Letter 10

Job xxviii, 28. — “Behold, piety towards God is wisdom.” ^A

“The roots of the pious are in fortifications.”

Habac. ii, 4. — “The just shall live by faith.”

Isa. xxiv, 16. — “O Lord God of Israel, we have heard wonders from the ends of the earth. Hope is for the pious, and they shall say: Woe to the treacherous.”

Isa. xxvi, 7. — “The way of the pious has been straight and prepared.”

Isa. xxxii, 8. — “The pious have taken prudent counsel, and this counsel remains.”

Jerem. v, 1. — “If there is one who does judgment, and seeks faith, I will be propitious to him, says the Lord.”

Sap. x, 12. — “Piety is more powerful than all.”

Sap. xv, 2. — “We will not sin, knowing that we are reckoned as thine. For to know thee is complete justice, and to know thy power is the root of immortality. For the malicious craftiness of men has not led us into error.” ^B

Eccli. ii, 4, 5. — “Trust in the Lord, and abide in your labor. For it is easy in the eyes of the Lord to enrich a pauper suddenly. The blessing of the Lord is in the reward of the pious. The gift of the Lord remains with the pious.”

Eccli. ii, 6. — “Believe in him, and he shall recover you.”

Eccli. xxvii, 12. — “The narrative of a pious man is always wisdom.”

Eccli. xxxvii, 12. — “Be assiduous with a religious man.”

Matth. x, 32. — “Everyone who shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.” ^C

Matth. xvii, 20. — “Amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible for you.”

Matth. xix, 27-31. — “Peter answering said to him: Behold, we have left all things, and followed thee: what therefore shall be for us? Jesus said to them: Amen I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you shall also sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.” ^D

Matth. xxi, 21, 22. — “Jesus answering said to them: Amen I say to you, if you have faith, and do not hesitate, not only shall you do [what was done] to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be lifted up, and be cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer believing, you shall receive.”

Joan. i, 11, 12. — “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.”

Joan. iii, 16. — “God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth

^A in Him may not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; but he who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God,” and the rest. “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not hunger; and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” Joan. vii, 37, 38. — “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, ‘Rivers of living water shall flow from his belly.’ Now this He said concerning the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Joan. xii, 46, 47. — “I have come as a light into this world, that everyone who believes ^B in Me may not remain in darkness. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” Joan. xiv, 12. — “He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do.” Joan. xx, 29. — “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” Rom. ix, 30-33. — “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by works. For they stumbled at the stone of stumbling, as it is written: ‘Behold, I lay in Sion a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal; and he who believes ^C in Him shall not be put to shame.’” Galat. ii, 16, 17. — “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by the works of the law; because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” Galat. v, 6. — “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision is of any avail, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works through love.” Hebr. xi, 1, 2, 6. — “Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a witness. Without faith it is impossible to please God. For the one who approaches God must believe that He exists, and that He becomes a rewarder to those who seek Him.” I Tim. iv, 7, 8. — “Exercise yourself unto godliness. For bodily exercise is of little profit; ^D but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” Ephes. ii, 8. — “By grace you have been saved, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, that no one may boast.” Be a worker of godliness. For this will both lift you up to heaven, and will prepare for you an immortal memory and lasting glory among men. The honor toward God who truly is, is altogether

^A a source of honor for the one who gives it. But honor toward a god who does not exist is, conversely, a disgrace for the one who gives it.

Pietas must be sought above all else; they rightly call it the mother of all virtues, for it is the beginning and the end of all virtues.

We ought to remember God more often than we draw breath.

S. Greg. Naz. *On the Holy Spirit.* — Let him who rejects, reject; let him who acts wickedly, act wickedly. We speak of what we have seen, and we proclaim it. We shall ascend a high mountain, that we may be at peace, not that we may proclaim.

The same, *Orat. 1.* — A righteous war is better than a peace that separates us from God.

Of an uncertain author. — I know sinful men who laid hands upon the sick and freed them from their disease. But this happens in two ways: it is not only because of him through whom it is given, but also because of him who receives. For if he who receives lacks faith, he receives grace from neither the righteous man nor the sinner. For *he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward* (Matt. 10:41). And again the Lord says: *According to your faith let it be done to you* (Matt. 9:29). You, then, act in such a way that you have faith in him who comes to you in the name of the Lord, wavering in nothing, and you shall receive grace; for it is God who works.

TIT. II. — On spiritual progress.

Philipp. 3:13, 14. — ^B «Brethren, I do not consider that I have captured it. But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the mark for the prize of the upward call of God.»

1 Cor. 9:26, 27. — «So I run, not as uncertainly; so I fight, not as one beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, lest perhaps after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.»

1 Cor. 12:31. — «Earnestly desire the higher gifts.»

Coloss. 3:1. — «Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.» (Noting variation: the Greek omits mention of Christ, Migne includes it in the Latin) «Seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth.»

S. Greg. Naz. — Do not pride yourself because you seem better than the wicked, but be rather ^C afflicted because you are surpassed by the good.

Do not weigh virtue on a small scale.

He who cares rightly for himself is cared for by God.

TIT. III. — On transitory and eternal things; and that those who prefer present things to future things commit the gravest sin.

Psal. 26:13. — «I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.»

Isa. 35:10. — «Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall gain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.»

Matth. 7:13, 14. — «Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to ^D destruction, and there are many who enter by it; but the gate is narrow, and»

^A the way is straight which leads to life, and there are few who find it.»

I Cor. vii, 29, 30. — «The time is short; it remains, brethren, that those who have wives should be as though they had none, and those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, and those who use this world as though they did not make full use of it. For the form of this world is passing away.»

II Cor. iv, 17, 18. — «For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.»

^B I Cor. xv, 19. — «If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.»

Hebr. xiii, 14. — «For we have here no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.»

II Petr. iii, 13. — «Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.»

S. Basil, in Psal. 1. — There are two ways opposed to one another; the one broad and spacious, the other narrow and straitened; and there are two guides, each of which tries to turn us toward himself. And indeed the level and broad way has a fraudulent and pernicious guide, the devil, who through pleasure drags his followers to destruction; but the rugged and steep way has a good angel, who leads those who follow him through the toils of virtue to the blessed end. For as long as each of us is a child, pursuing the pleasantness of the present, he takes no thought for the future. ^C But when he has reached man's estate, and his notions have attained their maturity, then in a way he seems to live his life shaping himself toward virtue or vice; and repeatedly turning the eye of his soul toward both, he judges in balance the things that pertain to each. The life of sinners presents all the delights of the present age; but that of the righteous shows only the good things of the future age. And the way of those who are being saved, in proportion as it promises good things for the future, provides such laborious things in the present; but the pleasant and licentious life offers not pleasure to be expected hereafter, but already present. Therefore every soul is dizzy and wavers in its thoughts;とき when it considers the eternal, it chooses virtue; but when it looks toward the present, it prefers pleasure. Here it sees the indulgence of the flesh, there the enslavement of the flesh; here drunkenness, there fasting; here wanton laughter, there abundant tears. Blessed therefore is he who is not turned aside by the allurements of pleasure toward destruction, but ^D through patience awaits the hope of salvation.

Ejusd. Hom. de invid. — We deem nothing human to be great, nor something beyond nature. For the good is not in the things that pass away,

^A but we are called to the participation of eternal and true goods.

Ejusd. Hom. in psal. cxv. — Do not prefer the most worthless of things to those of great price, nor be evil merchants, preferring a fleeting life to an immortal and blessed life.

Ejusd. — Before your face I have set life and death, evil and good, two natures contrary one to the other. Compare them within yourself: weigh accurately whether it is more profitable for you to embrace temporary pleasure, and for its sake to be punished with everlasting death, or to embrace the hardship which the pursuit of virtue produces, and by its aid attain eternal life.

Ejusd. — Do not bestow everything on pleasure; grant something also to the soul. Consider that you have two daughters: the pleasure of this life, and the heavenly life. If you do not wish to give everything to the better one, at least distribute an equal portion to the intemperate [daughter] and to the modest one. Do not deem the life here to be adorned with immoderate riches, while the other is naked and in rags. Do not present the bride to the bridegroom unkempt and deformed, ^B lest, on seeing her, He turn away His face, and having seen her, hate her, and refuse to be united with her.

Ejusd. — For a long time we have lived for the world; let us now live also for ourselves. What is equal to the soul? What is to be compared with the kingdom of heaven? Who is a more authoritative counselor for you than God? Who is wiser than that Wise One? Who is more useful than that Good One? Who is more closely related than the Creator?

Ejusd. — See that, while you flee the narrow ways leading to salvation, you do not pursue the broad way of sin. Fear lest, when you have traveled along the broad way even to the very last day of life, you find an inn consistent with that way.

Ejusd. Hom. in illud: Attende tibi. — Pay attention to yourself. Do not dwell on perishing things as if they were everlasting, nor despise eternal things as if they were fleeting. Spurn the flesh: for it wastes away. Be studious of the salvation of the soul, which is immortal.

Ibid. — Do not pay attention to the flesh, O man, nor consult its conveniences: do not admire riches, nor glory, nor power, nor all those things which satisfy only a temporary use for you.

Ejusd. — If temporal things are so excellent, what then are the eternal ones? And if the magnitude of the heavens exceeds the measure of the human mind, who then among mortals could search out the nature of eternal things?

S. Greg. Nyss. orat. 3 in beatit. — To bestow one's study on things which appear is proper to those who propose no hope of the future age for themselves.

S. Chrysost. — If those things which pertain to the body cannot be obtained by men without labors, but both bread and food require labors and sweat; and since the necessity of nature drives away laziness, and the scourge of necessity, without excuse, ^C

^A should cast clay to labor; who, hearing of eternal life, would not be roused to labors? Who would not gladly sweat for the sake of the kingdom of heaven? Who would not despise pain for the sake of endless pleasure? Who would not endure the billows and tempests of temptations, so that he might arrive at the plunder-proof market of the heavens? For labors are everywhere the providers of good things.

False are the opinions of the foolish; false are the assumptions of those wrongly minded, who attribute blessedness in this life to wealth, and liberty, and power; ignorant that it is possible to see a slavery more lofty than any liberty, and an infirmity more firm than any power, and poverty more wealthy than any riches.

TIT. IV. — On the providence of God; and that God provides for human affairs.

Isa. XLIX, 14, 15. — “Sion said: The Lord has forsaken me, and God has forgotten me. Will a woman forget her child, or not have mercy on the offspring of her womb? But even if a woman were to forget these, yet I will not forget you, says the Lord.”

Isa. LI, 4. — “I will comfort all the desolate places of Sion, and I will make them as the paradise of delight.”

Ezech. XXXIV, 16, 17. — “Thus says the Lord: That which was lost I will seek, and that which had strayed I will bring back; and that which was broken I will bind up, and that which was failing I will strengthen, and the strong I will guard, and I will feed them with judgment.”

^B Sap. XI, 25-27. — “You love all things that are, and loathe nothing of what you have made; for you would not have fashioned anything while hating it. But how could anything have remained, unless you had willed it? Or what would have been preserved, had it not been called by you? But you spare all things that are, O Lord, who love souls. For your holy spirit is in all things.”

Sap. VI, 8. — “God made both small and great; and He has an equal care for all.”

Sap. XIV, 2-6. — “Men made a ship for the sake of the desire for gain; but Wisdom, the craftsman, fashioned it. But your providence, Father, governs it: because you gave a way in the sea, ^C and a most secure path among the waves, showing that you are able to save from all things, even if one embarks without skill. But you will not have the works of wisdom be in vain; therefore, also, in a small piece of wood men trust their lives, and having traversed the wave, they were saved by a raft.”

Whatever good comes to us from divine power, we say is the operation of the grace that works all things.

It is proper and truly becoming to God to be propitious, to show mercy, and to save His own works, even if they are carried into the danger of destruction. For with Him, he says, is propitiation.

^D That all things, in general, exist and are governed by the providence of God, the wise men of true piety…

^A teach. But if one examines each thing specifically, some moved by habit, some by nature, some by impulse and imagination, and others by reason, individual judgment, and free choice, while others have come into being by reason, they establish the varied and manifold governing of the universe; for the Cause of all things has distributed to each kind of existing thing its own distinct and defined structure of nature.

Euseb. lib. VI Præp. Evang. cap. 14. Ex Phil. — What parents are to their children in relationships, this the king is to the state, and God is to the world.

S. Chrysost. — You do not know what is beneficial for you, O man; therefore you often ask for things that are harmful and dangerous. But He who cares more for your salvation than you do, does not attend to your request, but before your request, He everywhere looks to what is for your benefit. For if carnal fathers ^B do not grant everything to their children who ask, not because they despise those who ask, but because they care for them all the more, much more does God, who loves us even more vehemently, and knows our benefit more clearly than all others, do so.

Didymi. — That Craftsman of all things, since He knows the secrets of all those who use reason, provides for the whole; not only from those things by which they are affected and act, but He also leads them to improvement from those things which He foreknows.

Theotimi in Gen. — God, having fashioned all things out of His own goodness, takes care of all things: not looking at the dignity of those for whom He provides, but at His own mercy and the bestowing of good things.

TIT. V. — Concerning perverse affection and anxiety; and that we ought not to be perversely affected in any matter.

Cant. v, 2. — « I sleep, and my heart waketh. »

Eccli. xxx, 25. — « Before the time, old age brings anxiety. »

Matth. vi, 25-27. — « Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, nor what ye shall drink, nor for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them, » etc. ^C

1 Cor. vii, 29-31. — « The time is short. It remaineth, that those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who weep as though they wept not, and those who buy as though they possessed not, and those who use this world as though they used it not. For the fashion of this world passeth away. »

S. Nili. — It is the mark of a perfect soul to be without anxiety; but of an impious one, to be worn down by cares. For it is said of the perfect soul, that it is a lily in the midst of thorns. This furthermore signifies freedom from cares. Regarding

those who possess much concern for the things of this life, the Scripture says: "All the life of the impious is in solicitude" (Prov. iii, 33). ^A

St. Clem. Alex. — One must manage one's possessions without immoderate affection, and when some loss arises, one should not be angered, nor take it ill, nor burn with the desire for acquisition. For the Lord bids us refrain from excessive love of possessions and from every preposterous affection.

TIT. VI. — On prophets who committed slaughter and pleased God.

Exod. xxxii, 26-30. — "Moses stood at the gate of the camp, and said: If any one is for the Lord, let him join me. And all the sons of Levi came to him, and he says to them: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Put each one his sword upon his thigh, and pass through, and return, and kill each one his brother, and each one his neighbor, and the nearest one. And the ^B sons of Levi did as Moses spoke to them, and there fell of the people on that day three thousand men."

Num. xxv, 11-15. — "Phinees the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, rose up from the midst of the synagogue, and taking a poniard in his hand, pierced both through, the Israelite man and the woman through her womb; and the anger ceased from the sons of Israel. And those who died were twenty-four thousand. And the Lord spoke to Moses: Phinees the son of Eleazar has stilled my wrath: behold I give to him my covenant, a covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his seed after him, a covenant of an eternal priesthood, for that he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the sons of Israel." ^C

"Samuel said: Bring to me Agag, king of Amalec. And Agag came trembling. And Samuel said: As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be made childless among women. And he killed him before the Lord."

"Elias said to the people: Seize the prophets of Baal; let none escape from them. And they seized them; and Elias leads them down to the torrent of Cisson, and slaughtered them there." ^D

TIT. VII. — On the foreknowledge of God; and that hidden and secret things of events should be left to God.

Deut. xxix, 29. — "The hidden things [belong] to the Lord our God; but the manifest things [belong] to us and to our children forever, to do all the words of this law."

"The Lord is a God of knowledge, and God preparing inventions."

"I know the counsels of your spirit."

Jer. I, 5. — ^A "Before I formed thee in the womb, I sanctified thee, and set thee a prophet unto the nations." John I, 47-49. — "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him: Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathanael saith unto him: Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him: Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and said unto him: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel."

TITLE VIII. — On prophets who freely rebuked kings.

TITLE IX. — On the will and affection of the mind; and that God examines the will in all things.

commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." ^A

640 S. Basil. — We praise those who are good by the inclination of their mind, not those who are restrained by some necessity. For where the will is ready, there is nothing to hinder; let the eagerness of mind be present, and nothing will be an impediment.

— Idem. — Before the just Judge, the rewards decreed for one who has even so much as proposed to do what is his duty are not to be despised.

— Theophylact. — The actions of the body are interrupted by many things; but he who sins by intention has his sin perfected by the very impulse of his thoughts. ^B

— S. Greg. Naz. — This is most beautiful and most humane: that God measures the gift not by the price of the offering, but by the strength and the affection of the mind of him who offers.

— S. Clem. — God, who instructs the soul, values not the gift, but the will.

— Sixtus. — A good will is a victim to God.

TIT. X. — Of virginity, and pudicity, and honest nuptials.

— Gen. II, 23, 24. — "And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Wherefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh." ^C

— Job XXXI, 9. — "If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door: let my wife be a harlot to another."

— Prov. XIX, 14. — "A woman is joined to a man by the Lord."

— Prov. V, 18, 19. — "Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her ways always delight thee. For being in her love, thou shalt be one of many."

— Malach. II, 15. — "And thou shalt not despise the wife of thy youth." ^D

— Sap. III, 13; IV, 1. — "Blessed is the barren that is undefiled, who hath not known bed in sin: she shall have fruit in the visitation of souls." And again: "Better is virginity with virtue. For the memory thereof is immortal: because it is known both with God and with men, and in the world it triumphs, wearing a crown, having won the contest of undefiled struggles."

— Eccli. — "He that resisteth pleasures, shall crown his life."

— Matth. XIX, 3 seqq. — "And there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? But he"

^A answering, said to them: "Have you not read, that he who made from the beginning, made them male and female? And he said: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh? Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." They say to him: "Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away?" He saith to them: "Because of the hardness of your hearts he allowed you to put away your wives. But from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery." His disciples say to him: "If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry." Who said to them: "All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take."

I Cor. VII, 39. — "A woman is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband die, she is at liberty: let her marry to whom she will; only in the Lord." ^B

Ibid. 1-5; 8-11; 25-28; 32-35. — "Now concerning the things whereof you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But for fear of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render the debt to his wife: and the wife also in like manner to the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband; and in like manner the husband also hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud not one another, except, perhaps, by consent, for a time, that you may give yourselves to prayer; and return together again, lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency. But I say to the unmarried, and to the widows: It is good for them if they so continue, even as I. But if they do not contain themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to be burnt. But to them that are married, not I, but the Lord commandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband. And if she depart, that she remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not the husband put away his wife. Now concerning virgins, ^C I have no commandment of the Lord; but I give counsel, as having obtained mercy of the Lord, to be faithful. I think therefore that this is good for the present necessity, that it is good for a man so to be. Art thou bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. But if thou take a wife, thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned: nevertheless, such shall have tribulation of the flesh." And again: "But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. The unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your profit: not to cast a snare upon you ^D

but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” ^A “He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever hateth his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ the Church.” ^A “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled.”

One must keep the mind, like a pilot sitting above the passions, having embarked as it were upon the ship of the flesh, and with experience turning the reason like a rudder; to trample the waves bravely, and to remain on high, and being inaccessible to the passions, in no way to be filled with the bitterness of the passions, as one is with brine.

One virtue, both for man and woman, since their creation is also of equal honor, so that the reward is the same for both. If their nature is one, their operations are the same; and those whose work is equal, to them also the reward is the same.

Husbands, love your wives, even if you have come together for the partnership of marriage from distant lands. Let the bond of nature, the yoke of blessing, be a union of those who were separated. The viper, the most cruel of reptiles, comes to meet the sea-lamprey for the sake of mating, and by his hissing, signifying his presence, he calls her forth from the depths for the nuptial embrace. What is the meaning of my speech? That even if the husband be rough, even if he be wild in character, the wife must needs bear with him, and for no pretext admit of breaking the union. Is he a striker? Yet he is a husband. ^C Is he a drunkard? Yet he is united with you by nature. Is he rough and disagreeable? Yet he is your own member, and the most precious of members. Let the husband also hear the admonition proper to him. The viper, out of reverence for the marriage, vomits forth his poison: will you not be led by reverence for the union to cast off the cruelty and ferocity of your soul?

I would not pass over the story of Alexander, who, having taken the daughters of Darius captive, though they were testified to have of what marvelous beauty, did not even deign to see them, judging it shameful that one who had conquered men should be overcome by women. For this leads to the same point: Whoever has looked upon a woman to lust after her, even if he has not accomplished the adultery by an act, yet in that he has admitted the desire into his soul, he is not acquitted of the crime.

^D “Lay the yoke of virginity upon no one. For it is a dangerous thing and difficult to keep, when by necessity...”

it comes to pass.” ^A Permit the young to marry before they are corrupted by others.

S. Greg. Naz. *On virginity.* O virgin, be a virgin in eyes, and ears, and tongue; for sin is easy for all to trip over.

S. Greg. Nyss. *Hom. on the Beatitudes.* The Lord blesses not those who live exempt from passion (for it is impossible in this corporeal life for us to lead a spiritual life without perturbations), but those who are slow and not easily moved by the impulses of nature. For He does not enjoin total apathy upon human nature, but that which is achieved through virtue. For the natural occurrence of such an impulse is often the result of the weakness conjoined to nature, which acts even against our will. But not to be carried away like a torrent by the impulse of passion, but rather to stand steadfast with a brave soul against such an affection and to repel the turbulent motion by reason; this is the work of virtue. Blessed, therefore, are those who are not prone to the turbulent agitations of the soul, but are composed in sense and mind; and for whom reason, like a bridle, restraining the impulses, does not allow the soul to be carried away into disorder. ^B

S. Chrysostom. — Marriage is an indulgence for passion. Nothing is so unworthy of a virgin as to be eager for riches and to be wrapped up in a multitude of affairs.

Meth. *From the Banquet of Virgins.* — It is a mockery to keep the organs of procreation chaste, but not the tongue; or to keep the tongue of the virgin, but not the sight, or the hearing, or the hands; but rather to play the harlot in pride and wrath. For it is necessary to keep all members and sense organs pure and sealed.

Theotimus, *On fasting.* — What is forced is troublesome and brief; but what is free admits of no loathing, but ever flourishes in grace and desire.

S. Clem. Alex. — The corruption and violation of virgins is called not only fornication, but also their premature giving away: that is, when they are married to a man before the marriageable age, whether by themselves ^C or by their parents.

Didymus. — By long-standing study and meditation, the strength and ferocity of the excited movements of the soul are weakened.

The same, *To a philosopher.* — For him who is the moderator of passions, when these have been subdued, not everything is immediately tranquil. For as long as a man lives, this war endures.

On fornication, and adultery, and unnatural lust.

Tit. XI. — Levit. xx, 10 seqq. — “The man who has committed adultery with the wife of another man, let him die the death, he who has committed adultery, and the adulteress. A man who has slept with a male with the intercourse of a woman, they have committed an abomination; let both die. ^D

^A For they are guilty of death. "A man, if he sleeps with the wife of his father, he has uncovered the nakedness of his father; let both die the death. If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall burn him and them in fire."

"A spurious person shall not enter into the Church of God."

"If a man be found sleeping with a woman married to a husband, you shall kill both, and you shall remove the evil from Israel."

"Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law; and all the people shall say, So be it, so be it."

If anyone takes a wife and dwells with her, and lays pretexts against her, and brings upon her an evil name and says, "I have taken this woman, and having come near to her, I have not found in her virginity," then the father of the girl and her mother shall take and bring out the tokens of the woman's virginity to the elders. They shall take the man, and they shall punish him, and they shall fine him one hundred shekels, and they shall give them to the father of the young girl, because he brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel, and she shall be his wife. He shall not be able to send her away for all his time. But if the tokens of virginity are not found for the young girl, they shall bring her out to the doors of her father's house, and the men of the city shall stone her, and she shall die, because she committed folly. If a young girl virgin be betrothed to a man, and a man finds her in a city and sleeps with her, you shall lead both out to the gate of that city, and they shall stone both with stones, and they shall die: the young girl, because she did not cry out in the city; and the man, because he humbled the wife of his neighbor. But if a man in the open field finds the young girl who is betrothed, and having done violence, sleeps with her, you shall kill the man who ^B slept with her, and to the young girl you shall do nothing. There is no sin of death for the young girl, because just as if a man should rise up against his neighbor and kill his soul, so also is this matter; because he found her in the field; the young girl cried out, and there was no one helping her.

"The eye of an adulterer has watched for darkness, saying, 'No eye will discern me.'"

"The fury of wrath is unbearable, to defile a man's wife. For it is fire burning from all sides; and wherever it enters, it destroys from the roots."

"The vows of a harlot’s hire are not pure."

"Let not the desire of beauty overcome you, nor be ensnared by your eyes, nor be snatched away by the eyelids of fornication. The adulterer, for lack of understanding, procures destruction for his own soul; he bears pains ^C and disgraces; his reproach will not be blotted out forever. For the fury of her husband is filled with jealousy; he will not spare in the day of judgment; he will not...

accept any ransom for his hatred, nor will he be appeased by many gifts.» ^A

Prov. XI, 20. — «Be not frequent with a strange woman, nor hold fast by the embraces of one who is not thine.»

Prov. XXIX, 3. — «He who nourishes harlots will lose his wealth.»

Prov. VI, 27, 28. — «Shall any man tie fire in his bosom, and his garments not be burned? Or shall any one walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he who goes in to a woman married to a husband will not be innocent.»

Prov. V, 18. — «Abstain from strange water, and drink not from a strange fountain, so that you may live for a long time, and years of life may be added to you.»

Sap. III, 16. — «The children of adulterers shall be in an incomplete state, and the seed from an unlawful bed shall be destroyed.»

Sap. IV, 3, 6. — «The multitude of the wicked of many kinds will not be useful, and from adulterous plantations it shall not give roots into the depth, nor establish a secure foundation. Children born of unlawful slumbers are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their examination.» ^B

Eccl. XXIII, 22. — «A hot soul, like a burning fire, will not be extinguished until it consumes: and the man who is a fornicator in the body of his flesh.»

Eccl. XXXVI, 27. — «Where there is no woman, he who wanders will groan.»

Eccl. XXIII, 24-27. — «To a fornicating man every bread is sweet; he will not cease until he dies. The man who transgresses his own bed, saying in his soul, Who sees me? Darkness surrounds me, and the walls cover me, and no one looks at me: what do I fear? The Most High will not remember my sins. And the eyes of men are his fear, and he did not know that the eyes of the Lord are many times brighter than the sun. This man shall be punished in the streets of the city, and where he did not think, he will be caught.» ^C

Nahum III, 3, 4. — «They will be weakened in their bodies because of the multitude of fornication.»

Jerem. V, 7-9. — «On what account shall I be propitious to you? Your children have forsaken me, and swore by those who are not gods; and I filled them, and they committed adultery, and they lodged in the houses of harlots. They became horses lusting after females; everyone neighed at his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit them for these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not avenge itself on such a nation?» ^D

Matth. V, 27, 28. — «You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.»

I Cor. VI, 18-20. — «Flee fornication. Every sin that a man may commit is outside the body; but he who commits fornication sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not

of them? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”

^A “Let us not commit fornication, as some of them committed, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.”

“Mortify your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

“But fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

Tears come to me for you, O man, when I consider that you prefer the works of shame to the great glory of God, and because of licentiousness you are unable to tear yourself away from sin.

Pleasure is a hook of the devil drawing towards destruction. Pleasure is the mother of sin; pleasure is the nurse of the eternal worm, which for a time soothes the one who enjoys it, but afterwards produces the return of more bitter gall.

Evil desires, goading the soul, throw it into incontinent and licentious impulses.

If, therefore, you take heed to yourself and remember that present pleasure will end in a bitter conclusion, and that the tickling which now arises from pleasure in our body will generate the poisonous worm, punishing us eternally in Gehenna, and that the burning of the flesh will become ^B the mother of eternal fire, at once those pleasures will flee away, and a marvelous calm and peace will exist within the soul, just as the noise of licentious handmaidens is quieted by the presence of some wise mistress.

Adultery is a certain condition of nature, the coiling of the viper and the sea-eel. Let those, therefore, who plot against the marriages of others learn to what reptile they are similar, and let the licentious restrain their passions, being instructed by both land and sea examples.

I have known some who fell into the passions of the flesh in their youth and, because of the habit of evil, remained in their sins even until their gray hairs; and just as those who wallow in filth ^C ever heap the mud upon themselves, so also these contract each day the baseness born of pleasure.

The spirit of fornication does not endure to remain in one instance of shame, but immediately its peers are gathered—revellings, and drunkennesses, and shameful tales, a harlot drinking with them, smiling at this one, provoking that one, and inflaming everyone to her own sin.

Pleasure is the great bait of evil, through which we are most especially prone to sin; by which every soul, as if by a hook, is drawn towards death, ^D

^A so that he who does not let himself be softened by it, by means of temperance, has thoroughly overcome every nature of sin.

S. Greg. Naz. Tetr. 7. The pure man abhors every reward of the harlot. Impurity is wondrously clever at devising evils.

Pleasure is indeed, as it were, a bait for all vice, which, being cast out, easily draws more gluttonous souls onto the hook of destruction.

*From the Elders.* A certain brother was assailed by the impulse of lust. It happened that he was passing through a certain town of Egypt, and, having seen the daughter of a certain priest of the idols, he was seized with love for her and asked her father to give her to him in marriage. The man replied that he could not give her to him unless he first consulted his god about the matter. Therefore, having gone to his demon, he said to him: “Behold, a certain monk has come to me asking for my daughter for marriage. Shall I give her to him?” And the demon, answering, said: “If he will abjure his God, and baptism, and the monastic profession, I permit it.” The priest, therefore, returned and said to the monk: “Abjure your God and baptism and the monastic profession.” The monk agreed, and immediately he saw a dove issuing from his mouth and flying up into heaven. Wherefore the priest went to the demon and said: “Behold, he has agreed to these three things.” ^C Then the devil, answering, said to him: “By no means give him your daughter as a wife. For his God has not departed from him, but still helps him.” Wherefore the priest returned and said to the monk: “I cannot give her to you. For God is still helping you, and has not entirely departed from you.”

It is good to flee from corporeal things. For when a man is near the corporeal war, he is like one who stands above a very deep pit, and whom his enemy, at whatever hour he pleases, can with no effort cast down to the depths. But if he removes himself far from corporeal things, he is not unlike one who is away from the pit, so that, while the enemy strives to drag him down, God sends him aid.

S. Chrysost. — Do not say: “How can I not fornicate?” Indeed, I will say: “How are you able to fornicate?” “Desire,” you say, “inflames me.” But you have a wife; you have pleasure free from danger. “But I cannot restrain myself.” These are words of sloth. For when I bring before you someone who, while being without a wife, yet cultivates chastity, what defense can you bring forward for the sake of your own purification? He did not endure shipwreck in the sea, and yet you perish in the harbor? You have a wife, and yet you fornicate, or even commit adultery? “And by what means,” you say, “can I overcome this wound?” Enjoy your wife, and I shall enjoy mine. Absolutely. Consider what the blessed Paul says: “Because of the

fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. The woman does not have authority over her own body, but the man; just as, in turn, the man does not have it, but the woman” (1 Cor. vii, 1-4). Therefore, if a harlot calls you, turn this word over in your mind and say: “The man does not have authority over his own body, but the woman.” And having inscribed this word upon your forehead, address that harlot thus: “Why do you call me? The body is not mine, but my wife’s. I cannot endure to betray what belongs to another.” You do not dare to diminish her dowry, nor do you dare to consume her possessions, and yet do you dare to defile her body? Say: “Beware, do not approach this.” For it is not mine, but another’s. Is the body the harlot’s? I do not accept the harlot’s body. This is my wife’s body. Fear Christ, and say: “This body is a member of Christ, and our bodies are members of Christ.” Let them hear and learn wherever Christ has brought this, and let them say: “The woman does not have authority over her own body.” ^B Consider the philosophy of Paul; what does he say? Because many cannot practice continence, yet they have honorable and modest wives, and they practice continence contrary to the wishes of those husbands—and this philosophy of theirs becomes for them an occasion for adultery—for this reason he says: “Let each man enjoy his own wife.” And he is not ashamed, but enters, and sits in the bed chamber by night and by day, and laying hold of the husband and the wife, he binds them together in this way, and cries out and shouts: “Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by agreement” (1 Cor. vii, 5). Do you practice continence, and do you not wish to sleep with your husband? He, because you deny him your company, departs and thenceforth commits sin, and his sin is reckoned to your continence. Which is better? That he sleep with you, or with a harlot? Your enjoyment is not forbidden, but hers is. If he sleeps with you, there is no transgression, but if he sleeps with her, you have destroyed your own members. He sits, therefore, as I said, in the bed chamber of the husband and the wife, and cries out: “Do not defraud one another, except by agreement for a time.” Do you see that for this reason you took a wife, and you took a husband, that you might be in agreement, and do you wish to practice continence? Persuade your husband too, that there might be two crowns, of modesty and of concord, and not one of modesty and war. For even if you practice continence, he is inflamed by desire. Paul says: “Do not commit fornication,” and immediately he is troubled and tossed by waves. “Do not, therefore, defraud one another, except by agreement.” For where there is peace, there also are all good things; where there is peace, modesty also shines. ^C Where there is concord, continence is crowned. But where there is war, modesty is cut off. Paul, the bridesman of the inhabited world, is not ashamed to say: “Marriage is honorable, and the bed is undefiled.” For its Lord was present at a marriage, honoring marriage by His own presence, and He brought gifts; for He transformed the water into wine. Run as fast as you can; whenever you grow weak, take the remedy of wedlock, so that Satan may not tempt you. “Let each one, therefore, have his own wife.” For there are three things, ^D

virginity, marriage, and fornication. Virginity holds the higher place, marriage the middle, and fornication the lowest: virginity has a crown, marriage a moderate praise, fornication has punishment and torment. ^A Observe, therefore, whether you are able to cultivate continence or to endure the infirmity of the body: and do not induce your mind to ascend beyond measure, lest you descend beyond measure. Just as a diver enters only as far as he can return from, and when he enters the water considers how much he is able to return from: so you too, be continent only as much as you are able to bear, lest by striving immoderately, you fall away from chastity altogether.

The same. The greatest snare is a woman’s beauty; or rather, not beauty itself, but an unchaste glance. For we do not merely accuse things, but rather ourselves and our own sloth. Let us not say, “Let there be no women,” but rather let us say, “Let there be no adulterers.”

Nothing is more loathsome than a soul given over to lust. Pleasure is like a dog, O man. If you drive it away, it flees; if you feed it, it remains. Flee from indulgence on account of the ensuing affliction. Take care that the devil does not use your limbs as weapons against you.

S. Clement, Book VII of the *Stromateis*. Pleasure is the metropolis of evils. S. Nilus. We have already often brought forward the three highest differences of fornication defined by the Apostle: love of pleasure, love of money, and idol worship. ^C

The same. The same devil also suggests a fierce and cruel love. The same one also, after he has driven someone to commit adultery, sometimes stirs up an intolerable hatred: not that it may lead to good repentance, but to heinous slaughter. Whence some, after committing adultery, have often killed with a sword the woman they had defiled.

The same. Not all demons are assigned the same pursuits or the same pernicious duties by the devil. For one is entrusted with one detestable and God-hated ministry, and another with another. For some engrave impious thoughts in the hearts of men. Others suggest obscene desires to the soul; and others are accustomed to stir up vainglory, envy, anger, and other things of that kind: others provide material for heretics to devise new schemes: others are occupied with gluttony, drunkenness, and lust. And again, others deceive and mock people through dreams; others instill pleasures into the bodies of men, and poverty. ^D

^A They incite and cause the limbs to seethe and be disturbed with wicked lust, and they fill the senses with mist and darkness. Likewise, these latter ones work with and assist the incantators and sorcerers and those who invoke them; the former, however, are more delighted with seers, and run to them, and associate with them. To put it briefly, each class of demons has been allotted its own particular ministry and destructive business for the soul.

A bad contribution to the passions is the sight of women and frequent meetings with them. He is easily drowned in the waters of fornication who does not shun beautiful forms, but looks upon them with pleasure.

TITLE XII. — On experience and inexperience.

^B 1 Kings xvii, 38, 39. — "Saul clothed David with his garment, and put a bronze helmet on his head: and David girded his sword over his garment. And he labored to walk once and twice, because he was not accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: I cannot go with these, for I have no experience."

Job xii, 12. — "In much time is wisdom; and in long life is knowledge."

Job xxxii, 9. — "Not the long-lived are wise, nor do the aged understand judgment."

Wisdom viii, 8. — "If one desires wide experience, he knows how to estimate the ancient and the future."

Ecclesiasticus xxv, 8. — "The crown of the aged is much experience." Ecclesiasticus v, 18. — "Be not ignorant in great or small matters."

Ecclesiasticus xxxiv, 9. — "He who has learned many things will tell of understanding; he who has not been tried knows few things."

Ecclesiasticus xxi, 25. — "A practiced man will not be ashamed in the presence (of others)."

Ecclesiasticus xxxiv, 9, 10. — "A man who has traveled, has known many things; he who has wandered, increases his cleverness. I have seen many things in my wandering, and my understanding was more than my words."

S. Basil, *On the Holy Spirit*, chap. 8. — "He who has learned an art, and holds it firmly through long experience and study, and has the habit deeply fixed, is able henceforth to work by himself ^C according to the principles of the art already stored up within his own mind."

Experience is more effective than any speech for the gathering of knowledge. What one has not suffered, he will not readily believe of another. But he who has felt it himself is more ready to agree.

S. Chrysostom. — Experience is the mother of prudence. Experience is the mother of certainty for everyone.

S. Clement, b. vi, *Stromata*. — "Just as those who have not learned to play the cithara ought not to touch the cithara; nor should those who do not know how to play the pipes touch the pipes ^D

and also know how they ought to use them throughout their whole life." Ibid. — "Every action of a learned and experienced person is successful; conversely, the action of every ignorant person is miserable." Joseph — "Daily study gradually nourishes experience."

TIT. XIII. — On mansuetude and piety.

TIT. XIV. — On those who sin and blaspheme against God in ignorance.

^A S. Chrysost. — In all respects, if we give our attention to what is happening, no one deceives us. For the devil indeed pushes, but even he works many evils, and we also work many upon ourselves through our own sloth.

TIT. XV. — Regarding the rash, and the impudent, and those prone to anger, and the wrathful, and the short-tempered.

^A Matthew 5:22. — «Everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to judgment.» Ephesians 4:26, 27. — «Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down upon your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let all bitterness and wrath and blasphemy be put away from you, with all malice.» James 1:20. — «The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.»

St. Basil, Homily on Fasting. — Woe to those who are intoxicated, and not by wine. Anger is an intoxication of the soul, making it senseless just as wine does. Sadness, too, is an intoxication, submerging the mind.

Ibid. — Set before your mind someone who is angry, and how he contracts intoxication from this passion. He is not master of himself. He forgets himself and forgets those present. Just as in a midnight scuffle, he strikes everyone, offends everyone, speaks whatever comes to his mouth without exception; he can hardly be restrained, he rails, he strikes, he threatens, he swears, he breaks out. Flee this intoxication.

Ibid., Homily against Anger. — Once the passion of anger, having driven away reason, has seized the seat of the soul, it turns the man entirely into a beast and no longer allows him to be a man, as he lacks the protection of reason. For what venom is to poisonous creatures, such is the burning heat of anger to those who are provoked. They rave like dogs, they leap like scorpions, they bite like serpents. Scripture, too, knows how to call those who are held fast by this vice by the names of wild beasts. ^C

Ibid. — Because of anger, tongues are unbridled, mouths are without doors, and hands are insolent. From this come insults, reproaches, vituperations, blows, and so many other things that they cannot even be recounted. Because of anger the sword is sharpened, and the human hand does not hesitate to bring death to man. Because of anger brothers do not recognize one another, and parents and children forget the ties of nature. Those who seethe with anger first of all do not know themselves, and then they do not know all their kin and companions equally. And just as mountain torrents flowing toward hollow places sweep away whatever they encounter, so the vehement and untamable impulses of the angry rage through all things without discrimination. Neither hoary heads, nor the uprightness of a life, nor close kinship, nor favors already given move those who are driven by anger, nor is anything of this sort held in honor by them. Anger is a short-lived madness. ^D

Ibid. — In evil contests he who has won is the more miserable, since he departs bearing with him the greater part of the sin. Do not, therefore, be a collector of evil contributions, nor a more wicked creditor of an evil debt. Has someone provoked you with insults? Has he grown angry? Stop the evil with silence. But as for you, when you receive his impulse into your own heart like a stream, you imitate the winds, which, by blowing against one another, return what is thrown at them. Do not use your enemy as your teacher, nor imitate what you hate, nor become like a mirror of the angry man, showing his image in yourself. He is red, but were you not flushed? His eyes

are bloodshot; are yours serene? His voice is harsh; is yours gentle? Not even in the deserts does an echo rebound so exactly to the one who uttered it, as insults do when they turn back upon revilers. Nay, rather, the sound indeed is returned the same, but the insult returns with interest.

^B S. Basil. ibid. — What is more insane than anger? For if you restrain your anger, you have affected your reviler with shame, having demonstrated modesty by your action. Have you been slapped? So was the Lord. Have you been spat upon? So was our Master. For he did not turn his face away from the ignominy of spit. Have you been slandered? So was the Judge himself. Did he tear your tunic? They stripped your Lord as well, and divided his garments among themselves.

Transfer your anger there, to that murderer, that father of lies, that worker of sin. But have pity on your brother, because if he persists in sin, he will be handed over to the eternal fire with the devil. Cease, therefore, from anger, and leave off wrath, lest it befall you to experience that wrath which is revealed from heaven against all impiety and injustice of men.

Ibid. — By no means, therefore, let us bring such great evil upon ourselves, a sickness of the soul, a darkening of reason, an alienation from God, an ignorance of our close relations, the beginning of war, a heap of calamities, a wicked demon begotten in our very souls; who, like some impudent lodger, having occupied the inner parts of our heart, excludes the approach of the Holy Spirit. For where enmities, contentions, wrath, cabals, and unsilenced clamors are stirred up in souls, there the spirit of meekness does not rest.

Are you irascible? Curb your anger. A man given to anger, he says, is not becoming. Let Scripture teach you; let it be like a mirror for your face. Learn there. For because wicked thought has shed such darkness upon you that you cannot consider what a great evil anger is, Scripture teaches you that an irascible man is not becoming.

Has anger overcome your reason, and does it carry you away, under the influence of rage, to shameful words and cruel, beastly actions? If you turn your attention to yourself, you will restrain your anger, just as one does an unruly and disobedient foal, by being sharply touched by the blow of reason, as if by a whip.

How shamefully the irascible man behaves! He strips off the human form and takes on the shape of a beast. Consider the angry man for me. Anger has boiled up in him, and his eyes are changed; they are not the same eyes, he sees fire; his blood has rushed up; it has boiled around his heart; it has surged up beneath the tunics of his eyes. He has become bloodshot...

^A by the passion; he has altered his eyes. An irascible man is not seemly. If you see someone sharpening his teeth in anger, think that he is like a boar; as one who exhibits the inward fury by the grinding of his teeth. If you see one who suffers from irascibility, foaming, and uttering unintelligible things in his heart; if you see one who is irascible, forgetting his father, and failing to recognize the body of his child, walking heedlessly through all things in order to satisfy his impulse, you see the unseemliness of the thing. Heal yourself by another's evil, so that you do not take his unseemliness upon yourself. For an irascible man is not seemly. Flee his company; for you must needs learn from his ways. Has he uttered something insulting? He has also stirred up the anger within you. ^B Just as the barking of a dog calls forth the tumult of another dog, so his voice has stirred up the anger within you that was hitherto sleeping and at rest; and you have become barking at one another.

*Idem.* For what manner of reproaches do they cast at one another in return, until their insults as arrows are spent? Then, when they have slung every kind of reviling with their tongue, like a sling, they proceed at last to the vengeance of their hands. For anger stirs up a fight, a fight stirs up reproaches, reproaches lead to blows, and blows to wounds and death itself.

*S. Greg. Naz. in Iamb.* Let anger be bridled, lest you fall from your senses.

*Idem, hom. 43.* Let your anger be only against the serpent, through whom you fell. ^C

*S. Chrysost.* Let us strive to be free from anger. For the Holy Spirit does not dwell where anger has its seat.

*Idem.* Anger is detestable. For it is impossible that anything wholesome should come forth from whence anger emanates.

*Idem, hom. in Act.* Anger takes away the power of foresight, and just as in a nocturnal battle, with eyes and ears bound, it leads us wherever it pleases.

*Idem, De sacerd. lib. III, cap. 14.* Nothing so much defiles the purity of the mind and the perspicuity of reason as headlong anger, when it is carried along with great momentum.

*Idem, Orat. in S. Babyl.* Most mortals, when they are overwhelmed by anger and grief, even if they do not happen upon those by whom they were provoked, are wont to vent their anger rashly upon any who chance to come their way. ^D

*Idem, lib. II De sacerd. cap. 4.* Once the soul has been compelled to wipe away its sense of shame, it falls into insensibility; and it neither yields to counsels and admonitions, nor is it bent by threats.

The affection of anger is tyrannical, and often it seizes those who are not sufficiently vigilant, and drags them down to the very chasm of destruction.

^A S. Cyril. — What beast is so savage and cruel as an angry man, oppressed by the tyranny of powerless furor? What sea, again, blown upon by the most violent winds, so breaks itself against the looming rocks? Or, in short, what savage and venomous reptile leaps so sharply upon those who draw near, as a man suffering from a vehement, keen, and unbridled anger, giving over, as it were, the whole reins to an affection of this kind?

What could be devised worse than anger? For it strips a man of his humanity, rendering him indecorous, implacable, devoid of all fellowship, and impious; and so affecting him that he esteems the greatest goods as nothing. For what evil enterprise will he not undertake, or from what malignant speech will he abstain, having an unquenchable flame burning within his breast, and stirring the coals of his temper? ^B

Dion. Alex. — In our case, anger is circumscribed by this limit: that it may proceed toward the suppression of sins. "Be angry, and do not sin" (Ps. IV, 5). We must also beware lest we present ourselves as overly severe judges, as Ecclesiastes (VII, 17) counsels: "Be not righteous overmuch."

Didymus. — However short a time one may appear to be angry, if he is overcome by the commotion of the soul, he is a fool.

Evagrius. — Do not test [your] continence where clemency is rejected. For whoever abstains from food and drink, yet irrationally stirs up anger, is not unlike a ship traversing the sea which has a demon for a pilot.

^C TIT. XVI. — Of liberty and authority; and by what means these are acquired by us.

"Authority gives to words the beginning of justice." (Prov. XVI, 14: or rather, as generally understood, "The beginning of justice is to give authority to words.")

"If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God, and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing before Him." (I John III, 21, 22.)

"When the ruler himself becomes blameless to all, then he shall be able, with as much authority as he wishes, both to punish and to pardon all those placed under him." — S. Chrysost. lib. *De sacerd.*

TIT. XVII. — ^D Of an honest life and upright character, and of obedience; and that God is honored and worshipped by our living honestly.

"The Lord appeared to Abraham, and said to him: I am thy God. Be pleasing before me, and be blameless." (Gen. XVII, 1.)

"You shall do what is good and pleasing before the Lord, that it may go well with you." (Deut. VI, 18.)

"Samuel said: Does the Lord desire burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and hearkening better than the fat of rams." (I Reg. XV, 22.)

"Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?" (Ps. XIV, 1.)

^A Ps. XXIII, 3. — "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?" etc. Ps. XXXIII, 12. — "Come, children, hearken to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Ps. CXVIII, 1. — "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." Ps. IV, 25. — "Let thy eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids go before thy steps." Ps. III, 4. — "Provide things honest in the sight of all men." Ps. XX, 7. — "He that walketh in his integrity in justice, shall leave behind him blessed children." Soph. III, 12. — "And I will leave in the midst of thee a people poor and humble, and they shall fear the name of the Lord, and shall do no iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth." Isa. XXXIII, 14-16. — "Who shall dwell with devouring fire? Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh in justices, and speaketh truth, that casteth away avarice by oppression, and shaketh his hands from all bribes, that stoppeth his ears lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes that he may see no evil. He shall dwell on high, his defence shall be the munitions of rocks." Ezech. XVIII, 16-18. — "And hath not oppressed any man, and hath not holden a pledge, nor hath taken away with violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, and hath not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase, and hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and hath executed true judgment between man and man, and hath walked in my commandments, and kept my judgments, to do truth: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God." Sap. IV, 8, 9. — "Venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years: but the understanding of a man is gray hairs, and a spotless life is old age." Matth. V, 38-45. — "You have heard that it hath been said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other: and if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him. And whosoever will force thee one mile, go out with him other two. Give to him that asketh of thee, and to him that would borrow of thee turn not away. You have heard that it hath been said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust." Ibid. 14-16. — "You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men,"

^A that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matt. V, 16).

"Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of men." (Rom. XII, 17).

"Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." (Rom. XIII, 13, 14).

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God." (I Cor. X, 31, 32).

"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, ^B but understanding what the will of the Lord is." (Ephes. V, 15, 16).

"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom." (Jac. III, 13).

"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." (I Petr. II, 12, 13).

"And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." (I Petr. I, 17).

It is not possible to live according to God, unless one does all things wisely and justly. (S. Sixtus).

Great is the reward of beneficence. (S. Basil, Homily on the Holy Martyrs of Gordium).

To men, indeed, praises are fashioned by the amplification of words; but for those who are adorned with justice, to demonstrate the exceeding greatness of their virtue, the truth of the deeds done by them is sufficient. (Idem, Homily on Holy Baptism).

Learn, O man, learn the evangelical way of life: the accuracy of the eyes, the restraint of the tongue, the subjection of the body, a humble mind, purity of thought, the extinction of anger. When thou art pressed, love; when thou art vexed, endure; when they revile thee, pray. (Idem).

I speak of nobility, not that which many think of—far from it; it is not for us to admire that—nor philosophy which comes from fables and tombs; ^C but that which piety and holy character and the ascent towards that primary Good, from whence we derive our origin, characterize. This is the one proof of true nobility. (S. Greg. Naz., Orat. 23).

Not he who is skilled in speech is wise in my eyes, nor he who has a garrulous tongue but an uninstructed mind. Such a one is like those tombs which, although outwardly ^D fair and beautiful, rot within with dead men's bones, and have much foul-

- odor covering them; but whoever speaks little of virtue, yet demonstrates much by what he does, adds credibility to his word through his life. Better for me is beauty that is seen with the eyes than that which is painted by speech; and the wealth that hands hold, than that which dreams fashion; and wisdom that is proven by deeds, than that which is brightened by speech; for good understanding is to all who perform them, he says, not to those who preach them. ^B 657 Idem. Tetr. 35. Living simply makes both servants and lords.

St. Gregory of Nyssa, Homily 3 on the Lord's Prayer. — The head of all good things is that the name of God be glorified in my life. In me, he says, let the invoked name of your sovereign rule be sanctified, that men may see the good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven.

St. Chrysostom. — Life is more powerful than speech, and conduct than words; and the demonstration through deeds is [more powerful] than the instruction by words. In the time of the Apostles, it was not signs alone that drew men to faith, but before the signs, their life.

St. Cyril, Book X against Julian. — We, fulfilling an intellectual and spiritual sacrifice, are ordered to offer up for a sweet-smelling fragrance every manner of modesty and gentleness, faith, hope, charity, justice, self-control, obedience, and a tractable spirit, along with ceaseless doxologies and the other virtues. For this is a most immaterial sacrifice, befitting the immaterial and most pure God, and these are offerings of intellectual orderliness, the ways of true well-being. ^C

St. Clement of Alexandria. — In general, the Christian is a friend of solitude, and withdrawal, and tranquility, and peace. He who has embraced the true life must study not only frugality, but also the cultivation of reason.

Philo. — It is useful to be subject to one's betters.

TITLE XVIII. — Concerning the reprehensible life of those who are unwilling to obey, and who are stubborn and endowed with deceitful and wicked habits.

Leviticus XXVI, 23. — "If you walk crookedly toward me, I will also walk with you with a crooked fury, and I will strike you for your sins."

Job V, 12. — "Frustrating the counsels of the deceitful, and their hands shall not perform the truth." ^D

Psalm XI, 3. — "The Lord shall destroy all deceitful lips."

Psalm XLIX, 9. — "Your mouth has abounded in malice, and your tongue was weaving deceits."

Psalm LIV, 23. — "Men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days," etc.

Psalm XIX, 2. — "O Lord, deliver my soul from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue."

Psalm XLIV, 1. — "Deliver me from an unjust and deceitful man."

^A "A perverse heart creates evils; at all times such a one stirs up disturbances in the city. Therefore his destruction comes suddenly, for he delights in all things which God hates." Prov. VI, 14. — "A perverse heart fabricates evils; in all time he who is of such a kind stirs up tumult in the city. Therefore, suddenly shall destruction come to him, because he takes pleasure in all things which God hates."

"An abomination to the Lord are perverse ways." Prov. XI, 20. — "An abomination to the Lord are perverse ways."

"Since they would not heed my counsels, and mocked my reproofs; therefore they shall eat the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own desires." Prov. I, 30, 31. — "Because they would not acquiesce in my counsels, and mocked my reproofs. They shall eat, therefore, the fruits of their own way, and shall be filled with their own desire."

"A foolish and lawless man walks in perverse ways, but he himself nods with his eyes, signals with his foot, and teaches with the gestures of his fingers." Prov. VI, 12. — "A foolish and flagitious man walks in perverse ways. But he himself nods with his eyes, signifies with his foot, and instructs with the gestures of his fingers."

"The impious govern with deceits; the words of the impious are deceitful. A deceitful man shall not obtain his prey." Prov. XII, 5, 27. — "The impious govern with deceits; the words of the impious are deceitful. A deceitful man shall not obtain what he hunts." ^B

"The souls of the deceitful wander in sins, and to a deceitful son there shall be nothing good." Prov. XIII, 13. — "The souls of the deceitful wander in sins; and to a deceitful son there shall be nothing good."

"658 Prov. XVI, 27. — "A perverse man brings destruction upon himself. A perverse man sends out evils, and separates friends."

"To the perverse, God will send perverse ways." Prov. XXI, 8. — "To the perverse, God shall send perverse ways."

"Thorns and snares are in perverse ways; but he who guards his own soul shall abstain from them." Prov. XXII, 5. — "Thorns and snares are in perverse ways; but he who guards his soul shall abstain from them."

"He who walks in perverse ways shall be entangled." Prov. XXVIII, 18. — "He who walks in tortuous ways shall be entangled." ^C

"This people draws near to me with their mouth, and with their lips they honor me; but their heart is far from me." Isa. XXIX, 13. — "This people draws near to me with their mouth, and with their lips they honor me; but their heart is far from me."

"To this people has been given a disobedient and rebellious heart." Jerem. V, 23. — "To this people has been made a disobedient and rebellious heart."

"Thus says the Lord: He who hears me, let him hear; and he who disobeys, let him disobey, because it is a bitter house." Ezech. III, 27. — "Thus says the Lord: He who hears me, let him hear; and he who is disobedient, let him not obey, because it is an exasperating house."

"And you shall be to them as the voice of a psaltery, sweetly sounding and well-tuned. They will hear your words, and will not obey them." Ezech. XXXIII, 32. — "And you shall be to them as the voice of a psaltery, sweetly sounding and in tune. They shall hear your words, and shall not obey them." ^D

"Perverse thoughts separate from God. Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul. For the Holy Spirit of wisdom will flee from deceit." Sap. I, 3. — "Perverse thoughts separate from God. Into a malevolent soul wisdom will not enter. For the Holy Spirit of wisdom will flee from deceit."

Doubt, suspicion, unbelief, malice, the desire to waylay, and headlong rashness are the fruits of a bad and reprobate life. Let us by no means, therefore, bring upon ourselves such a great evil, which brings disease to our souls, the darkening of thoughts, alienation from God, ignorance of our neighbors, the beginning of war, a store of disasters, a wicked demon born in these souls of ours, and like some shameless lodger, taking possession of our interior parts, and closing the ascent to the Holy Spirit. For where there are enmities, disputes, raths, factions, and contentions causing clamorous disturbances in souls, there the spirit of gentleness does not rest. S. Basil. Hom. adv. irasc. — Versatility, suspicion, diffidence, and malice, the desire of waylaying, and headlong rashness, are the fruits of a bad and improvable life. Do not, therefore, bring upon ourselves such a great evil, which brings a disease to our minds, the darkening of the mind, alienation from God, ignorance of neighbors, the beginning of war, a heap of calamities, a wicked demon born in our minds, and like some shameless lodger, occupying our inner chambers, and shutting off the approach to the Holy Spirit. For indeed where enmities, contentions, anger, discords, and conflictings do not cease to excite clamorous tumults in minds, there the spirit of gentleness does not in the least rest.

^A The fruitlessness of previous labors blunts the alacrity of the leader; for even a farmer, if his first seeds have not germinated, becomes slower to cast them a second time into the same fields.

In general, not to be a listener is the root of many great evils.

To rebel and resist is a proof of many evils, a disease of faith, a wavering of hope, and a swelling and arrogance of character. For no one shows himself contumacious unless he has first judged poorly of the person advising him. Nor, on the other hand, does he who has faith in the promises of God, and places firm trust in them, ever fail in spirits regarding them, however difficult and laborious the things commanded may be.

^B Reluctance proves a certain imperious insolence and contumacy of mind, even if it happens under the guise of humility.

The varied and artificial word, having much entanglement and structure, assumes a thousand forms, and undergoes countless changes, transforming itself to court the favor of those who are present.

Flee from the diversity and multiplicity of way of life. The serpent is varied, and for this reason was condemned to crawl.

An impudent look and an erect neck, and the constant movement of the eyes, and a strutting gait, and the fact of not blushing at any base thing, ^C these are signs of a most foul soul, carving the obscure forms of its own shames into the visible body.

TIT. XIX. — Concerning perseverance and those who persevere: and that faith and benevolence must be kept toward those who have received us.

Eccli. XXII, 28, 29. — « Possess faith with your friend in his poverty, that you may also rejoice in his good things. In the time of his tribulation remain faithful to him, that you may also be a co-heir in his inheritance. »

« Receive a stranger into your house, and he will pervert you in a tumult, and will alienate you from your own goods. »

TIT. XX. — Concerning those who preside: and that they ought to preside with diligence.

Rom. XII, 8. — « He that ruleth, with carefulness. »

TIT. XXI. — Concerning the poor: and that one ought not to turn away from, despise, or loathe the indigent.

Job XXXIV, 28. — « God will hear the cry of the needy and the poor. »

Psal. IX, 10–13. — « The Lord is become a refuge for the poor. He has not forgotten the cry of the poor. The poor man shall not be forgotten to the end; the patience of the poor shall not perish forever. While the impious one acts proudly, the poor man is inflamed. To you is the poor man left. You have heard the desire of the poor, O Lord. » ^D

^A « You have confounded the counsel of the poor, but the Lord is his hope. » (Ps. XIII, 6) « The poor shall eat and shall be filled. » (Ps. XXI, 26) « He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the poor. » (Ps. LXXI, 4) « I have known that the Lord will do the judgment of the poor and the vengeance of the poor. » (Ps. CXXXIX, 12) « Poverty humbles a man. » (Prov. XVII, 4) « He who brings shame upon the poor sins. » (Prov. XIV, 21) « The poor man does not withstand threats. » (Prov. XIII, 8) « He who slanders the poor provokes his Maker to anger. » (Prov. XIV, 31) « The poor man is deserted even by his friend. » (Prov. XIX, 4) ^B « Glory goes before the humble. » « All the works of the poor are manifest before God. » « Everyone who hates a poor brother shall be far from friendship. A just poor man is better than a lying rich man. » (Prov. XIX, 7, 22) « Do no violence to the poor, for he is a poor man. » (Prov. XXII, 22) « Being poor, do not compare yourself with a wealthy man; but refrain from your own thought. » (Prov. XXIII, 4) « A just poor man walking in truth is better than a lying rich man. » (Prov. XIX, 22) ^C « The wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard. » (Eccli. IX, 16) « If you see the slandering of the poor, and the robbery of judgment and justice in the region, do not marvel at the matter, for a high one watches over a high one. » (Eccli. V, 8) « The poor will be fed by the Lord, and the poor men will rest in peace. The Lord has founded Sion, and by him the humble of the people will be saved. » (Isa. XIV, 30) « The humble man has slipped, and they have further reproached him. He spoke with understanding, and no place was given to him. A poor man spoke, and they said, "Who is this?" » (Eccli. XIII, 22) « The prayer of the humble man has pierced the clouds, and it will not be turned aside until the Most High looks down. » (Eccli. XXXV, 21) ^D « The life of a poor man under the shelter of the rafters is better than splendid banquets among strangers. » (Eccli. XXIX, 29) « It is not just to dishonor a sensible poor man. » (Eccli. X, 23) « The wisdom of the humble man shall exalt his head, and he shall make him sit in the midst of the great. » (Eccli. XI, 1) « Being poor is not a source of reproach, but not bearing one's poverty with equanimity is. » (St. Basil, Hom. on Anger.)

^A When you are in need, O man, be merry of heart: for the good things of Lazarus await you. — Do not despair of yourself.

From the same, Homily on that text: “Take heed to thyself.” — Do not be discouraged in your soul because of poverty: nor, because you have nothing desirable at present, should you therefore cast away good hope; but lift up your soul to the good things that have already been bestowed upon you by God, and to those which are laid up for you hereafter through His promise.

From the same, Homily against usury. — Poverty brings no disgrace. — Poverty takes away confidence and freedom.

In this one thing we poor excel the rich, namely, in security: and because we laugh at those who spend a sleepless night, while we ourselves sleep; and [we laugh] at those who consume and waste themselves with cares, while we ourselves are without care and are comforted.

From the same, Homily spoken in famine and drought. — Are you poor? Do not on that account lose heart. For immoderate sadness becomes the cause of sin, since sorrow drowns the mind, and difficulty in affairs brings on dizziness, and lack of resources generates ingratitude toward the thoughts [of God]. For does not God see the distress in which you are? God holds the food in His hands, but in that mind of His He delays giving it, so that He may test the firmness of your soul. ^B

Truly, poverty, among those who are endowed with a sound mind, is more to be desired than any pleasure.

From the same, on that text: “Take heed to thyself.” — Why are you dejected, O man, because you do not have a horse adorned with a silver bridle? But you have the sun, which with its swiftest course illuminates the lamp for you throughout the entire day. You do not have the brightness of silver and gold? But you have the moon, which shines upon you with its own marvelous light. You are not carried in gold-covered chariots? But you have feet, a familiar vehicle, and one born with you. Why then do you pronounce those men blessed who possess a purse, yet need the feet of others for walking? You do not sleep on an ivory bed? But you have the ground, which is much more precious than ivory, and in it you have sweet rest, and swift sleep, and [a soul] empty of care. You do not lie under gilded ceilings? But you have the sky, glowing with the inexplicable beauty of the stars. ^C

S. Greg. Naz. Orat. on Baptism. — Nothing is considered great and ample before God, which a poor man cannot also give.

From the same, tetrastic 37. — If anyone is troubled by poverty, let him have God instead of riches, and let him laugh at the rich, who are always acquiring, yet are always in need, inasmuch as they need more; and they drink so that they may burn with a greater thirst.

Tetrastich 33: Better is poverty than wealth gained by wickedness, As a disease [is better] than health that is not to be praised. Nothing is more secure than the man who lacks wealth: For he holds all his hopes fixed in God. It is hard to be in want, but a bad conscience is worse. ^D

^A

S. Chrysost. — The poor man does not fear change. And if some adversity does happen to occur, he will bear it easily, as one who has accustomed himself to philosophize through poverty. The rich man, on the other hand, not only cannot endure any change, but even if he only expects it, he makes himself ridiculous, failing in spirit, taking it indignantly, and living a life more bitter than any death. And just as those who have been raised in the inland regions, even if they only come down to the harbor and board a ship, before they have even exited the mouth of the harbor, become seasick, suffer fainting spells, labor under illness, and, beset by heavy darkness, think everything is spinning around—whereas, by contrast, those who have traveled many seas are not easily disturbed even when a shipwreck is imminent, for they are experienced in swimming and can escape the impending danger: so it happens also with the rich and the poor. The ^B wealthy do not accept even the slightest change nobly, but are impatient, as they have lived continuously in luxury. But the poor, having sailed across many waves and having gained experience of many shipwrecks, remain unmoved in the face of all things, and laugh at all the storms. And this is not only the only thing to be wondered at, that they bear changes easily, but that they do not even quickly fall into them. For who would choose to cause trouble for a poor man, since he is going to gain nothing from the other’s poverty? [Ecquis enim pauperi negotium facere in animum inducat, qui ab illius egestate nihil emolumenti sit percepturus?]

The same author. Homily on the widow who offered two mites. — Those who philosophize by enduring poverty always draw near to God. O what a dignity poverty has! It becomes as it were a mask of God. For God is hidden under poverty: and the poor man is the one extending his suppliant hand, but it is God who receives. ^C

Evagrius. — A stranger and a poor man are God’s eye-salve. Whoever receives them shall quickly recover his sight.

TIT. XXII. — Concerning children; that they ought to fear and honor their parents.

Exod. xx, 12. — « Honor your father, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long upon the earth. »

Levit. xix, 3. — « Let everyone fear his father and his mother. »

Deut. v, 16. — « Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that it may be well with you. »

Prov. i, 8. — « My son, guard the law of your father, and do not reject the precepts of your mother. For you shall receive a crown of graces upon your head, and a golden chain about your neck. » ^D

Prov. xxiii, 22. — « Hear your father, and do not despise when your mother has grown old. »

Malach. i, 6. — « A wise son glorifies his father. »

Jerem. xxxv, 5-10, 18, 19. — « And I set before them a pot of wine and cups; and I said, Drink wine. And they said, We will not drink wine: because Jonadab our father commanded us, saying, You shall not drink wine, you and your sons forever; and you shall not build houses, nor sow seed, and no vineyard shall be yours: but you shall dwell in tents all the days of your

life, that you may live many days upon the land where you dwell. And we have heard the voice of Jonadab, that we should not drink wine all the days of our life, we and our wives, and our sons, and our daughters. Therefore, thus says the Lord: Because the sons of Jonadab have heard the commandment of their father, to do all that their father commanded them, there shall not fail a man of the sons of Jonadab to stand before my face all the days of the earth. » ^A

Eccli. III, 3-15. — « He that honors his father atones for sins; and he that honors his mother is as one who lays up a treasure. He that honors his father shall have joy in his children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. He that honors his father shall live a long life; and he that obeys the Lord shall give comfort to his mother, and shall serve those who begat him as his masters. In work and word honor your father and your mother, that a blessing may come upon you from them. For the blessing of the father strengthens the houses of children; but the curse of the mother roots up foundations. Son, support the old age of your father, and grieve him not in his life; and if he fail in understanding, have patience with him, and despise him not in all your strength. For the alms of the father shall not be forgotten. » ^B

Eccli. VII, 27. — « With all your heart honor your father, and forget not the groaning of your mother. »

Ephes. VI, 1, 2. — « Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is just. Honor your father and your mother (which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth. »

« Children, obey your parents in all things. For this is well-pleasing to the Lord and our God. »

S. Basil. hom. 8 in Hexaem. — The care of storks for those who have grown old has sufficient weight to inflame our children with fatherly love, if they are willing to pay attention. For no one is so utterly lacking in prudence ^C as to think it shameful to be inferior in virtue to birds that are furthest removed from reason. For those [storks], surrounding their father when he has been stripped of his feathers by old age, cherish him with their own feathers, and, providing food abundantly, offer him such aid as they are able, even in flight, gently lifting him up on either side with their wings. And this is so celebrated in speech among all men, that some now call the equivalent return of benefits "stork-duty."

Ejusd. — Upright and candid children demand great praise from their parents.

S. Greg. Naz. Orat. de Bapt. — Do what is good, because it is good to obey a father, even if otherwise no profit is to return to you from it. For this very thing is a reward, to gratify one's father and to comply with him.

S. Cyrilli. — It is proper for children to yield to their parents. But where the discussion presses concerning the truth, let there be preferred ^D

^A God, and let His interests prevail over ^A the power of natural affection.

Philonis. — It is impossible to render fair thanks to one’s parents. For one cannot in turn beget them.

Honor thy father. For this is a Divine and natural law.

Josephi. — Happy is he who delights his parents, no differently than an acre of land delights those who have labored to increase the fruits of the sown seeds.

To obey parents is pleasing to God.

TITLE XXIII. — Concerning parricides and matricides; and what evils follow those who despise their parents and do not comply with them.

Exod. xxi, 15. — “He that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be put to death. He that curseth his father, or his mother, shall be put to death.”

Levit. xx, 9. — “Every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.” ^B

Deut. xxi, 18-20. — “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.”

Deut. xxvii, 16. — “Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.” ^C

Prov. — “A disobedient son shall be in destruction.”

Prov. xix, 26. — “He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.”

Prov. xx, 20. — “Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.”

Prov. xxx, 17. — “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”

Prov. xxiv, 24. — “He that casteth away his father or mother and thinketh he sinneth not, he is a companion of the impious man.” ^D

Eccli. iii, 18, 19. — “How bad is the fame of him who forsaketh his father, and cursed by the Lord is he who provoketh his mother to anger! Glory not in the dishonor of thy father; for thy father’s dishonor is no glory unto thee. For the glory of a man is from the honor of his father.”

Josephi. — It is a wretched thing instead of a bountiful harvest to produce thorns, and instead of joyful hopes to give birth to sorrows;

that is, to repay parents with insult and dishonor instead of glory and honor, and to take upon oneself the voice of the prophet which says: I looked that my vineyard should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns (Isa. v, 2). ^A

TIT. XXIV. — That parents ought to instruct and castigate their sons, and if they do not do this, they shall be partakers in their very crimes.

1 Kings ii, 22, 23. — “Now Heli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and that they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony: and he did not correct them. And the Lord said: Unless the iniquity of the house of Heli be expiated in victims and sacrifices for ever?” ^B

Prov. xxix, 17. — “Instruct thy son, and he shall refresh thee, and shall give delight to thy soul.”

Prov. xiii, 24. — “He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him beticketh him diligently.”

Prov. xxiii, 13. — “Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.”

Prov. xxix, 15. — “The rod and reprimand give wisdom.”

Prov. xxiii, 24. — “A just father bringeth up his children well; and in a wise son he shall be delighted in his soul.”

Prov. xix, 18. — “Instruct thy son: for so he is of good hope.”

Eccli. vii, 27. — “Hast thou children? instruct them, and bow down their neck from their childhood.”

Eccli. xxii, 6. — “Blows and instruction are wisdom at all times.”

Eccli. xxx, 13. — “Teach thy son, and work with him, that thou mayest not offend by his shame.”

Ibid. 1. — “He that loveth his son, frequenteth him with stripes.”

Ibid. 3. — “He that teacheth his son, shall provoke his enemy, and shall glory in him in the midst of his friends.”

Ibid. 8-10. — “A horse not broken becometh stubborn, and a child left to himself will become headstrong. Cocker thy child, and he shall make thee afraid: play with him, and he shall make thee sorrowful. Give him no liberty in his youth, and break his sides while he is a child.” ^C

Ephes. vi, 4. — “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but educate them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.”

S. Greg. Naz. — It is a paternal law to show indulgence to children. It is ridiculous for a man to neglect his own children, and to undertake to castigate those of others.

S. Nili. — Do not permit your son to have daily association with foolish and insolent youths, to gather with them, and to eat with them: lest otherwise, in the end, you be afflicted with great sorrow of soul on account of his destruction and infamy, and be exposed to the mockery of enemies. Since indeed the ruin and faults of children are wont to be ascribed to the parents. ^D

TITLE XXV. On divine temptation, and that one ought not to tempt God.

TITLE XXVI. On the multitude and the populace of a city.

The common people, even if they restrain the impetus of their anger for the present, are accustomed to act no differently than fire lurking in fuel, or a flood restrained by force; if it finds an opportunity, it is wont to ignite and burst forth. ^B

TITLE XXVII. On observation and omens, and that we ought not to observe times or people.

I know some who, being Christians, yet act after the manner of the Jews, saying: "Today is the Sabbath, and it is not permitted for me to do a kindness to anyone." "The new moon is here," and in the same way they observe the chirping of birds and omens, and fear to distribute bread to anyone. And again: "Today is Pascha, tomorrow is a birthday, the day after is the beginning of sowing, and I cannot bring anything out of my house." All these things smack of Judaism. If anyone does these things, he ought also to eat unleavened bread, and be circumcised, and live with the Jews. ^C And why do I speak of Sabbaths and new moons and Jewish practices? I know many who, although they have been washed with the water of baptism, perform the superstitions of heretics. For they are wary of giving fire to a neighbor after sunset. Woe to those who do these things! All those who observe these things, having disobeyed God, are not under grace, as those who have not received the Gospel, but having imitated the Jews and the heretics, have inherited a portion with them. For a Christian ought to observe none of these things; he ought not to observe days,

^A nor years, nor men, nor auguries. For many, when they embark on a good work, and Satan, arriving, has undermined it, do not attribute the cause to him, but say: "Such and such a man, having come upon me, has bewitched my work," attributing the cause to the man. The devil has been a sycophant and an enemy to men from the beginning. If he sees a good work in a man, he envies it, and struggles to render it void; and since he is invisible, he always fights the man through some pretext, so that when he has caused the evil, the man might attribute it to other, blameless people. When, therefore, he sees a good ox struggling well in a cart, and being praised by many, he approaches and breaks it; and the man does not blame the devil who worked the evil, but, having been seduced by him, he curses and blasphemes his fellow men. Similarly, someone went out on a journey, and returned without accomplishing anything, and he immediately says: "Such and such a person met me as I was departing, and for that reason I failed." And he does not blame the devil who worked the result, but accuses the innocent man of being evil-eyed. And look, I pray, at the craftiness of the wicked fugitive; the kind of person they were likely to notice, he makes him encounter them.

TIT. XXVIII. — Of deposits, and that it is necessary to guard them with the utmost zeal and fidelity, and by no means to contrive any fraud to the deprivation of the thing deposited.

Exod. XXII, 7-13. — "If anyone gives to his neighbor money or vessels to keep, and it should be stolen from the man's house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. But if the thief is not found, the lord of the house shall approach before God, and shall swear concerning all that is lost. If anyone gives to his neighbor a beast of burden, or a calf, or a sheep, or cattle to keep, and it should die, or be broken, or taken by pillage, and no one sees this, an oath of God shall be between both, and his lord shall accept it, and he shall not pay. But if it be stolen from him, he shall pay to its lord; if it be taken by wild beasts, he shall lead it to the prey, and he shall not pay."

TIT. XXIX. — Of Presbyters.

Eusebius. — Many sinners, being presbyters, offer up the holy ^C sacrifices, and God does not turn away from them; ^D

but He sanctifies the gifts set forth through the Holy Spirit. And the bread becomes the precious Body of the Lord, and the cup, the precious Blood of the Lord. There are some, therefore, who suppose that they are doing a righteous thing by not participating from them, not knowing that they are thereby rendering themselves liable to a more serious judgment. For who are you who judge your master? Have you not heard the Apostle saying: "You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people"? (Exod. XXII, 28). And again: "Who are you who judge another man's servant? To his own Lord he stands or falls" (Rom. XIV, 4). When have you ever seen a sheep bring salvation to its shepherd, or call its own shepherd to answer for a crime? Certainly, just as a brute beast cannot sharpen its teeth against its shepherd, so it is not fitting for a rational sheep to sharpen its tongue for accusation. You, who are taught and led by the hand by him, do not have the authority to judge or rebuke him; as the Apostle said: "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from God." ^B He holds...

NOTE.

It could be determined whence it may be proven that a certain prelate of Alexandria by the name of Eusebius once existed, who does not appear in the lists of the pontiffs of this city. It does not escape me that other cities of the same name are found in the East, apart from the metropolis of Egypt. But what prevents me from defining this Eusebius, of whom we are now speaking, as the prelate of some Alexandrian city, are his three treatises, from which I understood that, due to the carelessness of copyists, it resulted that, because he had his discourses with a certain Alexander, when they should have written "to Alexander," they omitted the preposition and put "Eusebius, bishop of Alexandria." The first treatise exists in Latin in the last volume of the *Bibliotheca PP.* of Cologne and Lyons, and begins with these words: "On a certain day the commemorations of the saints are celebrated in the city. When Alexander approached Eusebius, the bishop, he said: Venerable Father, etc." The second is noted by Sylburg in the catalogue of Palatine-Vatican manuscripts, no. 63, with this inscription: ^C "Eusebius's sermon to Alexander on the holy Sunday after the conclusion of the sermon." Finally, I found a third in the Royal library, codex 1973, with this title: "Of Eusebius, bishop and monk, concerning the astronomers." And it thus begins: "Days not a few having passed, Alexander approaching, said to blessed Bishop Eusebius: Lord, I have heard from some that a man is born according to a star, and that as many stars as there are in heaven, so many men are on earth; and that when a man dies, his star also fails, and when a man is born, his star is added; since neither does birth fail, nor death. The blessed one began to say: O how much folly settles in evil men, and how grievously do those sin who say such things! And having refuted these, he adds: There are some who curse the stars when they are angry against someone, and say: Woe to your star, etc." These things are indeed contained in the *Parallelis Rupefucaldinis* letter p, title vii. Since the royal codex designates him merely as bishop and monk, one may conjecture from this that he was a pontiff of no certain see, but was consecrated bishop on account of his outstanding virtues, that he might be of service in various places wherever necessity required. We learn that many such bishops once existed in the parts of Syria, first of all from Sozomen, who, lib. VI, cap. 33 and 34, relates that the monks Lazarus, Barses, and Eulogius were created bishops, not of any cities, but for the sake of honor; and likewise Prapidius, who exercised the episcopal office in many villages. In the Life of Saint Sabas there is also frequent mention of John, bishop and hesychast, or solitary or monk. ^D He, however, was not an antistes of any city, but spent his whole life in monasteries. In the same Life of Saint Sabas also occurs a certain Eusebius, whom Cyril of Scythopolis, the author of this Life, calls Papa: "Epiphanius the patriarch (of Constantinople), Papa Eusebius, and Hypatius, bishop of Ephesus." Likewise: "Around this time came to Palestine Ephræmius, patriarch of Antioch, and Papa Eusebius, because of the expulsion of Paul, bishop of Alexandria." From these and other things which Cyril relates subsequently, it appears that this Eusebius had been endowed with episcopal authority, yet did not have a certain see: and I found the most learned Cotelerius favoring my opinion. But I would not dare to affirm that he was the author of those sermons, various fragments of which are cited in the *Parallels*.

^A praise will be to each one from God (I Cor. IV, 5). With Him lies the power to pass judgment concerning you. But the One who judges Him is the Lord (Ibid. 4). And again: Judge not, that you be not judged (Matt. VII, 1). Return the honor and veneration that you owe, just as Paul admonishes you, saying: Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; honor to whom honor (Rom. XIII, 7). Fulfill what the rule demands. Offer the first-fruits of your harvest to the Church, without inquiring too curiously into how they are spent. But if you wish to judge—which is not permitted to you—enter into the storehouse of your soul. Know the things of your conscience: whether you have not committed murder, not committed adultery, not committed fornication, not been covetous, not robbed, not slandered, not perjured yourself, not lied; and if you have committed none of the forbidden things; and thus you are not permitted to judge your ruler. But rather, not even in this way. ^B For God loves the humble (Jas. IV, 6). Let everyone, therefore, look to his own actions, not judging his neighbor. But if anyone, disregarding these things that have been said, employs his tongue in the accusation of his neighbor, let him also expect to receive his own payment in exchange, and that speedily. For whatever anyone does to his neighbor, let him expect that he himself will receive the same in return, just as the Lord said: With what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you (Matt. VII, 2). Let each one of you pay attention to his own works; let us be concerned about our own faults, and let us not judge what we have not been commanded to judge. Yet the priest also ought to be disposed toward the people, before all else genuinely praying for them from his whole heart. As the Lord said: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John X, 11); thus let him bring aid to the one who labors, console the one who grieves, lead back the one who has wandered, ^C comfort the poor, be without malice, unmindful of the evils done against him. Since the prayer of one who bears a grudge is not acceptable before the Lord, with the malice remaining in his heart. If you are not reconciled to your neighbor, do not go to the altar. Remember the command of the Lord: If you offer your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go, be reconciled to your brother, and then coming offer your gift (Matt. V, 23, 24). Therefore, do not be held by the desire of avenging an injury; do not plot deceits, so that you might cast one down while lifting up another; do not prefer the rich man by the honor of the first seat, while you disregard the poor man, but preserve equality toward all. Do not quickly accept an accusation; never judge from mere hearing and rumor, for many, indeed, ^D out of envy and strife accuse their neighbor. But if, even with all exactness, you find one who is sinning, do not immediately expose him before everyone, so that you do not give him an occasion to have no shame at all. For being exposed before everyone brings two evils. For those who are exposed, having lost all shame...

through such an action, are turned toward worse things. ^A Such is Satan. He suggests the committing of sin, and because of sin he brings about shame. Therefore, because of these snares of the enemy, he who has been entrusted with the flock of Christ ought to be gentle and to inquire with much care; and if he finds one who has sinned, he should not immediately cast him out of the Church, lest Satan, having seized him, make the man his own. For when a man is cast out of the Church, Satan immediately takes him up, and until the presbyter receives him back, he does not depart from him. For when a man is excommunicated, he is found outside the boundaries of the Christians. And for as long a time as he remains excommunicated, in that world he is judged along with the Gentiles. Having taken him, therefore, in private, rebuke, exhort, and admonish him, not once only, but also twice and three times. And if he has listened to you, you have gained his soul, as the Scripture said: "He who turns a man from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins" (cf. James v, 20). But if after three admonitions he disobeys and does not correct himself, cut him off from yourself; and with such a one do not even eat, until he corrects himself.

TITLE XXX. — Concerning refuge, and those who flee to holy places; and that it is necessary to bring aid to the innocent, but to dismiss the guilty.

"If any man should set upon his neighbor to kill him with guile, and he flees, you shall take him from my altar to be put to death" (Exod. xxi, 14).

"Do not deliver a servant into the hands of his master, lest he curse you, and you be destroyed" (Prov. xxx, 10).

S. Greg. Naz. orat. In S. Basil. — "It happened that a certain woman of noble birth was widowed, her husband having departed this life not long before. The assessor of the judge was using violence, dragging her against her will toward marriage. She, not having any way to escape the tyranny, forms a plan, which was not so much bold as it was prudent. She flees to the holy table, and makes God her protector against this injury. What then was required to be done, I do not say by the great Basil, and by one who is a legislator for all those of such caliber, but even by any other who is far inferior to him, provided he is a priest? What else was it necessary to do, except to shield her? Is it not to the mercy of God, and to the law which honors the altars [as]

that he should command her to extend her hand? Did he not seek to do nothing else before suffering what he did, which the man ^A in his inhumanity had contrived against her? Thus he treated with contumely both the holy table and the faith with which she was supplicating. "By no means," says the new judge, "but everyone must yield to my authority and Christians must become traitors to their own laws." He, indeed, was demanding that the suppliant be handed over, but he [the bishop] held her back with all his might. And therefore that man, goaded by fury, sent certain magistrates to search the holy man’s chambers, doing so more for the sake of insult than because any such thing was necessary. Nor content with that, he ordered the man himself to appear and speak in his own defense, as if he were someone accused of a capital crime. But Basil was present, while the other sat before the tribunal, swelling with rage and arrogance, and so forth.

S. Chrysost. Adv. Eutrop. — Why is it, most illustrious sir, that you take it so indignantly? Is it because he who waged perpetual war against the Church has fled to it for refuge? Nay, rather, for this very reason it is fitting to praise God, that he himself by his own deed has abrogated the letters and edicts by which he had obstructed and forbidden that asylum. Having finally learned what he had done, and having by his own sufferings rescinded his own law, he became a spectacle to the world. Hence, therefore, he emitted this silent voice, admonishing all with these words: Do not commit the same acts, so that you do not suffer the same things; and thus his calamity served to make him ^B discharge the office of a teacher.

Josephi. — If/a dead and lifeless image has this power, that because of the form which has been depicted and expressed upon it, it brings salvation to those who flee to it: how much more then ought the sacrosanct dwelling-place of God to cherish and protect those who have piously and lawfully fled to it and to its aid? For it is not right to break into these most inviolable places with tyrannical pride and insolence, and with a strong and bold hand to strive to drag away by force—as if from the very hands and bosom of God—those who have entered into a place of veneration. Nay rather, even if they have bound themselves with the crime of bloodshed, it is still fitting to give honor to Him who is worthy of all honor; or if not that, then at least to endeavor to take them in a holy and just manner, and not to seize them by one’s own hand, but rather through the ministers sent for that purpose.

TIT. XXXI. — Of a city filled with impiety.

Ps. LIV, 10. — "I beheld iniquity and strife in the city." Prov. XXVII, 12. — "In the places of the impious, men are consumed." Prov. ^C XVIII, 29. — "Impious men have set a city on fire." Prov. XXIX, 18. — "There shall be no interpreter for a wicked nation." Nahum III, 1. — "Woe to the city of blood, all full of lies and injustice." Sophon. II, 15, 16. — "Woe to the city given over to evils, that dwells in hope: that says in her heart: I am, and there will be none after me. How has she become a ^D desolation,

^A a pasture for beasts? Everyone who passes by her shall hiss, and move his hands." Os. VI, 8. — "O city that works vanities!" Isa. X, 17. — "I will send my wrath upon an unjust nation." Isa. XXV, 2. — "City of the impious, thou shalt not be built for ever." Isa. I, 21. — "How has the faithful city Sion, full of judgment, become a harlot? Justice dwelt in her, but now murderers." Isa. XLVII, 8, 9. — "Hear these things, thou delicate one, who dwellest in confidence, who sayest in thy heart: I am, and there is none besides me. How has she become a desolation?" Jerem. VI, 6, 7. — "O deceitful city: all oppression is in her. As a cistern makes its water cold, so does her malice make her cold. Iniquity and misery shall be heard in her always." ^B Ezech. XXII, 5-7. — "They have cursed father and mother in thee; they have turned to the stranger in injustices; they have oppressed the orphan and the widow in thee; and they have despised my holy things. They have committed wickednesses in the midst of thee. Everyone has acted wickedly against his neighbor's wife. They took bribes in thee to shed blood; they took interest and increase in thee. But me they have forgotten, says the Lord."

There are cities that entertain the eyes ^C with the varied spectacles of wonder-workers from early dawn until evening, and furthermore with certain melodies, broken and utterly corrupt, which beget much lust in souls, which many hearing for a long time are not satisfied, and many call such crowds fortunate, because they have left behind market-trade, or the skills for living, and pass the time of life allotted to them in all sloth and pleasure; not knowing that an orchestra abounding in wanton spectacles is a common and public school of lewdness for those sitting together, and that the all-harmonious strains of the flutes and the harlot-songs, settling into the souls of the hearers, suggest nothing else but that all should behave dishonorably, or imitate the playing of the cithara-players and flute-players. Indeed, some of those who are mad for horses ^D even fight about horses in their dreams, re-harnessing chariots, changing charioteers, and in short, they do not desist at all in their nocturnal visions from their daytime madness.

One may see around the opposing horse-races those who love horses and love spectacles; they leap, they shout, they send dust to the sky, they sit as if holding the reins, they strike the air with their fingers as if with whips, they harness, they re-harness, being masters of nothing; they easily hand over to one another charioteers, horses, stables, generals. And who are these? Those

who are often destitute and needy, and who cannot even provide food for a single day.

^B Those who fear the Lord await the Lord’s Day, so that they may offer up prayer to God and enjoy the body and blood of the Lord. But those who are slothful await the Lord’s Day so that, being idle from work, they may have leisure for evil things. And that I do not lie, the facts themselves bear witness. Go out into the street on another day, and you will find no one; go out on the Lord’s Day, and you will find some playing the cithara, others applauding, others sitting, and mocking their neighbors, and others wrestling. The herald calls to the church, and all are sluggish and procrastinate. The sound of a cithara or a flute pipes up, and all run as if winged; we behold the spectacles of the church; we see the Master Christ lying upon the table, the Seraphim singing the thrice-holy hymn, the Evangelical voices, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the prophets resounding, the hymn of the angels, the Alleluia, all things spiritual, all things worthy of salvation, all things conducive to the kingdom of heaven. These things he hears who enters the church. But what does he behold who runs to the theaters? Diabolical songs, dancing women, or, to speak more correctly, women agitated by the intemperance of a demon. For what does the dancing woman do? She shamelessly uncovers her head, which Paul commanded to be always covered. She twists her neck; she tosses her hair this way and that. These things are done by her exactly as by one possessed by a demon. The cithara player, moreover, like another demon, struggles with the wood. Such also was the banquet of Herod; the daughter of Herodias entered and danced, and she cut off the head of John the Baptist, and inherited the subterranean regions of Hades. Therefore, those who love dancing have their portion with her. Woe to those who play the cithara or work on the Lord’s Day! It was given for the rest of hirelings and slaves. For this is the day which the Lord has made; let us exult and rejoice in it (Ps. CXVII, 24). The hireling enters your house, and places his shoulder beneath your works. He is crushed with sweat and toil, and you do not allow him even to catch his breath.

^D

TIT. XXXII. — Concerning selling and buying.

TIT. XXXIII. — Concerning divine chastisement, and those who bear it nobly.

beside me. I will kill, and I will make to live; I will strike, and I will heal."

"The Lord kills and makes alive; he brings down to hell and brings back." 1 Reg. II, 6.

"Then Job arose, and tore his garments, and shaved the hair of his head, and falling to the ground he worshipped the Lord, and he said: Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked also shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it came to pass. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever." Job I, 20-22.

"Blessed is the man whom the Lord has reproved. And do not reject the admonition of the Almighty. For he causes pain, and again he restores; he has struck, and his hands will heal." ^A Job V, 17.

"Lay hold on instruction, lest the Lord be angry, and you perish." Psal. II, 12.

"Your instruction has corrected me to the end, and your instruction." Psal. XVII, 35.

"Anger is in his wrath, and life in his will." Psal. XXIX, 5.

"With rebukes you have disciplined man for iniquity." Psal. XXXVIII, 11.

"Blessed is the man whom you shall instruct, O Lord." Psal. XCIII, 12.

"The Lord has severely disciplined me, and has not delivered me to death." Psal. CXVII, 18.

"It is good for me that you have humbled me, that I may learn your statutes." Psal. CXVIII, 71.

"My son, do not neglect the instruction of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him. For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; and he scourges every son whom he receives." ^B Prov. III, 12.

"He who receives instruction shall be in good things."

"Fear me, and receive instruction, and you shall not be destroyed from the eyes of the earth." Sophon. III, 7.

"When the indignation of my wrath shall have arisen, I will heal again." Isa. VI, 10.

"The instruction of the Lord opens my ears." Isa. L, 5.

"I have grieved him for a little while because of sin, and I have struck him, and turned my face away from him; and he was grieved, and walked sadly in the ways of his heart. I have seen his ways, and I have healed him, and I have comforted him, and I have given him true consolation." ^C Isa. LVII, 17, 18.

"Behold, I have sold you, not for silver; but I have plucked you out of the furnace of poverty for my sake." Isa. XLVIII, 10.

"Be instructed, O Jerusalem, by pain and scourge, lest my soul depart from you; lest I make you a desolate land, which shall not be inhabited." Jerem. VI, 7.

"Correct us, O Lord, but in judgment, and not in anger, lest you make us few." ^D Jerem. X, 24.

Baruch v, 25. — "Children, be patient in the wrath that comes upon you." ^A Sap. xi, 26. — "You spare all, because they are yours, O Lord, you lover of souls." Sap. xii, 2, 22. — "And therefore you reprove those who err, little by little, and admonish them, and speak to them concerning the things wherein they sin, that, leaving their wickedness, they may believe in you, O Lord. When you give us instruction, you scourge our enemies in many ways, that we may ponder your goodness when we judge; and when we are judged, we may look for mercy." Eccli. xviii, 12. — "The mercy of the Lord is upon all flesh. He has mercy, and corrects, and instructs, and turns as a shepherd does his flock, and has mercy on those who receive instruction." Eccli. xxxii, 18. — "He who fears instruction shall find instruction." ^B Eccli. xvi, 12. — "Mercy and wrath are with him: according to his great mercy, so also is his correction." Hebr. xii, 5 seqq. — "My son, do not neglect the instruction of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves, he instructs; and he scourges every son whom he receives. Persevere in instruction; God offers himself to you as to sons. For what son is there whom the father does not instruct? But if you are without instruction, then you are bastards and not sons. Moreover, we have had fathers of our flesh for instructors, and we reverenced them: shall we not much more obey the Father of spirits, and live? And they indeed for a few days instructed us according to their own will; but he for that which is useful, to receive his holiness. Now all instruction for the present indeed seems not to bring joy, but sorrow: but afterward it will yield the most peaceful fruit of justice to them who are exercised by it." ^C

S. Basil, hom. That God is not the author of evils. — The good Lord brings to each what is profitable for him. For he takes away wealth from those who use it badly, destroying the instrument of their injustice. He brings on disease, as it is better to be hampered in one's limbs than to have unrestrained impulses to sin. Moreover, deaths are brought on when those terms of life are fulfilled which he from the beginning, foreseeing the benefit of each of us, had appointed. Finally, pestilences, droughts, and floods are certain common plagues of cities and nations, which restrain the immoderate ferocity of vice. ^D As, therefore, a benevolent physician, even if he brings pains and torments to the body, fights against the disease and not against the patient, so also God is good, who provides for the salvation of all through the individual punishments of some. The diseases of cities and nations, droughts of the air, and sterility of the earth, and the harsher circumstances in the life of each, cut off the increase of wickedness. So that such evils

^A divinely occur, whereby the origin of true evils is removed. For bodily afflictions and external hardships and annoyances are designed for the restraint of sin.

St. Basil, ibid. — Let us learn that God sends us blows for the sake of our conversion and for the casting off of negligence, not seeking to destroy, but eager to correct, just as good fathers do toward their slothful children; for they are angered and rise up against the young, not because they are eager to cause them any harm, but that they may recall them from childish carelessness and the sins of youth to care and diligence.

The flesh is stricken, that the soul may be healed. Sin is put to death, that we may live in righteousness.

Let us look upward, brothers, at every time ^B and in every circumstance, and let us display good hope; neither let us discard fear in prosperity, nor hope in adversity. Let us be mindful of the helmsman, both in the tranquility of the storm and in the storm itself. Let us not grow weary in afflictions, nor become evil servants, who praise the Master for bestowing benefits, but do not accept Him when He chastises; although at times disease is better than health, and a reminder is better than relief, and a visitation better than neglect, and chastisement better than pardon.

Prudent men, who are instructed by circumstances and are purified by fire like gold, say: "It is good for me that You have humbled me" (Ps. CXVIII, 71), since humility begets the knowledge of the statutes; and they reconcile themselves to the Benefactor through affliction. ^C Since a suffering soul is near to God.

It is necessary to accept everything that comes from God with thanksgiving.

Truly, a blow becomes instruction to those of sound mind, and frequently affliction is better than prosperity.

Nothing is more conducive to receiving benefits than suffering.

Affliction is the blossom of the blessings we expect. Therefore, let us pluck also the blossom for the sake of the fruit.

God does not act toward us out of anger, but does and performs everything for our benefit. The punishments brought upon us by God in the present life ^D cut away no small part of the torments to come. For through those sorrows by which we are afflicted here, we either expiate sins, or, if we do not have such sins, we receive more splendid crowns.

^A The discipline that occurs from here lightens the judgment that comes after, although it is not an evil to be punished, but to become worthy of punishment. ^B It is necessary to be persuaded that nothing of what happens takes place without God; and that all things from Him are good, even if they be painful.

^B *S. Greg. Naz. Orat. 15.*—Thou art good, but we have done iniquity. Thou art long-suffering, but we are worthy of stripes. We acknowledge Thy goodness, though we are foolish. We have been scourged for a few of the things wherein we have sinned. Thou art terrible, and who shall stand against Thee? Fear shall take hold of the mountains from Thee; who shall match Thee? If Thou shuttest heaven, who shall open it? And if Thou loosest the cataracts, who shall hold them back? It is easy in Thine eyes to make poor and to make rich, to kill and to make alive, to smite and to heal; and Thy will is a completed action. "Thou wast angry, and we sinned" (Isa. lxiv. 5), says someone of the ancients, confessing to God. But I, on the contrary, say: We have sinned, and Thou wast angry. Therefore we have become a reproach to our neighbors. Thou didst turn away Thy face, and we were filled with ignominy. But cease, O Lord; pardon, O Lord; be propitious, O Lord. Do not surrender us to the end because of our iniquities, nor teach others through our punishments, when it is possible for us to be corrected by the torments of others. Of whom? Of the nations that do not know Thee, and of the kingdoms that have not submitted to Thy power. But we are Thy people, O Lord, and the rod of Thine inheritance; ^C therefore, chastise us, but in kindness and not in Thy wrath, lest Thou make us few in number, and a scorn beyond all who dwell upon the earth.

*Ibid.*—I know the glistening sword, and the sword in heaven made drunk, slaughtering, bringing to nothing, bereaving children. I know also that bear, which is free from every perturbation of mind, and which, like a leopard, meets the Assyrians on the way; I know the shaking, and the agitation, and the bubbling over, and the breaking of the heart, and the dissolution of the knees, and such kinds of punishments as are inflicted upon the impious. Such are the punishments of the wicked, so that it is better to be chastised and purified now, than to be sent off to the torment there.

*Eusebii.*—God pursues those whom He holds as His own and beloved by chastising them in this life, if they happen to be in need of any punishment, so that by a temporary correction they might be able to escape the eternal torment in the general judgment. ^D

*Theotimi.*—It is not a grievous thing to suffer anything of the harsher sort, but to suffer it justly.

*Didymi.*—God does not send afflictions with a mind to take vengeance, but medically, and for the health of the soul.

God, who created this world, governing it by His own counsel, does all things for our benefit, even if the things that are brought upon us happen to be sad or troublesome.

^A Even if the wrath of God is bitter and painful, yet, because it possesses a healing power, it raises those who have experienced it to what is good. Whomever God wishes to save, He strikes with fear; He shakes him in various ways and causes him grief, so that he may have no time to be stirred up toward pride, and that by the sufferings of others, men may be taught to be sober-minded.

Blessed is the nature that receives everything with a cheerful spirit and is not at all displeased by any events, but is well-pleased with what has happened, as having happened well and profitably. Philo.— Blessed is that nature which receives all things with a cheerful mind and bears no event of things with indignation, but acquiesces in them as if they were good and useful.

TITLE XXXIV. — On divine castigation, and those who reject it; and that those who are not chastised here are transmitted to eternal punishment.

Haggai 2:18.— “I smote you with blasting, and with mildew, and with hail in all the works of your hands; and you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 5:3.— “O Lord, Your eyes are looking for faith. You have stricken them, but they have not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to return.”

Jeremiah 2:30.— “In vain have I stricken your children; they have not received instruction.”

St. Basil.— Do not let the same thing happen to you, O man, as happens to foolish children, who, when they have been rebuked by their masters, tear up their tablets; and when a father delays serving them food for their own benefit, they rend his garment or claw their mother’s face.

The same, from the Sermon on Fasting.— No one who despairs in spirit is crowned; no one who is sad sets up a trophy. Do not lose heart when medicine is applied to you; it is absurd not to rejoice over the health of the soul.

It is not difficult to be struck, but it is more difficult not to be made wise by the stroke.

Not suffering anything for one's sins while here becomes a provision for greater punishment there. And Paul, indicating this, said: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:31–32). For the sufferings here have the character of admonition; those there are of punishment.

Those who oft commit faults and are not punished ought to be afraid and terrified. For their punishment is increased by the lack of punishment.

When we enjoy prosperity while living in wickedness, ^D then we must be most pained. For while we are always sinning, we ought to be afraid, and especially when we suffer nothing terrible. For when God requires our penalties in parts, He makes the payment for them light for us.

Those who are completely filthy, pray that you may be punished rather than be forgiven. For forgiveness will easily overturn them, just as it does ships that have no ballast, but punishment will eventually correct them. Let us therefore beseech God, we who are convicted by the conscience of our own sins, to punish us rather than pass us by unpunished.

TITLE XXV. — On the divine chastisement which takes place for the sake of proving and examining virtue.

^A Gen. XXII, 2, 3. — "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he said: Behold, here I am. And he said: Take thy only begotten son whom thou lovest, Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there for a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

Deut. VIII, 2, 3. — "And thou shalt remember all the way through which the Lord thy God hath brought thee for forty years through the desert, to afflict thee and to try thee, and that the things that were in thy heart might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no. He afflicted thee with want, and gave thee manna to eat, which neither thou nor thy fathers knew, to show that not by bread alone doth man live, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God doth man live."

Deut. XIII, 3. — "The Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love the Lord your God."

Job XL, 8. — "Do you really make my judgment void? Or do you think that I have spoken to you for any other reason than that you may appear just?"

Psalm LXVI, 10-12. — "For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried. Thou hast brought us into the snare, thou hast laid afflictions upon our back: thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment."

^B James I, 12. — "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him."

S. Chrysost. — When Abraham heard this voice of his Creator, "Take thy son, and upon one of the mountains sacrifice him to me" (Gen. XXII, 2), he performed the task with great alacrity of soul. For he hid it from his wife Sarah, and he eluded his servants, and having taken only his little son, he ascended the mountain, not broken in spirit, nor laboring under sloth. Imagine what that blessed emotion was at that time, and what kind of inward feelings he was clothed with, when alone he conversed with his only son? For then the heart is warmed more intensely, and the fire of love burns more fiercely. What speech could express the strength of that old man's soul? By what means, indeed, did he bind his ^C hands and feet and place him upon the wood? And when he was already about to plunge the iron into the throat of the child, into the throat of the lad, the compassionate God sent a double voice, "Undo the child." How could it be that his hand did not grow numb? How were his nerves not shattered? How did he not collapse when looking upon the face of the child? Behold the fortitude of the old man. For he sacrificed his son, if not by his hand, certainly by his resolve, and he slaughtered him, if not in deed, at any rate in his intentions and readiness.

Didymus. — Not everyone who is sick is in the grip of disease because of sin. For there are some who are subjected to afflictions that their probity may shine forth, or for some other useful reason. ^D

TIT. XXXVI. — On perseverance, and that perseverance accomplishes its work.

^A Isa. — Since the same occurrences happen to sinners and the righteous, it is not to be thought that all who fall into various adversities have undergone such misfortunes because of antecedent wickedness.

Eccli. — "A continuous drop hollows out a stone."

Luc. XI, 5-10. — "Which of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight, and say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within answering shall say: Do not trouble me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you. I say to you, if he will not give him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs."

"There was a judge in a certain city, who feared not God, nor regarded man: and there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying: Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a long time. But afterwards he said within himself: Although I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow is ^B troublesome to me, I will avenge her, lest continually coming she weary me." And the Lord said: "Hear what the judge of iniquity saith? And will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night: and will he have patience in their regard? I say to you, that he will quickly revenge them."

TIT. XXXVII. — On the faithful man: and that it is rare to find a faithful man.

Prov. XX, 6. — "To find a faithful man is a labor."

Prov. XXVIII, 20. — "A faithful man shall be much praised."

Truly it is rare to find one who possesses faithfulness together with prudence.

TIT. XXXVIII. — On those who trust in vain and empty things, and in the protections of men, and have not their hope in God.

Job XX. — "They shall be subject to shame who trust in cities and wealth."

Psal. LI, 8. — "The just shall see and shall fear," and the rest.

Prov. XI, 28. — "He that trusteth in his riches shall fall."

"The fool who trusts in himself is joined to the wicked."

Osee X, 13, 14. — "Because thou hast trusted in thy chariots, and in the multitude of thy strength, a destruction shall arise upon thy people, and all thy walled cities shall be destroyed, as Salman was destroyed in the day of battle, and the mother was dashed ^D upon her children."

"Thou didst take vengeance with thy power upon the leaders of sinners, who trusted in their arrogance."