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Against the Donatists

St Optatus of Milevis, tr. Vassall-Phillips, 1917

Book 7, The Donatists Might Have Appealed to the Example of the Apostle Peter to Ask…

But even if the Catholic Church should hesitate about receiving you, ought you not to have striven to attain the pattern of unity¹? But you have shrunk from bringing forward the examples to be found in the Gospel, as for instance what has been written concerning the person of the most blessed Peter, where we may read a description of the way in which unity is to be retained or procured.² Without doubt it is evil to do anything against a prohibition, but it is worse not to have unity when you may. We see that this unity was preferred to punishment³ by Christ Himself, who chose that all His disciples should be in unity rather than punish⁴ a sin against Himself. For, as He did not wish to be denied, He declared that whosoever should deny Him before men him would He deny before His Father,⁵ [but He did not declare that He would punish one who should give up any Scripture, since it is more serious to deny Him who spoke, than to give up the words which He has spoken].⁶ And though this has been thus written, nevertheless, for the sake of unity, blessed Peter (for whom it would have been enough if after his denial he had obtained pardon only) both deserved to be placed over all the Apostles, and alone received the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, which he was to communicate to the rest.⁷ So from this example it is given us to understand that for the sake of unity sins should be buried, since the most blessed Apostle Paul says that charity⁸ can cover a multitude of sins:
‘Bear your burdens together,’⁹
he says; and in another place:
‘Charity is high-souled,¹⁰ charity is kind, charity envieth not, charity is not puffed up, charity seeketh not the things that are her own.’¹¹

And he has said well. For he had seen all these things in the other Apostles, who for the sake of unity, through charity, would not withdraw from the communion of Peter----of the man, that is to say, who had denied Christ.¹² But if their love of innocence had been greater than the gain¹³ of peace and unity, they would have said that they ought not to hold communion with Peter, who had denied his Master and the Son of God, the Lord. They might, as has been said, not have held communion with the most blessed Peter; it would have been possible for them to quote against him the words of Christ, who had declared that He would deny before His Father whosoever should have denied Him before men. We ought industriously¹⁴ to pay attention to the inward meaning of this.¹⁵ Whilst I say a few words concerning it, may the blessed Saint Peter himself pardon me,¹⁶ if I mention that which we read and know that he did. I hesitate to say that so great holiness as his has sinned, but he himself proved this fact, when he grieved bitterly and wept copiously, since he would neither have grieved nor wept, had he not committed any offence. Now the Head of the Apostles might surely have so governed himself, as to have done nothing, on account of which he should grieve. But many faults¹⁷ are seen in this one case of his,¹⁸ for this reason, that it might be shown that for the sake of unity all things should be reserved for God.¹⁹ And I know not whether in any other man this kind of sin could be of such weight, as was clearly the case in blessed Peter. For whoever during some persecution perchance denied the Son of God, will be seen, when compared with blessed Peter, to have sinned more lightly, if he denied Him whom he had not seen, if he denied Him whom he had not recognised, if he denied Him to whom he had made no promise, if he denied but once. For in blessed Peter this kind of sin was broadened out²⁰ ----in the first place, when Christ asked of all, whom did men say that He was, one said ‘Elias,’ another said ‘the Prophet’; then we read that Christ said:
‘Whom do you say that I am?’
and Peter said to Him:
‘Thou art the Son of the Living God’²¹ ----
on account of which recognition²² he deserved to be praised by Christ, [because this he had said through the prompting²³ of God the Father²⁴ ]. Behold, when the others did not recognise the Son of God, He was recognised by Peter alone.

In the second place, when Christ said on the eve of His Passion:
‘Behold I am bound, and you all flee,’²⁵
when the others kept silence, he alone promised that he would not go back.²⁶ Out of His Foreknowledge, the Son of God said:
‘O Peter, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice.’²⁷

Something else was added to the weight of his sin----a promise, which he would not fulfil. After Christ was brought into the house of Caiaphas, out of so great a number no one was questioned----to fill up the measure of his transgression ---- save blessed Peter. When questioned, at first he denies; when questioned, he denies a second time; thirdly, he said that he knew Christ not at all; and the cock crew, not to mark the time by his crowing, but that blessed Peter might recognise how he had sinned. At last he grieved bitterly and wept copiously.

Behold (as we have said above), when the others did not recognise he alone recognised, when the others made no promises he alone promised, when the others did not deny once he alone denied and that three times, but yet, for the sake of unity, he was not to be separated from the number of the Apostles.²⁸ From which we understand that all things were ordered by the Providence of the Saviour, that Peter should receive the Keys. The way of malice was stopped up, that the Apostles might not conceive in their minds that they were free to judge, and condemn with severity, him who had denied Christ. So many guiltless ones are standing upright,²⁹ and the sinner receives the Keys, that the work of unity³⁰ might receive its pattern.³¹ It was provided that the sinner should open for the guiltless,³² lest the guiltless might close [the gates] against sinners, and thus the unity which is necessary could not be.³³

If you had mentioned these things, and asked for communion, how³⁴ could the Catholic Church, our Mother, have hesitated to receive you in her Bosom,³⁵ since it is certain that you are not Betrayers, but the sons of Betrayers?

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