[LATIN COLUMN]
671 ple: and to them the words of God appear to be a fable. It is truly the behavior of the most savage beasts, to be the first to attack others with injury when one has been harmed by no one; nay, even more savage than beasts. For those creatures, if you let them live in the desert and do not force them into a need for self-defense by constricting them, will never do harm, nor will they advance, nor bite, but will go their own ways. You, however, since you are a human being, a partaker of reason, honored with such great authority, honor, and glory, do you not imitate even the beasts [in your conduct] toward those who are of the same kind as yourself, but rather you injure and devour your brother? And from where will you be able to make your defense? Do you not see the bee, whose labor both kings and commoners consume for their good health, how it is of no avail to it if it should be killed if it does evil, but perishes together with its sting? By this, learn not to harm a neighbor; for we ourselves shall be the first to receive death from this: and we may perhaps have harmed them a little, but we ourselves shall no longer live, just as the bee does not. For this reason, money is called *chremata*, as if you were to say, "useful things," so that we might use it as is meet, not that we might guard it; for this is not possessing, but being possessed. For if we look to this, that we may always increase it, and not that we may enjoy it as is meet, the order is reversed, and it rather has us, not we it. He who loves money not only will not love his enemies, but will even hate his friends. Nor does such a person know kinship, nor does he remember acquaintance, nor does he revere age, nor does he have any friend; but he is hostile toward all, and above all others toward himself, not only because he loses his soul, but also because he wears himself out with innumerable cares. And he indeed who despises money puts a limit to desire: but he who wishes to grow rich and to store up more, ignites it much more, nowhere stops; but even if he should receive ten thousand talents, he desires as many more; and if he has obtained these, he seeks yet others as many; and proceeding further, he desires even the mountains, the earth, the sea, and all things to become gold for himself, raving with a certain new madness, and that a terrible one, and one which can never be extinguished. B For when we are commanded to give to others, if we snatch what belongs to others: what, I pray, is our hope of salvation? If you will be punished for not feeding the hungry, what pardon will you deserve if you have even stripped the naked? Tell me, furthermore, if someone were to lead you into the land of the Persians to see what is there, and you were about to return; then he were to command you to build a house: would you not condemn his extreme stupidity, in that he would command you to make such untimely expenditures? How, therefore, do you do this very thing on earth, which you are about to leave shortly? "But I shall leave it to my children," you say. But they too leave it shortly after you, frequently even before you. C For this reason, therefore, do you act greedily and snatch others' property, so that a horse’s bit may be smeared with gold for you? And likewise the roof of the house and the capitals of the columns? And what hell would not be deserved for these things, when you cast your brother, whom your Lord has honored with such great honor, into innumerable calamities so that you may adorn stones and the pavement and the bodies of irrational animals, which do not even feel, with ornaments? And the column is cared for diligently; but a man, or rather Christ himself, is driven to extreme famine for the sake of the column, and all the things mentioned [before]. And if it be necessary to prepare a throne, or a footstool to support [the] feet, all things are prepared from gold and silver: but for the member of Christ, and for him for whose sake He descended from heaven, not even necessary food is provided, but Christ has become more worthless to you than all things. What is more bitter than such iniquity? How many rivers of fire would suffice for such a soul, when other animals love their own kind, and the kinship of nature has sufficient weight among them for mutual love, yet you, having in nature numberless reasons for friendship, show yourself more savage than them? Let us not, I pray, irritate God on both sides, by gathering from where we ought not, and by scattering where it is not convenient. For what anger would you not deserve, when you give to a prostitute, while passing by a poor man? For even if you provide from just labors: does this not carry blame, that you provide a reward for immorality, and that you give a prize for the very things for which you ought to punish? When, moreover, you are stripping orphans, and doing injury to widows, to feed licentiousness, think how great the fire will be for those who have dared such things. Fear, you who do injury to the poor: you have power, riches, and the favor of judges; but they have the most powerful weapons of all, groans and lamentations, and that very thing, to suffer injury, which draw help from heaven. D These weapons undermine houses, overturn foundations, have destroyed cities, have submerged entire nations. God carries such great providence for those who are wronged. For large and valid weapons are the groans of men who are suffering injury. God reveres this patience of theirs, when they are affected by evil, and utter no wicked word, but only groan and deplore their own evils: and to them indeed He becomes propitious, but from those who harass them He takes punishment. Let us therefore flee from doing injury, that we may have God propitious, through the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and empire unto the ages of ages. Amen.
HOMILY XVI
If you wish to repress an inflated man, do not initiate long sermons, but only recall nature to his memory, and sharply rebuke him, saying thus: "Why is earth and ashes proud?" (Eccli. 10:9). But if he says these things are so after death, recall the living man himself to modesty, and teach him that he is earth and ashes: for he is ignorant that he already is these things. He looks upon the beauty of the body, he looks upon power, the obsequiousness of flatterers, the parasites who follow him: he is clothed in precious garments, he is fortified with a great amplitude of power: imagination deceives him, and causes him to forget his nature; he awaits only the spectacle of death: he does not come to the sepulchers and the tombs of his ancestors; regarding things present...
A he looks alone, and considers nothing of the things to come. Teach him, therefore, from this point forward, that he is earth and ashes, so that he may receive the medicine while he is still alive. For having said, "Why is earth and ashes proud?" he adds, "Because in his life his inward parts have become abominable" (Eccl. 10:10); by "inward parts" he means the bowels, the belly that is full of corruption and much impurity and stench. Behold the vileness and the fragility of our substance. Do not wait for your own day of death to learn your weakness; test the man while he is still alive, and in your discourse penetrate into his bowels, and you will see all of our nothingness. But do not be cast down; for it is not out of hatred for us, but in mercy, that God has thus acted, providing us with great occasions for humility. For if a man, who is earth and ashes, has dared to say, "I will ascend into heaven" (Isai. 14:13), had he not possessed the bridle of his nature, into what folly of mind would he not have fallen? When, therefore, you see someone puffed up, lifting his neck, raising his eyebrows, being carried in a chariot, threatening, casting into prison, acting insolently, handing men over to death, say to him, "Why is earth and ashes proud? because in his life his inward parts have become abominable." These things are said not only about a private citizen, but also about him who sits upon the royal throne. For do not look at the purple, nor the diadem, nor the golden garments; but examine the nature itself, and you will see that earth is the substance of these things. "For all the glory of man is as the flower of grass" (1 Pet. 1:24). Why do you think highly of yourself, O man, and for what reason? Descend from this empty inflation, consider the vileness of your nature: are you not earth and ashes, dust and powder? smoke and shadow, grass and the flower of grass? And do you think highly of yourself while living in such a nature, tell me? And what could be more ridiculous than this? But you rule over many men? And what is the benefit of this, when you rule over men, but are a captive and a slave to your passions? Just as if someone at home were beaten by his servants and received wounds, but upon casting himself out into the marketplace thought highly of himself because of his rule over others. You are a slave to all the passions, and yet you think highly of yourself because you rule over those of your own kind? I wish you ruled over those, and were their equal in dignity. For if he who is arrogant over things which are actually good is worthy of condemnation, and loses the reward for all those things; he who is puffed up over things that are nothing, and swells with pride because of present glory, how would he not be the most ridiculous of all? B O miserable and wretched man, while your soul is being corrupted by a most grievous disease, and you are in the utmost poverty, do you think highly of yourself because you have so many talents of gold? Because you have a multitude of slaves? But these things are not yours; and if you do not part with them by choice, you will often do so against your will, in favor of those to whom you did not wish to give them, those whom you did not even want to behold before. For the substance of human affairs is nothing other than ash and powder and smoke and shadow, and what is even more worthless than these. For tell me, what do you think is great? What kind of rank do you consider great? That of the consuls? For the multitude thinks there is nothing greater than this rank. Therefore, for him who has attained such brilliance, for him who is greatly admired, the one who is not a consul has no less; both he and the other are in the same rank; for in like manner, after a little while, both are not. When did it happen, and for how long, tell me? For two days? This happens even in dreams. But, you say, it is a dream. And what of that? For are not the things that happen by day a dream, tell me? Why do we not rather call these the reality? Just as dreams, when the day has overtaken them, are proven to be nothing, so too, when the night has overtaken them, these things also are proven to be nothing; and just as no one rejoices during the day at what happened in a dream, so too it is not possible to enjoy during the night what happens by day. You have become consul? I too in a dream. But I by day, and you by night. And what of that? Not even so do you have something more than I, unless perhaps the being called "so-and-so is consul," for a time, and the having the pleasure from the words, makes one have more. If I say, "So-and-so is consul," and I favor the people, does it not perish as soon as it is said? Thus also are these things; as soon as he appeared as consul, he is no more. But let us posit even a year, and three, and four; where are those who for ten years have been consuls? Nowhere. But Paul is not so; for he was brilliant always, even while living, not for one day, nor two, nor ten and twenty, nor ten and twenty years; but even when he died, and the four-hundredth year has now passed, he is still brilliant even now, and much more brilliant than when he lived. And these things are on earth; but the brilliance in the heavens, what language could ever express it? And just as it is possible to see the waves of the sea, now being raised to an immeasurable height, and suddenly again being brought low; in the same way, we see those who pursue arrogance, now thinking highly of themselves, and raising their eyebrows, and being excited about the things of the present life; but suddenly they are brought low, and driven into the utmost poverty. These also the blessed David was hinting at when he said: "Do not fear when a man becomes rich, or when the glory of his house is multiplied" (Ps. 48:17). He did well to say, "Do not fear." Do not let the abundance of wealth, he says, and the brilliance of glory disturb you; for you will see him not long hence lying on the ground, C inactive, dead, cast away, becoming food for worms, stripped naked of all these things, and having been able to take with him nothing at all (for they do not accompany those who depart from here), but having left everything here, and having put on only his wickedness, and the heavy burdens of sins collected for him from this. Justly, therefore, has it been called by the ancients "vainglory"; for it is empty within, having nothing useful; but just as masks seem to be brilliant and desirable, but are empty within, D which is why, despite being more attractive than the bodily features, they have never persuaded anyone to love them; so too, or rather more miserably, is the glory derived from the many. For nothing is so
alienated from the loving-kindness of God, and nothing delivers one into the flame of Gehenna, as the tyranny of vainglory. For if this should be present with us, even if we perform temperance, or virginity, or fasting, or prayers, or alms-giving, or whatever else, our entire life becomes impure; for, says he, "The impure before the Lord is every one who is proud of heart." So great an evil is vainglory, because it not only commands those whom it has once seized to seek vice, but it also exists alongside the virtues; and since it cannot drive us out from them, it works great damage within virtue itself, forcing us to undergo the labors while depriving us of the fruits. For it is not possible to obtain both desires; it is indeed possible to obtain both, if we do not desire both, but the one that is from heaven; he, however, who loves both cannot obtain both. For he who performs something good because he hunts for glory from men, whether he is able to enjoy this or not, has received his full reward here, and will receive no retribution there for it. Why? Because by acting first, he has deprived himself of the Judge's liberality, preferring the glory of men to the reckoning of the just Judge. But he who performs some spiritual work for this reason alone, that he may please the One with the sleepless eye, for him both the treasure remains undiminished and the integrity of virtue; and from this, a good hope already suggests to him much consolation: and besides the fact that his retribution is kept for him in an inviolable treasury, the good opinion of men also follows him. B For they will follow this very thing more abundantly if we despise it, if we do not seek it, if we do not pursue it. For in the circus games, those who drive the horses—while the entire populace is applauding and pouring forth a myriad of favorable acclamations—do not turn around, nor do they perceive any pleasure from the delightful acclamation of the others; but they look to one alone, namely the king sitting in their midst, and attending to his every nod, they despise the whole multitude, and only then do they glory when he honors them with the crown. What, therefore, could be more wretched than those who exercise virtue for the show of men, and disfigure their faces with fastings, and make their prayers in the crossroads? Since they indeed sustain the labors, but are lacking in every reward. What are you doing, O man? Are you about to render an account of your deeds to another, and do you invoke another as a witness of what is done? You have one judge, and you appoint another as spectator? Do you not see the charioteers, who, with the whole city sitting overhead, in the competition of horses, across the entire part of the stadium, strive to overturn the chariots of their rivals only where they see the king sitting? They esteem one eye more trustworthy than so many eyes. But you, seeing the King of the angels himself, who is present as the judge of your contest, abandoning Him do you take refuge in the eyes of fellow servants? Because of this, surely, after infinite struggles, after many sweats, you depart without a crown, and go away to the judge of the contest without a prize. For how is it not absurd that a servant does everything he does according to the pleasure of his master, and requires nothing more than his gaze, and is not drawn to look to the eyes of others, even if those looking are great, but observes one alone, that his master may be a spectator; while we, having such a Master, seek other spectators, who can indeed help nothing, but can harm by their gaze, and render all our labor vain? But if someone, by being proud in a good deed, has lost everything, how much more punishment will he be worthy of, who does this while sinning? C For to be puffed up in spirit while sinning is far graver than to sin. If to boast in those things which are truly good is foolishness, how much more in those things which are nothing? For truly nothing makes men wicked and insane as much as being intent upon the opinion of the multitude: nor does anything make them upright and constant as much as despising it. Therefore, there is need of an extremely strong soul for one who must sustain such an impetus and violence of spirit. For if he happens to live prosperously, he prefers himself to all others; but if he suffers the opposite, he wants to bury himself, submerged by the sickness. And attend to what I say. King Uzziah at one time transgressed the boundaries, and overstepping the measure of royal power, entered into the temple, wishing with authority to offer incense. What, therefore, did the priest do? "It is not lawful for you," he says, "to offer incense: you are crossing the boundaries: do not seek what is not granted; therefore you are also losing what you have received: this is not yours, but mine. Have I snatched your purple? Do not you snatch my priesthood." He, however, did not obey, but puffed up with arrogance, entered the temple, and opened the Holy of Holies, wishing to offer the incense. Since therefore the priest was slighted, and the word of the priesthood was trampled upon, and he could do nothing further except to rebuke and show the freedom of speech: but the other was moving his weapons, and was using the abundance of his wealth: the priest says, "I have done what is mine, I can do nothing more; help, Lord, the priesthood which is being trampled upon, whose laws are being violated and whose rights are being subverted." And see what happens. D Immediately leprosy broke out on his forehead. Where there was impudence, there also was the punishment. Did you see the clemency of God in punishing? He did not send down lightning, he did not shake the earth, he did not disturb the heaven, but the leprosy broke out; and not in any other place, but on the forehead, so that like letters placed on a pillar, and as it were a law in a high place, they might say: "Do not do such things, that you may not suffer such things." Why, therefore, do you stretch your neck, tell me? Why do you walk on your tiptoes? Why do you knit your brow? Why do you puff out your chest? You cannot make a hair white or black, and yet do you boast as if you have power over all things? Perhaps you would like wings to be born for you, so that you would not walk on the earth. How shall I address you and demolish your arrogance? Shall I address you as ash and dust, and smoke and filth? But I will not yet have attained the likeness exactly. You seem to me to be comparable to burnt tow: for that, while it seems to swell after burning and rise up, if it sustains a slight touch of the hand, it is entirely flattened, and appears more vile than any ash. And just as bubbles of water, while rising to a height, break easily, so too does vainglory puffing itself up in a very short time. For there is no evil equal to arrogance. For since the devil was not like this from the beginning, he became a devil; and the first man, having been puffed up by these hopes from the devil, was thrown down and became mortal; having the expectation of being God, and what he believed