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beloved, the Emperor is God, in whose kingdom, that is, in the world, there is an evil priest; namely, every perverse Christian. For as the priest provides for the spiritual welfare of his parishioners, so the Christian is required to watch over and preserve the spiritual gifts communicated in baptism. The bad priest, through the influence of a bad example, causes many to separate from the community; and therefore, St. Gregory well says, that "as often as he does an ill action, he loses a soul." In like manner, the bad Christian occasions the condemnation of multitudes by the attraction of wicked examples and enticing words. If any of you, to whom I now speak, have been so deluded, act like the parishioner in our story. Walk across the meadows, that is, through the world, until you find one whom your soul esteems and loves—to wit, that old man, who is Christ, revealed by actions of benevolence and mercy. But, in the first place, drink of the rivulet although it should not immediately extinguish your