On the Love of the Poor

[...] military rebel, you who have dared to rise up against Moses, who have laid hands upon us just as they laid their tongues upon that great servant of God? Did you not tremble? Were you not suffused with shame? Did not your flesh collapse to the ground as you pondered these things in your mind? And do you thereafter stretch out these hands toward God? Do you thereafter offer gifts? Do you thereafter pray for the people? I fear, indeed, that the sword of God may long since have gathered rust and be at rest. You have gained no great favor from your shepherd, and you have inflicted the greatest loss upon yourself, rendering yourself a stranger to the grace of God.

^A IV. But now, O best and most excellent of shepherds, come here and receive your people with us, or rather before us, whom the Holy Spirit has entrusted to you, whom angels offer, and whose life and probity of character have pledged to your faith. But if you attain the inheritance of the throne through temptations and obstacles, there is no reason why this should seem strange to you. No great thing is devoid of probation and anxiety. For nature is so constituted that humble and abject things are obtained with little effort, whereas sublime and lofty things are acquired only with the greatest zeal and difficulty. You have heard Paul saying: "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of heaven." Do you also say: "We have passed through fire and water, and you brought us out into a place of refreshment." O sign of a miracle: "In the evening weeping will lodge, and in the morning gladness." Let those who wage war talk nonsense and act foolishly, and gape with wide-open mouths like dogs barking in vain; but let us not be troubled by war. Teach them to worship God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, in three persons, in one glory and splendor. Seek that which is lost; strengthen that which is weak; preserve that which is firm. We demand from you as much praise and glory of name in spiritual matters as we have known you to have in earthly affairs. You shall receive a more perfect armor from the greater commanders, through which you will be able "to extinguish the fiery darts of the devil," and to present to the Lord a peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

NOTICE ON ORATION XIV

I. Although in most manuscripts this oration bears the title: *De alendis pauperibus* (On the Feeding of the Poor); nevertheless we have preferred with Jerome, [index: entries preserved]

ORATIO XIV. — DE PAUPERUM AMORE.

Gabrielio, and many others, retain: *De pauperum amore*. For Gregory, if we attend to the beginning of this oration, seems to impose this very title upon the oration himself: "Receive," he says (n. 1), "this discourse on the love of the poor." But whichever opinion we hold, "it matters almost nothing," says Gabrielius. For each clearly shows the orator's purpose, which is to teach that the poor are to be embraced with benevolence and kindness... And the Theologian performed this with such doctrine and gravity, and with equal eloquence and power of speech, that anyone who is not moved and affected by it to a great degree may plainly be called hard, iron-hearted, and inhuman. Others who have discussed this oration feel the same, if you except Clericus (9). But that fastidious and malevolent censor, who desires "order and unity of subject matter" in this oration and who objects against the orator regarding his "digressions and excursions," should rather be scorned than seriously refuted. The oration itself, if read attentively, will refute so unfair a judgment on this matter.

II. Erudite men agree with almost one voice that this oration was delivered at Caesarea. But if you ask the year, those same men disagree among themselves; and this, we admit, can be grasped only by conjecture. For one can hardly find any note of time in this distinguished oration. Yet Gabrielius, having compared two places in Gregory (n. 10): "There is proposed before our eyes a grave and miserable spectacle, not credible except to those who know, men dead and yet living," etc., and elsewhere (10): "No longer is a sad and miserable spectacle proposed to our eyes, men dead before their death, etc.," seemed to himself to see, and he concludes that "it is sufficiently clear that [the Basiliad], that storehouse of piety, had not yet been built by Basil," when this clear and brilliant oration was delivered; and it may be conjectured with probability that the oration itself contributed no small amount of weight to the completion of so pious a work. But Nicetas and Basil the scholiast disagree with Gabrielius. The former indeed says (11): "The oration is held primarily for the sake of those who suffered from the sacred disease (leprosy) in the hospital of the Basiliad; which indeed Basil the Great had constructed, and there he cared for the gathered sick." The second, however, that is, Basil the scholiast, speaks thus (12): "They say that this present discourse on the love of the poor was delivered in the poorhouse, which was in the Basiliad, built at that time by the Great Basil opposite Caesarea."

III. In this discrepancy of opinions, having weighed the reasons and ^B moments on all sides, we judge the opinion of Nicetas and Basil to be more certain, inasmuch as it seems to rest on firmer arguments. And first, indeed, nothing certainly more clear and eloquent could be said by Nicetas and Basil, who without doubt are to be considered as relating what they had received by tradition. Furthermore, their opinion conforms more with historical monuments. For the knot of the difficulty consists primarily in this, to assign truly and precisely the time when "that edifice of piety" was constructed by Basil the Great. But it seems more probable to scholars that it was begun in the year 370, or at the latest 371. This is proved by the very fact that in the year 372 Heraclides was received into this house, and therefore that this house for the poor was in this very year suitable for receiving guests. It is certain, moreover, that our Gregory had no oration for the people of Caesarea until after he was ordained bishop; which event, as we have already seen (13), took place around the feast of Easter in the year 372. Whence it is not ill to conjecture that this oration was pronounced in the year 373.

IV. If, however, the opinion of Gabrielius were to prevail, this oration would certainly have to be placed before the year 371, and thus before Gregory's ordination; which, indeed, could in no way be the case from what has been said. And so, from the places of Gregory collated by Gabrielius, it might perhaps be conjectured that that hospital, which was already famous throughout the whole world, had begun at that time; but it was not yet so perfect that it could contain "all who laboured under the disease, the custodians, physicians, beasts of burden, conductors (14)," etc. Whence Gregory in this oration could well and truly say (15): "There is proposed to you before your eyes a grave and miserable spectacle," etc. And again, in the eulogy of Basil the Great, with all things finished and with those suffering from the sacred disease gathered from everywhere, it was permitted to even congratulate that "that miserable and sad spectacle" was now absent. We do not deny, however, that it seems truly strange that in this oration nothing is found about the building of that house for the poor, nor that it was built or finished. Gregory did not touch upon it with even a word. Whence it may probably be the case that Gabrielius, because of this silence of the Theologian on this matter, departed into the opposite opinion.

ORATION XIV. On the love of the poor.

I. Men, brothers, and fellow-poor—for we are all poor...

and in need of divine grace, even if one may seem to excel another when measured by small standards—receive this discourse on the love of the poor, not in a narrow and meager fashion, but amply and magnanimously, so that you may attain the riches of the kingdom. And pray together that I, too, may abundantly supply this to you, and feed your souls with the word, and break the spiritual bread for those who are hungry: whether like Moses of old, showering food from heaven and dispensing the bread of angels; or, like Jesus later, the true bread and author of true life, feeding many thousands of men in the desert to the point of satiety with a few loaves. ^A It is, indeed, not at all easy to find which of the virtues is supreme and to award it the honors and the victory—just as in a meadow full of many sweet flowers, one cannot easily find the most beautiful and fragrant flower, since now one, now another attracts the sense of smell and sight, and persuades one to pluck it first. As for me, then, I think this is how one must distinguish and consider these matters.

^B II. A beautiful thing is faith, hope, and charity, these three; and the witness of faith is Abraham, who was justified by faith; of hope, Enos, who first hoped to call upon the name of the Lord, and all the righteous who suffer hardships because of hope; of charity, the divine Apostle, who dared to speak even something against himself on behalf of Israel; and God himself, who is called charity. Beautiful is hospitality; and a witness among the righteous is Loth the Sodomite, though in his ways he was no Sodomite; and among sinners, Rahab the harlot, yet not a harlot in her intent, who because of her hospitality was praised and saved. Beautiful is brotherly love, and we have Jesus as a witness of this, who not only consented to be called our brother, but even endured suffering for our sake. Beautiful is benevolence toward men; ^C and the same Jesus is witness, who not only created man for good works and joined the image to the flesh, as a guide to all things excellent and a mediator of heavenly goods, but also became man for our sake. Beautiful is long-suffering, just as he himself testifies, ^D who not only refused the legions of angels against those who rose up and played the tyrant, nor only rebuked Peter when he drew his sword, but even restored the ear to him who had been struck. The same was done later by Stephen, the disciple of Christ,

^A when he poured out prayers for those by whom he was being stoned. A beautiful thing is meekness; for this Moses and David are witnesses, to whom before others this praise was attributed by the testimony of Scripture; ^B and their Master, who did not contend, nor cry out, nor let his voice be heard in the streets, nor struggle against those who were leading him.

III. A beautiful thing is zeal, and Phinehas bears witness to it, having pierced the Midianite together with the Israelite, that he might take away the reproach from the children of Israel, and having been named from his purpose: and after him, those who say, "With zeal I have been zealous for the Lord God Almighty;" and, "I am jealous for you with a godly zeal;" and, "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up;" and not only saying this, but also suffering it. A beautiful thing is the buffeting of the body; and let Paul persuade you, who still disciplined and kept under his own body, and through Israel brought fear upon those who trusted in themselves and gave indulgence to the body; and Jesus himself, fasting, and being tempted, and overcoming the tempter. A beautiful thing is prayer and watching; and let God persuade you, keeping watch before the passion, and given to prayer. A beautiful thing is purity and virginity; and let Paul persuade you, enacting laws about these things, and most equitably deciding the controversy between marriage and celibacy, ^C and Jesus himself, being born of a Virgin, that he might both honor generation and prefer virginity. A beautiful thing is temperance; and let David persuade you, when the water of the well in Bethlehem was brought to him, who did not drink, but only poured out the water as a libation, nor could he be induced to satisfy his own thirst with another’s blood.

IV. A beautiful thing is solitude and quiet; and this Elijah’s Carmel teaches me, or the desert of John, and that mountain into which it is evident that Jesus often withdrew, and was with himself in silence. A beautiful thing is the simplicity of life; and this Elijah teaches me, who was sustained by a widow, John, who was covered with camel’s hair, and Peter, who was nourished on pulse bought for a single as. A beautiful thing is humility, and many examples thereof exist on every side, ^D and before all others, the Savior and Lord of all, who not only humbled himself even to the form of a servant, nor merely exposed his face to the shame of spitting, and was reckoned with the wicked, he who...

cleanses the world from the stains of sin, but who also washed the feet of his disciples in the guise of a servant.

Poverty and the contempt of riches is a beautiful thing; Zacchaeus is a witness to this, and Christ himself: the former, at the entry of Christ, offering nearly everything he had as a gift; the latter, by proposing this to the rich man as the definition of the perfect life.

And, to speak more briefly of these matters: contemplation is a beautiful thing, and action is a beautiful thing; the former rising from here and journeying toward the Holy of Holies, and bringing our mind back ^B to that which is akin to it; the latter receiving Christ, ministering to Him, and demonstrating the force of love through deeds.

V. Each of these is a certain path of salvation, and leadings us in every way to some one of those blessed and eternal mansions: since, just as there are various choices of life, so there are many mansions with God, which are divided and distributed to each according to his merit and dignity. And therefore, let one person cultivate this virtue, another that, another more, another, if it is possible, all: let him only do this, that he walk, and strive to progress further, and persist in the footsteps of Him who rightly points out the way, guides our steps, and leads [us] through the narrow way and gate to the breadth of the blessedness that is there.

If, however, by the judgment and authority of Paul and of Christ himself, charity is to be considered the first and greatest of the commandments, as the sum of the law and the prophets, I find the chief part of this to consist in embracing the poor with love and benevolence, and being moved by the calamities of those who are joined to us by kindred. For no worship is altogether as pleasing to God as mercy (since there is nothing else that more befits God, as one whom mercy and truth go before, and to whom mercy must be offered before judgment): nor is goodness repaid by Him with anything more than goodness, who measures out justly, and puts mercy into the balance and measure.

VI. Furthermore, since ^C we are commanded by that precept which tells us both to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep, we must open our feelings to all the poor, for whatever reason they may be pressed by hardships and inconveniences; and since we ourselves are human, we must first confer the largess of kindness upon humans, whether they have need of it for widowhood, or for the loss of parents, or because of exile, or because of the cruelty of masters, ^D or because of the arrogance of those in power, or because of the...

inhumanity of tax collectors, or the bloodthirsty violence of robbers, or the insatiability of thieves, or confiscation of goods, or shipwreck; for all are alike miserable, ^A and in this way they look to our hands, just as we look to the hands of God when we are in need of anything; and among these same people, those who suffer unworthily are more miserable than those who are accustomed to misfortune. But they should move us with a special affection of pity, those who are corrupted by the "sacred disease," and who are consumed and eaten away even to the flesh, and bones, and marrow (as Scripture threatens against some), and who are betrayed by this wretched, base, and faithless body—to which I know not how I am joined, nor how I am both an image of God and wallowing in the mire. When it is in good health, it makes war against me, ^B and when it is oppressed by war, it afflicts me; I love it as a fellow-servant, yet I turn from it as an enemy; I flee from it as a bond, and I revere it as a co-heir. If I strive to weaken and subdue it, I no longer have a partner and helper with whom to perform the noblest deeds, surely not unaware of the reason for which I was created, and that I must ascend to God through my actions.

VII. But if, on the other hand, I try to act more gently with this companion and helper, no way remains for me to escape its rebellion, or to avoid falling away from God, weighed down by fetters that pull me down or hold me to the earth. It is a gentle and calm foe, an insidious friend. O the wonder of this union and alienation! What I fear, I embrace; what I love, I dread. Before I have fought a war, I am reconciled; and before I enjoy peace, I am at variance. ^C What is this wisdom concerning me? And what is this great mystery? Or does God will us to be a portion of Himself, and to have flowed down from above, so that we may not, through being puffed up and exalted by our worth, despise our Creator—and (that we might) look always toward Him in the struggle and battle against the body, and that the weakness conjoined to us might serve as a teacher of our dignity—so that we might know that we are simultaneously the greatest and the most base, earthly and heavenly, transient and immortal, heirs of light and fire, or indeed of darkness, depending on ^D which way we incline? Such is our composition, and for these reasons, as it appears to me at least, so that whenever we are exalted by the image, we may be brought low by the dust. Let him who wishes philosophize on these things; we shall philosophize on them more opportunely.

VIII. ^A Now, however, concerning what my speech has been eager to say, feeling pain for my own flesh and my own infirmity in the sufferings of others, we must take care, brothers, of our kinsman and fellow-servant body; for even if I have accused it as an enemy because of the suffering it brings, yet I embrace it as a friend because of the Author of this connection. And we must take care no less of the bodies of others than of one’s own body, whether one be in good health or consumed by the same disease. For we are all one in the Lord, whether rich or poor, slave or free, healthy or infirm in body; and there is one head of all, from whom are all things, Christ; and what the limbs are to one another, that is what each is to each, and all are to all. Therefore, we must not overlook or neglect those who have fallen first into the common infirmity; nor should we rejoice more that we enjoy good health than we mourn that ^B our brothers are miserable and afflicted. But rather, we ought to consider the salvation of our own flesh and souls to be bound up in this: that we pursue humanity and mercy toward them. And let us consider it this way.

IX. For others, there is only one pitiable thing: poverty, which perhaps time, or labor, or a friend, or a kinsman, or a change of circumstances might resolve. But for these it is no less heavy, nay, even heavier, because along with their flesh, the ability to undertake labor and the power to provide for themselves the necessities of life have been taken away, and the fear of the disease always prevails with them more than the hope of health; ^C so that the hope which is the sole remedy for the afflicted and calamitous brings them very little help. To poverty is added disease, a second evil, and indeed the most atrocious and most to be shunned by all desires, and of such a kind that among many, when they wish to curse someone with some evil, there is nothing more readily uttered. A third is that most people cannot bear to approach them or even look at them, but flee, shudder, and turn away; and this is more bitter to them than the disease itself, when they perceive that they are also hated and detested on account of their calamity. For my part, I cannot bear their misery without tears, and I am disturbed by the very memory of it. And I wish that the same may happen to you, so that with tears you may flee from tears. Nor do I doubt that among those who are present,

^A you yourselves are witnesses of this calamity.

X. A grave and piteous spectacle is set before our eyes, one which, were it not for those who know it to be true, would be incredible: men who are dead while yet alive, who have been mutilated in most parts of their bodies, and are so affected that they can scarcely be recognized as to who or whence they were, or rather, they are the wretched remains of men who once were. They recount their fathers, and mothers, and brothers, and the places by which they can be distinguished, saying, "I was born of such a father, and of such a mother, and this is my name, and you were once my friend and acquaintance." And they do this because they can no longer be recognized by their old features. They are men cut off and stripped of their wealth, their kindred, their friends, and their bodies themselves; men who alone of all mortals both pity and hate themselves in equal measure, having no certainty as to which part of their body they should rather lament: those which no longer remain, or those which do remain; ^B those which the disease has consumed, or those which are left to the disease. For the former have perished wretchedly, while the latter are kept in a state more wretched still. The former have gone to the tomb early; the latter have no one to consign them to the grave. For even the most kindly and philanthropic man shows himself most hard-hearted and inhuman toward these; and here only do we forget that we are flesh, and that we carry about a body of humiliation. And we are so far from providing for those who are joined with us by the bond of kinship, that we consider the safety of our own bodies to lie in our flight from them and our aversion to them. And yet, though one might approach an old corpse, perhaps even one that is putrefying, and might bring in the stinking bodies of brute animals, and endure even to be covered with filth, we flee from these men with all our speed (oh, the inhumanity!), and are indignant, as it were, that we draw the same air as they do.

XI. On the sympathy of parents for children

XI. What is more genuine than a father? What is more compassionate than a mother? Yet to these, nature itself is closed off. A father sees his own child—the one he begot, the one he reared, the one he considered to be the sole light of his life, for whom he poured out many prayers to God many times—and while he weeps for him, he drives him away, partly willingly and partly by compulsion. And a mother recalls the pains of child-bearing, her heart is torn, and she calls to him in a most piteous voice, and, bringing him forth, she laments the living man as if he were dead, saying: ^C "My child, unfortunate and of an unhappy mother, whom the disease has bitterly shared with me; my piteous child, my child now unrecognizable, my child whom I reared in precipices, and mountains, and wildernesses."

^A With the wild beasts, therefore, shall you dwell; a rock shall be your shelter, and those of mortals who excel in piety shall alone look upon you. And she invokes those piteous words of Job: "Why were you fashioned in the mother's womb, and why did you come forth from the belly, and not perish immediately, so that death might coincide with birth? Why did you not depart prematurely, before tasting the evils of this life? Why did knees meet you? Why did the suckling of breasts befall you, when you were about to live wretchedly, and a life more grievous than death?" She says these things, and pours out fountains of tears; and the unhappy woman desires, indeed, to embrace and kiss him, yet she fears the flesh of her child as if it were an enemy. And public outcries and persecutions are raised by the whole populace, not against the unjust and the wicked, but against the wretched and the calamitous. And there is no one who does not take in a man bound by the charge of murder as a housemate, and one who takes a criminal not only into his house but admits him to his table, and treats a sacrilegious man as a companion in life, and strikes up a treaty of friendship with those by whom he has been harmed in some evil way; but against this man, from whom he has received no injury, he recoils from his disease as if it were a crime. Thus, the condition of vice is better than that of disease; and we embrace inhumanity as something worthy of a free man, but we reject humanity and compassion as base and dishonest.

XII.

^A unkind, is he who acts with kindness, not the one who has provided what they needed, but the one who has not turned them away bitterly. Many of them are not even deterred by shame from public assemblies, but rather, on account of their necessity, they force their way into them—these public and sacred assemblies, I say, which we have devised for the healing of souls, either gathering for the celebration of some mystery, or observing a festival for the martyrs of the truth, that, just as we honor the struggles of those people, we may also imitate their piety. And although, being human, they blush before the faces of men because of their misfortune, and would wish to be covered by mountains, or steep places, or woods, or, finally, by night and darkness, yet they burst into the midst—a miserable burden, and worthy of tears. This, perhaps, occurs also by design, so that they may be to us reminders of our own weakness, and may persuade us to set our hearts on none of the things present and visible as if they were firm and stable. ^B They burst in—some to hear the longed-for voice of men, others to look upon their faces, others to collect small aids for life from those who abound in luxury and delights—but all of them, so that by exposing their own laments, they may experience some relief from them.

XIII

^A XIV. And they indeed—those brothers of ours in God, even if you wish it not—suffer these things, and things much more miserable than those which we have mentioned; those who have obtained the same nature as we, and who are fashioned from the same clay from which we were originally created; who are knit together with nerves and bones just as we are, and are clothed in skin and flesh in the same way as all others, as the divine Job somewhere says while philosophizing upon his sufferings and spitting upon our outward appearance; nay rather, if one must say something greater, they have also obtained the image of God just as we have, and they preserve it perhaps better than we, even if their bodies have been ravaged and corrupted; they who have put on the same Christ according to the inner man, and have been entrusted with the same pledge of the Spirit as we; they who share with us in the same laws, oracles, testaments, assemblies, mysteries, and hopes; for whom Christ in the same way died—He who takes away the sin of the whole world—they who are co-heirs of the life above, even ^B if they have fallen far short of the happiness here; they who are buried with Christ and rise again with Him, if indeed they suffer with Him, so that they may also be glorified with Him.

XV. But what of us, to whom that great and new title has fallen, to be called after Christ, the holy nation, the royal priesthood, the chosen and peculiar people, the zealous follower of good and saving works? We, who are the disciples of Christ, the meek and philanthropic One, who bore our infirmities, and who lowered Himself even as far as our own dough, who for our sake accepted the poverty of this flesh and this earthen tabernacle, and who dwelt in sorrows and languor for our sake, that we might become rich in divinity; what then of us, who have received such an example of mercy and compassion, what shall we think about these people, and what shall we do? Shall we despise them? Shall we pass them by? Shall we abandon them as though they were corpses, as though they were detestable, as though they were the most wicked of serpents and wild beasts? By no means, brothers. This is alien to us, who are the sheep of Christ, of that good Shepherd who brings back the wandering, seeks the lost, and strengthens the weak; it is also alien to human nature itself, which has ratified compassion as a broad law, inasmuch as it is schooled in piety and humanity through the same infirmity.

XVI. But what then? Will they be vexed under the open sky,

^A in rough and tattered rags—or rather, will they perhaps not even have these? And we shall coddle ourselves in soft and flowing garments, and in airy fabrics of flax and silk, ^B and in the latter we shall display ourselves in a way that is less proper than it is vainglorious and fastidious (for this is what I call everything that is superfluous and curious), while we store away the former—a useless and vain concern, ^C a consumption of moths and of time, that which consumes all things. And they, for their part, will not even have enough for their necessary food (oh, my luxury, and their misery!), but will lie before our doors, languishing and starving, not even having the means for petition from their own bodies, deprived of voices with which to lament, of hands to stretch out in supplication, of feet to approach the wealthy, of breath to produce their cries with strength, judging the heaviest of evils to be the lightest, and finding favor in their eyes only in that they do not see their own corruption.

XVII. And they, in such a state: ^D but we shall recline, brilliant and brilliantly, upon high and lofty couches, and upon bedding so rare that it is almost forbidden even to touch it, and we shall be vexed if we even hear the sound of their petitions. It is necessary for us that the floor should be fragrant with flowers, often even out of season, and that the table should be sprinkled with perfumes—the most sweet-smelling and most precious perfumes—so that we may be the more effeminated; and that boys should stand by, some in order and in succession, with their hair loose and womanish, and groomed with a cutting of the hair about the face, more than is...

^A becoming for the eyes; and others holding the cups between their fingertips, as elegantly and safely as possible; others skillfully creating a breeze over their heads with fans, and cooling the bulk of their flesh with breath from their hands; and on top of this, that the table should overflow with meats, while all the elements provide for us in abundance—air, earth, water—and that we should be physically constrained by the artifices of cooks and confectioners. Everyone competes to see who can best flatter the greedy and ungrateful belly—that heavy burden and author of evils, that utterly insatiable and treacherous beast, which itself will soon perish along with the foods that perish. And some think they are well-treated if they can fill themselves even with water: but we shall drain our wine cups to the point of drunkenness, nay, even beyond drunkenness, at least those who suffer from greater intemperance. We shall reject some wines, and approve others as fragrant; we shall even philosophize about them, and consider it a loss if, in addition to our local wine, some exotic vintage, highly celebrated, does not also appear like a tyrant. For we must be—or at least appear to be—delicate and more luxurious than necessity requires, as if we feared being thought anything but depraved, and slaves to the belly and the things under it.

XVIII. What is this, my friends and brothers? Why are we too held by a disease of the soul, a disease far graver than that by which our bodies are weighed down? For the latter occurs ^C against our will, but the former springs from our will. The one ends with this life; the other departs with us when we migrate from here. The one is worthy of pity, the other of hatred—at least among those who are of sound mind. Why do we not assist our nature while we have the time? Why, being flesh, do we not cover the lowliness of the flesh? Why do we indulge in luxuries amidst the calamities of our brothers? Far be it from me to ever abound in wealth while they labor in want of such things; or to enjoy good health, unless I bring aid to their wounds; or to have bread and clothing sufficiently, and to rest under a roof, unless I also offer bread to them according to my means, and share my clothing, and receive them under my roof. Truly, either everything must be laid aside for Christ, that we may sincerely follow Him, taking up the cross, and fly up as light and unencumbered ones ^D to the world above, not dragged downward by anything, and gain Christ in place of all things, being exalted through humility and enriched through poverty; or our possessions must be shared with Christ, so that in some way even our having may be sanctified, and we may communicate with those who do not have—namely, through the reasoning of honest possession and duty.

But if I should sow for myself alone, I would sow in order that others might also eat; and, to use the words of Job again: ^A *Let thistles grow for me instead of wheat, and thorns instead of barley*; and let the scorching wind seize, and let the storm carry off my labors, so that I might have toiled in vain. But if I should build storehouses, piling up treasures from mammon, and by mammon, I do not refuse that this very night my soul might be required of me, to render an account of those things which I have wickedly gathered.

XIX. Shall we not at long last come to our senses? Shall we not cast off our numbness and indolence, not to say stinginess? Shall we not consider human affairs with our minds? Shall we not take counsel for our own affairs in the misfortunes of others? ^B For by nature there is nothing in human affairs that is stable, nor even, nor self-sufficient, nor remaining in the same state; but a certain cycle runs around our affairs, bringing changes at one time different from another, often in the same day, and sometimes even in the same hour; so that one might sooner trust in the unstable winds, or the tracks of a ship sailing through the sea, or the deceptive dreams of night, the grace of which is brief, or all that children trace upon the sand while playing, than in human prosperity. But those are to be judged wiser who, since they do not trust in present things, heap up treasures for themselves for the future; ^C and because of the instability and unevenness of human prosperity, they embrace a kindness that will never collapse, so that they may by all means gain one of these three things: either that they may never act wickedly—since God often honors pious men with the goods of this life, provoking kindness with kindness—or that they may have boldness before God in themselves, as having suffered not because of wickedness, but on account of some dispensation; or, finally, that they may, as if it were a debt, demand the philanthropy from those who are doing well, which they themselves previously offered to those in need, acting rightly.

XX. ^D *Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom*, he says, *nor the rich man in his wealth, nor the mighty man in his strength*, even if they have come to the pinnacle, one of wisdom, another of wealth, another of power. But I shall add also what follows these: And let not the one who is distinguished glory in his glory, nor the one who is robust in his health, nor the beautiful in their bloom, nor the young in their youth, nor in anything else at all of those things that are praised among men, if one must say it in a word, being puffed up by this. But let him glory in this—

^A that he acknowledges and seeks God, and laments the plight of the wretched, and stores up for himself some good for the life to come. For all other things are fleeting and fragile, and, like in a game of pebbles, they are thrown and transferred from one to another; nor is there anything so much the property of its possessor that it does not either come to an end in the course of time or, through envy, be transferred to others; but these things are certain and fixed, nor do they ever recede or slip away, nor do they disappoint the hopes of those who have placed their trust in them. And to me this seems to be the reason why no good of this life is certain and lasting for men, and that this, like anything else, has been rightly fashioned by the artificer Word and by that Wisdom which surpasses every mind, so that we might be mocked in those things which fall under our gaze—which change and are changed in various ways, and are carried up and down and turned about, and depart and flee before they can be grasped by our hands—so that, having perceived their instability and variety, we might hasten toward the harbor of the life to come. For what would we have done if prosperity were firm for us, when, even though it is fleeting and fragile, we are nonetheless so bound to it as if by certain chains, and are so reduced to this servitude by its pleasure and imposture, that we are unable to think of anything better or more excellent than present things, even though we hear and are persuaded that we were created according to the image of God, which is both above and draws us to itself? ^B

XXI. Who is wise, and will understand these things? ^C Who will pass by those things which pass away? Who will press hard upon those things which are stable? Who will think of present things as passing away? Who will think of those things which are placed in hope as certain and constant? Who will distinguish those things which truly are from those which appear to be, and follow the former while despising and regarding the latter as nothing? Who will distinguish a painting from the truth? Who will distinguish the earthly tabernacle from the heavenly city; who our pilgrimage from our habitation; who darkness from light; who the mud of the deep from the holy land; who flesh from spirit? Who will distinguish God from the prince of this world; who the shadow of death from life eternal? Who will purchase the future with present things; who will purchase constant and perennial riches with fleeting ones; who will purchase things which are remote from the sense of the eyes with those which are subjected to our sight? Blessed indeed is he who, distinguishing and dividing these things by the sword of the Word, which cuts the better from the worse, ^D arranges ascensions in his heart, as the divine David speaks in a certain place, and fleeing this valley of tears with all his might, seeks the things which are above, and being crucified to the world together with Christ, is established in Christ, and rises together with Christ, an heir of the life that no longer changes nor deceives; whence no longer bitten—

^A in the way by the serpent, nor keeping watch for his heel, while he himself is kept watch for, as to his head.

And to the rest of us, the same David speaks well, like some most loud-voiced herald from a high and public proclamation, calling us "slow of heart" and "lovers of falsehood," and warning us not to be excessively attached to the things that are seen, nor to imagine that all the happiness of this life is nothing other than an abundance of grain and wine which perish. And perhaps the blessed Micah ^B, perceiving this as well, and rising up against the goods that crawl on the ground and seem to be goods, says: "Draw near to the eternal mountains; arise and walk, for this is not your resting place." This is, in fact, already in close agreement with the very words by which our Lord and Savior commands us, saying: "Arise, let us go hence"; not transferring only the disciples of that time from that single place, as some might think, but always drawing all his own disciples from the earth ^C and the things concerning the earth, to the heavens and the things of heaven.

XXII. Therefore, let us now follow the Word, let us seek the rest that is from above, let us cast away the abundance from here; let us gain only what is good in these things, namely let us acquire our own souls in almsgiving, let us distribute our goods to the poor, so that we may be enriched with the things from above. Give a portion also to the soul, not to the flesh alone; give a portion also to God, not to the world alone; subtract something from the belly, and consecrate it to the spirit; snatch something from the fire, and store it far away from the flame that devours below; snatch it from the tyrant, and entrust it to the Master. Give a portion to the seven, that is, to this life, and also to the eight, to that which awaits us after this; give a little to Him from whom ^D you have the more; give also the all to Him who gave all. You will never overcome the great generosity of God, even if you give away all that you have, and even if you add yourself to your goods. For that too is to receive, namely, to be given to God. For as much as you may contribute, more will always remain for you; and you will give nothing of your own, because all things are from God. And just as it is impossible to outrun one's own shadow, which withdraws as much as we proceed forward and always stays as far ahead; nor can the magnitude of the body...

^A be exalted above the head, inasmuch as it always stands out above the body: in the same way, neither can God be surpassed by our gifts. For we do not give anything that is outside of his own, nor do we offer anything that exceeds his own generosity.

XXIII. Recognize whence you have your being, your breathing, your power of thought, and that which is the greatest of all, the knowledge of God, the hope of the kingdom of heaven, the equality of honor with the angels, the contemplation of glory—now indeed in mirrors and enigmas, but then more fully and more purely; that you have become a son of God, a co-heir with Christ, and, if I may speak boldly, even a god yourself. Whence have you all these things, and from whom? Or, to speak of lesser things and those subject to the eyes, by whose gift and benefit do you behold the beauty of the sky, the course of the sun, the circle of the moon, the multitude of the stars, and the harmony and order that shines forth in all these things as in a lyre, always remaining the same; the successions of the parts of the year, the changes of the seasons, the cycles of the years, the equal portions of day and night, the produce of the earth, the diffusion of the air, the immense breadth ^B of the sea, both yielding and stable, the depth of the rivers, and the flow of the winds? Who has given you rains, agriculture, food, arts, dwellings, laws, states, a mild life, and familiarity and friendship with those with whom you share a kinship? Whence have you the fact that some animals are tamed and subject to you, while others have been given for food? Who appointed you lord and king of all things that are upon the earth? Who, not to mention them one by one, has bestowed all those things in which man excels the other animals? Is it not God, who now asks of you ^C humanity in return for all things and on behalf of all things? And are we then not ashamed, when we have received so many and such great things from him, and hope for others, if we do not contribute to him, in return, even this one thing, namely, humanity? Or, since he has separated us from the wild beasts, and alone among all things that are on the earth has adorned us with reason, shall we ourselves, on the contrary, become bestial, and shall we be so corrupted by pleasures and delights, or be seized by madness, or—I do not know how to express it—shall we imagine that, along with the bread and bran ^D which perhaps we have gathered in an evil manner, we are also by nature superior to them? And just as there was in the olden days, as the poets invent myths, some race of giants and the rest of men; so shall we, too, be exalted and beyond mankind in relation to them, like that Nimrod, or the race of Anak, who once oppressed Israel, or those through whom the flood cleansed the earth? And although he is not ashamed to be called our Father, being God and Lord, shall we, for our part, deny our own kin?

XXIV. Concerning Not Improperly Managing the Goods Given to Us

Let us by no means, my friends and brothers, become bad stewards of the things granted to us by divine favor, lest we hear Peter saying: "Be ashamed, you who hold onto the property of others; imitate the equality of God, and there will be no poor person." Let us not work to hoard and store up wealth while others suffer from poverty, lest he also pursue us with harsh and threatening language—hence the divine Amos speaks in these terms: "Agile now, you who say: When will the month pass, that we may sell goods? And the Sabbath, that we may open our storehouses?" and what follows, by which he threatens the wrath of God against those who use large and small scales. Hence, again, the blessed Micah perhaps also curtails such luxury itself—as if satiety were to beget insolence—and [censures] the fact that they behaved wantonly on ivory beds and anointed themselves with the most fragrant oils, and were fattened on tender calves from the herds and kids from the flocks, and applauded at the sound of the musical instruments, and more than this, considered any of these things to be firm and stable. Perhaps, however, he does not consider these things as grave as the fact that, while they were addicted to luxury, they felt nothing for the destruction of Joseph; for he adds this to the charge of satiety. May this not happen to us now, and may we not be so addicted to luxuries that we hold in contempt the kindness of God, who bears these things indignantly, even if he does not launch his wrath against sinners immediately or at the same time as their sin.

XXV. Commending the Sharing of Gifts of Nature

Let us imitate the highest and first law of God, which makes it rain upon the just and the sinners, and makes the sun rise for all alike; who stretched out the earth for all land animals, and springs, and rivers, and forests; who gave air to the nature of birds, and water to those whose life is in the water, and who has most abundantly bestowed the primary necessities of life upon all—things not held by authority, not circumscribed by law, not divided by boundaries—but has set them forth as common, the same for all, and ample and abundant, and in no way lacking for that reason, both to honor the equal dignity of nature with an equality of the gift, and to show the wealth of his own goodness. But men, if they have hidden away gold and silver and the softest and most superfluous clothing, and transparent stones, and whatever else of that kind, which are the proofs of war, and dissension, and the first tyranny, then they [lift them...]

^A they lift up their eyebrows in madness, and close their mercy to their unfortunate kin, not even willing to help them with superfluous things for the necessary uses of life—(oh, the lack of instruction! oh, the perversity!)—not even, if nothing else, reflecting on this: that poverty and wealth, and what we call liberty and slavery, and other names of this kind, entered into the human race later on, just as if they were common diseases that accompanied vice, and were its inventions. But, he says, from the beginning it was not so; but He who created man from the beginning left him free and self-governing, restrained only by the law of the commandment, and wealthy in the delights of paradise; and He wished for and bestowed this same [state] upon the rest of the human race through that one first seed. Freedom and wealth, therefore, consisted only in the keeping of the commandment, while true poverty and slavery was its transgression.

XXVI. From the time, however, ^B that envy and contention, and the crafty tyranny of the serpent, always stealthily enticing us by the allurements of pleasure and stirring up the more audacious against the weaker, crept into life, from that time the kindred race was split into the diversities of names, and avarice tore apart the nobility of nature, taking as its ally even the law, the helper of power and dominion. But look you to the first equality, not the last division; set before yourself the law of the Creator, not that of the powerful. Succor nature according to your strength, honor the ancient freedom, respect yourself, cover the disgrace of your race, help the diseased, bring comfort to the indigent; do you, who are of firm body and overflowing ^C with riches, [help] the sick and the needy; you, who have not stumbled, [help] the one who has fallen and is crushed; you, who are of joyful and cheerful spirit, [help] the grieving and the afflicted; you, who use prosperous circumstances, [help] the one laboring in adversity. Offer something to God in giving of thanks, because you are of the number of those who can do good to others, not of those who have need of the beneficence of others; that you may not have your eyes cast toward the hands of others, but [that] others [may have theirs cast] toward yours. Endeavor to be wealthy not only in riches, but also in piety; not only in gold, but also in virtue; nay, rather, in virtue alone. Be more estimable than your neighbor by appearing kinder; become a god to the unfortunate by imitating the mercy of God.

XXVII. For man has nothing so ^D divine as doing good.

^A If one bestows greater benefits and another fewer, each, I think, does so according to his own power. He who created [man] continues to gather him up when he is undone; do you, then, not despise him when he has fallen. He had mercy upon him in the greatest of things, having given to all, moreover, the Law, the prophets, and before these, the natural, unwritten law—an examiner of those things that are done—rebuking, admonishing, and disciplining. Finally, [He] handed Himself over as a ransom for the life of the world, bestowing apostles, evangelists, teachers, shepherds, healings, wonders, a return to life, the undoing of death, a trophy against him who had conquered, the covenant in shadow, the covenant in truth, the distributions of the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the new salvation.

But as for you, if you are indeed able [to provide] the greater things, and those by which the soul is benefited—for God has made you rich in these things also, if you would only will it—do not refrain from doing good to the needy with these either. Rather, first and foremost, give these to him who asks of you, and even before he asks, pitying him all the day long and lending him the word, and painstakingly demanding the loan back with the interest of the increase of the one who is benefited, which he always adds to the word, gradually increasing within himself the seeds of piety. But if not, then at least [give] the secondary and smaller things, and whatever comes within your power: succor him, offer food, offer a worn-out garment, bring medicine, bind up his wounds, inquire of him concerning his misfortune, philosophize ^B about endurance, take heart, draw near. You will not become any worse than you are by this, nor will you catch the disease, even if those who are excessively fastidious think so, deceived by empty arguments. Or rather, they use this as a pretext for their own timidity—whether you call it delicate refinement or impiety—fleeing to it as if to something great and wise.

Let the arguments of these things persuade you, and the children of physicians, and their companions who treat them, of whom not one has ever yet fallen into danger by approaching such people for that reason. You, therefore, even if the matter is fearful and worthy of suspicion, O servant of Christ, lover of God, and lover of man, do not suffer anything ignoble. Take heart in faith; let mercy conquer timidity, and the fear of God conquer your softness; let piety stand before your flesh-loving reasonings. Do not despise, do not pass by your brother, do not turn away from him as if he were an abomination, as if he were a pollution, as if he were one of those things to be avoided and forbidden. He is your member, and if he is suffering through ^C his misfortune

^A you pass him by 38 with great magnanimity—though perhaps I shall touch your conscience with these words. A theme of philanthropy is set before you, even if the outsider 39 keeps you far from receiving a blessing.

XXVIII. Whoever is sailing is near to shipwreck, and all the more so the more boldly he sails. And whoever carries a body is near to the ills of the body, and all the more so 40 the more upright he walks without looking at those lying before him. While you are sailing 41 with a fair wind, stretch out a hand to him who is shipwrecked; while you are healthy 42 and wealthy, bring aid to him who is suffering. Do not wait to learn by your own experience how great an evil inhumanity is, and what a great good it is to open your bowels of compassion to those in need. Do not wish to raise your hand to God 43 against those who are hard-hearted ^B and pass by the poor 44. Learn these things from the calamities of others; give something, even if it is small 45, to him who is in need. For it is not small to him who lacks everything, nor even to God 46, if it is given according to your ability. Instead of a large gift, give your willingness; if you have nothing 47, weep 48. It is a great remedy 49 for the unfortunate, when mercy is brought from the soul; and to sympathize sincerely lightens the calamity by a great deal. Man is not cheaper in your eyes than a beast, O 50 man, whom the law commands you to lift up and lead back if he has fallen into a pit or wandered astray. If there is some other more hidden and profound meaning, such as are many 51 of the legal depths and double senses, it is not for me to know this, but for the Spirit who searches ^C and knows all things. But what I for my part 52 grasp, and as far as my speech reaches, is that he is training us from the philanthropy shown in small things toward a more perfect 53 and greater philanthropy. For how much is owed to those of the same race and same honor, if what is demanded reaches even to those devoid of reason?

XXIX. These things, then, are what reason, and the law, and the most moderate of men suggest—those for whom to do good is considered more honorable than to receive it, and mercy is more eagerly sought than gain. But what would you say about our own wise men? I say nothing of those from outside, who find for their own vices patron gods, and ^D who find gods to whom they attribute gain 54, and 55

what is more wicked still, who believe that it is a mark of piety among certain nations to kill men to accommodate their demons; and they themselves delight in such sacrifices, and think that their gods delight in them, proving themselves indeed the wicked priests and mystagogues of wicked beings. But there are some among our own—a thing truly worthy of tears—who are so far from feeling the pain of the suffering and offering them aid, that they even revile them bitterly and ^B trample upon them, philosophizing in an empty and useless way. They truly "utter a voice from the earth," and speak into the air, and not into ears that are wise and accustomed to divine dogmas; and they proceed to such a pitch of audacity as to say: "To them, affliction is from God; to us, prosperity is from God; and who am I to undo the decree of God, and appear more kind than God?" Let them be sick, let them be wretched, let them suffer misfortune—so it has seemed good to Him. And they only show themselves to be "lovers of God" in this place, where it is necessary to guard their coins and to insult the miserable. That these men do not in the least believe that their prosperity is from God is clearly shown by their own words. For who, knowing God as the provider of whatever he possesses, would ever think in such a way about those in need? For it belongs to one and the same person both to have something from God and to use what he has in a godly manner and according to God. ^C

XXX. Whether it is also from God that they are vexed is not yet clear, as long as this earthly mass carries within itself, like a turbulent current, its own disorder. And who knows whether one is punished for his vice, while another is exalted as if he were praiseworthy? Or rather the opposite: that one is elevated because of his wickedness, while the other is tested because of his virtue? That the one is raised higher so that he may fall more heavily, being allowed until then, like some disease, to let his own wickedness break forth, so that he may be punished more justly; while the other is oppressed against expectation, so that, having been tested like gold in a furnace, he may melt away whatever small amount of vice he might have within him. For no one, at least in a nature born of generation, is completely pure from filth, as we have heard, even if he should appear more approved. ^D For I discover some such mystery as this in the holy Scripture; and it would be a long task to recount all the voices of the Spirit which tend toward this. But who could measure the sand of the seas, and the drops of rain, and the depth of the abyss? Who could fathom the depth of the wisdom of God regarding all things, by which

He created all things, and how He Himself wills and knows how to moderate them? For it is sufficient for us, following the Apostle’s example, ^A to merely pass by, in wonder at the difficulty of inferring and contemplating this: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" And, "Who has known the mind of the Lord?" And, that I may speak with Job, "Who has attained to the height of His wisdom? Who is wise, and will understand these things, and not measure that which is above measure by that which cannot be measured?"

^B XXXI. Some other person, therefore, might be rash and bold in these matters, or rather, let no one be so; but I, for my part, fear to attribute the torment of this life wholly to wickedness, or prosperous and happy events wholly to piety. Indeed, sometimes this even happens for some benefit, such as that the course of vice might be restrained by the suffering of the wicked, or the path for virtue be paved by the prosperity of the good. But this is not always or entirely the case; rather, this is reserved only for the time to come, ^C in which some shall receive the rewards of virtue, and others the punishments for their crimes. "For they shall rise," he says, "some to the resurrection of life, but others to the resurrection of judgment." But the form and government of the things of this age are of another kind, and of another way of life, though all things tend toward that end, and, before God, that which appears unequal to us surely has a certain uniformity—not unlike the way that, in bodies, the projections and depressions, the sizes and smallnesses, and on the earth the elevations and descents, are things from which a mutual beauty is composed and perceived through their relationship to one another. Indeed, what is disordered and unequal in the artisan’s first rough sketch of the material would nevertheless be highly ingenious if it were adapted to the construction of a certain work; ^D a thing we finally understand and admit only when we behold the elegance of the finished work, perfect and absolute in every way. But He is not ignorant of the art, as we are; nor are the affairs of this life governed rashly and incoherently just because we do not possess their proven reasons.

XXXII. But if an image of our condition, with which we are struggling, must be presented, we are not much unlike those who suffer from nausea and vertigo, who think that all things are turning upside down, while they themselves are turning. The same thing also happens to those of whom we speak. For they cannot bear that God should be wiser than they, if they suffer vertigo regarding any of the things that come to pass.

^A Indeed, they ought to have labored to investigate the reason, so that by care and diligence they might perhaps have reached the truth; or to have consulted men wiser and more spiritual than themselves on these matters, since this also is reckoned among the gifts of the Spirit, and knowledge is not given to all; or finally, to have sought it through the purgation of their life, and to have asked for wisdom from the true Wisdom. But they (O, the ignorance of it!) turn to what is easier and more ready to hand, and they fabricate an irrationality of the whole, being themselves ignorant of the reason; and they are wise due to ignorance, or—if I may say so—by way of a superfluous wisdom, they are unwise and senseless. From this, some have dogmatized that there is chance and spontaneity, inventions truly spontaneous and fashioned as if by accident. ^B Others have woven together a certain irrational and inescapable power of the stars, as if they were willing—or rather, constrained—to weave our affairs, as well as the weaving of them itself; and to these they added the conjunctions, recessions, and the sovereign movement over all things of certain planets and fixed stars. Others have introduced whatever each one imagined for the wretched race of men, partitioning into various opinions and names whatever is unreachable and unobservable to them regarding Providence. ^C There are also those who have condemned Providence for great poverty, thinking that it indeed directs things above us, but having been reluctant to bring it down to us, who are most in need—as if fearing that, if more were benefited, one might show the Benefactor to be better, or God might grow weary of doing good to many.

XXXIII. But let us leave these people, as I said, since Scripture has already excellently refuted them: *Their foolish heart was darkened; saying that they were wise, they became fools, and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God* 20 into certain fictions and shadows, insulting the Providence that extends through all things. ^D As for us, let us not fabricate such portents of doctrine, if we have any care for reason, being as we are endowed with reason and worshippers of the Reason, nor let us accept those who do, even if they have a quick and ready tongue for absurd discourses and dogmas and delight in novelty. Let us rather believe that God is the Maker and Architect of all things; for how would the universe have stood, had it not been created and fitted together by some maker? And let us also introduce Providence, which keeps and binds together this whole, since even a provider

^A of these things whose maker it is necessary to be—if the whole were not to be borne along by chance like a ship in a storm, immediately to be loosened and torn apart due to the disorder of matter, and to be brought back to the ancient confusion and lawlessness. And let us accept that our own Maker—whether you prefer to call him creator or shaper—presides over our affairs, especially since our life is governed through opposites, perhaps for this reason also unknown ones, so that we may admire the Reason that surpasses all things through that which is hard to discern. For whatever is easily taken is also altogether contemptible; but that which is above us, by as much as it is harder to reach, by that much is it more admirable; and everything that escapes our grasp exercises the longing.

^B XXXIV. Therefore, let us neither marvel at all health, nor despise all sickness, nor set our heart on flowing wealth, clinging to it more than is fitting, as if wasting a part of our soul upon it; nor, on the other hand, let us pursue poverty as something entirely detestable, condemned, and hated. But let us know how both to despise thoughtless health, the fruit of which is sin, and to hold holy sickness in honor, venerating those who have attained victory through pain and torment, lest perhaps some Job be hidden among the sick, much more excellent and venerable than those who are in health of body, even if he scrape his sores, and even if he be vexed night and day under the open sky, crowded by his plague, his wife, and his friends alike. And let us reject ^C unrighteous riches, for which the rich man in the flame is justly tormented, and imploringly seeks a small drop of water with which to cool his tongue; and let us conversely praise poverty joined with a grateful spirit and virtue, with which Lazarus is saved, and is enriched by the rest in Abraham's bosom.

XXXV. But to me, for this reason also, kindness and compassion toward the poor appear necessary, that we may stop the mouths of those who feel this way about them, and not yield to empty words, enacting a law of cruelty against ourselves; but let us be moved by the greatest of all commands and the example. What, pray, is this command? And consider, I beseech you, how constant it is, and how sincere. For those moved by the Holy Spirit did not ^D cease once they had spoken once or twice about the poor; nor did some cease while others did not, or rather some

^A did so less, as if it were not about a great matter or something very urgent; but all of them, and everyone with diligence, either first or among the first, commanded this, sometimes urging, sometimes threatening, sometimes upbraiding; and there are times when they also commend those who succeed, that by the constancy of their reminder they might put the commandment into effect. "Because of the misery of the needy and the groaning of the poor, I will now arise," says the Lord (6). Who does not fear the Lord when He rises? And, "Arise, O Lord my God (7), let Your hand be lifted up; do not forget the poor" (8). We would pray to be spared such a rising, and may we not wish to see a hand raised against the disobedient, and even more, one let loose upon the heartless. And He did not forget the cry of the poor; and, "The poor shall not be forgotten to the end" (10); and, "His eyes look upon the poor (the eyelid is better and more sovereign [11]), but His eyelids examine the sons of men," or the lesser, as one might say, and secondary ^B scrutiny (12).

XXXVI.

^A Let us be purified, then, by showing mercy; let us wash away the filth and stains of our souls with this beautiful plant, and let us be whitened—some as wool, others as snow—in proportion to our compassion. Shall I say something even more fearful? If there is no bruising in you, nor welt, nor swelling wound, nor any leprosy of the soul—either that which signifies a touch, or is clearly visible, which the Law indeed cleansed only slightly, but which requires the hand of Christ to heal—then at least revere Him who was wounded and crushed for our sake. You will revere Him if you show yourself kind and humane to a member of Christ. But if, perhaps, the plunderer and tyrant of our souls has wounded you—either as you were descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, or having caught you unarmed and unprepared elsewhere—to such an extent that you may justly say those words: "My wounds have grown foul and festered because of my foolishness": if you are in this state, so that you do not even seek a cure, nor know the way of your ^B healing, alas for the truly grievous wound and the deep-seated misery! But if you are not yet completely lost, nor suffer from an incurable disease, approach the Physician, entreat Him, heal wounds with [other] wounds; acquire like with like; or rather, be healed of greater things by lesser things. To your soul He will say: "I am your salvation"; and, "Your faith has saved you"; and, "Behold, you have been made whole"; and all the words of love for mankind, if only He sees you to be a lover of mankind toward those who are in pain.

XXXVIII. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

^A 285 pre-eminent. But we should rejoice, not grieve, when we give a benefit. If you remove the bond and the election, he says, that is, the tenacity and the examination, or even the hesitation and the murmuring, what will happen? ^A How great and marvelous! How great and how much is the reward for this! "Your light shall break forth in the morning, and your healings shall spring forth speedily." Who, then, is he who does not long for light and healing?

^B XXXIX. Also, the money-bag of Christ, which exhorts us to the care of the poor, moves me; and the agreement between Paul and Peter, who, having divided the preaching of the Gospel among themselves, made the poor their common charge; and the perfection of that youth, which was defined and ordained to be in the giving of one's possessions to the poor. Do you think that philanthropy is not necessary for you, but optional? and not a law, but advice? I myself would very much have wished and supposed this; but the left hand terrifies me, and the goats, and the reproaches which are cast by Him who placed them there—not because they have plundered, nor because they have robbed, or committed adultery, or done any other of the things that are forbidden, being condemned for such conduct, but because they have not ministered to Christ through those in need.

^C XL. Therefore, if you think I should be heard at all, slaves of Christ, and brothers, and co-heirs, let us visit Christ, while there is still time; let us care for Christ, let us feed Christ, let us clothe Christ, let us gather Christ, let us honor Christ. Not with a table alone, as some do, nor with ointments, as Mary did, nor with a tomb alone, as Joseph of Arimathea did, nor with the things that pertain to burial, as that Nicodemus, who was but a half-hearted lover of Christ, did; nor with gold and frankincense and myrrh, as the Magi did before those already mentioned. But since the Lord of all desires mercy and not sacrifice, and compassion surpasses myriads of fat lambs, let us offer this to Him through those who are in need, and who are today cast down on the ground, so that when we depart from here, they may receive us into the eternal tabernacles, in Christ our Lord Himself, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.