Clement’s final lesson feels almost monastic: simplicity of step as simplicity of soul. He rebukes luxury even in sandals, urging us to walk lightly upon the earth—bare feet nearer to humility than ornamented leather. Augustine follows with a letter forged in the fires of persecution, pleading with Bishop Januarius for peace amid Donatist violence. He exposes hypocrisy and appeals for a public conference, a dialogue of truth over blood. Then Aquinas, calm and exacting as ever, explains how the soul is shaped by repetition—how habits are not born of flashes of passion but through the slow rhythm of obedience. Together they show that holiness walks, writes, and acts one step at a time (Galatians 5:25).
Readings: Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 2, Chapter 12 – On Shoes Augustine of Hippo, Letter 89 to Januarius Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 51 (Combined articles—On the Cause of Habits)
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