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care is testified by the commandment of the Lord, and is labored for according to God, for each of those working in his own work, pleasing God is achieved; but their unity with one another, in that they are all of one accord, thinking the one thing, fulfills what was said by the Apostle: For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit. QUESTION 155. Since we who serve the sick in the hospice are taught to serve with such a disposition, as serving the brothers of the Lord, if the one being served is not such a person, how ought we to attend to him. ANSWER. The Lord having said: For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother; if someone is not such a person, but is convicted of sinning, being worthy of that sentence, that He who commits sin is a slave of sin; first he needs exhortation and admonition from the one presiding. But if he persists in the same things, the judgment of the same Lord is manifest upon him, who brings it, The slave does not remain in the house, and of the Apostle commanding: Put away from yourselves the evil person. For thus will there be impartiality for those serving and safety for all those living together. QUESTION 156. Regarding one entrusted with a charge, that is of the cellarer, or some other such person, whether he must always have the charge, or also be rotated. ANSWER. If he observes the knowledge of good order, and the precision of the rule, rotating is superfluous, or rather difficult and hard to provide for; but it is necessary to have someone following along, who ought to be formed in turn for the charge; so that, when need seeks a successor, we may not be troubled by finding ourselves at a loss for one; and often we are forced to bring to the work one who is not 31.1185 suitably disposed; so that it happens of necessity through his inexperience that both precision is corrupted and the good order according to reason is dissolved. QUESTION 157. With what kind of disposition ought one to serve God, and what in general is this disposition. ANSWER. I consider a good disposition to be a desire for pleasing God that is vehement, and insatiable, and fixed, and unchangeable. And this is achieved in wise and continuous contemplation of the majesty of the glories of God, and in grateful reasonings and uninterrupted remembrance of the good things that have come to us from God. From which arises in the soul that: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, according to the one who said: As the deer longs for the fountains of waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. With such a disposition, therefore, one must serve God, fulfilling what was said by the Apostle: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? and so on. QUESTION 158. With what kind of disposition ought one to receive a penance. ANSWER. With that which is fitting for a son who is sick and struggling for his life, being treated by a father and physician, even if the manner of treatment is bitter and painful, in full assurance of both the love and the experience of the one imposing the penance, and in desire for healing. QUESTION 159 What sort of person is he who is grieved against the one who has imposed a penance on him. ANSWER. He has not known the danger of sin, and especially that towards God, nor the benefit of repentance, nor has he believed the one who said: But he who loves, disciplines diligently; and he has made himself a stranger to the benefit of the one who said: A righteous man will discipline me in mercy, and will reprove me. And such a person associates harmfully with the brotherhood, distracting those who are striving. 31.1188 QUESTION 160. With what disposition ought we to serve the brethren. ANSWER. As offering the service to the Lord himself, who said: As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.

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φροντὶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ Κυρίου μαρτυ ρεῖται, καὶ κατὰ Θεὸν ἐκπονεῖται, ἑκάστῳ μὲν τῶν ἐργαζομένων ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ἔργῳ ἡ πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρέ στησις κατορθοῦται· ἡ δὲ ἑνότης αὐτῶν πρὸς ἀλλή λους, ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς τοὺς πάντας συμψύχους, τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντας, πληροῦντας τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστό λου εἰρημένον· Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῇ σαρκὶ ἄπειμι, ἀλλὰ τῷ πνεύματι σὺν ὑμῖν εἰμι. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΝΕʹ. Ἐπειδὴ διδασκόμεθα οἱ ὑπηρετοῦντες τοῖς ἐν τῷ ξενοδοχείῳ ἀῤῥώστοις μετὰ τοιαύτης διαθέ σεως ὑπηρετεῖν, ὡς ἀδελφοῖς τοῦ Κυρίου ὑπηρετοῦντες, ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ ὁτοιοῦτος ὑπηρετού μενος, πῶς ὀφείλομεν αὐτῷ προσέχειν. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Τοῦ Κυρίου εἰπόντος· Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ποιήσῃ τὸ θέ λημα τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, οὗτός μου ἀδελφὸς, καὶ ἀδελφὴ, καὶ μήτηρ ἐστί· εἰ μὴ ἔστι τις τοιοῦτος, ἁμαρτάνων δὲ ἐλέγχεται ἄξιος ὢν τῆς ἀποφάσεως ἐκείνης, ὅτι Ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρ τίαν δοῦλός ἐστι τῆς ἁμαρτίας· πρῶτον μὲν παρα κλήσεως χρῄζει καὶ νουθεσίας παρὰ τοῦ προ εστῶτος. Ἐὰν δὲ ἐπιμένῃ τοῖς αὐτοῖς, φανερόν ἐστιν ἐπ' αὐτῷ τὸ κρῖμα τοῦ αὐτοῦ Κυρίου ἐπάγοντος, Ὁ δὲ δοῦλος οὐ μένει ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, καὶ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου παραγγείλαντος· Ἐξάρατε τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν. Οὕτω γὰρ τοῖς τε ὑπηρετοῦσι τὸ ἀδιά κριτον καὶ τοῖς συζῶσι πᾶσι τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ὑπάρξει. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΝʹ. Τὸν πεπιστευμένον φροντίδα ἤτοι κελλαρίου, ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς τοιούτου, εἰ δεῖ πάντοτε ἔχειν τὴν φροντίδα, ἢ καὶ ἐναλλάσσεσθαι. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Εἰ τὴν ἐπιστήμην τῆς εὐταξίας, καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ κανόνος φυλάσσει, τὸ ἐναλλάσσεσθαι μὲν περισ σὸν, μᾶλλον δὲ δύσκολον καὶ δυσπόριστον· ἔχειν δέ τινα παρακολουθοῦντα ἀναγκαῖον, ὀφείλοντα κατὰ μέρος πρὸς τὴν φροντίδα τυποῦσθαι· ἵνα μὴ, ὅταν ἡ χρεία ἐπιζητῇ τὸν διαδεξόμενον, ἐν ἀπορίᾳ τούτου εὑρεθέντες ταρασσώμεθα· πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τὸν οὐκ 31.1185 ἐπιτηδείως ἔχοντα παράγειν εἰς τὸ ἔργον ἀναγκα ζώμεθα· ὥστε συμβαίνειν ἐξ ἀνάγκης παρὰ τὴν τούτου ἀπειρίαν τήν τε ἀκρίβειαν διαφθείρεσθαι, καὶ τὴν κατὰ λόγον εὐταξίαν διαλύεσθαι. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΝΖʹ. Ποταπῇ διαθέσει ὀφείλει τις δουλεύειν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ὅλως ἡ διάθεσις αὕτη τί ἐστιν. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. ∆ιάθεσιν ἀγαθὴν ἡγοῦμαι εἶναι ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως σφοδρὰν, καὶ ἀκόρεστον, καὶ πεπηγυῖαν, καὶ ἀμετάθετον. Κατορθοῦται δὲ αὕτη ἐν θεωρίᾳ συνετῇ καὶ διηνεκεῖ τῆς μεγαλειότητος τῶν δοξῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, λογισμοῖς τε εὐγνώμοσι καὶ ἀδιαλείπτῳ μνήμῃ τῶν ὑπαρξάντων ἡμῖν παρὰ Θεοῦ ἀγαθῶν. Ἀφ' ὧν ἐγγίνεται τῇ ψυχῇ τό· Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα· Ὃν τρόπον ἐπι ποθεῖ ἡ ἔλαφος ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων, οὕτως ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς σὲ, ὁ Θεός. Μετὰ τοιαύτης οὖν διαθέσεως δουλεύειν χρὴ τῷ Θεῷ, πληροῦντα τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου εἰρημένον· Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ; Θλίψις, ἢ στενοχωρία, ἢ διωγμὸς, ἢ γυμνότης, ἢ κίνδυνος, ἢ μάχαιρα; καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΝΗʹ. Ποταπῇ διαθέσει ὀφείλει δέχεσθαι τὸ ἐπιτίμιόν τις. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Τῇ πρεπούσῃ υἱῷ ἀῤῥώστῳ καὶ ἀγωνιῶντι περὶ τοῦ ζῇν, παρὰ πατρὸς καὶ ἰατροῦ θεραπευομέ νῳ, κἂν πικρὸς καὶ ἐπώδυνος ᾖ ὁ τρόπος τῆς θερα πείας, ἐν πληροφορίᾳ τῆς τε ἀγάπης καὶ τῆς ἐμ πειρίας τοῦ ἐπιτιμῶντος, καὶ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ τῆς ἰάσεως. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΝΘʹ Ὁ λυπούμενος κατὰ τοῦ ἐπιτιμήσαντος αὐτῷ ποταπός ἐστιν. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Οὔτε τὸν κίνδυνον τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐγνώρισε, καὶ μά λιστα τὸν πρὸς Θεὸν, οὔτε τὸ κέρδος τῆς μετανοίας, οὔτε ἐπίστευσε τῷ εἰπόντι· Ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν, ἐπιμε λῶς παιδεύει· καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἀλλότριον κατέστησε τῆς ὠφελείας τοῦ εἰπόντος· Παιδεύσει με δίκαιος ἐν ἐλέει, καὶ ἐλέγξει με. Καὶ ἐπιβλαβῶς σύνεστιν ὁ τοιοῦτος τῇ ἀδελφότητι, ἀπασχολῶν τοὺς ἀγωνιζο μένους. 31.1188 ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΞʹ. Μετὰ ποίας διαθέσεως ὀφείλομεν ὑπηρετεῖν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ὡς αὐτῷ τῷ Κυρίῳ προσφέροντες τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν, τῷ εἰπόντι· Ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε.