# On the Lapsed - Author: [Cyprian of Carthage](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/cyprian-of-carthage/) - Latin title: *De lapsis* - Date: 251 (probable) - Source: Wilhelm von Hartel, ed., S. Thasci Caecili Cypriani Opera omnia, Pars 1, CSEL 3.1 (Vienna: Gerold, 1868), 235–264 (Latin text: W. von Hartel (CSEL 3.1, 1868), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text; each passage below gives the model and date - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/ - Passages: 36 ## On the Lapsed 1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/1/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:237 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian rejoices that peace has returned to the church after persecution and calls for thanksgiving to God. ### Latin text Pax ecce, dilectissimi fratres, ecclesiae reddita est et quod difficile nuper incredulis ac perfidis inpossibile uidebatur, ope adque ultione diuina securitas nostra reparata est. in laetitiam mentes redeunt et tempestate pressurae ac nube discussa tranquillitas ac serenitas refulserunt. dandae laudes Deo et beneficia eius ac munera cum gratiarum actione celebranda, quamuis agere gratias nostra uox nec in persecutione cessauerit: neque enim tantum licere inimico potest, ut non qui Deum corde toto et anima et uirtute diligimus benedictiones eius et laudes semper et ubique cum gloria praedicemus. exoptatus uotis omnibus dies uenit et post longae noctis horribilem taetramque caliginem Domini luce radiatus mundus eluxit. ### English translation (Claude) See, dearest brothers, peace has been restored to the church, and what lately seemed difficult to the unbelieving and impossible to the faithless, our security has been restored by divine help and vengeance. Our minds return to gladness, and, the storm and cloud of oppression dispersed, calm and serenity have shone out again. Praises must be given to God, and his benefits and gifts celebrated with thanksgiving, although our voice did not cease giving thanks even in the persecution. For the enemy cannot be allowed so much power that we who love God with our whole heart and soul and strength should not proclaim his blessings and praises always and everywhere with glory. The day longed for by everyone's prayers has come, and after the dreadful and hideous darkness of a long night, the world has shone out, lit by the light of the Lord. ### Scripture references - Deut 6:5: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 22:37: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Written at Carthage in 251, after the persecution under Decius. The allusion is Deut 6:5 (Matt 22:37). ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/1/). ## On the Lapsed 2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/2/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:237–238 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian welcomes the confessors who resisted sacrifice, and praises equally those who stood firm by refusing to sacrifice even if they were not arrested. ### Latin text Confessores praeconio boni nominis claros et uirtutis ac fidei laudibus gloriosos laetis conspectibus intuemur, sanctis osculis adhaerentes desideratos diuina et inexplebili cupiditate conplectimur. adest militum Christi cors candida, qui persecutionis urgentis ferociam turbulentam stabili congressione fregerunt, parati ad patientiam carceris, armati ad tolerantiam mortis. repugnastis fortiter saeculo, spectaculum gloriosum praebuistis Deo, secuturis fratribus fuistis exemplo. religiosa uox Christum locuta est, in quem se semel credidisse confessa est: inlustres manus quae non nisi diuinis operibus adsueuerant sacrificiis sacrilegis restiterunt: sanctificata ora caelestibus cibis post corpus et sanguinem Domini profana contagia et idolorum reliquias respuerunt: ab inpio sceleratoque uelamine quo illic uelabantur sacrificantium capita captiua caput uestrum liberum mansit: frons cum signo Dei pura diaboli coronam ferre non potuit, coronae se Domini reseruauit. quam uos laeto sinu excipit mater ecclesia de proelio reuertentes! quam beata, quam gaudens portas suas aperit, ut adunatis agminibus intretis de hoste prostrato tropaea referentes! cum triumphantibus uiris et feminae ueniunt quae cum saeculo sexum quoque uicerunt. ueniunt et geminata militiae suae gloria uirgines et pueri annos suos uirtutibus transeuntes. nec non et cetera stantium multitudo uestram gloriam sequitur, proximis et paene coniunctis laudis insignibus uestigia uestra comitatur. eadem et in illis sinceritas cordis, eadem fidei tenacis integritas. inconcussis praeceptorum caelestium radicibus nixos et euangelicis traditionibus roboratos non praescripta exsilia, non destinata tormenta, non rei familiaris et corporis supplicia terruerunt. explorandae fidei praefiniebantur dies: sed qui saeculo renuntiasse se meminit nullum saeculi diem nouit, nec tempora terrena iam conputat qui aeternitatem de Deo sperat. ### English translation (Claude) We gaze with joyful eyes on the confessors, illustrious with the renown of a good name and glorious with the praises of courage and faith; clinging to them with holy kisses, we embrace those we have longed for with a divine and insatiable desire. Here is the white-robed cohort of Christ's soldiers, who broke the turbulent ferocity of the pressing persecution by their steadfast encounter, ready to endure prison, armed to bear death. You have fought bravely against the world; you have presented a glorious spectacle to God; you have been an example to the brothers who will follow. Your devout voice has spoken Christ, in whom it has confessed that it believed once for all. Your illustrious hands, which had been accustomed only to divine works, have resisted the sacrilegious sacrifices. Your mouths, sanctified by heavenly food after the body and blood of the Lord, have spat out profane contagion and the leavings of idols. Your heads have remained free of the impious and wicked veil with which the captive heads of those who sacrificed were veiled there. Your brow, pure with the sign of God, could not wear the devil's crown; it has kept itself for the Lord's crown. How gladly mother church receives you in her bosom as you return from battle! How blessed, how joyful she opens her gates, that you may enter in united ranks, bringing back trophies from the defeated enemy! With the triumphant men come women too, who have conquered their sex along with the world. Virgins come too, with the doubled glory of their warfare, and boys surpassing their years in courage. And the rest of the multitude of those who stood firm follows your glory, and accompanies your footsteps with marks of praise close to yours and almost joined with them. In them too there is the same sincerity of heart, the same soundness of tenacious faith. Resting on the unshaken roots of the heavenly precepts and strengthened by the gospel traditions, they were not terrified by the exiles prescribed, the tortures appointed, the penalties against property and body. Days were fixed in advance for testing faith; but he who remembers that he has renounced the world knows no day of the world, and he who hopes for eternity from God no longer counts earthly times. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 4:9: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “The veil” refers to the Roman rite of sacrificing with covered head (capite velato); “the devil's crown” to the garlands worn at sacrifice. “Those who stood firm” (stantes) are Christians who neither sacrificed nor were tried. The body and blood of the Lord refer to the Eucharist. The spectacle presented to God echoes 1 Cor 4:9. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/2/). ## On the Lapsed 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/3/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:238–239 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those who withdrew rather than sacrifice by the appointed day are also confessors, in a private rather than public way. ### Latin text Nemo, fratres, nemo hanc gloriam mutilet, nemo incorruptam stantium firmitatem maligna obtrectatione debilitet. cum dies negantibus praestitutus excessit, quisque professus intra diem non est Christianum se esse confessus est. primus est uictoriae titulus gentilium manibus adprehensum Dominum confiteri: secundus ad gloriam gradus est cauta secessione subtractum iam Deo reseruari. illa publica, haec priuata confessio est: ille iudicem saeculi uincit, hic contentus Deo suo iudice conscientiam puram cordis integritate custodit: illic fortitudo promptior, hic sollicitudo securior. ille adpropinquante hora sua iam maturus inuentus est, hic fortasse dilatus est qui patrimonio derelicto idcirco secesserit, quia non erat negaturus: confiteretur utique, si fuisset et ipse detentus. ### English translation (Claude) Let no one, brothers, let no one mutilate this glory; let no one weaken the incorrupt firmness of those who stood firm by malicious disparagement. When the day appointed for those who denied had passed, whoever had not come forward within the day confessed that he was a Christian. The first title of victory is to confess the Lord when seized by the hands of the Gentiles; the second step to glory is to be withdrawn by a prudent retreat and kept for God. The one is a public confession, the other private: the one conquers the judge of the world; the other, content with God as his judge, guards a pure conscience by integrity of heart. In the one there is readier courage; in the other, safer caution. The one, as his hour approached, was found already ripe; the other perhaps was put off, who left his property and withdrew precisely because he was not going to deny. He would certainly have confessed if he too had been detained. ### Translation notes - Cyprian himself had withdrawn from Carthage during the persecution; this passage defends that course. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/3/). ## On the Lapsed 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/4/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:239–240 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian's joy is clouded by grief for the many who fell in the persecution, whose wound he feels as his own as their shepherd. ### Latin text Has martyrum caelestes coronas, has confessorum glorias spiritales, has stantium fratrum maximas eximiasque uirtutes maestitia una contristat, quod auulsam nostrorum uiscerum partem uiolentus inimicus populationis suae strage deiecit. quid hoc loco faciam, dilectissimi fratres, fluctuans uario mentis aestu quid aut quomodo dicam? lacrimis magis quam uerbis opus est ad exprimendum dolorem, quo corporis nostri plaga deflenda est, quo populi aliquando numerosi multiplex lamentanda iactura est. quis enim sic durus ac ferreus, quis sic fraternae caritatis oblitus qui inter suorum multiformes ruinas et lugubres ac multo squalore deformes reliquias constitutus siccos oculos tenere praeualeat nec erumpente statim fletu prius gemitus suos lacrimis quam uoce depromat? doleo, fratres, doleo uobiscum nec mihi ad leniendos dolores meos integritas propria et sanitas priuata blanditur, quando plus pastor in gregis sui uulnere uulneretur. cum singulis pectus meum copulo, maeroris et funeris pondera luctuosa participo. cum plangentibus plango, cum deflentibus defleo, cum iacentibus iacere me credo. iaculis illis grassantis inimici mea simul membra percussa sunt, saeuientes gladii per mea uiscera transierunt. inmunis et liber a persecutionis incursu fuisse non potest animus: in prostratis fratribus et me prostrauit adfectus. ### English translation (Claude) These heavenly crowns of the martyrs, these spiritual glories of the confessors, these very great and excellent virtues of the brothers who stood firm, are saddened by one grief: that the violent enemy has torn away and cast down a part of our own inward parts in the slaughter of his devastation. What shall I do here, dearest brothers, tossed by the varied surge of my mind? What or how shall I speak? Tears rather than words are needed to express the grief with which the wound of our body must be wept over, with which the manifold loss of a people once numerous must be lamented. For who is so hard and iron-hearted, who so forgetful of brotherly love, that, standing amid the manifold ruins of his own and their mournful remains disfigured with much squalor, he could keep his eyes dry and not, with weeping bursting out at once, pour out his groans in tears rather than in voice? I grieve, brothers, I grieve with you; nor does my own integrity and private soundness beguile me into softening my griefs, since a shepherd is wounded more in the wound of his flock. I join my heart with each one; I share the mournful weights of sorrow and death. I lament with those who lament, I weep with those who weep, I think myself fallen with those who have fallen. My own limbs were struck at the same time by those darts of the rampaging enemy; his savage swords passed through my own inward parts. The mind cannot have been immune and free from the onset of persecution: in my fallen brothers my affection has laid me low too. ### Scripture references - Rom 12:15: echo, medium confidence - 1 Cor 12:26: echo, medium confidence - 2 Cor 11:29: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The digital text begins a sentence with a stray “<”, removed. The echoes are Rom 12:15, 1 Cor 12:26, and 2 Cor 11:29. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/4/). ## On the Lapsed 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/5/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:240 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The persecution was God's testing and correction of a church whose discipline had been corrupted by long peace, and it was milder than its sins deserved. ### Latin text Habenda tamen est, fratres dilectissimi, ratio ueritatis nec sic mentem debet et sensum persecutionis infestae tenebrosa caligo caecasse, ut nihil remanserit luminis et lucis, unde diuina praecepta perspici possint. si cladis causa cognoscitur, et medella uulneris inuenitur. Dominus probari familiam suam uoluit et quia traditam nobis diuinitus disciplinam pax longa corruperat, iacentem fidem et paene dixerim dormientem censura caelestis erexit, cumque nos peccatis nostris amplius mereremur, clementissimus Dominus sic cuncta moderatus est, ut hoc omne quod gestum est exploratio potius quam persecutio uideretur. ### English translation (Claude) Yet account must be taken of the truth, dearest brothers, and the dark gloom of hostile persecution ought not so to have blinded mind and sense that no light or illumination remains by which the divine precepts can be seen. If the cause of the disaster is recognized, the remedy for the wound is also found. The Lord wished his household to be tested; and because long peace had corrupted the discipline handed down to us by God, the heavenly correction roused a faith that was lying prostrate and, I might almost say, asleep. And although we deserved more for our sins, the most merciful Lord so moderated everything that all that has happened seemed a testing rather than a persecution. ### Translation notes - The digital text's “ratio nentatas” is read as “ratio ueritatis”. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/5/). ## On the Lapsed 6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/6/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:240–241 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian lists the sins that provoked the persecution: greed, vanity, fraud, marriage with unbelievers, perjury, quarreling, and bishops who neglected their people for business and usury. ### Latin text Studebant augendo patrimonio singuli et obliti quid credentes aut sub apostolis ante fecissent aut semper facere deberent insatiabili cupiditatis ardore ampliandis facultatibus incubabant. non in sacerdotibus religio deuota, non in ministeriis fides integra, non in operibus misericordia, non in moribus disciplina. corrupta barba in uiris, in feminis forma fucata: adulterati post Dei manus oculi, capilli mendacio colorati. ad decipienda corda simplicum callidae fraudes, circumueniendis fratribus subdolae uoluntates. iungere cum infidelibus uinculum matrimonii, prostituere gentilibus membra Christi. non iurare tantum temere sed adhuc et peierare, praepositos superbo tumore contemnere, uenenato sibi ore maledicere, odiis pertinacibus inuicem dissidere. episcopi plurimi quos et hortamento esse oportet ceteris et exemplo diuina procuratione contempta procuratores regum saecularium fieri, derelicta cathedra, plebe deserta per alienas prouincias oberrantes negotiationis quaestuosae nundinas aucupari. esurientibus in ecclesia fratribus habere argentum largiter uelle, fundos insidiosis fraudibus rapere, usuris multiplicantibus faenus augere. quid non perpeti tales pro peccatis eiusmodi mereremur, cum iam pridem praemonuerit ac dixerit censura diuina: si dereliquerint legem meam et in iudiciis meis non ambulauerint, si iustificationes meas profanauerint et praecepta mea non obseruauerint, uisitabo in uirga facinora eorum et in flagellis delicta eorum. ### English translation (Claude) Each was intent on increasing his property; and, forgetting what believers had done before under the apostles or what they ought always to do, they brooded with an insatiable ardor of greed on enlarging their means. There was no devout religion in the priests, no sound faith in the ministers, no mercy in works, no discipline in morals. In men, beards defaced; in women, beauty painted; eyes adulterated after God's hands had made them; hair colored with a lie. Crafty frauds to deceive the hearts of the simple, deceitful designs to cheat brothers. Joining the bond of marriage with unbelievers, prostituting the members of Christ to Gentiles. Not only swearing rashly but even perjuring themselves; despising those set over them with proud arrogance; cursing one another with poisonous mouths; quarreling with one another in stubborn hatreds. Very many bishops, who ought to be an encouragement and example to the rest, despising their divine stewardship, became stewards of worldly kings; leaving their chair, deserting their people, wandering through other provinces, they hunted the markets for profitable trade. While brothers in the church went hungry, they wanted to have money in abundance, to seize estates by treacherous frauds, to increase their gains by multiplying interest. What should we not deserve to suffer for sins of this kind, when the divine censure had long ago warned us and said, “If they forsake my law and do not walk in my judgments, if they profane my statutes and do not keep my precepts, I will visit their crimes with the rod and their sins with scourges”? ### Scripture references - Ps 89:30 (88:31 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 89:32 (88:33 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 6:14: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 6:15: allusion, high confidence - Ps 89:31 (88:32 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Priests” (sacerdotes) refers in Cyprian chiefly to bishops; “ministers” to deacons and other clergy. The quotation is Ps 89:30–32 (88:31–33 LXX). The allusions are 2 Cor 6:14 and 1 Cor 6:15. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/6/). ## On the Lapsed 7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/7/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:241–242 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The persecution had been foretold in Scripture, yet most of the brothers fell at once, voluntarily denying the faith that the prophets, apostles, and Christ had warned them to keep. ### Latin text Praenuntiata sunt ista nobis et ante praedicta. sed nos datae legis et obseruationis inmemores id egimus per nostra peccata, ut dum Domini mandata contemnimus ad correptionem delicti et probationem fidei remediis seuerioribus ueniremus, nec saltim uel sero conuersi ad Domini timorem sumus, ut hanc correptionem nostram probationemque diuinam patienter et fortiter subiremus. ad prima statim uerba minantis inimici maximus fratrum numerus fidem suam prodidit nec prostratus est persecutionis inpetu, sed uoluntario lapsu se ipse prostrauit. quid oro inauditum, quid nouum uenerat, ut uelut incognitis adque inopinatis rebus exortis Christi sacramentum temeritate praecipiti solueretur? nonne haec et prophetae ante et apostoli postmodum nuntiauerunt? nonne iustorum pressuras et gentilium semper iniurias pleni sancto Spiritu praedicauerunt? nonne fidem nostram semper armans et Dei seruos caelesti uoce corroborans dicit scriptura diuina: Dominum Deum tuum adorabis et illi soli seruies? nonne iram diuinae indignationis ostendens et poenae metum praemonens denuo dicit: adorauerunt eos quos fecerunt digiti eorum, et curuatus est homo et humiliatus est uir, et non laxabo illis? et iterum Deus loquitur dicens: sacrificans diis eradicabitur nisi Domino soli. in euangelio quoque postmodum Dominus in uerbis doctor et consummator in factis docens quid fieret et faciens quodcumque docuisset, quicquid nunc geritur et geretur non ante praemonuit? nonne et negantibus aeterna supplicia et salutaria confitentibus praemia ante constituit? ### English translation (Claude) These things were foretold to us and predicted beforehand. But we, forgetful of the law given and of its observance, brought it about through our sins that, while we despised the Lord's commands, we came to severer remedies for the correction of sin and the testing of faith; nor were we converted even late to the fear of the Lord, so as to undergo this correction and divine testing of ours patiently and bravely. At the very first words of the threatening enemy the greatest number of the brothers betrayed their faith; they were not cast down by the onslaught of persecution, but cast themselves down by a voluntary fall. What, I ask, so unheard-of, so new had come, that, as if things unknown and unexpected had arisen, the sacrament of Christ should be dissolved with headlong rashness? Did not the prophets before and the apostles afterward announce these things? Did they not, filled with the Holy Spirit, foretell the oppressions of the righteous and the constant injuries from the Gentiles? Does not the divine Scripture, always arming our faith and strengthening the servants of God with a heavenly voice, say, “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone”? Does it not again, showing the anger of divine indignation and warning beforehand of the fear of punishment, say, “They worshiped what their fingers had made, and man was bowed down and man was humbled, and I will not forgive them”? And again God speaks, saying, “He who sacrifices to gods shall be rooted out, except to the Lord alone.” In the gospel too, afterward, the Lord, a teacher in words and a fulfiller in deeds, teaching what should be done and doing whatever he had taught, did he not forewarn beforehand of whatever is now happening and will happen? Did he not establish beforehand both eternal punishments for those who deny and saving rewards for those who confess? ### Scripture references - Deut 6:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:10: quotation, high confidence - Isa 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Isa 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Exod 22:20: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:32: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:33: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Sacrament” (sacramentum) here means the sacred bond or oath of faith. The quotations are Deut 6:13 (Matt 4:10), Isa 2:8–9, and Exod 22:20; the last point alludes to Matt 10:32–33. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/7/). ## On the Lapsed 8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/8/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:242–243 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Many rushed to sacrifice voluntarily, without waiting to be arrested or questioned, and so destroyed their own salvation at the idols' altars. ### Latin text Exciderunt quibusdam pro nefas omnia et de memoria recesserunt. non expectauerunt saltim ut ascenderent adprehensi, ut interrogati negarent. ante aciem multi uicti, sine congressione prostrati nec hoc sibi reliquerunt ut sacrificare idolis uiderentur inuiti. ultro ad forum currere, ad mortem sponte properare, quasi hoc olim cuperent, quasi amplecterentur occasionem datam quam libenter optassent. quot illic a magistratibus uespera urgente dilati sunt, quot ne eorum differretur interitus et rogauerunt! quam uim potest talis obtendere, qua crimen suum purget, cum uim magis ipse fecerit ut periret? nonne quando ad Capitolium sponte uentum est, quando ultro ad obsequium diri facinoris accessum est, labauit gressus, caligauit aspectus, tremuerunt uiscera, membra conciderunt? non sensus obstipuit, lingua haesit, sermo defecit? stare illic potuit Dei seruus et loqui et renuntiare Christo qui iam diabolo renuntiauerat et saeculo? non ara illa, quo moriturus accesserat, rogus illi fuit? non diaboli altare quod faetore taetro fumare ac redolere conspexerat uelut funus et bustum uitae suae horrere ac fugere debebat? quid hostiam tecum, miser, quid uictimam supplicaturus inportas? ipse ad aras hostia, uictima ipse uenisti, inmolasti illic salutem tuam, spem tuam, fidem tuam funestis illic ignibus concremasti. ### English translation (Claude) For some, alas, everything fell away and passed from memory. They did not even wait to be arrested before going up, to be questioned before denying. Many were conquered before the battle, laid low without an encounter, and did not even leave themselves the plea that they seemed to sacrifice to idols unwillingly. Of their own accord they ran to the forum; they hastened willingly to death, as though they had long desired it, as though they were embracing an opportunity they had gladly wished for. How many were put off there by the magistrates when evening pressed, how many even begged that their ruin should not be deferred! What compulsion can such a one plead to clear himself of his crime, when he rather used compulsion himself in order to perish? When he came willingly to the Capitol, when he freely approached to comply with the dreadful deed, did his step not falter, his sight grow dim, his inward parts tremble, his limbs give way? Were his senses not stunned, his tongue not stuck, his speech not failing? Could a servant of God stand there and speak and renounce Christ, who had already renounced the devil and the world? Was not that altar, to which he had gone to die, a funeral pyre to him? Ought he not to have shuddered at and fled the devil's altar, which he had seen smoking and reeking with a foul stench, as the funeral and tomb of his life? Why, wretch, do you bring an offering with you, why a victim to supplicate? You yourself have come to the altars as an offering, you yourself as a victim: there you have sacrificed your salvation; your hope, your faith you have burned up there in those deadly fires. ### Translation notes - “The Capitol” is the Capitoline temple at Carthage, where sacrifices were offered. The renunciation of the devil refers to the baptismal renunciation. The digital text has “P” for a question mark, corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/8/). ## On the Lapsed 9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/9/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:243 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Some lapsed Christians drew others into sacrificing, even their baptized infants, who will accuse their parents at the judgment. ### Latin text Ac multis proprius interitus satis non fuit: hortamentis mutuis in exitium populus inpulsus est, mors inuicem letali poculo propinata est. ac ne quid deesset ad criminis cumulum, infantes quoque parentum manibus inpositi uel adtracti amiserunt paruuli quod in primo statim natiuitatis exordio fuerant consecuti. nonne illi, cum iudicii dies uenerit, dicent: nos nihil fecimus nec derelicto cibo et poculo Domini ad profana contagia sponte properauimus: perdidit nos aliena perfidia, parentes sensimus parricidas: illi nobis ecclesiam matrem, illi patrem Deum negauerunt, ut dum parui et inprouidi et tanti facinoris ignari per alios ad consortium criminum iungimur, aliena fraude caperemur? ### English translation (Claude) And for many their own ruin was not enough: by mutual exhortations the people were driven to destruction; death was pledged to one another in a lethal cup. And that nothing might be lacking to the heap of crime, infants too, carried in their parents' arms or dragged along, lost as little ones what they had obtained at the very first beginning of their birth. Will they not say, when the day of judgment comes: “We did nothing, nor did we leave the Lord's food and cup and hasten willingly to profane contagion. Another's faithlessness ruined us; we found our parents parricides. They denied for us the church as mother, God as Father, so that, while small and unforeseeing and ignorant of so great a crime, we were joined by others to partnership in their crimes, we were caught by another's deceit”? ### Translation notes - “What they had obtained at the very first beginning of their birth” refers to infant baptism. “The Lord's food and cup” is the Eucharist, then given also to infants. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/9/). ## On the Lapsed 10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/10/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:243–244 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Fear of losing home and property is no excuse, for Scripture and Christ command flight in persecution; the one who withdraws keeps the faith, while the one who stays for his property falls. ### Latin text Nec est pro dolor iusta aliqua et grauis causa quae tantum facinus excuset. relinquenda erat patria et patrimonii facienda iactura. cui enim non nascenti adque morienti relinquenda quandoque patria et patrimonii sui facienda iactura est? Christus non relinquatur, salutis ac sedis aeternae iactura timeatur. clamat ecce per prophetam Spiritus sanctus: discedite, discedite, exite inde et inmundum nolite tangere: exite de medio eius, separamini qui fertis uasa Domini. et qui uasa sunt Domini ac templum Dei ne inmundum tangere et feralibus cibis pollui uiolarique cogantur, non exeunt de medio nec recedunt? alibi quoque uox auditur e caelo praemonens quid Dei seruos facere oporteret et dicens: exi de ea, populus meus, ne particeps sis delictorum eius et ne perstringaris plagis eius. qui exit et cedit delicti particeps non fit, plagis uero et ipse perstringitur qui socius criminis inuenitur. et ideo Dominus in persecutione secedere et fugere mandauit adque ut id fieret et docuit et fecit. nam cum corona de Dei dignatione descendat nec possit accipi nisi fuerit hora sumendi, quisque in Christo manens interim cedit non fidem denegat sed tempus expectat: qui autem cum non secederet cecidit, negaturus remansit. ### English translation (Claude) Nor, alas, is there any just and serious reason that excuses so great a crime. One had to leave one's country and suffer the loss of one's property. Yet for whom, born and dying, must not one's country be left at some time and the loss of one's property suffered? Let not Christ be left; let the loss of salvation and of the eternal dwelling be feared. See, the Holy Spirit cries through the prophet: “Depart, depart, go out from there and touch no unclean thing; go out from her midst, be separated, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.” And do those who are the vessels of the Lord and the temple of God not go out from the midst and withdraw, lest they be forced to touch what is unclean and be polluted and violated by deadly foods? Elsewhere too a voice is heard from heaven, forewarning what the servants of God ought to do and saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins and be struck by her plagues.” He who goes out and withdraws does not become a sharer in the sin; but he who is found an accomplice in the crime is himself struck by the plagues. And therefore the Lord commanded us in persecution to withdraw and flee, and, that this might be done, both taught it and did it. For since the crown comes down by God's favor and cannot be received unless the hour for taking it has come, whoever, abiding in Christ, withdraws for a time does not deny his faith but waits for his time; but he who fell because he did not withdraw remained in order to deny. ### Scripture references - Isa 52:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:16: allusion, medium confidence - Rev 18:4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:23: allusion, high confidence - John 8:59: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 52:11 and Rev 18:4; the allusions are 1 Cor 3:16 and Matt 10:23 (with Christ's own withdrawals, e.g. John 8:59). ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/10/). ## On the Lapsed 11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/11/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:244–245 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Love of property kept many from fleeing and made them fall; Christ's call to sell all and follow him would have kept them free. ### Latin text Dissimulanda, fratres, ueritas non est nec uulneris nostri materia et causa reticenda. decepit multos patrimonii sui amor caecus, nec ad recedendum parati aut expediti esse potuerunt quos facultates suae uelut conpedes ligauerunt. illa fuerunt remanentibus uincula, illae catenae quibus et uirtus retardata est et fides pressa et mens uincta et anima praeclusa, ut serpenti terram secundum Dei sententiam deuoranti praeda et cibus fierent qui terrestribus inhaererent. et idcirco Dominus bonorum magister et praemonens in futurum, si uis, inquit, perfectus esse, uende omnia tua et da pauperibus et habebis thesaurum in caelis: et ueni, sequere me. si hoc diuites facerent, per diuitias non perirent, thesaurum in caelo reponentes hostem nunc et expugnatorem domesticum non haberent: esset in caelo cor et animus et sensus, si thesaurus esset in caelo, nec uinci a saeculo posset qui unde uinceretur in saeculo non haberet. sequeretur Dominum solutus et liber, ut apostoli et sub apostolis multi et nonnulli saepe fecerunt qui et rebus suis et parentibus derelictis indiuiduis Christi nexibus adhaeserunt. ### English translation (Claude) The truth, brothers, must not be concealed, nor the matter and cause of our wound kept silent. A blind love of their property deceived many; and those whom their means bound like fetters could not be ready or free to withdraw. Those were the bonds of those who remained, those the chains by which courage was held back, faith pressed down, mind bound, and soul shut in, so that those who clung to earthly things became prey and food for the serpent who, according to God's sentence, devours the earth. And therefore the Lord, the teacher of good things and warning for the future, says, “If you wish to be perfect, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” If the rich did this, they would not perish through their riches; laying up treasure in heaven, they would not now have an enemy and assailant in their own house. Heart and mind and sense would be in heaven if their treasure were in heaven; nor could one be conquered by the world who had nothing in the world by which to be conquered. He would follow the Lord unbound and free, as the apostles did, and many under the apostles, and some often, who, leaving their possessions and their parents, clung to Christ with inseparable ties. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 19:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 19:27: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 3:14 (the serpent eats dust) and Matt 6:21; the quotation is Matt 19:21. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/11/). ## On the Lapsed 12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/12/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:245–246 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those possessed by their wealth cannot follow Christ; Scripture warns against the love of money and promises great reward to those who lose everything for Christ's sake. ### Latin text Sequi autem Christum quomodo possunt qui patrimonii uinculo detinentur? aut quomodo caelum petunt et ad sublimia et alta conscendunt qui terrenis cupiditatibus degrauantur? possidere se credunt qui potius possidentur, census sui serui nec ad pecuniam domini sed magis pecuniae mancipati. hoc tempus, hos homines apostolus denotat dicens: qui autem uolunt diuites fieri incidunt in temptationem et muscipula et desideria multa et nocentia quae mergunt hominem in perditionem et in interitum. radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas quam quidam adpetentes errauerunt a fide et inseruerunt se doloribus multis. Dominus autem quibus nos praemiis ad contemptum rei familiaris inuitat? parua haec et exigua huius temporis damna quibus mercedibus pensat? nemo est, inquit, qui relinquat domum aut agrum aut parentes aut fratres aut uxorem aut filios propter regnum Dei et non recipiat septies tantum in isto tempore, in saeculo autem uenturo uitam aeternam. quibus cognitis et de Dei pollicentis ueritate conpertis non tantum timenda non est eiusmodi sed et optanda iactura est ipso denuo Domino praedicante et monente: beati eritis, cum persecuti uos fuerint et separauerint uos et expulerint et maledixerint nomini uestro ut nequam propter filium hominis. gaudete in illa die et exultate: ecce enim merces uestra multa in caelis. ### English translation (Claude) But how can those follow Christ who are held back by the bond of property? Or how can those seek heaven and climb to the high and lofty places who are weighed down by earthly desires? They think they possess who are rather possessed: slaves of their wealth, not masters of their money but rather bondmen of money. The apostle points to this time and these men, saying, “But those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and a snare and many hurtful desires which plunge a man into perdition and destruction. For covetousness is the root of all evils; by desiring it some have strayed from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” And with what rewards does the Lord invite us to contempt of property? With what wages does he repay these small and slight losses of this present time? “There is no one,” he says, “who leaves house or field or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive sevenfold in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Knowing this, and assured by the truth of God who promises it, one should not only not fear such a loss but should even desire it, as the Lord himself again proclaims and warns: “Blessed will you be when they persecute you and separate you and drive you out and curse your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and exult: for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 6:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:10: quotation, high confidence - Luke 18:29: quotation, high confidence - Luke 18:30: quotation, high confidence - Luke 6:22: quotation, high confidence - Luke 6:23: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Tim 6:9–10, Luke 18:29–30 (“sevenfold” follows some manuscripts, cf. Matt 19:29 “a hundredfold”), and Luke 6:22–23. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/12/). ## On the Lapsed 13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/13/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:246–247 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those who gave way only after long torture have a pitiable excuse and can quickly be pardoned, like Castus and Aemilius, who later died as martyrs. ### Latin text Sed tormenta postmodum uenerant et cruciatus graues reluctantibus inminebant. queri de tormentis potest qui per tormenta superatus est, excusationem doloris obtendere qui uictus est in dolore. potest rogare talis et dicere: certare quidem fortiter uolui et sacramenti mei memor deuotionis ac fidei arma suscepi, sed me in congressione pugnantem cruciamenta uaria et supplicia longa uicerunt. stetit mens stabilis et fides fortis et cum torquentibus poenis inmobilis diu anima luctata est. sed cum durissimi iudicis recrudescente saeuitia iam fatigatum nunc flagella adhuc scinderent, nunc contunderent fustes, nunc eculeus extenderet, nunc ungula effoderet, nunc flamma torreret, caro me in conluctatione deseruit, infirmitas uiscerum cessit, nec animus sed corpus in dolore defecit. potest cito proficere ad ueniam causa talis, potest eiusmodi excusatio esse miserabilis. sic hic Casto et Aemilio aliquando Dominus ignouit, sic in prima congressione deuictos uictores in secundo proelio reddidit, ut fortiores ignibus fierent qui ignibus ante cessissent et unde superati essent inde superarent. deprecabantur illi non lacrimarum miseratione sed uulnerum, nec sola lamentabili uoce sed laceratione corporis et dolore: manabat pro fletibus sanguis et pro lacrimis cruor semiustulatis uisceribus defluebat. ### English translation (Claude) “But tortures came afterward, and severe torments threatened those who resisted.” He can complain of tortures who was overcome by tortures; he can plead the excuse of pain who was conquered in pain. Such a one can ask and say: “I wanted indeed to fight bravely, and, mindful of my sacred oath, I took up the arms of devotion and faith; but as I fought in the encounter, various tortures and long punishments conquered me. My mind stood firm and my faith strong, and my soul long struggled unmoved with the torturing pains. But when, as the savagery of the most cruel judge broke out afresh, I was already exhausted, and now the scourges tore me, now clubs bruised me, now the rack stretched me, now the claw dug into me, now the flame roasted me, my flesh deserted me in the struggle, the weakness of my inward parts gave way; not my mind but my body failed in the pain.” Such a case can quickly advance to pardon; an excuse of that kind can be pitiable. Thus the Lord once pardoned Castus and Aemilius here; thus he made those conquered in the first encounter victors in the second battle, so that those who had before yielded to the fire became stronger than the fire, and conquered by the very thing by which they had been conquered. They pleaded not with the pity of tears but of wounds, not with a lamenting voice alone but with laceration and pain of the body; blood flowed instead of weeping, and instead of tears gore ran down from their half-burned inward parts. ### Translation notes - “Sacred oath” renders sacramentum. Castus and Aemilius were African martyrs who had first yielded under torture and later died by fire; they are commemorated on 22 May. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/13/). ## On the Lapsed 14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/14/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:247 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those who sacrificed willingly have no wounds to show; flattery would harm them, and like a good physician the bishop must treat them with stern remedies for their healing. ### Latin text Nunc uero quae uulnera ostendere uicti possunt, quas plagas hiantium uiscerum, quae tormenta membrorum, ubi non fides congressa cecidit, sed congressionem perfidia praeuenit? nec excusat oppressum necessitas criminis, ubi crimen est uoluntatis. nec hoc eo dico, ut fratrum causas onerem, sed ut magis fratres ad precem satisfactionis instigem. nam cum scriptum sit: qui nos felices dicunt in errorem uos mittunt et semitam pedum uestrorum turbant, qui peccantem blandimentis adulantibus palpat peccandi fomitem subministrat nec conprimit delicta ille sed nutrit. at qui consiliis fortioribus redarguit simul adque instruit fratrem promouet ad salutem. quos diligo, inquit Dominus, redarguo et castigo. sic oportet et Domini sacerdotem non obsequiis decipientibus fallere sed remediis salutaribus prouidere. inperitus est medicus qui tumentes uulnerum sinus manu parcente contrectat et altis recessibus uiscerum uirus inclusum dum seruat exaggerat. aperiendum uulnus est et secandum et putraminibus amputatis medella fortiore curandum. uociferetur et clamet licet et conqueratur aeger inpatiens per dolorem, gratias aget postmodum cum senserit sanitatem. ### English translation (Claude) But now what wounds can the conquered show, what gashes of gaping flesh, what tortures of limbs, where it was not faith that fell in the encounter, but faithlessness that forestalled the encounter? Nor does the necessity of the crime excuse one who was overpowered, where the crime is one of the will. I do not say this to burden the case of the brothers, but rather to spur the brothers on to the prayer of satisfaction. For since it is written, “Those who call you happy lead you into error and disturb the path of your feet,” he who strokes a sinner with flattering blandishments supplies the tinder of sin, and does not suppress offenses but feeds them. But he who with sterner counsels at once rebukes and instructs his brother advances him toward salvation. “Those whom I love,” says the Lord, “I rebuke and chastise.” So too the Lord's priest ought not to mislead with deceiving compliances but to provide with saving remedies. He is an unskilled physician who handles the swollen pockets of wounds with a sparing hand and, while he preserves the poison shut up in the deep recesses of the body, increases it. The wound must be opened and cut, and, when the putrid parts have been cut away, treated with a stronger remedy. Let the patient cry and shout and complain, impatient through pain; he will give thanks afterward when he feels himself healed. ### Scripture references - Isa 3:12: quotation, high confidence - Rev 3:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Satisfaction” (satisfactio) is the penitential amends made to God. “The Lord's priest” is the bishop. The quotations are Isa 3:12 and Rev 3:19. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/14/). ## On the Lapsed 15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/15/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:247–248 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian attacks those who readmit the lapsed to communion without penance, a false peace that lets them receive the Lord's body with hands still defiled by idol sacrifice. ### Latin text Emersit enim, fratres dilectissimi, nouum genus cladis et quasi parum persecutionis procella saeuierit, accessit ad cumulum sub misericordiae titulo malum fallens et blanda pernicies. contra euangelii uigorem, contra Domini ac Dei legem temeritate quorundam laxatur incautis conmunicatio, inrita et falsa pax, periculosa dantibus et nihil accipientibus profutura. non quaerunt sanitatis patientiam nec ueram de satisfactione medicinam: paenitentia de pectoribus exclusa est, grauissimi extremique delicti memoria sublata est. operiuntur morientium uulnera et plaga letalis altis et profundis uisceribus infixa dissimulato dolore contegitur. a diaboli aris reuertentes ad sanctum Domini sordidis et infectis nidore manibus accedunt, mortiferos idolorum cibos adhuc paene ructantes exhalantibus etiam nunc scelus suum faucibus et contagia funesta redolentibus Domini corpus inuadunt, quando occurrat scriptura diuina et clamet et dicat: omnis mundus manducabit carnem, et anima quaecumque manducauerit ex carne sacrificii salutaris quod est Domini, et inmunditia ipsius super ipsum est, peribit anima illa de populo suo, apostolus item testetur et dicat: non potestis calicem Domini bibere et calicem daemoniorum: non potestis mensae Domini conmunicare et mensae daemoniorum, idem contumacibus et peruicacibus conminetur et denuntiet dicens: quicumque ederit panem et biberit calicem Domini indigne reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. ### English translation (Claude) For a new kind of disaster has emerged, dearest brothers, and, as if the storm of persecution had raged too little, there has been added to the heap, under the title of mercy, a deceiving evil and a flattering destruction. Against the vigor of the gospel, against the law of the Lord and God, by the rashness of certain people, communion is being relaxed for the unwary: a void and false peace, dangerous to those who give it and of no benefit to those who receive it. They do not seek the patience of healing nor the true medicine of satisfaction; penance is shut out of their hearts; the memory of the gravest and ultimate sin has been taken away. The wounds of the dying are covered over, and the deadly blow lodged in the deep inward parts is concealed, the pain disguised. Returning from the altars of the devil, they approach the holy thing of the Lord with hands filthy and tainted with the reek; still almost belching the deadly food of idols, with jaws even now exhaling their crime and smelling of the fatal contagion, they break in upon the body of the Lord, when the divine Scripture confronts them and cries out and says, “Everyone who is clean shall eat the flesh; and whatever soul eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of salvation, which is the Lord's, while his uncleanness is upon him, that soul shall perish from his people”; and when the apostle likewise testifies and says, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot share in the table of the Lord and the table of demons”; and when he threatens and warns the stubborn and obstinate, saying, “Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” ### Scripture references - Lev 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Lev 7:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:27: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Penance” here renders paenitentia in the sense of the church's penitential discipline. The quotations are Lev 7:19–20, 1 Cor 10:21, and 1 Cor 11:27. The digital text's “omnismundus” is divided. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/15/). ## On the Lapsed 16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/16/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:248–249 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Easy readmission of the lapsed before penance and reconciliation is not peace but a new persecution by the devil, which robs them of true repentance; only the Lord can show mercy. ### Latin text Spretis his omnibus adque contemptis ante expiata delicta, ante exomologesim factam criminis, ante purgatam conscientiam sacrificio et manu sacerdotis, ante offensam placatam indignantis Domini et minantis uis infertur corpori eius et sanguini et plus modo in Dominum manibus adque ore delinquunt quam cum Dominum negauerunt. pacem putant esse quam quidam uerbis fallentibus uenditant. non est pax illa sed bellum, nec ecclesiae iungitur qui ab euangelio separatur. quid iniuriam beneficium uocant? quid inpietatem uocabulo pietatis adpellant? quid eis qui flere iugiter et rogare Dominum suum debent intercepta paenitentiae lamentatione conmunicare se simulant? hoc sunt eiusmodi lapsis quod grando frugibus, quod turbidum sidus arboribus, quod armentis pestilens uastitas, quod nauigiis saeua tempestas. solacium spei adimunt, a radice subuertunt, sermone morbido ad letale contagium serpunt, nauem scopulis ne in portum perueniat inlidunt. non concedit pacem facilitas ista sed tollit, nec conmunicationem tribuit sed inpedit ad salutem. persecutio est haec alia et alia temptatio, per quam subtilis inimicus inpugnandis adhuc lapsis occulta populatione grassatur, ut lamentatio conquiescat, ut dolor sileat, ut delicti memoria uanescat, conprimatur pectoris gemitus, statuatur fletus oculorum nec Dominum grauiter offensum longa et plena paenitentia deprecetur, cum scriptum sit: memento unde cecideris et age paenitentiam. Nemo se fallat, nemo decipiat. solus Dominus misereri potest. ### English translation (Claude) All these things spurned and despised, before their sins are expiated, before confession of the crime has been made, before the conscience has been purged by the sacrifice and hand of the priest, before the offense of the indignant and threatening Lord has been appeased, violence is done to his body and blood; and they now sin against the Lord with hands and mouth more than when they denied the Lord. They think that to be peace which some peddle with deceiving words. That is not peace but war; nor is he joined to the church who is separated from the gospel. Why do they call an injury a benefit? Why do they call impiety by the name of piety? Why do they pretend to give communion to those who ought to weep continually and entreat their Lord, cutting short the lament of penance? To such lapsed people they are what hail is to crops, a stormy star to trees, a pestilential devastation to herds, a savage tempest to ships. They take away the comfort of hope, they overturn from the root, with diseased speech they creep toward a deadly contagion, they dash the ship on the rocks so that it may not reach port. Such easiness does not grant peace but takes it away; it does not give communion but hinders it for salvation. This is another persecution and another temptation, by which the subtle enemy, still assailing the lapsed, rampages in a hidden devastation, so that lamentation may be quieted, grief silenced, the memory of sin vanish, the groaning of the heart be suppressed, the weeping of the eyes be stopped, and the Lord, gravely offended, not be entreated by long and full penance, although it is written, “Remember from where you have fallen, and do penance.” Let no one deceive himself, let no one be misled. The Lord alone can have mercy. ### Scripture references - Rev 2:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Confession” renders exomologesis, the public confession that concluded penance; “the sacrifice and hand of the priest” refers to the bishop's reconciliation of penitents by the laying on of hands and readmission to the Eucharist. The quotation is Rev 2:5. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/16/). ## On the Lapsed 17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/17/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:249–250 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Only Christ can forgive sins against God; the martyrs' merits will count with the Judge, but only at the last judgment, not as a present substitute for penance. ### Latin text ueniam peccatis quae in ipsum commissa sunt solus potest ille largiri qui peccata nostra portauit, qui pro nobis doluit, quem Deus tradidit pro peccatis nostris. homo Deo maior non potest esse, nec remittere aut donare indulgentia sua seruus potest quod in Dominum delicto grauiore commissum est, ne adhuc lapso et hoc accedat ad crimen, si nesciat esse praedictum: maledictus homo qui spem habet in hominem. Dominus orandus est, Dominus nostra satisfactione placandus est qui negantem negare se dixit, qui omne iudicium de patre solus accepit. credimus quidem posse aput iudicem plurimum martyrum merita et opera iustorum, sed cum iudicii dies uenerit, cum post occasum saeculi huius et mundi ante tribunal Christi populus eius adstiterit. ### English translation (Claude) Pardon for sins committed against himself only he can grant who bore our sins, who grieved for us, whom God handed over for our sins. Man cannot be greater than God, nor can a servant remit or forgive by his indulgence what has been committed by a graver sin against the Lord, lest this too be added to the lapsed person's crime, if he does not know that it was foretold: “Cursed is the man who puts his hope in man.” The Lord must be prayed to; the Lord must be appeased by our satisfaction, who said that he would deny the one who denies him, who alone has received all judgment from the Father. We believe indeed that the merits of the martyrs and the works of the righteous can do a great deal with the Judge; but that will be when the day of judgment comes, when, after the end of this age and world, his people stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ### Scripture references - Isa 53:4: allusion, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:24: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 4:25: allusion, high confidence - Jer 17:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:33: allusion, high confidence - John 5:22: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Isa 53:4 (1 Pet 2:24), Rom 4:25, Matt 10:33, John 5:22, and 2 Cor 5:10; the quotation is Jer 17:5. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/17/). ## On the Lapsed 18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/18/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:250 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Rash forgiveness harms the lapsed; even the martyrs beneath the altar must wait for God's judgment, so their requests for the lapsed can be honored only if they agree with the Lord's law. ### Latin text Ceterum si quis praepropera festinatione temerarius remissionem peccatorum dare se cunctis putat posse aut audet Domini praecepta rescindere, non tantum nihil prodest sed et obest lapsis. prouocasse est iram non seruasse sententiam nec misericordiam prius Domini deprecandam putare, sed contempto Domino de sua facilitate praesumere. sub ara Dei animae occisorum martyrum clamant magna uoce dicentes: quousque, Domine sanctus et uerus, non iudicas et uindicas sanguinem nostrum de his qui in terris inhabitant? et requiescere ac patientiam tenere adhuc iubentur. et quemquam posse aliquis existimat remittendis passim donandisque peccatis bonum fieri contra iudicem uelle aut prius quam uindicetur ipse alios posse defendere? mandant aliquid martyres fieri: si iusta, si licita, si non contra ipsum Dominum a Dei sacerdote facienda: sit obtemperantis facilis et prona consensio, si petentis fuerit religiosa moderatio. mandant aliquid martyres fieri: si scripta non sunt in Domini lege quae mandant, ante est ut sciamus illos de Domino inpetrasse quod postulant, tunc facere quod mandant. neque enim statim uideri potest diuina maiestate concessum quod fuerit humana pollicitatione promissum. ### English translation (Claude) But if anyone, rash in his headlong haste, thinks that he can give remission of sins to all, or dares to rescind the Lord's precepts, he not only does no good to the lapsed but even harms them. It is to have provoked his anger not to have kept his sentence, and not to think that the Lord's mercy must first be entreated, but, despising the Lord, to presume on one's own easiness. Beneath the altar of God the souls of the slain martyrs cry with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And they are told to rest and still be patient. And does anyone suppose that someone can become good by remitting and forgiving sins at random against the Judge's will, or can defend others before he himself is avenged? The martyrs order something to be done: if it is just, if lawful, if not to be done by the priest of God against the Lord himself, let the obeying one's consent be easy and ready, provided the petitioner's request has been reverent and moderate. The martyrs order something to be done: if what they order is not written in the Lord's law, we must first know that they have obtained from the Lord what they ask, and then do what they order. For what has been promised by a human pledge cannot at once be seen to have been granted by the divine majesty. ### Scripture references - Rev 6:10: quotation, high confidence - Rev 6:11: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The martyrs and confessors had issued “letters of peace” (libelli pacis) requesting readmission of the lapsed; Cyprian insists that these be subject to the Lord's law and the bishop's judgment. The quotation is Rev 6:10–11. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/18/). ## On the Lapsed 19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/19/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:250–252 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Even Moses, Jeremiah, Noah, Daniel, and Job could not obtain forgiveness for others against God's will; so no human petition can override God's judgment. ### Latin text Nam et Moyses pro peccatis populi petit nec tamen peccantibus ueniam cum petisset accepit. precor, ait, Domine, deliquit populus hic delictum grande: et nunc si dimittis eis delictum, dimitte: sin autem, dele me de libro quem scripsisti. et dixit Dominus ad Moysen: si qui deliquit ante me, deleam eum de libro meo. ille amicus Dei, ille facie ad faciem locutus saepe cum Domino quod petit inpetrare non potuit nec Dei indignantis offensam sua deprecatione placauit. Hieremiam Deus laudat et praedicat dicens: priusquam te formarem in utero, noui te, et priusquam exires de uulua, sanctificaui te et prophetam in gentes posui te, et eidem pro peccatis populi deprecanti frequenter et oranti noli, inquit, orare pro populo hoc et noli postulare pro eis in prece et oratione, quia non exaudiam in tempore quo inuocabunt me, in tempore adflictationis suae. quid uero iustius Noe, qui cum repleta esset terra peccatis, solus inuentus est iustus in terris? quid gloriosius Danihele? quid ad facienda martyria in fidei firmitate robustius, in Dei dignatione felicius, qui totiens et cum confligeret uicit et cum uinceret superuixit? quid Iob in operibus promptius, in temptationibus fortius, in dolore patientius, in timore summissius, in fide uerius? nec hi tamen si rogarent, concessurum se Deus dixit. cum propheta Ezechiel pro delicto populi deprecaretur, terra, inquit, quaecumque peccauerit mihi ut delinquat delictum, extendam manum meam super eam et obteram stabilimentum panis et inmittam in eam famem et auferam ab ea hominem et pecora. et si fuerint tres uiri hi in medio eius Noe et Danihel et Iob, non liberabunt filios neque filias, ipsi soli salui erunt. adeo non omne quod petitur in praeiudicio petentis sed in dantis arbitrio est, nec quicquam sibi usurpat et uindicat humana sententia, nisi adnuat et censura diuina. ### English translation (Claude) For Moses too prayed for the sins of the people, and yet, though he had prayed, he did not receive pardon for the sinners. “I pray, O Lord,” he said, “this people has sinned a great sin; and now, if you forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book which you have written.” And the Lord said to Moses, “If anyone has sinned before me, him will I blot out of my book.” He, the friend of God, he who often spoke face to face with the Lord, could not obtain what he asked, nor appease by his entreaty the offense of the indignant God. God praises and commends Jeremiah, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you and appointed you a prophet to the nations”; and to the same man, when he often entreated and prayed for the sins of the people, he says, “Do not pray for this people, and do not ask for them in prayer and supplication, because I will not hear them in the time when they call upon me, in the time of their affliction.” Yet who was more righteous than Noah, who, when the earth was filled with sins, alone was found righteous on the earth? Who more glorious than Daniel? Who stronger in firmness of faith for undergoing martyrdom, happier in God's favor, who so many times both conquered when he fought and survived when he conquered? Who readier in works than Job, braver in temptations, more patient in pain, more submissive in fear, truer in faith? Yet God said that he would not grant it even if these asked. When the prophet Ezekiel entreated for the sin of the people, he says, “Whatever land sins against me to commit an offense, I will stretch out my hand upon it and crush its support of bread and send famine into it and take away from it man and beast. And if these three men were in its midst, Noah and Daniel and Job, they shall not deliver sons or daughters; they alone shall be saved.” So not everything that is asked depends on the prejudgment of the one asking, but on the will of the one giving; and a human sentence claims and assumes nothing to itself unless the divine censure also consents. ### Scripture references - Exod 32:31: quotation, high confidence - Exod 32:32: quotation, high confidence - Exod 32:33: quotation, high confidence - Exod 33:11: allusion, high confidence - Jer 1:5: quotation, high confidence - Jer 11:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 6:9: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 14:13: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 14:14: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 14:16: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Exod 32:31–33, Jer 1:5, Jer 11:14 (cf. 7:16), and Ezek 14:13–14, 16; the allusions are Exod 33:11 and Gen 6:9. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/19/). ## On the Lapsed 20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/20/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:252–253 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ's promise to deny those who deny him must stand, or his promise to confess the faithful falls too; the martyrs, faithful to the gospel, cannot ask bishops to act against it. ### Latin text In euangelio Dominus loquitur dicens: qui confessus me fuerit coram hominibus, et ego confitebor eum coram patre meo qui est in caelis: qui autem me negauerit, et ego negabo eum. si negantem non negat, nec confitentem confitetur. non potest euangelium in parte consistere et in parte nutare. aut utrumque oportet ualeat aut utrumque uim amittat. si negantes rei criminis non erunt, nec confitentes praemium uirtutis accipiunt. porro si fides quae uicerit coronatur, necesse est et uicta perfidia puniatur. ita martyres aut nihil possunt, si euangelium solui potest, aut si euangelium solui non potest, contra euangelium facere non possunt qui de euangelio martyres fiunt. nemo, fratres dilectissimi, nemo infamet martyrum dignitatem, nemo eorum glorias destruat et coronas. manet incorruptae fidei robur incolume, nec dicere aliquid aut facere contra Christum potest cuius et spes et fides et uirtus et gloria omnis in Christo est: ut ab episcopis contra mandatum Dei fiat, auctores esse non possunt qui ipsi Dei mandata fecerunt. an quisquam maior Deo aut diuina bonitate clementior qui aut infectum uelit quod passus est Deus fieri aut quasi illi minus potestatis ad protegendam ecclesiam suam fuerit, auxilio nos suo putet posse seruari? ### English translation (Claude) In the gospel the Lord speaks, saying, “Whoever confesses me before men, I too will confess him before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me, I too will deny him.” If he does not deny the one who denies, neither does he confess the one who confesses. The gospel cannot stand in part and totter in part. Either both must hold good or both must lose their force. If those who deny will not be guilty of a crime, neither do those who confess receive the reward of virtue. Further, if faith that has conquered is crowned, it is necessary that faithlessness that has been conquered be punished too. So the martyrs can either do nothing, if the gospel can be dissolved; or, if the gospel cannot be dissolved, those who become martyrs from the gospel cannot act against the gospel. Let no one, dearest brothers, let no one defame the dignity of the martyrs, let no one destroy their glories and crowns. The strength of their uncorrupted faith remains unharmed; nor can one say or do anything against Christ whose hope and faith and virtue and whole glory is in Christ. That anything should be done by the bishops against God's command, those cannot be the authors who themselves have done God's commands. Or is anyone greater than God, or more merciful than the divine goodness, who would either wish undone what God has allowed to happen, or, as though God had less power to protect his church, would think that we can be saved by his own help? ### Scripture references - Matt 10:32: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:33: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 10:32–33. The doubled word “amittat” in the digital text is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/20/). ## On the Lapsed 21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/21/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:253 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The persecution came by God's will because of the people's sins, as Scripture shows; the lapsed should examine their consciences. ### Latin text Nisi si haec Deo ignorante gesta sunt aut non permittente ipso omnia ista uenerunt: doceat indocibiles et admoneat inmemores scriptura diuina quae loquitur dicens: quis dedit in direptionem Iacob et Israhel eis qui praedabantur illum? nonne Deus cui peccauerunt et noluerunt in uiis eius ambulare neque audire legem eius? et superduxit super eos iram animationis suae. et alibi testatur ac dicit: numquid non ualet manus Dei ut saluos faciat aut grauauit aurem ut non exaudiat? sed peccata uestra inter uos et Deum separant et propter peccata uestra auertit faciem a uobis ne misereatur. delicta nostra reputemus, actus nostri et animi secreta uoluentes conscientiae merita ponderemus. redeat in cor nostrum non ambulasse nos in uiis Domini, abiecisse legem Dei, praecepta eius et monita salutaria numquam seruare uoluisse. ### English translation (Claude) Unless perhaps these things were done without God's knowledge, or all this came without his permission. Let the divine Scripture teach the unteachable and remind the forgetful, which speaks, saying, “Who gave Jacob to plundering and Israel to those who despoiled him? Was it not God, against whom they sinned, and they would not walk in his ways nor hear his law? And he brought upon them the anger of his wrath.” And elsewhere it testifies and says, “Is the hand of God not strong enough to save, or has he made his ear heavy so as not to hear? But your sins separate between you and God, and because of your sins he has turned his face from you so as not to have mercy.” Let us consider our offenses; turning over our actions and the secrets of our mind, let us weigh the deserts of our conscience. Let it come back to our heart that we have not walked in the Lord's ways, have cast away God's law, have never been willing to keep his precepts and saving warnings. ### Scripture references - Isa 42:24: quotation, high confidence - Isa 42:25: quotation, high confidence - Isa 59:1: quotation, high confidence - Isa 59:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 42:24–25 and Isa 59:1–2. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/21/). ## On the Lapsed 22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/22/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:253–254 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Some of the lapsed, unrepentant and proud, rage against the clergy for refusing them the Eucharist, though these are the very ones praying for their forgiveness. ### Latin text Quid de eo boni sentias, quem timorem fuisse aput eum, quam fidem credas, quem corrigere nec metus potuit, quem persecutio ipsa non reformauit? alta et recta ceruix nec quia cecidit inflexa est: tumens animus et superbus nec quia uictus est fractus est. iacens stantibus et integris uulneratus minatur et quod non statim Domini corpus inquinatis manibus accipiat aut ore polluto Domini sanguinem bibat, sacerdotibus sacrilegus irascitur. adque — o tuam nimiam, furiose, dementiam! — irasceris ei qui abs te iram Dei auertere nititur, ei minaris qui pro te Domini misericordiam deprecatur, qui uulnus tuum sentit quod ipse non sentis, qui pro te lacrimas fundit quas ipse forsitan non fundis. oneras adhuc crimen et cumulas et cum ipse sis inplacabilis ad antistites et sacerdotes Dei, putas circa te Dominum posse placari? ### English translation (Claude) What good could you think of him, what fear could you believe there was in him, what faith, whom neither fear could correct nor persecution itself reform? His neck is high and straight, and has not bent because he has fallen; his mind is swollen and proud, and has not been broken because he has been conquered. Lying fallen, he threatens those who stand; wounded, he threatens the unwounded; and because he does not at once receive the Lord's body in defiled hands or drink the Lord's blood with polluted mouth, the sacrilegious man is angry with the priests. And (O your excessive madness, raving man!) you are angry with him who strives to turn God's anger away from you; you threaten him who entreats the Lord's mercy for you, who feels your wound which you yourself do not feel, who sheds tears for you which perhaps you yourself do not shed. You still load and heap up your crime; and while you yourself are implacable toward the bishops and priests of God, do you think the Lord can be appeased toward you? ### Translation notes - “Bishops and priests” renders antistites et sacerdotes, both terms referring chiefly to bishops. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/22/). ## On the Lapsed 23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/23/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:254 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If the lapsed do not fear future judgment, let them fear the present punishments that have already struck some who denied Christ. ### Latin text Accipe potius et admitte quae loquimur. quid surdae aures salutaria praecepta non audiunt quae monemus? quid caeci oculi paenitentiae iter non uident quod obtendimus? quid praeclusa et alienata mens remedia uitalia non conspicit quae de scripturis caelestibus et discimus et docemus? aut si incredulis quibusdam minor fides est futurorum, uel praesentibus terreantur. ecce eorum qui negauerunt quae supplicia conspicimus, quos eorum tristes exitus flemus! nec hic esse sine poena possunt, quamuis necdum [poenae] dies uenerit. plectuntur interim quidam, quo ceteri dirigantur. exempla sunt omnium tormenta paucorum. ### English translation (Claude) Accept rather and admit what we say. Why do deaf ears not hear the saving precepts we urge? Why do blind eyes not see the road of penance which we point out? Why does a shut and estranged mind not perceive the life-giving remedies which we both learn and teach from the heavenly Scriptures? Or if some unbelievers have little faith in things to come, let them at least be terrified by things present. See what punishments we behold on those who have denied, what sad ends of theirs we weep over! Not even here can they be without punishment, although the day has not yet come. Some are punished meanwhile, so that the rest may be set right. The torments of a few are examples for all. ### Translation notes - The editor deletes “poenae” (“of punishment”) after “day” (in square brackets). ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/23/). ## On the Lapsed 24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/24/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:254–255 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian tells of a man struck dumb after denying Christ and a woman who, possessed after sacrificing, bit her own tongue and died. ### Latin text Vnus ex his qui sponte Capitolium negaturus ascendit postquam Christum negauit obmutuit. poena inde coepit unde coepit et crimen, ut nec rogare iam posset qui uerba ad precum misericordiam non haberet. alia in balneis constituta – hoc enim crimini eius et malis deerat, ut et ad balneas statim pergeret quae lauacri uitalis gratiam perdidisset – sed illic ab inmundo spiritu inmunda correpta laniauit dentibus linguam quae fuerat uel pasta inpie uel locuta. postquam sceleratus cibus sumptus est, in perniciem suam rabies oris armata est. ipsa sui carnifex extitit nec diu superesse postmodum potuit, dolore uentris et uiscerum cruciata defecit. ### English translation (Claude) One of those who went up to the Capitol of his own accord to deny Christ was struck dumb after he had denied him. The punishment began where the crime began too, so that he could no longer even ask for mercy, having no words for prayers of mercy. Another woman, in the baths (for this was lacking to her crime and her evils, that she should go straight to the baths, having lost the grace of the life-giving washing), was seized there by an unclean spirit, unclean as she was, and tore with her teeth the tongue that had impiously either fed or spoken. After the wicked food had been taken, the madness of her mouth was armed for her own destruction. She became her own executioner, and could not survive long afterward: tormented by pain in her belly and bowels, she died. ### Scripture references - Titus 3:5: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Life-giving washing” is baptism; cf. Titus 3:5. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/24/). ## On the Lapsed 25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/25/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:255 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian recounts how a little girl, fed idol-offered bread and wine by a nurse without her parents' knowledge, refused and vomited the eucharistic cup. ### Latin text Praesente ac teste me ipso accipite quid euenerit. parentes forte fugientes dum trepidi minus consulunt, sub nutricis alimento paruulam filiam reliquerunt. relictam nutrix detulit ad magistratus. illic ei aput idolum quo populus confluebat, quod carnem necdum posset edere per aetatem, panem mero mixtum, quod tamen et ipsum de immolatione pereuntium supererat, tradiderunt. recepit filiam postmodum mater. sed facinus puella commissum tam loqui et indicare non potuit quam nec intellegere prius potuit nec arcere. ignoratione igitur obreptum est, ut sacrificantibus nobis eam secum mater inferret. sed enim puella mixta cum sanctis precis nostrae et orationis inpatiens nunc ploratu concuti, nunc mentis aestu fluctuabunda iactari, uelut tortore cogente quibus poterat indiciis conscientiam facti in simplicibus adhuc annis rudis anima fatebatur. ubi uero sollemnibus adinpletis calicem diaconus offerre praesentibus coepit et accipientibus ceteris locus eius aduenit, faciem suam paruula instinctu diuinae maiestatis auertere, os labiis obdurantibus premere, calicem recusare. perstitit tamen diaconus et reluctanti licet de sacramento calicis infudit. tunc sequitur singultus et uomitus. in corpore adque ore uiolato eucharistia permanere non potuit, sanctificatus in Domini sanguine potus de pollutis uisceribus erupit. tanta est potestas Domini, tanta maiestas: secreta tenebrarum sub eius luce detecta sunt, sacerdotem Dei nec occulta crimina fefellerunt. ### English translation (Claude) Hear what happened in my own presence and with me as witness. Some parents, as it happened, fleeing in panic and taking too little thought, left their little daughter in the care of a wet nurse. The nurse took the abandoned child to the magistrates. There, before the idol where the people were flocking, because she could not yet eat meat on account of her age, they gave her bread mixed with wine, which was itself also left over from the sacrifice of those who were perishing. Afterward the mother took her daughter back. But the girl could no more speak of and disclose the crime committed than she had been able before to understand or prevent it. So it happened through ignorance that the mother brought her in with her while we were offering the sacrifice. But the girl, mixed with the saints, impatient of our prayer and supplication, was now shaken with weeping, now tossed about fluctuating in agitation of mind; as if under the compulsion of a torturer, her untaught soul, still in its simple years, confessed by whatever signs it could the consciousness of the deed. And when, the solemn rites completed, the deacon began to offer the cup to those present, and, as the others received, her turn came, the little one, by an instinct of the divine majesty, turned her face away, pressed her mouth shut with tightened lips, and refused the cup. The deacon persisted, however, and, though she resisted, poured in some of the sacrament of the cup. Then there followed sobbing and vomiting. The Eucharist could not remain in a violated body and mouth; the drink sanctified in the Lord's blood burst out of the polluted inward parts. So great is the Lord's power, so great his majesty: the secrets of darkness were uncovered under his light, and not even hidden crimes deceived the priest of God. ### Translation notes - The account shows that infants received the Eucharist (the cup) in Cyprian's church, administered by the deacon. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/25/). ## On the Lapsed 26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/26/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:255–256 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Other lapsed Christians who received the Eucharist secretly were struck down: a woman choked, another was stopped by fire from her box holding the sacrament, and a man found it turned to ashes. ### Latin text Hoc circa infantem quae ad loquendum alienum circa se crimen necdum habuit aetatem. at uero ea quae aetate prouecta et in annis adultioribus constituta sacrificantibus latenter obrepsit non cibum sed gladium sibi sumens et uelut quaedam uenena letalia intra fauces et pectus admittens angi et anima exaestuante concludi postmodum coepit et pressuram non iam persecutionis sed delicti sui passa palpitans et tremens concidit. inpunitum diu non fuit nec occultum dissimulatae conscientiae crimen. quae fefellerat hominem Deum sensit ultorem. et cum quaedam arcam suam in quo Domini sanctum fuit manibus inmundis temptasset aperire, igne inde surgente deterrita est ne auderet adtingere. et alius qui et ipse maculatus sacrificio a sacerdote celebrato partem cum ceteris ausus est latenter accipere, sanctum Domini edere et contrectare non potuit, cinerem ferre se apertis manibus inuenit. documento unius ostensum est Dominum recedere cum negatur nec inmerenti ad salutem prodesse quod sumitur, quando gratia salutaris in cinerem sancto fugiente mutetur. quam multi cottidie inmundis spiritibus adinplentur, quam multi usque ad insaniam mentis excordes dementiae furore quatiuntur! nec necesse est ire per exitus singulorum, cum per orbis multiformes ruinas tam delictorum poena sit uaria quam delinquentium multitudo numerosa. unusquisque consideret non quid alius passus sit sed quid pati et ipse mereatur, nec euasisse se credat, si eum interim poena distulerit, cum timere plus debeat quem sibi Dei iudicis ira seruauit. ### English translation (Claude) This happened with an infant, who had not yet reached the age to speak of another's crime committed upon her. But a woman of advanced age, in her more adult years, who secretly crept in while we were sacrificing, taking not food but a sword for herself and admitting as it were deadly poisons into her throat and breast, began afterward to be choked and stifled, her soul in turmoil; and, suffering the oppression no longer of persecution but of her own sin, she fell down, quivering and trembling. The crime of her concealed conscience did not remain long unpunished or hidden. She who had deceived man felt God as avenger. And when another woman tried with unclean hands to open her box in which was the holy thing of the Lord, she was frightened off from daring to touch it by fire rising from it. And another man, who, himself also stained by sacrifice, dared secretly to receive a part with the others when the priest had celebrated, could not eat or handle the holy thing of the Lord; on opening his hands he found he was holding ashes. By the evidence of one it was shown that the Lord withdraws when he is denied, and that what is received does not profit the undeserving for salvation, since saving grace is changed into ashes as the holy thing flees. How many are daily filled with unclean spirits, how many are shaken out of their senses by the fury of madness, even to insanity of mind! Nor is it necessary to go through the ends of each, since, through the manifold ruins throughout the world, the punishment of sins is as varied as the multitude of sinners is numerous. Let each consider not what another has suffered but what he himself deserves to suffer; nor let him think he has escaped if punishment has meanwhile put him off, since he whom the wrath of God the judge has reserved for itself ought to fear the more. ### Translation notes - The “box” (arca) held the consecrated bread that believers kept at home for private communion. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/26/). ## On the Lapsed 27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/27/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:256–257 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those who obtained certificates of sacrifice without actually sacrificing (libellatici) have also denied Christ and must do penance, for God sees the heart. ### Latin text Nec sibi quo minus agant paenitentiam blandiantur qui etsi nefandis sacrificiis manus non contaminauerunt, libellis tamen conscientiam miscuerunt. et illa professio est denegantis, contestatio est christiani quod fuerat abnuentis. fecisse se dixit quidquid alius faciendo commisit, cumque scriptum sit: non potestis duobus dominis seruire, seruiuit saeculari domino, obtemperauit eius edicto, magis obaudiuit humano inperio quam Deo. uiderit an minore uel dedecore uel crimine aput homines publicauerit quod admisit: Deum tamen iudicem fugere et uitare non poterit, cum dicat Spiritus sanctus in psalmis: quod est inperfectum meum uiderunt oculi tui et in libro tuo omnes scribentur, et iterum: homo uidet in faciem, Deus in cor, ipse quoque Dominus praemoneat et praestruat dicens: et scient omnes ecclesiae quia ego sum scrutator renis et cordis. perspicit ille abdita et secreta adque occulta considerat, nec Dei oculos euadere potest aliquis dicentis: ego Deus adproximans et non Deus de longinquo. si absconditus fuerit homo in absconditis, ego ergo non uidebo eum? uidet ille corda et pectora singulorum, et iudicaturus non tantum de factis sed et de uerbis et de cogitationibus nostris omnium mentes uoluntatesque conceptas in ipsis adhuc clausi pectoris latebris intuetur. ### English translation (Claude) Nor let those flatter themselves as needing less to do penance who, though they did not defile their hands with the abominable sacrifices, have yet defiled their conscience with certificates. That too is the profession of one who denies, the attestation of a Christian renouncing what he had been. He said that he had done whatever another committed by doing it; and, though it is written, “You cannot serve two masters,” he served a worldly master, he obeyed his edict, he listened to human command rather than to God. Let him see whether he has published what he did before men with less disgrace or guilt; yet he will not be able to flee and escape God as judge, since the Holy Spirit says in the Psalms, “Your eyes have seen my imperfect being, and in your book all will be written”; and again, “Man sees the face, God the heart”; and the Lord himself also forewarns and prepares us, saying, “And all the churches shall know that I am the searcher of the reins and the heart.” He sees through what is hidden and secret and considers what is concealed; nor can anyone escape the eyes of God, who says, “I am a God at hand and not a God from afar. If a man is hidden in hidden places, shall I then not see him?” He sees the hearts and breasts of each, and, being about to judge not only our deeds but also our words and thoughts, he looks on the minds and conceived intentions of all in the very hiding places of a still closed breast. ### Scripture references - Matt 6:24: quotation, high confidence - Acts 5:29: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 139:16 (138:16 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:7: quotation, high confidence - Rev 2:23: quotation, high confidence - Jer 23:23: quotation, high confidence - Jer 23:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The libelli were certificates stating that the bearer had sacrificed, obtained (often by bribery) without actually sacrificing; those who obtained them were called libellatici, those who actually sacrificed sacrificati. The quotations are Matt 6:24, Ps 139:16 (138:16 LXX), 1 Sam 16:7, Rev 2:23, and Jer 23:23–24; the allusion is Acts 5:29. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/27/). ## On the Lapsed 28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/28/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:257–258 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those who only considered sacrificing do well to confess it to the clergy; those with certificates sinned less than those who sacrificed, but are not innocent and must still do penance. ### Latin text Denique quanto et fide maiore et timore meliore sunt qui quamuis nullo sacrificii aut libelli facinore constricti, quoniam tamen de hoc uel cogitauerunt, hoc ipsum aput sacerdotes Dei dolenter et simpliciter confitentes exomologesim conscientiae faciant, animi sui pondus exponant, salutarem medellam paruis licet et modicis uulneribus exquirant scientes scriptum esse: Deus non deridetur. derideri et circumueniri Deus non potest nec astutia aliqua fallente deludi. plus immo delinquit qui secundum hominem Deum cogitans euadere se poenam criminis credit, si non palam crimen admisit. Christus in praeceptis suis dicit: qui confusus me fuerit, confundet eum filius hominis: et Christianum se putat qui Christianus esse aut confunditur aut ueretur? quomodo potest esse cum Christo qui ad Christum pertinere aut erubescit aut metuit? minus plane peccauerit non uidendo idola nec sub oculis circumstantis adque insultantis populi sanctitatem fidei profanando, non polluendo manus suas funestis sacrificiis nec sceleratis cibis ora maculando. hoc eo proficit ut sit minor culpa, non ut innocens conscientia. facilius potest ad ueniam criminis peruenire, non est tamen inmunis a crimine: nec cesset in agenda paenitentia adque in Domini misericordia deprecanda, ne quod minus esse in qualitate delicti uidetur in neglecta satisfactione cumuletur. ### English translation (Claude) In short, how much greater in faith and better in fear are those who, though bound by no crime of sacrifice or certificate, yet, because they merely thought of it, confess this very thing to the priests of God sorrowfully and simply, make the confession of their conscience, lay open the burden of their mind, and seek a saving remedy even for slight and modest wounds, knowing that it is written, “God is not mocked.” God cannot be mocked and circumvented, nor deluded by any deceiving cunning. Indeed, he sins more who, thinking of God as of a man, believes that he escapes the penalty of his crime if he has not committed the crime openly. Christ says in his precepts, “Whoever is ashamed of me, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him”; and does he think himself a Christian who is either ashamed or afraid to be a Christian? How can he be with Christ who either blushes or fears to belong to Christ? He will have sinned less, certainly, by not looking on the idols, by not profaning the holiness of the faith under the eyes of a people standing round and insulting, by not polluting his hands with deadly sacrifices nor staining his mouth with wicked foods. This serves to make the guilt less, not the conscience innocent. He can more easily attain to pardon for his crime, yet he is not immune from crime. Let him not cease from doing penance and entreating the Lord's mercy, lest what seems less in the quality of the sin be heaped up by neglect of satisfaction. ### Scripture references - Gal 6:7: quotation, high confidence - Mark 8:38: quotation, high confidence - Luke 9:26: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Confession” renders exomologesis. The quotations are Gal 6:7 and a paraphrase of Mark 8:38 (Luke 9:26). The digital text's “Dens” is corrected to “Deus”. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/28/). ## On the Lapsed 29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/29/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:258–259 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian urges the lapsed to confess their sin while still alive and to return to God with fasting, weeping, and mourning. ### Latin text Confiteantur singuli quaeso uos, fratres, delictum suum, dum adhuc qui deliquit in saeculo est, dum admitti confessio eius potest, dum satisfactio et remissio [facta] per sacerdotes aput Dominum grata est. conuertamur ad Dominum mente tota et paenitentiam criminis ueris doloribus exprimentes Dei misericordiam deprecemur. illi se anima prosternat, illi maestitia satisfaciat, illi spes omnis incumbat. rogare qualiter debeamus dicit ipse. reuertimini, inquit, ad me ex toto corde uestro simulque et ieiunio et fletu et planctu et discindite corda uestra et non uestimenta uestra. ad Dominum toto corde redeamus, iram et offensam eius ieiuniis, fletibus, planctibus sicut monet ipse placemus. ### English translation (Claude) Let each one confess his sin, I beg you, brothers, while he who has sinned is still in this world, while his confession can be admitted, while satisfaction and remission through the priests are pleasing to the Lord. Let us turn to the Lord with our whole mind and, expressing penance for our crime with true sorrow, entreat God's mercy. Let the soul prostrate itself before him; let grief make satisfaction to him; let all hope rest on him. He himself tells us how we ought to ask. “Return to me,” he says, “with your whole heart, and with fasting and weeping and mourning, and tear your hearts and not your garments.” Let us return to the Lord with our whole heart; let us appease his anger and offense with fastings, weeping, and mournings, as he himself advises. ### Scripture references - Joel 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Joel 2:13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Joel 2:12–13. The editor deletes “facta” (“made”) after “remissio” (in square brackets). ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/29/). ## On the Lapsed 30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/30/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:259–260 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian rebukes lapsed men and women who live in luxury, bathing, feasting, and adorning themselves, instead of mourning their spiritual death with true penance. ### Latin text Lamentari eum putamus ex toto corde, ieiuniis, fletibus, planctibus Dominum deprecari qui ex primo criminis die lauacra cottidie celebrat, qui epulis afluentibus pastus et sagina largiore distentus cruditates suas postridie ructat nec cibos et potus suos cum pauperum necessitate communicat? qui hilaris ac laetus procedit quomodo mortem suam deflet, cumque scriptum sit: non corrumpetis effigiem barbae uestrae, barbam uellit et faciem suam comit? et placere nunc cuiquam studet qui Deo displicet? an illa ingemescit et plangit cui uacat cultum pretiosae uestis induere nec indumentum Christi quod perdidit cogitare, accipere pretiosa ornamenta et monilia laborata, nec diuini et caelestis ornatus damna deflere? tu licet indumenta peregrina et uestes sericas induas, nuda es: auro te licet et margaritis gemmisque condecores, sine Christi decore deformis es. et quae capillos tuos inficis uel nunc in doloribus desine, et quae nigri pulueris ductu oculorum liniamenta depingis uel nunc lacrimis oculos tuos ablue. si quem de tuis carum mortalitatis exitu perdidisses, ingemesceres dolenter et fleres, facie inculta, ueste mutata, neclecto capillo, uultu nubilo, ore deiecto indicia maeroris ostenderes. animam tuam, misera, perdidisti, spiritaliter mortua superuiuere hic tibi et ipsa ambulans funus tuum portare coepisti: et non acriter plangis, non iugiter ingemescis, non te uel pudore criminis uel continuatione lamentationis abscondis? ecce peiora adhuc peccandi uulnera, ecce maiora delicta peccasse nec satisfacere, deliquisse nec delicta deflere. ### English translation (Claude) Do we think that he laments with his whole heart and entreats the Lord with fastings, weeping, and mournings who from the first day of his crime frequents the baths daily; who, fed on lavish banquets and swollen with too rich a diet, belches out his indigestion the next day, and does not share his food and drink with the need of the poor? How does one who goes about merry and cheerful weep over his own death? And, though it is written, “You shall not mar the appearance of your beard,” he plucks his beard and dresses up his face. Is he now eager to please anyone, who displeases God? Or does she groan and lament who has time to put on the adornment of costly clothing, and does not think of the garment of Christ which she has lost; to receive costly ornaments and elaborate necklaces, and does not weep for the loss of divine and heavenly adornment? Though you put on foreign garments and silken robes, you are naked; though you adorn yourself with gold and pearls and gems, without the adornment of Christ you are ugly. And you who dye your hair, stop now at least in your sorrows; and you who paint the outline of your eyes with a line of black powder, now at least wash your eyes with tears. If you had lost someone dear to you by death, you would groan sorrowfully and weep; with face unkempt, clothes changed, hair neglected, countenance clouded, looks downcast, you would show the signs of grief. You have lost your own soul, wretched woman; spiritually dead, you have begun to survive yourself here, and, walking about, to carry your own funeral; and do you not lament bitterly, do you not groan continually, do you not hide yourself for shame of your crime or in constant lamentation? See, these are still worse wounds of sinning; see, these are greater offenses: to have sinned and not make satisfaction, to have offended and not weep for the offenses. ### Scripture references - Lev 19:27: quotation, high confidence - Gal 3:27: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Lev 19:27; “the garment of Christ” (baptismal clothing with Christ) echoes Gal 3:27. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/30/). ## On the Lapsed 31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/31/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:260 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Even the innocent three youths in the furnace and Daniel confessed their sins to God with fasting and humility. ### Latin text Ananias, Azarias et Misahel inlustres ac nobiles pueri quominus exomologesim Deo faciant nec inter flammas et camini exaestuantis incendia quieuerunt. bene sibi [licet] conscii et Dominum fidei ac timoris obsequio saepe promeriti humilitatem tamen tenere et Deo satisfacere nec inter ipsa gloriosa uirtutum suarum martyria destiterunt. loquitur scriptura diuina, stans, inquit, Azarias precatus est et aperuit os suum et exomologesim faciebat Deo simul cum sodalibus suis in medio igni. Daniel quoque post fidei adque innocentiae suae multiplicem gratiam, post dignationem Domini circa uirtutes ac laudes suas saepe repetitam ieiuniis adhuc promereri Deum nititur, in sacco ac cinere uolutatur exomologesim faciens dolenter et dicens: Domine Deus magnus et fortis et metuendus qui seruas testamentum et miserationem eis qui te diligunt et conseruant inperia tua, peccauimus, facinus admisimus, inpii fuimus, transgressi sumus ac deseruimus praecepta tua et iudicia tua, non audiuimus puerorum tuorum prophetarum quae locuti sunt in nomine tuo super reges nostros et omnes gentes et super omnem terram. tibi, Domine, tibi iustitia, nobis autem confusio. ### English translation (Claude) Ananias, Azarias, and Mishael, illustrious and noble youths, did not refrain from making confession to God even amid the flames and the blaze of the burning furnace. With a good conscience, and having often deserved well of the Lord by the obedience of faith and fear, they did not cease to keep humility and make satisfaction to God even amid the very glorious martyrdoms of their virtues. The divine Scripture speaks: “Standing,” it says, “Azarias prayed, and opened his mouth, and made confession to God together with his companions in the midst of the fire.” Daniel too, after the manifold grace of his faith and innocence, after the Lord's favor often shown toward his virtues and praises, still strove to win God's favor by fasting; he rolled in sackcloth and ashes, making confession sorrowfully and saying, “O Lord God, great and strong and to be feared, who keep covenant and mercy for those who love you and keep your commands, we have sinned, we have committed wickedness, we have been impious, we have transgressed and forsaken your precepts and your judgments; we have not listened to your servants the prophets, what they spoke in your name to our kings and to all the nations and to all the earth. To you, O Lord, to you belongs righteousness, but to us confusion.” ### Scripture references - Dan 3:23: allusion, high confidence - Dan 9:3: allusion, high confidence - Dan 9:4: quotation, high confidence - Dan 9:5: quotation, high confidence - Dan 9:6: quotation, high confidence - Dan 9:7: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pr Azar 1–2 (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first quotation is from the Prayer of Azariah (vv. 1–2; Dan 3:24–25 LXX), the second Dan 9:4–7, with 9:3. The editor deletes “licet” (“although”) in “bene sibi [licet] conscii”. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/31/). ## On the Lapsed 32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/32/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:260–261 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyprian begs the lapsed to join the clergy's tears and prayers with full penance. ### Latin text Haec mites, haec simplices, haec innocentes in promerenda Dei maiestate fecerunt: et nunc satisfacere Domino ac precari detrectant qui Dominum negauerunt! quaeso uos, fratres, adquiescite salutaribus remediis, consiliis oboedite melioribus, cum lacrimis nostris uestras lacrimas iungite, cum nostro gemitu uestros gemitus copulate. rogamus uos ut pro uobis Dominum rogare possimus, preces ipsas ad uos prius uertimus quibus Deum pro uobis ut misereatur oramus. agite paenitentiam plenam, dolentis ac lamentantis animi probate maestitiam! ### English translation (Claude) These things the meek, the simple, the innocent did to win the favor of God's majesty; and now those who have denied the Lord refuse to make satisfaction to the Lord and to pray! I beg you, brothers, submit to the saving remedies, obey the better counsels; join your tears with our tears, unite your groans with our groans. We ask you, so that we may be able to ask the Lord for you; we turn first to you the very prayers with which we pray God for you that he may have mercy. Do full penance; prove the sorrow of a grieving and lamenting soul! ### Translation notes - The digital text ends with a stray “I”, removed. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/32/). ## On the Lapsed 33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/33/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:261–262 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Some lapsed, blinded by God's judgment, refuse penance and, joining schismatics, take for themselves a false peace and communion. ### Latin text Nec uos quorundam moueat aut error inprouidus aut stupor uanus, qui cum teneantur in tam graui crimine percussi sunt animi caecitate, ut nec intellegant delicta nec plangant. indignantis Dei maior haec plaga est sicut scriptum est: et dedit illis Deus spiritum transpunctionis, et iterum: dilectum ueritatis non receperunt ut salui fierent. ac propterea mittit illis Deus operationem erroris ut credant mendacio, ut iudicentur omnes qui non crediderunt ueritati, sed sibi placent in iniustitia. iniuste sibi placentes et transpunctae mentis alienatione dementes Domini praecepta contemnunt, medellam uulneris neclegunt, agere paenitentiam nolunt. ante admissum facinus inprouidi, post facinus obstinati, nec prius stabiles nec postmodum supplices, quando debuerant stare, iacuerunt, quando iacere et prosternere se Deo debent, stare se opinantur. pacem sibi ultro nemine dante sumpserunt, falsa pollicitatione seducti et apostatis ac perfidis iuncti errorem pro ueritate suscipiunt, communicationem non communicantium ratam ducunt, hominibus contra Deum credunt qui contra homines Deo non crediderunt. ### English translation (Claude) Nor let the thoughtless error or empty stupor of some move you, who, though held in so grave a crime, have been struck with such blindness of mind that they neither understand their sins nor lament them. This is a greater blow of the indignant God, as it is written: “And God gave them a spirit of stupor”; and again: “They did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And therefore God sends them the working of error, that they may believe a lie, that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” Unrighteously pleased with themselves and demented by the estrangement of a stupefied mind, they despise the Lord's precepts, neglect the remedy for their wound, refuse to do penance. Thoughtless before committing the crime, obstinate after it, neither steadfast before nor suppliant afterward, when they ought to have stood they fell; when they ought to lie down and prostrate themselves before God, they think they stand. They have taken peace for themselves of their own accord, with no one giving it; seduced by a false promise and joined to apostates and the faithless, they accept error for truth, count valid the communion of those who are not in communion, and believe men against God, they who did not believe God against men. ### Scripture references - Isa 29:10: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:8: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:11: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 29:10 (Rom 11:8) and 2 Thess 2:10–12. “Apostates” probably refers to the schismatic party (around Felicissimus) that readmitted the lapsed without penance. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/33/). ## On the Lapsed 34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/34/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:262 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Believers should avoid those who promise the lapsed salvation without penance, for this false teaching is deadlier than persecution. ### Latin text Eiusmodi homines quantum potestis effugite, perniciosis contactibus adhaerentes salubri cautione uitate. sermo eorum sicut cancer serpit, conloquium uelut contagium transilit, noxia et uenenata persuasio persecutione ipsa peius interficit. illic superest paenitentia quae satisfaciat. qui autem paenitentiam criminis tollunt satisfactionis uiam cludunt. ita fit ut dum temeritate quorundam uel promittitur salus falsa uel creditur, spes uerae salutis adimatur. ### English translation (Claude) Avoid such people as much as you can; shun with salutary caution those who cling to pernicious contacts. Their speech creeps like a cancer; their conversation leaps across like a contagion; their harmful and poisonous persuasion kills worse than persecution itself. There, penance remains to make satisfaction; but those who take away penance for the crime close the road of satisfaction. So it happens that, while through the rashness of some a false salvation is either promised or believed, the hope of true salvation is taken away. ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 2:17: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The comparison with a cancer is 2 Tim 2:17. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/34/). ## On the Lapsed 35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/35/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:262–263 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The lapsed must do long and earnest penance with prayer, fasting, mourning, and generous almsgiving, spending on the poor the property that caused their fall. ### Latin text Vos uero, fratres, quorum timor Domini promptus est et in ruina licet animus constitutus mali sui memor est, paenitentes ac dolentes peccata uestra perspicite, grauissimum conscientiae crimen agnoscite, ad intellegentiam delicti uestri oculos cordis aperite, nec desperantes misericordiam Domini nec tamen iam ueniam uindicantes. Deus quantum patris pietate indulgens semper et bonus est, tantum iudicis maiestate metuendus est. quam magna deliquimus, tam granditer defleamus. alto uulneri diligens et longa medicina non desit, paenitentia crimine minor non sit. putasne tu Deum cito posse placari quem uerbis perfidis abnuisti, cui patrimonium praeponere maluisti, cuius templum sacrilega contagione uiolasti? putas facile eum misereri tui quem tuum non esse dixisti? orare oportet inpensius et rogare, diem luctu transigere, uigiliis noctes ac fletibus ducere, tempus omne lacrimosis lamentationibus occupare, stratos solo adhaerere cineri, in cilicio et sordibus uolutari, post indumentum Christi perditum nullum iam uelle uestimentum, post diaboli cibum malle ieiunium, iustis operibus incumbere quibus peccata purgantur, eleemosynis frequenter insistere quibus a morte animae liberantur. quod aduersarius auferebat Christus accipiat, nec teneri iam nec amari patrimonium debet quo quis et deceptus et uictus est. pro hoste uitanda res, pro latrone fugienda, pro gladio metuenda possidentibus et ueneno. ad hoc tantum profuerit quod remansit, ut inde crimen et culpa redimatur. incunctanter et largiter fiat operatio, census omnis in medellam uulneris erogetur, opibus et facultatibus nostris qui de nobis iudicaturus est Dominus faeneretur. sic sub apostolis fides uiguit, sic primus credentium populus Christi mandata seruauit: prompti erant, largi erant. distribuendum per apostolos totum dabant et non talia delicta redimebant. ### English translation (Claude) But you, brothers, whose fear of the Lord is ready, and whose mind, though set in ruin, is mindful of its evil: in penitence and sorrow examine your sins, acknowledge the very grave crime of your conscience, open the eyes of your heart to understand your offense, neither despairing of the Lord's mercy nor yet claiming pardon as already yours. As much as God, with a father's love, is always indulgent and good, so much is he to be feared with a judge's majesty. As greatly as we have sinned, so greatly let us weep. For a deep wound let careful and long treatment not be lacking; let penance not be less than the crime. Do you think God can quickly be appeased, whom you disowned with faithless words, to whom you preferred your property, whose temple you violated with sacrilegious contagion? Do you think he will easily have mercy on you, whom you said was not yours? You must pray and ask more earnestly, spend the day in mourning, pass the nights in vigils and weeping, occupy all your time with tearful lamentations, lie stretched on the ground and cling to ashes, roll in sackcloth and filth; after losing the garment of Christ, want no clothing now; after the devil's food, prefer fasting; apply yourselves to just works, by which sins are purged; give yourselves frequently to almsgiving, by which souls are freed from death. What the adversary was taking away, let Christ receive; nor should property now be held or loved, by which one was both deceived and conquered. It is to be avoided by its possessors as an enemy, fled from as a robber, feared as a sword and poison. Let what has remained be useful only for this, that crime and guilt may be redeemed by it. Let the work of charity be done without hesitation and generously; let all wealth be spent for the healing of the wound; let us lend with our riches and means to the Lord, who is to judge us. So faith flourished under the apostles; so the first people of believers kept Christ's commands: they were ready, they were generous; they gave everything to be distributed by the apostles, and they were not redeeming such sins. ### Scripture references - Prov 19:17: echo, medium confidence - Acts 4:34: allusion, high confidence - Acts 4:35: allusion, high confidence - Eph 1:18: echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Tob 12:9 (Tobit): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The digital text's “promis” is read as “promptus”. The teaching that almsgiving frees from death follows Tob 12:9 (4:10); “lend to the Lord” echoes Prov 19:17; the example of the first believers is Acts 4:34–35. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/35/). ## On the Lapsed 36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/36/ - Source: CSEL 3.1:263–265 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God can forgive the truly penitent and even restore them to fight again and win the martyr's crown. ### Latin text Si precem toto corde quis faciat, si ueris paenitentiae lamentis et lacrimis ingemescat, si ad ueniam delicti sui Dominum iustis et continuis operibus inflectat, misereri talium potest qui et misericordiam suam protulit dicens: cum conuersus fueris et gemueris, tunc saluaberis et scies ubi fueris, et iterum: nolo mortem morientis, dicit Dominus, quantum ut reuertatur et uiuat. et Iohel propheta pietatem Domini Domino ipso monente declarat, reuertimini, inquit, ad Dominum Deum uestrum, quoniam misericors et pius est et patiens et multae miserationis et qui sententiam flectat aduersus malitiam inrogatam. potest ille indulgentiam dare, sententiam suam potest ille deflectere. paenitenti, operanti, roganti potest clementer ignoscere, potest in acceptum referre quidquid pro talibus et petierint martyres et fecerint sacerdotes. uel si quis eum plus suis satisfactionibus mouerit, si eius iram, si indignationis offensam iusta deprecatione placauerit, dat ille et arma rursum quibus uictus armetur, reparat et conroborat uires quibus fides instaurata uegetetur. repetet certamen suum miles, iterabit aciem, prouocabit hostem et quidem factus ad proelium fortior per dolorem. qui sic Deo satisfecerit, qui paenitentia facti sui, qui pudore delicti plus et uirtutis et fidei de ipso lapsus sui dolore conceperit, exauditus et adiutus a Domino, quam contristauerat nuper laetam faciet ecclesiam nec solam iam Dei ueniam merebitur sed coronam. ### English translation (Claude) If one prays with his whole heart, if he groans with the laments and tears of true penance, if he bends the Lord to pardon of his sin by just and continual works, he who has shown his mercy can have mercy on such, saying, “When you have turned and groaned, then you will be saved and will know where you have been”; and again, “I do not desire the death of the dying, says the Lord, so much as that he return and live.” And the prophet Joel declares the Lord's tenderness at the Lord's own prompting: “Return,” he says, “to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and kind and patient and of great mercy, and one who turns aside his sentence against the evil inflicted.” He can grant indulgence; he can turn aside his sentence. To one who repents, works, and asks he can mercifully pardon; he can credit to his account whatever the martyrs have asked and the priests have done on behalf of such. Or if anyone has moved him more by his own satisfactions, if he has appeased his anger and the offense of his indignation by just entreaty, he gives again arms with which the conquered may be armed; he restores and strengthens the powers by which renewed faith may be invigorated. The soldier will resume his contest, he will repeat the battle, he will challenge the enemy, made indeed stronger for the fight through his grief. He who has made satisfaction to God in this way, who by penance for his deed, by shame for his sin, has conceived more virtue and faith from the very grief of his fall, heard and helped by the Lord, will make glad the church which he had lately saddened, and will deserve not only God's pardon but a crown. ### Scripture references - Isa 30:15: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 18:32: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 33:11: quotation, high confidence - Joel 2:13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 30:15 (in an Old Latin form following the LXX), Ezek 18:32 with 33:11, and Joel 2:13. The digital text's “neris” is read as “ueris”. ### Citation (SBL) Cyprian, Laps. 36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-lapsis/36/).