§6Quicquid ergo mediocritas nostra ad paenitentiam semel capessendam et perpetuo continendam suggerere conata est, omnes quidem deditos domino spectat, ut omnes salutis in promerendo deo petitores, sed praecipue novitiolis istis imminet, qui cum maxime incipiunt divinis sermonibus aures rigare, quique catuli infantiae adhuc recentis nec perfectis luminibus incerta reptant, et dicunt quidem pristinis renuntiare et paenitentiam assumunt, sed includere eam neglegunt.
Therefore, whatever our mediocrity has attempted to suggest for the undertaking of repentance once and for all and holding onto it perpetually, concerns indeed all who are devoted to the Lord, as all are seekers of salvation in pleasing God, but it especially looms over those novices who, when they are just beginning to wet their ears with divine discourses, and who, like puppies of still fresh infancy, crawl uncertainly with imperfect eyes, and though they indeed say they renounce their former ways and assume repentance, yet neglect to seal it.
Interpellat enim illos ad desiderandum ex pristinis aliquid ipse finis desiderandi, velut poma, cum iam in acorem vel amaritudinem senescere incipiunt, ex parte aliqua tamen adhuc ipsi gratiae suae adulantur.
For the very end of desiring itself calls them back to desire something from their former ways, just as fruits, when they are already beginning to grow old into sourness or bitterness, nevertheless still flatter their own grace in some part.
Omne praeterea cunctationis et tergiversationis erga paenitentiam vitium praesumptio intinctionis importat.
Moreover, presumption of baptism imports every vice of hesitation and tergiversation toward repentance.
Certi enim indubitatae veniae delictorum medium tempus interim furantur et commeatum sibi faciunt delinquendi quam eruditionem non delinquendi.
For those who are certain of indubitable pardon for sins steal the intervening time in the mean while, and make for themselves an opportunity for sinning rather than a training for not sinning.
Quam porro ineptum, quam paenitentiam non adimplere, ei veniam delictorum sustinere? Hoc est pretium non exhibere, ad mercem manum emittere.
Furthermore, how absurd is it for one not to fulfill repentance, yet to expect pardon for sins for himself? This is not to offer the price, yet to stretch out the hand for the goods.
Hoc enim pretio dominus veniam addicere instituit; hac paenitentiae compensatione redimendam proponit impunitatem.
For at this price the Lord has established to adjudge pardon; by this compensation of repentance He proposes that impunity is to be redeemed.
Si ergo qui venditant prius numum quo paciscuntur examinant, ne scalptus neve rasus, ne adulter, etiam dominum credimus paenitentiae probationem prius inire, tantam nobis mercedem perennis scilicet vitae concessurum.
If therefore those who sell first examine the coin with which they bargain, lest it be chipped, or rubbed, or counterfeit, do we believe that the Lord also does not first enter into a trial of repentance, when He is about to grant us so great a reward, namely, of eternal life?
Sed differamus tantisper paenitentiae veritatem.
'But let us defer for a while the truth of repentance.
Tunc, opinor, emendatos liquebit, cum absolvimur. Nullo pacto.
Then, I suppose, it will be clear that we are amended when we are absolved.' By no means.
Sed cum pendente venia poena prospicitur, cum adhuc liberari non meretur, ut possimus mereri, cum deus comminatur, non cum ignoscit.
Rather, it is when punishment is foreseen while pardon is pending, when one does not yet deserve to be freed, so that we may deserve it, when God threatens, not when He forgives.
Quis enim servus, posteaquam libertate mutatus est, furta sua et fugas sibi imputat? Quis miles, postquam castris suis emissus, pro notis suis satagit? Peccator ante veniam deflere se debet, quia tempus paenitentiae idem quod periculi et timoris.
For what servant, after he has been changed by freedom, imputes his thefts and escapes to himself? What soldier, after being discharged from his camp, troubles himself about his brands? A sinner ought to bewail himself before pardon, because the time of repentance is the same as that of danger and fear.
Neque ego renuo divinum beneficium, id est abolitionem delictorum, inituris aquam omnimodo salvum esse: sed ut eo pervenire contingat elaborandum est.
Nor do I deny that the divine benefit, that is, the abolition of sins, is entirely secure for those who are about to enter the water; but we must labor so that it may be our lot to arrive there.
Quis enim tibi tam infidae paenitentiae viro asperginem unam cuiuslibet aquae commodabit? Furto quidem aggredi et praepositum huius rei asseverationibus tuis circumduci facile est: sed deus thesauro suo providet, nec sinit obrepere indignos.
For who will grant to you, a man of such unfaithful repentance, even a single sprinkling of any water? It is easy indeed to approach by stealth and to deceive the one in charge of this matter with your assertions; but God provides for His treasure, and does not allow the unworthy to creep in.
Quid denique ait? Nihil occultum, quod non revelabitur. Quantascunque tenebras factis tuis superstruxeris, deus lumen est.
What finally does He say? 'Nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed.' Whatever darkness you build over your deeds, God is light.
Quidam autem sic opinantur, quasi deus necesse lrabeat praestare etiam indignis quod spopondit, et liberalitatem eius faciunt servitutem.
But some think in this way, as if God had a necessity to perform what He promised even to the unworthy, and they make His liberality a servitude.
Quodsi necessitate nobis symbolum mortis indulget, ergo invitus facit.
But if He grants us the symbol of death by necessity, then He does it unwillingly.
Quis autem permittit permansurum id quod tribuerit invitus? Non enim multi postea excidunt? non a multis donum illud aufertur? Hi sunt scilicet, qui obrepunt, qui paenitentiae fidem aggressi super arenas domum ruituram collocant.
And who allows that to remain which He has granted unwillingly? For do not many afterward fall away? Is not that gift taken away from many? These are indeed those who creep in, who, having approached the faith of repentance, place a house about to fall upon the sands.
Nemo ergo sibi aduletur quia inter auditorum tirocinia deputatur, quasi eo etiam nunc sibi delinquere liceal.
Let no one therefore flatter himself because he is reckoned among the recruits of the hearers, as if even now it were permitted him to sin.
Dominum simul cognoveris, timeas, simul inspexeris, reverearis.
As soon as you have known the Lord, you should fear Him; as soon as you have looked upon Him, you should revere Him.
Ceterum quid te cognovisse interest, cum iisdem incubas quibus retro ignarus? Quid autem te a perfecto servo dei separat? An alius est intinctis Christus, alius audientibus? Num spes alia vel merces, alia formido iudicii, alia necessitas paenitentiae? Lavacrum illud obsignatio est fidei, quae fides a paenitentiae fide incipitur et commendatur.
But what does it matter that you have known Him, when you still brood over the same things as you did when ignorant? And what separates you from a perfect servant of God? Is Christ one to the baptized, and another to the hearers? Is there a different hope or reward, a different dread of judgment, a different necessity of repentance? That washing is the sealing of faith, which faith is begun and commended by the faith of repentance.
Non ideo abluimur, ut delinquere desinamus, sed quia desiimus, quoniam iam corde loti sumus.
We are not washed in order that we may cease to sin, but because we have ceased, since we are already washed in heart.
Haec enim prima audientis intinctio est, metus integer.
For this is the first baptism of the hearer, a perfect fear.
Exinde, quoad dominum senseris, fides sana, conscientia semel paenitentiam amplexata.
Thenceforth, as long as you perceive the Lord, there is a sound faith, and a conscience that has once embraced repentance.
Ceterum si ab aquis peccare desistimus, necessitate, non sponte, innocentiam induimus.
But if we cease from sinning only from the waters, we put on innocence by necessity, not willingly.
Quis ergo in bonitate praecellens? cui non licet, aut cui displicet malo esse? qui iubetur, an qui delectatur a crimine vacare? Ergo nec a furto manus avertamus, nisi claustrorum duritia repugnet, nec oculos a stupri concupiscentiis refrenemus, nisi a custodibus corporum abstracti, si nemo domino deditus delinquere desinet nisi intinctione alligatus.
Who then excels in goodness? He to whom it is not permitted to be evil, or he to whom it is displeasing? He who is commanded, or he who delights to be free from crime? Therefore, let us not even turn our hands away from theft, unless the hardness of bolts resists us, nor refrain our eyes from the lusts of adultery, unless drawn away by the guards of bodies, if no one devoted to the Lord ceases to sin unless bound by baptism.
Quod si qui ita senserit, nescio an intinctus magis contristetur, quod peccare desierit, quam laetetur, quod evaserit.
But if anyone thinks so, I know not whether the baptized person would be more grieved that he has ceased to sin, than rejoiced that he has escaped.
Itaque audientes optare intinctionem, non praesumere oportet.
Therefore, the hearers ought to desire baptism, not to presume upon it.
Qui enim optat, honorat: qui praesumit, superbit.
For he who desires, honors; he who presumes, is proud.
In illo verecundia, in isto petulantia apparet.
In the former, modesty appears; in the latter, petulance.
Ille satagit, hic neglegit.
The former busies himself; the latter is negligent.
Ille mereri cupit, at hic ut debitum sibi repromittit.
The former desires to deserve it; but the latter promises it to himself as a debt.
Ille sumit, hic invadit.
The former receives; the latter invades.
Quem censeas digniorem nisi emendatiorem? quem emendatiorem, nisi timidiorem, et idcirco vera paenitentia functum? Timuit enim adhuc delinquere, ne non mereretur accipere.
Whom would you judge more worthy, except the more amended? Whom more amended, except the more fearful, and therefore one who has performed true repentance? For he feared to sin still, lest he should not deserve to receive.
At ille praesumptor, cum sibi repromitteret, securus scilicet, timere non potuit: sic nec paenitentiam implevit, quia instrumento paenitentiae, id est metu, caruit.
But that presumptuous man, when he promised it to himself, being secure of course, could not fear; thus he did not even fulfill repentance, because he lacked the instrument of repentance, that is, fear.
Praesumptio inverecundiae portio est: inflat petitorem, despicit datorem.
Presumption is a portion of shamelessness; it puffs up the seeker, and despises the giver.
Itaque decipit nonnunquam.
Therefore it sometimes deceives.
Ante enim quam debeatur repromittit, quo semper is qui est praestaturus offenditur.
For it promises before it is due, by which he who is about to grant it is always offended.