From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: Eutonios the Deacon
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Two letters to the same deacon — the first on pursuing peace and holiness, the second on the proper use of the tongue.
Pursue peace and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. This is not optional equipment for the spiritual life — it is the road itself. Do not imagine you are progressing because you have avoided the grosser sins. The finer work of purification — the peace that makes you gentle toward others, the holiness that keeps your inner life clean — this is what the vision of God requires.
To the same: Above all, avoid doing what should not be done. But if you cannot achieve that fully, at least do not compound it by seeking to blame someone else or turn suspicion on another. Those who do this may think they are covering their tracks, but they are only deepening the wound. Cease from the wrong itself; do not add hypocrisy to it.
Context:Two letters to the same deacon — the first on pursuing peace and holiness, the second on the proper use of the tongue.
Pursue peace and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. This is not optional equipment for the spiritual life — it is the road itself. Do not imagine you are progressing because you have avoided the grosser sins. The finer work of purification — the peace that makes you gentle toward others, the holiness that keeps your inner life clean — this is what the vision of God requires.
To the same: Above all, avoid doing what should not be done. But if you cannot achieve that fully, at least do not compound it by seeking to blame someone else or turn suspicion on another. Those who do this may think they are covering their tracks, but they are only deepening the wound. Cease from the wrong itself; do not add hypocrisy to it.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.