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and through Him, with a firm faith, we might have the certain hope of the same thing, that after death we will find ourselves in the hands of God.” Euthymius 6 also adds: “The Lord God did this for us, that henceforth the souls of the just will not descend into hell, but rather will ascend to God.” Therefore, we ought not to remain idle, but while Jesus Christ entrusts us to His eternal Fa- ther, we simultaneously must entrust ourselves to the eternal Son of the eternal Father, so that we might be protected in His hands from falling and turning from Him and henceforth quietly lead our lives. As it should and can be, I will briefly explain. “Our spirit is something threefold: […] thought, […] soul […], and conscience. We must entrust these three spiritual powers to God.” Thus explains didymus 7 , whom Cornelius 8 quotes in the Catena. First, the thought must be addressed, because – as the Spirit of the Lord states – it [the thought] is “entirely intent upon evil.” 9 Through it, man lets himself be easily fooled by the crafty spirit of hell. We have a lamentable example here in the descendants of Isaac. describing the incident, the inspired Historiographer writes: “The people degraded themselves by having illicit relations with the Moabite women” (Num 25:1). How did they come to de- pravity? They saw, they desired, they thought, they consented, and they carried it out. richard [of Saint-Laurent] portrays this clearly, stating: “The Midianites preened their daughters and placed them before the sons of Israel, thus arousing their lust so that the latter might incur the wrath of God.” As indeed, they did. But were Israelites the only ones to be trapped in such snares? No. The above-quoted Father adds: “What once happened his- torically, as we know, is what often every true Israelite (or Chris- tian) experiences spiritually. It happens when the enemy thrusts before the eyes of our mind certain images from the realm of doctor of the Church. At the council of Ephesus (431), he contributed to the proclamation of the dogma of the divine maternity of Mary ( Theotokos ). 6 St. Euthymius († ca. 473), was a Byzantine theologian and exegete. 7 didymus the Blind (313- ca. 396) was a theologian in Alexandria. 8 It is unknown to which Cornelius Bl. Stanislaus refers here. 9 Cf. Tt 8:21. 71 T HE S EVENTH W Ord