Letter 43
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed monk
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore rebukes a monk who began well but has grown lax.
You began well in your manly resolve, but you have not continued — so we hear. You are like the seed sown on rocky ground: it sprang up quickly but withered when the time came for fruit [Matthew 13:5-6]. Anyone who desires the monastic struggle must approach it like the building of a tower — counting the cost from the beginning [Luke 14:28], lest having started with great ambition and failing to follow through, he become a laughingstock to demons, a cause of grief to angels, and an occasion for tears among men.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed monk
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore rebukes a monk who began well but has grown lax.
You began well in your manly resolve, but you have not continued — so we hear. You are like the seed sown on rocky ground: it sprang up quickly but withered when the time came for fruit [Matthew 13:5-6]. Anyone who desires the monastic struggle must approach it like the building of a tower — counting the cost from the beginning [Luke 14:28], lest having started with great ambition and failing to follow through, he become a laughingstock to demons, a cause of grief to angels, and an occasion for tears among men.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.