Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 6

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying:

Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him.

We have need of much watchfulness and of many prayers, that we may be able to make our way through the passage before us, and to learn who these wise men were, and whence they came, and how, and who it was that persuaded them, and what the star was.

Or rather, if you will, let us first bring forward into the midst the things which the enemies of the truth allege.

For indeed the devil breathed so fiercely against them, that from this very passage he moves them to attempt to arm themselves against the words of truth.

What then do they say? Behold, they say, at the birth of Christ a star appeared; and this is a sign that astrology is a sure thing.

How then, if He was born according to that law of astrology, did He dissolve astrology, and abolish fate, and stop the mouths of demons, and cast out error, and overthrow all such sorcery? And what do the wise men learn from His star? That He was King of the Jews? And yet He was not king of that kingdom, even as He said to Pilate:

My kingdom is not of this world.

At all events, He displayed nothing of the kind.

For He had about Him neither spearmen, nor shield-bearers, nor horses, nor yoke of mules, nor anything else of the sort.

But He led this mean and poor life, carrying about with Him twelve men of no account.

But even if they knew Him to be a king, for what reason did they come? For it is not the business of astronomy to learn from the stars those who are being born, but from the hour of birth to foretell things to come, as they say.

But these men were neither present with the mother in her travail, nor did they know the time at which He was born, nor, taking their beginning from thence, did they compute from the movement of the stars the things that were to be.

But, on the contrary, having seen the star appear in their own country long before, they come to behold Him that was born.

Which very thing was a mark of greater perplexity than the former.

For what reasoning persuaded them, what hope of what good things, to worship a king so far off from them? For if He was to reign over them, not even so would the thing that was done have any reason in it.

For if indeed He were born in royal halls, with a father who was king present with Him, one might reasonably say that these men, wishing to pay court to the father, came to worship the newborn child, and thereby to lay up beforehand for themselves a great store of goodwill.

But as it was, not even expecting Him to be their king, but the king of a strange nation far removed from their own country, and not even seeing Him already grown to manhood, for what reason do they set out on so great a journey, and offer gifts, and this too when they were to do all these things amid dangers? For indeed Herod, when he heard it, was troubled, and all the people were in commotion, having heard these things from them.

But these men did not foreknow these things.

For even if they were exceedingly foolish, this at least they could not have been ignorant of, that in coming to a city ruled by a king, and proclaiming such things, and pointing to another king besides the one then reigning, they would draw upon themselves a thousand deaths.

And why did they worship Him at all while He was in swaddling clothes? For if He had been a man, one might have said that, expecting help from Him, they cast themselves into a manifest danger; which itself would have been the height of unreason, that the Persian, the barbarian, having nothing in common with the Jewish nation, should be willing to forsake his home, and leave country and kindred and household, and subject himself to another kingdom.

But if this be foolish, that which comes after it is far more foolish still.

What then is this? That after coming so long a journey, and worshiping, and throwing all into confusion, they immediately departed.

And what sign of royalty did they see at all, when they beheld a shed and a manger, and a child in swaddling clothes, and a poor mother? To whom also did they offer their gifts, and for what reason? Was it then a law and a custom thus to pay court to kings born everywhere? And did they go about ever the whole world, worshiping those whom they knew would become kings, though sprung from small and mean beginnings, before they had ascended the royal throne? No one could say this.

And for what reason did they worship Him at all? If for the sake of present things, what did they expect to receive from a child and a mean mother? But if for the sake of things to come, whence did they know that the child who was worshiped in swaddling clothes would remember what was then done? And if His mother was to remind Him, not even so were they worthy of honor, but rather of punishment, for casting Him into manifest danger.

For from this very cause Herod, being troubled, both sought Him, and made anxious inquiry, and endeavored to make away with Him.

And everywhere, whosoever makes manifest one who is to be king, while he is yet a private person from his earliest age, does nothing else than deliver him up to slaughter, and kindle against him a thousand wars.

See you how many absurdities appear, if we examine these things according to human sequence and common custom? For not these only, but yet more than these might one allege, involving more questions than what has been said.

But that we may not, by heaping perplexities upon perplexities, make you dizzy, come, let us at length proceed to the solution of the questions, making the beginning of our solution from His star itself.

For if we learn what the star was, and of what nature, and whether it was one of the many, or a strange one unlike the rest, and whether it was a star by nature, or a star in appearance only, we shall easily know all the rest as well.

Whence then shall these things be clear? From the very things that are written.

For that this star was not one of the many, or rather not even a star at all, as it seems to me, but some invisible power transformed into this appearance, is manifest first of all from its very course.

For there is not, there is not any star that travels by this way.

But whether you name the sun, or the moon, or all the other stars, we see them passing from east to west.

But this one was borne from north to south; for so does Palestine lie with respect to Persia.

For so does Palestine lie with respect to Persia.

Secondly, one may see this also from the time.

For it appeared in mid-day, while the sun was shining.

Which is not within the power of a star, nor even of the moon.

For the moon, which so far surpasses all the stars, when the sun's ray appears, is straightway hidden and vanishes.

But this star by the exceeding greatness of its own brightness overcame even the beams of the sun, appearing brighter than they, and shining more mightily amid so great a light.

Thirdly, from its appearing and again hiding itself.

For along the way as far as Palestine it appeared, guiding them by the hand.

But when they had set foot in Jerusalem, it hid itself.

Then again, when they had left Herod, having informed him concerning the things for which they came, and were about to depart, it shows itself.

Which is not the property of a star's motion, but of some most rational power.

For it had no course of its own at all, but when it was needful for them to go on, it went on.

But when they should stand still, it stood still, ordering all things as was fitting.

Even as the pillar of cloud, both settling and rousing the camp of the Jews, when it was needful.

Fourthly, one might learn this clearly from the manner of its pointing.

For it did not, remaining on high, point out the place.

For it was not possible for them so to learn it.

But coming down below, it did this.

For you know that a place so small, and only as much as a shed could occupy, or rather only as much as the body of a little child could take up, a star could not point out.

For since its height was boundless, it could not suffice to mark out and make known so narrow a spot to those who wished to see it.

And this one may see from the moon.

Which, though so far surpassing the stars, yet appears to all who dwell throughout the world, and are spread over so wide a breadth of earth, to be near to them all.

How then, tell me, did the star point out a spot so narrow, of a manger and a shed, unless it left that height above, and came down below, and stood over the very head of the child? Which the evangelist also intimating, said:

Behold, the star went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

You see by how many proofs it is shown that this star was not one of the many, nor showed itself according to the ordinary course of outward nature?

And for what reason did it appear? That it might reprove the insensibility of the Jews, and shut against them every occasion of excuse for their perverseness.

For since He that came was to put an end to the old polity, and to call the world to His own worship, and to be worshiped in every land and sea, straightway from the very outset He opens the door to the Gentiles, willing through strangers to instruct His own people.

For since, though continually hearing the prophets speaking of His coming, they gave no great heed, He caused even barbarians to come from a far country, seeking the king that was among them, and from the mouth of Persians first they learn those things which they would not endure to learn from the prophets.

That, if they were reasonable, they might have a very strong ground for being persuaded.

But if they were contentious, they might henceforth be deprived of all excuse.

For what could they say, having not received Christ after so many prophets, when they should see wise men, from the mere sight of a single star, receiving Him, and worshiping Him that had appeared? Which very thing He did in the case of the Ninevites, sending Jonah, and that which He did in the case of the Samaritan woman and the woman of Canaan, this also He did in the case of the wise men.

The men of Nineveh shall rise up and condemn.

And, 'The queen of the south shall rise up, and shall condemn this generation';

for those believed upon lesser evidence, while these would not believe even upon the greater.

But for what reason, one may ask, did He draw them by such a sight?

But how then should it have been done? Should He have sent prophets? But the Magi would not have submitted to prophets.

Should He have sent forth a voice from above? But they would not have heeded it.

Should He have sent an angel? But this too they would have passed by.

Therefore, setting all those means aside, God calls them through the things familiar to them, condescending greatly, and He shows them a great and unusual star, so as to astound them both by the greatness and by the beauty of the sight, and by the manner of its course.

Paul too, imitating this, discourses to the Greeks from an altar, and brings forward into their midst the testimonies of their poets;

with circumcision he addresses the Jews, and from sacrifices he makes the beginning of his teaching to those living under the Law.

For since to each man the things familiar are dear, both God and the men sent by Him for the salvation of the world so manage their affairs.

Do not, then, suppose it unworthy of Him that He called them by a star;

since on that reasoning you will find fault with all the Jewish institutions as well—the sacrifices, the purifications, the new moons, the ark, and the very temple.

For these too took their beginning from the grossness of the Greeks.

Yet nevertheless God, for the salvation of those who had gone astray, allowed Himself to be served by those very things by which the heathen served demons, altering them only slightly;

so that, drawing them little by little away from their custom, He might lead them to the sublime philosophy.

This very thing He did also in the case of the Magi, condescending to call them by the sight of a star, in order that thereafter He might make them loftier.

So when He had led them and guided them by the hand, and set them at the manger, no longer by a star but henceforth by an angel does He discourse to them; thus little by little they became better.

This He did also in the case of the Ascalonites and the Gazites.

For those five cities, when at the coming of the ark they were smitten with a deadly plague and could find no deliverance from the evils that lay upon them, having called their diviners and gathered an assembly, sought to find a release from that God-sent plague.

Then, when the diviners had said that they must yoke to the ark heifers untamed and that had just borne their first young, and let them go their way with no one leading them;

for so it would become clear whether the plague was God-sent or the sickness came from some chance occurrence (for if, they said, they should break the yoke through their unruliness, or turn back toward their lowing heifers, then what had happened was mere coincidence;

but if they should go straight forward, neither affected by the lowing of their calves, nor led astray by ignorance of the way, then it is plainly the hand of God that has touched these cities).

So then, when the diviners had said these things, the inhabitants of those cities were persuaded and did as they were commanded; and God followed the counsel of the diviners, again condescending, and did not deem it unworthy of Himself to bring the prediction of the diviners to fulfillment in deed, and to make them seem trustworthy in what they had then said.

For the greater achievement was this: that the very adversaries should bear witness to the power of God, and that their own teachers should pronounce the verdict concerning Him.

And one may see God ordering many other such things.

For indeed the matter of the woman with the familiar spirit resembles this mode of dispensation, which you also will henceforth be able to resolve from what has been said.

Concerning the star, then, these things have been said by us; but by you even more might be said.

For, it says, 'Give occasion to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser.'

But now we must come to the beginning of the passage that was read.

And what is the beginning? 'Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.'

The Magi followed when a star led the way;

but these did not believe even when the prophets sounded in their ears.

But for what reason does he tell us both the time and the place, saying 'In Bethlehem' and 'In the days of Herod the king'? And for what reason does he add the dignity of the title? The dignity, because there was also another Herod, the one who slew John;

but that one was a tetrarch, whereas this one was a king.

He sets down the place and the time, reminding us of an ancient prophecy;

of which the one Micah prophesied, saying:

'And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no wise least among the rulers of Judah';

and the other the patriarch Jacob prophesied, marking out for us exactly the time, and setting down as the great token of His coming:

'For the sceptre shall not depart from Judah,' he says, 'nor a ruler from between his thighs, until he come for whom it is laid up;

and he shall be the expectation of the nations.'

And that too is worth inquiring: whence they came to such a thought, and who stirred them up to this.

To me it seems to be the work not of the star alone, but also of God, who moved their soul;

which He did also in the case of Cyrus, disposing him to release the Jews.

Yet He did not so work this as to do violence to their free will;

since even when He called Paul from above by a voice, He made manifest both His own grace and that man's obedience.

And for what reason, one asks, did He not reveal this to all the Magi? Because not all were going to believe, but these were more fit than the rest;

since countless nations also perished, and the prophet was sent to the Ninevites alone, and there were two robbers on the cross, and one only was saved.

Observe, at any rate, their virtue, not only from their coming, but also from the boldness with which they speak.

For, that they might not seem to be some suborned persons, they name Him who guided them, and the length of the way, and coming they display their boldness;

for, they say, 'We are come to worship Him';

and they feared neither the wrath of the people nor the tyranny of the king.

Whence it seems to me that these men became teachers also at home to those of their own country.

For those who did not shrink from saying this here, much more spoke boldly in their own land, seeing that they had also received the oracle from the angel and the testimony from the prophet.

'And when Herod heard it,' it says, 'he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.'

Herod indeed with good reason, being a king, and fearing both for himself and for his children;

but Jerusalem, for what reason? And yet the prophets of old had foretold Him as a Saviour, and Benefactor, and Deliverer.

For what reason, then, were they troubled? From the same disposition by which formerly also they turned away from God when He was doing them good, and remembered the Egyptian flesh-pots though they were enjoying so great a freedom.

But do thou consider for me the exactness of the prophets.

For this very thing too the prophet proclaimed beforehand of old, saying:

'They shall desire that they had been burnt with fire;

for unto us a child is born, a son also is given unto us.'

Yet nevertheless, though troubled, they do not seek to see what had come to pass, nor do they follow the Magi and inquire into it;

so were they at once both contentious and slothful, most of all men.

For while they ought even to have gloried that the King had been born among them, and had drawn the land of the Persians, and that they were about to have all men in subjection—inasmuch as affairs had advanced to the better, and so brilliant a beginning had been made from the outset—yet not even by this do they become the better.

And yet they had but lately been delivered from their captivity there;

and it were fitting for them to reflect—even if they knew nothing of the hidden and lofty things, but reckoned only from present circumstances—that if men so tremble at our king when he is but born, much more when he is grown will they fear and obey, and our affairs will be more glorious than those of the barbarians.

But none of these things rouses them;

so great was their sluggishness, and along with it their envy;

both of which we must banish with all exactness from our understanding, and he who is to stand in such a battle-array must be more vehement than fire.

'I am come to cast fire upon the earth';

And for this reason the Spirit also appears in the form of fire.

But we have grown colder than ashes, and more lifeless than the dead;

and this though we behold Paul soaring above the heavens, above the very heaven of heavens, more vehement than any flame, conquering and surpassing all things—things below, things above, things present, things to come, things that are, things that are not.

But if you say that his example is too great for you—in fact this too is but an excuse of sluggishness (for in what did Paul have more than you, that you should declare it impossible to have a zeal equal to his?)—

nevertheless, that we may not wrangle over it, let us leave Paul aside and consider those who first believed, who cast away money and possessions and every worldly care and leisure, and dedicated their whole selves to God, devoting themselves night and day to the teaching of the word.

For such is the spiritual fire:

it allows one to have no desire for the things

here below, but transfers us to another love.

Therefore he who loves such things—even if he must give up his possessions, even if he must scorn luxury and glory, even if he must surrender his very soul—does all these things with the utmost ease.

For the heat of that fire, entering into the soul, drives out all sluggishness and makes him whom it seizes lighter than a feather;

and thereafter, despising all visible things, such a one abides in continual compunction, pouring forth unceasing fountains of tears, and reaping from this a great delight.

For nothing so cements and unites us to God as tears of this kind.

Such a one, even if he dwells in the midst of cities, passes his life as though in a wilderness, among mountains and glens, seeing none of those around him, nor ever taking his fill of such lamentation, whether he weeps for himself or for the transgressions of others.

Therefore, before all others, God pronounced these blessed, saying, 'Blessed are they that mourn.'

'Rejoice in the Lord always'—He means the delight that springs from these tears.

For just as worldly joy has sorrow allotted to it as its companion, so godly tears bring forth a joy that is perpetual and unfading.

Thus too the harlot became more venerable than virgins, being possessed by this fire.

For when she was set aflame by repentance, she was thereafter carried away in a frenzy of longing for Christ, loosing her hair, wetting the holy feet with her tears, wiping them with her own locks, and pouring out the ointment.

And all these things were done outwardly;

but the things accomplished within her mind were far more fervent than these—things which God alone beheld.

For this very reason everyone who hears rejoices with her, and delights in her good deeds, and acquits her of all the accusations.

But if we who are wicked pass such a verdict, consider what she enjoyed from the God who loves mankind, and how many good things, and, even before the gifts of God, what blessings she reaped from her repentance.

For just as, when a violent rain has broken forth, a clear sky ensues, so also, when tears fall, there comes calm and fair weather, and the darkness arising from our sins is dispelled.

And as by water and the Spirit, so by tears and confession are we cleansed anew—provided we do not do this for display and for vainglory.

For I would say it were just that she who weeps in this fashion be even more condemned than she who adorns herself with paints and cosmetics.

For I seek those tears which are shed not for display, but out of compunction;

those that fall secretly and in the inner chambers, with no one looking on, but dropping quietly and without sound;

those from the depth of the mind, in affliction and anguish, shed for God's sake alone—such as were the tears of Hannah.

'For her lips,' it says, 'moved, but her voice was not heard.'

But her tears alone sent forth a cry more resounding than a trumpet.

For this very reason God opened her womb, and made the hard rock into soft tilled ground.

If you too weep in this way, you have become an imitator of your Master.

For He too wept, both over Lazarus and over the city, and He was troubled over Judas.

And one may often see Him doing this, but nowhere laughing;

nor even smiling faintly;

at any rate, none of the evangelists has said so.

Therefore of Paul also it is said that he wept, and that for three years, night and day, he did this—both he himself concerning himself, and others concerning him say this;

but that he laughed, this neither he himself has anywhere said, nor any other, not one of the saints, neither concerning himself nor concerning any other such person;

but concerning Sarah alone is this said, when she was rebuked;

and concerning the son of Noah, when instead of free he became a slave.

And I say these things, not to cut off laughter altogether, but to do away with dissipation.

For tell me, on what account are you soft and dissolute, being still liable to so many reckonings, and about to stand before a fearful tribunal, and to render an exact account of all that has been done here? For of the things we have sinned both willingly and unwillingly, we shall render an account;

'Whosoever,' it says, 'shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father.'

And yet such a denial is involuntary, but nevertheless it does not escape punishment, but for this too we render an account;

both of the things we know and of the things we do not know;

'For I know nothing against myself,' he says, 'yet am I not hereby justified.'

and both of the things done in ignorance and of the things done in knowledge;

'For I bear them witness,' he says, 'that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge;'

yet nevertheless this does not suffice as a defense for them.

And writing to the Corinthians he said:

'I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve through his craftiness, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.'

Being then about to render account for so many things, do you sit laughing, and speaking witticisms, and giving yourself to luxury? 'But if I do not do these things,' you say, 'but mourn instead, what profit is there?' The greatest, indeed, and so great that it cannot even be set forth in words.

For in the tribunals of this world, however much you weep, you will not escape punishment after the sentence;

but here, if you only become sorrowful, you have annulled the verdict, and have obtained pardon.

Therefore Christ discourses to us much concerning mourning, and pronounces the mourners blessed, and calls the laughers wretched.

For this is not a theater for laughter, nor have we come together for this, that we may burst into loud laughter, but that we may groan, and by this groaning inherit a kingdom.

But you, when standing before an earthly king, do not endure even simply to smile;

yet having the Master of the angels dwelling within you, you do not stand with the trembling and self-control that is fitting, but you laugh, though He is often provoked to anger? And do you not consider that by this you exasperate Him even more than by your sins? For God is wont to turn away, not so much from those who sin, as from those who, after sinning, are not humbled.

But nevertheless there are some so insensibly disposed that even after these words they say:

'As for me, God forbid that I should ever weep, but may God grant me to laugh and to play all the time.'

And what could be more childish than this frame of mind? For it is not God who grants us to play, but the devil.

Hear, at any rate, what those who played suffered:

'The people,' it says, 'sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.'

Such were those in Sodom, such were those at the time of the flood.

For concerning those also it says, 'That in pride, and in fullness, and in abundance of bread they lived wantonly.'

And those in Noah's day, though they saw the ark being built over so many years, made merry without concern, foreseeing nothing of the things to come.

Therefore the flood, coming upon them all, swept them away, and wrought at that time the common shipwreck of the inhabited world.

Do not then ask of God these things which you receive from the devil.

For it belongs to God to give a heart contrite and humbled, sober, temperate and composed, penitent and full of compunction.

These are His gifts, since of this above all we have need.

For a grievous contest is set before us, and our wrestling is against invisible powers; our battle is against the spiritual forces of wickedness, our war against the principalities, against the authorities.

And it is much if, while we are diligent and sober and thoroughly awake, we are able to withstand that savage battle-line.

But if we laugh and play and are forever slothful, then even before the encounter we shall fall by our own sloth.

It is therefore not for us to be perpetually laughing, and to live in softness and luxury, but rather for those upon the stage, for harlot women, for men who have shaved themselves for such purposes, for parasites and flatterers;

not for those who have been called unto heaven, nor for those enrolled in the city above, nor for those who bear spiritual weapons, but for those who are dedicated to the devil.

For it is he, it is he, who has even made the matter into an art, that he might unnerve the soldiers of Christ, and render the sinews of their zeal more feeble.

For this reason he has built theatres in the cities, and having trained up those buffoons, through their corruption he hurls such a plague against the whole city.

Paul gave command, persuading us to shun foolish talking and jesting.

And what is more grievous than these, the very subject-matter of the laughter is base.

For whenever the mimes of those laughter-makers utter something blasphemous or shameful, then many of the more senseless laugh and take delight; and for the very things for which they ought to have stoned them, for these they applaud, and by this pleasure they draw down the furnace of fire upon their own heads.

For those who praise the ones who say such things are the very people who most persuade them to say them;

wherefore they would more justly be liable to the punishment that is laid up for these things.

For if there were no one to behold such things, neither would there be anyone to contend in them;

but when they see you abandoning your workshops and crafts and the income from them, and everything alike, for the sake of loitering there, they receive greater eagerness, and take more pains about these things.

And I say this not to acquit them of blame, but that you may learn that you above all are the ones who furnish the beginning and root of such lawlessness—you who spend the whole day upon these things, who make a spectacle of the venerable estate of marriage, and hold up to ridicule the great mystery.

For not so much is he who acts out these things the offender, as you, before him, who bid these things be done;

or rather, not only bidding, but also taking pains, and rejoicing, and laughing, and praising the things that are done, and in every way lending support to such workshops of the demons.

With what eyes, tell me, will you thereafter look upon your wife at home, having seen womankind outraged there? And how do you not blush when you remember your consort, whenever you behold nature itself made a public spectacle? (8)

For do not tell me this, that the things done are but a play-acting;

for this very play-acting has made many adulterers, and has overturned many households.

And for this above all do I groan, that the thing done is not even thought to be evil, but there are applause and shouting and much laughter, while so great an adultery is being dared.

What do you say? That the things done are a play-acting? Nay, for this very reason those men would be worthy of ten thousand deaths, because the very things which all the laws bid us flee, these they have been eager to imitate.

For if the thing itself is an evil, then the imitation of it is also an evil.

And I have not yet spoken of how many adulterers those who act out such dramas of adultery produce, how they render the spectators of such things bold and shameless;

for nothing is more lustful and more brazen than an eye that endures to look upon such things.

But you would not choose to see a woman stripped naked in the marketplace—nay, not even in a house—but you even call the thing an outrage;

yet you go up to the theatre, that you may outrage the common race of men and women, and put your own eyes to shame? For do not say this, that she who is stripped is a harlot, but rather that the nature is the same and the body is the same, both of the harlot and of the free woman.

For if this be nothing strange, why is it that, when you see it happening in the marketplace, you yourself leap away and drive off her who so misbehaves? Or is it that when we are apart, then such a thing is strange,

but when we are gathered together and all sitting side by side, it is no longer shameful in like manner? Nay, these are matters of laughter and reproach, and words of utmost madness;

and it were better to smear one's whole face with mud and mire than to behold such lawlessness.

For mire does not so harm the eye as a licentious sight and the beholding of a woman stripped naked.

Hear then what it was that brought about nakedness in the beginning, and be afraid of the origin of such indecency.

What then brought about the nakedness? Disobedience, and the counsel of the devil.

Thus from above and from the beginning, this pursuit has been his own doing.

But those first ones at least were ashamed at being naked;

you, however, even glory in it, according to that apostolic saying, having your glory in your shame.

How then, thereafter, will your wife look upon you when you return from such lawlessness? How will she receive you? How will she address you, when you have so dishonourably made a public spectacle of the common estate of womankind, and become a captive and slave, by reason

of such a sight, to the harlot woman? But if you grieve to hear these things, I am very grateful to you;

for who is it that gladdens me, if not the one who is grieved by me? Cease not, then, ever to groan over these things and to be stung by them;

for the pain arising from such things will be for you a prelude of a change unto the better.

For this reason I too have made my discourse more vehement, that by giving a deeper incision, I might rid you of the rottenness of the things that intoxicate you;

that I might lead you back to the pure health of the soul;

which may it be granted that we all enjoy in all things, and attain the prizes laid up for these right achievements, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of ages.