Letter 1629: The monastic life demands total commitment.
To Theodore the Scholasticus. The law is a mirror that reveals the face of justice, but the mirror is useless if the one who looks into it refuses to see his own reflection. You spend your days studying the law, Theodore, but have you allowed the law to study you? Have you applied to your own conduct the same rigorous standard you apply to the cases of your clients? The lawyer who defends justice in the courtroom but violates it in his private life is a living contradiction, and his profession becomes his condemnation. For the person who knows the law and breaks it is judged more severely than the person who breaks it from ignorance. Knowledge increases responsibility, and expertise increases accountability. Therefore let your knowledge of the law be not merely professional but personal, not merely intellectual but moral, and let the justice you advocate for others be the justice you practice in your own affairs. The Church in our time stands in need of men who combine learning with humility, eloquence with sincerity, authority with gentleness, and zeal with patience. Such men are rare, but they are not impossible, for the grace of God can produce in any willing soul the combination of qualities that nature alone could never achieve. What we cannot do by our own strength, God can do through us, if we place ourselves unreservedly at his disposal and submit our wills entirely to his guidance. Let us therefore pray without ceasing for the renewal of the Church and the reform of its ministry, knowing that prayer is the most powerful instrument of change available to us.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ὕιτ υἱτὲς ἀεεἶπι, υοἰμπίαε ἰαμάαπάα. ((οη[εὐ εἰηὶ πὲ ορῖει. .) Μαχίπΐθ νἱηοὶ ἰδυάδι οηΐ δ πο ἱπάδοονγυηι ἰἰ8, αυὶ ἀϊοοιιίο δάἀοοαιδγο ὀγδίίοποβ ποηυθϑμῖ, πρὸ δοαυσιη ὁϊφι δία ᾿ηἰογὶογίθιυδ (δου! λ16 εἰἴληι οὐπ » ἰδγο, Θυΐ πίη Ἰλυύατγα εοπίοηοΐι, Υἱοῖυϑ δυίοη) 6βι, Ῥιοροεὶιϊ υοϊυμίδι ἰαυὰς οοπαδοογοίυγ. ()ιᾶ ΓΟ Οὐχ αἰσχρὸν τῶν μεγίστων ἐγχωμίων ἡττᾶσθαι, οἷς ἐξισῶσαι τοὺς λόγους οὐχ οἷόν τε᾿ οὔτε μὴν δΐ» χαιον, τῆς ἀξίας ὑστεροῦσιν, ἤδη χαὶ τὸ κατὰ δύναμιν ἑλλείπειν. Ὃ γὰρ ἐπαινέσαι φ,ονειχήσας μὲν, ἡττη» θεὶς δὲ, τῇ τῆς προαιρέσεως δόξῃ χεχόσμηται᾽ δὶ γυδιίοἰιδ ᾿πίδηνίδη) ἐδγὸ δίδι βομιθπιΐα, Ὦ εὐχοῦν εἴγε σχαιότητος ἀδοξίαν ἀποῤῥίψασθαι βου- ἐθῃι θη οἱ ἴΠ05 ἰδυύδγα; φυοτῦπι ἰαυδ τη2]0Γ 6εὶ, αυδι ὙϑΓὈ5 ᾳυθϑδί ἀχργίπι!. Ῥγωβίδί δινΐπι ογαῖίο- δι νἱοῖσθ Ἑσοπει ἢ τοϊυμδιοη]υς ἰδυύατί. ΟΡΙΧΎΧΧΙΥ, -- ΕἸΌΕΝ. λόμεθα, πειρώμεθα κἀχείνους ἕπαινεῖν, οἷς ὑπὲῤ λόγους ὁ ἔπαινος. "Αμέινον γὰρ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἧττω- μένους τῇ τῆς προαιρέσεως; καλλωπίζεσθαι εὐγνω- μοσύνῃ. ΥΠΔ΄. --- Τῇ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ. Βεἰιϊρσοταπϊ δι ξοοἰθέαιμὶς θείς αἰδοτίηιθπ. (διρτ. ἐρίει. , δαάδιη δεὶ ἐπ .) ἔμοηξο ἰυτἴ0. πο) "ΕΠ ᾳΘγάγ , φυλη) " - οἰοιαίοην ἰηἶγα. ΠΠὰ Δ δα οὐαὶ ποβοιϊ ἜΧρΡΟΓΒ δίϊογι ᾿ ᾿ς ΝΘ γΓῸ ΒρΘ ΓῸ ἙσΟδ᾽! ἀμ) οὐ ἴῃ ἐνρειδιη Ρυμμλγα, (Διο δὶ νοῖ ρν δέ - Ροτίμϊ, οἱ ᾿μ) υβίδη) κτϑιΐδιη ρΓῸ ͵υ5ι8 ΓερθῃοΓό. ΟΡΕΧΧΧΥ͂. --- ἸΒΟΗΥΆΙΟΝΙ. δρτειὶς πιιπθαηὶς εἰ σαὐἀμεῖς, οαἰεειῖθδιδ διμάσπάμηι; εἰ ἀδ Ἐσεϊφείαεία : Πολλῷ ἀσφαλέστερον τὸ μὴ πολεμεῖσθαι τ0Ὁ συμμαχεῖσθαι. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἡσυχίαν ἔχει ἀπράγμονα, τὸ δὲ ἀναγχάζει συμπολεμεῖν πολλάχις τοῖς βοηθῆ» σασι, χαὶ εἰ ἀδίχως πολεμοῖεν, χαὶ χάριν ἄδιχον ἀνῖ": δικαίας ἐχτίνειν. . ὙΠΕ’. -- ΙΣΧΥΡΙΩΝΙ. « Ψαπίιάς υαπδιαίμικ, εἰ οὐιπία ΑΝ Πα . Υἱαογὶ5 ᾿φηόγαγα (θη υτὰ8 Υἱΐϑο πηοῦι] τ πῈ ἰπ ἱπ)- Εκοεϊα. , . ᾿ ἤΈοιχας ἀγνοεῖν τῆς βιωτ τιχῆς φαντασίας τὸν ζό" ἘΡΙΞΤΟΙΛΆΌΜ . Υ.-- ἘΡΙΘΤ, ΟΠ ΧΧΧΥΠΙ. φον, χαὶ τῆς θείας φιλοσοφίας τὸ φῶς. Οὐχοῦν ἕνα Α ρἰπαηίο, " πο Ιυπηδὴ ἀΐνί μαι Ὁ ΠΟ5Ορ ἰα. αι σοι τῶν ἑκατέρου πράγματος πεῖραν εἰληφότων χρὴ μάρτυρα ἀξιόπιστον παραγαγεῖν" ἡμῖν γὰρ ἴσως οὐ πεισθήσῃ. Τίνα οὖν ἡγῇ ἀξιόχρεων ; Βούλει τὸν Σολομῶνα εἰς μέσον ἀγάγωμεν ; Οὗτος γὰρ ἡνίκα μὲν τῷ τῶν βιωτιχῶν πραγμάτων ἔρωτι κεχράτητε, μέγιστά τε αὐτὰ ἡγεῖτο, χαὶ θαύματος χρείττονα, χαὶ πᾶσαν περὶ αὐτὰ τὴν φροντίδα ἔστρεφε" λαμπρὰς μὲν οἰχοδομούμενος οἰκίας, χρυσίον δὲ συνάγων " χαὶ μουσικοὺς μὲν χοροὺς συγχροτῶν, τραπεζοποιῶν δὲ γένη καὶ μαγείρων χτώμενος " χαὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐσθῆτος τρυφὴν, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν παραδείσων τέρψιν, χαὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν λαμπρῶν σωμάτων ἡδονὴν δαψιλῶς ἑαυτῷ παρασχευάζων, χαὶ πᾶσαν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, λεωφόρον ψυχαγωγίας χαὶ τέρψεως ἀνατέμνων, Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μιχρὸν ἐχεῖθεν ὥσπερ ἀπὸ μανίας ἀνήνεγχΞε, χαὶ καθάπερ ἐχ λαθυρίνθου τινὸς ζοφεροῦ πρὸς τὸ ὑπέρλαμπρον τῆς ὑπερχοσμίου φιλοσοφίας ἀναδλέψαι ἠδυνήθη φῶς, τὸ τηνιχαῦτα τὴν ὑψηλὴν ὀχείνην χαὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀξίαν ἔῤῥηξε φωνὴν “ ε« Ματαιότης ματαιη- τήτων, τὰ πάντα ματαιότῃς. λ Εἰ τοίνυν ὁ μηδ᾽ ἐν χρόνοις γεγενημένος -πολλὴν ἀπαιτοῦσι φιλοσοφίας ἀχρίδειαν, ἠδυνήθη συνιδεῖν τὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀνόητον, χαὶ πολλὴν αὐτῶν χαταγνῶναι ματαιότητα " ποίαν ἕξομεν συγγνώμην οἱ πρὸς ὑψηλοτέραν χελευ- σθέντες ἀναθῆναι φιλοσοφίας χορυφὴν, χαὶ μηδὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐχείνῳ δυνάμενοι ῥῆξαι φωνὴν, ἀλλ᾽ οὕτω περιεχόμενοι τῶν σχ:ῶν χαὶ τῶν ὀνείρων, ὡς καὶ σωτηρίας ὑπερ!δεῖν
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