Letter 1524: The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
To respond to each question that has been asked. Zosimus and Maron cannot and will not bear to be reproved, maddened by their own recklessness and shamelessness. They have abandoned all self-restraint and every semblance of decency, and they boast of things for which they ought to hide in shame. When good counsel is offered, they receive it with contempt; when reproof is administered, they respond with fury. Such men are the greatest plague of any community, for they corrupt not only themselves but all who come into contact with them. Their example emboldens the timid sinner, their influence weakens the wavering conscience, and their impunity scandalizes the faithful. The bishop who tolerates such men in his clergy betrays his flock, for the shepherd who allows wolves to mingle with the sheep is guilty of every lamb that is devoured. Remove them from their positions, or at the very least, rebuke them publicly, so that others may fear and the name of God may not be blasphemed on their account. And this is why I have written to you at such length, not because I take pleasure in admonition, but because the gravity of the situation demands nothing less than complete frankness. The physician who softens his diagnosis out of courtesy may please his patient for the moment, but he kills him in the end. I would rather offend you now with the truth than comfort you now with a lie that will destroy you later. For the wounds of a faithful friend are better than the kisses of an enemy, and the medicine that stings is better than the poison that soothes.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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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