"Great saints must make great mistakes in order that God may testify that He wants all men to be humiliated and contained in the catalog of sinners, and that when they have acknowledged and confessed this, they may find grace and mercy. If one falls, how is he to get help? Nevertheless, those who crucify Christ hear this prayer: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). To be sure, one must beware of sins; but if anyone has fallen, he should not become despondent on that account. For God has forbidden both despair and presumption, turning aside to the left hand and to the right. There should be no presumption on the right and no despair on the left. One must stay on the royal road. The sinner should not abandon his confidence in mercy. A righteous man should not be proud. For “the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him and in those who hope in His mercy” (Ps. 147:11). He hates those who are proud and presumptuous, and He loves those in whom fear still retains some hope and confidence, not in ourselves but in the mercy of God.
In this way, then, the saints are humbled and celebrated together with their lapses, in order that they may instruct us by their examples and show us the royal road between despair and pride."
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