Certaine sermons of Sainte Augustines translated out of Latyn, into Englishe, by Thomas Paynell.

* 1.1✚ Of the fire of purgatory, & howe it purgeth not mortall but veniall synnes. (Book 11)

WE haue herd my derely be loued brothrē the Apostle, saying in the apostolicalies¦son, that no man cā laye anye other fundatiō then y^t which is laid, which is Jesus christ, if any mā bild on this funda∣tiō, * 1.2 gold, siluer, preciusstones timber, hay, or stoble, euerye mās worke shall apere. For the daye of our lord, shall de∣clare it, & it shalbe reueled, & shewed in fier. And the fyre shal proue and try euery mās worke, what it is, yf any ma∣nes worke y^t he hath bylde vp on, byde, he shyll receaue are warde, yf anye mans worke burne, he shal suffer losse, but he shalbe safe him selfe, neuer¦theles

yet as it were thorow fyre. Ther ar many that misse vnderstādinge this lessō, are thrugh a certen false securitie deceuyd▪ beleuinge y^t yf they bild vpō the fundatiō of christ criminal & mortal sinns: that these sinnes maye be purgyd by this trāsitory fire & that af¦terwardes they shal come to perpetual & eternal life. But this vnderstāding dexely be∣louid brethrē, is to be correc∣ted, for they that so flatter thē selfes, deceiue them selfes. For criminall synnes are not purgid by that trāsitorye fyre where of the Apostle dothe speke, he shalbe safe him selfe, neuerthelesse yet as it were thorow fire, but only smale & venyal sinnes, althoug y^• not only criminal, y^t which thing

is worse, but also veniall, yf they be to many do drowne, and vtterli destroy mē. And yet some aswell of the crimi∣nall as of the veniall, are to be rehersyd & spoken of leste that any man should vaniely go about to excuse him selfe, and saye, that he knowethe not which are criminall and whiche are venial. And not withstandynge the Apostle hath rehersed manye of the capitall and criminal sinnes, yet lest we shold be semed to cause desperation, we shall truely & shortly declare and shewe you what they are.

Sacrilege, murder, adulte∣ry, false witnes, thefte, rape, pride, enuy, auarice, anger, if it continue in man, & ebrietie yf it be continuallye vsed, is

counted & numbred among them. And whosoeuer doth fele and perceue that any of these do reigne or haue any dominion in hym, except he worthely amende him selfe, and hauing time & space, do longe & continuall penaunce and distribute large almous and abstayne from those sin¦nes, he cannot be pourgyd with that transitorye fyre wher of the Apostle speketh but the eternal flame of fyre, shall torment him withoute remedy. And although smal & veniall synnes are knowē vnto all men, yet because it were lōg to reherse al, nede∣full it is to name certen of them: As ofte as anye man in meate or drinke receueth more then nede is, he shall

vnderstād that it perteineth ta veniali synnes. As ofte as he speaketh more than beho∣ueth, or doth holde his peace more thā is expedient. As oft as he exasperath the poore as∣kynge hys almes inportunat¦lye. As ofte as he beyng hole of body, al other geuen to ab∣stinence and fastinge, wyll dine & geuē to slepe & sluggish¦nes, doth slothfullye aryse to come vnto the church. As oft as he knoweth & medleth w^t his wife, excepte he desire to haue childrē. As oft as he slo¦fully doth seke & visit the im∣prisoned & bound with bāds. As ofte as he slothfully doth visit y^• feble & sicke, yf he neg∣lect to reuoke & cal the distur¦led to vnitie & concorde, if he exasperate his neighbor, hys

wyfe, his child, or his seruāte more thā behoueth, yf he flat∣ter them more then is expedy¦ent. Yf he flatter any gret or noble mā other willinglye or of necessitie, if he fede not the poore hungrye mā, or if vnto him selfe he prepare to deliti¦ous & sumptuus fare, if he oc¦cupy him selfe in the churche, or out of y^e churche with void & idle fables, wher of a count * 1.3 must be geuen at the daye of Judgement, yf we swere vn∣awares, nor cannot through somme necessytye fulfyll the same we fall into periurye, when we of lyghtenes and * 1.4 temerariously do cursse, seing it is wrytten neyther they that cursse, shall possesse the kyngedome of GOD. And whē we temeraryusly do sus|

the thing, which often times doth not proue as we bele∣uyd, withoute doubte we do amysse. It is not to be doubtyd but that these thin∣ges and the like, do pertaine vnto the smale & venial syn∣nes, the whiche (as I haue sayde already) can scarcely be numbred, and of the whi¦che not onelye chrysten peo∣ple, but also no sainte at any tyme coulde or can be vngil∣ty: And although we beleue not that these synnes canne kyll the sole, yet they in such wyse do deforme and diffi∣gure it as it were with certē blaines. & an horible stabb•• that it suffreth not the soule to be embrasid of the celestial spouse, nor scarselye or else with great confusion, to com

vnto hym, where of it is writ¦ten, he hathe prepared and made the churche vnto hym * 1.5 self, with out spot, or wrincle And therfore they must be cō¦tinually with cōtinuali pray∣ers, with manye fastinges & large almesredemed, least y^e they perchaūce gethered to∣gether in a hepe, drowne the soule. For whatsoeuer of all those sinnes we redeme not, shalbe purgyd with that fyer of y^t which y^e apostle hath said It shal be reuelid & shewd in * 1.6 fyre, & if ani mās worke burn he shall suffer losse. Or yf we whilest we liue in this world, do fatigate & trouble our sel∣ues with penaūce, or afflictid by god do willinglye suffer y^e same with manifold other tri¦bulatious for these syn̄es, we

if we geue god thākes, shalbe deliuered. The which dothe so chaūce & happen, if as oftē as our husbād, or wife, or our child, doth dye, or if oure sub∣staūce (the whyche we loue more thē it behoueth vsto do) be takē frō vs. And although we loue christ more then our substaunce, and had rather if necessitie shuld so require, lese our substaunce, then to deny Christ, yet because (as I haue said) we loue our goods more thē nedeth, wecān••t leue nor lese them, nother liuynge nor dying, with out gret heuines & sorow, & yet yf we as good children geue thankes vnto god, the which as a good fa∣ther doth permitte and suffer those things to be takē from vs. & with tru humiliteprofes

our selues to suffer lesse then we haue merited & deserued. These fin̄es ar so punished in this world, that y^• fire of pur∣gatory in the worlde y^t is to come, shal not find or truly ve¦ry litle, that it shal cōsume & burne. But if in our tribulati¦on we geue god no thankes, nor redeme not oure syn̄es w^t good works, we shal so lōge continue in y^t fire of purgato¦ry, vntil y^• foresayd sinnes as timber, hay, or stoble, be cōsu∣mid. But lōe mā doth saye I care not how lōg I continue ther, so y^t I may come to eter¦nal life. Let no man sai so my derely beloued brethren, for y^• fire of purgatory, shalbe more painful thē anypaine y^• in this worlde may be sene thought, or felt. And seyng it is written of the daye of Judgmente y^•

one day shalbe as a thousand yeres, & a thousand yeres as * 1.7 one day, howe canne any mā knowe, whether he shal passe thorow y^t fier, by dais, mōths or parauenture by yers? And he y^t wil not nowe put one of hys fyngers into y^e fire, shuld euen thē of necessytye fere, to be tormēted there, for a while both in bodi & soule. And ther¦fore let euery man labor & tra¦uel with al his force & might to escape those capital & mor∣tal crimes, & so to redeme w^t good works, those smale & ve¦nial sinnes▪ that nothinge do remaine to be cōsumid with that fire. But if they whiche cōmit these capitall & mortall crimes, redeme thē not why∣lest they lyue▪ with the medy∣cynes of penaunce, they can∣not

come (as it is al redy told you) to that fire, that y^e apostle speakethe of, he shalbe saued * 1.8 yet as it were thrugh fire, but shal here y^t hard & irreuocable sētēce. Get ye hence ye cursed * 1.9 into eternal fire. And therfore they y^• desire to be deliuered from this perpetual payne & from y^t fire of purgatori, shuld not cōmit these criminal and mortal sin̄es, but if they haue already cōmitted thē, let thē do frutefull penaūce, nor cese to redeme those smal & dayly synnes with good workes; And with what works these smalesinnes may be redemed I desire fullye & perfectlye to shew you. As ofte as we vy∣syt the sicke, and seke for those which ar in prison & tide fast in bādes, & reuoke those y^t be

at discord to vnitie & concord As ofte as we obserue & kepe the fasting dayes commaun∣ded by the church, & washe y^e fete of straūgers, & come oftē together vntovigilles, & geue our charite and almes before our dores vnto the pore, and forgeue our enemies, as oftas they shall require: & aske for∣geuenes. With these workes & other lyke vnto these, those smal & venyalsin̄es are dayly redemed, but this only for ca¦pital & mortal sin̄es doth not suffise, but teres muste be ad∣dyd therevnto, & sorow, cōti∣nual fastinge, leberal & large almes, remouyng our self frō the communion of y^e churche, cōtinuyng for a long tyme in heuines & sorowe, & doynge open penaūce: For it is iust, y^t

he which lost & destroid hym selfe wyth the destruction & losse of many, shulde redeme hymselfe w^t the edyfication & amendement of manye. Nor fynallye it is not impossyble, nor vnconueniēt nother y^t I perswade and counsell, that we shuld so lament our dead soules, as we bewayle and lament other mennes deade bodies. For yf other my wife, my son, or my husband be de∣partyd and deade, menne fal downe vpon the earthe, they teare and plucke themselfes by the heare, they knocke thē selfes vppon the breste, and contynue no smale tyme in mournynge, penaunce & we pyng. We besech you brethrē to exhibite vnto your soules

that they exhibite vnto other mēs bodies. And cōsider this my brethrē, how euill a thing it is, to bewale y^t we cannot reuiue. We lament the fleshe, the whiche we cannot cal to life again, but our deed soules we be wayle not, y^t which by penaūce we maye reuoke to theyr olde state againe. But that that is worse we do, we bewaile the dede body which we loue, but we sorow nor la mēt not our deade soules, the which we loue not. And ther fore let vs begin clene cōtra∣ry to loue y^e lord more thē the seruaūt, that is the creator & maker of the body, more then the body, more the ladye thē y^t mayde, that is more the soule made lyke vnto the image of god, than the fleshe formyd &

and made of the slyme of the earth, that when ourflesh at the later dai shal begin to pu¦trify and be deuoured by wor¦mes in the graue, y^t soule by y^• handes of the aungels maye be lifted vp into Abrahams bosom, & that it at the day of iudgment, receauyng the bo∣dy by the vertue of the resur∣rection, may merite to here, wel good faithful seruaūt, en¦ter into thy masters ioy. And * 1.10 that these things the whyche we haue spokē of before may adhere & cleaue more surelye in your hartes, & that the apo¦stolical lessō may be more ful∣ly vnderstāded, I shal repete them vnto your charities. Al saints & good men that serue god faythfully do contend to geue them selues to rede or to

prayer, & to perseuer in good works. Nor they which bild not vpon the fūdatiō of christ capytal and mortal synnes, nor yet venial, that is, timber hai, and stoble, but good wor¦kes, y^t is, gold, syluer, and pre¦tyous stones, shal passe tho∣rowe the fyer of the whyche y^e apostie doth saye. It shalbe reueled & shewed in fyre w^t∣out any violatiō or hurt. And althoughe y^t they whiche cō∣mit no mortal syn̄es are pro∣myte & redy to do venial sin̄s & negligent to redeme them, shall come to eternal lyfe, be∣cause they beleuyd in chryste & comitted no criminal syn̄es yet they must fyrst (as I haue sayde) by the iustice or mercy of god thrugh bytter tribula∣tions be troubled & scourgid

or els through the mercye of God be delyuered by greate and manifold almes and spe¦cially when they mekely per∣don and forgeue theyr ene∣mies, or els they shalbe longe troublyd & tormentid in that fyre wher of the apostle doth speke, that so they may come w^tout spot or wryncle to eter¦nal lyfe. But they truely whi¦che haue committed murder sacrilege, adulterye, or other lyke vnto these, yf worthy pe¦naunce (as it is sayde) do not helpe them, shal notmerite to passe vnto lyfe by the fyre of purgatory, but byeternal fire shall be caste hedlynge vnto death. And therefore as oftē as ye shal here in the apostoli¦cal lesson, yf any man bild vp¦on the fūdation of christ gold

syluer, precious stons, vnder¦stande that of saintes & per∣fect christē mē, the which shal merite as it were purgyd & pure gold, to come to the eter¦nal reward. But they which bylde vpō y^e fūdatiō of christ, timber hay, & stoble, vnder∣stād that (as it is often times sayde) of good christians, but yet negligente to purge those smale & venial sin̄es y^e which yf they nether be purgid thru¦gh the diuine iustice w^t many tribulatiōs, nor noman rede meth thē with liberal almes, dedes, the thing y^t the apostle doth say, shal not be fulfylled, in thē, without gret doloure & heuines, yf any mās worke * 1.11 burne, he shal suffer losse, but he shalbe safe him selfe, neuer thelesse yet as it were thorow

fyre. Let no man yet, (as I haue sayd before) deceue hym selfe, that thys maye be done or vnderstanded of capital & deadly sinnes, yf thei remain vncuryd. And therefore as I haue often sayde, let vs labor with the ayde and helpe of god, to escape the greater sin¦nes, and continually redeme the lesse without the whyche we cannot be, with the loue of our enemyes, and large & lyberall almes: our lord Jesu christe graūting the same: the which with y^e father & the ho¦ly gost doth lyue and reygne god, worlde withoute ende.

Amen.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Ser, 47,
• * 1.2

  1, Cor, 3,
• * 1.3

  Math, 1••
• * 1.4

  1, Cor, 9
• * 1.5

  Ephe, 5,
• * 1.6

  1, Cor, 3,
• * 1.7

  Psal, 89,
• * 1.8

  1, Cor, ••••
• * 1.9

  Math, 25
• * 1.10

  Math, 25
• * 1.11

  〈◊〉〈◊〉, Cor, 3,