Gregory the Great
Excerpt from Book VIII
of the Moralia
|
OXFORD, JOHN HENRY PARKER; J.G.F. AND
J. RIVINGTON, LONDON. 1844. |
9. And so the life of
man is in such a way ‘a trial,’ that though we are henceforth restrained from
the commission of sin, yet in our very good works themselves we are clouded now
by the recollection of evil deeds, now by the mists of self-deception [seductionis],
now by the suspension of our own purpose of mind. Thus one man henceforth
restrains the flesh from excess, and yet he is still subject to images thereof,
in that the things, which he has done willingly, come to mind against his will,
and what he accounted pleasure he bears as punishment. But because he fears to
be drawn again into the conquered evil habit, he restrains his greedy appetite
by the forcible means of a singular abstinence, and by his abstinence his face
is rendered pale; then when paleness is observed in his countenance, his life is
commended as deserving of the reverential regard of his fellow-creatures, and
presently with the words of commendation vainglory enters into the mind of this
man of abstinence, which while the mind having received a shock cannot get the
better of, it seeks to blot from the face the paleness whereby that entered in,
and so it comes to pass that being tied fast with the knots of infirmity, either
in avoiding the paleness of abstinence, it again dreads to be brought under the
dominion of excess, by food, or subduing by abstinence the impulse to excess, it
apprehends its paleness serving to vainglory. Another man getting the better of
the downfall of pride, henceforth lays hold of the state of humility with all
the desire of his heart, and when he sees people that are full of pride breaking
out so far as to the oppressing of the innocent, being inflamed by the
incitement of zeal, he is forced to lay aside in some degree the thing he
determined on, he displays the force of the side of right, and withstands the
evil-minded not with mildness, but with authority. Whence it is very commonly
the case, that either by pursuit of humility he is led to abandon zeal for the
right, or again by zeal for right he interrupts the pursuit of humility, which
he maintained. And when the authoritativeness of zeal and lowliness of purpose
scarcely admit of being preserved together, the man is made a stranger to
himself in his embarrassment. So that he is in a great dilemma lest in a
deluded mind either pride pass itself off for the high tone of zeal, or timid
inactivity feign itself humility. Another man, considering how great is the sin
of deceit, determines to fortify himself in the citadel of truth, so that
henceforth no false word should proceed out of his lips, and that he should
wholly cut himself off from the sin of lying. But it very frequently happens
that, when the truth is spoken, the life of a neighbour is borne hard upon; and
whilst the person fears to bring injury upon another, he is brought back, as in
an aim of pity, to that evil habit of deceit which he had for long kept under;
and so it comes to pass, that though wickedness has no place in his mind, yet
the shadow of falsehood dims therein the rays of truth. And hence oftentimes,
because when a man is urged with questions he cannot keep silence, either by
telling a falsehood he slays his own soul, or by speaking the truth bears hard
upon the life of a neighbour. Another man, incited by the love of his Maker,
aims by unintermitted prayer to withhold his mind from all earthly thoughts, and
to place it in safety in the secret deeps of inward repose; but in the very
mounting of his prayer, whilst he is striving to ascend from things below, he is
struck back by the vision of them, and the eye of the mind is stretched to gaze
on the light, but from bodily habit it is dimmed by the images of earthly things
arising. Whence it very often comes to pass, that the mind of the person so
striving, being exhausted by its own weakness, either giving over prayer, is
lulled asleep in sloth, or if it continue long in prayer, the mist of rising
images gathers thick before its eyes.
10. And so it is well
said, The life of man is a trial upon earth, since there also he met with
the guiltiness of a downward course, where he thought to lay hold on the
advancement of an upward one, and the mind is only thrown into disorder by the
same act whereby it strove to arise out of its disorder, so that it is thrown
back upon itself shivered by the very means, by which it was already getting
above itself collected and compacted. This man being a stranger to instruction
in the Divine Law, is kept down by his ignorance, that he should do nothing for
the attaining of salvation. That man being endued with the knowledge of the
Divine Law, while he is delighted that understanding is vouchsafed to him beyond
other men, in that he exults with a selfish delight, wastes in himself the gift
of understanding which he has received. And in the Judgment he is shewn to
light worse than others by the same thing, whereby he is exhibited brighter than
others for a season. The first, because he is lifted high by no gifts of
extraordinary powers, eschews the more plain path of uprightness too, and as if
accounting himself an alien to the heavenly benefit, does evil things as though
with more security, in proportion as he has never been vouchsafed the high
endowments of the heavenly gift. The other the spirit of Prophecy replenishes,
uplifts to the foreknowledge of events, and shews him things to come as now
present. But whilst oftentimes and in many cases he is lifted above himself, so
that he does really contemplate future events, his mind being drawn off into
self-confidence, fancies that that spirit of Prophecy, which cannot always be
had, is always with him, and when he takes every notion that he may have for
prophecy, because that he ascribes this to himself even when he has nothing of
it, he even loses it in the degree that he might possess it. And so it comes to
pass, that he is brought back in sorrow behind the standard of other men's
merits by the very means, whereby he was advanced before it in gladness of heart
in the esteem of all. And so, The life of man is a trial upon earth, in
that either being a stranger to extraordinary powers, it is unable to mount to
the heavenly prize, or enriched with spiritual gifts, it is one day ruined the
worse by occasion of its extraordinary powers.
