Letter N

TITLE XIV. — Concerning those who labor in vain.

^A Job xx, 18. — "In vain has he labored, gathering riches, from which he shall not taste."

Psal. xxxviii, 12. — "Verily, every man living is vainly troubled."

Prov. xxii, 8. — "He who sows iniquity shall reap evils; he shall consume the vanity of his works."

"Those who pursue vain things are void of mind."

"All are vain who do things pleasing to themselves, which will profit them nothing."

Isa. xlix, 4. — "I said, I have labored in vain; I have given my strength for nothing."

^B Isa. lix, 4. — "They trust in vanities and speak empty things; for they conceive sorrow and bring forth iniquity, and they weave the spider’s web."

Eccli. xxii, 7. — "He who teaches a fool glues together a potsherd."

Eccli. xxxiv, 28. — "One building and one pulling down, what profit do they have except labor? One praying and one cursing, whose voice will the Lord hear?"

St. Basil. — Carrying water with a sieve, and pouring it into a perforated jar.

LETTER N

TITLE I. — Concerning youth and the young age.

Psal. cxix, 9. — "Wherewith shall a youth correct his way? By keeping thy words."

^C Prov. — "A youth with pious men, and his way is straight."

Eccli. iv, 13. — "Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king."

Eccli. xi, 9. — "Rejoice, O youth, in thy youth, and let thy heart be in good in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, immaculate."

Eccli. xxxii, 7. — "Speak, O youth, if there be need for thee; but with difficulty, if thou art not asked."

I Tim. v, 12. — "I will that the younger women marry, bring forth children, be managers of households, give no occasion to the adversary for the sake of reproach. For some are already turned back after Satan."

^D St. Basil. — This malady is by nature inherent in the young, that from lightness of mind they think they already possess the things they hope for. For when they happen upon some tranquility or nighttime silence, they fashion for themselves unsubstantial phantasms, carried away by the ease of their minds toward everything. They imagine for themselves the splendor of life, brilliant weddings, good education, deep old age, and honors bestowed upon them by all. Then, being unable to set any limit to their thoughts, they swell up violently, and through their folly they seem to themselves to enjoy the hoped-for things as if they were already present and lying at their very feet.

^A He who is childish in his thoughts does not differ at all in age from a young child. What is weaker than flesh living in delights, and a headlong youth? Is one still of a youthful age? Let him show himself as a man against vicious affections; and let him gain this benefit from his youth, that he does not suffer the things that are young, but rather cultivates an elder's prudence in a blooming and vigorous body. And he will rejoice more in this victory than those who are crowned in the Olympics. It is shameful for a young man to be weaker than an old man, and for an old man to be more foolish than a young man. Nevertheless, let the former be all-wise in his time, or rather, the best thing is to be prudent before one's time. A gentle young man endures many things; but who will endure a faint-hearted old man? ^B In every matter, for the most part, youth is a dangerous counselor, and one will not easily find anything of great importance successfully completed in which old age has not been taken into partnership for the sake of deliberation.

TIT. II. — Concerning those who labor under sickness and infirmity; and that it is necessary to visit them.

and madness, and countless evils. But from such visitations we gain blessed hopes, the notion of God, confidence from above, gentleness of soul, and not being dispirited by any of the things that befall us; and in all things human, we acquire a philosophical spirit.

^B S. Chrysostom, Hom. in Centur. (Spuria. Montf. t. X.) — Most of the wealthy demand services from the healthy, and they demand them without any indulgence; but for the sick, they take no thought at all. Indeed, when a sickness befalls a maidservant, she lies neglected and cast upon the ground. The master heeds her not, nor does the mistress visit her. And if ever it is necessary for the mistress to approach the servant, she does not visit her as one born of the same kind, but looks upon her with a grim eye, and addresses her with harsh speech, since the nature of the swelling of pride infects her sense of kinship. Do you not read the Scriptures? Do you not know what the holy David says: "As the eyes of servants look to the hands of their masters, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hands of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God" (Ps. cxxiii, 2, 3)? Be moved by this comparison: fear what is written; bring help to the sick. The Savior was not born man from the beginning, but being the Only-begotten God, yet for the sake of men He endured to become man; and you, being a man, reject your fellow creature as if he were not your equal? Do you refuse to have sympathy for a nature of the same kind as your own? And when a brute animal is lame, you care for it for your own use; but when your servant, an animal endowed with reason, is sick, you overlook him and do not care that he is endowed with reason. ^C

TIT. III. — That we must be of a vigilant mind and care for our own salvation.

Prov. vi, 4. — "Give no sleep to your eyes, nor let your eyelids slumber, that you may be saved as a doe from the snares, and as a bird from the trap."

Eccli. ix, 12. — "As fish are caught in a net, and as birds are caught in a snare, so are the sons of men caught in an evil time, when it falls upon them suddenly."

Eccli. xii, 10, 16. — "Keep the season, and watch carefully, for you walk with your own destruction. Take heed that you be not led astray by your thought. Be vigilant all your life. Love the Lord, and call upon Him for your salvation."

Eccli. xxix, 27. — "Take heed to yourself, that you do not fall."

I Cor. x, 12. — "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

I Cor. ix, 24. — "I therefore so run, not as in uncertainty; so I fight, not as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." ^D

I Petr. v, 8. — "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in the faith."

II Tim. iv, 5. — "But be watchful, endure hardship in all things; do the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry. As for the hidden snares, through all..."

^A walk always above them; lest, while you nod, the sower of evils and the envious enemy mingle in bitter seed. From the same, Tetr. 59. Be diligent, beware of fraud. Make sure you have fought the constant battle, Lest you eventually stand in need of purifications.

Tit. IV. — Concerning the newly married.

Tit. V. — Concerning fasting and those who fast.

every bond of iniquity; ^A dissolve the obligations of violent contracts; send away the broken in remission, and tear up every unjust writing. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see the naked, cover him, and do not overlook those of your own seed."

Matth. vi, 16-18.—"When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, gloomy; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you in public."

S. Basil. hom. 1 de jejun.—Verily, fasting is an aversion from sin. Gluttony ^B does not extend pleasure beyond the stomach, but fasting advances utility to the soul. Rejoice that a medicine has been given to you by the Physician, one that destroys sin. For just as those worms that are produced in the intestines of children are removed from the midst by certain very harsh medicines, in the same way does fasting, upon entering the soul, kill the iniquity that lies hidden in the depths. Do not disfigure your face like the hypocrites. Appear as you are; do not pretend to sadness in yourself, so that you may fish for glory out of the reputation for continence. For just as there is no utility in the beneficence that is proclaimed with the sounding of a trumpet, ^C so neither does any profit come from a publicized fast. For those things which are done out of a desire for ostentation do not extend their fruit to the future age, but end in the praise of men. And therefore, approach the benefit of fasting with a joyful heart. Fasting is an ancient gift, one that does not contract age or senility, but is always renewed, and throughout all time sprouts effectively and flourishes. It is no recent invention; it is the treasure of the fathers. Everything that excels in antiquity is worthy of veneration. Reverence the hoary age of fasting. It is coeval with the human race. Fasting was ordained by law in paradise. This is the first commandment that Adam received: "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat" (Gen. ii, 17). ^D This, "You shall not eat," is an edict of fasting and continence. If Eve had fasted from the tree, we would have no need of this fasting now. For "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick" (Luc. v, 31). We were afflicted through sin; let us be healed through repentance. But repentance without fasting is idle. "Cursed is the earth: it shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you" (Gen. iii, 17, 18). You have been commanded to groan (for you are not to indulge in luxuries); cleanse yourself for God through fasting. Indeed, even the very way of life that they held in paradise is an image of fasting. Since we did not fast, we fell from paradise. Let us fast, therefore, so that we may return to it. Do you not see Lazarus, how through fasting he entered into paradise? Do not imitate the disobedience of Eve; do not again...

^A advise with the serpent, who, under the pretext of taking care of the flesh, introduces food. Do not plead bodily ill health or weakness. For you are not offering these excuses to me, but to Him who sees through them. You cannot fast? Tell me, I pray you, are you able to be satisfied and crush your body with the weight of what you have eaten? And yet, I happen to know that physicians prescribe not a variety of foods, but abstinence and scarcity to those who are in weak health. How, then, when you are able to do that, do you plead that you are unable to do this? Which is easier for the stomach: to pass the night with a frugal diet, or to lie burdened with a plethora of food—or rather, not even to lie still, but to toss ^B and turn incessantly, writhing and groaning? We know that Moses approached the mountain through the benefit of fasting; for he would not have dared to face the smoking summit, nor would he have had the courage to enter into the darkness, had he not been armed with fasting. Through fasting he received the law, written by the finger of God upon the tablets. Fasting gives birth to prophets, it strengthens the valiant. Fasting makes legislators wise; it is a good bulwark for the soul, a secure companion for the body, a weapon for those who excel in battle, a training for athletes. It repels temptations; it anoints the mind for piety. It is a partner of prudence, a parent of modesty. In war it performs a distinguished service, and in peace it brings quiet. It grants holiness to the Nazirite; it makes priests perfect. For it is not possible that anyone should dare to perform sacred rites without fasting; ^C not only in this mystical and true sacrifice, but also in that typical one which was offered according to the law. This made Elijah a spectator of a great miracle. For when he had purified his soul with fasting for forty days, he finally attained this: to see the Lord in the cave of Mount Horeb, as much as it is possible for a man to see Him.

S. Basil, ibid. — Fasting sends prayer up to heaven, becoming as it were wings for it toward the journey on high. Fasting is an enlargement of households, the mother of health, the guide of youth, the ornament of the aged, a helpful companion to travelers, and a safe housemate to those who live together. The husband does not suspect any plot against his marriage when he sees that fasting is familiar to his wife. The wife, in turn, is not consumed by jealousy when she sees that her husband embraces fasting. For who has ever lessened his household through fasting? ^D Count what you have in your house today, and count it again after this: nothing is missing from your house because of fasting, nor does a single animal lament death; nowhere is there blood, nowhere is there a sentence issued against living creatures by the inexorable belly; the culinary blade is at rest. The Sabbath was given to the Jews so that, says the Scripture (Deut. v, 14), your beast of burden and your servant might rest. Let fasting, therefore, be a rest from continuous toils for the servants who labor for you throughout the entire year. Refresh your cook; give a holiday to the banquet-setter; stay the hand of the cupbearer; let the house also rest at last from the

^A countless disturbances, and from the smoke, and from the savory odors, and from those who run up and down, and who as though serving an inexorable mistress, the belly. Fasting knows nothing of the nature of debt. The table of the faster does not exhale usury; the orphans of the faster are not strangled by paternal interest, which coils about the neck like snakes. The complexion of one who fasts is venerable, not blossoming into a shameless flush, but adorned with a sober pallor; the eye is mild, the gait restrained, the face thoughtful, not disgraced by wanton laughter; there is symmetry of speech and purity of heart. Fasting is the decorum of a city, the stability of the marketplace, the peace of homes, the preservation of possessions. Do you wish to see its dignity? Compare for me today’s evening with tomorrow’s, and you will see the city transformed from turbulence into a profound calm. Confer, I ask, the present evening with the one to come, and behold the city turned to serene peace.

^B S. Basil, ibid.—True fasting is an alienation from evils. “Dissolve the bond of iniquity.” Remit the vexation to your neighbor; forgive him his debts. Do not fast for the sake of judgments and strifes; you do not eat meat, but you eat your brother; you abstain from wine, but you do not hold back from insults; you wait until evening to partake of food, but you spend the day in courts of law. What use is it to fast in the body, while filling the soul with countless evils?

Hom. 2 De jejun.—Oil indeed keeps the athlete sleek, but fasting strengthens the one who cultivates piety. Therefore, the more you withdraw from the flesh, the more you cause the soul to shine with spiritual health. For it is not by bodily labors, but by the endurance of the soul, and by patience in bearing afflictions, that victory over invisible enemies is achieved. ^C Furthermore, fasting is useful at any time to those who embrace it. For neither do the assaults of demons dare to attack the one who fasts, but the angels, the guardians of our life, remain more diligently with those who have purified themselves through fasting.

Ibid.—There are angels who in every church record those who are fasting. See then that you do not, for the sake of a small pleasure of foods, incur this loss, that you are not recorded by the angel, and that you do not render yourself liable to a charge of desertion before Him who enlisted you as a soldier.

^D Ibid.—Are you rich? Do not offer insult to fasting by disdaining to take it as a companion at your table, nor cast it out of your house as one dishonored, overcome by the pleasure of food, lest it report you to the Lawgiver of fasts, and bring upon you many times greater scarcity by way of condemnation, whether through bodily sickness or by some other grievous circumstance. Let the poor man not mock at fasting, as one who has long had it as a housemate and consort in life. For women, just as drawing breath, so too is fasting something familiar and consistent with nature. Let children, like the flourishing of plants, be irrigated by the water of fasting. For the elderly, long-standing familiarity makes the labor light. For labors [borne] from long habit

are less burdensome to the trained. For the wayfarer, fasting is a reliable companion. For just as luxury forces them to carry heavy luggage—as they gather the things they use for pleasure—so, on the contrary, fasting makes them light and nimble. When, therefore, you are about to fast, do not put on a gloomy face after the manner of the Jews; instead, according to the precept of the Gospel, show a cheerful mind, so that you do not lament the need of your belly, but rather rejoice in your soul in spiritual delights. You are not unaware that the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. Since, therefore, these are opposed to each other, let us diminish the softness of the flesh and increase the strength of the soul, so that through fasting, having received the trophies of victory over the passions, we may be crowned with the wreaths of temperance.

^B Fasting, do not be sad. You fast from food for this reason: that you may be fed by the Spirit; and for this reason you abstain from bodily viands, that you may be filled with spiritual gifts. Fasting is a medicine capable of destroying the power of sin, a soothing poultice for the soul, softening it toward piety. And just as long-standing bodily ailments, if they are treated with certain very sharp and highly astringent medicines, cast out that which has the power to corrupt and draw together the ulcerated part, in the same way does fasting penetrate to the sin that lies hidden within and feeds upon the soul, and by its astringent power gradually weakens and finally dries it up. Therefore, even if fasting is hard and laborious, it is nevertheless useful and offers easy access. Do not, therefore, fast with a gloomy mind, lest you lose the reward of your labor. For as much as fasting constricts your body, by so much do you gain greater utility from the fasting. Review the ways of life of the just, and you will find that for the most part they attained praise through the works of fasting. First, Moses, after fasting, entered into the darkness and by the benefit of fasting had discourse with God, having completed a forty-day fast. Through fasting he was proclaimed a lawgiver, and he neither ate bread nor drank water for forty days. ^C During your fasting, be mindful of acts of kindness. For the one who fasts but does not share bread with the needy, his fasting will be in vain. There are, indeed, many who fast with sackcloth and ashes and many tears, yet do not share even a single obolus with the hungry, thus making their fast bereft of reward, which God does not accept. Hear, then, what He says in the prophet Isaiah: "Even if you bow your neck like a hoop and lay sackcloth and ashes under you, not even so will it be called a fast. But loose every bond of unrighteousness and give bread from your soul to the hungry. Send forth those who are broken in forgiveness; loosen the knots of violent agreements. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house" (Isa. LVIII, 5-7). This is the fasting that God loves. For otherwise, your haircloth and ashes will profit you nothing while you fast. Satisfy the needy, that ^D your fast may be accepted by God.

And you shall find it before your face ^A at the departure of your soul. If you see the tears of the poor and do not have mercy, how will God have mercy on you? Pure fasting is when, while you fast, the poor man is satisfied from your own means. We derive great benefit from fasting: a tranquil mind, calmness of thoughts, a gentle heart, a head free from pain, and straight feet. Are you troubled that your eyes are not bloodshot, nor your tongue stammering, and that your feet walk straight? Great is fasting, and through it many have transcended human nature and maintain a way of life with the angels. Did not Daniel, through ^B fasting, change the ferocity of lions into the gentleness of sheep? For having fasted for seven days in the pit, he beheld the huge lions as though they were doves. And consider for me his virtue, that he even taught the lions to fast. The holy man was thrown into the pit to be a meal for the lions, but he was found feasting, since food had been brought to him by Habakkuk at the command of the Lord, while the lions sat by with great philosophic composure. O! the excellence of fasting! It muzzled the lions, pierced the dragon, destroyed Bel, and rescued Susanna. The three children, while fasting, trampled upon the furnace as if it were mud, and regarding the flame as a dewy paradise, they remained unburnt ^C and broke the king's threats like a spider's web. Through fasting, the great Moses among the prophets received the Law. For having fasted for forty days, he appeased the wrath against the people. Having fasted for three days, the Ninevites preserved their populous city. Fasting is an imitation of the angels. Fasting has raised men up to heaven and prepared them to live with the angels, and has granted them rest with the martyrs.

Do not let drunkenness lead you into fasting. There is no entrance into fasting through drunkenness; for one does not arrive at justice through greed, nor at chastity through debauchery, nor, to sum it up, at virtue through vice. There is another door to fasting. Drunkenness leads to insolence, but self-sufficiency to fasting; he who is going to compete exercises himself beforehand, and he who is going to fast practices continence beforehand. ^D Do not, as if taking revenge on the Lawgiver, store up in advance a five-day debauchery beforehand. For you labor to no purpose, wearing out the body without bringing any comfort or relief to your hunger. Your belly is a treacherous storehouse; you are pouring into a leaking jar.

No one, intending to bring a respectable woman into his home in valid marriage, would first take in concubines and harlots. For the legitimate wife will not endure to dwell with the corrupted. Do not, therefore, when a fast is approaching, introduce drunkenness first—that common harlot, that mother of shamelessness, that lover of laughter, that madwoman, that companion to all indecency.