Treatise on the Morals and Discipline of Human Conduct

...because the soul naturally delights in musical melodies, etc. Therefore, people are to be instructed not only in the civil arts Practical skills for life in a city or state. and in conduct, but also in the Liberal Arts The traditional curriculum of the Middle Ages, consisting of the Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy)., such as music; as all philosophers know, although one cannot always be engaged in the games of the musical art, it is sufficient that one does something honorable in play.

¶ Whence, regarding Saint John the Evangelist One of the Twelve Apostles, traditionally credited with writing the fourth Gospel and the Book of Revelation., it is first read in the Conferences of the Fathers original: "Collationes Patrum"; a work by John Cassian (c. 360–435) recording the wisdom of the Egyptian desert fathers. and is found in the Legend of the Saints original: "legenda sanctorum"; likely referring to the "Golden Legend," a widely read collection of hagiographies compiled by Jacobus de Voragine in the 13th century.:

When, as is told in the aforementioned story, a certain bird Traditional accounts of this legend specify that the bird was a partridge. was with Saint John, and he touched and caressed it as if stroking it in delight, a certain youth, seeing this, said mockingly to his companions: "Look how that old man plays with animals like a boy."

Blessed John, recognizing this through the spirit, called the youth to him and asked what he held in his hand. When the youth said he was holding a bow, John asked, "What do you do with it?" And the youth replied, "We shoot wild beasts with it." To whom the Apostle said—as the youth then began to draw the bow and hold it drawn in his hand—the Apostle then said nothing further to him. [Then] the youth unstrung the bow.

"Why, my son, do you unstring the bow?" John asked.

The youth replied, "Because if it were kept drawn any longer, it would become too weak for shooting arrows."

¶ And the Apostle is said to have replied: "Even so would human frailty fail to be strong for mental contemplation if it were always kept at its full vigor; it must sometimes be relaxed by some refreshment for its own weakness." For even the eagle flies higher than all birds and gazes more clearly at the sun, and yet, by necessity of its nature, it descends to the depths. Thus also the human soul, when it releases itself a little from its occupation?, returns more ardently to heavenly things through frequent renewal. For a similar story is told regarding Saint Anthony Saint Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), a prominent Desert Father often associated with similar lessons on moderation., as is recorded and found in the Conferences of the Fathers as well as in the Legend of the Saints.

¶ Whence, regarding those games which they played...