From Him patience begins
Cyprian, On the Advantage of Patience, sections 3-5
St. Cyprian begins his account of patience by directing Christians toward God. The virtue is to be learned through heavenly teaching and obedience to the Lord and Father. Patience is therefore more than a temperament we happen to possess. It belongs to the response of those who receive God’s example. Cyprian, On the Advantage of Patience, sections 3-5
Cyprian considers the sun and rain given to the righteous and unrighteous. God’s generosity does not end at the boundary of people already behaving well. The passage asks believers to contemplate that patience and allow it to shape their own treatment of others. The example is generosity joined to God’s faithful goodness. Cyprian, On the Advantage of Patience, sections 3-5
Christ commands love for enemies and prayer for persecutors, naming the Father who gives sunlight and rain. The scriptural passage supplies the example Cyprian considers. Discipleship includes a generosity that reaches people from whom we cannot expect affection in return. Matthew 5:43-48
A present response can begin with prayer for a person toward whom our heart has narrowed. A necessary boundary may remain, while contempt and revenge are relinquished. The Father’s generosity gives no permission for cruelty; it directs the disciple toward an appropriate good even in a difficult relationship. Matthew 5:43-48
We can seek patience by returning to the example Christ gives, rather than treating an impatient disposition as an unchangeable excuse. The response is to pray, act with restraint and consider the neighbor’s good. Cyprian directs attention toward the Father, and the Gospel names the acts of love by which that attention can bear fruit. Cyprian, On the Advantage of Patience, sections 3-5
For prayer, use the Lord’s Prayer given by Christ in Matthew 6:9–13.
Sources and edition notes
- Cyprian, On the Advantage of Patience. Source. Translated by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 5. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050709.htm.
Scripture references link to these comparison editions: NKJV. Biblical passages are paraphrased. Biblical language within a patristic quotation follows the identified historical English translation.