in the hope of it. to them, restoring ill-gotten goods to their lawful owner, renouncing unlawful intimacy, abstaining from forbidden pleasures, abolishing abuses at the cost of a certain amount of self-denial, and so on, let us think as the Theban ambassador of whom Ælianns writes. This ambassador was sent to the king of Persia, and as he was about to have an audience of that monarch he was informed that at his first entry into the royal chamber he had to fall on his knees and do homage to the king, an homage that seemed to him unworthy of his high office and of the person who had sent him. Very well, he answered; bring me to the king. As soon as he entered the chamber he drew a ring from his finger and purposely let it fall on the ground; he then bent down and picked it up. Thus he appeared to the king to have performed the required act of homage, but he said to himself as he was stooping down: “this is not for you, but for the ring.”[1] So let us too act, my dear brethren. It is hard for me to forgive that man who has injured and insulted me so often, to show him a friendly countenance, to greet him courteously, to be a true friend to him; yet I will do it; I will overcome myself; I will be the first to offer friendship and reconciliation; non tibi, sed annulo—not for your sake, but for the ring of heavenly immortality. It is difficult to give up that property which I have had for such along time, and to restore it to its rightful owner; yet not for your sake, but for the ring of everlasting riches shall it leave my hands this very day. It is better for me to be poor for a short time than to lose heaven forever. It is difficult to put away that person whom I have so dearly loved hitherto, and to renounce all intercourse with her; it is difficult to abstain from those carnal pleasures that I have so frequently indulged in; yet it must and shall be done; non tibi, sed annulo; for the sake of a happy eternity, a blissful heaven! When I am tempted to sin I shall remember the words, “The delight is momentary, the torment eternal.”[2] On the other hand, when there is question of bearing the cross and suffering, I shall say to myself: “The torment is momentary, the delight eternal,” which after I have suffered with patience is prepared for me by the Almighty. This latter I shall try to gain that I may rejoice in heaven forever. Amen.
