AMBROSE TO THE EMPEROR THEODOSIUS.

1. ALTHOUGH I lately wrote to your Clemency even a second time, still

I was not satisfied to fulfil my duty of corresponding with you letter

by letter; for your gracious benefits have so often laid me under

obligation that by no services can I pay my debt to your Majesty, most

blessed Emperor.

2. The very first occasion ought not therefore to have been omitted,

but through your chamberlain I ought to have offered to you my thanks,

and laid before you the expression of my duty; and this that my

omitting to write previously might not seem to arise from sloth rather

than necessity: I had also to inquire for some mode whereby I might

offer to your Goodness my proper and dutiful greeting.

3. Rightly then do I send my son Felix the Deacon, to convey to you my

letter, and to offer to you in my name both my dutiful respects, and

also a memorial in behalf of those who, suing for mercy, have fled to

the Church, the Mother of your piety. Their tears have constrained me

to anticipate your Clemency’s mind by my petition.

4. Our request is indeed a great one, but it is addressed to one on

whom the Lord has bestowed unheard-of and wonderful things, to one

whose mercifulness we have experienced, and whose piety we have as a

hostage. We confess then that we look for even more, for as you have

surpassed yourself in valour, so also you must surpass yourself in pity.

For your victory is considered to have been bestowed on you in the

primitive manner, and miraculously, as it was on Moses, on holy Joshua

the son of Nun, on Samuel and on David, not by human respect but by the

outpouring of celestial grace. Wherefore we look for a measure of pity

corresponding to that by means of which such a victory has been earned.

LETTER LXIII.

A.D. 396.

THIS, the longest and latest, and certainly not the least

interesting, of S. Ambrose’s Letters, is addressed to the

Church of Vercellæ, which, owing to intestine divisions, had

been for some time without a Bishop. S. Ambrose first urges

them to remember Christ’s Presence among them, and to proceed

to Election with that thought especially in their minds. He then

speaks of two follows of Jovinian, Sarmatio and Barbatianus, who

had introduced their evil doctrines among them, and so fostered

divisions. This leads him to dwell at length on the evils of

sensuality and the benefits of self-denial, on the profit of

fasting, and the excellence of a virgin life, and bids them

‘stand fast,’ and not be led astray by false teachers. Then he

recurs to the subject of the election of a Bishop, and bids them

lay aside all evil feelings, and choose one worthy of so high

an office, setting before them the examples of our Lord Himself,

of Moses and Aaron. He then speaks of the qualities to be looked

for in a true Bishop, and urges them to choose one worthy to

succeed to the see of the holy martyr Eusebius, and, recurring

to the examples of the old Testament, dwells on the history of

Elijah. He ends by a general exhortation to all the Church of

Vercellæ to the chief Christian virtues, after the model of

S. Paul’s Epistles, to which the outline of this letter bears a

general resemblance. Some questions as to its genuineness have

been alluded to in the notes. There seems no sufficient reason

for doubting that it is a genuine letter of S. Ambrose. It is

thoroughly Ambrosian in style and method, and in its treatment

of Scripture, especially of the history of the old Testament and

of the lives of the great saints of the old dispensation. It was

written not more than a year before S. Ambrose’s death.

AMBROSE, SERVANT OF CHRIST, CALLED TO BE BISHOP,

TO THE CHURCH OF VERCELLÆ, AND TO THEM WHO CALL ON THE NAME

OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, GRACE UNTO YOU FROM GOD THE FATHER

AND HIS ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON BE FULFILLED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.

1. I AM overcome by grief that the Church of the Lord, which is among

you, has still no Bishop, and alone in all the regions of Liguria and

Æmilia, of Venetia[253] and the adjacent parts of Italy, stands in

need of those ministrations which other Churches were wont to ask at

her hands, and, what causes me still more shame, the contention[254]

which causes this delay is ascribed to me. For as long as there are

dissensions among you, how can either we determine anything, or you

make your election, or any man accept the election, so as to undertake

among men who are at variance an office difficult to bear the weight of,

even among those that agree?

2. Are you the scholars of a confessor, are you the offspring of those

righteous fathers, who as soon as they saw holy Eusebius[255], though

before he was unknown to them, put aside their own countrymen, and

forthwith approved of him; and required no more than the sight of him

for their approval? Rightly did he who was chosen unanimously by the

Church, turn out so eminent a man, rightly was it believed that he whom

all demanded was chosen by the judgment of God. It is fitting therefore

that you follow the example of your fathers, especially since it

behoves you, who have been trained by so holy a Confessor, to be better

than your fathers, forasmuch as you have been trained and taught by a

better preceptor; and to show forth a visible sign of your moderation

and concord, by unanimously agreeing to the choice of a Bishop.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xviii. 19, 20.

3. If the Lord has said, _If two of you shall agree as touching any

thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father

which is in heaven: For where two or three are gathered together in My

name, there am I in the midst of them_; how much less, when many are

assembled in the name of the Lord, where all agree together in their

petitions, how much less ought we in any wise to doubt that there

the Lord Jesus will be present to inspire their will and grant their

petition, to preside over the ordination and confer the grace?

Sidenote: Eph. ii. 14.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. i. 30.

Sidenote: S. John i. 26.

4. Make yourselves therefore worthy that Christ should stand in the

midst of you; for wheresoever is peace there is Christ, for Christ is

_Peace_; wheresoever is righteousness there is Christ, for Christ is

_Righteousness_. Let Him stand in the midst of you, that you may see

Him, that it be not said to you also, _There standeth One among you,

Whom ye know not_. The Jews saw Him not, for they believed not on Him;

we behold Him by devotion, and Him by faith.

Sidenote: Ps. xix. 1.

Sidenote: Acts vii. 56.

5. Let Him therefore stand in the midst of you, that you may have the

_heavens_ which _declare the glory of God_, opened to you; that you may

do His will and work His works. The heavens are opened to him who sees

Jesus, as they were opened to Stephen, when he said, _Behold I see the

heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God_. Jesus

stood as an intercessor, He stood, as being eager to assist His soldier

Stephen in his combat; He stood as being prepared to crown His martyr.

Sidenote: Dan. vii. 9, 10.

Sidenote: Ps. lxxxii. 1.

6. Let Him therefore stand in the midst of you, that you may not

fear Him when seated on His throne, for seated thereon He will judge,

according to the saying of Daniel, _I beheld till the thrones were

cast down, and the books were opened, and the Ancient of days did sit_.

And in the 82nd Psalm it is written, _God standeth in the congregation

of princes, He decideth among gods_. So then being seated He judges,

standing He decides. He judges concerning them that are not perfected,

He decides among the gods. Let Him stand for you as a Defender, as the

good Shepherd, that cruel wolves may not attack you.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. ix. 27.

7. Nor is it without reason that my admonition directs itself to this

point; for I hear that Sarmatio and Barbatianus[256] have come among

you, vain boasters, who assert that there is no merit in abstinence,

no grace in a strict life, none in virginity, that all are to be rated

at one price, that they who chastise their flesh, in order to bring it

into subjection to the body, are beside themselves. But had the Apostle

Paul thought it a madness, he never would have practised it himself,

nor written it for the instruction of others. Yet he thus glories,

saying, _But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest

that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself be found

a reprobate_[257]. So that they who chastise not their own bodies, yet

would fain preach to others, are themselves accounted reprobates.

Sidenote: 1 S. John ii. 19.

8. For is there aught so reprobate[258] as that which excites us

to impurity, to corruption, to wantonness? as the fuel of lust, the

enticer to pleasure, the nurse of incontinence, the incentive of

desire? What new school has sent forth these Epicureans? No school of

philosophers, as they affirm, but of ignorant men who are setters forth

of pleasure, who persuade to luxury, who hold chastity to be useless.

_They were with us, but they were not of us_, for we blush not to say

what the Apostle John said. It was when placed here that they first

fasted, within the monastery they were under restraint; there was no

room for licence, all opportunity of jesting and altercation was cut

off.

9. This these men of delicacy could not bear. They departed, and when

they desired to return were not received, for I had heard many things

concerning them against which it behoved me to be on my guard; I

admonished them, but in vain. Thus they began to boil over and spread

abroad what might prove the miserable incentives of all kinds of

vice. Thus they lost the fruits of their fasting, they lost the fruits

of having contained themselves a little while. And now with Satanic

malice they envy others those good works, the fruits of which they have

themselves lost.

10. What virgin can hear without grieving that her chastity will have

no reward? Far be it from her readily to give credence to this, still

less let her lay aside her earnestness, or change the intention of

her mind. What widow, were she to find her widowhood profitless, would

choose to preserve inviolate her first marriage-vow, and live in sorrow,

instead of allowing herself to be comforted? What wife is there who

hearing that no honour is due to chastity, might not be tempted by

unwatchful heedlessness of mind or body? And that is why the Church, in

her sacred Lessons, in the discourses of her priests, daily sends forth

the praises of chastity, the glory of virginity.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. v. 9.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. v. 10.

Sidenote: Ib. 11, 12.

Sidenote: Eph. v. 3.

Sidenote: Ib. 5.

Sidenote: Rom. vi. 3.

Sidenote: Ib. viii. 17.

11. Vainly then has the Apostle said, _I wrote to you in an Epistle

not to company with fornicators_: and lest perhaps they should say,

‘We speak not of the fornicators of this world, but we say that he

who has been baptized into Christ ought not to be deemed a fornicator,

but whatever his life may be, it will be accepted by God,’ the Apostle

has added; _Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world_,

and below, _If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or

covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner;

with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them

also that are without?_ And to the Ephesians, _But fornication, and

all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not once be named among you,

as becometh saints_, adding straightway, _For this ye know, that no

whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,

hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God_. This, it is

plain, is said of the baptized, for they receive an inheritance who are

baptized into the death of Christ, and are _buried together with Him,

that they may rise together with Him_. Wherefore they are _heirs of

God_, and _joint-heirs with Christ_, heirs of God because the Grace of

God is conveyed to them, and coheirs of Christ because they are renewed

according to His life; heirs also of Christ because by His Death He

grants to them as Testator His inheritance.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. x. 7.

Exod. xxxii. 6.

12. Now such as these, who have somewhat to lose, ought more to take

heed to themselves than they who have nothing. These ought to act with

greater caution, to avoid the snares of vice and the incentives to sin,

which chiefly arise out of meat and drink. _The people sat down to eat

and drink, and rose up to play._

Sidenote: Gen. iii. 1–4.

13. Even Epicurus himself, whose example these men prefer to that of

the Apostles, he, the champion of pleasure, while he denies that it

produces evil, denies not that certain consequences flow from it, from

which evils are generated: he maintains too that not even the life of

the licentious, which is filled with pleasures of this kind, can be

said to be objectionable, unless it be assailed by the fear of pain

or death. How far removed he is from the truth, may be discovered

even from this, that he declares pleasure to be the work of God in

man as its originator, as his follower Philomarus[259] maintains in

his Epitomes, referring this opinion to the Stoics as its authors.

14. But this is refuted by holy Scripture, which teaches us that

pleasure was instilled into Adam and Eve by the snares and enticements

of the Serpent. For the Serpent itself is pleasure, and, in accordance

with this, the passions of pleasure are various and slippery, and

infected by the poison, so to speak, of corrupt enticement. Hence it

is plain that Adam, deceived by the sensual appetite, fell from his

obedience to God, and the reward of grace. How then can pleasure recal

us to Paradise, when it alone cast us out of Paradise?

Sidenote: S. Matt. iv. 2.

Sidenote: Ib. 3.

Sidenote: Ib. 4.

Sidenote: Ib. xvii. 21.

15. Wherefore the Lord Jesus, willing to strengthen us against the

temptations of the Devil, fasted before His combat, to teach us that

otherwise we cannot conquer the snares of evil. Moreover, the Devil

himself employed the force of pleasure in launching the first dart of

his temptations, saying, _If Thou be the Son of God, command that these

stones be made bread_. To which the Lord replies, _Man shall not live

by bread alone, but by every word of God_; nor would He do it, although

within His power, that He might teach us by this wholesome precept to

attend rather to love of reading, than to pleasure. Now seeing they

deny that we ought to fast, let them be prepared with some reason why

Christ fasted, unless it were that His fast might be an example to us.

Lastly in a subsequent instance He has taught us that except by fasting

evil cannot easily be conquered. These are His words, _This kind of

evil spirits goeth not out but by prayer and fasting_.

Sidenote: Acts x. 10.

Sidenote: Exod. xxxiv. 28.

Sidenote: Dan. vi. 22.

Sidenote: Ib. ix. 2.

Sidenote: Tobit xii. 8, 9.

16. Or what can be the meaning of Scripture which teaches that Peter

fasted, and that it was while he was fasting and praying that the

mystery of the baptism of the Gentiles was revealed to him? what but

to convince us that the Saints themselves by fasting are advanced in

virtue? It was while fasting that Moses received the Law, and in like

manner, Peter, while fasting, was taught the grace of the New Testament.

To Daniel also it was vouchsafed through fasting to stop the mouths of

the lions, and to behold the events of times to come. Lastly, what hope

of salvation can there be for us, unless by fasting we wash away our

sins, since Scripture says, _Fasting and alms purge away sin_?

Sidenote: 1 Cor. xv. 32.

17. Who then are these new teachers who deny the merit of fasting?

Are they not heathen words which say, _Let us eat and drink_? And well

does the Apostle tell them, saying, _If after the manner of men I have

fought with the beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead

rise not? let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die_. That is to say,

What did it profit me to contend even unto death, save that I might

redeem my body? For in vain is it redeemed if there is no hope of the

resurrection. If therefore all hope of this is to be abandoned, let us

eat and drink, let us not lose the fruit of things present, seeing that

future things are not within our grasp. It is for those then to indulge

in meat and drink, who have nothing to hope for after death.

18. Lastly, the Epicureans, the champions of pleasure, assert that

death is nothing to us: what is dissolved, they say, is insensible,

and what is insensible is nothing to us. By this they show plainly that

they live by the body only and not by the mind, and do not perform the

functions of the soul but of the body only, in that by separation of

soul and body they deem all their vital functions to be dissolved, the

merits of their virtues and all vigor of their souls to perish, that

with his bodily senses the whole man fails, and that, though the body

itself is not immediately dissolved, the mind leaves not a relic behind

it. Then they would have the soul perish sooner than the body, whereas

even according to their own opinion they ought to remember that the

flesh and bones remain after death; and, would they abide by the truth,

they ought not to deny the grace of the resurrection.

Sidenote: Ib. 33, 34.

19. Well therefore does the Apostle, confuting these persons,

admonish us not to be overthrown by such opinions, saying, _Be not

deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. Be sober[260] unto

righteousness and sin not; for some are ignorant of God._ To be sober

then is good, for drunkenness is sin.

20. But to Epicurus, this advocate of pleasure, him of whom we make

such frequent mention, in order to prove that these men are disciples

of the heathens, and follow either the sect of the Epicureans or the

man himself who was excluded even by philosphers from their company

as the pattern of luxury, what if we can prove even him to be more

tolerable than these men? Now he asserts, as Demarchus[261] tells

us, that it is not drinking-bouts, nor banquettings, nor the birth of

sons, nor the embraces of women, nor a large supply of fish and such

delicacies provided for sumptuous feasts, it is not these which make

life sweet, but sober discourse. He added also that they who are not

excessive in seeking the dainties of the table, are moderate in the use

of them. The man who cheerfully limits himself to the juices of plants

and to bread and water, despises delicate feasts, for from these arise

many evils. Elsewhere too they say that it is not excessive banquets

and revels which make pleasure sweet, but a temperate life.

21. Seeing then that philosphy has renounced these men, shall not the

Church exclude them? They themselves too, as is usual in a bad cause,

often attack themselves by their own arguments. For although it be

their main opinion, that there is no sweetness of pleasure but that

which arises from eating and drinking; yet, perceiving that they cannot

lay down so shameful a definition without the utmost disgrace, and that

none stand by them, they have sought to disguise it under the gloss

of colourable arguments, and thus one of them has said, In seeking

pleasure by means of feasting and song, we have lost that which is

derived from hearing that Word whereby alone we can be saved.

Sidenote: Acts xvii. 18.

22. Do we not then perceive in this complicated discussion how

inconsistent and variable these men are? Scripture condemns them,

for it has not passed over those whom the Apostles confuted, as Luke

records in the Acts of the Apostles, which he has written in narrative

style, _Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans[262], and of the

Stoics encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say?

other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods._

23. Yet not even from this number did the Apostle part devoid of

success. For Dionysius the Areopagite, and Damaris his wife, with many

others, believed. And thus by their acts this assembly of the learned

and eloquent proved themselves vanquished by the simple discourse of

the faithful. What then do these men mean by attempting to pervert

those whom the Apostle has won, and Christ redeemed with His own blood,

insisting that the baptized have no need to apply themselves to the

exercise of virtue; that they are not injured by revellings, by excess

of pleasure; that they who deprive themselves of such things are

foolish; that virgins ought to marry and bear children; widows also

ought to renew that carnal commerce which they had better never have

known; and that although they might be able to contain themselves they

are mistaken in refusing again to enter into the bond of marriage?

24. What then? Shall we put off the man and put on the beast? shall

we strip off Christ, and be clothed over and over with the garments of

Satan? The very heathen sages held that pleasure was not to be esteemed

honourable, lest they should seem to couple men with brutes, and can we

instil the habits of animals into the human breast, and engrave on the

rational mind the irrational instincts of wild beasts?

25. Yet there are many kinds of animals, who when they have lost their

mate, will no longer copulate, but lead, as it were, a solitary life.

Many also feed on simple herbs and only quench their thirst in the pure

stream; you may also often see dogs refuse food which they have been

forbidden, and, if bid to refrain, close up their hungry jaws. Do men

then require to be recalled from that in which even mute animals have

learnt from man’s teaching not to transgress[263]?

26. But what is more excellent than abstinence, which makes even the

years of youth to be old, and produces an old age of conduct? For as

by excess of food and drunkenness even old age is inflamed, so on the

other hand, the insolence of youth is restrained by sparing food and

by the flowing stream. Fire without us is quenched by the pouring on

of water, no wonder then if even internal heat is allayed by draughts

from the brook; for the flame is nourished or fails, according as it

is fed or not. As hay, stubble, wood, oil, and the like are the fuel of

fire, and feed it, and if you withdraw or do not supply them the fire

is quenched, so also the warmth of the body is nourished or diminished

by food; by food it is excited and by food allayed. Gluttony therefore

is the mother of lust.

Sidenote: Gen. ix. 20.

Sidenote: 1 Tim. v. 23.

27. And shall we not say that temperance is accordant with nature, and

with that Divine law, which in the very origin of all things, gave us

to drink of the fountains and to eat of the fruit of trees? After the

flood the just man found himself tempted by wine. Wherefore let us use

the natural drink of temperance, and would that we all could do so. But

since we are not all strong, the Apostle says, _Use a little wine for

thine often infirmities_. It is to be drunk then because of infirmity

not for pleasure, and therefore as a remedy, sparingly, not as a luxury,

profusely.

Sidenote: 1 Kings xix. 6.

Sidenote: Ib. 8.

Sidenote: Exod. xvii. 6.

Sidenote: Dan. i. 8;

♦xiv. 30;

iii. 40.

28. Again, Elijah, when the Lord God was training him to the perfection

of virtue, found _a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at

his head; and in the strength of that meat he fasted forty days_. Our

fathers, when they passed over the sea on foot, drank water, not wine.

It was when fed on their homely food and drinking water, that Daniel

repressed the rage of the lions, and the Hebrew children saw the fiery

furnace playing round their limbs with harmless flames.

Sidenote: Judith xiii. 16.

Sidenote: Esther iv. 16;

v. 2.

Sidenote: S. Luke ii. 37.

Sidenote: S. Matt. iii. 4.

29. And why should I speak of men only? Judith, in no wise moved by

the luxurious banquet of Holofernes, won a triumph which men’s arms had

found desperate, by the sole merit of her temperance, delivering her

country from invasion, and slaying with her own hand the captain of the

host: a manifest example both that this warrior dreaded by the people

had become enervated by his luxury, and that temperance in food had

made this woman stronger than men. It was not in her sex that she

surpassed nature, but by her spare diet she conquered. Esther obtained

favour from the proud king by her fasts. Anna, _a widow of about

fourscore and four years_, serving in the temple _with fastings and

prayers night and day_, came to the knowledge of Christ, and John the

Teacher of abstinence, and, as it were, a new Angel upon earth, was His

herald.

Sidenote: 2 Kings iv. 39.

Sidenote: Ezra viii. 2.

Neh. viii. 2.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. xi. 27.

30. O foolish Elisha! to feed the prophets with wild and bitter gourds;

O Ezra[264] unmindful of Scripture though from memory thou dost restore

Scripture! O senseless Paul, to glory in fasting, if fasting avails

nothing!

Sidenote: Is. lviii. 11.

Sidenote: Ps. xxiii. 5. Vulg.

31. But how can that not profit whereby our vices are purged? And if

you offer it together with humility and mercy, then, as Isaiah has said

by the Divine Spirit, _thy bones shall be made fat, and thou shalt be

like a watered garden_! Thy soul then is fattened, and its virtues are

enriched by the spiritual fat of fasting, and thy fruits are multiplied

by the richness of thy mind, that thou mayest be made drunk, as it were,

with soberness[265], as is that cup whereof the Prophet speaks, _And my

cup which inebriateth me, how goodly is it_!

Sidenote: Ecclus. xviii. 30, 31.

Sidenote: Ib. xix. 2.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. vii. 4.

32. But not only is that temperance praiseworthy which is sparing

in food, but that also which restrains desires. For it is written,

_Go not after thy lusts, but refrain thyself from thine appetites. If

thou givest thy soul the desires that please her, she will make thee

a laughing stock to thine enemies_! and again, _Wine and women will

make men of understanding to fall away_! Hence Paul teaches temperance

even in marriage; for he who commits excess therein is, as it were, an

adulterer, and violates the Apostolical law.

Sidenote: Col. ii. 9.

33. But how can I express the greatness of the grace of virginity,

which was counted worthy to be chosen by Christ, to be the bodily

temple of God, wherein dwelt, as we read, _the fulness of the Godhead

bodily_! A virgin conceived the Saviour of the world, a virgin brought

forth the Life of the universe. Ought not then virginity to be above

all other states[266] which was profitable to all in Christ? A virgin

bore Him Whom this world cannot contain or support. He, born of the

womb of Mary, preserved inviolate her chastity, and the seal of her

virginity. Therefore Christ found in the Virgin what He would take for

His own, what the Lord of all would assume to Himself. By the woman

and the man our flesh was cast out of Paradise, by the Virgin it was

re-united to God.

Sidenote: Exod. xv. 20.

34. And what shall I say of the other Mary[267], the sister of Moses,

who, leading the female band, passed on foot over the straights of the

sea? By the same grace Thecla was reverenced even by lions, so that the

unfed beasts, lying at the feet of their prey, underwent a holy fast,

neither with wanton look nor sharp claw venturing to harm the virgin,

for even by a look the sanctity of virginity is profaned.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. vii. 25.

35. Again, with what reverence has the holy Apostle spoken, _Now

concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my

judgement as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord_. Commandment he

has not, but counsel; for that which is above the Law is not commanded,

but counselled and advised. Nor is any authority assumed, but grace is

shewn, and that not by any chance person, but by him who _hath obtained

mercy of the Lord_. Are then the counsels of these men better than

those of the Apostles? The Apostle says, _I give my counsel_, but they

dissuade all from leading a virgin’s life.

Sidenote: Cant. iv. 12.

Sidenote: Eph. v. 27.

36. And we ought to wonder at the greatness of the commendation of

it which the Prophet, or rather Christ in the person of the Prophet,

has expressed in one short verse. _A garden inclosed is my sister,

my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed._ Christ says this

to the Church, whom He would have _a virgin without spot or wrinkle_.

Virginity is a fertile _garden_, which bears many fruits of a good

odour; _a garden inclosed_ because it is surrounded on all sides with

the wall of chastity; _a fountain sealed_, in that virginity is the

fountain and source of modesty, and that which keeps unbroken the seal

of purity; that fountain wherein is reflected the image of God, since

with chastity of body accords likewise holy simplicity.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. xi. 2.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. vii.

37. Nor can any one doubt that the Church herself is a virgin, whom

even at Corinth the Apostle Paul espoused, that he _might present her

a chaste virgin to Christ_. Thus in his first Epistle he gives counsel

and sets a high value on the gift of virginity, for that it is not

disquieted by the needs of this present world, nor defiled by its

corruptions, nor agitated by its storms. In the latter he espouses the

Corinthians to Christ, that so, in the purity of that people, he may

ratify the virginity of the Church.

Sidenote: Ib. 26.

Sidenote: Ib. 32.

Sidenote: Ib. 34.

Sidenote: Ib. 35.

38. Answer me now, O Paul, in what way _for the present distress_ dost

thou give counsel? _He that is unmarried_, thou sayest, _careth for

the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord_, adding

further, _the unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord_, that

she may be holy both in body and spirit. She has therefore a bulwark

against the storms of this world, and thus shielded and fortified

by the Divine protection she is disquieted by none of the blasts of

this world. Counsel then is good, because therein lies profit, but

in commandment is a bond[268]. Counsel leads forward the willing,

commandment binds the reluctant. So that if any follow this counsel,

and repent not, she hath profited; on the other hand, if she change

her purpose, she hath no ground to accuse the Apostle, for she ought

to have judged better of her own weakness, and thus she is responsible

to herself for her own choice, for she has bound herself by a bond and

knot heavier than she can bear.

Sidenote: Rom. xiv. 2.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. vii. 37–40.

39. Wherefore, as a good physician, who desires both to preserve for

the strong the stability of their virtue, and to restore health to

the weak, he gives to the one counsel, to the other a remedy; _Whoso

is weak, let him eat herbs_; let him take a wife; he that is stronger,

let him use the strong meat of continence. And he well adds; _He that

standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power

over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep

his virgin, doeth well. So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth

well, but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better. The wife is

bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be

dead she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment, and I think also

that I have the Spirit of God._ Now having the counsel of God consists

in examining all things diligently, in urging what is best, and

pointing out what is safest.

40. A careful guide points out many ways, that each person may walk on

which he will, and which he finds suitable for himself: provided only

he lights on one which will lead him into the camp. Good is the way of

virginity, but, being lofty and steep, it requires the stronger sort.

Good too is the way of widowhood, not so difficult as the former, but,

being rocky and rough, it requires the more cautious sort. Good too

is the way of matrimony, but, being smooth and direct, it arrives by

a longer circuit at the camp of the faithful, and this way is trodden

by the larger number. We have therefore the rewards of virginity, the

merits of widowhood, there is also a place for conjugal chastity. They

are the degrees and advances of several virtues.

Sidenote: Exod. iii. 5.

Sidenote: Deut. v. 31.

41. Stand stedfast therefore in your hearts, that no man may unsettle

or overthrow you. The Apostle has taught us what ‘to stand’ signifies,

that is, what was said to Moses, _For the place whereon thou standest

is holy ground_; for no one stands but he who stands by faith, who

stands firm in the resolution of his heart. In another place too we

read, _But as for thee, stand thou here by Me_. Both are addressed

to Moses by the Lord, both _the place whereon thou standest is holy

ground_, and _stand thou here by Me_, that is to say, ‘thou standest

with Me, if thou standest in the Church. For the place itself is holy,

the land itself bears the fruit of holiness, and is rich with the

haunts of virtue.’

42. ‘Stand therefore in the Church, stand where I appeared to thee,

there I am with thee. For where the Church is, there is the most secure

resting-place for thy soul; there is the support of thy mind, when I

appeared to thee out of the bush. Thou art the bush, I am the fire: the

fire in the bush, and I in the flesh. And therefore am I the fire, that

I may give thee light, that I may burn up thy thorns, that is, thy sins,

and discover to thee My grace.’

Sidenote: Ps. xxvi. 4.

Sidenote: Ib. l. 20.

43. Stand firm therefore in your hearts, and drive away from the

Church those wolves which seek to carry off prey. Let there be no sloth

in you, nor an evil mouth or bitter tongue. Sit not with vain persons,

for it is written, _I have not dwelt with vain persons_. Listen not to

those who detract from their neighbours, lest, hearing others, ye be

yourselves excited to do likewise, and it be said to each of you, _Thou

satest and spakest against thy brother_.

Sidenote: Ps. cxxxiv. 1, 2.

44. Sitting we speak against others, but standing up we praise the

Lord, as it is said; _Behold now, praise the Lord, all ye servants

of the Lord; ye that stand in the house of the Lord_. He who sits, to

speak of the habit of the body, is, as it were, dissolved by ease, and

relaxes the energy of his mind. But the careful watchman, the unwearied

scout, the wakeful sentinel who keeps the outposts of the camp, these

stand. The brave warrior also, who would prevent the designs of his

enemy, stands[269] ready in his rank ere he is looked for.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. x. 12.

Sidenote: Ps. xxvi. 5.

Sidenote: Ib. xxxvii. 1.

45. _Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall._ He who stands is

free from detraction, for it is by the talk of the idle that slander

is disseminated and rancour displayed. Wherefore the Prophet says, _I

have hated the congregation of the wicked, and will not sit among the

ungodly_. And in the 37th Psalm, which is full of moral precepts, he

has placed in the very outset, _Be not malignant among them that are

malignant, neither be thou envious against the evil-doers_. Malignity

does more harm than malice, for its property is neither pure simplicity

nor open malice; but a hidden malevolence, and it is more difficult to

guard against what is concealed than against what is known; and so our

Saviour bids us beware of evil spirits, for they captivate us by the

outward show of charming pleasures, and the false show of other things,

holding forth honour as a lure to ambition, wealth to riches, power to

pride.

Sidenote: Prov. xiv. 30. LXX.

Sidenote: S. Matt. ix. 12.

46. Wherefore in every act, but especially in the search after a

Bishop, by whose model the life of all is formed, malignity ought to be

absent, that by a composed and peaceful exercise of judgment he may he

preferred to all who is to be chosen from all and who may heal all. For

_a gentle-minded man is the physician of the heart_, of that whereof

our Lord also in the Gospel has professed Himself a Physician, _They

that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick_.

Sidenote: Heb. v. 5.

Sidenote: Ib. 7.

47. He is the good Physician, Who has taken upon Him our infirmities,

Who has healed our sicknesses, and yet He, as it is written, _glorified

not Himself to be made an High Priest_, but _He that said unto Him_,

even the Father, _Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee, as

He saith also in another place, Thou art a Priest for ever after the

order of Melchisedeck_. And as He was to be the type of all priests,

He took upon Him our flesh, that _in the days of His flesh, He might

offer up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears

unto_ God the Father, _and though He were the Son_ of God, might even

_learn obedience from the things He suffered_, in order to teach us,

that He might become to us the Author of salvation. Finally, having

accomplished His sufferings, and being Himself made perfect, He gave

health to all, He bore the sin of all.

Sidenote: Numb. xvii. 8.

Sidenote: Heb. v. 2.

Sidenote: Ib. 4.

48. Thus He Himself chose Aaron the High Priest, that human ambition

might not sway the choice, but the grace of God; no voluntary offering,

nor taking upon himself, but a heavenly call, that he might offer gifts

for sins, who could have compassion on sinners _for that he himself

also_, it is written, _is compassed with infirmity_. A man should

not _take this honour to himself, but he that is called of God as was

Aaron_; so also Christ did not assume but received His priesthood.

Sidenote: Ib. vii. 2, 3.

Sidenote: Rev. i. 8.

49. And further, since the succession derived by descent from Aaron

produced heirs of his race rather than partakers of his righteousness,

therefore there came the antitype of that Melchisedeck whom we read of

in the Old Testament, the true Melchisedeck, the true King of Peace,

the true King of Righteousness, for this is the interpretation of his

name; being _without father, without mother, without descent, having

neither beginning of days, nor end of life_, which also has reference

to the Son of God, for in His Divine generation, He had no mother, and

in His birth from the Virgin Mary He knew no father; Who, born of the

Father alone before the world, and from the Virgin alone in the world,

could have no beginning of days, for He _was in the beginning_. And how

could He have any end to His life, Who is the Author of life to all?

He is _the Beginning and the Ending_. But this is referred to also by

way of example, that a Bishop ought to be without father and without

mother, in that it is not nobility of birth, but holiness of life and

preeminence in virtue that is chosen in him.

Sidenote: Heb. xi. 9.

Sidenote: Ps. xcix. 6.

50. Let him possess faith and ripeness of conduct, not one without

the other, but let both continue in one, with good works and deeds.

Wherefore the Apostle Paul wishes us to be imitators of those who _by

faith and patience possess the promises_ of Abraham, of him who by

patience was counted worthy to receive and possess the grace of the

blessing promised to him. The prophet David has admonished us that we

ought to be imitators of holy Aaron, for he has proposed him to us,

among the saints of the Lord, as an example for our imitation, saying,

_Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among such as call upon

His Name_.

Sidenote: Numb. xvi. 48.

51. An example worthy to be followed by all truly was he, seeing

that when death, owing to the rebels, was spreading among the people,

he placed himself between the living and the dead, thereby to arrest

death so that no more might perish. Of a priestly mind and temper truly

was he, who thus with pious zeal offered himself, as a good Shepherd,

for the Lord’s flock. Thus he broke the sting of death, checked its

violence, refused to let it pass. Thus piety aided his services,

because he offered himself for those who resisted.

Sidenote: Ib. 32.

Sidenote: Ib. 3.

52. Wherefore let those also who separate themselves learn to fear the

anger of the Lord, and to appease His priests. What? did not the earth

open and swallow up Dathan Korah and Abiram on account of their schism?

For when Korah Dathan and Abiram stirred up two hundred and fifty men

against Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from them, they rose up

against them, saying, _Let it suffice for you that all the congregation

are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them_.

Sidenote: 2 Tim. ii. 19.

53. Wherefore the Lord was angry and spake to the whole congregation.

_The Lord knoweth them that are His_, and hath drawn His saints to

Himself; and those whom He hath not chosen, He has not so drawn to

Himself. And the Lord commanded that Korah and all those who together

with him had rebelled against Moses and Aaron, the priests of the Lord,

should take censers, and put incense therein, that he who was chosen of

the Lord, might be declared to be holy among the ministers of the Lord.

Sidenote: Numb. xvi. 8, 9.

Sidenote: Ib. 10, 11.

54. And Moses said unto Korah, _Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi,

seemeth it but a small thing unto you that the God of Israel hath

separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to

Himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord?_ and below,

_Seek ye the priesthood also? for which cause both thou and all thy

company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron that

ye murmur against him?_

55. The whole people therefore, weighing the cause of offence, that

these men, though unworthy, wished to fill the office of the priesthood,

and therefore separated themselves, murmuring against the Lord, and

censuring His judgment in the choice of their priests, were seized with

great fear, and oppressed with apprehension of punishment. But at the

general entreaty that all may not be involved in destruction through

the insolence of a few, the guilty are marked out, and two hundred and

fifty men with their leaders are separated from the rest, the earth

quakes and is rent asunder in the midst of the people, a deep gulf is

opened and swallows up the offenders, and thus they are removed from

the pure elements of creation, so as neither to pollute the air by

breathing it, nor the heavens by looking on them, nor the sea by their

touch, nor the earth by their burial.

56. The punishment ceased, the wickedness ceased not; for owing to

this very act a murmuring arose among the people that by means of the

priests the people had perished. Indignant at this the Lord would have

destroyed all, had He not first been moved by the prayers of Moses and

Aaron, and afterwards, at the intercession of Aaron His priest, (in

order to render their pardon more humiliating,) consented to spare

their life at the prayer of those, whose prerogative they had denied.

Sidenote: Numb. xii. 1.

Sidenote: Ib. 10.

Sidenote: Rom. xi. 25.

57. Miriam the prophetess herself, she who with her brethren had

crossed the straights of the sea dryshod, because, being still ignorant

of the mystery of the Ethiopian woman, she had murmured against her

brother Moses, became leprous white as snow, and even at the prayer

of Moses was scarcely healed of this great plague. This her murmuring

however is to be considered as a type of the Synagogue, which,

uninstructed in the mystery of this Ethiopian woman, that is, of the

Gentile Church, utters daily reproaches, and envies that people by

whose faith she herself will also be relieved from the leprosy of her

unbelief, according as we read, _that blindness in part is happened to

Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in_.

58. And that we may observe that it is Divine rather than human grace

which operates in priests, of all those rods which Moses received from

the tribes and laid by, the rod of Aaron alone budded, and thus the

people perceived that the Divine commission is a gift which is to be

looked for in a priest, and though they before thought that a similar

prerogative belonged to themselves, they now ceased to claim the same

privilege for a merely human election. But this rod, what else does

it indicate, but that priestly grace never decays, and in the utmost

lowliness has in the exercise of its functions the flower of strength

committed to it, or because this also has reference to a mystery? Nor

is it without a meaning that we deem this to have taken place near the

end of the life of Aaron the priest. It appears to be intimated that

the ancient Jewish people, decaying and worn away by the long-continued

infidelity of their priesthood, will in the latter times be reclaimed

to zealous faith and devotion by the example of the Church, and by the

aid of reviving grace will again put forth the blossoms which have so

long been dead.

Sidenote: Numb. xx. 26.

Sidenote: Heb. v. 1.

59. But what is signified by the fact that on the death of Aaron it

was not to all the people, but to Moses alone, who is among the priests

of the Lord, that God gave the command to invest with the garments of

Aaron the priest Eleazar his son, what but to teach us that a priest

ought to be consecrated by a priest, and clothed with his proper

garments, that is, with priestly virtues; and then, when it appears

that he lacks no part of his priestly array, but is complete in all

things, that he should be brought near to the holy altars. For being

about to offer for the people, he ought to be chosen by the Lord,

and approved by the people; and this lest some grave cause of offence

should be found in him whose duty it is to intercede for the sins of

others. No ordinary degree of virtue befits a priest, for he ought

sedulously to shun not only more heinous sins, but even the smallest;

he ought to be open to compassion, not to revoke his promise, to raise

the fallen, to sympathise with sorrow, to preserve meekness, to love

piety, to drive away or stifle wrath, to be a trumpet to rouse the

people to devotion, or to soothe them into tranquillity.

Sidenote: Prov. xv. 18.

Sidenote: Ps. iv. 4. Vulg. LXX.

60. It is an old saying; Accustom yourself to be single-minded that

your life may be as a picture, and ever preserve the same stamp which

it has received. How can he be one and the same, who at one time is

inflamed with anger, at another, boils with bitter indignation, whose

countenance burns and then changes to paleness, varying and changing

colour every moment. But suppose that it is natural to be angry, or

that for the most part there is cause to be so; it also is the part of

a man to moderate his wrath, and to resist being carried away by brutal

fury, so as not to know how to be appeased; it is his duty not to

embitter family discord, for it is written, _A wrathful man diggeth

up sin_. He is not one with himself who is double-minded, nor he who

cannot restrain his wrath, of whom David says well, _Be ye angry, and

sin not_. Such a one does not command his anger, but rather indulges

his natural passions, which cannot indeed be prevented but may be

moderated. Although then we are angry, let our passion admit only such

emotion as is according to nature, not sin which is contrary to nature.

For it is intolerable that he who undertakes to govern others should be

unable to govern himself.

Sidenote: 1 Tim. iii. 2.

Tit. i. 7.

61. And so the Apostle has given us a model, that it behoves a _Bishop_

to be _blameless_, as he also says elsewhere, _For a Bishop must be

blameless, as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry,

not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre_. For how can

the compassion of the almsgiver and the avarice of the coveter agree

together?

Sidenote: Ib. 9.

Sidenote: Ib. 6.

62. I have set down those things which I have learnt are to be avoided;

it is the Apostle who teaches what virtues are needed, and he tells us

that the _gainsayers_ are to be _convinced_ with patience, and commands

a Bishop to be _the husband of one wife_, and this not in order to

exclude him from marriage, (for this is beyond the bounds of the

precept,) but that by conjugal chastity he may preserve the grace of

his Washing; nor again, that he may feel that he has the sanction of

Apostolical authority for begetting children after he is a priest, for

he speaks of one having children, not of one begetting them or marrying

again.

63. And I have thought it better to touch upon this, because many

persons argue as if the being _husband of one wife_ had reference to

a man marrying once after Baptism, seeing that by Baptism all the sin

which would interpose any obstacle is removed. True indeed it is that

in Baptism all sins and offences are washed away, so that even to one

who has polluted his body with many women not united to him by wedlock,

all is remitted. But Baptism does not dissolve marriage, if a man has

married again, for it is sin, not the Law, which is destroyed by the

Bath, and in marriage there is no sin but a law. Being therefore a

law it is not dissolved as if it were a fault, but retained, in that

it is a law. Now the Apostle has laid down a rule saying, _If any be

blameless, the husband of one wife_. So that if any man be blameless,

the husband of one wife, he comes under the forms of the rule for

undertaking the priestly office, but he who marries again incurs not

indeed the sin of pollution, but loses the prerogative of a priest.

64. We have declared what the law prescribes, let us speak also of what

is prescribed by reason. But in the first place we are to understand

that the Apostle has not ordained this with reference to Bishops and

Presbyters only, but that the Fathers of the Nicene Council[270] have

also decreed that no man should be a cleric at all who has contracted a

second marriage. For how can he give consolation or honour to a widow;

how can he exhort her to continue a widow, or to preserve that faith

to her husband which he has not preserved to his own first marriage?

Or what difference would there be between the people and the priest,

if they were bound by the same laws? The life of the priest ought to

be pre-eminent as well as his graces, for he who obliges others by his

precepts ought himself to observe the precepts of the law.

Sidenote: 1 Tim. iii. 6.

65. How vehemently I resisted ordination! and when I was at last

constrained to consent, how I strove that it might be postponed! but

the popular impulse[271] prevailed over prescribed[272] rules. And yet

it was approved by the judgement of the Bishops of the West, and its

example followed by those of the East[273]; and this notwithstanding

the prohibition to ordain a _novice, lest he be lifted up with pride_.

If my ordination was not postponed, it was owing to a constraining

force, and if proper humility be not wanting to the priest, where the

fault does not lie with him no blame will be imputed.

66. But if even in other Churches such deliberation is used in

ordination, how much care is required in that of Vercellæ, where two

duties seem equally required of the Bishop, monastic severity and

ecclesiastical discipline. For Eusebius of blessed memory was the

first to bring together in the West these two differing requisites,

and though living in the city observed the monastic institute, and

with the government of his Church united the sobriety of an ascetic

life. Great increase accrues to the grace of the priesthood when young

men are thus obliged to practise abstinence and to obey the laws of

chastity, and, though living within the city, to renounce its customs

and ways.

Sidenote: Heb. xi. 37.

Sidenote: Ib. 38.

Sidenote: Dan. i. 16.

Sidenote: Heb. xi. 33, 34.

67. Hence sprung those famous men Elijah, Elisha, and John the son

of Elizabeth, who clothed _in sheepskins, being destitute, afflicted,

tormented, wandered about in deserts_, in mountains thickets and

precipices, among pathless rocks, in horrid caves, through marshy fords,

_of whom the world was not worthy_. Hence Daniel, Ananias, Azarias and

Misael, who were brought up in the royal palace, were fed sparingly as

though they had been in the desert, with coarse food and water to drink.

Rightly then did the king’s servants prevail over kingdoms, shake off

the yoke and set at nought captivity, _subdue kingdoms_, conquer the

elements, _quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword,

stop the mouths of lions, out of weakness were made strong_, shrank not

from the _mockings_ of men, seeing that they hoped for heavenly rewards,

nor dreaded the darkness of the prison, since on them had shone the

brightness of eternal light.

Sidenote: Prov. xix. 12.

68. Following their example, holy Eusebius[274] left his country and

kindred, and preferred foreign sojourn to the enjoyment of home. For

the faith’s sake he also chose and desired the hardships of exile,

having for his companion Dionysius of blessed memory, who chose a

voluntary banishment in preference to the Emperor’s friendship. Thus

when these illustrious men, beset by arms, hemmed round by soldiers,

were being carried off from the greater church, they triumphed over the

imperial power. Troops of soldiers and the din of arms could not rob

them of their faith, but they subdued the fierceness of the brutal mind,

depriving it of power to hurt the Saints. _For_, as it is written in

Proverbs, _the king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion_.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. vi. 10.

Sidenote: Heb. xi. 34.

69. He confessed himself vanquished, by requesting them to relinquish

their purpose, but they deemed their pen of reeds more powerful than

his iron swords. Thus it was unbelief, not the faith of the Saints,

which was wounded and fell: they for whom a heavenly abode was prepared

needed not a sepulchre in their own country. They wandered through

the world _as having nothing, yet possessing all things_. Every place

whither they were sent appeared full of delights, nor could they

feel any want who always abounded in faith. They were tempted but not

overcome, in fastings, in labours, in watchings, in prisons; _out of

weakness they were made strong_. Fed to the full by fasting they looked

not for the charms of pleasure; refreshed by the hope of eternal grace,

the burning summer parched them not, nor did the cold of icy regions

break them down; for the warm breath of devotion invigorated them; they

feared not the bonds of men, for Jesus had loosed them; they desired

not to be redeemed from death, for they looked forward to be raised

again by Christ.

70. Holy Dionysius again prayed that his life might close in exile,

fearing that, if he returned, he should find the minds of the clergy or

people perplexed by the doctrines and customs of the unbelieving, and

he won this grace and carried with him with calm mind the peace of the

Lord. Thus as holy Eusebius first lifted up the standard of confession,

so blessed Dionysius, dying in his exile, won a higher title even than

martyrdom.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. iv. 9.

Sidenote: Eph. vi. 12.

71. Now this endurance in holy Eusebius throve under the monastic

discipline, and by being accustomed to a stricter rule, he imbibed a

power of bearing hardships. For it is certain that in the higher kinds

of Christian devotion these two things are the most excellent, the

Clerical function and the Monastic rule. The first is trained to be

obliging and courteous in its behaviour, the second is accustomed to

abstinence and endurance; the one lives as on a theatre, the other in

secret; the one is seen, the other hidden. It is the saying of one who

was a noble combatant, _We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to

Angels_. Worthy truly was he to have Angels as his spectators, when he

wrestled that he might attain the prize of Christ, when he contended

that he might lead on earth an Angel’s life, that he might overcome

the wickedness of spirits in heaven, for _he wrestled with spiritual

wickedness_. Rightly was the world a spectator of him whom it was

called on to imitate.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xvi. 24.

Sidenote: Gal. ii. 20.

72. Thus one of these lives is on the stage, the other in the cell;

the one contends with the distractions of the world, the other with

the lusts of the flesh; the one subdues, the other flees from corporal

pleasures; the one regulates, the other refrains itself, for to the

perfect it is said, _If any man will come after Me, let him deny

himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me_. Now he follows Christ

who can say, _Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me_.

Sidenote: Acts xx. 24.

73. Paul denied himself, when, knowing that _chains, bonds and

tribulations awaited him_ in Jerusalem, he voluntarily exposed himself

to these dangers, saying, _Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so

that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have

received of the Lord Jesus_. And though many stood round him, weeping

and beseeching, they did not affect his resolution, so strict a censor

over itself is a ready faith.

Sidenote: Gal. vi. 14.

74. Thus the one kind of life fights, the other retires into seclusion;

the world is triumphed over by the one, and placed at a distance by the

other; _to the one the world is crucified, and to it the world_, to the

other the world is unknown; the one has more temptations and therefore

a more signal victory; the other falls less frequently and more easily

keeps guard over itself.

Sidenote: 1 Kings xvii. 3.

Sidenote: Ib. xix. 8.

75. So also Elijah himself, that the word of his mouth might be

confirmed, was sent by the Lord to the brook Cherith. Both Ahab and

Jezebel threatened him, Elijah feared and rose up, _and went in the

strength of that_ spiritual _meat forty days and forty nights unto

Horeb the mount of God_; and he came thither unto a cave, and lodged

there, and afterwards was sent from thence to anoint kings. Thus he

was inured to endurance by dwelling in the desert, and as though fed

by coarse viands unto the fatness of virtue, went forth increased in

strength.

Sidenote: S. Luke iii. 2.

Sidenote: Ib. 19.

76. John also grew up in the desert, and baptized the Lord, and there

first exercised himself in constancy, that afterwards he might reprove

kings.

Sidenote: 1 Kings xvii. 3–6.

Sidenote: Ps. civ. 15.

Sidenote: 1 Kings xix. 8.

Sidenote: Ib. 3.

77. And now, seeing that we have cursorily passed over, in treating

of holy Elijah’s dwelling in the desert, the names of places which are

not without meaning, let us return to consider this. Elijah was sent

to the brook Cherith, there the ravens fed him, in the morning they

brought him bread, in the evening flesh. And with reason did they bring

him bread in the morning, for _bread strengthens man’s heart_, and

it was with mystical food that the prophet was fed. In the evening he

was supplied with flesh. Understand what thou readest; for Cherith is

understanding, Horeb signifies, ‘heart’ or ‘as heart;’ of Beersheba the

signification is the ‘well of the seventh,’ or ‘of the oath.’

Sidenote: Ps. xlvi. 4.

Sidenote: S. Matt. v. 17.

Sidenote: S. John vii. 38.

78. Elijah first went to Beersheba, to the mysteries and sacraments

of the Divine and holy Law, afterwards he was sent to the Brook, to

the stream of that _river_ which _makes glad the city of God_. Here

you perceive the two Testaments, and their single Author; the ancient

Scriptures as a deep and dark well whence you have to draw water with

difficulty, for He Who was to fill it full was not yet come, as He

said in after times, _I am not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfil

it_. Therefore the Saint is commanded by the Lord to pass over the

brook, for he who shall drink of the New Testament is not only a river,

but _out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water_, rivers of

understanding, rivers of meditation, spiritual streams, which yet are

dried up in time of unbelief, lest the profane and faithless should

drink of them.

Sidenote: Ps. cxlvii. 9.

79. And there the ravens acknowleged the Lord’s prophet whom the

Jews acknowleged not. They fed him whom that royal and noble nation

persecuted. Who is Jezebel who persecuted him, but the Synagogue,

vainly flowing, vainly abounding in the Scriptures, which it neither

keeps nor understands? Who are the ravens that fed him, but they whose

young ones call upon Him, to whose cattle He _giveth fodder_, as we

read, _and feedeth the young ravens that call upon Him_. These ravens

knew whom they were feeding; for they had a spiritual intelligence, and

brought food to that stream of sacred knowledge.

80. He too feeds the prophet who understands and keeps what is written.

Our faith supports him, our advance gives him nourishment; he feeds on

our minds and senses, his discourse is sustained by our understanding

of it. We give him bread in the morning, in that, placed in the light

of the Gospel, we bring to him the stablishing of our hearts. By these

things is he nourished and strengthened and fills the mouths of them

that fast, to whom the unbelief of the Jews administered no food of

faith. All prophetic words are fasting diet to them, for they cannot

discern its interior richness, to them it is food weak and thin, such

as cannot make fat their bones.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. iii. 2.

Sidenote: Ps. lxv. 8, 9.

81. Perhaps the reason why they brought him flesh in the evening

was that it is, as it were, stronger food, such as the Corinthians,

who were weak, could not bear, and were therefore fed with milk by

the Apostle; and thus in the evening of the world stronger meat was

brought, in the morning of the world bread. And so since it was the

Lord Who commanded this food to be administered to him, we may suitably

address Him in this place with these prophetic words, _Thou makest the

outgoings of the morning and evening to praise Thee_, and below, _Thou

preparest their corn, for so Thou providest for the earth_.

82. But now I think we have said enough of the teacher, let us now

follow up the lives of his disciples, who have given themselves to

praise the Divine Name, and celebrate it with hymns night and day.

For this is the service of Angels, always to be praising God, and

with frequent prayers to propitiate and beseech the Lord. They give

themselves to reading, and occupy their minds with continual labours,

separated from all female society, they mutually protect each other.

What a life this is, wherein there is nothing you need to fear, but

much for you to imitate! The pain of fasting is repaid by tranquillity

of mind, alleviated by custom, made supportable by rest, or beguiled

by occupation; worldly solicitude does not burthen nor outward troubles

engross it, nor do the distractions of the city draw down upon it any

difficulty.

Sidenote: Eph. iv. 32.

Sidenote: Ps. xxxvii. 1.

Sidenote: Ib. xxvi. 5.

83. For the maintenance or teaching of this gift an instructor is to

be sought: what kind of one he ought to be you perceive, and by your

unanimous aid we shall be able to obtain him, if you mutually forgive

one another, if any of you consider himself injured by the other. For

it is not the sole condition of virtue not to hurt him who has not hurt

you, but it consists also in forgiving him who has injured you. We are

generally injured by the fraud of others, by the guile of our neighbour,

but we must not deem it to be the part of justice to repay guile with

guile, and fraud with fraud. For if justice be a virtue, it must be

free from the imputation of crime, and not return evil for evil. For

what kind of virtue is it for you to do yourself what you punish in

another? This is merely to propagate iniquity, not to punish it; and

the character of the person whom you injure, whether he be just or

unjust, makes no difference, for you ought not to have done evil. Nor

does the mode of your ♦transgression signify, whether it proceed from

the desire of avenging yourself, or of injuring others, for in neither

kind are you free from blame. There is no difference between being

ungodly and unjust, and therefore it is said, _Fret not thyself because

of the ungodly, neither be thou envious against the evil-doers_,

and above, _I have hated the congregation of the wicked_. Thus he

comprehends all, without exception; he points to their wickedness

without enquiring for the cause.

Sidenote: S. Matt. v. 44.

Sidenote: Deut. xxxii. 35.

84. And what can be a better model than the Divine justice? For the

Son of God says, _Love your enemies_. And again He says, _Pray for them

which despitefully use you and persecute you_. So far does He remove

the love of revenge from the perfect, that he enjoins upon them charity

towards their persecutors. And as in the Old Testament He said, _To Me

belongeth vengeance, I will repay_, so in the Gospel He commands us to

pray for them that injure us, that He Who has threatened to punish them

may not do so. For He desires you to pardon of your own free-will, with

which He agrees according to His promise. And if you call for vengeance,

you know that the unrighteous is more severely punished by his own

thoughts, than by judicial severity.

Sidenote: Col. iii. 11.

85. And as no man’s life can be free from adversities, let us take care

that they do not befal us by our own fault. For no man is condemned

more severely by another’s judgment than the foolish man, who is the

author of his own misery, is by his own. Wherefore let us avoid such

occupations as are troublesome and contentious, which bear no fruit,

but only bring obstacles. But we ought to see that we have no cause to

be ashamed either of our choice or of our act; for it is the part of

a prudent man, to guard against having to feel frequent sorrow for his

acts, since it is the prerogative of God alone never to repent. For

what is the fruit of justice but calmness of mind, or what does living

justly bring with it, but a life of tranquillity? According to the

model of the master will be the condition of the whole house. But if

this is required in a family, how much more in the Church, where both

rich and poor, bond and free, Greek and Scythian, noble and plebeian,

are all one in Christ Jesus.

Sidenote: 1 S. Pet. i. 19.

Sidenote: Ib. 15.

Sidenote: Ib. 17.

86. Let no man suppose that because he is rich more deference ought

to be shewn him. In the Church he is rich, who is rich in faith, for

the faithful have a whole world of riches. What wonder is it that the

faithful should possess the world, seeing he possesses the heritage

of Christ, which is more precious than the world? _Ye were redeemed

with precious blood_, is said to all, and not to the rich only. But

if ye would be rich, follow him who says, _Be ye holy in all manner

of conversation_. This is said not to the rich only but to all, for He

judges without respect of persons, according to the faithful testimony

of His Apostle. Wherefore, says he, _pass the time of your sojourning

here_ not in indulgence, nor pride, nor elation of heart, but _in fear_.

Upon this earth ye have received what is temporal, not what is eternal,

use therefore those temporal things as knowing that you must shortly

depart hence.

Sidenote: Ib. 18, 19.

Sidenote: Rom. viii. 17.

Sidenote: Ps. xxxiv. 6.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. viii. 9.

87. Trust not therefore in riches, for all these things must be left

behind, and faith alone will accompany you; justice indeed, if faith

precede, will also be your companion. Why do riches entice you? Not

with _silver and gold_, not with silken vests and riches _were ye

redeemed from your vain conversation; but with the precious blood of

Christ_. He therefore is rich who is an _heir of God, and co-heir of

Christ_. Despise not then a poor man, it is He Who hath made thee rich.

Scorn not a needy man; _lo! the poor crieth, and the Lord heareth him_.

Reject not a needy man; for Christ, when He was _rich became poor_, and

this for thy sake, _that by His poverty He might make thee rich_. Exalt

not thyself therefore, as though thou wert rich, for He sent forth His

disciples without money.

Sidenote: Acts iii. 6.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 9.

Sidenote: Isa. xxxv. 3.

88. And the chief of these said, _Silver and gold have I none_. He

glories in his poverty as if he shunned contamination. _Silver and

gold_ he says, _have I none_, he does not say, gold and silver, for he

who knows not the use of these things knows not the relative value of

them. _Silver and gold have I none_, but faith I have. I am rich enough

in the name of the Lord Jesus, which is above every name. Silver I have

none, nor do I ask for it, gold I have not, nor do I desire it, but I

have that which ye that are rich are without, which even ye esteem of

more value, and this I give to the poor, namely, to say in the name of

Jesus, _Strengthen ye the weak hands and lift up the feeble knees_.

89. But if ye would be rich, become poor. For ye shall in all things

be made rich, if ye become poor in spirit. It is not money but the

disposition which makes a man rich.

90. There are those who humble themselves when riches abound, and this

is well and prudently done, for the law of nature is enough for all,

and what suffices to her is easily found, but where lust is, there, in

the abundance of riches, is still poverty. And no man is born poor, but

becomes so. Thus poverty lies not in nature but in our notions of it,

and therefore to find riches is easy to nature, but difficult for lust.

In proportion to man’s gains this thirst for gain increases, and he is,

as it were, inflamed by the intoxication of his lusts.

91. Why do ye seek to accumulate riches as though they were necessary?

Nothing is so necessary as to know what is not necessary. Why do ye

cast the blame upon the flesh? it is not the lust of the belly, but the

desires of the mind which make a man insatiable. Is it the flesh which

blots out the hope of the future; is it the flesh which takes away the

sweetness of spiritual grace; is it the flesh which obstructs faith;

is it the flesh which in every way defers to the frantic domination

of vain opinions? The flesh loves rather that frugal temperance, which

relieves it of its burthen, which endues it with health, for so it rids

itself of keen anxiety, and obtains for itself tranquillity.

Sidenote: Prov. xiii. 8.

Sidenote: Prov. x. 15.

92. But riches in themselves are not blameable. For _the ransom of a

man’s life are his riches_, for he who gives to the poor, redeems his

soul. There is therefore scope for virtue even in these material riches.

Ye are as it were pilots, in a great sea. If any man steers well his

ship, he quickly passes over the sea, and reaches his haven, but he who

cannot manage his property is sunk together with his burthen. Wherefore

it is written, _The rich man’s strength is his strong city_.

Sidenote: Ps. cxix. 94.

Sidenote: Ib. cxxxii. 6.

Sidenote: Ib. xxxiii. 16.

Sidenote: which Isa. i. 3.

Sidenote: Ib. liii. 7.

93. And what is this city but Jerusalem, which is in heaven, in which

is the kingdom of God? Good is this possession, which brings perpetual

fruit. Good is this possession, which we do not leave behind us, but

possess in heaven. He who finds himself in this possession says, _The

Lord is my portion_. He says not, My portion stretches and extends

itself to such and such limits. He says not, My portion is among such

and such neighbours, unless haply with reference to the Apostles, the

prophets and the saints of the Lord, for these are the portion of the

just. He says not, My portion is in the meadows, or in the woods, or

in the fields, less perchance in the fields of the wood, wherein the

Church is found, of which it is written, _We found it in the wood_.

He says not, Troops of horses are my portion, for _a horse is counted

but a vain thing to save a man_. He says not, Herds of oxen asses or

sheep are my portion, except so far as he numbers himself among those

herds _know their owner_, and with that ass which shuns not the _crib_

of Christ; that lamb too is his portion which was _brought to the

slaughter_, and _that sheep which before her shearers was dumb, which

opened not his mouth; by whose humility judgment has been exalted_. And

it is rightly said, _before her shearers_ because, on that Cross He put

off what was but accidental, not part of His essence, for He put off

His body, but lost not His Divinity.

94. It is not every one therefore who can say _the Lord is my portion_.

Not the covetous man, for avarice comes and says; Thou art my portion,

I have thee in subjection, thou art my slave, thou hast sold thyself

to me with that gold, thou hast adjudged thyself to be mine with

these goods. The sensual man says not, Christ is my portion, because

luxury comes and says, Thou art my portion, I have brought thee into

subjection to myself by that banquet, I have caught thee by the snare

of those feasts, I keep thee in my bondage by the constraints of thy

gluttony. Wilt thou not acknowledge that thou didst set a higher value

on the indulgence of thy appetite than on thy life? I condemn thee by

thine own judgment; deny it if thou canst; but thou canst not. Again,

thou hast reserved nothing for thy subsistence, thou hast spent it all

on thy table. The adulterer cannot say, _The Lord is my portion_, for

lust comes and says, I am thy portion, thou hast enslaved thyself to me

by the love of that damsel, by a night spent with that harlot thou hast

committed thyself to my dominion. The traitor cannot say, _Christ is my

portion_, because his wickedness immediately seizes upon him and says,

He is deceiving thee, O Lord Jesus, this man is mine.

Sidenote: S. John xiii. 2.

95. We have an example of this, for, when Judas had received the sop

from Christ, the devil entered into his heart, as claiming him for his

own possession, retaining his right to his own portion, and saying,

This man is not Thine but mine; my servant, Thy betrayer; to me, then,

he manifestly belongs. With Thee he sits at table, but it is I who

feed him, from Thee he has received bread, from me money; with Thee he

drinks, but to me he has sold Thy Blood. And the event proved how truly

he spoke. Then Christ departed from him, and Judas also left Jesus, and

followed the devil.

Sidenote: Philem. i. 1.

96. How many masters has he, who deserts that one Master! But let us

not desert Him. Who would fly from Him Whom Paul and Timothy follow,

bound with chains, but voluntary ones, chains which do not bind but

loose, chains in which they glory, saying, _Paul, a prisoner of Jesus

Christ, and Timothy_. Bondage under Him is more honourable than freedom

and release from others. Who then would fly from peace, who would fly

from salvation, who would fly from pity, who would fly from redemption?

Sidenote: S. Matt. xi. 12.

97. Ye see, my sons, what they have become who have followed this

course, how they, though dead, still work. Now we join in praising

their virtue, let us also study to attain to their diligence, and

silently recognize in ourselves that which we speak of with approval

in others. Nothing effeminate, nothing frail can deserve praise, _The

kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force_.

Our fathers ate the Paschal lamb in haste. Faith makes good speed,

devotion is lively, hope unwearied; it loves not perturbations of

the soul, but it loves to pass from profitless inactivity to fruitful

labour. Why put off till to-morrow? you may still gain to-day; beware

lest you fail to attain the one, and lose the other also. The loss even

of one hour is not unimportant; one hour forms part of our whole life.

98. There are some young persons who wish straightway to arrive at old

age, that they may no longer be subject to the will of their elders,

and there are old men who would return if they could to youth. Now

I can approve of neither of these desires; the young men, disdaining

things present, desire that their life may be changed, the old men that

it may be prolonged. But it is in the power of the young to become old

by gravity of mind, and of the old to grow young by vigorous actions.

For it is not age so much as discipline which brings with it correction

of life. How much more therefore ought we to lift up our hopes to the

kingdom of God, where our life will be renewed, and where there will be

a change not of age but of grace.

99. It is not by indolence or sleep that we obtain for ourselves a

reward. The sleeper cannot work, there comes no fruit from indolence,

but rather loss. Esau, being slothful, lost the first-fruits of

blessing, choosing to receive rather than to seek for food. The

industrious Jacob found grace at the hands of both his parents.

Sidenote: Rom. xii. 19.

Sidenote: Gen. xxvii. 43.

100. But Jacob, although superior in virtue and grace, gave way to his

brother’s anger, who was indignant that his younger brother should be

preferred to him. Wherefore it is written, _Give place unto wrath_, to

the intent that displeasure against another may not draw you also into

sin, while wishing to resist and to be avenged. If you will consent to

yield you may remove the blame both from yourself and from him. Imitate

the patriarch, who by his mother’s advice went into a far country. And

who was this mother? Rebecca, that is, patience. For who could give

this counsel but patience? The mother loved her son, and chose that

he should be separated from herself rather than from God. And thus as

a good mother she gave benefits to both her sons, but on her younger

son she conferred a blessing which he had power to keep. For she did

not prefer one son to the other, but she preferred diligence to sloth,

faith to unbelief. And even on her elder son she conferred no little

favour, for she sent away the younger, to save him from unworthy

fratricide.

Sidenote: S. John i. 29.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xviii. 21.

101. His piety not his fault having thus banished him from his parents,

he conversed with God, he increased in his estate, in his children,

in grace. Nor was he elated by these things on meeting with his

brother, but he humbled himself and did obeisance, not to his brother,

implacable as he was, but to God Whom in his person he honoured.

Therefore he bowed down to him seven times, being the number which

signifies remission, for it was not a man that he adored, but Him of

Whom He foresaw in spirit that He should come in the flesh, _to take

away the sins of the world_. And this mystery is unfolded to you in the

reply of Peter, who says, _How oft shall my brother sin against me and

I forgive him, till seven times?_ Thus you see this forgiveness of sins

is a type of that great sabbath, of that perpetual rest of grace; and

therefore it receives the gift of contemplation.

Sidenote: Gen. xxxiii. 6.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xviii. 22.

102. But what is the meaning of his setting in array his wives, and

sons, and all his servants, and commanding them to bow themselves

to the earth? It was not to the earth, as an element, which is often

filled with blood, which is the receptacle of crimes, and which is made

hideous by desolate rocks, or by precipices, or by a barren and hungry

soil, but as that Flesh Which was to be our salvation. And perhaps this

is that mystery which the Lord has taught thee in the words, _I say not

unto thee, until seven times, but, until seventy times seven_.

Sidenote: Col. iii. 13.

Sidenote: Ps. cix. 4.

Sidenote: Ps. cix. 28.

103. Do ye therefore forgive the wrongs done to you, that ye may be the

sons of Jacob. Be not provoked as was Esau. Imitate holy David, who as

a good teacher, has left us an example in the words, _For the love that

I had unto them, lo! they take now the contrary part, but I give myself

unto prayer_, and so when men reviled him, he prayed. Prayer is a good

shield, a shield which wards off contumely, which repels curses, and

throws them back on the heads of those who utter them, so that they are

wounded by their own weapons: _Let them curse_, it is said, _but bless

Thou_. That curse of men is to be courted, for it obtains for us a

blessing from the Lord.

Sidenote: Heb. xiii. 12.

Sidenote: Phil. iii. 20.

Sidenote: Exod. xxxiii. 7.

Sidenote: Ib. xxix. 12, 13.

104. For the rest, my most dearly beloved, remembering that _Jesus

suffered without the gate_, do ye go forth from this earthly city,

for your city is Jerusalem, which is above. Do ye dwell there that ye

may say, _For our conversation is in heaven_. Jesus went forth from

the city, that ye, going forth from the world, may be above the world.

Moses alone, who saw God, had his tabernacle without the camp when he

talked with God; and when sacrifices were offered for sin, the blood

indeed was carried to the altar, but the bodies were burned without

the camp; for no man living among the temptations of this world can lay

aside sin, nor can his blood be accepted by God until he has put off

the defilement of this body.

Sidenote: Gen. xviii. 3.

Sidenote: Ib. xix. 24.

Sidenote: Josh. ii. 14.

105. Love hospitality, for thereby holy Abraham found favour in God’s

sight, received Christ as his guest, and Sarah, already worn with

age, obtained grace to bear a son; Lot also escaped the flames which

destroyed Sodom. And thou also mayest receive Angels, if thou wilt

offer hospitality to strangers. And what shall I say of Rahab, who,

by performing this office, escaped destruction?

Sidenote: Eccles. vii. 2.

106. Compassionate those who are kept in bondage, as though ye also

were bondsmen. Console those who are under sorrow; _It is better to go

to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting_. From the one

we win the merit of discharging a duty, from the other the stain of a

transgression. And again in the one case the reward is yet hoped for,

in the other it is received. Sympathise with those who suffer as if ye

suffered together with them.

107. Let a woman be obedient not servile to her husband, let her offer

herself to be ruled not coerced. Let the husband also direct his wife

as her governour, honour her as the companion of his life, share with

her as his fellow-heir in grace.

108. Mothers, wean your own children, love them, and pray for them,

but pray that their life[275] may be prolonged above this earth, rather

than in it, for there is nothing longlived in this earth, and that

which seems permanent is at the best short and fragile. Admonish them

rather to take up the Cross of Christ than to love this life.

Sidenote: S. John xix. 25.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xxvii. 45.

Sidenote: S. John xix. 27.

Sidenote: Ps. xlv. 1.

109. Mary, the mother of the Lord stood by the cross of her Son; it is

no other than the holy Evangelist John who teaches me this. Others have

told us that in the Lord’s passion the earth was shaken, the heaven

covered with darkness, the sun withdrew its light, the thief, after

a faithful confession, was received into paradise. John has taught

what the others have not, how when nailed to the Cross He spoke to His

mother, esteeming rather this exhibition of pious offices to His mother

than that gift of a heavenly kingdom, which, after triumphing over His

pains, He conferred. For if it be pious to grant pardon to the thief,

much more pious is it that the Son should shew such solicitous honour

to His Mother: _Behold_, He says, _thy son, Behold thy mother_. Christ

testified from the Cross, and distributed the offices of piety between

the mother and the disciple. The Lord made not only a public but also a

private Testament, and John signed this His Testament, a witness worthy

of so great a Testator, a good Testament, not of money but of eternal

life, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, Who

says, _My tongue is the pen of a ready writer_.

Sidenote: Ib. lxxxviii. 4, 5.

110. Nor did Mary fall below what became the Mother of Christ. When the

Apostles fled she stood before the Cross, and with pious eyes looked

upon the wounds of her Son, for she expected to see not the death of

her Offspring, but the salvation of the world. Or perhaps because she

who was the Palace[276] of the King had learnt that the redemption of

the world would ensue from the death of her Son, she thought that by

her own death she might add something to the general good. But Jesus

needed no helper for the redemption of all, Who without any helper

saved all. Wherefore He says, _I am become like a man without help;

free among the dead_. He received the affection of His Mother, but He

sought not aid from others.

111. Imitate her, ye holy mothers, who in her only and beloved Son

exhibited such an example of maternal virtue, for your children cannot

be dearer to you than hers was, nor did the Virgin seek consolation in

the bearing of another son.

Sidenote: 1 S. Pet. ii. 18.

112. Masters, command your servants not as your inferiors in rank, but

as remembering that they are partakers of the same nature as yourselves.

Servants also, serve your masters cheerfully, for every one ought

cheerfully to endure that state whereunto he is born; and obey not

only the good, but also the froward. For what merit has your service,

if ye serve the good diligently; but if ye serve the froward also

ye have merit, for neither do the free obtain any reward, if, having

transgressed, they are punished by the judges, but herein lies their

merit if they suffer wrongfully. Thus if ye, considering Jesus Christ,

serve even austere masters with patience, ye will have your reward. For

the Lord Himself suffered, the just from the unjust, and with admirable

patience nailed our sins to His Cross, that he who shall imitate Him

may wash away his sins in His blood.

113. In short, turn all of you to the Lord Jesus. Take pleasure in this

life so that it be with a good conscience; let the hope of immortality

make you patient of death, let your assurance of the resurrection be

confirmed by the grace of Christ; let there be truth and simplicity,

faith and confidence, abstinence and holiness, industry and sobriety,

modest conversation, learning without vanity, sobriety of doctrine,

faith not intoxicated by heresy. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be

with you all, Amen.