Paul wrote to the Corinthians, You, therefore, follow me.^[1] Let us follow him then, because that commandment has been passed down to us. The admonition originally given to the church at Corinth reaches to all Christians of all time in every place. For the apostle Paul was a teacher of all nations in faith and truth.^[2]

As a matter of fact, we get the same sort of teaching from all the saints of old. Solomon, for example, used proverbs, saying, Hear, my children, the instruction of a father and pay attention to get understanding, for I give you a good gift. Do not forsake my word, for I was an obedient son to my father, and beloved in the sight of my mother.

Many indeed have complained over human weakness and frailty, but the holy Job and holy David have done so in a fashion superior to the rest. The former is straightforward, forceful, sharp, and displays a loftier style, as one who has been provoked by severe afflictions. The other is ingratiating and calm and mild, of a gentler disposition, so that he truly reflects the disposition of the stag which he set out as a model for his imitation.^[1] And do not be disturbed if I should appear to praise such a mighty prophet under the likeness of a wild animal, when there is read to you the maxim given to the apostles, Be wise as serpents, guileless as doves.^[2]

But granted that likenesses of that sort find support from holy models, and that the stag is by nature harmless and gentle, still, I think that the stag which the prophet is setting out for imitation in this passage is that stag of which Solomon, that apologist for paternal thought, said in Proverbs: Let the loving stag and the graceful fawn confer with you.^[3]

Open up the treasury door for us, Lord, at the prayers of our supplications; let our prayers serve as our ambassador, reconciling us with your Divinity. Listen, all who are wise, pay attention, all who are learned, acquire understanding and knowledge, seeing that you are instructed and wise.

Almost all bodily excellences alter with age, and while wisdom alone increases all other functions decay. Fasting, sleeping on the ground, moving from place to place, hospitality to travelers, pleading for the poor, perseverance in standing at prayer, the visitation of the sick, manual labor to supply money for almsgiving—all acts, in short, of which the body is the medium decrease with its decay.

Now there are young men and men of riper age who, by toil and ardent study, as well as by holiness of life and constant prayer to God, have obtained knowledge. I do not speak of these, or say that in them the love of wisdom is cold, for this withers in many of the old by reason of age. What I mean is that youth, as such, has to cope with the assaults of passion, and amid the allurements of vice and the tinglings of the flesh is stifled like a fire fed with wood too green and cannot develop its proper brightness. But when men have employed their youth in commendable pursuits and have meditated on the law of the Lord day and night, they learn with the lapse of time, fresh experience and wisdom come as the years go by, and so from the pursuits of the past their old age—their old age, I repeat—reaps a harvest of delight. Hence that wise man of Greece,^[1] perceiving, after the expiration of one hundred and seven years, that he was on the verge of the grave, is reported to have said that he regretted extremely having to leave life just when he was beginning to grow wise.

What is meant by exalt her? Surround her with holy thoughts, for you have need of larger defense, since there are many things to imperil such a possession. But if it is in our power to fortify her, and if there are virtues in our power which exalt the knowledge of God, these will be her bulwarks, as, for example: practice, study, and the whole chain of other virtues. The one who observes these honors wisdom, and the reward is to be exalted with her and to be embraced by her in the chamber of heaven.

Some of our writers on sacred matters have thought the term yearning to be more divine than love. The divine Ignatius writes, He for whom I yearn has been crucified. In the introductory Scriptures you will note the following said about the divine wisdom: I yearned for her beauty.^[1] So let us not fear this title of yearning or be upset by what anyone has to say about these two names, for, in my opinion, the sacred writers regard yearning and love as having one and the same meaning.

Therefore, in both these and in many other places, you will find that the divine Scripture avoids the word love and inserted charity and affection. Nonetheless, here and there he uses the proper word love and invites and stirs up souls to him, as when he speaks in Proverbs about Wisdom: Fall in love with her and she will save you; embrace her and she will exalt you; honor her that she may embrace you. But also in that book that is called the Wisdom of Solomon it has been written about Wisdom herself, I have become a lover of her beauty.^[1] But I think that he he has inserted the word love only where there seems to be no opportunity for misunderstanding. For what fickleness or shame could anyone detect in the love of wisdom or in him who professes that he is a lover of wisdom? For if he had said that Isaac had fallen in love with Rebekah or Jacob with Rachel, some shameful passion could have been understood through these words to have transpired among the holy people of God. This misunderstanding would especially be common among those who do not know how to ascend from the letter to the spirit.

Just as taste and sight are different perceptions so far as the body is concerned, so, in accordance with the divine perceptions mentioned by Solomon, the visual and contemplative power of the soul is one thing, but that which is capable of tasting and apprehending the quality of spiritual foods is another.^[1]

And . . . the Lord is capable of being tasted, being food for the soul, insofar as he is the bread of life which came down from heaven,^[2] and is capable of being seen, insofar as he is wisdom, of whose beauty he confesses to be a lover who says, I became a lover of her beauty,^[3] and he commands us, Love her, and she will preserve you., For this reason it is said in the Psalms, Taste and see that the Lord is good.^[4]

If anyone is going to obey Solomon and take true wisdom as the companion and sharer of his life, concerning which he says, Love her, and she will safeguard you, and Honor her, in order that she may embrace you, he will worthily prepare himself for this longing, keeping festival in a pure garment, rejoicing with those in this marriage, in order not to be rejected because of being clothed as a married person.

It is clear that the eagerness for this kind of marriage is common to men and women alike, for since, as the apostle says, There is neither male nor female,^[1] and Christ is all things for all human beings, the true lover of wisdom has as his goal the divine One who is true wisdom, and the soul, clinging to its incorruptible bridegroom, has a love of true wisdom which is God. Now, what spiritual marriage is and toward what goal the pure and divine love looks has been sufficiently revealed in what we have said before.

There is only one way of truth, but different paths from different places join it, just like tributaries flowing into a perennial river. So these are really inspired words: Hear, my son, and accept my words, to have many paths of life. I am teaching you the ways of wisdom, so that its springs may never fail you—that is, those which spurt from the same soil. He is not merely affirming that there is more than one path of salvation for a single righteous person. He adds that there are plenty of righteous people and plenty of routes for them. He explains this as follows: The paths of the righteous shine like light.^[1]

Let your loins be girded about. Virtue should serve as a girdle in the place where passion should be checked. One who drops off the girdle of virtue cannot overcome the vices of the body. So girded with the cincture of purity—it is the badge of membership in the Christian army—let us cut away the dissolute cowardice of the flesh. Alert while watching our king, let us have no part in the restless sleep of worldly-minded people. For the wicked, Scripture says, cannot sleep unless they have done wrong.

The person who removes himself from all hatred and fleshly odor and rises above all low and earthbound things, having ascended higher than the whole earth in his aforementioned flight, will find the only thing that is worth longing for. Having come close to beauty, he will become beautiful himself. Through his participation in the true light, he will himself be in a state of brightness and illumination. For just as at night the multitudinous glowing objects of the air which certain people call shooting stars. . . just as this earthly air, when it is forced upwards by the wind, becomes light-like, being changed in the clarity of the ether, so it is with the mind of man. After leaving this muddy and dusty life, it is purified through the power of the Spirit, becomes light-like, and is mixed with the true and lofty purity, and glows and is filled with rays and becomes light in accordance with the promise of the Lord who declared that the just will shine like the sun.

We who knew these and similar sayings wish to observe this precept with the mystical meaning, namely, Keep your heart with all diligence, that nothing of a demoniacal nature may enter into our minds or any spirit of our adversaries turn our imagination whither it chooses. But we pray that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God may shine in our hearts, and that the Spirit of God may dwell in our imaginations, and lead them to contemplate the things of God; for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.^[1]

Living thus, let us watch constantly and, as it is written, keep our heart with all watchfulness, for we have terrible and crafty enemies, the wicked demons, and we wrestle against them, as the apostle said: For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness on high.^[1] LIFE OF ST.

Many people who are tempted by bodily delights do not sin with the body but lust with the mind: they keep their bodily virginity but lust in the soul. It is good then, my beloved, to do what is written: Let everyone keep a close guard upon his heart.

Scripture enjoins everyone to guard his own heart with all diligence, so that anyone, guarding the word within him like a paradise, may enjoy the grace not to listen to the serpent that creeps around inside, enticing him with things that lead to pleasure whereby anger that slays a brother is engendered and the soul, that gives birth to it, itself dies. But may he have the grace rather to listen to the Lord saying, Be concerned with faith and hope through which love of God and of man is engendered which bestows eternal life. . . .

For in a proportionate measure the word of God comes to each person. As long as a person possesses the word, he is held by the word and as long as he keeps it, so long he is guarded.

The spring and source, then, of every sin are evil thoughts; for, unless these gained mastery, neither murders nor adulteries nor any other such thing would exist. Therefore, each person must keep his own heart with all watchfulness; for when the Lord comes in the day of judgment, He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.^[1]

Let us then guard our hearts, let us guard our mouths. Both have been written about. In this place we are bidden to take heed to our mouth; in another place you are told, Keep your heart with all diligence. If David took heed, will you not take heed? If Isaiah had unclean lips—who said, Woe is me, for I am undone, for I am a man, and have unclean lips^[1]—if a prophet of the Lord had unclean lips, how shall we have them clean? . . .

Your possession is your mind, your gold your heart, your silver your speech: The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the fire.^[2] A good mind is also a good possession. And, further, a pure inner life is a valuable possession. Hedge in, then, this possession of yours, enclose it with thought, guard it with thorns, that is, with pious care, lest the fierce passions of the flesh should rush upon it and lead it captive, lest strong emotions should assault it, and, overstepping their bounds, carry off its vintage. Guard your inner self.

Whoever, therefore, would be truly a follower of God must sever the bonds of attachment to this life, and this is done through complete separation from and forgetfulness of old habits. We must wrest ourselves from both fleshly ties and worldly society, being transported, as it were, to another world in our manner of living, as the apostle said: But our commonwealth is in heaven.^[1] Without this it is impossible for us to achieve our goal of pleasing God, inasmuch as the Lord said specifically, So likewise every one of you that does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple.^[2] And having done this, we should watch over our heart with all vigilance.

Believe these words of mine that proceed from the fraternal charity of my heart. Have recourse to older men who make themselves difficult of access and in no way harm the young by their charm of countenance but animate them to virtuous deeds by sayings from Proverbs. With all watchfulness, keep your heart; for, like golden treasure, it is the object of the constant vigilance of thieves, night and day, and in an unguarded moment it is stolen without your being aware of it. See that the adversary does not seduce you into the sin of our first parent and cast you with all speed out of the paradise of delight.

Let us listen to the prophet when he says, With all watchfulness keep your heart, and Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity.^[1] When someone lays hold of coals of fire but immediately throws them away they do not hurt him. But if he wants to hold on to them longer, he cannot get rid of them without injury. Similarly, if a man gazes lustfully and by lingering over it allows the evil of lust in his heart to get a hold on his thoughts, he cannot shake them off without injury to his soul.

Solomon convinces us to chastise all these kinds of evil thoughts when he says, Guard your heart with all vigilance, for life comes forth from it. Following his suggestion, let us act quickly, that if we transgress in any way in our thoughts by consenting to carry out something wicked, we may swiftly wipe away this [transgression] by confession and fruits worthy of repentance.^[1] If we perceive that we are being tempted by delight in committing sin, let us drive away this noxious delight by our frequent prayers and tears and by our frequent recollection of everlasting bitterness. If we see that we are not capable of ridding ourselves of it on our own, let us seek the help of our brothers, that we may accomplish by their advice and intercession what we are unable to do by our own strength.

It is necessary that, before other things, you have a sound mind within yourselves and that you be mindful of holy Scripture addressing you and saying, Let your eyes look straight ahead. . . . To slip away from the rightness of holy doctrines would be nothing else except to sleep in death. We depart from this rightness when we do not follow the divinely inspired Scriptures.

Solomon, advising the wise hearer, says, And let your eyes anticipate your footsteps, which is to declare clearly that in all our actions we should take care to foresee with earnest intent what outcome awaits us, we should examine skillfully what is done according to the will of God and what opposes it.

Someone will say, What, then, is sin? Is it an animal? An angel? A demon? What is this which infects us? Rest assured it is not an enemy attacking from without but an evil springing up within you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and there exists no evil desire. If you do not steal the property of others, robbery is at an end. Be mindful of the judgment and neither fornication nor adultery nor murder nor any wickedness will prevail over you. It is when you forget God that you begin to entertain evil thoughts and commit wicked deeds.

Invite the poor,^[1] he says, those who are poor in words, so that you can make them rich. Invite the crippled, those whose minds are injured, so that you can heal them. Invite the lame, those who limp in their reason, so that they can make straight paths.^[2] Invite the blind, who do not have the faculty of contemplation, so that they can see the true light.^[3]

We remember holy Scripture crying out, Make straight the path for your feet, and direct your ways. They who honor the straight paths run toward the goal to the prize of the heavenly calling in Christ.^[1] But those who pay no heed to the apostolic and evangelical tradition and honor the newer, useless and truly ridiculous invention of their own mind, let them hear from all, Pass not beyond the ancient bounds which your fathers have set.^[2]

Mark well the counsel which the Holy Spirit gives us by Solomon: Make straight paths for your feet, and order your ways aright. Turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left, but turn away your foot from the evil way; for the Lord knows the ways on the right hand, but those on the left are perverse. He will make your ways straight, and will direct your steps in peace. Now consider, my brothers, that in these words of holy Scripture, if there were no free will, it would not be said, Make straight paths for your feet, and order your ways; turn not aside to the right hand, nor to the left. Nor yet, were this possible for us to achieve without the grace of God, would it be afterwards added, He will make your ways straight and will direct your steps in peace.

Let us hold fast, then, the confession of this faith, without faltering or failure. One alone is there who was born without sin, in the likeness of sinful flesh, who lived without sin amid the sins of others, and who died without sin on account of our sins. Let us turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. For to turn to the right hand is to deceive oneself, by saying that we are without sin; and to turn to the left is to surrender oneself to one’s sins with a sort of impunity, in I know not how perverse and depraved a recklessness.

We must really walk on the King’s highway^[1] and take care not to turn aside from it either to the right hand or to the left, as the Proverbs say. For such is the case with our passions, and such in this matter is the task of the good shepherd, if he is to know properly the souls of his flock, and to guide them according to the methods of a pastoral care which is right and just, and worthy of our true Shepherd.

And so one who wishes to go along the King’s highway by means of the arms of righteousness which are on the right hand and on the left ought by the teaching of the apostle to pass through honor and dishonor, evil report and good report.^[1] And with such care [such a person ought] to direct his virtuous course amid the swelling waves of temptation, with discretion at the helm and the Spirit of the Lord breathing on us, since we know that if we deviate ever so little to the right hand or to the left, we shall presently be dashed against most dangerous crags. And so we are warned by Solomon, the wisest of men: Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left. That is, do not flatter yourself on your virtues and be puffed up by your spiritual achievements on the right hand; nor, swerving to the path of vices on the left hand, seek from them for yourself (to use the words of the apostle) so as to glory in your shame.^[2]