78.  One branch of philosophy is, however, too high for me, the commission to guide and govern souls—and before I have rightly learned to submit to a shepherd, or have had my soul duly cleansed, the charge of caring for a flock:  especially in times like these, when a man, seeing everyone else rushing hither and thither in confusion, is content to flee from the melee and escape, in sheltered retirement, from the storm and gloom of the wicked one:  when the members are at war with one another, and the slight remains of love, which once existed, have departed, and priest is a mere empty name, since, as it is said, contempt243    Ps. cvii. 40. has been poured upon princes.244    Princes, ἄρχοντας.  i.e. The office of the priesthood, which is one of dignity, has been brought into contempt by the unworthiness of those ordained to it, who have, by their want of the virtues requisite for their office, made it an empty name—and, not only so, but have been actively vicious.

ΟΗʹ. Τοῦτο δὲ φιλοσοφῆσαι κρεῖττον ἢ καθ' ἡμᾶς, δέξασθαι ψυχῶν ἡγεμονίαν καὶ προστασίαν, καὶ μήπω μηδὲ ποιμαίνεσθαι καλῶς μαθόντας ἡμᾶς, μηδὲ καθαρθέντας τὴν ψυχὴν ὅσον ἄξιον, ἔπειτα ποίμνης ἐπιστατεῖν πιστευθῆναι: καὶ ταῦτα ἐν καιροῖς τοιούτοις, ἐν οἷς ἀγαπητὸν ὁρῶντα τοὺς ἄλλους ἄνω καὶ κάτω στρεφομένους τε καὶ ταρασσομένους, φυγόντα φυγῇ ἐκ τοῦ μέσου, ὑπὸ σκέπην ἀναχωρήσαντα, λαθεῖν τοῦ πονηροῦ τὴν ζάλην καὶ τὴν σκοτόμαιναν: ἡνίκα πολεμεῖ μὲν ἀλλήλοις τὰ μέλη, οἴχεται δὲ τῆς ἀγάπης, εἰ καί τι ἦν λείψανον, ὄνομα δὲ κενὸν ἄλλως ὁ ἱερεὺς, ἐκχυθείσης ἐπ' ἄρχοντας ἐξουδενώσεως, ὥσπερ εἴρηται.