Valentinian and the Spotted Garment

“There is a story of Valentinian in Theodoret, that when he acco7npanied Julian the Apostate to the tenple of Fortimej those that had charge of the house sprinkled their holy water tipon the e7nperor, a?id a drop fell upon Vale?tti7iians garme7it. He beat the officer sayi7ig that he was polluted, 7iot purged, a7td tore off the piece of his gar77ie7it up07i which the drop lighted, ’ hati7igl saith the historia7ii the gar7ne7it spotted by the flesh!” The man was decided and outspoken, and this may well make us lenient towards his rough way of showing it. The story is narrated, not that we may imitate Valentinian in his violence, but that we may regard it as a figure of the holy horror which ought to inspire us when so much as a spot of sin defiles us. We are to keep ourselves unspotted from the world; not only free from great smears and daubs, but even from spots. O for a deep hatred of sin, and a determination to part with anything and everything which bears its stain. Let us rend off a polluting habit and utterly abstain from it,, however pleasing it may have been. Sins of the flesh especially are so apt to grow that the least approach to impurity must be regarded as a plague-spot; here there must be no dallying with evil, or winking at the appearance of it. The same is true of all other forms of evil, the smallest seed will bring forth a terrible harvest. From the least error, the least wrong, the least falsehood we must be purged if we would walk with Christ and be accepted of him as his “disciples indeed.”

Lord, cleanse thou me, that I may be without fault before thy throne.