‘Whoever falls is pitiable. But more wretched is someone who entices another into falling because that person then bears the burden of both, as well as the burden of pleasure tasted by the other’ (Saint John of Sinai, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, discourse 15).
The saint is discussing the carnal lapses which are caused by the passion of lasciviousness, the ‘mother’ of which is sinful pleasure. Indeed, love of sensual pleasure, together with its ‘sisters’, ambition and avarice, complete the triptych in which the tree of ‘hell’, egotism or selfishness, is rooted. How can you describe those who fall into carnal sins? Wretched. And they lose their connection with God because, in order to reach the point of carnal fall, ...
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