in order that the people may be acquainted with the will of God, may avoid many evils, and be led into the right path for living irreproachably. Woe, then, to such priests as neglect the word of God! Woe to them who, when they can announce it, live nevertheless in effeminacy and idleness! Woe to them who prevent the word of God from being preached and listened to!
Happy, on the other hand, are they who attend to it, who guard it in their hearts, and who preserve it in themselves by good works. Christ has blessed them, saying,—“Happy are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.” May Christ, blessed for evermore, augment for us all this great happiness! Amen.
LETTER XII.
TO THE SAME.
[He celebrates the joys and blessings of our Lord's birth-day.]
My very dear brethren, Although I am separated from you in body, not being perhaps worthy to preach to you any longer the word of God, nevertheless, the love with which I yearn towards you constrains me to approach and address you in a few words. This is the day, dearly be-
