[Chapter XXII: An Admonition to the Brothers]^a

¹All my brothers: let us pay attention to what the Lord says: Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you ^{Mt 5:44 2}for our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose footprints we must follow, ^{1 Pt 2:21 Mt 26:50} called His betrayer a friend and willingly offered Himself to His executioners. ^{Jn 10:18}

³Our friends, therefore, are all those who unjustly inflict upon us distress and anguish, shame and injury, sorrow and punishment, martyrdom and death. ⁴We must love them greatly for we shall possess eternal life because of what they bring us.

⁵And let us hate our body with its vices and sins, because by living according to the flesh, ^{Rom 8:4} the devil wishes to take away from us the love of Jesus Christ and eternal life and to lose himself in hell with everyone else. ⁶Because, by our own fault, we are disgusting, miserable and opposed to good, yet prompt and inclined to evil, for, as the Lord says in the Gospel: ⁷From the heart proceed and come evil thoughts, ^{Mt 15:19} adultery, fornication, murder, theft, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, false witness, blasphemy, foolishness. ^{Mk 7:22 8}All these evils come from within, ^{Mt 15:19 Mk 7:23} from a person’s heart, and these are what defile a person. ^{Mk 7:23 Mt 15:20}

⁹Now that we have left the world, however, we have nothing else to do but to follow the will of the Lord and to please Him. ¹⁰Let us be careful that we are not earth along the wayside, or that which is rocky or full of thorns, in keeping with what the Lord says in the Gospel: ¹¹The word of God is a seed. ^{Lk 8:11}

¹²What fell along the wayside and was trampled under foot, ^{Lk 8:5} however, are those who hear the word ^{Lk 8:12} and do not understand it. !¹³The devil comes ^{Mt 13:19} immediately ^{Lk 8:12} and snatches ^{Mk 4:15} what was planted in their hearts ^{Mt 13:19} and takes the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. ^{Mk 4:15 Lk 8:12}

¹⁴What fell on rocky ground, however, are those who, as soon as they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. ^{Mt 13:20 15}But when tribulation and persecution come because of the word, ^{Mk 4:16} they immediately fall away. ^{Mt 13:21} These have no roots in them; they last only for a time, because they believe only for a time ^{Mk 4:17} and fall away in time of trial. ^{Lk 8:13}

¹⁶What fell among thorns, however, are those ^{Lk 8:14} who hear the word of God ^{Mk 4:18 Mt 13:22} and the anxiety ^{Mk 4:19} and worries of this world, ^{Mt 13:22} the lure of riches, and other inordinate desires intrude and choke the word and they remain without fruit. ^{Mt 13:22}

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[Caput XXII - De admonitione fratrum]

¹Attendamus omnes fratres quod dicit Dominus: Diligite inimicos vestros et benefacite his qui oderunt vos, ²quia Dominus noster Jesus Christus, cuius sequi vestigia debemus, traditorem suum vocavit amicum et crucifixoribus suis sponte se obtulit. ³Amici igi- tur nostri sunt omnes illi qui nobis iniuste inferunt tribulationes et angustias, verecundias et iniurias, dolores et tormenta, martyrium et mortem; ⁴quos multum diligere debemus, quia ex hoc quod nobis inferunt, habemus vitam aeternam.

⁵Et odio habeamus corpus nostrum cum vitiis et peccatis suis; quia carnaliter vivendo vult diabolus a nobis auferre amorem Jesu Christi et vitam aeternam et se ipsum cum omnibus perdere in infernum; ⁶quia nos per culpam nostram sumus foetidi, miseri et bono contrarii, ad mala autem prompti et voluntarii, quia, sicut Dominus dicit in evangelio: ⁷De corde procedunt et exeunt cogitationes malae, adulteria, fornicationes, homicidia, furta, avaritia, nequitia, dolus, impudicitia, oculus malus, falsa testimonia, blasphemia, stultitia. ⁸Haec omnia mala ab intus de corde hominis procedunt et haec sunt, quae coinquinant hominem.

⁹Nunc autem, postquam dimisimus mundum, nihil aliud habemus facere, nisi sequi voluntatem Domini et placere sibi ipsi. ¹⁰Multum caveamus, ne simus terra secus viam vel petrosa vel spinosa secundum quod dicit Dominus in evangelio: ¹¹Semen est verbum Dei. ¹²Quod autem secus viam cecidit et conculcatum est, hi sunt qui audiunt verbum et non intelligunt; ¹³et confestim venit diabolus et rapit, quod seminatum est in cordibus eorum et tollit verbum de cordibus eorum, ne credentes salvi fiant. ¹⁴Quod autem super petrosam cecidit, hi sunt, qui cum audierint verbum, statim cum gaudio suscipiunt illud. ¹⁵Facta autem tribulatione et persecutione propter verbum, continuo scandalizantur et hi radicem in se non habent, sed temporales sunt, quia ad tempus cre- dunt et in tempore tentationis recedunt. ¹⁶Quod autem in spinis cecidit, hi sunt qui verbum Dei audiunt, et sollicitudo et aerumnae istius saeculi et fallacia divitiarum et circa reliqua concupiscentiae introeuntes suffocant verbum et sine fructu efficiuntur.