¹ Every discipline, according to the Apostle, seems at present not to be a cause of joy, but of sorrow; yet afterward, it yields a pleasant fruit and a peaceful reward to those who have been trained by it. For what, indeed, in this life is learned without toil or sorrow, especially in a time of great foolishness and frailty on our part? If even temporal disciplines deprive us of present joy, what should we expect from the discipline of our own school, which is the discipline of all disciplines and which, through present sorrow, prepares for the joy of eternal time and the delight of everlasting happiness?

² For what kind of discipline is there that does not involve the sorrow of correction? How much grief and toil are found in the craft of artisans? How much labor? How much effort is required of builders and craftsmen? How many blows and pains do those learning music endure? How much hardship and suffering do the disciples of medicine face? And what anxieties and privations do the lovers of wisdom and philosophers endure? Finally, how many dangers must be braved by those who aspire to govern?

³ In all these cases, after enduring countless miseries, a peaceful end is patiently awaited. And by considering that end, the aforementioned calamities—though accompanied by sorrow and much bitterness—are nonetheless endured. For although discipline brings sorrow, its end is joy; toil turns into security; and, in a wondrous way, sorrow is borne for the sake of joy, bitterness for the sake of sweetness, labor for the sake of rest, and unrest for the sake of peace. Even though they do not know whether they will reach the goal of their discipline, they still endure present sorrow for the uncertain hope of future joy, neither rejecting nor despising it. And while they do not toil sluggishly, they achieve their goal.

⁴ For who among them is certain that he will even become a master of the discipline whose labor he endures? Or that he will ever partake of the joy for which he suffers sorrow?

⁵ If, therefore, such great and arduous efforts are endured unweariedly for temporal and uncertain things, what should we be willing to endure for things that are eternal, true, and certain, whose end is everlasting? Indeed, if those who pursue temporal disciplines are uncertain how long they will be able to enjoy what they have attained, they are nonetheless undeterred in their pursuit. Thus, they are doubly more persistent than we: for while they are uncertain whether they will even reach the goal of their discipline—due to the uncertainty of life and the dullness of human understanding—nevertheless, having attained it, they are again in doubt as to how long they will possess it. The more uncertain they are about their success, the more certain they are that they will soon lose it.

⁶ Thus, temporal studies, failing intellects, sorrows, griefs, hardships, labors, dangers, wanderings, injuries, and exhaustion—all these are endured for things that are known to be uncertain and fragile. Should we then be surprised if the discipline of our school involves tribulations, troubles, sorrows, or bitterness? Should we consider it something to be avoided? Is there any true mastery without discipline, or can discipline be attained without bitterness?

⁷ Since these things are so, let us prepare our souls not for joy, not for security, but—as the Wise Man says—for trials and tribulations, for sorrows and labors. Christ was afflicted, insulted, reviled, and suffered—do you think you will find security on earth? See and understand how difficult it is to overcome the world, when even the saints have not been freed from it except through the death of Christ. “If the righteous man is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”. Hear the Lord saying to His disciples: “In the world you will have tribulation”. And again: “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful”.

⁸ Behold the sorrow of our discipline; understand that we do not pass from joy to joy, nor from security to security, but from mourning to joy, and from tribulation to peace. Therefore, we must patiently endure brief sorrow so that we may attain eternal joy. We must bear our light affliction with eagerness so that we may grasp the life of boundless glory forever.

⁹ If (as we have so often said) people endure such hardships for fleeting things and do not yield, what could possibly weary or overcome us who are laborers for the Kingdom of Heaven? We should yield neither to prosperity nor to adversity, neither to flatterers nor to friends; for the world is full of both, and both are conquered by the leader of our battle. And let us consider how dangerous it is for the impure to yield to things to which even the pure did not yield. With Christ, let us look down upon the honors of the world and the kingdoms of the devil with all their glory.

¹⁰ Let us despise all that belongs to the devil and say to him, the prince of fleeting joys: “May your possessions perish with you”. Let us be sorrowful unto death with Christ so that our sorrow may be turned into joy. Let the world rejoice with the devil—far be it from us to share in their joy. If we wish to rejoice now, let us rejoice in hope only, so that we may later have true joy in reality. Let us be sorrowful because of our sins, but joyful because of the hope of eternal life; sorrowful because Christ is absent, yet exultant because we read: “We shall see Him as He is”.

¹¹ Even though we are filled with the sorrows of present miseries and grieve over the multitude of our sins, the victory over both will bring us great joy and noble gladness. And though we are now exiles from the Lord, we know that for the brief duration of this battle, we will be crowned forever. Therefore, we must not be excessively sorrowful, knowing that we will soon go to God and remain with Him always. For He created us so that we might reign with Him forever and praise Him through all ages.

¹² Knowing this, let us not falter under any labor, nor be overcome by any tribulation, nor be wearied by any sorrow, nor be exhausted by any battle, nor be weakened by the difficulties of discipline, nor be deceived by any pleasures or flatteries. And, in the words of the Apostle, let nothing separate us from the love of Christ—no tribulation, no distress, no persecution, no famine, no nakedness, no peril, no sword, no fire, no cross, no death. Let nothing sorrowful, nothing sweet, nothing hard, nothing alluring, nothing of the world’s vanities separate us from Christ, so that we may cleave to Him here and forever in eternity. Amen.