FATHERS OF EGYPT: FOURTH CENTURY
ANNO DOMINI 345
SAINT ORSIESIUS, ABBOT OF TABENNA
NOTICE
(Galland, *Veterum Patrum Bibliotheca*, vol. V, Prolegomena, p. viii.)
A Orsiesius, as he is called by Jerome in the *Codex Regularum* of Holstenius, and in Greek *Orsiesios*, appears to have been an Egyptian by birth. Having embraced the monastic life under the discipline of Saint Pachomius, the founder of the Tabennensian monks, he is said to have made such progress that, even while a young man, he was appointed by him as superior of the Chenoboskion monastery (*Chenoboskio*), as the anonymous contemporary author of the Life of Saint Pachomius testifies. Indeed, that holy Abbot once addressed his monks, saying: "I tell you, Orsiesius sheds a radiance in the house of the Lord like a golden lamp; and in him shall be fulfilled that which is written: 'I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.'" "I say to you," he continues in Greek, "Orsiesius is thus advancing; he is a golden lamp in the house of the Lord, and that which is written shall possess him: 'I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.'" Nor did Saint Anthony the Abbot think otherwise of Orsiesius, whom he was accustomed to call an Israelite—that is, "one who sees God"—and his monks the sons of an Israelite.
Endowed with exceptional virtue, the blessed Orsiesius, after the death of Saint Pachomius in the year 349, although reluctantly and not without much lamentation, was placed in charge of the government of the Tabennensian monks. B Meanwhile, as the multitude of cenobites grew and he judged himself unequal to bearing such a burden, he took to himself as a colleague the monk Theodore, who was indeed younger, but was outstanding in his sanctity of life and eloquence, and was intensely devoted to the meditation and study of the sacred Scriptures in particular. The force and strength of his sermons seemed to increase perpetually for the consolation of the brothers; nor did he offer merely bare parables in his spiritual conversations, but also, as the aforementioned contemporary writer says, their exposition. Gennadius agrees with this, leaving behind these words recorded in writing: "Orsiesius, a man perfectly instructed in the holy Scriptures, composed a book seasoned with divine salt, constructed with the instruments of all monastic discipline; and, to put it simply, in it almost the whole of the Old and New Testaments is found to be expounded in brief dissertations, according to the needs of the monks alone; which book, however, he presented to the fathers instead of a testament near the day of his death."
Basnagius wonders, and rightly so, that Cave should have supposed the book of Orsiesius mentioned by Gennadius had long since perished, C for later, when he was succeeded by another in his own place, he betook himself to the Chenoboskion monastery. But around the year 368, when Saint Theodore the Abbot was called to heaven, Orsiesius, at the request of the great Athanasius, again took up the care of the Tabennensian monks: a duty he performed duly for no small span of time, and, full of days, is thought to have flown to those above in about the year 380.
D II. Orsiesius was an abbot outstanding not only in piety and since from these cha-
with the characters by which a book of that kind is marked as having been handed down, as the priest of Marseille transmits, it is clear that it is the same one that is inscribed as Orsiesius’s *Doctrine on the Institution of Monks*; which, indeed, more than nine hundred years ago, Benedict, abbot of Aniane, wove into his work *On the Rules of Diverse Fathers*, published in the previous century under the title of *Codex Regularum* by Holstenius. For whoever inspects that Orsiesian *Doctrine* will perceive that Gennadius pointed his finger at it plainly, since in that work that most blessed Father teaches not only monastic discipline, but also, in order to fix spiritual instructions more deeply in the minds of cenobites, weaves almost the entire book from passages of both the Old and the New Testament. What is more, the holy abbot of Aniane, Benedict, commemorates this same *Doctrine* of Orsiesius not infrequently in his *Concordia Regularum*.
B There exists, moreover, a booklet published by Canisius from an old Latin version, of the same Orsiesius as it seems, *On the Six Thoughts of the Holy*, namely: of God, of the passion of Christ, of the hour of passing, of the day of judgment, of hell, and of eternal life. Although Cave suspects that a booklet of this kind is the work of some later writer, Basnage and Fabricius, among others, judge that it should be ascribed to our Orsiesius. Nor without merit: the names agree, says the editor of the Canisian *Thesaurus*; the purpose, which is very pious, agrees; the style also agrees: for although that collection of maxims is very brief, yet many passages of the Old and New Testament are gathered there (just as in the *Doctrine*), by whose aid faith can be confirmed and the piety of the holy can be nourished.
C Furthermore, each of the booklets of the holy abbot Orsiesius was first written by the author in Egyptian, then rendered into the Greek language, and lastly translated into Latin by saint Jerome. For in the preface to the *Rule of Saint Pachomius* that greatest Doctor has these words: "I received books sent to me by the man of God, the priest Silvanus, which he had received after they had been sent from Alexandria, so that he might also order them to be translated. For he said that in the cenobies of the Thebaid many Latins lived who were ignorant of the Egyptian and Greek language, in which the precepts of Pachomius, Theodore, and Orsiesius were written." And after a few words are inserted: "Therefore," he adds, "having summoned a notary, as they had been translated from the Egyptian into the Greek language, I dictated them in our tongue." The holy Doctor closes his own preface with these words: "We have imitated the simplicity of the Egyptian speech, lest a rhetorical style should change apostolic men, and those who are full of spiritual grace. But I have not wished to pre-taste the remaining things which are contained in their treatises, so that they may be learned from their own authors; and that those who are delighted by the studies of holy conversation may drink from the fountains rather than from the rivulets." Thus far Jerome.
D From which it is therefore found, as I indeed judge, that the holy Doctor translated into Latin the literary monuments not only of Pachomius and Theodore, but also of Orsiesius, of whom, indeed, he had made mention together a little before. It is added, moreover, that the writings of these same Egyptian Fathers became known to the Latins at the end of the century, as we learn from Gennadius; and they are deservedly believed to have obtained such knowledge for themselves only from the Hieronymian version. Nor did the illustrious Tillemont think otherwise in this matter.
Since these things are so, in the recent Veronese edition of the works of the holy Doctor, this Hieronymian version of Orsiesius’s *Doctrine* might perhaps have found an opportune place, for that very reason for which the most learned editor first introduced the *Rule of Pachomius*, and also the epistles of the same and of Theodore. For the holy Doctor received the works of these three holy Tabennesian abbots, rendered in Greek together by the man of God, the priest Silvanus, and, as they were translated from Egyptian into Greek, he dictated them in his own language, as we have just heard from him. As for the rest, we have copied the *Doctrine* of Orsiesius from the Holstenian *Codex Regularum* of the Roman edition, but the booklet *On the Six Thoughts of the Holy* from the Canisian *Thesaurus*.
THE DOCTRINE ON THE INSTITUTION OF MONKS OF SAINT ORSIESIUS, ABBOT OF TABENNA
Hear, Israel, and perceive with your ears, and understand prudence. Why is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies, that you have grown old in a strange land, that you have been defiled with the dead, that you have been compared with those who
are in hell, and have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. If you had walked in the way of God, you would have lived in peace. Learn therefore, he says, where is prudence, where is fortitude of glory and virtue, where is intelligence, where is the light of the eyes and peace. Who has found its place, and who has entered into its treasures? These things Baruch spoke on behalf of those who were led into captivity to the land of Babylon and their enemies, because they did not wish to receive the commands of the prophets, and they forgot the law of God which was given through Moses. For this reason, God brought upon them punishments and torments, and submitted them to the yoke of captivity, instructing them therefore as his own, and correcting them as a father does his sons, not wishing them to perish when corrected, but desiring to save them through penitence.
II. Whence we too ought to be mindful of the apostolic words, which say: If he did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare us. And shall we neglect to fulfill the commandments of God? All these things happened to them in figures; but they were written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. And they indeed were transferred from the city of Judah to the city of the Chaldeans, changing locations in the lands; but if God should see us negligent, we shall lose our city in the future age; and abandoning joy, we shall be handed over to the captivity of torments, and we shall lose the everlasting joy, which our fathers and brothers found through unceasing labor.
III. Therefore, let not forgetfulness conquer us, nor let us consider the patience of God to be ignorance, for he sustains and delays for this purpose: that, converted to better things, we might not be handed over to torments. When we sin, let us not think that God consents to our sins because he does not vindicate immediately; but let us consider that when we quickly depart from this age, we shall be separated in the future from our fathers and brothers who possess the place of victory. Which we also shall have if we are willing to tread in their footsteps, and attend to this: that the apostle Paul here also separates the saints from the sinners, and delivers the delinquents to the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, and whom he corrects that he might be mended; and he teaches him his law, that he may walk in his commandments all the days of his life; who does not murmur for his sin. B
IV. Therefore, let us also examine our ways, and judge our own steps; and let us return to the Lord, and let us lift up our hearts with our hands on high and into heaven, that in the day of judgment he may be our helper, and we may not be put to shame when we speak to our enemies in the gate, but rather be worthy to hear: Open the gates, that the people who keep justice and truth may enter. To whom truth is a concern, and who possesses peace, he can say: Because we have hoped in you, O Lord, forever. Let us be mindful of the Lord, and let Jerusalem ascend over our hearts. Let us not forget that man, of whom it is written: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in him; he shall be as a tree planted near the waters, and he sends forth his roots to the moisture; he shall not fear when the heat arrives, and he shall have leafy branches, and in the time of drought he shall be green, bringing forth solicitous fruit. The heart is grave in all, and it is man, and who knows him? I the Lord who search the hearts and reins, that I may render to each according to his ways. C
V. Let us be mindful of ourselves, nor let us contemn the sins that we have committed; and let us ponder with a solicitous heart each one of the commandments of our father, and of those who have taught us, not only believing in Christ, but also suffering for him, and knowing that mystery of which it is said: The breath of our face, Christ the Lord; and elsewhere: Your law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths; and again: The word of the Lord has enlivened me; and: The law of the Lord is immaculate, converting souls. The command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes. And the Apostle: The law, he says, is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Understanding all of which, we shall be worthy to hear: When the just man falls he shall not be bruised, for the Lord sustains his hand; and again: The just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again.
VI. Now therefore, brothers, with God acting and urging us toward penitence, let us awake from deep sleep, because our adversary as a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour, to whom we must resist keenly, and know that the same struggles have happened also to our ancestors. Let us not fail while laboring, casting the seeds of virtues, that in the future we may be able to reap joys, and let us listen to Paul teaching: But you have followed my doctrine, instruction, purpose, patience, persecution, and following the examples of the saints, let us remain in that which we have begun, having Jesus as prince and perfecter. Let us understand the hair of our head on the way, that it may be as ointment upon our beard, that it may reach even to the hem of our garment, that we may be able to fulfill all things which are written.
VII. Wherefore, O leaders and superiors of monasteries and of houses, to whom men are entrusted, and among whom are found T, or I, or E, or A, to speak in common, to whom men are entrusted, let each with his own companies await the coming of the Savior, that they may prepare an army ornamented with arms for his sight. Do not chill them in carnal things, and fail to provide spiritual foods. Or again, teach spiritual things, and afflict them in carnal things, namely in foods and in clothing. But provide both spiritual and carnal foods equally, and give them no occasion for negligence. Or what is this justice, that we should afflict the brothers with labor, and ourselves be free for leisure? Or impose upon them a yoke that we ourselves are not able to bear? We read in the Gospel: With what measure
A you mete, it shall be measured to you again. Hence, let us have in common both the labor and the refreshment with them; let us not think of the disciples as slaves, and let their tribulation be our joy, lest the evangelical word rebuke us with the Pharisees: Woe to you, scribes, who bind heavy burdens and lay them upon men's shoulders, but yourselves will not touch them with a finger.
VIII. There are some who attend to themselves so that, living according to the commandment of God, they say: "What have I to do with others? I, for my part, so that I may serve God and fulfill his commandments, it does not concern me what others do." Ezekiel rebukes this, saying: O shepherds of Israel, do the shepherds not feed themselves? Is it not the sheep they feed? Behold, you have eaten the milk, and you clothe yourselves with the wool; that which is fat you have sacrificed, and that which is weak you have not strengthened; that which was broken you have not bound up; that which was straying you have not brought back; that which was lost you have not sought; that which was strong you have made weary with labor, and you have scattered my sheep, because they had no shepherds. Therefore, the Lord himself will come with his elders and his princes, and that which is in us will be fulfilled: Your exactors shall plunder you, and those who lead you astray make you err. But rather we ought to hear: Blessed is the land whose king is a son; thy nobles and thy princes eat in time for strength, and shall not be confounded.
IX. Therefore, O man, even unto the one soul that has been entrusted to you, do not cease to warn and to teach what things are holy, and to show yourself an example of good works, and to take the greatest care not to love one and hate another; but show equality to all: lest perchance whom you B love, God should hate, and whom you hate, God should love. Do not consent to any erring person for the sake of friendship, so that you press down one and lift up another, and your labor perish. Let those sit in the lower places in which our Father commands not to sit at all; let the heads of the houses beware lest some one of the brothers should do an injury to a superior, and he, being angry, should judge, and say: "What reason have I toward a contemptuous man? Let him do what he wishes, it does not concern me; I neither warn him, nor do I correct the erring brother; whether he is saved, or whether he perishes, it does not concern me." O man, why say these things? Understand in what fury you are overcome; and hatred has occupied your heart, that the brother should perish by your fault rather than by his own sin; he to whom you ought to forgive and receive him as a penitent, so that you may be able to say that evangelical prayer: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. If therefore you wish that God forgive your sins to you, and you forgive your brother whatever it is in which he has sinned against you, mindful of that commandment: You shall not hate your brother in your heart; and of Solomon warning: Rouse your fellow citizen for whom you have pledged yourself; and again: Do not cease to instruct the child; for if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. Also listen to Moses saying: You shall correct with a correction your neighbor, and again that of Solomon: He who does not warn a son, so that he may guard himself from destruction, shall quickly be dissolved.
X. C All those to whom the care of the brothers has been committed, let them prepare themselves for the coming of the Savior and his fearful tribunal. For if to render an account for oneself is full of danger and fear, how much more to undergo torment for another's fault, and to fall into the hands of the living God? Neither can we plead ignorance, when it is written: God shall bring every deed into judgment, in all that has been neglected, whether it be good or evil; and in the Apostle we read: We must all be manifested before the tribunal of Christ, that everyone may receive for what he has done, whether it be good or evil. Isaiah also signifies the appointed day, in which God is about to judge the world in justice, saying: Behold the day of the Lord comes of unstoppable fury and wrath, to lay the world in a desert, and to destroy the sinners from it. We know that everything which has been written in the Law, and which the prophecies of the prophets have foretold to us, our holy Father has also taught, that we are to be detained and to render an account for individual things, why we did not do them, or did them lazily. For he to whom all judgment has been given by the Father speaks, and Truth teaches the truth: Do not think that I accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me also: for he wrote of me.
XI. From all these things we learn that we ought to stand before the tribunal of Christ, and to be judged not only for deeds, but also for thoughts; and after the account of our own life, we are also destined to render D a similar account for others who have been entrusted to us. And this is to be heard not only by the heads of the houses, but also by the leaders of monasteries, and by the individual brothers who are reckoned among the people: because all ought to bear one another's burdens, that they may fulfill the law of Christ, and hear the Apostle writing to Timothy: O Timothy, guard the deposit, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and the profession of a falsely named science. And we have a deposit handed down by God, by the conversation of the brothers, for whom we are laboring and expecting future rewards, lest perchance it be said also to us: Dismiss this people, that they may go away; and that it be brought against those who desert the traditions of our Father: Those who have the law have not known me; the shepherds have acted impiously against me. Whence he rebukes others saying: I have given my inheritance into your hand, but you have given no mercy; you have made the elders heavy with a yoke. Which it is necessary for us not only to hear, but also to understand: For he who is ignorant shall be ignored. And in another place it is written: Because you have rejected my knowledge...
I will also reject you, so that you do not perform the priestly office for me. A XII. Therefore, my dearest brothers, who follow the life and precepts of the cenobites, stand in the purpose you once grasped, and fulfill the work of God, so that the Father who first established the cenobia may speak joyfully for us to the Lord: "As I have delivered to them, so they live." The same thing which the Apostle also, while still constituted in the body, said: "I praise you, that in all things you are mindful of me; and as I have delivered them to you, you have kept my traditions."
XIII. And you therefore, leaders of monasteries, be solicitous, and apply all care for the brothers with the fear and justice of God; and do not abuse your power for punishments, but provide yourselves as an example to all and to the flock subject to you, just as our Lord also in all things provided himself as an example, who placed his household like sheep, so that you should have mercy on the flock entrusted to you, and be mindful of the apostolic judgment, in which he says: "I have not withheld, that I should not declare unto you all the counsel of God"; and again: "I ceased not to admonish every one of you, and to teach you publicly." See how many bowels of compassion and how much mercy there were in the man of God, who is not only solicitous for all the Churches, but languishes with the languishing, and bears the passions of all. Let us beware, lest through our negligence someone be scandalized and fall, and we be forgotten by the words of the Lord Savior, who speaks in the Gospel: "Father, those whom you have given me, I have not lost any of them." Let us not despise any soul, lest everyone perish through our hardness. For if someone has died because of us, our own soul shall be held accountable for his soul. Which indeed our Father also was accustomed to dwell upon incessantly for us, and exhorted that that saying might not be fulfilled in us: "Singuli opprimunt proximum suum" (Each one oppresses his neighbor). And again: "If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another." From which it appears that he who guards the soul of another is the guardian of his own soul. B XIV. But you also who are second in the monastery, show yourselves to be first in virtues, lest anyone perish through your vice. Do not fall into that disgrace into which he falls, who eats and drinks with the drunkards, and has not given his fellow-servants food in his time: "And the Lord will come in a day that he hopes not, and in an hour that he knows not, and shall divide him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Let not a similar condemnation seize any of you, but when the times of refreshing have come, we may deserve to hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord."
XV. You also, C superiors of individual houses, be ready to answer to everyone who demands from you an account of the faith that is in you. Admonish those who are disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, act patiently toward all, and listen to the Apostle admonishing: "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but nourish them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord; and know that to whom more is given, more will be required of him; and to whom more is entrusted, more will be expected." And do not consider only those things which are profitable to you, but those which are for your neighbors; and let the Scripture be fulfilled in you, saying: "Because you follow each one the utility of his own house; therefore the heaven shall restrain its dew, and the earth shall not give its fruits, because you have aggravated your words against me." It is said also elsewhere: "Because you did it not to one of these least, you did it not to me."
XVI. I will say it more often, and I will repeat the same things: Beware lest you love some and hate others; lest you support this one and neglect that one, and your labor be found vain, and all your sweat perish; and when you have gone out of the body, and freed from the turbulence of this world, you have thought to enter into a haven of rest; then you may find the shipwrecks of injustice, and in what measure you have measured, it shall be measured back to you by him who does not accept persons in judgment. If any mortal thing or anything of shame has been committed in the houses through the negligence of the superiors, after their own punishments, the superior also will be held guilty of the crime: D which our Father of holy memory was accustomed to force upon us always.
XVII. Wherefore with all caution and solicitude let each one guard the flock committed to him, and imitate the shepherds from the Gospel, to whom not sleeping, but watching, the angel of God came, and announced the coming of the Savior. Who also himself says: "The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep: but he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the flock and flees, and the wolf snatches it and devastates it, because he is a hireling, and it does not pertain to him concerning the sheep." Concerning the good shepherds, Luke writes the history: "And there were shepherds watching, and keeping the night-watches over their flock. And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of God shone round about them, and they feared with great fear. And the angel said to them: Fear not, for behold I evangelize to you a great joy, that shall be to all the people: For there is born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord in the city of David. And this shall be a sign to you: You shall find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger." Did they alone at that time pasture the sheep, and follow the flock through the desert? But because they alone were solicitous, and the fear of the lurking wolves overcame the natural sleep of the nights; therefore they deserved to hear first what was in the neighborhood: yet Jerusalem sleeping was ignorant. Whence also David says: "Behold he shall not sleep, who guards Israel." Therefore also you with trembling and fear watch, working...
A out your salvation, and knowing that the Lord of all, through whom every flesh will receive whatever it has wrought, appeared after the resurrection only to the apostles, and said to Peter, the chief of the apostles: "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He answered him: "Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus says to him: "Feed my lambs." He says to him again a second time: "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He answered him: "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." He says to him: "Feed my sheep." A third time he commanded that he should feed the sheep; and in that, he enjoined upon all of us this office, that we should diligently feed the sheep of the Lord, and on the day of his visitation for our labor and keeping watch we may receive what he promised us in the Gospel, saying: "Father, I wish that where I am, they also may be with me." And again: "Where I am, there also shall my minister be." Let us look to the promises; and being B confident in the rewards, let us more easily endure every labor, walking just as the Lord himself walked, who is the promiser of rewards.
XVIII. You too, who are second in charge of individual houses, pursue humility and modesty; and consider the individual precepts of the elders as the rule of community life, so that in observing them you may save your souls, and be like him who says: "My soul is in my hands always." Let the son glorify the father, and rejoice in your fruits, because without works and fruits no one will rejoice in the Lord's fellowship, so that when you have had fruit in the Lord, you may possess him as heir and co-heir.
XIX. But you also, all you brothers, who are subject through the order of free service, have your loins girded and lamps burning in your hands; similar to servants who await their lord when he returns from the wedding, so that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. Blessed are the servants whom the coming Lord finds watching. So also it will be for you, if long labor does not produce weariness in you; you will be called to the celestial banquet, and the angels will serve you. These are the promises for those who keep the commandments of God, and these are the rewards of the things to come. Rejoice in the Lord; again I say, rejoice. Be subject to the Fathers with all obedience; without murmurings and varied thoughts, carrying simplicity of soul toward good works, so that, full of virtues and the fear of God, you may be made worthy of the adoption of God. Seize the shield of faith, in which you may be able to extinguish all the burning arrows of the devil, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Be wise as serpents, and simple as doves. Listen to Paul speaking: "Children, obey your parents," and possess the salvation of your souls through those who are set over you. And in another place also it is written: "Acquiesce to your leaders and be subject, because they watch for your souls, rendering an account for you." And C always fear that which the same Apostle speaks: "You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of the Lord dwells in you. If however anyone violates the temple of God, God will destroy him." And again: "Do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, in whom you are marked for the day of redemption of just judgment."
XX. Preserve the purity of your body, so that you may be a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed. For whoever is born of God, does not sin; because his seed remains in him. The same John speaks: "I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one." When you also have conquered the enemy, with God providing aid for you, then he himself will say: "I will rescue them from hell, and I will redeem them from death: where is your controversy, O death? where is your sting, O death?" If we truly devour death, we will overcome it, and it will be said to us: "Death will no longer have dominion over them": because the death by which we have died once to sin, is dead in us, and the life by which we live in Christ, we live forever. For whoever dies in the flesh, will be justified from sin. Let us by no means live anymore in the desires of men, but let us complete the remaining life in the will of God. You who fear the Lord, arm yourselves with chastity, so that you may merit to hear: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit." And know that to the perfect things are granted, and to the empty are returned emptiness, according to the evangelical sermon: "To him who has, it will be given, and he will have abundance: but he who does not have, what he seemed to have will be taken away from him." Let us imitate the wise virgins, who merited to enter the bridal chamber with the bridegroom, who had in their vessels and lamps the oil of good works. Furthermore, the foolish virgins found the door of the bridal chamber closed, because they did not want to prepare oil for themselves before the wedding. These things happened to them as a figure; for they were written for our correction; so that we might avoid the old things, and keep the precepts of the Wise man, who says: "My son, if your heart is wise, you will gladden my heart, and my lips will recount your words," if they are righteous. And again: "Let not your heart envy D sinners, but be in the fear of God all the day; and observe the worship of God constantly."
XXI. Let us watch more attentively, and let us know that God has bestowed great grace upon us through our Father Pachomius, so that we renounced the world; and we put to naught every anxiety of the world, and the cares of secular things. What occasion is left for us, that we might have anything of our own from a thread even to the shoelatchet, when we have superiors who are anxious for us with fear and trembling both in food, and in clothing, and in bodily weakness if by chance it should occur; so that we may fear in nothing, and through the occasion of the flesh lose the riches of the soul? We are free; the yoke from the neck...
of our worldly servitude we have cast off; why do we wish to return again to our vomit, and to have something about which we may be anxious, and which we may fear to lose? To what purpose is a superfluous cloak, or more luxurious feasts, or a better bed, when all things are prepared in common, and nothing is harsher than the cross of Christ? According to which our living Fathers, having built us upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and the discipline of the Gospels, which is contained by the corner-stone, the Lord Jesus Christ A, following whom we descend from the deadly altitude to vital humility, exchanging riches for poverty, and delights for simple food.
XXII. Do not, I implore you, forget the purpose once undertaken, and let us consider the traditions of our Father as ladders tending to the kingdom of heaven. Do not desire the things that you have already trodden underfoot. It is enough for us to have what is sufficient for man: two tunics, and another worn one, and a linen cloak, two hoods, a linen girdle, heavy boots, a skin, and a staff. If any ministry and administration of the monastery is entrusted to someone, and if he should make profit from it, let it be thought a crime, B and let it be sacrilege for anything to come from it and to be turned to his own rest, as if despising those who do not have, and are rich in happy poverty, so that he not only perishes himself, but also provokes others to perish. And those indeed who have bowed their neck, and with all humility and affliction, weeping and lamenting, have pleased God in the present life, when they shall have departed from this little body, shall be led, and shall recline with the holy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the prophets and apostles; and they shall enjoy consolation worthy of them, just as Lazarus enjoyed it in the bosom of Abraham. But those who lived C in the monastery, and from the common funds diverted something into their own uses, woe to them! When they have departed from the body it will be said to them: Remember that you received your good things in your life; while the brothers were laboring, and sweating in fastings and continence and incessant work. Therefore, look upon those in joy and gladness who have left the present life, that they might attain the future: but you, who are established in squalor and torments and misery, because you would not hear the evangelical sermon, and you despised the words of Isaiah saying: Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, my D servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall exult; but you shall cry out because of the pain of your heart, and you shall wail because of the contrition of spirit. You have heard all the beatitudes of the Scriptures, and you would not accept discipline.
XXIII. Therefore, brothers, let us be equal, from the least to the greatest, as much the rich as the poor, perfect in concord and humility, so that it may be said of you also: He who gathered much, had nothing over; and he who gathered little, had no lack. Let no one provide for his own delights, seeing his brother established in poverty and straits, lest that prophetic word be said to him: Has not God created you? Is there not one Father of you all? Why have you abandoned each one his brother, so that you might make abominable the testament of your fathers? Judah has been forsaken, but an abomination has been made in Israel. Wherefore, according to that which the Lord and Savior commanded the apostles, saying: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I also have loved you; and by this shall you know that you are my disciples; we ought to love one another, and show that we are truly the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, and sons of Pachomius, and disciples of the monasteries.
XXIV. If the superior of the house should rebuke any of the brothers who are subject to him, instructing him in the fear of God, and desiring to correct him from error; and another should wish to speak for him, and to defend him, subverting his heart: he who does this, sins against his own soul; because he subverts him who could have been corrected, and casts onto the ground the one rising up, and has deceived with evil persuasion the one tending toward better things, being himself erroneous and making others err. To him that will be applied fittingly: Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink to his confusion, and inebriates him; Woe to him who makes the blind to wander in the way; He who scandalizes any of those who believe in God: it is expedient for him that a millstone be hung about his neck, and he be cast into the sea. Because he subverts, as we have said, the one lifting himself up, and has transferred the obedient one to pride; and he who could have walked in the sweetness of charity, he has turned into bitterness; and he has depraved the one subject to the laws of the monastery with evil counsels, and has made him hate and be saddened against him who was teaching him the Lord’s discipline, sowing quarrels among brothers and discord, and not fearing that which is written: Who are you that judge another man’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. But he shall stand; for the Lord is powerful to raise him up again. Consider what he said: But the Lord is powerful to raise him up. He is not powerful, who passes by the words of the Lord.
XXV. Whence, brothers, let us greatly avoid subverting anyone’s mind against his teacher and monitor; and let us remember the Scripture saying: Free your heart from malice, that you may be saved. Nor let us sow pride and contumacy in our hearts against one another for the sake of obedience. For he who fears his Lord, if he should see his brother err and slip, he ought rather to show what things are holy, and to show the straight path, that walking with all chastity and fear of God, he may follow that sentence of Solomon: Free those who are being led to death, and do not cease to redeem from slaughter. Neither say: I do not know this man. Know that God searches the hearts of all. And Jude in his Epistle speaks: And some snatching from the fire, and hating the defiled garment. Let us beware of such a garment, and let us rather put on the armor of God, so that we may be able to resist the snares of the devil. For there is not...
A to us a struggle against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities, against the rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
XXVI. This also must be most carefully guarded against, that no one entrust anything to another house or another cell, and thus act contrary to the discipline of the monastery. Whoever is such as this is not in the number of the brethren, but is a hireling and a stranger; nor ought he to eat the Pascha of the Lord among the saints, because he has become a stumbling block in the monastery, and it could be said of him: "Cast out the stones from my way." For if our linen garments, when we wash them, are not dry by evening, we do not have the authority to keep them with us, but we give them to the superior to whom we have been entrusted, or to him to whom the storehouse has been entrusted, so that he may carry them to that place where the clothes of all are kept, and in the morning they are given to us to spread out in the sun; and when they are dry, we do not keep them with us, but give them to the common store to be kept according to the precepts of the elders: how much more then, if you have been seen to possess things of your own, and you entrust them to another or wish them to remain in your own power, do you sin against the discipline of the monastery, not understanding Paul speaking to you: "But you have been called unto liberty; only do not use liberty as an occasion for the flesh, but by love serve one another"; and again: "The Lord is near; be not anxious, but be intent in prayer and supplications." Let him also know, who receives something entrusted to him by another and thinks he is doing a pious thing to refresh a brother, that he sins against his own soul, subverting the rule of the monastery. O fool, your soul has been committed to your superior; and does he who guards your soul and body deserve to be considered unworthy to guard corruptible things? Let us love justice, that we may be justified. For we read: "Mercy meets those who do the truth."
XXVII. This too must be observed, that no one, deceived by a foolish thought, or rather ensnared by the devil's traps, should say in his heart: "When I die, then I will donate to the brothers what I have." O most foolish of men, where did you find this written? Did not all the saints serving God immediately lay aside every burden of the world? Did they not, in the Acts of the Apostles, bring everything they possessed to the feet of the apostles? But how will you be able to put on the garment of justice as a dead man, you who did not deserve to have it while living? Why have you forgotten that which is written: "What a man sows, that he shall also reap"; and: "Each one shall receive according to what he has done"; and: "He will render to each one according to his works"; and again: "I the Lord, searching the hearts and proving the reins, that I may render to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his inventions"? Why, while you do not yet live in the life, and settled in this little body, do you not hear David speaking: "He treasures up, and knows not for whom he is gathering them"; and the B word of the Gospel, rebuking the covetous man: "Fool, this night they will demand your soul from you; and whose will those things be which you have prepared?" and again: "In that day all their thoughts will perish." Fool, why do you not wish to hear the Lord exhorting: "Go, and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and take up your cross, and come, and follow me"? Hearing which, the young man turned backward; for his heart was not upright; and therefore he could not lay down the heavy burden of riches. He did indeed have the will, as Scripture testifies, for a perfect life, and was drawn to praise by the splendor of virtues, but riches held him back as he ran, and he could not hear the Master's doctrine, because he was still thinking of the delights of the world. Whence the Savior also speaks: "It is difficult for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of heaven"; and again: "No one can serve two masters: for he will either hate the one and love the other; or he will be obedient to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Moreover, the Pharisees, when they were covetous, heard these things and mocked him: whose unbelief let us avoid, nor let us mock those who provoke us. Let us renounce the world, that, being perfect, we may follow the perfect treasure. To those whose soul covetousness possesses, poverty for Christ's sake seems foolish. Great is the gain of piety with contentment. For we have brought nothing into this world, nor can we carry anything out; but having food and clothing, let us be content with these. But those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and a snare, into many desires which are foolish and harmful, and which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the root of all evils is covetousness.
XXVIII. Even today Elijah rebukes Israel, saying: "How long do you limp on both sides? If God is Lord, follow him." And he speaks to us: If the commandments that God has delivered to us through our Father are those, in following which we can arrive at the kingdom of heaven, let us fulfill them with all desire: but if we follow our own thoughts, and the mind tends toward another thing, why do we not simply confess our error, and show that we are what we are ashamed to be seen as? Lest perhaps it be said to us also: "Why have you defiled my holy place?" And: "I will cast them out of my house." Since indeed the assembly of monks is truly the house of God, and the vineyard of the saints, as we read written: "A vineyard was made for Solomon in the place which is called Beelamon; he gave it to the keepers; each one brings for its fruits a thousand silver pieces. My vineyard is before me: a thousand for Solomon, and two hundred for those who guard its fruit." Lest, therefore, defiling it, we be cast out, as we read in the Gospel of those cast out of the temple who were selling sheep and oxen in it: the Lord and Savior, also entering, and making for himself a whip of cords, cast the money-changers out of the temple, and pouring out the coins and [overturning] the tables of those who were selling C D
he said: Take these things hence, and do not make the house of my Father a house of trade. For it is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations; but you have made it a den of thieves. And elsewhere: By reason of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.
XXIX. I beseech you, brethren, that it may not be said of us also: One is hungry, and another is drunk: do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God, and confound those who have nothing? To whom it is said: If any man is hungry, let him eat at home, that you may not come together unto judgment. Let not our house be of a strange voice, lest that [word] be suitably applied to us: The works of Egypt they have not taken away from them. And again: They have not walked in my precepts, and they have defiled my Sabbaths; therefore when they shall cry to me, I will not hear them. Let us not remain in the hardness of our heart, and provoke God to anger, and make him our enemy, and let him say: I gave them commands that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live; because they have eaten the fruit of a lie, and have adored the works of their own hands, and their land is filled from the beginning with augury, like the land of the Gentiles.
XXX. That after we have renounced the world, and have begun to follow the banner of the cross, we may not again turn to the things that are behind and seek temporal comfort, imitating Ephraim, who said: I am become rich, and have found a comfort for myself; lest we hear that which he also deserved to hear: All his labors are not found because of the iniquities in which he has sinned. And lest that be fulfilled in us: You began in the spirit, and now are made perfect by the flesh: have you suffered so many things in vain? And that word be said against us: The law hath perished from the priest, and counsel from the seniors; and the hands of the people have been dissolved: the elders have rested from the gate, the chosen have ceased from their psalms. And again let it be said: Because of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles; and with the institutions of our Father despised, let forgetfulness creep in, and through our own vice may we neglect the mediator of God and the saints. A
XXXI. For what fruit, or what sign of the precepts of God may be found in us, or in what [way] may we fulfill the profession we have undertaken? Do we not abandon all things, and lie subject to avarice, and is it not said to us: Whence are wars and contentions? Are they not from avarice? For because everyone seeks his own interest, not that of his neighbor; even to this day, the living Ezechiel with prophetic speech rebukes us, saying: Merchants were in thee. The son dishonors the father, and the father reproaches the son. What shall we answer in the day of judgment, or what shall we be able to offer for our defense? All these things are done to us because B the priests have clapped their hands, and the people have loved in like manner. For as the people, so the priest. Therefore I will render to him, he says, according to his ways, and I will repay him his thoughts.
XXXII. I do not say these things to all of you, but to those who despise the precepts of the elders: and it was much better for them not to know the way of justice, than after knowing it to turn back from that which was delivered to them, the holy commandment. Jeremiah, mourning over men of this sort, writes: My eyes have failed with tears, my bowels are troubled, my glory is poured out on the earth, upon the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the little one and the suckling have failed in the streets of the city. To their mothers they have said: Where is the corn and the wine? when they fainted as the wounded in the streets of the city, when they poured out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers. We know that God does not desire the strength of the horse, nor does he take pleasure in the legs of a man.
XXXIII. And therefore let us return to the Lord our God, so that when we have prayed he may hear us, he who daily exhorts us that we may have leisure and know him. And elsewhere he speaks: Return to me, and I will return to you; and again: Return to me, you receding children, and I will have dominion over you. Ezechiel likewise testifies and says: Why will you die, O house of Israel? I desire not the death of the sinner; only C that he return from his evil way, and live. And the most merciful Lord, the head of all goodness, cries out to us in the Gospel and testifies: Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. Let us consider that the goodness of God calls us to repentance, and holy men exhort us to salvation. Let us not harden our hearts, nor treasure up for ourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works: but with our whole heart let us return to the Lord, and according to the words of Moses, who reminds us: If you return to the Lord with all your heart, he will cleanse your heart and the heart of your seed.
XXXIV. Let us labor as good soldiers of Christ, and observe that which is written: No man being a soldier to God entangleth himself with secular businesses, that he may please him to whom he hath engaged himself. But if anyone also strives in a contest, he is not crowned except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboreth must first partake of the fruits. It is written: All peoples will go, every one in his way. But we shall be magnified in the name of the Lord our God. They have been hindered and have fallen: but we have risen and are set upright.
XXXV. He that walketh in the day, stumbleth not; he that D
walketh in the night stumbles, because the light is not in him. But we, as the Apostle said, are not children of transgression unto perdition, but of faith unto the acquisition of the soul; and elsewhere he says: All of you are children of the light, and children of God. We are not children of the night, nor of darkness. If, therefore, we are children of light, we must know the things that are of light, and perform the fruits of light in every good work: for what is manifested, is light. If we return to the Lord with all our heart, and behave with a simple heart in the precepts of His saints and of our Father, we shall abound in every good work. But if we are overcome by the pleasures of the flesh, we shall grope at a wall in the day as if at midnight, and we shall not find the way of our city and our dwelling, of which it is said: The soul of the hungry and thirsty faileth; because they despised the law given to them by God, and did not hear the voice of the prophets; and therefore they could not arrive at the promised rest. B
XXXVIII. And since the mercy of the Lord the Savior is so great, and He provokes us to salvation, let us turn our hearts to Him: For the hour is now for us to awake from sleep: the night is passed, and the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. My little children, let us first love God with our whole heart; then let us love one another, mindful of the precepts of the God Savior, in which He says: My peace I give unto you, my peace I leave with you: not as the world giveth peace, do I give unto you. For on these two commandments the whole law depends, and the prophets.
XXXVI. Let us be watchful and attentive; for if He did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare us. I do not speak of all, but of the negligent, to whom that lamentation will rightly be applied: Woe to them that have departed from me! It is manifest that they have acted impiously against me: because they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves broken cisterns, that can hold no water. And because they did not hear His judges, let them hear God saying: I have set watchmen over you. Hear ye the voice of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hear. Whence this incredulity? Is it not because they knew strangers and were not opposed to them? The Holy Spirit speaks also elsewhere through the prophet: For I am the Lord thy God, who formed the heaven, and created the earth: whose hands have founded all the host of heaven, and I did not show it to thee, that thou shouldst walk after it. Which indeed He also commanded through Moses, saying: When thou hast looked up to heaven, and seen the sun and the moon and the stars and all the host of heaven, be not deceived by error to adore them. I am God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God besides me, and there is none that can save except me. I am He who fed thee in the desert, in a land of drought: and they were filled with fullness, and their hearts were lifted up. Therefore, they have forgotten me, and I will deliver them to be dispersed among all nations. C
XXXVII. Hearing these things, let us awake as from sleep, and render ourselves worthy of the service of the Lord, that He may have mercy and say to us: Call upon me, and I will hear you. For He Himself says: He that scattered Israel, hath gathered him; and elsewhere: I will not execute, He says, the fierceness of my wrath, nor will I so leave him as to destroy Ephraim; and again: I will not punish you forever, nor will I be angry with you always. For the spirit proceedeth from me, and all breath I have made. And in the same place He joins, and says: I have given them true consolation, peace upon peace to those who were near and far; and the Lord said, I will heal them. The full mercy of which, that we may know, He teaches by the word of Jeremiah, saying: If the heaven be lifted up on high, and the pavement of the earth be humbled down, I will not reject the people of Israel for all that they have done.
XXXIX. If anyone remains in the house of the monastery under a superior, needing nothing except what is permitted to be had in the monastery; and he has a father, or a brother, or a most dear friend, let him receive absolutely nothing from them, not a tunic, not a cloak, nor any other thing whatsoever. But if it be proved that he has less of those things that are commanded, all the guilt and correction shall be turned upon the superior.
XL. You, therefore, who are the leaders of monasteries, if you see any in need of any thing and in distress, do not neglect them, knowing that you will render an account for the whole flock, over which the Holy Spirit has placed you to oversee, and to feed the Church of God which He has purchased with His own blood. Therefore we who are stronger ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves, but our neighbor unto good, for edification. For Christ also did not please Himself, but, as it is written: The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me; and again: I do not seek, He says, what is profitable to me, but what is profitable to many, that they might be saved.
XLI. If, however, the Lord and our Savior so commands, and the saints have so walked, our Fathers also have so taught us, let us arise from sleep, let us do the things that are commanded to us. For whatsoever things were written, were written for our learning, that through patience and consolation of the Scriptures we might have hope; and let none of us be the cause of another's error, nor let us envy those who act prosperously in their life. For when they have attained all things necessary for the flesh, the dying will take nothing with them. The children of this world have confidence in this world, because they are of the world, and the world loveth its own. But those who are the children of God, His ser-
-Avants, recall the evangelical admonition: "If the world hate you, know that it hath hated me before you"; and again: "Whosoever will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God"; and again: "In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world"; and again: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." But what is said to the contrary concerning the children of the night? Is it not this: "Woe to you, O ye rich, for you have had your consolation. Woe to you that are filled now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep."
XLII. Wherefore let us avoid the friendships of the world, that we may deserve to hear: "In the evening weeping will have place, and in the morning gladness. The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me. Thou hast torn my sackcloth, and hast girded me with gladness." For which of the saints has not passed through the way of this world in struggle and sadness? Jeremiah says: "I sat not in the assembly of jesters, but I trembled before the face of thy hand. I sat alone, because I was filled with bitterness." David also writes: "As one mourning and sorrowful, so was I humbled." Insisting upon whose footsteps, we understand that our salvation is in the time of tribulation, and that the promise of the prophet may be fulfilled who says: "They shall not be left who are in distress, unless for a time." If, therefore, tribulation and distress have a time, and will not be eternal, let us sow in tears, that we may reap in joy, not failing; because we know that the Lord delivers His worshippers from temptation.
XLIII. The Lord is our father: The Lord is our judge: The Lord is our prince, the Lord is our king: the Lord Himself will save us: whose precepts if we neglect, we shall remain in distress. For He Himself says: "They that follow me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain": which we also shall possess, if we fulfill His law and hear that which is said: "Make your ways clean in his sight"; and again: "Take away the stumbling-blocks from the way of my people"; and elsewhere: "Cast out the pestilent man from the council, and B contention shall go out with him." He who calls the just unjust, and the unjust just, both are abominable in the sight of God. Let us take care lest it be said of us also: "Children have been alienated from him"; and that: "The daughters of Sion are lifted up, and have walked with stretched-out necks, and with wanton eyes, dragging their gowns as they walk and making a noise with their feet"; and that in our correction the prophetic discourse may again be in accord, saying: "How is the faithful city, Sion, become a harlot, she that was full of judgment, in which justice lodged? But now thieves"; and: "The understanding people was joined to a harlot. You therefore, Israel, be not ignorant." But if we meditate on the divine things, we shall be able to say that which David also says: "I will rejoice over thy eloquence, as one that findeth great spoils"; and: "How sweet are thy words to my palate, more than honey and the honeycomb to my mouth! Thy justifications were songs to me in the place of my pilgrimage"; and in another place: "I set no unjust thing before my eyes: I hated the workers of iniquity. A perverse heart did not cleave to me: the malignant that turned away from me I did not know: him that slandered his neighbor in secret, him I pursued: with him that had a proud look and an insatiable heart, I did not eat. My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to make them sit with me."
XLIV. Let us imitate the works of all these, that there may be peace and justice in our days, and that that which we read elsewhere may not happen to us: "Upon the land of my people thorns and briers shall come up." But rather let us break up our fallow ground, and let us not sow among thorns. And when we have kept the commandments that have been given to us, we shall be manifest that we love God, as the divine Scripture testifies also in another place: "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and I and my Father will come, and will make our abode with him, and I will manifest myself to him"; and: "You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you." Let us take many words with us, and let us turn to the Lord our God, and let us say to Him: "You can forgive sins, so that we may receive good things, and we shall render to Him the fruit of our lips, and our soul shall be delighted in us."
XLV. And would that we might repent of our error and negligence, and having turned to our former state, say: "Assur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses, and we will no more say: The works of our hands are our gods. For in thee the fatherless will find mercy: I will heal their dwellings." And again He shall say of us: "I will love them freely, and I will turn away my anger from them. I will be as the dew: Israel shall spring as the lily, and his root shall shoot forth as that of Libanus. His branches shall flow, and he shall be as the olive tree that is fruitful, and his smell as that of frankincense. They shall return and shall sit in their tabernacles, and they shall live, and they shall be strengthened with wheat: his memorial shall be as the vine, as the smell of the frankincense of Ephraim. What have I to do with idols? I will humble him, and comfort him. I am like a green juniper: from me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and will understand these things; or is intelligent, and shall know these things?" And would that we also might be able to bear fruit from Him, without which no good work can be done.
XLVI. Let us return to the Lord, that He may be able to say of us also: "I will not remember their sins and their iniquity any more." Let us not leave the law of God, which our Father received from Him and delivered to us; nor let us esteem His commandments lightly, lest
that lamentation be spoken over us: "How the gold has become dim, and the fine gold changed, the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street." Let us not, after the many labors which our Father undertook for our salvation, providing himself as an example of virtue and boasting of us and speaking among the saints: "These are my sons, and my people are my sons, and they will not deny me," lose the confidence of a good conscience, stripped of the garments in which he clothed us and led by him into the stadium to contend lawfully, so that we be not overcome by our enemies. And after we have come to that time when we depart from the body, let us not be found enemies of our Father, serving treasures, so that while we ought to have acquired the freedom of the soul through fasts and the affliction of the body, we dedicate ourselves to the flesh and to delights and to more beautiful garments and softer bedding, not only perishing ourselves, but leading others who might have progressed to ruin, concerning whom it is written: "You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but of fortitude, and of charity, and of chastity"; and: "Meat does not commend us to God. For neither if we eat shall we have abundance, nor if we do not eat shall we lack." "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but justice, and joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit." He who in this serves Christ, pleases God, and is approved by all. Isaiah also says: "They that wait upon the Lord shall change their strength, they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." Therefore He shall lift B up a sign to the nations, and will gather the fugitives of Israel. "They shall come with speed swiftly: they shall not hunger, nor shall they sleep. They shall not sleep, nor shall they loosen the zones from their loins, nor shall the thongs of their shoes be broken. Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent: their horses' hoofs shall be like the flint: the wheels of a carriage as a tempest: their roaring like that of lions, and they shall roar like the young lions."
C XLVII. Let us, therefore, be imitators of the saints, nor let us forget the instruction with which our Father instructed us, while he was still in the body. Let us not extinguish the burning lamp which he placed over our heads. Walking by its light in this age, let us remember that through his zeal God received us into His own family, granting hospitality to strangers, showing a harbor to those established in the whirlwinds of the sea, bread in famine, shade in heat, a garment in nakedness; he instructed the unskilled in spiritual precepts, encircled those serving vices with chastity, and joined those who were far off to himself. Lest after his dormition we forget such great goodness and immortal benefits, turning fury into judgment, and the fruit of justice into bitterness, and D acting against us: "Judge between me and my vineyard. I expected that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes, and not justice, but a cry"; and may that curse not come upon us, which the prophetic word pursues, and which we ought to flee with all our strength, following the conversation of those who preceded us in the Lord, both Fathers and brothers, who, renouncing the age and proceeding with an unoffending step to the Lord, now enjoy His inheritance: which I fear we may lose by our sloth, and that prophetic word be applied to us, which is said in Ephraim: "He trades oil in Egypt." "They were mingled among the nations, and learned their works." Lest after we have been called into liberty, as it is written: "I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you into Sion, and I will give you pastors according to my own heart, who shall feed you with instruction," the bonds of charity be loosened, and it be said of us: "A son glorifies his father, and a servant his master. If I be a Father, where is my glory? And if I be a Lord, where is my fear?"
XLVIII. Therefore let each one of us cry to the Lord: "Let the walls of Sion shed tears as torrents day and night. Give no rest to thyself, nor let the apple of thine eye cease. Arise, and praise in the night, in the beginning of thy watches; pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up thy hands to Him for the souls of thy little ones, who have fainted at the head of all the ways." Lest that be said against us: "The earth mourned, and was corrupted. The high places of the earth mourned, and the earth acted impiously because of its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the law, and have changed my ordinances, the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse shall devour the earth, because its inhabitants have sinned, and a few men have been left." Lest our wine also mourn and the vine, and they who formerly rejoiced with their whole heart groan, and it be said of us: "They have devised madness in the house, they have been corrupted like the days of the hill"; or that: "There is a taking from among you"; and: "You have said: We have made a covenant with hell, and with death we are in pact." Fleeing which words, we believe rather that in His time "a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall rise out of Israel, who shall strike the princes of Moab and the children of Seth." So that there may not be in the house of Israel a goad of fury and a thorn of pain. Because "Jacob has become His portion, Israel the cord of His inheritance." And elsewhere Jeremiah speaks: "If this law shall fail before me, then the nation of Israel also shall be able to cease"; and again: "I will give their labor to the just, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with them, and their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring. Everyone that sees them shall acknowledge that these are the seed which the Lord has blessed, and they shall enjoy the joy of the Lord."
A XLIX. And we, therefore, let us examine our ways, and let us judge our steps, and let us follow the scent of wisdom; always hiding his words in our hearts, that we may be immaculate in the way, and walk in the law of the Lord. Let not the fragility of the body and the labor of a long time frighten us. Where are your fathers, and the prophets? As it is written, shall they live forever? But receive my words and my lawful precepts, which I command in my Spirit to my servants the prophets, who were with your fathers. Let us perceive the ineffable clemency of our God, who even unto this day exhorts us to repentance, saying: Shall he that falls not rise again? Or he that turns away, shall he not return? Why has my people turned away with a shameless aversion, and kept to their pleasures, and refused to return? If we have returned to him, he will build us up by his Spirit, according to that which is written: The Lord building up Jerusalem, will gather together the dispersions of Israel.
L. And that our assembly and communion, whereby we are joined to one another, is of God, the Apostle has taught us, saying: Forget not the communion of good works; for with such sacrifices God is pleased. We read the same also in the Acts of the Apostles: And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul; and none of them said that aught B of the things which he possessed was his own, but all things were common unto them. And with great power did the apostles give testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And the Psalmist consented to the same words, saying: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! And we, dwelling in monasteries, and joined to one another by mutual charity, let us apply our zeal so that, as we have merited the fellowship of the holy Fathers in this life, so in the future we may likewise be partakers with them, knowing that the cross is the beginning of our life and doctrine, and that it behooves us to suffer with Christ, and to know that without tribulations and constraints no one obtains victory: Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life; and again: He labored for an age, and will live forever. If, however, we suffer together, that we may also be glorified together. I reckon, he says, that the sufferings of this time are not condign to the future glory, which shall be revealed in us. And it is elsewhere written: I have thought that I might know this: it is labor in my sight; and again: I have labored following thee, and I have not considered the day of man; and in another place: Many are the afflictions of the just, and out of all these will the Lord deliver them. And our Lord speaks in the Gospel: He that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. And elsewhere: This is the book of the commandments, and the law written unto eternity. All who keep it shall live; but they who shall abandon it shall die. Return, Jacob, and lay C hold of it; walk in the splendor of his light, and give not thy glory to another, nor those things which are profitable to thee, to a strange nation. Blessed are we, Israel, because the things that are pleasing to God are made known to us. Trust, O my people, the memorial of Israel. And again Isaiah speaks: Rejoice, Israel, and keep the feast day, all you who love him. Rejoice, you who trust in him, that you may be filled, and be filled from the breasts of his consolation.
LI. Let us have a care of reading and learning the Scriptures, and let us always be occupied in the meditation of them, knowing the scripture: From the fruit of his mouth a man shall be filled; and the reward of his labors shall be rendered. These are the things which lead us to eternal life, which our Father has delivered to us, and has commanded us to meditate upon continually, that that which is written may be fulfilled in us: These words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and in thy soul; and thou shalt teach them to thy children; and thou shalt speak of them sitting in thy house, and walking on the journey, and lying down and rising up. Write them for a sign on thy hand, and they shall be immovable before thine eyes. Thou shalt also write them in the entry and on the doors of thy house, that you may learn to fear the Lord all the days that you live. Solomon also, signifying this same thing, says: Write them in the breadth of thy heart.
LII. Consider with how many testimonies the word of the Lord exhorts us to the meditation of the sacred Scriptures, that what we have desired with our mouth, we may possess with our heart. It is good for a man when he has borne the yoke from his youth. He shall sit solitary and hold his peace, because he has taken it up upon himself. He shall give his cheek to the smiter, he shall be filled with reproaches, because the Lord will not cast off forever. And it is elsewhere written: I have remembered the mercy of thy youth; and again: Rejoice, young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart rejoice in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart without blemish, and in the sight of thine eyes: and know that for all these things the Lord will bring thee into judgment. Remove anger from thy heart and malice from thy flesh, because youth and folly are vanity; and: Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say: I have no pleasure in them: before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain: in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the men of virtue shall be bowed down, and the grinders shall cease because they have become few: and they that look through the holes shall be darkened, and they shall shut the ways in the street in the weakness of the grinding voice: and they shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low. And indeed they shall look from on high, and there shall be fears in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the locust shall be made fat, and the caper tree shall be destroyed. Because man has gone into the house of his eternity, and they that go about in the street went mourning.
until the silver cord be broken, and the golden ornament be crushed, and the pitcher be broken at the fountain, and the wheel be impeded upon the cistern, and the dust return into the earth, as it was, and the spirit return unto God, who gave it. In the Gospel also it is written: Children, have you any meat? Cast on the right side of the ship, and you shall find; and again: Every child and youth, who knows not today good or evil, they shall enter into the good land; and again: Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy. And in the Gospel: But the boy went on and grew, and gained favor with God and men. Jesus also, as a youth, was a minister to Moses, and went not out from the tabernacle of God. And of David we read written: A boy of fair color, with elegant eyes. Timothy also, still a boy and adolescent, was instructed in the sacred letters, that he might arrive at the path of the faith of the Lord Savior. And of Daniel, because he was learned, we read written that he was called a man of desires. Joseph also was most beloved to his father, because he served his commands; and being yet seventeen years of age, he considered his precepts the law of his life.
LIII. And I have recounted all these things so that, considering the lives of the saints, we may not be carried about by every wind of doctrine, but may labor, and have their conversation as an example for the purpose of our life, that we may be a peculiar people of God. Nor let us grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom we have been sealed in the day of redemption; nor let us extinguish him in us; and let us not despise prophecies, lest perhaps, when the Holy Spirit wishes to dwell in us, we give him no place. Let us fear no one else except God, who is the avenger and judge of individual deeds, and who with the holy is holy, and with the innocent man is innocent; and he says: I love those who love me, and those who seek me shall find joy; and elsewhere he speaks: If you walk perversely against me, I will walk perversely against you.
LIV. Let us not be angry with one another; and even if anger has overcome us, let us not sin while angry, forestalling the setting of the sun with repentance. Let us remember that there is a precept, as often as we ought to forgive one who sins against us; and to leave our gift before the altar, which is in no way accepted if it has not been made placable by reconciliation; so that we may be able to say: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And the Apostle commanded: If any man has a complaint against another, as Christ has forgiven us, so do you. Let us be disciples of the gentleness of all the saints, and especially of David, of whom it is written: Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness. And of Moses, of whom it is read that he was the meekest of all men upon the earth. And the Lord speaks in the Gospel concerning the meek and mild of heart: Blessed are the meek and A mild of heart, for they shall possess the land. It is of great wisdom to possess meekness, and to hear: Be wise, my son, that my heart may rejoice; and again: Be you followers of God, as dear children; and: Be you perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect; and elsewhere: Be you holy, for I am holy, said the Lord.
LV. Reading these testimonies, let us sow righteousness for ourselves, that we may reap the fruit of life. Let us enlighten the light of knowledge, because it is time that we know God, until the fruit of justice comes to us. Behold now the acceptable time, and the days of salvation. And truly, according to what is written: Love is the fulfilling of the law. John concurring in these same things: This commandment we have received from the Father, that you love one another; and: He that loves God, let him love also his brother; and: Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his works were wicked; but his brother's were good. Let us not wonder, brethren, if the world hates us: we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. Therefore let us love one another.
LVI. I will speak something further unto you more boldly, beloved children. From the time that God entrusted to me the flock of your conversation and holy conduct, I have not ceased with tears to warn and teach each of you, that you might please God; nor have I withheld anything that I felt was useful to you, so as not to say: And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, who is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among the sanctified. Watch, and strive with all zeal and care lest you forget your B purpose; but fulfill what you know you have promised. For I am even now being poured out, and the time of my dissolution is at hand; I have fought the good fight on my part, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: not only to me, but also to all those who have loved his justice, and have kept all the commandments of the Father. The end of the word: Hear all, fear God, and keep his commandments; for all men: God shall bring all works into judgment, whether it be good or evil.
[Explicit Doctrina S. Orsiesii]