Homily on the Martyr Julitta

angelic gladness to bring into our hearts; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power unto the ages. Amen.

ON THE MARTYR JULITTA, and on the remaining parts of the previously delivered homily on thanksgiving.

1. The design of this gathering is the proclamation made regarding the blessed martyr. For we announced this day to you as one that keeps in memory the great struggle which, in a female body, most manfully—and to the total amazement of those who were then present at the spectacle, and of those who later received the report from the accounts of those who experienced it—the most blessed of women, Julitta, endured ^B (if indeed it is proper to call her a woman, who with the greatness of her soul concealed the weakness of the female nature); by which, I believe, our common adversary was most struck, for he bears with great difficulty the defeat he has suffered at the hands of women. He, who braggingly vaunts those great things—that he would shake the whole inhabited world, and take it as a nest, and seize it as if it were left-behind eggs, and lay cities waste—appeared conquered by female virtue. He had attempted, in the time of trial, to prove that she was unable, due to the weakness of her nature, to preserve her piety toward God to the end; but he found, through the testing, that she was stronger than her nature, and that she mocked his terrors as much as he had hoped that she would be terrified by those cruel things. ^C For when a lawsuit was pending for her against one of the powerful men in the city, an avaricious and violent man, who had gathered wealth for himself through rapine and pillage—who, having cut off a large portion of land, had transferred the fields, villages, livestock, servants, and all the rest of her life’s possessions from the woman to himself—he had taken hold of the courts, supported by slanderers, false witnesses, and the bribery of the judges. But when the lady was present, and the herald was calling, and the advocates were ready ^D to begin to teach of...

reveal the tyranny of the man, and to describe the manner of the acquisition from the beginning, and the length of time which confirmed the ownership, and then to lament the violence of the husband and his greed; ^A he came forward and said that it was not permitted for her to bring a lawsuit. For it was not right, he said, for those who do not worship the gods of the emperors, and who do not renounce the faith in Christ, to participate in the common law. The governor seemed to speak justly and to put forward necessary proposals. And immediately frankincense and a hearth were brought forward, and a proposal was made to those in court: those who renounced Christ would enjoy the laws and the benefits derived from them; but those who held fast to the faith would share neither in the courts, nor the laws, nor the rest of the life of the city, as they were disgraced according to the law of those then ruling.

2. What then followed? Was she enticed by the lures of wealth? Did she, through some contention ^B with the man who wronged her, overlook what was for her own benefit? Did she shrink from the danger impending from the judges? Not in the slightest. "Let life," she said, "farewell; let money perish; may even my body not remain, before I offer any impious word against the God who created me." And the more she saw the governor incensed by these words, and burning with the utmost anger against her, the more she gave thanks to God, because, while she was contending for corruptible wealth, she appeared to be securing for herself the possession of heavenly goods; and being stripped of earth, so that she might acquire paradise; and being condemned to dishonor, so that she might be deemed worthy of the crowns of glory; and having her body tortured ^C and being deprived of temporal life, so that she might obtain blessed hopes, to be found with all the saints in the joy of the kingdom. But as she was often questioned, and often emitted the same voice, testifying that she was the handmaid of Christ, and cursing those who were the authors of her abjuration of the faith, then at last the judge of iniquity deprived her not only of the property—of which she had been unjustly and unlawfully stripped—but, as he thought, punished her with death as well, handing her over to the fire. Julitta, however, did not hasten to any of the delights of life as quickly as she approached that flame, showing the immense joy of her soul by her countenance, her bearing, her words, and the radiance ^D blooming upon her. And indeed, she exhorted the women standing by not to grow soft toward the labors undertaken for piety, and not to plead the infirmity of their sex. We are, she said, of that...

same mass. We were created according to the image of God, just as they are. The female, no less than the male, has been made by the Creator capable of virtue. For what else are we but kin to men in all things? For not only was flesh taken for the making of woman, but also bone of my bones. Wherefore, constancy, fortitude, and patience are owed to the Lord by us just as much as by men. Having said these things, she leaped into the pyre ^A, which, as if it were a shining bridal chamber, wrapped itself around the body of the holy woman, and having sent her soul away to the heavenly region and the rest appropriate to it, it preserved her venerable body whole and unharmed for her relatives; and this, lying in the most beautiful vestibule of the city's temple, sanctifies both the place and those who come to it. And the earth, blessed by the arrival of the blessed one, released a most pleasant water from its own bowels; so that the martyr, having become like a mother, nourishes the citizens as if with some common milk. This water is a protection for the healthy, a lavish supply of pleasure for those who enjoy pleasures temperately, and a comfort for the sick; the benefit which Elisha once conferred upon the people of Jericho, this the martyr has conferred upon us, when by her blessing she transformed the saltness that is naturally present in the common waters of the region into a sweet, mild, and pleasant taste for all to perceive. Men, do not appear inferior to women in piety. Women, do not fall short of this example, but without making excuses, hold fast to piety, having received proof by experience ^B that the infirmity of your sex does not hinder you from performing any good deed whatsoever.

3. I had intended to say much regarding the martyr; but the discourse begun by us yesterday, having been left incomplete, does not permit us to dwell upon these things any longer. By nature, I am someone who finds it difficult to leave anything unfinished. For an unpleasant sight is an image that is only half expressed, and the labor of a journey is useless if the traveler does not complete it to the intended goal and the appointed stations. To catch almost nothing from a hunt is the same as catching nothing at all; and those who run in the stadiums, even if they have fallen behind by but ^C a single step, lose the prize. We, therefore, having called to mind the words of the Apostle yesterday, and hoping to run through their meaning in a brief span, were found to have left out many times more than what we had said; wherefore we deem it necessary for you to pay the debt of what was left out. The words of the Apostle were therefore: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. And indeed, concerning the duty to rejoice always, although it has not been said with a fullness commensurate with the dignity of the subject, yet it has been said by us sufficiently on the previous day; and if it is ^D necessary...

that you should pray without ceasing and that you are prepared to demand if this commandment can be fulfilled, I, for my part, shall take up the advocacy and defense of this conviction to the measure of my ability. ^A Prayer is a petition for good presented to God by the pious. However, we do not limit this petition entirely to words. For we do not think that God requires a reminding by means of spoken sound; rather, we believe that He knows what is beneficial even before we ask. What then is it that we are saying? It is that we ought not to fulfill prayer in syllables, but rather that the power of prayer should be completed in the disposition of the soul and in those works of virtue that extend throughout the whole of life. For, he says, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ^B When sitting at table, pray; when consuming bread, fulfill your gratitude to the Bestower; when fortifying the weakness of the body with wine, remember Him who gives you this gift for the gladdening of the heart and the soothing of infirmities. Has the necessity for taking food passed? Let not the memory of the Benefactor pass away. When you put on a tunic, give thanks to the Giver. When you wrap yourself in a cloak, love God more intensely, who has granted us coverings suitable for both winter and summer, by which our life is simultaneously preserved and our shame covered. Is the day ended? Render thanks to Him who has granted us the sun for the service of the works of the day, and has provided fire to illuminate the night and to serve the remaining needs of life. ^C Let the night provide other motives for prayer. When you look up into the heavens and fix your eyes upon the beauty of the stars, pray to the Master of all visible things, and adore the supreme Architect of the universe, who made all things in wisdom. When you see the entire nature of living creatures overcome by sleep, again adore Him who, even against our will, releases us from the exhaustion of our daily labors through sleep, and restores the vigor of our strength through a little rest. ^D 4. Therefore, let not sleep be a peculiar and primary lot; nor allow half of your life to be useless to you by the stupor of sleep, but let the time of the night be divided for you into sleep and prayer; nay, let sleep itself be an exercise of piety. For often the images expressed in sleep are, I know not how, traces and, as it were, residues of the day's cares. For such as are the pursuits of our life, such of necessity must also be our dreams. Thus you will pray without ceasing, if you do not limit prayer to words, but unite yourself to God through the whole manner of your living.

^A And in everything, he says, give thanks (1 Thess. v, 18). But how, they ask, is this possible, that a soul tormented by calamities and afflictions, and as it were stung by the sense of its pains, should not break out into lamentations and tears, but give thanks for things that are truly to be deprecated, just as if they were goods? For if the evils which an enemy has prayed upon me come to pass, how shall I be able to render thanks for them? The child is snatched away before his time, and the pangs, more bitter than the first birth-pangs, pierce the mother who is grieving for her beloved son: how, then, leaving aside lamentations, can she utter the words of thanksgiving? How? If she considers that for the child begotten of her, God is a more intimate Father, and a wiser guardian, and a steward of his life. Why then do we not allow the prudent Master to manage His own possessions ^B as He sees fit, but instead, as if despoiled of our own, we are indignant and commiserate the dead as if they had been wronged? But do you consider this: that the child has not died, but has been returned; nor has the friend come to his end, but has gone on a journey, and has only a little preceded us on the road which we, too, must necessarily travel. Let the commandment of God be your constant companion, providing a light and a clarity for the discernment of things absolutely and without ceasing; which, forestalling the governance of your soul from afar and pre-equipping it with true notions concerning each thing, will not allow you to be changed by any of the events that befall you, but by the state of your well-prepared mind ^C just like a headland neighboring the sea, you will safely and unmoved endure the onsets of both the violent winds and the waves. For why were you not accustomed to think mortal thoughts about a mortal being, but instead received the death of your child unexpectedly? When the birth of your son was first announced to you, if someone had asked you, "What kind of thing is that which has been born?", what would you have replied? Could you have said anything other than that it is a human being that has been born? But if a human being, then clearly also mortal. What is surprising, then, if a mortal has died? Do you not see the sun rising and setting? Do you not see the moon waxing and then waning? Do you not see the earth blooming and then withering? What among the things around us stands firm? What has a nature that is immutable and unchangeable? Look up to heaven, and look at the earth. Neither do these things ^D last forever. For the heaven and the earth will pass away, he says, the stars will fall from heaven, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light. Why then are you amazed...

^A if we too, being part of the world, partake of the things that belong to the world? Keeping this in sight, when even to you comes a share of these common allotments, bear it with closed eyes—not impassively, nor insensibly (for what is the reward of apathy?), but with much toil and with myriad sorrows. Nevertheless, endure it, just as some noble athlete ^B shows his strength and courage not only in striking his adversaries, but also in standing firm under the blows inflicted upon him by them; and just as some pilot, wise and untroubled by his great experience in navigating, keeps his soul upright and unswamped, and higher than every storm. The loss of a beloved child, or of a wife ^C of one’s heart, or of any other among one’s dearest ones, joined to one by every bond of affection, is no terrible thing to the man who has prepared himself beforehand and who possesses right reason as the guide of his life, rather than progressing according to mere habit. For the severance of habit is most difficult even for irrational creatures. And at one time I saw an ox ^D at a manger weeping for its yoke-fellow and companion, who had been snatched away by death. One may also see the rest of the beasts clinging strongly to habit. But you have not learned in this way, nor have you been so instructed. But while to take the beginning of friendship from long association and time-honored habit is not at all strange, to lament the separation utterly beyond measure because of the time we have spent together is entirely irrational.

5. For instance, a wife has been joined to you in the companionship ^C of life, who provides you with every pleasure in life, is the creator of your cheerfulness, the cause of your joys, increasing your good things, and in times of grief taking away the greatest part of your distresses—and she, being suddenly snatched away, is gone. Do not be embittered ^D by this affliction, nor say that the things which happen are a result of some random chance, as if no ruler governs this world; nor posit some evil creator, framing for yourself, because of immoderate grief, impious dogmas; but do not fall beyond the boundaries of piety either. For since you two were indeed made one flesh, there is much indulgence for one who bears the cutting apart and the breaking of the union with sorrows; yet for that reason it will not be profitable for you to imagine or to speak anything foolish. For I would want you to consider with yourself that God, who fashioned and quickened us, has assigned to every soul its own duration of life, and has set for different people different bounds of ex

^Aistence, according to the unspeakable reasonings of His wisdom and justice. Just as, therefore, of those who are cast into prison, some are confined longer in the torture of their chains, while others find a speedier release from their affliction, so too with souls: some are detained in this life much longer, others for a shorter time, according to the proportion of each one's merit, as God, who created us, wisely and profoundly provides for the affairs of each of us—in a way that the human mind cannot grasp. Do you not hear David saying, "Bring my soul out of prison"? (Ps. CXLI, 8). Have you not heard concerning the saint that his soul was released and dismissed? What then of Simeon, when he took our Lord into his arms? What voice did he utter? Was it not this: "Now You are releasing Your servant, O Master"? (Luc. II, 29). For to one who is hastening toward the life above, lingering ^B in the flesh is more grievous than any punishment and any prison. Therefore, do not seek that the laws regarding souls should accommodate themselves to your own convenience; rather, consider those who have been joined together in life and are subsequently separated by death, and think of them as like travelers journeying along one and the same road, who, through their constant association with each other, have become united by habit. When they finish the common road and find a path that splits, they are then necessarily compelled to separate from one another. They do not, however, neglect what they had proposed for themselves by remaining behind out of habit, but, recollecting the cause that moved them from the beginning, they each hasten toward their own proper destination. Just as, therefore, for those travelers, the goal of the journey was one thing, but there occurred between them, as they traveled, a certain affinity and familiarity born of ^C habit: so too for those who are joined in marriage or some other fellowship of life, there was undoubtedly a proper terminus of life preordained; but the preordained end of life necessarily separated and divided those who had been joined together.

6. It follows, therefore, that one should not be distressed at the separation, but should give thanks to Him who was the author of this fellowship for the initial union. You, on the contrary, even when your wife, or friend, or child, or whoever it might be that you are now mourning, was still alive, were not offering thanks to the Giver for the good things present, but were complaining about what was lacking. If you were living with your wife alone, you complained because there were no children such as you desired; if children were also present, you complained because you did not abound in riches, or because you saw some of your enemies ^D prospering. See to it, then, that you do not yourself bring about the necessary deprivation of your loved ones.

so that we may not be affected by their presence, but long for them when they are gone. For since we do not render thanks for the present goods bestowed by God, it is necessary for us to be deprived of them, so that our affection may be stirred. For just as eyes do not see that which is brought too close ^A to them, but require a certain proportionate distance, so also ungrateful souls seem to feel the grace of past goods [only] in their alienation [(72)]. For when they were enjoying better things, knowing no gratitude toward the giver, after the deprivation they extol and value that which has vanished. Furthermore, no one among us is exempt from [the duty of] thanksgiving on account of any hardship or calamity of this life, if he is willing to weigh each thing with an equable mind. For the life of each one of us possesses not a few things that we can recount, which are not unpleasant, if only we are willing to look toward those who are worse off, and thus, from this comparison with a worse condition, estimate how much value this good of ours possesses. Are you a slave? There is someone more dejected than you; return thanks that you are superior to one person, that you have not been condemned to the mill, that you do not receive blows. ^B And not even for this man are causes for thanksgiving lacking. For he is not held in fetters, nor is he bound in the stocks. Existence itself is cause enough for the prisoner to give thanks: he sees the sun, he breathes the air; for these things he renders thanks. Are you punished unjustly? Rejoice in the hope of future things. Were you rightly condemned? Even so, give thanks, because you are paying the penalty for your daring deeds here, and are not being reserved for eternal punishment for unpunished sins. In this same way, it is possible for the one who is grateful, in every life and every station, to render abundant thanks to the Benefactor for present goods [(74)]. But as it is, the majority of people have suffered the plight of those who are hard to please: namely, they scorn what is present and crave what is absent. For they do not, by counting up those inferior to themselves, fulfill the gratitude owed to the Benefactor for what they possess; ^C but by comparing themselves with what is superior, and calculating how far they fall short, they are as grieved and complaining as if they were being deprived of their own, when they are merely lacking things that belong to others. The slave is vexed that he is not free; the man reared in liberty, that he is not of noble birth, nor numbered among those who are conspicuous for the splendor of their lineage, nor can count back seven ancestors who were distinguished breeders of horses or who squandered their own wealth on gladiators [(75)]. He who is famous by birth complains because he does not abound in riches; the rich man is afflicted and grieves because he is not ruler of cities and nations [(76)]; the general, that he is not king; the king, that he does not rule all that is under the sun at once, but that there are nations not subject to his scepters. And from all these things it is gathered that there is no one who gives thanks to the Benefactor ^D for anything.

Nos autem ^A — but we, dismissing the griefs arising from those things which are absent, let us learn to render thanksgiving for those things which are present. Let us say during the sadder twists of fortune to the wise Physician: "In tribulation is thy discipline to us" (Isa. xxvi, 16). Let us say: "It is good for me that thou hast humbled me" (Ps. cxviii, 71). Let us say that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. viii, 18). Let us say that we have been scourged for few of those sins that we have committed. Let us beseech the Lord, saying: "Chasten us, O Lord, but with judgment, and not in anger" (Jerem. x, 24). For when we are rebuked, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the ^B world (I Cor. xi, 32). And in a more cheerful course of life, let us utter that voice of David: "What shall I render unto the Lord for all that he hath rendered unto me?" (Ps. cxv, 12). He brought us from non-existence into being; He honored us with speech; He bestowed upon us arts that cooperate for our life; He brings forth food from the earth; He has given us the service of beasts of burden and cattle. For our sake, rains; for our sake, the sun; the mountainous region and the plain have been adorned for our benefit, preparing for us refuges upon the peaks of the mountains so that we might avoid them. For our sake, rivers flow; for our sake, fountains gush forth; the sea is opened to us for trade; the riches from the metals are dug out; delights flow in from every side, with the whole creation bringing gifts to us because of the rich and abundant grace of the Benefactor towards us.

7. ^C And what need is there to recount small things? For our sake, God moved among men: because of flesh that had become corrupt, the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (Joh. i, 14). The Benefactor dwells with the ungrateful; the Liberator comes to the captives; the Sun of Righteousness shines upon those sitting in darkness (Malach. iv, 2; Isa. ix, 2); the One devoid of all passion is lifted upon the cross; Life is delivered to death; the Light descends to the dead in Hades; for the sake of those who had fallen, there is resurrection, the spirit of adoption, the distributions of gifts (80), and the promises of crowns: and other things besides, which it would not even be easy to number, to all of which the voice of the prophet is fitting: "What shall I render unto the Lord for all that he hath rendered unto me?" (Ps. cxv, 12). For indeed, this also has not been said—that He has *given*, but that the magnificent Giver has *rendered* back, as if He were not the one initiating grace, but rather rewarding those who had first ^D possessed (81) it; for the gratitude of those who receive is reckoned as a benefit. He who even when giving money asks thee for alms through the hands of the poor—even though He receives His own, He fulfills the grace to thee whole and entire, as though it were for His own sake. What, then, shall we render to the Lord for all that He has rendered?

^A For I do not abandon the voice of the Prophet, who is rightly at a loss and surveys his own poverty, because he has nothing worthy to give in return. He who, after such great and brilliant benefits—benefits, moreover, which have no limits—promises us yet greater things in the future: the delight of Paradise, and glory in the kingdom, and honors equal to the angels, and the contemplation of God—which is the highest good for those deemed worthy of such blessings, and that which every rational nature desires, and which may we too attain, having purified ourselves from the passions of the flesh. How then, one might say, are we to show our communal and affectionate nature (which is the first and most perfect of goods, since "love is the fulfillment of the law") ^B toward our neighbors, if, when we come to those weighed down by great calamities, we do not weep with them or shed tears with them, but rather give thanks for what has happened? For to bear one’s own affliction with thanksgiving is a demonstration of patience and perseverance; but to give thanks to God for the calamities of others is the act of one insulting the misfortunes of others and provoking those who are distressed—even when we are commanded by the Apostle to weep with those who weep. What, then, shall we say to this? Shall we, of necessity, bring back to your remembrance the words of the Lord ^C regarding those things for which we are commanded to rejoice and those for which we are commanded to mourn? "Rejoice," He says, "and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven." And again: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for your children." Therefore, the divine Word encourages us indeed to leap for joy and rejoice with the righteous, but to mourn and lament with those who shed tears out of repentance, or to weep for those who are indifferent, because they do not even understand how they are perishing.

8. Nor should one be considered to have fulfilled the commandment who laments the death of men and raises an outcry with those who are mourning. For I would not praise a physician who, when he ought to be bringing aid to the sick, is himself filled with their diseases; nor a pilot who, when he ought to be in command of those sailing, to fight against the winds, avoid the waves, and comfort the more timid, becomes seasick himself ^D and, together with those who are unskilled in seamanship, becomes faint-hearted. Such is whoever approaches the mourners but, not using his own reason, bestows no benefit upon them, but rather takes on the disgrace from the affections of others. It would be right, therefore, to be afflicted by the calamities and tribulations of others. For in this way, you will gain the favor of the afflicted.

^A However, it is not proper to be carried away further along with those who are grieving, so as to cry out or lament together with the sufferer, or to imitate and emulate in other respects the one darkened by passion—for instance, by shutting oneself away, putting on mourning clothes, sitting on the ground, or neglecting to cut one's hair. For by these actions, one is more likely to intensify the calamity than to soothe it. Do you not see that while buboes and swollen spleens, the former arising from wounds and the latter from fevers, make the pains worse, hands mitigate the pain by their gentle touch? ^B Therefore, you too should not exacerbate the suffering by your presence, nor collapse along with the one who has fallen. For one who lifts up the person lying on the ground must necessarily be higher than the one who has fallen; but if he falls down just as low, he himself will also be in need of someone to lift him up. Nevertheless, it is not out of place to be stung by what is happening and to look sad at these painful events, showing the soul's distress through a contemplative expression and a seriousness that carries dignity. But when speaking, it is not proper to jump immediately to rebukes, as though insulting and mocking those who are down—for reproaches ^C are burdensome to those whose souls are already distressed by grief; and at the same time, words from those who are not at all affected by the pain are disbelieved by those who are suffering and have no power to persuade them to be consoled. But if you allow them to pour out their vain and futile cries and wails, once the evil has already abated and slackened a little, then it is appropriate to attempt consolation skillfully and gently. For even horse-trainers do not immediately check reckless horses with the reins, nor pull them back—for they teach them in this way to rear up and throw off their riders—but they give way at first, going along with them until they see that they have expended their spirit and violence through their own impulse; then, taking hold of them once they are tamed, they make them more compliant through their craft. It will be the same, according to the saying of Solomon:

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting

9.

Therefore one must weep with those who weep

Talis erat qui dicebat: *Defectio animi tenuit me pro peccatoribus derelinquentibus legem tuam* ^A (Ps. cxviii, 53). Mourn on account of sin. Sin is a sickness of the soul; it is the death of the immortal soul; it is worthy of grief and ceaseless lamentations. On this account, let all tears flow, and let sighing drawn from the depths of the heart never cease 95. Paul wept for the enemies of the cross of Christ 83. Jeremiah wept over those of the people who were perishing; and since natural tears were not enough for him, he sought a fountain of tears and an ultimate dwelling 96. "And I shall sit," he says, "and I shall weep for this people for many days, those who are perishing" (Jerem. ix, 1). Scripture ranks such tears and mourning among the beatitudes 85, not a propensity toward all sadness, nor an inclination toward weeping that is stirred up by every occasion. Not long ago, I saw some pleasure-seekers who, being enticed by an immoderate love of pleasure, would turn themselves to drunkenness and gluttony under the guise of dispelling sadness, attempting to excuse their intemperance with the words of Solomon who says: *Give wine to those who are in sadness* (Prov. xxxi, 6). ^B Yet this saying is in the Proverbs, and it does not make drunkenness lawful, but takes thought for human life. For, to omit the hidden meaning of this sentence—in which wine is called rational joy—even the obvious meaning has no small amount of providence and care, lest those who receive consolation with difficulty and are overwhelmed by heavy grief, neglect food and nourishment, being absorbed by more vehement weeping: but that the heart of the sorrowful person be strengthened partly by bread, and the powers that have collapsed be bolstered by wine. Furthermore, wine-bibbing and drunken men do not soothe sadness, but exchange evils for evils, making a kind of perverse bargain, changing the maladies of the body for the maladies of the soul. Imitating those who balance weights on a scale, they remove just as much of their sadness 99 as they add to their pleasure. I think, ^C indeed, that nature should be helped by wine, but it must by no means be permitted that so great an amount of undiluted wine be poured in that it casts a fog over the reason. For neither will the sadness flow away together with the wine, but the evil of drunkenness will be added to the soul. And if reason is the physician of sadness, drunkenness would clearly be the greatest of evils, since it hinders the medicine of the soul. But now call to mind each of the things that have been said, and you will find that the apostolic mandate can be fulfilled and is useful. You will understand how you may rejoice always, if you follow right reason; how you may pray without ceasing, how you may give thanks in all things, and finally how you may be able to console the afflicted 1, so that from...