(Admonition 29.) Otherwise are they to be admonished who are conscious of sins of the flesh, and otherwise those ignorant of them. For those are to be admonished who have experienced sins of the flesh, that at least after shipwreck they may fear the sea, and dread the perils of their perdition, at least once known; lest those who have been piously saved after evils perpetrated, die by wickedly repeating these. Whence to the sinning soul, never ceasing from sin, it is said: 'Thou hast the forehead of a harlot woman, thou wouldest not blush' (Jer. 3:3). They are therefore to be admonished to strive that, if they were unwilling to keep whole the goods of nature received, they may at least repair what is torn.
For whom indeed it is necessary to weigh, in so great a number of the faithful, how many both keep themselves unstained, and convert others from error. What then will these say, if, while others stand in integrity, they themselves do not even after loss come to their senses? What will they say, if, while many both bring others with them to the kingdom, these bring not even themselves back to the Lord who awaits them? They are to be admonished to consider their past deeds and to shun those that threaten. Whence under the figure of Judaea, the Lord through the prophet recalls to memory past faults to minds corrupted in this world, that they may blush to be defiled in things future, saying: 'They have committed fornication in Egypt, they have committed fornication in their youth;
there were their breasts pressed, and there the teats of their maidenhood were broken' (Ezek. 23:3). For in Egypt the breasts are subdued, when the will of the human mind is laid low by the base desire of this world. In Egypt the teats of maidenhood are broken, when the natural senses, still whole in themselves, are corrupted by the corruption of pulsing concupiscence. Those who have experienced sins of the flesh are to be admonished to behold with vigilant heart with how great benevolence God expands the bosom of his mercy to us returning to him after our offences, when he says through the prophet: 'If a man put away his wife, and she, departing, take another husband, shall he return to her any more? Shall not that woman be polluted and defiled?'
'But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord' (Jer. 3). Behold, from a woman who has committed fornication and been forsaken an argument of justice is set forth, and yet to us who return after our fall it is not justice but mercy that is shown. So that from this we may surely gather that, if such great tenderness spares us when we sin, with how great insolence do we sin when, even after our transgression, we refuse to return to Him; for what pardon shall there be from Him upon the impious, who does not cease to call them even after their fault? And this mercy of His calling, after transgression, is well expressed by the prophet, when it is said to the man who has turned away: 'And thine eyes shall see thy teacher, and thine ears shall hear the word of one warning behind thy back' (Isa. 30:20-21).
For the Lord admonished the human race to its face, when in the paradise He had made He instilled into man, who stood in free will, what he ought to do and what he ought not to do. But man turned his back upon the face of God when in his pride he despised His commands. Yet God did not forsake him in his pride, for to call man back He gave the Law, He sent exhorting angels, and He Himself appeared in the flesh of our mortality. Therefore He who called us back to the recovery of grace even when we despised Him admonished us as one standing behind our back. What then could be said generally of all together must needs be felt particularly of each single one.
For as one placed before the face of God, each man receives the words of His warning when, before he commits sins, he comes to know the precepts of His will. For to stand still before His face is not yet to despise Him by sinning. But when, forsaking the good of innocence, he chooses and pursues iniquity, he now turns his back upon His face. Yet behold, even then God follows behind his back and warns him, for even after the fault He urges him to return to Himself. He calls back the one who has turned away, He looks not upon the things committed, He opens the bosom of His mercy to the one returning. Therefore we hear the voice of one warning behind our back, if at least after our sins we return to the Lord who invites us. We ought then to blush at the mercy of Him who calls, if we are unwilling to dread His justice;
because He is despised with insolence all the more grievous, the more He does not disdain to call even when despised. On the other hand, those who are ignorant of sins of the flesh must be admonished, that the more loftily they stand, so much the more anxiously should they fear a headlong ruin. They must be admonished to know that, the more they take their stand in a prominent place, the more frequent are the arrows with which the lier-in-wait assails them. He is wont to rise up the more ardently, the more sturdy the adversary he sees himself vanquished by; and he disdains being conquered the more intolerably, the more he sees the war waged against him through the whole camp of the frail flesh. They must be admonished unceasingly to lay hold of their rewards, and then without doubt they will gladly trample down the toils of the temptations they endure.
For if the felicity be considered which is attained without passing away, that becomes light which is laboured at in passing through. Let them hear what is said by the prophet: 'Thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs: they that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that I willed, and hold fast my covenant: I will give to them in my house and within my walls a place, and a name better than of sons and of daughters' (Isa. 56:4-5). For eunuchs are those who, having pressed down the motions of the flesh, cut off from themselves the affection of depraved work. And in what place they are held with the Father is shown, since in the house of the Father—that is, in the eternal dwelling—they are even preferred to sons. Let them hear what is said by John: 'These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins, and they follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth' (Rev.
14:4). And that they sing a song which no one can utter save those hundred and forty-four thousand. For to sing the song to the Lamb in a singular manner is to rejoice with Him for ever, before all the faithful, even over the incorruption of the flesh. Yet the other elect can hear that song, though they cannot utter it, because through charity indeed they are glad in the loftiness of those others, although they do not rise to their rewards. Let those ignorant of sins of the flesh hear what Truth Himself says of this integrity: 'Not all receive this word' (Matt. 19:11). Which is thereby made known to be supreme, in that He denied it to all; and while He foretells that it is difficult to grasp, He intimates to His hearers with what caution what is grasped should be held.
Those ignorant of sins of the flesh must therefore be admonished both to know that virginity excels marriage, and yet not to exalt themselves above the married, so that, while they both prefer virginity and set themselves after others, they may neither abandon that which they esteem to be better, nor guard themselves in that whereby they vainly exalt themselves. They must be admonished to consider that very often the life of the continent is put to shame by the conduct of the worldly, since the latter undertake works beyond their state, while the former do not stir up their hearts according to their own order. Whence it is well said by the prophet: 'Be ashamed, O Sidon, saith the sea' (Isa. 23:4).
For as it were through the voice of the sea Sidon is led to shame, when, by comparison with the life of the worldly and of those tossing about in this world, the life of him who seems fortified and as it were stable is reproved. For often some who return to the Lord after sins of the flesh show themselves the more ardently in good works, the more damnable they see themselves to have been in evil deeds. And often certain who persevere in integrity of the flesh, since they see themselves to have less to weep over, think the innocence of their life fully sufficient for them, and are inflamed by no goads of ardour toward fervour of spirit. And it very often comes to pass that a life burning with love after a fault is more pleasing to God than an innocence grown torpid through security. Whence too by the voice of the Judge it is said:
'Many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much' (Luke 7:47). And: 'There shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance' (Luke 15:7,10). Which we gather more readily from our very experience, if we weigh the judgments of our own mind. For we love more the land which, after thorns, being ploughed brings forth abundant fruits, than that which had no thorns, yet, being tilled, produces a barren crop. Those ignorant of sins of the flesh must be admonished not to prefer themselves to others by the loftiness of their higher order, since they know not how much better things may be done by their inferiors. For in the examination of the just Judge the quality of actions changes the merits of ranks.
For who, considering the very images of things, does not know that in the nature of gems the carbuncle is preferred to the jacinth? Yet the sky-blue jacinth is preferred to a pale carbuncle; because to the one the beauty of its appearance adds what the order of nature withholds, while the other, which the natural order had set first, the quality of its colour disfigures. So then in the human race some are worse in a better order, and some better in a worse; because the latter, by living well, transcend the lot of their lowly state, and the former, by not following up the merit of their higher place with their conduct, diminish it.