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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: watchfulness that so we fall not into defilement a second time,
but hold fast to the commandments of the Lord. For when he said
to the Apostles, `Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost,' he did not stop there, but added, `teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.'
"Now he commanded men to be poor in spirit, and such he calleth
blessed and worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Again he chargeth
us to mourn in the present life, that we may obtain comfort
hereafter, and to be meek, and to be ever hungering and thirsting
after righteousness: to be merciful, and ready to distribute,
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