Sermon 46

Our entire hope, since it is in Christ, and because all our true and healthy glory is He Himself, your Charity has not now learned for the first time. For you are in His flock, who tends and feeds Israel. But as there are shepherds who want to hear the names of shepherds but do not want to fulfill the duty of shepherds, let us recount what He says to them through the Prophet, as we heard read. Listen with intention, let us hear with trembling.

Christians because of us, set over because of you.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel and say to the shepherds of Israel. We heard this reading just now, as it was being read; from this we have decided to speak something with your Holiness. He himself will help us to speak the truth, if we do not speak our own words. For if we speak our own words, we will be shepherds feeding ourselves, not the sheep; but if they are his words which we speak, he himself will feed you through anyone. Thus says the Lord God: O shepherds of Israel, who feed only yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? That is, shepherds do not feed themselves, but the sheep. This is the first reason why these shepherds are reproved, because they feed themselves, not the sheep. Who are those who feed themselves? Of whom the Apostle says: For all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. For us, whom the Lord has appointed in this place, from which a dangerous account must be given, according to his grace, not according to our merit, we have two things clearly to be distinguished: one that we are Christians, the other that we are placed over you. The fact that we are Christians is for ourselves; that we are placed over you is for you. In that we are Christians, our own benefit is considered; in that we are placed over you, only yours is considered. And there are many who, being Christians and not placed over others, reach God, perhaps by an easier path and walking perhaps more quickly, as they carry a lighter burden. But we, in addition to being Christians, for which we will answer to God for our life, are also placed over you, for which we will answer to God for our stewardship. I propose this difficulty so that, sympathizing with us, you may pray for us. For the day will come when all things will be brought to judgment. And that day, if far from the world, is near for each person at the end of their life. However, God wanted both to be hidden: when the end of the world will come and when the end of each person's life will be. Do you want not to fear the hidden day? Let it find you prepared when it comes. Therefore, as those placed over you are meant to care for those they oversee, and not to look at their own benefit in their position but only that of those whom they minister to, whoever is placed over others in such a way as to rejoice in their position and seek their own honor and look only at their own interests, feeds themselves, not the sheep. To these, the word is directed. Listen as the sheep of God and see how God has made you secure, no matter how those who are placed over you may be, that is, no matter how we may be, he who feeds Israel has given you security. For if God does not desert his sheep, both the bad shepherds will pay the due penalties and the sheep will receive the promised rewards.

Let us see, therefore, what the divine word, flattering no one, says to shepherds feeding themselves and not the sheep. Behold, you consume the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool, and you kill what is fat, but you do not feed my sheep. What is weak, you have not strengthened; and what is sick, you have not healed; and what is broken, you have not bound up; and what has strayed, you have not brought back; and what was lost, you have not sought; and what was strong, you have destroyed; and my sheep are scattered, because there is no shepherd. It is said about shepherds feeding themselves and not the sheep, what they love, what they neglect. What, then, do they love? You consume the milk, and you clothe yourselves with the wool. Wherefore the Apostle says: Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who feeds a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? We find, therefore, that the milk of the flock is whatever is given by the people of God to the leaders for sustaining temporal sustenance. For the Apostle was speaking of this when he said these things which I have mentioned.

Paul preached the gospel freely.

Indeed the Apostle, although he chose to be occupied by his own hands and did not seek any milk from the sheep, still said that he had the power to receive milk and that the Lord had arranged it so that those who preach the Gospel would live by the Gospel. He says that other co-apostles had used this power, not usurped but given. He did more by not taking what was owed. Therefore, he gave away even his due, but another did not demand the undue; he did more. Perhaps he signified him who, when he brought the sick man to the inn, said: "Whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return." About those who do not need the milk of the flock, what more should we say? They are more merciful or rather exhibit the work of mercy more extensively. They can, and what they can, they do. Let these be praised, nor let those be condemned. For even the Apostle did not seek what was given. However, he desired the sheep to be fruitful, not sterile, without the abundance of milk. Thus, when he was at a certain time in great need, bound in the confession of the truth, it was sent to him from the brethren to minister to his necessity and need. He responded, giving thanks to them, and said: "You did well to share in my troubles. For I have learned to be content in whatever state I am in. I know how to abound, I know how to suffer want. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you did well to send to my needs." But to show that in what they did well, it was not so much his own need that he sought to be relieved but rejoiced in their fruitfulness. What then did he seek there? "Not that I seek the gift," he said, "but I seek the fruit." Not that I, he said, may be filled, but that you may not remain empty.

Therefore, those who cannot do as Paul did, to sustain themselves with their own hands, should take from the milk of the sheep to support their necessity, but they should not neglect the infirmity of the sheep. They should not seek this as their own benefit, as if they seem to be preaching the Gospel out of the necessity of their own poverty, but rather they should prepare the light of the word of truth to illuminate people. For they are like lamps, as it is said: "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning"; and: "No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, so that it may give light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Therefore, if a lamp were lit for you in the house, would you not add oil to prevent it from going out? Moreover, if a lamp, having received oil, did not shine, it would clearly not be worthy of being placed on the lampstand, but would be immediately broken. Therefore, to live, it is necessary to receive, it is charity to give. Not as though the Gospel were for sale, with it being the price for what those who announce it take to live from. For if they sell it in this way, they sell a great thing cheaply. Let them receive sustenance for their necessity from the people, compensation for their stewardship from the Lord. For the people are not worthy to repay the reward to those who serve them in the charity of the Gospel. They should not expect reward except where they also expect salvation. But why are they rebuked, what are they accused of? Because when they were taking milk and clothing themselves with wool, they were neglecting the sheep. Therefore, they were only seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

But since we have said what it means to consume milk, let us inquire what it means to cover oneself with wool. He who provides milk provides sustenance, and he who provides wool provides honor. These are the two things that those who feed themselves, not the sheep, seek from the people: the convenience of supplying necessities, and the favor of honor and praise. Indeed, clothing is well understood to mean honor, because it covers nakedness. For every man is weak. And what is anyone who presides over you, but what you are? He carries flesh, he is mortal, he eats, he sleeps, he rises; he was born, he is to die. Therefore, if you consider what he is in himself, he is a man. By honoring, you nonetheless cover what is infirm.

Paul did not seek his own advantages.

See what kind of garment the same Paul had received from the good people of God, when he said: "You received me as an angel of God." For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. But even though such honor had been shown to him, did he, on account of the honor shown to him, spare those who were in error, lest he be denied and praised less when he rebuked? For if he had done this, he would be among those who feed themselves, not the sheep. He would then say to himself: "What does it matter to me? Let everyone do what they want; my sustenance is safe, my honor is safe: and milk and wool are enough for me; let each go their way as they can." So, is everything intact for you if each may go their way as they can? I do not want to make you a superior, I appoint you as one from the same people: "If one member suffers, all members suffer with it." Therefore, the Apostle himself, even though he recalled how they had acted toward him, lest he seem to have forgotten their honor, testifies that they had received him as an angel of God and would have plucked out their eyes and given them to him if possible. Yet he still approached the sick sheep, cut into the wound, and did not spare the rot. "So," he says, "have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" Behold, he took from the milk of the sheep, as we recalled a little earlier, and was clothed in their wool, yet he did not neglect the sheep. For he did not seek his own, but those of Jesus Christ.

The shepherd wandering from the truth is described by preaching.

Far be it from us to say to you: "Live as you wish, be secure, God will not let anyone perish, only keep the Christian faith. He will not lose what he has redeemed, he will not lose those for whom he shed his blood. And if you wish to entertain your minds with spectacles, go ahead. What harm is there? And these feasts which are celebrated throughout the entire city in the joy of those feasting together, and the public tables of those who think they are rejoicing, but are truly perishing, go, celebrate securely. Great is the mercy of God, which forgives everything. Crown yourselves with roses before they wither. In the house of your God, feast whenever you wish; fill yourselves with food and wine with your own. For this creature is given so that you may enjoy it. For God has not given it to pagans and impious people, but he has given it to you." If we were to say these things, we might indeed gather larger crowds. And if there are some who think that by saying these things we are not speaking rightly, we offend a few, but we win over the multitude. But if we do so, saying not the words of God, not the words of Christ but our own, we would be shepherds feeding ourselves, not the sheep.

The wicked overseer kills strong sheep.

But when he had said what those shepherds love, he also tells what they neglect. For the vices of the sheep are widespread. The healthy and fat sheep are very few, that is, those solid in the food of truth, using the pastures well from the gift of God. But those bad shepherds do not spare such ones. It is not enough that they do not care for those languishing, weak, wandering, and lost. Even the strong and fat ones they kill, as much as is in their power. And those live. They live by the mercy of God. Nevertheless, as far as the bad shepherds are concerned, they kill. "How," you ask, "do they kill?" By living badly, by providing a bad example. Was it said in vain to the servant of God, eminent among the members of the highest Shepherd: "Providing yourself as an example of good works in all things"; and: “Be a model for the faithful”? For often, even a strong sheep, looking at its leader living badly, if it turns its eyes away from the rules of the Lord and focuses on the man, begins to say in its heart: "If my leader lives like this, who am I that I should not do what he does?" He kills the strong sheep. If therefore he kills the strong sheep, what will he do to the others, who by living badly killed that which he did not himself strengthen, but found already strong or robust? I say to your Charity, I say again, even if the sheep live, and even if they are strong in the word of the Lord and hold fast to what they heard from their Lord: “What they say, do; but what they do, do not do,” nevertheless, he who lives badly before the people, as much as it is in him, kills the one who watches him. Let him not flatter himself because that one is not dead. And he lives, and he is a murderer. Just as when a lustful man looks at a woman to desire her; behold, she is chaste, and he is an adulterer. For the true and open sentence of the Lord is: “Whoever looks at a woman to desire her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” He did not reach her bedroom, and he is already rolling in his interior bedroom. So, everyone who lives badly before those to whom he is appointed, as far as it is in him, kills even the strong. He who imitates, dies; he who does not imitate, lives. However, as far as he is concerned, he kills both. "And what is fat," he says, "you kill, and you do not feed my sheep."

It must not be kept silent about the narrow life of the Christians.

You have now heard what they love. Hear what they neglect. What was weakened you have not strengthened; and what was ill, you have not healed; and what was broken, that is, what was crushed, you have not bound up; and those who strayed, you have not brought back; and what was lost, you have not sought; and what was strong, you have destroyed, that is, you have killed and slain. The sheep is weakened, that is, it carries a weak heart, so that it may yield to temptations if they come upon it unprepared and unguarded. The negligent shepherd, when he believes someone is like this, does not tell him: “My son, if you come to serve the Lord, stand in righteousness and fear, and prepare your soul for temptation.” For he who speaks these things strengthens the weak and makes the weak strong, so that when he believes he does not hope for the prosperity of this world. If he has been taught to hope for the prosperity of the world, he is corrupted by that very prosperity; when adversities come, he is wounded, or perhaps destroyed. Therefore, he does not build upon the rock who builds in this way, but places upon the sand. But the rock was Christ. The sufferings of Christ are to be imitated, not the delights of Christians to be sought. The weak is strengthened when he is told: "Indeed, expect the temptations of this world, but the Lord will deliver you from all if your heart does not turn back from Him. For He came to suffer for your strengthening, He came to die, He came to be smeared with spit, He came to be crowned with thorns, He came to hear reproaches, He came finally to be nailed to the wood. He did all these things for you, you did nothing. Not for Him, but for you."

Christians become partakers of the cross of Christ.

What sort, then, are these people who, fearing to hurt those whom they address, not only do not prepare them for imminent temptations but even promise them the happiness of this age, which God Himself did not promise to this age? He foretells labors upon labors coming to this age until the end, and you want the Christian to be exempt from these labors? Because he is a Christian, he will suffer something more in this age. For the Apostle says: All who desire to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution. Now if it pleases you, you who seek your own not the things of Jesus Christ, let him say: All who desire to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution, and you say: "If you live piously in Christ, all good things will abound for you. And if you do not have children, you will receive and nurture strangers, and none of them will die to you." Is this your edification? Pay attention to what you are doing, where you are laying the foundation. It is on sand that you are establishing them. Rain will come, a stream will flow in, the wind will blow, they will strike that house, and it will fall and its ruin will be great. Lift them from the sand, place them on the rock: let the one whom you wish to be Christian be in Christ. Let them attend to the undeserved sufferings of Christ, let them attend to Him who, having no sin, repaid what He did not seize, let them attend to the Scripture saying to him: He scourges every son whom He accepts. Either prepare to be scourged or do not seek to be accepted. He scourges, it says, every son whom He receives. And you say: "Perhaps you will be excepted?" If you are excepted from the suffering of scourges, you are excepted from the number of sons. "Indeed, you say, does He really scourge every son?" Certainly, He scourges every son to make them like the Only Son. That Only Son, born of the substance of the Father, equal to the Father in the form of God, the Word through whom all things were made, had no place where He could be scourged. For this He was clothed in flesh so that He could not be without scourging. Therefore, does He who scourges the Only One without sin leave the adopted one with sin unsworn? The Apostle says we are called to adoption. We received the adoption of sons so that we might be co-heirs with the Only One, even His inheritance: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance. He set an example for us in His sufferings.

The sick man must neither be deceived with false hope nor crushed with fear.

But certainly, so that the weak may not fail in future temptations, he must neither be deceived by false hope nor broken by terror. Say to him: "Prepare your soul for temptation." But perhaps he begins to waver, to tremble, and not to want to approach. You have another: "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear." For to promise that and to preach about future sufferings is to strengthen the weak. To one who fears excessively and is deterred because of this, when you promise the mercy of God, not because there will be no temptations, but because He does not allow one to be tempted beyond what he can bear, is to bind up the broken. For there are those who, when they hear of coming tribulations, arm themselves more and almost thirst after them as their drink. For they consider the medicine of faith too small for themselves but seek also the glory of martyrs. There are others, however, who, upon hearing of forthcoming and necessarily arriving temptations, which properly ought to come to a Christian, which no one feels unless he wishes to be truly a Christian, therefore when some approach them, they are broken and stumble. Offer the binding of consolation, bind that which is broken. Say: "Do not fear, He in whom you have believed will not abandon you in temptations. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. You do not hear this from me, the Apostle says it, who also says: "Do you wish to take the test of Him who speaks in me, Christ?" Therefore when you hear these things, you hear from Christ Himself, and you also hear from that shepherd who feeds Israel. For it was said to them: "You will drink our tears, in measure." For what the Apostle says: "He does not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear": this the Prophet says: "In measure." Only do not abandon the one who corrects and exhorts, terrifies and consoles, strikes and heals."

Let us do good works and endure evils.

What is weakened, he says, you have not strengthened. He speaks to bad shepherds, false shepherds, shepherds seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ, rejoicing in the gain of milk and wool, wholly not caring for the sheep, and not strengthening what is sick. Between the weak, that is, not strong— for those who are sick are also called weak— but between the weak and the sick, that is, the ill, it seems to me this should be distinguished. Indeed, brethren, these things which we try to distinguish, maybe we ourselves can distinguish better with greater diligence, and another more skilled or more enlightened in heart, lest you be deceived, as far as the words of Scripture go, what I feel, I speak. It must be feared lest temptation befall the weak and break them. However, the languishing one already sick with some desire, is hindered by some desire from entering the path of God, from taking on the yoke of Christ. Pay attention to those people wanting to live well, already determined to live well, and less capable of enduring evil as they are prepared to do good. It pertains to Christian strength, not only to do good works but also to endure evil ones. Therefore, those who seem to fervently perform good works but do not want or cannot endure looming sufferings are weak. However, those who are called back from good works by some evil desire, lovers of the world, lie languid and sick, for by this very languishing, as if without any strength, they can do no good. Such a paralytic in the soul was he, who, when they could not bring him to the Lord by those carrying him, opened the roof and lowered him. That is, as if in the soul you want to do this to open the roof and lower the paralytic soul dissolved in all its members and vacant of all good work, weighed down indeed by its sins and languishing with the disease of its desire. If therefore all the members are dissolved and there is an interior paralysis, that you may reach the doctor—for perhaps the doctor is hidden and is inside; this means: this true understanding is hidden in the Scriptures—by exposing what is hidden you open the roof and lower the paralytic. Those who do not do this and who neglect to do this, you have heard what they hear: What is sick you did not strengthen. And what is crushed you did not bind up: from now on certain temptations. Something is added whereby what is broken may be bound, that comfort: Faithful is God, who will not let you be tempted above what you are able to bear, but will make with the temptation also a way out, that you may be able to endure.

A good shepherd does not allow a heretic to perish.

And what was straying you did not bring back. Behold where we are endangered among heretics. And what was straying you did not bring back; and what was lost you did not seek out. Here we are somehow tossed among the hands of robbers and the teeth of raging wolves, and we pray that you pray for us regarding these dangers. And the sheep are stubborn. Because when they are sought while straying, they declare they are separated from us by their error and destruction: "What do you want from us? Why do you seek us?" As if there is not itself a cause why we would want and seek them, because they are straying and perishing. "If I am in error," they say, "if I am perishing, why do you want me? Why do you seek me?" Because you are in error, I wish to bring you back; because you are lost, I wish to find you. "I wish to err, I wish to perish." Do you wish to err that way, do you wish to perish that way? So much the better I do not wish it. Indeed, I dare to say, I am importunate. I hear the Apostle saying: Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season. To whom in season? To whom out of season? Certainly in season to those willing, out of season to those unwilling. Indeed, I am importunate, I dare to say: You want to err, you want to perish, I do not want it. Ultimately, He who frightens me does not want it. If I wanted, look at what He says, look at what He reproaches: What was straying you did not bring back; and what was lost you did not seek out. Shall I fear you more than Him? All of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. I do not fear you. For you cannot overthrow the judgment seat of Christ and establish the judgment seat of Donatus. I will bring back the straying one, I will seek the lost one. Willing or unwilling, I will do it. And if the thorns of the forest tear me while I seek, I will press through all narrow ways; I will shake off every hedge; as much as the Lord who frightens me grants me strength, I will traverse all. I will bring back the straying one, I will seek the perishing one. If you do not want me to suffer, do not stray, do not perish.

A shepherd indifferent towards the wicked is the reason why the good perish.

It is not enough that I grieve over you being lost and going astray. I fear that neglecting you, I might also destroy what is strong. For see what follows: And what was strong, you have destroyed. If I neglect the one going astray and perishing, even he who is strong will delight in going astray and perishing. I desire outward gains, but I fear more the inward losses. If I regard your error indifferently, the one who is strong pays attention and thinks it is nothing to fall into heresy. When some advantage from the world shines forth from where it is changed, immediately that perishing strong one will say to me, since I do not seek you who are lost: "And here and here is God, what does it matter? Men disputing among themselves did this. God should be worshipped everywhere." If perhaps some Donatist says to him: "I will not give you my daughter unless you are on my side," he needs to attend and say: "If there were nothing wrong in being on their side, our pastors would not speak so strongly against them, nor would they be so concerned for their error." Therefore, if we cease and stay silent, he will speak contrary: "Certainly, if it were bad to be in the party of Donatus, they would speak against it, refute them, strive to win them over. If they are mistaken, they would call them back; if they perish, they would seek them out." Therefore it is not in vain that, when he had already said above: What was fat, you killed, here he again placed in the last: And what was strong, you have destroyed. For it is indeed the repeated sentence, except that it arises from what he said above: What went astray, you did not call back; and what perished, you did not seek; and, by doing this, what is strong, you have killed.

Therefore, listen to what follows about the neglect of these evil, indeed false shepherds: And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts of the field. Wolves lying in wait steal, roaring lions seize, since the sheep do not cling to the shepherd. For the shepherd is present, but for those acting badly, he is not a shepherd. And they cling to shepherds who are not shepherds, feeding themselves and not the sheep. And a deadly error follows: they turn into ravaging beasts, desiring to satisfy themselves from their deaths. For such are all who rejoice in the errors of others: they are beasts being fed by deaths.

About good and bad mountains.

And they were scattered, and my sheep wandered over every mountain and every high hill. Beasts from the mountains and hills, earthly arrogance and worldly pride. The pride of Donatus has risen up, making a division for itself. Following him, Parmenianus confirmed that error. That mountain is, that hill is. Thus, every author of error, swelling with earthly pride, promises rest and good pastures to the sheep. And sometimes the sheep find pastures there from the rain of God, not from the hardness of the mountain. For they too have Scriptures, they have sacraments. These are not of the mountains, but when found in the mountains, one remains poorly in the mountains. Wandering in the mountains and hills, they desert the flock, they desert unity, they desert the fortified troops against wolves and lions. So God will call them back from there, He Himself will call them back. Now you will hear Him calling them back: My sheep have wandered, He says, over every mountain and every high hill, that is, in every swelling of earthly pride. For there are also good mountains: I lifted my eyes to the mountains, from where my help will come. And see, for your hope is not in the mountains: My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Do not think you insult the holy mountains when you say: My help is not from the mountains, but from the Lord who made heaven and earth. These mountains cry this out to you. There was a mountain that cried out: I hear divisions among you, and each of you says: I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ. Lift your eyes to this mountain, listen to what it says, and do not remain even on that mountain. For listen to what follows: Was Paul crucified for you? So after lifting your eyes to the mountains, from where your help will come, that is, to the authors of divine Scriptures, observe with all their marrow, all their bones crying out: Lord, who is like You? so that safely without any insult to the mountains you may say: My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Not only will the mountains then not be angry with you, but they will then love you, they will favor you more; if you place your hope in them, they will grieve. An angel showing many divine and wonderful things to a man was worshiped by the man, as if he lifted his eyes to the mountain. But he redirected from himself to the Lord: Do not do it, he said; worship Him, for I am your fellow servant and the brothers of yours.

Heretics are branches cut from the one vine.

On every mountain, and on every hill, and on every face of the earth, they are scattered. What is: they are scattered on every face of the earth? Pursuing all earthly things, they love and cherish those things that shine on the face of the earth. They do not want to die so that their life may be hidden in Christ. On every face of the earth, with a love of earthly things, and as they are wandering sheep all over the face of the earth. Not all heretics are all over the face of the earth, but still, heretics are all over the face of the earth. Some here, some there, but they are not absent anywhere. They do not know each other: one sect in Africa, another heresy in the East, another in Egypt, another in Mesopotamia, for example. They are in different places: but one mother, pride, has given birth to them all just as our one Catholic mother has given birth to all the faithful Christians spread throughout the world. Therefore, it is no wonder if pride produces division, love produces unity. Yet the Catholic mother herself, the shepherd himself in her, seeks out the wandering everywhere, strengthens the weak, heals the sick, binds up the broken, some from these, some from those, not knowing each other. But she knows them all, because she is spread with all. For example, in Africa there is the part of Donatus, the Eunomians are not in Africa, but here the Catholic is with the part of Donatus. In the East, there are Eunomians, but the part of Donatus is not there; yet the Catholic is with the Eunomians there. It is like a vine, growing and spreading everywhere; they are like useless branches, rightly cut off by the farmer's sickle because of their barrenness, to be pruned, not cut off. Therefore, those branches remained where they were cut off. But the vine, growing through everything, knows its branches that remained in it and those near it that were cut off from it. Nevertheless, it calls back the wandering, because the Apostle says of the broken branches: “For God is able to graft them in again.” Whether you speak of sheep wandering from the flock or branches cut off from the vine, God is no less able to call back the sheep or re-graft the branches, for He is the supreme shepherd, the true farmer. And they are scattered on every face of the earth; and there was no one to seek them, no one to call them back, except among those bad shepherds; there was no one, but a man, who sought them.

God swearing by His own life.

Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O shepherds: As I live, says the Lord God. Behold where it begins. It is as if it were an oath of God, a testimony of His life. As I live, says the Lord. The shepherds are dead, but the sheep are safe; the Lord lives. As I live, says the Lord God. But which shepherds are dead? Those who seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. Therefore, will there be and will be found shepherds who seek not their own, but the things of Jesus Christ? There will certainly be and surely will be found, neither lacking nor will lack. Let us see then what the Lord, who claims to live, says: whether He says He will take away the sheep from the bad shepherds, feeding themselves and not the sheep, and will give them to good shepherds feeding the sheep and not themselves. As I live, says the Lord God, unless because My sheep have been made a prey to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd. Again He speaks of the shepherd, both a moment ago and now. He does not say: because there are no shepherds. For even if there are such erring badly, perishing badly, there is no shepherd, even if the shepherd is present, because even when light is present, it is not light to the blind. And the shepherds did not seek My sheep, and the shepherds fed themselves, but did not feed My sheep.

"It pertains to bishops not to be silent."

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. But which shepherds should hear? Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My sheep at their hands. Hear and learn, O sheep of God: God inquires about His sheep from the evil shepherds, and He demands their deaths at their hands. For He says elsewhere through the same Prophet: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. You will hear a message from My mouth and warn them from Me. When I say to the sinner: You shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand. But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. What is this, Brothers? Do you see how dangerous it is to keep silent? He dies, and rightfully so; in his impiety and sin, he dies; for his negligence kills him. For he would find a living shepherd who says: I live, says the Lord; but when he is negligent, not admonished by the one who is appointed for this purpose as a watchman to admonish, and he rightfully dies, the other is justly condemned. But if you say, He says, to the wicked, You shall surely die, to whom I have threatened a sword, and he neglects to avoid the imminent sword and the sword comes and kills him, he dies in his sin, but you have delivered your soul. Therefore, it is indeed our duty not to keep silent; and for you, even if we are silent, to hear the shepherd's words from the Holy Scriptures.

Blind leading the blind, both fall into a pit.

Let us see, therefore, because I had thus proposed whether he would take away the sheep from the bad shepherds and give them to the good shepherds. I see him taking away the sheep from the bad shepherds. For he says this: Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hands, and I will turn them away, so that they do not feed my sheep; and the shepherds shall no longer feed themselves. For when I say: They should feed my sheep, they feed themselves, not my sheep. I will turn them away so that they do not feed my sheep. How does he turn them away, so that they do not feed his sheep? Do what they say; but do not do what they do. As if he were saying: "They say my things, but they do their own things." If he were to say: "Do confidently what they do, I will condemn them for living badly; but I will spare you because you have followed your leaders," if he were to say this, he would deter the bad shepherds, who do not feed the sheep, but themselves. But since he does not only terrify the blind man leading, but also the blind man following - for he did not say: The one leading falls into the pit, and the one following does not fall, but: The blind man leading the blind, both fall into the pit - he warned the sheep and said: Do what they say; but do not do what they do. For when you do not do what the bad shepherds do, they do not feed you; but when you do what they say, I feed you. For they say my things and do not do them. "We confidently, they say, follow our bishops." The heretics often say this when they are most clearly convicted by the truth: "We are the sheep, they will render an account for us." They will indeed render a bad account for your death. For the death of an evil sheep, the bad shepherd will render a bad account. Does a sheep live because its skin is presented? The shepherd is reproved because he neglected the wandering sheep, and on that account, it fell into the jaws of the wolf to be devoured. What good does it do him to bring back the marked skin? The master of the house wants the life of the sheep. But behold, the bad shepherd brought the skin: Let him render an account for the skin. Is he perhaps going to lie? He who later judges was watching from above: to whom words mean, he counts facts, he looks into thoughts. Let the bad shepherd render an account for the skin of the dead sheep. "I shouted your words to him and he did not want to follow; I took pains to keep him from straying from the flock, and he did not obey": indeed, if he says this and says the truth - but he knows whether he speaks the truth - he renders a good account for the bad sheep. But if God sees that he neglected the wanderer, that he did not seek the perishing one, what good does it do that he found the skin to bring back? He should have brought back the sheep itself, so as not to show the skin of the dead one. Therefore, if he who did not seek the wandering one does not render a good account, what kind of account will he render who caused the wandering? This is what I say: If a bishop appointed in the Catholic does not render a good account for a sheep if he has not sought the wandering one from the flock of God, what kind of account will the heretic render, who not only will not call back from error but even compelled into error?

The sheep of Christ hear His voice.

But let us see, as I said, how God recalls the sheep from the bad shepherds. I have already mentioned: "Do what they say; but do not do what they do." And they do not feed you, but God does, because whether the shepherds want it or not, they will speak the words of God so that you may reach the milk and wool. "You who preach not to steal, do you steal?" says the Apostle to those who say good things but do bad things. You listen to the preacher, so do not steal; do not imitate the thief. If you want to imitate the thief, he himself feeds you with his deed; he supplies you with poison, not food. But if you hear from him that which he does not say of himself, but of God - for a grape cannot be gathered from thorns; for even the Lord’s saying is: "No one gathers a grape from thorns and figs from thistles" -, however, do not therefore slander your Lord and say: "Lord, you did not want me to, because it is not possible to gather grapes from thorns; and again you said to me about some: 'Do what they say; but do not do what they do,' indeed those doing bad things are certainly thorns. How do you want me to gather the grape of the word from thorns?" He will answer: "That grape is not of the thorns, but sometimes a growing vine entwines itself in the hedge, and the grape hangs among the thick thorns, but it does not arise from the root of the thorns. If you are hungry and have nothing else from where to take it, carefully reach out your hand, so not to be torn by the thorns, that is, not to imitate the deeds of the wicked; and pick the grape hanging among the thorns, but born of the vine. The nourishment of the cluster will come to you, the thorns will keep the fire of torment."

The sheep of Christ hear his voice.

And I will rescue my sheep, He says, from their mouth, and from their hands: and they shall no longer be food for them. This is also said in the psalm: Do not all those who work iniquity know, who devour my people as they eat bread? And they shall no longer be food for them: because thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself. I have taken the sheep away from the evil shepherds, warning as I have said so that they do not do what the evil shepherds do, that is, so that the incautious and negligent sheep do not do what the evil shepherds do. And what does He say? To whom does He give what He has taken from them? Perhaps to good shepherds? This does not follow. And what shall we say, Brothers? Are there not good shepherds? Is it not said in another place in the Scriptures: And I will set shepherds over them according to my heart, who will feed them with discipline? How then does He say of the sheep, which He takes from the evil shepherds, that He does not give them to the good, but as if there were no good left at all, says: I will feed them? He had said to Peter: Feed my sheep. What then do we do? When the sheep are entrusted to Peter, the Lord does not say there: I will feed my sheep, not you, but: Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Or perhaps because Peter is no longer found, since he has already been taken up to the rest of the Apostles and martyrs, there is no one to whom the Lord can securely say of the sheep: Feed my sheep, and in a certain way He Himself takes over the duty of feeding His sheep, having no one to whom He can entrust them, and yet not abandoning them? This seems to follow: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself, to whom we used to say: You who shepherd Israel, give ear; you who lead Joseph like a flock, the people established in Egypt: Israel, now spread among the nations, is Joseph himself. For you know that Joseph migrated to Egypt: it was done by the selling of his brothers. The Jews sold Christ; it is not without reason that among the Apostles it was Judas himself who was the seller. Christ began to be in the nations, there He was honored, there His people grew, His shepherd did not abandon Him. He says: Stir up your might and come to save us. Indeed He does and will do so. He says: Behold, I myself, and I will seek out my sheep, and I will visit them, as a shepherd visits his flock. The evil shepherds did not care; for they did not redeem with their own blood. As He says, a shepherd visits his flock on the day? In what kind of day? When there shall be cloud and thick darkness, that is, rain and fog. Rain and fog are the errors of this world; great darkness arising from the desires of men, and a dense fog covering the earth. And it is difficult for the sheep not to go astray in this fog. But the shepherd does not abandon them. He searches for them, penetrates the fog with very keen eyes, is not hindered by the darkness of the clouds. He sees, he calls back those wandering from every side, so that it may be done as it is said in the Gospel: My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. In the midst of the scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep, and I will bring them out from all places where they are scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. When it is difficult to find them, now I will find them. Dense fog, thick darkness: nothing escapes His eyes.

Mountains of Israel, authors of the divine Scriptures.

And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel. He has established the mountains of Israel, the authors of the divine Scriptures. There feed, so that you may feed securely. Whatever you hear from there, let it be to your benefit; whatever is outside of that, reject. Do not wander in the fog, listen to the voice of the shepherd. Gather yourselves to the mountains of the holy Scripture. There are the delights of your heart, there is nothing poisonous, nothing foreign; the most abundant pastures are there. You only come healthy, be fed healthily on the mountains of Israel. And in the streams, and in every dwelling place of the land. For from the mountains that we have shown, the streams of evangelical preaching have flowed, as their sound has gone out into all the earth, and the habitation of the whole land has become joyful and fruitful for feeding the sheep. In good pastures I will feed them, and on the high mountains of Israel. And their fold shall be there, that is, where they may rest, where they may say: It is well, where they may say: It is true, it is clear, we are not deceived. They will rest in the glory of God, as in those folds. And they will sleep, that is, they will rest, and they will rest in good delights.

And in rich pastures they shall graze on the mountains of Israel. I already said the mountains of Israel, good mountains, where we lift up our eyes so that help may come to us from there. But our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Therefore, lest our hope be even in the good mountains, when he said: I will feed my sheep on the mountains of Israel, again, lest you remain in the mountains, he immediately added: I will feed my sheep. Lift up your eyes to the mountains, from where help will come to you, but listen to him saying: I will feed them. For your help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

And I will make them rest, says the Lord God. But in order to make them rest, what did He first take care of? For what He first took care of, He later says: Thus says the Lord God: What was lost, I will seek; and what strayed, I will bring back; and what was broken, I will bind up; and what is weak, I will strengthen; and what is fat and strong, I will watch over: which the evil shepherds did not do, feeding themselves, not the sheep. The Lord does not say: I will appoint other good shepherds, to do these things, but I, He says, will do; I will commit my sheep to no one. Be secure, Brothers; you sheep, be secure. To us it seems we should fear, as if a good shepherd were lacking.

Christ nourishes with judgment those whom He has redeemed.

He concludes thus: And I will feed them with judgment. See, because in this way he alone feeds, feeding with judgment. For what man judges a man? All things are full of rash judgments. He whom we have despaired of suddenly turns and becomes the best. He whom we have greatly presumed on suddenly fails and becomes the worst. Neither is our fear certain, nor is our love certain. What any man is today, scarcely even the man himself knows. Yet, somehow, he knows what he is today. But what he will be tomorrow, not even he himself knows. Therefore, he feeds with judgment, distributing what is proper to each: these things to these, those things to those, what is due to whom it is due, this or that. For he knows what he does. He feeds with judgment those whom he has redeemed by judgment. Therefore, he himself feeds with judgment.

The devil wants all who are wandering to be led astray by any errors.

For in the prophet Jeremiah, a certain partridge cried out, "It gathered what it did not lay, making its riches without justice." Against this partridge making its riches without justice, this shepherd feeds with justice. Why is that one without justice? Because it gathered what it did not lay. Why is this one with justice? Because it nurtures what it laid. However, we speak of the good shepherd. Good shepherds either do not exist, or they are hidden. If they do not exist, what do we do? If they are hidden, why is there silence about them? That partridge understood by some ancients and interpreters of the Scriptures before us as the devil, gathering what it did not lay. For he is not a creator but a deceiver, making his riches without justice. For it does not matter to him in what way someone errs. He wants everyone erring, with any errors. How diverse the heresies, how diverse the errors! He wants men to err in all things. The devil does not say: "Let them be Donatists and not Arians." Whether here or there, they belong to him, gathering without justice. "Let them worship idols," he says, "they are mine; let them remain in Jewish superstition, they are mine; let them go astray from unity into this or that heresy, they are mine." Thus, he gathers without justice, making his riches. But what follows? In the middle of his days, they will forsake him, and in his last days, he will be foolish. That one comes gathering his sheep from everywhere. In the middle of his days, sooner than he hoped, before he thought, they will forsake him, and he will be foolish in his last days. Why was he wise in his beginnings, and in his last days will be foolish? Listen, brethren. Sometimes in the Scriptures wisdom is said for cunning, by abuse of the word, not by its proper meaning. For where is it said: "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world?" And this partridge, the same dragon, the same serpent, was as if wise, when he deceived Adam through Eve. It was thought he spoke the truth, he was considered to give good counsel, he was believed against God. Which indeed is called wisdom by abuse of the word and in evil, by the custom of our Scriptures though as the authors of the world speak, what is that to us? you have in the same book: "The serpent was more cunning than all beasts." This one more cunning than all the beasts was known to be sharp and shrewd to deceive. Later, he is not believed. It is said to him: "We renounce you, it is enough that you first deceived the unwary." Therefore, thus in his last days, he will be foolish. His frauds will be exposed, and therefore no longer frauds. In his last days, he will be foolish, who gathered what he did not lay, and made his riches without justice. Against him, our Redeemer feeds with justice.

Heretic, helper, and son of the devil.

Let also some heretic arise, if not a brother of the devil, certainly his helper and son. And I would call him a quarrelsome partridge. For this animal, as fowlers know, is also captured by the eagerness for quarreling. They quarrel against the truth, and they have quarreled since they divided from it. Now they say: "We do not want to quarrel," because they have already been captured. He does not have to say: "I do not want to quarrel." O captive, at least at times you were the one who in the first periods of your sedition accused the traitors, condemned the innocent, sought the judgment of the Emperor, did not agree with the judgment of the bishops, and when defeated, you appealed so many times, litigated most eagerly before the Emperor himself. You gathered what you did not bear. Where is your neck now? Where is your tongue? Where is your hissing? Certainly in your latest acts you have become foolish, you graze without judgment. For you do not wish to judge truly, whether about your error or about the truth. Christ grazes against you with judgment, He separates His sheep from those that are not His. My sheep, He says, listen to my voice and follow me.

Good shepherds will never be lacking.

Here I find all good shepherds in one shepherd. For truly good shepherds are not lacking, but they are in one. There are many who are divided. This one is proclaimed, because unity is commended. Nor indeed are the shepherds now silent, and it is said "shepherd," because the Lord has not found one to whom He might entrust His sheep. But then He commended, because He found Peter. Moreover, even in Peter himself, He commended unity. There were many Apostles, and it is said to one: Feed my sheep. Let it not be that good shepherds are now lacking, let it not be that they are missing from us, let it not be that by His mercy, He does not beget and establish them. Surely, if there are good sheep, there are also good shepherds, for from good sheep come good shepherds. But all good shepherds are in one, they are one. They feed, Christ feeds. For the friends of the bridegroom do not speak their own voice, but they rejoice greatly because of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore, He Himself feeds, when they feed; and He says: I feed, because His voice is in them, His love is in them. For even Peter himself, to whom He was entrusting His sheep as one to another, He wanted to make one with Himself, and thus to commend the sheep to him, so that he would be the head, he would bear the figure of the body, that is, of the Church, and as if the bridegroom and bride were one in one flesh. Therefore, that He might commend the sheep, what does He first say to him, not as to another he might commend? Peter, do you love me? And he responded: I love you. And again: Do you love me? And he responded: I love you. And thirdly: Do you love me? And he responded: I love you. He affirms love, so that He might strengthen unity. Therefore, He Himself feeds as one in them, and they in one. And it is silent about the shepherds, but it is not silent. The shepherds glory, but let he who glories, glory in the Lord. This is to feed Christ, this is to feed in Christ, this is to feed with Christ, and not apart from Christ to feed oneself. For indeed, the Prophet did not say due to the lack of shepherds, as if predicting future bad times: I will feed my sheep, I do not have anyone to whom I may commend them. Even when Peter himself was there, and when the Apostles themselves were still in this flesh and in this life, then that one said, in whom all are one: I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, that there may be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore, let all be in one shepherd, and let them say the one voice of the shepherd that the sheep hear, and follow their shepherd, not this one or that one, but the one. And let all in him say one voice, not have diverse voices. I beseech you, Brothers, that you all speak the same thing, and there be no divisions among you. Let the sheep hear this voice purged from all division, cleansed from all heresy, and follow their shepherd saying: My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.

The voice of Christ is not heard among the Donatists.

For do you want to know, heretic, how you do not have the voice of the shepherd, and that sheep follow you perilously, covered in a sheep's garment, but inwardly a rapacious wolf? Let them hear your voice and let us see if it is Christ's. A stray sheep separated from the flock seeks the Church, not knowing where the flock is. It seeks where to go, where to enter. Give your voice: let us hear if it is Christ's. Let us hear whether it is of the lamb, or of the partridge. The sheep of God is seeking its flock. Imagine a sheep coming from the East to Africa seeking its flock. It chances upon you, it chances upon your basilica and wants to enter. You are disturbed by the unfamiliar face, either you or your minister. Standing or sitting at the door, it asks the sheep seeking its flock, indeed the flock of God. It wants to enter with its flock, it thinks it is there. You ask: "Are you a pagan, or a Christian?" It responds: "A Christian", for it is the sheep of God. You ask whether perhaps it is a catechumen, and may rush to the sacraments. It responds: "Faithful". You ask of what communion it is. It responds: "Catholic". You reject the Christian, faithful, catholic. Who are those inside whom you keep? Indeed, cast them out, reject them. Rejected by you, they are approved by Christ. Would that even those who are with you recognize you, and in the middle of your days abandon you. Some of our brothers went yesterday to their basilica. Though to bad brothers, yet to brothers. Attend, my Brothers, to what the difference is between the confidence of truth and the fear of falsity. When you recognize some of them among this people, how you rejoice! Because He who seeks what was lost is in you. Sometimes it is suggested to you: "He will hear and depart". And you: "Let him hear and depart". "He will hear and mock". "Let him hear and mock. Sometimes he becomes wise and sometimes he knows. Sometimes he is abandoned by his people, he remains with his heart. He renounces his error. He gives thanks to his God." But what about them? "Who are you?" "We are Christians." "No, but spies." And they: "We are Catholics." They tried to insult; with better counsel they repented. And would that they repented thus as to remain, as those repented who entered to insult. However, those whom they cast out are Christians, faithful, catholics; whom they kept, I do not wish to say. Whom they cast out, I see; whom they kept, let them say themselves.

Therefore, let them speak their voice. Let us see whether it is the voice of Christ, or the voice of the shepherd, which the sheep follow. Whether this voice is through a good man or through an evil man, let us consider whether it is the voice of the shepherd. The sick one seeks the Church, the wandering one seeks the Church. What do you say? "The Church is of the party of Donatus." I seek the voice of the shepherd. Read this to me from the Prophet, read to me from the Psalm, recite from the Law, recite from the Gospel, recite from the Apostle. From there I will recite to you the Church spread throughout the whole world and the Lord saying: My sheep hear my voice and follow me. What is the voice of the shepherd? And repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Behold the voice of the shepherd, recognize it, and follow if you are a sheep.

The Scriptures testify to a Church spread throughout the whole world.

"But they handed over the codices, and they placed incense for idols, this person and that person." What is it to me about this person and that person? If they did this, they are not shepherds. You should proclaim the voice of the shepherd, because you do not even announce the voice of the shepherd regarding them. You accuse, not the Gospel; you accuse, not the Prophet, not the Apostle; from whom does this voice speak to me, I believe about him; others I do not believe. But you will bring forth Acts; I bring forth Acts. Let's believe yours; you also believe mine. I don't believe yours; don't believe mine. Let human papers be taken away, let divine voices sound. Proclaim to me one voice of Scripture for the part of Donatus; listen to countless others, throughout the world. Who counts them? Who limits them? However, to mention a few, consider the Law, the first Testament of God: "In your seed all nations will be blessed." And in the Psalm: "Ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession." All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before Him, for the kingdom is His and He shall rule over the nations. "Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord all the earth." And all the kings of the earth will worship Him, all nations will serve Him. Who could suffice to enumerate them? Almost every page sounds nothing else but Christ, and the Church spread throughout the entire world. Let one voice for the part of Donatus come forth for me: is it such a great thing that I seek? They say the Church spread throughout the whole world was going to perish. Was it predicted to perish by so many lasting testimonies? Not even one voice of these through the Law, the Prophets, the Songs, is from the shepherd - for they could not speak the truth without the Word of God, which is Christ - listen to the voice of the Word, and from the mouth of the Word.

Amazed at the faith of the centurion: "Amen," he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith in Israel. Therefore, I tell you that many will come from the East and from the West and will sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Many will come from the East and from the West. Behold the Church of Christ, behold the flock of Christ. See if you are a sheep. For the flock which is everywhere does not hide from you. You will not have what to answer to your judge, whom you do not want to be your shepherd; you will not have, I say, what to answer to your judge: 'I did not know, I did not see, I did not hear.' What is it that you did not know? Nor is there anyone who can hide from his heat. What is it that you did not see? All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. What is it that you did not hear? Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."

Abandon the voice of the wolf, follow the voice of the shepherd.

But rightly from you is sought the voice of Christ, the voice of the shepherd, which the sheep hear and follow. You do not find what to say, you do not have the voice of the shepherd. Hear and follow. Leave the voice of the wolf, follow the voice of the shepherd. Or give the voice of the shepherd. "We give it," they say. Let us hear: "We also give the voice of the shepherd." Let us hear. "In the Song of Songs," they say, "the bride speaks to the bridegroom, the Church to Christ." We know the Song of Songs, holy Songs, love Songs, of holy love, of holy charity, of holy sweetness. Indeed, I want to hear from there the voice of the shepherd, the voice of the sweetest groom. Say, if you have it. Let us hear. "The bride," they say, "says to the bridegroom: Announce to me whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you lie down. And he, they say, responds: In the midday." I was bringing forth clear testimonies for you; there was no other way you could interpret: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. Why do you bring me something from the Song of Songs? Perhaps you do not understand it. For those songs are riddles, known to few who understand, opened to few who knock. Retain and devoutly take the clear words, so that the obscure may rightly be opened to you. How will you be a discerner of the obscure, a despiser of the clear?

The words of Song of Songs 1:6-7 are discussed.

Behold, however, as we are able, Brothers, let us discuss these words. The Lord will be present so that you may see a sound understanding therein. First, what is easily judged by all, even the unlearned, the words themselves are poorly distinguished. Now you will hear, now you will test. For thus the text of the reading itself holds. The bride speaks to the bridegroom: Announce to me whom my soul has loved where you feed, where you rest. That the bride speaks to the bridegroom, that the Church speaks to Christ, neither we doubt nor do they. But all the words of the bride listen. Why do you wish to attribute to the bridegroom a word which still belongs to the bride? Let the bride say everything she says. Then the bridegroom will respond. Hear more clearly with this distinction which I am about to dictate: you will not find anything more. Announce to me whom my soul has loved where you feed, where you rest at midday. She still says: Where you feed, where you rest at midday. And see, because she still speaks. For it follows: Lest I become as one who is veiled over the flocks of your companions. I think all the learned and unlearned can distinguish masculine and feminine. I ask to which gender "veiled" belongs. I ask from any person: Is it masculine or feminine? Announce, she says, to me whom my soul has loved. Whom, when she says, she is addressing a male, she is addressing the bridegroom. Because indeed a female addresses a male, subsequent words indicate: Announce to me where you feed, where you rest at midday, lest I become as one who is veiled. Listen to “veiled,” so that these may become clear to you. Announce to me whom my soul has loved where you feed, where you rest at midday, lest I become as one who is veiled over the flocks of your companions. Up to this point are the words of the bride. Now begin the obvious words of the bridegroom: Unless you know yourself—recognize yourself manfully, woman, know yourself: he says, unless you know yourself; listen also to the following: O beautiful among women— Unless you know yourself, O beautiful among women, go forth in the footsteps of the flocks and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents, not in the shepherd's tent. See how the bridegroom threatens; see how, while she is in danger, although he is sweet, he removes the endearments from the scene. How sweetly she entreats! "Announce to me whom my soul has loved where you feed, where you rest at midday. For indeed midday comes, when the shepherds gather at their resting places; and perhaps I shall hide from where you feed and where you rest; and I want you to announce to me, lest I become as one who is veiled, that is, as one who is hidden, and not recognized. For I am manifest, but lest as one who is veiled, as one hidden, I fall among the flocks of your companions." For all heretics have departed from Christ; all those who have become evil shepherds, having their own flocks under the name of Christ, were his companions, they received his banquet. For they are called companions, as if partakers of one banquet. In the Latin language, companions are thus called, as if those who eat together, because they eat together. Hear him in the psalm reproving the evil companions, that is, of one banquet: If my enemy, he says, had reviled me, I would surely have endured it, and if he had spoken great things against me. But you, my equal, my acquaintance, my guide, who took sweet foods together with me. Therefore, many ungrateful companions of the Lord’s table went outside; the evil companions have made their own tables, they have raised altars against the altar: in them, she fears to fall.

The overseas Church is concerned about the re-baptizers.

And if you think that the south is Africa - although I could insist that it is more the southern part of the world, parts of Egypt, and those regions scorched by the sun where rain does not appear, because it is the south where the midday great heat is. But there the desert is full of thousands of servants of God. Hence if we wish to turn to the south of the places, why does he not more feed and rest there, when it was previously predicted: The breasts of the desert will be fruitful? - But behold, I agree, let Africa be the south, let Africa be the south. Here are the wicked comrades. The overseas church, concerned lest it errs in any of its own journeying to Africa, invokes her spouse, and says to him: "I hear that heretics abound in Africa, I hear that rebaptizers abound in Africa. But I hear that yours are there also. And I hear that, and I hear that. But who are yours, I wish to hear from you. Announce to me, whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you lie down at midday, at that midday, where I hear there are two parties, one part with Donatus, the other adhering to your entire body. You tell me where I should go lest by chance I become, as it were, hidden, that is, unknown above the flocks of your comrades, and fall into the flocks of the heretics, who attempt to set stone upon stone which should be destroyed, lest I rush into the rebaptizers, announce to me." And he who commends the unity of the shepherd, who in this reading says: I shall shepherd, but reproves the shepherds who wished to be many, who lost the unity, responding most sternly, not gently, but because of the greatness of the danger: Unless you know yourself, he says, O fairest among women: you are beautiful among women, but acknowledge yourself. Where do you recognize yourself? In the whole world. For if you are beautiful, there is unity in you. Where there is division, there is ugliness, not beauty. Unless you know yourself: you believed in me, acknowledge yourself. How did you believe in me? Just as those wicked companions agreed the Word was made flesh, born of a Virgin, crucified, risen, ascended into heaven: you believed in me such as this, they also proclaim the same. Recognize yourself and me: me in heaven, you in the whole world." Christ addresses any one of the Church as the Church. - For how does the Church seek the Church? I speak according to themselves. Announce to me whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you lie. What does she seek? The Church. And he as if showing the Church says: At midday, as they wish. Let them answer me, how the Church seeks the Church. Announce to me whom my soul loves. Who speaks? The Church. What does she want announced to her? Where you pasture, where you lie, that is, where the Church is. The Church speaks and asks where the Church is; and he answers, as they think: In the south. If it is only in the south, as they say in Africa, how does she ask where she herself is? Surely the portion of the overseas Church rightly asks about the south, lest she errs here. - Christ addresses each member of his Church, as his Church. And what does he say? Unless you know yourself, O fairest among women, go out. Going out is characteristic of heretics. Either know yourself, or go out, because if you do not know yourself, you will go out. Go out where? In the footsteps of the flocks, following the bad flocks. Lest you think you follow the sheep, if you go out, hear what follows: Go out in the footsteps of the flocks, and pasture your kids, no longer sheep. You know, Brothers, where the kids will be. On the left will be all who have gone out from the Church. To Peter who remains is said: Feed my sheep; to the heretic who goes out: Feed your kids.

The Donatists interpret Habakkuk 3:3 incorrectly.

"There is also, they say, another testimony." Nonetheless, it is against you. Speak, let us hear. It will be against you, just as this which you thought was for you. - "If you interpret the south, they say, as Egypt?". We indeed interpret the south in many ways; we can understand Egypt as a place in the world, and Africa itself as well. Hear what I understand by the south; I understand it as the fervor of the spiritual, burning with the fire of charity, shining with the light of truth. For it is said in a certain psalm: Make known to me your right hand, and teach the wise-hearted in wisdom, the right hand not the goats; and the wise-hearted in wisdom, they are the south. Hence it is said to the Prophet: And your darkness will be as the south. Therefore, we can understand the south in many ways. But I entirely understand Africa, absolutely, I understand Africa. I accept something from you perhaps better than I would have known, unless I recalled it from you. Let Africa be the south. The transmarine Church fears falling into re-baptizers; it fears falling as if unknown into the flocks of sectarians, it seeks from its spouse for him to announce to it where he feeds, where he lies down at noon, for he feeds in some places at noon, and does not feed in others; he lies down in some places, and does not lie down in others. - Let her hear the advice, let her come to the Catholic Church, let her not fall into the flocks of sectarians, let her not feed her goats there. - But say what else you said you would say. "The Prophet, he says: God will come from the south; and now where is the south, surely it is Africa". O testimony! God will come from the south, and from Africa God will come! Heretics announce another Christ is born in Africa and will go throughout the world! I ask what this means: God will come from Africa? If you said: God remained in Africa, for sure you would be speaking shamefully. But now also: You say: He will come from Africa. We know where Christ was born, where he suffered, where he ascended into heaven, where he sent his disciples, where he filled them with the Holy Spirit, where he commanded them to preach throughout the world, and they obeyed, and the world is filled with the Gospel.

Of the origin of the Donatists.

"Therefore, explain to me, he said, what it means: God will come from the South. Speak the whole, and perhaps you will understand. God will come from the South, and the holy one from the shady mountain. Explain to me, if already from Africa, how from the shady mountain? Part of Donatus was born in Numidia. They themselves were first sent into dissension and tumult and scandal, seeking a great wound. The Numidians sent them. Secondarily, the Tigisitanus sent them. Where Tigis is, it is known. Those clerics who were sent were gathered outside from the Church, to approach the clerics of Carthage they did not want, they set up a visitor, they were received by Lucilla. The author of all this evil was the Numidian heretic. In Numidia, whence this evil came here, scarcely a fly is found, they dwell in hutches. How is there a shady mountain in Numidia? Tell me then. Do not recite up to here: God from the South, I demand the following: And the holy one from the shady mountain. But show me part of Donatus coming from Numidia from the shady mountain. You find all bare, indeed the fields are fertile, but in grains, not fertile with olive groves, not pleasant with other groves. Where then is the shady mountain in parts of Numidia? From where did this scandal come?"

Augustine explains the prophecy of Habakkuk 3:3.

"You, he said to me, then explain what it is: God will come from the South, and the holy one from the shady mountain." See how easily I will explain. First, listen to what the Lord says: It was necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Behold whence he will come: when he said, beginning, he indeed foretold that he would come to other nations through his saints. Read the division of the land of the sons of Israel to all the tribes in the book of Joshua. It is clearly stated there: Jerusalem from the South. Read, seek, and you will find. Would that when you found it, you would believe; would that you would lay aside pride. Jerusalem from the South. And the Lord: beginning at Jerusalem: that is, God will come from the South. How then from the shady mountain? Read the Gospel already. Christ ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. Follow. And what is clearer? You hear: from the South; you have heard: from the shady mountain. We recite the Law. We recite the Gospel. You have heard: beginning at Jerusalem; hear: among all nations. In the same Prophet follow those words you have despised, those words you have overlooked: God will come from the South, and the holy one from the shady mountain; his shadow will cover the mountains, and his glory fills the earth. Therefore, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. How, beginning at Jerusalem? God will come from the South, and the holy one from the shady mountain, that is, from the Mount of Olives, where he ascended to heaven, from where he sent his disciples, where, when he was about to ascend, he also said: It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power from on high, and you shall be my witnesses – see how the Gospel begins – and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Therefore, with God coming, Christ, and his name, and the preaching of his Gospel from Jerusalem, that is, from the South, and from the shady mountain, that is, from the Mount of Olives, because the Gospel has been spread among all nations, his shadow covers the mountains, that is, his coolness, his protection, and the earth is full of his praise. Therefore sing a new song with the whole earth, not an old song with a corner of the earth."

About the man from Cyrene and Joseph of Arimathea.

They also say something else. "A certain Simon of Cyrene", they say, "was compelled to carry the cross of the Lord." We read it, but I want to know how it helps you. "Cyrene", he says, "is an African. Wherefore he was compelled to carry the cross." Perhaps you do not know where Cyrene is: it is in Libya, it is Pentapolis, it is contiguous to Africa, and it pertains more to the East. Even in the distribution of the provinces of the Emperors, recognize: the Eastern Emperor sends a judge to Cyrene. I briefly respond. Where the part of Donatus is, Cyrene is not found; where Cyrene is, the part of Donatus is not found. Manifest truth convicts error. Let him give me Cyrene, where the part of Donatus is; let him give me the part of Donatus, where Cyrene is. For it is clear, Brothers, in Pentapolis the Catholic Church is present, and the part of Donatus is not there. But let us securely mock the pitiable, and pity the laughable. What do you say? You honor this Cyrenian greatly because he carried the cross of the Lord and say he was an African. He is Eastern. For Libya is called in two ways, either that which is properly Africa, or that part of the East which is contiguous to Africa, and entirely bordering on it. But let the Cyrenian be African. Do you consider him blessed because he was compelled to carry the cross? How much better perhaps would another say that the Church of Christ remained in Arimathea? Because that rich Joseph from Arimathea, having the kingdom of God before his eyes, not compelled, not forced, came to the Lord’s cross. When others were afraid, he asked Pilate to bury the Lord’s body, took it down from the wood, attended to the funeral, laid it in the sepulchre, and was praised in the Gospel. Because therefore this pious man from Arimathea exhibited such devotion to the Lord’s body, did the Church remain in Arimathea? Or if you are more pleased by being compelled, that is, being forced to carry the cross, then the Catholic Emperors rightly compel you to unity.