Letter 1083: The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Every discourse is useful, and especially that which is addressed to the most-honored monks and priests. For the more readily vice is at hand, the more one must guard against its assault. It is therefore necessary that those who hold the office of teaching display a great change of life, living in quietness, free from greed, if they wish anyone to pay attention to them. For if they do these things, not only will the affairs of their subjects be well managed, but they themselves will be acclaimed. For the saying should not be wielded for their own defense and to silence others: "Upon the seat of Moses sat the scribes and the Pharisees. All things therefore whatsoever they tell you to do, do them." For the seeming defense only increases the accusation, not only bringing inescapable punishment but also attaching the reproach of folly. For even if it is profitable for the disciples to hear this, it is not fitting for the teachers to put it forward, since it parades their own negligence. For it was said: "They bind heavy burdens and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with their finger." For Christ wished to remove every pretext from the subjects so that none would be left to those who seek pretexts for disobedience, and He brought forward the words about the seat of Moses for this purpose. What was spoken then were not their own decrees, but the words of Scripture they were reading; but it is not fitting for the teachers themselves to cite this, since it demonstrates their own worthlessness. Rather they should take pains, as far as is possible, to cut off every excuse and pretext.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
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