5. I know that you are Godfearing, merciful,
gentle, and calm, having the faith and fear of God at heart, but often
some things escape our notice. “Some have a zeal of God,
but not according to knowledge.” Rom. x. 2. And I think that we ought to take
care lest this also come upon faithful souls. I know your piety
towards God, your lenity towards men, I myself am bound by the benefits
of your favour. And therefore I fear the more, I am the more
anxious; lest even you condemn me hereafter by your own judgment,
because through my want of openness or my flattery you should not have
avoided some fault. If I saw that you sinned against me, I ought
not to keep silence, for it is written: “If thy brother sin
against thee, rebuke him at first, then chide him sharply before two or
three witnesses. If he will not hear thee, tell the
Church.” S. Matt. xviii. 15 ff. Shall I,
then, keep silence in the cause of God? Let us, then, consider
what I have to fear.