John Cassian

In his own words on Ezekiel

• Ezekiel 11:19-20

  Quite obviously all this teaches us that the first good stirring of the will in us comes under the Lord's inspiration. He brings us along the road to salvation, either himself or by way of the exhortation of some person or through necessity. And our virtues are perfected also as a gift from him. Our task is, whether laxly or zealously, to play a role that corresponds to his grace, and our reward or our punishment will depend on whether we strove or neglected to be at one, attentive and obedient, with the kindly dispensation of his providence toward us.

  CONFERENCE 3:19

• Ezekiel 11:19-20

  In all these Scriptures there is a declaration of the grace of God and the freedom of our will, because even if by our own volition we can be led to the quest of virtue, we always stand in need of the help of the Lord.

  CONFERENCE 13:9

• Ezekiel 13:9

  Because [Judas] was corrupted by the plague of covetousness and had his name struck out from that heavenly list, it is suitably said of him … "They shall not be in the counsel of my people, nor shall they enrolled in the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel."

  Conference 17:25

• Ezekiel 16:42

  Like a skillful physician, who has tried all saving cures and sees there is no remedy left which can be applied to their disease, the Lord is, as it were, overcome by their iniquities and is obliged to desist from his kindly chastisement. And so he denounces them saying: "I will no longer be angry with you, and my jealousy has departed from you."

  Conference 6:11

• Ezekiel 18:25

  When we have made the Lord's yoke heavy and hard to us, we at once complain in a blasphemous spirit of the hardness and roughness of the yoke itself or of Christ who lays it on us.

  CONFERENCE 24:25

• Ezekiel 20:25

  Whoever lives under the light of the grace of the gospel and overcomes evil not by resisting it but by bearing it and who does not hesitate of his own free will to give his other cheek to one who strikes his right cheek, who gives his cloak also to one who wants to raise a lawsuit against him for his coat, and who loves his enemies and prays for those who slander him, this man has broken the yoke of sin and burst its chains. For he is not living under the law, which does not destroy the seeds of sin.

  CONFERENCE 21:33

• Ezekiel 20:43-44

  We are thus taught by the words of the Lord himself: everything is granted to us by God, and that the whole of our salvation is to be ascribed not to the merit of our own works but to heavenly grace.

  CONFERENCE 13:18

• Ezekiel 28:11

  The Lord speaks as follows to Ezekiel: "Son of man, take up a lament over the prince of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. You experienced the pleasures of God's paradise. Every precious stone was your covering: sardius, topaz and jasper, chrysolite and onyx and beryl, sapphire and carbuncle and emerald. Gold was the work of your beauty, and your pipes were prepared in the day that you were created. You were a cherub stretched out and protecting, and I set you in God's holy mountain. You have walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day of your creation, until iniquity was found in you. By the multitude of your actions your inner parts were filled with iniquity and you have sinned; and I cast you out from the mountain of God, and destroyed you, O covering cherub, out of the midst of the stones of fire. And your heart was lifted up with your beauty. You have lost your wisdom in your beauty; I have cast you to the ground. I have set you before the face of kings that they might behold you. You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities and by the iniquity of your actions."

  CONFERENCE 8:8

• Ezekiel 33:11

  How can we imagine without grievous blasphemy that he does not generally will all men, but only some instead of all to be saved?

  CONFERENCE 13:7

• Ezekiel 33:14-15

  We are taught that we ought not obstinately stick to our determination, but that we should with gentle pity soften down the threats which derived from some necessity.

  CONFERENCE 17:25