Edition Masquer
De Virginitate B. Mariae

6.

Hieronymus.—Ad quod nos breviter respondemus, et cognoscebat, et usque, sermonem, in Scripturis sanctis, dupliciter intelligi. Et de eo quidem quod scriptum est, cognoscebat, ad coitum esse referendum, ipse disseruit: nullo dubitante, quin ad scientiam saepe referatur, ut ibi: Remansit puer Jesus in Jerusalem, et non cognoverunt parentes ejus. Nunc illud est ostendendum, ut quomodo ibi consuetudinem Scripturae secutus est, sic etiam in donec, ejusdem Scripturae auctoritate frangatur, quae saepe certum tempus (ut ipse disseruit) in ejus assumptione significat, saepe infinitum, ut est illud, quod Deus ad quosdam loquitur in Propheta: Ego sum, ego sum, et donec senescatis ego sum (Isai. XLIII; Jerem. VII). Numquid postquam illi senuerint, Deus esse desistet? Et Salvator in Evangelio ad Apostolos, Ecce ego, inquit, vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi (Matt. XXVIII, 20). Ergo post consummationem saeculi a discipulis suis Dominus abscedet, et tunc quando in duodecim soliis judicaturi sunt duodecim tribus Israel (Matth. XIX, 38), Domini consortio fraudabuntur? Paulus quoque apostolus Corinthiis scribens: Primitiae, ait, Christus: deinde hi qui sunt Christi, qui in adventu ejus crediderunt: deinde finis, cum tradiderit regnum Deo et Patri, cum destruxerit omnem principatum et omnem potestatem et virtutem. Oportet enim illum regnare, donec ponat omnes inimicos sub pedibus ejus, omnia enim sub pedibus ejus subjecit (I Cor. XV, 23, 26). Esto, de homine dictum sit, non negamus de eo qui passus est crucem, qui postea sedere jubetur a dextris. Quid sibi vult hoc quod ait, Oportet enim illum regnare, donec ponat omnes inimicos sub pedibus ejus? Numquid tamdiu regnaturus est Dominus, donec incipiant esse inimici sub pedibus ejus; et postquam illi sub pedibus fuerint, regnare desistet: cum utique tunc magis regnare incipiet, cum inimici coeperint esse sub pedibus? David quoque in quarto graduum psalmo: Sicut oculi ancillae in manibus dominae suae, ita oculi nostri ad Dominum Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri (Psal. CXXII, 3). Ergo tamdiu Propheta oculos habebit ad Dominum, quamdiu misericordiam impetret, et post impetratam misericordiam, oculos torquebit in terram? Qui in alio loco dicit: Oculi mei defecerunt in salutare tuum, et in verbum justitiae tuae (Psal. CXVIII, 123). Poteram super hoc innumerabilia exempla congerere, et omnem lacessentis procacitatem, testimoniorum nube celare; verum adhuc pauca subjiciam, ut his similia ipse sibi lector inveniat.

Traduction Masquer
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary

6.

Our reply is briefly this,—the words knew and till in the language of Holy Scripture are capable of a double meaning. As to the former, he himself gave us a dissertation to show that it must be referred to sexual intercourse, and no one doubts that it is often used of the knowledge of the understanding, as, for instance, “the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and his parents knew it not.” Now we have to prove that just as in the one case he has followed the usage of Scripture, so with regard to the word till he is utterly refuted by the authority of the same Scripture, which often denotes by its use a fixed time (he himself told us so), frequently time without limitation, as when God by the mouth of the prophet says to certain persons, ¹“Even to old age I am he.” Will He cease to be God when they have grown old? And the Saviour in the Gospel tells the Apostles, ²“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Will the Lord then after the end of the world has come forsake His disciples, and at the very time when seated on twelve thrones they are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel will they be bereft of the company of their Lord? Again Paul the Apostle writing to the Corinthians ³ says, “Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s, at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” Granted that the passage relates to our Lord’s human nature, we do not deny that the words are spoken of Him who endured the cross and is commanded to sit afterwards on the right hand. What does he mean then by saying, “for he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet”? Is the Lord to reign only until His enemies begin to be under His feet, and once they are under His feet will He cease to reign? Of course His reign will then commence in its fulness when His enemies begin to be under His feet. David also in the fourth Song of Ascents ⁴ speaks thus, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us.” Will the prophet, then, look unto the Lord until he obtain mercy, and when mercy is obtained will he turn his eyes down to the ground? although elsewhere he says, ⁵“Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.” I could accumulate countless instances of this usage, and cover the verbosity of our assailant with a cloud of proofs; I shall, however, add only a few, and leave the reader to discover like ones for himself.