Page:The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas.djvu/226



8. "My word, Maximilla, concerns thee again. I say to thee, Yield not to Aegeates! Resist his designs, especially as I have seen the Lord, Maximilla, whose voice was to me: the father of Aegeates, the devil, shall deliver thee from this prison! Therefore, let it be thy care to keep thyself in future chaste and pure, holy, undefiled, sincere, discreet, not consenting to the persuasive attempts of our enemy, inviolated, infrangible, unbroken, unwounded, undivided, not giving offense, without part in Cain's works! For if thou, Maximilla, resignest not thyself to the opposite conduct, I shall also rest, since I am obliged to leave this life for thee, i. e., for me. But should I be driven hence, whereas I could help other souls related to me through thee, and thou yieldest to the persuasive arts of Aegeates and the alluring arts of his father, the serpent, and turnest again to thy former way, know that I shall suffer on thy account, till thou hast seen thyself, that I refused to live longer for any unworthy soul!

9. "I beseech thee, therefore, to endure in the sense which becomes the wise. I pray thy invisible mind, to keep with thee. I beseech thee, love the Lord Jesus, yield not to the baser! Assist me also, when as man I call for help, that I become perfect! Help me also, that thou mayest know thy true nature! Suffer with my affliction, that thou mayest know what I suffer, and thou shalt escape affliction. See what I see, and what thou seest, will blind thee. See that which is needful,