Letter 866: The priesthood is a sacred trust, not a career.
A man of distinction and upright character, brilliant in his way of life (for I shall pass over the fact that he was adorned with a brilliant official rank, since this is but shadow and dream), having come to us, reported that he had approached the venerable baptismal font but had been turned away on account of some impediment. This grieved me deeply, for I know that the desire for baptism, when it is sincere, is itself a kind of baptism of the heart, even before the waters have been applied to the body. Nevertheless, the discipline of the Church must be maintained, for it is not a matter of mere form but of substance. The one who approaches the font must approach with a purified intention and a resolved will — resolved not merely to receive the sacrament but to live in accordance with it. For baptism without amendment of life is like a wedding without love: the ceremony has been performed, but the reality is absent. I therefore counsel you to attend to whatever impediment stands in your way, to remove it with all diligence and sincerity, and then to return to the font with a heart that is truly prepared. For God does not reject the contrite heart, and the door that is now closed will be opened to the one who knocks with persistence and humility.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
᾿Ανὴρ ἐλλόγιμος χαὶ ὀρθὸς μὲν τὸν τρόπον, λαμ- πρὸς δὲ τὸν βίον (τὸ γὰρ χαὶ ἀξιώματι αὑτὸν λαμ.- πρῷ χεχοσμῆσθαι, παρήσω" σχιὰ “γὰρ τοῦτο χαὶ ὄναρ), ἐντυχὼν ἡμῖν ἀπήγγειλεν, ὅτι προσῆλθε μὲν τῷ σεπτῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων μεταλη- ψόμενος " θεασάμενος δέ σς αὐτῷ παρεστῶτα, ἄν- θρωπὸν πρεσθύτην μὲν τὴν ἡλιχίαν, πρεσθύτε- ρον δὲ τὴν ἀξίαν, ἀχμάζοντα δὲ τῇ λαγνείᾳ, χαὶ πάντας. τοὺς ἐπ᾽ ἀσελγείᾳ βεδοημένους ὑπερακον- τίσαντα, εἰς τοὐπίσω χεχώρηχϑε. μὴ ἀξιώσας τὰ ἱερὰ μυστήρια διὰ μιαρᾶς χειρὸς δέξασθαι. Ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὅπως μὲν ἐπλήγην τὴν ψυχὴν ταῦτα ἀχούσας, παρήσω" ἃ δ᾽ ἐχεῖνον χαταχράτος ἐμεμψάμην, λέξω. Οὐδὲν, ἔφην, ὦ σοφώτατε, παραδλάπτεται ὁ δεχόμενος, εἰ χαὶ ὁ διδοὺς ἀνάξιος εἶναι δοχοίη, οὐδὲ τὰ ἄχραντα χραίνεται μυπτήρια, εἰ ὁ ἱερεὺς πάντα; ἀνθρώπους εἰς χαχίαν παρελάσειεν. Εἰ δ᾽ ἀπιστεῖς, ἐννόδι τὸν χόραχα, τὸ ἀκάθαρτον χαὶ μισότεχνον ζῶον, δι᾽ οὗ ὁ οὐραυοδρόμος χαὶ οὐρανοπολίτης Ἠλίας ἐτρέφετο. Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ πολλὰ ἔφην, ἅπερ γράψαι σοι δυεῖν ἕνεχεν παρῃτησάμην, τοῦ τε μὴ μῆχος περιττὸν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ προσθεῖναι, τοῦ τε μὴ δόξαι λίαν τὰ σὰ ἐχ- τραγῳδεῖν χαχά. “Ὥππερ τοίνυν ἐχείνῳ ἐμεμψάμην, οὕτω καὶ σοὶ παραινῶ, ἣ μεταγνῶναι, ἢ ἀποστῖινα! τοῦ σεπτοῦ θυσιαστηρίον, ἵνα μὴ τοὺς προσιέναι αὑτῷ προῃρημένους, διὰ τῶν σαντοῦ πράξων ἀπ- ελαύνοις. οϑηδυΐ, εἶς δἰϊϑι (! υἱ “υἱ ΓοΒΙρί8085, δἃυϊ ἃ γϑινδγαιο αἰϊαῦὶ δυθοθάδδ: Π6 ΔΠοφυΐ , ] Ἰρϑιιαὶ δοοθύεγα ἰπϑι σι, ρῈΓ [π5 δοίη πον : . δ. Ῥφλ ιν, δ. Ἀυς. χνιι, . ΝΑΙ ΠΕΟΤΙΟΝΕῈΒ ΕΤ ΝΟΤΕ. () ἰάθη οοά., ἀνόμους. [υ. ΤΜΔ,. --- ΠΑΥΛΩ. Εἰς τὸ γεγραμμένον" « Οὐχ ἐπ' ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζή- σεται ἄγθρωπος. " Ἐπειδὴ ᾿Εδραῖοι τεσσαράχοντα ἔτη τῷ μάννα τρεφόμενοι, οὐκ ἀξιοπίστῳ, ὅσον χατ’ ἀνθρώπινον λογισμὸν, πρὸς ἰσχὺν σωμάτων τυγχάνοντι, διέμενον ἐπὶ τῆς ἴσης ἀλχῆς τε χαὶ ῥώμης, ἴσως δὲ χαὶ μείζο- γος ἀπέλανον δυνάμεως (οὐ γὰρ ἡ τροφὴ, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ θεῖος ὄρος διεχράτει χαὶ τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ τὰ σώματα), ἔτη ὁ νομοθέτης, ὅπερ μαθεῖν [ἢ] ἐθέλησας ()" ε« Οὐχ ἐπ᾿ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐχπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος Θεοῦ. » Ὅπερ χαὶ ὁ Χριστὸς διαχρουόμενος τὸ διαδολιχὸν μηχά- νῆμα, προεδάλλετο, καὶ χατέσεισε τοῦ πειράζοντος τὴν ἰσχύν.
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