the crucified orator 702 the New Jerusalem. Behold, the brave leader, St. John the Baptist calls us to this by his words and deeds! With his face emaciated by fasting, his eyes sunk deeply into his head, [clothed] in camel hide, barefoot, pale, exhausted, but filled with an abundance of the Holy Spirit, he preached the Baptism of repentance. He provides the battering ram for storming Heaven. He shows that it [Heaven] must be seized by great violence: by beating it with sighs, breaking into it with fasting, and purchasing release from its guards through pious almsgiving. If such a holy stratagem fails, it is necessary to gain access through the overthrow of our bodies, that is through the mortification of those members that fight against our souls. He who bears worthy fruits of penance, enters the Kingdom of Heaven as a violent captor; nor does God Himself dare to nor can oppose him, because He obliged Himself under such an oath [recorded] in Ezekiel: “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil.” Therefore, “turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ez 33:11). O sinners, for whose sake the Son of God became incarnate, suffered, was crucified, and died! Why do you wish to be damned rather than to be saved? If your sins forbid you access to Heaven, take up the battering ram of penance and you will shatter these bolts. You will open up for yourself by force a way to the empty seats of Angels who were banished from there. Do not hesitate, for you will obtain it, since one from the clan of thieves has already obtained it. He was hanging on the gibbet to the right of our crucified Savior, and perhaps he heard Him beseeching the Eternal Father for His enemies. Thus he began to think and consider within himself: That One is without blemish, free from sin, entirely just and innocent, and nevertheless, is afflicted with dreadful punishment. Thereafter, with this stronger light having come upon him, he acknowledged his worst crimes, for which he had been condemned to a temporal death, although [would have been]
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