On Simony

And on the eight things that contribute to its detestation: Chapter 6.

Concerning which we shall proceed in this manner. First we shall speak of simony. Second, of the sin of those who build up the interests of their relatives. Third, of the sin of choristers. Fourth, of the sin of mercenaries [hired clergy]. Fifth, we shall touch upon the signs of avarice that appear in the Church. Sixth, of the sin of those who unworthily confect [the Eucharist]. Seventh, of the vice of proprietorship among those in cloistered life. Eighth, of the avarice of those who knowingly conceal [sins]. And of simony we shall speak first.

On Simony

First we shall set forth what pertains to the detestation of simony, and second the divisions and principal species of simony. There are eight things that contribute to its detestation. The first is that saying of Pope Damasus: “All crimes, in comparison with the heresy of simony, are reckoned as virtually nothing.” In this saying simony is shown to be detestable in two ways: because it is shown to exceed all other crimes, and because it is compared to heresy. In many other places as well, this sin is called a heresy. Hence Pope Nicolaus [II]: “We decree, establish, and confirm that the threefold heresy of simony stands condemned.” And on Matthew 21, “And he overturned the chairs of those selling doves,” the Gloss says — on the phrase about those who sold doves, etc. — the Interlinear Gloss says: “He specifically condemns the heresy of simony.” And in Acts 8, where Petrus says to Symon Magus, “Repent of this wickedness of yours,” the Interlinear Gloss says: “that is, of the twofold evil of covetousness and of perverse belief.” And in that passage it is shown that simony consists in placing something of inestimable value at a base price, and in separating the body of the Church from its head as heretics do, and in reckoning — whether in thought or in deed — that the gift of the Holy Spirit is subject to the dominion of money. For just as in bodily sodomy one acts against nature while performing the work of nature,

so in simony one acts against grace when he purchases the work of grace, since he has been redeemed by grace. And just as on the Day of Judgment the sodomite will be struck speechless — according to the interpretation of the name [Sodom, meaning “mute”] — because he was an enemy of nature, which had been his spouse (for as far as it lies in him, the sodomite destroys the human race), so too the simoniac will be struck speechless, who was an enemy of the grace by which he had been redeemed. And just as according to the law of nature sodomy is judged either the greatest sin or one of the greatest, because it is against nature, so in the age of grace, according to the law of the Gospel, simony is judged a sin of the greatest magnitude, because it is properly contrary to grace. For it directly contravenes that saying in Matthew 10: “Freely you have received; freely give.” Hence simoniacs are rightly symbolized by the Sodomites who sought to break down the door of the house of Loth, of whom it is said in Genesis 19: “And they were on the very point of breaking down the door” — that is, the law. The third thing that contributes to the detestation of simony is the great zeal that we read the saints had against this sin. Hence in 4 Kings 5 [i.e., 2 Kings 5], Heliseus said to Giezi: “The leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” And the Lord in his first coming is not recorded to have burned with anger against any other sin as he did against this one. Hence he is recorded twice to have driven out the buyers and sellers from the Temple: the first expulsion is found in John 2, the second in Matthew 21. For he had come to be judged, not to judge, and to bear sins with gentleness, not to punish them; and yet on account of this sin — indeed, on account of a [mere] figure of this sin — he refused to maintain his gentleness, but as if in wrath, with a whip made of cords, he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the chairs of those selling doves. And although his first coming was one of mercy, nevertheless on account of this sin justice intervened. Hence Bernardus [says] to Pope Eugenius, speaking of the plague of simony: “Look to the Master,” he says. “He does not prepare his ears to listen but a whip to strike. He neither speaks nor accepts words, for he does not sit judging but pursues and punishes. For he does not conceal the cause, saying: ‘You have made my house of prayer a house of commerce.’ Therefore do likewise. Let such traders blush before your face, if possible; if not, let them not bring their coins but rather lose confidence. Let them hide their silver from you, knowing you more ready to pour it out than to receive it.” On account of the zeal the Lord had against this sin, it is written in the Psalms [Psalm 69:9] in his person: “Zeal for your house has consumed me.” Even the sin of Iudas, God was willing to tolerate patiently, but this sin he would not tolerate. Petrus also had great zeal against this sin when he said to Symon Magus: “May your money go with you to perdition,” as is recorded in Acts 8. How great a zeal the Church also has against this sin is sufficiently clear to those who possess expertise in canon law.

On the twelve insults of simony.

The fourth consideration that contributes to the detestation of simony is the manifold insult that this sin inflicts upon God. And we shall set forth at present twelve of these insults.

The first is:

that it sells God — and this in two ways. First, because it sells the grace of the Holy Spirit. Hence, on that passage in John 2, “To those who sold doves,” etc., the gloss says: “The Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. Thus the dove signifies the Spirit, whom simoniacs sell. But the Holy Spirit is God; therefore simoniacs sell God.” They also sell God in another way: by selling Christ in the sacrament of the altar when they celebrate for money. Nor is this a small insult. There is no one so poor in this world who would not be greatly outraged if someone wished to lead him to the marketplace and there put him up for sale like a beast of burden. Why, then, is it not an insult to God when he is put up for sale by those who above all ought to honor him? It should be enough for such people that Christ was sold once for their sins. These aforementioned [simoniacs] appear to be worse than Iudas in five respects. They sell the immortal and already glorified one, whom Iudas sold as mortal and in a state of humility. But the insult done to someone in a state of honor is greater than that done in a state of humility — just as an affront to a knight is greater than one offered to a squire. Nor do they sell him only once, as Iudas did, but more than a hundred times. They also sell him for a lesser price than Iudas did. They even believe him to be God — which Iudas did not believe when he sold him for thirty coins. Iudas, moreover, when he repented of this sin, led by remorse returned the thirty pieces of silver he had received for Christ; but simoniacs cannot be brought to repentance so as to restore what they have acquired through simony.

The second insult is

to regard God himself as a seller, which is no small affront. For if some king or count of great liberality were reproached for selling his garments or his arms, he would consider it a great wrong. What wonder, then, if he who is the most liberal bestower of all things — who made everything he made in order to give it away, some things so that he might bestow [his gifts] upon them, and other things so that he might bestow them [as gifts], who gives his gifts to the good and the wicked, to the grateful and the ungrateful, to friends and enemies, who asks that petitions be made to him — [what wonder] if he takes it ill? Petrus alluded to this insult when he said to Symon: “Because you thought the gift of God could be obtained with money” [Acts 8] — as if to say: you regarded the giver as a seller. And in John 2 the Lord says: “Do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” He who regards God as a merchant makes God’s house a house of trade.

The third insult is:

that [simony] equates the gifts of God with a paltry price: it equates with base profit that which is precious in God’s sight, that which is the price of the kingdom of heaven — and in this it also shows contempt for the giver himself. People are usually not a little displeased when someone despises their goods, as is evident among merchants and craftsmen, especially when their gifts are scorned. And this greatly tends to discourage

even generous people from giving. Hence the Lord in Matthew 7 forbade that his gifts be lavished upon dogs: “Do not,” he said, “cast your pearls before swine” — that is, do not give precious gifts to those who despise them.

The fourth insult is

that simony takes from God the door of the Church, which the Lord especially wished to guard — on account of which he called himself the door (John 10), just as someone is accustomed to place himself in the middle of a doorway when he wishes to ensure that no one enters except by his will. By this word the Lord signified that anyone who entered other than through him would, as it were, do him violence. To show further that he wished the entrance to the Church to be guarded above all, he himself entered to the disciples through closed doors. For one who wishes to guard an entrance well is accustomed to open as little of the door as possible for the one who must enter, and it would greatly please him if the one who must enter could enter with the door entirely shut. To demonstrate the same point, the Lord commanded in Exodus 12 that the doorposts be smeared with the blood of the lamb — as if to say: at the very least I wish to guard the door of the Church, which I purchased with my own blood. For this reason he entrusted the keys of the Church to Petrus, because [Petrus] loved her more ardently than the rest. The same can also be illustrated by a parallel from fortifications: during wartime, the gates are customarily guarded above all else — hence towers are usually built above them.

The fifth insult is

that simony brings it about that the Church, which is the bride of God, becomes pregnant from someone other than her spouse. The Church ought to conceive from the Holy Spirit alone, which was prefigured in the Blessed Virgin, who “was found to have in her womb from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1). But simony causes her to conceive from an evil spirit. Hence it is remarkable that her spouse does not abandon her. For Ioseph wished to dismiss the Blessed Virgin when he doubted how she had conceived.

The sixth insult is

that it causes illegitimate children to be nurtured [at the Church’s expense].

The seventh insult is

that it disinherits the children of God from the patrimony of Christ and establishes the children of the devil as heirs in their place, according to Ecclesiasticus 23: “Every woman who abandons her husband will sin, establishing an inheritance from a strange marriage.”

The eighth insult is

that it makes God into an offering to an idol, presenting him to the idol of greed. And in this simony is more detestable than other species of avarice. For it is not enough for simony to set up another god; it immolates the true God to its idol when it celebrates [the sacrament] for money. It would be a great insult to the lord of a castle if his subjects established another lord; but it would be a far greater insult if they offered the true lord as a captive to that newly established lord.

The ninth insult is

that this sin shows deference to no place and no person. Other sins show deference to the sanctity of places. For no one would commit fornication in a church or upon an altar; but simo-

simony itself even invades the altars. Thus Jeremiah 17 says that the sin of Iuda is engraved on the horns of their altars. By the sin of Iuda is understood the sin of clerics, who ought to devote themselves to the confession of divine praise. Likewise, simony places the idol of cupidity in the temple of the Virgin alongside the Son of God, so that what is said in Daniel 9 seems fulfilled: “And in the temple there shall be the abomination of desolation.” Simony shows no deference to God nor to his angels, for it is present when the divine mysteries are celebrated, even though Christus is present both as God and as man together with his angels. In this the simoniacs are worse than the demons, because the demons fear Christus and his angels, but the simoniacs do not.

The tenth insult is

that simony uses for the damnation of men the very things which Christus instituted for their sanctification. Thus the devil seems to have triumphed over the Church when he attacks the Church with her own weapons and strikes her, as it were, with her own staff.

The eleventh insult is

that simony causes robbers and sacrilegious men to hold the place and office of God. For the simoniac is a robber. Thus John 10: “He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.” And on Matthew 21, “You have made it a den of robbers,” the Gloss says: “A robber is one who pursues gain, who punishes corporally those who do not give, and kills spiritually those who do give. And every robber first selects a place of ambush, like a den.” The simoniac is also sacrilegious, because the things around which he plies his robbery are sacred. For it is absurd to call someone sacrilegious who steals or seizes the chalice of a church and not to call sacrilegious the one who steals or seizes an entire church together with its chalice and everything else belonging to it. Moreover, the simoniac can be called a thief in two respects: with respect to the one whose goods he consecrates against that person’s will, and with respect to the poor whom he defrauds of the goods of the Church. Thus, since a prelate holds the office of God, when a simoniac is made prelate, a robber and sacrilegious man exercises the office of God in the Church.

The twelfth insult is

that simony fills the Church of God with reptiles, beasts of burden, and animals. For it undermines the wall of the Church, just as a prelate does — especially if he is carnal — according to Genesis 49: “Symeon and Leui are brothers, vessels of iniquity.” And it adds: “In their willfulness they undermined a wall.” And Iacob interposes a certain prayer that ought to be made frequently by prelates of the Church: “Let my soul not enter into their counsel.” For it would be exceedingly dangerous for a prelate of the Church to have demoniacs or simoniacs in his counsel. Once the wall of the Church has been undermined, a multitude of reptiles and beasts of burden enters, according to Ezekiel 8: “Go in and see the worst abominations.” And it continues: “And I went in and saw, and behold every likeness of reptiles and animals — an abomination.” When someone lustful obtains a benefice in a church through simony, a serpent enters the Church. When someone fond of quarrels and brawls obtains a benefice in a church, a pig or a dog enters the Church. When someone avaricious

On the manifold harm that arises from simony

Fifth, contributing to the detestation of simony is the manifold harm that arises from it to God and to his Church. The first harm is that God has, as it were, lost the Church, since he has lost entry and exit in it. For a castle is not said to belong to someone who has no entry and exit in it. Therefore the Psalmist said: “The Lord guard your coming in and your going out,” etc. [Psalm 121:8]. Another harm is that simony converts the Church, which ought to be the dwelling place of the Son of God, into a den of robbers, according to Matthew 21: “It is written: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” In this, ecclesiastical prelates appear to be worse than secular princes, because the latter do not tolerate dens of robbers in their dominions, whereas the former permit cloisters into which entry is made simoniacally. In the judgment of God these are dens of robbers: they are plainly robbers and are not to be acquitted from the gallows of hell. Another harm is that where God ought to be honored, idolatry is practiced instead. For those whom gold and silver have introduced serve gold and silver as though it were God. Thus Hosea 8: “They have reigned, but not by me; princes have arisen, and I did not know them. Of their silver and their gold they have made idols for themselves.” He who buys a dignity afterwards wants to sell the things that pertain to that dignity. Thus on Acts 8, concerning Symon Magus, the Gloss says: “He wished to buy the Holy Spirit so that by selling it to others he could receive more.” And as the blessed Bernardus says, he who enters faithlessly and not through Christus — what does he do but act faithlessly and against Christus? Since Christus did not introduce someone into the Church, afterwards he does not recognize him. Thus Petrus, having been introduced by the servant girl who kept the door into the courtyard of the chief priests, said that he did not know Christus. The servant girl at the door is the flesh, which has the five senses as its five doors. Therefore the servant girl at the door introduces the one whom carnality introduces. Simony also takes the Holy Spirit away from the Church. This seems to have been signified in the fact that the sacred fire which had survived for seventy years of the Babylonian captivity under the waters was extinguished when Antiochus sold the priesthood to Iason, as Augustinus says. By that fire the Holy Spirit was prefigured. And this is the greatest harm that can be done to the Church of God, just as the greatest harm that could be done to our body is if the spirit from which it derives all its strength were taken away. Simony also causes the Church, which is the bride of Christus and ought to generate children for God, to generate monstrous moles, serpents, and even horned asses. When in a certain church someone ignorant is made a canon or is placed in charge, the canons of that church can say: “Our mother, who ought to have borne us a brother, has borne us a mole for a brother.” When someone who is a detractor is made a canon, then that church begets a serpent, according to Ecclesiastes [10:11]: “If the serpent bites

in silence: the one who secretly detracts possesses nothing the less [for his slander]. When some unfit person is made bishop in a church, then a horned ass is born in it. For a mitred fool is nothing other than a horned ass — an ass by his stupidity, horned by his mitre.

Sixth, what contributes to the detestation of simony is this,

that this sin renders a person hateful to God and to men. Whence Ecclesiasticus 20: “He who assumes power for himself unjustly shall be hated.” The Gloss says: “By God and by men.” For frequently, even though the simony is secret, it nevertheless renders a person hateful to men. For God punishes him in this: that he has no favor among men.

Seventh, what contributes to the detestation of simony is this,

that it corrupts the root. Whence it renders everything that follows poisoned or at least useless. To this may be referred that passage in Hosea 9: “Their root is dried up; they shall by no means bear fruit.”

Eighth and last, what contributes to the detestation of simony is this,

that simoniacs are saved only with great difficulty. And this for two reasons. First, because of the magnitude of the sin. Second, because they must resign the benefice that they acquired simoniacally. Whence they are like the devil’s fish-traps. A fish that has entered a trap does not easily return to the place through which it entered, and it does not exit by any other way except as a catch. So too a person does not easily renounce a benefice that he holds simoniacally, and he is not saved in any other way. Whence he already has, as it were, one foot in hell. Therefore a person ought to take great care how he enters the church. For unless he watches himself at the entrance, he virtually sets his foot in hell. Therefore Ecclesiastes 4 says: “Guard your foot when you enter the house of the Lord.” One who buys an ecclesiastical benefice is like someone who would buy the privilege of having a great mass of earth fall upon him, crushing him and not allowing him to rise. Concerning the difficulty of being saved that exists in simoniacs, that passage from Jeremiah 17 may be cited: “The sin of Iuda is written with an iron stylus, engraved with an adamantine point upon the breadth of their heart.” By Iuda the clergy are understood, whose duty it is to devote themselves to the confession [that is, the proclamation] of divine praise. To them belongs the sin of simony, which is indicated to be written as though indelibly — by the fact that it says “with an iron stylus,” which is a fitting instrument for writing, and by the fact that it is written on something like an adamantine fingernail, that is, something hard and smooth. For writing made on such material lasts a long time. But writing that is indelible can still be lost; therefore he adds: “Engraved upon the breadth of their heart.” And he shows that this writing is on the tablet of the heart, which cannot be lost by them or abandoned. To this same difficulty pertains what Petrus said to Symon Magus in Acts 8: “Repent of this your wickedness, and pray to God, that perhaps this thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

On the divisions of simony

After these matters, we must set forth the divisions that serve to make simony detestable and that pertain to simony. Of these we shall present only three. The first division is this: among those who commit simony, some commit it by buying, as Symon Magus did — these are properly called simoniacs. Others commit it by selling, as Giezi did — and these are called Giezites. Sometimes, however, both groups are broadly called simoniacs. The second division is according to the diversity of gifts by means of which simony is committed.

On the fourfold simony

Simony is committed by means of a fourfold gift: namely, when someone obtains something spiritual through money, through flattery, through carnal entreaties, or through servile compliance. Concerning the first, we read in 3 Kings 13 [1 Kings 13:33]: “Whoever wished, he filled his hand and became a priest of the high places.” And it continues: “On account of this the house of Hieroboam sinned and was overthrown and blotted out from the face of the earth.” If the selling of an idolatrous priesthood was so avenged by the Lord, how will the selling of the true priesthood be avenged? Flattery, indeed, is greatly to be feared, for it penetrates a person’s heart and draws him in imperceptibly — which is why it is called oil in the Psalm [Psalm 141:5]: “Let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head.” And elsewhere [Psalm 109:18]: “It entered like water into his inward parts, and like oil into his bones.” And let his speech be a curse. For flattery is both oil and a curse: oil insofar as it delights, a curse insofar as it prepares torments. Hence the Gloss on Malachias says: “Things that wrongly delight are called a curse, because they prepare torments.” From carnal entreaties, moreover, one must diligently guard oneself. Hence Bernardus says: “Where it is not lawful to give, what place is there for the one who asks? One person asks on behalf of another; another perhaps asks on his own behalf. If you ask on behalf of another, you are suspect; if he asks on his own behalf, he is already condemned.” The Lord gave us an example of not yielding to carnal entreaties in John 2, where he says to his mother, who wished him to perform a miracle: “What is that to me and to you, woman?” — indicating that he did not have from her the power to work miracles. And in Matthew 20, he did not grant the request of the mother of the sons of Zebedaeus, who asked that he give this dignity to Iacobus and Iohannes — that one might sit at his right hand in his kingdom and the other at his left. We also have an example of not asking for a benefice to be obtained from temporal [powers] in Genesis 18, where Abraham asked God not to destroy Sodom. For he did not wish to ask God specifically about his nephew Loth, that he might be delivered from the conflagration. And the cantor of Paris, of blessed memory, used to say that he would scarcely have asked God to obtain a benefice for his nephew — he who refused to ask God to deliver his nephew from the fire. Concerning the one who seeks to obtain a benefice through servile compliance, blessed Bernardus says: “He goes about as a diligent spy; he follows and fawns; he pretends and

dissembles, crawling on hands and feet, to see whether he might somehow introduce himself into the patrimony of the Crucified.” The third division is according to the diversity of things that simoniacs sell, because among the spiritual goods that they wish to sell, some are spiritual because the Holy Spirit is incidental to them, such as the sacramentals of the Church. Others are spiritual because through them the grace of the Holy Spirit is conferred or increased, such as the sacraments of the Church — except for matrimony — and ecclesiastical burial, and the offices or dignities of the Church. Some things are called spiritual because they are possessed through the Holy Spirit, such as knowledge and virtue. For knowledge belongs to the Holy Spirit insofar as he illuminates, and therefore the selling of knowledge is forbidden in Proverbs 23 [Proverbs 23:23], where it says: “Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and teaching, and understanding.” Virtue, moreover, belongs to the Holy Spirit insofar as he moves souls. Some things are called spiritual because through them one is shown to possess the Holy Spirit, such as miracles. Some things are called spiritual in a broad sense of the term, because they serve spiritual exercises, such as the vessels and vestments of the Church. Others are called spiritual because they sustain those who are devoted to spiritual exercises, such as tithes. But these last two categories should more properly be called things annexed to spiritual goods rather than spiritual goods themselves.