Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He concludes that both Gentiles and Jews, called to the faith and grace of Christ, owe thanks to God and mutual congratulation and peace to one another.
First, then, he teaches that each one ought to be zealous for the benefit of his neighbors and for mutual peace, and that Christ called both the Jews from the promise, and the Gentiles from mercy, to Himself and to salvation.
Secondly, in verse 15, he excuses himself for having written more freely to the Romans, as the Apostle of the Gentiles, showing how he discharged this office, namely that from Jerusalem to Illyricum he himself was the first to evangelize everywhere.
Thirdly, in verse 24, he plans to go into Spain, but first to bring the alms to Judea, and then on the way to see the Romans, asking that they pray for him in the meantime.
Vulgate Text: Romans 15:1-33
1. Now we who are stronger ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2. Let every one of you please his neighbor unto good, for edification. 3. For Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: The reproaches of those who reproached You fell upon me. 4. For whatever things were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be of one mind toward one another, according to Jesus Christ: 6. that with one mind and with one mouth you may glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7. Therefore receive one another, as Christ also has received you to the honor of God. 8. For I say that Christ Jesus was the minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers: 9. and that the Gentiles are to honor God for His mercy, as it is written: For this cause I will confess to You among the Gentiles, O Lord, and will sing to Your name. 10. And again He says: Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people. 11. And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; and magnify Him, all you peoples. 12. And again Isaiah says: There shall be a root of Jesse, and one who shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles hope. 13. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing: that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Spirit. 14. But I myself also am sure, my brethren, and I myself also concerning you, that you also are full of love, replete with all knowledge, so that you are able to admonish one another. 15. But I have written to you, brethren, somewhat more boldly, in part, as if recalling to your memory: because of the grace which has been given me by God, 16. that I should be the minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles: sanctifying the Gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be acceptable, and sanctified in the Holy Spirit. 17. I have therefore glory in Christ Jesus toward God. 18. For I dare not speak of any of those things which Christ does not effect through me unto the obedience of the Gentiles, in word and deed: 19. in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit: so that from Jerusalem round about as far as Illyricum I have filled up the Gospel of Christ. 20. And so I have preached this Gospel, not where Christ was already named, lest I should build upon another's foundation; but as it is written: 21. Those to whom it was not announced concerning Him shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand. 22. Because of which I was much hindered from coming to you, and have been kept from you until now. 23. But now, having no further place in these regions, and having had a desire for many past years to come to you: 24. when I shall begin to journey into Spain, I hope that on the way I shall see you, and be brought on my way thither by you, if I shall first have enjoyed your company in some measure. 25. But now I shall journey to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 26. For Macedonia and Achaia have approved making a contribution for the poor of the saints who are in Jerusalem. 27. For it has pleased them; and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they ought also to minister to them in carnal things. 28. When therefore I shall have completed this, and shall have assigned to them this fruit, I shall journey through you into Spain. 29. And I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the abundance of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. 30. I beseech you therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Holy Spirit, that you assist me in your prayers for me to God, 31. that I may be delivered from the unbelievers who are in Judea, and that the oblation of my service may be acceptable in Jerusalem to the saints, 32. that I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and may refresh myself with you. 33. Now may the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Verse 1: We Who Are Stronger Ought to Bear the Infirmities of the Weak
1. WE OUGHT TO BEAR THE INFIRMITIES OF THE WEAK. — βαστάζειν, that is, to bear, to carry like porters, to help them, and, as St. Basil explains in the Shorter Rules, rule 177, to care for them, "just as Christ," says Basil, "bore our infirmities, that is, healed them." So Gal. 6:2 says: "Bear one another's burdens." On this matter I shall say more there.
AND NOT TO PLEASE OURSELVES, — not to follow our own inclination, so that we pursue what is pleasant and useful to us at the cost of our neighbor's scandal or inconvenience — for example, that we eat things sacrificed to idols and foods forbidden by the law to the offense of the weak, of whom he treated in the preceding chapter, for he alludes to that, indeed returns to it: for he repeats what was said at the beginning of the preceding chapter, as is plain to one who compares the words on both sides.
2. LET EACH OF YOU PLEASE HIS NEIGHBOR (condescend, comply, defer, accommodate himself, not unto evil, but unto) GOOD, FOR EDIFICATION, — that is, that by his charity, continence, and modesty he may edify him and entice him to every good.
3. FOR EVEN CHRIST DID NOT PLEASE HIMSELF. — Imitate Christ. For Christ did not serve His own will, nature, ease, and convenience, so as to neglect us and what is ours, but exposed all those things and His own life for our salvation; so therefore we Christians must act for the salvation of our brethren, and bear their infirmities; and lest we scandalize them, abstain even from many things lawful and convenient to us, and earnestly procure their salvation.
BUT (supply, Christ served our convenience), AS IT IS WRITTEN (Psalm 68:10): THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL UPON ME. — as if to say: The reproaches and sins committed against You, O God, so afflicted Me, Christ, as if they had been committed against Me; and so for them I grieved and humbled Myself, so that I undertook them to be punished and washed away in My flesh. And this firstly, that I might restore to You by My satisfaction the honor as it were taken from You by the sins of men. Secondly, that I might appease Your wrath against men. The Apostle hints at this second point here; the first the Psalmist directly hints at, as Jansenius rightly notes on Ps. 68.
4. WHATEVER WAS WRITTEN, WAS WRITTEN FOR OUR LEARNING. — By these words Paul shows that he has not amiss cited and applied to the instruction of the Romans the verse from Psalm 68 just quoted, although it was spoken and written in the person of Christ, because whatever is written in sacred Scripture, especially concerning Christ, is written for our learning, instruction, and imitation, who are Christians.
THAT THROUGH PATIENCE AND THE COMFORT OF THE SCRIPTURES WE MAY HAVE HOPE, — of future glory and eternal life. For "through comfort," the Greek has διὰ τῆς παρακλήσεως. Which secondly may be translated with Ambrose "through exhortation," namely to good works; for these sharpen hope. Scripture does this through the examples it narrates, through exhortations, through the promises and rewards which God in Scripture promises to His servants. For by these He comforts us, exhorts us, and rouses us to the hope of beatitude.
Note: "Patience of the Scriptures" is that which the Scriptures teach us; "consolation" is that with which they console us: so Maldonatus in his manuscript notes. Others take "patience" by itself and distinguish it from "consolation of the Scriptures." Furthermore by "patience" he means that by which, like Christ, we bear the infirmities of the weak, as is plain from verses 1 and 3.
5. NOW THE GOD OF PATIENCE AND COMFORT, — namely the author and giver. So in verses 13 and 33 He is called "the God of peace and hope," namely the bestower; so Theophylact.
Secondly, "the God of patience and comfort," that is, the most patient and supremely consoling God, so that in His deity He includes patience and consolation, and is essentially Himself wholly consolation, indeed a sea and ocean of consolation, which He pours out upon His servants even in this life, often in the keenest tribulations and sorrows, so that the mortal heart cannot contain it, but is forced to cry out with St. Francis Xavier: "Enough, Lord, enough."
MAY HE GRANT YOU TO BE OF THE SAME MIND (to agree, to be in concord both in judgment and in affection, and to show the same affection, benevolence, and beneficence to one another. See what was said in chapter 12, verse 16, and that) ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST; — that is, according to the law, life, example, and prescription of Christ, or as Christ and Christianity require.
7. THEREFORE RECEIVE ONE ANOTHER, AS CHRIST ALSO HAS RECEIVED YOU. — For "receive," the Greek is προσλαμβάνεσθε, that is, take one another to yourselves freely, mutually help and cherish one another, removing dissensions arising both from the choice of foods and from the diversity of nations, namely Jews and Gentiles. Because Christ received both, died for both, gave the means of salvation to both, and desires to bless both and unite them in heaven.
Note firstly: "To receive" in Scripture, especially in the Psalms, signifies to help, foster, promote, as I said in chapter 14, verse 1.
Note secondly: After the Apostle said, "Receive one another, as Christ also has received you," he adds: "To the honor of God," because just as the redemption of Christ, by which He received and adopted us as sons, redounded to the honor of God, so the mutual reception and concord of Christians, into which Christ as a father received them into one Church and family, tends and inclines to the honor of God. For much is taken away from religion by the discord of those who serve under the one Christian name, as Ambrose notes. And on the contrary, much accrues to it from the concord of the faithful; so much so that this was once the common saying of the Gentiles who admired and praised them, concerning the Christians: "See how they love one another," as I showed above from Tertullian.
8. FOR I SAY THAT CHRIST JESUS WAS THE MINISTER OF THE CIRCUMCISION, — not properly: for Christ abrogated, or rather fulfilled, the circumcision and the old law; but He was the minister "of the circumcision," that is, of the circumcised — that is, the preacher and effector of salvation, and the teacher. For Christ confined Himself to teaching and evangelizing within the borders of the Jews. So Anselm. Whence He Himself says in Matt. 15:24: "I was not sent except to the sheep that were lost of the house of Israel."
St. Chrysostom and Theophylact explain it differently, namely that Christ is called the minister of the circumcision because He was circumcised and observed the old law. Now the sense, as Paul puts it: Therefore, O Gentiles, as if novices in the faith, conduct yourselves humbly toward the Jews, and bear with them in their Judaism, as if they were old habit-bound, since Christ bore with them: indeed He was their minister and Apostle; and that "for the truth," that is, the truthfulness, "of God, to confirm the promises of the fathers:" so that God might show Himself truthful in the promises made to the fathers; for this reason God gave and presented to the Jews the Christ promised by Himself, as if from fidelity and justice; but to the Gentiles He gave the same Christ freely and from pure mercy. And this is what Paul adds, saying:
9. AND THE GENTILES (resume, I say) FOR HIS MERCY (that they ought, on account of the mercy shown them through Christ) TO HONOR GOD, AS IT IS WRITTEN (Psalm 17:50): THEREFORE (because of the calling, grace, and other benefits granted to the Gentiles, which the Psalmist enumerated in the allegorical sense in that Psalm 17) I WILL CONFESS TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES, O LORD. — as if to say: Among the Gentiles, O Lord, I will openly profess and celebrate Your name, mercy, and benefits shown to them.
10. AGAIN HE SAYS (Deut. 32:43, according to the Septuagint): REJOICE, YOU GENTILES, WITH HIS PEOPLE, — with the converted Jews. The Apostle here gathers together testimonies of Scripture concerning the calling of the Gentiles, both that he may the more persuade the Jews of it, and that the Gentiles may weigh this benefit the more, and give thanks to God.
12. AND AGAIN ISAIAH SAYS (ch. 11:10): THERE SHALL BE A ROOT OF JESSE, AND ONE WHO SHALL ARISE TO RULE THE GENTILES. — Note: Metonymically "root" here is the shoot springing from the root. So in Isaiah 53:2 it is said of Christ: "He shall come up like a tender plant before Him, and like a root out of thirsty ground." And in Isaiah 11:1: "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse." The root of Jesse, then, is Christ sprung from the stock of David and Jesse.
Some philosophize here more subtly and sublimely: for in Apocalypse 5, where Christ is again called "the root of David," Andreas of Caesarea and Rupert explain it thus: Christ, they say, in His divinity is the root of David, although in His humanity He was Himself from the root of David. For Christ as man was born of the seed of David; but as God He was the root, that is, the creator and Lord, of David.
Thirdly, Aretas and Ansbert in the same place: Christ, they say, is the root of David, because David was not a root, but only a seed, from whom Christ arose as a root, putting forth all the faithful, all grace and glory.
Fourthly, Pererius in the same place: David, he says, was the root of Christ, as to His human nature; Christ in turn was the root of David, as to David's signal sanctification, exaltation, and glorification. For on this account David was so exalted and laden with so many gifts by God, because Christ, who was to be called the son of David, was to be born from his stock.
But the first sense is the literal and genuine one, both because the Hebrew phrase requires it, and because Scripture so explains itself in Apocalypse 22:16, when it says: "I am the root and offspring of David."
AND ONE WHO SHALL ARISE TO RULE THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE. — "And" here means "that is," as if to say: This root is, or is the same as, He who shall rule the Gentiles, as Isaiah foretold in chapter 11:10, where it reads literally: "Who stands as a sign for the peoples," in Hebrew לנס עמים lenes ammim, that is, as a standard, leader of the Gentiles, namely that the Gentiles will flock to the camp and standard of Christ the King: and so "in Him shall the Gentiles entreat," as if to say: When this shoot germinating from the root of Jesse, namely Christ, shall have been exalted on the cross and raised up as a sign and standard, He will draw to Himself and to His camp all both Jews and Gentiles, says St. Jerome on Isaiah 11, that they may believe in Him, hope, invoke Him, and from Him receive grace, justice, salvation, and glory; and consequently Christ Himself, as the leader of the war, will subject to Himself and rule by His standard all the Gentiles as His soldiers, that they may fight against the devil, sin, the flesh, and the world, and by fighting may conquer and triumph.
13. NOW MAY THE GOD OF HOPE (namely the author, by whose grace it has come about that you hope in Him; see what was said at verse 5) FILL YOU WITH ALL JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING, — that is, that in the faith you have received you may have no contentions with the brethren, as hitherto you Jews had with the Gentiles; but may cultivate perpetual peace and mutual concord. Or, as if to say: May God grant that you believe, and continue to believe, and that in the faith received you may be firm and constant, and from this faith may be filled with joy and peace. So Maldonatus in his manuscript Notes.
THAT YOU MAY ABOUND IN HOPE AND IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. — Greek ἐν δυνάμει, that is, in the strength received from the Holy Spirit, namely in the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit, by which the soul may be strong and able to perform any arduous and magnificent good.
14. NOW I AM SURE, — πέπεισμαι, I have been persuaded, I trust in the Lord, I am certainly persuaded. This certainty arose from the affection of charity, which thinks well of its own, and from the rumor and speech of trustworthy men.
I AM THEREFORE SURE OF YOU, THAT (because) YOU YOURSELVES ARE FULL OF LOVE, REPLETE WITH ALL KNOWLEDGE, SO THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO ADMONISH ONE ANOTHER. — Note here the modesty of the Apostle, by which he wonderfully insinuates himself to the Romans, as if to say: I, O Romans, teach and admonish you by this epistle, not as ignorant, sluggish, or wicked, who could not admonish one another: for I am sure that you are full of love and knowledge; but only that I may show the affection of my mind toward you, and that I may freshen the memory of those things which you know, as your Apostle, as he himself explains in the following verse.
Note secondly, that these two things are required in the admonisher, namely first, love, which leads him to procure the salvation of his neighbor, and through which he wins over the one to be admonished, that he may receive his admonitions calmly; whence for "love" the Greek is ἀγαθωσύνη, that is, goodness, or kindly charity. Secondly, knowledge, that the admonisher may know what, when, and how he ought to admonish. About which St. Gregory in the Pastoral gives beautiful and practical instructions.
15. I HAVE WRITTEN TO YOU, BRETHREN, RATHER BOLDLY IN PART, AS RECALLING YOU TO MEMORY, BECAUSE OF THE GRACE (the apostolate) WHICH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME BY GOD. — Let Superiors learn hence to command, write, and admonish their subjects, not proudly, but humbly, as the Apostle here: "I have written," he says, these things not as teaching, but as admonishing, "recalling you to memory," that I may fulfill my office and charge, namely my apostolate. For humility gives great sweetness, grace, and efficacy to admonition and correction.
16. THAT I MAY BE A MINISTER OF CHRIST JESUS. — "Minister," supply: of sacred things, that is, a priest: for in Greek it is not διάκονος, but λειτουργός, as if to say: I am a priest by this very fact that I am an Apostle.
SANCTIFYING THE GOSPEL OF GOD, — that is, performing sacred work by preaching the holy Gospel, through which the Gentiles are sanctified. For in Greek it is ἱερουργοῦντα (by which name the Septuagint translates the Hebrew כוהן cohen, that is, a sacrificing priest) εὐαγγέλιον, which St. Augustine renders, consecrating the Gospel, that is, the preaching of the Gospel. "To sanctify" therefore here is to sacrifice, or to make holy a victim (namely the faithful and holy Gentiles through the preaching of the Gospel), to consecrate it, to offer it to God. So in John 17:19, Christ says: "For them I sanctify Myself," that is, I consecrate and offer Myself as a holy victim on the cross for them. Add that by the word "sanctifying" the Apostle here signifies that the preaching of the Gospel, as a sacred thing, pertains not to tailors and laymen, but to priests consecrated to God.
THAT THE OBLATION OF THE GENTILES MAY BE ACCEPTABLE AND SANCTIFIED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, — as if to say: For this I am a mystical Priest, namely the herald of the Gospel, that through my preaching the Gentiles may please God and be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and so be offered and consecrated to God as a clean victim, most acceptable, says St. Augustine, and may then themselves offer holy works to God as victims.
Note: From the Greek it is plain that there is here a striking metaphor, or rather an allegory, drawn from the immolation of victims. For here the sacrifice is the very conversion of the Gentiles, and their oblation to God: the victims are the Gentiles themselves, converted and offered to God; the priest is Paul and any herald of the Gospel; the consecration is the very preaching of the Gospel, by which the Gentiles are converted and sanctified to God; the fire by which they are kindled and burned for God is the Holy Spirit: so St. Chrysostom and Theophylact.
In a similar way, then, all who convert souls are Priests; the labor of teaching and preaching is consecration; the most excellent victims are souls themselves; the sacrifice is their very conversion. See here with what purity, religion, and zeal preachers and others like them ought to handle their preaching and discharge their offices in regard to the salvation of their neighbors — namely as if they were sacrificing and performing sacred actions (as in fact they are doing).
Note secondly: From this passage heretics contend that there is no other sacrifice in the Church than the preaching of the Gospel. But they err, because anyone can see that all these things are metaphorical. And by a similar metaphor, in verse 25, the Apostle calls almsgiving liturgy; as also in 2 Cor. 9:12 in the Greek. So too in chapter 12:1 he called our bodies a "living host." For that the Eucharist alone is a sacrifice properly so called is plain from 1 Cor. 10:20-21; Hebrews 7:17; Hebrews 13:10; Acts 13:2 in the Greek.
17. I HAVE THEREFORE GLORY IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE GOD, — as if to say: Because I am a minister and priest of Christ and Apostle of the Gentiles, as I have already said, I have something to glory in, not in myself, but "in Christ," who has worked through me, and daily works the salvation of the Gentiles; and that "before God," that is, in those things which pertain to God, namely in matters of salvation, which look to divine grace and glory. For this in Greek is τὰ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν.
18. I DARE NOT SPEAK OF ANY OF THOSE THINGS WHICH CHRIST HAS NOT WORKED THROUGH ME, FOR (regarding the conversion and) THE OBEDIENCE OF THE GENTILES, — as if to say: I have something to glory in, if I should think and speak, not falsehoods, but truths, namely those things which Christ truly works through me, in so wondrous and magnificent a conversion of so many Gentiles. It is μείωσις (understatement). For out of modesty Paul does not say expressly that he works these wonders, but leaves it to be inferred from the contrary, saying: "I dare not speak of any of those things which Christ has not worked through me;" for from this rightly follows the contrary: therefore whatever I speak and glory in concerning those things which Christ works through me, that very thing I speak truly and glory in. In the word "I dare" he looks back to what he said in verse 15: "But I have written more boldly," as if to say: I have written more boldly because of the grace which all see has been given me by God: for I dare not write and glory of my own strength and deeds as my own, as the vain and proud do.
19. IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, — ἐν δυνάμει, that is, in might, strength, efficacy, namely in the powerful and efficacious operation of the Holy Spirit, which he explains when he adds:
SO THAT FROM JERUSALEM EVEN UNTO ILLYRICUM (which is now called Sclavonia, or Bosnia) I HAVE FILLED UP (have everywhere fully announced) THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. — It is a Hebrew catachresis. For to "fill up" the Gospel is to preach it fully. So Vatablus.
Secondly, "Gospel" here can be taken for the preaching of the Gospel, and "to fulfill" for to complete, as if to say: That I may fulfill and complete the preaching of the Gospel. For so in 1 Kings 1:14, Nathan says to Bathsheba: "I shall complete, that is, perfect, your words;" so often elsewhere "to fulfill" means to complete.
Thirdly, Toletus explains it thus, as if to say: I have filled the Gospel as a net with the multitude of Gentiles whom I have converted, as with fish. This sense is more clever than genuine: rather by this reasoning, through a Hebrew hypallage, "to fill up the Gospel" would mean, to fill the provinces from Jerusalem to Illyricum with the Gospel. For thus the Hebrews speak: to fill stones or gems in the ephod — that is, to fill and adorn the ephod with gems and precious stones, as is plain from Exodus 39:10 and Exodus 31:5 in the Hebrew. And from this the Hebrews call the gems of the Rational אבני מלאם abne milluim, that is, stones of fillings, as is plain from Exod. 25:7 in the Hebrew; because, as the Chaldee explains, these gems filled the engravings of the ephod and the Rational, just as an emerald openly fills a ring. For by a similar Hebraism it could be said here that Paul has filled up the Gospel — that is, has filled and adorned the minds of men, and all the provinces (which are as it were rings, ephod, and Rational of Christ) with the Gospel as with a most precious gem. And this sense will perhaps please more, and seem to come closest to the Hebrew phrasing.
Note here the immense zeal and journey of the Apostle: in this place he sets two limits to his preaching.
Verse 20: I Have Preached, Not Where Christ Was Already Named
20. AND THUS HAVE I PREACHED. — Οὕτω φιλοτιμούμενον, thus with great zeal I have striven and sought to evangelize. In the Greek there is a Hebraism. For the accusative is placed by antiptosis for the nominative, namely φιλοτιμούμενον for φιλοτιμούμενος; and this happens because accusatives have preceded, so that this word too may agree and harmonize with them.
AS IT IS WRITTEN (Isaiah 52:15, where there is the prophecy concerning the calling of the Gentiles, which Christ willed to be fulfilled partly through Paul, partly through the other Apostles: for Isaiah says): TO WHOM IT WAS NOT ANNOUNCED CONCERNING HIM (namely, the Gentiles being ignorant of God and Christ), THEY SHALL SEE, — they shall know Him.
22. I WAS HINDERED VERY MUCH (τὰ πολλά, that is, many times: so the Syriac) FROM COMING TO YOU.
23. NO LONGER HAVING ANY PLACE IN THESE REGIONS. — "Place," that is, empty space, since I have filled them, as I said in verse 19, with the Gospel, having everywhere founded Churches, having everywhere appointed and ordained Bishops and Presbyters who would carry on what I have begun.
Verse 24: When I Shall Begin to Journey into Spain
24. WHEN I SHALL HAVE BEGUN TO SET OUT FOR SPAIN, I HOPE THAT AS I PASS THROUGH I SHALL SEE YOU. — Note, almost all the Fathers teach that Paul, as he promised here, in fact went to Spain, namely after his release from his first Roman imprisonment under Nero, which happened in the year of Christ 61, where Luke ends the Acts of Paul and the Apostles. For afterwards Paul lived eight more years: for he was killed in the 14th year of Nero, the 69th of Christ, although neither Luke nor anyone else has written what was done in these eight years: so teach St. Hippolytus, Athanasius, Cyril, Sophronius, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Jerome, Gregory, Isidore, Bede, Ado, Metaphrastes, whom Baronius cites and follows for the year of Christ 61, and Pererius here. However, St. Thomas and D. Soto deny this, and Pope Gelasius and Innocent I, in the epistle to Decentius, seem to favor them; but Pererius easily excuses them. The Roman Martyrology of September 23 also agrees, when it says: "At Narbonne in Gaul, the birthday of St. Paul the Bishop, who they hand down was Sergius Paul the Proconsul, who was baptized by Paul the Apostle, and, when he was going to Spain, was left at Narbonne, where he was endowed with the episcopal dignity: where, having not lazily fulfilled the office of preaching, renowned for miracles, he passed to heaven."
Hear what John Vasseus narrates from Sophronius in his Chronicle of Spain about Probus, Xantippe, Philotheus and others converted in Spain by St. Paul: Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, he says, writes that the Italies, Gauls and Spains were illuminated by the passage of the Blessed Apostle Paul: who, when he had been received in hospitality in the house of Probus, a certain illustrious man, in Spain, and Xantippe, the wife of the same Probus, more attentively intent upon him for the Gospel, admired the man's modesty; by divine will it came about that, while she was thus intent gazing on the stranger's countenance, there appeared before Paul's forehead, as if written in golden letters: "Paul the Apostle, preacher of Christ." When she had heard much in advance about the Apostle by report, and had long desired to see his face, both dissolved by joy and stupor, she fell with tears at his feet. Having been instructed in the mysteries of Christ, she was regenerated to Christ together with her husband and household. And it is also handed down that Philotheus, prince of that region, attached himself to Paul, becoming a confessor of Christ. Moreover, the Greek Menologies record September 25 as the birthday (festival) of St. Xantippe, who was converted by Paul in Spain.
IF I FIRST SHALL HAVE ENJOYED YOU IN PART. — Note the words "in part," as if to say: I have an insatiable desire for you, such that I can never fully satisfy it, but only in part; especially if I shall only see you and greet you in passing, as I intend: so Theophylact.
Note secondly: For "I shall have enjoyed," the Greek is ἐμπλησθῶ, that is, "I shall have been filled," namely with the pleasantness of honest delight which I shall take from your presence and company: for this is to enjoy. For thus enjoyment is distinguished from love, which abstracts from the presence of the beloved, and from desire, which is of an absent thing. So the Theologians, from St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Book I, ch. 33.
25. I SHALL SET OUT FOR JERUSALEM TO MINISTER TO THE SAINTS, — namely, to bring to the Jewish Christians who are in poverty and necessity the collection of alms which I made for them in Macedonia and Achaia. For "to minister," the Greek is λειτουργῆσαι, as if alms were a liturgy and sacrifice, and the almsgivers themselves were λειτουργοί, that is, priests and sacrificers of God: because almsgiving is a certain general sacrifice, and most pleasing to God. For of it the Lord says: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." See what was said in verse 16.
26. FOR THE POOR OF THE SAINTS, — that is, for the poor saints, namely the poor Christians. So Pliny said "of eggs the oblong," for "oblong eggs."
27. IF THE GENTILES HAVE BEEN MADE PARTAKERS OF THEIR SPIRITUAL THINGS, THEY OUGHT ALSO IN CARNAL THINGS (in temporal goods) TO MINISTER TO THEM. — Note: The Gentiles received spiritual goods from the Jews, first, because the Gentiles received Christ, the Apostles, the faith, etc., from the Jews, to whom these things were promised and given; secondly, because by their prayers, services and ministries the Christians who were in Judea were assisting the Apostles and the Gospel among the Gentiles.
28. WHEN I SHALL HAVE DELIVERED TO THEM THIS FRUIT. — For "I shall have delivered," the Greek is σφραγισάμενος, "I shall have sealed," that is, I shall have faithfully handed over the money sealed by the Gentiles, lest anyone think that I appropriated anything from it. For the ancients used to seal with their rings those things which they wished to be faithfully kept or transmitted. See how cautiously Paul provides for goods before God and men, in the pious work of almsgiving. Note: He calls almsgiving "fruit," which, as Chrysostom says, is fruit and benefit, not so much for the receiver as for the giver. For Christ says: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." More blessed, because it is more liberal, more generous, more virtuous and more meritorious.
The Apostle, however, here properly calls almsgiving the fruit, not of those giving, but of those receiving it, namely the fruit of the spiritual goods which the Jews had shared with the Gentiles, as I said at verse 27. Just as preachers have as the fruit of their preaching their support and sustenance.
29. I SHALL COME IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE BLESSING OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. — So read with the Roman and Greek texts. By "blessing," first, Ambrose understands miracles; secondly, Theodoret, the dangers which Paul was about to suffer for the Gospel; thirdly, Theophylact, the alms which he was to collect at Rome for the Jerusalemites; fourthly, Chrysostom explains it thus, as if to say: I know when I come, I shall find you full of all spiritual gifts; fifthly and best, this blessing is the grace and charisms of the Gospel, as if to say: God through my coming, preaching and abundant conversation will bestow upon you the knowledge, love, consolation, grace and fruit of the Gospel mysteries. So Origen and Anselm.
Verse 30: I Beseech You to Help Me in Your Prayers
30. I BESEECH YOU TO HELP ME IN YOUR PRAYERS TO GOD. — For "help me," the Greek is συναγωνίσασθαί μοι, that is, that you may strive together with me in the contest. The Apostle was foreseeing the conflict which he afterward had at Jerusalem (Acts 21:27), where he was captured by the unbelieving Jews, against whom he was contending in prayer, and so he implores the prayers of the Romans, that they may strive together with him. So St. Chrysostom.
Much more therefore is it permitted, without any injury to God, to invoke the help of the Saints reigning in heaven with Christ. For if Paul here, without injury to God — that is, without injury to the honor, invocation and adoration of God — asks: O Romans, pray for me; why should I do injury to God if I say: St. Peter, pray for me?
31. MAY THE OFFERING OF MY SERVICE (the ministry of alms, which I am bringing to the poor Christians dwelling in Judea) BE ACCEPTABLE TO THE SAINTS IN JERUSALEM. — As if to say: Pray for me, not only that the alms which I am bringing may safely reach the hands of the Jerusalemites; but also that they may be pleasing to them and cheerfully received, lest on my account it be displeasing or less welcome. For Paul was suspected by the Jewish Christians as if he were an enemy of Judaism and a patron of the Gentiles.
32. THAT I MAY BE REFRESHED WITH YOU. — As if to say: That I may be refreshed and restored from so many labors, seeing your progress in the Gospel, and that you likewise may be refreshed seeing me, of whom you have heard many things.