§13Sed tormenta postmodum uenerant et cruciatus graues reluctantibus inminebant.
But torments had come afterwards, and grave tortures were looming over those who resisted.
queri de tormentis potest qui per tormenta superatus est, excusationem doloris obtendere qui uictus est in dolore.
He can complain of torments who has been overcome by torments, he can offer the excuse of pain who has been conquered in pain.
potest rogare talis et dicere: certare quidem fortiter uolui et sacramenti mei memor deuotionis ac fidei arma suscepi, sed me in congressione pugnantem cruciamenta uaria et supplicia longa uicerunt.
Such a person can ask and say: 'I indeed wished to fight bravely, and mindful of my oath, I took up the arms of devotion and faith; but as I fought in the battle, various tortures and prolonged punishments conquered me.
stetit mens stabilis et fides fortis et cum torquentibus poenis inmobilis diu anima luctata est.
My mind stood firm and my faith was strong, and my soul struggled for a long time, unmoved, against the torturing punishments.
sed cum durissimi iudicis recrudescente saeuitia iam fatigatum nunc flagella adhuc scinderent, nunc contunderent fustes, nunc eculeus extenderet, nunc ungula effoderet, nunc flamma torreret, caro me in conluctatione deseruit, infirmitas uiscerum cessit, nec animus sed corpus in dolore defecit/ potest cito proficere ad ueniam causa talis, potest eiusmodi excusatio esse miserabilis.
But when, as the cruelty of the most harsh judge flared up again, whips were still tearing me, already exhausted, now clubs were beating me, now the rack was stretching me, now the claw was tearing me, now the flame was scorching me, my flesh abandoned me in the struggle, the weakness of my body yielded, and it was not my mind but my body that failed in the pain.' Such a cause can quickly advance toward pardon; an excuse of this kind can be deserving of pity.
sic hic Casto et Aemilio aliquando Dominus ignouit, sic in prima congressione deuictos uictores in secundo proelio reddidit, ut fortiores ignibus fierent qui ignibus ante cessissent et unde superati essent inde superarent.
In this way, the Lord once forgave Castus and Aemilius here; in this way, He made those who had been conquered in the first conflict victors in the second battle, so that they who had previously yielded to the fires became stronger than the fires, and conquered where they had been conquered.
deprecabantur illi non lacrimarum miseratione sed uulnerum, nec sola lamentabili uoce sed laceratione corporis et dolore: manabat pro fletibus sanguis et pro lacrimis cruor semiustulatis uisceribus defluebat.
They pleaded not with the pity of tears, but with that of wounds, nor with a lamentable voice alone, but with the tearing of their body and pain: blood flowed instead of weeping, and instead of tears, gore poured down from their half-burned flesh.
§14Nunc uero quae uulnera ostendere uicti possunt, quas plagas hiantium uiscerum, quae tormenta membrorum, ubi non fides congressa cecidit, sed congressionem perfidia praeuenit? nec excusat oppressum necessitas criminis, ubi crimen est uoluntatis.
But now, what wounds can the conquered show, what blows of gaping flesh, what torments of limbs, where it was not faith that fell in battle, but perfidy that anticipated the battle? Nor does the necessity of the crime excuse the one who was overwhelmed, where the crime is one of the will.
nec hoc eo dico, ut fratrum causas onerem, sed ut magis fratres ad precem satisfactionis instigem.
Nor do I say this in order to burden the cases of the brethren, but to urge the brethren rather to the prayer of satisfaction.
nam cum scriptum sit: qui nos felices dicunt in errorem uos mittunt et semitam pedum uestrorum turbant, qui peccantem blandimentis adulantibus palpat peccandi fomitem subministrat nec conprimit delicta ille sed nutrit.
For since it is written: 'They who call you happy lead you into error, and disturb the path of your feet,' he who strokes a sinner with flattering blandishments provides nourishment for sinning, and he does not suppress faults, but nourishes them.
at qui consiliis fortioribus redarguit simul adque instruit fratrem promouet ad salutem.
But he who reproves and at the same time instructs his brother with firmer counsels promotes him to salvation.
quos diligo, inquit Dominus, redarguo et castigo. sic oportet et Domini sacerdotem non obsequiis decipientibus fallere sed remediis salutaribus prouidere.
'Those whom I love,' says the Lord, 'I reprove and chastise.' Thus it behoves also the priest of the Lord not to deceive with misleading compliance, but to provide saving remedies.
inperitus est medicus qui tumentes uulnerum sinus manu parcente contrectat et altis recessibus uiscerum uirus inclusum dum seruat exaggerat.
An unskillful physician is he who touches the swollen cavities of wounds with a sparing hand, and increases the poison enclosed in the deep recesses of the bowels while preserving it.
aperiendum uulnus est et secandum et putraminibus amputatis medella fortiore curandum.
The wound must be opened and cut, and after the rotten parts are amputated, it must be cured with a stronger remedy.
uociferetur et clamet licet et conqueratur aeger inpatiens per dolorem, gratias aget postmodum cum senserit sanitatem.
Although the impatient patient may cry out, scream, and complain through pain, he will give thanks afterwards when he feels his health.
§15Emersit enim, fratres dilectissimi, nouum genus cladis et quasi parum persecutionis procella saeuierit, accessit ad cumulum sub misericordiae titulo malum fallens et blanda pernicies.
For there has emerged, beloved brethren, a new kind of disaster, and as if the tempest of persecution had not raged enough, there has been added to the peak, under the title of mercy, a deceiving evil and a flattering destruction.
contra euangelii uigorem, contra Domini ac Dei legem temeritate quorundam laxatur incautis conmunicatio, inrita et falsa pax, periculosa dantibus et nihil accipientibus profutura.
Contrary to the vigor of the Gospel, contrary to the law of the Lord and God, by the rashness of certain persons, communion is relaxed for the incautious—an invalid and false peace, dangerous to those who give it and of no benefit to those who receive it.
non quaerunt sanitatis patientiam nec ueram de satisfactione medicinam: paenitentia de pectoribus exclusa est, grauissimi extremique delicti memoria sublata est.
They do not seek the patience of healing, nor the true medicine of satisfaction. Repentance is excluded from their hearts, and the memory of the gravest and ultimate crime is removed.
operiuntur morientium uulnera et plaga letalis altis et profundis uisceribus infixa dissimulato dolore contegitur.
The wounds of the dying are covered over, and the lethal blow fixed in the deep and profound bowels is concealed by disguising the pain.
a diaboli aris reuertentes ad sanctum Domini sordidis et infectis nidore manibus accedunt, mortiferos idolorum cibos adhuc paene ructantes exhalantibus etiam nunc scelus suum faucibus et contagia funesta redolentibus Domini corpus inuadunt, quando occurrat scriptura diuina et clamet et dicat: omnismundus manducabit carnem, et anima quaecumque manducauerit ex carne sacrificii salutaris quod est Domini, et inmunditia ipsius super ipsum est, peribit anima illa de populo suo, apostolus item testetur et dicat: non potestis calicem Domini bibere et calicem daemoniorum: non potestis mensae Domini conmunicare et mensae daemoniorum, idem contumacibus et peruicacibus conminetur et denuntiet dicens: quicumque ederit panem et biberit calicem Domini indigne reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini.
Returning from the altars of the devil, they approach the holy place of the Lord with dirty hands and infected with the smell of sacrifice; still almost belching the deadly foods of idols, even now with their throats exhaling their crime and smelling of fatal contagion, they invade the body of the Lord, when the divine Scripture runs to meet them, and cries out, saying: 'Every clean person shall eat of the flesh, and the soul, whichever shall eat of the flesh of the saving sacrifice which is of the Lord, and his uncleanness is upon him, that soul shall perish from his people.' Likewise the apostle testifies and says: 'You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot communicate in the table of the Lord and in the table of demons.' The same person threatens and denounces the obstinate and stubborn, saying: 'Whoever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.'