Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He exhorts them to concord, joy, prayer, modesty, peace, honesty, and all sanctity. Secondly, at verse 10, he praises their care and concern for him, and the gifts sent to him, teaching that he knows how to abound and to suffer want. And finally, at verse 19, he in turn prays well upon them and greets them.
Vulgate Text: Philippians 4:1-23
1. Therefore, my dearly beloved and most desired brethren, my joy and my crown: so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. 2. I beg of Evodia, and I beseech Syntyche, to be of one mind in the Lord. 3. And I entreat thee also, my sincere companion, help those women who have labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement and the rest of my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life. 4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. 5. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6. Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. 7. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8. For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things. 9. The things which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, these do ye: and the God of peace shall be with you. 10. Now I rejoice in the Lord exceedingly, that now at length your thought for me hath flourished again, as you also did think; but you were busied. 11. I speak not as it were for want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content therewith. 12. I know both how to be brought low, and I know how to abound (everywhere and in all things I am instructed); both to be full, and to be hungry; both to abound, and to suffer need. 13. I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me. 14. Nevertheless you have done well in communicating to my tribulation. 15. And you also know, O Philippians, that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only: 16. for unto Thessalonica also you sent once and again for my use. 17. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that may abound to your account. 18. But I have all, and abound: I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things you sent, an odor of sweetness, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19. And may my God supply all your want, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20. Now to God and our Father be glory world without end. Amen. 21. Salute ye every saint in Christ Jesus. 22. The brethren who are with me salute you. All the saints salute you, especially they that are of Caesar's household. 23. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Verse 1: Therefore, My Dearly Beloved and Most Desired Brethren, My Joy and My Crown
1. Therefore, my dearly beloved and most desired brethren, — ἀγαπητοὶ καὶ ἐπιπόθητοι, that is, as Vatablus translates, beloved and desired; or, as Erasmus, lovable and to-be-desired.
My joy, and my crown. — He calls the Philippians his "joy" and "crown" by metonymy, because, namely, they were the cause and object of his joy and his crown: for Paul rejoiced seeing those converted by him persist and grow in faith and virtue, and from the labor which he had spent — and was still spending — in converting and perfecting them, he hoped to receive from God the crown of glory. Thus did the holy Bishops call their people their crown, because the people, like a crown, encircled the Bishop and depended upon him: as St. Cornelius, Pontiff and Martyr, when (as is recorded in the Acts of his martyrdom) he was asked by the Prefect Volusian why, against the Emperor's precepts and against the commonwealth, he received letters from St. Cyprian, answered: "I received letters concerning the Lord's crown, not against the commonwealth" — calling the faithful people of Christ the Lord's crown, and surrounding the Bishops. Thus St. Amandus, dying and ascending to heaven, appeared to Blessed Aldegondis (who was absent and praying) in august form, girt with a crown of those clothed in white; and when she inquired who that reverend one was upon whom all the white-clad ones gazed, she heard from an angel: This is Amandus, beloved of God, who passes from the world to heaven, accompanied by the holy souls whom by word and example he instructed unto every virtue, and therefore he is venerated by them as a father, and with them now glorious he ascends to the joys of the Lord. The witness is the author of the Life of St. Gislenus, chap. 12, and the author of the Life of St. Aldegondis, chap. 17. For if in this life a parent is encircled with a crown of children, and, as the Wise Man says (Prov. xvii, 6), "The crown of old men are children's children"; if, I say, the head of a family, if a prince is encircled by a crown of his own, and, as St. Job says of himself (chap. xxix, 25), "He sat like a king with the army standing about": why should not spiritual parents, who have begotten sons for heaven destined to live forever, be surrounded and adorned by their crown? Hence the Apostle in I Thessalonians chap. ii, verse 19, calls them his crown of glory; on which matter I shall speak there.
So stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. — Stand, and persevere constantly in the faith, hope, grace, and justice of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the manner in which I have taught you to stand fast in them in the preceding chapter, and in the manner in which I rejoiced that you began to stand, chap. i, 6; namely, that you flee heretics and admit not circumcision and Judaism, but depend on Christ alone and on Christ's law, and that with Him your conversation be in the heavens, awaiting the same Savior returning from the heavens, that He may make you conformable to Himself in the resurrection. "Stand," therefore, that is, persevere; for as St. Bernard says, epistle 129 to the Genoese: "Without perseverance neither does service have its reward, nor benefit its grace, nor fortitude its praise." The just man is like a cube, which to every motion of fortune stands upright and firm, says Simonides. Therefore he stands in the Lord, who truly with the Psalmist can say: "But it is good for me to adhere (in Greek προσκολλᾶσθαι, that is, to be glued) to God," Psalm lxxii, 28. But by what bond, by what glue shall we be glued to God? St. Bernard answers, in De Triplici Cohaerentia: "There are three bonds by which we are bound to Him; and first, receive ropes; secondly, wooden or iron nails; thirdly, glue. The first binds strongly and harshly, the second more strongly and more harshly, the third sweetly and securely. He is in a manner bound to the Redeemer with a rope, if perhaps when troubled by a more vehement temptation, one sets before himself the regard of honesty, the memory of his promise, and meanwhile holds himself by this rope lest his resolve be entirely broken: a hard bond truly and burdensome, but also too dangerous, and one which cannot be held long, since ropes rot, and we either forget the bond of shame or quickly break it. But there is another who is fastened with nails to the Lord of majesty, whom the fear of God binds, who does not tremble at the faces of men, but at the memory of the torments of hell: and this man indeed fears not to sin, but to burn. Yet more harshly and strongly does the first nail press in; for while the former wavers in his resolve, this one does not lose his resolve. The third, however, is bound to Him with glue, that is, with charity, who, bound as sweetly as securely, adhering to God is one spirit with Him."
Verse 2: I Beg of Evodia, and I Beseech Syntyche, to Be of One Mind in the Lord
2. I beg of Evodia, and I beseech Syntyche (for "beseech," the Greek has the same word as just before, namely παρακαλῶ, that is, "I beg") to be of one mind in the Lord. — These two women, say Theodoret, Theophylact, and Anselm, were leaders among the Christians at Philippi, who were busy promoting the Christian cause. Whence he adds concerning them: "Help those who labored with me in the Gospel." Therefore the Apostle exhorts them, that for the promotion of the Christian cause they may be of the same mind in the Lord, that is, that they be in concord with that concord whose bond is the Lord. So Theodoret, Theophylact, and Anselm. For nothing so disturbs and hinders the course of the Gospel and of piety as a diversity of opinions and of spirits in those who preside or who direct affairs.
Verse 3: And I Entreat Thee Also, My Sincere Companion; Whose Names Are in the Book of Life
3. And I entreat thee also, my sincere companion. — In Greek γνήσιε σύζυγε, which Lefèvre d'Étaples, Zwingli, and Erasmus translate as "true wife": as though Paul here addressed his wife; for she is called in Greek σύζυγος, that is, of the same yoke (i.e. of conjugal yoke), or wife. But this opinion is refuted by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius, and even Calvin and Beza. First, because if Paul had here understood his wife, he would rather have said in the feminine γνησία σύζυγα, that is, "true wife"; but he says in the masculine γνήσιε σύζυγε; for although the Attics sometimes use this in the feminine, it is commonly taken as masculine; nor is the Apostle so elegant as to make use of Atticisms. So Theophylact.
Secondly, because Paul's wife would rather have dwelt at Tarsus or Jerusalem than at Philippi, says Theophylact.
Thirdly, because in I Cor. vii, 7, Paul reckons himself among the unmarried. To the argument I reply that σύζυγος signifies any associate who acts the same with us, as if to say, "yokefellow," who draws the same yoke. Thus Christ in Nonnus calls Himself σύζυγος of the Father. Thus in II Cor. vi, 14, when the Apostle commands the faithful saying, "Bear not the yoke with unbelievers," he forbids not only marriages with unbelievers, but also that the faithful enter any other closer society or familiarity with unbelievers: so by σύζυγος here he calls his associate and colleague, namely some distinguished teacher who had drawn with him the same yoke of Evangelical preaching, as in chap. ii, 25, he called Epaphroditus his συστρατιώτης, that is, fellow-soldier, and in this verse he calls Clement and others συνεργούς, that is, his fellow-workers. So Theodoret, Haymo, Anselm. Hence Vatablus thinks that Paul designates Epaphroditus by this name; but because Epaphroditus was not at Philippi but at Rome with Paul, and conveyed these letters of Paul to the Philippians, it is truer that Paul designates some other person whom by this title and name of σύζυγος the Philippians sufficiently recognized. Chrysostom, however, thinks σύζυγος here is to be understood as a husband, or certainly the brother of Evodia or Syntyche. Oecumenius, Lyranus, and the author of the Commentary on this Epistle which is found among the works of Jerome, and following them Dionysius the Carthusian, think that 'germane' is the proper name of a man whom Paul here addressed. Nothing therefore here persuades us that Paul was married. It is strange that Catharinus here asserts that in the Revelations of St. Bridget it is held that Paul was married, adding that according to some, Paul's wife was called Phoebe, of whom Romans xvi, 1 speaks. For the exact contrary is found in book II of her Revelations, chap. vii, and in book VIII, chap. i.
Help those (Evodia and Syntyche) who labored with me in the Gospel. — In Greek συνήθλησάν μοι, that is, who contended with me athletically for the Gospel.
With Clement. — This is Clement of Rome, disciple of Sts. Peter and Paul, who succeeded Peter in the pontificate after Linus and Cletus.
Whose names are (written) in the book of life. — Note: A book in Hebrew is called a catalog "of life," that is, of the living, or of those who are enrolled unto eternal life: now this catalog exists in the mind of God by His foreknowledge and predestination; therefore it is anthropopathically called the book or catalog of God, in which God has, as it were, inscribed the names of all the just who persevere in righteousness and die in grace, that He may give them eternal life and a crown, says Theophylact. For so among men, those who are chosen for some office or dignity are enrolled in a book, as soldiers and senators, who from this are called Fathers Conscript, as St. Thomas says. Hence in Hebrew ספר חיים sepher chaiim signifies both the book of the living and the book of life. In like manner, the same mind, foreknowledge, and reprobation of God can be called the book of death, in which God describes all who die in sin, that He may punish them with eternal death. So Theophylact, though St. Thomas does not admit a book of death, but only of life, because Scripture mentions the former name and not the latter, and because God, whose nature is goodness, of Himself ordains and enrolls His own unto life, but unto death not of Himself, but as if compelled by malice and sins, He destines and transcribes the impious.
Note secondly, that men are described in the book of life in a twofold manner. First, absolutely and completely: thus are all (and only those) written who die in grace, and are therefore elected to eternal life. Secondly, only inchoately: thus are written in the book of life all the just who still struggle in this life with the world, the flesh, and the demon, so that, if they persevere in righteousness, they may be completely written in the book of life, and be chosen and arrive at eternal life; if they do not persevere, they may be blotted out of the book of the living, as David says in Psalm lxviii, 29. In this second way Paul says Clement and his other helpers, still living, are written in the book of life: for he does not wish to make them entirely certain of their perseverance, salvation, and election to glory, and to reveal it to all the Philippians; nor again does he wish to say that he himself has received from God a revelation about this very salvation and glory of theirs; but only that they, with respect to their present state of grace, are inchoately in the book of life. See what is said at Ephes. i, 5, and chap. xiii.
In another sense, in Sirach xxiv, 32, "the book of life" denotes Sacred Scripture itself, or the book of the Law and the Prophets; for it is said there: "All these things are the book of life, and the testament of the Most High, and the knowledge of truth. Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justice, and an inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel." The sense of this passage is: All those things which I have just said about the dignity, utility, and fruit of wisdom — supply: the book of life contains and provides them, that is, the book of the Law and the Prophets, which if you keep, you shall attain to eternal life; this book is also the testament of God, containing His ultimate and supreme will and the covenant with men, and so is itself the knowledge of truth; the book, I say, of the law which Moses commanded, giving the precepts of justice which were to be as a perpetual inheritance to Israel, and which promised them the fertile inheritance of Judea in this life, and of the heavenly kingdom in the next. Sacred Scripture is therefore called "the book of life," because it contains both the promises of the present and of eternal life, and the precepts opportune and necessary for attaining this life.
Note: The first who mentions the book of life is Moses, Exodus xxxii, 32: "Either," he says, "forgive them this sin (of adoring the calf), or if you do not, blot me out of your book which you have written." Then David, Psalm lxviii, 29: "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living." In the New Testament, Christ mentions it in Luke x, 20, Paul here, and St. John in Apocalypse xx, 15.
Verse 4: Rejoice in the Lord Always; Again I Say, Rejoice
4. Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice. — "In the Lord," in the afflictions endured for the faith and for the Lord, says Chrysostom and Theophylact; but this is too narrow. Secondly, therefore, genuinely and adequately: "Rejoice in the Lord," that is, in the faith, grace, religion, hope, and reward of the Lord, which He has promised you; as if to say: Rejoice, not because you are rich, noble, wise, but because you are Christians, because you have Christ as Lord, who redeemed you from death, heaped you with His grace, and called you to heavenly glory; rejoice, I say, always, both in time of adversity and of prosperity; both of persecution and of peace. "Again I say," and repeat, "rejoice in the Lord," that is, in the homage, protection, and promises of so great a Lord, who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
"Rejoice," says Anselm, "not in the world, but in the Lord; for as no one can serve two masters, so no one can rejoice both in the Lord and in the world; for these two joys are contrary: for worldly joy is unpunished wickedness. Let men live luxuriously, let them fornicate in spectacles, trifle in drunkenness, gorge themselves in shamefulness — and let neither hunger, nor any disease, nor any adversity hinder these evils; but let all things be overflowing in carnal peace and security of mind: and behold the joy of the world. Therefore do not rejoice in the world, but in the Lord, that is, not in iniquity, but in truth; not in the flower of vanity, but in the hope of eternity."
And St. Bernard, in Sermon 4 on the Vigil of the Nativity: "Rejoice," he says, "in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Rejoice over what is given, again rejoice over what is promised, for both the reality is full of joy, and the hope is full of joy. Rejoice, because you have now received the gifts of the left hand. Rejoice, because you now await the rewards of the right. His left hand, He says, is under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me. The left hand indeed lifts up, the right takes up. The left heals and justifies, the right embraces and beatifies. In His left hand are merits, in His right are rewards. In the right hand, I say, are delights; in the left are medicines."
St. Basil asks, in Question 493 of the Brief Rule: "What kind of joy is that which is in the Lord? and what is it that we ought to rejoice in doing?" and he answers: "To rejoice in those things which are done according to the commandment of the Lord, is to rejoice in the Lord. Therefore whenever we carry out the commands of God, or suffer something for the name of the Lord, we ought to rejoice and congratulate one another."
This joy is useful — indeed necessary — to the Christian, that he may live joyfully and proceed eagerly in the virtues, that he may do heroic works, and overcome the sorrows and diffidences which either nature or the demon suggests, and all temptations. "One," says St. Anthony in Athanasius, "one only, I say, is the way of conquering the enemy: spiritual gladness, and the constant remembrance of the soul that always meditates on the Lord, which, expelling the demons' games as it were like smoke, will pursue its adversaries rather than fear them."
And in truth the Christian has not one, but many materials and causes of joy, namely as many as the benefits, both common and particular, which he has received from God, or hopes and expects to receive; and especially if he considers the eternal life prepared for him by God in heaven, how shall he not shake off all sorrow? "You shall be delighted," says Isaiah lviii, 14, "in the Lord, and I shall lift you up above the heights of the earth, and I shall feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father." Thus the great Apollo, in Palladius's Lausiac History, chap. 52, used to rouse those brethren of his in the desert, although they lived solitarily and quite austerely, to perennial joy of spirit, so that Palladius says of them: "It was permitted to see them exulting in the solitude to such a degree that no such exultation, nor bodily joy, was to be seen on earth: for there was not among them anyone sad or sorrowful." He then adds the way and reason by which Apollo instilled this joy into them: "If anyone," he says, "seemed to bear sadness, immediately Father Apollo would ask him the cause, and would announce what was in the hidden parts of each one's heart. He used to say: It is not fitting that we should be sad concerning our salvation, since we are about to be heirs of the kingdom of heaven: the Gentiles shall be sad, the Jews shall weep, sinners shall mourn; but the just shall rejoice, and those who consider earthly things in their soul rejoice in earthly things; but we who have been deemed worthy of so great a hope, how shall we not rejoice perpetually? since the Apostle exhorts us always to rejoice, and pray without ceasing." Thus far Apollo.
And this is what the Apostle says: "Rejoice in the Lord." St. Basil asks, in Sermon 4 of the 29 various sermons, which is on thanksgiving, how the Christian among so many miseries, misfortunes, and adversities of this life can always rejoice; and he answers: "A soul," he says, "that has once bound itself by every kind of desire to its Creator, and has now grown accustomed to delight itself in the contemplation of His so great beauty, will by no means allow that vehement joy and most pleasant outpouring of its spirit to be interrupted or changed by the manifold and substitute change of carnal affections: nay, rather, those things which bring grief to others it will turn into an increase and addition of gladness for itself. Such was the Apostle, when he took good pleasure in infirmities, in tribulations, in persecutions, in necessities, exchanging his poverty for glory and exultation."
And Chrysostom, in homily 48 to the People, answers the same question by teaching that sailors, merchants, and all sorts of men seek joy from all their labor, yet do not find it; but Paul opens to us the fount and treasure of joy: "For he did not," he says, "simply say: Rejoice always, but adds the cause of continual delight, subjoining: Rejoice in the Lord always. He who rejoices in the Lord cannot be cast out of this delight by any accident: for all other things in which we rejoice are mutable, nor do they bring us so great a delight as to expel and overshadow the sadness arising from other sources; but the fear of God has both these qualities — for it is stable and unmoved, and emits so great a gladness that no perception of other evils takes hold of us. For one fearing God as is fitting, and trusting in Him, has gained the root of delight and possesses every fount of gladness. And as a spark falling into the immense sea is quickly and easily extinguished, so however great the evils that strike one who fears God, falling as into a vast sea of joy, are extinguished and lost. And in truth this is the most wonderful thing — that, when those things which are wont to bring sadness are present, he himself remains rejoicing." And below, he shows that the saints always rejoice in any affliction whatever, running through it point by point, saying: "For let there be someone having nothing in himself to be condemned, but relying on a good conscience, and panting for things to come, and awaiting that blessed hope; what, I ask, can lead this man into sadness? for first, of all things, death seems most intolerable: but its expectation not only does not sadden him, but even delights him; for he knows that the presence of death is a liberation from evils, and a running to the crowns. Secondly, but the death of children is bitter? Yet this also he bears generously, and will say with Job: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Thirdly, since the death of children cannot sadden him, much less can losses of money, and accusations, and calumnies touch so great and generous a soul, nor pains of the body. For the Apostles were scourged and rejoiced at the sight of the council, since they were deemed worthy to suffer contumely for the name of Jesus. By Christ they were taught to rejoice in contumelies: Rejoice, He says, and be glad, when men shall speak all manner of evil against you lying, for your reward is great in the heavens. Fourthly, but suppose he falls into death. Yet he has heard another admonishing and saying, that as gold is tried in fire, so acceptable men are tried in the furnace of humiliation. Since therefore neither death, nor loss of money, nor bodily sickness, nor ignominy, nor reproach, nor anything of the kind can sadden him, but rather delights him, when shall he ever have material for sadness?"
Verse 5: Let Your Modesty Be Known unto All Men; the Lord Is at Hand
5. Let your modesty be known unto all men. — As if to say, says Anselm: In the Lord, as I have said, let the joy of your mind be: but let men see the modesty of your conversation, that by your example they may learn to act modestly. St. Bernard connects this somewhat differently, in the sermon on the saying of the Apostle, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink." For he says: "There is a twofold joy that you have in the Holy Spirit, namely, first, from the remembrance of future goods; secondly, from the endurance of present evils. For nothing in these savors of the flesh, nothing of the world, nothing of vanity, but it is of the Spirit of truth and of heavenly wisdom, whose sweetness is foretasted in both. Rejoice in the Lord always, says the Apostle; again I say, rejoice. And following the matter of this twofold joy, he added: Let your modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is near. What is modesty, but meekness and patience? Let us therefore rejoice over those things which we await: for the Lord is near. Let us rejoice again over those which we sustain, that our modesty may be known to all. For tribulation worketh patience; patience, trial; trial, hope; and hope confoundeth not."
Excellently Cicero, and from him St. Augustine, in the book On the Blessed Life: "Modesty," he says, "is so called from 'mode' (measure), and 'temperance' from temper. But where there is measure and temper, there is neither more nor less." And below: "Therefore the measure of the soul is wisdom." And presently: "If you ask what wisdom is? it is nothing other than the measure of the soul, that is, that by which the soul balances itself, so that it neither runs into excess nor is constricted below what is full." And a little earlier: "Tullius in a popular oration says: Let each take it as he wills; I however judge frugality, that is, modesty and temperance, to be the greatest virtue. Most learnedly and most fittingly indeed." Elegantly was a wise man asked: "What is a rose? he said: It is the purple of spring. What is modesty? he said: It is the purple of the virtues." For no purple so adorns a cardinal or a king, as modesty adorns one endowed with virtue. Modesty therefore makes the other virtues illustrious, as it were like royal virgins in royal dress. Whence Euripides in the Medea calls modesty "the most beautiful gift of the gods." For, as Hugh of St. Victor says, "the disposition of the mind is known in the bearing of the body. Thus the motion of the body is, as it were, a voice of the soul." Hence St. Augustine in the Rule thus enjoins: "In all our motions let nothing be done which may offend anyone's sight, but what becomes our sanctity."
Note: For "modesty," the Greek is τὸ ἐπιεικές, which first, signifies equity; secondly, humanity; thirdly, moderation of mind, by which we bear and tolerate even adversities, persecutions, injuries, and enemies themselves with moderation. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Theophylact take it, as though Paul wished that the Philippians, against the Gentiles and others persecuting and afflicting them, should not flare up nor be indignant, but through moderation of mind patiently bear all things however hard, and be meek, kindly, and peaceable toward their enemies. This sense is very fitting to this passage, to the persons, and to the time.
Fourthly, τὸ ἐπιεικές signifies modesty, as our [Vulgate] translates, which is the virtue that places measure on external actions, namely, that moderates speech, gait, bearing, and every gesture and movement, both at the table and in the streets, in the church, in the schools, and in any other place. See what is said at Galatians v, 23.
Therefore the Apostle wills that Christians display modesty to all, by which they may bear witness to their interior moderation of mind, and by which they may attract others to Christianity and to imitating their modesty.
Thus indeed St. Bernard, by his appearance and composure of manners, invited all to the love of God and to purity of life. For, as the author of his Life says, book III, chap. 1: "There appeared in his flesh a certain spiritual grace; in his face there shone forth a brightness not earthly but heavenly; in his eyes there radiated a certain angelic purity and dove-like simplicity; so great was the beauty of his interior man, that it broke forth outwardly by certain evident signs and as if abundantly suffused with the fawn-skin of inward purity and grace, the outer man also seemed transformed." By this modesty also excelled St. Malachy, Bishop of Ireland, who moved no member of his body without reason, says St. Bernard in his Life. And St. Lucian, presbyter and martyr, who by his modest, cheerful, and pious appearance alone converted many to Christ. For so great was the serenity, sweetness, and light in his countenance that he seemed to emit rays; so great was the sanctity and grace of his manners, that he appeared an angel, not a man; and no one could behold him without being kindled with love of the faith and of Christ; so much so that the Emperor Galerius Maximianus, the fiercest enemy of Christians, did not dare to look upon him face to face. Hear the author of his Life, and through him Baronius, in the year of our Lord 311: "When Maximianus heard from many about Lucian, that so great a reverence sat upon his face that, if he merely saw him alone, he would be in danger of becoming a Christian; afterwards he ordered him to be brought, fearing lest such a thing happen to him, and with a veil interposed he separated the encounter of conversation, and uttered words to him from afar, employing an intermediate minister of speech." Wherefore deservedly the Author of the Commentary, book II on Job among the works of Origen (for it cannot be Origen, since he preceded Lucian by many years), treating of the glorious life and martyrdom of Lucian: "Thus, he says, was consummated the blessed and glorious Lucian, shining in life, shining also in faith (shining in modesty as well as in countenance), shining also in the consummation of his endurance. For this reason Lucian was so named as luminous, either shining by his own light, or giving light to others." Furthermore, the cause and source of so great a modesty in Lucian is indicated by the author of his Life, when at the beginning he describes his earliest age thus: "He spent the greatest part of his life in prayers and tears. He was as far from buffoonery and laughter as he judged these things to be truly ridiculous. On the contrary, he sought to imitate those who mourned, and considered them worthy of the beatitudes. Embracing silence, and given to assiduous meditation, he always seemed thoughtful and full of sadness to those who approached him, even though in spirit he perpetually exulted and rejoiced within himself. If ever a word seemed to issue from his mouth, the divine Scriptures were what he spoke. For such was the divine love of them which had taken hold of him, that he scarcely wished to take sleep on account of his continual meditation upon them": whence also he produced the Greek edition of the Bibles from the Hebrew text, which is called the Lucianic. These first rudiments of his piety drew his mind away from earthly things and imbued it with divine matters, so that, full of God, he put on as it were a divine countenance and divine manners.
Beautifully also St. Ephrem describes the particular acts of this modesty and temperance, as he calls it, in every direction, in his book On Virtues and Vices, chapter On Temperance and Continence, when he says: "The temperate man, with the bridle of modesty, restrains his tongue from insults, and abstains from imprecations; he does not delight in vain talk, he is not moved to slander and disparage one against another; he conceals secrets, and covers others' affairs in silence. He is called temperate in hearing, who does not lend his ears to vain and slanderous things. In the eyes, he who does not look indiscriminately at things which can give pleasure, or at things which it is wrong to see. He is temperate in mind, who so governs it that he is not carried away by anger, nor quickly provoked. Modesty in glory is seen, when one so moderates his mind, that he is not overcome by chasing after honors, dignities, or praises. In thoughts, when one represses by the fear of God the flattering and smiling thoughts. In foods, when one does not delight in finer things, nor desires food outside the appointed time of eating, nor anticipates the hour, lest he greedily seek the variety and beauty of dishes. In drink, when he indulges immoderately not only in wine, but not even in the drinking of water." Thus he. More briefly St. Bernard, epistle 113: "Discipline, he says, composes the mind and body, lowers the neck, settles the brows, composes the countenance, binds the eyes, restrains loud laughter, moderates the tongue, bridles the gullet, calms anger, shapes the gait." And another Doctor: "Let your jests, he says, be without sting, your jokes without baseness, your voice without shouting, your gait without tumult: speak little, think more, arm yourself with modesty, look at the earth with your face, at heaven with your mind."
The Lord is at hand. — Some add the word "for"; but neither the Syriac, nor the corrected Greek, nor the Latin texts have it, and without it the sense is plainer: for the Apostle wishes to give a general spur both to the modesty and joy which he had previously discussed, and to the quietness of mind, prayer, and other virtues which he subjoins.
This spur is, if we consider that the Lord is at hand: now the sense is, "The Lord is at hand," that is, Christ the judge draws near, that He may behold, succor, and assist our patience and modesty. So Anselm. Secondly and genuinely, "The Lord is at hand," that is, Christ the judge draws near, that He may come to judgment, that He may crown our patience and modesty, that He may complete our joy, and that He may avenge and punish the injuries of those who persecute us.
Verse 6: Be Nothing Solicitous, but in Every Thing by Prayer and Supplication, with Thanksgiving
6. Be therefore solicitous about nothing, — as if to say: Therefore let not the solicitude for temporal goods or evils trouble you, whether you be despoiled of your goods, or punished with exile, or afflicted with diseases or other misfortunes; because for all these things the Lord, coming in a short while, will confer eternal goods upon you. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Theophylact.
Note: This passage can be understood of the particular judgment, as if to say: Near is the end of our life, since it is very short, for we shall soon die, and consequently near is the particular judgment, and near is the Lord, who in it as president and judge will judge us.
Secondly and better, take it of the universal judgment: for the Apostle is accustomed to speak of it as if it were imminent and near, so that Christians may always have it before their eyes, and prepare themselves for it. Hence the Apostle is wont to call the day of universal judgment the day of the Lord; therefore the Lord is at hand, because the end of the world and the day of universal judgment is at hand, which the Lord will exercise before the whole world; near, I say, with respect to the very long foreknowledge and eternity of God, in which a thousand years are as yesterday's day which has passed, as if to say: Therefore cultivate modesty, patience, and other virtues, that on the day of judgment you may be glad and secure, and that you may receive from Christ the judge public praise and the crown of glory. So Chrysostom and Theophylact.
On which subject the same Chrysostom beautifully says, hom. 37 on John: "The time of rendering an account is now imminent. Therefore Paul says: The Lord is at hand, be solicitous for nothing, the Lord is at hand, we are not far from the end, but already the world is hastening; this is what wars, afflictions, earthquakes, and extinguished charity signify. For just as the body, when death is approaching, is afflicted with innumerable evils, and a house near to falling crumbles into ruins: so the world hastening to its end is worn down by such great evils on every side; for if in Paul's times the Lord was at hand, now He is certainly nearer. If three hundred years ago Paul said the end of the times had come, what must now be said?" Then he adds that the day of judgment, as it is near, will likewise be sudden and unforeseen, saying: "Let us therefore restrain our passions, let us exercise ourselves in the fear of God; for to us, lost in license and expecting nothing of the kind, the coming of God will be at hand unawares. Which Christ signifies in these words: As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be, etc., as Paul: When they shall say, Peace, security, then shall sudden destruction come upon them: as the sorrow upon her that is with child. Often pregnant women, while walking and playing, while delighting themselves in baths and at spectacles, are tormented by sudden pains: in such a condition we too live in this life. Let us therefore always be ready."
In every prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. — Note, the word "every" cannot be referred to prayer: for in the Greek there is a disagreement of gender; παντί, that is "every," is of the masculine gender: but προσευχῇ, that is "prayer," is feminine. Hence Oecumenius and the Greeks understand with ἐν παντί the word πράγματι, that is in every — understand — matter and business about which you are solicitous. The Syriac with παντί understands χρόνῳ, that is at every time, that is always. "By prayer," that is, through prayer and earnest and fervent supplication joined with thanksgiving (for this prayer and supplication is pleasing to God, and provokes God's grace and aid, which proceeds from a grateful soul and is seasoned with thanksgiving), make your petitions known and expose them to God, that you may demand and obtain His help.
Verse 7: And the Peace of God, Which Surpasseth All Understanding, Keep Your Hearts and Minds in Christ Jesus
7. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. — First, "The peace of God," says Chrysostom and Theophylact, is the reconciliation which God made with men, when, once being angry with them, He was made appeased through Christ. Whence Christ is called "our peace," that is, the cause of peace, Eph. II, [14]. This peace the Prophets and Angels sang at Christ's birth, chanting: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."
Secondly: "Peace," says Anselm, by which God is at peace and most quiet in Himself, whose nature is peace, says Ambrose, may it guard your hearts, and may He communicate His peace to them; for God is uncreated peace, by participation in which angels and men are pacified.
Thirdly, others understand peace with men and forgetfulness of injuries, on which see Chrysostom in his moral hom. 14.
Fourthly and best, Ambrose says: "The peace" which a holy soul has with God is the tranquility of conscience; "which surpasses all understanding," in Greek νοῦν, that is intellect, as if to say: It cannot be understood what kind and how great this peace is.
May guard, — In Greek φρουρήσει, that is, will guard, as if Paul were promising them this guardianship, and animating them with confidence in it. But our [Latin translator] more aptly renders "may guard": for the Hebrews often take the future for the optative, which they lack, and the conjunction "and" requires it, namely so as to link the same tenses and moods. Since therefore the optative mood preceded, namely "let it be known, be ye, let them be made known," it follows that here also it must be rendered in the same way by the optative: for all the preceding and following are of one wishing. Now "may guard," that is, after the manner of a military guard, defends against all enemies; for φρούριον signifies the guard which is wont to be applied to besieged cities.
Your hearts (that is, your wills, lest by any temptation or persecution you allow yourselves to be torn away from faith, justice, virtue) and your understandings (that is, your intellects, lest you be led into any error against the faith, or into any erroneous practical judgment opposed to good morals) in Christ Jesus, — that is, through Christ, says Oecumenius. Secondly and better, "in Christ," namely so that "in Christ," that is in the faith and grace of Christ, you may remain and grow, and so be more closely joined to Christ.
Note: Paul here suggests to Christians that they oppose peace to all their enemies as an impenetrable shield, because this peace truly shatters all the suggestions of the devil, the flesh, and the world: nay, it overcomes all the threats and torments of tyrants. Whence St. Tiburtius the martyr, when he had despised all the torments of Torquatus the tyrant and executioner, gave the reason of this contempt and magnanimity, saying: "Every punishment is base to us, where pure conscience is our companion"; namely:
Let this be your wall of bronze: To be conscious of no wrong in oneself, to grow pale at no guilt.
See what I said on I Timothy I, 5. Hence it is that with every effort the devil tries to snatch this peace from us, by soliciting us to sins; or at least to disturb it, by sending in scruples, diffidences, sorrows, temptations.
Note secondly: This peace first induces serenity in the mind; secondly, joy: for a secure mind is like a continual feast; thirdly, confidence, and from it magnanimity; for he who knows that he has peace with God, that he is in God's grace, nay, a friend and son of God, that he has God for a father; a father, I say, most loving, who exercises the highest care and providence over His sons, and makes all things cooperate for them unto good, for the greater merit of grace and glory: he, I say, who seriously considers and weighs these things, this man trusts wholly in God, commits himself and all his to Him, and does not doubt that God will direct and prosper him and his actions, and will protect him against enemies and tyrants however ferocious. He therefore, certain of the protection and paternal direction of his Father God, rests in it and sleeps secure, and says:
Even if the broken world should fall in upon him, the ruins will strike him unafraid;
no one will harm me unless he has first wounded and conquered God.
Note thirdly: This peace and confidence makes us not only unconquerable to demons and all enemies, but also terrible and formidable. "For who," says Ambrose, "would not fear one whom he knows to be a friend of God, who has God as protector, nay as avenger, for whom God fights, to make him triumph?" II Cor. II, 14.
Verse 8: Whatsoever Things Are True, Whatsoever Modest, Whatsoever Just, Whatsoever Holy, Whatsoever Lovely, Whatsoever of Good Fame
8. For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, — that is, sincere and free from hypocrisy: or more generally, that by this first epithet he embraces all the rest that follow, which he then explains specifically, "whatsoever things are true," with the truth of life, that is, conformable to the Christian law, profession, and perfection. Hence Theophylact: "True," he says, that is, endowed with virtues: for every vice is a lie, says Chrysostom.
Whatsoever things are modest, — σεμνά, that is grave, severe, honorable, modest. So the Syriac, Theophylact, Erasmus, as if to say: Such things as adorn you with a certain holy gravity: for these are also chaste. For unchaste things love levity and frivolous gestures, and flee from holiness. St. Ambrose translates, magnificent.
Whatsoever things are holy. — Our Interpreter reads ἅγια, now they read ἁγνά, that is chaste, unless you say that holiness here, as also elsewhere, signifies chastity, as in I Cor. VII, verse 34, it is said of a virgin: That she may be holy, that is, pure and chaste, in body and spirit. Paul opposes chastity, says Chrysostom, to those whose god is their belly, of whom in the preceding chapter.
Whatsoever things are lovely. — προσφιλῆ, that is whatsoever things are suited for nourishing or promoting friendship, concord, and benevolence: for he wishes that Christians make themselves lovable to all, even to the Ethnics, that they may win them over to themselves, and so allure them to Christ and to virtue; for by this lovableness men are caught as if by bait. So Christ and the Apostles strove to bring it about that they were loved by all, by showing themselves benevolent, friendly, and affable to all: hence Paul became all things to all men.
Whatsoever things are of good report, — which would win for you and for Christ and Christianity name and reputation. Ambrose translates, whatever things are praiseworthy; Erasmus wrongly translates, whatsoever things are auspicious, or are of good omen: for although the Greek εὔφημα also signifies this, that signification does not suit this passage. For what connection or affinity is there between things that are modest, just, holy, and things that are of good omen? Therefore εὔφημα here signifies those things which are of good report, as Beza confesses; for φήμη signifies report.
If there be any praise of discipline, think on these things. — In the Greek it is not "of discipline," but only εἴ τις ἔπαινος, that is, if there is any praise, namely of a good life and discipline, as if to say: Whatever there is of praiseworthy discipline, whatever there is that may keep you in holy discipline and exercise you in it, and which may commend Christian discipline to the Ethnics, "these," that is the things just said, "think upon," that you may do them and carry them out.
Note: The Apostle commands us to pursue not praise but praiseworthy things. "Do praiseworthy things," says Chrysostom, "but not for the sake of praise."
Verse 9: The Things Which You Have Learned and Received and Heard and Seen in Me, These Do; and the God of Peace Shall Be With You
9. The things which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, these do: and the God of peace shall be with you. — From this it is clear that Paul prescribed to the Philippians many particular things concerning dress, clothing, the table, conversation, gestures, manners, and every kind of modesty in church, in the streets, at banquets, especially with the Ethnics, and that he taught these things by word and example (namely how they ought to conduct themselves in all matters) which are not committed to writing, yet he wishes to be observed by them; therefore Scripture alone is not the rule of things to be believed and done, as the Innovators wish.
Note: He calls God "the God of peace" as the author and lover of peace, as if to say: God, who loves peace, will be present with you, and will foster peace with you and will make you enjoy mutual peace: nay, He will win for you peace and the favor of the Gentiles.
Verse 10: Now I Rejoice in the Lord Exceedingly, That Now at Length Your Thought for Me Hath Flourished Again
10. At length at last (after a longer delay and torpor) you have flourished again to think for me. — In Greek ἀνεθάλετε τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φρονεῖν, that is, you have grown green again to think for me. Where note: It is a metaphor from plants, which dry up in winter, and grow green again in spring, as if to say: So you, O Philippians, were as it were in a kind of chill of charity toward me and as if dry: now with a new spring and as if with the breath of the Spirit you have grown green again, revived, and flourished again. So Chrysostom and Theophylact.
Secondly, φρονεῖν, that is to think, is taken for φροντίζειν, that is to care, to bear care and solicitude. So it is taken in Col. III, 2, and elsewhere, as if to say: You had grown lukewarm and somewhat torpid toward me and my care, O Philippians; but now you have resumed your former affection, care, and solicitude for nourishing and cherishing me. So Chrysostom and Theophylact.
As you also did think, — ἐφ᾿ ᾧ, in which you thought, as if to say: In which matter you used to think, that is, to be solicitous for me, namely in providing for me food and the necessities of life.
But you were busy. — Because he had tacitly reproached them with torpor and blamed their negligence, here he softens and excuses the rebuke, saying: "You were busy," in Greek ἠκαιρεῖσθε, that is, you did not have an opportunity, namely of helping me, you did not have at hand things to send. For, as Chrysostom says, things were tight for you at home, you had not the means to succor me, impotence and penury occupied you, and shut and bound your hands. Add that, just as the Greek εὐκαιρεῖν signifies not only "I have opportunity," but also "I am wealthy and rich," as Henricus Stephanus teaches from Suidas and Athenaeus: so its opposite, ἀκαιρεῖν, signifies not only "I am destitute of opportunity," but also "of resources, I am poor." So Chrysostom and Theophylact also explain it. Hence our [translator] aptly renders (whatever Beza may shout) "you were busy," namely with your poverty, with feeding yourselves and caring for your own, as if to say: I attribute it not so much to your negligence that you have hitherto sent nothing to me, as to your indigence. Others interpret: You did not have an opportunity, that is a faithful messenger, through whom you might send.
Verse 11: I Speak Not as It Were for Want; for I Have Learned, in Whatsoever State I Am, to Be Content Therewith
11. Not that I speak as if from want, — that is, as the Syriac more clearly translates, I do not say this because I have suffered or am suffering want, namely that I rejoice in your solicitude and almsgiving for me.
For I have learned (by exercise, use, and habit) in whatever state I am (in those things which I have, which are at hand) to be sufficient. — In Greek αὐτάρκης εἶναι, that is, to be sufficient unto myself and content.
Note, it is proper to God to be sufficient unto Himself, whence in Hebrew He is called Saddai, as if to say סדי scedai, that is, He to whom is all sufficiency, or who has all sufficiency. Hence some think the name God, and θεός and Zeus, are derived from this Hebrew name די dai, that is sufficiency, so that all these are the same as the Hebrew saddai and the Greek αὐτάρκης. For God is He who, perfect in Himself, sufficient, blessed, lacks nothing, and whom all other things lack; and this is what the Psalmist says, Psalm XV, 2: "I said to the Lord: You are my God, for You have no need of my goods." Where note that such sufficiency is in God which is abundance, by which He suffices not only Himself, but also all creatures, and abundantly supplies what is fitting for each; and this is what the Hebrew saddai signifies, that is, He who has all sufficiency and abundance in such a way that He bestows and communicates it to others as if from a cornucopia, as if to say: Most sufficient, most abundant, most copious, of whose fullness, as John says in chapter I, we all have received. Hence St. Paul, explaining the force of the word Saddai, in I Timothy chapter VI, 17: "Charge the rich," he says, "etc., not to trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who gives us all things abundantly to enjoy," that is, who is saddai. So also R. Saadias: "For this reason," he says, "God is called Saddai, because He Himself abounds and fills up all the defects of all creatures." For this reason the Greeks render the Hebrew Saddai, now Αὐτάρκης, now Παντοκράτωρ, but the Latins everywhere Omnipotent. "Aquila," says Jerome to Marcella, "translates ἱκανόν, which we can take as robust and sufficient for accomplishing all things." The same force of the word Saddai Paul explains, Acts XVII, 24: "God," he says, "who made the world and all things, etc., nor is He worshipped with human hands as needing anything, since He Himself gives to all life, and breath, and all things, etc.; for in Him we live, and move, and are."
Therefore God is called Saddai not only by this name, because He is omnipotent and can do all things, but also because He is efficacious, and efficaciously works and does all things in all things, and by His care, prudence, wisdom, and goodness all things exist, live, are moved; and because all men, and indeed all creatures, receive from His inexhaustible fullness their existence, life, operations, and all goods, as from an eternal treasure and perennial fountain. Whence Plato, distinguishing these three: ἔνδειαν, αὐτάρκειαν, and ὑπέρχυσιν, that is, indigence, sufficiency, and redundance or effusion, attributes to God only ὑπέρχυσιν, that is the abundance and effusion of goodness. "As," he says, "some bowl most full of wine overflows, so also God's goodness, most full in itself, redounds and overflows into men and other creatures." Nazianzen, in his oration On the Son, only reproaches Plato for this: that he seems to indicate by this example a certain natural effusion, not voluntary and free: for elsewhere Nazianzen admits this effusion in God, oration 2 On Easter.
Hence an outstanding and divine good, and indeed the primary participation of divine virtue, perfection, and happiness, is if anyone is αὐτάρκης, that is, sufficient unto himself, content with his lot and condition, so that, desiring nothing, he lacks nothing, but rather in proportion to his lot communicates himself and his goods to others and pours them out liberally. Such a one Paul here proposes himself for all to imitate; and this virtue both continual pilgrimage and prison taught him. The Reverend Vendevillius, recently Bishop of Tournai, a man of apostolic zeal, used to assert that he had learned this very thing in fact and by like experience; who, when he was still acting as counselor, was captured by the heretics and led toward Holland, and when he was forced to live on a meager and harsh diet in prison, and was treated harshly, yet lived healthy, vigorous, and well; and at length, freed from prison, when he returned to us, being asked how he had fared in prison, he answered that he had learned by patience what he never would have believed unless he had experienced it, that nature is content with so few things; nay, that it remains strong and vigorous: I learned, he says, in prison to be sufficient unto myself, and to be content with few and humble things, who, being more delicate and accustomed to a softer life, thought it impossible for me to live thus; and so prison was for me an outstanding school, a benefit, for which I give immense thanks to God. About this sufficiency I have said more on I Timothy VI, 6, and II Cor. IX, 8.
Verse 12: I Know Both How to Be Brought Low, and I Know How to Abound; Both to Be Full, and to Be Hungry
12. I know both how to be humbled, and I know how to abound; and to be filled, and to be hungry; and to abound, and to suffer want. — Vatablus and Erasmus translate: I know how to be humble, I know also to excel, that is, I know in what frame of mind I ought to be when God depresses me, and again when He makes me excel others; for excellence properly is opposed to humility, not to abundance. And the Greek περισσεύειν signifies not only to abound, but also to excel. But our [translator] better renders: I know both to be humbled, and I know to abound: for the Apostle does not speak of humility of mind, but of poverty. For the Hebrews call דך dac both lowly and indigent, and humble, vile, and abject; and עני ani both poor and needy, and humble, meek and gentle: for he who is needy is despised as base, and the same speaks humbly and meekly to the proud rich. "To be humbled," therefore, here signifies to be needy and indigent; whence to it is opposed, not to be proud, but "to abound"; for the Apostle treats of want and abundance of things. Again "to be humbled," that is to fast: for the Hebrews call ענות נפש anot nephes, that is to humble or afflict the soul, fasting. Whence presently, explaining, he adds, and to be filled, and to be hungry; and to abound, and to suffer want, as if to say: I know how to bear want, I know how to bear abundance also, I know how I should conduct myself in want, I know how also in abundance: in the former, namely, not to be saddened, not to be dejected, I know how to be content with few things; in the latter, not to be dissolute, not to indulge, but to confer what remains upon the poor. So Chrysostom and Theophylact.
Everywhere and in all things I have been instructed. — In Greek μεμύημαι, that is, I have been initiated into mysteries, I have been imbued with sacred things. Therefore it signifies first, that in Christians all abundance as well as want, and the whole life is like a perpetual sacrifice consecrated to God, whose rite and manner Christ has taught us, and teaches His holy initiates, secretly and inwardly, the mystery of it, which is hidden from all others.
Secondly, this mystery is to know how to bear both poverty and opulence, how you ought to conduct yourself both at feasts and banquets, and in want, hunger, and thirst, namely so as to keep moderation in both, and to preserve quiet of mind and patience; for it is no less, nay greater, virtue, if seated at a splendid and sumptuous table you are not captured by so many enticements and delicacies, do not exceed the bounds of temperance, but contain yourself in your accustomed continence and frugality, than if invited by a rustic to dinner you are content with black bread and bacon, and do not require more. "Great and rare virtue it is," says Bernard, "to hunger amid feasts, to be cold amid garments, to be humble amid honors. Hannibal knew how to hunger and suffer want, he knew not how to be filled and abound: for the delights of Capua enervated the unconquered Hannibal, and presented him to the Romans, now warlike no more, to be conquered."
Thirdly, just as mysteries were first learned by initiates by both studying and experiencing, and then exercised by the same, now sufficiently taught and instructed: so Paul signifies that he, like an initiate, was first taught this mystery of Christian continence, both in abundance and in want, by Christ, and is now exercising and reducing it to practice.
To abound and to suffer want, — περισσεύειν καὶ ὑστερεῖσθαι, that is to abound and to fail, to have what is over and to suffer what is lacking, as if to say: I know how to conduct myself when I abound in goods and when I am destitute of them, I know how to use what is over and what is lacking. Beautifully explaining this passage, St. Gregory, hom. 16 on Ezekiel: "Is it really, brethren, some art to be humbled and to abound, to be filled and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer want; that so great a preacher should suggest that he knows these things as something great? It is altogether an art and a wondrous knowledge of discipline, which must be learned by us with the whole effort of the heart. For he whom his want does not break, does not withdraw from giving thanks, does not inflame in the desire of temporal things, knows how to be humbled: for in this passage the Apostle calls being humbled enduring want; for at once on the contrary he subjoins: I know also to abound. For he who is not exalted by things received, who does not divert them to the use of vainglory, who does not alone possess what he has received, but mercifully divides this with the needy, knows how to abound. He who, having received foods, uses them not to gorge the belly, but to repair virtue, and does not allow the flesh more than necessity demands, knows how to be filled. He who tolerates the want of foods without murmuring, and does nothing for the sake of necessity of virtue from which the soul might fall into the snare of sin, knows how to be hungry. He whom abundance does not lift into pride, and whom desire does not provoke in necessity, knows how to abound, knows how to suffer want. Who, when he immediately added: I can do all things; lest we should believe these words to be of elation, joined: In Him who strengthens me, and what follows."
Morally, St. Chrysostom, hom. 79 on John, vol. III, teaches that this is the chief difference between angels and us: that they do not need so many things as we do, and therefore the fewer things we need, the more we shall approach them, and God Himself: but the more things we abound in, the more we deflect to this perishable life, and the more we are unlike to the angels. For true liberty is to need absolutely nothing; which liberty God alone possesses. Next to this is the liberty of needing the least possible; which the angels have. This we can and ought to imitate, lest, being Christians, we suffer ourselves to be conquered by the Ethnics, who, content with few things, lived joyfully and cheerfully, like Crates, Socrates, Diogenes, and others. For Socrates often, when he beheld the multitude of things being publicly sold, would say: "How many things I myself do not need!" He gloried in the simplicity of his fare, saying: "He who eats most pleasantly, needs the least seasoning, and he is most akin to the gods who needs the fewest things." Laertius is the witness in his life of Socrates.
So Cicero, V Tusculan Disputations, reports that Anacharsis, the Scythian philosopher, wrote to his friends: "For me, my mantle is a Scythian covering; my shoe is the callus of my soles; my couch, the earth; my food, hunger," etc. Hear Seneca too, book XIX, Letter 14: "It is not," he says, "that you should praise yourself too much, if you have despised golden beds; for what virtue is it to despise superfluous things, especially for a man who is a philosopher? Then admire yourself, when you have despised necessary things; then I will admire you, when you have despised even sordid bread." Truly, "great revenue (not only of income, but also of virtue) is parsimony." For just as the readiest way to increase income is to subtract from expenses, as Socrates taught Aeschines; so the readiest way to increase continence and virtue is to subtract from delights and pleasures. Hear what Cato the elder did: "Neither," he said, "is there any building of mine, nor any costly garment in my hand, nor a costly slave, nor a maidservant. If there is anything for me to use, I use it; if not, I am he by whom each may use and enjoy whatever is mine." Hear the Poet:
Who is rich? He who desires nothing: and who is poor? The greedy man.
Verse 13: I Can Do All Things in Him Who Strengtheneth Me
13. I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. — For "I can," in Greek it is ἰσχύω, that is, I am powerful, strong, vigorous. Secondly, for "strengthens," in Greek it is ἐνδυναμοῦντι, that is, who inwardly corroborates me, makes me strong and robust, namely by supplying to the soul, mind, and will the powers of His grace.
"What a voice of confidence," says St. Bernard, sermon 85 on the Canticle, "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me! Nothing renders the omnipotence of the Word more clear, than that He makes omnipotent all who hope in Him. Finally, all things are possible to the believer. Is He not omnipotent, to whom all things are possible? So the soul, if it does not presume of itself, but is strengthened by the Word, will assuredly be able to rule itself, that no iniquity may dominate it: so, I say, leaning on the Word and clothed with power from on high, no force, no fraud, no allurement will any longer be able either to throw it down standing, or to subject it dominating."
Verse 14: Nevertheless You Have Done Well in Communicating to My Tribulation
14. Nevertheless you have done well in communicating with my tribulation, — that is, in that you communicated to me your goods and resources in my tribulation, when I was in chains, you have done well: for thus you lightened my chains and tribulation, and as it were diverted and received part of my tribulation from my shoulders onto your own shoulders; and consequently, just as you wished to make yourselves partakers and communicate with my tribulation and chains, so also you will be partakers of the reward which I expect from God for this tribulation, and in it you will share with me.
Verse 15: No Church Communicated With Me as Concerning Giving and Receiving, but You Only
15. No church communicated with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone. — "In the matter," that is in the reckoning and compensation of giving and receiving, compensating namely the spiritual things received from me with their temporal gifts, or rather stipends. So Chrysostom and Theophylact. He alludes to the account books, ledgers, and registers of merchants, who in one part or table of the book write down their gifts and expenditures, in the other their receipts, what they have received in exchange for what they have laid out; so as to signify that there is a kind of exchange of goods, as it were, between preachers and hearers, namely that preachers hand over the Gospel, truth, and spiritual goods, while the hearers repay them with food and temporal goods. Again it signifies that every man has such a book of accounts with respect to God, as will appear in v. 17, as if to say: From you alone, O Philippians, I have received what I shall enter in the codex of givings and receivings, which the Rabbis call מתן ומשא mattan umassa, or more clearly Adam[us], as if to say: I have two account books, one of which contains those things which I gave (namely preaching, labors, expenses, and the goods of the Gospel): which when I inspect, I see that I have given and expended much to the Churches of Macedonia, but received nothing from them, except from you alone, who are at Philippi. This the Apostle says, in order to remove from himself the suspicion of avarice and of [coveting] riches, lest they think him to be everywhere collecting these stipends from all, and so enriching himself and gaping after wealth.
Verse 16: For unto Thessalonica Also You Sent Once and Again for My Use
16. For even to Thessalonica (in Greek into Thessalonica, namely while I was there) once and again (once and twice) for my need (εἰς χρείαν, for relieving my want; or, as the Syriac says, that of which I had need) you sent to me.
Verse 17: Not That I Seek the Gift, but I Seek the Fruit That May Abound to Your Account
17. Not that I seek a gift (Syriac: not that I require a present), but I seek fruit abounding to your account. — So the Roman edition, although the Greek has, into your account. Note: "Account" here, as also in v. 15, signifies a reckoning. For he persists in the metaphor of the account books which merchants make so that the reckoning of receipts and expenses may be clear.
He says therefore that every Christian is making for himself such a book of accounts to be entered into with God, not of paper, but in the thing itself and in his very deeds (which are preserved both in our memory and rather in God's memory), in which, as it were on one side, he writes those things which he received from God, on the other those things which he expends in God's honor and service, namely the acts of virtues, especially almsgiving, as if to say: While I tacitly urge you to relieve my need, O Philippians, I seek not my own, but your gains, that you may accumulate for yourselves great works and merits of almsgiving, which in the codex of your accounts with God you may write as accounts to be entered, as expended for God's sake, and which you should reckon to God Himself in your account as it were credited to your own ledger, so that He may repay these to you and pay them out with an eternal reward.
Thus Cosimo de' Medici, who was the first of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, used to spend much on the poor; and when one of his intimates called him too liberal, he answered that, in his book of accounts of giving and receiving entered with God, he had never been able to reach the point of paying back what he owed to God: for the more he gave, the more he received, and he always found himself a debtor and God a creditor. He had learned this from St. Nazianzen who, in the oration On the Love of the Poor, says: "You will never overcome God's liberality and beneficence, even though you make a loss of all your goods, even though you add yourself also to your goods. For this very thing, to receive [from Him], is for God to give us something." And Nazianzen adds two notable comparisons: one of a shadow, which can never go beyond the body, since it advances together with the body's advance; the other of the head, beyond which the other members can never grow, since however much they are increased, the head likewise is always raised up and stands above them.
Verse 18: I Am Filled, Having Received from Epaphroditus the Things You Sent, an Odor of Sweetness, an Acceptable Sacrifice, Pleasing to God
But I have all things. — In Greek, ἀπέχω, that is: I have received those things which you sent to me as a kind of tax and stipend due to my preaching among you. So Theophylact.
And I abound. — Your alms have plainly lifted my want, so that I now abound in life's necessities. For thus he explains himself when he adds:
I am filled, — I have been satisfied. St. Cyprian, expounding the Lord's Prayer, reads: "I am filled to satiety," as if to say: All my want, all hunger, all destitution, every desire of mine has been satisfied.
Having received (after I received) from Epaphroditus the things you sent, an odor of sweetness, an acceptable host, pleasing to God. — Note: He calls the alms a "host" and sacrifice, not strictly, but metaphorically, as is clear. Secondly, he calls this "host," by apposition, an "odor of sweetness"; for he alludes to the ancient sacrifices, which used to ascend to God by fire and smoke, and therefore God was said to smell them as if offered to Himself, as though they spread a sweet odor and breathed it into the nostrils of God. Whence frankincense was imposed upon them, both to stir up a perfume and sweet odor, and that by frankincense (with which God is worshipped by the rite of all nations) it might be signified that they were offered and dedicated to God; as if to say: Almsgiving is a sacrifice fragrant to God and to Christians.
Your alms, as it were incense, or sweetest-smelling perfume, or rather as a sacrificial host and victim, which with incense rises up through fire and smoke to God with the sweetest fragrance, was most welcome and pleasing to me, and not only to me, but also to God Himself. Thus in Heb. XIII, 16 it is said: "Do not forget good works and fellowship: for by such sacrificial hosts God is well pleased."
Verse 19: And May My God Supply All Your Want, According to His Riches in Glory in Christ Jesus
19. May God fill every desire. — The Greek varies here: some read χαράν, that is, joy, and so our [Vulgate translator] seems to have read, so that by metonymy he understood "desire" through "joy"; for our joy is filled in no other way than when our desire is filled; others read χάριν, that is, grace; others, and more, χρείαν, that is, need. Whence the Syriac, Vatablus and others render it: "But may my God fill every need of yours according to His opulence," as if to say: You have withdrawn from yourselves what you sent to me, and out of your slenderness and poverty you have filled up my want; I in turn ask God to supply your need, indeed every desire of yours. For this is what almsgiving deserves, and it is fitting that, if for God's sake we are generous toward the poor, God in turn should be much more generous toward us, as I said in II Cor. IX, 6.
According to His riches, — as if to say: It is easy for God to repay you, to enrich you, to fill out your goods; for He is most rich. So Chrysostom.
In glory, — that is, with glory. So Vatablus. Or by a simple Hebraism, "in glory," that is, gloriously, as if to say: May God make you glorious both in renown and eternal glory before God, and presently before men, so that they, seeing your poverty and your munificence, and on the other side God's providence and liberality toward you, in such a way that nothing be lacking to you, may glorify and celebrate both your virtue and the goodness and magnificence of the God of Christians.
In Christ Jesus. — That is, through Christ Jesus. Secondly, and more sublimely, according to Paul's mind, as if to say: According to the riches of glory which He shows in Christ and in Christ's Church, and which befit Christ the only-begotten of God, and His disciples and sons, namely Christians.
Closing Benediction: To God and Our Father Be Glory World Without End
To God and our Father be glory unto the ages of ages. — Oh, may so blessed a lot fall to us, that we may say this in perpetuity: What are, how immense are, how eternal are "the ages of ages!" What are, how pleasing are, how glorious are in the heavens "the holies of holies!"
Verse 21: Salute Every Saint in Christ Jesus
21. Salute every saint in Christ, — that is, every Christian, who has been sanctified by baptism through Christ, and is holy by Christian profession and calling, as I have already said above.