Exhortatio ad monachos
71AEt si quid gloriari in Christo licet, hujusmodi principiis initiati, ut sit inchoatio vestra perfectio, et ad veram vivendi frugem gradus interpositos praevolantes, apice ipsius culminis occupato, disciplinae summam teneatis, ut in votis habere debeat, et imitari quisque vos potius quam posse credat institui: mihi tamen hujus licentiam praerogativae paternus ascripsit affectus, et amplectenda mihi vestrae expostulationis exactio. Qui dum me auditis, non solum libenter, sed etiam avide impudentem me vestro amore fecistis. Praecedentes duco, et ultra mensuram meae possibilitatis extensus quos sequi cupio, ducere compellor. Pergam igitur per tramitem vitae vestrae, ut quasi qui primis litterarum imbuatur elementis depictis, adumbratas praefigurationibus 71Bnotas stylo imitatore calcabo, accedentibus ad sperata beati instituti praemia, quae sequenda sunt. Primum abstinentiae cura, jejunii, patientiae, orandi assiduitas et legendi, vel si quis adhuc litterarum expers sit, audiendi sit desiderium cum cupiditate discendi. Haec enim sunt prima quasi lactentium cunabulorum in Dei agnitione crepundia, quibus homo admonitus, ortus sui divini tramitis ingredi viam velle incipiat, dum posse consuescat. Et quidem ista tradens, non de vulgi promiscua fide loquor, quod omnipotentis Dei tantum insinuata confessio, et innocentiae singularis instillata doctrina, venia sola efficit esse contentum. Quamquam Dominus noster, sicut legimus (Rom. VII, 6), omnes velit salvos fieri et ad agnitionem veritatis venire, 71Ctamen quia praeeminentis gratiae cuncti capaces asse non possunt: Non enim (Genes. XXI; Galat. IV) omnes, qui ex Israel sunt, Israelitae sunt (nam et Ismael a consortio fraternae haereditatis excluditur, et compugnantes Jacob et Esau, unius uteri claustra ruperunt), vel contenti puteo aquae vivae, nos 72Ain holocaustum nostri, hostiam voluntariae oblationis aptemus, desiderantes escas et parantes, ac primatibus illis ad mensuram veniae hanc sententiam largientes: Omnis creatura Dei bona, et nihil abjiciendum, quod cum gratiarum actione percipitur (I Tim. IV, 4). Nos ad praemium gloriae illo labore nitentes, bonum est non manducare carnem, neque bibere vinum. Et rursus: Omnis qui in agone contendit, ab omnibus se abstinet (I Cor. IX, 25). Et illi quidem, ut corruptibilem coronam accipiant, nos autem incorruptam. Abstinentia enim continentiae nutrix est, qua innupta sive nupta, facilius passibilitatis frenos patitur, si non deliciarum calcaribus incitetur, quam sic eos, qui ad summa nituntur, vel cupio, vel mando colere, ne putent in aliis crimen esse nupsisse, 72Bscientes scriptum esse: Bonum est nubere, melius est non nubere (I Cor. VII, 37). Qui hoc enim illicitum credunt, ipsi praemium sui laboris imminuunt. Illicitis enim cavere, jugum necessitatis est: permissa vincere, munus arbitrii. Malis abstinere, disciplinae merces est, bona supergredi, libertas meriti est, non finis imperii. Illud legis indultum est terminis, hoc gratiae reservatum est incrementis.
Exhortation to monks
71AAnd if it is permitted to glory at all in Christ, you who have been initiated with beginnings of this kind — so that your commencement is already perfection, and, flying past the steps set between toward the true fruit of living, having seized the very peak of the summit, you hold the sum of discipline, such that each man ought rather to have it among his prayers and to imitate you than to believe he can be trained — to me, nevertheless, a father's affection has assigned the license of this prerogative, and I must embrace the demand of your request. You who, while you listen to me, have made me shameless through your love, not only willingly but even eagerly. I lead those who go before me, and, stretched beyond the measure of my own ability, I am compelled to lead those whom I desire to follow. I shall proceed, therefore, along the path of your life, so that, like one who is being schooled in the first traced-out elements of letters, I shall tread with an imitating pen the marks sketched out 71Bin outline, for those approaching the hoped-for rewards of the blessed institute — the things which are to be followed. First, the care of abstinence, of fasting, of patience; assiduity in praying and in reading, or, if anyone is as yet without letters, let there be a desire of hearing along with an eagerness for learning. For these are the first rattles, as it were, of the suckling's cradle in the knowledge of God, by which a man, being admonished, may begin to will to enter the way of the divine path of his own origin, while he grows accustomed to be able. And indeed, in handing down these things, I do not speak of the mixed faith of the common crowd, for whom only a confession of almighty God instilled into them, and the teaching of a singular innocence dropped in, makes them content to be with pardon alone. Although our Lord, as we read (Rom. VII, 6), wills all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, 71Cyet because not all can be capable of the pre-eminent grace: for not (Genes. XXI; Galat. IV) all who are of Israel are Israelites (for Ishmael too is shut out from the fellowship of the brotherly inheritance, and Jacob and Esau, fighting together, broke the barriers of one womb), or content with a well of living water, let us 72Afit ourselves as a holocaust of our own selves, a victim of voluntary offering, desiring foods and preparing them, and granting to those first ones, according to the measure of pardon, this sentence: Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be cast away that is received with thanksgiving (I Tim. IV, 4). But for us, striving by that labor toward the reward of glory, it is good not to eat flesh nor to drink wine. And again: Everyone who strives in the contest abstains from all things (I Cor. IX, 25). And they indeed, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. For abstinence is the nurse of continence, by which a woman unmarried or married more easily bears the reins of susceptibility, if she be not goaded by the spurs of delights — rather than that I should either desire or command those who strive toward the highest things so to cultivate them that they think it a crime in others to have married, 72Bknowing it to be written: It is good to marry, it is better not to marry (I Cor. VII, 37). For those who believe this unlawful themselves diminish the reward of their own labor. For to guard against things unlawful is the yoke of necessity; to conquer things permitted is the gift of choice. To abstain from evils is the wage of discipline; to go beyond good things is the liberty of merit, not the limit of command. That was granted to the boundaries of the law; this is reserved to the increases of grace.
2.
Jejuniorum quoque non sit volentibus certa mensura, sed in quantum possibilitas valet, nisu laborantis extensa, quae praeter Dominicam semper sint solemnia, si votiva sint. His sese Moses beatissimus praeparans, affatibus Dei dignus ingessit. His praedictas per Jonam Ninivitae minas, in placidam rursus flexere sententiam. His Bethuliae populus 72CAssyria obsidione conclusus, et usque ad deditionem sui experta plurima virtute conterritus, ab Holophernis tumentibus minis constantis manu feminae meruit vindicari. His Mardochaeus Aman crudelem superbia, praeparato sibimet ligno acceptae poenae conversione suspendit. His Jesus Salvator 73Anoster in carne hominis, quem assumpserat, eruditus, suadelas diaboli tentantis obtundit. Quas etsi aliter potuisset expellere, docendos tamen populos voluit hac imitatione formare. Orationibus vero ita frequenter instandum est, ut vix eas aliquod tempus interpolet. Scriptum est enim: Orationibus instate, vigilantes in illis (Matth. VII, 18). Et iterum: Quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis (Matth. VI, 19). Per has amicus dormiens excitatur: et quamvis omnem familiam sopor altus obsederit, depromi tamen sibi ac porrigi panes importunus expostulator extorquet. Has, si fieri potest, sola legendi intercapedo disrumpat: cujus rei cura in canonicis ponenda est monimentis: non quod apocrypha debeamus, praesertim ignorata, damnare, sed quod ad scientiam 73BDei digestam, canonis seriem putemus posse sufficere. Illa enim si consentiunt, supervacua sunt; si dissentiunt, vitanda sunt. Sine legendi studio nemo ad Dominum esse valebit intentus. Primum, quod hujusmodi opera ab aliis actibus caducae occupationis abducunt, et diversorum exemplorum insinuata cognitio, vel bonorum appetentiam, vel malorum facit esse cautelam. Neque enim alias Petrus apostolus admoneret nos, dicens: Parati semper estote ad rationem reddendam, ad omnes poscentes vos de verbo spei vestrae, et fidei (I Petr. III, 16). Et Apostolus: Non cessamus pro vobis orantes, ut impleamini agnitione ejus in omni sapientia et intellectu spirituali (Coloss. I, 9). Et rursus: Verbum Christi habitet in vobis abundanter in omni sapientia (Coloss. V, 16). Nam et in Veteri 73CTestamento similem hominibus curam sacrae praeceptionis inculcavit eloquium. Sic enim David ait: Beatus vir, qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit. Sed in lege Domini voluntas ejus, et in lege ejus meditabitur die ac nocte (Psalm. I, 1). Et ad Jesum Nave Deus loquitur: Non recedet liber iste de manibus tuis, et meditaberis in eo die ac nocte (Jos. I, 8). His quoque negotiis malarum cogitationum lubrica frequenter interserunt. Et quamvis ipsa sedulitas animum ad Deum praestet intentum, efficit tamen in sese mordax saeculi cura sollicitum.
2.
Let there be no fixed measure of fasts either for those who are willing, but let it be extended, so far as possibility avails, by the effort of the one laboring — fasts which, apart from the Lord's day, are always solemn, if they be votive. Preparing himself by these, the most blessed Moses presented himself worthy of God's addresses. By these the Ninevites bent back into a peaceable sentence the threats foretold through Jonah. By these the people of Bethulia, 72Cshut in by the Assyrian siege, and terrified even to their own surrender, having tried very great valor, deserved to be avenged from the swelling threats of Holofernes by the hand of a steadfast woman. By these Mordecai hanged Haman, cruel through pride, upon the wood prepared for himself, by the turning back of the punishment he had received. By these Jesus 73Aour Savior, schooled in the flesh of the man he had assumed, blunted the persuasions of the tempting devil. And though he could have driven them off otherwise, yet he willed to shape the peoples, who were to be taught, by this imitation. But prayers must be pressed upon so frequently that scarcely any interval breaks them off. For it is written: Press upon prayers, watching in them (Matth. VII, 18). And again: Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you (Matth. VI, 19). Through these the sleeping friend is roused: and although deep sleep has beset the whole household, the importunate petitioner nevertheless wrings it out that loaves be brought forth and handed to him. Let only the pause of reading, if it can be, break these off: and the care of that matter must be placed upon the canonical monuments — not that we ought to condemn the apocrypha, especially when they are unknown, but because for the ordered knowledge 73Bof God we think the series of the canon can suffice. For if those agree with it, they are superfluous; if they disagree, they are to be avoided. Without the study of reading no one will be able to be intent upon the Lord. First, because works of this kind draw one away from other acts of fleeting occupation, and the knowledge of various examples, instilled, makes either an appetite for good things or a wariness of evil ones. Nor indeed would Peter the apostle otherwise admonish us, saying: Be always ready to render an account to all who ask you concerning the word of your hope and of your faith (I Petr. III, 16). And the Apostle: We do not cease praying for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of him in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (Coloss. I, 9). And again: Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom (Coloss. V, 16). For in the Old 73CTestament also the sacred utterance pressed a like care of holy instruction upon men. For thus David says: Blessed is the man who has not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he shall meditate day and night (Psalm. I, 1). And God speaks to Joshua son of Nun: This book shall not depart from thy hands, and thou shalt meditate in it day and night (Jos. I, 8). Into these occupations also the slippery things of evil thoughts frequently insert themselves. And although that very diligence renders the mind intent upon God, yet the biting care of the world makes it anxious within itself.
3.
Quod si haec frequenter et importune patitur religioso labori deditus, nunquam profecto illis carebit otiosus. Nunc quoniam studiorum membra digessimus, 73Dmorum augmenta cumulemus. Illud autem non extra commonitionem puto, ut sit victus facilis, vestitusque vilis, cum haec tegendi corporis gratia reperta sint, non ornandi: et illa sustinendae animae potius quam obruendae. His ergo, quae supra ostendimus, actibus mancipatus, omne odium deponat inimici. Nec hoc tantum fine contentus, simultates amore commutet, iram patientiae temperet freno, avaritiam abstinentiae forti vincat imperio, et praecipue linguam custodia taciturnitatis obsepiat, ne in litigium contentiosa fervescat, ne in maledictum procax incurrat, ne in obtrectationem maledica serpat, ne in jurationem facilis prolabatur, ne in mendacium ficta simulet, ne in circumventione astuta calleat, ne 74Ain elatione superba jactetur; sed observans tempus tacendi, et tempus loquendi, omne verbum otiosum obnoxium sciat esse rationi. Nam ideo et David beatissimus ori suo custodiam deposcit. Et condiendum sale, benedicti Pauli pagina sacra, sermonem constituit. Et nullum indomabile membrum esse, quam linguam, testificata Jacobi praecepta signarunt. Sit igitur qui hujusmodi viam scandit tacitus, mitis, benignus. Et quia charitatis insolubilis habetur affectus, in studio parili semper alium judicans potiorem. Hoc enim freno adstringit invidiam, quam vicinae sibi elationis saepius incitatam judicio, dum gratias referendi sibi honoris appetit, notam miseri livoris incurrit. Nec primum adeo unusquisque percipit, si ab hominibus id requirit: Deus enim superbis resistit, 74Bhumilibus autem dat gratiam (I Petr. V, 5). Qui cum de hujusmodi studio discipulos erudiret, ipsum pronuntiat maximum, qui minimus velit esse cunctorum. Esto ab aliquibus frater tuus propensius honoretur, nec illos quasi minus amicos habeas, nec hunc quasi aemulum praelatae venerationis attendas. Quinimo judica circa te augmentum illius honoris accrescere, sciens scriptum: Si enim gloriatur unum membrum, congaudent omnia membra. Vos autem estis corpus Christi, et membra (I Cor. XII, 26). Nam quicunque aliquem vestrum diligit, omnem dignitatem Deo, in quem vos coitis, adscribit. In hoc mite silentium placet, in hoc affabilitas blanda diligitur. Hunc rudis et innata simplicitas, hunc scientia erudita commendat. Hujus in jejunii jugitate patientia, 74Chujus in abstinentiae virtute contemptus, hujus in lectionis assiduitate sedulitas, pro divinorum munerum diversitate laudatur. Haec autem, sicut scriptum est: Operatur unus atque idem spiritus, dividens singulis, prout vult. Sicut enim corpus unum membra habet multa, omnia autem membra corporis cum sint multa, unum tamen corpus sunt, ita et Christus. Omnes enim nos in uno spiritu, in unum corpus baptizati sumus (Ibid., 11). Singuli vobis potestis omnium bonorum summam praesumere, si nullus se incipiat in eo quod alter praecellit efferre. Sed cum vos invicem nexu astrictae charitatis arctabitis, tunc eos qui foris sunt, et in saeculari actu adhuc mundialibus vinculis colligantur, nolite attentioris vitae austeritate damnare, scientes scriptum: Nolo judicetis, ne judicemini (Luc. 74DVI, 37). Et iterum: Tu quis es, qui judicas alienum servum (Rom. XIV, 4)? Domino suo stat aut cadit. Potens est enim statuere illum Deus. Magis benignitatis adhortationibus et illiciente blandimento via veritatis ostensa, nubem erroris aperite, ut non trahi incipiat unusquisque, sed sequi praecedentem.
3.
But if the man given over to religious labor suffers these things frequently and importunately, the idle man assuredly will never be free of them. Now, since we have set out the members of our pursuits, 73Dlet us heap up the increases of character. And I do not think it outside our admonition that food should be plain and clothing cheap, since these were devised for the sake of covering the body, not adorning it; and the former for sustaining the soul rather than burying it. Bound over, therefore, to those acts which we showed above, let a man lay aside all hatred of an enemy. And not content with this end alone, let him exchange enmities for love, let him temper anger with the bridle of patience, let him conquer avarice with the strong command of abstinence, and above all let him fence in his tongue with the guard of silence: lest it grow hot, contentious, into quarreling; lest it run, insolent, into cursing; lest it creep, slanderous, into disparagement; lest it slip, too easy, into swearing; lest it feign, counterfeit, into lying; lest it grow crafty, cunning, in circumvention; lest 74Ait be tossed, proud, in self-exaltation; but observing a time for keeping silence and a time for speaking, let him know that every idle word is liable to a reckoning. For this reason the most blessed David also begs a guard for his mouth. And the sacred page of blessed Paul appoints that speech be seasoned with salt. And the precepts of James, being testified, have marked that no member is so untamable as the tongue. Let him therefore who climbs a way of this kind be silent, mild, kindly. And since the affection of charity is held to be indissoluble, let him in equal zeal always judge another the better man. For by this bridle he binds fast envy, which, being rather often stirred up by the judgment of the self-exaltation neighboring upon it, while it seeks that honor be rendered back to itself, runs into the mark of wretched spite. Nor indeed does a man attain the first place if he requires it of men: for God resists the proud, 74Bbut gives grace to the humble (I Petr. V, 5). And he, when he was training his disciples in a zeal of this kind, declares him the greatest who wishes to be the least of all. Suppose your brother is honored by some more readily: neither hold those men as less your friends, nor regard him as a rival in the veneration preferred to you. Rather judge that the increase of his honor grows to your own account, knowing it written: For if one member glories, all the members rejoice together. And you are the body of Christ, and members (I Cor. XII, 26). For whoever loves any one of you ascribes every dignity to God, in whom you come together. In this man mild silence is pleasing; in this man winning affability is loved. This one his raw and inborn simplicity commends, this one his learned knowledge. This one's patience in the continuance of fasting, 74Cthis one's contempt in the virtue of abstinence, this one's diligence in the assiduity of reading, is praised according to the diversity of the divine gifts. And these things, as it is written: One and the same Spirit works, dividing to each as he wills. For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are yet one body, so also is Christ. For we have all been baptized in one Spirit into one body (Ibid., 11). Each of you can take beforehand the sum of all good things, if no one begins to exalt himself in that in which another excels. But when you shall bind one another close in the knot of tight-drawn charity, then do not condemn, by the austerity of a more attentive life, those who are outside and are still bound by worldly chains in secular activity, knowing it written: I would not have you judge, lest you be judged (Luc. 74DVI, 37). And again: Who art thou that judgest another's servant (Rom. XIV, 4)? To his own Lord he stands or falls. For God is able to make him stand. Rather, the way of truth being shown by the exhortations of kindness and by an enticing gentleness, open up the cloud of error, so that each man may begin not to be dragged, but to follow the one going before.
4.
Semper duriora flectenda sunt, ne viribus inclinata curvatio, priusquam in circulum veniat fatiscens fragmen offendat. Hic enim saepius scandala vulgi dicaciter gignuntur, dum ad religionis jugum, censorium arrogatur imperium. Vita nostra jubeat, lingua persuadeat, quia plus auctoritatis gestat exemplum, et ingerit appetentiam sui morum lenis formatio. In omni igitur actu vestro, quasi speculo 75Arelucente, fulgete. Ubique circumspecti, ubique solliciti, ne quid livor inveniat, ne quid rumor falsus infligat. Feminas probas et religionis studio vero deditas cum mensura venerationis honorate, ut nec austeritas inhumana, nec sedulitas sit remissa. Accessus ad vos invicem vester non ingestus sit, sed innatus, quem causa fecerit, non quem supervacuitas relaxarit. Plures audite cum pluribus, aut si quando alterius sexus frequentia deerit, vel annorum cujusdam et probata gravitas, vel celebritas loci, vel ratio temporis id honestet, quia praecipue vobis aetas, hora, solitudo, vitanda sunt. Non quo mihi fas sit de his qui vere semel devota Deo pectora dicaverunt secus aestimare aliquid, sed ut ex abundanti sic omne quod fingi potest, tanquam possit et credi caveamus, ne 75Bin nullo famae nostrae vulnere serpat nata ab occasione suspicio. Ipsa famae semina, priusquam linguis nutriantur, intereant. Non tamen nobis fides facti, sed possibilitas etiam religanda mendacii. Beata enim vita est et praeclara, de qua nihil licet falsitati. Neque enim ego hoc judicium meum austerus censor arripui, sed coeleste imperium monitor blandus assumpsi: nam et sic ait Apostolus: Zelans vos Dei zelo, despondi vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo (II Cor. XI, 2), sciens scriptum esse: Ne ponatis offensionem, vel scandalum fratri (Rom. XIV, 13); et iterum: Sine offensione estote Judaeis et Gentibus, et Ecclesiae Dei (I Cor. X, 32); et iterum: Non ergo blasphemetur bonum nostrum (Rom. XIV, 16); et iterum: Ut quid enim libertas nostra judicetur ab infideli 75Cconscientia (I Cor. X, 29); et iterum: Omnia autem vestra, honesta fiant (I Cor. XIV, 40); et iterum: Commendantes nosmetipsos ad omnem conscientiam hominum coram Deo (II Cor. IV, 2), et iterum: Provideamus bona non solum coram Deo, sed etiam coram hominibus (Rom. XII, 17); et iterum: Ut is, qui adverso est, confundatur, nihil habens dicere mali (Tit. II, 8). Neque me praeterit saecularis livoris invidiam in obtrectationem semper religionis ardere, et mordacem malignis rumoribus dentem impressum dicacitatis infigere. Utatur sua mundus natura, dum nihil in nostra inveniat disciplina. Falsitas ex more jactetur, dum nec verisimile quidem possit esse quod dicitur. Nemo ideo debet contemnere vulnus infamiae, quia semper consueverit rumor simulare; sed eo attentius 75Dpraecavere, quod soleat etiam ficta componere. Nemo ab obtrectationis metu redditur obtrectandi solemnitate securus. Neque est negligentiae causa sollicitudinis continuata materia. Sit igitur pudoris ac reverentiae vestrae tuta ac circumspecta custodia. Necessarius e domo, et rarus egressus, quem aut religionis ratio extulerit, aut ad substantiam victus causa exercendi operis ordinarit. Muneribus cunctis, nisi quae ad quotidianum cibum annuumque vestitum suppetant, abstinentes. Scientes scriptum esse: Habentes autem alimenta et quibus tegamur, his contenti sumus (I Tim. VI, 8); et iterum: Ut honeste ambuletis ad eos qui foris sunt, et nullius aliquid desideretis (I Thess. IV, 12). Nec quidem praebendae eleemosynae gratia ultra supradictos 76Avictus ab ullo quippiam praesumatis, scientes scriptum: Si enim voluntas prompta est, secundum id quod habet acceptum est, non secundum id quod non habet. Sic illa Evangelici sermonis divina sententia, anum pauperem inter larga locupletum munera gemina tantum aera mittentem, magnifica accepta largitione ditavit. Quia non potest parum esse, quod totum est. Neque quisquam amplius dedit, quam qui sibi nihil reservavit.
4.
Harder things must always be bent gradually, lest the curve, bowed by force, give way and strike a fragment off before it comes round into a circle. For here rather often the scandals of the common crowd are sharply begotten, while a censor's command is arrogated to the yoke of religion. Let our life command, let our tongue persuade, because example carries more authority, and the gentle shaping of character brings on a desire of itself. In every act of yours, therefore, shine as in a mirror 75Areflecting the light. Circumspect everywhere, everywhere careful, that spite find nothing, that false rumor inflict nothing. Honor upright women, given over to a true zeal for religion, with a measure of veneration, so that there be neither an inhuman austerity nor a slack attentiveness. Let your going to one another not be thrust upon you, but native — such as a cause has made, not such as idleness has let loose. Hear several along with several; or if ever a number of the other sex be lacking, let either the tried gravity of someone's years, or the frequented character of the place, or the reckoning of the hour make it seemly, because for you especially the time of life, the hour, and solitude are to be avoided. Not that it is right for me to judge otherwise concerning those who have truly once dedicated devoted hearts to God, but that out of abundance we should so guard against everything that can be feigned, as though it could also be believed, lest 75Ba suspicion born from the occasion creep into any wound of our reputation. Let the very seeds of rumor perish before they are nourished by tongues. Yet not the credit of the deed only, but even the possibility of a lie must be bound up by us. For blessed and glorious is that life concerning which nothing is permitted to falsehood. Nor indeed have I seized upon this judgment of mine as a severe censor, but have taken up a heavenly command as a gentle admonisher: for so also says the Apostle: Being jealous over you with the jealousy of God, I have espoused you to one husband, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ (II Cor. XI, 2), knowing it to be written: Put not an offense or a stumbling block before a brother (Rom. XIV, 13); and again: Be without offense to Jews and to Gentiles, and to the Church of God (I Cor. X, 32); and again: Let not therefore our good be blasphemed (Rom. XIV, 16); and again: For why is our liberty judged by another's 75Cconscience (I Cor. X, 29); and again: But let all your things be done honorably (I Cor. XIV, 40); and again: Commending ourselves to every conscience of men before God (II Cor. IV, 2); and again: Let us provide good things not only before God, but also before men (Rom. XII, 17); and again: That he who is on the opposing side may be confounded, having nothing evil to say (Tit. II, 8). Nor does it escape me that the envy of worldly spite always burns into the disparagement of religion, and fixes the biting tooth of sharp speech, pressed in by malignant rumors. Let the world use its own nature, so long as it find nothing in our discipline. Let falsehood be flung about after its custom, so long as what is said cannot even be plausible. No one on that account ought to despise the wound of ill fame, because rumor has always been accustomed to counterfeit; but so much the more attentively 75Dshould he take precaution, because it is wont even to compose fictions. No one is rendered secure from the fear of disparagement by the commonness of disparaging. Nor is a continued matter of solicitude a cause for negligence. Let there be, therefore, a safe and circumspect guard of your modesty and reverence. Let your going out from the house be necessary and rare — such as either the reckoning of religion has called forth, or the cause of practicing your work for the substance of your food has arranged. Abstaining from all gifts, except those which suffice for daily food and yearly clothing. Knowing it to be written: But having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content (I Tim. VI, 8); and again: That you may walk honorably toward those who are outside, and may desire nothing of any man (I Thess. IV, 12). Nor indeed, for the sake of giving alms, may you take upon yourselves anything from anyone beyond the aforesaid 76Asustenance, knowing it written: For if the will is ready, it is accepted according to that which it has, not according to that which it has not. Thus that divine sentence of the Gospel's discourse enriched with a magnificent gift the poor old woman who cast in only two coins among the lavish offerings of the wealthy. Because that cannot be little which is the whole. Nor has anyone given more than he who has reserved nothing for himself.
5.
Haec si cui praeter vos nimium videbuntur adstricta, qui Dei claustra pulsare tentaverit, prout ratio sua tulerit, relaxabit: ne quis forte aut connexus sit conjuge, aut liberis impeditus. Habet praeter haec arcta substantia plurima quae sequantur. Neque se repulsum credat, sed aditu alterius vocationis 76Badmissum, sicut scriptum est: Unusquisque in qua vocatione vocatus est, in ea permaneat (I Cor. VII, 24). Non tamen ut propensiorem curam patrimonio, quam religioni in caducis magis occupatus impendat, agnoscens scriptum esse; et possidentes tanquam non possidentes. Si quem tamen posteritatis compede felicior natura, si intelligatur, absolverit, causam haerendi in mundo, nisi ignarus est Dei munerum, non habebit. Cur enim vivendi voluntate non solvat, quod moriendi lege rumpendum est, faciens de sorte mercedem, ut de necessitate virtutem augeat? Quinimo, qui in sua re familiari de parvis magna, de vilibus pretiosa, aeterna facit de caducis, solus est, postquam pervenerit ubi sempiternus patrimonii sui possit esse possessor. Si avarus non est, debet terminanda 76Ccontemnere; si avarus est, debet desiderare perpetua, sciens scriptum esse: Nolite thesaurizare vobis thesauros in terra, ubi tinea et rubigo exterminant, et ubi fures effodiunt et furantur. Thesaurizate autem vobis thesauros in coelo, ubi neque tinea, neque aerugo exterminant, et ubi fures non effodiunt, nec furantur (Matth. XIX, 20). Hoc enim ei, qui non caret filiis, hortamentum est: qui caret, imperium. Ista vos cuncta congrua temporibus, apta personis, referta exemplis, condita blanditiis, affatu illice, hortamenti mitis integritate, facilius potest persuadere qui facit. Neque enim aliquo horum omnium fructu invidi estis, cujusquam aestimatione fraudandi. Erat vobis certe corpus firmum, aetas integra, rudes animi, quamvis angusta pro humani generis varietate patebant, 76Dvel negotiandi usus, vel studium militandi, diversae artes, innumera in actibus mundi augendae facultatis officia. Postremo non deerat, vel pauper uxor, quae vivendi pararet voluptatem et insita humanis sensibus pignorum blandimenta. Quae vos omnia quidem corpore et castis sensibus respuentes, divinae sententiae formam religiosis actibus custoditis, dicente Scriptura: Quicunque plus me fecerit domum, aut uxorem, aut filios, non est me dignus (Matth. X, 27). Vestra igitur intuentes exempla, nec illi de meritorum summa angusta sui aestimatione desperent, qui substantia parili ad studium vitae hujus advenerunt. In hoc ergo filii charissimi vivendi tramite constituti, vacate et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus. 77ADies noctesque lectionibus atque orationibus ducite, et mei semper, quem in opere et scientia abortivum omnium sacerdotum, praeceptorem vobis tanti habuistis 78Aeligere, mementote: Vigilate, state in fide, viriliter agite, confortamini, omnia vestra in charitate fiant, et Deus pacis erit vobiscum (I Cor. XVI, 13).
5.
If these things shall seem to anyone besides you too tightly drawn, he who has attempted to knock at the enclosures of God will loosen them as his own reckoning has borne — lest perhaps someone be joined to a wife, or hindered by children. Besides these, a narrow substance has very many things that follow upon it. Nor let him believe himself driven back, but admitted by the entrance of another calling, 76Bas it is written: Let each one remain in that calling in which he was called (I Cor. VII, 24). Yet not so that, being more occupied in fleeting things, he should spend a readier care upon his patrimony than upon religion, recognizing that it is written; and those possessing, as though not possessing. If, however, a happier nature has released anyone from the fetter of posterity — if it be rightly understood — he will not have a cause for clinging to the world, unless he is ignorant of God's gifts. For why should he not loose by the will of living what must be broken by the law of dying, making a wage out of his lot, so as to increase virtue out of necessity? Rather, he who in his own household property makes great things out of small, precious out of cheap, eternal out of fleeting, is alone, after he has arrived where he can be the everlasting possessor of his own patrimony. If he is not covetous, he ought to despise things that must come to an end; 76Cif he is covetous, he ought to desire things perpetual, knowing it to be written: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves dig through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal (Matth. XIX, 20). For to him who does not lack children this is an exhortation; to him who lacks them, a command. All these things, suited to the times, fitted to persons, filled with examples, seasoned with winning words, with an enticing address, with the wholeness of a mild exhortation, he can more easily urge who does them. Nor indeed are you grudging of the fruit of any of all these things, so as to be defrauded of anyone's esteem. Certainly you had a firm body, an unimpaired time of life, untrained minds; there lay open to you, though narrowly, according to the variety of the human race, 76Deither the practice of trading or the pursuit of soldiering, various arts, countless offices in the doings of the world for increasing your means. Lastly there was not lacking even a poor wife, who might furnish the pleasure of living, and the endearments of children implanted in human feelings. All which things indeed you, spurning them in body and in chaste feeling, keep in religious acts the form of the divine sentence, since Scripture says: Whoever has made more of house, or wife, or children than of me, is not worthy of me (Matth. X, 27). Looking therefore upon your examples, let not even those despair of the sum of merits by a narrow estimation of themselves, who have come to the pursuit of this life with a like substance. Established therefore, dearest sons, upon this path of living, be at leisure and see that the Lord is sweet. 77ASpend your days and nights in readings and prayers, and remember me always — me whom, an untimely birth among all priests in work and in knowledge, you counted it so great a thing 78Ato choose as your teacher: Watch, stand in the faith, act manfully, be strengthened; let all your things be done in charity, and the God of peace will be with you (I Cor. XVI, 13).