A and courageously bore their loss, since even before the trial of the devil he had practiced renunciation of them. You, too, therefore, despise present wealth, so that if it is someday taken away, you may not be pained. Spend it to good purpose when you have it, so that when it is removed, you may have double the profit: both the reward laid up for you from the excellent expenditure, and the philosophy acquired from this contempt, which will be useful at the time of their absence. For money is called *chremata* [things used] precisely so that we may use it for a necessary purpose, not so that we may bury it; it is called *ktemata* [possessions] so that we may possess it, and not become possessions of it. You are the master of much wealth; do not, therefore, be a slave to it, of which God made you master; you are not a slave if you spend it to good purpose, but not if you bury it. Nothing is as unstable as wealth; nothing is as changeable as prosperity. Since, therefore, the possession of it is uncertain, and it often flies away from us faster than any bird, and leaps away more ungratefully than any fugitive, let us use it to good purpose for the time that we are masters of it, so that by establishing good things from the uncertain money, we may inherit the treasure laid up in the heavens; which may we all attain, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
THAT IT IS FULL OF DANGER BOTH FOR THOSE WHO SPEAK AND FOR THOSE WHO HEAR TO PREACH FOR FAVOR; AND THAT IT IS USEFUL AND THE GREATEST JUSTICE TO ACCUSE ONE’S OWN SINS.
B α'. I think I struck you sufficiently the other day, and inflicted a deeper wound: therefore it is necessary to heal it today, and to apply milder remedies. For this is the best manner of treatment, not only to cut, but also to bind up wounds; this is the admirable law of teaching, not only to rebuke, but also to exhort and to console. This is what Paul also commanded: *Reprove, rebuke, exhort* (2 Tim. 4:2). If someone merely exhorts all the time, he makes the hearers more slothful; if he only rebukes, he makes them more callous; for, not being able to bear the burden of continual reproofs, they immediately run away. Therefore the manner of teaching must be varied. Since, therefore, the word bit into the mind of each one more severely on the previous occasion, we need milder teaching today, and it is necessary to drip the mildness of the word, like oil, upon the pains caused by the reproofs, after first reminding you of those reproofs.
We read to you the other day the law of Paul concerning the participation in the mysteries, laid down for all who are initiated. And the law was this—for nothing prevents reading it again even now: *Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup* (1 Cor. 11:28). Those who are initiated know what is said, and what the bread is, and what the cup is. *For he who eats and drinks,* he says, *unworthily of the Lord, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord* (Ibid. v. 27). We read this law to you; and we also explained the meaning of the utterance. We said what it is, *he shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord*, that he will pay the same penalty and undergo the same punishment as those who crucified Christ. For just as those murderers, he says, became guilty of the blood, so too these who partake of the mysteries unworthily; for this is what *he shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord* means. That which was said seemed to have great exaggeration and the threat seemed unbearable; we added also an argument from an example that has much coherence. For just as, I said, whether someone tears the royal purple, or stains it with mud, he has insulted the king who puts it on in like manner; so too here, both those who put to death the Lord’s body, and those who receive it with an unclean mind, alike conduct themselves insolently toward the royal garment. The Jews indeed tore it with [their] cross, but he also stains it who receives it with an unclean soul; so that even if the forms of lawlessness are different, yet the insults are equal.
This struck many, this disturbed many; it bit the conscience of the hearers, or rather, not of the hearers only, but also of me who am speaking before you; for the teaching is common, the wounds are common; therefore I apply common remedies. This was a work of God’s philanthropy, that both the speaker and those who hear should be subject to the same laws, share in the same nature, and that each one should be equally responsible when he transgresses. For what reason? That he may perform the rebuke with proportion, that he may become sympathetic to those who sin, that by remembering his own weakness he may not make the reproof unbearable. For this reason God did not bring angels down from the heavens and set them over human nature as teachers, so that they, on account of the superiority of their nature and their ignorance of human weakness, might not make the reproofs against us too unsparing; but He gave mortal men as teachers and priests, men compassed with infirmity, so that this very thing—that both the speaker and the hearers are subject to the same laws—might be a bridle to the speaker’s tongue, not allowing him to make his accusations beyond measure. And that this is true, Paul himself, who laid down that law, also taught us the reason, by saying thus: *For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men, able to have compassion on the ignorant and wayward* (Hebr. 5:1, 2). Whence and why? *Since he himself is encompassed with infirmity.* You see that infirmity becomes a pretext for sympathy, and the kinship of nature does not allow the one who commands to ever fall into excess, even if he contends vehemently? But why did I say these things?
A Since you do not say: "You are clear of sins, and immune to the distress that follows reproof," you bring a deeper incision upon us with great authority. I feel the distress first, since I myself am liable to sins. For "we are all in corrections" (Eccl. VIII, 6), and "no one shall boast he has a pure heart" (Prov. XX, 9). Therefore, it was not because I was philosophizing about the ills of others, nor out of any inhumanity, but out of great anxiety that I employed those reproofs. For in the healing of bodies, the one who inflicts the wound feels no sensation of the wound, but only the one being cut is racked with pains; yet in the healing of souls, it is not so—unless I am mistaken while judging others' affairs by my own; rather, the one who is holding the sermon is himself pained first when he reproves others. For we do not grieve so much when reproved by others, as we do when we reprove others for the sins of which we ourselves are guilty. For the conscience immediately rebukes the preacher, and because he sees himself adorned with the dignity of the mastership, it burns him with a heavier pain for falling into the same sins as his disciples and needing the same reproofs.
B
Fear of punishment diminishes sins.
And I do not complain about these things now without reason; but because very many, not bearing the harshness of what was said, after they had withdrawn, approached and were indignant and grew hot, saying: "You drive us away from the sacred table, and you repel us from the communion." For this reason I was compelled to say these things, so that you might understand that I do not drive you away, but rather call you together; I do not repel or keep you back, but through these very reproofs, I rather entice you. For the fear of announced punishment, when it falls like fire into wax upon the conscience of those who sin, dissolves and dissipates their transgressions, while it is ever imminent, and by rendering the mind pure and bright, it implants greater confidence in us: furthermore, from the confidence that has been conceived, there arises a greater readiness of soul to approach the frequent communion of ineffable and tremendous mysteries. And just as one who offers bitter medicines to those who loathe food due to a stomach ailment, and purges away wretched humors, stimulates the flagging appetite and causes them to taste their accustomed food with greater alacrity: so, naturally, he who brings forth bitter words and purges the mind of perverse thoughts, and shakes off the heavy burden of sins, causes the conscience to breathe again and to taste the Lord's body with much pleasure. One ought not, therefore, to be angry at what has been said, but these things are to be approved and praised.The duty of preachers.
But if there be some perchance who are weaker and do not endure this defense of ours, I will deal with them in such a way as to advise them that I am not expounding laws made by myself, but reading letters fallen from heaven; and therefore it is necessary that, since this ministry has been entrusted to me, I must either say everything contained in them confidently and freely, and seek everywhere the utility, not the pleasure of the hearers, or else fear their hatred—and by this untimely kindness, betray both my own salvation and theirs. For it is very dangerous for the preacher and for the auditors to hide anything from the divine laws; and C that teachers are judged as guilty of murder unless they proclaim all of God’s rights and decrees without fear, I will prove to you by the witness of Paul. For because of this, I often take refuge in that blessed soul for all things, because the words of Paul are certain fruitful and sacred laws. For it is not Paul who is speaking, but Christ, who moves his soul, since He speaks through him all things that he pronounces. What, therefore, does Paul say? When he had summoned those who dwelt in Ephesus, and had held his last sermon to them—because he was about to depart from them—in order to teach their leaders that they were no less liable to penalties and punishments than those who shed the blood of their disciples if they hid profitable things, he says thus: "I am clean from the blood of all." Why so? "For I have not shrunk from declaring to you the whole counsel of God" (Acts XX, 26, 27); therefore, if he had shrunk from declaring it, he would not have been clean from the blood, but would have been condemned as a murderer; and deservedly so. For the murderer indeed destroys the body only; but he who preaches for D favor, and renders his listeners more slothful, destroys the soul: and that one indeed delivers it to present death, but this one loses the soul, and transmits it to eternal pains and punishments. Does Paul, therefore, say this alone? Not at all, but before Paul, God again indicates this very thing through the prophet, saying thus: "I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel" (Ezech. III, 17). What is this, "watchman"? One is called a watchman who, while the army sits below, occupies a high and eminent place on a hill, and from there watches the invading enemies and signals their approach to those sitting in the valley, so that he may incite them to prepare for battle, lest if they rush upon them unguarded, they should slaughter them with great ease. Since, therefore, we who walk on the ground do not see many evils that are imminent upon us, the grace of God has arranged it to come to pass that the holy prophets, standing as if on a high place of prophecy, would predict from afar the divine wrath about to rush upon us, so that, by repairing ourselves through penance and raising up our own fallen soul, we might repel the blow about to be inflicted by God from afar. For this reason, He says: "I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel: so that you may predict the impending calamity, just as that one does the enemies." Nor does He impose a moderate penalty on a preacher who has not predicted the divine wrath. What then, finally? "I will require the souls of those who perish," He says, "from your hand" (Ezech. III, 18). Who then is so cruel and inhuman and unmerciful, who would blame a preacher for speaking and often saying words about the divine wrath, when he is about to pay such great penalties if he remains silent? Therefore, that it is of no use to us who preach if we remain silent about such things, both the prophet has taught us, and the apostle; but that it is also of no use to you who hear, will be evident from this. For if I, while silent, were to hide sins by silence, everyone would rightly be angry, and would deservedly be indignant, had I not been silent; but if, however much we do not remain silent now, it is altogether necessary that the transgressions be manifested there,to show the transgressions, what benefit could result from silence? Yet there is no benefit, but the utmost harm. For if I speak now, I lead to repentance and compunction of mind; but if I keep silent, we shall not now be mindful of the sins committed by us, nor shall we repent; but there we shall see them before our eyes, naked and laid bare, and we shall lament in vain and to no purpose.
C 3. Since, therefore, it is absolutely necessary to be pricked with compunction for our sins either there or here, it is better [to do so] here, and not there. Whence is this evident? From the prophetic and evangelical words. For the prophet says, *In hell who shall confess to thee?* (Ps. 6:6)—not that we do not confess, but that we do so in vain. Christ also taught this same thing by a parable. There was, he says, a certain poor man, Lazarus, full of sores on all sides, suffering from an incurable disease; and a certain other, a rich man, would not share his crumbs with the beggar. And why is it necessary to go through the whole parable? For you know the whole story, the cruelty of the rich man, how he would not share his table with the poor man, his poverty and his hunger, with which he was constantly struggling. But these things were here; and when each had died, he saw that poor man in Abraham’s bosom. And what does he say? *Father Abraham, send him, that he may dip the tip of his finger into water to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame* (Luke 16:24). D You see the recompense? He did not share crumbs with him, and now he does not partake of a drop of water. *For with what measure*, he says, *you mete, it shall be measured to you again* (Mark 4:24). What, then, does Abraham say? *Child, thou receivedst good things in thy lifetime, and Lazarus likewise evil things; and now he is comforted here, and thou art tormented* (Luke 16:25). But the question is this: that while they are pricked with compunction for their sins and undergo a change and become better because of hell, they gain nothing to soothe the flame. *For, father*, he says, *send him into my house, that he may testify to my brethren, lest they also come into this place* (Ibid. 27, 28). Having failed to attain the benefit himself, he now provides for the salvation of others. Do you see how cruel he was before this, and how philanthropic he became after these things? He used to pass by Lazarus lying before his eyes while he was alive; but now, he is concerned even for his absent brethren; and while he was then in abundance, he was not moved by the pitiable sight of the beggar; now, however, being in inescapable pains and necessities, he is anxious for those who belong to him, and asks for someone to be sent to report these things to them. Do you see how he became philanthropic and mild and sympathetic?
What then? Did he reap any benefit from his repentance? Did he gain any profit from his compunction? By no means; for the repentance is out of season. The theater was dissolved, the arena had vanished; it was no longer a time for struggles. For this reason, I exhort and pray and beseech you: it is necessary to lament and wail here for our sins. Let words grieve us here, and let not the facts themselves frighten us there; let the discourse sting us here, and let not the undying worm sting us there; let the rebuke burn us here, and let not the hell of fire burn us there. It is consistent that those who mourn here should be comforted there; and for those who live in luxury here and laugh and conduct themselves insensibly regarding their sins, it is absolutely necessary to mourn there and to wail and to gnash their teeth. This is not my word, but that of Him who will judge us then: *Blessed*, He says, *are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted; woe unto you that laugh, for you shall weep* (Matt. 5:4, 5; Luke 6:25). How much better, therefore, to exchange a temporary compunction and lamentation for eternal blessings and a pleasure that has no end, than to have laughed here in this brief and temporary life, and to go away there to be punished eternally! But are you ashamed and do you blush to speak out your sins? Ideally, even if it were necessary to speak these things before men and to make them a public spectacle, even then one should not be ashamed; for it is shameful to sin, not to confess the things that have been sinned. But now there is not even a necessity for witnesses to be present to make confession. Let the examination of the things committed take place in the thoughts of the conscience; let the tribunal be without witnesses; let God alone see you confessing, God who does not reproach sins, but breaks the power of sin by confession. But do you hesitate and draw back even so? I know, too, that the conscience does not endure the memory of its own transgressions. For if we merely come to a recollection of the sins committed by us, the mind kicks like a certain untamed and headstrong colt. But hold it in, make it submissive, stroke it with your hand, tame it, persuade it that if it does not confess now, it will confess there, where the punishment is greater, where the public disgrace is worse. Here the tribunal is without witnesses, and you are your own judge if you have sinned; but there, everything will be brought forth into the middle of the theater of the inhabited world, if we do not forestall it by wiping them away here. Are you ashamed to confess sins? Be ashamed to commit sins. But when we commit them, we dare to do so brazenly and shamelessly; but when it is necessary to confess, then we are ashamed and hesitate, when we ought to do this with eagerness. For it is not a disgrace to accuse sins, but justice and virtue; if it were not justice and virtue, God would not have set a reward for it. For that confession has rewards, hear what He says: *Speak thou thy iniquities first, that thou mayest be justified* (Is. 43:26). Who is ashamed of a work from which he becomes righteous? Who is ashamed to confess sins in order to destroy sins? For does He not command to confess in order that He may punish? Not that He may punish, but that He may grant forgiveness.
4. For in secular courts, punishment follows after confession. For this reason, the psalm also, anticipating this very thing, lest anyone fearing punishment after confession should deny his sins, says: *Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy is forever* (Ps. 105:1). For does He not know your sins if you do not confess them? What gain do you get, then, from not confessing? Can you escape notice? Even if you do not speak, He has seen; but if you speak, He forgets. For behold, I am God who wipes away your iniquities, and I will not remember. You see? *I will not remember*, He says; for this is of philanthropy: you…
that you might remember, so that you might seize the opportunity for correction. When Paul heard this, he perpetually remembered the sins which God did not remember, when he said: "I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God" (1 Cor. 15:9); and, "Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I chief" (1 Tim. 1:15). He did not say, "I was," but, "I am." Forgiveness of sins had been made by God, but the memory of sins was not erased in Paul; what the Lord had blotted out, he himself B proclaimed. For you heard the prophet saying: "And I will not remember" (Isa. 43:25); but you, remember. God calls him a vessel of election (Acts 9:15), and he calls himself the foremost of sinners. But if he did not forget his sins, think how he remembered the benefits of God. Why do I say that the memory of sins does not bring disgrace? The memory of good deeds does not make us as illustrious as the memory of sins does; nay, rather, the memory of good deeds not only does not make us illustrious, but even brings disgrace and condemnation; whereas the memory of sins gathers confidence and much righteousness for us. Who says this? The Pharisee and the publican. For the latter, when he had spoken of his sins, went down justified; the former, however, when he had spoken of his good deeds, went down having become inferior to the publican. Do you see how much loss it brings to remember good deeds, and how much utility it provides not to forget sins? And with good reason; for he who remembers good deeds is carried away into pride and despises other men, which is what happened to the Pharisee. For he would not have come into such arrogance, C he would not have said, "I am not as the rest of men" (Luke 18:11), had he not remembered his fasting and his tithes. But the memory of sins restrains the mind, urges humility, and through humility acquires the benevolence of God. Hear, I beseech you, how Christ commands us to consign good deeds to oblivion: "When you have done all these things, say, We are unprofitable servants" (Luke 17:10). You say that you are an unprofitable servant; I do not render you unprofitable. If you yourself confess your own worthlessness, I render you illustrious and reward you with a crown.
How useful it is to remember sins. An examination of conscience must be undertaken.
You see how it has been proved to us by many testimonies that the memory of sins is useful, and the memory of good deeds harmful; and on the contrary, that punishment arises for us from the forgetting of sins, but utility from the forgetting of good deeds? Do you wish to know from elsewhere that it is a great good to remember sins? Hear Job. For just as he boasted to the others, so too he did with the confession of sins, when he said: "If I have sinned willingly, I have feared the multitude, so as not to declare my sins" (Job 31:34). D The sense of these words is this: the gathering of fellow servants never imposed shame upon me. For what does it profit to be unknown to men, when the Judge knows all things? And what does it harm if those things which have been committed by us are known to them, if He is willing to free us from punishment? Even if all condemn me, if the Judge absolves me by His own judgment, I care nothing for their verdict; even if all praise and celebrate me, if He should condemn me, their judgment profits me nothing. For it is always necessary to turn our eyes toward Him, and the same must be done regarding sins as we perform regarding the expenditure of money. For as soon as we have risen from our bed, before we enter the marketplace or handle any private or public business, we call the servant and demand an account of the expenses, so that we may see what has been spent poorly, what has been spent legitimately, and how much is remaining; and if we see that what remains is very small, we contrive in every way to find sources of income, lest we be destroyed by unforeseen famine. Let us therefore do this also in our actions. With our conscience summoned, let us demand accounts of words, actions, and thoughts; let us inquire what has been spent conveniently and usefully, and what to our harm; what word was spent wrongly in detractions, in foul talk, in insults; what thought stirred the eye toward unchastity; what counsel resulted in our harm, whether we have carried it out by hands, or by tongue, or by the eyes themselves. And let us strive to abstain from untimely expenses, and in place of those things that have been spent badly, let us store up other revenues: in place of words uttered rashly, prayers; in place of lascivious looks, alms and fasts. For if we are going to spend untimely, and store up nothing, and not deposit any good in our treasuries, we will be cast into extreme poverty and, being caught off guard, we will drive ourselves headlong into the eternal punishment of fire. And whereas we are accustomed to render accounts of money early in the morning, let us demand of ourselves an account of all that we have done and said after dinner, or even late in the evening lying in bed, when no one is bothering us, no one is disturbing us. And if we see that some sin has been committed, let us chastise our conscience, let us rebuke the mind, let us pierce our heart so vehemently that we will no longer dare, once we have risen, to drive ourselves into the same pit of sin, mindful of the evening’s cutting.
5. For that this time is more suitable for such a reckoning, hear how the prophet testifies when he says: "What you say in your hearts, be pricked in your beds" (Ps. 4:5). Many things are not done by us during the day as we wish; and friends give offense, and servants provoke, and a wife causes grief, and a son afflicts with sorrow, and a crowd of secular and public businesses surrounds us, and we are not able to understand even in what way we are tripped up. But when we are freed from all these, when we are alone in the evening, and it is permitted to enjoy much tranquility, let us stir up a courtroom in our bed, so that by such a judgment we may make God propitious to us. But if we sin daily, and wound our mind, but yet never feel it—as those who receive wounds frequently, and then, ignoring them, bring upon themselves a fever or intolerable destruction—so we also, by this continuous stupor, have made ourselves liable to inevitable punishment. I know that what I am saying is tiresome, but they bring much utility.
we draw upon ourselves unremitting punishment 666. I know that what has been said is burdensome, but it possesses much profit. We have a Master who desires only to get hold of a pretext, and immediately manifests all His philanthropy. For if by sinning and remaining unpunished we did not become worse, He would even have remitted the punishment for us; but He knows this clearly, that for us not to be punished while sinning harms us no less than the sins themselves. For this reason He imposes punishment, not demanding justice for what has past, but correcting what is to come. And that you may learn that this is true, hear what He says to Moses: "Let me alone, and being wroth I will destroy them." "Let me alone," He said, not that Moses was holding Him—for he spoke nothing to Him, but stood by in silence—but because He wished to give him a pretext for intercession on their behalf. For since they had sinned things worthy of punishment, and of unremitting punishment, and He did not wish to punish them but to show philanthropy—and yet this made them more slothful—He contrived both things: so that the punishment would not be brought upon them, and that they would not become more slothful from lack of punishment, having learned that it was not according to their own worthiness, but according to the protection of Moses, that they had escaped the wrath of the Master. This we also frequently do; and when domestics have committed offenses worthy of punishment, not wishing to punish them, nor yet to remove the fear of punishment, we command friends to snatch them from our hands, so that the fear remains flourishing within them, and they escape the blows from us. This, too, God did; and that it is true, is clear from the words themselves: "Let me alone," He says, "and I will be wroth." And yet, when no one lets us be when we wish to punish, we become wroth; but He says, "Let me alone and I will be wroth," so that you may learn that wrath is not a passion in God, but the punishment that befalls us is called by this name. When, therefore, you hear Moses saying, "If you will forgive their sin, forgive," be amazed at the Master before the servant, because He Himself provided him the pretexts for this philanthropy. And not here alone did He do this, but to Jeremiah and to Ezekiel He says this very same thing: "Run around and see in the streets of Jerusalem, if [there is anyone] doing judgment and justice, I will be propitious to them." Do you see philanthropy? From the virtue of one, many even of the wicked partake; but by the wickedness of the many, even if one be the righteous man in the midst of a great crowd, he is not borne away with them; but one man living rightly will be able to snatch a whole population from the wrath of God, but a whole city having been corrupted will not be able to drag down the one living well and destroy him. And this is clear from Noah: at any rate, when all were perishing, he alone was saved; and from Moses it is evident: at any rate, he alone was able to intercede for such a great crowd. And I have another greater proof of the philanthropy of God to speak of. For when He finds no living men having boldness [to intercede] to ask for those who have sinned, He has recourse to those who have departed, and through them He says He forgives the sins, just as He says to Hezekiah: "I will shield this city for my sake, and for David my servant's sake," who had already died. Knowing, therefore, that God moves and manages all things so that He may deliver us from punishment and retribution, let us offer Him many pretexts, confessing, repenting, weeping, praying, forgiving the wrath against our neighbors, correcting the poverty of our fellow men, being sober in our prayers, displaying humility, [and] remembering our sins constantly. B
For it is not enough to say that "I am a sinner," but one must also remember the transgressions in their kinds. For just as fire having fallen upon thorns destroys them easily, so also is the mind that constantly goes over the transgressions with itself; it easily destroys and quenches them. May God, who steps over iniquities, takes away injustices, and delivers us from sins, grant us the kingdom of heaven, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen.