The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: the Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Let the Protestants listen to S. Jerome, or the author of the Epistle to Susanna after lapsing, (whoever he may be, he is certainly of weight and of early times, nay, Erasmus and Marianus think from the style that he is S. Augustine himself). Prescribing to her or any other penitent the form of lamentation and repentance, he says: " Who shall comfort thee, O virgin-daughter of Zion, for thy contrition is made vast as the sea ? Pour out thy heart as water before the face of the Lord, raise to Him thy hands as a remedy against thy sins. Take thy lamentation , and chiefly on no day omit to say the 51st Psalm , which is always used for this purpose , and with groaning and tears go through each verse , as far as that one : ‘ A broken and contrite heart , O God , shalt Thou not despise .’ Moreover , pour out this lament , not without compunction of heart , in the sight of God , thy Judge . Who will give water to my head and a fount of tears to my eyes , that I may bewail the wounds of my soul ? Woe is me! for I am become as Sodom , and am burnt even as Gomorrha. Who will have pity on my ashes ? I have sinned worse than Sodom , for she sinned in ignorance of the law , but I have received grace and sinned . If a man sin against a man there will be one to plead for him , but I have sinned against the Lord , and whom shall I find to atone for me ? How bitter is the fruit of concupiscence — more bitter than gall , more cruel than the sword ! How am I become desolate ! Suddenly have I fallen away and perished through my iniquity , like as a dream when one awaketh. Therefore has my image become vile in the city of the Lord , my name has been blotted out. Cursed be the day when the womb bare me , and the cruel light saw me. Better for me if I had not been born than become thus a proverb amongst the Gentiles. Through me confusion and reproach have come on the servants of the Lord , and on them that worthily worship Him. Mourn for me , ye mountains and rivers , for I am the daughter of weeping. My sin and my iniquity are not like to the offences of men. This wickedness is horrible , to pollute with flesh a virgin who has professed chastity . I have lied against the Lord Most High , but still I will call to the Lord: ‘ Lord , rebuke me not in Thy anger , neither chasten me in Thy heavy displeasure .’ ” S. Ambrose gives the same directions to a lapsed virgin. Cf. Cyprian ( Serm . de Lapsis), Chrysostom (Hom. 41 ad Pop.).
Climacus, in the passage already cited, relating examples and describing the disposition of penitents, has the following remarks, which may worthily act as goads of compunction to the sinner : “ When I came to the monastery of penitents, nay , to the religion of them that flee from sin , I saw and heard things which may well take , I saw some of those guilty ones standing and watching through whole nights till daybreak , standing motionless , resisting sleep , applying force to nature , giving themselves no rest, but chiding themselves. Others I saw in prayer , with their hands bound behind their backs after the fashion of criminals , turning their sorrowful faces to the earth , saying that they were unworthy to see the heavens , asking for nothing , but offering to God a mind silent and mute and filled with confusion. Some I saw sitting on the ground that was strewn with sackcloth and ashes , covering their faces with their knees , and bruising their foreheads against the earth. Others were smiting their breasts , and with deep sighs recalling their past life; others were weeping , and others lamenting their inability to do the like ; I saw some as though turned into stone by grief and insensible to everything ; others , with looks fixed on the ground , were constantly moving their heads and roaring like lions , . . . I saw too some with their thirsty tongues protruding from their mouth as dogs. Some of these tortured themselves under the heat of a burning sun ; others submitted to the most bitter cold ; some drank a little water, that they might not be altogether parched with thirst, and so gained relief. Some would eat a little bread and then throw away the rest , as if they were unworthy of it. What place was there among them for laughter, for gossip, for anger , for enjoyment of wine or fruits ? They all alike cried to God, and nought was heard save the voice of prayer. If any one desire more he will find much of the same kind, and enough to make him dumb. He says: “I saw them , and I counted them who so mourn after falling happier than they who have never fallen, and do not so bewail themselves.”
Lastly, listen to the repentance and sorrow of S. Paula for some slight sins, as recorded by S. Jerome: “She had not , even when stricken with violent fever , any soft bed-clothing, but lay on sackcloth , spread on the bare hard ground, and so took her rest , if that is to be called rest which mingled night and day with never-ceasing prayers , according to the words of the Psalmist , ‘ Every night will I wash my bed , and water my couch with my tears .’ You might suppose that in her were fountains of tears, so bitterly did she bewail the slightest sins ; and you might have thought her guilty of the most heinous crimes. When she was bidden by us, as often was the case, to spare her eyes, and save them for reading the Gospel, she would say, ‘ Defiled must that face be which, against the commandment of God, I have often painted with red dyes, and antimony, and different cosmetics. Afflicted must be the body which has been devoted to many delights . Long laughter must be atoned for by long mourning. Soft clothing and dainty silks must be exchanged for rough sackcloth. I, who once lived for my husband and the world, now desire to please Christ.”
In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Free from the sin of the fornicator. Although at first you neglected to punish it, yet you have shown your detestation of it by punishing it, and by your repentance (Anselm and Theophylact).
Ver. 12. — Though I wrote unto you, I did it not, &c. He who suffered wrong was the father whose wife the incestuous man had taken to himself. Hence it is evident that the father was alive. The Apostle says in effect : In the former Epistle I wrote somewhat sharply, but I did not mean to avenge the private injuries done by the incestuous person and suffered by the father ; but I wished to show the care that I have for the common salvation of your Church, from it this public scandal
Ver. 13. — Therefore we were comforted. By your repentance, zeal, &c., as was said (vers. 6, 7, 9, 11). The Latin version points this verse as follows : “ Before God, therefore, we were comforted. But in our comfort we joyed the more,” &c. If with some Greek copies we read “in your comfort,” S. Paul refers to the good news that he had heard of their repentance. “ The tears of penitents,” says S. Bernard, “are the wine of angels,” nay, they are the wine of penitents , for nothing so makes glad the heart as compunction. How sweet to the penitent is it with the Magdalene to weep at the feet of Jesus, to bathe them with tears, to wipe them, to kiss them, and then to hear : “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” None but one who has tried it knows this sweetness.
Ver. 14. — Even so our boasting which I made before Titus is found a truth . I am accustomed to boast to him of you as good disciples, and you have proved my boasting true.
Ver. 16. — I have confidence in you in all things . I dare to speak and act boldly with you, whether in the way of praise or blame. You are always obedient to me, and, therefore, I am bold, and am able to boast of you and think well of you (Chrysostom, Theophylact , Ambrose). Anselm remarks on the prudence of Paul, as of a physician, in curing with the pleasant medicines of consolation and praise the wounds now nearly healed, so that the burning inflicted by his former rebuke might be wholly healed.