On Jealousy and Envy.

 1. To be jealous of what you see to be good, and to be envious of those who are better than yourself, seems, beloved brethren, in the eyes of some peo

 2. He goeth about every one of us and even as an enemy besieging those who are shut up (in a city), he examines the walls, and tries whether there is

 3. Wherefore, beloved brethren, against all the devil’s deceiving snares or open threatenings, the mind ought to stand arrayed and armed, ever as read

 4. From this source, even at the very beginnings of the world, the devil was the first who both perished (himself) and destroyed (others). He who was

 5. Hence, in fine, began the primal hatreds of the new brotherhood, hence the abominable fratricides, in that the unrighteous Cain is jealous of the r

 6. Considering which things, beloved brethren, let us with vigilance and courage fortify our hearts dedicated to God against such a destructiveness of

 7. But what a gnawing worm of the soul is it, what a plague-spot of our thoughts, what a rust of the heart, to be jealous of another, either in respec

 8. Hence the threatening countenance, the lowering aspect, pallor in the face, trembling on the lips, gnashing of the teeth, mad words, unbridled revi

 9. The mischief is much more trifling, and the danger less, when the limbs are wounded with a sword. The cure is easy where the wound is manifest and

 10. And therefore, beloved brethren, the Lord, taking thought for this risk, that none should fall into the snare of death through jealousy of his bro

 11. Why do you rush into the darkness of jealousy? why do you enfold yourself in the cloud of malice? why do you quench all the light of peace and cha

 12. We ought to remember by what name Christ calls His people, by what title He names His flock. He calls them sheep, that their Christian innocence m

 13. Thus also the Apostle Paul, when he was urging the merits of peace and charity, and when he was strongly asserting and teaching that neither faith

 14. Vices and carnal sins must be trampled down, beloved brethren, and the corrupting plague of the earthly body must be trodden under foot with spiri

 15. For this is to change what you had been, and to begin to be what you were not, that the divine birth might shine forth in you, that the godly disc

 16. The mind must be strengthened, beloved brethren, by these meditations. By exercises of this kind it must be confirmed against all the darts of the

 17. To these rewards that you also may come who had been possessed with jealousy and rancour, cast away all that malice wherewith you were before held

 18. And you have many things to consider. Think of paradise, whither Cain does not enter, who by jealousy slew his brother. Think of the heavenly king

2. He goeth about every one of us; and even as an enemy besieging those who are shut up (in a city), he examines the walls, and tries whether there is any part of the walls2    According to some, “of our members.” less firm and less trustworthy, by entrance through which he may penetrate to the inside. He presents to the eyes seductive forms and easy pleasures, that he may destroy chastity by the sight. He tempts the ears with harmonious music, that by the hearing of sweet sounds he may relax and enervate Christian vigour.3    [The nude in art, the music of the opera, and sensual luxury of all sorts, are here condemned. And compare Clem. Alex., vol. ii. p. 249, note 11, this series.] He provokes the tongue by reproaches; he instigates the hand by exasperating wrongs to the wrecklessness of murder; to make the cheat, he presents dishonest gains; to take captive the soul by money, he heaps together mischievous hoards; he promises earthly honours, that he may deprive of heavenly ones; he makes a show of false things, that he may steal away the true; and when he cannot hiddenly deceive, he threatens plainly and openly, holding forth the fear of turbulent persecution to vanquish God’s servants—always restless, and always hostile, crafty in peace, and fierce in persecution.

II. Circuit ille nos singulos, et tamquam hostis clausos obsidens, muros explorat, et tentat an sit pars aliqua murorum minus stabilis et minus fida, cujus aditu ad interiora penetretur. Offert oculis formas illices et faciles voluptates , ut visu destruat castitatem. Aures per canora musica tentat, ut soni dulcioris auditu solvat et molliat christianum vigorem. Linguam convicio provocat, manum injuriis 0639C lacessentibus ad petulantiam caedis instigat; ut 0640A fraudatorem faciat, lucra opponit injusta; ut animam pecunia capiat , ingerit perniciosa compendia; honores terrenos promittit, ut coelestes adimat; ostentat falsa, ut vera subripiat: et cum latenter non potest fallere, exerte atque aperte minatur, terrorem turbidae persecutionis intentans, ad debellandos Dei servos inquietus semper et semper infestus, in pace subdolus, in persecutione violentus.