Admonition

John Chrysostom · PG 60 · cols 751–751 · machine translation (AI, from the page scans)

up to their height, and then avarice withers away; and he who endured every labor to gather wealth now throws it away with his own hands and distributes his riches to the sea. But question him immediately: "What are you doing, my man? Why are you mad? Why are you casting away your money to no purpose? The sea does not keep your deposits; it does not receive seeds like the earth to return much more; it does not receive seeds for the sake of returning sheaves. Why, then, do you uselessly lend to an ungrateful element? Why do you deposit your trust in faithless waves? Why do you commit a deposit to the sea, which returns nothing? You did not want to lend to God, yet you cast your riches into the vast deep?" What, then, does he answer immediately? "I prefer to save my soul than to gain the whole world." Now you recognize the saying, "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:37). Now you have learned the word of Christ thus admonishing: "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but suffers the loss of his own soul?" (Matt. 16:26). But did not the law teach you? Let fear at least teach you. Did not the doctrine of God teach you? Let the raging sea teach you. O action lacking consistency! O necessity teaching all! The sea by force receives everything; yet God, exhorting to the kingdom of heaven, barely obtains the smallest part? You trust the sea, which promises you nothing good, and you do not obey God, who promises and grants you a hundredfold? Do you wish that I set before you another image of such necessity? For it is necessary that we be profited by your soul from all sides, through both terrible things and good things. Consider, therefore, those who trade on the earth, who do everything and leave nothing undone to gain something, who dare to swear and use every perjury to add a coin to themselves: these certainly adulterate the laws of God. The prophets preach, and they close their ears; teachers cry out, and they mock the warnings. What, finally, happens to them? For not to all, but to those alone. For such a merchant often falls among thieves; and he who was panting after riches and was held by an insatiable love of money, immediately lays aside this disease and becomes generous; for he sees the sword with which he is being attacked by the thief, and he discards his affection; the thief rushes upon him, and he finally is found liberal and hands over his own with entreaties. What, then, does he say to the thief? "Take everything, and only spare my soul and life." Hear this also: "And now you know what a man shall give in exchange for his soul." You give to the thief whatever he wants with entreaties, although he harms you in all things; but to God, who wishes to receive a small something as a loan, you do not lend, who nevertheless lavishly grants you all things, both earthly and heavenly; but do you not fear God as much as the thief? You fear a naked sword, but you despise the fire of hell which God threatens. Do not, I beseech you, do not let any of ours be such; for you are not such, being lovers of Christ; for you know all things that are to happen to men. Place your souls in safety before your departure from this life, and acknowledge Him who said in the holy Gospels: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt. 5:7). To Him therefore, the merciful, nurturing, and non-exprobating God, let us offer glory, together with the Father and the most holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

^A Here you see a great series of spurious works, which we would willingly have left in darkness had not that most diligent and sagacious man, Henry Savile, published them. Had he examined them before editing, without a doubt he would have allowed them, or at least a great part of them, to struggle with moths and book-worms; for he rejected not a few in a like manner, as you may see in Vol. 8, in the notes on page 857. But as very many were brought to him from the libraries of Europe and the East, he published them to the world's knowledge without applying so much examination, urged on by the printers. Furthermore, such was the estimation of St. John Chrysostom everywhere that almost countless writers, when they [could not]—

EPISTLE TO MONKS, FULL OF UTILITY AND VIGILANCE

^B The divine Apostle says, "Pray without ceasing," and "without anger and disputations" (1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 2:8). And rightly did that holy man say, "Without disputations": for all disputation separates the mind from God, even if it seems to be good; but it is entirely of the devil, not to say it belongs to the devil. For this entire struggle is of the devil, that he may separate and segregate the mind from God and drag it toward worldly cares and pleasures; and he dictates within the heart precepts and good works, and certain other rational—or rather, irrational—thoughts, to which no attention should be paid. For the entire struggle of the soul is that the mind should not be separated from God, nor consent to impure thoughts, nor attend to those things which that crafty and ancient painter, the devil, depicts in the heart. Sometimes the devil forms figures, at other times habits and colors, and after all these things, faces as well: and the deceived and miserable man, standing in one place, thinks he is elsewhere, and it seems to him that he is looking at certain people and speaking to persons, and ordering businesses, which are diabolical deceptions. Therefore, one must be on guard: the mind must be governed and reined in, and every thought and the operation of the evil one must be chastised through the invocation of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And where the body is, there let the mind be, so that between God and the heart there may be found nothing intermediate, nor any wall, nor fence that might obscure the heart and separate it from God. If, however, it should ever snatch away the mind, one must not linger in those thoughts, lest consent be reckoned as an act before the Lord on the day of judgment, when the Lord will judge the hidden things of men. Be idle, therefore, always, and persevere before the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us, and seek nothing else but mercy from the Lord of glory. While you seek mercy, seek it in a humble and contrite heart, and cry out from morning until evening, if possible, and throughout the whole night: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us"; and compel your mind to this work even unto death; for this work requires much violence, because "Narrow is the gate and strait is the way which leads to life" (Matt. 7:14), and the violent enter into it.