By St. Jerome
I have seen many kinds of monks:
* Some of them, after denying the world -considering clothes and the words of their promises only, not by doings- haven’t change in any way their old behavior!
Their employment with their family increased rather than diminished.
They go to various meals, as often as they did! They continue to drink from a crystal glass. And on a golden carved platter they eat their food.
And while living with so many responsibilities, to follow up on so many affairs, on top of that they tell you that they are rightfully entitled as hermits!
* Others are certainly poor. With very little property. And they look ready to die.
But when they go to the market, they walk with such pride as if they were on a parade float.
And when they talk, they talk with the “oratorical elegance” of a cynic!
* Others, when they need to say something, they raise their shoulders, mutter something (God knows what!), and with their eyes fixed on the earth, they speak in grandiose and pompous words, in such a way that if a crier was somewhere close, you would think that this is someone who goes to take office as a first officer!
* There are some others too, who, due to the humidity of their cell and their incomprehensible fasting, they now detest ascetic life.
They feel that because of their many readings, their ears have started ringing day and night!
They have fallen into melancholy. And now, they need Hippocrates’ advice more than “our” instructions.
* Some others do not mean in any way to leave their old crafts and occupations!
These, of course, without using the title “merchant,” they are still dealing with the same “merchandise”!
But instead of looking for nurture and covers (as the apostle orders us), they look for valuable objects. And even for items much more expensive and valuable than those sought by the people of this world, the secular.