Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

Psalms 101

There are 27 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 619, footnote 4 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

Book VII (HTML)
Chapter XIX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4708 (In-Text, Margin)

... may so say, than of His blessing. As to the promise made to the Jews that they should slay their enemies, it may be answered that any one who examines carefully into the meaning of this passage will find himself unable to interpret it literally. It is sufficient at present to refer to the manner in which in the Psalms the just man is represented as saying, among other things, “Every morning will I destroy the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah.”[Psalms 101:8] Judge, then, from the words and spirit of the speaker, whether it is conceivable that, after having in the preceding part of the Psalm, as any one may read for himself, uttered the noblest thoughts and purposes, he should in the sequel, according to ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 139, footnote 3 (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)

How He Mourned His Dead Mother. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 785 (In-Text, Margin)

31. The boy then being restrained from weeping, Evodius took up the Psalter, and began to sing—the whole house responding—the Psalm, “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto Thee, O Lord.”[Psalms 101:1] But when they heard what we were doing, many brethren and religious women came together; and whilst they whose office it was were, according to custom, making ready for the funeral, I, in a part of the house where I conveniently could, together with those who thought that I ought not to be left alone, discoursed on what was suited to the occasion; and by this alleviation of truth mitigated the anguish ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 425, footnote 5 (Image)

Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine

City of God (HTML)

Of the last judgment, and the declarations regarding it in the Old and New Testaments. (HTML)

What is the First Resurrection, and What the Second. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1337 (In-Text, Margin)

... justified from ungodliness or quickened from death, may be able to attain to the first resurrection which now is. For in this first resurrection none have a part save those who shall be eternally blessed; but in the second, of which He goes on to speak, all, as we shall learn, have a part, both the blessed and the wretched. The one is the resurrection of mercy, the other of judgment. And therefore it is written in the psalm, “I will sing of mercy and of judgment: unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing.”[Psalms 101:1]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 267, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

The Enchiridion. (HTML)

The Saints Shall Know More Fully in the Next World the Benefits They Have Received by Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1274 (In-Text, Margin)

Thus, when reprobate angels and men are left to endure everlasting punishment, the saints shall know more fully the benefits they have received by grace. Then, in contemplation of the actual facts, they shall see more clearly the meaning of the expression in the psalms, “I will sing of mercy and judgment;”[Psalms 101:1] for it is only of unmerited mercy that any is redeemed, and only in well-merited judgment that any is condemned.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 547, footnote 1 (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 2746 (In-Text, Margin)

... should we not believe these to be angelic operations through dispensation of the providence of God, Who maketh good use of both good things and evil, according to the unsearchable depth of His judgments? whether thereby the minds of mortals be instructed, or whether deceived; whether consoled, or whether terrified: according as unto each one there is to be either a showing of mercy, or a taking of vengeance, by Him to Whom, not without a meaning, the Church doth sing “of mercy and of judgment.”[Psalms 101:1] Let each, as it shall please him, take what I say. If the souls of the dead took part in the affairs of the living, and if it were their very selves that, when we see them, speak to us in sleep; to say nothing of others, there is my own self, whom ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 265, footnote 7 (Image)

Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings

Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)

Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)

Faustus denies that Manichæans believe in two gods.  Hyle no god.  Augustin discusses at large the doctrine of God and Hyle, and fixes the charge of dualism upon the Manichæans. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 763 (In-Text, Margin)

3. You cannot distinguish between what God does in mercy and what He does in judgment, because you can neither understand nor use the words of our Psalter: "I will sing of mercy and judgment unto Thee, O Lord."[Psalms 101:1] Accordingly, whatever in the feebleness of your frail humanity seems amiss to you, you separate entirely from the will and judgment of God: for you are provided with another evil god, not by a discovery of truth, but by an invention of folly; and to this god you attribute not only what you do unjustly, but also what you suffer justly. Thus you assign to God the bestowal of blessings, and ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 571, footnote 1 (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 which Augustin replies to all the several statements in the letter of Petilianus, as though disputing with an adversary face to face. (HTML)
Chapter 80 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2189 (In-Text, Margin)

176. answered: He who sins, sins not on the authority of the law, but against the authority of the law. But since you ask what is the justification of persecution, I ask you in turn whose voice it is that says in the psalm, "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off."[Psalms 101:5] Seek therefore the reason or the measure of the persecution, and do not display your gross ignorance by finding fault in general terms with those who persecute the unrighteous.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 57, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)

Grace is Given to Some Men in Mercy; Is Withheld from Others in Justice and Truth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 580 (In-Text, Margin)

... truth are met together;” and “all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.” And who can tell the numberless instances in which Holy Scripture combines these two attributes? Sometimes, by a change in the terms, grace is put for merc y, as in the passage, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Sometimes also judgment occurs instead of truth, as in the passage, “I will sing of mercy and judgment unto Thee, O Lord.”[Psalms 101:1]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 285, footnote 9 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

On Marriage and Concupiscence. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)

Augustin Refutes the Passage Adduced Above. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2210 (In-Text, Margin)

... living is free. For “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for in him all have sinned.” Thus, then, God is the Creator of those that are born in such wise that all pass from the one into condemnation, who have not the One Liberator by regeneration. For He is described as “the Potter, forming out of the same lump one vessel unto honour in His mercy, and another unto dishonour in judgment.” And so runs the Church’s canticle “mercy and judgment.”[Psalms 101:1] You are therefore only misleading yourself and others when you say, “If one should affirm, either that there is free will in man, or that God is the Creator of those that are born, he is at once set down as a Cœlestian and a Pelagian;” for the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 464, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)

Abstract. (HTML)

Gratuitous Grace Exemplified in Infants. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3218 (In-Text, Margin)

... now be wrought by those who previously did evil; not that they should persevere in evil courses and suppose that they are recompensed with good. Their language, therefore, ought not to be: “Let us do evil, that good may come;” but: “We have done evil, and good has come; let us henceforth do good, that in the future world we may receive good for good, who in the present life are receiving good for evil.” Wherefore it is written in the Psalm, “I will sing of mercy and judgment unto Thee, O Lord.”[Psalms 101:1] When the Son of man, therefore, first came into the world, it was not to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. And this dispensation was for mercy; by and by, however, He will come for judgment—to judge the quick and the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 539, footnote 11 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints. (HTML)

A Treatise on the Gift of Perseverance. (HTML)

What Predestination is. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3648 (In-Text, Margin)

... also in me,” as in respect of perseverance, “A man ought always to pray, and not to faint.” For they hear these things and do them to whom it is given; but they do them not, whether they hear or do not hear, to whom it is not given. Because, “To you,” said He, “it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Of these, the one refers to the mercy, the other to the judgment of Him to whom our soul cries, “I will sing of mercy and judgment unto Thee, O Lord.”[Psalms 101:1]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 332, footnote 5 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)

On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xii. 33, ‘Either make the tree good, and its fruit good,’ etc. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2488 (In-Text, Margin)

... ungodly”? He found them all corrupt trees, but to those who “believed in His Name, He gave power to become the sons of God.” Whosoever then now is a good man, that is, a good tree, was found corrupt, and made good. And if when He came He had chosen to root up the corrupt trees, what tree would have remained which did not deserve to be rooted up? But He came first to impart mercy, that He might afterwards exercise judgment, to whom it is said, “I will sing unto Thee O Lord, of mercy and judgment.”[Psalms 101:1] He gave then remission of sins to those who believed in Him, He would not even take account with them of past reckonings. He gave remission of sins, He made them good trees. He delayed the ax, He gave security.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 405, footnote 5 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)

On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xxv. 1, ‘then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.’ (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3126 (In-Text, Margin)

16. It is said, and it is true, and no deceiving saying, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you;” but now when it is the time of mercy, not when it is the time of judgment. For these times cannot be confounded, since the Church sings to her Lord of “mercy and judgment.”[Psalms 101:1] It is the time of mercy; repent. Canst thou repent in the time of judgment? Thou wilt be then as those virgins, against whom the door was shut. “Lord, Lord, open to us.” What! did they not repent, that they had brought no oil with them? Yes, but what profiteth them their late repentance, when the true wisdom mocked them? Therefore “the door was shut.” And what ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 209, footnote 3 (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 VIII. 15–18. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 667 (In-Text, Margin)

... by believing, did not reject salvation. Accordingly, the first dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ is medicinal, not judicial; for if He had come to judge first, He would have found none on whom He might bestow the rewards of righteousness. Because, therefore, He saw that all were sinners, and that none was exempt from the death of sin, His mercy had first to be craved, and afterwards His judgment must be executed; for of Him the psalm had sung, “Mercy and judgment will I sing to Thee, O Lord.”[Psalms 101:1] Now, He says not “judgment and mercy,” for if judgment had been first, there would be no mercy; but it is mercy first, then judgment. What is the mercy first? The Creator of man deigned to become man; was made what He had made, that the creature He ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 297, 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 XII. 44–50. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1115 (In-Text, Margin)

... while in another place He says, “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son;” namely, that thereby we are to understand, It is not now that I judge him. And why not now? Listen to the sequel: “For I am not come,” He says, “to judge the world, but to save the world;” that is, to bring the world into a state of salvation. Now, therefore, is the season of mercy, afterwards will be the time for judgment: for He says, “I will sing to Thee, O Lord, of mercy and judgment.”[Psalms 101:1]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 517, footnote 7 (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 IV. 17–21. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2467 (In-Text, Margin)

... earth: “Thou wouldest that I should even now come, and I know that thou wishest I should even now come: I know what thou art, such that without fear thou mayest wait for mine advent; I know that is a trouble to thee: but do thou even longer wait, endure; I come, and come quickly.” But to the loving soul the time moves slowly. Hear her singing, like a lily as she is from amid the thorns; hear her sighing and saying, “I will sing, and will understand in a faultless way: when will thou come unto me?”[Psalms 101:1-2] But in a faultless way well may she not fear; because “perfect love casteth out fear.” And when He is come to her embrace, still she fears, but in the manner of one that feels secure. What does she fear? She will beware and take heed to herself ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 85, footnote 9 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm XXXV (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 805 (In-Text, Margin)

... Therefore let the cause be distinguished; let none say, because I suffer, I am righteous. Because He who first suffered, suffered for righteousness’ sake, therefore He added a great exception, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” For many having a good cause do persecution, and many having a bad cause suffer persecution. For if persecution could not be done rightly, it had not been said in a certain Psalm, “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him did I persecute.”[Psalms 101:5] …Let none then say, I suffer persecution: let him not sift the punishment, but prove the cause: lest if he prove not the cause, he be numbered with the ungodly. Therefore how watchfully, how excellently hath This Man recommended Himself, “O Lord, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 584, footnote 7 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm CXIX (HTML)

Koph. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5343 (In-Text, Margin)

147. “Hear my voice, O Lord, according to Thy loving-mercy; and quicken Thou me according to Thy judgment” (ver. 149). For first God according to His loving-mercy taketh away punishment from sinners, and will give them life afterwards, when righteous, according to His judgment; for it is not without a meaning that it is said unto Him, “My song shall be of mercy and judgment: unto Thee, O Lord;”[Psalms 101:1] in this order of the terms: although the season of mercy itself be not without judgment, whereof the Apostle saith, “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged of the Lord.” …And the final season of judgment shall not be without mercy, since as the Psalm saith, “He crowneth thee with mercy ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 360, footnote 3 (Image)

Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes

The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch. (HTML)

Homily III (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1169 (In-Text, Margin)

14. But not only do I now admonish the evil speakers; but those besides, who hear others ill spoken of, I exhort to stop up their ears, and to imitate the prophet who saith, “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I punish.”[Psalms 101:5] Say to thy neighbour, “Hast thou any one to praise or highly to commend? I open my ears, to receive the fragrant oil; but if thou hast any evil to say, I block up the entrance to thy words,—for I am not to admit dung and dirt. What profit doth it afford me to learn that such a one is a bad man? The greatest injury indeed results from this, and the worst loss!” Say to him, “Let us ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 26, footnote 1 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Counter-statements of Theodoret. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 174 (In-Text, Margin)

Against I. —But all we who follow the words of the evangelists state that God the Word was not made flesh by nature, nor yet was changed into flesh; for the Divine is immutable and invariable. Wherefore also the prophet David says, “Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.”[Psalms 101:28] And this the great Paul, the herald of the truth, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, states to have been spoken of the Son. And in another place God says through the Prophet, “I am the Lord: I change not.” If then the Divine is immutable and invariable, it is incapable of change or alteration. And if the immutable cannot be changed, then God the Word was ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 240, footnote 4 (Image)

Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters

Apology to the Emperor. (Apologia Ad Constantium.) (HTML)

Apology to the Emperor. (Apologia Ad Constantium.) (HTML)

No possible time or place for the alleged offence. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1305 (In-Text, Margin)

... me? Did I cast imputations upon any of those that have done me wrong? If then I imputed nothing to any of those against whom I had a right to speak, how could I be so possessed with madness as to slander an Emperor before an Emperor, and to set a brother at variance with a brother? I beseech you, either cause me to appear before you that the thing may be proved, or else condemn these calumnies, and follow the example of David, who says, ‘Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy[Psalms 101:5].’ As much as in them lies, they have slain me; for ‘the mouth that belieth, slayeth the soul.’ But your long-suffering has prevailed against them, and given me confidence to defend myself, that they may suffer condemnation, as contentious and ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 246, footnote 4 (Image)

Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters

Apology to the Emperor. (Apologia Ad Constantium.) (HTML)

Apology to the Emperor. (Apologia Ad Constantium.) (HTML)

History of his disobeying it. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1347 (In-Text, Margin)

... prevailed of old against the priests of God: but it was the unrighteous Saul, who hearkened unto him. And Jezebel was able to injure the most religious Naboth by her false accusations; but then it was the wicked and apostate Ahab who hearkened unto her. But the most holy David, whose example it becomes you to follow, as all pray that you may, favours not such men, but was wont to turn away from them and avoid them, as raging dogs. He says, ‘Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy[Psalms 101:5].’ For he kept the commandment which says, ‘Thou shalt not receive a false report.’ And false are the reports of these men in your sight. You, like Solomon, have required of the Lord (and you ought to believe yourself to have obtained your desire), ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 529, footnote 12 (Image)

Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters

Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life. (HTML)

The Festal Letters, and their Index. (HTML)

Festal Letters. (HTML)
For 338. Coss. Ursus and Polemius; Præf. the same Theodorus, of Heliopolis, and of the Catholics. After him, for the second year, Philagrius; Indict. xi; Easter-day, vii Kal. Ap. xxx Phamenoth; Moon 18½; Æra Dioclet. 54. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4233 (In-Text, Margin)

... and smote Job with sore boils. For this is the characteristic of those who go out from before God—to smite and to injure the men of God. And this is the characteristic of those who fall away from the faith—to injure and persecute the faithful. The saints on the other hand, take such to themselves and look upon them as friends; as also the blessed David, using openness of speech, says, ‘Mine eyes are on the faithful of the earth, that they may dwell with me.’ But those that are weak in the faith[Psalms 101:6], Paul urges that we should especially take to ourselves. For virtue is philanthropic, just as in men of an opposite character, sin is misanthropic. So Saul, being a sinner, persecuted David, whereas David, though he had a good opportunity, did not ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 213, footnote 4 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Riparius. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3027 (In-Text, Margin)

... presbyter acquiesces in this his mad preaching, and that he does not rather with apostolic rod, nay with a rod of iron, shatter this useless vessel and deliver him for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved. He should remember the words that are said: “When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst unto him; and hast been partaker with adulterers;” and in another place, “I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord;”[Psalms 101:8] and again “Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred.” If the relics of the martyrs are not worthy of honour, how comes it that we read “Precious in the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 460, footnote 1 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

Treatises. (HTML)

Against the Pelagians. (HTML)

Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5209 (In-Text, Margin)

... that is a brawler, or a striker, or a lover of money, the Apostle rejects, and in his stead would have one gentle, not contentious, free from avarice, one that rules well his own house, and what is very hard, one who has his children in subjection with all modesty, whether they be children of the flesh or children of the faith. “With all modesty,” he says. It is not enough for him to have his own modesty unless it be enhanced by the modesty of his children, companions, and servants, as David says,[Psalms 101:6] “He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me.” Let us consider, also, the emphasis laid on modesty by the addition of the words “having his children in subjection with all modesty.” Not only in deed but in word and gesture must he ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 227, footnote 3 (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 2889 (In-Text, Margin)

... require their souls at your hands; and, Because ye have rejected me, and not been leaders and rulers of my people, I also will reject you, that I should not be king over you; and, As ye refused to hearken to My voice, and turned a stubborn back, and were disobedient, so shall it be when ye call upon Me, and I will not regard nor give ear to your prayer. God forbid that these words should come to us from the just Judge, for when we sing of His mercy we must also by all means sing of His judgment.[Psalms 101:1]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 261, footnote 5 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

On the Death of His Father. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3235 (In-Text, Margin)

... sanctuary, or in resenting dishonour done to it, or in cleansing the holy table with awe from the unholy? Who with such unbiassed judgment, and with the scales of justice, either decided a suit, or hated vice, or honoured virtue, or promoted the most excellent? Who was so compassionate for the sinner, or sympathetic towards those who were running well? Who better knew the right time for using the rod and the staff, yet relied most upon the staff? Whose eyes were more upon the faithful in the land,[Psalms 101:6] especially upon those who, in the monastic and unwedded life, have despised the earth and the things of earth?

Online Dictionary & Commentary of Early Church Beliefs