教牧守則·對話錄與書信 第 129 章

GREGORY. Who, if he is of sound understanding, could grasp this? Yet through the fact that it was shown there for whom that dwelling is being built, it is plainly given us to understand what it is that a man accomplishes here. For whoever earns the reward of eternal light by the abundance of his almsgiving, it is beyond doubt that he builds his dwelling with gold. For — and this escaped my memory earlier so that I failed to mention it — that same soldier who had seen these things related that old men and young, girls and boys, carried those golden bricks for the building of the house.

From this it is gathered that those to whom this kindness was here shown were themselves seen to be the builders there. Here too, near us, there lived a devout man named Deusdedit, who used to make shoes; concerning him another man saw by a revelation that his house was being built, but that its builders were seen to labour on it only on the Sabbath day. When afterwards he carefully inquired into the man's manner of life, he found that out of what he earned by his daily labour, whatever could be left over from his food and clothing, he was accustomed to carry every Sabbath day to the Church of blessed Peter, and to distribute among the needy. From this consider that not without cause did the fabric of that man's house grow on the Sabbath. PETER.

On this matter I see myself fittingly satisfied; but I ask you, what shall we say this means, that the dwellings of some were touched by a cloud of stench, while those of others could not be so touched? Or what does it mean that he saw a bridge, and what that he saw a river? GREGORY. From the images of things, Peter, we weigh the deserts of their causes. For he beheld the just cross over the bridge to the pleasant places, because very narrow is the path that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). And he saw a stinking river flowing down, because the putrefaction of carnal vices here flows down daily to the depths. And a cloud of stench touched the dwellings of some, while others could not be touched by it;

for there are very many who now perform many good works, yet are still touched by carnal vices in the delight of their thought. And it is most just that a cloud of stench should there beset those whom the stench of the flesh still here delights. Whence blessed Job also, beholding this very delight of the flesh to be a stench, pronounced sentence upon the lustful and lascivious man, saying: His sweetness is worms (Job 24:20). But as for those who perfectly shake off their heart from every delight of the flesh, it is beyond doubt that their dwellings are not touched by a cloud of stench. And it is to be noted that this same thing appeared both as stench and as cloud,

because carnal delight darkens the mind which it infects, so that it cannot see the brightness of the true light, but from where it takes its delight below, thence it suffers gloom toward the things above. PETER. Do we think this can be shown by the authority of Sacred Scripture, that the faults of carnal men are punished by the penalty of stench? GREGORY. It can; for we have learned, by the testimony of the book of Genesis, that upon the Sodomites the Lord rained fire and brimstone (Gen. 19:24), so that both the fire might burn them and the stench of the brimstone slay them. For because they had burned with unlawful love of corruptible flesh, they perished at once by burning and by stench, so that in their own punishment they might know that they had given themselves over to eternal death by the delight of their own stench. PETER.

Concerning those things about which I was in doubt, no question, I confess, remains to me.