54. Lo, already ye are such,
as that in the rest of your conduct also ye correspond with the
virginity which ye have professed and kept. Lo, already not only do
ye abstain from murders, devilish sacrifices and abominations,
thefts, rapines, frauds, perjuries, drunkennesses, and all luxury
and avarice, hatreds, emulations, impieties, cruelties; but even
those things, which either are, or are thought, lighter, are not
found nor arise among you: not bold face, not wandering eyes, not
unbridled tongue, not petulant laugh, not scurrilous jest, not
unbecoming mien, not swelling or loose gait; already ye render not
evil for evil, nor curse for curse;2216
already, lastly, ye
fulfill that
measure of
love, that ye lay down your lives for your
brethren.
2217
Lo,
already ye are such, because also such ye ought to be. These, being
added to
virginity, set forth an angelic
life unto men, and the
ways of
heaven unto the
earth. But, by how much ye are great,
whosoever of you are so great, “by so much
humble yourselves in
all things, that ye may find
grace before
God,” that He
resist
you not as
proud, that He humble you not as lifting up yourselves,
that He lead you not through straits as being puffed up: although
anxiety be unnecessary, that, where Charity glows, humility be not
wanting.
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