Letter 1138: The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
On Christ's saying: "Let your loins be girded about." Since you wish to learn briefly the meaning of the greatest and most beneficial things, know that the Savior said this: "Let your loins be girded about," so that those who practice virtue might, by the eternal radiance of their words, give perpetual light to their works. He commands readiness and vigilance, using the image of a servant prepared for his master's return. The girded loins signify the restraint of bodily passions; the burning lamp signifies the light of good works shining before others. Both are needed together: without the restraint, the light is extinguished by the wind of passion; without the light, the restraint remains hidden and benefits no one. The Christian must therefore be both disciplined in his private life and luminous in his public witness, combining inner purity with outward service, keeping watch at all times because the Master may return at any hour — whether in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or in the morning — and blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, shall find watching. This is the teaching that has been handed down to us from the apostles and confirmed by the blood of the martyrs, and no amount of philosophical speculation or rhetorical cleverness can improve upon it or replace it. The person who departs from this teaching wanders in a wilderness of his own making, and the further he travels, the more hopelessly lost he becomes. But the person who holds fast to the apostolic faith, even when the storms of controversy rage around him, stands upon a rock that cannot be shaken.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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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