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Considering which things, beloved brethren, let us with vigilance and
courage fortify our hearts dedicated to God against such a destructiveness of
evil. Let the death of others avail for our safety; let the punishment of the
unwise confer health upon the prudent. Moreover, there is no ground for any one
to suppose that evil of that kind is confined in one form, or restrained within
brief limits in a narrow boundary. The mischief of jealousy, manifold and
fruitful, extends widely. It is the root of all evils, the fountain of
disasters, the nursery of crimes, the material of transgressions. Thence arises
hatred, thence proceeds animosity. Jealousy inflames avarice, in that one
cannot be content with what is his own, while he sees another more wealthy.
Jealousy stirs up ambition, when one sees another more exalted in honours. When
jealousy darkens our perceptions, and reduces the secret agencies of the mind
under its command, the fear of God is despised, the teaching of Christ is
neglected, the day of judgment is not anticipated. Pride inflates, cruelty
embitters, faithlessness prevaricates, impatience agitates, discord rages,
anger grows hot; nor can he who has become the subject of a foreign authority
any longer restrain or govern himself. By this the bond of the Lord's peace is
broken; by this is violated brotherly charity; by this truth is adulterated,
unity is divided; men plunge into heresies and schisms when priests are
disparaged, when bishops are envied, when a man complains that he himself was
not rather ordained, or disdains to suffer that another should be put over him.
Hence the man who is haughty through jealousy, and perverse through envy,
kicks, hence he revolts, in anger and malice the opponent, not of the man, but
of the honour.
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