the crucified orator 732 Thus, it follows that the soul steeped with pleasures and enticements or depraved with sin is a collapsed house of God. O man, you poison the dwelling of Christ and of His Eternal Father. What is more: You smash and destroy it as often as you mar yourself by wicked vices and fall even lower. Therefore, do you want to rebuild the ruins of this Divine Tabernacle, of this Temple of the Holy Spirit? You can easily achieve this through persistent and rigorous penance. Saint Jerome exposes this entire matter right before our eyes by relating the example of the traitor Judas: “The wicked Judas, when he was an apostle, was also the House of God. The devil came and Judas accepted the morsel, and immediately Satan entered him (Jn 13:27), and his house collapsed, and it was never rebuilt again.”98 Why? “Because he did not do penance. If someone truly does penance after having sinned, his house will be rebuilt after its destruction.” Indeed, for this reconstruction to be perfect and praiseworthy and not just usable, it is necessary to persevere in penance as long as one lives, lest the devil say about him with derision: “He began to build,” he began to restore his ruined house, “and he could not complete it.” He had risen from the malodorous swamp of his vices and immersed himself in them anew. He began to root out the evil habits and now indulges in them again. He put his hand to the plow, and already he looks back. He departed Babylon, but already he returns. He had taken the cowl, but he casts it aside. He dismissed his mistress but now invites her back. The dog returns to its vomit. O sinner beginning your interior transformation! Lest the devil mock you, lest you inflict sorrow upon Heaven rejoicing at your conversion: Persevere in penance, persevere! For as long as you breathe, walk in the spirit! So, heal the wounds of your soul that they would not open again. 98 The source of this text was not able to be found, but a similar text was found in Contra Rufinum, Val larsius Dominicus, S. E. Hieronymi Opera, Venetiis 1767, t. II, P. I, l. II, 495.
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