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Ad Donatum

15.

Do you, however, whom the celestial warfare has enlisted in the spiritual camp, only observe a discipline uncorrupted and chastened in the virtues of religion. Be constant as well in prayer as in reading; now speak with God, now let God speak with you, let Him instruct you in His precepts, let Him direct you. Whom He has made rich, none shall make poor; for, in fact, there can be no poverty to him whose breast has once been supplied with heavenly food. Ceilings enriched with gold, and houses adorned with mosaics of costly marble, will seem mean to you, now when you know that it is you yourself who are rather to be perfected, you who are rather to be adorned, and that that dwelling in which God has dwelt as in a temple, in which the Holy Spirit has begun to make His abode, is of more importance than all others. Let us embellish this house with the colours of innocence, let us enlighten it with the light of justice: this will never fall into decay with the wear of age, nor shall it be defiled by the tarnishing of the colours of its walls, nor of its gold. Whatever is artificially beautified is perishing; and such things as contain not the reality of possession afford no abiding assurance to their possessors. But this remains in a beauty perpetually vivid, in perfect honour, in permanent splendour. It can neither decay nor be destroyed; it can only be fashioned into greater perfection when the body returns to it.

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Ad Donatum (CSEL)

§ 15

Tu tantum, quem iam spiritalibus castris caelestis militia signauit, tene incorruptam, tene sobriam religiosis uirtutibus disciplinam. sit tibi uel¹ oratio adsidua²uel³ lectio. nunc cum Deo loquere, nunc Deus tecum. ille te praeceptis suis instruat, ille disponat. quem ille diuitem fecerit, nemo pauperem faciet. penuria esse nulla iam poterit, cum semel pectus caelestis sagina saturanerit⁴. iam tibi auro distincta laquearia et pretiosi marmoris crustis⁵uestita⁶ domicilia sordebunt, cum scieris te excolendum magis, te potius ornandum, domum tibi hanc esse potiorem, quam Dominus insedit templi uice, in qua Spiritus sanctus coepit habitare. pingamus hanc domum pigmentis innocentiae, luminamus⁷ luce iustitiae. non haec umquam⁸procumbet⁹ in lapsum senio uetustatis¹⁰, nec pigmento parietis aut auro exolescente foedabitur. caduca sunt, quaecumque fucata sunt, nec fiduciam praebent !possidentibus stabilem, quae possessionis non habeant ueritatem. ¹¹P. 16 hoc manet cultu iugiter¹² uiuido, honore integro, splendore diuturno¹³. aboleri non potest nec extingui, potest tantum in melius corpore redeunte formari.