By bringing the word to the end of the life of Moses, it will be good to prove that this rule of perfection given to us is indubitable. For whoever in the course of his whole life attains greater and greater heights by so many ascents, did not doubt to become still higher than himself, so that his life, like an eagle, is seen in everything, I think, as above the clouds, surpassing, soaring in the ether of mental ascent. He was born when the Egyptians imputed a misdeed to a Jew to be born. The torturer punished the newborn according to the law. But Moses does not submit to the destructive law, having been saved first by his parents, and then by those who decreed the law; And those who, according to the law, should have taken care of his death, took full care, not only for his life, but also for his glorious life, teaching the youth all wisdom. After this, he placed himself above human honor, pre-eminent to the royal rank, recognizing himself as more powerful and royal, instead of the title of royal armor-bearer, and instead of royal adornments, to have the right to stand on guard of virtue and to boast of its majesty. Then he saves a fellow countryman, and destroys the Egyptian with a blow, by which in our successive survey we mean the enemy and friend of the soul. After this, silence makes the teacher of lofty lessons, and enlightens the mind with the light that shines from the bushes. And then he makes an effort to make his fellow tribesmen participants in the blessings granted to him from above. At the same time, he presented a special proof of strength, punitive in the various executions that followed one another against the enemies, and beneficial to his fellow tribesmen. On foot, he leads a multitude across the sea, not preparing a detachment of ships for himself, but equipping the Israelites for sailing. He makes the depth unwet for the Hebrews, and the sea for the Egyptians the sea. He also sang a song of victory, and was a pillar of guidance, illumined by heavenly fire, built his meal from food given from above, quenched his thirst with a stone, raised his hands to the destruction of the Amalekites; and he approached the mountain, heard the sound of the trumpet, entered into darkness, drew near to the nature of God, dwelt in the tabernacle above, gave splendor to the priesthood, built the tabernacle, corrected life by laws, and finally, according to what has been said, he succeeded in wars. At the end of his presuppression, with the help of the priesthood, he punished lewdness: for this was made clear by the wrath of Phinehas, which he had revealed against passion.

At the conclusion of all this, he ascends to the mountain of repose, does not descend to the lower earth, to which, according to the promise, the people who stood in the valley turned their eyes, he no longer eats earthly food who thought about the food of rain from above, but dwelling upwards on the very top of the mountain, like a learned sculptor, having transformed himself into a complete image of life, at the end of the work with care attaches, not the end, but the crown of all things. For what does history say about him? "And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord; Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; but his sight was not dulled, and his strength was not exhausted" (Deuteronomy 34:5, 7).

And from this we learn that for so many years he is then honored with this lofty name — to be called a servant of God, which means the same as to say: he has become more perfect than anyone else. For no one can serve God, except he who has become the most perfect in the world. With Moses, too, the end of a virtuous life was accomplished "by the word of the Lord." History calls it an end, a living death, after which no burial follows, no burial mound is poured, there is no darkening in the eyes and no decay in the face. And so, what do we learn from what has been said? One end should be kept in mind for the continuation of life, so that for what we have done in life we may be called a servant of God. For when thou hast overcome all the enemies, the Egyptian, the Amalekite, the Edomites, the Midianite, thou hast crossed the water, thou hast been illumined by a cloud, thou hast delighted in the tree, thou hast drunk from the stone, and thou hast tasted food from above, by purity and innocence thou hast laid the way to the ascent of the mountain, and having been there, thou shalt be initiated into the Divine mystery by the sound of trumpets, in the incomprehensible darkness thou shalt draw near by faith to God, there thou hast been taught the mysteries of the tabernacle, and thou hast studied the dignity of the priesthood; when you become a stonecutter of your heart, so that the words of God may be inscribed on its tablets by God; when you destroy the golden idol, that is, you will blot out the lust of covetousness from your life: when you will be so exalted that you will become irresistible to Balaam's sorcery (and when you hear about sorcery, understand the manifold charm of this life, from which people, as if drunk from some kind of cup, having come out of their own nature, turn into the appearance of dumb people); when all these things are accomplished, and the staff of the priesthood vegetates in you, not sucking into itself any earthly moisture for vegetation, but containing in itself the power of fruitfulness, and namely, the bringing into the fruit of a nut, in which the first thing that appears in it is bitter and hard, but containing in it sweet and suitable for food; when everything that rebels against your dignity you will bring to destruction, like Dathan swallowed up by the earth, or destroy with fire, like Korah: then you will come to an end; and I call the end that for the sake of which everything is done. For example: the end of agriculture is the eating of fruits; the end of the construction of the house is to live in the house; the end of trade is wealth; the end of ascetic labors is the crown: so the end of a lofty life is to be called a servant of God, by which is also meant not to have a grave mound over oneself, that is, to make life not entail evil consequences.

But the Scriptures tell us another sign of this slavery — not the darkening of the eyes and not the corruption of the face. For the eye, which is always in the light, how can it be darkened by the darkness to which it is estranged? And whoever has progressed in incorruptibility all his life, of course, does not accept any corruption into himself. For he who is truly created in the image of God, and has not changed in himself a single Divine trait; he bears these signs in himself, and in likeness in everything corresponds to the prototype, adorning his soul with incorruption, immutability and the absence of any admixture of vice.

Here is to you, O man of God, Caesarius, this brief discourse of ours on the perfection of the virtuous life, which depicts the life of the great Moses as a kind of prototype of beauty in persons, from which we, each one separately, by imitating these exercises, can depict in ourselves the outline of the beauty shown to us. That Moses succeeded in the possible perfection, in this can we find any witness more reliable than God's word, which says to him: "And thou hast found favor in My sight" (Exodus 33:12). And that he was called the friend of God by God Himself, and that, wishing rather to perish with all, if God did not show mercy to them also in good pleasure for all that they had sinned, he stopped his wrath against the Israelites, because God had changed His decree so as not to grieve his friend, — and this and all the like is a clear testimony and proof of this, that the life of Moses had reached the extreme limit of perfection.

And so, since our question was about what perfection is in a virtuous life; and according to what has been said, this perfection has been found: it remains for you, Valiant One, to have this example before your eyes, and what has been seen in the highest view of what has been said historically, applying it to your own life, to strive to be known from God and to become a friend of God. For in the true sense of perfection is not servile, not for fear of punishment to depart from a vicious life, and not for the hope of reward to do good, trading a virtuous life with some conditions and contracts; but losing sight of everything, even that according to the promises is observed in hope, one thing is to consider it terrible for oneself to be deprived of God's friendship, and only to recognize one thing as precious and desirable — to become God's friend, which, according to my reasoning, is the perfection of life. But what can be found by you with your mind, exalted to the more majestic and Divine, there will also be found many...; then, without a doubt, it will be a common benefit to all in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever, Amen.