715 the fourth word cannot do anything without help from Heaven. Secondly, when a person, having committed a mortal sin, detaches himself from God, and passes under the jurisdiction of the infernal spirit. This is what the most excellent God complained about in Jeremiah, saying: “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer 2:13). We are all the people of God, as long as we obey His commandments, as long as we abide by His will. But whenever we tarnish our souls with sin, by withdrawing from the Creator to creatures, we become at once rebels in relation to Him, and we surrender ourselves to the power of the dreadful tyrant of hell. Theologians say that we drink from the fountain of all good as long as we remain in the state of grace; however, having lost the grace through sin, we draw out the most turbid water from the Cocytus and Styx. Indeed, how loathsome are the waters in which we plunge our mouths, when we do not resist the temptations of the demons. In this very manner the world-renowned teacher Jerome formulates his teaching, as he clarifies the aforementioned words of God. He says: “It is worth noting that the fountain is something permanent and possesses life-giving water. On the other hand, the wells and pools are filled with water from streams and with muddy waters of the fields and rains.”70 Therefore, God “who is the fount of life” calls demons the “broken cisterns.” Such wells [cisterns] are dug out by someone who, stained by disgraceful deeds, shamefully abandons God and comes under the power of demons. Whoever forsakes the Fount of Life follows the maker of death, for whom the magical drink of Circe is more delicious than the nectar of Heaven. But now, we must consider: By what means can we call back God who was put to flight by the stench of our sins? I say: by the fragrance of prayer. Demons delight in foul smells; God enjoys fragrance. Fragrance expels the former, and attracts the Latter. Sacred Scripture, the 70 Cf. Hieronymus, [Commentarius] in Hieremiam, I, 22: CChrL 74, 17-18.
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