A of self-denial is the beginning. Refrain from the desire for what belongs to others; starve the greed for Mammon. Let there be nothing in your house that is stored up from violence and robbery. For what is the benefit if you do not bring meat to your mouth, and yet with malice you bite your brother? Or what benefit is it if you do not eat your own, and yet unjustly take what belongs to the poor? What kind of piety is this, if while drinking water, you contrive deceit and hunger for blood out of wickedness? Judas, after all, fasted with the eleven; but because he did not tame his avaricious disposition, the fasting profited him nothing for his salvation. And the devil does not eat, B for he is a spirit without a body; yet because of his wickedness he fell from the height of his rank. Likewise, with respect to every one of the demons, neither is thirst brought against them, nor can they be accused of overeating or drunkenness. For their nature has separated them from the participation of food. Yet, both by night and by day, wandering through the air, they are the authors and ministers of wickedness, and they labor diligently to plot against us. They melt away with malice and envy, which it is better to flee, if we indeed intend to have as humans a relationship with God, since they themselves have fallen from that affinity with the good. And so, the philosophical way of life C should guide the lives of Christians. Let the soul flee the damage of malice. For if, although we abstain from wine and meat, we remain liable to sins of the heart, I forewarn and testify that water and vegetables and a bloodless table will profit us nothing, if we have an inner disposition that is unlike our outward appearance. Fasting was ordained for the sake of the purity of the soul. But if that purity is dissolved by our purpose and other actions, why do we use up pure drinking water in vain? Why do we cultivate that mire that cannot be washed away or cleansed? What is the benefit of bodily fasting if the mind is not clean? For it is of no use if the currency is strong and the chariot is well-ordered, D if the charioteer is insane. Or what is the benefit of a well-fitted ship if the pilot is drunk? Fasting is the foundation of virtue. But just as the hulls of ships and the foundations of a house, even if you lay down massive ones, are useless and vain if you do not build the remaining parts upon them with skill and knowledge: so also, this self-control will have no profit unless other parts of justice are added to it. Let the fear of God teach the tongue to speak what is fitting, to be silent about contrary things, to observe the occasion, the measure, and the necessary word, and an apt reply; not to speak without order; not to crush those we meet with severity. For this reason that most delicate membrane, which binds the tongue to the lower jaw, is called the bridle, that it might not speak disorderly and without method. Let it use praises, not insults; songs, not curses; commendations, not disparagement. Let the wayward hand be restrained as if by a chain by the memory of God. For this reason we fast, because our Lamb—insults and blows, beforehand
was afflicted before being fastened to the cross with nails. Let us not imitate the Jewish character, we who are disciples of Christ.
For if we are so disposed, Isaiah will say to us: "Why do you fast for contests and strifes, and strike the lowly with your fists?" Learn from the same prophet the works of a sincere and pure fast: "Loose every bond of wickedness. Dissolve the obligations of violent contracts. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house." A The present time brings us a great abundance of those who are naked and homeless. For a multitude of those captured by misfortune frequents the doors of everyone.
Nor are strangers and exiles lacking; and one can see the hand seeking aid extended everywhere. For them, the air serves as a roof in the open. Their lodgings are porticoes, crossroads, and the deserted parts of the marketplace. They hide in caves and crevices after the fashion of night-ravens and owls. Their clothing is tattered rags; their agriculture is the kindness of those who pity them, food being whatever might fall into their hands from those who pass by; their drink, like that of creatures without reason, is from the springs; their cup is the hollow of their hands; their storehouse is their bosom—if indeed it is not torn, but is able to cover what is put into it; their table is the joining of their knees; their bed is the ground; their bath is a river or a pool, which God gave as common to all and without preparation. Their life is nomadic and wild, not because they established it so from the beginning, but because they have been forced into it by calamity and necessity.
B To these, you who fast, provide the necessities. Be generous toward those of your brothers who are unfortunate. What you have taken from your own belly, add to that of the hungry. Let the fear of God be the righteous arbiter of these things. Treat with temperate self-control two affections at odds with each other: your own satiety and your brother’s famine. For this is what physicians also do: they empty some and fill others, so that by addition and subtraction the health of each may be preserved. Be persuaded by this noble exhortation. Let reason provide the poor access to the houses of the wealthy. Let counsel lead the needy to the one who possesses. Let not mere talk enrich those who groan. Rather, let the eternal Word of God grant them a home, a bed, and a table. Through kindly discourse, provide from your own means what is necessary for their need. C Among these, let there be other poor who are infirm and bedridden. Let each take concern for his neighbors. Do not allow your neighbor to be tended by another. Do not let another take the treasure that lies before you. Embrace the one afflicted by calamity as if he were gold. Cherish the one who is mistreated as if he were your own health, as the salvation of your wife, your children, your servants, and your entire household.
A For when all the poor are to be cherished and helped, those who are sick are to be embraced with special care. For he who is needy and sick labors under a double poverty. The destitute, who are sound in body, go from door to door and walk up to those who have means. Sitting at the crossroads, they call out to all who pass by. But those who are fettered by sickness, enclosed in narrow lodgings and confined to the cramped corners of a room, like Daniel in the lions' den, wait for you—the pious and the lover of the poor—as if you were Habakkuk.
Therefore, become a companion of the Prophet through almsgiving; approach the needy quickly and readily to nourish them. You will suffer no loss in doing this. Do not fear; the fruit of almsgiving grows many-fold. Sower of benefits, that you may reap the fruit and fill your house with goodly sheaves. B But you will say, "I too am poor." Be it so. Let it be granted. Give what you have. For God does not require from you what is beyond your strength. You give bread, another a cup of wine, a third a garment, and thus, by the contribution of many, the calamity of one is relieved. Even Moses did not receive the expense for the tabernacle from one person’s service, but from the whole people. For the wealthy brought gold, another silver, the poor skins, and he who was poorer than the poor brought hair. Do you see how even the widow's mite surpassed the offerings of the rich? For she poured out everything she had, while from their abundance, scarcely a tiny token fell. Do not despise the poor who lie there as if they were of no value. Consider who they are, and you will recognize their dignity: they have taken on the person of our Savior. C For the kind One has granted them His own person, that through it, they might shame the unsympathetic and those who hate the poor, just as those who hold up royal images against those who do them violence, so that by the likeness of the sovereign, they might shame the offender and their assault might be broken and held back. So too, those who are moved by no compassion and who pursue the poor with hatred might be swayed, softened, and moved to prayer by that same image. These are the storekeepers of the good things we expect. These are the gatekeepers of the kingdom of heaven, who open the doors to the kind and good, and close them to the harsh and inhuman. These are both fierce accusers and excellent advocates. They advocate and accuse, not by speaking, but by being seen by the Judge. For the deed done regarding them cries out before the Knower of hearts more clearly than any herald. Because of them, the fearful judgment of God—of which you have often heard—was recorded for us by the angels. D For I saw there the Son of man coming from the heavens, treading upon the air as if it were earth, and accompanied by the many myriads of angels. Then a throne of glory was raised on high, and the King sat upon it. Then every tribe of men, all the nations, all the peoples, who have come into being and were illuminated by the sun, and were drawn from this air, in two
A parts separated to stand before the tribunal of the Judge. I hear those who are on the right being called lambs; those on the other side, I heard, are goats—taking their appellations upon themselves from the similarity of their character. And there are dialogues there of the Judge with those being judged, and answers of those being held to account toward the King. And that which was appropriate for each was allotted. To those who had lived the best life, the enjoyment of the Kingdom; but to the misanthropic and wicked, the punishment of fire, and this one that endures forever. And everything is written down carefully; and the tribunal has been vividly depicted for us by the Word, for no other reason than that we might learn the goodness of doing good. For this is what sustains life, the mother of the needy, the teacher of the rich, a good nurse of children, a caretaker for the elderly, a storehouse for those lacking, a common B harbor for the unfortunate, dispensing her own providence to all ages and calamities.
For just as those who preside over the games of vanity proclaim their own generosity with a trumpet, promising the distribution of wealth to all those in the wrestling arena, so also doing good calls everyone who is in difficulties and crises to itself—not distributing rewards for wounds to those who approach, but dispensing remedies and healing for their calamities. And this is higher than every praiseworthy deed, an assessor of God, a friend of the good, and having a great kinship with Him. Thus, before all things, God Himself appears to us as the practitioner of good and humane deeds; for the creation of the earth, and the arrangement of the heaven, and the orderly succession of the seasons, and the heat of the sun, and the chilling formation of ice, and everything in each detail—not for Himself does God Himself effect these—for He is in no need of such things—but He is constantly working for our sake; an invisible farmer of human food, a timely sower, and a skilled provider of irrigation.
For He, according to Isaiah, gives seed to the sower and water from the clouds, now sprinkling it gently upon the earth, C and again pouring it in torrents over the furrows. And when the crops have grown and the grassy stage has passed, dispersing the clouds from the entire sky, then He sets the sun over them, naked of any covering, stretching out its hot and burning ray, so that the ears of corn may become ripe for harvest. He nurtures also the vine, preparing drink for the thirsty at the appropriate times; and He nurtures for us herds of different kinds, so that there may be abundant food for men—and the skins of some, producing wool, provide us with shelter; and of others, they fashion for us our footwear. Do you see that God is the first lover of doing good, thus feeding the hungry, and giving drink to the thirsty, and clothing the naked, as was said before? D And when the crops have grown and the greenness has appeared, then, the clouds having been scattered and dispersed, He shows them the sun, naked and open from all coverings, and sends it down so that, warmed by its hot and burning rays, they may reach maturity and show spikes suitable for harvesting.
What then? Because He even nourishes the vine and thus grants drink to the thirsty at the fitting time. What then? Because He also nourishes various kinds of animals, to provide men with both flesh for eating, and skins, which furnish wool for shielding and for making clothes, and for sewing shoes. You see how God is the first author and source of beneficence, feeding the hungry, giving to the thirsty, and covering the naked, as we said before.
A If, however, you wish to hear how He also cures those laboring under disease, those who are ill-affected and afflicted, listen. Who taught the bee to manufacture wax and with it the honey? Who caused the pine, the terebinth, and the mastic tree to distill that rich resinous sap? Or who created the land of the Indians to be the mother of dry and fragrant fruits, and of sweet-smelling gums? Who brought forth the olive as a relief for bodily labors and pains? Who gave us the knowledge of roots and herbs, and the learning concerning the qualities that are within them? Who devised the medicine which produces and preserves health? Who drew forth from the earth the springs of warm waters, that by their power we might be healed of our cold and moist, or dry and scorched, afflictions and diseases? It is right, therefore, and timely for me to use the words of Baruch: *He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.* B Through Him all arts, whether practiced by fire, or without fire, or in water, were invented; through Him were countless sciences devised, so that nothing whatsoever might be lacking to men that pertains to the necessity and convenience of carrying on life. And God, indeed, as the inventor and fountain of beneficence and generosity, benignly supplies all things that are necessary for us.
But we, who are instructed by every single word of the divine Scripture to imitate our Lord and Creator (insofar as a mortal can imitate the blessed and immortal), grab everything for our own enjoyment, and measure everything by our own pleasures; some things we lavish on the delicacies of our own life, and other things we hoard for the greed of our heirs. But there is no consideration for the wretched, no suitable care for the poor, and no concern. O cruel souls! O minds entirely alienated C from all mercy! A man sees another man in need of bread, not having the necessary sustenance of life, and yet he does not succor him with a prompt and eager mind, nor afford him salvation; but he despises him, and, like a flourishing plant, allows him to wither from a lack of water; and this even though he himself is flooded with the greatest abundance, and is able to satisfy and refresh the poverty of many from his own overflow. For just as the flow from one spring makes many long and wide-reaching plains of fields fertile and productive, so too can the wealth of one house rescue and sustain a multitude of the poor from the straits of indigence, provided that a thrifty and stingy mind does not, like a fallen stone, turn back and intercept the veins and rivulets of D benevolence that should flow forth publicly as from a fountain.
Let us not live for the flesh in all things: let us live somewhat for God. For the delicacies of banquets, which enter into the belly, can bring to the flesh only as much pleasure as is the space which the throat encompasses. For as soon as they have slipped into the belly, they putrefy and pass away through the lower parts. But mercy and beneficence are matters pleasing to God, and in whatever man they dwell, they make him divine, and stamp him with the likeness of the Good, so that
he is adorned with the image of that first and impassible nature which surpasses all mind. But what kind of end to their striving and toil do they promise? A
Now, indeed, a glorious hope and an expectation full of joy; but later, when we have stripped off the spoils of this constantly flowing flesh and put on immortality, a blessed life, which shall have no end, and which is subject to no evils, dwelling in pleasures and delights that are supreme and wonderful, and which here cannot be grasped by our understanding.
Therefore, you who are endowed with reason and adorned with the mind as an interpreter and teacher of divine things, do not, I beseech you, be seduced by the flatteries of fleeting and perishable things, B or allow yourselves to be enticed and captured like bait. Embrace Him who will never desert the one who possesses Him; set a limit to the use of life. Do not think that all things are yours; let there be a portion also for the poor and the friends of God. For all things belong to God, our common Father. We, however, are brothers as being of the same race. And as for brothers, the best and most just thing is to divide the inheritance in equal shares. But when this is not done, and one or another appropriates more, the rest should at least receive one portion. But if anyone wishes to be the master of absolutely everything and wants to turn away the entire inheritance, and exclude his brothers from a third or fifth share, he is not a brother, but a bitter tyrant, a ruthless barbarian, C indeed an insatiable wild beast, who with gaping mouth devours the delicious viands alone, or rather, is even more savage and rustic than the beasts themselves; forasmuch as the wolf admits a fellow wolf into the feast for the sake of devouring the prey, and many dogs sometimes tear the same body asunder. But this man makes no human being of his own kind a participant in his wealth. A moderate table suffices for you. Do not cast yourself into that sea of licentious feasting, so that you crave banquets furnished with every kind of food. For there a grave shipwreck occurs, in which you are not struck against rocks hidden under the sea, but are thrust down into a most deep and dark chasm, from which he who has once fallen never emerges.
Use, therefore, but do not abuse; for so also Paul taught. D Recreate yourself with modest enjoyment. Temperately relax your mind. Do not let luxuries so overwhelm you that you exult with excessive joy and revel in insane pleasures. Do not be the destruction of absolutely all animals, whether large, small, birds, fish, those easily obtained, those rare, those cheap, or those of great price. Do not satisfy one belly with the sweat of many hunters. Do not let your throat be like a chasm, or a whirlpool, or a vast and deep well, to fill which many hands must labor. Because of the luxury and delicacies of men, not only is the deep sea stirred up; not only are the fish swimming in the waters caught; but others, whatever animals dwell in the waters, are thence dragged out onto land and into this air. Thus
the ingenuity used by the pleasure-seekers devises various traps to ensnare them, and has laboured to discover various snares and wiles to bring them forth to behold this light of heaven. And what sort of things follow such luxuries? A For it is inevitable that luxury, wherever that disease has once taken root and grown, should pull along the accompanying materials of wickedness. Hence, those who have set themselves to live softly and delicately are necessarily drawn into the construction of magnificent buildings, and they expend great wealth on the size of their houses and curious ornaments. B To these they willingly call and invite companies of men, and diligently prepare splendid clothing and varied furnishings. They have tables made of silver worth many talents, some polished until they are perfectly smooth, others fashioned with artistic carving, so that it may be possible for the guests at once to regale their throats with feasts and to delight their eyes by gazing at and reading the histories depicted there. Reckon up for me what follows: craters, tripods, jars, vessels for pouring, platters, myriad types of drinking cups, buffoons, mimes, cithara-players, singers, wits, musicians, female musicians, dancers, dancing girls—the whole performance of wantonness; boys effeminated with their hair, shameless girls—whom because of their immodesty you might rightly call sisters of Herodias, destroying John, that is, the mind which is godlike and studious of wisdom in everyone.
While these things are being enacted inside, countless Lazaruses sit at the gates of the vestibule; some full of ulcers, others deprived of their eyes, others groaning from the mutilation of their feet; some of them, though stripped of almost all their limbs, yet dare to crawl, and in some way make progress. They cry out, but they are not heard. For the din of the pipes and the melodies of the automatic songs, and the guffawing of those who are laughing unrestrainedly, hinder it. But if they happen to trouble the doors a little more insistently, a bold doorkeeper, springing out from somewhere for his merciless master, drives them away with rods, calling them shameless dogs, and flaying their wounds with lashes. C So the friends of Christ, in whom is set the sum of the commandments, depart having received not even a morsel of bread nor any piece of food, but having instead gained insults and blows. Inside, however, in the workshop of Mammon, some, like overly laden ships, vomit up their food; others fall asleep at the table with the cups present. A double sin is committed in that shameful house: one for the surfeit of the drunkards, and the other for the famine of the excluded poor.
If God looks upon these things, as he clearly does behold them, what reversal of life, what outcome do you think there will be, you enemies of the poor? Tell me, I pray you, do you not know that it is for the sake of such things that all the horrid and terrible examples are placed and commemorated in the holy Gospel? And it is recorded, indeed, how he who had been nourished in fine linen, and was constrained in the abyss of evils, D groaned heavily and sighed;
A regarding the other, similar to him, was he not, when at evening he was pondering the delights of the morning, condemned to such an unexpected and sudden death that he could not even behold the rays of the rising sun? Therefore, since we are mortal, let us not cast away the faith, nor enjoy our pleasures as if we were immortal. For we are generally disposed in this way, whoever of us wishes to indulge our own genius and satisfy the flesh in all things: as though we were householders who would never have a successor, and as perpetual masters of human affairs, we perform the sowing at the time of harvest, and when it is time to sow, we hope for the joy of the harvest. We plant a plane tree, and hope for the shadow of that tall tree. We commit the seed of the palm to the earth, and look forward to the sweetness of its fruit. And these things are done often in old age itself, when the autumn of life is already present, and the winter of death is approaching, and the time remaining in life is not a series of years, but three or four days.
Let us think, therefore, as rational beings, how transitory is this life of ours, and how the time flows, unstable and unchecked, like the current of a river, driving all that is within it toward the end of destruction. And would that, being brief and frail, it were also free from account! But this is the dangerous part: that for every hour, nay, even for the words which we utter, we must render an account before the incorruptible tribunal. B For this reason also the blessed Psalmist, turning himself toward a realization similar to what is now being said, desires to know the limit of his own end. He beseeches God to be taught the number of his remaining days, so that he may prepare himself for the tasks of his departure, and not be suddenly troubled like an unprepared traveler walking along the way and looking about for the necessary provisions. He says, therefore: "Make me to know, O Lord, my end, and the number of my days, what it is; that I may know what I lack. Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths, and my being is as nothing before thee." See the good concern of a prudent soul, and that, too, in a man established in royal dignity. For he looks toward the King of kings and the Judge of judges; and he seeks, having acquired the perfect garment of the commandments, to depart as one who is sound, a citizen of that country above—the which may we all attain by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.