Sermones et Exhortationes ad Monachos

Sermons and Exhortations to Monks, by Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim ... Of these sermons there are two books: the first is called the Book of Homilies, the second the Book of Sermons. Strasbourg, 1516.

[Source page illegible in the scan; the page image is the authoritative witness.]

Sermons and Exhortations to Monks by John Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, later of Wurzburg. Of these sermons there are two books: the first is called Homilies, the second Sermons.

Ottomarus Luscinius of Strasbourg: a decastich on the homilies of John Trithemius to monks

If for anyone it is not enough to follow your gentle laws of right, O Christ, unless he should speak of monks: Serapion, Paul, and Antony once tried the path, which bristles with countless rough places. He strives to show how a rough cloak may torment the body, and does not allow down to be in the bed; so that fasts may drive out the swollen pride of the soul, and brief, [half-slumbering?] rest may cherish the limbs. These things the silent men taught by deeds; but Trithemius is better suited than they, since he is strong in tongue and hand.

With the grace and privilege of the Imperial Majesty.

Maximilian, by the favor of divine clemency elected Emperor of the Romans, ever Augustus, and Count Palatine of Germany, Hungary, Dalmatia, and Croatia, to the honorable and devout man beloved by us, Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Saint James the Greater at Wurzburg: imperial grace and every good thing.

Since you have humbly represented to us that you have composed various editions of both ancient and modern authors, collected not without great labor, vigils, and diligence, which you desired with your whole mind to have brought into the light and published; and since our beloved subject of the Holy Roman Empire, Master Johannes Haselberg of Constance, has offered himself with a most ready spirit to be the agent of such a matter, and for this purpose has procured at great expense the type with which he may print the aforementioned works: we therefore, in order that [unclear] of the aforesaid Master Johannes may shine forth more and more, have given and granted, and by the tenor of the present letters do give and grant, to the aforementioned Master Johannes Haselberg of Constance full power and authority of every kind.

We decree that he may print, and sell when printed, wherever and at whatever price he wishes, whatever among the treatises and little works edited by you, the aforementioned Trithemius, abbot of Saint James the Greater at Wurzburg, shall have been reviewed and approved by the honorable man faithful and beloved to us, Conrad Peutinger, doctor and our councillor. And we forbid all and singular printers of books, of whatever condition they may be, to dare or presume to print, or to publish, buy, or sell when printed by others, those books that have been published, throughout the whole Roman Empire and in our hereditary lands.

Moreover, we command all and singular our faithful beloved subjects of the Holy Roman Empire, of whatever estate, condition, dignity, and office they may be, whether ecclesiastical or secular, under pain of our most grave indignation and that of the Holy Roman Empire, and of ten marks of pure gold, to be applied as often as the contrary is done, one part to our fisc and the other part to the aforesaid Master Johannes Haselberg, that they assist the same Master Johannes of Constance with their favor and aid in their places and lands, and by no means permit the said works and treatises to be printed, or, when printed elsewhere, to be sold. Rather, all those presuming to do anything against this our grant and prohibition they shall forthwith declare, in our name, to have incurred the sentence of this indignation of ours and of the Holy Roman Empire, executing therein our express will.

In testimony whereof, these letters have been furnished with the impression of our seal on the back. Given in our town of Innsbruck on the tenth day of the month of November, in the year of the Lord 1514, in the twenty-ninth year of our Roman reign, and the twenty-fifth of Hungary.

By the king himself.

At the lord Emperor’s own command.

N. Ziegler.

Corrected by Paul Obersteiner.

1

Titles of the First Book.

fol. iii

Letter.

On the spiritual warfare of monks.

Homily 1, fol. iv.

Homily 2, fol. iv.

Homily 3, fol. vii.

Homily 4, fol. ix.

Homily 5, fol. xi.

Homily 6, fol. xiv.

Homily 7, fol. xv.

Homily 8, fol. xvii.

Homily 9, fol. xix.

Homily 10, fol. xxii.

Homily 11, fol. xxv.

Homily 12, fol. xxvi.

Homily 43, fol. xxxi.

Homily 45, fol. xxxvi.

Homily 16, fol. xl.

Homily 17, fol. xli.

Homily 16, fol. xlix.

Homily 21, fol. l.

Homily 22, fol. lii.

Homily 20, fol. liv.

Homily 123, fol. lv.

Homily 25, fol. lvii.

Titles of the Second Book, which is properly called Sermon.

fol. lvii.

num.

Letter. Sermon 1, fol. lix.

Sermon 2, fol. lxii.

Sermon 3, fol. lxiv.

Sermon 4, fol. lxv.

Sermon 5, fol. lxvii.

Sermon 6, fol. lxx.

Sermon 7, fol. lxxii.

A ii

Epistle

John Trithemius, called the Sponheimite, to the reverend father and his teacher, lord Johannes de Colenhausen, abbot of the monastery of the holy martyrs Marcellinus and Peter in Seligenstadt, and formerly my predecessor at Sponheim: reverence and honor.

I do not know, teacher ever to be venerated by me, under what unlucky star that monastery of Sponheim stands as having been built, since rarely does an abbot die in it; rather, almost all, afflicted by weariness, have, now for almost seventy years, as I find from the annals, resigned of their own will. We are not wholly ignorant why you too, after the example of those who went before, abandoned us poor men before the time: we who rightly accuse our poverty and the rebellious rashness of certain men. I now experience, alas, the cause which impelled your mind to leave the abbacy of Sponheim, utterly barren and unfruitful, over which you presided for thirteen years after the reform, not without continual anxiety of mind and infinite labors. I pass over the wrongs of very many of the brothers which you endured, all of which indeed are daily doubled upon me. You ordered me to send to your fatherhood the book of my exhortations to the brothers, which recently, amid the raging occupations of worldly affairs, I composed by lamplight; and although it is unworthy of your reading, I nevertheless did not wish to resist the command of a parent. Therefore I pray your gentleness kindly to apply the file of correction: if anything is lacking, add it; cut away what is superfluous; and what is unsuitable either hand over to the flames or at least set in order. Farewell, sweetest father, mindful of us. From Sponheim, on the sixth day of the month of August, in the year of Christians 1386 [editorial note: likely a printer’s error for 1496 — Trithemius was born in 1462, making 1386 impossible].

All things. I. Folio III.

It befits the soldiery of Christians, brothers, and especially of monks, to be subject to the various calamities of this world, and, like gold in the furnace, to be continually exercised and tested by tribulations. For it belongs to monks to surpass the common little rule of the soldiery of Christians by a higher manner of living, and to obey not only the Lord’s commandments but also his counsels. It belongs to monks utterly to despise riches, honors, and all the pleasures of the present world for love of God, and, having overcome fleshly desires, to be continually at leisure for God alone. For a monk is so called as one solitary from unity, who even by the very word of his name is admonished to contempt of the world. Therefore the office of a monk is to remain with himself in solitude, cleansed and purified from vices, and sweetly to love Christ above all things. For the goal of monks, to which regular institution is directed, is Christ; whoever refuses to imitate him is neither a monk nor even a Christian. Hence, my brothers, we ought to know that whoever does not follow our Lord and Savior in true patience and humility gains nothing for salvation from being called a Christian or a monk. For he himself is the one who says in the holy Gospel: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter the kingdom of heaven. And what the will of God is, the holy apostle disclosed, saying: This is the will of God, your sanctification. But since the necessary consummation of this sanctification enjoined upon us requires great endurance of evils in all things and humility, since no one is holy by his own strength, we must, my brothers, keep continual consideration of our vocation within ourselves, so that never, growing sluggish in idleness, through

On Spiritual Warfare.

It certainly cannot be otherwise than that we too, his imitators, wicked and most vile sinners, ought to suffer many things, since all that we suffer we justly endure by our own demerit. For no one comes to the glory of the city above unless he has first been justified here from sin; but since the tribulations of the just are many, he will in no way be able to be just who has refused to endure adversities for righteousness in this world. Therefore, my dearest brothers, imitate in great patience and humility our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who, having become man for us, voluntarily endured the greatest things, and in this world was never without the bitterness of persecution. For from the hour of his most sacred birth until the departure of his spirit from his body, he was always most patient for us in the bitterness of this present life; and the bitterness of his future passion, foreknown by him, never withdrew from his foreknowledge. For since he was almighty God made man for us, he knew all things, understood all things, foresaw all things; nor could anything of those things which he was going to suffer be hidden from him, who, in order to suffer, was made passible in the world, while remaining God, as he was, impassible. Born, moreover, of the Virgin Mary without commerce with a man, in order to fulfil the law, he is soon circumcised on the eighth day; and he who had no sin is wounded for our offenses. By night the child is led into Egypt from the face of the persecutor; and he who was Lord of all, poor and needy in the midst of the nations, unknown, is exiled for seven years. Finally, through all the days of his life in this world he most patiently endured continual labors, and never refused to undergo any adversities for the glory of the Father.

For all hard and bitter things the just and innocent one voluntarily suffered for us, most unworthy as we are; by the most bitter death of the cross he redeemed us from the destruction of perpetual damnation, and in his own blood mercifully reconciled us to the Father. Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, as the prince of the apostles has warned, my brothers, let us be armed with the same thought, so that we, suffering together with the innocent one, may diligently recall to memory those things which he endured for us.

For if we suffer with him, we shall also reign together with him when he triumphs in glory. Behold, Christ calls us to the glory to which he has gone before; he gives the weapons with which he himself first overcame the prince of the world; he prescribed the form by which a soldier ought to follow the king to the crown. Christ calls his soldiers to the palace of heaven; the attendant gifts of virtues lead them through distresses, and the victors receive rewards, to reign forever. Therefore, my dearest brothers, always pursuing our warfare most zealously, let us continually declare war on vices and concupiscences, so that, just as the flesh wars against the spirit, so we too may fight constantly, watching in prayer and fasting against the kindler of vices. For as long as we live in this world we are pilgrims away from the Lord, and like gymnosophists we contend in the stadium, carrying out the necessary course of life in continual struggle. Yet we fight not by our own strength, but supported by the mercy of our king, who said to his imitators in the holy Gospel: Without me you can do nothing. And lest we should flee the battle of the warfare set before us as impossible, he said elsewhere: In the world you will have distress; but have confidence: I have overcome the world. And so that we might know that the Lord Jesus is always present in this world to his little servants, he promises us thus in the apostles: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the age. Having received security by this promise, O soldiers of Christ, my dearest brothers, why do we hesitate, why do we not stand bravely against all the insolences of this world? Let us always have our king and protector present with us as we fight; and do we fear to engage against a weak enemy, who overcomes no one except the willing? Gird yourselves, I pray, for the unconquerable Christian warfare, which you have professed under a twofold condition: the one when, at the font of sacred baptism, renouncing Satan, you swore the words of Christian instruction; the other when in the world you solemnly put on the monastic garment of religion.

A great necessity of making progress constrains you, if you weigh your profession with due consideration, since the obligation of the Christian name commands that you must keep the evangelical commandments, and the vow which you voluntarily emitted requires that you observe the precepts of monastic institution. It is no longer sufficient for our salvation to fulfil those precepts which are set before Christians in common to be observed, unless also most diligently

All. I. Folio IIII.

that you keep the monastic institutions which you promised me. “Vow,” says Scripture, “and pay.” And again another Scripture says: “If you have vowed anything to God, do not delay to pay it.” For an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases him, and it is much better not to vow than, after a vow, not to pay what was promised. And Saint Augustine warns us how necessary it is to pay to God what has been promised, saying: “There are certain things which, even without vowing them, we owe to the Lord. But after we promise them to the Lord, we are constrained of necessity to pay them.”

But now, my brothers, I ask you carefully to consider what you have vowed to the Lord your God, and diligently to weigh under what necessity of paying what you promised you have been placed. For you vowed to your God, not to man, obedience and the conversion of your morals according to the Rule of our most holy lawgiver Benedict, and perpetual stability in this order of religion. The obedience, however, which you promised to God, you owe to his vicar, a man, whom you have learned from the Rule which you profess to bear the place of Christ in the monastery. What sort the conversion of morals ought to be according to the Rule you see plainly set down in the fourth chapter, on the instruments of good works; in it you are not ignorant of the deed of all monastic perfection [unclear] at the beginning of his profession.

Indeed, all of you have heard what our divine father commanded to be done concerning novices, and you are not ignorant of what was done in the case of each one of you at the beginning of his profession. For thus he says: “But he who is to be received shall promise in the oratory before all concerning his stability, the conversion of his morals, and obedience, before God and his saints, so that if ever he acts otherwise, he may know that he will be condemned by God, whom he mocks.” Consider now therefore, brothers, under how great a necessity of regular observance you have been placed, since unless you fulfill in deed what you promised in receiving the monastic habit, you will have to be judged before the almighty Lord not as servants of God, not as friends, not as monks, but as mockers.

Therefore always be mindful of those things which the Rule commands you, according to which you promised to order your morals; and labor as true soldiers of Jesus Christ, continually keeping watch in the fear of the Lord, since, as Scripture says, unless you hold yourselves steadfastly in the fear of the Lord, your house will quickly be overthrown. Consider your calling: because the Lord has called you not to idleness, not to the pleasures of this world, nor to pursuing the desires of the flesh, but rather to continual labor, to abstinence from all delights, and to the constant mortification of the flesh under the image of the Crucified, so that you may bear his stigmata in your hearts.

Certainly you have now put your hands to the plough of the holy heavenly agriculture, in which you are commanded to sweat continually in labor, and not only never to look back, but, always advancing from virtue to virtue, to strive toward the summit of supreme perfection. For to live as a monk is nothing other than to shun human company and, in solitude, by the desire of most fervent love, actually to please God alone. Hence Scripture says: “It is good for a man when he has borne the yoke of the Lord from his youth; he will sit alone and be silent, because he will lift himself above himself.”

Therefore, if you wish to be perfect, you who by regular institution are bound to love perfection, begin from the way of life which Christ taught; and since already for love of him you despise all things, do not neglect humbly to conquer, overcome, and despise even yourselves. But the servant of Christ has nothing except Christ; he loves nothing, cares for nothing, seeks nothing except Christ, so that he may be perfect and may please him whose soldiery he has voluntarily professed. But the monk who has anything besides Christ cannot be perfect, since true love is not divided, nor is the mind truly lived among diverse and contrary things.

For this reason the Lord says: “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” You indeed, most beloved brothers, have already, as I trust, left the world and whatever you had in the world; and not only all the goods of the world which you possessed and could have had, but you have also laid aside every desire of having. And you have come to this monastery of the divine prelate Martin, in which the poverty of temporal goods is great; and this alone has been given to us in place of riches: not to find causes of avarice. But just as punishment does not make a martyr, but the cause does, so want does not make a poor man blessed, but voluntary [unclear] for the love of Christ

On the Progress of Spiritual Warfare.

...patience in poverty itself. For in the Gospel the Lord did not proclaim all poor persons whatsoever blessed and to be given the kingdom of heaven; rather, as you know, he foretold that only the poor in spirit were to be blessed. For contempt of riches is not enough for salvation, unless the renouncer of gold also strives with all his strength, through patience and humility, constantly to imitate the Savior. For it is easier to despise the world than to despise and deny oneself. Yet whoever wishes to imitate the Son of God and attain evangelical perfection must become a despiser not only of the world and temporal things, but also of his very self. For the Savior says in the holy Gospel: Unless someone has renounced all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple. And lest we should think this enough for perfection, he again bears witness more openly concerning contempt of oneself, saying: If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake and the Gospel’s will save it. Christ became obedient to the Father even unto death; if you wish to imitate him, as you have promised, it is necessary, brothers, that you deny yourselves to yourselves. For he cannot be a monk who has not first wholly renounced his own will. You who, before God and all his saints, promised to live according to the monastic rule may not hereafter appropriate your own will, since what has once been consecrated to God must no longer be recalled to human uses. For you serve as soldiers not for yourselves but for Christ the King; hence you retain in your own power neither willing nor refusing. For you are dead, as holy [Christophilus?] says, and your life is hidden with Christ in God; but when Christ, your life, shall appear, then you too will appear with him in glory. If you desire to rejoice with him without end, you must now in this time serve strenuously as soldiers for love of him. For no one will be crowned with Christ unless he has persevered in lawful combat to the end, since one who does not know how to persevere can [not?] conquer,

On the Progress of Spiritual Warfare: Second Homily

Most beloved brothers, whenever the recollection of that moment comes to mind, when, though I protested and resisted, you appointed me, unworthy as I am, as abbot over you, so often I am shaken wholly within myself by the bitterness of my heart, and I am compelled to shed tears even unwillingly and unawares. For I know that I was not set over you by my own merits; but whether this was done by yours, I do not know. May almighty God grant that this appointment concerning me was not made because of the demerits of either me or you. Why did you will it so, brothers? You raised me up, young, unlearned, and by no means fit, as leader for the warfare that we profess, so that now it is altogether necessary for me both to teach and to learn, when neither perfection of life commends my teaching, nor consideration of age as yet obtains for the shepherd the necessary authority. In these three years now I have learned sufficiently in how many miseries I am entangled, while I alone am compelled to bear the weaknesses of all of you, and I, unhappy man, am supported by no one. Who will free me from the vanities of this world, into which I have been called back, I who entered the monastery in order to escape every care and anxiety of the present life? Since, however, it is necessary to bear the burden placed on my shoulders, I beg you, brothers: diligently extend to me the helping hands of your prayers, so that, by the Lord’s granting, I may deserve to live among you in such a way that I do not transgress the condition of spiritual warfare which the Rule commands us. For we are professed soldiers of the same warfare, and the vow does not distinguish office, since solemn profession at the beginning of this life made the shepherd bound together with the sheep. Hence, when I speak to you about the spiritual warfare which, by God’s mercy, we have professed, my intention is, insofar as the Lord Jesus shall deign to grant, also to shake myself out from the feathers of sloth and lukewarmness toward the fervor of holy newness...

Homily II. Fol. V.

[unclear]: and to summon all of you, according to your strength, to the guardianship of the military order. For we are frail and weak, and we do not long remain stable in holy purpose unless by daily exercises we continually renew the fervor of the spirit. For by reason of my office I am bound to set before you those things which can conduce to your salvation; it belongs to you to hear me speaking, as the shepherd of your souls, patiently in all things. For although, being young, I am not fit to teach so great a multitude of elders, nevertheless, because you have appointed me your shepherd, I am compelled, under the necessity of salvation, to feed the flock which I undertook to govern. What is mine to do, I both do willingly according to my strength and will do as long as I shall live in this solicitude of pastoral care: young though I am, I shall teach you elders, and without interruption I shall show how you ought to serve as soldiers for him in whose arms you have sworn.

For I am not unaware of the dreadful threat of our lawgiver, who says: Let the abbot know that whatever profit the master of the household may find lacking in the sheep is laid upon the shepherd’s fault. And what follows concerns you, my brothers, if, while I preach and admonish, contempt for the word of God arises. Again, he says, he will be free only insofar as, if all diligence has been applied by the shepherd to a restless or disobedient flock, and every care has been shown for their diseased actions, their shepherd, absolved in the judgment of the Lord, may say to the Lord with the prophet: I have not hidden your justice in my heart; I have spoken your truth and your salvation; but they, despising, have spurned me. And then at last, for the sheep disobedient to his care, let death itself be the punishment prevailing against them.

Here no covering of excuse is left; no place for evasion is afforded; but the danger of both parties is publicly described. For I, holding the place of the abbot, if I have not announced to you the justice of God, if I have not corrected you when sinning according to the Rule, have denied my office, and the whole of whatever is found lacking in holiness among you will be imputed to me. For it is mine, by reason of the pastoral office, to say what is expedient for the salvation of your souls; but yours is humbly to hear those things which I shall proclaim in the name of the Savior, and, so far as each one has strength, faithfully to fulfill them with a great heart.

You have heard my danger if I do not cry out; you have heard yours also, if you despise me as I preach the word of God to you. But so that by the Savior’s mercy we may all escape secure, let each one of us zealously pursue what is commanded him in this spiritual warfare, taking the greatest care that, made deaf hearers of the truth, we do not lie to the Lord. Let us diligently remember the vow which we have made, and let us preserve inviolate until death the holy order which we profess. Let us hear our king saying in the Gospel to his soldiers: If anyone ministers to me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also will my minister be. We are ministers of the eternal king, priests and Levites, all cloistered monks, and bound by a double reason to great holiness, since we have at once taken up the order of clerics and profess the rule of monastic purity.

Therefore let us follow our commander, under whom we serve, along the path of the austerity of all virtues; and let us arm ourselves with right faith, firm hope, and the most fervent charity toward God and neighbor, in which the perfection of all holiness is comprised. For whoever is girded with the defense of charity is never overcome by the adversary. For in charity the military service of Christ truly grows sweet; and when its fervor begins to burn in the soldier’s heart, it fears no adversities. For charity, as Saint Gregory says, is never idle, but does great things if it is true; but if it refuses to work, it was not perfect charity. Therefore, beloved cloistered men, you who have promised that you will serve the eternal king perpetually, cast away now the works of darkness, and put on the charity of God and neighbor, which is the strongest armor of salvation for all. If anyone has been clothed with it, he will fear no labors, however hard, no adversities of this world. He will not fear hunger, nor thirst, nor persecutions of men; not reproaches, not mockeries, not prisons, not chains, not any hard and adverse things whatever; but everyone who has once perfectly tasted the charity of God, unconquered against

On the Progress of Spiritual Warfare.

[Through] whatever raging of the world, he will remain. The true lover of God rejoices in tribulations, is glad in adversities, exults in persecutions for the sake of righteousness. He follows his king, who is seated in the heavens; there he dwells in mind and in the desire of his soul, where he does not doubt that his savior reigns.

Whatever pleasure and delights are seen anywhere in the world produce for the servant of Christ, burning in true charity, stench and horror as if they were the vilest dung, because he loves nothing earthly, nothing transitory, nothing perishable, but only him to whom he has devoted himself, with the whole intention of his mind. For the true soldier of Christ thinks nothing of the things of the world; he cares not for the flesh but for the mind, as one who is not ignorant of what is written: No one serving as a soldier for God entangles himself in secular affairs, so that he may please him to whom he has proved himself.

Indeed, all who serve an earthly emperor always obey his commands in everything, and immediately go, without contradiction, wherever he has ordered. All follow one leader, and whatever he commands in the king’s name, no one in the whole army contradicts. You also, soldiers of the king of ages, who have appointed me as your leader in his place and as preceptor, hear the command of your emperor Jesus Christ through my mouth, and do what he commands us in the holy Gospel. Hear what he orders, and consider how you ought to serve as soldiers in the observance of regular discipline.

“He who ministers to me,” he says, “let him follow me.” Listen, cloistered monk, bearing the warfare; pay attention. Christ, to whom you serve as soldier, speaks to you; the heavenly emperor, at whose altar you minister, addresses you. If you wish to be my minister, you must follow the virtue of patience and humility which you have learned from me. For I have given you an example, O my soldiers, that just as I have done, you also should do likewise. Charity, O monk, compelled me to be born in the world as a man from a virgin; may that same charity, for love of me, always preserve you pure and humble in the cloister.

The work of human salvation which the Father commanded me I strove always to accomplish, for your sake, with unceasing meditation; and you, if you love me, take care to preserve inviolate until death the holy purpose of monastic life which you have undertaken for your sins. I was always, in all things, voluntarily subject and obedient to my heavenly Father, even to the most bitter death of the cross; you also, if you wish to come to me, obey your abbot, appointed in my place, humbly in all things and always according to the rule.

I never transgressed in any respect the command which my Father gave me; and unless you preserve inviolate until death the three principal vows of the monastic institution, you are by no means to be numbered among my ministers and soldiers. Though I was rich, for the sake of your salvation I became poor and needy; but unless you, for love of me, have despised and abandoned all things, you will not be able to be my disciple. Poverty, hunger, thirst, heat, cold, and continual labors in the world I endured for your sake; unless in these you have followed me according to your rule, as far as you are able, patiently and voluntarily, you will certainly be neither my minister, nor my soldier, nor my monk. For in your patience you will possess your soul.

In this world I desired nothing, had nothing, loved nothing earthly; but poor, humble, and meek, [unclear], I most perfectly subjected myself always in all things to the will of the Father, ready to receive injuries and blows. But you, O cloistered monk, who profess the monastic rule under an abbot or prior, if from now on you have followed the desires of your flesh, if you have possessed a private purse or property of your own in the monastery, if you have loved anything besides me, if you have despised the commands of your preceptor, if you have not served me perseveringly in humility, know for certain that I shall not hold you as a soldier, I shall not count you as a monk, a minister, or a disciple, but judging you a fugitive, an apostate, faithless, false, a mocker, and an unfaithful perjurer, I shall condemn you without mercy forever, as you have deserved, with my betrayer Judas and the fallen angels.

What your lips vowed to me is no longer yours but mine. But if you have usurped for yourself what is mine, you do not wish to be a monk and my faithful servant, but a thief and a perverse robber, impious and unjust; have no doubt that when I come I shall judge you as such. But if you have persevered faithfully in the holy purpose until death; if you have kept inviolate, under the authority of my vicar whom I appointed shepherd for you, the will which you solemnly consecrated to me; if obedience, poverty, and

All. II. Fol. VI.

If you have kept chastity with humility for the love of my name even to the end; if you have always striven to please me alone in all your actions; if you have taken care to follow me without interruption along the steep path of the virtues: knowing without doubt, know most certainly that I shall hold you, made from a servant into a very dear friend, as a soldier to be crowned with me in my kingdom; I shall love you; I shall cherish you; I shall set you gloriously forever in the midst of my saints. Hear me now, my servant, you who, out of reverence and honor for my name, have enrolled yourself in the warfare of monks; and with a great and perfect heart follow the footprints of my feet, just as that blessed teacher of yours, once your friend, taught you and strove with all his efforts to imitate. Let not the enticements of the flesh deceive you, O my strenuous soldier; let not the vain and pernicious dealings of this world seduce your soul, dedicated to me; [unclear] of the unclean spirit, which no mortal has ever been able to escape. Let those last things which you must necessarily undergo always remain in your memory; and from their swiftest passage take up for yourself the necessary dread and contempt of the pleasures of the flesh, which are passing away, and of the future things of this sojourning. Just as brief labor borne patiently and charitably in the world for my sake prepares eternal happiness for my soldiers, so the desires and pleasures of the flesh, which quickly pass away, sink the soul of a sinful man down to hell to be tormented without end. Therefore let all your desires be toward me, monk, you who serve me and who follow me along the steep path of regular observance. Give me your heart if you desire happiness; seek me alone if you love your own life and salvation. When you have loved God, you are tranquil and holy; when you have followed him, you are blessed and glorious without end.

What would you do, my brothers, if it should happen to you to hear these words which we have spoken from the mouth of our savior and king as he spoke them? What, I ask, would you do? I certainly believe that there would be great compunction in your hearts, if you heard Christ speaking personally in this way. But we, holding Christ’s place in the monastery, speak the words which he has given, and you do not attend; we declare to you the necessary contest of salvation, and you show no signs of compunction. If you do not know what cause there was for my saying these things, I now beg you to understand. I see certain of you abhorring sacred readings, given over to vanities, and caring for nothing less than the perfection of spiritual warfare; their god is their belly, and their glory is in confusion. Do you suppose, most worthless scoundrels, who have no taste for anything spiritual, that Christ will come again from heaven to speak to you those things which he entrusted to his preachers to be spoken? Have you not heard Paul saying: Christ, rising from the dead, now dies no more; death will no longer have dominion over him. For in that he died, he died to sin once; but in that he lives, he lives to God. Once Christ was seen on earth; once he appeared visibly among mortals; once he preached the way of eternal salvation; he will not add a second time. He appointed pastors and vicars over his household to teach the ignorant; wishing to manifest their authority, he said in the Gospel: He who hears you hears me, and he who despises you despises me. Therefore hear those whom Christ has set over you as rectors, to whom he entrusted the distribution of spiritual wheat, as he said in the holy Gospel: Who, do you think, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the lord appointed over his household, to give them wheat in due season? [unclear] fruits, while it is granted to you at the proper time, lest, if you neglect to repent, the time be cut off. For you know what divine Scripture says to us: The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Beware, I beg you, of delaying the good, because none of you knows when he is to die; rather, attend to that true saying of the wanton poet Naso, who admonishes thus: But hasten, and do not put yourself off to coming hours; he who is not ready today will be less ready tomorrow. No one [unclear] life for himself

On the Progress of Spiritual Warfare.

let him promise the brothers long life; but rather let each one think that death is near at hand, and therefore let him live prepared, as though he were to depart from the body tomorrow. For the hope of a longer life has deceived many, and, holding them back from the fervor of their holy purpose, has suddenly plunged them down to the lower world. Therefore complete your service, which necessarily will be ended before long, in such a way that you may not fear to appear before your king when he comes. Always be mindful that you have no abiding city here, nor can you remain long in this mortal life, but death will come quickly and compel you to depart.

For whoever is a true monk and desires to be a faithful soldier of Christ despises all the delights of this world; he always thinks of his Lord as present to him; and, casting away from himself every impediment and every little burden, he cares above all how he may be able to please him. He ought not to be anxious in seeking the necessities of life, since the providence of the shepherd arranges all these things for those subject to him. Let the whole care of the monk be to keep himself clean from this age, so that, free and released from all things, he may seek nothing but God, think of nothing but Jesus crucified for us.

O happy soldier of Christ, to whom the kingdoms of heaven are promised, if faithful, prudent, and vigilant in the love of God he shall remain even to the end. Certainly nothing is happier than a good monk, to whom the Son of God promises himself as a reward; nor anything more laborious, since, placed in the arena of battle, he is daily in peril concerning his salvation; and nothing is stronger than the monk who conquers the world together with the devil, nor anything weaker than one who is overcome by his own flesh.

Therefore, O monk, you must always keep watch against the hidden enemy of your salvation; for he is never more easily conquered than if he is kept far from the entrance of the mind. Hence, if you desire to escape victorious against him, do not allow the engines of his deceit and fraud to be brought nearer to you. First of all, guard your senses, lest death enter through the windows; and take the greatest care against the enemy's snares when for a time he has allowed you to be secure in your devotion. Never forget the admonition of the wise man, who says: If you do not hold yourself constantly in the fear of the Lord, your house, that is, your conscience, will quickly be overthrown. Therefore Solomon said in Proverbs: Blessed is the man who is always fearful, but he who is hard of mind will fall into evil. For the monk who is presumptuous through security is without doubt tending toward destruction.

It is therefore necessary that the soldier of Christ always be prepared against his adversaries, so that as long as he lives in this mortal body he may not trust that he has perfectly overcome them. For the flesh always desires against the spirit; and lest the soul at any time be overcome, as long as one happens to live, it is necessary to fight. Whenever you have conquered your invisible enemy, he rises up again and again, having gathered greater [unclear] for you, so that he who cannot obtain victory by strength may at least bring on despair by persistence. But you, most valiant soldier of Christ, take care that you do not fail in the arena of this very brief combat; take care that before the battle has been completed at the end, you do not lay down the arms of necessary defense. For the Savior says: He who has persevered to the end will be saved.

Do not give rest to your soul as long as it has been granted to you to remain in this miserable pilgrimage, but always do something good, lest the devil ever find you idle. Always remember the admonition of Scripture, saying: Whatever your hand is able to do, work at it earnestly, because neither work nor reason nor wisdom nor knowledge will exist in the lower world, to which you hasten. There is no one who lives forever, but we all die, and like waters we fall away into the earth, which will not return again to their former state. Then there will no longer be time to do good for the merit of eternal happiness; but whatever a man has sown here and now in this present time, then he will receive as recompense. Therefore holy Scripture says again: In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening let not your hand cease. And Saint Paul, admonishing Timothy, says: Labor like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. For no one serving God entangles himself in secular affairs, so that he may please him to whom he has approved himself. For even of those who contend in the arena, no one will be crowned unless he has contended lawfully. But everyone who contends in the arena abstains from all things. In another place also the same lover of Christ says: I want you to be without anxiety.

You therefore, soldier of Christ, who contend in the arena of daily battle so that at last you may appear glorious forever before your God, [unclear] the corruptible [unclear] who, contending in the arena, indeed for a corruptible

[unclear], lest he be defeated, abstains from everything, so that naked and free he may run the more swiftly. Therefore, if you desire to walk the way of God in true purity, if you wish to defeat the enemy in the contest of a steadfast mind, cast from yourself all the garments of fleshly pleasures. For whoever has learned to run naked, having thrown off hair and clothing, carries around nothing besides the unencumbered body by which he can be held by the adversary. For he who runs naked has stripped himself of every anxiety over the things clamoring round about, and thinks of nothing other than victory; nor does he care meanwhile what is being done at home with wife or children. Nothing present calls him back from the course; the agility of his companions does not frighten him off. Among many he contends as though alone; he hastens breathless toward the prize as though certain. Imitate him, soldier of Christ, in the spiritual struggle: naked, contemplate the naked Savior hanging on the cross, so that you may be able to cast down the adversary the more easily, the less he sees you to possess of the vanities of the world. Therefore fight naked, light, and unencumbered on every side; naked and freed from everything, fly into heaven. Naked you came into this world; naked you are to return to the earth. Pondering these things diligently, my brothers, so run that you may obtain eternal life with all the saints. Amen. The homily ends.

What the Armor of Spiritual Warfare Is. Homily III.

Most beloved brothers, today we have heard the holy apostle writing in the epistle to the Ephesians: Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against princes and powers, against the rulers of the world of these darknesses, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day, and in all things to stand perfected. He then adds what the armor of God is: Stand therefore, having girded your loins in truth, and having put on the breastplate of justice, and having shod your feet in preparation for the gospel of peace. In all things take up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and supplication, and in the same keeping watch with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. To the Thessalonians likewise he says: But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

These are the arms, brothers, with which the soldiers of Christ, once clothed, vanquish the savage adversary; these are the monks’ signs of virtues, without which no one attains victory over vices. The instruments of human warfare, which very many mortals pursue too eagerly, are helmet, shield, breastplate, sword, dagger, cuirass, belt, lance, and many other things of that kind. Men about to proceed to war are armed with these most carefully, and unless they have been most diligently protected over the whole body, they are certainly judged less fit for battle. But the arms of our spiritual warfare are faith, hope, charity, patience, humility, obedience, chastity, together with each of the holy virtues of the soul enumerated by our holy teacher Benedict under chapter four, where he makes beautiful mention of the instruments of good works. And would that, my brothers, we were as careful and diligent concerning these spiritual arms of our warfare as we see worldly men to be anxious about their corruptible armor.

But now, which I say with too much grief, since we shamefully cast aside the arms of salvation with which we ought to have overcome all our adversaries, what else remains except that we succumb to our enemy in the struggle? But perhaps you will say: If the Christian faith, as the apostle testifies, belongs to the arms of spiritual warfare, we certainly intend to remain in it. But granted. What then does Saint James say in his epistle? What will it profit, my brothers, if someone says that he has faith, but does not have works? Can faith save him? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. Therefore, whenever Scripture speaks of faith, it must always be understood not as common and dead, but as formed by good works and illumined by the sweetness of divine love. For no one will be saved by faith so [unclear].

What the Armor of Spiritual Warfare Is.

With the greatest zeal always strive that you may be able to hold this shield of faith, formed by holy works, in your hands against all the attacks of your enemies, because he is never conquered by the adversary who is protected by this impregnable shield. Confirming this, the blessed Augustine also says, from the words of the Lord:

There are no greater riches, no treasures, no honors; there is no greater substance of this world than the Catholic faith, which saves sinful human beings, enlightens the blind, heals the sick, baptizes catechumens, justifies the faithful, restores the penitent, increases the just, crowns martyrs, preserves virgins and widows and married persons in chaste modesty, ordains clerics, consecrates priests, and places believers in the eternal inheritance with the holy angels.

Thus in the root of a tree there appears absolutely no form of beauty, and yet whatever beauty or comeliness there is in the tree proceeds from it; so also from the humility of faith, whatever of merit, whatever of blessedness the [unclear] soul has, all proceeds from the foundation of faith. For as the Apostle says, whatever, or everything, that is not from faith is sin, since without faith it is impossible to please God. For one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he is the rewarder of those who seek him. But the more anyone loves, the more fully he advances in faith. For faith without charity is like something cast away as useless, and a shield without a strap.

O faith, a treasure richer than all things: when formed in the mind of mortal man, you make him equal to the immortals; you conquer demons and strongly overcome all hard and adverse kingdoms. Faith is the foundation of all virtues, without which no spiritual building stands. Faith is the illuminator of the mind and the principal instrument of spiritual warfare. For without the shield of faith the devil is not conquered, nor do you overcome the [unclear] of wanton flesh. Therefore, brothers, let us consider how necessary faith formed by charity is for us, and [unclear], because in this warfare, while we fight, neither is victory granted to us nor is confidence preserved. For faith is a shield, with which we very easily conquer the enemy of our salvation, if we are bound to it by the handle of divine love. For the blessed Pope Gregory says: We are truly faithful if we fulfill by works what we promise in [unclear]. In this armor, since faith is the foundation of all good works, all our prayers

All Things. III. VIII

[unclear] must precede, so that the mind may be able to arrive at love. For unless faith is first held, one in no way reaches spiritual love. For charity does not precede faith, but faith precedes charity, because no one can love or hope for a good which he refuses to believe.

But since now you faithfully believe what he also commands, and have placed the foundation of the spiritual building upon a firm rock, it is now necessary that without delay you also do the remaining things that are needed for perfection. Therefore love peace and truth, so that in the faith of Christ, as true soldiers, you may be able at all times to remain stable and most steadfast. For, as Scripture bears witness, truth is great and stronger than all things, nor is there anything unjust with it. Whoever loves truth is a true disciple of Christ, and loves Christ himself, who says in the Gospel: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” All the ways of the Lord likewise are mercy and truth; from this Satan fell through pride, because he did not remain in everlasting truth.

Therefore the holy Christ-loving Paul commands the soldiers of the Lord to gird themselves in truth; in this he wished to show the state of perfection toward which cloistered persons especially ought to strive. For what else is it to love truth than to be a human being as one is commanded to be, and so to live according to the norm of justice, true and solid, such as holy perfection requires of nature through grace? Hence Firmianus Lactantius says: “Let those who devote themselves to truth cast away the pleasures hostile to it and troublesome, which bind the soul to themselves and do not allow it to be free. But let eternal things always be preferred to false, useful things to pleasant. Let nothing be pleasing to the sight except what can be done justly, piously, and religiously; nothing sweet to the hearing except what makes the soul better.”

Therefore soldiers have their loins girded in truth when, having despised the enticements of the flesh and the vanities of the world for the love of God, they strive with all their strength so to conduct themselves and live that they may be able in all things to please the highest Truth, which is God. After this the soldier of Christ is commanded to put on the breastplate of justice, without which no one can rightly and fruitfully serve the Lord as a soldier. Justice, moreover, is to preserve and distribute to each person what is owed to him according to law or nature. And this is the most excellent of all virtues; without it there can be no piety, no religion, no holiness, and no discernment of good and evil. For it is light and a great splendor, from which the force and dominion of every good rises up among mortals. Justice is the mother of innocence, the nurse of concord, the parent of friendship, the begetter of piety, and the preserver of religion. Justice, as Scripture bears witness, is perpetual and immortal; injustice, however, is the acquisition of death.

In what ways the Christian soldier ought to put on this breastplate of justice, our Savior himself declares in the holy Gospel, saying: “All things whatsoever you wish men to do to you, do you also likewise to them.” Therefore, my brothers, keep this manner of living in the monastery: that each one should do for his fellow soldier in all things just as, according to the right judgment of reason, he desires at all times to have done to himself by others. For this is the first duty of justice, that one harm no one; then, that one use common goods without any harm to another; and, what our warfare further requires, that one do for a brother what, by just reason, conduces to salvation as to one’s own.

O how great a peace mortals would enjoy if they followed the exhortations of the apostle, by which each is commanded to bear the burdens of the other. “Everyone,” says Scripture, “who does justice is born of God.” This is the breastplate [unclear]: to show worship and piety to God, holiness to ourselves, and brotherly charity to our neighbor. We all serve Christ as soldiers under the trophy of justice; if anyone is unjust, he shows that he belongs not to the soldiery of Christ, but rather to the company of demons. For justice is the greatest virtue, which distributes to each what is his own; if you lack it, you lose the name of soldier. Therefore render worship and piety to God; to your superior [unclear]. For this indeed, brothers, is the true justice of monks: that each one should conduct himself without offense according to the prescribed norm of the law, assigning to each his proper dignity: reverence to his superior, concord to his equal, discipline to his inferior, worship and obedience to God.

and holiness for himself; patience for an enemy; mercy for the poor; brotherly charity in the Lord for all. Therefore the holy Christ-lover says: “We are debtors, brothers, not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you will live.” He therefore fights rightly who gives to each what is his own. Next we are commanded to have our feet shod in preparation for the gospel of peace, so that the good which, by the Lord’s generosity, we ourselves have come to know, we may also gladly communicate to others. For our law, brothers, according to which we are commanded to serve as soldiers for the Lord, is the gospel of Jesus Christ, to which all the rule and constitutions of cloistered persons are ordered. For our monastic constitutions have not been established as the gospel, but the statutes of monks have been made on account of the gospel. For a Christian can be saved without being a monk; but a monk cannot be saved unless he is a Christian. Let certain excessively superstitious and foolish cloistered persons be ashamed, who value their own rules and statutes more than the gospel of Christ; who observe the traditions of men even to prisons and chains, but do not heed the constitutions of God and of holy universal Church. To these the words of our Savior, speaking to the Jews according to Matthew, rightly apply: “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” And the evangelical teaching is to be preferred by far to all the constitutions of the whole world. After the gospel, however, the statutes of the universal Church hold the first place of authority, and neither the constitutions nor the rules of monks are compared with them in dignity. Let us take care to live according to evangelical purity, and we shall be perfect in the monastic way of life of the fathers. Let our feet always be shod in preparation for the gospel of peace, so that we may mortify in ourselves the desires of the flesh, and through love of God and neighbor may have peace with all. For without peace and the concord of brotherhood, mortification of the flesh is of no profit, as Saint Jerome says: “Whoever afflicts the body but abandons concord does indeed praise God on the timbrel, but does not praise him in the choir.” Hence Solomon says: “Better is a dry morsel with joy than a house full of victims with strife.” And again he says: “It is an honor for a man to separate himself from contentions; but all fools are mingled with insults.” The holy Christ-lover also, a lover of peace, admonishes us, saying: “Follow peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see God.” Hence also the prophet Zechariah: “Love peace and truth,” says the Lord almighty. And our Savior says in the holy gospel according to Mark: “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace among yourselves.” “There is no peace for the impious,” says the Lord. But he is truly a soldier of Christ who has peace with God, with his neighbor, and within himself. A man is said to have peace with God when, moved by good will and turned toward him through the continual desire of love, despising transitory things, he directs the gaze of his mind to things above, and most diligently keeps all the things that the Lord has commanded. For when the Son of God was born in the flesh, the holy angels sang glory to the Lord, who sits above all things in the heights, and announced peace to men of good will. But impious and unjust men cannot have this peace with God, because they have turned their wills away from the Lord. He has peace with his neighbor who does injury to no one, who, when injured, does not repay vengeance, but, overcoming evil with good, never abandons brotherly charity. If any of his neighbors unjustly murmurs against such a man, the soldier of Christ has not on that account abandoned peace, because perhaps another has begun an unjust murmuring without just cause. A just man, who has peace with God and desires to harm none of his neighbors, will rightly be called peaceable, even if someone, disturbed unjustly, rises up against him. For the just man says: “With those who hated peace I was peaceable; when I spoke to them, they fought against me without cause.” Hence Saint Augustine speaks: “Among the true worshippers of God, even wars themselves are peaceful, because they are waged not from greed or cruelty, but from zeal for peace, so that the evil may be restrained and the good relieved.” He has peace within himself who, enlightened by purity and holiness, lives secure in his conscience without error, whom anxious synteresis does not bite back, nor any unjust or wicked thought disturb. Hence again Augustine: “Peace is serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, simplicity of heart, the bond of love, the fellowship of charity.” For it removes enmities and rivalries; it restrains wars.

All. III. Fol. IX.

It restrains anger; it treads down the proud; it loves the humble; it quiets the discordant; it reconciles enemies. It is calm toward all, burdensome to none, troublesome to none, onerous to none; it does not know how to exalt itself, it does not know how to be puffed up. Whoever receives this, let him hold it; whoever has lost it, let him seek it again; whoever has let it go, let him search it out, because whoever is not found in it is disowned by the Father, disinherited by the Son, and, no less, is made alien to the Holy Spirit. He can never come to the inheritance of God who refused to observe the testament of peace. For the place of God is in peace, but the devil’s dwelling is in anger and disturbance.

Therefore every person who does not have this threefold peace in his heart, who does not offer it in his mouth, nor show it in his works, is to be called neither a monk nor a Christian. Hence the Lord says in the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. If those who make peace are called sons of God, beyond doubt those who confound peace are sons of Satan. Therefore, my dearest brothers, have among yourselves that peace which the world cannot give, which is the peace of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, concerning which Isaiah the prophet said: And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice silence, and security forever. For God is the Lord of peace and love; therefore whoever violates peace and brotherly love shows that he is not a true lover of God. Let the true peace of Christ be in your hearts, and you will fear no adversities of this world.

Let true peace also be among you, not feigned, because Christ desires peace not from the mouth but from the heart, and wishes one’s neighbor to be greeted by affection rather than by the lips. Therefore if any one of you has in anything saddened his brother, let him make satisfaction to him as soon as possible before the setting of the sun, and take care, all of you, that the sun not set upon your anger before him; and, falling at his knees, ask pardon. And the sword, says the Spirit, which is the word of God, through every prayer and supplication, let us, soldiers of Christ, always hold in our hands. The word of God, which is contained in the holy scriptures, is a victorious defense against all assaults of demons, as we are admonished by the example of our Savior, who, when tempted by the devil, with tranquil gentleness hurled the testimonies of the divine scriptures in his face, saying: It is written, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And you, monk, serving as a soldier for Christ, whenever you are tempted by the devil, at once impress the sign of the holy cross upon your forehead, and say with Saint John Chrysostom in a certain homily: I renounce you, Satan, with all your iniquities, and I join myself to you, Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, because it is written: The soul that has sinned, it shall die. This is the sword of the Spirit, most sharp on both sides; if, from the very beginning of temptation, you always brandish it in your hands against the enemy, with God protecting you, you will easily overcome all his contrivances and snares. For scripture says: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

And so, rising from bed in the morning, at once make that protestation which I have described against the adversary of your salvation, and neither the devil nor any perverse person will be able to harm you by incantation or sorcery, whether that be [unclear] or something else. Do this same thing when you are about to sleep at night, and whenever you perceive some temptation of the malignant spirit rising up in your thought. And thus you will be safe in all your ways, and the devil will flee far from you and will not dare to come nearer to you, unless your own sloth first trips you up, so that either you cast away the sword or immediately commit some mortal sin. For scripture says: Those who commit iniquity and sin are enemies of their own soul. Solomon also says in Proverbs: His own iniquities seize the impious man, and by the cords [unclear]. If, therefore, brothers, you wish to be secure under the protection of Almighty God, flee sin, because sin separates us from the help of the Lord, just as purity and cleanness of conscience join us to God, as Isaiah the prophet says: Behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened so that it cannot save, nor is his ear heavy so that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he would not hear. Jeremiah also says: Our iniquities have turned away these things, and our sins have kept good

On the reading and study of the divine Scriptures

by us. For everyone who sins mortally opens the door of his heart to the devil and closes it to God; nor can he trust in the aid of the Most High as long as he has remained lying in wickedness without repentance.

Here ends Homily III.

On the reading and study of the divine Scriptures: Homily Four.

Since every Scripture, divinely inspired, as the holy [apostle of Christ?] says, is useful for teaching, or for arguing, for correcting, for instructing in justice, so that the man of God may be perfect, instructed for every good work, we ought gladly to direct to the reading of the divine Scriptures some portion of the zeal for secular literature in which we once labored. For in the divine Scriptures whatever saving knowledge requires is found expressed most abundantly, so that what you do not find there is by no means necessary for salvation. For the majesty of the divine Scriptures far surpasses all the knowledge and teaching of the whole world, which the Holy Spirit poured into the men of God so that it might be written, and, so that it may be understood, he bestows the grace of his illumination upon studious readers.

This Scripture, my brothers, turn over diligently with purity of mind and the fervor of twin charity, for whoever truly loves God spends all the time he can find free in sacred reading. Let the frenzied deeds, so to speak, of fleshly lovers be incentives to you, I pray, toward the wholesome study of the Scriptures: they, receiving letters and little pledges from their mistresses, do not cease to read them, and often reread and kiss them; and, what is a greater sign of love, they hang them either from the neck or at the breast, so that the beloved memory of her whom they desire may never depart from the mind.

Consider, brothers, the madness of carnal men in love, and blush at your own lukewarmness concerning the love of God. Which of you is affected toward the holy Scriptures of God with so great a love of heart as a blind lover, insane with affection, is inflamed toward the filthy and utterly vain love-letters of one little harlot? He, because of love for the absent woman whom he desires, guards her letters and little gifts with frequent kisses; pondering every single stroke with excessive love, he examines them again and again; in all that he does he is always thinking of the absent woman; anxiously he hastens to come into her sight.

O if we who are called Christian monks, who serve the supreme and immortal king Christ Jesus, who are commanded to love our God above all things and are enjoined to love nothing in this world except him, if, I say, we were to pursue our creator with as much love as carnally minded men observe and love their corruptible and mortal girlfriends. The holy Scripture read daily brings God before us, manifests his will to us, instructs us what we ought to do, and discloses what we ought to avoid. Through it the almighty speaks with us, and, instructing us by an invisible teaching, consoles us, as the holy apostle says: For whatever things were written were written for our instruction, that through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Therefore the true soldier of Christ, and especially the cloistered one, who loves God in his whole heart and longs to please him alone, embraces the divine Scriptures, and above all the holy Gospel, with affection, and is constantly occupied in its reading and meditation. But whoever neglects readings of the divine Scriptures clearly shows that he is not a true lover of God. But what does Scripture itself say? He who turns away his ear so as not to hear the laws, his prayer will be detestable. But blessed are they who examine the testimonies of the Lord; with their whole heart they seek him.

And so you, my brothers, if you truly love the Lord Jesus in your whole heart, if you desire above all things to please him as true soldiers, if finally you wish to advance toward the perfection of the monastic life, you ought always to occupy yourselves with fervent affection in the reading of the divine Scriptures. How useful the reading of the Scriptures is, blessed Jerome intimates, saying: Love the knowledge of the Scriptures, and you will not love the vices of the flesh. For after God nothing in this life is taken in more pleasantly, nothing is felt more sweetly, nothing separates the mind more powerfully from love of this world, nothing so strengthens the soldier of Christ against all the temptations of adversaries, nothing disposes and confirms a monk so much for every good work, as frequent reading and ardent study of the Scriptures. Indeed, if the benefits of the almighty which

Homily IV. Fol. X.

...he has bestowed upon the human race, when by reading through the whole breadth of Scripture we recall them to memory with studious devotion, they will furnish us the greatest material and occasion by which, burning more greatly in the love of God, we may make progress. For what else does the whole sequence of the divine Scriptures contain than a certain right order of the good things which God has either already bestowed on men or has promised that he will also give? Or what is there that can so strengthen us for the endurance of evils and render us willingly patient, as if we read in the Gospel that the Son of God suffered innocently for us, and after him the victories of the holy martyrs?

For sacred Scripture contains the things necessary for us for saving knowledge, and it admonishes us what, as soldiers in this pilgrimage, we ought usefully to seek, and what also to avoid. Hence again Saint Jerome says: “Our riches are to meditate on the law of God day and night.” Let us therefore prepare strength for ourselves; let us assume perfect might, so that amid the darkness of errors and the confusion of night the light of the knowledge of Christ may appear, and days and nights may have a protecting light, so that, with Scripture as our guide, we may be able to arrive at the holy land.

For what is better than this learning, what discipline sweeter? What is sweeter than our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true salvation and sweetness of faithful souls? Let Christ be our banquet; let sacred reading be our food and drink. For what can the life of a monk or priest be without knowledge of the Scriptures? We know Christ not by sight, not by hearing, not by touch, but by reading the Scriptures; and the more we advance by reading toward true knowledge, the more we are delighted in the holy Scriptures.

For what is sweeter than to know the will of God and not to be ignorant of the rewards of his promises? For, as Jerome says, the field of the divine word is most rich: it has in itself all delights, and whatever you wish springs from it, just as the Jews report that manna in the desert, when it was eaten, tasted in the mouth of the eater according to his will and desire. Therefore, my brothers, read the divine Scriptures often; through them you can plainly know the will of God and arm yourselves most strongly against the snares of the devil.

For if, according to the apostle Paul, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, he who does not know the Scriptures does not know the power and wisdom of God; and how will he know Christ? Ignorance is of Christ; and he who does not know Christ will not belong to his fellowship, as Saint Christophilus says, because if anyone is ignorant, surely he too will be ignored.

Moreover, the more constant anyone has been in the study of the divine Scriptures, the greater understanding and sweetness he receives from reading them. But it especially befits you, brothers, to turn over the divine Scriptures daily by reading and learning, since both abundant time, free from occupations, is granted to you, and a place sufficiently suitable is offered by the rarity of those who come by.

Therefore I exhort and admonish you, if you love your salvation, always to have the divine readings in your hands, so that all the time which, after the worship of prayer, is permitted to you without labor may be spent on the study of sacred Scripture. Let no day pass, my brothers, on which a monk serving Christ as a soldier does not read something from the sacred volumes that may make him better in his holy purpose. Rather, let him follow the counsel of Saint Jerome, who says: “Let the divine Scriptures always be in your hands and be continually turned over in the mind; nor should you think it enough to store up the commandments of God in memory, unless you strive also to fulfill them in works.”

For God, my brothers, requires two things of us. First, he wishes us to know his most holy will; second, that, once known, we do it. But we cannot know his commandments if we are ignorant of the knowledge of the divine Scriptures. Nor does he do the will of God who is ignorant of it, nor has he known it who has not learned it. Learn, therefore, what is the pleasing will of God, that you may do it; do it once known, that you may understand more fully.

For no one understands the will of God better than he who, once he has known it, does it from love. And so, if you desire to become a most learned interpreter of the divine Scriptures, learn to begin the pursuit of knowledge not from words but in holy works. For then you will comprehend the rich knowledge of sacred reading, if you have kept your heart clean from every sin, and, struck and pierced in holy compunction in the love of God, you continually turn over Scripture. For the knowledge of the divine Scriptures is a high mountain on which Moses speaks with the Lord; to which the [unclear] of vices...

Of the delight in and study of the divine Scriptures.

A man polluted with filth is forbidden [the mount]. For so it is read in Exodus: "Beware that you go not up into the mount, nor touch the borders of it. Everyone that toucheth the mount shall die the death. Whether it be beast or man, it shall not live." For a man touches the mount and dies as often as anyone, puffed up with secular learning, is scandalized at the simplicity of the divine Scriptures. But a beast touches the mount and is overwhelmed with stones as often as a man, immersed in the carnal fury of the passions, proceeds to the study of sacred Scripture with a soul unpurged. If, therefore, you wish to unroll the readings of the divine Scriptures wholesomely, if by reading you desire to attain to true knowledge, take care first of all to put off all relation of pride and the rashness of perfidy, and then to purge the chamber of your heart from all the uncleanness of carnal pleasures. For God, as the canonical Scripture says, "resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." No one proud, puffed up, arrogant, and rash—no one carnal in mind, lustful or restless—is held fit for the study of sacred Scripture, but only the humble, the meek, the gentle, the modest, the chaste, the tranquil in body and mind. Hence Prosper says in an epigram: "The commands of God a mind not quiet cannot search out." Therefore, that religious study may be exercised, the quarrels of the malignant must be cast away. The quiet can in some measure search out the law, if, free from the noise of the world, they are at leisure. That the mind, then, intent on pious studies, may be helped, let divine love conquer the wars of the flesh. For the temple of the Lord grows by sacred silences and is silently built—a house not to fall. With minds cleansed, therefore, and the heart compunct in the love of God and humbled in true contrition, proceed to the study of the Scriptures; for the Lord will not enlighten you unless he has first made you purged from all iniquity. For, as Scripture itself says, "perverse thoughts separate from God; but virtue proved corrects the foolish, since wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins; for the holy spirit of discipline will flee the deceitful, and will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding." And therefore we must cry out with holy David, more frequently, to the Lord: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within my bowels."

For no one usefully understands the sacred Scriptures of God who does not turn himself with his whole heart to the Lord through [his] power. And therefore, if you wish to understand the divine words both rightly and wholesomely, take care above all, with [your] study, to keep yourselves clean from all pollution of sin according to your strength. Let not the insane folly of certain monks seduce you, I pray—who try to excuse their ignorance with a trite proverb, saying: "What is the knowledge of the Scriptures to us, who have no office of preaching?" [Rather] let us embrace the counsel of the wise man, who says in the book of Proverbs: "He that walks simply walks confidently." "It is enough for us to live simply"—since the servant who knows the will of his lord and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes, but he who did not know [and] committed [things] worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few. O most hateful and abandoned scoundrels, who despise saving knowledge, and love the ignorance of the divine Scriptures rather than the understanding [of them]! Will affected ignorance render you liable to fewer stripes? Or will you therefore, sinning, be guiltless before God, because you are voluntarily ignorant of the commands of God? You shall be tortured with a double penalty: the one, that you despise to know the way of God's commands; the other, that you keep not his words. It is not the simplicity which you allege, but rather a twofold impiety. For if, according to the prophet, "blessed are they that keep the testimonies of the Lord," who would doubt that those are accursed who neither seek out God nor heed his Scriptures, but rather with a hardened mind the more despise [them]? Hear

Homilies, four.

...those who are unlearned will die in poverty of heart. What is more wretched than an unlearned priest? Even if he does not have the office of preaching, nevertheless by reason of the order he has received he is bound to knowledge of the Scriptures. For God wills that every human being fulfil his holy will; and no one who is ignorant is able to do this. Therefore the Lord first commands that you learn what is pleasing to him, and secondly that you do it. How, then, will you think ignorance of the law excusable, through which you have become transgressors of the first will of God?

Why do you think almighty God handed over the scrolls of his Scriptures to men? Was it so that they should be read by them and understood, or so that, unread, they should be despised? Certainly the Scriptures of God’s commandments were given to mortals so that they should read them, and afterwards so that they should fulfil them in deed. But you, who with deliberate mind wish to be ignorant of God’s Scriptures, how can you do the will of him which they teach? Or in what way will you be able to be doers of the law, who have not first been hearers? For it can happen that someone who knows the will of God either observes it or neglects it; but it cannot happen that someone ignorant of it fulfils it. Indeed, someone will more easily fail to do a good thing that he knows than carry out in deed what he does not know. No one does a good thing that he does not know.

Saint Augustine says of the ignorant in a certain place: “Not everyone who is ignorant is free from fault. For that ignorant man can be excused from punishment who found no way to learn. But pardon cannot be granted to those who, when they had from whom they might learn, did not devote labor to discipline.” Hence also Saint Leo the pope says: “If ignorance seems intolerable in laymen, how much more in those who are in charge; nor is it worthy of excuse or pardon.” Therefore, brothers, do not think yourselves excused before God by ignorance of the divine Scriptures, but rather doubly guilty, since, lest you should have to do God’s will, you desire to be wholly ignorant of it. For a human being ought not to be ignorant of the divine will, since he is placed in the world for this purpose: that through illumination of the understanding and purity of affection he may merit the everlasting enjoyment of the vision of him. For both kinds of knowledge, namely of God and of oneself, are necessary for every mortal for salvation, and he will nowhere find this without knowledge of the Scriptures. Indeed, just as from knowledge of oneself there comes into a man the fear of God, and from knowledge of him love is born, so from ignorance of oneself there proceeds pride, and from neglected knowledge of God contempt, with despair of salvation.

Nothing is more unhappy than an unlearned monk who neglects or despises the study of the holy Scriptures, because he can never abide pure with himself in true tranquillity of heart, but is compelled by his own restlessness, contrary to the integrity of monastic life, to occupy his mind with external and useless things. We see among you certain men who are ignorant of the Scriptures, and who are the less inclined toward discipline. It is indeed shameful not to know what you are commanded to know; more shameful not to learn it; but most shameful to despise it. And there are among you certain men who do not know saving knowledge; there are also those who neglect to learn. What if I add that there are still others who utterly despise knowledge of the divine Scriptures? Certainly I am not lying; you know that what I say is true. For some of you have resisted my studies bitterly, even to the point of envy, cavilling that you would rather have a ploughman set over you than a man of prayer. Did they not also try to draw the visitors into their opinion, wishing by their encouragement to lead me away into renunciation of the Scriptures, so that they might make me a field-worker and a keeper of pigs rather than of souls? But in vain do they try to hinder the divine oracle; under its impulse I have resolved, as long as I live, to set all the honors and riches of the world after the study of the Scriptures. I am your abbot for as long as he who called me shall will it; if one of the two must be chosen, I prefer to give up the abbacy rather than renounce the study of holy Scripture. For I know truly that nothing more salutary can befall a cloistered man in this life than if he begins truly to love the divine Scriptures.

Whoever of you wishes to follow this instruction of mine will have me alike as leader and companion of the journey. But whoever despises me as I learn will nevertheless be compelled to hear me as I teach, even against his will. I have said these things against those who, savoring earthly and perishable things, cast the fear of the Lord away from themselves; who, being utterly ignorant of everything, despise learning. I know the faces of my flock, and I believe that I am not wholly ignorant of the inclinations of the hearts of each of you. Therefore I shall not cease to exhort you to the holy studies of the Scriptures, knowing that a lover of sacred reading cannot be a practitioner of carnal vices. For how much...

On the daily renewal of one’s purpose.

...the more zealously a monk has devoted himself to thoroughly learning the Scriptures, the less he is inflamed by the fires of carnal pleasures. For although, according to the saying of Saint Jerome, the monk’s office seems not to be that of one who teaches, but rather of one who mourns, nevertheless, because he professes the warfare of Christ, it is fitting, indeed necessary, that he should know the well-pleasing will of almighty God, to whose words and arms he has sworn. But just as a soldier cannot know the will of his lord who is far absent except through messengers and letters, so the monk will not understand the precepts of the eternal King except through sacred readings and sermons, the evangelical Scriptures. The reading of the Scriptures opens the gate of salvation to those who do not know it; it leads the diligent reader by the straight path to the knowledge of God; it makes the lover of it despise all worldly things and love nothing other than true wisdom. But nothing is more shameful than for a monk in the spiritual life to be unwilling to make progress, and knowingly to wish to be ignorant of the will of God. Let no one flatter himself on account of his weakness or ignorance, since he who is ignorant will be ignored, and he who hates saving knowledge is deservedly condemned. The [Lord?], about to send the preachers of the Lord into all the earth, warned them beforehand, saying: Be prudent as serpents and simple as doves, lest either you be supplanted by someone through ignorance, or you devise injury against someone through deceit. For there is little difference in vice between being able to deceive and being deceived. Therefore I beg you, dearest brothers, that you be willing to attend to the Rule of our holy father Benedict, which admonishes you in very many places to labor frequently in readings of the divine Scriptures. For in the Scriptures we are taught, instructed for every piety, how we ought to live in this very brief pilgrimage of our sojourning, so that we may be able to please the Lord our God above all things. For it belongs to monks, for the love of God, to despise the world and all pleasures of the present life; manfully to restrain the illicit motions of the flesh; to apply themselves also to prayer, reading, and meditation on the Scriptures; and continually to lift the mind from earthly things to heavenly. Blessed is that monk who has not gone away in the counsel of the impious, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilent men, but meditates on the law of the Lord day and night, learning here

On the Daily Renewal of the Holy Purpose: Fifth Homily.

We have heard, dearest brothers, the reading recited to us from the book of holy Job, in which he laments the misery of the human race, and the calamity of this life, and at the same time its unstable brevity. “Man,” he says, “born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries; he comes forth like a flower and is crushed, and flees like a shadow, and never remains in the same state.” “Behold,” he says, “the brief years pass by, and I walk the path by which I shall not return.” “All flesh shall fail together, and man shall return to ashes.” What, brothers, do you notice among these things, or what do you think? Is there any man among us who does not know that he is mortal, who can say with truth, “I shall not be moved forever”? Alas, my brothers, how blind we are while keeping our eyes open; how forgetful and sluggish travelers we are, who know most certainly that we are going to die, and yet place such confidence in the vanity of the present life as if we were not mortal. But “what man is he who will live and not see death, who will deliver his soul from the hand of hell?” Behold, Scripture says, “we all die, and like water we flow away upon the earth.” Therefore remember, my brothers, that death does not delay, and all that has passed will be counted brief; because, as the holy lover of Christ Paul says, “it is appointed for men once [to die].” If, then, with the eyes of the mind we were always to place before us the coming of death, and were so to order our life and [unclear] that we might always be found prepared, how blessed and secure our departure could become. Did not also the King of the living and the dead, Christ himself our Lord, wishing us always to be ready for death, warn us beforehand in the holy Gospel, saying: “Therefore you also be ready, because at the hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come.” But how much it profits for

Homily V.

Fol. XII.

for purity of mind, frequent meditation on death: the wise man in Ecclesiasticus gave warning, saying: “In all your works remember your last things, and you will not sin forever.” Thought of future death brings fears; but fear necessarily [unclear] the mind; like a nail driven by a hammer, it fastens the impulse of the flesh and proud movements to the wood of the cross. In consideration of this, many of the pagan philosophers used to say that the whole life of a wise man is a kind of continual meditation on death. Hence Saint Jerome says: “Nothing will profit you so much toward temperance in all things as frequent meditation on this brief and uncertain life, which, like a leaf seized by the wind, passes away; and when it is not feared, it falls into death. Therefore keep the memory of your death, which by no counsel can you escape, and you will easily be able to overcome all the movements of the flesh. For he who sometimes thinks that he is going to die despises present things, and, unless he is utterly foolish, will prepare himself for future things.”

For I know, and in part I confess that I have experienced, that the will of the human mind cannot long remain uniform in the holy fervor of spiritual life; and for that reason it has pleased me to recall the memory of death more often before your eyes, so that the mind, struck by fear of future things, may be renewed daily in a holier purpose. The human soul, bound through the exercise of itself to the eternal body [unclear], is very small and wavering and unstable; now it is carried off to one thing, and now it is moved to another. Therefore the wisdom of God says through Solomon in Proverbs: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes keep my ways.” As if he were saying: Unless you have bound the whole love of your heart to divine wisdom, you will never be stable and confirmed in keeping the Lord’s commandments. For just as the heart is the first principle of motion in man, so the greater is the watch kept over it for the preservation of life, since if it is struck by the assault of diseases, the whole life of the body is already in danger. Hence it is written: “With all watchfulness keep your heart, because life proceeds from it.” By the name of the heart, however, we understand the affection whenever it inclines toward the love of some thing, clinging to it so much that it entangles the whole will. Hence the psalmist says: “If riches abound, do not set your heart on them,” that is, do not love them with the desire of the will. Nothing is more changeable than the human heart, because it is altered by almost every single thought and can with difficulty remain in the same purpose, unless it restrains itself by a certain forceful intention. Saint David, not ignorant of this, said to the Lord: “But I said in my abundance: I shall not be moved forever. Lord, in your will you gave strength to my beauty. You turned your face away from me, and I was troubled.”

Therefore, my dearest brothers, if there is any one of you who desires to serve our Lord and Savior in true purity of heart, if anyone wishes to be a monk in deed as well as in name, let him learn first to trust not in himself but in God; and let him take care to renew the good purpose of holy conduct with an ever-new institution, not only every day, but, so far as he is able, even at each hour and in the moments of his actions. The fervor of spiritual conduct, to whose experiential operation the institution of the cloistered life is understood to be wholly ordered, cannot long remain at the same point, because if it does not always advance toward what lies ahead, it necessarily slips back toward lower things, and, what is worse, weaker things. There is no stationary, lingering standing-place in the arena of spiritual exercise, because it is the property of the human heart by its own natural motion always either to advance toward better things or to fall back into that which is evil. Hence, if you do not advance in spiritual conduct, you necessarily fail; if you do not progress toward holier things, you certainly go backward. Since experience has made this clear to us, I do not cease to admonish your charity that you always stretch the desire of your heart in good conduct toward further things, lest there you perilously incur the danger of failing, where you have not found an opening for becoming perfect. The fervor of spiritual purpose must be directed toward the love of God, and cannot otherwise be preserved in him. For the love of God is not absurdly compared to fire: just as fire, when the fuel of wood is withdrawn, is necessarily extinguished, so the love of God, if continuous exercises in good works are lacking, is endangered as it vanishes away. Hence there is that saying of the Savior in the Gospel: “I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I desire except that it burn?” O monks, happy is that conscience in whose breast nothing burns except the love of Christ, which loves him above all things and despises all pursuits of vanity. Now consider, brothers, your consciences most diligently, and examine precisely whether you love God above all things.

On the daily renewal of holy purpose.

If the fire of divine love is now burning in you, apply fuel, lest at any time, through your lukewarmness, you feel the little sparks of holy fervor utterly extinguished. Believe me, brothers, for experience has taught me: while the fire of divine fervor is burning in you, you will preserve it with easier exercise than, once it is extinguished, you will kindle it again. Therefore whoever now experiences the love of God in himself, whoever has received heavenly charity in his heart, let each one take care with solicitude not to fall back into the negligences of his former life, and let him apply the necessary fuel of spiritual exercises, so that he may be able to preserve the fervor of God as it advances within him. Let him beware not only great sins, but also small negligences, and, as far as he can, the least ones; for he who despises the least thing falls little by little, and he who does not always fear danger will soon feel the loss of spiritual fervor and of his former purpose. For Scripture says: If you do not steadfastly hold yourself in the fear of the Lord, your house will quickly be overturned.

Blessed, therefore, is the man who is always fearful, who does not presume upon the virtues he has received, who knows with certainty that he is about to fail whenever he does not find that he has advanced at every moment toward higher things. But truly, brothers, I fear greatly, unless the estimation of works somehow deceives me, that in some of you the fire of this holy fervor is not yet present, since they seem to love little the true pursuits of monks; and this, from their manner of life, although it is clear to anyone, none of you can be ignorant of. I have not thought it wholly superfluous to admonish them, since thus far they seem to have advanced little, for the hand of the Lord has not been shortened so that it cannot save the penitent. For I trust in the mercy of the living God, that, on account of my charity toward them and the exercises of piety of those among you who walk according to the purity of the rule, he will grant them at some time to come to their senses and to love more ardently the pursuits of holy fervor.

What is this, brothers, that you do not live monastically in the monastery, and, having professed a spiritual manner of life, walk according to the flesh? Do you not know how dangerous it is for a monk to live secularly in a cenobium, and to violate by a lukewarm manner of life the vow of ancient purity which we have all made? Acknowledge, I pray, that the last things of all cloistered persons are nearest to the extremes, and that good and zealous monks, lovers of their own salvation, receive in heaven not the common rewards but the very greatest rewards of the saints, while those who live badly or lukewarmly in monastic religion are punished not with a moderate or common torment, but with the gravest torment of demons. For the higher the state in which someone sins, the heavier will be the punishment of the offender in it.

Therefore, if anyone among you has already learned to walk the way of divine love with spiritual sweetness, it is necessary that he go forward, so that he may advance more each day. But he who still lies in the torpor of a sluggish mind should strive as quickly as possible to rise again, since just as punishment is promised to those who lie fallen, so the crown of victory is denied to those who do not persevere. Beware, therefore, lest ruinous lukewarmness overturn the mind, for it is exceedingly dangerous to cloistered persons, because it is most grievous and full of miseries and sorrows, and plainly very near to hell; from its abyss a monk who has once fallen into it rarely rises up. And alas, how many faint-hearted cloistered persons are found today, lax and idle, who frequently succumb under the burden of spiritual warfare and rarely rise again to true fervor of spirit. Their condition is truly to be pitied: they have a name that they live, and they are dead; neither the memory of death has been able to lead them to true compunction of heart, nor has the remembrance of hell set before them been able to soften them.

Monks of this kind, thereafter, so long as they remain thus growing torpid in sloth, are either oppressed and overcome by evil habit, or they are in a certain sense in hell, so that they never breathe fully again in the light of the mercies of the Lord, nor do they come to the liberty of the spirit, which alone is nearest to the kingdom of heaven and makes the yoke of the Lord sweet and the burden light. These evils befall them for this reason: because their will has not yet been purged of carnal passions, nor do they will the good as they have known it, having been enticed and drawn away by their own concupiscence. For they love the perishable consolations of the flesh; even if at times they interrupt them, they nevertheless never break them off completely. Hence it is that they very rarely direct their affections toward God, and if at any time they are moved to compunction for an hour, they do not persevere long, but soon, through sloth and inertia, are wearied by sleep, suddenly loathing, out of sadness and melancholy, the good which they had begun. But unable to be filled with the fervor of divine love, twice agitated

Homily V. Fol. XIII.

storms: for just as flesh placed by the fire and repeatedly removed is never well cooked, so the soul that has repeatedly fallen back into acedia is by no means truly enlightened by the divine Spirit. For Scripture says to the Lord: “Those who distance themselves from you will perish, and you have destroyed all who work iniquity.” For the farther the mind has withdrawn through acedia from the fervor of divine love, the nearer it is to hell and despair, and the more rarely and with greater difficulty does it recover strength for true penitence.

Whoever among you, therefore, my brothers, desires to flee from the midst of Babylon, whoever longs to come to the inward fervor of the spirit, let him always strive with the greatest effort to drive from himself the torpor of mind and acedia, and daily to renew the holy purpose of divine love. It is very hard, I confess, to resist the depraved habit of the flesh, and in an old heart to think new thoughts against custom. Certainly, brothers, no one can rise from the depths of hell with a lukewarm will, nor will anyone be able to overcome an evil habit without great violence and a long-lasting contrary habit.

Therefore, even if no one becomes holy by his own powers, but it is God who works all things in all, nevertheless it is plainly clear to us that the kingdom of God suffers violence; and he who neglects to bring violence upon his own fleshly impulses does not attain to the fellowship of the saints of the Lord. Hear now, monk, whoever you are who are lukewarm and acedious toward the love of God; hear, I say, and tremble, because unless you immediately rise from the evil habit of a torpid life, unless you inflict force upon yourself through a contrary habit, unless you earnestly prepare your heart for the fervor of divine love, you will never see the face of God in glory.

Acedia is the root of despair; and not only its root, but also its nurse and mother. If it has once oppressed the mind of a person dedicated to God, it at once closes off every way to salvation. For the kingdom of heaven is not promised to sleepers; the blessedness of eternity is not prepared for those growing torpid in idleness and sloth. Rather, the crown is laid up for those who manfully command the impulses of the flesh, and those who live by the spirit, not by the flesh, are endowed with the glory of eternal felicity.

No virtue is acquired without labor; no enemy is overcome without battle. If you wish to be crowned, conquer; if you desire to conquer, it is necessary that you fight bravely and perseveringly. “How long, sluggard, will you sleep?” Solomon cries to you. “When will you rise from your sleep? If you are diligent, your harvest will come like a spring, and poverty will flee far from you.” For he who gathers at harvest is a wise son, and he who snores in summer is a son of confusion. For he who works his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows idleness will be filled with want.

Now, brothers, is the time for doing good; now the opportunity of meriting eternal blessedness is granted to us by the Lord God, and it is suddenly cut off in death. For Scripture says: “Whatever your hand can do, work at it earnestly, because neither work nor reason, nor wisdom nor knowledge, will be among the dead, to whom you are hastening.” If the good of eternal blessedness that is promised delights you, the labors of the struggle that are set before you ought not to frighten the mind. For no one will be crowned by the Lord unless he has contended lawfully; no one will come to the summit of eternal height unless by the fervor of the spirit he has overcome the illicit impulses of the flesh.

We must always fight, brothers, against the threefold battle-line of the devil as long as we live in this pilgrimage, because here he becomes insuperable to this extent: he is not overcome little by little by one who grows lukewarm. Hence Saint Augustine proclaims: “No one ought to be secure in this life, which is wholly called temptation, lest he who was able to become better from worse should at some time become worse from better.” And so Solomon too in the Book of Proverbs says: “Desires kill the sluggard.” For just as constancy bestows perfection in every work, so acedia is the destroyer and stepmother of all religion and of the spiritual progress of the soul.

For, as blessed Jerome says, nothing in a holy purpose is worse than idleness, which not only does not acquire new things, but also shamefully consumes what was previously acquired. The rule of a holy spiritual life advances and grows with joy by continuous progress; by cessation, however, it grows torpid and fails. Therefore, brothers, the mind must be renewed by daily and fresh increases of virtues, and this journey of living is to be measured not by what has passed, but by what remains.

Therefore flee idleness above all, since it is the mother and nurse of all vices; but overcome acedia not by fleeing it, but by resisting it bravely. Scripture says: “Idleness has taught much evil.” For every idle person is occupied with vain and pernicious desires. And so the monk who desires to serve Christ in true purity of mind should always be occupied in some spiritual exercise, lest idleness beget vice, and

On the daily renewal of holy purpose.

Let pernicious thoughts find a place where they may be strengthened. Just as rust consumes iron, and a garment is gnawed by worms, so idleness weakens the mind; and virtue of the soul, long neglected, gradually ebbs away and is utterly overthrown. Therefore flee idleness, and overcome sloth. But since we cannot remain firmly and without change of mind in one state of divine love, it is necessary for us, lest we ebb away entirely, to renew our holy purpose daily, so that as often as, through the negligence of human weakness, we begin, however slightly, to grow dull in spiritual fervor, so often, examining ourselves by the memory of things to come and by contemplation of the Lord’s Passion, we may at once recall our conscience to its former purpose of making progress.

But this we must guard against with the utmost care: that we not put off this holy effort to make progress until tomorrow, since it has often done harm to have postponed what could have been [unclear]. Hence the wise man says in Ecclesiasticus: “Do not delay to be converted to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day. For suddenly his wrath will come, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy you.” Augustine also says: “Why do you put off the good until tomorrow, saying: life will still be long? For who knows whether it will be long? And if it is not good, what profit is there that it will be long?” Without a good life, the conduct of a monk should be called death rather than life.

The remedies of a more amended life, therefore, must not be deferred by any delays, lest the time for conversion perish through tardiness, when already no postponement of repentance is granted. For he who promised pardon to the penitent did not promise tomorrow. No one who fears concerning himself delays being converted to repentance, nor extends today’s salvation into tomorrow. But every man who knows that he is set in tepidity of mind and who defers amendment of life from day to day is deceived by hope of a longer [life], since if he knew that he would die tomorrow, today without doubt he would change his purpose. Hope of a longer life has miserably deceived many, who, while they daily defer the amendment of their conduct, suddenly fall into the depth of death.

Which of you is there, brothers, who does not resolve in his mind to assume the purpose of a more amended life before he dies? For I believe that each one of you intends to exercise still greater devotion toward God before he falls into the danger of death. And why do you wait so long for the day? Why do you put it off from day to day? Behold, you who now live in health and do not give yourselves to the spiritual exercises of divine love when you can, and when the Lord patiently waits: the last day will come for each of you, and now it is hastening, on which, with the angel of death pressing hard, the power whose effect you delayed so long is taken from you. Therefore again and again I ask you, brothers, and with what diligence I can I admonish you: turn yourselves to the Lord our God with your whole heart while you live healthy and unharmed; and do not further defer the will, lest you lose also the power granted to you. Think often and think again that we are not citizens of this world, but strangers and pilgrims; nor do we have here a lasting city, but we seek the one to come; and every day we hasten toward death, not even knowing it.

On the love of quiet and solitude: Homily Six.

Two intellects were created from the beginning; Holy Scripture does not plainly disclose [this], but by the teaching of the fathers it is known to lie hidden, brothers, that the angels are the work of God, and it counted them among the works of the six days. But there are some who write that the angels were created long before this visible world; and just as we cannot prove this by the testimony of the divine Scriptures, so neither do we rashly attack it. For there are several grave and holy men who placed the creation of the angels long before the beginning of the world.

But the angelic intellect was made at once from the beginning in the act of all things knowable, and it knew all things that it could know, and thereafter admitted nothing toward its own perfection. For, created by the Lord in its perfection, it did not require an increase by which it might understand more. For indeed, since pure intellect was made joined to God without intervening medium, it was made such by nature, nor did it need practice in order to understand after our fashion, since its being admits no corruption. And so, cleaving to its object through the affection of love, God, whom it understands to be the center of its blessedness, immediately and

immutably contemplates and loves; he is blessed and fears no alteration of himself. But the human intellect, which our teachers have called the soul, was indeed created at the beginning in complete ignorance, and knows none of those things which the angelic intellect understands by nature. These two intellects differ as act and potency, light and darkness, knowledge and ignorance, possession and privation, beginning and end, simple and composite, substance and accident, nature and art, truth and likeness. For, as divine Scripture bears witness, all things that are present in the angelic intellect by nature and from the beginning the human intellect will attain through the arts at the end, as the Lord Jesus says in the holy Gospel: “In the resurrection of the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but will be like the angels of God in heaven.”

For in order that the mind may be exercised toward understanding through many labors, as though through the arts, it has been placed for a brief time in the workshop of the body. If there, turned toward God, it duly completes its craft through love, then at last, departing from here, it becomes equal to an angel. But if, consenting to the impulses of the flesh, it has not kept its order, then disturbed and wretched, like the apostate spirits who fall, it will depart from the body to be tormented forever. For since our mind, or soul, was created in ignorance and privation of all things, it must by continual action, movement, and art come to knowledge of things. The end indeed makes the human intellect equal to the angelic, changing its potency into act, and will make from privation possession, from empty full, from imperfect perfect, from deprived possessing, from dark luminous, from nocturnal diurnal, from lunar solar, and from earthly heavenly. This end, my dearest brothers, is the beginning of eternal salvation; no one can happily come to it who does not strive with all his powers toward the summit of perfection.

But since it is difficult, in the midst of crowds, always to keep unbroken this necessary effort of advancement, where a thousand occasions for sinning are offered, the holy fathers who founded the monastic order taught us by word and example to flee the world, and not only in mind but also in body to avoid frequent intercourse. Of those who were stronger in spirit, many flew to the hermitage, so that they might become nearer to the Lord in mind the farther they withdrew in body from the world. Of these we read what was said by the prophet Isaiah: “The wilderness will rejoice and will blossom like the lily; sprouting it will sprout, and it will exult, rejoicing and praising.” Others, wishing to profit many, established cenobia, in which they placed a multitude of monks, whose manner of life would be separated from the peoples and yet would be social among themselves. For it does not suit all to sit in the hermitage, for whom it is more fitting to serve the Lord in the midst of brothers. For our monasteries too have their own solitude, so that whoever wishes to be solitary can be so in the midst of brothers, provided he maintains the privacy of the cell in which he dwells. For a monk, according to the interpretation of his name, is called solitary, because in mind and body he is separated from the tumults of this world.

Therefore, as I am about to make today’s sermon to your charities, I desire to admonish you, as much as I desire your progress in spiritual life. I ask you, I say, and exhort you in the bowels of brotherly charity, to love the quiet of the cell as the workshop of your salvation, in which there is great peace for those who love God, and great advantage for perfecting the intellect toward knowledge of the highest truth. For the prophet Isaiah says: “In silence and hope will be your strength.” Whoever does not love the solitude of the cell and the quiet of silence by no means loves purity of mind, but, wandering in body, always draws new vanities into his spirit. Hence blessed Jerome says: “Why do we desire the crowdedness of cities, we who are reckoned from singularity? For to me the town is a prison, solitude a paradise.”

If, brothers, the hermitage and solitude delighted us, this place would afford great advantage to our purpose, where, apart from poor peasants, a guest is rarely met; no one disturbs our quiet, no one troubles us, no one brings in spectacles or rumors of momentary novelty. But I see few among you who love inward quiet, and I grieve vehemently, because I know very well that a monk cannot make progress in spiritual life when it is clear that he does not love the quiet of the cell. But he who knows how much good the privacy of solitude confers upon the soul loves his cell and does not easily go outside, always fearing in tumult

On the Love of Quiet and Solitude.

to lose what he has gathered with great hidden labor. For, as Saint Augustine says, he is less goaded by pleasures who is not where there is an abundance of pleasures; and he suffers less trouble from avarice who, placed far from human beings, does not see riches. Since, therefore, the holy Spirit of God loves the secrecy of the mind but shudders at publicity, it belongs to you, brothers, to love the solitude of cells as the workshop of all virtues, and never to estrange yourselves from its dwelling without a reasonable cause. For a monk who loves secrecy, not an idle one, who has learned to remain steadfastly in his cell, sometimes enjoys many holy consolations, of which the wandering and restless man is necessarily deprived.

Just as a fish dies if it is kept too long outside the water, so all the devotion of a monk perishes if he wanders too often outside his cell. Let us imitate John the Baptist, whom Chrysostom says is the chief of monks: he, a monk, as soon as he was born, lived in the desert, was nourished in the desert, and as a monk awaited Christ in solitude. For just as it is difficult for a tree placed beside the road to preserve its fruits until maturity, so it is difficult for a monk who often wanders outside his cell and is occupied in the affairs of the world to keep the fruits of righteousness unstained until the end.

Let us therefore withdraw, monks of God, from tumults, and let us plant ourselves in the secrecy of monastic solitude, so that neither the world may have anything in common with us, nor we with it. For a mind that is shaken by the cares and anxieties of the world is rarely truly rooted in the love of God. Indeed, movement of the body often alters the state of the mind, and a person who is always immersed in outward things is never illuminated by the fervor of the divine Spirit. For quiet of mind is born from the firm steadiness of the body, and the man who loves solitude for the love of God remains stronger and united with himself in holy exercise.

Whoever among you, brothers, is an eager lover of his own salvation should learn to remain quiet in his cell, and, as far as he can, should strive to occupy himself continually, with desire, in the works of divine love. But be quiet in your cell, not idle; tranquil, not drowsy; always devoted to spiritual exercise, not slackened by torpor of soul. The instruments of spiritual exercises in the cell are four: to read, to write, to pray, and to meditate. A fifth, however, is granted to few, who after true purity of heart are raised to the mountain of contemplation of the Lord.

Finally, these four exercises of monks dwelling in the solitude of the cell must be so moderated that they produce neither weariness nor torpor of mind, but that a suitable time be assigned to each activity, so that, while alternation lightens the mind, the little body is not burdened beyond its strength. Therefore the reading of the divine Scriptures should have its own suitable hour for study; when it senses that a desire for devotion is present, it should at once be changed into fervent prayer. Manual labor, moreover, which is enjoined on the monk dwelling in the tranquility of solitude, is very useful, lest harmful lukewarmness arise in the mind.

For the reading of holy Scripture stirs the monk to the charity of God; meditation on the Lord’s passion and on the benefits of God inflames the mind to the fervor of most ardent love; prayer strengthens the weak soul; and manual labor, continued temperately, preserves one from torpor and weariness. When we pray earnestly and devoutly, we speak with our God, who is present everywhere; but when we read in the holy Scriptures, we are taught by the Lord himself what we should seek or flee. Prayer, if it is ardent in the love of God, purifies the mind from sins and vices; reading, however, instructs and forms it, as Saint Isidore says: “By prayers,” he says, “we are cleansed; by readings we are instructed. Both are good, if possible; if both are not possible, it is better to pray than to read.”

Therefore the monk who wishes to spend his time in the cell usefully and fruitfully should strive continually to occupy mind and body in these exercises by turns, because a soul that keeps watch in such labors gives no entrance to perverse thoughts. Hence the divine Jerome, admonishing a monk, says: “Always do some good thing, so that the devil may find you occupied.” For he is less assailed by the enticements of the flesh who, always usefully occupied, admits no weariness of mind. Indeed, while each monk, a careful guardian of his own soul, is carried by alternation from the exercise of one good work to another with desire for holy fervor, his striving is strengthened toward constancy in all virtues, and he falls into weariness so much the less

Homily VI. Folio XV.

...how much more accustomed study is to be varied, and to make use of alternations against weariness. Hence Jerome again says: “Let prayer often interrupt reading, and let the pleasing alternation of holy prayer come upon the soul continually cleaving to it.” The monk who does not love the secrecy of the cell is not a true soldier of Christ, since he bears the name and habit of a monk without the works; and he who ought to have been solitary for the love of God, having turned back in mind to the world, loves the pursuit of vanity. Hence the blessed pope Gregory says: “He who lives removed bodily from men, but plunges himself in thought amid the tumults of human intercourse through desire for earthly things, is not solitary, although he dwell in solitude. But if someone is pressed bodily by the crowds of the people, and yet suffers no tumults of secular cares in his heart, he is not in the city, even if he dwells in the midst of men.” And this is what holy Jerome says against Jovinian: “The wise man,” he says, “can never be alone. For he has with him all who are good and who have been good; and he has a free mind, and whatever he wishes he brings forth, and he transfers himself wherever he wishes. For what he cannot do in body, he embraces in mind; and if there is a lack of men, he speaks with God.” Therefore a good man will never be alone.

And so, remaining in your cell, always beware of idleness, since nothing so enfeebles all the powers of the mind as idleness, after it has produced acedia from itself. If you have loved God ardently, you will never be idle, because true love of Christ does not allow torpor to arise in the soul, but always impels the lover toward the delight of the beloved. And just as a certain man wise according to the flesh truly said, “Let him love who does not wish to become slothful,” so experience has taught us in spiritual love that the mind which it has begun to inhabit it does not allow to grow torpid with idleness and sluggishness. For divine love always impels one toward better things; and the more it has advanced by burning, so much the greater increase of itself it takes on. But the [workshop?] of this love is a clean conscience; if a monk desires both to have and to preserve it clean, it is necessary first of all that he despise the vanities of the world and the business of temporal things. For it is not possible that a double love reside in one breast; nor can a man succeed in loving Christ who does not wish to despise the world. For God, although in the Trinity of persons he is one in the essence of substance, is either loved by us alone, or is not loved with a partner.

Therefore, so that the conscience may remain clean in all purity, and so that the mind may have strength to love God above all things, let the monk love the secrecy of the cell, and never withdraw from the exercise of inner sweetness. For in the cell of a good and wise monk there is the greatest tranquillity; and if anywhere there is an earthly paradise, it is in the monastery of those who are converted to the purity of the cenobitic institution. There is peace there, piety, goodness, light, virtue, honorableness; there is joy there, purity, sweetness, and great tranquillity of life, where the devout praying monk speaks with the Lord, and the future sweetness of the heavenly kingdom is tasted beforehand by the contemplative soldier. O cell of monks truly serving God, paradise: you are indeed the little garden of most honorable delight, in which the mind is joined to God through love and is sweetly raised up through desire. The monk who loves, venerates, and cultivates you is a true soldier of Christ, and serves the Lord in the fullness of virtues. But he who abhors and deserts the secrecy of the cell despises the workshop of his own salvation. Therefore, my dearest brothers, I beg you to begin to inhabit the secrecy of the cell with desire of mind; without love for it no one will be able to come to the perfection of virtues in the cenobium.

On the manual labor of monks. Homily VII.

“Because you shall eat the labors of your hands,” says the prophet of the Lord, “blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.” If all are reckoned blessed who live from the proper labor of their hands, certainly no one idle eats bread without guilt and fault. For almighty God imposed this punishment upon the first-formed Adam for the transgression of the original command, announcing to him that in the sweat of his face he would work food from the earth with his hands. But since in Adam we have all sinned, we are necessarily subject to the same punishments to which it is agreed that he was subjected. He labored with his hands for the food by which he might live, nor did he eat bread idle. Hence the blessed father no

Father Benedict, detesting the idleness of monks, says in the Rule which he handed down to us: “Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore at fixed times the monks ought to be occupied in manual labor, and again at fixed hours in divine reading. For then they are truly monks, if they live by the labor of their own hands, as our fathers and the apostles also did.” Hence also the holy Christ-loving Paul says in the epistle: “He who does not work shall not eat.” In the beginning of the monastic state this was the custom of monks, that they admitted no one into their fellowship without labor, not so much on account of the necessities of food as on account of the salvation of the soul, lest through idleness an opportunity be given to pernicious thoughts.

At that time monks had no assessments, no tithes, no revenues, no annual proceeds of any kind; but all, living together in common, procured food and clothing for themselves with their hands, burdening no one with the exaction of what was owed. The holy apostles also of our Savior, although they had the right to live from the preaching of the gospel, preferred to labor with their own hands, lest they should seem to have burdened any of the faithful, and so that they might have not only the means by which they themselves should live, but also something with which they might furnish necessities to the needy.

But after monks began to have assessments and revenues, the former pursuits of simplicity soon failed; and little by little, together with riches in temporal things, pride grew, to such an extent that in time monks refused all manual labors. As long as the monks were poor and humble in birth, they worshiped God in truth; but after they began to abound in riches, duplicity put simplicity to flight, and the exaltation of the nobles extinguished the humility of the monks. Once the integrity of regular observance had been taken away, soon also in many monasteries the wealth of temporal things failed by the just judgment of God.

Of their number was the present monastery of Sponheim, brothers of mine, neither the last nor the first, which for many years in both states remained miserably desolate, to such a degree that the five monks only who were living in it a dissolute life did not have the means from which they might take the necessities of life for themselves. Hence, by the mercy of God at last providing for it, Frederick, duke [unclear], having invoked the counsel of the fathers of the reformed order, in the year of the Christians 1469 expelled the monks deformed in life, deposed the abbot, named Otto of Cologne, and placed in this monastery four others, called from the observance of Bursfelde, from the monastery of Mont Speciosus. Over them he set as abbot John, from the noble family of Budisbach, which they commonly call “of the Carbonaria house,” a man such as you have seen and heard, worthy of eternal memory; he found this place in extreme poverty, and, presiding over it for almost fourteen years in great patience, brought it back to the state in which we now live.

Therefore, since scarcity of temporal things still presses heavily upon us, there would be need of continual labor, by which we might nourish ourselves with necessary food and free the house of God in which we dwell from debt. But what are your labors, or how much can they contribute to us for such great matters? We are few in number, and unfit for rustic labors; nor does the institution of the priestly order permit us to spend the whole day in the field turning stones with our hands, and to interrupt the divine service.

We are wretched, weighed down by excessive poverty and lack of all necessities; and if we have labored much, we gain little from it; and if we have worked little, surely we fail still more in spirit. For man, as Scripture bears witness, is born to labor just as a bird is born to fly. Therefore, lest you eat your bread idle, you will always have to be assigned to some honest and useful labor, by which both the mind may be relieved from weariness of regular observance, and our grave poverty may be repaired, at least in some small measure.

In harvest time for hay, and on the days of autumn for the vintage, we have been accustomed to occupy you outside the monastery only when, evidently, the labor is very necessary and the dearness of hired workers increases the price and wages of servants. For the rest of the time we have decreed to keep you in the monastery, because your labors, in comparison with the expenses, contribute little to the monastery’s uses, and, as it seems to us, very few of you willingly present yourselves as volunteers for rustic pursuits. There is also another consideration which stirs my mind, lest you, by external

Homily VII. Fol. XVI.

to be occupied readily with works of the hands without reasonable cause and manifest necessity; for I find that labors of this kind do not accord in you with regular observance, but rather destroy than promote the integrity of monastic discipline among you. I am ashamed to say it, and nevertheless I am compelled to utter it: your labors outside the monastery and the cell bring more destruction than salvation to the purity of the soul. For how do you labor, and what are your pursuits in your labors? Is it not to wander about, run here and there, indulge in [unclear] and cups, and occupy the rest of the time in vain and useless talk?

You do not have in yourselves that fervor of the Holy Spirit of God by which we read that the ancient monks of our institution were once inflamed; and for the common necessity, with such desire, such zeal, such effort, all and each labored with their hands that you would have thought the business of the whole monastery was placed in the prudence of each one. For each one labored as though he alone had had to feed the whole congregation with his own hands. Amid these things they paid the services of divine worship with such eagerness by day and night, as though they were in no way occupied by the labors of the hands. Which brother among you is an imitator of such men, so that he either reckons our common want as his own, or strives, according to his strength, to relieve it by laboring in the sweat of his face? They, laboring with their hands, continually besought God with their hearts; but you, intent on tales, neither satisfy the duty of the hands nor [unclear] as monks.

In the time of the regular fast, too, they either carefully kept the measure of abstinence appointed for them, or, if they could not do so because of the greatness of their labors, they ate for this reason: so that they might be rendered fit and capable for their labors. But you do not eat in order to labor; rather, you labor in order to eat what, according to the Rule, ought to have been fasted from. You take occasion from labor to relax the fasts.

Again, how foully and most basely some of you treat their garments: what zealous lover of regular discipline could bear this with equanimity? [Unclear], my brothers, [unclear] are handled so wastefully. Everything that belongs to the monasteries of the servants of God is the patrimony of Christ, and the whole is said to be dedicated to God; nor is anyone permitted to abuse the things of Christ, or to turn them to another use. Do you not know what our holy lawgiver Benedict says to you in the Rule? “If anyone has treated the things of the monastery filthily or negligently, let him be corrected. If he has not amended, let him be subject to regular discipline.” And in the chapter on the cellarer of the monastery: that he should regard all the substance as if it were the sacred vessels of the altar.

Finally, I cannot and ought not be silent about how filthily and negligently most of you treat everything, as though either you would not be seen by God, or no loss would come to our property from sloth. Know, brothers, that I announce this to you beforehand as a warning: for these things, as also for your other sins, you are to render account to the Lord God.

For this reason I have reduced for you the labors outside the monastery, lest by working badly you should sin more gravely; and manual work is to be enjoined upon you: to write books, to bind them, and these and similar things which you can perform within the enclosure of the monastery with tranquility of mind and body. Would that you at least did these manual works [of yours?] with diligence for the love of God, so that you might not eat bread altogether idle. There is no manual work which, in my judgment, better befits a monk than to write books of sacred reading, and to prepare the necessary things for others who write. For it will generally be permissible to interrupt this holy labor with prayer, and to keep watch for the food of the mind no less than of the body.

Necessity also compels us to apply ourselves diligently to writing books, if we desire to have at hand that with which we may mutually occupy ourselves profitably in spiritual study. For you see that the whole library of this monastery, which once was distinguished and large, was [unclear] by the monks before us, sold and alienated, and that no more than fourteen volumes were found here by us. Indeed, the industry of the printing art, recently invented in our days at Mainz, daily brings many volumes to light; but it is by no means possible for us to buy everything new, since we are still weighed down by the greatest poverty.

Wherefore I advise and exhort you that, since you do not come very gladly to external manual labors, you should at least labor diligently in writing volumes for the honor of God; for just as idleness is the enemy of the soul, so moderate labor is the spiritual preserver of life. A monk, since he is a soldier of the eternal King, ought never to be idle. For idleness begets acedia, and that brings upon the soul the destitution of pernicious death. The labors of monks, however, are to be so moderated that [unclear]

On the Manual Labor of Monks

...that they may be free for divine converse; but amid the works of the hands let meditation on the Scriptures burn in the heart; and after it has brought the mind into the ardor of the spirit, let it be moved into most devout prayer. Therefore let the monk, Christ’s soldier, be like the clean animal of God that chews the cud, always having in the mouth of his heart the fodder of the holy Scriptures, lest the mind lie open to vain and pernicious thoughts, or a foul or idle word burst from the speaker’s mouth. Let him always remember, while working, the Scripture that says: Blessed is the man who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. For everyone who loves the Lord Jesus in truth daily turns over in his heart, with tears and prayers, both his teaching and his passion. For he is not a true lover of God who forgets his commandments even for a moment. Indeed, as Scripture says: Those who love the Lord seek the things that are pleasing to him, and those who fear his holy name shall be filled with his law. Hence one of the saints says to the Lord: In my heart I have hidden your words, that I may not sin against you. The spirit, therefore, must always be stirred up and renewed daily by spiritual goads, lest it grow numb through sloth or languish in uncertain idleness. The labor of monastic discipline, the practice of reading and prayer, and the diligent keeping of vigils are true incitements to virtue. Nothing, however, is more harmful to the holy purpose of the monk than idleness, since it both excites the flesh to lust and weakens every strength of the mind and extinguishes the fervor of the spirit. For idleness in the cloister is the tinder and nourishment of all evils. Wherever, therefore, you may be, whether in the field or in the cloister, always flee idleness as the most pernicious plague of the soul, adorning and exercising the mind either with prayer or with meditation on the Scriptures. Converse gladly with the good and zealous lovers of God; but avoid the negligent and the despisers of their own salvation. For he who touches pitch will be defiled by it, and he who makes himself a companion of sinners will not be free from crime. Consider your words carefully, so that you detract from no one at all, nor listen to another who is detracting, since both the detractor and the willing hearer serve the demon: the one by speaking, the other by listening. Labor like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, and diligently do with your hands whatever is enjoined upon you by obedience; nor let it seem hard to you to obey another’s command, for which eternal happiness, a crown for your spirit, is prepared in heaven. Therefore no labor, no length of time, no observance ought to seem hard to a monk, by which the glory of eternal blessedness is acquired. Consider, my brothers, the brevity of this life and do good while it is permitted, since he who now sows sparingly will also after death reap sparingly, and each one will receive a fitting reward for his own work, not for another’s. The time for laboring is very brief, but the recompense that is owed to good works is everlasting. Consider, my brothers, men entangled in the world, and all lovers of this age, how strong they are in earthly and perishable matters, but weak and feeble in heavenly things; so that you may take care to please God as much as they labor continually to appear rich and glorious to the world. For for temporal glory many have not refused to sweat even unto death; but for the hope of future happiness they despise even doing or enduring a little. For earthly gains they most patiently tolerate all sorts of injuries; and for a heavenly reward they refuse to endure the insult of even a very slight word. They can stand all day before an earthly king, prince, or judge; but in prayer before the almighty Lord they cannot continue for the space of one hour. They gladly tolerate many adversities for the acquisition of perishable riches; but they neglect the more to seek heavenly goods, the more pleasantly they are occupied in love of earthly things. Let their way of life, dearest brothers, admonish you all the more to flee all the cares of this world, inasmuch as you are now permitted to handle fewer of the affairs of earthly things. Always devote all your solicitude and care to the acquisition of heavenly goods, and labor most diligently at all times for the reward of future blessedness. For, as Scripture testifies, your life upon earth is a warfare, and whatever a man has sown, this he shall also reap. Know that death hastens daily, and at every moment a part of life, never to return, is extinguished. Watch, therefore, my dearest brothers, watch, for you do not know when the Lord our God will come to the judgment of each one’s death

Homily VIII.

whether at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest, when he comes suddenly, he find you sleeping. Therefore watch at every time, praying that you may be accounted worthy to escape all the evils that are to come, and to stand with confidence before the sight of the Son of God, who judges all things. For, as the divine lover of Christ bears witness, we shall all stand before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may receive the things proper to the body, according as he has done, whether good or evil.

Blessed is that monk whom the Lord shall find watching in good works, who has prepared himself for the wedding of the heavenly Lamb in true purity of heart, who will not fear to meet the judge. Let that memorable saying of divine Jerome on the Gospel according to Matthew always be in your hearts, when he says: Whether I eat or drink, or do anything else, that voice always seems to sound in my ears: Rise, dead, and come to judgment.

As often as I think of that day of the future examination, I tremble with my whole heart and body. Therefore, if there is any joy in the present life, my brothers, it must be so conducted that the bitterness of that dreadful judgment never withdraw from memory. O that great, terrible, dreadful, exceeding and very bitter day, on which the sun and moon will be darkened, not by diminution of light but by comparison with majesty; where every argument of excuse will cease; where all things will be manifest, and nothing will be able to lie hidden from the judge, because he who knows the hidden thoughts of minds will then judge openly; who is neither anticipated by favor, nor bent by mercy; is not corrupted by gifts and presents; will not be softened by prayers; nor thereafter will he be appeased by any satisfaction.

Therefore, brothers, while you are placed in this life, let each of you do as much as he can for his soul, because penance for sins done here alone is useful and fruitful, so long as there is room for pardon and the sentence of justice is still delayed. He who postpones doing good and performing penance until death is very near to damnation, because the good that he neglects when healthy and unharmed he will rarely restore when sick and already about to die. For holy Pope Gregory says: Whoever does not fear to defer the fruits of penance until the hour of death is himself a witness against himself that true repentance was never in his mind. Now therefore turn yourselves to our Lord with your whole heart, doing penance before him, and live, I pray, in such a way that, when you must depart from here, you may not fear to appear before his face.

That one must pray without ceasing. Homily IX.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, brothers, in the Gospel according to Luke, wishing us to be continual in prayers, admonished us thus, saying: It is necessary always to pray and never to fail. This counsel of the Lord befits, before all mortals, monks most of all, and all cloistered persons in whatever religious life, whose every action and whole life, indeed whatever they do, ought either to be prayer or at least conformed to prayer. For all who profess the monastic service are called spiritual, not without reason, in order that they may be admonished by the very word to despise the pleasures of the flesh for the love of God, and to walk through true charity in the ardor of the spirit.

For the holy apostle of Christ says: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God; for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you will live. Knowing, however, that without constancy in prayer the fervor of the spirit cannot long endure in us, he likewise says to the Thessalonians: Always rejoice; pray without ceasing; in all things give thanks, because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you.

But what the manner of praying is, the Savior taught us in the Gospel, saying: But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber, and with the door shut, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you. And in another place he said to the Samaritan woman: Woman, believe me, because the hour will come [unclear] the Father seeks such as will adore him. God is spirit, and those who adore him must adore in spirit and truth. It is manifest from Christ’s teaching that prayer is of the heart rather than a lengthy speech of the mouth, because, since God is spirit, he must be adored in no other way than by the innermost fervor of the spirit. For the prayer of the heart in the fervor of the spirit has great power; but the multiplication of words without attention of mind

That one must pray without interruption.

...no usefulness at all. Hence Saint Jerome says: God is to be prayed to not in words only, but with the heart. Therefore the chanting of five psalms with purity of heart, serenity, and spiritual cheerfulness is better than the singing of the whole psalter with anxiety and sadness of heart. And the holy pope Gregory says: True petition is not in the sounds of the mouth, but in the voices of the heart, that is, in holy thoughts. For it is not words but desires that make the stronger voices in the ears of God.

Except, therefore, for those prayers which we are bound to say either by decree of the Church or by the institution of the monastic order, [prolixity?] in the rest and multiplication of words contribute nothing, or little, to true and inward devotion of the mind, since where there is no fervent desire in the love of God, an excessive extension of speech is introduced in vain. For sacred Augustine says: Let much speaking in prayer be absent, but let fervent attention persevere; for to speak much in praying is to handle a necessary matter with superfluous words. For prayer embraces many things in few words, so that the simplicity of faith might quickly learn the sufficiency of its salvation, and the prudence of the ingenious might stand amazed at the depth of the mysteries.

But for those in whom, because of hardness of heart, the compunction of inward fervor has been lacking, when they prostrate themselves in prayer there is need of more extended speech, shouting, and tears, so that by long exercise of the mind they may at last strike forth within themselves the burning fire of divine love, until they rise in the affection of holy prayer in the Spirit of God. But afterward, when the fervor of divine love and compunction has penetrated the mind, there is thereafter no need for the exercise of words, but the continuation of spiritual nourishment is required, lest the fervor of the spiritual fire be extinguished. To this end our most holy father wished prayer in the assembly to be shortened, so that if anyone wished to pray apart in the spirit, he could do so.

There are, however, some who are so hard of heart that while praying they find little or nothing of spiritual compunction; for them freedom brings ruin, and solitude often brings despair. Attend, I pray you, dearest brothers, to what I say to you, and consider how greatly you are bound to pray without interruption. It is not enough for a monk, striving toward perfection in the school of Christ the eternal king, to discharge the canonical prayers; nor is it sufficient for a man solemnly dedicated to God by vow to fulfill the common prayers of the order in the convent, since one who is commanded always to pray without interruption is bound beyond verbal prayers also to spiritual prayers. For prayers instituted by the Church or by the order fall under the merit of obedience, and under the law of necessity by reason of a precept; but that manner of praying which is called spiritual is strengthened in the freedom of the spirit as useful and necessary for a monk at every time for perfection.

Hence it must be noted that for prayers which are by precept of the Church or the order, the utterance of words is required as a matter of necessity, together with the intention of satisfying the statute by which anyone is bound to pray. Let those see how they satisfy the command of the Church who do not express the seven canonical prayers by the utterance of words, but with closed mouth run through the sequence of prayers by thought alone, with their eyes assisting. But in those prayers which we undertake to say not by command but by our own will and from devotion alone, the fervor of the mind toward God suffices without the utterance of words, because, as we have said, God requires such worshippers as adore in spirit and truth. But the canonical prayers, which they call the hours, we are bound to say, and not merely to think. In both cases devotion of mind toward God is useful; without it no prayers are believed to be effective.

And so, my brothers, when we stand for prayer, we ought to watch with the greatest zeal and attend to the prayers which we pour forth, lest we pray without the fruit of inward compunction. Therefore let every thought of the flesh depart far away; let no occupation with household affairs hinder the mind; nor let the soul then think anything else at all except this alone which is being said. Therefore also the priest, after the preface has customarily been sent before the sacrifice, prepares the minds of the brothers, saying, Lift up your hearts, so that when the people answer, We have them with the Lord, he may admonish them that they ought to think of nothing other than the very God whom they invoke. Let the breast therefore be closed against the adversary and lie open to the Lord alone; and in the time of holy prayer let no one admit any occupation of the world at all.

Great is the usefulness of pure prayer, which, like a faithful messenger, carries out the command of the fervent mind, and, flying, ascends into heaven, where flesh does not reach. For prayer is sustained by two wings, so that it may fly up into heaven; one of these is called fasting, and the other is named almsgiving. Hence Saint John Chrysostom says: Nothing is more powerful than a person praying, who prays with

Homily VIII. Fol. xviii.

[fasting?]: because it has two wings, and neither strays nor grows sluggish. Let us therefore pray in the highest fervor of spirit, and let us live with as much purity of conscience as we can, because that prayer is perfect and pleasing to God whose cause and tongue alike cry out, whose deeds and speech agree with its supplication, whose life and thought lend patronage to its petitions. For without the justice of truth every prayer will be fruitless, because we know that God does not hear sinners, and that salvation is far from sinners, as Scripture says: “He who turns away his ears so as not to hear the laws, his prayer will be abominable.” The holy prophet also says in the psalm: “If I have regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” For just as in a wound no medicine is of any benefit unless the iron is first drawn out, so the prayer of that man is of no benefit while deceit still remains in his mind or hatred in his breast.

But in order that God may hear your prayer, first of all the conscience must be cleansed from every stain of mortal sin, and the mind must take on a true purpose of amendment. To pray much and at the same time offend in many things: what else is this than to mock God? For in two ways prayer is hindered, so that it is not heard by the Lord: one, when the one praying still commits evil by sinning; the other, if he has not, for God’s sake, forgiven his debtor the debt. Therefore you who desire to have the fruit of your prayers, who wish to come with the penitent to God’s mercy, take care that you do nothing evil against God’s will, and diligently see to it that you truly forgive from the heart all things committed against you by men. For you know that the Lord said: “Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.”

But after you have cleansed your conscience from evil and forgiven every offense to your neighbor, then you will be ready to entreat the Lord, casting yourself humbly down in his sight; and pray with purity of heart and fervor of spirit, nor cease from prayer as long as you live in the flesh. Let your prayer be pure, simple, clear, and manifest; let it be full of gravity and weight, and adorned with the beauty of true humility. Do not ask anything in prayer contrary to the salvation of the soul, nor pray too importunately for a temporal thing, because it is shamelessness to ask riches from God, which furnish the greatest occasion for pride and often defile Christian purity. It is not shamelessness if you ask for daily bread, because it is one thing to ask for material by which you may become proud, and another to ask for necessary nourishment by which you may live.

Do not justify yourself when praying, lest like the Pharisee you go away condemned; nor ask anything from the Lord as if by debt owed to your merits, but humble yourself in all things, so that you may deserve to receive grace. Remember the humility of the publican, and pray with such humility that you may find with him pardon for sins and justification of the soul. For God’s grace is more abundant than the prayer of the suppliant, and he grants us more when we pray than we ask. You will not pray with a cry of the voice to him who knows the hidden things of the heart, but in the fervor of spirit and the inward cry of the mind strike the ears of the divine majesty. Nor should you draw out a length of words before him who is spirit, because God will be appeased not by much speaking but by the devout mind of the one praying.

At the time of prayer cast away from yourself every malice and unrest of heart, and, as we often say, forgive if you have anything against your neighbor. For unless for love of the Savior you forgive your neighbor every debt, you will obtain nothing from the Lord by your prayers. It is said that there is a certain kind of serpent which, when it wishes to go into the water to drink, first vomits out all its poison. You also, monk, imitate this serpent in this respect: vomit out all the poison of anger and bitterness, forgiving your brother a hundred denarii, so that the Lord may forgive you ten thousand talents. As you desire the Lord to be toward you, so also show yourself toward your fellow servant. Call upon the Lord with your whole heart and you will find him; let your prayer be ardent and most pure, so that your mind may be joined to him in most holy love.

Strive for this throughout your whole life: that you may offer pure prayer to the Lord God at all times. He does not act with levity, nor is his judgment easily moved; what he promised is fixed. If you pray earnestly, you will see a miracle. Remember that you stand beneath the gaze of God, who understands all the secrets of hearts and knows the hidden things of minds. Therefore stand watchfully in the sight of him who knows all things, and pray with as much fervor of spirit as you can, that [unclear] liij

That one must pray without ceasing.

...that you may deserve to obtain mercy. For by holy prayer the conscience of the penitent is cleansed; and he who raises his heart to the Lord in true purity, his prayer does not return empty. O, if you knew, dearest brothers, how pleasing to God are the prayers of a pure mind, and how much benefit they confer upon the soul, you would allow no time to pass without prayers. For our prayer, if it is pure and burning in the fervor of the spirit, is a most faithful messenger to God; it speaks to God on our behalf, and obtains all things that are necessary for our salvation while it prays.

Therefore I admonish you and exhort you in true charity to pray without ceasing, and never to cease from the fervor of the Holy Spirit. Let there be no time for you empty or idle in sluggishness of mind. In the fear of the Lord, I beg you, always be watchful and attentive, so that you may be able bravely to conquer and overcome the temptations that threaten. As soon as foul thoughts begin to knock at the mind, run back to the practice of prayer, and they will be in no way able to prevail against you. For prayer is a great fortification of the soul; in its presence all the contrivances of the opposing side fail. For through the purest prayers all useful things are granted to us by God, and all adversities are driven far away.

The mind is powerfully kindled in the love of God by pure prayers, and whatever occurs of a lighter stain is cleansed by praying. By holy and continual prayers the world is conquered; the plagues of the soul are healed by devout petitions; by tears and weeping the devil is overcome; and he for whom a thousand cohorts are not sufficient for battle is weakened by the prayer of one poor man. Just as wax, melting before the face of fire, is dissolved, so at the fervor of pure prayer all the power of demons, crushed, is enervated.

If a base thought has been cast into your mind by demons, then at once, with the sign of the cross impressed upon your forehead, say: Save me, Jesus Christ, mediator of God and men, and drive away from me all the wickedness of the ancient enemy through your most innocent passion. What can be briefer than this prayer, or more powerful? For as soon as it has been uttered with fervor of mind against the presence or suggestion of demons, every contrivance of iniquity withdraws. For the power of pure prayer is very great, since it both penetrates heaven and by its steadfastness overthrows the powers of the air.

Prayer illuminates the mind, purifies the affection, obtains pardon for sins, and strengthens the spirit in the love of God against all adversaries. Nothing so raises the mind from earthly things to the love of heavenly things; nothing so quickly and powerfully destroys the pleasures of the flesh; nothing so illumines the understanding; nothing likewise so greatly confounds the adversary of truth, as pure prayer, which is poured out to God with the fervor of divine love and is adorned by the testimony of a good conscience. If you desire to be terrible to demons, if you wish to be a friend of God, have a pure conscience and never interrupt spiritual prayer.

For devout prayer can do all things, if it is [offered?] with uprightness of faith and purity of life. Prayer puts demons to flight, enervates the power of the malign, heals the soul languishing in tepidity, and strengthens the spirit that is weak and infirm in the fear of God. Pure prayer makes one near to God, and him whom it had received as a servant it makes to be a friend of God. Pure prayer, fervent in the love of God, penetrates heaven, wonderfully illuminates the understanding of the one praying, closes hell, opens paradise, and brings in the souls of the faithful.

For Truth does not lie, who in the holy Gospel promises, saying: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to the one knocking it shall be opened. Which of you has ever turned to the Lord with his whole heart and prayed, and has not been heard? Or who has called upon the Lord, who cast down Amalek, trusting in his own strength, not by fighting with iron but by praying with holy prayers? For the continual supplication of the just man avails much, and the prayer of one humbling himself penetrates the clouds.

Elijah was a man subject to suffering like us; and he prayed with prayer that it should not rain upon the earth, and it did not rain for three years and six months. And again he prayed, and heaven gave [rain?], and the earth gave its fruit. By prayer and tears King Hezekiah obtained fifteen years of longer life, and by prayers changed the prophet’s sentence. By prayers holy men shone with miracles, and, supplicating the Lord, recalled the dead to life. To the purity of prayer also all things are subject, and there is nothing in us so difficult that devout and fervent prayer

Homily VIII.

Folio XIX.

to obtain. Then, when we pray, we receive confidence of obtaining from the Lord what we ask, when no perversity of life contradicts our prayers. For the Lord is the hearer of a righteous prayer, namely when integrity of life commends the prayer, and no guilt of conscience makes the one who prays hesitate. Friendship will not stand between those unlike each other, and between God and a sinner there can be no communion. If you wish to be heard when you pray, take care first that you do not differ from the will of God. Live in the spirit most like to God, and you will suffer no rejection in prayer. For indeed purity of conscience, in the fervor of divine love, makes a man like to God in understanding; likeness causes love; love introduces familiarity; familiarity, confidence; and upon confidence there follows the easy obtaining of one’s petition. For just as there is no union among things unlike, so between God and an evil man prayer avails nothing.

Therefore whoever among you desires to obtain the effect of his prayers, let him first, through true penitence, cleanse the dwelling-place of his heart from every fault; then let him strive to inflame himself by the exercise of holy compunction; afterward let him continually feed his mind in the pursuit of the love of God, so that the good which he begins he may thereafter at no time interrupt. But afterward, when, with the desire of divine love always increasing in him, he has by long effort brought the exercise of holy purity into habit, and the mind has conceived the necessary firmness in its good purpose, then for the first time the likeness of divine communion is gradually introduced, and prayer is formed to its due state. For the more the mind, stirred up in the love of God, has advanced, the more quickly will prayer obtain from the Lord what it asks. For the love of God alone makes one powerful in prayer; and in it, the more fervently the mind has burned, the more easily it will obtain the effect of its petitions. For if you love much, you can do much. For God is charity, and he who remains in charity remains in God, and God in him. But in him in whom God remains, there is nothing stronger than he, except God himself alone.

There are among you certain men weak and feeble in spirit, who already consider themselves strong and perfect in the way of the Lord; their devotion is both rare and fleeting, and they boast that without the wedding garment they have approached the kingdom of heaven, although they still lie far off in the lower places. To these I say again what I have often said: that no one suddenly becomes the highest, and unless a monk has subdued all his animal passions through the mortification of the flesh, he does not reach the very high mountain of divine contemplation. For whoever, placed in a monastery under authority and obedience, follows his own will against monastic discipline, is not worthy to be heard by the Lord in his prayers.

But those of whom we speak are great and wise in their own eyes: loving their own will, they murmur at everything, and whatever they themselves have not arranged they think badly done. They examine the actions of their brothers with curious inquiry, but are content to neglect discerning their own negligences. In their morals they are lax and disorderly; in words frivolous and loud; unwilling toward obedience, and always slow in good works and full of sloth. They neglect the common exercises of the order and attend to private ones according to their own will. And as long as they remain in their own rashness, they do not rise up to the true love of God. Let monks who love their own will hear what the Lord says: “I came not to do my own will, but that of the Father who sent me.” Brothers, attend to this teacher; unless you live in imitation of him, you will pray without fruit. For the Lord gladly hears the prayer of him who keeps his commandments in truth. But he who transgresses the commandment of God, who follows with desire the pleasures of the flesh and the consolations of the world, his prayer is not heard.

For God, just and upright, is believed then gladly to hear your prayer when a good mind and a good life make supplication together. But if a man’s conduct displeases God, how will his prayer please him? For God is spirit, and a man who walks not in the spirit but in the flesh certainly does not approach God at all. Therefore you, monk, who do not walk according to the purity of the Gospel and the Rule, who love your own will and not God’s, know that you will not feel the efficacy of your prayers unless you first amend your life. For unless your conduct agrees with your prayer, you will not obtain what you ask. Then you cry to the Lord with one great voice, when even with the tongue silent you cry out with good works. For good prayers and evil conduct merit nothing good. Therefore do what a certain wise man advised: and if you have sinned, do not cast yourself away again, but pray also concerning your former sins, that

…may be forgiven you. Before [your] prayers, prepare your soul, and be not as a man who tempts God. Let the mind be pure and ardent in the love of the Lord; let the conscience be clean and strengthened in the purpose of a holy way of life; and the prayer will be pleasing to the divine ears. If you pray otherwise, you will obtain nothing. He prays well who lives well; and he easily obtains who prays with holy works. Finally, prayer is rendered much effective and pleasing in the sight of God, if it be at all times consonant with the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ is God and man, the mediator between God and us, through whom we have safe access to the Father, as he himself testifies in the holy Gospel: "No one," he says, "comes to the Father but through me." Whence let no day pass on which you do not at least once give thanks to Christ by praying—who by the pain of his wounds healed the languors of your soul, who shed his blood for you, and by his most innocent death redeemed you, wretched, from the destruction of perpetual death. Truly a man is most ungrateful, and unworthy of the Christian name, who is so far forgetful of Christ's so great benefits that he does not daily, or at least once, render thanksgivings to him. But let the monk—who, dead to the world, is bidden to live for God alone—carry continually in his breast the memory of the Lord's passion, always giving thanks to his Redeemer, always blessing, always adoring; and daily—nay, as much as can be done, in every single moment—let him with tears, compassionating, turn over [in his mind] the bitterness of Christ's wounds. Every day, after the several regular prayers which the Greeks call canonical, with knees bent and mind raised to heaven let him say: "I give thanks to you, and blessing [you] I adore you, O mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus, most sweet God and man, for your most holy incarnation, for your nativity from the Virgin, for [your] circumcision, for the flight into Egypt and the seven years in exile which you endured for us. I adore you, Lord Savior Jesus Christ, for your labors, for [your] hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness; for your journeys, for your teaching and preaching, for your miracles, for the calling of the nations, and for the justification of sinners. I give you thanks, Lord, Son of the living God, for the pain of your wounds; I bless you for the shedding of your most holy blood; I adore you for your death which you most innocently endured; and I beseech you, by your whole passion, [your] piety and clemency, have mercy on me now and in the hour of my death." This most brief prayer the devout monk will recite at least seven times a day, so that as often as he passes before the image of the Crucified, in like manner, with fervor of mind, he may adore Christ. He who is a true lover of Christ always thinks of Christ, speaks of and venerates Christ, [and] does not doubt that Christ is everywhere present to him. The passion of Christ is never absent from his memory; and through the greatness of love he forgets himself, and in Christ is wholly occupied in mind and desire. Whoever is fervent in soul in the love of Christ despises earthly things, conquers the flesh, [and] desires only heavenly things. Waking, he ever thinks of Christ with desire; sleeping, he dreams of Christ; and, continually sighing, with the divine Ignatius he cries: "My love is crucified." He joins sighs to sighs, and Jesus—whom he loves with his whole heart—he discerns present, not with his eyes but with his spirit. With the desire of love urging [him], as often as he gazes on the Crucified, he soon dissolves into tears, and, glowing with the fire of charity, cries out: "O love stronger than all strengths! How sweetly he burns who is inflamed with the desire of Christ!" Rightly did he speak who said: "Love is strong as death." For what can be stronger than the love of Christ, by whose ardor the holy martyrs, despising so many thousand kinds of death, overcame [them]? O my crucified love, have mercy on me; grant me to feel that sweetness of your love of which I speak, that I may always carry about in my heart your most bitter passion. I know, my brothers, I know that there is no more effective mode of praying, nor more useful to us who are still weak, than to be in the memory and power of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whence, since it is manifest that without a mediator there is no ascent of the mind to God, every good work must be begun in the name of Christ; for then we usefully pour out prayers to God, when with purified conscience we pray through his only-begotten Son.

Of the custody and origin of thoughts: Homily Nine.

Solomon, that once most wise king, in the book which he entitled "of the Proverbs," [addresses his] son

Works, IX. Fol. xx.

...having exhorted him to true wisdom. Among other things he said: “My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline your ear to my prudence, that you may guard your thoughts, and that your lips may preserve discipline.” For it is no small part of wisdom, dearly beloved brothers, if a monk knows how to discern his thoughts prudently and to guard their movements carefully at all times. It is a great thing to think nothing evil, but it is not a lesser mark of prudence to be able to repel evil thoughts from their very beginning. For the deep reflection of the human heart is ever shifting, varied, manifold, and unstable; to observe its beginnings and restrain its movements is the height of prudence and a great sign of wisdom. If I have called the heart of man a mill, driven by perpetual motion, I have not strayed from the truth, especially if anyone should wish to examine its restlessness most closely. For what else is the human heart than a kind of mill, always in motion, always grinding something? The human heart is never idle, never rests without movement, but is always doing something; and just as an empty mill consumes itself by its own motion, so the heart of man shamefully runs down from itself when thought of the good does not constrain it. It is always moved toward some object with the desire of its love; it is always grinding, always acting, always occupied with something delightful, whether it be good or evil. As the body is not moved without the soul, so the mind of man does not remain fixed in the good unless it has been continually restrained by holy exercises. Therefore the wise man said in Ecclesiasticus: “Joyfulness of heart is the life of man, and the treasure of holiness without failing; and the exultation of a man is length of days. Delight your soul in what is pleasing to God, and hold it in, and gather your heart in his holiness, and drive sorrow far from you.” What is the gathering of the heart, if not the diligent guarding of thought? For he gathers his heart in the holiness of the Lord who continually observes, in the fear of God, the movements of his thoughts. And therefore Scripture says: “With all custody guard your heart, because from it life proceeds.” But thoughts take the beginnings of their movements from those things which are presented by the senses; these wander the more dangerously the less they are examined from the outset by the judgment of reason. Therefore whoever desires to be watchful over his thoughts, whoever wishes to gather his heart in the holiness of the Lord, should first of all guard his outward senses with the greatest diligence, and set the bridle of prudence upon each of them. Hence Scripture commands thus concerning hearing and sight: “Hedge your ears with thorns, and do not listen to a wicked tongue; and make doors for your mouth, and bars for your ears.” “Blessed is the man who stops his ears lest he hear bloodshed, and closes his eyes lest he see evil.” We also read thus in holy Job: “I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not even think of a virgin.” But against those who have fallen into the pit of sins through the service of their senses, the Lord thus bears witness through the prophet Jeremiah: “Because death has climbed in through your windows; it has entered your houses to destroy the little ones outside, and the young men from the streets.” Death enters our houses through the windows whenever a wicked thought is let into the mind through the service of sight or hearing. For the house is conscience, of which Scripture says: “Unless you hold yourself constantly in the fear of the Lord, your house will quickly be overthrown.” [unclear] guards it. Therefore the house of conscience must be fortified by the fear of the Lord; the senses too must be restrained with the greatest diligence, because he does not sufficiently guard his thoughts who does not turn his ears and eyes away from the occasion of evil. And so, if you wish to be a prudent guardian of your thoughts and a true gatherer of the heart in the holiness of the Lord, hedge your ears with the thorns of compunction and of the fear of God, lest they hear evil; and turn away your eyes, lest they introduce sin through sight. What it is not lawful for you to desire, do not look upon with desire; and what it is not expedient to have, do not think upon. Many have perished through the service of the senses, and because they proceed incautiously to see outward things, they have often shamefully lost their inner goods. He who does not fear danger is already surely near destruction; and he who presumes on his own virtue runs hastily toward the ruin of sin. He who flashes his eye into the brilliance of lightning will be blinded for the moment; and he who gazes upon the beauty of women will not be free from danger. I praise the prudence of that monk who is alone in the midst of crowds, and sets a censor over his senses, lest he admit anything evil to his lady. He sets guards beside the gate, who with sword and club repel those who rush in disorderly. Fear [unclear]

Works, IX. Fol. xx.

On the Custody and Origin of Thoughts

The holy fear of the Lord never deserts the mind of a wise man; but, just as a strong and ever-watchful champion always stands at the prince’s side, so it guards the [house?] of the heart. He turns his ears away from all scurrility of words, and closes his eyes lest they see evil. He always walks according to the twelfth degree of humility, with his gaze fixed upon the ground, praying to the Lord with the prophet: “Turn my eyes away, lest they see vanity; in your way give me life, O Lord.”

Go, I admonish you, brothers: direct your senses in the fear of the Lord, so that you may always be able to keep the dwelling of the heart clean and inviolate. Remember the Scripture, which says: “Be clean, you who carry the vessels of the Lord.” Consider, I pray, with how great a cleanliness and purity of mind you ought to shine, you who not only, by reason of the priestly order, carry the vessels of the Lord, but, what is more, are even yourselves the vessels of the Lord. For the holy lover of Christ, Paul, says: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” And again he says: “Or do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” And elsewhere: “For the temple of God is holy, which you are.” And concerning that same Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Lord said to Ananias: “Go, for this man is a vessel of election for me.”

The monk who performs priestly office in the Church of God is bound by a double reason to the observance of most holy purity. For the soldier of Christ, because of the vow which he made to God, must be pure, holy, and continually tireless in good works; and by reason of the priestly ministry, circumspect and most diligently watchful. For it is written: “Cursed is the man who does the work of God negligently.” You are ministers of almighty God, who daily sacrifice his Son at the altar; his work is entrusted into your hands, and therefore great purity of mind and body is demanded in your manner of life.

Therefore, in order that the chaste purity of the mind may remain, the instability of thought must be restrained. The senses must be guarded at all times, for through them the integrity of the mind is corrupted. For you are dead to the world and have now begun to live for Christ; it is not lawful for you to think anything except what is holy, nor is it fitting for you, ministers of God, to love anything earthly. For it is God whom you serve, O monks; it is the Almighty whom you minister to, my brothers. Live pure, holy, and innocent, because it is not fitting for you to be occupied with the business of the world, you who have been called to the soldiery of God.

Let love of God and purity of heart grow in you with time, so that the longer you live in this world, the holier you may become. Always turn yourselves away from every evil, so that you may be able to persevere without failing in good thoughts. Always raise the eyes of your mind to heaven, and do not occupy the sight of the flesh with perishable things. Also always close your hearing to every useless, vain, and foolish speech, and always think with fear on the future judgment of God. Do not pollute your hands with the unlawful and shameful touch of any things whatever, so that you may be able to sacrifice the Son of God with a clean body and a pure conscience.

In food and drink it is not the part of monks to distinguish flavors, nor is it fitting for the soldiers of Christ to love bodily delights. Nature requires few things, and rustic foods by which it may be nourished; appetite, however, unless it is restrained by the command of reason, is dragged toward unlawful things, through which the simplicity of nature is violated. Therefore flee excess in all things, and observe regular moderation in your way of living. Let none of you patiently listen to one who detracts from his brothers or speaks evil of his neighbor. Let each one of you restrain his tongue from useless speech, and let good monks blush to speak evil of any Christians.

Never let that warning of the Lord depart from your memory, spoken in the holy Gospel: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man from a good treasure brings forth good things, and an evil man from an evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that every idle word which men shall have spoken, they shall render an account for it on the day of judgment.” O sentence too greatly to be feared. If an account is demanded for idle speech, what do detraction, scurrility, and filthy speech deserve? Or if a useless word is judged guilty under the strict reckoning of examination, what will he answer who so readily speaks what is evil and harmful? An idle word is every utterance of men which has been spoken without just usefulness and lacks the reason of lawful necessity. Therefore, brothers, consider your words, and let no one speak a word not pertinent to the matter, or to just usefulness, or to necessary [unclear].

Homily IX.

Fol. XXI.

of [unclear]. For you have heard the fearful sentence of the Lord, and you are not unaware of the command of our holy lawgiver, who says in the Rule: “Buffooneries, idle words, and words that provoke laughter we condemn to perpetual exclusion in all places, and we do not permit the disciple to open his mouth for such speech.”

Here holy father Benedict forbade three kinds of words to monks, and condemned them to perpetual exclusion in all places: namely, buffoonish, idle, and laughter-provoking words. What buffoonery is, the interpretation of the grammarians has declared to us. For the vice of buffoonery is opposed to refinement and modesty, and is a certain wanton jocularity provoking the laughter of hearers, without shame or honor, immoderate in words and gestures, which do not accord with reason, do not befit a good man, and are not suitable for a wise man. Buffoonery is so called from a buffoon, who follows the houses of the rich, provoking his hearers to laughter by wanton and dishonorable words and gestures for the sake of a reward or a coin.

And this kind of words holy father Benedict forbade to monks and condemned utterly, because those who serve God are rightly commanded to abstain perpetually, in his sight, from foul and dishonorable words. Between buffoonery and much-speaking there seems to be this difference: the former exceeds by reason of dishonor, the latter by reason of excess. The former is foul and dishonorable; the latter is superfluous without virtue.

Foolish talk is rightly joined with these, since it is forbidden not only to monks but also to all Christians. Hence the holy apostle of Christ says: “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as befits saints; nor filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor buffoonery, which are not to the purpose, but rather thanksgiving.” Idle words are likewise forbidden to all monks, because they are prohibited by the Lord, as you have heard, in the holy Gospel. Words that provoke laughter also do not befit Christian people, and much less are they suitable for cloistered men. For the monk, who is dead to the world, is commanded always to think on his last things; but he is bound everywhere, for love of God, to despise laughter and every insolence of the present life. Laughter is a confused voice, declaring the inward joy of the mind with immoderate cheerfulness. But nothing

[unclear] humility, reverence, and subjection are required, lest anyone seem to speak more than is fitting. A man is known from his words, and he who multiplies utterances in his mouth is foolish in heart. A man’s speech is the witness of his conscience, and for one who loves modesty and innocence of heart, his words ought to be modest and without vanity. For you are ministers of the living God, my brothers: let no vain, useless, and idle word go out from your mouth, but only what is good for the edification of the hearers, so that it may increase charity in their minds, toward the illumination of the heart in the knowledge and love of the highest truth. Precious is the tongue of the monk that speaks nothing at all except what is holy, and worthy of blessing is the mouth from which nothing is brought forth except what is divine. Let each one keep his heart clean from every wicked thought, since he who is good in heart does not speak an evil word, and he who truly loves God does not utter idle speech. Apply every care and consideration to your thoughts, since evil must be watched there with principal attention, where it takes the beginning of its proceedings, so that as soon as it has begun to arise it may be cut off by the roots. For there is no thought of evil so weak that it does not grow with time, if it is nourished by the consent of the thinker. Therefore evil, while still weak, must be conquered immediately at the beginning, because when delay intervenes, even a very small evil gains strength, though in the beginning it may seem [unclear]. A great fire often arises from a small spark, and from a lesser thought a great sin sometimes rises up. When thought gives birth to delight, it is accustomed soon to burst into consent, and consequently into deed also, if it can cast itself headlong. But when the will, through delight, has granted consent to an evil thought for the deed, even if what the soul desires is not completed, nevertheless the sin has already been consummated before God. But what does Scripture say? Sin, when it has been consummated, brings forth death. For almighty God regards the will of man, whether he wills good or evil. Therefore he says in the holy Gospel: Whoever has looked at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. God reckons the will as the deed whenever a person cannot bring into effect what he wished. Therefore again and again I admonish you, brothers, and with as much diligence as I can I solemnly urge you, that according to the holy Apostle you walk cautiously, not as fools, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Watch most cautiously for the snares of the evil demon, and resist evil and unclean thoughts immediately from the beginning, because remedy is considered far too late when the disease has gained strength through long time. Accustom yourselves at all times to dwell upon good and holy thoughts, and you will easily be able to overcome the insolence of evil ones. For just as vessels filled with good liquids receive no external corruption, so minds filled with good thoughts do not admit the intemperance of evil ones. Since the eye of the heart is that by which God is seen, and through purity of conscience one arrives at the glory of eternal happiness. For the Lord says in the holy Gospel: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. A clean heart is the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, and where evil thought is not admitted, God without doubt abides. A clean heart is the seat of wisdom, and where purity of mind is guarded, no perils of adversity will harm. Be mindful of Scripture saying: Perverse thoughts separate from God, but tested virtue corrects the foolish. For wisdom will not enter a malicious soul, nor will it dwell in a body subject to sins. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee the deceitful, and will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding. But a perverse thought is any thought admitted that is contrary to evangelical purity; by commerce with it the mind of the thinker is defiled, whenever by thinking about and turning over those things that are opposed to God it takes delight in them. And those perverse thoughts separate the mind of the thinker from God and little by little cast it down into the depth of evils. For an evil and perverse thought, when it has penetrated, first poisons through the venom of delight; then it clouds reason; afterward it draws the will into consenting to the evil suggestion; finally it consummates sin in deed. From then on, an evil once presumed is practiced more freely, and all shame or fear is removed through habit. Sin is joined to sin, and little by little the habit of doing evil is strengthened. But when time is granted to an evil habit, a certain

Homily IX. Folio XXII.

...generates the necessity of sinning. Here is the hardest dominion of death; here the deepest depth of evils. Whoever has once entered this abyss of sins rarely, indeed not easily, rises again to purity of heart without the special grace of God and the greatest labor of repentance. By his own will the sinner has fallen into this pit of death; but without God’s mercy he will not be able to rise again. Most harsh is the yoke of evil habit: if anyone has once submitted his neck to it, he rarely recovers his former freedom of spirit.

All these things are wrought by perverse thought when it is admitted into the mind and, through delight, is changed into consent and deed. For no thought is so small that it does not gradually grow if it is not driven from the mind. Blessed, therefore, is that monk who casts all his thought upon the Lord; who always and everywhere denies a place to wicked thoughts; who despises all the perishable riches of the world; who scorns all comforts of the body. He prepares the cleanness of his heart for his Lord; he loves nothing in this world except the Lord; he orders all his thoughts to the glory of the Savior, and observes his commandments with the utmost diligence.

What is happier than that monk who presents himself to the world not as a citizen but as a pilgrim? He lives in the world as if he were not in the world; indeed, greater than the world is he whose whole conversation is in heaven. Consider now, therefore, dearest brothers, the shortness of this time, and always remember that you are mortal and will soon pass away. For we have here no abiding city, but seek the one to come; and since we know that so many thousands of men have gone before us through death, let us consider how soon we too must necessarily die.

Now indeed a short time is granted to us, but one very acceptable, in which we may work the fruits of eternal life. For now is the time for laboring; now is the hour for sowing good, because after death each one will receive the reward of his labors, when no further opportunity for laboring is granted. Therefore, my brothers, anticipate this hour of death with holy works, and do not fail now in the seedtime of labor, so that in eternal recompense you may rejoice without end. Let no day pass on which each one of you has not become better, and has not added some new good work to those he has already performed. Always think on the price of the harvest to come, and let no greatness of labor terrify you.

On The Daily Struggle Of Temptation: Homily Ten.

In yesterday’s sermon, dearest brothers, I admonished your charities to resist the beginnings of evil thoughts, and with all your strength to prepare yourselves by good and holy works for the prize of the future reward. But since, as Scripture bears witness, the life of man upon earth is temptation, I have thought it necessary to discuss this same matter in your hearing, as much as the Lord shall grant, so that, having been forewarned, you may be able to fight more strongly against the invisible adversary.

You know the words of the wise man, who says in Ecclesiasticus: “Son, when you come to the service of God, stand in justice, and prepare your soul for temptation.” Let no one think himself free from temptation, brothers, so long as he walks in this mortal way of life; but the more anyone advances in the fear of God, the more cautiously let him know that he must live. For Saint Pope Gregory says: “The more our enemy sees that rebellion is made against him, the more fully he strives to attack. For he neglects to strike those whom he feels he possesses by undisturbed right.” The devil pursues the one fleeing from him and endeavors to overthrow the one who rebels against his command.

You, O men, the more you advance in the spiritual way of life, the more urgently you must keep watch against the adversary of your salvation. For, as Saint John Chrysostom says, our adversary never sleeps, but always keeps watch for the destruction of the human race; none of us can resist him except the one who has learned to keep watch at all times in the fear of the Lord. And Saint Leo, pope of the city of Rome, says in a certain sermon: “The ancient enemy does not cease to spread everywhere the snares of temptations, so that in whatever way he may be able, by corrupting the faith of believers, to blacken it. He knows to whom he should offer the enticements of the flesh, into whom he should pour the poison of envy, before whom he should set the incitements of lust. He knows whom he should disturb with sorrow, whom he should deceive with joy, whom he should oppress with fear, whom he should seduce by admiration [unclear].”

On the Daily Struggle of Temptation.

[unclear]. He examines the characters of all; he scrutinizes the affections of all. There he seeks occasions for doing harm, where he has seen anyone to be more diligently occupied. There are no works of virtue without the trial of temptations; no faith without disturbances; no contest without an enemy; no victory without an encounter. Hence Saint James the Apostle says in his epistle: Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Hence again Scripture says: The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and the temptation of tribulation tests righteous men. But lest anyone think that the devil is permitted to tempt men as much as he desires, Saint [Christophilus?] cries out: But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will also make with the temptation an outcome, so that you may be able to endure it. And Saint Augustine says: The devil is permitted to tempt only so much as is profitable for you: that you may be exercised, that you may be proved, that you, who did not know yourself, may be found by yourself. For the devil, with God’s permission, can stir up the motion of temptation; but it lies in your most free power, if you wish, to give or deny consent to the tempter. Hence, when he tempted the Son of God in the desert, he did not drive him, did not touch him, did not compel him, but only said: Cast yourself down; so that you may understand that he cannot conquer except one who wills it. Therefore the divine chief apostle of Christ said: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. For the devil can suggest evil; he cannot compel, nor overcome unless you consent.

Our life, as Saint Augustine bears witness, in this pilgrimage cannot be without sin and temptation, because our progress is increased through temptations; nor does anyone know himself unless he has been tempted; nor can he be crowned unless he has conquered; nor can he conquer unless he has fought; nor can he fight unless he has had an enemy and temptations. For Scripture says: He who has not been tempted, what does he know? For no one will be crowned except one who has fought lawfully. Therefore, brothers most dear, as you come to the service of God, stand in justice and fear; and so long as you can be conquered and subjected by the adversary, do not boast of security. You know that he with whom you have entered the contest never sleeps, does not rest, does not cease from persecution, and, always lying in wait for you, is never wearied. But if at any time he has been overcome, immediately he rises up for a new contest, nor does he desist from assaulting the good until, defeated, he altogether falls back, or else by untimely perseverance conquers the combatant. Hence also Saint Pope Gregory says: The ancient enemy, when from the first contest he sees that he is falling back, renews other wars of temptations. The wary adversary of the human race observes the character of each person, and whatever vices they are nearer to, these he places before the face of the heart; and he uses great strength to overthrow the state of the mind.

Stand firmly rooted in the fear of the Lord, and you will easily overcome all the temptations of the enemy. For it is written in the Book of Proverbs: In the fear of the Lord is confidence of strength. And again: Through mercy and faith sins are purged; but through the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil. In Ecclesiasticus, moreover, the wise man said: The fear of the Lord drives out sin. For he who is without fear will not be able to be justified. For the anger of his animosity overturns him. Therefore, by Solomon’s testimony, that man is called blessed who is always fearful; but he who is of a hard mind will fall into evil. Prepare your souls also, through zeal for holy conduct, for temptation, so that when it comes you may be able to resist and stand the stronger for it. For you will easily overcome the devil if you always come prepared for battle. Behold, your adversary, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour; you must resist him in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ if you desire to obtain victory. No place for flight is granted here; no little delay of security is allowed to those who fight; but it is necessary that you engage: you will overcome the enemy if you have stood bravely, or be conquered by him if you have fought badly. By this law we have all entered the world, that by fighting we may conquer; on this condition we have been made men, that, having overcome the allurements of the flesh, we ought to become equal to the holy angels. Contests are never lacking to monks, since for as long as they live in the flesh, we are necessarily exposed to temptations. For Scripture says: Many are the tribulations of the righteous, and from all these the Lord will deliver them. But in all our temptations that saying of the prophet Isaiah [is to be brought] to memory

Let us recall all the words of him who says: “You who have been weaned from milk, you who have been drawn away from the breast, expect tribulation upon tribulation, hope upon hope, yet a little while, because of the wickedness of lips, because of the malignant tongue.” Those weaned and drawn away from the breast are men advanced in age, whose part it is to receive tribulation upon tribulation for God’s sake, so that they may deserve to bring back hope upon hope, as sacred Scripture says: “But we glory also in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience, trial; and trial, hope. And hope does not confound, because the charity of God has been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” For through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. For by temptations we become known to ourselves, and we find out whether we truly fear God. Hence the Lord speaks through Moses to the people, saying: “The Lord your God tests you, that he may know whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

This world, dearly beloved brothers, is to be compared to a furnace, in which the fire of temptation and adversity continually burns, and through which we must necessarily pass. In this furnace of tribulation the chaff is burned up, but gold and silver are cleansed of every stain. The chaff is turned into ash; the gold is kept for the ornament and beauty of the royal palace. The furnace, I say, is the world; the fire is temptation or tribulation; the gold is righteous men; the chaff, however, is the unrighteous and sinners; the craftsman who purifies the gold is almighty God himself, who favors our progress and cooperates by grace toward the merit of virtue. Therefore let us do what God wills; what he imposes, let us patiently bear for love of him, since, as the holy [apostle of Christ?] says, “the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.” Hence Saint Jerome says: “Who would not wish to be troubled? Who would not desire to be reviled, that he may gain being praised by Christ’s voice and be rewarded with an abundant heavenly recompense? Would that, because of the name of my Lord and because of justice, the whole crowd of unbelievers might persecute and trouble me. Would that this whole world might rise up to my reproach, provided only that I may deserve to be praised by Christ and hasten toward the reward of his promise.” And the wise man says in Ecclesiasticus: “The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and the temptation of tribulation tests righteous men.”

Therefore, whichever of you, my brothers, desires to come to the kingdom of heaven, whichever of you cares above all to please God, let him learn gladly to receive the tribulations of temptations for love of him, and joyfully to endure whatever adversity shall occur. For there is none of us who does not need daily purification, none who does not offend almost at every moment. If, then, we love our own salvation, if we demand that our sins be forgiven us and that we be cleansed from every stain of heart, let us patiently sustain whatever adversity happens to us, since the evils of tribulation, which the soul patiently tolerates for love of God, cleanse it more than the good works which it now performs of its own will in this world.

Great matter for suffering has been left to us in this place: we who are heavily pressed by need, weighed down by poverty, and also constrained by the debt of borrowed money. What adversity do we not experience in this monastery? What storms and tempests do we not suffer, brothers? By what inconveniences are we not harassed? How desolate all the goods of this monastery were when, fifteen years ago, regular observance was introduced, none of you can be ignorant. But the tribulation of common want rages more severely against me, who must provide the necessities of life for you, and very often do not sufficiently know from what source I may pay. Yet your patience consoles my spirit, and the hope which you have conceived in the Lord, the savior of the humble, so that I do not doubt that his mercy will be present in time; and I hear him saying to me through Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of poverty.” Gladly, then, I shall have patience in the poverty which, God thus ordaining, we now suffer, so that after death we may deserve to come to the riches of eternity. For the more, in this our pilgrimage, we shall have been afflicted by persecutions, poverty, need, labors, and tribulations, the greater rewards we shall obtain in the future recompense of the righteous, when God grants them. Therefore with me, my brothers, patiently endure whatever almighty God has preordained us to suffer, since, as the holy pope Gregory says, confidence in almighty God is then certain

On the daily struggle of temptation.

[unclear]: when adversity is added for a good work, and in this world the scourge of God is received with joy, so that a fairer reward may be kept for the future recompense of the saints. Again also he says: Those whom the adversity of temporal life humbles take joy from the hope of the everlasting inheritance, because divine dispensation would see that they were not to be saved forever if it did not restrain them, to be instructed under the rule of discipline.

When afflicted, we lose earthly things; but by humbly enduring affliction we multiply heavenly goods for ourselves. For the present life is a road, by which we hasten toward our homeland; and for that reason we are often touched in it by disturbances, lest we think that our homeland is here. Therefore let the monk rejoice in his adversity; let him who is tempted, to whom the world has been crucified, be glad; let him trust that he belongs to the fellowship of God, who with a pure conscience always does good and receives the contrary in tribulation.

For it is the truest sign of divine compassion if a Christian man is struck in this world by various adversities, who, serving God with a pure conscience, has prepared [unclear] in heaven. Knowing that some can sin greatly, he forestalls them with bodily weakness lest they sin, and mercifully scourges them for their salvation, seeing that it is more useful for their souls to be broken by illnesses unto salvation than to live unharmed unto damnation. Others he wills to be poor, whom he foreknew could not use riches unto salvation. For to many the wealth and [unclear] of this world [unclear]; and the unexpected enemy struck them the more heavily, because he found them negligent through long habit of quiet.

Hence holy men, when they trust that they are making much progress by the prosperity of virtues, rejoice that by a certain governance of heavenly dispensation they are also exercised by temptations, because they guard the glory of the virtues they have received all the more robustly when, shaken by the assault of temptation, they recognize their own weakness more humbly. The way of tribulation is a short road to Christ, and he is found in it more quickly than in tranquility. For the holy bishop Ambrose says: There are many who seek Christ in leisure and do not find him; and there are those who seek him in persecutions and quickly find him. He is present in the dangers of his faithful, just as in the psalm he speaks of the just man, saying: I am with him in tribulation; I will rescue him and glorify him.

Let purity of conscience keep guard in adversity; let the inviolate integrity of life always be preserved; and whatever adversity there is will undoubtedly be for us to the merit of salvation. The ancient enemy can overcome no one by fighting, unless he has first found him to have fallen away from himself. He seeks out those who are sluggish in idleness; he trips up the unwary soldier, and he most easily lays low the one whom he finds stripped of arms. Therefore, my brothers, always keep watch in holy prayers; always persist in good works, so that whenever the tempter approaches, he may never find you idle.

Remember the words of our savior Jesus Christ, saying in the holy Gospel: Let your loins be girded and lamps burning in your hands; and be like men [waiting for their lord, when] he returns from the wedding, so that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. He keeps watch who, standing firm in the fear of the Lord, is never drowsy with sluggishness of mind. He keeps watch who preserves his soul against whatever adversities of this [unclear] by the tireless constancy of a holy purpose. He keeps watch, whoever does not cease to make progress daily in the love of the Lord.

He carries a lamp in his hands, whoever adorns the purpose of holiness with fitting works. He also holds a lamp in his hands, whoever, purified in mind and body, shines for his neighbor by works of holy piety. Hence the holy lover of Christ, Paul, says in the epistle: I beseech you, most beloved, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God. He who, chastising his body by the pursuits of holy abstinence, brings it under servitude to the spirit has consecrated a living sacrifice to the Lord. But whoever has now learned to preserve his heart clean and pure from every pollution of sin has undoubtedly sacrificed a holy offering to the Lord. Whoever indeed perseveres in the purpose of holiness to the end has without doubt offered a pleasing sacrifice.

But we gird our loins when we keep ourselves pure and unstained in body and mind from every form of lust. The virtue of holy chastity is of great merit before God, and, in proportion to the greatness of the struggle, is to be granted a singular reward in the recompense of the righteous, as the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah: “Thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that I have willed, and hold fast my covenant: I will give them in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name, which shall not perish.” And concerning these the Lord says in the holy Gospel: “For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who can receive it, let him receive it.”

But why did he say, “He who can receive it, let him receive it”? I think that this introduction of eunuchs, who castrate themselves for love of the kingdom of heaven, is not to be referred to the cutting off of the genital members, in which many, so thinking, have wandered from the truth of the Gospel, but rather to the command of the mind, by which chastity is preserved entire, conceived from love of Christ. For those castrate themselves for the sake of the kingdom of God who keep true chastity of mind and body inviolate for love of God. And just as bodily no one is easily castrated without the great pain of torment, so no one can arrive at the perfection of chastity without the utmost exertion of labor. And certainly no one is modest by his own powers, no one modest by his own merits. It is God who gives the good will; he it is also who joins strength to the will, so that it may be able. But because it is not for many to live chastely, he leaves each one to his own judgment, saying: “He who can receive it, let him receive it.” The cutting off of members does not make the mind chaste, since the root of lust is interior, and cannot be removed by the amputation of the shameful parts. But if the mind has been chaste and whole, it will easily restrain the insolence of the members. For nothing is stronger than the mind of a man [unclear]. [Unclear] Lord, most venerable [unclear] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Whoever, therefore, flees from the labor of the struggle will never attain the height of honor. Brief now is the time in which we labor, resisting the devil; but very soon the eternal time will come, in which, reigning without end, we shall exult with Christ. Let the body be chastised with discreet abstinence, lest it kick back against the command of the mind; let the concupiscence of the flesh be broken by holy exercises, so that it may always obey the counsels of reason. If at any time it begins to strike the mind with wanton impulses, let it even be restrained with blows, because it is better that the back, humbled by useful stripes, should be subdued than that the petulance of the flesh should hurl the soul down into hell. For Scripture says: “He who delicately nourishes his servant from boyhood will afterward find him insolent.” The flesh is the servant of the mind, which must always obey the command of reason. But if the flesh has been nourished too indulgently, then, accustomed to pleasures, it will refuse to bear the command of the spirit. For a servant becomes insolent toward his master whenever he is nourished delicately by him through habit. And it is difficult to bring a rebellious and insolent servant back to humble obedience after he has long been accustomed to kick back.

For it is written: “A servant cannot be instructed by words, because he understands what you say and scorns to answer.” Therefore the wise man says in Ecclesiasticus: “Fodder and a rod and a burden for an ass; bread and discipline and work for a servant. He works under discipline and seeks rest; loosen your hand for him, and he seeks freedom. The yoke and the strap bend a hard neck, and constant tasks bow a servant down.” If we begin to borrow these testimonies of the Scriptures from the literal sense for the moral sense, we shall find that all the things said about the servant and the ass fit very rightly with lazy and delicate flesh. For truly the flesh is the servant of the soul, which always rises up against its mistress unless it is wearied every day by discipline and work.

Indeed, he who keeps this flesh delicately at all times in idleness and pleasures will necessarily feel it insolent against spiritual impulses, because while the flesh is lifted up into pride, the spirit, languishing in idleness and lukewarm, is weakened. Therefore unless you, brother monk, continually humble this servant of yours, namely the flesh, through work and abstinence; unless [unclear] its illicit movements [unclear].

[unclear] of continence and sobriety you have imposed: with it going before, you will go wholly into the abyss. For we know, as the holy apostle says, that the flesh lusts against the spirit; and unless by the spirit we have put to death the works of the flesh, we shall die in its corruption. Nothing casts the soul down into the pit of sin more than the insolence of the flesh, which, when it is allowed to live by its own will, struggles back like a stubborn servant against its lord. Unhappy flesh, you who by the desire of vanity cast down the soul: it will not pass unpunished for you if anything, at your malicious suggestion, [unclear]; for God will judge both. Woe to you; I have sinned with her, because while Adam, a transgressor of the commandments, is driven from paradise, Eve, the inciter of evils, necessarily accompanies the wretched man. Be consenting to the spirit, O flesh, because the apostle says: “But those who are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with its vices and desires.” And you, O men, brothers, who profess the warfare of Christ, who have voluntarily sworn yourselves to the law of monastic life, who have promised to imitate the footsteps of the Savior: consider your calling, so that you may walk carefully, not like fools who are driven by every wind, but as true lovers of Jesus Christ, who by the spirit have put to death the deeds of the flesh. You, I say, my most beloved fellow-soldiers, always keep watch in good works, mortifying for the love of Christ our bodies which are upon the earth, constant in fasts and prayers, and continually occupied in meditation on the divine Scriptures. Always stretch yourselves forward to what lies ahead; every day renew with fresh zeal the fervor of your holy purpose. Flee idleness and all sloth, and diligently consider how brief is the time of this life. Let the brief and moderate labor of the hard contest not frighten you; let the wickedness of the enemy not make you fainthearted, since every labor is quickly overcome by voluntary endurance, and the devil, however savagely he rages, is overcome as soon as you call upon Christ. Remember the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, saying in the holy Gospel: “Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” But what, my brothers, is our cross except a life of temptation [unclear]

with it going before, you will go into the abyss. For we know, as the holy apostle says, that the flesh lusts against the spirit; and unless we have put to death the works of the flesh, we shall die in its corruption. Nothing casts the soul down into the pit of sin more than the insolence of the flesh, which, when it is allowed to live by its own will, struggles back like a stubborn servant against its lord. Unhappy flesh, you who cast down the soul by the desires of vanity: it will not pass unpunished for you if anything, at your malicious suggestion, [unclear]; God will judge both. Woe to you; I have sinned with her, because while Adam, a transgressor of the commandments, is driven from paradise, Eve, the inciter of evils, necessarily accompanies the wretched [unclear]. Be consenting to the spirit, O flesh, because [unclear] you promised to imitate [unclear] footsteps; consider your calling, that you may walk carefully, not like fools who are driven by every wind, but as true lovers of Jesus Christ, who by the spirit have put to death the deeds of the flesh. You, I say, my most beloved fellow-soldiers, always keep watch in good works, mortifying for the love of Christ our bodies which are upon the earth; in fasts [unclear] stretch forward; every day [renew?] the fervor of the holy purpose [unclear]. Flee [unclear], and diligently consider how brief is the time of this life. Let the brief and moderate [unclear] of the hard contest not frighten you; let it not make you fainthearted [unclear]. Remember the words of the Lord [unclear] Gospel, saying: “Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” But what, my brothers, is our cross except a life of temptation [unclear]

with it going before, you will go into the abyss. For we know, as the holy [disciple?] says, that the flesh lusts against the spirit; and unless we have put to death the works of the flesh [unclear], we shall die in corruption. Nothing casts the soul down into the pit of sin more than the insolence of the flesh, which, when it is allowed to live by its own will, struggles back like a stubborn servant against its lord. Unhappy flesh, you who cast down the soul by the desires of vanity: it will not pass unpunished for you if anything, at your malicious suggestion, [unclear]; God has judged both. Woe to you; I have sinned with her, because while Adam, a transgressor of the commandments, is driven from paradise, Eve, the inciter of evil, necessarily accompanies mercy [unclear]. Be consenting to the spirit, O flesh, [unclear] you promised to imitate [unclear] footsteps; consider your calling, that you may walk carefully, not like fools who are driven by every wind, but as true lovers of Jesus Christ, who by the spirit have put to death the deeds of the flesh. You, I say, my most beloved fellow-soldiers, always keep watch in good works, mortifying for the love of Christ our bodies which are upon [unclear]; in fasts [unclear] stretch forward; every day [renew?] the fervor of the holy purpose [unclear]. Remember the words of the Lord [unclear] Gospel, saying [unclear] of the hard contest [unclear] let it not make you fainthearted [unclear]. But what, my brothers, is our [cross] except a life of temptation [unclear]

You go into the abyss. For we know, as the holy [disciple?] says, that the flesh lusts against the spirit; and unless we have put to death the works of the flesh [unclear], we shall die in corruption. Nothing casts the soul down into the pit of sin more than the insolence of the flesh [unclear]. Unhappy flesh, you who cast down the soul by desires of vanity: it will not pass unpunished for you if anything, at your malicious suggestion, [unclear]; God has judged both. Woe to you; he sinned with her, because while Adam, a transgressor of the commandments, is driven from paradise, Eve, the inciter of evil, accompanies mercy [unclear]. [unclear] your [calling], walk carefully, not like fools who are driven by every wind, but as

Homily XI. Folio xxv.

Let him think that he has spent that day uselessly on which he has not sent ahead some good work for which he may expect reward. Let the good monk strive at all times to cultivate the field of his heart, and, so far as he can, utterly root out all the thorns and briars of evil affections. Let him learn to love the Lord Jesus above all things with a pure mind, and to keep most diligently whatever he commanded. Let him sow in tears of devotion and constancy what he may reap with all the saints in exultation. Let not the continual difficulty of labor frighten his mind; let not the hard struggle of the flesh break his spirit, since he who labors little gathers little fruit at harvest, and he who now sows much in tears for love of Christ brings back on that day a most abundant fruit. For this, brothers, is the appointed end of our journey which we undertake in the present pilgrimage: that, purified by continual exercise in labors and adversities, we may go forth from here clean and pure to our homeland.

On fleeing the company of the wicked: Homily eleven.

[unclear] The company of the wicked has drawn many back from the way of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; therefore, my most beloved brothers, we do not cease to admonish you to walk in the way of the Lord with the good and holy, so that by their instruction and example you may daily become better. For, as the blessed apostle of Christ says, imitating a senarius of a certain Greek, Menander: evil conversations corrupt good morals. He does not truly desire to be good whom the conduct of the wicked delights. Remember [unclear]. No one speaks wicked things unless he is first found corrupt and depraved in his own heart against the purity of the evangelical tradition. As each person is, and as are the things he turns over and performs in the secrecy of his heart by reflection and thought, so such speech more often proceeds from his mouth. For the speech of one who speaks is the truest witness of the heart, as our Lord and Savior says in the holy Gospel, that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. For a good man brings forth good things from the treasure of his heart, and an evil man likewise brings forth evil things.

Since, therefore, he who speaks evil is not good, we must beware of all who use depraved, scurrilous, and pernicious speech; in their talk certain shameful things frequently resound, while words of holiness are either never or very rarely heard. Foul speech is the sign of an immodest heart, even if deeds do not follow. Therefore you, my dearest brothers, who have promised, according to the rule and statutes of the holy fathers of the Church, not only to preserve chastity and every kind of modesty in deed until death, by both implicit and explicit profession, but also ought to be far removed from every unclean thought: flee the company of wicked men and the assemblies of the malicious, and at all times avoid those who speak unjust, foul, or idle things. Remember the Scripture which says: He who touches pitch will be defiled by it, and he who associates with a proud man will put on pride. Hence holy Pope Gregory says: The weak ought to avoid the society of the wicked, lest the evils which they frequently see and are unable to correct should delight them to imitate. And Saint John the bishop says: If a good man is joined to an evil one, either they are made equal, or they are quickly separated from each other. For friendships either seek equals or make them. Indeed, the nature of things is such that whenever a good man is joined to an evil one, the evil man is not improved by the good, but the good man is contaminated by the evil. For diversity of things can never have concord, and wicked society troubles many.

There are among you certain brothers, I say it groaning, professors very forgetful of regular discipline: to them the cell is a prison, the choir a siege, prayer nausea, silence punishment, the reading of Scripture weariness. The love of God either never or rarely raises upward the hearts of those whose whole way of life consists in lower things. Whenever I happen to be absent, they immediately gather among themselves, not about Christ, nor about the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom, nor about the integrity of regular observance, but they bring forth a long discourse about the vain and useless affairs of this world; and by conversing they involve themselves in tales of kings and wars, matters about which it is not lawful for a monk to think. But whatever I say to these men, whatever I speak, whatever penance I impose

On fleeing the company of the wicked:

[to make progress?] those whom evil habit has corrupted from the beginning of their instruction. Nothing, however, is worse than an evil habit. For the monk who, as a novice and a young man, neglects [discipline?] spends all the days of his life in torpor and sloth. For Scripture says: “A young man walking according to his own way, even when he has grown old, will not depart from it.” Therefore I say to you, venerable elders, I beseech you, I admonish you, and by the mercy of God I beg you with what urgency I can: from now on live thus, conduct yourselves thus, walk thus, so that your conduct may agree with the years of old age; and you who have already advanced far into old age, offer an example of holiness for the instruction of the younger men.

To you, without doubt, is ascribed whatever is found in the conduct of these younger men. For you ought to go before the younger men in all holiness, in word and in deed; you are commanded to display to them an example of all perfection, so that, when they see in you all the works of virtue made perfect, they may be moved, as it were, by a certain impulse of shame, and be stirred to imitate your holiness. For the manners of elders provide the younger with an example of living, as is said in the proverb: “What the old men have sung, the young men have learned.”

But you younger men, show reverence with humility to the elders, considering their gray hair; and those whom you know to be more fervent in the observance of regular discipline, rejoice to have as teachers by keeping their company. Avoid those who either walk restlessly or observe the purity of regular discipline too negligently. Not all who are called elders are worthy of the imitation of younger men; nor do years make a monk venerable, but conduct established in the love of God with prudence makes him worthy of veneration.

Therefore, whichever of you, dearest brothers, desires to be a true lover of God, whatever progress he desires to make in the holy monastic way of life that he professes, let him always flee the companionship of undisciplined brothers, and seek fellow-soldiers who agree with his purpose in good. For the prophet says in the psalm: “With the holy you will be holy, and with the innocent man you will be innocent, and with the chosen you will be chosen, and with the perverse you will be perverted.” For evil company has harmed many; and he who delights to dwell with the reprobate will not be free from the contagion of sin. For everyone who [unclear] with carnal men: out of the abundance of the heart they speak nothing other than vain and carnal things.

Homily XI. Fol. XXVI.

For evil conversations corrupt the good morals of young men. All their pursuits are vain, and their words useless, indeed destructive, who, being carnally minded, have not known the exercises of divine love. For truly, just as one diseased sheep gradually corrupts the whole fold, so one slothful and perverse monk in a congregation often becomes the cause of many transgressions. As [unclear] says, a little leaven corrupts the whole mass of flour into which it is mixed with its odor; so young monks and novices who associate with lukewarm and slothful elders are imbued with their evil ways, and never thereafter are reformed to the integrity of holy fervor.

Therefore I say to you elders: be, by good works and by chaste and always modest speech, a pattern of life for the young, so that whenever they are corrected for their faults they may not defend themselves by the examples of elders. For it is most shameful for elders to be culpable in those things for which younger men are rightly rebuked. Live, I beg you elders, so that in your presence the younger men may presume neither to say nor to do anything that seems reprehensible. Let the wicked fear you as judges, not as men acting the part of patrons, because as many as have sinned by your examples are reckoned to have perished by your instruction.

Let there not be among you anyone lukewarm or slothful, because desires kill the lazy man, and vanity destroys every idle monk. Let there not be among you a verbose man, a wandering monk, a circumcellion, murmuring and restless, because whoever delights in such things and pursuits both ruins himself by evil work and kills his brother by his examples. Let there not be among you a mocker of the simple, nor a despiser of the humble, nor anyone rash and censorious; because he who is quick to mock will be consumed in his own folly and will not be glorious. He opens his mouth against the humble, always seeks quarrels, and rejoices to be talkative about the deeds of others. He will not prosper in his counsel, and if he has been raised to some honor, he will quickly fall into the depths. His pride is hateful to God, because, though he is foolish and witless, he boasts that he is learned and wise. Soon his foolishness will be laid bare, and a grievous [destruction?] will seize him within.

On Avoiding the Company of the Depraved.

... he kicks against his superiors, never [unclear] a friend by his own judgment. Whomever you see violating the rule of fasting without the elder’s blessing, flee as an enemy of salvation; and [flee] the man who by talkativeness, [unclear] when there is no cause, overturns peace and stirs up quarrels. Flee a rebellious monk, disobedient to his elders, as from the face of a snake, because, filled with the poison of malice, he seethes, and in the pride of his mind has lost his soul. He who does not obey the elder’s command is perverse; and he who, when corrected, is not humbled is an apostate. Let not one who disparages his brother and speaks against him be in conversation with you, for he is far worse than a thief. Him whom you have seen wholly zealous in regular observance you shall love as a father and venerate as a most loving teacher. You may confidently make use of the familiarity of him whose friendship always makes you better in the love of God. Imitate good men with all zeal, and follow the habits of those who live in conformity with monastic perfection. Have as a friend a brother of good will; but from him who is hard-hearted turn away your ears. He who is light-minded and dissolute in morals should be to you like a man who destroys a hedge in a field. Do not be the companion of one who despises the Rule and silence, who does not distinguish places or times, who without the prior’s blessing multiplies words everywhere. Avoid as fuel of lust and a spring of all vices the monk given to wine and drink, who too often exceeds the monastery’s canonical measure. A monk who, by the counsel of his own head, strives against the elder’s command is near perdition, and hastens breathlessly into danger for his soul. Do not share in the works of a stubborn monk, and do not have the friendship of one who, with his own rashness, laughing, speaks against his superiors [unclear]. Be continually in the midst of the disciplined, and let your soul gladly walk with the humble. For he who joins himself to [unclear] men will never be exalted. He who raises his voice in speaking and cries aloud, [unclear] of voice, cannot hide the folly of his heart, and he will glory in his vanity.

The friendship of good men is the firm salvation of the soul, and in the company of the depraved the innocence of the simple is corrupted. The best company is that of those whose fear of God has confirmed examples of good works. Nothing is more precious than a friend who fears God, and nothing more dangerous than a companion who is of depraved will. A brother who fears God with his whole heart will be a wall of strength for his friend; and he who is joined in soundness of mind with such a one is sanctified at all times by the blessing of the Spirit of God. He who walks in the midst of those who fear God is upheld as though by a very strong wall round about him, so that he may not fail. From his words the servant of the Most High will be known, and works of holiness mark out the good monk. No foul, scurrilous, or idle word comes forth from the mouth of one who fears the Lord; and he who is a true lover of Jesus does nothing that offends goodness. In the mouth of a monk who loves God, Christ always resounds; and he who is a true worshipper of God displays the speech of righteousness both in his mouth and in his work. He who fears God is the best counselor, and he who walks according to the canon is a prudent judge of thoughts.

An elder who fears God and has been proved and experienced for a long time in regular observance is the director of youths; and he who has no stain on his garment knows how to be a good instructor of novices. He who is an understanding teacher and expositor of the divine Scriptures, keeping his soul in humility: gladly receive all the words of his mouth as though they were golden, because they have [unclear] and the solidity of future eternal happiness. He who is truly learned has compassion on the weak; and he who loves Jesus encourages the man wavering in soul toward strength. He who walks with a talkative man will not escape contention; and he who delights in lying will never be a friend of wisdom. He who is constantly occupied with external things will not be making progress, and glories without cause that he is a monk. The purpose of holiness is quickly corrupted when a monk wanders too frequently outside his cell with desire. He who abandons the secrecy of his cell without the elder’s command does not strive toward the perfection of the holy purpose. Beautiful is the company of good men who fear God, and he who has become accustomed to dwell with them will not experience confusion. The heart of a young monk is a clean tablet, upon which the conduct of elders is inscribed, never to be erased. The worst writer upon a beautiful heart is the elder who either does or says shameful things before a youth. He who infects the minds of youths with rash speech is like impious Herod, who

All twelve.

... killed boys. The evil that a young man receives from a foolish and negligent old man, even when made a priest he will not amend. Every vessel that is filled with vinegar is spoiled; and a monk who is neglected in the novitiate, when he grows old, is not amended. Cursed is the old man by whose evil conduct young men perish, since one who has left bad footprints for those who follow is like one who with his own hand has cast a blind man headlong into a pit. Before the inward judge, each man is worthy of as many deaths as the innocents who have perished through his depraved example.

Young man, seek an old man as the guide of your life: not one who has completed many years in his lax and lukewarm conduct, but one whom the fear of the Lord and knowledge of the divine Scriptures commend. Better is the company of a young monk who fears the Lord than the fellowship of an old teacher whose life does not have the light of divine love and of intact regular observance. An old man disordered in his morals, lacking cleanness of mind and devoid of discipline, is like one injured in the shin, led lame to the grave. An old and lax monk is like a foolish man who, not knowing the end, is seized with robbers at a drinking banquet. An elder without maturity is like a little pipe of elderwood crushed under the feet of those at play.

Vainly does he boast that he has been a monk for many days, who has not perceived the beginning of inward conduct. He who loves the cleanness of his heart keeps himself at all times from the company of undisciplined brothers. As a stain of pitch clinging to the garments of those dancing saddens virgins, so a good young man blushes at the foul words of elders. Wanton speech is not that of a man who fears God, since from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; and he who utters foul words is not clean before the Most High. If sinners begin to hate you because of the fear of God, do not be saddened, because unless you displease the wicked you will not attain the perfection of the good. For to displease the wicked because of justice is praiseworthy, and a manifest indication of divine love. If you love your soul, flee the counsels of the undisciplined, and do not have fellowship with mockers. Walk with the good, and let him who fears the Lord be your counselor.

On monks sent on the road. Homily 12

Folio 27.

It belongs to monks to flee the world and, for love of solitude, to avoid crowds of people at all times as far as they can. A monk is so called from solitude, just as one is named from unity. He cannot be a monk who seeks the throng of peoples; and he who delights in cities has not yet tasted monastic sweetness. If you are a monk, you must not leave the solitude of the monastery without reasonable cause; and you who are bound to silence must not take delight in the conversations of worldly people.

Whoever loves wandering courses in the city has abandoned his conscience; and he who is often outside his monastery does not keep the purity of inward progress. He who goes about the houses of his parents and delights in the feasts of his neighbors does not regard himself as a monk; and he who goes to the banquets of drinkers kills his soul. He who sleeps in the house of his kinsman seeks comfort; and he who avoids the assemblies of religious men follows a pernicious liberty. A monk in the house of his father and mother is like a lamb in the midst of wolves, and like a hare surrounded by the hounds of hunters.

If you are a monk, if a servant and soldier of God, what are you doing in the house of your parents? Or what are you seeking in the midst of peoples? A monk remaining long outside the monastery among secular people is like a man who has buried his only-begotten son beneath the depth of waters. For just as there is no life for fish on dry land, so there is no salvation of soul for monks in the world. Outside the river the fish dies; and the purity of a monk’s conscience is quickly defiled outside the monastery. The life of monks is in the monastery, and the death of souls in the midst of secular affairs.

It is a great virtue of the soul to flee the crowds of men, or, if it is altogether necessary to be among them, nevertheless to withdraw in mind. We are sometimes compelled by necessity to make a journey through the world; but the purity of conscience is so much the less polluted by meeting people, the less the desire of the mind is drawn away from the secrecy of the cell. Therefore every good monk among us must be warned that, whenever by command of his superior he is sent on the road because of the necessity of some matter, he should never wander abroad in mind.

He who does not guard the senses is quickly corrupted when evil is set before him; and he who casts away the fear of the Lord returns to the monastery impure, neces-

Concerning monks directed onto the road.

[unclear] will return. When the [stream?] flows out, by its muddiness it stains the beauty of the meadows lying open round about; and when a monk gives attention to the tales of secular people, he defiles the purity of his conscience. Therefore, before you set your foot outside the monastery, fortify yourself with holy prayers; and before you go out, do not neglect to commend the road to the Lord with prayers. Then carry out what the lawgiver commanded, and entrust yourself to be protected by the prayers both of the abbot and of all the brothers.

Prescribe for yourself the canon of the strictness of regular observance, under the steady remembrance of which you may guard your mind from every [unclear] of vanities that meet you. Do not go anywhere out of the monastery without the abbot's blessing, because, since you ought to be dead and buried to this world, it will no longer be lawful for you to do anything without the command of your superior. Recognize yourself as a soldier of King Jesus Christ; let your [unclear] be governed by command. For the monk who goes anywhere out of the monastery without the abbot's permission is like a little sheep in the darkness, which [unclear] is burned up in a house fire.

But the true monk of Christ, even when he is outside the monastery in body, remains in the cloister of the mind; and he is no less alone with many than he has been accustomed to be solitary in his cell. The lover of Christ thinks of Jesus even in the midst of a crowd; and he who is a true worker of virtues keeps his heart firm in the fear of God in every place. For even if in body he is not in the monastery, nevertheless through the vigor of his mind he always stands steadfast, as if alone in the cloister. The spirit is not polluted by the body's movement, when the solitude of the mind is preserved.

You must live on the road, O monk, with the same holiness with which you are commanded to conduct yourself in the monastery, and you must walk with a certain greater caution, lest you scandalize anyone by a more lax example, where there seem to be as many judges of monks as there are observers present. The eyes of all secular people look up to monks, and they look in their works for the holiness which they hear them profess. A monk gives more offense by one reckless word than a man given to the world does by ten thousand. For however frivolous and buffoonish a worldly man may seem, nevertheless he has not learned to tolerate calmly the insolence of monks, since with rustic simplicity he believes all cloistered men to be not as they are, but as they ought to be. Hence among them an evil word or deed is charged to a monk for condemnation, whereas it is imputed to a worldly man for pardon.

And not without reason. For a monk who has professed the holy and approved canon is bound to direct his whole effort toward perfection, and in word and deed to surpass by far the conduct of secular men in all purity of mind and body. For a frivolous or idle word which is granted to secular people for pardon is judged for cloistered men to be destruction.

Gold is more precious than all metals and is more greatly desired by mortals; and in nothing is a stain or corruption of falsity more quickly detected. And a defect which is discerned in gold with judicial severity is overlooked in the other metals because of the baseness of their nature. Gold delights the eyes with its beauty, and strengthens the innermost parts of life by its virtue. Gold, fused in the fire, is not diminished; and a true monk of God is not changed from the purpose of holiness in the tribulation of persecution. A small stain on a golden vessel greatly displeases in the sight of a powerful man; if an earthen vessel is crooked, no one detests it. When a monk offends in small things, a great outcry of many arises against him, because his way of life is compared to gold. The canonical life of monks is a golden mirror. Gold in the midst of mud receives no stain upon its nature, but preserves all its beauty inviolate.

So too the true lover of Christ, such as he has learned to conduct himself in the secrecy of his little cell, such also he stands among men when directed onto the road, because he walks pure in mind as well as body before the Lord. For if he is a true monk, he is not polluted by the dust of another's way of life, nor is he changed from the rectitude of his holy purpose by anyone's presence or conversation. Amid the tumultuous talk of worldly people he thinks elsewhere, and the dissolute conduct of others does not delight his mind. He who is single in heart is not divided even in the midst of those making an uproar. Therefore, monk, you who desire to be good, gather your mind back to yourself, and before you leave your cell for the journey, dispose your heart. Let the fear of the Lord always be the companion of your road

All XII.

and let the keeping of monastic discipline never depart from your side. Fence your ears with the memory of the last things, lest hearing vain speech pollute the integrity of your mind. Humbly cast your eyes down to the earth, lest they look up at what it is not fitting for a servant of God to desire. Do not take part in the conversations of carnal men; if you have sought to avoid their presence, take care not to lend them your mind. Even in the midst of ribald men, do not transgress your rule, and do not abandon your accustomed maturity. Do not fear insults and the reproaches of [unclear], and let your heart not be troubled by the words of dark men. The preservation of monastic discipline is righteousness; and those who despise the simple pursue the innocent with laughter.

Keep your holy purpose in all things, and the Most High will avenge the injury. Do not say in your heart, “I suffer violence,” nor be ashamed at the words of those who deride you. The glory of a monk is to endure insult, and the crown of beauty is to rejoice in reproaches. He who is patient under injuries is stronger than Atlas, and he who is not saddened when mocked is greater than all. If you fix your desire in heaven, nothing on earth will disturb you; and if you are a true monk, your heart will exult at injuries. There is a judge in heaven who knows all things, and there is the Most High God, who cares for all things. He is the just repayer of merits, and he will remember his poor. The more, now in this life, you cast your soul down into the depth of humility for love of him, the more in future glory you will be exalted above the rest. For by patience heaven is climbed, and by humility the kingdom is reached. For Christ himself also had to suffer, and so to enter into his glory.

A self-indulgent soldier is one who seeks delights while his emperor endures insults and mockeries, and while he hangs on the gibbet of the cross for his army, he himself follows pleasures. A soldier who goes out naked to war without weapons, and a monk who disdains to embrace patience and humility amid insults: the destruction of both is swift. The monk who is a sincere lover of Christ is not angered at injuries, does not threaten those who bring insult, stands fixed in holy purpose, and, however wicked they may be, is not moved.

Just as timely rain increases the hay in the meadows, so merit grows for the monk from the humble endurance of injuries. Humility is the sinew of all virtues, and constant patience under injuries for the love of God is the mine of good works. Therefore, when you are about to go out on the road from the monastery, prepare your heart for the endurance of injuries, and strengthen your mind against the insolences of those who mock you. When scoundrels have shouted after your back, repeating the name of monk, remember Christ mocked and spat upon before the governor, who did not answer a word, but in silence preserved patience. Imitate him as your leader, O monk; always listen to him as your teacher, who was meek and humble of heart. Do not answer a word to those who mock you; do not turn your face backward, but say with the prophet: “Those who sought evils for me spoke vanities, and all day long they meditated deceits. But I, like a deaf man, did not hear; and like a mute man not opening his mouth. And I became like a man who does not hear, and who has no reproofs in his mouth.”

Christ did this; Jesus taught this; the king of all commanded this. If you wish to be his disciple, you must always be ready for every injury. When set upon a journey, do not neglect to say your canonical prayers with what devotion you can, and always turn over something good with yourself in your mind, either by praying or by meditating. [The Lord’s eye?] goes with you, and his holy angels accompany you as you walk. And therefore preserve a clean heart in all things, lest you offend the majesty of such great companions. The Lord is wholly eye and ear; from his knowledge nothing is hidden. Apply constant guard to your words, and let deliberation of the heart precede every word of the mouth, so that you speak nothing at all for which you could repent. The mouth of a monk will speak both few and reasonable things, and his lips never exceed in speech. His whole conduct is set toward the edification of his neighbors; and he who teaches very many by his morals, even when silent, speaks useful things. He who is a true lover of God walks most humbly on the road, and he who fears the Most High restrains his mouth from loud laughter. In your whole life, think of yourself as mortal, and live as one dying, as one who is already breathing out his last breath. Happy is the kingdom, and rich before God the province, in which monks rise [by night?], since where there is no fear of God the theaters are filled with cloistered men. The monk on the road

Concerning monks sent on the road.

He who has God as his friend easily disdains human familiarity; and he who speaks with angels takes very little delight in the conversations of mortals. Whenever on the road you see a sign of the Lord's Passion or of the Crucified One, do not pass by unless you say: I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, for the pain of your wounds, for the shedding of your most holy blood, and for your most innocent death, which you endured for us on the altar of the cross; and I beseech you, by your bitter Passion, have mercy on me now and in the dread hour of my death. Repeat this very short prayer often as you go, and never pass by an image of the Crucified One unless you have given thanks to the Savior.

Do not quarrel with the man who walks with you on the road, lest, having returned to the monastery, he falsely say some evil thing against you. He who provokes his companion on a journey to impatience is like one who drives a rabid dog to barking with a blow. The wicked man is overcome by gentleness, and he who is humble of heart calms one stirred up in mind. Among secular men do not pour forth speech, lest perhaps they take occasion to mock you.

We permit [unclear] to speak good things among young men; but let the one who is lower in rank listen to [unclear]. The weary ploughman hastens to rest; and the monk, sound in mind, hastening by byways, returns with longing to his cell. Let the word be held in the mouth until reason brings forth the judgment of equity; and speech that can instruct its hearers should not be hidden.

Do not trust the songs of flatterers, for when they have [unclear] the innocent man, they soothe ears with disordered speeches. A monk who is nourished on contentions is like [unclear], and like a man afflicted with spasms who stirs up quarrels under the name of religion. Do not presume to speak before the learned, lest perhaps, when you do not understand the parable, you be laughed at by those standing around. He who recognizes himself as a monk does not use profound speech; and he who teaches little ones makes questions plain.

When you go to men unlike your profession, do not boast in anything; but if you are questioned, answer humbly in few words. When set on a journey, always think of God, and regard reverence for your senior as your companion. Do absolutely nothing that you would wish not to be known to him; for, as the holy [unclear] says

Homily XII.

The servant of Christ is believed to act in Christ's stead in the monastery, and therefore he is deservedly honored by all. Live, then, as though you always had him present before your eyes; and whatever you would not presume to do or say with him looking on, do not attempt in any way when he is absent. For it is a foolish consolation, when conscience is gnawing with guilt, for a sin to be hidden from men and for one who knows himself to be sick unto death to flee the judgment of his shepherd. A monk who does evil and wants it to be hidden from his prelate has violated the integrity of the monastic rule and has gravely sinned against the fifth degree of humility. For thus it commands: The fifth degree of humility is this: if he has not concealed from his abbot, by humble confession, all evil thoughts coming into his heart and evil deeds done by him in secret.

These are the admonitions of father Benedict; these are the holy teachings of monastic instruction. If you, monk, despise or neglect them, you will be shown to be unmindful of your own salvation. It is a sure sign of humility if a monk has not refused to open his heart to his senior, and wants none of the evils he has committed to be hidden from his shepherd. He who confesses his offense with humility will be strengthened against the adversary of his salvation; and he who hides his thoughts will advance into evil. For there is no evil thought so small that it will not gradually grow if neglected, and no vice so slight that it will not gain strength if it is dissembled.

Therefore evil thoughts must be repelled at once from the beginning, because when a depraved thought is not immediately extinguished it gives birth to delight; delight, repeated, gives rise to consent; consent to habit; habit to necessity; necessity then brings in despair; despair, contempt; contempt, obstinacy; and obstinacy gives birth to the eternal death of the soul. For Scripture says: When the wicked man has come into the depth of evils, he despises. Is not your abbot, O monk, the shepherd and physician of your soul? Am I not, my dearest brothers, after God, the one who feeds your mortal bodies with necessary nourishment? Am I not compelled to minister to you the word of salvation? If you, the sheep, flee the shepherd, what pastures of the spirit do you expect from us? The sick man who flees the physician despises his own salvation and willingly kills his own soul.

A monk, therefore, walking in the way of wickedness and turning aside from the paths of justice, is near to death; and he slips so much the more into the depth of vices as he reverences less the judgment of the one correcting him. But he is truly a monk who guards his soul from every iniquity and does absolutely nothing that he would wish his shepherd not to know. He who conceals his way is not pure, and he who flees the presence of the judge increases suspicion. Like a sheep you walk in the desert, to be snatched by the wolf, negligent and impure monk, who withdraws himself from the knowledge of his shepherd and is devoured by demons. A sick sheep running to destruction, and a monk hiding every sin: there is no salvation for them unless they return to the physician.

Monks returning from a journey should immediately, on that very day, according to the monastic rule, prostrate themselves before the sight of all the brothers, so that whatever has been committed on the way through negligence may be expiated by the prayers of the community. For the common prayer of many avails much for washing away sins, if it has been poured out to the Lord with the fervor of devotion.

Here ends Homily XII, On monks sent on a journey.

On the daily expiation of sins.

Homily XIV.

Since for a long time in this corruptible life we are established, dearest brothers, we offend daily in many things; and however holily we may seem to conduct ourselves

On the Daily Expiation of Sins.

We are not without sin. For the body that is corrupted weighs down the soul, and an earthly dwelling depresses the understanding that thinks on many things. For Scripture says: “There is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin.” The blessed evangelist John also says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Indeed, through intercourse with the flesh the soul, excessively delighted, sins, and its strength is diminished by [unclear] of the spirit. For the mind is deceived by the presentation of sensible things, and readiness to do wrong is strengthened by long habit. The weakness of the flesh weakens the fervor of the spirit, and the frailty of the will resists the holy purpose of the mind. Hence Solomon, the most wise king, says in the book of Proverbs: “Seven times in a day the righteous man will fall and will rise again; but the wicked will fall into evil.” By the testimony of this saying we are warned not to grow lukewarm in the purpose of holiness, even if it should happen that we have fallen seven times in a day. As often, O monk, as you have fallen through sin from the purpose of holiness, so often rise again to repentance, thereafter never to return. But however often people have fallen, they can always rise again to repentance and obtain by tears and prayers the grace of God which they had lost by sinning. For the heart of man is flexible; it can be moved in either direction, because never can a man in the flesh become so evil, if he makes use of the grace of the Lord. Since these things are so, my brothers, you will have to be warned by my exhortation today to walk carefully, so that he who, with conscience as witness, already walks in the paths of righteousness may persevere in it by advancing daily, and that he who understands himself to be guilty before the Lord may amend his life as quickly as possible. If human frailty daily drives you on, or, to speak more properly, hurls you down and makes you do wrong, let the love of God and of your own salvation also stir you daily humbly to expiate your fault through true contrition. For thus the righteous man falls seven times in a day and rises again, because, even if he slips through human frailty, yet, persevering always in the purpose of holiness, he is strengthened more and more in mind in the love of God. For, keeping his conscience free from grave sins, he is unwillingly polluted by daily negligences; and when he sees that he cannot live without faults, recognizing his weakness humbly, he groans the more deeply. But if he should also have been overtaken by a graver offense, he soon rises again to amendment through repentance. Therefore the ancient governors of monastic discipline, considering the condition of human frailty, established various kinds of expiation, by which both monks of good will might daily advance toward the better, and the wicked might be compelled to the observance of the regular life. For in the Rule the holy father Benedict gives this command, saying: “With all solicitude let the abbot take care concerning delinquent brothers, because it is not the healthy who have need of a physician, but those who are ill.” For this reason the first leaders of regular observance, with provident consideration, established that every day after Prime, in an appointed place, a chapter of faults should be held, in which, with the abbot or prior presiding, the actions of all the brothers are brought into the open with equal discussion. This place, my brothers, bears the figure of the purgatory of souls, since here not only are past sins expiated, but we are also fortified against future ones. For in this place, which we call the chapter room, whatever wrongs you have committed openly are corrected and expiated through salutary repentance. Here daily, as the paraphrast pronounces it, you learn your monastic law, according to whose integrity you have promised to live; here every day you hear the exhortatory word of salvation; here you listen as the victories of Christ’s martyrs and their many sufferings for the orthodox faith are briefly recited. This is the school of monks, necessary for the consideration of regular discipline, in which everything is learned that is commanded to be observed by those in the cloister. There are two things, my most beloved brothers, which this place requires of you: the one, that in correction [you be] always humble

Homily XIII. Folio XXX.

hold patience; and the other, that you willingly receive our exhortation, such as it is. For the first, our holy lawgivers, desiring you to be prepared, command that the brave deeds of the martyrs, whose imitators you ought to become, be read; and then, that you may be teachable in mind, they ordered [unclear] to be subjected to regular discipline. Thus, too, that you may be brave and patient, in imitation of the holy martyrs, under necessary rebukes, the account of their passion is read here in your ears, so that, your minds having been prepared for saving doctrine, a reading from the Rule which you profess may be recited to you at the same time. The holy martyrs of Christ encourage you by their example to patience; and blessed Benedict admonishes you by his teaching that you also be ready for injury.

Therefore let none of you, most beloved brothers, refuse in this place humbly to receive penance every day for his negligences; let no one disdain it. This place is the public one for expiating sin, in which the severity of judgment is so tempered that the kindness of discretion is not violated. For I wish to be the physician of your souls, not their destroyer. Therefore approach the examination of our judgment without fear, so that, when accused concerning negligences committed openly, you may humbly proclaim them. I am unwilling to burden you beyond the Rule, so as to transfer the most secret offenses of conscience from sacramental confession to the public examination of the one accused, which we know certain persons have done, to the grave detriment of the souls of their subjects. For thus says our teacher Benedict in the Rule: “But if the cause of the sin has lain hidden in the soul, let him disclose it only to the abbot or to spiritual elders, who know how to heal their own wounds and those of others, and not to uncover or make them public.”

There are two places in the monastery for the expiation of sin: one for those things that are manifest, and the other for those that are hidden. For manifest sins are to be expiated publicly before all in the daily proclamation of faults; but hidden sins, and those whose manifestation would scandalize the weak, are to be referred to confession. For when sin is manifest it must also be punished publicly; and he who has offended in secret must also be corrected in secret. There are certain rulers of cloistered persons who [bring] the hidden sins of their subjects to public examination

On the daily expiation of sins

To endure. For we must make satisfaction for our sins; but if we neglect to do this in this life, in the life to come we shall necessarily do it under compulsion. There are among you some who take corrections badly; to them we announce [unclear], since it is necessary that in the future they endure very grievous things, those who here refuse to endure small and light ones. But I, considering their weakness and ignorance, am grievously tormented within myself, because I see their minds wounded and yet I am afraid to apply the necessary medicines. For if I apply remedies suited to their ailments, I fear that, becoming fainthearted, they may fall into despair; or certainly, given over to a reprobate sense, they may withdraw entirely from their holy purpose. Therefore I use as much discretion as I can, as all of you will bear me witness, preferring to send the weak, through patience with charity, to purgatory, rather than through [just?] severity to have them descend in despair to hell.

For who in this mortal life has ever been able to make satisfaction for sins, who has applied the good will of penance? For good will alone commends the works of penitents. But since many are punished unwillingly, they are still far removed from perfect satisfaction. Believe me, my dearest brothers, that satisfaction for sins is commended more by suffering than by doing. For so our Lord and Savior himself, Jesus Christ, expiated the sin of the whole world by suffering on the altar of the cross. Would that you knew what an effective medicine it is for a soul befouled by sins to receive proclamations and corrections with humble patience, and also, for the increase of perfect satisfaction, to bear injuries and insults with equanimity. I am certain that humble patience in adversity far surpasses every kind of satisfaction; and the readier the mind has been to bear insults and injuries for the love of Christ, the more easily and quickly it will obtain from the Lord pardon for all its sins and a fuller indulgence.

For this place in which we now speak is the workshop of purgation and expiation, in which zeal for regular discipline holds chief place, discretion presides over examination, and charity directs and completes all things. Therefore in this very place patience is very necessary for you; without its presence no satisfaction will be consummated. Whatever monk is a zealous lover of his salvation and loves this place and workshop of expiation never goes forth from it without having been made better than himself. For this place is to be feared by demons and is terrible to them, but dear and greatly venerable to the holy angels of God; in it the fault of humble monks is washed away, and whatever is committed openly is also expiated publicly before all. But if any guilt of hidden fault has been committed by anyone, the secret confession of the penitent will likewise purge it away. In both cases pure confession with humility is required, and both here and there patience is declared necessary for you.

Therefore, whoever you are, monk, who desire to be good, prepare your soul in all patience, so that both in adversity and in prosperity you may keep the tranquility of your mind most constant. When you have been proclaimed by some fellow-brother for your negligences, bear it patiently with all humility, faithfully bringing to memory how innocently the Son of God was accused for you. For if that just and innocent one, who committed no sin, suffered insults, why should you not patiently bear rebukes from a senior, you who offend daily in many things? He most patiently endured innumerable injuries for your salvation; and why should you not, for your sins, humbly and patiently endure brief and few admonitions? For if you are justly proclaimed in judgment, and are blamed for fault, you must necessarily be patient, since you yourself have deserved what you suffer; and the humble toleration of rebukes will be imputed to you as satisfaction for sins. But if you did not deserve the proclamation in judgment, nevertheless bear it patiently for the love of Christ; now it will be reckoned to you not only as satisfaction for preceding sins, but much more as justification. Therefore whether a monk is proclaimed justly or unjustly, he has no just cause for defense, because if he has sinned, he suffers according to his deserts; but if he is innocent, he is the more bound to patience. For no one unless patient and humble will be able to imitate Christ; but since a monk of Christ is especially bound to be his disciple and imitator, it is most fitting for him to be patient. Without

All Things. XIII.

By sword and fire a monk can be a martyr, if for the love of God he has preserved true patience everywhere in his soul. For the true monk is neither puffed up by praises nor saddened by reproach; he shows himself patient under injuries; in the face of insults and reproaches he is glad and humbly keeps silence. No one is stronger than the patient man, who knows how to conquer himself and humbly to endure any adversities whatever, for the love of God, with a tranquil mind. But every impatient man is proud and arrogant, since he does not follow Jesus, the teacher of humility, and therefore he is indignant at the just rebukes that he has deserved. As the furnace tests gold, so insults and injuries test the monk, whether he truly loves Christ. Humility and patience in adversity are the true marks of monks; whoever is not clothed with their adornment boasts of the name in vain. He who is not humble cannot truly be a monk; and he who does not preserve patience in adversities cannot be a true disciple of Christ. Hence King Solomon said in the Book of Proverbs: “A patient man is better than a strong man, and he who rules his own spirit than a conqueror of cities.” For a man’s teaching is discerned through patience, and his glory is to pass over wrongs. The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and the trial of tribulation tests just men. A monk who follows Christ in truth is patient under all injuries; and he who is not forgetful, but a mindful meditator on the Lord’s Passion, exults and rejoices in his soul at insults. For all, as holy [Christophilus?] says, who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, and whatever evil befalls them they overcome with the greatest constancy. And although patience is necessary for a monk in every place and time, nevertheless in the daily examination of faults it must be guarded more diligently with especial attention, where the correction of morals is in question, and whatever has been committed in each person against the norm of monastic purity is amended by the senior. Therefore before we enter this place in the morning, all things must be considered, and the mind must be strengthened against those things that can happen, so that if perhaps a rather harsh rebuke occurs, it may not overthrow the mind from the state of tranquillity. For even if we have resolved never to offer insult or do injury to any of you, we do not deny that it can happen that whoever weighs our fatherly correction by the words rather than by the intention may think himself rebuked beyond what he deserves. As God knows, in all things we seek your salvation and nothing else; to cut away vices by the root, according to the statutes of our religion, and not to harm anyone, is what we sincerely intend. We cannot please all men in all things; but we are especially compelled to displease those who, sinning daily against the canon, promise themselves impunity for their crimes. Of them King Solomon said: “Evil instruction belongs to those who abandon the way of life, and he who hates rebukes will die.” The pestilent man does not love him who rebukes him, nor does he go to the wise. He who deliberately does evil flees the light and hates correction, because he is a fool; but he who is sensible in mind will give thanks to his corrector. Therefore in this matter I do not fear the hateful murmurings of subjects, knowing that I have undertaken the care of sick sheep, to whom, whether they wish it or not, I am bound to apply the remedies of salvation. If it were possible, brothers, I would most earnestly wish not to disturb any of you in anything, even slightly, but to live among you with the greatest tranquillity, and cheerfully to serve the Lord our God in peace of mind and body. But because not all of you seek in truth the things that are God’s, I must rebuke and sometimes disturb the restless, lest impunity for small crimes give boldness for greater ones. For I know what necessity of danger I undergo through the care of pastoral office, and therefore I neither can nor ought to be silent for you, [unclear] by the danger of your sins. We ask you by our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified for us, that for the love of God, for the remission of your sins, you sustain our fatherly and necessary rebukes at all times patiently and with true humility. Let each one think within himself that there is no day on which he does well and does not offend in something; and let him know that in a short time he will receive the reward of his works: good things for good, and likewise evil things for evil. Therefore let him strive, as much as he can, in this life to make satisfaction for his offenses

On the daily expiation of sins.

[unclear]: and humbly to expiate all their iniquities by the daily chastisement of the body. Know, my brothers, that there is no sin so small that the justice of almighty God leaves it unpunished. Therefore, since there is none of us who has not offended in many things, arm yourselves, I beg you, with patience and humility, so that whenever you are corrected for sins, you may endure it with all gentleness. For in this time of freedom of choice you can, with a small expiation, make satisfaction for many debts, whereas after death in purgatory the soul will be tormented for a long time and most grievously even for small ones.

Indeed, voluntary satisfaction avails greatly; but what is done from necessity earns less toward grace. Altogether, brothers, it is fitting and necessary for the soul to be purged of fault, if it is to reign in heaven and rejoice with Christ. But the soul that has neglected the purgation of its faults in the present life will be punished more heavily in the life to come. Let none of you say, my dearest brothers, what many ignorant people are accustomed to say: “It is enough for me, if my soul shall have reached the punishments of purgatory.” Believe me, brothers: whoever has said this word from the heart does not weigh what purgatory will be. For he does not know what he asks who desires purgatory.

Just as he is foolish who, when he could pay his debt as a free man, scorns to do so and willingly goes to prison, so he is deservedly to be judged the most foolish of all men who, when he can make satisfaction to God for his sins in this life, postpones it to the future. The repentance of this life is fruitful, and voluntary satisfaction is also very meritorious; but after death there will be no place for repentance, but then each person will receive according as he has done in his body, whether good or evil. Think on these things, brothers, while you live in health, lest, forestalled by the command of death, you at last grieve too late. Let today’s salvation not wait for a doubtful tomorrow; and he who can, with grace and in freedom, pay his debt, should not allow himself to be dragged to prison with torture.

As much as each person can throughout his whole life, so much let him take care to make satisfaction for sins, since the spirit returns securely to the Lord when, while still existing in the body, it is daily purged by the fire of divine love. Here you have a place in which the daily expiation of public offenses is carried out; if you hold true and humble patience in your mind, without doubt you will obtain certain remission of them all. As for secret and hidden faults, not only does the Rule admonish you what you ought to do, but daily sacramental confession also instructs you in all things. For at the altar we are each accustomed daily to offer devoutly the Son of God; and none of us approaches that most holy mystery unless he has first confessed according to custom, since the highest purity is required where the salvation of the whole world is renewed through the Mass.

Amid these things, most beloved brothers, who among us would not daily make progress in the love of God, unless he shamefully and utterly laid aside every desire for progress? For I dare to say that the monk who does not make progress in this holy congregation is proved to have utterly forgotten his own salvation. Believe me, brothers: God will save no one unwillingly. If you neglect your own progress, it will be imputed not to him but to you. For God is the intellectual light that enlightens every man coming into this world, as John, soaring aloft, says; but those who do not receive the light necessarily remain in darkness. He who turns his mind away from the faith that is in the Son of God remains in darkness; and for him who does not do the works of light, faith will profit nothing toward salvation.

Outside the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ there is no salvation, and he who thinks otherwise is not a Christian. Do not let the consideration of foolish piety seduce you, O man, so that you believe [unclear] outside the Christian faith; there is no salvation for anyone unto eternal life. For Christ, the only Son of God, is the sole Savior of the world; whoever does not believe in him, the wrath of God remains upon him, and he will be condemned with the devil. But you, my brothers, who now believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you, live hereafter in such a way that, Christians in name and deed, you may be able to come to his fellowship: he who lives and reigns with God the Father, God in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

On true repentance.

Homily XIII. Folio XXXII. Of monks. Homily XIV.

Although our whole way of life, my dearest brothers, may rightly be called penance, since we seem both dead to ourselves and already buried to the world, yet because we are surrounded by mortal flesh and sojourn in the midst of a sinful nation, it cannot happen that, by the impulse of our own frailty, we do not daily offend in some matter. For the expiation of this, satisfaction must be made by doing penance not only generally but also specifically. For penance is necessary for all mortals, by which they both lament the evils they have committed, with the intention of amendment, and thereafter resolve, so far as can be done, to live without sin.

It is proper to monks to do penance without interruption, and continually to pray both for their own sins and for those of others. For the monk does not have the office of teaching, as Saint Jerome says, but plainly that of mourning: either, if he is weak, he mourns himself, or, if perfect, the world, and in fear awaits the coming of the Lord. If you are a perfect monk, do penance for the sins of others; but if you are weak, it is right that you repent the more for your own. Therefore the monk must always do penance, for he is appointed before God as intercessor not only for his own sins but also for the offenses of others.

But who among you, brothers, is not weighed down by his own offense? Who, I ask, among you does not need penance? I see you offend daily in many things, and I grieve; I perceive how you neglect penance for past things, and I tremble. Do you not recognize that you are mortal? And why do you not make satisfaction for the name of monk, by doing the penance necessary in time? Remember, I beg you, the threatening Scripture, which says: Do not delay to be converted to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day. For his wrath will come suddenly, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy you. For you will not escape death, which is at the door for all of you; and it lies hidden in ambush for the younger also, but when you least expect it the spirit, compelled from the body, will depart.

Therefore, if you recognize that you are sinners, if you desire thus to come to the mercy of God, now, I pray, take up penance at once, and amend your conduct in all things according to the purity of the rule. Let it be enough to have neglected true penance up to this point, to have continued for so long a time in a way of life too lukewarm. For God, who overlooks the sins of men on account of penance, has not promised prolongation of life to those who defer repentance. Consider the long-suffering of God, who has mercifully borne with you sinning daily for so long, and do penance, so that you may find the remission you desire.

For the Lord says through the prophet: I do not desire the death of the wicked, but that he be converted from his evil way and live. Likewise in the holy Gospel he says: Do penance; for the kingdom of heaven will draw near. Penance is a great good for mortals: it cleanses filthy souls and recalls minds from destined destruction. Here blessed Augustine says: Penance heals infirmities and raises the dead; it increases health; it preserves grace. Penance restores movement to the lame, sight to the blind, abundance to the barren, strength to the weak; it drives away vices, adorns virtues, fortifies and strengthens the mind.

But that is true penance, brothers, which its necessary parts truly commend as a whole: where contrition pierces the mind; where the hidden sin is reported in humble and pure confession; where obedience makes satisfaction according to its powers; where the penitent so grieves over past things that he truly takes care at all times against future ones. True penance is that which love of God adorns with groans and tears, where the sinner grieves more over offense against God than he fears the torment of hell.

And who of us, most beloved brothers, would not grieve? Who would not groan that he has sinned against the law of monks of the Most High, from whom we have not only life, but also await the promise of eternal happiness? Woe to us, brothers, if in this life we have neglected to do true penance, which, as monks, we ought always to do. Not pleasures, not delights: our way of life ought to be occupied in the crucified Jesus Christ alone, and we ought to keep ourselves estranged from the consolations of the world. The consolations of the world do not befit you, O monk; not laughter, not guffaws, not any consolation of the flesh, but sorrow and bitterness with tears. If you do not give yourself continually to these, you have lost the name of monk. It is not lawful for you to rejoice with the age, you who are dead to the world; nor ought you to seek any comforts of the present life, you who promised the Lord, according to the monastic rule, to serve in solitude. It is yours, monk,

to despise always and everywhere the joys of this world for the love of God, and not to refuse to undergo any adversities or hardships for the honor of your Savior. For thus the canon admonishes you; thus the monastic institution commands; thus reason necessary for salvation advises. You are commanded to be content with every lowliness and extremity, and always to be [ready?] for all things. But I see very many of you perverting the rule of salvation and living in the monastery otherwise than one ought. Monks now do not fear to seek delights in the monasteries, they who came from the world to conversion poor and beggarly. For the things they could not have outside, now, if they are lacking in the monastery, as though they had suffered the gravest insult, they rebel against humility. Woe to the monks whom not the love of God but want made cloistered, whose god is the belly, and who think of nothing less than poverty. It is not for you, O monks, henceforth to seek in the monastery the delights which the rule commands to be wholly renounced. It befits you to spurn all the pleasures of the present life and to love absolutely nothing in this world except God. For your whole way of life ought always to be given over to divine services, since you promised to live by the spirit and not according to the flesh. No one who is a true monk lives without penance, but whoever truly longs for the feasts of eternal happiness daily chastens his body through abstinence. For it cannot be that a monk enjoy the delights of the present life and the eternal ones; but if he longs for those, he must despise these. For the monk who professes the cenobitic canon is commanded to be a disciple of Christ the Savior; if he desires to please him in truth, he must become his imitator. Thus he says to him in the holy Gospel: He who wishes to be my disciple, let him follow me. And what it is to follow me, John the Apostle, knowing this, teaches in a certain epistle, saying: He who says that he remains in Christ ought himself also to walk just as he walked. And the Lord himself again says in the Gospel: He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter above [unclear] is not worthy of me. Your master has not spoken obscurely, O monk, nor wrapped his meaning in riddles, but has set forth plain speech, by which you can pretend no excuse. For Christ himself is the example and rule of a good and perfect way of life for every Christian, and especially for the monk; if the cloistered man does not follow him with his whole heart in [unclear], he glories in vain in the profession of faith. For just as a Christian is named from Christ, so a disciple is named from imitation of the master. Therefore imitate the master in your conduct, so that you may prove yourself a true disciple of Christ. For the Lord Jesus Christ, whose discipline you profess, O monk, though he was rich, became poor for us; but you, though you are lowly and needy, seek abundance of all things in the school of poverty, and although the teacher commands everything to be despised for love of him, again you desire to possess everything in the monastery. The Lord and your master was obedient to the Father for us even unto the death of the cross; but you, full of pride and impatience, either refuse to obey your superiors for love of him, or you obey unwillingly and with indignation. He, for your salvation, not only endured most patiently throughout his whole life the words and insults of wicked men, but also, for love of you, bore blows and livid wounds and dreadful gashes. Nor did he refuse to undergo the most shameful death, in order to call back your soul from the error of death to the life of eternal light. From the day of his birth he lived in the world poor and humble, and, [unclear], filled with tribulations and reproaches, so that by teaching and benefits he might restore you, a most ruined man, to knowledge and love. For what would we be, if the Son of God had not appeared as man, except utterly ruined? And what are we, if we do not imitate the master according to our strength, except ungrateful? Woe to monks, ungrateful mortals, who contemptuously refuse to follow our Lord and Savior in humility. Let us examine our way of life, brothers, and compare the disciples with the master whose name has been invoked over us, and we shall plainly understand how far we have withdrawn from the paths of our most kindly teacher. But let us return [unclear] with our whole heart, I pray, and do penance, because we have withdrawn far from the way of salvation, serving the flesh rather than the spirit. Let no one deceive himself by the vanity of hope; let no one wait for the last hour of this life as penance, because he cannot sin, for neither does the length of life have certainty

All things: nor does delaying repentance bring security. He who does not repent while healthy is foolish; and he who does not amend his faults when he can, by the just judgment of God, loses the power that has been deferred. For repentance is then fruitful when, by freedom of choice, it has been voluntary; but when the danger of death is already pressing, it seems rather to be necessary than undertaken by the repentant person's own choice.

Let no one say in his heart, my brothers, let no one think that the labor of repentance is hard, and therefore that it should be put off until the very last particle of this life. That thought is exceedingly dangerous, since the fixed end of life, which divine providence has appointed for each person, just as he has wished it to be hidden from all, so he will not prolong it for anyone who intentionally defers repentance.

If we wish to be safe and secure in conscience, let us do penance while we are healthy, while we are able to sin, while no necessity of approaching death yet presses us. For it is a very doubtful matter to do penance when necessity already compels, and the imminence of death makes you no longer able to sin, when, that is, not you have dismissed your sins, but they have dismissed you, powerless before them.

O how many, deceived by the hope of a longer life, descend into the abyss of eternal damnation, who when healthy scorned to do penance. For the longer you have deferred repentance, the less disposed to repent you will always be found. For wickedness gains strength with time, and there is no sin so small that it does not grow when neglected. Therefore embrace repentance while you are healthy, and do not put it off from day to day, since you understand what you possess today, but you do not know what will be tomorrow. For each new day brings its own inconveniences, and he who today is not disposed toward repentance will perhaps be less fit tomorrow.

But let none of you say, “What have I sinned, that repentance should seem necessary to me, when my whole life is nothing other than a certain hard and prolonged necessity of repenting?” You have heard Scripture testify that there is no man on earth who does good and does not sin, since no one is clean before God. For even if you do not commit the great crimes of human impiety, such as homicide, theft, adultery, fornications, and things like these, nevertheless, because you have been established in that calling in which you ought with all your strength to raise every effort toward the state of perfection, sins that are small for mortals living in the world are certainly imputed to you as more serious.

For all sins, so far as possible, must be avoided by cloistered men, not only those that impede salvation but also those that stain the perfection enjoined upon them. And who among you lives with as much purity as monastic perfection requires? It is a great sin for a monk if he has set down his effort from perfection, if he has lived negligently in the monastery, if he has transgressed even one commandment of the canon and the Gospel. And who among you is there, brothers, who loves the Lord God with such sincerity, such charity, and such fervor of love as a man is bound to love his maker and redeemer? Or whom will you give me from among all of you who does not at times exceed, either in taking food or in drink, more than befits the integrity of monks? Which of you does not offend in speech, or who is not sometimes troubled by evil thoughts? Whom among you has acedia not struck, and whom has sad sloth not disturbed? Who is there in this small congregation of yours whom pride does not touch, and whom impatience has not quite often made murmuring?

Let each one of you consider the paths of his way of life, and he will find that he fails in many things, even at any moment. For what if a monk has committed no evil? What if he has kept himself clean from this wicked age? He will not be able to be perfect unless he has both turned away from evil and done the good that his perfection requires. For one without the other does not suffice, but from both perfection rises up in a man.

Therefore, brothers, we must always keep watch with the highest zeal, so that we may satisfy the institution of the holy fathers, according to which, by public profession, we have solemnly obligated ourselves to live, in order that without interruption we may direct our effort toward the perfection set before us. Let not the consideration of our own weakness draw us back from holy effort, since we are aided no less by the grace of the creator than we run by our own desire. Just as every day, in many things, by living rather negligently, we fail on any occasion, so also at each moment, rising from the torpor of mind, let us renew holy effort in a good purpose. Let us join tears to holy prayers, and always [unclear] the help of God with devout

On the True Penitence of Monks.

... let us invoke [him] with supplications. Let us preserve charity inviolate in all things, because it is charity that covers a multitude of sins. Each day the good soldier of Christ, who desires to be a faithful soldier to his Lord, should examine himself by scrutiny at least once, and should consider more carefully how much on that day he has advanced or fallen back in holy desire. Whenever he finds that he has sinned in anything, let him at once do penance, and with tears ask mercy from the Lord. Let him not wait for the doubtful morrow: salvation is for today; and he who can immediately find pardon should by no means introduce delay. Let him at once grieve in his heart that he has sinned against the Lord; let him also renew his holy purpose with new fervor; and let him judge that he has utterly lost that day on which he has not become better by making progress.

Prayer should always be on the monk’s lips; continual compunction should be in his heart; tears of devotion should continually flow from his eyes; and the exercises of inward love should never depart from his memory. Let the most bitter remembrance of the Lord’s Passion often be in the mind of the cloistered man; and let all the prayers that he makes to the Father be [unclear] in the power of the blood and wounds of our Lord, and let either prayer be offered to God or meditation on his words be turned over in the mind. Let the devout monk turn away from evil and do the good that he can, with cheerfulness and discretion of the Spirit of God; because, as has been said, for doing penance it is not enough to change one’s ways for the better and withdraw from evil deeds, unless one also strives to adorn one’s conscience with good works.

Therefore, my brothers, as you know, four things are required for true penitence. The first is true contrition for sins, which is sorrow of heart voluntarily assumed in detestation of the evils that one has committed. Of this Scripture says: “A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” And again: “Those who sow in tears” [unclear]. The third [unclear] is the sorrow of contrition: the greater it is, the more fruitful penitence will be. For true contrition is that which both sorrow of mind commends and continual cleansing by tears bears witness to. Great is the usefulness of tears, because there is no sin so grave that contrition, accompanied by tears, does not wipe it away.

Hence the holy doctor Augustine says: “O humble tear, how powerful and virtuous you are, because yours is the kingdom, yours is the power. You do not fear the gaze of the judge; you impose silence on accusing enemies; you alone enter before the king, but you do not depart alone; you conquer the unconquerable and bind the omnipotent.” He likewise says: “The holier anyone is, and the more full of holy desire, the more abundant is his weeping in prayer.” True compunction has sorrow; sorrow is shown by tears; and penitence is adorned by these as by certain ornaments. True compunction makes the soul shudder at sin, and when it has begun from fear, increased by its own advances, it gradually rises into love, whose virtue is great and whose power is truly admirable; before it every enormity of sins soon yields. For whoever true compunction of heart has made to supplicate, the merciful Lord soon hears him.

O happy tears, O saving affliction and truly sweet bitterness, [unclear], through which the compunct soul rises to the mercy of God. For, as the holy [unclear], [unclear] is renewed. The second thing that pertains to the truth of penitence is a firm purpose of amendment, because whoever has the word of confession in his mouth and does not have in his heart the purpose of amendment is either deceitful or vain. But whoever has it in the heart and not in the mouth is either proud or timid, and in no way fit for true penitence. For Scripture says: “With the heart one believes unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This judgment, lovers of Christ, especially [holds] at the time when the statute of the Church decreed confession necessary for salvation. The third, therefore, is confession of the mouth for the truth of penitence; contrition of heart alone, especially from that [unclear], is sufficient neither [without] the purpose of future amendment. But what this saving confession ought to be, I know that none of you is ignorant.

Homily XIV. Folio XXXIII.

I say, however, that perhaps it will not be useless: that confession ought to be one’s own, complete, free, humble, spontaneous, and shamefaced. For the holy bishop Ambrose says that shamefaced confession greatly avails with God for remitting sins to human beings, and the penalty that we cannot avoid by defense we relieve by humble shame. A great thing is the due confession of sins, since it immediately restores to spiritual health the soul of the confessor wounded by offenses; it also justifies the humbled mind and grants pardon for sins. For all our hope after the fall of sin consists in the humility of confession, because guilt is not forgiven unless it is revealed in confession, through the priest, to God who knows all things.

For in confession there is a place of mercy, as Solomon says in the book of Proverbs: “He who hides his crimes will not prosper; but he who has confessed and abandoned them will obtain mercy.” It is also written in the Psalm: “I said, I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord; and you forgave the impiety of my sin.” The holy evangelist John also says in his first epistle: “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, so that he remits our sins for us; and he will cleanse us from all iniquity.” And the holy bishop Augustine says: “Confession is the salvation of souls, the disperser of vices, the restorer of virtues, the conqueror of demons, and the heap of all goods. It closes the mouth of hell and opens the gates of the heavenly paradise.” Cassiodorus also, commending the power of true confession, speaks thus: “O blessed confession, which takes away everlasting reproach, since whatever guilt penitence has found, it renders absolved for eternal ages.”

Fourth, satisfaction is necessary for true penitence; by it, namely, we remove all causes that cut off sins, and for those things that we have wrongly committed we placate the Lord with holy works. Hence the divine Pope Gregory says: “We do not truly make satisfaction if we cease from iniquity, unless we also pursue with opposed acts the pleasures that we have loved.” The most holy Pope Leo also says in a sermon: “By prayer God’s propitiation is sought; by fasting the concupiscence of the flesh is extinguished; by alms sins are redeemed; and at the same time through all these the image of God is renewed in us.”

Confession, moreover, is the voluntary accusation of the offender, from blushing shame, and, through the keys of the Church, making satisfaction for sins, with the obligation, through penitence, of chastising in himself the things he has brought forth, by the command of the priest. Confession ought to be simple, humble, pure, faithful, frequent, naked and open, discreet, voluntary, one’s own, shamefaced, complete, secret, full of tears, made at the due times, strong and [secret/secure?]; voluntary, secret, full of tears, made at the due times, strong and secure; voluntary, secret, full of tears, are held. For true penitence requires all these things: it so laments past sins that henceforth it does not commit further things to be lamented.

On the abstinence and fasting of monks. Homily XV.

A great and necessary good for a monk, dearest brothers, is abstinence with fasting: namely, that he not offend in mind through the concupiscence of the flesh and evil thoughts, and that in body he abstain from foods and drinks that beget wantonness of spirit. For the concupiscence of the mind is quickly kindled into lust if the body is nourished too carefully. Considering the very great usefulness of this good, the most holy fathers of old, who handed down precepts of living to monks, all with one judgment established for us a fixed measure of fasts; under its moderation the body should take such refreshment of foods as nature required, not such as the intemperance of the will might desire.

Holy Scripture also commends fasting to us in many ways, and so often mentions it with praise. For the Lord God says through the mouth of his prophet Joel: “Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, mourning, and weeping.” In the book of Judith too one reads thus: “Know that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you remain steadfast in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord.” Similarly in Tobit we read: “Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving, more than to store up treasures of gold, because almsgiving frees from death, and it is that which purges sins.” Our Lord Jesus Christ also said in the holy Gospel to the disciples: “Blessed are you who now [are hungry?], for you shall be filled.” But the best fast of monks is to abstain from all things that can pollute the soul, that is, idle

On the abstinence and fasting of monks.

...to bear speech: to admit no vain, useless, or foul thoughts; to commit nothing that is unbecoming to a servant of God; and to omit nothing that pertains to the consummation of righteousness. For unless the mind has fasted from vices and sins, bodily abstinence will profit nothing toward the salvation of the soul.

Hence the holy priest Jerome says: “Your abstinence and fasting are pleasing in proportion as they are offered with holy conduct, so that what in others are coverings for vices may in you become ornaments of virtues.” For what good is it for the body to be made thin by abstinence, if the spirit swells with pride? Or what virtue is there in not drinking wine, and being drunk with anger, lust, hatred, and envy? Or what will it help us for eternal salvation, brothers, that according to the rule of our holy father Benedict we do not eat meat, if we do not subdue the vices of the flesh?

For the thrice-holy pope Gregory says: “In vain is the body worn down through abstinence, if the mind, divided by disorderly movements, is scattered among vices.” Hence Scripture commands: “Sanctify a fast.” To sanctify a fast is, with other good works joined to it, to show abstinence of the flesh worthy of God. Indeed, if abstinence from foods alone made a man virtuous, there would have been no need to add “sanctify”; but because fasting alone does not suffice for the sanctification of the soul, it is necessary that it be adorned with the ornament of all virtues. For those who abstain from foods and do evil imitate the demons, for whom there is always fasting and never any lack of sin.

A fast acceptable to God is to restrain the body by abstinence from the desire of evils, and by the spirit of compunction to mortify the deeds of the flesh for the love of Christ. Let the mind of the one fasting be fervent in the love of God; let his conscience always be clean from vices, and the fasts of humble servants will please the Most High. Let the monks’ fasts be daily, as the canon of the holy teacher Benedict established; let their hearts be clean, as the Lord Jesus commanded in the holy Gospel; let their refection be moderate, fleeing satiety, because just as from excessive fullness the body is corrupted by diverse and various illnesses, so too an unregulated movement of lust is aroused in it. For modest and moderate food is both medicine for the body and a support of virtue for the soul.

For Saint John Chrysostom, bishop, says: “Nothing is so pleasant as food well digested and cooked; nothing so healthful; nothing so sharpens the senses; nothing so drives away sickness as moderate refection. For sufficiency with moderate nourishment produces health and pleasure together. But abundance makes disease, brings on troubles, and generates various illnesses. For what excessive hunger does, immoderate fullness of foods is also accustomed to do. Hunger indeed in a few days takes a man away and frees him from this penal life; but excess of foods consumes and makes the human body putrefy and rot, torments it with long illness, and at last consumes it with a cruel death.”

Therefore, that you may live sound in mind and healthy in body, my most beloved brothers, keep this rule of living which the holy fathers prescribed for you by word and showed beforehand by living example: fleeing all luxury of foods and drinks, grant to the body only so much as, nature requiring it, is enough for good health. Let food quiet hunger, but not stir the body to lust; let drink quench thirst, not [unclear] the mind. [unclear] expelled our first parents shamefully from the kingdom of paradise and innocence: they did not devour a bird, a fish, a calf, or a pig, so that you should think food was in fault; rather, against God’s command they presumed to take a very cheap apple, so that you may know that not food, but appetite, is liable to the vice of sin.

For it can often happen that some man takes more lavish foods without fault, provided he regulates his appetite, while another receives cheaper foods not without guilt of conscience, when through immoderation he exceeds the measure of temperance. Therefore let none of you think himself secure from the vice of gluttony because he eats neither luxurious nor delicate foods, since it is not food but the appetite for food that is held in fault. For it is quite possible for one eating beans and vegetables to contract the guilt of sin, and for another taking the most delicate birds as food not to sin.

Hence one of the holy fathers says: “A belly filled with any foods at all brings forth seedbeds of lust, nor can a mind choked by the weight of foods govern the rudders of discretion. For not only excess of wine is accustomed to make the mind drunk, but also the excess of all foods, while it is unsteady.”

and renders it wavering, and strips it entirely of all contemplation of integrity and purity. Therefore great discretion is needed, so that food necessary for the support of life alone is supplied to the body, and no excess of indulgence occurs. Hence the holy Pope Gregory says: “It is a great labor of discretion to give something to the demanding body and to deny it something; by not giving, to restrain gluttony, and by giving, to nourish nature.” For through abstinence vices are to be extinguished, not the flesh; and through food the body is to be nourished, not sins. Thus, then, it is necessary that the monk maintain the art of continence in his diet, so that he kills not the flesh but vices. For often, while we pursue the enemy in the flesh, we severely slaughter, through immoderate abstinence, the spirit of devotion which we love. More often also, while we have compassion on the [unclear], as though sparing a fellow-citizen, we nourish an enemy for battle against us. But when the vice of gluttony rules, men lose everything they have done bravely; for when the belly is not restrained, all the virtues are overthrown together. For one does not rise up to the conflict of spiritual combat if the enemy placed very near within us, namely the appetite of gluttony, is not first subdued by us, with God’s help; because unless we overcome the things that are nearer to us, we hasten in vain to fight against those placed farther away. For war is waged in vain in the field against foreign enemies if within the walls of the city there is a citizen lying in ambush. We never overcome the assaults of demons unless we first overcome gluttony in ourselves.

Let no one, brothers, deceive himself by empty persuasion, so as to believe that there is no sin among beans and vegetables, if the mind loosens too far the appetite of receiving by excessive pleasure. For in taking food one can everywhere be [unclear], when appetite is extended beyond the rule of nature. See, we never eat meat either in the monastery or outside it; here in this open countryside we see fish very rarely; no one among us has ever seen more sumptuous foods; we neither can nor indeed ought to have delicate fare. Our foods are barley, oats, beans, peas and vegetables, milk also, cheese and eggs. From these we receive the daily supports of our life; and hunger stirs appetite so that disgust for them may not arise. Outside the time of the Lenten fast, fish are so rare for us that scarcely once in a month a few are brought from the river Nahe, and those very small. In the whole Bursfelde reform there is no monastery less provided with the necessity of fish. But can we therefore not fall into the vice of gluttony, because we cannot find more sumptuous foods? Indeed, since the vice is not in the food, as has already been said, but in the appetite, the eater of peas or beans can sin no less in eating than he who is accustomed to eat the most sumptuous and choice foods. Poverty does not make us wholly [unclear]; [unclear] simple and rustic [foods], by which nature may somehow be sustained. This, my brothers, I pray, let us take care of: that in that which produces loathing of delicacy our conscience not be polluted by excess. Let us take with patience and thanksgiving, from what the Lord has given, as much as necessity itself requires; and let us not think that the snares of the devil cannot harm us, since he overthrew the first men in paradise not by more sumptuous food, but by a small and common apple. For the vice is not in the food but in the appetite, when either we desire things forbidden to us, or, eagerly gaping after permitted things, we use them otherwise than we ought.

Nor does abstinence befit anyone more than a monk, who, since he has been specially called to the soldiery of Christ, ought not by his profession to have leisure for any delicacies. Our poverty imposes upon us a certain necessity of abstinence; for we can restrain ourselves to temperance all the more easily, since the less we overflow with foods, the more purely we fast in holiness of mind. For temperance is more easily preserved in poverty, but in riches it is indeed more quickly endangered. What the food of monks ought to be, blessed Jerome makes clear, saying in a certain letter to Paulinus: “Let your food be cheap and taken in the evening: namely vegetables and legumes; and sometimes consider it the height of delicacy to eat a few little fish. He who desires Christ and feeds on that heavenly bread does not greatly seek what dung he may make from precious foods. The lover of Christ loves abstinence; he cultivates fasting as the one remedy of soul and body; he takes the greatest care that his heart not be weighed down by surfeiting, nor does he take more food than nature, content with little, demands.” But the monk who rejects fasting, who [rejects] abstinence, the nurse of virtues—

On abstinence and fasting for the monk.

[unclear]: he who gulps down foods with greed, who drinks wine or strong drink and whatever can intoxicate to satiety, is unworthy of the very name of monk; he cannot be a disciple of Christ. Woe to our times, in which already very many clerics and monks have shamefully cast away the virtue of abstinence, who ought to have shown the people of God the way of salvation no less by example than by word. Given over to gluttonies, and immersed in continual drinkings and pleasures, contrary to all clerical propriety, they hasten to go before [unclear] into the perdition of eternal death. Scripture says: The beginning of a man’s life is bread and water. But now our monks and cloistered men buy for themselves at great cost whatever is sold more dearly, whatever they find more sumptuous; by gorging their bellies they bury it, and through intemperance corrupt soul and body alike. Amid banquets they debate fasting, and when they have become drunk they praise temperance. There each one boasts that he is victorious over vice, although he has already been conquered by gluttony and drunkenness. Our Lord Jesus Christ says in the holy Gospel according to Luke: See that your hearts are not weighed down in excess. It does not befit a man dedicated to God to eat or drink to satiety; nor is it lawful for a monk to eat more than nature requires. Let eating still hunger; let it not induce fullness. Let belches be far away, which satiety is accustomed to produce at feasts; let vomiting and undigested [unclear] not be heard among monks. It is necessary that all of us cloistered men use great moderation of discretion, so that one nourishes the body with foods and drinks in such a way that, serving the spirit, it may be able to live, and not, having grown fat, begin to grow wanton against the command of the mind. Let satiety always be far away, for nothing so inflames the body and stirs the genital members as undigested food and a belly hot with wine or beer. Hence Saint Jerome, admonishing Eustochium concerning temperance, the preserver of all virtues, says in a certain letter: Let the bride of Christ flee wine as poison; for wine and youth itself, more prone to gluttony, are weapons against adolescence. Avarice does not so shake adolescence, nor does pride puff it up, nor does ambition delight it, as do those [unclear] which seem to us innate in pleasure.

Homily XV. Fol. XXXVI.

[unclear] could [unclear] anew. For what condemned our first parents except the transgression of the commandment? For God’s concern was not with food but with obedience. For if man had abstained as almighty God had commanded him, surely through this obedience he would have merited, in his innocence, the enjoyment of eternal happiness. For it is established by the tradition of the Scriptures that man cannot be saved without the merit of free will, since, although the grace of God works all things in all, it will save no one without the cooperation of his own will, except only infants baptized in the name of the Trinity, and those who cannot have the free use of reason.

For just as free will accomplishes nothing toward salvation without the grace of the Savior, so the grace of God will not save an adult without the merit of a good will. But the first man, placed in paradise and having transgressed God’s commandment through lack of temperance, did not have the merit of obedience in a good will; therefore, wretched and unhappy, he was cast out. But the compassion of almighty God determined from eternity to restore him who had fallen through weakness, whom he knew to have been deceived by the envious suggestion of the serpent rather than by his own malice. He remitted this guilt to the passion and death of his only-begotten Son, born in time of the Virgin, so that he who had fallen by his own rashness might be restored to salvation through the obedience of the mediator. For it was impossible for the human race, lost through disobedience, to reach the mercy of the Creator except through the obedience of such a mediator, who would be God and man, in whom there would be both the strength of power and the innocence of nature. For we were blind through ignorance and mute through silence. The mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus, came, sent to enlighten every man coming into this world; he handed down the knowledge of God to mortals, and, dying for the lost, he sealed for the redeemed the greatest cause of love. He instructed the intellect through faith, by which we know God; he stirred the affection through his passion, by which we rightly love him above all things.

And so, if we love our Lord and Redeemer with the whole integrity of sincere charity, it is plainly fitting that we chastise our body for love of him. For our abstinence will conduce to merit for us for a twofold reason: namely, when by fasting, through obedience to the statutes of the fathers, we offer sacrifice, and when by abstaining through the charity of God we show ourselves grateful to our Redeemer, who endured death for our sake. Abstinence merits or bears [unclear]; it commends obedience; it supplies wisdom and instruction; it purges the affection; it enlightens the intellect; it grants victory against demons; it perfects religion; it obtains forgiveness of sins; it tames the unlawful motions of the flesh; it wins efficacy for prayers; it displays to one’s neighbor an example of virtue. Abstinence purifies the mind, adorns the soul with virtues, and heals the weak little body. He who loves abstinence is wise, and he who loves fasting is a mighty ruler. A sober mind is the dwelling-place of wisdom; but he who pursues banquets will die in poverty of soul. It is difficult for a man to become wise who lives his life in pleasures. [unclear] is content with the gifts of nature, and in modest things preserves a holy life. Continuous voracity over a long time has harmed many, and more have perished by gluttony than by the sword. For habit seems to alter nature, and the longer it has prevailed, the more strongly [unclear].

There is among the Helvetians a man named Nicholas, whose abstinence turns the men of all Germany to admiration, and today, as you have heard, he is named in [unclear] with the title of sanctity. He, once a farmer living in a certain village of the Helvetians, was accustomed, in the manner of the country people, to pronounce judgment among fourteen disputing villagers. It happened at one time that he could not revoke a decision of his companions which he thought unjust; and, fearing danger to the salvation of his soul, he left his house, wife, children, and all worldly business and possessions, and withdrew alone into a neighboring wood for the love of God, in which he lives a solitary life. And behold, today is the twentieth year since he entered the solitude without taking human food. I speak of things known to all, nor do I think there is any man living in Germany who has not heard the report of this miracle. And lest perhaps in future anyone believe that we have been deceived by pretense, we cite Helvetia, together with the prelate of the church of Constance, as witness; they observe his ways and life with the greatest care:

On the abstinence and fasting of monks.

He is a man of very keen intellect; although he is wholly ignorant of letters, nevertheless, like another Antony, the hermit of old, he understands the meaning of the Scriptures exceedingly well. We have seen how most eloquently he disputed with a certain master about the sacrament of the altar, a thing at which anyone who has not in the least tasted heavenly things through the pursuit of contemplation will not be able to marvel enough. I have introduced these matters, brothers, so that you may understand that nothing is so difficult that habit, continued over a long time, does not make it easy.

This holy man, as he himself confesses, did not suddenly arrive at the height of this abstinence, but over time, by successive degrees, little by little withdrawing a small amount of food from himself, until at last he was able to abstain altogether. For, as we have said, he has abstained from every corruptible food now for almost the twentieth year. By the example of this man, my brothers, let each of you learn daily to subtract something from his food and drink for the love of God, and let him accustom himself to provide for his body not as much as he can, but as much as is sufficient for the support of nature. For nature, as Boethius bears witness, is content with few and very small things; if you try to force its satisfaction with superfluous foods, what you pour in will become either unpleasant or harmful.

Many dishes beget many illnesses, and gluttony of the belly dulls the mind and torments life. For the wise man says: "Sweet is the sleep of the worker, whether he eats little or much; but the fullness of the rich man does not allow him to sleep." The belly is to be filled without satiety, and one must rise from the table without disgust, so that, clearly, we may eat not as much as we can, but as much as we ought when nature requires it.

For monks, however, variety of foods is especially to be avoided; for anyone who uses various dishes, attempting to put more into the stomach than nature raises up [unclear], feasts not without the vice of gluttony. The strength of our body is to be restored by moderate and simple food, not shamefully oppressed by many and various foods, because the body was not created for food, but food for the body. That variety of foods brings various diseases upon the body we prove from the temperance of the ancients, whom a uniform simplicity of foods preserved for a very long time in this life.

But our most holy founder, Benedict, the most modest hierophant of all the leaders of monks, prescribed for us a rule adorned with the highest discretion; in it, wishing to show monks the measure of foods, he says: "We believe that two cooked dishes are sufficient for the daily meal, whether at the sixth or the ninth hour, for all tables, because of the infirmities of different people, so that one who perhaps cannot eat from one may be refreshed from the other. Therefore let two cooked dishes suffice for all the brothers. And if there are fruits or fresh legumes there, let a third also be added."

If I understand the mind of our lawgiver correctly, he granted monks two cooked dishes where the necessity of infirmity requires it, not for the filling of the appetite of the healthy. For the monk who is healthy is rightly excepted from this indulgence, so that he may be refreshed by one cooked dish only. But in my judgment the infirm man is rightly permitted to be refreshed from both, since excess is feared in no respect.

Yet since not all of us can do all things equally, and one person needs more food, another less, it is impossible to prescribe one form of abstinence for everyone; but it is left to the judgment of each person's discretion, that he should take as much as necessity requires, not as much as the pleasure of appetite commands. This must especially be guarded against: that immoderate satiety of foods should not creep in, for it stains the soul when either disgust follows the meal or heavy sloth follows the mind. Vomiting that proceeds from satiety belongs to dogs rather than to monks.

The Christian religion especially detests a man who is a glutton, because the delights of the servants of God are not food and drink, but piety and justice, by which God is both worshiped in purity of faith, and to each person what is his own is administered justly. Therefore whoever you are who desire to please God with your whole heart, whoever you are who hasten to arrive at the joys of eternal happiness, impose upon yourself a manner of fasting with a measure mixed according to your strength, and apply the greatest care that, while fasting, you be constant in prayer, just in judgments, outstanding in brotherly love, patient in injuries, humble under rebukes, circumspect in speech, clean in conscience, fervent in the love of God, and, with prudence accompanying you, fearful in all your actions.

Flee useless and idle words, and be persevering in good works at all times, having constancy in adversities, watchfulness in temptations, continence at meals, and simple purity in heart. Let your fasts be moderate and holy, in all humility of mind;

Homily XV. Fol. XXXVII.

which so weaken the body that they do not lift up the mind into pride, lest the exercise of humility become material for vices. Fasting detests idleness; it does not love wordiness; it cherishes secrecy; it devotes itself to prayers and tears. Fasting, as Saint Ambrose bears witness, is the death of fault, the destruction of sins, the remedy of salvation, the root of grace, the foundation of chastity. By this step the righteous Moses came to God; by this gift Elijah, before he died, ascended into heaven in a chariot. Those who walk in the Spirit love fasting, and those who profess chastity necessarily flee an abundance of delights. For hunger is a friend to virginity, an enemy to wantonness. Fullness, however, betrays chastity and nourishes wantonness. For fasting extinguishes the burning arrows of the devil; the urgency of prayer restrains them; and the continuation of vigils in the love of Christ repels all the snares of demons. Hence Saint Leo the pope says in a certain sermon: What can be more effective than fasting, by the observance of which we draw near to God and, resisting the devil, overcome [his] alluring enticements? For fasting has always been food for virtue, and abstinence the nourishment of holy chastity. From abstinence, indeed, proceed chaste thoughts; it begets reasonable desires, and also modest counsels; and through voluntary afflictions the flesh dies to concupiscences, while the spirit is renewed in virtues. Let us therefore love fasting, my brothers, for love of virtue, on account of him who did not refuse to undergo death for us; and let us abstain not only from unlawful things but also, as far as can be done, from permitted ones, so that we who in many ways have offended against the commandments of salvation may, as recompense of satisfaction, henceforth restrain ourselves from every pleasure. Let us fast from every sin; let us take no food of malice; let us devour no banquets of pleasure, nor be made drunk with the wine of luxury. Let us fast from all perversities; let us abstain from evil works, and let us not speak harmful things; and let us always beware of hurtful and perverse thoughts, which separate us from God. Let us always keep most zealous watch in prayers to God, knowing that he whom we invoke with prayers is everywhere most present to us. Let his praise always be in our mouth; and since we cannot praise his magnificence in speech, let us adore him in the heart with the desires of a most chaste love. For then our fasts are pleasing to him, when they have been adorned with holy works and continual prayers. For the prayer of the righteous man, as sacred Scripture bears witness, penetrates the heavens, and it becomes the more effective, the more it is found adorned with charity and fasting. Let us join to it, as it were, two wings, fasting and charity, and it will obtain for us from the Lord whatever conducive to salvation we shall have asked.

On the Lenten fast of monks: Homily XVI.

Because, by the bounty of our Lord Jesus Christ, dearly beloved brothers, we have begun the Lenten fast, reason demands that we say something briefly about its observance. For although you have many writings of the holy fathers on this most sacred exercise of fasts, nevertheless, because I know by experience that my sermons among you are not wholly fruitless, I gladly impart to your edification what the Lord has granted. For, as blessed Jerome bears witness, the act of the living voice has within it a certain hidden operation, which in Greek speech he more elegantly called energy; and the discourse of a teacher, uttered by the mouth, is stronger for persuading. But I, set apart in your midst only by the name of pastor, confess that I am a young man, unlearned and lacking both the experience and the discretion necessary for the governance of souls; whence it happens that I speak with a certain blush and shame, a young man among elders, an ignorant man among the learned, a disciple among masters. Therefore I beg that none of you despise the simplicity of my speech; let no one take it ill that I speak, because even if I am not fit for speaking, nevertheless by reason of the office of pastoral care entrusted to me I confess that before God I am bound to admonish you. Your charity gives me boldness to speak, and the readier you show yourselves to hear, the more you move me to speak. Nor will the labor be burdensome to me, however great it may seem, by which the salvation of your souls is perfected. Help me with your prayers, that the Lord Jesus may speak in my mouth, and may grant strength to my poor little talent to bring forth in your midst whatever can produce in you an increase of holy fervor. For as much as I desire to benefit your charity by my sermons, I am unable to do so, because I am compelled to be too much occupied by the care of secular business. Whence

On the Lenten Fast of Monks.

only by day and in that part of the night which, after the night lauds, I am accustomed to pass sleepless, do I devote myself to exhorting you, setting down on little sheets what occurs to me to say. And so I have wished to introduce today’s conference from the Rule of our most holy father Benedict, who says thus concerning Lenten observance: “Although at every season the life of a monk ought to have the observance of Lent, nevertheless, because this virtue belongs to few, we therefore advise that in these days of Lent they guard their life in all purity, and that all alike wash away in these holy days the stains and negligences of other times. This is then done worthily if we restrain ourselves from all vices, and devote ourselves to prayer with tears, to reading, and to compunction of heart.”

If this virtue belongs to few, that they should at every season lead a life of Lenten observance, it is now plainly evident that few monks in religion live according to the purity of the Gospel, since all who profess the soldiery of Christ are bound to direct their effort toward the summit of perfection. For the monk, according to the interpretation of his name, is solitary; and he is then rightly believed to live in the cenobium according to the Gospel and the rule which he has professed, when, having despised worldly possessions and honors for the love of God, he conducts himself in all purity of heart before God and men: vigorous in work, clean in thought, sparing and peaceable in speech. This is the life of a monk, having Lenten observance at every season: to chastise the body for the love of God through abstinence, and to nourish the mind through inward compunction. He lives rightly who lives justly, who loves God above all things, who with the greatest zeal and the greatest diligence observes his commandments in words and deeds. For he is the true monk of Christ who imitates Christ with all his powers.

But if you wish to imitate Christ, O monk, observe most carefully what I am about to say. Flee the world and all comforts of the flesh, so that you may deserve truly to be solitary. Never permit vain, useless, foul, and harmful thoughts to dwell in your heart, but always think something good, and let the memory of the Lord’s Passion never depart from your mind, so that each day, with thanksgiving, you may contemplate the Lord hanging on the cross. Consider God present to you everywhere, who sees, knows, and understands whatever you have either thought or done, since nothing is hidden from him. Keep your heart clean from every defilement of sin, and always have a pure conscience, fervent in the true love of Christ. Let no idle time fly away from you, but let thought always find you engaged in good works. Do not grow sluggish with much sleep, and keep yourself far removed from every sloth of tepidity. Embrace moderation in food and drink, and live as sparingly as is permitted, so that the body, moderately sustained, may always serve the spirit in humility and in no way rise up against the command of reason.

As soon as you perceive some sluggishness arising in you, flee to the memory of the most bitter Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and bring back [unclear] whatever can more swiftly drive away sloth. Break off, I beg you, all delays, since sluggishness of mind, when dissembled, grows suddenly; and sloth, which is not at once extinguished by the new fervor of the mind, is immediately strengthened into the grave destruction of the soul. For of all evils in a monk this is the worst: if through sluggishness and sloth he has offered a place in his heart to the seedbed of vices. And you, O monks, must keep watch against this beast not only every day, but every hour and moment, since, once admitted into the heart, it never enters alone; but when it has been stirred, a mass and spring of all vices accompanies it. There is no more destructive plague of the monk than the sluggishness of sloth, through which all fervor of devotion is extinguished; and, faithful service having been interrupted, the mind, driven by laziness and idleness, is cast headlong into the pit of despair. Whoever permits delay from sloth quickly falls away from the purpose of holiness.

Against this Solomon admonishes you in the Book of Proverbs, saying: “Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom. Though she has no leader, nor instructor, nor ruler, she prepares her food in summer and gathers at harvest what she may eat.” And again he says: “Desires kill the sluggard, because his hands have refused to work at anything.” Nothing is worse than idleness for those who profess the purpose of holiness, because it not only accumulates nothing good, but even consumes and scatters everything previously accumulated. For the fervor of holy devotion rejoices and advances by progress, but through cessation it grows sluggish and little by little, not to say suddenly, vanishes,

All things. XVI. Fol. XXXVIII.

For sloth is the root of despair, and the mother and nurse of all vices. For just as a garment both produces and nourishes the moth, so the most pernicious plague of acedia both gives birth to and fosters despair. This beast is accustomed to vex no one more than monks, and especially those who lead their life withdrawn in solitude. Therefore, monks, you must beware with the utmost care of this enemy of the salvation of souls, and it must be fought not by fleeing but by resisting bravely; and one must diligently consider that no one has attained the honor of holiness by torpor and sloth, nor has anyone deserved the kingdom of eternal happiness without great and continual labor.

Therefore the mind must always be renewed by daily and fresh increases of virtues, and this perilous journey of living must be measured not by what has passed, but rather by what remains. Let no one promise himself security in this life, which is named wholly a temptation, full of as many dangers as there are affections in the soul; but let each one take care that he who could become better from worse does not become worse from better. And especially in these holy days let us all take care, as much as we can, to become better, adding for ourselves, by the counsel of our divine teacher, something to the usual measure of our service: namely special prayers, abstinence from foods and drink, so that each one, beyond the measure prescribed to him, may offer something to God of his own will with the joy of the Holy Spirit, that is, may subtract from his body something of food, of drink, of sleep, of talkativeness, of ease, and may await holy Easter with the joy of spiritual desire.

For a monk is proved to be little religious at other times if in these holy days he is not found more religious, more fervent in the love of God, and more devout. Hence the divine pope Gregory says in a certain homily: Lent is to be observed with the highest observance, so that the fast in it, on account of the Lord’s days that have been subtracted from abstinence, unless sickness has hindered someone, is by no means relaxed, because these days are the tithes of the year which we are commanded to offer to the Lord. Saint Ambrose also says: He keeps Lent who by fasting and keeping vigil ascends to Easter. For just as at the remaining time of the year to fast brings a reward, so in Lent not to fast is a sin. The former fasts are voluntary, and these are necessary; the former come from choice, but these from law. To the former we are invited; to these we are compelled. And therefore he who passes beyond the appointed number by eating on one day is accused not as the violator of one day, but is charged as the transgressor of the whole of Lent.

In these sacred days all desires of the flesh must be restrained; the body must be chastised through abstinence, so that if perhaps at other times we have lived less temperately, we may in some way make compensation by this Lenten fast. Therefore, dearest brothers, let us follow the admonitions of our most holy father Benedict, and with as much diligence as we can let us exercise ourselves in holy works, subtracting something daily from our body, for love of God, from food and drink, so that we may prove ourselves true servants of God.

Next, however, our holy founder adds, saying: Yet this very thing which each one offers, let him report to his abbot, and let it be done with his prayer and will; because what is done without the permission of the spiritual father will be imputed to presumption and vainglory, not to reward. Therefore all things are to be done with the will of the abbot. The words of our holy lawgiver are plain, brothers, so that no one could have recourse to the covering of ignorance. For if all things are to be done with the will of the abbot, then without his permission absolutely nothing is to be done.

Indeed, the more a good work is adorned with more virtues, the more it must be considered of greater merit before God. Therefore, when a monk, by the license and blessing of his abbot, subtracts something of foods or drink from his body for love of God, he will receive not only from that abstinence itself the reward of eternal satiety promised by the Lord, but also the kingdom for humility, and for holy obedience: he has resigned his will to Christ in the hands of the abbot; and if he thereafter usurps it again by his own decision, he has now shamefully denied Christ. For what else is a monk who usurps his own will, except the unjust possessor of another’s property? Therefore let the monk be humbly subject to his abbot for love of Christ, always in all things; let him presume absolutely nothing

On the Lenten fast of monks.

...to act against his command; let him omit or neglect nothing that has been enjoined on him by him. Let him beware of troubling or saddening his shepherd by a restless manner of life; nor let him murmur against him, nor disparage him, nor say any evil whatever against him. Rather, let him reverence him with the sincere affection of charity, as the vicar of Christ, and not sadden his spirit either by importunate or disorderly words or deeds. Moreover, let him aid his labors as much as he can, and intercede for him with continual prayers before God. Monks sin greatly against God who do not fear to sadden their abbot by their importunate disparagements and wicked behavior.

Therefore whatever monk desires to be good, whoever truly wishes to be devout in the Lord, let him always and everywhere venerate his abbot with pure love as the vicar of Jesus Christ in the monastery; let him humbly obey his commands in all things, and in no way depart from his direction. But let the abbot strive to show himself in all things a worthy shepherd to his monks, one who feeds the sheep of Christ entrusted to him by word and likewise by example, in all gentleness of charity. Let him not disturb the brothers without just and reasonable necessity; let him not be a despiser of the holy community; let him recognize himself as the steward of the monastery's goods, not their lord. Let him not be a mocker of his subjects, not turbulent, not importunate, not a tyrant, but their sincere lover, gentle in speech, mild and upright in conduct, holy in his way of life, clean in conscience, always devoted in mind to God.

Let him at all times bear solicitous care for the souls entrusted to him, and neglect nothing of those things which seem able to conduce to their salvation. Let him not therefore raise himself up on high because he has been placed as ruler of others, but let him remember that he must fear so much the more, inasmuch as he is most certainly bound to render account for all in the dread judgment of God. Let him correct the proud, rebellious, and contumacious as a lord; let him kindly cherish the humble, obedient, and governable as a most gentle father, and wisely distribute to each one his right without acceptance of persons. Let him always consider himself the mother and nurse of the monks; and therefore those whom he can bring back to better things by gentleness he ought not to exasperate with importunate words and harsh invectives. Let him always bear solicitous care for the weak, and provide for all in such a way that they have no just cause for murmuring. In his own weaknesses let him learn how he ought to have mercy on his subjects. For he cannot be a good shepherd of souls who disdains to suffer heartfelt compassion for the necessities of his ailing subjects.

But he can become a good abbot among monks who knows how to adapt himself to the persons of the weak in such a way that, whenever a brother asks something of him, taking upon himself the condition of the person asking, he says in his heart: What would I wish to be done to me in this matter, according to the right judgment of reason, if I were in the person of the one asking? Indeed, if the abbot imagines himself a subject, he will let no one go away from him saddened. We have now said, brothers, what sort of men it befits you to be toward us for the love of God, so that, existing as good monks, you may please the Lord Jesus in truth. You have nevertheless heard what sort of shepherd I ought to show myself to you; whether I do this or not, you yourselves will judge better than I.

For we shall fast in vain and find no fruit of Lenten observance unless we all are concordant before God in the true charity of ecclesiastical union. Or what good will it do to abstain from richer foods and defile the conscience with evil works or thoughts? For in order that the fasts we have begun may be pleasing to God, it is necessary that they be not only alien and remote from vices and sins, but also adorned with the fullness of all virtues. For holy Ambrose says: What profit is it to fast in the belly and to run riot in hunting, to abstain from foods and to wander in sins? Do you think, brothers, that he fasts who at first daybreak does not keep watch at church, does not seek out the holy places of the blessed martyrs, but rises in the morning, gathers his servants, arranges the nets, brings out the dogs, ranges through glades and woods, and, I say, drags along with him servants perhaps hastening rather to church? To his own pleasures he adds the sins of others, not knowing that he will be guilty both of his own fault and of the ruin of his servants. And Saint Pope Leo: The chief fast of ours does not consist in abstinence from food alone

[Homily?] XVI.

For food is by no means fruitfully withheld from the body unless the mind is recalled from all iniquity. Saint Jerome also says: What does it profit for the body to be made thin by abstinence, if the soul swells with pride? What virtue is there in not drinking wine, and being drunk with anger, hatred, and the other poisonous cups of the soul?

Therefore let none of you promise himself sanctity from abstinence from food alone, since whatever is required for true penitence is judged necessary also for fasting. For fasts profit unto salvation for those who are contrite for their sins in a true purpose of amendment, who fervently devote themselves to good and holy works. Hence all who fast from food and drink must also abstain from [unclear], so that the mind, adorned with the beauty of the virtues, may sweetly burn in the love of Christ and may in no way grow lukewarm from progress in inner conduct. For the virtue of abstinence is nothing if it has not been adorned with works of charity.

Therefore, monk, listen to my counsel: if you wish to make your fast fruitful before God, first cleanse your conscience from every stain of sin, so that no desire of evil may intervene; so that the mind may become fervent in the exercise of divine love and be laudably adorned with the remaining virtues. By the remedy of contrition and confession wipe away past sins, and by standing firm in prayers with tears strengthen your mind against all temptations with God’s help. Toward God, as much as you can, be fervent in the exercise of love; toward yourself, tranquil in a pure conscience; toward your brother, ordered in true charity. Always be foremost in humility, firm in constancy and obedience, shining in chastity of mind and body, pious in meekness, a monk in conduct, continually inflamed with desire for perfection. If you commend your abstinence by this kind of cleanness and purity, you will fast rightly.

Exercise your mind diligently in meditation on the passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so that no day passes in which you do not run through his life and death at least once with thanksgiving. I will not say irreligious, but ungrateful, is the Christian who is so immersed either in temporal affairs or occupied with the pleasures of the flesh that he does not call to mind, at least once each day with thanksgiving, the most bitter passion of his Redeemer.

Fol. XXIX.

But the monk who forgets the benefits of our Lord Jesus Christ, who does not recall his passion once every day with thanksgiving, who does not meditate every day on the law of the Lord or on the Gospel, is rightly considered the most ungrateful of all men. Nothing is more powerful for him than that prayer which is offered to God the Father in union with, and in the power of, the Lord’s passion. Too justly is that spirit to be condemned which, though redeemed by the most precious blood of Christ, is led astray by the pleasures of its flesh so as not to remember such great benefits of God toward itself.

For there was no reason that the Son of God should become man except that he willed to justify us sinners: born in the world for us, suffering in the world for us, and cruelly dead on the wood for our crimes. That just one came into the world to justify us who were sinners; the pious one came to the impious, that we might learn piety, humility, and patience from him. The physician came to the sick, life to the dead, mercy to the desperate; it was not our merits that drew him down from heaven into the world, but our sins.

It is fitting, therefore, brothers in [unclear], that we celebrate with all devotion this Lenten fast dedicated to his most holy passion, who first deigned to do such great things for our salvation, who, in order to rescue us from the destruction of death, did not hesitate to give himself for us unto death. Let us do, for the love of Christ, whatever good we can; let us endure, in consideration of his passion and death, every adversity that happens to us in this world, since the Lord Jesus, who in charity willed to suffer for us, has truly shown himself most worthy that we love him with all our heart.

For if, brother, you recognize yourself as a sinner, Christ saves you by his death. Contemplate him as it is fitting, hanging on the cross, and you will be healed from every bite of sin. For nothing in this world is found more effective for cleansing and curing the wounds of conscience than meditation on Christ. For the most precious blood of the Lord, poured out, has become sufficient medicine for sin. Hence the holy bishop Augustine says: Brothers, that we who are wounded by sin may be healed, let us behold Christ crucified. For just as those who looked upon the bronze serpent in the desert did not perish from the bites of serpents, so those who

On the Lenten fast of monks.

[Unclear] with devotion beholds the death of Jesus Christ: he is healed from the diseases of sins. But if you trust that you have been justified from sin, all the more and more fervently must Christ hanging on the cross be contemplated by you; without the merit of his passion no one lives righteous on earth. For outside faith in Christ there is no righteousness. However religiously a man may live, if he does not believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, he will by no means attain eternal salvation; rather, the wrath of God remains upon him, and he will necessarily perish forever. The death of Christ opened the gate of salvation, through which no one else can enter except one who faithfully believes in Christ. For this reason Christ humbly subjected himself to the condemnation of death, that he might free believers from the yoke of perpetual damnation. O infinite charity, O immeasurable loving-kindness: who, believing in you, eternal majesty, would not marvel at such astonishing benefits granted to us? For your passion, Lord Jesus, is the price of our salvation, the refuge [unclear] of sinners, the singular remedy of infirm minds, the fountain, origin, and end of all good things. Therefore, now, dearest brothers, let us recall and diligently bring back to memory the bitterness of the Lord’s passion, so that, since we necessarily acknowledge ourselves to be sinners, we may at last be able to be justified through the merit of that very savior of ours. For meditation on the Lord’s passion surpasses all exercises of this kind, if it has been continued for a longer time with the fervor of inward devotion. That mind of a monk which, kindled by zeal for divine love, has been accustomed every day, at least for a little hour, to keep the memory of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ with tears, does not easily lie open to the suggestions of demons. For that heart which the love of Jesus possesses always remains inaccessible and closed to all evil thoughts. Truly blessed is that monk, and never to be named except with honor, who meditates day and night with loving zeal on the teaching and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; who never forgets his Savior; who, whether he eats or drinks or does anything else, always beholds with the eyes of the mind the Lord Jesus hanging on the cross. No pernicious thoughts have their course in his heart; no evil or idle word proceeds from his mouth; he thinks of nothing except Jesus crucified for us, and whatever

Homily XVII. Fo. XL.

he restrains: he calms avarice, [unclear] sloth, mitigates [unclear], uproots pride by the roots. Moreover, no passion of a carnal thing wearies the mind of a man whom the passion of Christ truly occupies. O how sweetly he burns whom the memory of Jesus’ passion sweetly inflames. O how blessed is the mind that embraces the continual meditation of Christ’s death. O good Jesus, my love of the cross, who are the salvation and health of faithful souls, grant us to keep continual memory of your passion; grant to your servants always to commend the fasts begun with good works, because then our abstinence will be most pleasing to your uncircumscribable majesty, when it has been adorned with meditation on your precious blood; who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for all ages of ages.

Here ends Homily XVII.

On the sleep and wakefulness of monks. Homily XVII.

The monk who always thinks that he is going to die should permit his eyes to pass no time [unclear]. For Scripture says: “Remember your last things, and you will not sin forever.” Against the forgetful and uncertain, however, it is written: “A people without counsel and without prudence. Would that they were wise and understood and provided for their last things.” The remembrance of death brings watchfulness into the soul and extinguishes every disordered thought of the mind. He who rightly fears death never grows sluggish in good work. For the wise man says: “Whatever your hand can do, do it earnestly; for neither work nor reason nor wisdom nor knowledge will be in the lower world to which you are hastening.” For the monk who is a true worshiper of God spends no moment of time uselessly, but by nights and days, in the exercise of good work, always performs the watchfulness of the mind with the highest devotion; and while sleeping in body, steadfastly in [unclear] he says to the messengers of God: “I sleep, and my heart keeps watch.” Sleep is the image of death and the binding of the senses of the body; but he who is a true lover

On the sleep and wakefulness of monks.

[unclear]. For indeed they mercifully allowed monks in community a space of five hours before the night praises, and likewise added two, or two and a half, after matins for sleep. He for whom this time, namely seven hours, is not sufficient for rest shows himself a very sluggish and slothful monk. Hence we are admonished to keep watch not only in mind but also in body, since he who disdains to keep watch bodily in the service of God is scarcely able to preserve his body in true purity.

Let us keep watch, therefore, most beloved brothers, especially in these holy days of Lent, in which we have declared war on vices and are firmly prepared to conquer and overcome the ancient enemy, the devil. For you have heard the holy prince of the apostles admonishing in these words: “Brothers, be sober and keep watch.” Why did he give this warning? Because, he says, “your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; resist him, strong in faith.”

And so, my brothers, let us keep watch as long as we are set in battle, lest at any time, weighed down by drowsiness or idleness, we be overcome by the adversary of our salvation. For as long as we live in the flesh, it is necessary that by watchfulness and chastisement of our body we fight bravely against the enemy. Let the labor of the contest not frighten you, because although our adversary is troublesome, nevertheless he is so weak and feeble that he can overcome no one except one who is willing, and one who has utterly cast off all guard over himself.

But the Lord Jesus Christ is our strong helper and protector, who grants strength to those who fight eagerly and will bestow on the victors an unfading crown in heaven with all his saints. As dust is scattered by the wind, so our adversary the devil, confounded and terrified by the voice of those singing psalms with humble devotion, is driven away. Therefore let none of you, most beloved brothers, act negligently; let no one in the time of prayer grow dull through sluggishness of mind and drowsiness; let no one fear the contest with the devil with disordered fear.

Stand manfully for the perpetual salvation of your souls, fighting against a weak adversary, and hold your own flesh no less suspect than demons. For you know, as not only Scripture testifies but also long experience teaches, that the flesh desires against the spirit; and therefore the monk who is not harmed by the wantonness of his own flesh is rarely overcome by demons in the contest. Walk, therefore, in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

Let him who is watchful and a strong fighter rouse the weaker brother, who is sluggish in devotion, and restore him as far as he can, both by words and by examples, to the holy fervor of the spirit. Let him who is spiritual among you not despise his disorderly brother, but rather bring him back through humble admonition to the pursuit of piety. For Scripture says: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

For indeed, if, consenting together in brotherly love toward one another through faith in Jesus Christ, you have always been of one mind, without doubt you will easily conquer your adversary the devil. For where the true charity of Christ makes monks living in a monastery of one mind, there God is worshiped in all holiness; there the invisible presence of holy angels is believed to be present, through whom the rashness of malignant spirits is restrained. In such a congregation of saints God dwells, whom the army of the heavenly kingdom praises together with the voices of the monks singing psalms. A multitude of monks fervent in the love of God is the paradise of the delights of heavenly graces. A city adorned with a multitude of towers is a congregation of monks thinking the same thing in the Lord.

Keep watch, my brothers, I beseech you, keep watch in holy prayers, and especially at that time shake off drowsiness and dullness of mind when you stand in church before the Lord to sing psalms. For if, standing before God in psalmody, you are fervent in prayer, you will without doubt feel his grace present with you. For he is estranged in mind from the purpose of a monk who while praying thinks of something else, and offers his mind to be stirred not by divine things but by transient matters or occupations. For you know what our holy founder Benedict says in the Rule: “If,” he says, “we wish to suggest anything to powerful men, we do not presume to do so except with humility and reverence; how much more must supplication be made to the Lord God of all with all humility and devotion of purity; and let us know that we are heard not in much speaking, but in purity of heart and compunction of tears.” Since, however, for us singing psalms

Homily XVII.

[unclear] we believe God to be present everywhere, great reverence is needed in prayer, so that our mind may agree in every respect with our voice. Let us therefore consider, brothers, before whom we stand, and to whom, in the sight of the angels, we recite the psalms in prayer; for the monk who, at the time of prayer, [unclear] vain thoughts [unclear] are very necessary to him: but, summoned by his servant, he leaves the king and turns himself to the servant’s vain and useless conversations. Truly anyone who did this would be judged foolish by all, and would rightly seem deserving of the severest punishments.

But what does the monk deserve who, standing before the highest king of all things and speaking with him about the things that pertain to the salvation of his body, admits into his mind thoughts that are harmful, or even destructive? If one who mocks and despises an earthly king is punished by beheading, what does one deserve who despises the heavenly emperor? Therefore I admonish you, brothers, and with all the sincerity I can I ask that, having purified your hearts, especially at the time of prayer, from the stain of wicked thought, you receive in the mind only what you sing aloud with the mouth.

As the angels stand always before God with fear and the greatest reverence, singing an everlasting hymn of praise, so let us also take care, my brothers, to stand before him with a pure heart, a clean conscience, and most fervent devotion, so that we may be able to sing his praises much more in spirit than in body. Let us therefore separate our minds from all earthly affairs; let us cleanse our consciences from all enticements of the flesh; let us put on the fervor of the Holy Spirit; and let us drive far from us all sluggishness and idleness. For just as a heavy load weighs down the back of a slothful man, so drowsiness at the time of psalmody is accustomed to oppress the minds of monks.

Nothing harms monks more than sloth, which little by little enfeebles all the powers of the mind and extinguishes the whole fervor of the spirit. For when a monk has begun to fall away from the fervor of holy devotion, countless evil thoughts enter the mind; and he can now drive them away so much the less, the farther he is convicted of having withdrawn from his former fervor. Hence drowsiness arises [unclear] by the display of services; the mind is burdened by sadness and melancholy, which the monk, growing lukewarm in spirit, strives with all effort to relieve not by spiritual but by earthly and fleshly little consolations. And as he proceeds longer in this alienation of mind, he is hardened, now almost insensible, against the exercise of compunction; and the more he longs for the consolations of the flesh, the farther he wanders from the inward fervor of the spirit.

For what makes you drowsy at the time of psalmody except sloth? For the mind that has fallen into torpor soon makes the body doze. But again I admonish you, brothers, as I have more often been accustomed to do, that you especially avoid idleness and drowsiness at the time of prayer, since, just as drunkenness brings forgetfulness into the soul, so also drowsiness makes the mind unsound and foolish before God. Wash away this vice of drowsiness, O you young men, by which we grieve that some of the seniors have long since been infected through long habit; among them dozing in choir is familiar, and compunction of mind toward God is exceedingly rare.

Beware, I say, this evil habit of sleeping, which, after it has once led a monk away captive, rarely allows him to be free. Therefore at the beginning of conversion young men especially must fight against this most pernicious enemy of religion, as someone said in verse: “Resist at the beginnings; medicine is prepared too late when evils have gained strength through long delays. But on that account do not put yourself off into coming hours; he who is not ready today will be less ready tomorrow.” For it is difficult to cure a sickness that has become old through long duration.

Let us see with how much diligence and attentiveness servants stand before earthly kings and princes, so that we may not be ignorant of how it befits us to stand in prayers before God, who alone is king of all and lord of the universe. The eyes of all look to the lord, and all and each hang most attentively upon his nod, lest anything commanded by him escape those standing by through negligence. From this, then, let us consider with how great purity we ought to stand before the Lord God in the assembly of prayer, day and night, from whom we desire to obtain the kingdom of eternal happiness. Not the voice, not

On the sleep and wakefulness of monks.

[unclear]; but the intention of one who is fervent in the love of God deserves to be heard. Therefore flee drowsiness and torpor of mind as a deadly poison, because sleep and idleness are the wellspring of all vices. A watchful eye, however, is the servant of inward devotion, and the monk who truly loves Jesus Christ guards himself from every excess. He who is watchful sharpens the mind with understanding; but the monk who sleeps much shamefully blinds his soul. A monk watchful in prayer and fasting is fearsome to the devil; but he who is sated with food and sleep is not allowed to rest by the spirit of fornication. For wakefulness dedicated to prayers breaks the frenzy of luxury, and powerfully extinguishes the fire of desire; it purifies the inmost parts of the heart, enlightens the mind, and inflames the affection toward the love of heavenly things. Wakefulness is the mother, nurse, and guardian of good thoughts, the certain victory over the temptations of the ancient enemy, the flight of phantasms, the death of vices, and the life and fountain of all virtues. Sleep, however, is the companion and fosterer of lust for many, the robber of human life, the image of death, the procurer of oblivion, the partner of sloth. Immoderate sleep corrupts the stomach, harms the brain, and dissolves both body and soul. A monk frequently given over to sleep despises wisdom, prostitutes chastity, neglects the salvation of the soul, loses precious time, kills the mind, and nourishes vices. Therefore whichever of you, dearly beloved brothers, desires to arrive at the rest of heavenly felicity, let him forcefully repel from himself all torpor and sloth of mind; let him learn first to conquer himself, so that thereafter he may be able to overcome the devil, the enemy of his salvation. For unless you have first exterminated the evil that is in you, when will you overcome that which comes from outside? Learn to command your passions, and, with the Lord’s help, you will easily overcome all things that happen outwardly. Cleanse the mind from every disordered desire, so that in truth you may love Jesus alone above all things, with whom you hope to rejoice forever. But no one will reign with Christ in heaven who does not imitate him with holy conduct while living on earth, as sacred Scripture says: He who says that he remains in Christ ought himself also to walk just as he walked. For the Lord Jesus, who by his death freed us from the destruction of eternal damnation, himself voluntarily became mediator of God and men; he himself is the way by which the path of life must be continued for us; he himself is the norm and rule of saving conduct for Christians. No one comes to God except through Christ; no one will see the Father except through the Son. Therefore, if you wish to come to salvation, you must pass through the Savior. For he himself said in the holy Gospel: No one comes to the Father except through me. And that other saying: I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will find the pasture of eternal life. And again: I am the way, the truth, and the life. Through this way, I pray you, my brothers, always walk by pious and holy conduct; fervently love this truth with a pure heart; hasten ardently toward this life, which alone is lasting. Let the teaching of Christ never withdraw from your hearts, but remain in memory at all times, since he refuses to become his true imitator who has not been exercised day and night in meditation on his words. Therefore, always watchful in prayers, live with such purity of mind that, when Jesus Christ our Lord calls you in the hour of death, you may deserve to hear him with joy: he who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one almighty God, forever and ever. Amen.

On patience and meekness. Homily XVIII.

Among all professors of the Christian faith there is today no class of men for whom the virtue of patience seems more necessary than for the company of monks. For in these our days, as the charity of many grows cold, to use Paul’s expression, we have been made a spectacle to mortals, so that wherever a monk comes among worldly men, he is marked out by the fingers of almost all who see him to be mocked and derided. Why I have said this you know, you who are not ignorant of what recently happened in the town of Bingen. A drunken crowd of young men and boys received a monk

Homily XVIII.

Folio XLII.

...someone passing along the public road, and, as though he had presented himself as a traveler because of the rain, threw him into the mud; and by treating the man with injury he made him a pitiable spectacle of his own shamelessness. No one was present to restrain the insolent men; yet the monk’s patience overcame the raging men, and, full of the love of Christ, while he was being mistreated he answered nothing other than “Thanks be to God.” Thus the more he showed himself tranquil in mind and spirit, the more the scoundrels dragged the innocent man about, thinking that he was heated with wine, whom the love of Christ had made joyful and glad.

He left to all monks a great lesson in patience: when he could have avenged himself, he did not wish to do so though wronged. Would that, my brothers, for love of God and for our sins, we were as patient in the smallest things as that good man was in the greatest. There are among you certain men, I say it unwillingly, too insolent and impatient, who are moved to anger by a word, even one not insulting; and while they are justly corrected for their negligences, they unjustly murmur, adding sin to sin through impatience.

But to what end do I set before them the patience of the man just mentioned, when they do not heed Jesus Christ, the most patient of all men? Indeed, whoever does not embrace patience and humility after the example of the King of heaven is brought back to gentleness by the imitation of no man. For the Son of God is the highest and supreme example of patience and humility; whoever is not bent to endurance by the recollection of his passion is rightly judged hardened and a companion of demons.

No good Christian doubts that the words of our Lord Jesus Christ are true. But Christ says in the holy Gospel: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. If the meek are to be called blessed, what prevents the rancorous, wrathful, and unmeek from being named accursed? Certainly nothing. And if, as the Lord himself and our Savior Jesus Christ bears witness, we possess our souls in patience, there is no doubt that we lose them through impatience.

It is therefore especially fitting that monks be meek, gentle, and patient, who have solemnly devoted themselves to the imitation of Christ and the apostles. But Christ, the meekest of all, commands his disciples and imitators in the Gospel, saying: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Hence the holy bishop Augustine says: If you wish to reign with Christ in heaven, first learn from him to be meek, patient, humble, and gentle; for unless you have lived in this world after the imitation of his life, you will by no means reign with him forever.

The divine Ambrose also says: When I have laid aside every sin, and stripped off every malice, and, content with simplicity, have been poor in evils, it remains that I temper my morals. For what does it profit me to be free of crimes, unless I have been meek and gentle? But he is meek who yields to wickedness and does not resist in evil, but overcomes evil with good. And he is gentle, as Chrysostom bears witness, who, when he has been provoked by injuries, neither thinks of doing evil nor does it.

Cassiodorus, however, says: We call the gentle “accustomed to the hand,” that is, patient and meek, who tolerate the iniquities of others and do not presume to burden anyone. Of such persons it is said in the psalm: My soul shall be praised in the Lord; let the gentle hear and rejoice. He did not say, Let those skilled in the law rejoice, nor those who fast, nor those who sing psalms, but the gentle, who, together with charity, have been accustomed above all to have moderation in all things.

But those are truly meek, gentle, and patient who harm no one, injure no one, offend absolutely no one, but, standing firm in their simple humility, always bear all injuries, insults, and mockeries evenly for the love of Christ, and are moved by no pain of spirit against those who harm them, just as we have already said that monk was, whom at Bingen the raging boys treated with exceedingly insulting behavior.

But it is easy to be meek, patient, and gentle so long as nothing is done except according to the will and judgment of the one who is patient. Yet it will become clear how far he is from true gentleness if a slight occasion arises. It is a great virtue if you do not harm the one by whom you have been harmed; great strength of soul if, for the love of God, you forgive injury to the one who inflicts it; great glory if you observe the commandment of Christ and pour out prayers for those who injure you. No one has known the powers of his own soul whom a notable insult has not yet burned; let no one boast himself meek or patient who has not been sated with reproaches. There is no patience without adversity, nor gentleness without insult, since if due

On Patience and Gentleness

If you wish to keep the bounds of endurance, first of all there will have to be someone present who inflicts an insult. “If I had lived,” says the lazy and sensual monk, “in the days of the martyrs, I would have feared to undergo no kinds of punishments for the love of Christ; I would voluntarily have exposed my body to the torturers, so that I might carry off the crown of martyrdom.” Great is the rashness of folly. You have never been able to suffer a word patiently for the love of God, and do you promise the steadfastness of the holy martyrs? You fear a light correction, you who promise that you will give your body for Christ.

If martyrdom delights you, hear what the most blessed pope Gregory says. If, with Christ helping us, we strive to preserve the virtue of patience and live in the peace of the Church, we also hold the palm of martyrdom. For we can be martyrs without sword and flame, if we truly keep patience in our soul. To die at the hands of a persecutor is martyrdom in open deed; but to bear insults and love the one who hates you is martyrdom in hidden thought. Patience, however, is to endure another’s evils with equanimity, and not to be gnawed by any grief against the one who brought the evil.

What now will you say, lazy monk, who, incapable of suffering the very light martyrdom of words, boast so insolently of steadfastness in shedding blood? Learn, wretch, to have patience in light matters, and consider that, as Scripture says, if a man is unfaithful in a little, who would entrust to him what is greater? You murmur at everything that happens in the monastery; when rebuked, however gently, for your grave offenses and negligences, you bear it most impatiently. In your eyes no one walks rightly in the monastery; no one except you, in your estimation, conducts himself religiously. You alone, as it seems to you, are holy in the monastery; you, most learned of all, concede that no one knows what you alone do not know. You think yourself, above all others, worthy of all honors, because you not only lack patience, but retain neither true humility nor obedience.

This is not the way by which one goes to the kingdom of heaven: when in the school of humility a monk is proud, and by his conduct a Christian lives contrary to Christ. But a monk, the solemnly sworn servant of Jesus Christ, in order that he may imitate his Lord, ought not to be proud but humble, obedient not rebellious, gentle not cruel, nor insolent but mild. But a monk who is proud, wrathful, contentious, and a lover of his own will, such as, alas, those set over temporal affairs often are, whom among us according to the Rule we call cellarers: their pride has made for many a road to destruction.

Grief compels me to speak, and shame forbids me, although you all know the fall by which the devil lately brought shame upon us in the case of a brother. Who in our whole congregation was prouder than he? Who went about filled with greater insolence? But because he seemed among us to have greater experience in temporal matters, on that account he considered himself superior to all. The Almighty permitted him to fall, so that he who, [unclear], had refused to recognize his own weakness, at last confounded, not without the scandal of many, might understand that God is the adversary of the proud.

I grieve vehemently, and more than can be said; the fault of the man who fell seems to me heavier, because by his fall we are all confounded. May God grant him to do true penance, so that those who had been scandalized by his fall may be edified by his satisfaction before God and men. Pride has always been destructive to monks; and the mind of a man which it has once invaded it sinks into the pit of all vices. Beware pride, my brothers, because it is the beginning of every sin; it is that which through the envy of the devil introduced death into the world. Pride is the death of all virtues, and the source and spring of all vices. Humility, however, the nurse of virtues, most befits monks, because it makes them both mild and gentle. For every proud man is impatient, and every arrogant man an enemy of gentleness. He who is humble of heart has patience in adversities for the love of God; and he who is tranquil in soul in the face of injuries merits a double crown.

A patient man in adversities becomes close to God; but he who is proud and impatient gladdens his enemies. For Scripture says: Better is the patient man than the strong man, and he who rules his own soul than the conqueror of cities. Likewise the holy bishop Augustine says: The just and pious man ought to be ready to endure patiently the malice of those whom he desires to become good, so that rather the number of the good may increase, and not that by equal malice someone should add himself to the number of the evil. For patience is very necessary for us, brothers, so that, doing God’s holy will, we may receive in Christ

All things. XVIII. Fol. XLIII.

Promise. Daily there are adversities at hand for us by which we may be exercised; therefore, just as a cause for endurance is never lacking, so, I pray, may necessary patience always be present. We are oppressed by want and poverty of necessary things; we are burdened by traffic with the weak flesh; besides, the world tempts us in order to entice us; the devil tempts us in order to seduce us. Among so many adversaries of our salvation, it is necessary, brothers, that we keep watch in all patience and humility, since in this pilgrimage, as long as we live, we are placed, so to speak, in the midst of evils. Our poverty ought to suffice us, because it does not belong to monastic religion to be exalted in temporal things, but rather to be cast down, so that monks, poor in imitation of Christ, who was made poor for us, may deserve to glory with him forever in heaven.

What if we see certain wicked men and sinners in the world abounding in riches? If good and just men are rich in this world, provision is made by God’s providence not for their strength but for their weakness, so that by benefits they may be called forth to better things. “I was young,” says the prophet, “and have grown old, and I have not seen the just man forsaken, nor his seed begging.” “Cast,” he says, “your thought upon the Lord, and he himself will nourish you; he will not forever give wavering to the just.” The Lord Jesus knows what is fitting for each one of his little servants for salvation, and therefore he dispenses the gifts of the present life unequally according to the capacity of individuals. For all things are not fitting for all; therefore, among the just in this world, with respect to temporal goods, some are poor, while others are wealthy. Concerning the poor the Lord Jesus says in the holy Gospel: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And through the prophet he speaks, saying: “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of poverty.” For it does not conduce to eternal salvation for all to possess the riches of this world; rather, it is expedient for some to be poor and for others to be wealthy, according as the Lord of all has provided what is more useful for each.

Concerning just and good rich men. The blessing of the Lord makes men rich, and affliction will not be joined to it. But if the wicked and reprobate abound in riches in this age, this ought not move the good to indignation; rather let them fear him who leaves no good unrewarded and no evil unpunished. For the wicked, whom he cannot reward in heaven because of their iniquity, he rewards in this life for their good deeds; and for the good, whom he nourishes here in poverty, he preserves eternal rewards in heaven for the merit of justice. But just as not all the poor in this world are just and good, so not all those rich in temporal goods in this life are wicked. The reward of the wicked on earth should rightly be borne without indignation, since not love of God but justice has willed it to be present. Hence, just as the wicked have nothing in heaven, so you who have professed monastic poverty ought to have nothing on earth; but in hope of that good toward which you strive, whatever adversity befalls you on the way, you ought to bear it most patiently. For, as Paul, the holy lover of Christ, says: “The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us.” Let those who are rich in Christ join mercy to humility; but those who are poor, let them take patience with innocence for the love of God. For the soldier of Christ is neither cast down by poverty nor lifted up by riches, but, standing firm in himself, with tranquil spirit he serves the King of heaven and cares nothing for transitory things. Thus the true monk is neither exalted by praises nor broken by reproach; he is not swollen by an abundance of necessary things, nor contracted by poverty; he despises both prosperity and adversity alike, because, as the prophet had said, “the sun shall not burn him by day, nor the moon by night.”

But we, dearest brothers, let us make a virtue and a good will out of necessity, and out of the disadvantage of poverty, which we must necessarily endure, let us acquire for ourselves a great and useful patrimony of goods; this can at last be done if, for the love of God, we bear this very want manfully and with tranquil spirit. The deformed conduct of our predecessors brought upon this monastery the poverty that we suffer; but the mercy of almighty God, if we have kept his commandments with a perfect heart, will without doubt relieve it in time. For almost two hundred years back, as far as we can ascertain both by conjecture and from the writings of those who preceded us—

On patience and gentleness

[unclear]: the purity of monastic institution in this monastery of Spanheim, as also in almost all others, failed; and the disordering of the life of the monks utterly dissipated the entire substance of earthly goods.

Indeed, when, in the Christian year one thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, Frederick, count palatine and duke of Bavaria, a most Christian man who resided in Simmern, held the corrupt life of the monks in his principality in very great hatred, he reformed three monasteries after expelling the deformed monks, and introduced men very well trained from other monasteries. And first indeed he brought back two monasteries of regular canons of Saint Augustine to the observance of regular discipline: Ravengiersburg, namely, among the [unclear], and Schwabenheim among the [unclear], in the district of the Nahegau. Lastly, in the aforesaid year of the Lord, he also renewed this present monastery of ours, Spanheim, for the reform of the order; and, after removing the abbot together with five monks, he restored in their place four others by observance, over whom he set my predecessor Johannes of Kölnhausen, now serving as abbot in Seligenstadt.

But they found the place oppressed by such poverty and burdened with another’s debt that there was no one who believed it could be restored, since all the annual revenues had either been sold or alienated under title of redemption; nor was anything at all left from which they might live. Present as reporter and witness of the things we say is our brother Heinrich, one of the first four reformers sent from Mainz; from his mouth you will learn everything more fully. And behold, the seventeenth year is now passing since this place began to be restored under the chapter of the reformed union of Bursfelde, and still we are being tried by no small poverty.

I have said these things for this reason, brothers: that you may know that we do not bear alone the necessity we suffer, since those four men who first reformed the monastery endured heavier things; for beans and peas had satisfied their bellies, and a thin drink of pear-cider furnished them drink by measure. The mercy of God called us to this place, that through patience we may overcome the [unclear] of our salvation, so that, according to the counsel of the divine apostle, having scant food and a garment with which to cover ourselves, content and giving thanks to the Lord, we may serve in cheerfulness of mind.

For we are not called to feasts of the flesh, nor to the delights of this world, not to pleasures nor to the comforts of the present life, but to serve as soldiers for the Lord and our emperor Jesus Christ in abstinence from all the delights of this age, in a pure conscience and humility of heart. Attend now therefore to your calling, monks, and do not corrupt the purpose of holiness, if you desire to come to the glory of God.

Woe to you, faithless monk, who, made a despiser of your calling and a transgressor of your vow, live in the monastery not monastically; you who were called to tolerate tribulation patiently for love of God, and inquire about refreshment. For your profession commands you to go humbly content in every vileness and extremity of clothing, and you do not fear to devote effort to curiosity about garments. You have been called to thirst, and you, despising drinking water, delight in drinking wine to satiety, against the monastic canon. You were made a monk to fight bravely against the adversary of your salvation, and you, having cast away from yourself the arms of the virtues, proceed lazy, idle, and naked; indeed, what is more serious, accompanied by a troop of vices. You were invited to keep watch in holy prayers, and you are dissolved by sluggish sleep and base idleness. You were called into the subjection of humble obedience, and you, swollen with pride, despise obeying the commands of the elders. You were called into charity, and you do not fear to carry hatred against your brother in your breast. You were called to weeping and tears, and [unclear] with deep, disordered laughter. The Lord called you to penitence in the monastery, and you, dissolved into wantonness, join sin to sin. You were called to meditate day and night on the law of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you walk after vanity, applying yourself to tales and perishable things. You were called to heaven, and you, loving the world, pursue earthly things. The Lord called you into the meekness of humility, and you proceed full of rancor and pride. You were called by the Lord to the perfection of the purest monastic way of life, and you, like beasts of burden, rot away in the dung of vanity and negligence. To the observance

All things. XVIII. Folio XLIII.

... you have been called by the gifts of God; and you, given over to the pleasures of the flesh, think of nothing less than Christ. You have been invited to love the Lord Jesus above all things, and you walk according to the evil desires of your heart; you show yourself ungrateful to your Redeemer. You, who ought to have lived by the spirit, savor earthly things, and, sunk in pride, despise all the holy exercises of spiritual conduct.

And what will you answer on that day of judgment to the Judge, who will say to you, most ungrateful one: I, who am Lord of all things, humbled myself for your sake, taking the form of a servant and being found in appearance as a man; I poured out my blood for you; for you I endured blows; and for you I underwent a death exceedingly bitter, by my own free will. I, O monk, loved you with my whole heart; I redeemed you by my blood from perpetual death; I called you in love to the heavenly kingdom, if you had kept my commandments. But you lived in opposition to my precepts, and, what is worse, though you had sworn upon my words, you were not afraid to show yourself an apostate and impious traitor against me, your Lord. Now therefore render an account of your stewardship.

What then will you answer, O lazy and idle monk, who now consume this acceptable time so fruitlessly, and despise living in true monastic purity according to the rule? What, I say, will you answer? Will you deny the works of depravity that you have committed, and show deceitfully the good works that you now scorn to perform, so that by a lie you may circumvent the Judge and thus escape the punishment due to your demerits? But you must not be ignorant that all things that you have done, said, or thought throughout your whole life, good and evil, are manifest in the sight of the Judge, and nothing can be hidden from him, who alone knows all things. For all things are written in the book of God, and your conscience will bear open testimony against you concerning all things badly done, so that not even the least thought will be able to be hidden. For the scripture of the prophets says to God: “Because the thought of man shall confess to you.” You are before the tribunal of the all-knowing Judge, before whose terrible judgment every creature will stand with very great fear and trembling; there no excuse at all is admitted, but each shall receive the sentence due to his merits, with appeal set aside. Thousands of thousands and ten hundred thousand holy spirits will attend him; and do you trust that you can deceive the Judge by a lie?

But hear my counsel, and, rising from your ruinous sloth, at last, while there is time, return to righteousness. Do not put it off from day to day, because it is exceedingly dangerous for one remaining in sins to be confident, and to reject the remedy of salvation that is offered. Remember that you are going to die, and when you do not expect it you will be called to judgment. Consider, I beg you, how uncertain the time of life is, how it slips away, and how quickly all mortal things are corrupted. Nothing among human things is stable, nothing fixed, nothing firm; but all things that we see are corruptible, and are changed with time.

Consider also where now our brothers Valentius, Martin, and John are, who in the present year, living with us, were healthy, unharmed, and glad; they spoke with us alike, ate, drank, and labored, thinking of nothing less than that they would die this year. Behold, when they did not think it, death came and seized them, and set their souls before the tribunal of the fearful Judge, who rendered to each according to the works of his hands. Behold, now learn by the example of your brothers that you too are going to die, and perhaps you will pass from this world much sooner than you can estimate.

Come to your senses, wretched man, while you still can; do penance in the time of your health, when the Judge promises mercy, and do not put off today’s good into the uncertainty of tomorrow. Rise up, even now, late though it is, at last from the sloth of your too negligent past conduct, in which you have hitherto shamefully rotted; and cleanse your conscience from every stain of sin; wipe away with tears the evil that you have committed; and from now on live innocently, as befits a monk. Take up the perfect resolution of amendment, and understand that the kingdom of heaven is promised not to those who begin the good, but to those who persevere unto the end. Know also that heaven is not reached by sloth and torpor, but by great labor, by the very great effort of a will to make progress, and by unwearied zeal for spiritual exercise.

Therefore, wishing to serve the Lord and to please him in truth, always remain within yourself, fearful in dread, and prepare your soul for temptation. One must resist strongly disordered impulses and desires

On patience and meekness

of the flesh: one must resist, with a most steadfast mind, all the allurements and vanities of the world; through prayers and greatness of spirit the demon, the adversary of our salvation, must be put to flight. No drowsy, lazy, and slothful person has ever come to the kingdom of God; no one has obtained heaven without continual labor and much sweat. For the Lord says in the holy Gospel: The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent, that is, those who have learned to resist steadfastly the evil desires of the flesh, seize it.

Review the deeds of all the saints, and nowhere will you find anyone made holy without great and continual labor. For although no one becomes holy by his own powers, nevertheless, by the gracious mercy of the almighty Lord, which grants to those who struggle both the will to do good and the strength, no one is sanctified without works of a good and right will. Since, therefore, God wishes all human beings to be saved and none to perish, we, my brothers, must take the greatest care not to receive his grace in vain, but rather must strive with all our powers, so that, as [a field?] [unclear], we may always respond to the free gifts of so great a sower with worthy fruits from works of good will.

Let us therefore arm ourselves with the shield of faith, and put on the breastplate of steadfastness and saving patience, so that, prepared against all things that can befall us, through humility and the fervor of the Holy Spirit, with our Lord Jesus Christ helping us, we may conquer. In all these things patience is very necessary for us; without its aid there never was, nor could there ever be, perseverance in good and holy works. For there was no other road to heaven for the saints than patience, nor could anyone ever be sanctified who cast patience away.

Indeed, all who have pleased almighty God from the beginning of the world down to this our age have triumphed over the prince of the world in no other way than through patience. Hence all of them could most rightly say that saying of the psalmist: For your sake we are put to death all day long; we are regarded as sheep for slaughter. The most holy apostle of Christ, Paul, also, commemorating the patience of the saints of old, says among other things: They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, needy, distressed, afflicted, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, in mountains, in caves and caverns of the earth. For all who wish to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution, because, as the prophet says: Many are the tribulations of the righteous, and from all these the Lord will deliver them.

Patience, therefore, is necessary for all mortals, and it especially befits cloistered persons, since just as adversities are never lacking to the righteous in this world, so no one will be justified without patience. There are, moreover, three principal degrees of patience, as the diligence of the ancients has distinguished them. The first, and weakest, is that of those people who neither seek adversities nor willingly endure them, but when they occur are weighed down in spirit and cast down by sorrow. They even complain at times and murmur for a while against those who inflict them; but after the inflamed agitation of the mind has passed, they return to themselves, and seem to endure patiently, without vengeance, the insult inflicted upon them. Yet the patience of these people, being of no great virtue, is always very near to the fault of an unquiet mind, and therefore must often be judged of no merit, and sometimes of lesser merit.

And although such people in our times are said to have the virtue of patience, who, though they do not seek to suffer evils, nevertheless when they come receive them willingly and kindly, and embrace them most patiently as a gift sent from God. And such people are truly to be called patient, who, kindled by divine love, endure with equanimity whatever adversity may come, and in tribulation preserve the same disposition that they had before. I would not doubt that the most holy Job the Idumaean was of their number: struck not only by extreme adversity, he bore all things patiently, but even when placed in the abyss of evils, giving thanks, he blessed the Lord, saying: The Lord gave, the Lord took away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done; blessed be the name of the Lord.

It is fitting that all Christians, and before others especially cloistered persons, observe this degree of patience. For the wise man says: The learning of a man through

Homily XVIII. Fol. XLV.

patience is discerned. For the more learned each person has been in the law of the Lord and in knowledge of the ordinance of rational nature, the more patient he will be in adversity. What if, as a lover of truth, I speak more boldly: adversities profit us more than prosperous things, if we are learned and not forgetful weighers of our own condition. But the third degree of patience, certainly the highest and most perfect beyond the rest, is rightly granted to those who not only, when there is need, endure contrary things with equanimity for the love of God and the benefit of the brethren, but who also, more fervent and inflamed with the spirit of charity, thrust themselves forward of their own accord and hasten gladly to receive insults and injuries. And this kind of patience is divided in two ways, just as a twofold account of martyrdom is found. For some, though they could have lain hidden in the persecution of believers, with the charity of Christ burning in them, under no compulsion but by their own free will, presented themselves to the tribunals of persecutors; publicly confessing him as redeemer of the world, they received with joy the torments inflicted on them. Others, however, did not thrust themselves forward of their own accord, yet gladly received the martyrdom offered them, always prepared to endure for the faith of Christ whatever the cruelty of tyrants could inflict. To this degree hasten the most shining confessors, by merit very near to them; and if the cruelty of the impious, by persecuting them, did not take them away, nevertheless they in no way lost the glory of martyrdom. For, crucifying their flesh in this world for the name of Christ, they endured both a voluntary and a lasting martyrdom; through abstinence and humility they were made glorious, always remaining steadfast in spirit and most patient, and most ready to receive martyrdom bodily. Therefore take care, O monks, to be imitators of these according to your powers; and since enemies who kill the body for Christ are now lacking, by struggling against the desires of the flesh and by patiently enduring adversities for the love of God, show yourselves martyrs in mind and spirit. The best kind of martyrdom in the peace of the saints is to afflict the flesh for the name of God through abstinence, to desire nothing in this world, always to make progress in good works, and if anything evil should befall, to bear it in all things gladly and patiently with cheerfulness of mind. Henceforth, dearest brethren, live according to this rule of patience, if you desire to reign eternally with Christ. Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ: let each person gladly bestow upon his brother what he desires to be done for himself.

On the True Humility of Monks: Nineteenth Homily.

It is almost the opinion of all the learned, dearest brethren, that the highest and chief virtue of monks is none other than humility, because it is itself the mother and nurse of all virtues. For humility makes the monk; pride destroys and corrupts him. Hence the Lord says through Isaiah: To whom shall I look, if not to the poor little one and the contrite in spirit, and the one who trembles at my words? For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, because pride is the beginning of every sin, and without true humility no one can obtain salvation. Since this is so, I think it necessary for me, brethren, to exhort you without ceasing that, fleeing pride, you always preserve profound humility in all your works. Indeed no good work is believed to please the Lord God if it is presented without the seasoning of humility. For humility is the most healthful medicine of faithful souls, which provides for all, because it presses down the swollen ulcers of the spirit, restores what is wasting away, corrects what is depraved, and removes what is overgrown. O humility, mother and parent of all virtues, you strengthen patience, stir up compunction, illuminate charity, adorn chastity, make prayer fruitful, and commend fasting and abstinence. O holy humility, truly beloved of God, you justify the impious through penance; you preserve the just man in the purpose of holiness; you powerfully open heaven to your lovers; you close hell to the penitent. O humility to be venerated, exceedingly pleasing to God, you compelled the Son of the eternal Father to descend from heaven into the womb of Mary, the most chaste ark, the perpetual virgin; you made him appear visible to us, and you laid him, wrapped in poor cloths, in the manger, so that he might adorn us with the ornaments of perpetual blessedness in heaven. You [unclear] the Son of God by the circumcision of the flesh

On the True Humility of Monks.

you impelled [him] to undertake, so that, circumcised in mind, we might be able to enter into the promised inheritance of the saints. O humility of great power, which made the king of heaven and earth withdraw from the face of one most worthless little man, and dwell in seven years’ exile in the land of the Egyptians. You compelled Christ Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God, to assume a human body for our salvation, and made him undergo the most bitter passion and death by his voluntary will. Great is your dominion, O venerable humility of holiness, since to you the kingdom of heaven is promised; to your worshippers the gift of everlasting blessedness is granted; and whoever keeps to your footsteps is raised to the height of the angels, as Christ says in the holy Gospel: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” The [unclear] of heaven taught [unclear] when he said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Likewise the most blessed mother, the inviolate Virgin Mary, in her own sweetest canticle of praise, speaks thus of the Lord God: “He has cast down the mighty from their seats, and exalted the humble.” And the prophet says in the psalm: “The Lord has looked upon the prayers of the humble, and has not despised their petitions.” O prayer of one who humbles himself: it penetrates the clouds, and until it draws near it will not be comforted, and it will not depart until the Most High looks upon [what is] good. Humility makes the monk pure in his conscience most pleasing to God; and the more he casts himself down by humbling himself for the honor of God, the more glorious he will appear in the kingdom. The monk who truly humbles himself is made a son of the Most High through participation in grace, and will rejoice forever with the king of heaven, Jesus Christ. He who truly desires to imitate Christ should also assume true humility; clothed and fortified with it as with a breastplate of strength, he may do great things, and, thinking nothing of himself except humble things, may not incur the stain of vainglory. For this is the true perfection of monks: always humbly to recognize one’s own imperfection, and rather to reflect diligently on what good is lacking to him than on what he has. For true humility, through the desire of charity, is always stretched toward the things before it; and, a cautious rememberer of things past, it fears lest it lose what it has, and, desiring to acquire through the zeal of devotion what it does not yet have, in the fervor of holiness

All things, xix. Fol. XLVI.

[unclear] is raised up; it is sustained by the rock of humility alone. Indeed, if true humility is lacking, the whole gathering of the other virtues will be nothing other than a kind of ruin of a house built without foundation on sand. For in the spiritual building humility lays a stable foundation; charity orders the breadth of that house; the wall is raised on high by the continuous joining of good works in the fervor of the spirit; in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and in firm hope of the promise of eternal protection and blessedness it is set straight at the summit; and its length is arranged in the most beautiful order in the long-suffering of patience.

Therefore, my brothers, again and again I admonish, adjure, and beseech you to take care to found the building of spiritual exercise in the depth of humility, because no good work is pleasing to God that has been offered outside true humility. Now there are many things which are accustomed to stir the servants of God to true humility. For the consideration of their own worthlessness humbles some within themselves before God, because, when they consider that they have already often experienced themselves to be wretched and weak, they place all their hope and confidence in God, humbled. Others, weighing the multitude of God’s benefits toward them, fear the judgment of ingratitude; and therefore in the sight of God, with great fear and reverence of gratitude, they always walk humbly.

And who among us, brothers, is there to whom the compassion of almighty God has not granted many benefits, even singular ones? If we wish to be grateful for them, above all we must be humble. Others, converted by divine mercy after a multitude of sins to penitence, diligently recall to memory how many evils they have committed against the law of the almighty; and for these, humbled in bitterness of spirit, they detest their own impieties with horror. But we offend in many things; hence it is necessary that we humble ourselves always in mind and heart, and even in body, so that grace may abound where sin previously abounded.

Often, moreover, the providence of divine mercy permits certain persons to sin enormously for a time, so that afterward, converted to penitence, they may learn to remain in true humility. A humble penitent is higher than one who has not sinned but is proud, because humility justifies penitents, while pride condemns the arrogant eternally, even if they have done nothing else evil than this alone, that they are proud.

Others, carrying in their heart by daily meditation the bitter passion of Christ Jesus, humble themselves so much the more, the more they know that they are very insufficient debtors for such great and wondrous benefits of their Redeemer. The Son of God humbled himself, being made man for us, and, filled with many reproaches, voluntarily underwent the most shameful death of the cross, to free us from the destruction of perpetual death. What Christian man, and especially what monk, will not greatly humble his soul before God when he has recalled to memory such great humility of his Creator and Redeemer? Indeed, the man whom Christ’s humility does not stir to meekness: no admonitions of men will profit in him. In vain are we called monks, unless according to our strength we have humbly followed Christ. For this reason he said in the holy Gospel that he is the way, so that we may imitate his humility, and the way of life of so great a master may become the spiritual form of the disciple.

And so, brothers, as much as we can, let us labor with all our strength, since for us he humbled himself into such great humility. Therefore the highest medicine for inducing true humility in the servant of God is this: if daily and very often he recalls to memory the most bitter passion of Christ Jesus.

Tribulations, adversities, and illnesses, together with poverty or want, have also made many humble who perhaps in prosperous and favorable circumstances would have perished, puffed up. And we trust that the poverty which we often say conduces to our salvation does so, since we have a great cause of humility, but find no matter at all for elation and pride. Others, by continual exercise of virtues and by the memory of the death which they must necessarily suffer shortly, have come to great humility. Whom, even the proudest, would not the intent meditation of death humble? Or who is so fierce in spirit that he would not little by little lay aside his swelling pride, if he considered more diligently that he will die shortly? Therefore the conscience of a monk must by no remembrance drive from itself the thought of future death, so that he may remain both humble and sorrowful, so that, standing firm in humility, he may not [unclear].

On the true humility of monks.

Let continual sorrow forbid every wantonness to the heart. God’s gratuitous compassion also anticipates some men, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes them humble. Everyone who is led by the Spirit of God utterly detests pride. He who truly knows himself is most wise, and cannot depart from the meekness of humility. But everyone proud and arrogant is ignorant, even if he seems great and renowned among mortals. For true wisdom rests in the dwelling-place of holy humility, and it is shown the more clearly through the lesson of patience. From the knowledge of God and of oneself humility is born, and this is rightly called true wisdom. He who has truly known himself now has nothing from which to grow proud, because, knowing his own vileness, he thinks nothing lofty, but, placed in sorrow of soul, cries to the Lord: What is man, that you are mindful of him? or the son of man, that you regard him? Man has become like vanity; his days pass away like a shadow. Why then is earth and ashes proud? Why does the spirit of frail and mortal man swell against God?

Humble yourselves, therefore, my dearest brothers, as it is written, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation. For humility with chaste fear greatly pleases the Lord God in his servants, since he approves no virtue of man without it unto salvation. Therefore, if we desire to climb to the throne of the high kingdom of heaven, we must be very humble, because there is no other road to heaven except that of deepest humility, by which both the Son of God himself and all the saints ascended. But all who tried to enter the kingdom by another gate, struck back on the threshold of humility, with the head of pride [unclear], could by no means enter. For the gate of humility does not admit the proud, and [unclear] the narrow way to the kingdom [unclear], he undoubtedly falls into the depth of perdition and death.

For humility is the ladder of heaven, beautifully marked off by twelve steps; concerning its ascent our lawgiver Benedict says in the Rule: If we wish to attain the highest summit of humility, and to come swiftly to that heavenly exaltation, we must set up for ourselves that ladder which appeared to Jacob in a dream, by which angels were shown to him ascending and descending. Without doubt that descent and ascent is understood by us as nothing other than to descend by exaltation and to ascend by humility, as divine Scripture indicates to us: Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. But that ladder set upright is our life in this world, which, when the heart has been humbled, is raised up by the Lord into heaven. For we say that the sides of this same ladder are our body and soul. Into these sides the divine calling has inserted the various steps of humility and discipline to be climbed.

Thereafter he enumerates those twelve steps themselves in order with a sufficiently beautiful arrangement; since they are entirely well known to you, it would be superfluous to be occupied at greater length this time in reciting them. For it is enough in this place to remember the holy canon, upon whose words all of you long ago swore voluntarily, so that you may know that humility is no less necessary for your salvation than love of God and at the same time of neighbor. For the greatest virtue of a monk is said to be humility, and by reason of his profession it is so necessary that without it he cannot be saved. A monk lifted up in spirit and proud will not have Christ, the Son of God, in heaven, but with the demons in hell he will be tormented without end. For Christ, the master and teacher of humility, detests all the proud, and admits into his fellowship only the humble, the mild, and the meek. But the devil is the head and inventor of pride; his servants and disciples are all who follow his pride and haughtiness. For he himself, the king of the proud, cannot bear humility; he flees the meek, and does not presume to stand in the sight of those meek in heart. For in the assembly of the humble servants of God Christ dwells; but in the midst of the proud the devil stirs up quarrels and disputes among those at discord. Where humility has been, there is true peace and the highest tranquillity; but where pride rules, wrath, anger, disturbance, and discord without interruption throw everything into confusion.

Therefore beware pride, my brothers, because if it cast down the angels from heaven when they were lifted up, when would it not condemn poor cloistered men? It made demons out of angels; without doubt it makes companions of demons out of monks. To those who follow humility

All things. 19. Fol. 47.

[unclear] at all times, with all your strength and as much as you can, flee all pride and ostentation, for unless you greatly humble your souls, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Always walk before Jesus in the simplicity of your heart, having a pure conscience in all things, lest your humility become bestial; for it contributes nothing to salvation for a sinner to acknowledge himself publicly and, by persevering in evil, not amend his fault. For the true servant of Christ sanctifies his humility by good works, and amends every guilt of his past life by continual penitence. Daily he recalls to memory the evil that he remembers himself to have committed, and groans that he has gravely offended the Lord. Let him walk very cautiously, and so lament past sins committed that he in no way commit further things that must be lamented.

The monk who is truly humble follows the Lord Jesus with a pure conscience, and fears nothing in this world more than to offend the teacher whom he imitates. Whatever he does and wherever he goes, he always thinks of the Lord Jesus as present, and by continual meditation examines how he may please him alone. For this is true and Christian humility, and humble Christianity: to wash away sin in true compunction, and to preserve the conscience in all purity at all times, not only from fear, but rather from love of Christ. The true humility of monks continually does whatever good it can for the honor of God, and thinks that it will do nothing that it knows to displease Christ. The true humility of monks neglects none of those things which God has commanded, and always flees as deadly those things which he has forbidden.

The penitent monk, humble in compunction of tears and serving the Lord in the fervor of charity, is a companion of the holy angels, a friend to the citizens of heaven, and very formidable to demons. For demons fear and flee nothing more than the humility of the servants of Jesus Christ, because, since they themselves are most proud by their vicious will, they are most violently tormented by the devotion of the humble. For where there is true humility, demons cannot remain; for as ice is dissolved by fire, so malignant spirits are scattered from the presence of a humble monk.

O venerable mother and preserver of all virtues, humility: yours is the kingdom, yours the power; you confer the kingdom on the humble; you bestow the glory of eternal felicity on the meek; without your guidance no one comes to heaven; he who follows you does not fear hell. Whoever gathers works of virtue without you is like one who carries dust into the wind. You are the seasoning of all good works, for just as food in the mouth of the eater is not savory without salt, so without your companionship no one is established as a friend of God.

Humility made the Son of God man. Humility will make the servant of Christ equal to the holy angel. An angel, through pride in his own judgment, became a devil; and the Christian man through humility becomes an angel. Humility opens heaven to the meek servants of God, and pride plunges exalted men down to hell. Humility makes friends of God, and pride makes companions of demons. Humility illuminates the mind to true wisdom, and pride blinds the understanding of the one whom it has possessed. Humility, once all disordered affections have been purged, [unclear] the man whom it possesses; and pride fills its worshiper with all crimes and filthiness. Humility makes its lover a servant of God, but pride makes him a slave of the devil. Humility makes a man wise in the law of the Lord, but pride renders a man foolish in the knowledge of the Most High. Humility brings the poor man into fellowship with God, and pride makes the rich man a member of the devil. Humility is the mother and nurse of all virtues, and pride is the source of all vices. Humility, with charity mediating, covers a multitude of sins; but pride alone brings in the fullness of all vices. Humility makes the good works of monks most pleasing to God, but pride renders the pursuits of the proud idle before the Creator. Humility receives from the Lord whatever it has asked; but God almighty resists the prayers of the proud. Humility always has, in the mercies of the Lord, a pious confidence with gladness of mind; but pride, by the sting of despair, generates disturbance in man. Humility always has joy of spirit in the love of Christ; but pernicious fear always occupies pride. Humility, the fosterer of good works, neglects none of the spiritual exercises; but pride despises all pursuits of salvation. Humility justifies sinners; but pride condemns its followers. Humility makes one near to God; but pride makes one alien from the grace of God.

On the true humility of monks.

Humility eagerly obeys the commandments of God with a peaceful will; pride struggles against the precepts of the Most High. Humility heaps up the merits of everlasting happiness; pride, however, prepares for itself the most grievous torments of hell. Humility affords security at the point of death; but pride brings horrible fear and calamity to the dying man. Humility frees the soul of its worshipper from every distress in the dread judgment of God; but pride accuses before the Judge all the haughty whom it deceived in the world. Humility will place the servants of God at the Judge’s right hand; but pride will set those to be damned on the left. Humility will plead the cause for its own and will prevail in the judgment; but pride, utterly confounded, will hand over the haughty to the devil. Humility will repay its friends with the reward of eternal happiness; but pride will give the perpetual torments of damnation to all the haughty. Humility will be crowned in heaven without end; but pride in the lower world will suffer forever with the demons an inestimable torment. Humility, crowned, will reign with Christ in heaven; and pride, despised, will be tortured with the devil in punishments. Humility, [glad?] and glorious, will sit forever at the right hand of God; but pride, sad and ignominious, will lie without end in the torments of hell.

Then the humble will exult in glory, and all the proud, because of exceeding pain, will cry out in punishment for everlasting ages. There the humble will stand in the sight of God and of all the saints in great joy and everlasting exultation, receiving, for the voluntary poverty of this life, unfading riches; for meekness, a kingdom; for sadness, joy; for love of God, dominion; for contempt of the world and voluntary chastening of the flesh, heaven. But when the proud and arrogant, placed in hell, see the great glory of the humble whom they despised in the world, they will marvel at so sudden a change of the saints, and they will be troubled with horrible fear, groaning under the very great anguish of spirit and saying in the fury of pride: “These are the poor and humble monks, formerly clothed in vile garments, separated from men, abstaining from the eating of meats and from all uncleanness of the flesh, whom we once held in derision and as a likeness of reproach. Senseless, we judged their life madness and their end without honor. Behold how they have been counted among the sons of God, and their lot is among the saints.

Therefore we have strayed from the way of truth, and the light of justice has not shone upon us, and the sun of understanding has not risen for us. What now does pride profit us, by which, then puffed up, we despised the humble? And what does the boastfulness of riches possessed in the world confer on us? All things have passed away, and we, because of obstinacy, have been counted among the demons, since we always held humility in hatred; and without end we suffer inestimable torments. But the humble will live forever, and their reward is with the Lord, and the thought of them is with the Most High.”

Always think on these things beforehand, my brothers, since without doubt they will be so; and therefore seek true humility of mind, so that you may merit to obtain the rewards of eternal life. Amen.

On the true obedience of monks: Homily 20.

If the humility of monks is true and perfect, it brings forth the whole fullness of the holy virtues. But if it lacks the splendor of virtues, there has never been true humility in the mind. For first of all it brings forth true obedience, and a profound subjection in all things for love of God. For the monk who in truth humbly sojourns shows himself in all things an eager disciple of our Savior Jesus Christ; for love of him, content with every advantage and extremity, he rejoices that he is subject to his abbot, obedient in all things. True [unclear] of the monk is a great virtue, which is rendered to the commands of superiors not through servile fear but through the affection of inward charity; which, persevering even unto death not from fear of punishment but from love of justice, performs good with cheerfulness of mind. There are two very beautiful wings of the mind by which the monk flies from earth to heaven; one of them is called humility, the other is marked as the obedience of subjection. The monk who has not been adorned with these wings has utterly lost both the name and the merit of his dignity. Nor should anyone be called a monk, but a lying and most deceitful apostate, whoever lives and dwells in the monastery without hu

Homily 20. Fol. XLVIII.

obedience of humble subjection. For a monk without obedience is a monster of the devil; and he who resists the commands of his superiors will inherit the punishments of hell. From the beginning the disobedience of the first man destroyed the way of eternal happiness, which the obedience of Jesus Christ restored. For he was made obedient to the Father for us, even unto death; and by his most innocent passion he restored to us the happiness we had lost. Hence the way to salvation is humble obedience, as our holy lawgiver Benedict cries out in the Rule: “Listen, my son, to the precepts of the master, and incline the ear of your heart, and willingly receive the admonition of a loving father and carry it out effectively, so that by the labor of obedience you may return to him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.”

Obedience is the tree of eternal salvation, which grows in the garden of monastic humility. Obedience is the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, and the quiet tomb of one’s own will. Obedience is the merit of heavenly happiness, and the sole lesson of monastic discipline. Obedience is the extermination of all pride and arrogance, and the persecutor of all vices. Obedience conquers every malice, and extinguishes every disordered pleasure of the flesh. Obedience makes the conscience pure and clean, and preserves true humility in the mind. Obedience is the remedy for the wound of the soul, and the foundation of all monastic observance. Obedience is the faithful guardian of all good works, and the discipline of a sincere mind. Obedience is the beginning of mortification, and the glorious ornament of monks. Obedience is the preserver of peace and concord, without which the vigor of monastic discipline perishes. Obedience always directs the edge of the mind toward God; and he who is truly mortified in spirit despises all the consolations of this world. Obedience makes a monk close to God, and far removed from all filth of soul. Obedience is the adornment of the soul and the garment of beauty; without it no one will come to the kingdom of eternal brightness. Obedience is the mother of victory; and whoever knows how, for the honor of God, to be subject in humility will obtain the crown of martyrdom in heaven. Obedience separates the monk from the world; and he who follows it with his whole heart will be great before the Most High. Obedience is the consummation of Christian perfection; in its humble workshop, the more a monk advances, the holier he becomes. Obedience is sure security at the hour of death; for a monk, when he is about to depart from here, will fly forth more securely the more ready he has been for obedience to commands. Obedience is the rewarder of the humble, and the chief emblem of merits. Obedience is the rule of Christian gentleness, and the strongest inner nourishment of charity. Obedience is the shelter of chastity, and the ornament of most pure innocence. Obedience is the wisdom of monks; and to acquiesce in the commands of prelates is the highest philosophy of cloistered men.

Obedience and humility are the wealth and riches of monks; and to possess continually in the mind the memory of the Lord’s passion is a sweetness greater than all the feasts of the world. Obedience and humility make the monk; but he who is rebellious and proud wears the monastic habit without cause. Obedience in the mind is the voluntary mortification of the members while they are alive; its merit is of such dignity that a man has nothing greater that may be offered in honor of God. Let each one offer for the love of God what he can: without doubt, he has offered more than all who has slaughtered his own will for God through obedience. It is indeed a great good to distribute one’s resources for Christ’s love to the uses of the poor, and to relieve by alms the want of the needy. But by as much as the whole outweighs the part, by as much as the free choice of the will is nobler than necessity, by as much as heaven stands apart from earth, by so much more has he offered who, for the love of God and by laying aside his will, has forever denied himself. For whatever temporal substance you have offered to God is not yours but another’s, and is of less value than what is proper to you, both in esteem and in reward. You have one thing proper to yourself which, offered to God, is pleasing above all things. What is this, if not free will, which the almighty Creator placed in your power? A good will is greater than all riches, for nothing richer can be offered to God, nothing will be judged more acceptable.

This most precious gift, my brothers, you once offered to God when, denying yourselves and all worldly things for Christ’s honor, you put on the monastic habit. I beseech you, be mindful of the prayers of your holy profession, and let that solemn promise never depart from memory, which each one of you made in the sight of God before us, saying: “I, brother Johannes, promise stability, and conversion of my ways, and obedience according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, before God and his saints, in this monastery which was built in honor of blessed Martin, in the presence of lord Johannes, abbot.” Behold the bond by which we have voluntarily bound ourselves to obedience; behold

On the True Obedience of Monks.

...the warfare which we have professed. For these are the vows which our lips declared; these are the sacrifices of pious devotion which we offered to God. Certainly, my brothers, the things we have promised are great, and a greater necessity lies upon us to keep what we have professed. For unless we faithfully observe everything that the Rule of our blessed father Saint Benedict commands us, the justice of almighty God will judge us severely as perjured and impious transgressors. For it is very dangerous not to render to God what has been promised, and through forgetfulness of the holy institution to violate one’s purpose.

Therefore, to satisfy the duty of pastoral care, I am accustomed daily to admonish you to the observance of regular discipline; nor hereafter shall the necessary word of salvation ever be lacking to you, so long as my spirit remains in this prison of the flesh. But you, I pray, take care not to be fruitless hearers, since the matter concerns the soul, which, once lost, is never recovered. Therefore, all of you who have come together in the monastery to run the course of intellectual combat, all of you who for love of Christ have once renounced your own will and the world: take up holy obedience as the helmet of salvation, and you will carry off a sure victory over the enemy.

For obedience is the strongest armor of monks, which no adversities will be able to harm. For Scripture says: “He who keeps the commandment will experience no evil.” In Proverbs also it is said thus: “The obedient man will speak of victories.” Obedience makes a monk invincible in all temptations; and he who follows in all things the counsel of his elder will never suffer loss to the salvation of his soul. For obedience is a short and rough road, by which one quickly ascends to the summit of perfection. But the monk who is a true soldier of Christ never trusts his own judgment, but in all things follows and observes the direction of his pastor.

Indeed, he who is a true lover of Christ, the monk who wholly desires to be faithful, loves his abbot as the vicar of God, and, always obedient to his commands, counsels, and ordinances in all things, submits cheerfully. In order that a monk may be able to do this confidently, no boy, no unlearned man, no carnal man, no one lacking discretion, nor anyone light-minded or inexperienced in spiritual combats, is to be ordained abbot, but a man mature in character, learned in the divine Scriptures, walking in the spirit in the true way of life of holiness, pious, gentle, tranquil in mind, and discreet, one who knows how to show judgment to the wicked and mercy to the well-disposed.

For whenever a restless, turbulent, indiscreet, and inexperienced man is appointed abbot over monks, the integrity of regular discipline is at once shipwrecked. Subjection, and with it the obedience of humility, must perish when subjects cannot have firm confidence in their pastor. For if the abbot is a mocker of his brothers, or an over-harsh despiser of the weak, who will open to him any secret whatever of his heart? Therefore the greatest care must be taken at the beginning that such a pastor be appointed for sheep bereft of one, who seeks nothing other than the honor of God and the salvation of souls.

The monk who has obtained such a pastor should give thanks to God, for in these times of ours he rarely occurs who knows how to show himself in all things a worthy and suitable prelate. He is deservedly to be loved by all his subjects and, as the vicar of Christ in the monastery, honored with continual veneration. Let the thoughts of all be opened to him without fear, since he seeks nothing other than the progress of each one. If the physician of sick bodies must be prudent, experienced, and endowed with the highest discretion, how much more fitting is it that the abbot be an excellent man, since he is the physician of souls?

Blessed are the monks to whom God’s mercy has granted a useful and suitable pastor, provided that it has not also denied them the ability to understand this very thing. Otherwise a good pastor of bad sheep is not recognized in his uprightness, but rather, through the ingratitude of the depraved, is tormented with the Lord. For often the judgments of monks are blind whenever an opinion is sought about prelates; and those who by their conduct corrupt the integrity of the order rarely judge truly and rightly about pastors. Because of the ingratitude of subjects, rulers are very often changed for the worse; and monks who despise a good and useful pastor in the present life have received, by the just judgment of God, a foolish and useless successor.

Those who are subject in simplicity walk rightly, and those who truly imitate Christ do not pass judgment on the one presiding over them. For we have as the shepherd of faithful souls the one whom we should follow, our Lord Jesus Christ; looking faithfully toward him in spirit, we shall not rashly judge the visible pastor. “On the chair of Moses,” he says, “the scribes and Pharisees have sat; what they tell you, do; but what they do, do not imitate.” Hear these things, O monk, and [unclear]. But this is true: that all sins are the common cause of death, and all good things are the cause of life; therefore if anyone does good, [unclear], and if anyone has sinned, [unclear]. And therefore the Apostle says, “[unclear]”

Homily XX. Fol. LIX.

O lover and student of your own salvation, consider the form of obedience which you are to follow. The abbot holds the place of Christ’s vicar in the monastery, whether he be good or bad; he deserves the obedience of all who are subject to him not by his own merit but in the name of Christ. For we understand the saying, “He who hears you hears me; and he who despises you despises me,” not only of the apostles, but of any prelate in the Church of God who has been appointed guardian and ruler of souls.

Therefore, if you have an abbot who is good, suitable, and holy, hear his voice as the command of God, since he bears God’s place; and whatever he commands you, be obedient to him in all things. If his teaching is for you a rule of life, and his holy conduct an example of purer instruction, then he is a friend of God and the vicar of Jesus Christ: in the one respect he deserves that you love him, and in the other that you obey him in all things when he commands.

But if you have obtained a shepherd who is rude, unlearned, or certainly less suitable, take care not to sin by wishing rashly to examine his actions, but rather consider that your sins deserve to have a useless shepherd. Consider him not as what he is, but as what he is called; honor the shepherd because of love and reverence for him whose vicariate marks him out. Remember at all times that the obedience which you promised to God must be shown purely and simply to his vicar; for if the abbot is bad in his manner of life, nevertheless he does not lose the vicariate of Christ unless he is deposed in fact. Nor does the shepherd’s wicked and blameworthy life absolve you from the obedience promised in religion.

The meaning of our word must be upheld. Bad monks do not deserve to have a good abbot. Do not think, beloved brothers, that this example is being hurled at you. For I do not think myself a bad shepherd, although I cannot deny that I am rude and unlearned; nor have we admitted any suspicion of evil about you, since indeed we seek nothing more than to nourish and enlarge brotherly charity in all things.

Frequently monks come to us, wandering either with reason or without cause, who for the most part turn the matter of their own instability back upon their abbots. But I, who desire you to be instructed in all things that are holy and useful, exhort and warn your charities in fatherly fashion that hereafter you not lend your ears to these wanderers, who slander the characters of their own shepherds and strive to hide their own crimes by accusations against others. This is not the necessary integrity of monastic life: to turn the cause of the rebellion and disobedience of subjects back upon the head of the shepherd.

He who is a true monk does not judge another rashly; and he who is a son of humble obedience does not investigate causes of rebellion. But he who grants consent to the passions of the flesh can never be at rest; and he who scrutinizes another’s life is a despiser of his own salvation. A monk founded in the love of God does not pass judgment on the command of his superior; and he who always beholds Christ present venerates his own shepherd as an angel of God. Boldness makes a monk degenerate, and presumption has cast many into prison.

A monk who is wanton, too lascivious, and insolent has lost the purpose of holiness; and unless he is recalled to his senses by the hard chastisement of the flesh, he has already set his foot upon hell. He who examines the command of his superior with curious rashness is not obedient; and he who resists an order is not a true disciple of Christ. For true obedience does not murmur, does not hesitate, is not sad, does not seek a byway, does not delay, does not excuse itself, nor does it show the least sign of lack of resignation. At the superior’s command, for the love of Christ, it always rejoices; it runs to meet it gladly, and obeys cheerfully with haste.

For what else is a monk than a constant combatant, who, armed with the virtues of humility and obedience, always keeps watch in the arena of struggle, and, victorious under a threefold battle-line, fights more strongly against himself? Blessed is that monk who, doing violence to himself, has learned to overcome the will of the flesh, and by the continual practice of spiritual warfare climbs the steep mountain of true obedience. Truly blessed is that monk who, having despised all the comforts of the world, has placed his whole self in the love of Jesus Christ, and now desires nothing further among visible things. It is not for monks to seek riches, honors, and pleasures in this world, nor is it fitting for the soldier of Christ to think of anything except Christ. O monk three and four times blessed, who, for the love of Christ, mortifies his own will until the end of life, and in true obedience has humbly [unclear].

How great a good humble obedience is before God, my brothers, no one can sufficiently declare; for the divine testimony wished to prefer it to all victims. It is obedience that reconciles the soul to God, and through the shedding of blood crowns the martyrs.

On the true obedience of monks.

For the monk who, for God’s sake, of his own free will binds himself to the perpetual obedience of religion, if he lives rightly according to his vow, surely bears a prolonged martyrdom. Obedience, therefore, is martyrdom without the shedding of blood; and voluntarily to subject oneself to a man for God’s sake is a great torment [of the flesh?]. The soul that truly loves humility and obedience undoubtedly advances to the crown of martyrdom. It is a hard work and an exceedingly laborious contest for a free man to despise himself, and to resign himself wholly, and all his will, perpetually under the command and power of another. But let us behold with faithful eyes the reward of this contest, and we shall reckon all the hard and rough things of this life to be like a certain childish game, which is now seen for an hour [unclear] will appear afterwards. Hence the apostle, speaking in the person of a lover of Christ, says: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory that shall be revealed in us. The crown that martyrdom once bestowed on the saints for Christ, humble obedience will today prepare for the true lovers of Christ. For a monk who is truly humble and obedient for Christ dies secure, without fear, since, serving faithfully under the command of his elder, he is freed from every demand for an account. For he who, living at the nod of his shepherd, walks uprightly in all commands, can commit nothing that may be brought before the judge. He is defended by the testimony of the abbot, according to whose direction he has lived rightly and without complaint. Consider, brothers, the law of obedience according to which you have promised to live, and know that you have made necessary what had been voluntary, when you solemnly consented to the sentence of monastic tradition. It is no longer lawful for you to withdraw from your holy purpose, nor can you revoke a vow once uttered. If you do everything according to the holy Gospel of Christ and the rule of father Benedict, which you have vowed, let there be no doubtful hesitation for you: you will be blessed, and you will receive from the Lord the reward owed to the saints. But if, unmindful of your promises, you violate the vow of holy purity made to God, if you live according to the flesh in contempt of spiritual conduct, then I now denounce to you by your own law that you are most certainly to be condemned by our Lord Jesus Christ, the judge of all, whom you have mocked and despised. For it is much better to promise nothing /

Homily XXI.

[unclear]: for love of him you have set me, an unworthy man, over you as abbot. For I shall not be troublesome to you if you run well; but if anyone turns aside from the way of truth, I am compelled, even unwillingly, to meet him as best I can.

Let the monk always think on his entrance into the monastery, and never forget the first purpose of his profession. In all your works also, O monk, always consider that you are not long-lived upon the earth, but will shortly depart from this life, and that perhaps when you do not expect it, you will die. Therefore keep inviolate the purpose of holiness, and always be watchful in good works, so that when the Lord comes and calls you, he may find you prepared. Remember that you are a pilgrim on earth, and do not have here a lasting city; but just as a traveler hastens quickly toward the end of his journey, so death draws near to you daily without ceasing. Therefore, while you are healthy, set the house of your conscience in order, so that you may not fear death; for rarely does he die well who is not prepared as though he were to die daily.

How securely the monk departs from this life who, keeping his conscience clean in all purity, lives at all times, without reproach, according to the full integrity of the rule of our most holy lawgiver, even unto death. Let your mind continually hold in memory our Lord Jesus Christ as present, indeed as nowhere absent; and let no hour pass in which you do not think with thanksgiving of him suffering for you. Stand in humility and true obedience, and no adversities will ever prevail against you. Just as a tree sending many great roots into the earth is not easily torn from its place, so the monk who possesses charity and obedience in humility, together with the other virtues, is by no means overcome by demons. Obedience, brothers, is a great virtue, which brings the other virtues into the mind, and, once brought in, preserves them through the ministry of humility. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who became obedient for us unto the death of the cross, illumine your hearts by his grace, and sweetly inflame your minds at all times for the observance of regular life; who lives and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, unto all ages of ages. Amen.

On continence and true chastity: Homily XXI.

I would most earnestly wish, my dearest brothers, that I had obtained from God that grace by which I might be for you a worthy and suitable shepherd, both in deed and in speech. For I know, and it does not escape me, how perilous the governance of souls is for a young and inexperienced man such as I am, when one who has not yet learned to direct and govern himself according to the rule of justice presumes to approach the instruction of others. I blush to open my mouth among you to teach, since, having been a disciple for a short time, I am compelled before maturity to be a teacher. But since it so pleased you, and you wished to have me, a young man, as master, pardon me, because necessity compels me to fulfill, as best I can, the office committed to me.

Assist me with your prayers, I beg you, brothers, so that the mercy of God may grant the strength that the command of authority denies. For I desire you to walk before God in all purity of mind and body, so that you may please him to whom you handed yourselves over from the beginning. Having taken him as the leader of the journey to heaven, look upon our Lord Jesus Christ, who, born of the ever most chaste Virgin Mary, perpetually preserved the most perfect chastity of mind and body. Imitate this teacher, into whose service you have consecrated your hands, so that you may preserve not only in body the continence enjoined upon you, but also with a mind brighter than sapphire and carbuncle may perpetually guard chastity.

For chastity is a most beautiful virtue, especially fitting for cloistered men, so that under the yoke of reason it may restrain every assault of lust, and, the madness of vices being extinguished, the bearing of the body may preserve all honorableness. An incontinent and wanton monk, who follows the filthy lust of the flesh, is counted with the demons who withdrew from the Lord.

There are three things whose perpetual observance [unclear] our [unclear], without which no one among monks is to be judged worthy of being named. The first of these is the obedience of humble and true subjection; the second, the renunciation of all property, as the rule commands; the third, the inviolate guardianship of perpetual continence and chastity. Whatever one of these the monk violates, he corrupts the purpose of his order. Chastity is sustained by two companions: fasting, namely, and temperance; if it is ever deprived of these, it quickly, without doubt, collapses. The chastity of monks is the greatest ornament, by which, adorned, it will lead them into the fellowship of the angels.

On continence and true chastity: Homily XXI.

On continence and true chastity.

Nothing is more beautiful than chastity: it makes clean what has been conceived from unclean seed; it also makes an enemy into a member of the household, and an earthly man into an angel. Chastity is the most beautiful of all the virtues; when, for love of Christ, it promises that it is to be preserved even unto death, it is rewarded with an inestimable prize. Chastity is next to the fellowship of the angels, and the highest medicine of the Christian mind. Chastity is the lovable dwelling-place of Jesus Christ, the eternal king, and the wondrous beginning of future incorruption. Chastity is the fullness of heavenly grace, through which every corruption of nature is restored. Chastity is the most powerful of all virtues, through which, in a fragile vessel, nature is marvelously conquered in combat. Chastity imitates the angelic life, and, in the midst of mud, knows no sprinkling of stain.

Blessed is the man who has merited to receive from the Lord God the true gift of chastity, and has kept it inviolate, in Christian humility, even unto death. Chaste is he who, for love of Jesus Christ, pure in mind and body, abstains from every defilement of the flesh; who, by the fervor of the Holy Spirit, burns sweetly in the charity of God; who desires nothing at all in this age, but always desires to be and to live with Christ. Chaste is he who, mindful of the profession of spiritual warfare, restrains the motions of the flesh by reason, and at once, from the beginning, strongly checks all the itching sparks of lust. Chaste is he who, as soon as carnal thought begins to strike the mind, implores divine aid with tears, and does not cease from prayers until he has felt the fire of itching ardor wholly extinguished. Chaste is he who flees every material and occasion of lust; who has made a covenant with his eyes that he should not even think about a woman; and who sets a guard over his senses, lest foul or immodest things be brought in. Chaste is he who avoids the company of the wanton, and always turns his eyes away so that he may not behold vain things. Chaste is he who detests the frequent company of all women, and who at every time regards his own frailty with fear and vigilance as suspect. Chaste indeed is he who in mind and body imitates angelic nature, and who by holy morals admits no corruption.

Chastity is a gift of grace, and not a work of nature or of human effort. Chastity makes the humble monk most pleasing to God, since he who lives in mortal flesh without corruption is a companion of the angels. He who has attained true chastity is always humble; and he who understands its nature does not arrogate possession of it to himself, but to the Lord who gave it. For no one is chaste by his own strength, since frail man is not sufficient to conquer nature, unless he who created nature and all things has given it. For as often as nature is conquered through chastity, God manifestly works together with man. Chastity itself has, however, a difficult beginning in the young, until the motion of unlawful thought is brought into contempt. Chastity overcomes fornication by fleeing rather than by fighting, since lust is surrounded with so many subtle weapons that it must be avoided of one’s own accord before it is engaged.

Therefore, as often as the soul is touched by the motions of lust, divine aid should be invoked without delay; no space for deliberation should be given to unclean thought, but as soon as it begins to be felt, it should be brought into contempt by the remedy of forgetfulness. With a fraudulent enemy, and one who always uses ambushes, no dealings at all are to be joined in conversation; and plans are not to be considered with the unclean thoughts of the flesh. Indeed, unless you crush the serpent’s head, it slips away; and unless you at once restrain the motions of lust, they are strengthened from the beginning. The holy apostle of Christ, Paul, admonishes that one must fight against any vices whatever; fornication alone he commands to be fled. We carry about with us the material of victory against ourselves; therefore he wills that we flee the enemy. Chastity is nourished by fasting; by gluttony it is shipwrecked. Hence, if you love chastity, love fasting, so that it may have its necessary nourishment. He who is chaste follows the industry of the bee; and he who is truly a monk, adorned as if with all flowers, is decorated with all virtues.

Not everyone who does not know lust is chaste, but he who, in pure and clean flesh, for love of Christ alone, also obtains holiness of mind. Otherwise, what does the purity of the dwelling profit, if the inhabitant is foul and unclean? Blind paganism too once had its virgins, sacrificing in garments; but because they did not sacrifice the modesty of their bodies to the true God, nor hold the right faith in their mind, they descended into the depth of hell with their demons whom they worshiped. For he is chaste who, for love of the Creator, restrains even the flesh from every lust, and sacrifices the mind to God himself, adorned in every way with holy virtues. Outside fi

All Things, XXI.

[unclear] of Jesus Christ, today there is no true chastity, nor any that is meritorious for eternal salvation. Although you live chastely, O monk, pure and holy, and as long as the spirit remains in the body, do not presume to have confidence in chastity from clay. The food of chastity is fasting and abstinence, and, in every action, the support of wholesome continence. But when you have attained all things, do not trust in yourself, because he whom we know to have eaten nothing fell from heaven. The mortification of the body is both very necessary and useful for preserving the beauty of chastity; but however much you have advanced in either, do not trust in yourself, but, always watchful and hoping in the Lord's help, be afraid. For unless you keep yourself continually and most earnestly in the fear of the Lord, the house of your conscience will quickly be overthrown. He runs in vain who presumes to guard chastity by his own strength. For unless the Lord causes the dwelling-place of chastity to be built, the one who builds the wall of abstinence labors in vain. And unless you become, with all your strength, a co-worker with divine grace, you will in no way obtain the beauty of chastity. For God will not make you chaste without your will, nor will you attain this great gift unless he, through his mercy, comes to the aid of your weakness. Therefore yours it will be, O monk, to offer the desire for chastity with good will, and, in humble confidence, to await certain increase from the Lord. Apply fasting, and the Lord's help will not be lacking. Chastity is a gift of grace, not of nature; and to live in the flesh as though beyond the flesh belongs to angelic strength, not human. Nevertheless it is not difficult for a man of good will to preserve chastity, especially one who is separated from the tumult of worldly people and lives solitary in the midst of monks. A monk, too, who, young and innocent, enters a monastery of good reform, if he keeps his mind continually occupied in the fear of the Lord, is less assailed by lust. For the experience of lust is pernicious, since, as someone truly said, it seeks to conquer souls, not to satisfy the veins. But a monk who is a lover of lust can easily extinguish the heat if, fleeing idleness and fullness, he is willing to occupy himself continually in spiritual exercise. For among all vices none assaults chastity more greatly and more dangerously than fullness and idleness. If a monk overcomes these two evils, he will easily preserve chastity. Hence the most holy princes of monks, wishing to cut away the causes of lust, established for us a spare and meager diet according to a fixed measure, by which the body is sustained for necessity and is not fattened for lust. They also decreed that scantiness of sleep was useful for monks, because immoderate rest expands the flesh no less than gluttony. But they wished idleness, as the most pernicious plague of the soul, to be far from cloistered persons, dividing the time most wisely so that a monk would never be found idle. Hear these things, brothers, and grasp them in your mind, you who carry a great treasure in a fragile little body. Always flee idleness; do something good, so that whenever the tempter, the devil, approaches, he may find you usefully occupied. For truly, he who is idle lies open to the snares of the tempter; but he who is occupied in good work has closed every entrance to snares. Therefore the mind must be occupied with continual exercise, so that it is never found idle. Blessed is that monk who occupies his mind at all times in good exercises and never sleeps in the sleep of torpor and sloth. Blessed is the spiritual soldier of Christ who always keeps watch in the fear of the Lord and immediately restrains, from the beginning, all the disordered motions of the flesh. For it is not enough to guard true chastity unharmed, if someone plays with unclean thoughts as though deliberately. It belongs to strong men to [unclear] the first motions of wicked [unclear], because where delay creates danger, one must fight strongly at once. There must always be vigilance against the adversary of our salvation, who is never conquered more quickly than if he is choked off immediately from the beginning. Continual exercise is needed, brothers, because a mind always occupied in holy studies is like a very high [unclear] of strength, in which the soldier of Jesus, set as most watchful, fears no hostile snares. Therefore I beseech you, my dearest brothers, do not consume time in idleness, lest you increase in yourselves material for vices, you who are not ignorant of the wiles of the malignant spirit. Preserve continence in all things, and apply temperance, the guide of virtues, to all your [unclear]. Always consider how you ought to conduct yourselves in all religious holiness before the Lord [unclear]

If a monk has overcome [unclear], he will easily preserve chastity. Hence the most holy princes of monks, wishing to cut away the causes of lust, established for us a spare and meager diet according to a fixed measure, by which the body is sustained for necessity and is not fattened for lust. They also decreed that scantiness of sleep was useful for monks, because immoderate rest expands the flesh no less than gluttony. But they wished idleness, as the most pernicious plague of the soul, to be far from cloistered persons, dividing the time most wisely so that a monk would never be found idle. Hear these things, brothers, and grasp them in your mind, you who carry a great treasure in a fragile little body. Always flee idleness; always do something good, so that whenever the tempter, the devil, approaches, he may find you usefully occupied. For truly, he who is idle lies open to the snares of the tempter; but he who is occupied in good work has closed every entrance to snares. Therefore the mind must be occupied with continual exercise, so that it is never found idle. Blessed is that monk who occupies his mind at all times in good exercises and never sleeps in the sleep of torpor and sloth. Blessed is the spiritual soldier of Christ who always keeps watch in the fear of the Lord, and all disordered [unclear] motions [unclear]. Where delay creates danger, one must fight strongly at once. There must always be vigilance against the adversary of our salvation, who is never conquered more quickly than if he is choked off immediately from the beginning. Continual exercise is needed, brothers, because a mind always occupied in holy studies is like a very high [unclear] of strength, in which the soldier of Jesus, set as most watchful, fears no hostile snares. Therefore I beseech you, my dearest brothers, do not consume time in idleness, lest you increase in yourselves material for vices, you who are not ignorant of the wiles of the malignant spirit. Preserve continence in all things, and apply temperance to all your [unclear]. Always consider how you ought to conduct yourselves in all religious holiness before the Lord

[Blank page in the source scan.]

On continence and true chastity.

to God, by whose words you have sworn; and so live that you do not fear to appear at his judgment.

You are monks, set apart from the world for the service of our Lord Jesus Christ by a voluntary promise; hence, under necessity of salvation, you must lead a life higher and holier than the rest of your fellow Christians, and overcome every depravity of flesh and soul. For you must always be most chaste in mind and body alike, and stained by no filth of corruptible flesh. An incontinent monk is an apostate; and he who defiles his flesh with the filth of women is like one violating an oath. Lust is a lake of hell, and despair is always very near to incontinence. A monk who once slips into the pit of the flesh is rarely kindled to true compunction of heart. For the vice of fornication, strengthened by long habit, is not easily conquered unless it is corrected by force through contrary remedies. It is a matter of greater difficulty to rise again after a fall of the flesh to true chastity than to remain in continence once possessed. It is very easy to fall from the state of uprightness into any vice whatever, rather than to amend a sin strengthened by habit. For, as a certain pagan truthfully says, easy is the descent to Avernus; but to recall the step and escape upward to the breezes: this is the work, this is the labor.

Let us consider those who have fallen into this most shameful pit and afterward, by the authority of their superiors, were compelled to penance: how do they live among the brothers? They do not have the signs of true compunction, but pass a restless life in dryness of heart. No devotion of mind is seen in them, but everywhere they follow the comforts of the flesh. O how rarely is one converted to the sweetness of inward love who has once been cast down into the lake of fornication. For unless, before he comes into this misery, he has been grounded in the fear of the Lord, when fallen he returns with difficulty to true compunction.

Therefore live soberly, dearest brothers, and always keep watch in holy prayers, since unless you walk most cautiously in all things, you will by no means be able to escape the snares of demons. Love abstinence; guard humility above all things. For no one can suppress the movements of his flesh who has disdained to subdue gluttony and pride. The insolent demon of fornication is never better conquered than if true humility of heart is preserved in the fullness of all virtues. For just as almighty God, resisting the proud, gives grace to the humble, so the devil, fleeing the humble, casts the proud down into fornication. Therefore he who, being gluttonous, eating and drinking to satiety, desires to conquer the spirit of fornication, is as one carrying oil to a fire. And he who strives to extinguish the movements of lust by abstinence alone is like a man who is seen swimming in the midst of waves with one hand. Let continual prayer to God be joined to abstinence, and in the ship of holy humility one will sail securely.

Let prayer always be in the mouth of the monk, and the memory of the passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore whenever you feel a disordered movement of the flesh, whenever you perceive the invisible enemy to be present to do harm, immediately flee to the Son of God hanging on the cross, and, with your knees bent to the ground, let such a prayer be formed to him: O crucified Jesus, my love, through the pain of your wounds have mercy on me; through the outpouring of your most holy blood help me in this struggle, and through the power of your most innocent death free me from every contagion of mind and body.

Nothing is more salutary than this manner of prayer, in which the memory of Christ’s passion is cherished and petitions are strengthened in the power of the Savior of all. Nothing weakens the snares of the ancient enemy more; nothing more quickly enfeebles the forces of his malignity, than if a devout servant of Christ humbly perseveres in meditation on the most bitter passion of the Lord. Just as some thief flees before the face of a pursuing judge, so the devil quickly vanishes from the sight of a monk who attentively meditates on the passion and death of the Savior. He quickly extinguishes the movement of wicked thought when the bitterness of Christ’s passion is recalled to mind. Just as snow melts when the sun grows warm, so the devil is driven away by meditation on the Lord’s passion.

The greatest protection of chastity is always to invoke divine aid. And unless immediately at the beginning of temptation you run back to the Lord, you will little by little incur harm from delay. For if you admit delay in pernicious thoughts, demons soon cast a perceptible blindness into the mind.

All Things XXI. Fol. LII.

[unclear]. For unless the mind has first been blinded, the will does not yield to the demon. The spirit of fornication first gravely darkens the mind; afterward it fights until it has hurled it, blinded, into sin. But afterward, when it has cast the monk into the mire of unspeakable crime, it sets two means in the way, lest he rise again to repentance. For either it subtly tries to make light of the gravity of the sin, so that he may not fear a great penalty; or it brings back to the fallen man’s memory the severity of judgment, so that he may fall into the pit of despair. By these snares the sinful soul is caught; and the longer it has lain in the depth of misery, the more hardened it is rendered.

Flee idleness, O cloistered men, and avoid gluttony and the excess of the belly with the greatest care, because the monk who stuffs his belly with food and drink provides the demon of fornication with matter for doing harm. Put on true contrition of heart, and restrain the illicit motions of the flesh through tears of prayer. For no one is able rightly to conquer his body who has not first taken up the goad of contrition. But he cannot attain to the grace of holy contrition who [unclear] has perfectly despised himself to deny himself. Whoever, however, has perfectly denied himself for the love of Christ, already overcoming the assault of the flesh, will more easily [unclear] contrition. For he who has been mortified in will desires nothing carnal, nothing base.

But who among us, brothers, is there who would dare say that he has arrived at this grace of mortification? Which of us does not feel himself weak? We run in the arena of spiritual warfare, and in daily combat we fight against vices. We have received no confidence of peace, even if at times we have peace. The more familiar to us is the weakness of the flesh, the harder are the battles of chastity. Here we must be especially watchful, since we carry about a familiar enemy and sustain, as it were, a domestic instigator of evil. Therefore, so long as we live in this mortality, let us always fear the most relentless enemies of chastity. Let us beware of everything that arouses lust; as much as we can, let us flee sloth and idleness. For fullness of bread and idleness are the strongest enemies of true chastity; unless they have been driven far away by abstinence and the labor of salutary exercise, they threaten immediate shipwreck to chastity.

Keep your hearts with divine guard, O most dear [unclear], and always keep watch in spirit against your adversary. Arm yourselves with the breastplate of perfect faith in Jesus Christ, so that in deed and belief you may be true Christians. Always be of one mind in brotherly charity, and united without pretense in the true observance of regular discipline. Love fasting and continence; pray without ceasing. Flee idleness as the pernicious plague of the soul, and continually exercise yourselves in holy works. Love silence, and do not flee monastic solitude, if you desire to obtain true purity of mind and body. Keep continual guard over your eyes, ears, and speech, lest through the windows of the body [evil] enter into the soul. Flee conversations with women, and avoid even the touch of holy women as the burning of fire. No one safely looks willingly upon what brings the sting of death to the desirous man. Always behold with faithful eyes of the mind, through love, our Lord Jesus Christ dying for you; occupy yourselves daily in salutary fashion with his evangelical teaching; give humble thanks for his passion and likewise for his death. If you do these things with continued perseverance in true simplicity of heart until death, we trust that you will be rewarded with the fellowship of the saints.

On Brotherly Charity and the State of Monks. All Things XXII.

Let us hear, my dearest brothers, our Lord Jesus Christ commanding in the holy Gospel: Whatever you wish men to do to you, do the same also to them. This is indeed a brief but solid commendation of brotherly charity, without which no one can ascend to the love of God. For no one can love God who is shown not to love his fellow Christian. Hence the blessed apostle John says: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life abiding in him. Hence, if anyone has said that I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. Therefore Paul, the holy lover of Christ, exhorts us, saying: Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. And Peter, prince of the apostles, admonished us thus: Before all things, he says, having continual mutual charity among yourselves, because charity

On the brotherly charity of monks.

It covers a multitude of sins. How necessary brotherly charity is for salvation, the Lord of all, Jesus Christ, revealed, saying: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like to this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets.” For whatever is commanded anywhere in the whole course of the Scriptures is without doubt referred to these two commandments.

By “neighbor” here we understand not one joined by closeness of blood, but every human being by the fellowship of reason, and especially the Christian, whom each person is commanded to love as himself, with whom he is seen to await eternal salvation. But it is especially fitting for you, brothers, to love one another in the true charity of the Savior Jesus Christ, since monastic profession enjoins you to strive with all your strength toward the height of perfection. For just as covetousness is the root of all evils, so charity is the root of all goods. In the first place you ought to love God above all things with a pure heart for his own sake, because he is the highest good, and then to love your neighbor with sincere charity for the Lord’s sake. These two precepts of charity are joined by the authority of Christ, so that one can in no way be fulfilled without the other. For he who truly loves God cannot hate his neighbor. If he hates his neighbor, he does not truly love God. The love of God begets in him love of neighbor, and through love of neighbor the love of God is nourished. If one of the loves is lacking, the other by no means grows strong. For he who certainly does not love his neighbor shows himself empty of the love of God. Therefore we truly love God when we love our neighbor, that is, every Christian human being, more diligently with sincere intention.

For brotherly charity is the bond of peace, which alone nourishes concord in the dwelling and preserves Christian unity among brothers. Charity is the begetter of meekness and the noble mother of Catholic piety. Brotherly charity is fearsome to demons, since it makes victorious all whose inner chamber of the heart it embraces. Charity extinguishes the fire of lust and covers every multitude of sins. Charity renders good people most dear to God and makes them companions of the holy angels. Charity preserves the Church in the unity of the saints, outside which no one obtains eternal salvation. Brotherly charity orders the morals of cloistered men and makes God dwell in the midst of monks. Charity does injury to no one, but supplies help to all through compassion. Charity drives out every vice, because it is the sole nurse of all virtues. Charity preserves the reform of brotherhood in vigor among cloistered men and works a great salvation of souls. Mutual charity confirms obedience and makes brotherly correction fruitful. True charity nourishes concord among brothers and preserves a sweet-smelling chastity of both minds and bodies. Charity makes monks of one mind in the house of God, and laudably concordant in every good work. Mutual charity lightens the rigor of the order, and all things that seem hard and harsh to the carnal it changes through custom into nature, as though they were something very gentle. Charity is the most beautiful beauty of monks, adorned with all virtues. Charity utterly drives hatred and envy out of the monasteries of God’s servants, and by its presence puts to flight far away the remaining crimes of death. The charity of brothers is a fitting dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit and a fortress of serene conscience. Charity is the handmaid of justice and the sole preserver of regular discipline in a monastery. Charity keeps the mind innocent of cruelty and provides for all a peaceful lightness of spirit. Brotherly charity seeks the salvation of all, and does not allow the one who has it to grow sluggish in idleness. Charity does not loathe poverty, but for love of the brothers is ready to endure every poverty. Charity is the water of heavenly sweetness; if anyone drinks it in the fervor of the Holy Spirit, he does not fear the perpetual thirst of hell. Brotherly charity does not seek the enticements of the flesh, but directs pure, holy, and unstained affections toward the neighbor. Charity has the name of chaste beauty, which cannot be shared with things or actions of most impure pleasure. Charity loves purity and cleanness, and admits no impurity. Charity, in the working of love, considers not the flesh of the neighbor but the soul, which it does not doubt was created in the image of God. Brotherly charity raises up a delinquent neighbor with pious admonitions, and keeps all its own actions pure and innocent of every malice. Charity walks in peace and tranquility of mind, and saddens the neighbor neither by word nor deed nor sign. Charity humbles itself as much as it can in all things, and ministers most lovingly to an infirm neighbor as to a son of God. Cha

Homily XXII.

Fol. LIII.

Charity judges no one rashly, but humbly corrects erring neighbors with the gentlest admonitions. Charity is terrible and fearsome to the reprobate, but tender and kindly to the meek. Charity reckons another’s misfortune as its own, and weeps over a brother’s tribulation as though it suffered it itself. Charity suffers with all who are placed in necessity, and is no less saddened by others’ adversities than by its own. Charity imputes nothing evil first, but for the love of God always bears the infirmities of all with equanimity. Charity is diligent in good works, and as long as it remains in the heart it is never idle. Charity neglects none of the things to which it is bound, but guards all things most diligently. Brotherly charity is the fulfillment of the law, since whatever is commanded after the worship of God is referred to love of neighbor. Hence the holy love of Christ says: He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the laws. For, You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet another’s property; and if there is any other commandment, it is renewed in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love of neighbor does not work evil. Therefore the fullness of the law is love.

And so, my dearest brothers, we beseech you through our Lord and Savior Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, that you always keep brotherly charity unharmed, without which you can neither truly love God nor in any other way fulfill his commandment. The keeping of brotherly charity is as necessary for your salvation as the nourishment of food and drink is for preserving the body’s life. For the body dies without necessary nourishment, and all the virtues of the soul are scattered without brotherly charity. For brotherly charity preserves a multitude of monks in unity of spirit; for without the bond of mutual love, no cloistered man perseveres content without disturbance. The monk who persecutes his brother with hatred is far removed from God’s charity. For the holy evangelist John says: He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because darkness has blinded his eyes. But the chaste and prudent lover of his neighbor walks safely in the light of the Holy Spirit, and he is not disturbed by another, nor does he disturb anyone else. For true love of neighbor is gentle, sweet, and most tender, and in all its intercourse meek, peaceable, and tranquil.

Yet the vigor of discipline directs the meekness of a chaste ruler, and the clemency of brotherly consideration beautifully tempers vigor. For one must be struck from the other in such a way that vigor is not rigid, nor love slack. The lover of brotherly charity does not abandon the way of justice; he who rightly loves his neighbor introduces no corruption. For true first love neither covets gold nor requires the services of ministry, but, content with all things that could overthrow the condition of the mind, pursues only the increase of the soul. For charity is not sincere when it seeks gifts because of corrupt morals, or [unclear] a boy because of a little gift, so as to love with an affection of likeness one who runs together for distributions. The friendship of monks among good men who are zealous for the same purpose ought to be common, and far removed from every affection of the flesh. Let it be pure, simple, upright, and durable without injury to anyone, and let it have in itself nothing of suspicious conspiracy.

This is not the rule of brotherly charity: to seek forbidden private gatherings for consolation, and without the prior’s blessing to be occupied with furtive, indeed prohibited, conversations. You do not rightly and [unclear] hinder love of your neighbor whenever you come together for the comforts of the flesh against the rule of regular observance. A monk’s love ought to be solid and very far removed from every transgression of regular discipline, since unless charity has been much [unclear] by the signs of carnal conversation, it does not have within itself the mark of divine love. Now examine your conversations, brothers, to see whether you have them rooted in your heart even in true charity. For charity that either gives or receives consolations harmful to the spirit was never sincere. Therefore take care to direct the eye of the mind not toward the beauties of the flesh, but rather toward contemplation of the soul, if you wish rightly and laudably to love your neighbors mutually. For when the flesh is loved without regard for the soul, not sincere but carnal and impure love is generated. Consider that your brother has a soul like yours, and always think that you both equally await happiness. [unclear] without the soul we understand; in soul, not in body, we are immortal. What is immor-

On the brotherly charity of monks.

It is [unclear] to love one another mutually, and, with regard to charity, to direct one’s attention rather to the soul than to the body. Thus by reason and understanding one is distinguished from brute animals, so that the regard of our love is referred to the mind, by which we understand, not to the body, which we have in common with beasts. And far from holy monks be all affections of the flesh, for they are not ignorant of the rule of mutual and sincere charity.

If love for one another is pure, upright, and conceived solely from the fear of God, so that no advantage of any corruptible thing intervenes, but the simple intention of charity remains; and true charity, simple and pure, does not seek the byways of evil conspiracies, nor arm itself with the murmur of contention for the devising of iniquity. He who possesses true charity of brotherhood in his heart preserves peace in all things and stirs up no matter or causes of destructive dissension. Charity, spending its one [unclear], does injury to no one, and whatever it does not wish to be done to itself, transfers to the person of no other.

Do not think that you have true brotherly charity when you love one another mutually for the sake of the flesh or the advantage of any temporal thing whatever; for where the cause of love is not the Lord, the affection of the one who loves is always vicious, either in part or in whole. But he will rightly love his brother who loves him with the love of God, and for the sake of the common participation in the kingdom which we await. Therefore, as Saint John the bishop says, we have been baptized into one body of the Church, so that we may not be dissolved; in that harmony and friendship which exists mutually, let us preserve forever the charity and mutual agreement of one body. Just as no one outside the unity of the Catholic Church can obtain salvation, so no one is believed able to be saved without brotherly charity.

Charity, therefore, is necessary for you before all things for salvation; without it, the remaining works of virtues are altogether fruitless. For there can be no good thing, no reward salutary unto life, which has not drawn its origin from it. Charity is a certain road to the compendium of virtue; if anyone enters upon it by the straight path of the journey, he will need no guidance of a leader. Pure, simple, and upright charity is not accustomed to harm one’s neighbor, nor to bring evil upon anyone. Charity is accustomed to spend upon all the affection which it grants to its own advantages, and whatever it hopes may conduce to its own salvation, this it desires to be common to all people in Christ Jesus.

Charity, free from any disturbance, is exercised in the office of love; and though it loves all people most greatly, nevertheless it is provoked on behalf of none to a zeal of bitterness. It is always solid, always constant, always stable and firm, because it is neither touched by passions nor agitated by movements of unrest. It offers itself common to all, and so spends its love upon each individual that it sees its own as common to all. Charity does not neglect itself in those things that pertain to the reason of being and of the soul; but in those things which regard the advantage of the body, it often puts the causes of others before its own interests. Great indeed is the dominion of charity, which compels a person to make another’s disadvantage his own.

Thus you also, my brothers, who have solemnly taken up the service of Christ, who through the steep path of obedience pant after eternal life: if you do not wish to run in vain in the [unclear] of so laborious a contest, take care before all things, we exhort you, always to preserve brotherly charity inviolate among you. For unless you have sincere and perfect charity toward one another, you labor without fruit in regular observance. Abstinence from eating flesh will contribute nothing to the salvation of your souls; the renunciation of all private property will profit nothing toward the attainment of eternal happiness, if brotherly love does not hold a place in your hearts.

Therefore, desiring to be saved with Christ in truth, love one another mutually; and as Christ loved you, so, we pray, love one another. What each one of you desires to be done to himself, let him, without envy and for the love of God, bestow that very thing upon his brother at all times. Let divine love conquer in you all quarrels of the flesh and all [unclear] contentions; nor let destructive dissension of the flesh find a place where the fullness of brotherly charity ought continually to dwell. And unless all in the monastery, according to the law of Christian institution, are [unclear], each of you must always necessarily abstain from harming another. But if through contentions and injuries you harm one another mutually, you are certainly neither monks nor true Christians. For it befits all cloistered persons and monks to be outstanding in the observance of charity, and to be far removed from envy, hatred, and rancor. Let the monk, therefore, be stable in the purpose of holiness even unto death; let him be faithful in the service of God, so that also in love

Homily XXIII. Folio LIV.

may sweetly burn for the Creator, and may never withdraw from purity of conscience. For whoever perfectly loves the Lord God from his whole heart, and preserves his conscience clean and pure from every pollution of sin, and always shows sincere charity to his neighbor. But he whom either envy burns or hatred stirs up against his brother, it is clear that he neither truly loves God nor has a conscience pure from sin. Therefore everyone who persecutes his brother with hatred and indignation is neither a true monk nor worthy of the name Christian, but by merit and conduct a servant and companion of demons. Therefore let hatreds depart far from this holy congregation of yours; let there be no destructive contests of contention in your midst; let no zeal of bitterness be found here, let no word of displeasing pride be heard. Let the concord of brotherly unity flourish here continually; let the innocence of Christian purity adorn the consciences of each, so that we may live in this short time in such a way that after death we may be glorified with Christ in eternity.

Homily XXIV.

Nothing is so just, nothing so holy, nothing in human actions can be so honorable, as always to love God above all things from the whole heart, and in the whole mind, and with the whole strength, and for love of him to fear neither death nor any kinds of punishments. There is no greater cause of action in us than divine love, because, since God is the author of all things, nothing is loved more justly than he; and since he is the greatest of all goods, nothing is loved more fruitfully than he. God first loved us: we are lowest, he greatest; we little, he almighty; we weak. Therefore, my brothers, let us love the Lord God with our whole heart, whole soul, and whole strength, by whom we are most sweetly loved, who not only made us in his image and likeness, but, which is a sign of the greatest love, mercifully called us to the kingdom of eternal happiness through the teaching and death of his only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. No fleshly mother ever loved her only-begotten son so tenderly, sweetly, and strongly as almighty God loved us, who not only willed to become man for our instruction, but also deigned to undergo death in the flesh he had assumed for our salvation. No greater love ever existed, if we rightly weigh who it was who endured such things for us. For out of love for us, free from the debt of death, he voluntarily dies; and he who always remained immune from every sin, innocent and just, willingly is condemned for our sins. By the most just reason, therefore, we are commanded to love the Lord our God with our whole heart: he who, when we did not exist, made us from his goodness alone, and when we had perished, mercifully freed us. Love of God is the greatest of all virtues, because whatever good, whatever virtue is done in this world, if it is not done from charity toward God, is emptied of reward. Charity toward God purifies the conscience from every fault, since he who truly loves the Lord his God from his whole soul and in his whole heart and with all his strength undoubtedly grants no place in his conscience to vices. For the heart which the love of God occupies, no uncleanness of vices enters. The love of God is an unfailing treasure: whoever possesses it is richer than all the wealthy of the world; whoever lacks it is more wretched than all the poor. Hence the holy apostle of Christ says: To those who love God, all things work together for good, since nothing is lacking to those who fear him. Happy is the man in whose heart no bond of earthly affection dwells except the love of Christ, who sighs for the memory of no human being, in whose conscience purity resides and divine love always burns most ardently. Love him, O my brothers, who for love of you descended into the Virgin's womb; always carry him in your hearts, who by his death opened heaven for you. Let the love of Christ be in you at all times, brothers, as strong as death, so that your life may be conformed to Christ's teaching, and, if at any time it should be necessary to die for love of him, you may not fear, just as he first deigned calmly and kindly to undergo death for us. For the love of Christ makes a monk near to God, and he who is always fervent in the charity of the Lord will obtain the fellowship of the angels. The love of Christ makes a man most strong against all assaults of demons, and no less in adversities than

On the love of man toward God.

...in prosperity long-suffering and at the same time tranquil. The love of Christ teaches one truly to despise the world, and to reckon as nothing all its delights and all the comforts of the flesh. The love of Christ swiftly suppresses the illicit movements of the flesh and brings the purest chastity into the mind. The love of Christ sweetly lifts the mind with desire to heavenly things, and keeps it, separated from earthly things, in spiritual exercise.

The love of God lightens all hard and harsh things, for where Christ is loved in truth, tribulations and any adversities whatever are counted as delights. The love of God is always constant in good works and is never idle. The love of God despises present things and strongly raises the mind to eternal things. The love of God neither seeks honors nor seeks riches, but, joined to Christ by desire, covets nothing at all except him. The love of God covers the multitude of sins and remits all offenses to the penitent. The love of God suddenly justifies the impious; and the more love has increased, the more quickly and strongly perfection also rises up.

The love of God is a tower of strength, to which all the ministers of diabolical wickedness cannot draw near. The love of God is the consummation of all justice and the end of monastic discipline. The love of God perfects the monk and makes him consummate in all good works. The love of God is the sweet yoke of inward sweetness, by which all filth of earthly corruption is driven out from the mind. The love of God honors souls and makes them pure and immaculate from all stains. The love of God perfectly illuminates the mind in every knowledge of heavenly honors, and purges the very affection from all unclean vanities.

The love of God makes those who truly have it most learned and wondrously instructed in all Scripture. The love of God renders the monk fearsome to all enemies and bestows angelic power on those who persevere. The love of God defends a man in dangers, since whoever truly loves God fears no opposing things. The love of God makes the one who has it secure in the hour of death and safe from demons, and joins the soul to the heavenly hosts. The love of God leads its possessor back to the heavenly homeland and bestows everlasting glory on those who love God.

The love of God is the greatest of all good works and the single foundation of all virtues in the faith of Christ. The love of God is the best ointment, in which all wounds of languishing souls are healed. The love of God is an abundant remedy for poverty and want, and an effective consolation above every possession of riches. The love of Christ far surpasses all the learning of this world, and forms those who have it most perfectly for every knowledge necessary to salvation. The love of God prepares a delightful dwelling for the Holy Spirit in the heart of man, and preserves him, as he perseveres, in all purity.

The love of God is the swiftest of all teachers, because what carnal men learn over time and with much study, the Holy Spirit has handed on in a moment to those who love God. The love of God gives knowledge to little ones and makes rustics more learned than the educated. The love of God is stronger than all things and by its power rules over all things. The love of God commands demons by a single word and puts them to flight from bodies possessed by the sign of the cross. The love of God bestowed eternal blessedness on the holy spirits in heaven, whom the grace of the Creator confirmed as lovers.

The love of God beatifies in eternal felicity [unclear] baptized in the faith of Jesus Christ, because no one has ever been able to reach the fellowship of angels unless the persevering love of God was proved to have inflamed him. For the love of God alone is what makes works both good and meritorious, since God accepts from us only that gift of a good work which the flame of charity has made worthy in his sight. Whatever is done outside charity is judged unworthy in the sight of God.

Now attend, my brothers, to our admonitions, and carefully consider how necessary it is for you to love God above all things, if you desire to arrive at his kingdom and to triumph happily with him forever. Let none of you deceive his soul with empty words, so that he believes that he truly loves God whose commandments he either despises or neglects to keep. You have heard the Lord Jesus saying in the holy Gospel: “He who loves me will keep my words.” And as the holy pope Gregory says, the performance of the commanded work is the proof of the love enjoined. For then we truly love the Lord our God with our whole heart, when, having despised worldly pleasures, we perfectly keep all his commandments even unto death. Likewise, then we love him above all things, when out of love for him, not according to the flesh but according...

Homily XXIII.

Fol. lv.

while we walk innocently in the spirit. He truly loves God who, always intent upon good works, keeps himself pure and unstained from this world. But he loves the Lord God rightly who desires absolutely nothing in this world. He truly loves God with his whole heart who, for love of him, resolutely despises worldly honors, riches, pleasures, and all the comforts of the flesh. He loves God with his whole soul who, at all times careful in observing his commandments, omits to do none of the things that are pleasing to him. For the love of God neglects nothing, but is accustomed most diligently to keep and fulfill everything that he has commanded. He who loves God in true charity has fulfilled the law, the prophets, and the Gospel. Therefore by your works you will give testimony whether you truly love God. For everyone who has deserved to receive a ray of divine love always shows great and manifest signs of love. Indeed, the fire of divine love makes its possessor pious in all things, chaste, gentle, and very humble, and, both in adversity and in prosperity, always calm in the same constancy of mind, without disturbance.

The monk who truly loves the Lord God, according to the rule of our most holy father Benedict, always obeys the commands of his seniors cheerfully in all things; in hard and contrary circumstances he embraces patience, and everywhere preserves true humility. The love of God makes its possessor richest in all good works, and renders him far removed from any vices whatever. The lover of God does not murmur at the command of obedience; in [reproofs?] he does not rashly excuse himself; he does not touch his neighbor with the gall of bitterness, nor is he disturbed even when injured. He who is a true lover of God keeps his life irreproachable in all purity of mind and body, and demonstrates in himself a fervent charity not only in word but also in deed and in truth.

Whatever in the world is beautiful, whatever is pleasant or delightful to behold, whatever flatters the wantonness of lascivious flesh, the true lover of God most steadfastly despises it all, and desires nothing other than to please Christ and to live with him [unclear]. Great and incredible to those who do not know it is the force of divine love, which always impels a man to work well, and never permits him to live idle. For what else is the inward love of God than a sweet drunkenness of the soul, by which a man is snatched away from all the consolations of the world, and, as though he felt nothing of what mortals do, feasts in the banquet of the Holy Spirit alone?

The monk who is a true lover of God has put aside, for Christ’s sake, every curiosity of the world and concern for worldly things; and, as though he did not feel them, he transcends in his mind all the stings of cares. He cries out with the apostle: “The world is naked and crucified to me, and I to the world.” O wine of divine love, how sweetly you intoxicate, how innocently you satisfy, how wisely you make foolish, how chastely you inflame. For everyone who has been intoxicated by your savor, separated from every tumult of carnal pleasures, rests sweetly in the shadow of the Holy Spirit. Because of the excessive drunkenness of the spirit, he speaks things alien to carnal and worldly people, and nothing contrary to God is heard from his mouth. This is the unstained satiety of spiritual wine, which is extended by desire the more, the longer it is continued.

O holy and venerable simplicity of the lover of Christ, which, although to many who savor earthly things it may seem to be folly, nevertheless before God and all his saints is the greatest and truly highest wisdom. Let the world have its prudence, let it have honors, dignities, and riches; but I would choose the merit of one simple monk truly loving God rather than the sovereignty of the whole world. The love of God is both the highest pleasure of the soul and always the most chaste; its fire illuminates the mind and gently inflames the affection. The love of God is the fountain of heavenly grace, because the grace of the Holy Spirit makes fruitful, with the fruits of all the virtues, the mind which the charity of Christ purifies by plowing. The love of Christ wins the friendship of almighty God for men, and reveals to mortals the will of the highest majesty.

The love of God makes a monk acceptable to God, because he requires from us not knowledge, not learning, not eloquence, but charity. Therefore the monk who has publicly offered himself to the Lord God ought to care for nothing except God, lest he seem to have a divided heart; since, just as God is one, so love directed toward God cannot be divided. Hence the holy bishop Augustine says: “He loves you less, Lord, who loves anything together with you which he does not love for your sake.” Just as God is perfect, so he must be loved by us with all our strength, because he is not rightly

On the charity of a person toward God.

[unclear] is loved: whenever anything besides him is loved together with him. Love of God advances rightly when nothing is mixed with it that could weaken it. Let each one of you, as much as he can, strive with the whole strength of his mind to love the Lord his God above all things, because love alone toward God is what will open for you the gate of paradise. For the more ardently you now love God, the greater the glory in which you will be received in the heavenly homeland.

Happy is that monk in whose conscience, besides the love of Christ, there remains no imagining of any occupation; who, waking, thinks of nothing but Christ; sleeping, dreams of Christ; living and dying, most steadfastly sighs after Christ. O how well and securely he dies who has always been solicitous in the exercise of divine love, and at all times zealous in observing the commandments of God. For love of God alone is admitted into the kingdom of heaven, and the more fervent the mind has been in loving. He who loves much receives much; and he who now loves less is also then to receive less in glory. Therefore let each person, as much as he can, love with his whole heart and with his whole soul and with all his strength, because our God is not to be loved lukewarmly or sluggishly, but fervently, wisely, and sweetly.

But love of God grows and is increased by spiritual exercises, just as a burning fire spreads when supplied with wood. For truly, if the wood is withdrawn the fire is extinguished; and if spiritual exercises are interrupted, charity is soon shipwrecked. True love of God is never idle, but at all times is delightfully occupied in those things that nourish and preserve charity. For the lover of his God never forgets his beloved, but always meditates on his presence and beauty; and now, most devout in prayers, he admires him as Jesus speaking to him. The true lover of Christ meditates day and night on the law of the Lord, and does with the greatest diligence all things that he understands to be pleasing to God.

O how sweetly he burns whom the love of God has truly inflamed; how pleasantly he glows whose mind the flame of the Holy Spirit kindles. Blessed is that monk who, full of divine love, withdraws himself entirely from earthly vanities and rests in the shade of heavenly desire. O if only we had love toward God as strong, whole, and vehement as mad and foolish lovers have toward their corruptible mistresses, for desire of whom lovers often grow shamefully mad and fear no scandals of this world. But the love of God is stronger than all things, if it has truly been rooted in us. Whoever truly loves the Lord God always keeps in his memory his most bitter passion, because nothing so causes perfect love of God in the human heart, nothing so brings on true compunction, as the never-interrupted recollection of God’s benefits. Therefore let the written sequence of Christ’s passion always be in your memory, and let this word never depart from your mouth: O Jesus crucified, my love, by the power of your most innocent death have mercy on me and make me your faithful servant.

On Serenity of Conscience.

Homily 24.

Most beloved brothers, we must keep watch with great solicitude, and must take care with continual meditation that we always guard our conscience, whose testimony we cannot escape, clean from every contagion of sin and unstained. Nothing is more beautiful, nothing more pleasing, nothing finally more precious than a good conscience, when the mind has in itself a manifest testimony of rectitude; it suffers no remorse of destructive unrest. An upright and good conscience is an incredible exultation of the mind and a sure consolation in every adversity. The monk who has obtained the testimony of a good conscience neither refuses to live nor fears the coming of future death. A good conscience is always glad, always joyful, always fearless, and truly tranquil in the peace of Jesus Christ. In a good conscience there is always peace, piety, goodness, light, virtue, honor, joy, gladness, sweetness, and delight without dissipation. Conscience is the treasury of the soul, because whatever is placed in it is reserved as provision for the life to come. A good conscience is the best treasure; if anyone has neglected to have it, he must be judged the most wretched and unhappy of all men. A good conscience is the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit and the earthly paradise of all graces. A good conscience does not fear the detractions of the impious, and a mind conscious of rectitude scorns the lies of rumor. A good conscience is always cheerful, and

Homily 24.

Fol. LVI.

... works the righteousness of God; he is not uselessly sorrowful. A good conscience always advances in the love of the Lord, and he who lives innocently will not fear danger. A good conscience has peace and concord with all in God, and in humble simplicity cares for its own salvation. A good conscience strengthens the soul; but he who is constant in evils will fall into despair. A good conscience confidently rebukes the foolish man; but he who is evil keeps a bitter silence. A good conscience gladdens the soul; but he who is conscious of his own evils continually suffers desolation of mind. A good conscience safely rebukes the impious man; but he who has lost the testimony of uprightness always fears reproof. A good conscience is the most beautiful adornment of the soul; and he who does not care for wisdom in this life will die in want.

A good conscience is the dwelling-place of the virtues and the true mansion of heavenly mysteries. A good conscience is the consummation of all philosophy and the fullness of all sciences. A good conscience is the best teacher of the virtues, and the perfected discipline of all studies. A good conscience bears the best fruit of holiness, and, standing founded in the fear of the Lord, admits no sin. A good conscience is more precious than all the riches of the world, and much sweeter than all desirable things that can be had in this life. A good conscience is the merit of Christian perfection and the humbly presumable beginning of future happiness. A good conscience is a fertile field of virtues, and the sweet and pleasant fragrance of the paradise of God. A good conscience is a very sweet companion to the good man, and a glorious mediator between God and man. A good conscience is very fearful to demons, but a pleasing friend to the holy angels. A good conscience makes the dying man secure against the snares of demons, and he merits having the escort of angels. A good conscience does not fear to appear in the sight of judgment, nor does it dread the judgment of an accusing synteresis. A good conscience has hope in God and, without the unrest of hesitation, the best confidence, because he who remembers having committed no evil comes confidently to the examination of judgment. A good conscience will be richly rewarded by the Lord God, and is changed into everlasting joy.

A good conscience is not one that perpetrates no evil, but one that, preserving purity for the love of God from every sin, also adorns itself most fittingly by the exercise of all good works. For a good conscience, according to the prophet’s admonition, wholly declines from evil, and with most zealous intention always and continually does good. A good conscience especially adorns the monk, and makes him far removed from secular actions. A good conscience follows the Lord Jesus in simple purity, and is stained by no spots of errors. For a conscience that is good, and so long as it is good, cannot be erroneous, but always remains founded in the truth of the Holy Spirit. But a conscience that has been erroneous is not good. For error both opposes truth and in no way shares in goodness. But when conscience is in error, danger is close at hand, and the descent to hell very steep.

There are many among cloistered persons who are weak and exceedingly feeble in mind, who are not always directed by the right judgment of their consciences, being preoccupied by various causes. And often indeed a small or great error of conscience arises from ignorance, whenever, that is, one less skilled in spiritual exercise doubts whether what he is considering in his mind is good or evil. For who, walking rightly in his simplicity, understands everything? In doubtful matters the counsels of elders are to be sought, and what they have decided the monk must embrace without doubt as the truth of the opinion. Sometimes conscience errs from negligence, when the monk neglects to examine himself by the scrutiny of reason and does not labor in doubtful matters to investigate the truth. Hence a punishable error arises in the conscience, through which reason is gradually clouded. Frequently also pride of conscience arises from singularity, to which presumption is always joined [unclear]. And this plague often [unclear] among monks and those who profess holiness without the necessary foundation of humility. For the sheep that walks singular paths is more quickly caught and strangled by wolves. Sometimes also an excessively disordered affection casts the conscience down into error, namely when a man loves his own will more than is expedient. For he who is led by the affection of his own sensuality is frequently blinded in the judgment of truth.

On Serenity of Conscience.

Hence there is no doubt that it comes about that many have erroneous consciences, because they love too much the pleasures of their own flesh. Every proud, lustful, impure person, and anyone entangled in great or public crimes, clouds his conscience by deliberate perversity; and how erroneously he thinks about the future repayment of merits he frequently shows both by words and by deeds. A malicious affection perverts the judgment of rectitude, and the disordered concupiscence of the flesh clouds the understanding. Sometimes, moreover, excessive and immoderate faint-heartedness makes the conscience err; this evil is born partly from ignorance and partly generated from one’s own sensuality.

In this scrupulosity, however, let the monk follow the counsel either of the abbot or of some elder more experienced, and let him not rashly defend the opinion of his own head. Excessive scrupulosity is dangerous, because it casts the conscience into error and unhappily causes many to stumble. For everything that is done against conscience is said to build toward hell. Excessive perplexity of mind has also harmed many, and has driven them headlong into various errors. But he who is truly a humble monk submits himself to the examination of his rector. For whoever, in doubts that arise, makes use of his superior’s counsel is not easily overthrown by the snares of demons. For the more the consciences of monks have been exposed to the examination of a wise prelate, the more secure and more brightly shining they will gleam.

Therefore, dearest brothers, care must be taken first of all that you have consciences free from every error; then pure from all vices; and finally adorned with the holy works of all the virtues. Therefore let the monk who desires to advance in truth guard his heart with every watchfulness, and, as far as can be done, let him set a barrier before his senses and not permit anything deadly to enter. But if, by any occasion, he recognizes that he has fallen into some sin, let him at once strive to wipe it away by true penance, and let him not grant time to the wicked seed in which it may grow stronger for the worse. While the wound is small, let a remedy be applied, for if it is neglected it grows beyond measure.

Therefore, my brothers, strongly resist the first motions of demonic suggestion, and overcome the enemy when he is small and weak. But if the sensuality of the body has become altogether wanton, let it be brought back to obedience by harsh mortification, just as we know our holy father Benedict did, when he rooted out the slippery wantonness of the flesh by the prickings of nettles and thorns. Then, too, if you diligently recall to memory the dreadful future punishments of the impious, you will easily overcome the unlawful motions of the flesh. For there is no one who does not fear pain more than he loves pleasure.

Also bring often to mind the joys of heavenly blessedness, to which you desire to come, for if you faithfully consider them, you will strongly lessen the fire of the flesh. Whatever delights in the world is corruptible and momentary; but the joys of eternal pleasure remain without end forever. It is therefore foolish, and a matter of extreme madness, to choose a passing advantage and to despise that good which remains eternally. He is judged foolish among men who prefers dross to gold; but he is held most senseless before God who sets temporal pleasure before everlasting goods.

He who loves a serene conscience should flee idleness, since, as Scripture says, every idle man is in desire, and idleness has taught much malice. The soul must be occupied with good exercises, and the fire of holy conduct, which burns with charity, must be nourished by continual use. For the idle man lives neither for himself nor for his neighbor, but is always given over to the belly or to sleep; he opens his mind to vice, and keeps it closed and empty of virtues. Idleness, the kindler of lust, quickly extinguishes the fervor of spiritual devotion.

Abstinence also is especially necessary for a monk, so that his conscience may remain clean. For, as Saint Jerome says, a filled belly easily foams into lust; and he who nourishes his servant delicately will find him disobedient. The lover of serenity of conscience becomes constant in holy prayers, since, as dogs flee a stone, so demons flee devout and continual prayer. Let him also carefully beware of acedia together with sadness of mind; and as soon as he senses some temptation creeping in, let him have recourse to the consolation of the Scriptures. Indeed, the mind which the word of God has filled [unclear] foul thought will enter. Whatever we do, whatever we think, whatever we perform, let us always know that the presence of God is at hand, and we shall easily overcome disordered delight. A good conscience never forgets the presence of God, but always meditates that its judge is present.

All Things. XXV. Fol. LVII.

Act now, my brothers, so that you may have consciences pure from every crime; and if anyone feels himself burdened in some fault, let him return without delay through true penitence to necessary purity. For unless you have consciences clean and good at all times, you live as apostates, not as monks.

On Continual Preparation for Death. All Things. XXV.

The supreme philosophy of cloistered religious, my dearest brothers, is continual meditation on death. Hence a certain wise man, considering the usefulness of this philosophy, admonished every mortal, saying: “Remember your last things, and you will not sin forever.” Meditation on death draws men back from the pleasures of the flesh and brings on contempt for all corruptible things. Meditation on death despises present things by voluntary poverty and drives the mind toward desire for future things. Meditation on death banishes pride far away and plants true humility in the heart of the one meditating. Meditation on death makes the monk solicitous about preserving regular discipline and never permits him to be idle. Meditation on death cuts away all the vanities of the world and preserves the mind in the highest temperance. Meditation on death makes one despise the vain and transitory honors of the world and think of nothing other than the future judgment of God. Meditation on death does not fear the poverty of this life, because with its whole desire it longs for everlasting riches. Meditation on death endures all adversities of this world most patiently for the love of Christ, because it hopes for nothing other than the heavenly reward. Meditation on death makes the monk humble and obedient in all the commandments of righteousness. Meditation on death makes the monk quiet and stable in the congregation, and in good harmony with all in Christ. Meditation on death makes the monk quiet and peaceable, and tranquil without any disturbance of mind. Meditation on death drives out all dissoluteness and frivolity, and preserves the monk mature and wholesomely sorrowful in all things. Meditation on death makes the monk solitary and continually devoted in holy prayers. Meditation on death hastens penitence and brings on true compunction. Meditation on death withdraws desire from every vanity and keeps the conscience serene and most pure. Meditation on death makes a person despise all the consolations of this world and prepare daily for departure. Meditation on death teaches one to flee idleness and makes a person keep watch constantly in the fear of the Lord. Meditation on death does injury to no one, because it always fears the strict accounting of judgment. Meditation on death softens anger and all disordered motions, because when a person thinks that he will soon die, nothing external disturbs the mind. Meditation on death makes the heart contrite and humble, because intent remembrance of future things permits no one to be proud. Continual meditation on death makes one’s departure safe at the last, because it renders prepared the one who has meditated for a long time. Meditation on death especially befits cloistered religious and monks, whom renunciation of all earthly things and regular profession itself have already made dead and buried to the world. Meditation on death makes the monk run prudently in the course of spiritual warfare and renew daily the purpose of holy fervor. Continual meditation on death is very useful to cloistered religious, because it powerfully represses the vices of the flesh and grants no entrance to perverse thoughts of the mind. For the holy bishop Augustine says: Fear of future death necessarily shakes the mind, and, like a nail of the flesh, fastens all motions of pride to the wood of the cross. And the holy champion of the Church, Jerome, says: Nothing will benefit you as much for temperance in all things as frequent thought of the shortness of life; its end is certain, but nothing is more uncertain than its hour. Therefore meditation on death corrects all intemperance and sets in order the character of the one meditating, stable in beautiful variety. Meditation on death gives a person true wisdom and perfects the highest philosophy among cloistered religious. For Plato too held the opinion that the whole life of wise men is a meditation on death, because we are all born on this condition, that we should again depart from here through death. For Scripture says: We all die, and like waters we flow down into the earth, which do not return any more. And the holy apostle of Christ, Paul: It is appointed, he says, for men to die once [unclear]

On Continual Preparation for Death:

The continual meditation on necessary death makes a man not trust in earthly things, but with foresight await his departure in every place and time. Meditation on death always awaits the end of life in every place, because it is wholly ignorant of the moment of dying. He who daily meditates on the coming of future death disposes himself at all times for dying with as much diligence as he can. For death is certain to us; all of us are ignorant of the hour of dying. Hence, brothers, we urgently admonish your charities as much as we can, that you always think on death; with such foresight prepare yourselves diligently for dying, so that when the hour of departure comes you may not fear. Let no one promise himself a long life in this world, because nothing so deceives mortals as hope of a longer life. For what does a more advanced age accomplish in the good, except that it makes them liable for more offenses, and always less disposed for dying? The longer we live in this world, the more we fear death. A longer age accumulates greater debts of spiritual obligation, so that an old man fears all the more to come before the sight of the strict judge, the more he knows himself bound before the Lord to render account in many matters. For the soul leaves its body unconquered when it is driven by the heavier goads of its conscience. But he who is pure from every malice of iniquity and adorned for salvation with the necessary comeliness of virtues does not fear to die, because through death he goes to eternal life. Therefore, O monk, live now such as you wish to die, because death cannot be evil when the integrity of a good life has gone before. O reader, whoever loves the Lord Jesus above all things dies [well], because, despising all the goods of this world for love of him, he truly keeps his words. Securely does he depart from this life who always lives in the love of God without stain of conscience. Securely does he die whose life is defiled by no pleasures of this world. For the death of the righteous is a most sweet sleep, because it is a tranquil entrance into eternal life. But the death of sinners is very evil, whose evil life and one contrary to divine institutions has gone before. For him who lives in sins, contrary to God, death becomes a dreadful entrance into hell. Such a man does not die who lives well; rarely does he die well who has always lived badly.

Homily XXV. Fol. LVIII.

... brothers, and those who have now preceded us in this monastery. Just as there is no memory among us of those who have gone before, so also we shall be in perpetual oblivion among them and among those who follow. Let us ponder these things beforehand, dearest brothers, while we live, lest we fall into death unprepared. Just as we hasten daily toward death, so daily let us prepare ourselves, as far as we are able. He dies securely who in life is adorned with good and holy works. Nor let the hope of a longer life deceive you, for the longer we live in this world, the shorter is the life you will have. Behold, daily we die as we tend toward death; daily one part of life is charged against us; and the longer our life extends, the more the remaining time of life is shortened. All the time that we have lived is wholly gone when it has passed; what we live today we divide moment by moment with death; how much time for living remains to us in the future we do not know. Why, then, do we trust in the vanity of this life, when we are soon to die? Thus let us continually think, brothers, that we shall soon come to that place to which all our elders have gone before us. We are all born under this law: that we should soon die. And let death appear terrible to him whose whole life is polluted in the pleasure of the flesh, and who stores up nothing good in heaven. But we who place all our hope in Christ Jesus our Savior, despising all the pleasures of the world for love of him: why should we fear death? Yet since the mind is most terrible of all terrors [unclear], we shall be able to drive out indiscreet fear of dying in this way, if we prepare ourselves daily as though about to die. It is one thing to have fear of death, another to have trembling. For even the Lord Jesus, the patron over death, felt the trembling of approaching death, to show the two properties of his nature. Therefore continual meditation on death is altogether necessary for us who are weak; indeed, the mind not yet perfected in the love of Christ is roused to the grace of compunction as if by a violent impulse. For the memory of future death, like a nail driven into wood, thus pierces the mind with a useful dread. The memory of death introduces arduous penitence and true sobriety of mind. The memory of death is necessary for beginners, since conversion begins from servile fear, and afterward is gradually raised in charity through filial [fear]. The memory of death and of the strict examination of the future judgment of God is especially necessary for those who, through an evil and long-standing habit, are drawn to sin. And there are among you some who are too lukewarm and negligent in the spiritual warfare; admonishing them, we exhort them as a father that they remember they are mortal, and live henceforth in such a way that they do not fear to die. For it is very dangerous to live in that state in which one would be afraid to die. We must live in such a way that we await death securely; this can finally happen if, preserving ourselves in all purity of mind and body, we continually burn in the exercises of divine charity. Let us live, as far as can be done, innocently, according to the rule of our divine father Benedict, which we have professed, and we shall have good hope that almighty God will have mercy on us, for he does not permit a man of good will to perish. Let us always think of God as present with us everywhere: he sees all things, knows all things, understands all things, rewards all things. And let us live in that purity in which we have promised to serve his most holy majesty.

The end of the twenty-fifth homily of Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, to the monks.

Here is the end of the first book of exhortations to the monks, written by my own hand, of me, Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, on the day of the month of June, in the year of Christians 1486, in the fourth indiction, in the thirty-third year of my age. I have dedicated this work to my predecessor, now abbot of Seligenstadt, most dear to me.

Letter.

John Trithemius, abbot of the monastery of Sponheim, though unworthy, to the reverend father Lord Johannes de Colenhausen, abbot of Seligenstadt and formerly of Sponheim, my most dear predecessor: with prayers, a spirit ready and prepared to give satisfaction.

Recently, venerable teacher, I had sent to you my first book of exhortations to monks, containing twenty-five homilies. After I understood that it had been approved by your examination, I judged that this second book also, which I now send, should confidently be inscribed to your name. In the former I collected, for the instruction of the brothers, twenty-five homilies which I had delivered before them; in this one I have arranged the sermons in number according to the order in which they were spoken in their presence. I do not fear to undergo the examination of your paternity, since I have always had you as a gentle teacher, and long ago found you to be a sincere lover of truth. For you are vigorous in intellect, both gentle and profound, able easily to distinguish between true and false, and, where necessity requires, to amend everything sufficiently. Therefore I pray that, according to the gentleness innate in you, you may patiently bear the rudeness of my talent, for I am both a little child in knowledge of the Scriptures and a novice in the order of prelates. Exercise in the Scriptures will give me practice, as I trust, and continued solicitude will give progress.

The occupation of household business and the poverty of the place very often draw me back from salutary study, and carry my mind elsewhere against the purpose of my will. Only on feast days and Sundays is leisure granted me for writing; on these, out of reverence for God, I am accustomed to admit no cases of the country people. Sometimes also, after the customary chanting of matins, I am accustomed to spend what remains of the night on the study of letters, and, as far as I can, to work by lamplight on something for the instruction of my brothers. For I desire in all things to follow your footsteps, and by teaching to be solicitous for what is praiseworthy. I submit these sermons to your examination, and with humble supplication I beg that the file of your mastery may correct them. I have collected a few out of many into order, since I neither committed them all to writing, nor did an excessive extension of the book seem to me either necessary or useful. For on feast days, when we have respite from the tumult of worldly business, we devote ourselves to reading according to the rule of the Scriptures. And lest I should seem to occupy the place of shepherd in vain, what I have worked out by night I am accustomed after none, in place of the regular study, to say and to recite from a small sheet before the brothers in chapter. For I consider that this solicitude of mine not only profits the brothers for edification, but also conduces to my skill in composition. Farewell, venerable teacher, and pray for us. From Sponheim, on the twelfth day of the month of September, in the year of the Christians one thousand four hundred eighty-six.

Sermon I. Folio LIX.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ begins the second book of exhortations to monks, by Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, afterwards of [unclear]. How cautiously monks must live: Sermon One.

Many indeed, most beloved brothers, are the things necessary for you to consider in this life, if you desire to arrive at the glory of eternal salvation. For you know, Scripture bearing witness, that your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; and we know that he must be resisted with great vigilance in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ through works of charity. Therefore let no one presume on his own powers, lest he trust in vanity; for unless you humbly keep yourselves in the fear of the Lord, you will quickly fall into the snare of the devil. “The greater you are,” Scripture commands, “humble yourself in all things,” for God resists the proud and grants grace to the humble, and to the true despiser of this world.

A monk must always be solicitous in the observance of regular discipline, and continually zealous in the fear of the Lord. A monk must be chaste and modest in mind and body alike, so that he may serve God just as he promised, in all purity. A monk ought not to live according to his own will, but according to the Rule and according to the direction of his pastor, conformed to the norm of cenobitic institution. A monk ought to love busy and holy silence, and usefully occupy his mind in the reading of the Scriptures. A monk must at all times, even unto death, be solicitous that he be made perfect in the observance of the commandments of God and of the Rule.

But so that you may know what things are necessary for you, living in holy religion, for perfection, I shall describe for you a certain path of virtues, by which one must direct the way to the kingdom of heaven. All the virtues, however, cohere with one another by the bond of kinship, so that he who possesses one perfectly seems to have them all, and he who lacks even one is said to possess none at all.

The first of all virtues necessary for salvation is the most holy Catholic faith, separated from every pollution of errors and heresies, and originally rooted in the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ. For, as Scripture bears witness, without faith it is impossible to please God; and he who does not believe in the only-begotten Son of God is already judged, and the wrath of God remains upon him. Therefore faith is the origin of all virtues, from which all pursuits of salvation arise.

True and right faith in God begets fear of the Lord, for if we believe God to be just, we shall rightly confess that he is to be feared. Right faith brings forth hope and confidence, because when we believe God to be merciful, soon we hope that by his goodness we can attain salvation. Faith begets charity, because if we believe God to be the highest good, without doubt we love him. For who would not love what he does not doubt to be the supreme good? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not appearing. Faith joins the soul to God, and through the mediation of charity makes it the friend of the eternal King.

For the most holy prelate Augustine says: There are no greater riches, no treasures, no honors, no substance of this world greater than the Catholic faith, which saves sinful men, enlightens the blind, cures the sick, baptizes catechumens, justifies the faithful, restores penitents, increases the just, crowns martyrs, preserves virgins, widows, and married persons in chaste modesty, ordains clerics, consecrates priests, and places believers with the holy angels in the eternal inheritance of the heavens.

But where sound faith is not, there justice cannot be, because the just man lives by faith; and he who lacks the merit of justice will have no portion with Christ. Faith is the beginning of human salvation, without which no one can reach the number of the children of God, nor possess any share in the kingdom of God. Faith is the foundation of all virtues; whatever is done outside faith is without doubt built for Gehenna. Christian faith is a most beautiful lamp illuminating the soul, and through the observance of the commandments leading it into eternal happiness.

Faith first brings the mind back to the knowledge of God; afterward it gives the precepts of living unto obedience; and when a man has kept the commandments of God, hope of attaining salvation follows; then charity is made firm in hearts. Faith gives knowledge to the soul, knowledge [unclear]; because when right faith is corrupted by the falsehood of heresies, by no action is one brought to the harbor of salvation. Therefore let it be in faith

That monks must live cautiously.

[unclear], uprightness and truth; in action, justice and sincerity; and no iniquity will have dominion. For faith without works is dead, and earns nothing toward the salvation of eternal happiness. To have faith without works of charity is to imitate the demons, who, though they are wholly estranged from all charity, nevertheless both believe that God is just and tremble. Hence concerning believers who do not show works of charity, the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah, and afterward through himself in the holy Gospel, saying: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Whoever praises Christ with his mouth, without work, is like a man who doubts in faith. For if he truly believed, he would certainly fear God. Faith without works is like a body dead without the spirit, which, removed from the sight of the living, is hidden in the tomb. If you believe well and live badly, you destroy yourself by your own sword, because for one who knows the good and does not do it, it is sin. Beware, my brothers, lest you admit any error in faith, and take the utmost care that there be no wickedness in action. Follow the faith which holy Church commends to us; live the life prescribed by the Gospel and by the cenobitic rule.

Then have hope in the manifestation of God at all times most certain, but never divorced from fear of the Lord. Hope is the certain expectation, through the grace of the merciful God, of future goods, and solicitude for deserving the crown of justice through the exercise of charity. Hope is the certain expectation of future blessedness, which the grace of God works in us, accompanied by the uprightness of a good will. Hope is that by which a person hopes to come to the life of eternal happiness which he desires, and, through the mediation of God’s grace, also disposes and prepares his own will to meet it.

Hope concerns good things, difficult things, future things, and possible things; in these no one hopes for the contrary. For no one hopes for evil, nor for something trivial, nor for what is present or past; nor are we ignorant that hope is not of impossible things. Hope is the moderator of all labors, and the sole consoler amid tribulations. For hope of future goods gives rest to those laboring for Christ in this life, just as expectation of the crown, through continual victory, softens the pain of wounds for those contending in the contest. Hope strengthened the martyrs in torments, and made them, in the power of Christ, stronger than all persecutors. Hope of eternal blessedness preserves the Church, and gave the holy confessors and virgins true charity in Christ. Hope strongly raises up the soul cast down by grief; and the higher it has lifted itself through love, the less it feels the contrary things of this world. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, because hope does not confound, as the holy Apostle promised, by which we have been made saved.

But so that hope may not break out into presumption, fear of the Lord is necessary for our salvation, so that we may not doubt that he whom we believe merciful and compassionate is also just and upright. For the most blessed Pope Gregory says: Nothing is safer for us than to tremble humbly under hope, lest the incautious mind either cast itself into the depth of vices by despairing, or fall presumptuously by being exalted. For the more humbly it trembles before the eyes of the strict judge under hope, the more robustly it stands in him. Fear of God corrects the mind and keeps it pure from all malice. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, because on the way of God one begins from fear, so that little by little one may come to the strength of charity. Fear of the Lord orders the monk, and makes him zealous in the observance of regular discipline. Fear of the Lord guards the rule and preserves true purity of mind and body. Fear of the Lord neglects none of the things that are commanded, but is solicitous in all things. Walls are [unclear]. A city without the protection of walls is quickly taken by enemies, and the monk who does not have the fear of God is easily overcome by demons. For the fear of God alone is what corrects minds, drives away crimes, preserves the innocent, and makes the monk persevering in the purpose of holiness.

From fear there gradually arises charity; when, with God’s help, it has truly been rooted in the mind, overcoming servile fear, it now casts it out. The root of all goods is charity, since whatever good is done in this life is ordered by charity alone, so that it may please God. Charity is the greatest of all virtues; without it all deeds of mortals are nothing. For the most holy Apostle of Christ says: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have charity, I have become like sounding bronze or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that [unclear]

[unclear]. Hope strongly raises up the soul cast down by grief; and the higher it has lifted itself through love, the less it feels the contrary things of this world. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, because hope does not confound, as the holy Apostle promised, by which we have been made saved.

But so that hope may not break out into presumption, fear of the Lord is [unclear] necessary for our salvation, so that we may not doubt that he whom we believe merciful and compassionate is also just and upright. For the most blessed Pope Gregory says [unclear]: the more humbly it trembles under hope, the more robustly it stands in him. Fear of God corrects the mind and keeps it pure from all malice. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, because on the way of God one begins from fear, so that little by little one may come to the strength of charity. Fear of the Lord [unclear]. A city without the protection of walls is quickly taken by enemies, and the monk who does not have the fear of God is easily overcome by demons. For [unclear] is the fear of God which corrects minds, drives away crimes, preserves the innocent, and makes [unclear]. The root of all goods is charity, since whatever [unclear] deeds of mortals. For the most holy Apostle of Christ says: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have charity, I have become like sounding bronze or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know [unclear] mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have [unclear] knowledge so that [unclear]

[unclear]. Hope strongly raises up the soul cast down by grief; and the higher it has lifted itself through love, the less it feels the contrary things of this world. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, because hope does not confound, as the holy Apostle [unclear].

Sermon I. Folio LX.

“... so that I might move mountains, but if I have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods as food for the poor, and if I should hand over my body so that I burn, but have not charity, it profits me nothing.” Consider carefully, now, my brothers, your own selves, and ask your consciences whether you have the true charity of God, without which all other things avail nothing for salvation. For you have heard the clear judgment of the Apostle, by which he says that charity is necessary for salvation. Let no one put confidence in the wisdom of this world; let no one vainly exalt himself over the natural gifts he has received; let no one presume upon bodily continence, since, if charity is lacking, the observance of the other things contributes nothing to salvation. But lest anyone presume a false opinion of himself, the holy Apostle set forth certain signs and operations of charity, saying: “Charity is patient, is kind. Charity does not envy, does not act perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, and does not seek what is its own; it is not provoked, does not think evil, does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices together with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never fails.” Have the charity of God in you, my brothers; unless you keep it, you labor in vain by striving.

Humility is very necessary for you, and often so: it is not only a great virtue, but also the nurse of the other virtues and the foremost guardian of them all. For Pope Gregory the Great says: “He who gathers virtues without humility carries dust into the wind.” For the greatest virtue of monks is humility, since they are bound to be so much humbler than others living their life in the world, as by profession they are bound to strive and tend toward greater perfection. Humility is the stable foundation of the virtues; whatever is built upon it will be overturned by no whirlwind of tempest. Through pride the devil fell from heaven; through humility man ascends. In vain are we called monks if we have not been humble, for just as fire is extinguished if it lacks the fuel of wood, so a monk without humility is judged very unworthy of his name. By Christian humility the devil is conquered, and, as if struck by a nail, is overcome as he flees. No more splendid jewel is seen in monastic adornment than humility; if a monk has despised it, he has denied both his profession and the humble Christ.

Prudence follows upon humility; it always directs all things to the standard of reason and does nothing except what is right, honorable, and praiseworthy. Prudence knows what it ought virtuously to seek, and knows well what, according to the right judgment of reason, it ought to avoid. True and perfect prudence is that by which we seek that highest, unchangeable good, and order all things to their due and right end. Prudence preserves the observance of regular discipline stable in vigor, and brings wandering monks back to the complete restoration of their lost purpose. Prudence directs the monk in the right way of salvation, and does not allow him to decline to either side. Prudence preserves peace and concord among brothers, and orders right action in each matter. Prudence, O my brothers, is very necessary for you; by it you will know in every action what things are to be undertaken by you, and what in turn are to be fled. True prudence, not of the flesh but of the spirit, teaches you to despise the world, and to desire only those things that are future and eternal. Prudence teaches a man to stand firm in himself, and neither in prosperity nor in adversity to decline from the purpose of holiness. Prudence teaches how to order present things beautifully; it brings past things back to memory for instruction; and it foresees future things, lest anything happen unexpectedly. Prudence corrects offenders usefully and fruitfully, and composes all that it either does, says, or thinks, according to the judgment of reason, toward its due end. Therefore be prudent as serpents and simple as doves, because prudence without goodness is malice, and simplicity without rational prudence is called foolishness. For the most holy Paul, Apostle of Christ, says: “The prudence of the flesh is death.” Be prudent, lest you be circumvented by the deceit of others, but simple, lest you circumvent anyone. For this is the duty of the prudent man: neither to be capable of being deceived, nor to wish to deceive anyone. [unclear] By foreseeing, indeed, one is called prudent.

Justice accompanies prudence; it is the most splendid of all the virtues. For without justice all the remaining virtues are nothing. Justice is the preserver of religion, the mother of grace, the nurse of observance, the nourisher of truth, the begetter of peace, and the origin of piety.

That monks must live cautiously.

Justice is the virtue which distributes and preserves for each person what is his own; by it private advantage is neglected so that it may preserve the common advantage and equity, without which no commonwealth can subsist in divine peace. For the wise man says in Ecclesiasticus: “A kingdom is transferred from one nation to another because of injustices, and injuries, and insults, and various deceits.” The order of justice looks first to God, then to the fatherland, thereafter to parents, afterwards to all in common according to the distinctions of ranks and the merits of dignities. To God, in the first place, at the dictation of justice, we owe religion, faith, worship, devotion, and thanksgivings, and true love from the whole heart with obedient submission. Then to ourselves, purity of mind and body, continence with zeal for perfection, so that through obedience it may be permitted us to return to him by whom we were created. In the third place, to the fatherland we owe advantage, honor, and defense, and, insofar as we can, to procure its benefit together with justice itself. Fourth, we are bound to our parents by honor and obedience, and in their necessity by care and support of every kind. Fifth, to prelates [unclear], to subjects teaching and nourishment, and correction to those who offend. In the seventh place, however, we are bound to give honor to elders and princes, and, without fault, subjection for the love of God. Eighth, we owe reverence to venerable persons, and honor to priests. Consequently we are bound to equals by friendship, to inferiors by condescension, to benefactors by reciprocation, to friends by fellowship, to enemies by patience, to the poor by mercy, to the wretched by consolation, to all by charity. This, however, is true justice: by it we love God from the whole heart for his own sake, and our neighbor in God as ourselves, but enemies for God’s sake, distributing to each person what is owed to him by right and providing for the advantage of all.

But since excessive justice easily incurs sin, temperance is necessary for you in all things; it alone makes men more perfect. Temperance is the virtue which by reason discerns and conquers the motions of the soul and every lust, lest impulse in acting exceed the equity of the law. Temperance is a most excellent virtue: it governs pleasures and preserves all things in due order. Apply temperance to all your actions, words, and also thoughts, and the discretion necessary to the virtues. Whatever good you do with discretion receives the name by the merit of virtue; but what is done without discretion must be called vice. Discretion is the moderator of all virtues, and the greatest ornament of prudence and justice. Discretion is necessary not only for prelates but also for subjects, since it gives order to those exercising virtue, grants modesty to affections, and bestows on all human counsels most beautiful grace and honorableness. Hence a certain wise man said: “There is a measure in things; there are, finally, fixed limits, beyond and short of which the right cannot stand.”

For this, brothers, strength of soul is necessary for you, through which you may become not only steadfast in adversities but also ready and cheerful in difficult things. For who, especially without strength of soul, could despise this world with its pleasures, and persevere in holy monastic religion under the laws of obedience even unto death? Strength of soul takes its powers from the charity of Christ, and stands constant, no less in adversities than in prosperity, in desire for virtue. Strength walks the way of uprightness without fear, and to enemies it appears terrifying with a certain holy pride. But strength of soul seems fearful of [unclear]. Strength despises the injuries of the small and easily overcomes all the pleasures of the flesh. Strength lies hidden in patience, is shown in adversity, and is openly declared through patience. Strong of soul is not the man who avenges injuries brought upon him, but the man who patiently tolerates them; and if he has received his adversary into his power, he thinks that he has been able to take vengeance. The strength of monks is to despise the world, to conquer the flesh, to spurn all the honors and pleasures of the world, and to place all hope and confidence in God alone. The measure of strength is to be necessary, neither rash nor [unclear], because, walking on the right way, it declines neither to the right nor to the left. That monk must be judged strong who is temperate in all things, and moderate and just. Hence the most holy pope Gregory says: “The strength of the just is to conquer the flesh, to oppose their own pleasures, to extinguish the delight of the present life [unclear] strengthen; they despise earthly things, seek heavenly things; they can be killed, they cannot be bent, nor can they endure falsehoods. Through weakness they fear [unclear], nor, when harmed, do they ever keep silent from the truth.”

The monk, therefore, who is strong with true virtue neither ventures rashly nor fears imprudently. For fortitude together with constancy is the royal road; from it the rash and obstinate man turns aside to the right, but the fearful, faint-hearted, and timid man to the left. The monk, constant and strong in spirit, never withdraws from the purpose of holiness, but is neither cast down by adversities nor lifted up by prosperities. Hence also the most holy bishop Ambrose says: “The fool is changed like the moon. But the wise man is not broken by fear, not changed by power, not puffed up by prosperities, not overwhelmed by sorrows.” For where wisdom and virtue are, there is constancy and fortitude of spirit. Therefore the wise man is always the same in spirit; he is not diminished or increased by changes of affairs, nor does he waver like a little child so as to be carried about by every wind of doctrine, but he remains perfect in Christ, founded in charity and rooted in the perfection of faith.

Lastly, my dearest brothers, there must be perseverance. Take away perseverance, and neither will virtue have a reward, nor service a recompense, nor a benefit merit grace. For he alone who has persevered to the end will be saved. No virtue has merit if perseverance does not bring it to its increase. The kingdom of eternal blessedness is promised not to those who begin the good, but to those who persevere in the good even unto death, because not in the morning, not at midday, but when evening had come, the denarius was paid to those laboring in the vineyard.

For it is not he who began well who is to be praised, but he who continued well to the end is more honorably regarded. Therefore, my brothers, I am accustomed earnestly to admonish you, and I must never cease, that you should diligently attend to your vocation and walk cautiously in all religion and holiness, as befits sworn soldiers of Christ. For now is the time for doing good, because when the hour of death has arrived it will cut off entirely every capacity for working. And therefore, as long as you live sound and unharmed, do good; always consider the future repayment, and daily grow from spiritual progress. Seek the Lord while he can be found. The life of Christ the Savior should be your imitation; you are bound, from the foundation of your institution, to follow him not by bodily steps, but by your powers, by likeness of affections. Walk cautiously in all things; always place the fear of God before the gaze of your mind in true humility. For great purity is needed by you who have consented, in mind and body, to the holy warfare of Christ. It now belongs to you, O brothers, to despise the world and all things that are in the world for God’s sake with perpetual fortitude; to overcome all motions of fleshly pleasures; to flee sin; to occupy yourselves constantly in good and holy works. Your life also, as far as human weakness allows, ought to be made righteous in angelic purity, and to flee and detest every [unclear]. But the holy angels are never idle, but are always intent, without weariness or tedium, upon the praises of God. The holy angels love God above all things, and do not withdraw from his charity even for a moment. In imitation of them the monk ought to be assiduous in the service of Christ, and always occupied in good works according to the Gospel and the Rule. The monk ought to have most fervent charity for God, and it is proper that he have true and sincere love of neighbor. For burning love toward God perfects the monk and does not allow him to be idle. For the four-times most holy pope Gregory says: “The love of God is never idle. For it works great things if it exists; but if it refuses to work, it was never true love of God.” For if the mad poet spoke truth concerning carnal love, “let him love who does not wish to become idle,” how much more powerfully does the most chaste love of God drive the mind that it possesses toward arduous things. Love God, brothers, with the whole heart, as far as the strength of desire can extend itself, and you will be able most easily to observe all things that have been commanded you. For nothing is difficult to one who loves; but all hard things, all grave and arduous things, burning love makes easy.

What the ordering of a good monastic life is: Sermon Two.

We have set forth that the institution of our most holy father Benedict, which by the customary term we call religion or order, shone forth as most excellent at the beginning of its foundation, and was very greatly and manifoldly spread throughout the whole church of the Latins. Hence for very many years in this same order many wise, learned, and most holy men flourished.

What the good ordering of monastic life is.

who magnificently illuminated the whole Church. For there are some who write that from this monastic religion of ours fifteen thousand six hundred, men as well as nuns, have been entered in the catalogue of the saints. The multitude of these saints in the order, brothers, is set before us for imitation, not for vain glorying. What can their multitude contribute to our salvation, if we do not imitate the manner of life in which they went before us? Whenever we desire profitably to praise the most holy men of our order, let us hasten by holy conduct to come into their fellowship. For then we shall glory fruitfully in the multitude of the saints of our order, if, living rightly, we earnestly strive to increase their number. Therefore indeed we set before you so great a multitude of saints, so that, when you see that many before you in this very order conquered the world and the flesh, you may at last rise up from your lukewarm manner of life. The virtue that God’s mercy granted to them he will not deny to you, if you ask in true charity.

They conquered the world because they loved Christ with entire devotion, despising all things for love of him. They despised all things, and the Lord Jesus provided for them whatever seemed necessary to them for the sustenance of life. This fervor of devotion among monks endured after the first institution of the order for many years with great constancy, and converted the souls of many thousands of people to the Lord. But nothing among human things is stable; nothing among perishable things is everlasting. Holy religion brought riches upon the monks, until in time the daughter suffocated the mother. For, as Scripture says, all those who wish to become rich fall into the temptations of the devil. The beloved grew fat and kicked back; made fat and enlarged with earthly possessions, he abandoned the holy pursuits of the first institution, went after vanities and false madnesses, and an abundance of temporal things made him needy and wretched in spiritual riches.

This pitiable deformity of our order began almost two hundred years after the passing of the divine father Benedict, and with time it grew more and more, until at last the harmful poison spread through the whole order. But this deformity occupied the order not suddenly, but through the succession of many years, until it had taken over almost the whole of it, although almighty God never left it wholly without good men, but always reserved for himself some who had by no means bent their knees to Baal. For men of mercy arose, whose righteous deeds will never be handed over to oblivion; pitying the ruin of the order, they put their shoulder under the labor and, the Lord generously granting aid, restored it in many places.

Indeed many varied particular reformations flourished often in the order at different times, but there was never any general one that brought the whole order back to the integrity of regular observance. Finally, we now see that the particular restorations, which we have said were many, have almost all collapsed again. Most recently, however, namely in the year of the Christians one thousand four hundred and twenty, when the general council was being celebrated at Constance, a certain new and, up to now, last particular reformation took its beginning in Germany. It took its name from a certain monastery in the regions of Saxony, then indeed the poorest of all, which is called Bursfelde.

The first author and leader of this most holy reformation was Johannes Rode, abbot of the distinguished monastery of Saint Matthias at Trier. Having been appointed general visitor of the order by the aforesaid Council of Constance, lest, while preaching to others, he himself should be judged reprobate, he first displayed reformation in himself. For first of all he reformed both himself and the monks of the said monastery; he issued constitutions conforming to the Rule; he obtained confirmation of the holy work from the apostolic see. But among all the monasteries of the order, Bursfelde, a humble and rather poor monastery, first received this reformation, which it afterwards extended to Reinhausen and to a few monasteries of Saxony neighboring it.

When at last Johannes Rode, abbot of Saint Matthias and leader of our reformation, had died, since in that place no suitable successor was found for extending the undertaking that had been begun, Johannes de Hagen, abbot of Bursfelde, who had already reformed certain monasteries, a holy man and very zealous for the order, was elected at the urging of Jacob, archbishop of Trier. Content with his poverty, he did not consent to leave Bursfelde, lest he seem to have preferred riches to poverty. He therefore remained in his own monastery, and another was appointed in the place of the first reformer. Since he seemed comparable to his predecessor neither in learning nor in zeal, he was able to accomplish little for the continuation of the undertaking begun, nor to enlarge the reformation among many. Meanwhile it happened that Nicholas of Cusa, presbyter cardinal of the holy Roman Church

legate of the apostolic see to come into Germany; and since he burned with great zeal for our order, he established and granted many things for its reformation. Hearing, moreover, of the good reputation of the aforesaid abbot in Bursfelde and of his most fervent purpose of regular discipline, he summoned [him] to himself [unclear], settled the matter, and through his diligence [unclear] many things reformed. On this occasion at last he instituted an annual chapter for the preservation of the reformation; he transferred the presidency from Saint Matthias to Bursfelde; and he commanded, through the apostolic see, that all things which he had established for the good of the reformation be confirmed.

The first abbot of Bursfelde in the reformation was Johannes, a monk appointed from Reinhausen; the second, Johannes called de Hagen; the third, Theodericus, whom we saw; and the fourth, Johannes, who has now lately been installed in the government. We briefly touch upon the origins of our reformation, dearest brothers, for this reason: that you may know with how much labor it began, and that unto death you may persevere steadfast in the holy observance of the rule. Among all the reformations of our order that preceded it, none was more conformable and agreeable to the one rule of the divine father Benedict, and none more alien from foreign aids. We have read the statutes of nearly all other reformations; but we judge that none cleaves more than ours to the rule, to the purity of Benedict’s intention. This is the Bursfelde reformation, most holy in the order, which teaches true obedience and preserves subjection in humility. In this holy religious life the monks live poor and without private property; they live humble; they live obedient; they live chaste. O venerable union of monks, in which charity reigns doubled, obedience serves, humility complies, prayer keeps watch, perseverance fights, glad chastity triumphs. This is the school of regular discipline, the institute of Christian humility, which directs morals to rectitude and restrains the vices of the flesh. No one in this arena of virtue is permitted by his own will to follow [unclear] against the rule; no one is forbidden to do good. In this holy union one lives according to the purity of the rule; and if anyone begins to stray from the path of rectitude, the diligence of the elders immediately recalls him to the observance of justice. The rule of the most holy father Benedict is read publicly three times in the year, so that no one may try to excuse himself from observance under the pretext of ignorance.

There are two things that promise me great hope for the perseverance of this holy reformation: namely, the annual chapter and the diligent biennial visitation of the monks. But if either of these is neglected, the reformation will soon be in danger. Consider now, dearest brothers, and take the most diligent care you can, that you do not occupy this monastery of the divine bishop Martin uselessly under the title of so venerable a reformation; for unless you live according to the rule and the statutes of the order, purely, holily, and blamelessly, you trust in the name in vain. We shall say to you a few true admonitions for salvation, through which the zealous observance of our Bursfelde reformation will possess its name by merit and dignity.

First of all, before all things, direct the whole power of your striving and your whole desire toward monastic perfection; and as often as you feel it growing lukewarm, renew it by the intent remembrance of the Lord’s passion and most innocent death. For although we are not bound to that perfection by necessity of salvation, nevertheless we are bound to strive for perfection with all our desires. The monk who casts aside the striving to be perfected falls into the pit of failure. The second thing which the sacred custom of our reformation has established for you to keep preserves strongly the striving for perfection in its first desire. Therefore when, awakened, you rise for Prime, do these things in secret. Examine and discuss the course of the coming day; prudently consider what useful thing stands before you to be done. Set in your hearts in what caution you wish to live the whole day, and arm your spirits with patience against all things that might occur as adversities. Whatever you do, perform it in the fervor of charity, and always order all words and deeds to the praise of God. The third thing we judge useful and necessary for you is that, with most devout prayers, you always strive to implore the help of divine aid in all things. And it seems very fitting to us, as we have often said and always admonish, that each of you at least once a day make remembrance of the Lord’s passion, and for the many benefits received from God say an act of thanksgiving one time. That this may be done uniformly by each one of you, listen to this brief form which we have arranged; if you wish, write it out for yourselves.

I adore, praise, bless, and glorify you, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, savior and life-giver of the souls of all the faithful; and I give thanks to you from the innermost part of my heart for your most holy incarnation and nativity from the most pure virgin Mary; for your circumcision; for your flight into Egypt; for your seven-year exile there; and for

What the good ordering of monastic life is.

... by your return afterward into the land of your temporal birth. I give you thanks, most sweet Lord Jesus; I praise, bless, and adore you for all your labors, journeys, and weariness; for hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, poverty, and want; and for the necessities, injuries, insults, mockeries, and slanders which throughout your whole life you willingly, not under compulsion, endured for us. And as often as you moved your hand to work, your foot to walk, or as often as you opened your mouth to speak, so often I bless you, praise you, glorify you, humbly adore you, and with all the powers of my heart always give thanks to you, mediator of God and men, most sweet Jesus Christ.

I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful king of the heavens, for your most holy teaching, for the establishment of your faith and of the evangelical sacraments, for the calling of the nations, for the justification of sinners, and for all your wondrous acts and virtues, and for all your benefits, which either you have bestowed upon me in particular or upon all others together with me in general.

I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, most benign savior, for your charity which you had toward the human race, and for your whole most bitter passion, and all the pains which you endured on account of us wretched ones. I give you thanks, Lord Jesus; I praise, bless, and adore you for the grief and sorrow of your most innocent heart which you endured for us at the time of your impending passion, when you said to your disciples who were following you: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death.” I beseech you, by this sorrow of your heart, O God, have mercy on me now and in the hour of my death, and take from me all melancholy and disordered grief, granting me at all times a salutary sorrow for my sins.

I give you thanks for the sadness of your most holy heart, when, placed in agony, you prayed to the Father a second and third time that he would take away from you the chalice of the passion; and, pouring forth sweat in marvelous anguish, you resigned yourself wholly to his will for us. I give you thanks, O king of heaven and earth, for your captivity, for the insults, injuries, and mockeries which you endured throughout the whole time of the passion on account of the salvation of us all.

I give you thanks, O Lord Jesus; I praise, bless, and adore you, bound to the column, for the most harsh scourging of your most tender body, and for the shedding of your most sacred blood from the wounds, with immeasurable pain. I adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, crowned with thorns, and I give you thanks for the piercings and pains of your most holy head, for the blows, spittings, and all the mockeries cruelly inflicted upon your majesty by the wicked. I adore you, Christ Jesus, Son of the living God, bearing the very heavy weight of your cross; I adore you, stripped of your garments before the multitude; I adore you, stretched out by hands and feet with iron nails upon the cross and very cruelly fastened to it.

I adore you, Jesus Christ, everlasting king, hanging and dying on the cross for me; and I give thanks for the pains of your wounds, I give thanks for the shedding of your most precious blood, I give thanks for your most innocent death which you willingly endured for our sins and the sins of the whole world. I give thanks to your boundless goodness, because you called me, your own, to the faith; because you caused me to be baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity; and because you deigned to call me away from the vanity of the world, to serve you in true tranquillity of mind, into this holy congregation.

I beseech you by your most holy name, O most sweet Jesus, mediator of God and men; I beseech you by the pain of your wounds and by the merits of your most bitter passion; I beseech you by the shedding of your most holy blood and by the power of your most innocent death: grant me indulgence of all my sins; pour into my heart the sweetness of your most fervent love; give me, with progress in all virtues, perseverance; and have mercy on me now and in the hour of my death, guarding me today and at all times, in your mercy, loving Jesus, from every sin and danger of mind and body. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And which of you, brothers, is there who cannot say this short prayer, or one like it if he has a better, once each day? It is not long nor is it wrapped in foreign words, but short and plain, gathering the life and passion of Christ in a compressed summary. A Christian person, and especially one in the cloister, is exceedingly ungrateful to God if he does not at least once in the day recall the Lord’s passion to memory, devoutly rendering acts of thanks. But if to any of you this prayer has seemed too lengthy, in the eighth homily of our exhortations to you we recently set down a shorter one, to which the weary man can have recourse. Above all, take care, I beg you, that among so many benefits of God you not be ungrateful for even one. Let this be done...

Sermon II. Fol. LXIII.

thanksgiving after matins, because it is a most fitting time for prayer, and the silence of the night’s rest is wont to increase devotion. For I say that [unclear] testify [unclear] more efficacious: than those which they offer to God the Father with remembrance of the Lord’s Passion and gratitude.

Fourth, what we have judged necessary for you for regular observance is that you keep watch in the guarding of the outward senses, because no one is able to guard well the city of his own heart who disdains to close the gates. Love silence, and flee every tumult of this world. Apply holy prudence to all that you do, and love the secrecy of quiet. For a monk who loves public life and wandering excursions was never a true lover of observance.

Fifth, we admonish you to flee idleness, destructive to the soul, because this pestiferous poison nourishes the gravest vices and always begets unclean thoughts. Therefore whoever, as a lover of virtues, loves his own salvation, whoever desires to arrive at eternal happiness, let him flee idleness as from the face of the devil, if he desires to avoid sin.

Sixth, for the purity of regular observance there is required, by necessity of salvation, that the renunciation of property be kept inviolate by all until death. For a monk having private possessions prepares for himself a way to hell. But whoever receives and disburses money in the monastery, let him be a public minister; let no private person dare to presume this. The possession of riches does not befit monks, who are commanded to imitate the Lord Jesus in poverty of spirit. Let us hear the holy apostle of Christ saying: Having food and clothing, with these we are content. By God’s mercy we provide you with necessities: not as much as the desire of disordered pleasure demands, but as much as nature, content with little, requires. And so, just as it is not lawful for you to have anything without the abbot’s consent, so, since we minister all things, not even what is necessary [unclear].

The seventh thing that makes a monk is humble obedience to commands. For he cannot be a true monk who despises obedience and denies to his superiors the humble subjection which he promised. This disease of disobedience arises from elation and pride of mind, just as from evil matter pus is generated in ulcers. But what does Scripture say? Pride is hateful before God and men, and is the beginning of every transgression. The warfare of monks is the imitation of Christ, who obeyed the Father even unto death.

The eighth place is adorned by the most beautiful virtue, chastity; when this is despised, it is now necessary that all integrity of regular observance suffer shipwreck. For a monk, by the necessity of his salvation, is commanded to live chastely until death and to abstain perpetually from every venereal pollution. For let these be the three principal vows of monastic conversion: against the observance of which to live is certain damnation for monks. For the profession of monks, under sentence of eternal damnation, commands them to live without property, under obedience to a pastor, and in perpetual chastity. If one of these three is taken away, monastic integrity has been violated, and transgression condemns the one who despises it.

In the ninth place, therefore, we admonish every person dedicated to God that he always beware his own will as a venomous serpent, because unless he has held it suspect at all times, he easily falls into the pit of damnation. Attend to the rule, which permits monks neither the will of the body nor that of their own will. No one sins unwillingly. If you have perfectly submitted your will to God and to your abbot in all things, you will easily avoid sin.

The tenth thing, my dearest brothers, that can preserve in you the integrity of regular observance is that in all adversities and contrary things you have most steadfast patience for the love of God. For patience is a great virtue, which by another name we call endurance, without which no one will come forth victor over his temptations. Therefore the Lord said in the holy Gospel: In your patience you shall possess your souls. What is patience, if not to bear with equanimity both the injuries done by one’s own people and all other adversities whatever, out of reverence and love for God? Believe me, brothers, I speak the sentence of the Apostle: patience is very necessary for you, so that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise. Let the Lord Jesus be for you the living example of patience, whom you should follow with all your strength.

Eleventh, my brothers, take care that your hearts not be weighed down in gluttony, because a monk ought not to eat and drink to satiety, but, from love of abstinence, always to cease with a certain appetite and hunger. For the wise man says: He who loves feasts will be in want, and he who loves wine and rich foods will not be made rich. Love fasting; cherish abstinence; preserve continence and frugality in all things. These are the weapons of cloistered persons; these are the insignia of the spiritual warfare of monks.

[unclear] prevail. With an abundance of foods useless conversations keep company; and a belly filled with wine stirs up unclean promptings of the flesh and of lust. If you wish to be chaste, be abstinent. It is most shameful for a monk to serve the belly and the throat, who for the love of God has renounced all the pleasures of the world together.

The twelfth thing that makes a monk useful and vigorous in regular observance is that he be most diligent about the service of the divinity. For he who is a true servant of God, which all monks ought to be, is always fervent and diligent in the work of his creator; and because he truly knows God to be present everywhere, he prepares himself with complete devotion for obedient service to him. For it is written: Cursed is the man who does the work of God negligently. Therefore, as you approach the service of the highest and unchangeable God, dearest brothers, chant the psalms sweetly, wisely, fervently, and cheerfully, and with as much devotion and purity of mind as you can, diligently praise your creator and savior. Let all sloth be far from the hearts of those chanting the psalms; let no drowsiness be admitted while praising, for since God is present in the midst of those chanting, the fervor of devout minds ought altogether to be present. In the time of divine service let all things be clean, all things pure, all things most full of the fervor of charity, so that wicked thoughts may have no place and all things may be done fittingly.

When the day has been completed and Compline has been sung according to custom, as soon as the monk has reached the privacy of his cell, let him examine his conscience as to what affairs he has occupied himself with. This is the very good and praiseworthy custom of the brothers of the Bursfeld reform: that no one should presume to place himself upon his bed after Compline unless he has first taken utmost care to examine his conscience concerning the faults or negligences committed during the day. But if, after making examination, you find that during the day you have offended in anything, you know, taught by long custom, what must be done. Hidden faults must at once be erased on the next day by contrition and humble confession; manifest faults, however, must be referred to the chapter of faults, which is held daily. This is the custom of the reformed order, this the holy institution of the reform: that we should never allow the faults of offending brothers to grow, but should take care to cut them off as soon as they have begun to arise. The soul must be cleansed daily; the purpose of holiness must be renewed daily; for just as we cannot remain in the same state without change, so it is necessary for us, by continual exercise, to stir up the mind more frequently to the former fervor of charity.

What are the signs of true humility: Sermon Three.

Let none of you, most beloved brothers, deceive himself by his own estimation of himself; let no one mislead his heart by foolish and vain presumption. Not all who desire to seem humble are humble before God, nor are those who keep silent under injuries always truly patient. For the roots of true virtues lie hidden in the heart, and not in the mere outward display of exhibition. We discern certain persons among you who seek rather to be considered humble than truly to be so; and they show many signs of pride, but either none, or certainly very few, of humility. We feel deep compassion, as rightly we ought, for those who err so greatly: they desire to have the name of virtue, but they despise virtue itself. Whom, I ask, do you deceive, wretched men? Do you not destroy yourselves by shamefully misleading yourselves, you who, despising truth, love a lie? But so that you may know how proudly you live, we shall set forth in order the indications and signs of true humility, some of which remain hidden in the heart alone, while others, breaking forth even outwardly, must become manifest to all who see them. Let this be for the monk the true mirror of perfect humility, in which, looking each day, he may examine himself.

The first sign, then, of true humility each person can recognize in himself when he can regard himself as lower and more worthless than all men, not by painted speech, but by the humble judgment of the heart. This is the greatest sign of profound humility: that the monk, always advancing toward a better way of life, should believe himself an unprofitable and unworthy servant of God. True humility belongs to the heart, not to speech; it is the pursuit of the mind, not of bodily display alone. That monk is truly humble who loves God above all things; who always keeps himself pure in all things from every transgression of the commandments of God and of the rule; who does great deeds of piety and justice, and concerning himself, in his own judgment,

Sermon III. Folio LXIII.

he bears [them] continually in his heart; and, always contrite in spirit, praying and groaning to the Lord with tears, he asks pardon and mercy. Nor does he pray only for his own sins, but also for the sins of the whole world. The greatest remedy against the exaltation of the mind is the remembrance of one’s own offenses.

The third mark of humility is that he desires to keep all the good works he does within himself in secret, and hides his own progress out of zeal for humility. He who is humble does not boast in vain glory, nor seek praise from men, because he hopes for the glory of eternal happiness. Whoever among you considers himself humble and a true monk should not on that account despise this sign of profound submission and abasement for God’s sake.

The fourth indication of true humility is that, voluntarily descending into the abyss of contempt for himself, he considers all his brethren, even those openly sinning, better than himself before God; forgetting the good things of his own, he wisely considers his evils, while passing over the evils of others in silence, and opportunely making known whatever good things they have done. This is the condition of true humility: always to admire and proclaim the good works of others, and prudently to make little of and hide one’s own, for the avoidance of pride.

Having attained the fifth sign of humility, he is quiet in his simplicity and does not speak of the defects of others, unless compelled either by reason of office or by the command of charity. Yet prudent humility preserves moderation in correction, so that the one whom it cannot make better by correcting him more severely, it strives to admonish gently and meekly. It also sometimes wisely dissembles rebukes, and waits for and observes a more opportune time.

The sixth sign of humility is shown when a monk, from love of humility, is found slow and not ready to accuse and rebuke the sins of others. For he who is truly humble always considers his own weakness, and silently weighs in secret how many evils he himself has committed against God’s justice. Hence he greatly fears to rebuke the deeds of others, because he recognizes himself as a sinner and therefore unworthy to judge others. We except the prelates and rulers of monks from this norm of humility, insofar as we know them to be bound to the correction of their subjects.

The seventh sign of true humility is that he gladly receives corrections and amendments for his faults and negligences, and is embittered by no grief against the one who rebukes him. Whenever the humble man is rebuked by someone, he rejoices in spirit with the prophet, saying: Let the just man correct me in mercy and rebuke me; but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head. Of the proud, however, Scripture says: They hated the one who rebuked in the gate. He who is truly humble loves the one who rebukes him, but flees the flatterer.

The eighth indication of true humility is clearly shown when, rebuked, he does not defend, deny, cloak, or excuse his fault, but confesses it with simple shamefacedness. The truly humble monk, when he is rebuked, does not murmur; he does not protest that he has exceeded the measure of equity, but at once, falling to the ground before the judge, cries out most meekly: I have sinned; I confess the fault; I beg pardon; I promise amendment.

The ninth indication of monastic humility makes one mild, sweet, and modest in speech, and not loud in voice. The monk whom you see to be loud and hasty in speaking you will judge not humble, but proud and rash. The humble man speaks modestly and almost under silence, and is always found readier to listen than to speak before others. It is shameful for a monk to raise his voice too much when he speaks, since, crucified to the world, he is commanded to love silence.

He possesses the tenth indication of perfect humility who is accustomed to interpret everything he has heard about his neighbor in the better part. For our Savior says in the holy Gospel: Do not judge, and you shall not be judged. And again: With what measure you have measured, it shall be measured back to you. The Apostle also says: Do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both illuminate the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of hearts. Who are you, who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls, and not to you.

The eleventh indication of holy humility is that he despises no man in his heart on account of any excesses whatever, but places all before himself in the merit of sanctity. He also considers all who offend publicly to be better than himself, and therefore condemns no one. He always thinks with himself in his heart what evil he himself has done, but humbly weighs the good deeds of others as outweighing his own. Hence he spurns no one, makes little of no one, despises no one, because he desires all to be saved in the Lord.

What are the signs of true humility.

[he] has laid [it] up in heaven: he despises all the glory of this life. The thirteenth sign of true humility is not only to despise praises and favors in the truth of one’s mind, but also prudently to avoid those by whom one sees oneself being praised. Those who are truly humble flee their praisers, and whenever they are praised, they fall silent, answering nothing. The esteem of a great reputation is burdensome to the humble man, and he is confounded in himself all the more, the more he is proclaimed by men. For true humility, when blamed, advances; when praised, it runs into danger.

The fourteenth perfect sign of monastic humility: in corrections and disparagements, if he suffers any, he conceives spiritual joy and a great increase of divine love. When wronged he is pierced with compunction, and is provoked much more to contempt of the world. Whenever he is reproved insultingly by anyone, if he is humble, he judges himself justly corrected. For he does not consider his own innocence in the accusation, but, humble and compunct, weighs that he has gravely offended God in other matters.

The fifteenth sign of perfect humility: he never kicks back against one correcting him, but preserves silence in all tranquility of mind. He does not cast even the very well-known vices of his reprover in his face, nor does he seek any grounds for argument. He does not complain that insult is being done to him; he sets no excuse against a rash man, nor is he accustomed to answer words with words, but, as if mute, to be silent toward all things.

The sixteenth sign of deep humiliation: he despises all comforts of the world and seeks no friendships of mortals. True serene humility, which is assumed for the love of Christ, delights nowhere but in Christ alone. But one cannot stand in the love of Christ unless he has learned to deny both his own will and the world with all its disordered pleasures. Thus the Lord says to him in the holy Gospel: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own soul, he cannot be my disciple.

The seventeenth sign of humility: he does not divide himself into many things; he does not greatly seek the aid and benefits of men, but humbly remains in his own moderation, or even extremity. For benefits received from men he is not accustomed to applaud much, but to show himself grateful with few and simple words. Little gifts weaken the minds of the infirm, and often render the unwary useless and superfluous in speech. Indeed, he who is truly humble does not delight in the conversations of givers, because they often hinder the purity of his purpose. The love of Christ does not love publicity.

The eighteenth sign of humility: from the heart he suffers with all who suffer for the love of Christ, and most patiently bears the defects and infirmities of others, and prays for the correction of those who offend. For true humility shows to sinners and the weak the bowels of piety and compassion; but false and simulated humility, because it is truly pride, swells against the frail with hard and indiscreet severity, and often becomes the cause of danger when in correcting it exceeds the rule of charity. But he who is truly humble always fears to exceed the due measure of correction, and therefore is more inclined to mercy than to excessive severity.

The nineteenth sign of true humility: the mind perseveres free from all envy, and he favors and prays for all men. He envies no one the gifts of divine kindness; he favors the grace of God in all, and rejoices together in the progress of others. He judges no one unworthy of God’s benefits; he thinks all better than himself. He considers the advantage of his neighbors his own, because he loves all as himself.

The twentieth sign of perfect humility: with bitterness of heart he recalls to memory the multitude of his sins, and therefore thinks himself unworthy of every benefit and grace of God. Hence, seeking the depth of humility, he imitates the evangelical publican, who had remembrance of his own offenses and did not wish to lift his eyes to heaven. For the monk who is truly humble by the love of Christ always bears in his heart the holy sorrow of compunction and repentance for the evils he has done.

The twenty-first sign of cenobitic humility: he trusts the judgment of others more than his own, and because of Christ subjects his own will wholly to another’s command. Let those among you who follow the judgment of their own head attend whether they can or will apprehend this sign of monastic humility. For today we see few observers of true monastic humility, though we see many monks professing it. O times, O morals, in which we all promise humility, and very few of us truly discern how to keep what has been promised inviolate.

The twenty-second sign of cenobitic humility: he will abominate and despise beautiful, new, precious clothes, and [will desire?] to have all garments cast off by others and. 14 q

Sermon M. Fol. LXV.

he longs to put on. He willingly uses meaner garments, and takes very great delight in those things which others despise. Beautiful garments, decorously arranged, do not befit a monk, but the meanest, with which the body may be defended only from the injury of the inclemency of the air. All fastidiousness is forbidden him, as it is to cloistered men, who by reason of their profession made before God are bound to contempt of the world. Humility flees lofty things; it seeks the things that are lowly.

The twenty-third sign of monastic humility shows a monk to be servant-like toward the brethren and voluntarily given to acts of service, and ready for all things whatsoever he has been ordered. For true humility obeys even inferiors with a most ready will, and is never indignant against the one who commands. As far as he is able, he desires to serve all for the love of Christ, who faithfully loves God with his whole heart. For whatever service he has bestowed on the brethren, he firmly believes that the whole has been shown to Christ.

The twenty-fourth sign of humility a monk then attains in truth, when for the love of God he delights to attend to the meaner offices in the monastery, which the rest despise. We read that many once ascended to this degree of true humility; we do not doubt that they are of great merit before God. For the Lord says in the holy Gospel: Everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted; for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The humble monk imitates Christ; the proud one, the devil.

The twenty-fifth sign of monastic humility is always to seek the lower place for sitting in the assembly of any persons whatever, and to prefer oneself neither to an equal nor to an inferior. It is not for monks to contend proudly about precedence of place; nor does it befit a soldier of Christ to wish to surpass others in honor. For the true monk, who loves humility, content with the lowest place in every respect, does not desire to excel anyone.

The twenty-sixth indication of humility especially befits him who, although learned and educated, on account of the lowly humiliation of himself hides all learning and knowledge. For the monk who is truly humbled is always found readier to listen than to speak. For the divine priest Jerome says: The monk has the office not of one teaching, but of one lamenting, who either mourns himself or the world, and fearfully awaits the coming of the Lord. The arrogance of monks is hateful both to God and to men, and always liable to sin.

The twenty-seventh sign of humility is perfectly attained by him who, for love of regular discipline, delights more to be silent than to speak. The humble lover of Christ loves silence, and, lest he offend in speech, is accustomed to say very few things. Humility is rarely found among the talkative; and he who is swift to speak casts down his own soul. A talkative and garrulous monk is not without pride; and he who is foolish multiplies words. Whoever in the spiritual contest desires to overcome his adversary through humility must not omit to restrain his tongue from much speaking and from every idle word. It is written in the book of Proverbs that in much speaking sin will not be lacking.

Whoever has attained the twenty-eighth sign of perfect humility will avoid laughter and all disordered gestures of those who guffaw. Lamentation most befits a monk, not laughter, as one who is dead to all the levities of the world. But the wise man says: A fool raises his voice in laughter, but a wise man will scarcely laugh quietly.

The twenty-ninth indication of perfect humility takes its beginning from the fear of the Lord; for the sake of his honor, as far as he is able, he flees and detests every sin. For everyone who does not fear to sin has not truly been humble. But the monk who follows Christ according to his strength in true humility is accustomed to flee every sin, and, as far as he can, to exercise himself in the pursuit of virtues. Humility confesses its sin; and as often as it has offended even in the smallest matters, it does not rest until it has amended everything through true penance. He who is truly humble is always found zealous for preserving cleanness of conscience. For the nourishment of humility is charity, which does not permit the one who has it to be idle.

The thirtieth sign of true humility shows a monk confirmed in the purpose of holiness, and makes him subject to all the brethren, even the younger. Whatever the pastor has commanded, he obeys simply; he never debates the commands of his superior; he does not ask the reason why he so commands. If impossibilities are commanded, he is very ready in spirit; he is prepared without contradiction for whatever things are hard and arduous. He is directed by the counsel of his pastor; he believes him, trusts him, obeys him, and is willingly governed by his command. You have now heard, my dearest brethren, the thirty indications of true humility. O good God, where are the works? Which of us will boast that he has true humility, so that in these signs he suffers no defect? These, shameful to say, are

On the arduous way that leads to life.

our own times, in which the charity of many has grown cold; the integrity of holy religion has perished; the devotion of almost all has breathed its last. Our monks seek sanctity without the merit of virtues; they wish to have merit without the exercise of labor. Therefore a saint is not found today in the monastery. The fervor of holy compunction in many is either exceedingly rare or lukewarm; for where one lives for flesh and blood, the fervor of inward charity is not possessed. It is not enough for you, O monk, who boast of observance, to have nothing of your own, not to touch a woman, to reside in a monastery under obedience to a shepherd, not to eat meat, and in the other things that are external matters of regular discipline according to the monastic institution [unclear], unless with the utmost diligence you also strive to [order?] your inner things through true charity of God and neighbor, for the acquisition of which all the other things have chiefly been instituted. Without the charity of God, therefore, all things profit you nothing; for it is itself the one and only thing that distinguishes between good and evil works. O monk, monk, whoever you are who live lukewarmly in the monastery without the fervor of charity, do you think that the outward equipment of discipline can save you? Charity is what sanctifies the one who has it; charity commends the other virtues and all good works to God. Have charity, and all the works of piety that you do will be pleasing to God.

On the arduous way that leads to life. Sermon 4.

You have heard, dearly beloved brothers, our Lord Jesus Christ saying in today’s reading in the holy Gospel: “How narrow is the gate and strait the way that leads to life, and few are they who find it.” Is not Christ himself the way, who had said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life”? And how does he now say that it is strait and narrow, when he himself is the one who had said: “Take my yoke upon you and learn, for I am meek and humble of heart. For my yoke is sweet, and my burden light”? What else is the yoke of Christ than the strait and narrow way to the kingdom of God? How, then, is it both light and narrow? Let your charity hear. The yoke of the Lord Jesus is sweet to the good, hard and unbearable to the reprobate. The way of Christ to life is broad and pleasant to those exercised in the charity of the humble, but narrow and bitter to the proud. For nothing is so hard, nothing so terrible, nothing so arduous that it is not easy and pleasant to one who loves God. Again, nothing is so light, nothing so easy, nothing so small that it is not heavy and burdensome to an evil will. Therefore the Lord said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” If you wish to bear my yoke upon you, first learn the meekness and humility of my heart, since unless you are meek and humble, you will by no means be able to carry my load, as though it were a heavy weight and an unbearable burden. I am a humble way; I do not contain the proud. I am a narrow gate; I do not admit the swollen. Unless your soul has despised all worldly things, unless you have inflicted the necessary force upon the pleasures of the flesh, you cannot enter through me into the kingdom like an animal burdened with sins. I am a humble and meek way, and I receive the humble; I am a strait doorway, and I admit the poor in spirit and the clean of heart.

To eternal life, brothers, we strive by the narrow way of truth; it is necessary that in time we provide for ourselves all things that are necessary for so arduous a journey. There are, moreover, four things especially necessary for travelers, without which the journey is dangerous and one rarely arrives at the goal. The first thing that we say is necessary for travelers we believe to be knowledge of the roads. For one who tries to walk far through trackless places without knowledge of the roads is sometimes entangled in dangerous errors. Therefore let the prudent traveler either first learn the road, or take to himself a companion skilled in the journey, lest he either fall into the hands of robbers or depart from the path of the right road. Therefore, desiring to return to the homeland of the heavenly kingdom by a way exceedingly narrow and known to few, we must have as guide and companion of the journey Jesus Christ himself, who called himself the way and the truth. Outside Christ there is no true knowledge of the ways. Whoever neglects to have Christ as the companion of his journey runs in vain and without fruit. Therefore let us learn the way of life, dearly beloved brothers, without knowledge of which no one reaches the homeland; no one reaches life [unclear]. For he himself says in the holy Gospel: “He who believes in the only-begotten Son of God has eternal life in”

Sermon 3. Folio 66

[unclear] remaining. But he who does not believe in the Son: the wrath of God remains upon him. What does it mean that wrath remains upon him, except that the first, original sin is not removed from him? For after the establishment of the New Testament, original sin is removed from those who believe in him through faith in Christ alone. Circumcision was given to the fathers as a sign of future salvation; nevertheless none of them could enter the kingdom of heaven before Christ the Savior rose from the dead. Therefore outside faith in Christ there is no salvation, since, as he himself says, he who has not believed is judged and will be condemned. We remain in Christ through faith and love: he himself is the way of salvation, he the truth without error, he life without death. If we have the Lord Jesus as the guide of our journey, we walk confidently.

Secondly, it is necessary for wayfarers to pass through the lands of their journey without injury to anyone; for if they commit theft or robbery, or any other similar sin against the commonwealth, in the end they would come to be punished by penalty and would not reach the intended destination of the journey. But we, brothers, placed on the road by which we return to the homeland of the heavenly kingdom, must most diligently take care that we commit nothing, in word, deed, or thought, contrary to the justice of God, but render to each one his right and due: to God first of all devotion in worship and charity, to our neighbor love, to ourselves the holiness of perfect purity. Indeed, if we live according to the things Christ taught, do we not remain on the straight way of salvation which leads to the kingdom? We shall remain on the way if we keep the commandments of God; we shall walk in the truth if we love the Lord our God himself with all the strength of our mind; we shall come to life if, turning aside from evil, we continually persevere in the practice of good.

Thirdly, it is necessary to have provision for the journey, because if wayfarers lack travelling supplies, they will not be able to reach the intended place. But the prudent wayfarer, before he leaves his house, reckons within himself the time and length of the journey, and prepares travelling supplies and expenses according as necessity requires. A great and hard journey remains for us; we must prepare provisions for many years, lest we fail on this road on which we are going. The travelling provision of this journey of ours to the supercelestial homeland is not gold, not silver, not the deceitful riches of the world, but faith in Christ and love of God. The holy virtues are the unfailing travelling provision of the soul for the kingdom of heaven; strengthened by them, it walks on the way of God in gladness. The soul faithful to Christ and accompanied by the holy virtues gladly completes the hard road of this long pilgrimage. To love God above all things, to exercise oneself constantly in good works, to keep one's conscience in all purity, to do injury to no one: this provides the soul with true travelling provision for the eternal homeland in heaven.

Fourthly, it is advised as necessary for wayfarers that they not forget the purpose undertaken before they come to the end of the journey begun. For he must be called a foolish wayfarer who is recalled from his journey by children's games and forgets where he was tending. And we, dearest brothers, who have taken up the way of monastic religion, must always think upon our end, since death hastens every day even when we do not notice it, and presents the unprepared as well as the prepared before judgment. Meanwhile let us do good while it is permitted, as much as we can, and let us not delay to be converted to the Lord with all our heart. Christ is the way by which we proceed to the kingdom of God; Christ is the truth in which, remaining, we do not err; Christ is the life for which we hope. Hear, brothers, what he himself says in the holy Gospel: Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. This is the way upon which you entered at the beginning of your monastic profession; if you wish to proceed on it rightly and laudably, you will have to love Christ above all things, living purely in regular observance. It is yours, brothers, to love nothing in this world and to chastise the flesh for the love of God. It belongs to monks to despise all the delights and pleasures of the present life and to desire nothing other than the everlasting feasts. It belongs to monks to imitate Christ according to their powers, and to establish their life in evangelical purity. To imitate Christ is the highest perfection. The faithful minister of Christ follows his Lord, and where Christ is, there his minister also will be. Therefore whoever among you is a lover of his own salvation, desires to come after Christ to the kingdom of heaven, and wishes to keep and preserve until the end those things which he promised at his entrance into religion, let him keep these things. First, so that he may prevail, let the monk learn through faith and devotion; [unclear] in sincerity [unclear].

On the arduous way that leads to life.

[unclear] to know, and at all times to occupy himself piously and soberly with the holy Scriptures. And whatever holy mother Church of the faithful has established either to be believed or to be observed, let him faithfully and firmly both believe and keep it, nor depart in any way from her determination. All who had remained outside the ark were once destroyed by the flood; Noah alone, with those who were in the ark, escaped safe. The ark presented the figure of the Church, and the thing done prefigured a mystery. Hence there is no salvation for men outside the Church, which our Lord Jesus Christ built upon the most firm rock. Every unbeliever is not in the Church, and therefore he will necessarily perish, just as those once did who were not in the ark: pagans, gentiles, Saracens, likewise heretics and schismatics, who have withdrawn themselves from the unity of the Catholic Church, set [unclear] outside the ark of salvation; and if they persevere in error, without doubt they are to be damned forever with the demons.

Since, therefore, faith is the foundation of salvation, without which it is impossible to please God, the monk must know what he ought to believe; and lest it happen that he err, you must learn the Gospel and the constitutions of the Church that concern him. For he who does not know will not be known. It is most shameful for a monk not to know the rules of the Christian faith [unclear] what [unclear] forever [unclear] offers proof. But this we admonish: that the things proposed to you as to be believed should not be debated by curious argumentation, since, as Saint Pope Gregory says, faith has no merit where human reason provides proof. We admonish [unclear] that a monk ought to be studious in the divine Scriptures, so that he may know [unclear] faith may wholly consume [unclear].

Every unbeliever [unclear] without doubt with the demons forever [unclear] to be damned. Since therefore faith [unclear] you must learn [unclear] it is necessary to please God. The monk must know what he ought to believe, and lest it happen [unclear] human [unclear] offers proof. But this we admonish: that the things proposed to you as to be believed, by curious argumentation [unclear] the monk ought to be studious, so that he may know [unclear] faith may wholly consume [unclear]. [unclear] forever for the monk [unclear] offers proof. We admonish [unclear] that the monk in the divine Scriptures [unclear] ought to be studious, so that he may know [unclear] faith consumes wholly [unclear] he must [unclear] offers proof. But this [unclear] we admonish that the monk in the divine Scriptures [unclear] ought to be studious, so that he may know [unclear] faith consumes wholly [unclear] he must [unclear] offers proof.

And nothing hinders a man more from knowledge of himself than the man himself. Those who feed on the pleasures of the flesh, who are lifted up into pride by the vain knowledge of this world, whether by riches or by honors, are not permitted to come to knowledge of themselves. Yet to know many things and neglect oneself is not to be wise, but rather to be mad. It belongs to the accumulation of a graver damnation to learn many things and shamefully to be ignorant of oneself. Let each of you therefore consider what he is, whence he is, and what he is going to be. Man through himself is certainly nothing; but whatever he is, he is from God and for God. What is man but a wayfarer and pilgrim, as it were of one day upon the earth, who today lives in the world [unclear] but tomorrow, snatched away by death, is seen no more? Our whole life, every action, every day and hour, shows how nothing we are: we die by living, we are corrupted by acting; with time running on, I make comparison of us present to death. He spoke truly who compared you to the leaf of a tree. The wind, tearing it from the tree, casts it to the ground; in its place another new one afterward grows up, subject to a similar fall. But what has fallen to the ground is dissolved into the ground and never afterward returns to the tree. Hence a certain wise man of the Greeks says: as is the race of leaves, so too is the race of men. The race of men is very like the race of leaves, because it grows green for a time and is dissolved into the earth; and neither does the leaf return to the tree nor man to life.

Now follows the third thing, which I think very necessary for a monk walking in the way of God: the man who knows himself to be a wayfarer of this life and understands that the activity of life is of a very brief time truly shows himself humble in all things. For why should earth and ashes be proud? He cannot be exalted who truly knows himself. My brothers, we have no cause at all for exaltation and pride, but much and continual cause for humility, since indeed we are earth and a certain compacting of dust, and after a few days are to return again into dust. But because true humility belongs to few, therefore the way of salvation is called narrow and is found by few. By humility one comes to the kingdom, as the Lord says in the holy Gospel: everyone who humbles himself for God’s sake will be exalted, and he who exalts himself will be humbled.

Sermon III. Fol. LXVII

Whoever thinks that he is walking in the sight of him who always sees all things keeps his conscience pure and observes his conduct with the greatest diligence. Let him always keep watch in the fear of the Lord; let him always chastise [his body?] with fasting and [abstinence?], for love of the heavenly Father. The monk who recognizes himself as a pilgrim and stranger in this world never forgets the heavenly homeland; he sees nothing on the road of the present life in which his soul may take delight. For the prudent traveller considers none of the sights along the roads; nothing of passing things delights him in his pilgrimage, but at every time he sighs for the end of the journey. He always thinks sweetly of his homeland; he bears it grievously that his pilgrimage is prolonged or delayed; and therefore he desires to have nothing in this world except the Lord, in whose sight he hastens earnestly to appear. [Unclear] necessary for our traveller: [unclear] of divine charity [unclear]. No one will be able to come to the heavenly homeland who departs from the path of charity. The charity of God is the way to God; if anyone has neglected to keep it burning in himself, he wanders miserably from the true road of the heavenly homeland. Scripture says: God is charity; and he who remains in charity remains in God, and God in him. But he who is not in charity has withdrawn far from the way of salvation; and walking in outer darkness, he will never come to the kingdom.

How Sin Is to Be Fled

Sermon V.

You have heard, my very dear brothers, what Saint John the Apostle says about sinners: Whoever commits sin is from the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. A truly fearful and greatly dreaded sentence. If everyone who commits sin is from the devil, because everyone offends in many things, whom shall we find immune from sin? Yet he says subsequently: Everyone who is born of God does not commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. But he had said before: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. What does this very contradiction mean? that no one is without sin, and that he who is born of God does not commit sin? There is no contradiction here, because it is true on both sides: no one is without sin, inasmuch as no one is without the law of sin. He who is born of God does not commit sin, because through the law of the mind, that is, through charity, which is the seed, he does not commit sin. [Charity?] therefore

How Sin Is to Be Fled.

the multitude of sins: without which there is no good work, and it alone is able to destroy every sin. Hence the holy bishop Augustine says: No saint and just man is without sin; nor yet on that account does he cease to be just or holy, if he holds fast to holiness with affection. But those sins of the just are not to be thought mortal or enormous, but small and venial, without which the life of a man is carried on; for every mortal sin must be far from the just man, if he is to retain the name of justice. For mortal sin separates a man from God, kills the soul, and condemns it with the demons forever. This pernicious kind of mortal sin we can avoid by the grace of God, and by the rectitude of free choice we ought carefully to do so. Therefore we have been made monks, so that, living most cautiously under the rule of saving obedience, we should not fall into the pit of mortal sin. Thus a monk must always keep watch in good works, so that he may live free from mortal crime. But whoever on the way of God feels the flesh troublesome and contrary to him must make it subject to the spirit, and, as it were, obedient through fear, by the memory of punishments.

First, therefore, the monk who loves his own salvation [unclear] the deceitful flesh. For what is the world but a great, deep, and restless sea, in which there are as many creeping things of evils as there are evil desires of men ordered against the good? O world, deceitful, deceiver, and unclean, you shamefully deceive those who cling to you; you plunge all who follow you into the depth of hell. How happy are those who despise you for the love of Christ and, making a useful separation from your vanities, depart from you in time. Whatever we perceive in the world is vain, and every lover of the world is made vain and will soon be corrupted. Think that you will shortly die, for nothing draws men back from sin as frequent and intent meditation on death does. Hence Scripture says: Remember your last things, and you will not sin forever. Think on the necessity of dying: it shakes the mind with fear and restrains it from vice.

The second thing that urges one to flee sin is fear of the judgment to come, in which all men must be presented. No one can escape this dreadful judgment, but we must all appear in it. Two judgments to be feared hang over us, neither of which we shall be able to evade; necessity compels us to appear in each. One is called particular, in which immediately after death the soul is judged according to its merits either to grace or to punishment. The other is named general, which will be at the end of the world, where we shall all be judged publicly by the only-begotten Son of God. Each judgment is exceedingly terrible and greatly to be feared by all mortals. Hence the prophet Joel says: Great is the day of the Lord and very terrible, and who will endure it? Likewise in Ecclesiastes King Solomon says: All things that are done under the sun God will bring into judgment, for every error, whether it be good or evil. Likewise in Isaiah it is read thus: The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of his people and its princes. And in the book of the prophet Amos it is written thus: Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. What is it to you? For that day of the Lord is darkness and not light. Likewise Zephaniah, prophet of the Lord, foretelling the bitterness of the future judgment, said: The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter; the strong man will be troubled there. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and whirlwind. In the fire of the zeal of the Lord the whole earth will be devoured, because he will make a consummation with haste for all who dwell on the earth. This day, exceedingly terrible and to be dreaded by all mortals, which you believe will certainly come, always keep in memory, dearest brothers. For the most holy bishop Ambrose says: There is nothing that profits more toward an honorable life than that we believe him to be the future judge, whom neither the hidden things of minds deceive nor dishonorable things delight. For all of us, as Saint Christophilus says, must be made manifest before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may receive the proper things of the body, as he has done, whether good or evil. How greatly that day of the future and terrible judgment is to be feared Saint Jerome the priest indicates, saying: Whether I eat or drink, or do anything else, that voice always seems to sound in my ears: Arise, dead, and come to judgment. As often as I think of the day of judgment, I tremble wholly in heart and body. Hence, if there is any joy in the present life, it must be conducted in such a way that the bitterness of the future judgment never departs from memory.

Sermon V. Folio LXVIII.

What shall we wretches say on that day, or where shall we stand before the strict Judge, if, as Saint Peter the apostle says, scarcely shall the righteous man be saved? If Jerome, a righteous and most holy man, feared the judgment to come, O good God, where will Trithemius, an unhappy sinner, appear? If the righteous man fears, where will the sinner stand? What, then, shall we say, or what shall we answer, when grievously accused on every side? All the elements will stand against us in testimony; earth and heaven together will accuse us. But even if all things were silent, each person’s own conscience will be a grave accuser. He who knows all things is ignorant of nothing, for there all things will be manifest to the Judge. There will be present the evil deeds we have done, grievously accusing us; there will stand round about us, as testimony against us, innumerable demons. We shall see opened before us the dreadful chaos beneath us; above us we shall behold the Judge in wrath; and from every side the utmost danger will threaten us.

These dangers, my brothers, of the examination to come, keep always turning over in the memory of your heart, and diligently consider how dreadful it will be to fall under the future sentence of the Judge. In that terrible hour pure hearts will be of more worth than the clever words of rhetoricians; a clean conscience will profit a man more than the money of the whole world, since he who is to judge all things is not deceived; indeed, he is changed neither by a price nor by prayers. O what incredible horror will invade all the wicked when they are about to hear the fearful sentence: “Go, accursed ones, into eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” O worst of all evils, O deepest sorrow of all sorrows: to be separated from the fellowship of the saints and to be tormented with demons forever. Truly the day of judgment is dreadful, fearful for all because it is exceedingly bitter; there the synteresis of conscience dies by the worm that does not die; there one once damned to punishment is never freed.

Therefore the monk who desires to attain eternal salvation should keep himself, as far as he can, always clean from every sin, and that voice, “Go, accursed ones, into eternal fire,” should never depart from his memory.

Hence the third thing which we judge to be very useful for turning away from sin is diligently to consider the bitterness of the penalties of eternal damnation. For there is no temptation of carnal pleasure so vehement that it will not at once be overcome and fail, if the one tempted recalls in careful meditation what the damned suffer in hell. What do riches once possessed now profit the damned? What do past pleasures confer on the lustful placed in hell? What do the vainest honors confer on the swollen with pride? What does power once broad confer on the proud? Think, brothers, what those already damned suffer in the lower regions, and, lest similar things happen to you, persevere continually in good and holy works. If you fear hell, flee sin. For nothing in hell will harm a man if he has remained in the faith of Christ, free from sins; nor will he burn in punishment who previously, here, had not burned in guilt.

Hell is a place to be feared, in which there is no redemption, but whoever, once damned, enters there will never again come out to salvation. The wretched cry out amid torments, placed in anguish and everlasting horror, saying: “What now does our pride profit us: riches, honors, dignities, luxury, gluttony, and all past carnal pleasures? What do they now profit us, damned forever? Behold, all things have passed away like a shadow, and all have vanished like the brief dream of one night. But we have been assigned to these eternal torments, in which we know most certainly that there is no redemption.” In hell, as Augustine testifies, even if there will be the sting of penitence, nevertheless there will be in the damned no correction of the will; in them iniquity will be blamed in such a way that the equity of justice can by no means be loved or desired by them.

There, then, the devouring flame of hell burns those whom carnal delight now pollutes; and each person is burned in torments so much the more as he here in the flesh takes greater delight against God. In the lower regions, as Gregory testifies, there will be intolerable cold, inextinguishable fire, the immortal worm of conscience, intolerable stench, palpable darkness, pains beyond estimation, lashes without interruption, a dreadful sight of demons striking them, confusion over crimes committed, and despair of all good things. But of all the punishments in hell, that one must be considered by far the gravest: that there the damned are forever deprived of the vision of eternal light.

Here the most blessed father John Chrysostom says: “Gehenna is an intolerable thing, and all people abhor it. For who does not know that punishment in hell to be very horrible? Yet if anyone should set down a thousand, indeed ten thousand gehennas, the whole of what he says is nothing compared with this: for the soul, exposed to Christ, to be driven away from the glory of the saints, and to hear that terrible voice from the mouth of the Judge of all: ‘Depart from me, workers of iniquity, for I do not know you’; and, ‘Go, accursed ones, into eternal fire, which has been prepared for you and for the devil,’

How sin is to be avoided.

O voice by far the most terrible of all terrible things; O sentence to be feared and exceedingly dreaded by all mortals: to be hated by Christ for one’s deserts, to be reproached by the judge, to be separated from the fellowship of glory, and to retain no further hope of recovery. Consider now, brothers, the punishments of the impious, most certainly to come, and compare whatever pains of this life, whatever torments of this passing age, and all imaginable tortures of this world, with those everlasting punishments of the damned; and they will be as nothing to something, imagination to truth, a dream to waking. You will easily overcome the temptations of the flesh and the law of sin if you continually keep thoughts of these things in memory. O eternity, what an inconceivable time; an age without end, a world without time. Blessed is he who now, in time, foresees how he may fare well in eternity after this very brief life.

The fourth thing that can draw a person back from sin is to have continual remembrance in the heart of future and everlasting happiness. Truly the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, which will be revealed in the saints, where there will be no discord, no dissonance at all, but the highest peace of all and the everlasting concord of the rejoicing saints. In the heavenly blessedness of the saints there is true joy without sadness, peace without discord, goodness without malice, gladness without end, light without darkness, everlasting life without pain. There is sweetness without bitterness, rest without labor, praise without reproach, love without fault, brightness without cloud, satisfaction without weariness. Eternity remains without tedium; goodness abounds without defect; happiness continues without misery. For where God is all in all, perfect and full joy will be present to everyone.

There the soul, or holy mind, is joined to its first principle through love; the intellect is perfectly illuminated for the knowledge of the highest good; and from these two things the enjoyment of eternal happiness is poured into those who rejoice. To know and love God in the kingdom of eternity is to possess, by enjoyment, the very glory of happiness. For this was man created: that he should understand God his creator to be the highest good; that, understanding him, he should love him above all things; and that, loving him, he should enjoy and possess him forever. [unclear] of the Christian faith: so that God, whom we now know through faith and love with our whole heart through works of charity, we may then in that life, understanding him perfectly, have as the perpetual object of our enjoyment. For the attainment of this everlasting happiness, dearest brothers, all good things must be done, even with the greatest labor; all adversities must be endured most patiently, since the very brief exercise of virtue brings forth for us an eternal reward. Hear what Saint John the bishop says on this matter: “If every day,” he says, “we had to endure torments; if, finally, we had to bear Gehenna itself for a little time, so that we might be able to see Christ reigning in eternal glory and be joined forever to the number of his saints, nothing sorrowful that could happen to us would, by any comparable reckoning, be worthy, if by it we might deserve to possess the glory of so great a good.”

But one does not arrive at the highest good except through the greatest labors, since, as [unclear] testifies in the holy Gospel, [unclear] vice and loves the good of virtue. Every human being who lives according to the command of reason is a lover of virtue; but he who, filthy in the dung of vices, rolls about, lives like a beast and not like a human being. But for you, my brothers, vices must above all be detested, and virtues loved, since for this reason you have despised the world, that you might profitably live in the monastery a life estranged from sins and adorned with holy virtues. Therefore virtues must be cultivated by you, not images of virtues; I say cultivated not with incense, not with sacrifice, but with love and with the purpose of a most upright will. To cultivate virtues is nothing other than to embrace them in the soul and, for the love of God, to keep them inviolate even unto death. For as Lactantius says, the whole duty of virtue is not to sin; and therefore there is no true virtue except that which, through faith in Christ, tends to that end where the highest good of man is, than which nothing can be better. But he is not virtuous who does not love God, since charity is the sum of all virtues. Therefore, if you love God with your whole heart above all things, you are truly virtuous. Virtue is the way of the good, by which, through faith and love of Jesus Christ, one comes to the kingdom. He who truly loves God does not sin, out of love of virtue. Consider your dignity, my brothers, and flee sin, since everyone who is swollen with pride, who is defiled by lust, who is infected by the other plagues of the soul, does not live as a human being, but is confounded in himself and proceeds into death. And the more anyone slips into sin, the farther he withdraws from God and the nearer he approaches to hell. But since all human beings naturally seek the good, it is most shameful to love sin, since every sinner abandons the good and turns himself toward evil.

Sermon V.

Sixthly, it draws the mind powerfully back from sin if, by habit, it persists always occupied in meditation on the Lord’s Passion. Who will be able to devote his works to the pleasures of the flesh, if he has reflected that Jesus Christ, the ruler of the world, hung for him on the cross? The death of Christ freed the world from eternal death; whoever carries this benefit with him in memory will easily abstain from every wickedness of vices. Finally, if anyone with the whole attention of his mind has considered God present to him in every place, knowing and understanding all things, he will without doubt always abhor every sin. For God is everywhere with us, not only present, but truly most inward and most present; no secret escapes him, nothing remains hidden from him, but all lies plainly manifest to him. He searches the hearts of all; he knows the most secret thoughts, since he alone has true knowledge of all things. Who among mortals would dare, without the greatest shame, in the presence of so great a majesty, which he believes sees all things, if he weighs who and how great he is who sees? Therefore, whenever some wicked thought troubles the mind, whenever the disordered motions of the flesh disturb the soul, think of the Lord God, who is the avenger of evils, as present; recall to memory the bitterness of the Passion of Jesus Christ; devoutly implore the aid of heavenly grace. He is harder than stone whom these things, diligently considered, have not been able to recall from the purpose of sinning.

The [seventh] thing that recalls the mind of the studious monk from the desire of sinning is that by continual reading he should run through the passions of the holy martyrs. For indeed, whoever often recalls to memory the unconquerable constancy of the holy martyrs of Christ cannot fail to become stronger and more steadfast in resisting sins. For this reason the brave deeds of the saints were committed to writing: so that whenever we, weak as we are, read such things, we may rise up to imitate those who went before. Do not look, brothers, to those who with proud rashness deny credence to the histories of the saints, and think that the glorious things narrated about the most blessed friends of Christ are fables. For the virtues and good qualities which they do not find in themselves, they scorn to believe that the saints of God possessed. For there are many, and especially among them those who think themselves great because of their learning, who very rashly reject the histories of the holy fathers; and since they themselves cannot enter upon the arduous path of virtue, they invent with windy loquacity that no one, or only a few, could have done so. Whatever is read before them concerning the lives of the saints, whether lofty or great, they cry out is invented and fabulous; and, such as they themselves live, placed in the darkness of vices, so they judge those whose histories they mock to have gone before. But the prudent and devout monk will not be shaken by the sloth of the proud, since he well understands that an effective power of exhorting is present in the histories of the saints. For, to confess meanwhile what I feel about myself, I am moved more toward the devotion of inward fervor by the life of one saint than by many curious sermons, because, as the most holy pope Leo says, examples are stronger than words, and it is more to teach by deed than by voice. But just as not all things please all people, so not all things suit all people; we advise each person to read more frequently and more studiously that by the reading of which his mind is stirred to greater perfection.

The eighth thing that most powerfully draws a man back from sin is charity, concerning which the holy apostle says: Charity is patient, is kind; it does not act perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, does not seek the things that are its own, is not provoked, does not think evil, does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices together with the truth; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never falls away. He who loves God flees sin; but he who is a servant of crimes assuredly does not love God. A lover of God does not commit sin; and he who truly loves his Lord and always beholds him as present does not work iniquity. God is the highest and unchangeable good; for love of him sin must both be fled and detested, since he who fears to sin only from fear of punishments does not ascend to the heights of charity. For a slave does not sin through fear of the lash; but a son withdraws from evil out of love for his father, lest he offend his father’s heart. Let us avoid sin, my brothers, and live in the sight of the Lord with as much purity of soul as we can, since just as deadly poison, once taken, kills the body, so sin kills the soul of the offender. Hence the wise man admonishes us in Ecclesiasticus, saying: Flee sins as from the face of a serpent, because if you come near to them, they will receive you. The teeth of a lion are the teeth of sin, killing the souls of men. Like a two-edged sword is the iniquity of man; for its wound there is no healing. In Ezekiel also

How sin is to be fled.

...does not imitate God but the reward of sin, the devil. Let us love God, and sin will not have dominion in us; let us love Christ, and we shall do nothing contrary to our salvation. There is nothing better, nothing stronger against sin, nothing safer, than to love God, who first loved us and washed us from all sins in the blood of his only-begotten Son. We are bound to that God, and we are obliged to love him with all the powers of the heart for many reasons.

First, indeed, God is supremely to be loved by us for no other reason than for his own sake, who is the highest and sole good; in him alone are rest and the salvation of the soul; without him there is no salvation, no rest, no beatitude, no happiness, either in heaven or on earth. For since God is the cause, maker, and beginning of all things, he alone is the object of the soul’s beatitude; to his everlasting enjoyment one comes by charity alone, and only by purity of mind is one led to love of him. Therefore, since God is the sole and highest good of the soul, he is to be loved by us for his own sake with all our powers. Outside God there is nothing good, nothing holy, nothing by which the soul can be gladdened forever. For God alone is the center of the soul’s beatitude.

Second, we are commanded to love the Lord our God, because he deigns to show himself to us as a most loving father. For thus he taught us to pray: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Truly God is the father of us all, who created us all, nourishes us, feeds us, and preserves us in being, lest we perish. There has never been any father so indulgent upon earth who loved his only-begotten son with such charity as God almighty, our Father, loves, cherishes, guides, and follows us with loving affection. And therefore we are bound to love him with a pure heart above all things, who gives us both being and living. For he himself is our father; and Adam, who was created the first of all men, did not know us.

Third, we ought to love God above all things because of the likeness by which man was made in the image of God, following his creator in a certain likeness in his intellect. But God is perfect, infinite, and everlasting intellect; by participating in his goodness through grace, our intellect is made blessed in him who created all things. For although there is no comparison between God and man, yet there is, from the nobility of its condition, a likeness of the rational soul itself to its beginning, a likeness of no contemptible dignity. For the prophet says: I have said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High. The Lord God also said in the beginning: Let us make man to our image and likeness. Great is the condescension of divine loving-kindness toward our race, which it befits us at all times to remember with pure mind in the observance of charity.

Fourth, we ought to love our God above all things because of his inestimable munificence, whom we acknowledge to have bestowed such great benefits upon us when we did not deserve them. When we did not exist, he first established us in being by his goodness, and ordained us to participation in his glory, which will never end. Thus Scripture says of the nobility of man: Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and hast set him over the works of thy hands. Do you wish to know, brothers, in what respect man is less than an angel? Attend carefully to what we say. There are two intellects created from the beginning: angelic and human. The angelic, immediately from the beginning of its creation, was made full and perfect in actuality with respect to all knowable things, and by nature knew and comprehended all that it ought to know; but the human intellect, first indeed, exists in potency with respect to all knowable things, ignorant of all, but in the end, through many actions, it will at last acquire knowledge of all things, as the angelic intellect does. For the perfect consummation of nature, which is present in the angelic intellect from the beginning, will be granted to the human intellect at the end. Hence it is clear that between these two created intellects there is only this difference: that the angelic intellect is what it can be, while the human intellect is to receive the likeness of angelic perfection in the end, that is, after the death of the flesh. For when the angelic intellect was first created, without any action of its own, immovably, substantially, and by nature, it was full and perfect with knowledge of all things. Of these, those who adhered to their beginning, namely God, through love have been confirmed in eternal happiness; but those who, glorying in themselves, withdrew from God in affection are forever wretched and unhappy. But the human intellect, since from the beginning it is created in ignorance and privation of all things, must by action, motion, and art at last arrive at the knowledge of things set before it. As long as we are in the body and are pilgrims away from the Lord, our intellect, because of its excessive commerce with the body, is confounded as if placed in the darkness of ignorance, and is by no means illumined to perfect knowledge of future things. But afterward, when the soul has been separated from the body, then the intellect will enjoy angelic perfection. Therefore we are distant from the angels only to the extent that we participate in bodily impurity.

Fifth, God is to be loved by us especially because he first loved us and washed us

Sermon VI. Folio LXX.

from our sins in the blood of his only-begotten Son. The Creator loved his creature, which he made from nothing; it is fitting that the creature itself should love above all its Creator, by whose goodness it was brought into being. God loves us with the greatest charity, than which none greater can be spoken or conceived; and he loves us so greatly that he neither ought nor could love more, since in God all things are perfect, and in the immutable there is no capacity for changes.

Consider now, my brothers, with how great fervor [of mind?], and with how great desire of heart, a man ought to love his God, by whom he is loved, even without merits, with the above-written degree of love. Let us stretch our mind toward love of him above all things, as much as we can; for he is worthy that we love him with all our strength. For however much we have loved God, who loves us, we shall still by no means have reached that measure by which he loves us. For, as we have said, he loves us supremely; nor can his love toward us, with which [unclear], increase, since it is established that he loves his creature most perfectly. But however much we have loved him, we can always make further progress in loving and love more ardently even unto death. We, weak, we, lukewarm, we, consigned to a muddy prison, what shall we render to so great a lover, who surpasses us in loving [unclear], since there is no comparison of the thing made to the maker, [and] with a few he mercifully called us to the faithful knowledge of Christianity.

Of all benefits after the death of Christ I think this is the chief: that he made us Christians in the faith. For outside the faith of Christ no one will be saved, whether Christ is announced or is entirely unknown. How many kingdoms there are today in Asia and Africa, how many peoples, how many islands of the sea, for whom there is no knowledge of Christ and no faith; just as, with [unclear] of them left in error, he mercifully called us in Europe, with a few, to the knowledge of the Christian faith. But of all things after the death of Christ we think this is [unclear]: that we made [unclear] Christians. For outside the faith of Christ no one will be saved, whether Christ is announced or is entirely unknown. How many kingdoms there are today in Asia and Africa, how many peoples, how many islands of the sea, who [unclear] and no faith; just as [unclear] are in Europe with a few, he mercifully called to the knowledge of Christian faith. But of all things after the death of Christ we think this is [unclear]: that we made [unclear] Christians. For outside the faith of Christ no one will be saved, whether Christ is announced or is entirely unknown.

Let us bless God the Father at every time, who poured out the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon us and did not permit us to be born removed from the unity of the Church. The seventh thing that is believed able to produce the love of God in our hearts is considered in the promise of eternal happiness. For if one considers what great goods he has promised that he will give us in heaven, love of him will deservedly burn sweetly in our hearts. He promised his whole self to us [as a reward?], he who alone is the highest and wholly immutable good. And since he is indivisible, he will grant himself to be enjoyed by all in such a way that nonetheless he is possessed whole by each. He loves all by whom he is loved, and he loves each one by whom he is possessed. The more we now love God with a pure mind, the more of the promised [reward?] we shall receive there.

On the Knowledge of Spiritual Grace: Sermon Six.

The holy apostle of Christ Paul teaches us that not every spirit is always to be believed, but that impulses are to be diligently examined, whether they are from God, who is true light, lest perhaps something rise up against us from the side of darkness. For since our adversary is crafty, he never sleeps, but devises ways by which he may catch us unawares. Yet he attacks those who are making progress in one way, and deals in another way with those who are still [unclear] in the torpor of negligence. The more we have advanced in the commandments of God, the more necessary it is [unclear], and that we keep watch against the devil. Finally, [unclear] those attempting to flee [unclear]; and against those who desire to please God he rages with [greater?] envy. Lying hidden in secret under the appearance of good, he attempts to suggest [unclear] to those who do not know, by which he tries to overthrow incautious minds [unclear] under the appearance of good. Against his snares the best remedy is if the monk submits all the [thoughts?] of his heart to the examination of the elders. For demons hate the public light, and are ashamed that the [thoughts?] of the young which they suggest come to the knowledge of spiritual elders. Let each one of you who thinks that he stands in good always be anxious lest, with the devil undermining him, he fall. There are among you certain men both in years and in conversion in [unclear]

in [unclear]

On the Knowledge of Spiritual Grace.

...and their sensual desires are indulged more than is expedient; by these the demons deceive them in various ways, even under the appearance of good. They desire to have sanctity without deserving it, without the necessary exercise of virtue. They seem to themselves great before God in devotion and [unclear], and in their animal passions they are not mortified. You err, O wretched men, and you shamefully deceive yourselves; without the foundation of humble subjection and obedience, [one] thinks to build a tower of sanctity. First, the disordered desires of sensuality must be mortified; the animal passions must be restrained: anger, murmuring, the spite of indignation, and all impatience. For so long as vices rule over you, whatever gifts of private singularity you offer are not pleasing to God. All things are vain where there is no pure conscience.

The conduct of a young monk is suspect to us, however devout it may seem, when the humility of voluntary subjection does not commend it. A monk without humility and obedience cannot be good, even though by fasting and prayer they daily hunt after sanctity. The devil deceives many in the hiddenness of elation and pride, whom he permits continually to keep vigil, fast, and pray. For none of these works is pleasing to God without humility and charity: fasting, vigils, prayers, and the studies of monks without these are not feared by the devil. [Unclear] does not move the devil; [unclear] does not torment him. Nor does he greatly value the vigils of the proud man, nor does he heed the fasting of the swollen with pride; nor does he fear the prayers of the proud.

But if he finds you humble, cheerfully obedient in all things to the commands of the elders; if he sees you doing great things and thinking humble things about yourself; if he perceives the charity of God and neighbor burning in you, then certainly he is moved against you, for he is tormented by envy of your virtues. He turns against you all the weapons of his cunning that he can, and with all his strength strives to overturn your purpose of sanctity. For nothing in a monk displeases the demons more, nothing torments them more vehemently, than if, for the love of God, he has truly humbled himself in all things and has always kept the service of the monastic institution under the guard of obedience with a cheerful spirit.

You have been deceived by the prompting of demons, because you think yourselves to be something great without the true merit of virtues. I see you unwilling toward the commands of the elders, impatient and murmuring under correction, quick to rebuke another's life, but very slow in considering your own defects. These are the surest signs of the promptings of demons: that the necessary [things] have been despised...

Sermon VI. Folio LXXI.

But so that [unclear] may learn wisely to discern [unclear] from the promptings of the ancient enemy, mark what we say. First, therefore, let him reckon himself inspired by the grace of God whenever he diligently observes that he is becoming purer in conscience and that the tinder of sin is diminishing. Wherever the Spirit of God has poured himself out by the gift of heavenly grace, every inclination to sin soon withdraws. But if a horror of sin enters the mind, it is certainly manifest that the prompting of the devil has not taken possession of the man. For as soon as the Holy Spirit has penetrated the mind of a man, every spark of vice is either mitigated or utterly extinguished.

Hence let each one of you diligently examine himself and weigh by whose prompting he is moved. For the prompting of God is accustomed to lessen sins, but that of Satan, the enemy, to increase them. In those who follow the Spirit of God, sins diminish daily; but he who follows the prompting of the devil is rarely truly amended. The second sign of divine prompting is recognized from the increase of virtues, since the grace of the Holy Spirit always produces great virtues in a man. Therefore, when you feel yourself advancing daily in the love of God and in good works; when you experience in yourself that the habit of sinning and the vices prevail less from day to day, you ought humbly to acknowledge that the grace of God is present. For the love of God, which grace brings, is never idle, but is always usefully occupied in good works; and as it covers the multitude of sins, so by the exercise of virtues it does not permit the soul to sin. For the grace of God cannot stand with sins, and is not at all accustomed to be in a man without the working of virtues.

The third sign of the Spirit of God is shown in a man when the mind does not waver in its purpose of sanctity, but, growing stronger from day to day, is strengthened. For there are many who, touched by a passing compunction, sometimes receive the first two signs, but, despising perseverance, do not reach the third. Without perseverance there is no reward for a good work, as the Lord says in the holy Gospel: "He who has persevered to the end, he shall be saved." The devil knows how to pretend himself absent for a short time, and [unclear] the two true written signs of the Spirit of God, when he does not know how, or fears, to disguise [them]. Soon thereafter, bursting out from ambush, he attacks the devout but unwary person, and, fostering him in former negligence, either casts him headlong or wounds him more gravely.

O what a heavy yoke is evil habit, how unjust and exceedingly dreadful, and rarely [having] an end before death. Let whoever is bound by a long habit of sin fear and shudder. For nothing is more difficult than to overcome an evil habit strengthened by long practice. For Solomon says in Proverbs

On the recognition of spiritual grace.

[unclear] despise the things of the present life. The soul which has God present within itself through love despises all the comforts of the flesh; it longs to come to its Lord through hardships and rough places. It does not love the riches of this world; it spurns transitory honors and dignities; it strongly contemns the pleasures of the flesh. It meditates always on the law of the Lord and never forgets the most bitter passion of Jesus.

Who among you, brothers, does these things? Who detests all the little consolations of this age, who thinks of nothing else, seeks nothing, desires nothing except the love of God? Whoever shall have attained this sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit, if he perseveres to the end of life, shall be saved.

The eighth indication of a good course, and a true sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit, we receive when we humbly conform our wills in all things to the divine ordinances. This degree of spiritual progress separates the monk from all the cares of the world and calls him wholly to inward things. For his will is subjected to the divine will with the affection of a peaceful mind, and is separated far from all desires which war against the spirit.

Whoever has received this gift of the grace of the Holy Spirit, let him first give thanks with humility, and not vainly exalt himself on account of the gift; but the more he has advanced, so much the more let him learn to humble himself in all things. For often a man deserves to lose the grace of God when he neglects to preserve it in the vessel of true humility. Therefore almighty God sometimes withdraws the grace of sensible devotion from those who are advancing for a short time, so that humility may persevere in the mind and the fervor of desire may burn more strongly to seek further. But since there are many causes in human beings by which the grace of God is sometimes withdrawn, it will be worth the effort for them to be stated in order.

First, indeed, the grace of God is withdrawn from a person because of sin, when the conscience is stained by the foulness of vices. For our God, as Scripture says, is jealous: either he is loved alone, or he is not loved with any companion. Therefore whenever the mind, by desiring in a disordered way, turns back either to itself or to something else, it is removed, alienated from its principle, which is God; whence it deserves to lose the grace which it had, because, by consenting to sin, it was unwilling to guard it inviolate. Hence the holy apostle of Christ, Paul, exhorts us not to receive the grace of God in vain; for then indeed it is received fruitlessly and in vain, when the mind of the recipient is made unworthy by the filth of vices.

The little vessel into which we receive the grace of God is our conscience; when it is cleansed from vices and adorned with holy virtues, it becomes a worthy dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit and produces great progress in us. But if the vessel of our conscience has been defiled by the rottenness of sin, at once the Spirit of God withdraws with all the gifts of grace. Is not our Lord Jesus Christ the lover and faithful spouse of the soul, which he purchased for himself by the outpouring of his own blood? With what face, with what rashness, O man, can you despise this so great lover and savior of yours, and love anything else whatsoever in this world? God, who is your creator, loves you supremely; by his death he delivered you from eternal destruction. What will you repay him, O mortal man, from whom you have received such great benefits? He asks nothing from you, seeks nothing, demands nothing, except gratitude, affection, and love. Guard innocence and purity of conscience, lest you lose the impulse of grace.

The second cause, then, on account of which grace is withdrawn from a person is called the pride of ingratitude. But God, as Scripture testifies, resists the proud, while to the humble he gives grace. For by the just judgment of God the grace of the Holy Spirit is lost whenever the one who has it is lifted up into pride. For everyone who humbles himself will be exalted, and he who exalts himself will be humbled. Hence again almighty God says: Upon whom shall my spirit rest, unless upon the humble and quiet man, and the one trembling at my words? The more anyone humbles himself in true purity of conscience for the love of Christ, the more fit he will be to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. But whenever the mind rises up in pride, deservedly the spirit of devotion is taken away from it as from an unclean vessel.

Therefore, my brothers, let no one grow proud because of the grace of the Holy Spirit which he has received; let no one vainly exalt himself, because unless we have been humble, we shall by no means be able to be sharers in the mercies of the Lord. For as the holy lover of Christ Paul says: he who thinks himself to be something when he is nothing deceives himself.

Third, the grace of devotion is withdrawn from a person because of sloth

Sermon VII.

Our temptation is wholly upon the earth; in it, if we do not make progress in good, do we not fail? And there, as the holy pope Leo says, we fall into the danger of failing when we draw back the appetite for being made perfect. Therefore flee sloth, and always keep watch in good works. And consider what happened to the lazy servant, who hid in a napkin his lord’s money, which he had received for trading. Trade, I pray you, while there is time, and as long as you live be always occupied in good pursuits.

Fourth, the grace of devotion is very often withdrawn from those who, placed under obedience, follow their own will. For the monk who loves his own will most justly loses the grace of God. But the man who, for God’s sake, humbly subjects himself in all things to the shepherd of obedience, who despises the will of his own heart, [God] pours into him various gifts of spiritual grace and illumines him with the light of inward fervor. We can offer nothing more precious or more acceptable to God than if, for love of him, we deny our own will. Finally, the very profession of the monastic institution enjoins on us, by necessity of salvation, to despise our own will and humbly to lie subject to him who has been set over us. Therefore the monk who follows the movement of his own will is judged like an unclean vessel and unworthy of spiritual grace. Hence the grace of God is deservedly withdrawn from the monk of his own will, who, living otherwise than he promised the Lord, lies.

Fifth, the grace of devotion is withdrawn from a monk when he thinks that he has it from his own merits. He does not understand that sin dwells in him; if he has received any good, he ascribes it to his own merits. Against this sluggishness of mind the holy prophet said to the Lord: Lord, in thy will thou hast given strength to my beauty, because it is not of him that wills nor of him that runs, but of God who has mercy. Thou turnedst away thy face from me, and I was troubled. For no one is becoming through his own merits, no one holy by his own powers. But let us acknowledge that all the causes of the withdrawal of the grace of God which we have mentioned pertain to our weakness.

But so far as concerns those who already walk in the way of perfection, such a reason is given, so long as they have persevered. For from them the grace of God is never withdrawn, although the sensible fervor of compunction is sometimes taken away for a time. And we shall state in order the causes of this removal.

And first, indeed, almighty God sometimes withdraws for a time from his lovers the grace of sensible devotion, so that, when he pretends not to be present when invoked, the desire of inward love may grow. All who have felt the fire of divine love and who are true emulators of the holy fathers have known this alternation of holy ardor. For whenever the bridegroom withdraws himself from the bride, the desire of the lover grows. While she is present, she seeks him whom she loves; from every desire of love she groans.

Second, this grace is withdrawn from the devout for an hour, lest frailty be raised up into pride. For when we lose the grace of compunction even against our will, by humble examination we judge our weakness, which can do nothing of itself. Therefore, so that devout worshippers of God may remain humble in their exaltation, it is necessary that they recognize their own frailty.

The third cause concerns merit, because to seek inward consolations is not the mark of the strong but of the weak. The Lord must be served freely because he is good; but those who seek sensible sweetness in their devotion are less devoted and seek the Lord’s [unclear] for little consolations. The Lord is to be loved usefully, and all womanish and soft affections are to be driven far from the soul. Therefore, so that the Lord may increase merit for his worshippers in holy compunction, he sometimes denies the grace of sensible devotion to those who ask. But lest, affected by the bitterness of weariness, they grow wholly torpid in the purpose of holiness, the comforter of the deserving does not go far away, but remains nearby. He suddenly returns to his beloved, and the one whom he had pretended for an hour to be sorrowful he consoles with the sweetness of spiritual presence.

Fourth, to these causes we join this: that we are warned to walk more cautiously. For if we fear losing the grace of compunction, let us learn to guard more diligently what we have. A rare and precious treasure, the more its possessor loves it, the more diligently he guards it. Therefore the monk who has deserved to receive from the Lord the grace of devotion ought to watch over it with the utmost zeal, lest he lose it through his own negligence. That you may know how you ought to preserve the granted grace of compunction, lest it perish, the order of what is to be said clearly makes this manifest to you. First, he who [unclear] for himself the grace of inward compunction

On the knowledge of spiritual grace.

Third, if you do not wish to lose the grace of inward compunction, you should strive to love the quiet of solitude. For divine Scripture says: “Upon whom shall my spirit rest, if not upon the humble and quiet?” And again it says in another place: “In silence and in hope shall be your strength.” For the grace of inward compunction is quickly lost when the secrecy of solitude is not loved. Therefore let the monk who wishes to possess the grace of God learn gladly to remain with himself in his cell.

Fourth, one must take the greatest care that you do not despise in your heart any person, however evil; for by the just judgment of God the grace of compunction is withdrawn whenever rash judgment concerning one’s neighbor is not avoided. For the Lord says in the holy Gospel: “Do not judge, and you shall not be judged; do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned.”

Fifth, the monk who does not wish to lose the grace of inward devotion should strive to exercise himself in the cultivation of all virtues. Let him always keep watch in the fear of the Lord, always occupy himself in the exercise of divine love; let him be constantly assiduous in good works, and, as far as he is able, devout at all times in the remembrance of the Lord’s passion. For attentive meditation on the passion of Christ strengthens a person against all vices and preserves the grace of compunction.

Sixth, be constant in holy prayers, because he who interrupts the practice of prayer is not able to preserve the grace of compunction. For the Savior says in the holy Gospel: “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.” The help of the Lord is close at hand for those who call upon him; but he who neglects to pray loses grace. But if you lose the grace of devotion in any way, you will quickly recover it by the following same six remedies.

First, consider that without the grace of God you cannot make progress toward salvation, but that in all the good things you are going to do you are in the greatest need of his mercy. Recognize, therefore, that you are unworthy of the grace of God for doing good, although, because of the multitude of your sins, you know yourself to be unworthy. Call upon him, for he is near; and make every time that is granted you as free from the common exercises of the brothers be spent usefully and fruitfully. The grace of God is necessary for you for doing good; it is acquired by breadth of charity, guarded by humility, and recovered by the practice of saving penance. The Lord is with you so long as you have been with him in good will. But in order that you may be able to recover the lost grace of devotion, you must submit yourself to God in true humility.

Second, for the recovery of the lost grace of compunction it seems necessary that you never lift yourself up against the Lord, but conform your will in all things to the divine ordering. We say in the Lord’s Prayer, “May his will be done”; it is fitting that we always voluntarily agree with that very prayer in mind and affection.

Third, he who desires to recover the lost grace of devotion must strongly despise every pleasure of this world for the love of God. For it cannot happen that he recovers the spirit of inward compunction who opens the dwelling-place of his heart to earthly joys and pleasures. Therefore you must cast away every consolation of the present life, if you wish to have the divine spirit of love with its gifts.

Fourth, you are commanded to withdraw yourself from the vain cares and occupations of this world for your own sake, and at every time to occupy your mind delightfully in the service of God. For, as the Lord says, no one can serve God and mammon; but whoever desires to serve the Lord in truth of heart must despise all the occupations of the world.

Fifth, we advise that you remember always to occupy your heart in meditation on the passion of Christ, because there is no other way more expedient for recovering the delay [unclear] of compunction, nor any manner of prayer more effective for obtaining from the Lord whatever we have asked.

Sixth, you should strive daily to cleanse your conscience by true penance; and whenever you have fallen into some fault, at once come to your senses through contrition. If you have taken care to keep these things with good will, by the mercy of God you will recover the lost grace of compunction.

On the nine degrees of ascent.

Sermon VII.

With the pen we describe for you, dearly beloved brothers, the nine degrees by which the ascent of the human spirit into heaven is made. And although one is higher than another, nevertheless all and each direct one to the kingdom of God, and they are distinguished according to the merits of those ascending. Therefore attend diligently to what we are going to say, and consider how much you have made progress in spiritual advancement. All, as many as reach the kingdom of God, have ascended by the degrees of this ladder. The more anyone has made progress in the love of God, the higher he has already ascended.

The first degree is nearest to hell, and

Sermon VII.

[unclear] they have not avoided. For no sin is so small that it does not become greater through neglect. For although we cannot wholly avoid venial sins, nevertheless we ought to take care with all our strength that they do not multiply in us. But those who, by the Lord’s mercy, daily make progress toward better things in this degree fall into sin more rarely. And whenever they have fallen, they rise again through penitence. Yet their state is very near to danger, because just as a torn garment, often [torn], is at last rendered useless, so the man who falls by sinning more frequently is often choked by an evil habit. But if any from this degree depart this life in the Lord’s mercies, they will be saved not without the very heavy pains of purgatory. Therefore one must hasten toward higher things, so that not only mortal sins but also venial sins may be avoided with all one’s strength.

The second degree is believed to be ascended by those who strive, as much as they can, to avoid both venial and mortal crimes. But because of excessive commerce with bodily weakness they have not advanced in their purpose, but often fall into the various negligences of this life, although they do not commit mortal sins. We who are lukewarm trust that we have somehow ascended this degree, who, established under the observance of regular discipline, keep our minds from graver sins with the Lord’s help. But since we are surnamed lukewarm, we live very negligently and are slow to perform the exercises of holy virtues. There are, moreover, many set on the threshold of this second degree whom servile fear occupies; if that alone exists, it by no means approaches the kingdom of God. For servile fear without charity will not suffice for obtaining the glory of heavenly felicity, since he is a slave who does not sin from fear of punishment, but a son does not do evil for love of God. Yet it is good to begin from servile fear, so that a person may gradually be able to arrive at filial fear, which is called chaste. For although to withdraw from evil from fear of punishments is by no means sufficient for attaining the kingdom of God, nevertheless it prepares those who act for filial fear. Hence the lowest degree of those making progress is not to transgress from fear of punishment, and not to sin lest they be damned forever. For charity alone, discerning the merits of all, is admitted as fit to enter the kingdom of God; and whatever has been done outside it is judged unworthy of the kingdom of God. Therefore whoever has merited to ascend according to this second degree, whoever has learned not to sin from fear of punishments, if you wish to arrive at the joy of eternal felicity, take care to hasten as quickly as possible toward higher things. For, with Scripture bearing witness, we grant that you are indeed beginning rightly; yet we judge it dangerous to stand long in the valley of shadows. Ascend, therefore, as much as you can, daily, and do not persist with beasts in the dung of stinking actions, since if you do not make progress, you have failed; if you do not ascend, you descend.

The third degree is comprised by those who, persevering in a good purpose, keep themselves from every mortal sin and also withdraw from venial sins with all their strength. They love purity of conscience, and by no means commit anything that could stain it. Yet in one respect they are lower than those that follow, because, not simply withdrawing from evil for the love of God, they do good; but, still weak and far from the height of holiness, they remain among lower things. He who truly loves God with a pure mind serves and obeys him neither from fear of punishments nor with regard for reward, but only for love of him. And therefore all the degrees written above are proposed for beginners, through which, ascending gradually, they are at last joined to the perfect. It is good to withdraw from evil from fear of punishments; it is good to do good for love of reward; and although this by no means suffices for perfection, it nevertheless provides the beginning and the way for those who desire to make progress. For servile fear, if continued, begets filial and chaste fear, from whose [unclear] perfect charity flows. But holy charity, after it has once kindled minds, thereafter casts out every servile fear and [unclear] fear.

The fourth degree strives to show the way of perfection to those ascending, and for that reason is rightly judged greater than the degrees written above. Whatever of good is seen in them is possessed more perfectly in this one. For the ascenders of this fourth degree, with every zeal, keep themselves not only from mortal sins but also from venial sins as far as is possible for them; they most diligently devote themselves to good and holy works, and desire to please God above all things. In one respect they surpass those preceding, because they turn aside from evil neither from fear of punishments nor perform good in hope of reward, but do all things for the love of God alone, and [seek] nothing other than the honor of God. For the true lover of God neither fears punishment nor thinks of reward, but, walking in breadth of heart, commends his will to the divine ordinance. For God, because he is supremely good, is to be loved not for the reward of the heavenly kingdom, nor on account of anything else, but for his very self; and in every good work [he is] principally to be held in intention.

On the nine degrees of ascent.

Hasten, my very dear brothers, to ascend this degree of the spiritual ladder as quickly as possible, so that you may at last be able to arrive at the summit of perfection. For if you, who have been placed under obedience of monastic perfection, have advanced to this fourth degree, you will now ascend the fifth without difficulty. For those who are placed in the fourth do [unclear], since they have not subjected themselves by vow or profession to monastic constitutions. And in this one respect they are inferior to those that follow: because a good work is so much the more acceptable to God, the more it is commended by the merit of obedience.

Therefore those ascend the fifth degree who keep themselves from sins with all their strength, and, placed under obedience, always persevere strong and constant in the purpose of holiness. Loving God above all things with a pure mind, they do good works chiefly for love of him, and in their intention they neither fear punishments nor seek rewards. They obey their prelates humbly for love of God, yet they are somewhat obstinate. They sometimes try to defend their exercises and private observances against the determination of their prelates, and to consider themselves wiser than their rulers in the examination of spiritual matters. Flee this, monks, because the demon lies hidden in ambush; and those whom he cannot conquer in open conflict he strives to overcome by secret plotting. For the holier and more perfect a monk has been before God, the more promptly he obeys his prelate without debate. But if a perfect monk should scorn to obey his abbot, even an imperfect one, in things lawful and honorable, then surely he has lost the name of perfection. Therefore let each one take care to press on with zeal for progress in such a way that he presumes in nothing to violate obedience. Scripture says: Obedience is better than victims, and to listen is better than to offer the fat of rams. Whatever you have offered is another’s; but the truly obedient man offers himself.

The sixth degree, then, belongs especially to those who, living in every purity of mind and body, love the Lord above all things; who do every good thing that they can for the honor of God alone; who do not depart from the commands of their prelates. Great is the virtue of obedience, which doubles the good work that has been done, and, increasing the merit of the worker, presents him to God as a tree with fruit. Do not let the words of men who despise obedience disturb you, my very dear brothers, who prefer the freedom of their will to the subjection of monks, and place a good work done from freedom before the merit of obedience. For even if a monk obeys by necessity of his profession, nevertheless the good will by which, for love of God, he bound himself to obedience commends that necessity in many ways.

There is a necessity by which a man is compelled to do something, where the will has not consented but always resists. This necessity diminishes the praise of virtue, because the good work was never in the will. There is also another necessity, proceeding from the inward inclination of the mind, which increases the praise of a good work and does not diminish it, because it kindles the will more intensely toward that very work. There is a third necessity, which has regard to the end and does not compel the will. For if you wish to cross the Rhine by ship, the fitting necessity demands an instrument. But the necessity by which a monk is compelled to obey his shepherd is not that of the first compulsion, nor that of the second inclination, but rather of the third, since it is ordered toward the end from a preceding will. Therefore it is necessary for a monk, on account of the end, to do that which the abbot commands, so that he may be able to fulfill the vow that he made for love of God. Since, then, this end is very praiseworthy, by which the creature subjects himself to his creator out of love, the necessity of obeying in a monk is of good praise, of more excellent merit, and of more abundant reward, by reason of the vow, than if he did a good work from obedience without a vow, or if it were done without a vow from the freedom of his own will. For the monk has once offered himself wholly, and all his will with him, to God, and has reserved absolutely nothing for himself. Whatever good he does under obedience is referred back to the end of the religion he has undertaken, to be kept for love of Christ; with this no work after martyrdom is compared. He who is continent without a vow from the venereal act performs one virtue, which is called chastity; but he who observes these things by reason of a vow walks at a higher degree, because the several virtues are referred in ordered fashion to the perfection of the whole religion which he has professed. For the whole monastic religion is more than one private virtue. For he who offers to God a good work that he did without obedience offers that alone, leaving to himself what is greater: the power of acting, together with his own will. But the monk who does something for God from the vow of obedience is of more excellent merit, because he offers also the act

Sermon VII.

[unclear] and the power of acting. For no one has offered more to God than the monk who has given himself.

But some who ascend this sixth degree have hidden within themselves a certain defect of pride, because, while they look back incautiously upon themselves, they do not commit themselves in all things to the divine will as they ought. This defect takes its beginning from a certain very subtle vanity, when the soul, trusting in its own purity, asks that some secret be revealed to it by the Lord. And in this one thing the climbers of the sixth heaven differ from those of the seventh, who, being devoted to God, flee the signs of vanity. For signs have been given not to believers but to unbelievers; hence the monk who asks a sign from the Lord shows that he has not yet perfectly subjected himself to the divine will.

They ascend the seventh degree who most zealously keep all the things prescribed, and, subject to God in all things, live without the stain of vanity. They flee, as far as they can, every sin, whether venial or mortal; they do works of virtue for the love of God alone; in all things they obey their shepherds; they seek no miracles of vanity. Whatever almighty God has ordained concerning them, they receive gratefully; they do not at all depart in anything from the observance of monastic purity. Yet in one thing they are lower than those who follow, because perhaps they suffer some defect of which they are unaware, by whose impulse they sometimes commit something of their own sensuality.

Whoever has deserved to ascend the eighth degree grants nothing further to sensuality. Here is the sweetest rest of the soul; here the perfect tranquillity of the mind. At this degree nothing vicious in beauty is left behind; here nothing is found that can sadden the soul. Here all things are clean, all things pure, all things most sweetly burning with the fervor of charity. O that we might strive to ascend to this degree; O that we might sometime deserve to arrive at this harbor of tranquillity. The more one standing on this holy ladder begins to taste the sweetness of inner delight, the more, hastening toward what lies ahead, he desires further things. O desires of holy love, always to be proclaimed; O exercises of venerable perfection, where the clean conscience of one loving God shines without sins, where the wicked battles of vices have ceased and great tranquillity has succeeded.

They ascend the ninth degree who, already consummated in the eighth, keep all the things prescribed purely and simply for the love of God, and desire nothing other than to praise, bless, and glorify God. Whoever has ascended to this degree of perfection, as though forgetful of himself, resigning himself wholly to God, submits humbly. He reckons himself unworthy of all God’s benefits; he takes no thought at all for himself, because he has already learned to commit himself wholly to God and to be subject humbly in all things to his ordinance. Hence he asks for no miracles and seeks no consolations in this life, but with the holy apostle of Christ he truly cries: To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For the true monk who loves Christ has offered himself wholly to God out of charity and has despised the world with all its riches, honors, and vanities. Hence the world is said to be crucified to him, in which there is nothing that seems able to penetrate his mind.

Happy are those monks who serve the Lord God with a pure conscience in true charity, who run without offense under the rule of humility and obedience, who ascend this last degree of perfection. These are true monks, who seek nothing other than the honor of God. Indeed, my brothers, although monks are not bound, by necessity for salvation, to be perfect, otherwise very few would be saved, nevertheless we are all bound with good will to strive toward perfection and with all the strength we can to pant after this ninth degree. For it is very contrary to the monastic profession to be unwilling to make progress, and it is a kind of apostasy, after a vow of perfection, to wish to remain in imperfection. For the enemies of our salvation are the vices that attack us, and until they either conquer or are conquered they do not cease to pursue us. Let us imitate the history of the ancient battle, when the children of promise destroyed their enemies not in one day but successively. For it is difficult to conquer all things at once, unless the charity of God suddenly overshadows the mind. Against all the vices that attack us in any way, let us wage war: let us conquer gluttony today; when it has been properly overthrown, let us overcome acedia; and so let us deal with the rest, so that at last we may come forth victors over them all. The Lord will be present with us as we fight, and God will give victory to those who love him. Amen.

End of the second book of exhortations to monks by Johannes Trithemius, abbot, on the first day of September, 1486.

These two books were printed at Strasbourg by Johann Knobloch, printer, at the expense of Johannes Haselberger of Reichenau, of the diocese of Constance, in the year of the Lord 1516, on the twenty-fifth day of the month of August.

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