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FOR the subtle serpent is ever "watching our heel," that is, is lying
in wait for the close, and endeavouring to trip us up right to the end of
our life. And therefore it will not be of any use to have made a good
beginning and to have eagerly taken the first step towards renouncing the
world with all fervour, if a corresponding end does not likewise set it off
and conclude it, and if the humility and poverty of Christ, of which you
have now made profession in His sight, are not preserved by you even to the
close of your life, as they were first secured. And that you may succeed in
doing this, do you ever "watch his head," i.e. the first rise of thoughts,
by bringing them at once to your superior. For thus you will learn to
"bruise" his dangerous beginnings, if you are not ashamed to disclose any
of them to your superior.
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