Letter 1: Caesarius, bishop, to his most beloved sister Caesaria in the peace of Christ.

You have compelled me, handmaid of God and sister venerable in Christ, and by your frequent petitions you have wrung it from me rather than asked, that I should write for you some exhortatory discourse of whatever kind: not that I am able to contribute anything to your knowledge or perfection, but rather one in which you may easily detect my foresight on your behalf. This I, long and repeatedly resisting, put off doing, fearing that I might incur at once the brand of boastfulness and of shamelessness; especially since I know that you devote yourself by constant meditation to the divine books, and are utterly ignorant of nothing that pertains to your perfection. But what shall I do? I do not dare to refuse what I am unable to fulfill. For so great is your faith and authority alike in asking and commanding, and so great your perseverance in extorting, that to refuse you anything seems irreligious. Yet if you give your word that you will let no one else read it, nor publish it for reading, I will do what you urge, according as God shall give strength. Pardon must be granted me, if I shall not have been able to fulfill the imposed task worthily; it must rather be charged to you, who commanded that I undertake this. Removed therefore from rashness, and free from arrogance, let us sweat at the proposed work; and let us not distrust the mediocrity of our talent, which we believe is deservedly aided by your prayer. Yet this I wish to be known, that I have resolved to write nothing for you except what can instruct you toward the rule of a perfect life and the amendment of morals; which may set forth the blessedness of virginity and subject the world beneath its feet [so the text]. Let those study to write such things at the feet of those by whom they desire to be praised; for us we must proceed by a far different road. Therefore let this be your first endeavor and first care: to know the will of your Lord, and diligently to inquire what pleases Him, or what displeases Him; so that you may render to God a reasonable obedience according to God: for it can happen that anyone may give offense in the very vow of obeying, who has not first learned how he ought to obey. Among all God's precepts the command concerning justice is general, because it is by no means permitted to anyone to transgress what is commanded to all. Concerning virginity, therefore, it is said: He who is able to receive it, let him receive it (Matthew 19:12). But every one who shall not bear good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:10); which the Savior comprehended in the Gospel most fully indeed, yet briefly, saying: All things whatsoever you wish that men should do to you, so do you also to them (Luke 6:31). Therefore, having followed the counsel of perfection, see that you do not look back; but on the mountain save your soul (Genesis 19). For because you desire to climb to life, you must press on through the path of that narrow road, having forsaken the spacious expanse of the world and the very great pomp of the age, you who in body wish to show yourself an apostolic virgin, who, ever thinking on the things that are the Lord's, prepare your lamp kindled with the oil of good works to go to meet the bridegroom. What ought the perfection to be, whose beginning was such? Every work is carried out more lightly, when its beginning is always carried out. Although every perfect person desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ, in this life it is necessary that he never cease to have conflict with the vices, if he wishes to bring back triumph over the enemy. For first of all one must fight bravely against the disease of pride; so that, the head of the vices being torn out by the roots, the other vices which proceed from it may be more easily uprooted. For there is no easier slip toward ruin, concerning which Scripture says: The beginning of all sin is pride (Ecclesiasticus 10:15). And rightly so; for just as it is the origin of all crimes, so it is the enemy of all virtues. For in sin it is itself the first, and in conflict the last. For this either at the outset lays the mind low through sin, or at the very end casts it down from the virtues. Whence it is the greatest of all sins: because it destroys the human mind both through the virtues and through the vices. For the most part one passes from the fault of pride into the abominable uncleanness of the flesh, because the one hangs upon the other. For just as through pride of mind one goes into the prostitution of lust, so through humility of mind the chastity of the flesh is kept safe. But God sometimes casts down the hidden pride of the mind by a manifest ruin of the flesh. For chiefly by these two vices the devil lords it over the human race, that is, through pride of mind and lust of the flesh. Whence also the Lord speaks of the devil to Job, saying: He sleeps under the shadow, and in the secret of the reed and in moist places (Job 40:16). For by the reed empty pride is signified; by the moist places, indeed, the lust of the flesh is shown. For by these two vices, as we have said, the devil possesses the human race, either while he raises up the mind through pride, or while he consumes the flesh through lust. For it is necessary to fight back against lust with strong effort, because the enemy is enclosed within. The whole power of the devil against men is in the loins, against women in the navel of his belly, of which it is written: His strength is in his loins, and his power in the navel of his belly (Job 40:11). For he who does not bridle the delight of lustful suggestion quickly passes to consent to lust. For he easily resists the deed who does not accommodate himself to the titillating delight. Although the purpose of God's saints persists unshaken in the love of God, yet from the flesh which it bears outwardly it endures many inner battles. But God, who permits these things for testing, by His protecting grace does not desert His own. Therefore fornications must be removed from the heart, lest they break forth into deed. Hence it is said by the prophet: Gird your loins over the breasts (Isaiah 32:12); that is, cut back lusts in the heart; when by the instigation of demons the mind of any just person is hindered, let the fear of the divine judgment and eternal torments be set before the eyes, because doubtless the penalty of all is overcome by dread of a heavier punishment. For just as a nail drives out a nail, so the recollection of the burning of hell shuts out the burning of lust. Hear what the Lord declares concerning the devil, saying: He draws up his tail like a cedar (Job 40:12); because his first suggestion, like a tender plant, is easily cut off; but if it has once fixed the tooth of delight, after the manner of a cedar it grows hard. Fleeing especially feigned humility, follow that which is true, which Christ taught, in which pride is not enclosed. For many follow the shadow of this virtue, but few its truth; for patience under injury reveals the truly humble person. Let your soul never be inflamed in anger, for the anger of man does not work the justice of God (James 1:20). But if it has inflamed you a little, you must hasten that it be expelled. Let envy find no place in your soul. And this is the worst evil, when anyone becomes worse on account of another's good, for from the very source by which the good man advances, the envious man wastes away. For with difficulty does anyone receive medicine for this disease, who is unwilling to disclose his fault. For confession of this is rare, because often one thing is said in place of another, and therefore one never comes to salvation, concerning which blessed Cyprian wrote to the people. Set a sufficiently careful guard upon your mouth: nor does anyone more easily contract the stain of sin than through the tongue, as the apostle James witnesses: No man can tame the tongue (James 3:8). Whence he piously admonishes, saying: If anyone thinks himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain (James 1:26). According to the sentence of the most wise Solomon: He who lets out water is the head of quarrels (Proverbs 17:14); because he who does not bridle his tongue dissipates concord. Whence also the Apostle asserts that man to be perfect who has not offended in word. But many, while they keep silence indiscreetly, withhold what could have profited their neighbors through a word; and while they look upon the vices of those whom they could have corrected through the reproof of a word, while they fortify the barriers of the mouth, they abandon their neighbor in his depravity, so that they are judged more strictly; and for as many as they could have profited by a word, for so many do they stand culpable by the guilt of silence. For prayer is hindered in two ways, so that it cannot obtain what is requested: if either anyone still commits evils, or if he does not forgive what is owed to him by one who has offended. And when anyone has wiped this twofold evil from himself, at once he applies himself secure to the zeal of prayer, and freely raises his mind to those things which he desires to obtain by his prayers. As far as you prevail, take care that you do not recall the face of a man, except in pure prayer; for you shall not make an idol in your soul in the foulness of desire. The wife of a king does not turn aside to the servants, and the bride of Christ does not look back to mortals: for she loves Him who suffered for her, and embraces Him with all her love. Look upon the face of priests and Levites with fear, namely of those who have been proven; knowing this, that the love of charity dwells in them. And let not your soul take delight in desire in the sweet voice of a reader, lest your senses be corrupted, and depart from chastity. You may perhaps say: It is a great labor; but consider what has been promised. Consider, I beg, the magnitude of your reward, if it can be considered, and paint before your eyes the future recompense for the present injury. After the departure of the soul and the destruction of the flesh, you are to be restored, O virgin, to a better state; the body committed to the earth is to be raised up in heaven; after these things you are to be granted the fellowship of the angels, to receive the kingdom of heaven, and to abide forever with Christ.