1 Reis 13
John Cassian · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
1 Reis 13:24-28
We know that even saintly men have been given over in the flesh to Satan and to great afflictions for some very slight faults, since the divine mercy will not tolerate the very least spot or stain to be found in them on the day of judgment, and purges away in this world every spot of their filth, as the prophet, or rather God himself says, in order that he may commit them to eternity as gold or silver refined and needing no penal purification. "And," he says,"I will clean purge away your dross, and I will take away all your sin; and after this you will be called the city of the just, a faithful city." And again: "Just as silver and gold are tried in the furnace, so the Lord chooses hearts." 18 And again: "The fire tries gold and silver, but man is tried in the furnace of humiliation." And this also: "For the Lord chastens those whom he loves, and he disciplines every son whom he receives." We see a clear instance of this in the case of the prophet and man of God in the third book of Kings who was immediately destroyed by a lion for a single disobedience, in which he was implicated not of set purpose nor by the fault of his own will but by the enticement of another. As the Scripture says of him: "It is the man of God, who disobeyed the word of the Lord, and the Lord delivered him to the lion, and it killed him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke." The punishment for his present offense and his careless error—together with the reward for his righteousness—for which the Lord gave over his prophet in this world to the destroyer appeared in the moderation and abstinence of the beast of prey, when that most savage creature did not dare even to taste the carcass that was given over to him. — CONFERENCE 7.25-26
1 Reis 13:28
But we know that even saintly men have been given over in the flesh to Satan and to great afflictions for some very slight faults, since the Divine mercy will not suffer the very least spot or stain to be found in them on the day of judgment, and purges away in this world every spot of their filth, as the prophet, or rather God Himself says, in order that He may commit them to eternity as gold or silver refined and needing no penal purification. "And," says He, "I will clean purge away thy dross, and I will take away all thy tin; and after this thou shall be called the city of the just, a faithful city." And again: "Like as silver and gold are tried in the furnace, so the Lord chooseth the hearts;" And again: "The fire tries gold and silver; but man is tried in the furnace of humiliation;" and this also: "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." And we see clear instance of this in the case of that prophet and man of God in the third book of Kings, who was straightway destroyed by a lion for a single fault of disobedience, in which he was implicated not of set purpose nor by the fault of his own will but by the enticement of another, as the Scripture speaks thus of him: "It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord delivered him to the lion, and it tare him according to the word of the Lord, which He spake." In which case the punishment of the present offence and carelessness together with the reward of his righteousness, for which the Lord gave over his prophet in this world to the destroyer, are shown by the moderation and abstinence of the beast of prey, as that most savage creature did not dare even to taste the carcass that was given over to him. — First Conference of Abbot Serenus, Chapters 25-26