And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
Read Chapter 26
Caesarius of Arles
AD 542
“You will rout your enemies.” Of what enemies do we speak, except the devil himself and his angels? We rout them not only by driving them from our own hearts, but we repel them far away from others whom they disturb or attack or overcome. We do this by our advice or reproof or prayer, if we preserve the divine precepts. Thus through death the enemy falls in our sight. Whose death? I think it is ours when we mortify our members which are on earth, namely, fornication and impurity. If we bring this death to our members, that is, to our concupiscences and sins, our enemies, the devil and his angels, will fall in our sight. How will they fall in your sight? If you are just, injustice falls at sight of you; if chaste, lust falls; if devout, you kill the spirit of impiety.
