Homily 11 — Matthew 3, verses 7 to 12

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” [a]

How, then, does Christ say that they did not believe John? Because refusing to receive the one he preached was not believing. In the same way they thought they revered their prophets and their lawgiver; yet Christ said they had not revered them, since they did not receive the one those prophets had foretold. “If you had believed Moses,” he says, “you would have believed me.” And later again, when Christ asked them, “The baptism of John, where did it come from?” they said, “If we say, ‘From earth,’ we fear the people; if we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’”

So from all these things it is clear that they did come and were baptized, but they did not hold on to belief in what was preached. John the evangelist also points out their wickedness when he tells how they sent to the Baptist and asked, “Are you Elijah? Are you the Christ?” That is why he added, “Those who had been sent were from the Pharisees.”

But someone may say: “What then? Weren’t the crowds of the same mind as well?” No. The crowds had this suspicion in simplicity of heart, but the Pharisees because they wanted to trap him. It was acknowledged that the Christ comes from David’s village, while this man was of the tribe of Levi. So they laid a snare with their question, so that if he said anything of the kind, they could pounce on him at once. The evangelist has made this plain, at any rate, by what follows. For when John did not admit to any of the things they expected, even so they seize on him, saying, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ?”

And to convince you that the Pharisees came with one intention and the people with another, hear how the evangelist has made this clear too. Of the people he says that “they came and were baptized by him, confessing their sins.” But of the Pharisees he no longer speaks like that. Instead he says that “when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming, he said, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” What greatness of soul! Look how he speaks to men who were always thirsting for the blood of the prophets, and in disposition no better than snakes! Look how he runs down both them and their forefathers with complete frankness!

Someone says: “Yes, he speaks frankly enough. But the question is whether there is any reason in this frankness. He did not see them sinning; he saw them in the very act of changing. So they deserved not blame but praise and approval, for leaving city and home and hurrying to hear his preaching.” [e]

What shall we say, then? That he did not have only what was present, and being done at that moment, in view. He knew the secrets of their minds, because God had revealed them to him. They were priding themselves on their forefathers; this was likely to be the cause of their ruin, and it was throwing them into carelessness. So he cuts away the roots of their pride. That is why Isaiah too calls them “rulers of Sodom” and “people of Gomorrah,” and another prophet says, “Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians?” All of them draw them away from this way of thinking, bringing down the pride that had caused them countless evils.

But you will say: “The prophets naturally did so, because they saw them sinning. But here, with what purpose and for what reason does he do the same, when he sees them obeying him?” To make them softer still. And if you mark his words carefully, he has also blended praise into his rebuke. He said these things as one amazed at them, that they had become able, however late, to do what seemed almost impossible for them. His rebuke, you see, is rather that of someone winning them over and working on them to rouse themselves. For by appearing amazed, he shows both that their former wickedness was great and that their change was wonderful and beyond expectation. It is as though he says: “What has happened? These are the children of those men, and brought up so badly — and they have repented? Where has so great a change come from? Who has softened the harshness of their spirit? Who has corrected what was incurable?”

And see how right from the beginning he frightened them, by laying down his words about hell first, as a foundation. He did not speak of the usual things: “Who warned you to flee from wars, from the raids of the barbarians, from captivity, from famines, from plagues?” No, he was sounding the opening note of another kind of punishment, one never before made plain to them, when he said, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

He was quite right, too, to call them “brood of vipers.” That animal as well, they say, destroys the mother that is in labor with it: it eats its way through her belly and so comes out into the light. These men did the same kind of thing. They were “killers of fathers and killers of mothers,” and destroyed their teachers with their own hands.

He does not stop at the rebuke, however, but brings in advice as well. “Bear fruit worthy of repentance,” he says. [f]

“To flee from wickedness is not enough; you must also show great virtue. Do not give me that contradictory yet all too common case, where you hold back for a little while and then go back to the same wickedness. We have not come for the same purposes as the prophets before us. No, things now have changed and are higher, since from now on the Judge himself is coming, the very Lord of the kingdom, leading us to greater self-restraint, calling us to heaven, and drawing us up to those dwellings above. That is why I also lay out the teaching about hell: because both the good things and the painful ones are forever. So do not stay as you are, and do not bring forward the usual pleas — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the noble line of your ancestors.”

He said these things not to forbid them to say that they were descended from those holy men, but to forbid them to trust in this while they neglected the virtue of the soul. At the same time he was bringing into the open what was in their minds, and foretelling what was to come. For later they are found saying, “We have Abraham as our father, and have never been slaves to anyone.” Since it was this, more than anything, that puffed them up with pride and ruined them, he knocks it down first.

And see how he combines honor for the patriarch with his correction on this point. After saying, “Do not think to say, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’” he did not say, “for the patriarch will not be able to help you at all.” Instead, in a gentler and more acceptable way, he hinted at the very same thing by saying, “For God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” Now some say he says this about the Gentiles, calling them stones by a figure of speech. But I say the expression also has another meaning. What kind of meaning? “Do not think,” he says, “that if you perish you will leave the patriarch childless. It is not so, it is not so. For with God it is possible both to give him people even out of stones, and to bring them into that relationship.” This is how it was done at the beginning too. For it was like people being born from stones when a child came out of that hardened womb.

This is what the prophet was hinting at too, when he said, “Look to the hard rock from which you were cut, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you.” It is this prophecy, you see, that John reminds them of, showing that if at the beginning God made Abraham a father as wonderfully as if he had made him one out of stones, it was possible for the same thing to happen now as well. And see how he both frightens them and cuts them short. He did not say, “He has already raised up,” so that they would not despair of themselves, but that he “is able to raise up.” And he did not say, “He is able to make people out of stones,” but what was a far greater thing: “kin and children of Abraham.”

Do you see how for the present he drew them away from their empty notions about bodily things, and from taking refuge in their forefathers, so that they would rest their hope of salvation on their own repentance and self-control? Do you see how, by casting out their kinship according to the flesh, he brings in the kinship that comes from faith?

Notice, then, how by what follows he increases their alarm as well, and makes their anguished fear more intense. [i]

Having said that “God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones,” he added, “And now the axe is laid at the root of the trees,” making his words frightening in every way. For just as his way of life gave him great freedom of speech, so they needed his severe rebuke, since they had been left barren for a long time now. These are his words, in effect: “Why do I say that you are about to fall away from your kinship with the patriarch, and to see others — even those made from stones — brought into your place of honor? No, your penalty will not stop at this point; your punishment will go further. For now the axe is laid at the root of the trees.”

Nothing is more terrible than this turn in his speech. It is no longer “a flying sickle,” or “the taking away of a hedge,” or “the trampling of the vineyard,” but an axe that is exceedingly sharp — and what is worse, it is already at the door. They had continually disbelieved the prophets, and used to say, “Where is the day of the Lord?” and “Let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know it,” because it was many years before what the prophets said came to pass. So, to lead them away from this encouragement too, he sets the terrors close beside them. He showed this by saying “now,” and by putting the axe at “the root.” “The space between is nothing now,” he says. “It is laid at the very root.” And he did not say “at the branches,” or “at the fruit,” but “at the root.” He meant that if they were careless, they would have evils beyond cure to endure, and would not have even a hope of remedy. For it is no servant who has come now, as those before him were, but the very Lord of all, bringing on them his fierce and most effective vengeance.

Yet although he has frightened them again, he does not let them fall into despair. Before, he did not say, “He has raised up,” but, “He is able to raise up children to Abraham,” at once frightening and comforting them. In the same way here, he did not say that it has touched the root, but that it is laid at the root, is now right beside it, and shows no sign of delay. But even though he has brought it so near, he makes its cutting depend on you. If you change and become better people, this axe will go away without doing anything; but if you go on in the same ways, he will tear the tree up by the roots. And that, notice, is why the axe is neither taken away from the root nor, placed there as it is, does it cut at all: the first, so that you will not grow careless; the second, so that you will know it is possible to be changed and saved even in a short time.

That is why he heightens their fear from every side, thoroughly waking them and pressing them on to repentance. First, their falling away from their forefathers; next, others being brought in instead of them; lastly, the terrors at their doors and the certainty of suffering evils beyond cure, both of which he showed by the root and the axe. All this was enough to rouse thoroughly even those who were very careless, and to fill them with anxiety. I may add that Paul too was setting out the same thing when he said, “The Lord will make a short word upon the whole world.”

But do not be afraid — or rather, be afraid, but do not despair. You still have hope of change. The sentence is not quite final, and the axe did not come to cut. Otherwise, what was stopping it from cutting, close as it was to the root? It came on purpose, to make you a better person by this fear, and to prepare you to bear fruit. That is why he added, “Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” By the word “every” he again sets aside the privilege they had from their noble descent. “Why,” he says, “even if you are Abraham’s own descendant, even if you can count up thousands of patriarchs, you will only suffer a double punishment if you remain fruitless.”

With these words he frightened even tax collectors, and the soldiers’ minds were startled by him. He did not throw them into despair, but he rid them of all false security. For along with the terror there is also much encouragement in what he says: by the phrase “that does not bear good fruit,” he showed that whatever bears fruit is set free from all vengeance.

Someone says: “And how will we be able to bear fruit, when the blade is already being put to us, and the time is so short, and the appointed season cut off?” “You will be able,” he says. “This fruit is not like the fruit of ordinary trees, which waits a long time, is a slave to the necessities of the seasons, and needs a great deal of other tending. It is enough to be willing, and at once the tree has put out its fruit. For in this kind of fruit-bearing it is not only the nature of the root, but also the skill of the farmer, that contributes most.” [m]

It is for this reason, let me add, that he has added words to show how easy it is to bear that fruit. He did not want them to say, “You frighten us, you press us, you force us; you put an axe to us and threaten us with being cut down, and yet you demand a harvest in the time of punishment.” So he added, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” By this he implies that only resolve and faith are needed, not labors and toils; and just as it is easy to be baptized, so it is easy to be converted and to become better people.

So he stirred their minds by the fear of God’s judgment and the expectation of his punishment, by the mention of the axe, by the loss of their ancestors, by the bringing in of those other children, and by the double vengeance of cutting down and burning. And when he had softened their hardness in every way, and brought them to long for deliverance from such great evils, then he brings in what he has to say about Christ — and not simply, but declaring his great superiority. Then, in setting out the difference between himself and Christ, so that he would not seem to be saying this to win favor, he establishes the fact by comparing the gifts each of them bestows.

For he did not at once say, “I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.” First he set out how little his own baptism was worth, and showed that it has nothing more than to lead people to repentance — for he did not say “with water of forgiveness,” but “of repentance.” Then he sets out Christ’s baptism as well, full of the gift beyond words. It is as though he says: “When you are told that he comes after me, do not despise him for having come later. Learn the power of his gift, and you will clearly see that I said nothing worthy of him and nothing great when I said, ‘I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.’ So too, when you are told, ‘He is mightier than I,’ do not think I said this by way of comparison. For I am not worthy to be counted even among his servants — no, not even the lowest of his servants — or to receive the least honored part of his service.” That is why he did not simply say “his sandals,” but not even “the strap,” the kind of task that was counted the lowest of all. Then, so that no one would think he was putting what he had said down to humility, he adds the proof from the facts as well: “He will baptize you,” he says, “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Do you see how great the Baptist’s wisdom is? When he himself is preaching, he says everything to frighten them and fill them with anxiety. But when he is sending people to Christ, he says whatever was mild and fit to restore them. He does not bring forward the axe, or the tree that is cut down and burned and thrown into the fire, or the wrath to come, but forgiveness of sins, the removal of punishment, righteousness, being made holy, redemption, adoption as sons, brotherhood, a share in the inheritance, and an abundant supply of the Holy Spirit. He hinted at all these things when he said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” By the very figure of speech he declared how abundant the grace is — for he did not say, “He will give you the Holy Spirit,” but, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” And by naming fire, on the other hand, he showed how intense and irresistible his grace is. [o]

Just imagine what sort of people the hearers ought to have become, when they considered that they were to be like the prophets at once, and like those great men. That, you see, is why he mentioned fire at all: to lead them to call those men to mind. For of all the visions that appeared to them, I might almost say, most appeared in fire. So God spoke with Moses in the bush, so with all the people on Mount Sinai, so with Ezekiel above the cherubim.

And notice again how he rouses the hearer, by putting first what was to happen last of all. The Lamb was to be slain, sin to be blotted out, the hostility to be destroyed, the burial to take place, and the resurrection, and then the Spirit was to come. But he does not mention any of these things yet. He mentions first what came last, the thing for whose sake all the others were done, and which was best suited to proclaim Christ’s dignity. So when the hearer was told he was to receive so great a Spirit, he would ask himself how and in what way this could be while sin still holds such sway. Then, finding him full of thought and ready for that lesson, John could bring in what he had to say about Christ’s suffering, and no one would stumble at it any longer, since he was expecting so great a gift.

That is why he cried out again, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who bears the sin of the world!” He did not say, “who forgives it,” but what shows a more protective care: “who bears it.” For it is not the same thing simply to forgive, and to take the sin upon oneself. The one was to be done without danger; the other, with death.

And again he said, “He is the Son of God.” But not even this made his rank plain to the hearers, for they did not yet even know how to think of him as a true Son. It was by so great a gift of the Spirit that this too was established. That is why the Father, in sending John, gave him this, as you know, as the first sign of the dignity of the one who had come: “The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and remaining, he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” That is why John himself says, “I saw, and I have testified that this is the Son of God,” as though the one were the clear proof of the other for all time.

Then, having spoken the gentler part of his message and soothed and relaxed the hearer, he tightens him up again, so that he will not grow slack. For that was the character of the Jewish nation: anything encouraging easily puffed them up and spoiled them. So he brings out his terrors once more, saying, “His winnowing fork is in his hand.” [r]

So just as before he had spoken of the punishment, here he points out the Judge as well, and brings in the eternal vengeance. “He will burn up the chaff,” he says, “with unquenchable fire.” You see that he is Lord of all things, and that he himself is the farmer — although in another place he gives his Father the same name, for he says, “My Father is the farmer.” He had spoken of an axe; so that you would not suppose the work took labor and the separating was hard to do, he suggests by another comparison how easy it is, and implies that the whole world is his, since he could not punish those who were not his own. For the present, it is true, everything is mixed together. The wheat shows through, gleaming, but it lies with the chaff, as on a threshing floor, not as in a granary. But then there will be a great separation.

Where now are those who do not believe in the fire of hell? For surely two things are laid down here: one, that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit; the other, that he will burn up the disobedient. If the first is believable, then the second certainly is too. Yes, this is why he puts the two predictions side by side: so that by the one that has already taken place he might make the other, not yet fulfilled, believable. Christ himself does the same in many places. Often about the same things, and often about opposite things, he sets down two prophecies, one of which he fulfills here while he promises the other for the future, so that those who are too quarrelsome may believe the one not yet fulfilled because of the one that has already come to pass. For instance, to those who strip themselves of everything they have for his sake he promised a hundred times as much in this present world, and eternal life in the world to come, making the future believable by what is already given.

And this, as we see, is what John has done here too, laying down two things: that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit, and that he will burn up with unquenchable fire. Now if he had not baptized the apostles with the Spirit, and all who are willing every day, you might have had doubts about the other things too. But if what seems greater and harder, what goes beyond all reason, has been done and is being done every day, how can you deny that the other is true, which is easy and happens in keeping with reason?

So, having said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” and having promised great blessings by it, he has added the winnowing fork and the judgment it announces, so that you would not grow lazy once you were wholly released from your past. It is as if he said, “Do not think for a moment that your baptism is enough, if afterward you become ordinary people.” For we need both virtue and a great deal of that self-restraint you know of. So just as by the axe he urges them toward grace and toward the font, so after grace he frightens them with the winnowing fork and the unquenchable fire. Of the first group, those not yet baptized, he makes no distinction, but says generally, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down,” punishing all the unbelievers. But after baptism he looks for the works of their faith.

So let no one become chaff. Let no one be tossed back and forth, or lie open to wicked desires, easily blown about by them in every direction. For if you remain wheat, even if temptation is brought upon you, you will suffer nothing dreadful. Even on the threshing floor, the wheels of the threshing cart, sharp as saws, do not cut the wheat to pieces. But if you sink into the weakness of chaff, you will suffer incurable harm here, struck by everyone, and there you will undergo the eternal punishment. For all such people, even before they reach that furnace, become food here for their unreasoning passions, as chaff is for the dumb animals; and there, again, they are fuel and food for the flame.

Now, to have said outright that he will judge people’s deeds would not have won such ready acceptance for his teaching. But to mix a parable in with it, and so establish the whole, was better suited to persuade the hearer. That is how Christ himself generally talks with them: threshing floor and harvest, vineyard and winepress, field and net and fishing — all the familiar things they spent their days among — he works into his teaching. The Baptist did the same thing here, and he offered a very great proof of his words: the giving of the Spirit. “For one who has such great power,” he is saying, “that he can both forgive sins and give the Spirit, will all the more have these other things within his power.”

Do you see how the mystery was laid down as a foundation in its proper order, before the resurrection and the judgment?

“But why,” someone may say, “did he not mention the signs and wonders that he was about to do so soon?” Because this was greater than all of them, and all of them were done for its sake. So by mentioning the chief thing he included them all: death undone, sins abolished, the curse wiped out, those long wars ended; our entrance into paradise, our ascent into heaven, our citizenship with the angels, our share in the good things to come. For truly this gift is the pledge of them all. So in mentioning it he has mentioned the resurrection of our bodies as well, and the display of his miracles here, and our share in his kingdom, and the good things that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man.” For he gave us all these things through that gift.

So it was unnecessary to speak of the signs that were to follow at once, which the eye could judge for itself. What needed discussing were the things they doubted: for instance, that he is the Son of God; that he surpasses John beyond comparison; that he “bears the sin of the world”; that he will call us to account for everything we do; that our concerns are not limited to the present, but elsewhere each person will suffer the penalty he deserves. For these things could not yet be proved by sight.

So, knowing these things, let us be very diligent while we are on the threshing floor. For while we are here it is possible to change even from chaff into wheat, just as, on the other hand, many have turned from wheat into chaff. So let us not be lazy, or be carried about by every wind. And let us not separate ourselves from our brothers, even if they seem small and lowly; for wheat too, compared with chaff, is smaller in size but better in nature. Do not look, then, to the trappings of outward show, for they are being made ready for the fire. Look instead to this godly humility, so solid and so unbreakable, which cannot be cut and is not burned by fire. It is for the sake of the humble that he bears so patiently even with the chaff, so that by being among them the chaff may become better. That is why the judgment has not come yet: so that we may all be crowned together, and many may be turned from wickedness to virtue. [y]

So let us tremble when we hear this parable. For that fire truly is unquenchable. “And how,” someone may say, “is it unquenchable?” Do you not see this sun, always burning and never put out? Have you not seen the bush that burned and was not consumed? So if you too want to escape the flame, store up almsgiving ahead of time, and then you will not even taste that fire. For if you believe what you are told while you are here, you will not so much as see this furnace after you depart to that other place. But if you disbelieve it now, you will come to know it there all too well by experience, when there is no escape of any kind. For truly no pleading will turn the punishment away from those who have not shown an upright life. Believing is certainly not enough, since even the demons tremble at God, and yet for all that they will be punished.

That is why we keep calling you together here: out of concern for how we live. It is not simply so that you come in, but so that you also gather some fruit from your time here. But if you come regularly and go away again having gathered no fruit, you will gain nothing from coming in and attending in this place. [aa]

Think of it. When we send children to teachers and see them getting no benefit from it, we start blaming the teachers severely, and we often move the children to others. What excuse, then, will we have if we do not give virtue even as much diligence as we give these earthly things, but keep bringing our writing tablets home empty every time? And yet our teachers here are more numerous and greater. For we set over you as teachers, in every church, no less than prophets and apostles and patriarchs and all the righteous. And even so there is no profit. If you have joined in chanting two or three psalms, and said the usual prayers at random and carelessly, and then are dismissed, you think this is enough for your salvation. Have you not heard the prophet saying — or rather, God saying through the prophet — “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”?

So that this may not be true of us too, wipe out the letters — or rather the impressions — that the devil has engraved on your soul, and bring me a heart set free from the world’s commotion, so that I may write on it without fear whatever I wish. For as things are, there is nothing else to make out there but his letters: robberies, greed, envy, jealousy. That is why, naturally, when I take your tablets in hand, I cannot even read them. I do not find the letters that we write on you every Lord’s Day before we send you off, but others in their place, unintelligible and misshapen. Then, when we have wiped these out and written the letters of the Spirit, you go away, give your hearts over to the works of the devil, and give him power once more to put his own letters in you in their place.

What the end of all this will be, each person’s own conscience knows, even without a word from me. I, for my part, will not stop doing my share and writing the right letters in you. But if you spoil our diligence, our reward stays the same; your danger, though, is not small.

Now, though I would rather say nothing to upset you, I beg and plead with you again: at least imitate the diligence of little children in these matters. They first learn the shapes of the letters; after that they practice telling them apart when they are mixed up; and then at last, by means of them, they go on step by step to reading. Let us do the same. Let us divide virtue into parts. First let us learn not to swear, not to swear falsely, and not to speak evil. Then, moving on to another row, let us learn not to envy, not to lust, not to be gluttons, not to be drunk, not to be fierce, not to be lazy — so that from these we may pass on in turn to the things of the Spirit, and practice self-control, disregard for the belly, moderation, righteousness, being above the love of glory, and being gentle and pierced in heart. And let us join these letters one to another and write them on our soul.

And let us practice all these at home, with our own friends, with our wife, with our children. For the present, let us begin with the things that come first and are easier — for instance, with not swearing — and let us practice this one letter constantly at home. For at home there is much to provoke us: sometimes a man’s wife annoys him and makes him angry, sometimes an unruly, disorderly child drives him to threats and oaths. Now if at home, where you are constantly rubbed raw like this, you manage not to be drawn into swearing, you will easily be able to stand unconquered in the marketplace as well. [ac]

Yes, and in the same way you will learn to keep yourself from insulting anyone, by not insulting your wife, or your servants, or anyone else in your house. For a man’s wife, too, quite often stirs him up to speak ill of someone, by praising this person or that, or by lamenting her own lot. But do not let yourself be pushed into speaking ill of the one she praises; bear it all nobly. And if you notice your servants praising other masters, do not be upset, but stand firm, and nobly. Let your home be a kind of wrestling ground, a training place for virtue, so that, having trained yourself well there, you may meet everything outside with complete skill.

Do the same with vanity too. If you train yourself not to be vain in front of your wife and your servants, you will never afterward be easily caught by this passion with anyone else. For though this sickness is grievous and tyrannical in every case, it is especially so when a woman is present. So if we break its power there, we will easily master it in the other cases too. And let us do this very same thing with the other passions as well, exercising against them at home and oiling ourselves for the contest every day.

And to make our exercise easier, let us also set ourselves a penalty for whenever we break any of our resolutions. And let the penalty itself be one that brings not loss but reward, one that wins us some very great gain. It will be that, if we sentence ourselves to stricter fasts, to sleeping often on the bare ground, and to other hardships like these. In this way much profit will come to us from every side: we will live the sweet life of virtue here, we will reach the good things to come, and we will be God’s friends forever.

But so that the same thing does not happen again — so that you do not admire what is said here and then go your way, toss aside the tablet of your mind wherever it happens to fall, and so let the devil wipe these things out — let each of you, when he returns home, call his wife, tell her these things, and take her as his helper. And from this day let him enter that noble school of training, using the supply of the Spirit for oil. And even if you fall once, twice, many times in your training, do not despair. Stand up again and wrestle, and do not give up until you have put on the glorious crown of victory over the devil, and have stored up the riches of virtue for the time to come in a treasure-house no one can break into.

For if you settle yourself firmly in the habits of this noble self-restraint, then even in careless moments you will not be able to break any of the commandments, since habit takes on the firmness of nature. Yes, just as sleeping is easy, and eating, and drinking, and breathing, so the deeds of virtue will be easy to us. We will reap that pure pleasure for ourselves, resting in a harbor without a wave and enjoying unbroken calm, bringing our ship into port with a great cargo, in that City, on that day; and we will win the crowns that never fade. May we all win them, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory and power, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.