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Renunciation is nothing but the evidence of the cross and of
mortification. And so you must know that to-day you are dead to this world
and its deeds and desires, and that, as the Apostle says, you are crucified
to this world and this world to you. Consider therefore the demands of
the cross under the sign of which you ought henceforward to live in this
life; because you no longer live but He lives in you who was crucified for
you. We must therefore pass our time in this life in that fashion and
form in which He was crucified for us on the cross so that (as David says)
piercing our flesh with the fear of the Lord, we may have all our wishes
and desires not subservient to our own lusts but fastened to His
mortification. For so shall we fulfil the command of the Lord which says:
"He that taketh not up his cross and followeth me is not worthy of me."
But perhaps you will say: How can a man carry his cross continually? or how
can any one who is alive be crucified? Hear briefly how this is.
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