For there is a shame that brings sin; and there is a shame which is glory and grace.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 4:21 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 4
Nicetas of Remesiana
AD 414
Surely it ought not to seem heavy or difficult, not even for a fragile body, to reserve a part of the week, the two nights of Saturday and Sunday, for the divine office. For with these two we can sanctify, so to speak, all the other five days or nights passed in the heavy sleep of the flesh and in the mud of mundane works. Nor should anyone blush at dedicating himself with holy fervor to the devout practices. No, the wicked do not blush in committing abominable works! The biblical proverbial expression is not put forward in vain: "There is a shame that leads to sin." It is a sin to feel ashamed for good works, while it is deadly not to be ashamed for this wickedness. If you are holy, then you love the vigils that enable you to so carefully guard your treasure and enable you to preserve yourself in holiness. If you are a sinner, you have all the more reason to keep watch and pray in order to obtain purification, beating yourself on your chest and begging even more often, "Cleanse me, Lord, from the sins that I do not see, and forgive your servant for the ones I ignore." The one who, in fact, desires to purify himself from sins he does not see certainly cannot enjoy rolling around in the ones that defile him!
