Be Prepared

Quotidie operemur bonum, dum tempus habemus; ne nos tenebrae comprehendant, nec imparatos illa metuenda dies inveniat. Tu vero pastorali pietate ac sacerdotali auctoritate, non solum meam suscitare litteris socordiam studeas, sed etiam omnibus te audientibus pia paternitate, ut vigilent, praedicare non cesses. Si lingua sacerdotalis clavis est coelestis regni, decet ut guttur illius tuba sit aeterni Regis, dicente propheta: Clama, ne cesses; exalta sicut tuba vocem tuam. Quis se parat ad bellum, si praeco in castris non clamat? Quis hostibus succinctus in armis obsistit introitum, si speculator in celso turris fastigio dormit? Quis gregem a luporum rabie defendit, si pastor in silvestribus luxuriae dumis latitat? Quis florentis ruris pascua gregi demonstrat, si ductor vagabundis per foveas vestigiis errat? Alcuinus, Epistola LXX, Ad Speratum Episcopum. Source: Migne PL 100.242b

Let us do good every day while we have time; let not the darkness comprehend us, let us not be found unprepared on that fearful day. Truly you with your pastoral piety and priestly authority should not only study my letters at your leisure but even with pious paternity cease not to preach to every one who will hear that they should be vigilant. If the tongue of a priest is the key to the kingdom of heaven, it befits that his throat might be a trumpet of the eternal king, with the prophet saying, 'Cry out, do not cease; raise up your voice like a trumpet.' 1 Who is prepared for battle if the herald in the camp does not call them? Who will be girded to resist the entry of the enemy if the watcher in the high tower sleeps? Who defends the flock against the ravening wolves if the shepherd is skulking in the thorn bushes of the woods? Who shows to the flock the fields of flowers, if their leader has gone off with wandering feet toward the pit? Alcuin of York, from Letter 70, To the Bishop Speratus 1 Isaiah 58.1