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1 ^^r- BRIEF 1^ es ^B 0053033 ^B Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Toronto http://www.archive.org/details/moralconcordanceOOneal TBE MORAL CONCORDANCES Saint ^itt0n2 of ^ataa, TRANSLATED, VERIFIED, AND ADAPTED TO MODERN USE; WITH SOME ADDITIONS FKOM THE PROMPTUARIUM MORALE OF THOMAS HIBERNICUS. THE REV. J. M. NEALE, D.D., WARDEN OF SACKVILLE COLLEGE. .^fconO <(£iiirioii. LONDON : J. T. HAYES, LYALL PLACE, EATON SQUAEE. 1867. LONDON : J. SWIFT, REGBVT PBESS, 55, KI.NG STREW, BEGBST STKEET, W. 0OS3O33 TO THE REV. E. J. BOYCE, M.A., fiector of ^ougftton, THESE CONCORDANCES ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. : INTEODUCTION. 1. If there were never a time when so many sermons issued from the press as at the present day, it is equally certain that, however much we may boast of our Scriptural knowledge, there never was a period when such com- positions showed so little deep and ready acquaintance with the Bible. The actual quantity of reference to Scripture contained in the first volume of modern sermons which one may happen to take up, is surprisingly small and further, the quotations are almost entirely made from favourite books — parade the same texts over and over again—leave vast portions of the Bible utterly untouched —and are superficially adduced without regard to their context. Now, whatever judgments may be formed in other respects of mediaeval preachers, in this one thing it cannot be denied that they excel their successors. It is not merely that they quote ten texts for one in modern discourses ; but that the passages they adduce are brought forward with impartiality, and according to ana- logy, from the Old and the New Testament; from the historical books and the prophets, as well, and as much, as from the Epistles and Gospels. This is what gives those sermons so much value. Their writers took, as it were, a bird's-eye view of the whole volume of Scripture B ( 2 ) at once—saw, at a glance, what was most apposite—were as much at home in one portion as in another ; and could, therefore, select the very text, or passage, which bore most strikingly on the point which they had in hand. Ours, on the contrary, wander up and down in some few trodden paths — never get out of them — never wish to look beyond them. Hence the fulness of the one, and the jejunity of the other, system. 2. S. Antony of Padua was not only one of the greatest, but, perhaps, the most popular, among the preachers of the Middle Ages. His extant Sermons, or, as they might rather be called, Sermon Notes, though coming down to us with all the disadvantages of their skeleton form, never- theless evince a grasp of the Sacred Volume which well entitles him to the name bestowed on him by Gregory IX., —" The Ark of the Testament.'' That which he exemplifies in his discourses, he shows in a not less striking maimer by the " Concordantim Morales,'" which are now, for the first time, presented to the English reader. 3. To enter into the question of the allegorical interpre- tation of Scripture in which the Middle Ages delighted, would require a volume instead of a preface." It is not denied that many of the passages adduced by S. Antony could scarcely be quoted to a modern audience in the sense in which he applies them. Nevertheless even from these, by way of illustration, if not by way of proof, a * Further remarks on this subject may be seen, if the reader •wishes it, in the introduction to my Mediceval Preachers. ( 3 ) preacher of the present century might learn much, as a few examples, presently to be given will, perhaps, prove. 4. The " Moral Concordances" have come down to us in a very imperfect state. They were long supposed to be lost, and indeed considerable doubts were entertained whether such a book had ever existed. S. Antony died in 1231, and the manuscript was not discovered till about 1638, when it was disinterred in the library attached to the Church called Aracoeli, in Kome. It seeems to have been pubHshed without very much attention to the correctness of its references ; and as its author had, of course, merely referred to the chapter, without the verse, a great portion of the mistakes which occur may be owing to such (then necessary) vagueness of quotation. Further, it would seem that the subjects and the texts had been written in parallel columns, so that sometimes the verse which ought to have been last on one Hst, has found its way into the section which follows. The references are throughout most incorrectly given ; one book even of Holy Scripture being sometimes substituted for another, while the chapters are veiy frequently wrong, and the verses in the later edition badly quoted in, perhaps, one instance out of three. 5. In the present edition aU the references have been verified, and have been made to correspond with the authorised version—the Psalms, however, being quoted from the Prayer Book. The letter "f" refers to the former, "m" to the middle, and "1" to the latter part of a verse. It is possible that, in one or two cases, the b2 — ; ( 4 ) texts given are not those which S. Antony had quoted it being very difficult, here and there, to decide whether there is a far-fetched allusion, or whether the transcriber has, by mistake, inserted a passage which has nothing to do with the subject. 6. The Concordances are said on the title-page to be adapted to modern use. The omissions are not at all of a doctrinal character, but simply falling under one or other of the following heads. (1.) Those which have no bearing on the duties of English Churchmen of the present day ; such as Of the ^^ride of Abbats, Of Pilgrim- ages, Of the Discipline of Monks, and the like. In a book intended for use, it seemed worse than superfluous to swell the pages with references from which the modern Preacher could not possibly derive any advantage. (2.) Some sections are also omitted, based on half theo- logical, haK metaphysical divisions, which no one would now be able to introduce into any sermon. For instance : there are several headings, which are occupied with the various kinds of contemplation. •' The first consists in imagination according to imagination ; the second, in imagination according to reason ; the third, in reason according to imagination; the foui'th, in reason according to reason ; the fifth is above reason, in a lower sense the sixth is above reason, in a higher sense." It is clear that such a distribution of texts would now be of no practical use in the pulpit. (3.) When two sections, which is often the case, are occupied with subjects so nearly allied as to be almost identical, and when the ( 5 ) references given, are, for the most part, the same, then the second is very frequently omitted. (4.) In Hke manner, and also for the sake of brevity, references are very often omitted which have occurred in pre\'ious sections, in allusion to the same subject. (5.) In some instances, and more especially in the first book, sections referring to sins which could not possibly be treated of in the pulpit, have been left out ; and the same may be said of minute subdivisions of other sins, such as, The j^ride of the eyes, Of the neck, Of the arms. Of the shoulders, dc. So that, in several cases, the last section only, generally thus summed up by S. Antony, De jjrecedentibus geyuraliter, is the only one which is given. Perhaps this abbreviating process, so far as practical use is concerned, might have been advantageously carried somewhat further. (6.) In some cases a reference has necessarily been omitted, where, however beautiful the allusion to the words of the Vulgate, it would be utterly without sense when applied to our own version. Thus, the verse, The Lord chose new wars, is an excellent text for the festival of a vu'gin martyi", as setting forth the novelty of the conflict in which pain and death were overcome by a woman. But it would be useless to refer to the same text in our version ; where we read, They chose new gods ; then was war in the gates. So again, the grace of pm^ty, as bestowed by the Holy Eucharist, is beautifully— set forth by Zech. ix. 17, as it stands in the Vulgate ; " For what is His goodness and what is His beauty, save the Corn of the Elect, and the Wine that blossoms into Virgins V The force of which is entirely ( 6 ) lost by our English version : Com shall make the young men cheerful, and new nine the maids. (7.) In several instances, and more especially at the beginning of the work, S. Antony has summed up the effects of a par- ticular vice or virtue in a series of verses, not remarkable, generally speaking, either for their point or then* terse- ness. In some cases, where the characteristics of one sin are nearly identical with those of another, they have been omitted ; and in others, that which is verse in the Latin, has been put into prose. These are the principal alterations which have been made in the original book: and it has thus been reduced from 567 to 471 sections. It may be proper to observe, that nothing whatever has been added to the references selected by S. Antony. 8. We will give a few examples of the different ways in which the Moral Concordances might be useful in the present day.

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