PROLOGUE
PROLOGUE
LISTEN, O my son, to the precepts of your master. Incline the ear of your heart; willingly receive and faithfully follow the advice of your loving Father, so that through the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed through the sloth of disobedience.
It is to you that I direct my words, whoever you may be. My hope is that you will renounce your own will, and then take up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience, and so do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King.
The crucial first step is this: to beg of Him by most ardent prayer that He perfect whatever good work you have started, so that He who has so kindly numbered us among His children need never be grieved by our evil deeds. For at all times we should serve Him with the gifts He has bestowed upon us. If we do this, we can be sure that He will not disinherit His children, as an angry father does, nor, like a dread lord, enraged at our evil deeds, hand us over to everlasting punishment as if we were wicked servants, who would not follow Him to glory.
Let us then rise at length, since the Scripture stirs us up, saying: “It is now the hour for us to rise from sleep” (Rom. 13:11); and having opened our eyes to the deifying light, let us hear with awestruck ears what the divine voice, crying out daily, admonishes us, saying: “Today, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Ps. 94:8; 95:8, Vulg.). And again: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.” (Rev. 2:7). And what else does He say?—“Come, children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” (Ps. 33:12; 34:12, Vulg.). “Run whilst you have the light of life, that the darkness of death overtake you not.” (John 12:35).
And the Lord seeking His workman in the multitude of the people, to whom He proclaims these words, says again: “Who is the man that desireth life and loveth to see good days?” (Ps. 33:13; 34:13, Vulg.). If hearing this you answer, “I am he,” then God will respond: “If thou wilt have true and everlasting life, keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it.” (Ps. 33:14–15; 34:14–15, Vulg.). And when you have done these things, my eyes will be upon you, and my ears open to your prayers. And before you call upon me I will say: “Behold, I am here.” (Is. 58:9).
What, dearest brethren, can be sweeter to us than the voice of our Lord inviting us to be with Him? Behold, in His devoted care for us, the Lord shows us the way of life. Therefore, having our loins girt with faith and the performance of good works, let us walk in His ways under the guidance of the Gospel, that we may be found worthy of seeing Him who has called us to His kingdom. (Cf. 1 Thess. 2:12).
If we desire to dwell in the tabernacle of His kingdom, we cannot reach it in any way unless we run there by good works. But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet, saying to Him: “Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest in Thy holy hill?” (Ps. 14:1; 15:1, Vulg.).
After this question, brethren, let us listen to the Lord answering and showing us the way to this tabernacle, saying: “He that walketh without blemish and worketh justice; he that speaketh truth in his heart; who hath not used deceit in his tongue, nor hath done evil to his neighbor, nor hath taken up a reproach against his neighbor” (Ps. 14:2–3; 15:2–3, Vulg.), who has brought to naught the foul demon tempting him, casting him out of his heart with his temptation, and has taken his evil thoughts while they were yet weak and has dashed them against Christ. (Cf. Ps. 14:4; 15:4, Vulg.; Ps. 136:9; 137:9, Vulg.). Such men as these fear the Lord. They are not puffed up by their good works. Instead, they hold that the actual good which is in them does not have its origin in themselves, but comes from the Lord; thus, they magnify the Lord working in them (cf. Ps. 14:4; 15:4, Vulg.), saying with the Prophet: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to Thy name give glory.” (Ps. 113:9; 115:1, Vulg.). So also the Apostle Paul did not credit himself for his preaching, but says: “By the grace of God, I am what I am.” (1 Cor. 15:10). And likewise, he says: “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (2 Cor. 10:17).
Hence, the Lord also says in the Gospel: “He that heareth these my words and doeth them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock; the floods came, the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.” (Matt. 7:24–25). The Lord, fulfilling these words, now waits daily for us to respond to His holy admonition through our very actions. Therefore, our days are lengthened and a truce granted for the amendment of our evil ways; as the Apostle says: “Knowest thou not that the patience of God leadeth thee to penance” (Rom. 2:4)? For our compassionate Lord says: “I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.” (Ezek. 33:11).
So, brethren, we have asked the Lord who it is that shall dwell in His tabernacle, and we have heard the conditions for dwelling there. If we fulfill those duties, we shall be heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, our hearts and our bodies must be ready to do battle under holy obedience to his commands. Let us ask the Lord that He supply for us by the help of His grace what is impossible for us by nature. And if, flying from the pains of hell, we desire to reach life everlasting, then—while there is yet time, and we are still in the flesh, and while we are able to fulfill all these things in the light of this life—we must make haste to do now what will profit us forever.
We must, therefore, establish a school of the Lord’s service, and in its founding, we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But even if, to correct vices or to preserve charity, sound reason dictates something that should prove somewhat stringent, do not suddenly fly off in dismay from the way of salvation; the first stage of this path is always narrow. But as we advance in our religious life and in our faith, we shall race along the way of God’s commandments with bursting hearts and unspeakable sweetness of love; so that never departing from His guidance and persevering in His doctrine within the monastery until death, we may share in the sufferings of Christ through patience, and thus be found worthy to be companions with Him in His kingdom. Amen.