Overview of Spiritual Warfare - Saint John Cassian the Roman — Part 11
COMBATING ALL KINDS OF SORROW THAT COMES FROM TRIBULATIONS AND ATTACKS
In Palestine, in the deserts between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, barbarians suddenly attacked the monks, and killed many. How could God allow such an evil deed to be committed against His servants? This question usually troubles the souls of those who do not have much faith and knowledge and who think that the virtues and exploits of the Saints are rewarded in this temporal life. And we, who not only in this life hope in Christ, so that, according to the Apostle Paul, we are not more miserable than all men (1 Cor 15:19), should not fall into the error of such opinions. Otherwise, it can happen that, due to an incorrect determination of the truth in relation to such events, we become terrified and confused by the temptations that also meet us, that we turn our feet from the path of justice (Ps 72:2), or, which is terrible to say, that we attribute to God injustice and carelessness about human actions, that is, as if He does not deliver holy people who live righteously from temptation, and that He does not repay good with good and evil with evil in the present life. By doing so, they would deserve condemnation with those whom the prophet Zephaniah threatens in the name of the Lord, saying: I will take revenge on those who say in their hearts: " The Lord does neither good nor evil " (Seph 1:12), or they would submit to an equal share with those who utter blasphemy against God with complaints: He who does evil is good before God and he is pleased with him. And where is the God of justice , adding another blasphemy against God that the prophet describes: We serve God in vain. And what is the benefit of keeping what he commanded, and of walking as prayer-bearers before the Lord Almighty? For we praise others, the workers of iniquity prosper, and those who oppose God are saved (Mal 3:14-15). Therefore, to avoid ignorance, which is the cause and root of the worst, that is, of every error, we must first know exactly what is truly good and what is evil. Then, adhering to the true definition of Scripture, and not to the false opinion of the crowd, we will no longer be deceived by the error of unfaithful people.
Everything that exists and happens in the world can be one of three: good, evil, or something in between. Accordingly, we need to find out what is actually good, what is evil, and what is in between so that our faith, being surrounded by accurate knowledge, may remain unshakable in all temptations. In human actions, nothing should be considered essential good, except for the virtue of the soul that brings us to God with sincere faith and encourages us to constantly cling to the unchangeable good. And, conversely, nothing should be considered evil except sin, which separates us from the good God and binds us to the evil devil. The middle, however, is that which can belong to both sides, judging by the characteristics and disposition of the one who uses it. These include: wealth, power, honor, physical strength, health, beauty, life or death itself, poverty, weakness of the body, slander, and other similar things. Therefore, according to the characteristics and disposition of the one who uses it, it can serve both good and evil. For wealth, according to the apostle Paul, can often be used for good. He commands the rich of this world not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us all things richly for our use, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Tim 6:17-19). However, it turns into evil when it is gathered up to be hoarded and buried in the ground, as the heathen do, or when it is wasted on luxury and comfort, and not for the benefit of those in need. Likewise, power and honor and physical strength and health are something intermediate and can be used for both good and evil. This easily explains the fact that many of the saints in the Old Testament, having mastered all these things, were very pleasing to God, and that, on the contrary, those who used them badly and turned them to serve their bad inclinations, were justly punished or given over to death, as the books of the Kingdom often relate. In the same way, understand other intermediate things, that is, that they are not true good (which consists in virtues), but something indefinite. For they are useful and beneficial for the righteous who use them for just and necessary works, giving them the opportunity to gather good fruits for eternal life, while for those who use them badly they are useless and destructive, leading them only to sin and death.
Keeping firmly in mind this distinction between things and deeds, knowing that there is no true good except virtue (which comes from the fear of God and love of God), and that nothing is truly evil except sin and separation from God, we will now examine with all our attention whether God has ever, either by Himself or through someone else, done evil to any of His Saints? Without a doubt, you will not find such a thing anywhere. For it has never happened that someone else led a man to sin unless he willed evil and opposed it. And if he fell into sin, it means that he had already conceived it within himself due to the carelessness of his heart and a depraved will. Wishing to throw righteous Job into this evil, that is, into sin, the devil used all the snares of his wickedness: he deprived him of all his wealth, defeated his children with death, and covered him himself from head to foot with sores that caused unbearable pain. However, he could not possibly defile him with sin. Despite all this, Job remained steadfast and did not speak foolishly against God (Job 1:22), that is, he did not fall into blasphemy.
However, as God himself says about himself: I am the one who builds peace and creates evil (Is 45:7)? And, the prophet testifies about him: Can there be disaster in a city, and the Lord does not do it (Am 3:6)?
The Holy Scripture sometimes uses the word evil to designate painful cases not because they are truly evil by nature, but because they are perceived as evil by those to whom they are sent to benefit. For, speaking to people, the Word of God necessarily speaks in human words and with human feelings. So also the salutary cutting and burning, which the doctor does with good intentions on a body suffering from dangerous injuries, the sick person considers an evil that he must endure. Spurs are not sweet to a horse and correction to a person who sins. And all disciplinary strictures seem bitter to those who are undergoing a training course, as the apostle Paul says: For no chastisement for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous; but afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. He also says: For whom the Lord loves he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. For what son is he whom a father chasteneth not (Heb 12:6-7;11)? In this way, the word evil is sometimes used in the sense of sad cases, according to what is said: And God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them, and did it not (Jonah 3:10). And again: For I knew that thou art a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and of great mercy, and that repentest of evil (Jonah 4:2), that is, of the sad privations and miseries which thou art forced to bring upon us because of our sins. Knowing that they are useful to some, another prophet, out of a desire for their salvation, and not out of hostility toward them, prayed: Add evil to them, O Lord, add evil to the glorious ones of the earth (Is 26:15). And the Lord himself says: Behold, I will bring evil upon you.(Jer 11:11), that is, sorrow and destruction. Salvationally punished by them in the present time, you will be forced to turn at last and hasten to me, whom you forgot in the days of your happiness. Because of this, we cannot consider them to be intrinsically evil, since they serve many people for good and lead to receiving eternal joys. But let's go back to the question. Everything that we usually consider evil, what our enemies do to us, or what defeats us in some other way, we should not consider as evil, but as something intermediate. And then it will no longer be as the one who inflicted it in a spirit of anger considers it, but as the one who suffered it feels it. Therefore, when death happens to a holy man, one should not think that evil has been done to him, but something in between. Because it is evil for the sinner, and peace and freedom from evil for the righteous. Death is rest for the righteous man, whose way is hidden (Job 3:23). A righteous man will not suffer any harm from such a death. For nothing unusual has happened to him. What was to happen to him by natural necessity, he received through the malice of his enemies, and not without benefit for eternal life. Debt The price of human death, which had to be paid by the inevitable law of our present existence, he paid with the rich fruit of suffering, acquiring a pledge of a great reward.
However, this does not absolve the guilt of the evildoer. The wicked lawless one will not go unpunished because he has done evil. He could not do any substantial harm to his righteous one. For, suffering is the virtue of the righteous. It brings reward not to the one who inflicted death or suffering, but to the one who patiently endured them. One will deservedly suffer punishment for bestial cruelty, while the other will suffer no punishment at all. intrinsic evil. By the courage of his spirit, patiently enduring temptations and sufferings, he turned everything that was inflicted on him with evil intentions to his own good and to the increase of his blessedness in the future life.
Job's suffering did not earn a good reward for the devil, who made him famous with his temptations, but to him who bravely endured them. And, Judas will not be granted deliverance from eternal torment because his betrayal served to save the human race. For, one should not look at the fruit of the deed, but at the disposition of the one who does it. That is why we We should be firmly convinced that no one can harm a person unless they are drawn to it by their own weakness of heart and discouragement. For the apostle Paul also confirms in one verse: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God (Rom. 8:11). ,28). For, saying: All things work together for good, he includes everything together, not only what is considered happiness, but also what is considered misfortune. And, in another place, the same apostle says that he went through both:With the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left, that is, in glory and in shame, in reproach and in praise, as deceivers and true, as unknown and known, as dying and here we are alive, as punished but not killed, as sorrowful and always rejoicing, as poor and making many rich (2 Cor 6:7-10). Accordingly, both what is considered happiness and which the apostle classifies on the right side, designating it with the words of glory and praise, and what is considered misfortune and which he classifies on the left side, designating it with the words of shame and reproach, become weapons of righteousness for the perfect man. He generously bears the sorrows inflicted on him, using them as weapons against those who attack him. He arms himself with them, as with a bow, a sword and the strongest shield against those who inflict them on him, perfectly demonstrating his patience and courage. He shows the most glorious state of his fearlessness through the very arrows of the enemy that mortally strike him. In this way, he is neither exalted by good fortune, nor does he fall in spirit because of misfortune, but walks on the right path and the royal road. From such a peaceful state of heart, he will not turn to the right when joy comes, nor turn to the left when misfortune strikes and sorrow comes. Great peace have those who love your law, O Lord, and they do not stumble , testifies Saint David (Ps 118:165). Of those who change at the coming of every chance, according to their characteristics and differences, it is said: The fool changes like the moon (Sir 27:11). Of the perfect and wise it is said: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God . Of the weak and unreasonable it is declared: Go away from a foolish man, for you will not hear wise words (Prov 14:7), since he neither uses pleasure for his own good, nor corrects himself because of inconvenience. The moral strength that is needed to bravely bear sorrows is also needed to maintain moderation in joy. He who is thrown off the track by one of these accidents will undoubtedly be unable to resist any of them. After all, happiness wounds a person more than misfortune. For misfortune sometimes tames and humiliates, even against his will. By bringing us to a saving contrition, it either inspires us to sin less or compels us to correct ourselves completely. Happiness, inflates the soul with fatal, though pleasant, flatteries, and with terrible devastation, brings to dust those who, because of happy successes, consider themselves secure.
Such perfect men are figuratively called double right-handed in the Holy Scripture. Such was Ehud, as it is written in the Book of Judges, who used both hands as his right (Judges 3:15). We will also master such perfection in the spiritual sense if we turn both happiness, which is considered the right side, and misfortune, which is called the left side, to the right side through good and proper use. Thus, everything that happens to us would be for us, according to the Apostle Paul, a weapon of righteousness. In our inner man we perceive two sides, and so to speak, two hands. And, none of the saints can have both the one we call the right and the one we call the left hand. Perfection, his virtues are recognized by the fact that he turns both into the right hand, using both well. In order for us to understand more clearly what is at stake, I will say: a holy man has the right hand when he shows spiritual successes; when, burning with spirit, he rules over all his desires and lusts; when, being free from every attack of the devil, he casts off and cuts off bodily passions without the least effort or discomfort; when, having risen from the earth upwards, he looks upon all present and earthly things as a fleeting smoke and a desolate shadow, despising them as quickly passing away; when in the rapture of the mind he not only ardently desires the future, but also clearly sees it; when he is most truly nourished by spiritual contemplations; when he clearly, like an open door, perceives the mysteries of heaven; when he offers prayers to the Lord purely and fervently; when, inflamed with the fire of the spirit, he moves with all the efforts of the soul into the invisible and eternal, in which he thinks that he is no longer in the body. He also has a left hand when he is surrounded by storms of temptation; when he is inflamed by the attacks of lustful impulses towards bodily desires; when he is incited to untamed anger by the fire of irritating trouble; when he is encouraged by his loftiness to pride or vanity; when he is overcome by the sorrow that brings death (2 Cor 7:10); when he is saddened by attacks of insidious despondency; when, after the departure of all spiritual fervor, he dies due to coldness and some inexplicable sadness, whereby not only good thoughts, which kindle inner zeal, depart from him, but also the Psalms and prayer and reading and the solitude of the cell become terribly anxious for him and all the instruments of virtue meet with some unbearable aversion and repulsion. When all this assails him, the monk should know that he is being pressed by the left side.
Therefore, he who, as we have said, is not overcome by the vanity that comes upon him, nor who, fighting bravely, does not fall into despair because of what belongs to the left, will use both hands as his right. Having proved victorious in both actions, he will receive a crown of victory, both from his left and from his right state. Such a crown, as we read, was deserved by the blessed Job, who crowned himself with a crown for the right action: being a rich and prominent father of seven sons, he daily offered sacrifices to the Lord for their purification, desiring to make them pleasing and related not so much to himself as to God; his doors were open to every comer; he was the foot of the lame and the eye of the blind; the sheepskin of his sheep warmed the shoulders of the weak; he was a father to the orphans and widows; he did not even rejoice in his heart over the destruction of his enemy. The same Job, acting with his left hand, with incomparably high courage won victory over troubles; having lost seven sons in one moment, he, as a father, did not grieve with great sorrow, but as a servant of God, was calmed by the will of his Creator; having become from the richest to the poorest, from the most abundant to the most naked, from the healthy to the leper, from the famous and glorious to the humiliated and despised, he preserved the courage of his spirit unblemished; having finally deprived himself of all his possessions and wealth, he became a place of pus, and like some most cruel torturer of his body, he scraped the squeezed pus with a tile, and plunged his fingers into the depths of the wounds that covered all parts of his body and pulled out the worms. In all this, he did not blaspheme God in the least, and did not murmur against his Creator in anything. Moreover, not at all afraid of the burden of the most severe temptations, he tore off and threw away the very garment that covered his body, and which alone could be preserved from the devil's plunder because it was on him, adding a willful nakedness to that with which his fiercest captor had defeated him. He even cut off the hair of his head, which remained as the only intact sign of his former glory, and threw it to his tormentor. He thus cut off what the most ferocious enemy had left him, and with a heavenly voice declared the joy of his glorious victory over him: We have received good from God, and shall we not receive evil? Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. As it pleased the Lord, so it was done. Blessed be the name of the Lord.(Job 2:10; 1:21). Among the double right-handed I will justly include Joseph, who in happiness was pleasing to his father, full of respect for his brothers, gentle and pleasing to God, and in adversity blameless, faithful to his master, the most meek in prison, not holding grudges against insults, a benefactor to his enemies, and towards the envious brothers who almost became his murderers, not only tender-hearted, but also richly merciful. He and those like him are justly called double right-handed, since they use both hands as if they were the right. Going through the trials listed by the apostle Paul, they can say like him: With the weapons of righteousness, the left and the right, in glory and dishonor, in reproach and praise . We too will be double-handed if neither abundance nor scarcity of transitory goods changes us, that is, if neither abundance leads us to the pleasures of harmful debauchery, nor scarcity to despair and murmuring, but if in both cases, giving thanks to God, we draw equal fruit from both the pleasant and the unpleasant. Then we will become truly double-handed, as the teacher of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul, was, who testified about himself: I do not speak of this because of want, for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret of both being full and hungry, of abounding and suffering. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:11-13).
Temptation, as we have said, is twofold, namely through pleasant and unpleasant. The reason why people are tempted is threefold: mostly for testing, sometimes for correction, and not infrequently for punishment for sin.
Thus, for testing, as we read, Abraham and many Saints endured countless sorrows, similar to Job. For his sake, the Jewish people were also subjected to temptations in the desert, as Moses says in the book of Deuteronomy: And remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not (Deut. 8:2). And, in the Psalm it is mentioned: I tested you at the waters of Meribah (Ps. 80:8). That Job underwent all that he endured precisely for this reason, God Himself testifies directly, saying: Do you think that I have done all this to you for no other reason than to prove you righteous (Job 40:3)?
For the sake of correction, this happens when the Lord, rebuking His righteous for some small and slight sins, or for pride in personal righteousness, allows various temptations. By these they are purified in the present time from all impurity of thought and by them every impurity that is seen in their interior is burned up (Is 1:25), so that in the future examination they will appear like pure gold, and that nothing will remain in them that, after the examination by the fire of Judgment, would need to be purified by the burning of punishment. In this sense it is said: Many are the afflictions of the righteous (Ps 33:20), and also: And you have forgotten the counsel which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor turn away when he rebukes you. For whom the Lord loves he rebukes; and he scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, which all have experienced, then you are bastards and not sons (Heb 12:5-9). And in Revelation it is said: Those whom I love I rebuke and correct (Rev 3:19). To such, in the sight of Jerusalem, the word was addressed from the face of God through the prophet Jeremiah: And I will make an end of all the nations among whom I have scattered you, but I will not make an end of you, but I will correct you in judgment (Jer 30:11). For such salutary correction David prayed: Examine me, O Lord, and try me. Prove my reins and my heart (Ps 25:2). Understanding the salutary nature of such a trial, the prophet Jeremiah also cries out: Chasten us, O Lord, but with due measure, and not in your anger (Jer 10:24). Likewise, Isaiah says: I bless you, Lord, because you were angry with me, but you turned away your anger and had mercy on me (Is 12:1).
The blows of temptation are also sent because of sin. Thus the Lord threatens to send blows to the people of Israel, saying: I will send the teeth of beasts upon them with the fury of those who crawl on the earth (Deut 32:24). And, in the Psalms it is said about them: Many are the wounds of the sinner (Ps 31:10). And, in the Gospel it is mentioned: Behold, you have become well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you (Jn 5:14).
There is also a fourth reason why suffering is sent to some, known from Holy Scripture, and that is the manifestation of the glory and works of God. Thus the Gospel speaks of the man blind from birth: Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God might be manifested in him (Jn 9:3). And, of the illness of Lazarus it is said: This illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it (John 11:4).
There are other kinds of divine punishments, by which those who have exceeded the highest degree of evil are defeated, and by which they were condemned, as we read, Dathan, Aviron, and Korah, and primarily those of whom the Apostle Paul speaks:God gave them over to a depraved mind to do what is not fitting (Rom 1:26-28). This should be considered the most severe of all punishments. The Psalmist also says about them: They are not in the works of men, nor are they toiled with other men (Ps 72:5), since they do not deserve to be saved by the visitation of the Lord and to receive healing through temporal punishments. For they, having become dull, have given themselves over to licentiousness, working all uncleanness with greediness (Eph 4:19) due to the hardness of their hearts from a long stay in constant sin, which exceeds all measures of purification and revenge in the very short period of life in this life. The Word of God also rebukes such people through the prophet Amos: I overthrew you as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand plucked from the fire. Yet you did not return to me, says the Lord (Amos 4:11). He speaks also through the prophet Jeremiah: I will destroy my people, because they do not return from their ways (Jer 15:7), and in another place: You have struck them, but they do not feel pain; you have crushed them, but they do not accept instruction. Their face is harder than a stone, and they do not return (Jer 5:3). Nevertheless, having given all the saving medicines as the most experienced Physician, and seeing that there was no longer any remedy for healing that could be applied to their wounds, the Lord seemed in a way to be overcome by the greatness of their injustice. Being forced to withdraw from merciful punishment, He declares to them, saying: My zeal will depart from you, and I will rest, and will no longer care (Ezek 16:42). Of others whose hearts have not been hardened by frequent sins, who have not yet deserved the most severe and extirpating punishment, but are capable of receiving punishment for the sake of salvation, it is said: I will rebuke them, and they will hear of their suffering, that is, I will reason with them, causing them to hear of the troubles that threaten them (Hos 7:12).
How to acquire and preserve patience and kindness? True patience and kindness cannot be acquired or preserved without humility of heart. When patience flows from this source, in order to avoid sorrow from inconvenience, it will be necessary neither to shut oneself up in a cell, nor to hide in the desert. Having established itself in the depths of the soul in the virtue of humility, its mother and guardian, patience will no longer need external help. Therefore, if we are disturbed by some insult, it is obvious that the foundation of humility is not firmly established in us. Therefore, our inner structure, when the slightest storm blows, undergoes a devastating earthquake. Patience is not praiseworthy and admirable in the case when inner tranquility is preserved due to the absence of the enemy's arrows. On the contrary, it is magnificent and glorious when it abides fearlessly despite the storm of temptations directed at it. And when, apparently, it collapses and shakes, it becomes more solid. And, by that, he is more perfected, by which he seems to weaken. For, it is not unknown to anyone that suffering got its name from enduring grief. Therefore, he who endures with sorrow everything that seems to him cannot be declared patient. Therefore Solomon deservedly praises the patient: Better is a man who is slow to anger than a mighty man. And he who rules his own heart is better than he who takes a city (Prov. 16:32). He also says: He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is hasty in spirit shows folly (Prov. 14:29). Therefore, it happens that someone experiences slander and is set on fire by anger. Then the insult inflicted on him should not be considered the cause of his sin, since it is exclusively an occasion for the manifestation of the illness or anger hidden in him. Such is the meaning of the Savior's parable about two houses, one founded on stone, and the other founded on sand. The attack of water and a storm of winds was directed at them with equal force. However, the consequences were different. For the house founded on solid rock suffered no damage from the mighty blow, while the one founded on loose sand immediately collapsed. And it apparently collapsed, not because it was subjected to an external blow, that is, from the waters that were directed at it, but because it was unwisely established on the sand. Likewise, the holy man does not differ from the sinner in that he is not subjected to strong temptations, but in that even great temptations do not overcome him, while the sinner falls even from small ones. And, as we have said, the courage of the righteous would not be commendable if he were victorious without temptation. Moreover, there would be no victory if there were no enemy attacks. For blessed is the man who endures temptation, because when he has been tested, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him (James 1:12). And the apostle Paul says that the power of God is not manifested in peace and comfort, but in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). For thus says the Lord to Jeremiah:For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against all this land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you (Jeremiah 1:18-19).
I would like to present to you at least two examples of such suffering. One was shown by a pious woman. Wishing to perfect herself in the virtue of suffering, she not only did not flee from temptations, but even sought to be embittered. No matter how often she was grieved, she did not fall into temptation. This woman lived in Alexandria and came from a well-known family. In the house left to her by her parents, she devoutly served God. Having once come to Archbishop Athanasius, she asked him to give her one of those widows who were supported at the expense of the church to provide for her support and tranquility: "Give me one of the sisters, whom I may appease." Praising the woman's good intention and her diligence in the work of mercy, the saint ordered that a widow be chosen from all who would surpass all in honorable character, seriousness and kindness, so that the desire of the one who shows mercy would not be suppressed by the bad habit of the one who uses it, and so that the one who shows mercy, being grieved by the bad nature of the widow, would not suffer harm in faith. So, having received the chosen one, she brought her into her house and began to serve her in everything. However, seeing her modesty and quietness, and receiving from her every minute respect out of gratitude for her work of charity, she came to the aforementioned saint again a few days later and said: "I have asked you to order that someone be given to me whom I may appease, and whom I may serve with full obedience." At first he did not understand why she was saying this and what she really wanted. Thinking that her prayer had been ignored due to the carelessness of the overseer of widows, he asked with some mental confusion the reason for such an omission. However, he was told that the most honorable widow had been sent to her. Then he, understanding what this wise woman was asking for, ordered that the worst of all widows be given to her, who surpassed all others in anger, quarrelsomeness, stupidity, chatter and vanity. When they found and gave her such a one, she, taking her into her house, began to serve her with the same or even greater diligence. In gratitude for these services, she received from her only grief, humiliating scolding, evil words, insults. Rebuking her, the widow muttered with malicious mockery that she had asked the bishop for her, since he did not make her peaceful, but tormented her. She, allegedly, had taken her from a peaceful life and led her to a difficult one, and not from a difficult one to a peaceful one. Such grief, this woman sometimes extended to blows with her hand. However, that lady served her with even greater humility, learning to overcome her anger not by opposing, but rather by humbly submitting herself. She tamed her anger with humane meekness. Having been fully established in patience by such experiences and having attained perfection in the desired virtue, she went to the aforementioned saint and thanked him for his wise choice and for training her in charity in the true sense, and for having, in perfect accordance with her desire, indicated to her the most worthy teacher,whose constant sorrows daily strengthened her in suffering and I attained the height of virtue. ''Father, for the sake of peace you have finally given me such as I wished to have. She was the first to appease and console me with her respect for me, before I did her.'' This is enough to say about the female sex, that by the memory of such a deed we not only edify ourselves, but also shame ourselves. For we cannot preserve suffering unless we shut ourselves up in a cell.
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