Letter 41: We read the list of letters noted on the back of your envelope, which you indicated were mine.

We have read on the back of the letter the list of those letters which you indicated were mine. For of nearly all of them I was so truly forgetful that I would not have recognized them as mine, had I not trusted your written word. From this I received a greater proof of your love, since I perceived that I am better known to you than to myself. I rejoice that you have received the hymns which I desired you to have; and by this gift, holy brother, you have admonished me to prepare my little torch carefully, while there is time, lest I be shut out with the foolish, should I fail to come forward with the wise. But pray that our souls may be both virgins and fruitful, virgins without barrenness, fruitful without corruption. For by this same mystery, in the Law he is cursed who has not given seed in Israel, and in the Gospel the wise virgin, who, having procured oil with watchful concern, anointed her torch, awaits the coming of the bridegroom, and at his approach kindles for him a light not to be extinguished, being fed with rich fuel. Therefore let our mind, made fruitful for God, bring forth also the fruit of life by good works. Let our spirit be a virgin, that it may be corrupted by no enticement of the world and may remain unblemished by every stain of vice. For those foolish virgins seem to me to be the souls that are barren of virtues, and those wise ones the souls that are uncorrupted by vices. Lastly, in each kind of virgins five are set down, so that it may be understood to refer to the integrity or the corruption of the senses of man; for we are all endowed with five senses, through which we receive either life or death. For grieving over these very senses the prophet says: "Death has come in through your windows" [Jer. 9:21]. Let us block these windows up with the fear of God, that we may be deaf and blind to all the shapes and harms of this world; let us hedge our ears with thorns against the wicked tongue and against enticing melodies; let us turn away our eyes, lest they look upon vanity [Ps. 118:37]; let us block up our nostrils too, lest we draw in the odor of death from the corruption of this age; nor let disease creep in through the alluring taste of the gullet and, by the foods of cravings, weaken the strength of self-restraint; nor let us pamper the body with soft garments, lest, when the limbs are ill-soothed by delicate coverings, fleshly touches and unlawful embraces shake them apart. Thus it will come about that in each one of us, when all the senses are chaste and steeped in the oil of faithful doctrine, all five virgins remain wise, and, with the oil stored up in their own vessels, rest in untroubled expectation, ready presently to go forth with torches easily prepared, when they are roused at the first stir of the bridegroom's coming. For amid such great peoples of the Church, in which not only virgins, whose multitude is nonetheless beyond number, but also married women and widows are distinguished by diverse characters and fruits, I do not think that, for any other reason, only five foolish virgins and as many wise ones are set down, except that each class is diverse within the whole body of the entire people, while the number, by the reasoning stated above, is contained singly in every person, so that each one has within himself either foolish or prudent virgins according to the quality of his senses, in which, where they are provident, the virginity is wise, and where they are sluggish, foolish. For it is for this reason that the foolish, just like the wise, in so great an unlikeness to one another are alike called virgins, because for virgins barrenness according to the flesh is unfruitful, while according to the spirit a fruitful chastity is present. Hence neither do the wise have a barren virginity, because they are wise, nor the foolish a fruitful one, because they are foolish. The form of these latter seems to me to be the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness with God [1 Cor. 3:19], and the wisdom of the flesh, which is truly a foolish virgin, because it is not joined to the Law nor subjected to the Law and the wisdom of God [Rom. 8:7]; and its lamp is easily extinguished, because it does not have the oil of truth, being empty of the Holy Spirit, by which the inner eye is illumined and the head of the soul is made rich, which is our faith, whose oil is the infusion of heavenly doctrine. And so let not the oil of the sinner make rich our head [Ps. 140:5], nor let dying flies destroy the oil of sweetness, so that Christ may always be our head, lest the oil ever fail for our head, because his name is oil poured out [Cant. 1:2]; and then, being perfected in all our senses, we shall be wise virgins, if the wisdom of God remains within us, through which a fruitful virginity has been wrought even in the body. I weary you too much, and I presume greatly upon the patience of your love. But I ought to listen to Solomon speaking in the wisdom of God, so that I may set the foot of my word more sparingly, even before those I love most dearly, lest, being sated, they come to hate me; yet I know that, just as no one can hate his own inward parts, so neither can you hate our lowliness, which you have mingled with your own inward parts. May the peace and love and grace and humility of Christ the most high Lord abound in you, blessed brethren, deservedly venerable and most beloved.

XXXXI. Legimus in tergo epistolae adnotationem epistolarum, quas meas esse indicastis. nam uere prope omnium earum ita inmemor eram, ut meas esse non recognoscerem, nisi uestris litteris credidissem. unde maius accepi documentum caritatis uestrae, quia plus me uobis quam mihi notum esse perspexi. hymnos, quos desiderabam, accepisse gratulor, quo munere, sancte frater, admonuisti me, ut faculam meam diligenter, dum tempus est, appararem, ne cum fatuis excluderer, si cum sapientibus non occurrerem. orate autem, ut et uirgines et fecundae sint animae nostrae, sine sterilitate uirgines, sine corruptione fecundae. hoc enim mysterio et in lege maledictus qui semen in Israel non dederit, et in euangelio uirgo sapiens, quae oleo procurato uigili sollicitudine uncta face sponsi expectat aduentum iamque uenienti non extinguendum pingui fomite lumen accendit. Ergo mens nostra fertilis deo et uitae fructus operibus bonis pariat. sit spiritus uirgo, ut nulla saeculi corrumpatur inlecebra et ab omni labe uitiorum integer maneat. stultae enim uirgines illae mihi uidentur esse animae, quae uirtutibus steriles, et illae sapientes, quae uitiis incorruptae sunt. denique in utroque uirginum genere quinque ponuntur, ut intellegatur ad sensus hominis integritatem aut corruptionem referri; nam quinque sensibus omnes praediti sumus, per quos aut uitam recipimus aut mortem. de ipsis enim dolens 9] (Matth. 25,10). 20] (Matth. 25, 3). FLMPUfHrx . — item eiusdem paulini epistola XVI. L, ad nescioquem suppresso nomine XXlIII. M, item incipit eiusdem epfae paulini X 2 egimus fJ notificationem F 3 indicatis >3 JL 4 eram] eorum U, earam P 5 magis F1 6 «pspexi L 9 adparerem xl 10 currerem xl et fecundae om. M, et facundae fJ 11 simus M animae-uirgines om. M 12 et] est pi maledictus est M 13 semem fJ ysdrael U sapieris U, sapiens dicitur M 14 solicitudine fJl facie L aspectat FPU 15 estinguendum 1 16 accendit om. U 17 deo] sit add. Rostc . 18 sit] et add. Bosw . 19 et om. M ab omni labe ex abominabile P m. 2 20 esse om. FPU 21 steriles] sunt add. FPU ille MP propheta dicit: mors introiuit per fenestras uestras. quas obstruamus timore dei, ut ad omnes istius mundi formas et noces surdi simus et caeci; sepiamus aures nostras spinis contra linguam nequam et inlecebrosa modulamina; auertamus oculos nostros, ne uideant uanitatem; obstruamus et nares nostras, ne de corruptione huius saeculi mortis odorem trahamus, neque per gustum inlicem gulae morbus inrepat et concupiscentiarum cibis continentiae robur eneruet; neque mollibus uestimentis corpori blandiamur, ne carneos tactus et amplexus inlicitos delicatis male palpata tegminibus membra disquatiant. ita fiet, ut in unumquemque nostrum omnibus sensibus castis et oleo doctrinae fidelis inbutis uirgines omnes quinque sapientes maneant et oleo in uasis suis reposito expectatione secura quiescant, facile mox parandis fa.cibus occursurae, cum primo superuenientis sponsi tumultu fuerint excitatae. nam in tantis ecclesiae populis, in quibus non solum uirgines, quarum tamen innumera multitudo est, sed et maritatae et uiduae diuersis et moribus cernuntur et fructibus, non arbitror alia ratione quinque tantum uirgines fatuas et totidem sapientes esse positas, nisi quod utraque persona in totius populi uniuersitate diuersa, numerus autem ratione supradicta singillatim in omnibus continetur, ut unusquisque in semet ipso aut stultas aut prudentes habeat pro qualitate sensuum suorum, in quibus prouidis sapiens, inertibus autem stulta uirginitas est. nam ideo et fatuae sicut sapientes in tanta sui dissimilitudine similiter uirgines 1] Hier. 9, 21. 3] (Eccli. 28, 28). 4] Ps. 118, 37. 1 nostras L 2 obstruamus /3 in textu, in mg.: ai offirmamus huius mundi M 3 uices U et cęci simus M 7 illicem corr. in inuicem F obrepat M 8 et] ut F cibus LM 9 molibus /3 ne] nee FPU 10 delicatatis P 11 disquatiant Rosw., disquatient FPUfil, desquatent X, discatent L, descatent M, despument (uel in carneos dissultent) coni. Sacch . itaque L unoquoque Rosw . 12 et om. Rosto . 17 innumerata FU 18 marite X et moribus] moribus L 20 totidem] quinque M 21 in] est in LM 22 ut om. FPU, et /f 23 prudentes uirgines LMX 25 autem] aut p sicut] sunt /9A appellantur, quia uirginibus secundum carnem sterilitas infecunda, secundum spiritum fructuosa-castitas adest. quare nec sapientes sterilem uirginitatem habent, quia sapientes sunt, nec stultae fructuosam, quia stultae sunt. quarum forma mihi uidetur esse sapientia huius mundi, quae stultitia est apud deum, et sapientia carnis, quae uere uirgo stulta est, quia legi non est iuncta atque subiecta legi et sapientiae dei; et lucerna eius facile extinguitur, quia non habet oleum ueritatis uacua spiritus sancti, quo oculus int-erior luminatur et inpinguatur animae caput, quod est fides nostra, cui oleum est doctrinae caelestis infusio. Itaque oleum peccatoris non inpinguet caput nostrum, neque muscae moriturae exterminent oleum suauitatis, ut semper nobis caput Christus sit, ne umquam deficiat oleum capiti nostro, quia unguentum exinanitum est nomen eius; et tunc omnibus perfecti sensibus erimus uirgines sapientes, si in nobis manserit sapientia dei, per quam facta est etiam in corpore fecunda uirginitas. nimium uos fatigo et multum mihi praesumo de patientia caritatis. sed oportet ut audiam Salomonem in sapientia dei loquentem, ut parcius, ad amantissimos licet, inferam uerbi pedem, ne satiati oderint me; scio autem, quod sicut odisse quis non potest uiscera sua, ita nec uos humilitatem nostram, quam uisceribus uestris permiscuistis. pax et caritas et gratia et humilitas Christi 5] I Cor. 3,19. 7] Rom. 8, 7. 8] Prou. 20,20. 10] (Ps. 140,5). 12] Cant. 1, 2. 2 caritas Chiffl. ex Cluniac . adest ex est U m. 2 4 fructuosam M, fructuosae cet. 5 huius om. M 6 apud deum est F 7 legi non] non M uincta pll quia legi et sapientiae dei non est subiecta cuius lucerna facile M Cluniac . 8 quia no non P 9 spiritu U exterior Rosw . 10 illuminatur L 11 celestis doctrinae F 14 ne] nec Bosto . 16 nunc U perfectis fJ). 19 mihi praesumo multum FPU ut om. LM, in rcu . Xl 20 insapientia FPU, sapientia X parcius inferam FPU 21 uerbis fJ). pedem] taedium p in iixtu, in mg.: af pedem 22 autem] tamen M sicut] sciunt fJ 23 uos per FX, uesper U 24 promiscuistis U domini altissimi abundet in uobis, benedicti fratres merito uenerabiles et dilectissimi.