same name. Pomerius explains the origin of his work in the preface: “You bid me, then, to discuss in a few words the nature of the contemplative life and to explain as briefly as I can the difference between it and the active life; whether one charged with ruling a church can become a sharer in the contemplative virtue.”118 The book may be characterized as a call to internal reform, as it combines outspoken criticism of clerical indignities with a systematic treatment of virtues and vices that borrows as much from ancient philosophy as it does from Augustine.
Pomerius begins by reminiscing about how Julianus had toyed with the idea of abandoning his episcopal see and retreating to solitude, “from despair of fulfilling your charge.”119 Julianus, as Pomerius recalls, was “deeply moved and grieved” because “you could neither discharge your office with any zeal nor abandon it without sin.”120 Pomerius wrote his treatise roughly a century after John Chrysostom’s work, at a time when the church had established its presence in all the major cities throughout the empire, and his approach is more pragmatic than Chrysostom’s. Where John invoked the awesome dignity of the ecclesiastical ministry and the great demands it places on the spiritual abilities of its bearer to the extent of being too overwhelming for some (including himself), Pomerius simply takes it for granted that men of good upbringing and suitable social class will be ordained to the clergy. His concern is how they can discharge their office for the benefit of the church. How can they resist the temptation of enriching themselves, of basking in the respect that their office commands, or of relishing the applause for their carefully crafted sermons?
Instead of weighing priesthood against monasticism, Pomerius shifts the terms and distinguishes between active virtue and contemplative virtue. He considers the latter superior: “The active life is the journeying; the contemplative is the summit. The former makes a man holy; the latter makes him perfect.”121 Nevertheless, it is possible for a priest to partake of the contemplative virtue, if he discharges his office properly and according to “the apostolic teaching”:
Therefore, if holy priests—not such as the divine threat declares are to be sentenced and condemned, but such as the apostolic teaching commends—convert many to God by their holy living and preaching; if they display no imperiousness, but do everything humbly and show themselves through love of holy charity affable to those over whom they have been placed; if they in some cases cure the weaknesses of their carnally living brethren by the medicine of healing words and in others bear patiently with those whom they judge to be incurable; if in the lives they live and in their preaching they seek not their own glory but Christ’s; if they do not woefully waste either their words or their deeds as the price of courting favor, but always ascribe to God whatever honor is paid them as they live and teach in a priestly manner; if the dutiful greetings of those they meet do not make them proud but weigh them down; if they consider themselves not honored but burdened by the praises of those who compliment them; if they console the afflicted, feed the needy, clothe the naked, redeem the captives, harbor strangers; if they show wanderers the way of salvation and promise hope to those who despair of gaining pardon; if they spur on those who make progress, and arouse those who are delaying, and are constantly occupied with whatever pertains to their office: who will be such a stranger to faith as to doubt that such men are sharers in the contemplative virtue, by whose words as well as example many become coheirs of the kingdom of heaven?122
This passage stands at the conclusion of book 1, which deals with the contemplative life. A large part of the discussion in this book revolves around the limitations of teaching by example. Pomerius is less confident than earlier authors about the impact of a priest’s upright conduct. He maintains that it is unlikely that a priest merely by his exemplary lifestyle can bring obstinate sinners to mend their ways. He must also admonish them through his preaching.123 Also, certain truths of the Christian faith, such as the life of Christ or the nature of the Trinity, cannot be imparted through the exemplary living of the priest, but have to be taught by preaching.124 In this regard, Pomerius agrees with John Chrysostom on the importance of preaching and instruction for combating heresy.
Book 2 is devoted to a detailed and concrete discussion of the active life. Pomerius begins by expressing his apprehension that many clerics who read this will bristle at the implicit criticism of their unworthy behavior.125 In a long, poetic passage that is reminiscent of Origen’s definition of priests “before God,” Pomerius describes the qualities of “the true priests who are the heads of churches,” and who are priests “by divine approbation”:
They especially have received the charge of caring for souls. Ably bearing the responsibility for the people entrusted to them, they untiringly supplicate God for the sins of all as for their own; and, like an Aaron, offering the sacrifice of a contrite heart and a humble spirit, which appeases God, they turn the wrath of future punishment from their people. By the grace of God they become indicators of the divine will, founders of the churches of Christ after the Apostles, leaders of the faithful, champions of truth, enemies of perverse teaching, amiable to all the good, terrifying even in appearance of those of evil conscience, avengers of the oppressed, fathers of those regenerated in the Catholic faith, preachers of the things of heaven, shock troops in battles unseen, patterns of good works, examples of virtues, and models for the faithful. . . . These are they who have merited the priesthood not by courting favor but by living spiritually; who, elevated not by the support of human patronage but by divine approbation, do not applaud themselves because of the excellence of their high office.126
These “true priests” represent the ideal of the priesthood that the clergy should strive to attain. Pomerius does not go into further detail about them, nor does he explain in what relation they stand to the ordained clergy of his day. He also does not associate the “true priests” in any way with the monastic life, or with men who are recognized as holy men or saints.
The subsequent chapters in Pomerius’s work contain concrete advice to priests on a wide range of issues: the admonition, rebuke, and, if necessary, excommunication of sinners; the administration of church finances not as if it were personal property, but for the benefit of the poor and needy; and the avoidance of concupiscence for money, food, and wine through “spiritual abstinence,” which allows for the use of these goods, provided it is undertaken in an attitude of complete indifference. Pomerius is too much of a pragmatist to demand radical lifestyle changes of the priests. He does not believe that sinners can be brought to contrition merely by observing the exemplary lifestyle of their priests. All he asks for in the priesthood is a reform in outlook, a sense of responsibility for the spiritual and material well-being of their flock, and moderation in their desire for the comforts of life.
The third book turns to a philosophical discussion of virtues and vices. Pomerius highlights the importance of four virtues in particular for the active life of priests: justice, temperance, fortitude, and prudence. Justice is described as “something of a social virtue” because it increases in the measure in which it is applied.127 The priest who helps others to grow in their faith himself experiences an augmentation of virtue as a result:
They act contrary to justice who, when they have been chosen because of the merit of their way of life or their learning, give preference to leisurely study over the fruitful good of ruling the common folk and who, though they could help the church in its labors, shun the work of a burdensome administration for the sake of enjoying repose.128
The contemplative life in pursuit of learning and the active life of administration are equally valuable before God. The scholar and the priest should follow the path laid out for them, in the confidence that “they travel towards one homeland and arrive at one kingdom, doing service in different capacities as Christ, the King of all, calls them.”129 This is Pomerius’s answer to the dilemma of his friend Julianus, which prompted the composition of this work. The priesthood is neither a burden nor a distraction from man’s supreme purpose to perfect himself in solitude, but it is a calling by God to reach personal sanctification through the active life.
Gregory the Great’s
