather increase than assuage the pain. And as at the same time I often addressed my brother, and had him before my eyes, it was not out of place to let natural feelings have a little play, since they are somewhat satisfied by tears, soothed by weeping, and numbed by a shock. For the outward expression of affection is of a soft and tender nature, it loves nothing extravagant, nothing stern, nothing hard; and patience is proved by enduring rather than by resisting.

2. So, since the death-day might well, lately, by the sad spectacle draw aside the mind of a brother, because it occupied him wholly, now, inasmuch as on the seventh day, the symbol of the future rest, we return to the grave, it is profitable to turn our thoughts somewhat from my brother to a general exhortation addressed to all, and to give our attention to this; so as neither to cling to my brother with all our minds, lest our feelings overcome us, nor forgetting such devotion and desert, to turn wholly away from him; and in truth we should but increase the suffering of our intense grief, if his death were again the subject of to-day’s address.

3. Wherefore we propose, dearest brethren, to console ourselves with the common course of nature, and not to think anything hard which awaits all. And therefore we deem that death is not to be mourned over; firstly, because it is common and due to all; next, because it frees us from the miseries of this life and, lastly, because when in the likeness of sleep we are at rest from the toils of this world, a more lively vigour is shed upon us. What grief is there which the grace of the Resurrection does not console? What sorrow is not excluded by the belief that nothing perishes in death? nay, indeed, that by the hastening of death it comes to pass that much is preserved from perishing. So it will happen, dearest brethren, that in our general exhortation we shall turn our affections to my brother, and shall not seem to have wandered too far from him, if through hope of the Resurrection and the sweetness of future glory even in our discourse he should live again for us.

4. Let us then begin at this point, that we show that the departure of our loved ones should not be mourned by us. For what is more absurd than to deplore as though it were a special misfortune, what one knows is appointed unto all? This were to lift up the mind above the condition of men, not to accept the common law, to reject the fellowship of nature, to be puffed up in a fleshly mind, and not to recognize the measure of the flesh itself. What is more absurd than not to recognize what one is, to pretend to be what one is not? Or what can be a sign of less forethought than to be unable to bear, when it has happened, what one knew was going to happen? Nature herself calls us back, and draws us aside from sorrow of this sort by a kind of consolation of her own. For what so deep mourning is there, or so bitter grief, in which the mind is not at times relieved? For human nature has this peculiarity, that although men may be in sad circumstances, yet if only they be men, they sometimes turn their thoughts a little away from sadness.

5. It is said, indeed, that there have been certain tribes who mourned at the birth of human beings, and kept festival at their deaths, and this not without reason, for they thought that those who had entered upon this ocean of life should be mourned over, but that they who had escaped from the waves and storms of this world should be accompanied by rejoicing not without good reason. And we too forget the birthdays of the departed, and commemorate with festal solemnity the day on which they died.32    Not only the Martyrs and Saints, but ordinary Christians, are meant here, for these used to be commemorated with special prayers and offerings of the Holy Eucharist on their behalf, especially on the anniversaries of their deaths.

6. Therefore, in accordance with nature, excessive grief must not be yielded to, lest we should seem either to claim for ourselves either an exceptional superiority of nature, or to reject the common lot. For death is alike to all, without difference for the poor, without exception for the rich. And so although through the sin of one alone, yet it passed upon all;33    Rom. v. 12. that we may not refuse to acknowledge Him to be also the Author of death, Whom we do not refuse to acknowledge as the Author of our race; and that, as through one death is ours, so should be also the resurrection; and that we should not refuse the misery, that we may attain to the gift. For, as we read, Christ “is come to save that which was lost,”34    S. Luke xix. 10. and “to be Lord both of the dead and living.”35    Rom. xiv. 9. In Adam I fell, in Adam I was cast out of Paradise, in Adam I died; how shall the Lord call me back, except He find me in Adam; guilty as I was in him, so now justified in Christ.36    S. Aug. De Pec. Orig. c. 41. If, then, death be the debt of all, we must be able to endure the payment. But this topic must be reserved for later treatment.

7. It is now our purpose to demonstrate that death ought not to cause too heavy grief, because nature itself rejects this. And so they say that there was a law among the Lycians, commanding that men who gave way to grief should be clothed in female apparel, inasmuch as they judged mourning to be soft and effeminate in a man. And it is inconsistent that those who ought to offer their breast to death for the faith, for religion, for their country, for righteous judgment, and the endeavour after virtue, should grieve too bitterly for that in the case of others which, if a fitting cause required, they would seek for themselves. For how can one help shrinking from that in ourselves which one mourns with too little patience when it has happened to others? Put aside your grief, if you can; if you cannot, keep it to yourself.

8. Is, then, all sorrow to be kept within or repressed? Why should not reason rather than time lighten one’s sadness? Shall not wisdom better assuage that which the passage of time will obliterate? Further, it seems to me that it is a want of due feeling with regard to the memory of those whose loss we mourn, when we prefer to forget them rather than that our sorrow should be lessened by consolation; and to shrink from the recollection of them, rather than remember them with thankfulness; that we fear the calling to mind of those whose image in our hearts ought to be a delight; that we are rather distrustful than hopeful regarding the acceptance of the departed, and think of those we loved rather as liable to punishment than as heirs of immortality.

9. But you may say: We have lost those whom we used to love. Is not this the common lot of ourselves and the earth and elements, that we cannot keep for ever what has been entrusted to us for a time? The earth groans under the plough, is lashed by rains, struck by tempests, bound by cold, burnt by the sun, that it may bring forth its yearly fruits; and when it has clothed itself with a variety of flowers, it is stripped and spoiled of its own adornment. How many plunderers it has! And it does not complain of the loss of its fruits, to which it gave birth that it might lose them, nor thereafter does it refuse to produce what it remembers will be taken from it.

10. The heavens themselves do not always shine with the globes of twinkling stars, wherewith as with coronets they are adorned. They are not always growing bright with the dawn of light, or ruddy with the rays of the sun; but in constant succession that most pleasing appearance of the world grows dark with the damp chill of night. What is more grateful than the light? what more pleasant than the sun? each of which daily comes to an end; yet we do not take it ill that these have passed away from us, because we expect them to return. Thou art taught in these things what patience thou oughtest to manifest with regard to those who belong to thee. If things above pass away from thee, and cause no grief, why should the passing away of man be mourned?

1315

1315B 1135 1. Superiore libro aliquid indulsimus desiderio, ne tamquam ferventi plagae austeriora adhibita medicamenta exasperarent magis, quam lenirent dolorem: simul quia fratrem saepius allocuti sumus, et oculis tenebamus, absurdum non fuit relaxare paulisper affectum naturae, qui lacrymis magis pascitur, fletibus delinitur, stupore defigitur. Mollis enim et tenera species est forma pietatis, nihil insolens amat, nihil immite, nihil durum: ferendo autem magis probatur patientia, quam resistendo.

2. Ergo quia dudum dies mortis inter lacrymabiles aspectus debuit animum declinare fraternum, quia totum tenebat; nunc quoniam die septimo ad sepulcrum redimus, qui dies symbolum futurae quietis est, a fratre paululum ad communem humani generis 1315C cohortationem juvat derivare mentem, intentionemque transfundere; ita ut neque toti sensibus defigamur in fratre, ne obrepat affectus: neque tantae exsules pietatis et gratiae eum, quem diligimus, deseramus; et vere ipsi nobis tanti doloris augeamus injuriam, si hodie nobis et in sermone moriatur.

3. Unde, proposuimus, fratres charissimi, solari nos communi usu, nec durum putare, quidquid universos maneret; et ideo mortem non esse lugendam: primum, quia communis sit, et cunctis debita: deinde, quia nos saeculi hujus absolvat aerumnis: postremo, quia somni specie ubi ab istius mundi labore requietum sit, vigor nobis vivacior refundatur. Quem dolorem non soletur resurrectionis gratia? quem non 1315D excludat moerorem, si credas nihil perire morte; immo ipsius mortis celeritate fieri, ut plus perire 1316B non possit? Erit ergo, fratres charissimi, ut in adhortatione communi, etiam fratri nostrum pendamus affectum: nec ab eo longius deviasse videamur, si per resurrectionis spem, et futurae 1136 gloriae suavitatem, etiam in sermone nobis hodie reviviscat.

4. Ordiamur igitur ab eo, ut lugendum nobis nostrorum obitum non esse doceamus. Quid enim absurdius, quam ut id quod scias omnibus esse praescriptum, quasi speciale deplores? Hoc est animum supra conditionem extollere, legem non recipere communem, naturae consortium recusare, mentem carnis inflari, et carnis ipsius nescire mensuram. Quid absurdius, quam nescire qui sis, affectare quod non sis? Aut quid imprudentius, quam quod futurum 1316C scias, id cum acciderit, ferre non posse? Natura ipsa nos revocat, et ab hujuscemodi moeroribus quadam sui consolatione subducit. Quis est enim tam gravis luctus, aut tam acerbus dolor, in quo non interdum relaxetur animus? Habet hoc natura, ut quamvis homines in tristibus rebus sint; tamen si modo homines sunt, a moerore mentem paulisper abducant.

5. Fuisse etiam quidam feruntur populi, qui ortus hominum lugerent, obitusque celebrarent. Nec imprudenter; eos enim qui in hoc vitae salum venissent, moerendos putabant: eos vero qui ex istius mundi procellis et fluctibus emersissent, non injusto gaudio prosequendos arbitrabantur. Nos quoque ipsi natales dies defunctorum obliviscimur, et eum quo 1316D obierunt diem, celebri solemnitate renovamus.

6. Non est ergo gravis subeundus moeror secundum 1317A naturam; ne aut excellentiorem aliquam naturae exceptionem nobis arrogare videamur, aut communem recusare. Etenim mors aequalis est omnibus, indiscreta pauperibus, inexcepta divitibus. Et ideo licet per unius peccatum, in omnes tamen pertransivit (Rom. V, 18); ut quem generis non refugimus auctorem, non refugiamus et mortis: et sit nobis sicut per unum mors, ita per unum etiam resurrectio; nec recusemus aerumnam, ut perveniamus ad gratiam: Venit enim, 1137 ut legimus, Christus salvum facere, quod perierat (Luc. XIX, 10): et ut non solum vivorum, sed etiam mortuorum dominetur (Rom. XIV, 9). Lapsus sum in Adam, de paradiso ejectus in Adam, mortuus in Adam; quomodo revocet, nisi me in Adam invenerit, ut in illo culpae obnoxium, morti 1317B debitum, ita in Christo justificatum (S. Aug. de Pecc. orig., cap. 41)? Si ergo debitum est mortis, solutio debet esse tolerabilis. Sed hic locus posterioribus partibus reservandus.

7. Nunc propositum est asserere mortem graviori non debere esse moerori, quod eum natura ipsa respuat. Denique Lyciorum feruntur esse praecepta, quae viros jubeant mulierum vestem induere, si moerori indulgeant; eo quod mollem et effeminatum judicaverint in viro luctum. Deforme est enim eos qui pro fide, pro religione, pro patria, pro aequitate judicii, atque intentione virtutis obvium morti debent pectus offerre, moerere in alio gravius, quod in se, si causa exegerit, sit expetendum. Nam quemadmodum potes in te non refugere, quod impatientius alii 1317C doleas accidisse? Depone moerorem, si potes: include, si non potes.

8. Aut absorbendus omnis, aut premendus est dolor. Cur enim moestitiam tuam non ratio potius, quam dies leniat? Non quod oblitteratura est temporis series, melius prudentia mitigabit. Quin etiam hoc ipsum irreligiosum puto erga ipsorum memoriam, quos dolemus amissos; ut oblivisci eorum malimus, quam consolatione mulceri: aut cum horrore reminisci, quam meminisse cum gratia: recordationem timere, quorum imago debeat esse voluptati: diffidere potius quam sperare de meritis defunctorum: et poenae addictos, quam immortalitati debitos, quos dilexeris, aestimare.

9. Sed dicis: Quos diligebamus, amisimus. Nonne 1317D haec nobis cum ipso mundo elementisque communia 1318A sunt; quia ad tempus credita in perpetuum tenere non possumus? Gemit terra sub aratris, imbribus caeditur, tempestate concutitur, stringitur frigore, sole torretur: ut fructus annuos feta parturiat: et cum se vario flore vestierit, proprio exuitur et spoliatur ornatu. Quantos haec raptores habet? Nec fructum suum queritur amissum, quem ideo generavit, ut amitteret: nec imposterum negat, quem sibi meminit auferendum.

10. Coelum ipsum non semper stellarum micantium globis fulget, quibus quasi quibusdam insignitur coronis. Non semper ortu lucis albescit, radiis solis irrutilat: sed assiduis vicibus ille quidam mundi vultus gratissimus, humenti noctium caligat horrore. Quid gratius luce? quid sole jacundius? quae quotidie occidunt; 1318B 1138 decessisse tamen haec nobis non moleste ferimus, quia eum redire praesumimus. Doceris in his quam in tuis debeas exhibere patientiam. Si superiora tibi occidunt, nec dolori sunt; cur si occiderint humana, doleantur?