Letter 840: Vice needs no teacher — it comes naturally to our fallen nature.
Since you are doing something comparable to an incurable disease that, having gained full power, spares nothing of what it desires — having bid farewell to the physicians and feasting itself on the things that kindle destruction — for this reason I write to you. You are like a sick man who dismisses his doctors and then gorges himself on the very foods that poison him, all the while congratulating himself on his appetite. But this appetite is not health; it is the final, feverish hunger of a dying man. The body that craves poison does not thereby prove its strength but reveals the depth of its corruption. So too the soul that craves sin without restraint does not thereby prove its freedom but reveals the completeness of its bondage. I beg you, therefore, to accept the bitter medicine of repentance before the disease becomes truly incurable. For there is still time — the physician has not yet departed, and the remedy, though painful, is still available. But if you continue to feast upon destruction, the day will come when even the most skilled physician will pronounce you beyond hope, and the door of repentance will be shut against you.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Ἐπειδὴ παραπλήσιόν τι ποιεῖς νοσήματι ἀνηχέφτῳ ἐξουσίαν λαδόντι μηδενὸς ὧν ἐπιθυμεῖ φείδεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν ἰατροῖς ἐῤῥῶσθαι φράσαντι, ἐχ δὲ τῶν ὄλεθρον ἐγειρόντων ἑαυτὸν εὐωχοῦντι " τούτου ἔνεχα Ο δύσχολός σοι ἡ ἐπάνοδος ἡ ἐπὶ τὴν σωφροσύνην () δοχεῖ. Εἰ δὲ παύσοιο τῆς εἰς ἐρωτιχοὺς οἵἴστρους ἐχ- μαινούσῃης τρυφῆς ( ῥίζα γὰρ ἀσελγείας αὕτη, χαὶ μῆτηρ χαθέστηχε), σδεσθήσεται, καὶ ἡ τῆς ἀχολασίας φλόξ. Τῶν γὰρ ὑλῶν ὑπεξαιρεθεισῶν, καὶ τὸ ἐξ αὖ- τῶν αὐξόμενον, χαὶ χορυφούμενον πῦρ δηλονότι ἀποσδεσθήσεται (). Εἰ δ᾽ αὐτὸς τὰς ὕλας τῷ πυρὶ χορηγεῖς, πως λήξει χαὶ παύσεται ; Εἰ αὐτὸς ἣρεμοῦν διεγείρεις τὸ θηρίον, τίς αὐτὸ χυχῶν χαὶ μαινόμενον τιθασσεύει ; Ταυτα οὖν χαὶ τὰ τούτων ἀδελφὰ ἐννοῶν, παῦσαι τοῦ διὰ παντὸς τρυφᾷν. ΔΠ ἷ5 ἀἤβιΐα ομπν διΐπο ἴθ0 σοηπβίθογαηβ, ἰυχαΐ ἃς () δ'π6 υἱἱὰ ἰπίο γα ἰϑδίοηθ ορογϑηὶ ἀ8Γ6 ἀεδίηρ. σΟΧΙ. -- ΕΌΘΤΑΤΗΙΟ ΡΗΑΕΘΒΥΤΕΒΟ. [ἱ! εἰ εἰν πη βογὕ6ΓῸ Τροία, υἱ - ργαμν Οὐ πότον - δι οἰ ἰλι ἀυϊδι ἰῃ ἰηεὶ- εἰόγα, ὧἱ ρόγροιυο ἤτγπι οἱ ἱπλιποῖα ἐο8Θ ΡΥ ΘΙ, θιιοι! 5ἱ , 4ιιδηι τὰ ἃ ( αἰβδίἀδγα αἷβ, δοηῖγα δεϊ!, . δηΐμνι! ΠῈ συμίαγυοί, ἰδ 4υ δι ΣΙΑ’. “- ΕΥΥ̓ΣΤΑΘΙΩΙ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ. Χρὴ τὴν μὲν ἔχθραν εἰς ὕδωρ γράφειν (), ἵνα ταχέως ἀφανίζξηται" τὴν δὲ φιλίαν, εἰς χαλχὸν, ἵνα διὰ παντὸς βεδαΐα χαὶ ἀχίνητος διατηρῆται. Εἰ δὲ ὃν φὴς πρὸς σὲ διαφέρεσθαι τοὐναντίον ποιεῖ, τοῦτό σε μὴ ταραττέτω, ὡς εἰς τοὺς στεφάνους παραδλα- ΥΑΒΙΣ ΓΚΕΟΤΙΟΝΕΘ ΕΥ̓ ΝΟΤΕ. (: 1τάδπὶ (οὐ. δ(άϊι φύσιν. () Οοὐ. μι. , διότι. [. [] Ροβϑὶ σωφροσύνην «οὐ. αι. διάϊι εἶς ᾿ ἋΣ [πὶ οοὐ., συναποσό. ὕεγδ. ἱπἰ6 εοουπάο θγὼ χυχῶν χυχλοῦν, οἵ πῖὺχ ρτὸ τιθασσεύει, «ιθασ:σεύσει. ἴρ. () Εἰς ὕδωρ γράφειν. Ῥτονεγθίυπι ἴῃ υϊγᾶγυο ᾿πβυᾶ υδἰιαίυῃ ΓΘ Οὐ νἱοηὶ ἰγϑι γ᾽ οἱ εὐ δυοϊοῖυν. ᾿Ανδρὸς πονηροῦ ὄρχον εἰς ὕδωρ γράφε. . δϑῖ, γίνγ ἐπιρτοϑις φιοά ὕμτγωαὶ, ἀπάς ἱπεογιθὶιο.. δενον πιιίἰεν οαρὶ4ο0 σμοά )μταὶ απιαπίϊ, [π νυἱπο εἰ ἑαμίάα ξογίθεγε οροτγίδε αηκα. Ἀιϊττ. ἘΕΡΙΘΤΟΙΑΆΓΜ [.. 1Π .-- ΕΡΙΘΤ, (ΟΧΥΙ. δησόμενον. Οὐ γὰρ μὴ μισεῖσθαι (τοῦτο «γὰρ οὐχ Α ργοϊπάθ πῃ οογοπα ἀδιγίαδπί πὶ ΔοσδριιΓΌΠΊ. Νεαῦθ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν, ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἀμήχανον. Παντὶ γὰρ τρόπῳ οἱ ἄριστοι παρὰ τῶν φαύλων μισοῦνται. Διὸ χαὶ οἱ ἅγιοι αὐτὸ ὑπέστησαν ), ἀλλὰ μὴ μισεῖν ἀνθρώπους, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς καχίαν προσετάχθημεν. ΘΩἰ ἢ πθΘ Οὐΐο 5ἰπιυβ (Π0ς αυΐρρα ποριγὶ δγυϊεγὶΐ μδυὰ 6δ8ι, . [ογί85856 πὸ ἤδγὶ φιίΐάδπι ροίαβί : οπιηὶΐ ὀηΐἶπὶ πιούο ρῥγϑίδηι δἰ πὴ : υἱγὶ πρτουΐϑ ἰην δὶ διιηΐϊ : δὲ ργορίθγθα βδηοιὶ υἱγὶ πυὐηβηοάὶ οὐυπι δι θΐ Γυ ), , π6 ἰοπηΐη68, γγυπὶ ἱμρτοὈν (Αἰ πι, . ἰΔΡογϑηῖ, οὐδο δαρθᾶπιυβ, ποδὶ 1π - γΡογϑίαμι δδὶ.
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