§22Nam et ludam inter apostolos Dominus elegit, et tamen Dominum ludas postmodum tradidit.
For indeed, the Lord chose even Judas among the apostles, and yet Judas afterwards betrayed the Lord.
non tamen idcirco apostolorum firmitas et fides cecidit, quia proditor ludas ab eorum societate defecit.
Nevertheless, the firmness and faith of the apostles did not on that account fall, because the traitor Judas withdrew from their society.
sic et hic non statim confessorum sanctitas et dignitas conminuta est, quia quorundam fides fracta est.
So also here, the holiness and dignity of confessors is not immediately diminished, because the faith of some has been broken.
beatus apostolus loquitur in epistula sua dicens: quid enim si exciderunt a fide quidam illorum, numquid infidelitas illorum fidem Dei euacuauit? absit: est enim Deus uerax, omnis autem homo mendax. stat confessorum pars maior et melior in fidei suae robore et in legis ac disciplinae dominicae ueritate, nec ab ecclesiae pace discedunt qui se in ecclesia gratiam consecutos de Dei dignatione meminerunt, adque hoc ipso ampliorem consecuntur fidei suae laudem, quod ab eorum perfidia segregati qui iuncti confessionis consortio fuerunt a contagio criminis recesserunt: uero inluminati euangelii lumine, pura et candida Domini luce radiati tam sunt in conseruanda Christi pace laudabiles quam fuerunt in diaboli congressione uictores.
The blessed apostle speaks in his epistle, saying: "For what if some of them have fallen away from faith? Has their faithlessness made void the faith of God? By no means. For God is truthful, but every man a liar." The greater and better part of the confessors stands in the strength of their faith and in the truth of the Lord's law and discipline; nor do they depart from the peace of the church, who remember that they have obtained grace in the church by God's favor; and by this very fact they obtain more abundant praise for their faith, that, being separated from the faithlessness of those who were joined in the fellowship of confession, they have withdrawn from the contagion of crime. Truly illuminated by the light of the gospel, and radiated with the pure and bright light of the Lord, they are as praiseworthy in preserving the peace of Christ as they were victorious in the conflict with the devil.
§23Opto equidem, dilectissimi fratres, et consulo pariter et suadeo, ut si fieri potest nemo de fratribus pereat et consentientis populi corpus unum gremio suo gaudens mater includat.
Indeed, I wish, most beloved brothers, and likewise counsel and persuade, that if it can be done, none of the brothers may perish, and that our mother, rejoicing in her bosom, may enclose the one body of an agreeing people.
si tamen quosdam schismatum duces et dissensionis auctores in caeca et obstinata dementia permanentes non potuerit ad salutis uiam consilium salubre reuocare, ceteri tamen uel simplicitate capti uel errore inducti uel aliqua fallentis astutiae calliditate decepti a fallaciae uos laqueis soluite, uagantes gressus ab erroribus liberate, iter rectum uiae caelestis adgnoscite.
If, however, some leaders of schisms and authors of dissension, remaining in blind and obstinate madness, cannot be recalled to the way of salvation by wholesome counsel, yet the rest of you, either caught by simplicity, or led by error, or deceived by some craftiness of misleading cunning, free yourselves from the snares of deceit, liberate your wandering steps from errors, recognize the straight path of the heavenly way.
contestantis apostoli uox est: praecipimus uobis in nomine Domini Iesu Christi ut recedatis ab omnibus fratribus ambulantibus inordinate et non secundum traditionem quam acceperunt a nobis. et iterum dicit: nemo uos decipiat inanibus uerbis: propterea enim uenit ira Dei super filios contumaciae.
The voice of the protesting apostle is: "We command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to the tradition which they received from us." And again he says: "Let no man deceive you with empty words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of defiance.
nolite ergo esse participes eorum. recedendum est a delinquentibus uel immo fugiendum, ne dum quis male ambulantibus iungitur et per itinera erroris et criminis graditur, a uia ueri itineris exerrans pari crimine et ipse teneatur.
Be not therefore partakers with them." One must withdraw from those who transgress, or rather flee, lest while one is joined to those who walk badly, and goes through the ways of error and crime, straying from the path of the true journey, he himself also be held in equal crime.
unus Deus est et Christus unus et una ecclesia eius et fides una et plebs una in solidam corporis unitatem concordiae glutino copulata.
God is one, and Christ is one, and His church is one, and the faith is one, and the people one, joined by the glue of concord into the solid unity of a body.
scindi unitas non potest nec corpus unum discidio conpaginis separari, diuulsis laceratione uisceribus in frusta discerpi. quicquid a matrice discesserit.
Unity cannot be split, nor can one body be separated by the division of its structure, nor torn into pieces by the laceration of its entrails.
seorsum uiuere et spirare non poterit, substantiam salutis amittit.
Whatever departs from the mother-source will not be able to live and breathe apart; it loses the substance of salvation.