Letter 1525: Those who stand strongest in virtue, who surpass others in piety and sound judgment, and who excel their neighbors...
Those who are supreme in virtue and outstanding in piety, and who surpass all others as much as the morning star surpasses the other stars, are the true ornaments of the Church. They are living examples of what faith can accomplish when it is allowed to work without hindrance in a willing soul. Their lives are sermons more eloquent than any words, and their conduct is an argument more persuasive than any logic. The world may admire the rhetorician and the philosopher, but heaven admires the saint — the one who has conquered not armies but himself, not cities but his own passions. Such men are rare, but their rarity only increases their value. Let us therefore honor them while they live and imitate them when they depart, knowing that their legacy endures not in monuments of stone but in the transformed lives of those who followed their example.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ἘΡΙΘΤΟΙΛΆΌΜ .. -- ἘΡΙΘΤ. ΟΧΙ]!. ΕΙΣ. -- ΡΠΙΚΕΤΆΙΟ, γ γίμιε ἱπεῖσηοε ἱπιδαπαϊ. Οοη[. ἐρὶει. , ἐπίεἴο. Οἱ χατ᾿ ἀρετὴν χράτιστοι ὄντες, χαὶ δι᾽ εὐσέδειαν ὑπερφέροντες χαὶ ἔγχριτοι, καὶ τοσοῦτον τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπερδαίνοντες, ὅσον ὁ ἑωσφόρος τοὺς ἄλλους ἀστέ- ρας, οὗτοι φωστῆρες ἂν εἰχότως χρηματίζοιεν, μὴ μόνον ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τοσαύτην ἀναγαγόντες ἀξίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς τνφλώττοντας φωτίζοντες, χαὶ εἰς τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς χειραγωγοῦντες περιωπήν. Τούτους τοίνυν ζήλου, χαὶ μὴ τοὺς πάντα ποιοῦντας, ὅπως καὶ τοὺς ὁρῶντας σχοτίσοιεν. ΡΙ'. -“ΑΡΠΟΚΡΑᾺ ΣΟΦΙΣΤΗ. ρυΐϊ νἱγίυϊα ργαβίδηί ρίοίϑίο δι: ( ] υπἱ, ΘΧΊΓἃ οἴἠποη [ἶοϊ! βυηι 2168πη), (Δηιυπηαυδ οὐ .6Υ] δηίο6- ουηΐϊ, φυδηῖυπι οδδιθγ 8ι6 δχοθ ΡΠ ΟΒΡΙΟΡΙΒ οἰδυίίδίθ, υἱ ἢ] πιδγίιο . Δρρϑὶγὶ φυδϑηὶ, - ἦρδοδ ποὴ πηοὐο ργουθι)θηῖο8 ἀἰφηδιϊοιβ, οἱ εἰοῖβ [υπλθη δυο η(, Εἰ ἰη νἱγίυ δροου]διῃ πιδηυ ἀυοδδίεβ, ἤο5 ἰἰδᾳυθ ἰαιἰαγΓα, ΒΟη ἐ08, 4υὶ ουποίδ δὶς δρυϑὶ, υἱ οἱ νυἱάδιιεβ ὀχοδοδγο ροδϑίηϊ.
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