§7Hucusque, Christe domine, de paenitentiae disciplina servis tuis discere vel audire contingat, quousque etiam delinquere non oportet audientibus, vel nihil iam de paenitentia noverint, nihil eius requirant.
To this extent, O Lord Christ, may it be granted to Your servants to learn or to hear concerning the discipline of repentance, up to which point also it is not proper for the hearers to sin, or let them now know nothing of repentance and require nothing of it.
Piget secundae, immo iam ultimae spei subtexere mentionem, ne retractantes de residuo auxilio paenitendi spatium adhuc delinquendi demonstrare videamur.
It is irksome to subjoin mention of a second, indeed now a last hope, lest by treating again of the remaining help of repenting we should seem to point out a space for still sinning.
Absit, ut aliquis ita interpretetur, quasi eo sibi etiam nunc pateat ad delinquendum, quia patet ad paenitendum, et redundantia clementiae caelestis libidinem faciat humanae temeritatis.
Far be it that anyone should so interpret, as if a way were open to him for sinning even now because it is open for repenting, and the abundance of heavenly clemency should produce a passion of human temerity.
Nemo idcirco deterior sit quia deus melior est, totiens delinquendo quotiens ignoscitur.
Let no one be the worse because God is the better, by sinning as many times as he is forgiven.
Ceterum finem utique evadendi habebit, cum offendendi non habebit.
Moreover, he will surely have an end of escaping when he does not have an end of offending.
Evasimus semel; hactenus periculosis nosmetipsos inferamus, etsi iterum evasuri videmur.
We escaped once; let us plunge ourselves into dangerous things only thus far, even if we seem about to escape again.
Plerique naufragio liberati exinde repudium et navi et mari dicunt, et dei beneficium, salutem suam scilicet, memoria periculi honorant.
Many who have been delivered from shipwreck thenceforth say farewell both to ship and to sea, and honor the benefit of God, namely their own safety, by the memory of the danger.
Laudo timorem, diligo verecundiam: nolunt iterum divinae misericordiae oneri esse; formidant videri inculcare quod consecuti sunt, bona certe sollicitudine iterum experiri vitant quod semel didicerunt timere.
I praise the fear, I love the modesty: they do not wish to be a burden to divine mercy again; they dread to seem to tread underfoot what they have obtained; indeed, with a good anxiety they avoid experiencing again what they have once learned to fear.
Ita modus temeritatis testatio est timoris.
Thus the limit of temerity is the testimony of fear.
Timor autem hominis dei honor est.
But the fear of man is the honor of God.
Sed enim pervicacissimus hostis ille nunquam malitiae suae otium facit.
But indeed that most obstinate enemy never gives rest to his malice.
Atquin tunc maxime saevit, cum hominem plene sentit liberatum; tunc plurimum accenditur, dum extinguitur.
Rather, he rages most when he perceives a man fully set free; he is most inflamed while he is being extinguished.
Doleat et ingemiscat necesse est venia peccatorum permissa tot in homine mortis opera diruta, tot titulos damnationis retro suae erasos.
He must grieve and groan that, by the permission of pardon for sins, so many works of death in man are destroyed, and so many titles of his former damnation are erased.
Dolet, quod ipsum et angelos eius Christi servus ille peccator iudicaturus est.
He grieves that that sinner, the servant of Christ, is about to judge him and his angels.
Itaque observat, oppugnat, obsidet, si qua possit aut oculos concupiscentia carnali ferire, aut animum illecebris saecularibus irretire, aut fidem terrenae potestatis formidine evertere, aut a via certa perversis traditionibus detorquere; non scandalis, non tentationibus deficit.
Therefore he watches, attacks, besieges, if by any means he can either strike the eyes with carnal concupiscence, or entangle the mind with worldly allurements, or overthrow faith by the fear of earthly power, or twist it from the sure path by perverse traditions; he does not fail in scandals, nor in temptations.
Haec igitur venena eius providens deus, clausa licet ignoscentiae ianua et intinctionis sera obstructa, aliquid adhuc permisit patere.
Therefore God, providing against these poisons of his, although the gate of forgiveness is closed and the bolt of baptism is barred, has permitted something still to remain open.
Collocavit in vestibulo paenitentiam secundam, quae pulsantibus patefaciat; sed iam semel, quia iam secundo; sed amplius nunquam, quia proxime frustra.
He has placed in the vestibule a second repentance, which may open to those who knock; but now only once, because it is now a second time; but never more, because next time it would be in vain.
Non enim et hoc semel satis est? Habes quod iam non merebaris;
For is not even this once enough?
amisisti enim quod acceperas.
You have what you no longer deserved; for you lost what you had received.
Si tibi indulgentia domini accommodat unde restituas quod amiseras, iterato beneficio gratus esto, nedum ampliato.
If the indulgence of the Lord supplies you with the means whence you may restore what you had lost, be grateful for the repeated benefit, not to mention an enlarged one.
Maius est enim restituere quam dare, quoniam miserius est perdidisse quam omnino non accepisse.
For it is greater to restore than to give, since it is more wretched to have lost than not to have received at all.
Verum non statim succidendus ac subruendus est animus desperatione, si secundae quis paenitentiae debitor fuerit.
But the mind must not immediately be cut down and cast down by despair, if anyone should become a debtor to a second repentance.
Pigeat sane peccare rursus, sed rursus paenitere non pigeat; pigeat iterum periclitari, sed non iterum liberari.
Let it indeed be irksome to sin again, but let it not be irksome to repent again; let it be irksome to be endangered again, but not to be delivered again.
Neminem pudeat.
Let no one be ashamed.
Iteratae valetudinis iteranda medicina est.
A repeated health requires a repeated medicine.
Gratus in dominum exstiteris, si quod tibi dominus offert non recusaveris.
You will have shown yourself grateful to the Lord, if you do not refuse what the Lord offers you.
Offendisti, sed reconciliari adhuc potes.
You have offended, but you can still be reconciled.
Habes cui satisfacias, et quidem volentem.
You have one to whom you may make satisfaction, and indeed one who is willing.
§8Id si dubitas, evolve quae spiritus ecclesiis dicat.
If you doubt this, unfold what the Spirit says to the churches.
Desertam dilectionem Ephesiis imputat, stuprum et idolothytorum esum Thyatirenis exprobrat, Sardos non plenorum operum incusat, Pergamenos docentes perversa reprehendit, Laodicenos fidentes divitiis obiurgat, et tamen omnes ad paenitentiam commonet, sub comminationibus quidem.
He imputes deserted love to the Ephesians, He reproaches the Thyatirens with adultery and the eating of things sacrificed to idols, He accuses the Sardians of incomplete works, He reprehends the Pergamenes who teach perverse things, He rebukes the Laodiceans who trust in riches, and yet He warns them all to repentance, indeed under threats.
Non comminaretur autem non paenitenti, si non ignosceret paenitenti.
But He would not threaten one who does not repent if He did not forgive one who does.
Dubium, si non et alibi hanc clementiae suae profusionem demonstrasset.
It would be doubtful if He had not demonstrated this profusion of His clemency elsewhere as well.
Non ait, Qui ceciderit, resurget, et qui aversatus fuerit, convertetur? Ille est scilicet, ille est qui misericordiam mavult quam sacrificia.
Does He not say, 'He who falls, shall he not rise? and he who turns away, shall he not return?' He indeed, He is the one who prefers mercy to sacrifices.
Laetantur caeli, et qui illic angeli, paenitentia hominis.
The heavens rejoice, and the angels who are there, at the repentance of a man.
Heus tu, peccator, bono animo sis! vides, ubi de tuo reditu gaudeatur.
Ho there, sinner, be of good cheer! you see where there is joy over your return.
Quid illa similitudinum dominicarum argumenta nobis volunt? Quod mulier drachmam perdidit et requirit et reperit et amicas ad gaudium invitat, nonne restituti peccatoris exemplum est? Errat et una pastoris ovicula, sed grex una carior non erat: una illa conquiritur, una pro omnibus desideratur, et tandem invenitur et humeris pastoris ipsius refertur; multum enim errando laboraverat.
What do those arguments of the Lord’s parables mean for us? That a woman lost a drachma and searches for it and finds it and invites her friends to joy, is this not an example of a restored sinner? Even one little sheep of the shepherd goes astray, but the whole flock was not dearer than that one; that one is sought out, that one is desired instead of all, and at length is found and carried back on the shoulders of the shepherd himself; for it had labored much in wandering.
Illum etiam mitissimum patrem non tacebo, qui prodigum filium revocat, et post inopiam paenitentem libens suscipit, immolat vitulum praeopimum, convivio gaudium suum exornat.
I will not be silent also concerning that most gentle father, who recalls his prodigal son, and gladly receives him when repenting after his poverty, slays the fatted calf, and adorns his joy with a feast.
Quidni? filium enim invenerat quem amiserat, cariorem senserat quem lucri fecerat.
Why not? For he had found the son whom he had lost, and had felt him to be dearer whom he had gained.
Quis ille nobis intellegendus pater? Deus scilicet.
Who is that father to be understood by us? God, of course.
Tam pater nemo, tam pius nemo.
No one is so much a father, no one so loving.
Is ergo te filium suum, etsi acceptum ab eo prodegeris, etsi nudus redieris, recipiet, quia redisti, magisque de regressu tuo quam de alterius sobrietate laetabitur; sed si paeniteat ex animo, si famem tuam cum saturitate mercenariorum paternorum compares, si porcos immundum relinquas pecus, si patrem repetas vel offensum, Deliqui, dicens, pater, nec dignus ego iam vocari tuus.
He, therefore, will receive you as His son, even if you have squandered what was received from Him, even if you return naked, because you have returned, and He will rejoice more over your return than over the sobriety of another; but only if you repent from the heart, if you compare your hunger with the fullness of your father’s hired servants, if you leave the pigs, an unclean herd, if you seek again your father, even though offended, saying, 'Father, I have sinned, and I am no longer worthy to be called yours.' Confession of sins lightens as much as concealment exaggerates.
Tantum relevat confessio delictorum, quantum dissimulatio exaggerat. Confessio enim satisfactionis consilium est, dissimulatio contumaciae.
For confession is the counsel of satisfaction, concealment that of obstinacy.