Letter 830: Anger is a fire: useful when controlled, devastating when unleashed.
On the text "The days of visitation have come": If your mind is not contrary to itself, hear what the text "The days of visitation have come" signifies. Good things come from justice and righteousness, and the sea of life, which the soul traverses, O admirable one, offers nothing of worth to those who do not navigate it with virtue as their compass. For the days of visitation are those in which God examines the conduct of each person and renders judgment according to works. Some days are days of mercy, in which God extends his patience; others are days of judgment, in which he exacts the penalty. The wise man does not wait for the days of judgment but repents during the days of mercy. For repentance deferred is repentance endangered, and the one who says "tomorrow" may find that tomorrow never comes. The prophet warns us that the days of visitation come suddenly, like a thief in the night, and those who are not prepared will be found wanting. Therefore watch and pray, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes. Moreover, the prophet speaks not merely of a particular historical moment but of the eternal truth that God's visitation is both promise and warning. To the righteous, the days of visitation are days of reward and vindication; to the wicked, they are days of reckoning and judgment. And no man knows in advance to which category he will belong, for the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked — who can know it? Only God searches the heart and tests the mind, to give to each according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Therefore examine yourself before you are examined, judge yourself before you are judged, and correct yourself before you are corrected by the hand of the Almighty.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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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