It is, however, very hard to deal with the character of one in whom there is such desire to learn, such eagerness for perfection that no teaching, however admirable, can really meet her needs: she rightly remembers what worldly wealth and honour she has rejected, what pleasures she has renounced, in a word, what attractions of this present life she has spurned, and for that reason she is dissatisfied with this common, mediocre kind of life of ours and, finding herself to be easily capable of being cheapened by mere association with the majority, seeks something new and unusual and looks for a special and singular quality of some kind in her life.
AD CINEREM SHADOWS OF DOUBT MANUAL
Who could possibly lack words to sing the praises of one who, though born in the highest station, brought up in the height of wealth and luxury, held fast by the strength and variety of this life's delights as if in the grip of the most tenacious of fetters, suddenly broke free and exchanged all her bodily goods simultaneously for goodness of the soul? Of one who cut off with the sword of faith, that is, her own free will, the very flower of a life still only just beginning and, by crucifying her flesh with Christ, dedicated it as a living and holy sacrifice to God and for love of virginity renounced the prospect of providing posterity for a very noble stock? An easy, simple way to make a speech is to let the very richness of the subject-matter speed it along its course but we have to proceed along a very different road, since our purpose is to write a manual of instruction for the virgin, not an encomium, to portray not so much the virtues which she has already acquired as those which she has still to acquire, and to order the remainder of her life rather than to honour that part of it which is now in the past.Ģ.
It is to Demetrias that I have to write, that virgin of Christ who is both noble and rich and, which is more important, spurns both nobility and riches assuredly it is as difficult for me to instruct her as it is easy for all to praise her out of admiration for her outstanding virtue. Even if I could claim to possess natural talent of a high quality and an equally high degree of artistic skill and believed myself for that reason to be capable of fulfilling with ease the obligation of writing, I would still not be able to enter upon this arduous task without considerable fear of the difficulties involved.
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