Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Paul, to be brought to Rome, is delivered to a Centurion; he reaches Crete; he foretells a tempest and shipwreck, but that from it all the passengers shall be rescued and shall be safe.
Vulgate Text: Acts 27:1-44
1. And when it was determined that he should sail into Italy, and that Paul, with the other prisoners, should be delivered to a Centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band, 2. going on board a ship of Adrumetum, we launched, intending to sail by the coasts of Asia, Aristarchus the Macedonian of Thessalonica continuing with us. 3. And the day following, we came to Sidon. And Julius, treating Paul courteously, permitted him to go to his friends, and to take care of himself. 4. And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5. And sailing over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Lystra, which is in Lycia: 6. and there the Centurion finding a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy, removed us into it. 7. And when for many days we had sailed slowly, and were scarce come over against Gnidus, the wind hindering us, we sailed near Crete, by Salmone: 8. and with much ado sailing by it, we came into a certain place, which is called Good-Havens, near to which was the city of Thalassa. 9. And when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast also was now past, Paul comforted them, 10. saying to them: Men, I see that the voyage begins to be with injury and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. 11. But the Centurion believed the pilot and the master of the ship more than the things which were said by Paul. 12. And whereas it was not a commodious haven to winter in, the greatest part gave counsel to sail thence, if by any means they might reach Phoenice, to winter there, a haven of Crete which looks toward the southwest and northwest. 13. And the south wind gently blowing, thinking they had obtained their purpose, when they had loosed from Asson, they sailed close by Crete. 14. But not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroaquilo. 15. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up against the wind, giving up the ship to the winds, we were driven. 16. And running under a certain island that is called Cauda, we had much work to come by the boat. 17. Which being taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship, and fearing lest they should fall into the Syrtis, they let down the gear, and so were driven. 18. And we being mightily tossed with the tempest, the next day they lightened the ship: 19. and the third day they cast out with their own hands the tackling of the ship. 20. And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was at hand, all hope of our being saved was now taken away. 21. And after they had been a long time without food, then Paul standing forth in the midst of them said: You should indeed, O men, have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and have gained this harm and loss. 22. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but only of the ship. 23. For an angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, stood by me this night, 24. saying: Fear not, Paul, you must be brought before Caesar; and behold, God has given you all those who sail with you. 25. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall so be, as it has been told me. 26. And we must come unto a certain island. 27. But after the fourteenth night was come, as we were sailing in Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they discovered some country. 28. Who also sounding, found twenty fathoms: and going on a little further, they found fifteen fathoms. 29. Then fearing lest we should fall upon rough places, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. 30. But as the sailors sought to fly out of the ship, having let down the boat into the sea, under pretence as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, 31. Paul said to the Centurion, and to the soldiers: Except these stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. 32. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. 33. And when it began to be light, Paul besought them all to take food, saying: This day is the fourteenth day that you have waited and continued fasting, taking nothing. 34. Wherefore I pray you to take some food for your health's sake: for there shall not a hair of the head of any of you perish. 35. And when he had said these things, taking bread, he gave thanks to God in the sight of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 36. Then were they all of better cheer, and they also took some food. 37. And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. 38. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, casting the wheat into the sea. 39. And when it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain creek that had a shore, into which they were minded, if they could, to thrust in the ship. 40. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea, loosing withal the rudder bands; and hoisting up the mainsail to the wind, they made toward shore. 41. And when we had come to a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground: and the forepart indeed sticking fast remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the sea. 42. And the soldiers' counsel was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any of them, swimming out, should escape. 43. But the Centurion, willing to save Paul, forbade it to be done: and he commanded those who could swim, to cast themselves first into the sea and save themselves, and to get to land: 44. and the rest, some they carried on boards, and some on those things that belonged to the ship. And so it came to pass that every soul got safe to land.
Verse 1: When It Was Determined; With the Other Prisoners; Of the Augustan Band
1. And when it was determined, — by the governor Festus, who followed the judgment of Agrippa and of his council. Hence the Syriac: "Festus decreed concerning him, that he should be sent to Caesar in Italy." Moreover, Paul was sent to Rome not alone, but with companions, among whom was Luke. Whence for "that he should sail," the Greek is ἀναπλεῖν ἡμᾶς, that is, "that we should sail" into Italy: so Pagninus, the Zurich Bible, and others. Luke therefore, the companion and Achates of Paul, was a sharer in all his afflictions, and describes them here as an eyewitness.
With the other prisoners, — that is, with those bound who were kept in prison or in custody: for this is what the Greek δεσμώτας signifies: for "custody" denotes not only the prison itself, but also by metonymy the prisoners themselves, or those held in custody. So Suetonius in Domitian: "Nor did he hear most of the prisoners," he says, "except in secret and alone, with their chains held in his hand." And in the Digest, On the custody of things, it is decreed, "that no one shall release a prisoner who has been received without cause." And elsewhere: "If a prisoner (that is, one bound) shall have killed himself or thrown himself down, it is to be charged to the soldier's fault." Sometimes, however, custodia signifies the guards and officers themselves, as when they are called "keen" or "vigilant guards." So Caesar, book IV of the Gallic War: "Nor could they cross secretly because of the guards of the Menapii." Plautus, Captives: "Thus we are walled in with bonds and guards." Tacitus, book I: "For Livia had hedged in the house and roads with keen guards." Tibullus: "But if you bring a great price, the guard is overcome." Catullus: "At your coming the guard keeps watch." Virgil, Aeneid IX: "The guard passes the sleepless night in play." Furthermore, these prisoners had either appealed to Caesar, like Paul, or, on account of the enormity of their crimes or the difficulty of their cause, or for some other reason, were to be sent to Caesar. See here again Paul made like to Christ, who was reckoned with the wicked and crucified between two thieves.
Of the Augustan band. — It is uncertain whence this band was called "Augustan." Hugo thinks it was so called because it had been sent by Augustus; Dionysius, because by Nero: for he was called Augustus, since he was Emperor. Others say it was the Imperial cohort. For so are the Augustan soldiers called in Vegetius, book II, chap. vii, just as the Praetorians who attend the praetor. Others suppose that this was the cohort of Augusta, that is, of the Empress, or named after her.
Verse 2: A Ship of Adrumetum; We Launched; Aristarchus the Macedonian
2. A ship of Adrumetum. — The Syriac: "which was from the city Adrumetum," and perhaps was returning to the same. Adrumetum is a city in Africa, of which Pliny speaks, book VI, chap. xxxiv. St. Jerome takes it in this sense in the Book of Hebrew Places. But others understand a city in Asia, namely in Aeolis or Mysia, which Stephanus, in his book On Cities, calls Adramyttium. Wrongly do some read "Rumentinam" and explain it as "making for Rome."
We launched — anchors; Pagninus, "we cast off, made sail." It is probable that this ship set sail from Joppa: for Joppa was not far from Caesarea, whence Paul was being sent in chains: so Mariana.
Aristarchus the Macedonian, — that he might announce in Macedonia all that had been done concerning Paul: so Chrysostom. Moreover, he calls Aristarchus a Thessalonian by city, who was a Macedonian by province; for Thessalonica was a city in the province of Macedonia.
Verse 3: Julius Treating Paul Courteously
3. And Julius, treating Paul courteously, — captivated by Paul's outstanding modesty, wisdom, and virtue.
Verse 4: We Sailed Under Cyprus; Because the Winds Were Contrary; Lystra
4. We sailed under Cyprus, — that is, we sailed below or alongside Cyprus: so Pagninus and the Zurich Bible; for they do not seem to have entered Cyprus, but to have remained at sea. Whence it also follows: "And sailing the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Lystra."
Because the winds were contrary, — winter now being imminent. For Paul had reached Jerusalem about Pentecost, as I said in chap. xxi, 17; soon afterwards being captured, the things he did over a long time have been narrated up to this point; so that now winter was at hand, and this is plain from the fast mentioned in verse 9. So St. Chrysostom, who also adds: "Again temptations, again contrary winds. See how the life of the Saints is woven through with such things. They escaped the tribunal, and now they suffer shipwreck and bear a tempest." Thus the thorny crown of patience is woven for the Saints here, that the jeweled diadem of glory may likewise be woven for them in the heavens.
Lystra. — The Greek, the Syriac, St. Chrysostom, Isidore, Hugo, Gagneius, Vatablus and others read Myra: for this is in Lycia; whereas Lystra, the homeland of Timothy, is in Lycaonia. But the Latin Bibles, even as corrected by the Romans, consistently have Lystra. For this, although it is in Lycaonia, is yet also in Lycia; for Lycia taken broadly embraces Lycaonia and other regions: so Stephanus, in his book On Cities.
Verse 7: Over Against Gnidus
7. Over against Gnidus. — Gnidus is a city or promontory of Asia, lying opposite Crete.
Verse 8: Hardly Sailing By; Thalassa
8. And hardly sailing by (the land), — that is, hugging the shore.
Thalassa. — The Greek and Syriac have Lasaea; Gagneius says it is a city on the shore of Crete, near the place called Good-Havens. For the goodness of a port makes a city famous and rich. Merchants and sailors flock to it, to bring in merchandise and harbor dues. There are four things which enrich, say the Italians, and from them Tiraquellus, il porto, morto, porco, horto. For a port yields harbor dues; the dead leave their wealth to their heirs; the pig grows fat and its flesh is sold; the garden gives herbs and fruits.
Verse 9: When Sailing Was No Longer Safe; The Fast
9. When sailing was no longer safe, because the fast also was now past. — Some, with the Syriac and Oecumenius, think that this fast was the Jewish one, namely in the seventh month at the Feast of Expiation, as if to say: the autumnal equinox had now passed and winter was pressing, when navigation is dangerous. Sanchez confirms this with many arguments. First, because this fast was public and solemn: such was that of the Jews on the Day of Expiation. For Paul speaks, and Luke from Paul, to Jews, with whom the Jewish ship was full. Secondly, because after the autumnal equinox winds and storms come on, and navigation is wont to be dangerous; whence sailors are accustomed to fear the day of St. Matthew. Thirdly, because in the winter solstice there are halcyon and clear days, namely seven days before it and as many after, by the testimony of Pliny, book X, chap. xxxii. See Sanchez. But others think this fast was before the Feast of Tabernacles; others, that it was the fast begun on the sixth day of Marchesvan, that is, October, which the Jews used to extend over several days. So Mariana.
But many others take this to be the fast of the tenth month, or of the December Ember Days. For this is most ancient among Christians, since on it Bishops, Priests, and Deacons used to be ordained, as is plain from the Lives of the Pontiffs. For after this winter presses on and navigation is dangerous. For long since among Christians the Jewish fasts and feasts had grown obsolete, and Christian ones had succeeded in their place. For Luke seems to have written these things to Christians in a Christian way: for he wrote 24 years after Christ, or after the promulgation of the new law, Acts ii. So Bellarmine, book II On Good Works, chap. xix, who from this proves the antiquity of the Ember-days fast. Add that this Christian fast of the tenth month all but coincided with the Jewish fast of the same month: for that a fast was appointed to the Jews in this month is plain from Zechariah viii, 19. See what is said there; so Baronius. So too Pentecost, not the Jewish but the Christian, is what Luke names, indeed describes, in Acts chap. ii, verse 1 and following.
It seems indeed truer that the fast here is to be understood not of September but of December, whether you take it as the Jewish or as the Christian one. First, because in December navigation is most dangerous (not in September), such as this was, as is plain from its terrible shipwreck and from the warning of St. Paul. Secondly, because St. Chrysostom relates that St. Paul set out from Caesarea long after Pentecost, and arrived in Crete almost in winter itself. Thirdly, our Octavius Cajetanus, in the Isagoge, chap. xx, urges the passage in chap. xxiv, 27: "And after two years were ended, Felix received Portius Festus as his successor," who shortly thereafter sent St. Paul bound to Rome. For this two-year period, Baronius, Lorinus, and Scaliger think it should be reckoned from the beginning of Nero's reign: but Nero began his rule on the 3rd of the Ides of October, as Seneca, Suetonius and Tacitus relate. Wherefore this voyage of Paul cannot be taken to be in September: for then Nero had not yet completed two years of rule, but was about to complete it the following October. But this argument is not entirely conclusive, as I said in chap. xxiv, 27; for others, more probably, reckon this two-year period from the prefecture of Felix, which began before Nero, toward the end of Claudius' reign. Fourthly, what presses more is that (as I shall say in chap. xxviii, 16) many relate that Paul reached Rome very late, namely on the sixth of July. Therefore this fast was late, and shortly afterwards followed the shipwreck, namely in December. For if it had been in September, then surely in January (as Scaliger wishes) he would have reached Rome. Wherefore it seems, says our Octavius, that Paul departed from Caesarea in December, so that this voyage of his and long tossing on the sea occurred in the next following January: for then the winds hostile to sailors are wont to blow, and to make sailing slow, troublesome, and dangerous (such as this was); so that St. Paul's shipwreck fell in February, when the cold is sharp — for which reason the Melitans kindled a fire and refreshed him as a shipwrecked man with his companions. Then Paul wintered at Melita and stayed three months, as St. Luke says: which being completed, he began to sail in spring. "For spring," by the testimony of Pliny, book II, chap. xlvii, "opens the seas to sailors, at the beginning of which the winter Favonian winds soften the sky." Now it seems that Paul departed from Melita not at the beginning, but in full spring, near the beginning of May, so that in sailing from Melita to Syracuse, Syracuse to Rhegium, Rhegium to Puteoli, and Puteoli to Rome, he spent a month and more. Add the three days he spent at Syracuse, one at Rhegium, seven at Puteoli, and so it will turn out that he reached Rome on the sixth of July; which Bede and others everywhere relate to have actually happened so, as I shall say at verse 14.
These things our Octavius says aptly, with whom I agree in most matters, except in the beginning of the voyage, which he assigns to November or December. For sailors and travelers (who were many here, namely 276) are not wont to begin so long a voyage in December, since winter is at hand and storms at sea are dangerous. Wherefore others more probably think that this ship set sail from Caesarea about September, that it might be able to reach Italy before winter; but because it had contrary winds almost continually, hence frustrated in its hope, it sailed very slowly and spent many months at sea, and did not reach Italy, but wintered at Melita. For this is what Luke says expressly about it, in this chap. xxvii, 4: "We sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary." And verse 7: "And when for many days we had sailed slowly, and were scarce come over against Gnidus, the wind hindering us." Then he adds, verse 9: "And when much time was now spent (namely many months), and when sailing was no longer safe, because the fast also was now past," etc. — when, that is, it was now January: for toward the end of January the following shipwreck of Paul appears to have happened, so that escaping from it to Melita, he wintered there and was held fast for three months, namely the whole of February, March, and April; and thence at the beginning of May he set out for Rome, in accordance with what Luke says, chap. xxviii, 11: "And after three months we sailed." For sailing thus slowly, as I shall show at verse 12, he reached Rome on the sixth of July, which the ancients constantly affirm.
He comforted, — παρῄνει, that is, he exhorted, urged; the Syriac, "he counseled," and thereby comforted them in so slow and troublesome, and also dangerous, a voyage. The word παρῄνει signifies all these things.
Verse 10: I See; Injury
10. I see, — not so much from the air and other natural signs as from the prophetic spirit.
Injury, — as if to say: We are unjust and injurious, not only to the ship and the merchandise and their owners, namely the merchants, but also to the souls, that is, to our lives: for we expose these to the danger of perdition and death, if we continue to sail in winter and at an unfit time. Less correctly do some take "injury" as offense against God and the sins committed by the sailors and passengers, as though Paul foretold from these an impending storm sent by God's vengeance.
Verse 12: Phoenice
12. Phoenice. — This "Phoenix" is not Phoenicia, the region of Syria whose capital is Tyre and Sidon; but a city and port in Crete on its southern shore. So Ptolemy, book III, last chap., who calls the city Φοίνικα, the port Φοινικοῦντα. And so by apposition Luke explains, adding: "A haven of Crete looking toward the southwest and northwest." For Africus is a wind partly Southern, partly Western, namely midway between South and West; while Corus is Western, or rather, a lateral wind inclining to the south, of which Juvenal, Satire 14:
And you dwell where you must ever be carried up by Corus and Auster.
Moreover, it is called Africus because it blows from Africa. Hence by another name it is called Libycus, Libs and Notus, of which Horace, book I of Odes, ode 1: "The Africus wrestling with Icarian waves." And Pliny, book XVIII, chap. xxxiv: "Opposite Aquilo, from the wintry sunset, will blow Africus, which the Greeks call Lips." Hence it is turbulent and stormy, and stirs up tempests. Hence African storms, as if stirred up by the Africus wind, are so called by Horace, book III of Odes, ode 19. The same, Epode 16:
To go wherever our feet bear us, wherever over the waves
Notus shall call, or wanton Africus.
And Virgil, Aeneid I:
Together Eurus and Notus rush, and Africus thick with storms,
And they roll vast waves to the shores.
Hence Isaiah also: "Whirlwinds," he says, "come from Africus;" he himself in chap. xxi, 1.
To winter, — in Phoenice, the port of Crete just named.
Verse 13: When They Had Loosed from Asson
13. When they had loosed (namely the yards and anchors, that is, when they had set sail) from Asson. — This Asson is not that city near Troas of which is spoken in chap. xx, 13; but it was a city or place and port of Crete to the north, from which setting sail and skirting Crete westward, they decided to sail to the port of Phoenice, which was to the south. So Baronius.
Verse 14: A Typhonic Wind Called Euroaquilo
14. There arose against it a typhonic wind called Euroaquilo. — In Greek Εὐρακύλων, that is, a stormy and surging Eurus, raising waves and whirlpools at sea like Aquilo: or such as is the Eurus inclining toward Aquilo. Whence Our Translator renders "Euroaquilo," and some suspect that Our Translator read in the Greek Εὐροακύλων, and so Philippus Cluverius, book II On Ancient Sicily, chap. xvi, contends that this is altogether what should be read in the Greek. Eurus, or Vulturnus, blows from the East: whence it is opposed to Zephyrus, which blows from the West; but if it is intermediate and mixed, that is, blows between East and Aquilo, it is Euroaquilo. And that it was such here Our Translator indicates by rendering "Euroaquilo," and he gathered this from the fact that the ship was driven from the Cretan shore by this wind partly southward, partly westward, namely to Melita, which is situated between Africa and Sicily.
You will say: Melita lies directly to the west with respect to Crete, and in no way inclines to the south; therefore the Euroaquilo could not have driven St. Paul's ship toward Melita, but toward Africa. Philippus Cluverius replies in the place cited that Melita lies to the west of Crete, but Gaulus or Cauda, to which the Euroaquilo drove the ship, lies opposite Crete to the south toward the west, by the testimony of Mela and Pliny. Therefore by this wind, swept away from Crete past the right of Gaulus, when they feared lest they should be driven further on the same course into the Syrtis, "with sails let down they were so borne along," namely from the east toward the west toward Melita, holding to that region with the help of the rudder.
But this reply is opposed first by the fact that Ortelius and other Geographers place Gaulus, or Gozo, precisely to the west of Melita, just as of Crete. Again, that the same Euroaquilo drove St. Paul's ship from Gaulus to Melita. Moreover, that this Euroaquilo was a Typhon, as St. Luke says; but Aristotle denies that a Typhon arises while Aquilo is blowing, because that wind is composed of dry and warm exhalation, and therefore overcomes and immediately extinguishes the cold and frost of Aquilo. Therefore this wind was an eastern one, namely Eurus or Euroclydon, which Our Translator renders "Euroaquilo," not because it blew from Aquilo, but because it was impetuous and violent like a vehement Aquilo. For a Typhonic wind, called Euroclydon, is Eurus stormy and whirling, and shaken with force. Now Eurus blows from the wintry East, as Aristotle, Seneca, and Pliny teach: a wind blowing from this quarter of the heavens, if it catches sailors in the Adriatic Sea, drives them straight to Melita near Sicily, as is known from the charts of navigation and Geography. So our Octavius Cajetanus, in the Isagoge, chap. xix.
You will reconcile both views if you join both and say that Euroaquilo is the name given to a Eurus which was stormy, like Aquilo, and at the same time inclined somewhat toward Aquilo and was lateral, which by Columella, book III, chap. xi, is called Euronotus; by Gellius, book II, chap. xxii, Vulturnus, and which blows from the wintry East between Eurus and Notus, or Aquilo, by the testimony of Pliny, book II, chap. xlvii.
Add that at sea, especially in winter, new and even contrary winds often suddenly arise, and alternate places among themselves, and even clash. So that this Euroaquilo did not blow during the whole time of the ship's tossing, but exchanged places with Zephyrus, is highly credible, and almost certain. For this wind in the end drove the ship from the island of Cauda, which is to the west of Melita, as I shall say below, to Melita. It blew therefore at that time from the West and was a western wind, namely Zephyrus; not eastern, namely Eurus.
"Typhon" is a twisted and turbulent wind, a whirl or vortex, and a whirlwind, which the Greeks call a "motion in a circle," or ecnephias, that is, bursting out of a cloud through a small opening in the cloud, and therefore it is impetuous and stormy, of which Aristotle, book III of the Meteors, and Pliny, book II, chap. xxviii On Sudden Blasts: "But if," he says, "with a deep hollow they have been more tightly whirled and have broken forth without fire, that is, without a thunderbolt, they make a vortex which is called Typhon, that is, a shaken ecnephias. This carries with it something snatched from a frozen cloud, rolling and twisting it, and aggravating the ruin by its very weight, and changing place from place with rapid whirling: a chief plague of sailors, breaking not only the yards but the very ships, twisted apart. The sign of an imminent Typhon, or ecnephias, is a certain little cloud, which when sailors see, they at once let down their sails and betake themselves to harbor."
Typhon is frequent at Genoa, where it often shatters ships; it overturns rocks, trees, towers, stables, indeed tears them up from their foundations and carries them elsewhere. As a remedy for Typhon Pliny assigns vinegar, as being most cold, poured upon the approaching Typhon, as being most hot, whence Typhon is so called from τύφω, that is, "I set on fire." The same, struck back by its own collision, lifts up the things it has seized with it into the heavens and sucks them up on high.
Furthermore, that this Typhon and tempest were stirred up by the devil to drown and destroy Paul, St. Chrysostom suggests. Where note symbolically: aptly did the devil insinuate himself into the Typhon, because he himself often mixes himself with the Typhon and stirs up storms at sea and in the air. Hence too the Typhon so seizes, drives and whirls ships and other things, that it seems to be alive. The demon therefore is a spiritual Typhon: first, because by pride Typhon swells; second, because in tempting men he imitates the Typhon, raising disturbances in the imagination and soul, as Typhon raises storms at sea, and that by whirling the soul from one thought to another, from one passion to another, from one desire to another: for now by fear, now by audacity; now by anger, now by pusillanimity; now by sadness, now by joy; now by suspicions, now by presumption; now by hatred, now by love, he agitates a man. Whence St. Gregory, book XXXII Moral. chap. xvii, illud Job. cap. xl, vers. 12, "The sinews of his testicles are intertwined," mystically explains of the manifold devices of the devil by which he pollutes and corrupts the souls he has cast down to himself: "His testicles," he says, "are evil suggestions by which he grows hot in the corruption of the mind, and in the soul he has violated begets the offspring of an iniquitous work. But the sinews of these testicles are intertwined, because the devices of his suggestions are bound together with intricate inventions, so that he makes very many sin in such a way that, if perhaps they desire to flee a sin, they do not escape it without another snare of sin: and they commit a fault while they avoid it; and they can in no way free themselves from one, unless, bound, they consent to others." He then demonstrates this clearly with particular examples in every state of life.
Thirdly, Typhon is fiery as a thunderbolt: for through the broken cloud, seeking a more open space, like a thunderbolt with great force it rushes downward: indeed it sometimes, by the rebound and compression of exhalations and winds, conceives fire, and as it were a thunderbolt, so that fire and blast are borne downward together; and then it is called Prester (from πρήθω, that is, "I set on fire"). It carries with it something snatched from a frozen cloud, rolling and twisting it, and aggravating the ruin by its very weight, and changing place from place with rapid whirling, not only laying low everything nearby but also scorching them: by the fire of which the sea also sometimes boils, as the Coimbrans teach, in tract 6 on the Meteors, chap. vii. So the demon is like a thunderbolt, indeed a thunderbolt, according to that saying of Christ: "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven," Luke x, 18; and like a thunderbolt he attacks, lays low, and inflames men with anger, lust, and other desires, according to that saying of Job, chap. xli, vers. 10: "Out of his mouth go burning lamps, like torches of fire kindled. Out of his nostrils goes smoke, as out of a pot heated and boiling. His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes forth from his mouth." See St. Gregory on this, Moralia book xxxi, chap. xxi. Thus Seleucus, king of Asia, was surnamed Ceraunius, that is, "thunderbolt," because of his sharp and lightning-like temperament.
Fourthly, St. Gregory, on Canticles chap. iii, explaining that verse "Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind": "What," he says, "is signified by the north wind, which binds with cold and makes things torpid, but the unclean spirit, which, while it possesses all the reprobate, makes them sluggish in good works? But by the south wind, namely the warm wind, the Holy Spirit is figured, who, when He touches the minds of the elect, releases them from all torpor and makes them fervent, so that they may perform the good things they desire."
Fifthly, sometimes blasts of wind from different clouds, say the Conimbricenses in the cited passage, or thrust from one part and another of the same cloud, are gathered together among themselves, and while they strive in different directions, during the conflict they turn back upon themselves, and being whirled they produce a vortex similar to that which we see in river waters, which run against a rock projecting at the side of the bank, and being collected upon themselves with no exit, are bent back: in the same way also at other times, when wind is forced from a wide place into a narrow one in gates or roads, a vortex arises. Therefore a blast of wind cast forth with great force from a cloud, if it descends straight down, is properly called ecnephias; but if it is twisted into a circle, it is called a whirlwind or Typhoon, which most violently sweeps all things along with it, twists, and breaks them. Whence Olympiodorus says Typhoon is so called διὰ τὸ τύπτειν σφοδρῶς, that is, because it strongly and vehemently strikes and shakes the bodies on which it falls. But sailors, he says, call it σίφωνα, because like a σίφων, that is, a tube, it draws sea water to itself. Thus the devil most violently shakes unstable and inconstant men and draws them to himself and his snares, according to that saying of Habakkuk iii, 14: "Thou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them that came as a whirlwind to scatter me." And Job xl, 18: "Behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder; and he has confidence that the Jordan may flow into his mouth." See St. Gregory on this, Moralia book xxxii, chap. vi.
Verse 15: When the Ship Was Caught
15. And when the ship was caught, — by the typhoon-like wind, which drove and whirled it like a whirlwind.
Verse 16: Cauda; We Were Scarcely Able to Secure the Skiff
16. Cauda. — Now the Greek has Κλαύδην, that is, Clauda. By Pliny, book III, chap. viii, it is called Gaulos; by Mela, book II, chap. xvii, Gaudos; by Ptolemy, book III, chap. xiii, Claudos; by others Caudos, by others Caunos; the Syriac translates Cura or Cora. Suidas indicates that Cauda is an island near Crete, memorable by this name because huge wild asses are bred there. Others think that the island here understood is the one that is now called by the corrupted name Gaulo, Gaudico, and Gozo, and is scarcely three hours' distance from Malta, both because shortly afterward this ship landed at Malta, and because its inhabitants profess that they were converted by St. Paul when he came to Malta, and they add that by a miracle their ancestors on their island heard Paul preaching at Malta. Why be surprised? In the same way the voice of Anthony of Padua and of St. Vincent Ferrer was heard by people absent and far away. But this opinion is opposed by the fact that this ship scarcely landed at Malta after fourteen days, as is said in verse 27, while Gozo is only a few hours from Malta; unless one should say that the ship, driven by contrary winds, was now thrust forward and now backward, and was tossed around Gozo for so many days, as usually happens in a storm. So that Cauda is the island now called Gozo is the opinion of Philip Cluverius, book II De Antiqua Sicilia, chap. xvi, and many others.
We were scarcely able to secure the skiff, — that is, we were scarcely able to draw the skiff out of the sea and place it on the ship. For cargo ships are accustomed to attach a skiff to themselves, both for ferrying men and merchandise to and fro, and for spotting pirates and shoals, and so that they may escape by it in a shipwreck, and for many other advantages. "Skiff" (scapha) is so called from σκάπτω, that is, "I dig out." For originally they made skiffs and ships from hollowed-out tree trunks, as the Indians still do, among whom ships are hollowed-out canoes. Bede punctuates and reads it differently, namely thus: "Then we ran past an island called Cauda, which we could not hold, but they began to help the ship by sending out a skiff." But this reading clearly differs from the Greek and the Latin Vulgate.
Verse 17: They Used Helps, Girding the Ship; Lest They Should Fall into the Quicksand; Having Let Down the Vessel
17. Which being taken up, — into the ship.
They used helps, girding the ship. — Cajetan understands by "helps" the soldiers and passengers who were in the ship as helpers: for these had helped the sailors to gird the ship. For thus we call servants and workmen "hands" (operas) in the abstract. Others more plainly understand by "helps" the chains, hooks, ropes, and other instruments with which they girded the ship.
You will ask, what is it to gird a ship? And how was it done? Cajetan thinks it was done by means of empty casks, which, hung on either side of the ship, supported it so that it would not strike against or stick in the sand. But these casks could not have supported a cargo ship.
Therefore Bede, Gagnaeus, Arias, and others better think this was done both by chains, ropes, and hooks with which they bound the ship; and by anchors, stones, and other weights which, fastened to the ship, they let down into the sea; partly to slow the ship's course, lest, driven by the force of the winds, it should be dashed onto rocks and the Syrtes, just as in the British sea they are accustomed to attach huge stones behind to slow the ship, says Bede: for these both weigh down the ship, so that it feels the force of the winds less, and weigh it down, so that it cannot so easily be tossed and rolled by the wind; partly to give warning of the Syrtes and rocks; partly so that the ship may proceed straight and on an even keel, lest, driven sideways by the force of the wind, it should overturn and sink; partly so that, with the sides of the ship bound to one another by ropes, chains, and hooks, they might be more firm and resist the rocks more strongly; partly so that the ship might be held back by the sailors with ropes and somehow be steered. Thus drivers, on a steep and precipitous descent, bind the last wheel with a chain so that it cannot rotate, that they may thus check the more violent course and rotation of the chariot, lest, being driven headlong, it overturn or be broken.
Furthermore, the whole ship could not be girded lengthwise all around. For it was huge and vast in length, since it contained 276 men besides the cargo. Therefore they girded it only in some parts, e.g. in the middle, binding and tightening both sides crosswise, and likewise the prow or front part of the ship: for sailors are still accustomed to gird this in a strong storm, lest it strike a shoal and be broken to pieces, and so that it may more strongly resist the waves first rushing upon it, and by constantly cutting through them make a passable and safe path for the ship. For the prow is, as it were, the beak and lance of the ship, its shield, wall, and outer defense.
Lest they should fall into the quicksand. — Syrtis in the singular, or Syrtes in the plural, are sandy places near the coasts of Africa toward Egypt, and therefore most dangerous, so called from σύρειν, that is, "to draw," because they draw and swallow up ships. Hence the poets fabled that Sirens in the Syrtes enchanted and swallowed ships and sailors. For there is in that place a great inequality of sea and land, and in one spot it is very deep, in another shallow: and when the wind blows, the heap of sand which had been above the sea sinks into the deepest valleys, and what was sunken is soon thrown up above the waters. Hence sandy places in any sea are called Syrtes, says Servius.
Having let down the vessel. — First, the Syriac and Bede understand by "vessel" the yardarm, that is, the crossbeam on the mast to which the sail is fastened, as if to say: We let down the yardarm with the sail. So Chrysostom and Mariana: for sailors lower their sails in a storm, lest the ship be carried off and sunk by the raging wind. Second, Vatablus understands the skiff, as if to say: We let down the skiff into the bottom of the ship. Third, Cajetan understands the casks already mentioned. Fourth, Gagnaeus, Dionysius, and many others understand the anchor, that is, anchors. For an anchor is properly a "vessel," that is, an instrument of the ship and of sailors, as if to say: With anchors let down into the sea, as I said a little earlier, they slowed the ship. Fifth, Salmeron understands the ship itself, with its hold and bottom, as if to say: We lowered the vessel, that is, the ship, into the sea by means of anchors, stones, and other weights, so that it might be lower and feel and receive less of the force and impact of the wind; which exposition is very fitting.
Verse 18: They Made a Jettison
18. They made a jettison, — they cast their baggage and merchandise into the sea to lighten the ship, lest the ship, so heavily loaded, dashed by the force of the wind against rocks, should at once be broken to pieces. Whence the Syriac translates: "We cast our furniture into the sea."
Verse 19: They Cast Out the Tackling of the Ship
19. They cast out the tackling of the ship. — He calls "tackling" the nautical instruments, which are as it were the arms of a ship, such as anchors, poles, oars, ballast, etc.
Verse 20: With No Small Storm
20. With no small storm, — of clouds, rains, gales, winds, thunders, and lightnings. It is dreadful to see and hear such a storm at sea: for it has the appearance of perpetual night, of Erebus, and of hell. For, as Silius says, in book IV,
From the immense sky a dread tempest is borne,
Whirling black globes and turbid clouds,
It envelops the lands.
And Virgil, Aeneid I:
As he was crying out such things, a shrieking gale from the north
Strikes the sail head-on, and lifts the waves to the stars.
The oars are broken; then the prow turns aside, and gives the side
To the waves; a sheer mountain of water follows in a heap.
Some hang on the crest of the wave; to others the gaping wave
Opens the earth between the waves; the surge rages with sands.
Three the South wind seizes and hurls onto hidden rocks;
Three the East wind drives from the deep into the shallows and Syrtes,
Dashes upon the shoals, and girds with a rampart of sand.
Verse 21: When There Had Been Much Fasting; Paul Standing; And to Have Gained
21. And when there had been much fasting, — ἀσιτία, that is, abstinence from food, both because of the fear and dread of shipwreck, which takes from a man the thought of food and hunger and makes him think of nothing but the impending danger and death; and to appease and propitiate God.
Paul standing, — in body, and still more in soul and heart: "For the ship of his heart stood whole amid the sea waves," says St. Gregory, book VII, epistle 127, because he had fixed the anchor of hope in God. Chrysostom notes Paul's joy in so great a peril: for he had set before himself the conversion of Rome as his reward; his modesty, in that he does not rebuke or reproach them that, when he had foretold this storm, he had not been listened to, for calamity is not to be added to the afflicted; his prudence, with which he gives them sound counsel; his mercy and charity, with which he showed paternal care for the prisoners, who were guilty of a thousand crimes, and saved them all, and foretold and promised salvation to all. And he adds that this storm was permitted by God, so that through it Paul's virtue, holiness, and dignity might be displayed.
And to have gained, — κερδῆσαι, that is, to gain, that is, to incur this loss or damage and injury; the Syriac, "want." Hugo and Vatablus take "injury" to mean the storm of sea and sky. More plainly, you may take this "injury" as loss and damage. For this was injurious both to the sailors and passengers, and to the owners of the merchandise that were on the ship, especially since Paul had foretold it to the sailors, and therefore they themselves ought to have guarded against it, as I said on verse 10.
Verse 22: Of No Man's Life; Except of the Ship
22. Of no man's life, — that is, of bodily life. Lyranus adds, "and spiritual life," as if all these souls had been saved for eternity by God for Paul's sake. But this is not the genuine sense, though it may be probable, as St. Chrysostom suggests, on which see verse 24.
Except of the ship, — both that the sailors might be punished by the loss of their ship, because they had not heeded Paul's sound advice; and that God might let it follow its natural course: for in a shipwreck the ship is usually the first to perish and be lost; and that the benefit of God and the glory of Paul might appear the greater, in that without the ship He saved all the passengers. So Chrysostom.
Verse 23: Whose I Am; And Whom I Serve
23. Whose I am — minister, worshipper, and Apostle. He says this lest the Gentiles who were in the ship should attribute this oracle or miracle to their own god or gods.
And whom I serve, — λατρεύω, that is, whom I worship with latria.
Verse 24: God Hath Given Thee All
24. God hath given thee all. — Therefore all were already lost, that is, certainly doomed to perish, both by the course of nature, because of the force of the storm, as Oecumenius says; and by the vengeance of God, because of their crimes. Whence Chrysostom explains it thus, as if to say: "They were indeed worthy to perish, because they were disobedient: nevertheless, for thy sake I will save them."
Whereupon the same Chrysostom in his Moralia: "If," he says, "those who were sailing, in peril and enduring shipwreck, even the prisoners, were saved through Paul, consider what it is to have a holy man in one's house: for many storms greater than these also press upon us, but God can grant us salvation too, provided we believe the Saints, just as they did, if we do what they command. For they were not simply saved, but they themselves also brought faith: although the Saint was bound, he does greater things than those who are free. And consider this that was done here. The free centurion had need of that prisoner: the skilled helmsman had need of one who was not steering. For he was steering not such a skiff, but the Church of the world; who had learned from that Lord of the sea, not by human art but by spiritual knowledge, in that ship many shipwrecks, many storms, spirits of malice, fights within, fears without, and so he was here truly the helmsman."
In a similar way, St. Benedict by his merits and prayers obtained that the Lombards, when they were plundering his monastery, should take or kill no man: God therefore delivered their goods to them, but preserved their souls. So Benedict was like Paul, says St. Gregory, II Dial., chap. xvii.
Chrysostom adds that our life is as it were a continual storm and vicissitude of hardships, and therefore we likewise have need of a Paul, and so we ought to win his help for ourselves by believing and obeying his epistles and precepts; and he concludes: "Let us retain the Saints with us, and there will be no storm: nay, even if there is a storm, there will be calm and tranquility, and deliverance from dangers. Because that widow gave hospitality to the Saint, her son's death also was dissolved, and she received the boy alive again. Where the feet of the Saints enter, there will be nothing to grieve; even if something does happen, it pertains to the testing and to the greater glory of God. Accustom yourself to having the floors of your house trodden by such feet, and the demon will not tread there, and very rightly: for just as where there is fragrance, there foul smell has no place, so where there is holy ointment, there the demon is stifled, and it gladdens those engaged together, refreshes the soul, and spreads its fragrance: where thorns are, there are beasts; where hospitality is, there are no thorns. Mercy, entering in, cuts off the guilty better than any sickle, burns them more violently than any fire. Do not fear. The beasts reverence the footprints of the Saints, as foxes do the lion: 'For the just,' he says, 'has confidence like a lion.' Let us bring these lions into the house, and all the beasts will be driven out, not by them shouting, but by them simply speaking. For the lion's roar does not put beasts to flight as the prayer of the just puts demons: if only he speaks, they fly off."
St. Ambrose has similar things, book I De Abraham, chap. vi. From what has been said, St. Jerome rightly concludes, in his book Against Vigilantius and the Hagiomachs, that if Paul in this life obtained from God the salvation of 276 souls, therefore now, glorified, and enjoying the same in heaven, he can obtain more. "Moreover, see all these things done for Paul's sake," says Chrysostom, "that the bound soldiers and the centurion might believe": all of whom he implies were converted by Paul to Christ. "For even if they had been stones, on account of Paul's oracles, miracles, and benefits, they would certainly have thought great things of him." And this is what is implied by "God hath given thee all," namely both with regard to the salvation of soul and of body: for the former is far more valuable than the latter, and is more properly St. Paul's concern.
Verse 27: In the Adriatic
27. In the Adriatic, — in the Adriatic sea. So the Syriac. It is so called from Adria, an old town and port, founded on the river Po by the Tuscans, according to Pliny, book III, chap. xvi. Moreover the Adriatic Sea is sometimes taken broadly; and embraces not only the Venetian gulf, but also the Sicilian and Ionian seas, says Strabo, in whose time these events almost took place: so it is taken here.
Verse 28: A Sounding-Lead; They Found Twenty Fathoms
28. A sounding-lead. — "Bolis" is a nautical plumb-line, namely a lead weight hanging from a rope, which the sailors cast into the sea and so explore the depth of the channel, lest the ship run aground on shoals, sands, or rocks. It is called bolis as if "missile," from βάλλω, that is, to throw, send, cast.
They found twenty fathoms, — namely as far as the bed or bottom of the sea. Whence the sailors, fearing that the ship should fall upon rough places, that is, on sands and rocks, cast out four anchors from the stern, to stop and steady the ship until day should dawn, so that they might see where they were and in what direction they ought to steer their course.
Verse 30: Under Colour
30. Under colour, — under pretext, namely pretending that they were going down into the skiff, not for the sake of fleeing, but to extend anchors from the prow, that is, the forward part of the ship, either in the sea itself, or on the land and shore, as the Syriac translates, as if they had pretended that the ship had already reached the shore and was in safety.
Verse 33: This Is the Fourteenth Day That You Have Remained Fasting
33. This is the fourteenth day that you have remained fasting. — "Fasting," not that they had eaten nothing at all, but that they had eaten very little and casually, only as much as was necessary to preserve life; so Hugo, Gagnaeus, and others. For Hippocrates, book De Carnibus et Princ., and other physicians teach that a healthy man cannot live without food more than seven days. I say "healthy": for the sick, whose natural heat is weak and in whom phlegm abounds by which the heat is fed, can prolong their fast longer. So when he says "taking nothing," that is, very little and as it were nothing: or "nothing" after the manner of a regular and full lunch or dinner, but only tasting a little here and there rather than eating.
Verse 35: He Began to Eat
35. He began to eat. — Note here the prudence of Paul's charity: that he might console the afflicted and induce those almost wasted by fasting to take food; he himself first, publicly giving thanks to God, began to eat. A certain religious man, known to me in Belgium, imitated this, who, in order to heal a certain maniac who from a disordered imagination was persuading himself that he was dead, and therefore refusing to eat and wasting himself by starvation because he said the dead do not eat, put on the dress and appearance of a dead man and began to eat in the maniac's presence, and so persuaded him that the dead also eat: by which method he induced him to eat and restored him to himself.
Verse 38: Casting Out the Wheat
38. Casting out the wheat. — In the jettison, therefore, which they had already made before, verse 18, they had not thrown out the wheat: because, namely, this was necessary to them for food. Thus neither did they cast out those things on which they swam ashore.
Verse 40: Loosing the Fastenings of the Rudders; The Foresail
40. Loosing the fastenings of the rudders. — They call "rudders" the helm by which the captain steers the ship, as a charioteer rules his horses by the reins and the chariot by the pole, and as the ploughman rules the plough by the stilt. They therefore loosed the helm, as if leaving the ship to itself and to the winds, so that it might more easily be carried toward the shore or the land that was now at hand; or rather, that they might use the helm more freely, to direct its force wherever they wished.
The foresail. — "Artemon," some think is the pulley by which ropes are drawn; others the yardarm; others something else. It is more correct that it is a small, narrow sail, so called from ἀρτάω, that is, "to suspend." So says Julius Pollux. That it was small is gathered from this, that the ship was hastening to the shore; and because sailors in a storm take down the great sail and hoist a small one, lest they be carried off by the force of the winds and driven to destruction.
Verse 41: A Place Where Two Seas Met
41. Dithalassum — in Greek, in Latin bimarem, as the Tigurine translates. So is called a place between two seas, or an isthmus, which is washed by the sea on either side and, as it were, cuts and divides it, such as is Corinth, about which Horace, book I Carm., ode 7: "Or Ephesus, or the walls of two-sea-ed Corinth." Moreover in a two-sea place, because of the land cutting through the sea, there is usually a certain danger of shipwreck. This dithalassus is next to Malta, and is caused by a neighboring cliff, now called Selmon by the Maltese; on which therefore a chapel is also seen, dedicated in the name of St. Paul in memory of this shipwreck. In its left-hand bay is seen, in the rock, a round basin, six palms deep, and the same in diameter, which is commonly full of fresh water, although it is only a few paces from the sea and its salt water, and is called St. Paul's Spring: it is believed that he himself produced it miraculously upon his disembarkation. Finally, this place almost in the middle of this shore is still commonly called la Cala de S. Paolo, that is, the harbor or landing of St. Paul. So Philippus Cluverius, book II De Antiqua Sicilia, chap. xvi, and our own Octavius Cajetanus, Isagoge, chap. xix.
Verse 42: The Prisoners
42. The prisoners, — that is, the bound men accused whom they were guarding. See what was said on verse 1. These therefore, as men guilty of death, the soldiers wished to kill.
Verse 44: Upon the Things That Were of the Ship
44. Upon the things that were of the ship, — namely upon baggage, planks, and beams; Vatablus, upon fragments, which namely were torn off from the ship: for the ship was whole, not broken. This is Paul's fourth shipwreck. For the three earlier ones he himself recounts, II Cor. xi, 25, saying: "Thrice I suffered shipwreck: a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea." For that epistle was written long before this journey to Rome. Whether he suffered more often, we do not know.
Moral Lessons from the Shipwreck
Morally, learn here, firstly, how great are the perils of the sea, in which, as Anacharsis says according to Laertius, book I, chap. ix, and Juvenal, satire 12, passengers are only four fingers' breadth away from death (by which, namely, the ship rises above the sea). Hence Bias counted a sailor neither among the living nor among the dead, as Plato testifies in the Axiochus. Whence Cato grieved over three things: first, that he had revealed his secret to a woman; second, that even one day had flowed by for him through negligence without fruit; third, that he had traveled by ship where he could have gone on foot. So Plutarch in the Life of Cato. Stobaeus attributes the same three things to Alexander, but to Aristotle Antonius in Melissa, part I, sermon 17, except that for the second he puts: that in this life, so frail and uncertain, he had remained intestate even for one day. To one who asked Pittacus, "what is trustworthy?" he answered, "The earth"; "what is untrustworthy?" "The sea." Hence Homer's Laodamas thought that nothing was more wretched than for a brave man to be tossed about on the deep. Callimachus said the sea was most delightful, but only if one contemplates it from the land; which Horace imitated, saying:
To watch Neptune raging far off from the land.
Lucretius, book V, writes that in the golden age of Saturn there was no use of ship or navigation. Whence it was an ancient custom of the faithful, when about to board a ship, to confess their sins and to return to God's favor, and so either prepare themselves for death, or escape the perils of death.
Secondly, what care God has of His own. Behold, here God snatches Paul out of the present peril of death, and for his sake all the passengers, even though unbelievers, to the number of 276. Truly the poet:
With the deity's favor you may sail even on a wickerwork raft.
Thus God saved the just Noah, with eight souls through the ark, in the general flood of the world: so also Jonah in the belly of the whale. Indeed even Julius Caesar, comforting the captain in a storm: "Fear not," he said, "you carry Caesar and his fortune: that will protect you." For it is Caesar's part, "whom the deities never desert," says Lucan, book IV, and Plutarch in his Caesar. Memorable is the example which St. Paulinus graphically depicts throughout his entire epistle to Macarius, where he commemorates a certain old man wonderfully snatched by God from a horrendous shipwreck, with all his companions and the keel's fastenings being lost. Similar is what St. Gregory narrates, III Dialog., chap. xxxvi, about Maximianus, Bishop of Syracuse: that after a shipwreck on the ninth day he came safely with all his passengers into port, the ship alone being sunk. Thus St. Mary Magdalene, with St. Martha, St. Lazarus, and their companions, having been put by the Jews into a ship without sails or oars, with God steering the ship, all being safe, landed at Marseilles.
Thirdly, that Paul and the Saints in storm, shipwreck, battle, plague, robbers, hunger, prison, and any other calamity or danger, stand serene and secure, especially when they are engaged in pious and Apostolic work; for they know that they are dear to God and the object of His care. Therefore they are then so far from being downcast that they rise higher, and the more they hope in God; and they unite themselves to Him the greater the danger is. So the Psalmist, Ps. xxvi, 1: "The Lord," he says, "is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? If armies in camp should stand against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I hope." And Job xiii, 15: "Although He should kill me, I will trust in Him."
Fourthly, what is the power of the virtue of charity and obedience. God wanted Paul to go to Rome, and there to preach: Paul, in order to comply with this will of God, appeals to Caesar, and willingly undergoes so many perils of lands and seas. Whereupon by the merit of this virtue he, as it were, binds God to direct and prosper his journey. God therefore snatches him, and for his sake all his companions, by a kind of oracle and miracle, from the certain peril of death. Famous is the story and saying about the obedience of our Holy Father Ignatius, which Father Ribadeneira recounts in his Life, book V, chap. iv, at the end. When he was, he says, Father General, he said: if the Sovereign Pontiff should order me to board at the mouths of the Tiber the first skiff or ship I met, deprived of helm, mast, sails, and oars, and so to cross the sea without provisions, I would do so with not only an equal mind, but a willing one. And when a certain Prelate, in astonishment, replied: "What kind of prudence is this?" St. Ignatius answered: "Prudence, Lord, is not so much the part of him who obeys as of him who commands." The son followed the father: St. Francis Xavier, when he was setting out to the barbarous Mauritian islands, when his friends sought to dissuade him from the journey, and at last used force and refused him a vessel, replied that "he feared no perils, no kind of death, where God's worship and the salvation of souls were at stake; nor did he reckon any as enemies but those who oppose obedience to God; he was certain that he must follow God who was calling him to Mauritia: nor would he be hindered by lack of a vessel; if no ship were available, he would surely swim across, leaning on God." So Turselius, book III of his Life, chap. ii. He said it, and he performed it. Whereupon in shipwrecks he, like St. Paul, rejoiced, and asked God not to take from him the present peril and cross, unless He sent a greater one. And by this his zeal in a shipwreck he obtained from God for all the passengers life and salvation, like St. Paul. On another occasion, when a skiff in which unbelievers were being carried was torn from the ship by the force of a tempest into certain destruction, he, appearing to those very people in the skiff and bringing it back, returned it to the ship: by which miracle he converted them to the faith. Finally at Malacca, for that nobleman who was leading two hundred Portuguese against five thousand of the most warlike Acenese, he promised, foretold, and even from afar saw and by his prayers obtained a naval victory.
Excellently St. Augustine, on Psalm cxxxii: "Many," he says, "were shipwrecked with Paul. The lovers of this world suffered shipwreck, and all came out naked. They both lost what they had outside, and found the home of their heart empty. But Paul carried in his heart the patrimony of his faith, which could be carried away by no waves, no storms. He came out naked, and came out rich." The same Augustine, sermon 29 De Sanctis: "Peter," he says, "presumed to walk upon the waters by a power due to God alone, and, with the nature of things resisting, setting a hanging step through the unaccustomed sea's new paths, he trod upon the swelling backs of the sea. But Paul was no less, whom, as it were a Jonah of the New Testament, tossed day and night through the depths of the sea, the wave swallowed and gave back, as if not daring to violate the sacred deposit: because the wave, attending him as a handmaid, was keeping him safe for his preaching to the peoples."
But if God sometimes does not snatch the just, indeed an Apostle, from a shipwreck or other peril, but allows him to be drowned and lost, let him rest in the will of God, and say with St. Job in his affliction, chap. i, vers. 21: "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away: as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done. Blessed be the name of the Lord." And that saying of Christ as He was dying and descending to hell: "I set the Lord always in my sight: for He is at my right hand, that I be not moved. Therefore my heart has been glad, and my tongue has rejoiced: moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope. Because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell," Ps. xv, 8. And that saying of St. Paul, Rom. xiv, 8: "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord." Thus St. Francis Xavier, while already laboring for the conversion of the Chinese Empire, God allowed to die abandoned by all on a deserted island. Thus God allowed Father Ignatius Azevedo, with 40 companions, going to Brazil for the sake of the Gospel in the year of our Lord 1570, to be slaughtered and drowned by Calvinists. Thus God allowed several others of our Society sailing to the Indies to perish by shipwreck.
Memorable is the recent example of the Portuguese Fathers, who, having been dashed against a rock, when the captain offered them a skiff by which they could escape to the shore, refused, preferring to be mingled with the crowd of passengers on the rock, that they might assist them in their last agony as they were dying of hunger, and at last die together with them, rather than to live with them abandoned; which is indeed a kind of martyrdom and heroic charity, by which one lays down his life with Christ for his brethren.
We read of Blessed Jordan, who succeeded St. Dominic in the Generalate of the Order of Preachers, and was of outstanding sanctity, that when he was crossing to the Holy Land, he suffered shipwreck near Acre and perished by drowning; and when many bewailed not so much the death of so great a man as the manner of his death, and almost murmured against God, who had permitted the holy Father to be swallowed up by the waves, Jordan himself appeared to many, gleaming with a marvelous light, and said: "I am Jordan. I have gone out from this world to the glory of the Blessed, and I have been raised up among the choirs of the Apostles and Prophets, and I have been sent to console you. Hold this firmly, and do not doubt, that he shall be saved who shall serve our Lord Jesus Christ to the end." So has his Life, in volume I of Surius, on the 13th of February. The just man therefore, by whatever death he is overtaken, will be in refreshment, especially when he lays down his life on a journey and a work of charity or obedience. For such a one dies with God, indeed for God, and from God, and therefore is a victim of obedience and charity, very glorious and dear to God.
Excellently St. Augustine, epistle 122, at the end: "What does it matter," he says, "whether fever or sword has loosed the soul from the body? God in His servants attends not by what occasion they go forth, but as what kind of persons they go forth to Him." Lazarus lived wretchedly, died, and was buried; the splendidly rich Epulon likewise; but the latter descended into hell, the former was carried up by the angels into the bosom of Abraham, Luke xvi, on whom see St. Augustine at the end of Psalm xxxiii. The same, book I De Civit., chap. xi: "A death is not to be thought evil," he says, "which a good life has preceded. For nothing makes a death evil except what follows death. Therefore it is not to be much regarded by those who must necessarily die, what happens to bring about their death, but in dying whither they are forced to go. Since therefore Christians know that the death of the religious poor man among the licking tongues of dogs was far better than that of the impious rich man in purple and fine linen, those horrible kinds of death — how have they harmed the dead who lived well?" For, as the Wise Man says, chap. iv, vers. 7: "The just man, if he be prevented with death, shall be in refreshment."