Moralia in Job 1245

22. Sinners are like dust, snatched away by any blast of temptation; they are made firm by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and welded together by charity. — Whom do we understand by the dust but sinners, who, being made firm by no weight of reason, are snatched away by the blast of any temptation whatsoever? Of them it is written: 'Not so the ungodly, not so; but like the dust which the wind drives from the face of the earth' (Ps. 1:4). The dust, then, is founded upon the earth, when sinners, called into the Church, are made firm by the reason of the faith that has been handed down, so that those who before, being unstable in their inconstancy, were tossed about by the breeze of temptation, afterward stand immovable against temptations, and, cleaving perseveringly to God, hold the fixed weight of living well.

But clods are formed by coagulation out of moisture and dust. In this earth, then, clods have been compacted together, because sinners who are called and infused by the grace of the Holy Spirit are made one in the gathering of charity. These clods have been compacted in the earth, when the peoples who before, as it were in the dispersion of dust, held diverse opinions, afterward, having received the grace of the Holy Spirit, came together in that most peaceful concord of unanimity, so that, when they were three thousand, or again five thousand, as Scripture testifies, it was said that they were of 'one heart and one soul' (Acts 4:32).

These clods, formed indeed from one dust, but distinguished as it were by diverse masses, the Lord daily compacts in the earth, because, while the unity of the sacrament is preserved, He gathers into the Church the faithful peoples according to the variety of their customs and tongues. These clods the Lord already then signified, when for the eating of the bread and the fishes He commanded them to recline by fifties and by hundreds (Matt. 14:19-20). 23. In the Church there are diverse orders. — Yet if we consider these clods in the Church according to the diversity of merits, perhaps we may be able to distinguish them still more subtly. For there is one order of preachers, another of hearers; one of rulers, and another of subjects; one of the married, another of the continent, another of the penitent, another of virgins;

as it were, out of one earth there is a diverse form of clods distinguished, while in one faith, in one charity, the differing merits of those who work well are displayed. These clods that people signified, which for the construction of the tabernacle offered diverse gifts under one zeal, of whom it is written: 'Whatever was necessary for the service of the tabernacle and for the holy vestments, the men together with the women furnished, bracelets and earrings, rings and armlets; every vessel of gold was set apart among the gifts of the Lord. If anyone had blue, purple, and scarlet twice-dyed, fine linen and goats' hair' (Exod. 35:22), and so forth. 24. Each one brings gifts to fulfill the adornment of the Church. — In the adornment of the tabernacle, therefore, the men

offer gifts together with the women, because in fulfilling the worship of the holy Church, both the sublime deeds of the strong and the humble works of the weak are counted. But what is demonstrated by the bracelets that bind the arms, if not the works of superiors who labor mightily? And what is expressed by the earrings, if not the obedience of subjects? What by the rings, if not the seal of secrets? For very often teachers seal up what they perceive cannot be grasped by their hearers. And what by the armlets, if not the ornaments of the first working? What by the vessel of gold set apart among the gifts of the Lord, if not the understanding of the Godhead is received, which is severed from the love of lower things in proportion as it is lifted up to love only those things which are eternal?

What by the blue, if not the hope of heavenly things? What by the purple, if not the bloodshed and endurance of sufferings displayed out of love for the eternal kingdom? And what by the twice-dyed scarlet, if not charity is demonstrated, which for its perfection is dyed twice, because it is adorned with love of God and of neighbor? What by the fine linen, if not the spotless incorruption of the flesh? And what by the goats' hair, out of which the roughness of hair-shirts is woven, if not the hard affliction of the penitent is signified? While, therefore, some by the bracelets and rings perhaps exercise the office of teaching, others by the earrings and armlets display devout obedience and right working, others by the vessel of gold set apart hold a most excellent and subtle understanding of God;

others by the blue, the purple, and the scarlet do not cease to hope, believe, and love the heavenly things they have heard, even those which as yet they do not at all grasp by a subtler understanding; others by the fine linen offer the incorruption of the flesh; others by the goats' hair bitterly bewail what they willingly committed; as it were, from one earth innumerable clods are brought forth, because from one and equal service proceed the differing deeds of the faithful. These clods, to be sure, would never rise up compacted out of the dust, unless the dust first received water and made itself firm by the moisture it had conceived; because unless the grace of the Holy Spirit infused each of the sinners, the unity of charity would not hold them bound fast to the works of faith.

When, therefore, the Lord shall declare the order of the heavens, or make the harmony of heaven to sleep, let Him open. For He says: 'When the dust was founded upon the earth, and the clods were compacted together.' As if He said: Then first, by manifest calling and discernment, I both opened the spiritual secrets to some — and not without mercy — and closed them to others — and not without justice — when I rejected some and united others within the Church in the concord of charity. And because this holy Church, being rejected by the perfidy of the Jews, betook itself to the seizing of the nations and their conversion into its own body — which indeed it did not by its own strength but by the Lord's — it is fitly added: