The Shepherd of Hermas

Hermas

Hermas. The Apostolic Fathers with an English translation by Kirsopp Lake. In Two Volumes. Vol. II. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1913

Listen, he said, concerning the forms[*](The three forms of the ancient lady) which you are asking about.

Why did she appear to you in the first vision as old and seated on a chair? Because your[*](This your is plural, in contrast to the you in the preceding sentence, which is singular.) spirit is old and already fading away, and has no power through your weakness and double-mindedness.

For just as old people, who have no longer any hope of becoming young again,

look for nothing except their last sleep, so also you, who have been weakened by the occupations of this life, have given yourself up to worry, and have not cast your cares upon the Lord. But your mind was broken, and you grew old in your sorrows.

Why, then, I should like to know, did she sit in a chair, sir?Because every sick person sits in a chair because of his sickness, that the weakness of the body may find support. Here you have the type of the first vision.