§11Audiant ergo sancti de scripturis sanctis praecepta patientiae: fili, accedens ad seruitutem dei sta in iustitia et timore, et praepara animam tuam ad temptationem; deprime cor tuum et sustine, ut crescat in nouissimis tua uita.
Therefore let the holy ones hear from the holy scriptures the precepts of patience: "My son, when you come to the service of God, stand in justice and fear, and prepare your soul for temptation; humble your heart and endure, so that your life may increase in your latter end.
omne quod tibi superuenerit accipe et in dolore sustine et in humilitate tua patientiam habe, quoniam in igne probatur aurum et argentum, homines uero acceptabiles in camino humiliationis. et in alio loco legitur: fili, ne deficias in disciplina domini neque fatigeris cum ab illo increparis; quem enim diligit dominus, corripit, flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit. quod hic positum est \'filium quem recipit,\' hoc in supra dicto testimonio est: homines receptibiles. hoc enim iustum est, ut qui de pristina felicitate paradisi propter contumacem deliciarum appetentiam dimissi sumus, per humilem molestiarum patientiam recipiamur, fugaces mala faciendo, reduces mala patiendo, ibi contra iustitiam facientes, hic pro iustitia patientes.
Accept all that shall come upon you, and endure in pain, and have patience in your humility, because gold and silver are tried in the fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation." And in another place it is read: "My son, faint not in the discipline of the Lord, nor be wearied when you are rebuked by him; for whom the Lord loves, he chastises, and he scourges every son whom he receives." What is placed here, "the son whom he receives," is the same as in the above-mentioned testimony: "acceptable men." For this is just, that we who were dismissed from the pristine happiness of paradise on account of our defiant appetite for pleasures, should be received back through the humble patience of troubles, becoming fugitives by doing evil, and returnees by suffering evil, acting there against justice, and here enduring for justice.
§12Sed uera patientia, quae huius est nomine digna uirtutis, quaerendum est unde sumatur.
But as for true patience, which is worthy of the name of this virtue, we must inquire whence it is derived.
sunt enim, qui eam tribuant uiribus uoluntatis humanae. non quas habent ex diuino adiutorio, sed quas ex libero arbitrio.
For there are those who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not to that which they have from divine assistance, but to that from free will.
error autem iste superbus est; eorum est enim qui abundant, de quibus dicitur in psalmo: obprobrium eis qui abundant et despectio superbis, non est ergo ista patientia pauperum, quae non perit in aeternum.
But this error is proud; for it belongs to those who abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "A reproach to those who abound, and contempt to the proud." Therefore, this is not that patience of the poor which does not perish forever.
hic enim pauperes ab illo eam diuite accipiunt, cui dicitur: deus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non eges. a quo est omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum, ad quem clamat egenus et pauper, qui laudat nomen eius et petendo, quaerendo, pulsando dicit: deus meus, eripe me de manu peccatoris, de manu legem praetereuntis et iniqui.
For here the poor receive it from that rich One, to whom it is said: "You are my God, for You have no need of my goods." From whom is every best gift and every perfect gift, to whom the needy and the poor man cries out, who praises His name, and by asking, seeking, and knocking says: "My God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of him who transgresses the law, and of the unjust.
quoniam tu es patientia mea, domine, spes mea a iuuentute mea. isti autem, qui abundant et egere ad dominum dedignantur, ne ab illo accipiant ueram patientiam, de sua falsa gloriantes consilium inopis uolunt confundere, quoniam dominus spes eius est, nec adtendunt, cum homines sunt et suae, id est humanae uoluntati tantum tribuunt, in illud se incurrere. quod scriptum est: maledictus omnis qui spem suam ponit in homine. unde etiamsi eis contingat, ut aliqua dura et aspera, uel ne displiceant hominibus uel ne grauiora patiantur uel sibi placendo et amando praesumptionem suam eadem ipsa superbissima uoluntate sustineant, hoc illis dicendum est de patientia, quod de sapientia beatus Iacobus apostolus dicit: non est ista sapientia desursum descendens, sed terrena, animalis, diabolica.
For You are my patience, Lord, my hope from my youth." But these men, who abound and disdain to be needy before the Lord, lest they should receive true patience from Him, boasting of their own false patience, wish to confound the counsel of the poor man, because the Lord is his hope; nor do they notice, since they are men and attribute so much to their own, that is, human will, that they run into that which is written: "Cursed is everyone who puts his hope in man." Wherefore, even if it happens to them that they endure certain hard and harsh things, either lest they should displease men or lest they should suffer worse things, or by pleasing and loving themselves, sustaining their own presumption by that very same most proud will, this must be said to them concerning patience, which the blessed Apostle James says concerning wisdom: "This is not the wisdom that descends from above, but is earthly, natural, devilish." For why should there not be a false patience of the proud, just as there is a false wisdom of the proud?
cor enim non sit superborum falsa patientia, sicut superborum est falsa sapientia? a quo est autem uera sapientia, ab illo est et uera patientia.
But from whom is true wisdom, from Him is also true patience.
huic enim cantat ille spiritu pauper: deo subiecta est anima mea, quoniam ab ipso est patientia mea. §13Sed respondent et loquuntur dicentes: sicut uoluntas hominis sine ullo dei adiutorio uiribus liberi arbitrii tam multa grauia et horrenda perfert, siue in animo siue in corpore, ut mortalis uitae huius et peccatorum delectatione perfruatur, cur non eodem modo eadem ipsa uoluntas hominis eisdem uiribus liberi arbitrii non ad hoc expectans se diuinitus adiuuari, sed sibi naturali possibilitate sufficiens quidquid laboris uel doloris ingeritur, pro iustitia et uita aeterna patientissime sustinet? an uero, inquiunt, idonea est iniquorum uoluntas deo non adiuuante, ut se ipsi in cruciatibus pro iniquitate et, antequam ab aliis crucientur, exerceant;
For to Him that poor man in spirit sings: "My soul is subject to God, for from Him is my patience." But they answer and speak, saying: "Just as the will of man, without any assistance of God, by the strength of free will, endures so many grievous and horrendous things, whether in mind or in body, in order that it may enjoy the delight of this mortal life and of sins, why does not in the same way that very same will of man, by the same strength of free will, not expecting to be assisted divinely for this, but sufficient for itself by its natural possibility, endure most patiently whatever labor or pain is inflicted upon it for the sake of justice and eternal life?
idonea est uoluntas moras uitae huius amantium, ut deo non adiuuante inter atrocissima et longa tormenta in mendacio perseuerent, ne sua facinora confitentes iubeantur occidi, et non est idonea iustorum uoluntas, nisi eis uires desuper suggerantur, quaslibet poenas uel ipsius decore iustitiae uel aeternae uitae amore perferre?
Or indeed," they say, "is the will of the unjust sufficient, without God assisting, to exercise itself in torments for their iniquity, and, before they are tormented by others; is the will of those who love the delays of this life sufficient, without God assisting, to persevere in a lie amid the most atrocious and long torments, lest, confessing their crimes, they should be ordered to be killed; and is the will of the righteous not sufficient, unless strength is supplied to them from above, to endure any punishments either for the beauty of justice itself or for the love of eternal life?"