Beasts And Discipline

Ἐν κημῷ καὶ χαλινῷ τὰς σιαγόνας αὐτῶν ἄγξει, καθάπερ κτηνῶν, ὁ Θεὸς, τῶν ἀποφευγόντων σε, ὁ Δαυϊδ κιθαρίζων ἐβόα. Ὥωπερ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἵππον καὶ ἄκοντα χαλινῷ δαμάζομεν, οὐ μισοῦντες, ἀλλ; εὔτακτον αὐτῷ τὸν δρόμον καθιστῶντες, καὶ τον ἄτακτον αὐτοῦ τῇ τάχει περιστέλλοντες, καὶ τὸ ἄκοσμον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπαίδευτον πήδημα, εἰς εὔτακτον ὁδὸν μεταῥῥυθμίζοντες, οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς ἐὰν ἴδῃ ψυχὴν πωλευομένην ὦδε κἀκεῖσε, ἄγει αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸ εὐπρεπέστερον, καὶ μὴ θέλουσαν. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΛΒ, Γενεθλιῳ Source: Migne PG 79.140a

With bit and bridle bind their jaws, like beasts, O God, those who turn away from you, David cries out with the lyre. 1 For as we rule an unwilling horse with a bridle, not because of hatred, but so that we might establish order for its course, curbing disordered motion with order and transforming what is ugly and foolish to a well ordered way, so God, if He sees a soul wandering about here and there, directs it to something more decent, even if it is unwilling. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 132, To Genethlios 1 Ps 31.9