Jealousy and Envy (Chapters 14 - 18)

St. Cyprian of Carthage

Chapter 14

Dearest brethren, vices and carnal sins must be crushed, and the infestuous plague of the earthly body must be trampled upon with spiritual vigor, lest, when we again are turned back to the conversation of the old man, we become entangled in deadly snares, as the Apostle providently and beneficially forewarns. He says: 'Therefore, brethren, let us live not according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you shall begin to die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.' If we are the sons of God, if already we begin to be His temples, if, after receiving the Holy Spirit, we live holily and spiritually, if we have lifted our eyes from the earth toward heaven, if we have raised our heart full of God and Christ to supernal and divine things, let us do nothing which is not worthy of God and Christ, as the apostle arouses and urges us. 'If you have risen with Christ,' he says, 'seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are of the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, shall appear, then you too shall appear with Him in glory.' Let us, therefore, who in baptism have both died and been buried according to the carnal sins of the old man, who have risen with Christ in the heavenly regeneration, both consider and do equally the things that are of Christ, as the same Apostle again teaches and advises, saying: 'The first man was of earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As was that one from earth, so are those who are from earth; and as is the heavenly, so are also the heavenly. Just as we have borne the likeness of him who is of the earth, so let us bear the likeness of him who is of heaven.' Moreover, we cannot bear the heavenly images, unless, in that condition in which we have now begun to be, we show the likeness of Christ.

Chapter 15

For this is to have changed what you had been, and to begin to be what you were not, so that the divine birth shine in you, so that the divine discipline may respond to God the Father, so that, in the honor and praise of living, God may shine in man, as He Himself exhorts and advises, and as He promises to those who glorify Him a reward in their turn. He says: 'Those who glorify me, I shall glorify, and him who despises me shall be despised." The Lord, forming and preparing us for this glorification, and the Son of God, instilling the likeness of God the Father, says in His Gospel: 'You have heard that it was said: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and shalt hate thy enemies." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father who is in heaven, who makes his sun to rise on the good and the evil, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.' If it is a joy and a glory for men to have children like themselves, and it delights them to have begotten them when the remaining offspring with like lineaments corresponds to the father, how much greater is the joy in God the Father, when one is so born spiritually that in his acts and praises divine goodness is proclaimed. What a palm of justice it is, what a crown for you to be such that God does not say about you: 'I have brought up children, and exalted them, but they have despised me.' Let Christ rather praise you and invite you to the reward, saying: 'Come blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the origin of the world.'

Chapter 16

The mind, dearest brethren, must be strengthened by these meditations: it must be confirmed against all the darts of the devil by exercises of this kind. Let divine reading be in the hands; let thoughts of the Lord be in the senses; let prayer never cease at all; let saving labor persevere. Let us all be occupied by spiritual actions, so that, as often as the enemy approaches, as often as he tries to come near, he may find the heart closed and armed against him. For the crown of the Christian man is not the one which is received at the time of persecution. Peace also has its crown, by which we are crowned as the victor of many a varied combat,
after the adversary has been laid low and subdued. To have overcome lust is the palm of continence. To have resisted wrath and injury is the crown of patience. Triumph over avarice is to spurn money. Praise of faith is to endure the adversities of the world by faith in the future. And he who is not proud in prosperity obtains the glory of humility. And he who is inclined to the mercifulness of befriending the poor gains the retribution of a heavenly treasure. And he knows not how to be jealous and, being of one mind and kind, loves his brethren, is honored with the reward of love and peace. We run daily in this contest of virtues; we arrive at these palms and crowns of justice without interruption of time.

Chapter 17

That you also may be able to arrive at these crowns, you who had been possessed by jealousy and zeal, abandon all that malice with which you were formerly held, and reform yourself to the way of eternal life with the footsteps of salvation. Tear out of your heart the thorns and the thistles, that the Lord's seed may enrich you with a fertile fruit, that the divine and spiritual crop may burst forth into the plenty of a rich harvest. Expel the venom of gall; cast out the virus of discords; let the mind which the jealousy of the serpent had infected be cleansed; let all the bitterness which had settled within be softened by the sweetness of Christ. From the sacrament of the cross you receive both food and drink; let the wood, which availed at Mara in a figure for sweetening the taste, avail you in truth for soothing the softened breast, and you will not labor for the remedy for increasing the health. Cure yourself at the source from which you had been wounded. Love those whom you hated before; esteem those whom you envied with unjust disparagements. Imitate the good, if you can follow them; if you cannot follow them, surely rejoice with them and congratulate your betters. Make yourself a sharer with them in a united love; make yourself an associate in a fellowship of charity and in a bond of brotherhood. Your debts will be forgiven you, when you yourself shall forgive; your sacrifices will be accepted, when you shall come to God as a peace-maker. Your thoughts and actions will be directed by God, when you ponder the things that are divine and just, as it is written: 'Let the heart of man ponder just things, so that his steps may be directed by God.'

Chapter 18

Moreover, you have many things to ponder. Ponder paradise, where Cain, who destroyed his brother through jealousy, does not return. Ponder the kingdom of heaven to which the Lord admits only those of one heart and mind. Ponder the fact that only those can be called the sons of God who are peace-makers, who, united by divine birth and law, correspond to the likeness of God the Father and Christ. Ponder that we are under God's eyes, that we are running the course of our conversation, and life with God Himself looking on and judging, that then finally we can arrive at the point of succeeding in seeing Him, if we delight Him as He now observes us by our actions, if we show ourselves worthy of His grace and indulgence,
if we, who are to please Him forever in heaven, please Him first in this world.