Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 2.djvu/110

your minds to wander after vanity by giving up the reading of the Sacred Scriptures; but write upon your hearts the true doctrine contained in them, not on wooden or dumb tables which cannot speak. Meditate in the hidden mystery of the Bible, and do not regard only the visible blackness of the ink; but seek from Christ, the Wise Physician, that He may shed abroad His mercy and compassion in the souls of those who worship and serve Him." From the service appointed in the Gezza for the commemoration of the Syrian Doctors.

§ 2. "My brethren, the Holy Scriptures are a well-spring of life; every soul that drinks of them with discernment shall never die." From the Warda, on the Advantages of Learning; adapted to the Lenten season, and to the Baootha d'Ninwâyé.

§ 3. "Let all the clergy and laymen possess the adorable and Sacred Scriptures, viz. the Old Testament containing the following: of

Moses, five Books. Joshua, the son of Nun, one book. Ruth, one book. Kings, four books. Chronicles, two books. Ezra, two books. Esther, one book. Judith, one book.

Maccabees, three books. Job, one book. Psalms, one book. Solomon, five books. Twelve Prophets, one book. Isaiah, one book. Jeremiah, one book. Ezekiel, one book. Daniel, one book.

"And besides the above let your children be instructed in the Wisdom of the very wise Sirach, called in Syriac Bar Sira; but particularly in the New Testament which is ours also, and which contains

The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Fourteen Epistles of Paul.
One Epistle of James.
Three Epistles of John.
One Epistle of Jude.
Two Epistles of Peter.

"And the Τάξεις which were written to you, Bishops, by me Clemens, containing eight epistles, and which are not to be laid open to all on account of the mysteries which are contained in them. And the Acts of the Apostles which we also possess."