In sanctos Petrum et Heliam

A discourse on Peter the apostle and Elijah the prophet. 1. Few have come to us today; what, then, is the cause? We are celebrating a commemoration of martyrs, and no one has met us. Is it the distance of the journey that has cast them into indifference? Rather, it is not the distance of the journey, but their indifference that has hindered them. For just as nothing can hinder the zealous and alert man in his purpose, so everything can hinder the indifferent and prostrate man. The martyrs poured out their own blood for the truth, and do you not disregard even a short journey? They laid down their heads for Christ, and do you not wish to come even outside the city for the Master? The Master died for you, and do you hesitate for him? A commemoration of martyrs, and are you indifferent and prostrate? You ought to come, and see the devil defeated, the martyr victorious, God glorified, and the Church crowned. But their excuse is this: "I am a sinner," one says, "and I cannot come." For this very reason, that you are a sinner, come, so that you may not fall from righteousness. For who among men is without sin, tell me? But for this reason there is sacrifice and Church, for this reason prayers and fasts, because the wounds of the soul are many; for this reason also the remedies against them have been found, and a remedy suitable for each wound of the soul has been prepared. You have a Church offering sacrifice, prayers of the Fathers, the provision of the Holy Spirit, commemorations of martyrs, an assembly of saints, and many such things able to recall you from sin to righteousness.

You did not come for the prayer of the martyrs; what excuse do you have? There is nothing terrible in the way, and you were hindered from concord with the martyrs? But worldly care detained you? That is an even greater accusation. You did not lend a small hour to God, so that you might receive an entire day? I am a sinner, one says, and I cannot. Because you are a sinner, for this reason enter; or do you not know that even those who attend the altar are nailed to sins? For they are clothed in flesh, and entwined with blood, [and bound with bones, and we ourselves, who sit on the throne and teach, are entangled with sins. But we do not despair of God’s philanthropy, nor do we ascribe inhumanity to him; for we are all human beings, entangled from the same things;] and we do not abandon teaching, looking out upon the sea of God’s philanthropy. And if you, having sinned, enter, the accusation is not so great; for you are under instruction; but we, the more we excel in rank, the more we are subject to accusation; for it is one thing for the one being taught to sin, and another for the one teaching; but nevertheless we do not abandon this, lest under the pretext of humility we fall into negligence.

And this has happened by divine management, that the priests themselves have also fallen into sins. And hear how it is: The teachers themselves and the priests, if they did not sin, nor were subject to the passions of life, they would be inhuman toward others and unforgiving. But for this reason, he has arranged that even the priests themselves are enslaved to passions, and the rulers, so that from what they themselves suffer, they may also give pardon to others. And God has always managed it thus, and not only now, but also long ago, and those to whom he was about to entrust the Church and the people, these he permitted to fall into sin, so that from their own faults they might become compassionate toward others. For if they themselves did not sin, they would have no pardon to give to those who sin, but becoming inhuman, they would have reaped all from the Church. And that these things are so, and I say this not by conjecture, let us speak from the evidence itself: Peter was about to be entrusted with the keys of the Church, or rather he was entrusted with the keys of the heavens, and he was about to be entrusted with the multitude of the people. For what does the Lord say to him? Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in the heavens. Now Peter was somewhat harsh and severe; but if he also had sinlessness, what pardon would those taught by him receive? But for this reason, divine grace contrives that he fall into some sin, so that from what he himself suffered, he might become compassionate toward others. And see what sin he permits him to fall into.

That Peter, the summit of the apostles, the unshakable foundation, the unbreakable rock, the first of the Church, the invincible harbor, the unshaken tower. That Peter who said to Christ, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you"; Peter who confessed the truth by divine revelation, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." This man, entering on that night when Christ was betrayed, and standing by the fire warming himself, a certain girl, it is said, came up and says to him, "And you were with this man yesterday?" And Peter says, "I do not know this man." Just now you were saying, "Even if I must die with you"; now you deny and say, "I do not know this man"? O Peter, is this the whole of what you promised? Not yet having seen tortures, not yet whips, but simply having heard the word of a little girl, you have gone into denial. Do you deny, Peter? Not yet instruments of torture, not yet whips, not yet blows, not yet rages, not yet rulers, not yet sharpened swords, not yet decrees laid down, not yet threatening kings, not yet expected deaths, not yet prisons and precipices and sea, not yet any such thing, and already you have denied, "I do not know the man"? Again the girl to him, "And you were with this man yesterday." And he to her, "I do not know the man you speak of." Who is it that says you deny? No one of consequence, but a woman, and a doorkeeper at that, cast off, a captive, worthy of no account; she says this, and you deny? O novel events! A girl that Peter, a prostitute coming up has disturbed the faith of Peter.

Peter, the pillar, the bulwark, did not endure the threat of a girl, but only spoke, and the pillar was shaken, and the bulwark himself was stormed. Whom did you see, Peter, that you deny? A lowly girl, a contemptible doorkeeper. You saw these things and you deny? Then again the third time: "And you were with this man yesterday." Yet he denied it the third time. And so then, looking at him, Jesus brought him to remembrance of what had been said; and understanding, he began to weep and repent of the sin. But nevertheless, the lover of humanity forgave him his sin. For he knew that as a man he had undergone something human. But, as I said before, this was arranged. And Peter was permitted to sin, because he was about to be entrusted with a great people, so that, being severe and sinless, he might not be unforgiving toward his own brothers. He fell into sin, so that, reflecting on his own sin and the Lord's forgiveness, he might forgive others as well, for the sake of philanthropy, according to a divine administration befitting God. For he was permitted to sin—he who was about to be entrusted with the Church, the pillar of the Churches, the harbor of faith, Peter the teacher of the world—was permitted to sin, so that his forgiveness might become a foundation of philanthropy for others. Why have I said these things? Because we priests, who sit on the throne and teach, are also bound by sins.

For this reason, neither an angel nor an archangel was entrusted to serve as priest (for they are sinless), lest they strike down the sinners among the people all at once with their severity; but a man from among men was entrusted with this throne, himself bound to pleasure and sin, so that when he takes hold of someone sinning, from his own failings he may become more compassionate toward that sinner. For if an angel were priest and caught someone committing fornication, he would immediately destroy him, not being entangled in that passion himself. Therefore, if an angel had received the authority to serve as priest, he would not teach, but would at once destroy, because that person was not like him, and it would drive him to anger against such a one. But for this reason a man was entrusted, knowing his own failings and having experience of them, so that he might pardon those who sin, and not be moved by anger, and the Church might have leisure through the gathering. 2. But why have I stood on this subject up to Peter and spoken such a discourse, and not ascended with a brief word to another person? Bring him before me; I mean Elijah, that prophet, the earthly angel and heavenly man, the one walking on the ground and guiding the heavens, the three-cubit man who treads the heights and soared up to the very vaults of heaven, the steward of the waters, whose tongue became a treasury of waters and a key of the heavens; the poor and rich man, the layman and philosopher: poor, because he possessed nothing, rich, because he held the clouds of rain in his tongue.

And he himself was so severe toward sinners that he once prayed that no rain be given. And what does he say? "As the Lord lives," he says, "if there will be rain on the earth, it will not be except through my mouth." What are you doing, Elijah? What are you declaring? Even if you pray to the Master, then fulfill the word in this way: "As the Lord lives, if there will be rain, it will not be except through my mouth." Where are the heretics who say that the Son of God prays? Wretched, miserable, and shameless one! Elijah declares, and the Son prays? The slave commands, and the Master entreats? Do you not wish to grant him the same honor as Elijah? Do you not wish to grant equality to the slave and to the Master? That one does not pray, nor does he entreat, but he put forward a word of truth and shut the heaven. Pray first, Elijah. But what does Elijah say? "I know my Master, that he obeys me; for I do this out of zeal." O new and paradoxical things! Have you seen a Master overcome by the goodwill of a slave? For Elijah did this out of great zeal. For he saw many improper things happening; he saw licentiousness being practiced with great wickedness. For it was night, through which it held the whole inhabited world; a very dense cloud covered everything. For all were advancing toward evil; it was a universal shipwreck, not of waters, but of licentiousness; modesty was out of the way, and debauchery was paraded about; virtue was persecuted, and vice was glorified; hills and mountains, and glens, and roads, and chambers, and the air were polluted; the sun was darkened, the earth was defiled, heaven was despised, the whole creation was sick from idolatry.

As if in night they all walked, paying no heed to any of the creatures; they saw a stone and worshipped it as a god; they saw a piece of wood and likewise considered it a god. A very thick night held them; they saw the Creator and worshipped the creatures. Elijah alone held the lamp of virtue, sitting as if on the peak of the mountain of philosophy and practicing asceticism; he alone held the lamp of piety, but the illumination benefited no one because they lay in a stupor and were possessed by idolatry. So Elijah raged, he was vexed, he lamented, he spoke words—no one heard; he exhorted—no one heeded; so, out of zeal, he wishes to bring them to their senses and discipline them, so that, even thus, wasting away from famine, they might reach the Creator through prayer, so that the famine might become for them an occasion of piety. But the famine, it is said, can discipline them in no other way; for thus, hemmed in from all sides, they will proceed to the Creator of all. What then does Elijah do? "As the Lord lives," he says, "if there will be rain, it will not be except through my mouth." The word of the prophet went forth, and immediately the air was changed, the sky became bronze, not altering its nature but having its activity restrained; immediately the elements were transformed. The word of the prophet fell, like a fever, into the flanks of the earth, and immediately everything was dried up, everything was laid waste, everything was obliterated; they immediately saw herbs withering, and plants, and fruit-bearing and barren trees, those in the fields, those by the sea—all suddenly withering, every living age perishing, the wailing of children and the weeping of mothers, and great despair.

One word of the prophet went forth, and see how much it accomplished. Everything was dying, then—the wild beasts, the cattle, the children, the people, the animals, all the birds; it was a universal shipwreck, and the calamity seized the whole earth at once; no one was saved, but all were dying from the drought, the plants were withering, springs, rivers, lakes, and everything simply perished. A universal shipwreck held the entire inhabited world, not through water, but through drought; the sky was bound, and then held back, and was altering the whole of nature. Everything, then, died by a god-sent wrath and perished; but Elijah cared about none of it; for he was drunk with zeal. Every untimely age, then, was perishing. What are you doing, Elijah? Granted, the young men sinned; why are the children being punished? Granted, the people sinned; why do the cattle die along with them? Have you put on such pitilessness? You care for none of the people; you have no wife, no child; you despise those who are perishing. What, then, does God say to him? "Go," he says, "to the river Chorrath, and I will command ravens to feed you there." Again I would gladly ask the Jew, bringing him into the midst, to show him that the law was overturning the things of the law, and that it itself had neither stability nor uprightness; for it was not truth, but a shadow; those things were shadow, these are truth; those were type, these are reality. The Elijah whom you revere, whom you expect to come, about whom you have much to say, and whom you call a prophet—how was this man fed by a raven? For the raven, according to the law, is unclean, and thus the law declared the raven to be unclean.

And how then was the prophet nourished by the unclean raven? For if the law declared the raven unclean, surely the one nourished by the raven would be unclean. But this was not so—far from it, may it never be! Rather, Elijah was nourished by a raven, considering nothing created by the Lord to be unclean. Then from there, since time had passed and the river had dried up, the Lord rouses the prophet to seek food. "Go," he says, "to Sarepta of Sidon, and I will command a widow woman to sustain you there." This the Lord did according to a certain plan. For since Elijah did not know what was happening (for he sat in one place and did not see the universal calamity—how everything had dried up, how the lakes, how the rivers, how the plants, how the trees, how the unseasonable things, how the seasonable things, how the fruit-bearing things, how the barren things, how the things by springs, the things by lakes of water, the destruction of the birds, of the cattle, of all other creatures, the death of the children, the wailing of the mothers, that universal calamity), the Lord rouses him and makes him travel an endless land from there as far as Sidon, so that even thus, seeing what was happening, Elijah might deem it worthy to ask his Master to give rain. He sends him, then, on that long journey for this reason—not because the Lord was unable to sustain him there, but because he wished to show Elijah the calamity, so that he might deem it worthy to ask him for rain. For he could have done so even without this, but he did not wish to insult his own servant, of the

having left that man as a promoter of evils, and himself of goods; but he awaited the servant's entreaty. Then not even thus was that man bent, but using some kind of madness, he walked the road in such a way, clad in pitilessness, making no account of anyone; for, as I said, he was drunk with zeal. Why are you mad, Elijah? Why have you put on such inhumanity? Wait a little, and you yourself will be proven to be under sin. You called a drought because of the sin of the inhabitants, and you did not shut the sky, and you reined in the earth, and you restrained the course of nature, and you do not even deign to speak about what has happened? Not long after, you yourself will be proven to be under sin, and having received philanthropy from your Master, so that you may become more philanthropic toward your fellow servants. 3. Today, however, I have come out to speak about these same things for this reason: that a priest was not made an angel, but a human from a human, so that sinners might not be destroyed by one who is sinless. For if the priest were an angel not sinning, he would immediately punish those who sin; but for this reason he has become a human, so that he may sympathize with one who shares the same passions, receiving a reminder from his own passions for his fellow kind. Then we brought forward that even the great ones, to whom a great people were to be entrusted, he allowed to fall into sin, and to give forgiveness to them, so that afterwards they themselves, from what they were taught, might become more philanthropic.

And they brought forward Peter, that sort of apostle, who was permitted to sin, but through repentance wiped away the sin by the love of God for humanity. Come now, let us return to Elijah, and let us display the sea of his right actions: that God wished to show love for humanity, but Elijah did not show love for humanity; and he wished to give rain, but he sought a request from the servant. What then? Elijah went the whole road and came to Sarepta of Sidon, and saw a certain widow woman gathering wood. But nevertheless, observe Elijah's philosophy and faith. Again another sea of virtue received him. He did not say to God: "To whom are you sending me? You make me endure so many dangers, and you send me to a widow in extreme famine? Are there not other, wealthier men who can relieve my poverty? But I walk so much land to meet a widow, into this very calamity of evils, and not only a widow, but a poor one?" Consider how the servant said none of these things; for he trusted his Master, who makes the impossible possible. "Go," he says, "to Sarepta of Sidon, and behold, a widow gathering wood." Why then do you still go on, Elijah? Why do you run to the widow? You saw the portals of poverty; do not ask about the sufferings of mediocrity. You saw the entrance of poverty; do not ask about what is inside. Where are you entering, Elijah? You saw her gathering wood, and you seek to be fed by her? But nevertheless, having the word of the Master as a pledge, he went and conversed with the widow. And what does he say? "Give me a little water to drink." Do you see the wisdom of Elijah?

How is it that he did not immediately go to the stronger, but to the cheaper? He did not say, "Give me bread," but "Give me water." First he seeks water, calculating that if he obtains water, he can also obtain bread. "Give me," he says, "a little water." And the widow, going away, brought it to him, and he drank; and thus emboldened, he says, "Will you also give me a morsel of bread, and I will eat?" And she said to him, "As the Lord lives, if I have a loaf baked in the ashes, it is only a handful of flour in the jar and a little oil in the flask, which we will make and eat, I and my children, and then we will die." What then does Elijah? "Go," he says, "and make me a loaf baked in the ashes by itself, and I will eat, and then you will do the same for your children, and they will eat." What are you doing, Elijah? Granted, you want bread, but why do you seek it by itself and first? Ought you not to give thanks, so that you might eat with the children? You want to eat alone and choke the children with hunger? [I do not want to choke them, but I want to benefit them;] I know the abundance of my Master. Yet the widow was not disturbed nor did she perceive any such impropriety, nor did she say, "You are the one who caused this famine, and you want to be fed by me from the remnants of the famine?" Nor did she say, "You passed by so much of the world, and you came to me to destroy my children with famine, you yourself being the cause of the famine?" But becoming a sort of Abraham-like woman, she went in and did according to the word of the prophet, and one could see the widow as more hospitable than Abraham. For he, being wealthy, entertained angels; but she, expecting death from famine, entertained the prophet.

And one could see nature despised and hospitality honored; one could see entrails cast aside and a prophet received. The whole multitude of her children she made into a tomb; for as far as the widow's intention was concerned, they had died, but as far as God's love for humanity was concerned, they lived and grew strong. I do not know how to praise the widow: how she disregarded her children and practiced hospitality, how nature itself did not hinder her, how her womb was not altered, how her entrails were not dissolved at seeing the whole multitude of her children about to perish from famine. But she rose above all and entertained the prophet. When the prophet had taken and eaten, he then repays the rewards; the widow sowed hospitality, and immediately reaped the ripened ear of hospitality. For what does Elijah say to her? "As the Lord lives, the jar of flour will not fail, and the flask of oil will not diminish." And the widow's right hand became a winepress, and her left a threshing floor, and sheaves in need provided the fruit, and through the prophet's word they nourished the widow. The widow's house became a winepress and a threshing floor; no rain, no shower, no spring, no summer, no heat, no force of winds, no changes of seasons, but only one word that went forth, and that uttered from his own judgment, supplies abundance to the widow. Then from there, to cut my speech short, he went to King Ahab. I now recount his achievements, so that if you see him sinning, you may learn that God's grace possesses love for humanity. What then does Ahab say to him? "Are you the one who is perverting Israel?" And he to him:

No, but you and your father's house." Did you see with what freedom the prophet reproved the king? Then, when he was sitting on the mountain, and a centurion came to him saying, "Man of God, come down, the king summons you," he said to him, "And if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then a second centurion said, "Man of God, come down, the king has need of you." And what did Elijah say to him? "And if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then again, when he came to the contest of prayer, he summoned the priests of Baal of shame, saying, "Let us pray," and he said, "You make an altar by yourselves, and choose two oxen, and place wood on each ox, but do not place fire, and I will do likewise; and call upon your gods by name, and I upon my God, and it will be that whichever god answers by fire, that one is the true God." Then the priests of shame made an altar and began to call upon Baal, saying, "Hear us, Baal, hear us." But when much prayer had been offered and no one was listening (for there was no voice and no hearing), then Elijah waited patiently while they prayed; and when he saw that their exertion was great but no one was answering, he mocked them, saying, "Shout loudly, lest your god be asleep." Then, when it was midday and the hour had advanced, he said to them, "Stand aside from now, so that I may also make my burnt offering.

And he made an altar, and placed the wood upon it, and said, "Bring water around the altar." And they brought it. "Double it," and they doubled it. "Triple it," and they tripled it. But observe also why Elijah does this. Since it is customary for error to attribute its own practices to truth—just as prostitute women do, who anticipate and call free women prostitutes, so that those women have nothing with which to reproach them—nevertheless, Elijah even in this shows his wisdom. Why? But what I am about to say, I myself have witnessed: In the altars of the idols, there are openings beneath the altar, and there is a hidden pit below, and the workers of error go down into the pit, and thus through those openings they blow the fire from below upward onto the sacrifice, so that many are deceived and think the fire is from heaven. So that Elijah might not be suspected of doing something similar, he poured water over it, so that the water would expose the opening; for where water finds an opening, it necessarily does not stand still but flows down. So he filled the altar and prayed, saying, "Hear me, Lord, today in fire; you heard me in water, hear me also in fire." And behold, when he called, fire quickly came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the stones, and the fire licked up the water. And what does he say to the people? "Seize the priests of shame; let none of them be saved." And they took and slew them, four hundred and fifty priests of Baal, and four hundred of the high places.

Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, heard of these events, and sent to Elijah, saying, "May the gods do such and such to me, and may they add such and such to me, if by tomorrow I do not place your soul as the soul of one of them." And upon hearing this, Elijah fled. Where is Elijah, so great and so mighty? For it is my purpose to show that he fell into sin. I speak of sin not to accuse the righteous man, but to pursue a premise of salvation, so that when you see those men sinning, yet not despairing of themselves, but obtaining the love of God for humanity, if you sin, you may hope for even greater salvation. Since Jezebel said, "May the gods do such and such to me, and may they add such and such to me, if by tomorrow I do not place your soul as the soul of one of them," Elijah heard and fled a journey of forty days. O excess of cowardice! He heard a woman's word, and fled, traveling a journey of forty days—not one day, not two, not three, but as soon as the woman's word entered the prophet, he did not know what he was doing from cowardice, departing in such a flight. What is the matter with you, Elijah? You are the one who closed the sky and bridled the rain, who commanded the air and called down fire from above, who slaughtered the priests, who said to King Ahab, "You are the one who corrupts Israel, and the house of your father," who said, "As the Lord lives, if there will be rain, it will not be except through my mouth," who made the widow's house a threshing floor and sheaves, who commanded the elements. You heard a harlot's word and fled, and one woman leads you away captive? The two citadels were reproved by a woman.

Peter feared a young girl, and this man feared Jezebel. They fell into the same sins. And Elijah fled a journey of forty days. Where is your zeal, Elijah, when you said, "The Lord lives, if there will be rain, except through my mouth"? When you reproved the king, when you called down fire? You did such things, and you could not bear the word of one woman? Where is your strength, when you did not wish to deem your Master worthy, that he might give rain upon the earth? For he said to you through clear proofs: "Deem me worthy, who am able to give even without you," but you did not wish it, so that just as you became the agent of evils, so also you might become the leader of good things. For you performed, Elijah, a work full of cruelty; but God had pity on the calamity, because he is the creator of all and the maker of all; likewise the guardian of all, and he wished to soften your inhumanity, and you persisted in it. He said to you: "I know the calamity that is happening, I know the lamentations of the mothers, I know the wailing of the children; I see the land, which I made, being destroyed, and I wish to show kindness, but I do not wish to insult you, and without

of your judgment to send rain, so that you might not be the cause of evils and a stranger to good things, but I honor you. Oh, the philanthropy of the Master, conquered by the goodwill of a servant! Yet he himself had great arrogance as if he were sinless; but now he too has been shown to have fallen into sin, God having permitted and devised it, so that from the philanthropy he himself experienced, he might not be inhuman toward others. And Elijah fled, it says, a journey of forty days. Where are those words which he spoke to the fifty commanders, when he brought down fire and burned them up? So God, wishing to show that even when he performed the miracles, it was not he himself who was working, but the power of God, and see what happens. When God was active, kings fell, and rulers, and peoples; when God withdrew, a woman became formidable; God withdrew, and nature was exposed. But nevertheless, after Elijah fled for forty days, he came and slept in some place, and God comes to him, the Master to the servant, the guardian and philanthropist; and what does he say? Knowing why he came there, yet asking: "What are you doing here, Elijah? And what are you doing here?" hinting at his flight, meaning: "You fled. Where is that boldness?" So that you may learn not to trust in yourself. "What are you doing here, Elijah? And what are you doing here?" But nevertheless, Elijah answers, having one thing in his mind but saying another. For what does Elijah say to this? "Lord, they killed your prophets, and they tore down your altars, and I alone was left, and they seek my soul to take it." What then does God say to him? He immediately refutes him. "It is not for this that you fled, Elijah," he says.

For you are not the only one who did not bow to Baal. Then he brings a charge, refuting him: "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who did not bend the knee to Baal." He refuted him, therefore, that he did not flee for this reason, but because he was overcome by fear of the woman. And one woman made such a great man a deserter and a fugitive, so that you might learn, Elijah, that when you do something extraordinary, you should not ascribe it to yourself, but to the power of God. Do you see how, when grace departed, nature was exposed? Elijah fled a journey of forty days. Oh, the intensity of fear! Oh, the excess of cowardice! He fled not one day, not a second, not a third, but forty days, and he took to the most desolate places, having no food, carrying no provisions; for, drunk with fear, he gave no thought to these things, but pursued the uninhabited regions. The word of the woman entered the prophet, and just as a strong west wind falling upon a sail sends the ship on its way with force, so the word of the woman, entering the prophet, sent him forth into the desert with great force. Where, Elijah, is that boldness of yours? Where is that fearsome mouth? Where is that tongue that drove the rains? Where is he who commanded both elements, at one time closing the sky, at another calling down fire upon the sacrifice? But yet, as I said before, he did these things when grace was active; therefore he is also rebuked by God. Do you see how he was permitted to fall by a small sin so that he might put on a whole garment of philanthropy? Henceforth, Elijah, you have been taught; be philanthropic like your Master, from what you have been taught, from what you have learned from your Master.

Do you see how God allowed those pillars, those bulwarks, those towers to fall into a small sin? So that they might not, by their own sinlessness, cut everyone off from the Church; so that when they see someone who has sinned and wish to show harshness toward him, they might remember their own sin and grant him the same compassion which they themselves have received from the Master. We have said these things not to accuse the righteous, but to prepare for you a path of salvation, so that when you sin, you may not despair of your own salvation by the memory of the righteous who have erred, and who were not diminished in honor by repentance. We first spoke of their virtues, and then we introduced their sins. And you, therefore, even if you are a sinner, do not depart from the Church; and if you are righteous, do not depart, so that, having the knowledge of the Scriptures fresh in your mind, you may remain righteous, remembering the things concerning the kingdom of heaven and those good things which God has prepared for those who love him. For to him belongs glory, together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.