Reasons For Rejoicing

Μὴ χαίρε ὅταν εὖ ποιήσῃς τινὶ, ἀλλ' ὅταν ἀμνησικάκως ὑπομείνῃς τὴν παρεπομένην ἐναντιότητα. Ὂν γὰρ τρόπον αἰ νύκτες τὰς ἡμέρας, οὕτω αἱ κακίαι τὰς ἀρετὰς διαδέχονται. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: Migne PG 65.949a

Do not rejoice when you do good to someone, but rather when you endure the assaults of adversity and are unmindful of injury. For in this way, night and day, vices are supplanted by virtues. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works

A Little Perseverence

Οταν δυνηθῇς δύο μῆνας εὐχῇ, καὶ τῇ ἡσυχία προσκαρτερῆσαι, τότε κἂν ὄνυχά πού τινα, ἢ φαντασίαν μικράν τινα ἐν νῷ λαβεῖν δυνήσῃ τῆς ἐπιπόνου τληπαθείας, καὶ τῆς πολυμόχθου διαγωγής, τῶν διὰ πάσης τῆς ζωῆς προσανεχόντων τῷ μονήρει κανόνι, καὶ τῇ ἀκτυπησία. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΠΑ' Ἱλαριος Πρεσβυτέρῳ Source: Migne PG 79.185a

When you are able to persevere two months in prayer and quiet, then you may have a certain sniff or a brief glimpse of the laborious toil and burdensome years of those who through their whole lives are bound to silence by the monastic rule. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 281, to Hilarius the Presbyter

Warning The Prosperous

Similiter ammonendi sunt homines existentes in prosperitate ne extollantur et existentes in adversitate ne terreantur desperando de adversitate. Illi enim qui prosperantur pro voluntate non se offerant, nec in ea presumptuose, nec sustinentes adversa despiciant et mutabilitatem sive labilitatem eius iugiter considerent. Et de eorum ammonitione Gregorius ii pastoralis capitulo xvii. Unde et proverbiorum i: Prosperitas stultorum perdet eos. Augustinus epistola lxxxii: Mundus est periculosior blandus quam molestus. Iob v: Vidi stultum firma radice et maledixi pulcritudini eius. Ibi Gregorius moralium vi: Quasi per amena prata ad carcerem vadit qui per presentis vite prospera ad interitum currit. Iob xviii: Preciptiabit eum consilium suum. Ibi moralium xvi: Prosperitas gressus obligat ut vix ad bona redite possint. Unde Augustinus epistola v: Nichil infelicius felictate peccantium qua penalis nutritur iniquitas et mala voluntas velut hostis interior roboratur. Et sequitur: Si Deus pollere permittat iniquos in prosperitate, tunc indignatur gravius, et si hic impunita dimmitat, tunc punit investius. Ubi inducit illud poete: Luxuriant animi rebus plerumque secundis. De hoc Seneca multum libro de providentia ubi ait: Nichil infelicius eo cui nunquam accidit aliquid adversi quia male iudicaverunt dii de ipso. Et ponit exempla de ipsis qui adversa sustinuerunt sicut de regulo qui quanto plus tormenta sustinuit, tanto plus glorie obtinuit, et quanto plus glorie habuit, tanto uberius et virilius advesa toleravit. Solatium enim magnis viris fruit dura pro honestis tolerare. Et de hoc idem Seneca epistola viii: Munera fortune sunt insidie, et espitola lxxx: Segetum ubertas nimia sternit, rami onere franguntur, ad maritatem non provenit nimia fecunditas. Idem illis evenitur quos nimia felicitas corrumpit. De huiusmodi autem mutabilitate Gregorius iii registrum ante finem bene ubi ait: Dum omnia in hoc mundo mutabilitatis ordo corrumpat, nec elevari prosperis, nec frangi debemus adversis ut humilitati discamus quicquid delinquimus et exaltati adversitatis memoriuam quasi humilitatis anchoram in mente teneamus. Nichil est stabile in hac vita sed ut viator modo per plana modo per ardua pergat, nec est ira sed gracia per quam discimus ita eius dona tanto servemus verius quanto humilius. Artem gubernandi mare tranquillum non ostendit et obsequens ventus nisi aliquid adversum occurrat sed quia animum probet turbatio naufragii. Non est laudandus rector cui gubernacula fluctus eripuit qui fluctuantia vela deseruit. Ille vero laudandus qui predictis restitit. Johannes Gallensis, Communiloquium sive Summa Collationum, Pars secunda, Septima Distinctio, De ammonitione hominum secundum differentias eventus vel fortune. Captitulum primum: De ammonitione existentium in prosperitate Source: here, p154

Similarly to be admonished are men who live in prosperity, that they should not exalt in prosperity, nor finding themselves in adversity should they be terrified to despair because of it. For they who prosper do not willingly imperil themselves, nor are reckless, nor should they scorn the enduring of adversities but consider the changeability and instability of things. Gregory gives this warning to them in the seventeenth chapter of the second book of his Pastoral Rule. And in the first chapter of Proverbs, 'The prosperity of fools ruins them.' 1 In the eighty second letter of Augustine, 'The world is more perilous when it is charming than when it is troublesome.' In the fifth chapter of Job, 'I saw a fool firmly rooted and I cursed his beauty.' Gregory in the sixth book of the Moralia: 'He runs from a fair meadow to a prison who goes through the prosperity of the present life to ruin.' In the eighteenth chapter of Job, 'His own counsel casts him down.' In the sixteenth book of the Moralia: 'Prosperity binds the feet so they can scarcely return to good things.' And Augustine in his fifth letter, 'Nothing is more unfortunate than the happiness of sinners, because wickedness nourishes punishments and evil wills strengthen the interior enemy.' And it follows, 'If God permits the wicked to flourish in prosperity, then indignation shall be heavier, and if here He allows them to be unpunished, then he shall punish more completely.' Whence the poet says, 'Souls are enfeebled by an excess of prosperity.' 2 And concerning this Seneca has much to say in his book on Providence: 'Nothing is more unfortunate than this, that nothing averse ever befalls a man because the gods judged him to be utterly wretched.' 3 And he gives an example of those who have endured adversities, such as Regulus who endured great torments so that he could gain great glory, and the more glory he had so much more effortlessly and manfully he bore torments. The bearing of difficulties with nobility is the comfort that great men enjoy. And concerning the same thing, Seneca says in this eighth letter, 'The riches of fortune are treacherous.' And in the eightieth letter, 'Crops that are too fruitful are bent down to the earth, the overladen bough breaks, excessive fecundity never advances to ripeness.' 4 The same happens to those who are corrupted with excessive fortune. Concerning this same mutability Gregory says in the third book of his registry of letters, well before the end, 'While the rule of changeability corrupts everything in this world, we should neither be exalted by prosperity nor crushed by adversity, but learn to be humble in both what we err in and in what we excel in, holding in the mind the remembrance of adversity as an anchor of humility. Nothing is stable in this life, but it is as a traveller who at one time goes across flat land and at another through rough terrain. Nor let there be anger but thanks for what we learn, for so we serve His great gift more truly the greater is our humility. The art of piloting a ship is not shown on a tranquil sea amid light winds but by the coming of adversity, which adversity may prove the soul a shipwreck. A pilot who flees from waves and the billowing sail is not worthy of praise, but he who endures what we have spoken of is worthy of acclaim.' 5 John of Wales, The Communiloquium, Second Part, Seventh Distinction, First Chapter, On The Warning Of Men According To Different Events And Fortunes, from the First Chapter, On Warning Those Who Live In Prosperity 1 Prov 1.32 2 Ovid Ars Am 2.427 3 Sen De Prov 3.3 4 Seneca Let 8.3, Let 39.4 5 Greg Reg Let 3.52

Commandments And Evil

VERANUS. Quid est quod ait: Qui custodit praeceptum Dei, non experietur quidquam mali|? Quomodo nihil mali experietur qui praecepta Dei custodit, cum sancti viri qui praecepta Dei custodierunt, multa perpessi sint in hoc saeculo? SALONIUS. Verum est, quia qui praecepta Dei custodit, id est omne quod iussit et praecepit Deus non experietur quidquam mali in futuro, hoc est nullum malum patietur, nullum malum sustinebit in die iudicii. Quamvis enim aliqua mala patiatur in hac vita, levia sunt et transitoria; in futura autem vita nihil mali patietur qui pervenerit ad aeternae beatitudinis gloriam. Salonius Viennensis, Expositio Mystica in Ecclesiasten Source: Migne PL 53.1006c

Veranus: Why is it said, 'He who keeps the commandments of God shall not experience any evil?'  1 How does he experience no evil who keeps the commandments of God when holy men who have kept the commandments of God have suffered many things in this world? Salonius: It is true, because he who keeps the commandments of God, that is, everything that God has ordered and commanded, shall not experience any evil in the future, he shall not suffer any evil nor endure any evil on the day of judgement. For although he must suffer evils in this life, they are light and transitory, and in the future life he shall not suffer any evil who comes to the glory of eternal beatitude. Salonius of Geneva, A Spiritual Exposition of Ecclesiastes 1 Eccl 8.5

Fear And Longing

Γεένῃς φόβος καὶ παραδείσου πόθος παρέχουσι τὴν τῶν θλιβερῶν ὑπομενήν· καὶ τοῦτο, οὐκ ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ γινώσκοντος τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς ἡμῶν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: Migne PG 65.949b

The fear of Gehenna and the longing for Paradise bestows endurance in trials, and this is not our own work, but it is from Him who knows our thoughts. 1 Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works 1 Ps 138.1-5

Purchasing Glory

Quomodo intelligendum est quod ait: Malum est, malum est, dicit omnis emptor, et cum recesserit, tunc gloriabitur? Secundum litteram, solet emptor vituperare quod emere desiderat, et dicere: Malum est. malum est; verumtamen si bene emerit, cum recesserit gloriabitur. Spiritualiter autem quomodo intelligitur? Ille veraciter est emptor, qui sibi aeterna in coelis praemia comparare desiderat. Ipse nimirum emere studet terrenis coelestia, caducis mansura, temporalibus aeterna. Talis ergo emptor quidquid patitur in praesenti malum esse dicit, quia malum esse intelligit. Attamen quia omnia adversa pro Deo patienter sustinet, cum secesserit de mundo, tunc gloriabitur, quia perveniet ad beatitudinem. Honorius Augustodunensis, Quaestiones Et Ad Easdem Responsiones In Duos Salomonis Libros, In Proverbia, Caput XX Source: Migne PL 172.322b

How should it be understood when it is said, 'Its bad, it's bad,' says every buyer, and when they go away then they glory? 1 According to the letter, a buyer is accustomed to deprecate what he desires to buy and say, 'It's bad, it's bad.' However if he buys well, when he goes away he glories. How is this to be understood spiritually? He is a true buyer who desires to acquire eternal riches for himself in heaven. He is keen to buy heavenly things over worldly things, mansions over ruins, eternal things over temporal things. Therefore such a buyer says it is bad because whatever he suffers in the present he understands it to be an evil. However because he patiently endures every adversity for God, when he goes from the world, then he glories, because he comes to beatitude. Honorius of Autun, Questions and Answers on Two Books of Solomon, On Proverbs, Chapter 20 1 Prov 20.14

Trials And Endurance

Πειρασμοῦ ἐπελθόντος, μὴ ζήτει διὰ τί, ἣ διὰ τίνος ἐλήλυθεν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως ἂν αὐτὸν εὐχαρίστως καὶ ἀμνησιχάχως ὑπομείνῃς. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.960a

When trial comes, do not seek why, or through whom it has come, but how you may endure it joyfully and without mindfulness of injury. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Expanding The Heart

Sepimta utilitas triublationis est quod dilatat cor hominis ad receptione gloriae et gratiae Dei. Quia sicut malleus aurifabri dilatat aurum vel argentum frequenti percussione a faciendum vas pretiosum; sic Deus fabricator totius creaturae ordinavit tribulationem ad cordis dilationem, ad deponenda dona gratiae. De hac tribulatione dicit Psalmista: In tribulatione dilatasti cor meum. Sustine ergo tribulationis ictus, quia quanto dilatatur cor tuum in plus sustinendo, tanto plura spiritualia dona in te reponet Deus. Considera quod quanto metalium est pretiosius, tanto est ductilius est majis obediens ictibus mallei; sic cor pretiosum et mite majorem habet in tribulatione patientiam. Et licet ictus mallei, tribulationis scilicet, te dure affligant, in hoc tamen consolare, quod Deus aurifabar tenet in manu sua malleum tribulationis, qui bene novit ictum suum secundum possibilitatem recipientis materiae moderari. Noli ergo esse sicut metallum in massa, sine extensione, sicut sunt cords dura et indiscuplinata, in quibus locum non invenit tribulatio vel disciplina. Similiter noli esse sicut sartago vetus, quae prae vetustate sub ictu frangitur, et pro una fractura veteri multas recipit novas; sic durum cor et impatiens in tribulatione auget damnum suum. Sustine ergo hilariter tribulationem cor tuum dilatantem. Ad hoc te invitat Sapiens dicens, Sustine sustentationes Dei, conjungendo te Deo; et sustine ut crescat in novissimo vita tua. Quasi diceret: Sustine patienter et libenter tribulationes hujus mundi pro Deo, qui pro te multa sustinuit; et redde ei vicem hujus servitii. Conjungere Deo et sustine; ac si diceret: Sociare Deo, et quidquid tibi imposuerit sustine, et scito quia non ultra possibilitatem te onerabit. Unde Apostolus: Fidelis est Deus, qui non permittit vos tentari ultra id quod ferre potestis. Sustine ergo libenter modis praedictis, ut crescat in novissimis vita tua, quia per hoc vives in aeternuum in gloria. Petrus Blenensis, De XII Utilitatibus Tribulationis Source: Migne PL 207.1000d-1001c

The seventh usefulness of tribulation is that it expands the heart of man for the reception of the glory and the grace of God. Because as the hammer of a goldsmith stretches out the gold or silver with frequent blows to make a precious vase, so God, the maker of all things, has ordained tribulation for the expansion of the heart, even to dispose it for the gift of grace. About this tribulation the Psalmist says, 'In tribulation you expanded my heart.' 1 Endure, therefore, the blows of tribulation, because the more your heart expands with greater endurance so the more spiritual gifts He will bestow on you. Consider how the more precious a metal is, so it is more ductile and more obedient to the blows of the hammer. So it is that a heart that is precious and meek has greater patience in tribulation. And when the blows of the hammer, that is, the blows of tribulation, severely afflict you, you may yet be consoled in this, that God the goldsmith holds the hammer of tribulation in His hand, He who well knows how to moderate His blows according to the possibility of the material receiving them. Do not, then, be like a dull lump of metal, without any ductility, as hard and undisciplined hearts are, in which there is found no place for tribulation and discipline. Similarly do not be like an old pan that because of its age cracks beneath blows, and for one old crack receives many new ones. So even the hard and impatient heart gains its ruin in tribulation. Therefore joyfully delight in tribulation with your heart expanded. To this Wisdom invites you, saying, 'Endure the trials of God, being bound to God; endure so that you might increase your life in the end.' 2 As if it said, 'Patiently and joyfully endure the tribulations of this world for God, who suffered so much for you, and return to him His service.' 'Be joined to God and endure.' As if he said, 'Cleave to God and endure whatever He imposes on you, and know that He shall not burden you beyond your capability.' So the Apostle says, 'God is faithful, He does not permit you to be tested beyond your ability.' 3 Endure joyfully, therefore, in the ways we have said, 'that you increase your life in the end,' because by this you shall live in glory forever. Peter of Blois, On The Usefulness of Tribulations 1 Ps 4.2 2 Sirach 2.3 3 1 Cor 10.13

Commandments And Trial

Ὁ ποιήσας ἐντολὴν, ἐκδεχέσθω τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς πειρασμόν· ἡ γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἀγάπη, δι' ἐναντίων δοκιμάζεται. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.916d

He who keeps the commandments will endure trials, because the love for Christ is proved by adversity. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

The Flower Of The Field

Ego flos campi, et lilium convallium. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias. Ego flos. Vox sponsi, et commovet Ecclesiam ad passionem sustinendam, et proponit se eis ad exemplum, quia sine sua necessitate multa sustinuit, ut si diceret: Vocavi te pulchram et tu es, sicut lilium inter spinas. Sicut enim spinae vento motae lacerant lilium ac perforant, sic filiae, id est, mollitiis saeculi dediti, inspiratione diaboli agitati, laniant sanctam Ecclesiam, nec tu debes fugere, imo sis lilium, quia ego cum non indigebam fui lilium, id est, ego fui flos campi, et fui lilium, scilicet punctus multis persecutionibus, ego quidem qui fui lilium ut pungerer, fui et lilium, id est decus convallium, id est humilium. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes in Cantica canticorum, Caput II Source: Migne PL 162.1196d-1197a

I am a flower of the field and a lily of the valley. Like a lily among thorns, so my love among the maidens. 1 The voice of the spouse, and He encourages the Church to the endurance of suffering, and proposes Himself to them as an example, because without necessity He endured many things. As if He said, 'I have called you beautiful, and you are, as a lily among thorns. For as thorns moved by the wind scratch and pierce the lily, so the maidens, that is, those shaped by the softness of the world, agitated by the influence of the devil, wound the holy Church, which you should not flee, though you are a lily, because I did not scorn to become a lily, that is, I was a flower of the field, and a lily, that is, I was pierced by many blows. I certainly was one who was a lily that was assaulted, I was a flower of the field and a lily, that is, the adornment of the valley, that is, of the humble.' Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Song of Songs, Chapter 2 1 Song 2.1-2

Receiving And Persevering

Gratias agamus agricolae Patri, qui semini Filii per Spiritum sanctum fecit nos idoneus, ignem charitatis diffundens in cordibus nostris, quo spinis exustis terra nostra excocta tricenum, sexagenum, vel etiam centenum fructum fert in patientia. Obedientia enim veri semen suscipit, patientia fructificat, perseverantia metit. Et sicut de agonistis ait Apostolus: Omnes currunt, sed unus accipit bravium; sic et de virtutibus dicere est. Omnes ad regnum Dei currunt, paupertas, eleemosyna, abstinentia, obedientia, patientia: sola perseverantia coronatur. Nam qui perseveraverit usque in finem salvus erit. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XVIII Source: Migne PL 194.1752b-c

Let us give thanks to the Father, the heavenly farmer, who through the Holy Spirit has made us capable of bearing the seed of the Son, pouring into our hearts the fire of love that burns up the thorns, by which our earth has been cleansed so that we might patiently bring forth a harvest thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and even a hundredfold. 1 It is obedience that receives the seed of truth, patience that makes it fruitful, perseverance that reaps it. What the Apostle said of athletes, 'All run, but one receives the prize,' 2 can be said of the virtues. Poverty, almsgiving, abstinence, obedience, patience, all run to the kingdom of God, but only perseverance is crowned. For 'He who perseveres until the end shall be saved.' 3 Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 18 1 Mk 4.20 2 1 Cor 9.24 3 Mt 10.22

Heat and Blows

Διεσώθη ἀπὸ καύματος υἱὸς νοήμων ἀνεμόφθορος δὲ γίνεται ἐν ἀμήτῳ υἱὸς παράνομος. Ἀκούει ὁ φυσικὸς νοήμων, Ἡμέρας ὁ ἥλιος οὐ συγκαύσει σε, οὐδὲ ἡ σελήνη τὴν νύκτα. Τὰς βιωτικὰς φροντίδας καῦμα καλεῖ· τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ δὲ ξηραινομένους καλεῖ χόρτον· ὁ δὲ Σωτὴρ διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς τὰς θλίψεις δηλοῖ· τὰς κατὰ τοῦ λόγου δὲ καὶ τοὺς διωγμοὺς ἐκάλεσε καῦμα. Ὃς ἐκ χειλέων προφέρει σοφίαν ῥάβδῳ τύπτει ἄνδρα ἀκάρδιον Ὁ σοφὸς ἐπιτιμητικῷ λόγῳ εἰς αἴσθησιν ἄγει τὸν βαρυκάρδιον. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' I’ Source: Migne PG 39.1633b

It is a son of ruinous thoughts who keeps himself from the heat, and in the harvest he is worthless. 1 Hear what the physician of the soul says, 'During the day the sun shall not scorch you, nor shall the moon at night.' 2 He calls worldly cares 'heat', and he who burns up in them 'grass'. And the Saviour in the parable speaks of tribulations, and He calls 'heat' those who are persecutors opposed to the sacred teaching. 3 He who sends forth wisdom from his lips strikes the thoughtless man with a rod. 4 With a word of rebuke the wise man drives a dull hearted man to sense. Didymus the Blind, Commentary On Proverbs, Chapter 10 1 Prov 10.5 LXX 2 Ps 120.6 3 Mt 13.5-6, 20-21 4 Prov 10.13 LXX

Wisdom Amid Good And Evil

In duobus servitur Deo, faciendo bonum et patiendo malum. In confessoribus remuneratur bona actio, in martyribus passio Ad agendum bonum necessaria est sapientia; ad tolerandum malum necessaria patientia. Sapientia ut bonum bene fiat; patientia, ne malum patiens malus fiat. Qui enum bonum facit in bona materia operatur, sed si bonum bene non facit, per malam formam bona materia deformatur. Bona est forma, ubi nec plus nec minus justo est. Si plus justo sit, peccatum est, si minus justo sit, delictum. Igitur qui bonum bene facit, quasi bonae materiae bonam formam imprimit. Ad tolerantiam autem mali patientia necessaria est, quia qui malo per impatientiam cedit, a bono recedit. Sicut enim malum quod est culpa faciendum non est, sic malum quod est poena patiendum est. Poena autem dolor est, dolor vero aliud non est nisi cum amittitur quod amatur; vel in abrenuntiatione culpae, cum peccatum quod prius delectabat relinquitur vel in abrenuntiatione possessionis propriae, cum terrena substantia quae foris possidebatur, deseritur, vel in abrenuntatione delectionis mundanae cum carnalium sensuum lascivia mortificatur. In omnibus his labor est, nec sine dolore quidquam horum fieri potest. Haec igitur est patientia sanctorum. Qui sustinentiam deserunt, apostatunt. Post ultimam abrenuntiationem, primo per vanitatem, quia mundanam jucunditatem ad voluptatem repetunt. Post secundam, secundo per cupiditatem, quia postpositas divitias mundi ad superfinitatem ambiunt. Post primam, tertio per iniquitatem, qua anteacta peccata et dimissa iterare praesumunt. Itaque patientia ad tolerantiam necessaria est, ne habeat homo per vanitatem in consilio impiorum, nec stet per cupiditatem in via peccatorum, nec sedeat per iniquitatem in cathedra pestilentia. Job ad mundi jucunditatem minime respexerat qui dicebat: Si vidi solem cum fulgeret, et lunam incedentem clare, ordine suo. Post divitias mundi apostatare David nos prohibet dicens: Noli aemulari in eo qui prosperatur in via sua. Post peccata dimissa apostatare ipse Dominus prohibet, dicens: Vade et amplius noli peccare. Et propheta: Observabo me ab iniquitate mea. Igitur homo accednes ad servitutem Dei stet in loco suo per patientiam, ut non cedat nec recedat. Operetur bonum pro adimplendo primo debito, patiatur malum pro expiando primo delicto. Nam ut faciat bonum? factus est homo, ut patiatur malum, fecit homo. Pro eo igitur quod factus est facit bonum, pro eo quod fecit patiur malum. Primus enim homo sic factus est ut proficeret de bone innocentiae, per bonum obedientiae, ad bonum gloriae. Sed mutans locum et innocentiam deserens, deficere coepit, et ire de malo iniquitatis per malum mortalitatis ad malum damnationis. Venit autem Salvator, et monstravit aliam viam, qua ad patriam revertatur homo, per bonum justitiae et malum poenae ad bonum gloriae. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit CVII, De sapientia in faciendo bono, et de patientia in tolerando malo Source: Migne PL 177.536c-537b

In two things there is service to God, the doing of good and the suffering of evil. In the good deed is reward for the faithful, in suffering for martyrs. Wisdom is necessary for the doing of good, patience for the endurance of evil. Wisdom so that the good may be done well, patience so that evil may not be suffered badly. He who does good works with good material but if he does not do good well he deforms the good material with bad form. The form is good when there is no more and no less than what is fitting. If there is too much it is an error, too little a fault. Therefore he who does good well, impresses a good form on good material. Now for the endurance of evil patience is necessary, because whoever falls into evil because of impatience, falls from the good. Thus as the evil which is culpable must not be done, so the evil which is a penalty must be endured. Punishment is sorrow, yet sorrow is nothing but the loss of what is loved, either in the renunciation of fault when the sin which once delighted is abandoned, or in the renunciation of one's possessions, when worldly substance, which was held exteriorly, is given up, or in the renunciation of worldly pleasure when the lust of corporeal sense is mortified. In all these there is toil, and they cannot be done without grief. This, then, is the patience of the saints, but he apostatizes who flees endurance. Now after this last renunciation mentioned first comes vanity, because a man again seeks worldly joys and pleasure. After the second renunciation, comes the desire for riches because the wealth of the world, opposing the infinite, surrounds one. After the first renunciation comes wickedness because of the thought of those sins formerly committed and a presumption of repeated forgiveness. Therefore patience for the sake of suffering is necessary, lest a man because of vanity receive the counsel of the wicked, and because of avarice stand in the way of sinners, and because of wickedness sit in the chair of pestilence. 1 Job hardly looked again to the joys of the world, saying, 'If I saw the sun when it blazed, and the moon when it shone...' 2 in their way. David prohibits us to apostatize after the wealth of the world when he says: 'Do not imitate him who prospers in his own way.' 3 The Lord prohibits apostasy after sin is forgiven when He says: 'Go and do not sin again.' 4 And the prophet says: 'I shall guard myself from my wickedness.' 5 Therefore let a man who comes to the service of God stand fast in his place by patience, so that he does not fall and turn away. Let him work good for the fulfilment of the first debt, and suffer evil for the expiation of the first sin. For man was made to do good, and that he suffers evil was the work of man. Therefore he does good because of Him who made him, and he suffers because of him who did evil. The first man was made to advance from the good of innocence in the good of obedience to the good of glory. But changing his place and losing innocence he began to fall, and to go from the evil of iniquity through the evil of mortality to the evil of damnation. But the Saviour came and showed another way, which returns a man to his fatherland through the good of righteousness and suffering the evil of the penalty to the good of glory. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 107, On wisdom in doing good and in the suffering of evil. 1 Ps 1.1 2 Job 31.26 3 Ps 36.7 4 Jn 8.11 5 Ps 17.24

The House And The Rain

Δοκοὶ οἴκων ἡμῶν κέδροι, φατνώματα ἡμῶν κυπάρισσοι. Πάντως δὲ τὰ δηλούμενα διὰ τῶν ξύλων αἰνίγματα φανερὰ τοῖς ἐπακολουθοῦσι τῷ εἱρμῷ τῆς διανοίας ἐστίν. βροχὴν ὀνομάζει τὰς ποικίλας τῶν πειρασμῶν προσβολὰς ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ Kύριος λέγων ἐπὶ τοῦ καλῶς τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας οἰκοδομήσαντος ὅτι Κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ καὶ ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἀπαθὲς ἔμεινεν ἐν τούτοις τὸ οἰκοδόμημα. Tαύτης οὖν ἕνεκεν τῆς κακῆς ἐπομβρίας χρεία τοιούτων ἡμῖν ἐστιν δοκῶν. Αὗται δ’ ἂν εἶεν αἱ ἀρεταί, αἳ τὰς τῶν πειρασμῶν ἐπιρροὰς ἐντὸς ἑαυτῶν οὐ προσίενται στερραί τε οὖσαι καὶ ἀνένδοτοι καὶ τὸ πρὸς κακίαν ἀμάλακτον ἐν τοῖς πειρασμοῖς διασῴζουσαι. Mάθοιμεν δ’ ἂν τὸ λεγόμενον τὴν ἐν τῷ Ἐκκλησιαστῇ ῥῆσιν τῷ προκειμένῳ συνεξετάσαντες· Ἐκεῖ γάρ φησιν Ἐν ὀκνηρίαις ταπεινωθήσεται δόκωσις καὶ ἐν ἀργίᾳ χειρῶν στάξει οἰκία. Ὥσπερ γὰρ εἰ ἀσθενῆ τε καὶ ἄτονα ὑπὸ λεπτότητος εἴη τὰ ξύλα τὰ διειληφότα τὸν ὄροφον, ὀκνηρῶς δὲ ἔχοι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ δώματος ἐπιμέλειαν ὁ τοῦ οἴκου δεσπότης, οὐδὲν ἀπώνατο τῆς στέγης τοῦ ὄμβρου διὰ σταγόνων εἰσρέοντος, κοιλαίνεται γὰρ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ὁ ὄροφος εἴκων τῷ βάρει τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ οὐκ ἀντέχει τῶν ξύλων ἡ ἀτονία πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βάρους προσβολὴν ὑποκλάζουσα. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὰ ἐντὸς διαδίδοται τὸ ἐναπειλημμένον τῇ κοιλότητι ὕδωρ καὶ αἱ σταγόνες αὗται κατὰ τὸν Παροιμιώδη λόγον ἐκβάλλουσι τοῦ οἴκου τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ ὑετοῦ, οὕτως ἡμῖν τῷ τῆς παραβολῆς αἰνίγματι διακελεύεται διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν εὐτονίας ἀνενδότους εἶναι πρὸς τὰς τῶν πειρασμῶν ἐπιρροάς, μή ποτε μαλακισθέντες διὰ τῆς τῶν παθημάτων ἐμπτώσεως κοῖλοι γενώμεθα καὶ τὴν ἐπιρροὴν τῶν τοιούτων ὑδάτων ἔξωθεν ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν εἰσρέουσαν ἐντὸς τῶν ταμιείων παραδεξώμεθα, δι’ ὧν φθείρεται ἡμῖν τὰ ἀπόθετα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων, Ὁμιλία Δ’ Source: Migne PG 44.837b-d

The beams of our house are cedars, our rafters are of cypress. 1 To those following the intent of the thought here, it is quite obvious what the mystery of the timbers signifies. In the Gospel the Lord gives the name of rain to the various assaults of the temptations, saying of the man who wisely built his house upon a rock, 'The rain fell and the winds blew and the rivers flooded, and the foundation remained unharmed in the midst of all this.' 2 It is on account of this evil flood, then, that we need such beams as these, which are the virtues that do not allow entrance to the downpour of the temptations, since they are solid and maintain their firmness against the evils of trials. We may learn about this, if with this passage we have here, we consider what is said in Ecclesiastes, for there he says, 'Because of sloth the beams shall collapse, and because of the idleness of the hands the house shall leak.' 3 For as if the timbers that support the roof are weak and slack, and the owner is slothful about the care of his home, so the roof shall hardly keep off anything, but the rain shall drip in, and eventually the roof will be hollowed out and give way to the weight of the waters, for the slack timbers sinking under the pressure of this weight will offer no resistance, but the water caught in the depression will pour within, and the drops themselves, as Proverbs says, 'Cast the man out of his house on the day of rain.' 4 Thus in the mystery of this parable we are exhorted to resist the assaults of the temptations with the strength of the virtues, lest when we are weakened by the passions that befall men, we are made hollow, and then, as it attacks the heart from outside, the streams of those waters come into our treasure chambers, because of which what we have placed there is ruined. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 4 1 Song 1.16 2 Mt 7.25 3 Eccl 10.18 4 Prov 27.15

Sin And Patience

Aut divitias bonitatis ejus, et sustentationis, et patientiae contemnis? Ignoras quonaim benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Divitias bonitatis Dei ille agnoscere potest,qui considerat quanta in terris mala quotidie homines gerunt, et quomodo pene omnes declinantes, et simul inutiles facti, latam et spatiosam perditionis ambulant viam, angusto vitae itinere neglecto, et tamen his omnibus Deum productentem solem suum quotidie, et pluvias ministrantem, et qui considerat quanti quotidie in Deum blasphemant, et in coelum extendunt linguas suas. Jam quid de fraudibus, de vi, de scelere, de sacrilegiis et piaculis dicam? Quibus tamen omnibus in hoc loco illi videntur in scelere praeferri, qui alios judicantes,ipsi commitunt quae in caeteris puniunt. Si quis ergo hanc bonitatem Dei et sustentationem ejus, et patientiam contemnit, ignorat quod per haec ad poenitentiam provocatur. Sustentatio vero a patientia hoc videtur differre, quod qui infirmitate magis, quam proposito delinquunt,sustentari dicuntur: qui vero pertinaci mente velut exsultant in delictis suis, ferri patienter dicendi sunt. Sed sicut omnia in mensura fecit Deus,et pondere, et numero,ita etiam patientiae ejus certa mensura est: quam mesuram credendum est esse consumatam vel ab his qui diluvio perierunt vel ab his qui in Sodomis colelesti igne vastati sunt. Unde et de Amorrhaeis dicitur: Nondum enim repleta sunt peccata Amorrhaeorum usque nunc. Fert ergo Deus patienter, et exspectat uniuscujusque poenitentiam. Sed non nos dissolvat hoc, et tardos ad conversionem faciat,quia rursus patientiae ejus et sustentationis certa mensura est. Origenes, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Romanos, Liber II, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 14.874b-875a

Or do you scorn the riches of His kindness and endurance and patience? Are you ignorant that the kindness of God is to lead you to penance? 1 He is able to recognise the riches of the kindness of God who considers how much evil in the world men do every day, and how everyone goes astray and at the same time do worthless things, walking in the way of ruin that is wide and easy and neglecting the narrow way of life, and yet for all these God brings forth His sun every day and serves them with rain. 2 And consider how many blaspheme God everyday and thrust out their tongues to heaven. 3 What then shall I say of lies and violence and crimes and sacrilege and shameful acts? By all which things they also appear bearing wrong, who condemn others and then do what they punish in others. If, then, someone should scorn the kindness and endurance and patience of God, he neglects that which calls him to penance. Now endurance seems to differ from patience in this way: endurance pertains to him who wanders from what is wished because of weakness, but patience is a bearing with one who exults in his wickedness because of an obstinate mind. But as God takes the measure of all things, and weighs them, and reckons them, 4 so His patience has a certain measure, which measure must be thought to have been filled up either with those who perished in the flood, or with those who were consumed by heavenly fire in Sodom. Whence it is said of the Amorites: 'Not yet even now are the sins of the Amorites filled up.' 5 Therefore God is patient and hopes for the penance of everyone. But this should not cause us to relax and make us tardy for conversion, because His patience and endurance has a certain measure. Origen, from the Commentary on the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, Book 2, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia 1 Rom 2.4 2 Mt 7.13-14, 5.45 3 Ps 72.9 4 Wisd 11.21 5 Gen 15.16

Servant And Master

Non est discipulus super magistrum... Seipsum proponit exemplum patientiae, ut quod Dominus patitur, non sit grave servis tolerare, quasi dicat: Nolite mirari, si ita vos persequuntur, me enim Dominum tractabunt similiter. Non sit ergo turpe pati quod ego patior, quia non est discipulus supra magistrum, id est non est majoris meriti meus discipulus, quam ego magister. Sufficit ergo discipulo meo, id est sufficere debet, ut sit sicut magister ejus, id est ut eum imitetur, et in quo imitetur supponit. Si patrem familias, id est me, avocaverunt Beelzebub, id est principem daemoniorum, quanto magis vos? Hoc est: Si me conviciis aggressi sunt, qui sum Deus, multo magis vos, qui puri homines estis. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput X Source: Migne PL 162.1345a-b

The disciple is not greater than the master... 1 He proposes himself as an example of patience, so that as the Lord suffers, it may not be unbearable for the servants to suffer, as if He said, 'Do not wonder if they persecute you, for they treated me similarly. Therefore let it not be deplorable to suffer what I suffer, because the disciple is not greater than the master, that is, my disciple does not have greater merit than I, the master. 'Thus let it be enough for my disciple,' that is, it should be enough, 'that he be like his master,' that is, that he imitate Him, and in what he imitates be subordinate. 'If the father of the family,' that is, me, 'they have named Beelzebub,' that is, the prince of demons, 'how much more you?' That is, if they have come near to convict me, who am God, so much more you, who are mere men. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 10 1 Mt 10.24

Encouraging Confessors

Cyprianus Rogatiano presbytero et caeteris confessoribus fratribus salutem. Et jampridem vobis, fratres charissimi ac fortissimi, litteras miseram, quibus fidei et virtuti vestrae verbis exultantibus gratularer, et nunc non aliud in primis vox nostra complectitur quam ut laeto animo frequenter ac semper gloriam vestri nominis praedicemus. Quid enim vel majus in votis meis potest esse vel melius quam cum video confessionis vestrae honore luminatum gregem Christi? Nam, cum gaudere in hoc omnes fratres oporteat, tum in gaudio communi major est episcopi portio: Ecclesiae enim gloria praepositi gloria est. Quantum dolemus ex illis quos tempestas inimica prostravit, tantum laetamur ex vobis, quos diabolus superare non potuit. Hortamur tamen per communem fidem, per pectoris nostri veram circa vos et simplicem charitatem, ut, qui adversarium prima hac congressione vicistis, gloriam vestram forti et perseveranti virtute teneatis. Adhuc in saeculo sumus, adhuc in acie constituti, de vita nostra quotidie dimicamus. Danda opera est ut post haec initia ad incrementa quoque veniatur, et consummetur in vobis quod jam rudimentis felicibus esse coepistis. Parum est adipisci aliquid potuisse; plus est quod adeptus es posse servare; sicut et fides ipsa et nativitas salutaris, non accepta, sed custodia, vivificat. Nec statim consecutio, sed consummatio hominem Deo servat. Dominus hoc magisterio suo docuit dicens: Ecce sanus factus es, jam noli peccare, ne quid tibi deterius fiat. Puta hoc illum et confessori suo dicere: Ecce confessor factus es, jam noli peccare, ne quid tibi deterius fiat. Salomon denique et Saul et caeteri multi, quamdiu in viis Domini ambulaverunt, datam sibi gratiam tenere potuerunt. Recedente ab iis disciplina Dominica, recessit et gratia. Sanctus Cyprianus, Epistula VI, Ad Rogantium Presbyterum Et Caeteros Confessors Source: Migne PL 3.235a-236b

Cyprian to the presbyter Rogatianus, and to the other confessors, his brethren, greetings. I had before, most beloved and bravest brethren, sent you a letter in which I congratulated your faith and virtue with words of exultation, and now, first of all, our voice has no other care than to announce the glory of your name repeatedly and always with a joyful mind. For what can I wish for in my prayers that would be greater or better than I might see the flock of Christ enlightened by the honour of your confession? For though all the brethren should rejoice in this, yet the share of the bishop is the greatest in the common gladness. For the glory of the Church is the glory of him who who presides. As much as we lament over those who have been thrown down by a hostile storm, to the same degree we rejoice over you whom the devil has not been able to overcome. However we exhort you by our common faith, by the true and simple love in our heart for you, that having overcome the adversary in this first encounter, you should cling to your glory with a brave and persevering virtue. We are still in the world, we are yet placed in the battleline, we fight daily for our lives. We should give ourselves to the task so that after such a beginning there should also come about an increase, and thus that what you have begun to be with such a blessed commencement should be perfected in you. It is a little thing to have been able to obtain something, it is much more that you are able to keep what you have obtained, even as faith itself and saving birth gives life not simply by being received, but by being preserved. It is not the instant of attainment, but the perfecting, that guards a man for God. The Lord taught this in His instruction when He said, 'Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, lest something worse befall you.' 1 Think of Him as saying something like this to His confessor, 'Behold, you are made a confessor. Sin no more, lest something worse come upon you.' So Solomon, and Saul, and many others, as long as they walked in the Lord's ways, were able to keep the grace given to them. When they abandoned the discipline of the Lord, grace abandoned them. Saint Cyprian of Carthage, from Letter 6, to Rogantius the Priest and other Confessors 1 Jn 5.14

Evil And Resistance

Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ: ἀλλ' ὅστις σε ῥαπίζει εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, σου στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην. Πονηρὸν ἐνταυθα τὸν διάβολον λέγει, τὸν διὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐνεργοῦντα. Οὐ δεῖ οὖν ἀντίστασθαι τῷ διαβόλῳ; ναί· ἀλλ' οὐχὶ διὰ τοῦ αντιπλήττειν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ ὑπομένειν. Οὐ γὰρ πυρὶ σβέννυται πῦρ, ἀλλ' ὕδατι. Μὴ νόμιζε δὲ ὅτι περὶ τῆς εἰς τὴν σιαγόνα πληγῆς λέγει μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ πάσης ἄλλης καὶ παντὸς ἁπλῶς δεινοῦ. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον , Κεφ Ε' Source: Migne PG 123.200c

But I say to you, do not resist the evil man. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one towards him also. 1 He calls the devil the evil man here, who works through men, Should we not resist the devil? Yes, yet not by returning blows but by enduring. Fire is not put out with fire, but with water. And do not think this is said only of blows upon the cheek, for it concerns every other evil that may be inflicted. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.39

Judgement And Endurance

Et vos, inquit, oves meae, haec dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego iudico inter ovem et ovem, et arietes et hircos. Quid hic faciunt hirci in grege Dei? In eisdem pascuis, in eisdem fontibus, et hirci tamen sinistrae destinati dextris miscentur, et prius tolerantur qui separabuntur. Et hic exercetur ovium patientia ad similitudinem patientiae Dei. Separatio enim ab illo erit, aliorum ad sinistram aliorum ad dexteram. Nunc autem ipse tacet, tu vis loqui. Sed unde dico: Tu vis loqui? Unde ipse tacet. A vindicta iudicii, non a verbo correptionis. Ipse nondum separat, tu vis separare. Ipse mixta tolerat, qui seminavit. Si ante ventilationem frumentum vis esse purgatum, tuo vento, pessime ventilaberis. Licuerit servis dicere: Vis, imus, et colligimus ea? Stomachati enim sunt, videndo zizania, et doluerunt segeti bonae permixta zizania. Et dixerunt: Nonne bonum semen seminasti? Unde ergo apparuerunt zizania? Ille rationem reddidit unde apparuerunt; non tamen permisit ut ante tempus evellerentur. Quamvis et ipsi servi stomachati adversus zizania, consilium tamen et praeceptum a domino expetiverunt. Displicebant illa inter segetem, sed videbant servi, quia si vel in ipsis zizaniis evellendis aliquid sua sponte facerent, ipsi zizaniis numerarentur. A Domino expectaverunt praeceptum, iussionem regis sui quaesierunt: Vis, imus, et colligimus ea? Et ille: Non. Et reddidit inde causam: Ne forte, cum vultis colligere zizania, eradicetis simul et triticum. Sedavit ab indignatione, nec reliquit in dolore. Grave enim videbatur servis esse zizania inter frumentum, et vere grave erat. Sed alia est conditio agri, alia quies horrei. Tolera, ad hoc enim natus es. Tolera, quia forte toleratus es. Si semper bonus fuisti, habeto misericordiam; si aliquando malus fuisti, noli perdere memoriam. Et quis est semper bonus? Facilius, si te Deus diligenter discutiat, inveniet te etiam nunc malum, quam tu te semper bonum. Ergo toleranda sunt zizania haec inter frumentum, hirci inter arietes, hoedi inter oves. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Ovibus, Sermo XLVII, In Ezechiel cap XXXIV, ab illis verbis, Et vos oves meae... Source: Migne PL 38.298

'And you, my sheep,' thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, and rams and he-goats.' 1 What are he-goats doing here among the flock of God? Though destined for the left hand, in the same fields the he-goats are mixing with those of the right hand, and first they are tolerated who shall be separated. And this is to exercise the sheep in patience in the likeness of God's patience. The separation shall be performed by Him, some to the left and some to the right. But now He is silent, and you wish to speak. But what do I say you wish to speak about? What He is keeping quiet about. About the sentence of judgment, not about a word of correction. He is not yet separating, you wish to do so. He who sowed is tolerating the mixing. If before winnowing time you wish the grain purged, and with your own wind, you will suffer a worse winnowing. It was permitted that the servants say, 'Do you want us to go and gather them?' 2 They were troubled when they saw the weeds, and aggrieved at the weeds mixed with the good crop. And they said, 'Did you not sow good seed? Then from where did the weeds come?' He gave the reason why they appeared, but even so He did not permit the weeds to be pulled up before the time. And though those servants were vexed at the weeds, they sought the counsel and command of their lord. They were displeased by the weeds in the crop, but they saw that if they acted according to their own wish to pull up the weeds, they would be reckoned among the weeds. They waited for the commands of their Lord, they sought their king's decree, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?' And He said, 'No.' And he gave the reason: 'Lest perhaps when you wish to gather up the weeds, you also uproot the wheat at the same time.' He soothed  indignation, and did not leave them in their upset. It troubled the servants that there were weeds among wheat, and indeed it was troubling. But the state of the field is one thing, the quietness of the barn is another. Endure it, because for that you were born. Endure, because perhaps you have been endured. If you have always been good, be merciful. If you were once bad, don't forget it. And who is always good? It will be easier if God lovingly disciplines you when He finds you bad now, than for you to be good always. So we have to endure these weeds among the corn, the he-goats among the rams, the goats among the sheep. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 47, On The Sheep, On Ezekiel Chapter 34, on the words, 'And you my sheep...' 1 Ezek 34.17 2 Mt 13.28

Perserverance And Discipline

Perseverandum nobis est in arcto et in angusto itinere laudis et gloriae; et cum quies et humilitas et bonorum morum tranquillitas Christianis omnibus congruat, secundum Domini vocem, qui neminem alium respicit nisi humilem et quietum et trementem sermones suos, tum magis hoc observare et implere confessores oportet, qui exemplum facti estis caeteris fratribus, ad quorum mores omnium vita et actus debeat provocari. Nam, sicut Judaei a Deo alienati sunt, propter quos nomen Dei blasphematur in Gentibus, ita contra Deo chari sunt per quorum disciplinam nomen Domini laudabili testimonio praedicatur, sicut scriptum est, Domino praemonente et dicente: Luceat lumen vestrum coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona, et clarificent Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est. Et Paulus apostolus dicit: Lucete sicut luminaria in mundo. Et Petrus similiter hortatur: Sicut hospites, inquit, et peregrini, abstinete vos a carnalibus desideriis, quae militant adversus animam, conversationem habentes inter gentiles bonam, ut, dum detractant de vobis quasi de malignis, bona opera vestra aspicientes de magnificent Dominum. Sanctus Cyprianus, Epistula VI, Ad Rogantium Presbyterum Et Caeteros Confessors Source: Migne PL 3.236b-237b

We must persevere in the straight and narrow road of praise and glory, and since peacefulness and humility and the tranquillity of good conduct befits all Christians, according to the word of the Lord, who looks on no one but the one who is humble and quiet and in awe of His words, 1 so it is more necessary that confessors observe and fulfil this, they who have been made as an example for the rest of the brethren, the behaviour of whom should call all to the imitation of such a life and deeds. For as the Jews were alienated from God, on account of those through whom 'the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles,' 2 so on the other hand they are precious to God through whose discipline the name of God is spoken of with a testimony of praise, as it has been written, with the Lord Himself forewarning and saying, 'Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.' 3 And Paul the Apostle says, 'Shine as lights in the world.' 4 Peter likewise exhorts: 'As strangers and pilgrims, abstain from the desires of the flesh which war against the soul, having an upright way of life among the Gentiles, so that though they defame you as if you were wicked folk, by the sight of your good works they may glorify the Lord.' 5 Saint Cyprian of Carthage, from Letter 6, to Rogantius the Priest and other Confessors 1 Isaiah 66.2 2 Rom 2.24 3 Mt 5.16 4 Philip 2.15 5 1 Pet 2.11-12