Atos 8
Arator
Atos 8:18
Simon the magician had been here washed indeed in the fount but not clean in his heart; the subsequent punishment revealed him to the world as ignorant of the faith. He wished to liken the gifts of God to the gathering together of gold and to bring back by means of coin what a merchant buys at a price. — ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1
Atos 8:21
Seeing him attempting this, Peter said, "What madness has moved you to this, wretch? Namely, that you think that what the grace of the Lord gives is something for sale. It is not gained by gold but by a [right] disposition [of mind]; nor is it permitted that corrupt money, which the person whose eyes are fixed on the earth loves, should earn heaven. Surely there remains no peace for you in this lot, nor will you, defiled by your tricks, be able to come to these things, you who seek what does not belong to you, swollen as you are with the gall of a bitter heart; for the Spirit enters those halls of the mind which are bright with honesty." — ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1
Atos 8:27
No trifling occasion of hidden allegory shines in the image of [the eunuch's] country: the Almighty gave full approval for Moses to unite the Ethiopian woman to himself in the bond of marriage; Scriptures reveal that he later spoke with the Lord face to face. What is there astonishing if love for the law began to grow at that time when [the law] had been joined [in marriage] to the church? Rather, the Song of Songs does not conceal the fact that the everlasting bride comes from that region: it calls her black and beautiful. She comes from the south, which burns the Ethiopian soil, to praise her Peacemaker in the mouth of Solomon, by which name [Pacificus] what Christ possesses has long been signified. She sends [the eunuch] ahead as guardian of [the church's] riches, by whose protection she might begin to bring forth her wealth. What better treasure is in her than the glory of the font? What richer gold than a wealthy faith in the heart? Finally, how rightly is her herald a eunuch! As [faith] proceeds, lust is driven off, and the chaste capture the heavenly kingdoms. — ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1