Letter 1595: Grace is superior to all change.
To Eulogius. There is no virtue that does not require effort, and no vice that does not promise ease. This is the great deception of the spiritual life: evil appears easy and good appears hard, when in reality the opposite is true. For the path of vice, though smooth at the beginning, becomes rougher and steeper with every step, until the one who walks it finds himself in a wilderness of despair from which there is no exit. But the path of virtue, though steep and narrow at the entrance, becomes broader and smoother the further one advances, until the one who perseveres finds himself walking in a spacious land of freedom and joy. This is why the Lord said: "Narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life." He did not say that the whole journey is narrow — only the gate. Once through the gate, the way opens out, and the traveler wonders why he ever hesitated to enter.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
καὶ πάσης μεταδολῆς κρείττων" ε« Ἴδετε γὰρ, φη- σὶν, ἴδετε, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐχ ἠλλοίωμαι " » ἀλλὰ ἣν ἀλλοιοῖ, καὶ μεταδάλλει, χαὶ βελτιοῖ, καὶ εἰς ἀμείνονα κατάστασιν ἄγει τοὺς ταύτης δεόμένους. 1Ξ΄. --- ΕΥ̓ΔΟΓΙΏ. ]π ἰοημεπάο εἰ δον ϑόπάο πιοάμα αὐλίϑενάμε. δἰφυϊάαπι ρ᾽υ8 ἰοφυΐ φυδη οροῦίδαὶ ποῃ 6δὶ υἱ- τῖϊο : ρίυβ οἰΐδπὶ βουΐθεγο φυδπὶ ποεθ886 δἷϊ, [6Π ]- πδυπὶ ἴυδτῖι. ᾿φίτυγ δἰ Ἰοφυθηί68 δου θη 56Γ- νοπλυδ Πούθ!η. ΟΟΌΠΧΙ. --- ΒΕΒΑΡΙΟΝΙ. Εἰ τὸ πλέον τῶν ἀναγκαίων λέγειν, οὐχ ἔστιν ἀν- δρὸς, τὸ πλέον τῶν ἀναγχαίων γράφειν, εἴη γυναι- χός.δΟὐχοῦν καὶ λέγοντες, καὶ γράφοντες τὴν συμ- μετρίαν τιμῶμεν. ΤΞΆ΄. .- ΣΕΡΑΠΙΩΝΙ. Απεεϊ(α; ἱπιρτοϑὲ τεπμηῥαί. [ ( πὸ οχἰ δι π , ἤθη αυϑ8ὶ ἰοἰογαίυγυβ δι), Β δἱ (ὐυἱά δὐξατάϊ σοπηη δοτίβ, οπηηΐπο οΠἤθοῖο πη60 [υποίυγυ8, ἰδαυο 6Χ οἷα διγϊοογυη) Θχ οΓἰηδίυΓι5. ΟΟΟΙΧΙΙ. -- ΕΡΙΡΗΑΝΙΟ ΡΙΑΘΟΝΟ. Ὡς οὐχ ἀνεξομένου μου, εἴ τι ἄτοπον δράσειας " ἀλλὰ πάντως τὸ ἐμαυτοῦ ποιήσοντος χαὶ ἐξοστραχί- σοντός σε τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν φίλων, οὕτω διανοοῦ.
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