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

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 devil. Let there be the divine reading in the hands,42    Pamelius, from four codices, reads, “Let there be the divine reading before the eyes, good works in the hands.” the Lord’s thoughts in the mind; let constant prayer never cease at all; let saving labour persevere. Let us be always busied in spiritual actions, that so often as the enemy approaches, however often he may try to come near, he may find the breast closed and armed against him. For a Christian man’s crown is not only that which is received in the time of persecution: peace43    [“Habet et pax coronas suas.” Comp. Milton, Sonnet xi.] also has its crowns, wherewith the victors, from a varied and manifold engagement, are crowned, when their adversary is prostrated and subdued. To have overcome lust is the palm of continency. To have resisted against anger, against injury, is the crown of patience. It is a triumph over avarice to despise money. It is the praise of faith, by trust in the future, to suffer the adversity of the world. And he who is not haughty in prosperity, obtains glory for his humility; and he who is disposed to the mercifulness of cherishing the poor, obtains the retribution of a heavenly treasure; and he who knows not to be jealous, and who with one heart and in meekness loves his brethren, is honoured with the recompense of love and peace. In this course of virtues we daily run; to these palms and crowns of justice we attain without intermission of time.

XVI. His meditationibus corroborandus est animus, fratres dilectissimi, ejusmodi exercitationibus contra omnia diaboli jacula firmandus. Sit in manibus divina lectio, in sensibus Dominica cogitatio: oratio jugis omnino non cesset: salutaris operatio perseveret. Spiritalibus semper actibus occupemur, ut quotiescumque inimicus accesserit, quoties adire tentaverit, et clausum adversum se pectus inveniat et armatum. Non enim christiani hominis corona una est quae tempore persecutionis accipitur: habet et pax coronas suas, quibus de varia et multiplici congressione 0649B victores, prostrato et subacto adversario, coronantur. Libidinem subegisse continentiae palma est. Contra iram, contra injuriam repugnasse corona patientiae est. De avaritia triumphus est pecuniam spernere. Laus est fidei fiducia futurorum mundi adversa tolerare. Et qui superbus in prosperis non est, gloriam de humilitate consequitur. Et qui ad pauperum fovendorum misericordiam pronus est, retributionem thesauri coelestis adipiscitur. Et qui zelare non novit, quique, unanimis et mitis, fratres 0650A suos diligit, dilectionis et pacis praemio honoratur. In hoc virtutum stadio quotidie currimus, ad has justitiae palmas et coronas sine intermissione temporis pervenimus.