A of it, and we shall enjoy the tree of life eternally, of which we were forbidden to partake from the beginning because of the guile of the serpent. For God ordained the flaming sword to guard the way of the tree of life; having passed which without hindrance, we shall be admitted within to the enjoyment of good things in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
HOMILY X.
Against those who are angry.
1. Just as in medical precepts, when they are performed aptly and according to the logic of the art, their utility is especially demonstrated after experience; so also in spiritual exhortations, when the commandments have especially received the outcome which bears witness, then their wisdom and their utility for the correction of life and the perfection of those who are persuaded is made manifest. For when we hear the Proverbs declaring expressly that "anger destroys even the prudent," and when we hear the apostolic exhortations: "Let all anger and wrath and clamor be removed from you with all malice," and the Lord saying that he who is angry with his brother without cause is liable to judgment; now, when we have come to the experience of the passion—not as it is generated within us, but as it has fallen upon us from without like some unexpected storm—then especially have we known the marvelous quality of the divine commands. Giving place ourselves to anger, like an outlet for a violent stream, yet observing in stillness the unseemly disturbance of those who are possessed by the passion, we have recognized by our deeds the accuracy of the saying: "A wrathful man is not orderly." For since, once the passion has thrust aside the reasoning B faculties and taken to itself the dominion of the soul, it turns the man wholly into a beast and does not even allow him to be a man, no longer having the help that comes from reason. For what poison is to venomous creatures, this passion of anger becomes to those who are provoked. They rage C like dogs, they dart like scorpions, they bite like serpents. Scripture also knows how to call those who are held fast by this passion by the names of the beasts with which they have rendered themselves akin through their wickedness. For it calls them "dumb dogs," and "serpents," and "brood of vipers," and such like. For those who are ready for mutual destruction and the ruin of their D fellow-creatures, since they are prepared for the harming of their own kind, can neither be called men...
A to be numbered among the beasts and venomous creatures, in whom there is by nature an implacable hatred toward humans. Through anger tongues become unbridled and mouths unguarded; hands are incontinent; insults, reproaches, curses, blows, and all the rest which no one can even count, are vices born of anger and fury. Through anger the sword is sharpened; murder is committed by human hand; through it brothers have failed to know one another, and parents and children have forgotten nature. For the angry first do not know themselves, and then they ignore all their kin and acquaintances together. For just as torrents 84, rushing toward hollow places, drag along whatever is in their way, so the violent and uncontrollable impulses of the angry likewise rush through everyone. Neither gray hair is respected by the angry, nor virtue of life, nor kinship, nor previously received benefits, nor any other dignity. Anger is a kind of short-lived madness. For the angry often cast themselves into manifest evil, neglecting their own advantages in the zeal to take revenge. For, as if goaded by a gadfly by the memory of those who have annoyed them, and with anger boiling up and leaping within them, they do not cease until they have inflicted some harm on the one who provoked them, or perhaps, if it so happens, they receive it themselves; just as often happens, that those things which are violently dashed against others receive more damage than they inflict, while being shattered by the objects that resist them.
2. Who can explain this evil? How, indeed, those who are prone to anger, kindled by a slight occasion, shouting, raging, and attacking more impudently than any venomous beast, do not desist until the inflammation, through some great and incurable disaster—the anger in them having burst like a bubble—is dissipated. For neither the sharpness of a sword, nor fire, nor any other fearsome thing, is able to restrain a soul raging with anger; certainly no more than those who are possessed by demons, from whom the angry do not differ either in bearing or in the disposition of their soul. For in those who pant for revenge, the blood boils around the heart, B as if agitated and seething by the force of fire; but when it flowers on the surface, it shows the angry person in a different form, changing the familiar and known form for all as if it were a stage mask. For their own and accustomed eyes are not recognized, the aspect is savage, and already it flashes with fire. Nay, more, in the manner of swine they whet their teeth. The face is livid and suffused with blood: the bulk of the body is swollen: veins are bursting, with the spirit moved by the internal storm. The voice is harsh and extremely loud: the speech is
A disconnected, falling out at random, not proceeding part by part, nor in order, nor clearly. And when it reaches the point of being 99 incurable, just like a flame from an abundance of fuel, it kindles into those who provoke it. Then, even then, it is possible to see spectacles neither expressible in words nor tolerable in deed: hands raised against kinsmen and brought to bear upon every part of the body, feet leaping without restraint upon the most vital members, and every object that appears becoming a weapon for the madness. And if, in opposition, they find an equal evil resisting—another anger and an equal madness—thus indeed having clashed, they did to each other and suffered what it is natural for those to suffer who are being marshaled by such a demon. For the combatants often carried off bodily mutilations or even death as the prizes of their wrath. The one led off with unjust hands, the other defended himself; the one struck back, the other does not yield. And the body is indeed mangled with blows, but fury takes away the perception of the pain. For they have no leisure to feel the pain of what they are suffering, with their whole soul entirely stirred toward the vengeance of the one who caused the trouble.
3. Do not cure evil with evil, nor attempt to surpass one another in calamities. For in B wicked contests the victor is the more miserable, because he departs having a greater share of sin. Do not, therefore, become a contributor to the collection of evil, nor a worse payer of a wicked loan. Has an angry man insulted you? Stop the evil with silence. You, on the contrary, by taking his anger into your own heart like a stream, imitate the winds, which, by a counter-breath, repel exactly what was brought against them. Do not use your enemy as a teacher, nor emulate what you hate. Do not become like a mirror of the angry man, showing his form in yourself. Is he red? And are you not flushed? His eyes are suffused with blood; do yours, I ask you, see with calm? His voice is harsh; is yours soft and mild? Not even an echo in desert places is reflected back to the speaker as faithfully as insults return to the insulter. Or rather, the sound indeed is returned the same, but the insult returns with an addition. For what things do these abusive people cast at each other in turn? One called the other obscure and born of obscure origins; this one calls him a slave of slaves in return; this one calls him a pauper, that one a vagabond; this one calls him ignorant, that one insane; until their insults, like arrows, leave them. Then, D when they have catapulted every insult through their tongue, thus finally they proceed to vengeance through their deeds. For anger stirs up a fight, a fight begets insults, insults...
beget blows, and from blows often comes death. Let us restrain the evil from its very first beginning, by removing anger from our souls by every possible means. For in this way we shall be able to cut away most evils, as if they were a root and principle, by cutting away this passion along with them. Has he insulted you? You instead offer a blessing. Has he struck you? You instead endure it. Does he spit upon you and consider you as nothing? You instead bring to mind the thought that you are formed from the earth A and into the earth you shall return. For whoever has protected himself with such thoughts will find any ignominy to be less than the truth. For thus you will also make vengeance impossible for the enemy, showing yourself invulnerable to insults, and you will procure for yourself a great crown of patience, making another’s madness an opportunity for practicing your own philosophy. Hence, if you have faith in me, you will even add something to the injuries inflicted upon you. Has he called you obscure, inglorious, and a man of nothing, born in the lowest station? You yourself call yourself earth and ashes. You are not more illustrious than our father Abraham, who so described B himself. Has he called you unlearned, poor, and of no value? You yourself call yourself a worm, and say you have your origin from the dung-heap, using the words of David. To these, add also the noble deed of Moses. He, being harassed by the insults of Aaron and Miriam, did not intercede with God against them, but prayed for them. Of whom do you prefer to be a disciple: of men grateful to God and blessed, or of men filled with the spirit of wickedness? When the temptation to heap insults comes upon you, consider that you are being tested, whether through patience you are drawing near to God, or through anger C you are fleeing to the adversary. Give your thoughts time to choose the better portion. For either you will profit him by your example of gentleness; or, while you disregard him, you will punish him more severely. For what can be more bitter to an enemy than to see his own enemy rise above injuries and insults? Do not cast down your mind, nor allow any access to you to be open to those who heap insults. Let him bark at you in vain; let him burst within himself. For just as he who strikes someone who does not feel it brings punishment upon himself (for he neither takes vengeance on his enemy, nor does he appease his own anger), so too does D anyone who assails with reproaches and insults a man who is not moved by injuries; he cannot soothe or soften his own desire. On the contrary, as I said, he is torn apart. For what name does each of you immediately acquire from those who witness it? The one is heard to be abusive, you however magnanimous; the one irascible and difficult, you patient and mild; he will repent of his words, but you will never repent of your virtue.
4. What is the need to say more? For this, insult shuts out of the kingdom of heaven, since railers inherit not the kingdom of God: for railers—
A have no share in the kingdom of God, but for you silence has prepared the kingdom. For he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. But if you repay like for like, and stand on equal footing against the railer, what in the end will you plead in your defense? That he provoked you by starting it? And what excuse is this worthy of? For not even the whoremonger, when he transfers the blame to the harlot as having incited him to sin, is deemed less worthy of condemnation. Nor are there crowns without contestants, nor slaughters without enemies. Hear David saying: *When the sinner stood against me, I was not provoked, nor did I take revenge, but I was dumb and was humbled, and I kept silence from good things* (Ps. XXXVIII, 2, 3). But you are provoked by insult as if it were an evil, yet you imitate it again as though it were a good thing. For behold, you suffer the very things you find fault with. Do you carefully observe the evil of another, but nowhere consider your own shame? Is insult an evil? Then flee from imitating it. For to be sure, the fact that another started it is not enough for an excuse. Indeed, it is more fitting, as I persuade myself, to direct the complaint even against yourself, because he had no example by which to be corrected. Yet you, seeing one who is angry behaving unseemly, did not avoid his likeness, but you are angered, and you chafe, and you grow angry B in turn; and so your own passion becomes a defense for the one who preceded you. For by the very things you do, you both release him from blame and condemn yourself. For if anger is evil, why did you not turn away from the evil? And if it is worthy of pardon, why are you vexed at the one who is angry? So that if you came second to the exchange, this will not help you in any way. For in the contests where the prize of a crown is offered, it is not the beginner of the wrestling match, but the victor who is crowned. And thus he is condemned not only who initiated the harm, but also he who followed an evil leader into sin. If he calls you poor, if he speaks the truth, accept the truth; but if he lies, what is that which was said to you? Neither be puffed up by praises that exceed the truth, nor be wild with rage at insults that do not touch you. Do you not see the arrows, how they are wont to fly right through things that are hard and resistant, but in soft things that yield, they slacken their force? C Consider the matter of insult to be something similar. He who opposes it receives it into himself; but he who is yielding and gives way, dissolves the injury brought upon him by the gentleness of his character. But why does the title of "poor" disturb you? Remember your own nature: that naked you entered into the world, naked you will also depart. And what is there more destitute than a naked man? You have heard nothing terrible, if you do not make it your own
A regarding the things said. Who was ever led away to prison because of poverty? Being poor is not a reproach, but not bearing poverty nobly is. Remember the Lord, because, being rich, He became poor for our sake. If someone calls you a fool and ignorant, be mindful of the insults of the Jews which were hurled at the True Wisdom: “You are a Samaritan, and you have a demon.” If, therefore, you become angry, you have confirmed the reproaches; for what is more foolish than anger? But if you remain un-angered, you have put the insulter to shame by demonstrating your self-control in deed. Were you struck on the cheek? For the Lord was too. Were you spat upon? For our Master was too. For He did not turn His face away from the shame of spitting. Were you falsely accused? For the Judge was too. Did they tear your tunic? They stripped my Lord, and divided His garments among themselves. You are not yet condemned, you are not yet crucified. Much is lacking for you to reach the imitation of Him.
B Let each of these things run through your mind, and let it calm the inflammation. For such preparations and dispositions, by curbing as it were the leaps and palpitations of the heart, lead one’s thoughts back to stability and peace. And this is indeed what was said by David: “I was ready, and was not troubled.” It is necessary, therefore, to restrain the frantic and fearful movement of the soul by the memory of the examples of the blessed men; how the great David meekly endured the abusive conduct of Shimei. For he did not give time for anger to be stirred, transferring his thought toward God. He says, namely: “The Lord said to Shimei to curse David.” Therefore, when he was called a man of blood, and an iniquitous man, he was not in the least enraged at him; but he humbled himself, as though he had been attacked with curses and insults rightfully and deservedly. Now, remove these C two things from your soul: do not judge yourself worthy of great things, and do not think any man to be by far inferior to you in dignity. For in this way, anger will never rise up against us in the insults brought upon us. It is a terrible thing for one who has been greatly benefited, and who is deep in debt for the greatest favors, to begin—beyond the vice of ingratitude—also to use insults and provide disgrace. Terrible, indeed, but it is a greater evil for the one doing it than for the one suffering it. Let that man be insulting; but do not you be insulting. Let the many things lacking be an exercise for you in philosophy. D
If you do not bear it with an unequal mind, you have received no wound; but if you suffer any pain in your soul, keep the sorrow within yourself. A For, "My heart was troubled within me" (Ps. CXLII, 4), he says; that is, the emotion did not go outward, but like a wave breaking within the shores, it was stilled. Calm for me the heart that is barking and acting savagely. Let the emotions revere the manifestation of the reason within you, just as the unruly behavior in children reveres the presence of a respectable man. How then shall we escape the harm that comes from being angry? If we persuade our anger not to anticipate our reason, but first take care of this, so that it never runs ahead of the mind; and if we have it like a horse harnessed to us, and, as it were, obedient to a certain bridle of reason, nowhere stepping out of its proper order, but being led by the reason, wherever it may lead. B For the irascible part of our soul is useful for many of the works of virtue, when, like some soldier, having deposited its weapons with the commander, it is ready to offer help for the things ordered, and is an ally to reason against sin. For anger is the sinew of the soul, providing it with tension for the struggle toward good things. For if ever it should take hold of the soul relaxed by pleasure, like a tempering of iron, it sharpens it, and makes it austere and brave instead of overly soft and relaxed. For, if you were not angry against the evil one, it would not be possible for you to hate him as much as he deserves. For I believe it is necessary to have equal zeal for the love of virtue and for the hatred of sin. C Toward which anger is especially useful; since, just as a dog follows a shepherd, so anger, following reason, remains mild and tame to those who help, and is easily recalled by reason; it is provoked by an alien voice or face, even if both appear accommodating. But if a familiar friend shouts, it fears and trembles. This is the best and most appropriate cooperation for the prudent part of the soul from the irascible part. For such a person will be implacable to those who plot against him and will make no truces; never accepting friendship toward that which harms, but always barking at and tearing apart the treacherous pleasure as if it were a sort of wolf. D Such is the usefulness of anger for those who know how to manage it. Since each of the other faculties, according to the mode of use, becomes either good or bad for the one who possesses it. For instance, in the concupiscible part of the soul, he who misuses it for the enjoyment of the flesh and impure pleasures is loathsome and licentious, but he who turns it toward the love of God and the desire of
A eternal goods, is worthy of emulation, and blessed. And again, he who rightly governs the rational part of the soul is prudent and wise; but he who has a keen mind for the ruin of his neighbor is crafty and wicked.
6. Far be it from us, then, that we should make the gifts given to us by the Creator for our salvation an occasion for sin ourselves! So too, anger, when it is moved when it ought to be, and as it ought to be, produces courage, patience, and self-restraint; but when it acts contrary to right reason, it becomes madness. Therefore the Psalmist also admonishes B us: Be angry, and do not sin. And the Lord threatens judgment against the one who is angry without cause; yet He does not forbid the use of anger, as it were in the form of a medicine, for the things for which one ought to use it. For the saying, I will put enmity between you and the serpent, and the command, Be at enmity with the Madianites, teach that one must use anger as a weapon. For this reason Moses, the meekest of all men, in order to avenge idolatry, armed the hands of the Levites for the slaughter of their brethren. Place, he says, each man his sword upon his thigh, and pass from gate to gate, and return through the camp; and kill each man his brother, and each man his kinsman, and each man his neighbor. And a little later: And Moses said, You have filled your hands today to the Lord, each in his son, and in his brother, so that a blessing may be given upon you. And what justified Phinehas? Was it not a righteous anger against the fornicators? He, being for the most part gentle and meek, when he saw the uncleanness of Zambri and the Madianite woman happening openly and C without shame, so that they did not even cover the shameful spectacle of their disgrace, unable to endure this, used his anger opportunely, transfixing both with a spear. And did not Samuel bring forward Agag, the king of Amalek, who had been spared by Saul contrary to the command of God, and slay him with righteous anger? Thus anger is often the minister of good actions. Again, that zealot Elias put to death four hundred and fifty men, the priests of shame, and four hundred men, the priests of the groves, who ate at the table of Jezebel, with measured and wise anger, for the benefit of all Israel. But you are angry with your brother without cause. For how is it not without cause, when someone else is breathing upon you and provoking you, and yet you are angry with another? And you do what dogs do: for they bite the stones, while not reaching the one D throwing them. Whoever is instigated is wretched;
but he who instigates is the one to be hated. A Transfer your anger there, to the murderer of men, the father of lies, the worker of sin; but have pity on your brother, because if he remains in sin, he must be delivered along with the devil to eternal fire. But just as the names of *thumos* (indignation) and *orgē* (anger) are different, so too the notions signified by them differ greatly from one another. For *thumos* is as it were a certain heating up and a sudden exhalation of feeling; but *orgē* is a persistent sorrow and a lasting impulse toward the repayment of those who have done wrong, the soul feeling an itch, as it were, for vengeance. It is therefore necessary to know that men sin in both these states: either by being moved madly and impetuously against those who provoke them, or by laying traps deceitfully and craftily for those who cause them grief—both of which we must guard against.
7. Who, then, can ensure that this turbulent emotion is not aroused toward things that are not fitting? How? If you have been previously schooled in humility, which the Lord both commanded by word and demonstrated by deed. At one time He says, "Whoever wishes to be the first among you, let him be the last of all"; at another time He bore with B the one striking Him with a gentle and unmoved spirit. For the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, who is worshipped by every creature, both spiritual and sensible, who bears all things by the word of His power, did not send the one who struck Him down living into Hades, with the earth gaping to swallow the impious one; but He warns and teaches him: "If I have spoken evil, bear witness to the evil; but if well, why do you strike me?" For if you have accustomed yourself, according to the commandment of the Lord, to be the last of all, when will you be indignant as if you had been insulted beyond your merit? When a young child reviles you, you make his revilings a matter for laughter; and when someone who has lost his mind from frenzy utters words of dishonor, you deem him more worthy of pity than of hatred. Therefore, it is not the words themselves that are by nature prone to stir up grief, but the arrogance against the one who reviled us, and each person's view of himself. C So if you remove each of these from your own mind, the things being uttered are nothing but a sound echoing to no purpose. Therefore, cease from anger and let go of *thumos*, so that you may escape the trial of the *orgē* which is "revealed from heaven against all impiety and injustice of men." For if with a sober mind you can cut out the bitter root of *thumos*, you will at the same time destroy many of your passions. For the deceitful, the suspicious, the faithless, the malicious, the crafty, the bold, and every such thing D that arises from this evil is a swarm of vices. Do not, therefore, bring these things in...
upon ourselves such a great evil: the sickness of the soul, the darkening of the mind, alienation from God, ignorance of kinship, the beginning of war, a heap of calamities, a wicked demon born within our own souls, and like some impudent resident taking possession of our inner being, and closing the passageway to the Holy Spirit. For where there are enmities, strife, passions, factions, and rivalries, engendering ceaseless tumults within the souls, there the Spirit of meekness does not rest. Yielding, then, to the exhortation of the blessed Paul, let us put away from us all anger, and passion, and clamor, with all malice; and let us become kind and compassionate to one another, awaiting the blessed hope promised to the meek (for, *Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth*), in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
HOMILY XI. On Envy.
1. God is good and the giver of good things to those who are worthy; the devil is wicked, and the architect of every kind of wickedness. B And just as abundance follows that which is good, so envy follows the devil. Let us beware, therefore, brothers, of the vice of envy, so as not to become partners in the works of the adversary, and be found condemned by that same judgment. For if the proud falls into the judgment of the devil, how shall the envious man escape the punishment prepared for the devil? For no vice is born in the souls of men C more destructive than envy, which, while harming those on the outside very little, is primarily an evil and something domestic to the one who harbors it. D