CHAPTER XXXI.

ON THE CUSTODY OF THE TONGUE AND OF THE EARS, AND THE LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR.

REFRAIN thy tongue from uncharitable and unbecoming words. Speak wisely what is useful, true, and fitting, when the time and place or some good reason require thee to speak, putting entirely aside all deceit and all culpable dissimulation. The tongue is a little member, but exceedingly dangerous and prone to evil. Do thou diligently restrain it, and govern it prudently.

Let all hateful bitterness and all immoderate and unseasonable sharpness be absent from thy words. Fly from disputes; do not readily either assert or deny anything with pertinacity, unless the cause of 82the faith or the good of souls should require it. If thou makest no impression when thou hast calmly given utterance to the truth, leave each one to his own judgments, and committing all things to God, keep thyself in peace; for it is better that thou shouldst consult the quiet of thy own conscience by opportunely yielding, than that thou shouldst inwardly disturb and confuse thyself by unseasonable and clamorous disputes.

Thou shalt neither speak with eagerness of those things which concern thy own praise or the discredit of others, nor listen to them with pleasure. And if it should be necessary to speak or to hear such things, let thy intention be pure and innocent. He labours under a dangerous disease who willingly speaks of the vices of others, and divulges them rashly. Such a one often covers with a false pretext of zeal for piety and justice the things which he says out of mere levity or from a bad disposition.

When thou hast to reprove any one, do thou exhort and admonish him rather than reproach or revile him, so long as the matter admits of gentleness. If severity is necessary, see that thou art severe with out bitterness. Let not anger or any selfish motive urge thee to more vehement correction, but only the love of God and the good of souls. Let thy reason remain ever tranquil. Let holy discretion rule and temper even the severity of thy words. Persecute the sin, not the man. For man is a good thing, created by God; sin is a bad thing, made by man. When thou seemest outwardly to inveigh sharply 83against any one, do thou inwardly pity him with secret affection, and in thy heart prefer him to thyself. If thou feelest thy mind to be seriously disturbed, either defer the correction till the disturbance has passed away, or speak but a few words without impetuosity.

Do thou cut short as far as in thee lies, without rudeness, all discourse that is immodest or otherwise pernicious, and divert it to other subjects. Thou must abhor not only to consent, but even to lend an ear to detractors. Thou shalt never favour the sins of others.

Thou shalt hate no man, nor shalt thou show to any one that thy affection is diminished, however much he may have injured thee.

If an aversion to another arises in thy mind, thou must immediately suppress it: and if thou canst not succeed in extinguishing it, let thy reason resist it. When God is offended, then indeed thou mayest suspend thy accustomed familiarity with the delinquent, in order that he, seeing thee changed, may more readily look into his own heart, and, acknowledging his sin, may more quickly correct himself: thou must not, however, lay aside thy benevolence, nor allow thyself to feel harshly towards him.

If a difference should arise between thee and another, do thou on thy part at once endeavour to restore peace and to treat of reconciliation; so that no vestige of the quarrel may remain in thy heart. Hatred of our neighbour is a huge evil, a huge evil 84indeed; and while it occupies the mind, nothing that we do can be pleasing to God.

Though thou mayest fast much, though thou mayest give abundant alms, though thou mayest assiduously frequent the church, and pray continually, though thou mayest daily offer the heavenly sacrifice upon the altar: yet if thou hatest thy brother, thou art not of the number of the sons of God. By charity are the children of God distinguished from the children of the devil. This is a tremendous saying, but it is a true one. He who is Himself the Truth saith, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (St. John xiii. 35). The Apostle of Truth, St. John, saith, “He who loveth not his brother is not of God” (1 St. John iv. 7, 8). Of whom is he, therefore? Every one is clearly either of God, or of the devil. Do thou then love all men purely, and honour all: be of good will, and, as far as thou canst, do good to all: look upon all with friendly eyes, as brothers and sisters, and most excellent creatures of God, capable of eternal blessedness, that thou mayest be pleasing to thy Father who is in heaven.