Letters

⁹³ And what is that city but Jerusalem which is in heaven, in which is the kingdom of God? This is a good possession which brings eternal fruit. A good possession which is not left here, but is possessed there. He who possesses this says: “The Lord is my portion.” He says not, My portion stretches and extends from this boundary to that. Nor does he say, My portion is among such and such neighbours, except perchance among the apostles, among the prophets, among the saints of the Lord, for this is the righteous man's portion.

He does not say, My portion is in the meadows, or in the woods, or the plains, except perchance those wooded plains in which the Church is found, of which it is written: “We found it in the wooded plains.” He does not say, My portion consists of herds of horses, for “a horse is a vain thing for safety.” He does not say, My portion consists of herds of oxen, asses, or sheep; except perchance he reckons himself among those which know their Owner, and wishes to company with the ass which does not shun the crib of Christ; and that Sheep is his portion which was led to the slaughter, and that Lamb which was dumb before the shearer, and opened not His mouth, in Whose humiliation judgment has been exalted.

Well does he say “before the shearer,” for He laid aside what was additional, not His own essence, on the cross, when He laid aside His Body, but lost not His Divinity.