to the Lord, crying out as David does: "What shall I return to the Lord for all that he has returned to me?" A But if, O Arius, that word "uncreated" exalts the Son more than is right, it will be permitted to you, with a change, to cry out with the voice of David: "Lord, if I have called you uncreated, what will you return to me, who bestow upon you honor greater than is your due?" But against them John will shout: B "Foolish and blind, we are not worthy to loosen the thong of his shoe." From every side, therefore, let us be stirred to exalt the divine nature in words: let us meditate on great thoughts concerning God in our hymns: let us exalt with all our might him whom we honor: let us put away an impoverished mind at the time when we speak of God: let us honor the Father with the sublime praises of the Son, let us glorify the Begetter and the likeness of the nature of the Begotten with equal honor to him: let us confess the truth of the generation: C let us possess the love of the Father through the worship of him who is from him: for "He who loves me," he says, "my Father will love him" (John 14:21): to whom be glory and imperium for ages of ages. Amen.
NOTICE CONCERNING THE SERMON ON ALMSGIVING
A most inept little work, published in Greek by Savile (Vol. 6, p. 811), we publish here in a Latin translation. Savile could have omitted this oration without any loss, as being unworthy of the light, he who left not a few similar ones in darkness. But so that we might not appear to have omitted anything from Savile's editions, we have published this along with other Savilian works of the same flour.CHRYSOSTOM'S HOMILY ON ALMSGIVING
D Again, time has been given to us by the Lord and our God and Savior Jesus Christ, in which we might cast the seeds of almsgiving into your ears: again, Christ has granted us the way in which we might imitate that sower, who, when he had cast his seed into good ground, received a hundredfold. For behold, the trumpet has sounded to proclaim the works of the hands: behold, the theater of almsgiving has been readied. Let those, therefore, who are religious, generous, and lovers of the poor be called into the midst: let the lovers of crowns be called. For God is present, who bestows rewards, who grants the kingdom of heaven to those who give in exchange for money received, however small. I beseech you, let no one among you be deprived of such grace: let no one despise this great and heavenly gift because of a small amount of money, not the pauper, not the rich, not the slave, not the free, not the wise, not the unlearned, not the man, not the woman: but all, I pray, with eagerness buy the kingdom of heaven. And let no one of the poor say to me: "I am poor"—for it is necessary to approach the poor first, because they think their excuse seems probable before God. For what does the poor man often say? "I have no money, I am in need of daily food, I am pressed all day long by labor and sweat, so that I can barely manage to keep [myself] alive: I carry burdens on my shoulders, I labor with smith's work and hammer, and I use up the strength of my body: and you, sitting [there], condemn me to give my labors to others?" Do you think, I ask, that your labors are entirely yours, and do you think that the strength of your body is your own? Do you not believe that if you give even a small thing from those labors, which you call yours, you are giving alms to him who implanted in you the vigor and strength to work? Rather, give a little to the body, so that you may grant a great treasure to the soul. If, possessing ten obols, you have given nine to the body and one to the soul, are all your life’s faculties overturned for you by this? If, having fifty obols, you have distributed five to God through the needy, and forty-five to yourself, you have strengthened your soul, you have made your body more robust through the prayers of others, and you have received grace for further labor and for greater gain, and you have become wealthier than the wealthy for [the purpose of] almsgiving. But you will certainly say to me: "What gain shall I have?" You will no longer be called a pauper, but a lender to God. And from where, you will say, will this happen to me? Believe Scripture, which says: "He who has pity on the poor, lends to God" (Prov. 19:17); and you will hear from him: "Insofar as you did it to one of these least [ones], you did it to me" (Matt. 25:40). Have you not often, while sitting in the forum, seen a rich man passing by, and called him blessed, saying: "Happy is this rich man, because he is not in need of the help of others, but rather lends?" Truly, he lends to men, you to God: he receives from the labors of individuals, and sins, and not without strife and litigation; you, however, without labor and care, receive a hundredfold from God with joy: he receives for this short life, you will possess a perennial and eternal life. If you do not believe me, believe God, with an oath affirming and saying: "Amen, I say to you, you will receive a hundredfold, and you will inherit eternal life" (Matt. 19:29). Do not think, therefore, that your resources are diminished when you give to the poor; you do not become a pauper by giving to the poor. If a pauper has pity on a pauper, he does not become poorer, but is to be praised, and he acts more safely in poverty. Have you heard the prophet saying: "I was younger and also I have aged; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread" (Ps. 36:25)? And again: "The just shows mercy and lends all the day, and his seed shall be in blessing" (Ibid. v. 26)? In blessing, why? Because he who sows in blessing, reaps from blessing: for he who has care for your clothes will also care for your soul. For nothing so covers the soul as the covering of the widow, the orphan, and the pauper. For it does not permit the soul to be seen naked by God on that terrible and fearful day; but surrounded by a garment of light through almsgiving, it will appear before God with all glory: for God says through the prophet: "Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and wandering into your house; and then your morning light shall appear, and your healings shall arise quickly, and your justice shall go before you" (Is. 58:7-8). If one obol is laid up for you? Do you know how much light the fruit of almsgiving brings to you? Do you want to know how great a treasure small charity made by the poor procures for us? Do you want to see which paupers, offering the least, obtained great treasures? Listen. For we will inform you about this matter not only from the New Testament, but also from the Old, so that you may gain a heavenly treasure from love of the poor. Famine was once consuming men throughout the whole earth; and such was the famine, that every day a river, as it were, of men and animals was rushing into death, not for a short time, but for three and a half years; so that all the earth was in perdition. The cause of the evil was the idolatry of the Israelites, as well as the iniquity of Ahab and Jezebel; because of which Elijah, though he was a man, was able to place bars upon the heavens, saying: "The Lord lives, if there shall be rain [except through my mouth]," for three years and six months. Finally, the lawless king perceivingA that the widow's flour and oil were lacking—those things in which she had suspended all the hope of her own life and that of her children—the prophet Elijah says to her: "Bring me a little bread in your hand." And the woman said to him: "The Lord your God lives, if I have a hearth-cake, except for a handful of flour in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, and I am going in to make it for myself and for my children, and we shall eat it and die." Is there any one of us today who is driven to such poverty? God forbid. Yet from that remnant of death, the widow first made a hearth-cake for the prophet and brought it out to him, disregarding herself and her children. And what reward did she receive for this meager almsgiving? Hear clearly what the prophet says: "Thus says the Lord: The jar of flour shall not fail, and the cruse of oil shall not diminish." Until when, O prophet? "Until the Lord gives rain and dew upon the earth." For this reason, the prophet says: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord; and his hope shall be in the time of drought, and it shall not diminish nor fail." And the word of the prophet became a deed, and neither the jar failed, nor the cruse diminished. Are you poorer than this woman, O man? Is such a famine pressing upon you that you cannot perform an act of charity? It is not so; God forbid. Rather, you have [the means] and you are able, whoever you may be, and especially if you are a believer. You are ambitious regarding the body, but reckless regarding the soul. Almsgiving is the nourishment of the soul; and just as bread and wine are the nourishment and joy of the body, so also almsgiving and prayer are the healing and joy of the soul. And what will a man give as an exchange for his soul, if not almsgiving? B If you are ignorant of this, learn from the widow in the New Testament, that for two mites she gained the whole kingdom of heaven, having found God himself to be the approver of this poverty, and her fruit-bearing reached even unto the heavens. Did you not see the Savior in the holy Gospels receiving the widow who cast the two mites into the treasury, and bestowing upon her the heavenly crown? For he saw the fragrance of her soul; he saw the poor woman who loved the poor; he saw the one who was in need of money contributing to those who were not in need. Many were those who were casting much into the treasury; and God was present with those who had come, who was at once God and man, the same who does not judge by appearance, but examines the hearts of men. And what judgment does he bring forth regarding them? Let us hear: "Amen, amen I say to you, that this widow has cast in more than all." For I do not accept all that is cast in, he says, but I test the intention of those contributing. "Amen, amen I say to you, that this widow has cast in more than all." Why? Because they brought from their surplus, but she brought her whole livelihood. Therefore, since he has judged righteously, let us all say to God, as the prophet said: "Righteous are you, O Lord, and straight are your judgments"; because you test the intention of men, and you do not restrict the kingdom by the multitude of the offerings. For you do not heed the things being offered, but the disposition of those who offer them. Therefore, let none of you grow weary, I beseech you, even to cast two mites, or ten obols, into the treasury of the widows and orphans; for so the holy Scripture teaches, that according to the intention a man has, he is acceptable before God. May that table not be estranged from your fruit-bearing; but have a portion with it, that you may receive a portion with those who are receiving mercy from the merciful God, who said: "Give alms, that you may receive mercy." Just as it is believed that there is an angel C from heaven who receives the prayers of the people and offers them to God, and hastens to present the prayers to God with everyone, so that your gift of prayer may be accepted with everyone; so believe that in these matters also there is an angel who receives what is given by you to the poor, and offers these things to God. And who is this angel, but he who offered the prayers and almsgivings of Cornelius to God, and said to him: "Cornelius, your alms and your prayers have ascended for a memorial before God"? And he was formerly a Greek; but after this, when the angel spoke to him, he became a believer, and thus they were accepted. How much more so than you, the Christ-lover? D We ought now, therefore, to exhort the rich also. Mostly, indeed, the many are lovers of the poor, and do this of their own accord (for they were well trained by such men, those teachers before us, to bear fruit); but nevertheless, since they require an account even from the poor among us, I will not hesitate to exhort them, and to guide them toward almsgiving, observing these two things: that neither they themselves be accused before God, nor I be disparaged by the angels; and how, I say. For if I do not cast the sayings of the divine Scripture into your good table, like silver to the money-changer, I am immediately accused by God, and I hear from him: "You ought to have cast my money to the money-changers, and I, coming, would have demanded my own with interest." For this reason he also accused, in the holy Gospels, the one who was entrusted with the talent, and who hid it. And how does the prophet call it silver? Hear the words of the Lord: "The words of the Lord are pure words; silver refined, proven for the earth, purified sevenfold." So also God says to the prophet: "Son of man, testify to this people"; and again otherwise: "Exhort, O priests, my people; speak to the ears" of Jerusalem. Having received such commands, therefore, I exhort all of you to come to almsgiving, that I may not be disparaged by you at that hour, if, which may it not come to pass, one should hear from the Judge at that fearful day: "Wicked servant, why did you not have mercy on your fellow-servant? And now, how do you wish to receive mercy?" And again: "Repent now, for there is no time for repentance there; lest one, being accused at that fearful hour, should say that I was not taught by the shepherd, I did not learn what a man shall give in exchange for his soul, nor did he tell us that almsgiving expiates sins; he did not interpret for us the Scripture given to him, saying: 'Blessed is he who understands concerning the poor and needy; the Lord shall deliver him in the evil day'; but he only separated us from Jewish unbelief, and again denounced the superstition of the Greeks; from whose lawlessness, having been taught, we abstained." For if he had instructed us in almsgiving, we would have had the fruits of this to show. For this reason, I do not cease to exhort with boldness, but I admonish and testify to rich and poor alike, men and women together: spare your own souls, and redeem them through money from the coming wrath; lighten the burden of your sins through almsgiving; show mercy, that you may receive mercy. For almsgiving has the power of a holy baptism; and just as the holy bath cleanses the sins of men, so also almsgiving cleanses the sins of the soul of those who show mercy. It is not my word, but the holy Scripture teaches, saying: "Alms and faith purge sins." Money, even if we do not wish it, remains here; but the soul, even if we do not wish it, is led elsewhere, bearing the account of its sins. For this reason, our Lord Jesus Christ said in the Gospels: "What shall a man be profited, if he gain the world, but suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what shall a man give as an exchange for his soul?" Hear then, I beseech you, this word, that in peace it is despised, but in necessities it shows the power of God's law. For the listener often hears: "What shall a man be profited, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul?" and he passes over the power of this saying. And if he despises the word in peace, he learns in necessities the power of the one who spoke it. For what does God do, when he sees someone holding fast to money, and turning away from almsgiving, and choosing to suffer everything rather than surrender his money? In necessities, he teaches him to know the law of God; and how, listen: Consider some merchant sailing the sea, and intent only on money...
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.
ADMONITION
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.A Do not detach your heart, I beseech you, from God, but persevere and guard it, keeping always in mind our Lord Jesus Christ, until the name of the Lord is planted within your heart; for you must think of nothing else but the magnification of Christ within you. I beg you, do not ever stop the rule of your prayer; but whether you are eating, or drinking, or going along your way, or doing anything else, cry out without ceasing: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, so that the very name of the Lord Jesus Christ may stir you up to battle against the enemy. For the soul that uses violence can find everything in its memory, whether good or evil. But first, it must see the evil within the heart, and then the good. B Memory has the power to humble a man; memory has the power to expose the sin dwelling within us; and memory has the power to consume it. Memory has the power to move every power of the enemy in the heart, and memory has the power to conquer and uproot it, bit by bit. For when the name of our Lord Jesus Christ descends into the depths of the heart, it humbles the dragon that holds the pastures, and it saves and vivifies the soul. Therefore, persevere unceasingly in your heart, crying out the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart may swallow the Lord, and the Lord the heart, and the two become one. But this work is not of one day or two, but of much time and season, and it requires struggle and labor, until the enemy is cast out and Christ dwells within. For our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the spiritual things of wickedness, as the Apostle says (Eph. 6:12). C Thus ought the one who prays to pray, gathering and concentrating his whole mind, calling upon God with a soul in pain; and he should not draw out long phrases, nor extend the supplication to any length, but say a few simple words; for it is not in the multitude of words, but in the vigilance of the mind that being heard lies. And this can be seen from the case of Anna, the mother of Samuel. The one who prays, therefore, ought not extend long phrases, and should pray continually—the prayers which Christ commanded through Paul—with few pauses. For if you extend the speech to a length, having often grown negligent, you have given the devil great opportunity to approach and trip you up, and to lead the mind away from what is being said; but if you make the prayers frequent and dense, and occupy the whole time with their density, you will be able to perform the prayers with much vigilance. Do you wish to learn watchfulness, prayer, and vigilance and composure? Go to Anna and learn what she did. They all arose, he says, from the table; and she did not turn to sleep, nor to rest. D Whence it seems to me that even while sitting at the table, she was light, and not weighed down by any foods; for she would not have shed so many tears. And not because she raised a bright and great voice—but because she cried out greatly within her heart; for her voice was not heard, it says, and God heeded her. Neither is there such need of the voice as of the mind, just as there is no need of the stretching of hands as of the soul in tension, nor of the posture, but of the disposition. Even if you are outside the church, cry out and say, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, even if you are not moving your lips, but crying out with your mind; for God hears even the silent. Place is not sought, but the manner; for wherever you may be, pray—you are a temple, do not seek a place. There was a sea in front, Egyptians behind, and Moses in the middle, speaking nothing; and God says to him, Why do you cry out to me? So you, too, when a temptation is put upon you, take refuge in God, call upon the Master Jesus. For is He a man, that you should go to a place? God is always near. While you are yet speaking, He will say, Behold, I am here. You have not yet finished the prayer, and He grants the petition. For if you have a mind that is clean of absurd passions, even if you are in the marketplace, or on the road, or on the sea, or in an inn, or wherever you may be, you will be able to call upon God and obtain your petition. Often, he says, I asked, and did not receive. Invariably, because I asked wrongly? Or faithlessly, or with a wavering mind, or for things not profitable to you; but if you often asked for profitable things, yet did not persevere. For it is written: "In your patience possess your souls" (Luc. 21:19); and, "He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved" (Matth. 10:22). For unless you ask with toil and much expectation, you do not receive. For one must first desire, and having desired, seek from truth in faith and patience the things profitable to each one, being judged in nothing by the conscience as acting carelessly or slothfully; and then you receive, when God wills. For He knows your profitable things better than you do, and perhaps for this reason He delays, by training your expectation of Him, so that you may know what the gift of God is, and guard what is given with fear. For everything that one acquires with much toil, one strives to guard, so that by losing it, one may also lose one's much toil, and by seting at naught the grace of the Lord, may become unworthy of eternal life. For what did it profit Solomon, to receive the grace of wisdom quickly, and then to lose it? Do not, therefore, be faint-hearted, if you do not quickly receive your petition. For if the good Master knew that you would not lose the grace by receiving it quickly, He was ready to provide it even before the petition; but now, in His care for you, He does this. For if the servant who received the talent, and guarded it safe, because he did not trade with it, was condemned; much more will he who has lost it be condemned. Watch yourself, and look to yourself from every side; have a sleepless eye of the mind for your own protection: you pass in the midst of snares; hidden nets have been set by the enemy on every side. Therefore, look around at everything, so that you may be saved like a doe from the snares. For she is uncapturable by the snares, due to the sharpness of her vision; whence she is also named for her sharp-sightedness. This, however, must be known, that we cannot succeed in the keeping of any other commandment, nor in love itself toward God, nor toward our neighbor; at other times the mind is led astray about other things; but even the exercise of what is pleasing to God according to the Gospel of Christ is successful in the retreat from the concerns of the world, and in the total alienation from foolish distractions.