the crucified orator 746 is greater than I can bear. Behold, [Y]ou have driven me this day away from the ground; and from [Y]our face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me” (Gen 4:13-14). Note that he does not fear anything other than to be killed as punishment of revenge and to lose his own life for having taken the life of his brother, because he feared that he must be killed. When he declares that he must become a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, does he not acknowledge that the crime divested him of peace of soul to such an extent that for this lack of peace in his heart, he could not settle in one place? When he says that he must hide himself from the face of God, he openly admits that he evidently merited the punishment of condemnation for shedding his brother’s blood. Since he declares that his transgression is so great that it cannot be forgiven, he falls at once into total despair and screams that the salvation of his soul is already lost. O the most savage torturer, the worm of conscience! O, sin, which should be accursed a thousand-fold and avoided more carefully than poison; which gives birth to our cruelest accuser and — at the same time — the severest torturer! Lippoman so rightly warns: “Let us, then, constantly fear that we may never commit such a shameful deed, for which we will be forced to bear the pangs of conscience eternally.”145 But how do we carry this out, if God does not support our conscience with His right hand, does not direct it by His light, so that it would not wander more shamefully, so that it would not fall more seriously? It is necessary, therefore, to pray to Him tirelessly, so that He does not cease to take continual care of our souls. It is necessary to constantly bother Him, following the example of the prophet-king: “Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.” Our Savior inspires us to this by His own example, when He surrendered His most sacred spirit upon the harshest wood of the Cross. As He Himself entrusted His own spirit 145 The source of this text was not able to be found.
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