For some worshipped fire as a divine power, which they called Vulcan; others worshipped the ether or air, which they named Jupiter or Juno; others worshipped excessive water, which they called Neptune; others the circle of stars, who distributed the positions and courses of the stars according to the various shapes of animals; others venerated the sun as…

For holy preachers, according to the command of our Lord, first offer peace to the opposing side, so that what is written may be fulfilled: If there is a son of peace there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, he says, it will return to you (Luke 10:6). We will pass, they say, through your land to go into our land; as if they were saying: Let us…

Here then He begins to relate what He did, taught, or suffered in Judæa. At first beyond Jordan eastward, afterwards on this side Jordan when He came to Jericho, Bethphage, and Jerusalem; whence it follows, And He came into the coasts of Judæa beyond Jordan. It should be known, that the whole territory of the Israelites was called Judæa, to distinguish…

Nor is it merely a straightforward fact that it was the twelfth month of the year, which is called Adar, that was set aside by lot for the murder of Israel; it signifies rather that the grace of Christ, which has been entrusted to the faithful in the fullness of time, is going to experience a harsh persecution in this world in the last days, carried out…

Immortality is in the kinship of wisdom, because whatever is truly known about its nature is found to be wholly immortal and always living. In whose friendship, there is good delight; and the more one advances in love for it, the more sweetly one burns with affection for it. In the works of its hands is honor without failure, because it is the origin of…

The wise man, recounting many things about the virtues of wisdom, finally added that he desires to be joined to its company, from which he would have comfort and relief from his weariness; so also the people of the Church, who can truly be said to be king and genuinely wise, because they are members of the heavenly King and Lord, as the apostle Peter…

The fact that King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, clearly signifies that the true king who is our Lord transferred to the holy church all the dignity and honor which the people previously possessed because of their knowledge of the law and the prophets and because of their holy and religious worship. This happened…

Because He is found by those who do not test Him, but He appears to those who have faith in Him. For it is dangerous to tempt God by human assumption, since it is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God. (Deut. 6:16) But it is beneficial to honor Him with true faith, because the righteous shall live by faith. For true wisdom by no means enters a…

For with the strength of faith he protected himself on all sides.

In accordance with that saying of the Apostle Paul, who taught, saying: Therefore stand, having bound your thighs with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shoed your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming…

That is, the Church of the nations, which was instructed in the precepts of the sacred teachers, does not want to betray the place of her country and people because now that she has been cleansed through baptism of all the pollution born of sin and the filth of idolatry, she can no longer endure in any form the shame of her original impiety. Moreover, the…

They pluck the ears of corn when they withdraw men from devotion to the world; they rub them in their hands when they tear away their hearts from the lusts of the flesh; they eat the grain when they transfer such as are amended into the body of the Church. This they do on the sabbath, that is in the hope of eternal rest, to which they invite others. Also…