The parables of Solomon. He provides a new title because he begins a new type of argumentation, one that will no longer discuss individual components of the good and the bad, as he had done previously, but will now describe the act of each one in alternate verses.

Be obedient to your bishop and welcome him as the parent of your soul. . . . In your case the bishop combines in himself many titles to your respect. He is at once a monk, a prelate and an uncle who has before now instructed you in all holy things. This also I say that the bishops should know themselves to be priests, not lords. Let them render to the clergy the honor which is their due that the clergy may offer to them the respect which belongs to bishops. . . . It is a bad custom which prevails in certain churches for presbyters to be silent when bishops are present on the ground that they would be jealous or impatient hearers. If anything, writes the apostle Paul, be revealed to another that sits by, let the first hold his peace. For you may all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted; and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.^[1] A wise son makes a glad father, and a bishop should rejoice in the discrimination which has led him to choose such for the priests of Christ.

Treasures bring no profit to the unrighteous. What then? Did not many avoid death by paying money? Certainly, but they did not get free from sin and in fact they prepared for themselves a life much worse than death. Therefore let us not put our confidence in wealth but in virtue. Indeed when justice comes to deadly sins, people are taken away by death. Would they not rather receive profit from being righteous than from treasures amassed on the earth, where they grow rusty and moth-eaten, and thieves break in to steal them?^[1] Thus, justice not only saves those who possess it but also leads many others to desire it, and always transports them from death to eternal immortality.

If a man cast his seed in ground that is fertile [only] in thorns, and fruitful in briars, and densely covered with useless stubble, he sustains a double loss; of his seed first, and also of his trouble. In order, therefore, that the divine seed may blossom well in us, let us first cast out of the mind worldly cares and the unprofitable anxiety which makes us seek to be rich. For we brought nothing into the world, nor can we take anything out.^[1] For what profit is there in possessing superfluities? Treasures profit not the wicked, as Scripture says, but righteousness delivers from death. For immediately upon the possession of affluence, there run up, and, so to speak, forthwith hem us in, the basest wickednesses; profligate banquets, the delights of gluttony and carefully prepared sauces; music and drunkenness, and the pitfalls of wantonness; pleasures and sensuality, and pride hateful to God. But as the disciple of the Savior has said, Everything that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of the world; and the world passes away, and its lust; but he that does the will of God abides for ever.^[2]

Do you fear that your patrimony may fail if you begin to act generously from it? For when did it happen that resources could fail a just person, when it is written, The Lord will not afflict the soul of the just with famine.

If the life of the wicked is malicious and the Lord will overturn it, then it is clear that at some point the wicked will no longer be wicked. For, after that reversal, the Lord will pass the kingdom over to God the Father,^[1] so that God may be all in all.^[2]

The memory of the just man will be praised. But he did not say this because he meant that the departed souls are helped by our praise. He said it because those who praise the departed derive the greatest benefits from remembering them. Since, therefore, we have so much to gain from keeping their memory sacred, let us not reject the wise man’s words but rather let us heed them.

Those who are humble should thank God and remain in humility to the end of their lives. Thus, the blessing of the angels and patriarchs and prophets and apostles and all the Scriptures will come upon them, as is given to all who persevere in humility. With those blessings they will reach eternal rewards, while there will be fulfilled in them the words The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the just.

What wonder is it, dearest brethren, that a dancing girl killed the prophet [John the Baptist]? For we know that dissipation is always the enemy of justice and that error ceaselessly persecutes the truth. Wantonness, moreover, associates with cruelty. The head of the prophet is brought to the table of Herod; this dish was due to his inhumanity. Blessed John had told him that it was not right for him to take the wife of a man who was still living, and for this one admonition Herod had him thrown into prison. O how bitter reproof is to sinners! In order that wickedness may not be rebuked, it is multiplied. . . . Truly the memory of the just will always be blessed, but the desire of the wicked shall perish.

Absalom was a treacherous man and stole all men’s hearts.^[1] Observe how great was his treachery. It is recorded, He went about, and said ‘Have you no judgment?’ wishing to conciliate everyone to himself. But David was guileless. What then? Look at the end of them both, look, how full of utter madness was the former! For inasmuch as he looked solely to the hurt of his father, in all other things he was blinded. But not so David. For he that walks uprightly, walks securely.

It follows that we must move rapidly to matters concerning what they call the standard educational curriculum, showing the extent of its usefulness, and concerning astrology, mathematics, magic and wizardry. The whole of Greece prides itself on these as supreme sciences: Anyone who speaks openly to refute error is a peacemaker.

Who can explain the bond of the charity of God?^[1] Who can express the splendor of its beauty? The height to which charity lifts us is inexpressible. Charity unites us to God, Charity covers a multitude of sins.^[2] Charity bears all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing mean in charity, nothing arrogant. Charity knows no schism, does not rebel, does all things in concord.^[3] In charity all the elect of God have been made perfect. Without charity nothing is pleasing to God. 1

Ignorance involves a lack of education and learning. It is teaching which implants in us the scientific knowledge of things divine and human. It is possible to live uprightly in poverty. It is also possible in wealth. We admit that it is easier and quicker to track down virtue if we have a preliminary education. It can be hunted down without these aids, although even then those with learning, with their faculties trained by practice,^[1] have an advantage. Hatred, says Solomon, stirs up strife, but education guards the paths of life.

This remedy has been granted by God to human weakness: If someone contracts any guilt while living on this earth, almsgiving wipes it away. Almsgiving is a work of love, and we know that love covers a multitude of sins.

Riches themselves are not to be censured. The ransom of a man’s life are his riches,^[1] for one who gives to the poor ransoms his soul. Therefore, even in riches there is scope for virtue. You are like helmsmen on a great sea. If one steers his course well, he passes quickly over the sea to reach harbor. But one who does not know how to manage his property is drowned by his load. Thus it is written: The wealth of the rich is a very strong city.

How can teaching accomplish anything without a multitude of words,^[1] understood in the simpler sense, since even wisdom herself declares to the perishing, I stretched out words, and you did not heed.^[2] Paul appears to have continued teaching from early morning till midnight, when indeed Eutychus, overcome with deep sleep, fell down and troubled the audience since they thought he was dead.^[3]

If, then, the statement is true, In a multitude of words you will not escape sin,^[4] and it is also true that Solomon did not sin when he recited the many words about the subjects mentioned earlier, nor did Paul when he extended his teaching until midnight, one must inquire what the multitude of words is, and from there make a transition to see what the many books are.

The complete Word of God which was in the beginning with God is not a multitude of words, for it is not words. It is a single Word consisting of several ideas, each of which is a part of the whole Word. . . .

Consequently, according to this understanding, we would say that he who utters anything hostile to religion is loquacious, but he who speaks the things of truth, even if he says everything so as to leave out nothing, always speaks the one Word. The saints are not loquacious, since they cling to the goal which accords with the one Word.

How does sin find en-trance? We read, In the multitude of words you shall not escape sin. When a multiplicity of words has come forth, sin has found an entrance, for in this very multiplicity of words what we utter is not in the slightest degree subject to measure. Because of lack of prudence we fall into error. In fact, to give expression to our thoughts without duly weighing our words is in itself a grave sin.

The virtue of silence, especially in church, is very great. Let no sentence of the divine lessons escape you. If you give ear, restrain your voice, utter no word with your lips which you would wish to bring back, but let your boldness to speak be sparing. For in truth in much speaking there is abundance of sin. To the murderer it was said, You have sinned, be silent,^[1] that he might not sin more; but to the virgin it must be said, Be silent lest you sin. For Mary, as we read, kept in heart all things that were said concerning her Son.^[2] So when any passage is read where Christ is announced as about to come or is shown to have come, do not make a noise by talking, but attend. Is anything more unbecoming that the divine words should be so drowned by talking, as not to be heard, believed or made known, that the sacraments should be indistinctly heard through the sound of voices, that prayer should be hindered when offered for the salvation of all?

Stir up your soul, so that, by his wisdom, you may know what is fitting, and that, by his will, what is in the commandment may come to pass. One who is pleasing to the wicked is more evil than they. Impure words are only verbiage and empty noise. Abundance of words will not go blameless. Abundance of words is the sign of no discipline.

If, for the sake of silence, we ought sometimes not to speak what is good, then even more are we obliged to avoid all evil talk, for fear of the punishment due to sin. Therefore, frequent leave to talk is not to be granted to those who are advanced in perfection, even if the subject is good and holy and edifying. Because it is written, In much talk you shall not avoid sin, and elsewhere, Life and death are in the power of the tongue.^[1] It belongs to the master to speak and teach, and it is the duty of the disciple to hear and obey. RULE OF ST.

I know that it is written, In much speaking you shall not escape sin. Would that all my speaking were only the preaching of your word and the praise of you! Then I would not only escape sin, no matter how many words I spoke, but also obtain a good reward. For it could not have been sin that a man blessed of you commanded upon his own son in the faith, to whom he wrote, Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season.^[1] In him who neither in season nor out of season kept back your word, none can say that there was not much speaking. And yet it was not much, when so much was needed. [But] deliver me, O God, from the multitude of words within my own soul.

When I read the Proverbs today, I began with this sentence: The tongue of the righteous is tried silver. I said, If the tongue of the righteous is choice silver, the tongue of the wicked is most polluted. What is more choice or what is holier than the tongue of a man who uses it to confess and preach God and his Christ and to give him praise, but then also to read his laws and to meditate on them day and night,^[1] and also to speak every good word?

When the storm has passed by, the wicked are destroyed: the right-eous, by avoiding it, are saved forever. When temptation attacks, the wicked easily sin. On the other hand, the righteous are saved for eternity when they conquer temptation through patience and a soul of gratitude toward God. Notice how safe righteousness is: the righteous are saved when they avoid evil, are on the defensive and stand firm constantly. The wicked, on the other hand, are thrown to the ground even when the disturbance or temptation has not attacked completely. Therefore those who ignore the just judgment of God easily sin.