705the demons rejoice when they see sin; the angels of God exult when they behold repentance. For, according to the Lord’s voice, the angels of God exult over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). Do not strip yourself bare, O man; do not cast aside the full armor of the Holy Spirit, that you may not become easily captured by your enemies. Grasp the shield of repentance, and shake off the darts of desire. Fornication is sweet, but it is harmful; temperance is difficult, but it is useful. Fornication has the nature of the body cooperating with it; temperance has the grace of the Spirit working with it. Where, therefore, there is fornication, there the devil dwells; but where there is temperance, there our Lord Jesus Christ reposes. For this reason the blessed Paul says: If any man defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him (1 Cor. 3:17); and again he says: Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? God forbid! (1 Cor. 6:15). Let us, therefore, halt the rush of sin with the anchor of repentance, that the recurring gusts of our desires may not cause us to suffer shipwreck. But while sailors suffer shipwreck in the waters, sinners are submerged like lead into the river of fire that flows before the judgment seat of Christ, not with chariots and horses, but with the thoughts and intent of their hearts. Let us return to the kindness of Christ and His sufferings, so that we may not render His wounds in vain, in pursuit of shameful pleasure instead of glorious pleasure, and preferring a command of the enemy to the command of the Lord; for we would not be repaying Him for what He has done, but rather we would be taking His own members and making them members of a harlot—we, who are the members of Christ.
707[LATIN COLUMN]
707 ...ours: we have been bought with a price (1 Cor. 6.20). Who sold us, who bought us? The devil sold us through sin; Christ bought us through justice. How did He buy us? With gold or silver? By no means; but with His own blood, which is above gold and much precious stone; for He bought all our sins: which are certainly many, and in various and diverse ways stand against our salvation. Which sins? Of the Law: but the law is not sin, far from it; but because without the law I would not have known sin. Because, therefore, the law made me, as a transgressor, liable to the curse, for this reason Christ Jesus, coming, redeemed me from the curse of the law, having become for 708 us a curse (Gal. 3.13). Let us not, therefore, prefer the devil’s popular providence to the economy of Christ: let us not, for the sake of sin, pass over the beauty of repentance. If you fear threats, take refuge in the commandment: if you wish to escape future condemnation, *Turn away from evil, and do good* (Ps. 33.15); that is, lay aside sin and perform repentance; so that He, who does not wish for the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live, embracing the desire of your soul, may grant you the remission of sins. And let us, for the things said above, return praise and glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ADMONITION ON THE FOLLOWING ORATION
That this cannot be Chrysostom’s, any person of refined taste will pronounce immediately, even at a first glance, but [that it is the work] of some little Greek who dared to ascribe his own little work to so great a doctor; of which kind were many Greeks, who brought upon us such a farrago of adulterated writings. We have corrected this from the Roman Codex, which presents it in a shorter form.DE ELEEMOSYNA
Fields are adorned with various and diverse flowers, some of which are suited for the delight of the eyes, others for the scent of the nostrils, and others for the exercising of the care of men, and each one is fit for men: so also the Church has the reading of the divine Scriptures, evangelical, apostolic, and prophetic, and the other divine books: but each one is referred to Christ. But in common fields the rising sun dries up the flowers, and their beautiful appearance is taken away: but in this field the Sun of justice rises, who makes one temperate, justifies another, and has mercy on another. For He has risen for us today through the Gospel, saying: *Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me* (Matt. 25.40). Again the mention of the poor, again the reproach of the rich. I do not reproach status, far from it, but an intemperate mind; I do not vituperate riches, but those who use them badly: for riches are good to those who administer them rightly: poverty also is good to those who tolerate it patiently. For Abraham also was rich, and he was not haughty against anyone; and Lazarus was poor, and he never bore it impatiently, even though he was placed in such necessity. But why have I brought here two witnesses? Come, let the blessed Job approach, who had experience of both; who, when he was rich, said, *My door was opened to every man*; who, when he was poor, said, *The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so is it done* (Job 1.21). And how much the devil labored, and yet he did not break the just man! He emptied his quiver of arrows, and did not wound the soldier; he brought up engines, and did not shake the tower; he shook the tree, and did not pluck off the fruit; he broke the branches, and did not tear up the root; he bored through the wall, and did not plunder the treasure. I mean a treasure, not of gold and silver, but of his unshaken faith; for this was his treasure that the devil wanted to plunder. Have you seen the fruit multiplied? Have you seen faith firm as a rock? Have you seen the tower unshaken? Have you seen the soldier standing in battle line? The devil cast out? Have you seen God rewarding prizes? Have you seen the devil suffused with shame? By what name I should call that just man, I do not know. Shall I call him an athlete? But he endured many contests. Shall I call him a soldier? But he is firmer and stronger in heart than a soldier. Shall I call him a tower? But he is more sublime in sense. A rock? But the rock is firmer. A tree? But he is more beautiful. A treasure? But he is more opulent. By what name I should call that just man I do not know. Let the rich hear, let the poor hear, how this rich man dispensed his wealth in prosperous circumstances, and how much temptation he sustained in poverty; and the hope, which he had in God, was not cast down. Do you see how good wealth is to those who dispense it rightly, and how good poverty is to those who tolerate it rightly? Do not tell me, I fear poverty. You fear poverty, and you do not fear God? You fear need, and you do not fear sin? Do not fear poverty, but transgression, the mother of punishment. If you have a king as a friend, he will make you rich: and if you love Christ and the poor, He will make you rich. He makes rich and poor, He humbles and exalts: He raises the needy from the earth, and lifts the poor from the dunghill. The Lord asks for a commandment, and do you not give? For when you hear Him saying, *Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these least of mine, ye have done it unto me*, you see that, if you give to the poor, you give to God. If you do not give to him, how will you ask of Him in that day, that He might have mercy on you? Will He not accuse you thus: You saw me hungry, and did not feed me; thirsty, and did not give me drink; naked, and did not clothe me? What, therefore, will you answer Him? What pardon will you obtain? You are clothed in garments of silk, of hare-skin, and of goat-hair; and the poor man has no rag: you eat pheasants, chickens, and geese and similar things; and the poor man cannot fill his belly with bread and herbs: you have gilded walls, varied Laconian marbles, columns and golden capitals of columns; and the poor man has no hut. Sometimes, indeed, you own a house from robbery, and afterwards you die, and depart having nothing, and your house remains a perpetual accuser, which reproves your deeds. For everyone passing by is going to say: This house is that of the robber, the avaricious man: how many widows he oppressed! How many orphans he hurt! How many goods he robbed! How many poor he despoiled! Do not tell me, I am a prefect; I do not know status, nor do I accuse it; but only the wicked, who use goods badly. It is good to be rich; that which God made, all things are very good. You see a poor man, and are haughty, and you do not think that both you and the poor man are human; human, a creature whom God cares for greatly; human, for whom the sky was stretched out; human, for whom the sun completes its courses; human, for whom the moon knows no setting; human, for whom the stars give their splendor, for whom the sea was poured out, the earth was founded upon the waters; for whom the mountains, the forests, the hills; for whom the groves, the woods, the valleys, the plains; for whom the fountains, the rivers, the lakes; for whom the earth brought forth the herb of hay, and the waters send forth living souls; for whom the beasts,