And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why ask you thus after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
All Commentaries on Judges 13:18 Go To Judges 13
Pacian of Barcelona
AD 391
Concerning the name Catholic I answered fully and in a conciliatory manner. For I said that it mattered to neither one of us what the other was called. But if you demanded to know the meaning of the name, whatever it might be, it is “wonderful”—whether it means “one in all” or “one above all” or, an interpretation I have not mentioned previously, “the king’s child”—that is, the Christian people. Certainly this name, which has endured for so many centuries, was not bestowed upon us by ourselves but by God. And truly I rejoice that, although you may have preferred other names, you agree that the name belongs to us. And what if you were to deny this? Then nature would cry out. Or if you still have doubts, let us say nothing about it. We will both be that which we are called, under the witness of the antiquity of the name. If, however, quite stubbornly you continue to ask, take care lest that “man of might” may exclaim to you, “Why do you ask my name? The name itself is wonderful.” I then sensibly added that we ought not to consider whence Catholics acquired this name, because neither was it traditionally considered to represent a charge against the Valentinians if they were named after Valentinus, nor against the Phrygians, if from Phrygia, nor against the Novatians, if after Novatian.
