OF SAINT AURELIUS AUGUSTINE

THAT NO ONE PERFORMS WORKS OF

righteousness, except in so far as they

have received from that fountain and from that light

Chapter VII.

Psalm 35

In modern Bibles, this is Psalm 36. Augustine is quoting verses 7–12.
This holy reflection preserves the children of men who hope under the protection of God’s wings, so that they may be intoxicated by the richness of His house and drink from the torrent of His pleasure. For with Him is the fountain of life, and in His light we shall see light, He who extends His mercy to those who know Him, and His righteousness: iustitia; in this context, it refers to the God-given quality that makes a person right in His eyes. to those who are upright in heart. For He does not extend His mercy because they already know Him, but rather so that they might know Him; nor does He extend His righteousness because they are
Romans 4

upright in heart, but so that they might become upright in heart—the righteousness by which He justifies the ungodly original: "iustificat impium"; a reference to Romans 4:5, a cornerstone of Augustine’s theology of grace.. This reflection does not bring about pride: superbia; for Augustine, this is the "beginning of all sin," where a person tries to be their own source of goodness., a vice that arises when anyone relies on themselves and makes themselves their own source for living. By such a movement, one retreats from that fountain of life, from whose draught alone righteousness is drunk—that is, the good life—and from that unchangeable light. By participating in that light, the rational soul is, in a certain way, set on fire, so that it may itself become a created and fashioned light, just as John [the Baptist] was a "burning and shining lamp." Yet,
John 5

John recognized the source from which he shone,
John 1

saying: "Of His fullness we have all received." From whose fullness, if not from His in comparison to whom John was not the Light? For He was the "true Light that enlightens every man coming into this world." Therefore, when he had said in that same
Psalm 35

Psalm: "Extend your mercy to those who know you, and your righteousness to those who are upright in heart," he followed by saying: "Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of sinners move me. There they have fallen, those who work iniquity; they were driven out and could not stand." Indeed, by this very impiety, in which a person attributes to themselves what belongs to God, one is driven out into their own darkness, which are the works of iniquity. For these works are clearly his own.