fornication, adultery, and so on. For everyone is convinced by the natural law and conscience to guard against such sins, and after committing any of these sins, the sinner does not cease to be tormented by his conscience, although it is wounded by every sin, especially when a person tries to keep it unharmed. Conscience and the natural law are in accord with God's written law, and therefore, just as this transgressor convicts the transgressor, so he does not leave the sinner in peace, but constantly torments him. The same is true of those especially who, according to its rule and the law of God, try to spend their lives. For in a conscience stained with sins, even great sins are hardly discernible, just as in a sooty mirror he who looks into his face and vices does not see it. (2) Here we must consider most of those vices which are the cause of other vices, and which, nevertheless, the present age, as you will see, does not consider to be vices. 3) I also declare to the reader that here I have tried to show the abomination and gravity of sin in the discourse on sins, so that those who keep the Christian office may guard themselves from sin, and those who sin may abandon it. And by my reasoning it is not persons who are blasphemed, but the vices that possess these persons are condemned and exposed. Every sin is in man, so it is necessary to mention the man in whom he lives and possesses, although the whole word should refer to sin, and not to man himself.

One must certainly know sin and its abomination for those who want to truly repent and thus be saved. Without the knowledge of sin there is no true repentance, just as without the knowledge of illness there is no healing. How can sin be known if the abomination and gravity of it are not presented to the sinner's eyes? Therefore, no one should be angry at a word of accusation, especially one that is generally spoken of about every person, for it convicts sins, and not the person himself, just as the medicine against illness, and not against man. Without illness there is no need for medicine, and where there is no sin, there is no need for reproof. Forsake sin, then reproof will not touch you, for that of which it convicts will not be. Reproof is like a mirror that shows the vices on the face; and if there are no blemishes on the face, then he will not show them. Do not be angry with the mirror for showing your vices - do not be angry with the accusatory word by which the vices of your soul are shown. Moreover, when you are angry at reproof, which happens in general, you show that your conscience also convicts you of what the word is about. The word accusatory is similar to conscience. How does it happen that when some sins are spoken of in the congregation, those who have them are touched by conscience and show some signs on themselves? As outside the word, so inside the conscience convicts; and what is outside the word, so does the conscience praise within. These two witnesses are both similar and in agreement with each other, and are true, and cannot lie, but always testify to the truth, and what one shows, the other shows. One praises virtue and the other. One denounces sin and the other. And both here, in this age, and on the last day at the Last Judgment, they will be reliable witnesses and denouncers of human sins. Therefore, so that both your word and your conscience do not rebuke you here and at that judgment, forsake your sins and repent truly. Whereas you will not have an inner rebuke, so verbal rebuke will not touch you. Then you will be calm and peaceful, although everyone will blaspheme and curse you. A clear conscience is more reliable than the testimony of all people, and is the only true inner peace, without which a person cannot be at peace, even if he is not disturbed from the outside. 4) It is better for you here, in this world, and secretly within yourself and in front of yourself alone, to endure reproof, and to forsake sin and repent, and thus to be saved, than to be rebuked at that world-wide judgment and to be sent away ashamed into utter darkness, "where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." For what is smoothed out in the conscience here will not appear there either. "Make peace here with thy adversary, while thou art still on the way with him, lest the adversary deliver thee up to the judge, and the judge deliver thee up to the servant, and they cast thee into prison" (Matt. 5:25), for which every word of accusation is intended, that is, that in that public disgrace the sinner should not be rebuked by the righteous Judge. And whoever does not cleanse his conscience and atone for his sins in it, he will certainly be convicted there and will see all his sins presented before him, according to the true word of God: "I will rebuke you, and I will present your sins before your face" (Psalm 49:21). Then every unrepentant sinner will hear: "Behold the man and his works!" Here is a man who called himself a Christian, but did not do Christian deeds; "He said that he knew God, but by his deeds he denied Him" (Titus 1:16); "He had a form of godliness, but denied the power thereof!" (2 Timothy 3:5) And when he hears it before all the world, angels and men, he will be covered with shame. One must abandon that for which the word of God convicts within and without one's conscience, and repent with a broken heart, so as not to be convicted where repentance has no place. 5) Rebuke, when one person happens, should not soften the words, but explain the importance of sin, so that, having been confirmed in sin, he does not perish; how much more should this be done when there is a rebuke in general, without commemorating persons, so that the word may be extended not to caresses, but to rebuke. That is why there is no need to be angry at reproof, even at that which happens directly to one's face, and even more so at that which is said at all. No one is angry with the healer for giving cruel medicine to cure the body. Why should we be angry with him who wants to heal our souls and drive sin out of us with a cruel word, as with a cruel medicine? To whom it was not difficult to decide, let it not be difficult for him to hear conviction of sin, and so repent. When you forsake the sin of which you are convicted, then you will know how profitable the reproof was for you; Then not only will you not be angry with the one who rebuked him, but you will also thank him, just as a sick person, freed from an illness, thanks the healer. Which I earnestly wish for you. 6) Some sin comes from weakness, another from arbitrariness, prejudice and against conscience. From weakness sin, to which even pious people are subject, should be easily and affectionately denounced. But sins committed against conscience and from arbitrariness, and especially old ones that have become customary, require cruel and strict rebuke, like an old disease requires bitter and cruel medicine. Such sins clearly lead sinners to perdition and cannot be driven away otherwise than by severe punishment with God's help. Such people must be strictly rebuked, so that with this voice, as with thunder, they may awaken from the sleep of sin and create true repentance. We must speak the truth everywhere and not be silent about what should be said. A sin that is properly unrevealed and undenounced is either not considered a sin, or is imputed as a slight sin, although the sin has such a gravity in itself that even a small sin can sink the sinner to the bottom of hell, for every sin is against the majesty of God. And when he is not considered a sin or is easy to be judged, then he remains unhealed, which is very dangerous. 7) From this article, in which certain sins are enumerated and explained, you can learn a little, reader, what great corruption and evil is borne within oneself by man, who was created in the image of God and in the likeness, and was holy, pure, blameless, righteous and was the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit; but by the counsel of the evil and evil spirit, and by the venom of the serpent poured in, he was so corrupted that he was "equal to cattle" (Psalm 48:13), which we cannot mourn enough. What is seen in a person who has not been renewed by grace, except that of a beast? In cattle one sees impurity - the same in man, even greater and more vile. In cattle, gluttony is the same in man. In cattle theft is noticed, and so it is in man. In cattle, fierceness, ferocity, anger, malice, and rage are the same in man. In cattle, envy is the same in man. In cattle we see cunning and cunning - the same in man, and so on. That's what a man is like in himself! And, what is more pitiful and deplorable, which unruly passions are scattered in all the dumb, are present in one person. Thus disfigured the poor man, who wanted to have God's honor! The Holy Scriptures terribly describe the unregenerate man, and before our eyes imagine that from here we may know poverty, wretchedness, and the poison of death that is hidden in our hearts: what you see in another, is also in you, although it does not appear outside. There, that is, in the Scriptures, we see that the unregenerate man is now called "the offspring of a viper," now a "fox," now a "pig"; now he is likened to a "lion," now to other animals because of his wickedness, to which he is similar and conformable to those dumb. From this point everyone must shut his mouth and remain silent, by whatever name he may be called. Man is worthy of every dishonorable name, for although he does not do any evil outwardly, yet he bears all evil within, which on occasion appears both externally and externally. 8) From this vile source it follows that the regenerated, the pious and the holy themselves feel the strife in their members, and although they strive against this evil, yet often "they do not do the good that they will" (Romans 7:19); and pray to the Heavenly Father for the forgiveness of sins: "Forgive us our debts"; and with all the Holy Church they cry out to God: "Lord, have mercy!" - and from His righteous judgment they have recourse to His mercy: "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for no one living shall be justified in Thy sight" (Psalm 142:2); and they weep over this wretchedness with the Apostle: "O wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24). 9) From this it is concluded that our justification before God and eternal salvation consist only in the mercy of the Heavenly Father, the merits of Christ, and faith, which joyfully acknowledges Him, as its Redeemer and Saviour, and with a loving and grateful, humble heart ready for obedience, as a healing and salvific cure, adds to its mortal weakness.

Chapter 1: On Pride

"What is high among men is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15)

"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14)

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6)

69. The beginning of pride is the devil, who has departed from his Creator and has turned from a bright angel into the prince of darkness. With this deadly poison he himself was infected, and he infected our hearts so much that we cannot mourn our entire life for that wretchedness.

70. There is nothing more dangerous, hidden, and difficult than pride. Pride is dangerous, for for the proud there is heaven, and instead of heaven hell is determined. "God resists the proud," says the Scriptures. Pride is hidden, because it is so deep in our hearts that we cannot even see it without the help of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is meek in heart; and we know it better in our neighbors than in ourselves. We see other vices, such as drunkenness, fornication, theft, theft, and so on. For often because of them we feel sorry for ourselves and are ashamed. But we do not see pride. Who has ever recognized himself as proud from the heart? I had never seen it before. Many call themselves sinners, but do not tolerate being called so by others, and although many of them do not respond with their tongues, they accept it not without indignation and sorrow of heart. And so it is shown that the tongue only calls themselves sinners, and not the heart; they show humility on their lips, but they do not have them in their hearts. For the truly humble cannot be grieved and angry at reproaches, since he considers himself worthy of all humiliation. There is nothing more difficult than pride, for it is with great inconvenience and also not without God's help that we overcome it. We carry this evil within ourselves. Are we in well-being? With magnificence and pomp, contempt and humiliation of our neighbors, it will sit down for us. Do we get into misfortune? Through indignation, murmuring, and blasphemy, it shows itself. Do we try to learn patience, meekness, and other virtues? With the arrogance of the Pharisees rises up against us. And so nowhere and in no way can we get rid of it: it always walks with us, always wants to dominate and possess us.

71. As "God resists the proud" (James 4:6), they show the terrible destinies of God, which the holy word of God presents to us, so that we, looking at them, may guard with all our might from this vile and soul-destroying vice.

Our forefathers ascended in paradise and desired divine honor - but they lost the honor that they had, and "they were likened to senseless beasts" (Psalm 48:13), and fell to every calamity. The descendants of Noah ascended and by creating a pillar they wanted to create for themselves a glorious name - and the Lord "confused" "their tongue, so that one did not understand the speech of the other" (Gen. 11:3-9). Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, ascended, he wanted to embitter and destroy Him against God and people, and he himself perished with all his army in the Red Sea, and sank like tin in deep water (Exodus 14:15,10). And Korah, Dethan, and Abiram, were lifted up, and they resisted Moses, the prophet of God and their leader, and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the people of Korah, and all their goods. and they went down with all that belonged to them, alive into hell, and the earth covered them, and they perished from among the congregation" (Num. 16:32-33). Sennacherib king of Assyria lifted up a blasphemous voice against the high God and against His holy city, "and an angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of Assyria a hundred and eighty-five thousand men"; but he himself was slain by the sword of his sons (Isaiah 37:36-38). Holofernes, the leader of the Assyrian army, was exalted, and a woman's hand cut off his proud head (Judith 13:8). Haman, the first adviser of the Persian king Artaxerxes, was exalted and "hanged on a tree" which he had prepared for the innocent Israelite Mordecai (Est. 7). And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was lifted up, and he heard a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom is gone from thee. And they shall separate thee from men, and thou shalt dwell with the beasts of the field; with grass they shall feed thee like an ox," and so on (Dan. 4). The city of Capernaum ascended to heaven - and heard from Christ: "And thou, Capernaum, who hast ascended unto heaven, shalt thou descend unto hell" (Matt. 11:23). The Pharisee ascended - and went condemned to his house (Luke 18:14). So God opposes the proud! Thus does the Lord humble the exalted! There is nothing more hateful to God in people than pride. "What is high among men is an abomination to God" (Luke 16:15).

72. The signs of pride are as follows: 1) it does not submit to the higher; 2) is not inferior to equals and inferiors; 3) pride is grandiose, high-pitched and verbose; 4) he seeks glory, honor and praise in every way; 5) exalts himself and his deeds highly; 6) despises and despises others; 7) he is looking for a way to show himself; 8) shamelessly praises himself; 9) whatever good he has, he ascribes to himself, and not to God; 10) He also boasts of the good that he does not have; 11) tries very hard to hide his shortcomings and vices; 12) does not tolerate being despised and humiliated; 13) does not accept admonition, rebuke, advice; 14) arbitrarily interferes in other people's affairs; 15) having lost his rank or honor, and in other misfortunes, he murmurs, is indignant, and often swears; (16) therefore, pride is wrathful, (17) pride is envious: it does not want anyone to be equal to it and be higher than it, to have equal or greater honor, but that it should be superior to everyone else in everything. 18) pride is not inclined to love, hateful. Self-love is the root of all evil. And so pride is the beginning and root of all sin.

73. Pride is not only a grave and abominable sin in itself, but it is also the cause of other sins. For God, Who resists the proud, by righteous judgment takes away His grace from the proud; but Satan, as a proud spirit and murderer, approaches such a house as swept and tidy (Matt. 12:44). That is why a person who is left without the grace of God, as weak and susceptible to all evil, conveniently falls into every sin. Many of both the Holy Scriptures and church histories bear witness to this.

74. The end to which pride leads, Christ Himself, means: "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be humbled" (Luke 14:11). It rises high, but it falls very low. See 71.