with such
things in mind that the satirist said:

"There is nothing more intolerable than a rich woman."
(Juvenal, Sat. VI, v, 459).

CHAPTER XV

OF THE PERILS OF HIS ABBEY AND OF THE REASONS FOR THE WRITING OF
THIS HIS LETTER

Reflecting often upon all these things, I determined to make
provision for those sisters and to undertake their care in every
way I could. Furthermore, in order that they might have the greater
reverence for me, I arranged to watch over them in person. And
since now the persecution carried on by my sons was greater and
more incessant than that which I formerly suffered at the hands of
my brethren, I returned frequently to the nuns, fleeing the rage of
the tempest as to a haven of peace. There, indeed, could I draw
breath for a little in quiet, and among them my labours were
fruitful, as they never were among the monks. All this was of the
utmost benefit to me in body and soul, and it was equally essential
for them by reason of their weakness.

But now has Satan beset me to such an extent that I no longer know
where I may find rest, or even so much as live. I am driven hither
and yon, a fugitive and a vagabond, even as the accursed Cain (Gen.
iv, 14). I have already said that "without were fightings, within
were fears" (II Cor. vii, 5), and these torture me ceaselessly, the
fears being indeed without as well as within, and the fightings
wheresoever there are fears. Nay, the persecution carried on by my
sons rages against me more perilously and continuously than that of
my open enemies, for my sons I have always with me, and I am ever
exposed to their treacheries. The violence of my enemies I see in
the danger to my body if I leave the cloister; but within it I am
compelled incessantly to endure the crafty machinations as well as
the open violence of those monks who are called my sons, and who
are entrusted to me as their abbot, which is to say their father.

Oh, how often have they tried to kill me with poison, even as the
monks sought to slay St. Benedict! Methinks the same reason which
led the saint to abandon his wicked sons might encourage me to
follow the example of so great a father, lest, in thus exposing
myself to certain peril, I might be deemed a rash tempter of God
rather than a lover of Him, nay, lest it might even be judged that
I had thereby taken my own life. When I had safeguarded myself to
the best of my ability, so far as my food a