A to blame and mockery? From these, countless evils arise; and the more stable the possessions, the more constant and everlasting the accusation. For these huge and magnificent houses stand like the voices of certain most grave accusers, even after the death of their possessors; and the body, indeed, is entrusted to the earth, but the memory of the pride is not suffered to be buried together with the body; but every passer-by, as he beholds the height and the magnitude of the splendid house, or speaks to his neighbor or himself, says: "How many tears were shed to build this house? How many orphans were stripped of their own? How many widows were wronged? How many were deprived of their wages?" Hence the very opposite of what you want happens to you; for desiring to enjoy glory while you are alive, you are not rid of your accusers even after life is ended; but the house, carrying your name about like a bronze monument, prepares even those who never saw you while you were alive to cast ten thousand insults at you.
4. Since, therefore, this superfluous display brings no such profit, let us flee, beloved, let us flee this disease, and let us not become wilder than irrational beasts. To them all things are common, both earth, and springs, and pastures, and mountains, and wooded glens, and one has nothing more than the other; but you, a human being, the tamest of animals, become more savage than a beast, locking up the food of ten thousand poor people—and often more—within one house. Yet it is not only nature that is common to us, but also other things far more numerous than nature: the heaven is common, and the sun, and the moon, and the dance of the stars, and the air, and the sea, and fire, and water, and earth, and life, and death, and growth, and old age, and sickness, and health, and the need for food and garments. And spiritual things, again, are common: the holy table, the Body of the Lord, the precious Blood, the promise of the kingdom, the laver of regeneration, the cleansing of sins, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, the unspeakable goods B which *eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man* (1 Cor. 2:9). How is it not absurd that those who share in so many things with one another—by nature, by grace, by promises, and by laws—should be so grasping in money matters, and should not maintain the same equality, but exceed the ferocity of irrational beasts, and this when they are soon to depart from them, and not only to depart, but even to be in danger of the ultimate ends because of these things? For death leads one away from enjoyment, but leads one onward to accounts and to immortal punishments. In order, therefore, that this may not happen, let us practice much almsgiving. For this is the queen of virtues, who will stand there with boldness, and will rescue one from punishment and retribution, and no one will stand against one who enters into heaven with her. For light is her wing, and great is the excess of her boldness, and she ascends to the royal throne itself, bringing in her fosterlings with safety. For *your prayers*, it says, *and your almsgivings have ascended for a memorial before God* (Acts 10:4). Why, then, do we not also ascend to that height, having been freed from this untimely greed and useless luxury and display? Let us make the superfluous things useful, disposing of that great wealth and putting it into the right hand of the Judge, who will be able to guard it with accuracy, and on the day of judgment will be gentle and merciful concerning it; even if we have been guilty of ten thousand sins, He will bestow upon us forgiveness and defense; which may it be our lot to attain, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.
NOTICE ON THE HOMILY ON THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN: "PRAISE, O MY SOUL, THE LORD"
Of the time in which he delivered it, it cannot be detected by any art. Nor can we know for certain whether he preached it at Antioch or Constantinople. Perhaps one thing might persuade us that it was delivered at Antioch; namely, that in chapter 6 he brings forward as an example monks living on the mountains; a thing that he says frequently about the monks near Antioch. But let these be said as conjectures for the place: for the matter is not explored. We reject the interpretation of Nannius as being less accurate, and we provide a new one.
HOMILY DELIVERED IN THE HOLY WEEK, IN WHICH IT IS TAUGHT WHY IT IS CALLED THE GREAT WEEK; AND ON THAT [VERSE], "PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL" (Ps. CXLV, 2); AND CONCERNING THE JAILER IN THE ACTS.
A We have completed the voyage of the fast, and by the grace of God we have finally arrived at the harbor. But let us not therefore be negligent because we have arrived at the harbor; rather, let us apply greater care, because we have reached the end. For this is what pilots also do: when they are about to bring a merchant ship laden with grain and a huge mass of cargo into the mouth of the harbor, they are anxious and solicitous lest, after having traversed such vast seas, the ship strike a rock and sink with all its cargo. Thus it is fitting for us also to be afraid and solicitous, lest we fall short of the reward of our labors near the finish. And therefore, greater diligence must be applied. So too do runners behave: when they see that they have come near to the prizes, then they accelerate their course; so too do athletes, after a thousand struggles and a thousand victories, when the time of the crowns B is at hand, then they rise more keenly and strain their prowess. Let us too do the same now. For what the harbor is to pilots, what the prizes are to runners, what the crowns are to athletes, that this present week is to us: the head of good things; and now the struggle is over the crowns. And therefore we call it great: not because its days are greater than all others—for there are others longer—nor because they are more in number, for they are equal to the others, but because great things have been done for us by the Master in it. For in this week which is called great, the long-term tyranny of the devil was dissolved, death was extinguished, the strong one was bound, and his vessels were plundered, sin was taken away, the curse was abolished, paradise was opened, heaven was made accessible, men were mingled with angels, the middle wall of partition was removed, the veil was drawn aside, and the God of peace brought peace to heaven and to earth. Therefore it is called the Great Week; and just as it is the head of the rest of the weeks, so the great sabbath is the head of this one; and as the head is in the body, so in the week is the sabbath. For this reason many in it increase their zeal; some increase their fasting, others their sacred vigils, others distribute alms more bountifully, testifying by their zeal for good works and their care for godly living to the magnitude of the benefit bestowed upon us by God. For just as when the Lord raised up Lazarus, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went to meet Him, and their multitude bore witness that He had raised a dead man (for the solicitude of those arriving was a proof of the miracle), so too now, the zeal concerning this Great Week is a proof and argument of the magnitude of the things achieved in it. For we do not go out from one city to meet Christ today, nor from Jerusalem alone, but from the whole world the most populous Churches go out from every side to meet Jesus, not holding and waving branches of palms, but offering alms, humanity, virtue, fasting, tears, prayers, vigils, and every kind of piety to the Master Christ.
C *The suspension of legal proceedings during the Holy Week.*—Neither do we alone honor this week, but the Emperors of our world, nor do they honor it casually, declaring a suspension of public legal proceedings for all who transact the business of cities, so that, free from cares, they may follow these days with spiritual service. And therefore they have closed the doors of the courts. "Let there cease," they say, "lawsuits, quarrels, and every kind of contention and punishment; let the hands of the executioners rest for a little while." The great deeds of the Master are common: let some good be done by us, too, His servants. Nor do they honor it with that zeal and tribute alone, but with another not less than this. For imperial letters are sent, by which it is commanded that the bonds of those detained in prison be loosed. For just as our Master, when He was in Hades, loosed all who were held by death, so too the servants, bringing what is in their power and imitating the Master’s kindness, loose men from sensible bonds, since they cannot from spiritual ones.
As for me, I, in your presence, instead of palms, bringing forward a word of teaching, have deposited two mites like that widow (cf. Luke 21:2): for that crowd [in the Gospel] went out and cried with these words: "Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Matt. 21:9). Let us too go out, and instead of branches of palms, showing the intention of a flowering heart, let us cry out, just as we sang today: "Praise the Lord, O my soul; I will praise the Lord in my life" (Ps. 145:2). And that word and this is equally Davidic; or rather, neither this nor that is Davidic, but both are of divine grace. The prophet indeed spoke, but the Paraclete moved the prophet’s tongue. Therefore he says: "My tongue is the pen of a scribe who writes swiftly" (Ps. 44:2). Just as the pen does not move of its own accord, but by the power of the hand moving it, so too the tongue of the prophets did not speak of itself, but from the grace of God. But why did he not say "the pen of a scribe" only, but "the pen of a scribe who writes swiftly"? In order that you may learn D that it is not by the [original-script column: see facsimile] 527 ...