Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Psalms 27
There are 57 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 333, footnote 8 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen De Principiis. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
On the Opposing Powers. (HTML)
... abyss, and with any other creature; but when it feels the presence of the Lord dwelling within it, confidence in the divine help will lead it to say, “The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the enemies draw near to me, to eat my flesh, my enemies who trouble me, they stumbled and fell. Though an host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in Him shall I be confident.”[Psalms 27:1-3] From which I infer that a man perhaps would never be able of himself to vanquish an opposing power, unless he had the benefit of divine assistance. Hence, also, the angel is said to have wrestled with Jacob. Here, however, I understand the writer to ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 576, footnote 7 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Chapter V (HTML)
... world” (i.e., the true world, which is perceived by the understanding), and maketh him a light of the world:” For this light shone in our hearts, to give the light of the glorious Gospel of God in the face of Christ Jesus.” And therefore that very ancient prophet, who prophesied many generations before the reign of Cyrus (for he was older than he by more than fourteen generations), expressed himself in these words: “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?”[Psalms 27:1] and, “Thy law is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path;” and again, “The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, was manifested towards us;” and, “In Thy light we shall see light.” And the Logos, exhorting us to come to ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 650, footnote 3 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)
Book VIII (HTML)
Chapter XXVII (HTML)
... suffer nothing from demons. He who by his piety possesses the favour of the Most High, who has accepted the guidance of Jesus, the “Angel of the great counsel,” being well contented with the favour of God through Christ Jesus, may say with confidence that he has nothing to suffer from the whole host of demons. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.”[Psalms 27:1] So much, then, in reply to those statements of Celsus: “If they are demons, they too evidently belong to God, and they are to be believed, to be sacrificed to according to the laws, and prayers are to be offered to them that they may be propitious.”
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 650, footnote 3 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)
Book VIII (HTML)
Chapter XXVII (HTML)
... suffer nothing from demons. He who by his piety possesses the favour of the Most High, who has accepted the guidance of Jesus, the “Angel of the great counsel,” being well contented with the favour of God through Christ Jesus, may say with confidence that he has nothing to suffer from the whole host of demons. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.”[Psalms 27:3] So much, then, in reply to those statements of Celsus: “If they are demons, they too evidently belong to God, and they are to be believed, to be sacrificed to according to the laws, and prayers are to be offered to them that they may be propitious.”
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 501, footnote 17 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Exhortation to Martyrdom, Addressed to Fortunatus. (HTML)
That injuries and penalties of persecutions are not to be feared by us, because greater is the Lord to protect than the devil to assault. (HTML)
... if the foe should declare war against us, our hope consists rather in that war itself; and that by that conflict the righteous attain to the reward of the divine abode and eternal salvation,—lays down in the twenty-sixth Psalm, and says: “Though an host should be arrayed against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise up against me, in that will I put my hope. One hope have I sought of the Lord, this will I require; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”[Psalms 27:3-4] Also in Exodus, the Holy Scripture declares that we are rather multiplied and increased by afflictions, saying: “And the more they afflicted them, so much the more they became greater, and waxed stronger.” And in the Apocalypse, divine protection is ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 444, footnote 16 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book V (HTML)
Sec. III.—On Feast Days and Fast Days (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3075 (In-Text, Margin)
... falsely; but they being found to disagree, and so their testimony not conspiring together, they altered the accusation to that of treason, saying, “This fellow says that He is a king, and forbids to give tribute to Cæsar.” And themselves became accusers, and witnesses, and judges, and authors of the sentence, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him;” that it might be fulfilled which is written by the prophets concerning Him, “Unjust witnesses were gathered together against me, and injustice lied to itself;”[Psalms 27:12] and again, “Many dogs compassed me about, the assembly of the wicked laid siege against me;” and elsewhere, “My inheritance became to me as a lion in a wood, and has sent forth her voice against me.” Pilate therefore, disgracing his authority by his ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 385, footnote 2 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)
The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary. (HTML)
Chapter 7. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1697 (In-Text, Margin)
But the virgin of the Lord advanced in age and in virtues; and though, in the words of the Psalmist, her father and mother had forsaken her, the Lord took her up.[Psalms 27:10] For daily was she visited by angels, daily did she enjoy a divine vision, which preserved her from all evil, and made her to abound in all good. And so she reached her fourteenth year; and not only were the wicked unable to charge her with anything worthy of reproach, but all the good, who knew her life and conversation, judged her to be worthy of admiration. Then the high priest publicly announced that the virgins ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 337, footnote 2 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
How God Also is Light, But in a Different Way; And How Life Came Before Light. (HTML)
... enlightened; it would not be a good arrangement to speak of the illumination of one not yet conceived as living, and to make life come after the illumination. For though “life” and “the light” of men are the same thing, the notions are taken separately. This light of men is also called, by Isaiah, “the light of the Gentiles,” where he says, “Behold I have set Thee for a covenant of the generation, for a light of the Gentiles;” and David, placing his confidence in this light, says in the twenty-sixth Psalm,[Psalms 27:1] “The Lord is my illumination and my Saviour; whom shall I fear?”
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 422, footnote 13 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on Matthew. (HTML)
Book X. (HTML)
The Disciples as Scribes. (HTML)
... possessions. “A moth of the passions,” I said, taking the suggestion from the “Proverbs” in which it is written, “a worm in wood, so pain woundeth the heart of man.” For pain is a worm and a moth, which wounds the heart which has not its treasures in heaven and spiritual things, for if a man has his treasure in these—“for where the treasure is, there will the heart be also,” —he has his heart in heaven, and on account of it he says, “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.”[Psalms 27:3] And so neither can thieves in regard to whom the Saviour said, “All that came before Me are thieves and robbers,” break through those things which are treasured up in heaven, and through the heart which is in heaven and therefore says, “He raised us ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 53, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
Commencing with the invocation of God, Augustin relates in detail the beginning of his life, his infancy and boyhood, up to his fifteenth year; at which age he acknowledges that he was more inclined to all youthful pleasures and vices than to the study of letters. (HTML)
Men Desire to Observe the Rules of Learning, But Neglect the Eternal Rules of Everlasting Safety. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 179 (In-Text, Margin)
... became confounded; but when they made a full and ornate oration, in well-chosen words, concerning their own licentiousness, and were applauded for it, they boasted? Thou seest this, O Lord, and keepest silence, “long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth,” as Thou art. Wilt Thou keep silence for ever? And even now Thou drawest out of this vast deep the soul that seeketh Thee and thirsteth after Thy delights, whose “heart said unto Thee,” I have sought Thy face, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”[Psalms 27:8] For I was far from Thy face, through my darkened affections. For it is not by our feet, nor by change of place, that we either turn from Thee or return to Thee. Or, indeed, did that younger son look out for horses, or chariots, or ships, or fly away ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 65, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
Of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth years of his age, passed at Carthage, when, having completed his course of studies, he is caught in the snares of a licentious passion, and falls into the errors of the Manichæans. (HTML)
He Argues Against the Same as to the Reason of Offences. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 252 (In-Text, Margin)
... or two together, or all at once. And so do men live in opposition to the three and seven, that psaltery “of ten strings,” Thy ten commandments, O God most high and most sweet. But what foul offences can there be against Thee who canst not be defiled? Or what deeds of violence against thee who canst not be harmed? But Thou avengest that which men perpetrate against themselves, seeing also that when they sin against Thee, they do wickedly against their own souls; and iniquity gives itself the lie,[Psalms 27:12] either by corrupting or perverting their nature, which Thou hast made and ordained, or by an immoderate use of things permitted, or in “burning” in things forbidden to that use which is against nature; or when convicted, raging with heart and voice ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 131, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He speaks of his design of forsaking the profession of rhetoric; of the death of his friends, Nebridius and Verecundus; of having received baptism in the thirty-third year of his age; and of the virtues and death of his mother, Monica. (HTML)
He Retires to the Villa of His Friend Verecundus, Who Was Not Yet a Christian, and Refers to His Conversion and Death, as Well as that of Nebridius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 711 (In-Text, Margin)
... sorrowing Verecundus (our friendship being untouched) concerning our conversion, and exhorting him to a faith according to his condition, I mean, his married state. And tarrying for Nebridius to follow us, which being so near, he was just about to do, when, behold, those days passed over at last; for long and many they seemed, on account of my love of easeful liberty, that I might sing unto Thee from my very marrow. My heart said unto Thee,—I have sought Thy face; “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”[Psalms 27:8]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 151, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
Having manifested what he was and what he is, he shows the great fruit of his confession; and being about to examine by what method God and the happy life may be found, he enlarges on the nature and power of memory. Then he examines his own acts, thoughts and affections, viewed under the threefold division of temptation; and commemorates the Lord, the one mediator of God and men. (HTML)
All Wish to Rejoice in the Truth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 864 (In-Text, Margin)
... the flesh,” so that they “cannot do the things that they would,” they fall upon that which they are able to do, and with that are content; because that which they are not able to do, they do not so will as to make them able? For I ask of every man, whether he would rather rejoice in truth or in falsehood. They will no more hesitate to say, “in truth,” than to say, “that they wish to be happy.” For a happy life is joy in the truth. For this is joy in Thee, who art “the truth,” O God, “my light,”[Psalms 27:1] “the health of my countenance, and my God.” All wish for this happy life; this life do all wish for, which is the only happy one; joy in the truth do all wish for. I have had experience of many who wished to deceive, but not one who wished to be ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 170, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
The design of his confessions being declared, he seeks from God the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and begins to expound the words of Genesis I. I, concerning the creation of the world. The questions of rash disputers being refuted, ‘What did God before he created the world?’ That he might the better overcome his opponents, he adds a copious disquisition concerning time. (HTML)
He Prays God that He Would Explain This Most Entangled Enigma. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1046 (In-Text, Margin)
... vehemently kindled towards Thy Scriptures, are not troublesome? Give that which I love; for I do love, and this hast Thou given me. Give, Father, who truly knowest to give good gifts unto Thy children. Give, since I have undertaken to know, and trouble is before me until Thou dost open it. Through Christ, I beseech Thee, in His name, Holy of Holies, let no man interrupt me. For I believed, and therefore do I speak. This is my hope; for this do I live, that I may contemplate the delights of the Lord.[Psalms 27:4] Behold, Thou hast made my days old, and they pass away, and in what manner I know not. And we speak as to time and time, times and times,—“How long is the time since he said this?” “How long the time since he did this?” and, “How long the time since ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 174, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
The design of his confessions being declared, he seeks from God the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and begins to expound the words of Genesis I. I, concerning the creation of the world. The questions of rash disputers being refuted, ‘What did God before he created the world?’ That he might the better overcome his opponents, he adds a copious disquisition concerning time. (HTML)
That Human Life is a Distraction But that Through the Mercy of God He Was Intent on the Prize of His Heavenly Calling. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1062 (In-Text, Margin)
... I may apprehend in whom I have been apprehended, and may be recollected from my old days, following The One, forgetting the things that are past; and not distracted, but drawn on, not to those things which shall be and shall pass away, but to those things which are before, not distractedly, but intently, I follow on for the prize of my heavenly calling, where I may hear the voice of Thy praise, and contemplate Thy delights, neither coming nor passing away. But now are my years spent in mourning.[Psalms 27:4] And Thou, O Lord, art my comfort, my Father everlasting. But I have been divided amid times, the order of which I know not; and my thoughts, even the inmost bowels of my soul, are mangled with tumultuous varieties, until I flow together unto Thee, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 179, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He continues his explanation of the first Chapter of Genesis according to the Septuagint, and by its assistance he argues, especially, concerning the double heaven, and the formless matter out of which the whole world may have been created; afterwards of the interpretations of others not disallowed, and sets forth at great length the sense of the Holy Scripture. (HTML)
What May Be Discovered to Him by God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1098 (In-Text, Margin)
13. Whence the soul, whose wandering has been made far away, may understand, if now she thirsts for Thee, if now her tears have become bread to her, while it is daily said unto her “Where is thy God?” if she now seeketh of Thee one thing, and desireth that she may dwell in Thy house all the days of her life.[Psalms 27:4] And what is her life but Thee? And what are Thy days but Thy eternity, as Thy years which fail not, because Thou art the same? Hence, therefore, can the soul, which is able, understand how far beyond all times Thou art eternal; when Thy house, which has not wandered from Thee, although it be not co-eternal with Thee, yet by continually and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 28, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)
The unity and equality of the Trinity are demonstrated out of the Scriptures; and the true interpretation is given of those texts which are wrongly alleged against the equality of the Son. (HTML)
In What Manner Christ Shall Deliver Up the Kingdom to God, Even the Father. The Kingdom Having Been Delivered to God, Even the Father, Christ Will Not Then Make Intercession for Us. (HTML)
... that will pass away is rest that will not pass away. In that contemplation, therefore, God will be all in all; because nothing else but Himself will be required, but it will be sufficient to be enlightened by and to enjoy Him alone. And so he in whom “the Spirit maketh intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered,” says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to contemplate the beauty of the Lord.”[Psalms 27:4] For we shall then contemplate God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, when the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, so as no longer to make intercession for us, as ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 35, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)
The unity and equality of the Trinity are demonstrated out of the Scriptures; and the true interpretation is given of those texts which are wrongly alleged against the equality of the Son. (HTML)
Diverse Things are Spoken Concerning the Same Christ, on Account of the Diverse Natures of the One Hypostasis [Theanthropic Person]. Why It is Said that the Father Will Not Judge, But Has Given Judgment to the Son. (HTML)
... a sight of that form of mine, in which when I was, I thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but in order to take this form I emptied myself. That one God, therefore, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who will not appear, except for joy which cannot be taken away from the just; for which future joy he sighs, who says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord:”[Psalms 27:4] that one God, therefore, Himself, I say, is alone good, for this reason, that no one sees Him for sorrow and wailing, but only for salvation and true joy. If you understand me after this latter form, then I am good; but if according to that former ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 264, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
The Enchiridion. (HTML)
There are Two Causes of Sin, Ignorance and Weakness; And We Need Divine Help to Overcome Both. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1263 (In-Text, Margin)
... even when we err through ignorance, but we are also transgressors of the law; for we leave undone what we know we ought to do, and we do what we know we ought not to do. Wherefore not only ought we to pray for pardon when we have sinned, saying, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;” but we ought to pray for guidance, that we may be kept from sinning, saying, “and lead us not into temptation.” And we are to pray to Him of whom the Psalmist says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation:”[Psalms 27:1] my light, for He removes my ignorance; my salvation, for He takes away my infirmity.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 431, footnote 15 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 39 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2149 (In-Text, Margin)
... eternal fire, to serve God in order to avoid which is assuredly not yet of perfect charity. For the desire of the reward is one thing, the fear of punishment another. They are different sayings, “Whither shall I go away from Thy Spirit, and from Thy face whither shall I flee?” and, “One thing I have sought of the Lord, this I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord through all the days of my life, that I may consider the delight of the Lord, that I be protected in His temple:”[Psalms 27:4] and, “Turn not away Thy face from me:” and, “My soul longeth and fainteth unto the courts of the Lord.” Those sayings let him have had, who dared not to lift up his eyes to heaven; and she who was watering with tears His feet, in order to obtain ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 431, footnote 16 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 39 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2150 (In-Text, Margin)
... avoid which is assuredly not yet of perfect charity. For the desire of the reward is one thing, the fear of punishment another. They are different sayings, “Whither shall I go away from Thy Spirit, and from Thy face whither shall I flee?” and, “One thing I have sought of the Lord, this I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord through all the days of my life, that I may consider the delight of the Lord, that I be protected in His temple:” and, “Turn not away Thy face from me:”[Psalms 27:9] and, “My soul longeth and fainteth unto the courts of the Lord.” Those sayings let him have had, who dared not to lift up his eyes to heaven; and she who was watering with tears His feet, in order to obtain pardon for her grievous sins; but these do ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 547, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On Care to Be Had for the Dead. (HTML)
Section 16 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2747 (In-Text, Margin)
... night fail to visit, that mother who by land and sea followed me that she might live with me. Far be the thought that she should, by a life more happy, have been made cruel, to that degree that when any thing vexes my heart she should not even console in his sadness the son whom she loved with an only love, whom she never wished to see mournful. But assuredly that which the sacred Psalm sings in our ears, is true; “Because my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord hath taken me up.”[Psalms 27:10] Then if our parents have forsaken us, how take they part in our cares and affairs? But if parents do not, who else are there of the dead who should know what we are doing, or what we suffer? Isaiah the Prophet says, “For Thou art our Father: because ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 598, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist. (HTML)
In this book Augustin refutes the second letter which Petilianus wrote to him after having seen the first of Augustin’s earlier books. This letter had been full of violent language; and Augustin rather shows that the arguments of Petilianus had been deficient and irrelevant, than brings forward arguments in support of his own statements. (HTML)
Chapter 3 (HTML)
... depart from iniquity itself. For in the meantime he may separate himself from the wicked in life, and in morals, and in heart and will, and in the same respects depart from his society; and separation such as this should always be maintained. But let the separation in the body be waited for till the end of time, faithfully, patiently, bravely. In consideration of which expectation it is said, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, upon the Lord."[Psalms 27:14] For the greatest palm of toleration is won by those who, among false brethren that have crept in unawares, seeking their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ, yet show that they on their part seek not to disturb the love which is not their own, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 104, footnote 15 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter. (HTML)
The Grace Promised by the Prophet for the New Covenant. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 971 (In-Text, Margin)
... love of God, “out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith,” by means of which the just man, while living in this pilgrim state, is led on, after the stages of “the glass,” and “the enigma,” and “what is in part,” to the actual vision, that, face to face, he may know even as he is known. For one thing has he required of the Lord, and that he still seeks after, that he may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, in order to behold the pleasantness of the Lord.[Psalms 27:4]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 175, footnote 14 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness. (HTML)
No Man is Assisted Unless He Does Himself Also Work. Our Course is a Constant Progress. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1587 (In-Text, Margin)
But what is the import of the last statement which he has made: “If any one say, ‘May it possibly be that a man sin not even in word?’ then the answer,” says he, “which must be given is, ‘Quite possible, if God so will; and God does so will, therefore it is possible.’” See how unwilling he was to say, “If God give His help, then it would be possible;” and yet the Psalmist thus addresses God: “Be Thou my helper, forsake me not;”[Psalms 27:9] where of course help is not sought for procuring bodily advantages and avoiding bodily evils, but for practising and fulfilling righteousness. Hence it is that we say: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Now no man is assisted unless he also himself does ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 446, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
God’s Grace to Be Maintained Against the Pelagians; The Pelagian Heresy Not an Old One. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2996 (In-Text, Margin)
... error there was first a good deal of discussion; then, as the ultimate resource, it was referred to sundry episcopal councils, the proceedings of which, not, indeed, in every instance, but in some, I have despatched to you for your perusal. In order, then, to our performance of good works, let us not have hope in man, making strong the flesh of our arm; nor let our heart ever depart from the Lord, but let it say to him, “Be Thou my helper; forsake me not, nor despise me, O God of my salvation.”[Psalms 27:9]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 449, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
The Grace of God is Not Given According to Merit, But Itself Makes All Good Desert. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3027 (In-Text, Margin)
... only where there are no good, but even where there are many evil merits preceding: and we see it so given daily. But it is plain that when it has been given, also our good merits begin to be,—yet only by means of it; for, were that only to withdraw itself, man falls, not raised up, but precipitated by free will. Wherefore no man ought, even when he begins to possess good merits, to attribute them to himself, but to God, who is thus addressed by the Psalmist: “Be Thou my helper, forsake me not.”[Psalms 27:9] By saying, “Forsake me not,” he shows that if he were to be forsaken, he is unable of himself to do any good thing. Wherefore also he says: “I said in my abundance, I shall never be moved,” for he thought that he had such an abundance of good to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 472, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace. (HTML)
The Catholic Faith Concerning Law, Grace, and Free Will. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3245 (In-Text, Margin)
... good; but in doing evil every one is free from righteousness and a servant of sin, while in doing good no one can be free, unless he have been made free by Him who said, “If the Son shall make you free, then you shall be free indeed.” Neither is it thus, that when any one has been made free from the dominion of sin, he no longer needs the help of his Deliverer; but rather thus, that hearing from Him, “Without me ye can do nothing,” he himself also says to Him, “Be thou my helper! Forsake me not.”[Psalms 27:9] I rejoice that I have found in our brother Florus also this faith, which without doubt is the true and prophetical and apostolical and catholic faith; whence those are the rather to be corrected—whom indeed I now think to have been corrected by the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 16, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)
Chapter I. 6–14. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 34 (In-Text, Margin)
... whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they were troubled, and said among themselves, If we shall say, From heaven, he will say unto us, Why did ye not believe him?” (Because he had borne testimony to Christ, and had said, I am not the Christ, but He. “But if we shall say, Of men, we fear the people, lest they should stone us: for they held John as a prophet.” Afraid of stoning, but fearing more to confess the truth, they answered a lie to the Truth; and “wickedness imposed a lie upon itself.”[Psalms 27:12] For they said, “We know not.” And the Lord, because they shut the door against themselves, by professing ignorance of what they knew, did not open to them, because they did not knock. For it is said, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 485, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John. (HTML)
1 John II. 27–III. 8. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2222 (In-Text, Margin)
... free-will, in that he saith, “purifieth himself.” Who purifieth us but God? Yea, but God doth not purify thee if thou be unwilling. Therefore, in that thou joinest thy will to God, in that thou purifiest thyself. Thou purifiest thyself, not by thyself, but by Him who cometh to inhabit thee. Still, because thou doest somewhat therein by the will, therefore is somewhat attributed to thee. But it is attributed to thee only to the end thou shouldest say, as in the Psalm, “Be thou my helper, forsake me not.”[Psalms 27:11] If thou sayest, “Be thou my helper,” thou doest somewhat: for if thou be doing nothing, how should He be said to “help” thee?
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 95, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XXXVII (HTML)
Part 2 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 877 (In-Text, Margin)
... the wicked shall be broken” (ver. 17). Now by “their arms” is meant their power. What will he do in hell? Will it be what the rich man had to do, he who was wont “to fare sumptuously” in the upper world, and in hell “was tormented”? Therefore their arms shall be broken; “but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.” How does He “uphold” them? What saith He unto them? Even what is said in another Psalm, “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage; and let thine heart be strengthened. Wait, I say, on the Lord.”[Psalms 27:14] What is meant by this, “Wait on the Lord”? Thou sufferest but for a time; thou shalt rest for ever: thy trouble is short; thy happiness is to be everlasting. It is but for “a little while” thou art to sorrow; thy joy shall have no end. But in the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 133, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1232 (In-Text, Margin)
... I am athirst in my pilgrimage, in my running; I shall be filled on my arrival. But “When shall I come?” And this, which is soon in the sight of God, is late to our “longing.” “When shall I come and appear before God?” This too proceeds from that “longing,” of which in another place comes that cry, “One thing have I desired of the Lord; that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” Wherefore so? “That I may behold” (he saith) “the beauty of the Lord.”[Psalms 27:4] “When shall I come and appear before the Lord?”…
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 158, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1499 (In-Text, Margin)
... Physician save He is man: every Physician who cometh to a sick man, another day can be made sick, beside Him. “The God of Jacob is our taker up.” Make thyself altogether as a little child, such as are taken up by their parents. For those not taken up, are exposed; those taken up are nursed. Thinkest thou God hath so taken thee up, as when an infant thy mother took thee up? Not so, but to eternity. For thy voice is in that Psalm, “My father and my mother forsake me, but the Lord hath taken me up.”[Psalms 27:10]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 194, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1851 (In-Text, Margin)
14. “Turn Thou away Thy face from my sins, and all mine iniquities blot out” (ver. 9). For now bones humbled exult, now with hyssop cleansed, humble I have become. “Turn Thou away Thy face,” not from me, but “from my sins.” For in another place praying he saith, “Turn not away Thy face from me.”[Psalms 27:9] He that would not that God’s face be turned away from himself, would that God’s face be turned away from his sins. For to sin, when God turneth not Himself away, he adverteth: if he adverteth, he animadverteth. “And all mine iniquities blot out.” He is busied with that capital sin: he reckoneth on more, he would have all his iniquities to be blotted ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 240, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LIX (HTML)
Part 1 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2258 (In-Text, Margin)
... dark. Therefore, “my strength, I will keep to Thee:” not from Thee will I withdraw, not on myself will I rely. “My strength, to Thee I will keep: because, O God, my lifter up Thou art.” For where was I, and where am I? Whence hast Thou taken me up? What iniquities of mine hast Thou remitted? Where was I lying? To what have I been raised up? I ought to have remembered these things: because in another Psalm is said, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord hath taken me unto Him.”[Psalms 27:10]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 250, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2350 (In-Text, Margin)
7. “Days upon days of the King Thou shalt add to the years of Him” (ver. 6). This is therefore the King of whom we are the members. A King Christ is, our Head, our King. Thou hast given to Him days upon days; not only those days in that time that hath end, but days upon those days without end. “I will dwell,” he saith, “in the house of the Lord, for length of days.”[Psalms 27:4] Wherefore for length of days, but because now is the shortness of days? For everything which hath an end, is short: but of this King are days upon days, so that not only while these days pass away, Christ reigneth in His Church, but the Saints shall reign together with Him in those days which have no end.…For ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 266, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2518 (In-Text, Margin)
13. “And the tongues of them have been made weak upon them” (ver. 8). Let them whet now their tongues like a sword, let them confirm to themselves malignant discourse. Deservedly to themselves they have confirmed it, because “the tongues of them have been made weak upon them.” Could this be strong against God? “Iniquity,” he saith, “hath lied to itself;”[Psalms 27:12] “their tongues have been made weak upon them.” Behold, the Lord hath risen, that was killed.…What thinkest thou of Him who from the cross came not down, and from the tomb rose again? What therefore did they effect? But even if the Lord had not risen again, what would they have effected, except what the persecutors of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 287, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2698 (In-Text, Margin)
... sight of men trouble you, “shall be troubled by the face of Him, the Father of orphans and Judge of widows” (ver. 5). For desolate they suppose them to be, from whom ofttimes by the sword of the Word of God both parents from sons, and husbands from wives, are severed: but persons destitute and widowed have the consolation “of the Father of orphans and Judge of widows:” they have the consolation of Him that say to Him, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord hath taken up me:”[Psalms 27:10] and they that have hoped in the Lord, continuing in prayers by night and by day: by whose face those men shall be troubled when they shall have seen themselves prevail nothing, for that the whole world hath gone away after Him. For out of those ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 373, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3596 (In-Text, Margin)
... was not right with Him, and they were not counted faithful in His Testament” (ver. 37). One thing on their tongue, another thing in their heart He found, unto whom the secret things of men are naked, and without any impediment He saw what they loved rather. Therefore the heart is right with God, when it doth seek God for the sake of God. For one thing he desired of the Lord, the same he will require, that he may dwell always in the House of the Lord, and may meditate on the pleasantness of Him.[Psalms 27:4] Unto Whom saith the heart of the faithful, I will be filled, not with the flesh-pots of the Egyptians, nor with melons and gourds, and garlick and onions, which a generation crooked and embittering did prefer even to bread celestial, nor with ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 379, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3654 (In-Text, Margin)
35. Lastly there followeth, “and He builded like as of unicorns His sanctification” (ver. 70): or, as some interpreters have made thereof a new word, “His sanctifying.” The unicorns are rightly understood to be those, whose firm hope is uplifted unto that one thing, concerning which another Psalm saith, “One thing I have sought of the Lord, this I will require.”[Psalms 27:4] But the sanctifying of God, according to the Apostle Peter, is understood to be a holy people and a royal priesthood. But that which followeth, “in the land which He founded for everlasting:” which the Greek copies have εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, whether it be called by us “for everlasting,” ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 413, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXXVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3961 (In-Text, Margin)
... the body we are absent from the Lord.” Let what will abound here, we are not yet in that country whither we are hastening to return. He to whom foreign travel is sweet, loveth not his country: if his country is sweet, travel is bitter; if travel is bitter, all the day there is trouble. When is there not trouble? When there is joy in one’s country. “At Thy right hand are delights for evermore.” “Thou shalt fill me with joy,” he saith, “with Thy countenance: that I may see the delight of the Lord.”[Psalms 27:4] There toil and groaning shall pass away: there shall be not prayer but praise; there Alleluia, there Amen, the voice in concord with Angels; there vision without failing and love without weariness. So long therefore as we are not there, ye see that ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 546, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5004 (In-Text, Margin)
... thereafter.” Nor let it lift up the mind unto pride; for, “the praise of Him,” the fear of whom is the beginning of wisdom, “endureth for ever:” and this will be the reward, this the end, this the everlasting station and abode. There are found the true commandments, made fast for ever and ever; here is the very heritage of the New Covenant commanded for ever. “One thing,” he saith, “I have desired of the Lord, which I will require: even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”[Psalms 27:4] For, “blessed are they that dwell in the house” of the Lord: “they will be alway praising” Him; for “His praise endureth for ever.”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 548, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5025 (In-Text, Margin)
... faith. Nor is he broken down by any temptations: “His heart is established, and will not shrink, until he see beyond his enemies” (ver. 8). His enemies wished to see good things here, and when invisible blessings were promised them, used to say, “Who will show us any good?” Let our heart therefore be established, and shrink not, until we see beyond our enemies. For they wish to see good things of men in the land of the dying; we trust to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.[Psalms 27:13]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 588, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXIX (HTML)
Schin. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5380 (In-Text, Margin)
... are in Thy sight.” He saith therefore, “I have kept Thy commandments and Thy testimonies; because all my ways are in Thy sight” (ver. 168). As much as to say, Hadst Thou turned away Thy face from me, I should have been confounded, nor could I keep Thy commandments and testimonies. “I have kept them,” then, because “all my ways are in Thy sight.” With a look favouring and aiding man, he meant it to be understood that God seeth his ways: according to the prayer, “O hide not Thou Thy face from me.”[Psalms 27:9] …
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 485, footnote 4 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus. (HTML)
Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
He spoke of me as united in faith with him; but what is his faith? Why are his books kept secret? I can meet any attack. (HTML)
Though he may brandish the spear of his accusations and hurl them against us with all his might, we trust in the Lord our Saviour that his truth will encompass us as with a shield, and we shall be able to sing with the Psalmist: “Their blows have become as the arrows of the little ones,” and[Psalms 27:3-4] “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, even then will I be confident.” But of this at another time. Let us now return to the point where we began.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 198, footnote 5 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) (HTML)
Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) (HTML)
His life in the tombs, and combats with demons there. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1012 (In-Text, Margin)
9. He was carried therefore by the man, and as he was wont, when the door was shut he was within alone. And he could not stand up on account of the blows, but he prayed as he lay. And after he had prayed, he said with a shout, Here am I, Antony; I flee not from your stripes, for even if you inflict more nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ. And then he sang, ‘though a camp be set against me, my heart shall not be afraid[Psalms 27:3].’ These were the thoughts and words of this ascetic. But the enemy, who hates good, marvelling that after the blows he dared to return, called together his hounds and burst forth, ‘Ye see,’ said he, ‘that neither by the spirit of lust nor by blows did we stay the man, but that he ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 265, footnote 2 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) (HTML)
Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) (HTML)
Conclusion. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1509 (In-Text, Margin)
... when they see those alive whom they wish to perish. May they continue to be injured in such sort, that they may lose the power of inflicting injuries, and that those whom they persecute may give thanks unto the Lord, and say in the words of the twenty-sixth Psalm, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell[Psalms 27:1];’ and again the thirtieth Psalm, ‘Thou hast saved my soul from adversities; thou hast not shut me up into the hands of mine enemies; thou hast set my foot in a large room ’ in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom to the Father in the Holy Spirit be ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 5, page 133, footnote 11 (Image)
Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises; Select Writings and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises. (HTML)
Against Eunomius. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Lastly he displays at length the folly of Eunomius, who at times speaks of the Holy Spirit as created, and as the fairest work of the Son, and at other times confesses, by the operations attributed to Him, that He is God, and thus ends the book. (HTML)
... are meant in accordance with the mind of the Psalmist, they are a testimony to the Divinity of the Holy Ghost: but if they are opposed to the word of prophecy, then by this very fact a charge of blasphemy lies against Eunomius, because he sets up his own opinions in opposition to the holy prophets. Next he says, “Lightening souls with the light of knowledge.” This grace also the doctrine of godliness ascribes alike to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. For He is called a light by David[Psalms 27:1], and from thence the light of knowledge shines in them who are enlightened. In like manner also the cleansing of our thoughts of which the statement speaks is proper to the power of the Lord. For it was “the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 22, footnote 9 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 334 (In-Text, Margin)
... daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father’s house, and the king shall desire thy beauty.” In this forty-fourth psalm God speaks to the human soul that, following the example of Abraham, it should go out from its own land and from its kindred, and should leave the Chaldeans, that is the demons, and should dwell in the country of the living, for which elsewhere the prophet sighs: “I think to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.”[Psalms 27:13] But it is not enough for you to go out from your own land unless you forget your people and your father’s house; unless you scorn the flesh and cling to the bridegroom in a close embrace. “Look not behind thee,” he says, “neither stay thou in all ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 211, footnote 3 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3007 (In-Text, Margin)
... from other cities were present, also a great number of the inferior clergy, both priests and levites. The entire monastery was filled with bodies of virgins and monks. As soon as Paula heard the bridegroom saying: “Rise up my love my fair one, my dove, and come away: for, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone,” she answered joyfully “the flowers appear on the earth; the time to cut them has come” and “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.”[Psalms 27:13]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 271, footnote 7 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Demetrius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3770 (In-Text, Margin)
... scorpions and adders, among snares and banes, let us go forward staff in hand, our loins girded and our feet shod; that so we may come to the sweet waters of the true Jordan, and enter the land of promise and go up to the house of God. Then shall we sing with the prophet: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth;” and again: “one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”[Psalms 27:4]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 224, footnote 14 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition of the Character of the Priestly Office. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2863 (In-Text, Margin)
97. Who is the man who has never beheld, as our duty is to behold it, the fair beauty of the Lord, nor has visited His temple,[Psalms 27:4] or rather, become the temple of God, and the habitation of Christ in the Spirit? Who is the man who has never recognized the correlation and distinction between figures and the truth, so that by withdrawing from the former and cleaving to the latter, and by thus escaping from the oldness of the letter and serving the newness of the spirit, he may clean pass over to grace from the law, which finds its spiritual fulfilment in the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 236, footnote 1 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To Amphilochius, concerning the Canons. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2693 (In-Text, Margin)
XVII. You asked me about the presbyter Bianor—can he be admitted among the clergy, because of his oath? I know that I have already given the clergy of Antioch a general sentence in the case of all those who had sworn with him; namely, that they should abstain from the public congregations, but might perform priestly functions in private.[Psalms 27] Moreover, he has the further liberty for the performance of his ministerial functions, from the fact that his sacred duties lie not at Antioch, but at Iconium; for, as you have written to me yourself, he has chosen to live rather at the latter than at the former place. The man in question may, therefore, be received; but your ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 212, footnote 12 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter X. Christ's eternity being proved from the Apostle's teaching, St. Ambrose admonishes us that the Divine Generation is not to be thought of after the fashion of human procreation, nor to be too curiously pried into. With the difficulties thence arising he refuses to deal, saying that whatsoever terms, taken from our knowledge of body, are used in speaking of this Divine Generation, must be understood with a spiritual meaning. (HTML)
67. Why take such delight in that rack of questioning? You hear the name of the Son of God; abolish it, then, or acknowledge His true nature. You hear speak of the womb—acknowledge the truth of undoubted begetting. Of His heart—know that here is God’s word. Of His right hand—confess His power. Of His face—acknowledge His wisdom.[Psalms 27:9] These words are not to be understood, when we speak of God, as when we speak of bodies. The generation of the Son is incomprehensible, the Father begets impassibly, and yet of Himself and in ages inconceivably remote hath very God begotten very God. The Father loves the Son, and you anxiously examine His Person; the Father is well ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 295, footnote 4 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)
Book V. (HTML)
Chapter VI. Wishing to answer the above-stated objection somewhat more fully, he maintains that this request, had it not been impossible in itself, would have been possible for Christ to grant; especially as the Father has given all judgment to Him; which gift we must understand to have been given without any feature of imperfection. However, he proves that the request must be reckoned amongst the impossibilities. To make it really possible, he teaches that Christ's answer must be taken in accordance with His human nature, and shows this next by an exposition of the passage. Lastly, he once more confirms the reply he has given on the impossibility of Christ's session. (HTML)
86. Then follow the words: “That they may see My glory.” Here too He did not say: “that they may have My glory,” but “that they may see” it. For the servant sees, the Lord possesses; as David also has taught us, saying: “That I may see the delight of the Lord.”[Psalms 27:4] And the Lord Himself in the Gospel has revealed it, stating: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” “They shall see,” He says; not “They shall sit with God upon the cherubim.”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 342, footnote 1 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Repentance. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter XIV. St. Ambrose explains that the flesh given to Satan for destruction is eaten by the serpent when the soul is set free from carnal desires. He gives, therefore, various rules for guarding the senses, points out the snares laid for us by means of pleasures, and exhorts his hearers not to fear the destruction of the flesh by the serpent. (HTML)
77. Do not then fear if your flesh be eaten away, the soul is not consumed. And so David says that he does not fear, because the enemy were eating up his flesh but not his soul, as we read: “When evil-doers come near upon me to eat up my flesh, my foes who trouble me, they were weakened and fell.”[Psalms 27:2] So the serpent works overthrow for himself alone, therefore is he who has been injured by the serpent given over to the serpent that he may raise up again him whom he cast down, and the overthrow of the serpent may be the raising again of the man. And Scripture testifies that Satan is the author of this bodily suffering and weakness of the flesh, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 138, footnote 6 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Sermons. (HTML)
On the Feast of the Nativity, VI. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 799 (In-Text, Margin)
... King but also be united to Him by our free-will. For if we are like-minded, if we wish what He wishes, and disapprove what He disapproves, He will finish all our wars for us, He Who gave the will, will also give the power: so that we may be fellow-workers in His works, and with the exultation of Faith may utter that prophetic song: “the Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? the Lord is the defender of my life: of whom shall I be afraid[Psalms 27:1]?”