§16Spretis his omnibus adque contemptis ante expiata delicta, ante exomologesim factam criminis, ante purgatam conscientiam sacrificio et manu sacerdotis, ante offensam placatam indignantis Domini et minantis uis infertur corpori eius et sanguini et plus modo in Dominum manibus adque ore delinquunt quam cum Dominum negauerunt.
All these things having been spurned and contemned, before sins are expiated, before confession of the crime is made, before the conscience is purged by the sacrifice and hand of the priest, before the anger of the indignant and threatening Lord is appeased, violence is done to His body and blood, and they sin more against the Lord now with hands and mouth than when they denied the Lord.
pacem putant esse quam quidam uerbis fallentibus uenditant.
They think that there is peace which some vend with deceiving words.
non est pax illa sed bellum, nec ecclesiae iungitur qui ab euangelio separatur.
That is not peace but war, nor is he joined to the church who is separated from the Gospel.
quid iniuriam beneficium uocant? quid inpietatem uocabulo pietatis adpellant? quid eis qui flere iugiter et rogare Dominum suum debent intercepta paenitentiae lamentatione conmunicare se simulant? hoc sunt eiusmodi lapsis quod grando frugibus, quod turbidum sidus arboribus, quod armentis pestilens uastitas, quod nauigiis saeua tempestas.
Why do they call an injury a benefit? Why do they call impiety by the name of piety? Why do they pretend that they communicate with those who ought to weep continually and pray to their Lord, by intercepting the lamentation of repentance? They are to such lapsed ones what hail is to the crops, what a stormy star is to the trees, what a pestilential devastation is to the herds, what a savage tempest is to ships.
solacium spei adimunt, a radice subuertunt, sermone morbido ad letale contagium serpunt, nauem scopulis ne in portum perueniat inlidunt.
They take away the consolation of hope, they subvert from the root, they creep by diseased speech to fatal contagion, they dash the ship against the rocks lest it arrive into port.
non concedit pacem facilitas ista sed tollit, nec conmunicationem tribuit sed inpedit ad salutem.
This facility does not grant peace but takes it away, nor does it bestow communion but impedes it to salvation.
persecutio est haec alia et alia temptatio, per quam subtilis inimicus inpugnandis adhuc lapsis occulta populatione grassatur, ut lamentatio conquiescat, ut dolor sileat, ut delicti memoria uanescat, conprimatur pectoris gemitus, statuatur fletus oculorum nec Dominum grauiter offensum longa et plena paenitentia deprecetur, cum scriptum sit: memento unde cecideris et age paenitentiam. Nemo se fallat, nemo decipiat.
This is another persecution and another temptation, through which the subtle enemy, for attacking the still lapsed, rages with hidden devastation, so that lamentation may rest, that pain may be silent, that the memory of the crime may vanish, the groaning of the breast be suppressed, the weeping of the eyes be stayed, and that the Lord, grievously offended, may not be prayed to with long and full repentance, since it is written: 'Remember from whence thou art fallen, and do penance.' Let no one deceive himself, let no one delude himself.
solus Dominus misereri potest.
The Lord alone can show mercy.
§17ueniam peccatis quae in ipsum commissa sunt solus potest ille largiri qui peccata nostra portauit, qui pro nobis doluit, quem Deus tradidit pro peccatis nostris.
The pardon of sins which have been committed against Him can be granted by Him alone who bore our sins, who grieved for us, whom God delivered up for our sins.
homo Deo maior non potest esse, nec remittere aut donare indulgentia sua seruus potest quod in Dominum delicto grauiore commissum est, ne adhuc lapso et hoc accedat ad crimen, si nesciat esse praedictum: maledictus homo qui spem habet in hominem. Dominus orandus est, Dominus nostra satisfactione placandus est qui negantem negare se dixit, qui omne iudicium de patre solus accepit.
A man cannot be greater than God, nor can a servant remit or grant by his own indulgence what has been committed by a graver crime against the Lord, lest to the one still lapsed this also should be added to his crime, if he does not know that it has been predicted: 'Cursed is the man that has hope in man.' The Lord must be prayed to, the Lord must be appeased by our satisfaction, who said He would deny him who denies Him, who alone received all judgment from the Father.
credimus quidem posse aput iudicem plurimum martyrum merita et opera iustorum, sed cum iudicii dies uenerit, cum post occasum saeculi huius et mundi ante tribunal Christi populus eius adstiterit.
We believe indeed that the merits of the martyrs and the works of the just can do very much with the Judge, but when the day of judgment shall come, when after the setting of this age and of the world His people shall stand before the tribunal of Christ.
§18Ceterum si quis praepropera festinatione temerarius remissionem peccatorum dare se cunctis putat posse aut audet Domini praecepta rescindere, non tantum nihil prodest sed et obest lapsis.
Moreover, if anyone rash with premature haste thinks that he can give remission of sins to all, or dares to rescind the precepts of the Lord, not only does it profit nothing but it even harms the lapsed.
prouocasse est iram non seruasse sententiam nec misericordiam prius Domini deprecandam putare, sed contempto Domino de sua facilitate praesumere.
It is to have provoked anger, not to have kept the sentence, and not to think that the mercy of the Lord must first be prayed for, but, having contemned the Lord, to presume on one's own facility.
sub ara Dei animae occisorum martyrum clamant magna uoce dicentes: quousque, Domine sanctus et uerus, non iudicas et uindicas sanguinem nostrum de his qui in terris inhabitant? et requiescere ac patientiam tenere adhuc iubentur.
Under the altar of God the souls of the slain martyrs cry with a loud voice, saying: 'How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?' And they are commanded to rest and to hold patience still.
et quemquam posse aliquis existimat remittendis passim donandisque peccatis bonum fieri contra iudicem uelle aut prius quam uindicetur ipse alios posse defendere? mandant aliquid martyres fieri: si iusta, si licita, si non contra ipsum Dominum a Dei sacerdote facienda: sit obtemperantis facilis et prona consensio, si petentis fuerit religiosa moderatio.
And does anyone think that someone can, by remitting and granting sins everywhere, wish to become good against the Judge, or be able to defend others before he himself is avenged? The martyrs command something to be done: if it be just, if licit, if to be done by the priest of God not against the Lord Himself, let there be an easy and prompt consent of the one who obeys, if there has been a religious moderation of the petitioner.
mandant aliquid martyres fieri: si scripta non sunt in Domini lege quae mandant, ante est ut sciamus illos de Domino inpetrasse quod postulant, tunc facere quod mandant.
The martyrs command something to be done: if what they command is not written in the law of the Lord, it is necessary first that we know they have obtained from the Lord what they ask, and then do what they command.
neque enim statim uideri potest diuina maiestate concessum quod fuerit humana pollicitatione promissum.
For neither can that immediately seem to be granted by the divine majesty which has been promised by human assurance.