Chapter XI.
The possibility of repentance is a reason why baptism
should not be deferred to old age, a practice which is against the will
of God in holy Scripture. But it is of no use to practise penance
whilst still serving lusts. These must be first subdued.
98. , then, is
penitence, and if there were no place for it, every one would defer the
grace of cleansing by baptism to old age. And a sufficient reason
is that it is better, to have a robe to mend, than none to put on; but
as that which has been repaired once is restored, so that which is
frequently mended is destroyed.
99. And the Lord has given a sufficient
warning to those who put off repentance, when He says: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We know not at what hour the thief will come, we know not whether our soul may be required of us this next night. God cast Adam out of Paradise immediately after his fault; there was no delay. At once the fallen were severed from all their enjoyments that they might do penance; at once God clothed them with garments of skins, not of silk.
100. And what reason is there for putting
off? Is it that you may
sin yet more? Then because God is good you are evil, and
“despise the riches of His goodness and
long-suffering.” But the
goodness of the Lord ought rather to draw you to repentance. Wherefore holy David says to all: “Come, let us worship and fall down before Him, and mourn before our Lord Who made us.” But for a sinner who has died without repentance, because nothing remains but to mourn grievously and to weep, you find him groaning and saying: “O my son Absalom! my son Absalom!” For him who is wholly dead mourning is without alleviation.
101. But of those who as exiles and banished
from their ancestral homes, which the holy law of Moses had assigned
them, will be entangled in the errors of the world, you hear him
saying: “By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” He sets forth the wailings of those who have fallen, and shows that they who are living in this condition of passing time and changing circumstances ought to repent, after the example of those who, as a reward for sin, had been led into miserable captivity.
102. But nothing causes such exceeding grief as
when any one, lying under the captivity of sin, calls to mind whence he
has fallen, because he turned aside to carnal and earthly things, instead of directing his mind in the beautiful ways of the knowledge of God.
103. So you find Adam concealing himself, when he knew that God was present, and wishing to be hidden when called by God with that voice which wounded the soul of him who was hiding: “Adam, where art thou?” That is to say, Wherefore hidest thou thyself? Why art thou concealed? Why dost thou avoid Him, Whom thou once didst long to see? A guilty conscience is so burdensome that it punishes itself without a judge, and wishes for covering, and yet is bare before God.
104. And so no one in a state of sin ought
to claim a right to or the use of the sacraments, for it is
written: “Thou hast sinned, be still.” As David says in the Psalm lately
quoted: “We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof;” and again: “How shall we sing the
Lord’s song in a strange land?” For if the flesh wars against the
mind, and is not subject to the guidance of the Spirit, that is a
strange land which is not subdued by the toil of the cultivator, and so
cannot produce the fruits of charity, patience, and peace. It is
better, then, to be still when you cannot practise the works of
repentance, lest in the very acts of repentance there be that which
afterward will need further repentance. For if it be once entered
upon and not rightly carried out, it obtains not the result of a first
repentance and takes away the use of a later one.
105. When, then, the flesh resists, the soul
must be intent upon God, and if results do not follow, let not faith
fail. And if the enticements of the flesh come upon us, or the
powers of the enemy attack us, let the soul keep in submission to
God. For we are then specially oppressed when the flesh
yields. And some there are who trouble heavily the wretched soul, seeking to deprive it of all protection. To which case the words apply: “Rase it, rase it, even to the foundations.”